News & Messages

Ask a Theologian: Baptism

Negro Baptism by Donald Mattison (American, 1905-1975). Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.

Dear Theologian,

Why does our Church baptize babies? I can understand how meaningful Baptism is for an adult person or even a child. But what sense does it make to administer this sacrament to an infant who cannot know what it means? What effect do we think this has on a baby?

Wondering

Dear Wondering,

If we are to understand the meaning of Infant Baptism, we must first examine the rich and profound meaning of Adult Baptism, for this is the primary and normative form of the sacrament.

Let’s begin with some basic principles of sacramental theology. According to the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, “The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.” [1]

The use of an “outward and visible sign” to express something spiritual, personal and intangible is actually very common in human life. Because we are physical beings, we need to “embody” our thoughts, feelings and decisions. So, people smile, frown, shake hands, carry flags, wear rings.

In some cases, the sign does not merely refer to something personal and spiritual, but really does convey the unseen reality and make it able to be sensed, felt, touched and celebrated. The exchange of wedding rings by a bride and groom, for example, is a concrete, visible sign of their life-long commitment to each other.

From this perspective, we can better understand why the Church celebrates sacraments. They are symbolic rituals that embody and make tangible the spiritual reality of our profound relationship with God through Jesus the Christ in the power of their Spirit.

The initiative is from God, who calls human persons into the relationship. This possibility is offered as a generous, free, undeserved gift. Hence, we call it “grace.” The human response to this gracious offer is called “faith.”

The beginning of Christian faith-living comes by being initiated into the “koinonia” (communion) of the crucified and risen Jesus, the fellowship of new humanity that has been created by His life, death, and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the case of an adult, this happens through a process of “catechesis” and preparation for Baptism, the sacrament of initiation. It involves a lot of learning ––not merely of doctrines, but also of “habits of the heart,” ways of behaving, choosing and loving. One gradually acquires the vision and values and purpose of the community that is the Church of Jesus.

When a person is judged to be ready, he or she receives the sacrament of Adult Baptism––a solemn, public celebration of that person’s entry into the fellowship of Jesus. This symbolic ritual expresses, at one and the same time, both the reality of God’s saving grace offered in Christ and the human person’s free choice to respond in faith.

It is the natural symbolism of water that conveys the rich meaning of this event. Water can be used for washing or cleansing. So it is easy to see how being immersed in water could show outwardly the mystery of the forgiveness of sins and the washing away of the old life of evil and unbelief. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”(Ps 51:2)

But water can also symbolize death and destruction. To be submerged in water over your head is to be in danger of drowning. And uncontrolled, rushing water can carry away everything and drown anyone in its path. So, going down into the water can show outwardly the mystery of dying to one’s old self and one’s old way of life, as one is identified with the death of Christ. And coming up again out of the water can show outwardly the mystery of rising up to a new life in the power of the Spirit, as one is identified with the resurrection of Christ. (Cf. Rom 6:3-4.)

In the light of this symbolism, Baptism appears as a momentous event of surrender to God’s grace and abandonment to God’s power, letting go of one’s old way of life, and making a profound personal commitment to a new way of life.

That is why adults who wish to take this step are first asked whether they renounce all evil, accept Jesus as their savior, put all their trust in his grace and love, and promise to follow and obey him as their Lord. Furthermore, they are asked whether they believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And they are invited to make certain promises, which we call “the Baptismal Covenant.” [2]

But if all this is true of an adult being baptized, what are we to say of baptizing infants?

It is quite clear that an infant is not yet capable of making an act of faith or of committing self to a way of life. Nor does he or she yet have any personal sins to repent of or any “old way of life” to turn away from. None of this applies.

What is symbolized in Infant Baptism, above all, is the gracious initiative of God choosing and calling this person to belong to Christ and to become a member of his Church––long before he or she is capable of making any response to God.

What is also symbolized by baptizing the baby is his or her incorporation (as infant) into the Church. But this makes sense only if the adults involved (parents, godparents, Church community) are truly committed to raise this child in the Christian faith. And that is why the parents and godparents are asked the same questions that are posed to an adult person seeking Baptism. For it is really their faith into which this child is to be initiated.

