Believer's baptism

Believer's baptism or adult baptism (occasionally called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo meaning "I believe") is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing infants. Credobaptists believe that infants incapable of consciously believing should not be baptized.

The mode of believer's baptism depends on the Christian denomination, and is done either by pouring (the normative method in Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite churches) or by immersion (the normative method practiced by Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Baptists, and the Churches of Christ, among others).^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Certain denominations of Methodism, including the Free Methodist Church and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, practice infant baptism for families who desire it for their children, but provide a rite for child dedication for those who have a preference for believer's baptism only after their child has made a personal acceptance of Jesus as their savior.^[6]^[7]

Denominations and groups who practice believer's baptism were historically referred to as Anabaptist (from Neo-Latin anabaptista, from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά-, "re-", and βαπτισμός, "baptism"), though this term is used primarily to categorize the denominations and adherents belonging to the Anabaptist branch of Christianity that emerged in the era of the Radical Reformation.^[8]

^ Kurian, George Thomas; Day, Sarah Claudine (14 March 2017). The Essential Handbook of Denominations and Ministries. Baker Books. ISBN 978-1-4934-0640-1. The Conservative Mennonite Conference practices believer's baptism, seen as an external symbol of internal spiritual purity and performed by immersion or pouring of water on the head; Communion; washing the feet of the saints, following Jesus's example and reminding believers of the need to be washed of pride, rivalry, and selfish motives; anointing the sick with oil--a symbol of the Holy Spirit and of the healing power of God--offered with the prayer of faith; and laying on of hands for ordination, symbolizing the imparting of responsibility and of God's power to fulfill that responsibility.
^ Kraybill, Donald B. (1 November 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8018-9911-9. All Amish, Hutterites, and most Mennonites baptized by pouring or sprinkling.
^ Nolt, Steven M.; Loewen, Harry (11 June 2010). Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History. MennoMedia. ISBN 978-0-8316-9701-3. ...both groups practiced believers baptism (the River Brethren did so by immersion in a stream or river) and stressed simplicity in life and nonresistance to violence.
^ Brackney, William H. (3 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity. Scarecrow Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8108-7365-0. The birthdate in 1708 marked the baptism by immersion of the group in the River Eder, thus believer's baptism became one of the primary tenets of The Brethren.
^ Foster, Douglas A.; Dunnavant, Anthony L.; Blowers, Paul M.; Williams, D. Newell (2004). The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8028-3898-8. Across the board, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ immerse new believers and strongly encourage those who transfer from non-immersing churches to undergo immersion.
^ "Baptism and Dedication". Free Methodist Church. 3 December 2008. When they baptize babies, pastors should make sure that their prayers include clear requests that God will bring the children to a personal faith that "owns" what the parents are promising at a time when the children (who "belong" from day one) cannot act for themselves. And when they dedicate children, pastors should make sure that their prayers include clear gratitude to God for the fact that he is already at work in the life of that child, who already "belongs" in the Christian community. Here's what must be stressed: whether at the time of baptism (in the adult baptism tradition) or at the time of confirmation when the vows made earlier by the parents are personally "owned" (in the infant baptism tradition), it is faith in Jesus (dependent trust, not mere cognitive affirmation) that is crucial. Paul goes so far as to say that without faith and obedience, the old rite of circumcision has no value (Romans 2:25). The same is true of baptism. With either rite, clear evangelistic follow-through is crucial.
^ The Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church. Evangelical Wesleyan Church. 2015. pp. 29, 169–178.
^ "Anabaptist". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

[KurianDay2017-1] Kurian, George Thomas; Day, Sarah Claudine (14 March 2017). The Essential Handbook of Denominations and Ministries. Baker Books. ISBN 978-1-4934-0640-1. The Conservative Mennonite Conference practices believer's baptism, seen as an external symbol of internal spiritual purity and performed by immersion or pouring of water on the head; Communion; washing the feet of the saints, following Jesus's example and reminding believers of the need to be washed of pride, rivalry, and selfish motives; anointing the sick with oil--a symbol of the Holy Spirit and of the healing power of God--offered with the prayer of faith; and laying on of hands for ordination, symbolizing the imparting of responsibility and of God's power to fulfill that responsibility.

[Kraybill2010-2] Kraybill, Donald B. (1 November 2010). Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites. JHU Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8018-9911-9. All Amish, Hutterites, and most Mennonites baptized by pouring or sprinkling.

[NoltLoewen2010-3] Nolt, Steven M.; Loewen, Harry (11 June 2010). Through Fire and Water: An Overview of Mennonite History. MennoMedia. ISBN 978-0-8316-9701-3. ...both groups practiced believers baptism (the River Brethren did so by immersion in a stream or river) and stressed simplicity in life and nonresistance to violence.

[Brackney2012-4] Brackney, William H. (3 May 2012). Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity. Scarecrow Press. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-8108-7365-0. The birthdate in 1708 marked the baptism by immersion of the group in the River Eder, thus believer's baptism became one of the primary tenets of The Brethren.

[FosterDunnavantBlowersWilliams2004-5] Foster, Douglas A.; Dunnavant, Anthony L.; Blowers, Paul M.; Williams, D. Newell (2004). The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8028-3898-8. Across the board, Christian Churches/Churches of Christ immerse new believers and strongly encourage those who transfer from non-immersing churches to undergo immersion.

[FMC2008-6] "Baptism and Dedication". Free Methodist Church. 3 December 2008. When they baptize babies, pastors should make sure that their prayers include clear requests that God will bring the children to a personal faith that "owns" what the parents are promising at a time when the children (who "belong" from day one) cannot act for themselves. And when they dedicate children, pastors should make sure that their prayers include clear gratitude to God for the fact that he is already at work in the life of that child, who already "belongs" in the Christian community. Here's what must be stressed: whether at the time of baptism (in the adult baptism tradition) or at the time of confirmation when the vows made earlier by the parents are personally "owned" (in the infant baptism tradition), it is faith in Jesus (dependent trust, not mere cognitive affirmation) that is crucial. Paul goes so far as to say that without faith and obedience, the old rite of circumcision has no value (Romans 2:25). The same is true of baptism. With either rite, clear evangelistic follow-through is crucial.

[EWC2015-7] The Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church. Evangelical Wesleyan Church. 2015. pp. 29, 169–178.

[8] "Anabaptist". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

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