title: Caesar and the Sacrament: Baptism: A Rite of Resistance
author:  R. Alan Streett 
description: <span>&quot;In this wide-ranging discussion across New Testament texts, Alan Streett locates baptism in the context of and in relation to Roman power. He argues that baptism was a believer&apos;s</span><i>sacramentum</i><span>, a pledge of allegiance that sets up complex interactions with allegiance to Caesar and the imperial system. This is a significant and much-needed contribution to understandings of baptism.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span>--Warren Carter, Professor, Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University</span><br /><br /><span>&quot;Centuries of comfortable Christendom have tended to domesticate baptism to a benign religious ritual entirely at home within the empire. But</span><i>Caesar and the Sacrament</i><span>awakens us to the true radical nature of Christian baptism. Alan Streett&apos;s latest book is an important and timely work that calls Christians to live out their baptismal identity in fidelity to Christ and resistance to empire.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span>--Brian Zahnd, Pastor, Word of Life Church, St. Joseph, Missouri</span><br /><br /><span>&quot;Alan Streett&apos;s fascinating</span><i>Caesar and the Sacrament</i><span>places the meaning and practice of baptism in early Christianity into a full and nuanced context . . . Streett&apos;s carefully researched and well written book joins a number of other studies that have appeared in recent years rightly underscoring the importance of knowing well the Roman world in which Jesus and his movement emerged.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span>--Craig A. Evans, Professor of Christian Origins, Houston Baptist University</span><br /><br /><span>&quot;In this bold, comprehensive, and compelling study, Alan Streett makes a convincing case that the earliest Christians understood baptism as their pledge of allegiance to Christ and his kingdom, which involved renouncing all other allegiances . . . when most view baptism as nothing more than an innocuous &apos;religious&apos; sacrament, it would be hard to overstate the importance of digesting this remarkable work.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span>--Gregory A. Boyd, Senior Pastor, Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, Minnesota</span><br /><br /><span>&quot;Streett does nothing less than show that the understanding of baptism in Constantinian Christianity that privatized and spiritualized baptism was a gross misinterpretation that we, at the end of Christendom, may now unlearn. One may hope that Streett&apos;s study will awaken the church to the wide and deep accents of baptism that is both a gift from God and mandate to an emancipated transformed public life.&quot;</span><br /><br /><span>--Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus, Columbia Theological Seminary</span>
zlib_text: Bib l io t e c a  d e  a u t o r e s  c r is t ia n o s
  Sa c r a e Th e o l o g ia e
  SUMMA
  IVA
  ON THE SACRAMENTS 
  IN GENERAL
  ON BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, 
  EUCHARIST, PENANCE 
  AND ANOINTING
  By
  Joseph A. de Aldama, S.J. 
  Severino Gonzalez, S.J. 
  Francis A P. Sola, S.J. 
  Joseph F. Sagiies, S.J.
  THIRD EDITION
  Translated from Latin by 
  Kenneth Baker, S.J.
  K e e p t h e  F a it h
  
  © 2015 Keep the Faith, Inc 
  All rights reserved 
  ISBN 978-0-9912268-4-9 
  Library of Congress Control Number 
  Printed in the United States of America
  
  NIHIL OBSTAT: 
  Dr. Aloysius Marcos 
  Censor
  IMPRIMI POTEST: 
  Emmanuel Olleros, S.J.
  Prae. Prov. Tolet.
  IMPRIMATUR: 
  +Joseph Maria 
  Ep. Aux. et Vic. Gral. 
  Madrid, 20 October 1956
  The original title of this book is: Sa c r a e  Th e o l o g i a e  S u m m a , IV. 
  De sacramentis. De novissimis.
  The book was published in Madrid, Spain, in Latin, by: Biblioteca 
  de Autores Cristianos.
  This English translation was made with permission of Biblioteca de 
  Autores Cristianos, P. 