The History of Baptism

Baptism is the rite of initiation into the body of Christ by which one is washed with water. Faith is seen as a prerequisite of the act, either on the part of the one being baptized or of the sponsor. The physical act of baptism is most often performed in the name of the trinity or the name of Jesus to differentiate it from other modes of baptism and associate the one being baptized with the Christian Godhead. It has been compared to circumcision as a sign of the new covenant that God has made with Christians, as well as with the death and resurrection of Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the remission of sins. The act of baptism has been interpreted as a sacrament necessary for salvation and as a symbolic portrayal of the believer�s faith and association with Christ. The three primary modes of baptism in use today are that of immersion, pouring and sprinkling.

Baptism, translated from the Greek bapto, can first be found in the Greek Old Testament in such passages as II Kings 5:10, 14 which is the story of Naaman who was told to dip (baptizo) in the Jordan river seven times as well as that of Nebuchadnezzar who was wet (bapto) with the dew of heaven in Daniel 4:33. However, the first New Testament references to baptism are to that of John the Baptizer who is presented in all four gospels, Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, and John 1, as the fulfillment of the prophesy in Isaiah 40. There appears to be little controversy over the mode used by John and more controversy about his role in relationship to Christ as is demonstrated in John 3:25-30. John�s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3), which was transferred to the early Christian conception of baptism as well (Acts 2:37-8). According to Alexander Campbell, the preposition translated �for� in the phrase �for the remission of sin� in both Acts and the gospels indicates the design or end for which a thing is given or done, meaning that baptism was the means of forgiveness for sin. However, the phrase �for the forgiveness of sins� found in Acts 2:38 is probably be linked as closely to the command to repent as that to be baptized, since the concepts of repentance and forgiveness are constantly associated both in Luke and Acts, such as Luke 24:47 and Acts 5:31.

Another important aspect of baptism is that it was given as one of the actions the apostles were to perform in the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19 the apostles are commanded to go forth and make disciples with two subordinate clauses explaining how, one of which is to baptize in the name of the trinity. It appears that Christian baptism was originally performed only in the name of Jesus, Acts 2:38, 8:16, however as Christian theology developed the trinity was used instead and the practice of tri-immersion became common practice, perhaps to make it distinct from other forms of baptism being practiced at the time. The significance of being baptized �in� or �into� the name of the trinity is through the demonstration of becoming a possession or coming under the protection of the Godhead, which is also portrayed in Colossians 2:12 and Galatians 3:27.

Baptism is also closely associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit, although there are many variations in the link between the two. In the beginning the Holy Spirit is bestowed first upon the apostles and baptism is then performed rather as a seal upon a gift already bestowed, as is also the case with Cornelius (Acts 2:3-4, Acts 10:44-8). However, in Peter�s sermon on Pentecost he seems to indicate that both repentance and baptism are necessary before the receiving the gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38). Yet, in Acts 8:12-17 this idea is challenged when the Samaritan believers were baptized but did not receive the Holy Spirit until Peter sent other believers to lay hands upon them, perhaps suggesting that baptism is distinct from the gift of the Spirit.

The vestiges of Christian baptism can be found in Old Testament acts of purification by water, the practice of proselyte, Gentile converts to Judaism, baptism as a means of initiation, as well as the frequent practice of baptism for purification among the Qumran community. Baptism was not associated with the Jewish community as a whole until the coming of John the Baptist, who preached that all Jews needed to repent and be baptized in preparation for the coming of Kingdom of God. Throughout the Acts of the Apostles and subsequent New Testament books the view of Christian baptism is further developed and closely associated with the themes of repentance, faith, salvation, membership into the Christian community, the receiving of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of confirmation, such as speaking in tongues.

The first reference to baptism outside of the Apostolic writings is found in Justin Martyr�s First Apology in the latter part of the first century; however, the earliest detailed accounts of baptism are found in Tertullian�s On Baptism and Hippolytus�s Apostolic Tradition, which were written during the second or third century. Although baptism could be administered at any time by men the two most popular dates for the ceremony were Pentecost and Easter. According to Hippolytus, inquirers into the faith spent a minimum of three years studying Scripture, praying, and receiving lessons in morals and exorcisms before being initiated into the body of Christ through the rite of baptism. Preceding the baptism the candidate would receive an exorcism from the bishop and a prayer would be said over the water, preferably flowing water, which would be used for the ceremony, the candidate would then undress and renounce the devil directly prior to the baptism. Baptism was typically by tri-immersion, however in cases when there was not sufficient water pouring was deemed acceptable, along with the affirmation of the trinity by the candidate. After the candidate had received the baptism he was now an official member of the Church and was anointed with the oil of thanksgiving. The bishop would then pray over the candidate for the receiving of the Holy Spirit and would then anoint the candidate with holy oil in the name of the Trinity and �seal� him with a holy kiss upon the forehead. The candidate would then participate in his first Eucharist, which consisted of both the traditional bread and wine as well as water, which symbolized the inward washing as baptism had symbolized the outward washing, and milk and honey, which were symbolic of the Old Testament promised land. Additional rituals were added to the preparatory rituals for baptism in the late fourth century, which included the giving of salt to the candidate, known as the salt of wisdom, and the practice of �scrutinies�, which were tests performed to ensure the removal of the devil from the believer.

