Double baptisism

  • Thread starter Thread starter catholicsrock75
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

catholicsrock75

Guest
hello guys,

i have a question, where can i find info on why i baptized catholic cannot be re-baptized as a protestant christian. im in a heated debate with my 17 yr old stepson. he is convinced that catholics are not true christians. ( his words ) so when he is 18 and out of my house he wants to be re-baptized as a christian. i know its a sin to do so and i saw some stuff about this in the past somewhere but i cannot locate info. im hopping to find answers in scripture for him and his soon to be pastor.

thank you.
 
Look no further than the scripture.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

There is only one baptism.

-Tim-
 
catholicsrock75 said:
hello guys,

i have a question, where can i find info on why i baptized catholic cannot be re-baptized as a protestant christian. im in a heated debate with my 17 yr old stepson. he is convinced that catholics are not true christians. ( his words ) so when he is 18 and out of my house he wants to be re-baptized as a christian. i know its a sin to do so and i saw some stuff about this in the past somewhere but i cannot locate info. im hopping to find answers in scripture for him and his soon to be pastor.

thank you.
Click to expand...
I’d be less concerned with him getting ‘re-baptized,’ and more concerned with his intention to leave the One Church. Praying for him and you.
 
As said earlier, there is only one baptism. While other Christian groups claim to re-baptize, there is no such thing. If you are baptized once, you are baptized. It does not matter if it was in a Catholic church or a Lutheran church. As long as there is a Trinitarian (such as “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”) formula and water used, it is a valid Christian baptism. And it would not be a Catholic baptism or a Protestant baptism - it is just baptism, Christian baptism. The really interesting part is that a wide variety of Christian denominations recognize the validity of baptisms in other churches (I know Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches do for sure). So, if you are baptized, you cannot be baptized again. As said in other threads, baptism leaves a indelible mark on the soul.

For a reference from the Catechism:
The sacramental bond of the unity of Christians
Click to expand...
1271 Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: "For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church."80 "Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn."81
Click to expand...
An indelible spiritual mark . . .
Click to expand...
1272 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation.82 Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.
Click to expand...
1273 Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship.83 The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity.84
Click to expand...
1274 The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord (“Dominicus character”) "for the day of redemption."85 "Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life."86 The faithful Christian who has “kept the seal” until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life "marked with the sign of faith,"87 with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God - the consummation of faith - and in the hope of resurrection.
Click to expand...
 
i do know that in a Baptist church i attended for a few years it was quite common for the pastor to encourage members to be “re-baptized” as they felt the need… it was a way to reaffirm their commitment to Jesus and to re-charge their spiritual walk… it wasn’t necessary, but it was allowed as people felt called…

i just thought it was plain crazy.
 
number2wilkins said:
i do know that in a Baptist church i attended for a few years it was quite common for the pastor to encourage members to be “re-baptized” as they felt the need… it was a way to reaffirm their commitment to Jesus and to re-charge their spiritual walk… it wasn’t necessary, but it was allowed as people felt called…

i just thought it was plain crazy.
Click to expand...
I suspect they wouldn’t feel the need for the “re-baptisms” if they had the sacrament of confession.

I agree with the earlier poster that the stepson’s real problem is the sad lack of understanding of the Catholic faith. There are many resources from Catholic Answers to help. Good luck, I’ll pray for you.
 
thank you for all your (name removed by moderator)ut. there is much blame on my part in regards to his lack of appeal or interest on our holy catholic c. my wife and i did not practice our faith till about 3 yrs ago. iam very concern with him wanting to leave the church. but i think in a way god has a very special plan for him. he loves god, he loves to volunteer, he loves to read scripture he does not understand it, but i give him credit he reads it. we discuss it often but he has several friends that are protestants on school so he feels comfortable with them perhaps. so he prefers to be with them. this is a fight that i will continue to fight, but in a way i dont know if i should do much to retain him because i as heard once scott hahn say. the best Catholics are being formed on the protestant churches and so are the best priests that we have. so i can see my son he perhaps is being call to be a priest and perhaps god is going to allow him to try the protestant faith so that when he is ready to become catholic again he will have much more to teach and do for others. thank you all for your prayers they are certainly welcome and much need it.
 
Do Protestant Churches really do re-baptisms? Or is it because they do not accept the Catholic baptism.

It’s useless to say that one is already baptized if the other side doesn’t recognize our baptism. They are looking at this from their perspective, not ours. For example, certain Orthodox jurisdictions will “rebaptize” Catholics who convert. But it is not really a baptism, to them they believe any Sacrament performed outside the Orthodox Church is doubtful in its authenticity, thus they perform baptism the right way, for the first time. From the Catholic point of view it is a second baptism, but from their point of view it was not. The first wasn’t really a baptism to them.
 
its both really. i heard that they do them because they do not consider it to be valid and also they do it because they want to make sure that the person feels apart or a member of the community and he/she can be reborn…
 
As another poster stated I’d be inclined to agree. Multiple baptisms simply sounds to me like a compensation for a lack of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
 
i had not look it that way before but it makes sense brothers. im panning to meet with my sons pastor and talk over some of this stuff. im sure ill get my rear end hand it over to me because i just started my journey to study and learn and understand Scripture, sacred tradition and catholic teachings. but im going to try anyways i just want to have some notes to go off from.
 
