Does Your Baptism Hold Water?

As a fairly new student to Bryn Athyn College, I have had to consume my religion courses very quick. The one thing that has allowed me to keep up is my Catholic education. At times it is hard to understand what is being taught, especially at the 300 level. Being able to connect the teachings of the New Church to the Catholic Church is not only helpful, but also interesting. Although it is not foolproof, it had led to some interesting ideas. One idea in particular is baptism.

I wanted to focus on baptism because it is one of the main sacraments shared by both religions. Also it fits well into this course because baptism brings out our salvation and corresponds with our judgment. I have noticed that when I learn something from the New Church perspective, I need to go inside my head and find what I was taught in Catholic school and attempt to find a correlation. Often what happens is the New Church’s teaching makes more sense and adds more value to what I have learned in Catholic school.

While in Catholic school and sometime after I never fully understood how the things being taught applied to me, or why they really mattered, lessons were often left at face value. Baptism was no different. It was taught, we were tested, and that was it. They would say baptism saves your soul from original sin and makes you a member of the Church. That is great…but what else? This is where the New Church has come in, to fill in the blanks.

Hopefully you too are now wondering more about baptism. Maybe you are wondering similarities and differences between baptism in the two Churches, or how baptism applies to your life, well here you go…

What Does Baptism Do?

            True Christian Religion 675-684 describes three uses of baptism. The first use of baptism is the introduction into the Christian Church. No matter if you are Catholic or New Church, baptism if your entrance into the Church community. It confirms that you are a follower of Christ, whether it was chosen by your parents/guardians when you were an infant or you chose it for yourself when you were older. The second use of baptism is that we acknowledge Christ as our one true God, our savior, and our redeemer. This is usually the part that Catholics mention original sin. I was taught that the water of baptism washes away the smudge that is left on our soul from Adam and Eve giving into temptation. Which sounds good, but shouldn’t it do more? That is where the third use comes in. Baptism allows a person to be regenerated. Regeneration is a new term for me. I do not recall being taught this in Catholic school, at least not to the extent that we have been taught in this course.

            Regeneration is used to describe our growth as spiritual beings- a process of being “created new” as spiritual people who are bound for heaven (Swedenborg Foundation). This is an area that the New Church outweighs the Catholic Church, from my perspective of course. Prior to taking religion courses at Bryn Athyn I did not spend much time on thinking about my own spirituality.

Catholic Church Baptism

            The Catholic Church uses a set of guidelines from the Code of Canon Law (set of ecclesiastical laws) for baptism. It starts off by saying that baptism is the gateway to the other sacraments like Holy Communion and Confirmation. Already we see a difference from New Church, which does not view confirmation as a sacrament. The Catholic Church believe that the purpose of confirmation is to confirm the infant’s faith which was given at baptism. I do not blame the New Church for leaving that sacrament out because I believe that our faith is confirmed at baptism.

            The Canon Law lays out the requirements for baptism in an orderly way. Can. 850 states, “Baptism is administered according to the order prescribed in the approved liturgical books, except in case of urgent necessity when only those things required for validity of the sacrament must be observed.” This can be challenged by the New Church belief that there are no “death bed repentance”. If a person were in a situation where they needed an emergency baptism, it would be what the person loves (good or evil) that saves them, not the ritual of baptism. This is one of my beliefs that has changed since leaving Catholic school. When broken down, baptism is simply a ritual where water is poured on an individual who is entering the church. The water symbolizes the commitment to wash evil away by turning to God and to live a life of charity toward others. Although it would not be wrong to be baptized in an emergency situation, it should be understood that it is not the water that sends us to heaven.

            Can. 867 §2 has an interesting rule about those who are converting to Catholicism. It says, “Those baptized in a non-Catholic ecclesial community must not be baptized conditionally unless, after serious examination… a serious reason exists to doubt the validity of the baptism.” This means that if a New Church member were to convert to Catholicism they would not need to be baptized again as long as it was an official baptism. However, it does not work the other way. “The belief of New Church people is that the Church of the New Jerusalem is as distinct and separate from the Christian Church” (Alden). This is why if a person is baptized in the former Christian Church it is necessary for him to be baptized into the New Church. This shows that for the Catholic Church, baptism is more universal compared to the New Church, who view their baptism as unique. This means that the services and texts may make the two baptisms similar, but what the Church holds valuable is different.

