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Baptism Birth Water Spirit - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 24th Dec, 2007 - 7:32pm
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Baptism: The Birth Of Water And Of Spirit
Baptism: The Birth of Water and of Spirit
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QUOTE Baptism: The Birth of Water and of Spirit
by
Orson F. Whitney
[Independence, Mo.,
Zion's Printing and Publishing Company.
Pub. By the Missions of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In America, 192-]
P.2
Baptism is the sign of the covenant that men make with Christ when they take upon them his name and become members of the spiritual body of which he is the Head. But that is not all. It is the divinely appointed means of cleansing the soul from sin and making it fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. With faith and repentance, which must always precede it, and the authority of the Priesthood, which must always administer it, baptism constitutes the doorway or portal of entry into
Christ's Kingdom.
P.2
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) In those few simple words, spoken to
Nicodemus, "A ruler of the Jews," the Savior virtually set forth the meaning, the mode, the purpose and the necessity of baptism.
A Subject of Controversy
P.2
And yet this doctrine, though perfectly clear to the comprehension of
Christians anciently, has been a matter of uncertainty among their successors all down the centuries. From the days of the early Greek fathers of the Christian Church, to the days of St. Augustine, the great theologian of the Roman Catholic Church, from his time to the time of Luther and Calvin, and on into the current age, men have disputed over baptism, the water and spirit birth--its significance, form, purpose and effects and whether or not it is necessary to salvation.
The Savior's Example
P.3
One would think that Christ's positive statement to Nicodemus upon this point ought to have settled for all time the question of the necessity of baptism. But we have also the Savior's declaration regarding his own baptism as a clincher to the argument. When Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John, the latter demurred to the request, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Whereupon Jesus, answering, said: "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
(Matt. 3: 13-15.)
P.3
Now, if baptism was becoming in the Son of God--becoming and therefore necessary, it is becoming and necessary in all who follow in his footsteps and hope to be with him hereafter. They must be baptized with the same baptism that He was baptized with--the baptism of water and of the spirit, received by him at the river Jordan nearly two thousand years ago. The King of the Kingdom there set the example and pointed out the way whereby men might become his subjects or his fellow citizens in the celestial commonwealth.
Not All-Sufficient
P.3-p.4
There are some who contend that the baptism of Jesus sufficed for all; that it answered for the whole human race, thus obviating the necessity of baptism in general. To all such I put this question: Can you conceive of a kingdom in which the king is required to obey the laws ordained for its government, while the subject is not required to obey them? Far more likely, is it not, that the King, rather than the subject, would be exempt from that obedience? But the laws of Christ's kingdom are impartial, bearing with equal pressure upon all. The Son doeth nothing but what He hath seen the Father do, nor does He require from men an obedience that He himself is not willing to render.
"Follow Me," is the watchword of his mission. He did not say: "Thus it becometh me to fulfil all righteousness." He used the plural pronoun
"Us"--and it meant just what it said.
Why Jesus Was Baptized
P.4
True, baptism is for the remission of sins (Mark 1: 4, Acts 2: 38), and the Son of God was without sin. But let it not be forgotten that
He had taken upon himself "The sin of the world." Whether or not this was one reason for his being baptized--and I do not assert, but merely suggest it--it is certain that Christ's baptism did not render unnecessary the baptism of those who became his disciples, any more than his endurance of the pangs of Adam's race (2 Nephi 9: 21, 22;
Doc. And Cov. 19: 16-18), did away with all human suffering. Men and woman still suffer, notwithstanding Christ's suffering and atonement but not to the extent that they would have to suffer if such an atonement had not been made. Our little finite afflictions are but as a drop in the ocean, compared with the infinite and unspeakable agony borne by him for our sakes because we were not able to bear it for ourselves. And men and women must be baptized for the remission of their own sins, notwithstanding the baptism of the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29.)
Little Children Exempt
P.4-p.5
There is no salvation without repentance, and no remission of sin without baptism. It is a universal requirement--and yet it has its exceptions. Little children, too young to have sinned, and therefore incapable of repentance are exempt from baptism, and it is a sin to baptize them, involving as it does the vain use of a sacred ordinance.
(Moroni 8: 8-22.) Redeemed by the blood of Christ from the foundation of the world, they typify the innocence and purity required of grown-up men and women before they can enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven. As children advance in years, however, they become accountable, and must then yield obedience to the Gospel. Eight years is the recognized age of accountability.
