Baptizing my Baptist Views of Baptim: Pt 3

Pt. 3:  Rules, Schmules

This section won’t be long, but before getting into the Biblical passages themselves it might be helpful to lay out a few ground rules to keep in mind when approaching the Scriptures on this topic.

Baptizing my Baptist Views of Baptism: Pt 2

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.

Baptizing my Baptist Views of Baptism: Pt 1

I wrote this series of posts on baptism several months ago when the topic was of great interest to me (well, it is still of great interest to me, but you know what I mean).  For a Baptist who firmly believes that baptism is only a symbol, to seriously consider that a physical rite like baptism could impart a real, spiritual grace is akin to a materialist suddenly having an undeniable encounter with a ghost, fairy, angel or the Loch Ness monster.  The world very quickly turns into a much bigger, scarier and more wondrous place.  

This series of posts may be a bit of overkill and I do not mean to insult anyone who thinks differently than I do on this topic.  I have had two godly examples in my life who have differed on this issue.  One is my father (a dedicated Baptist deacon) and my late father-in-law (a dedicated deacon in the Church of Christ denomination).  They were both godly men, they both believed the Scriptures, they both attempted to read the Bible honestly and without eisigesis - yet they both disagreed on the meaning of baptism.  My father believes it was merely a symbol while my father-in-law was adamant that it was necessary for salvation.  I do not doubt either man's intentions or integrity and neither do I intend to do so to anyone else who has a divergent viewpoint.  

I originally wrote these for my wife who has had a hard time deciding what she truly believes on the doctrine (being raised Church of Christ and marrying a Baptist youth pastor will do that to you).  My attempt has been to address this to a relative newcomer to the topic, but to also do so in a way that was as thorough as I could make it..  So if I gloss over certain details, leave out historical evidences or use imprecise terminology it is because I attempted to make this easy to understand.  If you find it difficult to understand, chalk that up to the complexity of Scripture and my inexperience as a writer.  


Pt. 1:  How did I get here???Someone who grew up Church of Christ, Catholic or Lutheran might not realize how big of a shock it is for a Baptist to first realize that baptism might be a normal requirement for salvation (for the sake of trimming down on these already long posts, the belief that baptism is connected with salvation is called "baptismal regeneration."  Don't you feel smarter already?)