The English word "baptism" is derived indirectly through Latin from the neuter Greek concept noun "baptisma" (Greek , "washing-ism"), which is a neologism in the New Testament derived from the masculine Greek noun "baptismos" (), a term for ritual washing in Greek language texts of Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period, such as the Septuagint. Both of these nouns are derived from the verb "baptizō" (, "I wash" transitive verb), which is used in Jewish texts for ritual washing, and in the New Testament both for ritual washing and also for the apparently new rite of "baptisma". The Greek verb "baptō" (), "dip", from which the verb "baptizo" is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *"gʷabh-", "dip".
Etymology
Baptism
Baptism | Etymology
Through Latin from the neuter Greek concept noun "baptisma", which is a neologism in the New Testament derived from the masculine Greek noun "baptismos" Greek noun baptisma The English word "baptism" is derived indirectly through Latin from the neuter Greek concept noun "baptisma" , which is a neologism in the New Testament derived from the masculine Greek noun "baptismos", a term for ritual washing in Greek language texts. Derived through Latin, which in turn had derived it from the Greek noun "baptisma", meaning "washing-ism".
who was the leader of the soviet union when sputnik was launched
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Nikita Khrushchev
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when was this satellite launched?
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4 October 1957
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which place was it launched from?
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Site No.1/5, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR
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which was the organization behind this launch?
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Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context.
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where was the leader mentioned above born?
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Kalinovka village in what is now Russia's Kursk Oblast
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was he against any religion?
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Yes. He was anti-religious
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in what way did he push this belief forward?
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He banned all services held outside of church walls, renewed enforcement of the 1929 legislation banning pilgrimages, and recorded the personal identities of all adults requesting church baptisms, weddings, or funerals
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of the three practices finally mentioned, elaborate on the first one.
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It is a Christian rite of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into Christianity
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where does the name of this practice come from?
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This, taken in connexion with the known customs of later ages, make it more than probable that the usual method of administration was by affusion only." Taking into account the positive archaeological evidence of post-Constantinian times, Roger concludes: "All the evidence of archaeology goes to prove that the essential part of baptism was considered in the early Church to be the pouring of water over the candidate's head by the bishop, or the guiding his head under a descending stream, followed by the laying on of hands"; he adds: "There remains the question, whether this was preceded by a self-immersion".
Baptism in early Christianity | Studies before 1950
The English word "baptism" is derived indirectly through Latin from the neuter Greek concept noun "baptisma" (Greek , "washing-ism"), which is a neologism in the New Testament derived from the masculine Greek noun "baptismos" (), a term for ritual washing in Greek language texts of Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period, such as the Septuagint. Both of these nouns are derived from the verb "baptizō" (, "I wash" transitive verb), which is used in Jewish texts for ritual washing, and in the New Testament both for ritual washing and also for the apparently new rite of "baptisma". The Greek verb "baptō" (), "dip", from which the verb "baptizo" is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *"gʷabh-", "dip".
Baptism | Etymology
In view of the Hebrew practice of giving a name to the male child at the time of his circumcision on the eighth day after birth (Luke 1:59), it has been maintained that the custom of conferring a name upon the newly baptised was of Apostolic origin. For instance, the apostle of the Gentiles was called Saul before his conversion and Paul afterwards. But modern scholars have rejected this contention, since the baptism of St. Paul is recorded in Acts 9:18, but the name Paul does not occur before Acts 13:9 while Saul is found several times in the interval.
Christian name | Origin
Baptism (from the Greek noun βάπτισμα "baptisma") is a Christian rite of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into Christianity. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely. The synoptic gospels recount that John the Baptist baptised Jesus. Baptism is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Baptism according to the Trinitiarian formula, which is done in most mainstream Christian denominations, is seen as being a basis for Christian ecumenism, the concept of unity amongst Christians. Baptism is also called christening, although some reserve the word "christening" for the baptism of infants.
Baptism | Introduction
The Apostolic Tradition, sometimes attributed to Hippolytus of Rome (died 235), describes how to perform the ceremony of baptism; it states that children were baptised first, and if any of them could not answer for themselves, their parents or someone else from their family was to answer for them. From at least the 3rd century onward Christians baptised infants as standard practice, although some preferred to postpone baptism until late in life, so as to ensure forgiveness for all their preceding sins.
Infant baptism | Antiquity
Secondly, there are differences of opinion on the methodology of the act. These methods are: by "immersion"; if immersion is total, by "submersion"; by affusion (pouring); and by aspersion (sprinkling). Those who hold the first view may also adhere to the tradition of infant baptism; the Orthodox Churches all practice infant baptism and always baptize by total immersion repeated three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church also practices infant baptism, usually by affusion, and utilizing the Trinitarian formula. Evangelical denominations adhering to the doctrine of the believers' Church, practice the believer's baptism, by immersion in water, after the new birth and a profession of faith.
Christianity | Baptism
Several early Church Fathers seem to have taught that infant baptism is proper; Origen states that the practice of baptising infants is of apostolic origin. The Didache, the earliest appearance of non-biblical baptismal instruction, speaks only of adult baptism.
Infant baptism | Early Christian practice
The Dictionary of the Bible (2004) says "Archaeological evidence from the early centuries shows that baptism was sometimes administered by submersion or immersion... but also by affusion from a vessel when water was poured on the candidate's head...". In one form of early Christian baptism, the candidate stood in water and water was poured over the upper body. Baptism of the sick or dying usually used means other than even partial immersion and was still considered valid. Internet-available illustrations of ancient Christian representations of baptism from as early as the 2nd century include those in CF Rogers, "Baptism and Christian Archeology", the chapter "The Didache and the Catacombs" of Philip Schaff's "The Oldest Church Manual Called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles", and Wolfrid Cote's "The Archaeology of Baptism".
Baptism in early Christianity | Mode of baptism
Latin Church Catholics generally baptize by affusion (pouring); Eastern Catholics usually by submersion, or at least partial immersion. However, submersion is gaining in popularity within the Latin Catholic Church. In newer church sanctuaries, the baptismal font may be designed to expressly allow for baptism by immersion. Anglicans baptize by immersion or affusion.
Baptism | Christian traditions
The Oxford Dictionary of the Bible (2004) says "Archaeological evidence from the early centuries shows that baptism was sometimes administered by submersion or immersion… but also by affusion from a vessel when water was poured on the candidate's head…" The Cambridge History of Christianity (2006) also concludes from the archaeological evidence that pouring water three times over the head was a frequent arrangement.