P.5
Thorough conversion, which baptism betokens, makes men and women childlike--not in ignorance and weakness, but in innocence and humility. For "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." To be baptized is to be "Born again," thus symbolizing the soul raised to immortality. By baptism the repentant sinner is as effectually freed from sin as by death, burial and resurrection the mortal is changed to immortal and ushered into a new existence. Hence, baptism is termed "The washing of regeneration." Regeneration means "New birth."
Vicarious Work
P.5
And so necessary is this ordinance, on the part of all who are capable of intelligent obedience to the divine behest, that the Gospel makes provision for the vicarious or proxy baptism of those who pass out of this life without the opportunity to be baptized in their own persons.
Work of this character, divinely authorized, performed in holy temples, and properly recorded, is acceptable to the Lord, and just as effectual as if done by the person or persons for whom the proxy stands.
P.5-p.6
Nor should this occasion much surprise in any thoughtful Christian mind, when it is remembered that the entire fabric of Christianity rests upon the vicarious atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ for the redemption of a world that was powerless to redeem itself. Men cannot answer by proxy for deeds done in the body; but there have always been sacred ceremonies that one person might perform for another; and baptism is among them.
P.6
But delays are dangerous. Men are accountable before God from the moment they hear the Gospel preached, and should not postpone their obedience.
Early Christian Views
P.6
The earliest Christians did not doubt the necessity of baptism. On the contrary, they strongly insisted upon it, as indispensable to a saved condition. During the Patristic Age--that of the post-apostolic fathers--the conviction that no soul could be saved without baptism was so firm that it led to the baptism of infants--pedo-baptism--and to other innovations upon the primitive faith. It was seen that infants could not believe in Christ, nor repent of sins that they had not committed; but it was held that the Church or those who stood sponsor for the little ones, could believe for them, and they were baptized for original sin, which they were supposed to have inherited from Adam. The holders of such views have never explained why infant baptism did not become prevalent until two or three centuries after
Christ, and those who introduced the practice of baptizing infants overlooked or ignored the fact that Christ atoned for original guilt, and that men are accountable for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
Unauthorized Innovations
P.6-p.7
One innovation led to another. Those who had shed their blood in defense of the Church, or for its sake, but had never confessed
Christ, were esteemed as martyrs who had been baptized in their own blood. Finally, out of deference to the claims of a far more numerous class--worthy men and women, many of whom had lived and died before the Christian Church was founded, while others, though living contemporaneously with it, were never reached by its missionaries-- the idea gradually obtained that baptism was not essential to salvation. All of which might have been obviated, and the Church spared much ridicule and skepticism, the result of its rambling inconsistencies, had it kept the key to the situation--Baptism for the
Dead.
P.7
The notion that baptism is non-essential did not become fixed end popular until centuries after the Apostles fell asleep. St. Augustine, who figured in the latter part of the fourth, and in the first half of the fifth century, advanced the idea that water baptism was the
"Outward sign of an inward grace"; but he held, nevertheless, that no soul could be saved without it--not even infants. Luther believed baptism essential to salvation; Calvin and Zwingli did not; and so, in the sixteenth century began or was widened the schism of opinion concerning it that divides Christendom today.
Meaning of Baptism
P.7
Baptism means to dip, to bury, to immerse. Such was the meaning of the term in ancient times; such is its significance in the Greek end Latin tongues as they have come down to us. And this is prima facie proof that immersion is the proper mode of baptism.
P.7
But the case does not rest wholly upon philological grounds. Far more conclusive, as indicating the correct mode, is the striking symbolism of the baptismal ordinance, a symbolism most beautiful and appropriate, which would be destroyed if any other form were substituted for immersion.
P.7-p.8
Baptism was instituted in the likeness of Christ's burial and resurrection, and the mode of administering it must conform to that event, the most momentous in the history of the world, the creation alone excepted. When Christ taught the principle of baptism, he was teaching, symbolically, a greater principle, and preparing the way for its promulgation. That greater principle is resurrection, redemption from the grave and eternal life beyond--the preeminent over-towering fact for which he stands. Baptism he compared to a birth, the spirit's entry into mortal life; and this pointed to resurrection, the soul's entry into immortal glory. Most fitting was it that the Divine Author of the resurrection should be the first to rise, thus exemplifying the greater principle, even as he had exemplified the lesser which foreshadowed the greater.
The Purpose
P.8
The purpose of baptism is to free the soul from sin and bring it back into God's pure presence, where nothing unclean can come. Sin must not only be repented of: it must be washed away. The soul must be cleansed of it, and baptism is the cleansing process. Water, of course, cannot, in and of itself, wash away sin; but obedience, typified by the water, can and does, when the baptism is lawfully and properly performed.
