BAPTISM: ABIDING IN GOD’S LOVE
“Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life. . . . But we, little fishes after the example of our [Great] Fish, Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water. So that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes—by taking them away from the water!” —Tertullian, Baptism 1 Date: 203 A.D.
St. Vincent Ferrer ~ Every baptized person should consider that it is in the womb of the Church where he is transformed from a child of Adam to a child of God.
“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.”― Julian of Norwich
Aphrahat/Aphraates Demonstration VI (Of Monks) par 14.1 [280-367 AD]
"From baptism we receive the Spirit of Christ. At that same moment in which the priests invoke the Spirit, heaven opens, and he descends and rests upon the waters, and those who are baptized are clothed in him.
Cyprian of Carthage epistle 58.6 (200-270 ad)
And therefore, dearest brother, this was our opinion in council, that by us no one ought to he hindered from baptism and from the grace of God, who is merciful and kind and loving to all.
Barnabas Epistle of Barnabas ch 11:1–10 [10-70 AD]
"'Blessed are those who go down into the water with their hopes set on the cross.' Here he is saying that after we have stepped down into the water, burdened with sin and defilement, we come up out of it bearing fruit, with reverence in our hearts and the hope of Jesus in our souls" (Letter of Barnabas [A.D. 74]).
BAPTISM: HOW TO DO IT
St. Hippolytus of Rome (“The Apostolic Tradition,” 215 A.D.) “Baptize first the children; and if they can speak for themselves, let them do so. Otherwise, let their parents or other relatives speak for them.”
“After his resurrection he promises in a pledge to his disciples that he will send them the promise of his Father; and lastly, he commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, not into a unipersonal God. And indeed it is not once only, but three times, that we are immersed into the three persons, at each several mention of their names” —Tertullian, Against Praxeas 26 Date: 216 A.D.
Someone sent to know whether it was permissible to use warm water in baptism. The Doctor replied, “Tell the blockhead that water, warm or cold, is water.” (Luther’s Table Talk – related in Dictionary of Illustrations for Pulpit and Platform, by Walter Baxendale, Moody Press)
BAPTISM: A CALL TO CARRY FORWARD
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 16 par30 (315-386 ad)
And other texts thou heardest before, in what was said about Baptism; Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and the rest; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and then immediately, And I will put My Spirit within you. And again. The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord.
“So baptism means being with Jesus ‘in the depths’: the depths of human need, including the depths of our own selves in their need – but also in the depths of God’s love; in the depths where the Spirit is re-creating and refreshing human life as God meant it to be.”
― Rowan Williams, Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer
BAPTISM: A CALL TO COMMUNION AND COMMUNITY
For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Cor 12:13
I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1-6
New Creation * Commitment * Community in Christ
