Additional writings on Baptism

I began a three-part series on "Baptism - The Gospel Illustrated" on Sunday, April 15. In addition to the notes of the sermons, (which you can view here), I am putting further notes and evidences of Scriptural baptism here.

The word baptizō means to completely “immerse" an object into another substance. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance gives the meaning as "to make whelmed, i.e., fully wet" or "to cover wholly with a fluid." A standard Greek lexicon defines baptize and its cognates as "dip, immerse, ...plunge, sink, drench, overwhelm."

In his study of the word, George Beasley-Murray gives the meaning of baptize as "dip, immerse, submerge" and observes, "Despite assertions to the contrary, it seems that baptize, both in Jewish and Christian contexts, normally meant 'immerse' and that even when it became a technical term for baptism, the thought of immersion remains."

John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, and John Calvin all argue that the word means "immerse." Luther states, "I would have those who are to be baptized completely immersed in the water, as the word says and as they mystery indicates...This is doubtless the way it which it was instituted by Christ.

Calvin writes, "The word baptize means to immerse, and it is clear that the rite of immersion was observed in the ancient church," but "the details of mode are of no importance."

Interestingly, both Luther and Calvin believing what true baptism was still held over the Roman Catholitic view of baptizing infants.

There is strong and conclusive evidence showing that the ancient Jews and the 1st and 2nd century Christian Gentiles all practiced baptism by full immersion. Even pagans understood in the early years that Christians were immersed in water, professing their faith in Christ' death, burial and resurrection from the dead. The Roman Emperor Constantine, after allegedly converting to Christianity in the 4th century, falsely believed that the Christian rite of baptism washed away one's personal sins. Because of this belief, Constantine waited until shortly before his death to be baptized in order to avoid dying with any unwashed sin. He was baptized by immersion (Eusebius, The Life of Constantine, Chapter 62). A disagreement arose in the Roman Catholic Church after Constantine's death over the timing of baptism. Many Roman Catholic theologians argued that infants needed baptism to wash away original sin lest they die in their infancy unbaptized. Infant baptism became a widespread occurance in the Roman Catholic church throughout the middle ages (AD 500 to AD 1500).

Even AFTER the Reformation in 1517, Christians in those groups that split from Roman Catholicism (i.e. Anglicans, Puritans, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc...) continued the practice of infant baptism.

Wade Burleson recently wrote: There are some Christians who have always resisted infant baptism, even throughout the Middle Ages. These Christians were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for being traitors to the state. Likewise, after the Reformation, Christians who resisted infant baptism were persecuted by Protestant AND Catholics and were given the epitath "ana-baptists" for being traitors to the state! The Holy Roman Empire throughout the Middle Ages had kings who came to Rome to receive God's blessings to rule a portion of the empire. Church and state were united. When the Reformation came, England split from Rome, but England still kept a state church--the Anglican Church. Germany split from Rome and still kept a state church--the Lutheran Church. Scotland split from Rome and still kept a state church--the Presbyterian Church. I could go on and on. Taxes paid pastors salaries in Protestant and Catholic countries. Kings appointed the pastors (bishops) in Protestant countries and served as head of both the church and the state. The Pope continued to appoint bishops and kings in Catholic countries. Those Christians in Protestant England, Protestant Europe states and Roman Catholic states who refused to baptize their children in infancy eventually became known as Baptists. The Baptists in England and Europe, like their ana-baptist forefathers, were persecuted for being traitors to the states in which they lived. For over a millenia, Christian names and state citizenship had been bestowed on children at their baptisms--the rite which came to be called christening. Baptists refusing to baptize their infant children were deemed traitors to their respective states. Some Baptists were tortured and others were put to death by their governments. Some sought to escape persecution by coming to the newly discovered land of America.