The Baptism Controversy
Baptism also became an issue in newspaper
debates. An article in the Nieuw Rotterdamsche Courant on February 1, 1922,
described baptism by immersion and concluded that “this way of baptizing
undoubtedly had a virtue that was lacking in the easier way of putting a drop
of water on the forehead of the candidate.” (De Ster, XXVII [March 15, 1922])
In 1932, the Dutch Reformed Church weekly, the
Heraut, published an article debating whether or not Mormon baptism should be
recognized by the church as Christian. The writer reached a negative
conclusion. A later article in the Hervormd Weekblad der Calvinistishe Kerk
considered whether a Mormon could be accepted into the Dutch Reformed Church
without rebaptism, concluding that if the Mormon Church were considered
Christian and that the baptism were performed in the name of the Trinity, then
the baptism would be valid. The author concluded that Mormon baptisms appeared
to be Christian, but he dared not say that it was a Christian church. (Quarterly
Report, January 31, 1932, p. 3; Quarterly Report, November 16, 1935, p. 18)
After 1935, favorable articles concerning
baptism for the dead, the welfare plan, missionary work, genealogy, and the Church’s
building program appeared periodically in newspapers and various magazines. (Keith
C. Warner, History of the Netherlands Mission: The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints [Dirk Kotter Publishing, 2026], 27-28)
