Yay for Malta

VALLETTA (Reuters) - An image of Christ's immersion in water by John the Baptist will be shown on Maltese euro coins, reflecting the cultural heritage of the deeply religious Mediterranean island, officials said Thursday. (Article here.)

That's really, really awesome.

"Immersion," though? I can't seem to find a picture of the sculpture on which the coin design is based, but here's a description:

St. John is seen wearing a flowing robe, and the typical goat's skin that the saint is always depicted in. His right hand arm is outstretched, holding a scallop shell with which he is seen baptising Christ. (From here.)

Now, maybe Reuters knows something I don't, but I'm pretty familiar with baptism by immersion (when I was baptised, I got dunked in a backyard swimming pool). A scallop shell of water, sir, is no immersion. Methinks somebody got a wee bit thesaurus-happy. Reason #83,759 the media should be trusted with nothing remotely ecclesiastical without careful supervision.

File Under: Art/Media