Before the Christian usage, a “trinity” ( triad in Greek) was simply any group of three things. The same principle can be seen with other special Christian terms, such as “Trinity,” that were originally ordinary Greek words with no special religious significance. This is especially true because in Christian usage the word had a highly particular meaning distinct from the term’s ordinary, everyday usage. The Fundamentalist contention that baptizo always means immersion is an oversimplification. These passages demonstrate that the meaning of baptizo is broad enough to include “pouring.” Christian Baptism ![]() Later, Peter referred to the Spirit falling upon them, and also on others after Pentecost, explicitly identifying these events with the promise of being “baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:15–17). In Acts 1:4–5 Jesus charged his disciples “not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Did this mean they would be “immersed” in the Spirit? No: three times Acts 2 states that the Holy Spirit was poured out on them when Pentecost came (2:17, 18, 33, emphasis added). On the other hand, consider the case of being “baptized with the Holy Spirit.” For example, speaking of his future suffering and death, Jesus said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with and how I am constrained until it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50) This might suggest that Christ would be “immersed” in suffering. Sometimes a figurative “baptism” is a sort of “immersion” but not always. So baptizo can mean cleansing or ritual washing as well as immersion.Ī similar range of meanings can be seen when baptizo is used metaphorically. Thus Luke 11:38 reports that, when Jesus ate at a Pharisee’s house, “he Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.” According to Mark, the Pharisees “do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash themselves ” (Mark 7:3–4a, emphasis added). ![]() But immersion is not the only meaning of baptizo.
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