Saturday, January 22, 2005
I actually only just read this comment and found it interesting...perhaps it may provoke some debate (at least I hope Al will have something to say) I will also think about it in the coming weeks.
"I read your comment on the Red Sea and baptism. I have a completely different line of thinking regarding baptism and the OT that I have been working on for several years now. perhaps I'll run it by the bloggers.
I'm a Baptist. But I find baptistic arguments for their position to be highly spurious because they are NT only arguments. The paedobaptist argument from the totality of Scripture is much more appealing to me and I believe more biblical. However, it seems to me that a circumcision/baptism connection is not valid for this simple reason: the reason of 1 Cor 10:1-2 and other NT places.
Baptism is not a NT only phenomenon. It is quite literally everywhere in the OT. It precedes circumcision, stands along historically with it as a different sacrament, and extends beyond the closing of the circumcision era with the death of Christ.
Put simply, the Red Sea, Noah's flood, the priestly baptisms (see Heb 9:10), the Jordan crossings and washings of the OT, and the river of life in the garden of Eden all point to one thing. Baptism does not come from circumcision but from baptism. We ought not, therefore, let what took place in a completely different sacrament determine how we now practice NT baptism upon Christians because this is irrelevant.
Instead, we should look to the OT practices of baptism and as we do with the OT type of communion (namely the Passover), we should let the proper OT corresponding sacrament which I believe to be the washing of the priest in Exodus 29:4 inform our practice and mode of NT baptism.
So, for example, while the Red Sea crossing was a baptism in which no one got wet (the same is probably true with the flood), they did get wet in the Levitical initiation ceremony into the priesthood. In fact, they washed their whole bodies. This type serves as the example of why we see no explicit reference to sprinkling in the NT and why we see no explicit reference to the baptism of infants in the NT. The priest was not to receive his initiation baptism until he was older (in that case age 30).
To summarize. Baptism comes from... baptism, not circumcision. Baptism is informed by... baptism, not circumcision. Our argument not only need to be consistent with the entirety of Scripture, but by the same typified sacrament of identical substance. This is why I am a Baptist."
(12) comments
"I read your comment on the Red Sea and baptism. I have a completely different line of thinking regarding baptism and the OT that I have been working on for several years now. perhaps I'll run it by the bloggers.
I'm a Baptist. But I find baptistic arguments for their position to be highly spurious because they are NT only arguments. The paedobaptist argument from the totality of Scripture is much more appealing to me and I believe more biblical. However, it seems to me that a circumcision/baptism connection is not valid for this simple reason: the reason of 1 Cor 10:1-2 and other NT places.
Baptism is not a NT only phenomenon. It is quite literally everywhere in the OT. It precedes circumcision, stands along historically with it as a different sacrament, and extends beyond the closing of the circumcision era with the death of Christ.
Put simply, the Red Sea, Noah's flood, the priestly baptisms (see Heb 9:10), the Jordan crossings and washings of the OT, and the river of life in the garden of Eden all point to one thing. Baptism does not come from circumcision but from baptism. We ought not, therefore, let what took place in a completely different sacrament determine how we now practice NT baptism upon Christians because this is irrelevant.
Instead, we should look to the OT practices of baptism and as we do with the OT type of communion (namely the Passover), we should let the proper OT corresponding sacrament which I believe to be the washing of the priest in Exodus 29:4 inform our practice and mode of NT baptism.
So, for example, while the Red Sea crossing was a baptism in which no one got wet (the same is probably true with the flood), they did get wet in the Levitical initiation ceremony into the priesthood. In fact, they washed their whole bodies. This type serves as the example of why we see no explicit reference to sprinkling in the NT and why we see no explicit reference to the baptism of infants in the NT. The priest was not to receive his initiation baptism until he was older (in that case age 30).
To summarize. Baptism comes from... baptism, not circumcision. Baptism is informed by... baptism, not circumcision. Our argument not only need to be consistent with the entirety of Scripture, but by the same typified sacrament of identical substance. This is why I am a Baptist."
hmmm
I do apologise to all who have been checking my blog for regular updates...
I have no real excuse for not blogging just that I am lazy! I have had a good month away from blogging it has just been incredibly busy. Unfortunately I feel that spiritually things could have been a lot better.
My reasons for not blogging are numerous. Even I don't find what I write interesting any longer so I must have hit the pits. I also don't have a great amount of spare time. A large majority of my evening is taken up doing homework and coursework whilst my weekends are taken up by other activities.
I find that in a world where there is so much communication so little is communicated and I fear that I am one of the greatest culprits of that. The blogs I read are indeed the exception but then those who read my blog everything meaningful I write is old news. None of my non christian friends read this and therefore this is not an effective medium for me to communicate the gospel to them.
However, I must look first to my own heart and confess that when I wrote posts of my own spiritual musings it was a benefit to my own soul. There are times when I can go for a few days without evening pondering the things of God and yet when I blogged I was a lot more thoughtful.
So, I will try to post more often but perhaps just spiritual musings for the moment and only if I have had a good quiet time some time that day and got the majority of my work done. Don't expect me to reach the levels that many do but I hope what I will write will be profitable firstly for me but then also for those who will read this.
Apologies once again for my poor record of posting so far...
Hope all my readers are well!
(0) comments
I have no real excuse for not blogging just that I am lazy! I have had a good month away from blogging it has just been incredibly busy. Unfortunately I feel that spiritually things could have been a lot better.
My reasons for not blogging are numerous. Even I don't find what I write interesting any longer so I must have hit the pits. I also don't have a great amount of spare time. A large majority of my evening is taken up doing homework and coursework whilst my weekends are taken up by other activities.
I find that in a world where there is so much communication so little is communicated and I fear that I am one of the greatest culprits of that. The blogs I read are indeed the exception but then those who read my blog everything meaningful I write is old news. None of my non christian friends read this and therefore this is not an effective medium for me to communicate the gospel to them.
However, I must look first to my own heart and confess that when I wrote posts of my own spiritual musings it was a benefit to my own soul. There are times when I can go for a few days without evening pondering the things of God and yet when I blogged I was a lot more thoughtful.
So, I will try to post more often but perhaps just spiritual musings for the moment and only if I have had a good quiet time some time that day and got the majority of my work done. Don't expect me to reach the levels that many do but I hope what I will write will be profitable firstly for me but then also for those who will read this.
Apologies once again for my poor record of posting so far...
Hope all my readers are well!
