Baptism Questions
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. I did, in fact, baptize the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t recall if I baptized anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect.
-1 Corinthians 1:14-17
Baptism is a divisive issue in the church. If you read the whole NT, objectively, setting aside your predilection about water baptism, you will read of a variety of occasions for baptism.
Water baptism can occur anywhere along the timeline of a person's life. That is a conclusion you would draw if you just read the Bible. It gets awkward when we change the "can" to a "must".
The popular notion that conversion necessarily precedes baptism and should be seen as a seal or testimony or even a confession to conversion and commitment previously made is nowhere clearly stated in the New Testament.
(Ben Witherington: Troubled Waters: The Real New Testament Theology of Baptism; p. 111)
I've written three articles on water baptism:
Notes On Baptism From Michael Green
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