The church I grew up in had child dedications instead of infant baptism. I was baptized as an infant, but I may have also been dedicated. I've been looking into two different churches -- one does baptize infants, and the other one doesn't. So far, at the one that does not baptize infants, I have not even seen a child dedication, but I haven't been there very often.
I don't particularly agree with infant baptism, but I prefer it to child dedication. There was a baby being baptized today, so I sat back to observe and listen. The concepts seemed to be the same: dedicating the child to the Lord and asking the parents to actively teach their child the ways of the Lord, if that makes any sense. It was almost the same as any of the child dedications I have seen over the years.
The only differences that I could see were the pastor sprinkling water over the baby's head as opposed to holding the baby while the parents express their desire to raise the child in the knowledge of the Lord and reading a life verse chosen for the child. Everything else seemed very similar.
I may be missing something, but infant baptism and infant dedication seem to be the same basic idea.
Were you baptized or dedicated as an infant? If you have children, which did you do, if any? What's the difference between baptism and dedication?
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Comments (26)
Infant Baptism. I never understood the "you have to understand" logic. God's grace works regardless of whether or not we understand it; which is the best part about it. :)
Baptism is a holy sacrament and dedication isn't.
@Xbeautifully_broken_downX@xanga - It was never explained to me as "you have to understand" God's grace, but that you have to accept it voluntarily. The idea is that salvation & baptism are an individual choice. We believe that we can dedicate ourselves as parents to raising our children in the church, but we can't choose salvation for them. That is a choice that they have to consciously make or shun once they're old enough to realize that it is a choice. I was trying to think of a way to say that without using the word "choice" so much, but I can't. Because that's what it boils down to. Each person has to choose God (or not) for his/her self.
So I'm for dedication, because it's that parents promising to raise the child in church and teach them about God.
The difference between baptism and dedication is that baptism is an open acceptance of Christ Jesus and the gift of grace, so the person being baptized is already saved, but is representing that status through baptism. Salvation only occurs when the person can make a conscious, educated decision to accept Christ. A dedication can happen for a baby because it is a commitment on the part of the family to help raise the child in a God-loving environment. It doesn't guarantee salvation, but is an open affirmation of the family's willingness and commitment to raising a Christian child.
I've seen both being done at my church and I looked it up on google to make sure I was interpreting it correctly. I wasn't baptized until February of this year and the ceremony consists of each person saying aloud their acceptance of the gift of salvation before entering the baptismal.
My church only does infant dedications.
I think Scripture is pretty clear......John 3:16, John 6:40 and many others.......whoever believes in Jesus Christ has eternal life.........believes that Jesus is the Son of God......believes that He is the only Way unto salvation....believes that He died on a cross for our sins......believes that when we confess our sins He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness......believes that He is Lord....etc. etc. Baptism follows that believing...it does not precede it. Baptism is a public declaration of what has already taken place........the conscious decision to believe. Does Paul or Peter or any of the apostles go and raise up churches and teach people to get all their infant babies saved........I don`t see that teaching in Scripture. Infants can`t believe.......because they don`t understand what it is they are supposed to believe.
I also don`t believe that infants who die go to hell or purgatory.....because God would not hold someone responsible for something they did not understand.....ie. being born sinful. But God is also not going to open the doorway to Heaven to persons who were sprinkled as babies but have lived their lives in sin with no understanding or desire to repent or turn away from sin.
Infant dedication not only involves a public declaration of parents intent to raise up a child in the ways of the Lord.......but I believe that the local family of God that it occurs in, should also be entering into that commitment.....to support those parents......to encourage.......to teach.......to do whatever is required to help that infant grow up in the ways of God.
Sad that people think infant baptism is a ticket to heaven.......but also sad that the local church does not always sacrifice for, or support families that dedicate babies.
@JimBob - I agree with every single thing you wrote. But especially this:
Infant dedication not only involves a public declaration of parents intent to raise up a child in the ways of the Lord.......but I believe that the local family of God that it occurs in, should also be entering into that commitment.....to support those parents......to encourage.......to teach.......to do whatever is required to help that infant grow up in the ways of God.
