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Q&A Home > B > Baptism Why doesn’t the Orthodox church accept the following viewpoints :
a) the water our Lord Jesus refers to in “being born of the water” (John 3:1-7) is the water in the mother’s womb which breaks before the baby is born. b) "Born of Spirit" is when you are "born again" after having been "born of the water" from your mother’s womb water. Does not that make the above incidents as two separate events? c) What is the physical nature of the liquid surrounding the baby in its mother’s womb? a) If the water in 'born of water' referred to the water in a mothers womb, why would our Lord Jesus Christ make a point to mention 'water and Spirit'? Our Lord should have just talked about the Spirit. Is there any person not born of his mother's womb whether an atheist, an idolater or a believer? We read in the Holy Book of Acts that as St. Peter was speaking in Cornelius's house, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and St. Peter said "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" (Acts 10:47). What would have been the point of baptism in water here if they have already been baptized with the Spirit?
b) In the Sacrament of Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends on the water and empowers it to purify us from sin and grant us a new birth.
c) The fluid surrounding the fetus is not water but is called amniotic fluid. The origin and composition of amniotic fluid changes over the course of pregnancy, and to some extent, its many roles do as well. In the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, the amniotic fluid has an electrolytic and pertinacious composition, very similar to plasma and fetal fluids. After about 20 weeks, the composition of the fluid changes, becoming (mostly) fetal urine. The fetus swallows it. The fetus `breathes' it in and out and the fetus excretes more of it out again.
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