Rekna

Note: this is a thread for relegious people on the custom of Babtisms. If you don't agree with relegion fine but don't contribute insulting comments to this thread as it serves no purpose.

I was babtised when I was a baby in a Luthern Church. I grew up learning the Luthern faith but never truely believing. It wasn't till college that I started believing. I attended a baptist church for a while and now that I have moved again i'm attending a non-denominational church. I believe the Jesus is my lord and personal savior and that is what truely matters. I don't believe the minor differences between Catholic, Luthern, Methodist, Baptists, ect really matters.

Lately I have been thinking about babtism. Some churches believe that infant baptism is wrong and babtism only counts if performed after you believe in Jesus. I am wondering what all of you think of this. Do you think my babtism is invalid and I should get rebaptised? I don't want to get rebaptised if my first one is valid because it would be denouncing my first baptism.

What do you all think?

martinguerre

similar story here.

i was baptized presby, and left the church after a while. i'm now american baptist...and i think about it once in a while. baptism doesn't have to be something performed by a minister, IMO. part of the whole idea of adult baptism is that you're making choices.

i really love the ritual at my church...it's full immersion, and a public part of the easter service. but i don't know if it's what's right for me. and i'll talk with my ministers about this...but i think it's more likely that i'll ask a few friends to do something with me. a midnight swim to an island, cliff jumping, something crazy. but i think the point of baptism is to drown a little. and so while i like the beauty of the ritual, my mind has domesticated it a little too much.

if its something that you want, or would help you be a part of the particular community...i say go for it. but the water is a symbol, not a sacrament...you've got a fair amount of leeway on this question.

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For God so loved creation, that God sent God's only Son that whosoever believed should not perish, but have everlasting life.

-John 3:16

Blackthorn

Being raised a Catholic I was taught that baptism washes away the "original sin" with which we are all born. The right of acceptance of your faith and chosen religion is called "Confirmation". You become a confirmed Catholic when you are old enough to make that acknowledgement for yourself.

Interesting thought from your post...google will hopefully yield more background.

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wilbjammin

Depends on the metaphorical value that you place in the ritual. You need to decide whether choosing to be Baptized is important to you to make the ritual "authentic". And since it is easily repeatable (as opposed to something like circumsizion or expensive marriages), you might as well if it is something you really care about.

It doesn't seem like you have anything to lose by doing it again... just make sure that the meaning of the Baptism is really apparent to you and isn't done out of a sense of obligation, but out of desire.

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Rekna

It is definatly out of desire. I want my baptism to be real but I don't believe my first baptism wasn't real. I'm thinking about emailing a couple different pastors about it and see what they think.

frogza

Christ was very clear on the importance of Baptism and since it was important to Him, it is appropriate to want it to be "real" as you say.

Without exception in the Bible baptism was preceeded by faith, and was regarded as a solemn promise and a sign of conversion. We also find that when any doubt arose regarding wether or not a person had recieved baptism in the proper fashion and by proper authority they were re-baptised to be sure that it was done right. (see acts 19:1-7)

If I were in your situation, wondering at the vailidity of my baptism, I would make a very serious search of the scriptures, comparing what I had recieved to what Christ taught. Of course that search would involve a lot of prayer. As I'm sure you realize, baptism is to important for anyone to approach casually.

Lebell

I personally do not think that it matters much if a person is baptized as an infant or as an adult. The important thing is what you choose to do with your life and how you treat your fellow humans.

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MSD

If you rreligion has both Baptism and Confirmation, then the Baptism is valid and your Confirmation is your full passage into the church. If the Baptism is the only distinction between members of the Church and non-members, then the Baptism should be done again when you are able to judge fopr yourself.

jonjon42

I am religous...however organized religion turns me off a bit. I say your faith in jesus is enough. It doesn't matter when or if you are baptized, confirmed, or have communion. Show your faith by how you live your life. Just follow Jesus's teachings....

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pinkie

My daughter and I were baptized together last summer.

KMA-628

I never really understood how different sects of Christianity sometimes have different paths to salvation.

Not that I practice much lately, but I always remembered: "I am the way, the truth, the life; no one can get to the Father except through me." (don't remember the verse, but I think I quoted it correctly).

To avoid a long post, I always felt that salvation was through acceptance of Christ, everything else was trimmings. Dance, don't dance. Sing, don't sing. Baptize, don't baptize. All of these things have a tendency to change depending on where you are come Sunday morning. However, we are speaking to the same God, correct? If all of these different denominations are speaking to the same deity, why the major shifts in doctrine from church to church?

However, the most common doctrine that is found throughout denominations is salvation through Christ. That leads me to believe that the other stuff means nothing ultimately.

/baptized Episcopalian (i.e. Catholic-Lite), but I don't think it assures or denies me a passage to heaven.

KMA-628

I thought this was a good summation:

LINK

Rekna

I don't beleive baptism is something that is required for salvation. But mearly a statement of faith to God. It pleases him that we are baptized and such I want to make sure I am baptized.

tecoyah

I was Baptised as a child.....and went through confirmation as a teen.

Yet I have been told I am surely going to burn in the depths of Satans Fury, By some of the very people whom I went to Catholic school with. Guess I would need the born again/re- Baptism to secure my place. That said, it would seem more important to accept Jesus as your guide in this life, than to have your sins washed away in water.

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WillyPete

I think you have to look at the example He set. If Christ found it necessary, and yet was quite outspoken regarding itmes of mosaic law, shouldn't that mean that baptism is important?
Also, he was baptised as a consenting adult.

