Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
World English Bible
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Matthew 10:5-6 and 15:24 have Jesus restrict his and his disciples' mission to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" — explicitly forbidding any approach to Gentiles or Samaritans. Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15 reverse this completely, commanding the disciples to teach "all nations" and preach to "every creature."
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Law & ethics
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Matthew 28:19 has the risen Jesus command baptism "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" — a Trinitarian formula. Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, and 19:5 all describe actual baptisms being performed in the name of Jesus Christ alone.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
Historical detail
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Matthew 28:19 places baptism at the center of the risen Jesus' Great Commission to the eleven — go, make disciples, baptize them in the triune name. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:14, 17 says the opposite about his own mission — he thanks God he baptized almost no one in Corinth, and flatly states that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
Theology
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
One of these tensions involves a difference in wording across manuscripts or translations. Examine the original language on Lemma →
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Matthew 28:19 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/matthew/28/19?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).