Sad that people think infant baptism is a ticket to heaven.......but also sad that the local church does not always sacrifice for, or support families that dedicate babies.
Baptism is a public declaration of your salvation, in my church we call it a confession of faith. An infant cannot possibly make a conscious decision for or against salvation, let alone enter into a covenant with God & declare it before the world. However, I have known people that believed that salvation is not sufficient without baptism. (For the record, I don't buy that either. Say you get saved on a... Thursday, and plan to get baptized the following Sunday. Or that you haven't even been told yet that baptism is the logical and rightful next step. Then you die in a car accident on Saturday night. I'm doubtful that your salvation alone isn't enough for God. But then I'm pretty sure that God is more interested in the content of your heart than the degree to which you buy into any particular dogmatic legalism.)
So this raises an interesting question: what happens to babies (or very young children) who die before they've accepted Christ? What's the cutoff? My son is three. How long does he have to make that choice before death automatically sends him to hell? Whether they've been publicly dedicated or baptized or neither doesn't matter. But will God really send innocent children to hell?
I'm sorry, I've gone a bit off-topic here... for the record, my church dedicates infants and small children and baptizes kids and adults at their request. And that's the way I think it should be.
well I was christened as an infant in the Christian Reformed church.. and then I made the decision to follow God's directions and was Baptized at 12. The difference? A baby cannot make the decision to repent of their sins and follow God and be Baptized (plus Baptism is full submersion under water and then coming up out of the water a new person in Jesus. Symbolizing the death of your old self)
I believe infants and children are born pure and innocent. When they are old enough to understand right from wrong and know that doing wrong has consequences, then they can understand sin and Jesus' coming and how He saved us from eternal death. What age does this happen at? I would say that depends on the child, but most children I know it happens around 5/6. Babies are not born with sin, they are born into a sinful world. If a baby dies they go to Heaven, and I believe this about Children too.
The church I go to now does baby dedications, and from what I have seen its the same thing without the water. And its more about the parents dedicating themselves to raising the baby Biblically.
@JenHamrick@xanga - My church works the same way.
But, as to your question. I think the most rapidly maturing children begin to reach the "age of accountability" around age 5-6. Every child is different, and the only person who can know for sure that a child is at the right age is the child him/herself. There are a lot of subjective issues in this one question, though. Like, I don't believe that a kid who's never been introduced to the concept of Christianity, let alone the idea of a one-on-one relationship with Christ, can be held accountable for not being saved. But I haven't studied extensively on the subject, so I can't say this is absolutely right. It's just what I believe & how I feel about the inherent nature of God.
I did not create myself; my esistence is a gift.
Likewise, my children are a gift.
My gift to my kids is to have them Baptized and to bring them up as good Catholics, following the faith and traditions that were handed on to me. Life is a gift.
@kristinabean@xanga - Yes I agree God is looking at your heart......baptism is a public declaration to follow Christ.......like taking communion (sorry RC's) it signifies something that has already taken place. It is more for the believer than it is for God..... to strengthen their faith....to remind them that they have died with Christ and been reborn. If a person were to die between repenting of sins and asking Christ to be Lord of their lives.....and their baptism, God is surely knowing what was in their hearts.
@LadyGwenivere@xanga - sorry....my bible disagrees with your stance on the purity and innocence of the newborn. David wrote in Psalm 51....Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
When Jesus said no one is good, only God is good......if your supposition is true, why would He have not qualified that only babies and God are good? Why would Paul write in Romans 3 that .....There is none righteous, no not one..........if indeed babies are righteous?
Babies are innocent and would go to heaven not based on being sinless, but because of their inability to comprehend sin and repent of it.
@JimBob - so you are saying that babies who are miscarried or aborted go to hell?
wow.. thats really sad.. my God is one of grace, love and mercy..
By innocent I meant that a baby does not chose to sin, because it does not know right from wrong until it is taught.
Ive read the Bible cover to cover 3 times, and I just do not agree with you.
