Baptism by Fire

What Does Baptism by Fire Mean?

Baptism by Fire is one such phrase that is mentioned in the Bible and was originated in Europe. It refers to an employee or person who learns something through a challenge. In several scenarios, somebody who has just started a new job may experience baptism by fire.

This means that the person must deal with one or the other difficult situation.

Baptism by Fire Explained

Originally, the phrase was synonymous with an ordeal that a person goes through. In Christian and Biblical references, a baptism by fire can also be described as an individual’s martyrdom. With the progression in time, the phrase was used to refer to the first war for a soldier with the battle representing the baptism of the soldier.

Furthermore, this phrase has also been adopted by modern Europe. Herein, the baptism by fire is used to refer to the quick-thinking, wit and strength of an employee that would be helpful enough to come out from a difficult situation.

It is also considered an accurate way to train a new employee quickly. The justification being that the employees will have to deal with real-life, complicated situations sooner in their career. For example, military personnel, firefighters and police officers might get thrown into difficult situations earlier in their jobs.

Once this test is completed, these workers get to perform their duties seamlessly as they have already shown the emotional, physical and mental strength to survive their initial challenges.

Baptism by Fire Example

Basically, baptism by fire can easily be used to describe any sort of situation. For example, suppose there is a new trader who found out that the Market is violently moving against him. Now, he will survive his baptism by fire if he is successful in executing trades by incurring no or minimal loss, irrespective of the direction the market moves in.

Similarly, let’s assume another situation here. Suppose there is a director of a company who may face a baptism by fire when a PR crisis hits the company. This could be because of any issue created between the company and a customer.

Now, the director will have to use his wits and instant knowledge to get out of this crisis so that any negative impact on the company’s reputation can be averted.