A Two-Fold Ceremony
P.8
But we are not considering water baptism alone. Baptism is two-fold, and has a double mission to perform. It not only cleanses--it illuminates the soul, making manifest the things of God, past, present, future, and imparting a sure testimony of the Truth. The soul, cleansed of sin, is in a condition to enjoy the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, which "Dwelleth not in unclean tabernacles." Water baptism begins the work of purification and enlightenment. Spirit baptism completes it.
Immersion the True Mode
P.8-p.9
That immersion was the mode introduced by John the Baptist, submitted to by the Savior, and perpetuated by the Apostles, is a plain and reasonable inference from the teachings of the New Testament. (Matt.
3: 16; John 3: 23; Acts 8: 38; etc.) If immersion had not been the correct form, Paul would not have compared baptism to burial and resurrection (Rom. 6: 3-5; Col. 2: 12), nor would he have seen any resemblance between baptism and the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea (I Cor. 10: 1, 2.) Note also his words to the Corinthians, relative to vicarious baptism and in support of the resurrection, which some of them denied: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (I Cor. 15: 29.) In other words, why use the symbol of the resurrection, if there be no resurrection--if the symbol does not symbolize?
P.9
In addition to what the Bible tells, and reason emphasizes, we have the statements of archaeologists and historians, to the effect that baptism, in the first ages of Christianity, was the dipping or submersion in water. Ancient baptistries and other monumental remains in Asia, Africa and Europe, show that immersion was the act of baptism. The Christian churches of the Orient--Greek, Russian,
Armenian, Nestorian, Coptic, and others, have always practiced immersion and allow nothing else for baptism. The Western churches preserved this form for thirteen centuries, and then gradually introduced pouring or sprinkling, ceremonies in no way symbolical of birth and resurrection, and consequently not in harmony with the divine purpose for which baptism was instituted.
Clinic Baptism
P.9-p.10
Baptisms by pouring or sprinkling were exceptional in the early ages of the Christian Church. They were called clinic baptism, because administered, as a rule, to the sick, who could not be taken from their beds to be immersed. But they were rare, and were regarded only as quasi-baptisms. The first recorded case of clinic baptism is mentioned by Eusebius as having occurred in the third century.
Modern Methods
P.10
Baptism by immersion was practiced regularly in the Roman Catholic
Church, until the year 1311, when the Council of Ravenna authorized a change, leaving it optional with the officiating minister to baptize either by immersion or by sprinkling. Luther favored immersion and sought, against the tendency of the times, to restore it, but Calvin, while admitting that the word "Baptism" means immersion, and that this was certainly the practice of the ancient Church, held that the mode was of no consequence. But a Greater than Calvin had decreed otherwise. How dare men dispute or ignore the Word of the Lord:
"Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."
P.10
Pouring is the present practice in the Roman Catholic Church; sprinkling in the Church of England and in the Methodist Church. A choice of modes is permitted by the Presbyterians, though sprinkling is the regular form. The Baptist, as the name implies, are strong advocates of immersion. The Quakers repudiate baptism altogether.
The Authorized Practice
P.10
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has but one form of baptism--the one authorized by the Savior of the World, and practiced by his Apostles, namely, Baptism by Immersion for the Remission of
Sins. (Acts 2: 38; 3 Nephi 11: 3-25.) And this by divine authority which constitutes men God's agents and representatives, "For no man taketh this honor unto himself."
P.11
Our church did not receive its knowledge of baptism from the Bible alone, nor from the Book of Mormon, nor from any other book or record.
It came by direct revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Through him was restored what had been lost. Brushing aside the dust and cobwebs of tradition concealing the precious jewel of Truth, he brought back the knowledge of the "One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" of the ancients. (Eph. 4: 5; D. And C. 13.)
Spirit and Body Baptized
P.11
Baptism, in its two-fold character, corresponds to the soul, which is both spiritual and temporal. It is the soul that is baptized--not the body alone, nor the spirit alone, but the body and spirit in one.
Consequently, baptism is administered in a temporal world, where body and spirit can both be present and where water abounds. A person can believe and repent in the Spirit World, but cannot be baptized there, the watery element being absent. This makes necessary baptism by proxy.
Three in One
P.11
As a matter of fact, there are three elements in baptism, the Water, the Spirit and the Blood; though only two--water and spirit--are usually mentioned. Without Christ's atoning blood there could be no baptism of a saving character. Hence it is written: "The blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1: 7.)