Immersion baptism | Archaeological evidence
John the Baptist adopted baptism as the central sacrament in his messianic movement, seen as a forerunner of Christianity. Baptism has been part of Christianity from the start, as shown by the many mentions in the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. How explicit Jesus' intentions were and whether he envisioned a continuing, organized Church is a matter of dispute among scholars. There is a scholarly consensus that the earliest Christian baptism was normally by immersion, or at least that this is probable. Some interpret this as meaning total immersion or submersion beneath the water.
History of baptism | Early Christianity
In the West, this method of baptism began to be replaced by affusion baptism from around the 8th century, but it continues in use in Eastern Christianity.
Baptism | Mode and manner
Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. Though some form of immersion was likely the most common method of baptism in the early church, many of the writings from the ancient church appeared to view this mode of baptism as inconsequential. The Didache 7.1–3 (AD 60–150) allowed for affusion practices in situations where immersion was not practical. Likewise, Tertullian (AD 196–212) allowed for varying approaches to baptism even if those practices did not conform to biblical or traditional mandates (cf. De corona militis 3; De baptismo 17). Finally, Cyprian (ca. AD 256) explicitly stated that the amount of water was inconsequential and defended immersion, affusion, and aspersion practices (Epistle 75.12).
Baptism | History
In the early Church, the laying on of hands on the newly baptized to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit was the origin of the sacrament of confirmation. In the Eastern church, confirmation continued to be celebrated immediately after water baptism. The two rites were separated in the Western church. According to Pentecostal historian H. Vinson Synan, "the basic premise of Pentecostalism, that one may receive later effusions of the Spirit after initiation/conversion, can be clearly traced in Christian history to the beginnings of the rite of confirmation in the Western churches".
Baptism with the Holy Spirit | Early Christianity
It was consequently known as "baptism of the sick". Receiving this baptism was regarded as a bar to Holy Orders, but this sprang from the person's having put off baptism until the last moment—a practice that in the fourth century became common, with people enrolling as catechumens but not being baptized for years or decades. While the practice was decried at the time, the intent of the criticism was not to encourage baptism by immersion, but to refrain from delaying baptism.
Affusion | History of affusion
St. John Chrysostom mentions the custom in his day of all Christians washing their hands before entering the church for worship. This practice was first legislated in the Rule of St. Benedict in the 6th century, but has earlier antecedents.
Lavabo | Ablutions before Christian prayer and worship
The Syro Malabar Catholic sect of the Saint Thomas Christians, who trace their origin to Thomas the Apostle, have always practised pouring rather than any form of immersion. However the Malankara Church follows child immersion baptism in Baptismal font.
Immersion baptism | Saint Thomas Christians
Scholars "generally agree that the early church baptized by immersion", but sometimes used other forms. Howard Marshall says that immersion was the general rule, but affusion and even sprinkling were also practised. His presentation of this view has been described by Porter and Cross as "a compelling argument". Laurie Guy says immersion was probably the norm, but that at various times and places full immersion, partial immersion and affusion were probably in use. It is disputed where immersion was necessarily total. Tischler and the "Encyclopedia of Catholicism" say that the immersion was total. The same encyclopedia of Roman Catholicism notes that the preference of the Early Church was total immersion in a stream or the sea or, if these were not available, in a fountain or bath-sized tank, and "Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity" says that baptism was normally by immersion, without specifying whether total or partial.
Baptism in early Christianity | Mode of baptism
Among those who take this view are Thomas Schreiner, Everett Ferguson, Di Berardino, Tischler, and Lang Others understand immersion as not necessarily implying submersion beneath the water. Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen distinguishes between immersion and submersion and considers both as possible early-Christian forms of baptism, as does Christian Strecker. Laurie Guy says: "The church most likely practiced full immersion, partial immersion and affusion at various times and places in the early centuries, with sprinkling being practiced rarely (and probably only for medical reasons) during that time period." Robin M. Jensen describes the early Christian baptismal ritual as having for basis "immersion in water (or a thorough soaking by pouring)", and describes the primitive, first-century ritual as having encompassed both "application of water (whether by immersion or by some other means) and an imposition of hands", adding that "'Baptism' originally conveyed the sense of water's application (if not also immersion) in its very definition".
History of baptism | Early Christianity
Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent full immersion baptism (masbuta) as a ritual of purification, not of initiation. Mandaeans abhor circumcision and are possibly the earliest people to practice baptism. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and "Yardena" (Jordan) has been the name of every baptismal water in Mandaeism. The Mandaic language is a dialect of southeastern Aramaic and is closely related to the language of the Babylonian Talmud. They formally refer to themselves as "Nasurai" (Nasoraeans). According to Mandaean sources such as the Haran Gawaita, the "Nasurai" inhabited the areas around Jerusalem and the River Jordan in the 1st century CE.
History of baptism | Mandaeans
The word catechumen comes from the passive form of the Greek word κατηχέω (katēcheō), which is used seven times in the New Testament. In the passive, it means "to be instructed, informed." The catechumenate slowly developed from the development of doctrine and the need to test converts against the dangers of falling away. The Bible records (Acts 19) that the Apostle Paul while visiting some people who were described as "disciples", established they had received the baptism of John for the repentance of sins but had not yet heard of or received the Holy Spirit. Further, from the second century it appears that baptisms were held only at certain times of year, indicating that periods of instruction were the rule rather than the exception.
Catechesis | Historic Christian practice
In "The Archaeology of Baptism" (1876) Wolfrid Cote, quoting Prudentius, who in his "Psychomachia" spoke of the "bathed chests" of the baptized, and the views of two earlier Italian archaeologists, stated that "the primitive mode appears to have been this: The administrator and candidate both standing in the water the former placed his right hand on the head of the candidate, and, pronouncing the baptismal words, gently bowed him forward, till he was completely immersed in the water". He included in his book a woodcut of a fresco in the Catacomb of San Callisto (a photographic reproduction appears in this article), and reported that one archaeologist interpreted it as a youth being baptized by affusion, while for another the youth standing in the water was "immersed in a cloud of water".
Baptism in early Christianity | Studies before 1950
This may be due to the practical difficulties of totally immersing an infant underwater. However, Eastern Orthodox and some Roman Catholics practice infant immersion. Amish, Old Order Mennonites, and Conservative Mennonites still practice baptism by pouring.
