What was John the Baptist doing when he baptized people?  His baptism was not a Christian ritual.  After all, he was baptizing before Jesus' ministry began.  Is Baptism in the Book of Mormon before the time of Christ an error and proof it is not of God?  In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner explains that "baptism" then called "washing" was performed with anointing and clothing in clean garments, and is described in Exodus in connection with Moses' Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant and in Psalms.  Pre-Christian immersion fonts are described in the Dead Sea Scrolls and were excavated at Qumran.  Hence the Book of Mormon's pre-Christian mention of baptism is not an anomaly, but fits correctly within pre-Christian Judaism.