Scriptural knowledge – Kanisa la Christadelphian huko Anderlecht

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To baptise, water is needed, and not even a little, for true baptism is not by sprinkling with water, but by immersing in the water.

Where that immersion happens does not play a role. Baptism can thus take place in many places and in different forms. If it is warm outside, this can happen in a river or in the sea. If the weather does not allow this, you can use a baptismal basin in a church, but if there is none, you might as well let the baptism take place in a public or private swimming pool.

But one can actually say that baptism can also take place in a bathtub, a barrel, a pond, a well, a swimming pool, a river, a lake or in the sea.

In house churches, baptism usually takes place by immersion in a body of water outside the house church, unless it is done in a bathtub there. There is a lot of preparation among the Christadelphians that will make way before they really start the actual baptism. This is to ensure that the baptismal candidate clearly understands the essences of faith and thinks according to Biblical teaching.

The Christadelphians do not proceed to the baptismal ritual until the newly converted Christian has made a personal confession of his or her faith. In doing so they follow the New Testament example.

In some cultures people are baptised immediately after conversion, in other cultures people prefer that the baptismal candidates undergo a certain preparation. In the latter case, one is sometimes guided by the pursuit of perfection. However, it seems to be a healthy New Testament custom not to pull conversion and baptism far apart.

Paul was baptised three days after his conversion (Acts 9), the Ethiopian eunuch was immediately baptised at his confession of faith (Acts; 8) and the three thousand who converted on the day of Pentecost were apparently all baptised the same day (Acts. 2:41). In the case of Paul, the Ethiopian eunuch and the three thousand in Jerusalem, we must note that they were Jews and thus already had a broad knowledge of God’s commandments and His Will and the Messianic prophecies. Their rapid baptism must be seen in this context.

In our region, we have more to do with non-Jews and people who were not raised according to Jewish teachings. Many lack Scriptural knowledge and several grew up in a faith group where people do not honour the God of Israel, but adhere to the Trinity. Because they are so imbued with traditions that do not follow Biblical teaching, their conversion and demand for baptism also requires more attention.

When we, as catechists, have persons who have limited knowledge of the Way, it has proven useful to teach them thoroughly, so that they choose, with full knowledge of the facts, to be baptised and thus choose to be included in the ecclesia.

For that education, there will be the Bible studies as well as the sermons during the weekly services. But in our current age of electronic reporting, there are the websites of the religious community where various topics can be discussed. The articles posted on the internet can help build faith.