Pat's Baptism

	So why did Pat get baptised by going completely underwater? Would it not have been sufficient for her simply to be sprinkled with a few drops of water? The Bible tells us to be baptised, so what does "baptise" actually mean? Actually, given closer scrutiny, this word "baptise" proves to be a most unusual and interesting word. It turns out that it's not an English word at all. It's a pure Greek word, transliterated into letters of the English alphabet. If you were to write out the original Greek word in English letters, as accurately as it is possible to do, you would get the word "baptizo". Then, with the change of the final "o" to an "e" you get the word in the form that has now become familiar - "baptise".
At this point, you may reasonably ask: "Why was this particular word never translated? Why was it simply written over from Greek to English letters? Was it because the correct meaning of the original Greek word was not known, and therefore the translators didn't know by what English word to translate it?" No, this is definitely not the explanation. The Greek word "baptizo" has a perfectly definite and well-established meaning. In order to clear up the unusual circumstances connected with the use of the word "baptise", it is necessary to glance for a moment at the historical background of Bible translation. By far the best known and most influential of all the English translations of the Bible is the one known as the "King James' Version". It is through this translation that the word "baptise" has gained a place in the English language. The reason the word "baptise" was chosen by the translators of the King James' Version lies in the fact that King James, though holding political power as an absolute monarch, was answerable in matters of religion to the bishops of the established Church of England. Now the relationship between James and his bishops was not always too cordial, and James did not wish the new translation of the Bible, which he had authorised and which was to be published in his name, to make his relationship with his bishops any worse. For this reason, he allowed it to be understood that, so far as possible, nothing was to be introduced into the translation which would cause unnecessary offence to the bishops or which would be too obviously contrary to the practices of the established church. Hence, the Greek word "baptizo" which could easily have become, in translation, a source of controversy, was never translated at all, but was simply written over direct into the English language.
This Greek word "baptizo" is of a special, characteristic form of which there are a great many other examples in the Greek language. The characteristic feature of this verbal form is the insertion of the two letters "iz" into a more simple, basic root. Thus, the simple, basic root is - "bapto". The insertion into this root of the two extra letters "iz" produces the compound "baptizo". The insertion of the additional syllable "iz" into any Greek verb produces a verb that has a special, causative meaning. The compound verb therefore always has the sense of "causing" something to be or to happen. Therefore, to get a proper understanding of "baptizo" it is necessary first of all to ascertain the meaning of "bapto". Fortunately there is no difficulty at all in doing this. This simple root form "bapto" occurs three times in the Greek text of the New Testament which formed the basis of the English King James' Version. In every one of these three instances the original Greek word "bapto" is translated by the same English verb "to dip".
The first occurence of the word is in Luke 16:24 where the rich man, tormented in the fire of hell, cries out to Abraham: "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue." The word occurs next at John 13:26 when Jesus, during the course of the Last Supper, identifies the person who is to betray him by giving his apostles a clear identification: "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it into the dish." The final occurence is to be found at Revelation 19:13 where John describes Jesus as being "...dressed in a robe dipped in blood." In each of these three passages, both the English word used by the translators, and the actual context of each passage, make it clear that the Greek word "bapto" means "to dip something into a fluid and then take it out again." This is also the sense in which the word was used in Ancient Greece as is evidenced in the documentation of those times. For example, Hippocrates used the word "baptizo" around the Fourth Century BC to describe people being "submerged" in water, and of sponges being "dipped" in water. In the First or Second Century AD the word "baptizo is used twice by Plutarch to describe either the body of a person, or the figure of an idol, being "immersed" in the sea. The Greek word "baptizo" has therefore always been used to describe the act of immersing something temporarily into a fluid and then taking it out again. It is equally clear, therefore that true Christian baptism should consist of immersing the person in water and then bringing them out again.
	The act of Baptism is a wonderful symbol and outward showing of a Christian's faith. Christ died, was buried and rose again. In the same way, in Baptism, the Christian shows that they have died to their old life by going down under the water ("buried" as it were) and then rising again out of the water to symbolise Christ's resurrection and to show that they too have been born again are now living a new life as a true believer in Christ.