John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. The earliest Christian baptisms were by

immersion Immersion may refer to: The arts * "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard * ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux * Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...

. By the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved

catechetical Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the re ...

instruction as well as

chrismation Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as conf ...

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism ''semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

, and recitation of a creed. In the West,

affusion Affusion ( la. ''affusio'') is a method of baptism where water is poured on the head of the person being baptized. The word "affusion" comes from the Latin ''affusio'', meaning "to pour on". Affusion is one of four methods of baptism used by Chri ...

became the normal mode of baptism between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, though immersion was still practiced into the sixteenth. In the sixteenth century,

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

retained baptism as a sacrament, but Swiss reformer

Huldrych Zwingli Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the Univ ...

considered baptism and the

Lord's supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

to be symbolic. Anabaptists denied the validity of infant baptism, which was the normal practice when their movement started and practiced believer's baptism instead. Several groups related to Anabaptism, notably the Baptists and Dunkards, soon practiced baptism by immersion as following the Biblical example.

Background in Jewish ritual

Although the term "baptism" is not used to describe the Jewish rituals, the purification rites in

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

, Jewish law and tradition, called '' tvilah'', have some similarity to baptism, and the two have been linked. The ''tvilah'' is the act of immersion in naturally sourced water, called a ''

mikva Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or ( Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be puri ...

''. In the past

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Law of Moses) became ritually defiled by contact with a corpse had to use the mikvah before being allowed to participate in the Holy Temple. Immersion is required for

converts to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

. Immersion in the mikvah represents a change in status in regards to purification, restoration, and qualification for full religious participation in the life of the community, ensuring that the cleansed person will not impose uncleanness on property or its owners. It did not become customary, however, to immerse converts to Judaism until after the Babylonian Captivity (586–539 BCE). This change of status by the mikvah could be obtained repeatedly, while Christian baptism, like

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. Top ...

, is, in the general view of Christians, unique and not repeatable. Even the so-called

rebaptism Rebaptism in Christianity is the baptism of a person who has previously been baptized, usually in association with a denomination that does not recognize the validity of the previous baptism. When a denomination rebaptizes members of another denomi ...

by some Christian denominations is not seen by them as a repetition of an earlier valid baptism and is viewed by them as not itself repeatable. During the Second Temple period ( 516 BCE–70 CE), the Greek noun ''baptmos'' was used to refer to ritual washing in

Hellenistic Judaism Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism wer ...

Hemerobaptists

Hemerobaptists (Heb. ''Tovelei Shaḥarit''; 'Morning Bathers') were an ancient religious sect that practiced daily baptism. They were likely a division of the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''Isiyim''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st ce ...

. In the ''Clementine Homilies'' (ii. 23), John the Baptist and his disciples are mentioned as Hemerobaptists. The Mandaeans have been associated with the Hemerobaptists on account of both practicing frequent baptism and Mandaeans believing they are disciples of John.

Mandaeans

Mandaeans Mandaeans ( ar, المندائيون ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and most important prophet. ...

revere

and practice frequent full immersion baptism (''

masbuta Maṣbuta ( myz, ࡌࡀࡑࡁࡅࡕࡀ) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as a ritual of purification, not of initiation. They ar ...

'') as a ritual of purification, not of initiation. Mandaeans abhor circumcision and are possibly the earliest people to practice baptism and may have originated

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

.Drower, Ethel Stefana. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press, 1937. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

, and ''

yardena Yardena ( he, יַרְדֵּנָה) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located on route 90, 13 kilometers north of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Yardena was ...

'' (Jordan) has been the name of every baptismal water in Mandaeism. The

Mandaic language Mandaic is a southeastern Aramaic variety in use by the Mandaean community, traditionally based in southern parts of Iraq and southwest Iran, for their religious books. Classical Mandaic is still employed by Mandaean priests in liturgical rite ...

is a dialect of southeastern Aramaic with

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

and Samaritan Aramaic, as well as Akkadian influences and is closely related to

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

and especially

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Jewish Babylonian Aramaic was the form of Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talmud (which was completed in the se ...

