I did a quick google books search and that verbiage is ubiquitous; but it does appear to be used by baptists in conjunction with their particular beliefs. E.g.The Millennial Harbinger: “Then we would say, ‘Arise and be baptized;’ and in the liquid, emblematic grave of Jesus, ‘wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’”

It would take more work to see if it grew to have a particularly Baptist flavor.

I was very interested to find out recently that some of my ancestors lived in the area of Cane Ridge, Kentucky, which was one of the sites associated with the beginning of the Second Great Awakening. I wish I knew more about their involvement in the movement and what, if any, influence it had on their grandson joining the church years later.

With such a reading, D&C 22 becomes a really fascinating response to anabaptist critiques. Quite unique among anything I have read, really. I’ve been debating how to carve everything up, but have been toying with doing a paper on the context of baptism during this period as a prelude to a larger treatment of baptism in a book on rituals. If anyone wants to co-author, let me know. It could just as easily be a series of papers on Mormon baptism.

J, that’s how I read it, yes, which seems somewhat surprising to me in light of how modern Mormons view Christian baptism generally. The more I think about it, the more I’m interested in a detailed historical analysis of baptism in the Mormon tradition.