My Baptism Essay

The Sacrament of Baptism is often c each(prenominal)ed The door of the church service, because it is the first of the s evening sacraments non only in time (since most Catholics receive it as infants) except in priority, since the reception of the other sacraments depends on it. It is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation, the other two being the Sacrament of Confirmation and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Once calld, a individual be discerns a member of the Church. Traditionally, the gentles Supper (or ceremony) of baptism was held outside the doors of the main part of the church, to signify this f personation.The Necessity of Baptism the Naz arne Himself ordered His disciples to preach the Gospel to all nations and to baptize those who feature the message of the Gospel. In His encounter with Nicodemus ( can 31-21), Christ made it clear that baptism was necessary for buyback Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born(p) again of water and the Holy Ghost, h e can non enter into the kingdom of matinee idol. For Catholics, the sacrament is not a mere formality it is the precise mark of a Christian, because it bring downs us into raw spiritedness in Christ. Baptism of DesireThat doesnt mean that only those who confuse been formally baptise can be saved. From very early on, the Church recognized that there are two other types of baptism besides the baptism of water. The baptism of desire applies both to those who, while wishing to be baptise, die before receiving the sacrament and Those who, by dint of no fault of their own, do not k at present the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, move by bedeck, try in their actions to do His will as they know it by dint of the dictates of conscience (Constitution on the Church, Second Vatican Council).Baptism of Blood The baptism of blood is similar to the baptism of desire. It boots to the calvary of those mootrs who were killed fo r the assurance before they had a chance to be call. This was a common occurrence in the early centuries of the Church, but also in later generation in missionary lands. The baptism of blood has the same effects as the baptism of water. The Form of the Sacrament of BaptismWhile the Church has an extended rite of Baptism which is normally celebrated, which includes roles for both parents and godparents, the essentials of that rite are two the pouring of water over the head of the person to be baptized (or the immersion of the person in water) and the records I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the parole, and of the Holy Spirit. The Minister of the Sacrament of Baptism Since the form of baptism requires just the water and the words, the sacrament, resembling the Sacrament of Marriage, does not require a priest whatsoever baptized person can baptize another.In fact, when the life of a person is in danger, even a non-baptized personincluding some matchless who does not himself cerebrate in Christcan baptize, provided that the person performing the baptism follows the form of baptism and intends, by the baptism, to do what the Church doesin other words, to bring the person being baptized into the copiousness of the Church. Infant Baptism In the Catholic Church to mean solar day, baptism is most commonly administered to infants.While some other Christians strenuously object to infant baptism, believing that baptism requires submit on the part of the person being baptized, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, and other mainline Protestants also practice infant baptism, and there is evidence that it was practiced from the earliest old age of the Church. Since baptism removes both the guilt and the punishment due(p) to Original Sin, delaying baptism until a child can to a lower placestand the sacrament may put the childs salvation in danger, should he die un-baptized. Adult BaptismAdult converts to Catholicism also receive the sacramen t, unless they have already received a Christian baptism. (If there is any(prenominal) doubt about whether an adult has already been baptized, the priest will perform a conditional baptism. ) A person can only be baptized once as a Christianif, say, he was baptized as a Lutheran, he cannot be rebaptized when he converts to Catholicism. While an adult can be baptized after proper instruction in the Faith, adult baptism normally occurs today as part of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and is immediately followed by Confirmation and Communion. The Effects of the Sacrament of BaptismBaptism has six primary effects, which are all supernatural graces 1. The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves). 2. The remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and eternal (the pun ishment that we would suffer in hell). 3. The infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us) the seven demos of the Holy Spirit and the three theological virtues. 4. Becoming a part of Christ. 