My article for this week's newspapers answers a question about re-baptizing:
Q: I recently began attending
church for the first time in my adult life.
If my parents had me baptized as a baby in a different kind of church,
should I be baptized again in my new church?
In most situations, the answer would
be a clear “no,” regardless of whether the original Baptism occurred as an
adult, a child, or an infant.
A small number of situations could
exist where a Baptism would need to be performed, but the only cause for this
would be if the first Baptism was invalid for one of two reasons: The first cause that would render the
original Baptism invalid would be if it was performed in the context of a
non-Trinitarian religion, such as Mormonism, a Oneness church, or Jehovah’s
Witnesses.
The Second circumstance that would
cause a Baptism to be invalid is if it were performed using a different formula
than the Trinitarian form given in Scripture:
“in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” If it was performed under any other formula,
such as “in the name of Jesus,” or used alternate titles for God, such as “parent,
child, and comforter,” or “Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier,” then it would be
cause to question its validity and responsible spiritual care would dictate
that the person be Baptized.
In cases where the original baptismal
ceremony was determined to be invalid, the church administering Baptism to the
individual would not consider it a re-Baptism, but rather as the first Baptism,
because an invalid Baptism would be understood as being no Baptism at all.
Often people ask if they need to be
re-baptized when joining a new denomination of Christianity, and this is
typically not necessary. All of the
Trinitarian denominations which baptize babies recognize each other’s Baptisms
as valid Baptisms, and would not see a need to repeat the ceremony, even for
adult converts who were Baptized elsewhere as infants.
The only case in which church leaders
might require a Baptism be performed would be if the newly-adopted church
practices adult-only Baptism. This
requirement would be made because such churches understand Baptism to be a work
that people do in order to show their devotion to God, which requires conscious
knowledge and articulation of belief. As
merely an outward acknowledgement of faith by the believer, they do not
understand it to deliver grace, forgiveness, or faith from God to the person
being baptized.
On the other hand, a church that sees
Baptism as a gift that God gives to a person in order to deliver forgiveness,
grace, and salvation, would see it unnecessary to repeat or replace the
original Baptism. This is because the
Baptism is understood to be God’s gift to deliver faith in Jesus and the
benefits of His sacrifice on the cross to individuals, and therefore not
dependent on the ability of the person being Baptized.
Instead, even if the person doing the
Baptism or the church in which it was performed were not in full agreement, or
even did not properly understand Baptism, God’s work is not hindered. Since it relies on God’s faithfulness and not
on man’s performance, and God’s work is always complete and effective, and they
would acknowledge all Baptisms performed by the correct formula in connection
with a Trinitarian church. They would
then instruct the new member in the teachings of their church as drawn from
Scripture, and welcome them into membership through Confirmation or another
similar ceremony.
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