Resilient Faith: How the Early Christian "Third Way" Changed the World

by Gerald L. Sittser

Origen, the most learned and prolific Christian writer of the third century, used Israel’s journey from Egypt to the promised land as a metaphor for the catechetical process. He did not equate baptism with crossing the Red Sea, as we might assume, which happens early in the story, but with crossing the Jordan River, which means that the crossing of the Red Sea and passing through the wilderness belonged to the catechetical process. Once again, Origen underscored the importance of training. “When you abandon the darkness of idolatry and when you desire to arrive at the knowledge of the divine law, then begin your departure from Egypt. When you have been accepted into the crowd of the catechumens and when you have begun to obey the commandments of the Church, you have crossed the Red Sea. In the halts of the desert, each day, you apply yourself to listening to the law of God and to contemplate the visage of Moses, which discloses the glory of the Lord.”14 Catechumens would finally arrive at the shores of the Jordan River. Crossing that river was equated to the sacrament of baptism, which occurred at the end of the catechetical process.