Christian Baptism

On February 6, 1812, Adoniram Judson was ordained a Congregationalist minister.  He sailed for Calcutta on February 19.  While on board ship a very unusual thing happened.  Judson, ever an extremely gifted linguist and student of the Greek text of the New Testament, came to view adult baptism by immersion as the clear teaching of the New Covenant.  Judson had to carefully and soberly count the cost of what he had discovered and the result was that he decidedly embraced Baptist beliefs.  Upon arriving in India, Judson and his wife Ann submitted to believer’s baptism at the hands of the famous Baptist missionary, William Carey.  American Baptists soon adopted the Judsons as their first foreign missionaries, and the rest of the story is a tale of great faith and continued courage.