What the Early Church Believed: Trinitarian Baptism

Valid baptism

A sacrament requires correct form, matter and intention. For baptism, the intention is to do what the Church does, the matter is water, and the form is baptizing "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). Jehovah's Witnesses sometimes use no formula, and "Jesus Only" Pentecostals baptize "in the name of Jesus," so their baptisms are invalid. Both deny the Trinity: Witnesses hold the Arian error that Jesus is not God; "Jesus Only" Pentecostals hold the Sabellian error of one person in the Godhead.

"In the name of Jesus"?

"Jesus Only" Pentecostals note that Jesus said "the name" (singular) and assume it is "Jesus." But no single personal name need be meant, as in "Stop, in the name of the law," or it could be God, Yahweh or Lord. Only four passages speak of baptism in Jesus' name (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), and they vary ("Lord Jesus," "Jesus Christ"), showing they are Luke's descriptions, not formulas. They do not replace Christ's command (Matthew 28:19). They distinguish Christian baptism from John's (Acts 1:5, 22; 10:37; 11:16; 13:24; 18:25; 19:4), Jewish proselyte baptism and pagan rites, and indicate the one into whom baptism incorporates us (Romans 6:3).

The witness of the early Church

• The Didache (70): baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in living water if possible, or by pouring three times.
• Tatian (170) quotes the command of Matthew 28:18-19.
• Hippolytus (215): the candidate professes faith in the Father, in Christ Jesus, and in the Holy Spirit, and is baptized three times.
• Tertullian (216): Christ commanded baptism into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not into a unipersonal God.
• Origen (248): legitimate baptism is only in the name of the Trinity.
• The Acts of Xantippe and Polyxena (250): "We baptize thee in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Ghost."
• Cyprian (253) rejects baptism merely "in the name of Jesus Christ," since Christ commanded baptism in the full Trinity.
• Eusebius (323), Athanasius (361) and Basil (367) cite the command as a summary of the Trinitarian faith.
• Cyril of Jerusalem (350): candidates confessed faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and descended three times into the water.
• Ambrose (379): one God, not three.
• Gregory of Nazianz (380): the three share one name, the Godhead.
• Jerome (382): one baptized in the name of the Trinity becomes a temple of the Lord.
• Gregory of Nyssa (383): we are immersed three times while the names of the three persons are spoken.
• Augustine (400, 408): baptism in the name of the Trinity has Christ's authority; Christ would not have commanded it unless God were a Trinity.
• Theodoret (444): we baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, pronouncing each name singly.