Friday, June 12, 2020

The Jewish Annotated New Testament on Baptismal Regeneration and John 3:3-5

Notwithstanding their belief that the Bible is perspicuous (an important “building block” of many formulations of Sola Scriptura), many Protestants are often blind to the meaning of many clear texts, such as John 3:3-5 which teaches baptismal regeneration (see Baptism, Salvation, and the New Testament: John 3:1-7). Interestingly, Jewish scholars can see things so-called Christians cannot see (i.e., Jesus is teaching that water baptism is the instrumental means of regeneration) in this pericope:

 

3: Very truly, see 1.51n. Kingdom of God, used by John only in 3.3,5, but prominent in the other Gospels, referring to the divine domain that will arise at some future point in this world (Mk 9.1) or in some other place in which the righteous will dwell (Lk 13.29), or an altered state of existence in the here and now (Lk 17.21). The Hebrew term, “malkut shamayim” (Dan 4.3; 1 Chr 29.10–12) implies the divine reign in this world. Born from above, “born anew”; the origin of the term “born-again Christian.” 4: Puns and double entendres are a frequent literary device in John, as they are also in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Dan 5.25–28 ), classical Greek literature (e.g., Ovid, Metam.); and rabbinic literature (e.g., Lam. Rab. 1.1) 5: Water and spirit, suggesting that baptism is the act of rebirth that allows one to enter or see (v. 3) the kingdom. The combination may suggest both the baptismal act and the gift of the Spirit (Acts 1.5). (Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Annotated New Testament [New York: Oxford University Press, 2011], 163)

 

For more articles on baptismal regeneration from even clearer texts (e.g., Acts 2:38) and responses to the various “responses” thereto, see, for e.g.:

 

Refuting Douglas Wilson on Water Baptism and Salvation








J. Paul Sampley on Baptismal Regeneration and Ephesians 5:25-27 

On the related issue of imputed righteousness (which informs a lot of the errant arguments against baptismal regeneration and other doctrines), see: