Talk:Baptism

Early description of baptism missing

There is an early description of baptism from the 2nd Century, I think, that I did not see included in this article. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find it because I don't know the actual words, but it referred to them speaking or pronouncing the name of the Father over the person to be baptized. Anyone know where this missing information would be in the church fathers? Misty MH (talk) 10:49, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

Misty MH, the Didache? Elizium23 (talk) 17:53, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

I don't think so. I spent many minutes trying to find it but with no success. I'll have to wait to find the book I have with this. It was the first entry in a devotional from the "Church fathers". Misty MH (talk) 15:12, 3 February 2021 (UTC)

Fix the Table formatting?

Is there a way to fix the Table formatting so that the column "Beliefs about baptism" is much wider than the rest, since it almost always has way more text in it vs. some column like Infant Baptism which on my screen was just about the widest column but had maybe just one word (No, Yes) in it? Misty MH (talk) 05:38, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

Redundancy

This article is way longer than it need be, largely because of repetition. As an example of this, try searching for the term "Trinitarian formula". Doug butler (talk) 21:43, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

Non=Christian Baptism History

In Egypt, in ancient Heliopolis (the “City of the Sun”) the Pharaoh, who was the living manifestation of god on earth, would enter one of his private temples ‘the House of the Morning’ at sunrise each day to be sprinkled with water. This act was a symbolic unification with the sun-god Ra, who was believed to be reborn at dawn via the waters after his journey through the night; just as human beings were reborn via the waters of the amniotic fluid. In a depiction at the temple complex in Karnak, the Pharaoh Rameses II is shown having water poured over him by the gods Thoth and Horus. As Professor Richard Gabriel notes in Gods of our Fathers: the memory of Egypt in Judaism & Christianity (2001) However tempting as it may be to see baptism as an original Egyptian rite transmitted to us via Christianity, it’s important to note that baptism rituals were also practised by cultures with no discernible relationship to Egyptian or Judeo-Christian religious systems. Prescott (1843) describes a pre-Christian Mexican baptismal ritual that astounded the conquistadors with its similarity to those they knew; and 12th century Norse chronicler Snorri Sturlason describes baptism among pagan Scandinavians in his histories. So we can see the near-universal importance of baptism with water across all of humanity. 218.215.44.183 (talk) 18:25, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

Christening

Christening is sometimes used as a synonym for baptism but is not always. Some churches after baptism with water will "christen" the candidate by marking their forehead with a cross using either the baptismal water or anointing oil. I will try and find more material on this. 41.115.75.228 (talk) 10:11, 11 September 2024 (UTC)

Maybe, but for the vast majority the words are pure synonyms. Isn't making the cross part of the baptism ritual for many/most denominations? See ss 1241-42 here, from the Vatican. More could be added on this, sure. Do we have an article on Chrismation? Yes, we do. I think you would have a job demonstrating that "Christening" and "baptism" are used to refer to different parts of the same ritual. Johnbod (talk) 14:04, 12 September 2024 (UTC)