P.11-p.12
There are three that bear record in heaven--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and there are three that bear witness on earth, the water, the spirit, and the blood. When a soul is baptized, it is by water and by spirit, made effectual by blood, and in the the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. "For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified." (Moses 6: 60.)
Symbolic of Creation
P.12
Baptism symbolizes creation. In the beginning of the world the three elements of baptism were present, taking part in the bringing forth of this planet: Water, creatable; Spirit, creative; and both acting under the fiat of Him whose blood was to redeem the earth then in the course of construction. "Let the dry land appear!" The very words suggest birth, creation, the emergence of an infant world from the watery deeps. And those same elements were present when Jesus was baptized in
Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink his precious blood yet unspilt, his sacred form dripping with the water from which He had just emerged, He was crowned with the Holy Ghost, descending upon him out of the heaven.
Immersion in the Spirit
P.12-p.13
So much stress being laid upon immersion and upon the dual character of baptism, one might be led to inquire: Why is it not an immersion in the spirit, as well as in the water? To which I answer: Who says that it is not? When John the Baptist, proclaiming the Christ, said, "I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost,"--it was baptism in each instance, and baptism signifies immersion. But here is modern authority. President Lorenzo Snow, in describing his own baptism, the effect of the Spirit upon himself, says: "It was a complete baptism--a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, The Holy Ghost." (Improvement Era, June, 1919, p. 654.) The fact that we do not see the Spirit, as we see the Water proves nothing to the contrary. Water is a temporal element, visible to the natural eye; the Spirit is discerned only by the spiritual eye.
The Laying on of Hands
P.13
Coming as it does from above, and imparted, as it is, by the laying on of hands (Acts 8: 17, 18), the descent of the Holy Ghost may be considered a type of the glorious baptism that Earth will yet receive, when she is cleansed from all iniquity and the Spirit is poured out upon her from on high.
The Fathers Understood
P.13
The Greek fathers of the Church held correct ideas of baptism. They called it "Initiation," from its introductory character,
"Regeneration," from its being regarded as a new birth, "The great circumcision," because it was held to have superseded the circumcision of the Mosaic law. They also termed it "Illumination" and "The gift of the Lord," showing that they recognized its two-fold character; showing also, that it meant to them no particular gift--such as prophecy, healing, tongues, etc., but signified the giving of the Holy
Ghost; as when Peter said to the Pentecostal multitude: "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
P.13
Baptism, to the primitive Christians, was no mere "Outward sign of an inward grace." The Saints of New Testament times and their immediate successors were baptized for the remission of sins; and they were baptized by immersion, the only mode divinely authorized for administering this sacred ordinance.
"Babes in Christ"
P.13-p.14
I have said that baptism symbolized creation. "Babes in Christ,"
"Children by my begetting," are phrases used by one or more of the ancient Apostles, with reference to those whom they had baptized into the Church. Evidently baptism was regarded by them, in a spiritual sense, as the creation of souls for the Kingdom of Heaven. Again that wonderful symbolism! The baptizer is the spiritual progenitor of the person baptized and from the womb of the waters the soul is "Born again."
P.14
It follows that baptism must be lawfully done, must have God's sanction upon it. Heavenly and earthly powers must join, must be wedded for the bringing forth of the redeemed soul. Otherwise the birth will be illegitimate, the act of begetting a sin.
Suggestive Symbolism
P.14
The Fall and the Redemption as suggested by the baptismal ordinance.
The very form of the ceremony seems to symbolize the career of that
Divine Being whose descent from heaven to earth, and whose ascent from earth to heaven, are the sum and substance of the Gospel Story.
Descending below and rising above--such was his experience from the time He left His celestial throne to the time He returned thither. May it not be that this holy ordinance was intended to typify the gracious condescension of the Eternal Father who, in sacrificing His Beloved
Son, sacrificed Himself for the sake of fallen man? Instituted in anticipation of that sublime sacrifice, it stands as a memorial of
God's mortal burial and immortal resurrection.
A Double Doorway
P.14-p.15
Moreover, in the symbolism of the Scriptures, this world is represented by water (Dan. 7; Rev. 13, 17). "All things are water," says the Greek philosopher Thales. Water represents the temporal part of creation, including the body or mortal part of man, nine-tenths of which, science affirms, is water. Baptism, therefore, suggests the passing out from this watery world into the spirit world, and thence by resurrection into eternal glory. It is only a suggestion, but it emphasizes for me why the doorway to the Church of God, on Earth and in Heaven, is a double doorway, a dual birth, a baptism of Water and of the Spirit.
by
Orson F. Whitney
[Independence, Mo.,
Zion's Printing and Publishing Company.
