ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας
κατακριθήσεται. (Mark 16:16)
The one who believes and is baptised will be saved,
but the one who does not believe will be condemned. (my translation)
In
this article, I discussed Mark 16:16, showing that it does affirm baptismal
regeneration. In this post, I wish to make a comment about the grammar of this
verse.
Had the author of this verse (I think a
good case can be made that it was Mark himself—see Nicholas P. Lunn, The Original Ending of Mark: A New Case for
the Authenticity of Mark 16:9-20 [Pickwick Publications, 2014] on this
issue) wished to teach that baptism was not salvific, the grammar chosen was
atrocious (so much for the perspicuity of the Bible). Instead, it should have
read, "The one who believes will be saved and then will be baptised; but
the one who does not believe will be condemned" (mirroring the NRSV
translation here).
So, a Protestant who rejects the claim
that baptismal regeneration is taught in this verse must either:
Charge Mark with atrocious grammar,
calling into question the perspicuity of the Bible (an essential “building
block” of sola
scriptura) or
I, for one, hope and pray that our
Evangelical Protestant friends will reject the theological lies they hold to
about the Gospel and into the fullness of the (true) gospel one finds within
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only true and living
Church on the earth (D&C 1:30).
Further Reading
John
Greer vs. the biblical doctrine of baptismal regeneration Answers many
common objections to baptismal regeneration raised by the current moderator of
the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
