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The Church of England has removed all reference to the devil from the wording of its official Baptism liturgy.
New wording approved by the church’s General Synod asks whether parents and godparents will “turn away from sin” and “reject evil”.
In the traditional service, the request was to “reject the devil and all rebellion against God”, “renounce the deceit and corruption of evil” and “repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour”.
A draft service featuring the new wording has won approval where it has been tried in the United Kingdom, members of the General Synod were told.
The wording change is an attempt to appeal to people at services who have no religious background.
Bishop Robert Paterson of Sodor and Man, who proposed the new text, defended it against claims that it represents a “baptism-lite”.
“We all know that for many people, the devil has been turned into a cartoon-like character of no particular malevolence,” he said.
“We have no quarrel with standing up to the devil, the problem is helping people with little doctrinal appreciation to understand what we mean by affirming that the devil is a defeated power.”
But Alison Ruoff from London diocese appealed to members of the General Synod to restore reference to the devil.
“I would suggest we must not patronise people, they are not stupid, people can look at the television and the radio and the news and they see evil well and truly,” she said.
“We have to tell them, if they don’t know, that it emanates from the devil,” she added.
Peter Stanford, author of “The Devil: A Biography,” told the BBC he wondered what would happen to the dozens of trained exorcists attached to each diocese in England.
If the Devil is just a symbol, where does that leave God, he asked.
A report for the Church’s Liturgical Commission said clergy were often finding themselves conducting Baptisms for “un-churched” families.
“On these occasions there may be a few people present who have a developed understanding of the Church’s language and symbolism,” it said.
“For the majority of those attending, the existing provision can seem complex and inaccessible.”
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