Baptism

====Churches of Christ====
Baptism in [[Churches of Christ]] is performed only by full bodily immersion,<ref name="Perfect Stranger">{{cite book|first1=Stuart M. |last1=Matlins |first2=Arthur J. |last2= Magida |first3=J. |last3=Magida |title= How to Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies |publisher= Wood Lake Publishing |year=1999 |isbn= 978-1-896836-28-7 |chapter= Churches of Christ}}</ref>{{rp |107}}<ref name= "Rhodes 2005">{{cite book |first=Ron |last=Rhodes |title=The Complete Guide to Christian Denominations |publisher= Harvest House |year= 2005 |isbn= 0-7369-1289-4}}</ref>{{rp|124}} based on the [[Koine Greek]] verb ''baptizo'' which means to dip, immerse, submerge or plunge.<ref name="Who Are the churches of Christ">{{cite book |last=Baxter |first=Batsell Barrett |author-link=Batsell Barrett Baxter |url=http://www.woodsonchapel.com/coc.php/ |title=Who are the churches of Christ and what do they believe in? |access-date=September 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131110444/http://www.woodsonchapel.com/coc.php/ |archive-date=January 31, 2008 |df=mdy}}, and [http://church-of-christ.org/who.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209022100/http://church-of-christ.org/who.html|date=February 9, 2014}}, {{cite web |title=Church of Christ |url=http://www.cris.com/~mmcoc/coc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509163609/http://www.cris.com/~mmcoc/coc.html |archive-date=May 9, 2008 |access-date=2009-09-10}} and {{cite web |title=Who are the Churches of Christ? |url=http://www.scripturessay.com/article.php?cat%3D%26id%3D6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130131444/http://scripturessay.com/article.php?cat=&id=6 |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |access-date=September 10, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Understanding Four Views on Baptism">{{cite book |first1= Tom J. |last1=Nettles | first2=Richard L. Jr. | last2=Pratt |first3=John H. |last3= Armstrong |first4=Robert |last4=Kolb |title=Understanding Four Views on Baptism |publisher=Zondervan |year=2007 |isbn= 978-0-310-26267-1}}</ref>{{rp|139}}<ref name="Howard 1971">{{cite book |first=V. E. |last=Howard |title=What Is the Church of Christ? |edition=4th |publisher= Central Printers & Publishers |location= West Monroe, [[Louisiana|LO]] |year= 1971}}</ref>{{rp|313–14}}<ref name= "Baptism, Why Wait?">{{cite book |first=Rees |last= Bryant |title=Baptism, Why Wait?: Faith's Response in Conversion |publisher=College Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-89900-858-5}}</ref>{{rp|22}}<ref name="Wharton 1997">{{cite book |first=Edward C. |last= Wharton |title=The Church of Christ: The Distinctive Nature of the New Testament Church |publisher= Gospel Advocate |year=1997 |isbn= 0-89225-464-5}}</ref>{{rp|45–46}} Submersion is seen as more closely conforming to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus than other modes of baptism.<ref name= "Who Are the churches of Christ" /><ref name="Understanding Four Views on Baptism" />{{rp|140}}<ref name= "Howard 1971" />{{rp|314–16}} Churches of Christ argue that historically immersion was the mode used in the 1st century, and that pouring and sprinkling later emerged as secondary modes when immersion was not possible.<ref name="Understanding Four Views on Baptism" />{{rp|140}} Over time these secondary modes came to replace immersion.<ref name="Understanding Four Views on Baptism" />{{rp|140}} Only those mentally capable of belief and repentance are baptized (i.e., [[infant baptism]] is not practiced because the New Testament has no precedent for it).<ref name="Rhodes 2005" />{{rp|124}}<ref name= "Who Are the churches of Christ" /><ref name= "Howard 1971" />{{rp |318–19}}<ref name= "Ferguson 1996">{{cite book |first=Everett |last= Ferguson |author-link= Everett Ferguson |title=The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |year=1996 |isbn= 978-0-8028-4189-6}}</ref>{{rp|195}}