The practice of Infant Baptism is legitimate, however, only if the baptizing faith community takes very seriously its responsibility to foster the spiritual development of the ones who have been baptized. The process of “catechesis,” which for an adult precedes the ritual of Baptism, will have to take place after Baptism for those baptized as infants. This is why Christian education and formation are of such crucial importance for our children and young people.

The practice of Infant Baptism without adequate Christian formation produces congregations of baptized people who have never undergone catechesis or initiation. This is a significant aspect of the present malaise of many Church communities.

Does baptizing an infant wrongly “pre-empt” his or her freedom to choose? Not really. When a person baptized as an infant reaches a point of sufficient maturity, he or she will need to make a choice either to affirm or repudiate the Baptism once received passively. Affirming one’s Baptism is a serious moral decision because it involves a commitment to live by the Baptismal Covenant. Without that kind of personal commitment, one has not yet entered into the fullness of Christian faith-living––whether baptized as an infant, a child, or an adult.

In Christ,

The Theologian

[1] BCP, p. 857.
[2] Cf. BCP, pp. 304-305.

The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr wrote a column for a previous version of the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian." He answered questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. Now he's back with a monthly column once again. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here. 

Ask a Theologian: Tradition

Dear Theologian,

What does the word “tradition” mean when it is used in a Church context? People often appeal to tradition in order to re-affirm what has been done in the Church for a long time, and sometimes to reject a new idea or practice. But what is tradition, where is it to be found, and how is it related to Scripture?

Baffled

Dear Baffled,

Let’s begin with a standard dictionary definition of the word “tradition”: 1. “the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication.” 2. “a mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage, or a set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present.”

Applying this concept to the life of the Church, we can say that “tradition means the continuous stream of explanation and elucidation of the primitive faith, illustrating the way in which Christianity has been presented and understood in past ages.” [1] This might be correlated with the first meaning of the dictionary definition. But “tradition” in the Church also sometimes “means simply customs and ideas which have grown up imperceptibly and been accepted more or less uncritically.” [2] This corresponds to the second meaning.

In either sense of the word, tradition is a major factor in Church life. It is precious but also ambiguous. It always needs to be tested critically to see “(1) whether it is in accordance with the principles embodied in divine revelation, and (2) whether it can be justified by right reason.” [3] The Church can come to a judgment that some particular feature of “the tradition” needs to be modified in accordance with these criteria.

Tradition (in its Christian meaning), is best understood as the process by which the Church keeps its sense of identity by remembering and staying in continuity with its beginnings—in faithfulness to the New Testament writings—while changing and developing in its understanding and living out of the faith.

The Church itself could be regarded as a “living tradition” that is able to persist and continue only by creatively re-thinking and re-appropriating its heritage, in response to the ever-changing cultures in which it exists.

Where is the Church’s tradition to be found? One must look to the history of the Church, which, of course, is still continuing. This is a process that began two thousand years ago, so that “locating” and assessing it necessarily involves a lot of historical study and work with documents of the past.

When we look closely at this history, we have to recognize that the Church has grown in its understanding and living of the faith, as it has taken on new forms of thought and cultural expression.

The first big transition came early, when the new Christian movement left its Jewish roots and began to be expressed in the cultural forms of the Greco-Roman world. This resulted, eventually, in the writings of the “Church fathers” of the early centuries (the “patristic” period) and in the doctrinal formulations of the Nicene Creed. We still look to that period as an important source of insight into the mystery of Christ.

Later, as the Roman Empire in the West collapsed under the impact of the barbarian invasions, the Christian faith there had gradually to express itself in the mentality and institutional forms of the Germanic tribes. After centuries of turmoil, a new synthesis eventually emerged in the thought and practices of the medieval Church.

This European form of Christianity has continued up until the present day, though drastically challenged and modified in various ways by the great intellectual and cultural movements of the past five centuries—Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, and modern science. Christian believers have tried to understand and express their faith in relation to these new cultural and intellectual situations, and this task continues to occupy our best thinkers.

