In many religious denominations baptism is considered as a material rite, a sacrament, taking place at one time to signify purification. Some people use water baptism through immersion, others use it through a sprinkling ceremony. Christ Jesus submitted to water baptism because he felt it symbolized the necessity of moral cleansing and the time and custom demanded it. He said, "Suffer it to be so now." ^{Matt. 3:15;} But it must be understood that he did not employ such a ceremony in his own ministry or advocate it for his followers.

One of the difficulties in considering baptism as a material ceremony is that we are liable to lose sight of the continual spiritual cleansing that is the essence of baptism. John the Baptist spoke of Jesus as one who would baptize "with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." ^{v. 11;} And throughout Jesus' teaching he advocated continual purification of thought and life that resulted in healing and regeneration. Christian Science corroborates this and stresses the spiritualization of thought that actually and permanently liberates one from sin and disease. Mrs. Eddy defines "baptism" in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, as "purification by Spirit; submergence in Spirit." ^{Science and Health, p. 581;}

The student of this Science engages in daily and hourly efforts to purify his thinking and living. He knows that all discord, all suffering and limitation, come from the belief that man is a material creature, caused materially, governed by material laws, and subject to corporeal sense. He understands that a true sense of baptism must go far beyond a ceremonial cleansing, for a simple rite cannot break the claim of original sin. Baptism must extend to a transformation of thought from matter to Spirit. The individual must come to realize the spiritual nature of man in the image and likeness of God. He must come to understand the substance of Spirit and the unreality of matter. Christ Jesus spoke of being born again. He said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." ^{John 3:5;} Here he showed that both the moral regeneration and the spiritual transformation are necessary to a permanent solution to the problems of human existence.

Mrs. Eddy says: "The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the spirit of Truth cleansing from all sin; giving mortals new motives, new purposes, new affections, all pointing upward. This mental condition settles into strength, freedom, deep-toned faith in God; and a marked loss of faith in evil, in human wisdom, human policy, ways, and means." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 204;} Baptism is an emergence from matter to Spirit in all ways, and its natural conclusion is the complete spiritualization of thought and life. This is the ultimate as portrayed in Jesus' ascension, and one is never finished with baptism until this final change takes place.

Every healing worked out in Christian Science is an act of baptism. It signifies regeneration of thought and the acknowledgment of the law of God as supreme. Baptism by fire would indicate that errors of thought will cause suffering until they are corrected by Truth and the false senses are destroyed. These errors are purged from human consciousness through whatever experience is necessary to uncover the falsity of error. Jesus spoke of this once when he said to his disciples: "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" ^{Matt. 20:22;} He was evidently showing the progressive and continuous nature of baptism. Resistance to Truth shows itself in suffering until the false sense of life apart from God is extinguished. Then the pure sense of life in and of Spirit is realized and man is known as God's spiritual idea.

Mrs. Eddy says: "The baptism of Spirit, or final immersion of human consciousness in the infinite ocean of Love, is the last scene in corporeal sense. This omnipotent act drops the curtain on material man and mortality." ^{Mis., p. 205.} Such an act is not an emotional experience but a scientific one. It rests on understanding and the spiritual growth of the individual up to the point of comprehending the allness of God, good, and the nothingness of evil. It was divinely natural for Jesus to ascend when his thought was so thoroughly imbued with the Christ, the spiritual nature of man, that he was no longer visible as a corporeal mortal.

Baptism is essentially a private experience and takes place in the privacy of one's direct relation to God. It takes place as the individual repents of his errors and feels the freedom of release from sin and fear. The presence of God, the presence of Truth and Love, when understood, counteracts the beliefs of materiality, eliminates the penalties, and confirms one's faith in the goodness of man as the child of God. No audience or fanfare is necessary, no material water is part of this transformation. But one does need an honest heart, a persistent desire and spiritual sense—a receptive thought. With such preparation one can work out his baptism and prove in practical ways the perfection of being under the government of God.

William Milford Correll