Or was it just a ceremonial celebration of an inner conviction? Did anything immediately change for you at that moment? I know this may sound naive, even silly, but was baptism “magic”?
I was baptized as an infant, but I was confirmed* as an adult. The physical ceremony itself, which included signing my forehead with a cross in blessed oil and reaffirming my Catholic faith verbally, was pretty special. I particularly liked the symbolism of the oil; it made me think of David being anointed and Jesus being the anointed one as well. It ties together several parts of salvation history and I felt a strong connection with that as I was anointed. It is perfectly possible to go through confirmation or non-infant baptism without that neat feeling though. I don’t think it was the oils or the statements of belief that made my confirmation special. I was ready to confirm my faith as an adult. I had spent time really studying my faith and gaining insight into what it meant to me. I was ready to receive the sacrament and it was the journey to and from that sacrament that has changed me as much as that one moment in time.
*Confirmation is a Catholic Rite of Initiation. I hope that it’s okay that I’m talking about it instead of baptism. I imagine my feelings on baptism would be the same if I were baptized at some point when I could remember it.
I don’t know if I’d call it magical, but it was an important step in identifying my faith as mine and not just my father’s. My father was pretty dominating and manipulative at the best of times. When he became a Christian (I was about in Jr High), he naturally hoped us kids would too. I think both of my younger brothers “converted” for him and never really defined their faith as their own. For example, neither have been back to church since they moved out on their own. I took the opportunity to learn about being a Christian and made my own commitment on my own schedule, mostly due to the fact that life as an atheist seemed utterly meaningless. (When I first read Ecclesiastes, it was a revelation. It’s like someone 2600 years ago wrote down exactly how I felt.)
So, to keep the story from getting much longer, I saw my baptism as the way to publicly commit to my decision. It was a lot like how I saw my wedding I’d already made the decision to have a relationship (in one case with Christ and in the other with my wife) and used the ceremony to make a binding commitment in front of the community.
There were no doves, parted clouds or voices from the sky, though. 
My church at the time was nondenominational but basically Baptist and we did the full immersion baptism. I honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way.
I was baptized when I was but a few weeks old. I (obviously) don’t remember it.
Like MissMossie, I also went through confirmation when I was about 14.
**Or was it just a ceremonial celebration of an inner conviction? **
Like others I was baptized as a baby, so I don’t remember any of it.
**Did anything immediately change for you at that moment? **
Please see above answer.
**I know this may sound naive, even silly, but was baptism “magic”? **
Oh, honey, that’s not silly. That’s what a lot of folks think God and all that stuff is: magic. As I don’t remember my christening I don’t know what I felt. I guess my folks and my three godmothers were hoping it was magic of sorts; you know, protection against evil and such.
I do know that when I take the Eucharist I feel really good, like a big, white light fills me up and for just one moment gives me back faith in other people and myself. I guess you could call that magic.
It’s not solely a Catholic practice. Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do it too.
I was baptized as an infant but it didn’t take, I guess. I spent a lot of my years as a closeted athiest.
Now that I’m a Christian by choice (rather than by default), the act of baptism hasn’t been important to me. The church in which I was “saved” (I dislike that buzzword) did full immersion baptism. My current Friends church doesn’t practice water baptism at all, it believes in baptism in the spirit. Other Friends churches do practice water baptism (says a quick google search).
I guess it’s as significant as you want it to be. I don’t feel any less a Christian for not being baptized, I don’t think I’d feel any moreso with it.
Like everything related to religion, YMMV.
I did a full immersion baptism. It felt wet. And a little silly. It wasn’t magical for me at all. The people around me were pretty excited, so at least someone got something out of it.
On the other hand, I’ve had a few blessings in my time. Just the laying of hands on head, and a few words. Now, for some reason, that physical ritual was meaningful at the time.
None of it stuck, though. I am now functionally atheist.
Like **MissMossie **and most people raised Catholic, I was baptized as an infant.
I was confirmed as a… 13-year-old, I think. I thought (and still do think) that it was a silly ritual that meant nothing to me, and didn’t mean anything to God, either; I was doing it because it would have been less convenient not to.
Another Catholic who was baptized as an infant, so I don’t remember.
But it HAS come in handy when persons from other religious communities attempt to proselytize to me. I shout out “I can’t! I have an INDELIBLE MARK ON MY SOUL!” and I don’t know if it is the content, or my alarmed tone of voice and general intensity or what, but most of the time the response is “oh, okay then …” and the conversation is closed.
I know it sounds like I’m joking (and I agree that it is funny) but I also really believe it.
