EXCURSUS ON BAPTISM
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INTRODUCTION
This study will examine the biblical doctrine of baptism. We
begin with a brief study of the word family that surrounds the doctrine
of baptism. Following this we will notice several theological statements
made by leading scholars, bible dictionaries, and theological works from
a variety of religious persuasions. We will then examine the
occurrence of this family of words in the New Testament. Finally
we will draw together conclusions from the biblical statements on
baptism and offer a theology of baptism that has its roots within the
biblical framework.
The words baptism, baptize,
baptized, baptist, baptizer are found at least 95
times in the New Testament (Revised Standard Version).
Of the 95 occurrences in the NT, the words are found 50 times in the
Gospels.
They are found in the all fours Gospels, Acts, Paul, and Peter.
For maximum benefit we encourage the student
to work through the following lesson in the order in which the items are
presented.
OUTLINE OF STUDY
Click on any one of the items below to go to that section.
1.
The Words
2. The Anchor Bible Dictionary
3. General Theological Discussion
a. Alan Richardson, Anglican Dean of
York, Professor of Christian Theology
b. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Professor of
Church History and Historical
Theology
4. Baptism Texts in the Gospels, Acts, Paul, and Peter
5. Theological Discussion on the Textual and
Linguistic Analysis.
a.
Pre-Christian Practice of Baptism
b. The Baptism of John the Baptist
c. Christian Baptism
6.
Theological Discussion on the Texts: Acts
7.
Theological Discussion on The Texts: Paul, John, and
Peter
8. Summary of Baptism Study
THE WORDS
The Greek words with their literal English meaning from which the
English words are transliterated are:
Baptizo
- baptizo - baptize, dip, immerse, dip oneself (middle voice),
wash, plunge, sink, drench, overwhelm.
Baptismos
- baptismos - baptism, dip, wash
Baptisma
- baptisma - baptism
Baptisths
- baptistes - baptist, baptizer
Baptw
- bapto - dip, dip into, cover with
THE ANCHOR BIBLE DICTIONARY
Below, we present an extract from the Anchor Bible Dictionary on
Baptism.
The Anchor Bible Dictionary defines baptism as "A rite of
incorporation employing water as a symbol of religious
purification."
The Greek words. The ABD gives the following
definitions of the Greek words:
1. Greek
Terminology. The Gk verb for "baptize, " baptizein,
is formed from baptein, "dip, " and means
"dip frequently or intensively, plunge, immerse."
By Plato’s time and onwards it is often used in a figurative
sense (e.g., in the passive, "soaked" in wine, Plato Symp.
176 B).
It appears 4 times in the LXX: 4 Kgdms 5:14 (Naaman in the
Jordan), Jdt 12:7 (purification), Sir 34:30—Eng 34:25
(purification after touching a corpse), Isa 21:4 (figuratively
of lawlessness).
The noun baptisma is only used in Christian literature,
where it refers to the baptism of John or to Christian baptism.
The word baptismos is used in a wider sense for dipping,
washing (of dishes Mark 7:4), of ritual washings (Heb 9:10; John’s
baptism, Joseph. Ant. 18.117; Christian baptism, Col 2:12
[variant].
A synonymous noun is loutron "bath" used of
both ordinary and ceremonial baths, but in the NT only with
reference to baptism.
The corresponding verb louein "wash, bathe" is
encountered in its everyday use in, e.g., 2 Pet 2:22 and John
13:10.
It refers to ceremonial baths in Lev 15:11 and to Christian
baptism (probably) in the compound form apolouein in 1
Cor 6:11.
Anchor Bible Dictionary |
The Phenomology
(meaning of the
use of) of the words.
Rites of immersion
were not uncommon in the world in which early Christianity
developed.
One type of symbolism with which they were frequently connected
was that of purification: from sin, from destruction, from the
profane sphere before entering an holy area, from something
under a taboo, etc. See, e.g., Lev 16:4, 24 (the high priest
before and after the rites of atonement); Leviticus 15 (on
menstruating women); 1 QS 3:5–9 (cleansing from sins); Sib.
Or. 4.165 (a baptism of repentance); Joseph. Ant.
18.117 (on John’s baptism); Joseph. Life. 11 (on Bannus’
ablutions for purity’s sake); Apul., Met. 11.23
(purification at the initiation into the Isis mysteries); b.
Yebam. 47 ab (on proselyte baptism).
Such cleansings can take place when one
stands on the verge of a new state in life or is entering into a
new community or upon a new phase of life, etc. (Emphasis, IAF).
