This was helpful and thorough. Thanks for writing it. We're moving to have our son baptized this spring at the age of 3. He can recite the Apostles' Creed, but I think the authenticity of the baptism would still be in doubt by our credo-baptist fellows.
This was a very well written article and well sourced. Do you have plans to continue to write another on further centuries? I know there was still differences at least until Augustine and I’ve never understood the deathbed baptism practice and specifically where that came from.
Great read. Been having conversations w/ a Church of Christ friend and the idea of "not saved if not baptized by immersion" came up. We disagreed quite a bit on this point, though not that baptism was a core part of Christianity. The detail here was a good read and I appreciated the many differences and commonalities over the years.
I did appreciate the clarification on "if this type of water isn't available" amongst all of that - because sometimes you just don't have a running body of water to use for a variety of reasons.
This was such a great article! So many of the ancient practices were intriguing, particularly the exorcisms and the drinking of milk and honey (that sounds delicious). Thank you for all of the hard work you put into this!
Your posts are always clear, thorough, and measured. But this one is particularly impressive. Thank you for pulling all this together. I’m bookmarking it for future reference.
Very thorough and well written. One think you didn’t point out is that those who explicitly reject infant baptism seem to reject it because it is a means by which sins are actually forgiven. This seems to exclude any combination of beliefs that avoids infant baptism and believes it is purely symbolic/memorial.
Great article Wyatt, very much appreciate your work here. I pray the Church can come to unity even in our differences across the world. One question though, isn’t Clement of Alexandria critiquing the Valentinian Gnostic doctrines in Excerpta ex Theodoto? Specifically with the sealing in of an unclean spirit due to lack of exorcism prior to baptism. Is the claim that Clement actually believed that was permanent without hope for the person baptized? Thanks again for your work!
Galatians 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Here, Paul states that his past teachings hold ultimate authority (even exceeding that of angels and apostles, since he himself was an apostle). Therefore, any teaching that disagrees with the Bible must be rejected, regardless of the authority of the teacher.
Mt 28:19: Acts 2:38 - We have examples of Jesus commanding one (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and Peter doing another. Is that a contradiction, a textual error, or are we trying to call two things different which God sees as the same? If we say one way is wrong and one is right, we are either putting the Bible in doubt or posing Jesus and Peter as in disagreement. Personally, I can't accept that large of an error in Scripture or Jesus and Peter being opposed on this. It just must not have been an issue for them and should not be for us.
Having said that, the people I encountered who were, "Jesus name only," derived that belief from a unitarian foundation that Jesus was all three (the Father, Son, and Spirit) and there was NO distinction between them. In short, they grabbed Jesus and threw away the other two. If there is a problem, that is where I see the problem. They would reject a baptism in the F,S,HS as invalid and require Jesus name ONLY.
THE ACTUAL NAME OF GOD CANNOT BE PRONOUNCED WITH SOUNDS IT CAN ONLY BE ACTED OUT & LIVED OUT IN YOUR LIFE.
Exodus 23:21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
CONSIDER EXACTLY WHAT IS "HIS NAME" WHAT DOES IT MEAN "MY NAME IS IN HIM"?
1) FIRST WHAT IS THE NATURE OF GOD'S NAME
Acts 2:21... Whosoever SHALL CALL UPON 🎯THE NAME🎯 OF THE LORD shall be saved
THE KEY IS UNDERSTANDING THE NAME OF THE LORD
UNDERSTAND WHY THE QUESTION FAITH IN HIS NAME vs WORKS IS MOOT. IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT OLD NAME v NEW NAME (His name is the comandments, doctrine, sayings, covenant itself) NOT THE LETTERS THAT SPELL OUT "WORD" BUT THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MESSAGE-WORD. GODS NAME CAN ONLY BE CSLLED ON OR LIVED OUT IN ONES LIFE, WRITTEN ON YOUR HEART. YOU CANNOT PRONOUNCE GODS NAME AS ONE PRONOUNCES BILL, BOB OR JESUS. 👇💥👇
👉Ps 138:2. praise 🎯THY NAME 🎯… thou hast magnified 👉THY WORD👈 ABOVE ALL 🎯THY NAME🎯
It does NOT say "thy word" is given a name above other names. Praise the NAME - WORD for it is above ALL THY NAME…. many colquial names were used In OT & by the people to reference God but here the word is praised “PRAISE THY NAME FOR ( BECAUSE ) for the very reason THE WORD is ABOVE (the highest) of ALL NAMES USED…
ERGO: “HIS NAME IS CALL THE WORD OF GOD”……. AND HIS PEOPLE CALL THAT NAME WONDERFUL, EVERLASTING et al ad fin.
