92 Dimensions in Baptism
As one might expect, and as W.H. Burgess recounts, Smyth's 'oppo-
nents at once fastened upon this unusual proceeding. They put a question
to him which in other connections he had been fond of putting to them.
Where is your warrant from Scripture for this act?'^3 In the light of the
discussion below, it is somewhat surprising to discover that Smyth did not
have any 'express command from the New Testament for a man to baptize
himself, although Smyth did have a justification for it:
there is as good warrant as for a man Churching himself. For two men
singly are no Church; jointly they are a Church and they both of them put a
Church upon themselves; so may two men put baptism upon themselves.
For as both those persons unchurched yet have power to assume the Church
each of them for himself with others in communion, so each of them
unbaptized hath power to assume the baptism for himself with others in
communion. And as Abraham and John Baptist and all the proselytes after
Abraham's example, (Exod. xii.48) did administer the Sacrament upon
themselves, so may any man raised up after the Apostasy of Antichrist, in
the recovering of the Church by baptism, administer it upon himself in
communion with others... Every Priest going to sacrifice washed himself in
the Laver at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, which was a
type of baptism the door of the church (Tit. 3,5). Every Master of a family
administered the Passover to himself and all of his family. The priest daily
sacrificed for himself and others. A man cannot baptize others into the
Church himself being out of the Church, therefore, it is lawful for a man to
baptize himself together with others in communion and this warrant is a
plerophory for the practice of that which is done by us.^4When others raised objections, that is, that everyone could end up baptiz-
ing him or herself, Smyth backed away from his position, to the point of
renouncing his own act of self-baptism.^5 In defending his act, however,
Smyth clearly relies upon the analogy of the Church and the institutions of
the Old Testament, but despite his citation of Tit. 3.5, the one example that
he does not cite but that might have helped his case was that of Paul in
Acts 22.16: avccaxas (3ocTrxiGcu KCU aiToXouaai xas a|japxias oou
TO ovopa auxou.^6
- Burgess, John Smith, p. 153.
- J. Smyth, Character of the Beast, p. 59, quoted in Burgess, John Smith, pp.
153-54. - Burgess, John Smith, pp. 154-55.
- I do not provide a translation of this verse, since how to translate it is the issue
to be discussed, in particular the rendering of the verb pdi