...that were four years old and two months old. My wife was born and raised in the church. She wanted to get the children baptized. I did not know what that meant. So being the inquisitive new covert that I was, I went to the pastor and asked what the meaning of the infant baptism was. He explained that it was just an outward sign that I was going to raise my children in the church and the ways of Christ. I thought that was a great idea. Until this class, I did not know that there was any other reason than the one explained to me by my pastor nineteen years ago. The topic just never came up. Since I believe that this is the true reason I had my children baptized, this paper will try to argue that infant baptism is not for salvation purposes. I believe in true faith. I also believe that baptism can be an empty ritual. Through research and prayer, God has been teaching me about the church and the communal nature of faith. I have learned that a person’s view of the meaning of the sacraments, the Church, covenant theology, individualism, and God’s grace have a great deal to do with the different views of baptism. Christians throughout history have almost always agreed that baptism is important. It historically has not been understood to be an optional practice. God has commanded it. However, there is much argument over whom it is for, how it should be done, and why is it done.Throughout history the dominant practice of baptizing infants was to sprinkle or pour water on...
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...often seen as a sort of welcome or entry into the Christian church and different denominations of the church are separate on their meaning and understanding of what baptism is and what it should involve. This paper is going to explain what baptism as well as it is going to answer the many different questions that people find themselves or this sometimes confusing subject. Purpose In order to explain the purpose of a person being baptized, we must first start by understanding what baptism truly is. “The Greek word ‘baptizo” means to immerse, plunge, dip, or bury in water. The Greek word itself excludes it form meaning “sprinkling”.” Now when a person is baptized in water, the person’s body is completely immersed in water and then pulled out. When thinking about what this symbolizes for people, “it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ” and then that person’s identification with Him in their body. There are many great examples in scripture when dealing with the subject of baptism. In Mark 1:4-5, the Bible talks about John the Baptist, “And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” This verse is big; it shows the power that this act had on people back in the biblical times. Continuing to go through scripture there is another powerful...
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...believe and practice baptism. The Slavic word for baptism is “krst”, which in ancient German, its origin is derived from the word “kristen”.1 Kristen translates into making followers of Christ.2 The Greek word for baptize is baptizein, which translates to immerse.3 Whereas, the most commonly recognized Greek word for baptism is baptizó. There are many scriptures in the New Testament that provide the purpose of baptism. For a Christian, being baptized is an important step in a Christian’s life. It is a process of ridding one of sin so they can live their life according to God’s Will. John 3:15 tells that “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” For Christians, they need to be baptized by a form of water in order to go to God’s Kingdom. ------------------------------------------------- Those who want to be baptized must accept and proclaim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. After He is accepted as the one and only Savior, the person is baptized by going under water in the same manner as John the Baptist. There are three main components that baptism stands for: death, burial and resurrection as Paul describes in Romans 6:1-4. Believers identify this with the fact Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross. Mark 16:15-16 states, “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes ------------------------------------------------- ...
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...Catholicism. I had always believed that people of the catholic religion prayed to different saints and the Virgin Mary as kind of like you would an idol. What I did not realize was that this is not the case at all. As most people of the Christian faith do if we are having a hard time or if we have a prayer request, we ask those of faith to pray for us. In the catholic religion they do the same thing, a lady named Annie who has gone to St. Augustine’s Catholic church since she was a baby explained it to me as. “When they are praying to the saints or to the Virgin Mary they are praying for one of two things, either to ask that person to pray for them, or to ask them to intercede on their behalf.” (Adair, 2012) What interceding does is like when a child gets in trouble, or if they know they are going to get into trouble. They usually will go to one parent and talk or try to explain their side. So that, that parent can go to the other parent on their behalf, and explain what happen in hopes of a lesser punishment, or that the parent that is going to be the one disciplining them. Will have a little more sympathy on them and they won’t get has hard of a punishment. Doing this they hope praying to one of the saints will happen that they will intercede on their behalf to God. In hopes of God understanding a little more and being a little more understanding of them then he originally would have been. CATHOLICISM...
