Christian Science endorses wholeheartedly the sacrament of baptism. Every right motive we cherish, every vow we make and renew in commitment to God, is bound to strengthen us spiritually. The Church of Christ, Scientist, omits the ritual in a deliberate effort to stress the unceasing spiritual requirements of individual Christianization incumbent upon every man, woman, and child. Active membership in this church requires the Christian Scientist to perpetually ratify and exercise his individual decision to be baptized—figuratively, to be born again.
Although Christ Jesus accepted ceremonial baptism for himself according to the custom of his day, there is no record that he performed any baptismal ceremony when he chose his disciples. His teachings make clear that all may express continuously and freely the eternal, impersonal, redeeming and healing nature of Christ, Truth, which he taught and practiced. Immediately before his ascension, he promised his followers, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." Acts 1:5; Mrs. Eddy observes, "The purification or baptismals that come from Spirit, develop, step by step, the original likeness of perfect man, and efface the mark of the beast." Miscellaneous Writings, p. 18;
Baptism, as Christian Science explains it, does not perfect man. Man is already perfect. Baptism awakens us from the Adam-dream of imperfection. It corroborates and demonstrates the sinless purity of the perfect man of God's creating. The fact that Spirit, God, good, is All-in-all precludes any possible reality apart from good and goodness. Baptism in Christian Science does not involve immersion in water or sprinkling. Its total emphasis is on the Godward direction of spirituality and continuousness. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health: "Our baptism is a purification from all error. Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love. We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love,—casting out error and healing the sick." Science and Health, p. 35;
