GERALD\u2019S QUESTION:<\/p>\n
When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, what would the baptismal formula have been? \u201cFather, Son, and Holy Spirit\u201d wasn\u2019t used until the 2nd Century.<\/p>\n
THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER:<\/p>\n
Even\u00a0a highly skeptical scholar like John Dominic Crossan considers it historical fact that Jesus inaugurated his public ministry with baptism performed by his cousin John the Baptist, who was \u201cpreaching in the wilderness.\u201d There\u2019s also wide agreement that John would have used full immersion in the waters of the Jordan River (those loud amens you hear are coming from Baptists). But as for what words John recited, the Bible doesn\u2019t say though, yes, it doesn\u2019t seem plausible he would have spoken Christianity\u2019s familiar invocation of the triune God that Gerald quotes.<\/p>\n
The Acts of the Apostles depicts three baptisms during the earliest phase of the Christian movement, each performed in the name of Jesus and not the Trinity (which is the practice of modern-day \u201cOneness\u201d Pentecostals). However, the Gospel of Matthew, written in the same time frame as Acts, suggests belief in the three divine persons in the Trinity in its account of Jesus\u2019 baptism \u00a0(3:13-17, paralleled in Mark 1 and Luke 3). As Dale Allison comments, \u201cthe Son is baptized, the Father speaks, and the Spirit descends.\u201d Then the Trinity becomes explicit in Matthew 28:19 as Jesus directs his followers to make disciples, \u201cbaptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
So invocation of the Trinity quickly emerged in the 1st Century as a permanent feature of Christian baptism.\u00a0 Scholars\u2019 consensus is that\u00a0Matthew was written sometime after\u00a0A.D. 70. In addition we have the earliest church manual, the Didache, which prescribes the same Trinity phrasing for baptisms (verse 7:1). This text could have originated as early as A.D. 50 but more likely by the early 2nd Century. Also, around A.D. 56 Paul concluded 2 Corinthians with this oft-quoted Trinitarian benediction: \u201cThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, it took several centuries for Christianity to settle on a detailed theological explanation of the three persons in the Trinity and the divine and human natures in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
The Hebrew Scriptures (or Old Testament) prescribe immersions for various purity rituals, seen today mostly in Orthodox Judaism\u2019s mikveh bath for women following the menstrual period. In addition, an immersion ceremony is part of the traditional process for conversion of a Gentile to Judaism (with circumcision added for male converts). A traditional spoken formula is \u201cblessed are you, Adonai, Ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us with the mitzvoth and commanded us concerning immersion.\u201d Jewish\u00a0 immersion of converts was carried over to baptism as\u00a0the rite of initiation into the Christian faith.<\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s important to understand that John wasn\u2019t presiding at conversion rituals. Matthew reports that he said \u201cI baptize you with water for repentance.\u201d His innovation was to take a practice that marked a Gentile\u2019s renunciation of false religion and apply it to his fellow Jews. They were challenged to prepare for the Messiah\u2019s coming by repenting of their sins and making a new commitment to holiness, symbolized by the ceremonial washing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s basically what we know about the \u201chow.\u201d Though Gerald didn\u2019t ask about it, the \u201cwhy\u201d in Jesus\u2019 situation is intriguing and more central to Christian belief. Here\u2019s the issue: The New Testament teaches that Jesus \u201cknew no sin\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21) and \u201cin every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin\u201d (Hebrews 4:15). In Christian theology, sinlessness is integral to the Savior\u2019s identity. If Jesus had no sins that needed repentance, then why did he ask John to baptize him? The Bible reports that John acknowledged Jesus as his spiritual superior and at first didn\u2019t think it proper to baptize him until Jesus insisted (\u201cI need to be baptized by you\u2026\u201d).<\/p>\n
In the Bible\u2019s conception, Jesus\u2019 baptism was his manifestation as the divine Son\u00a0 and Messiah. Added aspects are proposed. Perhaps Jesus was also endorsing John\u2019s baptism and status as a prophet. Or he wanted John\u2019s followers to also align with his new movement. Or he was asserting his own high priesthood by undergoing the Jewish immersion rite for priests. Or he identified himself with the growing number of Gentiles in that era who embraced worship of the one God and underwent immersion.<\/p>\n
Whatever the elements of truth in those theories, the online answer from the Billy Graham association summarizes the central Christian consensus: \u201cJesus \u2014 who was the sinless Son of God \u2014 took upon himself your sins and my sins, and the sins of the whole human race. Just\u00a0as he didn\u2019t have to die, so he didn\u2019t have to be baptized \u2014 until he became the bearer of all our sins.\u201d In this belief, the innocent Jesus carried the burden of humanity\u2019s sins, at first symbolically in the waters of baptism, and then in his death upon the cross.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GERALD\u2019S QUESTION: When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, what would the baptismal formula have been? \u201cFather, Son, and Holy Spirit\u201d wasn\u2019t used until the 2nd Century. THE RELIGION GUY\u2019S ANSWER: Even\u00a0a highly skeptical scholar like John Dominic Crossan considers it historical fact that Jesus inaugurated his public ministry with baptism performed by his cousin John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n