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...Religious Trends Phyllis Montgomery AGUC1209C Soc/105 Introduction to Popular American Culture Chuck Brown 05-19-10. Can Baptist agree on baptism for children? This question is what set some Christian apart when it comes to baptizing their kids at an early age. Because some of them reject baptizing kids at a young age, because children do not understand or know any better. Many nondenominational churches request that members get immerse in water no matter what your age is. While other accepts you as a member just because you had some water sprinkle on you when was a kid (Ken Camp, Baptist Standard Friday April 23, 2010).However, nearly all believers that have been baptize believe it is a no-soul saving power. But some believe baptism to be very vital in becoming a member of any church, so if this is true why such a big deal about children being dunk into some water to prove a point in the first place. Furthermore, many Christians pick a church base on the different programs that are offer like music, two services during Sunday, and of course whether kids are baptize at an early age. Because, some churches want to know before you even join are you or have you ever been baptize or not. Because denominations are losing their grip on member being baptize. Some people move from city to city looking for a church to call home. Wherever, people come from and what reason they are looking for a new home church. All people are looking for is a stable foundation...
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...because of all the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding this religion. I mean let's face it as soon as someone brings up Catholicism the first thing that pops into your head is Priests molesting little boys! Other misconceptions I found fascinating are: They pray to The Virgin Mary and to The Saints if they are a monotheistic religion why pray to Saints? I've always believed that Confession is a sure fire way to be absolved, and a ticket straight to heaven. I also did not understand that they believe in salvation of young children (babies) through baptism. I set out to see for myself about these misconceptions surrounding the Catholic Church, and I was quite surprised to what I found. Why do Catholics pray to The Virgin Mary and Saints? I was always under the impression that Catholicism is a monotheistic religion meaning they believe in one God. So to say the least I was confused as to why they would pray to Mary and the Saints thus meaning it would have to fall into the polytheistic (many Gods or Idols) category. I was told its more of an interception of prayer. "When we are in need of prayer we ask those closest to God." Hence praying to Mary or the Saints, because they are close to God. (Woodruff, 2012). To put it in another way of thinking, think about a child who has done wrong by his/her parents. If this child favors, say the mother over the father, and knows the father would be harsher on them if they told them their wrong doings. They would then go to their mother, and...
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...Dear Charles, Here's a possible rewrite of your thesis: "This paper will examine Augustine's teachings about 'conferred faith' upon infant during baptism. My claim is that Paul misrepresented Paul's teachings on the family's effect upon the holiness of the child." You'll find the "claim" in chapters 1-14 of Turabian's Manual, which is something that our rubric doesn't bring up, but I think it's a good technique. I notice that you have Greek written in Times New Roman font. I have seen other students do this. I have never been able to figure out how this is done. I notice that when I try to add a letter than it comes out in Latin script. These are quotations that you've pasted. This is amazing. I don't know how they do this! Let me know if you can help me! The only defect in this paper that I want to point out is that much of your paper is not really about Augustine's teaching on infant baptism. All subsequent developments of his teachings really have nothing to do with what happened in Augustine's head. Let's take Pannenberg as an example. He may have followers up there in Lutheran country where you minister. His ideas are influenced by Augustine, but Augustine was not a Lutheran. Some seem to think he was a Lutheran or a Calvinist, but they deceive themselves. You must, of course, take Paul into account because Augustine worked with Paul's writings. Paul was a source that Augustine used—or better, abused or misused, as you and argue. Students find it impossible to focus on one...
