p. 6 | On Baptism

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 2, 1908

On Baptism

A CORRESPONDENT makes the following inquiry concerning the subject of baptism: “Is there a shadow of a doubt about baptizing or immersing in favor of washing or pouring? What is the Greek version on the subject in full? A Presbyterian minister here makes the claim that the Greek meaning admits of pouring or washing for baptizing.”

The English word “baptize” is taken directly from the Greek verb baptizein. This Greek word is itself derived from the Greek word baptein, which is defined in Liddell & Scott’s Greek lexicon “to dip; to dip under,” and the definition given in the same lexicon to the word “baptizein” is “to dip repeatedly; to dip under,” and in the middle voice it means to dip one’s self; that is, to bathe. Other secondary meanings are given to both words, but it is not necessary to deal with them in this connection.

It will thus be seen that the primary definition of the word would indicate that the English meaning of “baptizein” would be to put under water, but in addition to the definition given in the dictionary, it is also necessary that we should consider the use of the word in Scripture. Such passages as Rom. 6:4 and Col. 2:12, in the connection in which they are found, make it clear that baptism, both in its essence and in its form, is a memorial of the death and resurrection of Christ, and in view of this fact, such a mode of baptism is proper as implies a burial of the candidate in the water, and is necessary in order to make it a proper memorial of Christ’s burial. A death and burial and a resurrection are indicated by the ordinance of baptism.

Furthermore, it is perfectly clear on reliable authority that in the early church only one mode of baptism was practised, and consequently that there is at present only one form of real baptism. Thus we read in the foot-note on Rom. 6:4 found in “Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul” by Conybeare and Howson, as follows: “This passage can not be understood unless it be borne in mind that the primitive baptism was by immersion.”

Also the following note on Acts 8:38 found in the same work: “It is needless to add that baptism was (unless in exceptional cases) administered by immersion, the convert being plunged beneath the surface of the water to represent his death to the life of sin, and then raised from this momentary burial to represent his resurrection to the life of righteousness. It must be a subject of regret that the general discontinuance of this original form of baptism (though perhaps necessary in our northern climates) has rendered obscure to the popular apprehension some very important passages of scripture.”

Thus the definition of the original word, the use of the word in the Scripture, and the practise of the early church, all testify to the fact that the only Scriptural mode of baptism is immersion.

We hope this will be clear to our correspondent, and to any others who have been in uncertainty in regard to this question.