Abstract
The aim of this text is to explain that the baptism as a sacrament of the Church is sufficiently evidenced in its essential characteristics. In the history of religious-cultural institutions there is a common evidence of ritual washing.
A special significance in the understanding of Christian baptism have water rituals in the worship of Israel, as are witnessed by the Torah and other writings of the Old Testament, but also the manuscripts of Qumran and the rabbinic literature as well. The New Testament sheds light on the fact, that the preacher activity of John the Baptist at Jordan and his baptism constituted an necessary element on the way to the introducing the saviour actitivy of Jesus of Nazareth.
In all four canonical gospels the baptism of Jesus is presented as a epiphany that manifests the identity of Jesus as the Mesiah. In this sense this story can be considered a founding event of the Christian baptism.
The praxis of baptizying in the early Church is sufficiently attested in the Acts of the Apostles including all essential meanings of this iniciation ritual. The most influential literary corpus of theological reflection on Christian baptism is found in the pauline letters as well as in other minor New Testament epistles.