Affusion | Introduction
A recent Bible encyclopedia speaks of the "consensus of scholarly opinion" that the baptismal practice of John the Baptist and the apostles was by immersion. A standard Bible dictionary says that baptism was normally by immersion. Among other sources, Old says that immersion (though not the only form), was normally used, Grimes says "There is little doubt that early Christian baptism was adult baptism by immersion.", Howard Marshall says that immersion was the general rule, but affusion and even sprinkling were also practiced, since "archaeological evidence supports the view that in some areas Christian baptism was administered by affusion". His presentation of this view has been described by Porter and Cross as "a compelling argument".
Immersion baptism | Archaeological evidence
The normal form of baptism for the first centuries—until at least the twelfth century—was immersion. However, when a person could not be immersed, baptism by aspersion or affusion was performed. There are records of people receiving baptism in prison, awaiting martyrdom, where immersion would be difficult or impossible, but the most common use was for a person who was ill and could not be removed from the bed; it therefore received the name "baptism of the sick." Because of its rarity, doubts arose about its validity, as is shown by St. Cyprian's affirming it in the face of questioning. At the time, baptism by aspersion, as by affusion, was regarded as a bar to Holy Orders; this appears to spring from the baptized person having put off baptism until he was in danger of death.
Aspersion | Early Christianity
Early Anabaptists were given that name because they re-baptized persons who they felt had not been properly baptized, having received infant baptism, sprinkling. The traditional form of Anabaptist baptism was pouring or sprinkling, the form commonly used in the West in the early 16th century when they emerged. Since the 18th century immersion and submersion became more widespread. Today all forms of baptism can be found among Anabaptist. Baptism memorializes the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is considered a covenantal act, signifying entrance into the New Covenant of Christ.
Baptism | Anabaptist
There is a scholarly consensus that the earliest Christian baptism was by immersion. Thomas Schreiner likewise states that "Most scholars agree that immersion was practiced in the NT", identifying submersion as the form of immersion practiced. Heyler says most New Testament scholars generally agree that Christian baptism in the New Testament era was by immersion. Everett Ferguson similarly speaks of "general scholarly agreement" that the baptism commanded by Jesus was immersion in water by dipping, in the form of a "full bath". He describes medieval depictions of Jesus standing in water while John poured water over him as a "strange fantasy" deriving from later church practice.
Baptism in early Christianity | Apostolic Age
The Eastern Orthodox hold that baptism has always been by immersion and it is not proper to perform baptism by way of sprinkling of water. The immersion is done three times and is referred to as "total" or "full". Modern practice may vary within the Eastern Rite; Everett Ferguson cites Lothar Heiser as acknowledging: "In the present practice of infant baptism in the Greek church the priest holds the child as far under the water as possible and scoops water over the head so as to be fully covered with water", and the "Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church" states that the rite "whereby part of the candidate's body was submerged in the baptismal water which was poured over the remainder ...
Immersion baptism | Eastern Churches
The term "baptism with the Holy Spirit" originates in the New Testament, and all Christian traditions accept it as a theological concept. Prior to the 18th century, most denominations believed that Christians received the baptism with the Holy Spirit either upon conversion and regeneration or through rites of Christian initiation, such as water baptism and confirmation. Emerging in the mid-18th century, Methodism (inclusive of the holiness movement) affirms the possibility of entire sanctification as a second work of grace, which it teaches is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the 20th century that saw the spread of Pentecostal churches, which identified baptism of the Holy Spirit with glossolalia, the belief that this is an experience distinct from Christian initiation has come into increasing prominence.
Baptism with the Holy Spirit | Introduction
Scholars generally agree that the early church baptized by immersion. It also used other forms. Immersion was probably the norm, but at various times and places immersion, whether full or partial, and also affusion were probably in use. Baptism of the sick or dying was usually by means other than even partial immersion and was still considered valid. Some writers speak of early Christians baptizing by total immersion (i.e., submerging the person being baptized), or say only that total immersion was preferred. Others speak of early Christians as baptizing either by submersion or by immersion. In one form of early Christian baptism, the candidate stood in water and water was poured over the upper body, and the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says that at least from the 2nd century baptism was administered by a method "whereby part of the candidate's body was submerged in the baptismal water which was poured over the remainder".
Immersion baptism | Early Christianity
Every child had necessarily to receive some name or other, and when baptism followed soon after birth this allowed public recognition of the choice made. In the thirtieth of the supposed "Arabian Canons of Nicaea": "Of giving only names of Christians in baptism"; but the sermons of St. John Chrysostom assume in many different places that the conferring of a name, presumably at baptism, ought to be regulated by some idea of Christian edification, and he implies that such had been the practice of earlier generations. For example, he says: "When it comes to giving the infant a name, caring not to call it after the saints, as the ancients at first did, people light lamps and give them names and so name the child after the one which continues burning the longest, from thence conjecturing that he will live a long time" (Hom.
Christian name | Change of name at baptism
The exact details of the baptismal ceremony vary among Christian denominations. Many follow a prepared ceremony, called a rite or liturgy. In a typical ceremony, parents or godparents bring their child to their congregation's priest or minister. The rite used would be the same as that denomination's rite for adults, i.e., by pouring holy water (affusion) or by sprinkling water (aspersion). Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic traditions practise total immersion and baptise babies in a font, and this practice is also the first method listed in the baptismal ritual of the Roman Catholic, although pouring is the standard practice within the Latin branch of Catholicism.
Infant baptism | Ceremony
before the time of Constantine) direct archaeological evidence is limited to pictures of baptism in the catacombs of Rome. Rogers concluded that "the direct evidence from archaeology alone may not be conclusive to show that in pre-Constantinian times baptism by affusion only was practiced generally or indeed in any one single case; but it does show that there was nothing repugnant in it to the general mind, that no stress was laid on total immersion, that the most important moments were held to be those when water was poured over the catchumen, and when the minister laid his hand on his head.
Baptism in early Christianity | Studies before 1950
Other recent studies that see total immersion (submersion) as not the only form of baptism utilized by early Christians include Steven J. Schloeder, Charles Thomas, Stanley J. Grenz, and also the "Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church", and the "Oxford Dictionary of the Bible".
History of baptism | Early Christianity
The Jesus' Name belief originates from Acts 2:38, and members also stress Acts 8:16, Acts 10:48, Acts 19:5, and Acts 22:16, and 1 John 2:12, claiming that these are the only scriptures showing how the early Church performed baptisms, and that there is no scripture in the Word that shows anyone ever being baptized in the titles of God, and that the Bible authorizes no departure from that formula.Even that the early priest state that the early church only baptized in Jesus name and the latter formula was applied after 325AD by the Catholic church.