The most detailed accounts of baptism in the Eastern church date from the third century in Syria and are found in the Didascalia Apostolorum. The ritual of baptism was divided into two parts, the apotaxis and the syntaxis, and further differed from the Western practice by the anointing of oil for the receiving of the Holy Spirit preceding the baptism. The ritual began with the ceremony of admission which consisted of the apotaxis, the renouncing of the devil, by the performance of four exorcisms upon the candidate to purge him of any evil spirits followed by the syntaxis. The synataxis, the adhesion of the candidate to both Christ and the Holy Spirit, was accomplished through the profession of the Nicino-Constantinopolitan creed after which the bishop would pray over the candidate and anoint him with the oil of gladness before performing baptism by tri-immersion, and dressing the new believer in a new tunic, dubbed the tunic of righteousness. After the candidate had been baptized the bishop would then anoint various points of the believer�s body, beginning with the forehead, as a means of �sealing� the new believer with the Holy Spirit, then the believer would be washed again and a cruciform cut would be made in the believer�s hair as a sign of his dedication to the glory of God.

During the second century the practice of �clinical baptism� began, which was the putting off of baptism until one was on his death bed in order that lifestyle need not be changed, since this was demanded of one who had been baptized. The first recorded instance of this comes from the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, when a man named Novatian was baptized by sprinkling just prior to his death in 250 A.D. This practice was not generally accepted by the church and the majority of church leaders did not recognize it as valid. It was not until 1311 at the Council of Ravenna that sprinkling and immersion were considered as equally valid forms of baptism.
The practice of infant baptism is also first recorded during the late second century by such church leaders as Hippolytus, Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Origen; however, it did not become common practice in the church until the fifth century. Hippolytus records that during the times designated for baptism, Pentecost and Easter, the little children were baptized first, and if they were too young to answer for themselves then their parents or some other family member would speak for them. Origen also agreed that infant baptism was in accordance to the teachings of the apostles; however, Tertullian advised against its practice due to the possibility that some children would later reject the faith of their parents.

During the third and fourth centuries, the validity of baptism administered by a heretic also became a major issue in the church. Although many theologians, Tertullian being one of them, declared that baptism by a heretic was not valid, in 314 at the Council of Arles it was declared that any baptism was valid if it was performed in name of the trinity. However, baptism was not officially considered a sacrament until the fourth Lateral Council when it, along with the six other Catholic sacraments, received its dogmatic definition.

Martin Luther drastically reduced the number of sacraments of the church from the seven recognized by the Roman Catholic church to two: baptism and the Lord�s Supper. In his Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther interpreted the correct translation of baptizo as immersion and admitted that the normal mode of conversion in the New Testament was that of believer�s baptism; however, he qualified the act of sprinkling by arguing that the mode of baptism was of little importance to its saving work and that the faith necessary for baptism could be offered by an adult for the child being baptized. Luther at times stated that God gave the infant faith through the act of baptism. John Calvin, in his Institutes, first declared that baptism was a sacrament, yet its efficacy was limited to the elect alone; however, he later associated the act of baptism with the act of circumcision in the Old Testament and emphasized it less as a sacrament and more as a covenantal sign. Zwingli viewed baptism as a mere symbol or sign, as he had done with the Lord�s Supper, and not necessary to an individual�s salvation; this idea was later adopted by the Anabaptists who in addition to Zwingli�s position also emphasized the profession of personal faith prior to baptism.
The question of the baptismal mode did not become an issue until 1633 when Particular Baptists from England began to proclaim that immersion was the true Biblical mode of baptism, which was transferred to the Americas in 1639 with the establishment of the first Baptist church in Rhode Island by Roger Williams. Prior to the founding of the first Baptist church in the Americas, the Puritans had continued to practice infant baptism with full church membership only bestowed on those who had been baptized and made a confession of faith as an adult; however, in 1662 the famous Half-Way Covenant was created so the children of those adults who had yet to make a profession of faith could be baptized.

During the religious revivals of the 18th and 19th centuries known as the Great Awakening denominations clamored to claim new converts which led to the renewal of Biblical primitivism, the claim that one tradition was closest to that of the New Testament church. It was during this period that Alexander Campbell claimed to have restored the original Christian emphasis of faith and baptism by immersion �for the remission of sins�, and that Baptists developed what is known as Old Landmarkism, the belief that only Baptist churches were the inheritors of the true Church of Christ. With the advent of the Pentecostal denominations in the 19th and 20th centuries a baptismal theology was created that included two types of baptism: water baptism by immersion as a sign of conversion and the baptism of the Holy Spirit which was expressed by the gift of tongues, glossolalia. During the 20th century the ecumenical movement attempted to bring various denominations together and find consensus on the basic premises of the Christian faith, among them baptism. This �common baptism� was defined as �baptism administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit� and drew upon various Bible passages rather than its various forms of practice to expand greater upon its definition.

