Jewish Proselyte Baptism and Its Relation to Christian Baptism

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Butler University

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Graduate Tesis Collection Graduate Scholarship

1-1-1938

Jewish Proselyte Baptism and Its Relation toChristian Baptism

Glen W. Mell

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Recommended CitationMell, Glen W., "Jewish Proselyte Baptism and Its Relation to Christian Baptism" (1938).Graduate Tesis Collection. Paper 201.
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JEYIlSH PROSELYTE BAPrISMand

ITS RELATION TO CHRISTThIf BAPrISl!

byGlen Vf. Mell

A thesis submitted in part ial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree of Master of ArtsCollege of Religion

Division of Graduate Instruotion Butler University Indianapolis 1938


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CONTENTS

Foraword . . . . . . . . . Pages I . I II Chapters t

I . Primi t iv e Rites of Purifieation . Page 1 II . The Sojourner and the Prose l yte Page 8

I I I . The Mi s s i onary Element in Judaism . Page 17 !J', The Origin of Pro s elyte Bapt i sm . . . . Page 21 V. The Baptism of the Prose lyte Page 27

VI . The Baptism of John and I t s Assooiat i ons Page 38 VII.Je sus and His Rel at i on t o John Page 46

VIII . The Meaning of Chr i st i an Bapt i sm Pag e 52

Conclus ion . . . Page 65 i b l i o r n F ~ . . . Page 69

I., '=> 1. '\- 4r


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I

FORE,'fORD

With a Disciple background, the wrl.tor of this thesis has quitenaturally been vory ~ u c h i n ~ e r e s t e d in the subjeot of Christian bap-tism . by study of the value and Illee.ni.nt; of Christian baptism will ,of' course , lead one baok to a oonsideration of i ts origin . I t seemathat onB is usual l y content with tho oonviction that Jesus insti tutedbaptimn and lets i t f,O at that . I t is interesting to investigate andtry to discover whether this new inst i tut i on of Christian baptimn wnsreal ly something al together new , or vmether i t may have been buil t uponsomethine which bad been praotioed before , ~ i v i n g to i t a larrer con-tent and va l ue . Since Chriatian ~ e a o h i n g s and prino i pl es have theirroots back in JudaisD, is i t possibl e that Christian baptimn l ikewisemight have i ts roots at the same source? Following this l ine of

t h o u ~ . h t we Vlere led back through John ' s bapt iu to Jewish proselytebaptism and the oeremonial washings of puri fication , not only of theJews, but of' other peoples perhaps more primit ive in same of' theipracticos . Washinss of puri f ication have had a la rge part to playin the religious history of almost a ll primitive people .

I t seems that beginnin( with the earl ier stntes of society ondO"m to the present time , one of the natural tendencies of the hu:nanmind has been to adopt a physical and outward act as a symbol , or rep-resentation of inward and spiritual state . An outward dramatizati onof an inward state has a , ~ y s been characteristic of almost a ll peoples .The purification of the body by water has always, in every religion ,
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been considered as s y m b o or that purified relationship between man and Dei t y and haE al;vays beon thought of as en ilnporte.nt r e-l igious ceremony .

This WIl.shing or cleans in!>; of the body by Vlater was one of the principal i n i t i a t o ~ r i tes to the worship of ~ t h r a , a Persian god-

dess . t vms also practiced by the follonor s of Zoroaster . TheE ~ ' P t i a n s praotioed these ablutions f rom the ear l ies t tilnes . Thosewho were to be in it iated into thei r sacred mysteries were f i r s t ofa ll bathed i n wate r by the pr i ests . During the annual fest iva l ofI s is , whioh lasted eight days, a general purificati on took plaoe .

The ancient Greeks used "mter also in thei r r eligious r i tea . Tobe admi t ted to the Eleusinian myste r i es, one had to be washed in thewaters of the River I l i . sus . In the rel igi ous oeremonies of t heancient Romans, the .rater of purification was l ikewise used. TheDruids of Great B r i t a L ~ also used water for pur if ications . The Orient-a l re l i gions abound in these abl utioru: .

The use of water for purifi cation was introduced into the r e l igiOUSr i tes of the Jews ~ divine direction . Several ceremoni a l r i t es ofthe :J09aio law we r e aoo ompanied by washings . Bathing in wate r , to geth-er -ffith circumcision , ~ ~ s a requirement in tho admission of prosel ytesto the Jewish fai th . Here , i t seems, we piok up a l i ne that oarriesus through to the mode and basio significance of Christian Baptism . I ti s the oonvi ct ion of t he writer of this thesis that Christ i an b a p t i ~is a development f rom Ja,rish proselyte b a p t i ~ ~ , but with a larger andmore spir i tual oontent. There i s a direot i o D S h i ~ bet.reen the two .

II
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Our prooedure in this thesis ~ i l l be to b e g i ~ with a cOn-sideration of the primitive r i L ~ s of puriication, with our at-tention cOminG to be focusod u ~ o n the Jewish ceremonial washin(S ,proselyte baptism, John's baptism, and f inally, ChristiQll bap-

t i s ~

The v ~ i e r w2shes to express his grateful appreciation toDean Fredericlc D. Kerahner , under whom he has majored , and whosewise counsel and Christian l i fe will always be a help end inspir -at ion .


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JEWISH PROSELYTE BAPTISMand

IT S RELATIQ}1 TO CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

CHAPrER 1.PRIllITIVE RITES OF P G ~ I F I G A T I O N

There is a ri te praotioed among primitive peoples which bear sconsiderable resemblance to the ceremony of Christian baptism.This ri te almost always oarries with i t a religious and ethical significance. In the oeremony, water is used to wash away impuritiesof body or soul, and thus by this prooess, beco!TI.Gs purified. Theoeremonial use of water m s and is quite generuamong the primitives,and is looked upon as a means of ceremonial purificat ion.

The use of water in ceremonial r i tes was the development fromthe uso of water for cleansing and purifying purposes. As the wateroleansed the body of dirt, the p r L ~ i t i v e mind came to attaoh to i tthe power of cleansing from evi l or warding off evil . I t came to belooked upon as the oleanser of the stain of moral guil t .

Tabu, or Ul10leanness, was removed among primitive people by washing with water. The tabu was thus removed from mother and new-bornchild. "The tabu essence, as i f exuding from the pores and cl ingingto the skin l ike a oontagious disease, is vnped of f ~ n t h water, the
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tmiversal oleanser." 1 Water was largely the symbol of puri-fieation.

\-fashing with 1A'Rter V3.S a neoessary ceremoni a.l method of re-moving uncleanness or tabu with the Jews. Among other groups,

"even a man v{ho had touched a dead body must remove his clothesand wash himself before he mingled with his fellows;" 2 andwarriors returning for batt le were required to bathe in orderto wash off the ghosts of their v i c t i 1 and remove the gui l t ofmurder. Thus, ceremonial washing with water was necessary to re-move the contagion of tmcleanness. I t served as a protection a-gainst impending evil by making one immtme to the attaoks of a vis-ibIs or invisible foe.

In pri!nHive bel ief, water was a beneficent l iv ing being. I tsmotion, sou.'ld, power, and i ts aid to the processes of growth, a llseemed to s p e ~ of l i fe . I t ,vas also believed that no evil spi r i tcould cross running water. flIt _ s by a logical process that water,considered as having many various powers, and being i t se l f the ve-hicle or abode of spir i ts favorable to man should have been used asone method of removing the contagion of tabu or the influence ofevi l spir i ts , or a t a higher stage should have been held to possess

1 E. '::ra.wley, The Mystio Hose, Hastings Encyclopedia of Religiona.nd Ethics, Vol. 2, p. 3672 Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 2, p.368


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the power o re!1loving the guil t of sin." 1 The Hindu believ-ed that immersion III the waters o the sacred Gnnges r iver wouldremove the sins even o a l i fe time.

Water which removed di r t rom the body was also thought tobe able to remove the contagion of tabu. Wth this the case, i twas next assUr.led that i t had urther qual i t ies which could reOlovethe stain of mors.l ev i l . On this basis are rounded the ethricbaptismal r i tes . Primar i ly , t hey are sL'llple purifications toremOve the tabu. They are also oonnected with t he process of namegiving. Then , they are used as in i t i a t ions, or before the cele-brat i on of Mysteries, and in ~ ~ i s connection, have certain ethicalcontent. They are thought to reiuove sin. "The purificatory wash-ing frequently passed over into a mere symbolic act of sprinkling,a process analogous to the change in the Christian r i te from i m m e ~ -

i ng to pouring water over the candidate." 2Various rel i gious societies or mysteries required the baptis-

mal r i te as a neoessary procedure for admission into the group. Thoseseeking admission to the Egyptian mysteries of Is is were baptizedby the priest for the purpose of purification and forgiveness ofsins. Purifioation by water was one of the requirements for admis-sion into the Greek Eleusinia, and was looked upon as a kind of

1 Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 2, p.3692 Ibid. p.37Z


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new birth. "The candidate bathed and emerged from the bath anew man with a new name. These purificatory r i tes freed the can-didate from the stain of s in and prepared him for the revelationto ooms." 1 They were thus admitted to the mysteries.

Among the simple peasant folk of Europe, the unbaptized ohildoontinues to be the prey of fairy and demons or witch, because ofi ts pagan state , unti l i t is baptized. At baptism, these are re-

~ o v e d .