United Pentecostal Church International | Jesus' Name Baptism
Baptism is a water purification ritual where one is immersed in water. The practice of purification via immersion exists in many cultures. The word "baptize" derives from the Greek word βάπτειν (the infinitive; also listed as the 1st person singular present active indicative βαπτίζω, which loosely means "to dip, bathe, or wash"). The Christian ritual of baptism traces back to the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, who the Bible says baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Mormon belief holds that baptisms were performed in Adam and Eve's day. Baptism is a required ordinance and ritual cleansing process when joining the LDS Church, and is considered to be a purification process in one's conversion.
Judaism and Mormonism | Baptism
The Roman Catholic Church sees baptism as the first and basic sacrament of Christian initiation. In the Western or Latin Church, baptism is usually conferred today by pouring water three times on the recipient's head, while reciting the baptismal formula: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (cf. ). In the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine Rite immersion or submersion is used, and the formula is: "The servant of God, N., is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Though sprinkling is not normally used, its validity is accepted, provided that the water flows over the skin, since otherwise it is not a washing.
Sacraments of the Catholic Church | Baptism
Next the liturgical spear, spoon and chalice will be rinsed first with wine and then with hot water, which are then consumed. All of the sacred vessels are then wiped dry with a towel, wrapped in their cloth coverings and put away.
Ablution in Christianity | Eastern and Oriental Christian
John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. The earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, though other modes, such as pouring, were used. By the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved catechetical instruction as well as chrismation, exorcisms, laying on of hands, and recitation of a creed. In the West, Affusion became the normal mode of baptism between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, though immersion was still practiced into the sixteenth. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther retained baptism as a sacrament, but Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli considered baptism and the Lord's supper to be symbolic.
History of baptism | Introduction
The practice entered the baptismal liturgy proper only as the catechumenate, rendered vestigial by the growth of routine infant baptism, was absorbed into the rite of baptism. Both exsufflation and insufflation are well established by the time of Augustine and in later centuries are found widely. By the Western high Middle Ages of the 12th century, sufflation was geographically widespread, and had been applied not only to sufflating catechumens and baptizands, but also to exorcism of readmitted heretics; to admission of adult converts to the catechumenate; to renunciation of the devil on the part of catechumens; to consecration and/or exorcism of the baptismal font and water; to consecration or exorcism of ashes; and to the consecration of the chrism or holy oil.
Insufflation | Distribution, geographical and functional
At dawn following the Paschal Vigil starting the night of Holy Saturday, they were taken to the baptistry where the bishop consecrated the water with a long prayer recounting the types of baptisms. The catechumens disrobed, were anointed with oil, renounced the devil and his works, confessed their faith in the Trinity, and were immersed in the font. They were then anointed with chrism, received the laying on of hands, clothed in white, and led to join the congregation in the Easter celebration. By then, postponement of baptism had become general, and a large proportion of believers were merely catechumens (Constantine was not baptized until he was dying); but as baptisms of the children of Christians, using an adaptation of the rite intended for adults, became more common than baptisms of adult converts, the number of catechumens decreased.
Baptism in early Christianity | Theology
Since the 1950s, scholars have dismissed the alleged connection between mystery rites and baptism. Jan Bremmer has written on the putative connection between rites from mystery religions and baptism; There are thus some verbal parallels between early Christianity and the Mysteries, but the situation is rather different as regards early Christian ritual practice. Much ink was spilled around 1900 arguing that the rituals of baptism and of the Last Supper derived from the ancient Mysteries, but Nock and others after him have easily shown that these attempts grossly misinterpreted the sources. Baptism is clearly rooted in Jewish purificatory rituals, and cult meals are so widespread in antiquity that any specific derivation is arbitrary.
Baptism | Mystery religion initiation rites
McGary's view became the prevailing one in the early 20th century, but the approach advocated by Lipscomb never totally disappeared. As such, the general practice among churches of Christ is to require rebaptism by immersion of converts, even those who were previously baptized by immersion in other churches. More recently, the rise of the International Churches of Christ has caused some to reexamine the issue.
Baptism | Churches of Christ
However, inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century which refer to young children as "children of God" may indicate that Christians customarily baptised infants too. The earliest reference to infant baptism was by Irenaeus (c. 130–202) in his work "Against Heresies". Due to its reference to Eleutherus as the current bishop of Rome, the work is usually dated . Irenaeus speaks of children being "born again to God." This reference has been described as "obscure." Three passages by Origen (185–c. 254) mention infant baptism as traditional and customary. While Tertullian writing c. 198–203 advises the postponement of baptism of little children and the unmarried, he mentions that it was customary to baptise infants, with sponsors speaking on their behalf.
Infant baptism | Antiquity
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes: "As the acceptance of Christianity involved belief in a body of doctrine and the observance of the Divine law ("teach, make disciples, scholars of them"; "teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you", Matthew 28:20 [see Great Commission]), it is clear that some sort of preliminary instruction must have been given to the converts." See also Council of Jerusalem. Justin Martyr, in his "First Apology", cites instruction as occurring prior to baptism: The "persuasion" would be carried out by the preaching of an evangelist; but since belief must precede baptism, the person concerned should be prepared spiritually to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through baptism.
Catechesis | Historic Christian practice
Most Christian denominations practice infant baptism to enter children into the faith. Some form of confirmation ritual occurs when the child has reached the age of reason and voluntarily accepts the religion. Ritual circumcision is used to mark Jewish and Muslim and Coptic Christian and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian infant males as belonging to the faith. Jewish boys and girls then confirm their belonging at a coming of age ceremony known as the Bar and Bat Mitzvah respectively.
Religion and children | Rites of passage
Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (masbuta) as a ritual of purification, not of initiation. They are possibly the earliest people to practice baptism. Mandaeans undergo baptism on Sundays ("Habshaba"), wearing a white sacral robe (Rasta) and consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple "signing" of the forehead with water and a triple drinking of water. The priest (Rabbi) then removes a ring made of myrtle worn by the baptized and places it on his/her forehead. This is then followed by a handshake (kushta-"hand of truth") with the priest. Living water is a requirement for baptism, therefore can only take place in rivers.