Rev 19:13. ..🎯HIS NAME🎯 IS called 👉THE WORD👈 OF GOD
Isaiah 52:1.6. Therefore MY PEOPLE SHALL KNOW 🎯MY NAME:🎯
Rev 3:8 kept 👉MY WORD👈,.. not DENIED 🎯MY NAME🎯
Jn 17:6.... MANIFESTED 🎯THY NAME🎯 KEPT 👉THY WORD👈
THE NAME above every name ->saves 1Pt 3:21 & Acts 4:12
Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that Whosoever SHALL CALL UPON 🎯THE NAME🎯 OF THE LORD shall be saved
Acts 4:12....for there is 🎯NONE OTHER NAME🎯..., whereby we must be saved.
NOTE: THE PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE , THE "WASH" HERE IS THE ACT OF "CALLING"👇
Acts 22:16 ...arise, and be 🌊BAPTISED🌊, and 🌊WASH🌊 away thy sins, CALLING ON 🎯THE NAME🎯 of the Lord.:
The name is structurally & contextually used synonomous with “the word”……The word was made flesh …. Call it wonderful, it is everlasting, the mighty God [ THE WORD BECAME FLESH] call on the word via obediance not verbal pronounciations….... or reject the word which is Gods name and perish. FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME......
1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even 🌊BAPTISIM🌊 DOETH ALSO now SAVE us ....by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 5:26....sanctify and cleanse it with the 🌊WASHING of WATER🌊 by 👉THE WORD👈
Galatians 3:24 .... 27 For as many of you as have been 🌊BAPTISED🌊 INTO CHRIST have PUT ON CHRIST.
Psalms 51:2 🌊WASH ME🌊 THROUGHLY FROM MINE INIQUITY, and 🩸CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN🩸...3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin .....10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and ✳RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT✳within me..
Titus 3:5 ..by the 🌊WASHING🌊 of regeneration, and ✳RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST.✳...
...16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
THE LIFE IN YOUR MORTAL BODIES = John 6:63....THE WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE.
John 14:23..., If a man ♥️LOVE ME♥️, he will 👉KEEP MY WORDS👈: and my Father will love him,....
1 John 5:3..♥️THIS IS THE LOVE ♥️of God, that we 👉KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS👈:
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he... that HEAR the words of this prophecy, and 👉KEEP THOES THINGS WRITTEN👈 therein: for the time is at hand. Rev22:18...unto every man that HEARETH the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things,...19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Revelation offers an interesting theological dilemma. It states Rev 22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto U these things in the churches. Also states it is "the true sayings" of Jesus & that it is "the testimony of Christ". If this is not "the gospel of Jesus Christ" then what is it & should we consider it accursed testimony of an angel? If it is not to be considered accursed, then it cannot be some other gospel message then what was already given. However, this is the conundrum, for if this is the gospel, then why do so few understand it? There is a possibility which few consider. The reason people don't understand revelation is because they never understood the gospel in the first place! Is it not curious the most "Personally" given NT book By Jesus himself, is the least understood & given the least importance for Salvation in Christendom?
This was helpful and thorough. Thanks for writing it. We're moving to have our son baptized this spring at the age of 3. He can recite the Apostles' Creed, but I think the authenticity of the baptism would still be in doubt by our credo-baptist fellows.
Thanks, Garrett! I hope the Lord blesses your family. It is great that your son can already recite the Creed.
This was a very well written article and well sourced. Do you have plans to continue to write another on further centuries? I know there was still differences at least until Augustine and I’ve never understood the deathbed baptism practice and specifically where that came from.
Yes, but my next article will be on preparation for baptism.
Excellent I look forward to that one as well.
Great read. Been having conversations w/ a Church of Christ friend and the idea of "not saved if not baptized by immersion" came up. We disagreed quite a bit on this point, though not that baptism was a core part of Christianity. The detail here was a good read and I appreciated the many differences and commonalities over the years.
