Question first
appeared on September 14, 2003
I
have heard that some Orthodox Churches re-baptize and chrismate
converts. Their reasoning is based
on reestablishing Apostolic Succession by re-baptizing these converts.
This is confusing, because our church=s
normal practice is not to re-baptize those converts who have already received Aproper@
baptism, but just chrismate them. Would
you clarify one or both positions?
The
best summary covering this topic can be found in Chapter III, The Baptism
Controversy, in AOrthodox
Fundamentalists: A Critical View,@
by the Very Rev. John W. Morris, Light and Life Publishing Co.,
Minneapolis
,
MN
. This book can be purchased in
our bookstore.
For
the purpose of briefly answering your question, let us look at Fr. John=s
final paragraph in this chapter: AIn
conclusion, although some Orthodox clergy insist on the baptism of all
potential converts, most receive baptized converts through profession of faith
and Chrismation. Indeed, the
reception through Chrismation follows the most common ancient practice of the
Church, the spirit of the canons, the decisions of Pan-Orthodox Councils in
Constantinople
in 1484,
Moscow
in 1667, and
Jerusalem
in 1672 as well as the official practice of most contemporary Orthodox
Churches in
Europe
and the
United States
. As Bishop Kallistos Ware has
written, >If
the Baptism of converts is still practiced occasionally, it is now altogether
exceptional.=
Thus those who receive converts through Chrismation follow the Holy
Tradition of the Church more closely than those who demand the reception of
all non-Orthodox through Baptism. Therefore
even those who for some reason favor the baptism of all non-Orthodox, must
accept the Orthodoxy of a convert who was received through Chrismation.
To do otherwise or to baptize those already in the Communion of the
Church would be a denial of the authority of Pan-Orthodox Councils as well as
the practice of the Church throughout most of its history.
Most importantly, the baptism of someone who became Orthodox through
Chrismation would imply a denial of the operation of the Holy Spirit through
the Sacrament of Chrismation.@
İVery
Rev. Fr. Olof Scott, Sunday Bulletin, September 14, 2003
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