99 Fun Facts About Baptism

The word 'baptism' comes from a Greek word meaning what?

Dipping: in everyday Greek the same verb described cloth dunked in dye, and even ships sinking or men drowning.

The baptism of Jesus is described in which three Gospels?

Matthew, Mark and Luke narrate it, and in Matthew John at first refuses, saying he needs to be baptised by Jesus instead.

Which Native American's baptism is the subject of a large painting in the US Capitol Rotunda?

Pocahontas took the name Rebecca, and the Virginia Company later paid for her trip to England to promote the colony; she died at Gravesend before sailing home.

In the Gospel accounts, the Spirit descends on Jesus at his baptism in the form of which bird?

Dove: this scene is why Christian art has long shown the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.

What did John the Baptist famously eat in the wilderness?

Locusts and wild honey: odd as it sounds, the Law of Moses lists the locust among the few insects Israelites were allowed to eat.

Which ruler ordered the beheading of John the Baptist?

Herod Antipas: the Gospels say John condemned his marriage, but the historian Josephus says Antipas feared John's influence might spark a rebellion.

What name does Josephus give the daughter of Herodias who danced for Herod?

Salome: the Gospels never name her, and some ancient copies of Mark even call the dancing girl Herodias, like her mother.

Which small sect reveres John the Baptist as its greatest prophet and practises frequent purifying baptism?

Mandaeans: after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, most of the community there fled the country.

The risen Jesus's order to 'make disciples of all nations, baptizing them' is known as what?

The Great Commission ends Matthew's Gospel, and in 1792 William Carey argued it was 'still binding' on Christians, then sailed for India the next year.

Baptism by sprinkling water on the head is called what?

Aspersion: churches used it mainly for the sick who could not leave their beds, and the bishop Cyprian ruled such baptisms valid.

Medieval theologians taught that babies who died unbaptised went to which place?

Limbo was never official Church doctrine, and in 2007 a Vatican commission found 'serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope' that such babies are saved.

Early Christians were usually baptised naked; what did they put on after leaving the water?

A white robe: new Christians wore it all through Easter week, which is how the next Sunday got its old Latin name, 'Sunday in white'.

Which Christian group has traditionally rejected all outward sacraments, water baptism included?

Quakers: George Fox and the early Friends saw the whole of life as sacramental, so they refused to set apart any one practice as more sacred than others.

Why did the Salvation Army's founders drop baptism and communion?

People trusted rituals instead of grace, the Booths believed, and the Army's commitment to total abstinence also ruled out communion wine.

The Anabaptists of the 16th century got their name because they insisted on what?

Re-baptising those baptised as infants earned them the scornful German label Wiedertäufer, 'rebaptizers', though they saw infant baptism as no baptism at all.

In which city did Conrad Grebel baptise George Blaurock on 21 January 1525, founding the Anabaptists?

Zurich: the city council soon decreed the severest penalties against the movement, and in 1527 Felix Manz, one of the group, was drowned.

Which three groups are direct descendants of the early Anabaptists?

Baptists also practise believer's baptism but have different roots; pouring rather than immersion remains the norm among the Amish.

In which city did John Smyth's exiled English congregation begin the Baptist tradition in 1609?

Amsterdam: Smyth's first Baptists poured water rather than immersing, and English Baptists only began insisting on full immersion from the 1640s.

Which 16th-century reformer regarded baptism and the Lord's Supper as merely symbolic?

Huldrych Zwingli fell out with Luther over communion at Marburg in 1529, and two years later he was killed in battle at Kappel.

In Eastern Christianity, the anointing that Western churches call confirmation happens when?

Immediately after baptism, as in the early Church; the West split the rites apart so that its bishops could still confirm each child personally.

The consecrated oil used to anoint the newly baptised in Catholic and Orthodox churches is called what?

Chrism: bishops now bless the year's supply at a special Mass in Holy Week, though it could once be blessed on any day of the year.

Who baptised the Ethiopian court official he found reading Isaiah in a chariot?

Philip: as soon as they came up out of the water, Acts says, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and the official saw him no more.

Latter Day Saint proxy baptism for the dead is based on a verse in which New Testament book?

1 Corinthians: Latter-day Saints perform proxy baptisms only in temples, and teach that the dead may choose to accept or reject them.

An early church writer linked eight-sided baptisteries to which event?

The Resurrection: Jesus rose on the day after the seventh-day Sabbath, so some early Christian writers called Sunday the 'eighth day'.

Which Florentine lost the 1401 contest for the Baptistery doors but later built the cathedral's famous dome?

Filippo Brunelleschi devoted many years to studying the ancient monuments of Rome, some of them alongside his younger friend Donatello.

Which sculptor made the Florence Baptistery doors that Michelangelo called fit for 'the gates of Paradise'?

