Quotes about Baptism

Infant baptism when practiced can be no more than an expression of the faith and hope of the parents that their child will ultimately be saved.

True baptism allows us to reframe, and contain, the reality of evil, without needing to blame anyone else, without any need for shame or vengeance. We are all in this together, and our common wound shows itself in different ways.

Within the Church, sins are forgiven in three ways: by baptism, by prayer, and by the greater humility of penance; yet God does not forgive sins except to the baptized.

If you haven't been baptized as an expression of your faith in Christ, do so as soon as possible, as Jesus commanded.

We belong to Jesus Christ, because we have all been baptized into His body. Now the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit gives us a spiritual unity that overcomes our differences, enabling us to live together in a caring community that stands out like a city on a hill.

Calvin answered in an elaborate letter (June 26, 1549), to the effect that marriage with Romanists was to be condemned; that popish baptism was valid and efficacious, and should be resorted to when no other can be had, since the Roman communion, though corrupt, still retained marks of the true Church as well as a scattered number of elect individuals...

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Ephesians 4:4—7

That Christ's Baptism was not a mere form, but the fulfilling of all righteousness, proves that He descended into the water burdened with our sins.

The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery, are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church.

THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING REGARDING THE BAPTISM with the Holy Spirit has been immersed in controversy, especially during the last century. For one thing, should it be called baptism in the Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, or with the Holy Spirit?

A man walked into a Christian bookstore in an Arabic-speaking country. "I want your best book on the defense of Christianity." The bookstore manager handed him Evidence That Demands A Verdict in Arabic. As the man left he exclaimed, "I'm doing my dissertation on destroying Christianity." Six months later the storeowner baptized the student who had become a believer.

For I believe the crisis in the U.S. church has almost nothing to do with being liberal or conservative; it has everything to do with giving up on the faith and discipline of our Christian baptism and settling for a common, generic U.S. identity that is part patriotism, part consumerism, part violence, and part affluence.