Understanding Of Baptism Research Articles

Baptism – the Revelation of the Filial Relationship of Christ and the Christian

The author analyses Jesus’ baptism in Jordan, looking for its parallel in the Christian baptism. He begins by acknowledging the historicity of Jesus’ baptism and reflects on the meaning of the baptism of John by juxtaposing it with similar rites described in the Old Testament texts, in Second Temple Jewish literature, and in rabbinical sources. Then he analyses the meaning of Jesus’ baptism, criticizing the historical-critical interpretations that separate the scene of baptism from the theophany that follows it. According to the author, such an operation is unfounded due to the nature of ancient texts and the literary and thematic continuity between baptism and theophany in the synoptic Gospels. Further, the author presents arguments demonstrating that Jesus comes to Jordan already aware of his identity and mission, which the Father’s voice announces to others and objectivizes. In the last step, it is argued that Jesus’ baptism in Jordan together with the Lord’s death and resurrection could have been a point of reference for the early Christian understanding of baptism connected with the gift of the Spirit, with the filial dignity and the “Abba” prayer and with the inheritance of heaven. All these elements can be found in Rom 8:14-17,23 which describes the new life of those baptized in Christ.

아나뱁티스트들의 유아세례 논쟁 - 원죄 사상과 자유의지를 중심으로

In the Christian Liturgy, baptism is a ritual of recognition of membership in the church and an external sign that symbolizes the beginning of communion with Christ. The most fierce struggle in Christian history over baptism was during the 16th century Reformation. The Anabaptist group aimed at a third church form different from those of Roman Catholic church and magisterial Protestant churches. Anabaptists were eager to reinterpret and apply the existing theological traditions in their context, hoping to restore apostolic form of the Christian church. In the process, they quarreled with the Roman Catholic Church and mainstream reformers. As a result, numerous anabaptists were persecuted or martyred.<BR> Anabaptists’ claims of baptism led to their separation from the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Protestant mainstream churches in relation to the nature of the church, church order, interpretation of the Bible, and understanding of the church and state. In short, the Anabaptist group’s basic beliefs, theology, the uniqueness of doctrine, and their identity were formed around the understanding of baptism.<BR> Although many scholars have analyzed the history and theology of Anabaptists, few studies have analyzed the theological and doctrinal aspects of the key subject of baptism, which is directly connected to their church form. What is the theological rationale for Anabaptists’ rejection of infant baptism and advocacy for adult baptism? This article argues that the characteristics of baptism, which Anabaptists have argued, are fully revealed when analyzed from the perspective of the idea of original sin and the theory of free will.<BR> For this task, this article will analyze the baptismal theory of Anabaptists and analyze the issues and core values through the ideas and discussions of contemporary reformers, especially Calvin. In addition, this article will clarify that Anabaptists’ baptismal theology is the key to supporting their church vision and ideals, and argue that their baptismal theology can grasp its full meaning when grasped in a historical context, following the times and places.

Guds børn og Fadervor (I):

In the baptismal ritual of the Church of Denmark, the Lord’s Prayer has since 1912 been placed after baptism while it formerly was placed before, as in Luther’s Taufbüchlein. Two consecutive articles argue that the replacement in 1912 was influenced by the theology of Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig. The current first article deals with Grundtvig’s understanding of baptism as a sacrament, and his view and criticism of the baptismal ritual of his time.

BAPTISM AS INSTRUMENT OF GRACE IN BAPTIST’S INTERPRETATION

The article proves that although usually Baptists looks like antisacramentalists, the early confession of faith clearly demonstrates the sacramental character and language of the Baptist understanding of water baptism. For the Baptist tradition, an instrumental understanding of baptism is not alien, they agree that baptism is as a means of grace, and this article clearly demonstrates it. Baptists do not really agree with the «mechanical» understanding of baptism, as a means of conveying grace, regardless of the faith and attitudes of the candidate for baptism. They do not believe in the understanding of baptism as a way of linking material ritual and spiritual reality automatically and reject the idea of conveying grace by the baptismal process itself as ex opere operato. However, they often interpret the understanding of grace as a gift, not a givenness. In Sacramental Gift, the Giver gives himself completely and without a trace, and in this sense the Baptists agree with the idea of baptism as an instrumental means of grace. But this happens only if the recipient of the Gift actively agrees. Thus, the article shows that Baptists reject only the instrumental action of grace without the faith.The author of the article draws attention to the fact that in many earlier Baptist Confessions of Faith, baptism is treated as a sign of grace, which is close to the classical understanding of this sacrament by Augustine and the entire Western Christian tradition. Thus, the explanation of baptism as a gift of grace, and not of givenness, becomes the basis for dialogue with other traditions. The consideration of baptism as Gift, in which Giver gives himself completely and without remnant, is close to theological understanding in this tradition, because in this case in the sacrament of baptism the candidate for baptism receives the Gift – Christ Himself, because He is immersed in Him.

