John Baptist...

[Externet]

Hello.

Baptism is considered a Christian sacrament, but was practiced by John since before Jesus became Christ.    How does it work ?   When did baptism originate; on what religion ?

What belief did baptism supposed to do to a person ?

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, Externet said:

Hello.

Baptism is considered a Christian sacrament, but was practiced by John since before Jesus became Christ.    How does it work ?   When did baptism originate; on what religion ?

What belief did baptism supposed to do to a person ?

I believe baptism originated in a Jewish purification ritual involving immersion in water: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_washing_in_Judaism#Full-body_immersion

It seems likely that this is what John the Baptist may have been inspired by. 

[zapatos]

I believe John the Baptist was preparing people for the coming Messiah. Current day Baptism is an immersion into the new life offered by Jesus.

While the versions practiced by Jews, John the Baptist, and Christians are similar, they are three different rituals.

[mistermack]

I don't think Jews baptise. They do use water in some rituals, sort of purification rituals. Their initiation ceremony is ritual male genital mutilation, circumcision. And the male boys are generally named at the same time. Girls are named in a little ceremony a few weeks after birth, as far as I'm aware. 

[exchemist]

8 minutes ago, mistermack said:

I don't think Jews baptise. They do use water in some rituals, sort of purification rituals. Their initiation ceremony is ritual male genital mutilation, circumcision. And the male boys are generally named at the same time. Girls are named in a little ceremony a few weeks after birth, as far as I'm aware. 

But then baptism is a sort of purification ritual too, symbolically washing away Original Sin, if I remember correctly.

[mistermack]

12 minutes ago, exchemist said:

But then baptism is a sort of purification ritual too, symbolically washing away Original Sin, if I remember correctly.

It is now, but that's not what John the Baptist was doing, The idea of original sin was thought up about 300 years after the death of Jesus, so for John it was just taking a Jewish "cleansing" or "purification" practice to a more extreme level, and maybe making it an initiation into his cult following. 

[Genady]

50 minutes ago, mistermack said:

I don't think Jews baptise.

Certainly not.

[iNow]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baptism#:~:text=Although the term "baptism" is,sourced water%2C called a mikva.
 

Quote

Although the term "baptism" is not used to describe the Jewish rituals, the purification rites in Halakha, Jewish law and tradition, called tvilah, have some similarity to baptism, and the two have been linked. The tvilah is the act of immersion in naturally-sourced water, called a mikva.^[2][3] 

In the past Hebrew Bible and other Jewish texts, immersion in water for ritual purification was established for restoration to a condition of "ritual purity" in specific circumstances. For example, Jews who (according to the Law of Moses) became ritually defiled by contact with a corpse had to use the mikvah before being allowed to participate in the Holy Temple. Immersion is required for converts to Judaism.^[4] 

Immersion in the mikvah represents a change in status in regards to purification, restoration, and qualification for full religious participation in the life of the community, ensuring that the cleansed person will not impose uncleanness on property or its owners.

 

[Genady]

They (in the link above) mention but do not emphasize that there is nothing "unique" in visiting mikva. It is a rather mundane and regular thing. E.g., women go there every time after having period.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Genady
English

[exchemist]

6 hours ago, mistermack said:

It is now, but that's not what John the Baptist was doing, The idea of original sin was thought up about 300 years after the death of Jesus, so for John it was just taking a Jewish "cleansing" or "purification" practice to a more extreme level, and maybe making it an initiation into his cult following. 

Agreed. But then we are discussing how baptism evolved.