Believer's baptism

Believer's baptism (also called credobaptism, from the Latin word credo meaning "I believe") is the practice of baptizing those who are able to make a conscious profession of faith, as contrasted to the practice of baptizing infants. Credobaptists believe that infants incapable of consciously believing should not be baptized.

The mode of believer's baptism depends on the Christian denomination, and is done either by pouring (the normative method in Mennonite, Amish, and Hutterite churches) or by immersion (the normative method practiced by Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Baptists, and the Churches of Christ, among others). Among those denominations that practice immersion, the way that it is practiced depends on the Church; the Schwarzenau Brethren and the River Brethren for example teach "trine immersion, that is, dipping three times forward in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

Certain denominations of Methodism, including the Free Methodist Church and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, practice infant baptism for families who desire it for their children, but provide a rite for child dedication for those who have a preference for believer's baptism only after their child has made a personal acceptance of Jesus as their savior.

Denominations and groups who practice believer's baptism were historically referred to as "Anabaptist" (from Neo-Latin anabaptista, from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά-, "re-", and βαπτισμός, "baptism"), though this term is used primarily to categorize the denominations and adherents belonging to the Anabaptist branch of Christianity that emerged in the era of the Radical Reformation.

The Anabaptists regard their ideas as being based on the teaching of Jesus Christ, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 28, invited to make disciples in all nations and to baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. According to some theologians, it is natural to follow the order thus suggested, either to baptize someone who has become a disciple before, which is not possible with a baby or a child. They contend that in the New Testament, references to the baptized relate only to believers who have experienced a new birth.

The Didache has been a matter of discussion among Protestants on what it teaches about baptism. The Didache has been argued to have assumed believer's baptism, as it assumes discipleship before baptism and does not mention infant baptism. Against this, Philip Schaff argued that the silence of the Didache about infant baptism "cannot be fairly used as an argument against it".

Similar to Tertullian later, the Shepherd of Hermas implies for the practice of delaying baptism for the practical reason of the fear of post-baptismal sins, as Hermas says those who fall have only one chance of penance.

Polycarp stated, "I have served him eighty-six years and in no way has he dealt unjustly with me". Proponents of infant baptism argue that this quote shows Polycarp being baptized as an infant, the argument being that if Polycarp was a servant of Christ for 86 years, he would have been a servant of Christ from infancy, suggesting infant baptism. However, against the argument, Schoedel William argued that the quote is ambiguous as regards to baptism, and that Polycarp meant by paraphrasing: "I have always served Jesus and I am not going to cease even at the age of 86."