Book Review: Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer

Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer. By Rowan Williams. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing, 2014. viii + 84 pp. $10.00 (paper).Some books are a few hundred pages long and you only get a handful of helpful insights from them. Others may be short, but are so well-written that two or three pages in you are already moved and illumined. Rowan Williams's latest work falls into the latter category. Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer is a mature summary-reflection of the Christian Ufe from one of Anglicanism s most significant leaders in the last twenty years. Rowan WilUams, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, has written numerous books on a variety of subjects. His writing appeals to a broad spectrum of readers, conservative and Uberal. His style is very poetic and pastoral, and in that sense, his work is inviting. It is clearly the work of a master theologian with a wealth of pastoral experience.In this short work, Williams discusses elements of the Christian Ufe, by which he means those simple and recognizable things that make you realize that you are part of a Christian community (p. vii). WilUams chooses four topics that seem to him most obvious for this exercise: baptism, Bible, eucharist, and prayer. He then gives attention to each in individual chapters. Each chapter contains much to be admired and appreciated by all orthodox Christians, although WilUams sometimes stretches the topic to its Umits in the effort to summarize all of Christian living under these headings.Baptism, for WilUams, is certainly a rite of entrance into the church. It is connected to the new creation. It means becoming God's beloved child. WilUams also uses the language of chaos moving into order, and the restoration of what it is to be truly human (p. 3) to explain what happens in baptism. These things all lead to a Ufe of Christian mission. Being baptized into Jesus will mean being led toward the world in all its brokenness to bring the presence of Christ. To be a Christian is to be affected-you might even say contaminated-by the mess of humanity (p. 6). Being a Christian is not a safe, easy Ufe. Rather, WilUams states, Perhaps baptism really ought to have some health warnings attached to it: 'If you take this step, if you go into these depths, it will be transfiguring, exhilarating, life-giving and very, very, dangerous' (p. 9). So, mission is subsumed under baptism.An additional point to highlight is that baptism, according to WilUams, brings you into the neighbourhood of other Christians; and there is no way of being a Christian without being in the neighbourhood of other (p. 10). Baptism is a communal event. It is not just about the individual being baptized. It is not a purely private spiritual exercise. It is how we enter a community. It seems to me that this understanding of baptism might be especially appreciated by Reformed churches, where baptism has covenantal significance.Bible reading (or perhaps, hearing the Bible) is also an essential aspect of being a Christian. As WilUams explains, Christians are people who expect to be spoken to by (p. 21). And the Bible consists of those texts that, from the very beginnings of the Christian community, have been identified as carrying the voice of (p. 22). Williams writes briefly on how the Bible works and how it should be read. Here is one place where some readers will disagree. Williams affirms the larger story of the whole Bible and the need for that story to shape believers' lives. However, he suggest that some events, such as the conquest of Canaan, which may appear to be divinely sanctioned, are in fact merely descriptions of what people thought God wanted them to do. They may not have heard correctly. And we can, perhaps, learn to do better now. This suggestion arguably undermines the reliability of scripture. Williams does not intend to cause doubt. Rather, he is trying to explain the offensive behaviors found in some biblical stories. …

Heaven and Earth in Anglo-Saxon England: Theology and Society in an Age of Faith. By Helen Foxhall Forbes. Studies in Early Medieval Britain. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2013. xvi + 394 pp. $95.16 hardcover.

