History of Baptism

The history of baptism in the church is interesting and typically one of the most controversial teachings. Today there is a great deal of emphasis in many denominations on baptism, and over the centuries people have been baptized in many different ways.

The Bible actually has a lot to say about baptism. We see in Matthew, chapter three, the coming of John the Baptist, a fi rst cousin of Jesus, calling people to repentance and baptizing them in the River Jordan.

The word baptize is from the Greek word baptizo and means “to dip or immerse under water.” However, the word also can mean “to clean with water.” The Greek word was used, for example, in the way cloth was dyed: it would be immersed under water with pigment. Another example would be how a blacksmith would baptizo a piece of hot iron in water to cool it quickly and therefore make it stronger.

The Jewish followers of John the Baptist, who were called to repent of their sins, already knew a lot about baptism. In the Jewish culture, ritual washings, or baptisms, were also one of the final steps for Gentile converts to Judaism. They would be baptized (called a mikvah) “into Moses” by symbolically recalling the crossing by the Israelites of the Red Sea.

In the early church people who were converted “into Christ” were baptized typically by being immersed in water. We know this because we have historical evidence from the time of the apostles, including excavations of baptismals that are deep enough for an adult to be immersed fully. We also know from first-century writings that the bishops could grant permission for water to be poured only if there wasn’t sufficient or deep water available. 

During the first few centuries, new Christian believers would receive special instruction for an entire year. These new believers were called Catechumens, and after their instruction the church would have a huge celebration, typically right around Palm Sunday, when these new believers were baptized, given white robes, and became full members of the church. 

At that time baptism was a rite of initiation with great symbolic meaning, but it was not directly tied to the forgiveness of sins. Many Catechumens, for example, who were not yet baptized went to the Roman Coliseum and faced martyrdom confident of their salvation.

However, by the fourth century, Christians generally associated baptism with the forgiveness of all sins. As a result many people would delay their baptisms to gain maximum effect and wash away many years of sin. Emperor Constantine the Great, for example, delayed his baptism until his deathbed. The leaders of the church saw a great moral danger in delaying baptism, and fortunately for them another teaching—that baptism was necessary for salvation—became popular. St. Augustine (AD 354–430) had written, “How many rascals are saved by being baptized on their deathbeds? And how many sincere Catechumens die unbaptized, and are thus lost forever!”(15)

As a result of these dilemmas and Augustine’s teaching, two new Catholic doctrines—the doctrine of necessity (that baptism is necessary) and the doctrine of forgiveness (that baptism forgives original sin)—officially emerged. Since the mortality rate for infants was very high, soon babies were being baptized within a few days of birth. By the end of the fourth century, baptism, as an initial step of initiation into the church, split into two sacraments: baptism for infants and then a later confirmation for adolescents and adults, replacing what was typically an adult baptism via immersion that accomplished both rites. In the Eastern or Orthodox Church, babies are still baptized by immersion rather than being sprinkled, or by having water poured over their foreheads. 

By the sixteenth century, many of the reformers began to look at infant baptism in light of both early church history as well as the teachings in the Bible and encouraged each other to be baptized again. These Anabaptists, as they were called, restarted the practice in the church of what we know today as believers’ baptism, which is practiced in many of our Evangelical churches.

Not all Christians baptize the same way, nor do all Christian denominations recognize each other’s baptisms. However, many Evangelical Christians believe that water baptism identifies the believer with the Godhead—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as we are commanded in Matthew 28:19 to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Further, water baptism identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. 

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Rom. 6:3–4).

While some may believe baptism is only symbolic, we also need to remember it was one of the two commonly recognized sacraments of the church. Historically sacraments were viewed as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given to us, ordained by Christ himself.” (16) Baptism is the manner by which the church fulfills the commandment of Jesus to “make disciples…and baptize them” as well as for the believer to identify himself or herself with his or her new life in Christ.

The text above is from pages 44-46 in Baptism, Chapter 9 of "Roaming Catholics" 

Was Peter the first Pope? Should Christians pray the Rosary? Should priests be married? These are among the provocative topics addressed in Roaming Catholics: Ending the wandering to embrace the wonder.

This thoroughly researched book presents the development of the Catholic Church in an engaging way to help Christians understand their common history shared by all. The apostle Paul referred to the church as the "Body of Christ," not the "Body of Christians." Rather than Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female he proclaimed we are to be one in Christ. 

