Font to Table: The Deeper Meaning Behind Baptismal Fonts

In the church, a “font” is simply a receptacle to hold water to perform the rite of Holy Baptism. They have varied in size, shape, and placement within the history of the church. Since the word used in the New Testament for “Baptism” carries a range of meanings—pouring, sprinkling, immersing, dipping, and cleansing—churches of the Reformation have never made much ado about the mode of the water’s application in the rite. However, the majority of churches still use the traditional eight-sided font. The question I’d like to explore in this post is, “Why?”