While listening to a debate on the issue
of sola scriptura between Robert Sungenis (Roman Catholic) and William Lockwood
(Church of Christ), Sungenis referenced Heb 10:22 to support the claim that one can be validly
baptised by sprinkling, not just immersion. The text reads as follows:
Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. (NRSV)
There are a couple problems with this
approach to Heb 10:22.
Firstly, New Testament and early Christian
scholarship agrees that the earliest Christian baptisms were done by immersion
and immersion alone. For a
full-length scholarly discussion, see Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the
first five centuries (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2009).
Secondly, on the meaning of βαπτιζω,
scholarly lexicons agree with the immersion-only concept for baptism. Note, for
instance, how BDAG defines the term when discussing New Covenant baptisms:
c. of the Christian
sacrament of initiation after Jesus’ death (freq. pass.; s. above 2a; Iren. 3,
12, 9 [Harv. II 63, 3]) Mk 16:16; Ac 2:41; 8:12f, 36,
38; 9:18; 10:47; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 22:16;
1 Cor 1:14-17; D 7 (where baptism by pouring is allowed in cases of
necessity); ISm 8:2.—β. τινὰ εἰς (τὸ) ὄνομά τινος (s. ὄνομα 1dγ(ב baptize in or w. respect to the name
of someone: (τοῦ) κυρίου Ac 8:16; 19:5; D 9:5; Hv
3, 7, 3. Cp. 1 Cor 1:13, 15. εἰς τ. ὄν. τ. πατρὸς καὶ τ. υἱοῦ καὶ τ. ἁγίου πνεύματος Mt
28:19 (on
the original form of the baptismal formula see FConybeare, ZNW 2, 1901, 275-88;
ERiggenbach, BFCT VII/1, 1903; VIII/4, 1904; HHoltzmann, Ntl. Theologie2 I 1911, 449f; OMoe:
RSeeberg Festschr. 1929, I 179-96; GOngaro, Biblica 19, ’38, 267-79; GBraumann,
Vorpaulinische christl. Taufverkündigung bei Paulus ’62); D 7:1, 4. Likew. ἐν τῷ ὀν. ᾽Ι Χριστοῦ Ac
2:38 v.l.; 10:48;
ἐπὶ τῷ ὀν. ᾽Ι Χρ. Ac 2:38 text; more
briefly εἰς Χριστόν Gal 3:27; Ro 6:3a. To be
baptized εἰς Χρ. is
for Paul an involvement in Christ’s death and its implications for the believer
εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν vs. 3b
(s. Ltzm. ad loc.; HSchlier, EvTh ’38, 335-47; GWagner, D. rel-geschichtliche
Problem von Rö 6:1-11, ’62, tr. Pauline Bapt. and the Pagan Mysteries, by
JSmith, ’67; RSchnackenburg, Baptism in the Thought of St. Paul ’64, tr. of D.
Heilsgeschehen b. d. Taufe nach dem Ap. Paulus ’50). The effect of baptism is
to bring all those baptized εἰς ἓν σῶμα 1 Cor 12:13 (perh. wordplay:
‘plunged into one body’).—W. the purpose given εἰς ἄφεσιν τ. ἁμαρτιῶν Ac 2:38 (IScheftelowitz, D.
Sündentilgung durch Wasser: ARW 17, 1914, 353-412).—Diod. S. 5, 49, 6: many
believe that by being received into the mysteries by the rites (τελεταί) they become more devout, more just, and better in
every way.—ὑπὲρ τ. νεκρῶν 1
Cor 15:29a, s. also vs. 29b, is obscure because of our
limited knowledge of a practice that was evidently obvious to the recipients of
Paul’s letter; it has been interpr. (1) in place of the dead, i.e.
vicariously; (2) for the benefit of the dead, in var. senses; (3)
locally, over (the graves of) the dead; (4) on account of the
dead, infl. by their good ex.; of these the last two are the least
probable. See comm. and HPreisker, ZNW 23, 1924, 298-304; JZingerle, Heiliges Recht:
JÖAI 23, 1926; Rtzst., Taufe 43f; AMarmorstein, ZNW 30, ’31, 277-85; AOliver,
RevExp 34, ’37, 48-53; three articles: Kirchenblatt 98, ’42 and six: ET 54,
’43; 55, ’44; MRaeder, ZNW 46, ’56, 258-60; BFoschini, 5 articles: CBQ 12, ’50
and 13, ’51.—On the substitution of a ceremony by another person cp. Diod. S.