Lorenzo Ghiberti: the bronze workshop he built for the doors trained younger artists, among them Donatello and Paolo Uccello.

Which poet, baptised in the Florence Baptistery, hoped in vain to return there for a laurel crown?

Dante Alighieri was exiled from Florence in 1302 and died still in exile, in Ravenna, in 1321.

The left-hand angel in Verrocchio's 'Baptism of Christ' is credited to which young pupil?

Leonardo da Vinci: Vasari tells that the pupil's angel was so skilful it upset the older Verrocchio, though the story may be only legend.

Piero della Francesca's 'Baptism of Christ' hangs in which museum?

National Gallery, London: the Sansepolcro religious house it was painted for was later shut down, and the Gallery bought the panel in 1861.

Which Roman emperor delayed baptism until his deathbed in 337 to wash away his reign's sins?

Constantine had hoped to be baptised in the River Jordan, but in the end an Arian bishop, Eusebius of Nicomedia, baptised him.

The author of the Confessions was baptised at the Easter Vigil of 387 in Milan by which bishop?

Ambrose baptised him together with his friend Alypius and his gifted teenage son Adeodatus, who died soon afterwards.

In which city was Clovis, king of the Franks, baptised around AD 500?

Reims: because Clovis was baptised there, its cathedral became the coronation church of later kings, anointed from the Holy Ampulla.

The mass baptism of the people of Kiev around 988 followed the conversion of which ruler?

Vladimir the Great was baptised at Chersonesus in Crimea as part of a deal to marry Anna, sister of Emperor Basil II, then had his people baptised in Kiev.

Who led the 597 mission from Rome that converted Æthelberht of Kent?

Augustine of Canterbury: the king's Frankish wife Bertha had married him on condition she could keep her faith, and already worshipped at an old church outside Canterbury.

Which fairy tale opens with fairies invited to a baby princess's christening as godmothers?

Sleeping Beauty: in Perrault's telling, the old fairy who cursed the baby had been left out because she hadn't left her tower in over fifty years.

The English word 'gossip' originally meant what?

A godparent: Old English godsibb meant a sponsor at baptism, then the women friends at a birth, and by the 1560s anyone fond of idle talk.

On Epiphany in Bulgaria and Greece, a priest throws what into the water for young men to race after?

A wooden cross: throwing it blesses the local waters, and the race to fetch it comes in the depths of January.

During Ethiopia's Timkat festival, priests carry each church's tabot, a replica of what?

The Ark of the Covenant: lay people rarely see it, so priests carry it wrapped in cloth, and only clergy may touch it.

Which language gave English the military sense of 'baptism of fire', a soldier's first battle?

French: English borrowed 'baptême du feu', a soldiers' twist on the Greek church phrase for John the Baptist's baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Who plays the baby in The Godfather's baptism scene?

Sofia Coppola, the director's infant daughter, played a baby boy, and in The Godfather Part III she returned as Michael's daughter Mary.

When a ship is 'christened', what is traditionally broken over the bow?

A bottle of champagne: to christen first meant to baptise and name a baby, which is why naming a new ship at its launch borrowed the word.

In Catholic teaching, who may perform an emergency baptism?

Only someone with the right intention: in an emergency, Catholic teaching accepts a baptism even by a non-Christian who intends what the Church intends.

Which Jewish ritual bath is used for immersion to restore ritual purity?

Mikveh: the rabbis required it to hold natural water from a spring or rain, so water simply pumped in won't do.

Which movement baptises with the words 'in the name of Jesus Christ', as in Acts 2:38?

Oneness Pentecostals: a preacher's teaching that the early church baptised in Jesus' name alone gave rise to their movement, which rejects the Trinity.

Which Frankish ruler's law for conquered Saxony made refusing baptism punishable by death?

Charlemagne: the Saxon leader Widukind held out against him until 785, when he surrendered and was baptised.

In Catholic teaching, martyrdom is counted as a saving 'baptism of' what?

Blood: it counts as baptism only by analogy, since the martyr never receives baptismal water yet may still gain eternal life.

Which US president was baptised while in office, shortly after his first inauguration?

Dwight D. Eisenhower: his mother had left the River Brethren for the Bible Students, forerunners of Jehovah's Witnesses, who met in the family home.

Where are most Jehovah's Witness baptisms performed?

At assemblies and conventions: every assembly includes a baptism, and Witnesses regard each baptised member as a minister.

In Pentecostalism, baptism with the Holy Spirit is identified with what?

Speaking in tongues: Pentecostals point to Acts 2, where the apostles, filled with the Holy Ghost, 'began to speak with other tongues' at Pentecost.

In which river did John the Baptist baptise Jesus, the same river where Naaman washed seven times?

Jordan is where Elisha sent the Syrian commander Naaman, who stormed off angry at so simple a cure before washing there and being healed of leprosy.

