kortomo in excelsis deo enzo

Yochanan,
however, first
demanded true repentance:
according to Josephus Flavius, Yochanan was a holy
man who had exhorted the Jews to lead righteous lives,
to practice justice towards their fellows and piety towards "G d",
and so doing to join in baptism. In his view this was a necessary preliminary
if baptism was to be acceptable to "G d". They must not employ it
to gain pardon for whatever sins they committed,
but as a purification of the body implying
that the soul was already thoroughly
cleansed by right
behavior
....

Je
zou het
kunnen vergelijken met
aan de ene kant de verdedigers
van 'de bonuscultuur en de pornosites'
met grondstofmisbruik, handel in kankerverwekkende stoffen,
ueberwrede uitbuiting van alle levensvormen en
aan de andere kant de talloze slachtoffers van
vrouwenhandel, kindermisbruik,
werkloosheid &
armoede?!

De tegenstellingen
waren en zijn zo groot,
dat er wel weerstand moe{s}t
ontstaan uit die uitzichts-
loosheid
...

This
understanding of baptism
is exactly in line with the Essene view:
a traditional Jewish baptismal bath merely washed
some ritual uncleanness from the body, but in the Essene view, however,
a sin committed brings ritual uncleanness, and so, "no one may enter the water ...
unless he has repented of his evil, because uncleanness clings
to all transgressors of "His word!" Only he
"who bows his soul to the law of G d, has
his flesh purified by the sprinkling
of the purifying waters,
and is sanctified
in the water
of purity!"
...

Or again
- almost in the very words
that express the view of Yochanan the Baptist -
water can cleanse the body if the soul
has first been purified through
righteousness.

But what is it
in repentance that purifies the soul?
"By the spirit of holiness ... a man is cleansed
from all sins!" In this way, Essene baptism linked repentance
with the forgiveness of sins, and the latter with the Holy Spirit.
Just as Yochanan's notion of his baptism coincided with that
of the Essenes, he also reflects
their understanding
of the Holy Spirit
at work in
baptism!