The row in England about ‘Debaptism’ raises some interesting issues.
According to the Church of England Newspaper (27 March 09) 1500 people paid to be 'debaptised' in the last week of March. The National Secular Society (NSS) has provided a 'certificate of debaptism' on its website, for the cost of £3, which had been downloaded by over 100,000 people in the past five years.
However, the Church of England is refusing to recognise the need for such a procedure. The certificate declares that persons who are debaptised 'reject all [the Church's] Creeds and all other such superstition in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged Original Sin, and the evil power of supposed demons'.
Part of the rationale for such a campaign is the desire by the NSS to reduce the number of people whom the Church of England claims as baptised members, as such statistics are used for the purpose of securing legislative privilege, as they were in the Wakeham Commission concerning the reform of the House of Lords.
The wording of the certificate shows a woeful understanding of baptism, which apparently has not been corrected by a sound teaching about the significance of baptism both in the New Testament as well as in the doctrine of the Church of England. However, the question remains: how does one undo one's baptism?
Three options for 'debaptism' come immediately to mind:
1. It is something that the church should perform.
2. It is something that the person should do themselves.
3. It is not something that can be done.
In favour of 1: those who preach the word of the gospel are the ones to whom is entrusted the rite of baptism (Matthew 28:19-20). One does not baptise oneself, one is baptised. Therefore, one cannot debaptise oneself.
In favour of 2: If the church is so lax in the discipline of its baptised members (when was the last time you heard of someone being excommunicated?), then a person has no option but to press ahead and announce one's own departure from the church.
In favour of 3: If circumcision is any guide, it is clearly very difficult to reverse the sign of covenant membership!
What do you think?
