Bower was converted, but what church should he join? The decision hinged on his view of baptism. In the evenings he searched his Bible by firelight for guidance. The Dunkards of his background used immersion, but they dipped a convert three times. Bower, however, came to believe that baptism was a representation of a believer’s death, burial, and resurrection in Christ. That spiritual experience only happened once; thus, he concluded, baptism should be by immersion, and the convert should be dipped only once. And so he was dipped, at Hazle Creek Baptist Church, along with fifteen others. (Two
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