Hoping to Death: Baptism, Eschatology and Ethics

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Peter Gilmour, “Take Me Out,” Liturgy 21, no. 1 (2006): 51–53. In the opening verses of the sixth chapter, Paul equates baptism and being united with Christ's death (6:3), and therefore we are united with Christ's resurrection (6:4). Mark Searle, “Infant Baptism Reconsidered,” in Alternative Futures for Worship, Vol. 2, Baptism and Confirmation. ed. M. Searle (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1987), 40–43. Ellwood makes a distinction between the “great tradition” and the “little tradition.” The great tradition consists of the larger, overarching traditions of a religion, while the little tradition is comprised of local, familial, or individual practices and preferences, what one might consider “folk religion.” This distinction nicely parallels the distinction between Faith and faith I am making here. See Robert Ellwood, Introducing Religion: From Inside and Outside, 3rd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993), 121–25. Many Protest denominations have created their own catechumenal process of adult initiation, including the Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians/Anglicans. Regis Duffy, Real Presence (New York: Harper and Row, 1982): 111. Duffy cites the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus as one example of service done in Christ's name as evidence of fitness for entrance into the church. Regis Duffy, O.F.M. scholar, mentor, and friend, died on January 4, 2006 after an extended illness. He was the rare person whose actions were as poignant as his words in communicating the Gospel. Regis will be sorely missed. This essay is offered in his memory. Duffy, 115. This is especially clear in Romans 6:4 where Paul describes the baptized in Christological terms; as Christ as died, so we have died, as Christ has been raised, so we have been raised. “So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ.” Romans 6:11 (NRSV). “…and that you, having been set free from sin, have becomes slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:18 (NRSV). Duffy, 117. Ibid. 117. Ibid. 123. Such as the calls for sexual purity (1 Cor. 10:8), as well as for ritual purity (1 Cor. 10:14ff). Paul's description of divided table fellowship is seen as a sin against Christ, and one which has invoked God's judgment (1 Cor. 11:27–32). See 1 Corinthians 8:7–12. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) determined that one need not follow the prescriptions of the Jewish ritual law to be a Christian. In particular males need not be circumcised before being baptized. Not all agreed with this decision, notably the group Paul addresses in Galatians which he refers to as the “circumcision party,” Galatians 2:12. This is most clear in Paul's calling Peter to task on his inconsistencies on this matter (Gal. 2:11–14). Galatians 2:9–10. Paul's litany of marks of unholy living (Gal. 5:19–21) and the subsequent marks of holy living (5:22–23) are both prefaced by the assumption that one is called to communal and ethical standards beyond personal piety. We are called into a community that stands over against the world in terms of its love for one another and its ministry to those in need (5:13–15). Paul's ironic image only underscores the seriousness with which he takes this issue. If the improper Faith is taught, in speech and in example, then those being formed in the faith will not be formed in the Christian faith, and Christ's work has been in vain. The relationship between initiation and ethical living is not peripheral but central to the Christian faith. It is through baptism that the distinctions of the world are erased through Christ's saving acts, erasing the distinction between genders, nationality, and class (Gal. 3:27–29). Rodney Clapp, A Peculiar People: The Church as Culture in a Post-Modern Society (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 100. Clapp, 100. In particular Clapp identifies Romans 8:15–17 and Galatians 3:26—4:6 and their use of adoption language to define baptism and inclusion in the body of Christ. For the story of Hubmaier's faith journey and an analysis of his theology of baptism see my essay “Ordination or Initiation? Balthasar Hubmaier's Rite of Baptism” Studia Liturgica 25 (1995): 68–85. Johnson, 83–85. This is especially clear in that the bestowal of the keys and the authority to bind and loose sins, which was only done at the ordination of a bishop, was done at every baptism. For examples of process models of infant initiation see, Gail Ramshaw-Schmidt, “Celebrating Baptism in Stages: A Proposal” in Searle, ed. Baptism and Confirmation, 137–55; and Todd E. Johnson, “Rethinking Infant Initiation,” Catholic Issues, http://home.adelphi.edu/∼catissue/ISSUES/JOHNSON.HTM (Accessed October 17, 2006).