Baptized in whose name? — Section 18
In whose name should we be baptized?
Representative of a Christian church:
I would like to ask you missionaries an honest question. How do you baptize?
Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
We baptize by immersion and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This method of baptism was taught in Matthew 28:19-20.
Representative of a Christian church:
It appears, then, that you have run into a conflict. Matthew 28:19-20 gives the command, but we learn from the Book of Acts and throughout the rest of the scriptures that all people were baptized solely in the name of the Lord Jesus. I refer you to Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, and Acts 19:1-5. Were these baptisms performed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, or solely in the name of the Lord Jesus? It appears that the people were not baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as you do today.
Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
That is an excellent question. We accept literally the command found in Matthew 28:19-20, given by Christ himself to his apostles. Then we find in the Book of Acts the problem you mentioned. As Paul, Peter, and other of the Lord’s disciples went about bringing converts into the Church, small segments broke off. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-15 we learn that Paul was very displeased because “…it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, that there are contentions among you.” He went on to say, “…some say I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ.” Notice that people were forming little segments and saying they were disciples of Paul or Cephas or one of the others. Paul went on to say, “…were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul then declared, “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name”. There is your answer. It was apparent that groups were baptizing in Paul’s name or Apollos’ name. Also, Acts 19:1-5 states they “baptized unto John’s baptism”, which probably refers to their being baptized in John’s name, causing Paul to rebaptize them into the “Church of the Lord Jesus.” The scriptures thus clarify and point out unto “whose baptism” these people were to be baptized. It denotes the Church, which is the Church of Jesus Christ, but the command was the same –we should baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
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