Which playwright's exact birthday is unknown, though his baptism was recorded at Stratford on 26 April 1564?

William Shakespeare is traditionally given a 23 April birthday, a guess that appeals to biographers because he also died on that date in 1616.

John's Gospel notes that Jesus himself did not baptise anyone during his ministry in Judea; who did?

His disciples did the baptising, the Gospel explains in an aside, even as the Pharisees heard that Jesus was winning more followers than John.

What was John the Baptist's rough clothing made of, worn with a leather belt around his waist?

Camel's hair and a leather belt were all he wore as crowds from Jerusalem and across Judea came out to him, confessing their sins.

By the count in Acts 2, roughly how many people were baptised in Jerusalem after Peter's first sermon?

About 3,000 joined the church in a single day, after Peter's listeners were cut to the heart and asked the apostles what they should do.

Which Pharisee visited Jesus by night and was told a person must be born of water and Spirit?

Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, took the saying literally and asked how a grown man could enter his mother's womb a second time.

In Catholic baptismal promises, whom do candidates renounce, along with all his works and pomps?

Satan is renounced in three questions before the profession of faith, and in the older Roman rite a godparent gave the answers on a baby's behalf.

Which title did John the Baptist give Jesus on seeing him approach, as the one who takes away sin?

The Lamb of God was John's cry on two days running, and the second time two of his own followers left him to walk after Jesus.

Which English king made baptism a condition of peace for the beaten Viking leader Guthrum in 878?

Alfred the Great received Guthrum at the ceremony himself, and the Dane went on to rule East Anglia under his baptismal name, Æthelstan.

In Catholic teaching, baptism erases which inherited condition, traced back to the fall of Adam and Eve?

Original sin is wiped away along with every personal sin, though the Catechism adds that a weakened nature inclined to evil remains.

As Jesus came up from the water at his baptism, what did the voice from heaven call him?

My beloved Son, the voice declared, adding that it was well pleased with him, and straight afterwards the Spirit drove Jesus out to face forty days of testing.

What did John the Baptist call the Pharisees and Sadducees who came out to his baptism?

A brood of vipers was his greeting, followed by a demand to know who had warned them to flee from the wrath to come.

Which elderly priest was struck mute in the Temple for doubting he would father John the Baptist?

Zechariah stayed silent until the baby was born, getting his voice back only after writing on a tablet that the boy's name was John.

Which fisherman, the brother of Peter, followed John the Baptist before becoming an apostle of Jesus?

Andrew heard John point Jesus out, spent the day with him, then fetched his brother with word that they had found the Messiah.

Which believer in Damascus laid hands on the blinded Saul of Tarsus, who then got up and was baptised?

Ananias went reluctantly, having heard how much harm Saul had done in Jerusalem, and something like scales fell from Saul's eyes at his touch.

Paul wrote that the Israelites were all baptised into which leader 'in the cloud and in the sea'?

Moses led them under the cloud and through the sea, and Paul adds that they all ate the same spiritual food and drank from a rock that was Christ.

The First Letter of Peter compares baptism to which rescue, when eight people were saved through water?

Noah's ark carried eight people through the water, and the letter insists baptism saves not by washing dirt off the body but as the answer of a good conscience.

Baptism and confirmation are two of the three sacraments of initiation; which sacrament completes the set?

Eucharist is the third, and the Catechism says the three together lay the foundations of every Christian life: born anew in baptism, strengthened by confirmation, fed by the Eucharist.

Which reformer's Small Catechism of 1529 teaches baptism alongside the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer?

Martin Luther wrote it as a teaching aid for pastors and for fathers instructing their households, and it sits in the Book of Concord as an authoritative statement of Lutheran belief.

Eastern Orthodox Christians say which doctrine about God was revealed at the baptism of Jesus?

The Trinity appeared together, tradition holds: the Father's voice from above, the Son in the river and the Holy Spirit descending on him.

Which fourth-century statement of faith, recited at Sunday Mass, professes one baptism for forgiving sins?

The Nicene Creed reaches baptism near its very end, straight after confessing one holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

Which pope added the Luminous Mysteries, including the Baptism of Jesus, to the Rosary in 2002?

John Paul II suggested five new mysteries to sit beside the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious sets, lifting the Rosary's total from fifteen to twenty.

Which prophet, carried up to heaven in a whirlwind, did Jesus say had returned in John the Baptist?

Elijah was expected back before the day of the Lord, and Jesus told his followers the prophet had already come and gone unrecognised.

John the Baptist appeared in the Judean desert proclaiming a baptism of what, for the forgiveness of sins?

Repentance had to show in changed lives, John insisted, telling those he baptised to share spare coats and food with anyone who had none.

When John the Baptist objected to baptising Jesus, what reason did Jesus give for going ahead?

To fulfil all righteousness was his answer, after John had objected that he was the one who needed baptising by Jesus.