As for the thief, we don't know if he was baptised or not. Because he was on a cross doesn't indicate that he wasn't. Baptism was a very popular event back then, hence the 'Baptist' tag for John. Also, remember that the words paradise, heaven, eternal glory can be quite significant in what they mean. So are hell, purgatory, limbo. (Another dicussion)

I for one think that baptism is an outward indicator of the inner self. I feel that it's to be undertaken by rational understanding of what you are promising to do by the act.
Baptism (traditionally by immersion) was a symbol of death and rebirth. The laying away of the old person and the assumption of a new, re-innocent life.
It's also symbolic of Christ's death and resurrection, reminding you to whom you need to be dedicating the act in order to gain the desired reward of entering heaven.
I think it's important, but only in the sense of what it represents, just as I don't think it's necessary for all rich people to sell all they own and give it to the poor as the young rich man was commanded, as long as they have the charity and desire to serve their fellow man to act as though they would have.

Would a just and merciful god sentence the soul of a mistreated child to hell for being born to parents who didn't seek to have them baptised?

Daoust

I appreciate all the thoughts on this thread, and I really appreciate how people have been respectful of Rekna's beliefs and situation. I am thankful it hasn't turned into a Christianity bash.

I'll tell you what my experience is. Where I fellowship we don't do infant baptism, largely because of the misconception endorsed by other churches that infant baptism is your 'ticket into heaven' which is in no way based on Scripture.
Jesus said "repent, and be baptized". Baptism is not a requirement of salvation, according to the Bible. True salvation is by grace, through faith. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved". Baptism is merely symbolic. It's a symbol of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. When we are 'buried with Jesus' in baptism, we are acknowledging (often before the congregation) that He died for our sins, was buried and that he rose again. Baptism is just a public display of your affiliation with Christ.
I was baptised after I was converted/saved/born again. I didn't have to be, and no one forced me to be. I could have contributed and been a part of the meetings if I wasn't baptized, but being baptized was important for me, as a public confession. The Bible makes it clear that it's not vital for our salvation, but it is strongly encouraged.

I guess I'm saying that infant baptism doesn't really mean much or accomplish anything, according to what the Bible teaches, and the Bible is my final authority. It may not be for you, but it is for me. I don't base anything in terms of spiritual matters on what I think, because what I think doesn't mean anything. I base it on what God says in His Word.

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ShaniFaye

When my daughter was "baptised" when she was an infant it was more....I was promising to raise her in the christian faith...more than an actual "baptism" by definition.

I believe that baptism is something that is done when a person is at or past the age of "innocence" and that it needs to be done when the person completely understands what it is and what it signifies

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freeload

Couldn't have said it better myself. I was "babtised" as a child, but was baptised for real a few years ago.

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JinnTonic

i got into a discussion with a prof once who had studied the importance of baptism (bp) and the lord's supper (ls)...he said that the 2 became imp for early xians but he couldn't explain why....he said that christ commanded many things that didn't become imp to the early community...ie foot-washing, love one another...neither of these 2 were seized upon and became common practice with pre-liturigal forms...he theorized that these 2 events bp & ls became imp because the earyl xians id them as "something jesus did that i can do"...

something i find interesting is a paradigm shift in xianity from "beliefs/practices" to "relationships" and "community-held doctrines" to "the imp of self understg"...

crapshoot

The sacrament of Holy Baptism is held as an important aspect of “faith” in the Christian beliefs. However, the proper way to baptize differs as much as the denominations themselves. I too was baptized as an infant in the Lutheran Church. My baptism symbolized the promise of my family and the church to raise me in a Christian household. When I was older I participated in my First Communion and eventually went through Confirmation where I made my statement of faith.

Baptism, whether you were baptized as an infant or adult, is a sign of God’s love towards you and you towards God. The sign of the cross is made on the forehead signifying God’s sacrifice for us. If a person is baptized as an infant and proceeds to live a life outside of the church they are not going to be accepted into heaven based on the fact that they were baptized. The opposite is also true. If a person is never baptized but they live a life inside the church then the person is not going to be rejected because they are not baptized.

Your baptism means only what you want it to mean. Baptism, while sometimes a public occasion, is a personal sacrament. Nobody can tell you if your baptism means more if you are an infant verses an adult and visa versa. My suggestion is to do whatever would be meaningful to you. Personally I have “remembered my baptism” through a smaller ceremony while on a retreat weekend. However, if you want to get baptized again do not hesitate. I don’t think you would be denouncing your first baptism by getting baptized again. Many people, even in the Lutheran Church, are baptized more than once. If you still have reservations I would contact a Lutheran pastor or even a Lutheran Seminary.

JinnTonic

i use to have a theory that during the reformation, infant baptism was too much for the reformers to handle bc moms would go to catholic priests for "secret baptisms"...another prof suggested that it had more to do with canton loyality since europe was immersed in religious wars.....

Rekna

So I emailed my pastor from my Lutheran Church and here is what I got back. I'm thinking about doing the same for my non-denominational church and then praying about it and hope God tells me what to do.

Rekna

I think her email addresses some of my main concerns but still leads me to nowhere. Like she mentions I don't want to say I'm rejecting my original baptism. This is a very difficult question. I wish the bible were more clear on it.

1010011010

Would you be denouncing your first baptism if you chose to have a second one? If not, I don't see where this concern about rejecting the first baptism is coming from. You're not rejecting it. If you aren't, I don't see how you'd be concerned that you are.

I really don't see where the idea that getting more than one baptism is a bad thing. People reaffirm their wedding vows, take communion more than once, etc. Other than it being slightly impractical to get baptized on a daily basis, I don't see why there would be any problem with doing it more than once.

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