The Meaning Of Christianity: Baptism In Christianity

Krupa Bhakta

Professor Robert Burns

8 March 2015

Baptism in Christianity How a person views the world depends on their culture, education and knowledge. Some are atheist, others believe in heaven and hell, and then there are those who are trying to find their faith. Each religion has their own way of accepting new individuals who just found or changed their belief. In Christianity, upon birth or acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s faith, Christians perform an initiation ritual called Baptism.

Baptism is one of the most important and popular rituals in Christianity. It is a simple process that requires an individual to be immersed into the water, blessed and pronounced “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Christian

Once an individual accepts Jesus as his/her faith, they are ready to be baptized. It is up to the individual’s preference, when he/she wants to be baptized in their lifetime (Christian Today). In the Middle Ages many individuals preferred to be baptized later in life, so they can wash way their sins before they approach judgment day (Cooke and Macy 70). In today’s modern society, the ceremony is viewed as initiation into the Christian community. Any individual can be initiated as long as the willing to accept Jesus Christ and see the world in a new way, the Christian way (Cooke and Macy

Hermeneutic experience is when individual is willing to look at the world in a new way. An infant is born, seeing the world for the first time, in a new light. An individual is willing to “…no longer see people in their social ranks, poor or rich, slave or free, men or women. All are equal before G-d” (Cooke and Macy 85). Once an individual accepts the whole new way of looking at the world, they are initiated into the Christians community (Cooke and Macy 85). The presence refers to the community and the family of the individual who is being baptized. They are acknowledging the individuals baptism and are committing to raise him/her a faithful Christian (Cooke and Macy 85). The third element, maturation, is basically the individual who is getting baptized fully acknowledges and accepts what he/she is committing to (Cooke and Macy 85). Once an individual is baptized, he/she exists to be of service to people. By being baptized, the individual now commits himself/herself to the fourth element, service (Cooke and Macy 85). The last element of the ritual is friendship, once a person is baptized “…the community of faith, the church, is not basically an organization but a gather of friends who are united in their shard belief in G-d’s presence…” (Cooke and Macy 85). When an individual is being baptized, he/she must accept these five elements of the