Baptism

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CHAPTER TWELVE
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BAPTISM
AND
REDISCOVERY OF GREAT COMMISSION
Every ritual within any religion has always two components. There is an
ongoing evolution of the form of the ritual as the culture changes. The images
and the symbolic meanings change with the variations in culture, language,
social setup, political set up etc. There are also the changes in the
understanding of the symbol and ritual in terms of faith.
The same is true regarding baptism. There had been changes in the modes of
baptism from pre-Christian period to the twenty-first century. There also had
been changes in the understanding of what the ritual stands for and in the
prophetic interpretation of the symbol in spiritual level and its interpretation
in terms of contemporary understanding of God, justification, sanctification,
nature of man, redemption etc.
Rituals were normal part all religions. It has been always a way of living. In
fact all religions try to penetrate deep into the daily living, giving it a meaning
beyond the mundane. Temples were always the center of the community. It
ought to be. Daily ablutionary rites were common among all religions. The
author of Hebrews refers to these as Doctrines of baptisms, which according
to the writer were prophetic indications of redemption through Christ. Bodily
cleanliness is indicative of spiritual cleanliness. It is a symbol. God must be
approached with a clean body. Hence baths ritualized as baptisms were
ordained. A direct equivalence can be found between the Hebrew and Hindu
ablutions and its relation to worship.
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