Opening a can on the chaos-god
Just because I butchered the explanation in my elders quorum lesson last week (and to get Dad's goat by posting an Addison-less blog entry), here's another way to think about baptism (based on a concept from my New Testament class at BYU):
In Mormon baptisms, we are apt to equate water baptism with the washing away of sin. The more potent symbol, however, is baptism as death. When we're baptized, we act out our own death and rebirth (or re-creation), a new creature: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). How utterly terrifying, and what an act of faith, to submit to a watery grave, trusting the missionary or whoever's there representing Christ to bring you back from death. (Perhaps that's why we baptize at 8--if we were dunked as teenagers, Dad might just be tempted to leave us under.)
In the creation myths of the various Mesopotamian cultures (which I admittedly know nothing about and am therefore grateful for this fellow), there is the recurring theme of a chaos-monster, who threatens the society of the gods and subsequently gets the smack put down on him by an up-and-coming god, who also creates a planet for humans to dwell upon (hey, Christ as Jehovah--what an idea). In the Babylonian version, Marduk creates the world out of the chaos-god Tiamat. In the Hebrew version, the chaos-god is Leviathan, of Melvillian and Hobbesian fame:
Thanks, Gustave Doré! Think this will ever replace the standard baptism image of Jesus at the River Jordan?
The point is, Leviathan can represent the chaos-god, a sea monster, or the sea itself. Knowing this, Genesis 1 (and John 1 for that matter) is recast as an epic struggle between Chaos and Order, with Jehovah (like Marduk) bringing the organized land up out the waters, "without form and void"--chaos. The image of water as the domain of Chaos comes up again and again in scripture if you look for it--Noah, sending out a dove to find order in chaos; Jonah, swallowed by the sea then by Leviathan itself; Lehi's dream; and William W. Phelps, who saw in vision "the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters."
And one more place--baptism. So when we go down into the waters, we are submitting ourselves to chaos, uncreating ourselves, embracing for a moment "that monster, death and hell" (2 Nephi 9:10). And every time, Christ pulls us out, saves us from the monster, recreates us as His children. To me, that's even cooler than the image of having sins cleansed. And one reason baptism by immersion beats sprinkling any day.
In Mormon baptisms, we are apt to equate water baptism with the washing away of sin. The more potent symbol, however, is baptism as death. When we're baptized, we act out our own death and rebirth (or re-creation), a new creature: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4). How utterly terrifying, and what an act of faith, to submit to a watery grave, trusting the missionary or whoever's there representing Christ to bring you back from death. (Perhaps that's why we baptize at 8--if we were dunked as teenagers, Dad might just be tempted to leave us under.)
In the creation myths of the various Mesopotamian cultures (which I admittedly know nothing about and am therefore grateful for this fellow), there is the recurring theme of a chaos-monster, who threatens the society of the gods and subsequently gets the smack put down on him by an up-and-coming god, who also creates a planet for humans to dwell upon (hey, Christ as Jehovah--what an idea). In the Babylonian version, Marduk creates the world out of the chaos-god Tiamat. In the Hebrew version, the chaos-god is Leviathan, of Melvillian and Hobbesian fame:
Thanks, Gustave Doré! Think this will ever replace the standard baptism image of Jesus at the River Jordan?The point is, Leviathan can represent the chaos-god, a sea monster, or the sea itself. Knowing this, Genesis 1 (and John 1 for that matter) is recast as an epic struggle between Chaos and Order, with Jehovah (like Marduk) bringing the organized land up out the waters, "without form and void"--chaos. The image of water as the domain of Chaos comes up again and again in scripture if you look for it--Noah, sending out a dove to find order in chaos; Jonah, swallowed by the sea then by Leviathan itself; Lehi's dream; and William W. Phelps, who saw in vision "the destroyer riding in power upon the face of the waters."
And one more place--baptism. So when we go down into the waters, we are submitting ourselves to chaos, uncreating ourselves, embracing for a moment "that monster, death and hell" (2 Nephi 9:10). And every time, Christ pulls us out, saves us from the monster, recreates us as His children. To me, that's even cooler than the image of having sins cleansed. And one reason baptism by immersion beats sprinkling any day.
Thats awesome Nate!!!
ReplyDeleteI think this is very interesting. To me it also adds significance to Christ's baptism. He shows us the only escape from the "jaws of hell." He showed us the path out of chaos and into the rest of the lord. I really like this symbolism!
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