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jsking1964
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| Joined: | Sat Dec 15th, 2007 |
| Location: | Texas USA |
| Posts: | 58 |
| First Name: | Benedict | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Basically I have been a Christian all my life, and ... |
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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 02:22 am |
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I happen to come from a protestant background, and I know that in order to become a Christian one must ask Christ into his or her life so that He can be Lord and Savior as well as forgive them for their sins. I have since learned that this is not so in the Catholic Church, that all that happens in infant baptism (or adult baptism,) so my question is: Is it just a question of making a decision to come into the Catholic Church without asking Christ into our life?
Last edited on Tue Dec 18th, 2007 02:23 am by jsking1964
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Your friend in Christ, +
JS Benedict
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemed. Mark 16:16
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David W. Emery
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2072 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 18th, 2007 03:02 am |
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Is it [becoming a Christian] just a question of making a decision to come into the Catholic Church without asking Christ into our life?
By no means, Jason. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the situation of infant baptism in this way:
1231 Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the preparatory stages of Christian initiation in a very abridged way. By its very nature infant Baptism requires a post-baptismal catechumenate. Not only is there a need for instruction after Baptism, but also for the necessary flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth. The catechism has its proper place here. [Emphasis in the original.]
Specifically, then, every baptized Christian, even when baptized as an infant, is still required to learn about Christ through the Church’s catechesis (“instruction”) and accept him as his savior. What is more, he is required to grow in faith and virtue (“flowering of grace,” “personal growth”), thus demonstrating that Christ has a solid place in his life. The fact that this takes place after baptism does not lessen the requirement. The child’s parents must accept responsibility for his education, both in secular learning and in his standing and growth before the Lord.
Adult baptism is more straightforward. It follows the same basic rule in the Catholic Church as it does in the Protestant world. The basic difference is not that Protestants see salvation as happening because of a decision for Christ, while Catholics see it happening in the ritual of baptism. Rather, Catholic doctrine requires both the one and the other, while Protestants tend to emphasize only the decision, relegating the act of baptism to a lesser role. The paradigm, then, is that Protestants typically see the situation as an exclusive, either/or choice between personal conversion and a detached ritual, whereas Catholics see it as a both/and proposition embracing of the whole process of conversion: believe and be baptized (cf. Mark 16:16a).
On behalf of all the members, I welcome you to the CHNI Forum.
May God grant you his peace.
David
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