Religion needs a baptism of horse sense.

In keeping with Billy Sunday’s blunt, colloquial revivalist style, the line argues that religious life should be infused with practical judgment—“horse sense”—rather than being lost in empty formality, pious cant, or abstract theorizing. “Baptism” is used metaphorically: just as baptism signifies cleansing and renewal, Sunday calls for a renewing wash of common sense that would make faith more concrete, morally effective, and socially intelligible to ordinary people. The quip also reflects his broader populist posture: he often framed Christianity as straightforward and action-oriented, contrasting it with what he portrayed as complacent churchgoing or intellectualized religion.