Baptism through parents eyes : A thematic analysis study on baptism motives with a ritual theoretic foundation

This study has investigated the meaning of baptism within Christianity, in Sweden, in consideration of which motive parents has to baptize their children. The study includes a case study of qualitative interviews that consists of six interviews with three sets of parents of faith and three unbelieving parents'. These interviews are used in order to obtain a contemporary view of the meaning of the baptism and what motives there is for christening. This study uses a thematic analyze with a ritual theoretical basis.The primary and secondary motives that could be read by the thematic analysis were:Tradition: Time, parents, nurturing Community: Identity, family and relatives, society Faith: Sin, Jesus Solemnity: Something nicely, rejoicingly, mood My analysis of this, as revealed by my investigation, is that the baptisms main motive today, in Sweden, has a traditional meaning and is an introduction into a community. This can be a welcoming either into the family and relatives of non-christians or as an introduction into the Christian community of the parents of faith