Conversion vs. Initiation

Pneuma ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 192-211
Author(s):  
Timothy Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Peak Experiences ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
Christian Conversion ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
Sharp Distinction ◽  
Initiation Process ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Wide Gap

Abstract This article presents four lenses for exploring Christian conversion and applies those lenses to three key Catholic initiation practices. The four lenses are Scripture, peak experiences, autonomy and surrender, and metanoia and epistrophe, while the three initiation practices are confirmation, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), and infant baptism. The author argues that there is a wide gap between doctrine and experience in these practices, particularly in reference to the Holy Spirit, and that this gap can be bridged by examining the initial Christian experience, a term introduced by Heribert Mühlen. Moreover, the author builds on the thought of Gordon Smith by making a sharp distinction between conversion and initiation. As a whole, this article advocates for an increased awareness of the Holy Spirit in Catholicism and for new experiential reflection upon the Catholic initiation process.

Christian Initiation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The West ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
The Gift ◽  
First Communion ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Integral Process

“Christian initiation” refers to the ritual process employed by various churches in forming new Christian converts through catechesis (instruction) during the “catechumenate” to baptism, postbaptismal rites (including hand-laying and anointing, sometimes called “confirmation”), culminating in First Communion, and leading to the further integration of these newly initiated members into ongoing Christian life through “mystagogy.” Christian initiation is the story of diversity and change as the biblical images of initiation lead toward a rich variety of early Christian practices and theological interpretations, eventually coming to focus on Christian baptism as “new birth” or the “washing of regeneration” in water and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5 and Titus 3:5) in early Syria and Egypt and baptism as participation in the death and burial of Christ (Rom. 6) in North Africa and other places in the West. In the 4th and 5th centuries, after Christianity emerged as a cultus publicus, the rites of Christian initiation underwent a certain standardization and cross-fertilization as various churches borrowed from one another to construct rites that display a remarkable degree of homogeneity. These rites include a decided preference for celebrating Christian initiation at Easter, after a period of final catechetical preparation in Lent; prebaptismal rites with an exorcistic focus; an almost universal (Rom. 6) theological interpretation of baptism; and postbaptismal hand-layings or anointings associated explicitly with the gift or “seal” of the Holy Spirit, still leading to First Communion within a unitive and integral process. Another characteristic, thanks to the controversies faced by Augustine with Pelagianism, was the development of a new theological rationale for the initiation of infants, which focused on the inheritance of “original sin” from Adam. This would have far-reaching consequences for subsequent centuries as infant baptism became the norm for practice and theology. If the Eastern rites underwent little further development in the Middle Ages, the West experienced what many have been called a sacramental dissolution, disintegration, and separation. Gradually, the postbaptismal rites of hand-laying and anointing, associated with the gift of the Holy Spirit and now with the physical presence of the bishop, became separated from infant baptism and were given at a later point. Similarly, the reception of First Communion also became separated and was often postponed until the canonical age of seven. This process was inherited by the adherents of the Protestant and Catholic reformations of the 16th century. Little was done to restore the unitive and integral process of Christian initiation from the earlier centuries and confirmation itself developed among the reformers largely into a catechetical exercise or rite with First Communion either prior to or after confirmation. In the early 21st century, thanks to the Roman Catholic Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and similar rites in other churches, the unitary and integral process of initiation has been restored. What remains to be done, however, is the full integration of infants and children into this process, although in several Anglican and Lutheran contexts infants now are again recipients of the full rites of initiation, including First Communion.

scholarly journals Adam Pastor, Antitrinitarian Antipædobaptist

1917 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 73-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Henry Newman
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity ◽  
Traditional Doctrine

The intellectual, social, and religious upheaval of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of which the Renaissance and the Protestant Revolution were phases, along with the decidedly skeptical tendency of the Scotist philosophy which undermined the arguments by which the great mysteries of the Christian faith had commonly been supported while accepting unconditionally the dogmas of the Church—together with the influence of Neoplatonizing mysticism which aimed and claimed to raise its subjects into such direct and complete union and communion with the Infinite as to make any kind of objective authority superfluous:—all these influences conspired to lead many of the most conscientious and profoundly religious thinkers of the sixteenth century to reject simultaneously the baptism of infants and the traditional doctrine of the Trinity. Infant baptism they regarded as being without scriptural warrant, subversive of an ordinance of Christ, and inconsistent with regenerate church membership. Likewise the doctrine of the tripersonality of God, as set forth in the so-called Nicene and Athanasian creeds, involving the co-eternity, co-equality and consubstantiality of the Son with the Father and the personality of the Holy Spirit, they subjected to searching and fundamental criticism.

