Abstract
This essay explores water as the heart of Christian baptism in three ways. First, it gives an overview of eschatological visions in the prophetic literature and Revelation portraying redemption as divine restoration of arid landscapes. It then looks at these images of the waters of life both as theological metaphor and as a chief design feature of creation. This “map of God” can inspire Christians to recenter our faith and practice in the watershed-based topography of creation, rather than in dominant cultural political ideation. Finally, I propose a reinhabitory ethos of watershed discipleship, calling faith communities to “re-place” our identity and mission in our watersheds. Such a reorientation will help churches contribute to the wider historic struggle to reverse looming ecological catastrophe and help us recover the incarnational character of our tradition, which has been so compromised by Docetism, theological abstraction, and placelessness. So can we reimagine baptism as a liturgical sign of terrestrial resistance and renewal.
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