In John's Gospel, what does John the Baptist say he is not worthy to do for the one coming after him?

Loosen his sandal strap was the task he named, in reply to priests and Levites sent from Jerusalem to ask who he was.

Which Roman centurion's household did Peter order to be baptised after the Holy Spirit fell on them?

Cornelius and his guests were listening to Peter mid-sermon when the Spirit came, which convinced Peter that no one could refuse water to Gentiles.

Which seller of purple cloth from Thyatira was baptised with her household after hearing Paul at Philippi?

Lydia was listening at a riverside place of prayer when she believed, and she then pressed Paul's party to come and stay at her house.

After a midnight earthquake at Philippi, which official was baptised that night with his whole household?

The jailer had been about to kill himself, thinking his prisoners had escaped, and he washed Paul and Silas's wounds before his own baptism.

In Romans 6, Paul says those baptised into Jesus were baptised into what, and buried with him?

His death is where Paul says baptism plunges a believer, so that, as Christ was raised, the believer too can walk in newness of life.

Paul told the divided church at Corinth that he was sent not to baptise but to do what?

Preach the Good News, he wrote, relieved that he had baptised so few of them that nobody could claim to belong to a party of Paul.

In Galatians, what does Paul say everyone who has been baptised has done?

Put on Christ is his phrase, and he follows it by declaring there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female.

Which New Testament letter lists 'one Lord, one faith, one baptism' among the things that unite the church?

Ephesians sets the phrase in a run of seven 'ones', from one body and one Spirit to one God and Father of all.

In Colossians, Paul links burial 'with him in baptism' to which older sign given to Abraham?

Circumcision 'not made with hands' is how Paul describes it, a stripping away of the old sinful self instead of a cut in the flesh.

Which two sons of Zebedee did Jesus ask whether they could share the baptism he was about to undergo?

James and John had asked for the seats at his right and left in glory, and Jesus used baptism as an image of the suffering ahead of him.

Which group did John the Baptist tell to be content with their wages and to extort money from no one?

Soldiers got that advice, while the tax collectors who came for baptism were told to collect no more than the amount appointed.

In the Latin Church, which ministers join bishops and priests as the ordinary ministers of baptism?

Deacons are added for the Latin Church specifically, the Catechism naming only the bishop and priest as ordinary ministers everywhere.

Catholic teaching holds that someone who dies while preparing for baptism is saved by a 'baptism of' what?

Desire for the sacrament, joined to sorrow for sin and charity, is held to bring its fruits to those who die before reaching the water.

What name is given to an adult preparing for baptism, a learner the early church dismissed before communion?

Catechumen comes from Greek for one being instructed, and in some places such learners had to enter by a side door or watch from the side.

The candle handed over at a Catholic baptism is lit from a tall candle, blessed each Easter, called what?

Paschal candles stay in the baptistry once the Easter season is over, so that each newly baptised person's light can be taken from that flame.

The Catholic Catechism calls baptism the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door giving access to what?

The other sacraments all lie beyond that door, and the same paragraph calls baptism the basis of the whole Christian life.

Which word for a newly baptised Christian in the early church is also used for any beginner?

Neophyte comes from Greek for 'newly planted', and early church rules stopped such fresh converts being promoted too quickly to holy orders.

The letter to Titus says God saved believers through 'the washing of' what, a phrase long applied to baptism?

Regeneration means rebirth, and the verse pairs that washing with renewal by the Holy Spirit, poured out richly through Jesus Christ.

Which minister of Henry VIII ordered every English parish in 1538 to register baptisms, marriages and burials?

Thomas Cromwell issued the order as the king's Vicar General, less for doctrine than to give the government better knowledge of the country's population.

Which ruler's personal baptism on Holy Saturday in 966 is known as the Baptism of Poland?

Mieszko I was baptised with much of his court, a decision often credited to the influence of his Bohemian wife, Dobrawa.

Which man of Samaria was baptised, then offered the apostles money for the power to give the Spirit?

Simon Magus was rebuked by Peter for the offer, and buying or selling church office has been called simony ever since.

Which eloquent Alexandrian preacher knew only John's baptism until Priscilla and Aquila taught him more?

Apollos was already teaching accurately about Jesus when the couple took him aside, and he later gained a following of his own at Corinth.

Which early Christian manual, the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, prefers baptism in 'living water'?

The Didache allows cold or even warm water when no stream is at hand, and pouring three times on the head when there is too little to immerse.

Which relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to John the Baptist in her old age?

Elizabeth had long been called barren, and an angel pointed to her pregnancy as proof to Mary that nothing is impossible for God.

Which angel told an elderly priest at the altar of incense that his wife would bear John the Baptist?

Gabriel said he stands in the presence of God, and the same angel was later sent to Nazareth to announce another birth to Mary.