Showing papers on "Baptism published in 1978"

The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation

Abstract: After revealing the genesis of the Roman tradition of initiation, Kavanagh moves on to the tensions between traditional practice and the need for change He stresses the Church's ongoing need to focus its efforts on its main concern - the initiation of new members

Lorenzo de' Medici and Savonarola, Martyrs for Florence

Abstract: HE authority of a Renaissance ruler seemed to depend in part on the divine protection afforded him during his life. The identity of his protectors was to some extent a matter of birth: the saint of the day on which he was born, the saint's name given him at baptism (often the same), and the saints of his homeland. As he matured, the ruler might choose as additional protectors saints he believed would help him, and their identity depended on the client's assessment of their efficacy. The protection of still other saints was thrust upon the ruler. In military victory, after successful business negotiations, and with the birth of an heir, an already powerful man found that some saints volunteered their services on their feast days; they were then gratefully incorporated into the client's pantheon. It is commonly assumed that powerful men of this age cultivated these links with particular divinities not only for their own material and spiritual benefit, but in order to increase their authority among their subjects, clients, or fellow citizens. Such links, said Machiavelli, made it appear that divine powers participated in the decisions of men and groups.1 The Medici have not escaped the suspicion that they used saintly associations to this end, and one has only to mention their relationship to the Magi to make the point.2

Baptism and Manumission in Brazil: Paraty, 1789-1822

Abstract: Thirty years ago Frank Tannenbaum in Slave and Citizen first catalogued the many occasions for the manumission of slaves in Latin America. He indicated that baptism was an important occasion of manumission. Any slave owner, motivated by generosity and religious sentiment or a minimal payment made by the parent or godparent of the child, could free his slave at baptism. Tannenbaum cited this as one of many instances where Catholic practice and ritual effected a more humane and hopeful existence for the slave in Latin America, denied to slaves held in Protestant colonies. The results of recent investigations of slave manumission in Brazil, however, have challenged the idea that slaves were frequently manumitted. Katia M. Queiros Mattoso and Mary Karasch, in studies of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, found that only a small percentage of those who were freed were children. In addition, it was revealed that few infant slaves were freed at baptism. Stuart Schwartz found that for colonial Bahia “there is no evidence [in notarial records] that large numbers of children were given their liberty at the baptismal font.” Arnold Kessler discovered that baptism was the occasion of manumission of only fourteen children, representing 2 percent of his sample of manumitted slaves (libertos) in nineteenth-century Bahia. For the small coastal town of Paraty in southern Brazil there was a similar pattern. Of the 325 slaves whose freedom was recorded in the notarial archive between 1789 and 1822 only six slaves, or 1.8 percent of the total sample, were infants freed at baptism.

Christianisation et parentés rituelles : le domaine de Byzance

Abstract: Christianization and spiritual relationships in Byzantium ; ; The social importance of relationships of parentage, already evident in the classical Greco-Roman world, grew considerably in the course of the first centuries of the Byzantine Empire. In this period voluntary relationships included adoption, filiation by baptism, and voluntary fraternity. These three relationships differed in their legal and canonical history, since the first was a heritage from antiquity, the second a Christian creation, and the third a practice which was never to attain a truly legitimate status. In contrast, all three were similar with respect to the development of the marital taboos which resulted from them, and with respect to the social efficacy that was expected of them, on the one hand, by the aristocratic circles and the imperial entourage, and,on the other hand, by ordinary people in the provinces.

Prelude to the first passage

Abstract: Patriarchal society revolves around myths of Processions. Earthly processions both generate and reflect the image of procession from and return to god the father. According to christian theology, there are processions within the godhead, which is triune. The son, who is the second person, is said to proceed from the father, and the holy ghost is said to proceed from the father and the son. Moreover, all creatures proceed from this eternally processing god, who is their Last End, with whom the righteous will be united in eternal bliss. Thus, in this symbol system there is a circular pattern/model for muted existence: separation from and return to the same immutable source. Furthermore, according to this tradition, christians participate in the "supernatural" processions through the sacrament of baptism.1 That is, they officially join the army of believers. It is significant that the word pagan is derived from a late Latin term paganus, meaning civilian, "because the Christians reckoned themselves soldiers of Christ."2 The processions of christians, then, are profoundly connected with military parades, mythically as well as historically. What is ultimately sought by this "salvation army" is reconciliation with the father, for the human species has been alienated from him through the fault of the first parents, Adam and Eve, whose Original Sin has been transmitted to all. Thus the mythic christian procession toward god presupposes belief in possession by evil forces, release from which requires captivity by the church. Consequently the sacrament of initiation (baptism) explicitly contains a rite of exorcism, blatantly belying the fact that this is really a rite of entrance into the State of Posesssion. Western society is still possessed overtly and subliminally by christian symbolism, and this State of Possession has extended its influence over most of the planet. Its ultimate symbol of proces

The Conception/Birth of Jesus as a Christological Moment

Abstract: This paper is intended as a critique of Professor Raymond Brown's thesis that the Christology expressed in the birth narratives /1/ developed by a process of pushing back the post-resurrection Christology of Jesus' enthronement as Son of God first to the baptism and finally to his conception/birth. The argument is that the conception/birth was a christological moment with the Son of David Christology. It remains such in the sending of the Son pattern (which we argue should be distinguished from the pre-existence Christology), whence it provided the background for the Christology of the virginal-pneumatic conception.

Jesus, Lord and Saviour

Abstract: In twenty chapters, this book by a much loved New Testament scholar and Christian covers the main articles of Christian faith and practice. Beginning from the Bible, its message and its trustworthiness, it goes on to consider the gospel of the kingdom of God through all its stages from baptism to eternal life and hell, purgatory and heaven. Between these points, Dr Hunter considers miracles, the cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit and the nature of Christian ethics.

Corinthians 8:6: Cosmology or Soteriology?

Abstract: The original article argued that 1 Cor 8: 6 originated as a liturgical acclamation, which acknowledged all the soteriological blessings received in baptism. The unity of the motion from the first cause through the instrumental cause to the final cause demanded an ‘either-or’ approach. Thus a ‘both-and’ approach which recognized a cosmological reference to the first creation was refused. The Postscript acknowledges that this was a mistake, but insists that what is said of God cannot be separated from what is said of Christ. The acclamation in fact takes up the intimate association between creation and redemption found in Deutero-Isaiah. The finality of creation is redemption. Nothing is said about the pre-existence or divinity of Christ.

The Date of Bishop Challoner's Baptism. A Problem Solved

Abstract: 1981 marks the bicentenary of the death of Bishop Challoner, but 200 years later there is still disagreement about the date of his baptism. Fr L. E. Whatmore has argued convincingly that the Bishop was baptized at Chiddingly in Sussex, the son of Richard Challoner and Grace Willard. But he points out that two different dates have been given for the date of the ceremony. He quotes W. H. Challen's statement that the baptism took place on 29 November 1691 and the then Vicar of Chiddingly's assertion that it took place on 12 October 1691. In fact, both dates are supported by documentary evidence, and it is the original documents that are in error. An examination of the original Parish Register for Chiddingly at the East Sussex Record Office, and of the Bishop's Transcripts for Chiddingly in the West Sussex Record Office explains the difference. In the Register, which was quoted by the Vicar, the entry in the list of baptisms for 1691 reads: ‘October ye 12 Richard ye son of Richard Chalender’. On the other hand, the same event recorded in the Transcripts, and quoted by Challen, reads: ‘November ye 29th. Richard the son of Richard Challoner was baptised’. Which document gives the correct date?