Matthew 28:19 is changed?

The words found at Matthew 28:19 in other Bibles, ‘in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,’ are not found in the ancient Shem Tov (Hebrew) manuscript of Matthew, and our conclusion is that these words are spurious (something that was added to the Bible). For notice how differently the Disciple Luke described these same parting words of Jesus at Luke 24:47:
‘Then in (my) name, [the message of] repentance for forgiveness of sins is to be preached in all the nations, starting from JeruSalem.’

So, notice that there was no mention of baptism, or of ‘the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’

And at Acts 1:8, Luke wrote that Jesus also said this at his departure:
‘However, you will receive power when the Holy Breath comes over you, and you’ll be witnesses of me in JeruSalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.’

So, as you can see; Luke quoted Jesus as saying something quite different than what is written in Matthew, before he ascended to heaven, and he didn’t even mention what has become known as the Trinity formula.

Therefore, we have to ask: Why would Luke have missed such a critical detail if Jesus had in fact said those words, since they are now considered the most important words in the baptism ceremony?

Understand that the reason why these words are called the Trinity Formula is because this is one of just two places in such Bibles as the King James Version that tie the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Ghost) together… and the only other mention of them together (at 1 John 5:7, 8) is recognized by most honest Bible translators as being a later spurious addition to the original Bible text (see the Note 1 John 5:7, 8).

Unfortunately, there are no complete manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew that date back to before the 4th Century, and all the existing manuscripts that we have today (other than the Shem Tov) contain this phrase. However, there is very strong evidence that those words are a 4th Century corruption of the original text; for in his earliest writings, the ancient Church ‘Bishop’ EuSebius quoted this verse as saying something quite different. Some eighteen times between the years 300 and 336-CE, he cited Matthew 28:19, 20 as saying:
‘Go ye and make disciples of all the nations in my name, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you.’

So, notice that according to these quotations of Eusebius, there was no mention of being baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit… in fact, there was no mention of baptism at all! Therefore, this gives us even more reason to believe that the ‘Trinity Formula’ found at Matthew 28:19 is spurious.

Then, if so, how could this change have entered the Bible text? Well, it’s interesting that the traditional Trinitarian reading of Matthew 28:19 only appears in EuSebius’ writings after the Council of Nicaea, where the Trinity began to be held as official Church doctrine. So, the evidence strongly indicates that the words were inserted later (by him or by others) in the same way and for the same reason that 1 John 5:7-8 was changed… to provide support to the teaching of the Trinity doctrine.

Who was EuSebius? He was one of the most important instigators of change in the early ‘Christian’ religion, since he was the person who had the ear of and who supported the then pagan Roman Emperor Constantine; for he helped Constantine to see the political advantages of ending the persecution of Christians and in establishing Christianity as the official state religion of Rome. He was also involved in creating ‘the Council of Nicaea,’ in which the Trinity was established as official Church doctrine. So, it is ironic that we only have EuSebius’ earlier quotations of Matthew 28:19, 20 to prove the current popular rendering spurious.

However, realize that this conclusion may cut both ways for some, because, while it breaks apart the only mention of the Trinity trio in the Bible, it does seem to prove what some Trinitarians have said all along… that baptisms should only be done in the name of Jesus.

So, since there is no place in the Bible that says baptizing should be done in the Name of the Father or the Holy Spirit, the only other instructions in the Bible on how to baptize people say this:

   Acts 2:38:
‘Repent and each of you get baptized in the name of Jesus the Anointed One, so your sins can be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Breath.’

·      Acts 8:15, 16:
‘They went [to the Samaritans] and prayed for them to receive the Holy Breath, because it hadn’t come to any of them yet, although they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.’

·      Acts 10:48:
‘So he commanded that they should be baptized in the name of Jesus the Anointed One.’

·      Acts 19:5:
‘When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.’

·      Romans 6:3:
‘Don’t you realize that all who were baptized into the Anointed Jesus were also baptized into his death?’

·      Galatians 3:27:
‘All who were baptized into the Anointed One have put on the Anointed One.’