Hi, Casey —

Baptism is not a method in which one becomes part of a religious group; not at all, though some religious groups use it that way.

John's Baptism was a baptism of repentance:

• an outward sign whereby people expressed their repentance before God as a way to prepare for the Messiah, and
• an outward sign of God preparing them for the Messiah.

Baptism was used as a ceremony of purification by the Essenes, a group some say John belonged to.

Christ, however, received the Baptism of John as an expression of solidarity with sinful mankind, the first step in bearing the sins of all. With this Baptism, He undertook His Mission, and received the blessing of the Father and the power (in His Human Nature) of the Spirit to fulfill the Mission given to Him by the Father.

Our Baptism is different, and yet similar. We enter into the death and rising of Christ, become new creatures with Him and, with the power of the Holy Spirit, carry out the Father's mission of being a member of the Body of Christ in the world.

Mary Ann

Hi, Casey —

Christian Baptism (in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) is the way one becomes a Christian. There is only one Baptism, hence, if it is valid. It doesn't matter who does it. Baptism brings someone into the one Church. If the Baptism is performed in a community that is not in full communion with the Church, then the person remains in an imperfect communion with the Church.

Nevertheless, they have still been baptized into the Body of Christ. Baptism is the normative way in which the soul is regenerated. In other words we are born again, but it's not the only way.
The Church understands that there is also a Baptism of Desire, that takes place for those who don't understand the necessity of Baptism.

Now, as for John the Baptist, he wasn't performing Trinitarian or Christian Baptism. He was following a Jewish Tradition of Ceremonial washing.

It was a washing or baptism of repentance. John did this at the Jordan for a specific reason.
The crossing of the Jordan, like the crossing of the Red Sea, was understood by the Jews as passing from the captivity of sin into the freedom of forgiveness which came in the promised land.

This practice of going back to the other side of the Jordan, being baptized and crossing back into Israel, developed after Judah returned from the Babylonian Captivity. It also became a way for the Jews to enter into the event of their ancestors. You see, the Semitic understanding of celebrating a past event (like Passover, the crossing of the red sea, or what not) was to mystically participate in the event, making it present so when these Jews would practice ritual baptism they not only recalled the crossing of the Red Sea and Jordan, but they believed they were participating in the original event.

John the Baptist, kicked it up notch. His message was repent and be baptized in order to make ready for the coming Messiah.

Jesus Himself was baptized by John, not that He needed to repent of anything!, rather by being baptized, Jesus sanctified the waters of Baptism, hence, He transformed Baptism into a sacrament or Covenant which we observe today.

John