BAPTISM. The word baptism comes from the Greek baptein, which means to plunge, to immerse, or to wash; it also signifies, from the Homeric period onward, any rite of immersion in water. The frequentative form, baptizein, appears much later (Plato,...

Baptism (Greek βάπτισμα and βαπτισμός, from βαπτίζω, baptizô, immerse, perform ablutions) is a religious act of purification by water, usually associated with admission to membership or fullness of membership of Christianity,...

(Proquest Information and Learning Foreign text omitted...) Baptism. By David P. Scaer. Confessional Lutheran Dogmatics 11. Edited by John R. Stephenson. St. Louis: The Luther Academy, 1999, xiii + 222 pp., n.p. Based on the Lutheran confessions, David P. Scaer's theological work...

Over the recent decades of the ecumenical movement, theologians have developed various concepts of unity. One of the earliest, and certainly the most straightforward, was the concept of organic unity: in each place there should be one fully committed fellowship, which would be...

Hundreds of white-robed Christian pilgrims from Brazil entered the gently flowing waters of the Jordan River on Monday, some so overcome with emotion that they sobbed and collapsed on the shoulders of friends even before it was their turn to be immersed.The Brazilians, more than...

The body of a strangled toddler was found inside the baptismal basin of an evangelical church in southern Brazil, officials said Monday.Eighteen-month-old Gabrielli Cristina Eichholz was found dead Saturday during services at the recently inaugurated Seventh-day Adventist Church in the city of Joinville, 250 miles...