Episode
Is Baptism necessary for salvation? — Saint in Progress Episode #59
- Podcast
- Saint In Progress
- Published
- Mar 6, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1083
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Summary
A conversation over a lunch of cheese coneys turned to the topic of Baptism, and—believe it or not—Mike didn’t know that many mainline Protestant denominations teach that Baptism is not necessary for salvation. By Divine Providence, Joe Heschmeyer’s recent Shameless Popery podcast provided some starting points for this episode’s discussion on the Sacrament of Baptism, who does the “work” of the sacraments, and the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. For Further Information * Joe Heschmeyer, Shameless Popery Episode #254 “No, Catholics Aren't Pharisees” * On Baptism by Tertullian (Church Father, early 3rd Century) * St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 3—On Baptism (Church Father, 4th Century) For Fun Many Protestants cite the “good thief”—St. Dismas—as not being baptized in water, but still meriting heaven through his faith. A dogma of the Catholic Church teaches that one can also be baptized through blood (martyrdom) or through desire, and it would seem that St. Dismas would fit the bill for “baptism by desire” as in “he desired to be with Christ, but would die before a baptism is possible.” But there’s an old legend that is worth noting that implies a water baptism... In Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s The Seven Last Words, the second chapter is entitled “This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise,” and it shares this: There is a legend to the effect that when, to escape the wrath of Herod, Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin were fleeing into Egypt with the Divine Child, they stopped at a desert inn. The Blessed Mother asked the lady of the inn for water in which to bathe the Babe. The lady then asked if she might not bathe her own child, who was suffering with leprosy, in the same waters in which the Divine Child had been immersed. Immediately upon touc…