[Linked Image] But it wasn't Adam Clarke who wrote:

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Having satisfied myself on this point,” that the population of Judea, at the period which immediately preceded our Lord’s ministry, was not less than a million and a half, and that at least one-third of this number, or half a million, were baptised by John...
but rather the quote is prefaced by:

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The following extract from a pamphlet entitled, “Confessions of a convert from baptism in water to baptism with water,” of which a reprint has been recently issued in Sydney, will form an appropriate supplement to Dr. Clarke’s remarks on John’s baptism:
As to where in Scripture the man came up with the figure, that is a question you would need to ask him. grin However, his calculations concerning the time required to baptise an individual which did not take into account which he later wrote needed to be added, e.g., change rooms, etc., are certainly worthy of thought.

MacIntyre's entire point in that section is to show the serious problems associated with the claim that baptism and the Greek words for baptism are to be understood and can be only understood to mean immersion. Whether there actually were 500 thousand or even 5000 people baptized, the criticism is still legitimate and poses an unsurmountable problem.

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simul iustus et peccator

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