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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 pedobaptism, from the Greek paido meaning "child", in which young children are baptised.
Age of reason
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. Sometimes the pastor or church leader will determine the believer's understanding and conviction through personal interviews.
Education in faith
Applicants for baptism may undergo catechesis or attend faith exploration classes. Thus, intellectual understanding and agreement are an important part of baptism, according to this view. In the Mennonite church, those wishing to be baptized are usually in their mid-teens or older; in other denominations baptisands are sometimes younger.
Comparison to liturgical tradition
Some suggest that believer's baptism combines two rituals from the Liturgical Churches of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism: 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).
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 beliver'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 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.
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 and many Baptist 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.
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, should it die before baptism.
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 theological (Calvinistic) belief that God saves whom he will, regardless of any worthiness or knowledge on the part of the saved.
Another 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 also
External links
- Lots of articles about Infant Baptism and Believer's Baptism from a Reformed and Protestant Perspective
- Adult Baptism in the Early Church: Some evidence from Ireland
- Jewish concept of Baptism
Baptism | Anabaptism | Baptist | Restoration Movement | Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity
"Believer's baptism"