My eventual goal with this series of posts is to present many of the passages in the Bible that speak of baptism. That is, after all, the evidence that most needs to be looked at and what first got me to this point. But first it might help to put baptism into a little bit of context.
As it turns out, baptism is not unique to Christianity. Rituals of water purification are found in religions all across the world. Different Greek cults required one to be dipped or bathed in water. Baptisms were connected with the cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis and the mystery religion of Mithras, both of which were very popular in the Roman Empire. Going even farther back into history, many civilizations in Babylon, Persia and India had ceremonial washings akin to baptism.
The Jews also practiced baptismal and washing rites. There are passages in the Law of Moses that speak of ritual washings for priests. New converts from paganism to Judaism had to fulfill certain obligations, which included the study of the Torah, circumcision, and a ritual bath to wash away the impurities of their Gentile background.
One group of Jews that was especially careful to practice baptism was the Essene community; the Essenes also emphasized internal repentance that accompanied this washing. The Essene community is famous partly because John the Baptist (likely) came from among them. The baptism of John the Baptist was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). John’s baptism was, first of all, to turn the Jews from sin, back to their holy God.
Baptism was not a new invention of the Christians. After accepting the baptism of John, Jesus added to this ritual the power and grace of God. It is not that water is holy in and of itself, but that Christ has taken water and this ritual from thousands of years ago and transformed into something even more wonderful.
When you flash forward beyond the New Testament and into early Church history you see the idea of baptismal regeneration being testified about from the earliest times. Writers like Clement, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, the author of the Didache and Justin Martyr were men who actually knew the apostles in real life and heard the teachings from their lips. And in their writings (some of them were written even earlier than a few of the later books of the New Testament) we see no mention of a “symbol only baptism” and more than a few references to baptismal regeneration.
Later into early Church history we see that baptism was the “benchmark” of a Christian. Baptism started to come later and later in the formation of Christian converts (although from most Church history sources we see infants being baptized and there are few if any arguments against it). Christian converts would study or undergo a period of examination. During this phase they were called “catechumens.” This phase was completed upon their baptism. One of the reasons for this was that during the great persecutions of the Roman Empire, when millions of Christians were slaughtered, you didn’t want “just anyone” being a part of a Christian community if they were not serious about it or else the entire community risked death. There were also reasons related to making sure those who wanted to become Christian were familiar with their faith and had taken to time to make sure their motives were pure.
The ancient Christian worship services were actually divided into two parts. The “Word” and the “Sacrifice” more or less. The “Word” portion was filled with prayers, singing, readings from Scripture and a short sermon. The “Sacrifice” portion of the service featured more prayers and songs, but also the Lord’s Supper or “Eucharist” (that term was the earliest term we have for it). The catechumens were allowed to stay for the Word portion of the service, but had to leave for the Sacrifice portion of the service until they were baptized.
Of course the question we Baptists like to pose is “If baptism is needed for salvation, what happened to the catechumens who died before being baptized?” This did indeed happen more than a few times in history. The Catholic Church teaches something called the “baptism of desire” and the “baptism of blood.” If someone was martyred for their Christian faith before their baptism they partook of the baptism of blood; they were in effect baptized by their death. We even see Jesus make a passing reference (though not an explicit one) to a similar idea in Mark 10:38-39,
38Jesus said to them, ”You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them,”The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.
It is fairly obvious, as Jesus has already been baptized, that the “baptism” Jesus is referring to is His own death. Jesus even goes on to say the Apostles here will indeed receive this “baptism” and history bears this out as all of them (except for John the Apostle) were martyred for their faith.
There is also a term called the “baptism of desire.” For there were catechumens who died before their baptism of natural causes and through no fault of their own. The Church taught that their faith which included the desire to obey Christ in all things was more or less sufficient to stand for their “baptism.” That explained the account of the thief on the cross; for while he had no time to be baptized prior to his death, he did (implicitly) desire to do everything Christ would have commanded him to do (just as we accept Christ today) including baptism, were he able to do so. This was the ancient explanation and it is also the modern explanation for many of those who believe in baptismal regeneration. They teach that “while God has bound salvation to baptism, God Himself is not bound to anything.”
