Editing Oneness Pentecostalism (section)

====Baptismal formula====
{{Main|Baptism in the name of Jesus}}

Oneness adherents believe that for water baptism to be valid, one must be baptized "in the name of Jesus Christ",<ref name=":10">See "The Baptismal Formula: in the Name of Jesus" and "The One Name in Matthew 28:19, in David Bernard, A Handbook of Basic Doctrines, Word Aflame Press, 1988, pp. 43-45.</ref> rather than the Trinitarian baptismal formula "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|title=What the Early Church Believed: Trinitarian Baptism|url=https://www.catholic.com/tract/trinitarian-baptism|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929022050/https://www.catholic.com/tract/trinitarian-baptism|archive-date=29 September 2021|access-date=13 April 2021|website=Catholic Answers}}</ref> This is referred to as the "Jesus' name doctrine". "Jesus' name" is a description used to refer to Oneness Pentecostals and their baptismal beliefs.<ref name=fp123-4/>

Oneness Pentecostals mainly center their belief around the baptismal formula found in [[Acts 2:38]]: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Other passages cited include:<ref name="New Birth Formula">{{cite book |last1=Bernard |first1=David K. |title=The New Birth |date=1998 |publisher=Word Aflame Press |location=Hazelwood, MO |isbn=1567222382 |pages=156–157 |chapter=Baptismal Formula: In the Name of Jesus}}</ref>
* [[Acts 8:16]] – Samaritans were baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus."  
* [[Acts 10:48]] – Cornelius and his household were commanded to be baptized "in the name of the Lord."  
* [[Acts 19:5]] – Disciples of John the Baptist were re-baptized "in the name of the Lord Jesus."  
* [[Acts 22:16]] – Paul was baptized "calling on the name of the Lord"

Oneness Pentecostals assert that these five mentions of baptism in the Book of Acts were performed in the name of Jesus and that no Trinitarian formula is ever referred to therein.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Schoolcraft|first1=Ron|date=11 July 2009|title=The Name in Matthew 28:19|url=https://www.apostolic.edu/the-name-in-matthew-2819/|access-date=13 April 2021|website=Apostolic Information Service |publisher=[[Indiana Bible College]]}}</ref> In addition, {{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|1:13|9}} is taken by Oneness Pentecostals to indicate baptism in Jesus' name as well;<ref name="New Birth Formula" /><ref name="New Birth Singular">{{cite book |last1=Bernard |first1=David K. |title=The New Birth |date=1998 |publisher=Word Aflame Press |location=Hazelwood, MO |isbn=1567222382 |page=172 |chapter=Baptismal Formula: In the Name of Jesus}}</ref> Oneness author William Arnold III explains their reasoning: "If we follow Paul's train of thought, his obvious implication is 'No, Christ was the one crucified for you and so you were baptized in the name of Christ.' So the believers at Corinth as well as those in Rome were baptized in Jesus' name."<ref name="Arnold Baptism">{{cite web |last1=Arnold |first1=William |title=Baptism in Jesus' Name |url=https://www.onenesspentecostal.com/name.htm |website=Institute for Biblical Studies |access-date=7 November 2021}}</ref> 

Based on these New Testament accounts, Oneness proponents maintain that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ reflects the earliest apostolic tradition. They view the later emergence of the Trinitarian formula as a doctrinal innovation that diverged from the original practice. As additional support for their claim, Oneness Pentecostals also cite editions of [[Encyclopædia Britannica|Britannica]], the [[Catholic Encyclopedia]], [[Interpreter's Bible series|Interpreter's Bible]], and various other scholars and [[encyclopedia]]s to justify this claim.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Baptism in Jesus' Name|url=https://www.apostolicarchives.com/articles/article/8801925/180090.htm|access-date=7 November 2021|website=Apostolic Archives International Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Trapasso|first=Michael|date=8 October 2009|title=History Authenticates That the Early Church Baptized In The Name of Jesus: Part V|url=https://www.apostolic.edu/history-authenticates-that-the-early-church-baptized-in-the-name-of-jesus-part-v/|access-date=9 January 2022|website=Apostolic Information Service|language=en-US |publisher=[[Indiana Bible College]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartman |first1=Lars |title='Into the Name of Jesus': A Suggestion Concerning the Earliest Meaning of the Phrase |journal=New Testament Studies |date=July 1974 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=432–440 |doi=10.1017/S002868850001225X |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S002868850001225X |access-date=15 July 2025 |language=en |issn=1469-8145|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartman |first1=Lars |title=Baptism "into the name of Jesus" and early Christology: Some tentative considerations |journal=Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of Theology |date=1 January 1974 |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=21–48 |doi=10.1080/00393387408599940 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00393387408599940 |access-date=15 July 2025 |issn=0039-338X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example, [[James Hastings]]' ''[[Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible|Dictionary of the Bible]]'' states that "The original form of words was 'into the name of Jesus Christ' or 'the Lord Jesus.' Baptism into the name of the Trinity was a later development."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=James |last2=Selbie |first2=John A. |title=A Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 1: Dealing With Its Language, Literature, and Contents, Including the Biblical Theology |date=1889 |publisher=[[T&T Clark]] |pages=241 |url=https://archive.org/details/b24749163_0001_201710/page/240/mode/2up |access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref> Likewise, in Maurice A. Canney's ''An Encyclopaedia of Religions'', it states that "Persons were baptized at first 'in the name of Jesus Christ' or 'in the name of the Lord Jesus'. Afterwards, with the development of the doctrine of the Trinity, they were baptized 'in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost'".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Canney |first1=Maurice A. |title=An encyclopaedia of religions |date=1921 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |page=53 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofr00cann/page/52/mode/2up |access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref> Norris explains that "there is a strong scholarly consensus that the earliest Christian baptism was practiced in Jesus' name."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=David |title=I AM: A Oneness Pentecostal Theology |date=4 September 2009 |publisher=Word Aflame Press |isbn=978-1565630000 |page=193}}</ref>

