Re: John the Baptist cave located in Eygpt.... Not quite
August 18 2004, 5:42 PM
Not Egypt, Israel, near Jerusalem.
From my reading of the article it looks like it is one of those places that gained a tradition which may or may not be true. The place was obviously developed by someone but it could have been done centuries later.
More like another person(s) who baptised in the early church
August 19 2004, 8:55 PM
They wrote "During an exclusive tour of the cave, archaeologists presented ancient wall carvings they said tell the story of the fiery New Testament preacher,"
Note: the "New Testament preacher". Sorry, he preached before Christ. The NT started after with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit after Jesus gave the great commision. In a sense, the NT actually started officially in the book of Acts.
But I am being picky here on this one.
However, John the Baptist baptised in the Jordan, not in a cave. But that doesn't mean others did not baptise in a cave. There were the apostles, and pastors that baptised as the church grew.
And of course, if the church was under persecution, (as often as it was) it would be no surprise that they would use a cave to hide out in to do their baptisms.
It is now my opinion, from reading Boyd's articles and others historic references and seeing the historic pictures that both Jesus and John were nude when John baptized Jesus. He wore a girdle of leather, and if in the water with it, it would have shrounk !! He was naked Right?
I have no opinion about it due to the fact that I really don't know. It doesn't say.
The only reason we believe that Jesus may have been baptised naked is because is it historicaly correct that it was the custom of the day. We go by the custom to come to this theory, but there is no "custom" to rely on for John the Baptist.
If you want to say that John baptised people while naked as well, then go ahead. But I personally wouldn't be dogmatic about it.
Hey Boyd,
Now that was what I call a mature opinion. Thanks for not being dogmatic about it. Believe it or not, that kind of attitude helps seekers like me to seek. If you had said, "Absolutely, there's no debate about it", I would've been rubbed the wrong way and demanded proof. As it is, I can now consider the question and feel free to think about it.
Thats why we are here: to learn. I obviously don't know everything, and I know somewhere in my articles I wrote, "I may very well be wrong".
I am hoping for more people like you to help me do the research so we can come up with more information. Someone out there knows something we don't and that can put us over the edge in understanding Christianity with Naturism.
As I was reading the article, I was thinking pretty much the same thing.
While John did baptise Jesus and others in the Jordan, there is no record of him baptising in a cave, this one or any other one as far as I know. That is not, however to say he didn't either.
