> From: markm@epix.net
> To: father mateo @ 1:202/1613
> Forwarded by: Mike Mollerus @ 1:202/1613
> Message text was not edited!
> Apparently-to: Father.Mateo
> From: Radu <markm@epix.net>
> Subject: Question
> Hello Father Mateo, I not sure if this is the right address to
> write with questions. Please let know if it isn't. my question:
> When Catholics are baptized, is it in the name of The Father,
> The Son and The Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19) or In the Name
> of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38)? Explain the difference between
> the two and What us Catholics believe. Thanks, markm@epix.net
Dear Radu,
In the summer and fall of 1994, another questioner asked
about the correct formula for baptism. I repeat here the
substance of Jerry Moon's questions and my answers from
those messages.
Q: Could you please tell me why the disciples never baptized in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit?
There is not "ONE" example of the disciples ever baptizing
anyone this way. Every time that they baptized, it was
always in the name of Jesus Christ. Doesn't that make you
wonder about the validity of baptizing that way?
Even Peter's first sermon was to baptize in the name of
Jesus.
A: Your objection is resolved by distinguishing the *form* or
*formula* of baptism from the *source* of the minister's
*power* to baptize. The Trinitarian form of words, commanded
by Christ Himself in Matt. 28:19, is the only *form* we
recognize for valid baptism.
The several NT references to baptism "in (into, by) the name
of Jesus (or Christ)" (in Acts 2, 8, 10, 11, 16; 1st Cor. 1;
Gal. 3 and elsewhere) are not ritual formulas but reflections
of the NT theology of baptism. Briefly, in the NT, no
minister ministers in his own name, but only in the name of
Jesus Christ. Jesus is our sole High Priest. It is He who
is the principal agent in every sacrament. The human minster
is only a secondary cause, an instrument in Jesus' hands. The
minister baptizes, anoints (Jas. 5:14), ordains (2 Tim. 1:6),
etc. by the power and authority of God, in Jesus through the
Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 6:11).
This secondary causality or instrumentality of the human
minister is signified in both Testaments by the Hebraic
diction "in (into, by) the name". These phrases always mean
that the agent is acting *for someone else, by his authority*
or *power*. Since you love the Bible, it will not be tedious
for you to read some of these texts:
Ex. 5:23 - O Lord ... since I first came to Pharaoh to speak
*in your name* ...
Deut. 10:8 - The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ... to
bless *in his name* ... (i.e. by his power)
Deut 18:5 - The Lord has chosen Levi ... to stand and
minister *in the name of the Lord* ... (i.e., by the Lord's
authorization).
1st Chron. 16:2 - David ... blessed the people *in the name
of the Lord* (i.e., as the Lord's deputy).
1st Chron. 21:19 - David went up, following Gad's (this is
Gad not God) instructions, which he had spoken *in the name
of the Lord* (i.e., as the Lord's spokesman).
1st Chron 23:13 - he ... should make offerings before the
Lord and minister to him and pronounce blessings *in his
name* (by his power).
Exra 5:1 - The prophets ... prophesied ... *in the name of
the God of Israel*, who was over them.
Jeremiah loves this phrase and uses it in 11:21; 14:14; 20:9;
26:9, 16, 20; 44:16. He well knows that he and other true
prophets speak only at the behest and by the *power* of the
Lord.
The crowd hails Jesus as "the one who comes *in the name of
the Lord*" (Matt. 21:9).
Jesus speaks of those who will do "a deed of power *in my
name*" (i.e., by my power and authority) Mk. 9:39.
The seventy rejoiced that demons were subject to them in
*Jesus' name* (Lk 10:17). Jesus then reminded them that he
had *given them authority* (v. 19).
Jesus himself come *in his Father's name* (Jo. 5:43) and does
works *in his Father's name* (10:25).
In Damascus, Paul speaks *in Jesus' name* (Ac. 9:27). In
Philippi, he exorcises a girl *in the name of Jesus Christ*
(16:18), (i.e. by his power and authority).
Your concordance will give you many more instances of the
meaning of "in the name of ...".
More in my next message.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
-- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit --
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