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190 pages

English

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For those whose context is rich with cultural and communal rites of passage, how does the church ensure that baptism is not just another ritual, but is understood to be a deliberate participation of a Christian in an event that brings decisive change into the new life that Christ brings?
In this in-depth study, Dr. Pontien Ndagijimana Batibuka explores afresh Paul’s teaching on baptism demonstrating that it encompasses both divine intervention and human action, rather than simply being about an action of Christ. Readers are invited to re-examine Romans 5:12–6:23 through a socio-religious lens rather than the christological reading that has historically prevailed. Through Dr. Batibuka’s skilful exploration of the stages of initiation in antiquity he argues the importance of Christians actively taking responsibility for their baptism, while further shedding light on the interaction of both the divine and human roles. Baptism is more than a ritual done to a passive candidate, it is an event in which the believer personally decides for, and pledges allegiance to, Jesus Christ.

Sujets

Biblical Studies

Philosophie et théologie

Exegesis

Hermeneutics

Religion

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Publié par	Langham Creative Projects
Date de parution	07 novembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781839737527
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Pontien Batibuka shows us how far we are removed today from the early church when one’s baptism was understood as the most important and maybe the most frightening experience of one’s life. Most Christians today are baptized in infancy. Many of those who are baptized as adults come from Christian families and have grown up in the Christian faith. This means that baptism is simply a practice they are used to since childhood. In this way, baptism has become more of a ritual than what the apostle Paul meant it to be when writing Romans 6.
For the Christians of the first century to whom Paul addresses his letter, baptism was a radical event. As an act of initiation to a new world, it was understood as a radical decision to renounce allegiance to all other authorities in the empire and to oneself, and to surrender one’s life to Christ alone as Lord. This submission required the deliberate and daily effort of the baptized to please the Lord Jesus and to build the new community of believers.
This book should be carefully read, discussed and contextualized by African theologians to help the church recapture what it has lost: the true meaning of baptism.
Bungishabaku Katho , PhD
Dean, Graduate School at Shalom University of Bunia,
Senior Researcher,
Centre de Recherche Multidisciplinaire pour le Développement de Bunia,
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In this fascinating study, Dr. Pontien Batibuka analyses Romans 5:12-6:23 as a multi-faceted account of Christian initiation. By comparing this with ancient Graeco-Roman and Jewish initiation processes, and with Paul’s own experience, Batibuka very effectively brings out four stages of Christian initiation: encounter with God, death to the old self, identification with Christ in baptism, and the move into the new, committed life. In mapping this pattern onto Romans 5:12-6:23, Batibuka particularly argues for the active role of the believer in responding to God’s gracious action. This study offers enlightening food for thought, both for those interpreting Romans and for those considering the pattern of initiation in churches today.
Peter Oakes PhD
Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis,
University of Manchester, UK
Pontien Batibuka adds a significant element to the debate about Christian baptism. He addresses the instrumentality of baptism in the context of a process which concludes with the initiatory claims of Christ in regard to baptism as a spiritual transition from death to life. But it is the ongoing address of the reality of baptism, as an active rather than passive process, which pertains to the believer that gets much needed attention in this study and allows for a rethinking of its place within the ordo salutis . These two elements come together with the necessary emphasis upon the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which allows for the once for all Christian initiation and the ongoing testimony of a secure reality contextually explored within the pericope of Romans 5:12–6:23.
Raymond Potgieter, PhD
Senior Research Professor, Systematic Theology and Apologetics,
North West University, South Africa
Paul’s understanding of baptism is much debated, including whether baptism is divine or human action. Dr. Batibuka offers a fresh approach to the question through a fourfold model of initiation drawn from the ancient world: an encounter with the divine, a break with the old way of life and attachment to the new, a public ceremony of transfer, and a commitment to a new way of life. The application of this model to Paul’s own conversion and to Romans 5–6 is thoughtful and engaging, drawing on a wide range of scholarship. It is particularly good to see Francophone scholarship well represented. Dr. Batikbuka argues cogently that both divine initiative and responsive human dimensions of baptism are indispensable. To be baptized entails: a life-changing encounter with God-in-Christ; a change of allegiance to Christ; a public, ceremonial expression of that change in water; and a commitment to a new life with Christ as Lord. This thoughtful study deserves a wide readership.
Steve Walton, PhD
Professor of New Testament,
Trinity College, Bristol, UK