4, 24, 5: the boys who do not perform the customary sacrifices lose their
voices and become as dead persons in the sacred precinct. When someone takes a
vow to make the sacrifice for them, their trouble disappears at once.
Thirdly,
with respect to Heb 10:22 itself, ραντιζω (to sprinkle/cleanse/purify)
is being used as a metaphor for
regeneration; λουω (to bathe/wash [which implies immersion]) is being used for
the action taken on the body of the believer; if one wishes to argue for a mode
of baptism from this verse, it is immersion, not sprinkling. With respect to this verse, BDAG offers this definition of ραντιζω:
[I]n imagery purify someth. for oneself, fig.
ῥεραντισμένοι τὰς καρδίας ἀπὸ συνειδήσεως πονηρᾶς after we have purified our hearts of an evil
conscience Hb 10:22.—DELG s.v. ῥαίνω.
Indeed, at the NET Bible note to Heb 10:22
states:
The phrase our hearts sprinkled
clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling
with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing
provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the
conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; Heb 9:9, Heb 9:14; Heb 10:2, Heb 10:16).
As one scholarly commentary on Hebrews
puts it:
It is probably that OT washings, as perhaps in 6:2, form the background
of the writers’ thought about the Christian’s cleansed heart and body (cf. Ex.
29:4 of ordination; 30:19-21; 40:32 [not the LXX]; Lv. 14:9, 15 passim; 16:4, 24; 17:5f. of the Day of
Atonement; Ezk. 36:25f.). The heart and the body (→ 10:5 = Ps. 40:7; Heb.
10:10) equally represent the whole person. (Peter Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary on
the Greek Text [New International Greek Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993] 523)
The
mode of baptism is not in view in the phrase “having our heart sprinkled"
(KJV).
With respect to λουω and its
implications for the mode of baptism, note how BDAG defines the term:
4616 λούω
• λούω (s. prec. entry; Hom.+) fut. λούσω LXX; 1 aor. ἔλουσα. Pass. 1 aor. 2 sg. ἐλούσθης Ezk 16:4; pf. ptc. λελουμένος J 13:10 and λελουσμένος Hb 10:22 (B-D-F §70, 3; W-S. §13, 1; Mlt-H. 248; Helbing 100f)
1. to use water to
cleanse a body of physical impurity, wash, as a rule of the whole body, bathe
a. act., abs. of the washing
of a corpse (Hom. et al.) Ac 9:37; GPt 6:24. Of persons who have been
scourged ἔλουσεν ἀπὸ τῶν πληγῶν he washed their wounds (lit., ‘by washing he freed them from the effects of
the blows’) Ac 16:33 (on the constr. w. ἀπό s. 3 below. Also Antig. Car. 163 of Europa: λούσασθαι ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Διὸς μίξεως=wash off the traces of intercourse with Zeus). For Rv 1:5 v.l.
s. 3.
b. mid. I wash myself, I
bathe myself (Hom. et al.) lit., of man or beast: of a woman λουομένη εἰς τὸν ποταμόν bathing in the river Hv 1, 1, 2 (λ. εἰς also Ptolem. Euerg. II [II BC]: 234 fgm. 3 Jac.;
Alciphron 3, 7, 1 λουσάμενοι εἰς τὸ βαλανεῖον; Cyranides p. 57, 6; Iren. 3, 3, 4 [Harv. II 13, 11
and 12]). ὗς λουσαμένη 2 Pt 2:22 (s. βόρβορος 2).
