All About Mormon Baptism

Posted by Jenny Evans Aug 17, 2009

Baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a little bit of a mystery to many non-members of the faith. It's done by immersion (going completely under the water) rather than by sprinkling, and Mormons do not baptize babies. While those things aren't unique to the LDS church, they certainly put Mormons in the minority.

One of the biggest mysteries to non-Mormons is why Mormons baptize every convert, even if they have already had a Christian baptism in some other church. They also do vicarious baptisms for the dead, even for those of other Christian denominations. The reason is that Mormons believe that true priesthood authority to baptize was once lost from the earth and now resides in and only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As a convert to Mormonism, I can see how that claim might come across as pompous, presumptuous, or even offensive to members of other faiths. But it simply comes from a sincere belief in Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision, which is not intended to tear down anyone's faith but to add to it the additional truths that were lost thousands of years ago.

(For more on what to it's like at a Mormon baptismal program, see "Attending a Mormon Baptism.")