Water Baptism: A Pagan and Jewish Rite but not Christian, Proven by Scripture and History Confirmed by the Lives of Saints Who Were Never Baptized With Water

Did Christ command his disciples to baptize with water? Let us search the New Testament and see what it says. We find the four evangelists and Peter each render Christ's command to his apostles in very different language. Matthew's version is generally adduced to support water baptism. We cannot assume that in Matthew, our Saviour's words are quoted verbatim, while Mark, Luke, John and Peter are all in error or less reliable, particularly as this part of Matthew claims for itself to have been written a long time after, as appears by the statement that "This saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day." Seven different accounts of the "apostolic commission" are given in the New Testament.