bathtub baptisms

[skeezer5840]

I was baptized Catholic and grew up in the Catholic religion. I married a protestant and was married for 13 years, having four children with her. Now separated because of her affair, I have returned to the Catholic church which I had always felt was calling me back. During the marriage, we attended a Nazarene church which I hold a special place in my heart. My boys were dedicated there but never baptized. The Nazarene church believes that baptism is an adult decision and baptized adults when they make an adult decision to do so. My dilemma is what to do about this as she has a genuine hatred for the Catholic faith and it's followers. I have always had a guilty feeling about my children never being baptized and how to do it discreetly, without her knowledge. The subject of bathtub baptisms came up and it seemed like the perfect solution. Dishonest, maybe, but I have a duty to raise my children in faith, and that seems to trump everything else in my heart of hearts. Looking for opinions....

 

[Shava]

Baptism is for sinners who understand their life is off track and sin has overcome them and they KNOW they need God to help them. Children are not to be baptized as this serves no purpose, as a child doesn't have the baggage of sin and they are not aware of the need to change their life, because their still a child. I personally urge you to go to the nearest Church of Christ and study with them and see what needs to be done in your life also, as the Church of Christ is the church spoken of in the bible, but no where do I see a catholic church spoken of in the bible, absolutely nothing. Romans 16:16

 

[Photoss]

You won't find much support for infant baptism here, nor anywhere firm in the Bible.

 

[Ugly]

Yes, not much support here as this site is Christian based and not Catholic. While Catholics are welcome here, and as a result, you may find some support, but i believe the dominant mentality would not support Catholic rituals.

 

[savedandIknowit]

Baptism regeneration, a chapter of a book that gives biblical studies on the subject.

http://answers.libertybaptistchurch.org.au/answers/96.pdf

Friend Im sorry about your christian wife having an affair. she should have been a better testimony for The Lord Jesus,dont let your wifes carnal hate for the Catholic church and the followers not let you find truth of the Word, I understand all you wouldve heard was a pharasaic hate for the Catholic more than the love of God for the sinner and a sorrow for people not hearing the truth of Gods word in a bible believing church and its practises are aligned with bible,If I right the Nazarenes are a born-again beleiving religion, they teach you that you need to be saved by the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice His body he died on the cross its not always easy to be in an unequally yoked relationship,unsaved and saved person marraige my friend you need to get your answers from the bible Gods written Word, anything about a religious practice that is outside Gods word is contrary to Gods Word and it is wrong and man made. let me ask you a question, If I made up a new religious practice today after the bible was finished in its writings and it wasnt in the bible, would you trust it, would you follow this new practise or would you beleive it was a lie. The bible was finished in its writings around 95 AD after Jesus Died. After the persecution of the saints and the teachings of Jesus were made illegal the Romans made their own religion and made up fallicies. Out of it came the Roman Catholic Church. These people introduced infant baptism and became a practise after 300 AD They say that Peter was the first Pope but in the Bible Peter never went to Rome, He was also married because the bible says that He had a mother-in-law whom Lord Jesus Christ healed.King James Bible Matthew 8:14
And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.


friend, always go to a place where the bible is held highly esteemed instead of "the church" man has corrupted the church by its false man made teachings and by what you see. Mary is not the mother of God, She was Jesus earthly mother, the Holy spirit impregnated Mary, Thats why Jesus is called The Son of David because Mary came from the line of David as also did his earthly father Joseph,Mary said to Elisabeth her cousin Elisabeth what has been highlighted in Luke 1:39-45 39And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; 40And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. 41And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.Mary's Song of Praise
(1 Samuel 2:1-11)46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,47And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.49For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.50And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.51He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.52He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.53He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.54He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;55As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.56And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