Thus they can function as rites of initiation or as rites of
passage. Depending on the way in which one regards the situation
being left behind and the one being entered, such rites can be
connected with ideas of a new birth, of a new life, or of
salvation as contrasted to nothingness, chaos, death, or
destruction.
Anchor Bible Dictionary |
History of Religions Background.
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As already
intimated, many religions in antiquity practised different
washings and baths.
This holds true for the mysteries of Eleusis, of Mithras, and of
Isis. The OT prescribed several ablutions to be performed, rules
which were observed by Jews also in NT times (John 2:6).
The Qumran community laid a particular stress on them, and
Bannus (Joseph. Life. 10) and John the Baptist were not
alone in practising baptisms outside of mainstream Judaism.
Other baptismal movements also appeared in the Transjordanian/Syrian
area.
Sometime during the 1st century c.e. proselyte baptism was
introduced in Judaism
When baptism received a central place in Mandeism, the rite as
such was certainly no novelty, regardless of whether it should
be regarded as pre-Christian or not.
One should beware of assigning the same or even similar meanings
to these rites. As rites they are open to several
interpretations; in each case it is to be expected that the
meaning of the rite is provided by the ritual context or
otherwise through instruction or tradition.
Anchor Bible Dictionary |
GENERAL THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION
The majority of mainline,
traditional, churches hold to some form of baptismal tradition. In
most cases, baptism is seen as a means of transition from a past life
into a new life style and relationship with Christ and the church.
In this sense, baptism has traditionally been seen as one of the two
main sacraments of the church, the other being the Eucharist, Communion,
or Lord's Supper.
(The term sacrament is a technical term [sacrament derives
from the Latin term sacramantum which meant an oath of allegiance
to someone] that infers a relationship with, or commitment to, Christ
and the church. Baptism is the sacramental initiation into
the church and relationship with Christ, and the Eucharist [Lord's
Supper] is the continued intimate relationship or communion with
both.)
Alan Richardson, ed., A Dictionary of Christian Theology, SCM Press,
1969, under the section Initiation, makes the following
observations on baptism:
From apostolic times the initiation
of new members into the Church has been by baptism (cf.
Acts 2:38, 41)....Theologically baptism signifies what God has
done for our salvation through Christ...and also what God does
for men individually and corporately through the mediating work
of Christ. Baptism, like the other dominical sacrament,
the Lord's Supper, is a proclamation of Christ's death and
resurrection...The going down into the water symbolizes a burial
and the coming up from the waters a resurrection....
As we are born into a natural family on earth, so at baptism we
are reborn ('regenerated') into the family of our heavenly
father....
Alan Richardson, Dean of
York, Church of England, Professor of Christian Theology,
University of Nottingham, England. |
Everett F. Harrison, ed., Baker's
Dictionary of Theology, Baker Book House, 1960, 1983, under Baptism
and Believers:
Baptism: In essence the
action of baptism is an extremely simple one, though pregnant
with meaning. It consists in a going in or under the
baptismal water in the name of Christ (Acts 19:5) or more
commonly the Trinity (Matt 28:19). Immersion was fairly
certainly the original practice and continued in general use up
to the Middle Ages.
Theologically, the insistence upon believers' baptism in all
cases seems better calculated to serve the true significance and
benefit of baptism and to avoid the errors which so easily
threaten it. Only when there is personal confession before
baptism can it be seen that personal repentance and faith are
necessary to the salvation through Christ, and that these do not
come magically but through hearing the word of God. With
believers' baptism the ordinance achieves its significance as
the mark of a step from darkness and death to light and
life. The recipient is thus confirmed in the decision he
has taken, brought into the company of the regenerate, which is
the true church..., and encouraged to walk in the new life which
he has begun.
Geoffrey Bromiley,
Professor of Church History and Historical Theology, Fuller
Theological Seminary. |
THEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF BAPTISM
I. Pre-Christian Practice of Baptism
We have already
noticed above that several religious groups outside of the
Judeo-Christian tradition held to some form of baptism or
immersion as a form of ceremonial cleansing or washing in the
case of certain taboos such as touching a corpse, or the
cleansing from some "sin" or ceremonial misdeed,
etc. In some cases (Isis) baptism by immersion was part of
the process or ceremony of initiation into the group.
Baptismal cleansing was also practiced among the Jews as a means
of ceremonial cleansing prior to John the Baptist and the
Christian movement. Not only were people cleansed from
ceremonial uncleanness, but utensils used in the home or
religious functions were also cleansed by immersion. Mikhahs
(spelled variously) were a common part of prayer places and
synagogues before the time of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
(A mikvah is a large "pool" or cistern in which
a person could be immersed for this ceremonial cleansing.
