I must confess, friend, that I am little schooled on the history of the Presbyterian Church. I haven't much time to delve into the study as inundated I am with work and life's issues and of course in my own living before God. I appreciate your perspective and I welcome and enjoy this discussion we are having.
In this spirit I tell you, my brother, that the historical Church which was spread everywhere in the days of the New Testament and which has endured over the course of centuries exists and has alway existed. The belief of that Church is that the Aposltes baptized in immersion just as Christ submerged into the waters and was baptized. Baptism in immersion in water is the apostolic method. This is the faith which was known everywhere, across nations and kingdoms and what the word baptism has meant in the world since those days.
For this reason they baptized in rivers and lakes, and later, in pools and large stone fonts. In the days of the great martyrs, such as under Diocletius and other Roman rulers, the churches which were spread everywhere, in eucharistic and sacramental communion, accepted different variation, due to local customs and traditions. This is the oikonomia of the Church to the struggling people of that day, acting not as a rigid rule maker but as the communion for healing and spiritual grace.
And so, sprinkling very many centuries later was held to have grace as well, out of love of the eastern brothers and the western brothers, by putting all faith in God above as the source and giver of our joy and love in this life.
Around the common Cup, in unity of faith and mind, they did, however, continue to hold certain unifying beliefs, which have endured the ages while the other heretical groups have withered and disappeared except in history books and the vain imaginations of men.
Were there differences in factions, in evangelism and works? Were there nationalists and selfish members? Yes, to all of these, yes! This is the reality of what the Body of Christ must endure, struggling in a fallen and dying world. Tertullian is the first to say that a person should be baptized later, but that is because he heretically thought that if someone does a great sin after Baptism, they were to be excommunicated from the Church and had no hope for repentance and forgiveness and salvation. This heresy was condemned early in the history of the Church.
In this instance, again, God's love and mercy is shown greater then the sin of man. For a man can gravely sin, and still yet die in this world as one of the saved and elect through his repentance and his tears, which are indeed the second and even greater baptism. For this reason humans tear when they cry, so that what might be immersed and submerged in water would come from the very windows of the soul, the eyes. This water too is a vehicle in which the Spirit can cleanse a man from defilement and give forgiveness of sins. This too is the apostolic faith.
And in relation to the original topic of this thread, Tertullian did not discredit infant baptism (which I am happy we agree on, which is of course the orthodox truth).
In the days of Tertullian, the normal practice was immersion in water, not sprinkling. Before him and after him.
We mustn't ignore this consistent witness and this historical truth.
The Church has as Her only Head Jesus Christ.
The faith which is apostolic, orthodox, and katholico (that is, spread everywhere as a whole of the faith of the Church) is the faith which has always been centered around the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, as the bearers of the Cup and the holy priests of the holy God, both with the clergy and the laity who are the royal priesthood.
There may be political differences, and even opinions regarding the faith, but there are beliefs and practices which have endured the ages and demonstrated truth and proven authority, and for this reason we labor to look into the historical truths and personalities and major events which the body of believers have overcome and professed from the beginning and on. We mustn't ignore the historical Church.
And for this reason I know that the Greek word for baptism has been used and understood (since the days the Gospels were first written) to mean the word "
immersion". The Gospels were written in Greek. And the reality is that the Greek word used in the earliest writings Greek Fathers, and in such writings as the Didache and the Cappadocian Fathers, has meant 'immersion'. All the way up until this day. And this is the practice of the earliest Christian cities to this day. Show me where the first mention of 'sprinkling' of water in Christian baptism is found.
We must also remember that there were bodies of water involved in every Scriptural account of baptism that is described. Why do you think Christ the Fisherman spent so much time in His ministry by the shores of Lake Galilee and the Jordan River?
Did the Christians of the first generations all spread everywhere suddenly forget what the apostolic way was or what was meant by the word baptism as written in the Gospels?
After long study and prayer, I can tell you I do not believe the earliest martyrs and leaders were so bla'zai or weak in the faith, especially under the guidance and benefit of the first great Saints of the Church and the Life-Giving Spirit of God. Impossible the Holy Spirit failed! The Church has been since then and has always been! This is not so great a glory to the Church as it is to the glory of God Who has made this so!
Man cannot know or understand in this life fully, and until the Book of Life is opened and the sins of men will be revealed before the entire history of creation, we journey through this world learning to love our neighbor and even our enemies. This too is a death, though not in the waters but in the spirit, but in the grace of self-giving and sacrifice.
Now, we both agree that sprinkling can confer spiritual grace all the way up to transformation and the grace of rebirth in the death and resurrection of Christ. God is not limited to our limitations and works, especially with regards to the mystery of Baptism. He will save whomever He wills and can bring water out of rock, and even out of stones children of Abraham. But the truth is that the method of sprinkling was a western innovative practice that came later. For the earlier practice of immersion of the Christians in the East has remained the same. The New Testament writings prove this, the archeology proves this, as does the iconography, the patristic witness, the hymnology, the prayers, in fact, the worship itself proves it. And so has the meaning of the word
baptism in the Greek remained the same.
I think you should be a little wary of what you fill your eyes with, which is also what you fill your mind with and eventually your heart. And this is true for me and for everyone else who is reading. Our service to God is one done in love, mercy, and charity for others. This, I believe, we can both agree upon.
. Whatever milliliter amount of water is involved in the ritual, and its purity and temperature, and the total surface area of the human body washed etc, etc, are secondary and certainly not what makes the mystery divine. Rather it is the faith of the Church and the love and power of God