2. to use water in a
cultic manner for purification, wash oneself, bathe oneself, cleanse, bathe, mid., of cultic washings
a. (Soph., Ant. 1201 τὸν μὲν λούσαντες ἁγνὸν λουτρόν; Apollon. Rhod. 3, 1203 λοέσσατο ποταμοῖο … θείοιο … before the sacrifice Jason washed himself clean of
pollution, in the divine river; Plut., Mor. 264d λούσασθαι πρὸ τῆς θυσίας; Ael. Aristid. 33, 32 K.=51 p. 582 D.: πρὸς θεῶν λούσασθαι κέρδος ἐστὶ ζῶντα, ὃ καὶ τελευτήσαντι μένει; Dssm., NB 54 [BS 226f] cites for this usage three
ins, all of which have the mid., two in combination w. ἀπό τινος; Sb 4127, 14 ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἁγίῳ τῷ τῆς ἀθανασίας ὕδατι λουσάμενος; Ramsay, Exp. 7th ser., 8, 1909, p. 280, 1; LXX;
Jos., Vi. 11 λ. πρὸς ἁγνείαν) of the act of purification necessary before entering
the temple Ox 840, 14; 19; 24f (ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ τοῦ Δαυίδ); 32 (ὕδασιν). ὁ λελουμένος the one who has bathed (in contrast to the one who has his feet washed, and with allusion to
the cleansing of the whole body in baptism [λελουμένος ‘newly bathed, after the bath’ Hdt. 1, 126; Aristoph., Lysist. 1064;
Plut., Mor. 958b λουσαμένοις ἢ νιψαμένοις; Lev 15:11 τ. χεῖρας νίπτεσθαι, λούεσθαι τὸ σῶμα]; difft. HWindisch, Johannes u. d. Synoptiker 1926,
77. On foot-washing s. also GKnight, Feetwashing: Enc. of Rel. and Ethics V
814-23; PFiebig, Αγγελος III 1930, 121-28; BBacon, ET 43, ’32, 218-21;
HvCampenhausen, ZNW 33, ’34, 259-71; FBraun, RB 44, ’35, 22-33; ELohmeyer, ZNW
38, ’39, 74-94; AFridrichsen, ibid. 94-96; Bultmann, comm. J ad loc., 355-65;
JDunn, ZNW 61, ’70, 247-52) J 13:10 (λού. beside νίπτ. in eating Tob 7:9 S; λού. before eating AcThom
89=Aa p. 204 l. 7f). λούσασθε wash yourselves 1 Cl 8:4 (Is 1:16). Always of baptism (Hippol., Ref.
5, 7, 19) AcPl Ha 2, 35; 3, 6; 5, 1f; 7, 20.—The sense is in doubt in εἴ τις μεταλάβῃ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ κυρίου καὶ λούσεται if anyone receives the body of the Lord (in the Eucharist) and then mouth-rinses or bathes
Agr 19.
b. I wash
for myself w. obj.
in acc. (Hes.+) τὸ σῶμα ὕδατι καθαρῷ (cp. Dt 23:12) Hb 10:22 (of baptism).
3. to cause to be
purified, cleanse, act. (in imagery, via liquid other than water)
τῷ λούσαντι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ Rv 1:5 v.l. (For the use of an agent other than water in connection with λ., but in a difft. sense, s. Simonid. 144 a bow bathed in blood [Diehl2 II p. 113=Bergk 143]; Lucian, Dial. Meretr. 13, 3
pers. bathed in blood.) On this rdg. s. PvonderOsten-Sacken, ZNW 58, ’67, 258
n. 17.—B. 579. DELG. M-M. TW.
If one wishes to argue that the author of
Hebrews is enunciating a mode of baptism in this verse, it would be one
consistent with the Latter-day Saint position and other groups who hold to
immersion only (e.g., Baptists;
Churches of Christ; Christadelphians), not one that also allows for sprinkling
(Roman Catholicism; Lutherans; Anglicans; Presbyterians).
Finally, when the New Testament does touch
upon baptism, it is clear that, aside from the meaning of βαπτιζω,
the pertinent texts only make sense if immersion is the only valid form of
baptism. Note Rom 6:1-5 (we shall quote from the Douay-Rheims):
What shall we say, then? shall we continue in
sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall
we live any longer therein? Know you not that all we, who are baptized in
Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? For we are buried together with him by
baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the
Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection.
In
a recent book, Sungenis offers the following note while commenting on Rom
6:4-5:
“buried”: Greek: verb, indicative,
aorist tense, passive voice, sunetapheemen (συνετάφημεν).
From the verb sunthaptomai, used only twice in the
NT. The other in Cl 2:12 (“buried with him in baptism”). The prefix συν (sun)
means “with”; θαπτομαι (thaptomai) is a deponent verb for “bury” from the noun taphos
meaning “tomb.” )Robert A. Sungenis, Bible Studies for Catholics [Catholic Apologetics International
Publishing, Inc.: 2015], 4)
The
New Testament is pretty clear—baptism is to be done by immersion. Any other
mode of baptism is a perversion of the New Testament model, appeals to Heb
10:22 notwithstanding.
