Immersion, the act of christian baptism

Preface

THIS book is the result of long and patient investigation. It was with a view of satisfying the author's own mind that these studies were begun, and with no intention of writing a book. Many large libraries have been gone over, and a somewhat extensive correspondence conducted. Many of the books quoted are exceedingly rare, and many more locked up in foreign languages, and it occurred to me that these authorities might be of service to those who have neither the time nor opportunity to investigate so large a range of literature.

I am under obligation to many friends who have assisted me in divers ways. I cordially mention my lifelong friend. Prof Arthur Yager, Ph. D., of Georgetown College, Ky. He was especially helpful in translating French and German authors. And I am indebted to Rev. Basil Manly, D. D., LL. D., of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, for suggestions in Hebrew and Syriac.

This book has been written in no controversial spirit, and it is given to the public with a sincere desire to do good. That it is not faultless the author is well aware, but he does believe that t4ie propositions lain down are in accord with the Holy Scriptures, and in harmony with the universal teachings of history.

What the Syriac says 240

IMMERSION.

Chapter I. The Law Of Baptism, And The Principles Of Interpretation

r I iHE law of baptism is laid down in Matthew -^ xxviii: 18-20, in the words of our Saviour: ^'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

The terms of this commission are plain enough. I will apply some of the principles of constitutional and statutory law to the law of baptism; and in it will be found an unanswerable argument in favor of immersion. Greenleaf, a very able lawyer, applied the principles of law to the Four Gospels, and gave to the world one of the strongest books on Christian Evidence extant; and I am sure that from the same standpoint the argument for immersion is impregnable.

I will call attention to a few of the fundamental principles of law :

1. Words are to be used in their primary or historical sense, and in the meaning in which they can be proven historically to have been used. Na secondary or figurative sense can be applied ta words as long as the historical sense can be applied. This is a fundamental rule, and is laid down in all of the law books.

Blackstone, on the interpretation of law, says: *^ Words are generally to be understood in their usual and most known signification ; not so much regarding the propriety of grammar, as their general and popular use. '' (Com. 59.) Greenleaf says: **The terms of every written instrument are to be understood in their plain, ordinary and popular sense.'' (On Evid. 278.)

This idea is as applicable to theology as it is ta law. So clear is this that the celebrated Presbyterian author, Dr. Charles Hodge, says : " The fundamental interpretation of all writings, sacred and profane, is that words are to be understood in their historical sense in which it can be historically proved that they were used by their authors,, and intended to be understood by those to whom they were addressed. The object of language i& the communication of thought. Unless words are

THE LAW OF BAPTISM. 9

taken in the sense in which those who employ them know they will be understood, they will fail of their design. " (Systemat. Theol., vol. 1, p. 376.)

If this rule holds good, immersion is inevitably the act of Christian baptism. Beyond doubt the historical sense of the word baptizo is to dip. Even if it could be proven, which is not the case, that some tropical definition favored aifusion, still, with this rule m sight, baptism logically would be performed by immersion. We have no right to give the word an arbitrary meaning. This principle is recognized in the interpretation of all law ; why not in the law of baptism ?

2. We have no right to put any arbitrary construction upon, or to draw any strained inference from, the law of baptism. The New Testament is to be plainly construed, and from its express commands there can be no departure.

Upon no point is the law more explicit than upon this. "J. verbis legis non est recedendum: from the words of the law there can be no departure. A court of law will not make any interpretation contrary to the express letter of the statute; for nothing can so well explain the meaning of the makers of the Act as their own direct words." (Brown, 622.) " When a law is plain and unambiguous, whether it be expressed in general or limited terms, the legislators should be interpreted to mean what they have plainly expressed, and consequently no room is left for construction. Possible or probable meanings, where one is plainly declared in the instrument itself, the courts are not at liberty to search for elsewhere." . . . "That which the words declare is the meaning of the instrument, neither courts nor legislators have a right to add to or take away from its meaning. " (On Constit. Lim. 68, 70.) Mr. Cooly continues: " In the case of all written laws it is the intent of the lawgiver that it is to be enforced. But this intent is to be found in the instrument itself It is to be presumed that language has been employed with sufficient precision to convey it, and, unless examination demonstrates that the presumption holds good in the particular case, nothing will remain except to enforce it." (Constit. Lim. Q8.) Mr. Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, said : " The government of the United States can claim no powers which are not granted to it by the Constitution; and the powers actually granted must be such as are expressly given, or given by necessary implication." (1 Wheat. 326, Brown.) "The intention of the testator ought to be the only guide of the court to the interpretation of his will ; yet it must be his intention, as collected

