Preview

The Didache: The Ritual of Baptism

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1787 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Didache: The Ritual of Baptism
What light does “The Didache” shed on Christian life, practice, and/or thought at the time and place it was written. Focus on one aspect of the text you think is the most significant.

In this essay, the writer will use ‘The Didache’ as a torchlight to show Christian life, practice and thought at the time and place it was written, with a specific focus on the ritual of baptism.

The Didache, also titled “The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles, through the Twelve Apostles”, was written in Greek in 1056 but was discovered in the library at Constantinople in 1873. The date of its original work, its authorship and provenance are unknown. The work may have originated either in Alexandria, Antioch, or Syria. Amongst its seminal teachings, the Didache lists the following baptism instructions (Staniforth 1968: 225-231):

The procedure for baptizing is as follows. After rehearsing all the preliminaries, immerse in running water ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. If no running water is available, immerse in ordinary water. This should be cold if possible; otherwise warm. If neither is practicable, then sprinkle water three times on the head ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost’. Both baptizer and baptized ought to fast before the baptism, as well as any others who can do so; but the candidate himself should be told to keep a fast for a day or two beforehand (ibid).

The baptism ritual is rooted in the New and Old Testaments. In the New Testament, baptism was first performed by John the Baptist by immersion in the river Jordan. This was a call to repentance, forgiveness of sins, moral purification, and cleansing (Mark 1:4-5). The Didache is silent on repentance and the symbolic death into Christ. The New Testament record also shows that baptism was done spontaneously without prior preparations of fasting, body anointing, and other preparations discussed below. Jesus Christ also commanded his disciples to make



References: Chadwick, H.1968. The Early Church. London: Holder and Stoughton. Chidester, D. 2000. Christianity: A Global History. London: Penguin. Guy, L. 2003. ‘Naked Baptism in the Early Church: The Rhetoric and the Reality’, Journal of Religion History, Vol 27, No 2, pp 133-142. Kelly, J.N.D. 1977. Early Christian Doctrines. 5th Edition. London: Continuum. McGrath, A.E (ed.), 2007. The Christian Theology Reader. 3rd Edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Staniforth, M (ed. & trans), 1968. Early Christian Writings. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    13. Baptism joins people together through unity in Mystical Body of christ in the Catholic…

    • 280 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    1. Baptism is a Christian rite or ceremony that Christians participate in. It is a form of rebirth and it done by water and the Holy Spirit.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Romans say “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness” (Romans 6:13, NIV) which shows how God sent his son to die so that we are saved from sin and we must be grateful. When R is falling they fall into a pool where R hits the bottom with his head and is dead on impact, but he then is raised from the water alive and becomes human again, he is reborn and created new from his old self. This is a perfect example of baptism. When we go under the water we are dead in sin and we are not living, but when we are raised up, we are alive and become new in christ and all are sins are washed away and we are made…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Abstract Baptism, associated greatly with the Christian religion, did not originate with John the Baptist as many would assume from well-known Bible stories. Jesus ' time, the washing of almost anything was considered as a way of cleansing and purifying to rid of sin or to make clean. Rituals and Practices are very important in Full Gospel Baptist Churches. So many things revolve around these simple but important rituals. Over thousands of years Baptism has been a tradition in the Church and Christian communities all over the world. Most rituals are performed in a church of choice by a priest who has been…

    • 1894 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Livingstone, E. A., and F.L. Cross. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 3rd ed, Rev. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lewis Use Of Baptism Essay

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Baptism is one example of how God wants his children to live by his example. It is apparent, as written by Frank C. Quinn, that we must “fully incorporate into the body of Christ through water and Spirit (Quinn 2). If further evidence is required to represent the importance of baptism, the entire New Testament can be used as a tool for research. Not more than three chapters into Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus in the Jordan. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him” (Matt. 3.13). One does not need to search hard to find any of the examples Jesus lays out for his foundation. The New Testament itself is a representation of the foundation Christ lays. Thus it is plain that in the New Testament the grace of the Spirit is fundamentally linked with the identity of Jesus Christ (Dragas 150). Questions arise in this matter as they do in any matter. Dragas addresses this issue saying, “but why is He Christ?” (150). He answers this question with scripture: “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit” (John…

