FREE ESSAY ON BAPTISM

BAPTISM

Baptism: A Comparison of the Biblical Tradition with Modern Denominational Practices.
One of the main reasons for the different denominations is their core, or fundamental,
difference of belief concerning baptism. I hope to show many of the individual beliefs
that are held by the different denominations, and to go back to the Bible and show what
it has to say concerning baptism. The point is not to distinguish who is right and who is
wrong, but to make people think about what they have been taught in their denomination,
and to compare it to what the Bible has to say on the matter.
If we go back to the original Greek we find several words used for baptism, baptizing,
and baptized. All of these words have their root in the Greek word
, Bapto; meaning to overwhelm, i.e. cover wholly
with a fluid. The most common Greek word used to describe the act of baptism is
__. This is the word used
throughout scripture for baptism. If translated directly into the English language, its
meaning is: The process by which a man or object is completely immersed in water and then
withdrawn from it again. (Barth 1948) This is what John the Baptist did; he baptized them
by immersion in the Jordan River that came to him, after they repented of their sins
(Matthew 3, Mark 1, and Luke 3). Here we have our requirements for baptism as laid out by
the Bible: 
1) You must repent of your sins 
2) You must be immersed in water 
3) You must come to be baptized (not be brought) 
Later in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus adds to these requirements that the believer: 4)Be
baptized by another believer
5)Be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit
According to the scriptures John the son of Zechariah in the fifteenth year of the reign
of Tiberius Caesar came out of the wilderness and preached baptism for the repentance of
sins (Luke 3; RSV). He baptized people in the River Jordan, amongst those that he
baptized was Jesus. He only baptized those who came out to him and repented of their
sins. Upon Jesus's request, John, who did not believe himself worthy to baptize Christ,
did so. Even here with Christ's own baptism we see him following the second, third, and
fourth rules. As for the first and fifth rules Christ was without sin and thereby had no
need to repent of it and Christ had not given the command of the fifth yet. Here Jesus
himself is showing us that baptism is something good and, something that every believer
should do. Jesus even says that this own baptism is
fitting(_) to fulfil all righteousness (Matthew
3:15 RSV). The Greek word _ presumably indicates,
in an indirect manner, the divine will (Beasley-Murray 1963). This implies God's own will
in Jesus's baptism. God himself endorses baptism again by opening the heavens after
Jesus's baptism and says  This is my son in whom I am well pleased(Matthew 3:17, Mark
1:11, Luke 3:22 RSV). We also see that Jesus himself told his disciples to baptize people
early on in his ministry (John 4:1-2 RSV). Although Jesus Christ himself did not baptize
anyone he not only was baptized, but he told his disciples and all of his followers to be
baptized and to baptize others. In all the above cases we see the first three (and in
some cases the fourth) requirements followed.
Primitive Baptism, or the tradition of Baptism found in the early Church, is outlined for
use through out the New Testament (Acts 2:38, 10:48, Galatians 3:27; NIV). It is still
argued today whether or not water-baptism was practiced in the early Church (White 1960).
This argument has been an ongoing argument that will not be solved this side of Heaven,
and for the sake of this paper we will use Dr. Weizsacker's statement in his book The
Apostolic Age(1958), From all our authorities there can be no doubt that [baptism] was
practiced from an early date in the Apostolic period. In light of the fact that in
scripture the apostle neither added or took away from baptism, then Weizsacker's
statement holds to be true. The traditions of the early church followed all five of the
above mentioned requirements with none of the apostles adding to or subtracting from
them. 
