The Orthodox valutation of the baptism in Neoprotestant heresies: Historical and Canonical aspects

Abstract

This article is the second one in a series of publications dedicated to the teaching and the practice of Baptism in neo-Protestant sects and the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards it. The article is divided in two parts. The first one analyzes the neo-Protestant concept of Baptism in connection with the “juridic” understanding of Salvation, the second one examines the role and the significance of baptism in the process of gaining the Salvation for a believer. In connection with these topics the variability and the purpose of different baptismal formulas and the symbolic meaning of the rite of baptism are considered in neo-Protestantism (based on the example of Baptism, Adventism and Pentecostalism). The article shows the discrepancies between the Orthodox and the neo-Protestant understanding of fundamental questions in the respective teachings on baptism, such as the forgiveness of sins, the rebirth of a believer to a new life, the role that water plays for this Sacrament and the possibility and the nature of a believer’s union with God. The neo-Protestant teaching on baptism is evaluated in the context of the patristic understanding of Salvation. The article also critically examines the attempts of a number of Russian neo-Protestants to explain the problem of the inconsistencies of the neo-Protestant idea of baptism compared to the biblical Revelation, through the prism of biblical sacramentalism, and makes evident the inconsistency of their approach.