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Aurel Gheorghe
Christening is the old word for baptism - (the English word Christen most likely appeared in usage around late 12th – early 13th century as a reference to the ceremony of receiving a baby into the Christian church by baptism). As far as I’m aware, Protestant denominations do not baptize babies – instead they practice dedication of children to God which was practiced in Biblical times (Ex 13:1, 2). Hannah dedicated Samuel to God and to the Temple service (1 Sam 1:27, 28). Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple (Luke 2:22). Some churches refer to the service as a Baby Blessing instead of Baby Dedication. There is no record of infant baptism in the Bible. The Bible baptism is meant to be practiced by persons who are capable of knowing what they are doing and making a conscious decision to repent from their sin and follow Christ in the newness of life (Rom 6:4) – infants do not have the ability of doing that.
Tim Maas
From my understanding, the specific ceremony of christening is a component of baptism as practiced by such denominations as Catholics and Episcopalians/Anglicans. In addition to the act of baptizing, it also involves the bestowing of a name on the individual being baptized (such as the name of a saint, angel, biblical figure, or Christian virtue such as faith, hope, or charity), in addition to the name given at birth by the individual's parents.
Although the Bible records instances such as David giving the infant Solomon the name "Jedidiah" ("beloved of the LORD") because of God conveying congratulations to David through Nathan the prophet when Solomon was born (2 Samuel 12:25), or Jesus re-naming Simon as "Peter" (from the Greek word for "rock") in connection with his recognition of Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 16:18), those actions were in response to a specific incident, rather than a matter of common or prescribed practice.
Aside from any debate or disagreement among Christians with regard to a biblical basis for infant baptism, and although there is general agreement among Christians that a person is "born again" (John 3:16) and becomes a "new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17) through faith in Christ, the bestowing of an additional name as part of that process through christening is, in my opinion, a human practice that is not commanded in the Bible, nor an essential component of Christian belief or doctrine.
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