Saturday, May 21, 2022

Thomas A. Williams (Protestant apologist): Baptismal Regeneration Arose in the time of John Chrysostom (347-407)

In one of the dumbest things ever said about the patristics, I present to you the following from a Protestant apologist who argues that baptismal regeneration only arose during the time of John Chrysostom (347-407):

 

Chrysostom, with whom the greater part of expounders agree, makes the word Water [in John 3] refer to baptism. The meaning would then be, that by baptism we enter into the kingdom of God, because in baptism we are generated by the Spirit of God. Hence arose the belief of the absolute necessity of baptism, in order to the hope of eternal life. (Timothy A. Williams, Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Doctrine of Scripture [Lulu Books, 2013], 53, emphasis in bold added, comment in square brackets added for clarification)