Baptism

Forward

In 1867 the first book on baptism entitled BAPTIDZO was published of what would eventually be five books on one word—which were republished in four volumes. This first book was Inquiry into the Meaning of Baptism as Determined by Usage was written by Dr. James W. Dale. God distinctively equipped Dr. Dale for this unique task. Dr. Dale thought precisely. He was a man of great learning—first studying law, then changing to theology and obtaining a seminary degree, and last studying medicine and becoming a physician. Law, theology, and medicine equipped Dr. Dale to think, analyze and write with a precision beyond the capacity of most men today. He is often thought to be obsessive by those used to thinking in a less precise fashion. But in fact, he was simply careful, logical and attuned to the precision of the languages chosen by the Holy Spirit to teach man the things of God.

These books are without equal in the history of the study of of this subject. Yet, they are not well known, even by those that share Dr. Dale’s thesis. To some degree, the reasons for this must be laid at the feet of Dr. Dale himself. Simply put, his volumes are difficult reading.

It is our task in this book to understand what the word BAPTIDZO means; that is what this work is dedicated to achieve. It is not the task of this book to thoroughly exegete every passage on the subject or to generate a systematic theology on it either. In this current book, we will focus our study on the meaning of the Greek word BAPTIDZO. With a proper understanding of this word, the exegesis of various Biblical passages the will be greatly simplified.

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