Baptism

No. It's you and those heathen Catholics sprinkling the kids.

 

It's good to be the king.

 

The priests standing over and dripping fluid on the infants is actually to prepare them for the experience of being altar boys.

 

Y'all are just wrong.

I laffed, of course.

But y'all are gonna burn.

 

Baptist, independent not southern baptist. What I did with my kids is dedicate them to the Lord. Basically that involves bringing them down to the front of the church after the service but before everyone leaves and having the pastor and other elders of the church come pray with us around the baby to show commitment to raise the child in a Christian home. It is also meant to offer the child to God in hopes that he will be able to serve God in his life.

Baptism is only for those who have accepted Christ and is only done to children when they are old enough to know what they are doing.

 

So yesterday it was Hyme.

Today? I agree with Thelt.

Shoot me. Quick-like.

 

If you're still wondering in your mind, you didn't really change your beliefs. If you don't believe in fear of damnation anymore, then there should be nothing to worry about. Recurring "doubts" are likely either 1) old implanted fears triggering on schedule, or 2) uncertain reasoning as to why you disbelieved in your old beliefs in the first place.

Accepting a ready-made set of beliefs based on faith is easy. Striking out on your own and finding your own way, confronting the big and timeless questions on your own is hard. This is why most "strays" from the flock eventually wander back and settle, despite their unresolved misgivings.

So the answer to your original question is not a yes or no proposition. It sounds like the real question is, "Did the person in question really change their beliefs, or just get tired of them for a while? And if so, why and how?"

 

Biblically speaking, baptism is basically a Christian's spiritual wedding. It's a public declaration of his or her faith, and a symbolic illustration of what has happened to that person in a spiritual sense. Being submerged under water is a way to show that a person's pre-Christian life is over -- dead and buried (hence the submersion) -- and his new, eternal life as a Christian has begun.

But baptism neither creates nor sustains a Christian's relationship with Jesus, nor his spiritual identity as a child of God.

WilliamJ was correct (again, Biblically speaking) when he said renouncing one's faith is a deal-breaker. Do not pass Go, do not collect eternal life in heaven.

 

I know we have agreed to disagree on this but once again I do not believe one can gain or lose salvation only accept it. It is a gift that you do not and can not earn.

 

that makes zero sense.