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)Heaven and Earth in Anglo-Saxon England: Theology and Society in an of Faith . By Helen Foxhall Forbes . Studies in Early Medieval Britain. Burlington, Vt. : Ashgate , 2013. xvi + 394 pp. $95.16 hardcover.Book Reviews and NotesAnglo-Saxon England, from the eighth to the eleventh centuries, had a thriving ecclesiastical culture, as evidenced by the number of surviving documents containing homilies, hagiography, prayers, and religious poetry, as well as canon laws, penitentials, liturgical and pastoral works. It was indeed an Age of Faith. But did Christianity mean to ordinary people in their day-to-day lives? What was their understanding of Christian doctrine? How did they practice their beliefs? And, perhaps most importantly, Helen Foxhall Forbes asks, what did it mean to be a Christian (or to be a good Christian) in the changing social contexts of Anglo-Saxon England? (1).In this impressive study, Foxhall Forbes explores these questions through an analysis of theological texts (not all of which represent the official doctrines of the church, such as they were) alongside charters, wills, and laws in order to uncover the theological ideas which affected society's values regarding person, property, justice and mercy. Foxhall Forbes also spreads her net more widely, to include examinations of place-names, archaeology, and art; the evidence provided by topography and material culture affords further insight into the extent to which Christian ideas, beliefs and values permeated the lives of the Anglo-Saxons and how they practiced their religion.Foxhall Forbes admits that the evidence is fragmented; no lay person from this period left behind any personal statement of belief or practice. Nevertheless, by drawing together the fragments from a variety of sources, she demonstrates how they contribute to sketching out the theological and cultural landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. In chapter 1, I Believe in One God, she lays out the problems with dealing with the available evidence, problems compounded by the fact that most of the written evidence was produced by the very people who were involved in Christian learning and theological debate. The archaeological evidence, from burial sites in churchyards, and evidence of images in churches and manuscripts were likewise influenced. Foxhall Forbes questions past models of viewing faith in Anglo-Saxon, especially that of pagan and Christian syncretism, and finds them wanting. Instead, she turns her attention to the education of priests and of the laity in the fundamentals of Christianity. If religious paintings in churches were a means of teaching the laity, how were they interpreted by the parish priests? And how often did people actually attend church to receive such instruction? Foxhall Forbes offers a well-grounded argument that knowledge of Christian doctrine and dogma was not consistent in either clergy or laity, and that belief in magic and magical creatures (like elves and monsters) is not evidence of survivals of paganism.In chapter 2, Creator of All Things, Visible and Invisible, Foxhall Forbes takes up the issue of belief in spirits, the protection of angels and the assaults by demons, as well as the understanding of baptism, sickness, and the state of the soul at death in this context. …

Why tolerance and voluntaryism are bad ideas: Stanley Hauerwas’s summons to Baptists and other “enlightened” Christians

I here argue that, among Stanley Hauerwas’ many other salutary influences on Baptists, not the least of them is his pointing us beyond tolerance and voluntaryism as Christian virtues. I show how he has helped us discern that the church will be tolerated by an increasingly dominating nation-state only if we Christians behave as the state demands, especially in moral matters, and that we must thus learn how to live in a non-tolerant manner. I also argue that Hauerwas’ case against a strictly voluntarist idea of Christian faith helps us to reclaim the Church’s original understanding of baptism as the act whereby, even among us who advocate believers’ baptism, we are incorporated into the Body of Christ. It is not something we voluntarily choose but rather the gift that we non-voluntarily receive.

Karl Barth’s understanding of Christian Baptism as a basis for a conversation on the praxis of Sacraments in the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

This article is an initial attempt to bring the subject of baptism and to a lesser extent infant baptism in particular, as demonstrated in Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics, into a conversation with the practice of this phenomenon in African Reformed churches in South Africa, specifically the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA). Whilst the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions regarding the sacraments differ significantly in the understanding of this subject, this article will examine Barth’s understanding of baptism. This is done by critically examining key themes in his Church Dogmatics. The praxis of the sacraments and especially that of baptism continue to be a praxis that is highly venerated in African Reformed theological circles. This is so because it is believed that symbolism continues to occupy centre stage in African Reformed churches. In a sense therefore it seems that the African Reformed Christian leans more towards a Roman Catholic understanding of this sacrament. Is that perhaps true? Essentially this conversation will explore the relationship of faith to baptism and how this impacts on infant baptism for instance.

Baptism and Cosmic Allegiance: A Brief Observation

For most of the Christians of the earliest centuries, as Ferguson's book exhaustively illustrates, baptism was understood as nothing less than a personal rebellion against the cosmic, political, and spiritual order of ancient paganism. As pagan culture slowly disappeared and was replaced by a Christian culture, the baptismal rite's explicit transfer of a new Christian's allegiance from the old gods to the risen Lord became less necessary and, ultimately, largely unintelligible. The gradual introduction of infant baptism reflected the transformation of the ancient religious milieu, as the understanding of baptism as renunciation of evil gods and demons gave way to a concern to nurture souls from birth until death within the Christian community. Changes in baptismal meaning and practice in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages suggest that further developments lie ahead, as late modern Christianity confronts a post-Christian future in the developed world.

