Back in the third and fourth centuries, it had become common for many people who wanted to join the Christian church, and who in fact considered themselves Christians, to delay their baptism until they were on the verge of death. That may sound strange to us, but there is a kind of logic to it if you accept the assumptions that they were making. If baptism is a one-time opportunity to have all your sins forgiven, and if it can’t be repeated, then it makes sense to wait to be baptized till you’re past the point of sinning, just before you die.
St. Athanasius, the great fourth-century bishop of Alexandria, is supposed to have told a story about that practice. He told it with a smile, probably not meaning it as accurate history. Athanasius said that a predecessor of his had told him about a dream in which God spoke to him about the popularity of deathbed baptism. In the dream, the bishop was asked why he kept sending God all those neatly wrapped packages that had nothing inside!
Here’s a more up-to-date baptism story, one that many clergy can tell with minor variations. A phone call comes to the church from a woman who isn’t a member but who is very worried about a religious issue. “I just had a baby,” she says, “and my sister told me that if my baby died without being baptized he would go to hell. Is that true?”
Today in the church’s calendar is the Sunday of the Baptism of ou