In all these developments, it is the process of “traditioning” that has enabled the Church to persist and continue. This has involved and still involves much more than compiling collections of teachings from past ages of the Church. The “living tradition” of Christian faith continues in the creative re-thinking of its basic beliefs and doctrines and in the creation of new forms of Church life.

How is tradition related to Sacred Scripture? Some have considered tradition to be a second and separate source of revelation alongside Scripture, but this is not the Anglican view of the matter. Rather, tradition is the Church’s process of continually re-appropriating the meaning of the normative witness given in Sacred Scripture.

A helpful formulation of this point of view is found in the 1998 “Virginia Report” of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission:

“Tradition refers to the ongoing Spirit-guided life of the Church which receives, and in receiving interprets afresh God’s abiding message... Tradition is not to be understood as an accumulation of formulae and texts, but as the living mind, the nerve centre of the Church. Anglican appeal to tradition is the appeal to this mind of the Church carried by the worship, teaching and the Spirit-filled life of the Church.” [4]

But what is to be done when sincere Christian believers disagree about what “the mind of the Church” is on some disputed question? This has happened, of course, more than once in the history of the Church, and it has often taken many years for the final resolution of an issue.

In order to recognize a valid development of the living tradition, the Church must always practice spiritual discernment. Christian believers seek to recognize the authentic leading of the Holy Spirit by staying together in prayer, Scripture study, and mutual charity, as they explore an issue. This requires patience and genuine openness to one another’s insights and convictions.

The current controversy about sexuality is a case in point. The Church is presently faced with a cultural situation altogether different than anything envisaged in the cultures which produced the biblical writings or in the cultures through which the Church has moved thus far. And so we are engaged in a very difficult spiritual discernment of how the living tradition about sexual morality should develop further. As we pursue this, we need to put our trust in the Holy Spirit who leads the Church into all truth. 

Faithfully,
The Theologian

[1] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 2nd ed. edited by F.L. Cross & E.A. Livingstone (Oxford University Press, 1974, 1983), p. 1388.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Quoted in Some Issues in Human Sexuality from the English House of Bishops (Church House Publishing, 2003), p. 51.

The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr wrote a column for a previous version of the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian." He answered questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. Now he's back with a monthly column once again. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here. 

Ask a Theologian: Believing in the Holy Spirit

Pentecost from the workshop of Bernard van Orley 

Dear Theologian,

Every Sunday, when we recite the Creed, I find myself saying, “We believe in the Holy Spirit...” What does it mean to believe in the Holy Spirit? Does it make any difference in the way I am to understand and live my Christian life?

Uninformed

Dear Uninformed,

In asking about the Holy Spirit, you are asking about God, and so any attempt to answer your question will involve the use of religious symbolism. This kind of symbolism, derived from Sacred Scripture, permeates our shared life of faith. When we appreciate its significance, it can draw us deeply into the Mystery that is too great for our conceptual and rational language. This is especially true when we try to think about the Holy Spirit.

In Scripture, fire is often associated with the awesome power and holiness of God. For example, Moses hides his face in reverence before the burning bush (Ex 3:1-6). Later, when he has brought the people of Israel to the sacred mountain in the desert, God’s glory appears as a raging fire upon the mountain top (Ex 24:16-17).

The story of Pentecost in the New Testament takes the image of “the fire of God” to a different level of encounter and intimacy. There, the blazing energy of God is imagined as settling upon, filling and empowering each disciple in a way that is unique and personal. “Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit …” (Acts 2:3-4)

Fire is not the only symbol of the Spirit in Scripture. Equally prominent and suggestive are the symbols wind and breath. In fact, there is a single Hebrew word, ruach, that can be translated as either “spirit” or “wind” or “breath,” depending on the context.

In the account of creation, in the very first book of the Bible, God’s ruach is said to move or hover over the dark and formless waters of chaos. (Gen 1:2) This can be translated variously: “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (KJV), “… a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” (NRSV).

