Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural: A Caribbean Perspective

By Lesley George Anderson

Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural by Rev. Dr. Lesley G. Anderson is a book uniquely, and unquestionably, one of the most informative and remarkable of its type.

The sacrament of baptism is undoubtedly to this day an exceedingly controversial sacrament of the Christian Church. The continuing differing debates, arguments, and views about adult (believers’) versus infant baptism are examined. Superstitions and the supernatural associated with this sacrament are given adequate attention in addition to the many other informative factors relating to this sacrament. Further, this sacrament is examined as a scriptural, psychological, theological, and social reality.

The introduction of baptism as a liturgical phenomenon highlights the educational quality of this book as it takes the reader into the interesting and fascinating areas of baptism of blood, baptism by fire, baptism of the dead, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and baptism in the name of Jesus only. In addition, this book brings to the fore an intrinsic excitement and understanding about the symbols and symbolisms, images and mysteries, signs and wonders associated with this sacrament. The role of the Holy Spirit and the centrality of Jesus in the baptismal act are of importance recognized.

If symbolically baptism means dying to sin and rising to new life with Christ, does this apply only to adult believers? This book explores the question against the background of research conducted in the Central American country of Belize that unearthed the views and beliefs of laypersons. The reach of the work extends beyond Belize, and Methodist traditions are compared with contrasting beliefs and practices of other denominations. Popular superstitions associated with baptism are also explored as well as the impact of African cultural practices on Christian theology in the lived experience of Caribbean peoples.

Although this research was conducted in Belize, it is borderless and boundless. Of vital interest is the exploration of this sacrament in African religious beliefs and cultural practices. According to Professor Neville Duncan, former director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, the book is “theologically and sociologically stimulating…while written from the Methodist perspective…the issues raised will resonate with all Christian denominations.” All denominations noted in this book are given their due respect regardless of their beliefs and/or baptismal practices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638447986

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Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural

A Caribbean Perspective

Lesley George Anderson

Copyright © 2022 by Lesley George Anderson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

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Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Baptism as a Scriptural, Psychological, Theological, and 

Social Reality

Adult (Believers’) Baptism Versus Infant Baptism

Baptism Its Foundation in African Religious Beliefs and Cultural Practices

One Liturgical Mystery Birth, Death, and New Life

Engrafted in Christ A Radical Transformation

In grateful and loving memory of my parents, Lesley George and Rita Adina Dale de Anderson and Oscar and Leithe Lowe, who treated me as a son. To my late mentors, the Reverend Victor John Watson, BD, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, MBE, who inspired in me a caring spirit for the poor and marginalized in society; Rev. Dr. Ephraim Simeon John Alphonse; Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who inspired in me a special love for preaching the Gospel of Christ; and to my former superintendents, all of whom contributed to my spiritual and academic development, are all now members of the church triumphant: the Reverends Gilbert Bowen, Eric Bryant, Leonard Carty, Philip E. M. Saunders, Dr. Allan Kirton, and Deryck Lyder, as well as to my dear and supportive family, Verna Yolanda (wife), Lesley George III (son, retired MSgt., US Air Force), Kayla Morales (daughter-in-law), Quentin and Brayden (grandsons), and Sadie (who lovingly relates to me as a granddaughter), with love and gratitude to all.

Foreword

Not many of us today feel comfortable discussing issues that relate to the spiritual realm. There is the feeling that matters of a metaphysical nature are best left alone or, if engaged in, should be dealt with by those who have the necessary expertise. Rev. Dr. Lesley George Anderson does not claim to be an expert on the supernatural. However, his many years as an ordained Methodist minister, one who has traveled extensively throughout the world and is familiar with various cultures, certainly place him in an advantageous position to offer an opinion on spiritual concerns. In his current role as a theological educator, he is interested in furthering the dialogue that takes place between the asking of deep-seated spiritual questions and the offering of hopefully plausible replies.