. They formally refer to themselves as ''Nasurai'' ( Nasoraeans).Drower, Ethel Stefana. The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa. Biblioteca Apostolica Vatican, 1953 According to Mandaean sources such as the

Haran Gawaita The ''Haran Gawaita'' ( Mandaic ࡄࡀࡓࡀࡍ ࡂࡀࡅࡀࡉࡕࡀ "Inner Harran" or "Inner Hauran") also known as the ''Scroll of Great Revelation'', is a Mandaean text which recounts the history of the Mandaeans and their arrival in Media ...

, the ''Nasurai'' inhabited the areas around

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and the

River Jordan The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

in the 1st century AD.Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2010). Turning the Tables on Jesus: The Mandaean View. In (pp94-11). Minneapolis: Fortress Press

Elkesaites

The Elkesaites were a Judeo-Christian baptismal sect that originated in the Transjordan and were active between 100 and 400 CE. The members of this sect, like the Mandaeans, performed frequent baptisms for purification and had a Gnostic disposition. The sect is named after its leader ''Elkesai''.

Sethians

The Sethians were one of the main currents of

during the 2nd and 3rd century CE. According to

John D. Turner John D. Turner (15 July 1938 in Glen Ridge - 26 October 2019) was the Cotner Professor of Religious Studies and Charles J. Mach University Professor of Classics and History Classics & Religious Studies at the University of Nebraska. He was well ...

, it originated in the 2nd-century CE as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic Judaic philosophies and was influenced by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

Middle Platonism Middle Platonism is the modern name given to a stage in the development of Platonic philosophy, lasting from about 90 BC – when Antiochus of Ascalon rejected the scepticism of the new Academy – until the development of neoplatonis ...

. The Sethian baptismal rite is known as the

Five Seals In Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are frequently m ...

, in which the initiate is immersed five times in running water. According to Buckley (2010), "Sethian Gnostic literature ... is related, perhaps as a younger sibling, to Mandaean baptism ideology."

Valentinians

Valentinianism was one of the major

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

Christian movements. Founded by Valentinus in the 2nd century CE, its influence spread widely, not just within

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

but also from Northwest Africa to Egypt through to Asia Minor and Syria in the East. A Mandaean baptismal formula was adopted by Valentinian Gnostics in Rome and Alexandria in the 2nd century CE.

Early Christianity

adopted baptism as the central sacrament in his messianic movement, seen as a forerunner of Christianity. Baptism has been part of Christianity from the start, as shown by the many mentions in the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline epistles. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. How explicit Jesus' intentions were and whether he envisioned a continuing, organized Church is a matter of dispute among scholars. There is a scholarly consensus that the earliest Christian baptism was normally by immersion, or at least that this is probable. Some interpret this as meaning total immersion or submersion beneath the water. Among those who take this view are Thomas Schreiner, Everett Ferguson, Di Berardino, Tischler, and Lang. Others understand immersion as not necessarily implying submersion beneath the water. Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen distinguishes between immersion and submersion and considers both as possible early-Christian forms of baptism, as does Christian Strecker. Laurie Guy says: "The church most likely practiced full immersion, partial immersion and affusion at various times and places in the early centuries, with sprinkling being practiced rarely (and probably only for medical reasons) during that time period." Robin M. Jensen describes the early Christian baptismal ritual as having for basis "immersion in water (or a thorough soaking by pouring)", and describes the primitive, first-century ritual as having encompassed both "application of water (whether by immersion or by some other means) and an imposition of hands", adding that "'Baptism' originally conveyed the sense of water's application (if not also immersion) in its very definition". Other recent studies that see total immersion (submersion) as not the only form of baptism utilized by early Christians include Steven J. Schloeder, Charles Thomas, Stanley J. Grenz, and also the ''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'', and the ''Oxford Dictionary of the Bible''. The theology of baptism attained precision in the 3rd and 4th centuries. While instruction was at first given after baptism, believers were given increasingly specific instructions before being baptized, especially in the face of heresies in the 4th century. By the fourth and fifth centuries, baptism had become a several-week-long rite leading up to the actual baptismal washing on

