Excellent book found, excellent lesson learned

Having read "An Introduction to Theological Research" by Cyril Barber and Robert Krauss, I found a tremendous book referenced there. It was given as an example of how a word study could/should be done. Cyril Barber wrote the forward to the book after searching for it for eight years. It was published in 1977 by Kregel entitled, "The Meaning and Use of Baptizein" by T.J. Conant.

Barber heard of this book in a sermon preached by the late W.A. Criswell who referenced it as a tremendous gem in treating the subject of the meaning of the word "baptism." What took Barber 8 years to find can be found in a few minutes on Amazon or Abebooks. (There is an 1861 copy out there right now (only one) for $75 bucks which is very tempting..) You should be able to pick up a copy for a few dollars plus shipping off Amazon. I opted for the Kregel copy because it is a hardback.

So what is the value in this book? First, it gives the reader a look at what doing a real word study is. Folks, this is a study on one word, baptism (baptizein), and the book is 192 pages long. Doing word studies (as I am learning) involves much more than reading a lexical aid or Bible dictionary. While those tools are very helpful, they do not always trace the history of the word in non-Christian sources, the church fathers, and in the Bible.

I had some time to skim the book and read a few selections from it so far. I am going to have to force myself to shelve this book for later use due to seminary studies, but let me share a nugget or two. This book will not disappoint either the scholar or serious Bible student. However, it will prove itself a sufficient sleeping aid to our fast-food, lazy, mindless entertainment, don't-make-me-think-too-hard crowd. If you really want to think through this subject rather than have someone else do the thinking for you, don't buy this book.

The book covers the use of the word baptizein in ancient Greek literature citing page after page of references and quotes the Greek juxtaposition to the translation. You don't have to know Greek to understand this book, but it is there should one want to see that as well. The Septuagint is addressed (Greek translation of the OT). Here is a excerpt as a summary of how thorough Conant is:

These examples (of the word meaning 'to put under' 'submerge' et.) are drawn from writers in almost every department of literature and science; from poets, rhetoricians, philosophers, critics, historians, geographers; from writers on husbandry, on medicine, on natural history, on grammar, on theology; from almost every form and style of composition, romances, epistles, orations, fables, odes, epigrams, sermons, narratives; from writers of various nations and religions, Pagan, Jew, and Christian, belonging to many different countries, and through a long succession of ages.

Jesus commanded His disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He commanded us to teach them all things He commanded us. While we can say with the Apostle Paul, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel" we must also recognize the command of Christ to baptize them who believe. T.J. Conant has done the hard work of a philologist for us on the word baptizein. Someone may argue that the mode of baptism is not that important. Well, what about atonement? Or justification? We may not write 200 pages on every word of the NT, but we can learn something from Conant on how thorough word study is done.