Jon Gary Williams
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Another report of the above debate
September 26, 1915
(By W. L. Hunter)

July 24 - 30 at Helham, Overton Co., Tenn. J. W. Shepherd moderated for bro. Winkler.

Pique tried to use wit to turn the force of bro. Winkler's arguments. He used sarcasm and ridicule. He showed bad manners when called to order by chairman moderator. He ordered the chairman to sit down. The chairman rose to read the rules of debate. Pique talked to the people so they would not hear the chairman. Bro. Shepherd tried desperately to enforce the rules but Pique was determined to show his principle regardless of anyone.

Winkler aff: "Immersion is the only scriptural mode or act if baptism." He made an argument on the Red Sea baptism (I Cor. 10:1,2). He showed that there was a wall on either side and the cloud as spread over them for a covering (Ps. 105:38,39). They were overwhelmed in the cloud and in the sea and this Paul calls "baptism."

Bro. Winkler discussed the divers washings of Heb. 6:2. He showed that these baptisms are the washings of the law (Num. 19:19) and the washings of the law were by bathing or immersing the whole body in water. Proof: Naaman was told to "go and wash in Jordan seven times (II Kings 5:10), and he "dipped" himself seven times on Jordan (v. 14). "Dipped" here is from the Hebrew "TAVAL" and is rendered "baptizo" in Greek and means to dip or immerse. If Jesus had intended to allow "pour" or "sprinkle" he would have used the words "cheo" and "rantizo." This argument was never answered by Pique.

Pique argued they crossed the Red Sea on dry land, but this destroyed his own argument that they were sprinkled by rain. But he fixed this up in Methodist style by saying that "it just rained upon their heads and not upon the ground." Then he said, "cheo" and "baptizo" mean the same thing.

Pique used Isa. 52:15 to prove sprinkling. Bro. Winkler showed from the Revised version that the word meant to "startle." Pique said that was a wildcat edition. Bro. Winkler produced a paper showing that he Methodists had 2 men on the revision staff and the book was endorsed and sold at the Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tenn. Pique dropped the argument like a hot iron.

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