About Baptism...for a Baptist.

[Lillith]

I don’t want to get into discussion with my SIL…because it might upset her…so I’m gonna ask someone here.

SIL is Missionary Baptist. The other day we were discussing Baptism, and she made the comment that a person does not have to be baptised to be saved…O.K. I told her that there is such a thing as baptism of desire (I always share Catholic beliefs in little spoonfuls so as not to give her indigestion)…she also said that Baptism is purely symbolic…O.K…I understand so far…but then she totally confused me by telling me that her church always rebaptises new parishoners…even if they were fellow Baptists like say…Southern Baptist or reformed Baptist, because they might not have be completely submersed during their initial Baptism…she also told me that they had to Baptise someone twice because their knee had popped up during the first try…

My question is…If it is purely a symbolic act…only denoting Church membership…why all the fuss?

 

[ahimsaman72]

Lillith:

I don’t want to get into discussion with my SIL…because it might upset her…so I’m gonna ask someone here.

SIL is Missionary Baptist. The other day we were discussing Baptism, and she made the comment that a person does not have to be baptised to be saved…O.K. I told her that there is such a thing as baptism of desire (I always share Catholic beliefs in little spoonfuls so as not to give her indigestion)…she also said that Baptism is purely symbolic…O.K…I understand so far…but then she totally confused me by telling me that her church always rebaptises new parishoners…even if they were fellow Baptists like say…Southern Baptist or reformed Baptist, because they might not have be completely submersed during their initial Baptism…she also told me that they had to Baptise someone twice because their knee had popped up during the first try…

My question is…If it is purely a symbolic act…only denoting Church membership…why all the fuss?

There must be mis-communication somewhere, because it is a standard tenet in any Baptist sect that baptism is purely symbolic. I have no idea why their church would be so legalistic about it.

If you tell your SIL about baptism by desire she will likely have a REALLY puzzled look on her face. Baptism and salvation are the two biggest differences in theology between Baptists and Catholics. The other topics would be the Eucharist, confession, etc. But, by far the great divide is over the first two issues I mentioned. So, I would caution you to go slowly (as you indicated you are) and give her the time to digest some of this because to her it’s a foreign language.

Peace…

 

[MariaG]

My question is…If it is purely a symbolic act…only denoting Church membership…why all the fuss?

Maybe that is what it comes down to for her church, joining that particular church?

 

[Lillith]

O.K…so maybe this is a different doctrine that has evolved from the baptist faith…

It really was not a miscommunication between her and I, because I specifically asked her…“You re-baptise everyone…even fellow baptists?” And she replied “Yes…we even had to baptise one person twice because his knee popped out of the water”

Maybe I should re-visit this conversation to clarify it!

Thanks for trying anyway…

 

[Della]

I don’t suppose you SIL would be open to hearing that what she has said about baptism is self-contradictory? I didn’t think so.

And they call Catholics legalistic! It just shows how far off the beam people can get when they will not accept the teachings of the Church but only what they think they ought to believe and/or be doing. Sad!

 

[Philena]

Today’s Baptists are the spiritual descendants of the original “ana-baptist” or “re-baptizing” heretics of the early Church, so I’m not surprised they are still misunderstanding what Baptism is all about.

 

[deb1]

Lillith:

O.K…so maybe this is a different doctrine that has evolved from the baptist faith…

It really was not a miscommunication between her and I, because I specifically asked her…“You re-baptise everyone…even fellow baptists?” And she replied “Yes…we even had to baptise one person twice because his knee popped out of the water”

Maybe I should re-visit this conversation to clarify it!

Thanks for trying anyway…

You probably heard her correctly. I was brought up baptist and have come across this thinking before. I am going to guess that a more educated minister would view this action as contradictory and therefore not rebaptize people

I was baptized somewhere between eight and ten. I lost my faith and regained it as an adult. THe Baptist church that I attended pressured me to get rebaptized.

 

[Malachi4U]

Baptism - the ultimate “Catch 22” for the Baptist.

Baptism is MANDITORY in a Baptist sect.
Baptism is SYMBOLIC ONLY in the Baptist sect.

So…which is it? You can’t have it both ways!

SO…If Baptism is symbolic only it is not necessary. If it is necessary it is not symbolic. Thus just one more Baptist delima.:whacky:

If Baptism is manditory then it is a Sacrament! (i.e. Catholic) No need to explain this point, the Bible is clear that Baptism IS NOT optional! The Bible is clear that Baptism is a Sacrament. Just take the scales off your eyes and read in context - not bias excerpts.

If Baptism is symbolic only then it is not necessary! (i.e. some Protestants) Not even worth talking about this dillusion.

So, if Baptism is ‘symbolic only’ and Baptists do it, why do they continually degrade our Church for our symbols? Just another one of their double standards here.

By the way, the is only ONE Baptism. Nobody can ever be “RE”-baptised, it’s impossible. No matter what heritics call it, a second dunking is not a Baptism, it’s just a bath. Christ died once for us and we cannot re-crucify Him any more then we can be “RE”-Baptised.

Even when I attended Baptist sects for 27 years I knew re-baptism was pointless. Many if not most Baptists agreed with me too the few times the point was mentioned.

I am so glad to see growing numbers of Baptists coming home to the Catholic Church. Most Baptists love God greatly, they just get missled on things like Baptism. If they just read Scripture in context to find out what to believe - not to read a single verse in Scripture to justify what they want to believe - they come home in great numbers. Sometimes I wonder if numbering verses for the typesetters did more harm then good? We used to read in context, now with verse numbers, we sometimes tend to read in verses and not context.

 

[John_Paul_III]

Why the fuss over baptism if it is just symbolic?

I am a former southern and Independant Baptist. And baptism in the Baptist church is for all memebers of that church when they decide to join. If one is raised baptist and decides not to get baptised but remains in the church, I believe they would be considered members. (Privaledged)

But baptism in the Baptist church is taught as letting others know your decision to follow Jesus publicly. Prior to the baptism you confessed your act of faith with the minister or his staff to make sure you know what this decision means.

Now there fuss over infant baptism is that if we Catholics baptize our new born babies that they did not make the decision, that they are not saved, because they do not see baptism as a sacrament, and a miracle does not occur.

The baptist will blast our ways because they cant get past this one difference, so they do not understand our teachings of the Sacrament of Baptism and then the Sacrament of Confirmation which seals the Baptism.

It seems to me this is why the Church is so important, that our Priesthood is so imperative. As you can see our beliefs are almost the same, the Baptist want the act of confirmation you could say first and the the Baptism to follow, they are following the bible because at the begining the diciples were converting over adults, but what they do not understand is that they were converting the entire families in many cases, and when all of the converts were converted,when they produced new born baibies they were baptized too.

At the end our beliefs and traditions are more than man’s ways or desires to change because of how we feel, our doctrines come from God and God alone, we make a few changes but never when it comes to the sacraments given to us by Jesus Christ. All other churches are made by men, and each man is different with different ideas and thats why there are so many protestant faiths, you could pick one that suits your needs, or you can accept Jesus and his Church in the full right now, and lead a life that you might not a first desire but at the end, when you travled the harder road, the reward at the end will be worth all of the temporary hassels that we go through in this life.