While there are only three major current modes of baptism administered in the Church today: immersion, sprinkling, and pouring, there are several divergent meanings associated with baptism in general as well as with each particular mode. The ecumenical movement of the 20th century was unsuccessful in uniting various denominations in a particular mode of baptism, and thus it is generally understood among Christians that the �one baptism� spoken of Ephesians 4:5 is either one of these three modes or a spiritual baptism which is not dependent upon a certain mode.

Many theologians, even those who practice other forms of baptism such as Martin Luther, have agreed that immersion was the original mode of the New Testament church. The greatest evidence for this is by the very word itself, taken from the Greek root bapto, which is in both secular and classical Greek translated as the act of dipping or immersing. According to Alexander Campbell, the word baptizo refers to a specific action and is always translated as to dip, plunge, or immerse and never means to sprinkle, pour, or scatter anything. However, the Reverend G. W. Hughey argues that baptizo is not a specific action but rather a derivative of the word bapto which expresses a thing but not necessarily how it is to be performed. The root bapto may also have various other meanings as well, among them: to dye, by dipping, to dye without regard to mode, to gild, to wet, moisten, or wash, to temper, to imbue, to overflow with water, to pour upon or drench, and to be overwhelmed or overpowered. There has also been some question as to how feasible immersion would have been for large numbers of converts, such as the 3,000 on the day of Pentecost due to the limited water supply of Jerusalem, which consisted of personal cisterns and public reservoirs.

The second greatest evidence for baptism by immersion is the identification with Christ�s death, burial and resurrection which is portrayed in Romans 6:3-5. Only immersion can vividly portray this connection with the life of Christ and at the same time portray the cleansing aspect of baptism. Although infant immersion has been practiced by both the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox traditions, immersion is usually only administered to adults upon a profession of their personal faith; this idea seems to be in accordance with the New Testament model since John the Baptist and the Apostles directed adults to repent of their sins and be baptized.

The act of pouring is used to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the one being baptized. In this tradition the baptism of the Holy Spirit is considered the more important form of baptism which is usually Biblically founded upon Acts 1:5 where Christ states that John merely baptized with water for repentance, but that He would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, which is remembered and associated with what took place on Pentecost. However, there is no evidence that pouring was practiced among the early Church, and was not deemed valid by the Church until 753 when by the admission of Pope Stephen III the pouring of water upon infants� heads was declared lawful baptism. This tradition is predominately associated with infant baptism as is the final mode, sprinkling.

The main scriptural evidence for the mode of sprinkling is found in the Old Testament where sprinkling is enjoined to purifying or cleansing. There are several instances in the Old Testament when blood is sprinkled to symbolize atonement, cleansing and the covenant of God with His people Israel, such as Exodus 24:8, which some Christians believe is symbolic of Christ�s blood which atones for sin and is demonstrated through baptism by sprinkling. The new covenant God has made with Christians through Christ is seen as an extension of the covenant He had with Israel, with baptism as the sign of the new covenant as circumcision was of the old. However, many argue that there is a difference between the Old Testament covenant of law and the New Testament covenant of grace, in which obedience to the law and circumcision have been replaced by personal faith and the practice of baptism by immersion or pouring. Most advocates of sprinkling argue that there are no New Testament passages that prove immersion as the mode used by the early church and its infeasibility with large crowds or at odd hours, such as the 3,000 converts at Pentecost or the jailer baptized by Paul at midnight, lend themselves to the practice of sprinkling by the early church. However, sprinkling appears to have been introduced in the baptism of the sick and clinical baptism, and was not fully acknowledged by the Church as a valid form of baptism until 1311.

Those who practice sprinkling and pouring most often affirm the practice of infant baptism. This affirmation is based in part upon the belief that infant baptism is not incongruent with the design of God for His covenant people since circumcision was administered to infants and baptism is the new sign of the new covenant, as the two are compared in Colossians 2:11-12. They also argue that Peter affirms the practice in Acts 2:38-39, when he calls the crowd at Pentecost to repent and be baptized and declares that the promise of salvation is for both those present and their children. Another Biblical passage used to support the baptism of infants or small children is found in the Great Commission, primarily Matthew 28:19, in which the apostles are charged to go forth and make disciples of all nations, ethnos, which can be translated as a multitude and denotes a political nation or people. This has been interpreted to mean small children are also part of the peoples the apostles are called to make disciples of and that conceivably small children could be members of the �households� baptized by the apostles, such as that of the jailer�s in Acts 16:3. Advocates for believer�s baptism however, argue that there is no positive reference to infant baptism in the New Testament and that the entire concept of baptizing infants diverges from the meaning of baptism because it presupposes conversion and an intelligent profession of faith on the part of the child.

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