Why do we command new converts to echo the words of the Ethiopian eunuch?
In the Church of Christ, we force each new convert to stand before the congregation and repeat the words of the Ethiopian eunuch immediately prior to his baptism by Philip: I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. We claim that we do this because that Jesus said that those who will not confess Him on earth, He will not confess before His heavenly Father. However, Jesus did not teach the eunuchs statement as part of a Five Step Plan of Salvation (see previous question), nor did the apostles. Neither do we read that Philip taught the eunuch the words to say. Rather, they seem to be a spontaneous confession on the part of the eunuch. Furthermore, Philip did not direct the eunuch to route the chariot to the nearest church, so that he could confess before the congregation! This is an example, and a fine one, but we should not teach it as a commandment, and certainly not as part of a so-called Five Step Gospel Plan of Salvation, for Jesus and His apostles did not do so. (11) When a chu
