Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism - National ...

This brief was made available to the Executive Council prior to its disposition of the formal 

motion bringing the <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Mutual Recognition of Baptism, known as These 

Living Waters, before the Twenty-eighth General Synod. The full text of the Mutual 

Recognition of Baptism may be found at the end of this brief. The <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on 

Mutual Recognition of Baptism will be heard by a committee and a hearing of the Twenty-eighth 

General Synod prior to a vote by delegates. 

<strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> 

on Mutual Recognition of Baptism 

The United Church of Christ; Presbyterian Church-USA; 

Reformed Church in America and Christian Reformed Church; 

and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) 

In December the Collegium of Officers, at the recommendation of the General Minister and 

President, affirmed bringing a briefing document on the 85 page agreement to the Executive 

Council for review at its Spring Meeting toward placing the agreement before the General Synod 

for affirmation in order to give it maximum visibility in the life of the UCC, as significant as the 

UCC‘s Formula of <strong>Agreement</strong> recognizing full communion between the UCC, ELCA, 

Presbyterian Church USA, and Reformed Church in America. 

After nearly seven years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted on November 

16 to approve the "<strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Mutual Recognition of Baptism." The vote was 

striking, 204-11. 

The agreement is hailed an ecumenical milestone by all involved, including Archbishop Wilton 

Gregory of Atlanta, the chair of the Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for Ecumenical 

and Interreligious Affairs. "Together with our Reformed brothers and sisters, we Catholic 

bishops can affirm baptism as the basis of the real, even if incomplete, unity we share in Christ. 

Our conference looks forward to seeing all four of the authoritative bodies of the Reformed 

communities approve the common agreement as we have today.‖ 

The agreement has been ratified by the Presbyterian Church. The Reformed Church in America 

and the Christian Reformed Church are expected to consider the agreement at their national 

meetings this summer. We recommend the UCC do the same, engaging in a study and learning 

session about the <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> to engage its significance. 

Suggested Formal Action for the Twenty Eighth General Synod of the United Church of 

Christ 

That the Twenty-eighth General Synod affirm the <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Mutual Recognition of 

Baptism with United Church of Christ; Presbyterian Church-USA; Reformed Church in America 

and Christian Reformed Church; and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 

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Highlights of the <strong>Agreement</strong> Including Pastoral Recommendations: 

<strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Baptism 

5. a. What Is Baptism? 

<strong>Common</strong> Statement 

Baptism is a sacrament of the church in which a person is effused with or immersed in water, 

accompanied by the Trinitarian formula that the person is baptized ―in(to) the name of the Father, the 

Son, and the Holy Spirit‖ (Matt. 28:19-20). Baptism is the first of the sacraments that a person 

receives. It is a means of grace through which God works in a person and that marks the reception of 

a person into the life and mission of Christ‘s Church. 

Roman Catholic Statement 

Baptism is the door to life and to the kingdom of God (The Rite of Christian Initiation, 1). Therefore, 

it is the first sacrament. It constitutes the beginning of Christian life and by being baptized one is 

incorporated into the Church. It is administered with water and in the name of the Father, the Son, 

and the Holy Spirit. Through it those born in sin are forgiven all sins, original and actual, and are 

regenerated into the new life of Christ. Baptism, the cleansing with water by the power of the living 

Word, makes us sharers in God‘s own life and his adopted children (The Rite of Christian Initiation, 

8). 

Reformed Statement 

Baptism is a sacrament ordained by Jesus Christ. Christ commanded his followers ―to preach the 

Gospel and to baptize ‗in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit‘ (Matt. 28:19)‖ 

(Second Helvetic Conf., 5.185). This sign of initiation, in which God‘s elect people are consecrated 

to God, involves washing or sprinkling with ―visible water‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.185, 5.188). 

In baptism, a person is admitted into the visible church and given ―a sign and seal of the covenant of 

grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of this giving up unto 

God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life‖ (Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.154). 

Those who are baptized have been received into God‘s church, set apart from other people and 

religions in order to be dedicated to God, and promised that God will be their God forever (Belgic 

Confession, art. 34). 

 

5.b. Why Does the Church Baptize? 


The Church baptizes in obedience to the command of Christ (Matt. 28:19, Mk. 16:16) in order to 

initiate persons into the life of the Church. 

5. c. What Does Baptism Effect or Signify? 


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Baptism is the divinely-appointed means of grace by which Christ acts through a visible sacramental 

act of the Church to signify the forgiveness of sins, regeneration, and being united to and engrafted 

into the Church, the Body of Christ. 

5. d. How Is Christian Baptism Related to the Biblical Economy of Salvation? 


Christian baptism is rooted in the biblical economy of salvation. The water of baptism echoes the 

water of creation, of the Flood, of the Red Sea during the Exodus, and of Jesus‘ own baptism. 

Baptism is the sign of God‘s covenant with the church, a covenant that not only stretches back to 

God‘s covenant with Abraham and his descendants but also binds those who are members of this 

covenant to God as God‘s children. 

5. e. What is the relationship between baptism, faith, and discipleship? 


Baptism is an important source for a life of Christian faith and discipleship. For those baptized as 

infants, faith and discipleship are the expected fruit of baptism. For those baptized as adolescents or 

adults, typically faith and discipleship precede baptism. Nevertheless, both infant and adult baptism 

are intended to nurture Christian faith and discipleship. Working with the 56 

Word of God, the sacraments – including baptism – nourish the faith of God‘s people and motivate 

them to follow God‘s will as Christ‘s disciples. 

5. f. What implications does baptism have for the church? 


Baptism is the sacramental bond that effects membership in the visible Church. As an ecclesial 

sacrament it is also the basis for the real communion that Christians enjoy in their churches and 

among the various ecclesial communities as they strive to overcome separation and division in a 

more full and perfect communion. 

5. g. Who May Baptize, and with What Means and Formula? 


In order for a baptism to be valid, it must be administered by someone authorized to do so, using 

water and the Trinitarian formula. Typically, baptism is administered by an ordained minister or 

priest, within a worship service, using water (either dipping the baptizand into the water or pouring 

or sprinkling the water on the baptizand), and following the command of Jesus to baptize people of 

all nations ―in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit‖ (Matt. 28:19). The 

Roman Catholic Church allows non-ordained people to administer baptism and permits baptism to 

occur outside a worship service; Reformed churches do not allow such exceptions. Some Reformed 

churches allow – at least in practice – the use of alternate formulations of the Trinitarian formula 

(e.g., ―in the name of God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the Sanctifier‘); other Reformed 

churches as well as the Roman Catholic Church do not. With one exception, the Roman Catholic 

Church and the Reformed churches in this dialogue accept any baptism of a member of one of the 

other ecclesiastical bodies in this dialogue as long as the baptism was recognized as valid by the 

ecclesiastical communion in which the person was a member. The exception is that the Roman 

Catholic Church does not recognize as valid a baptism in which any of the following is lacking: 

intent to do what the Church does when she baptizes, use of water, and use of the Triune name as 

given in Matt. 28:19. 

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5. h. Why Do People Need to Be Baptized? 


Although God created the human race righteous and holy, bearing God‘s image, the fall of humanity 

into sin has so infected the race that all human beings are born sinful, alienated from God, and 

subject to death and misery. Sin has ruined our connection with God, other human beings, and other 

creatures, leaving us slaves to sin as well as guilty of it, and helpless to save ourselves from our 

plight. We therefore need the forgiveness and new life from God that are effected (according to the 

Roman Catholic Church) or signified (according to Reformed churches) by baptism. 

5. i. Who Can Receive Baptism? 


Anyone who, having been outside the household of faith, accepts the Christian faith and participates 

in catechetical instruction not only may, but should, be baptized. In addition, infants of believing 

parents should be baptized. 

5. j. Why do we baptize children? 


Since God‘s promises and covenant extend to the children of those who believe in Jesus Christ, we 

administer baptism, the sign of the covenant, not only to those who come to faith as adults, but also 

to the infant children of those who believe in Jesus Christ and have established membership in a local 

parish or congregation. Such baptism recognizes the need of new birth on the part of all people, even 

infants. It also connects Christian baptism to circumcision, the sign of the covenant in ancient Israel. 

And it shows that infants, along with their believing parents, are included in the hope of the gospel 

and belong to the people of God. 

5. k. Why should someone be baptized only once? 


As Jesus Christ died once for all and was raised from the dead (Rom 6:10, Heb 9:28, 1 Pet 3:18), so 

too, the Christian is baptized only once, signifying union with Christ in his death and resurrection 

through the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5-7). 

5. l. What is the relationship between baptism and confirmation and/or profession of faith? 


Those who are baptized as adults are confirmed or profess their faith at the time of their baptism. 

Those baptized as children should, at an appropriate age, be confirmed or make an ecclesial 

profession of their faith. While we agree that baptism signifies new birth in water and the Holy Spirit 

and that no Christian is without the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9), we do not agree that there is a distinct 

sacramental act to signify and impart the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

5. m. What is the relationship between baptism and election? 


Those who are baptized are part of God‘s elect people, the Christian church. A person‘s being 

baptized is not a guarantee that the person is predestined or elected to salvation. 

5. n. What is the relationship between baptism and grace? 


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Baptism is a sacrament of grace. Baptism signifies both the unmerited favor of God and the 

impartation of divine life that is God‘s self-communication to us. 

5. o. What is the relationship between baptism and sanctification? 


Baptism signifies the beginning of sanctification, the universal call to holiness for all those joined to 

Christ. The communication and reception of grace is always a transformative event for one‘s relation 

to God and consequently in one‘s own person. 

5. p. What is the relationship between baptism and the assurance of salvation? 


Baptism is a sacrament intended to provide assurance to God‘s people. For Roman Catholics, 

baptism is always the assurance of grace imparted and therefore of one‘s entry into God‘s salvific 

purposes. Therefore, all the baptized may take comfort and hope in the salvation yet to be 

consummated that God through his Word and Spirit initiates in baptism. For Reformed Christians, 

baptism is a means God uses to assure believers of God‘s forgiveness and of God‘s gracious 

presence. 

6. Pastoral Recommendations: Tangible Expressions of Mutual Recognition of Baptism 

Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue 

1. In our <strong>Agreement</strong>, we have given the grounds for formal mutual recognition of the validity of our 

baptisms. The following are recommended to the consideration of our communions on the basis 

of the ecumenical commitments that bring us to the dialogue table. It is understood that these 

recommendations should be implemented in accordance with existing regulations. 

2. We recommend that our local communities maintain the custom of keeping baptismal records and 

providing baptismal certificates when requested at various times in the Christian life of our members. 

Compatibility in the form and content of these documents would be sign of ecumenical cooperation 

and a safeguard of the validity of what we celebrate together as Christians. 

3. We recommend that prominence be given to the placement of the baptismal font and water near 

the worshipping assembly as a sign of continuity in faith. 

4. We recommend the practice of inviting members of our respective communions to reaffirm their 

Baptism together at times of prayer for Christian unity. 

5. We recommend, where the custom of baptismal sponsors, witnesses, or godparents has been 

maintained, that these be selected from our respective communities of faith as a sign that Christians 

belonging to our communions are truly members of the Body of Christ. This is particularly important 

when welcoming interchurch families and their congregations to a celebration of Baptism. 

6. We recommend the active participation of the families of those to be baptized in the selection of 

readings, intercessory prayers, and music as a way of giving tangible evidence of the unity that we 

share in Christ. 

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7. Mindful that the active participation of clergy and laity of the respective communions of the 

spouses is at present allowed in interchurch weddings, we also recommend the practice of inviting 

clergy or lay guests to offer prayers, proclaim a Scripture reading, preach, and/or confer a blessing in 

the rite of Baptism, maintaining respect for the rites of each communion. 

8. We recommend the participation of clergy in local ministerial associations in order to facilitate the 

pastoral dialogues that need to take place to foster ecumenical cooperation at Baptism and at other 

important times in the faith journeys of Christians. Ministerial associations can be a means for 

fostering life-long spiritual accompaniment in faith both for clergy and for the laity whom they serve. 

In addition, such associations may find other creative symbolic ways to foster ecumenical sharing in 

a town, neighborhood, or village. 

9. At the funeral rites of members of our communions, including other Christians with whom we are 

in ecumenical dialogue, we recommend the use of a prayer or rite (e.g. sprinkling of the casket, the 

white pall, etc.) as a final commendation that calls to mind the enduring gift of grace received in 

Baptism. 

10. We recommend the use of those liturgical options already available in our official ritual books for 

the celebration of Baptism that enhance ecumenical awareness on the local level. 

11. Mindful that in many instances local congregations may not be able to implement all these 

recommendations at the present time, we recommend a patient and prudent process of discernment 

among laity and clergy. We recognize that the journey towards full, visible unity depends on 

openness to the grace of God and humility before the initiatives of God‘s Spirit among us, which are 

themselves based on Baptism. Let us above all work to promote the works of charity and service not 

only to those who are of the household of the faith, but also to all people and to all of creation. 

Kimberly Whitney, Ph.D. 

Feb 8, 2011 

Source Documents: 

1. These Living Waters: <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Mutual Recognition of Baptism A Report of the Catholic Reformed Dialogue in United States 

2. Jeffrey Woodard, UC News, December 7 2010. 

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The Executive Council recommends this formal motion be sent to a committee and a hearing of 

the Twenty-eighth General Synod 

These Living Waters 

BAPTISM DOCUMENT 

7 TH ROUND REFORMED-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE 

Table of Contents 

1. Introduction 

2. <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong> on Mutual Recognition of Baptism 

3. Historical overview: sacraments and sacramentality 

a. Sacramentality 

i. Roman Catholic view 

ii. Reformed view 

b. Sacraments 

i. Roman Catholic view 

ii. Reformed view 

c. Summary 

4. Baptismal rites 

a. Our <strong>Common</strong> Early History 

b. Historical Developments: The Reformation 

c. Historical Developments: Roman Catholic 

d. [comparative chart of pre and post-Tridentine Baptismal Rites – appendix?] 

e. Development of Baptismal Rite after the Reformation 

i. Reformed 

ii. Roman Catholic 

f. Twentieth Century Convergence in Scholarship and Ritual 

i. Reformed 


g. Critical Comparison of Roman Catholic and Reformed Rites 

h. Conclusion: Similar Rites with Different Hermeneutics 

5. Theology of Baptism: Roman Catholic, Reformed, and <strong>Common</strong> Perspectives 

a. What is baptism? 

b. Why does the church baptize? 

c. What does Baptism effect or signify? 

d. How is Christian Baptism related to the Biblical Economy of Salvation? 

e. What is the Relationship between Baptism, Faith and Discipleship? 

f. What implications does Baptism have for the church? 

g. Who may baptize and with what means and Formula ? 

h. Why do people need to be baptized? 

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i. Who can receive baptism? 

j. Why do we baptize children? 

k. Why should someone be baptized only once? 

l. What is the relationship between baptism and confirmation and/or profession of faith? 

m. What is the relationship between baptism and election? 

n. What is the relationship between baptism and grace? 

o. What is the relationship between baptism and sanctification? 

p. What is the relationship between baptism and the assurance of salvation? 

6. Pastoral Recommendations: Tangible Expressions of our Mutual Recognition of Baptism 

7. Endnotes 

8. Resources 

9. Appendices 

a. Notes on the Comparison of Rites for Paedo-Baptism in the PC(USA), UCC, RCA, 

RC and CRCNA texts 

1. Introduction 

A SEASON OF ENGAGEMENT 

The 20 th century was one of intense dialogue among churches throughout the world. In the 

mission field and in local communities, in regional ecumenical bodies and in bilateral 

discussions between churches, Christians made commitments to engage each other not only in 

cooperative activity but theological deliberation. The Roman Catholic Church and churches of 

the Reformed tradition have been no exceptions. This report on baptism is offered in the context 

of more than forty years of dialogue between the Reformed churches in the United States and the 

National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the United States Conference of Catholic 

Bishops). The relationships in the United States form only a part of our context, however, and 

our dialogue has been enriched by encounter and relationships around the world. 

OUR GLOBAL ROMAN CATHOLIC AND REFORMED CONTEXT 

Important ecumenical events of the last forty years have influenced our theological perspectives 

as well as our maturing ability to understand each other. Liturgical renewals, encouraged by 

relationships with the Roman Catholic Church, have engendered in many Reformed Christians a 

deeper appreciation of our common roots. These renewals have heightened awareness of the 

richness of our common liturgical tradition. Roman Catholic seminaries have developed a 

renewed focus on the preaching of the word in the context of the sacramental liturgy, a strong 

emphasis in the Reformed tradition. In addition, in recent decades Roman Catholics have come 

to read Reformed theologians with new lenses. The discovery of new source material – both 

patristic and biblical – has greatly enhanced our collective ability to affirm a common heritage. 

More than ever before, ecumenical prayer services include a ritual for the reaffirmation of our 

baptismal vows, a reminder of that which binds us to each other as kindred in Christ, 

acknowledging our one calling through our one baptism, claimed by one God. 

Earlier in our history, movements within our traditions sought to provide bridges between us. In 

the German Reformed community, for example, theologians of the Mercersburg liturgical 

movement made explicit commitments to rebuild relationship with the Roman Catholic Church 

as one element in manifesting the full visible unity of the church. Roman Catholic dioceses, in 

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the aftermath of Vatican II, established diocesan ecumenical offices which nurtured the 

formation of ―living room dialogues‖ in which many Reformed church members participated, 

enhancing relationships across the United States and the world. 

Churches in relationship through the ecumenical movement have also sought to articulate 

specific beliefs about baptism. Our practices and our theologies have varied widely, but even 

without complete consensus there have emerged important experiences of convergence and 

deeper understanding. As a result of numerous bilateral dialogues, a growing familiarity with 

baptismal theology and practice among churches has made a profound contribution to the 

church‘s ability to claim its vision of unity. As recently as 2002 the Pontifical Council for 

Promoting Christian Unity in the Vatican urged ongoing study and dialogue of many theological 

issues for the enhancement of Roman Catholic and Reformed church relationships, most 

especially urging a focus on baptism as a basic to our Christian identity. 

Some landmark studies have offered us encouragement and guidance along the way. The 1982 

World Council of Churches document Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry presented the churches 

with an important opportunity to engage in dialogue on these important matters. Through those 

studies, Christians came to appreciate more deeply their own and each other‘s baptismal 

expressions and theology. 

More recently, in the Eighth Report of the Joint Working Group between the Vatican and the 

World Council of Churches (2005), Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians explored the 

meaning and the practice of this sacrament. While this important study was much broader in 

ecclesial scope than the one we offer here, it reflects many issues found in our own bilateral 

dialogue, and it urges, as we do, further study in those areas of ongoing difference. 

OUR REGIONAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT 

The international arena is only one among many vital settings for dialogue and reflection 

between Reformed and Roman Catholic Christians. Official discussions in national church 

settings in the United States have been equally important in advancing mutual understanding. 

Topics in the last forty years have included theological, liturgical and ethical issues. These 

issues have been explored with a consistent expectation that they are in primary service to the 

pastoral settings of all of our churches. Sound pastoral practice, however, rests on solid 

theological foundations. The current report, succeeding one on Interchurch Families, grew from 

a recognition that our pastoral customs reflect our different theological and ecclesiological 

traditions – differences which must be understood if we are to relate to each other in healthy 

ways. 

In the United States, members of our traditions also encounter each other in local settings 

through common service and community worship experiences. Learning in those settings has 

been both intentional (through the formation of discussion groups between congregations and 

parishes) as well as informal (as neighbors work together on projects for the common good). 

<strong>Common</strong> work and intentional dialogue, where it has occurred consistently, has enabled 

members of both of our traditions to respond to community concerns effectively and deepen 

appreciation for the different gifts each brings to common public life. 

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Finally, the family has been a vital setting for dialogue between Roman Catholic and Reformed 

Christians in the United States. Increasingly, marriage and the mobility of extended families 

have contributed to this intimate encounter between the traditions, an experience which can be 

both a joy and sometimes also confusing. Families are the settings where the gifts that each 

tradition brings can be most concretely received, but also the place where our differences can be 

most keenly felt, and where the pain of our divisions may have the most significant impact. It 

has been important, therefore, in official settings, to approach with utmost care those topics 

which affect the experience of our members and the pastoral leaders who serve them. 

In all of these settings, both the Reformed and the Roman Catholic churches have affirmed the 

value of ecumenical engagement and increased mutual understanding. Through our ongoing 

encounter we have come to know each other‘s ecclesial characteristics, value each other‘s 

strengths, and make commitments to deeper relationships. 

We hope this study will provide an occasion for ongoing dialogue among Roman Catholic and 

Reformed lay and ordained leaders, both in those places of longtime engagement, and in those 

settings where it will be entirely new. Such dialogue can contribute to the common witness of 

the church on the local level, and make ecumenical ideas a lived reality of Christian faith. 

OUR HOPE 

It is precisely the gift of our unity in the church of Jesus Christ through our baptisms which 

enables us to come to dialogue tables not just as acquaintances but as kindred – as members of 

one family in Christ – to consider in depth these matters of baptismal theology and practice. 

The theological reflection in this report is intended to provide a sound basis on which our 

communions can express, in tangible ways, a mutual recognition of each other‘s baptisms. We 

have acknowledged areas of agreement and of difference. Through active engagement we have 

experienced our own faith tradition more clearly by seeing ourselves through the lenses of our 

partners. Through dialogue we have become reacquainted with our own tradition, the scriptures, 

and the sacraments. We have had the opportunity to examine, and, perhaps most important, to 

correct, past misunderstandings and caricatures. As our relationships have deepened we have 

celebrated those areas of theological consensus and we give thanks for the patient and careful 

dialogue which has brought our traditions closer together; we note those places where consensus 

has yet to be achieved but where ongoing dialogue holds promise for closer convergence; and we 

acknowledge those aspects of our theology and practice where there is no convergence but where 

the commitment to the eventual full, visible unity of the church will be well-served by enhanced 

mutual understanding. 

Through an honest desire to understand each other, and therefore to acknowledge both the limits 

and the possibilities of what we can accomplish together, we believe we can make an enduring 

statement about what we hold in common. 

We offer this report not simply as an academic study to be reviewed by those with a particular 

interest in the theology of baptism but to the entire constituency of all of our churches as a 

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discernment of where the Holy Spirit is leading us together. We offer a prayer of hope that each 

encounter may move us to even deeper recognition and into a more faithful relationship with the 

Triune God. Ultimately our unity is not something we create but is a gift given us by God. Its 

visible manifestation is something for which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ prayed (John 17), 

and we know that the earliest witnesses to the Christian faith proclaimed both the present reality 

and the eschatological hope of one Lord, one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4). Where we 

have fallen short of answering the call to that full visible unity, we confess our culpability and 

the enduring scandal of division within the body of Christ. 

And so in celebration of what we hold in common, and in testimony to our desire to make God‘s 

gift of unity more visible, we offer our common witness in the following <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Agreement</strong>. 

2. 

COMMON AGREEMENT ON MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF BAPTISM 

Roman Catholic-Reformed Church dialogue 

1. Together we affirm that, by the sacrament of Baptism, a person is truly incorporated into 

the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13 and 27; Ephesians 1:22-23), the church. Baptism 

establishes the bond of unity existing among all who are part of Christ‘s body and is 

therefore the sacramental basis for our efforts to move towards visible unity. 

2. Together we affirm that Baptism is the sacramental gateway into the Christian life, 

directed toward the fullness of faith and discipleship in Christ. 

3. Together we affirm that incorporation into the universal church by baptism is brought 

about by celebrating the sacrament within a particular Christian community. 

4. Together we affirm that Baptism is to be conferred only once, because those who are 

baptized are decisively incorporated into the Body of Christ. 

5. Together we affirm that baptism is a sacrament of the church, enacted in obedience to the 

mission confided to it by Christ‘s own word. For our baptisms to be mutually 

recognized, water and the scriptural Trinitarian formula ―Father, Son, and Holy Spirit‖ 

(Matthew 28: 19-20) must be used in the baptismal rite. 

6. Together we affirm that the validity of Baptism depends on its celebration according to 

the apostolic witness by the church and its authorized ministers. 

7. Together we affirm, as a sign of our unity and as a witness to ecumenical commitment, 

the practice of inviting the presence and, where appropriate, the participation of members 

of our respective communions in the celebration of Baptism. At the same time, we affirm 

our responsibility to respect the integrity of the distinct baptismal practices of the 

communions in which the rite of Baptism is administered. 

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8. Given our mutual recognition of Baptism, we encourage using baptismal registers in the 

local church community and, when requested by another church for a pastoral need in the 

life of an individual, providing written attestations of Baptism, including the liturgical 

formula used. Such cooperation and mutual accountability honors the dignity of the 

sacrament of Baptism. 

We rejoice at the common faith we share and affirm in this document. We understand that the 

journey toward full, visible unity depends on openness to the grace of God and humility before 

the initiatives of God‘s Spirit among us. Because of these convictions, we encourage Roman 

Catholic and Reformed pastoral leaders to continue their commitment to regular dialogue about 

theology and pastoral practice from local to international settings. Pastoral leaders engaged in 

such dialogue embody our hopes for unity, collaborative effort, and common witness. We 

believe that respectful dialogue can provide a strong witness to the wider church about our 

commitment to a relationship in Christ and can stand as a safeguard against the unreflective 

judgments that have, at certain times in our history, diminished and distorted our relations. 

3. Historical Overview: Perspectives on Sacramentality 

The following sections describe both the history and theology of baptismal rites in the Reformed 

and Roman Catholic communions. Two different investigatory methods are evident in the work 

that follows: (1) an historical approach (especially Section II), narrating each communion‘s self 

understanding relative to sacramental practice, as developed over a given timeline, and (2) a 

liturgical approach (especially Section IIIA) that offers each communion‘s own account of the 

Church‘s interaction with God in the celebration of the rites themselves. The observations which 

follow are made only of Roman Catholic and not of Eastern Christian baptismal rites.‖ 

The following sections describe both the history and theology of baptismal rites in the Reformed 

and Roman Catholic communions. Two different investigatory methods are evident in the work 

that follows: (1) an historical approach (especially Section II), narrating each communion‘s self 

understanding relative to sacramental practice, as developed over a given timeline, and (2) a 

liturgical approach (especially Section III) that offers each communion‘s own account of the 

Church‘s interaction with God in the celebration of the rites themselves. The observations which 

follow are made only of Roman Catholic and not of Eastern baptismal rites. 

Historical Introduction 

The Reformed and Catholic communions share a common tradition about sacrament. 

They rejoice over what they uphold together and they understand where they evaluate the 

tradition differently. Their common tradition begins with the apostle Paul and the Greek word 

mysterion (―mystery‖) as found in Paul‘s letters (e.g., 1 Cor. 2:1; 4:1; Rom 16:25). There the 

word referred to God‘s hidden plan for salvation. The developing Pauline tradition (e.g., Eph. 

1:9; 3:3, 4, 9; Col. 1:26-27; 2:2) took up this theme and proclaimed that this ―mystery‖ is 

embodied in Christ, in whose sufferings we share (e.g., Col. 1:24-2:3). 1 From there, early North 

1 See, for example, Günther Bornkamm, Mysterion, in Gerhard Kittel, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New 

Testament, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Vol. IV (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967) 

803ff. 

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African, Latin translations of the Greek New Testament translated mysterion with the word 

sacramentum. In this context, sacramentum referred to the redeeming work of God that was 

known through Jesus. 

The writings of the North African theologian Tertullian (ca. 160-ca. 230), including what 

may be the earliest work on sacramental theology (De Baptismo), continued the connection 

between mysterion and sacramentum. 2 In De Spectaculis Tertullian calls the Eucharist a 

sacrament (3:10), and in Adversus Marcionem he calls Baptism a sacrament several times, as he 

also does in De Baptismo. Furthermore, Tertullian does not limit his understanding of sacrament 

simply to Baptism and Eucharist; he calls charity ―the highest sacrament of the faith‖ (De 

Patientia 12:133-34), and he uses sacramentum in relation to martyrdom (Scorpiace, ch. 9). 

The word sacrament carried two principal meanings by the early third century. It referred 

to Jesus because God‘s redeeming presence was known through the man Jesus – what the fides 

historica broadly calls the incarnation. Sacrament also referred to certain rituals of the church 

because likewise through the physical, God‘s redeeming presence was known. The muchbeloved 

biblical passage that symbolically connected Jesus as sacrament to the church‘s 

sacraments was the scene of blood (symbolizing the Eucharist) and water (symbolizing Baptism) 

flowing from the wounded side of Christ (Jn. 19:34). Many of the early church theologians 

allegorically interpreted this scene as referring to the birth of the Church through the issuance of 

Christ‘s blood and water, that is, through the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. 3 

By the fourth century the words mysterion and sacramentum gained prominence as the 

rite of Christian initiation, and the catechetical teachings about baptism and Eucharist, flourished 

in the post-Constantinian period. The writings of Ambrose (339-397), Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 

315-386), Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350-428), and other patristic theologians, speak about 

baptism and Eucharist from a Neoplatonic perspective in which the physical sign of the 

sacrament could be distinguished from the spiritual reality signified in it, yet truly participative 

in that same spiritual reality. Leo the Great (d. 461) would summarize this most notably in his 

homily for Ascension Day: ―And so the sight of our Redeemer today passes into mystery 

(sacramentum)‖ 4 -- which meant that what Jesus had done in history, had passed into 

2 To the idea of sacrament Tertullian also added the faithful human response to God‘s redeeming work that comes to 

us through the sacramentum. For a general introduction to this material and helpful bibliography, see Thomas M. 

