Abstract

Water has been the central element of Christian baptism since the very beginnings of Christianity. After briefly introducing the origins and development of baptism, the article focuses on the relevance and performance of baptism in an early urban context, in ancient Corinth. How did Corinthians practise and understand baptism, what kind of connotations did the baptismal use of water evoke in the Corinthian context, and what significance did baptism gain during the 1st centuries AD? Baptism seems to have been developed in the early years in close contact with the local religious context and the construction of baptisteries in the 6th century AD adapted local pagan elements of architecture. The early Christian baptisteries featured water as the central element of baptism in an architecturally, ritually and theologically reflected way.