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| The question is whether this is true from a biblical perspective. | | The question is whether this is true from a biblical perspective. |
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| =The Challenge from William Branham=
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| William Branham invited people to prove him wrong when he stated in 1957:
| | =Scriptures referring to how baptism was conducted in the New Testament= |
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| :''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.<ref>William Branham, Hebrews Chapter Two, Jeffersonville, Indiana, August 25, 1957</ref>
| | In Matthew 28, Jesus told his disciples: |
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| 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.
| | :''Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, '''baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,''' teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” <ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 28:19–20.</ref> |
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| '''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 name of the Lord Jesus Christ.'''
| | But surprisingly, there is no biblical record that anyone was baptized using this formula. Rather we read the following: |
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| 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.
| | :Acts 2:38 |
| | ::''Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the '''name of Jesus Christ''' for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. |
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| ==Scriptures referring to how baptism was conducted in the New Testament==
| | :Acts 8:16 |
| | ::''For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were '''baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus'''. |
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| Acts 2:38 | | :Acts 10:48 |
| :''Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the '''name of Jesus Christ''' for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. | | ::''And he commanded them to be '''baptized in the name of the Lord'''. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. |
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| Acts 8:16 | | :Acts 19:5 |
| :''For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were '''baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus'''. | | ::''When they heard this, they were '''baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus'''. |
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| Acts 10:48
| | :Romans 6:3 |
| :''And he commanded them to be '''baptized in the name of the Lord'''. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. | | ::''Know ye not, that so many of us as were '''baptized into Jesus Christ''' were baptized into his death? |
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| Acts 19:5
| | :Galatians 3:27 |
| :''When they heard this, they were '''baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus'''. | | ::''For has many of you as have been '''baptized into Christ''' have put on Christ. |
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| Romans 6:3
| | What is clear is that, from the historical record, there did not appear to be an emphasis on the exact formula of baptism. |
| :''Know ye not, that so many of us as were '''baptized into Jesus Christ''' were baptized into his death?
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| Galatians 3:27
| | ==Oneness Theology - Titles versus Name== |
| :''For has many of you as have been '''baptized into Christ''' have put on Christ.
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| So we have certainly found multiple scriptures that show people begin baptized in a form other than the three-part Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
| | Oneness Pentecostals believe that "Jesus" is the name of God revealed in the New Testament and that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three manifestations or titles of the one God. They explain that the command in Matthew 28:19 is correctly fulfilled by baptizing "in the name of Jesus Christ". They also believe that baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" is invalid because Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names but titles. Alternatively, the name of the Son is Jesus, so it is argued the actual name Jesus should be used; Jesus is the name of the Son, and arguably also the name of the Father and Holy Ghost. |
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| It is clear from the Bible that there did not appear to be an emphasis on the exact formula of baptism, thereby proving one of the fundamental doctrines of William Branham's message to be flawed.
| | =What William Branham taught= |
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| =Another Challenge from William Branham=
| | William Branham took the basic teaching from the Oneness movement on baptism and made it more restrictive. He effectively taught that there was only one baptismal formula - his followers were required to be baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." |
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| In the sermon, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Jeffersonville, December 4, 1960), William Branham stated:
| | William Branham stated: |
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| :''If you show me the page or anything, you write it and lay it up on here for me tonight, and I'll walk out of this church saying, "I am a hypocrite; I have taught people wrong;" if you can show me one text of Scripture or bring me one history, authentic history, that'll show me that where that people ever baptized in the Bible in the name of "Father, Son, Holy Ghost"; or '''bring me one scrip--or one book of history, one page, one quotation in history where anybody was ever baptized in the name of "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" until the Nicene Council of the Catholic church, come bring it to me; and I'll pin a sign on my back and walk through Jeffersonville, and you behind with a horn, blowing; I'll put on there, "A false prophet, misleading the people."''' | | :''Now, when you Oneness brethren just baptize in the Name of Jesus, there’s just many Jesuses; but there’s only…He was born Christ, the Son of God. He…That’s His Name, that’s what He is. Christ means “the anointed one,” Messiah, Christ. Now, “Jesus,” eight days later He was given the Name, Jesus, when He was circumcised. And He is our Lord. So He is our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what He is. |
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| William Branham's reference to the Nicene Council is to The First Council of Nicaea. which was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.
| | :''Now, show, that you’ll see that Peter had the revelation I’m trying to tell you, now look at these—these boxes on this side: Father, Son, Holy Ghost. That’s what Matthew said. Ten days later Peter said, “Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, see if these three titles isn’t three names, or—or, the one Name of the three titles. |
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| However, William Branham's assertion that no one was baptized in the name of "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" is historically incorrect. While it appears clear that the very earliest forms of water baptism in the Book of Acts do not reference the trinitarian formula, it is also clear that the use of the trinitarian baptismal formula does predate the First Council of Nicea by at least a hundred and fifty years or more.