Finn, ―Sacraments,‖ in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson (New York & London: Garland 

Publishing, Inc, 1990), 811-815. For sacramentum, see the discussion by Josef Finkenzeller, Die Lehre von den 

Sakramenten in allgemeinen: Von der Schrift bis zur Scholastik (Freiburg: Herder, 1980), 4-37, esp. 10-13, 25-30; 

also see, J. de Ghelinck, S.J., Pour l’histoire du mot “sacramentum” I. Les Anténicéens (Louvain: Spiceligium 

sacrum Lovaniense, 1924), esp. 12-18, 144-152. For a classic, late nineteenth century Protestant view on sacrament, 

see Ferdinand Kattenbusch, ―Sakrament,‖ in Real-Encyklopädie für Theologie und Kirche 3 rd ed. (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 

1896-1913), 17:349-381. Kattenbusch denies a proper theological and etymological connection between and 

sacramentum, but agrees that Tertullian first made the connection, probably based on North African, Latin 

translations of the New Testament (349-351). Also see Kevin W. Irwin, ―Sacrament‖ in Joseph A. Komonchak, 

Mary Collins, and Dermot A. Lane (eds.), The New Dictionary of Theology (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press/A 

Michael Glazier Book, 1989, 1991) 910-22. 

3 See Finkenzeller, Lehre, 22-23; cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Catechesis 3, 13-19; Clement of Alexandria, 

Paedagogus, PG 8, 299 and Ambrose of Milan, In Luc.2, 85-89: PL 15, 1666-1668. 

4 Cf. Leo the Great, Sermon 74:2 (CCL) 138A, 457: Quod itaque Redemptoris nostri conspicuum fuit, in sacramenta 

transivit. For a full discussion of the relation between sacramentum and mysterium in the Latin tradition, see Y. 

Congar, Le “mysterion” appliqué aux sacrements, traduit par “sacramentum” dans l’église ancienne” in Un peuple 

messianique (Paris: Cerf, 1974), 47-55. See also Louis Bouyer‘s The Christian Mystery, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 

1989), especially 5-18 and 31-171 for a treatment of ―mystery‖ in the liturgy. 

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―sacrament‖ or ―mystery‖ celebrated by the Church each day in the liturgy. Perhaps the most 

influential among these theologians, however, stands the North African bishop, Augustine of 

Hippo (354-430), for whom physical realities were the windows through which the spiritual 

realities reach us. 5 Augustine also has a notable chapter in the tenth book of The City of God that 

essentially exegetes the meaning to Rom. 12:1-3. There he argues that the communion of 

Christian lives given in love is offered to God as its sacrifice through Christ ―the great High 

Priest (sacerdotum magnum, Cf. Hebrews 4:14 et pass.) who offered himself to God in His 

passion for us.‖ Augustine then closes the chapter by asserting that [t]his is the sacrifice of 

Christians: the many, the one body in Christ. And this likewise is the sacrifice that the church 

repeatedly celebrates by the sacrament of the altar, noted by the faithful, in which she shows that 

she herself is offered in the offering that she makes to God. 6 

The two senses of sacrament, as Jesus himself and as the sacraments of the church, 

continued into the medieval period and Latin theologians gradually synthesized the two ideas of 

sacrament into an integrated theology. The basic medieval concept was that the church is the 

body of the crucified, resurrected, and glorified Lord, and God‘s grace continues to come to us 

through Christ just as it did in the incarnation. Only now the grace that comes through Christ 

comes through the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist, by which Jesus Christ continues to 

be present in the church. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), for example, gave a thorough 

exposition of eucharistic theology and sacrifice (cf. Summa Theologica, III, 73-83) that was a 

feature of an entire ecclesial world-view that was, so to speak, eucharistic: 7 The whole world 

was related to and dependent upon the grace of God, known in creation, proclaimed in salvation 

history, and present once and still in Jesus Christ, Word made flesh, the one mediator, who has 

united believers into his reign, the Body of Christ. Into this triune God one was baptized, and by 

the very being of this God one was nourished during life‘s spiritual journey. Christ instituted the 

Eucharist, argued Thomas, because he desired to remain present in the church, in a sacramental 

manner available to faith, unlike a mere corporeal presence available to the senses. The whole 

5 For a summary of Augustine on sacrament as a sacred sign, see Finkenzeller, Lehre, 39-43. For a wider treatment, 

see Edward J. Kilmartin, S.J., The Eucharist in the West, ed. Robert J. Daly, S.J. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical 

Press, 1998), 3-61. 

6 De civitate dei 10.6; CSEL 47.278-9. Hoc est sacrificium christianorum: multi unum corpus in Christo. Quod 

etiam sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequentat ecclesia, ubi et demonstratur, quod in ea re, quam offert, ipsa 

offeratur (CSEL 47.279.52-55) 

7 For a summary of Aquinas‘s eucharistic teaching, and bibliographic references, see David N. Power, The 

Eucharistic Mystery (New York: Crossroads, 1994), 163-240, esp. 208-240 (also see, 269-290). For a thorough 

entrance to the vast literature on Thomas Aquinas, see Otto Pesch, ―Thomas von 

Aquino/Thomismus/Neuthomismus,‖ in Theologische Realenzyklopädie (New York; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 

2002). In English, see Thomas O‘Meara, The Theology of Thomas Aquinas (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre 

Dame Press, 1997), particularly the annotated bibliography, 290-296. Also see, Kilmartin, Eucharist in the West , 

247-266; Erwin Iserloh, ―Abendmahl: III/2. Mittelalter,‖ Theologisches Realenzyklopädie (Berlin: Walter de 

Gruyter, 1977), 1:95-97; E. Mangenot, ―Eucharistie du XII e a la fin du XV e siécle,‖Dictionnaire de théologie 

catholique (Paris, 1913), 5:1304-1320, passim. For excellent shorter studies, more accessible to those not trained in 

scholastic theology, see Owen Cumings, ― Medieval Eucharistic Theology,‖ Emmanuel (March, 1993): 73-79; Gary 

Macy, The Banquet’s Wisdom (New York: Paulist Press, 1992), 104-109; Herbert McCabe, ―Eucharistic Change,‖ 

Priests & People 8/6 (1994): 217-221; Raymond Moloney, The Eucharist (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1995), 

139-150; David Power,―Eucharist,‖ in Systematic Theology II: Roman Catholic Perspectives, ed. Francis Schüssler 

Fiorenza, John P. Galvin (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991), 277-280. For an informative Catholic perspective on 

the sacraments in general, and thus the place of Thomas within this development, see Regis A. Duffy, ― Sacraments 

in General,‖ in Systematic Theology II, 183-210. 

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economy of salvation, which comes to the individual as spiritual nourishment through faith in 

Christ‘s passion, is thus effectively realized now in the sacrament that is Christ‘s activity in the 

church itself. 8 

The late medieval period, and particularly the various reforming efforts in the late 

fifteenth and early sixteen centuries, inherited the traditions that connected sacrament to the 

church itself and to the rites that constituted the church and existed through the church. The 

Protestant reformers of the Reformed tradition continued to affirm that the true church was 

ultimately the body of Christ, just as they continued to affirm the sacraments that Jesus Christ 

instituted. The theological arguments by which they connected sacrament, church, and Jesus 

Christ constructed the tradition differently, however, than did the late medieval church as it 

moved into the Council of Trent. 

3.a. Sacramentality 

i. A Catholic View 

Sacramentality is a key theological principle of Catholic ecclesial life. It applies not only 

to the seven sacraments and to the liturgy but is used in reference to the Church as a whole. In 

recent Catholic theology the notion of sacramentality functions as a foundational principle for 

Catholic thought and experience since it is related to the principles of mediation and communion 

as well as the theology of grace. Grounded in the doctrines of creation, incarnation, and the 

resurrection of the body, it has much to do with how creation elevated by grace is able to mediate 

the divine presence even as that presence is personal, hence grounded in the Trinitarian 

economy. It is an affirmation of the capacity of finite creation to be a means for God‘s 

manifestation and self-communication. 

Divine revelation attests to the sacramental principle. In the history of salvation, the 

―economy of Revelation,‖ is ―realized in deeds and words, which are intrinsically bound up with 

each other‖ (Dei Verbum, 2). Since the works performed by God show forth the reality signified 

by the words and the words proclaim the works, so too, signs and symbols derived from creation 

and human culture are utilized by the Church in its liturgical life. The liturgy is at the heart of 

the Church‘s life as expressed in Sacrosanctum Concilium, The Constitution on the Sacred 

Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council: ―the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of 

the Church is directed; it is also the fount from which all her power flows‖ (Sacrosanctum 

Concilium 11). It is also a work of the Holy Trinity and through the mystery of Christ the High 

Priest it embraces both human and divine action. Therefore, liturgy is ―an ‗action‘ of the whole 

Christ (Christus totus)‖ (CCC 1136), that is, a work of the risen Christ and his Church. 

The trinitarian nature of the liturgy proceeds from the missions of the Son and the Holy 

Spirit (their ―joint mission‖ 9 ) that culminates in the incarnation of the Son and the outpouring of 

the Holy Spirit. By virtue of the incarnation, the assumed human nature of Christ is inseparably 

united to the eternal Son of God in the hypostatic union and thus serves the divine Word as a 

―living organ of salvation.‖ So too, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit ―in a similar way, does 

the visible social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who vivifies it, in building up 

the body‖ (Lumen Gentium 8). 

8 See David N. Power, The Eucharistic Mystery (New York: Crossroads, 1994), 163-240, esp. 208-238. 

9 ―In their joint mission, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct but inseparable. To be sure, it is Christ who is seen, 

the visible image of the invisible God, but it is the Spirit who reveals him.‖ CCC 689. 

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Sacramentality consists of the coalescence of divine and human elements in the life of the 

Church whereby God acts through the visible organs of the Church especially the sacraments. 

Catholics, therefore, speak of the Church analogously as a sacrament, in that the ―Church, then, 

both contains and communicates the invisible grace she signifies‖ (CCC 774). In Christ the 

Church is ―a sign and instrument both of a closely knit union with God and of the unity of the 

whole human race‖ (Lumen Gentium 1). 

Sacramentality is consistent with the doctrine of creation whereby God speaks through 

the visible creation making it possible for human intelligence to read traces of the Creator in the 

material cosmos (CCC 1147). A solid theological anthropology needs underscore the social 

being of humanity and how signs and symbols are intrinsic to communication through language, 

gestures, and actions (CCC 1146). They are the means for ―expressing the action of God who 

sanctifies men, and the action of men who offer worship to God‖ (CCC 1148). Consistent with 

God‘s covenant with Israel, wherein both cosmic and social symbols are taken up in Israel‘s 

liturgical life, Jesus himself often illustrated his preaching with physical signs and symbolic 

gestures, e.g., the use of spittle to heal the blind man (Jn 9: 6). So too, since Pentecost, ―the Holy 

Spirit carries on the work of sanctification‖ through the sacramental signs of the Church (CCC 

1152), what has been called its ―sacramental economy‖ or ―dispensation‖ (CCC 1076). 

ii. A Reformed View 

From within the long-standing Western tradition where sacrament referred both to the 

church, which is the body of Christ, and to the sacraments constituting the church, the Reformed 

tradition asserts that the true church, invisible to human eyes but visible to God‘s eyes, is 

comprised of God‘s faithful people gathered as the body of Christ. So The Westminster 

Confession (IX.4) says, ―By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit all believers being vitally united to 

Christ, who is the Head, are thus united one to another in the Church, which is his body (cf., 

Larger Catechism, Qq. 64-66; Scots Confession XVI; Second Helvetic Confession XVII). 

Reformed theology calls neither the visible nor the invisible church a sacrament. 

Reformed theology applies the word ―sacrament‖ to the two divinely instituted signs, 

baptism and Lord‘s Supper, to which God attaches the promise of grace (e.g., Scots Confession 

XXI; Heidelberg Catechism Q. 68; Second Helvetic Confession XIX; Belgic Confession, art. 34; 

Westminster Confession XXVII). In a loose sense, the true visible church might be called 

―sacramental‖ because its two marks, the preaching of the gospel and the right administration of 

the sacraments, both communicate God‘s real self-giving in Jesus Christ, but such language 

would be historically foreign to the Reformed tradition. Likewise, although some church rites, 

such as ordination, penance, and marriage are God-given and useful (Second Helvetic Confession 

XIX); and although some simple church rites that are not contrary to the Word of God might be 

useful ceremonies (Second Helvetic Confession XXVII); the Reformed tradition has never 

considered such rituals to be ―sacramentals,‖ in the way that the sign of the cross, palms, ashes, 

incense, or candles were a means of grace within the medieval church. 

By contrast, the Reformed tradition has considered the created order to be ―sacramental,‖ 

insofar as the word connotes God‘s self-communication, even if Reformed theology typically has 

refrained from such language. For example, Calvin believed that God accommodates God‘s self 

in order that we might know who God is. God desires to span the distance between Creator and 

creation and meets us where we are, communicating to us as we so need, because we otherwise 

are incapable of knowing God (e.g., Com. Ex. 3:2; Com. Rom. 1:19; Com. 1 Cor. 2:7). The 

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essence of God itself, of course, we can never know (Inst.1.13.21), but God‘s activity and will, 

however, can be seen in creation itself: 

Consequently we know the most perfect way of seeking God, and the most 

suitable order, is not for us to attempt with bold curiosity to penetrate to the 

investigation of his essence, which we ought more to adore than to search out 

meticulously, but for us to contemplate him in his works whereby he renders 

himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates himself to us 

(Inst. 1.5.9). 

Creation can clearly be means by which God communicate to us because God 

daily discloses himself in the entire working of the universe, so that we cannot 

open our eyes without being compelled to see him . . . on each of his works he has 

engraved sure marks of his glory, so clear and prominent that even uncultured and 

dim-witted people cannot plead ignorance as an excuse (Inst. 1.5.1) 

The universe has become, says Calvin, ―a kind of mirror (speculi) in which we are able to see 

him, so far as it concerns us to know him‖ (Geneva Catechism Q. 25; OS 1.77.25-7). 

Furthermore, human culture also reflects God‘s beneficent glory so that the human mind, 

even though ―fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented 

with God‘s excellent gifts‖ (Inst. 2.2.15). And thus Calvin acknowledges that law, philosophy, 

rhetoric, medicine, and mathematics were true and glorious achievements of ancient cultures 

because God‘s grace was at work in the ancients and through these achievements God‘s 

beneficence can be seen (Inst. 2.2.15). Likewise, through every age moral people have existed 

whose upright character can be contrasted with those less moral. The moral qualities 

exemplified are ―special graces of God‖ (speciales Dei gratias) that show forth divine 

beneficence. (Inst. 2.3.3-4). The Canons of Dort put the issue this way: 

There is, to be sure, a certain light of nature remaining in man after the fall, by 

virtue of which he retains some notions about God, natural things, and the 

difference between what is moral and immoral, and demonstrates a certain 

eagerness for virtue and for good outward behavior. But this light of nature is far 

from enabling man to come to a saving knowledge of God and conversion to him 

– so far, in fact, that man does not use it rightly even in matters of nature and 

society (III/IV, art. 4). 

Human moral achievements, both individually and culturally, count not to our glory but 

to our condemnation because, as Calvin saw the matter, they are done not from thanksgiving that 

glorifies God, who was the source of such special graces, but were done from our own selfinterest 

(Inst. 2.3.4). Thus the Canons of Dort say straightforwardly we ―suppress‖ this light of 

God in ―unrighteousness‖ and in so doing we render ourselves ―without excuse before God‖ 

(III/IV, art. 4; cf. Belgic Confession, art. 14). 

Finally, the Reformed tradition also understands that within the created order God has 

given certain signs that enable our confidence in God‘s promises. Calvin says that such signs 

can be through natural elements, or even through miracles, and he calls such signs ―sacraments‖ 

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(sacramenti nomen; Inst. 4.14.18). Among natural signs, God used ―the tree of life as a 

guarantee of immortality‖ to Adam and Eve. So, too, God gave the rainbow to Noah as a pledge 

of grace towards the earth. Although both tree and rainbow began as natural objects, when they 

were ―inscribed by the Word of God‖ (inscripta fuerunt verbo Dei) they ―began to be what 

previously they were not‖ (inciperent esse quod prius non erant). Among the miracles that were 

divinely given signs, Calvin notes the light in the smoking fire pot (Gen. 15:17), the fleece with 

dew (Judges 6:37-8), and the shadow of the sundial going backwards (2 Kgs. 20:9-11) (Inst. 

4.14.18). These signs were not humanly invented but were given by God, and Calvin 

differentiates these from the ―ordinary‖ sacraments that God instituted among God‘s people, 

both of the old law and those instituted by Christ in the new law (Inst. 4.14.19-26). 

3.b. Sacraments. 

i. Sacraments from a Roman Catholic perspective 

The sacraments then, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice, are the center of the Church‘s 

liturgical life. 10 Christ‘s work in the liturgy enables the pilgrim Church to participate ―as by a 

foretaste, in the heavenly liturgy‖ such that before the parousia the Holy Spirit dispenses the 

mystery of salvation in and through the Church‘s prayer and sacraments (CCC 1112). The 

sacraments are sacraments of Christ founded in the saving mysteries of Christ‘s life so that ―what 

was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries‖ (St. Leo the Great quoted in CCC 

1115). The sacraments are sacraments of the Church ―by her‖ and ―for her‖ effectively 

instantiating the principle of sacramentality. For the Church ―the sacraments make the Church‖ 

in that they manifest and communicate to human beings the mystery of communion with the 

triune God (CCC 1118). The sacraments are sacraments of faith because they presuppose faith 

(prepared by the Word of God) and through words and objects they nourish, strengthen and 

express faith (CCC 1122-1123). The sacraments are sacraments of salvation because they 

―confer the grace that they signify‖ (CCC 1127), bestowing the grace necessary for salvation 

(CCC 1129). The sacraments are sacraments of eternal life because in ―the sacraments of Christ 

the Church already receives the guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting 

life (CCC 1130). 

Catholics also speak of the validity and efficacy of the sacraments, the latter having been 

a sore point of contention during the Reformation. For a sacrament to be valid it must be 

administered according to the intention of the Church to confer the grace of Christ, by a proper 

minister, and with the form and matter of the particular sacrament. The ministers must be validly 

ordained except in the case of matrimony where the minister witnesses the sacrament that is 

conferred by the spouses upon each other or in baptism where in the case of an emergency (not 

the normative administration of baptism) anyone may baptize if they do so with the Church‘s 

intention. The form along with the matter of the sacrament embraces the appropriate objects: for 

example, water, bread, wine, oil, etc., and their corresponding words or sacramental formulae 

(based on the New Testament accounts) of the Last Supper words of institution for the sacrament 

of the Eucharist and the Trinitarian baptismal formula. 

Sacramental efficacy concerns the conferral of grace in the sacramental act. 

The ―sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact 

of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work 

10 There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation or Penance, 

Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders. 

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of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that ‗the sacrament 

is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the 

recipient, but by the power of God.‘ From the moment that a 

sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the 

Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, 

independently of the personal holiness of the minister. 

Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the 

disposition of the one who receives them‖ (CCC 1128). 

Catholics understand in this principle the guarantee of Christ‘s salvific action in the 

sacraments not because of any notion that the sacraments are magical in nature, an unfortunate 

characterization, but because Christ established the sacraments and his Spirit acts through them. 

It underscores the Church‘s firm conviction about the priority of grace and her dependence on 

Christ. Nor does this mean that the faith of the minister and recipients of the sacraments is 

unimportant. In sacraments the posture of the recipient may be interpreted as the disposition of 

the one receiving the sacraments so as to not place any obstacle in the way of reception, such as 

impenitence, and more positively to receive the sacraments in faith, hope and love, and cooperate 

with the grace received to bear fruit. 

Efficacy also includes the grace proper to each sacrament, i.e., sacramental grace, and in 

the case of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, the reception of an indelible spiritual sign, 

mark, seal, or character of the specific sacrament imprinted on the soul. This sacramental 

character consecrates the person to Christ according to the particularity of the sacrament and 

underscores the non-repeatability of the sacrament. In Baptism and Confirmation one is 

consecrated to the common priesthood of the faithful, and in Holy Orders to the ministerial 

priesthood. 

In summary, the sacraments of the Church are the principle means of grace instituted by 

Christ and through them Christ acts in the Church. Sacraments are "‗powers that come forth‘ 

from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit 

at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting 

covenant‖ (CCC 1116) with each as mentioned imparting its own specific grace. 

The means of grace also include sacramentals——―sacred signs instituted by the 

Church…[that] prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different 

circumstances of life‖ (CCC 1677)——such as blessings, exorcisms, and sacred signs, objects 

and gestures including, for example, holy water, the sign of the cross, altars, vestments, incense, 

rosaries, etc., many of which inform the variety of expressions of popular piety. The latter 

engages the common priesthood of all the faithful and embraces the material universe in its use 

of signs for worship, devotion, and pious and spiritual exercises. The theological principle that 

accounts for the efficacy of grace in sacramentals is ex opere operantis (―from the work of the 

worker‖). Although God is still the source of grace, its impartation in sacramentals is 

proportioned to the holiness and faith of the believer engaged in their practice. One may also 

speak of ex opere operantis Ecclesiae since it is the Church that acts or prays not only in the 

sacraments but also in non-sacramental liturgy, e.g., the Liturgy of the Hours, and in various 

forms of devotional prayer that the Church encourages. All of these are ways in which grace is 

offered by Christ in the Holy Spirit and increased through its faithful reception by believers and 

their fruitful cooperation with it. 

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3.b. 

ii A Reformed View 

The Reformed tradition historically argued at the time of the Protestant Reformation, and 

still theologically maintains, that worship ought to be done according to scripture. For some of 

the tradition, only those practices could be done that scripture warranted: 

But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and 

so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to 

the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any 

visible representation or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture. 

(Westminster Confession XXIII) 

For other parts of the tradition, rites not prescribed by scripture could still be celebrated for our 

benefit so long as they did not go against scripture. As the Second Helvetic Confession 

pastorally puts the matter, ―a few moderate and simple rites, that are not contrary to the Word of 

God, are sufficient for the godly‖ (XXVII). 

The Reformed tradition thus counts the dominically instituted sacraments as two, baptism 

and the Lord‘s Supper (e.g., Scots Confession XXI; Heidelberg Catechism Q. 68; Second 

Helvetic Confession XIX; Belgic Confession, art. 34; Westminster Confession XXVII). To these 

sacraments the Reformed tradition applies the long-standing hermeneutic of signum-res to 

explain what a sacrament is. To the outer sign God attaches an inner reality; and the Reformed 

tradition typically understands that the inner reality that inheres to the sign is ultimately Christ 

himself (e.g., Tetrapolitan Confession, XVII-XVIII; First Basel Confession, VI; Second Basel 

Confession (First Helvetic Confession), 20 and 22 (Supper); Scots Confession XXI; Second 

Helvetic Confession XIX; French Confession, XXXIV-XXXVI; Belgic Confession, art. 33). As 

the Second Helvetic Confession says, 

the principle thing which God promises in all sacraments and to which all the 

godly in all ages direct their attention (some call it the substance [substantiam] 

and matter [materiam] of the sacraments) is Christ the Savior (XIX). 

Some Reformed voices express the object signified with a proximate description, such as 

―holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace, immediately instituted by God, to represent Christ 

and his benefits, and to confirm our interest in him‖ (Westminster Confession XXVII). When 

one reaches the actual discussion of baptism and Supper, however, one typically finds there the 

description of a person‘s baptismal ―ingrafting in Christ (Westminster Confession XXVIII.1), or 

that in the Supper ―really and indeed . . . receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the 

benefits of his death‖(Westminster Confession , XXIX.7). 

Reformed theology distinguishes between the validity and the efficacy of the sacraments. 

The sacraments are to be administered by duly ordained ministers of the church (e.g., Scots 

Confession XXII; Second Helvetic Confession XVIII, XIX; Large Catechism, Q. 169), and when 

so administered, with the proper sign and divine promise of grace, as the church intentionally 

follows the mandate of scripture, the sacrament validly offers what the sign signifies: 

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Two things are necessary for the right administration of the sacraments. The first 

is that they should be ministered by lawful ministers . . . and the second is that 

they should be ministered in the elements and manner which God has appointed. 

Otherwise they cease to be the sacraments of Christ Jesus (Scots Confession 

XXII). 

In a long discussion, the Second Helvetic Confession contrasts validly offered sacraments with 

the efficacy that includes ―the condition of those who receive them.‖ 

For we know that the value [i.e., fruitfulness] of the sacraments depends on faith 

and upon the truthfulness and pure goodness of God. For as the Word of God 

remains the true Word of God, in which, when it is preached, not only bare words 

are repeated, but at the same time the things signified or announced in words are 

offered by God, even if the ungodly and unbelievers hear and understand the 

words yet do not enjoy the things signified, because they do not receive them by 

true faith; so the sacraments, which by the Word consist of signs and the things 

signified, remain true and inviolate sacraments, signifying not only sacred things, 

but, by God offering, the things signified, even if unbelievers do not receive the 

things offered (XIX). 

Thus while under right administration sacraments validly offer the divine reality that the signs 

signify, the efficacy applies only to those who receive the sacraments in faith. Calvin‘s 1545 

Geneva Catechism (no. 329) simply asserts that when the sacraments are offered ―[m]any do 

close the way by their perverseness and so make it worthless for themselves. Thus its fruit 

reaches only the faithful. Yet from that nothing of the nature of the sacrament disappears (nihil 

sacramenti naturae decedit).‖ 

Finally, the Reformed tradition holds that baptism and the Lord‘s Supper are not strictly 

speaking the first sacraments that God gave to God‘s people. God granted sacraments in the old 

dispensation, and the ―sacraments of the ancient people were circumcision, and the Paschal 

Lamb, which was offered up‖ (Second Helvetic Confession XIX). The Reformed tradition 

generally ascribes to these sacraments the same ultimate reality signified as those signified by the 

sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ (Westminster Confession XXVII.7), for in each case Christ 

―is the chief thing and very substance of the sacraments in both‖ (Second Helvetic Confession 

XIX). The Reformed tradition argues that there is an ultimate unity of covenant between old and 

new. As Calvin put the matter, 

The covenant with all the patriarchs is so much not different from ours in 

substance and reality (substantia et re) that it is absolutely one and the same thing 

(Inst. 2.10.2) 

This covenant unity exists because the patriarchs ―had and knew Christ the mediator, 

through whom they were joined (coniungerentur) to God and were partakers of his promises‖ 

(Inst. 2.10.2). Thus, Calvin rejected ―that scholastic dogma (to mention this in passing) which 

notes so great a difference between the sacraments of the old and new law, as though the old did 

nothing but foreshadow the grace of God, but the latter truly conferred it as a present reality‖ 

(Inst. 4.14.23). 

At the same time, some Reformed confessions also try to distinguish the sacraments that 

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were given ―under the Law‖ (Scots Confession XXI) from those given under the new 

dispensation. The Second Helvetic Confession asserts that ―a great difference‖ exists between 

the signs. The new signs are ―are more firm and lasting,‖ ―more simple and less laborious,‖ and 

―belong to a more numerous people.‖ Further, ―both the substance and promise‖ (et rem et 

promissionem) have been ―fulfilled or perfected‖ in Christ, and ―a greater abundance of the 

Spirit‖ follows (XIX). 

3. c. Summary 

In our respective accounts of sacramentality it is evident that this theological concept 

weighs more heavily in the Catholic than in the Reformed tradition. Perhaps this is most clear in 

our respective understandings of ecclesiology. As we have seen in the Catholic section, the 

notion of the Church as sacrament emerged in theology, in the conciliar documents of the Second 

Vatican Council, and has been utilized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Reformed 

theologians have been less apt to appropriate this ecclesiological model. It is interesting that the 

following statement appeared in the 1976 Report of the U.S. Presbyterian & Reformed-Roman 

Catholic Dialogue, entitled The Unity We Seek. 

…we see the Church as called to be a sign—a sacrament— 

of that unity which God has willed for his creation and 

disclosed in Jesus Christ. 

However at the international level things are quite different. 

In the second phase (1984-1990) of the Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church 

and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Final Report entitled Towards a <strong>Common</strong> 

Understanding of the Church, two respective conceptions of the Church were examined: the 

Church as ―Creatura Verbi‖ for the Reformed tradition and the Church as ―Sacrament of Grace‖ 

for Roman Catholics. In their ―Questions and Reflections‖ on these distinct ecclesiologies the 

document states what is worth quoting in full. 

