It would be difficult to overstate the importance of a high view of baptism for the theological stance of most Churches of Christ. The predominant view of baptism’s essentiality and meaning is both characteristic of our movement’s churches and has been a controlling factor in a lot of other theological positions and practices.
I’m always interested when I see discussions pop up in other venues that speak to this discussion, partly because it’s a discussion to which we could really contribute, but which we have often excluded ourselves from because of our anti-ecumenical posture. That whole scenario is both ironic and unfortunate, I believe. At any rate, I think a lot of folks within our fellowship aren’t even aware that some of the issues around baptism are really a live discussion in other theological circles right now.
Here is a interesting bit I ran into today, from a pretty nifty Christian blog based out of Harvard. I’m interesting in seeing how their conversation develops, and would really like to know the background of the participants.
