The Eastern Orthodox Churches regularly baptize infants by immersion—three immersions, to be precise. Why do they do this? Why not sprinkle? And why do it to babies? What do they hope to accomplish by immersing babies? And do the babies like it?

That last question is easy enough to answer just be watching a few videos of the rite; I’ve included examples below. But the babies aren’t harmed, just momentarily shocked, it seems. And, I know, there’s a lot that shocks babies; they haven’t experienced much in the world. At least they don’t fully submerge the babies in water and make them chase a dollar bill—but nevermind.

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Some of the interesting features of Orthodox baptism are discussed in the recent book by Radu Bordeianu, Icon of the Kingdom of God: An Orthodox Ecclesiology (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2023). Bordeianu is a professor of theology at Duquesne, a Catholic university in Pittsburgh, and he is Romanian Orthodox (I believe).

The second, long chapter (pp. 26–89) of his book treats baptism. Here are some notes.

Infant baptism

Bordeianu asks whether baptism, which is a cleansing of sin, also cleanses from original sin. After all, the Orthodox baptize babies, and babies do not have personal sin, so it must be original sin that is cleansed. Indeed, Bordeianu doesn’t mention this, but this line of reasoning is what convinced Augustine (or, so he rhetorically explained) that babies must harbor original sin—otherwise, why would we baptize them!

Now, inasmuch as infants are not held bound by any sins of their own actual life, it is the guilt of original sin which is healed in them by the grace of Him who saves them by the laver of regeneration. (here, ch. 24; for discussion see Fairweather, pp. 897–903 here)

But Augustine was a Western theologian, and Bordeianu represents the Eastern Church.

First, Bordeianu defends the practice of infant baptism.

The practice of infant baptism has existed since the beginning of the Church’s history. While it cannot be proven beyond any doubt on biblical grounds, the New Testament offers some important indications that the early Church practiced infant baptism. (p. 30)

What is that evidence? Why, the household baptisms in Acts, of course. See Acts 16 for two instances, and see also 1 Corinthians 1:16.

Noteworthy in all these instances is that baptisms were not limited to adults (which was clearly the norm in those times), but comprised the entire household, which included the family as well as its servants. A household most likely included children and infants…. (p. 31)

(I hope I need not explain that I myself, dear reader, do not accept such an argument for infant baptism in the New Testament. But I’m trying to understand the Orthodox view.)

But Bordeianu rejects the notion of original sin, which he says is a western idea only recently adopted in the east by some theologians. Rather, for Bordeianu, baptizing infants aims to add them to the Church, not to cleanse their sins.

But the rite of baptism has all kinds of references to cleansing sin, in dependence on the New Testament (see Acts 22:16, etc.), which—Bordeianu says—doesn’t really work in the case of infant baptism. So Bordeianu suggests that the Orthodox rite of baptism should be revised to reduce the references to exorcism and sin—appropriate for an adult baptism, but not for an infant—and increase the number of “references to Baptism as entry into the Church.” He continues: “Such a multitude of references to sin that were initially intended in reference to adults, when applied to infants, risks further propagating the rather recent Orthodox insistence on Baptism as forgiveness of original sin, based on an unhealthy Western influence” (p. 31). In other words, Bordeianu is criticizing Eastern theologians for following Augustine’s path.

What is original sin? Well, Bordeianu says that the Orthodox disagree on how to think about it, and he himself is uncomfortable with the speculative Western definition (original sin = actual sin) that has influenced the East. He says that Orthodox theologians nowadays (he cites specifically Kallistos Ware) consider original sin as merely a propensity to sin. “And since this is a predisposition and not an actual sin, therefore, we are not born guilty, and later in life we can learn to resist this sinful inclination” (p. 33).

So (and he italicizes the following), “infant baptism should not be regarded as forgiveness of original sin, but as entry into the Church—a return to the lost communion with God” (p. 33).

The Orthodox Rite of Baptism

Bordeianu goes through each element of the Orthodox rite and explains (what he thinks ought to be) its meaning.

