The Meaning and Mode of Baptism [Paperback]

Jay Edward Adams (Author), Matthew Adams (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: P & R Publishing (January 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087552043X
• ISBN-13: 978-0875520438
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars From a Baptist, April 9, 2010

By 

Paul G. Humber (Philadelphia, PA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The meaning and mode of baptism (Paperback)

In the little book entitled Meaning and Mode of Baptism, Dr. Jay E. Adams says that baptism, as far as the scriptural language and mode are concerned, refers exclusively to sprinkling or pouring but never to immersion. The symbol depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit on the believer rather than the believer's descent into Christ's death and burial and ascent unto newness of life.

The purpose of this review is to examine some of Dr. Adams' arguments in the light of Scripture with a view toward an increased understanding among brethren in this very sensitive area.

Old Testament Baptisms:

Dr. Adams faults those who would start with the New Testament in their biblical study of baptism. He believes "baptism is as old as the law" (p. 9). The Jewish leaders of John's day, for example, reveal an expectation for baptismal activity in the Messianic age. They ask John, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet" (John 1:25 - NIV). Isaiah 52:15 and Ezekiel 36:25 might provide some backŽground for this expectation, but Moses' example would even more so. The "Prophet" was to be "like" Moses (Deut.18:15-18), and Moses was a sprinkler. To establish this last point, Dr. Adams cites Hebrews 9:10 where the author refers to Old Testament "ceremonial washings." The word for washings in the original is "baptismois"; consequently, a legitiŽmate translation of the phrase in question might be "ceremonial baptisms." Now what were these "ceremonial baptisms" according to the author of Hebrews? Dr. Adams believes they are "fully described in Hebrews 9:13 (cf. Numbers 19:17-18), 19 (cf. Ex. 24:6, 8), and 21 (cf. Lv. 8:19; 16:14). In every case, he maintains, they were sprinklings - sprinklings prescribed by Moses. Moses, therefore, was a sprinkler. The Jews of John's day would not have tolerated any innovations on John's part. John, therefore, could not have imŽmersed his disciples; he must have sprinkled water upon them.

Dr. Adams is emphatic on this argument. He says that "the law never required imŽmersions, but frequently' required 'sprinklings'" (p.10). A bit further down the page he says, "This argument is impossible to refute." Again, on the same page, he says, "This argument is impossible to refute." Again, on the same page, he says, "...it is impossible to find the requirement for even one kind of immersion in the Old Testament law...." On the next page he says, "There is no Old Testament requirement for immersion."

"Impossible to Refute"? - a Baptist's Response:

Elisha was a prophet not unlike John in that both followed in the footsteps of Elijah. Elisha commanded Naaman to wash in the Jordan (the very river used by John) for restoration and cleansing. We read:

So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. (2 Kings 5:14)

This is a very important verse representing one of only two1 places in the entire Old Testament where the Septuagint used the Greek word, baptizo (to baptize). Not even Dr. Adams views Naaman' s activity here as one of sprinkling.2 Naaman immersed himself in water presenting at least one clear example of an Old Testament immersion, an immersion, moreover, required by a prophet of God. Dr. Adams' insistence on "no Old Testament requirement for immersion" should be challenged, therefore, and there is much more to be said on this point.

Consider, for example, Moses' law concerning the leper, especially when we realize that Naaman himself was a leper (2 Kings 5:1b)! According to Mosaic legislation, the leper:

to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe with water; then he will be ceremonially clean. (Lv. 14:8)

There is reference to the need for sprinkling a blood-water mixture upon the leper in the previous verse, but the Septuagint never translates sprinkling activity with the verb, baptizo (to baptize). It is the bathing found in Lv. 14:8 rather than the sprinkling in verse 7 which is more closely associated with what Naaman did. The Hebrew word, to bathe or wash, is rahghatz. This is the word used in Lv. 14:8 and again by Elisha when he inŽstructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan (2 Kings 5:10; cf. also vs. 12, 13). We read that Naaman dipped seven times in the Jordan "as the man of God had told him...." In other words, the dipping of v. 14 corresponded to the command to wash in v .10. Now when we trace the word, rahghatz, through the Old Testament, we find, despite Dr. Adams' protestaŽtions to the contrary, many references to ceremonial washings which could easily be viewed as the "washings" referred to in Hebrews 9:10; viz:

Leviticus 14:8,9; 15:5,6,7,8,10,11,13,16,18,21,22,27; 16:4,24,26, 28; 22:6.

Numbers 19:7, 8, 19.

How Dr. Adams can say that "...it is impossible to find the requirement for even one kind of immersion in the Old Testament law" and that "the law never required immersions" is puzzling. Many if not every one of these washings would be far closer to immersion than sprinkling. Lv. 15:16, for example, says, "... he must bathe his whole body with water...." See the other verses, too.

