apology accepted.
I think some things in history are facts, like that there was a Roman empire.
other things would be opinions, like Julius Caesar being a great emperor.
if a person says it is a fact that the Catholic Church corrupted the words of Jesus, then it's good if they have a standard to use to compare the teachings of the Catholic Church with Jesus' words.
does the bible contain all of the words of Jesus?
John 16:8 When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; 9 about sin, because they don't believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won't see me any more; 11 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. 12 "I have yet many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now.
does the Bible say that by the time the last book was written (revelation? 2 John?) Jesus had finished saying everything he wanted to say?
People disagree about many things in the bible. However, when it comes to something as crucial as ones spiritual rebirth a person better be sure they obey what is seen in the word.
Many encyclopedias including catholic publications state that the baptism was changed in 4th Century (See paragraph on bottom right. This was shared by a former member of the catholic church. They were re-baptized in the name of Jesus, upon seeing that there indeed was a change concerning the original way the apostles baptized.
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOLUME 8
“Justin Martys was one of the early Fathers of the Roman Catholic Church who helped change the ancient baptism of “in the Name of Jesus Christ” to the titles of Father, Son and Holy Ghost”
FORMULA “With regard to the form used for baptism in the early Church, there is the difficulty that although
Matthew 28:19 seems to speaks of the Trinitarian formula which is now used, the
Acts of the Apostles (2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5) and Paul
(I Corinthians 1:13, 6:11, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3) speak only of baptism “in the Name of Jesus.”
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, 1967 edition, volume 2, pages 56, 59.
“An explicit reference to the Trinitarian formula of baptism cannot be found in the first centuries.”
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEIA, 1913 edition, volume 2, Page 265:
“They acknowledge that the original formula for baptism was in the Name of Jesus,”
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS Scribner‘s T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1924, vol 1 Page 380
“Christian baptism, when connected with the mention of a formula, is alluded to four times in the
Acts (2:38, 8:16, 10:48, 19:5) and the formula is never that of
(Matthew 28:19) but is twice in the name of Jesus Christ
(Acts 2:38, 10:48) and twice in the name of the Lord Jesus
(Acts 8:16, 19:5).
That this was the usual formula of Christian baptism is supported by the evidence of the Pauline Epistles, which speak of being baptized only into Christ or into Christ Jesus
(Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3).
Is it possible to reconcile these facts with the belief that Christ commanded the disciples to baptize in the trine name?
The obvious explanation of the silence of New Testament on the trine name, and the use of another formula in Acts and Paul is that this other formula was the earlier, and that the trine formula is a later edition. It would require very strong argument to controvert this presumption, and none seems to exist”.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS James Hastings, Published 1924, volume 2, Pages 377, 378, 384, 389:
Page 377. “It is clear from the contemporary usage (
Acts 1:15; 11:13; Revelations 3:4) that ‘name’ was an ancient synonym for ‘person.’
Page 378 “Whereupon the latter sealed the reception of the candidate into the holy community by invoking ‘the fair name’ of the Lord Jesus upon his head
(James 2:7; Revelations 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:4).”
Page 384. “The formula used was “in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,” or some synonymous phrase. There is no evidence for the use of the triune name.”
Page 389. The earliest known formula is, “in the name of the Lord Jesus” or some similar phrase...”
AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIONS - Maurice Canney, page 53.
“Persons were baptized at first “in the name of Jesus Christ”
(Acts 2:38, 10:48) or “in the name of the Lord Jesus”
(Acts 8:16, 19:5).
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”
EARLIEST CHRISTIANITY- .J. Weiss, Published 1959, volume 2, page 633.
“However little we may know of the liturgical form of the old celebration of baptism, yet it is clear that it involved uttering the name of Christ in a vigorous, expressive manner, probably by the baptizer, possibly also by the baptized person.”