I’m curious about the ‘entrance requirements’ for non-Catholic faith traditions.
I was raised in the Churches of Christ. Entrance into “The Church” (yes, they use that term, too) required baptism. When someone wanted to be baptized, a short study was initiated involving topical Bible passages and a discussion of how crucial baptism is to salvation (rather simple topic; easy to grasp). This lasted a few minutes to a few hours. Once consent was announced by the inquirer, baptism followed as soon as humanly possible; day or night, it didn’t matter. Baptism was that important.
While I’m painfully aware of the entrance process used by the Catholic Church, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of what other Christian-based faith traditions require. Please share.
As you may know, the initiation rites of the Catholic Church are very different from many other Protestant denominations’ approach. Still, not all have a simple few hours of prep before baptism. The closer a Protestant ecclesial body is to the Catholic Church, the more they generally tend to have a fuller, longer initiation process. Protestant bodies differ so widely from one another, and what they consider vital differs so greatly, that comparisons aren’t really possible.
RCIA ought not be to “painful” for anyone. I came into it very well informed, in many ways, more so than many others since I had a B. A. in Bible from an Assemblies of God Bible college. However, when it came to Church history, I was quite ignorant, and soaked up everything I learned about it in the RCIA process. I was grateful for the time to study more and be integrated into a body/community, for becoming Catholic isn’t merely about individual salvation, but it’s about becoming one with the Body of Christ, which entails the local parish, the wider Catholic community, as well as the Communion of Saints. Indeed, many a candidate/catechumen has said that they wished their RCIA would have included much more than they experienced.
As to the importance of the Sacraments of Initiation, of course they are vitally important, but they shouldn’t be rushed on that account. Those who are in the process of being accepted into the Church through baptism are not in danger of losing their salvation if they should die before receiving water baptism. They come under the baptism of desire, as noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1259 For catechumens who die before their Baptism, their explicit desire to receive it, together with repentance for their sins, and charity, assures them the salvation that they were not able to receive through the sacrament.
And as important as confirmation is, it’s not necessary for salvation, so receiving good and proper instruction before receiving it is no hindrance to anyone’s eternal happiness.
Some people do undergo a short, simple process of being instructed and received into the Church, but they usually have a very solid background in Church teachings, history, etc., and know pretty much what they are committing themselves to. Most people don’t have those advantages, and so need, in all fairness to them, to know what they are expected to believe/do as Catholics and how they will fit into the Body of Christ as full members of that Body.
