Should baptism be by immersion only? Say yes...?

Question

...and I will have to agree. Immersion is not submersion, and the Baptists have it wrong.

Answer 1

Good question. I believe it depends on the person and the church. It really should be about the symbolism of the act. The baptism is what's really important
God bless you

Answer 2

Interesting "almost difference" of definition between the words. Submersion, with the prefix "sub" means to put something UNDER, usually a liquid. Immersion means to pluge into or place under something, usually in a liquid... (www.dictionary.com)

A priest once gave a very interesting homily on the topic. He described a time when he was young when he was river rafting and fell out of the raft. He talked about the feeling of being pulled under the water and struggling to get to the surface and the joy of that first breath of air. He compared it to the feeling of death and new life, since without the air he would have died. So by completely "dunking" (my term) a person during baptism, they experience in a physical way what is happening spiritually.

Of course, I'm talking about a quick submersion, none of this holding a person's head under water. And as for babies, it can be done with no danger to the child, but in that case, just pour a bunch of water on them and get them soaking wet!! Death and Life are not neat pretty little things, and since babies get bathed all the time (one would hope), it's not going to be a huge shock.

Answer 3

No. The Bible gives no set method of Baptism as the only way. Baptism is the symbolic act of accepting Christ and washing away of sins. Those who enter this debate are missing the only really important factor, the openess of the heart of the one being baptised. If the person is really accepting of Christ and then I find it unimportant as to how the person is baptized. I refuse to accept the fact that someone is rejected after having accepted Christ due to the method in which they were baptized.

Answer 4

Immersion-body fully under water.

Answer 5

I believe it should be total immersion.

Unless one was at the baptisms, preformed at the river, with John the Baptizer - I fail to see how anyone can be definite.

Answer 6

No, but it is OK

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."5
From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."26 The apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans.27 Always, Baptism is seen as connected with faith: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household," St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi. And the narrative continues, the jailer "was baptized at once, with all his family."28
According to the Apostle Paul, the believer enters through Baptism into communion with Christ's death, is buried with him, and rises with him:


Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.29
The baptized have "put on Christ."30 Through the Holy Spirit, Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies.31

1228 Hence Baptism is a bath of water in which the "imperishable seed" of the Word of God produces its life-giving effect.32 St. Augustine says of Baptism: "The word is brought to the material element, and it becomes a sacrament."

Answer 7

immersion is baptism. And no, we don't have it wrong. Sprinkling is for the garden, not baptism.

Answer 8

Yes

Answer 9

I was raised a Lutheran, and with my husband raised our children as Catholics--they both baptized the same way--in the front of the church with holy water from the font.

Answer 10

I would have to agree with you. But then, I believe in baptizing babies, not waiting until they are adults. A few little drips of water on the forehead is good enough.