I t was the belief of the Babylonians that water was the sper-matozoa of the gods. As the god and goddess cohabited each spring,there was a large outpouring of l i fe giving waters. The Babyloniansheld fest ivals in observance of this . In the Semitio area, springswere regarded as sacred and were thought to be the abode of dei t ies .Thus their ~ ~ t e r s had l i fe giving power.

The EgyptilUls attributed peculiar cleansing power to the watersof the First Cataract where i t was t;hought by them that the Nile hadbeen born. In order for the dead king to go to the sky and takehis place among the gods, he must f i r s t b's purified by the waters ofElaphantine.

" That whioh was physically creative was believed to have creatiYepower also in the spir i tual realm. This is the reason for the ear l iestrecorded ceremony of what is called 'ceremonial purif ication. ' I t was

1Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Volo2, p. 373

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recreative. He who experienced i t was believed to have experienced a divine rebi r th Immersion in water for thepurpose of obt a in ing bir th into a higher l i fe was an 9..'1cient custorn The re is evidence of belief in the powe!" of wateras a divine agency for the renewa l and rebirth of l i fe ." 1

In Is!"ael we find the salIl.e primitive be li efs re garding thepower of water, exoept for the fact that they were modified bythe exaltation of Jehovah. Water was closely associated with Jehovah, for in the begi nn ing "darkness was upon the face of thedeep, and the s pi r i t of God moved upon the faoe of the waters." 2I t is also reasonable to believe that ~ ~ e y attached certain cleansing and l i fe giving power to water as is evidenced by i t s use incertain r i tuals . In order to atone for the unknown murder of a manfound sla in in a field, the elders of the closest city were to takea heifer which had not dra,m the yoke, take i t into a. rough valleyand strike off the heifer 's neck. The pr i es ts were t o come near andthe elders were to wash their hands over the heifer . Thus they were

3to put away the guil t of innocent blood from among them.I f a man had had leprosy and i t had le f t him, or i f a plague

had visi ted his house and had gone, in order for the man or the houseto be co:n.pletely free f r om ini 'ection, i t was neoessary for a bird tobe slain over running water. 4

1 G.A. Barton, MThe Ori gin of the Th ought Pattern which Survivesin Baptism" Journal of American Oriental Society , Vol. 56, No. 2,p. 155 f f

2 Genesis 1 :,2 3 Deuteronomy 21. 1-9 4 Leviticu s 14: 5,50


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Then there is the story of Naaman's cure frolll leprosy by Elisha.ftnan Naruna.n had bathed himself in the Hordan seven times, "his fleshoome again l ike unto the flesh of a l i t t le child and he was elea.."l." 1Naaman had bathed in Yahweh's l i fe giving \vaters and had experienoeda new bir th; 'his flesh came again as the flesh of a l i t t l e chi ld . 'Tho Hebrews believed that the wa.ters of tije Jordan had regenerativepower and because the r iver was the r iver of Yahweh's land, that pow-

2er came from Yahwah."Naa!nan's question, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, r i"vers of Da..,ascus,

bet ter than a ll the waters of Israel? 1 ~ y I not wash in them and be3clean?" points to the fact that the people of Damascus must have

had similar views regarding the l i fe giving power of their rivers,whioh, in a l l probability, they attributed to Hadad. After his heal-ing, Naaman declared his desire to worship Jehovah henceforth, 4 andasked for a small portion of earth that he might take with him baokto Damascus. He was convinced that the hea.ling power of Jehovah andhis river was superior to that of Hadad and his rivers. This furnish-es evidence that the primitive belief in the l i fe giving and recreat-ing pmvers of water persisted in Israel .

1 Seoond Kings 5.122 Second K i n ~ s 5:173 Exodus 19.104 Exodus 30,18


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This primitive belief is manifested a l l throueh the historyof the Hebrews. When the people were awaiting; Jehovah ' s appear-

1ance at Sinai, they were required to be.the in water. A laverwas to be plaoed in the sanotuary in which priests were to wash. 2The effects of various plagues were said to be oast off by the

3water. Uncleanness was said to be oleansed by water. 4 The sinof having eaten the flesh of an animal that died without being bledwas removed by bathing in water. 5 The spoils that were taken fromthe Midianites were purified by being washed. 6 Probably by thisprooedure, i t was thought that thei r foreign uncleanness was takenaway.

Thus, as elsewhere, i t was t rue in Israel that to water wasascribed certain magical virtue, and was generally used in the r i tesof purifics.tion to eleanse and purify both body and soul. In thebaptismal bath, one was eleansed of the impurities of the soul, andstain and guil t were remov.ed. I t was not only a ceremonial r i te buti t was also recreative.

1 Exodus 19.102 Exodus 30:18:3 Leviticus 13,144 Leviticus 22. 65 Leviticus 17.166 Numbers 31: 21-24

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CHAPTER I I .

THE SOJOURNER A ~ ] ] ) THE ~ t O S E L Y T E

The early Hebrews were especially noted for their kind andjust treatment toward the stranger ~ n i c h dwelt in the land."And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppresshim; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 1 "Thoushalt not oppress a stranger; for ye know the heart of a strangerseeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 2 "He (God) dothexecute the judgment of the fatherless and w i d o ~ ~ and loveth thestranger in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore thestranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 3

These passages are not to be understood, however, as express-ing universal love or brotherhood. In order for the stranger toenjoy the goodwill of the Hebrew, he must seek the protecting care ofthe t r ibe and Deity. After entering into such a relationship,whether i t be temporary or permanent, he became known ae"Ger", meaning "sojourner," and was granted the same legal protection as a na-t ive . Granted this protection, i t followed that the "Ger" owedan obligation to the community which protected him. As long ashe was to enjoy this protection, he must not violate the law of

1 Exodus 22.212 Exodus 23.S3 Deuteronomy 10. 18-19


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land or the Deity. There were certain religious obligations which hehad to obey He could not violate the law ooncerning labor on theSabbath , neither could he engage in the practice of idolatry. Hewas forbidden to eat the blood of any flesh, transgress the law ofmarriage, or the laws of the Passover and the Day of Atonement. Thedeath penalty for crime, such as blaaphemw. could be inflicted uponhim just the same as a native. Although proteotion was given himand in turn he agreed to certain obligations, yet he was not regarded as a cit izen of the community unless he underwent the r i tesnecessary to join the community.

WWith the change of the people from a poli t ical to a religiousstatus. this relation to the non-Jew underwent a decided change.As the contrast to the heathen became more marked, the Gar assumeda new position. As he pledged himself to abandon a l l vestiges ofidolatry and to conform to certain principles of the Jevnsh law.he entered into closer relations with the people. Accordinglyhe adopted certain parts of the Mosaic Code, or the entire law, andthus became either a part ial or complete member of the religiousoommunity of Israel . In either case, he was re garded as a follower of the God of the Covenant." 1

1 K. Kohler, Jewish Theology p. 410


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In the period following Ezra, even with the exclusive spi r i tof the t L ~ e , there developed a desire to extend Judaism beyondthe boundaries of the nation. The BabylonilU,l Exile had part ial lyfu lf i l led the propheoy of Jeremiah, "Unto thee shall the nationscome from the ends of the earth and shall say, Our fathers haveinherited nought but l ies , even vanity and t h i n ~ s wherein there

11s no profit ." Zechariah looked forward to the time when"many peoples and mighty nations shal l COme to seek the Lord ofHosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord," 2 and"Ten men shall take hold, out of a l l the languages of nations, shalleven take hold of the sldr t of him that is a Jew, saying , "We will

:3go with you for we have heard that God is with you." J:saiahhad predicted, "For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, andwill yet choose Israel , and set them in their own land and the so-journer shal l join himself with them, and they shal l cleanse thehouse of Jaoob." 4 In the Psalms there i s reference made toother peoples who shall turn unto Jehovah; and a l l the kindredsof the nations shal l worship before thee." 5

i Jeremiah 16


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The term "Ger" nO'N beoame the OOmmon term for proselyte, mean-ing those who had rejeoted heathenism and joined the monotheisticre.nlcs of Judaism as "worshippers of God." The gates became opento heathen who had beoome 'God fearing men,' or 'worshippers of thoLord. ' Thus, the Psalms, af ter enumerating the customary ~ H O or,three classes, ' the house of Israel ' of 'Aaron' , and of 'Levi, 'often add the 'God fearing' proselyte. (Pa. 115tll; 118:4, and135:20.) " 1

The Synagogue servioe, with i t s devotion and instruotion in theSoripture was very attractive to the sincere seeker af ter religioust ruth. As the Scriptures came to be translated into Greek, thelanguage of the oultured world, there was furnished a good opportun-i ty to propagate the Je.vish fai th. The propaganda l i terature ofAlexandria stressed ohiefly the ethioal laws of Judaism, and didnot seek to make the Gentile observe the entire Mosaio law Or sub-mit to the r i te of Ciroumoision. As Jewish merchants would mee tGentiles in their travels, they would present their religiOUS faithin terms of a broad, universal religion. This consisted largely ofa s L ~ p l e monotheism and general humanitarian preoepts. I t is olaim-ed that "the number of heathen converts to the synagogue was verylarge and casusd attacks on JUdaism in both Rome and Alexandria,"

1 K. Kohler, Jewish Theology, P. 412


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and, "Jews and proselytes in a l l lands sent sacrif icial g if ts toJerusalem in such abundance as to excite the avarioe of the Rom-

1ans." -The kind of proselytism as desoribed in the above paragraph

was praotioed only by Hellenistic Judaism. In Palestine, the s i t -uation was different , in that the "God worshipper" VIlla had agreedto certain obligations in return for proteotion, but who had notbeoome fully a member of the C o ~ o n w e a l t h of Israel , ~ ~ s largelyregarded as a tolerated alien and was looked upon with disfavorin the sooial system. Dr. K. Kohler states that "legally the 'Godworshipper' WRS tenned 'Ger Toshab,' or ' se t t le r ' , which meant semi-proselyte." 2

The Ger ToshAb,however, is not to be thought of as a oonvertto Judaism, for he did not acoept or oonform to a l l of the prinoiplesor praotioes of the Mosaio law. The type of th is olass, Ger Toshab,was Naaman, the Syrian general, who was told by Elijah to bathe in theJordan to oure his leprosy, and then beoame a worshipper of the Godof Israel . In the same way, a baptismal bath was required of pros-elytes to wash off the stain of idolatry. They were then, legal lyenti t led to shel ter, support and religious instruotion from the

I K. Kohler - Jewish Theology p . 4132 K. Kohler - Jewish Theology , p . 414


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authorities. Although thei r needs were to be provided and protec-t ion given, they could not locate in Jerusalem, as there onlyful l proselytes were accepted as t izens.

