Question Answered by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 8, 1873

Question Answered.

By James White

“I AM ASKED, How was the jailer and his family baptized? Please answer in the REVIEW.”

We see nothing in this case which calls for special examination. Whatever settles the question of baptism in general, answers this question. The word baptize means immerse; and therefore we should say without hesitation, they were immersed. There is nothing in the text to determine either way beyond the definition of the word. But we are not left to infer the manner, because it is indeterminate, as the indefinite texts are explained by the definite. Those texts which speak of baptism as a burial are decisive as to the form, and they harmonize with the definition of the term; this being the case, we see no room for doubt on this subject. J. H. W.