Why does John the Baptist decide upon water and baptism as the form of repentance (Catholic viewpoint)?
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It seems to me that John the Baptist himself answers the question of why he chose to baptize with water. In John 1:33, we read that John the Baptist said "And I knew him not, but he who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." This seems to indicate that baptism with water was ordered by God. Some translations of this gospel verse even build that into the translation, saying "God, who sent me ...."
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Many forms of baptism have existed in many Middle Eastern religions and they were not necessarily for sin absolving. They were for nation or religion changing or purification.ref
John did not have any of those purposes in mind. His baptism was a physical cleansing as a sign of repentance from sin.ref, paragraph 8 - Josephus
So John's baptism was not the same that Catholics do today. Christ's work had not yet been done. But he came as a foreshadowing or precursor of Christ's work, and as a worker to help others wash and be ready for what was coming.
There is a lot to this question, so I recommend reading the article here straight from the horse's mouth: Saint John the Baptist (catholic Encyclopedia).
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