Rules relating to the type of water and ceremony were
established in early Judaism. Mikhahs have been discovered
in many archaeological digs of Jewish communities and
synagogues.)
From the Dead Sea Scrolls we have learned that the community at
Qumran (and other Dead Sea religious communities) practiced
baptism as a form of ceremonial cleansing. In this
community baptism was not a once for lifetime experience as in
Christian baptism, but one repeated as often as the
necessity demanded for ceremonial holiness.
It is not surprising that John the Baptist came preaching a
baptism for the forgiveness of sins that was characterized by
repentance.
First, we learn from Luke 7:29, 30 (but
the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for
themselves, not having been baptized by him) that John's
baptism was not his idea, but that of God, for as we notice,
Luke tells us that the Pharisees rejected the purpose of God
by not being baptized. John (Jn 1:33) records that
John the Baptist understood that he was sent by God to baptize
with water.
Second, some scholars suggest, with reasonable grounds,
that John may have been raised by one of the Jewish communities
in the wilderness (such as the one at Qumran). If so, he
must have been familiar with ceremonial baptisms such as those
carried out by the Qumran community.
Third, from at least the time of John the Baptist,
ceremonial cleansings in Mikhahs was already a practice fairly
common among the Jews. That the crowds flocked out to hear
John and to be baptized by him indicates that they were not
surprised by John's insistence that they be baptized
demonstrating repentance, and that this baptism was for the
forgiveness of sins.
The point we are making here is
that baptism was not a new novelty invented by the Christian
community. |
2. The Baptism of John the Baptist
When John came
preaching the urgent and long anticipated message that the
kingdom of God was at hand, and demanded repentance and baptism
from the Jews, his message had within it certain
eschatological
(end time) implications. The Jews had long anticipated the
coming of a Messiah who would judge the nations and restore
God's kingdom to Israel. John came as the forerunner to
the Messiah (Matt 3:1-3; Mk 1:1-4, Lk 3:2-9; Jn 1:19-23).
His message of repentance and baptism held within it both the
promise of cleansing and renewal, and the imminent arrival of
the Messianic kingdom.
Mark explains in the clearest terms the nature of John's
baptism.
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John the baptizer
appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And
there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all
the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him
in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mk
1:4,5) |
We need to understand the nature
of the forgiveness offered under John's baptism.
Forgiveness of sins was not something new, for such was available
through the Mosaic annual sacrificial offering for sin and day
of atonement. Repentance and confession of sins was
required under the mosaic system, but the sacrifices had to be
repeated every year. The forgiveness of sins offered
through John's baptism was part of this Mosaic system with the
new ingredient of baptism as a sign of true repentance.
The initiative for this repentance was the imminence of the
Messianic kingdom to be inaugurated by Jesus.
Such was the power of John's message that many (all Judea) went
out to hear him preach and to be baptized. The exception,
however, were the Scribes and Pharisees whose traditional piety
was superficial (Jesus calls them hypocrites) and who desiring
to make a show of their "righteousness" also came out
to hear John, only to hear a scathing rebuke regarding the
nature of their false repentance.
The core, or dynamic of John's message was repentance in view of
the imminence of the Messianic kingdom. It's purpose was
to prepare the Nation of Israel for the coming of the Messiah
and the inauguration of his kingdom. John the Baptist
clearly claims that his purpose in baptizing was to reveal the
Messiah to Israel (Jn 1:31). John's baptism, characterized
as it was by repentance, was an indication that the recipient
was prepared for the breaking in of God's eschatological
kingdom. Baptism was the
visible expression of one's faith and repentance, and the goal of
that baptism was the forgiveness of sins and preparation for the
imminent kingdom of God and the Messiah.
The key points we should note are:
1) The baptism of John was accompanied by repentance.
2) It offered forgiveness of sins under the Mosaic system.
3) It was a forerunner to the inauguration of the
Messianic kingdom.
4) It operated under the Mosaic system of animal
sacrifices which had to be
renewed every year.
Years later (Acts 19:3-5) Paul encountered some who had been
baptized under John's baptism. He encouraged them to be
baptized in the name of Jesus, not the name of John:
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3 And he
said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They
said, "Into John’s baptism." 4 And
Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of
repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who
was to come after him, that is, Jesus." 5 On
hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus. |
Once Jesus' kingdom had been
established, John's baptism was no longer effective and valid.
Jesus' Personal Baptism falls under the category of John
the Baptist's baptism. Three of the Gospels record Jesus'
baptism (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:12, 13; and Luke 3:21, 22) and
the fourth, John, alludes to it (John 1:29-34).
