--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 14 number: 3 published: 1911-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "Editor’s Table: Baptism," *Improvement Era* 14, no. 3 (January 1911): 266–268.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1403unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera1403unse start_page: 266 end_page: 268 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1911-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera1403unse publication_year: 1911 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1911, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Editor’s Table: Baptism Editor's Table. Baptism. An elder in one of the stakes writes that he differs in some things with some of his brethren concerning the proper preparation of candidates for baptism. He thinks there is negligence on the part of officers in that they fail to give proper instructions, and demand required promises from candidates for baptism. They are sometimes baptized without being questioned, and without having promises exacted from them to serve the Lord. We hear much about the necessity and mode of baptism (Matt. 3: 13-15; Doc. and Cov. 20: 73, 74) and about the fallacy of infant baptism, but seldom anything relating to the faith, desire, worthiness and willingness that should characterize the candidates for baptism, nor of the requirements to serve the Lord that should be made before the holy ordinance is administered unto them. He wishes these points discussed. The scriptures are very plain on these subjects. No person can be properly baptized unless he has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and has repented of his sins, with a repentance that need not be repented of. But faith comes by hearing the word of God. This implies that the candidate must be taught. Efficient teaching and preparation must precede the ordinance, so that the candidate may have a proper appreciation and conception of its purposes. The call to baptism, in the mission of our Savior, was always preceded by instructions in the doctrines which h3 taught. His injunctions to his disciples always tended in this direction: "Go preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16: 15). "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved" (16). "Go EDITOR'S TABLE. 267 teach all nations, baptizing them" (Matt. 28: 19), were his words to his disciples. The forerunner of the Savior was also careful to baptize only those who were prepared, and therefore properly taught; for when the people, who were without faith and determination to live righteously came to John the Baptist to be baptized of him, he called them a generation of vipers, and asked who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come. Then he taught them to live righetous lives, and exclaimed, "Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance" (Luke 3: 7, 8). So in the Apostolic age, Peter taught the people the gospel, showing them that Jesus, whom they had crucified, God had made both Lord and Christ, and when they had become interested unto faith and repentance, he declared unto them baptism as a means of escaping from their sins. This exercise of faith and the working of repentance, as a preparation for baptism, is specifically made plain in modern revelation as a requirement of the candidate, and, of course, these doctrines cannot be understood unless they are properly taught (Doc. and Cov. 20: 37, 71; 68: 25-28). Missionaries should exercise care before administering this ordinance. A case came up recently, illustrating the need of proper teaching, in which a person had been baptized possessing no knowledge at all of the Church into which he thereby had gained membership. When he later learned that it was the Church founded by the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that authority to baptize had come through him, he demanded a release from his obligation. He had not been taught right. These scripture citations, aside from one's own common sense and reason, are sufficient proof that people must be taught before they are fit candidates for baptism. Now, what shall they be taught? Why, faith in God, in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost; faith in the efficacy of prayer, and in the ordinances and principles of the gospel which Jesus taught; faith in the restoration of this gospel and all its powers, to the Prophet Joseph Smith; faith in the Church which he was instrumental in establishing; faith in the priesthood, as authorized servants of the living God; faith in the revelations received in modern times; faith in the performance of the works required of a Latter-day Saint; faith in the principle of tithing, and in all other requirements, temporal and spiritual, mentioned in the law of God; and, finally, faith to live lives of righteousness before the Lord. Before performing a baptism, it should be known to those who officiate, and, in fact, to the Church, that the candidate for baptism is willing to conform to all these things. Further, that he is willing to take upon himself the name of Jesus Christ; to speak the truth in soberness; that he has determined to serve God to the end, and that he is willing to manifest by his works that he has received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of his sins. And, again, it should be known that the candidate is firm in the testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and that the Church founded by him is indeed the Church of Jesus Christ; that he understands and believes the law of tithing, and is willing to abide by the covenants he is about to make before the Lord, in the waters of baptism, and to walk uprightly before him (Doc. and Cov. 20: 37; Moroni 6: 1-3). It is true that some of the elders become negligent in requiring a promise and a covenant to this effect from all whom they lead into the waters of baptism. They sometimes baptize without questions or instructions, taking it for granted that candidates have been thoroughly taught, and that they mentallv covenant with God in all these things, without words. It would be well for presidents of stakes and bishops, presidents of missions and mission conferences, and elders in mission fields everywhere, to look into this matter, and require a more strict observance of the word of the Lord on this subject on the part of those who are chosen to officiate at baptisms. The better plan is to follow the instructions of the Lord strictly in this regard, and perform the ordinance according to the words which are written (Doc. and Cov. 18: 21-25, 30; 20: 37, 72, 73). It is necessary to question the candidate as to his belief and feelings, and to have him signify by words, and the uplifted hand, that he has truly repented of his sins, and is willing to keep the commandments, and take upon himself the name of Christ and all the obligations that are implied in this holy