Pub. By the Missions of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In America, 192-]
P.2
Baptism is the sign of the covenant that men make with Christ when they take upon them his name and become members of the spiritual body of which he is the Head. But that is not all. It is the divinely appointed means of cleansing the soul from sin and making it fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. With faith and repentance, which must always precede it, and the authority of the Priesthood, which must always administer it, baptism constitutes the doorway or portal of entry into
Christ's Kingdom.
P.2
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) In those few simple words, spoken to
Nicodemus, "A ruler of the Jews," the Savior virtually set forth the meaning, the mode, the purpose and the necessity of baptism.
A Subject of Controversy
P.2
And yet this doctrine, though perfectly clear to the comprehension of
Christians anciently, has been a matter of uncertainty among their successors all down the centuries. From the days of the early Greek fathers of the Christian Church, to the days of St. Augustine, the great theologian of the Roman Catholic Church, from his time to the time of Luther and Calvin, and on into the current age, men have disputed over baptism, the water and spirit birth--its significance, form, purpose and effects and whether or not it is necessary to salvation.
The Savior's Example
P.3
One would think that Christ's positive statement to Nicodemus upon this point ought to have settled for all time the question of the necessity of baptism. But we have also the Savior's declaration regarding his own baptism as a clincher to the argument. When Jesus came from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by John, the latter demurred to the request, saying, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Whereupon Jesus, answering, said: "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
(Matt. 3: 13-15.)
P.3
Now, if baptism was becoming in the Son of God--becoming and therefore necessary, it is becoming and necessary in all who follow in his footsteps and hope to be with him hereafter. They must be baptized with the same baptism that He was baptized with--the baptism of water and of the spirit, received by him at the river Jordan nearly two thousand years ago. The King of the Kingdom there set the example and pointed out the way whereby men might become his subjects or his fellow citizens in the celestial commonwealth.
Not All-Sufficient
P.3-p.4
There are some who contend that the baptism of Jesus sufficed for all; that it answered for the whole human race, thus obviating the necessity of baptism in general. To all such I put this question: Can you conceive of a kingdom in which the king is required to obey the laws ordained for its government, while the subject is not required to obey them? Far more likely, is it not, that the King, rather than the subject, would be exempt from that obedience? But the laws of Christ's kingdom are impartial, bearing with equal pressure upon all. The Son doeth nothing but what He hath seen the Father do, nor does He require from men an obedience that He himself is not willing to render.
"Follow Me," is the watchword of his mission. He did not say: "Thus it becometh me to fulfil all righteousness." He used the plural pronoun
"Us"--and it meant just what it said.
Why Jesus Was Baptized
P.4
True, baptism is for the remission of sins (Mark 1: 4, Acts 2: 38), and the Son of God was without sin. But let it not be forgotten that
He had taken upon himself "The sin of the world." Whether or not this was one reason for his being baptized--and I do not assert, but merely suggest it--it is certain that Christ's baptism did not render unnecessary the baptism of those who became his disciples, any more than his endurance of the pangs of Adam's race (2 Nephi 9: 21, 22;
Doc. And Cov. 19: 16-18), did away with all human suffering. Men and woman still suffer, notwithstanding Christ's suffering and atonement but not to the extent that they would have to suffer if such an atonement had not been made. Our little finite afflictions are but as a drop in the ocean, compared with the infinite and unspeakable agony borne by him for our sakes because we were not able to bear it for ourselves. And men and women must be baptized for the remission of their own sins, notwithstanding the baptism of the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1: 29.)
Little Children Exempt
P.4-p.5
There is no salvation without repentance, and no remission of sin without baptism. It is a universal requirement--and yet it has its exceptions. Little children, too young to have sinned, and therefore incapable of repentance are exempt from baptism, and it is a sin to baptize them, involving as it does the vain use of a sacred ordinance.
(Moroni 8: 8-22.) Redeemed by the blood of Christ from the foundation of the world, they typify the innocence and purity required of grown-up men and women before they can enter into the Kingdom of
Heaven. As children advance in years, however, they become accountable, and must then yield obedience to the Gospel. Eight years is the recognized age of accountability.
P.5
Thorough conversion, which baptism betokens, makes men and women childlike--not in ignorance and weakness, but in innocence and humility. For "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." To be baptized is to be "Born again," thus symbolizing the soul raised to immortality. By baptism the repentant sinner is as effectually freed from sin as by death, burial and resurrection the mortal is changed to immortal and ushered into a new existence. Hence, baptism is termed "The washing of regeneration." Regeneration means "New birth."