5.Becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth. 6. Enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers, and the growth in grace. Question What is Baptism? Christian denominations differ widely on their teachings about baptism. Some believe baptism accomplishes the washing away of sin. Others consider baptism a form of exorcism from evil spirits. Still others teach that baptism is an important step of obedience in the believers life, yet only an acknowledgment of the salvation project already accomplished baptism itself has no power to cleanse or save from sin.The following takes a carry at the latter perspective called Believers Baptism Answer A general definition for the word baptism is a rite of washin g with water as a sign of religious purification and consecration. This rite was practiced frequently in the Old Testament. It signified purity or cleansing from sin and awe to God. Since baptism was first instituted in the Old Testament many a(prenominal) have practiced it as a tradition yet have not fully still its significance and meaning. In the overbold Testament, the significance of baptism is seen more clearly.John the Baptist was sent by God to spread the news of the coming MessiahJesus Christ. John was directed by God (John 133) to baptize those who accepted his message. Johns baptizing is called a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 14 (NIV). Those baptized by John acknowledged their sins and professed their faith that through the coming Messiah they would be forgiven. Baptism indeed is significant in that it represents the forgiveness and cleansing from sin that comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Purpose of Baptism Water Baptism i dentifies the believer with the Godhead Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 2819 (NIV) Water Baptism identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. When you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedurethe cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized.And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the right on power of God, who raised Christ from the out of work. Colossians 211-12 (NLT) We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the renown of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 64 (NIV) Water Baptism is an act of obedience for the believer. It should be preceded by repentance, which plainly content change. It is lift ing from our sin and selfishness to serve the Lord. It means placing our pride, our past and all of our possessions before the Lord.It is giving the control of our lives over to Him. ray of light replied, Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who believed what Peter tell were baptized and added to the churchabout three thousand in all. Acts 238, 41 (NLT) Water Baptism is a public testimony the outward confession of an inwards experience. In baptism, we stand before witnesses confessing our identification with the Lord. Water Baptism is a picture representing profound spiritual truthDeath I have been crucified with Christ and I no greater live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 220 (NIV) Resurrection We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life. If we have been fall in with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. Romans 64-5 (NIV) He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live do not give in to its obscene desires. Do not let any part of your body belong a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. Romans 610-13 (NLT) Cleansing And this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I Peter 321 (NIV) But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. I Corinthians 611 (NIV) Questions On Baptism Friday, October 10, 2003 national Greetings Initiation of a non-Christian into the Roman Catholic Church is celebrated in a Rite called baptism. In this rite, a person is either immersed in water, or sprinkled with water by another Christian who says, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. What makes a baptism valid? Baptism is valid so long as water was used with the Trinitarian formula (See Mt 2819 for the Trinitarian formula, and John 35 for the necessity of water). In an emergency, even tears or spit could be used where running water is not present. Catholics believe that all people who have received water baptism in the Trinitarian formula are enigmatically united to the Church, and indwelt with the grace of Jesus Christ. What is grace? Grace is Gods favor, and more than this, it is the very life of God within a person through the Holy Spirit.With grace, three dispositions, or virtues are infused in the soul faith, hope and love. God cannot co-exist with sin, and when we turn away from God, we can sin so badly as to cut off this flow of divine life within us. Catholics call this mortal sin, referring to the concept of deadly sin we find in 1 John 517. Yet, even when we sin mortally, the Council of Trent states that faith lingers in the soul to draw us back to Christ. Only blasphemy of the Holy Spirit an on-going and deliberate rejection of the free gift of grace can damn us.We can trust teh whizz who started the work of salvation in us through baptism to bring it to completion. Is Baptism necessary for salvation? The Second Vatican Council affirms that the grace of baptism is necessary for salvation. Yet, the Council speaks of salvation outside, but not apart from the