* catechumenate (period of teaching)

* procession (moving toward the baptismal font)

* prayers over the water exorcizing from it evil spirits, and blessing the water

* the anointing with the oil of gladness

* immersion in the baptismal font

* chrismation

About the actual baptism, the Orthodox practice what they call immersion. You can judge whether you think the term immersion should apply. Here’s an example (start at the 21 min mark).

Here’s another.

Okay, this next one is definitely an immersion (at 4 min mark).

Anyway, Bordeianu does describe Orthodox baptism as involving immersion “entirely under water” (p. 42).

Baptism without Water?

I won’t spend much time on this, just as Bordeianu does not (pp. 46–52), but traditionally those who have died unbaptized have been regarded as members of the Church in two cases: if they are martyrs or if they have previously expressed the desire to receive baptism. In the first case, their martyrdom is regarded as “baptism of blood,” and in the second case, usually meaning that they are catechumens who have not yet completed their period of training, they are considered to have received “baptism of desire.” Bordeianu argues for expanding the concept of “baptism of desire” to the case of miscarriages, in which the desire is that of the parents, who would have had their infant baptized.

Adult Converts

Do they need to get baptized? Depends.

In cases where a person who desires to join the Orthodox Church but has not been previously baptized with water and in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, entrance into Orthodoxy happens through Baptism. The typical convert to Orthodoxy, however, has already been baptized with water in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in another church. Most of the Orthodox world recognizes the baptisms of other churches and receives their faithful into Orthodoxy most commonly through Confirmation and, in some cases, through Confession. (pp. 52–53)

There are complications. Those who baptize but reject the Trinity, such as some Pentecostal groups, or those who otherwise do not use the Matthean baptismal formula (Matt 28:19) by, for instance, substituting gender-inclusive language, perhaps referring to a divine parent rather than to the Father (p. 56).

Clearly, the Orthodox Church does not indiscriminately accept all baptisms. But at the same time, there are some Orthodox who reject absolutely all baptisms outside the Orthodox Church, ignoring longstanding practices to recognize the baptisms of those who are in schism. (p. 56)

Bordeianu eventually turns to consider those who leave Orthodoxy to join a Baptist church.

The person who has previously been baptized Orthodox as an infant is re-baptized when they convert into a Baptist church. While from an Orthodox perspective this practice is offensive, for Baptists it takes a different meaning. Some Baptist churches permit the repetition of the rite of Baptism if it is deemed that it was not preceded by a sincere acceptance of Christ, even when the rituals take place in the same parish. Such is the case when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and is baptized, but then falls into a grievous sin thus revealing that their initial acceptance of Jesus was not heartfelt, rendering their prior Baptism invalid. Consequently, such a person would again accept Jesus and be baptized, in practice showing Baptism as a repeatable ritual. The tension stems not only from differing views regarding infant Baptism, but also from differences regarding Baptism itself; if for the Orthodox Baptism represents entry into the Church and is thus unrepeatable, for Baptists it represents the rite that seals one’s salvation understood as the acceptance of Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior. (p. 58)

Assuming that Bordeianu correctly characterizes Baptist thought, it seems to me that Churches of Christ are more Orthodox than Baptist in our theology of baptism, while of course being more Baptist than Orthodox on our administration of baptism.

Consecration

Baptism is linked to consecration in two senses: death to sin (Romans 6) and priesthood. On the first point, death to sin, Romans 6:3–11 is read at the Orthodox baptismal ceremony (p. 84). That’s a good practice, I think. On the other hand, Bordeianu says that “Baptism does not bring a measurable ethical change” (p. 82), and I agree, it does not, not immediately, but it should over the long term. While it is true that “sometimes people who are baptized are less moral than those who are not,” that is because we all start in different places and are worked on by different influences. A random Muslim or atheist might be morally more upright than a random Christian, especially a new Christian. But our baptisms ought to mark the beginning of sanctification in our lives. Whether or not we become very much like Jesus before we die, we ought to be more like him at the point of our death than we were at the point of our baptism.

On the second point, priesthood, Bordeianu wants to correct a misapprehension that the laity are not consecrated to a type of priesthood. He affirms the priesthood of all believers, all baptized Christians.

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