In order for the proselyte to enjoy full Citizenship andequal r ights, he was required to conforo to the r i te of oiroum-oision and take the baptismal bath. lie thus accepted the entireMosaic law as much as did the native Israeli tes. Addai to this ,the proselyte WRS required to bring a special sacrif ice as a t e s t i -

~ o n y to his aoceptanoe of the one God of Israel . The term appliedto such a proselyte as had carried out the above requirements 7msthat of "Gar Zedet," meaning "proselyte of righteousness," as dis-tinguiahed from Ger Toshab. T)le legalistio, priestly view heldthat only the one. who offered the "sacrii ' ice of rigllteousness," a.nddeclared his willingness to obey a l l the laws of Israel , could be-COIlle an adopted cit izen of Jerusalem, the "City of Rigllteousness.""The prominence of the full proselyte in the early Synagogue appearsin the ancient benediction for the rigllteous leaders and Hasidim,Soferim Il.l1d Synedrion, the ruling authorit.ies of the J6VTish nation,where special mention is r r ~ d e of ' the Proselytes of Righteousness. 'These full proselytes pushed asiee the half proselytes 80 thatwhile both arc mentioned in the ear l ier classif ication, only thela t te r are oonsidered by the la ter Haggadah. With the dissolution


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of the Jevdsh state, no judicial basis remained for the GerII 1Toshab , the 'protected stranger. ' In the time of

Josephus, no proselytes were accepted unless they becI\Jll6 ful lproselytes.

In addition to the tenn Ger which gave a legal standing tothe proselyte, thar ,s was dso anothec' term used which Signifiedconversion to JUdaism. The words of Boaz to Ruth, "The Lord re-compense thy work, and a fu l l reward ( '6 given thee of the LordGod of Israel, under whose vdngs tholl art come to t rust ," 2 ceJIleto be applied to a l l who accepted the fai th of Israel . Convertsto JudaiSIT. came to be regarded as baing "brought under the wingsof divine majesty." The l i fe of Hillel was given to missionaryendeavor with the desire "to bring the soulS. of many a heathenunder the wi ngs of the Shekinhab. But in this he was merely 1'01-lowing the rabbinic ideal of Abraham and of Jethro of whom the Mid-,rash says; 'After having been won to the monotheistio faith by Moses,he returned to h ~ 8 land to bring his countrymen, the Kenites, underthe wings of the Shekinah:" 3

The baptismal bath which the proselyte was required to take,

1 K. Kohler, Jewish Theology, p. 4152 Ruth 2:12:3 K. Kohler, J e w i ~ h T h e ~ l o g y , p. 415


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s igni f'ied a rebirth, and he was to be as a "newborn creatu re."The st9.tement of' Paul tha.t Christian baptism puts away the oldman of' sin and creates a new, !l\ay be an extension of this view.There were some of the rabbis who declared that the proselyte' sbath was more L ~ p o r t a n t than the r i te of circumcision, as inthe case of female proselytes, i"!; was the only init iatory r i te .

The school of Hille l , f'ollo,ving the lead of' HellenistioJudaism, emphasized the e t h i ~ a l element in the law, and thusgave i t s encouragement to proselytism. I t VIelS greatly i n favorof' oonverting the h e a t h e and a l l probability, was res pons-i ble f'or many passages in the Haggada which praised the proselytes.The legal is t i c sohool of Shammai, on the other hand, opposed pros-elytism, and Eliezer ben Hyrcanos, i ts chief representative, dis-trusted proselytes alto gether .

After the Templo was destroyed, anyone desir ing to acoeptthe Jewish f'aith and become a proselyte, had f i r s t to learn ofthe sad lo t of the Jewish people. I f , after learning of th i s ,he s t i l l wanted to beoome a proselyte, he received instruo t ion ina number of the laws, both prohib i tOl"'J and mandatory, the easyand the hard, and was also in forme d as to the p u n i s ~ e n t for dis-obeying them and reward for keeping them. After this introduction

15


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and instruction. he was required again to deolare his beliefin God and his acoeptanoe and willingness to obey the laws.Following th is , i t was neoessaq for him to 3ubrni-t to the r i teof circumcision and take the b a p t i s ~ A l bath. He vres t ~ u s fullyadmitted into the Jewish community.

Hellenis -t ic Judaism was jOined by m a . ~ proselytes i!l var-ious lands, some of whioh were members of the Roman nobili ty Ho"tever. with the advent of Christiani-Cy. the status of theproselyte changed and proselytism was discouraged.


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CRAPrER I I I

TRE MISSIONARY ELEEEllT IN JUDAISM

"The conviction that Judaism as the one true religion wasdestined to beoome the universal religion, was a singularity ofthe Jews. 110 other religion in thei r world and th e made anysuch pretensions or cherished such aspirations. This bel iefin the future tUliversality of the true religion, the coming of an

~ g e when the 'Lord shall be king over a l l the earth ' led to ef-forts to convert the Gentiles to the , ~ o r s h i p of the one true God.and to fai th and obedience according to the revelation He hadgiven, and made Judaism the f i rs t great miasionar,r rel igion of

Ithe Mediterranean world."This doesnot mean. however, that the Jews sent out missionaries

for the purpose of making proselytes, for such was not the case. TheJews themselves were settled in great numbers in many plaoas Therethey adopted the language and were becoming influenced bY thei r sur-roundings. They were engaged in many ocoupations, and took thei rplaoes in the industr ial , oommeroial and poli t ioal l i fe of theircommuni t ies . Through their synagogues, they exerted a considerablereligious influence as the servioes were open to anyone who was de-sirous of attending them.

1 G. F. Moore, JUdaism in the Firs t Centuries of the ChristianE ~ , Vol. 1, p. 323

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Those v,ho followed the one t r ..,e God and became adher-ants to Judaism became so by submitting to the r i tes of' c i r -cumcision and baptism. These p r o s e l y t ~ s thus became membersof the Jewish nation.

Philo wrote that a proselyte was one who had resolved toaccept the true religion and had "become naturalized in a newand godly cOlDl!lonwealth, renouncing the mythical fict ions and ad-

Ihe ring to the t h ~ d u l t e r a t e d t ruth."The sacrifice which was to be presented in the templa by

the proselyte after he had subrillctted to the r i tes of circumcisionand baptism, was a burnt oi'fering for which doves or pigenns were"'ccaptable. This was required of a l l proselytes as one of thein i t ia tory steps, unti l af ter the destruction of the temple. Ai'terthe destruotion of the temple, a ll sacrifices were suspended. How-ever, the proselytes were required to be present and give a smallcoin instead of the oi'fering, so that i f the temple were ever re-buil"!:;, they could purchase the offering at once. This requirementwas la ter dropped when the prospeot of re"building the temple grewvery dim.

1 G. F. h,1oore. Judaism in the First Centry of ~ h e ChristianEra, Vol. I , p. 327


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20

The proselytes were regarded as on equality with the nat ive Israel i tes , but in turn, were obligated to keep the law.SOIDe who were forced to become proselytes, such as the Idumeansand Ituraeans by John Hyrcanos. proved to be very unsatisfaotoryproselytesJ however, they ,'{ere giren their rights and legal protection as such. The Gar Zedek, or the sincere and genUine pros-

e l l ~ e , who had joined Judaism for religious motives, were themost acceptable, and were regarded with favor.

The Jew never compromised his oonviotions with reference tohis religiOUS ideals. and the God he worshipped as being the onlyGod. His God was unique and universal. This caused him to en-deavor to win Gentiles to the aomOYlledgm.ent 01 ' the one God andobedience to His will .