THE LAW OF BAPTISM. 11

by the words employed by himself in his will. No surmise or conjecture of any object, which the testator may be supposed to have had in view, can be allowed to have any weight in the construction of his will unless such object be collected from the plain language of the will itself. " (555.)

These writers all say that from the words of the law there must be no departure. Now this is perfectly evident. If this commission of Christ means immersion, we can not depart from the letter and allow any other act. If it were " possible,^' or ^'even probable,'' that sprinkling or pouring was the act of baptism, yet they could not be admitted, since immersion is "the historical or primary'' sense of the word baptizo. No room is left for construction, and we are to take the Scriptures just as they read. We are not to read meanings into the word of the living God.

3. If the commission is not perfectly plain and explicit in all of its terms it is of no binding force whatever. This the law books plainly teach. The maxim is, ubi jus incentum ; ubi jus nullum, when the law is uncertain, there is no law. The learned Judge Pothier says : "A law that is hopelessly obscure is of no binding force, and no person can be held responsible for obedience to it." Greenleaf remarks : " In other words, in merely generally speaking, if the court, placing itself in the situation in which the testator or contracting partystood at the time of executing the instrument, and with full understanding of the force and import of the words, cannot ascertain his meaning and intention from the language of the instrument thus illustrated, it is a case of incurable and hopeless uncertainty, and the instrument is so far inoperative and void/' (On Evid. 300.)

Jesus Christ can claim no authority that is not expressed in his commands; and it would be a reflection to say that he did not make himself perfectly clear. If no man can tell what the commission means, or if it means any one of a dozen things, then is baptism not binding upon us. But such a proposition is at once sacrilegious and absurd.

4. The expression of one thing is the exclusion of another. If immersion is expressed then is sprinkling and pouring excluded. There is ^' one baptism,'^ and not three. Coke says : " The appointment or designation of one is the exclusion of another; and that expressed makes that which is implied to cease. " (Coke-Lit. 210.) And Brown says : *^ If authority is given expressly, though by affirmative words, upon a defined condition, the expression of that condition excludes the doing of

THE LAW OF BAPTISM. 13

the act authorized under other circumstances than those so defined. " (653.)

Unquestionably the Scriptures teach that baptism is by immersion, and affusion is thus rejected by this law of exclusion.

5. It would be of no service to us if Christ had commanded us to be baptized, if we could not know what he meant. Mr. Coke says : " It avails little to know what ought to be done, if you do not know how it is to be done.'' "Where any thing," says Brown, " is commanded, ev'ery thing by which it is to be accomplished is also commanded. " (482.) Certainly there would be no doubt around the last command the Son of God ever gave.

6. Next to the authority of the New Testament, which is paramount, the admissions of learned Pedobaptists is the strongest proof we can possibly offer. The admission of the adverse party, when deliberately made, is the strongest authority in a court of law. The principle is the same whether applied to civil or criminal matters. Starkie and Greenleaf both put this proposition in the strongest terms. Greenleaf says : " It is generally agreed that deliberate confessions of guilt are among the most effectual proofs of the law. Their value depends on the supposition that they are deliberate and voluntary, and on the presumption that a ra^tional being will not make admissions prejudicial to his interest and safety, unless when urged by the promptings of truth and conscience. Such confessions, so made by a prisoner, at any moment of time, and at any place, subsequent to the perpetration of crime, and previous to his examination, before the magistrate, are at common law received in evidence as among proofs of guilt. '^ (On Evid. 215.)

There 'can be but one conclusion in regard to the hundreds of pedobaptist scholars who have admitted that baptism was originally by immersion. The truth forced them to this conclusion. I emphasize this fundamental principle of the law of evidence, that the admissions of the adverse party, against his or her interest or opinion, is the best of evidence in law, and is an estoppel in the controversy. I claim that the admissions of the best pedobaptist scholars of this and every other age, forever close out affusion as baptism.

