Mode of Baptism

Definition and Meaning

The mode of baptism refers to the manner in which water is used when baptism is administered. There are three principal modes:

• Immersion: The whole body is submerged in water and then raised up. In Korean this is also called chimrye (immersion baptism).
• Affusion: Water is poured over the head so that it flows down.
• Aspersion: Water is sprinkled by hand or with an implement, or the head is moistened with water.

Although their modes differ, most denominations baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (that is, in the name of the Trinity). Differences over the name of the rite are treated in the article Baptism and Immersion (Korean Terminology).

Biblical and Historical Background

The Greek word for baptism, baptizō, was used in the sense of "to dip" or "to wash." Those who hold immersion to be the proper mode cite the following passages:

• Matthew 3:16 records that Jesus, when he was baptized, "went up straightway out of the water."
• Acts 8:38 records that Philip and the eunuch went down into the water.
• Romans 6:4 describes baptism as being "buried with him by baptism into death."

Those who accept affusion and aspersion find support in the biblical accounts themselves. They argue that immersion may have been difficult in situations such as Acts 2:41, where about three thousand people were baptized in a single day, and the baptism of the jailer's household in a home at night (Acts 16:33). They also hold that Scripture does not prescribe a single mode.

The early Christian document known as the Didache directs that baptism be administered in running water, but that if water is insufficient, water should be poured on the head three times. The Eastern Church subsequently maintained immersion, while in the Western Church affusion and aspersion became common during the Middle Ages. The Westminster Confession of Faith states that dipping the person into the water is not necessary and that baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water. By contrast, seventeenth-century English Baptists maintained that immersion alone is the biblical mode.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Presbyterian, Methodist, Holiness, and other churches: The usual practice is aspersion or affusion, in which the pastor wets a hand with water and lays it on, or sprinkles water over, the head of the person being baptized. Infant baptism is administered in the same way. Presbyterian churches that follow the Westminster Confession do not regard immersion as invalid, but neither do they regard it as required.
• Baptist churches: Bodies such as the Korea Baptist Convention regard immersion as the only proper mode. Baptism may be administered in a baptistery installed in the church building or in a river or the sea. Some churches require those who were baptized by sprinkling in another denomination to be baptized again by immersion when they transfer their membership.
• Other churches: The Churches of Christ in Korea and the Seventh-day Adventist Church also practice immersion. The Anglican Church of Korea and the Catholic Church mainly practice affusion, pouring water on the head at a baptismal font. The Orthodox Church practices immersion, submerging even infants three times in water.