Baptists and Catholics: Baptism

A key difference is their view on Baptism.

For Baptists, a person is baptized because they know they believe in Jesus Christ. An infant is not able to make a claim to faith or understand a faith entirely, and Baptists–and many other Protestants–see baptism as a public profession of faith. And this idea of Credobaptism as opposed to pedobaptism is major separating factor between the mainstream Christian and the Baptist. Baptism, for Baptists does not have a saving effect, unlike the idea in Catholicism that it wipes away the original sin. This idea of Baptism being for a public display of faith and not for salvation definitely separates itself from the tradition Christian view, and even farther back, it separates itself from the Old testament view seen in Judaism and more conservative Christian faiths where there must be baptism soon after birth so that salvation may occur. Often, Baptists will consider the infant baptism of someone who is converting to their faith to be without effect, and thus rebaptise them. Though they do not consider it a rebaptism because the infant baptism didn’t have an effect on them.

For Catholics, baptism is for the forgiveness of sins, referring to both personal sins and the stain of original sin. It is not often done with affusion, and when one is an infant. It is an essential sacrament, without it no other sacrament can be performed. It is essentially a gateway into the Church and being Catholic. Baptism is seen as a symbolic and literal death and rebirth. Catholics believe there is a true spiritual transformation happening during the baptism. For Baptists, it is seen as entirely symbolic, and for Catholics, it is seen as though the person is actually being reborn “with Christ.”