Dear Radu,
A: In Deuteronomy 18:18 the Lord gives Moses the great messianic
promise, saying: "I will raise up for them a prophet like you
from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth
of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I
command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet
shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable."
This prophet, the One who is to come, is the Messiah, Jesus
Christ, to whom the Father has handed over all things (Matt.
11:27), placing all things in his hands (Jo. 3:35). Regarding
baptism, what words has the Father put in the mouth of his
prophet Son, Jesus? The words recorded in Matt. 28:19: "Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit." God will hold accountable anyone who does not heed
the words Jesus has spoken in the Father's name: "whoever
disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's
wrath" (Jo. 3:36).
Scripture is God-inspired in every part. No part, rightly
understood, contradicts any other part because God is truth
and God is one. Since Jesus commands us to baptize in the
name of the three Persons of the Trinity, the references to
baptism "*in the name of Jesus*" do not report an alternate
baptism formula. They refer to the *authority* and *power*
conferred by Jesus on his ministers. Thus, ministers who
baptize in the name of the Father, etc, are baptizing in
Jesus' name, and only those who so baptize are obeying
Matt. 28:19.
When Paul met some believers in Ephesus who had been baptized,
but had never heard of the Holy Spirit (Ac. 19:1-7); he knew
at once that they had not received Christian baptism, for if
they had, they would have heard "Holy Spirit" in the very
baptismal formula! Pressing his enquiry, he found that, sure
enough, they had only the baptism of John. So he preached
Jesus to them and they were then baptized "in the name of
Jesus", i.e., by the *power and ordinance* of Jesus, using the
*Trinitarian formula* commanded by Jesus in Matt. 28:19.
In Mt. 28:18-20, our Savior said to his disciples: "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them IN
THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
and teaching them TO OBEY EVERYTHING THAT I HAVE COMMANDED
YOU. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age." (NRSV, emphases added).
In obedience to the Lord's command, Eastern Christians of the
Byzantine, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Chaldean, Syrian and
all other Eastern rites do baptize according to the
Trinitarian form of Matt. 28:19. For example, the Byzantines
(Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, etc.) use the formula: "The
servant of God is baptized in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Western Christians, including Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans,
Presbyterians, et al. also use the Trinitarian formula. For
example, the Roman Catholic baptismal formula is: "I baptize
you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit."
In Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, and 19:5, Luke reports that Peter,
Philip, and Paul baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ" or "in
the name of the Lord Jesus". Are these texts at variance with
the Lord's command in Matt. 28:19? Pope Leo XIII cautions us:
"All interpretation is foolish and false which either makes
the sacred writers disagree with one another, or is opposed to
the doctrine of the Church" ("On the Study of Sacred Scripture",
St. Paul Editions, p. 17). If any Christian is unable to hear a
Pope on this subject, I refer him to St. Paul, who assures us:
"All scripture is inspired by God" (2 Tim. 3:16). Since God is
one and true, then he cannot contradict himself from one verse
to another.
Since the overwhelming evidence of Christian usage, both
Eastern and Western, finds in Matt: 28:19 the formula of valid
baptism, Luke cannot be said to be reporting a variant
baptismal formula (which, in any case, would be flagrant
disobedience to the Lord's command in Matthew). Luke's use of
"in the name of" means "by the power of", "by the authority
of", as is exemplified also in non-baptismal contexts (cf.
Acts 3:6). There is thus no conflict between Matthew and
Luke. Luke in Acts does *not* give an alternate *formula* for
baptism.
More in my next message.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
-- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit --
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