The law requires absolute obedience, and we have no right to change or in any wise alter its demands. No crime is greater than disobedience." (Jenks, Cent. Car. 77.) " Obedience is the essence of the law." (11 Coke 100.) Obedience is the crowning grace of all. It is that ^^ principle, I

THE LAW OF BAPTISM. 15

mean, to which Polity owes its stability, Life its happiness. Faith its accoptance, Creation its continuance." This is the principle that recognizes the well nigh forgotten truth that Christ is Lord as well as Saviour. It is a far reaching truth, and strict obedience to it carries us into the immediate presence of God. No more significant words are in the Bible than those of Jesus Christ, " Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you.''

Chapter II. What The Lexicons Say

^TTHEN we desire the definition of a word we ^ ^ naturally turn to a dictionary, or lexicon, for its meaning. This I now do. I present only such authorities as I have before me; and take no statement at second hand. These writers are certainly competent witnesses. These Greek lexicons were not written by Baptists, but by Pedobaptist scholars. As Mr. Greenfield expressed it: "I wish it to be distinctly understood that I am neither a Baptist, nor the son of a Baptist ; nor is it my business to make a defense of their cause.''

Sometime since I wrote Dr. Gross Alexander, Professor of New Testament Exegesis in Vanderbilt, the great Methodist University of the South, asking him to kindly mention two Greek lexicons — one on Classical and the other on the New Testament Greek, that he regarded as the very best. He wrote by return mail, in reply: "The seventh edition of Liddell and Scott, Harper & Bros., N. Y., is the best Greek lexicon for general use. I emphasize seventh; for as compared with former editions it is a new book. The very best New Testament lexicon

WHAT THE LEXICONS SAY. 17

is that of J. H. Thayer, Greek-English lexicon, published also by Harper & Bros."

Dr. C. C. Hcrsman, President of the Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, Tenn., writes me under date of Aug. 7th, 1890. He says: "In English the best Classical Greek lexicon is Liddell and Scott, the last edition. It is based on the great work of Passow. In the New Testament nothing can compare with the lexicon, of J. H. Thayer based on Grimm- Wilkes Clavis Novi Testaraenti. Robinson's is a very good one. But Thayer, when used with caution and intelligence, is par excellence. He gives the very latest results."

No name among Presbyterians outranks that of C. W. Hodge, Professor of New Testament Criticism in Princeton Theological Seminary. He writes, Aug. 10th, 1890, as follows: ''The best Classical Greek lexicon is Liddell and Scott's. The best New Testament Lexicon is Thayer's edition of Grimm."

No scholar is likely to dissent from these opinions. Liddell and Scott are learned Episcopalian scholars of England. I turn to the seventh edition, the one all of these scholars say is the best, p. 274, and baptizo is defined, " to dip in or under water." Not a word is said about sprinkling or pouring. That witness is satisfactory enough.

Prof. J. H. Thaj^er, the author of the Greek- English Lexicon of the New Testament, is Prof, of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation, in the Divinity School of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. On p. 94, I read: '^ Baptizo, to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge. In the New Testament it is used particularly of the rite of sacred ablution, first instituted by John the Baptist, afterward by Christ's command received by Christians and adjusted to the nature and contents of their religion, viz: an immersion in water.^^ Under baptisma he says, " a word peculiar to the N. T. and ecclesiastical writers, immersion, sub-' mersion.'^

To make assurance doubly sure and leave not a hook to hang a doubt upon I give the testimony of other lexicons.

Prof. E. A. Sophocles, a native Greek, and for thirty-eight years Professor of Greek in Harvard University, in his lexicon of Greek usages in the Roman and Byzantine periods, B. C. 146- A. D. 1100, Boston 1887, defines baptizo, " to dip, to immerse, to sink. There is no evidence that Luke and Paul and the other writers of the New Testament put upon this verb meanings not recognized by the Greeks.''

J. W. Fradensdorf, of the Taylor Institute, in

WHAT THE LEXICONS SAY. 19

his English-Greek Lexicon, London 1860, defines baptizein and baptein ^' to baptize, to dip.^'

Dr. W. Pope, of the Berlin Gymnasium, 1842, 1870, 1880, defines baptizo, "to dip in, to dip under.''

