Baptism of Baptists

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Lischou:
Both of these are correct as applies to how I was raised (S. Baptist). As to why some were baptised several times…due to the fact that they believed they didn’t have a true repentence and confession of faith the first time. That’s the usual reason. Also if one comes from a different faith, normally you would have to be re-baptised.

Welcome home Steve-o!

Lisa
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Re-baptism is not the norm, however there are those (such as myself) who were baptized twice. Once, when I was a little boy and thought I knew what I was doing, but then in my teenage years after a preaching revival I felt like I truly committed myself to being a Christian and therefore asked to be baptized again.

There was no problem in doing so. I simply asked the pastor to do so. There are many people who have gone through the same thing. They get baptized when they are children, have a religious experience later in life and feel the need to start over in a sense, so they get baptized again.

It seems strange to a Catholic I suppose, but it really isn’t strange for those in the Baptist faith.

Peace…
 
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djrakowski:
Is a former Baptist close enough? 🙂

To answer the question, we most certainly DID discount infant baptism and any church body that practiced it. It was one of the subtle, indirect ways we used to attack Catholics. I was told that I needed to be baptized again after I made my commitment to Christ, and so I was. Unfortunately, they didn’t consider my infant baptism as a Catholic to be valid, because it wasn’t a “believer’s baptism.”
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So, we must ask ourselves this question: "Is the reason that the Baptists discount infant Baptism that they do not believe in it, or is it so that they have an interesting recruitment tool? If it is the latter, what does that indicate about their commitment to scripture and Jesus?

I just found out that my girlfriend’s mother had to be “re-baptised” after her church found out that she had not undergone the full dunking ceremony as a child. Well, I hope she at least enjoyed the bath she got to take in front of everybody…

"We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. (Note that those words have been around long before their was ever a Baptist church.)
 
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djrakowski:
Is a former Baptist close enough? 🙂

To answer the question, we most certainly DID discount infant baptism and any church body that practiced it. It was one of the subtle, indirect ways we used to attack Catholics. I was told that I needed to be baptized again after I made my commitment to Christ, and so I was. Unfortunately, they didn’t consider my infant baptism as a Catholic to be valid, because it wasn’t a “believer’s baptism.”
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Baptism in other denominations who are not close in doctrine is not accepted (as you found out). If you were a Methodist or some other denomination it would have been accepted. I believe the only baptism not acceptable is that of a Catholic, Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness. These are, after all, considered heretical faiths that differ in views of salvation.

Edit: submersion is the standard for “efficacy” of baptism. Sprinkling is not acceptable generally. But, this can vary by church and pastor’s beliefs.

Peace…
 
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ahimsaman72:
Baptism in other denominations who are not close in doctrine is not accepted (as you found out). If you were a Methodist or some other denomination it would have been accepted. I believe the only baptism not acceptable is that of a Catholic, Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness. These are, after all, considered heretical faiths that differ in views of salvation.
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Actually, in the case of my Baptist church, you were re-baptized if the pastor determined that you hadn’t undergone a “believer’s baptism,” so any infant baptism was deemed invalid. As far as I know, the Methodist Church permits infant baptism (please, correct me if I’m wrong about this), and thus a person baptized Methodist as an infant would’ve been re-baptized in my church.

Apparently, from Baptist church to Baptist church, your mileage may vary…
 
I don’t know anything about going before the pastor and board of deacons…in my former Baptist church (who’s people I love dearly still), children got baptized usually beginning around 7 (hmmm). You simply went down front, talked to the pastor where he asked you about your decision, and he announced you had accepted Christ and asked for believers’ baptism. I made the decision during “vacation bible school” after hearing Billy Graham earlier in the year state that ages 7-9 were a good age for children to be baptized. There’s that age 7 again. 😃

Baby dedication may as well have been baptism with the fanfare it got at our church. One of the initial events that sent me questioning my beliefs was our not participating in a baby dedication cerimony at our childhood Baptist church with our first child. Since our baby was bound for hell at that point in the opinion of some (nah, not really. just kidding) I figured she may as well be Catholic!😃
 
So why baptize a baby when it doesn’t know yet what is happening? Why not wait for the baby to grow and believe in Christ and ask for baptism? If we were to follow this line of reasoning, we wouldn’t inoculate the baby against diphtheria until he grows up and asks for it! But we know better. Baptizing infants before they know what is going on is an expression of God’s great love for us. It shows that God loves us and accepts us before we can ever know and love Him. It shows that we are wanted and loved by God from the very moment of our birth. Nothing shows the nature of God’s grace more than infant baptism.

For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalms 139:13
 
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ahimsaman72:
Re-baptism is not the norm, however there are those (such as myself) who were baptized twice. Once, when I was a little boy and thought I knew what I was doing, but then in my teenage years after a preaching revival I felt like I truly committed myself to being a Christian and therefore asked to be baptized again.

There was no problem in doing so. I simply asked the pastor to do so. There are many people who have gone through the same thing. They get baptized when they are children, have a religious experience later in life and feel the need to start over in a sense, so they get baptized again.

It seems strange to a Catholic I suppose, but it really isn’t strange for those in the Baptist faith.

Peace…
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I’m sorry that my choice of words was slightly off. Everything that you have described is exactly as it was in my church when I was S. Baptist. It doesn’t seem strange at all to me having grown up in that tradition.

Lisa
 
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sadie2723:
So, we must ask ourselves this question: "Is the reason that the Baptists discount infant Baptism that they do not believe in it, or is it so that they have an interesting recruitment tool?
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Definitely the former. They don’t take their relationship to Christ in such a crass (sorry for the harsh description, can’t think of another way of putting it :o ) as to use it as a recruitment tool. They are genuine in their belief(s).

Lisa
 
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Lischou:
I’m sorry that my choice of words was slightly off. Everything that you have described is exactly as it was in my church when I was S. Baptist. It doesn’t seem strange at all to me having grown up in that tradition.

Lisa
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No, your words were fine 🙂

I was SB for 30 years, but found I couldn’t live with it any longer. Too many doctrines were troublesome and I left the church.

Good to meet you.

Peace…
 
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djrakowski:
Actually, in the case of my Baptist church, you were re-baptized if the pastor determined that you hadn’t undergone a “believer’s baptism,” so any infant baptism was deemed invalid. As far as I know, the Methodist Church permits infant baptism (please, correct me if I’m wrong about this), and thus a person baptized Methodist as an infant would’ve been re-baptized in my church.

Apparently, from Baptist church to Baptist church, your mileage may vary…
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No, you’re right. Infant baptism was unacceptable in any form and any baptism by adult that wasn’t by total submersion was also deemed invalid.

Peace…
 
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ahimsaman72:
No, your words were fine 🙂

I was SB for 30 years, but found I couldn’t live with it any longer. Too many doctrines were troublesome and I left the church.

Good to meet you.

Peace…
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Nice to meet you too. Sometimes words just don’t come out the way their intended online. Thanks.

Lisa
 
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sadie2723:
So, we must ask ourselves this question: "Is the reason that the Baptists discount infant Baptism that they do not believe in it, or is it so that they have an interesting recruitment tool? If it is the latter, what does that indicate about their commitment to scripture and Jesus?
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No, they really don’t believe in it because it is too closely tied to Catholicism and their fundamental view of salvation.

Peace…
 
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Brian_C:
I don’t know anything about going before the pastor and board of deacons…in my former Baptist church (who’s people I love dearly still), children got baptized usually beginning around 7 (hmmm). You simply went down front, talked to the pastor where he asked you about your decision, and he announced you had accepted Christ and asked for believers’ baptism. I made the decision during “vacation bible school” after hearing Billy Graham earlier in the year state that ages 7-9 were a good age for children to be baptized. There’s that age 7 again. 😃

Baby dedication may as well have been baptism with the fanfare it got at our church. One of the initial events that sent me questioning my beliefs was our not participating in a baby dedication cerimony at our childhood Baptist church with our first child. Since our baby was bound for hell at that point in the opinion of some (nah, not really. just kidding) I figured she may as well be Catholic!😃
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Hello Brian,

Yes, baby dedication is very important. It was always the first order of business for the Sunday service. The babies or children wore new dresses and their parents were all decked out in their best clothes.

Not participating in that would indicate silently to others in the congregation that you did not intend to raise your child in a Christian home. It was a cultural thing, not a doctrinal thing. I accepted it as tradition and loved the little Bibles they would give to the kids. All my girls got these little white or pink ones with their names written inside and the name of the Church.

These still are somewhat of a treasure for me and my wife of our history as a Christian and the history of our entire family as Baptist Christians. Of course, there is no theological significance to the ceremony. But, that doesn’t seem to matter.

Peace…
 
Let me just clarify: My wife and I were between churches at the time. We had just transplanted to a new town a couple years before and had some of that residual “we don’t need to go every Sunday” attitude many of us get in college. We had started attending services irregularly at a church in our new community but had not really gotten too involved and become members (moved our letter, as it’s called). So, when baby dedication came up at our old church, we were not there to hear the annoucement and when we found out, it would have taken a special effort to get us included (certificate, personalized NT, etc.). So we opted not to participate.
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ahimsaman72:
Hello Brian,

Yes, baby dedication is very important. It was always the first order of business for the Sunday service. The babies or children wore new dresses and their parents were all decked out in their best clothes.

