This is the transcript for the video, Ex-Catholic Claims Baptism Doesn’t Save – Here’s What Scripture Actually Says (11-14-25). It featured well-known anti-Catholic Mike Gendron talking with Allie Beth Stuckey and claiming that sacramental baptism isn’t biblical and isn’t found in early Christianity. We respond with direct quotes from Church fathers, Protestant historians J.N.D. Kelly and Philip Schaff, and crystal-clear Bible verses (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16).
*****
Allie Beth Stuckey is a Reformed Baptist mostly known as a conservative political commentator. Her YouTube channel has 685,000 subscribers. We’re replying to her video entitled, “Ex-Catholic on Mary, the Saints, & the Gospel” (8-21-24) with guest Mike Gendron, who is a well-known anti-Catholic apologist. It has 171,379 views. Gendron, an ex-Catholic, is well-known and has been spreading falsehood about the Catholic Church for fifty years. The question then arises as to whether one is deliberately lying or simply relentlessly ignorant. I choose to believe the latter, in charity.
But whatever is true, we should pray for him, and he should tremble, because the Bible says, “Let not many of you become teachers, . . . for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness” (Jas 3:1, RSV). Gendron will one day have to stand before God and give an account for what he has done. The more he truly knows about Catholicism, the more responsible he will be for the sin of bearing false witness. If he’s merely ignorant, God will have much more mercy on him, as he did regarding St. Paul’s earlier life. Jesus said, “Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required” (Lk 12:48). Here is his comment we’re responding to and Allie Beth’s response:
18:09 I’m reminded of Jude. The reason he wrote his epistle was to “contend earnestly for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints” . . . The body of truth that we are to contend for today was delivered to the saints in the first century, so anything that comes against that we are to reject. Many of the Roman Catholic traditions today, you won’t find in the first century church. For example . . . you don’t find sacraments as a means of salvation . . .
19:11 We hear a lot I hear a lot from Catholics, “well, this is the church that Jesus Christ established” . . . and that what was passed down to the apostles by Jesus has continued to be passed down to the priest, so they would say that it is the apostolic tradition. I’ve had Trent Horn on this podcast, who was a very kind person and a good apologist for Catholicism, but he said “I just want to practice Christianity the way the earliest Christians did” — but of course that would be my contention, too, like which early Christians, because I don’t see that in Scripture. I’m not even sure that I see that, as you said, in the history of the early church.
We reply by citing respected Protestant Church historian J. N. D. Kelly (an Anglican). Here’s what he thinks about baptism:
From the beginning baptism was the universally accepted rite of admission to the Church . . . It was always held to convey the remission of sins . . . (Early Christian Doctrines, San Francisco: Harper Collins, revised edition, 1978, 193-194)
Likewise, Protestant historian Philip Schaff, who edited the famous 38-volume set of the Church fathers, fully agrees:
This ordinance was regarded in the ancient church as the sacrament of the new birth or regeneration, and as the solemn rite of initiation into the Christian Church, admitting to all her benefits . . . (History of the Christian Church, Vol. 2, section 71: “The Doctrine of Baptism”)
The Epistle of Barnabas, thought by many scholars to be dated as early as 70 AD, put it this way:
Blessed are they who, placing their trust in the cross, have gone down into the water . . . Further, what says He? “And there was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and whosoever shall eat of them shall live forever” [Ezekiel 47:12]. This means, that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. (ch. 11)
The Shepherd of Hermas, dated by scholars as early as 90 AD, concurs:
And I said, I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins. He said to me, That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. (Book II, Commandment 4, ch. 3)
St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote around 110 AD:
Let your baptism be your armor; your faith, your helmet . . . (Letter to Polycarp 6)
These early Christians, during the apostolic age or very soon afterwards, believed as they did because the Bible had already made it very clear. Jesus said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:16); Peter proclaimed in the first Christian sermon, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38), and in his first epistle, “Baptism … saves you …” (1 Pet 3:21); Paul was told right after he converted, “Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). And he later wrote that we get baptized so that we “may live a new life” (Rom 6:3-4).
Protestants always demand “clear” Bible proofs. This sounds crystal-clear to me, and we have also the provided undeniable apostolic Christian witness. When anti-Catholics learn things like this, they need to modify their views accordingly, or else they will be deliberately spreading lies, and that violates both the Ten Commandments and the golden rule. In Revelation 21:8 “liars” are included in the infamous list of those who will end up in “the lake that burns with fire and sulphur.” This is very serious stuff.
Related Article
“Mike Gendron’s Anti-Catholic Lies Exposed” [response to this very video] (Joe Heschmeyer, Catholic Answers, 8-27-24)
Related Web Pages
Related Video
Yes, Baptism Saves You [Undeniable Biblical Proof!] [Catholic Bible Highlights, 49 minutes, 10-25-24]
*
Photo credit: copyright 2025 by Catholic Bible Highlights.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In