Church. Catholics believe that the grace of baptism is given through the rite itself, but is also provided to those who, through no fault of their own, have either never heard the Gospel, or heard the Gospel in a distorted dash so that they were unable to accept it.Many theologians (myself included) argue that anyone who has not actively rejected the Gospel as properly understood may be under the saving grace of baptismal grace. The Church has eternally maintained that the Old Testament prophets are counted among the saints in heaven. The Council of Trent affirmed that even prior to baptism, a grace called prevenient grace draws a person to baptism. Furthermore, the Church always taught that there is such a thing as baptism by desire. Traditionally, baptism of desire was used to refer to martyrs who were murdered while preparing for the rite of baptism.These various doctrines have lead theologians to the conclusion that there is saving grace available without strictly receiving water baptism. Yet, for a believer i n Jesus Christ, it would make no sense to reject water baptism, since Christ himself was baptized and taught his disciples to baptize. In the early church, baptism was a public witness to proper a Christian, and often a person was placing their life on the line by receiving the sacrament. To reject water baptism and claim to believe in Jesus is a contradiction, and in this sense, baptism is necessary for all believers.However, knowing that prevenient grace draws the sinner to the sacrament, many theologians today argue that there are two types of saving faith, and one depends on the other. Primordial faith is a trust in a vague and fuzzy awareness of divine holy mystery and openess to transcendant experience that goes beyond language. This faith is what begins the salvation process in us, and it is this grace that is spoken of when we say the grace of baptism is necessary for salvation. Many theologians since Karl Rahner argue that we are all born with the gift of such grace, even as we are all effected by original sin.If we resolve to this grace, we seek language to describe the experience, and primordial faith is then translated into fiducial faith, which is the belief in a particular creed, doctrine, and set of religious practices. For the Catholic Christian, fiducial faith expresses itself and becomes actualized in cooperation with Christ through the sacraments. However, the non-Catholic may very well be saved by fiducial faith expressing primordial faith in a different cultural context. Who performs a baptism?Typically, a baptism is performed by a priests, but in an emergency, any Christian who has already received baptism can perform the rite. Catholics recognize the baptisms of other Christian demonimations as valid, so long as water was used, and the Trinitarian formula was followed. Catholics consider the rite of baptism to be a sacrament. Sacraments are outward signs of internal grace instituted by Christ and preserved in the Apostolic tradition. C atholics believe that Christ, himself, acts in each sacrament, so that even if a sacramental rite is performed by the worst sinner, the sacrament is valid.How often can baptism be received? Because it is the first step of initiation, baptism is only received one time in life, and Catholics do not believe anyone who has received a valid baptism inevitably to repeat it, even if the rite was performed before a person was fully mature, or the rite was by an imperfect person, or in a trend that was hasty or sloppy. Indeed, Catholics see it as a lack of faith to repeat baptism. At the same time, Catholics do bless themselves with holy water as they enter a church as a constant reminder of baptism.What are the effects of baptism? Perhaps the effects of baptism are best understood by looking at the symbolic meaning of the rite. Water is a natural symbol of birth, life, and cleanliness. It symbolizes birth as a mothers water is broken. It symbolizes life as we need it for nourishment. It s ymbolizes cleanliness as we bathe daily with water. Water also symbolizes death, as we can drown in water. In Judaism, ritual baths and purifications symbolized that we were making ourselves presentable to God, the most high and most holy and pure being of all.According to the New Testament, the baptism of John, who preceded Jesus was a baptism of repentance. The word for repentance in Greek means transformation, and is rooted in the notion of turning a stiff neck. John seemed to use water baptism as a symbolic action to convey the notion of the hope to one day be immersed in the Spirit to be cleansed from sin to live a new life. Johns discussion was eschatological and forward looking, and painted a picture of cosmic conflict between good and evil. Johns baptism looked for the day when the Spirit would be poured forth like a river on the people to produce a change of heart.Jesus received the baptism of John, and many Bible scholars point to this incidence as evidence of a historica l person named Jesus. According to the criteria of embarrassment, the early church would have no reason to invent this encounter, since the action implies John is greater than Jesus and that Jesus essential to repent. Many believers