William Branham's Challenge on the Baptismal Formula
This article is one in a series of studies on baptism - you are currently on the topic that is in bold:
- An Introduction to Water Baptism
- William Branham's Challenge on Historical Baptismal Practice
- William Branham's Challenge on the Baptismal Formula
- Q&A on The Baptismal Formula
- William Branham's Teaching on Baptism
- Bible Study on Baptism
- The History of Baptism
William Branham invited people to prove him wrong when he stated in 1957:
- Nowhere was we ever commanded to baptize, "In the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and name of the Holy Ghost," not nowhere in the Scriptures. It's a Catholic creed, and it's not for the Protestant church. I'll ask anybody to show me one Scripture where any person was ever baptized any other way than in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come, show it to me, and I'll put a sign on my back, "A hypocrite, and a false prophet, a false teacher," and go through the streets. There's no such a thing. Never was anybody baptized that way. It's a Catholic creed, and not a Protestant doctrine.[1]
So there is the challenge laid down by William Branham - Find one scripture where any person was ever baptized any other way than in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Actually that challenge is quite easy to meet and we would challenge message believers to find us one scripture where anyone was actually baptized in the triune name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible should be simply understood and therefore it seems quite obvious that William Branham has interpreted the scripture to say something that it clearly doesn't. The phrase "Lord Jesus Christ" appears 6 times in the book of Acts so it would have been very easy for Luke to have stated clearly that people were to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But since he didn't, it is not possible to make that claim.
What is clear is that, from the historical record, there was no emphasis on the exact formula of baptism. thereby proving one of the fundamental doctrines of William Branham's message to be flawed.
Footnotes
- ↑ William Branham, Hebrews Chapter Two, Jeffersonville, Indiana, August 25, 1957