Old TestamentBAPTISM OF PURIFICATION: |
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National | Exodus 19:10-11: Before God spoke to the Israelites from Sinai, he commanded them to consecrate themselves, wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, when he would appear to them. |
Priestly | Leviticus 8:6-9: At the consecration of the priests Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. |
Individual | Leviticus 14:8-9: A person who had recovered from an unclean skin disease had to wash his clothes , shave off all his hair and bathe with water to be ceremonially clean. |
Intertestamental and Rabbinic JudaismBAPTISM OF PURIFICATION: |
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Qumran |
"No man shall bathe in dirty water or in an amount too shallow to cover a man. He shall not purify himself with water contained in a vessel" (from chapter 10). "No man entering the house of worship shall come unclean and in need of washing" (from chapter 11). |
Early Rabbinic | BAPTISM OF INITIATION: In rabbinic and earlier forms of Judaism, baptism (along with male circumcision and sacrificial offerings) was a requirement for full conversion. The dating of this practice is somewhat obscure, but it postdates the Old Testament and predates the Mishnah. The Soncino Talmud states: "As your forefathers entered into the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood, so shall they [the proselytes] enter the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood" (Keritot 9a). |
Later Rabbinic | BAPTISM OF PURIFICATION: After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., the biblical purification laws (see above, OLD TESTAMENT ) were confined to the purification of the niddah, the ritually unclean woman discussed in such passages as Leviticus 12:1-8 and 15:19-24. The Jewish mikveh (immersion or t'vilah in a ritual bath) embraces both of the categories of purification and initiation and is practiced among Orthodox Jews to this day. |
New Testament PeriodBAPTISM OF REPENTANCE: "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4; see also Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:3). |
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Sibylline Oracles (a genre of literature found in the ancient world among Greeks, Jews and pagans, typically predicting disaster and misfortune) |
BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE:
John's baptism differed distinctly because of his specific reference to the One yet to come who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). |
Christian Rite of Baptism |
BAPTISM OF IDENTIFICATION:
It is symbolic of passing through judgment into salvation :
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Spirit Baptism of Believers |
BAPTISM OF APPLICATION: Some aspects of the Spirit's work: Initiation into a new life : "For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13). Cleansing : "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Saviour" (Titus 3:5-6). Identification with Jesus in his death and resurrection: Romans 6:3-5 (see above)--not symbolically but in reality. |