New Church Baptism

            Some of the most important findings on baptism are in True Christian Religion 667-697. This reading focuses on what I believe is the most important thing drawn from baptism—spirituality. TCR 667 asserts,

“But it is impossible for the uses of these two sacraments (baptism and communion) to enter the mind of anyone, unless those uses are disclosed and set forth by the spiritual sense; therefore it follows that without that sense no one can know that the sacraments are anything more than ceremonies, which are holy because instituted by commandment”

As mentioned before, baptism is more than just pouring water on an infant’s head. If it was only a natural action it would serve no purpose, not even in cases of emergency. As TCR 667 says, without the spiritual sense, baptism is just a ceremony which is instituted by commandment. When baptism regenerates us we are spiritually awakened, and it is understood that salvation is possible. I believe that salvation is the most important thing gained from baptism. This is what allows us to be more than just natural and earthly beings. With salvation we are able to reject sin, love our neighbor, and live a life of charity. These apply directly to our judgment. I would have never believed that before taking this course. I never really divided a person as natural and spiritual. If you plan on living a good life and believe that your spirituality is important, than you should consider baptism for yourself or for your child.

            True Christian Religion also reflects on judgment for those who do not choose good. TCR 685 says, “Let every Christian know, then, that he who does not believe in the Lord even though he has been baptized, cannot be regenerated.” The physical action is also described

“For when he is baptized in infancy, the priest with his finger makes the sign of the cross, as a memorial of the Lord, on his forehead and breast, and afterwards turns to his sponsors and asks whether he renounces the devil and all his works, and accepts the faith; to which the sponsors, in the place of the infant, answer, “Yes.” The renunciation of the devil, that is, of the evils that are from hell, and faith in the Lord, are what effect regeneration.

This sign of the cross and reply of “yes” are still practiced in both New Church and Catholic baptism services. This shows that each use of baptism is just as important as one another. You cannot be regenerated if you do not believe in the one who is making the regeneration possible. It is quite simple. Also why would you be baptized if you do not believe in the Lord in the first place? This is what the Catholic Church would identify as an unofficial baptism.

From the Liturgy

            The liturgy that is used by the New Church offers insight on the importance of their baptism. It is similar to that of what the Canon Law does for Catholic baptism. The priest starts by saying that “a person is born into natural life, and by inheritance inclines to evils of every kind, he must be born again that he may enter into the kingdom of God.” The priest reiterates this belief by reading one or more passages from the Word, such as the following:

“Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

With baptism we are able to see new meanings and have deeper understandings. This comes from the sacrament and is not limited to just Catholics or members of the New Church. Some of you may be familiar with this already, or maybe you are like me and you were unaware of how deep our baptisms really are.

Final Thoughts

            I would like to add a quote from the current pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, which reflects an important understanding in my research. Pope Francis says, “If the devil unites us in death, who are we to divide ourselves in life are?” He continues, “All Christians can and must pray together, as they have all received the same baptism and strive to follow Christ” (Glatz, 2015). Pope Francis is saying that at death we are all Christians and evil sees no divide. Such as at baptism we are all made Christians.

            This paper’s intent was not to challenge Catholic or New Church baptism and see which is better. These two baptisms were used to show that we may come from different backgrounds, but we still share the same sacrament. The important thing is what you get out of it and how you apply it to your life. Baptism is arguably the most important sacrament, for it allows us to enter the Church, which then makes us a part of a special community in heaven, as the New Church believes. It also assures that we are a follower of Christ and that we will live in accordance to his commandments. Another part of baptism is that it allows us to take part in the other sacraments. Both Churches make baptism the first sacrament for this reason. Additionally, baptism regenerates us and brings salvation, with this we become spiritual beings who are able to reject evil. Finally, as Swedenborg mentioned, baptism makes us a spiritual being bound for heaven.

            With baptism as our starting point, we continue our lives as spiritual beings. From here we find our true loves and take on the challenges of daily life. Baptism does not make us perfect and we are destined to dirty our souls again. That being said, baptism always gives us something to fall back on. We might make bad choices, but when we recognize that it is not the bad that we love, we can be redeemed. This is Jesus’ salvation at work and is possible for us because of baptism.

            So ask yourself, does my baptism hold water?