Chapter V: Sacrament of Baptism
Before going into more detail, there are three points that I want to mention. First, the Catholic Church is not the only Christian institution to recognize the seven sacraments. [1] Second, a contemporary Catholic would find the idea of oil and salt at the celebration of Baptism to be foreign practice. [2] Third, even if Helen was not Baptized, the Catholic Church would still hold her to be a “child of God,” in the sense that God is the “creator” of all human beings, and she would be “one of his children” (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7, 18-23). In any case, there are two points here that Chick seems to attack. One is the idea of Baptism being seen as a form of “rebirth,” or being “born again.” And the other is the practice of infant baptism. Let me tackle each point individually. Baptism as a form ...