baptism
For hundreds of years baptism has been a large part of many different religions. Although throughout history, and throughout many religions, the practice might have differed, but the meaning and the symbolism has remained relatively the same. The word baptism came from the Greek noun baptiona, meaning, "the dipping or washing." Less commonly used, baptiomo's, stemmed from the verb baptw, meaning, "to dip or immerse." This act of washing or immersion started with the Greeks and was later practiced by other religions. Religions such as those in the Pagan world, the Attis and Mathra cults, the Arians, the Babylonians, Egyptian cults, the cult of Cybele, the Mithraic cult, and Christian religions practiced what can be refereed to as the sacred bath, the enlightenment, or the rebirth. Many of the pre-Christian religions understood cleansing and verification in a magical sense, rather than in a moral, or spiritual sense. As baptism evolved through the centuries, it went through many changes and through many different interpretations of how baptism should take place and when in a lifetime the baptism should take place. One thing remains the same though, baptism is a sacr
The Catholics and some theologists had different views on practices of baptism. In the Dictionary of Religion, the Catholic view was spelled out directly. The Catholic view which was of a rite which works, which confers a character on the recipient, and which is valid even if administered in hersy or shism. An infant baptism would become the norm with theology of original sin around the 11th or 12th century, displacing the common practice of delaying baptism until ones death bed (Bowker, 125). Later in the 16th century, such reformers such as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Anabaptists modified that theology. Luther said, "baptism with justification by faith alone, baptism as a promise of divine grace of then which a person's sins are no longer imputed to him or her." Zwingli saw baptism, "only as the admission into the Christian Community." Calvin proclaimed, "only in effect for the elect, who have faith." Anabaptists responded, "a response of faith on the part of the individual to the Gospel, rejecting infant baptism." These different opinions differed from that of the Catholic Church, and baptism still remained interpreted in many different ways, just like the period before John the Baptist and Jesus. Different places produced different practice and also set some different tradition. In Babylon, according to the Tablets of Maklu, water was important in the cult of Enki, lord of Eridu. In Egypt, the (Book of Going Forth by Day (17)) contains a treatise on the baptism of the newborn to cleanse them of impurities or blemishes in the womb. Also in Egypt there was an idea of regeneration through water and some other groups Egypt practiced baptism through the soaking of ones self from the blood of a bull. In the area around the Nile, the Nile's cold water was thought to have regenerative powers, used to baptize the dead in a ritual based on the Osiris myth. Baptism of the dead can also be found in the Mandaeans and a similar rite on the Orphic Tablets. In Israel and in the area around Jordan the baptism ritual took shape through submersion into water. Within Judaism, the general custom of washing and the simple purification bath was called proselyte baptism. This type of baptism was given for the Gentile converts. There were three parts to this ritual. First the convert was to be circumcised, next was baptism, and the last part was sacrifice. Baptism came seven days following the circumcision, and the baptism took place in a manner of nakedness in a pool of flowering water. They believed that when the convert arose, he would be
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1727
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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