And very importantly, what doesn’t it mean? These are critical questions that must be asked in order to understand Christian baptism.
What is the “act” of baptism? In fact, is baptism essentially an “act” at all? Several authors have answered affirmatively to this question and have concluded that it is an act. But what act?
Baptists answer these questions about the “act” of baptism by saying:
“To wet is to baptize and to baptize is to wet”. Treaty of AR, London, 1644 – This document was introduced to the United States by Roger Williams.
Next we read this: “The word baptize necessarily includes in its meaning to immerse, and that Christ by ordering baptize has commanded to immerse only”. P. 96, John Gale
Furthermore, we read: “When our Lord says, ‘Go, baptize,’ he speaks the language of legislation; he gives divine law. Does Jehovah use a term that appropriately means immersion? He means while speaking and requires immersion.” Abraham Booth, London, 1711. Note the misunderstanding, to order the immersion requires immersion.
And very simply we have this statement: “The idea of immersing is in all cases …” Pg 46, FA Cox, 1824.
And we must not forget the great Baptist writer Alexander Carson: “Baptidzo, in all the history of the Greek language, has only one [meaning]. It not only means immerse or immerse, it never has another meaning. “Alexander Carson, Baptist Board of Publication, Philadelphia, 1853. Again, observe the transition from immerse to immerse.
And again we read: “In all translations of classical works, Baptidzo is translated, immersed, immersed.” Page 10, R. Fuller, Southern Baptist Publishing Board, Charleston, 1859. What is it, dip or dip?
And finally: “Baptidzo, in the whole history of the Greek language, has only one meaning. It means to immerse or immerse, and it never has another meaning.” P. 13, MP Jewett, Boston, 1854.
The mixture of the acts of immersion and immersion is common in these writers.
The problem with these definitions is this: dip and dip are two words that cannot be interchanged. To wet is to put on and take off quickly. Submerging is a condition of “interiority” or involvement that lacks the intention or power of removal. Dipping is not submerging and submerging is not submerging. Each word has a different and different meaning, both in English and Greek.
These various translations of Baptidzo, while inconsistent with each other, are the most common in Baptist circles. But Baptidzo is not an act, but a change of condition, state, result or effect achieved caused by any of several possible acts.
Those commonly called Baptists define Baptidzo entirely as an act. However, as we have seen, over the years they have disagreed on what that act specifically is. Some suggested acts would be: immerse (an act), overwhelm (a condition), immerse (an act), immerse (a condition), immerse (an act), and immerse (a condition). In recent years, they have more commonly adopted immersion (an act) as the proper mode of baptism, but surprisingly, they inevitably spell it immerse (an envelopment condition). The reason for this is simple, Baptidzo doesn’t want to dip, Bapto does. However, since the Bible does not use the word Bapto to describe a Christian baptism, that creates a problem. However, for Baptists, dip (go down and then get back up fairly quickly) is the perfect word because that’s precisely what they do at their baptisms. Unfortunately, it is not the word used in the Bible. “All Greek writers refuse to exchange Baptidzo and Bapto; the Holy Spirit persistently refuses to use Bapto, or to exchange it, in a single case, with Baptidzo in speaking of Christian baptism …”
So dip has become the word of choice; and it is not a bad translation if you understand what it means to immerse: to place in (a state of “interiority” or envelopment) and to leave within. But Baptidzo does not have the intention or the power to depart from this condition of envelopment and is therefore a poor substitute for immersion.
This is quite troublesome for Baptists since they don’t actually dive. As said, to immerse means to place in some liquid without limitation of time. In other words, Baptists believe that “the Holy Spirit has employed a word that absolutely requires the disciples to be immersed without making any provision for their withdrawal …” Bapto (dip) solves that problem, but it is not the Biblical word used for Christian baptism.