Jesus "disowned" his mother as He was on the cross and by calling her "Woman" as His heavenly father turned his back on his Son Jesus, He died alone
Friend if Mary was Holy and the Mother of God she would not need a Saviour, its just so you know, so in all doctrinal things always go to the Bible, The Holy Word of God, not what man practises in churches whose practises are outside the Word of God.
If you must "baptise" your children for your own conscience sake no-one can stop you but please remember that its not counted into any sort of salvation for the child. children must come to it themselves as must adults to make a decision for Jesus to save them because its only through Christ we are saved, not because of a decision our parents made for us

 

[Agricola]

It is not just the Catholic church which beleives in infant Baptism, the Church of England also carry this out. SOmehow baptism became corrupted from early on, the powers that be cherry picked then interpreted single lines in the Bible to come up with this crazy notion that people will be saved and go to heaven if they are baptised and that they are not part of the club.

Therefore we see babies being baptised. I have nothing against this ceremony if it is simply a a dedication or christening ceremony, but baptism is the wrong word for it and the implications of it are total opposite of what true baptism is.

It is not surprising that the two things which Christ demanded of us have become totally corrupted by Satan from early on in Church history. Communion and Baptism.

Baptism is only for genuine believers who have accepted Christ, accept and know Jesus, then be baptised to show this. Not only is this an outward sign but it is also a spiritual encounter, after all Christ was baptised, there is more to this than just a ceremony. Many people have received the HOly Spirit when they have been obedient and baptised.

Sprinkling a few drops of water on a babies head is going to do nothing for that baby and count for nothing. Do you think God will say to a person who died "I will only let you in to heaven if you have been baptised as a baby?" NO!!! God is going to look at a person and say "Did you know and accept Jesus and follow him?".

The only good thing which has come from infant baptism is that it has left genealogists and family history researchers invaluable historical records.

 

[TheAristocat]

I was baptized Catholic and grew up in the Catholic religion. I married a protestant and was married for 13 years, having four children with her. Now separated because of her affair, I have returned to the Catholic church which I had always felt was calling me back. During the marriage, we attended a Nazarene church which I hold a special place in my heart. My boys were dedicated there but never baptized. The Nazarene church believes that baptism is an adult decision and baptized adults when they make an adult decision to do so. My dilemma is what to do about this as she has a genuine hatred for the Catholic faith and it's followers. I have always had a guilty feeling about my children never being baptized and how to do it discreetly, without her knowledge. The subject of bathtub baptisms came up and it seemed like the perfect solution. Dishonest, maybe, but I have a duty to raise my children in faith, and that seems to trump everything else in my heart of hearts. Looking for opinions....

First off, your wife has no moral high ground here to dictate to you what you should do with your kids. But that also doesn't mean that any individual has a monopoly on truth. We can learn things from all sorts of people. For example, I think that we are called as Christians to be baptized. But that does not mean we are baptized to be Christians. Before you make a decision to baptize anyone you should first know where their faith is. Is their faith in God through Christ? It's best if it's not in Mary and not in baptism or any other ritual.

In Paul's day he rebuked some Jews who were laying on the Gentiles the requirement to be circumcised in order to become saved. We know now that what those Jews were doing was incorrect, and Paul refuted their reasoning. In the same way I think there are some - like Mormons - who claim to believe in the Gospel but then add baptism to it. Just as you didn't need to become circumcised (a Jewish ritual) to be saved, so you don't need to be baptized (also a Jewish ritual known as the mikvah) to be saved. If you did need to be baptized, then most people who are "baptized" today are never properly baptized and therefore not saved. Why? Because a mikvah was an immersion in living water (i.e. water that could support life, i.e. aerated water). It wasn't just immersion in a bath tub. It had to be running and aerated. That's why you never hear of the Jordan Pond baptism. Or the Dead Sea baptism.

But baptism is a ritual that should express our faith to the world. I feel it should be done in public. If your wife absolutely does not want your children to be baptized in any case, then that is wrong. And if you want your children to be baptized for their salvation, then that is also wrong. There is a good medium here, and that medium is the traditional way commanded to us by Jesus and expressing itself through a ritual to confirm your faith to the world.