112. We are agreed in recognizing the radical dependence 

of the church in receiving the transcendent gift which God 

makes to it, and we recognize that gift as the basis of its 

activity of service for the salvation of humanity. But we do 

not yet understand the nature of this salutary activity in the 

same way. The Reformed commonly allege that Catholics 

appropriate to the church the role proper to Christ. Roman 

Catholics, for their part, commonly accused the Reformed 

of holding the church apart from the work of salvation and 

of giving up the assurance that Christ is truly present and 

acting in his church. Both these views are caricatures, but 

they can help to focus attention on genuine underlying 

differences of perspective, of which the themes of creatura 

verbi and sacramentum gratiae serve as symbols. 

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113. The two conceptions, ―the creation of the word‖ and 

―sacrament of grace,‖ can in fact be seen as expressing the 

same instrumental reality under different aspects, as 

complementary to each other or as two sides of the sane 

coin. They can also be poles of a creative tension between 

our churches. A particular point at which this tension 

becomes apparent is reached when it is asked how the 

questions of the continuity and order of the church through 

the ages appear in light of these two concepts. 

Although we did not discuss these texts the tension stated often surfaced in our 

discussions. We recognize that the comments of the international dialogue penetrate to the heart 

of our distinct understandings of sacramentality. It can also be noted that World Council of 

Churches 2005 Faith and Order Paper, The Nature and Mission of the Church: A Stage on the 

Way to a <strong>Common</strong> Statement was able to affirm that Church is a ―Gift of God, a Creation of the 

Word and Holy Spirit,‖ and can even speak of the ―Church as a Sign and Instrument of God‘s 

Intention and Plan for the World.‖ However, it could not agree on the Church as sacrament, 

confining that concept to a box in the text that articulates alternative views. With this in mind 

we hope that our text on baptism may be a further stepping stone to a common understanding of 

the Church and sacramentality. 

Section 4: Baptismal rites 

a. <strong>Common</strong> early history 

Just as Roman Catholic and Reformed churches share a common tradition about the 

theology of sacrament, so also we have in common the history of baptismal practice and 

reflection up until the sixteenth century. Our respect for common biblical and patristic sources 

has in recent decades become a central impetus for convergence, if not complete agreement, 

relative to the celebration of baptism in our communions. For this reason, it is useful to review 

briefly the early history of the church‘s baptismal rites, as well as the medieval developments 

that preceded our separation. i 

The ligurgical form of baptism in the New Testament period is not known with precision. 

However, it would seem that Matthew 28:19-20 reflect actual baptismal practice, sanctioned by 

the way it is placed on the lips of the Risen Christ. The expressions ―baptism in the name of the 

Lord Jesus (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 19:5) though at times interpreted as referring to a liturgical formula, 

may in fact simply refer to the rite of baptism in the same way that the term ―the breaking of the 

bread‖ is used to refer to the Eucharist. Some suggestions of early Christian baptismal practice 

are attested in the Didache (9:5) which is possibly as early as 60 C.E., as an indication of how 

liturgical praxis would emerge from its home in apostolic Judaism. 

Though the New Testament records few details about baptismal practice in the earliest 

days of Christianity, it is clear that new converts to Christianity were initiated into Christ and the 

church by baptism, a ritual washing that was eventually connected with the command of Jesus 

himself (Matt. 28:19-20). Baptism seems, at first, to have been modeled on the actions of John 

the Baptist (cf. Jn.1.31, 33 and Acts 1.22) which symbolized repentance or teshuvah, and bore 

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some continuity with either the ritual washing or mikvah of second temple Judaism, Jewish 

proselyte baptism as used from at least the first century B.C.E., or the more isolationist Essenestyle 

baptism which was eschatological in character (cf. Serekh ha-Yahad or ―Community Rule 

Scroll‖). However, it was John himself who would presage the baptism of Jesus by 

distinguishing his own as merely a ―water‖ baptism versus the ―spirit‖ or ―fire‖ baptism to be 

given by the promised one (Mt. 3.11 and Lk.3.16; Jn.1.33). Jesus would then use the term 

―baptism‖ to describe either a sharing in his sufferings for those who would follow him (cf. Mt. 

20.22-23 and Mk. 10.38) or as a name for his own rite of washing with water, but offered by his 

disciples (Jn.4.1-2) at first only to Jews. Later, the apostles would adapt John‘s practices to the 

injunctions of Jesus to baptize gentiles as well (cf. Matt. 28. 19-20), with Paul then developing 

the term typologically by contrasting the Israelites‘ ―baptism into Moses‖ (1 Cor. 10.2) over and 

against baptism into Christ Jesus. In sum, New Testament accounts provide several controlling 

images for baptism, with two of these particularly important in the patristic era, only to reemerge 

as central themes in recent reforms of baptism: (1) baptism as new birth through water 

and the Spirit (John 3) and (2) baptism as union with Christ in his death and resurrection 

(Romans 6). 

New Testament texts are ambiguous about whether baptism was extended only to adults, 

or may have included children, as well. When Paul and others are said to have baptized an entire 

―household‖ (oikos), there is no doubt that it included men and women, married and widowed, 

and those who were free (cf. 1 Cor.1.16; Acts 16.15;11.14;16.31). But did it also embrace slaves 

and children ? Early Church figures such as Tertullian (c.160-c.240 C.E.) (cf. De spect. 4; De 

corona mulites 3; De anima 35) speak warmly of the baptism of children, but there seems to be 

no clear answer to the question of a universal understanding about the matter in the immediately 

sub-apostolic period. The probability of other mixed practices in the performance of baptism are 

also suggested in the New Testament. While it is clear, for example, that the Lord‘s injunction at 

Mt. 28. 19-20 involves a declarative formula for baptism, it is equally clear in Acts. 2.38, 8.16, 

10.48 and 19.5 that ―baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus‖ was commonplace in many early 

Jewish-Christian communities 11 . The same practice is found in the baptismal sections of the 

Didache 9.5 (c. 60 C.E.), where Christian praxis would emerge slowly from its home in apostolic 

Judaism. 

In the second and third centuries, sources reveal varying patterns of development in 

baptismal practices. Justin Martyr‘s (100-165 C.E.) account of baptism in Rome, found in his 

First Apology (61, 65), describes a water baptism whose language is built around Eastern 

Christian notions of illumination. 

In Syria (Didascalia apostolorum,9.12) (c.250 C.E.?), there was strong emphasis on prebaptismal 

anointing associated with the assimilation of the baptized into the royal and priestly 

offices of Christ. The baptism itself was accompanied by the Trinitarian formula and led directly 

to Eucharist. In North Africa, Tertullian (c.160-c.240 C.E.) described a process that included 

vigils and fasts, renunciation of Satan, threefold creedal profession of faith at baptism, postbaptismal 

anointing, prayer with laying on of hands associated with the gift of the Spirit, and 

participation in the eucharist (see De spect. 4; De corona mulites 3; De anima 35) . The 

contested Apostolic Tradition, 21 (attributed to Hippolytus of Rome, ca. 215 C.E.) describes 

three years of catechesis, including prayer, fasting, and exorcism, and a formal rite of admission 

11 Though this term may have been the common expression for a fuller ritual expression of baptism (cf. fractio 

panis). 

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to the catechumenate accompanied by careful interrogation about lifestyle, all leading up to 

baptism at a vigil (perhaps the Easter Vigil). This baptismal rite included renunciation of Satan, 

full body anointing with the ―oil of exorcism (or: oil of the catechumens),‖ threefold creedal 

questioning accompanying baptismal immersions, post-baptismal anointing with the ―oil of 

thanksgiving‖, entrance into the assembly at which the bishop offered the laying on of hands, 

with prayer, and yet another anointing, and finally, participation in the eucharist (cf. the 5 th 

century Syrian Canons of Hippolytus, 19.133). The timing of baptism also differed, some Eastern 

sources suggesting January 6 as the preferred date, others forty days after January 6 (following a 

period of fasting), and some Western sources choosing Easter or Pentecost. 

Baptismal practices underwent significant change in the fourth century, following 

Constantine‘s rise to power and legitimating of Christianity as the legal religion of the empire. 

Again, there are differences between Eastern and Western baptismal practices. In the East, 

according to the writings of Cyril of Jerusalem (fl. 350-387 C.E.) (Mystagogical Catechesis, 

1.2;2.3;1.9;2.2;3.1 and 5.1); John Chrysostom (fl. 349-407 C.E.) (Hom. De bap. II, 11, 12, 18, 

21, 22, 24, 25-27), and Theodore of Mopsuestia (fl. 350-428 C.E.) (Hom.de bap.,II, III) 

baptismal practice generally included the following elements: 

Easter baptism, and the forty day season of Lent for pre-baptismal catechesis on 

scripture, Christian life, and the creed for those preparing for baptism 

―Scrutinies‖ (examination of baptismal candidates for evidence of sin and evil 

remaining in their lives) and daily exorcisms during this period of final 

catechesis 

Development of renunciation and profession of faith by the candidates 

Ceremonial presentation (traditio) and recitation (redditio) of the Creed by the 

candidates 

Reinterpretation of the pre-baptismal anointing as exorcism, purification, and/or 

preparation for combat with Satan 

Use of Romans 6 as basis for baptism as entrance into the tomb with Christ, 

signified by the passive formula ―N. is baptized . . .‖ 

Post-baptismal anointing associated with the gift and seal of the Holy Spirit 

Mystagogical catechesis (preaching that expounds on the mysteries which the 

newly baptized have experienced at baptism) during Easter week 

Of course, pre-baptismal rites were widely used, but varied from one local church to another, as 

the homilies of the Fathers attest (e.g., compare the rites and catechesis for catechumens as 

described by Quodvultdeus [c. 450] in his de Symbolo, 1,2,3 with those of Leo the Great [d.446] 

Homilia 16.6). At this point, there was no uniform practice in the West regarding a fixed 

baptismal ―formula‖, but instead, there is frequent use of three creedal questions and their 

responses at the moment of baptism. The correspondence between the use of the invocation and 

the styles of baptismal immersions was even more varied (cf. de Puniet, Baptême in Dictionnaire 

d’Archéologie Chrètienne et de Liturgie (Paris, 1910) 2: col. 305-306). 

This developed pattern did not survive much beyond the fourth century in either East or 

West. Once the vast majority of adults in the Roman Empire were baptized as Christians (after 

the early medieval period), there was no longer a need for an extended period of pre-baptismal 

catechesis. In addition, the teachings of Augustine (354-430 C.E.) strongly shaped baptismal 

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theology and practice in the West in two ways: first, his argument for infant baptism based on the 

need to be cleansed of original sin led to an emphasis on early infant baptism as the norm (De 

peccatorum merities er remissione et de baptismo parvulorum and De spiritu et littera) Second, 

his argument with the Donatists over the practice of rebaptism led to a focus on the sacramental 

elements (water, wine, bread) and their objective validity apart from the moral character of the 

one administering them (Contra epistulam Parmeniani, PL 43) As a result, medieval Western 

baptismal practice included baptizing infants as soon as possible, the permission for anyone to 

baptize (not only a priest), and a focus on the validity of the sacrament rather than the extended 

drama of the fourth century rites. 

The baptismal rite for infants in the medieval era became in essence a compressed 

version of the rite for adults. Godparents or ministers responded to the questions on behalf of the 

children who could not do so themselves. The rituals of handing over the creed and the Lord‘s 

Prayer eventually were eliminated, while other elements of the fourth century rites (admission to 

the catechumenate, exorcisms, administration of salt and the clothing with the white garment) 

remained, but adapted for use with an infant. Other elements of the baptismal rites were 

reinterpreted. The timing of baptism also shifted; though Easter and Pentecost had been the 

preferred occasions for baptism in the fourth century, the emphasis on baptizing infants as soon 

as possible led to the practice of administering baptism within a few days of an infant‘s birth, no 

matter the season of the year. Gregory the Great (540-604 C.E.) even allows for a single 

immersion of adult or child in water, accompanied by the Trinitarian formula (Epist.1.43). By the 

eighth century, the Missale Gothicum, [260] called for the use of a declarative baptismal 

formula, taken from Mt. 28.19-20, marking a definitive end to the previous question and answer 

style of the Latin fathers. 

A final significant development in baptismal rites in the West was the separation of three 

liturgical acts: baptism, the anointing that came to be known as confirmation, and first 

communion. Once the post-baptismal anointing became a sacrament reserved for the bishop, it 

was commonly celebrated at a time separated—sometimes by several years—from the water 

baptism. This rite of confirmation was interpreted differently by writers in the medieval period, 

but gradually came to be associated with the giving of the Holy Spirit. Though the rite of 

confirmation was celebrated as a separate sacrament, however, priests continued to anoint the 

baptized with chrism immediately following water baptism, symbolizing participation in the 

royal and priestly anointing of Christ. The timing of first communion varied considerably: in the 

early medieval period it was usually given at the time of baptism, but in the eleventh century first 

communion was usually postponed until age seven or later, because of increasing reverence for 

the sacramental species. In 1281, the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, insisted that no 

one should come to communion until they had been confirmed, while in Spain and southern Gaul 

for a time the unity of the three rites of initiation was preserved in their original order (see 

Concilia Magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae II: Constiutiones Peckham, p. 54). 

At the dawn of the sixteenth century, though there was not absolutely uniform practice in 

the Western church, a common baptismal order looked like this: 

Sarum Rite of Baptism (1543) 

20

The following rite of baptism can be found in the Sarum Manual printed in Rouen in 1543, 

the final edition of its kind for use in England before the break with Rome and the issuance of 

the Book of <strong>Common</strong> Prayer in 1549. As such, the Sarum rite given here represents the shape 

of the baptismal rite before a universal rite for baptism would be imposed by Rome following 

the Council of Trent. 

I Entrance Rites 

A. Interrogatories at the door of the Church 

B. Signing of the head and chest of the baptizand; giving of name by godparents 

C. Exorcism of salt 

D. Giving of salt to baptizand 

E. Prayer for assignment of guardian angel 

F. Exorcism 

G. Ephphetha ceremony 

H. Recitation of Our Father, Hail Mary and Creed by godparents 

851 

852 

853 

854 

855 

856 

857 

II Rites at the Baptismal Font 

A. Recitation of Our Father, Hail Mary and Creed by godparents 

B. Litany of the Saints 

C. Blessing of water in the font 

D. Mixing of oil and chrism with baptismal water 

E. Renunciation of Satan by godparents 

F. Anointing with oil of catechumens 

G. Baptismal promises taken by godparents 

H. Baptism 

I. Anointing with chrism 

J. Clothing with white garment 

K. Presentation of lighted candle 

L. Confirmation, if a bishop is present 

M. Giving of holy communion, if baptizand is at least seven years of age 

N. Reading of the Gospel of Mark 9.17-29; reading of prologue of the Gospel of John 

1.1-14. 

Source: A.J. Collins, Manuale ad usum percelebris ecclesiae Sarisburiensis (Henry Bradshaw 

Society, XCIX). 1960 

4. b. Historical Developments: The Reformation 

In the 16 th century, Protestant reformers sought to reform the church according to scripture 

and with respectful attention to the early church sources they had available at the time. In light 

of these sources, they retained the central practice of baptism with water in the triune name of 

God, but amended the medieval baptismal rites in the following major ways: 

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They emphasized that the Word of God engrafts believers into the body of 

Christ. Thus baptism was understood as a visible form of that Word, conveying 

and communicating the grace of God only as it is administered in conjunction 

with the proclamation of the Word. ii There could be no baptism unless there 

was also proclamation of the Word. Also, because of their emphasis on the 

power of the Word of God, reformers emphasized the need to administer the 

sacrament of baptism, as all of the rites of the church, in the vernacular. That 

which was not understood could not be properly received and thus could not be 

efficacious. 

They focused attention on the water as the primary and only essential symbolic 

element. Thus they eliminated elements of the rite that were deemed nonessential 

and non-scriptural: elements such as oil, salt, spittle, and candles. 

Related to this was their concern to clarify that baptism itself is a sign and 

promise of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. iii 

They focused attention on the ecclesial dimension of the sacrament. Thus they 

emphasized the importance of baptizing in the context of the gathered 

community, and strongly resisted the practice of private baptism. iv Because 

Reformed Protestants denied that baptism was necessary for salvation, 

―emergency baptisms‖ were eliminated, and only ordained ministers were 

permitted to administer baptism, within the body of the church. 

They focused attention on the connection between baptism and nurture in 

Christian faith. As a result of this, many reformers were concerned to choose 

appropriate godparents for infants to be baptized, and charging them with 

helping to raise the baptized child in the faith, though at other times the parents 

themselves were admonished to raise the child in the faith. Some Reformed 

rites also include admonitions to the congregation to assist in Christian nurture. 

The implications of these revisions to baptismal practice were twofold: on the one hand, baptism 

was no longer understood to be necessary for salvation or engrafting into Christ, but on the other 

hand, reformers in various ways sought to highlight water baptism as a real means of grace that 

conveyed what it signified: forgiveness of sins and regeneration. These four emphases 

(centrality of the Word, focus on water, ecclesial nature of baptism, and connection of baptism 

and ongoing nurture) have continued to be central principles in Reformed baptismal practices 

until the present, though they have not always received equal attention or led to the same 

outcome. 

Though Martin Luther is not strictly speaking a part of the Reformed Protestant family, 

his reforms clearly influenced the liturgical developments in the Reformed tradition. In his 

baptismal liturgies, we can see increasing focus on the water as the central element in baptism, as 

well as emphasis on the Word in connection with the rite. His first vernacular reformed rite of 

baptism retained much of the medieval baptismal rite of Magdeburg, which was widely used in 

his time, though in his ―epilogue‖ he made it clear that elements such as ―breathing under the 

eyes, signing with the cross, placing salt in the mouth, putting spittle and clay on the ears and 

nose‖ were not central to baptism (First Taufbűchlein, 1523). In his second Taufbűchlein (1526), 

Luther trimmed many more elements of the medieval rite, focusing even more strongly on the 

water. v His interest in the central symbol of water can also be seen in his ―Flood Prayer,‖ in 

which the flood and exodus are interpreted as types of baptism. This liturgical element became 

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commonplace in many Reformed liturgies that followed. In addition to the focus on water, 

Luther regarded the Word as central to baptism, since it constituted God‘s promise to which the 

sign of water was attached. Therefore, the most important liturgical elements in his view were 

the word and the flood prayer. Though Luther retained some patristic elements (e.g., exorcism) 

that later Reformed leaders rejected, his emphasis on the Word and the symbol of water 

influenced the development of later Reformed baptismal services. 

Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich produced an order for baptism in 1525 that purported to remove 

―all the additions, which have no foundation in the word of God.‖ vi Zwingli eliminated 

cleansing, exorcism, renunciation, and even profession of faith, all of which had been present in 

Luther‘s second baptismal rite. Here too we can see the focus on water as the central symbol of 

baptism, as well as the Word as both divine promise and norm for liturgical reform. His was a 

very simple service that clarifies the centrality of faith to the understanding of baptism and offers 

a clear scriptural warrant for infant baptism, born out of Zwingli‘s own struggle with the 

Anabaptists. In the same year in Strassburg, Martin Bucer published his revised baptismal rite, 

which likewise focuses the prayer on the gift of faith and new life in Christ. vii In Bucer‘s rite we 

also see a feature that became important in many later Reformed baptismal services: the 

admonition or charge to families and/or godparents to raise the child in the faith. Both of these 

features point to the common Reformed concern to link baptism with ongoing nurture in 

Christian faith. 

During his years in Strassburg (1538-1541), John Calvin surely learned from Bucer‘s 

practice of baptism. When Calvin himself produced an order of baptism for the church in 

Geneva in 1542, however, his order bore little resemblance to Bucer‘s. Calvin specified that 

children were to be brought to the church either on Sunday afternoon at the time for catechism, 

or on a weekday after the morning preaching. These instructions suggest the importance of 

connecting baptism with preaching or teaching, and they also reveal a lingering concern to 

baptize the child as soon as possible after birth, an ironic impulse given his denial that baptism 

was necessary for salvation. viii By Calvin‘s time, the baptismal exhortation had become a central 

feature of Reformed baptismal rites, presenting careful teaching on the nature, use, and 

significance of baptism, including why it was appropriate to baptize infants (against the 

Anabaptists). 

John Knox patterned his baptismal service after Calvin‘s, including the opening address 

and the charge to godparents. In 1556 he produced the ―Forme of Prayers‖ for his Scottish 

congregation in Geneva. ix The language of the post-baptismal prayer, original with Knox, was 

echoed in the 1645 Westminster Directory and in later generations of Reformed baptismal 

services in this stream of the Reformed tradition. 

In 1566, the Reformed Church in Holland adopted a baptismal liturgy based on the 

baptismal rite used in Heidelberg in the early 1560s. x Like the other Reformed 16 th century 

liturgies, it included a strong emphasis on teaching, together with parental promises to nurture 

the child in the faith, followed by baptism and prayer of thanksgiving. This liturgy was later 

included in the Liturgy adopted at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619). Versions of this baptismal 

service were used by both streams of the Dutch-American Reformed church (both RCA and 

CRC) until the early 20 th century, and continues to be used in some Christian Reformed 

Churches in English translation. 

Though these 16 th century Reformed orders of baptism show variation in their language 

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and ordering of elements, they share the common concerns stated earlier: attention to the Word 

(particularly clear in explicit scriptural warrant for liturgical practice); emphasis on the water as 

central symbol and sign of God‘s grace; concern to locate baptism in the church in connection 

with public worship; and emphasis on the connection of baptism and ongoing nurture of the faith 

(as illustrated by admonitions to parents and/or godparents). We also see through the 16 th 

century a growth in exhortation/instruction as a part of the baptismal service in Reformed 

congregations. Though baptismal instruction may well have been intended by Zwingli and 

Bucer, this element is firmly ensconced as a part of the baptismal service by the time we reach 

Calvin, Knox, and the Heidelberg-Dutch traditions. These four themes that shaped reform of 

rites in the 16 th century continue to exercise major influence in Reformed rites up to the present. 

4. c. Historical developments: Roman Catholic 

The Council of Trent (1545-1563) left the actual revision of the rites of the sacraments to 

the judgment of the Pope and his curia as the agents of reform (see Annibale Bugnini, The 

Reform of the Liturgy [Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1990] 5). It would take the major effort 

of Pius V (1504-1572) and Paul V (1552-1621) to help realize the required changes. Session 7 

of that council addressed fourteen principal concerns about baptism which were intended to 

answer the claims of some reformers who had posed new understandings about long-held 

baptismal belief. These same concerns would influence the shape of baptismal rites only 

gradually, if at all, during the fifty year period following the Council. 

Among the concerns which touched on the rite of baptism itself was the necessity for the 

use of water in baptism, rather than the acceptance of a kind of ―baptism of the spirit‖ in its place 

(Sess.7:c.2). In addition, the Council re-affirmed that baptism may be validly administered by 

anyone, including heretics, as long as they held ―the intention of doing what the church does‖ 

(cum intentione faciendi, quod facit ecclesia) in baptism (Sess.7:c.4). The Council denied that 

the only appropriate age for baptism is adulthood (Sess.7:cc.12; cf. cc.13 and 14). Lastly, Trent 

clearly taught that children who are baptized need not be re-baptized when they reach the ability 

to profess their own faith, since the Church professed faith on their behalf at their baptisms 

(Sess.7:c.13). 

Implicit in several of the canons from the Council of Trent (Sess. 7:cc. 12, 13, 14, 14) is 

an argument about whether baptism is efficacious for those not able to freely profess their own 

faith, but instead have it professed by others on their behalf. This practice had been rejected 

vigorously by the Anabaptists, but defended as authentically Christian by John Calvin in 1536 

(Institutes 4.16); in Martin Luther‘s Sermon on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany of 1525 and 

in Martin Bucer‘s Grund und Ursach of 1521. It is to be noted, however, that the Reformed 

understanding of paedo-baptism and its place within the believing community did not correspond 

with that of Roman teaching, despite the appearance of common ritual elements used by both 

churches. 

Differences on paedo-baptism between the Roman Catholic and Reformed churches of 

the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries appear to lie more centrally in the question of the rite as a 

sign and seal of God‘s promise of grace. In the Reformed tradition, infant baptism is not essential 

to salvation, since it can not bring about the assent of the individual to the action of God, i.e., it 

can not produce an act of faith. What is more, within Reformed theology, grace is presumed to 

be available to every child of a believing Christian, by virtue of being born into the covenant. 

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Roman Catholic belief, in contrast, saw paedo-baptism as the only path for the salvation for a 

child, who by definition is completely dependent upon the Church (as represented through 

parents and god-parents) but which professes faith on the infant‘s behalf. In Catholic teaching, 

the rite of baptism accomplishes ex opere operato what it signifies, because of the intention to do 

what the churches does in obedience to Christ. 

It is noteworthy that while the Council of Trent addressed issues of grace and its effects 

on a personal profession of faith (Session 6, Decree on Justification, chapter 5; canon 3; Session 

6, chapter 16), none of the canons relative to the shape of baptism proper reflect this discussion. 

In effect, it appears that the reform of the rites of baptism as directed by the Council and 

implemented by successive popes proceeded without reference to this issue in its unresolved 

state with the Reformed churches. Instead, the entire controversy, with its immense 

implications, is left outside of the Roman Catholic sacramental reform. 

The result was predictable: a slow but steady articulation of baptism in the Reformed 

churches generated a change of shape in their baptismal rites, while little perceptible change 

occurred in the Roman Rite, which maintained its distance from the Reformed churches‘ 

questions. Even when the Reformation as a whole gained momentum throughout Europe, the 

Catholic Reform appeared to insulate its sacramental reforms from the influence of the debates 

on covenant theology, free will and prevenient grace, so crucial to subsequent liturgical 

development in the Reformed Churches. 

As the accompanying ―Comparative Chart on the Shape of Roman Catholic Baptismal 

Rites Between 1543 and 1614‖ demonstrates, local baptismal rites such as found in England 

(Sarum Rite) in 1543, changed only slightly between the time of the Reformation and the 

implementation of the sacramental reforms introduced by the Council of Trent. The effort of 

both of the reforming popes who followed Trent – Pius V, pope from 1566 to 1572, and Paul V, 

pope from 1605 to 1621 -- was to strengthen Catholic rites against doctrinal error and to bring 

them gradually into greater uniformity with Roman practice. As a result, the overall effect of the 

Council‘s changes on the Sarum rite was minimal. Ironically, the Reformation of the Church of 

England would use this same Sarum Rite as the basis of many of its own liturgies, as found, for 

example, in the baptismal ceremony included in the first edition of the Book of <strong>Common</strong> Prayer 

(1549). 

4. d. Comparative Chart on the Shape of 

Roman Catholic Baptismal Rites 

Between 1543 and 1614 

Sarum Rite of Baptism on the eve of the 

Reformation in England (1543) 

Roman Rite of Baptism revised by Paul V 

following the Council of Trent (1614) 

25

The following rite of baptism can be 

found in the Sarum Manual printed in 

Rouen in 1543, the final edition of its kind 

for use in England before the break with 

Rome and the issuance of the Book of 

<strong>Common</strong> Prayer in 1549. As such, the 

Sarum rite given here represents the shape 

of the baptismal rite before a universal rite 

for baptism would be imposed by Rome 

following the Council of Trent. 


A. Interrogatories at the door of the 

Church 

B. Signing of the head and chest of the 

baptizand; giving of name by godparents 

C. Exorcism of salt 

D. Giving of salt to baptizand 

E. Prayer for assignment of guardian 

angel 

F. Exorcism 

G. Ephphetha ceremony 

H. Recitation of Our Father, Hail 

Mary and Creed by godparents 

II Rites at the Baptismal Font 

O. Recitation of Our Father, Hail 

Mary and Creed by godparents 

P. Litany of the Saints 

Q. Blessing of water in the font 

R. Mixing of oil and chrism with 

baptismal water 

S. Renunciation of Satan by 

godparents 

T. Anointing with oil of catechumens 

U. Baptismal promises taken by 

godparents 

V. Baptism 

W. Anointing with chrism 

X. Clothing with white garment 

Y. Presentation of lighted candle 

The following rite of baptism was 

placed in the ritual of Pope Paul V (1614) 

and formed by taking the adult rite of 

baptism and abbreviating it for use with an 

infant. This rite became the most widely 

used one for infant baptism between 1614 

and the reforms introduced by Pope Paul 

VI in 1969. Adult baptism was not 

reconsidered within the Roman Rite until 

the promulgation of the Rite of Christian 

Initiation of Adults (1972). 



Church 

B. Minor exorcism 

C. Exsufflation and the signing of 

the baptizand‘s forehead 

D. The imposition of hands 

E. Blessing of baptizand with salt 

on the tongue 

F. Exorcism 

II Rites at Entrance to Baptistry 

A. Recitation of the creed by 

parents and godparents 

B. Exorcism 

C. Ephphetha ceremony 

D. Renunciation of Satan answered 

by godparents 

E. Anointing with oil of 

catechumens 

III Rites at the Font 

A. Baptismal promises taken on 

behalf of the baptizand 

B. Baptism 

C. Anointing with chrism 

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Z. Confirmation, if a bishop is 

present 

AA. Giving of holy communion, 

if baptizand is at least seven years 

of age 

BB. Reading of the Gospel of 

Mark 9.17-29; reading of prologue 

of the Gospel of John 1.1-14. 