Baptism | Mandaean baptism
Naming a child is usually through the baptism ceremony in Christianity, especially Catholic culture, and to a lesser degree among those Protestants who practice infant baptism. In Eastern Orthodoxy infants are traditionally named on the eighth day of life in a special service conducted either in the home or in church. Often, Christians will adhere to local traditions of the land in which they were born. For example, in Kerala, the traditional Hindu custom of tying an aranjanam is followed even in Christian families. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints infants are traditionally given a name and a blessing on the first Sunday of the month after they are born by the child's father if he holds priesthood authority to do so and if the ordinance has been authorized by his local ecclesiastical leader.
Naming ceremony | Christianity
Baptism has been recognized as an important rite throughout the history of the Christian Church, but Christian groups differ over the manner in which baptism is administered, the meaning and significance of baptism, its role in salvation, and who is a candidate for baptism. Baptism in Churches of Christ is performed only by bodily immersion, based on the Koine Greek verb "βαπτίζω" (baptizō) which is understood to mean to dip, immerse, submerge or plunge. Immersion is seen as more closely conforming to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus than other modes of baptism. Churches of Christ argue that historically immersion was the mode used in the first century, and that pouring and sprinkling emerged later.
Churches of Christ | Baptism
The first baptisms in early Christianity are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 2 records the Apostle Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preaching to the crowds to "repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (or forgiveness) of sins" (). Other detailed records of baptisms in the book of Acts show the first Apostles baptising in the name of Jesus. The Apostle Paul also refers to baptism into Christ Jesus. Over time the Trinitarian formula from became popularized. This was further supported by the Didache, which most scholars date to around the year 100.
Baptism in the name of Jesus | Early Christianity
The first version of it was written . The second, with insertions and additions, was written . This work, rediscovered in the 19th century, provides a unique look at Christianity in the Apostolic Age and is the first explicit reference to baptism by pouring, although the New Testament does not exclude the possibility of this practice." Its instructions on baptism are as follows: Commentaries typically understand that the Didache indicates a preference for baptizing by immersion. in "living water" (i.e., running water, seen as symbolic of life). Furthermore, in cases of insufficient water it permits pouring (affusion), which it differentiates from immersion, using the Greek word "ekcheō", ("pour", in the English translation) and not "baptizō" ("baptize", in the English translation), while at the same time considering the action done by pouring to be a baptism, giving no hint that this form made the baptism any less valid, and showing that immersion was not the only baptismal practice then acceptable.
Baptism in early Christianity | Apostolic Age
In Christian denominations that practice Believer's Baptism (baptism by voluntary decision, as opposed to baptism in early infancy), the ritual can be carried out after the age of accountability has arrived. Some traditions withhold the rite of Holy Communion from those not yet at the age of accountability, on the grounds that children do not understand what the sacrament means. In the 20th century, Roman Catholic children began to be admitted to communion some years before confirmation, with an annual First Communion service - a practice that was extended to some paedobaptist Protestant groups - but since the Second Vatican Council, the withholding of confirmation to a later age, e.g.
Coming of age | Christianity
Two nouns derived from the verb "baptizo" (βαπτίζω) appear in the New Testament: the masculine noun "baptismos" (βαπτισμός) and the neuter noun "baptisma" (βάπτισμα):
Baptism | Derived nouns
Barclay observes that the Didache shows that baptism in the early church was by total immersion, if possible, Barton describes the immersion of the Didache as "ideally by total immersion", and Welch says it was by "complete immersion". In cases of insufficient water it permits pouring (affusion), which it differentiates from immersion, using the Greek word "ekcheō", ("pour", in the English translation) and not "baptizō" ("baptize", in the English translation), but which it still considers to be a form of baptism ("baptisma"). Martin and Davids say the Didache envisages "some form of immersion", and the "Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church" refers its readers to its entry on immersion, which it distinguishes from submersion and affusion.
Immersion baptism | Earliest description of Christian baptism outside the New Testament
Affusion (la. "affusio") is a method of baptism where water is poured on the head of the person being baptized. The word "affusion" comes from the Latin "affusio", meaning "to pour on". Affusion is one of four methods of baptism used by Christians, which also include total submersion baptism, partial immersion baptism, and aspersion or sprinkling. Christian denominations which baptize by affusion do not deny the legitimacy of baptizing by submersion or immersion; rather, they consider that affusion is a sufficient, if not necessarily preferable, method of baptism. Affusion and aspersion tend to be practiced by Christian denominations that also practice infant baptism.
Affusion | Introduction
The Gospel of John mentions John the Baptist's baptizing activity, in particular his baptism of Jesus, and his statement that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. It also mentions baptizing activity by Jesus, specifying that the baptizing was not done by Jesus himself but by his disciples. Some references to water in John's Gospel have been interpreted as referring to baptism, in particular, the phrase "born of water and the Spirit" and the account of blood and water coming out of the side of Jesus when pierced after crucifixion
Baptism in early Christianity | Gospel of John
Mandaeans revere John the Baptizer and practice frequent baptism (masbuta) as a ritual of purification, not of initiation. They are possibly the earliest people to practice baptism. Mandaeans undergo baptism on Sundays ("Habshaba"), wearing a white sacral robe (Rasta) and consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple "signing" of the forehead with water and a triple drinking of water. The priest (Rabbi) then removes a ring made of myrtle worn by the baptized and places it on his/her forehead. This is then followed by a handshake (kushta-"hand of truth") with the priest. Living water is a requirement for baptism, therefore can only take place in rivers.
Immersion baptism | Mandaean baptism
As a result, there was no uniform or consistent mode of baptism in the ancient church prior to the fourth century. By the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved catechetical instruction as well as chrismation, exorcisms, laying on of hands, and recitation of a creed.
Baptism | History
In many Western Christian churches (those deriving from Rome after the East-West Schism), a young person celebrates his/her Coming of Age with the Sacrament of Confirmation. (In Eastern Christianity the baptising priest confirms infants directly after baptism.) This is usually done by the Bishop laying their hands upon the foreheads of the young person (usually between the ages of 12 to 15 years), and marking them with the seal of the Holy Spirit. In some denominations during this sacrament, the child (now an adult in the eyes of God) adopts a confirmation name which is added onto their Christian name.
Coming of age | Christianity
The use of the word baptism to describe what John is doing is controversial. Anabaptists assert that the only proper translation for the Greek verb "baptizmo" is "immerse". They thus practice baptisms where the entire body is immersed in water, rather than just a sprinkling of water as is done in most other Christian churches. Most non-Baptist scholars do agree that John the Baptist was probably immersing those that came to see him, but they disagree that this is the only valid form of baptism. France notes that while in Luke and Mark John's baptisms have the power to forgive sins in Matthew they are merely confessed.