The ''[[Didache]]'', an early Christian manual of instruction generally dated by scholars to the late first or (less commonly) early second century AD,<ref>{{cite web |title=Didache |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didache |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=20 November 2025 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Schachterle |first=Josh |date=2023-10-20 |title=The Didache: Author, Dates, and Why it's Not in the Bible |url=https://www.bartehrman.com/the-didache/ |access-date=2025-11-26 |website=Bart Ehrman Courses Online |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ehrman |first1=Bart |title=What Is the Didache & When Was the Didache Written |url=https://ehrmanblog.org/what-is-the-didache-when-was-the-didache-written/ |website=The Bart Ehrman Blog |access-date=20 November 2025 |date=1 May 2022}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> includes a reference to baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (''Didache'' 7:1).<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Didache|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04779a.htm|access-date=7 November 2021|website=Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=New Advent|quote=This (vii-x) begins with an instruction on baptism, which is to be conferred "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" in living water, if it can be had — if not, in cold or even hot water.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Brickley|first=Ralph|date=24 October 2018|title=Schisms: Baptism in Jesus Name or…|url=https://dividetheword.blog/2018/10/24/schisms-baptism-in-jesus-name-or/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107222101/https://dividetheword.blog/2018/10/24/schisms-baptism-in-jesus-name-or/|archive-date=7 November 2021|access-date=7 November 2021|website=DivideTheWord.blog|language=en|quote=Now concerning baptism, baptize thus: Having first taught all these things, baptize ye into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. And if thou hast not living water, baptize into other water; and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm (water). But if thou hast neither, pour [water] thrice upon the head in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.}}</ref> This text is cited by some Trinitarian theologians as early support for the threefold baptismal formula.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|last=O'Loughlin|first=Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfpqBgAAQBAJ|title=The Didache: A window on the earliest Christians|date=15 February 2011|publisher=SPCK|isbn=978-0-281-06493-9|language=en}}</ref> However, the document also describes individuals being "baptized into the name of the Lord" (''Didache'' 9:5), a construction that Oneness Pentecostals claim parallels references to baptism found in the book of Acts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weisser |first1=Thomas |title=Was the Early Church Oneness or Trinitarian? |url=https://www.apostolic.edu/was-the-early-church-oneness-or-trinitarian/ |website=Apostolic Information Service |publisher=[[Indiana Bible College]] |access-date=8 May 2025 |date=20 June 2009}}</ref> Oneness Pentecostal writers such as David K. Bernard interpret references to baptism "in the name of" as pointing exclusively to the name of Jesus, and they highlight the absence of any recorded apostolic use of a triune formula.<ref name="New Birth Didache">{{cite book |last1=Bernard |first1=David K. |title=The New Birth |date=1998 |publisher=Word Aflame Press |location=Hazelwood, MO |isbn=1567222382 |pages=257–281 |chapter=The Witness in Church History: Baptism}}</ref> Some Oneness writers have raised concerns about the ''Didache'''s reliability, noting that the only complete Greek manuscript, discovered in 1873, was dated to the 11th century (although an additional Latin manuscript was discovered in 1900).<ref>{{cite book | last1=Chapman |first1=Henry Palmer | date=1908 | chapter=Didache | title=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]] |edition=4 | quote="It was rediscovered in 1883 by Bryennios, Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Nicomedia, in the codex from which, in 1875, he had published the full text of the Epistles of St. Clement. The title in the MS. is Didache kyriou dia ton dodeka apostolon ethesin, but before this it gives the heading Didache ton dodeka apostolon. The old Latin translation of cc. i-v, found by Dr. J. Schlecht in 1900, has the longer title, omitting "twelve", and has a rubric De doctrin' Apostolorum."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Drysdale |first1=Ross |title=The Ante-Nicene Fathers |url=https://www.apostolic.edu/the-ante-nicene-fathers/ |website=Apostolic Information Service |publisher=[[Indiana Bible College]] |access-date=8 May 2025 |date=6 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ritchie|first=Steven|date=22 October 2016|title=The Didache – Can We Trust It?|url=https://www.apostolicchristianfaith.com//post/2016/10/22/the-didache-can-we-trust-it|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109044830/https://www.apostolicchristianfaith.com//post/2016/10/22/the-didache-can-we-trust-it|archive-date=9 January 2022|access-date=9 January 2022|website=Apostolic Christian Faith|language=en|quote=Falsely Called "The Teaching(s) of the Twelve Apostles." The only manuscript we have of the Didache (which means "Teaching") was discovered in 1873 in Constantinople (modern day Turkey). The manuscript is signed, "Leon, notary and sinner," and bears the date, A.D. 1056.}}</ref> Trinitarian scholar Willy Rordorf summarizes scholarly conversation surrounding the baptismal formula in the ''Didache'' by stating that ''Didache'' 7:1 was likely a later interpolation and that ''Didache'' 9:5 "preserved the most ancient baptismal formula. At the beginning of Christianity, one baptized 'in the name of Jesus.'"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rordorf |first1=Willy |title=The Didache in Modern Research |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33249-2 |pages=212–222 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004332492/BP000013.xml |access-date=7 May 2025 |language=en |chapter=Baptism According to the Didache}}</ref>

