CHRISTIAN BAPTISM and its JEWISH BACKGROUND

The following is not dogma or doctrine, it is drawn form an article written by Ron Moseley, Ph. D., and the Arkansas Institute of Holy Land Studies. 

The church owes much to Judaism for its structure including to include the Messiah, Scripture, canon, liturgy, altar, pulpit, church offices, songs, offerings, the Lord's Supper, and as well as the ritual of baptism itself. As a rite of immersion it was not begun  by Christians but taken from Jewish and pagan forms. As a clarification to the term pagan, all rituals originated with the Lord it is man, as he separated himself more and more from the God of creation, who developed a perverted version of those things which the Lord taught and commanded man to do. In that baptism was an integral part of Judaism in Jesus' day, we can say without any doubt that the baptism in today's church originally was Jewish.

Immersion occurred before the high Priest conducted the service on the Day of Atonement, before the regular priests participated in the Temple service, before each person entered the Temple complex, before a scribe wrote the name of God. Immersion is required in the following: 1). When converting to Judaism and here there were three prerequisites for the proselyte:  Circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice (Maimonides, Hilkh. Iss. Biah xiii.5); 2). Immersion after a woman has her monthly period (Lev. 15:28);  3). For pots and eating utensils manufactured by a non-Jew (Encyclopedia of Jewish Religion p-263).

 

The immersion was a process of spiritual purification and cleansing to the ancient Jew, especially in relation to ritual defilement when the Temple was in use. Though God has not revealed all the meaning, His command is of utmost importance especially for us because of the effort of Jesus to fulfill it.  All commands of the Lord fall into three categories: 1). The moral or ethical laws  translated judgments, which are necessary for man to live in harmony; 2). The rituals and festivals that awaken us to religious truths; 3). The third group often has no explicit reason given for their existence except for Israel's identification as God's chosen people to the other nations (Deuteronomy 4:6). This group of laws are known as Chukim and are literally translated as decrees. Among the decrees of this group are the dietary laws as well as ritual immersion.

 

Now we come to an issue of interest to me, this writer: the immersion had to have a required witness.  In I Corinthians 1:13, 15; Matthew 21:25; Acts 1:22; and Acts 19:3 we see early baptism mentioned in conjunction with the name of individuals such as John and Paul.  The baptismal water  in rabbinic literature was referred to as the womb of the world, and as a convert came out of the water it was considered a new birth separating him from the pagan world. This is interesting for I want you to recall Jesus' words to Nicodemus, "are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things?" when Jesus told Nicodemus of the necessity of being 'born again of water and Spirit'. As the convert came out of these waters his status was changed and he was referred to as "a little child just born". In the New Testament similar Jewish terms are used as "born anew," "new creation," and "born from above.") 

 

And just how was the immersion done? This is even better. Today the officiating minister holds the individual and allows the person to lean back and lay in the water then bringing the person back up. But in Jesus' time and I would venture to say for years afterwards, the candidate for baptism/immersion stood straight up with the feet spread and the hands held out in front. The candidate would totally immerse themselves by squatting in the water with a witness or baptizer doing the officiating. Note the New Testament points out the fact that Jesus came up straightway out of the water (Matthew 3:16). 

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