Christianity is a faith based religious tradition, of which the follower is considered to be a Christian adherent. Thus, being a living tradition, Christianity is continually subject to change in accordance to the needs of the adherent and reaffirming the Christian tradition within a contemporary context. The aspects, which attribute the present existence of Christianity and its dynamism therein, include sacred texts and writings, ritual and ceremonies, beliefs and believers, and ethics. Ultimately, the aforementioned characteristics strive to form and continually validate answers to the enduring questions of life through a process of change, which simultaneously highlights Christianity as a living tradition.
Sacred texts and writings
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In Pentecostalism, a variant of Christianity, the Bible is studied in many versions, to deepen the understanding of the adherent regarding Christianity, which can better help them make informed decisions in terms of the religious practice, which imposes validity in the dynamism of Pentecostalism (Walsh, 2008).
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
The sacrament of baptism is typically interpreted as a ceremony that accepts you into the church, however, it also gives us grace. Our job in the process is to accept the grace bestowed upon us in order to ease the pain we feel, gradually. Baptism cleanses us of Original Sin and gives us a clean slate because we will sin throughout life many times. Vaz explains the symbolism behind specific parts of the sacraments’ process. Infants are supposed to wear a white garment due to tradition.
Sacred texts and writings are very beneficial for Christian people since they are the word of God and can be deliberated as supportive indication of understanding the principle beliefs of Christianity which include the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the nature of god and the nature of trinity, revelation and salvation. This essay aim’s at assessing the significant role of the sacred text in providing authentic information in regards to sacred texts.
Vinson Synan is a Christian scholar and Dean Emeritus at Regent University in Virginia Beach. In this work, he describes the most remarkable historical events that shaped the Pentecostalism in America and worldwide. Synan points out specific characteristics that clarifies the origins of the Pentecostal church in America. His main purpose is to present a historical analysis of the Pentecostalism and its roots. According to him, the reader needs to be aware of the Pentecostal traditions developed during the twentieth century in order to understand Pentecostalism as a major Christian tradition. The problem is that traditional Christians do not consider Pentecostalism as significant as should be. Synan’s thesis is that the Pentecostalism
In a contemporary Christian environment one of the most prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition is Baptism. Baptism is of utmost importance for most Christian denominations. It has profound significance for the individual who is baptised and is also important for the Christian community as a whole. As a sacrament of initiation, Baptism calls its adherents to become missionary Disciples of Christ. It is through baptism that one’s faith journey begins and Christians are called to follow and live their lives in the light of Christ.
The history of religion continues to play an important role in defining why certain aspects of religion are the way they are today. Understanding religion’s history can also help one appreciate the importance, value, and determination that certain individuals went through in order for that particular religion to gain freedom and acceptance in society. Throughout history, Christianity has shown exactly this. By learning about its history, one can gain an understanding of how it emerged into being one of the most popular religions in the world. Furthermore, better understanding of the religion, both historically and contemporarily, can help dispel any negative preconceived notions about Christianity.
The Pentecostal Reality is a book written by J. Rodman Williams, expressing his views on the charismatic revival going on in the church. From a Presbyterian background Williams takes an in depth theological approach to the holy spirt and its reality in the church. He also underlines the holy sprit’s importance with connecting to the divine on a spiritual level. He continues on by addressing the arguments of the Holy Spirit is the evidence in speaking in tongues and on sanctification and how it’s a continuing process rather than instantaneous one. Williams is also the author of numerous books that also give his theology Christianity.
Christianity is one of the largest religion in the world with over 2 million followers at the beginning of the 21st century. Christianity is a diverse religion, with many variation in belief among denomination. (Johnson & Judy, 2015). As human beings we all have different worldviews, and we all deserve respect among everything no matter our religion and beliefs. In this paper I will be going through the essential components of the Christian worldview that are made up with God, Humanity, Jesus and restoration. I this paper I will point out important facts according to the Christian Religion and my points of view but with giving respect to the other religions and other people’s points to view.
