The baby is then anointed, firstly with the oil of Catchechumens. The child is
anointed on the chest and prays that it will be spiritually strong. The baby has
now got all the gifts it will need to lead a christian life. The most central and
important feature of infant Baptism is 'the celebration of the sacrament.' The
third resumes around the Baptismal font. The priest blesses the water in
which he baptises the baby with. Obviously the child is unable to state
whether it wants to led a christian life but by the parents decision they are
putting their faith and trust in God. This shows that they agree with the
churches teachings and beliefs. The baby is then baptised. The water is
poured over the babies head three times while the priest says 'Babies name, I
baptise you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit.' In
todays the full significance of water can be seen in full immersion, where a
person dies to sin and rises again to share a new life with christ. The child is
annointed on the head with chrism, this is done in silence. During baptism
there are two times when the child is annointed. One is before baptism, which
accompanies the prayer of exorcism, this is the oil of Catechumens which is
a sign of strength to resist temptation, sin and evil.The oil of chrism is a
symbol of consecration for special serviced in the family of God. This
reminds us we are followers of the annointed one. The child is dressed in a
white garment which is a sign of new life and faith. The childs godparents
now recieve a candle representing the childs faith, they are asked to take
responsibility of upbringing their child. Traditionally the Godparents had to
insure that their Godchild was given a christian upbringing if the parent wasn't
able to take the responsibility. The infant baptism ceremony ends with the
final blessing of three prayers, one for the mother, father and the
congregation. However some groups believe it is not appropriate to baptise
babies, they take the new testament baptisms very seriously and only baptise
those who really want to become part of Gods family. Believers baptism
takes place in a river where the candidate could be fully emerged. There is
usually a tank sunk into the floor in the baptist church for this. Candidates
must wear a baptismal robe. Candidates must be sorry for their sins and have
faith in Jesus Christ. Believers baptism is when the parents believe that their
child should wait to be baptised when it is old enough to make a choice for
itself. People decide to become christians in later life maybe because they
were not raised in a christian family so they have a believers baptism to
confirm their christianity. Even christians who were baptised as babies feel it
is more omportant to be baptised as a believer because that is how Jesus was
baptised in the River Jordan. This is replicating being fully imersed in water.
It also replicates Jesus dying on the cross and ressurecting. Firstly the
minister gives a sermon explaining the importance of baptism. Those out of
the congregation who wished to be baptised are called forward, the
candidates are asked if they have repented of their sins and if thay have faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The candidate may give a testimony as to why they
want to be baptised. The candidate annd minister then step into the pool and
the minister baptises her. The believer must be completely emerged under
water as a sign of drowning to sin. Non believers of infant baptism say that
as the children grow up they may rebel against their parents or their relegion
because they were not given the choice of being baptised. In conclusion, my
opinion of infant baptism after reading about it I think the main reason for
being baptised is to be cleansed of original sin and no-one wants their child
to be raised as a sinner.
By Maria O'Hare
