Baptism by Water

Baptism by water by one who has authority from the church is currently understood in the church to be the gateway to membership in the church. As alluded to, there are requirements from church authorities for baptismal candidates. These requirements have changed much over time, with the most recent change coming in November 2015, when the church announced that children of practicing homosexuals would be barred from baptism until they reached the age of 18.¹ However, before the church was legally founded in 1830, many were baptized unto repentance by the authority of the Aaronic Priesthood, which was restored in 1829. These candidates were baptized without a church and were not subject to any requirements except those given by Jesus in the Book of Mormon, namely to repent and believe in Christ.²

Since the Aaronic Priesthood existed outside of the church prior to 1830, it holds that the Aaronic Priesthood can be held outside of the church. Since legal baptisms were performed by Aaronic Priesthood holders prior to 1830, it holds that anyone with Aaronic Priesthood can legally baptize outside of the church. While those thus baptized would not be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they would still be legal recipients of the covenant of baptism.³

The wording of the ordinance is provided by Jesus in the Book of Mormon:

And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. (3 Nephi 11:24-27.)

This wording (“having authority”) is the same used by Alma,⁴ but is probably unfamiliar to modern Mormons, who use the words “having been commissioned by.”

The history of the wording of the baptismal ordinance is interesting. The first mention of instruction comes from the “Articles of the Church,” the original source for D&C 20, read and sustained by the church on 9 June 1830, and printed in the church’s newspaper: “And the manner of baptism & the manner of administering the sacrament are to be done as is written in the Book of Morman [sic]”⁵ The instructions in the Book of Mormon are to use the phrase “having authority given me of Jesus Christ.” Thus, all original members of the church were baptized with this ordinance. The next mention is in the church’s newspaper in 1833, repeating the instruction in the Book of Mormon:

And baptism is to be administered in the following manner unto all those who repent: Whosoever being called of God & having authority given them of Jesus Christ, shall go down into the water with them and shall say, calling them by name: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then shall he immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. (The Evening and Morning Star, 2:13, 1833.)

This account probably came from “Revelation Book 1,” a handwritten copy book of undated revelations received by Joseph Smith between 1828 and 1834. That source reads,

And the way of Baptism is to be ministered in the following manner unto all those who Repent whosoever being called of God & having authority given them of Jesus Christ shall go down into the water with them & shall say calling them by name having authority given me of Jesus Christ I baptize thee in the name of Jesus Christ the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Ghost amen then Shall he immerse them in the water & come forth again out of the water

The next reference was the 1833 Book of Commandments, which reads:

And baptism is to be administered in the following manner unto all those who repent: Whosoever being called of God and having authority given them of Jesus Christ, shall go down into the water with them, and shall say, calling them by name: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then shall he immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

The first change to the instructions—which were consistent with the Book of Mormon until this point and twice canonized by vote of the church (once in 1830 and once in 1833)—came in June 1836 when the reprint of the earlier “Evening and Morning Star” article was printed with the phrase change.

Baptism is to be administered in the following manner unto all those who repent: The person who is called of God and has authority from Jesus Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water with the person who has presented him or herself for baptism, and shall say, calling him or her by name: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. Then shall he immerse him or her in the water, and come forth again out of the water. (“Evening and Morning Star,” 2:1, June 1836.)

About this reprint, the JSPP editors state,

The first issue of the reprinted newspaper, which appeared under the slightly modified title Evening and Morning Star, was published in January 1835. Though touted as a reprint that would correct typographical and other errors, “Evening and Morning Star” actually contained significant changes to the revelation texts. In the first issue, editor Oliver Cowdery explained the revisions he was making in the reprinted versions of the revelations: ‘On the revelations we merely say, that we were not a little surprised to find the previous print so different from the original. We have given them a careful comparison, assisted by individuals whose known integrity and ability is uncensurable. Thus saying we cast no reflections upon those who were entrusted with the responsibility of publishing them in Missouri, as our own labors were included in that important service to the church, and it was our unceasing endeavor to have them correspond with the copy furnished us. We believe they are now correct. If not in every word, at least in principle.’ Despite the implications of Cowdery’s statement, very few of the changes in the reprint represent a restoration back to the earliest text, though Cowdery consulted early manuscript sources when reprinting some of the revelations. (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/revelationsprinted-in-evening-and-morning-star-january-1835-june1836)

Whether intentional or not, Cowdery’s scribal error was not approved by Joseph Smith. Unfortunately, it was perpetuated in the 1835 D&C, which was prepared by Cowdery with no evidence that Joseph proofread the typesetting and changes before publication.

Apart from Cowdery, Phelps, and Whitmer, these individuals were printing hands who likely had little to do with the composition, structure, or intellectual work of the Doctrine and Covenants. In addition to serving on the publication committee for the volume, JS solicited financial help for printing, helped secure the copyright, and signed the preface. He is listed on the title page, but his role in the day-to-day work of preparing the revelations for publication is not fully known. Some corrections in his hand that are reflected in the Doctrine and Covenants are found on revelations in Revelation Books 1 and 2, and three notations in Revelation Book 2 indicate that he did at least some of the work of selecting items for publication. JS apparently relied on others to do the actual typesetting and printing and possibly the bulk of the editing, arranging, and other intellectual work needed to prepare the revelations for print. (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrineand-covenants-1835)

Joseph’s influence was limited to what he had received. The copy processes were largely out of his hands. In Revelation Books 1 and 2 (which the 1835 D&C editors did not have, at least initially)⁶ and the original run of “The Evening and Morning Star” contained the correct wording, but this was modified by Oliver in his reprinting of the series.

Though all of this has been available for discovery for over 150 years, and now explicitly written about in the Joseph Smith Papers Project, modern Mormons continue to perpetuate a modified version of the baptismal ordinance, an act that earlier church leaders argued made others’ baptisms invalid.⁷ Such would rightly argue that those baptized under an adulterated ordinance should be rebaptized with the ordinance in the form given by Christ.