Baptism by Immersion

Definition and Meaning

Baptism by immersion is a rite in which the entire body of the person being baptized is submerged in water and then raised up again. It is one of the modes of administering baptism, which most Protestants regard as one of the sacraments (holy rites believed to have been instituted by Christ). Other modes include affusion, in which water is poured on the head, and aspersion, in which the person is sprinkled or moistened with water.

The Greek word baptizō, from which the word "baptism" derives, originally means "to dip" or "to immerse." Those who practice immersion hold that going down into the water and coming up out of it signifies dying and being buried with Christ and rising again to new life.

Biblical and Historical Background

Advocates of immersion cite Matthew 3:16, which states that Jesus, after being baptized, "went up straightway out of the water"; Acts 8:38, in which Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch "went down both into the water" for the baptism; and Romans 6:3–4, which describes baptism as being buried with Christ. The early Christian document known as the Didache reportedly recommends immersion in running water as the preferred mode, while permitting water to be poured on the head when there is not enough water. The Eastern Orthodox Church still baptizes by immersion, including infants. In the Western church, pouring came into widespread use. The Anabaptists of the sixteenth century and the Baptists, who arose in seventeenth-century England, held that baptism should be given only to those who have personally professed faith, and the Baptists adopted immersion as their mode.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Baptists: Baptist churches such as the Korea Baptist Convention baptize by immersion only those who have professed faith and do not baptize infants. The rite is held in a baptistery inside the church building or in a river or the sea. Some congregations require a person who was baptized by another mode to be baptized again by immersion upon joining.
• Full Gospel churches: Pentecostal churches such as the Korea Assemblies of God are also known to administer water baptism by immersion in many cases.
• Presbyterian, Methodist, and other churches: Presbyterian churches and the Korean Methodist Church, among others, generally baptize by sprinkling or pouring water on the head. These denominations hold that the validity of baptism lies not in the amount of water or the mode but in its being administered in the name of the Trinity, and they recognize baptism by immersion as valid.

Debates among denominations over the mode and the proper recipients of baptism are treated in detail in the articles Baptism and Immersion and Infant Baptism Controversy.