Baptism in the Christian Community

Baptism in the Christian Community

Baptism has always held an important place in Christian religious life. Many people, even those who rarely go to church or have lost their faith, still wish to have their children baptized. But tradition does not necessarily justify the continued existence of this sacrament in a modern conception of Christianity. Insights into the process of incarnation, birth and baptism, or observations and experiences concerning the effect and meaning of the sacraments in a Christian community, can lead to a conscious decision to have a child baptized.

Here we arrive at an important question: May we make decisions for a child that is not yet capable of his own decision-making? Obviously, he cannot understand what is entailed. Should we not go back to adult baptism? To find the answers we have to look more closely at the source and development of Christian baptism.

Contents:

• Why Baptism? Baptizing Small Children.
  • Preparations.
• Godparents and their task.
  • Looking for godparents.
• Choosing a Name
• The Form of the Service and the Substances Used.
• The Christian Community.
  • Church and Membership.
• The Influence of Baptism in Everyday Life.
• Emergency Baptism
• Further Reading

About the Author

Maarten Udo de Haes was born in Java, Indonesia in 1938, Maarten Udo de Haes was ordained to the priesthood in 1968, after which he worked as a clergyman in Austria and the Netherlands. From 1978 he was a member of government for the Netherlands and Flanders for 21 years. From 1983 he was part of the Circle of Seven, the central governing body of the international priestly circle, for 24 years. In this capacity he supervised, among other things, the foundation of the Christian Community in Japan. At the end of 2007 he retired. He has several publications to his name on the sacraments in the Christian community, on baptism, youth ordination and marriage ordination. In 2011 his autobiography Priester, magician and ordinary person was published.