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22-

CRAPTER IV

THE ORIGIN OF PROSELYTE &\PTISM

The e ~ c t origin of Proselyte bapti sm seems to be dis-puted 1 a matter of varyin('; opi!rlons. Professor Moore stateshis position thus:

"The ori(';in of the requirement of baptism is not known.The r i te has a superfioial analogy to the many baths presoribedin the lavt 1:or purification afier one kind or another of rel ig-ious uncleanness, and modern writers have explained that pros-elytes were required to bathe in order to purif.J themsel-ves fromthe unoleanne$ in whioh the whole l i fe of the heathen was pass-ed. 1his explanation i s nowhere explicit l y propounded ~ Jewish teaohers in the early centuries." 1

He oo=ents further: "In the who le r i tua l there is no sug-gestion that baptism was a real or symbolioal purifioat ion. I tis essentially an ini t ia tory r i te , with a f o ~ n a r d and not a baok-ward look . A proselyte who embraoes Judaism is l ike that 01: anewborn ohild. Former sins are done away by oonversion and re-oeption into the Jewish r el igious oommunity through oircumcisionand baptism. Proselytes were so re garded and treated so long

1G. F. Moore, Judaism in the Firs t Centuray of the Christian

Era , Vol. 1, p. 332


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as they had been properly reoeived and did not openly apos-. n 1t aSl.ze. '

In oonneotion with the foregoing i t is interesting andenlightening to notioe the discussion of Professor Louis Finkel-stein on proselyte baptism relative to i ts origin. 2 In thisartiole he claims that the Pharisees held that "a r i tual bath wasrequired not only to wash away impurity but aloo as a symbol ofhigher purification and consecration." He discusses ProfessorZeHlin 's theory relative to baptism for proselytes originatingin the year 55 B. C. as set forth in his t reat ise . 3 ProfessorFinkelstein claims that neither of the two premises upon whiohProfessor Zeit l in 's theory rests is acoeptable. Zeitl in main-tains that "the r i tual .. bath for proselytization was part of thenationalistio program enaoted into law in 65 B. C.," and that"'this enaotment proves that the inst i tut ion was unkno,m beforethat time." To this Finkelstein replies that a "survey of a llthe available evidenco shows that far from being a part of anationalistio program, the purification and baptism of proselytes

1 G. F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuray of the2

Christian Era, Vml. I , p. 334Louis Finkolstein, The Insti tution of Baptism for

Proselytes, Journal of Biblical Litera-ture, Vol. 52, p. 203 f f .

3. Ibid. p. 78 A Note on Baptism. for Proselytes

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\vas more strongly insisted upon by the paoifist ic oppon-ents of nationalism than by the nationalists , a.nd the conolave of the year 65 B. C. re-enacted many laws and gavesanotion to many oustoms which had been prevalent before i t ,so that even i f the b a p t i ~ of proselytes wa s one of i t s decrees, that would not in i t se l f prcve the youth of the custom."

Professor Zeit l in bases his belief that the r i tual bathfor proselytes was introdlleed in 65 B. C. upon the assumptionthat the pagans were deola.red lsvit ioally impure at that time.

He d r a . ~ s the oonclusion from a statement from a BabylonianAmora. in the fourth cent1.lry, R. Nahman I saao, who said. "theydeoreed that pagan children should be considered impure les tJewish children be seduoed by them into sodomy." Zeitl in ident i f ies this deores with the declaration that a l l pagans were im-pure. "But," says Finkelstein, "this is highly questionablefor i f R. Nahman was referring to the impurity of adult pagans,he should not have said 'pagan children. ' The most l ikely interpretat ion seems to be that even aocording to R. Nahman theimpurity of adult pagans was much older than the synod and thatthe synod of 65 B. C. extended the status of levit ica l impurityalso to pagan minors." Since the synod referred to was domin-

~ t e d largely by the intense nationalistic school of Shrumnai, i t


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i t is hard ly probable t h. t the synod woul d have deoreed l evi t -ical impuri t y to pagan minors, wiless it had already been so re-garded, as this sohool was much more l enient regarding the in -purity of pag!U1ll t han were t he ,,,embers of the school of Hillel .

Finke l stein Meerts that there was a different emphasisof nationalists and pacifists concerning t he puri ty of pagans.The nat ionalists emphasized cireUIlle.ision, and the paoifists, r i t -ua l ilmnersion. He says , "The Nat ional i s t laid l ess s t r ess uponthe Levitica l pIrrlf'ioa.t i on of' the proselyte t han the pacii'is t ,whereas aOOOrding to Professor Zeit l iu 's theory, the roles shouldhave been reversed. He oontinues by saying that even i f Profes-sor Zei t l in ' s oontention that heathen were deolared impure i n65 B. C., and therefore a r i tual bath was required fo r oon-version the rea1'te r , this would not imply that the same doot r ineand in st i t ution had never existed before . I t was qui t e oommon forone synod to repeat t he same regulations and ordinanoes of a pre -vious synod . Severa l of the Eighteen Deorees were mere enaotmentsof norms long established." Finkslstein conoludes his disoussionby saying t hat in view of the waakc.esse s s tated, "Prol'essor Zeit-l in ' s theory cannot be aooept ed ," and that "ffe simply do not know

w ~ or how the r i te of bathing es a means of oonversion became es-


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tablished. nWhile it seems that perhaps i t is impossible to state def-

in i tely just vmen proselyte baptism originated, the writa r isinclined to favor the position of Professor Finkelstein, inthat i t was already a prevailing custom a t the time the u,ynodmet in 65 B. C. Whatever tile real origin of the proselytebaptism may have been, i t was prescribed for the proselyte ~ norder to work a cleansing and wash off the stain of idolatry.


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CRAFTER V.

THE BAFTIS!" OF THE PROSELYTE

The praotioe of baptism by the Jews was a r i te whichsignified purifioation or oonseoration. With regard to theLevitice.1 laws of purity end in violation of them, baptism 'wasneoessary in order to atone for any transgression. However,baptism was intended to go further than this in that i t was toform a part of holy living and make it possible for a closer ap-proaoh to God.

The faot that there were many Gentn. oonverts who joined theranks of Judaism caused the praotioe of oeremonial ablution to begiven a new applioation, that of baptism of proselytes. "As ther i te of bathing e.f'ter cohabitation or nooturnal pollution was, inthe period af ter the destruction of the Temple, regarded by theRabbis both as a purification, and as a kind of consecration forintercourse with the sacred words of the Law, so was the bathingof proselytes considered a t once a purificat ion from heathenismand an ini t iat ion or consecration of the convert before his ad-mssion to the people of God." 1 Regulations which would demand

1 F. Gavin, The J e v d ~ h Antecedents of the Christien Sacr"""entsp.31

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of the Jew that he bathe in order to be cleansed and regainhis levi t ical purity, would certainly be followed by a baptismor Gentiles becoming Jews. I f any contact whateTer with pollution would oauee the necessity for meeting the requirementsfor purification, then s u r ~ l y one who had l ived in heathen pol-lution,and by the very fact of being a heathen, was impure,would be required to c ~ ~ l y with a process of complete purif ication be.fore he could become fully an Israel it I t was thusrequired of every Gentile who became a Jew to submit to the r i teof purification from heathen pollution by immersion. "Baptismof proselytes was an obvious and natural procedure. The law prescribed immersion, a bath for p u r i ~ i c a t i o n in a dozen instances.The state of defilement or uncleanness had to be removed by complying with a divinely ordained ceremony as a means of rehabil i ta t ionto the normal state of cleanness." I

The Babylonian Talmud, Traotate B e KAKOT, says concerningproselytes that "one is not to be regarded as a proselyte unt i lhe has been circumcised and undergone immersion, and as long ashe has not undergone immersion, he is s t i l l a "on-Jew.2

1 F. Gavin, Tho Jewish Antecedents cf the Christian S a c r ~ e n t sp. 31

2 The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Be KAKOT p.305


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I t further says, "And the idolater may not he taken forZilnm.;ID. That is evident. With what are we dealing? With aproselyte who has been circumcised but has not undergone im-IIll'lrsion." 1

~ o n c e r n i n g the process of proselyte baptism, we are toldthat a.cccrding tc the TallImdic t e s t i m o ~ . the ba.ptism of pros-elytes which took the form of an immersion was oarried out ine;ocordance with the Rabbinical regulations for ceremonial pur-ifioations and in the presenoe of three witnesses. The can-didate, i f a _ l e , was f i r s t oiroumcised and when the wound hadhealed he was taken to the bath. While he stood in the waterthe Rabbi's once more reoited to him some of the great and lessercommandments. Then the convert made a complete immersion andstepped forth as a ful ly privileged Israel i te ." 2 A proselytecould nct be baptized legally at night, on the Sabbat h, or one:r:ry holy day.

The following aooounts desoribe the process by ~ i c h theproselyte was received into the fold of Israel . These two ac-counts differ sOIll6'nhat but they ue essentl.ally the same.

1 . -The Babylonian Talmub, Traotate Be RAKOT p. 3052 Encyclopedia of Religion and E t ~ i o s , Hastings, Vol. 2, p. 408


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"One who comes to be made a proselyte in the present timei s to be asked 'Why dost thou come to be made a proselyte?Dost thou net k n ~ N that at this time Israel is affl ioted. buf-feted. humiliated and harried. and that sufferings and soret r i a l s oome upon them?' I f he answers. nI l."llOW this and amnot worthy' they are to aocept him immediately. Then they areto instruct him in some of the l ighter and weightier commandments, and to inform him as to the sins in regard to the cor-ner of the field. the forgotten sheaf. the gleaning. and the t i thefor the poor. rhen shall they teach him the penalties for t r a n ~ -gression. 'Know well that up until the time that thou hast comehither thou hast eaten the forbidden fat of oatt le ,,-1thout in-ourring the sentence of exommmunication; that thou hast profanedthe Sabbath without incurring the pena l ty of lapidation. Butfrom now on i f thou eat the fa t of forbidden oatt le thou wiltbe excommunicated; i f thou profanest the Sabbath thou wi l t bestoned. ' In the same way as they instruct him about the pen-al t ies of transgression shall they teach him the revntrds forthe observance of the commandments and shal l say to him. 'Knowthou that the world to oome was :made only for -the righteous,


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but IST!!.el a t this present time may not experience verygreat good or verf great affl ict ions. Yet one must notmultiply words or go too muoh into deta i l . ' I f he aocept,he is to be circumcised immediLtely and received.In case of a disoovery of any defeot as to a previousoirowncision, he is to be oiroUl1loised over again, and whenhealed, brought to baptism immediately. Two men learnedin the law shall stand near him and instruct him as to someof the l ighter and weightier oommandments. He immerses himself , EUld when he comes up he is in all respects and Israel . t " 1. e .

nOne who desires to be made a proselyte is not to be received immediately but they are to ask him ' ~ a t makes theedesire to beoome a proselyte? Behold, sees t thou not how thepeople are humbled and affl ioted among the nations of theworld, how mall i l l s and sufferings come upon them, how theybury thei r sons and grandsons, and how they are put to deathfor oircumcision, baptism and a l l the otiler ordinances, anddo not oonduct their lives openly and freely l ike other peoples?'