Source: A.J. Collins, Manuale ad usum 

percelebris ecclesiae Sarisburiensis (Henry 

Bradshaw Society, XCIX). 1960 

4. e. Development of baptismal rites after the Reformation: 

i. Reformed 

D. Clothing with white garment 

E. Lighting of baptismal candle 

Source: Paulus V, Rituale Romanum 

(1614) 

Narrating the development of baptismal rites in the Reformed tradition from the sixteenth 

century to the present presents a particular challenge. First, the Reformed tradition is not a single 

church with a single rite, but a family of churches with common theological convictions that 

developed different practices in various parts of Europe and North America (for purposes of this 

document, we will not recount the history of Reformed churches in other parts of the world). 

Second, baptismal rites have held different authority in different Reformed churches; e.g. the 

Dutch Reformed churches have tended to adopt official liturgies which are required for use, 

while churches stemming from the Westminster Directory tradition have tended to adopt official 

guidelines for liturgical practice that permit significant flexibility in the details. For these 

reasons, what follows is not intended to be comprehensive, but suggestive of the general 

trajectories of development in baptismal practice in Reformed churches during this period. 

As noted earlier, baptismal practice in the Dutch Reformed churches remained relatively 

stable from 1566 until the liturgical revisions of the 20 th century. For the Reformed churches in 

North America that trace their roots to Great Britain, the most significant liturgical development 

in the 17 th century was in England with the introduction of the Westminster Directory for 

Worship. 

The Westminster Directory for Worship (1645) begins its section on baptism with a 

statement that it is not to be unnecessarily delayed nor administered in private, but only by a 

―Minister of Christ‖ and ―in the place of Publique Worship, and in the face of the congregation, 

where the people may most conveniently see and heare.‖ xi The pattern is similar to the order of 

baptism in Genevan liturgy, with lengthy instruction, exhortation of parents, scriptural warrant, 

and prayer preceding water baptism. New in this rite is the explicit admonition of the 

congregation ―to improve and make the right use of their baptisme,‖ a theme that was at best 

only implicit in 16 th century rites. According to Stan Hall, ―two features of this Directory rite, 

parental promise and use of scriptural warrant, set the precedent for virtually all of the later 

Presbyterian baptismal rites.‖ xii Another feature of this rite that lingered until the mid-20 th 

century is the insistence that the minister was to baptize without any additional ceremony (e.g., 

no consignation 12 ). This Westminster form, revised slightly, prevailed in Presbyterian churches 

in the U.S. until the early 20 th century. 

12 Consignation means: 

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The scriptural warrant, already present in the 16 th century rites, exemplifies the Reformed 

concern for the centrality of the Word in connection with the sacrament. The stipulation that 

baptism is to be done ―without additional ceremony‖ echoes the focus on water as the primary 

symbolic element, signifying both God‘s grace of forgiveness and the giving of the Holy Spirit. 

The admonition of the congregation signals the ecclesial setting so important to Reformed 

baptismal understanding, and the exhortation to parents embodies the link between baptism and 

ongoing nurture in the faith. Thus all of the major themes that drove the 16 th century reform 

continued to shape baptismal practice in the Westminster Directory, even though there was a 

move away from authorized liturgies and toward increased local freedom in liturgical practice. 

In 1788, the newly formed Presbyterian Church in the United States adopted a revised 

version of the Westminster Directory for Worship. xiii This version introduced two changes to the 

1645 text. First, the American Directory added a chapter on integrating baptized children and 

previously unbaptized persons into the communion of the church. This shows new attention to 

the connection between baptism, catechesis, and the Lord‘s Supper, as well as growing 

awareness of the possibility of adults presenting themselves for baptism. Previously unbaptized 

persons were to be accepted following baptism and public profession of faith. Second, the 

American version removed the detailed descriptions of prayers which had been in 1645 version, 

so the description of the rite (though not necessarily the rite itself) was briefer than in the 

original. 

On the American frontier, baptism came to be associated with evangelical conversion, 

especially during the second Great Awakening. American Reformed churches reacted to this 

movement in various ways. Some (like New England Congregationalist Horace Bushnell in his 

treatise Christian Nurture) strengthened their defense of infant baptism, arguing that faith is best 

nurtured in the context of families rather than expecting sudden conversion. Bushnell and others 

emphasized the connection between baptism and ongoing nurture, a theme that had been 

prominent in Reformed baptismal practice since the 16 th century. However, with more adults 

coming for baptism who had not been baptized as infants, Reformed churches were also 

compelled to address the practice of adult baptism. This growing interest can be seen in several 

19 th century Reformed liturgical publications (including Charles Shields‘ 1864 republication of 

the 1661 Savoy Liturgy ―in agreement with the Directory for Public Worship,‖ xiv the 1868 

Directory of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, xv and the 1894 PCUS Directory 

for Worship xvi ). 

In addition, the 19 th century saw increased interest in set forms for worship, perhaps in 

response to freedom of the revival tradition and the minimalism of the 1788 Presbyterian 

Directory. This movement is evident in the introduction of set baptismal forms in various 

revisions of the Directory for Worship (the 1894 PCUS Directory xvii and the PCUSA 

Directory xviii ), and also in the Mercersburg movement in the German Reformed church, a 

predecessor tradition of the United Church of Christ. This movement, centered in the Reformed 

seminary at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, was led particularly by theologian John Williamson 

Nevin. Though it did not have a broad effect on German Reformed church practice at the time, 

Mercersburg represented a desire to claim a sacramental theology and practice more deeply 

informed by both early and Reformation church sources. Furthermore, in the last half of the 20 th 

century, the Mercersburg movement re-emerged as a significant influence on many Reformed 

churches in this dialogue seeking to recover a deeper appreciation of liturgical forms and of the 

centrality of the sacraments. xix 

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Another concern that continued in some Reformed churches was the connection of prayer 

with the water of baptism. While the 1645 Westminster Directory had said that prayer ―was to be 

joined with the word of institution, for sanctifying the water to this spiritual use,‖ no mention of 

water appeared in Presbyterian Directories until the mid-20 th century, out of concern for too high 

a regard for the efficacy of the sign itself. xx 

Reformed baptismal practices in the 19 th century thus showed general continuity with 

practices of prior centuries, with emerging attention to adult baptism, increased usage of set 

liturgical forms in a tradition that did not require them, and some renewed attention to the water 

itself in the prayer at baptism. 

In the early twentieth century, both major streams of the Dutch-American Reformed 

tradition revised their baptismal rites, but these did not significantly change the existing practices 

of baptism. The Reformed Church in America (RCA) approved a new abridged form for 

baptism in 1906, though the older unabridged form also continued to be printed. xxi This follows 

closely the 1566 order, though the prayer in this revised version now precedes the instruction. In 

1912, the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) translated the 1566 baptismal order into English, 

but continued to use that same liturgy until the 1960s. 

4. e. Development of baptismal rites after the Reformation: 


As the centuries following Trent drew the Catholic Church into the modern period, her 

baptismal liturgy remained fixed in form through the final revisions made by Paul V in the 

Rituale Romanum of 1614. Even as the Second Vatican Council approached its opening days in 

1962, there was little public discussion of the need for the reform of baptism in particular, though 

other sacraments such as Eucharist had been widely considered from this point of view (see 

Annibale Bugnini, The Reform of the Liturgy [Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1990] 5-13). 

This, despite work done locally in the church in France, highlighting the need to revive a more 

meaningful catechumenate drawn from the example of adult believership in the early church (see 

e.g., Alois Stenzel, Die Taufe: eine genetische Erklarung der Taufliturgie [Verlag Felizian 

Rauch, Innsbruck, 1958] or Burhard Neunheuser, Baptism and Confirmation, trans. J.J. Hughes 

[Herder and Herder, New York 1964]). 

Meanwhile in the Reformed Churches, a highly influential discussion on baptism, its 

form and theology had emerged between theologians such as Karl Barth (The Teaching of the 

Church Regarding Baptism, trans. Ernst A. Payne [London, SCM Press, 1948]) and Oscar 

Cullmann (Baptism in the New Testament, trans. J.K.S. Reid [London: SCM Press, 1950]). The 

influence of this discussion can be seen especially on baptismal documents in Presbyterian 

churches in the 1970s. However, the work of these two giants would not influence the 

Concilium reformers, first assembled in 1965, who were yet several years away from issuing a 

revised order of infant baptism in 1969. Instead, Roman Catholic reform concentrated on the 

pastoral need for an adult catechumenate based on a new reading of relevant biblical and patristic 

sources, while the Reformed Church explored further the larger question of baptism‘s meaning in 

connection with the act of adult faith. 

On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, then, both communities were ready to 

inaugurate a process of recovering meaning from ancient sources, hoping thereby to recover a 

more authentic practice and understanding of baptism. Both communities focused their attention 

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on biblical and patristic texts and rites as a point of departure for ritual reforms. As it turned out, 

however, both Churches were poised to look at the same sources but in answer to different 

questions, with different points of departure, theological hermeneutics and methods. As a result, 

the emergence of baptismal rites which share many common features in both communities, 

nonetheless appear to reflect differing theological understandings, thus raising the question of the 

extent to which theological divergences need further exploration. 

4 f. 20 th century convergence in scholarship and ritual structures: 

i. Reformed 

In 1957, two streams of the Reformed church family, the Congregational Christian 

Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church, came together to form the United Church 

of Christ (UCC). This new church, bringing together both New England Congregationalism with 

its Puritan heritage and German Reformed Protestantism with its Pietist heritage, has been 

ecumenically oriented from the beginning. Though congregations are free to shape liturgical 

forms at the local level, the UCC as a denomination has attended closely to the ecumenical 

biblical and historical scholarship that led to the liturgical renewal movement of the 1960s and 

1970s. This ecumenical commitment significantly shaped the order of baptism found in the 1986 

Book of Worship. In fact, the Order of Baptism ―rests significantly on an ecumenical liturgical 

consensus found in the 1982 Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry (BEM) document more than on 

any one former tradition.‖ xxii Though not required for use, this 1986 liturgical resource reflects 

Reformed baptismal themes that have been central since the 16 th century: connection of baptism 

with proclamation of the Word; focus on water as the central symbol of baptism xxiii ; ecclesial 

setting of baptism; and connection of baptism with ongoing nurture, signified by congregational 

promises and the option of including baptismal sponsors in the service. 

In the 1960s, both the CRCNA and the RCA moved to revise their rites more 

substantially than they had done ever before. The RCA in 1968 adopted revised rites after 

several years of drafting and evaluation of provisional orders. xxiv The CRC, a few years later in 

1976, adopted a similar revised order. xxv Both revised orders reflect similar concerns: to state 

more clearly the biblical institution for baptism, to present more clearly the covenantal basis for 

baptism, and to make more explicit the congregation‘s responsibility to nurture baptized 

children. xxvi 

Though the RCA published another alternate order for baptism in Worship the Lord in 

1987, the next major revision of the baptismal forms came in 1994, for both the RCA and the 

CRC. It is significant that in both cases, there is a single form or outline provided, which can be 

used for either infant or adult baptism. There are no longer two separate rites. xxvii This is 

particularly striking, since the Roman Catholic revisions of this era went in the opposite 

direction, clarifying two different orders for infant and adult baptism. The CRC form is 

explicitly intended to be more flexible, permitting local adaptation. Both of these recent 

baptismal orders reflect awareness of the ecumenical liturgical movement, with greater attention 

to the symbolic value of water and inclusion of ancient elements such as renunciations, 

affirmations, and a prayer of thanksgiving over the water. At the same time, these new rites 

show continuing Reformed sensibilities in their opening words of institution, their emphasis on 

covenant, and the inclusion of promises by both parents/baptizands and congregation to nurture 

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the baptized in the faith. This theme of baptismal nurture has been present in Reformed 

baptismal rites since the 16 th century, and has only gotten stronger in recent years. 

In the Presbyterian stream of North American Reformed churches, there have been two 

interwoven liturgical developments in the 20 th century: revisions to the Directory for Worship, 

the constitutional document governing worship in Presbyterian churches, and revisions to the 

Book of <strong>Common</strong> Worship, a liturgical resource recommended but not required for use in 

Presbyterian churches. These two documents have not always developed in tandem, but by the 

end of the 20 th century, they came to express common understanding of the theology and the 

practice of baptism. 

In the early part of the 20 th century, the official Directory for Worship in the major 

Presbyterian denominations described a baptismal theology and practice nearly identical to the 

Westminster Directory of 1645, as abbreviated in America in 1788. Even as this Directory 

pattern remained in place, liturgical resources approved by the church began to appear for the 

first time in the Book of <strong>Common</strong> Worship (hereafter BCW) of 1906, with revisions in 1932 and 

1946. Over the first half of the 20 th century, baptismal rites in the BCW showed increased 

involvement of the congregation, increased attention to congregational nurture of the baptized, 

increased attention to the Christological basis of baptism, and a decrease in instruction and 

exhortation, with corresponding expansion of the prayer before baptism. These shifts in 

baptismal patterns in the BCW were eventually reflected in the Directory for Worship as well. 

During the 1960s and 1970s, revisions to both Directory and worship resources continued 

to show the effects of ecumenical liturgical scholarship, particularly the movement toward a 

single baptismal service suitable, with modification, for both adults and infants, and the move (in 

1971) to link baptism more closely to admission to the table. In 1970, the Worshipbook provided 

a single baptismal service that required modification to adapt it for infants. In 1971, a revision of 

the UPCUSA Directory introduced a major change, affirming that baptism alone admits one to 

the Lord‘s Supper (no longer requiring public profession of faith at ―confirmation‖). Both of 

these moves reflect ecumenical liturgical scholarship of the time, the first being an effort to make 

baptism more clearly a single rite, whether for adults or infants, and the second an effort to 

reflect the early church connection of baptism with celebration of the Lord‘s Supper. 

A substantial 1973 revision to the UPCUSA Directory claimed that ―baptism marks a 

new beginning of participation in Christ‘s ministry for all people.‖ The theological foundation 

for baptism was now Jesus‘ own baptism (rather than the covenant of God or 

forgiveness/cleansing). This shift of emphasis has continued into current Directory statements 

on baptism. The doctrinal portion of the chapter on baptism, however, introduced a more 

dramatic and controversial change. It suggested ―two equally appropriate occasions for 

baptism—either at infancy, or in later years at the emergence of personal faith.‖ This reflects the 

influence of Barth‘s theology in The Teaching of the Church Regarding Baptism (1965), in 

which he argued that baptism of mature Christians reflects more clearly the meaning of baptism 

than does baptism of infants. Here for the first time in U.S. Reformed churches, ―believer 

baptism‖ was recognized as a possibility for persons raised within the church. This language 

remained for only a few years in the Directory, but reveals much ferment in baptismal reflection 

and practice among Presbyterian churches at that time. 

In 1983, reunion of the two former denominations to form the present PC(USA) 

prompted the need for a new Directory for Worship. That Directory, adopted in 1989, is the 

current constitutional document guiding worship life in the PC(USA). The outline of the 

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baptismal rite in this Directory is identical to the pattern in BCW 1993 xxviii . The other significant 

change in the 1989 Directory is the inclusion of blessing and optional anointing. Though the 

1989 Directory includes a caution that nothing should overshadow the central act of baptizing 

with water, other actions ―deeply rooted in the history of baptism‖ are permitted. xxix The 1946 

BCW had introduced a Trinitarian blessing following water baptism, but this 1989 development 

elaborates on that practice, a clear attempt to move toward a shared ecumenical pattern informed 

by early church baptismal practice. The service of baptism in the 1993 BCW, which is provided 

in the appendix and discussed in more detail below, parallels the 1989 Directory, though the 

terminology is slightly different. 

Method in reform of Reformed baptismal rites 

The revisions of Reformed baptismal rites in the 20 th century have proceeded differently 

for the bodies represented in this dialogue. However, they have shared concerns to promote 1) 

fuller participation of the people, 2) greater attention to the symbolic use of water, and 3) greater 

appreciation for baptism as central to Christian identity, a mark that both distinguishes the 

church from the world and calls the church into mission in and for the world. 

While the Roman Catholic church has placed a central focus on the restoration of the 

ancient catechumenate in its baptismal reforms since Vatican II, Reformed churches have 

focused on revisions of the central baptismal rites and services of reaffirmation or renewal of 

baptism. In addition, some Reformed churches have begun exploring the possibilities of the 

catechumenate model as a process of forming new Christians and reiterating baptism as a central 

symbol of Christian identity. For many Reformed Christians, the catechumenate holds promise 

for the following reasons: 

It focuses on baptism, which has been a central Reformation ―mark of the 

church‖. 

It brings people by stages into the church, providing liturgical boundary markers 

to celebrate the gradual inclusion of the new Christian into the body of Christ. 

It provides a clear structure for accompanying people along the life of faith, 

through sponsors, catechists, and the whole congregation praying for the 

catechumens. 

It is ritually full, something that many seekers and church members are hungering 

for. The process of leading someone to baptism—and leading a congregation to 

repeated reaffirmations of that baptism—involves the whole person, body, 

mind, and soul. 

As Reformed Christians continue the work of adapting the catechumenate model to a Reformed 

context, several issues are emerging as central to our reflection: 

God’s grace and human response. The chief issue in Reformed baptismal 

discussion generally continues to be how to maintain our historic emphasis on 

baptism as God‘s gracious action while also attending to the human dimension 

of the sacrament. Faithful Reformed people disagree on how to manage this 

balance. This basic issue underlies many of the particular questions that arise in 

baptismal debates: for instance, when is it permissible to refuse to baptize 

someone? Is any such refusal a denial of the generosity of God‘s grace? With 

regard to the catechumenate, how much should we require of those preparing 

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for baptism? Should catechesis precede or follow the act of baptism? Baptism 

is God‘s act of cleansing, redeeming, and renewing, and it is also the welcoming 

of a new Christian into community. Reformed theology always encourages 

attention first to God‘s action, but there is increased concern about how persons 

receive God‘s action -- how God works not only in the act of baptism narrowly 

construed, but also through the life of the community of faith to form new 

Christians in lives of gratitude. Some Reformed object to the language of 

―Christian initiation,‖ claiming that such a term focuses too much on the human 

community into which one is initiated at baptism. This discomfort points to the 

debate in the Reformed tradition over how to maintain a focus on the radical 

priority of God‘s action while also attending to the shape of human living in 

response to that grace. 

A related question is the relationship between baptism and faithful living. How is 

baptism related to sanctification, the ongoing life of faith? The promises of 

nurture made by the congregation at an infant‘s baptism are necessary, but not 

sufficient to answer this question. Some Reformed Christians are seeking to 

recover Calvin‘s emphasis on the link between baptism and ―discipline,‖ the 

structure of the faithful life. This moves the discussion from the question of 

what constitutes valid baptism (which allows for minimalist celebration) to how 

baptism shapes a life of faithfulness (which focuses on a more expansive 

process of preparation for and celebration of baptism). The Reformed 

understanding of discipline may provide a way to talk about catechumenate in a 

Reformed context, and it may also constitute a fruitful contribution to the 

ecumenical conversation about Christian initiation. 

Conclusions regarding Reformed practices of baptism 

Though Reformed churches over the course of 500 years have exhibited diversity of 

baptismal practice and theology, an examination of baptismal liturgies suggests continuing 

consensus on the four themes that shaped Reformed baptismal concerns in the 16 th century: 

Focus on the Word of God as that which joins us to the body of Christ. The 

intimate connection of baptism with the proclamation of the Word has been 

maintained steadily for five centuries, as has the commitment to communicate 

the significance of baptism in the language of the people. 

Centrality of water. If anything, this emphasis has grown more clear in recent 

years, with increased attention to the symbolic value of water and a shared 

appreciation for the connection of baptismal water with biblical narratives of 

creation, flood, and exodus, as well as Jesus‘ own baptism. Though some 

Reformed churches now permit and even embrace additional symbols such as 

post-baptismal anointing (a change from 16 th century practice), these additional 

acts are always connected to the central symbol of water. 

Ecclesial dimension of baptism: Since the 16 th century there has been gradual 

movement toward greater congregational involvement, as embodied in the 

congregational promises included in all the current Reformed rites. This is in 

keeping with the impulse to understand baptism as an ecclesial act. 

Connection of baptism and nurture: in the 16 th and 17 th centuries this was often 

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embodied in extended exhortations to the parents (and godparents/sponsors) to 

raise their baptized children in the faith. Contemporary baptismal rites have 

moved away from such exhortation, but continue to emphasize the importance 

of ongoing nurture of the baptized through promises made by congregations, 

parents, and baptismal sponsors, as well as post-baptismal prayers for continued 

growth in faith. 

At the same time, the 20 th century has brought some significant shifts in Reformed 

baptismal practice, particularly the move from ordinance to symbol as the primary lens for 

understanding sacramental practice in general, and baptism in particular. One result of this shift 

is the diminished length of time devoted to instruction on the nature of baptism in the context of 

the liturgy, and (most recently) the increased focus on prayers over the water, shifting the tone of 

the event from teaching to proclamation and prayer. 

4. f. 20 th century convergence in scholarship and ritual structures: 


Overview of the reform of Roman Catholic baptismal rites following the Second Vatican 

Council (1962-1965) 

The reform of the Roman Rite that began in 1963 with the promulgation of Sacrosanctum 

Concilium (SC) at the Second Vatican Council was unique in Catholic liturgical history. Its 

starting point was a generalized desire to see the participation of the faithful as its goal. In most 

previous reforms, the liturgy was changed to accommodate a development in the articulation of 

dogma, such as with the addition of language to the Nicene Creed to clearly state belief in the 

dual natures of Christ as God and man. However, in her most recent renewal of liturgical life, 

the Roman Catholic Church sought to examine liturgical celebrations in answer to the question, 

How can these rites be made more accessible to the participation of the lay faithful ? 

This intention was made clear in the language of Sacrosanctum Concilim, 14 which set 

―full, conscious and active participation‖ of the faithful as the end and goal of the process of 

revision which would follow. This reform, then, was undertaken essentially for pastoral reasons, 

emphasizing, in turn, that all liturgical renewal was ordered to bring about a deepening of the 

life of the Church itself (SC, 14). 

The reform of the Roman Rite on this occasion was guided by nine important principles, 

each found within the Council documents: 

(1) that liturgy sanctifies every event in the life of the faithful ―with the divine grace 

which flows from the paschal mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ‖ (SC no. 

61; see also no. 5). 

(2) that liturgy must be understood as the ―source and summit‖ of the life of the Church 

(SC no. 10, Lumen Gentium, 11), rather than as a mere external act unessential to her life and 

mission in the world; 

(3) that every rite should enhance the full, conscious, and active participation of minister 

and faithful alike (SC 14, 21, 30) and to promote this participation by the faithful, liturgical 

education is to be assiduously pursued (see SC nos. 14-20); 

(4) that all liturgical acts are communal and ecclesial by nature and should be celebrated 

accordingly (SC, 26); 

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(5) that liturgical celebrations should aim for unity but not uniformity from one local 

church to another (SC, 23, 37-38); 

(6) that whatever changes were effected, they should in some way be an ―organic 

growth‖ (SC, 23) in harmony with the history and theology of the liturgy in the Latin West; 

(7) that each reformed rite should recover the primary role of the celebration of the Word 

of God as its foundation (SC, 7, 24, 35, 51, 56); 

(8) that rites should be appropriately simplified, reducing, for example, wherever 

necessary, redundancies and superfluities which could distract from the essential meaning of the 

liturgy (SC, 34, 50) and 

(9) that the entire reform should be guided by the tradition of Christian life and worship 

as found in biblical and patristic sources (SC, 50). 

Specific Issues in the Reform of the Baptismal Rites following Vatican II 

Several issues governed the reform of Roman Catholic baptismal rites following the Second 

Vatican Council. Each of these would help to answer a variety of pastoral and historical 

questions about the shape and use of the rites for the Church in the modern world. Principal 

among these was the restoration of an adult catechumenate and baptism through the 

implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). At the same time, infant 

baptism was reformed to distinguish it more clearly from the adult rite. Hence, the re-orientation 

of both rites relative to each other became a major feature of the reform of baptism since the 

Second Vatican Council. 

The RCIA retrieved much of the understanding of gradual conversion found in the rites of 

the catechumenate in the early church. The reformed rites of 1972 restore this same emphasis on 

conversion and initiation into Christian life as a ―process‖ rather a single, discrete act. 

Accordingly, the reformers of the initiation rites sought to re-establish baptism as the gateway 

sacrament to the other rites of the Church. 

The RCIA now includes four continuous periods in the life of the candidate: (1) period of 

evangelization and pre-catechumenate, in which the candidate explores the message of the 

Gospel and its values under the direction of a deacon, priest or catechist, who invites the 

interested party to join in prayer and the reading of the Scriptures on a regular basis; (2) the 

catechumenate, in which candidates express a clear intention to seek baptism, as the Church 

responds by accepting them into a structured process of conversion which assists them towards 

this goal; (3) period of purification and enlightenment, usually during Lent, in which the elect 

more immediately and intensely prepare for initiation; and (4) the celebration of the sacraments 

of initiation (namely, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist), which is followed by mystagogia or 

a final period of post-baptismal catechesis on the rites and growth in the faith. In the 

catechumenate proper, frequent celebrations of the word of God, of prayers of exorcism and 

blessing, and then of the more formal steps of the rite of enrollment and election are mandated. 

Immediately before baptism is celebrated – usually during the period of Lent which precedes 

Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil – the candidates enter their final stage of preparation known 

as ―scrutinies‖. This last step is built around intense prayer, strengthened by exorcism, to assist 

the candidates to put aside all sinful ways and to grow in their desire for life in Christ. During the 

scrutinies, customarily celebrated during the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, the Creed 

and the Lord‘s Prayer are presented to the candidates for their close study and memorization, to 

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be publicly professed before the day of baptism. On Holy Saturday, catechumens complete a less 

formal set of rites known as ―Rites of Preparation‖ which help them to be ready for the 

sacraments they will receive that same night at the Easter Vigil. A brief outline of the reformed 

rites for adult catechumenate and baptism (RCIA) is given here: 

Chart of the RCIA Rites of 1972 

# Rites and Stages of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) 1972 

1 Pre-Catechumenate 

A. Period of evangelization and exploration of Christian life 

B. Informal welcoming into a Catholic community 

C. Instruction and prayer, together with exorcism offered on a regular basis 

D. Episcopal conferences may devise an informal way in which to recognize and 

accept the personal intention of the interested party to pursue baptism; no formal 

rites to be used at this stage 

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2 Catechumenate 

A. Rite of acceptance into the Order of Catechumens 

A. Reception of candidates at the door of the church at the start of 

Sunday Mass 

B. Greeting of candidates 

C. Opening dialogue of candidates called by name 

D. Affirmation by sponsors 

E. Signing of the foreheads of the candidates 

F. Concluding prayer 

G. Liturgy of the Word at Sunday Mass 

H. Presentation of a bible and cross to candidates with optional 

exsufflation and exorcism 

I. Prayers for new catechumens 

J. Dismissal of catechumens before Liturgy of the Eucharist 

B. Rites belonging to the period of the Catechumenate celebrated during Sunday 

Mass 

A. Celebration of the Word of God 

B. Minor exorcisms 

C. Prayer of blessings over the catechumens 

D. Anointing of catechumens 

E. Rites of Election or Enrollment of Names 

a. Liturgy of the Word at Sunday Mass 

b. Homily 

c. Presentation of the catechumens by sponsors 

d. Affirmation of the godparents 

e. Invitation and enrollment of names of catechumens 

f. Act of admission or election 

g. Intercessions for the elect 

h. Prayer over the elect 

i. Dismissal of the elect from the assembly before the 

celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist 

F. Period of Purification and Enlightenment 

a. Third Sunday of Lent: First Scrutiny 

i. Liturgy of the Word 

ii. Homily 

iii. Presentation of the Creed 

iv. Exorcism 

v. Dismissal of the elect 

b. Fourth Sunday of Lent: Second Scrutiny 

i. (as above for first scrutiny) 

c. Fifth Sunday of Lent: Third Scrutiny 

i. (as above for first and second scrutinies) 

ii. Presentation of the Lord‘s Prayer to the catechumen 

G. Preparation Rites on Holy Saturday during the day 

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a. Recitation of the Creed 

b. Reading from Scripture 

c. Homily 

d. Prayer before recitation 

e. Recitation of the Lord‘s Prayer 

f. Ephphetha rite 

g. Choosing of baptismal name by the catechumen 

h. Blessing prayer 

i. Dismissal 

3 Rites of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil 

A. Following the Liturgy of the Word proper, the rites of baptism and 

confirmation 

1. Presentation of the catechumens 

2. Invitation to prayer 

3. Litany of the saints 

4. Prayer over the water 

5. Profession of faith 

6. Renunciation of sin 

7. Baptism 

8. Anointing 

9. Clothing with a white garment 

10. Presentation of lighted candle 

11. Confirmation 

a. invitation and prayer 

b. laying on of hands 

c. anointing with chrism 

4. Period of Mystagogia or Post-baptismal Cathechesis 

A. This period is to be marked by intense prayer and the practice of Christian 

living in the lives of the catechumens 

B. No formal rites are prescribed for this period 

C. Sunday Masses in the Easter Season have been customarily devoted to 

gatherings of the newly baptized in which the entire community that has 

received them affirms and supports their new life in Christ 

D. Bishops are encouraged to meet with the baptized for anniversary 

celebrations of their baptism 

E. Godparents are reminded of their on-going duty to support the Christian life 

of their godchildren 

On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, the baptismal rites in place in 1962 had concentrated 

the attention of the faithful more on the personal rather than the communal or ecclesial nature of 

worship. Hence, both infant and adult baptisms were regularly held outside of the celebration of 

Eucharist, most often for the immediate family only. These same tendencies characterized much 

of the sacramental celebration of the Roman Rite at the time. With the advent of Sacrosanctum 

Concilium, however, the fundamentally ecclesial nature of the liturgy – and hence, the demand 

for its public and communal celebration – was recovered as a part of the liturgical reform. 

