Did the Catholic Church edit Matthew 28:19?
Question:
What baptismal proclamation was used in your baptism? Probably you were baptized, “In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Do you know that this Baptismal Proclamation is not the original text commanded by Jesus Christ as in Matthew 28:19? The Roman Catholic Church has edited and replaced the original text. Do you know that this Baptismal Proclamation has never been used in the Scriptures by the apostles in baptizing anyone in the First Century Church? Then why was it used for you?
Answer:
You make a charge that the text of a verse was altered; however, you provided no evidence of the change. You should be able to cite manuscripts before and after the change to prove your assertion. You didn't. In truth, you can't because such evidence doesn't exist. The manuscript evidence is consistent: "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" appears from the earliest copies and citations of the Scriptures. Many of these manuscripts predate the declaration of the bishop in Rome that he was the Universal Father of the church.
One barrier to claiming that the biblical text was intentionally altered is that there are so many copies of the text scattered around the world. A concerted effort to alter the text cannot succeed because the editors cannot access all the manuscripts to make the change. Nor could editing be done without leaving traces of alterations. These are not computer documents. They were handwritten with ink. Your claim of adding additional words to the verse causes major problems because the remainder of Matthew would have to be rewritten to make room for the extra text. In some manuscripts, there isn't enough space. Changes like that leave evidence of erasure, changes in handwriting, and changes in the ink used. Thus, while you can theorize that a change was made, such a change would leave a trail of evidence that the change was made. Such a trail doesn't exist.
What you are advocating is a figment of your imagination.
The second problem is assuming that there is a set formula of words that must be recited at every baptism. The New Testament does not record what was exactly said during a baptism. "In the name of" indicates that the baptism is authorized by another and not by the person doing the baptism. To say "I baptize you" alone would leave the impression that you were doing it by your own authority. The one doing the baptism technically has no authority. He is merely assisting the one wishing to be baptized. Paul makes that clear when some Corinthians claimed to be followers of different people. "Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name" (I Corinthians 1:13-15).
Since God is one -- united in all that the Godhead does -- then a baptism done by the authority of one is also a baptism done by the authority of all. If Jesus authorized something, then I know the Father's authority is also given (John 12:49-50), as is the authority of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13-14). Therefore, the claim that there is a difference in authorization for a baptism depending on the words used is also false.
