Baptism means so much to me because I really believe my sins are washed away.
I thought of Baptism recently while cleaning our boat and dreaming of a long hot shower. Baptizing myself from top to bottom, water sluicing over every bump, bruise, and curve. It occurred to me that being baptized this way would be a neat idea, and I wondered what the church would say about that.
I was baptized and raised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, but I don’t remember being baptized because I was just a baby. Still, Baptism has always been essential to me. I don’t really know why. But when I was a child, I baptized all my dolls. I also baptized my pet Chacma African baboon, Doonsie. The concept of baptism was something I was raised with and didn’t question. But as an adult? I wanted to know more.
When I converted to Catholicism in 1994, I asked my priest whether I needed to be baptized again, and he said no. To be honest, I was disappointed and surprised. I knew Baptism was one of the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Faith. I knew the Catholics believed that with Baptism, a believer is cleansed from sins and begins a new life.
I was looking forward to being baptized and receiving my first communion after a year of instruction from my sponsor and my priest. I knew it would be an evening service and thought being baptized would make it truly memorable. I adore the traditions of Catholicism. I wanted to be baptized during the Easter Vigil Mass, the night before Easter Sunday. It is a beautiful ceremony, which terminates with the Catechumens, after being baptized, receiving their white garments and a candle lit from the Paschal Candle. Then they are confirmed and receive communion.
I wanted it all. I wanted the magic. I wanted to be baptized because I truly believed in the power of Baptism. I wholly embraced my new faith and told my sponsor it was as if Mother Church had opened her arms and welcomed me home. But the Catholic Church upholds that one baptism is enough. So? No second baptism for me. To help me understand this, I decided to explore the history and meaning of baptism.
Some Baptism Basics
The concept of ritual cleansing is ancient and dates back to the first Century BC in the form of a Mikvah. The purpose of immersion in a mikvah is spiritual cleanliness, not physical cleanliness.
A Mikvah is a Jewish ritual bath designated by God in the Torah as a way to “purify” oneself when in a state of impurity.
Women use mikvahs before marriage, following their period, and after giving birth. It is also used as part of the conversion ceremony. In ancient times, a spring, creek, or river could serve as a mikvah. The actual construction of a manmade Mikvah came later. How did the Jewish people cope during those 40 years of wandering in the desert?
Miriam’s” Well (Be’erah shel Miriam) is the name of the spring that miraculously provided water and accompanied the Israelites throughout the 40 years they traveled in the wilderness.
How did the concept of a mikvah find its way into Christianity? Early Christians showed no surprise when John baptized his followers. It was a familiar ritual.
When the gospels open — Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1 — we are told of John baptizing people. There is no indication of surprise, wonderment at a new ritual, or the necessity of the practice. Why? Because Christian Baptism has its origins in the Jewish mikveh (Rev. Mark Robinson, Christian Baptism in the Light of Jewish Mikvah.)
Jesus baptized his followers in the Name of The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, which laid the groundwork for Baptism in the Christian tradition. In the Christian tradition, a new believer is often baptized with water in front of the whole congregation. There are three types of Christian Baptism.
- Full Immersion is when the entire body is submerged.
- Aspersion is practiced by sprinkling holy water onto someone’s head.
- Affusion is performed by pouring water onto someone’s head.
How you are baptized depends upon your denomination.
- Full Immersion. Baptists and several Eastern Orthodox churches practice Full Immersion. It is always an adult baptism.
- Aspersion. Catholics and some Protestant denominations practice Aspersion. Those following Aspersion allow Immersion but feel that Aspersion is more practical for modern times. It can be adult or infant baptism.
- Affusion became the dominant method of Baptism around the 10th century, with the Roman Catholic Church upholding the tradition. Affusion is an infant baptism unless an unbaptized person enters the Catholic Faith and is baptized as an adult.
Christianity holds that in Baptism, one’s old life is washed away. Most Protestant denominations offer all three options, but the Roman Catholic Church believes that moving water is necessary to accomplish this. A stagnant pool or sprinkling on the forehead does not fulfill the requirement.
Thinking About Baptism
What is it about Baptism that has secured its place in Christianity? Is it simply a symbolic measure, or does it have a deeper meaning? I’ve thought about baptism on and off since converting to Catholicism, and after exploring its history and thinking about how important baptism is to me, I’ve decided to ask my priest whether I can be baptized again. I genuinely believe it washes away my sins and that I would have a far better understanding of this as an adult than I had as an infant.
I don’t think he will agree. But it never hurts to ask. I understand that I must uphold other Sacraments of the Catholic Faith to perpetuate the washing away of sins. And I do.
How about you? If you are a Christian, how important is being baptized to you? How were you baptized? If you could be baptized in any way you wanted to, what would you choose?
I must admit that a hot shower has a certain appeal to me, whereas my friend Wonder Woman, tells me that if she were to be baptized? She’d pick a couple of lengths in a swimming pool.
12 thoughts on “I Want to Be Baptized Again”
Hi Ida .
Thank you for your interesting commentary on baptism. I deduced from your reference to the Dutch Reformed Church and to your pet baboon that you come from South Africa . Ek ook !
I now live in Melbourne ,Australia where I am a member of the Jewish community. We have a mikvah which is in regular use . Indeed when I got married many years ago ,our Rabbi requested that my bride should go to the mikvah before our wedding .
Tot siens and shalom.
Jock ,ex Johannesburg.
Hello from the United States of America, and yes, ek is ‘n boerekind uit die Klein Karoo.
But what a wonderful surprise to have a fellow expat South African read my stuff in faraway Australia.
