The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard frequently lamented that he wrote “without authority” (The Essential Kierkegaard, 454). He meant several things by this. One shade had to do with his philosophic writings: he was merely a reader of books, and not any authority figure. But the complaint also implied that he was a layman (ibid, 344). That is, God had not called him to a divinely-inspired position, such as Paul or Isaiah. He was not clergy; he was merely a thinker, and that is as far as it went.

Unlike Søren Kierkegaard, Joseph Smith always claimed to have authority. Joseph Smith was the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known as the Mormons. He claimed to have authority from God, given to him by angels. This was a crucial aspect of his mission as a prophet.

While translating The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ from the gold plates, with Oliver Cowdery acting as scribe, they read passages about baptism. They were both confused and intrigued by what they were translating.

The official history describes what happened next:

We still continued the work of translation, when, in the ensuing month (May, 1829), we on a certain day went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates.

I love this pattern. Joseph Smith was translating, but he also paid attention to what he read. And his curiosity was aroused.

Baptism is clearly biblical, but what exactly do we mean by baptism? Is it by immersion? Is it by aspersion, or sprinkling? Is it by affusion, or pouring? Do we perform it once, or do we do it three times, as in the Eastern Orthodox tradition? Do we do it in the name of the Trinity, or just in the name of Jesus? Do we need authority, or can anyone perform an emergency baptism (in extremis)? And what words do we use in performing the ordinance? Or does any of this make a difference, so long as the person’s heart is in the right place?

Not only are these all legitimate questions, but absolutely crucial questions. However, the problem then becomes how to answer these knotty questions. The off-the-cuff answer is that we just follow the Bible. But as Joseph Smith discovered early on, “the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible” (JS-History 1:12).

So instead of complaining or moping over his inability to understand the correct mode of baptism, Joseph Smith took the matter to the Lord in prayer. There is a saying that even a dead fish can swim downstream. Joseph Smith was proactive with the matter, and it is not surprising that the Lord honored his diligence by sending an angel.

Joseph Smith explained more in the history:

While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying:

“Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.”

The messenger who visited us on this occasion and conferred this Priesthood upon us, said that his name was John, the same that is called John the Baptist in the New Testament, and that he acted under the direction of Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us, and that I should be called the first Elder of the Church, and he (Oliver Cowdery) the second. It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.

(For me, this settles the matter. After all, if John the Baptist is not a world-renown expert on baptism, then who is?)

This visit served two purposes. First, it affirmed Joseph Smith’s diligence in trying to understand The Book of Mormon. Again, he was proactive in his scripture study.

Secondly, this visit served an institutional purpose. John the Baptist came back as an angel to give Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery authority—that thing which Kierkegaard lacked—to perform baptism. Baptism is the gateway to membership in the Church, and it was imperative that Joseph Smith have this authority for the Church to properly function. Not only did they need proper authority, they also needed to perform the ordinances in the proper fashion. As the angel instructed, baptism is done once and by immersion.

Of course, behind baptism is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As John the Baptist explained, baptism is done for the remission of sin. That is how we get clean, and how we fix the mistakes we made in the past. There is a lot of political talk about “change” this election year. What baptism offers us is eternal change—and progress, which is change for the better.

Baptism also reminds us of Christ’s Atonement. The Bible teaches:

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

“For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:”

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

“For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.” (Romans 6:3-8)

Baptism is a rebirth that reminds us of our physical birth, and our second birth into the kingdom of God, and our eventual resurrection with Christ. That is why it is so crucial.

After Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized, the Lord blessed them with the Holy Ghost:

Immediately on our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when, standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church, and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost, and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.

Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. (JS-History 1: 68-74)

I appreciate Joseph Smith’s straightforward explanation of the events. Like all of us, as he was studying the scriptures he came to a confusing passage. He thought about it, and then prayed over the matter. And the Lord answered his prayer with information and power. They were now authorized to preform baptisms. The Atonement of Jesus Christ came alive for them when they were baptized. And the same thing has happed to me because I have been baptized.