I shall not complain that "Church of England 'baptism' services may be re-written to remove some references to Christianity.The plan for a new ‘baptism lite’ service designed to make christenings more interesting to non-churchgoers will be considered next month by the Church’s parliament, the General Synod."
The reason why somebody like me is not 'over-fussed' by this is that Christianity has no place for so-called 'infant baptisms' in the first place. Baptisms may only be done when the recipient is intellectually capable of grasping the tenets of faith.
Why churches do not follow the Scriptural model - I really could not say.
Not only is a vast amount of the symbolism cast aside but nobody can make spiritual decisions on behalf of another.
What is so wrong with the welcoming 'dedication ceremony' found in so many evangelical churches?
To 'follow Jesus' as a model, the baptism must be 'full immersion' - even the Greek word baptiso means precisely that.
The history of 'infant baptisms' goes back to a time of high infant mortality when parents were scared that God would dump 'unbaptised infants' into hell or purgatory or possibly, limbo.
So the whole exercise is based on a lack of faith in the ultimate goodness of God.
Call it a Christening, by all means, but skip the references to baptism!
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