when it doesn't say anything about having to in the bible. Cause I mean, the people way back then didn't get it done in a church by a preacher/priest or whatever.
2007-06-05 12:47:05 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It doesn't. Most people just want it that way because it's tradition and it feels right.
2007-06-05 12:51:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you look at the Bible you see that John the Baptist baptized people, Jesus' disciples baptized people, Paul and Peter and Philip baptized people. While the Bible doesn't give specific rules about who can or cannot baptize a person it is generally understood that a person who goes through that ceremony should have someone who has at least some official standing in the church performing the ceremony.
I mean, why couldn't you just grab someone off of the street and ask them to dunk you in some water and recite some words from a sheet that you gave them? The answer would be that unless the person was a representative of Christ here on earth the whole process would be a joke wouldn't it?
Baptism is a public declaration of one's faith, so unless a person was converted by a Christian while they were both stranded on a deserted island or something like that doesn't it make more sense to perform the ceremony in a church type setting?
2007-06-05 19:56:16 · answer #2 · answered by Martin S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus' disciples went out and baptized. The sucessors of Jesus' disciples are the priests and preachers of today.
It is normally done in a church because the church is where people come together to worship and Baptism welcomes a person into the Body of Christ.
2007-06-05 19:57:15 · answer #3 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible does not specifically address this question. When one looks through the baptisms recorded in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, it would seem that all that was needed was to be a disciple of either Jesus or John the Baptist (in the four Gospels) or to be a godly Christian (in the Book of Acts). I say godly Christian because it was always a godly Christian who was sharing the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and His shed blood on the cross. It was as a result of believing this good news that people were then willing or desiring to be baptized.
Here are a few examples of these godly Christians in the Book of Acts: Peter and the apostles baptized large numbers in Acts 2 as they responded to the message about Christ. Later on, Philip, who was at first selected as one to distribute food to widows in the church in Jerusalem, later preached the gospel in Samaria and baptized believers there (Acts 6,8). Still later Paul baptized some of those who trusted in Christ in the course of his missionary work, but apparently also let others do the baptizing instead of him (Acts 16:33; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; etc.).
For me, the pivotal passage that answers your question indirectly is found in the “Great Commission” passage (Matthew 28:18-20). This passage records Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations and includes baptizing as part of the process of making those disciples. If this commission is given to all Christians (as is commonly held), then the authority to baptize, in my mind, is also given to all Christians.
In the Epistles, it never discusses who is to baptize. What is discussed instead is the meaning behind baptism. Both in the Book of Acts as well as in the Epistles, the proper understanding of how one is saved on the part of the one being baptized (Acts 19:1-5) and the symbolism involved in baptism (Romans 6) seems to be more important than who it is that is doing the baptism.
Based on Matthew 28:18-20 as well as on the silence of the remaining portions of Scripture concerning this issue, it would seem that any true believer has authority from God to baptize even as they have the authority from God to evangelize and teach all that Christ commanded.
Recommended Resource: Baptism: The Believer's First Obedience by Larry Dyer
2007-06-05 19:53:55 · answer #4 · answered by Freedom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The culprits in this are the apostolic "fathers." The bishops began a power grab shortly after the death of the apostles which culminated in them forbidding anyone to baptize but them, insisting that a church wasn't a church without a bishop, refusing to baptize anyone who hadn't fasted, prayed, gotten married and been investigated for up to three years. No kidding!
Here's a link to check out:
http://www.house-church.org (see What is a church?)
Tom
2007-06-05 19:56:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Baptism can be done anywhere at anytime by anyone. In the Biblical accounts it was done immediately after faith in christ.
2007-06-05 20:00:25 · answer #6 · answered by studentofword84 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With out proper authority you are just getting wet not truly baptized.
2007-06-05 19:51:24 · answer #7 · answered by saintrose 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