# Baptism is so nice, I had to do it twice! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 1, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181 "2005-08-01T18:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181/21 "2005-08-03T01:54:52Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > Heathen Episcopalian checking in. We do it once in infancy as a rule (I was baptized at 6 months). It makes it clear the child is a formal member of the church and the whole community has a role in raising him or her. It also gives members of the congregation a cute-baby fix. Do denominations who baptize as adults have anything similar? The churches I’ve attended regularly have offered a choice to parents as to whether they want their babies (or very small children) baptized or dedicated. They are very much alike - at the dedication, the parents and the church community commit to raising the child in Christian care and love, but the kid is not actually baptized. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181/22 "2005-08-03T17:14:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > As a Christian who believes we are saved by God’s love for us in the form of Christ, baptism to me is not necessary the first time, much less a second time. Speaking only partly tongue-in-cheek, if it’s good enough for Jesus it’s good enough for us. He was baptized (albeit symbolically) and instructed His disciples to go do the same. Catholics renew their baptismal promises every year and a re-baptism wouldn’t ever happen. Most Christian baptisms “count” for Catholicism; in fact if someone is being baptized Catholic as an adult and doesn’t know their history, the priest will say “If you have not been baptized before, I baptize you…” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181/23 "2005-08-03T23:41:45Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In the Roman Catholic tradition, a validly administered baptism “imprints a character” (or “leaves an indelible mark on the soul” for those old enough to remember the Baltimore Cathechism) and may be received only once. > > From that viewpoint, therefore, a “re-baptism” would be as silly as an Orthodox Jew having his _bar mitzvah_ at age 70 because he didn’t have a ceremony when he was a kid. > > For those in other Christian faiths… I will defer to someone more knowledgable. Anglicans would agree with you, Rick. But to improve your analogy, you would have an Orthodox Jew having a **second** bar mitzvah at 70 because “he didn’t really understand what it meant at 13.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181/24 "2005-08-03T23:57:27Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Anglicans would agree with you, Rick. But to improve your analogy, you would have an Orthodox Jew having a **second** bar mitzvah at 70 because “he didn’t really understand what it meant at 13.” Yeeessss… The point of that analogy was that the man WAS _bar mitzvah_ at 13, regardless of the presence or absence of any ceremony. A 13-year-old is, by definition, _bar mitzvah_, and no external action, certification, word, gesture, or ceremony makes him more or less so. So that when he hits 70, the idea of “having” his _bar mitzvah_ then is utterly meaningless. Your example is more illustrative, I imagine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baptism-is-so-nice-i-had-to-do-it-twice/315181.md?page=1)