Trine Immersion

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 7, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 32.

Trine Immersion for baptism is based on a misunderstanding of our Lord’s commission. Baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit does not mean three baptisms, but three phases of Christian experience. The name of the Father implies cleansing from sin, clothed with His righteousness. The name of the Son involves the leaving and giving up of all—self-emptying—that God may fill the believer. The name of the Spirit is the fitting for service, anointed with power. It is one baptism, setting forth the one threefold experience. It is all included in baptism “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Sprinkling and pouring were substituted for baptism for the sake of expediency; trine-immersion came in as a superstition.