Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill W. Gripp) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Validity of Baptism Message-ID: Date: 30 Oct 90 05:26:29 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Bank of New York Lines: 41 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [According to what I've heard before (and the Catholic Encyclopedia) Catholics authorize baptism even by non-Christians in emergency situations. Episcopaleans seem to allow emergency baptism, but based on comments here I assume they restrict it to Christians. Most Protestant groups consider emergency baptism to be superstitious, and do not permit baptism except by pastors. However (aside from the immersion issue) all of these churches accept each other's baptisms, so as far as I know Protestant churches would not rebaptize a Catholic who had been baptized by a non-Christian, as long as that person had been considered a baptized member of the Catholic Church. --clh] From my experience, many Protestant denominations only recognize a baptism to be "valid" after one has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. It is considered symbolic of the old man dying and the rebirth as a new creation in Christ. This being the case, a person who is a baptised member of a church, Catholic, Protestant, or any others, but who does not profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ would receive a recommendation to be "rebaptised". Baptism is not considered necessary for salvation (as it is in for example the Catholic Church), but an outward profession of faith, a public declaration if you will. Striving to serve HIM, Bill Gripp [Right. I should have said 'aside from the immersion and "believer's baptism" issues'. They tend to go together, which probably led to my failure to mention both. As to believer's baptism, as you probably know by now, there is a subtle difference in what baptism symbolizes for groups that practice infant baptism vs. those that do not. Those that insist on believer's baptism intend baptism to symbolize our decision for God. Those who practice infant baptism intend it to symbolize God's decision for us. Since God chooses us before we are ready to respond, some consider it perfectly appropriate to symbolize God's call to us by baptizing people from the beginning. Baptism symbolizes a person's entry into the Church. Christ is clear that children are part of his Church. In practice it's probably good for both customs to exist, as they each emphasize an important aspect of our faith. --clh]