(Matthew 28:19)
Current scholarship shows that we were never asked to baptize in the name of the Father, son and holy spirit. We were told to baptize in the name of Jesus – “my name.”
There were many modifications of Christian doctrine and biblical texts as the centuries rolled on. In 1902, Dr. F.C. Conybeare drew together the scholarship for the close of Matthew’s Gospel to show that the original wording of Matthew 28:19 as written by Matthew was “go forth to all nations baptizing in my name…” However, this verse was rewritten after the Nicaean council (325 AD) into the familiar but incorrect reading “baptizing in the name of the Father, son and holy spirit…” [F.C. Conybeare, “Doctrinal Modifications – Matthew 28:19,” The Hibbert Journal, London, England (Vol. 1, October 1902) p.102-108]
As it turns out, there is ample evidence from early church writings that the original words of our Lord as related by the Evangelist Matthew were “clarified” by this unwarranted substitution. The full Hibbert Journal text with a translation of the Greek, Latin and German may be found at the website for the “Beauties of the Truth Journal” for August 2006: http://www.beautiesofthetruth.org
