Part of a series on Baptists

Historical Background Christianity Protestantism General Baptist Particular Baptist Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... General Baptist is a generic term for Baptists that hold the view of a general atonement, as well as a specific name of groups of Baptists within the broader category. ... The name Reformed Baptist does not refer to a distinct denomination but instead is a description of the churchs theological leaning. ...

Doctrinal distinctives Prima scriptura Sola scriptura Baptist ordinances Baptist offices Baptist confessions Autonomy of the local church Separation of church and state The Bible is considered as first or above all sources of divine revelation. ... Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, by scripture alone) is the assertion that the Bible as Gods written word is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter (Scripture interprets Scripture), and sufficient of itself to be the only source of Christian doctrine. ... Baptist ordinances, the term for the sacraments within Baptist theology, are the Lords Supper and Believers baptism. ... Baptists generally recognize two Scriptural offices, those of pastor-teacher and deacon. ... 1600s 1644 First London Baptist Confession - revised in 1646 1651 The Faith and Practice of Thirty Congregations 1654 The True Gospel-Faith Declared According to the Scriptures 1656 The Somerset Confession of Faith 1655 Midland Confession of Faith 1660 The Standard Confession 1678 The Orthodox Creed 1689 Second London Baptist... Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation indepedently and autonomously runs its own affairs. ... Separation of church and state is one of the primary theological distinctions of the Baptist tradition. ...

Pivotal figures John Smyth Thomas Helwys John Bunyan Andrew Fuller John Gill Charles Haddon Spurgeon Samuel Sharpe John Smyth (1570 - c. ... Thomas Helwys, born c. ... John Bunyan. ... Andrew Fuller (1754-1815) was an eminent Baptist minister, born in Cambridgeshire, and settled at Kettering. ... John Gill (born at Kettering, Northamptonshire on November 23, 1697 and died October 14, 1771) was an English Baptist, Biblical scholar. ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon (June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892) was Englands best-known and most-loved preacher for most of the second half of the nineteenth century. ... Samuel Sharp, also called Daddy Sharpe (or Sam Sharp), he was a Deacon at the Burchell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, Jamaica, during the 19th century. ...

Major Baptist Associations American Baptist Baptist World Alliance Cooperative Baptist Fellowship National Baptist Convention Southern Baptist Convention Baptist Union of Great Britain Brazilian Baptist Convention ABCUSA American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a group of Baptist churches within the United States; headquartered in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. ... The Baptist World Alliance was formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London, England during the first Baptist World Congress. ... Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Inc. ... The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. ... The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a United States-based cooperative ministry agency serving Baptist churches around the world. ... Baptist Union of Great Britain - the oldest and largest national association of Great Britain. ... The Brazilian Baptist Convention or Convenção Batista Brasileira is the oldest Brazil. ... This box: view • talk • edit

A pastor prepares to baptize a new believer.

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Baptism_by_immersion. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Baptism_by_immersion. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Baptism in early Christian art. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... In theology, salvation can mean three related things: freed forever from the punishment of sin Revelation 1:5-6 NRSV - also called deliverance;[1] being saved for something, such as an afterlife or participating in the Reign of God Revelation 1:6 NRSV - also called redemption;[2]) and a process... Water is poured on the head of an infant held over the baptismal font of a Catholic church in the United States in 2004 In Christian religious practice, infant baptism is the baptism of young children or infants. ...

Theology

Believer's baptism is sometimes held to have no salvific effect by adherents (such as Baptists and some Evangelicals), 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. On the other hand, other groups such as the Apostolics do hold believer's baptism to have salvation value. Churches of Christ believe though that baptism is a necessary part of salvation and without it, one cannot enter into the kingdom of God, The Church, set up by Christ and the apostles on the day of Pentecost as noted in Acts 2. In theology, salvation can mean three related things: freed forever from the punishment of sin Revelation 1:5-6 NRSV - also called deliverance;[1] being saved for something, such as an afterlife or participating in the Reign of God Revelation 1:6 NRSV - also called redemption;[2]) and a process... Baptist churches are part of a Christian movement often regarded as an Evangelical, Protestant denomination. ... Evangelicalism, in a strictly lexical, but rarely used sense, refers to all things that are implied in belief that Jesus is the savior. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Apostolici. ...