Matthew (in view of his Jewish audience) gives us the more
detailed explanation of Jesus' baptism. It is Matthew that
includes the interesting dialogue between Jesus and John
regarding the necessity for Jesus being baptized. John
wanted to resist Jesus' baptism, claiming that he needed to be
baptized by Jesus rather than Jesus being baptized by
John. Jesus responds that his baptism was necessary
"to fulfil all righteousness". What Jesus meant
by this was that in order to keep in a right relationship with
God
(righteousness in the Jewish context implied a right
relationship with God by doing his will) he needed to be
baptized. He had no reason to repent and no sins that
needed forgiveness, yet he still needed to keep the will of God
in order to be righteous and in a right relationship with his
Father. This adds to the importance of John's baptism,
since Jesus implies that John's baptism related to doing the
will of the Father! (See also Lk 2:20, 30.)
When Jesus came up out of the water the Holy Spirit descended on
him in the form of a dove, and God acknowledged Jesus as
"my beloved son in whom he was well pleased."
In John's baptism of Jesus we see a transition from John's
ministry of pointing to Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus
beginning his ministry as the Messiah.
In this significant narrative we find John "passing the
torch" to Jesus with the fascinating words:
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"I baptize you
with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to
carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with
fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his
wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire." Matt 3:11, 12 |
Whereas John's baptism was with water for repentance (and
forgiveness - Mark 1:4), Jesus baptism was to be with the Holy
Spirit and fire. This brief expression, recorded also in
Mark and John (albeit not as fully as in Matthew), presents an
interesting study.
First we note that the best translation is "with
the Holy Spirit and fire", not repeating the
"with" as in "with the Holy Spirit
and with fire." The Greek construction ties Holy
Spirit and fire together as one thought, not
two. Although the next verses speak of the winnowing fork
and fire as judgment, this statement Holy Spirit and fire
speaks not of judgment but of sanctification and purification as
in the new birth. Fire in the Jewish tradition could
represent both judgment ( Isa 5:22; Isa 34:8-10; Isa 66:15, 16,
24) and purification (Zech 13:9; Mal 3:2). Notice the
statement in Zech 13:9
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8
In the whole land, says the Lord,
two thirds shall be cut off and perish,
and one third shall be left alive.
9 And I will put this third
into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’" |
Coupled with the reference to the
Holy Spirit the statement "he will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire" speaks of the purification by the
Holy Spirit in the new age or the Messianic kingdom (see Hagner,
Matthew 1-13, p. 52, and Isa 44:3; Ezek 36:25-27; 39:29; Joel
2:28, passim, and the Dead Sea Scroll text 1QS 4:20-21).
Whereas John's baptism pointed to, or announced the
imminence of the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom, Jesus'
baptism (the baptism instituted by Jesus, namely Christian
baptism) would usher in or inaugurate the Messianic
kingdom and the purification and forgiveness offered in the
Messianic kingdom.
The mention here of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the
baptism that Jesus would bring indicated the new birth (Jn 3:3-5)
and forgiveness (Acts 2:38) in the Messianic kingdom.
When John records that Jesus baptized disciples (Jn 3:22), this
was under the baptism instituted by John the Baptist, and like
John's baptism functioned under the Mosaic legal system of
sacrifices. This should not be confused with the baptism
Jesus instituted and commanded (Matt 28:18, 19; Mark 16:15, 16)
and the Apostles taught (Acts 2:38, passim). The baptism Jesus
commanded and the Apostles taught we refer to as Christian
baptism.
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3. Christian Baptism
In the following statement we summarize
the Great Commission of Jesus. In Matt 28:19, 20 and Mark
16:15, 16, Jesus commanded his Apostles to go out into all the
world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and
teaching them, and that those who believed and were baptized
would be saved. Thus Jesus instituted what we call
Christian Baptism.
We have already noted above that John the Baptist had announced
this category of baptism with the statement that Jesus would
baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism of
Jesus would usher in the Messianic kingdom, the new birth into
the kingdom, and the new life in the Spirit.
The Gospels do not explain this baptism in any detail other than
in the discussion by John the Baptist mentioned above, and
Jesus' Great commission. It is to the Book of acts and the
Epistles of Paul and Peter that we must turn for clarification
of the nature and purpose of Christian Baptism. We
should note, however, that Christian Baptism was instituted and
commanded by Jesus.
For an overview of baptism texts
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For further textual analysis of baptism in Acts
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For further textual analysis of baptism in Paul, John, and Peter
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