catholicsrock75 said:
i had not look it that way before but it makes sense brothers. im panning to meet with my sons pastor and talk over some of this stuff. im sure ill get my rear end hand it over to me because i just started my journey to study and learn and understand Scripture, sacred tradition and catholic teachings. but im going to try anyways i just want to have some notes to go off from.
Click to expand...
If you don’t mind me asking, is it his friends, the pastor, or someone else feeding him the anti-Catholic propaganda? Maybe you could steer him in a more neutral direction even if he is leaving the Church. I dont know what denomination your son is getting into, but some Protestant denominations are pretty anti-Catholic, while others, who still disagree with Catholic doctrine, are more friendly and truthful.

Good luck,
JK
 
ConstantineTG said:
Do Protestant Churches really do re-baptisms? Or is it because they do not accept the Catholic baptism.
Click to expand...
Living here in the Bible Belt, I can tell you that each church wants a new member baptized into their church- so, even if you’re swapping Baptist churches from one street corner to the next- they expect you to get re-baptized. There are other things you can do to not do that- swapping membership documents, etc. but normally they will push for re-baptizing as well.

It used to be that the Baptist churches didn’t accept anything other than full immersion but now it’s more of a " to join this church you need to be baptized in it" philosophy.

EricW.
 
bz5 said:
I suspect they wouldn’t feel the need for the “re-baptisms” if they had the sacrament of confession.
Click to expand...
I suspect that it is more than this. As Constantine pointed out, since some Protestants don’t view Catholic baptism to be valid, it is not really a “re-baptism” from their point of view. However, even if it was, I suspect there is psychological reasons for wanting a new baptism. Even though I am Protestant, I got baptized at a relatively young age (when I was 4). And I had no idea what baptism meant, even though I could parrot the answers for the questions my pastor asked me. As an adult, I sometimes wish that I could get baptized again now that I know what the sacrament means.
 
catholicsrock75 said:
thank you for all your (name removed by moderator)ut. there is much blame on my part in regards to his lack of appeal or interest on our holy catholic c. my wife and i did not practice our faith till about 3 yrs ago. iam very concern with him wanting to leave the church. but i think in a way god has a very special plan for him. he loves god, he loves to volunteer, he loves to read scripture he does not understand it, but i give him credit he reads it. we discuss it often but he has several friends that are protestants on school so he feels comfortable with them perhaps. so he prefers to be with them. this is a fight that i will continue to fight, but in a way i dont know if i should do much to retain him because i as heard once scott hahn say. the best Catholics are being formed on the protestant churches and so are the best priests that we have. so i can see my son he perhaps is being call to be a priest and perhaps god is going to allow him to try the protestant faith so that when he is ready to become catholic again he will have much more to teach and do for others. thank you all for your prayers they are certainly welcome and much need it.
Click to expand...
Don’t fight with him but continue to be there for him and discuss with him.

The best thing you can do to witness to the value and truth of the Catholic faith is to become the best Christian you can. When the world is raging, when society is imploding, and when the media is in a frenzy, he will see you calm and at peace. This will amaze him, and he will ask you how you can be so calm when the rest of the world is freaking out. You will calmly answer what you have been telling him for years, that you have the real presence of Christ and the sacraments, and that you have been trying to tell that to him for years.

The point is that he may have to leave the faith to come back to it. It is his walk, on God’s time. He may not come back until after both of us are long dead. We have to trust God and keep bearing witness through the spirit of peace and willingness to love those whom society throws in the garbage. This will amaze him, and it will be like a magnet.

-Tim-
 
catholicsrock75 said:
hello guys,

i have a question, where can i find info on why i baptized catholic cannot be re-baptized as a protestant christian. im in a heated debate with my 17 yr old stepson. he is convinced that catholics are not true christians. ( his words ) so when he is 18 and out of my house he wants to be re-baptized as a christian. i know its a sin to do so and i saw some stuff about this in the past somewhere but i cannot locate info. im hopping to find answers in scripture for him and his soon to be pastor.

thank you.
Click to expand...
He’s been “branded,” as have all of us:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_act_of_defection_from_the_Catholic_Church
 
What kind of denomination is it? Sounds to me like it is more an issue of not believing in infant baptism than anything else. I say this because I was baptized by a priest because I was very ill at the time I was born but my conservative (and not too keen on Catholicism) Lutheran church had no issue with my baptism.

I would point to the verse where Christ commands the apostles to baptize all nations. I believe if Christ did not want infants to be baptized, he would have specified such.
 
There is something I don’t understand here. I was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. Just before graduating from high school, I was inspired to become a Catholic. I accomplished this in 1943. 3 things were required. 1) I had to kneel at the Communion railing and renounce the heresy of Luther according to a statement that I spoke aloud and then signed. 2) I was baptized at the church’s baptismal font 3) I immediately then had to go to confession. Why did I have to do all this to join? PS-I’m still a loyal and obedient Catholic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top