InChristian theology,baptism of blood (Latin:baptismus sanguinis[1][2]) orbaptism by blood, also calledmartyred baptism,[3] is a doctrine which holds that aChristian is able to attain throughmartyrdom thegrace ofjustification normally attained throughbaptism by water, without needing to receive baptism by water.
Based on passages from theNew Testament, many early Christian authors distinguished betweenwater baptism and thesecond baptism, which was sometimes called blood baptism (e.g., byCyprian of Carthage), but usually calledmartyrium (literally “testimony”; translated by “martyrdom”). In water baptism, man was purified on a conscious level. By the second baptism, the Christian was also delivered from his own “demons” (earthly attachments) on an unconscious level. Then theresurrection of the soul takes place: the 'old man' (man with the old consciousness) is changed into the 'new man' who receives the promise of eternal life inparadise after death. To endure the second baptism, it was common for Christians to submit to horrific forms of torture in which they could lose their lives. They could also survive. It did not matter, because Christians were concerned with the life of the soul and not the life of the body. The soul received the guarantee of eternal life in paradise. From this perspective, the deaths ofChristian martyrs were probably not the result of thepersecutions of Roman emperors.[4]
Cyprian of Carthage in a letter of 256 regarding the question of whether acatechumen seized and killed due to his belief inJesus Christ "would lose the hope ofsalvation and the reward ofconfession, because he had not previously beenborn again of water", answers that "they certainly are not deprived of thesacrament of baptism who are baptized with the most glorious and greatest baptism of blood".[5]
Cyril of Jerusalem states in hisCatechetical Lectures delivered inLent of 348 that "if any man receive not Baptism, he hath not salvation; except onlyMartyrs, who even without the water receive thekingdom".[6]
The baptism of blood doctrine is held by theCatholic Church,[7] theOriental Orthodox Churches,[8][9][10][11] theEastern Orthodox Church,[3] and theAmerican Association of Lutheran Churches.[12]
Those who die asChristian martyrs in apersecution of Christians are judged byLutherans as having acquired the benefits of baptism without actually undergoing the ritual.[13]
TheAugsburg Confession ofLutheranism affirms that "Baptism is normally necessary for salvation". Citing the teaching of theearly Church Fathers, Lutherans acknowledge a baptism of blood in "the circumstances ofpersecution".[14][verification needed]
Anabaptists believe that those who die asChristian martyrs in apersecution of Christians receive the benefits of baptism without actually undergoing the ritual.[13]
In the Catholic Church, baptism of blood "replace[s]Sacramental Baptism in so far as the communication ofgrace is concerned, but do[es] not effect incorporation into the Church, as [it] do[es] not bestow thesacramental character by which a person becomes attached formally to the Church".[15]
Feeneyism rejects baptism of blood as well asbaptism of desire.[16]