Why do catholic priests pour water over babies when they baptise them?
The Church from the beginning has practiced the Baptism of children. The reasons are very clear in Scriptures. (Joh 3:5 DRB) Jesus answered: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. To the first Christians that baptized their children it was understood by them that Baptism is the doorway to salvation. St. Peter said the following: (1Pe 3:18 DRB) Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that he might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, (1Pe 3:19 DRB) In which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison: (1Pe 3:20 DRB) Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. (1Pe 3:21 DRB) Whereunto baptism, being of the like form, now saveth you also: not the putting away of the filth
Because long ago, way long ago, in the early days of the Catholic Church setting up the basic doctrines it still holds fast to, it came up with a concept called Sacrements. And Baptism, as they do it, is one of those “sacremets”. They left off paying attention to what, and how, it was done biblically, and for what reasons. Now they use a few actions, rituals that is, that symbolize another much fuller idea. Their communion is one of their sacrements also. It’s all part of making their priesthood as indispensible to Catholicism’s followers as possible. It’s all part of making an social institution so enduring it can outlast any one, or even many more, human beings within it. No one has to feed and clothe a priesthood that is not absolutley necessary. So, they devised Sacrements to make sure a priesthood (theirs) is considered absolutely necessary. And Roman Catholic docrines has it that no one gets into heaven unless they get baptized first. Their theory is that it washes off “original
Related Questions
- Does the Roman catholic Church excommunicate priests who have been found guilty of sex abuse against children?
- Is the celibacy requirement for Catholic priests the root cause of pedophilia and other deviant behavior?
- Who gives Catholic Priests the authority to forgive sins? Where does this belief come from?
