Unit 1, Assignment 3 - "What is Baptism?" (Due Nov. 23)
Before you start reading and completing this assignment, take a moment to offer a prayer.
God of steadfast love, I ask that you will help me to keep a focuessed mind as I participate in the process leading to my Confirmation. As I begin this assignment, help me to be aware of your presence in this place where I work. Give me your strength and guidance. Help me to imitate Jesus so that I may become more like him. Bless my family and friends, and thank you for the freedom to learn about and worship you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Review of Last Week's Assignment
Last week we reflected on Jesus identity as "teacher" and "movement founder" The key aspect of Jesus' identity as "teacher" is that he taught an alternative wisdom that subverts the social boundaries generated by the conventional wisdom of his day and ours. Also, his wisdom teaching points to the world of conventional wisdom as a world of blindness and he invites us to see differently. As a movement founder, Jesus' action was deliberate, intentional, and the movement - the church - for which he was the "catalyst" is meant to embody the egalitarian, inclusive social vision of Jesus.
What is Baptism?
Baptism is one of the church's sacraments. Click here to find a descriptive definition of "sacrament." In the Anglican Church, we acknowledge two major sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist) and five minor sacraments (Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Reconciliation, Unction).
Baptism is the means by which a person is initiated into the Christian faith. It is described by St. Paul as the means by which we "die" (like drowning) to selfishness, ego gratification, and appetites and "rise" (are reborn) to a life focused on love of God, love of neighbour, and appropriate self-love. Paul's understanding of baptism is described in Romans 6:1-7. There, he describes dying with Christ and rising to new life with him. This is what baptism symbolizes. And the life we live, with Jesus as the pattern of our existence, is sometimes described as "participating in the paschal mystery."
Put simply, baptism means participating in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus went down into the river Jordan and was baptized in solidarity with sinners fulfil all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). This baptism led Jesus along the way of the Suffering Servant, made manifest in his sufferings, death and resurrection (Mark 10:38-40, 45). By baptism, Christians are immersed in the liberating death of Christ where their sins are buried, where the "old Adam" is crucified with Christ, and where the power of sin is broken. Thus those baptized are no longer slaves to sin, but free. Fully identified with the death of Christ, they are buried with him and are raised here and now to a new life in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, confident that they will also ultimately be one with him in a resurrection like his (Rom. 6:3-11; Col. 2:13, 3:1; Eph. 2:5-6).
In the course of history, the practice of baptism has developed in a variety of forms. Some churches (like ours) baptize infants brought by parents or guardians who are ready, in and with the Church, to bring up the children in the Christian faith. Other churches practise exclusively the baptism of believers who are able to make a personal confession of faith. Some of these churches encourage infants or children to be presented and blessed in a service which usually involves thanksgiving for the gift of the child and also the commitment of the mother and father to Christian parenthood.
Since Biblical times, Baptism has been administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is meant to be administered in a way that emphasizes the symbolic dimension of water. The act of immersion can vividly express the reality that in baptism the Christian participates in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Water, with all its positive associations with life and blessing, signifies the continuity between the old and the new creation. It reveals that baptism is significant not only for human beings but also for the whole cosmos. At the same time, the use of water represents a purification of creation, a dying to that which is negative and destructive in the world: those who are baptized into the body of Christ are made partakers of a renewed existence.
Assignment
On your own Blog:
1. Give a definition of "sacrament" based on the description found in the link mentioned in the reading above.
2. Talk to your parents about your own baptism and write 100-150 words describing it. Be sure to include the following: Who were your godparents and why were they chosen for the role? What did your parents learn about Christianity through the experience of your baptism? What were the most special parts of the occasion?
3. Read Romans 6:1-7. In your own words, what is St. Paul saying here about baptism?
On the "comment" section of the online learning space:
Give your opinion of whether adult or infant baptism is the best practice, and why. (75 words)
God of steadfast love, I ask that you will help me to keep a focuessed mind as I participate in the process leading to my Confirmation. As I begin this assignment, help me to be aware of your presence in this place where I work. Give me your strength and guidance. Help me to imitate Jesus so that I may become more like him. Bless my family and friends, and thank you for the freedom to learn about and worship you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Review of Last Week's Assignment
Last week we reflected on Jesus identity as "teacher" and "movement founder" The key aspect of Jesus' identity as "teacher" is that he taught an alternative wisdom that subverts the social boundaries generated by the conventional wisdom of his day and ours. Also, his wisdom teaching points to the world of conventional wisdom as a world of blindness and he invites us to see differently. As a movement founder, Jesus' action was deliberate, intentional, and the movement - the church - for which he was the "catalyst" is meant to embody the egalitarian, inclusive social vision of Jesus.
What is Baptism?
Baptism is one of the church's sacraments. Click here to find a descriptive definition of "sacrament." In the Anglican Church, we acknowledge two major sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist) and five minor sacraments (Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Reconciliation, Unction).
Baptism is the means by which a person is initiated into the Christian faith. It is described by St. Paul as the means by which we "die" (like drowning) to selfishness, ego gratification, and appetites and "rise" (are reborn) to a life focused on love of God, love of neighbour, and appropriate self-love. Paul's understanding of baptism is described in Romans 6:1-7. There, he describes dying with Christ and rising to new life with him. This is what baptism symbolizes. And the life we live, with Jesus as the pattern of our existence, is sometimes described as "participating in the paschal mystery."
Put simply, baptism means participating in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus went down into the river Jordan and was baptized in solidarity with sinners fulfil all righteousness (Matt. 3:15). This baptism led Jesus along the way of the Suffering Servant, made manifest in his sufferings, death and resurrection (Mark 10:38-40, 45). By baptism, Christians are immersed in the liberating death of Christ where their sins are buried, where the "old Adam" is crucified with Christ, and where the power of sin is broken. Thus those baptized are no longer slaves to sin, but free. Fully identified with the death of Christ, they are buried with him and are raised here and now to a new life in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, confident that they will also ultimately be one with him in a resurrection like his (Rom. 6:3-11; Col. 2:13, 3:1; Eph. 2:5-6).
In the course of history, the practice of baptism has developed in a variety of forms. Some churches (like ours) baptize infants brought by parents or guardians who are ready, in and with the Church, to bring up the children in the Christian faith. Other churches practise exclusively the baptism of believers who are able to make a personal confession of faith. Some of these churches encourage infants or children to be presented and blessed in a service which usually involves thanksgiving for the gift of the child and also the commitment of the mother and father to Christian parenthood.
Since Biblical times, Baptism has been administered with water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptism is meant to be administered in a way that emphasizes the symbolic dimension of water. The act of immersion can vividly express the reality that in baptism the Christian participates in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Water, with all its positive associations with life and blessing, signifies the continuity between the old and the new creation. It reveals that baptism is significant not only for human beings but also for the whole cosmos. At the same time, the use of water represents a purification of creation, a dying to that which is negative and destructive in the world: those who are baptized into the body of Christ are made partakers of a renewed existence.
Assignment
On your own Blog:
1. Give a definition of "sacrament" based on the description found in the link mentioned in the reading above.
2. Talk to your parents about your own baptism and write 100-150 words describing it. Be sure to include the following: Who were your godparents and why were they chosen for the role? What did your parents learn about Christianity through the experience of your baptism? What were the most special parts of the occasion?
3. Read Romans 6:1-7. In your own words, what is St. Paul saying here about baptism?
On the "comment" section of the online learning space:
Give your opinion of whether adult or infant baptism is the best practice, and why. (75 words)
posted by SMK at
11:37 a.m.
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