Three Modes
of Baptism
by Chad Shaffer and
Mike Stine
Intro
Infant Baptism
Believer's
Baptism
Three Modes of Baptism
Our
Conclusions
Now that
we have looked at the forms of baptism we must look at the
methods of baptism. This topic is a very hotly debated topic
within the church. Many methods are used but which methods are
the correct methods of baptism?
The Bible itself is silent on the methods of baptism. We know
that Jesus himself was baptized by John the Baptist in the
Jordan River . Beyond this we know very little about the methods
of baptism used in the New Testament.
The earliest statement of how baptism was performed came from
the Didache. The Didache was a manual that was written around 70
AD. In the Didache it says this:
| "After the foregoing instructions, baptize in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living
[running] water. If you have no living water, then baptize in
other water, and if you are not able in cold, then in warm. If
you have neither, pour water three times on the head, in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Didache 7:1 [A.D. 70]). |
This is the earliest writing that we have on the method that
baptism is supposed to take.
Let us look at the three different methods of baptism that are
used. These methods are sprinkling, pouring, and immersion. So
which one of these is the proper method? Let us look first at
sprinkling. We can find no real explicit reference of this
method of baptism. Those who adhere to this method of baptism
note in the Old Testament that the priest sprinkled blood on the
altar and see this as a foreshadowing of baptism. There is
little to no reference to sprinkling being used as a method of
baptism until the Middle Ages though.
The next method of baptism that we will look at is pouring. Here
again there is no explicit reference to this in the New
Testament. It is very likely though that in Acts 8 when the
Ethiopian eunuch was baptized by Phillip there would not have
been enough water for him to be baptized by immersion. Pouring
would have been more likely to have been used but we cannot be
sure of this. We can see from the writings of the early church
father’s that pouring could be substituted for immersion if the
person was not able to be immersed on account of extenuating
circumstances.
The third and final type of baptism is immersion. This method
has the most scriptural basis of all the methods of baptism. It
is probable that Jesus was baptized by immersion in the Jordan
River by John the Baptist. As well as having scriptural support
this method of baptism also has almost unanimous support from
the church fathers. This method gives us the best picture of
Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Surrounding immersion is also the debate concerning triune
immersion. This is just as heated a topic as any surrounding
baptism and churches have split over this as well. There is no
indication from scripture one way or another as to whether a
person should be immersed three times or one. What is plain is
that a person is to be baptized in the name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. The question is whether a person
should be immersed once in all three names or once for each
name. From the records of the early church fathers, there would
appear to be strong evidence that a person who was baptized was
done so three times, once for each name.
Next Section -
Our
Conclusions
To top of
page |
