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Gargantua: I was baptized as an adult, as Jesus says we must be

Conservative til I die: Where did Jesus describe baptism as you describe it?

Gargantua claimed Jesus said we must be adults to be baptized. Conservative asked where Jesus said this.

Firstly, the Scripture you posted is not Jesus speaking, and secondly, it does not claim you must be an adult to be baptized. You've in no way supported Gargantua's claim with your post.

Gargantua: I was baptized as an adult, as Jesus says we must be
Conservative til I die: Where did Jesus describe baptism as you describe it?
Gargantua claimed Jesus said we must be adults to be baptized. Conservative asked where Jesus said this.
Firstly, the Scripture you posted is not Jesus speaking, and secondly, it does not claim you must be an adult to be baptized. You've in no way supported Gargantua's claim with your post.

1,337 posted on 02/22/2006 10:40:35 AM MST by Titanites

If we seek to understand water immersion (baptism in the Greek)
as practiced by John the Immerser, we need to understand the
Jewish culture of Mikvah at the time of Y'shua.
Mikvah
Immersion in the mikvah has offered a gateway to purity ever since the creation of man.
The Midrash relates that after being banished from Eden, Adam sat in a river that flowed from the garden.
This was an integral part of his teshuvah (repentance) process, of his attempt at return to his original perfection.
Before the revelation at Sinai, all Jews were commanded to immerse themselves in preparation for coming face to face with G-d.
Immersion in the mikvah has offered a gateway to purity ever since the creation of man
In the desert, the famed "well of Miriam" served as a mikvah. And Aaron and his sons'
induction into the priesthood was marked by immersion in the mikvah.
In Temple times, the priests as well as each Jew who wished entry into the House of G-d had first to immerse in a mikvah.
On Yom Kippur, the holiest of all days, the High Priest was allowed entrance into the Holy of Holies,
the innermost chamber of the Temple, into which no other mortal could enter.
This was the zenith of a day that involved an ascending order of services, each of which was preceded by immersion in the mikvah.
from chabad.org

b'shem Y'shua

Gargantua: "I was baptized as an adult, as Jesus says we must be."

Conservative til I die: "Where did Jesus describe baptism as you describe it?"

Full Court,

Acts 8:34-40 is a wonderful account of the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. The point of this Scripture is that no one is excluded from the invitation to Salvation. As a eunuch, its my understanding that this gentleman would have been excluded from entering into the Old Covenant by Jewish tradition. He asks the question, "what is to prevent me from being Baptized," and the answer is: "nothing."

Gargantua assertion is that Jesus said that we must be baptized. The request has been made to her to document the Scriptures where she sees this teaching. (There is no Scripture that says we must be adults to be addressed, so presumably she is looking at a Scripture which she feels implies this teaching.)

As for the Scripture you quoted, it gives an example of Baptism, but the particular form of this Baptism is not to be considered normative for all Christians. True, the man is in question is an adult. If this Scripture implies that we must all be adults to be baptized, then does it also imply that we must be eunuchs as well? Of course not.

With regards to infant Baptism, the Scriptures are silent, other than to say that entire households were Baptized at the same time. It neither endorses nor condemns paedo-Baptism explicitly. We do know, however, that under the Old Covenant, male children entered the Covenant at 8 days of age through their circumcision. (Adult males were circumcised when the converted, as well.) Circumcision was a sign of the Old Covenant, and it was applied to children. Since Baptism is a sign of the new Covenant, it is not unreasonable to believe that children can be baptized.

"..but Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 19:14)