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Accordingly, in the revised rites, the celebration of baptism of infants within Sunday Mass 

(Baptism of Children, no. 9) and the celebration of adult baptisms at the Easter Vigil (RCIA no. 

17, 23) are now considered normative. 

The uniting of the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, now taken as normative, is 

among the feature of the RCIA which re-introduce profoundly traditional and pneumatological 

elements into the reformed rites. The reform thus attempts to strengthen the paschal nature of 

the sacrament of baptism (see RCIA nos. 4, 8; Baptism for Children no. 9). Finally, the new rites 

make clear that pre-baptismal and post-baptismal life in the Church differs radically according to 

the experience of the baptized and their community; hence, catechesis appropriate to each must 

be continually developed. 

Along with the restoration of the adult catechemenate (RCIA) and adult baptism, the 

liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council also revised the rites of infant baptism to reflect 

more clearly how the rite was intended for those who could not speak for themselves and, as 

such, was an act of the family and the community that supported them. The text of Sacrosanctum 

Concilium itself called for a three-fold reform of the rites along these pastoral lines: ―The rite for 

the baptism of infants is to be revised, and should be adapted to the circumstance that those to 

be baptized are, in fact, infants. The roles of parents and godparents, and also their duties, should 

be brought out more sharply in the rite itself. The baptismal rite should contain adaptations, to be 

used at the discretion of the local ordinary, for occasions when a very large number are to be 

baptized together. Moreover, a shorter rite is to be drawn up, especially for mission lands, for use 

by catechists, but also by the faithful in general when there is danger of death, and neither priest 

nor deacon is available‖ (SC, 68, 69). 

In contrast to the reform of infant baptism drawn up by the popes who implemented the 

directives of the Council of Trent, the revised rites of infant baptism of 1969 show marked 

differences over those of 1614. A brief comparative chart is given here of the two rites. 

Comparative Chart of the Rites of 

Infant Baptism, 1614 and 1969 

Rite of Infant Baptism, 1614 Rite of Infant Baptism, 1969 

39

The following rite of baptism was placed in 

the ritual of Pope Paul V (1614) and 

formed by taking the adult rite of baptism 

and abbreviating it for use with an infant. 

This rite became the most widely used one 

for infant baptism between 1614 and the 

reforms introduced by Pope Paul VI in 

1969. Adult baptism as a frequent practice 

did not re-emerge in the Roman Rite until 

the promulgation of the Rite of Christian 

Initiation of Adults (1972). 

The following rite was promulgated in 

1969 and was meant to highlight those 

elements of reform directed by the Second 

Vatican Council in SC 68 and 69. Its use is 

separate from that of the rite for baptism of 

adults; the two may never be interchanged. 

The usual place for the celebration of 

infant baptism is the Sunday Mass of the 

community into which the child is baptized 

and which parents live. 



Church of parents and godparents 

B. Minor exorcism 

C. Exsufflation and the signing of the 

baptizand‘s forehead 


A. Greeting at the door of the Church 

B. Interrogatories of parents and 

godparents 

C. Signing of the forehead of the 

infant by parents and godparents 

D. The imposition of hands 

E. Blessing of baptizand with salt 

F. Exorcism 

II Rites at Entrance to Baptistry 

A. Recitation of the creed by parents 

and godparents 

B. Exorcism 

C. Ephphetha ceremony 

D. Renunciation of Satan answered by 

godparents 

E. Anointing with oil of catechumens 

III Rites at the Font 

A. Baptismal promises taken 

on behalf of the infant 

B. Baptism 

C. Anointing with chrism 

D. Clothing with white garment 

II Rites at the font during Sunday Mass 

A. Liturgy of the Word 

B. Intercessions 

C. Litany of the saints 

D. Exorcism 

E. Anointing with oil 

40

E. Lighting of baptismal candle F. Blessing of the water 

G. Renunciation of sin 

H. Baptismal promises taken on behalf 

of the infant 

I. Profession of faith by parents and 

godparents 

J. Baptism 

K. Anointing with chrism 

L. Clothing with white garment 

M. Presentation of lighted candle 

N. Ephephata ceremony 

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Source: Paulus V, Rituale Romanum 

(1614) 

Source: Paulus VI, Ordo Baptismi 

Parvulorum (1969) 

The essential differences between the rites reformed by the Council of Trent and those of 

the Second Vatican Council are three: (1) infant baptism is set within a celebration of the Liturgy 

of the Word, ideally found within the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist of the family‘s home 

community; (2) exorcism is de-emphasized and (3) the shortened rites of 1969 focus the attention 

of the parents and godparents on their acts of faith and renunciation of the devil as essential prerequisites 

to the baptismal act itself. In effect, without the faith of the parents and godparents 

who support the infant, baptism loses its essential meaning as a sacrament of faith professed (by 

the adult candidate) or spoken for (in the case of a child). It is also evident that the main lines of 

this rite remain unchanged from its predecessor of nearly 500 years. 

In addition, the reformed rites for infant baptism also helped to clarify the roles of the 

godparents as secondary to those of the parents who must function as first teachers of the faith to 

their children (see Baptism for Children, nos. 5, 6). Godparents supply this need when parents 

can no longer provide it. Lastly, the rites now emphasize what can be called the ―paschal 

character‖ of baptism, i.e., the celebration of baptism as an entrance into the mystery of Christ‘s 

own death and resurrection to the Father, cleansing the child of original sin and orienting it to a 

new life in Christ, strengthened for the profession of faith and the practice of virtue (see SC no. 

6; LG no. 1). This same conscious emphasis on the paschal character of every sacrament has 

been made explicit in all the reformed rites and texts of the liturgy since the Second Vatican 

Council. 

In sum, the reform of the rites of baptism within the Roman Catholic Church have been 

conducted with careful attention to restoring them to a communal setting within which the 

Liturgy of the Word is an essential component, and the profession of faith by the Church 

suffuses the celebration for all involved. Finally, cultural adaptation of the rites is permitted 

according to guidelines given both by the Holy See and the local Episcopal conference (SC 63, 

64, 65), including the formation of a rite for the reception of already baptized persons into full 

communion with the Catholic Church. 

Pre and post baptismal rites 

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Roman Catholic baptismal rites include both pre-baptismal and post-baptismal elements 

which help to prepare for and delineate the mystery experienced in baptism. In effect, the prebaptismal 

rites within the RCIA are intended, as described above, to invite and stimulate a desire 

for God, membership in Christ‘s body, the Church, and in the ability to profess faith (see LG no. 

11 on the effects of baptism; see also Can. 849 in the 1983 Code of Canon Law). The ―lead-up‖ 

of the extended catechumenate now in place in the reformed rites of adult baptism is the fertile 

ground for enabling the grace of baptism to take root deeply in the hearts of those well prepared 

to receive it. Conversion is work: none who desires to be baptized can be expected to prepare 

themselves apart from a community which will give them membership and belonging. The prebaptismal 

rites also serve the valuable purpose of acquainting the catechumen with the 

community he or she will call ―home‖ for at least some time through the period of mystagogia. 

Likewise, the community must prepare itself to admit new members and thereby deepen its own 

commitment by expanding yet again the boundaries of its love and mission. 

The post baptismal elements, whether of the adult or infant rites, have a single overall 

purpose: they serve to unfold, explain and detail major aspects of what has just happened in 

water baptism. Though not essential to the sacramental action of God just experienced, they 

nevertheless make clear to all – minister, witnesses, family and community members – that the 

new Christian now enjoys the rights and obligations of membership in Christ‘s body. 

When anointed with chrism, the newly baptized and confirmed are sealed in their priestly 

role to participate in the Eucharist and in their ability to share in marriage and Orders. Clothing 

with a white garment signals the beauty and sin-free quality of their new lives now lived in 

Christ, washed clean of original and actual sin. Like the linen garments worn by the baptized of 

long ago, white-colored clothing also serves as a reminder and pledge against the temptation to 

sin which will never leave their lives. The presentation of the lighted candle is a joining of their 

commitment to live according to the light of Christ as symbolized by the great Easter candle of 

the Vigil at which the adults were baptized. This candle also solemnizes their vow-taking, as 

marked in many other rites within the Roman Catholic Church either for weddings, monastic 

vows, the consecration of virgins or the annual renewal of baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil. 

Finally, the Ephphetha ceremony brings with it the special grace to hear the Word of God and 

speak it as a part of the mission and life of the baptized. With this rite, which orients the new 

believer to the preaching of the Word in life, word and deed, the rite for baptism closes on an 

evangelical in imitation of Christ who came to serve and not to be served (cf. Mt. 20.28). 

Method in the Reform of the Roman Catholic Baptismal Rites 

As mentioned above, the reform of the liturgy following the Second Vatican Council was 

done according to goals never before adopted in the Roman Catholic Church. Specifically, the 

revision of rites and texts was made with the overarching purpose of deepening the ―full, 

conscious and active participation‖ of the faithful in the action of God present in the liturgy (SC, 

14). Inherently, this goal carried new methodological considerations as well, demanding a 

theological and liturgical understanding of the rite and texts unlike what was previously needed. 

The Council itself would give some direction for the development of this method in its 

statements that there was no further need for ―uniformity‖ but only for ―unity‖ in the reformed 

rites (SC, 23); that all of the existing rites from Trent should be, in effect, simplified and made 

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easier and clearer for the faithful to understand (SC, 21, 50, 62), eliminating ―elements which, 

with the passage of time, came to be duplicated, or were added with but little advantage‖ (SC, 

50). Now the method of reform would demand a re-appreciation of the rites which concentrated 

on the needs of the believer through the lens of a relatively new category of analysis, i.e., of 

―participant‖ (cf. SC, 14) in the sacred mysteries. 

Implicit within this discussion of enhanced participation within Sacrosanctum Concilium 

is a turn to the subjectivity of the believer interacting with the Church and Christ in the 

celebration of God‘s action in rite and sacrament. The tools needed to complete this kind of 

reform would differ, however, from previous liturgical reforms introduced over the centuries. 

For in the past, the liturgy achieved its organic growth primarily from the development of 

doctrine in the face of schism, heresy or political strife. But the Second Vatican Council would 

thereby open a door to the organic growth in the liturgy centered upon the experience of the 

believer in the act of worship itself (cf. SC, 14: ―This full and active sharing on the part of the 

whole people is of paramount concern in the process of renewing the liturgy and helping it to 

grow‖ /Quae totius populi plena et actuosa participatio, in instauranda et fovenda sacra liturgia, 

summopere est attendenda; SC, 23: ―In order that healthy tradition can be preserved while yet 

allowing room for legitimate development, thorough investigation --- theological, historical and 

pastoral – of the individual parts of the liturgy up for revision is always to be the first step‖/ Ut 

sana traditio retineatur et tamen via legitimae progressioni aperiatur and adhibita cauta ut 

novae formae ex formis iam exstantibus organice quodammodo crescant). 

In SC, 23 the Roman Catholic Church introduced a series of methodological changes in 

establishing standards for organic growth within the liturgy which would startle many. There, 

she names five principles which directly affected the way in which the reform of the baptismal 

rites – either for adults or children – were accomplished. They include: (1) the preservation of 

tradition which yet allows for development through an historical, theological and pastoral 

understanding of the liturgy; (2) determining the general structure and intent of any part of the 

liturgy before revising it; (3) evaluating and using the experience of liturgical renewal and 

special concessions in the practice of the liturgy granted up until the Council, and even beyond, 

to guide the reform of the rites; (4) the grounding of all changes in ―real and proven need‖ of the 

Church and (5) the promotion of continuity in liturgical growth from old to new forms. 

These five points of method were only intensified with the final steps laid down by the 

Council in its listing of processes to be followed in the reform of the liturgy. For in sections 38 

and 39 of Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council states that adaptations of the liturgy according to 

local cultures are permitted, and can be devised and then submitted by Episcopal conferences to 

the Holy See for approbation. 

The effect of implementing these principles within the reform of the liturgy can be seen 

in the way in which the modern rites have been simplified and their new expression devised to 

reflect the proven tradition of the early church in which the deepening conversion of the believer 

was of great importance. However, the reform of the baptismal rites in the present case is based 

on work in the modern historical, theological, behavioral and pastoral sciences encouraged by 

the Council itself. No previous reform sought the same goals as did this one, nor achieved it with 

the tools unique to the modern age. 

Chart with full texts of rites (see Appendix A) 

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4. g. Critical Comparison of Roman Catholic and Reformed Rites 

A comparison of the current printed liturgies of Reformed and Roman Catholic churches in 

this dialogue reveal strong similarities, arising from the common ecumenical liturgical 

movement of the 20 th century, which itself emerged from shared biblical and historical 

scholarship in the early part of the century. Even so, some differences remain. This report offers 

both structural and thematic reflections arising from comparison of the printed baptismal orders. 

A chart with the full texts of all the current rites can be found in the appendix. It is important to 

note that the comparison of rites in the appendix focuses on the Roman Catholic rite of 

paedobaptism, not the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. As noted earlier, the current 

Reformed rites may be used for either infants or persons of mature faith. This represents a 

reversal of practice from an earlier era, when Reformed churches had separate rites for adults and 

children, while Roman Catholic churches had a single rite to be used for both. 

Similarities 

All of the baptismal rites, both Reformed and Roman Catholic, according to written form 

if not always in practice, follow the reading and proclamation of the Word. Baptism is thus 

always understood as a response to the proclaimed Word. This is significant, because it 

represents a change from earlier practice, when baptisms were often conducted privately, apart 

from the liturgy of the Word (Roman Catholic) or before the reading and proclamation of the 

Word (some Reformed). 

All the baptismal rites include the following elements, though not always in the same 

order: 

renunciations by candidates or parents of those to be baptized, 

profession of faith (usually the Apostles‘ Creed), 

promises by parents, sponsors/godparents (if present), and congregation, 

baptismal prayer at the font (variously titled ―Blessing and Invocation of God over 

Baptismal Water‖ (RC), ―Prayer of Thanksgiving‖ (CRCNA), ―Prayer of Baptism‖ 

(UCC), ―Baptismal Prayer of Thanksgiving‖ (RCA), and ―Thanksgiving over the 

Water‖ (PCUSA)), 

baptism with water ―in(to) the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 

Spirit.‖ xxx The UCC provides the option of alternate words ―You are baptized in the 

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.‖ This appears to be the 

central text of the baptismal rite in every case. 

post-baptismal anointing, laying on of hands and/or declaration and blessing without 

laying on of hands, 

prayers for the baptized. 

From this it appears that all the rites have a basic common structure, though it has been 

appropriated in different ways. 

Furthermore, there is remarkable agreement in the thematic content of the Reformed and 

Roman Catholic rites. In our analysis of the rites, texts were read for five kinds of statements: 

(1) images, such as those which variously describe baptismal water; (2) commitments, such as an 

expression for the desire for baptism; (3) effects, such as the gifts from the Holy Spirit received 

through baptism; (4) formulae, such as the interrogatories prior to baptism, or the adaptation of a 

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berekah-style prayer form and (5) biblical doctrine, such as the notion of original sin. Some 

categories overlap in their functions within the rites, such as formulae used to elicit a 

commitment, or images which carry doctrinal meaning. 

Such thematic analysis reveals substantial similarity among the rites. 

* The majority of the images employed, and the authority for their use, appear to be 

derived from the gospels and the Old Testament, while the effects are almost all Pauline in their 

theological roots. 

* Much of the language which accompanies ritual acts – such as the epiclesis, the 

blessings, the formulae and the commitments – seem to derive from Patristic sources, both in 

vocabulary and rhetorical structure. 

* Certain texts, such as the use of a berekah-style prayer of blessing over the water, 

represent a retrieval of Jewish influence in the reform of Christian liturgies, ongoing since the 

early 1960s. 

* The language of Pauline participationism describes the soteriological aspects of the 

sacramental action in the rites; Pauline ecclesiology of the body in large measure shapes the 

notion of church within the rites; Pauline virtue-vice language, as taken from the Wisdom 

literature and first century Judaism, seems to inform much of the effects and commitments, while 

reflecting the style of modern day personalism. 

* There is a remarkable similarity in the kind of syntax, vocabulary and general 

expression used in the rites, characterized by biblical redolence, simplicity, directness, spareness 

of style and succinctness. This is all the more noteworthy when one considers that the RC rites 

are themselves a translation of a Latin original. This would suggest some degree of interaction 

and even dependency between the reformers of the rites. 

Differences 

The Roman Catholic rite includes baptismal elements early in the liturgy (reception of 

children, intercessions, pre-baptismal anointing), while the Reformed baptismal rites are 

contained in a particular portion of the overall liturgy. While references to baptism may be 

included at other points in the Reformed services, such as the prayers of intercession, this is not 

explicit in the written rites. 

The Roman Catholic rite also contains several ―explanatory rites‖ not present in any of 

the Reformed rites: white garment, lighted candle, and ephphetha. 

The Reformed rites all begin with scripture or scriptural statements on the meaning of 

baptism. This is significant, because it points to the Reformed concern to provide biblical 

―warrant‖ for the sacrament. 

Within the Reformed family, the CRC exhibits a different structure leading up to 

baptism: statement on baptism is followed by the prayer of thanksgiving, then the renunciations 

and profession of faith. All other Reformed rites include the renunciations and profession of 

faith before the prayer of thanksgiving. 

The Reformed rites in various ways exhibit tension around the practice of post-baptismal 

anointing or laying on of hands. The CRCNA and UCC suggest that laying on of hands is 

optional; CRCNA, RCA, and PCUSA include signing with the cross as optional; the PCUSA 

suggests anointing as optional. All of this underscores a Reformed concern that the sign of water 

and the Word not be overshadowed by additional ritual gestures. 

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Finally, although almost all the rites have alternate expressions for all of the images, effects, 

commitments, formulae and doctrine of the other churches, there are a few exceptions, such as 

―original sin‖ and ―covenant.‖ These exceptions may prove to be distinctive points of identity for 

individual communities and their liturgical expressions. 

4. h. Conclusion: Similar rites with different hermeneutics 

The numerous common elements in the baptismal rites of the Reformed and Roman 

Catholic churches surveyed in this study might initially suggest that there has been a significant 

sharing of doctrine, method and practice between both communities. In some instances, identical 

wordings and rites are evident in their baptismal liturgies, as found, for example, in the berakahstyle 

blessing over the baptismal water, or in the use of the traditional biblical formula that 

accompanies the baptismal washing. No fewer than five such components can be found shaping 

the baptismal rites and texts now in use for each of these churches [see Appendix 1 and 2]. 

Indeed, many of the methods used in the reform of these rites appear to be products of a common 

liturgical renewal movement. Authors such as James F. White, who has published seminal 

studies on the reform of protestant liturgies over the last 40 years, has established this very point 

(see James White, ―Roman Catholic and Protestant Worship in Relationship‖ in Christian 

Worship in North America [Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1997] 3-15). In addition, both 

Roman Catholic and Protestant churches undertook joint studies of the biblical and patristic 

elements of their liturgies in the decades immediately following the Second Vatican Council in 

repeated efforts to achieve visible communion where possible in their sacramental practices, 

especially in the celebration of baptism. [See,for example, Made, Not Born: New Perspectives on 

Christian Initiation and the Catechumenate, The Murphy Center for Liturgical Research (Notre 

Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1976).] 

Ecumenical journals such as Studia Liturgica have effectively served as common 

platforms from which liturgical dialogue between churches is promoted. Organizations such as 

the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) and the English Language Liturgical 

Consultation (ELLC), worked hand-in-hand with the Roman Catholic ICEL (International 

Commission on English in the Liturgy) to produce texts of great value in drawing the liturgies of 

Protestant and Catholic communities together. 

Among the most prestigious of these groups is ―Societas Liturgica‖, founded by Wiebe 

Vos, a pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church, who saw the need for both Roman Catholic and 

Reformed churches to draw closer together through a deepened appreciation of common biblical 

and patristic roots in the liturgy. 

These few reflections would suggest that even though a shared liturgical theology may 

characterize the renewals of both the Reformed and Roman Catholic liturgies of the latter half of 

the 20 th century, it is not clear that systematic or dogmatic theologians understand the 

sacramental reforms of their respective churches in the same way. Perhaps the most significant 

critique of the difference in the understanding of baptism between systematic theologians and 

liturgical theologians in the Reformed churches can be found John W. Riggs‘ Baptism in the 

Reformed Tradition (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002). There, Riggs maintains 

that the reform of baptismal rites completed in the Reformed churches since the 1972 appearance 

of the Roman Catholic Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), is notably out of harmony 

with established Reformed theologies of baptism. 

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Five of the most common theological and structural elements which seem to characterize 

the reformed baptismal rites of both churches as given above– (1) baptism as a response to the 

Word of God; (2) the use of the gospels as a source for baptismal images and (3) the use of 

Pauline literature as a source for the language of baptismal action and effects; (4) the recovery of 

patristic ritual elements and (5) the adoption of common biblical texts in the rites themselves – 

must then be read in at least two ways by Reformed theologians through the lens of either 

liturgical or systematic theology. While these differing interpretations of the Reformed baptismal 

rites may pose challenges internally to Reformed communities, the use of water through 

immersion, infusion or sprinkling, while pronouncing the biblical formula of baptism as reflected 

in Mt. 28.19, remain in place as essentials in the recently revised rites of both the Reformed and 

Roman Catholic communities. 

It is a mark of unity that both churches have agreed that, in order to deepen their 

relationship as believers in Christ, any examination of their baptismal doctrines and practices 

must begin with an acknowledgement of commonly used biblical and patristic sources. In 

addition, both sides seem to have developed a common method for the retrieval of texts and rites 

essential to their discussions through the best of form and redaction criticisms, yielding accurate 

texts and ritual histories. 

However, both communities appear to interpret these same sources with hermeneutics 

conditioned by confessional and dogmatic assumptions held a priori. This is most especially true 

in the reading of central texts from the corpus of Augustine‘s works on baptism, faith, 

justification, sacrament and original sin (see De baptismo; De doctrina christiana; De libero 

arbitrio; De peccatorum meritis et remissione peccatorum et de baptismo parvulorum; de 

predestinatione sanctorum; De correctione donatistarum; Ad Simplicianum (1.2) and 

Confessiones (7); Enchiridion; Contra Donatistas; Expositio quaraundam propositionum ex 

epistula apostoli ad Romanos; De spiritu et littera; Sermones 151-156 and De gratia Christi et 

de peccato originale ). Indeed, the reconciliation of approaches to the reading of Augustine may 

open a path for exchange and understanding between both churches in a way never before 

achieved. 

The result of these distinctive approaches is predictable: widely varying readings of 

common sources lead to differing uses of these same rites and texts brought forward into recently 

revised baptismal liturgies. Essentially, the Roman Catholic and Reformed churches agree on 

which texts and rites are central to baptismal belief and practice, but reserve much of their 

interpretive use of these sources within the bounds of their separate communal confessions. 

5. Theology of Baptism 

Alongside the developments in baptismal rites during and since the sixteenth century, it is 

also important to consider both Roman Catholic and Reformed theologies of baptism. As with 

the baptismal rites, so too in baptismal theology, both traditions share much in common even as 

they also differ on key issues. The study of the theology of baptism in this chapter is designed to 

highlight both the common elements and the differences. 

This chapter is organized into several sections: after some introductory questions on 

baptism, it turns to an examination of the nature of baptism and then looks at connections 

between baptism and the church, baptism and those who receive it, and baptism and other 

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significant Christian doctrines. Within each section, some basic questions about baptism serve to 

focus the discussion on specific issues. We hope that this organizational structure will allow 

readers to focus on the main questions first and then to examine subsidiary questions that interest 

them. 

Each topic in this chapter is introduced by a question. In response to each question, there 

is a common statement that expresses what this dialogue has agreed that we can say together as 

well as statements articulating both the Roman Catholic and Reformed positions. 

The statements from each side were developed first and became the basis for the common 

statements. In the common statements, we try to state as much as we hold in common even when 

the language that we typically use on both sides is not held in common. 

In the dialogue, deciding what to use as source material for the Roman Catholic and 

Reformed positions proved to be challenging. Should we use only documents that have been 

officially approved or also statements by leading theologians from each side? If the latter, which 

theologians should we take to be authoritative? Not only because it would be difficult to decide 

which theologians to use, but also because theologians‘ statements have no official standing in 

any church in this dialogue, it seemed best to limit our sources to officially approved documents. 

For the Roman Catholic side, this meant using statements from church councils (primarily from 

the Council of Trent through the Second Vatican Council), papal teaching, and the recent 

Catechism of the Catholic Church. For the Reformed side, it meant using the confessions that the 

Reformed churches in this dialogue include in their official books of confessions or their 

denominational list of confessions. The matter of using confessions is complicated on the 

Reformed side not only because the Reformed churches in this dialogue stem from two branches 

of the Reformed tradition (Scottish and continental) and have different lists of confessions, but 

also because the Reformed churches adhere to their confessions in different ways. For some in 

this dialogue, the confessions carry the weight of tradition, although one might disagree with 

them today. For other members of the Reformed delegation, the confessions continue to state the 

faith of the church. Despite these complications, the representatives to the dialogue thought it 

best to use the official conciliar, catechetical, and confessional statements of our churches as the 

basis for stating the views of each side. 

INTRODUCTION 

5. a. What Is Baptism? 


Baptism is a sacrament of the church in which a person is effused with or immersed in 

water, accompanied by the Trinitarian formula that the person is baptized ―in(to) the name of the 

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit‖ (Matt. 28:19-20). Baptism is the first of the sacraments that 

a person receives. It is a means of grace through which God works in a person and that marks the 

reception of a person into the life and mission of Christ‘s Church. 


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Baptism is the door to life and to the kingdom of God (The Rite of Christian Initiation, 

1). Therefore, it is the first sacrament. It constitutes the beginning of Christian life and by being 

baptized one is incorporated into the Church. It is administered with water and in the name of 

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Through it those born in sin are forgiven all sins, 

original and actual, and are regenerated into the new life of Christ. Baptism, the cleansing with 

water by the power of the living Word, makes us sharers in God‘s own life and his adopted 

children (The Rite of Christian Initiation, 8). 


Baptism is a sacrament ordained by Jesus Christ. Christ commanded his followers ―to 

preach the Gospel and to baptize ‗in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy 

Spirit‘ (Matt. 28:19)‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.185). This sign of initiation, in which God‘s 

elect people are consecrated to God, involves washing or sprinkling with ―visible water‖ (Second 

Helvetic Conf., 5.185, 5.188). In baptism, a person is admitted into the visible church and given 

―a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of 

remission of sins, and of this giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of 

life‖ (Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.154). Those who are baptized have been received into 

God‘s church, set apart from other people and religions in order to be dedicated to God, and 

promised that God will be their God forever (Belgic Confession, art. 34). 

5.b. Why Does the Church Baptize? 


The Church baptizes in obedience to the command of Christ (Matt. 28:19, Mk. 16:16) in 

order to initiate persons into the life of the Church. 


―Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit 

(vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments‖ (CCC, 1213). 

With these words the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) introduces the sacrament of 

baptism. The Church baptizes in obedience to the command of Christ (Matt 28:19, Mk 16:16) in 

order to initiate persons into the life of the Church, the new life that God offers in Jesus Christ 

for the salvation of the world. In the fourth Gospel Jesus declares: ―I came that they may have 

life, and have it abundantly‖ (Jn 10:10). Likewise the early Church, when it proclaimed the 

gospel of Christ, understood its mission in similar terms: 

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our 

eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands concerning the word of 

life—the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the 

eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us…(1 Jn 1:1-2). 

