Baptism

Baptism Resources

A Sign of Unity and Division

Unified in Practice, if not Theology

Unfortunately, baptism is a sign of Christian unity and identity that divides Christians into their denominational camps. Believers or infants? Immersion, pouring, or sprinkling? Sacrament or symbol?

But however much Christians have become divided over baptism, it remains the central rite of initiation into the faith—we are unified in our practice, even if our theology and form differs.

A Rite with Roots

Beyond any theological differences we have today, there is no doubt that baptism was of central importance to the earliest Christians. It originates even before Jesus is on the scene—a ritual bath for purification. Jesus' cousin John "the Baptizer" co-opts the tradition as a baptism "of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mk 1:4, Lk 3:3, see also Mt 3:5). Jesus' acceptance of baptism (to John's astonishment) is the clear starting point for his ministry in the synoptic gospels—the occasion of a spectacular theophany that puts the divine seal on the Son of Man's mission.

Indeed, why the sinless Jesus accepted a sinner's cleansing to initiate his ministry is an interesting theological question that you may want to explore with your congregation in sermons on a baptismal Sunday.

But even on a conservative timeline, the gospels which recount Jesus' baptism postdate the Paul's epistles, in which it is clear that baptism is already a central rite of initiation in the church. So, the earliest Christian word on baptism can be found by mining Paul's letters which stress baptism as linking us with the death and resurrection of Jesus (Rom 6:4), the foundation of unity and equality (1 Cor 12:13, Eph 4:4-6), and as a sign of the covenant (Col 2:11-12).

Even our earliest non-canonical texts, such as the Didache (perhaps dating to the late first century), gives detailed instructions on the proper way to baptize—including the strange exhortation that so important was baptism that it should be done with sand if water was not available! Just to be clear, we're not recommending you do your baptisms in the kid's sandbox at your church.

Baptism in a Post-Christian Age

"Post-Christian" contexts make baptism and teaching about baptism increasingly important and significant. On one hand, it is no longer simply assumed that you are, by membership in your community, a Christian. People aren't just getting baptized in a pro-forma way anymore in these communities (at least not so frequently). So, a public confession of faith and identification with the church is a bigger statement for an individual believer than it would have been a generation ago.

Furthermore, teaching about baptism is even more vital, because there isn't a tacit understanding in the community of what baptism is and why it is done—this could even be a good thing insofar as there are fewer misconceptions to clear away.