Did the Baptism of John forgive sins?

[fames]

I read that:

1- It wasn’t a Sacrament and it didn’t clean the original sin.

2- it was a Mikvah.

What about sins that people did confess in mat 3:6 - And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. -?

Was this baptism just symbolical?
Was it a baptism of desire?

 

[po18guy]

It was a baptism of repentance - and it was that repentance lead to forgiveness of sin. Public confession of sin is detailed in Nehemiah 9:2-3. This was a radical concept, as sin offerings had to be made for forgiveness under the Mosaic law.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Great questions!

Will be interested to see the responses.

 

[Bookcat]

John’s baptism was and remained a “baptism of repentance”…those who were baptized by him were not yet Christians…did not receive the Sacrament.

In Acts those when those who had been baptized only by John were encountered…they had to be baptized with Christian baptism…and then received the Holy Spirit…
**
The Catechism of the Catholic Church:**

720 Finally, with John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit begins the restoration to man of “the divine likeness,” prefiguring what he would achieve with and in Christ. John’s baptism was for repentance; baptism in water and the Spirit will be a new birth.

Johns Baptism was for repentance…it is only with Christian Baptism that one will be baptized in water and the Spirit …and it is the baptism that brings new birth.

"Returning now to the Gospel passage, let us seek to better understand what is happening today. St Mark recounts that it was just when John the Baptist was preaching on the banks of the River Jordan, proclaiming the urgent need for conversion in view of the now imminent coming of the Messiah, that Jesus, who was among the crowds, presented himself to be baptized. John’s Baptism is indisputably a Baptism of penance, very different from the sacrament that Jesus was to institute. "–Pope Benedict XVI

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20090111_battesimo_en.html

The baptism John offers is one of repentance, a sign that is an invitation to conversion, to a change of life, because One is coming who will “baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (3: 16). —Pope Benedict XVI

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100110_battesimo_en.html

 

[fames]

Is the forgiveness of sins an effect of the baptism of repentance?

 

[SonCatcher]

John’s baptism was more akin to how we view the Sacrament of Reconciliation (though it was not a sacrament). People would feel sorry for their accumulated sins, confess them and wash them off. Later, after their sins started weighing on them again, they would repeat the process.

If they received forgiveness, it was because of their contrition and resolve to not repeat. It was not for the baptism itself.

 

[fames]

John’s baptism was more akin to how we view the Sacrament of Reconciliation (though it was not a sacrament). People would feel sorry for their accumulated sins, confess them and wash them off. Later, after their sins started weighing on them again, they would repeat the process.

If they received forgiveness, it was because of their contrition and resolve to not repeat. It was not for the baptism itself.

So the baptism itself was completely useless and merely a symbol?

 

[SonCatcher]

So the baptism itself was completely useless and merely a symbol?

Well, it may have still counted as a kind of ceremonial washing. If so, it could have an effect on ritual purity (i.e. enable them to participate in temple worship).

 

[thistle]

I read that:

1- It wasn’t a Sacrament and it didn’t clean the original sin.

2- it was a Mikvah.

What about sins that people did confess in mat 3:6 - And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. -?

Was this baptism just symbolical?
Was it a baptism of desire?

The baptism of John the Baptist did NOT forgive sins.

 

[mdcpensive1]

The Baptism of John did not forgive sins since it was not a sacrament established by Christ that gives grace (ex opera, etc). It was a minor sacrament in the old testament that a typologic sign of what was to come (the sacrament of reconciliation).
Those that went through the baptism of John may have had their sins forgiven if they had the proper disposition. There is precedence for the sacrament in the old covenent tradition spoken of in Leviticus in the making of a “sin offering”.

In the book, “Salvation is from the Jews”, it is shown that this sin offering was given to the priests in the temple and was taken to the inner court as the Jewish offering for sins. In this sense, the baptism of John is more of a liturgical practice that preceded the new Major Sacrament.
mdcpensive1