Monday, February 27, 2023

Baptismal Regeneration Affirmed in Daryl Chase, Christianity Through the Centuries (1947)

  

Ordinances of the Early Church.

 

The sacraments or ordinances of the early church were baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The former was performed by immersion which was done quickly after the applicant’s conversion. This sacred rite was followed by the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (See Acts 8:17; 19:6.) The significance of baptism lay first in its moral importance. It was a sign of dedication to lead a higher, nobler life. Second, it was a means to obtain remission of sins. Third, it made one a member of the Christian church. Fourth, it was a means of spiritual regeneration; it brought the Christian into union with Christ. Immersion in the water was also highly symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It was so important for the individual’s salvation that it was even practiced with reference to the dead. (I Corinthians 15:29.)

 

(Daryl Chase, Christianity Through the Centuries: A Brief Study of the Origin and Development of Christianity and its More Significant Divisions [Salt Lake City: The Department of Education of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1947], 31)