1 F. Gavin, Yebamoth, 47 a,b, as quoted in The JewishAntecedents of the Christian Sacraments p.33-35
http:///reader/full/IST!!.elhttp:///reader/full/IST!!.el


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I f he answer, ' I am not worthy to give my neok to the y.okeof Him who spoke the word and the world came into existence, 'they are to acoept him immediately. If not, he is dismissedand goes on his way. In case he assume the cg l igation uponhimself, they bring him down to the baptistry and oover himwith water to his genitals. They recite to him certain part icular comnarubnents; that he should begin to give the oorner of the field, the forgotten sheaf , the gleaning and thet i the . As they ins tru.ct a man, so they instruct a vroman,that she should begin to be scrupulous in regard to the r egulations a$ to purification, the priests share of the dough,and the kindling of the Sabbath l ight . He i:mm.araes himselfand when he comes up they address him with comforting words,'To whom hast thou joined thyself? Happy a r t thou. To limwho spoke the word and the vrorld came into exist ence , fort he world was oreated only for Israel ' s sake, nor are there~ called 'sons' save Israel and a ll the words whioh we spake,unto thee have we said only in order to increase thy reward." 1

Thus the initiatory r i te unto the Jewish fold consistedof the presentation and examination of the candidate , ins t ruot

1 F. Gavin, Gerim 1:1-5 as quoted in Jewish Antededents ofthe Christian Saoraments, p.33- 35

33
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ion of the oandidate, oircumcision , and baptism in whioh theoandidate entered the water, was given further instruotion, im-mersed, and then oonoluded with oongratulation and exhortation.

Upon the )!!.S is of Exodus 19;10,14,22, the T.almudio soholars argued the neoessity for proselyte baptism. In these passages the Israe.l i tes were oommanded to sanotifY themselves beforethe Law was given a t Sinai. This involved ablution and wa3 aneoessary r i te in approaching God. liThe Rabbis believed that thEact was ordained in view of the holy oovenant whioh was to be com-pleted by a sacrifioe (Kxodus 24: 4-6), but whioh was about tobe inst i tuted from the divine side by the giving of the Law. ( ~ -

a3us 20). They thus assumed that even at that early state , an ablut ion was the ordained means of gaining a l l i ~ i s s i o n into the oovenant. The proselyte baptiam was regarded also as a bath of purif ioation designed to remove the unoleauness of heathenism." 1

While i t was the desire on the part of Isntel to 'spread theJmowledge of the Deity and law," and make the God of Israel theGod of a l l , which led to proselytism, yet JUdaism could not

1 Hastings, Engyolopedia of Religion and Ethios, Vol.2p.409


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1properly be oalled a. proselyting fai th .

"Non Jews were accepted only i f they applied for Jewishfellowship of thei r own free will and accord. Every oonversionpresupposed not only instruction in the principles and ceremonialinst i tut ions of Judaism, but also the dissuasion of thB pros-peetive oonvert from his stop. He was made acquainted with t .hesad lo t of persecution whieh Israel elldured. Only af ter th is ,and af ter the promise of willingness to share that lo t with hisnewly adopted brethren, could the convert hope to be aocepted." 2

In attempting to make clear tho significanoe of prQsel ytebaptism as a oleansing r i te , from the impurities of heathenism,at tent ion is also called to the f aot that this baptism had inaddition the restoration of the cleansed proselyte to purity,so that he became a new person. The baptismal r i te connectedwith eve ry oonver sion had in it the suggestion of the new birth."Conversion signified a ohange of the whole man, as Naaman, theproselyte , af ter bathing in the Hordan seven times be oame olean'and his flesh l ike that of a l i t t le child. , I I :3

Again we quote "The expression u ~ c i ~ btJ the Rabbis for the

1 C. G. Montfiore, Hibbert Lectures, p. :3692 W. Rosenau, Jewish Ceremonial Inst i tut ions and Customs- p. 1373 Jewish Encyclopedia Vol. 3, p.220


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Z6'

person who undanvont Ii. chang;e of heart throug;h repentance a.l'ldoonvers ion is 'berich hada8hah' meaning a new creature. Theverse ' the people whioh shall be created shall praise the Lord,'(Psulms 102:.19), is explained, ' the people \


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3rT

pollution and idolatry, and beoame a new oreature.We shall now turn our attention to a study of the

baptism \ ~ i c h was praoticed by John, tho forerunner ofJesus.


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SN


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CRAPTER VI

THE BAPTIS]>! OF .JOIDI AND ITS ASSOCIATIOn S

The re l ig ion of Israe l was based upon what was f e l t to.be a Covenant re la t ion between God and I s rae l . Ylhen Israe ldid t he wil l of .G ad, then she "\1'as righteous and enjoyed pros.,pe r i ty . and 1hen she di sobeyed God, then dis t ress ing t imes we rehers. As I s rae l looked a t he r pas t , she f e l t t ha t natura lpros peri ty had been hers only a t interva l s . I t was f urthe r be -l ieved that only by a suprelne interven t io n of God could s he bel i f t ed out of dis t ress s,ud dispair , and t ha t prosperi ty andredemp t ion would c ome by jus t ice to them. For the Messia.'lica ge a l l Is rae l i tes lenged for and waited anxieusly.

Amen g; tho se who. shared th i s convict icn,very de f in i te ly"lE.S John . He real ized t ha t i n erder fcr th i s age to come 'vihenI s rael would be delivered f r om oppression, tha t t here mu s t be ar ad i ca l change i n the nat ions re l i g ious a t t i t ude . The Messiahwould come only to. a people who. we re peni tent and r ighte ous ,and r eady fo r God to. rule in the i r ,nidst . He fe lt thnt be fo rethe sp i r i t of the Lord could be poured f o.rth in i t s ful lness ,t here was needed a genera,l repentar,ce towa r d God ~ . n d 'fowar d HisC'o.venant . John, deep ly moved by th i s conviction, began h is


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work of calling the people to repent!l.nce, end began thepraotice of baptism of repentanoe for ~ i s n ofsins. His message was "Repent ye, for the Kingdo:n ofHeaven is a t hand." 1

"And there went out unto him a ll the country of Judeaand a l l they of JerusRlen;.; 8lu i they wer e baptized of him inthe river Jordan, confessing their sins." 2 Why wer e they bap-,t ized 7 Evidently because the i r old sinful selves had to berepl aced with a new h o r 1'1 o'rder that they night beready to be citizens of the approaching Kingdom of God. John' sbaptism was primarily cor porate in idea, having to do with thesalvation of a people. This is v ~ Jesus ~ ~ s able to be bap-

t i z ~ by John without any feel ing of s in except in the corpor -a te sense . He regarded i t as an act of obedience to a divi neordinance. Since salvation for Israel was as yet only a pro-mise oondi tioned upon (,bedience to the Messiah v.nen he shouldcome, John claimed no seYing virtue for his baptism, but onlya certain preparedness as i t was the outward demonstrat ion ofan inward peni tence. The baptism of the llessie.h was to addsomething to John's baptism in that the Holy Spiri t was to begiven, and thus adding a spiri tual significance.

1 Matt hew :5 :22 !lark 1: 5


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We know very l i t t le about the l i fe of John. the Bapti st .His appearance in Judea as a preacher of repentance a.nd of thecomIng of the Kingdom of God, was rathe r sudden. His fathe r ,Ze.che.rie.s, was a priest ; his mother, a devout woman . Hisat t i re was rough, his food vms of the plainest; his messagewe.s one of denullcis.tion and condemne.tion. He wa s troubleda t the social and religious rottenness of the time. His per-sonality was stern, unc ompromising, and fearless. He was aprophet wi thout regard for people or position and resembledAmos at Bethel, or Eli j ah . He astounded t he people of Jer-usalem and Judea, and they came in throngs to hear him. SOme

c ~ e through curiosi ty. others through fea r , others beoauseof the desire to prepare for the new day which he was predict-ing would oome. As the people hea rd him they were s t i r red . n thnew hopes and expectatiCins . The nation was aroused.