Dr. Anderson’s book Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural: A Caribbean Perspective constitutes a sincere attempt on his part as a seeker after truth to explore some profound questions with which people today are wrestling. Of major concern is the subject of baptism. The treatment of baptism in this work is such that the reader will be helped to appreciate and to better understand that people within the Caribbean and Central American region have a unique understanding of what this sacrament is all about. There are those who believe that there is something quite magical about the rite of baptism and, in so believing, are not entirely in tandem with their church’s teachings.

Dr. Anderson wrestles with some of the so-called superstitions that are integral to the region’s culture. Fundamental questions of truth come to the fore. Is everything that people regard as superstitious really so? Could it be that important aspects of reality are being overlooked and one ends up thinking that since it apparently does not exist, it should be relegated to the realm of the superstitious? A web of uncertainty also hangs over matters of the supernatural yet another topic in which Caribbean folk are interested.

Among the interesting discussions to be found in the book are the author’s views on the devil as a cosmic reality, a spiritual evil power. To arrive at a conclusion on the matter, there are pros and cons to be weighed. Dr. Anderson does not adopt a dogmatic stance. He makes reference, as elsewhere, to what is contained in the Bible. In so doing, he manages in a creative and nonthreatening fashion to inject an indeed Christian twist to the discussion. Even if his interpretation does not satisfy every reader, it will nevertheless succeed in stimulating further thought as a step toward facilitating the reader’s coming to a conclusion.

Several inviting questions will linger with the reader long after he or she has read Dr. Anderson’s fascinating book. Here is one of them: If there are some things that people today do not believe exist, then why did Jesus Christ spend so much of His earthly ministry dealing with them? However, my pointing you, the reader, to some of the book’s contents is not a substitute for engaging in your own quest. I hope I have whetted your appetite. It is now up to you to read the book for yourself.

Rev. Dr. George Mulrain

Former Connexional President/Bishop

Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA)

Preface

Baptism, Superstitions, and the Supernatural: A Caribbean Perspective is based on Baptism as a Rite of Transition: The Sacrament in the Methodist Tradition in Belize, which formed part of the requirements for the degree of MTh in applied theology, University of Oxford, 1999. What is substantially new is the expansion of the supernatural and its relationship to the sacrament of baptism. The tide of the book is indicative of the relevance and appropriateness of decisively dealing with one of the most provocative, controversial, challenging, and debated sacraments of the Christian Church.

I have a deep and abiding interest in this initiatory sacrament and trust that everyone who reads this book will be greatly enlightened. I have endeavored to deal with this sacrament from another perspective and dimension in addition to the traditional approach, cognizant of the fact that superstitions and the supernatural, associated with the sacrament of baptism, are realities with which many people are wrestling.

I have attempted to explain my findings frankly and simply and trust that those with a particular interest in the study of this sacrament will be stimulated to do further research.

Acknowledgments

I profusely give thanks and praise to God for a World Council of Churches (WCC) scholarship to study at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, and for a United Methodist Church (UMC) crusade scholarship to study at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA.

Several persons were instrumental in bringing this work to life. I am most grateful to the Reverend John R. Pritchard, former general secretary of the Methodist Church, Overseas Division (MCOD), now the World Church Office, and the Reverend Dr. John M. Simmonds of the former division of ministries, for jointly granting me a two-thirds scholarship over a three-year period through their respective offices, which enabled me to embark on studies in applied theology at Westminster College, Oxford; to the Reverend Doreen Hare, my area tutor, for providing the scholastic environment, the challenge, and the inspiration to always strive for academic excellence; to the Reverend Donald Pickard for instilling in me a love for liturgy and for his helpful critiques, insights, and suggestions while supervising the dissertation; and to the Reverend Dr. Brian Marshall, my dissertation tutor, for his sensitive reading, critical judgments, and constructive counsel. Whatever are the demerits of this present work, the responsibility is mine alone to bear.

I am indebted to the Reverend Donald Henry, a former president of the MCCA for his immense support and encouragement during my first debate as a young District Chairman on the floor of the Connexional Conference on the issue of rebaptism.