The purpose of this paper is to give a summary of the Pentecostal Faith in the words of a woman who is both relatively newly sober and newly spiritual. Angela Harper is a fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member that I have known for almost three years now. I chose this denomination because I have never known very much about the Pentecostal faith, aside from the more obvious characteristics, as manifested by the women of that faith in their dress and decorum. I was very pleased to have taken part in a magical conversation about the power of God’s Grace and the way it
As one is baptised, they are said to be ‘reborn’ when they emerge from the water (Lawrence, 2006), and the ‘stain’ of original sin is washed away (Saunders, 1998). In a purely physical sense, only the body has been washed from physical filth, but when looked at through the lens of symbolic spiritualism, it shows that the body and mind has been cleaned away of all previous sin to allow a closer relationship with God. This is the initiation process into the Catholic Church, however it is only one of many before one can obtain the title of a true Christian (Abrams, 2003). Once baptised, it is said that the person is part of a community that seeks out the coming of the Lord (Water Baptism, 2016). Divergently, it is clear that when one is submerged, they are symbolically dying alongside Jesus on the cross, taking the place of the thief. They are said to have had their old body killed, died alongside Jesus, only to be remerged from the water as a new person, spiritually clean, much like Jesus’ resurrection. The participant takes place as the thief next to Jesus, who did not have time to be baptised on the cross, however still pledged himself to Jesus, who said ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me’ in (Luke 23:42). Another vital use of water in the Catholic faith is the use of holy water throughout the places of worship (Johns, 1997). Holy water fonts are placed at the entrances of these places of worships and Churches in accordance to the Jewish practice of purification in the Old testament. Holy water is described in the book of Leviticus to ‘remove uncleanliness’ associated with many everyday aspects of life. According to priests, holy water also acts as a way to show a symbolic removal of sin (Oestigaard, 2013), protection of evil and a way to remember our Baptism into the faith (Saunders, 2016). When looked at in relation to Baptism, it is evident
Campbell describes the ritual of baptism performed in the Catholic Church. The ritual consists of fire and water uniting. The ritual is similar to ancient rituals uniting a male and female in marriage. The ritual of baptism to many Christians is interpreted as the ritual that “washes away original sin”. Many Christians do not see the true meaning of the ritual.
Pentecostalism has become a force to contend with in contemporary Christianity with a majority of Christians referring to themselves as Pentecostal. As a Pentecostal, I believe that an understanding of this movement that has made an impact over the last hundred years is imperative. Allan Anderson in his book, An Introduction to Pentecostalism, succeeds in shedding a lot of light into this very important subject.
Baptism is an individual public profession of personal faith in Jesus Christ, mainly seen in Believers baptism. It is seen to be important that the person is old enough to understand and be able to make that commitment to Christ. During the process of baptising an infant in the Catholic Church, the priest asks the parents what they want for the child. The parents will say baptism and then make the baptismal promise on behalf of the child, this is based on the Apostles Creed. The priest anoints the child with Oil of Baptism on the forehead and chest, this relates to the days when athletes used
Baptism, the Christian rite of initiation which means the action of admitting someone into a secret or obscure society or froup, typically with a ritual, is a ritual cleansing with water. the early Christians integrated the ancient Jewish practice of ritual bathing into Christian practice (e.g., Leviticus 14:8). Baptism was also used to initiate converts to Judaism, and the Essenes, contemporaries of Jesus, practiced a daily ritual of bathing. According to accounts in the Gospels, John the Baptizer, who baptized his followers as a sign of repentance, baptized Jesus as well. Jesus later instructed his followers to baptize others. For early Christians, baptism was a sign of moral purification, the beginning of new and eternal life, and an indication
A personal worldview holds ministering Jesus to the dark dying world as a result; I believe its truth to establish the flawless word of the almighty God. Besides that, the word of God has convictions, and values which are the foundation of all things, observed and unobserved. In consequence of the fact, that in the beginning was the word, triggers a dominant conviction, “and the word were with God and the word was God, nothing was created without it”. In addition, in life experience, as a Christian, represents recognition of the work of complete salvation has made significant impact on population in the name of Christ. At this level, Christ is the center on how we should live our life as practicing in giving, Bible study, and worships expressing
The Classical Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism in the Holy Spirit was first formulated at the turn of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, Classical Pentecostals claim that their view of Spirit baptism is based on Scripture, and that this doctrine was a normative part of the experience and teaching of the New Testament church. They further claim that this doctrine should be a normative part of the experience and teaching of the Church today. However, the biblical texts, which are cited by Classical Pentecostals to support their view, have been interpreted differently by non-Pentecostals. The practical value of this study is to help Classical Pentecostals and non- Pentecostals identify the source of this doctrine, and to understand why they disagree on this important point.