Pastor and theologian Kenneth Behr shares his own religious evolution from a Catholic altar boy to an evangelical pastor and engages readers with a parallel story of the evolution of Catholicism. 

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the book

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the study guide;   Study guide is available free via Kindle for Amazon Prime users

Water Turned into WIne

We’ve been going through the Gospel of John at the Windsor and just started the second chapter where Jesus and his disciples go the Wedding in Cana of Galilee. 

Most people know this story and it’s a great opportunity to talk about Jesus at the very beginning of his ministry.   In these studies, in the Gospels as well as the other books of the Bible, it’s often thought that it is easy to ask some general questions with the primary objective of getting a conversation going:

What did Mary ask Jesus to do?  Why do you think they ran out of wine?  What do you think is the purpose of this miracle?  Do you think all the water was turned into wine?

The idea is that when people participate they learn and grow.

However, just asking questions and letting people come up with the answers on what they believe the scriptures mean, can be problematic.   Jesus rebuked both those who didn’t understand the scriptures as well as those who twisted the words of Scripture or misapplied them.

The approach I take is to start with the general assumption that all of the Gospel of John has one primary purpose. That purpose was stated by the Apostle John in John 20:31 “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name”

The second step in the approach is the more difficult both in application as well as in definition.    It includes the idea of taking the scriptures ‘literally.’

Typically when someone asks if you take the Bible literally, you can get caught between the two extremes.   Some of the sayings in the Bible are obviously meant to be figurative.  Jesus says he is the door but He obviously is not made of wood.    However, assuming that the Bible is allegory or metaphor means you can make it say anything you want.        

The best way to understand the Bible and more importantly to teach it is to take a Literal, Grammatical and Historical approach to what is called exegesis, or finding the true meaning of what the author was saying through the inspiration of the Spirit of God.

Typically, people depart from the more literal meaning of the verses not because they are obviously figurative but because they are amazing, mighty and fantastic.

Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, the plagues of Egypt, the Virgin Birth and even the Resurrection of Jesus are Bible events that are to be taken literally.

Jesus made a reference to Jonah obviously because He believed it to be literally true as well.   He compared Jonah’s few days in the belly of a great fish to His own death and resurrection.

In the same way, some think it amazing, mighty and fantastic to think that Jesus would return.  However, the prophecies regarding Israel are being fulfilled in our day.   If you read the Bible and use a Literal, Grammatical and Historical approach to the prophecies of His second coming, there is much to be excited about what may be happening in the very near future.

Measuring Spiritual Growth

Is it a basketball game if no one keeps score?  I remember coaching our church’s basketball team for children.   It was a mixed team with girls and boys including my son, all under 9 years old.   When we played our first game I learned that we weren’t going to keep score. 

Someone had decided that it wasn’t “Christian” to be that competitive.  Most of us dads found that not keeping score just didn’t create the excitement or enthusiasm that a soccer, football or basketball game typically generated.   Fortunately there were plenty of Capri Sun drinks to keep the enthusiasm up.   One of the advantages of not keeping score was that we didn’t need a ‘mercy’ rule, which mercifully often ended some of my games back when I was only nine.

Some of that thinking that Christians shouldn’t keep score has limited the churches ability to measure spiritual growth.   Spiritual growth however should be a primary objective of our churches and without some measuring rod, some metric that can be employed, how do we know if we are effective?

Metrics are used in churches to keep track of things like attendance and giving.  Churches even keep track of more spiritual matters like Baptisms and commitments to Christ.  We know however that these activities don’t necessarily equate to true spiritual growth. Activity and attendance doesn’t necessarily parallel a change in the heart or the development of Christ-likeness.

Some significant attempts at spiritual measurements have been interesting and well documented.    Willow Creek conducted their ‘Reveal’ study in 2004 that analyzed over 6,000 extensive attendee surveys.  They reached out to hundreds of people that had left Willow Creek the previous years.   Then in 2007 an additional 5,000 surveys were completed.   

