“Out of the Water and Began to Baptize”

Brant Gardner

I agree that these rebaptisms were appropriate to mark a new beginning; however, justifying them by the Doctrine and Covenants’ assertion of authority suggests that the pre-Advent baptisms were somehow deficient and lacked saving power. That implication is certainly incorrect. The problem is not with rebaptism per se but with our modern assumption that there should only be one baptism, an understanding of the practice that is relatively new.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

References