Matthew 3:6 | Analysis
Alois Stenzel's 1958 study of baptism with a focus on liturgy argued that both immersion and affusion were practised by the early Church, since some baptismal pools which have been uncovered were too shallow for baptism and pictorial evidence favoured affusion. "Baptism in the Early Church" by George Rice (1981), in "Bible and Spade", cited Cote with favour and claimed that archaeology "overwhelmingly testifies to immersion as the normal mode of baptism in the Christian church during the first ten to fourteen centuries". Rice cites in particular imagery in the Catacomb of San Ponziano and a crypt in the catacomb of Santa Lucina, as well as a 9th- or 10th-century fresco in the basilica of San Clemente he also states that "pictures of Jesus standing in water while John "pours" water over His head are of a much later date than those depicting immersion and they demonstrate the change in the mode of baptism that came into the church".
Baptism in early Christianity | Studies in the second half of the 20th century
Unlike many of the 16th-century Anabaptists, Rothmann held immersion to be the proper mode of baptism. According to historian Darren T. Williamson, "He based his position primarily on three arguments: first, he argued along grammatical lines, not Greek grammar but Dutch/German. He contended that the meaning of the Dutch translation of baptism must be taken literally. Fortunately, the Dutch words "doepen" and "dumpelen" meant literally to immerse or 'dunk in water'. It is important to note that although Rothmann was technically correct on this point of grammar, it was also as commonly understood that there was a long standing theological exception as practiced by the church, namely sprinkling.
Bernhard Rothmann | Baptism
Although the term "baptism" is not today used to describe the Jewish rituals (in contrast to New Testament times, when the Greek word "baptismos" did indicate Jewish ablutions or rites of purification), the purification rites (or "mikvah"—ritual immersion) in Jewish law and tradition are similar to baptism, and the two have been linked. In the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish texts, immersion in water for ritual purification was established for restoration to a condition of "ritual purity" in specific circumstances. For example, Jews who (according to the Law of Moses) became ritually defiled by contact with a corpse had to use the mikvah before being allowed to participate in the Temple in Jerusalem.
Baptism in early Christianity | Background in Jewish ritual
Whether the earliest Christians practiced infant baptism, and thus whether modern Christians should do so, has remained a subject of debate between Christian scholars at least since the earliest clear reference to the practice by Tertullian in the early third century. Some claim that Biblical baptism can be interpreted and thus relative, others support the Biblical literal baptism as a public and personal testimony, without intermediaries, in the case of infants that cannot talk for themselves yet.
History of baptism | Infant Baptism
A practice similar to baptism is known to have been practiced by the Jewish Essenes between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD. The Jewish Encyclopedia compares Christian baptism to ancient Jewish purification and initiation rites involving immersion in water, and states that "Baptism was practised in ancient (Hasidic or Essene) Judaism".
Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon | Baptism
Baptism is practiced in several different ways. Aspersion is the sprinkling of water on the head, and affusion is the pouring of water over the head. The word "immersion" is derived from late Latin "immersio", a noun derived from the verb "immergere" ("in" – "into" + "mergere" "dip"). In relation to baptism, some use it to refer to any form of dipping, whether the body is put completely under water or is only partly dipped in water; they thus speak of immersion as being either total or partial. Others, of the Anabaptist belief, use "immersion" to mean exclusively plunging someone entirely under the surface of the water.
Baptism | Mode and manner
In these denominations, baptism is immediately followed by Chrismation and Communion at the next Divine Liturgy, regardless of age. Orthodox likewise believe that baptism removes what they call the ancestral sin of Adam. Anglicans believe that Baptism is also the entry into the Church and therefore allows them access to all rights and responsibilities as full members, including the privilege to receive Holy Communion. Most Methodists and Anglicans agree that it also cleanses the taint of what in the West is called original sin, in the East ancestral sin. Eastern Orthodox Christians usually insist on complete threefold immersion as both a symbol of death and rebirth into Christ, and as a washing away of sin.
Baptism | Christian traditions
The practice of adopting a new name was not limited to baptism. Many medieval examples show that any notable change of condition, especially in the spiritual order, was often accompanied by the reception of a new name. In the 8th century, the two Englishmen Winfrith and Willibald going on different occasions to Rome received from the Pope, along with a new commission to preach, the names respectively of Boniface and Clement. Emma of Normandy when she married King Ethelred in 1002 took the name Ælfgifu; while the reception of a new, monastic name upon entering a religious order remains almost universal.
Christian name | Confirmation names
Baptism by submersion is practised by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but most of them do not suggest rebaptism of those who have undergone a baptism of a different Christian tradition. Baptism in Churches of Christ, which also have roots in the Restoration Movement, is performed only by bodily immersion. This is based on their understanding of the meaning of the word "baptizo" as used in the New Testament, a belief that it more closely conforms to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and that historically immersion was the mode used in the 1st century, and that pouring and sprinkling later emerged as secondary modes when immersion was not possible.
Immersion baptism | Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ
The third century evidence is clearer, with both Origen (calling infant baptism "according to the usage of the Church") and Cyprian advocating the practice. Tertullian acknowledges the practice (and that sponsors would speak on behalf of the children), but, holding an unusual view of marriage, argues against it, on the grounds that baptism should be postponed until after marriage. Interpretation of the baptismal practices of the early church is important to groups such as Baptists, Anabaptists, and the Churches of Christ who believe that infant baptism was a development that occurred during the late second to early third centuries. The early Christian writings mentioned above, which date from the second and third century indicate that Christians as early as the second century did maintain such a practice.
Christianity in the ante-Nicene period | Infant baptism
In the close of his comprehensive 2009 study, "Baptism in the Early Church", Everett Ferguson devoted four pages (457–60) to summarizing his position on the mode of baptism, expressed also in his "The Church of Christ" of 1996, that the normal early-Christian mode of baptism was by full immersion. He observed that "those who approach the study of baptism from the standpoint of archaeology tend to find greater probability that affusion, or perfusion was a normal practice; those who come from the literary evidence see a greater likelihood of immersion, or submersion, being the normal practice"; but he intended his own comprehensive survey to give coherence to the evidence (p.
Baptism in early Christianity | 21st-century studies
The Apostles' Creed, whose present form is similar to the baptismal creed used in Rome in the third and fourth centuries, actually developed from questions addressed to those seeking baptism. The Catholic Church still today uses an interrogative form of it in the Rite of Baptism (for both children and adults). In the official English translation (ICEL, 1974) the minister of baptism asks: To each question, the catechumen, or, in the case of an infant, the parents and sponsor(s) (godparent(s)) in his or her place, answers "I do." Then the celebrant says: And all respond: Amen.
