Baptism in the New Catholic Catechism

 Bill Jackson's Notes in ( )

p.10 #14 "those who belong to Christ though faith and baptism ." (Another avowal of baptismal regeneration. Note that they put faith first, but since the baby can't have faith, he has to be justified by the faith of his godparents or parents.)

p. 46 #167 "`I believe' [Apostles Creed] is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during Baptism." (Is the baby, the usual recipient of Baptism, able to personally make this profession?)

p. 46 #168 "It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism." (Another clear statement about baptismal regeneration.)

p. 102 #405 "Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace , erases original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, awakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle. (We would agree that regeneration brings man into battle with Satan, but we could never believe that this is the battle that determines his eternal life.)

p. 137 #537 Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism. (Does pouring signify burial?)

p. 137 #537 After the bath of water, the Holy Spirit swoops down upon us. (Baptismal regeneration.)

p. 179 #683 Baptism gives us the grace of a new birth in God. (Baptismal regeneration )

p. 216 #818 All who have been justified by faith in Baptism. (Yes, the Catholics believe in justification by faith - that the baby at Baptism is justified by the faith of his sponsors. However, this process of justification that begins there can be terminated at any time by the individual.)

p. 222 # 838. Those who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.

p. 311 # 1212. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. (And yet they are still not sure of going to Heaven!)

p. 312 #1213. Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to the life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers of her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word." (This is a very clear and explicit statement about what Roman Catholics mean when they are born again [regenerated].)

p. 312 #1214 to baptize means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes burial into Christ's death, from which he rises up "a new creature." (Try to picture this as a symbol of infant Baptism, which is still the norm in the Catholic Church. While adult baptisms sometimes take place [if the person has not previously been baptized] by immersion [this is a minority of Roman Catholic baptisms].)

p. 312 # 1215 [This sacrament] signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one can enter the kingdom of God.

p. 312 #1216. The person baptized has been "enlightened," he becomes a "son of light," indeed, he becomes "light" himself.

p. 313 #1219. "The Church has seen Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it, eight persons were saved through water: The waters of the great flood you made a sign of the waters of Baptism, that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness. (Mankind perished in the waters of the great flood, and, fortunately for them, the people in Noah's ark were not immersed in water. See Does Baptism Save?)

p. 313 #1221. But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea...announces the liberation wrought by Baptism: You freed the children of Abraham from the slavery of Pharaoh, bringing them dry-shod through the waters of the Red Sea, to be an image of the people set free by Baptism. (But none of them got wet!)

p. 313 #1222. Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River... (They still didn't get wet!)

p. 314 #1225. Christ...has already spoken of his Passion...as a "Baptism" with which he had to be baptized. The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of the crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist . (In Mark 10:39, speaking of this "baptism." Jesus said to James and John, "...with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized," which must have mean that they would partake of the fruits of His "baptism", or Passion, in receiving the salvation that He wrought there [Hebrews 10:14].)

p. 319 #1250. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless gift of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. (There have been instances when priests would refuse Baptism to an infant because the parents were involved in Planned Parenthood or some similar reason.)

p. 320 #1257. The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. (The scripture reference given is John 3:5 , but this verse does not mention baptism.)

p. 321 #1260. Every man who is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of his Church, but seeks the truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity. (Does this nullify the Great Commission? )

p. 321 #1261. "Jesus' tenderness toward children...allow(s) us to hope that there is a way for the salvation of children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.

p. 322 #1263. Baptism not only purifies from sins, but also makes the neophyte "a new creature." an adopted son of God, who has become a "partaker of the divine nature,"member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit. (But still not sure of going to Heaven.)

p. 323 #1271. All who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. (For Rome's definition of "properly baptized" see #1256. In case of necessity, any person...can baptize, if he has the required intention. The intention required is to will to do what the Church does when she baptizes [see #1263, above]. In other words, if a Protestant baptizes, but does not intend by that baptism to make the person a new creature in Christ, he does not have the proper intention. While, for ecumenical purposes, the Catholic Church will recognize Protestant baptisms, most of these baptisms, lacking proper intention, are technically invalid.)

p. 324 #1272. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation.

p. 324 #1274. The faithful Christian who has "kept the seal" until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life "marked with the sign of faith"...in expectation of the blessed vision of God...