The image of breath is found already in the second chapter of Genesis: “…the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:7)

Both wind and breath occur again in the magnificent vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. The mighty wind/breath/spirit of God brings the dead to life, signifying God’s intention to resurrect his people Israel from the grave and restore them in their own land.

The most vivid and moving use of the breath image occurs in the New Testament, when the risen Christ comes to his disciples, bringing them peace and imparting to them the Holy Spirit. Just as the first human being was created when God breathed his own Spirit into the “earth creature” (Gen 2:7), so now the disciples are created anew when Christ breathes his Spirit into them.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (Jn 20:21-22)

Image and narrative draw us into the great Mystery and invite us to believe in it. In order, however, to unfold the implications of such belief, we also need at times the more prosaic and rational language of theologians. So let me quote now from the Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer.

“The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, God at work in the world and in the Church even now.” [1] This very succinct formulation of the Church’s teaching about the Holy Spirit needs to be developed and unfolded in order to appreciate its profound meaning.

When we say “We believe in the Holy Spirit,” we are first and foremost making an act of faith in God. But “believing in” the Holy Spirit is not merely a matter of acknowledging the “reality” of God (believing “that God is”). It is a matter of entrusting oneself to God in an attitude of surrender, obedience, and utter openness.

Furthermore, God the Holy Spirit, to whom we entrust ourselves, must be understood as being “at work in the world and in the Church even now.” The Spirit is active, dynamic, creative—bringing into being what did not exist and raising the dead to life. (Rom 4:17)

Truly believing in the Holy Spirit, with heart and mind, makes all the difference in how you understand and live your life of Christian commitment.

First of all, it means that you see your very life of faith in Christ as made possible only by the presence and power of God the Holy Spirit within you. It is sheer gift, not your own achievement.

Believing in the mystery of the Holy Spirit involves the attitude of utter and unqualified dependence upon God in all your efforts and labors. This involves a profound humility and detachment with regard to the good works that you carry out. This runs counter to the tendency to glory in one’s own achievements (what St. Paul calls “boasting”). In reality, all is gift.

When we are submissive to the Spirit, we put ego aside and let God act through us. Instead of asking God to help us do something that we intend, we simply ask God to take us, fill us, and use us for God’s purposes. Being yielded to the Spirit also involves being taught, strengthened, encouraged, and filled at times to overflowing with the joy of God.

The action of the Spirit is, of course, by no means limited to the individual. To believe in God the Holy Spirit is to believe that God is creating and continually renewing a community in history which lives with the life of the risen Jesus, a community that transcends all boundaries of time, place, race, and culture, a community in which sinful people are forgiven, healed, and transformed. 

In this Spirit-created communion, there are many different gifts and functions, but one shared life “in Christ.” “…we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us…” (Rom 12:5-6)

Believing in the Holy Spirit allows us to live with hope in the midst of troubles, confusion, and uncertainty. This is true not only for each individual person, but also for the social reality that is the Church. If we believe that God the Holy Spirit is actively present, “at work,” both in our personal journeys and in the long pilgrimage of the Church through history, we have a reason for hope, even though the present situation may look very dark. It is God the Holy Spirit who creates, guides, re-creates and renews the Church in every generation.

Believing in the Holy Spirit also gives us hope for the larger world beyond the Church—because the Holy Spirit is God “at work” in the entire world, in every individual human person and in every community of persons. Wherever we recognize healing and reconciliation, we can rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Believing in the Holy Spirit enables us to live with a confident, positive attitude. We need not be afraid of the future, for it is God’s future. We need not cling to past customs and thought patterns, but can be open to the new. For it is characteristic of God the Creator Spirit to be always doing something new. “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isa 43:18-19)

It is a momentous confession of faith when we say, in the Creed, “We believe in the Holy Spirit.” But it is perhaps only in personal prayer that each of us reaches the deepest realization of what this means.

In Christ,
The Theologian

[1]BCP, p. 852.

The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr wrote a column for a previous version of the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian." He answered questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. Now he's back with a monthly column once again. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here.