Wahl, Clavis, Leipzig 1853, says: ^^ BaptizOy to dip, to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to wash.''

E. W. Bullinger, Greek Lexicon and Concordance, London 1878, p. 81, says: ^^Baptizo, to make a thing dipped or dyed, to immerse fi[)r a religious purpose. By baptism therefiare we must understand an immersion, whose design, like that of the levitical washings and purifications, was united with the washing away of sin.^'

Cremer, Biblico-Theological Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, third English edition, 1883, p. 126 : " baptizOy to immerse, to submerge. The peculiar New Testament and Christian use of the word to denote immersion, submersion for a religious purpose — baptize."

Ab. H. Stephanus, Thesaurus Grsecse Linguae, London 1821, vol. 3, p. 20,681, ^'baptizOj to merge, to immerse, also to dip."

Hedericus, Lexicon, London, 1755, ^^baptizo, to merge, to immerse, to wash in water."

*Bass, London 1859, p. 39, ^^baptizo, to dip, immerse, or plunge in water. 2nd. To baptize figuratively, to be immersed in suffering or affliction.'' Suicer, Thesaurus, Amsterdam 1682, p. 622,

^'baptizOy to immerse, to dip."

Scapula, Genevse 1628, p. 254, ^^baptizo, to

merge, to immerse ; also, dye, as we immerse things

for the purpose of coloring or washing them. Also

to immerse, to submerge, to wash in water." Stokius, Clavis, Leipzig 1752, ^'baptizo, by the

force of the word indicates the idea of dipping or

immersion. Properly speaking it is a dipping or

an immersion in wat<3r."

vorum, 1755, p. 107, ^'baptizo, 1st, properly to dip,

to immerse ; 2nd, to bathe, to wash."

Schleusner, Glasgow, vol. 1, p. 338, ^'baptizo,

properly to immerse, to dip, to immerse in water." Schrevelius, ^^baptizo, to baptize, to dip." Simonis, Halse, 1766, ^'hajptizo, to dip." Green, ^^baptizo, to dip, to immerse." Greenfield, ^^baptizo, to immerse, to immerge, to

submerge, to sink."

Donnegan, ^^baptizo, to immerse repeatedly in a

liquid, to submerge."

Groves, ^^baptizo, to dip, to immerse, to immerge,

to plunge."

Eobinson, ^^baptizo, to dip in, to sink, to im-

WHAT THE LEXICONS SAY. 21

Here is the testimony of twenty-four Greek lexicons ; and every one of them gives the primary idea of dipping. I have at hand the testimony of three living American Bishops, who, while they hold to affusion on other accounts, allow dipping to be the primary meaning of the word. Bishop John J. Keane, President of the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C, says : " The best dictionaries show the classical meaning of the Greek word baptizein is primarily to plunge, to dip." Henry C. Potter, Episcopal Bishop of New York, says : " I am quite free to say that the literal meaning of baptizo as ordinarily found in classical writers is, usually to plunge, to dip, immerse, or whatever word you want to strengthen your position. '^ The next is Bishop A. Cleveland Coxe, the editor of the American edition of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, who says : " The word means to dip."

We can therefore say in the none too strong language of Moses Stuart, the late eminent Presbyterian scholar of Andover, ^^bapto and baptizo mean to dip, to plunge, to immerge, into any thing liquid. All lexicographers and critics of any note are agreed in this." (On Bap., p. 51.) I have here quoted Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic, Presbyterian, and many other authorities. All these lexicons give dipping as the primary meaning ; and if the word has any secondary meaning it is in accordance with this idea. The dictionaries are, therefore, all in favor of dipping as the primary meaning of this word.

Chapter III. What The Classical Writers Say

A N appeal can always be made from the lex- ~^-^ icons to the use of the word in the best authors. I now appeal to the classical Greek authors. I shall not discuss bapto, but confine myself to baptizo, the word used for baptize in the 'New Testament. I will begin with the oldest writer who used this word, and, in chronological order, give the statement of writers covering several Jiundred years. This is the philological order, and if the word means to sprinkle or pour we will ■certainly find that passage. I shall give later the testimony of the Greek fathers ; here I only refer to the use of the word in the classics. There is no higher authority than this.

