Oops, I should have been more specific. There are some Christian churches that allow for rebaptism (e.g. the Baptists, aptly enough), but historically the Christian tradition has most often said that you are only baptized once. Baptism for us symbolizes our joining the Body of Christ and entering into covenant with God, and that never needs to be redone. (The Methodist stance on that is here.)
As that document elsewhere points out, "Baptism is not merely an individualistic, private, or domestic occasion" -- it is the time when a person becomes part of the Christian community. So I don't think the emphasis is so much on the fact that you "need" a clergyperson as it is that you need a Christian community in order to be baptized. That's the main reason I would have felt uncomfortable being rebaptized at the Jordan -- I wouldn't have been getting baptized into a community; it just would have been me and God and some water. That's not the same thing. My impression is that generally Judaism has a more communal and less individualistic understanding of redemption/salvation/whatever than Christianity, so I think this idea should make sense to you, even though I'm not stating it very well.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Duh!?
Date: 2005-11-27 05:17 pm (UTC)As that document elsewhere points out, "Baptism is not merely an individualistic, private, or domestic occasion" -- it is the time when a person becomes part of the Christian community. So I don't think the emphasis is so much on the fact that you "need" a clergyperson as it is that you need a Christian community in order to be baptized. That's the main reason I would have felt uncomfortable being rebaptized at the Jordan -- I wouldn't have been getting baptized into a community; it just would have been me and God and some water. That's not the same thing. My impression is that generally Judaism has a more communal and less individualistic understanding of redemption/salvation/whatever than Christianity, so I think this idea should make sense to you, even though I'm not stating it very well.