Dimensions of Baptism Biblical and Theological Studies

ELLIS The Baptism of Disciples 343

tions of infant baptism on the part of the different churches, even offering

some positive interpretations of the rite of infant baptism, at least amongst

the Free Churches. He then asserted,

The Baptist position is not simply a new phase of this succession of

interpretations; it stands outside of them all as the only baptism which is

strictly and primarily an ethical act on the part of the baptized. As such, it

is the only type of baptism which is properly consistent with the logic of

'Separatism' and the whole idea of a separated Church of Believers.^26

This interpretation appears to go beyond the self-understanding of those

first Baptist congregations. They came to a Baptist position as a direct

result of reading the New Testament and believing that the only valid

interpretation of its practice and commands was the baptism of those who

professed faith in Christ. Yet this very reading was based upon the as-

sumption that believers must be obedient to the divine ordinances and that

this would therefore apply to the matter of baptism as well as to other

matters concerning Christian living. Thus the belief that the Church was

comprised of believers and the belief that believers should be baptized

according to New Testament teaching converge to make entry to the

Church an expression of the nature of the Church. So Wheeler Robinson

continued,

The Baptist stands or falls by his conception of what the Church is; his plea

for believers' baptism becomes a mere archaeological idiosyncrasy, if it be

not the expression of the fundamental constitution of the Church. We

become members of the living Body of Christ by being consciously and

voluntarily baptized in the Spirit of Christ—a baptism to which witness is

borne by the evidence of moral purpose and character as the fruit of the

Spirit.^27

As has already been noted, much Baptist writing about baptism is in the

form of polemic. This is understandable for a minority group which

attempts to witness to its convictions in the face of a continuing paedo-

baptist majority in the wider Church. This has meant that most arguments

have tended to focus on who may be baptized and how they may be bap-

tized, rather than theological explanations of the meaning of that baptism.

However, such theological explanations do arise and sometimes the argu-

ments about the subjects of baptism have led to reflections on the purpose

and meaning of the rite. As early as 1611 Thomas Helwys wrote,

26. H. Wheeler Robinson, The Life and Faith of the Baptists (London: Kingsgate
    Press, 2nd edn, 1946), p. 73, italics original.


27. Robinson, Life and Faith of the Baptists, p. 73.