Were You Baptized in the Holy Spirit, Part One

Christian, Were You Baptized with the Holy Spirit?

Part One

The Spiritual Enrichment ConferenceSeptember 24, 2011

David H. Warren

My primary goals in this class: • to provide you with information • to expand your understanding • to get you to think and to rethink • But I am not trying to change your mind!

Christian, were you baptized with the Holy Spirit?

“Now all the Athenians . . . spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new” Acts 17:21

Today in preaching, I hear much that is new and much that is true. Unfortunately, that which is new is not true, and that which is true is not new.

Christian, were you baptizedin the Holy Spirit?

Does this idea sound “new” to you? If it does, then you should know that it really has the longest list of supporters that can clearly be traced back to the second century after Christ.

Four Views of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

(1) Catholic View

(1) Catholic View

Baptism Christian

in the = baptism

Holy Spirit with water


(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View

(2) Protestant View

Baptism Saving Experience

in the = before

Holy Spirit baptism in water

John Owen (1616–1683)Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981)James D. G. Dunn (1939– )

(2) Protestant View

James D[ouglas] G[rant] Dunn (1939– ), Baptism in the Holy Spirit (publ. in 1970): A revision of the author’s dissertation written in 1968; a person receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit at the time of his or her conversion, and that this event precedes baptism in water (pp. 228–29).


(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View

(3) Pentecostal View


Baptism An ecstatic

in the = experience

Holy Spirit after salvation

evidenced by your speaking in tonguesCharles G. Finney and his “second blessing” in the 1830’s; Azusa St.


(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View


(4) Churches-of-Christ View


Baptism a special

in the = miraculous

Holy Spirit empowering

This baptism only occurred twice: (1) the Apostles on Pentecost (2) Cornelius, family, & friends


(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View



Views # 2 and # 3 require the existence of two baptisms.


(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View



Hence, they are eliminated by Eph 4:5, “one baptism.”

Eph 4:3–6

“3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.”

Only Two Views Are Possible

(1) Catholic View

(2) Protestant View



– the two baptisms are really just one.

– at first there were two baptisms, but then one of them ceased to be, leaving only the other

Both Views Have a History in the Restoration Movement

(1) Catholic View


Both Views Have a History in the Restoration Movement

(1) Catholic View

(2) Churches-of-Christ View is the “Traditional View” for most of us.

The Traditional View

John W. McGarvey James Challen (1829–1911) (1802–1878)


John W. McGarvey(1829–1911)

In 1863, McGarvey published A Commen-tary on Acts of Apostles.


James Challen(1802–1878)

Four years before, in 1859, Challen published Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Fire.


The Baptism in the Holy Spirit predicted by John the Baptist (Acts 1:4–5 = Acts 2:1) only occurred twice: (1) The Apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2 (2) Cornelius, his family, and his friends in Acts 10

Luke 24:45–49 “45Then He [i.e. Jesus] opened their minds so they [i.e., the Apostles] could understand the Scriptures. 46He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what My Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’ ”

Acts 1:4–8 “4On one occasion, while He [i.e., Jesus] was eating with them [i.e., the Apostles], He gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father which you have heard Me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 6And gathering around Him, they asked Him, ‘Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ . . .

Acts 1:4–8 (cont.)

“. . . 7He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by His Own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.”

Alexander Campbell(1788–1866)


Long before either McGarvey or Challen published their view on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Alexander Camp-bell taught the very same understanding.


In “Incidents on a Tour to Nashville, Tennessee, No. V,” Millennial Harbinger 2, First Series (February 2, 1831):54–63, Alexander Campbell mentions that he presented “a lecture” on “The Seven Baptisms,” in which he taught that the “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” only happened twice: (1) the Apostles on Pentecost and (2) Cornelius, his family, and his friends.


Alexander Campbell(1788–1866)

Even six years earlier, in 1825, a younger Campbell proffers this same view “To the Society of Friends, Com-monly Called Quakers,” The Christian Baptist 3 (December 5, 1825).


But the line seems to stop withCampbell in 1825. I have not yet found anyscholar or “Christian” writer beforeCampbell who takes this same view, namelythat the Baptism in the Holy Spirit only occurred twice, the case of the Twelve Apostles on Pentecost and the case of Cornelius, his family, and friends.

An Alternative View

Moses E. Lard(1818–1880)

In March of 1864, Lard published an article entitled “Baptism in One Spirit into One Body” in Lard’s Quarterly.

An Alternative View

According to Lard,

“the baptism in the Holy Spirit” = “the Gift of the Holy Spirit”

or, in other words, “the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit” (non-miraculous)!

A debate ensued in Lard’s Quarterly!

John W. McGarvey Moses E. Lard (1829–1911) (1818–1880)

Walter Scott(1796–1861)

An Alternative View

Exactly thirty-one years earlier, in March 1833, Walter Scott had espoused the very same view as that proposed by Lard in March 1864.

“Every one then, who receives the Spirit of Christ, is baptized in that Spirit according to the Scriptural, i.e. the figurative or metaphorical use of the word baptize; and what

Walter Scott(1796–1861)

is called the baptism, pouring, shedding, receiving, &c. of the spirit is also called the gift of the Spirit, and what is called the gift of the Spirit; remission and the sanctifica-tion, &c. of the Spirit is also called . . .

the gift of the Spirit; see Acts 10th chap. the gift of the Spirit means no more than the Spirit itself just as the gift of a loaf of bread means no more than a loaf of bread itself; and so, the receiving, sanctification, shedding, pouring, and baptism in, mean no more than the reception of the Spirit versed in different points of light.”

