CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
�Baptism is a burial and a resurrection. For the old man is buried with his sin and the new man is resurrected, being renewed according to the image of his creator. We take off the old garment, which has been made filthy with the abundance of our sins; we put on the new one, which is free from every stain.� So wrote St. John Chrysostom, the archbishop of Constantinople in 390 AD. (1963:47). In this dissertation I intend to discuss the Christian rite of baptism and ethnographically describe what occurs during the ceremony itself. I will then attempt an anthropological interpretation of events and explanation of the symbolic aspects of the ceremony, as well as investigate the personal reasons for undertaking the process of baptism. I was inspired to look closer at the subject of baptism following the �ritual and moral systems� module, where we had studied the puberty rituals of Chisungu among the Bemba and Mukanda among the Ndembu. I am a Christian myself, and during a baptism service at my local church, the thought struck me that baptism was an initiation rite, similar to those of the Bemba and Ndembu. From this module, I was able to gain ideas as to what kind of symbols and actions I should be looking out for when undertaking a study for myself, such as colour symbolism, gestures and the artefacts used. It also highlighted the work of Arnold Van Gennep regarding �rites-of-passage�, which I intend to look at in much more detail later. Along with communion, baptism is one of the two �sacraments� held dear by the Church of England, and sometimes the two are combined within a single service to heighten their joint importance. A sacrament is usually defined as �an outer and physical sign of inner spiritual activity� (Stilwell: 1999). The issue of adult baptism rather than of infant baptism also highlights the importance that baptism is given by Christians. (I focus on this area more in the literature review.) In the early years of the Baptist denomination, some were persecuted and even killed because of their belief in this �believer�s baptism�, hoping to win people over with their conviction in this belief. Thus we can see that baptism is held as one of the most important events in the Christian life. One point that must be raised at this point is that I am a Christian myself. At first I was concerned that my status as an �insider� would have a negative impact on my investigation and findings, as it would be difficult for me to detach myself away from my Christian upbringing and views. Although my Christian background should mean that I know and understand more about baptism, I would also be over-familiar with the terms and phrases used, thus less likely to question things, rather than bringing in the view of an outsider who has not seen the Christian rite before and who would operate with a different, more questioning mind-set. I have done my best to take a step back from my views during my investigation, but I feel that on the positive side, it allowed the other people involved to feel more at ease with me watching and asking questions.
Stay tuned for more fun with anthropology!
Gray.
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