CROSS Spirit-and Water-Baptism 127
for the writers of the New Testament the baptism in or gift of the Spirit was
part of the event (or process) of becoming a Christian, together with the
effective proclamation of the Gospel, belief in (eis) Jesus as Lord, and water-
baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus; that it was the chief element in
conversion-initiation so that only those who had thus received the Spirit
could be called Christians; that the reception of the Spirit was a very definite
and often dramatic experience, the decisive and climactic experience in con-
version-initiation, to which the Christian was usually recalled when reminded
of the beginning of his Christian faith and exerience.^19R.E.O. White speaks of the same process by highlighting different
aspects of it. In the human dimension of repentance-belief-baptism God
acts giving the blessings offered in the preaching of the gospel to those
who respond in penitence and faith, the appointed response being baptism
on confession of faith.^20 McDonnell and Montague believe that the essen-
tial elements of 'the integral rite of initiation...always included water-
baptism in the name of Jesus (or the later Trinitarian formula) and the gift
of the Holy Spirit', and that it is not clear whether the laying on of hands
always accompanied water-baptism and less clear whether anointing was a
part of the apostolic rite.^21
The view that the Spirit is given in water-baptism has been challenged
by James Dunn, followed by Gordon Fee and a growing number of other
scholars who interpret 1 Cor. 12.13 as a reference only to the reception of
the Spirit in conversion, that is, a metaphorical use of baptism.^22
and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1998),
p. 361. This understanding of baptism is implicit in such works as E.M.B. Green,
Evangelism in the Early Church (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1970), p. 184; D.A.
Tappeiner, 'Hermeneutics, the Analogy of Faith and New Testament Sacramental
Realism', EvQ 49 (1977), pp. 40-55 (50-51); Wenham, Paul, p. 346; and K. Roy,
Baptism, Reconciliation and Unity (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1997), p. 38.
- Dunn, Baptism, p. 4.
- White, Biblical Doctrine, p. 274. Cf. pp. 180-81: 'The usual mode of expres-
sion of this intellectual and moral response to the church's witness is by baptism in
water, which is everywhere assumed. Thus repentance-belief-baptism is the way of
initiation for all. In every baptism which Luke records belief, hearing or repentance is
expressly mentioned as the concomitant of the rite, and always prior in time.' - McDonnell and Montague, Christian Initiation, p. 86, this being the conclusion
of their study of the New Testament evidence, pp. 3-85. - Fee, God's Empowering Presence, e.g. pp. 176,180 and 854, and his The First
Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 604-606. See
also J.K. Parratt, 'The Holy Spirit and Baptism: Part I. The Gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles', ExpTim 82 (1971), pp. 231-35, and 'The Holy Spirit and Baptism: Part II.