Baptism

Abstract

Although water rituals were common in other religions of antiquity, water baptism took on a distinctive prominence in early Christianity as the sole or primary entry rite into the faith. According to Ephesians 4:5, “one baptism” is one of the marks of the unity of the church. Yet, ironically, it has come to symbolize the disunity of the church throughout history, owing to disagreements at several points: meaning (sacrament or symbol), mode (submersion, immersion, pouring, and/or sprinkling), and recipients (whether or not to include infants and very young children). The fact that the practice of water baptism has become a source not just of disagreement but also of division is attributable to the fact that in the church water baptism came to overshadow the reality that it only symbolized and partly mediated; namely, being “baptized in the Holy Spirit.” (As proof of this observation, most readers will expect this entry to be almost entirely about a water ritual.) Although consciousness of being “baptized in the Holy Spirit” made a resurgence in the modern era through the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements, it has been weakened by two misunderstandings: that baptism in the Spirit is an experience distinct from true conversion and that it requires as its almost exclusive manifestation speaking in tongues.