Lesson 1925

(Lesson 1925)(01-30-17) Acts 8:26-40

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea."

Today's quote relates Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. This passage relates that, after Philip had preached Jesus to the eunuch, they found water where Philip baptized, or immersed the eunuch.

Although I have no desire to change any opinions I have some major problems with this text, for several reasons. First of all, eunuchs were a class of slaves who were neutered so as to be trusted among the women, therefore, its a stretch of one's imagination to envision a slave with a formal education that would include the learning of foreign languages. Also, there are many questions as to why an Ethiopian slave would be alone in the Queen's chariot in the middle of a Israeli desert. Another reason for my doubts about this text is that the Jews were very particular about who had access to the scrolls of the Torah, our "Old Testament". It makes no sense to me that an Ethiopian slave would even be in Jerusalem to study, let alone, being in the middle of a deadly desert with a forbidden copy of a highly regarded holy text of the Jews. Finally, Isaiah chapter fifty three, the part of Isaiah from the eunuch was supposedly studying, only foretells the life and suffering of Jesus Christ, it does not mention water baptism. As a matter of fact, nowhere in the book of Isaiah is water baptism mentioned, at all.

I wrote all this to say that I believe verses twenty six through forty three of Acts eight, were added to the original text of God's holy word by the Roman Catholics during the time they controlled almost all of the sacred texts.

I believe the reason for the addition was to justify the deceptive Roman Catholic contention that ritual water baptism is a pre-requisite to the justification and salvation of one's eternal soul.

We know, because the New Testament clearly states, that, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

To be immersed, or to immerse oneself, in water is a work.~