Baptism

The baptism of Christ (1568), right panel Modena TriptychGreco's work. Estense Gallery, Modena.

Baptism of Saint Francis of Assisi, from Antonio del Castillo and Saavedra, oil on canvas, 196 x 248 cm, Museo de Bellas Artes de Córdoba.

The baptism (romanization, baptó or baptizó; meaning: '"wash" or "immerse") is a rite of adoption and admission to Christianity almost invariably associated with water use.

For different Christian Churches such as the Catholic, Orthodox, some historic Protestants such as the Anglican, among others, baptism is considered a sacrament. For Anabaptists and Christian fundamentalists, for their part, it is considered an "ordinance of Christ".

Ways to administer baptism

Infant Baptism by Afusion in a Catholic Church in Venezuela

Baptism of the Believer by Immersion at Northolt Park Baptist Church, in Great London, Baptist Union of Great Britain

In general there are three ways to administer baptism:

• Baptism by immersion: it was the generalized primitive form, and pervive in the etymology of the word baptism itself.

• Baptism by ablution or shedding: it consists of water spilling over the head.

• Aspersion Baptism: it consists of splashing with water. This is a form used only by those Churches who practice baptism by ablution, when for some reason it is not possible to make a watershed.

The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and the Reformed Protestant Churches all baptize babies by ablution.

Baptism by immersion is often applied in Protestant Churches, such as Baptists and Evangelicals, as well as other Christian denominations, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is also practiced in the Orthodox Church and to a lesser extent within the Catholic Church.

From the first Council of Nicaea (325 AD), the ceremony (act) of immersion or ablution is obligatorily triple, and the rite (words) of baptism itself, focuses on the invocation of the Trinity over the person to be baptized (candidate or baptizing), with variants according to the rite of each Church:

"The servant of God (name...) is baptized in the name of the Father, Amen, and of the Son, Amen, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen", as an example of the Byzantine rite of the Orthodox and other Eastern Churches.

«(Name...), I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.", is the basic example of Western Christianity and the Orthodox Church.

Some Protestant churches apply baptism only with the formula "In the name of Jesus." This is a theological discussion point that has to do with the concept of whether or not they believe in the Trinity.

Theology of the Sacrament (Catholic)

Institution

Immersion in water was practiced for legal purification. The Essenes practiced this type of purifying ablution which, for them, was also moral, as their ritual pools at Qumram have been able to demonstrate.

Among the Pharisees of the I century, the custom of immersing proselytes in water after circumcision spread, a rite that it implied the ability of the neophyte to access the sacrifices and participate in the worship of the Temple.

John the Baptist assumed this rite giving it the meaning of means for conversion (cf. Mk 1 4) and purification from sin. This implied that the temple was no longer the only place for obtaining atonement.

Both the writers of the New Testament and some Fathers of the Church discover in the Old Testament some figures, prototypes, pictures, symbolisms or types of baptism:

• The waters upon which the Holy Spirit arose (cf. Gn 1:2)
• The water of the ark of Noah (cf. 1 P 3:20-21)
• Circumcision (cf. Col 2:11-12)
• The Pass of the Red Sea (cf. 1 Cor 10:2)
• The healing of the leper Naaman for bathing in the Jordan reservoir (2 Kings 5:14)

The Catholic Church considers the baptism administered by John the Baptist as an immediate prefiguration of what it considers a sacrament. According to the Gospel, the Baptist was aware that the rite he was performing was an announcement of what he would come from (cf. Mc 18). Jesus not only submitted to John's baptism, but also called his passion and death "baptism" (Mk 10:38 and parallels).

The Council of Trent declared that the baptism of Christ was different from that of John. And in the Lamentabili decree, the Holy Office clarified that the sacrament of baptism cannot be considered as an evolved rite of those used by religions ancient or by Judaism.

Development of the rite

The New Testament speaks of immersion in water, accompanied by a few words and which requires the faith of the baptizing party (cf. Acts 8 36-37). However, there were theologians in the first centuries who denied the need for water or baptism. Irenaeus wrote against them in his work & # 39; Adversus Haereses & # 39; I: 21) and Tertullian in his work & # 39; De Baptismo & # 39; I). But the clearest expression is in Augustine: «What is baptism? It is an ablution of water with the word. Remove the water and there is no baptism" (Commentary on the Gospel of John Treatise 15:4).

In the Didache (chapter VII) there is talk of a celebration with immersion in water, but also of a rite by which water was poured three times over the head of the neophyte. Hippolytus speaks of a celebration that followed the catechumenate and that after prayers, questions and exorcisms, subjected the candidate to immersion in water. However, it is unlikely that even in the early Church there were cases of baptism by immersion alone. If according to the Acts of the Apostles, after Peter's preaching there were three thousand people who were baptized, it is very difficult to think that all of them have thrown themselves into the water.

According to Cipriano, some patients were surely baptized by sprinkling or infusion (pouring water on the person being baptized, generally on the head).

Thus, with the passage of time, baptism by immersion was gradually abandoned (due to the custom of baptizing children as soon as possible) and sprinkling was used very little given the doubts about the effective ablution. The 1983 Code of Canon Law indicates that baptism must be administered by immersion or infusion, in accordance with the norms established by each Episcopal Conference (cf. no. 854).

Theological Elements

Although the terminology, distinguishing the matter and the form of the sacrament, has been abandoned by the Catechism of John Paul II, it is still useful to describe the various elements that concur for the validity of the sacrament:

Matter

The remote matter of the sacrament of baptism is true and natural water, and it does not matter if it is cold or hot. It symbolizes regeneration to spiritual life because it is the beginning of natural life. It indicates purification and new life. The water used in the celebration of the sacrament must be blessed or blessed during the rite. The next matter with three modalities that are considered valid: immersion, spilling and sprinkling.

