Baptism's meaning

[burnsspivey]

[quote name='Mateo el Feo' date='Dec 10 2004, 04:52 PM']
If you believed in Catholic baptism, it "wouldn't count" in this discussion, because I was interested in the views of a particular subset of Christians that does not include Catholics. If you read the first post (especially the questions), this point should become clear.

To underline the point, the thread says nothing about the Catholic view of non-Catholic baptisms. I'm interested in learning the Protestant view/views of baptism. [/quote]
Um, catholics are christian, so that wasn't what I was asking.

[Mateo el Feo]

I meant to write:

[b]Even[/b] If you believed in Catholic baptism, it "wouldn't count" in this discussion...

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='burnsspivey' date='Dec 10 2004, 06:09 PM'] Um, catholics are christian... [/quote]
Debateable, at best...

[thessalonian]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Dec 10 2004, 07:10 PM'] Debateable, at best... [/quote]
Your vote doesn't count.

[burnsspivey]

[quote name='Mateo el Feo' date='Dec 10 2004, 06:44 PM'] I meant to write:

[b]Even[/b] If you believed in Catholic baptism, it "wouldn't count" in this discussion... [/quote]
And, strangely, that's how I read it. Still wasn't what I was asking.

[burnsspivey]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Dec 10 2004, 07:10 PM'] Debateable, at best... [/quote]
[url="http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=christian"]1 a : one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ [/url]

No debate.

[Mateo el Feo]

[quote name='burnsspivey' date='Dec 13 2004, 01:57 PM'] And, strangely, that's how I read it. Still wasn't what I was asking. [/quote]
If you believe that I misunderstood your post, it would be helpful to respond with more information than, "that wasn't what I was asking." Unfortunately, my mind-reading skills don't work too well, so it's up to you to let me know what you were asking.

Enjoy!

[burnsspivey]

[quote name='Mateo el Feo' date='Dec 13 2004, 01:20 PM'] If you believe that I misunderstood your post, it would be helpful to respond with more information than, "that wasn't what I was asking." Unfortunately, my mind-reading skills don't work too well, so it's up to you to let me know what you were asking.

Enjoy! [/quote]
I don't know if I can describe it better than I first asked it:

[quote]if I believed in baptism that was [b]other than christian[/b] it would count?[/quote]

If I used the word non-christian would that help?

[Mateo el Feo]

[quote name='burnsspivey' date='Dec 13 2004, 02:32 PM'] If I used the word non-christian would that help? [/quote]
Haven't I answered this question?

Anyway, maybe you could explain what you mean by "it would count"? For me, it's not clear which of the following you mean:

1) "it would count"--non-Christian baptism is relevant to the discussion
2) "it would count"--non-Christian baptism is efficaceous.

I've repeatedly made my opinion to the first point known: non-Christian baptisms are not relevant to this thread.

For the second point: the Catholic Church defines essential parts of baptism. For example, if you want to be baptized in the name of Barney the Purple Dinosaur, it won't be valid. That said, non-Christians can be ministers of a valid Christian baptism [url="http://www.newadvent.org/summa/406705.htm"](see this link)[/url]. I don't know if that's the path you want to go down, though.

Enjoy!