TABLE OF CONTENTS
["THE COMMISSION."]
[PAUL'S "COMMISSION."]
[WATER BAPTISM IN HISTORY AS A PAGAN AND JEWISH RITE.]
[JOHN'S BAPTISM.]
[WATER BAPTISM AND CHRISTIAN BAPTISM]
[BAPTISMAL GRACE]
[WATER BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION]
[WATER BAPTISM AFTER CHRIST IN APOSTOLIC TIMES]
[WATER BAPTISM AFTER THE APOSTLES' TIME]
[CONCLUSION]
"The Commission"
Did Christ command his disciples to baptize with water?
Let us search the New Testament and see what it says.
We find the four evangelists and Peter each render Christ's command to his apostles in very different language.
Matthew's version[1] is generally adduced to support water baptism.
We cannot assume that in Matthew, our Saviour's words are quoted verbatim, while Mark, Luke, John and Peter are all in error or less reliable, particularly as this part of Matthew claims for itself to have been written a long time after, as appears by the statement that "This saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."[2]