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

. During this time, catechumens attended several meetings of intensive

instruction, often by the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

himself, and often accompanied by special prayers,

s, and other rites. Catechumens recited the Creed on

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday ( la, Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sabado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter ...

to show that they had completed their catechetical instruction. At dawn following the

Paschal Vigil Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a liturgy held in traditional Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this liturgy that people are ba ...

starting the night of Holy Saturday, they were taken to the baptistry where the bishop consecrated the water with a long prayer recounting the types of baptisms. The catechumens disrobed, were anointed with oil, renounced the devil and his works, confessed their faith in the Trinity, and were immersed in the font. They were then anointed with

chrism Chrism, also called myrrh, ''myron'', holy anointing oil, and consecrated oil, is a consecrated oil used in the Anglican, Assyrian, Catholic, Nordic Lutheran, Old Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Latter Day Saint churches in th ...

, received the

, clothed in white, and led to join the congregation in the Easter celebration. By then, postponement of baptism had become general, and a large proportion of believers were merely catechumens (

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

was not baptized until he was dying); but as baptisms of the children of Christians, using an adaptation of the rite intended for adults, became more common than baptisms of adult converts, the number of catechumens decreased.. As baptism was believed to forgive sins, the issue of sins committed after baptism arose. Some insisted that apostasy, even under threat of death, and other grievous sins cut one off forever from the Church. As indicated in the writings of Saint

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christ ...

, others favoured readmitting the " lapsi" easily. The rule that prevailed was that they were readmitted only after undergoing a period of penance that demonstrated sincere repentance. What is now generally called the Nicene Creed, longer than the text adopted by the

First Council of Nicaea The First Council of Nicaea (; grc, Νίκαια ) was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea (now İznik, Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This ecumenical council was the first effort ...

of 325, and known also as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed because of its adoption in that form by the

First Council of Constantinople The First Council of Constantinople ( la, Concilium Constantinopolitanum; grc-gre, Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 b ...

in 381, was probably the baptismal creed then in use in Constantinople, the venue of the 381 Council.

Infant Baptism

Whether the earliest Christians practiced infant baptism, and thus whether modern Christians should do so, has remained a subject of debate between Christian scholars at least since the earliest clear reference to the practice by Tertullian in the early third century. Some claim that Biblical baptism can be interpreted and thus relative, others support the Biblical literal baptism as a public and personal testimony, without intermediaries, in the case of infants that cannot talk for themselves yet.

Early Middle Ages

Against Pelagius, Augustine insisted that baptism was necessary for salvation even for virtuous people and for children. The baptismal rite was significantly simplified during the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries as fewer and fewer of those baptized were converts from paganism. The rite became much less important and was conducted very quickly. Prebaptismal catechesis was abandoned, and baptism was usually conducted shortly after birth. Baptême Cathédrale de Troyes 290308

Middle Ages

In 895, the provincial

Council of Tribur The first Christian Council of Tribur was held in Tribur (now Trebur, Germany) in May 895, and was presided over by Archbishop Hatto of Mainz. This was a provincial council, as opposed to an ecumenical council. The council made a number of decla ...

commented on the traditional teaching that the triple immersion in baptism was an

imitation of Christ In Christian theology, the imitation of Christ is the practice of following the example of Jesus.''A concise dictionary of theology'' by Gerald O'Collins, Edward G. Farrugia 2004 page 115''Imitating Jesus: an inclusive approach to New Testament ...

for the three days he spent in the tomb, and the rising from the water an imitation of the

resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...