Vicarious Work
P.5
And so necessary is this ordinance, on the part of all who are capable of intelligent obedience to the divine behest, that the Gospel makes provision for the vicarious or proxy baptism of those who pass out of this life without the opportunity to be baptized in their own persons.
Work of this character, divinely authorized, performed in holy temples, and properly recorded, is acceptable to the Lord, and just as effectual as if done by the person or persons for whom the proxy stands.
P.5-p.6
Nor should this occasion much surprise in any thoughtful Christian mind, when it is remembered that the entire fabric of Christianity rests upon the vicarious atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ for the redemption of a world that was powerless to redeem itself. Men cannot answer by proxy for deeds done in the body; but there have always been sacred ceremonies that one person might perform for another; and baptism is among them.
P.6
But delays are dangerous. Men are accountable before God from the moment they hear the Gospel preached, and should not postpone their obedience.
Early Christian Views
P.6
The earliest Christians did not doubt the necessity of baptism. On the contrary, they strongly insisted upon it, as indispensable to a saved condition. During the Patristic Age--that of the post-apostolic fathers--the conviction that no soul could be saved without baptism was so firm that it led to the baptism of infants--pedo-baptism--and to other innovations upon the primitive faith. It was seen that infants could not believe in Christ, nor repent of sins that they had not committed; but it was held that the Church or those who stood sponsor for the little ones, could believe for them, and they were baptized for original sin, which they were supposed to have inherited from Adam. The holders of such views have never explained why infant baptism did not become prevalent until two or three centuries after
Christ, and those who introduced the practice of baptizing infants overlooked or ignored the fact that Christ atoned for original guilt, and that men are accountable for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
Unauthorized Innovations
P.6-p.7
One innovation led to another. Those who had shed their blood in defense of the Church, or for its sake, but had never confessed
Christ, were esteemed as martyrs who had been baptized in their own blood. Finally, out of deference to the claims of a far more numerous class--worthy men and women, many of whom had lived and died before the Christian Church was founded, while others, though living contemporaneously with it, were never reached by its missionaries-- the idea gradually obtained that baptism was not essential to salvation. All of which might have been obviated, and the Church spared much ridicule and skepticism, the result of its rambling inconsistencies, had it kept the key to the situation--Baptism for the
Dead.
P.7
The notion that baptism is non-essential did not become fixed end popular until centuries after the Apostles fell asleep. St. Augustine, who figured in the latter part of the fourth, and in the first half of the fifth century, advanced the idea that water baptism was the
"Outward sign of an inward grace"; but he held, nevertheless, that no soul could be saved without it--not even infants. Luther believed baptism essential to salvation; Calvin and Zwingli did not; and so, in the sixteenth century began or was widened the schism of opinion concerning it that divides Christendom today.
Meaning of Baptism
P.7
Baptism means to dip, to bury, to immerse. Such was the meaning of the term in ancient times; such is its significance in the Greek end Latin tongues as they have come down to us. And this is prima facie proof that immersion is the proper mode of baptism.
P.7
But the case does not rest wholly upon philological grounds. Far more conclusive, as indicating the correct mode, is the striking symbolism of the baptismal ordinance, a symbolism most beautiful and appropriate, which would be destroyed if any other form were substituted for immersion.
P.7-p.8
Baptism was instituted in the likeness of Christ's burial and resurrection, and the mode of administering it must conform to that event, the most momentous in the history of the world, the creation alone excepted. When Christ taught the principle of baptism, he was teaching, symbolically, a greater principle, and preparing the way for its promulgation. That greater principle is resurrection, redemption from the grave and eternal life beyond--the preeminent over-towering fact for which he stands. Baptism he compared to a birth, the spirit's entry into mortal life; and this pointed to resurrection, the soul's entry into immortal glory. Most fitting was it that the Divine Author of the resurrection should be the first to rise, thus exemplifying the greater principle, even as he had exemplified the lesser which foreshadowed the greater.
The Purpose
P.8
The purpose of baptism is to free the soul from sin and bring it back into God's pure presence, where nothing unclean can come. Sin must not only be repented of: it must be washed away. The soul must be cleansed of it, and baptism is the cleansing process. Water, of course, cannot, in and of itself, wash away sin; but obedience, typified by the water, can and does, when the baptism is lawfully and properly performed.
