Baptism

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › The Sacraments

35 questions

"Salvation in the Orthodox Concept" by Pope Shenouda 111, states that it is an individual's faith which makes him eligible for baptism. How then can a baby be baptized?…
The thief who was on the right side of the Lord Jesus Christ entered the Kingdom of Heaven without Baptism. How do you justify that? Doesn't that prove that it is by…
Why does the Church baptize boys after 40 days, and girls after 80 days?
In Acts 2:36-39, Baptism took place after conviction of sin and repentance. There is no mention of Baptism at infancy as is the case at our church. Colossians 2:11,12,…
The Lord Jesus Christ was not baptized as a baby because a baby does not know how to distinguish between good and evil. Although Lord Jesus Christ had no evil in Him, yet…
Is the Lord's commandment in the Holy Book of Genesis 17 (regarding circumcision and eight day old boys) a symbol of Baptism at Infancy?
I have met someone who claims she has recently converted to Christianity, but does not know what baptism is. She claims she has become Christian simply by believing in…
" Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all ?" (I Cor 15:29). What is "Baptism for the dead"? Could Your Grace please…
What is the Orthodox view on the "Baptism of the Spirit"? Is it always accompanied with "the speaking in tongues"? St. Paul talks about it a lot and confirms it,…
Why doesn’t the Orthodox church accept the following viewpoints : a) the water our Lord Jesus refers to in “being born of the water” (John 3:1-7) is the water in the…
Is Baptism necessary for salvation?
In your article on baptism you state the reasons for waiting forty and eighty days. Does the Coptic Church follow this Old Testament based teaching?
In the Holy Book of Acts 19 Paul called St John's baptism as one for the remission of sins and he baptized them again (verse 5) following that with the laying of his…
If a woman, tricked her husband and their parish priest into thinking that she truly had faith in Christ and continued this deceit until after she had been baptized and…
Is a forced baptism or a baptism conferred on a deep sleeping person or someone in a coma ever considered a valid Baptism? It appears that the church has used forced…
How would the Coptic Orthodox Church receive someone who has been baptized at the protestant church and Chrismated at the Eastern Orthodox Church?
Does the Coptic Orthodox Church consider Chaldean Catholic Baptism valid?
Does a Catholic or a Protestant (Lutheran) have to be baptized in the Coptic Orthodox Church to be able to marry in the Orthodox Church?
http://www.fairlds.org/apol/misc/misc23.html, is a Mormon web site defending their practice of baptism for the dead. I know our church does not practice baptism for the…
" This is He who came by water and blood Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth " (1…
" The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit " (John…
Is water baptism a requirement for salvation?
John the Baptist was sure of baptizing the Lord. He saw the Dove and the Sound saying, " This is My Beloved Son.... " (Matthew 3:17) Later on he sent some of his…
I have a friend that asked me if a person would have to be baptized over if they were converting into another denomination but still under Christianity; I did not really…
I had a question regarding the wait after birth for women. I know for baby boys, it is 40 days and for baby girls, 80 days. But, if we are no longer following Moses' law,…
I've been hearing a lot about a second baptism. I was baptized as a baby and not as a grown up to make my own decision. Does God command us to be baptized when we are…
I love this quote from H.H. Pope Shenouda III: "One should then meet with God within oneself, not outside, for many seek Him here or there while He is within them and…
Why did Jesus get baptized, and why specifically in the Jordan River? Does it have to do with the scrolls that Satan threw in the river?
If Jesus Christ was baptized for our sins in his baptism, and removed the original, when we are baptized we are uniting with him and accepting what He did for us in the…
Jesus was baptized only for being anointed as the Messiah (the High Priest, King of kings, and the Prophet) or for other reasons too? I thought Jesus was baptized to show…
When were the disciples of our Lord baptized? Did the people that God saved from hell get baptized in order to enter paradise?
Some say that when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, that was their baptism?
I thought St. John's baptism was for repentance; so, it does not count as the same baptism as Christ's baptism (Acts 19:5)?
In baptism, we know that the old man dies (as mentioned by St. Paul in Romans 6), and we rise with Christ. What exactly dies (or what is the old man composed of)? Does…
Can my son have his child baptized in the Coptic Church? My son was baptized in the Coptic Church and his wife in the Roman Catholic Church. My daughter-in-law wants…

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.