Special thanks are extended to Monsignor Dorrick Wright, a former bishop of the Catholic Church in Belize; Bishop Philip Wright of the Anglican Church in Belize; and the Reverend Dr. Alastair Campbell, former Baptist lecturer in Greek at UTCWI, for the loan of their books; to the Westminster College Learning Resources Open Theology Library, Oxford; the United Theological College of the West Indies Library, Jamaica; to Miss Barbara Young, a former district treasurer of the Belize/Honduras District Conference (MCCA) for her initial assistance with typing; Ms. Sherice Thomas, former secretary at Providence Methodist Church, Jamaica, for retyping the comparative grids between women and men; the Reverend C. David Goff, former district president of the Belize/Honduras District Conference, and Mrs. Brenda Armstrong, principal of Wesley College, for their assistance with the distribution and retrieving of the questionnaires; to all the members of the Methodist Church in Belize who shared in the interviews, baptismal group sessions, and in answering the questionnaire; to Mrs. Shirley Carby of Faith Works Press for a variety of meaningful and helpful suggestions relating to the transition of the dissertation to a book; and finally, to Dr. Neville Duncan, former professor in Caribbean Policy Studies and campus director, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), for proofreading a draft of the text. I am deeply indebted to them all for their willing and cooperative spirit. Finally, I am exceedingly grateful to Christian Faith Publishing and the members of the staff who guided and worked alongside me—April Van Scoy (literary agent) and Jordan Rosa and Wendy Meyer (publication specialists). I applaud the editorial committee for their diligence, critiques, insights, recommended changes, and for sharing their expertise in getting my book updated to maintain the highest level of excellence.

Introduction

One of the most difficult and problematic pastoral concerns of my ministry for approximately more than twenty years had to do with disciplinary matters relating to Methodist members who submitted themselves to a second baptism, in which the mode of application in water (by immersion) was of the greatest importance to them. There appears to have been no consciousness of a dichotomy between the practice of adult baptism as a differentiating factor from the practice of believer’s baptism. At the same time, it was my responsibility to exercise a pastoral, educational, and counseling ministry to those members who were uncertain about the validity of their baptism as infants.

The cultural and folkloristic understanding of superstitions and the supernatural associated with the sacrament of baptism were always matters of interest for discussion and explanation. Some members were concerned about the failings of the baptized to live and exemplify a new life in Christ. Differing views and related tensions about baptism set off a controversy favoring total immersion over pouring (ablution or affusion) and sprinkling as the right mode of administration. The question was raised as to whether baptism was indispensable for salvation. Can the unbaptized dead receive baptism? Are persons to be baptized in the name of the Triune God or in Jesus’s name only? These questions and concerns became formidable challenges for me and led to a redoubling of my efforts to explore and better understand the sacrament of baptism as a rite of transition. My interest in the sacrament of baptism from a liturgical perspective has opened for me a new vista and inspired new knowledge. This book should provide liturgists, ministers, educators, theologians, sociologists, psychologists, and persons with an interest in the subject of liturgy and baptism with new insights and knowledge.

The sacrament of baptism is a live and contentious issue in the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). It is heatedly debated every year throughout the Methodist Connexion. There is much confusion due to misinformation regarding its meaning, mode, and function as a Christian rite. Individual members have been exposed to views and ideas contrary to the teachings of the Methodist Church. In addition, the emphasis today on believers’ baptism has created a problem of great magnitude, wherein some Methodists already baptized as infants are seeking a second baptism as adults. Therefore, the question to be explored is: If symbolically, baptism means dying to sin and rising to new life with Christ, is its liturgical transitional nature to do only with adult believers?

In light of the problem, my principal objective was to critically examine the liturgical significance of the sacrament of baptism as a rite of transition in the Methodist tradition. My secondary objective was to discover some of the basic superstitious and supernatural beliefs associated with the sacrament of baptism and see to what extent these are reflected within the Methodist tradition.