    • 1492 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Too Chains

    • 7209 Words
    • 29 Pages

    Baptism - a priest or deacon pouring water over the person's head and saying "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Rite of Initiation) (C)…

    • 7209 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Describe the practice of Baptism and analyse the significance of Baptism for both the individual and the Christian community.”…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Church History Paper I

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages

    [ 5 ]. Justo L. Gonzalez, “The Deposit of the Faith.”The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation 1. 1984, 69-81.…

    • 1562 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Translated “the law of prayer [is] the law of faith”, lex orandi, lex credendi is a basic principal of liturgical theology. The way we view and practice baptism as an act of worship, significantly impacts us in terms of our faith. At the heart of the matter, Pedobaptists and credobaptists essentially disagree on the meaning of lex orandi, lex credendi. This essay will explain the main differences that makes baptism mean something different amongst various Christian denominations. Furthermore, this essay will explore biblical texts in order to explain the defense for both infant and adult baptism. It will also examine the history of various denominations within Christianity in an attempt to describe the current theologies of Christians today, most importantly their views regarding baptism. Christians from various different denominations disagree about the meaning and purpose of the sacrament of baptism because they disagree about the nature of faith, the role of baptism, the means of salvation, the nature of grace, and the function of the…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Water, the element that sustains life is the nourisher of both the body and soul. It is no small wonder that this most abundant substance which maintains a human’s physical being, also sustains humanity’s spiritual essence. Water represents the first of the sacred sacraments—Baptism. The holy ritual of Baptism could be seen as the first gate one must pass along the Christian’s journeying road, and is synonymous with a person forged in new life. Both Sigridur Gudmarsdottir and Roderick C. Meredith bring two, strikingly dissimilar, perspectives of Baptism to the forefront. While Sigridur Gudmarsdottir is focused on water’s manifestation as a sacred symbol for spiritual development; Roderick C. Meredith seems to be concerned with the sacred rite…

    • 1074 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is a question that is more frequently asked by people of other faith backgrounds. Dr. Anderson’s lecture echoes such question “Is baptism really needed?” The idea of Baptism is based on the concept of prevenient grace. The term “prevenient grace” is a Latin word prae that means “before,” and venire that means “to come.” Though Stookey points out that the prevenient grace is there before as ask for it, he makes the case that “God does not wait for us to request help or even to know that we need it.” (46) On a similar note, Dr.Anderson’s question “If prevenient grace is there, why do we need the ritual?” gives way to another discussion of the connection between baptism and prevenient grace.…

    • 1821 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Religious rites are conducted through the use of human actions. In this regard, they fit in with the normal sphere of human activities, but incorporate additional and enriching religious meaning. They are significant acts performed by believers in celebrating, symbolising and making present the central beliefs of their religious tradition. Christianity and Judaism, both perform ceremonies to mark these transitions in believers from one stage in life to the next. Baptism, Brit Milah and Pidyon Ha-Ben are a means of entering the Christian and Jewish community, respectively. The ceremonies for these events reach out in two directions: horizontally, into the community around them; and vertically, into time past and future. These rituals also use symbols and create human experiences to communicate and celebrate the transformation.…

    • 1275 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Pharisees

    • 1726 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In order to gain a fully comprehensive insight into Jesus Christ, his person and his politics, one must delve deeper into the historical and social context of His time on earth. Most are aware of the general details; that he resided in the Galilee and Judea regions, that his birth determined the turn of the first century, and that he interacted with various cultural and social forces. The parties with which he was involved were depicted frequently throughout the bible – most notably the Jews, Gentiles, Sadducees, Romans, Zealots and Pharisees.…

    • 1726 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hbtl

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Dear Lord, We humbly come before you today and bow in your presence. We ask that you join us in our study today and open our minds and hearts to the lesson that is presented today. Father, I pray that You send Your Spirit and that He speaks through me today and that you bless the conversations and discussions that we have with each other. In Jesus’ name we pray – Amen…

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics