Meaning of Baptism
The word 'Baptism' comes from the Greek verb 'to immerse' or 'to
wash'.Baptism is a Christian ritual or sacrament performed with water
by which the baptised person is incorporated into the life and the
teachings of Christ, in the context of a Christian church. Through
Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become
members of Christ and we are welcomed into the Church.
Catholic traditions use specially prepared water for baptism and
believe baptism to be a sacrament intended for infant children as well
as for adults.
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In infant baptism most Church traditions practice sprinklingor pouringof
thewater as a mode of baptism, often using a specially constructed
bowl to hold the water, a baptismal font. Pouring symbolizes the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Sprinkling symbolizes the sprinkling
of blood to cover our sins.
Renunciation of sin and Profession of Faith - before being washed by
the baptismal waters, it is necessary to proclaim one's faith. It is
the faith of the Church which the parents and godparents proclaim in
the child's name since he/she cannot do. Baptism is the initiation
into a process of growth, of personal maturity, which required a daily
beginning.
The oil used in infant baptism is called chrism and catechumenit is
applied to the infant's forehead this anointing signifies that the new
Christian participates in Christ's priesthood. catechumen - this kind
of sacred oil is used in the ceremonies of Baptism, and derives its
name from that fact a catechumen being an instructed convert who is
about to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. [During] the administration
of that Sacrament [to a child,] the priest says "We anoint you with
the oil of salvation in the name of Christ our Savoir; may he
strengthen you with his power, which lives and reigns for ever and
ever." The priest makes with this oil the sign of the cross on the
[breast of the] person who is to be baptized...A candle is also given
To fully evaluate the role of the sacraments in the journey of the Scripture way of salvation according to John Wesley’s sermons, we must achieve a few important understandings. We must examine and work to understand Wesley’s Scripture way of salvation. We must also work to understand Wesley’s views on the sacraments of baptism and communion. Finally, after completing both of these crucial steps, we can then move on to finally understanding the relationship that Wesley has established between these two through his preaching.
It takes place at the back of the church as it signifies a journey in
More specifically, their traditions include the authority of Scripture and the Holy Spirit; salvation through conversion by the Spirit of God; believer’s baptism, usually by pouring or immersion; discipline in the church (including shunning in some congregations); and the Lord’s Supper as a memorial rather than as a sacrament or Christian rite (Third Way Cafe, 2014).
In this paper, I will be using Victor Turner’s concept of liminality to analyze the Christian rite of passage of baptism. Turner built upon Arnold van Gennep’s three-stage model of rites of passage, focusing on liminality rather than reaggregation and introducing the concept of communitas as the unstructured community during the liminal stage in which all members are equal. By using the anthropological lens of Turner to analyze baptism, specifically Jesus’ water baptism in the book of Mark, I hope to apply his concepts of liminality and communitas to the text to gain a deeper understanding of the model for modern Christian baptism rituals and interpretations, including Spirit baptism.
In the United States Christianity is the largest religious group followed by Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism (Kohut and Rogers). According to the Pew Research Council Christianity was comprised of over 82 percent of the population in America as of March 2002 (Kohut and Rogers). Most of the world’s Christians live in the America’s and Europe (Pew Research Center). However, the population of Christians that currently live in the America’s and Europe is significantly lower than in the early 1900’s (Pew Research Center). Christianity is divided into three main branches: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants. The Protestants make up the largest branch of the Christian religion in the United States and totaled fifty-two percent of the American population in 2002 (Kohut and Rogers). Catholics come in a close second comprising twenty-four percent of the American Population in March of 2002 (Kohut and Rogers). The majorities of the Christian denominations popular today developed during the five hundred years after the protestant reformation and are part of the protestant denomination (Pew Research Center). Many of the Christian denominations share a lot of the same beliefs; however, there are quite a few topics they disagree on such as the sacrament of baptism.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is primarily handled by a priest (Trese 1). The process of Reconciliation may seem simple, but it takes a lot of practicing to perfect for priests. It is clear when Christ died he passed along with the power to change bread into wine, the power to forgive sin at the last supper. (Trese 1) The main mission of Christ was after all to help anyone and everyone who wanted to be saved, to do in fact just that. That is why he appointed the apostles. To ensure that his word and teachings would live eternally and not die alongside him. A priest shares the same mission that Christ had. A priest acts in the person of Christ during the mass. This role is repeated in form during their role in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
How a person views the world depends on their culture, education and knowledge. Some are atheist, others believe in heaven and hell, and then there are those who are trying to find their faith. Each religion has their own way of accepting new individuals who just found or changed their belief. In Christianity, upon birth or acceptance of Jesus Christ as one’s faith, Christians perform an initiation ritual called Baptism.