In G. R. Beasley-Murray's book Baptism in the New Testament(1963) he brings out what
scholars believe Paul's view of baptism was. In consideration to the amount of scripture
that Paul did write and the amount of teaching he did in the early Church, many people
have stated that he has an unclear viewpoint on baptism. In the reading that I have done
by Beasley-Murray and the Bible, Paul's view point is very clear. Baptism is an
initiation into life in Christ and the Church (Beasley-Murray 1963),symbolically joining
with Christ in his crucifixion and his subsequent resurrection (Romans 6:3-4 NIV). As for
the specifics in baptism we find Paul true to the teaching of Immersion. The Greek word
used in the sixth chapter of Romans is _
or baptizo meaning to make fully wet; used only in the New Testament of the ceremonial or
ordinance of baptism(Strong 1996). This fulfil's the second of the five requirements. As
for the first requirement Paul in Acts 22:16 (NIV) Paul up holds it stating that they
should Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away calling on his name. not only does he
say to wash your sins away, but he up holds the fifth requirement. In order for anyone to
have been baptized by Paul they would have had to come to where he was in order for it to
take place. Therefore we know because Paul did in fact baptize people (I Corinthians
1:13-17 RSV) that they where adults and that they came to him. As for the last
requirement, being a believer in Christ, I do not think that there is any doubt that Paul
was a believer. It is also interesting to note that by Paul's time the practice of
believer baptism was not even questioned. According to H. Wheeler Robinson in his book
Christian Doctrine of Man,(1911) Paul was never confronted with the anomaly of an
unbaptized believer, still less, we may add, with the anomaly of a baptized non-believer.
With this support it is clear that only believers where baptized, and from that it is
easily extrapolate that only adults who had made a personal commitment to live their
lives for Jesus Christ were baptized by Paul. Paul makes it quite clear in the book of
Romans that the believer is to be baptized, and that it is not the baptism that saves
them but their faith in Jesus Christ and his redeeming work on Calvary. He also makes it
clear who is to be baptized, under what conditions they are to be baptized, and how they
are to be baptized.
Paul's Gospel message can be condensed to eleven words Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ,
and you will be saved(White 1960). With this statement we can dispel the most common
error about baptism, that being that it is required for salvation, and the second most
common error, that being that an infant can be baptized. Neither of these two errors are
supported by Paul or his epistles, in addition they are not supported by any scripture
that I know of.
In addition to the writings of Paul we have Peter both his elder and his contemporary.
Peter was the apostle known as the beloved of Christ and therefore may have known the
heart of Christ the man, better than anyone of his day. It has been suggested by some
that the first epistle of Peters is an address to candidates for baptism, and that it is
given at the close of their preparatory instruction. No where else in scripture is there
so much written about baptism than in I Peter 1:3-4:11. This fact makes I Peter unique
among New Testament writings. We find in I Peter two subthemes, according to White on
page 257 of his book The Biblical Doctrine of Incitation: A Theology of Baptism and
Evangelism(1960). The first of these being: the joy of actualized redemption into which
the believer enters at baptism and hope of coming glory. This is the theme that is
overwhelming in the first chapter and supports the idea of believers coming to a new life
in Christ and that baptism is just the start of it. The second being: the nature of the
life that knows redemption by the lamb and expects the judgement and resurrection (White
1960). Peter supports here the symbolism of death with Christ on the cross, and rebirth
i.e., resurrection which is the promise to all who believe in him. Peter also supports
the confession of sins as a requirement for baptism in chapter 3 verses 20-21 of his
first epistle. In his first epistle Peter insist that salvation is only achieved through
the grace of God. He stress the need for obedience to God (I Peter 1:22, 2:8, 4:17). Here
with Peter's writings we find that he adds nothing to the requirements for baptism, while
at the same time takes nothing away from them. His soul reason for writing on the topic
is to address new candidates who have had some instruction in basic Christianity and
clarify some things that may have been confusing to them.
We see through-out the Bible that the five rules of Baptism are not changed or added to
during the history of the early Church. It is not until much later from the writings of
Origen, in 1047 that we have the first reliable source confirming the practice of infant
baptism. Over one hundred years after the death of Christ, the Church (and there was only
one church at this point in time.) decides to add something to the baptism process. It is
held by some scholars that the reason for infant baptism stems from a misunderstanding of
Mark's writing in his Gospel were he states that  He who believes and is baptized will be
saved (Mark 16:16 RSV); but he who does not believe will be condemned. In early
translation the distinction that is was the disbelief in Christ that condemned them was
not as clear. Due to this misunderstanding the Church started to baptize infants thereby
setting a dangerous precedent. 
Amongst the strongest denominations in the world is the Catholic Church. This was the
keeper of much of scripture for hundreds of years. The Catholic and Orthodox Church share
a common history, due to the fact that they where the same group for a goodly period of
time, and therefore a natural commonality of practices. These two denominations have
practiced infant baptism for hundreds of years and both state it as required for
assurance of salvation. In their defenses though they do make the statement that
confirmation is the second step of baptism and this is when the baptism is complete. This
is a nice way of combining two traditions that they hold to, but it still states that it
is required for salvation. For them it is a matter of Faith and Morals. These two
denominations are not alone, standing with them in this practice are the Lutheran
Denominations, both the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and the Missouri Synod.
These two denominations hold common ancestry as well, and both are born out of the Roman
Catholic. 
The United Church Of Christ and The Congregational Church are two more denominations that
have joined forces and practice infant baptism. The concern here though should not be
over baptism but over the belief in who you are being baptized in. As a matter of
doctrine these denominations do not hold to Trinitarian Doctrine and there for have
larger problems.
The United Methodist, Evangelical Free Church, and the Episcopal Church are others who
practice infant baptism. This is by no means an exhaustive list just one to show how many
groups there are that are practicing infant baptism and some how tied it to salvation.
On the other side of the coin are the churches that practice Adult immersion Baptism,
these being the many different Baptist churches such as; The General Assemble of Regular
Baptist, The American Baptist, The Southern Baptist, and the North American Baptist. We
also have the Assembly of God churches, the Free Methodist churches, Church Of God. All
who practice Immersion baptism and claim that is nothing more or less than, the outward
expression of an inward faith. 
Out of all the above stated opinions and facts we of the modern world have come up with
our traditions of baptism. Each branch of Christianity supporting their own beliefs with
scholars and the works that these scholars have done. Adding into that the scripture
passages that back or can be made to back their own belief system. The Bible itself is
clear, there are only five rules concerning baptism:
1) You must repent of your sins 
2) You must be _ or completely
immersed in water 
3) You must come to and ask to be baptized (not brought and volonterred) 
4) You must be baptized by another believer i.e., another Christian but not always a
pastor or priest. 
5) You are to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These and only
these are the Biblical requirements for baptism that I have been able to turn up in my
research. 
I am not perfect and would not like anyone to believe that the research I have done is to
offend anyone. I have done the research however and would challenge you to take it
seriously and to consider what your denomination does in the way of baptism, and if it
follows the biblical traditions. 
Bibliography
References
Anderson, Ken.(1996). Where to find it in the Bible.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Barth, Karl.(1948). The Teaching Of The Church Regarding Baptism. 
London: S C M Press.
Beasley-Murray, G. R.(1963). Baptism In The New Testament. 
New York: London Macmillan & Company LTD.
Conant, Thomas J.(1977). The Meaning and Use of Baptizein. 
Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
The NIV Study Bible.(1995).
Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York:
Oxford University Press, 1977.
Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age.
Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and
Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Works Consulted
Anderson, Ken.(1996). Where to find it in the Bible.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Barth, Karl.(1948). The Teaching Of The Church Regarding Baptism. 
London: S C M Press.
Beasley-Murray, G. R.(1963). Baptism In The New Testament. 
New York: London Macmillan & Company LTD.
The book of common prayer: And administration of the Sacraments and other ceremonies of
the Church.(1979). New York: The Hymnal Corporation.
Conant, Thomas J.(1977). The Meaning and Use of Baptizein. 
Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
Coniaris, Anthony M.(1982). Introducing the Orthodox Church
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Light and Life Publishing Company.
Koehler, Daniel R.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of
Wellspring Assemble of God.
The NIV Study Bible.(1995).
Grand Rapids: The Zondervan Corporation.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha Revised Standard Version.(1977). New York:
Oxford University Press, 1977.
Nyberg, Nancy.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Pastor of 1st
Congregational Church of Dundee.
Poole, W. Michael, D.Min., Th.D.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with
pastor of Calvary Church of God.
Strong, James.(1996). The New STRONG'S Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Tierney, Michael J.(November 1997). Personal Interview and survey with Priest from Saint
Margaret Mary Catholic Parish.
Unger, Merrill F.(1967). Unger's Bible handbook. 
Chicago: Moody Press.
Weizsacker, H.I(1958). The Apostolic Age.
Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications.
White, R.E.O.(1960). The Biblical Doctrine of Initiation: A Theology of Baptism and
Evangelism. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.