False Teachings and Prophecies of the Mormon Church

Baptism, When Did it Begin

Articles of Faith, pg. 110; “The Establishment of Baptism dates from the time of the earliest history of the race. When the Lord manifested Himself to Adam after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, He promised the patriarch of the race: “If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son…” – James Talmage

Holman’s Bible Dictionary on Baptism; “At some point close to the time of Jesus, Judaism began a heavy emphasis on ritual washings to cleanse from impurity. This goes back to priestly baths prior to offering sacrifices (Lev. 16:4, 24). Probably shortly prior to the time of Jesus or contemporary with Him, Jews began baptizing Gentile converts, though circumcision still remained the primary entrance rite into Judaism.”

Matthew 3:13-15; “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.”

For the sake of the argument let’s go ahead and say that the Mormon teachings of baptism actually mean washings instituted in the book of Leviticus.  That’s roughly a 2,400 year discrepancy.  Also notice that God is telling Adam to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus.  Yeah, okay…