I guess no one will really know until we get to Heaven,
What about people in far-away countries who have very different cultures and have never heard of Jesus? Surely they must be held accountable, unfair as that may seem.
And I would say, by Jim Bob's logic, that babies who are aborted or miscarried would also go to heaven because of their inability to comprehend sin and repent. (Not saying I necessarily agree with that; just refuting what LadyGwenivere suggested.)
Just to make it clear, I was born into a Catholic family and I was really sick at birth, so I was given first rites, last rites and baptism all within the first couple weeks of my life. Then I was adopted into a Protestant family who had me dedicated. As for being baptized, I accepted Christ at 23 and did a full immersion baptism a few months later.
http://www.antiochian.org/node/16904
I really don't understand the reasons not to baptize an infant. If it's only because they can't understand and fully accept Christ, then by that rule people who are mentally disabled can't fully accept Christ. Though it may be that my understanding of infant baptism is totally different than what seems to be what the majority of the comments say.
@llamalima@xanga - This begs the question; what is it that makes one a holy sacrament and the other not? Is it merely the difference in the name you give it? Presumably not. So what's the difference?
@JimBob - ok wait I am sorry..... sleep deprived and sick here
im a little slow today..... so please ignore the 1st part of my comment back to you. I totally mis-read the last line of your comment. and so i do apologize
but after reading and re-reading, and re-re-reading... we are saying the same thing are we not?
@JenHamrick@xanga - how can you refute what i said when i said what JimBob said?
I've skimmed most of the comments. What I do not see is the Biblical support for 'dedication'. The support for infant baptism is well known, or at least all over the 'net and scholarly writings.
The problem with an 'age of accountability' rationale (besides the utter lack of Biblical support) is that a parent would then be more loving if the parent killed his/her child and not risk the child rejecting God when he/she becomes accountable. Thus, this philosophy actually endorses infancide (kill the child to save the child).
As to what happens to children/babies who die without baptism, well that is left to God's providence, not mine. Since His decisions are, by definition, just, then there is no right of anyone to dispute such. None of us deserve God's grace.
Let us celebrate the birth of the babe born in Bethlehem, the Savior of the world who atoned for our sins on the cross at Calvary. Merry Christmas!
If you really want to dedicate a child, then that is fine. But I don't think a dedication should be taken lightly; you are making a vow to God to raise that Child in a Godly fashion.
Baptized at 30 days old; it was the greatest gift my parents ever gave to me.
It amazes me what an issue infant baptism has become in recent years (recent as compared to the 2000+ years infants have been baptized).
@hippiechristian73102@xanga - My parents were essentially told to take me home to die; I had a 20% chance of survival (and I went through the Catholic thing too - first, last, and baptism). I chose Christ for myself at 17 (my family are all still Catholic). I have really bad experiences with the Catholic Church (involving how they treated my father up until his funeral Mass) that would cause me to never go back...EVER.
I wouldn't baptize a child because, like others have said, they are not capable of making the choice - it is being made for them. I was baptized as a believer at 18 (actually, the day before my 18th b-day; it was Easter that year), and it was far more meaningful because it was a choice that I had made. I like dedication because it is a parent's commitment to raise the child in their faith to the best of their ability, but it's not binding them to any sacraments or specific denomination or anything. When they are old enough, they can choose to follow or not follow Christ.
@kristinabean@xanga - Where do we get the idea of an "age of accountability?" I don't really see it anywhere in scripture, but I've heard people talk about it.
@HLPU@xanga - There's really no biblical support for either. We do have something of an example of a dedication when Hannah dedicated Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:28, but that's a little more unique because Hannah specifically asked God for a son and He gave her one. When it comes to infant baptism, while there may be support from different denominations or scholars, there's really nothing explicitly in scripture.
I personally practice infant dedication. Though it's not commanded in scripture, I don't think it's ever a bad idea for a church community to commit to raising a child to follow Jesus. However, I see child baptism as changing the type of baptism we see in scripture. I don't think it's a wrong or bad thing, I just don't think it effectively achieves the purpose of baptism.
I definitely agree with you on the age of accountability. It doesn't seem to have any scriptural basis.