John was fervent in his rebuke of a l l sins and of th osewho committed the sins, end was put to death by Herod becauseof' John's condemnation of' his immoral conduot. John's wo rd swer e those of moral exhortation. I t t hat in his th inking,the Kingdom of God wa s to be the purif ication of the national


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l i fe . ""By no Vlord does he suggest other than a moral-rel igicus role for the Messiah. and no record connects him, orhis folla-overs with arJ poli t ical movement." 1

In the procle:ms.tion of his message. he was fearless and uncompromis i ng. "Like El i jah he worked only for present re forma tion within the bounds of the national re l i gious organizat ions.He hoped for a ooming Kingdom of God but he did not cherish thebri l l iant antioipations of the writing prophets. He did notthink of himself as the person destined to introduce the newdispensat ion of things . He fe l t that while he was a preacherof r ighteousness . a stronger arm than his was needed to es tabl i sh the perfeot divino society. He spoke of a suocessor ~ n oshould complete wllat he had begun and who should baptize ' notwith water but with the Holy Spir i t . ' "

~ o o r d i n g to Matthew 11 :14, Jesus declared John to be aprophet and more. He said of John that no greate r man than hehad yet appeared i n Israel . Later , in answer to the Phariseeswho demanded of him hi s source of authority for doing the thi ngs

1 c. H. Fay. Judaisn and Christianity, p'o3332 I bid p.334


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he was dOing, he asked them whether they regarded the bapt i sm of John as receiving authority from men or from God. 1They would not answer his quest ion , and he no furtherr eply, but t his indics.tes that he re garded ~ o t h John and himse lf as in the same category relative to the autho,r i ty forthe i r work.

After the death of' John, hi s discip le s continued to ex-i st f or a time in the form of e. sect, but exerted very l i t t lei ntluence . They , &.8 a group, did not join t.he movement of Jesus, but maintained thei r separate organization. "John' 5 r.;ovement was a re sponse to the demand of the t imes, but not strongand deep enough to furnish all that was needed. I t was the las tattempt of the old prophetic thought to guide the religious l i feof the nation. The Johannites, however , never at t ained to anydeep spiri tuali ty nor af fected t he growth of t he ir group." 2

John was a continuation of t ha t l ine wh ich he l d t o the t r adit ional moral religious ideas . Courageously he lashed a t thevices, and denounced the Phar isees and Sadducees.

1 Matthew 21: 23-322 c. H. Fay, Judaism and Christianity, J. 336


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1Acoording to one reerence, he may have been of thethought that the Kingdma of God would have in i t s membership80me who ~ r outside of Israel . He at tracted t he attentionof al l groups in society, and demanded of 0.11 groups and in-dividuals, a moral reformation. He succeeded in preparingt he VlEty or his successor who ViaS to usher in a new era inreligious l i fe and practiee s.nd lead the way to spiri tualheights never before attained .

The baptism of John was quite in harn.ony with the longestablished us ages o the Jews, considering the mBXo/ lustrationa Ylhich oonstituted a pa:rt of the Mosaic la\v and whichwere practiced on various oocasions both by the priests andby the people. Ablut ion in the waters of the Jordan was we l lit ted to represent the washing away o sins t hrough repent&nce. This i s also similar to the baptism o the proselytewho thr ough his bapt i sm puts away the impurities o p a g a n i s ~ .however, John 's baptism differed rom the proselyte baptismin that i t was administered to Jews.

In John's bap:t; ism, the candidate gave witness of hi s repentanoe by his baptism, and with the remi nsi ons o sins and

1 Mat thew 3: 9


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'PX-HVa


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NLVS


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C'.dAPTER VlI

4" ,

JESUS, AND IDS REUTIOli TO JOHN

Vihen Jesus heard that John was baptizing in the r iverJordan, he oame to be baptized and take his stand with theBapt i s t in the refonn work John had begun. (Matthew 3t13)He, l ike John, was troubled over the sooial and religiousrottenness of the times. He vms now ready to give himselfin larger service.

While Jesus may have beg\Ul hi s career as a disciple ofJohn, i t was not long until the i r paths became separated.John' . work waS only preparatory t o the ooming of Jesus. Theone great nEled of t he times was moral re@l'neration "nd a O3los -er fellowship with God. Jesus always ins i st ed upon a sinoerelove of goodness and a desire to ca rry out t he will of God.He laid down ce r tain moral principles which were to guide i nthe solution of social-moral problems and whioh should pr oducea perfected human society. He supplied the s timulus to moral-spiri tual attainment .

Jesus di d not himself baptize with water, but he di d qomma:ndhis disciples to do sa. They had thsnselves, i n a ll probability


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been baptized by John. (John 4:2) In t h ~ i r praot ioe , theyc o n t ~ n u e t h ~ baptism whioh he used.

In his early ministry, Jesus ha.d for his message pra.ctioally Ithe srune one that John had declared in the wildeDness, "Repent,for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) Thereis no record of the disciples of Jesus continuing the baptismof John after he was imprisoned and beheaded. Baptism is notmentioned as be ing one of the requiremen.ts in order to becomea. disciple of Jesus.

After Jesus had served his earthly ministry, he made onestatement oonoerning the wate r baptism to be practiced by hisfollowers . Before his ascens ion he l e f t the commission, asrecorded in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16. Some scholars re-j eot th eae passages, claiming that t hey were not added unti lla ter , and so are not authentio. However, i f one is to bel ievethat Jesus did command baptism, and i f the Scriptures are to beused as pro.of , one must aocept these passages as authentic.One of his final i nstruot i ons to his inner oirc1e of disoip leswas f or them to tarry in the oity of Jerusalem unti l theywere endued with power from on high. (Luke 24: 49 Acts . 1:8 )This spi r i t baptism was to be the distinctive baptism of the
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of the Messie.nic age. John had said tha.t the l{essiah wouldbaptize with the Holy Spiri t . (Mark 1:8) For al\7 directconmlwd frQlJl Jesus relat iva to water baptism as having anypart i n ~ ! e s s i a n i baptism, we must depend upon Mat thew 28::19,and 1II8.rk 16,16.

The wa te r baptism which Jesus permitted his disciples topraoti()e . i f not identical with John' 5, was much more l ike i tthan Christian baptism. I t was prepar .tory and not perfecting; symbolical and not saoramental . Christiall baptism wa snot possible until Christ had died a ~ ~ had risen again. WhenJohn was put into prison, J esus continued J ohn' s preaohing.(Mark 1:14,15.) In a l l probability, vrhile Jesus oontinuGdJohn's preaching, his disciples continued J ohn' s bapt i sm.This bapt i sm was not accompanied by the gi f t of the Spir i tf or the Spirit had not yet been given. Jesus wa s not yetglorif ied . (John 7::39) In the mission of the Twelve ort he SeVBllty, no command was given t o baptize . (Luke 9:.15;10:. 1-16) This omission would be strange i f ther e was al readyi n use a r i te equal in efficacy to the baptism of the gospel .Unt i l Chri s t had di ed and had risen again, and sent th e Holy


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Spi.r i t upon his discipl"s. no such baptism by them was pos-s ible .

"The bapt ism of' John and that continued for a time byJesus, was not a r i tual a ct of individual salvation but anact of' dedication to a religious and social movement. Bap-tism of' the Jordan wa s not received to save the individualby himself or in the future lif 'e; i t was re ceived in viewof the impending Mess ianic salvati on and as an act of' alleg-iance to a new order of' things. The baptism of John car.notbe separated from his preaching; the former received i t scontent and meaning from the la t te r . His preaching calledmen to repent of the.i r old ways of l iving. Baptism was thedramati c expression of an inward consent and al l egiance tothe higher standa rds of l i fe which were to prevail in theMessianic community . There is no indication that Jesus orhis diSCiples practiced baptism during the Galilean periodof h is work. When the practice was resumed by the primitivechurch, i t was once mor' an act of obedience and fa ith inview of the impending Mess ianic Kingdom a t the return of theLord . The r i tual act now got i t s et hical interpretationf r om r emembered sayings of the Master and from the frate rna l

50


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l i fe of the group . " 1Different meanings were gradually at t ached to baptism.

I t became an ac t whereby the guil t of past sins was erased,and also an act of re generation . I t was by baptium thatthe individual turned his back upon former loyalties andentered into the fellowship of the Christian group. I twas an act of dedicati on to the ~ of God.

1 Rauschenbusch, A ~ o l 0 i ' i L ! . ' ! ! the Social Gospelp. 198


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CHAPTER VIII

THE MEAIUNG OF CRRISTUU BAPTIS!'!

"Christian baptism is most intell igible on the sup pos i t ionthat i t was I i Jew.i.sh oustom whi.,h the Christians took overin obedience to Christf ,g cammancl, mOdifyint; H by the nat -ural adopt ion of the nam e and by an equally natural oon-neotion with the gif t of the $.pir i t . " 1

I t 1s quite probable that Chri s t ian baptism was a carryo ~ r from the Jevrish r i te of purification, proselyte baptismand the baptism of John, but i t was given a new se t t ing and I inew s ignificllnoe.

On the day of Pentecost, when t he Spir i t l iRS poured outupon Israel in ful f illment of the promise of Jesus, the f i r s tpronouncement wa s made concerning the conjunot ion of wa te rbaptism and the Spir i t . Pater, fi l led with the Holy Spir i t ,p r o c l a L ~ e d to t he mul t i tude about him, "Repent and be baptiz-ed every one of you in the name of Jesus Chri s t unto the re-mission of your sins and ye shall receive th e gif t of the

1 Hast ings , Encyclopedia of R e l i g l : . 0 ~ _ a n d Ethics , Vol . 2,p . 381
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1Holy S_pir i t ".Throughout the book of Acts there are numerouo r efer

enoes to baptis:!l, and there are points of identification withthe gif t of the Holy Spir i t .

