Answering Common Questions About Baptism (Aquinas 101)

Why do you baptize with water? How much water do you need? Why do Catholics baptize infants? How does the rite of baptism work? In this episode of Aquinas 101: What Is Baptism, join Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P., a Dominican friar from the Province of St. Joseph, as he answers common questions about baptism and explains how the rite of baptism works.

Subscribe to our channel here:

--

Aquinas 101 is a project of the Thomistic Institute that seeks to promote Catholic truth through short, engaging video lessons. You can browse earlier videos at your own pace or enroll in one of our Aquinas 101 email courses on St. Thomas Aquinas and his masterwork, the Summa Theologiae. In these courses, you'll learn from expert scientists, philosophers, and theologians—including Dominican friars from the Province of St. Joseph.

Enroll in Aquinas 101 to receive the latest videos, readings, and podcasts in your email inbox each week.

Help us film Aquinas 101!

Want to represent the Thomistic Institute on your campus? Check out our online store!

Stay connected on social media:

#Aquinas101 #ThomisticInstitute #ThomasAquinas #Catholic

*Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[ktnsteve]

Thank-you - this was very helpful. God bless you all.✝️🙏🏽💙

[johnfisher]

St Cyprian of Carthage answers the question in his book on baptism. Baptism regenerates the baptised and as Jesus said is necessary for salvation. Cyprian writes "there is one baptism which is appointed in the Catholic Church; and that by this those are not re-baptized, but baptized by us, who at any time come from the adulterous and unhallowed water to be washed and sanctified by the truth of the saving water." "first, that those catechumens hold the sound faith and truth of the Church, and advance from the divine camp to do battle with the devil, with a full and sincere acknowledgment of God the Father, and of Christ, and of the Holy Ghost; then, that they certainly are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism who are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood, concerning which the Lord also said, that He had another baptism to be baptized with. But the same Lord declares in the Gospel, that those who are baptized in their own blood, and sanctified by suffering, are perfected, and obtain the grace of the divine promise, when He speaks to the thief believing and confessing in His very passion, and promises that he should be with Himself in paradise. Wherefore we who are set over the faith and truth ought not to deceive and mislead those who come to the faith and truth, and repent, and beg that their sins should be remitted to them; but to instruct them when corrected by us, and reformed for the kingdom of heaven by celestial discipline. St. Cyprian states 'God's mercy and grace should not be refused to anyone born', and the Synod, recalling that 'all human beings' are 'equal', whatever be 'their size or age', declared it lawful to baptize children 'by the second or third day after their birth'".

[DeathxStrike]

James 4:8 - "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
Proverbs 1:23 - "Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you."
Romans 12:2 - "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
James 1:5 - “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Isaiah 41:17-18 - "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."
James 4:2-3 - "Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Matthew 7:11 - “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
Matthew 18:3 - “...Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Acts 19:2-5 - "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus."

Act 2: 38 - "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.."
John 10:26-27 - "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 3:5 - “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Acts 3:19 - "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"
2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

1 John 1:8-10 - "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
James 5:16 - "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Acts 2:38-39 - "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

Matthew 19:13-14 - "Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

Acts 22:16 - "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord."

Romans 10:9 - "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Titus 3:5 - Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Acts 2:21 - "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

John 7:37-39 - "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)"
Isaiah 11:2 - "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;"
1 Corinthians 12:13 - "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
John 4:14 - "...whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."
John 3:15-18 - "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
2 Corinthians 1:22 - "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."

Colossians 2:11- "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:"
Genesis 17:12-- "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed."
Matthew 18:5 - "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me."
Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Mark 16:16 - “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

[michaelanderson]

This video was a good reminder of what drove me absolutely bonkers about the church. Thank you kindly! 😊

[angelinasalo]

Who was the first infant that got baptized?

[earth]

At what exact moment was St. Peter saved? Did Simon trust and follow Jesus as an un-saved man until his un-recorded baptism?

[georgepierson]

Why do Protestants separate Jesus from Baptism?

[eadlynss]

5:37 — "Mas se um clérigo não estiver disponível, quem batiza pode ser qualquer cristão batizado. [...] Em uma emergência, até mesmo um não-cristão pode batizar."

6:06 — "Na medida em que Deus é o agente principal, Ele pode até mesmo trabalhar com administradores de Batismo que compreendem de forma imperfeita as implicações completas do que estão fazendo.
Essa dinâmica entre Deus, como agente primário, e o administrador do Batismo, como o agente instrumental é tão forte que o Batismo pode funcionar até mesmo quando realizado por um pecador grave."

6:46 — "Quer o ministro do Batismo seja bom ou ruim, ele está agindo como um instrumento de Deus, e Deus pode usar esse instrumento para realizar um Batismo verdadeiro e eficaz, desde que o ministro de fato lave a pessoa com água, e diga a fórmula batismal, cok a intenção de batizar."

[bayreuth]

Baptism was originally by full immersion as it symbolised dying and rising in Christ. This symbolism has been lost

[dand]

Generational sin versus personal sin
Babies don’t commit personal sin, but because of the sin of Adam and Eve, they are in a state of imperfection.

[johantrenier]

Babies are baptized due to original sin. That is why you baptize babies immediately or as soon as possible.

[bama]

What Was the Purpose of Water Baptism?

Under the “gospel of the kingdom, ” water baptism was a required expression of believing faith.

We see in Luke 7:28-30 those that were baptized with the baptism of John, justified God, and those that chose not to be baptized, rejected the counsel of God.

Luke 7:28-30
28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

29 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

John’s baptism was a symbolic baptism. God tells us in Hebrews 9:22 that there is no “remission of sins” without the shedding of blood. At this time, Christ’s blood had not yet been shed.

Jesus spoke in Matthew 26:28 about His blood being the blood of the New Testament which is shed for “many” for the “remission of sins.”

Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

We see in Acts 2:38 that on Pentecost, Peter preaches repentance and baptism for the “remission of sins.” Christ’s blood had been shed, so “remission of sins” was available for those who by faith obeyed and were baptized.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We see in Mark 16:16 where Jesus speaks of believing faith accompanied by obedience.

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

In I Samuel 15:22 we are told “behold to obey is better than sacrifice.” Christ is the Lamb of God. He willingly sacrificed Himself upon the cross. Those under the “gospel of the kingdom” who believed in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, possessed obedient faith and were baptized.

[burtReynolds]

i found your explanation for baptizing infants as insufficient. please give more details. and please address the fact that infants are unable to consciously make the commitment through baptism to serve jesus.

[elsenorgatito]

Hey, can you force some bilingüe noviciate to translate your videos into Spanish so I can send these videos to Spanish speaking coworkers who left the faith for evangélicism, my wife, and my wife's faithful bull fighting uncle?

Gracias wey.

Ed Cooley es un traidor.

¡Viva Cristo Rey y nuestra Señora de Guadalupe!

[earth]

@1:42 you make a giant leap without support. Please cite biblical support that it is baptism that saves rather than Christ’s work on the cross.