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Baptism

Aunt Spiker

Aunt Spiker

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Were you baptized - what did it mean to you? Why did you do it? Does it hold any meaning for you now?

(I'm listening to Screamin Jay Hawkins - his version of Swing Lo Sweet Chariot made me wonder about this)

My response will follow - I'll caution right now this is the religious forum . . .someone can spawn into another forum if they have something negative to say.
 
I was baptized when I was 8 - my parents tried to caution me against it but I felt left out of the religious loop because my sisters had already done it. I didn't understand it then - and I guess my parents must have realized I wasn't as believing as they were. But anyway - I did it and I was expecting some sort of spiritual change or solidity at the time but it was just an embarrassing event to me and nothing else.
 
Baptism is a symbolic act of faith and a public profession of one's rebirth into Christianity, performed as an act of obedience to God and emulation of Christ, who was baptised by John the Baptist.

It is a public affirmation of faith.... absent faith, you merely get wet. ;)
 
Indeed - so it was just obvious for me from day one that I wasn't a believer in anything . . . which is odd - my sisters were well inundated into religious. It skipped me - the errant child.

Looking back - it's strange that my parents noticed. I thought I tried really well to blend in with everyone else. LOL - guess my acting skills were just never good.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
I was baptized when I was 8 - my parents tried to caution me against it but I felt left out of the religious loop because my sisters had already done it. I didn't understand it then - and I guess my parents must have realized I wasn't as believing as they were. But anyway - I did it and I was expecting some sort of spiritual change or solidity at the time but it was just an embarrassing event to me and nothing else.
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I was baptised when I was 12 years old...into a Lutheran Church. I've been Lutheran, Catholic, Moravian and Methodist. I'm a pick-and-choose Christian. And sometimes I choose to not even be Christian. Baptism didn't really make an impression on me...other than I got a new dress.

I try hard to believe in God, but organized religion sometimes makes that difficult. The worst two things I did for my "religious self" were to be a trustee within both the Moravian and Methodist Churches. Sometimes it doesn't pay to see what's behind the curtain.
 
Like I believe most catholics, I was babtized as an infant.

As I am now more agnostic then anything, it means nothing to me
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Were you baptized - what did it mean to you? Why did you do it? Does it hold any meaning for you now?

(I'm listening to Screamin Jay Hawkins - his version of Swing Lo Sweet Chariot made me wonder about this)

My response will follow - I'll caution right now this is the religious forum . . .someone can spawn into another forum if they have something negative to say.
Click to expand...
I was baptized as an infant into the Episcopal Church. At the time, it didn't mean anything to me and I didn't do it so much as it was done to me :mrgreen:.

In any case, although I'm ambivalent about whether or not Jesus is/was the son of God, I still find a great deal of meaning in my baptism because in forever linked me to an institution (the Episcopal Church) that had done a lot of good for me and, I believe, the world. It also linked me forever to a philosophy (Christianity) that has also done a great deal of good for me and, I believe, the world.
 
I was never baptized, that I know of. I might have been as an infant, but my parents never told me. I remember going to church a lot when I was younger, but we stopped once my sister was born. My Sundays became instantly better :lol:
 
Hmm - I was baptized as an infant. . . that's not the same thing as being baptized on your own choosing later in life.

Infant baptism is for your parents - not so much you. . . unless catholicism is different.
 
Many evangelical churches do not do infant baptism, believing that baptism should be reserved for those old enough to choose it, and to articulate their faith and desire to publically affirm it. In short, viewing it more like Confirmation...
 
I was baptized in a lake at church camp when I was 13. I believe it's an important step in showing that you have come to the realization that you're a sinful person and choose to follow Christ. Therefore, it's pointless to baptize infants since they obviously cannot make that decision for themselves.
 
I baptized my 1st 2 kids - it actually meant something to me. At that time I was assistant in the nursery and taught Sunday school - my Dad always thought I did it for him - I thought that was offensive so I abandoned the last bit of faith I had after that.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Were you baptized - what did it mean to you? Why did you do it? Does it hold any meaning for you now?

(I'm listening to Screamin Jay Hawkins - his version of Swing Lo Sweet Chariot made me wonder about this)

My response will follow - I'll caution right now this is the religious forum . . .someone can spawn into another forum if they have something negative to say.
Click to expand...

Yes- when I was a child. At the time, it meant a great deal to me, but my religious beliefs have changed dramatically in my adulthood. I have no regrets at all, but I now see it as a symbolic gesture of intent.
 
Where is the great Jerry Clower You Tube video about baptism when you need it? I'll keep looking.
 
I got baptized at 8. It was an amazing experience. It holds alot of meaning to me.

I'll never understand the whole baptizing infants thing though, seems pointless given what the concept of Baptism is.
 
I went through the whole Catholic Church thing, I even got confirmed only because my Mum told me if I got confirmed I didnt have to go to Church anymore...lol Catholics
 
What an odd comment to make to your child. Why do you suppose she said that?
 
nota bene said:
What an odd comment to make to your child. Why do you suppose she said that?
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because she knew I would stop going whe I turned 16 and like most catholics she was worried about my enternal soul!
 
I think you meant "eternal."

Most of the Catholics I know do go to church.

And just to be clear, your mother wanted you to be confirmed so that you would reject going to church?
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Were you baptized - what did it mean to you? Why did you do it? Does it hold any meaning for you now?

(I'm listening to Screamin Jay Hawkins - his version of Swing Lo Sweet Chariot made me wonder about this)

My response will follow - I'll caution right now this is the religious forum . . .someone can spawn into another forum if they have something negative to say.
Click to expand...

Why did his version make you think of baptism?

I was just a baby when I was baptized so it didn't mean anything to me that I can remember. It did make me forever a part of something, I'm not sure what that really means to me though.
 
Aunt Spiker said:
Were you baptized - what did it mean to you? Why did you do it? Does it hold any meaning for you now?
Click to expand...
I was baptized as an infant, I had no idea what was going on, have no memory of it, and no it doesn't mean anything to me today. I haven't baptised my children, either. That's their choice to make.
 
I was baptised as an infant. Actually something of a sore subject between my parents' families, since my father's family insisted I be baptised in a Baptist church, and my mother wanted to have me baptised by my great-grandfather.

In the end, my mother baptised me herself.

Before learning of this, I had taken some comfort in learning I'd never been baptised, because it meant that my adoption of the Ásatrú faith as an adult was not a conversion-- that I was not an apostate who had abandoned a previous faith. Almost purely symbolic, since I never felt even an inkling of Christian faith, but it was something I held onto.
 
I was baptized 3 times, lol. As a baby (Catholic) and then again twice as an adult. It meant I was excepting Christ as my savior and being born again as a new being in Christ.
 
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