In the le t te rs of Paul, there is considerable evidenceof a connection between baptism and the gift of the Spir i t .Paul's "doctrine of B a p t i s ~ is that on the positive sid e i tgives t he Christian union with Christ , which may also be de-Goribed as inspiration with the Holy Spir i t , while on thenegative side i t oleanse s f rom sin . This i t accomplishesby the power of t he name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the

2sacr amenta l effect of the 1mter."In Paul' s le t ters , baptism. is r egarded as lillian \ ~ i t h

Christ. According to Romans 6 : 3 f f . , we are "bur ied withChrist by baptism into his death and are planted t ogether inthe likenes s of hi s death . It We are also raised in the l ikeness of his resurrection to vtalk in newness of l i fe . Baptismis hers regared as the gif t of the sp i r i t , ,,-ccording to Firs tCorinthians 12:.13 . "For by one Spi r i t are ;T a : a l l bapt iz ed

1 Acts 2:382 Hastings, E n c y c l o p e d i , , : ~ _ ~ , : , . 1 i ! i ~ . o ~ " : 7 J . d E ~ c s Vol. 2

p .3 .9Z


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into one body." Tho spir i tua l Chris t and the Spi r i t are almost.l.f not quite , the same. 1 Baptism thus i s now rega rded as unionwith the death and resurrection of Christ , and beoomes the begin-

2ning of a ~ e w l i fe o:f unio!l lJirlth the risen Chr isc . Baptismis also regarded by Paul as c l ean3ing from sin. 3 The rite herais o!1.ly implied and not specifical ly mentioned. I t i s "repre-sented as a oleansing effected through the name of th e Lord andthroue;h the divine Spi, . i t . Baptism can produce these effectsbe cause i t works ' i n tho =e' and so 11Zlk5 up baptism with theview, prevalent a t the time i n a.lmost eve!"'1 c i rc le , tha t tho pro-nounciation of the name of anyone, i f p,.operly used , would enablethe user to enjoy the benefrt of the t t r i b u t e ~ attaohed to theorigina l owner of the n8.l!1e ." 4

Pet e,., in referr ing to baptism, deals with t he mo ra l ra therthan the doctr inal nabure of the r i t e . 5 Since Jesus had beenvictor ious over death and had arisen f r om th e tomb, we may a h o

1 Romans 8:9 - 17 Second Corinthians 3:172 Galat ians 3,"27 Colos s i ans 2.123 Fi rs t Corint hi ans 6.114 Hastings, Enclycopedia of Religion and Ethics , Vol. 2,; p.382

5 Fi, .st Pete r :3 .21


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through h i ~ and his p o ~ ~ r , do the same.In the Synoptic Gospels , reference is made to baptism

in C h r i S oommission to the dl.s oiples af ter hi s resurreo-It ion.

Various refe rences in Hebrews indioate that baptism isregarded by the wri te r of that book as essential and the be

aginni ng of the Chr i s"l:ian l i fe .There is no ment ion made t o the do ot r i ne of baptism i n

the writings of John.Isra:el was admitted into the Covenant with God by oir-

cumoision, baptism and saor i f ice . Whenever a Gent i ) ,fishedto jo in Israel , worship Is rae l 's God and be obedient to Rislaw, i t VIas neoessary for him to be circumois ed, bapt i zed, andoffer a saorifioe. "The statement here bears direotly upon thebaptism of the Genti l e Christians, and i t casts l i.ght also onthe genes is of Je\vish Christian Baptism, for apar t from oiro um-ois ion, the oases were largely para l le l . Sinful I s r ~ e l i t e sto o, needed t o r e-enter the Covenant in a deeper sense, ( thenervr covenant of Je r emiah 31: 31 ff; ;.ark 14: 24, and Firs tCorinthians 11:25) on the bas is of the s s i a h ' s saor i fice

1 1Jatthew 28 ::1 9 IEark 16:162 Hebrews 6 . 4-6 10: 22,23


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for thom , (Isa iah 53,4 f f l Acts 8::30 iT) so plaoi::lg them-~ e l v e s under the wings of the Shekinah for protect ion , (Hi3brews 6 d "Repentanoe from dead works and fa i th f ixed uponGod, " and Aots 20: 21 - "Repentanoe toward God elld fa i th to -""rds our Lord Jesus Chris t" ) and pledging thc;mselves to o-bedience t tl the Lord's wil l under the yoke of His Law. " 1

In Judaism, baptism meant a pur if ioator :r oO::lsecrationfrom an old state to e. new one . T_hi.s wns l ikewise -true inChri s t i a n i ty . The conver t wa s to have a peni t ent a t t i tudet oward his pas t s in fu l s t a te with i t s "de ad ,Yorks , " anddisharmony with God, and Was to have a new a t t i tude offa i th t owar d God !l.'1d the Lord J esus Chri s t as a grou!1.d o fhope fo r the future of whioh Chris t ' s resurrect ion was theguaran t ee o f type . "Baptism do th now sava us by t he res u r-reot ion of Jesus Chri s t . " 2

In baptism, pas t s ins were forgiven, and the Holy Spi r i twas imparted. Thus the oonvert became a member of the lIe s s ian-i e kingdom. Anania.s instructed Saul to"ArisG and be bapt izedand wash avray thy s ins , ca l l ing upon the name of the Lord." :')

1 Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethios , Vol. 2.p. 376

2F i r s t Peter 3 ~ 2 1

3 Acts 22 :.16

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Christian baptism was prc


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the name of the Lord. he was regarded as having "put onChr is t ," or being"in Christ." Chris t was hi.'1ls1f the C9Ve -nant for hi s followers and as they belonged to him, they en-deavo red to oarry out his will and bring t he ir ohara.cte rcand personal i t ies more and more to confonn to his. The name01 ' "Christian" was proper and f i t t ing. As the moral unionbetween Jehovah and Israel VIa S , in the Old Testa.'1lent, l iken-ed unto the mnrriage bond, 8 0 in the New Testament, the samef i gure is used to show the relat i on between Christ and theChurch. The Church is c ~ l l e d the ~ r i d e of Christ."

Baptism openly sealed the union of the bel iever withChrist, that there might be the in t imate spir itual re lat ionalready virtually present i n faith, in muoh the same manneras the marriage oeremony united amI sealed t ogether the hus-band and Vlife . "He that i s j oined unto the Lord i s one Spi r i t . " 1

Jewi sh Chri st ians thought of bapt i sm largely on i ts col -l ect i ve side as ini t iatory i nto en i deal oommunity with Chri stws the new oovenant and Mes sianic rul e r . Paul thought more ofthe personal side and gave emphasi s to fai th as the bond t hat

1 Fir s t Cor i nthians 5 .17

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---- -

held the believe r to Christ, "our l i fe ." 1However, there was no essential oonfl i c t as both reco/!;

nized baptism as corporate i.n idea, "into one body, n 2 andalso believed t hat faith and repentanoe were prerequisites tobap ti sm.

Chriatian bapt i sm is a tes timony of one' s fe.Hh in Christ,end confirms the oonsoiousnes s of the break with the old l i feor moral deadness and i dentifioation wi th t he new and abundantl i fe of Christ . From then on, t he baptized believer i s to"walk in the newness of l i fe ." 3 Bapt i .rr, is the finsl stepin t he process of salvation f r om sel f and the "orld end bocomes the init iatory step into the body of Christ, the Chur ch.

I l!llIlBrs ion was the mode of bapth-Ill in the early Church, andi t is reas onable to bel ieve that th i s fo llor-od in cont inuity withJevnsh proselyte bapti sm . There a re Beveral references in theNew Tes taw,ent ~ ~ c h make i t clear t hat immers ion was the pract ic e of t he time. Paul imp l i es ~ ~ e r o n in hi s f i eure of bapt i sm

4as a burial and resurrection .

1 Coloss ians :\,42 Rolllll.lls 6 ,43 Firs t Cor i nthians 1 :: : 134 Romans 6,3-5 Colossians 2d2
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As baptism was the custom of the Jevm, beth in theirpurificatory r i tes and at the recept ion of prose lytes intothe Jewish f'aith, Ill!d wns nlso pre.cticed by John, the Be.p-t i s , so i t was cont inued by the early church in obedienceto Jesus when he entrusted to his disci ples the great CDmmission and instituted bapt i sm as one of the r i tes of' hischuroh and Kingdom. "All powe r is given unto me in heavenand on earth. Go ye theref'ore and teach a ll nations, bapt i z-ing them in the llSlIIe of the Fathe r , and of' the Son, and of'the Holy Spi r i t ; teaching them to observe a ll things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, 10, I am vdth you a1vmys,

1e-ven unto t he end of' the world ." And again, "He thatbelieveth a"'ld i s bapti sed shall be saved . " 2

In cbedience to the divine command, the apost les re-quired of' a l l who received b a t i s ~ a confession of f'ai th inChri s t . The language of Peter on the Day of Pentecost tothe J ews and Genti les at Jerusalem was, "Repent and be bapt ized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for theremission of sins and ye sha l l receive the g i f t of the Holyspi r i t ." 3

1~ t t h w 2 8 ~ 19, 20

2 Mark 16:163 Acts 2:38


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"Then they that gladly received his word were baptized;and the same day there were added ~ ~ t o them about three thcu-

1sand souls."When the Holy Spirit fe l l on a ll who heard his preaching

in the house of Cornelius, Peter seid, "Can any man f orbid wat-er that these shoul d not be bap t ized, wh ich have received the

21!' oly Spir i t 8;S vrell as we? "iVhen the Ethiopian eunuch made the request of Phi l l ip to

be baptized, Phil l ip' s ~ r was "If thou believest with a llth ine hear. t hou mayes t . " :3 Thus ~ ~ s fully established theChristian bapt i sm which implied on the one hand repenta.nce andthe washing away of s ins and guil t , the clee.naing from ev i l , oftenexpr essed a s "dead unto sin;" and on t he other hand, faith inthe risen Saviour and allegiance to him, and a new status with

G o d ~ regarded as regeneration. new birth. 8. "newcreation." oras "lii 'e unto righteousness." I t wa s an outwar d and visiblesign that the conver t took unto himself t he proi'ession of Christ.-iani ty . By t his aot, he renounoed his Jewish or heathen opin-ions and pract ioes, and adopt ed the prinoiples of the Chris t ianfai th.

