wan
Well-known member
Hello. I encountered these two words before and I have always wondered about the exact differences between them. I think that (correct me if I am wrong), christening is a type of baptism. It happens when Christian parents have a new-born infant and they try to welcome him/her into the religious community by baptizing them as well as giving him/her a Christian name. Baptism on the other hand, pertains to adults. You can have a christening for babies but not adults. When an adult wishes to become a Christian, he/she undergoes baptism, not christening.
Christening only happens to infants. It also happens to inanimate objects, such as boats.
Context for "christening": In Linda Goodman's book Sun signs, under the Libran child section, she wrote: "The little Libran does seem to be a plump, pink angel, right out of the pages of a baby book. With his sweet expression and those pleasant, well-balanced Venus features, he's quite a charmer. He seldom kicks off his blankets in red-faced, screaming rage, or punches Mommy in the nose when she tries to give him the bottle. He's too well-mannered for such wild shenanigans. When he smiles, it lights up the whole nursery. People would be like, "My, what a dear, good baby! So quiet and calm. So chubby and dimpled. Surely a gracious fairy touched him with her magic kiss."
I don't like to play the role of the mean old witch at the royal christening, but would you mind checking to see if he has a dimple in his chin?"
Context for "baptism": I first encountered this word watching the cartoon show, "The Simpsons" many years ago. Basically there was one episode where Homer and Marge were deemed to be unfit parents so that Bart and Lisa were taken from them. They were placed under the care of the Flanders'. One time, the Flanders family were playing a Bible game with Bart and Lisa. Both of them did not get any of the answers right. Ned Flander asked them, (paraphrased) "didn't you learn any of this when you were baptized?" Then Bart answered, "we were never baptized as children." At which point Ned Flanders fainted.
Christening only happens to infants. It also happens to inanimate objects, such as boats.
Context for "christening": In Linda Goodman's book Sun signs, under the Libran child section, she wrote: "The little Libran does seem to be a plump, pink angel, right out of the pages of a baby book. With his sweet expression and those pleasant, well-balanced Venus features, he's quite a charmer. He seldom kicks off his blankets in red-faced, screaming rage, or punches Mommy in the nose when she tries to give him the bottle. He's too well-mannered for such wild shenanigans. When he smiles, it lights up the whole nursery. People would be like, "My, what a dear, good baby! So quiet and calm. So chubby and dimpled. Surely a gracious fairy touched him with her magic kiss."
I don't like to play the role of the mean old witch at the royal christening, but would you mind checking to see if he has a dimple in his chin?"
Context for "baptism": I first encountered this word watching the cartoon show, "The Simpsons" many years ago. Basically there was one episode where Homer and Marge were deemed to be unfit parents so that Bart and Lisa were taken from them. They were placed under the care of the Flanders'. One time, the Flanders family were playing a Bible game with Bart and Lisa. Both of them did not get any of the answers right. Ned Flander asked them, (paraphrased) "didn't you learn any of this when you were baptized?" Then Bart answered, "we were never baptized as children." At which point Ned Flanders fainted.