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...this passage, Jesus had a discussion with a man called Nicodemus. Jesus was at home one night when Nicodemus came to him. Nicodemus was a very important person in town. He could have been a Member of Parliament or the Chairman of the Metropolitan Assembly. Perhaps, he was a patron of the Methodist Church, the Catholic Church or the Lighthouse Church. He was a very important person. The Bible says he was a ruler of the Jews, a master of Israel, a leader in the synagogues. Nicodemus would not come to see Jesus during the day. He came at night, so that all the people who respected him would not see him. This prominent Jewish leader said something to Jesus, which prompted Him to give an interesting reply. When you look at the passage, you wonder why Jesus said all that he said to the man. After all, Nicodemus did not ask him, “How can I go to heaven?” He said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” In other words, this man told Jesus that he recognized Him as a great man of God. But Jesus saw right through him and replied, “You must be born again.” Jesus saw right through him and replied; “You are a good person. I know you pay tithes and fast often. You are a Pharisee, and a ruler of the Jews, but you still need to be born again!” Now, the question we...
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... In the New Testament, the significance of baptism is seen more clearly. John the Baptist was sent by God to spread the news of the coming Messiah—Jesus Christ. John was directed by God (John 1:33) to baptize those who accepted his message. John’s baptizing is called “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark 1:4 (NIV). Those baptized by John acknowledged their sins and professed their faith that through the coming Messiah they would be forgiven. Baptism then is significant in that it represents the forgiveness and cleansing from sin that comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Water Baptism identifies the believer with the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 (NIV) Water Baptism identifies the believer with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. “When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure--the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Colossians 2:11-12 (NLT) “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order...
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...stronger after 3 AD when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross by the Pharisees, Jewish religious leaders, and the Roman government for what the Jewish leaders said was blasphemy of the Jewish belief that Christ Jesus was calling himself the Son of God. The strength of this religion goes by what Jesus Christ said he would do when he was put to death. He proclaimed that after three days he would rise from his tomb, and on the third day he did just that according to scriptures in the New Testament. Before Jesus was born, the Judea or Jewish laws as described in the Torah were the only religion that offered forgiveness of ones sins from God by sacrifice of a lamb, goat, sheep, or wing animal depending on your sin, that is what you had to buy for the Pharisee to offer to God as your sacrifice. Along came Jesus to offer another way for forgiveness of sin by offering himself as the sacrifice. He was also accused of teaching Gods law to all Gentile and Jew, when the Jews thought they were the only ones worthy of God’s laws and forgiveness. Catholicism was born from Christianity. Having the same structured beliefs Catholicism separates its beliefs by adding other religious figures into its religion. Mary mother of Jesus is hailed as a holy person because she was chosen as the vessel for which Jesus would enter the world. Contrasts of these religions exploded thousands of years later when other religious figures found out that the Roman Catholic Church was deceiving its followers by practices...
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...whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8: 29-30). Our lord knew us before we ever even existed as a human. Our lord has a plan for each and every one of us, but its up to us to follow through on his plan and then we shall see the kingdom of heaven. This journey the lord takes us along has many steps and our lord is a graceful lord as he gives us room for our failures. “Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in us because we are bought with a price. Everyone who has been purchased (redeemed) by the blood of Christ also has the Spirit of God dwelling in him.” (1 Corinthians 6:19) Everyone has a spirit, it just depends on how well you are connected to your spirit and how much you listen to your spirit. I feel that there is a lot of debate about the holy spirit and what exactly it is. However, if you read the bible as is, it explains it pretty well. In my opinion the Holy spirit is Gods soul. Just as we humans have spirits that will one day leave our bodies and move onto the next destination, God, also has a spirit and he uses his spirit to do miraculous things. The holy spirit has conceived Jesus Christ into the virgin mother Mary, created the universe, and gave the individuals who wrote the scriptures the wisdom and clarity to correctly and accurately give us God’s message. To me the holy spirit is like the wind, you cannot see it but you can feel it. The closer a person gets to God and the more they eject...
