The primary symbol of Baptism is water. Water, present almost everywhere, is basic to life. Powerful, gentle, so pure in its God-given form, water is a rich symbol for the meaning of Baptism. For Christians, water becomes the sign of our immersion into God's life as expressed to us in Jesus Christ. Water is used liberally with each person celebrating baptism to demonstrate the abundant love of God. Water also symbolizes the washing away of the "Original sin" which was handed down by our first parents, Adam and Eve.
The Cross.
The person who is to be baptized is signed with the cross, and parents and godparents may also be invited to mark the sign of the cross on the child's forehead. The cross is the badge of Christians, and is given to the candidate both as a symbol of their new allegiance, and as a sign of God's protection against evil.
In some churches the cross is marked not just with a dry thumb, but with oil. This draws on the way in which, in the time of the early Christians, athletes preparing for a contest would be rubbed down with oil to loosen their limbs and prepare them for either the race or the fight. Making the cross in this way reminds people that life is often a struggle in which the baptized person is enlisted to compete on the side of God and the good.
Anointing.
More commonly, however, oil is used after the baptism. This anointing is done with an oil called chrism (and this is called chrismation). This is the same oil that is used in the coronation of monarchs. Here the symbolism stretches right back into the way in which kings of Israel were anointed. Jesus was seen be early Christians as God's true king, or anointed one. In fact the word "Christ" is not actually a name but a title: it means "The Anointed One".
The anointing represents the way in which the baptized are given God's Spirit: the same Spirit of love that Jesus shared with his Father. In this way, just as Jesus was God's Son, God adopts the baptized as his sons and daughters.
Symbols and religious figures represented are: love, hope, faith, the Lamb of God, the good Samaritan, the Holy Family and shephards. ... They depict important events in the history of Christianity by displaying events and locations, Christian symbols and figures, important Christians and saints. ... This reflects the baptising of Jesus Christ. ...
Water is a symbol that is used extensively in the poem "The Waste Land" as it is a basic requirement for all life. ... Water is almost definitely the main symbol within the poem and it is the lack of water that devastates and indeed creates the waste land. ... Those who live in this deserted land, the Waste Landers, inevitably think that water will lead to drowning, and they forget that it is water that refreshes, that cleanses and that baptises. ... In Christian belief, water is used for baptising. ... Chaotic images of rot and of a crumbling city lead up to line 393, at which time, "a cock,...
Mark records that many people came to John (the Baptist) in the desert to repent their sins and to be baptised. ... Jesus, himself, was baptised by John in the River Jordan. ... Through water and the Holy Spirit, baptism is a symbol of new life and recovery. ... The Salvation Army and the Society of Friends (the Quakers) do not hold services of baptism because they think it is unnecessary to have outward, visible symbols of their commitment. ...
When Jimmie arrives home from his initiation, we see a true symbol of the social injustices opposed on the aboriginal people and their culture. ... "Jimmie Blacksmith was baptizing himself a white man, whereas there was nothing the constable could baptise himself. ... Jimmie then proceeds to baptise himself a white man. ...
KOVACS ILONA FLS LEVEL VII MASTER 5 TESS AS A "TRAGIC HEROINE" Tess of the D"Urbervilles is generally regarded as Hardy's tragic masterpiece, and certainly it is his most ambitious tragic novel. This novel, subtitled "A Pure Woman" was first published in 1891...
Tess wears a red ribbon in her hair; by this symbol Hardy is suggesting that Tess is in some way marked out as different. ... This could be seen as a metaphysical symbol of oppression. ... The church plays a large part in the novel, because, through her mother (a symbol of the church), Jeanette is forced to leave her home and the church; "You'll have to leave, I'm not havin' demons here-. ... This is a symbol of foreboding, used in the Bible to symbolise the betrayal of Jesus. ...
