1.2.2.1 Matthew
28:19
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost:"
If ex-President George Bush told General Norman
Schwartzkopf to "Go ye therefore, and speak to the
Iraqis, chastising them in the name of the United States,
Great Britain, and the Soviet Union," does this require
that these three countries are one physical country?
They may be one in purpose and in their goals
but this does in no way require that they are the same
physical entity.
Further, the "Great Commission" as narrated in the Gospel
of Mark, bears no mention of the Father, Son and/or
Holy Ghost (see Mark 16:15). As we shall see in chapter two,
Christian historians readily admit that the Bible was the
object of continuous "correction" and "addition" to bring it
in line with established beliefs. They present many
documented cases where words were "inserted" into a given
verse to validate a given doctrine. Tom Harpur, former
religion editor of the Toronto Star says:
"All but the most conservative of scholars agree that
at least the latter part of this command was inserted later.
The formula occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, and we
know from the only evidence available (the rest of the New
Testament) that the earliest Church did not baptize people
using these words - baptism was 'into' or 'in' the name of
Jesus alone. Thus it is argued that the verse originally
read 'baptizing them in my name' and then was expanded to
work in the dogma. In fact, the first view put forward by
German critical scholars as well as the Unitarians in the
nineteenth century, was stated as the accepted position of
mainline scholarship as long ago as 1919, when Peake's
commentary was first published: 'The church of the first
days did not observe this world-wide commandment, even if
they new it. The command to baptize into the threefold name
is a late doctrinal expansion.'"
"For Christ's sake," Tom Harpur, p. 103
This is confirmed in 'Peake's Commentary on the Bible'
published since 1919, which is universally acclaimed and
considered to be the standard reference for students of the
Bible. It says:
"This mission is described in the language of the
church and most commentators doubt that the Trinitarian
formula was original at this point in Mt.'s Gospel, since
the NT elsewhere does not know of such a formula and
describes baptism as being performed in the name of the Lord
Jesus (e.g. Ac. 2:38, 8:16, etc.)."
For example, these Christian scholars observed that after
Jesus allegedly issued this command and then was taken up
into heaven, the apostles displayed a complete lack of
knowledge of this command.
"And Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let each of you
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness
of your sins;...'"
Acts 2:38.
These Christian scholars observed that it is extremely
unlikely that if Jesus had indeed specifically commanded his
apostles to "baptize in the name of the father and the son
and the holy Ghost" that the apostles would later disobey
his direct command and baptize only in the name of Jesus
Christ, alone.
As a final piece of evidence, it is noted that after the
departure of Jesus, when Paul decided to preach to the
Gentiles, this resulted in a heated debate and a great
difference of opinion between him and at least three of the
apostles. This would not be the case if Jesus had, as
claimed, openly commanded them to preach to the Gentiles
(see section 6.13 for more). So we notice that not only does
this verse never claim that the three are one, or even that
the three are equal, but most scholars of Christianity today
recognize that at the very least the last part of
this verse ("the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost") was not originally part of the command of Jesus
but was inserted by the church long after Jesus'
departure.
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