The Process of Change: Sacred and Secular

1977 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cedric B. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Clinical Psychology ◽  
Personality Theory ◽  
True Self ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Christian Conversion ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Theology speaks of the process of conversion, and clinical psychology deals with how people change. The essence or the nature of the person who changes is important to the discussion. The true self as well as the nature of pathology is surveyed from both a theological perspective and also from some of the systems of personality theory. The concept of the image of Cod in persons is the basis of the theological definition. Conversion and the process of change often brought about through the process of psychotherapy have observable psychological antecedents and results. Changes in therapy may take place at the analytic level, in the search for identity, and in the process of self-realization. The significant similarities and differences between Christian conversion and changes in therapy are discussed. Conversion brings a person to the realization of one's true personhood, but therapy may still be necessary to bring about changes with both intrapsychic and interpersonal deficiencies and excesses. The work and resources of the Holy Spirit are an essential part in a change that brings about the beginnings of the healing of the whole person.

scholarly journals Adskillelse og vekselvirkning. Om Grundtvigs syn på folkelighed og kristendom

1986 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Theodor Jørgensen
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Values ◽  
Sharp Distinction ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Life Philosophy ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

Separateness and InteractionGrundtvig’s Ideas on the Character of the People and ChristianityBy Professor Theodor Jørgensen, DD, CopenhagenSeparateness and interaction are central concepts in Grundtvig’s definition of the relationship between the character of the people and Christianity. He makes a sharp distinction between the two to ensure that the relationship between them remains a free one. It is important for Christianity, which does not want to rule but to serve the people. But this sharp distinction does not mean that Grundtvig understands the character of the people as a purely secular quantity. He sees it as spiritual, where spiritual contains the human spirit, the spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit. Regarded in this light the character of the people constitutes the prerequisite for Christianity, because it contains, albeit in broken form, the God-created humanity that is reborn in Christianity. At the deepest level the life-source in the character of the people and in Christianity is the same, i.e. God; or rather, God the Holy Spirit. And the interaction between them is God’s meeting with Himself in His creation. It is important to insist that the interaction works both ways, a fact often forgotten through a one-sided interpretation of Grundtvig’s basic principle: First a Man, then a Christian. The character of every people adds to Christianity a new faceting of its content through the gospel being preached in the native language and becoming concrete in its natural imagery. In return, Christianity adds to the character of every people the living hope in Christ, making it through Him a reborn character. Grundtvig’s view of the relationship between the two corresponds to the relationship nowadays between life-philosophy and faith. Faith receives a concretion from lifephilosophy. On the other hand there are fundamental human values, originally existing free of Christianity, which today are best defended by faith. Here faith acquires a political perspective.

scholarly journals Chrzest w "Traktach wielkanocnych" św. Gaudentego z Bresci

Vox Patrum ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 103-113
Author(s):  
Bazyli Degórski
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Christian Initiation ◽  
New Era ◽  
New Creation ◽  
Paschal Mystery ◽  
The Gift ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Given

In the fullness of times, Christ is present at the Wedding Feast in Cana, a town called possessio gentium territory of the Gentiles. Besides the Bridegroom are Moses, pre-figured by the man in charge of the feast; Mary, who symbolizes in herself the Patriarchs, the Prophets and all the just ones of the Old Testament; the Apostles – to whom it will be commanded to preach the word and to minister Baptism. In such a context Christ renders the Church, gathered from the multi­tude, His Spouse, and He grants her, through the intercession of Mary, the gift of the new wine: the Holy Spirit. In Christ the Bridegroom are fulfilled all the expec­tations of the old just ones, pre-figured in Mary, and Mary intercedes so that the Bridegroom grants thirsty people [symbolized by Cana, town of the Gentiles], the gift of the bridal union: the Holy Spirit. The command given to the servants to fill the jars with water symbolizes the Apostolic vocation of Baptism and teaching. When stripping the thought of Saint Gaudentius of forced exegesis, there remains his interpretation of the Bridegroom as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the beginning of a new era of bridal union: the work of the Holy Spirit, the dies lucis. The Christian life, renewed by the Baptismal waters, implies the maintenance of the purity of the bridal wine, the given innocence, by keeping afar from idolatry and not to be dispersed by God. In a word, it all has to do – in the thought of Saint Gaudentius – with life in faith, hope and charity and faithfulness to the charis­mas received. His rich and consistent teaching renders him an integral part of the Patristic exegetical tradition, from which he himself draws important interpreta­tive elements, but to which he contributes as well with original hints enriching the hermeneutics of the narrative of Cana while revealing at the same time its pneumatological, sacramental and ecclesiological – as well as mariological and moral cohesion. In Baptism, the Christian is immerged in the paschal mystery of Christ to res­urrect with Him becoming a new creation, through the passing from death to life. In fact, the Christian initiation, in the times of the Bishop of Brescia, took place at Easter, thus explaining all chronological circumstances. Furthermore, Baptism, furthermore, was founding the description of the passage of the Hebrews through the Red Sea (see Ex 12, 7-13), thus finding its typology in such a narrative.

scholarly journals Slegs eenmaal gedoop - Sans Jamais Le Réitérer

1994 ◽  
Vol 50 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Potgieter
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Church Members ◽  
Infant Baptism ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Church Official ◽  
Almost All

Baptized but once - Sans Jamais Le Réitérer In principle re-baptism is rejected by almost all churches and theologians. However, since some regard infant baptism as invalid, they encourage those who have not been baptized in faith and obedience to have it administered by immersion. On the contrary, it is argued that, no matter what circumstances prevailed, any baptism administered with water in the ‘Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’ by a church official with the power to baptize is indeed valid and should never be repeated. Neither do baptism of confirmation or ‘double baptism’ offer a solution. At the root of the problem a difference of approach towards the covenant of grace is maintained. Churches maintaining the infant baptism tradition should, however, critically view the praxis of their doctrine and consider whether church members are perhaps too readily allowed to present their children for baptism.

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