H. J. H. (Manchester) writes: “It is not to be understood by the intentional brevity of my recent suggestion that evidence is lacking for the Apostolic and early Church tradition of the sufficiency of John’s baptism.
“The important question with regard to the New Testament doctrine of Baptism is not ‘By whom?’ but—as postulated by Jesus—‘Of heaven or of men?’ . . . . It is not sound Bible exegesis to suggest, as some do, that because one servant of God does not use the name of Jesus in the rite, that the baptism was not efficacious—as if it were some magical spell which only worked according to the correct formula! . . . . New Testament Baptism was a baptism unto the remission of sin, whether the subject was baptised by John or by a disciple of Christ . . . . It is not the mere mention of that name (Jesus Christ) which made the rite efficacious; it was the rising to a new life . . . . John denied that any further water rite was necessary for his converts. He did not say Messiah should baptise them again with water. He said ‘He shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’ To assert that the Holy Spirit was reserved only for those who were baptised in Christ’s name (it is certain John didn’t use it) is to make this, in my opinion, an empty promise. . . .”
Our correspondent’s letter is too long for inclusion in full, but we have endeavoured to give a fair summary of his arguments. He puts his case for the permanent efficacy of John’s baptism in a very attractive form, but he still fails to convert us to his views.
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Author: P. H. Adams
Keywords: Baptism, Rebaptism, Rebaptize, Anabaptism, Anabaptist, John's baptism, John's converts rebaptized, rebaptized, rebaptised, John's converts rebaptised, John's disciples rebaptized, John's disciples rebaptised, baptized again, baptised again, second baptism, John the baptist, baptism unto repentance, remission of sins, baptize for remission of sins, John the baptizer, John the baptiser, baptised, baptized, believer's baptism, adult baptism, baptism necessary, necesssity of baptism, necessary to be baptized, John baptized, John baptised
Bible reference(s): Mat 3:11, Mat 21:25, Mat 28:19, Mark 1:4, Mar 11:30, Luk 7:29, Luk 20:4, John 1:25-31, John 1:33, John 3:22-23, Act 18:25, Acts 19:3-5
Source: “The Baptism of John,” The Testimony, Vol. 17, No. 202, October 1947, pp. 359-60.
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