I did appreciate the clarification on "if this type of water isn't available" amongst all of that - because sometimes you just don't have a running body of water to use for a variety of reasons.
It seems like the mode of baptism was quite flexible, even if there was an ideal.
Very helpful article. Thanks, Wyatt.
Thanks, Emmanuel! Glad to be of service!
I'm preaching on Baptism this next weekend, and this was an incredible, random (not random) article to pop up on my feed.
Thanks for your diligent work!
You are welcome!
This was such a great article! So many of the ancient practices were intriguing, particularly the exorcisms and the drinking of milk and honey (that sounds delicious). Thank you for all of the hard work you put into this!
You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed the article.
Your posts are always clear, thorough, and measured. But this one is particularly impressive. Thank you for pulling all this together. I’m bookmarking it for future reference.
Thanks, Ross. I appreciate that. I am glad it was helpful.
This is a fantasticly thorough overview and helpful for me as a local pastor. Thanks for your work!
Thanks, Drake! So glad to hear it benefited you as a pastor!
Thorough. Helpful. Reinvigorating. I believe that May will benefit from your endeavors and your desire to see ecumenical unity remain prevalent.
My only question: at what point is an article no longer an article? Have you this created something altogether different?
Tome + Article = tomarticle (?)
Ha, I am not sure. I went as long as it took to finish the project that I decided upon. So maybe Substack lets us write tomarticles!
Very thorough and well written. One think you didn’t point out is that those who explicitly reject infant baptism seem to reject it because it is a means by which sins are actually forgiven. This seems to exclude any combination of beliefs that avoids infant baptism and believes it is purely symbolic/memorial.
Great article Wyatt, very much appreciate your work here. I pray the Church can come to unity even in our differences across the world. One question though, isn’t Clement of Alexandria critiquing the Valentinian Gnostic doctrines in Excerpta ex Theodoto? Specifically with the sealing in of an unclean spirit due to lack of exorcism prior to baptism. Is the claim that Clement actually believed that was permanent without hope for the person baptized? Thanks again for your work!
Towards the end, you wrote "Scripture alone is our final authority". Where does that belief come from; is that teaching in the Bible?
The Bible says that the Church is the final authority.
Matthew 18:15-18
The Bible says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth.
1Timothy 3:15
Galatians 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Here, Paul states that his past teachings hold ultimate authority (even exceeding that of angels and apostles, since he himself was an apostle). Therefore, any teaching that disagrees with the Bible must be rejected, regardless of the authority of the teacher.
The 'living water' is also an important feature of Jewish ritual washings.
In the Jordan river.
Mt 28:19: Acts 2:38 - We have examples of Jesus commanding one (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and Peter doing another. Is that a contradiction, a textual error, or are we trying to call two things different which God sees as the same? If we say one way is wrong and one is right, we are either putting the Bible in doubt or posing Jesus and Peter as in disagreement. Personally, I can't accept that large of an error in Scripture or Jesus and Peter being opposed on this. It just must not have been an issue for them and should not be for us.
Having said that, the people I encountered who were, "Jesus name only," derived that belief from a unitarian foundation that Jesus was all three (the Father, Son, and Spirit) and there was NO distinction between them. In short, they grabbed Jesus and threw away the other two. If there is a problem, that is where I see the problem. They would reject a baptism in the F,S,HS as invalid and require Jesus name ONLY.
THE ACTUAL NAME OF GOD CANNOT BE PRONOUNCED WITH SOUNDS IT CAN ONLY BE ACTED OUT & LIVED OUT IN YOUR LIFE.
Exodus 23:21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
CONSIDER EXACTLY WHAT IS "HIS NAME" WHAT DOES IT MEAN "MY NAME IS IN HIM"?