Luke's Understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit: A Pentecostal Dialogues with the Reformed Tradition

AbstractIn this article, Menzies notes that Reformed theologians have tended to read Luke's writings in the light of Paul's epistles. As a result, their theological reflection on the Spirit has centered more on his work in the Word and sacraments, the 'inner witness' of the Spirit, and less on his mission to the world. Additionally, this methodology has encouraged Reformed scholars to associate the Pentecostal gift (i.e. Spirit baptism) with conversion and regeneration. However, through an examination of key passages in Luke-Acts, Menzies argues that Luke has a unique contribution to make to a holistic biblical theology of the Spirit. Luke's understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit is different from that of Paul. It is missiological rather than soteriological in nature. The Spirit of Pentecost is, in reality, the Spirit for others - the Spirit that compels and empowers the church to bring the 'good news' of Jesus to a lost and dying world. It is this Lukan, missiological perspective that shapes a Pentecostal understanding of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Menzies concludes that the clarity and vigor of Luke's message is lost when his narrative is read through Pauline lenses. Luke has a distinctive voice and it is a voice the church needs to hear.

»Magno consensu in dissensu« – die theologische Freundschaft zwischen Karl Barth und Heinrich Vogel

On the basis of their hitherto unpublished correspondence from 1930 to 1966, this essay depicts the course and the characteristics of the friendship between the reformed theologian Karl Barth and the lutheran theologian Heinrich Vogel, and discusses the differences they demonstrated in their theological methods, their understanding of baptism, eternal life and religious art, particularly Christian art, in spite of their fundamental consensus about the Christological foundations of all theology.

Baptism in the thought of David Wright

This article surveys and evaluates the contribution to our understanding of baptism made by twenty-six writings of David Wright on the topic. His rigorous historical studies have cast further light on the Early Church, dispelling the idea that infant baptism was at any point universal or normative for children raised as Christians. During this period infant baptism was a rite in search of a theology, there being consensus about its validity but not its meaning. David Wright himself accepts the validity of infant baptism, but insists that believer’s baptism must remain the normative pattern of baptism. Finally, the inefficacy of indiscriminate infant baptism has encouraged a low view of baptism as a mere symbol, contrary to the high view of the New Testament.

Sharing in Christ’s Rule: Tracing a Debate in Earliest Christianity

This article traces some major issues concerning a debate among the first Christians as to who will share in Christ’s rule in the [ILLEGIBLE]. In Mt. 19.28—a logion that probably goes back to the historical Jesus—the Twelve are unconditionally appointed as eschatological rulers. After Easter, due to the influence of the passio-iusti tradition (cf. Wis. 3-5), ruling with Christ came to be understood, among some Christian groups, as a reward for martyrs (Rev. 20.4-6; 22.5; Lk. 22.28; 2 Tim. 2.12a; critical of this view is Mk 10.35-45). Paul, by contrast, characterizes eschatological rule as a gift for all who are baptized. In Romans, eschatological life and eschatological reign are blended together (Rom. 5.17) and linked with Paul’s participationist understanding of baptism (Rom. 6.1-4). Ephesians further develops this idea (1.23; 2.6). Thus there is in early Christianity a diversity of views, and some controversy, concerning the hope of sharing in Christ’s rule.

Shedding new light on Paul's understanding of baptism: A ritual‐theoretical approach to Romans 6*

En proposant une lecture theorique du rituel de Romains 6, l'A. affirme que l'on evite des problemes epistemologiques et interpretatifs qui sont courants dans les etudes protestantes au sujet de la theologie baptismale paulinienne. Par la mort et la resurrection de Jesus-Christ ainsi que par la participation a sa signification par le bapteme, le chretien est definitivement ecarte du pouvoir du peche; il est incorpore dans un nouvel ordre d'etre. En fait, dans Romains 6, Paul affirme simplement que la vie post-baptismale constitue une facon d'etre liminaire

The baptism of anticipation: once more the infant baptism debate

AbstractAlthough the popular understanding of baptism is to connect it with the forgiveness of sins, this is inadequate. Building on a previous article which sees its meaning as of 'repentance', a change in life, baptism is viewed as a symbol signifying a developing relationship with Christ by faith, through the Spirit. In particular it anticipates a ministry of prophet, priest and king. As such there is an essential equality of meaning with the baptism practised by John, particularly of Jesus. This means that in the context of faith, baptism as an infant and as an adult are both valid, and that sprinkling and immersion are both appropriate.