Willow Creek invested a considerable amount of money to conduct a very comprehensive and well-documented measurement of spiritual growth and satisfaction at their churches.  One of the preliminary and primary finding was that Involvement in church activities does not predict or drive long-term spiritual growth.[1]

If we take the findings of the Willow’s Reveal study as a starting point and apply some standard statistical probability analysis methodology I believe we have the opportunity to create a measurement tool that can give us some highly significant metrics.  One of the first hurdles that we have to address is that measurement and metrics are about identifying both positive and negative trends. They are not designed to measure absolutes.   In addition, a metric is only meaningful when used in comparisons and over time.  An individual score or metric is meaningless without a comparison.

For example, a quality rating for a hotel or a restaurant of 5 stars may be better than one with 4 stars but does not guarantee that the 5 star is perfect nor that the difference between the five star and four star is observable.

Hotel and motel four and five star ratings are based on things like hospitality, cleanliness, amenities, lobby hours and how long the concierge or room service may be available.  Churches need to find other classifications and qualities to measure.  Willow’s reveal study said that activity and attendance isn’t an appropriate “stand-alone’ measure so what should we use?

The Apostle Paul talks about measuring Spiritual growth in the 5^th Chapter of Galatians.  He juxtaposes the acts of the flesh in 5:19-21 (sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy drunkenness, and orgies) with the fruit of the Spirit in 5:22&23 (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control).

Rather than measure attendance or even more subjective things like satisfaction with the church, the services, music or pastor, why wouldn’t churches measure what actually matters?

Do we really want to measure whether people are ‘happy’ with the sermons, the music or the pastor?  The apostle Paul also said that “Godliness with Contentment is great gain,” (1 Tim 6:6) but from my perspective, contentment without godliness is just spiritual apathy or complacency.

In a statistically conducted survey there are some factors that determine whether the results of a survey are reliable.  If they are reliable, that means that the results of the survey are adequate to be able to predict that if EVERYONE was surveyed, the results would be similar.  We are used to hearing comments like “95% confident and “within the margin of error” which is a reference to what is known as a confidence interval.

If churches could find a simple, easily repeatable survey that could consistently be used to determine if people are growing spiritually – if people were becoming more Christ-like with regards to exemplifying the fruit of the spirit described by Paul, would that be something worthwhile?   The answer is yes, absolutely, so let’s go a little further into the methodology that should be employed.

People that work in the field of statistics know that the questions that are used and the sample selection employed are very important in determining the usefulness of the data and responses that are collected.    A relatively few number of respondents (i.e. as little as 322 out of a population of 2,000 ) can give you a 95% degree of confidence of the results within + or – 5 points)

While the sample size is important but easily attainable, the degree of randomness or ‘lack-of-bias’ in the sample selection is critical.

For example, in looking at church attendees, sampling or surveying 2,000 people and collecting only a few hundred responses could easily have a significant response bias. Perhaps it is the people that are most involved or connected to the church that respond.   Perhaps those that are the most apathetic or least spiritual chose to not turn in the survey.

As a result, it is more important to use some random method to select the survey recipients and ensure that a higher percentage of them return their surveys.  A high response rate is essential in legitimizing a survey’s result.  Typically, this is done by 1) limiting the number of questions; 2) making it easy to complete and return the survey and 3) providing encouragements and incentives to ensure a high response rate.

Taking Paul’s characteristics of Spiritual maturity (i.e. the Fruit of the Spirit) and keeping the survey brief with just a few qualitative questions a survey can be designed that would be very useful.  The church should keep it easy to administer and likely to be returned.  Many studies have shown that there is very little bias introduced when only electronic surveys (as opposed to telephone and mail) are used since so many people now have access via home and office computers and their hand held cellular devices.   Providing incentives including discount coupons are excellent ways to encourage participation and adequate sampling.

Some of the questions that could be asked (five point response scales are common) would include: Do you find joy in knowing Jesus has a plan for your life?  Do you worry or find yourself worrying often about the future? (this being a negative response question).  Are you a person that takes difficulties and trials in stride, knowing that the Lord can use all things for our good? Do people think of you as being a peacemaker?  Are you faithful in all things, particularly in keeping your commitments to the Lord and your family?  Are you kind and tenderhearted?  Do you consider yourself to be a person of faith?

Questions related to spiritual growth could include: Are you engaged in daily prayer (other than mealtimes)?  Do you have an interest in fasting, refraining from certain types of foods or pleasures for spiritual gain?  Are you a good steward of your life, deliberately managing God’s resources for His glory? Do you read your Bible regularly?   Are you a good Christian witness, taking the opportunity to share with others the hope that you have within you?  Do you find yourself growing in faith, becoming more Christ-like?

