Watery catechesis.
Watery catechesis.
Hippolytus’s trinitarian formulation for baptism.
A key development in the multiplication of the church was the use of catechisms for spiritual formation and discipleship, especially during the post-Reformation era. The influence of the Protestant Reformation on the body of Christ is difficult to diffuse succinctly. However, the widespread implementation of catechisms offers significant traces of just how pervasive the Reformation movement was. Indeed, as Thomas J. Nettles asserts, the Reformation instituted “the Golden Age of catechisms” (7). For example, Martin Luther’s Small Catechism (1529), John Calvin’s Geneva Catechism (1542), the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) are among the most instrumental and enduring catechisms in the history of the church.
Be that as it may, the history of catechisms stretches as far back as the New Testament itself as nascent churches were “instructed” or catechized in the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 18:25; Gal. 6:13). A major contribution to the church’s understanding of catechesis was On the Apostolic Tradition in the third century, which was a treasury of instructions on church order by the Roman bishop Hippolytus. According to Stephen O. Presley, Hippolytus’s work was “one of the earliest and most important witnesses to the life and practices of the early church” (84). The way in which Hippolytus connects the practice of baptism not only to initiation into church membership but also to the triune God is especially informative.
In Hippolytus’s formulation, the disciple being baptized was welcomed into the confessional body of Christ through a three-question catechizing process by which the disciple would affirm his or her belief in the work of the Trinity in the gospel of salvation. The entire baptismal process involved not one but three immersions denoting God’s three persons. This is not only historically enlightening but also spiritually instructive. “Baptism in the early church,” Presley continues, was not just about conversion but also confession” (85). Consequently, churches today could benefit from Hippolytus’s emphasis on discipleship and baptismal incorporation into the body of Christ. Baptism, after all, tethers believers unmistakably to the accomplishments of God’s Son on the cross, symbolizing his death and resurrection and memorializing one’s devotion to his church.
Grace and peace.
Works cited:
Thomas J. Nettles, “An Encouragement to Use Catechism,” Journal of Discipleship and Family Ministry 4.2 (2014).
Stephen O. Presley, “Scripture and Tradition,” Historical Theology for the Church, edited by Jason G. Duesing and Nathan A. Finn (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2021).