Not participating in that would indicate silently to others in the congregation that you did not intend to raise your child in a Christian home. It was a cultural thing, not a doctrinal thing. I accepted it as tradition and loved the little Bibles they would give to the kids. All my girls got these little white or pink ones with their names written inside and the name of the Church.

These still are somewhat of a treasure for me and my wife of our history as a Christian and the history of our entire family as Baptist Christians. Of course, there is no theological significance to the ceremony. But, that doesn’t seem to matter.

Peace…
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Brian_C:
Let me just clarify: My wife and I were between churches at the time. We had just transplanted to a new town a couple years before and had some of that residual “we don’t need to go every Sunday” attitude many of us get in college. We had started attending services irregularly at a church in our new community but had not really gotten too involved and become members (moved our letter, as it’s called). So, when baby dedication came up at our old church, we were not there to hear the annoucement and when we found out, it would have taken a special effort to get us included (certificate, personalized NT, etc.). So we opted not to participate.
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Hello Brian,

I didn’t mean to infer that you personally were doing anything wrong at all. Who am I to pass judgement? Sorry if my post seemed to infer that. Other people’s opinions on what you and your wife did or did not do with respect to dedication doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, the culture and traditions at churches like mine and possibly your old one is far too narrow-minded to accept some things.

And that’s the main reason I stopped going to Baptist churches (or any at all) was that things taught or believed or simply practiced didn’t accord with my conscience, Scripture or common sense. But, then that’s another story 😃

Please forgive me for any miscommunication.

Peace…
 
This all seems like twisted logic to me. Being Roman Catholic all these questions have already been answered. You recieve the sacrament of baptism to wipe away original sin when you are an infant incase of early death you will be accepted into heaven. Since you are an infant you do not have the ability to reason to commit sin. By the time you are ready to recieve the sacrament of the Holy Eucahrist you are accepting Jesus on your own accord and you realize the difference between right and wrong. The next sacrament is Confirmation when you are 13. This is similar to a Bat Mitzvah although you are recieving the Holy Spirit and preparing to be a man/woman. I don’t mean to sound arrogant but all these things have been thought out for 2000 years now. I don’t understand why people keep splintering off and trying to write their own rules when these doctrines have already been put in place by the founding members of the True Holy Church. Not a sermon, just a thought.

Peace,
Jon
 
No worries! I was just doing it for general clarification b/c I realized how it sounded. I wish Christ’s blessing on you that you may find what you are looking for. I have more than a little hope it will lead you to Mother Church, like it has me!
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ahimsaman72:
Hello Brian,

I didn’t mean to infer that you personally were doing anything wrong at all. Who am I to pass judgement? Sorry if my post seemed to infer that. Other people’s opinions on what you and your wife did or did not do with respect to dedication doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, the culture and traditions at churches like mine and possibly your old one is far too narrow-minded to accept some things.

And that’s the main reason I stopped going to Baptist churches (or any at all) was that things taught or believed or simply practiced didn’t accord with my conscience, Scripture or common sense. But, then that’s another story 😃

Please forgive me for any miscommunication.

Peace…
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Brian_C:
No worries! I was just doing it for general clarification b/c I realized how it sounded. I wish Christ’s blessing on you that you may find what you are looking for. I have more than a little hope it will lead you to Mother Church, like it has me!
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:bowdown2:

Blessings to you friend…

Fa Chan
 
Peace everyone!

In regards to immersion baptism, as a Catholic, I don’t understand why the Baptist tradition requires that baptisms be conducted by immersion. Where does it say in the Bible that immersion *has *to be done? What I’ve read, it just shows it as one of the ways to get baptized.

Also, I witnessed a couple of baby dedications…always felt the little child was missing out on something…
 
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Tonks40:
Peace everyone!

In regards to immersion baptism, as a Catholic, I don’t understand why the Baptist tradition requires that baptisms be conducted by immersion. Where does it say in the Bible that immersion *has *to be done? What I’ve read, it just shows it as one of the ways to get baptized.

Also, I witnessed a couple of baby dedications…always felt the little child was missing out on something…
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John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan River. Given the amount of water available and depth of it, it is generally assumed that those people were dunked - submersed completely. I can’t imagine him standing in the water with the person and simply pouring water over their head. If sprinkling was acceptable, they could have just done this in another place on dry ground.

There’s also another meaning there. When St. Paul speaks of being “buried with Christ in baptism” this would have a direct correlation to being submersed. When one is buried, they are submersed under the earth. It would be acceptable then to submerse under water to symbolize this death to the old self and new life in Christ. It was always explained this way when baptisms were done. It’s the death of the old sinful self and rising out of the water to a new promise-filled life with Christ.

Peace…
 
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