Christ Community has always wanted to be a "Mere Christianity" kinda church, one that majors on majors and ... well, you know, minors on minors. From time to time we get asked why we baptize by sprinkling or pouring. I'm working on putting together a very brief explanation... until then, here's a quote i'm fairly happy with:
While the Greek bapto means 'to dip', baptizo - the usual New Testament word - is a multi-modal concept signifiying 'to wash' whatever mode is used. Through contact with water, irrespective of the quantity, it illustrates the believer's union with Christ. On careful examination of every instance, it simply cannot be proved that immersion or dipping was ever used in the New Testament. References to Old Testament ceremonial washings (see Heb. 9:10) use baptismos to describe them. It is certain that these washings were by sprinkling (see Numb. 8:7; 19:13-21). Clearly, sprinkling was to be used in the New Testament Church according to the prophecies of Isaiah (52:15) and Ezekiel (36:25). With great respect to "dunkers", what has union with Christ in his death and burial (Rom. 6:3-6) got to do with immersion in water?
Our Lord was buried horizontally in a tomb not six feet down in the ground, and certainly not in water. This passage-Romans 6--simply does not teach baptism by immersion.
Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch both 'went down into the water' (Acts 8:38). Arguably, they walked together down to the water's edge, where, both standing in the water, one was sprinkled by the other. It is not necessary to the text that the eunuch was immersed. Noting Paul's reference to Israel's 'baptism into Moses' in 1 Cor. 10:2, the most that can be said is that the Israelites were sprinkled with sea spray. It was the Egyptians who were immersed!
