Baptism of blood: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}{{Use British English|date=December 2021}}

[[Category:Sacramental theology]]

{{For|the film|Baptism of Blood}}

In [[Christianity|Christian]] [[sacramental theology]], a '''baptism of blood''', also called '''martyred baptism''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Mastrantonis|first=George|url=http://archive.org/details/newstylecatechis00mast|title=A new-style catechism on the Eastern Orthodox faith for adults|date=1969|publisher=The Ologos Mission|others=Internet Archive|location=St. Louis|pages=118|chapter=Section one – On Faith - The Sacrament of Baptism}}</ref> is a doctrine which holds that a Christian is able to attain the [[Grace in Christianity|grace]] of [[Justification (theology)|justification]] through [[Christian martyr|martyrdom]] and not by receiving [[baptism]] by water.

== Patristic period ==

[[Cyprian of Carthage]] writes in a letter of AD 256 regarding the question of whether a catechumen seized and killed in confession of Jesus Christ "would lose the hope of salvation and the reward of confession, because he had not previously been born again of water", that "they certainly are not deprived of the sacrament of baptism who are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood."<ref>{{Cite web|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Epistle 72 (Cyprian of Carthage)|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050672.htm|access-date=2021-12-26|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

[[Cyril of Jerusalem]] states in his ''[[Catechetical]] Lectures'' deliver in [[Lent]] of AD 348 that "if any man receive not Baptism, he hath not salvation; except only Martyrs, who even without the water receive the kingdom."<ref>{{Cite web|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Catechetical Lecture 3 (Cyril of Jerusalem)|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310103.htm|access-date=2021-12-26|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

== Denominations ==

This doctrine is held by the [[Catholic Church]],<ref>{{Cite CCC|v=2.1|para=1258}}</ref> the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-14|title=Holy Baptism|url=https://www.malankara.com/baptism.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Malankara Archdiocese of The Syrian Orthodox Church in North America (Under the Holy See of Antioch & All the East)|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Sacrament of Baptism|url=https://www.copticchurch.net/introduction-to-the-coptic-church/sacraments/1_baptism|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-26|website=CopticChurch.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The history of the Armenian Church|url=https://www.chiesaarmena.org/gora/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-26|website=CHIESA APOSTOLICA ARMENA D'ITALIA.|language=en-US}}</ref> the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]],<ref name="encyclo-p98">{{cite book|last=Trostyanskiy|first=Sergey|title=The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4051-8539-4|editor=John Anthony McGuckin|pages=67|chapter=Baptism|access-date=}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Mastrantonis|first=George|url=http://archive.org/details/newstylecatechis00mast|title=A new-style catechism on the Eastern Orthodox faith for adults|date=1969|publisher=The Ologos Mission|others=Internet Archive|location=St. Louis|pages=118|chapter=Section one – On Faith - The Sacrament of Baptism}}</ref> and the [[American Association of Lutheran Churches]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=The Necessity of Holy Baptism|url=https://www.taalc.org/blog/post/the-necessity-of-holy-baptism|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-26|website=The American Assoc. of Lutheran Churches|language=en}}</ref>

Similarly, those who die as [[Christian martyr|Christian martyrs]] in a [[persecution of Christians]] are also judged by [[Anabaptists]] and [[Lutherans]] as having acquired the benefits of baptism without actually undergoing the ritual.<ref name="Hill2015">{{cite book|last=Hill|first=Kat|title=Baptism, Brotherhood, and Belief in Reformation Germany: Anabaptism and Lutheranism, 1525-1585|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|isbn=9780198733546|page=134|language=en}}</ref>

The [[Augsburg Confession]] of [[Lutheranism]] affirms that "Baptism is normally necessary for salvation". Citing the teaching of the [[early Church Fathers]], Lutherans acknowledge a baptism of blood ([[Christian martyr|martyrdom]]) in "the circumstances of [[Persecution of Christians|persecution]]".<ref name="Larson-MillerKnowles2013">{{cite book|last1=Larson-Miller|first1=Lizette|title=Drenched in Grace: Essays in Baptismal Ecclesiology Inspired by the Work and Ministry of Louis Weil|last2=Knowles|first2=Walter|date=26 June 2013|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781621897538|page=55|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==

* [[Baptism of desire]]

== References ==

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