Il battesimo nel nome di Gesú - Interpreting the norm: the practice of the baptism from John to Jesus

In this essay the author analyzes the rise of baptismal practices starting from the dialectic between the “charismatic movements” and the institution of Jerusalem’s temple on the dawn of the first century AD. In particular, he examines John the Baptist’s ritual, its scope, the importance it had for Jesus and tradition, and how it was received by the first communities of Christianity. The author explores first of all the rise of baptismal ritual and its relationship with the main priestly institutions. Secondly, he focuses on the way in which the ritual was interpreted as “ritual-input” by early Christian communities. It is only with the “cultural conceptions” of medium-Judaism that we can understand the evolution of this amazing initiation ritual, and the way in which Jesus and his disciples relate to it renewing it according to aims and perspectives that start from John the Baptist’s ideal