Pindar, B. C. 522 : " For as when the rest of the tackle is toiling deep in the sea, I as a cork, above the net, am undipped (abaptistos) in water.''

Plato, B. C. 429 : " I perceiving that the youth was overwhelmed (baptizomenon) , wishing to give him respite," etc. "I was one of those who yesterday were overwhelmed in wine."

The Homeric Allegories, B. C. 400 : " The mass of iron, drawn red hot from the furnace, is dipped (bapUzetai) in water.''

Alcibiades, B. C. 400: "You dipped (baptes) me in plays: but I in the waves of the sea dipping {baptizon), will destroy thee with streams more bitter.''

Demosthenes, B. C. 385 : " Not the speakers, for these know how to play the dipping {diabaptizesthai) match with him, but the inexperienced."

Eubulus, B. C. 380: "Who now the fourth day is immersed {baptizetai), leading the famished life of a miserable mullet."

Evenus of Paros B. C. 250 : " Bacchas (the use of wine) plunges (baptizei) in sleep."

Polybius, B. C. 205: The enemy "made continued assaults and submerged (ebaptizon) many of the vessels." The vessel " being submerged (baptizomena) became filled with sea- water and confusion.'* "Even if the spear falls into the sea, it is not lost ; for it is compacted of oak and pine, so that when the oaken part is immersed (baptisomenon) by the weight, the rest is buoyed up, and it is easily recovered." "Themselves by themselves immersed (baptizomenoi) and sinking in the pools."

Strabo, B. C. 60 : " To one who hurls down a dart, from above into the channel, the force of the water makes so much resistance, that it is hardly dipped {baptizesthai).'' "And he who enters into it is not immersed (baptisesthai) y but is lifted out." "The water solidifies so rapidly around every thing that is dipped into it (Lake Tatta) that they draw up salt crowns when they let down a circle of rushes."

Diodorus, B. C. 60: "The river rushing down with the current increased in violence, immersed (ebaptize) many." "Most of the wild animals are surrounded by the stream and perished, being submerged (baptizomena) ; but some escaping to the high grounds, are saved." " His ship being submerged {baptistheisas)," "They do not whelm {baptizousi) the common people with taxes."

Conon, about A. D. 1 : " Having whelmed {baptisasa) with much wine and put him to sleep."

Josephus, A. D. 37: "And stretching out the right hand, so as to be unseen by any, he plunged the whole sword into his body." There are thirteen other examples in Josephus all in the sense of dipping.

Philo, the Jew, A. D. 50 : " The reason was whelmed {baptizomenou) by the things overlying it.''

Plutarch, A. D. 50 : "A bladder, then may est be dipped {baptize) ; but it is not possible for thee to sink." "The soldiers along the whole way, dipping {baptizontes) with cups, and horns, and goblets, from great wine jars and mixing bowls, were drinking to one another." Thirteen other times is the word used in Plutarch in the sense of to dipi

Epictetus, A. D. 50 : " You would not wish, sailing in a large and polished, and richly gilded ship, to be submerged (haptizesthai) .^^

Demetrius, the Sidonian, A. D. 50 : '' She is not wholly dipped (bebaptisthai), but rises above."

Alciphron, A. D. 150: "If I am to see all the rivers, life to me will be whelmed (baptisthaseiai) , not beholding Glycera."

Lucian, the man-hater, A. D. 135 : " If the winter's torrent were bearing one away, and he with outstretched hands were imploring help, to thrust even him headlong, dipping (baptizonta) , so that he should not be able to come up again." " He seems like one heavy-headed and whelmed {bebaptismeno).^'

Polysenus, A. D. 150 : " Philip did not give over dipping (diabaptizomenos) in a match with the pancratiast, and sprinkling (rainomenos) water in his face, until the soldiers, wearied out, dispersed."

Dion Cassius, A. D. 150: "And others leaping into the sea were drowned, or, struck by the enemy, were submerged (ebaptizonto).'^ There are seven other examples of dipping in this writer.

