Leviticus 15:16, Baptism By Immersion Or Sprinkling?

Posted on Saturday, August 2, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the even.

//Christian baptism evolved from the ritual cleansing baths of Judaism, and those baths evolved from an interpretation of the Law. Today’s verse is one law in particular, and instance where “baptismal cleansing” is required. So are we doing baptism right?

If your church believes in immersion, you’re halfway there. But only halfway. The law is specific about all flesh being cleansed. The person being baptized was therefore not to be clothed at all. Nor was he to remain in contact with his baptizer, for a single touch would prevent full cleansing of at least a small part of the body.

This brings up a question. What about women? Were they to be baptized naked? Acts 8:12 indicates that women were indeed baptized:

But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

But we know Jews were notoriously cautious about sexual immorality. The only time you would see a woman nude in public was when she was being punished, by being lawfully shamed. As a result, scholars are unsure about exactly how baptism was practiced in the early church. Maybe we’ll never know whether or not we’re doing it right.