Baptism at Brewster Baptist Church

"Baptism of Believers" is the most important doctrine of
Baptists. The Chaplain explained this clearly and cogently
in one of the sessions of the new member class. Put very
simply, the Baptist denominations require everyone who
wishes to join to be firmly grounded in the Christian faith,
and then baptized by total immersion. In this, they are
following the precedent of the early church which is
reflected in The Book of Acts of the Apostles, and in
long-standing tradition.
Some time ago, The Church (meaning The Church in
Rome) became concerned about the fate of the souls
of infants who were not baptized before untimely death.
To get around this, they adopted the doctrine of "limbo"
wherein unbaptized infants languished forever out of
God's kingdom. To avoid this, the church instituted
infant baptism, followed by "confirmation" when the
child reached the age of reason. In that rite, the child
makes his/her own promises to follow Jesus, and is duly
anointed by a bishop in the apostolic succession.
Many of the Protestant denominations follow that
practice. Not so, the Baptists.
I asked the Dean if prospective new members of
Brewster Baptist Church received formal instruction
in the Christian faith before being baptized. She said
that some of the offerings in adult education had been
aimed to provide Christianity 101. Persons who
come from other denominations, and were baptized
and confirmed therein may be enrolled as members
of BBC by making the promises stated in the member
covenant. I guess they are presumed to have received
some sort of full-blown Christian instruction, as a child
or in an adult setting. No one checks up on this. You
do not have to volunteer any information about it.
To me, this strengthens my argument that the new
member "class" (course) be devoted to orientation.
Simple logic dictates that a prospective new member
of BBC either has been duly instructed in our religion,
or defers consideration of membership until he/she
has completed same. My experience of said instruction
is that it takes many more hours that are now scheduled
for the new member class.