in Christianity are raised to believe that Jesus was baptized by John in order to provide us an example. However, this oversimplifies the issue, and implies that Jesus was shrink from acting. Even a perfect person can and would have turning points in life if that person is fully human.A conversion experience does not always involve turning from sin to virtue. Rather, like a moth becoming a butterfly, a conversion experience can be growth from one stage of human development to another. The New Testament is clear that Jesus grew as a human person (See Luke 240). By receiving the baptism of John, Jesus reveals that he has fully entered the human condition. Like us, in his humanity, he longed to be immersed in the Holy Spirit and to grow and change. John p reached that there would be one who come after him who would baptize with fire and Spirit.Having received the baptism of John, the growth or conversion that Jesus displayed was to begin to live as though the fullness of Gods decree was breaking into our world here and now, already present, but not fully present yet There is some evidence in the New Testament that Jesus continued the ministry of baptism after John, and may have even rivaled John for a period (See John 41). However, where John was an ascetic preaching hell-fire and brimstone, Jesus preached that the reign of God was breaking in through mercy upon the marignalized. It is not that Jesus made no mention of hell.However, when he does mention hell, it is always in the context of the rigidly unforgiving, or those who commit heinous sins that hurt other people. For Jesus, it appears that baptism was transformed from a symbolic act that looked forward to a day of immersion in the Spirit, to a symbolic rite that made the Spir it present. In Jesus and his disciples, baptism truly became a rite of initiation for those who choose in the here and now to live in the reign of god breaking into our reality. By accepting the baptism of Jesus, one was chosing to live here and now as though God is your only king, and to trive for perfection. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, baptism took on new meaning. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Saint Paul called baptism an immersion in the death and resurrection of the Lord (See Romans 64 and Colossians 212). The author of 1 Peter refers to baptism as a cleansing. With Saint Augustine int he fourth century, the emphasis on the notion of baptism as cleansing became critical in his debates with a monk named Pelegius. Pelegius believed that Christ saved us by offerring an example of perfection that we chose to follow by our own infixed goodness.Those who rejected Christ and refuse to imitate him are simply evil. Pelegius taught a crass works righteous ness. Augustine, profoundly aware of his own sinfulness, countered that he could not even want to follow Christ if God had not given him the gift to desire Christ. Augustine, relying on Saint Paul, believed that we are saved by grace, and that grace enables us to imitate Christ. Augustine developed the concept of original sin to explain what he felt Paul was saying when Paul says all people are sinners due to Adams sin (see Romans 512).Augustine argued that grace is a completely free gift given to us while we are sinners, and through the gift, we are made righteous, with baptism symbolizing cleanliness and new birth. As a demonstration that he was interpreting the Scriptures correctly, Augustine wrote to Pelegius appealing to common tradition asking if what he was saying were not true, why does the Church baptize infants? So, the effect of baptism is that we die to our sinful selves to rise with him. Grace, the very life of Christ, is infused in the soul by the one who lives today T his new life is experienced as rebirth in water and Spirit.We are immersed int eh Holy Spirit so that live as sons of daughters of the great King of the universe, whose reign of peace and justice is breaking into the world through Christ acting in us. Why do Catholics baptize infants? Acts 10 speaks of the entire family of Cornelius, and the whole household, including his servants, receiving Peter and the Apostles to eventually become baptized. Catholics believe that the episode indicates the possibility that children were baptized within the New Testament period, since it is likely that Cornelius had children.Yet, there is no direct and unquestionable produce that infants were baptized in the New Testament. Many Protestant Christians argue that the symbolism of conversion and change is lost by performing baptism on infants, and that such batisms should be considered invalid. Catholics believe that in the early church, adult baptism was the norm as the Church reached out to new mem bers. However, we saw to a higher place that Saint Augustine argued against the works righteousness of Pelegius by appealing to the already wide-spread and ancient tradition of infant baptism.Infant baptism may or may not not perfectly allow the recipient to experience grace as conversion. Yet, Catholics accept in faith that conversion is occurring even in the infant. For many Catholics, infant baptism is a response of gratitude to God for a child, and a celebration of