| | :''Now, look. Matthew said, “'''Father'''.” Is that right? The…Peter said, “'''Lord'''.” Now, David said, “The Lord said unto My Lord.” Now, they both said the same thing there, didn’t they? All right, “Thy Lord…Lord thy God is one God” is true. |
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| ==The Didache==
| | :''All right, now, '''Peter said, “In the Name of the Lord,”''' and '''Matthew said a title to that Lord, which was “Father.”''' Lord is what He is, all right. '''Matthew said, “Son.” Who is the Son? “Jesus,” said Peter.''' That right? All right, now, and '''Matthew said, “Holy Ghost.” Peter said, “Christ,” which is the Holy Ghost''', the Logos that went out of God. |
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| The '''Didache''' or '''The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles''' (''Didachē'' means "Teaching") is a brief early Christian treatise, dated by most scholars to the late first or early 2nd century.<ref name=Draper2006>The Apostolic Fathers: The Didache, 2006, Draper, J. A., ''The Expository Times, Vol. 117, No.5, pp.177–81</ref> Some even date it as contemporary with the books of the New Testament (c. A.D.40-60).<ref name=Robinson1976>John A. T. Robinson, ''Redating the New Testament'' (SCM Press 1976)</ref>
| | :''See? Father, Son, Holy Ghost, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole thing, exactly, the Lord Jesus Christ. So them are titles and not…There you are.<ref>William Branham, 61-0120 - The Water Baptism, para. 180-184</ref> |
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| However, because of references in literature from the early 4th century, no scholars date the Didache as later than the 3rd century.
| | :''When Matthew said, “Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” How it’s been misinterpreted today, and say, “In the name of the Father, name of the Son, name of the Holy Ghost.” It’s not even written. It’s, “In the Name,” singular, “of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost.” Father is not a name, Son is not a name, Holy Ghost is not a name; it’s a title. Ten days later, Peter stood up and said, “Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.” Then did he do what He told him not to do? He did what He told him to do. '''The Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is “the Lord Jesus Christ.”''' Every person in the New Testament was baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.<ref>William Branham, 65-0220 - God's Chosen Place Of Worship, para. 96</ref> |
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| With respect to water baptism, the Didache states:
| | :'''''Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are just titles.''' They are not names. That is why '''we baptize in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ''', for that is a name, not a title. It is the name of those titles, just like you take a new born baby who is a son and name him. Baby is what it is, son is the title, then you name him, John Henry Brown. You just don’t baptize in “Jesus Name.” There are thousands of Jesuses in the world and have been even before Jesus, our Saviour. But there is only one of them born the Christ, “Lord Jesus Christ.”<ref>William Branham, An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages - 1 - The Revelation Of Jesus Christ</ref> |
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| :''And concerning baptism, thus baptize ye: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
| | William Branham differentiated himself from Oneness Pentecostals by requiring baptism in the triune name of the "Lord Jesus Christ." |
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| ==Church Fathers==
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| Baptism has been in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at least from the end of the 1st century. Some passages in Acts (2:38, 10:48, and 19:5) speak of Baptism ‘in the name of (the Lord) Jesus (Christ)’, but whether this formula was ever used has been questioned.<ref>F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 151.</ref>
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| But what is the proof behind this statement?
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| ===Justin Martyr (ca. 100–ca. 165 AD)===
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| ''For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water.<ref>Justin Martyr, “The First Apology of Justin,” in The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 183.</ref>
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| ===Tertullian===
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| "After his resurrection he promises in a pledge to his disciples that he will send them the promise of his Father; and lastly, he commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, not into a unipersonal God. And indeed it is not once only, but three times, that we are immersed into the three persons, at each several mention of their names" (Against Praxeas 26 - A.D. 216).
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| ===Origen===
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| "The Lord himself told his disciples that '''they should baptize all peoples in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit''' . . . for indeed, '''legitimate baptism is had only in the name of the Trinity'''" (Commentary on Romans 5:8 - A.D. 248).
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| ===William Branham should apologize===
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| ''If there's a historian, a minister, any other person, on air, in tape, that can produce one Scripture or '''one speck of history, where anybody was ever baptized any other way than in the Name of Jesus Christ, till the Roman Catholic church at Nicaea, Rome, you're duty bound to bring it to me, let me apologize.''' There is no such thing. No. And every person that was baptized by immersing, that was not baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, was commanded, before they could enter Glory, to come back and be rebaptized again. Now it's up to you.<ref>William Branham 63-0623E - The Flashing Red Light Of The Sign Of His Coming, para, 205</ref>
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| '''Based on the evidence above, William Branham should have apologized.''' He did not know the history of the Christian church.
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| =William Branham's changing views= | | =William Branham's changing views= |