Plotinus, A. D. 205 : " Death to her while yet immersed (bebaptismena) in the body, is to be sunk in matter." " But now, since a part of us is contained by the body, as if one has the feet in water, but with the rest of the body stands out above, towering up by what is not immersed (baptistheuti) in the body, we by this are attached, as to our own center, with that which is the center of all." " He does not continue happy, whelmed (baptisomtheis) either with diseases or with arts of magicians."

Aristophen, A. D. 210 : " Then whelming {bapiisas) potently with wine, he set me free."

Porphyra, A. D. 233 : " When the accused answers to it, if he is guiltless, he goes through without fear, having the water as far as to the knees; but if guilty, after proceeding a little way, he is immersed (baptizetai) unto the head."

Heimerius, A.D. 315 : "I will show you also my soldiers ; one fighting life-like even in the painting . . . and another dipping (baptisonta) with his hands the Persian fleet." " He was great at Salamis ; for there, fighting, he whelmed (ebaptise) all Asia."

Libanius, A. D. 315 : "I myself am one of those immersed (baptismenon) by that great wave." He used the word nine other times to dip.

Themistius, A. D. 375 : " The pilot, whether he saves in the voyage one whom it were better to submerge (baptisai).^^ "Overwhelmed {baptizomenon) by grief? ^

The ArgODautic Expedition, A. D. 375 : " But when Titon dipped himself into the ocean stream?'

Chariton, A. D. 375 : " Overwhelmed {baptizomenos) by design." ^^Overwhelmed (ebaptizeto) as to the soul?' "Overwhelmed (baptizomenon) in a calm?'

Heliodorus, A.D. 390 : "Already becoming dipped (baptizomenon) J and wanting little of sinking, some of the pirates attempted to leave and get aboard of their own bark." "Slaying some on land, and plunging (bai^tizonton) others with their boats and huts into the lake." There are four other examples in Heliodorus.

Proclus, A. D. 412 : "The lo-Bacchus was sung at festivals and sacrifices of Bacchus, immersed (bebaptismenon) with much wantonness?'

Achilles Tatius, A. D. 450; "They dip (ebaptizonsi) into the water, therefore, a pole smeared with pitch, and open the barriers of the stream." " They who behold suppose the steel is plunged (baptizesthai) down the body, but it runs back into the hollow of the hilt."

Julian, A. D. 525: "As I was once trimming, a garland, I found Cupid in the roses; and holding by the wings, I dipped (ebaptis) him into wine and took him and drank him, and now within my members he tickles with his wings/'

Simplicius, A. D. 650 : " Beauty in bodies, is in ilesh and sinews and things that make up the body, of animals, for example ; beautifying them, indeed, as much as possible, but also itself partaking of their deformity, and immersed (bebaptismenon) into it."

Eustathius, A. D. 1100: "My whole mind was overwhelmed (katabaptistheis) with the affliction." ^^My spirit then didst overwhelm (katebaptisas) , surging round, with whole seas of wailings." *' Strives to overwhelm (katabaptisai) the whole vessel with the waves."

I have here quoted thirty-three authors, and have given fifty-six examples of the use of the word in these writers. These authors cover a period of over sixteen hundred years, commencing with Pindar, B. C. 522, and ending with Eustathius in the eleventh century A. D. The invariable meaning of the word in all of these passages is to dip, or some word which conveys the same idea. So clear is this that Prof. Stuart says : "' It is impossible to doubt that the words bapto and baptizo have, in the Greek classical writers, the sense of dip, plunge, immerse, sink, etc." (Bap. p. 56.)

The only possible objection that can be made to this meaning is where the classical writers use such phrases as "overwhelmed in wine," "overwhelmed in sleep/^ "overwhelmed in sorrow," etc.; but even here the idea is an immersion. But this figure of speech is common in all languages and with almost every word. In the Latin this figure is very common. Livy says, ^'Mersus vino somnoque/' or VirgiPs " Somno vinoque sepidtus,^^ immersed or buried in wine; and Seneca speaks of the ^^ potatio quce mergit/^ the drink which immerses. In Shakspeare we read :

" Who dipping all his faults in their affection's Mould, like the spring that turneth wood into stone. Convert his gyves into graces." — Hamlei, iv. 7.

Cowper sings of one :

We can therefore say without a doubt that 6aptizo, in classical writers, means to dip.

DOES BAPTIZO MEAN TO DROWN. 31