What Is Baptism?
Baptism is a Christian ritual of being washed with or immersed in water, symbolizing cleansing from sin and union with Jesus's death and resurrection.
Meaning
Baptism is the ritual use of water to mark a person's entry into the Christian faith and church. The Greek word baptizo means to dip or immerse, and the practice draws on Jewish ritual washing as well as John the Baptist's ministry of baptizing people as a sign of repentance before Jesus's own ministry began.
Paul gives baptism its deepest theological meaning by connecting it to Jesus's death and resurrection: we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we also might walk in newness of life. In this understanding, baptism pictures the old self dying and a new life beginning, not merely an outward washing.
Traditions differ on both the mode and the timing of baptism. Some churches, including many Baptist, Pentecostal, and nondenominational traditions, baptize only those old enough to personally profess faith, by full immersion. Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican traditions baptize infants of believing families, viewing baptism as the means by which a child is brought into God's covenant community, with sprinkling or pouring commonly used. Nearly all traditions agree baptism is a significant, one-time rite of initiation, even while disagreeing on exactly who should receive it and how it should be administered.
In Scripture
Romans 6:4“We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.”
Explore more terms in the Christian glossary, see how the traditions understand it on the denominations guide, or read related verses explained.
Baptism: Frequently Asked
Does baptism save a person?
Traditions differ on this. Catholic, Orthodox, and Lutheran teaching generally hold that baptism is a means of grace that actually conveys forgiveness and new spiritual life. Many Baptist and evangelical traditions teach baptism is an important public testimony of a salvation that has already happened through faith, rather than the cause of it.
Why do some churches baptize babies and others do not?
It comes down to how a tradition understands the relationship between faith and the sacrament. Infant-baptizing traditions see baptism as God's initiating act, bringing a child into the covenant community regardless of their ability yet to believe. Believer's-baptism traditions see baptism as a response to personal faith, so they wait until someone can profess it themselves.
Do I need to be baptized again if I move to a different denomination?
Most Christian traditions recognize baptism performed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by another Christian church as valid and do not require rebaptism. Some traditions that practice only adult believer's baptism will ask for baptism by immersion if a person was only baptized as an infant. Policies vary, so it is worth asking the specific church.