Michael Olushoga

All dressed in white, Children stand in front of a congregation waiting for their turn in pool of water placed behind the altar. The church rejoices proposing a secret importance that none of the partakers really understood. Later they come to understand that their seconds under the surface is a spiritual rebirth unlike any other and a beginning to a new chapter in their lives. Parents take photos that they hope to show their children in the future. In St. Cyril’s Jerusalem, The definition and importance of baptism in the early church has evolved to an accessory to the Christian identity.

The idea and value of Baptism in the age of the author differs greatly from the idea of baptism today. Early Baptism was an act of literally denouncing the devil and turning to Christ with respect to spatial orientation. St. Cyril explained that as “ye entered into the outer hall of the baptistery and facing towards the west … Satan ye renounced him” (Cyril 53). They faced the west where darkness and evil resides and knowingly renounced the devil symbolizing their full acknowledgement of their actions. Then they turned to the east where the sun gave birth to the light that represented Christ and knowingly embraced the covenant of eternal salvation. In modern Christianity, many know why baptism is necessary but do not fully grasp its importance. Baptism has become a rite of passage and can honestly be compared to getting to driver’s license. Baptism has become more of a ceremony instead of an expression of how Christ’s crucifixion has saved the souls of believers from eternal damnation.

Satan in the early church was a real figure who Christians believed that his only purpose was their destruction through iniquity. The Church still teaches this concept and that as Christians, we should flee from the temptation to do wrong because the devil “is like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom to devour” (Cyril 58).This idea stresses the underlying theme of good versus evil and introduces the idea that baptism is a celebrated victory for good over evil in the unseen war. This conflict was perceived as real warfare within a spiritual realm “that you mayest war the lord’s warfare…. defeat from every heretic attempt” (Cyril 46). Baptism today is explained as an ushering into the promise of salvation given to believers by Christ but from what are Christians ushered from? The early church explained both factions and tried to establish an understood appreciation for baptism that does not exist today in the modern church.

Baptism was and still is an element to the Christian identity but its relevance to the modern Christian has changed. It could be that since Christianity is more wildly accepted, the need for a strict interpretation is no longer needed since anyone could get their hands on a bible and not be persecuted for it. Today, babies are baptized and how are they to appreciate a victory if they try to comprehend its importance through amateur photography. Cyril expressed a full formality about baptism that has been rationalized and lost.

Bibliography

St. Cyril. Lectures on the Christian Sacrament. Edited by F.L. Cross. Crestwood, NY: St.Vladimir’s Seminary Press 1951