Saving the Baptists with Baptism

Long time. Been busy. The usual.

Still there are a few interesting things to report.

First my work schedule may be changing soon. If it does, it'll allow me to have Sundays off. That's crucial because the FSSP parish through which I was confirmed does not have evening Mass available. So to fulfill my Sunday obligation, as I've said in previous entries, I've had to go to a Novus Ordo parish after I get off from work.

Now, I'm not disrespecting the Novus Ordo Mass. Some people feel at liberty to do that. But I don't. If there's something manifestly wrong with the Novus Ordo, it will be worked out in time. It's been around for 46 years, which is only a speck of dirt on the canvas of the Church's history. That's nothing in Church time. People wiser and more discerning than me will decide the Novus Ordo's fate.

That having been said, I really do like the traditional Latin Mass better. Again, it's not that one is valid and the other is invalid; it's strictly a matter of preference. The TLM just seems more solemn and holy to me. That's all.

And so it'd be a pleasure to be able to attend Latin Mass every week. And the only way I'll be able to do that for right now is if I have Sunday mornings off. My parish will eventually have a parish building unto itself and will be able to have evening Mass on Sunday but that's several months away at the very least. So if I want my Latin Mass, Sunday morning is my only real option.

Fingers crossed!

As to other things, I've been thinking a lot about baptism lately. I was baptized in some form or another when I was 16. I asked my parents to be baptized and my grandfather, ordained for such a thing, drove into town to do the job. And he did.

But here's the catch. I truly don't remember what he said as he baptized me. He might've used the proper phrasing as I was immersed. But maybe not. Because of that I asked for a conditional baptism when I was welcomed into the Catholic Church. I didn't want to leave anything to chance. If something was wrong with my baptism from when I was 16, it seemed wise to fix it since I was going to be welcomed into the Church anyway.

But this runs counter to what I was always taught as a child and during my Southern Baptist days as an adult. I was always taught (and, God forgive me, I taught others that) baptism was a strictly symbolic thing. The act conferred no special grace or salvation. So the most obvious question to ask is whether or not that's actually true.

To introduce the subject of baptism, the Catechism says:

Article 1

THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM

1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

So that seems pretty clear to me. Baptism is ordinarily a necessity for salvation. But that's not what I was taught when I was an evangelical Christian. On the contrary, the position that I'd heard repeated again and again was that baptism is a symbol. It's an outward sign of obedience signifying an inward transformation.

In other words, baptism by itself accomplishes nothing. It does not save you, as such. It simply demonstrates that you have already been saved by placing your faith in Our Lord. The very most you can say is that we're following Our Lord's example in being baptized.

But is that really true? It's a big question to get wrong, especially for a movement espousing Sola Scriptura. So perhaps it would be helpful to see what the Bible has to say about salvation.

"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
- St. Mark 16:16

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
- 1 St. Peter 3:21-22

"And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name."
- Acts 22:16

[B]y the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
- Titus 3:5-7

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
- Acts 2:37-41

This all raises the question of just what more can be said in sacred Scripture to emphasize the necessity of baptism for salvation. If God wanted to clearly and plainly articulate the importance of baptism, what other words could He possibly use to make the point?

To go back to the Catechism for a moment: 1214 This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up by resurrection with him, as "a new creature."

1215 This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God."

Once again we find the Catholic Church's interpretation to be absolutely spot-on and consistent with sacred Scripture, not to mention her own tradition and teachings on this subject through the centuries.

Meanwhile many evangelical Protestants, despite their professed belief in sacred Scripture alone as the only infallible authority which guides men in the faith, have missed the mark.

Now, I should say that there are clearly instances where someone believes but, for whatever reason, is not or cannot be baptized in a canonically acceptable way. What of them? Are they simply doomed to hell?

Well, that's not mine to say. The Church teaches that there are possibilities for such people to go to heaven. Those are extraordinary circumstances. But in ordinary circumstances, sacred Scripture and the Church's teachings are both clear:

He who believes and is baptized will be saved.