Apostles' Creed | Rite of Baptism
Protestants baptize in a number of different ways. Many Anglicans and Lutherans baptize by affusion, whereas Presbyterians and Congregationalists typically baptize with aspersion. Others, like Methodists, may conduct all three forms of baptism. Many Evangelical Protestants insist that only full immersion baptism is valid, basing this on the New Testament Greek word for baptism "baptizo" (βαπτίζω) which can be translated as "dipping" or "submersion." Depending on which of these denominations one enters, the sacrament of Confirmation, also known as Chrismation by eastern Christians, may be immediately administered after the baptism. In the Latin Catholic Church, infants who are baptized are not confirmed, but instead must wait until they're in their teens to be confirmed.
Conversion to Christianity | Baptism/Confirmation
In the West, baptism by aspersion and affusion slowly became the common practice in later centuries. In aspersion, an aspergilium may be used to place the water on the skin. The Roman Catholic Church regards baptism by aspersion as valid only if the water actually flows on the person's skin and is thus equivalent to pouring ("affusion"). If there is doubt about this, conditional baptism is administered.
Aspersion | Later developments
Both East and West considered washing with water and the Trinitarian baptismal formula necessary for administering the rite. Scholasticism referred to these two elements as the matter and the form of the sacrament, employing terms taken from the then prevailing Aristotelian philosophy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, while teaching the necessity of both elements, nowhere uses these philosophical terms when speaking of any of the sacraments.
History of baptism | Middle Ages
Baptism has similarities to Tvilah, a Jewish purification ritual of immersing in water, which is required for, among other things, conversion to Judaism, but which differs in being repeatable, while baptism is to be performed only once. (In fact, the Modern Hebrew term for "baptism" is "Christian Tvilah".) John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. The apostle Paul distinguished between the baptism of John, ("baptism of repentance") and baptism in the name of Jesus, and it is questionable whether Christian baptism was in some way linked with that of John.
Baptism | History
Although the Didache instructs the baptism to be done in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in the portion that gives instruction of the eucharist it states "But let none eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptised in the Lord's Name." This could be a reference to early century "Jesus Name" baptism.
Baptism in the name of Jesus | Early Christianity
These include Ademar, Ailma, Ailward, Albreza, Alditha, Almaury, Ascelina, Avice, Aystorius (these come from the lists of those cured at the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury). A rubric in the official "Rituale Romanum" mandates that the priest ought to see that names of deities or of godless pagans are not given in baptism ("curet ne obscoena, fabulosa aut ridicula vel inanium deorum vel impiorum ethnicorum hominum nomina imponantur"). A pronouncement from Bourges (1666) addressing parents and godparents urges: "Let them give to boys the names of male saints and to girls those of women saints as right order requires, and let them avoid the names of festivals like Easter ("Pâques"), Christmas ("Noël"), All Saints ("Toussaint") and others that are sometimes chosen." Despite such injunctions "Toussaint" has become a common French Christian name and "Noël" has also found popularity abroad.
Christian name | Practice regarding names
Many cultures practice or have practiced initiation rites, with or without the use of water, including the ancient Egyptian, the Hebraic/Jewish, the Babylonian, the Mayan, and the Norse cultures. The modern Japanese practice of Miyamairi is such as ceremony that does not use water. In some, such evidence may be archaeological and descriptive in nature, rather than a modern practice.
Baptism | Other initiation ceremonies
The sacrament of Baptism has the outward sign of a washing. "He that washes himself (baptuzatur) after touching the dead, if he touched them again, what does his washing avail?" (Sirach 34,30). The sacrament does not come from the water, but from the act of pouring the water, in the form of a washing. (St. Hugh of Victor held that the water was the sacrament, but this is in error.) The outward reality is in the washing with water, while the sacramental sign is the inward justification: this is the reality, or inward reality of the sacrament. The inward reality is a seal and a safeguarding.
Thomistic sacramental theology | Baptism
Most mainline Protestant groups hold that baptism performed with water in the name of the Trinity is valid and will accept converts who had been baptized within a previous Christian denominations in accordance with their particular customs. Some Evangelical groups like Baptists and Pentecostals do not consider baptism done by sprinkling or pouring as valid and might rebaptize a convert from another denomination by full immersion.
Conversion to Christianity | Protestantism
There are different modes of baptism in Christianity, these include immersion, affusion (pouring), and aspersion (sprinkling). The way in which a person is baptized depends on the denomination one enters. Almost all baptisms share in common the use of the Trinitarian formula (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) by the minister while baptizing the convert. The Roman Catholic Church primarily baptizes with affusion but occasionally does so with immersion. Orthodox Christians and some Eastern Catholics baptize by triple immersion upon invocation of the Trinity; the only time the Orthodox Church permits other forms of baptism is in the case of an emergency.
Conversion to Christianity | Baptism/Confirmation
He mentions a 4th-century baptistery sufficiently large for immersion, Rice says that archaeological evidence demonstrates some early baptismal fonts large enough for adult immersion were later made smaller or replaced, to accommodate affusion baptism of infants, leading to mistakes in the dating of art works by 20th-century studies. In his contribution to the 1986 11th International Archaeology Congress on "What do the texts teach us on the equipment and furnishings needed for baptism in southern Gaul and northern Italy?" Jean-Charles Picard concluded that the texts speak only of immersion and that the area has no archaeological images of baptism by pouring water on the head.
Baptism in early Christianity | Studies in the second half of the 20th century
Anabaptists denied the validity of infant baptism, which was the normal practice when their movement started and practiced believer's baptism instead. Several groups related to Anabaptism, notably the Baptists and Dunkards, soon practiced baptism by immersion as following the Biblical example.
History of baptism | Introduction
The 12th century saw the meaning of the word "sacrament" narrowed down and restricted to seven rites, among them that of baptism, while other symbolic rites came to be called "sacramentals". In the period between the 12th and the 14th centuries, affusion became the usual manner of administering baptism in Western Europe, though immersion continued to be found in some places even as late as the 16th century. Throughout the Middle Ages, there was therefore considerable variation in the kind of facility required for baptism, from the baptismal pool large enough to immerse several adults simultaneously of the 13th century Baptistery at Pisa, to the half-metre deep basin in the 6th century baptistery of the old Cologne Cathedral.
