Thomas Aquinas College Lectures & Talks "The Bible and Baptism"
Mar 30, 2026
Rev. Dr. Isaac Morales, O.P., a Dominican theologian and theology professor at Providence College, presents a theological reading of baptism. He explores water as life, death, and purity in Scripture. He traces Old Testament types, New Testament sacramental meanings, and how baptism shapes Christian identity and worship.
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Sacraments Are Symbols That Make Real What They Mean
- Baptism is a symbolic sacrament whose signs (water, words) make present the realities they signify rather than mere decoration.
- Isaac Morales ties Thomistic sacramental theory to scriptural images to argue symbols mediate divine action in baptism.
Read Old Testament Texts In Light Of Christ
- Read the Old Testament 'backwards' from Christ: allow New Testament revelation and the Fathers to illuminate earlier texts.
- Morales recommends inspired Scripture and figural reading as legitimate for sacramental theology.
Old Testament Water Carries Life Death And Holiness
- Old Testament water imagery unites life, death, and purity: Eden streams, Isaiah's fountains, and Ezekiel's temple river all link water to divine life.
- Morales shows these images prefigure baptism's life-giving and temple-related meaning.