A Two-Fold Ceremony
P.8
But we are not considering water baptism alone. Baptism is two-fold, and has a double mission to perform. It not only cleanses--it illuminates the soul, making manifest the things of God, past, present, future, and imparting a sure testimony of the Truth. The soul, cleansed of sin, is in a condition to enjoy the abiding influence of the Holy Ghost, which "Dwelleth not in unclean tabernacles." Water baptism begins the work of purification and enlightenment. Spirit baptism completes it.
Immersion the True Mode
P.8-p.9
That immersion was the mode introduced by John the Baptist, submitted to by the Savior, and perpetuated by the Apostles, is a plain and reasonable inference from the teachings of the New Testament. (Matt.
3: 16; John 3: 23; Acts 8: 38; etc.) If immersion had not been the correct form, Paul would not have compared baptism to burial and resurrection (Rom. 6: 3-5; Col. 2: 12), nor would he have seen any resemblance between baptism and the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea (I Cor. 10: 1, 2.) Note also his words to the Corinthians, relative to vicarious baptism and in support of the resurrection, which some of them denied: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (I Cor. 15: 29.) In other words, why use the symbol of the resurrection, if there be no resurrection--if the symbol does not symbolize?
P.9
In addition to what the Bible tells, and reason emphasizes, we have the statements of archaeologists and historians, to the effect that baptism, in the first ages of Christianity, was the dipping or submersion in water. Ancient baptistries and other monumental remains in Asia, Africa and Europe, show that immersion was the act of baptism. The Christian churches of the Orient--Greek, Russian,
Armenian, Nestorian, Coptic, and others, have always practiced immersion and allow nothing else for baptism. The Western churches preserved this form for thirteen centuries, and then gradually introduced pouring or sprinkling, ceremonies in no way symbolical of birth and resurrection, and consequently not in harmony with the divine purpose for which baptism was instituted.
Clinic Baptism
P.9-p.10
Baptisms by pouring or sprinkling were exceptional in the early ages of the Christian Church. They were called clinic baptism, because administered, as a rule, to the sick, who could not be taken from their beds to be immersed. But they were rare, and were regarded only as quasi-baptisms. The first recorded case of clinic baptism is mentioned by Eusebius as having occurred in the third century.
Modern Methods
P.10
Baptism by immersion was practiced regularly in the Roman Catholic
Church, until the year 1311, when the Council of Ravenna authorized a change, leaving it optional with the officiating minister to baptize either by immersion or by sprinkling. Luther favored immersion and sought, against the tendency of the times, to restore it, but Calvin, while admitting that the word "Baptism" means immersion, and that this was certainly the practice of the ancient Church, held that the mode was of no consequence. But a Greater than Calvin had decreed otherwise. How dare men dispute or ignore the Word of the Lord:
"Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."
P.10
Pouring is the present practice in the Roman Catholic Church; sprinkling in the Church of England and in the Methodist Church. A choice of modes is permitted by the Presbyterians, though sprinkling is the regular form. The Baptist, as the name implies, are strong advocates of immersion. The Quakers repudiate baptism altogether.
The Authorized Practice
P.10
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has but one form of baptism--the one authorized by the Savior of the World, and practiced by his Apostles, namely, Baptism by Immersion for the Remission of
Sins. (Acts 2: 38; 3 Nephi 11: 3-25.) And this by divine authority which constitutes men God's agents and representatives, "For no man taketh this honor unto himself."
P.11
Our church did not receive its knowledge of baptism from the Bible alone, nor from the Book of Mormon, nor from any other book or record.
It came by direct revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Through him was restored what had been lost. Brushing aside the dust and cobwebs of tradition concealing the precious jewel of Truth, he brought back the knowledge of the "One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism" of the ancients. (Eph. 4: 5; D. And C. 13.)
Spirit and Body Baptized
P.11
Baptism, in its two-fold character, corresponds to the soul, which is both spiritual and temporal. It is the soul that is baptized--not the body alone, nor the spirit alone, but the body and spirit in one.
Consequently, baptism is administered in a temporal world, where body and spirit can both be present and where water abounds. A person can believe and repent in the Spirit World, but cannot be baptized there, the watery element being absent. This makes necessary baptism by proxy.
Three in One
P.11
As a matter of fact, there are three elements in baptism, the Water, the Spirit and the Blood; though only two--water and spirit--are usually mentioned. Without Christ's atoning blood there could be no baptism of a saving character. Hence it is written: "The blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1: 7.)
P.11-p.12
There are three that bear record in heaven--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and there are three that bear witness on earth, the water, the spirit, and the blood. When a soul is baptized, it is by water and by spirit, made effectual by blood, and in the the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. "For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified." (Moses 6: 60.)
