Trinitarian formula

The Trinitarian formula is the phrase "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Koinē Greek: εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, romanized: eis to ónoma toû Patros kai toû Huioû kai toû Hagíou Pneúmatos; Latin: in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti), or words to that form and effect, referring to the three persons of the Christian Trinity.

One of its most common uses apart from baptism is when Roman Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, and others make the sign of the cross while reciting the formula.

These words are quoted from a command of the risen Jesus in the Great Commission: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in [1] the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

[3] The view of the passage as an interpolation was in recent times maintained by the Jesus Seminar, a nontrinitarian movement active in the 1990s.

Consequently, they may not recognize religious communities that baptize without this formula – e.g., Unitarians, Branhamists, Frankists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Oneness Pentecostals, all of whom deny the Trinity – as Christian religions.