Manalive!

Once upon a time there was a man who was alive.

Name:
Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States
St. Cuthbert and Disciples in a Boat

18.4.04

On Triple Immersion

I am also quite in favour of Triune triple immersion: that is, three immersions with each Name in the baptismal invocation. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Church writings, and possesses a definite feel of Apostolic or near-Apostolic origin. Most of the Fathers take it as a given: see the selection from St. Cyril below for a good example. St. Cyril also provides a reason for this triple immersion, namely, to symbolize the three days of the Lord's burial. One would also add the obvious signficance, that of the our being baptized in the three Names. The fact that it is three seperate immersions, yet one action, must have theological overtones. Perhaps the practise of triple immersion helped provide the groundwork for the Church's understanding of the Trinity: consubstantiality and other such difficult but important theological ideas can be seen mirrored, I think, in the action of triple immersion. Lex orandi, lex credendi.