CROSS The Meaning of 'Baptisms' in Hebrews 6.2 165
found in Josephus as a reference to John's baptism {Ant. 18.117).^8 This
does not rule out the inclusion of Christian baptism within the scope of
PaTTTiG|Jcov because it is the more all-encompassing term and could
include (kxTmoiia, while the peculiarly Christian term pdTma|ja couldnot include the broader pccTTTia|JGC>v.^9 Ellingworth rejects the idea that
what is in mind is the distinction between water-baptism and Spirit-bap-
tism as unsupported by the context.^10 The most likely understanding of 6.2
is that the reference is to teaching Christian converts^11 about the difference
between their own (Christian) baptism and other ritual washings.^12 The
need for such teaching in the earliest Church is demonstrated by Jn 3.25
- SeeBAGD,p. 132. On the authenticity ofAnt. 18.116-19, see R.L. Webb, John
the Baptizer and Prophet: A Socio-Historical Study (JSNTSup, 62; Sheffield: JSOT
Press, 1991), pp. 39-41, and on Ant 18.117, also J.B. Taylor, The Immerser: John the
Baptist within Second Temple Judaism (SHJ; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, \991\passim. - Dunn, Baptism, p. 207: '(3aTrnojjo( must...at least include a reference to
Christian baptism, a conclusion confirmed by the close link here between (3aTTTiGMoi
and laying on of hands (cf. Acts 8.19)'. - Ellingworth, Hebrews, p. 315, though he does not include any reference to
anyone who has proposed this, though Hering, Hebrews, p. 44, cites A. Seeberg, Der
Katechismus der Urchristenzeit (Leipzig, 1903), p. 253, as an example. - Dunn, Baptism, p. 206: 'if we accept that this letter was written to Christians,
w. If. must contain basic teaching given to new Christians or to those enquiring about
the Christian faith'. J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds (Harlow: Longman, 3rd edn,
1972), p. 8, states that in Heb. 6.2 the writer is 'concerned with catechetical practice' in
which 'he refers unmistakably to an elementary stage in Christian education which
includes instruction in doctrine as well as in ethics and the sacraments'. H.M. Ervin,
Conversion-Initiation and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: An Engaging Critique of
James D.G. Dunn's Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1984),
p. 151, understands 'the elementary doctrines of Christ' as 'the teachings about Christ
whereby the catechumens were prepared for baptism'. However, N. Weeks, 'Admoni-
tion and Error in Hebrews', WTJ39 (1976), pp. 72-80 (p. 76 n. 8), fails to see why
multiple 'baptisms' should form part of basic Christian teaching on the basis that there
is nothing distinctively Christian in 6.1-2. Further, he rejects the reading of
(3CXTTTIO|J6S in Col. 2.12 and believes it is questionable that PaTTTio|j6s is used at all
of Christian baptism. Another to reject the 'traditional' interpretation that 6.1-2 is a
credal statement of the fundamentals of the Christian faith is J.C. Adams, 'Exegesis of
Hebrews VI. If, NTS 13 (1967), pp. 378-85. Both, to my mind, are satisfactorily an-
swered byW.L. Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (WBC, 47 A; Dallas: Word Books, 1991), p. 140. - B.F. Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Macmillan, 1906), p. 147.
Schnackenburg, Baptism, pp. 8-9, believes that 6.2 'cannot signify anything other than
that the instruction of catechumens included teaching on the difference between Chris-
tian baptism and these purely ritual washings and bathings'.