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Baptism imparts the new life in Christ. As the sacrament of regeneration baptism not 

only signifies new birth in Christ but ―actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit 

without which no one ‗can enter the kingdom of God‘‖ (CCC, 1215). Therefore, the necessity of 

baptism is seen in its effects, namely, freedom from sin and rebirth as a son or daughter of God 

(that is, our adoption by grace). This new filial relation with God brought about by the adoption 

of grace also constitutes the baptized as members of Christ who are incorporated into the Church 

and are made sharers in her mission. Baptism, therefore, is the privileged means of grace 

through which a person becomes a Christian. (cf. Mark 10:15; John 3:5) 


Reformed churches baptize because Jesus Christ ordained or instituted baptism 

(Westminster Conf., ch. 30.1; Westminster Larger Catechism, Q.&A. 165; Evangelical 

Catechism, Q.&A. 115-17). According to the Gospel of Matthew, after his resurrection Jesus 

sent his disciples into the world to ―make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of 

the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I 

have commanded you‖ (Matt. 28:19-20, NRSV). Christians have, in response to this 

commission, seen baptism as a mark of commitment to the Lord and membership in the church: 

―The universal practice of baptism by the apostolic Church from its earliest days is attested in 

letters of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, and the writings of the Fathers‖ (BEM, 

Baptism I.1). Since Christian baptism is grounded in Christ‘s instruction in his Word, Reformed 

Christians attempt to follow both biblical practices and teachings surrounding baptism. 

THE NATURE OF BAPTISM 

5. c. What Does Baptism Effect or Signify? 


Baptism is the divinely-appointed means of grace by which Christ acts through a visible 

sacramental act of the Church to signify the forgiveness of sins, regeneration, and being united to 

and engrafted into the Church, the Body of Christ. 


Baptism, the first of the sacraments, is the font or source of both Christian and ecclesial 

life. The meaning of baptism communicates what is distinctive in Catholic theology but also 

serves as the basis for a common ecumenical witness with other churches and ecclesial 

communities. Along with the World Council of Churches 1982 Faith and Order document 

Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (BEM) the Catholic Church can affirm that the meaning of 

water baptism has to do with participation in Christ‘s death and resurrection (what Catholics call 

the paschal mystery), with conversion, pardoning and cleansing, with the reception of the gift of 

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the Spirit, with incorporation into the Body of Christ, and with the Kingdom of God (BEM 3-7). 

In a more recent document of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and 

the World Council of Churches (JWG), ―Ecclesiological and Ecumenical Implications of a 

<strong>Common</strong> Baptism,‖ baptism is identified with initiation into the life of faith, incorporation into 

the Church, and with continual growth in Christ including the call to holiness (§‘s 34, 59, 71, 

77). It is in light of these ecumenical insights that the particularities of a Catholic theology of 

baptism must be understood. 

In many ways the different aspects of Christian Initiation continue to guide the ongoing 

pilgrimage of Christian maturation. As with the other sacraments, baptism is a means of grace. 

As each sacrament imparts its own specific sacramental grace, so too with baptism. Its two 

principal effects are ―[p]urification from sins and new birth in the Holy Spirit‖ (CCC, 1262). 

Yet the sacrament embraces all the elements of becoming a Christian. 

―The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of 

original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an 

adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this 

very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and 

made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ‖ (CCC, 1279). 

The Catholic Church has traditionally affirmed the necessity of baptism for salvation, 

specifically ―for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have the possibility of 

asking for this sacrament‖ (CCC, 1257). One may receive salvation through a ―baptism of 

blood‖ by suffering death for the faith before one is baptized. In a broader sense God is not 

bound by the sacraments. Since ―the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made 

partakers, in a way known to God, of the paschal mystery‖ (Gaudium et Spes 62), non-Christians 

can be saved. This may also be understood as a ―baptism of desire,‖ something that catechumens 

intentionally express before their actual baptism. In the case of non-Christians the assumption is 

that baptism would be desired had the person known of its necessity. Of course, the question of 

how salvation is offered to non-Christians is beyond the scope of this paper, although it is 

something that the Catholic Church considers a possibility without committing itself to an 

affirmation that other religions give access through their own rites to Christian salvation. 

Salvation is always mediated through Christ. How a non-Christian responds to divine grace is a 

matter of conscience and the light one has received. How that might entail the practice of 

another religious tradition is left to theological inquiry as long as the centrality of Christ and the 

paschal mystery is not displaced. 

―Baptism is [also] the sacrament of faith‖ (CCC, 1253). This encompasses both the faith 

of the Church and that of each believer. The Catholic emphasis on cooperation with grace and 

the importance of good works does not negate the continual necessity of faith. Faith itself is ― a 

gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him‖ (CCC, 153), something that clearly bespeaks 

the priority of grace. 

―Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist 

him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts 

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it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and ‗makes it easy for all to accept and believe 

the truth‘‖ (Dei Verbum, 5). 

At the same time assistance by divine grace does not exclude that faith is ―an 

authentically human act…[and that t]rusting in God and cleaving to the truths he has revealed are 

contrary neither to human freedom nor to human reason‖ (CCC, 154). As a theological virtue, it 

relates Christians directly to God who have the Trinity as ―their origin, motive, and object‖ 

(CCC, 1812). One must persevere in faith. Apart from works faith is dead (Jas 2:26) and when 

deprived of hope and love (the other two theological virtues) it ―does not unite the believer to 

Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body‖ (CCC, 1815). 

The theology of baptism is a window into the entire Christian life. Its elaboration can 

unfold the manifold riches of Christ for those who through baptism are united with him in his 

death and resurrection. This journey into the Christian life is also the way of discipleship. The 

paschal mystery is manifested in the lives of those who knowing the power of Christ‘s 

resurrection are made conformable to his death by sharing in his sufferings (Phil 3: 10). 


As a sacrament, baptism offers a visible word that speaks to God‘s people. It speaks by 

means of actions, accompanied by words, that describe spiritual realities and assure God‘s 

people. Baptism signifies certain spiritual realities. It is a ―sign and seal‖ of the covenant of 

grace, of being ingrafted into Christ, ―of regeneration, of remission of sins,‖ and of beginning ―to 

walk in newness of life‖ (Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.154). Baptism is ―the sign of new 

life through Jesus Christ,‖ uniting ―the one baptized with Christ and with his people‖ (BEM, 

Baptism II.2). As ―the sign and seal of God‘s grace and covenant in Christ,‖ baptism ―points us 

back to the grace of God expressed in Jesus Christ;‖ and the water of baptism ―links us to the 

goodness of God‘s creation and to the grace of God‘s covenants with Noah and Israel‖ (PCUSA 

Directory for Worship, W-2.3002-03). Baptism is a sacrament that claims people as ―children of 

God, disciples of Christ, and members of Christ‘s church‖ (UCC Toward the 21 st Century: A 

Statement of Commitment). 

Baptism gives a person a new identity. ―In Baptism a person is sealed by the Holy Spirit, 

given identity as a member of the church, welcomed to the Lord‘s Table, and set apart for a life 

of Christian service‖ (PCUSA Directory for Worship, W-4.2001). Baptism is therefore not only a 

sign of spiritual realities and a means by which God dispenses grace; it is also the sign of 

admission into the visible church: ―In Holy Baptism God imparts the gift of the new life unto 

man, receives him into his fellowship as his child, and admits him as a member of the Christian 

Church‖ (Evangelical Catechism (UCC), Q. &. A. 118). 

In baptism God ―signifies to us that just as water washes away the dirt of the body when 

it is poured on us ... so too the blood of Christ does the same thing internally, in the soul, by the 

Holy Spirit. It washes and cleanses it from its sins and transforms us from being the children of 

wrath into the children of God‖ (Belgic Conf., art. 34). Baptism‘s use of an external washing to 

signify an internal one serves to reinforce the promise of God to forgive sins. In baptism Christ 

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―gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his 

blood and his Spirit wash away my soul‘s impurity, in other words, all my sins‖ (Heidelberg 

Catechism, Q. & A. 69). Baptism assures us that God ―freely cleanses us from our sins by the 

blood of his Son, and in him adopts us to be his sons, and by a holy covenant joins us to himself, 

and enriches us with various gifts, that we might live a new life‖ (Second Helvetic Confession, 5. 

187). 

Baptism signifies our being ―engrafted into Christ Jesus, to be made partakers of his 

righteousness, by which our sins are covered and remitted‖ (Scots Confession, 3.21). Although 

many Reformed Christians have hesitated to say that baptism effects forgiveness of sins or 

regeneration, others come close to such a view. Thus, the Westminster Confession of Faith says 

that, although the ―efficacy of baptism is not tied to that moment of time wherein it is 

administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance the grace promised is not 

only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost;‖ but it adds that this grace is 

conferred ―to such (whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth to, according to the 

counsel of God‘s own will, in his appointed time‖ (Westminster Confession, 6.159). 

Baptism also signifies a dying and rising with Christ: ―Baptism with water represents not 

only cleansing from sin, but a dying with Christ and a joyful rising with him to new life‖ 

(Confession of 1967, 9.511). ―By baptism, Christians are immersed in the liberating death of 

Christ where their sins are buried, where the ‗old Adam‘ is crucified with Christ, and where the 

power of sin is broken,‖ and they are ―raised here and now to a new life in the power of the 

resurrection of Christ, confident that they will also ultimately be one with him in a resurrection 

like his‖ (BEM, Baptism II.3). 

In sum, baptism uses water to signify cleansing from sin and regeneration. Reformed 

confessions speak of baptism as ―the washing of rebirth and the washing away of sins,‖ noting 

that, in baptism, God ―wants to assure us, by this divine pledge and sign, that the washing away 

of our sins spiritually is as real as physical washing with water‖ (Heidelberg Catechism Q.&A. 

71, 73). ―For in baptism the sign is the element of water, and that visible washing which is done 

by the minister; but the thing signified is regeneration and the cleansing from sins‖ (Second 

Helvetic Confession, 5. 178-79). 

Although baptism is a means of grace that signifies justification and cleansing from sin, it 

is not required in order for a person to be justified before God. Justification is an act by which 

God remits someone‘s sins, absolves the person from guilt and punishment, receives the person 

into favor, and pronounces the person just (Rom. 8:33; Second Helvetic Confession, 5.106). In 

justification, God ―forgives us our sins for Jesus‘ sake, counts the merit of Christ as belonging to 

us, and accepts us as his children‖ (UCC Evangelical Catechism, Q. & A. 81). Justification 

occurs ―‗freely‘ or ‗by grace,‘‖ apart from works and on the basis of Jesus Christ‘s work of 

redemption (Belgic Confession, art. 23). In justification, God pardons sins and accepts people as 

righteous, ―not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ‘s sake alone; not 

by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their 

righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving 

and resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is 

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the gift of God‖ (Westminster Confession of Faith, 6.068-69). Since justification is not based on 

our merits, but only on the ―obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in 

him,‖ it ―is enough to cover our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the 

fear, dread, and terror of God‘s approach‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 23). 

Similarly, although baptism both signifies regeneration and serves as a means of grace 

moving God‘s people to rebirth, baptism is not required in order for a person to be regenerated in 

Jesus Christ. Regeneration is the rebirth of water and the Spirit, a rebirth that enables entrance 

into the kingdom of God (John 3:3-6). This rebirth is a ―new creation‖ and a ―making alive‖ that, 

like the work of creation or the raising of the dead, ―God works in us without our help‖ (Canons 

of Dort, III/IV, art. 12). In regeneration, God‘s grace ―does not act in people as if they were 

blocks and stones; nor does it abolish the will and its properties or coerce a reluctant will by 

force, but spiritually revives, heals, reforms, and — in a manner at once pleasing and powerful 

— bends it back‖ (Canons of Dort, III/IV, art. 16). Although regeneration is God‘s supernatural 

work, God has chosen to bring about that work by such means as ―the holy admonitions of the 

gospel, under the administration of the Word, the sacraments, and discipline‖ (Canons of Dort, 

III/IV, art. 17). 

5. d. How Is Christian Baptism Related to the Biblical Economy of Salvation? 


Christian baptism is rooted in the biblical economy of salvation. The water of baptism 

echoes the water of creation, of the Flood, of the Red Sea during the Exodus, and of Jesus‘ own 

baptism. Baptism is the sign of God‘s covenant with the church, a covenant that not only 

stretches back to God‘s covenant with Abraham and his descendants but also binds those who 

are members of this covenant to God as God‘s children. 


Both the theology and liturgical praxis of baptism situate it within the biblical economy 

of salvation. The consecratory prayer over the water refers to the waters of creation, the Red Sea 

at the time of the Exodus, and those of the Jordan wherein Jesus was baptized. It culminates 

with the water and blood that flows from Christ‘s side as he hung upon the cross. This rich 

imagery associates the paschal sacrifice of Christ with God‘s creative and redemptive action 

throughout history. So too, by the power of the Spirit the waters of baptism are unsealed as a 

fountain of new life. It is also consistent with the covenantal language utilized in sacred 

scripture to express God‘s fidelity to creation and his people. Although the word covenant is not 

used explicitly in the Rite of Baptism it is implied and can be understood in light of Catholic 

teaching. 

Covenant is a part of the ―divine plan of Revelation…realized simultaneously ‗by deeds 

and words which are intrinsically bound up with each other‘ and shed light on each other‖ (CCC, 

53). ―Again and again you offered a covenant to man, and through the prophets taught him to 

hope for salvation‖ the Church prays in Eucharistic Prayer IV of the Roman Missal. ―God made 

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an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (cf. Gen 9:16). It will remain in 

force as long as the world lasts‖ (CCC, 71)… 

―God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants. By the 

covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses. Through the 

prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity‖ (CCC, 72)…‖ God 

has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he has established his covenant 

forever. The Son is his Father's definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him‖ 

(CCC, 73). This new and definitive covenant in Jesus Christ is at the heart of the Gospel, the 

Church and its sacramental life, especially the Eucharist, and is the basis for Christian prayer— 

—―Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of 

God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the 

Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man‖ (CCC, 2564). 


Christian baptism is deeply rooted in God‘s dealings with ancient Israel. The washing and 

transformation that occur in baptism happen not ―by the physical water but by the sprinkling of 

the precious blood of the Son of God, who is our Red Sea, through which we must pass to escape 

the tyranny of Pharaoh, who is the devil, and to enter the spiritual land of Canaan (Belgic 

Confession, art. 34). 

Baptism is a sign of God‘s covenant. The covenant is the means by which God‘s people 

are bound to God; and baptism is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace (Westminster Conf., 

6.154). ―In baptism, the church celebrates the renewal of the covenant with which God has 

bound his people to himself‖ (Confession of 1967, 9.511). Thus those who are baptized in the 

name of Christ have been ―enrolled, entered, and received into the covenant and family, and so 

into the inheritance of the sons of God‖ (Second Helvetic Confession, 5.187). 

Some Reformed Christians speak of both a covenant of works and a covenant of grace; 

others speak only of a covenant of grace. The covenant of works is understood by those who 

affirm it to be a covenant made by God with the first humans, ―wherein life was promised to 

Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience‖ 

(Westminster Conf., 6.038). The fall into sin left humans incapable of perfect obedience and 

therefore unable to attain life with God. The covenant of works, if one existed, was ineffective. 

Given humanity‘s plight, God made a covenant of grace, ―wherein he freely offered unto 

sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved, 

and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life, his Holy Spirit, to make them 

willing and able to believe‖ (Westminster Conf., 6.039). The covenant of grace can also be 

called a testament, with Jesus Christ as the testator bequeathing ―the everlasting inheritance, with 

all things belonging to it‖ (Westminster Conf., 6.040). 

Although this covenant or testament was administered differently before and after the 

appearance of the promised Messiah, there is one covenant of grace, not two. Thus, since the 

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appearance of Christ, ―the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of 

the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord‘s Supper‖ 

(Westminster Conf., 6.041-42). Thus baptism was ordained by Jesus Christ ―not only for the 

solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church, but also to be unto him a sign 

and seal of the covenant of grace‖ (Westminster Conf. 6.154). Baptism signifies and seals ―our 

ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the 

Lord‘s‖ (Westminster Shorter Catechism, 7.094). 

By the use of water, baptism symbolizes God‘s ancient covenant of grace: ―The water of 

Baptism symbolizes the waters of Creation, of the Flood, and of the Exodus from Egypt. Thus, 

the water of Baptism links us to the goodness of God‘s creation and to the grace of God‘s 

covenants with Noah and Israel‖ (PCUSA Directory for Worship, W-2.3003). 

Baptism echoes circumcision, the sign of the covenant for ancient Israel: ―As 

circumcision was the sign and symbol of inclusion in God‘s grace and covenant with Israel, so 

Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God‘s grace and covenant with the Church‖ 

(PCUSA Directory for Worship, W-2.3004). 

5. e. What is the relationship between baptism, faith, and discipleship? 


Baptism is an important source for a life of Christian faith and discipleship. For those 

baptized as infants, faith and discipleship are the expected fruit of baptism. For those baptized as 

adolescents or adults, typically faith and discipleship precede baptism. Nevertheless, both infant 

and adult baptism are intended to nurture Christian faith and discipleship. Working with the 

Word of God, the sacraments – including baptism – nourish the faith of God‘s people and 

motivate them to follow God‘s will as Christ‘s disciples. 


The ―whole organism of the Christian‘s supernatural life has its roots in baptism‖ (CCC, 

1266). This embraces a life of discipleship through growth in the theological and moral virtues, 

and the prompting and power of the Holy Spirit in graces and gifts. All of this is based upon the 

efficacy and fruitfulness of sacramental grace. Sacramental efficacy insures the conferral of 

grace in the sacramental act. 

The ―sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: ‗by the very fact of the action's being 

performed‘), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It 

follows that ‗the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or 

the recipient, but by the power of God.‘ From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated 

in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in 

and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the 

fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them‖ 

(CCC, 1128). 

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In sacraments the posture of the recipient may be interpreted as informing the disposition 

of the one receiving the sacraments so as to not place any obstacle in the way of reception, e.g., 

impenitence. More positively one is exhorted to receive the sacraments in faith, hope and love, 

and cooperate with the grace received in order to bear fruit in Christ. 

Discipleship follows upon baptism. For adults who are baptized using the Rite of 

Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) culminating at the Easter Vigil, baptism is followed by a 

period of mystagogy wherein the mysteries of the faith continue to be assimilated through the 

grace of baptism and one‘s relationship with Christ. For all the faithful this is represented and 

celebrated in the fifty days of the Easter Season ending with the Solemn Feast of Pentecost and 

the coming of the Holy Spirit. As a life long process of discipleship baptism continues to 

highlight the Christian‘s deepening union with Christ is his death and resurrection. 

The faithful Christian who has ―kept the seal‖ until the end, remaining faithful to the 

demands of his baptism, will be able to depart this life ―marked with the sign of faith,‖ 

with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God——the 

consummation of faith——in the hope of resurrection (CCC, 1274). 


Baptism nourishes Christian faith and discipleship. A life of faith and discipleship 

involves trusting God and accepting grace: ―Faith is complete trust in God and willing 

acceptance of his grace in Jesus Christ‖ (Evangelical Catechism (UCC), Q. & A. 80). The main 

components of genuine Christian faith are knowledge and assurance. Faith involves a form of 

knowledge: ―Christian faith is not an opinion or human conviction, but a most firm trust and a 

clear and steadfast assent of the mind, and then a most certain apprehension of the truth of God 

presented in the Scriptures and in the Apostles‘ Creed, and thus also of God himself, the greatest 

good, and especially of God‘s promise and of Christ who is the fulfillment of all promises‖ 

(Second Helvetic Confession, 5.112). In addition to this firm knowledge, faith also involves a 

deep assurance of the heart: ―True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything 

God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy 

Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I 

too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted 

salvation‖ (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 21). 

Faith does not arise from our own ―natural powers,‖ but is kindled in our hearts by the 

Holy Spirit (Scots Confession, 3.12; Belgic Confession, art. 22). The Spirit ordinarily creates 

faith in people‘s hearts through the preaching of the gospel (or ministry of the word), then 

confirms and strengthens that faith through preaching as well as through the sacraments and 

prayer (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 65; Westminster Conf. of Faith, 6.078). Since faith is 

bestowed on people by God, not in the sense that God gives the potential to believe and awaits 

our choice, but in the sense that God produces in people ―both the will to believe and the belief 

itself,‖ faith is a gift of God (Canons of Dort, II, art. 14) 

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How does baptism nourish faith? Word and sacraments work together, like a letter with 

an imprinted seal, to ground faith: ―Now faith rests only upon the Word of God; and the Word of 

God is like papers or letters, and the sacraments are like seals which only God appends to the 

letters‖ (Second Helvetic Confession, 5.172). Since God has ordained sacraments ―to nourish 

and sustain our faith,‖ and since the Lord‘s Supper testifies to us that, ―just as truly as‖ we hold, 

eat, and drink the visible bread and wine of the sacrament, so truly do we receive Jesus Christ‘s 

body and blood, faith can be seen as ―the hand and mouth of our souls‖ (Belgic Confession, arts. 

33, 35). 

Baptism is a call to Christian discipleship: ―The Baptism which makes Christians 

partakers of the mystery of Christ‘s death and resurrection implies confession of sin and 

conversion of heart‖ (BEM, Baptism II.4). Luther says that baptism with water ―signifies that the 

old Adam in us, together with all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by daily sorrow and 

repentance and be put to death, and that the new man should come forth daily and rise up, 

cleansed and righteous, to live forever in God‘s presence‖ (Luther‘s Small Catechism). The 

Heidelberg Catechism speaks of baptism as being washed with Christ‘s blood and Spirit, noting 

that being washed with Christ‘s blood signifies God‘s forgiveness of sins and that being washed 

with Christ‘s Spirit ―means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member 

of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless 

life‖ (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 70). In baptism, Jesus Christ, through the Spirit, washes 

away sins and frees people from their control. Baptism therefore signifies that one day we will 

rise with Christ in glory and may walk even now in newness of life (Study Catechism 1998 of 

the PCUSA, Q. & A. 72). 

Baptism nourishes the life of faith and discipleship not only of the person being baptized 

but also of those who witness this demonstrated word of grace. Throughout their lives, and 

especially when tempted or when witnessing the baptism of others, those who have been 

baptized must ―improve their baptism‖ by considering baptism‘s meaning and benefits, being 

humbled by their having fallen short of and gone contrary to the grace of baptism, receiving 

assurance of pardon, drawing strength from Christ‘s death and resurrection for their own 

mortifying of sin, and endeavoring to live as those who have been given to Christ and baptized 

by the Spirit (Westminster Larger Catechism, Q.&A. 167). 

BAPTISM AND THE CHURCH 

5. f. What implications does baptism have for the church? 


Baptism is the sacramental bond that effects membership in the visible Church. As an 

ecclesial sacrament it is also the basis for the real communion that Christians enjoy in their 

churches and among the various ecclesial communities as they strive to overcome separation and 

division in a more full and perfect communion. 


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Baptism is ecclesially mediated and is the basis for incorporation into the Church. The 

People of God of the New Covenant are brought into being from the font of baptism. It creates a 

communion that ―transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and 

sexes‖ (CCC, 1267). All the baptized share in common priesthood of all believers, itself a 

participation in the priesthood of Christ including his prophetic and royal missions. From this 

proceeds ―the apostolic and missionary activity of the People of God‖ (CCC, 1270). As the 

sacramental bond of communion baptism ―constitutes the foundation of communion among all 

Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church‖ (CCC, 

1271). Thus baptism serves as the basis for ecumenism as Unitatis Redintegratio (UR), Vatican 

II‘s Decree on Ecumenism states: 

For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though 

imperfect communion with the Catholic Church (UR, 3). 

And in terms of full ecclesial intentionality of baptism, 

Baptism, therefore, constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all those 

who through it are reborn. But baptism, of itself, is only a beginning, a point of 

departure, for it is wholly directed toward the acquiring of fullness of life in Christ. 

Baptism is thus ordained toward a complete profession of faith, a complete incorporation 

into the system of salvation such as Christ himself willed it to be, and finally, toward a 

complete integration into Eucharistic communion (UR, 22). 


Christian baptism is a ―basic bond of unity‖ that brings Christians ―into union with 

Christ, with each other and with the Church of every time and place‖ (BEM, Baptism II.6). This 

―one baptism into Christ constitutes a call to the churches to overcome their divisions and visibly 

manifest their fellowship‖ (BEM, Baptism II.6). 

Baptism is the means by which ―individuals are publicly received into the church to share 

in its life and ministry;‖ conversely, when it baptizes people, ―the church becomes responsible 

for their training and support in Christian discipleship‖ (The Confession of 1967 of the PCUSA, 

9.51). 

5. g. Who May Baptize, and with What Means and Formula? 


In order for a baptism to be valid, it must be administered by someone authorized to do 

so, using water and the Trinitarian formula. Typically, baptism is administered by an ordained 

minister or priest, within a worship service, using water (either dipping the baptizand into the 

water or pouring or sprinkling the water on the baptizand), and following the command of Jesus 

to baptize people of all nations ―in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit‖ 

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(Matt. 28:19). The Roman Catholic Church allows non-ordained people to administer baptism 

and permits baptism to occur outside a worship service; Reformed churches do not allow such 

exceptions. Some Reformed churches allow – at least in practice – the use of alternate 

formulations of the Trinitarian formula (e.g., ―in the name of God the Creator, God the 

Redeemer, and God the Sanctifier‘); other Reformed churches as well as the Roman Catholic 

Church do not. With one exception, the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformed churches in 

this dialogue accept any baptism of a member of one of the other ecclesiastical bodies in this 

dialogue as long as the baptism was recognized as valid by the ecclesiastical communion in 

which the person was a member. The exception is that the Roman Catholic Church does not 

recognize as valid a baptism in which any of the following is lacking: intent to do what the 

Church does when she baptizes, use of water, and use of the Triune name as given in Matt. 

28:19. 


Baptism must be administered with water and in the name of the Triune God since ―entry 

into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ‖ is 

signified and enacted in the sacrament (CCC, 1239). Therefore, the validity of baptism has to do 

with the very mystery of the faith, the mystagogy of communion with the Trinity. Consequently, 

the most expressive form of baptism is triple immersion in baptismal water, the latter 

consecrated by a prayer of epiclesis (an invocation for the Father to send the Holy Spirit upon the 

water to give the grace of the Son). However, pouring is also accepted. The formula differs 

between the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. The minister in the Latin Church 

says: ―N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.‖ An 

Eastern Rite priest utilizes a variation of this: ―The servant of God, N., is baptized in the name of 

the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.‖ As for the ministers of baptism a distinction 

is made between ordinary and extraordinary situations with the ecclesial intentionality of the 

sacrament preserved in both cases, either directly through the sacramental representation of 

Christ in the ordained minister who administers the sacrament, or indirectly through action that 

conforms to the Church‘s understanding of it. 

The ordinary ministers of Baptism are the bishop and priest and, in the Latin Church, also 

the deacon. In case of necessity, anyone, even a non-baptized person, with the required 

intention, can baptize, by using the Trinitarian baptismal formula. The intention required 

is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes. The Church finds the reason for 

this possibility in the universal saving will of God and the necessity of Baptism for 

salvation. (CCC, 1256). 


Sacraments must be administered by ―lawful ministers‖ who have been ―appointed to 

preach the Word, unto whom God has given the power to preach the gospel, and who are 

lawfully called by some Kirk‖ (Scots Conf., ch. 22; also Westminster Conf., ch 30.2). Since 

baptism is rooted in and declares Christ‘s faithfulness, points to the faithfulness of God, and 

involves a congregational reaffirmation of faith and pledge ―to provide an environment of 

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witness and service,‖ baptism should ―always be celebrated and developed in the setting of the 

Christian community‖ (BEM, Baptism IV.12). Therefore, within Reformed churches, only an 

ordained minister of the Word, functioning within the context of the church, may baptize. 

Since the church has received the sacrament of baptism from God as a means of grace, 

the church baptizes by using Christ‘s words of institution, baptizing people of all nations ―in the 

name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit‖ (Matt. 28:19; quoted by Heidelberg 

Catechism, Q.&A. 71 and by the Study Catechism 1998 of the PCUSA, Q.&A. 75). 

Following Christ‘s example and instruction, Christians baptize with water, which may be 

poured or sprinkled on the person, or into which the person may be dipped (2 nd Helvetic Conf., 

ch. 20; Westminster Conf., ch. 30.3). Because the sacraments should be celebrated in their 

―original simplicity,‖ the sacrament of baptism should not be ―adulterated‖ by adding human 

devices such as ―exorcism, the use of burning lights, oil, salt, spittle, and such other things‖ as 

baptizing twice per year ―with a multitude of ceremonies‖ (2 nd Helvetic Conf., ch. 20; Scots 

Conf., ch. 22). 

Reformed Christians consider a sacrament to be valid if it includes the biblical words of 

institution and the biblical sign (i.e., water or bread and the fruit of the vine), if it is performed by 

someone who would be authorized by a Christian church to perform the sacrament, if the 

church‘s authorities sanction the sacrament, if the recipient (or the parent[s], in cases of infant 

baptism) requests or intends to receive the sacrament, and if it is performed in a worship service 

(or, if that is not practicable, connected in some way to the worshiping community). 

