A recent article on the BBC website, told the sad story of a baby that died after being “baptized” by a priest in the Romanian Orthodox Church. The death of the child has led to calls for the church to change its practice of immersing infants three times. One of the church’s defenders replied, “The canons of this religion have been in place for over 1000 years.”
One-thousand years is a long time for some things, but it not nearly long enough when it comes to one of the central practices of the Christian faith. In fact, his statement makes it clear that their practice came along nearly 1000 years too late. In stating that the practice of dunking an infant in water is 1000 years old, he is admitting that it is not 2000 years old. If it came along a mere 1000 years ago, then it came along nearly 1000 years too late to have been approved by Jesus or any of his apostles.
“Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb 11:6, ESV). That child did not know that God exists. An infant is not even self-aware, let alone aware of God’s existence. Dunking them in water gets them wet, and is done improperly may kill them, but it does nothing else. No ritual is effective the one receiving is not doing it by faith, aware of its meaning and its connection with God. Such a faithless ritual has no saving power. It is harmful in that it often leads people to the false conclusion that something of spiritual significance has happened, when in fact nothing of spiritual significance has been done. It is only those old enough and intelligent enough to “receive the word” who were baptized at Pentecost (Acts 2:41). It is only those old enough and intelligent enough to “receive the word” who should be baptized today.
So called Orthodox baptism came along nearly 1000 years too late. It is, in fact, nothing but getting a child wet (or in this case, killing a child).
If you had to be told that you were baptized, if you cannot remember your baptism, then obviously it was not a ritual that you received by faith. As Hebrews 11 makes perfectly clear, such an act did not and does not please God.
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