BAPAUME, a French town in the department of Pas-de-Calais. It has been the scene of several battles. In 1793 the French were compelled by the allied troops to abandon the place, and in the Franco-German war one of the most closely-contested battles was fought there on 3rd Jan., 1871. Bapaume, occupied by the Germans in the European War, was recaptured by British troops on 29th Aug., 1918, the great battle of Bapaume having begun on 21st Aug. Pop. (1911) 2917.
BAPH´OMET, the imaginary idol or symbol which the Templars were accused of employing in their mysterious rites, and of which little is known. The word is supposed to be a corruption of Mahomet, to whose faith the Templars were accused of having a leaning. See _Gnosticism_.
BAPTISM (from the Gr. _baptiz[=o]_, from _bapt[=o]_, to immerse or dip), a rite which is generally thought to have been usual with the Jews even before Christ, being administered to proselytes. All that can be said, however, with some certainty is that the Jewish baptism was not of later origin than the Christian baptism. Anyhow, from this baptism that of St. John the Baptist differed, because he baptized Jews also as a symbol of the necessity of perfect purification from sin. Christ himself never baptized, but directed his disciples to administer this rite to converts (_Mat._ xxviii, 19); and baptism, therefore, became a religious ceremony among Christians, taking rank as a sacrament with all sects which acknowledge sacraments. It should, however, be borne in mind that among many peoples a rite is found which has considerable likeness to Christian baptism. In the primitive Church the person to be baptized was dipped in a river or in a vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered, generally adopting a new name further to express the change. Sprinkling, or, as it was termed, _clinic_ baptism, was used only in the case of the sick who could not leave their beds. The Greek Church and Eastern schismatics retained the custom of immersion; but the Western Church adopted or allowed the mode of baptism by pouring or sprinkling, since continued by most Protestants. This practice can be traced back certainly to the third century, before which its existence is disputed. Since the Reformation there have been various Protestant sects called Baptists, holding that baptism should be administered only by immersion, and to those who can make a personal profession of faith. The Montanists in Africa baptized even the dead, and in Roman Catholic countries the practice of baptizing church bells--a custom of tenth-century origin--continues to this day. Being an initiatory rite, baptism is only administered once to the same person. The Roman and Greek Catholics consecrate the water of baptism, but Protestants do not. The act of baptism is accompanied only with the formula that the person is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but, among most Christians, it is preceded by a confession of faith made by the person to be baptized if an adult, and by his parents or sponsors if he be a child. The Roman Catholic form of baptism is far more elaborate than the Protestant. This Church teaches that all persons not baptized are damned, and that even unbaptized infants are not admitted into Heaven; but for those whose chief fault was that they had not been baptized, even St. Augustine himself believed in a species of mitigated damnation. Protestants hold that though the neglect of the sacrament is a sin, yet the saving new birth may be found without the performance of the rite which symbolizes it. Naming the person baptized forms no essential part of the ceremony, but has become almost universal, probably from the ancient custom of renaming the catechumen.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_ (vol. ii); S. Baring-Gould, _Origin and Development of Religious Belief_; J. E. Hanaver, _Baptism, Jewish and Christian_; Harnack, _History of Dogma_; article _Baptism_ in _Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion_; Corblet, _Histoire du Sacrément du Baptême_; P. Mauro, _Baptism: its place and importance in Christianity_.