Criticism of the Trinitarian formula

From Wikinfo

Scholars of the historical Jesus generally regard the Trinitarian formula as a creation of the early Christians, and not something Jesus himself said or taught.

Biblical scholars from the Jesus Seminar, a group of textual critics (including figures like Robert W. Funk, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, Bruce D. Chilton, and John S. Kloppenborg), have stated that the whole of chapter 28 is the result of later editorial work on the Gospels and was never uttered by Jesus or his immediate disciples. Luke Timothy Johnson, often a critic of the methods of the Jesus Seminar, states in his book The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation that his research affirms a view of Matthew 28:19 as apocryphal.

While denying that Jesus spoke the formula, these scholars acknowledge that the verse does represent Trinitarian ideas in the early Christian church. Most Christians belong to denominations that recognize church history as at least partially inspired by the Holy Spirit, so they would see the formula as valid even if not spoken by Jesus himself. The formula, however, does not amount to the specific Nicene Trinitarian doctrine that has been orthodox since the 4th century. For example, this formula does not show that 1st-century Christians believed in the mysterious unity, equality, or co-eternity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Others have challenged the work of the Jesus Seminar, arguing that the scholars working on the project began with a conclusion and worked to justify it through their research and exegesis.

From the late twentieth century onwards, many in liberal Christianity have become uncomfortable with the traditional male representation of God and have sought to de-emphasise or eliminate altogether gender-specific references to God.

Some of these individuals and groups prefer the formula "in the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sanctifier." The traditionalists respond that all persons of the Trinity are involved in creation, redemption and sanctification, and that attempting to redefine the Trinity in terms of "functions" is essentially a form of Sabellianism, or modalism.

Because of this, the Roman Catholic Church has declared that baptisms carried out under such a formula are not only illicit, but also invalid.

Adapted from the Trinitarian formula article on Wikipedia