Of baptism

This article by Father Paul Tarazi, professor at Saint Vladimir's Seminary in New York, offers an in-depth theological reflection on baptism in the Orthodox tradition. Taking the form of a lecture, it begins from the observation that baptism has become a marginalized sacrament in contemporary ecclesial consciousness, reduced to a past event, overshadowed by the Eucharist. The author challenges the interpretation of baptism as a mere foundation or starting point of Christian life. Drawing primarily on the Pauline epistles, he develops a theology of baptism as real death and gift of divine life, entailing total servitude to God and to one's neighbor. The main contribution of the article is to show that baptism is not an acquired given but a permanent and demanding reality, prior to and greater than the Eucharist, of which it constitutes the unsurpassable foundation.