RECIPIENTS OF BAPTISM 

5. h. Why Do People Need to Be Baptized? 


Although God created the human race righteous and holy, bearing God‘s image, the fall 

of humanity into sin has so infected the race that all human beings are born sinful, alienated from 

God, and subject to death and misery. Sin has ruined our connection with God, other human 

beings, and other creatures, leaving us slaves to sin as well as guilty of it, and helpless to save 

ourselves from our plight. We therefore need the forgiveness and new life from God that are 

effected (according to the Roman Catholic Church) or signified (according to Reformed 

churches) by baptism. 


The necessity of baptism in bringing about regeneration and adoption figures greatly in 

the divine economy of salvation due to the consequences of original sin that subjected humanity 

to sin and death. Original sin is ―an essential truth of the faith‖ (CCC, 388). It is, ―so to speak, 

the ‗reverse side‘ of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men‖ (CCC, 389) and cannot 

be ignored without undermining the faith itself. The Catholic Church, therefore, understands the 

Fall of humanity as an historical event preceded by the fall of the angels. ―The account of the fall 

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in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the 

beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of 

human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents‖ (CCC, 390). 

Through their own personal sin Adam and Eve ―lost the original holiness and 

justice…received from God, not only for …[themselves]…but for all human beings‖ (CCC, 

416). They universally transmitted to their descendents the wound of their own sin such that 

Pope Paul VI could confess in his 1968 Solemn Profession Faith: Credo of the People of God 

(CPG, quoted in CCC, 419), ―We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that original sin is 

transmitted with human nature, ‗by propagation, not by imitation‘ and that it is…‘proper to each‘ 

(CPG, 16). More precisely ―original sin is called ‗sin‘ only in an analogical sense: it is a sin 

‗contracted‘ and not ‗committed‘ - a state and not an act‖ (CCC, 404). The loss of original 

justice and holiness leads to another consequence of original sin. ―[H]uman nature is weakened 

in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin 

(this inclination is called ‗concupiscence‘)‖ (CCC, 418). 

It is important to register that for Catholics concupiscence is not sin itself. Sin always 

requires a free act of the will. Concupiscence is the tendency toward sin present in human nature 

after the Fall. This inclination to sin – metaphorically speaking, ‗the tinder for sin‘ (fomes 

peccati) – also remains after baptism. Despite the deprivation caused by original sin the Catholic 

Church rejoices that the ―victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than 

those which sin had taken from us‖ (CCC, 420). It also provides a spiritual lesson for the newly 

baptized so that with the help of Christ‘s grace they ―may prove themselves in the struggle of 

Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to 

which the Lord never ceases to call us‖ (CCC, 1426). 

In addition to washing away original sin baptism also remits the temporal punishment 

due to any personal sin. The consequences of sin or its deleterious effects upon a person are 

remitted. However, ―certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as 

suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character‖ (CCC, 

1264) along with concupiscence. 

An important aspect of the Catholic understanding of the human condition (or theological 

anthropology) is the prelapsarian state of humanity. Although created in grace – the state of 

original holiness and justice that enabled friendship and intimacy with God as well as harmony 

in the human condition, interiorly, socially, and with all of creation – it must be understood that 

the loss of this grace was one of the effects of the Fall. Therefore, ―original holiness and justice‖ 

was indeed a grace and not something intrinsic to human nature. It was a gift from God. 

Nevertheless, humanity was constituted in this state. Without pursuing the many nuances and 

lively theological debates that inform the Catholic understanding of the relationship between 

nature and grace, it is worth stating that from a Catholic perspective the grace of original 

holiness and justice would be compromised – especially with regard to the gratuity, freedom and 

supernatural character of divine grace – if it was understood to be an essential dimension of 

human nature and not as a gift given with creation. Since baptism effects the new creation in 

Christ through regeneration and justification, grace restores the holiness and justice lost in the 

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Fall. This is a marvelous work of divine mercy and grace. With St. Augustine the Catechism of 

the Catholic Church agrees that ―the justification of the wicked is a greater work than the 

creation of heaven and earth‖ and even ―surpasses the creation of the angels in justice, in that it 

bears witness to a greater mercy‖ (CCC, 1994). Or, as St. Paul expresses the superabundance of 

grace, ―where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more‖ (Rom 5: 20b). 


People need to be baptized because all are sinners, born subject to sin and willing 

participants in the human race‘s sinful rejection of God. All are therefore alienated from God and 

subject to death and misery. 

Although God created the human race ―in true righteousness and holiness,‖ and bearing 

God‘s image, the fall into sin ―has so poisoned our nature that we are born sinners — corrupt 

from conception on‖ (Heidelberg Catechism, Q.&A. 7). Original sin is an inherited corruption 

whereby, through the fall into sin, human beings have come ―under the power of satan, sin, and 

death,‖ and therefore are ―inclined to do evil‖ (Evangelical Catechism of the UCC, Q.&A. 24, 

25). Original sin is an innate, transmitted corruption ―which has been derived or propagated in us 

all from our first parents, by which we, immersed in perverse desires and averse to all good, are 

inclined to all evil‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.037). Original Sin is ―so vile and enormous in 

God‘s sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly 

uprooted even by baptism‖ (Belgic Conf., art. 15). 

Original sin contains several facets, including ―the guilt of Adam‘s first sin, the want of 

that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly 

indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to 

all evil, and that continually‖ (Westminster Larger Catechism, 7.135). In short, unless we are 

born again ―we are so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all 

evil‖ (Heidelberg Catechism, Q.&A. 8). Having been born with original sin, and apart from the 

regenerating work of the Spirit, we both unable and unwilling to return to God or to begin to 

reform ourselves: ―Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, 

unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin; without the grace 

of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their 

distorted nature, or even to dispose themselves to such reform‖ (Canons of Dort, III/IV, art. 3). 

Although original sin has turned us from God and leaves us incapable of reforming 

ourselves, it has not extinguished all sense of God or morality: ―There is, to be sure, a certain 

light of nature remaining in man after the fall, by virtue of which he retains some notions about 

God, natural things, and the difference between what is moral and immoral, and demonstrates a 

certain eagerness for virtue and for good outward behavior. But this light of nature is far from 

enabling man to come to a saving knowledge of God and conversion to him‖ (Canons of Dort, 

III/IV, art. 4). 

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A recent study catechism nicely captures the ways in which sin has distorted both 

ourselves and all our relations with others: ―Although we did not cease to be with God, our 

fellow human beings, and other creatures, we did cease to be for them; and although we did not 

lose our distinctive human capacities completely, we did lose the ability to use them rightly, 

especially in relation to God. Having ruined our connection with God by disobeying God‘s will, 

we are persons with hearts curved in upon ourselves. We have become slaves to the sin of which 

we are guilty, helpless to save ourselves, and are free, so far as freedom remains, only within the 

bounds of sin‖ (Study Catechism 1998 of the PCUSA, Q.&A. 20). 

5. i. Who Can Receive Baptism? 


Anyone who, having been outside the household of faith, accepts the Christian faith and 

participates in catechetical instruction not only may, but should, be baptized. In addition, infants 

of believing parents should be baptized. 


Quoting from the Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church (Codex Iuris Canonici—— 

CIC, can. 864) the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: ―Every person not yet baptized and 

only such a person is able to be baptized‖ (CCC, 1246). The same applies for the Eastern 

Catholic Churches (Corpus Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium——CCEO, can. 679). There are 

two implications that one can draw from these canons. First, it highlights the missional 

dimension of the Church, called to proclaim the gospel to all nations. All peoples are called to 

faith and baptism. Second, any person validly baptized in another Church or ecclesial 

community is already a Christian and cannot be baptized again. It underscores the common faith 

that Catholics share with other Christians. 


Churches baptize those who, having come from other religions or from unbelief, ―accept 

the Christian faith and participate in catechetical instruction‖ (BEM, Baptism IV.11). So those 

who ―profess faith in and obedience unto Christ‖ should be baptized (Westminster Conf., 6.157). 

But those who are not part of the visible church and therefore are ―strangers from the covenant of 

promise,‖ should not be baptized ―till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him,‖ 

although infants with one or both parents who profess faith in, and obedience to, Christ ―are, in 

that respect, within the covenant, and are to be baptized‖ (Westminster Larger Catechism, Q.&A. 

166). 

5. j. Why do we baptize children? 


Since God‘s promises and covenant extend to the children of those who believe in Jesus 

Christ, we administer baptism, the sign of the covenant, not only to those who come to faith as 

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adults, but also to the infant children of those who believe in Jesus Christ and have established 

membership in a local parish or congregation. Such baptism recognizes the need of new birth on 

the part of all people, even infants. It also connects Christian baptism to circumcision, the sign of 

the covenant in ancient Israel. And it shows that infants, along with their believing parents, are 

included in the hope of the gospel and belong to the people of God. 


The Catholic Church baptizes infants in recognition that children are in need of new birth 

and that infant baptism particularly manifests the ―sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation‖ 

(CCC, 1250). Since baptism is the sacrament of faith there is a clear recognition that faith is 

present for infant baptism as well as for adult baptism. Within the faith of the Church including 

the faith of the assembly, the faith of the parents and godparents (a true ecclesial function—— 

officium) is active on behalf of the child. Christian nurture provided by family and community is 

important for the faith that must grow after baptism as the child goes on to receive the 

sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation at the appropriate ages. First 

Communion in particular is an important event for the child to develop a personal relationship 

with Christ. In this respect baptism is a beginning but one which the Church cannot refuse. 

The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of 

God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth (CCC, 1250). 


Just as infants in ancient Israel received circumcision, the sign of the covenant, so too 

infants in the church should be baptized: ―We believe our children ought to be baptized and 

sealed with the sign of the covenant, as little children were circumcised in Israel on the basis of 

the same promises made to our children‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 34). Since infants as well as 

adults are in God‘s covenant, they should be ―received into the Christian church‖ by this ―mark 

of the covenant‖ and ―distinguished from the children of unbelievers. This was done in the Old 

Testament by circumcision, which was replaced in the New Testament by baptism‖ (Heidelberg 

Catechism, Q. & A. 74). In short, ―baptism does for our children what circumcision did for the 

Jewish people. This is why Paul calls baptism the ‗circumcision of Christ‘‖ (Belgic Conf., art. 

34, quoting Col. 2:11). 

In sum, infants, ―[a]long with their believing parents, are included in the great hope of the 

gospel and belong to the people of God. Forgiveness and faith are both promised to them as gifts 

through Christ‘s covenant with his people. These children are therefore to be received into the 

community by baptism, nurtured in the Word of God, and confirmed at an appropriate time by 

their own profession of faith‖ (Study Catechism of 1998 of the PCUSA, Q. & A. 73). 

When parents have their children baptized, the parents must ―help their children grow in 

godly life by Christian teaching and training, by prayer and example‖ (Evangelical Catechism, 

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Q.&A. 121). The church and its minister need evidence of such a commitment before baptizing 

an infant: ―It would be irresponsible to baptize an infant without at least one Christian parent or 

guardian who promises to nurture the infant in the life of the community and to instruct it in the 

Christian faith‖ (Study Catechism 1998 of the PCUSA, Q.&A. 74). 

5. k. Why should someone be baptized only once? 


As Jesus Christ died once for all and was raised from the dead (Rom 6:10, Heb 9:28, 1 

Pet 3:18), so too, the Christian is baptized only once, signifying union with Christ in his death 

and resurrection through the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5-7). 


Baptism, along with Confirmation and Holy Orders, is a sacrament that cannot be 

repeated. This has been associated with the reception of a spiritual mark or sacramental 

character. In the case of the first sacrament to be administered, ―[b]aptism imprints on the soul 

an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian 

worship‖ (CCC, 1280). Therefore the baptized person by virtue of this ―seal of the Lord‖ is 

enabled to exercise the baptismal priesthood or the common priesthood of the faithful (CCC, 

1274). It is also a sign of the fullness of redemption to be accomplished in the consummation of 

faith at the parousia, the resurrection of the dead, and in the beatific vision. A sign of hope that 

marks the person as belonging to Christ, it also cannot be erased even ―if sin prevents Baptism 

from bearing the fruits of salvation‖ (CCC, 1272). 


As the sign of rebirth in Christ, baptism should be administered only once to a person: 

―anyone who aspires to reach eternal life ought to be baptized only once without ever repeating it 

— for we cannot be born twice‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 34). ―Any practice which might be 

interpreted as ‗re-baptism‘ must be avoided‖ (BEM, Baptism IV.13). 

5. l. What is the relationship between baptism and confirmation and/or profession of faith? 


Those who are baptized as adults are confirmed or profess their faith at the time of their 

baptism. Those baptized as children should, at an appropriate age, be confirmed or make an 

ecclesial profession of their faith. While we agree that baptism signifies new birth in water and 

the Holy Spirit and that no Christian is without the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9), we do not agree that 

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there is a distinct sacramental act to signify and impart the gift of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, 

all the baptized are heirs of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost. 


The overarching framework for baptism is the context of Christian Initiation. Along with 

the sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist baptism is necessary for the full initiation of the 

new Christian into Christ and his Church. The new life in Christ is received in baptism, 

strengthened in confirmation and nurtured by the Eucharist. Although all three sacraments are 

administered together in the case of adult conversion and for infants in the Eastern Catholic 

Churches, they are separated for the initiation of those baptized as infants in the Latin Church. 

The sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation are administered at an appropriate age along with 

the proper catechesis and sacramental preparation. Nevertheless, this distinction between 

baptism and confirmation does not eliminate their essential complementarity for Christian 

initiation. 

As baptism is clearly associated with the paschal mystery of the Easer Vigil and the 

reception of the fruits of Christ‘s saving death and resurrection, so ―the effect of the sacrament of 

Confirmation is the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit as once granted to the apostles on the 

day of Pentecost‖ (CCC, 1302). During the Easter Vigil adult catechumens are baptized, 

confirmed and receive the Eucharist for the first time, thus completing their Christian Initiation. 

The Christian faithful also renew their baptismal promises by renouncing sin and Satan, and 

professing the Apostles‘ Creed. The joint mission of the Son and Holy Spirit is present in both 

sacraments with the latter sacrament understood as the ―an increase and deepening of baptismal 

grace‖ (CCC, 1303). A deeper sense of divine filiation, union with Christ, and increase of the 

gifts of the Spirit in Confirmation render a more perfect bond with the Church and a special 

strength to confess Christ in the world. Therefore, the grace of Confirmation is a further giving 

of the Spirit already received in baptism with an eye towards maturity, perfection and mission. 


Those who come to the Christian faith, not having been baptized as infants, make a 

profession of their faith and are confirmed at the same time that they are baptized. Those who 

have been baptized as infants, having been received into the community of the church and 

―nurtured in the Word of God,‖ are to be ―confirmed at an appropriate time by their own 

profession of faith‖ (Study Catechism 1998 of the PCUSA, Q.&A. 73). 

Although one should be baptized only once, that ―baptism is profitable not only when the 

water is on us and when we receive it but throughout our entire lives‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 

34). Thus, in the case of those baptized as infants, God‘s promises to be a God to that child lead 

to the church‘s expectation that God will work in that child through the Holy Spirit and that the 

child will respond to the Spirit‘s work in faith. The church then expects that, once they reach an 

age of maturity, baptized children who have responded to the Spirit‘s work in faith will profess 

that faith publicly in the context of the church. 

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Since confirmation was not instituted by Jesus, the Protestant reformers did not accept 

confirmation as a sacrament. Still, many reformers desired some ritual by which children who 

had been baptized would publicly appropriate the baptismal promises that were spoken on their 

behalf. Thus the Reformed tradition adapted the earlier rite of confirmation into a catechetical 

practice for children that included the laying on of hands. Upon completion of this rite, children 

were typically admitted to the Lord‘s Supper, thus connecting two fragmented pieces of patristic 

initiation, ―confirmation‖ and first communion. Within the Reformed tradition, infant baptism, 

young adult confirmation, and then first communion became a standard pattern for many 

churches. In recent years, several Reformed churches have begun allowing or advocating the 

pattern of infant baptism, communion at a young age, and then confirmation during adolescence. 

BAPTISM AND OTHER DOCTRINES 

5. m. What is the relationship between baptism and election? 


Those who are baptized are part of God‘s elect people, the Christian church. A person‘s 

being baptized is not a guarantee that the person is predestined or elected to salvation. 


The Catechumenate for those preparing for Baptism ends with the Rite of Election at the 

beginning of Lent. The candidates are thus called the elect. 

For a person to be enrolled among the elect, he must have enlightened faith and the 

deliberate intention of receiving the sacraments of the Church. After the election, he is 

encouraged to advance toward Christ with even greater generosity (RCIA, 134). 

However, this differs from the theological discussion over the doctrine of election 

understood as predestination. The Catholic Church has not precisely defined the doctrines of 

election and predestination although the doctrine exists and has led to considerable theological 

debate. There are certain negative parameters to be observed. The Council of Trent states: 

―No one, moreover, so long as he is in this mortal life, ought so far to presume as regards 

the secret mystery of divine predestination, as to determine for certain that he is assuredly 

in the number of the predestinate; as if it were true, that he that is justified, either cannot 

sin any more, or, if he do sin, that he ought to promise himself an assured repentance; for 

except by special revelation, it cannot be known whom God hath chosen unto Himself‘ 

(Decree on Justification, Chapter XII). 

This is confirmed by the canons of the same Decree: 

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―If any one saith, that he will for certain, of an absolute and infallible certainty, have that 

great gift of perseverance unto the end, unless he have learned this by special revelation; 

let him be anathema‖ (Canon 16). 

―If any one saith, that the grace of Justification is only attained to by those who are predestined 

unto life; but that all others who are called, are called indeed, but receive not grace, as being, by 

the divine power, predestined unto evil; let him be anathema‖ (Canon 17). 

The Decree on Justification along with other Decrees, e.g., the Condemnation of 

Cornelius Jansen, thus excludes positive reprobation based upon the unconditional predestination 

of the unjust, and any denial of the universality of the divine will for salvation, the scope of the 

atonement, and extent of the offer of grace. Consistent with these the Catholic doctrine of grace 

denies its irresistibility and affirms the freedom of the will both prior to grace (although 

wounded by sin) and under the influence of grace. Positive assessments of predestination 

include the following propositions articulated by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.: “(1) 

Predestination to the first grace is not because God foresaw our naturally good works, nor is the 

beginning of salutary acts due to natural causes; (2) predestination to glory is not because God 

foresaw we would continue in the performance of supernaturally meritorious acts apart from the 

special gift of final perseverance; (3) complete predestination, in so far as it comprises the whole 

series of graces from the first up to glorification, is gratuitous or previous to foreseen merits.” 2 

The knotty issue of how grace and freedom are related and the nature of efficacious 

grace——a heated dispute between Dominicans and Jesuits, the Congregatio de Auxiliis 

controversy——was put to rest by Pope Paul V in 1607 when he forbad both sides from 

censuring the other. It therefore remains an open theological question. The Council of Quiersy 

in 853 best sums up what the Church can say in the most general terms: 

―that certain ones are saved, is the gift of the one who saves; that certain ones perish, 

however, is the deserved punishment of those who perish‖ (Chapter 3). 

Practically, many Catholics have taken the advice of St. Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual 

Exercises (SE): 

―Granted that it be very true that no one can be saved without being predestined and 

without having faith and grace, still we must be very cautious about the way in which we 

speak of all these things and discuss them with others‖ (―Rules for Thinking with the 

Church,‖ SE, 14). 


Some in the Reformed tradition, including Calvin, speak of two types of election: God‘s 

election of a people, such as ancient Israel or the Christian church, and God‘s election of 

individuals to salvation. Membership in the former leads to the hope or expectation, but not the 

2 Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., Predestination, translated by Dom Bede Rose, O.S.B. 

(St. Louis: B. Herder, 1939; reprint, Rockford, IL: Tan, 1998), p. 10. 

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guarantee, that one is elect in the latter sense. Baptism is the sign of membership in God‘s elect 

people, the church, but not a guarantee that one is elect to salvation. So baptism is a sign of 

election, but not a guarantee of election to salvation. 

Election to salvation is an eternal divine decision to choose some people to be the 

recipients of special saving grace. In some contexts the term predestination is synonymous with 

election, and in others it encompasses both election and reprobation (an eternal divine decision 

that results in everlasting death and punishment for some persons). The doctrine of election is 

closely tied to the teaching that salvation is a free gift of God (Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:29). 

Although some have held that divine election to salvation is based on God‘s 

foreknowledge of a person‘s faith or life, traditional Reformed confessions hold that, in election, 

God has chosen people for salvation ―freely, and of his mere grace,‖ ―without any consideration 

of their works‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.052; Belgic Conf., art. 16; Canons of Dort, I,9). 

From before the foundation of the world, God has elected people to salvation in Christ 

and on the basis of Christ‘s work: ―Therefore, although not on account of any merit of ours, God 

has elected us, not directly, but in Christ, and on account of Christ, in order that those who are 

now ingrafted into Christ by faith might also be elected‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.053; see also 

Scots Conf., 3.08; Belgic Conf., art. 16, Canons of Dort, I,7). God not only elected us in Christ, 

but ―appointed him to be our head, our brother, our pastor, and the great bishop of our souls‖ 

(Scots Confession, 3.08). 

This divine election to salvation in Christ was for the purpose that we should be ―holy 

and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus 

Christ ... to the praise of his glorious grace‖ (Eph. 1:4-6; quoted by Second Helvetic Conf., 

5.054). Furthermore, election shows both God‘s mercy and God‘s justice. God‘s having 

graciously saved people from perdition shows that God is merciful, while God‘s ―leaving others 

in their ruin and fall into which they plunged themselves‖ shows God‘s justice (Belgic Conf., art. 

16). 

Since Christ did not say how few or many would be saved (Luke 13:23-24), and since we 

do not know who is elect, we should have a good hope for all: ―Although God knows who are 

his, and here and there mention is made of the small number of elect, yet we must hope well of 

all, and not rashly judge any man to be a reprobate‖ (Second Helvetic Conf., 5.055-56). 

Regarding election, then, we should speak with care and with awareness of our limited 

knowledge. These affirmations have a solid foundation: ―No one will be lost who can be saved. 

The limits to salvation, whatever they may be, are known only to God. Three truths above all are 

certain. God is a holy God who is not to be trifled with. No one will be saved except by grace 

alone. And no judge could possibly be more gracious than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ‖ 

(Study Catechism 1998 of the PCUSA, Q. & A. 49). 

5. n. What is the relationship between baptism and grace? 


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Baptism is a sacrament of grace. Baptism signifies both the unmerited favor of God and 

the impartation of divine life that is God‘s self-communication to us. 


With other Christians, Catholics believe that baptism is a sign of new life in Christ. It is 

also an instrument of the divine grace it signifies. The grace of baptism includes the grace of 

justification enabling the new believer to believe, hope in and love God – acts of the three 

theological virtues of faith, hope and charity – and to respond to the promptings and power of the 

Holy Spirit through imparting the traditional sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, 

knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord – Is 11: 2-3a). Through 

cooperation with the grace of baptism the Christian also grows more Christ-like through the 

increase and maturation of the moral virtues, e.g., prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude (cf 

CCC, 1266). 

Grace is essential to the Catholic understanding of justification and sanctification and in a 

profound sense one may confess that all is of grace. A summary of the traditional Catholic 

distinctions in the understanding of different types of grace – habitual and actual grace – is given 

in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 

―Grace is a participation in the life of God… The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that 

God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin 

and to sanctify it…Sanctifying grace [or deifying grace] is an habitual gift, a stable and 

supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by 

his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God's 

call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God's interventions, whether at the 

beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification‖ (CCC, 1997, 

1999-2000). 

Catholic theology, especially in its scholastic genre, had a penchant to elaborate even 

further on the differences among various graces. These include the distinction between 

uncreated grace and created grace, that is, between God himself and the grace that God bestows. 

For example, there is a distinction between God‘s self-bestowal in the Incarnation in the person 

of the divine Son and the humanity of Christ that has received the fullness of grace. There is also 

a distinction between the indwelling of the Trinity in the just person and sanctifying grace that 

transforms the believer, and between the divine essence that is beheld in the beatific vision and 

the light of glory that enables that seeing. Sanctifying grace, therefore, is a supernatural created 

gift——distinct from God——that is infused by God and inhering in the person as an accidental 

mode of being perfecting the soul (which is a substance). Sanctifying grace, also known as 

habitual grace, is an infused supernatural habit given by God distinct from an innate or an 

acquired habit. 

There are also elaborations of actual graces as in graces that illuminate the intellect or 

strengthen the will (grace of illumination and grace of inspiration), prevenient grace (or 

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operating grace) preceding the act of the will (including grace which prepares and disposes one 

for justification) and subsequent grace (or cooperating grace) that accompanies and supports the 

volitional act, sufficient grace enabling a person to accomplish a salutary act and efficacious 

grace that secures such an accomplishment. There are also sacramental graces (proper to each 

sacrament), graces of state accompanying ―the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the 

ministries within the Church‖ (CCC, 2004), and special or charismatic graces, that is, charisms 

or gifts which build up the Church in the service of charity and are therefore ―oriented toward 

sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good‖ (CCC, 2003). 

The Catholic doctrine of grace builds on the notion of God‘s action and our participation 

with God in our own sanctification based on Phil 2: 12b-13; ―…work out your salvation with 

fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire 

and to work.‖ It should also be stated that without grace one is capable by the light of reason and 

free will (although wounded by sin) to know religious and moral truths and perform morally 

good actions. One cannot, however, attain salvation in the absence of grace. 

The fruit of grace in baptism entails regeneration, the ―birth into the new life of 

Christ…by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple 

of the Holy Spirit.‖ It is also the beginning of the ―whole organism of the Christian‘s 

supernatural life‖…namely, ―the renewal of the inner man‖ (CCC, 1266, 1279, 2019) and is 

therefore accompanied by justification and sanctification. 

The Catholic doctrine of justification has been the subject of much ecumenical work as 

reflected in the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification promulgated by the 

Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. In its specifically Catholic articulation 

justification may be defined as including ―not only the remission of sins, but also the 

sanctification and renewal of the interior man.‖ Following upon God‘s merciful initiative of 

offering forgiveness, justification is also ―the acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith in 

Jesus Christ. Righteousness (or ‗justice‘) here means the rectitude of divine love‖ (CCC, 1991). 

Justification may be parsed according to its causes and was dogmatically established at 

the Council of Trent (1545-1563): 

―The causes of this justification are: the final cause is the glory of God and of Christ and 

life everlasting; the efficient cause is the merciful God who washes and sanctifies 

gratuitously, signing and anointing with the holy Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of 

our inheritance, the meritorious cause is His most beloved only begotten, our Lord Jesus 

Christ, who, when we were enemies, for the exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, 

merited for us justification by His most holy Passion on the wood of the cross and made 

satisfaction for us to God the Father, the instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism, 

which is the sacrament of faith, without which no man was ever justified, finally, the 

single formal cause is the justice of God, not that by which He Himself is just, but that by 

which He makes us just, that, namely, with which we being endowed by Him, are 

renewed in the spirit of our mind, and not only are we reputed but we are truly called and 

are just, receiving justice within us, each one according to his own measure, which the 

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Holy Ghost distributes to every one as He wills, and according to each one's disposition 

and cooperation‖ (Chapter VII of the Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent). 

Although justification by faith alone is rejected——Canon IX of the Decree on 

Justification of the Council of Trent (since all the theological virtues of faith, hope and love are 

infused with sanctifying grace)——one may broadly speak of ―justification through faith‖ and 

sanctification through charity,‖ (CCC, 2001). These virtues have to do with our collaboration 

with the grace of God and in that respect ―faith is the beginning of human salvation, the 

foundation and root of all justification‖ (Chapter VIII of the Decree on Justification of the 

Council of Trent). 


Baptism signifies God‘s gracious love. Grace is an unmerited gift of God by which fallen 

humans are adopted as God‘s children and granted the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:24; 

Second Helvetic Confession 5.107; Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 33, 56). God grants 

forgiveness of sins to fallen people and grants to them ―the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, 

and holiness of Christ‖ as an act of grace (Heidelberg Catechism Q. & A. 60, 70). 

Although the grace of forgiveness and regeneration are signified by baptism, forgiveness 

and regeneration do not necessarily occur at the time of baptism. God‘s grace and salvation are 

not so tied to baptism that one cannot be ―regenerated or saved without it, or that all that are 

baptized are undoubtedly regenerated.‖ Nevertheless, ―by the right use of this ordinance the 

grace promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such 

(whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God‘s own 

will, in his appointed time‖ (Westminster Confession, 6.158-59). 