Walter Scott, “The Holy Spirit: A Discourse,” The Evangelist 2 (March 4, 1833): 48.

The Catholic View

Thomas Aquinas(ca. 1225–1274)

“It seems that the three kinds of baptism are not fittingly described as Baptism of Water, of Blood, and of the Spirit, i.e. of the Holy Ghost . . .

The Catholic View


“. . . because the Apostle says ‘one faith, one baptism’ (Eph 4:5). Now there is but one faith. Therefore, there should not be three baptisms” (Summa theologica 3.66.11).

The Catholic View


“The other two baptisms are included in the baptism of water, which derives its efficacy both from Christ’s Passion and from the Holy Ghost. . . .

The Catholic View


“. . . Consequently, for this reason the unity of baptism is not destroyed” (Summa theologica 3.66.11 Reply to Objection 1).

The Alternative Viewor the Catholic View

Thomas Aquinas (ca. A.D. 1225–1274)Theophylact of Ohrid (A.D. 1055–1107)Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354–430)Jerome (ca. A.D. 342–420)John Chrysostom (ca. A.D. 347–407)Ambrose of Milan (ca. A.D. 337–397)


Origen (ca. A.D. 184–254)Hippolytus of Rome (A.D. 170–235)Tertullian (ca. A.D. 160–220)Clement of Alexandria (ca. A.D. 150–215)Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 103–165)

Justin Martyr(ca. A.D. 103–165)

“What need, then, have I of circumcision, who have been witnessed to by God? What need have I of that other baptism [i.e.,

Jewish proselyte baptism], who have been baptized with the Holy Ghost?” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 29.1).


But what did Justin Martyr believe about baptism in water?

He taught that baptism in water was for “the remission of sins formerly committed” (First Apology 61.10).


Yet they are not two separate baptisms, but the same baptism. A single baptism. One baptism involving two distinct elements, water and the Spirit.


Origen (ca. A.D. 184–254)Hippolytus of Rome (A.D. 170–235)Tertullian (ca. A.D. 160–220)Clement of Alexandria (ca. A.D. 150–215)Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 103–165)

This is just a partial listing.

Moses Lard and Walter Scott were not the only brethren who

espoused this view.

Dr. Robert Richardson(1806–1876)

Robert Richardson, A Scriptural View of the Office of the Holy Spirit (publ. in XXXX)


espoused this view.

As a personal friend and the biographer of Alexander Campbell, Dr. Richardson must have known about Campbell’s own view on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. They probably had conversations over it. Yet Dr. Richardson chose to follow the view of Moses Lard and Walter Scott in his book on the Holy Spirit!


espoused this view.

Richard Rogers(XXXX–XXXX)

Richard Rogers, A Study of the Holy Spirit (publ. in XXXX)


espoused this view.

Dr. Rick Oster(XXXX– )

For over thirty years, Dr. Oster has taught the New Testament at the Harding School of Theology (formerly Harding Graduate School of Religion).


espoused this view.

Dr. Rick Oster(XXXX– )

When I was a graduate student there in 1980, Dr. Oster presented the view of Lard as the better under-standing of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

“We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2 KJV).

Were the twelve disciples at Ephesus here really saying that they had never heard of the existence of the Holy Spirit?

Aren’t they supposed to be disciples of John the Baptist?

“And Paul said, ‘Into what were you baptized?’ “And they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ ”

Acts 19:3

Didn’t John the Baptist teach his disciples about the

Holy Spirit?

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the One Who comes after me is mightier than I, . . . He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Matt 3:11; Mark 1:7–8; Luke 3:16

Didn’t John the Baptist teach his disciples about the

Holy Spirit?

So why wouldn’t these twelve disciples of John the Baptist here at Ephesus not know about the existence of the Holy Spirit?

These twelve disciples at Ephesus who knew only of the Baptism of John—Had they never read or heard about the first two verses in the Bible?

“1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. . . . 2. . . , and the Spirit of God moved across the face of the waters.”

Gen 1:1–2

Don’t other passages in the Old Testament speak about the

Holy Spirit?

“Do not cast me from Your Presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Ps 51:11

“We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost” (Acts 19:2 KJV).

So why wouldn’t these twelve disciples of John the Baptist here at Ephesus not know about the existence of the Holy Spirit?

So how likely is it that these “disciples” had never even heard that there was a Holy Spirit?

Is it possible to understand Acts 19:2 in a

different sense?

“2and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said to him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.” (Text proper of the American Standard Bible of 1901)


different sense?

“2and he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard whether the Holy Spirit has been given.’ ” (The footnote in New American Standard Bible of 1960)

Same Verb in Greek as inJohn 7:39

John 7:37–39

“37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ 39By this He meant the Spirit, . . .

Same Verb in Greek as inJohn 7:39

John 7:37–39 cont.

. . . whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given [literally “the Spirit was not yet”], since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

A Form of the Same Verb in Greek

John 7:39b

“For the Spirit was not yet [present on Earth], since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

Acts 19:2b

“No, we have not heard whether the Holy Spirit is [present on Earth].”


different sense?

“2and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said to him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given.” (Text proper of the American Standard Bible of 1901)


different sense?

“2and he said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘No, we have not even heard whether the Holy Spirit has been given.’ ” (The footnote in New American Standard Bible of 1960)