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the The early church often contrasted the rite of baptism to that of circumcision. In the same way the rite of Circumcision initiated one into the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, the rite of [[Baptism]] brings one into the life of the Church.
→Infant Baptism as the New Circumcision
==Infant Baptism as the New Circumcision==
"In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." Colossians 2:11-12
This line of reasoning was carried on by the Holy Fathers. For example, Hilary of Poitiers[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/330209.htm], Augustine[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14084.htm], and Cyprian[http://synaxis.org/cf/volume05/ECF05THE_EPISTLES_OF_CYPRIAN_00000058.htm] all expressed the idea that Circumcision is connected to the Rite of Baptism.
==Salvific Power of Baptism==
