𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗗𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗿?

J.H. Spencer Historical Society

April 14 at 7:32 AM  · 𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗗𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗿?In 1875, J.R. Graves, editor of the “Tennessee Baptist” was asked the following question: 𝘐𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦?Graves was a chaplain during the Civil War. He was present at the Battle of Shiloh and actually with General Albert Sidney Johnston when he was mortally wounded. Graves well replied: “𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. 𝘐𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧, 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.” It is amazing how many modern “conservative” Baptists will sprinkle water on people dying in hospitals and nursing homes and call it baptism. I thought Baptists rejected baptismal regeneration! Other Baptists will accept sprinkling or pouring as valid baptism into church membership if the individual doesn’t desire to be immersed. This is just another area where 21st century Baptists have departed from the faith of our Baptist forefathers.