Chapter 2: Reception of the Biblical Witness on Baptism 2.1 Introduction (1) The Catholic Church and Lutheran churches both consider themselves bound to the commandment of the Lord and the promise it shares. This commandment is central in both of Martin Luther’s catechisms: “Observe, first, that these words contain God’s commandment and institution, so that no one may doubt that baptism is of divine origin, not something devised or invented by human beings. (…) But no matter how external it may be, here stand God’s Word and command that have instituted, established, and confirmed baptism.”1 The Second Vatican Council likewise states, “in explicit terms He [Jesus Christ] Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism.”2 In a common remembrance of this obligation, the ecumenical document Apostolicity reaffirms: “We agree, as we accept the New Testament testimony, that Jesus Christ sent his apostles as authorized witnesses of his resurrection and to make disciples in the whole world and impart baptism for the forgiveness of sins.”3 (2) Christian life is lived together in this obedience through practice and teaching. To clarify this obedience and teaching, the following sections present the liturgical rite with attention to its implications for a common faith as well as for ecclesial convictions.
2.2 The Liturgical Rite of Baptism (1) Christ's commandment is obeyed not only by a common practice of baptism but also by the effort to understand the meaning of baptism through Lutheran and Catholic teaching. Catholics and Lutherans share many centuries of a common reception of the biblical witness. For this reason, they share many of the same convictions concerning the significance of baptism for the life of individuals as well as for the church. And they acknowledge one journey of faith towards the Eucharistic table. (2) The relationship between biblical witness and practice invites both Lutherans and Catholics into an exploration of their baptismal traditions and the implications of these traditions for their understanding of salvation and church. In the early church, the benefits received from baptism were described as forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), a sharing in the death and resurrection of Christ (Rom 6:3-4), regeneration from above (Jn 3:5), clothing with Christ (Gal 3:27), deliverance from Satan’s bondage to freedom in Christ (Col 1:13), and enlightenment (Heb 6:4).4 Because of baptism’s association with the redemptive work of Christ, it is not surprising that the soteriological rather than the ecclesial meaning of the sacrament has been uppermost in the theology of baptism.
The Large Catechism, IV, Book of Concord, 457. The Lutheran Confessions are cited by document, section, and page numbers contained in The Book of Concord as edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000). Hereafter cited as Book of Concord. See also WA 30/1:212.22-24; 213.2-3. 1
Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium (1964), §14. All references to the Second Vatican Council are taken from the Vatican website. See also Council of Trent, Decree on the Sacraments (1547), in Peter Hünermann, Helmut Hoping, Robert L. Fastiggi, Anne Englund Nash, and Heinrich Denzinger, Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals, 43rd edition (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2012), 1618. Hereafter DH. 2
3
The Apostolicity of the Church, §147; cf. §§13, 70.
Everett Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 2009), 854. 4
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