Intro

This blog gains its name from the book Steele's Answers published in 1912. It began as an effort to blog through that book, posting each of the Questions and Answers in the book in the order in which they appeared. I started this on Dec. 10, 2011. I completed blogging from that book on July 11, 2015. Along the way, I began to also post snippets from Dr. Steele's other writings — and from some other holiness writers of his times. Since then, I have begun adding material from his Bible commentaries. I also re-blog many of the old posts.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

John's Baptism

QUESTION: Was baptism by John the Baptist Christian baptism?

ANSWER: It was not. It was designed to combat the error that the performance of external ceremonies is all that is required to enter the kingdom of God. John insisted on repentance. Paul rebaptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, those whom John had baptized. (Acts 19:1-5.)

— from Steele's Answers p. 39.

2 comments:

  1. This is a question of great interest. Do we assume that The Twelve were baptized? If so, by whom and when? If not, how did baptism ever get established? The Risen Lord directs the apostles to baptize in Matthew. I would suppose that they themselves were baptized.

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  2. I would think so, too, George. And, it's interesting that we have no record of this. Some scholars speculate that some of Jesus' disciples were originally disciples of John the Baptist. This might suggest that John's baptism was accepted among followers of Jesus during His life time — but not post-Pentecost.

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