BAPTISM

   RITUAL immersion or sprinkling with water symbolic of REPENTANCE and NEW BIRTH. It developed in JUDAISM prior to the time of JESUS and became a central practice in the work of JOHN THE BAPTIST and became the CHRISTIAN RITUAL of INITIATION. Within CHRISTIANITY strong DOCTRINAL disputes exist as to both the mode and appropriate subjects of baptism. Until the REFORMATION most Christian groups baptized entire families including children. Sectarian groups, later to be known as BAPTISTS, objected to this practice claiming that BELIEF was a necessary prerequisite for baptism. Defenders of infant baptism argue either that the act itself mystically REGENERATES the individual, or that the practice is justified in terms of GOD'S COVENANT with the CHURCH. Advocates of infant baptism usually accept sprinkling as an acceptable mode of baptism on the grounds that this was common in JUDAISM. Baptists usually insist on adult baptism by total immersion.