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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

William B. Badke on what Paul meant by "Baptised into Moses" and "Baptsed into Christ".

The following article is available in PDF:

William B. Badke, "Baptised into Moses - Baptised into Christ: a Study in Doctrinal Development," The Evangelical Quarterly 60 (1988): 23-29.

This is a study of Paul's teaching in Romans 6:3. Dr Badke summarises his argument as follows:

It is the contention of this paper that, only if death and resurrection with Christ had not yet been connected thematically with baptism, would Paul have used the expression 'baptised into Moses'. If such a connection had not yet been made, Paul's meaning would simply be that the Israelites adhered themselves to Moses, and thus to God, through a baptism-like act. This would say nothing more than the Old Testament text already implies and would leave no implication that Moses was to be seen as a resurrected saviour leading his people into a better world and imparting to them the mysteries of God. Paul was far too careful a pastor to have allowed for such a false implication. He could use 'baptised into Moses' freely, because he himself had not yet made the connection between baptism and death-resurrection, let alone teaching it to anyone else.

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