Reformed Christians consider the efficacy of baptism, like the Lord‘s Supper, to depend 

on God‘s grace, working through the Spirit and the words of institution. Sacraments, even when 

rightly used, do not themselves have the power to confer grace. Moreover, the efficacy of a 

sacrament does not ―depend on the piety or intention of him that doth administer it, but upon the 

work of the Spirit, and the word of institution, which contains, together with a precept 

authorizing the use thereof, a promise of benefit to worthy receivers‖ (Westminster Confession, 

6.151; see also Westminster Shorter Catechism, 7.091). Since baptism ―signifies the beginning of 

life in Christ, not its completion, ―[t]he efficacy of Baptism is not tied to that moment of time 

wherein it is administered; yet, notwithstanding, by the right use of this ordinance the grace 

promised is not only offered, but really exhibited and conferred by the Holy Ghost, to such 

(whether of age or infants) as that grace belongeth unto, according to the counsel of God‘s own 

will, in his appointed time‖ (Westminster Confession, 6.159). 

5. o. What is the relationship between baptism and sanctification? 


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Baptism signifies the beginning of sanctification, the universal call to holiness for all 

those joined to Christ. The communication and reception of grace is always a transformative 

event for one‘s relation to God and consequently in one‘s own person. 


Sanctification is the increase of sanctifying grace (or an increase of justification 

received——Chapter X of the Decree on Justification of the Council of Trent). Infused by the 

Holy Spirit, sanctifying grace heals the soul of sin and makes it holy (the sanative [or medicinal] 

and elevating dimensions of grace), uniting the soul to God in Christ. In this respect a person is 

made pleasing to God and can grow in grace through the increase of the theological and moral 

virtues in one‘s life, also known as the increase of justification through cooperation in good 

works enabled by grace. Moved by the Holy Spirit who is the master of the interior life one can 

genuinely merit eternal life by responding to the call to Christian perfection, the fullness of 

divine charity. One also prays for the grace of final perseverance even as one makes spiritual 

progress that bears fruit in a more intimate union with Christ. 

Merit is an important dimension of the Catholic understanding of sanctification. It is a 

consequence of the divine initiative to associate human beings in process of their own salvation. 

―The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man's free 

acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the 

first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit, moreover, itself is due to 

God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given 

by the Holy Spirit‖ (CCC, 2008). 

Although ―no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the 

beginning of conversion…[m]oved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for 

ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and 

charity, and for the attainment of eternal life‖ (CCC, 2010). In this respect all the baptized are 

called to holiness and to that spiritual progress that ―tends toward ever more intimate union with 

Christ‖ (CCC, 2014). Catholics therefore even speak of Christian perfection but one that 

eschews false notions of triumphalism. ―The way of perfection passes by way of the 

Cross…[and t]here is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle‖ (CCC, 2015). 


Baptism calls God‘s people to live in ways that reflect the new life they have received in 

Christ. Sanctification is the newness of life and progress in doing good that appears in those who 

have been buried with Christ and renewed by the Holy Spirit (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 

70). Those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been ―buried with him by baptism into 

death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so [they] too 

might walk in newness of life‖ (Rom. 6:3-4). Thus faith, produced in God‘s people by hearing 

God‘s Word and by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates them and makes them new creatures 

in Christ, freeing them from slavery to sin (2 Cor. 5:17; Belgic Confession, art. 24). It is, 

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moreover, ―impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being, seeing that we do not 

speak of an empty faith but of what Scripture calls ‗faith working through love,‘ which leads a 

man to do by himself the works that God has commanded in his Word‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 

24, quoting Gal. 5:6). 

So when faith bears fruit, leading believers to do what God has commanded in his Word, 

―These works, proceeding from the good root of faith, are good and acceptable to God, since 

they are all sanctified by his grace. Yet they do not count toward our justification — for by faith 

in Christ we are justified, even before we do good works‖ (Belgic Confession, art. 24). 

―Moreover, although we do good works, we do not base our salvation on them; for we cannot do 

any work that is not defiled by our flesh and also worthy of punishment. And even if we could 

point to one, memory of a single sin is enough for God to reject that work‖ (Belgic Confession, 

art. 24). Basing our salvation on ―the merit of the suffering and death of our Savior‖ has the 

benefit of avoiding the doubt, uncertainty, and torment of conscience that would come from 

basing our salvation on our good works (Belgic Confession, art. 24). 

The growth of baptized believers in the Christian life of faith both bears witness to the 

liberating Gospel of Christ and ―has ethical implications which not only call for personal 

sanctification, but also motivate Christians to strive for the realization of the will of God in all 

realms of life‖ (BEM, Baptism, III.10). 

5. p. What is the relationship between baptism and the assurance of salvation? 


Baptism is a sacrament intended to provide assurance to God‘s people. For Roman 

Catholics, baptism is always the assurance of grace imparted and therefore of one‘s entry into 

God‘s salvific purposes. Therefore, all the baptized may take comfort and hope in the salvation 

yet to be consummated that God through his Word and Spirit initiates in baptism. For Reformed 

Christians, baptism is a means God uses to assure believers of God‘s forgiveness and of God‘s 

gracious presence. 


Finally, while Catholics believe that grace is always offered and even infused in baptism 

they may differ with Reformed Christians on the assurance of grace. The assurance of grace 

cannot be considered in the Catholic perspective as the assurance or certainty of salvation. The 

Council of Trent anathematized such assurance as articulated in the language it understood to be 

used by Protestant Reformers. Hence, the following canons from its Decree on Justification: 

If anyone says that in order to obtain the remission of sins it is necessary for every man to 

believe with certainty and without any hesitation arising from his own weakness and 

indisposition that his sins are forgiven him, let him be anathema (Canon 13). 

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If anyone says that man is absolved from his sins and justified because he firmly believes 

that he is absolved and justified, or that no one is truly justified except him who believes 

himself justified, and that by this faith alone absolution and justification are effected, let 

him be anathema (Canon 14). 

Eternal salvation is a matter of perseverance in grace and the object of the virtue of hope. 

Therefore, experiences of grace, for example, spiritual consolations, would not be interpreted as 

the witness of the Spirit assuring one of salvation. If the assurance of grace is intended to pose 

the question as to whether one is certain that he or she is in a state of grace, again the answer 

would be in the negative. That is, it could not be matter of absolute certitude. The same 

Tridentine decree states: 

―For as no pious person ought to doubt the mercy of God, the merit of Christ and the 

virtue and efficacy of the sacraments, so each one, when he considers himself and his 

own weakness and indisposition, may have fear and apprehension concerning his own 

grace, since no one can know with the certainty of faith, which cannot be subject to error, 

that he has obtained the grace of God‖ (Chapter IX). 

The only exception would be by a special privilege of revelation. However, one may on 

the basis of conjecture (not certainty) be assured of receiving divine grace and abiding in it. 

Thomas Aquinas states: ―things are known conjecturally by signs; and thus any one may know 

he has grace, when he is conscious of delighting in God, and of despising worldly things, and 

inasmuch as a man is not conscious of any mortal sin.‖ This can even entail ―certain sweetness‖ 

in spiritual experience although ―this knowledge is imperfect‖ (Summa Theologiae IIae. 112.5). 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in answering this question implicates the 

difference (although not a necessary separation) between the ontological state of grace and 

psychological awareness of grace: 

―Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be 

known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude 

that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord's words——"Thus you 

will know them by their fruits"——reflection on God's blessings in our life and in the 

lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an 

ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty‖ (CCC, 2005). 

A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question 

posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: 

―Asked if she knew that she was in God's grace, she replied: 'If I am not, may it please 

God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there'" (CCC, 2005). 

Faith it must be emphasized is a theological virtue supernaturally infused and abiding in the soul 

amid the consolations and desolations of the spiritual life. 

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Baptism is one of the means by which God assures us of forgiveness and of God‘s 

gracious presence in and with us. Reformed Christians hold that, despite our sin, those whose 

sins are forgiven and who have been made new creatures in Christ may approach God with 

confidence and assurance. Since no one ―loves us more than Jesus Christ,‖ who, being in the 

form of God, emptied himself and made himself like us (Phil. 2:6-8; Heb. 2:17), was tempted in 

all things as we are, made a ―single offering‖ that ―perfected for all time those who are 

sanctified,‖ and intercedes on our behalf, we may now have confidence to approach God ―with a 

true heart in full assurance of faith,‖ holding fast ―to the confession of our hope without 

wavering, for he who has promised is faithful‖ (Heb. 4:14-16; 10:14, 19-22). According to 

Hebrews, ―faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen‖ (Heb. 

11:1). 

The assurance that believers have, like faith itself, is the work of the Holy Spirit: ―Our 

faith and its assurance do not proceed from flesh and blood, that is to say, from natural powers 

within us, but are the inspiration of the Holy Ghost‖ (Scots Confession, 3.12). The work of the 

spirit in people‘s hearts functions as a sort of testimony of God‘s love and forgiveness, thereby 

providing assurance to God‘s people: ―We are assured of our justification by the testimony of the 

Holy Spirit‖ (Evangelical Catechism (UCC), Q. & A. 85). 

The assurance believers have is an important part of true faith: ―True faith is not only a 

knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deeprooted 

assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that, out of sheer grace 

earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made 

forever right with God, and have been granted salvation‖ (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 21). 

God has instituted sacraments as means for assuring us of forgiveness and of God‘s 

gracious presence in and with us: ―The sacraments are visible words which uniquely assure and 

confirm that no matter how greatly I may have sinned, Christ died also for me, and comes to live 

in me and with me‖ (PCUSA Study Catechism of 1998, Q. & A. 69). In the end, however, 

neither the minister nor the sacrament of baptism confers grace; rather, ―our Lord gives what the 

sacrament signifies — namely the invisible gifts and graces,‖ cleansing us of sin, renewing and 

filling our hearts with comfort, ―giving us true assurance of his fatherly goodness,‖ and replacing 

our sinful self with a new self (Belgic Confession, art. 34). 

The assurance of salvation that believers have, then, ―comes not by inquisitive searching 

into the hidden and deep things of God, but by noticing within themselves, with spiritual joy and 

holy delight, the unmistakable fruits of election pointed out in God‘s Word — such as a true faith 

in Christ, a childlike fear of God, a godly sorrow for their sins, a hunger and thirst for 

righteousness, and so on‖ (Canons of Dort, I, art. 12). As God‘s people receive this assurance, 

they have ―greater cause to humble themselves before God, to adore the fathomless depth of his 

mercies, to cleanse themselves, and to give fervent love in return to him who first so greatly 

loved them‖ (Canons of Dort, I, art. 13). 

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God provides assurance to believers to the end that they will not only know forgiveness, 

but also have courage, comfort, and hope in serving God: ―God promises to all who trust in the 

gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the 

presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no 

end‖ (Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ, adapted by Robert Moss). 

6. Pastoral Recommendations: Tangible Expressions of Mutual Recognition of Baptism 

Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue 

1. In our <strong>Agreement</strong>, we have given the grounds for formal mutual recognition of the 

validity of our baptisms. The following are recommended to the consideration of our 

communions on the basis of the ecumenical commitments that bring us to the dialogue 

table. It is understood that these recommendations should be implemented in accordance 

with existing regulations. 

2. We recommend that our local communities maintain the custom of keeping baptismal 

records and providing baptismal certificates when requested at various times in the 

Christian life of our members. Compatibility in the form and content of these documents 

would be sign of ecumenical cooperation and a safeguard of the validity of what we 

celebrate together as Christians. 

3. We recommend that prominence be given to the placement of the baptismal font and 

water near the worshipping assembly as a sign of continuity in faith. 

4. We recommend the practice of inviting members of our respective communions to 

reaffirm their Baptism together at times of prayer for Christian unity. 

5. We recommend, where the custom of baptismal sponsors, witnesses, or godparents has 

been maintained, that these be selected from our respective communities of faith as a sign 

that Christians belonging to our communions are truly members of the Body of Christ. 

This is particularly important when welcoming interchurch families and their 

congregations to a celebration of Baptism. 

6. We recommend the active participation of the families of those to be baptized in the 

selection of readings, intercessory prayers, and music as a way of giving tangible 

evidence of the unity that we share in Christ. 

7. Mindful that the active participation of clergy and laity of the respective communions of 

the spouses is at present allowed in interchurch weddings, we also recommend the 

practice of inviting clergy or lay guests to offer prayers, proclaim a Scripture reading, 

preach, and/or confer a blessing in the rite of Baptism, maintaining respect for the rites of 

each communion. 

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8. We recommend the participation of clergy in local ministerial associations in order to 

facilitate the pastoral dialogues that need to take place to foster ecumenical cooperation at 

Baptism and at other important times in the faith journeys of Christians. Ministerial 

associations can be a means for fostering life-long spiritual accompaniment in faith both 

for clergy and for the laity whom they serve. In addition, such associations may find 

other creative symbolic ways to foster ecumenical sharing in a town, neighborhood, or 

village. 

9. At the funeral rites of members of our communions, including other Christians with 

whom we are in ecumenical dialogue, we recommend the use of a prayer or rite (e.g. 

sprinkling of the casket, the white pall, etc.) as a final commendation that calls to mind 

the enduring gift of grace received in Baptism. 

10. We recommend the use of those liturgical options already available in our official ritual 

books for the celebration of Baptism that enhance ecumenical awareness on the local 

level. 

11. Mindful that in many instances local congregations may not be able to implement all 

these recommendations at the present time, we recommend a patient and prudent process 

of discernment among laity and clergy. We recognize that the journey towards full, 

visible unity depends on openness to the grace of God and humility before the initiatives 

of God‘s Spirit among us, which are themselves based on Baptism. Let us above all work 

to promote the works of charity and service not only to those who are of the household of 

the faith, but also to all people and to all of creation. 

7. Endnotes: 

i For more detailed description of the history that follows, see Maxwell Johnson, The Rites of Christian Initiation: 

Their Evolution and Interpretation (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999) and Edward Yarnold, S.J., The Awe- 

Inspiring Rites of Initiation: The Origins of the R.C.I.A. 2d ed. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1994). 

ii See John Riggs, unpublished paper, July 2006, p. 4. 

iii See H.O. Old, The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century (Eerdmans, 1992), 178. 

iv J.D.C. Fisher, ―Initiation: Lutheran, Anglican and Reformed Rites,‖ in The Study of Liturgy, revised edition 

(1992), 155-157. The following historical summary is informed in part by Fisher‘s essay. 

v The resulting simple three part structure was: 

cleansing--signation--flood prayer 

exorcism--reading of Mark 10:13-16--Lord‘s Prayer 

renunciation--profession--baptism--Lord‘s Prayer. 

Afterward, the child is vested in a white robe. For Luther‘s rites, see Luther’s Works 53 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 

1965), 106-109 or J.D.C. Fisher, Christian Initiation: The Reformation Period (London: SPCK, 1970), 6-16 and 23- 

25. See also John Riggs, Baptism in the Reformed Tradition: An Historical and Practical Theology (Westminster 

John Knox, 2002), 11-13. 

vi His order was as follows: 

―Our help is in the name of the Lord . . .‖ 

Presentation and naming of the child 

Prayer for faith and regeneration (partly based on Luther‘s flood prayer) 

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Reading of Mark 10:13-16 

Naming (again) and baptism in the triune name 

Clothing in white robe 

Benediction [Fisher, 129-131.] 

vii It followed this order: 

Presentation 

Invitation to prayer 

Lord‘s Prayer 

Apostles‘ Creed 

Prayer for the gift of faith and for regeneration 

Reading of Mark 10:13-16 

Exhortation on the gospel 

Charge to the godparents to ―teach this child Christian order, discipline and fear of God‖ 

Naming of the child and baptism in the triune name (pouring) 

Benediction [―A Rite of Baptism, Used at Strassburg, 1525-1530,‖ in Fisher, 34-37.] 

viii His order was as follows: 

Invocation ―Our help is in the name of the Lord . . .‖ 


Baptismal exhortation, including reference to John 3 (Jesus‘ words to 

Nicodemus), an outline of the plan of redemption, and discussion of the meaning of baptism (with 

emphasis on washing rather than death and resurrection). Calvin discusses baptism as a sure 

witness of both justification and sanctification, suggesting that baptism applies to us the benefits 

of Christ‘s death and resurrection. The exhortation concludes with a discussion of infant baptism, 

including Matthew‘s version of the blessing of the children (Matt. 19:13-15) 

Invocation followed by Lord‘s Prayer (no reference to water) 

Admonition to the godparents, including paraphrase of the creed 

Baptism in the triune name. 

Benediction 

[See Fisher essay in The Study of Liturgy, 156-157; Fisher, Christian Initiation, 113-117; H.O. Old, The Shaping of 

the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century (Eerdmans, 1992), 172.] 

ix Knox‘s order was as follows: 

x 


Exhortation, beginning with defense of infant baptism (including references to 

circumcision, as well as scriptural allusions to 1 Cor. 7:14 and Mark 10), and then proceeding to 

clarify that baptism is not necessary for salvation, yet performed out of obedience to Christ‘s 

command to teach us that Christ‘s blood washes away sins and signifies regeneration. 

Admonition to parents (and godparents) to raise the baptized child in the 

faith 

Profession of faith by father (or godfather), using Apostles‘ Creed 

Prayer that God will sanctify and receive the infant into ―the number of thy 

children,‖ come to full mature confession of faith, and after death be received into heaven. This 

prayer concludes with the Lord‘s Prayer. ix 

Baptism in the triune name 

Post-baptismal prayer giving thanks for God‘s goodness and praying for 

continued favor toward us, and ―tuition and defence‖ of the infant baptized that by the ―holy 

sprite, working in his harte‖ s/he may ―so prevayle against Satan, that in the end, obteyning the 

victorie, he may be exalted into the libertie of thy kingdome.‖ 

[See William D. Maxwell, The Liturgical Portions of the Genevan Service Book (Faith Press, 1965), 105- 

120.] 

It has the following structure: 

Instruction on the meaning of baptism, including the themes of cleansing from 

sin, adoption into the covenant, and call to live in obedience to God 

Invocation (Luther‘s flood prayer from 1523) 

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Address to the parents, including promise to teach the faith to the children 


Prayer of thanksgiving 

[―Baptism of Children‖ from CRCNA Baptism forms.] 

xi The outline of the service is as follows: 

Presentation of the child by the father (or other Christian friend) 

Instruction on the meaning of baptism ―touching on the Institution, Nature, Use, and ends of this 

Sacrament‖ including the several things signified and sealed by it: ―that it is a Seale of the 

Covenant of Grace, of our Ingrafting into Christ, and of our Union with him, of Remission of Sins, 

Regeneration, Adoption, and Life eternall.‖ The instruction goes on to explain the reasons for 

infant baptism (as did the 16 th C rites), the responsibilities of the baptized to ―fight against the 

Devill, the World and the Flesh,‖ cautions against tying the grace of baptism to the moment of its 

administration, and denies that baptism is necessary for salvation. 

Admonition of the congregation to ―looke back to their Baptisme; to repent of their seins against 

their covenant with God; to stir up their faith; to improve and make the right use of their baptisme; 

and of the Covenant, sealed thereby betwixt God and their soules.‖ 

Exhortation of the parent to bring up the child in the Christian religion, requiring a ―solemn 

promise for the performance of his duty.‖ 

Scriptural institution 

Prayer ―for sanctifying the Water to this spirituall use.‖ The prayer includes petition that God 

would join the baptism of the Spirit with the baptism of water, making the sacrament a seal of all 

the promises mentioned in the instructionSpecific mention of water in the prayer does not appear 

in the American adaptation of the Directory (1788), nor in Presbyterian baptismal liturgies, until 

the late 20 th C. An exception is Charles Shields‘ 1864 publication of the 1661 BCP, which 

apparently did enjoy usage in some American Presbyterian churches in the 19 th C. 

Baptism in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost by pouring or sprinkling. 

Prayer of thanksgiving. Includes thanksgiving for God‘s faithfulness and graciousness as well as 

prayer that the one baptized will be received by God into ―his fatherly tuition and defence,‖ so that 

if the child dies in infancy, God will receive him into glory, and if the child should live, that God 

will ―make his Baptisme effectual to him . . . that by faith he may prevail against the devil, the 

world, and the flesh.‖ This prayer echoes the language of Knox‘s post-baptismal prayer. [The 

Westminster Directory being A Directory for the Publique Worship of God in the Three 

Kingdomes (1644), with an introduction by Ian Breward (Grove Books, 1980), 19-21.] 

xii Hall, 74. 

xiii See Hall, 125. 

xiv Charles Shields, ed., The Book of <strong>Common</strong> Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other rites and 

ceremonies of the church as amended by the Presbyterian Divines in the Royal Commission of 1661 and in 

<strong>Agreement</strong> with the Directory for Public Worship of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (New York: 

Randolph & Co., 1864) 

xv The UPNA was a smaller Presbyterian denomination that united with the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. to 

form the UPCUSA in 1957. The UPCUSA united with the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1983 to form 

the current PC(USA). See Hall, 280. 

xvi Hall, 218 n. 109, and 220. 

xvii Hall, 217-218. 

xviii 

On this other hand, this was not a universal movement; the 1868 UPNA Directory, e.g., significantly 

abbreviated the texts of their earlier Directory, removing all prayer instructions and condensing the exhortations. 

xix For more on Nevin and Mercersburg, see John Williamson Nevin, The Anxious Bench (1843) in Catholic and 

Reformed: Selected Theological Writings of John Williamson Nevin, Eds. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. & George Briker 

(Pittsburgh: The Pickwick Press, 1978) 17-126 and ―Editorial Introduction to Vindication of the Revised Liturgy‖ 

and ―Vindication of the Revised Liturgy (1867)‖ in Catholic and Reformed, 311-403. Secondary sources include 

D.G. Hart, John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist (Phillipsburg NJ: P & R Publishing, 2005); Richard E. 

Wentz, John Williamson Nevin: American Theologian (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997); Sam 

Hamstra, Jr. ―Nevin on Regeneration‖ in Reformed Confessionalism in Nineteenth-Century America. Eds. Sam 

81

Hamstra, Jr. & Arie J. Griffioen (Lanham MA: The American Theological Association, 1995) 153-167; and John B. 

Payne, ―Nevin on Baptism‖ in Reformed Confessionalism in Nineteenth-Century America, 125-151. 

xx See Hall, 281f. Shields, however, shows another Reformed response, including a prayer to sanctify the water in 

both the infant and adult rites of baptism. 

xxi The 1906 form for baptism of infants has the following structure: 

Prayer of thanksgiving for the covenant and for appointing the sacrament of 

baptism to be its sign and seal and petition to receive it with true faith 

Instruction on the doctrine of baptism 

Vows by parents 


Prayer of thanksgiving and intercessions for child, parents, and all children of the ]Church, 

concluding with Lord‘s Prayer 

xxii Sid Fowler, ―A Tipping Point: Forming a United Church of Christ Order of Baptism,‖ unpublished 

paper prepared for the U.S. Reformed-Roman Catholic Dialogue, April 11, 2005. 

xxiii The introduction to the order for baptism in the UCC Book of Worship says, ―Water is an essential 

element of baptism. Its presence and use should be boldly dramatized in the service.‖ [Book of Worship 

(1986): 130.] 

xxiv 

The 1968 order for baptism of infants is as follows: 

Words of institution (Matt. 28:18-20) 

Instruction on the meaning of the sacrament (revision of 1906) 

Prayer of thanksgiving for the covenant and petition to sanctify the sacrament to 

be the sign and seal of that covenant. Includes also self-offering of congregation 


Vows by Parents 

Vows by Congregation 

Baptism in triune name 

[Optional declaration that the child is received into the church] 

Prayer of thanksgiving and intercession for child and parents 

xxv Words of institution (Matt. 28:18-20) 

Statement of scriptural promises (Gen 17:7, Jer. 31:33-34, Matt. 26:28, Acts 2:38- 

39, 2 Tim. 2:11-12) 

Instruction on the meaning of the sacrament 

Prayer of preparation, including references to flood, exodus, and Jesus‘ baptism, 

and prayer for faith and hope in the promises 

Vows by Parents 

Vows by Congregation 

[Mark 10:14] 

Baptism in triune name 

Hymn 

Prayer of thanksgiving and intercession for parents, congregation, and child 

xxvi See ―Changes in CRC Baptismal Rites‖, unpublished paper by Lyle D. Bierma and Ronald J. Feenstra, April 1, 

2005. 

xxvii The RCA form is as follows: 

Words of institution 

Statement on the meaning of baptism 


Vows (renunciations and affirmations) 

Vows by the congregation 


Prayer of Thanksgiving, including references to creation, flood, exodus, and 

baptism of Jesus and prayer for the Holy Spirit to be poured out 

[optional statement at the baptism of children] 


82

Declaration and blessing (statement of receiving the baptized into the church) 

Prayer of thanksgiving and intercession for the baptized 

Welcome and blessing by the congregation 

The CRC structure follows: 

Words of institution 

The Covenant of Baptism 

God‘s covenant promises (including several options, all attending to 

a broad range of baptismal meanings) 

Prayer of thanksgiving, including references to creation, flood, exodus, 

and Jesus‘ baptism, and prayer for faith 

Our covenant promises 

Promises by parents OR renunciations and affirmations by adults 

Creed 


Blessing, including prayer of thanksgiving and intercession for God‘s nurture of 

the baptized 

Welcome, including congregational promise 

xxviii The outline is as follows: ―commitments and vows‖; prayer; the act of baptizing with water and the triune name; 

―other actions,‖ including blessing and optional anointing; and welcoming. The expansion of the prayer may be the 

most significant development in this rite, including thanksgiving for God‘s covenant faithfulness; praise for God‘s 

reconciling acts; and petition ―that the Holy Spirit attend and empower the Baptism, make the water a water of 

redemption and rebirth, equip the church for faithfulness.‖ [W-3.3604c] 

xxix Directory for Worship, W-3.3603. 

8. Resources: 

Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry. Faith and Order Paper #111. Geneva: WCC, 1982. 

The Book of Confessions. Part 1 of The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 

Louisville: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 2002. 

Brownson, James V. The Promise of Baptism: An Introduction to Baptism in Scripture and the 

Reformed Tradition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, forthcoming. 

Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions. Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1988. 

Nevin, John W. The Mystical Presence: a Vindication of the Reformed or Calvinistic Doctrine of 

the Holy Eucharist. Edited by Augustine Thompson. New York: Lippincott, 1846. 

Reprint, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2000. 

Riggs, John W. Baptism in the Reformed Tradition. Louisville: WJK, 2002. 

Vanderzee, Leonard J. Christ, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Recovering the Sacraments for 

Evangelical Worship. Downer‘s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004. 

xxx The CRCNA alone has ―into‖ rather than ―in‖: ―I baptize you into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 

the Holy Spirit.‖ 

83

MAJOR CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION 

The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Part I: The Book of Confessions. 

Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, 2002. 

Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions. Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1988. 

[Includes CRC and RCA confessions, although the RCA has a slightly different translation of the 

confessions.] 

Schaff, Philip, ed. The Creeds of Christendom. Vol. 3: The Evangelical and Protestant Creeds. 

6th ed. Revised by David Schaff. Harper and Row, 1931. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 

1993. [Includes classic translations of several Reformed confessions.] 

Many confessions are available on denominational websites. 

Vander Zee, Leonard. Christ, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper : 

Recovering the Sacraments for Evangelical Worship. Downers Grove, IL: 

InterVarsity Press, 2004. 

Catholic-Reformed Consultation 

Baptism Document 

Catholic/Reformed Dialogue in the United States, Interchurch Families: Resources for 

Ecumenical Hope, 

Ed. John C. Bush and Patrick R. Cooney, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 

2002. 

Christian Reformed Church in North America, The Lord‘s Supper and the Roman Catholic 

Mass: A 

Discussion on Question and Answer 80 of the Heidelberg Catechism (Revised 2008), 

2008. 

Comité Mixte Baptiste-Catholique en France, Du baptême à l'Église: Accords et divergences actuels, 

Paris: Bayard Éditions/Centurion, Fleurus-Mame et Les Éditions du Cerf, 2006. 

Department of Education, United States Catholic Conference, Sowing Seeds: Notes and 

Comments on the 

General Directory for Catechesis, Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 

2000. 

Fahey, Michael A., Ed., Catholic Perspectives on Baptism, Eucharist, and Ministry: A Study 

Commissioned by the Catholic Theological Society of America, Lanham, MD: 

84

University Press of 

America, 1986. 

International Commission on English in the Liturgy and the Bishops‘ Commitee on the Liturgy, 

National 

Conference of Catholic Bishops, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: Study Edition, 

Washington, 

D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1988. 

Johnson, Maxwell E., The Rites of Christian Initiation: Their Evolution and Interpretation, 

Collegeville, 

MN: The Liturgical Press, A Pueblo Book, The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1999. 

Radano, John A., Catholic and Reformed, Theology and Worship Occasional Paper No. 8, 

Presbyterian 

Church (U.S.A.), 1996. 

Thurian, Max, Ed., Churches Respond to BEM, v. VI: Official Responses to the ―Baptism, 

Eucharist and 

Ministry‖ Text, Faith and Order Paper 144, Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1988. 

Thurian, Max, Ed., Ecumenical Perspectives on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, Faith and 

Order Paper 

116, Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1983. 

Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and 

Norms 

on Ecumenism, Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1993. 

The Roman Catholic-Presbyterian/Reformed Consultation, Laity in the Church and in the World: 

Resources for Ecumenical Dialogue, Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic 

Conference, 1998. 

85

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