The book is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 deals with contemporary approaches to baptism as a theological and social reality. The context and liturgical environments are examined, a definition of the liturgy is posited, and the general theme of baptism as a sacramental rite of transition is addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective. The spiritual dimension is also discussed. Baptism as a social rite and the centrality of Christ in the sacrament is also explored. The rite and ritual form the foundation for an interpretation of the liturgical meaning of rite of transition. Baptism as a liturgically social celebrated congregational event and the inner experiences in the life of the baptized are brought into focus.

Chapter 2 highlights the Methodist baptismal theology and practice. Baptism as seal, sign, and symbol is examined; the modes of baptism are differentiated and analyzed, and attention is given to the controversy between adult (believers’) and infant baptisms.

Chapter 3 sets forth in detail baptism and its historical, sociocultural, and psycho-religious foundations in African cultural practices and religious beliefs. The chapter deals with magic and superstition, Black physical mutilation, unclean spirits, and slavery as well as the mysterious power of water and the supernatural. The unconscious as a religious aura, symbols, and symbolisms, in addition to evil and exorcism, are noted and interpreted.

Chapters 4 and 5 critically analyze the report of my research, with implications for my practice of ministry. Chapter 4 deals with the qualitative perspective and highlights the informants’ superstitious beliefs as well as their views on rebaptism and the modes of baptism and their impact. Chapter 5 deals with the quantitative perspective and highlights various issues of interest, such as baptism and sin, baptism and the saved, baptism and the devil, baptism and the spirit(s) of the dead, Jesus as Savior, and the work of the Holy Spirit. A conclusion, summary, references, and four appendices complete the book.

Chapter 1

Baptism as a Scriptural, Psychological, Theological, and Social Reality

The Context

Belize, the context of this study, became a British colony in 1854. Formerly known as British Honduras, it became independent from Great Britain on September 21, 1981. It is located between Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the west and south in Central America. In 2008, it had a diverse population of approximately 287,730 persons, made up of the following ethnic groups:

48.7% Mestizo

24.9% Creole

10.6% Maya

6.1% Garifuna

9.7% Others (East Indian, Ketchi, Mennonite, Mopan). (Belize, n.d.)

The ethnic groups represent the aboriginal inhabitants as well as the descendants of slaves, adventurers, immigrants, and refugees, indicative of the country’s racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity. The official language of the country is English though Creole and Garifuna are widely spoken and Spanish is on the increase. A Garifuna is a person of mixed Carib and African ancestry. The word Garinagu (sing: Garifuna) refers to the group. While there has been a significant population increase among the Mestizos, there has been a decrease among the Creoles. The East Indian population has decreased from 3.5 percent to 2.1 percent due to migration and racial mixing. The East Indian population, which is basically Christian, has not preserved its Indian languages or customs.

In the year 1824, there was a small Baptist congregation worshipping in Belize. A year later, in 1825, the Methodist Missionary Society in London, England, sent the Reverend Thomas Wilkinson to Belize. His arrival officially commenced the Methodist witness and formidable presence in the country. The Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) Yearbook and Directory (2008/2009, 69–72) records in its returns for August 31, 2007, that there were 98 infant baptisms and 8 adult (believers’) baptisms done in the Belize/Honduras district. In addition, it records that there were 3,664 members, which included adherents, those in training, and those on trial. There were 37 chapels and 7 other buildings that were used for worship, and there were 8 preschools/basic schools, 16 primary schools, and the Wesley College. The Yearbook and Directory further records that there were only 7 Presbyters and 1 deacon.

