Well, I'm certain that Daniel could speak for himself - he hasn't been shy about that...
But again, I think your articulation here misses his point.
Let me try to explain myself: It is biblical to "lay hands on the sick and they shall recover..." (
Mark 16:18); but it is not a requirement for salvation. There are many other things, some very important things that are biblical but they are not salvational. The Lord's Supper comes to mind.
If the basis for salvation in baptism is faith in the work that Jesus Christ has done (
1 Peter 3:21;
Colossians 2:12) then the mechanics of the baptism are secondary - faith trumps all (
Romans 4:17).
If however, we see that baptism is a rite that must be performed with more or less invarying exactness according to one take on the first century church then we place "the Church" (whatever "the Church" may be) and its clergy into a position of granting the graces and benefits that accompany salvation and not Jesus. In this scenario, "The Church" and her clergy become the mediators between man and God. Only by finding out from the Church's teachings can we see the exact name(s) that must be uttered to open the gates of hell and death and allow us to pass to immortality.
For me, this smacks of Ishtar and her passage through the firery fortress. She had to obey a command at each gate. Failure to perform the command meant she could not pass. In the Egyptian form of the myth, Isis must know the name of the god stationed at each gate in order to pass. With our monotheistic creed, we need know only one name to open the gate and gain eternal life - but the parallels with the older myths are interesting.
In the First Intermediate Period, a time of chaos and decline in ancient Egypt, the great pyramids at Giza and Saqqara were opened and looted. The most important item that was discovered by the ancient Egyptians was the early form of The Book of the Dead - or the Pyramid Texts. These were the secret instructions for Pharoah to use to pass through the underworld and gain immortality. The looting of the pyramids has been called the "democratization of the after life" by many historians. For the first time in Egypt, the masses knew "The Secrets" for getting through the maze of death and even their pets were buried with scrolls from the Book of the Dead.
Are we trying to reverse that rebellion, in a way? Are we perhaps guilty of acting like some other organizations in history by trying to consolidate the graces of eternal life into a power that is dispensed only by us - the elite?
Baptism in Jesus name is biblical. Faith in Jesus Christ is salvational.
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