One individual survey result will not provide any definitive metric that the church can use.  However, if the same survey is administered to the same demographic over a period of time, there are likely trends that will be spotted.   Since it is important that the survey questions remain constant over a period of time to be able to compare results, churches should be careful in selecting the limited number of questions carefully ensuring that they are the types of qualities they want measured and worded in a way that is clear and provides consistent responses.

Churches can and should be using metrics to determine if they are effective in producing spiritual growth.  Rising attendance and healthy finances are possible indicators of health but quantitative surveys can produce meaningful data that will help answer the question.

(Faith Dialogue, Inc., a nonprofit faith-based ministry in Florida has developed a Spiritual Growth Survey and can assist any church in implementing this type of measurement of spiritual growth.   Contact them at www.faithdialogue.org)

---

[1] Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, Reveal: Where Are You? (Barrington, IL: Willow Creek Resources, 2007).

Catholics vs. Protestants

In many families, people believe they can’t attend events at churches other than their own denominations. The Roman Catholic Church formalized this idea a number of times over the years, including in the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism, which was first published in 1885.

The Catholics were not the first to put together a catechism. The lack of religious instruction that both the clergy and laity had dismayed Martin Luther, and he published Luther’s Large Catechism in 1529.

The Roman Catholic Church was slow to respond to Luther. After the Council of Trent, however, there was a renewed emphasis on education, particularly for the clergy. While early Catholic catechisms going back to the seventeenth century were for the clergy to read, not the laity, the Baltimore Catechism had an edition just for students.

My first Baltimore Catechism was probably a condensed version for elementary students. I remember it was green, and I kept it in my desk at school. It was likely an updated version of the original, but it still seemed old even back in the 1960s. The Baltimore Catechism consisted of lessons, a few prayers to memorize, and a number of questions.

The original catechism is now in the public domain, so I was able to find a couple of the questions and answers that dealt with this issue of visiting other churches, including joining a Cub Scout pack.

Q 205. How does a Catholic sin against faith?

A. A Catholic sins against faith by apostasy, heresy, indifferentism,
and by taking part in non-Catholic worship.

Q 206. Why does a Catholic sin against faith by taking
part in non-Catholic worship?

A. A Catholic sins against faith by taking part in non-
Catholic worship when he intends to identify himself
with a religion he knows is defective.

For hundreds of years, both Catholics and Protestants have taught that it is sinful, harmful, and dangerous to get too close to each other. This is so unfortunate, as there is so much we can learn from each other.

The Bible clearly tells us there is only one church, with Jesus as the head. In the Gospel of John, Jesus prayed for unity. He was praying for His disciples, but He included all of us:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word; That they all may
be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they
also may be one in us: that the world may believe that you
have sent me. And the glory, which you gave me, I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.
(John 17:20–21, NASB)

Many can relate to this struggle between Catholics and Protestants.

Religious persecution is no laughing matter, as the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) devastated much of Europe, and Germany lost literally one half of all of its young men in battles and the resulting pestilence and disease. This was not a war against barbarian pagans but with Christians drawing swords against other Christians. These were nations and kingdoms and cities led by kings who believed in God, understood the Trinity, embraced the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for their sins as a historical fact, yet found it appropriate to wage war against others who believed the same.

>>>>>>>>>>

The text above is from pages 2-4 in The Catholics and the Publics- Chapter 1 of "Roaming Catholics"  Picture at the top is Dominican nuns arriving at St. Joseph’s School in the early 1960s. Photograph in the public domain.

Was Peter the first Pope? Should Christians pray the Rosary?  Should priests be married?  These are among the provocative topics addressed in Roaming Catholics: Ending the wandering to embrace the wonder" 

This thoroughly researched book presents the development of the Catholic Church in an engaging way to help Christians understand their common history shared by all.  The apostle Paul referred to the church as the "Body of Christ," not the "Body of Christians."   Rather than Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female he proclaimed we are to be one in Christ. 

Pastor and theologian Kenneth Behr shares his own religious evolution from a Catholic altar boy to an evangelical pastor and engages readers with a parallel story of the evolution of Catholicism. 

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the book

Click here to buy (via Amazon) the study guide;   Study guide is available free via Kindle for Amazon Prime users