Baptized into Christ: A Guide to the Ecumenical Discussion on Baptism

"Depth and breadth, history and geography, doctrine and practice:  Dagmar Heller here furnishes with exemplary clarity an engaging survey of recent and current work within and between the churches and the confessions as they seek to resolve controversies and advance agreements on the ecumenically crucial issue of baptism, where mutual recognition can only further the recovery of unity in the Body of Christ."

—Geoffrey Wainwright, Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology, Duke Divinity School

Despite the presumption that baptism is the basic bond of unity between the churches, the path toward mutual recognition remains a long one.  Here is a brief yet authoritative guide to the historical, theological, and practical issues involved.

Deeply grounded in scholarship and teaching, Heller’s work offers an overview of the ecumenical theological discussion on baptism: the different confessional views, Faith & Order work on baptism, bilateral conversations on baptism, the theological issues behind the divergences on baptism, the historical development of the divergences, ways towards mutual recognition of baptism as they have been proposed or realised on local and regional as well as multilateral and bilateral levels.

Beyond that, Heller, who has worked on the issues for nearly two decades, offers her own assessment of the prospects for and path toward Christian unity on this most basic symbol of Christian identity.

Dagmar Heller is Professor of Ecumenical Theology at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland.  Involved in international ecumenical work since 1993, she also serves on the staff of Faith and Order at the WCC and was also responsible for bilateral theological dialogues of EKD in Germany.  A prolific writer, she is co-author of numerous works for WCC Publications, including Becoming a Christian, Ecumenical Pilgrims, Eucharistic Worship in Ecumenical Contexts, and Interpreting Together.