The Baptismal Formula: Difference between revisions

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==Why did the baptismal forumula change?==
==Why did the baptismal forumula change?==


If the primary formula for baptism changed, it was likely that it had to to with attempting to counteract false teaching on the Godhead.
If the primary formula for baptism changed, it was likely that it had to do with counteracting false teaching on the Godhead.


There was error around when the apostles were still on the earth.  However, those false teachings later developed into false doctrine and the church counteracted that with "orthodoxy", which simply means "right teaching."
There was error around when the apostles were still on the earth.  However, those false teachings later developed into false doctrine and the church counteracted that with "orthodoxy", which simply means "right teaching."
Some of the more significant false teachers prior to the Nicene Council were:
#Sabellius
#Arius


Cyprian (c. 210 – 258 AD) was a bishop of Carthage in North Africa.  He wrote the following:
Cyprian (c. 210 – 258 AD) was a bishop of Carthage in North Africa.  He wrote the following:


''Since, therefore, from the preaching and testimony of Christ Himself, the Father who sent must be first known, then afterwards Christ, who was sent, and there cannot be a hope of salvation except by knowing the two together; how, when God the Father is not known, nay, is even blasphemed, can they '''who among the heretics are said to be baptized in the name of Christ, be judged to have obtained the remission of sins?'''<ref>Cyprian of Carthage, “The Epistles of Cyprian,” in Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886), 383.</ref>
''Since, therefore, from the preaching and testimony of Christ Himself, the Father who sent must be first known, then afterwards Christ, who was sent, and there cannot be a hope of salvation except by knowing the two together; how, when God the Father is not known, nay, is even blasphemed, can they '''who among the heretics are said to be baptized in the name of Christ, be judged to have obtained the remission of sins?'''<ref>Cyprian of Carthage, “The Epistles of Cyprian,” in Fathers of the Third Century: Hippolytus, Cyprian, Novatian, Appendix, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, vol. 5, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1886), 383.</ref>


=The Historical Record of the Church=
=The Historical Record of the Church=