Where in the bible does it say a believer can't baptise others?

[Andrew]

Before my mom passed she baptised her granddaughter with water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
My niece's father is a JW and will not let my sister (who as I, was raised Catholic) baptize her through the Catholic Church, they are divorced so it blew up into this silly problem, in fact he always objected to it even when they were married.
Anyway I believe it's valid, we are told to baptise each other are we not?

 

[Andrew]

 

[Josiah]

It doesn't. Indeed, I know both Catholics and Lutherans (and perhaps many others) teach that you SHOULD do so in an emergency. One of my relatives is a nurse and counts over 12 babies she has baptized in the hospital.

However, there are good reasons why baptism typically happens in church (often during worship) and that there, the pastor officiates. However, my own Lutheran pastor related that a father wanted to actually do this... and that was fne.... the pastor did the usual baptismal service but at the application of Water and the Word, the biological father stepped in. Perfectly okay.




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[tango]

The only way someone can be baptised is if someone else dunks them under the water, unless someone wants to claim they dunk themselves. If someone claims that only certain people are permitted to do the baptising they need to show the chapter and verse.

I don't see anything wrong with baptising each other. I was one of the people who baptised my father. It was a very special moment for both of us.

 

[Lamb]

Before my mom past she baptised her granddaughter with water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
My niece's father is a JW and will not let my sister (who as I, was raised Catholic) baptize her through the Catholic Church, they are divorced so it blew up into this silly problem, in fact he always objected to it even when they were married.
Anyway I believe it's valid, we are told to baptise each other are we not?

Wait, is the granddaughter the same person as the niece? If so, she doesn't need to be rebaptized because the first is valid.

 

[psalms 91]

Nothing wrong with it at all

 

[Andrew]

Wait, is the granddaughter the same person as the niece? If so, she doesn't need to be rebaptized because the first is valid.

Yes they are the same and thank you!

 

[Lamb]

Yes they are the same and thank you!

God did it right the first time Think of that thread of born again where the word used is anothen, from above. God is the one at work in baptism and He just can't do it wrong.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

It doesn't. Indeed, I know both Catholics and Lutherans (and perhaps many others) teach that you SHOULD do so in an emergency.

Orthodoxy teaches this as well.

a person may properly be baptized by an Orthodox Christian clergyman or layman by pouring water three times on the head in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The proper formula must be recited: "The servant of God {Name} is baptized in the name of the Father {immerse, or pour}. Amen. And of the Son {immerse, or pour}. Amen. And of the Holy Spirit {immerse, or pour}. Amen"; other acceptable forms include "Let this servant of Christ be baptized..." or "This person is baptized by my hands..."

Baptism - OrthodoxWiki

orthodoxwiki.org

 

[Josiah]

Before my mom past she baptised her granddaughter with water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
My niece's father is a JW and will not let my sister (who as I, was raised Catholic) baptize her through the Catholic Church, they are divorced so it blew up into this silly problem, in fact he always objected to it even when they were married.
Anyway I believe it's valid, we are told to baptise each other are we not?

I replied in post # 3....



But let me add three things...


1. Most denominations do NOT hold that the person is baptized into that denomination. The RCC and LDS hold to that but I'm personally not aware of any other. One is baptized into the church catholic, the Body of Christ, the family of God, the "one holy catholic church" - NOT any denomination. It is used as an excuse, "I want my child to decide for himself what denomination he agrees with." Okay, but that has nothing to do with baptism, that has to do with Confirmation (or whatever that denomination uses to indicate agreement with and commitment to some institution).


2. Baptism need not be repeated (indeed, should not be IMO). God didn't goof. A valid Baptism (water + Word - that word not officially contradicted by rejecting the Trinity) is a valid Baptism. Just as a birth need not be repeated.... just as an adoption need not be repeated... so Baptism need not be. Indeed, to RE-Baptize could imply that God goofed the first time. Now, one can REAFFIRM their Baptism (and adoption and wedding, etc.) but affirming is not RE-doing it because the first was wrong or God goofed the first time.


3. Sadly, tragically, modern Christianity has bought into the hyper-individualism of the secular world. Uber-individualism (me, me, me, me) is now all over Christianity, as if all that matters is vertical, just Jesus and ME. Individual everything from theology to worship to practices. But this is very foreign to the Bible and to Christianity, which (while not rejecting the purely vertical) is strongly communal. WE are the family of God, WE are the Body of Christ, WE are the one holy catholic church. God deals with His PEOPLE, we are intimately connected to not just to God but to each other. While the Bible never forbids private, individualistic Baptism (or even Communion), this is altogether foreign to Christian tradition and thought. Until the late middle ages, all baptisms were done during the worship service, as a CHURCH act of a BROTHER/SISTER in Christ.... the whole family witnesses, the whole family welcoming and praying and committing themselves to this person. Luther restored this. Again, is it PERMISSIBLE (especially in emergencies or very unusual situations) to Baptize PRIVATELY? Sure! I was baptized privately in an operating room, during the very brief interlude between being born (by C-Section) and being operated on, a good idea since the changes of me dying in that operation were pretty high. An usual situation, not the norm. The NORM should be public worship in church but this is not mandated.


Happy Valentines' Day


- Josiah




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[Particular]

The Bible shows us that any Christian can baptize a new believer.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
~ Acts 8:26-36,38

 

[Andrew]

Thanks everyone for your input I highly appreciate it