Baptism

These ablutions were always taken to change the status of a person from
unclean to clean or from impure to pure. Thus priests in all religions took
elaborate baths and made prayers before entering the sanctum. Even common
people followed similar ritual baths before going to worship. Worshipping
with wet clothes or in water up to their waist came be a form of repentance
and prayachitta – penitence. Quaran speaks of Eve standing in the river with
water upto her waist for days in repentance for her disobedience. The tradition
can be found still among the Hindu women. It has remained with Christians in
added vigor with "Sunday best".
Initiation into the religion of the fathers was always performed within the first
few days.
Initiation expresses what the community believes about its identity and sense
of belonging. To comprehend the meaning of initiation rites of a given
historical period, the faith understanding of that period must be examined.
History provides the facts; theology interprets those facts with a faith
understanding. Therefore, this overview will present the historical
development of the rite of baptism as well as the Church's faith understanding
about that sacrament.
Every religious ritual has three dimensions.
The mundane material dimension is the actual external rite.
Then we have the spiritual dimension, which is not visible, but is assumed to
be the more real act. The material is the reflection or image of the spiritual.
Then we have the ultimate fulfillment of the ritual, where the physical and
spiritual meet and becomes the reality.
When we emphasize one interpretation over the other, we get confused over
what the ritual actually is and what it means. Let us make sure that these do
not mix. They are distinct from each other, yet one in essence.
Baptism has these dimensions:
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