Christening and baptizing?

[katiasalomon]

What is the difference?
What is the purpose of a Christening?
What is the purpose of a baptism?

 

[Phemie]

What is the difference?
What is the purpose of a Christening?
What is the purpose of a baptism?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, they are not synonymous. Christening means “naming”. You christen (name) a ship but you don’t baptize it.

In some Churches the Christening and the Baptism are two different ceremonies, with the Christening done to a baby and Baptism restricted to ‘adults’.

In the Catholic Church the Christening is actually the first part of the baptismal ceremony, the naming of the child, when the priest asks the question “What name have you given your child?” Because the pouring of the water is so much more important, we don’t call the ceremony a christening but a baptism.

 

[puzzleannie]

What is the difference?
What is the purpose of a Christening?
What is the purpose of a baptism?

just a difference of language, christening is a rather archaic English word still used there, and among Anglicans or Episcopalians or anyone descended from that tradition, to refer to baptism. The purpose of baptism is to remove original sin (and all actual sin if the person has attained the use of reason and hence the ability to commit sin), to make one an adopted child of God and a member of the Church, that is a Christian (the origin of the word “christening” ). So that the newly baptized is fully united which Christ who is present on earth through the Church he founded for that purpose, receives the initial anointing of the Holy Spirit, and dies to sin and rises to new life with Christ, therefore sharing in His resurrection therefore in the fruits of his sacrifice on our behalf, now being entitled to a share in the kingdom and entrance to heaven. Baptism therefore confers sanctifying grace, the action of Christ through which all this takes place, and actually conforms the person to Christ.

 

[katiasalomon]

So if you are not baptized do you still go to heaven?

 

[FastLearner]

I feel like a Docent…

katiasalomon, try here: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=349253 or more specifically here: catholic.com/library/Necessity_of_Baptism.asp

 

[Claire_from_DE]

So if you are not baptized do you still go to heaven?

That’s up to God to know for sure, not us.

If a baby is baptized and dies, we have the explicit assurance he is in heaven. If the baby isn’t baptized we entrust him to God’s mercy, we hope, but we don’t have that definite assurance.

Jesus commanded the disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So being baptized and coming into the church Jesus founded is what He asks of us. Then we need to continue to follow Him.

Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Does He provide a way for those who have never heard or been convicted of the gospel to go to heaven through Him, even though they haven’t known Him or been baptized? The Church seems to say that He may do so. However, we still have the obligation to preach the gospel.

We know God is not limited to acting through the sacraments, He can do anything. But for ourselves, we shouldn’t presume we will go to heaven if we refuse to do God’s will as we understand it. So we should be baptized.