Baptism of Evangeline
May 15, 2011

Baptism is one of the central sacraments of the Orthodox Church.  For many people, baptism, and other sacraments as well, are merely symbolic actions which have no  impact on reality.

Christianity is often seen as concentrating on sin and the effects this has on us.  This is a gross misrepresentation.  Orthodoxy addresses the basic problem of humanity and that is, not sin, but death.

Death is the fate that awaits all humans, without exception.  But, why is this so?  One explanation is that humans transgressed laws (here is where sin comes in) and brought death onto themselves.  This view is challenged by modern biology which shows that death existed long before humans came on the scene.

The explanation given for death by the Orthodox Church is somewhat different.  Orthodoxy goes back to the doctrine called “creatio ex nihilo” which says that everything was created out of nothing.  And, it is this basic “nothing” that threatens our existence and condemns everything to death.  This is the unavoidable result of being created - we are all mortal.  We are, thus, in need of salvation - which really means we are in need of healing, of being made whole.  And how does this happen?

This occurs through the coming together of the created and the uncreated, what we refer to as the Incarnation.  In a way, we can be “grafted” onto immortality and through this comes our salvation - we are no longer condemned to annihilation and eternal disappearance.  In other words, a new “I” can now come into existence and it is this new “I” that grants us the ability to live forever.  But, how does this new “I” come into being?

There are different ways that this can happen but the most important one centers around baptism.  It is in baptism that this whole process of starting a new “I” begins.

At the beginning of the service, the godparents “spit” on the devil.  The devil symbolizes death and all that opposes creation.  Through this action, we underline the fact that we are now centered on life and not on death.

The immersion of the baptizant in water is again an action that speaks of our release from the previous life of mortality. Immersion in water is “death” to the old mortal self and the rising of the child from the water is the Resurrection.  The granting of a name, means that we are a new person, a new creation - we are unique and unrepeatable.  The child has been gifted with a new type of life - the child has become a member of millions upon millions of people who lived previously and including those who live presently - the child has become a member of the Church.

Some will say that this is only a nice ritual with no effect on our lives.  Nothing has really changed.  We can talk about symbols and about significance, but what effect does all this have in the “real” world?

This type of question is very common and it arises from a certain world view.  What is being asked here is: why can’t the world be acted on magically? First, baptism, and then, lo and behold, everything changes.  But if there is a God, and God has created the world and He has given freedom to the world so that it can stand apart from God, then He will respect the integrity of the world.  The development of science is a testament to this fact.  And even when Christ is on the cross, and He is taunted: “come down and we will believe”, he refuses to give in to this temptation which comes from the one in whose kingdom death reigns.  The world that we continue to live in has not been transfigured and its laws still apply to us.  We still suffer, we still ail, we still die, but we are different and our eventual fate is different.

A word about symbols.  We think of symbols as merely signs which have no impact on reality, but for Orthodoxy a symbol is not just a sign, but an action in which we participate and it has an effect on our very being. When we participate in a symbol, there is a tangible difference that occurs.  Think about a wedding ceremony.  We could say that this is merely a symbol, and yet, it changes something within us.  Someone, looking from the outside would not see any tangible change, but we are changed through that ceremony.

We are not left without evidence - our faith is not blind. We have witnesses - millions upon millions of those who attest that their lives have changed - they indeed have new identities. Baptism is the beginning of a new adventure, one partaken of by many, many people and they state in a united voice that this ceremony is not just ritual; it is life endorsing, it is life affirming, it is life enriching and it does indeed create new beings whose final destiny is eternity.