A
asteroid
Guest
I am currently in RCIA on the way to membership of the Catholic church. I’ve been a Christian for 15 years, converted as an adult and baptised as an adult by full immersion.
I’ve been told I will probably need a conditional baptism as the validity of my (trinitarian) baptism is in question.
Have I been baptised? If the validity of my baptism is in question, can I truly be sure that I have been baptised before the conditional baptism?
If my baptism is in question, are the effects of my baptism also in question. If a new character is conferred at baptism and if you are born again through baptism can I be sure that these things have happened to me?
If I can be sure that I have been born again then the effects of my baptism are not to be doubted. Therefore the baptism is not to be doubted. So why would it be in question?
If I cannot be sure, what does this say about the last 15 years of my life within Christianity? What does it say about the lives of the entire membership of the other church?
If my baptism is in doubt can I be sure I am born again, have been made a new creature, am an adopted son of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, part of the body of Christ?
Right now I am unsure of these things.
I asked at RCIA and was told (again) all about baptism of desire and I was basically told that if I have a baptism of desire then all the above applies to me. However, that confuses me further. It now sounds as if all these things apply and that they apply even without baptism taking place. If, as I have just been taught, you are born again etc through desiring to be baptised, of what purpose is the actual ceremony and actual baptism. If you are born again well before baptism, how can you be born again through baptism?
Also, if I need to be baptised, want to be baptised, doubt my own baptism (as the church seems to tell me to do), and have tried to follow Christ for the past 15 years, why do I have to wait longer? And could I please have a biblical answer to that question - it looks in the Bible that people were baptised as soon as possible after believing. So why, Biblically (and all catholic teaching is in accordance with scripture) do I have to wait?
Blessings
Asteroid
I’ve been told I will probably need a conditional baptism as the validity of my (trinitarian) baptism is in question.
Have I been baptised? If the validity of my baptism is in question, can I truly be sure that I have been baptised before the conditional baptism?
If my baptism is in question, are the effects of my baptism also in question. If a new character is conferred at baptism and if you are born again through baptism can I be sure that these things have happened to me?
If I can be sure that I have been born again then the effects of my baptism are not to be doubted. Therefore the baptism is not to be doubted. So why would it be in question?
If I cannot be sure, what does this say about the last 15 years of my life within Christianity? What does it say about the lives of the entire membership of the other church?
If my baptism is in doubt can I be sure I am born again, have been made a new creature, am an adopted son of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, part of the body of Christ?
Right now I am unsure of these things.
I asked at RCIA and was told (again) all about baptism of desire and I was basically told that if I have a baptism of desire then all the above applies to me. However, that confuses me further. It now sounds as if all these things apply and that they apply even without baptism taking place. If, as I have just been taught, you are born again etc through desiring to be baptised, of what purpose is the actual ceremony and actual baptism. If you are born again well before baptism, how can you be born again through baptism?
Also, if I need to be baptised, want to be baptised, doubt my own baptism (as the church seems to tell me to do), and have tried to follow Christ for the past 15 years, why do I have to wait longer? And could I please have a biblical answer to that question - it looks in the Bible that people were baptised as soon as possible after believing. So why, Biblically (and all catholic teaching is in accordance with scripture) do I have to wait?
Blessings
Asteroid