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...Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Salvation Salvation has been the most common term used in our churches today. But, what is salvation? Since I was a child, my parents always taught me that without salvation I was going to hell. Being so young and innocent, I would look at my parents and ask them, what I need to do to be saved. Their answer was simple. Fear God and stay away from sin; I guess that was my parent’s definition of salvation. Just like my parents, everyone has their own definition of salvation, depending on the religion you were brought up with and your faith. As I grew older, I came to realize that salvation not only involved fearing the maker but also salvation refers to being granted eternal life when the Day of Judgment comes. We all know temptation is real and the devil is not sleeping. I came to understand that salvation was everything to do with being spared from eternal penalty of sin. But that begs a different question; do all human beings deserve being spared the eternal fire? From the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, we learn that only the righteous shall be saved and inherit the kingdom of God. During judgment day, while others will be rejoicing together with Christ in paradise others will be burning in eternal fire. Even the Bible states that salvation is only for those who will repent and turn to God. The prophet Ezekiel said “the soul who sins shall dies” (Ezekiel 18.4 NKJ). We can also see the same in the writing of the apostle Paul who...
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...belong to Satan … But the Son of God (Jesus) came to destroy these works of the devil. The person who has been born into God`s family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God`s life is in him``(1 John 3:8-9). Christ Jesus came into the world to save us from bondage and Satan. God chose the right time for Jesus to come God prearranged that the time was right for His Son (Jesus) to come into the world. It was the right time in the world and was also the right time in God`s great plan. From the beginning of the world, God had prepared for this. This should both surprise and impress us, because God showed his love for men. Galatians 4:4, 5 tell that, “But when the right time finally came, God sent His own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might become God`s sons.” God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus Why did God choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus Christ? He could have chosen any rich woman, yet He chose a simple and poor woman. Because God wants to use men for His noble purpose and before Mary was even born, the Sovereign God decided that He would use Mary for His righteous reason. Then one night, the angel...
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...tend to get real drunk on their 16 birthdays. In addition, some of them start to smoke during that period of their life. People tend to wonder how rumspringa encourage deviance, but in my opinion, when a young person decides to be disorderly and participate in deviant behavior they are making a choice of their own. When teenagers decide to take drugs, not follow the law, be violent or behave in ways that society do not approve of that can be classified as deviant. From the ages 16 and over, Amish children have to make a decision between following Jesus Christ or not because that’s know as an accountable age. I believe, that the children should not have to be pressured in to making such a difficult decision. People should be able to choose whatever paths they want to do in their lives at anytime. When the Amish decide to become Christian and baptized they are promising God that they are going to obey rules and regulations of the church. In which, I believe is very difficult because their lives are revolved around church and their little community, the Amish segregate themselves from the modern world. They do not used electricity and they create everything from scratch. The Amish do not own a Television, phone, car and more. During Rumspringa, the Amish youth tend to get cars and drive them around instead of riding on a horse wherever they go. Amish people make their own homes and trailors. In addition, Amish create their own clothes. For instance, in the film “Devils Playground”...
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...Existential Obedience I would like to present obedience in a very elemental way, largely from the heart, without reference to the usual distinctions made in defining it: the dissection of it into its component parts, the noting of its specific differences from other virtues, and its relationships to other virtues in the theological scheme of things. I want to regard obedience as it relates to living our life in union with and after the example of Christ, seeing obedience as a dynamic of our existence as creatures and children of God. The common denominator of anything said about obedience is this fact of Christian reality: obedience was the leitmotiv, the basic, underlying theme of Jesus as Son of God. "Here I am to do your will, O God." The Word was made flesh in obedience to God's plan, and Jesus as the incarnate word lived his life in obedience to the unfolding of that plan as revealed by the Spirit of God. Obedience provided the very sustenance of Jesus' life. He declared that the Father's Will was his very food and drink. He also described obedience to the Father as the criteria by which he qualified our love for Him: if you love me, keep my commandments. From the example of Jesus during his existence on earth we can discern this: obedience is always an individual's response to God's Will. To be obedient as Jesus, I must choose to conform or be uniform with what God desires of me. Another more basic way of saying the same thing is that obedience...
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