ARTICLE THIRTY-THREE. Meaning And Mode Of Baptism. The Lesser Suggests the Greater. When Jesus told Nicodemus that man must be born of Water and of the Spirit, he virtually declared the meaning of baptism and prescribed the mode of its administration. It was to prepare the way before a greater principle, that Christ taught and exemplified the principle of baptism. He compared it to birth, the entry into mortal life; and this pointed to resurrection, the entry into immortal glory. Men's minds, therefore, should be ready to receive something suggestive of birth and resurrection, in the ccremony authorized by the Son of God as the means of admission into his Kingdom. This suggestion is fully realized in the true form of the baptismal ordinance, namely, immersion-going down into the water and coming up out of the water, in the similitude of burial and resurrection, of birth into a higher life. The Proper Form. That immersion was the form ct the ordinance introduced by John the Baptist, submitted to by the Savior, and perpetuated by his Apostles, is a plain and reasonable inference from the teachings of the New Testament. Jesus, when about to be baptized, must have gone down into the water; for after baptism, he "went up straightway out of the water." When Philip baptized the Eunuch, "they went down both into the water." John baptized "in Aenon, near to Salim, because there was much water there"-another proof presumptive of immer a, Matt. 3:16. b, Acts 8:38. sion, the only mode requiring "much water" for its performance. If this had not been the proper form, Paul would not have compared baptism to burial and resurrection; nor would he have recognized as baptism the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea. Note also his words to the Corinthians relative to vicarious baptism and in support of resurrection, a doctrine that 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?" In other words, why use the symbol of the resurrection, if there be no resurrection-if the symbol does not symbolize? Additional Evidence. In addition to what the Bible tells, we have the statements of archaeologists and historians, to the effect that baptism, in the first ages of Christianity, was a dipping or submersion in water. This, in fact, as philologists testify, is the meaning of the Greek word from which the English word "baptism" is derived. Ancient baptisteries and other monumental remains in Asia, Africa and Europe, show that immersion was the act of baptism. The Christian churches of the OrientGreek, 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 therefore not in harmony with the divine purpose for which baptism was instituted. Clinic Baptism.-Baptisms by pouring or sprinkling were exceptional in the early ages of the Christian Church. They were called clinic baptisms, 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.g Immersion Made Optional.-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. Even infants were baptized by immersion until about the end of the thirteenth century when sprinkling came into common use. Luther and Calvin.-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. A Greater than Calvin, however, had decreed otherwise, and had set the example that all were to follow. Modern Methods.-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 Baptists as their name implies, are strong advocates of immersion. The Quakers repudiate baptism altogether. The Authorized Practice. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has but one form of baptismthe one authorized by the Savior and practiced by his Apostles, namely, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The Church derives its knowledge of this sacred g, The first recorded case of clinic baptism is mentioned by Eusebius as having occurred in the third century. h, 3 Nephi 11:23-29. ordinance, not mainly from the Bible, nor from the Book of Mormon, nor from any other record. It came by direct revelation to Joseph the Seer, restoring that which was lcst. 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.i Baptism and Resurrection.-Baptism was made universal, and became the doorway to the Church of Christ, the Kingdom of God on earth, because it represents resurrection, which is likewise universal and without which no man can enter into the Celestial Kingdom. Christ, the great Exemplar of baptism, was the first to rise from the dead. It was fitting, therefore, that he should undergo the ordinance symbolizing the mighty fact for which he stands redemption from the grave and eternal life beyond. Symbolical of the Soul.-Baptism is twofold, corresponding to its subject, the soul, which is both spiritual and temporal. The body is represented by the water; the spirit by the Holy Ghost. Both are essential in the process, since it is not the body alone, nor the spirit alone, that is baptized, but body and spirit in one. Consequently, baptism is administered in a temporal world, where body and spirit can both be present, and where the watery element abounds. A person can believe and repent in the spirit world, but cannot be baptized there. This makes necessary baptism by proxy. The Blood that Cleanseth.-In reality there are three factors in baptism—the Spirit, the Water and the Blood. Only two of them are used in the ceremony. But without the atoning blood of Christ, there could be no baptism of a i, Eph. 4:5. saving character. Hence it is written: "The blood of Jesus Christ. . cleanseth us from all sin."i Three in One.-The Water and the Spirit, representing earth and heaven, are made effectual by the Blood. Man and God are thus reconciled, Christ being the reconciler. 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 Spirit, the Water and the Blood. Each group corresponds to the other; each three agree in one. Therefore, when a soul is baptized, it must be by Water and by Spirit, made effectual by Blood, and in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. A Divine Exegesis—The Lord explained this principle to Adam thus: "Inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water and blood and the spirit, which I have nade, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the Kingdom of Heaven, of water and of the spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory: "For by the Water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the Blood ye are sanctified."k The Mediator.-Spirit, Water and Blood-the three elements of baptism-were combined in the person of Jesus Christ, when baptized by John in the Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink, his sacred form dripping with j, 1 John 1:7. k, Moses 6:59, 60. |