Mainstream Trinitarian Christians exegete "in the name of Jesus Christ" as by the "authority of Jesus," which denotes baptism in the name of the three persons of the Trinity.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Slick |first1=Matt |date=8 December 2008|title=Must baptism be "in Jesus' name"?|url=https://carm.org/oneness-pentecostal/must-baptism-be-in-jesus-name-baptize/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220109044313/https://carm.org/oneness-pentecostal/must-baptism-be-in-jesus-name-baptize/|archive-date=9 January 2022|access-date=9 January 2022|website=Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Don't We Baptize in the Name of Jesus? |url=https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/why-dont-we-baptize-in-the-name-of-jesus |access-date=2023-10-19 |website=Catholic Answers}}</ref> In response, Oneness Pentecostals have claimed that the wording of Acts 22:16 requires an oral invocation of the name of Jesus during baptism (''calling'' on the name of the Lord). They also assert that the way one exercises the authority of Jesus is by using his name, pointing to the healing of the lame man at the Gate Beautiful in Acts 3 as an example of this.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Bernard |url=http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216034825/http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pentecostal/One-Top.htm |pages=137–138 |archive-date=16 February 2008 |title=The Oneness of God |publisher=Word Aflame Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-912315-12-6|chapter=Father, Son, and Holy Ghost|quote=Acts 22:16 says, "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." The Amplified Bible says, "Rise and be baptized, and by calling upon His name wash away your sins." The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament says, "Invoking the name." Therefore this verse of Scripture indicates the name Jesus was orally invoked at baptism. James 2:7 says, "Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" The Greek phrasing indicates that the name was invoked over the Christians at a specific time. Thus, TAB says, "Is it not they who slander and blaspheme that precious name by which you are distinguished and called [the name of Christ invoked in baptism]?" (brackets in original). For an example of what "in the name of Jesus" means, we need only look at the story of the lame man's healing in Acts 3. Jesus said to pray for the sick in His name (Mark 16:17-18), and Peter said the lame man was healed by the name of Jesus (Acts 4:10). How did this happen? Peter actually uttered the words "in the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 3:6). The name Jesus invoked in faith produced the result. The name signifies power or authority, but this signification does not detract from the fact that Peter orally invoked the name of Jesus in effecting the healing.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Arnold III |first1=William |title=More On Baptism In Jesus' Name |url=https://www.onenesspentecostal.com/morebaptism.htm |website=Institute for Biblical Studies |access-date=12 January 2022 |quote=Jesus is the one who personally commissioned the disciples to go and baptize and they went "on behalf of him," or "in his name." He also sent them to heal people and work miracles. When Peter healed the man at the Gate Beautiful in Jesus' name, scripture tells us that he actually spoke the words "in the name of Jesus Christ" when he did it (Acts 3:6). Even when Trinitarian Christians pray for someone for healing they speak the words "in Jesus' name." They realize that they are doing it "on behalf of" or "in the name of" Christ. Why would baptism be any different? Jesus said that when we pray we are to ask the Father in him name (John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23, 26). And so when many Christians pray, they end their prayer with the actual words "in Jesus name."}}</ref>