History Of Baptism Research Paper

Fast forwarding to my sophomore year of high school, which was just two years ago, I learned the significance that baptism actually held- and it wasn't an audience of giggles,

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

This made me very uneasy; for I had now some faint idea of a future state; accordingly I communicated my anxiety to the eldest Miss Guerin, with whom I was become a favourite, and pressed her to have me baptized; when to my great joy she told me I should. She had formerly asked my master to let me be baptized, but he had refused; however she now insisted on it; and on being under some obligation to her brother complied with her request; so I was baptized in St. Margaret's chuch, Westminster in February 1759. (Equiano, 93)

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

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

Baptism is such an important part of a person’s life. The sacrament of baptism goes back to 200 year old tradition. I will be focusing on community for the sacrament of baptism; there are different views, practices and significance of baptism for the individuals across many Christian churches such as Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic Church, and Anglican Church.

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

Connection: The biblical story, Jonah and the Whale, is an example of Baptism. God gave Jonah a job, but he set off in another direction. Suddenly, there was a storm. The boat was tossing in the middle of the sea. No one on the boat knew what to do. Jonah knew that the storm was because of him. God was with him. Everyone prayed for forgiveness and they threw Johan into the water. The storm immediately stopped. God heard Jonah’s prayers and sent a fish to rescue him. Jonah lived in the fish’s stomach for three days. He prayed to God for help. When it was safe, the fish spit Jonah out onto the land. Jonah was cleansed when he returned back to the land. Being tossed into the water was symbolic. He was reborn after the incident.

He says of Jewish proselyte baptism, “It appears that the import of this practice was both purifactory-Gentiles were generally considered to be ritually unclean and in need of purification- and initiatory. Also, proselyte baptism conveyed the notion of a conversion to a new kind of life, which involved the proselyte’s acceptance of the ‘yoke of the Torah.’ Hence, the initiation represented a commitment, as well as bestowing certain benefits.”(12) This lines up with the thesis of the book and supports a need for the historical recovery and significance of the believer’s baptism as this serves as a foreshadow of what would be implied through baptism after confession of salvation in the believer. Chapter one also covers the gospels of the cannon and shows that the majority of the referenced materials regarding baptism were about the role and baptism of John the Baptist. It further shows how John’s baptism was a way of preparing the people to accept and receive Jesus Christ through repentance. This chapter also covered the baptism works of the disciples and the coming baptism promised by Christ regarding the baptism through fire found in the book of Acts. No evidence was provided in any of these instances that would support or validate infant baptism, which agrees with and confirms the author’s thesis. Instead, this chapter shows how baptism worked in the role of

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.

Wesley pictures baptism as essential for the Church and baptism is a holy observance for

Throughout the course of organized religion both present and past, ritualistic acts of praise and worship have been practiced as a sign of both love and honor to God. Catholicism refers to these rituals as sacraments. As Christians and members of this faith, the first sacrament received by each member is Baptism. This sacrament has not only been practiced since the beginning of our faith, but has deep meaning and symbolic ties to the start of creation with Adam and Eve. I hope to prove through both illustration and published works how Baptism as a sacrament is both a sign and symbol of humanities desire to become closer to God by cleansing them of original sin through this ritual and rite of passage.

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.