Celebrating a Feast for John the Baptist While Rejecting Biblical Baptism
Today is the Roman Catholic feast day of John the Baptist. This has me disturbed at how Roman Catholics celebrate John the Baptist as one of their saints while some of them make fun of the idea of baptism by immersion. If they ever do bother to read the Greek text - the word baptize is derived from the Greek word baptizo (βαπτίζω) which means to immerse in water. That's something that infant baptism or baptism by sprinkling fails to accomplish.
I wonder, did Roman Catholics ever bother reading these verses from the Good News Translation (GNT) which is one of their approved translations?
Roman Catholics still have illustrations of John the Baptist simply baptizing by pouring water on Jesus' head. However, even their own Roman Catholic translations say otherwise. Jesus was baptized by immersion. John the Baptist performed baptism by immersion and not by sprinkling. All who were baptized by John the Baptist before he baptized Jesus were people who have repented of their sins.
Peter (who they claim to be their first Pope) said in Acts 2:38 to repent and be baptized. Peter couldn't be talking to infants. Children can believe and be baptized. No Bible-believing church should ever believe in the error of adult-only baptism. Acts 2:41 says first they believed and then they were baptized. Can a baby repent and believe? A child can but certainly not an infant. Yet, Roman Catholics still believe that infant baptism saves. Peter nowhere was seen baptizing an infant. Nowhere in the Bible is infant baptism even done although some Protestant Christian groups practice it without the belief in baptismal regeneration. Instead, certain Protestant Christian groups practice infant baptism as a form of child dedication instead. The bigger problem Roman Catholicism has in believing that infant baptism supposedly "saves" when it doesn't.
What was worse is that many pre-Reformation Baptists (as well as other Christian groups) were executed for shouting out that infant baptism was unscriptural. Some of the earlier Christians during the Dark Ages were tortured for not only preaching the Gospel but also for giving scriptural baptism to converts of theirs. Wasn't John the Baptist beheaded for criticizing Herodias for her adulterous and incestuous affair with her half-uncle Herod Antipas? I guess some of these beheaded Baptists who preached against the erroneous baptism of Rome were glad to share the same fate as that beloved saint. Though take note that John the Baptist wasn't the founder of the said denomination. Today, all these are usually hidden and the average Roman Catholic is left ignorant about all these atrocities!
Worse, if they are making fun of baptism by immersion they must reject John the Baptist. Where was John the Baptist baptizing? Wasn't it at the River Jordan? Did the Scriptures say that he poured water on the heads of those he baptized or did he immerse them into the water? They went down into the water and out of it. Yet, they hypocritically celebrate the feast of John the Baptist as one of their saints.
I wonder, did Roman Catholics ever bother reading these verses from the Good News Translation (GNT) which is one of their approved translations?
Matthew 3:16-17
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, He came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on him. 17 Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.”
Mark 1:8-9
9 Not long afterward Jesus came from Nazareth in the province of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He saw heaven opening and the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove.
Acts 3:38-39
38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy.
Roman Catholics still have illustrations of John the Baptist simply baptizing by pouring water on Jesus' head. However, even their own Roman Catholic translations say otherwise. Jesus was baptized by immersion. John the Baptist performed baptism by immersion and not by sprinkling. All who were baptized by John the Baptist before he baptized Jesus were people who have repented of their sins.
Peter (who they claim to be their first Pope) said in Acts 2:38 to repent and be baptized. Peter couldn't be talking to infants. Children can believe and be baptized. No Bible-believing church should ever believe in the error of adult-only baptism. Acts 2:41 says first they believed and then they were baptized. Can a baby repent and believe? A child can but certainly not an infant. Yet, Roman Catholics still believe that infant baptism saves. Peter nowhere was seen baptizing an infant. Nowhere in the Bible is infant baptism even done although some Protestant Christian groups practice it without the belief in baptismal regeneration. Instead, certain Protestant Christian groups practice infant baptism as a form of child dedication instead. The bigger problem Roman Catholicism has in believing that infant baptism supposedly "saves" when it doesn't.
What was worse is that many pre-Reformation Baptists (as well as other Christian groups) were executed for shouting out that infant baptism was unscriptural. Some of the earlier Christians during the Dark Ages were tortured for not only preaching the Gospel but also for giving scriptural baptism to converts of theirs. Wasn't John the Baptist beheaded for criticizing Herodias for her adulterous and incestuous affair with her half-uncle Herod Antipas? I guess some of these beheaded Baptists who preached against the erroneous baptism of Rome were glad to share the same fate as that beloved saint. Though take note that John the Baptist wasn't the founder of the said denomination. Today, all these are usually hidden and the average Roman Catholic is left ignorant about all these atrocities!
Worse, if they are making fun of baptism by immersion they must reject John the Baptist. Where was John the Baptist baptizing? Wasn't it at the River Jordan? Did the Scriptures say that he poured water on the heads of those he baptized or did he immerse them into the water? They went down into the water and out of it. Yet, they hypocritically celebrate the feast of John the Baptist as one of their saints.
See also:
- Baptismal Salvation Debunked
- Catholic Infant Baptism Debunked
- In Defense of the Believer's Baptism
- Is Anyone Ever Born Again in Infant Baptism?
- Refuting the False Accusation From Some Roman Catholics that Born Again Christians Reject the Sacraments
- Some Roman Catholics Are Making Fun of Born Again Christian's Baptism by Water Immersion