A01 Baptism

• Baptism as a sacrament vs ordinance

  • Sacrament - the key effect of baptism is to change their soul. It is holy and sacred and a gift from God
  • Ordinance - Jesus told the disciples to make disciples and to baptise them. A baby cannot be a disciple because they are too young to learn about and understand the Christian faith
• Baptism as a mystery vs following the example of Jesus

  • Mystery - God is too mighty, wonderful and divine for human minds to grasp. Anything God does cannot be fully understood by any human being so God’s grace is always a mystery
  • Following the example of Jesus: Jesus was baptised as an adult. He had been raised with good understanding of his faith and had built up a personal relationship with God. Therefore his baptism was after a period of learning and the start of adult work
• Baptism as the remedy for original sin vs washing away of sins

  • original sin - babies need to be cleansed from original sin in case they die before they are old enough to profess faith for themselves. Sin is seminally present in all of humanity
  • washing away of sins - people behave in a way that is sinful. it is only natural that children do things that are against gods wishes for them, and it is only when they are adult enough to regret the sins they have committed to undertake baptism
• Baptism as the start of Christian life vs everyone is included in God’s grace

  • start of Christian life - by baptising infants and giving parents the responsibility to raise them as Christians, the Church ensures that children will be brought up as members of the church community
  • everyone is included in God’s grace - no baby or child is excluded. but the child cannot fully understand how to approach God in faith until he is mature enough to understand the bible and choose a life of faith. so infant baptism is not necessary