Symbolic of Creation
P.12
Baptism symbolizes creation. In the beginning of the world the three elements of baptism were present, taking part in the bringing forth of this planet: Water, creatable; Spirit, creative; and both acting under the fiat of Him whose blood was to redeem the earth then in the course of construction. "Let the dry land appear!" The very words suggest birth, creation, the emergence of an infant world from the watery deeps. And those same elements were present when Jesus was baptized in
Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink his precious blood yet unspilt, his sacred form dripping with the water from which He had just emerged, He was crowned with the Holy Ghost, descending upon him out of the heaven.
Immersion in the Spirit
P.12-p.13
So much stress being laid upon immersion and upon the dual character of baptism, one might be led to inquire: Why is it not an immersion in the spirit, as well as in the water? To which I answer: Who says that it is not? When John the Baptist, proclaiming the Christ, said, "I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost,"--it was baptism in each instance, and baptism signifies immersion. But here is modern authority. President Lorenzo Snow, in describing his own baptism, the effect of the Spirit upon himself, says: "It was a complete baptism--a tangible immersion in the heavenly principle or element, The Holy Ghost." (Improvement Era, June, 1919, p. 654.) The fact that we do not see the Spirit, as we see the Water proves nothing to the contrary. Water is a temporal element, visible to the natural eye; the Spirit is discerned only by the spiritual eye.
The Laying on of Hands
P.13
Coming as it does from above, and imparted, as it is, by the laying on of hands (Acts 8: 17, 18), the descent of the Holy Ghost may be considered a type of the glorious baptism that Earth will yet receive, when she is cleansed from all iniquity and the Spirit is poured out upon her from on high.
The Fathers Understood
P.13
The Greek fathers of the Church held correct ideas of baptism. They called it "Initiation," from its introductory character,
"Regeneration," from its being regarded as a new birth, "The great circumcision," because it was held to have superseded the circumcision of the Mosaic law. They also termed it "Illumination" and "The gift of the Lord," showing that they recognized its two-fold character; showing also, that it meant to them no particular gift--such as prophecy, healing, tongues, etc., but signified the giving of the Holy
Ghost; as when Peter said to the Pentecostal multitude: "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
P.13
Baptism, to the primitive Christians, was no mere "Outward sign of an inward grace." The Saints of New Testament times and their immediate successors were baptized for the remission of sins; and they were baptized by immersion, the only mode divinely authorized for administering this sacred ordinance.
"Babes in Christ"
P.13-p.14
I have said that baptism symbolized creation. "Babes in Christ,"
"Children by my begetting," are phrases used by one or more of the ancient Apostles, with reference to those whom they had baptized into the Church. Evidently baptism was regarded by them, in a spiritual sense, as the creation of souls for the Kingdom of Heaven. Again that wonderful symbolism! The baptizer is the spiritual progenitor of the person baptized and from the womb of the waters the soul is "Born again."
P.14
It follows that baptism must be lawfully done, must have God's sanction upon it. Heavenly and earthly powers must join, must be wedded for the bringing forth of the redeemed soul. Otherwise the birth will be illegitimate, the act of begetting a sin.
Suggestive Symbolism
P.14
The Fall and the Redemption as suggested by the baptismal ordinance.
The very form of the ceremony seems to symbolize the career of that
Divine Being whose descent from heaven to earth, and whose ascent from earth to heaven, are the sum and substance of the Gospel Story.
Descending below and rising above--such was his experience from the time He left His celestial throne to the time He returned thither. May it not be that this holy ordinance was intended to typify the gracious condescension of the Eternal Father who, in sacrificing His Beloved
Son, sacrificed Himself for the sake of fallen man? Instituted in anticipation of that sublime sacrifice, it stands as a memorial of
God's mortal burial and immortal resurrection.
A Double Doorway
P.14-p.15
Moreover, in the symbolism of the Scriptures, this world is represented by water (Dan. 7; Rev. 13, 17). "All things are water," says the Greek philosopher Thales. Water represents the temporal part of creation, including the body or mortal part of man, nine-tenths of which, science affirms, is water. Baptism, therefore, suggests the passing out from this watery world into the spirit world, and thence by resurrection into eternal glory. It is only a suggestion, but it emphasizes for me why the doorway to the Church of God, on Earth and in Heaven, is a double doorway, a dual birth, a baptism of Water and of the Spirit.
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TOPIC: Baptism: The Birth Of Water And Of Spirit