Hyrdeliv og paradisdrøm. Om Grundtvigs syn på hyrder

Pastoral Life and Paradise DreamBy Inger Lise MikkelsenIn »The World Chronicle«, 1814, Grundtvig writes that the people of poetry, the ancient Hebrews, were a race of shepherds. The shepherds are not tied to material things, but live a life in freedom. On the plains, tending his flock, the shepherd experiences everything that is alive and growing as images of God’s creative power. Thus, he intuitively perceives his position as a creature facing his Creator.With this basic view as a point of departure, Grundtvig rewrites the Biblical stories of the shepherds Abraham and Jacob, Moses and David. They are all in an immediate, intimate contact with God, but as they live at different times, God endows them with different abilities appropriate for their concrete historical situation. Abraham and Jacob are the shepherds of faith, Moses is the shepherd of fight and hope, and David is the shepherd of love. They are all models, not because they are heroes, but because they recognize their own fragility.In the church texts, the shepherds of Christmas night play a particularly important role. In the hymn .The Christmas Chimes are sounding now. (Det kimer nu til julefest) from 1817, it is a main thought that the singers must remember pastoral life and come along into the field to hear the angel’s message together with the shepherds. To people who have a sense of the miraculous as the shepherds do, the field at Bethlehem is the centre of interest. Today only children possess a genuine shepherd’s mind. The adult can learn from them. The essential thing is to learn how to regain the child’s mind.In connection with the child theme, as shown by Chr. Thodberg, Grundtvig develops, through the 1820s, his understanding of baptism as the occasion when the adult may re-enter the dreamland of his childhood. Here Grundtvig uses Jacob’s ladder as an image of the adult’s return to his hitherto forgottem baptism.Another theme that Grundtvig makes frequent use of is the dilapidated cottage of the shepherd, his hut. He uses it as an image of man’s heart, which to Grundtvig is God’s dwelling on earth. The hut and the ladder become recurring images in Grundtvig’s hymns.Frequently the two images supplement each other so that the shepherds and Bethlehem may now move into the church. It is no longer the field, but the heart that rings with the angels’ song. Here, in the shepherd’s hut, is raised Jacob’s ladder, which reminds the singer of the childhood life under God’s care.In Grundtvig’s eyes every Christian is therefore a shepherd like the patriarchs. But above all the one baptized is like the good shepherd himself, renewing the paradise life that God created man for.

Baptême de Jésus et baptême des premiers chrétiens

The Baptism of Jesus and the Baptism of the First Christians. The author attempts to demonstrate that the synoptic accounts of the baptism of Jesus rely upon a tradition which makes use of a double typology , Adamic and messianic, and that they present Jesus as both the New Adam and the Messiah-King-Priest-Prophet. He then attempts to demonstrate that this interpretation of the baptism of Jesus was not without consequence in the understanding of baptism among the first Christians, who considered themselves to be dependant upon the dignity of Christ and participants of the recently instituted new Creation.

Pauline Baptism and “Secondary Burial”

It is curious that, despite Paul's representation of baptism as a burial (Rom 6:3–4; cf. Col 2:12), his understanding of baptism has not been considered in terms of funerary rites. Rather, the symbolic and initiatory character of baptismal burial, together with its close association with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, has for about a century produced debate over alleged relationships between Pauline baptism and the initiatory rites of Hellenistic mystery cults. This essay, in honor of Krister Stendahl, is intended to demonstrate that, whatever the associations with mystery cults may be, Paul's understanding of the process of dying in which all believers participate from the moment of their baptismal burial is fundamentally informed by funerary practices and ideas. My thesis is that Pauline baptism is most comprehensively explained in terms of the widely attested, cross-cultural phenomenon of secondary or double burial. I will sketch first some of the distinctive features of Paul's views on the death of believers, then lay out some of the results of research on secondary burial, and then conclude with a few comments on Paul's perspective on the believer's experience.