The Jews also practiced baptismal and washing rites. There are passages in the Law of Moses that speak of ritual washings for priests. New converts from paganism to Judaism had to fulfill certain obligations, which included the study of the Torah, circumcision, and a ritual bath to wash away the impurities of their Gentile background.
One group of Jews that was especially careful to practice baptism was the Essene community; the Essenes also emphasized internal repentance that accompanied this washing. The Essene community is famous partly because John the Baptist (likely) came from among them. The baptism of John the Baptist was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). John’s baptism was, first of all, to turn the Jews from sin, back to their holy God.
Baptism was not a new invention of the Christians. After accepting the baptism of John, Jesus added to this ritual the power and grace of God. It is not that water is holy in and of itself, but that Christ has taken water and this ritual from thousands of years ago and transformed into something even more wonderful.
When you flash forward beyond the New Testament and into early Church history you see the idea of baptismal regeneration being testified about from the earliest times. Writers like Clement, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, the author of the Didache and Justin Martyr were men who actually knew the apostles in real life and heard the teachings from their lips. And in their writings (some of them were written even earlier than a few of the later books of the New Testament) we see no mention of a “symbol only baptism” and more than a few references to baptismal regeneration.
Later into early Church history we see that baptism was the “benchmark” of a Christian. Baptism started to come later and later in the formation of Christian converts (although from most Church history sources we see infants being baptized and there are few if any arguments against it). Christian converts would study or undergo a period of examination. During this phase they were called “catechumens.” This phase was completed upon their baptism. One of the reasons for this was that during the great persecutions of the Roman Empire, when millions of Christians were slaughtered, you didn’t want “just anyone” being a part of a Christian community if they were not serious about it or else the entire community risked death. There were also reasons related to making sure those who wanted to become Christian were familiar with their faith and had taken to time to make sure their motives were pure.
The ancient Christian worship services were actually divided into two parts. The “Word” and the “Sacrifice” more or less. The “Word” portion was filled with prayers, singing, readings from Scripture and a short sermon. The “Sacrifice” portion of the service featured more prayers and songs, but also the Lord’s Supper or “Eucharist” (that term was the earliest term we have for it). The catechumens were allowed to stay for the Word portion of the service, but had to leave for the Sacrifice portion of the service until they were baptized.
Of course the question we Baptists like to pose is “If baptism is needed for salvation, what happened to the catechumens who died before being baptized?” This did indeed happen more than a few times in history. The Catholic Church teaches something called the “baptism of desire” and the “baptism of blood.” If someone was martyred for their Christian faith before their baptism they partook of the baptism of blood; they were in effect baptized by their death. We even see Jesus make a passing reference (though not an explicit one) to a similar idea in Mark 10:38-39,
38Jesus said to them, ”You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them,”The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.
It is fairly obvious, as Jesus has already been baptized, that the “baptism” Jesus is referring to is His own death. Jesus even goes on to say the Apostles here will indeed receive this “baptism” and history bears this out as all of them (except for John the Apostle) were martyred for their faith.
There is also a term called the “baptism of desire.” For there were catechumens who died before their baptism of natural causes and through no fault of their own. The Church taught that their faith which included the desire to obey Christ in all things was more or less sufficient to stand for their “baptism.” That explained the account of the thief on the cross; for while he had no time to be baptized prior to his death, he did (implicitly) desire to do everything Christ would have commanded him to do (just as we accept Christ today) including baptism, were he able to do so. This was the ancient explanation and it is also the modern explanation for many of those who believe in baptismal regeneration. They teach that “while God has bound salvation to baptism, God Himself is not bound to anything.”
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