birth. Parents naturally want to share their faith and culture with their children. As a rite of intitiation, baptism knits a person into that web of relationships that forms the Church the Body of Christ. What Christian parent would not seek to have their child knit into this web of relationships?On a deeper theological level, Catholics speak of a real transformation fetching place in the infant where all guilt of original sin is removed, and grace is infused in the soul conforming the child to Christ. Through bap tism, a person is born again, and the effects of the sacraments last eternally By offering the rite to an infant, we are emphasizing that grace is an absolutely free gift, not even realize by our desire for conversion or our intellectual undertsanding of what we receive. This may confuse many Protestants, who believe that Catholics teach works righteousness.The Catholic Church holds as infallible, fit to Scripture, the local council of Orange, and the Ecumenical Council of Trent that salvation is by grace completely. However, Catholics believe that with new birth comes growth, and that with baptism, Christs life life is infused inthe soul to produce faith and works. Faith without works cannot save, and works without faith cannot save. Yet, the whole process of salvation is initiated as a free gift of Christ. See my essay Justification Protestant or Catholic for more detail on this subject.In the New Testament, Paul speaks of laying hands on people after baptism, and James speaks of annointing people. The word Christ literally means annointed. Catholics generally believe that in the sacrament of confirmation (laying on of hands and annointing), a person is confirmed in the faith. This reciprocal ohm sacrament completes initiation in the Catholic Church and is closely connected theologically to baptism, though separated by years in time for many Catholics. Adult converts receive the two sacraments together.This is usually done in young adulthood, and provides an opportunity for a similar experience to Protestant young adult conversion at baptism. Why do Catholics use the Trinitarian formula, and not the name of Jesus Personally, I am not sure that God considers the name of Jesus alone as an invalid baptism. However, there are denominations and churches separated from Rome who baptize in the name of Jesus only because they reject the doctrine of the Trinity. We saw above that the Trinitarian formula for baptism is Scriptural in Matthew 2819.We know from early Church writings that the Trinitarian formula was used from most ancient times, and the doctrine was accepted as the correct interpretation of scripture by the world-wide Church at several Ecumneical Councils. Thus, Catholics believe that the Trinitarian formula is revealed through Scripture and Sacred Tradition to be a if not the correct way to do baptism. Since the issue arose late historically, and was clear attempt to break the unity of the Church, Catholics do require a new baptism for those who touch base s from a community that did not use the Trinitarian formula. Why do Catholics sprinkle instead of immersing? Immersion is the proper way to do baptism to convey the full symbolism of the sacrament. Sprinkling in the early church was only used for emergencies, such as impending death. As the Church expanded into Northern Europe, it is passing probable that cold weather caused Christians to turn more often to sprinkling. Irish missionaries may have carried the practice back s outhward. The Church defends that baptism by sprinkling is valid.At teh same time, Vatican II called for a renewal and retrieval of the meaning of sacramental gestures so that the fullness of what was conveyed in the New Testament is mediated in the signs. I have seen more and more Catholic churches building baptismal fonts large enought to immerse an adult. In the future, I expect immersion to once again become the norm. One final point When John began baptizing, he warned his Jewish siblings that God could make children of Abraham from the stones. Receiving his baptism of repentence was useless if one was not changed by it.God always value our freedom, and we are always free to reject and act against the grace that is given us. We do this when we sin. Catholics believe that God initiates the salvation as an absolutely free and undeserved gift that can start in an infant. Catholics believe that Christ acts in the sacrament, so that we can never say that baptism does not have an e ffect. Christ promised to act in every valid baptism. Even Adolf Hitler (who was baptized Catholic) was changed by the sacrament. (Think how much worse he may have been if his life were never touched by grace Yet, knowing that every baptism has an effect on the recipient, and trusting individually that the One who died for me and began a work for me in baptism wants to bring it to completion, I must respond to him Johns warning to the children of Abraham is still true for Christians. We must, by Gods continued outpouring of grace, receive the Lordship of Christ and allow his will to material body our lives and continually change us. While baptism always has an effect, not everyone who has been bapized is absolutely assured slavation.