Baptized Into Christ

Book excerpt: Despite the presumption that baptism is the basic bond of unity between the churches, the path towards mutual recognition remains a long one - traditional and contemporary divisions remain. Baptized into Christ is a brief yet authoritative guide to the historical, theological, and practical issues involved. Deeply grounded in scholarship and teaching, the book offers an overview on the ecumenical theological discussion on baptism: the different confessional views * faith and order work on baptism * bilateral conversations on baptism * the theological issues behind and historical development of the divergences on baptism * ways toward mutual recognition of baptism as they have been proposed or realized on local and regional levels, as well as multilateral and bilateral levels. Beyond that, author Dagmar Heller offers her own assessment of the prospects for and path toward Christian unity on this most basic symbol of Christian identity.