Shape

In the West the form is "I baptize you in the name...". In the East, on the other hand, and wanting to underline the effectiveness of the independent sacrament of the minister, the following is used: «The servant of God, he is baptized...». It was also discussed whether it was necessary to mention the Trinity or whether it was enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus. The Council of Florence of 1439, like the Council of Trent, declared the need for the trinitarian formula, taking into account the words of Jesus: «... And baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit».

It is noteworthy that in recent times clergy have been seen within the Catholic Church who innovated with other baptismal forms and who have come to question the validity with which the sacrament was administered. A recent case was observed with the Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of February 1, 2008, in which it was declared that the baptisms administered under the formula «I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier” (I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Redeemer, and of the Sanctifier) and “I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer” (I baptize you in the name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer) are absolutely invalid and that in such cases it must be administered the sacrament with the traditional trinitarian formula.

It is the responsibility of the parents, the godparents and the minister that a proper name of Christian feeling is imposed on the baptizing person.

Minister

As for the minister of the sacrament, ordinary ministers are considered to be the bishop, the priest and the deacon. If the ordinary minister is prevented for any reason, the catechist or another appointed for this function can administer it. However, in case of need, anyone can do it, as long as with this rite they want to fulfill what the Church wants through it. The code of canon law recommends that the parish priest offer the bishop the possibility of baptizing adults over the age of fourteen.

Subject

Anyone can access baptism. In the case of being an adult, he must express his desire to receive baptism and have previously been instructed about the Christian faith and the obligations that he undertakes, through a period of catechumenate.

Infant baptism is a very old practice in the Catholic Church and is textually confirmed in writings from the II century in ahead of authors such as Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen, Hippolytus of Rome, Cyprian of Carthage, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and Saint Augustine of Hippo. Those who question it also tend to question the theology of original sin. However, the baptism of children who are children of non-Christians is usually not allowed unless they request it or the child is in danger of death. The 1983 code of canon law (canon 868) also indicates the following conditions for the baptism of children:

• The consent of the parents or at least one of them (or of those who do the times of parents)
• The well-founded hope that the baptizing will be educated in the Catholic religion. If this is not given, it must be different to explain the difficulty to parents.

Godparents

Normally a godparent is given to the baptized. Its function is to assist the adult being baptized in his Christian initiation, and, when the person who is going to be baptized is a child, to present him together with the parents and ensure that he later leads a Christian life consistent with baptism and faithfully fulfills the inherent obligations. to the same.

The minimum age to be a sponsor is 16 years old. He must be Catholic, have received the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confirmation, and lead a life in accordance with the Christian faith.

Effects

The effects of the sacrament according to Catholic theology are: the forgiveness of sins (original sin is forgiven, all personal sins and temporal punishments deserved for them), the union with Christ given by the sacramental character, the gift of the Holy Spirit, being an adoptive son of God the Father and integrating him as a member of the Church.

In addition to this, in the Primitive Church, Irenaeus of Lyons expresses that the New Birth is an effect of baptism, and Hippolytus of Rome, Cyprian of Carthage, and even Luke the Evangelist, relates receiving the Gift of Holy Spirit to the sacrament of Confirmation or Chrism, although Chrism or Confirmation was closely related to baptism.

Theology of the initiation rite (in the Reformation)

Baptism in a Lutheran Church in Brazil.

The Reformation involved a different idea of sacraments (since for Luther and his followers they do not effectively produce grace). Hence, the denominations dependent on it were progressively moving away from the practice of child baptism and were giving progressive importance to the celebration as a rite of initiation. The following reflections are given within the Reformation:

• Martin Luther (Wittenberg, Germany, 1520): Baptism makes forgiveness of sins, redeeming death and evil, gives eternal salvation and divine grace. Luther maintains infant baptism: "We also teach that children should be baptized and that by this Baptism they are offered to God and receive the grace of God." Salvation would be in the Word of God that is in the water and united to it.
• Ulrico Zuinglio (Zurich, Switzerland, 1523): rejects baptism to attain salvation. Salvation is given before baptism, which is only a symbol.
• Juan Calvino (Geneva, Switzerland, 1564): rejects the baptism of Zuinglio and that of Martin Luther. Baptism is a normal means of salvation, but it is not necessary. Faith is more important than baptism^{[chuckles]required]}
• Anabaptists (Zúrich, Switzerland, 1525): with Zuinglio's ideas. They rebaptized people by pouring water as an external symbol of salvation previously received by faith and opposed infant baptism, applying it only to adults.

Since 1608, Christian denominations originating from the Reformation emerged that emphasized baptism in a special way. These are the so-called Baptist Churches. The only Protestant denominations that maintain infant baptism are Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, Moravian, United Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, and Metropolitan Community Church, the rest do the same. adult baptism.

In evangelical churches adhering to the doctrine of the church of believers, believer's baptism is reserved for adult believers by immersion in water, after a new birth. For babies, there is a ceremony called child presentation.

Other senses

In colloquial language

As in the baptism ceremony the name of the child is chosen, the concept of "baptize" or "baptism" has taken by extension the meaning of naming something. In this way, one can speak, for example, to name a ship or a building. It can also refer to "a first time", for example, the first time you enter combat (baptism by fire) or the first wound you receive in combat (baptism of blood).

Civil baptism

In some countries there is a civil ceremony to welcome the newborn known by various names such as civil foster care, civil sponsorship, civil baptism, civil naming ceremony, or republican baptism (the latter for having been established in France shortly after the French Revolution).

It is a secular alternative to the traditional Catholic sacrament, and as such is devoid of any religious overtones.