COROLLARY

Confirmation of the Results by the Meaning of the N. T. Formula βαπτίζειν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Ἰησοῦ

Ἐνδύεσθαι Χριστόν, as we have seen, means to become the property and possession of Christ and to be controlled by His power; the ἐνδύεσθαι is first effected in Baptism.

This result receives confirmation from the investigation of another N. T. formula: βαπτίζειν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Ιησοῦ. Heitmüller, in his excellent study Im Namen Jesu, with the aid of the inscriptions and monuments (ostraca and papyri) representing the conversational and business language of the Hellenic world, has proved beyond all doubt that in general the formula εἰς ὄνομά τινος expresses the “Zueignung an eine Person, die Herstellung des Verhältnisses der Zugehörigheit unter Gebrauch des Namens der betr. Person.” In explanation of one of his examples he says that the name is mentioned and “indem der Name genannt wird, ist die mystische Verbindung mit der betr. Person vollzogen.”

Βαπτίζ. εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Χριστοῦ means: “taufen unter den Namen Christi, Christo zu eigen, in die Zugehörigkeit zu Chr. hinein.” In his summary, he gives the difference between the expression βαπτίζ. ἐν and ἐπὶ τ. ὀνόματι and βαπτίζ. εἰς τὸ ὄνομα. The first two, he says, describe the manner in which Baptism takes place; “sie besagen, dass das Taufen sich vollzieht unter Nennung des Namens Jesu.” The formula βαπτίζ. εἰς τὸ ὄνομα, however, “giebt einen (den) Zweck und einen (den) Erfolg des Taufens an: es besagt, dass der Täufling in das Verhältnis der Zugehörigkeit, des Eigentums zu Jesus tritt.” But, he adds, the last formula contains also “das Moment der Namennennung.

It is remarkable that, as our investigation shows, the two important N. T. formulas ἐνδύεσθαι Χριστόν (which is effected by Baptism) and βαπτίζεσθαι εἰς τὸ ὄνομα Ιησοῦ both mean: to become by Baptism the property and possession of Christ and to be controlled by His power. Here, then, in the work of Heitmüller, we have a powerful confirmation and an excellent test of the correctness of our interpretation of the ἐνδύεσθαι Χριστόν.