The Role of Baptism in Christian Identity Formation

Author:

O’Neil Michael D.1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Morling College, Perth (Vose) Campus, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia

Abstract

The construction of one’s identity in late modernity is sometimes viewed as a project of the autonomous self in which one’s identity may shift or change over the course of one’s existence and development. For the Christian, however, one’s identity is both a divine gift, and a task of ecclesial formation, and for both the gift and the task, Christian baptism is fundamental. Baptism represents the death of the self and its rebirth in Christ, a decisive breach with the life that has gone before. Baptism establishes a new identity, a new affiliation, a new mode of living, and a new life orientation, direction, and purpose. This paper explores the role of baptism in the formation of Christian identity, finding that Christian identity is both extrinsic to the self and yet also an identity into which we are called and into which we may continually grow. The essay proceeds in three sections. It begins with a survey of recent philosophical reflection on the concept of identity, continues by reflecting on the nature of Christian baptism in dialogue with this reflection, and concludes by considering in practical terms how baptism functions in the process of conversion–initiation toward the formation of mature Christian identity.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference75 articles.

1. Appiah, Kwame Anthony (2018). The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity: Creed, Country, Colour, Class, Culture, Profile.

2. Horton, Douglas (1956). The Word of God and the Word of Man, Harper and Brothers.

3. Bromiley, Geoffrey W., and Torrance, Thomas F. (1969). Church Dogmatics IV/4: The Doctrine of Reconciliation (Fragment), T. & T. Clark.

4. Beasley-Murray, George R. (1973). Baptism in the New Testament, Eerdmans.

5. Baptism and Identity Formation: Convergences in Ritual and Ethical Perspectives a Dialogue;Bordeyne;Studia Liturgica,2012

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