Chapter 8 of Remembering our Future is Alan Kreider's essay on baptism and catechesis as spiritual formation. He argues that 'the approaches to baptism and catechesis of Christians in the West have often been "shallow church"' and that instead we need a "deep church" approach that discovers way of practicing baptism and catechesis like the Christians of early centuries (p.171). Within the New Testament Kreider recognises two voices, which he names the sacramental and the anabaptist. The sacramental which sees baptism as a powerful act of God and the anabaptist which sees the baptism as more of an ethical act (dying to self and living to God). (For more on this I recommend reading the relevant chapters in Living the Christian Story and also Promise and Presence both by John Colwell). Both these voices on baptism reocgnise the importance of catechesis (which we've often truncated to four or five baptismal or confirmation preparation classes).
Kreider then makes a set of observations about baptism over the last two thousand years:
1. Baptism plays a central role in the Christian church when it is under pressure
2. Baptism whithers when Christianity is socially acceptable and comfortable
3. When baptism becomes culturally routine it whithers ritually
4. Under these circumstances, preparations for baptism become truncated
5. Baptismal renewal is taking place today (because of our post-Christendom situation) and by this he means a more 'deep church' vision of baptism, which takes catechesis more seriously.
Kreider's main argument is to baptism as an journey and not as an event and therefore catechesis is extremely important. He outlines twelve steps of baptismal preperation.
1. Experiences of God - the candidate must encounter God however and wherever that happens
2. The Story of God - the candidate have to 'switch stories' - to re-orientate their lives around the biblical narrative
3. Missional issues in the congregation - the candidates are prepared for local mission
4. Classic issues of addiction - face and explore issues of addiction (idoltary, greed, violence, etc)
5. Personal problem areas - to face the question of who am I? and how am I a blessing to others?
6. Christian culture critique - what does it mean to be 'resident alien' in our culture
7. Prayer - the candidate will learn to pray
8. Basic Bible passages - memorise scripture because 'bible passages ... are deep wells from which Christians can drink from when under pressure' (p.185)
9. Fundamental beliefs - the candidate will learn to think like Christians
10. Christian articulacy - how is the candidate going to share and demonstrate their Christian faith
11. Personal questions - explore the candidate specific questions about christianity
12. The church's practices - learn what the church does what it does and why it does it
For Kreider these steps (of which there could be others) have the aim to help the baptismal candidate confess 'with gratitude growing out of a deep awareness that"Jesus Christ is Lord"' (p.187). He sees this period of catechesis not as a matter of weeks, but as a matters of months, possible even years. In the early church of the first centuries catechesis would sometimes last up to three years.
This is a powerful, exciting and challenging essay (there are also sections on methods of catechesis and possible objections - dealing with infant baptism, the NT practice on baptism immediately on conversion and is it possible in our times). I am unconvinced that pre-baptism this kind of catechesis is needed, but post-baptism I want to find ways to see it happen. The kind of commitment to following Jesus that Kreider outlines is hard to find in today's churches. I found much that I want to include as I think about preparing people for baptism and for helping churches follow Jesus.
(For more on these issues see Kreider's other published works: The Origins of Christendom in the West (ed., 2001, T & T Clark), The Change of Conversion and the origin of Christendom (1997, Trinity Press)
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