Churches of Christ have historically had the most conservative position on baptism among the various branches of the [[Restoration Movement]], understanding baptism by immersion to be a necessary part of conversion.<ref name= "Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism">{{cite book |first1= Douglas Allen |last1=Foster |first2= Anthony L. |last2= Dunnavant |title=The Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |year=2004 |isbn= 978-0-8028-3898-8 |chapter=entry on ''Baptism''}}</ref>{{rp|61}} The most significant disagreements concerned the extent to which a correct understanding of the role of baptism is necessary for its validity.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|p.61}} [[David Lipscomb]] insisted that if a believer was baptized out of a desire to obey God, the baptism was valid, even if the individual did not fully understand the role baptism plays in salvation.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|61}} [[Austin McGary]] contended that to be valid, the convert must also understand that baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.<ref name= "Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|62}} McGary's view became the prevailing one in the early 20th century, but the approach advocated by Lipscomb never totally disappeared.<ref name= "Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp |62}} As such, the general practice among churches of Christ is to require rebaptism by immersion of converts, even those who were previously baptized by immersion in other churches.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

More recently, the rise of the [[International Churches of Christ]] has caused some to reexamine the issue.<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|66}}

Churches of Christ consistently teach that in baptism a believer surrenders his life in faith and obedience to God, and that God "by the merits of Christ's blood, cleanses one from sin and truly changes the state of the person from an alien to a citizen of God's kingdom. Baptism is not a human work; it is the place where God does the work that only God can do."<ref name= "Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|66}} Baptism is a passive act of faith rather than a meritorious work; it "is a confession that a person has nothing to offer God."<ref name= "Theology Matters" />{{rp|112}} While Churches of Christ do not describe baptism as a "sacrament", their view of it can legitimately be described as "sacramental".<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp |66}}<ref name="Baptism, Why Wait?" />{{rp|186}} They see the power of baptism coming from God, who chose to use baptism as a vehicle, rather than from the water or the act itself,<ref name= "Baptism, Why Wait?" />{{rp|186}} and understand baptism to be an integral part of the conversion process, rather than just a symbol of conversion.<ref name= "Baptism, Why Wait?" />{{rp |184}}

A recent trend is to emphasize the transformational aspect of baptism: instead of describing it as just a legal requirement or sign of something that happened in the past, it is seen as "the event that places the believer 'into Christ' where God does the ongoing work of transformation."<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|66}} There is a minority that downplays the importance of baptism to avoid sectarianism, but the broader trend is to "reexamine the richness of the biblical teaching of baptism and to reinforce its central and essential place in Christianity."<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Baptism" />{{rp|66}}

Because of the belief that baptism is a necessary part of salvation, some Baptists hold that the Churches of Christ endorse the doctrine of [[baptismal regeneration]].<ref name="Foster">Douglas A. Foster, [http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/2000s/vol_43_no_2_contents/foster.html "Churches of Christ and Baptism: An Historical and Theological Overview,"] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100520041454/http://www.acu.edu/sponsored/restoration_quarterly/archives/2000s/vol_43_no_2_contents/foster.html |date=May 20, 2010}} ''[[Restoration Quarterly]]'', Volume 43/Number 2 (2001).</ref> However, members of the Churches of Christ reject this, arguing that since faith and repentance are necessary, and that the cleansing of sins is by the blood of Christ through the grace of God, baptism is not an inherently redeeming ritual.<ref name="Understanding Four Views on Baptism" />{{rp|133}}<ref name= "Foster" /><ref name="Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Regeneration">{{cite book |first1=Douglas Allen |last1=Foster |first2=Anthony L. |last2= Dunnavant |title=The Encyclopedia of the Stone–Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, Churches of Christ |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |year=2004 |isbn= 978-0-8028-3898-8 |chapter= entry on ''Regeneration''}}</ref>{{rp|630–31}} Rather, their inclination is to point to the biblical passage in which Peter, analogizing baptism to Noah's flood, posits that "likewise baptism doth also now save us" but parenthetically clarifies that baptism is "''not'' the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the ''response of a good conscience'' toward God" (1 Peter 3:21).<ref>[[KJV]], italics inserted.</ref> One author from the churches of Christ describes the relationship between faith and baptism this way, "''Faith'' is the ''reason why'' a person is a child of God; ''baptism'' is the ''time at which'' one is incorporated into Christ and so becomes a child of God" (italics are in the source).<ref name= "Ferguson 1996" />{{rp |170}} Baptism is understood as a confessional expression of faith and repentance,<ref name="Ferguson 1996" />{{rp|179–82}} rather than a "work" that earns salvation.<ref name= "Ferguson 1996" />{{rp |170}}