Baptise, then teach

Wed, 15/06/2011 - 14:11 -- James Oakley

Matthew 28:19 has a command ("go and make disciples"), followed by two participles: "baptising... , and teaching...".

Here's France again:

The order in which these two participles occur differs from what has become common practice in subsequent Christian history, in that baptism is, in many Christian circles, administered only after a period of ‘teaching,’ to those who have already learned. It can become in such circles more a graduation ceremony than an initiation. If the order of Matthew’s participles is meant to be noticed, he is here presenting a different model whereby baptism is the point of enrollment into a process of learning which is never complete.

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