1) FIRST WHAT IS THE NATURE OF GOD'S NAME
Acts 2:21... Whosoever SHALL CALL UPON 🎯THE NAME🎯 OF THE LORD shall be saved
THE KEY IS UNDERSTANDING THE NAME OF THE LORD
UNDERSTAND WHY THE QUESTION FAITH IN HIS NAME vs WORKS IS MOOT. IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT OLD NAME v NEW NAME (His name is the comandments, doctrine, sayings, covenant itself) NOT THE LETTERS THAT SPELL OUT "WORD" BUT THE SUBSTANCE OF THE MESSAGE-WORD. GODS NAME CAN ONLY BE CSLLED ON OR LIVED OUT IN ONES LIFE, WRITTEN ON YOUR HEART. YOU CANNOT PRONOUNCE GODS NAME AS ONE PRONOUNCES BILL, BOB OR JESUS. 👇💥👇
👉Ps 138:2. praise 🎯THY NAME 🎯… thou hast magnified 👉THY WORD👈 ABOVE ALL 🎯THY NAME🎯
It does NOT say "thy word" is given a name above other names. Praise the NAME - WORD for it is above ALL THY NAME…. many colquial names were used In OT & by the people to reference God but here the word is praised “PRAISE THY NAME FOR ( BECAUSE ) for the very reason THE WORD is ABOVE (the highest) of ALL NAMES USED…
ERGO: “HIS NAME IS CALL THE WORD OF GOD”……. AND HIS PEOPLE CALL THAT NAME WONDERFUL, EVERLASTING et al ad fin.
Rev 19:13. ..🎯HIS NAME🎯 IS called 👉THE WORD👈 OF GOD
Isaiah 52:1.6. Therefore MY PEOPLE SHALL KNOW 🎯MY NAME:🎯
Rev 3:8 kept 👉MY WORD👈,.. not DENIED 🎯MY NAME🎯
Jn 17:6.... MANIFESTED 🎯THY NAME🎯 KEPT 👉THY WORD👈
THE NAME above every name ->saves 1Pt 3:21 & Acts 4:12
Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that Whosoever SHALL CALL UPON 🎯THE NAME🎯 OF THE LORD shall be saved
Acts 4:12....for there is 🎯NONE OTHER NAME🎯..., whereby we must be saved.
NOTE: THE PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE , THE "WASH" HERE IS THE ACT OF "CALLING"👇
Acts 22:16 ...arise, and be 🌊BAPTISED🌊, and 🌊WASH🌊 away thy sins, CALLING ON 🎯THE NAME🎯 of the Lord.:
The name is structurally & contextually used synonomous with “the word”……The word was made flesh …. Call it wonderful, it is everlasting, the mighty God [ THE WORD BECAME FLESH] call on the word via obediance not verbal pronounciations….... or reject the word which is Gods name and perish. FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME......
1 Peter 3:21 The like figure whereunto even 🌊BAPTISIM🌊 DOETH ALSO now SAVE us ....by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 5:26....sanctify and cleanse it with the 🌊WASHING of WATER🌊 by 👉THE WORD👈
Galatians 3:24 .... 27 For as many of you as have been 🌊BAPTISED🌊 INTO CHRIST have PUT ON CHRIST.
Psalms 51:2 🌊WASH ME🌊 THROUGHLY FROM MINE INIQUITY, and 🩸CLEANSE ME FROM MY SIN🩸...3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin .....10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and ✳RENEW A RIGHT SPIRIT✳within me..
Titus 3:5 ..by the 🌊WASHING🌊 of regeneration, and ✳RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST.✳...
...16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
THE LIFE IN YOUR MORTAL BODIES = John 6:63....THE WORDS that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE.
John 14:23..., If a man ♥️LOVE ME♥️, he will 👉KEEP MY WORDS👈: and my Father will love him,....
1 John 5:3..♥️THIS IS THE LOVE ♥️of God, that we 👉KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS👈:
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he... that HEAR the words of this prophecy, and 👉KEEP THOES THINGS WRITTEN👈 therein: for the time is at hand. Rev22:18...unto every man that HEARETH the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things,...19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Revelation offers an interesting theological dilemma. It states Rev 22:16. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto U these things in the churches. Also states it is "the true sayings" of Jesus & that it is "the testimony of Christ". If this is not "the gospel of Jesus Christ" then what is it & should we consider it accursed testimony of an angel? If it is not to be considered accursed, then it cannot be some other gospel message then what was already given. However, this is the conundrum, for if this is the gospel, then why do so few understand it? There is a possibility which few consider. The reason people don't understand revelation is because they never understood the gospel in the first place! Is it not curious the most "Personally" given NT book By Jesus himself, is the least understood & given the least importance for Salvation in Christendom?
https://www.scribd.com/document/326686356/Thief-Cross-3D
https://www.academia.edu/23846490/Thief_and_Cross_3D
https://www.scribd.com/doc/305366745/Revelation-the-First-Gospel-of-the-Kingdom