Believer's baptism
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Believer's baptism (also called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo meaning "I believe") is the Christian ritual of baptism given to adults and children who have made a declaration of their personal faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. It contrasts with infant baptism, or paedobaptism, from the Greek paido meaning "child", in which young children are baptised.
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[edit] Theology
Believer's baptism is sometimes held to have no salvific effect by adherents but is considered a public expression of faith and symbolically representative of the baptisand's own conscious conversion experience. Credobaptists believe that saving grace and church membership are gifts from God by the recipient's faith alone and cannot be imparted or transferred from one believer to another person (such as from parent to child) by sacraments such as baptism or by prayer. These tenets render infant baptism useless within their belief system.
[edit] Age of accountability
Believer's baptism is administered only to persons who have passed the age of accountability or reason, which is usually age 8-12, though differences in denominational practice (and in psychological development among children) can cause the age to be set higher or lower. Many developmentally challenged individuals never reach this stage regardless of age. Sometimes the pastor or church leader will determine the believer's understanding and conviction through personal interviews. In the case of a minor, parents' permission will also often be sought.
[edit] Comparison to liturgical tradition
Some suggest that believer's baptism combines two rites from the liturgical churches (the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, and Anglican Churches): confirmation and (infant) baptism.
In the liturgical church, it is generally held that (infant) baptism is the initiatory rite that believer's baptism also marks. Infant baptism differs from believer's baptism in that the baptisand is not making a profession of the faith for themselves. The liturgical traditions transfer this aspect of Christian life to confirmation, where the one-time infant baptisand publicly assumes the responsibilities of his baptismal covenant and makes his own profession of faith (usually using the words of the Apostles' Creed).
[edit] Practice
In areas where those who practice believer's baptism are the physical or cultural majority, the ritual may function as a rite of passage, by which the child is granted the status of an adult. Most denominations who practice believer's baptism also specify the mode of baptism, generally preferring immersion (in which the baptisand is lowered completely beneath the surface of a body of water) over affusion (in which water is sprinkled or poured over the baptisand). In the case of physical disability or inability to be totally submerged under water, the pouring of water upon the baptismal candidate is acceptable. This is sometimes the case when persons are characterized as elderly, bed ridden, and/or on their death bed and are physically unable to be immersed.
In some denominations, believer's baptism is a prerequisite to full church membership. This is generally the case with churches with a congregational form of church government.
Persons who wish to become part of the church must undergo believer's baptism in that local body, or another body whose baptism the local body honors. Typically, local churches will honor the baptism of another church if that tradition is of similar faith and practice, or if not, then if the person was baptized (usually by immersion) subsequent to conversion.
[edit] Denominational connections
Believer's baptism is one of several distinctive doctrines associated closely with the Baptist and Anabaptist (literally, rebaptizer) traditions, and their theological relatives. Among these are the members of the American Restoration Movement. Many churches associated with Pentecostalism also practice believer's baptism, though some also offer infant baptism.
In Holiness, many Baptist, and some other churches, a ritual known as Dedication or Infant Dedication supplements or replaces infant baptism. However, unlike baptism, the rite is centered upon the parents, who dedicate the child to God and vow to raise him/her in a God-fearing home. Although Dedication often occurs at the same age as infant baptism, it is not considered a replacement for baptism nor is it considered salvific for the child.
Believer's baptism is more prevalent in Christian traditions which maintain that there is a state of innocency from birth to the age of accountability (if the believer, due to mental or emotional disability, is not likely to gain the ability to judge the morality of his or her actions, this state of innocency persists for life). Credobaptism is less prevalent in traditions which maintain that the corruption of original sin is present at birth and is sufficient guilt in the eyes of God to cause the child to be damned or be in limbo, should it die before baptism.
[edit] Theological objections
One standard theological argument leveled against believer's baptism is that it makes the efficacy of the sacrament dependent upon the understanding of the baptisand; that is, it depends upon what the baptisand knows. This runs counter to the Calvinistic belief that God saves whomever he wills, regardless of any worthiness or knowledge on the part of the saved.
Another argument is that it contradicts the belief that one person's faith and prayers may be extended to benefit another, particularly in cases when the prospective baptisand lacks the intellectual capacity to comprehend and give intellectual assent to a creed, as in the case of infants or adults who are mentally impaired.
A further objection is that it implies that families in a congregation with young unbaptised children are comprised of both Christians and non-Christians, which usually does not reflect the actual belief and experience of those families or of the congregation.
Even in theological circles where some response to God's call is considered necessary for the convert (such as belief, confession, repentance, and prayer), a believer's baptism is usually categorized as a work instead of a response of faith, though not always (see Churches of Christ).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Malone, Fred (2003). The baptism of disciples alone: A covenantal argument for credobaptism versus paedobaptism. Founders Press, ISBN 0-9713361-3-X
- Stander, Hendick F. and Louw, Johannes P. (2004). Baptism in the Early Church, Carey Publications, ISBN 0-9527913-1-5
- Schreiner, Thomas R. and Wright, Shawn (ed.), Believer's Baptism: The Covenant Sign of the New Age in Christ, B&H Publishing Group (2007), ISBN 0805432493