During my counseling sessions at Wesley Methodist Church, Belize City, with some parents prior to baptizing their babies, I found out that there were reasons other than Christianity why they brought them to be baptized. Some of these were based on old-or long-held superstitious beliefs etched into the psyche of the people. If one of the babies got sick and subsequently died, the superstitious beliefs were reinforced. What, therefore, is the fate of one hundred babies born every five days in Belize? The response is set out below:

24 will not be born in a hospital

20 will be born to teenage mothers

4 will die before their first birthday

76 will not be exclusively breastfed for their first three months

74 will not attend pre-school

46 will not complete primary school

20 will not have access to clean, safe drinking water

56 will not have access to safe sanitation facilities

20 will not be fully immunized against the six most dangerous childhood diseases before age one

7 will suffer some type of disability (The Right to a Future, 1995, 11)

It is interesting and important to note that the fertility rate in Belize is 4.6 percent births per woman and the mortality rate is 34:1000 live births. Those who survive to become adults can have a life expectancy of seventy-four years (females) and seventy years (males). The majority will become Christians. In 1995, the Belize Central Statistical Office’s census reported that Belizeans’ religious affiliations were as follows:

57.7% Roman Catholic

6.9% Anglican

6.3% Pentecostal

4.2% Methodist

4.1% Adventist

4.0% Mennonite

2.5% Nazarene

2.5% Hindu

1.4% Jehovah’s Witness

10.4% others/none

In 1995 the Methodist Church claimed 4.2 percent of the total Belizean population. In the Population of Belize by Religion: 1970–2000 (Holland 2008), the 1970 census indicated that 10,700 Belizeans claimed affiliation to the Methodist Church. In 1980 and 1991, there was a steady decline, but in 2000, there was an increase, which gave the Methodist Church claim to 3.5 percent of the population. This is the social context within which the theology of the sacrament of baptism as a rite of transition in the Methodist tradition must be understood.

Approaches to Baptism in Christian Theology Today

The sacrament of baptism as a rite of transition in the Methodist tradition normally takes place within the liturgical activity of a worship service. This liturgical activity involves the worshipping community of God, which, as an identifiable human gathering, is the congregation, the people of God. The congregation’s distinctiveness is its identity as the people of God. This is what gives them authenticity and security within the four liturgical environments: (1) belonging, (2) history and memory, (3) story, and (4) meaning, to which I now give attention.

The Liturgical Environmental Approach

Belonging

In baptism, the infant, the child, or the adult believer is initiated into the family or community of faith. There is a new sense of belonging, a new identity is given, a transition or change has taken place; he or she is now in fellowship with other Christians and with God, but God is the center of attraction, the sole object of worship. In this liturgical environment, Green (1987, 13) tells us, the baptized covenant community comes to prepare for death and birth, marriage and divorce and to participate in the sacraments.

Liturgically, belonging conjures up the provision of security for each member. Belonging suggests a relationship—a connection, an association, or an attachment to the community of believers. Liturgy, according to Green (1987, 15), creates an environment of belonging. Most hurt and pain, particularly emotional and psychological hurt, emerge in a social context and especially in the family. The social context envisages a friendly gathering or interaction or assembling of people who meet for a common purpose or sociable religious or societal activity. To cry singly or with others because of the experience of hurt and pain in this context is socially acceptable and provides the support and strength necessary to endure.

This belongingness gives a liturgical quality to life for in the view of Leach (1992, 16), life itself is liturgical; there is movement and rhythm; there is awakening and response to God within the environment. This response requires giving ourselves to God, who is the unceasing animator and communicator, the inexhaustible source of insight, awareness, recognition and response (Taylor 1986, 10). The meaningfulness of our response is dynamically liturgized as we open up ourselves totally to God in love and to one another within the fragility and predicament of our human situation. God is the reason why we come together, and it is this coming together within the environment of worship that gives cohesiveness to this concept of belonging.

History and Memory

God’s relationship with his people is not without a history of struggle, suffering, sin, death, and life. The experiences of these are many, so we humans remember them. Sobrino (1983, 3) posits the view that ‘to remember’ is a Christian duty and a Christian joy. Accordingly, liturgy, argues Green (1987, 16), puts us in touch with the memory of who we are and our given-ness in order to adapt to the future given by Christ, who is history. His baptism is history. His death on a cross is history. His resurrection is history. The truth of his resurrection is not only the fact of a historical event but the presence and power of a resurrected person, Jesus Christ (Anderson 1993, 30). His whole life is a liturgical celebration of his presence in history. There is a natural linkage between Christ and us, the baptized, within the liturgical environment of history and memory, in which our baptism is remembered. In ‘remembering’ baptism we are entering…into what God has done in and for us in this sacrament, calling into the present the power of what, historically, happened in the past (Green 1987, 123).

