Gill on Baptism

John Gill, A Body of Practical Divinity (1770), Book IV, ch. 1

John Gill (1697–1771)

Looks perfectly at home in the water. It has gills, or very nearly.

Catch rate: 125 / 255
Base research: 130
Stat total: 238

Base stats

Every stat is a checkable fact about the actual book, not a designer's mood. Bars are drawn against the highest value any book reaches.

Stamina66

Contend64

Defend58

Popularity50

Total238

Why these numbers

The game's own explanation, as a reader sees it in the backpack.

Stamina 66

STAMINA — Solid. It is a long chapter with many footnotes.

Contend 64

CONTEND — Moderate. It argues the Greek word first, and the word carries the argument.

Defend 58

DEFEND — Moderate. It quotes its opponents at length, which gives them room to answer.

Popularity 50

POPULARITY — Low. It was read by Baptists and was written for them.

Cited for this book

John Gill was the pastor of a Baptist church in Southwark for fifty-one years and wrote a commentary on the whole Bible. His chapter on baptism argues three things: that the Greek word means to dip, that the New Testament baptises believers, and that infants are not subjects of it. It quotes a good many writers on the other side to show that they grant the first point.

Moves learned

By levelling up. A book that develops keeps what it knew and learns the rest on its new schedule.

Lv	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr	Acc	PP
1	Random Verse	Bible	Argument	10	100%	30
1	Put Under Water and Covered With It	Exegesis	Argument	70	100%	15
9	First Made Them Disciples	Exegesis	Argument	64	100%	20
17	Sprinkling Is the Mode of Dipping	Exegesis	Argument	58	100%	25
30	Chapter…	Bible	Scripture	—	—	12

The quotes behind its moves

How to read these. In Scholar’s Dream, books argue with each other. Each thing a book can do in a debate is a move, and most moves carry a real quotation — the words the book puts on the table when it uses that move.

Strong against lists the opposing books and arguments a move was written to answer. Used against one of them, it hits much harder than usual: ×2 means twice the normal force, ×4 four times. It is the game’s way of saying: this is the sentence that answers that argument. Open an entry to read why.

“none can be said to be baptized, but such who are put under water, and covered with it; and nothing short of this can be a representation of the burial of Christ, and of ours with him”
John Gill, A Body of Practical Divinity (1770), Book IV, ch. 1, “Of Baptism,” public domain.public domain

Put Under Water and Covered With It

ExegesisArgument · power 70 · 100% accurate

In the gameGill’s argument from Romans 6 and Colossians 2. Baptism is a burial, he says, and a burial is a covering. Nothing short of going under the water can stand for the burial of Christ and of those who are buried with him.

“he first made them disciples, and then baptized them, that is, ordered his apostles to baptize them”
John Gill, A Body of Practical Divinity (1770), Book IV, ch. 1, “Of Baptism,” public domain.public domain

First Made Them Disciples

ExegesisArgument · power 64 · 100% accurate

In the gameGill’s argument from the order of the Great Commission. Disciples are made first and baptised second. He reads that order as a rule about who is to be baptised.

“as for sprinkling, that cannot, with any propriety, be called a mode of baptism; it would be just such, good sense as to say, sprinkling is the mode of dipping, since baptism and dipping are the same”
John Gill, A Body of Practical Divinity (1770), Book IV, ch. 1, “Of Baptism,” public domain.public domain

Sprinkling Is the Mode of Dipping

ExegesisArgument · power 58 · 100% accurate

In the gameGill’s sharpest sentence on the mode. If baptism and dipping are the same thing, he says, then calling sprinkling a mode of baptism is like calling it a mode of dipping. He means to show that the word leaves no room.