Baptism Debate: James White vs. Bill Shishko

Here’s an interesting debate I recently discovered from an OPC church in Long Island, NY on the topic of “Credobaptism vs. Pedobaptism.”

Baptism Debate (Part 1)

• 0:00-11:00 Introduction
• 11:30-31:30 White’s opening affirmative statement
• 31:30-34:50 Shishko’s cross-examination
• 35:10- 55:00 Shishko’s opening statement
• 55:20-58:15 White’s cross-examination
• 58:55-1:13:50 White’s second affirmative statement
• 1:14:15-1:17:15 Shishko’s cross-examination
• 1:17:45-1:19:57 Shishko’s second negative statement (apparently the rest of Shishko’s statement and White’s 3 minute cross-examination were cut off and are not included in this audio.)

Baptism Debate (Part 2)

• 0:00-4:40 Continuation of Shishko’s 10 minute questions for White (first 6 minutes are not on the web recording)
• 4:55-14:50 White’s 10 minute questions for Shishko
• 15:15-25:00 Shishko’s rebuttal
• 25:24-35:17 White’s rebuttal
• 35:38-42:40 Shishko’s closing statement
• 42:50-49:50 White’s closing statement
• 51:00-1:14:00 Audience Q/A

My Observation:

• Shishko sounded consistent throughout the debate in his tone and tempo, whereas White started off calm but as the debate continued, his tone had escalated and tempo had increased – indicating that Shishko was in control of the debate and White was scrambling for thought.
• In White’s opening affirmative statement, 7 biblical references are cited. Shishko, however, cites 25 biblical references in his opening affirmative statement.