Dr. Adams believes "immersions must, of necessity, be all alike," but this is not true. Ritual details may differ according to the nature of the defilement or according to the body or object to be washed. For instance, parts of animals were to be washed (Ex.29:17; Lv.1:9,13; 8:21; 9:14), clothing was washed (Lv.11:25,28,32,29-40; Lv.15:13,17) and other articles (Lv.11:32).3

People with leprosy (cf. above), contaminated through touching (Lv.15:5,6,7,10,11,21,22,27) or spitting (Lv.15:8), with various discharges (Lv. 15:13,16,18; Dt.23:11), who had eaten something unclean (Lv.17:15,16), or who were involved in acts of worship (Lv.16:4,24,26,28) were to wash. Surely these could be thought of as various kinds of "washings" even if in every case the person or object was immersed.

As to the question of whether Jews would have tolerated dipping or immersion in John's day, see John 5:2-7 where it is stated explicitly that many were present in Jerusalem itself with the expressed purpose of getting into a pool for healing.

Finally, and perhaps of greatest significance, if Dr. Adams' contentions are true Ž-- namely that New Testament baptism is the sequel to Old Testament baptism, then it greatly weakens any argument that New Testament baptism is the sequel to Old Testament circumcision. The main case for infant baptism has been suspended on this supposition.

Does the Holy Spirit Point to Himself or to Christ?

Perhaps Dr. Adams' most attractive argument is found in his appeal to such verses as Mt. 3:11; Acts 1:4-5; 2:3,4,16,17,33; 10:44-48; and 11:15,16 to support the thesis that baptism symbolizes the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers. In Acts 2:33, for example, we read that the Holy Spirit was "poured out" by Christ on the day of Pentecost. Now if John's baptism prefigured Christ's baptism with the Holy Spirit (Mt.3:11), then presumably John's baptism was by pouring, also.

There is a good lesson here for those of us who profess to be Baptists by conviction. Our paedobaptist brothers and sisters are concerned to interpret Scripture faithfully, too, and this argument is no facile one. It forces us to reexamine the Scriptures to see if these things be so (cf. Acts 17:11).

Dr. Adams says, "If any Baptism in the Scriptures is important, it is the baptism that occurred at Pentecost" (p. 22). Since it involved a pouring (Acts 2:33), then water baptism should involve pouring, too, symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit coming upon the believer.

There are two things to say in response to this. First, few Christian churches practice pouring. Baptists might be accused of going too far; paedobaptists with their few drops, not far enough. If Dr. Adams' point is valid, then his argument needs to be applied as much by paedobaptists as Baptists.

However, there remains a serious question as to whether the Pentecost baptism was any more important to our understanding of baptism than the baptism Jesus referred to in Luke 12:50:

I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed!

Jesus was speaking of the overwhelming ordeal of the cross at which time He experienced forsakenness from His Father with Whom up to that point He had known only eternal, unŽbroken fellowship and union.

He who is Life personified was about to experience death. Surely no mere man will ever know the agony of spirit Jesus experienced, and we may never know the infinite restraint the Father exercised in holding back His wrath against us for all the abuse we gave His Son on the cross. Can it honestly be said that the Pentecost baptism was greater or more important than this? Surely Jesus, who revealed such familiariŽty with the Psalms even while on the cross, knew something of the baptism he was about to experience from Psalm 69:

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters. Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.4 (See vs.1-2, 14-15; cf. Ps. 42:7 and 124:4-5.)

The baptism Jesus experienced was like a drowning, but the plea for deliverance on the part of David found it s ultimate fulfillment in the resurrection of his great ... great grandŽson from the grave a thousand years later. It was impossible for death to retain Him because He was, is, and ever will be perfectly... Read more ›

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Purpose..., March 29, 2004

By 

Ray Bradley (Pennsylvania, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Meaning and Mode of Baptism (Paperback)

Great and easy read. This short 56-paged book is not intended to be a "complete in-depth" look at baptism, but rather the intentions are to simply search and confirm the importance of the proper meaning and mode of baptism. Very good for readers who don't like lengthy\wordy books. Yes, there are quotes from other writers, and yes, you will definitely find scriptural references within this book as well. I would and always recommend this short and easy read to anyone questioning the meaning and mode of baptism (hence the title). If you've read this book and need more in-depth answers, then try `Baptism in Scripture and History', by Rowland S. Ward (ISBN: 0949670189); this too is a short book (80-paged).

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Mind Blowing!, September 24, 2010

By 

Tim Miller - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Meaning and Mode of Baptism (Paperback)

Without a doubt, this book has turned my world upside down in relation to Baptism. But to say the words of this book were the true source of my change would be misleading. It is Jay Adams laying out the WORD OF GOD that caused my heart and mind to change. He mentions "the limits of this study confined to the Scriptures themselves. Here, alone will one discover the true meaning and mode of Christian baptism." If you are tired of thousands of books each trying to use their own reasoning, check out Jay Adams book that argues FROM SCRIPTURE! I am not convinced that Jay will change your mind...I am convinced the Word of God will greatly influence you as you examine HIS Word alongside this book. A must read...