Arguments for Credobaptism

• Premise #1: Citing "church fathers" and other post-biblical accounts are not given the same weight as the writings of the apostles themselves (the canonical new testament.)
• Premise #2: Circumcision was not the parallel used by Christ's apostles to regulate baptism. (The Jerusalem council in Acts 15 was called to clarify circumcision, long after the practice of baptism was established.) In the old Covenant, strictly males were circumcized. In the new, all - - male and female, Jew and Greek, bond and free - - must join the family of God.
• Premise #3: When Jesus received the children ("Forbid them not"), He blessed them, not baptized them.
• Premise #4: Acts 2:39 does say the promise is "unto your children." However, Acts 2:41 says that those who "gladly received the word" were baptized. Thus no infants or children were coerced. Furthermore, if they were coerced, there would be no need for a promise.
• Premise #5: "Whole household" baptism interpretations do not consider the context that many households were multi-family in the 1st century.^[1]

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. Coming of age is a young persons formal transition from adolescence to adulthood. ... First Communion procession: First Communion in the Catholic Church requires the Christian have attained the age of reason The age of reason, also called the age of discretion, is the age at which children become capable of moral responsibility. ...

However it is a major assumption that all credobaptists believe in an "age of accountability." Not all denominations or assemblies who practice credobaptism believe in this doctrine. Many believe in predestination, and that God will prolong a person's life until they are capable of receiving baptism of their own free will. Predestination and foreordination are religious concepts, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. ...

Furthermore, not all credobaptists believe in the Roman Catholic doctrine of original sin. Many credobaptists believe that we are only held responsible for our personal sins, and that Jesus addressed the sins of Adam on the cross. As a result, according to some credobaptists, an infant does not need to repent and baptize away sins they have never personally committed. According to Christian tradition, original sin is the general condition of sinfulness (lack of holiness) into which human beings are born (Psalm 51:5). ...

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. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Lutheranism describes those churches within Christianity that were reformed according to the theological insights of Martin Luther in the 16th century. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Anglicanism is the term used to encapsulate... Confirmation is a rite used in many Christian Churches. ...

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). The Apostles Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or symbol. ...

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. Shan boy undergoing Poy Sang Long initiation A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ...

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. Congregationalist church governance, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local congregation is independent. ...

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. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Baptist is a term describing individuals belonging... Anabaptists (Greek ανα (again) +βαπτιζω (baptize), thus, re-baptizers[1], German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the Radical Reformation. ... At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Theology at: The School of Theology Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... For information related to dispensational Christian views regarding the end times, see restorationism. ... The Pentecostal movement within Evangelical Christianity places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. ...

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.

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 baptist; that is, it depends upon what the baptist 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. Reformed Baptist theologians counter that believer's baptism is fully consistent with Calvin's doctrine of unconditional election, and that when properly understood it is also the most appropriate expression of Covenant theology. At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Theology at: The School of Theology Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Calvinism is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes Gods sovereignty in all things. ... The name Reformed Baptist does not refer to a distinct Christian denomination, but instead is a description of the churchs theological leaning. ... The Calvinist doctrine of predestination, is the religious doctrine of double predestination, particular to Calvinism. ... Covenant Theology is not to be confused with the Covenanters For Covenantal Theology in the Roman Catholic perspective, see Covenantal Theology (Roman Catholic). ...

Another 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.^{[citation needed]}

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).^{[citation needed]} The Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ are a part of the Restoration Movement and are in the theological middle ground between the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Church of Christ (non-instrumental). ...

See also

• Confirmation (sacrament)
• pedobaptism

Confirmation is a rite used in many Christian Churches. ... Infant baptism (also called paedobaptism and pedobaptism), the baptism of the infant children of believers, is an ancient custom of much of Christianity, including the Roman Catholic church, the Orthodox churches, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists, to name a few. ...

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

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