Questioning Baptism

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The following is a list of questions I’ve gathered over the years that have most challenged my Protestant theology regarding the baptism. Specifically both salvific and infant baptism. Please contribute your own questions, and for Protestants, please add another line of questions that lead toward your understanding of baptism.
Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
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  1. *] What is the significance of baptism?
    *] Does baptism play any role in salvation?
    *] What Bible verse(s) communicate a mere symbolic baptism?
    *] What Bible verse(s) reject or oppose a more efficacious understanding of baptism?
    *] What Bible verse(s) prohibit the baptism of infants?
    *] On several occasions in the New Testament, it is recorded that an individual and his whole household were baptized. What Bible verse(s) indicate that this did not include small children?
    *] What Bible verse(s) clarify Jesus’ teaching and exclude small children from the Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt 28:19)?
    *] With circumcision, it was the faith of the parents that decided the fate of their children. What Bible verse(s) communicate that this changes in the New Testament?
    *] What does Paul connect with circumcision in the New Testament? (Col 2:11-13)
    *] What was the significance of circumcision according to Paul? (Rom 4:11; Gal 3:14,29)
    *] What is the significance of baptism according to Paul?
    *] Do infants have souls worthy of salvation?
    *] What historical evidence (Early Church Fathers, creeds, councils, etc.) is there for the early Church operating under the doctrine of “believers’ baptism only”?
    *] When was the baptizing of infants first questioned?
    *] What did the first Protestants believe about infant baptism?
    *] Is there unity today among Protestants (or even just Evangelicals) about infant baptism?
    *] Is rejection of infant baptism essential for salvation?
    *] Does belief in infant baptism disqualify one from God’s saving grace?
 
ryanmac said:
The following is a list of questions I’ve gathered over the years that have most challenged my Protestant theology regarding the baptism. Specifically both salvific and infant baptism. Please contribute your own questions, and for Protestants, please add another line of questions that lead toward your understanding of baptism.


  1. *] -
    *] Does baptism play any role in salvation?
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  1. At the time of baptism, sins are forgiven.

    Acts 22:16 ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

    You’d never say this to an unbeliever. So Paul was already a believer (Damascus road conversion)…and was told not to delay, to get up and be baptized and wash away his sins…calling on Jesus’ name.

    When I was protestant, I was told all of my sins were forgiven at the time I believed, and that baptism was just a symbol. But here, we see that the sins are forgiven during baptism.

    (I was an evangelical for decades…I just returned to the Catholic Church last month!)

    God bless you!
    -BHM
 
ryanmac said:
*] What did the first Protestants believe about infant baptism?

I’m not sure about infant baptism, but this is what Martin Luther said about baptism -

“Baptism is no human plaything but is instituted by God himself. Moreover, it is solemnly and strictly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. We are not to regard it as an indifferent matter, then, like putting on a new red coat. It is of the greatest importance that we regard baptism as excellent, glorious, and exalted” (Large Catechism 4:6).
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Thanks everyone. I probably should’ve been more clear in my first post. Rather than answers, I’m more interested in questions that lead to the Catholic understanding of baptism.

On the other hand, I would also be interested in a series of questions that lead to the Protestant understanding of baptism as well.
 
ryanmac said:
Thanks everyone. I probably should’ve been more clear in my first post. Rather than answers, I’m more interested in questions that lead to the Catholic understanding of baptism.

On the other hand, I would also be interested in a series of questions that lead to the Protestant understanding of baptism as well.
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So it’s like jeopardy! (:

I’m not sure if I or anybody else on the forum will be able to contribute too much compared with the list you already have, but I’ll give it a shot from the Catholic perspective.

Aren’t old testament types supposed to point to new testament realities?
For instance, Moses, Joshua, and David point to a reality in Jesus. In some protestant’s understanding, circumcision points to a a symbolic entrance into the church at baptism, or Noah’s flood points to a symbolic cleansing and rebirth at baptism (or, to cheat and talk about the Eucharist in this baptism thread, a symbol of Jesus in the lamb, points to the symbol of Jesus in the bread and wine.)

More succinctly stated, shouldn’t the new testament realization exceed the old testament type?
 
The best pure scriptural case of baptism I have seen is here:
scripturecatholic.com/baptism.html#baptism-II

This is very cleverly and thoroughly put together and assumes and anticipates every conceivable standard Protestant objection to Baptism and uses scripture to present the Catholic case in a way that no so called bible Christian could ever remain in Protest to the Catholic Position for water baptism and infant baptism without admitting that sola Scriptura is utterly false or that their non-Catholic belief is completely totally arbitrary.

James
 
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