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I am wondering what the Catholic teaching on
Baptism is?
I know that the Creed says that we
believe in one Baptism for the forgiveness of
sin. I believe that the Church also teaches that
a man must know and understand what he is
doing is wrong.
Is it a mortal sin for a friend of mine, that was raised and baptized in the Church, but
is now a Protestant, to be baptized as an adult?
What can I do to convince him
to stay in the Church?
Biblical quotations
would be most helpful.
Is it possible that the Church would change its
position for ecumenical reasons?
Thanks for your time and consideration!
Sincerely yours,
Joe P.
{
Can a Catholic who left the
Church, be re-baptized elsewhere and would the Church ever change? }
John
replied:
Hi, Joseph —
Thank you for your question.
Once a person is validly baptized, with the proper intention and formula,
no matter what Christian Church he was baptized in, he cannot be baptized
again. Remember, when we pour water over someone's forehead or immerse someone in water, it is an outward
sign of a spiritual reality.
Therefore any subsequent sprinkling or immersion will simply succeed in
getting the person wet. There is no action of the Holy Spirit to regenerate
again and again. Once someone is born again in
Baptism, they don't need to be born again as an adult.
They may however, experience a wonderful conversion which many of us do.
Some Evangelicals confuse this experience as being born again.
They also only believe that Baptism is a symbol and that the action of the
Holy Spirit has already taken place.
Now as to the sinfulness of the act, it lies more in leaving the Church, providing he understands it is a sin, than in trying to be baptized a second
time.
As for Biblical quotes, there are not any which are too explicit. The
practice of the Early Church is implicit rather then explicit in the Scriptures.
A fundamentalist reading the text will simply look for a formula, (i.e.
a + b = c ), so they will point to Acts 3 where Peter
says repent and be baptized. From there, they go on to say an infant can't
repent, therefore only adults should be baptized. What they fail to see
is that the Scriptures talk about entire households being baptized. In
Galatians, Paul talks about Baptism replacing Circumcision.
"Baptize first the children; and if
they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or
other relatives speak for them." (The Apostolic Tradition 21)
Origen (post 244 A.D.)
"The Church received from the Apostles the tradition
of giving baptism also to infants." (Commentary on Romans 5, 9)
St. Cyprian of Carthage (252 A.D.)
This council [Council of Carthage] condemned the opinion that infants must wait until the eighth day after birth to be baptized, as was the case with circumcision. (Letter 64 (59), 2)
Interested in what other Christians in the Early Church thought, taught, and died for?
Since Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant, Jews converting to Christianity, who had always understood their children to be part
of the Covenant, would
have baptized their children.
Baptism is a matter of our Sacramental Theology. The essence of what the
Church teaches can never change for any reason be it ecumenical or any other reason.
We are bound by the Revelation of Christ.
We could no more change our teaching on Eucharist, Holy Orders and so
on. The way we practice these may change, but the essence will always be
the same.
Hope this helps,
Under His Mercy,
John C. DiMascio
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