BAPTISM BY IMMERSION: ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Despite the fact that the Greek word baptizo has the primary meaning of “immerse” or “dip,” a number of Christian denominations deny that total immersion was the mode of water baptism practiced in New Testament times. As a friend of mine once tried to explain to me, it would have been ridiculous to assume that the officials of Jerusalem would have turned over the entire water supply of the city to an obscure Jewish sect on the Day of Pentacost in order to provide the amount of water needed to immerse the 3,000 that were converted on that day.

The Jewish Mishnah (ca. AD 200) describes ritual immersion rites to be carried out on new converts and on special occasions for ritual purification of Jews. As scholars point out, it is doubtful that either John or Jesus would have invented a brand new ritual and much more likely that they would have merely adopted a practice already in existence. But in each case, it was given a new significance. For John, it represented repentance for past sins and a turning back to God. For Jesus and his followers, it took on added importance in representing visually the uniting of a believer with the death and burial of Christ followed by rising from the grave with him in a resurrected new life. Sprinkling with water completely misses all of that rich symbolism.

The reality is this: Surrounding the temple area in Jerusalem alone, archeologists have found to date 48 ritual immersion baths to serve the thousand of pilgrims who came to Jerusalem to worship on feast days. Each held the prescribed 75 gallons of water, water deep enough to completely immerse a person. Many of the baths were even connected by small pipes to adjacent ponds containing ritually pure water. The steps leading down to each bath were divided down the middle so that the ritually impure would descend on one side and ascend pure on the other side. Similar ritual immersion baths dating to before the time of Christ have been found throughout Israel.

But the major difference between Jewish and Christian baptism (as well as the baptism of John) is that for the Jews it was a WORK (one immersed himself or herself) while for a Christian it represented GRACE (a person submits himself or herself to baptism carried out by another).

All of that said, am I stating that one needs to be immersed in order to be saved? Not at all. That question is a matter of each person's conscience after considering the biblical evidence. I am merely trying to correct the attitude that one of my past pastors ran into years ago when a Church of England bishop asked him where our denomination came up with “the quaint custom” of immersion.

If you are interested in reading more concerning the background and significance of baptism, I highly recommend Baptism in the New Testament by G.R. Beasley-Murray, a very readable and exhaustive study of the subject.