Immersion baptism

Immersion baptism (also known as baptism by immersion or baptism by submersion) is a method of baptism that is distinguished from baptism by affusion (pouring) and by aspersion (sprinkling), sometimes without specifying whether the immersion is total or partial, but very commonly with the indication that the person baptized is immersed in water completely. The term is also, though less commonly, applied exclusively to modes of baptism that involve only partial immersion (see Terminology, below).

A specific form of baptism by immersion, known as triune immmersion (also termed trine immersion or threefold immersion) "consisting in the dipping of the candidate in the water three times-first, in the name of the Father, second, in the name of the Son, and, third, in the name of the Holy Spirit." Trine immersion was attested by Basil (370), Cyril (380), Ambrose (390), Augustine (420), Theodoret (450), and Alcuin (775). In the present day, trine immersion is practiced by the River Brethren and Schwarzenau Brethren, as well as by parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church.