Church History on Water Baptism

When I was seven years old, I begged for my parents’ allowance of my baptism. They didn't feel that I was quite old enough to comprehend the impact that it would have upon my life. Back then, I thought that it would be cool to get dunked into water for five seconds in the presence of a large audience;, it went without saying that I enjoyed trying new things, and best of all, I loved the attention I got when I tried them. “I believed I was pursuing success and the best was yet to come,” (Moorer 33). I was your typical precocious know-it-all.

Infant Baptism is a manmade tradition, within a misrepresentation of justification and sanctification, where water can purify one’s soul for eternity without the admission or acceptance of Christ Jesus as God. Even Spurgeon “quoted from the Catechism of the Church of England, proving that the church teaches that it is through infant baptism the infant is made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. He quoted from the liturgy of the ceremony itself to further prove that the church did indeed teach that children are regenerated though baptism.” “Spurgeon also pointed out that no outward ceremony can save anyone. This can be easily proven by the facts: thousands who were baptized as infants have lived wanton, godless lives, proving that they were never children of God. Nor does the Bible teach that someone else can have faith for another; parents cannot

Ultimately, when an individual responds to their baptismal call, a community of Christian believers are united under the goal of guiding the initiated. Thus, this attained unity allows the faith to prosper like a living religion. Furthermore, re-birth from sin is intrinsically connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a fundamental belief throughout Christianity, though it is practiced differently. “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.” (CCC, 1213). Regardless of the denomination, all baptism rituals symbolise beliefs in the Christian faith, all involves water. Some denominations, like Lutheran practice the sprinkling of water over the head of an initiate, while Pentecostals, practice immersing the head of the initiate in the water. Thus a reminder that, “Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”, for individuals who have been initiated that they made a commitment to the teachings, practices and life of of the community. The baptised should live a life of faith as modelled on the example of Jesus, who forgave their sin. The last belief derived from Baptism, is the believed in the Trinity. Through the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit, an individual's is able to carry out God’s word, and evangelise and spread the message of Jesus. “One will come more powerful that I, and he

In the Anglican Church baptism starts off by gathering hymns, pslam or anthem depending on the priest. After that is done the priest greets the community as respect. The Collect of the day is prayed and other prayers as well. After this the priest talks about the lesson from the scriptures which most often are from the bible , then they will be a presentation and examination of the candidate then the baptismal covenant is prayed to bless the baby towards the end they also pray prayers of thanksgiving and the priest will bless the baby over the water. When the baby is washed with the water the prayers of consecration over oils is prayed after this the

It was created in New England churches, because many of the people in the second generation didn’t become Saints, because they wouldn’t tell their conversion experience. Before the babies of Saints could only get baptized, now the children of baptized members could be baptized.

Often held as a rite of passage and entrance into the Christian church, baptism is much more than just symbolic ritual. Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ in the Great Commission recounted in the book of Matthew. Even though we are simplistically called to be obedient by being baptized the Christian church has long debated the aspects of this ordinance. Denominations are divided on the basic meaning, types and modes of baptism even two thousand years after the founding of the Christian church. Just as the other ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, congregations find themselves at odd with tradition, biblical interpretation and even individual understanding. However, the simple message of this awe inspiring act can be explained out of the

The elements of this practice equip the individual to perform this ritual in a successful manner and allow adherents to be disciples of the Lord in the Christian community. The use of water signifies the spiritual cleansing of the individual and reflects the discussion of rebirth through water in the Gospel of John - “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water” (3:5). The use of water also unifies the individual with the ministry of Christ as we take part in the same ceremony as him. The bible highlights the eternal connection established with the Christian community as the word stresses the importance of this practice. Furthermore, the white garment symbolises the pure and virtuous nature of this ritual and signifies the releasing from the chains of sin and being reborn into a new life with Christ. Pope Francis’ statement that the “people of God have become missionary disciples” highlights the communal aspect of baptism and its contribution to Christianity as a living tradition as it is the individuals moral duty to baptise non-believers and unite them with the Christian community. The Gospel of John reinforces this obligation and the importance of baptism for the individual and the community as a whole in “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mttw

It is to be administered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and allows believers to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, which is revealed in Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the death through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”. Baptism has origins with of John the Baptist as described in the Gospels, available through the recounts from Paul.

The purpose of baptism is tied to four aspects: repentance, obedience, public acknowledgment and following Christ. These aspects are not to be viewed as simply a growing process; instead they should be viewed as the pathway to life. As Christians,

In conjunction with water being a sign of initiation into the church so are the symbolic acts of the priest during the sacrament. “The symbolic act of laying hands by the priest, parents and godparents during the anointing of the initiate with chrism emphasizes the sacrament’s communal character.” (Mueller 139) As all of the parties involved are members of the church, baptism is the first act of initiation of us into our own Christ filled community known as the church. Involving various active member of the church brings together the church of past, present and future alike. The priest acts as Christ, who through his own

All Christians know about the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version). In that command, Jesus tells us to baptize in the name of the Trinity. What does the word “baptism” mean? Baptimsa and sometimes baptismos, the Greek word origin of “baptism”, can translate to “immersion” or “bathing” without any religious implications (McGowan, 2014). Nearly every Christian church practices baptism with a religious implication; however, they do not agree on God’s activity in, the qualifications for admitting a person to, and methods of administering baptism. For instance, many churches do not baptize people until they become adults and make a profession of faith, while others encourage baptizing an infant soon after they are born. The practices and philosophy for baptism changed throughout its use in the New Testament, the Early Church, and the Medieval era.

Baptism is the sacrament that allows us to be reborn from above by being born of water and the Spirit. This sacrament is received within a community of faith, the Church, that prays for and supports the baptized so that the individual may continue to grow in the faith after

Baptism enables the baptised person “to cope with suffering in this life, to resist sinful tendencies, and to grow in holiness and live well the Christian life

The sacrament of baptism is the initiation into the faith of Christianity. It is a ceremony in which a person is cleansed of sin symbolically via immersion in water and given the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. This is the transitional process of when a person becomes a Christian. When Jesus Christ returns, the newly appointed Christian will become an immortal child of God (Haughee 2016). Over the past decade, infant baptism has become a topic of controversy among Christian societies. There are various opinions and interpretations of faith and viable arguments that support and question both sides of infant baptism.

In smaller communities where more bishops were present, it was the job of the bishop who led the initiation to perform the anointing with the chrism. Today however, the authority to do so also rests with the priests who preside at adult baptisms as well. There are two gestures that have been combined since traditional confirmation ceremonies: anointing with the blessed oil and placing one’s hand on the head of the person being confirmed (Scannel, 1908). It is now done in one simple gesture, with the anointing performed by the bishop with his thumb as his hand is on the person being confirmed’s head. Once this is complete, the newly confirmed is now able to participate in the Holy Eucharist, or their first communion.