And you are right, raised Dutch Reformed. But I love history, and when I went headfirst into the rabbit hole of the origins of baptism, I discovered the mikvah.
And I’m so glad it is still in use, not just a long-ago custom that the “old people” talk about.
Many blessings on you and your families – totsiens en mooi loop.
Write again, any time.
The questions you ask, beginning with: “What is it about Baptism that has secured its place in Christianity?” suggest that somehow you have not learned that baptism in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is how we disciples of Christ experience that essential rebirth that Jesus identified in John 3: 3-6 and Peter described in 2 Peter 1: 4 as becoming “participants of the divine nature.” . Recall that Jesus explicitly identified the necessity of literally being reborn (through Baptism and the spirit) with these statements:
” ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ … ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit.’ ….”
Jesus affirmed the necessity of Baptism again in Mark 16: 15-16:
” ‘Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.’ ”
Of Noah and the flood, Peter notes that: “This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.” See: 1 Peter 3: 18- 21 NABRE
Paul sheds further light on the essential character of baptism with this Scriptural statement from Titus 3: 5–11:
““… he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ….”
See also Ephesians 4: 4-6, Acts 19: 4-6 and especially 2 Peter 1: 3-11.
As in so many things, Scripture touches briefly upon these vital details about baptism in tiny bits and snatches of information.
Excellent article! Thank you! I have always loved history. The historical details of baptism that you have provided are really interesting and helpful!
Personally, I have thought deeply about my own baptism as a baby, being a cradle Catholic. I too felt “disconnected” from my baptism as I had no memory of it as you shared. More importantly, I was “confirmed” without understanding that sacrament either. In other words, I went through the motions but not seriously…
I had crossed the line of “alcoholism” at a young age (15) and was quite lost for many years. After a number of close calls with death over the subsequent years and a whole lot of losses in my life, I eventually got sober, “but for the grace of God”…
It was at that point that I encountered the true meaning of my baptism – when I went through a “life in the Spirit” program (scripture study) and was subsequently “baptized in the Spirit”…
Jesus said to Nicodemus that unless we are “born again” we will not gain entry to the kingdom. The life in the spirit program taught me how to be born again by “embracing” my “infant” baptism and to also embrace the “ship-shod” confirmation that I’d done in my youth…BUT this time I did it “soberly”…
The key was having a sober mind AND heart! I came to understand that the biblical meaning of being sober (openness to God) is essential to our ability to embrace the sacraments. They are NOT magic! They require our participation.
Today, I not only thank God for the “gift” of sobriety – but also the gift of alcoholism itself, that (painfully) led me to true sobriety of mind and heart – in as much as I now have a clearer understanding of the difference today.
I did not have to “re-do” any of the sacraments. I simply needed to embrace them soberly! To that end I receive the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist frequently today…
As I said, your article is most appreciated as it offers such candor on this issue. It is an issue that I believe many, many people in these modern times struggle with quite a lot either knowingly or unknowingly! God bless!
Hello John. I wish I could sit down next to you and discuss these things. You, as a cradle Catholic who walked a dark road for a while, and me? A convert that will never catch up with what cradle Catholics know. I stumble and fall, read and ask questions, and upset some people while others smile. Thankfully, my best friend is a Cradle Catholic and a true woman of God—my personal Spiritual Director – which, if you can, find one!
As a former Protestant, I have a hard time with Confession. But the Eucharist? I’m a total believer and bereft if I have to go without for some reason. It ignites something warm inside of me, which I jealously guard.
I’m so grateful for your reading and your wonderful response. May I suggest that you flesh out your response and submit it to the Editor-in-Chief to consider for publication? I truly think there are many people who will gain much from reading your response to my little story.
Go well, my friend and God’s Blessings go with you. Please write again if you want.
That bit about “one baptism” in the Creed means exactly that: one baptism. Baptism is for healing the soul, not for making you feel good. I was in fact baptized by immersion in a small, independent Bible church one December in the 1980s, and my overwhelming thought while being baptized was just how cold the water was. I was a teenager, and I knew it was something I had to do (because Christ commanded it, though I did not then know why), so I obeyed, but it was not “fun”. Really important things rarely are.
You should find some other outlet for your emotional needs — perhaps a voluntary penance.
You are so right. Being baptized as an infant, I have no recollection. Maybe the way I wrote about it came across wrong; if so, I apologize. I did not intend to make fun of baptism. I just wanted to be baptized when I fully understood it all.
My emotional needs are fully met in my daily prayer life. I talk to God all day long. Starting before I get out of bed to thank Him that I’m able to do so when many are not.
Thank you for reading and responding. It’s much appreciated.
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(1.) Does the Dutch Reformed Church perform a VALID Baptism?
(2.) Were the Proper words spoken when you were Baptised? “In the Name of The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”
Good morning, David, from a cool and beautiful start to the day in the North East.
Yes, the Dutch Reformed Church performs a valid Baptism. I was baptized as an infant, but I remember the words spoken when my daughter was baptized and the words “In the Name of The Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” were spoken. (In my mother tongue.)
She converted to Catholicism with me at age ten.
Thanks for reading and commenting!. And have a Blessed day.
Hello, my friend! What a beautiful picture you paint with that plunge into the cold surf at outer Cape Cod. I love it.
Yes, I guess you are right. I should be happy with the baptism I received so many years ago. And I, too, hope I will be anointed with holy chrism before my spirit flies free.
Thanks so much for reading and engaging. It warms my heart.
I felt baptized again at every plunge beneath the beautiful, chilly surf on the outer Cape Cod National seashore but now just hoping to being anointed with holy chrism on the forehead in some future Hospice setting before letting my spirit go.