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Baptists believe in baptism, but only for adults. They also don't believe that baptism saves -- they say that baptism is symbolic of the commitment a person has made to God (and therefore Christ) to follow Him. Therefore, since they believe that only adults can make such a commitment, they do not allow babies or young children to be baptized and require adults who convert from other churches to be rebaptized (or baptized for real, from their point of view).

You should understand that while Catholics, Lutherans, and other sacramental Christians view baptism as part of God's grace, Baptists view baptism as a work of faith. Since they view baptism as a work, it therefore cannot save, despite the words of Jesus (Mark 16:16) and St. Peter (I Peter 3:21).

Finally, Baptists believe that infants cannot have faith until their minds are developed to understand the teachings of Scripture, despite the words of Jesus (Mark 9:42). Therefore, they teach that children are saved apart from faith (the actual mechanism is disputed) until they are capable of faith.

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13y ago

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