You will be...! but now to Matthew 28:19...
In a few seconds you will see how preposterous your statement really is. This verse has absolutely nothing Trinitarian about it. It is about Jesus sending them out to proclaim the gospel to the nations. First, a few definitions according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words:
Baptize - The phrase in Matthew 28: 19, "baptizing them into the name" would indicate that the baptized person was closely bound to, or became property of, the one into whose name he was "
baptized."
Name - Represents the authority, character. Expressing attributes. In acknowledgment or confession of.
This verse has nothing to do with water baptizing. With these definitions we can safely paraphrase this verse as follows:
"Go out into the world and introduce or bring them into the knowledge of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit"
Which is exactly what they did. The Apostles went out into the Gentile world and brought them the knowledge of who the only God is, who the Messiah is, and about the gifts of the Holy Spirit which they were going to receive. But as you can see, this has nothing to do with the three being one. Human tradition has made this a Trinitarian verse.
There is also a very strong position held by many scholars that this verse was not part of the original text of Matthew’s Gospel, as Eusebius, a third century Christian apologist, quoted the text in a shorter form: "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in my name" rather than the form which now appears in the gospel. One commentator writes,
"There is much probability in the conjecture that it is the original text of the gospel, and that in the second century the longer clause supplanted the shorter ‘baptizing them in my name.’ An insertion of this kind, derived from liturgical use, would have rapidly been adopted by copyist and translators" (The International Critical Commentary, by Willoughby C. Allen Volume 26, pp. 307-308).
This position has strong Biblical support by the fact that the Apostles at no recorded instance baptize using the formula of "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" as you say Jesus supposedly commanded them to do. They always baptize "In the name of Jesus Christ."
Also the parallel passage in Mark 16:15-18 does not mention in any way this trine formula, and the Gospel of Mark is believed to be written before Matthew. 2 Corinthians 13: 13 or 14 depending on the translation states:
"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
The New American Bible says of this verse,
"This final verse is one of the clearest Trinitarian passages in the New Testament." If this is one of the clearest Trinitarian passages, imagine what the others must be like. Just because you mention God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the same sentence does not make them the same being. In Luke 9: 28 it says:
"About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray."
If we hold to the same logic that is being applied to 2 Corinthians 13: 13, then Jesus, Peter, John, and James are the same being.
This is the extent of this argument. What this verse means is exactly what it says, that the grace of the Lord Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit is how God communicates and relates to us. Even if you say that they are three distinct persons,
it still does not imply that they are the same being.
Look at it objectively and not the way your human tradition dictates it must be looked at. The other few verses that are used for the same purpose are identical in structure.
All they do is mention God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the same paragraph. Puzzling? Yes. Biblical? No.
In the end, it really boils down to, who are we supposed to believe, Jesus and the Apostles, or the men of the Council of Nicaea and Constantinople? For me the choice is an easy one. The Bible is very clear about what it thinks of the doctrines of men you promote. "In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts, you disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition" (Mark 7:7-8).
Try harder
oly::sherlock:
Paul