Like discussed earlier Catholics and Christians believe that the Conformation, and Baptism matures the soul and helps people reach adulthood. Baptism usually occurs at a very young age but is not bound by a person’s age. In Baptism, water is used to purify and symbolizes the washing away of sins. It is also described a person being born again because the cleansing of a person with water symbolizes the death and rebirth of that person. Also, when a person becomes baptized they accept God and have faith in God and all his teachings. Confirmation is like a continuation of Baptism because the faith in God of that person is confirmed. Along with confirming one’s faith confirmation gives a person more responsibilities. A large part of bei...
The candidate is usually wearing white. The color white represents purity; the candidate’s soul is becoming pure in order to let God in. Oils are a very common thing used in the sacraments. The oil catechumen is placed on the candidates, parents, and godparents heads (jesuschristsavior.net). The candidate is the head is then submerged under water. While this is done the priest or deacon says “I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (jesuschristsavior.net). To conclude the ceremony the candidate is anointed with the sacred chrism (catholic.org).
The Confessions of Saint Augustine tells of the events and life choices that Saint Augustine made through his life which eventually led him to converting to Christianity. This was not an easy or quick process for Saint Augustine, just as many members of the LDS church spend a great deal of time truly converting to the gospel. Saint Augustine’s conversion and also LDS members’ process of becoming truly converted, shares many similarities. Both involve trials, growing from those trials, an ongoing process, and a significant change. In order to understand the importance of what becoming truly converted means to a Mormon, there must be distinguishing factors between this and just being a convert to the Mormon Church.
The Meaning and Significance of Baptism for Christians Today. Baptism is a sacred action in which the Christian community comes. together to celebrate the day. This sacrament is a symbol of God's care for. us, and by carrying it out we bring ourselves closer to the Lord.
To understand Christianity, it is necessary to understand who Saul was and what his career on earth consisted of. Aside from Jesus Christ, Saul has been the most important figure in the history of religion, and has influenced every believer to this day. His career was more a calling, or was considered to be more of a life style because it was his passion and it was what he loved doing. Jesus was not the founder of Christianity as we know it today. Most of the New Testament doesn't even concern the historical Jesus while the main influence is the Apostle Paul and through the church he founded at Ephesus a Greek convert named John. Saul never met Jesus in the flesh, he only claimed some strange vision and proceeded to paganism the teachings of Jesus (who preached an enlightened form of Judaism), until he created Pauline Christianity. Because there are no known writings from Jesus, the actual Apostles, or anyone that actually knew Him in the flesh (other then perhaps James), most of what He taught is lost forever, other than perhaps the disputed Gnostic Gospels.
The process of sanctification is a way of God exercising his grace. It is something that we as humans cannot go through on our own will (Ephesians 2:8). Sanctification is the process that we as finite humans go through in order to turn away from our old life that was slaved to sin (Romans 6:6). The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all play a role in this process. The process begins with God working through the Holy Spirit who works in us to sanctify us in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2, 30; 6:11).
During our lifetime we are taught to live a life of pleasure and gratification. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Psalm of Life” teaches us otherwise. This highly distinguished poem is about the essence of life, the importance of leading a life where time is not wasted, where you have goals your willing to achieve with patience and virtue, and to be a hero in the midst of mayhem. Longfellow expresses his ideas of the importance of living a fulfilled life using rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, alliteration and imagery.
The sacrament of Baptism is a rite of passage undertaken by believers in celebrating, symbolising and making present the central beliefs of the religious tradition of Christianity. It is an experiential religious act involving the transformation of the individual.