1 Ac t s . 2:412 Aots 10:47'3 Act s 8 :37

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Instituted qy ahrist as a perpetual ordinanoe of hisr eligion, baptism is the symbol of his death, burial and resurrection. I t represents as regards the bel iever, death to sinand the world, and r esurreot ion to a new l i fe . In baptism, thebeliever is united with Chr is t and is inoorpore.ted into thebody of Christ. "Know ye not that so many of us as were bapt ized into l1esus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore _ are buried with him qy baptism unto death; that ll.keas Christ was ra.ised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should m l k in nevmess of l i fe . For i f wehave been planted together in the likene s s of his death, weshall be also in the likeness of his resurreotion. Even soreokon ye yourselves to be d"ead unto sin , but alive unto Godin Christ Jesus ." 1

1 R ~ s 6:3-5 ; 11


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Nm

v


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CONCLUSIOU

In this thesis we have shown that baptism was practic.ed IImong priJuitive peoples in general. 'Ife have observedthat i t was a purifica t ion or consecration. In the admi8sion of a proselyte t o the Jewish faith, baptism was oneof the requirements, having for i t s purpose the cleansing ofthe proselyte f r om the impur ity of idolatry and the r estoration to pur i ty of the new-born man .

The movement of Chr ist ianity in reali ty began with theappearance of John the Bapti s t . He r ealiEed the o o m i n ~ ofthe Lo rd, and rallied the multit ude on the shore of the JordanRiver, preparing them fo r the approaohing end of the RO!llllllworld-kingdom with the proclamation, "Repent ye; fo r the kingdom of heaven is a.t hand," arid prea.ching "the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." (Matt. :5


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and when John was imprisoned and finally ki l led by HerodAntipas on aocount of his preaohment against him (Mntth(lw4:12; 14:10) Jesus continued his message, and his ba.p-t imn at least for a time.

Af te r the resurrection of J es us , and just before hisascens i on, he entrusted to hi s dis ciples t he great commis-sion and ins t i tuted baptism as one of the pecul iar r i tesof his ohuroh and kingdom. In obedienoe to this cowaand,the apostles, earl y disciples , and a ll the disoiples of Jesusdawn thr ough the o e n u r i ~ " have ins i s ted upon baptism as aneces sary requirement in b e c o ~ Q n g a follower of Jesus Christ ,and to be identi f i ed with his church and his kingdom.

In the Chr is t i an fai th , b a p t ~ has come to mean a oleans-ing from sin, faith in a r i sen Saviour and al le giance to him.I t is the in it i a tory s tep into the body of Christ. By th i s ac tJ:eljus renounces evil practices, ol d sins are washed a.way

and he beoomes a "new oreature in Christ ." I t is the dram-atic expres s ion of the inner experienoe . Christian baptisms tand s fo rever as the symbol of the death, burial and r esur-r ection of J esus. In Christian bs.ptism, t he gif t of t,heSpiri t is conferred. The bapUsm of John did not claim to


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give the Spi r i t , nor did Jewish baptimn. Bapti.m stands a tthe door t o Christie..nity in every stage of i ta development.Mark style s the ministry of John "the beginning of t he C ~ s -pel of Jesus Christ," end John "oame bapt i zing . " (Mark 1:1)

Jesus was bapt ize d upon his entrance into the work ofhis publ ic ministratimns; His disciples we re baptized andt hey in turn bapt ized. Finally when Christ gave his l astgreat oommand to his diso iples, to preach the gospel to everycreature, the injtUlction to baptize was inoorporated with i t .Thus, the subjeot of baptima is of no small i mportance and i sworthy of the attBmt10n bestowed upon i t .

Having briefly summarized the l ine of thought of th i sthes is , we shall now make a few concluding observat i ons withreference to Jewi sh proselyte baptism and Chris t ian baptism.

,(1 ) Apart from Circumcision, the oases were largelyparal l e l .

(2) The mode of each was immersion .(3) In each , t here was the renunciation of the old

alle gianoe and the ple.dging of a new allegiance.(4) Each was a cleansing from the old pagan l I fe

and signified the restoration to purlt"' of I i new born l l l I l l l.


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(5 ) Each was t he initiatory r i te into a partic-ul ar group.

(6) Chris t ian bapt imn had t his add i t ional ~ r a c t r i atio; that, wi th i t there was the gif t of the Sp i r i t ; andi t symbolized t he death, burial and resurre otion of Christ.The candidate _8 baptized in "the name of the Father, andt he Son, and the Holy Spi r i t . "

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B IBL IOGRAPHY

1. Books

1 . Cote , W N.

2. Rausohenbusch,Walter3. Briney, J . B.4 . Cohen, A. (tran.)5.6. Campb el l ,Alexander7. Kershner , F. D.8 . Cheyne , T.K.9 . HAstings, J .

10. Hastings, James

11. n. O. E. Oes't erlyT.H. Rob inson

The ArOhaeololf of Bapti sm Yat es and exander, London, 1876 A Theology for the Sooial Gos pel M a o ~ l l a n Co., New York, 1917 Baptism and Remission of' SinsBriney PublIshing Co., Moverly, Mo ., 1902Babylonian Talmud - Traotate B eR A K 0 TCAmor1dge Un1vers1tY Press, 1921The Bible Amerioan Standard Vers ionChristian Bapt1mn Bethany, W.4Ja., 1851 Christ ian BaptismStandard Publishi ng Co. , Ci noinna.ti, 1917Encyol opedia Biblica Mao Millan Co., Lond on, 1901 Di otionary of the Bible"Baptism"Charles Soribner 's Sona , Ed i nburgh, 1899En0tclOpedia of Relig ion and EthicsCarles Scribner ' s Sons, New York, 1910"Bapt1 SIll, " Vol. 2

andHebrew Religion1l1l0Mil lan Co., N$W York, 1930
http:///reader/full/Cinoinna.tihttp:///reader/full/Cinoinna.tihttp:///reader/full/Cinoinna.tihttp:///reader/full/Cinoinna.tihttp:///reader/full/Cinoinna.tihttp:///reader/full/Cinoinna.ti


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lZ. Hinton , I . T.

13. Mont f iore , C. G.

14. Josephus

16. Rosenau, Will.

16. Sanger. Is i doreManaging Editor

11. Glover, A. K.18. Cheyne , T. K.

19. Kohler , Dr. K.

20. Toy, C. H.21 . Moore, G. F.

22. Ayl sworth, N. J .

lIistory of BaptismAmerican Baptis t Pub l ishers and S. S. Soc iet yPhiladelphia. 1840Hibbert Leotures" Or1gin and Growth of Religion as I l lus t rated

by the Religion of the Aneient RebrSW'S "W l l iams and Norgate,London and Edinburgh, 1892Jewish l L ~ t i q u i t i e sTrans. by H. J. J. ThaokerayG. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1930Jewish Ceremonial Insti tu t ions and CustomsBlock Publi shing Company, l n c .New York. 1925Jewish EnClel opediaFUnk and Wagno l l s . New York "Asanath"

"llaptism" -New Bir th" J ewish laws and Customs

W X. Hammond, Weli , Minn. 1900Jewish Religious Lite af ter the Exi leG. P. Putnam's Sons, New Yo r t, and London, 1898

Jewish Theolo !.!ae Millan Co., New York , 1918 Judaism and Christ ianityLi ttle,Brown , and Co. , Bos t on, 1916Judai sm in the Firs t Centuri es ofthe Christian Era, Vol. 2Harvard univerSity Press , Cambridge , 1921.oral and Sp i r i tual Aspects ofBaptism

Christ ian Board of Publ i ca t ion . St. Louis, MO. ,19 02

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11

23. lfelsh , Adam C. Post Ex i l io Judaism1im . Blackwood and Sons , Ltd . ,Ed inburgh and Lond on, 193524. Barton, G. A. Religion of Israel

Maol.!il1 an Co . , New York, 191825. Peters, J . P. Re lig ion of the HebrewsGinn ana Co. Publi sher. Boston and

London, 191426. Whi ston, wm . Works of Josephus (trans . )Dav i d MoKay . PUblisher , Philadelphia27. Gavin. F. Jewish Anteoedents of the ChristianSaorament .,The MACMil lan Co., Hew York. 1933

I I . Articles

Journal of Bibl i cal Literature Volume 521. Finkelstein . Louis - "The Inst i tution of Baptism for Proselytes ." 2. Zeitlin, Solomon - "A Note on Baptism for Proselytes ."

JUltrll&l of Amerioan-oriental Sooiety . Volume 561. Barton , G. A. - "The Origin of: the Thought Pattern Whioh Survives i n Bap t i sm."

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Jewish Proselyte Baptism and Its Relation to Christian Baptism

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