The Catholic Church being the oldest Trinitarian institution in the world has made the position clear for all Trinitarians, that baptism in the name of Jesus is valid. If we further our investigation, another interesting position is found, as it relates to the recognition and validity of administration of baptism in the name of Jesus, by the Catholic Church in a Decree of the Council of Trent…

     The Council of Trent by Decree notes that if the Apostles baptized in the name of Jesus, they did so by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. (Kulwant Singh Boora, Apostolic (Acts 2:38) and Post-Apostolic (Matthew 28:19) Baptism (Book 3, Volume 2), USA: Xlibris Corporation, 2010, 185-186)

Baptism in the Name of Jesus

The rise of Christianity within Europe brought with it the recognition of the true apostolic baptismal formula as advocated in the Book of Acts, and this was not only confined to Britain. We find that in the earlier centuries baptism in the name of Jesus was still a prevailing theme. One study informs us that a lineal descent of Gamaliel was baptized in the name of Jesus shortly after the death of Constantine:

”Shortly after the death of Constantine, there took place at Liberias the very remarkable conversion of the Jewish patriarch Hillel, a lineal descent of Gamaliel. From the detailed account given by Epiphanius of the event, it appears that the patriarch had long occupied himself in secret in searching the Scriptures of the New Testament, and had even translated the Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles into Hebrew. Feeling his end approach, he desired the Christian baptism and bishop to be summoned, and after confessing his faith, was baptized in the name of Jesus.”

(Kulwant Singh Boora, Baptism in the Name of Jesus (Acts 2:38) From Jerusalem to Great Britain, Book 4, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2011, 2-3; Boora citing Rev. John C. Moore, The Church and the Synagogue Art. II. The British and Foreign Evangelical Review, Vol. XXIIII. James Nisbet & Co., London (January 1874), pp. 232-233)

Baptism (Watson)

In the concluding verses of St. Matthew’s Gospel, we read that before His Ascension our Lord gave commandment to ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost’. This statement is widely and not unjustifiably questioned, inasmuch as the earliest Christian baptisms were performed, not in the Triune Name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus. …it would be seem unduly sceptical to assert that our risen Lord never gave commandment to baptize. For the primitive Church from the very first preached and practiced baptism in the conviction that such was His will; and the New Testament knows nothing either of unbaptized Christians or of the debates, so widespread today, about the necessity, meaning, and value of baptism.

(Philip S. Watson, The Concept of Grace: Essays on the Way of Divine Love in Human Life, Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1959, 18; Excerpt from Chapter 2, Baptism as a Means of Grace)