A Question on Baptism
Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci. The Baptism of Christ (oil and tempera on wooden panel), c. 1475.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
(Listen to an audio version of the blog post above!)
Since launching the NEW logosbiblestudy.com, Dr. C. has been answering a lot of your questions during weekly Zoom discussion sessions, twice-weekly online “Office Hours” and via email.
Periodically, we’d like to share some of those questions and answers with you.
Here’s a question we received from Alicia W:
“What is the proper method of baptizing: dipping, pouring or sprinkling. I’ve seen all three being done, but what is the right way?”
Here’s the answer:
When John says, "I baptize you with water . . . (Matthew 3: 11)," the Greek verb is βαπτίζω (bap-tid'-zo), which means literally "to dip" or "to immerse." We don't find baptism in the Old Testament, but we do find its precursor of "ritual immersion," what a person does when he or she becomes ritually impure (Leviticus 11-15). When we travel to Israel and visit Qumran, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we see many mikvehs (ritual immersion baths). Such ritual immersion was full immersion, going completely beneath the water.
A Mikveh at Qumran.
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas
That's the preferred method of baptism (and many conservative Evangelical churches insist upon it). But since most churches don't have the facilities for full-immersion baptism, either "dipping" (as with my infant son, Jonathan), "pouring" (as with my infant son, Adam) or "sprinkling" will suffice. In most denominations, all are permitted, and all are valid.
But if you have a choice, choose full immersion!
For Roman Catholics, Baptism is one of three sacraments of Christian initiation (along with Conformation and Eucharist): “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1213). Most mainline Protestant churches follow Martin Luther’s thinking on baptism: “To put it most simply, the power, effect, benefit, fruit, and purpose of Baptism is to save . . . To be saved, we know, is nothing else than to be delivered from sin, death, and the devil and to enter into the kingdom of Christ and live with him forever” (Luther’s Large Catechism, 1529). In contrast, although most Evangelical churches recognize baptism as a sacrament, it is viewed primarily as an outward sign of an inner reality, a reality which follows a believer’s experience of God’s saving grace.
A person is baptized only once in his or her lifetime. But like a person’s marriage vows, one can “reaffirm” one’s baptismal vows. We sometimes do so during our Logos Bible Study teaching tours to Israel.
Dr. C. and Pastor Brian Anderson of Mission Hills Church assist as Brian’s congregants “reaffirm” their baptismal vows in the Sea of Galilee!
Photography by Ana Maria Vargas