The only time physical preparation for NT baptism is recorded in Scripture… is of Saul of Tarsus in the house of Judas. The physical preparation for his baptism is recorded in two separate passages of Scripture: Luke writes that Ananais told Paul to “stand up and be baptized” (Acts 22:16), and he “stood up and was baptized” (Acts 9:18). The whole record of the ceremony of Paul’s baptism on his part was just "stand up." All other recorded baptismal ceremonies in the NT are recorded in far simpler fashion.
In both passages of Luke’s writing, the simple command to Paul was to “Stand up and be baptized” is not “Stand up, go elsewhere, and to be dunked.” Modern day immersion-only advocates interpret Luke’s narritive from “stand up and be baptized” to mean “Stand up, go elsewhere and be dunked.” And a "Should'a, Would'a, Could'a" interpretative principle is articulated.
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Did John the Baptist, baptize by immersion? John the Baptist was dressed in a camel hair tunic. And estimates is he baptized between six and thirty months before he beheaded by Herod. Did John baptize by immersion thousands dripping wet for months on end regardless of air temperature?
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Tension must be resolved between the cumbersonness and difficulty of immersion baptism and the simplicity of all the baptismal accounts in the NT.
And why don’t the early church fathers comment on these immersion difficulties and offer pastoral advice on how to solve them?
It is strange that those who make so much of the method of Baptism should make so little of its content.
In both passages of Luke’s writing, the simple command to Paul was to “Stand up and be baptized” is not “Stand up, go elsewhere, and to be dunked.” Modern day immersion-only advocates interpret Luke’s narritive from “stand up and be baptized” to mean “Stand up, go elsewhere and be dunked.” And a "Should'a, Would'a, Could'a" interpretative principle is articulated.
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- To render baptism by immersion difficult, if not impracticable in many cases.
- Obstacles have to be overcome in order to be baptized by immersion. Finding a suitable water supply, an extra change of clothes, a towel, a place to change, and proper thermal and weather conditions.
- For example, immersion may be nearly or entirely impossible for desert nomads or Eskimos. If immersion were the only mode of baptism, many people in the icy regions of the North and deserts like the Sahara where sufficient water could not be secured could not be baptized and Jesus would have commanded an impossibility.
- Some individuals have a natural dread of being submerged (aquaphobia), hence never be baptized.
- What about inmates in prison thorough the centuries?
- Historical female modesty around large crowds of men. Great cultural differences have to be over come for immersion baptism. Immersion baptism has massive societal implications, which in some cases immersion baptism would be abhorrent. We are not talking a one off circumstance…we are talking about entire societies.
- Even today practical difficulties can render immersion nearly or entirely impossible for some individuals: for example, people with certain medical conditions—the bedridden; quadriplegics; individuals with tracheotomies (an opening into the airway in the throat) or in negative pressure ventilators (iron lungs).
- People might have to travel for many miles together for a human body to be immersed in any natural stream or pool of water.
- Again, those who have recently undergone certain procedures (such as open-heart surgery) cannot be immersed.
- Or consider those in a hostile setting, such as a Muslim regime, where baptisms must be done in secret, without adequate water for immersion.
- Modern day immersionists enforce their own cultural standards of clean, warm, portable water of sufficient quantity on the history of the world and expect immersion baptisms as practiced in contemporary America to be the norm. A good college class in Anthropology would hopefully cure them of this American interpretation of the mode of baptism.
Did John the Baptist, baptize by immersion? John the Baptist was dressed in a camel hair tunic. And estimates is he baptized between six and thirty months before he beheaded by Herod. Did John baptize by immersion thousands dripping wet for months on end regardless of air temperature?
______________________
Tension must be resolved between the cumbersonness and difficulty of immersion baptism and the simplicity of all the baptismal accounts in the NT.
And why don’t the early church fathers comment on these immersion difficulties and offer pastoral advice on how to solve them?
It is strange that those who make so much of the method of Baptism should make so little of its content.
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