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?<\/p>\n\t
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
What you are advocating is a figment of your imagination.<\/p>\n
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,\u00a0lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name<\/strong><\/em>” (I Corinthians 1:13-15).<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[568,52,1599,122],"class_list":["post-68413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-baptism","tag-roman-catholic-church","tag-textual-criticism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-the-church-of-christs-view-of-baptism-different-from-the-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":0},"title":"How is the church of Christ’s view of baptism different from the denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I recently came across a YouTube comment about baptism that puzzled me a bit: \"It's also important to know the church of Christ view of baptismal salvation is different from every other view; that of the Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics or Orthodox.\" Is this a correct assessment? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8601,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-person-cant-afford-the-fee-for-a-baptismal-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":1},"title":"What if a person can’t afford the fee for a baptismal service?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am worried if one cannot get baptized just because they cannot afford to pay for the service and just because they have no money to afford a baptism. If that is the case, would that person be exempt from the requirement for baptism and still be saved? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/infant-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":2},"title":"Infant Baptism (Shouse)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Roger Shouse published in\u00a0Biblical Insight, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2005. Advocates of infant baptism wrongly assume that the term \"household\" includes infants. Baptizing a baby is often viewed as a very special event in the lives of young parents. Grandparents come to witness the special occasion. A white\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/InfantBaptism.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11888,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-convince-a-roman-catholic-that-infant-baptism-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":3},"title":"How do I convince a Roman Catholic that infant baptism is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A Catholic and I debated the topic of infant baptism. He used the argument of \"household\" referring to babies as well. When I told him that households could mean teens or servants he said that he would rather follow the practice of infant baptism followed by earlier Christians 2000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-reasoning-behind-infant-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":4},"title":"What is the reasoning behind infant baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There is a Catholic whom I talk to and he told me that the reason for baptizing infants is for the opportunity for them to put on the body of Christ if they were to pass away before reaching the age of accountability. They also say that Paul went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-john-the-baptist-associated-with-the-baptist-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":68413,"position":5},"title":"Was John the Baptist associated with the Baptist church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I love your site. It is very helpful and is the truth. Why was John called \"John the Baptist?\" I know there is no other religion mentioned in the Bible. Is this where the Baptist organization get its name? 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