 

[BeanieD]

It is true, that one needs to understand what baptism is about so the can make the right descision. Children are not able to understand all that baptism represents. There is no perfect denomination, just christians in all of them. I would pray about this and seek the will of God. Children are innocent which is why Jesus said that "unless we become as children".........

God bless and lead you

 

[savedandIknowit]

I saw this on someones profile on christianchat.com which touched my heart, I could not copy and paste so I took the time to type it out



Author A.B
R.e saved since birth?

You know there was a preacher from my (Independent fundamental baptist church) and he told me of a time he did some radio preaching, He had a program in the morning that he usually did live.

Just after one broadcast he went back into his office and the phone rang. A lady on the line asked him if he was the minister on the radio, and he said that he was, and she said that they had just moved to the area and they had a six months old baby boy who hadn’t been baptised and would he baptise him?

The preacher was just about to give his usual pat answer, no we don’t baptize infants, but the Holy Ghost held his tongue and led him down a different response. He said “If he meets the bible requirement for baptism, I’ll be very happy to baptize your son” to this the lady replied “ Oh I’m sure he will, he’s such a fine boy”

“Do you have a bible handy?” The preacher asked.
“Its packed in a box right now” She said
“Well go and get it, I’ll wait.”

So she went away for a few minites and she came back on the phone. And the preacher took her to Act 8, the account of the Ethiopian and Phillip the Evangelist and he came down to 36b See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptised, and v37, And Phillip said If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

“So that is the bible requirement for baptism” he said. “What you need to do is go over to your son and ask him if he believes in all his heart that Jesus is the Son of God” To this the lady replied, I don’t think you understood me minister: he’s only six months old”

“Oh yes, I understood you, but lets give the little lad the benefit of the doubt, You go over and ask him”

So she went away from the phone and came back a few minites later, she didn’t say anything but the preacher could hear her breathing over the phone.

“So what did he say“ he asked, As I told you, he’s only six months old.

Then she said, “I didn’t know that was in the bible”
Well now ma’am, if you died tonight, would you be a 100% sure of going to heaven? Or would there be some doubt? Could I show you what the bible says about that? And from there he led her to Christ

 

[MarkMulder]

and how to do it discreetly, without her knowledge. The subject of bathtub baptisms came up and it seemed like the perfect solution. Dishonest, maybe, but I have a duty to raise my children in faith, and that seems to trump everything else in my heart of hearts. Looking for opinions....

Liar... liar... pants on fire, and no bathtub full of water can safe you.

Sincerely,
your favourite ex-catholic

Mark

 

[jogoldie]

influencethew 3:11 ...I indeed baptized you in water because of repentance . But He who is coming after me is mighter than I,
Whose sandals I am not worthy or fit to take off or carry; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire...

I too was baptized as an infant in catholic church...to me seems a waste because it was not my choice and it never
prevented me from living a sinful life....as I found Jesus for real ..I was baptized again just to prove to God I would try
to live by His word...coming up from the water was a feeling that was indescribable and life changing...
I never wanted to deny my children that experiance....baptism I think is a personal choice and I would
not want to influence anyones choice to do so...this is just what worked for me....

 

[jogoldie]

Sorry typing thats matthew 3:11

 

[Angela53510]

You don't say how old your children are. If they understand the message of the gospel, and salvation through faith, then you can baptize them anywhere. You don't need a pastor or priest.

If they are too young to understand, then raise them up to believe in God, and introduce it at an age they understand.

But I am much more worried about you, and feeling called back the Catholic church. It is a corrupt institution, that has rites and rituals which are so far from scripture as to be pagan.

You need a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a church. And it doesn't sound like your wife was a very good Protestant! Read the Bible, then decide if you need to go back to a massive hierarchy, that has unbiblical practices like devotion to Mary, auricular confession, transubstantiation, and infant baptism.

 

[SarahM777]

So what do you all do with John the Baptist who was FILLED with the Holy Spirit BEFORE he was born?