Leading into the World by Galbreath Paul;

Author:Galbreath, Paul;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Running water in a natural setting was preferred for baptisms. Nature was recognized as an appropriate site for celebrating one’s new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Theologian Linda Gibler observes that The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus, another early work that includes instructions for baptism, similarly suggests that baptismal candidates visit the water where they will be baptized and offer a prayer over it in hopes that the water will be “pure and flowing” at the time of their baptism. This leads Gibler to conclude: “For at least the first two hundred years of Christian tradition water was not blessed for baptism. Clean, living water did not need to be blessed.”[8]

The difference between using living water and collected (stale) water in baptism leads Gibler to explore the ways that running water supports life. Building on the creation stories in Genesis, she notes the primary role of water in supporting the forms of life on earth: “After being formed by stars and assisting in their birth, water was ready to midwife life on Earth.”[9] Water, as it is found in nature, is a central part of birth and new life.

Baptism by immersion into the earth’s natural water is a clear reminder of our connection to creation. In the story of Jesus’s baptism, the early church fathers saw a way of strengthening these ties. When Jesus entered the water of the Jordan River, all of creation was blessed by his presence. Melito of Sardis, a second-century bishop, describes Jesus’s baptism as part of a “universal baptism” in which all creation participates. “Should it be a matter of surprise that Christ, the king of heaven and creation’s captain, a Sun out of heaven, should be bathed in the Jordan?”[10] Jesus participates in the act of baptism as a way of sanctifying the baptismal way of life that runs through the course of nature. The renewal of the earth depends on the gift of water that sustains life. Living water brings forth, nurtures, and sustains life. Baptism is a way of participating in this elemental aspect of life.

For Christians in the twenty-first century to capture the significance of this process of renewal, we will need to stop taking water for granted in our daily lives. From the moment we rise each morning and step into the bathroom to take a shower; to the times we pause to drink the water that our bodies depend on; to the evening, when we wash our faces and brush our teeth, we rely on access to clean, potable water. We are surrounded by water in oceans, lakes, or rivers that supports life on earth. Our bodies and the earth are made up largely of water, and we rely on it to sustain our lives. In cultures and times when humans walk long distances to carry water for their own use, people readily understand water as a precious commodity. Easy access to water in our homes, however, reinforces the tendency for us simply to take it for granted.

Water’s basic role in life led communities to use it in rituals as well.

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