Oil and Water
"In third-century Rome, baptism was high drama"
Elesha Coffman | posted 3/01/2001 12:00AM
I've been getting a lot of questions lately about baptism—the usual dunking/sprinkling, infant/adult discussions, but other queries as well. Often the letter writers wish to know if their beliefs about baptism are grounded in the practices of the early church. The answer is usually yes and no, for while most churches retain some early baptismal practices (in altered form), I'm not aware of any church that repeats the entire ancient ceremony.
In about A.D. 215 Hippolytus, an important ecclesiastical writer and theologian who was for some reason quickly forgotten after his death, recorded in detail the process by which converts in Rome were baptized. As summarized by scholar Michael Walsh, Hippolytus's account began: "Immediately before the ceremony came a fast, a long period of prayer, an all-night vigil in a darkened building. Then, in the dim light of wavering torches, the Devil was solemnly abjured to flee in a series of exorcisms. The candidate entered the baptistery.
"First he or she turned toward the west to renounce Satan, then toward the east to confess Christ. There were repeated anointings with oil, the symbol of strength. Once at least the naked candidate was anointed from head to toe. Then, oiled as if for bathing, the candidate entered the font, climbing in … or stepping down until knee-deep while a deacon poured water over the head, or pressed the candidate's head down into the pool."
The baptismal candidate also had to answer a series of questions, which Hippolytus lists: "And when he who is being baptized goes down into the water, he who baptizes him, putting his hand on him, shall say thus: 'Dost thou believe in God, the Father Almighty?'
"And he who is being baptized shall say: 'I believe.'
"Then holding his hand placed on his head, he shall baptize him once. And then he shall say: 'Dost thou believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was born by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and was dead and buried, and rose again the third day, alive from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the quick and the dead?'
"And when he says: 'I believe,' he is baptized again.
"And again he shall say: 'Dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost; in the holy church, and the resurrection of the flesh?'
"He who is being baptized shall say accordingly: 'I believe,' and so he is baptized a third time."
After the baptized converts came out of the water, they were anointed again with oil, clothed, and brought into the church. The bishop prayed over and anointed them separately, then signed each on the forehead, saying, "The Lord be with thee." He who was signed responded, "and with thy spirit." The ceremony concluded with converts taking their first Communion.
This Roman ceremony was probably not copied exactly in every Christian community, and it may reflect significant changes from first-century practices. More changes would soon follow, for by the end of the fourth century Augustine prescribed infant baptism to erase the guilt of original sin. So an investigation of early church practices cannot settle all of our questions about baptism, but it can remind us of the awesome power this ceremony has held for nearly two millennia.
This article was adapted from Christian History issue 37: Worship in the Early Church, which is available for purchase at http://www.christianitytodaystore.com
Elesha Coffman is associate editor of Christian History.
Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
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