Baptism as an Event of Taking Responsibility
A New Reading of Romans 5:12–6:23
Pontien Ndagijimana Batibuka

© 2022 Pontien Ndagijimana Batibuka
Published 2022 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
PO Box 296, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA3 9WZ, UK
www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-234-8 Print
978-1-83973-752-7 ePub
978-1-83973-753-4 Mobi
978-1-83973-754-1 PDF
Pontien Ndagijimana Batibuka has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.
Scripture quotations marked (NJB) are taken from The New Jerusalem Bible , published and copyright 1985 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Les Editions du Cerf , and used by permission of the publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-234-8
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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Contents

Cover

Abstract

Abbreviations

Foreword

Chapter One Baptism in Romans 6 and the Idea of Taking Action

1.1. The Research Question

1.2. On Methodology

1.3. Structure

1.4. Two Presuppositions on Romans 5:12–6:23

1.5. Literature Survey: Action in Baptism, an Overlooked Aspect

1.6. Conclusion

Chapter Two The Four Stages of Entry into the New Life in Paul’s Time

2.1. Introduction

2.2. The Four Stages and the Mysteries

2.3. The Four Stages and State Religions

2.4. The Four Stages in Jewish Context

2.5. Summary

Chapter Three Paul’s Conversion and the Four Stages of Entry

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Methodological Issues in Connection with Paul’s Conversion

3.3. God’s Light and Glory Given to Paul (Stage One)

3.4. Blind But Fasting and Praying (Stage Two)

3.5. Sealing Attachment to the New Way: Baptism (Stage Three)

3.6. The After-Entry Life Anticipated in the Entry Process (Stage Four)

3.7. Summary

Chapter Four The Four Stages and Action in Romans 5:12–6:23

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Divine Action at the First Stage: ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ δωρεὰ ἐν χάριτι . . . Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἐπερίσσευσεν (5:15)

4.3. Second Stage Action: Death to the Old Way of Life (ἀπεθάνομεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, 6:1–2)

4.4. Third Stage Action: The Ritual of Baptism, Sealing the Rejection of the Old and the Bond with the New (6:3–4)

4.5. Fourth Stage: The After-Entry Life Embraced in the Transition Process

4.6. Summary

Chapter Five Conclusion

5.1 Summary of Findings

5.2. Suggestions for Further Research

5. 3. Achievement

Bibliography

1. Books and Articles

2. Intertestamental, Greco-Roman, Rabbinic and Early Christian Writings

3. Reference Books

About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Abstract
This study offers a new understanding of ἐβαπτίσθημεν , “we were baptized” (Rom 6:3), setting it within the wider section of Romans 5:12–6:23, which is about the transition from one system of existence to another – from sin’s rule to the reign of grace (cf. 5:21).
My study is that Paul’s view of the believer’s transition and baptism in this pericope encompasses both divine intervention and human action. As the literature review outlines, Romans 5–6 has usually been read with christological lenses. As a result, the agency of the initiand has been underestimated. Applying a socio-religious approach, this study argues that Paul’s understanding of baptism involves the initiand in taking active responsibility, as implied by the initiation process. In line with the older view (associated with the Religionsgeschichtliche Schule ) that Paul’s understanding of baptism grew out of contemporary views of initiation in Greco-Roman society, this study suggests that initiation entailed four stages in which both divine and human action was taken, and that this may have influenced Paul’s thinking. In particular, the study argues that the deliberate action of the believer, rather than the action of Christ, is the focus in key expressions like “we died to sin” (6:2), “we were b