History of baptism | Middle Ages
John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) mockingly attributes to the Marcionites of the late 4th century a similar practice: if one of their followers who was being prepared for baptism died before receiving baptism, the dead person's corpse was addressed with the question whether he wished to be baptized, whereupon another answered affirmatively and was baptized for the dead person.
Baptism for the dead | Early Christianity
The New Testament includes several references to baptism as an important practice among early Christians and, while giving no actual account of its institution by Jesus, portrays him as giving instructions, after his resurrection, for his followers to perform the rite (see Great Commission). It also gives interpretations by the Apostle Paul and in the First Epistle of Peter of the significance of baptism.
Baptism in early Christianity | New Testament
The same canons required that those preparing to be baptised (known as catechumens) were to undergo a daily imposition of hands by these exorcists. The 4th century Mystagogical Catechesis of Cyril of Jerusalem gives a detailed description of baptismal exorcism, from which it appears that anointing with exorcised oil formed a part of this exorcism in the East. Anointing with oil as part of baptismal exorcism is also mentioned in the Apostolic Tradition and the Arabic Canons of Hippolytus – early 20th Century scholarship attributed both of these documents to Hippolytus of Rome, but the origin of both sources is now disputed.
Minor exorcism in Christianity | Ancient practice
Believer's baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word "credo" meaning "I believe") is the Christian practice of baptism as is understood by many evangelical denominations, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist and English Baptist tradition. According to their understanding, a person is baptized on the basis of his or her profession of faith in Jesus Christ and as admission into a local community of faith. The contrasting belief, held in nearly every other Christian tradition, is infant baptism (pedobaptism or paedobaptism, from the Greek "paido" meaning "child"), in which infants or young children are baptized if one or both parents are already members of the denomination.
Believer's baptism | Introduction
Traditionally, Christianity adhered to the biblical regulation requiring the purification of women after childbirth; this practice, was adapted into a special ritual known as the churching of women, for which there exists liturgy in the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, but its use is now rare in Western Christianity. The churching of women is still performed in a number of Eastern Christian churches (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches). The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal.
Ablution in Christianity | Ablution in the Christian traditions
That person would receive the sign of the Cross and possibly aspersion with holy water from a minister, indicating their entry to the state of catechumen.
Catechesis | Historic Christian practice
Paliga argued that based on this, the custom most likely originated from the Thracians.
Dodola | Names
Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism probably predate the New Testament writings. It seems certain that numerous Jewish sects and certainly Jesus's disciples practised baptism. John the Baptist had baptized many people, before baptisms took place in the name of Jesus Christ. Paul likened baptism to being buried with Christ in his death.
Christianity in the 1st century | Baptism
Originally, Jewish mikvahs, and later, early Christian baptisms were performed with individuals naked. This included mass baptisms involving men, women, and children. They signified the participant's restoration to man's original sinless condition, having their sins blotted out. Others claim that children were baptized first, then men, then women, all separately. Public bathing was the common practice through the time of Jesus and still occurs today in a few cultures, including the Turkish bath or "hammam", the Finnish sauna, Japanese onsen or Sentō, and the Korean Jjimjilbang. With the exception of the family-focused Finnish sauna, most public baths are gender-segregated today.
Christian naturism | Ancient
Baptism in Churches of Christ is performed only by full bodily immersion, based on the Koine Greek verb "baptizo" which means to dip, immerse, submerge or plunge. Submersion is seen as more closely conforming to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus than other modes of baptism. Churches of Christ argue that historically immersion was the mode used in the 1st century, and that pouring and sprinkling later emerged as secondary modes when immersion was not possible. Over time these secondary modes came to replace immersion. Only those mentally capable of belief and repentance are baptized (i.e., infant baptism is not practiced because the New Testament has no precedent for it).
Baptism | Churches of Christ
While the exact phrase "baptism with the Holy Spirit" is not found in the New Testament, two forms of the phrase are found in the canonical gospels using the verb "baptize", from the Greek word "baptizein" meaning to "immerse" or "plunge". The baptism was spoken about by John the Baptist, who contrasted his water baptism for the forgiveness of sins with the baptism of Jesus. In Mark 1 and John 1, the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus "will baptize in (the) Holy Spirit"; while in Matthew 3 and Luke 3, he "will baptize with Holy Spirit and fire". Jesus is considered the first person to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Baptism with the Holy Spirit | Canonical gospels
In 895, the provincial Council of Tribur commented on the traditional teaching that the triple immersion in baptism was an imitation of Christ for the three days he spent in the tomb, and the rising from the water an imitation of the resurrection of Jesus. The linking of the baptismal immersion in and rising from the water with the burial and resurrection of Jesus arguably goes back to Saint Paul, and the linking of the triple immersion with the three days in the tomb is found in Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–86) and Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335 – after 394).
History of baptism | Middle Ages
John Calvin (1509–1564) wrote that "it is evident that the term baptise means to immerse, and that this was the form used by the primitive Church", but in the same context ("Institutes of the Christian Religion" IV, xv, 19), using the same verb "immerse", but indicating that it does not necessarily mean immersing "wholly", he also wrote: "Whether the person who is baptised be wholly immersed, and whether thrice or once, or whether water be only poured or sprinkled upon him, is of no importance; Churches ought to be left at liberty in this respect, to act according to the difference of countries." Modern, professional lexicography defines βαπτίζω as dip, plunge or immerse, while giving examples of its use for merely partial immersion.
Immersion baptism | Lexical criticism
Affusion became the standard practice in the western church around the 10th century, but was in use much earlier. The earliest explicit reference to baptism by affusion occurs in the Didache (c. AD 100), the seventh chapter of which gives instructions on how to baptize, which include affusion: This text implies that early Christians saw affusion as a viable alternative to immersion when no living water (i.e. running water like a river or spring) or cold water is available. Acts of various martyrs show that many were baptized in prison, while awaiting martyrdom; immersion would have been impossible. The most common use, however, was for ill or dying people who could not rise from their beds.
Affusion | History of affusion
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism, or pedobaptism, from the Greek "pais" meaning "child". This can be contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism" (or credobaptism, from the Latin word "credo" meaning "I believe"), which is the religious practice of baptising only individuals who personally confess faith in Jesus, therefore excluding underage children. Opposition to infant baptism is termed catabaptism. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that practice infant baptism include Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, and among Protestants, several denominations: Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and other Reformed denominations, Methodists, Nazarenes, and the Moravian Church.
Infant baptism | Introduction