Why does the Church of England website give an inadequate account of baptism?
By Martin Davie:
Yesterday I was in an email discussion with someone about the Church of England’s view of baptism and my attention was drawn to the material on baptism on the Church of England website.
As we all know, websites are now the first port of call for anyone wanting to find out more about a particular organization, in this case the Church of England. This means that if an ordinary member of the public wants to find out what the Church of England believes about baptism they will naturally turn to the information on baptism on the Church of England website. If they do this, however, they will be misinformed.
There are two sections on the Church of England website dealing with baptism.
The first section is entitled ‘Adult Baptism.’ Its account of what baptism is states:
‘Baptism is a response to God’s love – a desire and a commitment to respond to God’s call to follow the example of Jesus Christ. It is also a celebration, a time to come together with family and friends; remembering that you are loved by God, are part of a wider community and have a place with God’s people.’[1]
The second is entitled ‘Christenings for Children.’ This provides a link to a site called ‘First Steps on an Amazing Journey’ which gives two accounts of what baptism is. The first, in the subsection ‘What is Christening?,’ declares ‘During a christening your child will be baptized with water. It’s the start of an amazing journey of faith for your child and a special day for all your friends and family.’ The second, in the subsection ‘What happens at a Christening?,’ declares that baptism with water is ‘a sign of a new beginning and becoming a part of God’s family.’ [2]
The problem with these accounts of baptism is not that what they say is wrong, but that they fail to give a full account of what baptism is about.
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