Baptism - Over-Worrying or Not?

[liberte]

I was baptized into a fundamentalist Baptist church a few years ago - my remembrance of it was sketchy at best - I only remembered it was by immersion but I could not remember if the pastor used the Trinitarian formula or not (or did he thought it was not necessary?). And I could only remember he had a great emphasis on the “local church” (he does not believe in the universal church).

I thought of this issue and became only quite disturbed about this baptism issue after endless “prodding” about sacramental theology from a very educated confessional Lutheran friend - what if the things he say might be true after all?

My Lutheran friend recommends a conditional baptism and thinks that because of the “local church only” thing the baptism may not even be valid. On the other hand, a high-church Anglican friend of mine (also a lay-leader) tells me not to worry as that is very unlikely (pastor not saying the formula).

Assuming if baptismal regeneration is true, will I be condemned to hell if the baptism was turned out not to be done properly even if I were to live a Christian life?

There is no way I can get the details from the fundy Baptists since they are the rabid KJV-only group, and are very hostile to any liturgical group (be they Catholic, Lutheran etc.) and I have left them for a reformed group long time ago. And a Catholic conditional baptism is not possible, because sorry to offend you, I have no intentions of converting to Catholicism - I don’t think God calls me for that.

No offense to you Catholics here but I cannot speak this to my evangelical or reformed brethren because I fear offending them and being a peaceful person, I try to avoid conflicts with anyone as much as possible.

Am I just over-worrying or are my concerns valid? Fundamentalism has instilled a fearful nature into me - especially that of hell-fire - which I am trying very hard to overcome.

 

[fermat]

Conditional baptism is the way to go. ‘In case you are not already baptized, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ And done.

 

[Contarini]

I was baptized into a fundamentalist Baptist church a few years ago - my remembrance of it was sketchy at best - I only remembered it was by immersion but I could not remember if the pastor used the Trinitarian formula or not (or did he thought it was not necessary?). And I could only remember he had a great emphasis on the “local church” (he does not believe in the universal church).

I thought of this issue and became only quite disturbed about this baptism issue after endless “prodding” about sacramental theology from a very educated confessional Lutheran friend - what if the things he say might be true after all?

My Lutheran friend recommends a conditional baptism and thinks that because of the “local church only” thing the baptism may not even be valid. On the other hand, a high-church Anglican friend of mine (also a lay-leader) tells me not to worry as that is very unlikely (pastor not saying the formula).

Assuming if baptismal regeneration is true, will I be condemned to hell if the baptism was turned out not to be done properly even if I were to live a Christian life?

There is no way I can get the details from the fundy Baptists since they are the rabid KJV-only group, and are very hostile to any liturgical group (be they Catholic, Lutheran etc.) and I have left them for a reformed group long time ago. And a Catholic conditional baptism is not possible, because sorry to offend you, I have no intentions of converting to Catholicism - I don’t think God calls me for that.

No offense to you Catholics here but I cannot speak this to my evangelical or reformed brethren because I fear offending them and being a peaceful person, I try to avoid conflicts with anyone as much as possible.

Am I just over-worrying or are my concerns valid? Fundamentalism has instilled a fearful nature into me - especially that of hell-fire - which I am trying very hard to overcome.

God doesn’t send people to hell for failing to jump through the right hoops.

If you aren’t intending to convert to Catholicism, why are you worrying about the Catholic understanding of baptism? Trust the ecclesial community to which you belong. If you can’t do that, then yes, you have a problem–in that case maybe you can’t belong to that community with a good conscience.

In other words, don’t think about the question of baptism in abstraction from the question of the true Church. If you belong to the true Church already, then the local church to which you belong has the authority to speak to this question and quiet your conscience. If you don’t, then you should seek out the true Church which can give you the right answer.

I am pretty sure that a fundamentalist Baptist would use the Trinitarian formula.

I myself was baptized in a lake by a Southern Baptist pastor using the Trinitarian formula. The Episcopal Church has no problem accepting this as valid. Given my lack of an actual baptismal certificate, I suspect that the Catholic Church would be inclined to baptize me conditionally, and if I ever become Catholic I will submit to the Church’s judgment one way or the other on this point.

You’re approaching this whole thing too individualistically.

Edwin

 

[FabiusMaximus]

I was baptized into a fundamentalist Baptist church a few years ago - my remembrance of it was sketchy at best - I only remembered it was by immersion but I could not remember if the pastor used the Trinitarian formula or not (or did he thought it was not necessary?). And I could only remember he had a great emphasis on the “local church” (he does not believe in the universal church).

I thought of this issue and became only quite disturbed about this baptism issue after endless “prodding” about sacramental theology from a very educated confessional Lutheran friend - what if the things he say might be true after all?

My Lutheran friend recommends a conditional baptism and thinks that because of the “local church only” thing the baptism may not even be valid. On the other hand, a high-church Anglican friend of mine (also a lay-leader) tells me not to worry as that is very unlikely (pastor not saying the formula).

Assuming if baptismal regeneration is true, will I be condemned to hell if the baptism was turned out not to be done properly even if I were to live a Christian life?

There is no way I can get the details from the fundy Baptists since they are the rabid KJV-only group, and are very hostile to any liturgical group (be they Catholic, Lutheran etc.) and I have left them for a reformed group long time ago. And a Catholic conditional baptism is not possible, because sorry to offend you, I have no intentions of converting to Catholicism - I don’t think God calls me for that.

No offense to you Catholics here but I cannot speak this to my evangelical or reformed brethren because I fear offending them and being a peaceful person, I try to avoid conflicts with anyone as much as possible.

Am I just over-worrying or are my concerns valid? Fundamentalism has instilled a fearful nature into me - especially that of hell-fire - which I am trying very hard to overcome.

I think you can relax.

Baptist will always use the Trinitarian formula when baptizing. It’s just a given.

And by some chance, it turned out that it was invalid, I highly doubt that on Judgment Day God will say:

“Good work good and faith---- what? I see your baptism is invalid. WHAT? Hellfire for you.”

Our God is a logical and good God. He wouldn’t just condemn you if you lived out a Christian life because by some technicality your baptism is invalid.

 

[Rocky]

Catholics hold to Ephesians that there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism—

I too think you were probably baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I do not know much about Evangelical or Baptist churches, but the little I know while they seem to be more about people working to believe in Christ as a personal Savior, they will baptize as He commanded simply because He has commanded it. Since He said to baptize using the Trinitarian formula, you have nothing to worry about.

Contarini, however, has given you the best advice. So read it again and think about it deeply.