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Believer's baptism (also called credobaptism) is the Christian ritual of baptism as given only to adults and children who have made a declaration of faith in Jesus as their personal savior, because he died for their sins, and was resurrected by the power of God the Father. Whereas Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and a number of Protestant churches baptize infant children of believers (see pedobaptism), 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. Applicants for baptism may undergo catechesis or attend faith exploration classes. Thus, intellectual understanding and agreement are prerequisites for 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. History Main article: History of Christianity See also: Timeline of Christianity The history of Christianity is difficult to extricate from that of the European West (and several other culture-regions) in general. ...
Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, and Sikhism, and has its origins with the Jewish ritual of mikvah. ...
Jesus, also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and an important prophet in Islam. ...
Salvation refers to deliverance from undesirable state or condition. ...
According to the New Testament, especially the Gospels, Jesus, also called Christ, had the power to lay his life down and to take it up again, being both human and God as well as the Promised Messiah. ...
In many religions, the supreme God is given the title and attributions of Father. ...
This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ...
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The term Anglican (from the Angles meaning English) describes the people and churches that follow the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. ...
Protestantism is a movement within Christianity, representing a split from within the Roman Catholic Church during the mid-to-late Renaissance in Europe âa period known as the Protestant Reformation. ...
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. ...
Reason is a term used in philosophy to refer to the higher cognitive faculties of the human mind. ...
Catechism Lesson, by Jules-Alexis Muenier, 1890 A catechism is a summary of Christian religious doctrine. ...
Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ...
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons. ...
Some suggest that believer's baptism combines two rituals from Roman Catholicism: Confirmation and (infant) baptism. 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). Yet all three modes have support from the Bible as well as the Didache. Confirmation is a rite used in many Christian churches. ...
A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ...
Look up immersion in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
This article incorporates text from the Catholic Encyclopedia, which is in the public domain. ...
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. A congregation is an assembly of people for a given purpose. ...
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. A Baptist is a member of a Baptist church. ...
Anabaptists (Greek ana+baptizo re-baptizers, German: Wiedertäufer) are Christians of the so-called radical wing of the Protestant Reformation. ...
Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεοÏ, theos, God, + λογοÏ, logos, word or reason). It also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...
For information related to Dispensational Christian views regarding Jewish people in the End times see Restorationism The Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement (or simply, Restoration Movement) is a religious reform movement born in the early 1800s in the United States. ...
The Pentecostal movement within protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ...
In Holiness denominations, 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 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. // Description The Independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ are a part of the Restoration Movement and are in the theological middle ground between the Disciples of Christ and the Church of Christ (non-instrumental). ...
See also 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. ...
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