. The linking of the baptismal immersion in and rising from the water with the burial and resurrection of Jesus arguably goes back to Saint Paul, and the linking of the triple immersion with the three days in the tomb is found in Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313–86) and

Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( grc-gre, Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. He is venerated as a saint in Catholicis ...

(c. 335 – after 394). Vasnetsov Bapt Vladimir

The 12th century saw the meaning of the word " sacrament" narrowed down and restricted to seven rites, among them that of baptism, while other symbolic rites came to be called "

sacramentals A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...

". In the period between the 12th and the 14th centuries,

became the usual manner of administering baptism in Western Europe, though immersion continued to be found in some places even as late as the 16th century. Throughout the Middle Ages, there was therefore considerable variation in the kind of facility required for baptism, from the baptismal pool large enough to immerse several adults simultaneously of the 13th century Baptistery at Pisa, to the half-metre deep basin in the 6th century baptistery of the old

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...

. Both East and West considered washing with water and the Trinitarian baptismal formula necessary for administering the rite. Scholasticism referred to these two elements as the matter and the form of the sacrament, employing terms taken from the then prevailing Aristotelian philosophy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, while teaching the necessity of both elements, nowhere uses these philosophical terms when speaking of any of the sacraments.

Reformation

In the 16th century,

considered baptism to be a sacrament. For the Lutherans, baptism is a "

means of grace The means of grace in Christian theology are those things (the ''means'') through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and e ...

" through which God creates and strengthens "saving faith" as the "washing of regeneration" in which infants and adults are reborn. Since the creation of faith is exclusively God's work, it does not depend on the actions of the one baptized, whether infant or adult. Even though baptized infants cannot articulate that faith, Lutherans believe that it is present all the same. Because it is

faith alone ''Justificatio sola fide'' (or simply ''sola fide''), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, fr ...

that receives these divine gifts, Lutherans confess that baptism "works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare." In the special section on infant baptism in his

Large Catechism ''Luther's Large Catechism'' (german: Der Große Katechismus) is a catechism by Martin Luther. It consists of works written by Luther and compiled Christian canonical texts, published in April 1529. This book was addressed particularly to cler ...

, Luther argues that infant baptism pleases God because persons so baptized were reborn and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Swiss Reformer

differed with the Lutherans by denying that baptism conveys grace to the baptized. Zwingli identified baptism and the Lord's supper as sacraments, but in the sense of an initiatory ceremony. Jordan river baptism cue

Anabaptists (a word that means "rebaptizers") rejected so thoroughly the tradition maintained by Lutherans as well as Catholics that they denied the validity of baptism outside their group. They "rebaptized" converts on the grounds that one cannot be baptized without wishing it, and an infant, who does not understand what happens in a baptism ceremony and who has no knowledge of the concepts of Christianity, is not really baptized. They saw as non-biblical the baptism of infants, who cannot confess their faith and who, not having yet committed any sins, are not in the same need of salvation. Anabaptists and other Baptist groups do not consider that they ''re''baptize those who have been baptized as infants, since, in their view, infant baptism is without effect. The

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...

, Restoration churches ( Churches of Christ/ Christian Church),

Hutterite Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century ...

s, Baptists,

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...

s and other groups descend from this tradition.

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

, charismatic and most non-denominational churches share this view as well. In

Reformed baptismal theology Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang *Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

, starting with John Calvin, baptism is seen as primarily God's offer of

union with Christ In its widest sense, the phrase union with Christ refers to the relationship between the believer and Jesus Christ. In this sense, John Murray says, union with Christ is "the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation." The expression "in Ch ...

and all his benefits to the baptized. This offer is believed to be intact even when it is not received in faith by the person baptized. Baptism also initiates one into the visible church and the

covenant of grace Covenant theology (also known as covenantalism, federal theology, or federalism) is a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an orga ...

Notes

References

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * * * . *

External links

* . * , dispensationally considered. {{Christian Soteriology Baptism Christian terminology Lutheran sacraments and rites Mandaean rituals