This act of remembering must be because the church is a community of memory, called not to rote memorization about Christ but to experiential memorization of the living Christ within its life. As the community of memory, Searle (1994, 41) informs us that we are called to remember and celebrate not only the memory of Christ but the whole ‘’colossal history of birth and death’ which Christ assumed and redeemed when he became one of us, that we may become more like him.

Christ, however, moves us beyond death to experience resurrection, a new life. Through the power of the living God, he was resurrected, and so, according to Taylor (1986, 45), The return of his living human presence after his death lifted him out of a particular history into all history and made everything he had been and suffered universal. It is this universal quality that gives the act of baptism its authenticity and places before us the centrality of the cross. It is a reminder that Christ is our gift of life—most definitely, God’s greatest gift to humanity.

Within this liturgical environment of history and memory, the symbol of the cross tells us we must never forget. We cannot forget, for Spufford (1991, 26) quite rightly reminds us that although memory may be healed, the scars and marks of the cross remain. We remember the broken body of our Lord and the outpouring of his blood for our salvation. We remember the crown of thorns, the nails in his hands and feet, and the spear that pierced his side. We remember the cross of Calvary, which Jesus changed from a symbol of defeat to a symbol of triumph. In Jesus, the symbol of the cross is forever transformed; and only in and through his life, death, and resurrection are human lives transformed.

The symbol of the cross, in the view of Chatterjee (1989, 87), is the symbol of a tree done violence to, for it bespeaks the vulnerability of Jesus in the fullness of his humanity. At the same time, the symbol of the cross is power, for it emanates within and beyond itself. It dramatizes the victory of life and the celebration of life over death, for historically, Christ moved the cross from being a symbol of death to being a symbol of life. These events are recalled to memory, for there is a story to tell, and in telling the story, liturgy memorializes every aspect of it.

Story

In this liturgical environment, the story is our story of Jesus. The story of his life, death, and resurrection, retold through the proclamation of the Word, hymns, prayers, scripture, and testimonies, is the story that death is not the end of life but the continuation of life beyond this life. Our baptism is part of the story. It is the experience of passage—of being plunged into darkness (the darkness of death, the unconscious, the unknown)—to rise to a continuation of life, authentic life, genuine life, with Christ. It seems appropriate that the baptismal liturgy enables us to interpret that experience in terms of our faith because our baptism symbolizes this new life.

This newness of life symbolizes the transition from defeat to victory, which gives aliveness to our oneness in Christ. In this story, we are no longer our own but Christ’s. We, the baptized, belong to him, totally and exclusively. We have denied ourselves, taken up our cross to follow him all the days of our lives. We have surrendered our lives to him. Now, this is not powerlessness; rather, it is the empowered joy we celebrate—the aliveness we share. This aliveness in Christ means, according to Taylor (1986, 12–13), coming alive towards the scriptures and the life of prayer, alive to the presence of Jesus Christ and the vast, embracing joy of God. The story is part of the liturgy and the liturgy is part of the story, for the liturgy provides an environment for telling the story (Green 1987). Every Christian has a story to tell and Tudge (1988, 15) believes that because the Christian is on a journey his or her personal story is important. Essentially, Jesus is and remains the main focus of the story. The liturgy is about his person. His story is our story and our story is his story. According to Hull (1985, 188), the story is one of the main ways in which meaning is expressed. This is how we make sense of life in general and our own lives in particular. The liturgy initiates and creates the environment, which gives life meaning.

Meaning

God is the meaning of all of life because it is he who gives value, worth, and signification to it within