I don’t remember my infant baptism, but I do remember my confirmation. I was 10 years old. I still remember how solemn and momentous it all felt, in a packed church, kneeling in front of the bishop, being annointed and slapped on the cheek. Even the whole “confirmation” name seemed to suggest that I was passing over some sort of new threshhold. I remember shivering, although that was due partly to the temeprature. It was a very cold July afternoon.
The only reason I was baptised was to make my Catholic grandparents sort-of happy (only sort of because I wasn’t baptised Catholic like they also pushed for) and I was a baby, so I guess it wasn’t very magical. My dad was baptised the same day, and from all accounts he was the only one who didn’t cry.
It’s more of a personal decision, and to show to the world (Or so I was told. I remember somewhere in the corner of my brain that baptism was done in public around 100 AD and that was as good as telling the Roman soldiers to come and crucify you. Any confirmation?)
There’s a ‘feeling’ of course. but I think it is excitement from the event, such as a graduation or knighting. For the record, things go downhill for me from that point onward so if it is magical it is pretty bad mojo
I dun think a physical baptism makes a real difference; it’s just a statement you make to the world that you are committed to the faith. Protestants usually make such a big fuss of baptism that you will feel uncomfortable just doing it for the sake of others, IMHO.
I was baptised as an infant, a practise I now find very objectionable. I don’t feel anyone should be baptised unless they are old enough to understand and choose to go through the ceremony.
I was never confirmed, not because we just never got around to it. It was around that time that I realized I didn’t need silly, primitive superstition in my life, so I was fine with it.
Southern Baptist here. For us, baptism is more “meaningful” than “magical.” It was more a public declaration of your faith. Neither of the ordinances (the Lord’s Supper is the other one) is taken to have any sort of “power” at all; they are both symbolic.
RR
I was baptized as an infant, so that didn’t mean anything to me. I assume if I felt anything, it was objection at a stranger handling me and putting water on me.
I was confirmed at 14 and that was a bigger deal for me, though not huge. I reconfirmed my personal decision to be and remain a Christian in my early twenties, but in my heart and mind, not in a church. So the biggest event for me was not marked with a particular ceremony.
ETA: I think a perspective that might be missing here, is that baptism can be very meaningful for people other than the victi – er, subject. Infant baptism is a means for parents to affirm their responsibilty and intention to raise the child in the Christian faith, and a means for the church’s congregation to affirm their responsibility to support the child spiritually and their intention to welcome him or her into the church as a spiritual home. The baby doesn’t remember it, but the parents, godparents, family, and friends do. If and when I have kids, I will have them baptized but I’m honest enough to acknowledge that for an infant with the cognative ability of tapioca pudding, that will be for my sake and my desire, more than for their own.
That’s an important point. We don’t do infant baptism, but we will occasionally do a “baby dedication ceremony,” which IMHO is poorly named. The ceremony, such as it is, pretty much boils down to the parents and friends promising to do their best to raise the child properly. The baby him/herself doesn’t get baptized or dedicated per se.
RR
Agreed. I’m an Episcopalian who was baptized when I was a few weeks old, so, of course, I don’t remember it, but the most recent baptism I attended was last Saturday during Easter Vigil. For us, baptizing a child is about the child’s parents and the congregation as a whole making a commitment to the child. There’s a point at which the priest asks, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?”
The entire congregation joins in responding, “We will.”
We also join in repeating and reaffirming our vows, including one to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor ad yourself.” I’ve been at church during a lot of baptisms over the years, and those vows are still meaningful. To me, baptism isn’t isn’t a commitment enforced on a poor, defenseless baby, but a commitment made by a community to a new member of that community. I have a broad spiritual streak, so my, personal answer is yes, there is something magical about it, even though my own baptism was over 40 years ago.
ETA:
On a more secular note, RiverRunner, I’ve always wondered if congregations who baptise teenagers and adults are missing something. You see, in addition to the commitment the congregation makes, baptism also gives people an excuse to fuss over the cute, new babies. It is nice to have some sort of formal excuse for that.
Another Catholic, baptised at 3 days old.
As for Confirmation, I wasn’t sure whether I could label myself a Catholic or not. I knew what did I believe, but in three years of pre-Confirmation Catechesis, the priest had been unable to answer my question of “what does the RCC believe?” I decided to go through with the ceremony because:
- my beliefs weren’t going to change either way
- the RCC’s beliefs weren’t, either
- if I turned out not to be a Catholic, my parents would totally freak out
- I’d rather only freak them out if I really wasn’t a Catholic
- if what I believed and what the RCC believed were totally incompatible, the ceremony was invalid; if the two were compatible, I had it out of the way without causing an unnecesary scandal
A couple years later I finally got my question answered, and that’s when I felt Confirmed. The Sacraments happen when they happen, not when you celebrate them - it’s the same with Marriage, which takes place when the spouses acquire the compromise with each other, not when they announce it to the rest of the world.