Baptist Initiation Ritual

Do you ever wonder why there are so many religions that stem from one bible? Well I do! I chose two religions, Baptist and Apostolic, and read the scriptures in the bible pertaining on what their religion is based, and where in the Bible these differences come from. Astonishingly, there are minute differences that have a drastic effect on believers. These differences are manifest through, baptism, trinities, apparel, salvation, and conduct.

Infant Baptism is a manmade tradition, within a misrepresentation of justification and sanctification, where water can purify one’s soul for eternity without the admission or acceptance of Christ Jesus as God. Even Spurgeon “quoted from the Catechism of the Church of England, proving that the church teaches that it is through infant baptism the infant is made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. He quoted from the liturgy of the ceremony itself to further prove that the church did indeed teach that children are regenerated though baptism.” “Spurgeon also pointed out that no outward ceremony can save anyone. This can be easily proven by the facts: thousands who were baptized as infants have lived wanton, godless lives, proving that they were never children of God. Nor does the Bible teach that someone else can have faith for another; parents cannot

The sacrament of baptism is when a person is purified and reaccepted into the Christian Church. In the case of The Lion King, Simba’s baptism was when he was given the stripes on his forehead with the fruit juice and then held up in the air by Rafiki for all of the animals to see. The fruit juice on the forehead is similar to the Catholic Baptism because in the Catholic faith they pour holy water on the newborn’s forehead. In the movie, this is the part when the animal kingdom welcomes this new member to their homes. In the Catholic faith, after the baptism is done, it is as if the newborn is welcomes into the house of God with a clean slate. After Baptism comes the Sacrament of Initiation.

Rituals and ceremonies are the practical aspects of Christianity, which involve customary acts of special, deliberate and repeatable patterns of behaviour through the use of words, actions and symbols (Coleman, 2006). Rituals and ceremonies solidify the relationship between Christians and God as they present a practical, symbolic and comprehensible expression of their underlying beliefs (Morrissey, 2010). Baptism is the ritual of initiation into Christianity, which in essence, is initiation into a life of positive living modelled on Christ. Baptism is held within a congregation of the body of Christ where they vow to spiritually nurture the child or adult being baptised (RCA, 2012). The symbology of the water in baptism encompasses the cleansing of an individual, and it is a practical element of the ritual, which underpins a broader idea of initiating a living adherent into the religion. Another ritual present in all Christian denominations is prayer, which the baptised

Baptists are heavy on this sacrament. It is mainly what sets them aside from all others. Besides baptism, there is a recipe that makes Baptists who they are. Aside from Baptism, Baptists have certain general policies, doctrines, and interpretations. For example, Christening babies when they are newborns is not something Baptists usually go by. They do not think it, or many other things will keep one from reaching salvation. Even though they aren’t the most laid-back group of Christians, they do accept all people. They practice freedom of religion and have spread it widely in

Ultimately, when an individual responds to their baptismal call, a community of Christian believers are united under the goal of guiding the initiated. Thus, this attained unity allows the faith to prosper like a living religion. Furthermore, re-birth from sin is intrinsically connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is a fundamental belief throughout Christianity, though it is practiced differently. “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.” (CCC, 1213). Regardless of the denomination, all baptism rituals symbolise beliefs in the Christian faith, all involves water. Some denominations, like Lutheran practice the sprinkling of water over the head of an initiate, while Pentecostals, practice immersing the head of the initiate in the water. Thus a reminder that, “Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”, for individuals who have been initiated that they made a commitment to the teachings, practices and life of of the community. The baptised should live a life of faith as modelled on the example of Jesus, who forgave their sin. The last belief derived from Baptism, is the believed in the Trinity. Through the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit, an individual's is able to carry out God’s word, and evangelise and spread the message of Jesus. “One will come more powerful that I, and he

In the Anglican Church baptism starts off by gathering hymns, pslam or anthem depending on the priest. After that is done the priest greets the community as respect. The Collect of the day is prayed and other prayers as well. After this the priest talks about the lesson from the scriptures which most often are from the bible , then they will be a presentation and examination of the candidate then the baptismal covenant is prayed to bless the baby towards the end they also pray prayers of thanksgiving and the priest will bless the baby over the water. When the baby is washed with the water the prayers of consecration over oils is prayed after this the

Ever since its inception, Christianity has been epitomised by a range of religious practices that explore the sacred beliefs that have been upheld and spread around the world. These practices thus continue to bear a significant influence over the lives of adherents and how they seek to express their faith in Christianity. One such religious practice is that of baptism which functions as a significant milestone in the life of any

On Sunday, September 24, I visited Champion Forest Baptist Church to observe one of their classes. This class consisted of 3 to 4 year olds. Their overall goal for the program was to honor parents and respect others according to the bible in which they follow. They want children to learn manners and since they are within the church, they use the bible as a reference. I was told that the children learn best by having short lessons and interactive activities. By the end of the year, they would like for the children to apply what they have learned all together into their daily lives, for example, praying and manners. As for discipline, they have a verbal warning first. If the actions continue, they take them away from activities. Lastly, they call the parents.

This issue was doctrinal. In chapters 4 and 5, Smith takes boundless lengths to show that historically Baptists have detained that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and it alone stands as the principal authority in all substances of doctrine. This did not refute the use of confessions. Baptist associations did use confessions to express their views and differentiate themselves from other denominations. Though Baptists also contributed to the notion of soul liberty, this was not seen as a chance to advance from confessional ethics. (Pp. 11-12)

Often held as a rite of passage and entrance into the Christian church, baptism is much more than just symbolic ritual. Baptism was commanded by Jesus Christ in the Great Commission recounted in the book of Matthew. Even though we are simplistically called to be obedient by being baptized the Christian church has long debated the aspects of this ordinance. Denominations are divided on the basic meaning, types and modes of baptism even two thousand years after the founding of the Christian church. Just as the other ordinance, the Lord’s Supper, congregations find themselves at odd with tradition, biblical interpretation and even individual understanding. However, the simple message of this awe inspiring act can be explained out of the

Baptism serves a vital role in the development of Christianity as a living religious traditions in most denominations. It is the ritual used in the

It is to be administered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and allows believers to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, which is revealed in Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the death through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”. Baptism has origins with of John the Baptist as described in the Gospels, available through the recounts from Paul.

All Christians know about the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, English Standard Version). In that command, Jesus tells us to baptize in the name of the Trinity. What does the word “baptism” mean? Baptimsa and sometimes baptismos, the Greek word origin of “baptism”, can translate to “immersion” or “bathing” without any religious implications (McGowan, 2014). Nearly every Christian church practices baptism with a religious implication; however, they do not agree on God’s activity in, the qualifications for admitting a person to, and methods of administering baptism. For instance, many churches do not baptize people until they become adults and make a profession of faith, while others encourage baptizing an infant soon after they are born. The practices and philosophy for baptism changed throughout its use in the New Testament, the Early Church, and the Medieval era.

The Free Will Baptists had a similar view of Scripture. The Baptist Confession states that both the Old and New Testaments were written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are sufficient, infallible, and without error. It also concludes that the Scriptures are a sufficient guide to salvation (FWB I). The Philadelphia confession differs in this regard to the Scriptures as it states the Scriptures are not sufficient “to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation” (PCF I.1). Both confessions view Scripture as authoritative, but the difference concerning salvation will become more apparent as will be seen in the further doctrines.