Water Baptism Essay

Living religious traditions are integrated meaning systems which provide adherents with comprehensive and distinctive answers to the enduring questions of human existence. Religious traditions are ultimately shaped and reformed by the actions of the individuals who practices the faith. In a contemporary Christian environment, prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition are Baptism and the works of Pope John XXIII. The significant practice of Baptism, as a central element of Christianity, is an initiation of adherents to a “discipleship” with Christ as well as a reinforcement of the community’s relationship with God. Furthermore, the development and expression of the Christian tradition

Baptism has many inextricable ties to the beliefs that are held so very tightly by the Christian church and its adherents. It is one of the many traditions of the faith that seeks to express aspects of the religion that are essential to its practice. Baptism is linked to beliefs about: spiritual rebirth through Christ who seeks to cleanse and purify each individual from their sins, admission into the Christian Church and its mission, faith in the Holy Trinity, particularly in the power of the Holy Spirit which seeks to bring knowledge of God to the world as well as the need for salvation from eternal damnation as emphasised in Lewis Sperry Chafer’s book Major Bible Themes which states that: “...baptism when practiced can be no more than an expression of faith and the hope...that the child will ultimately be saved.” Baptism also highlights the Christian beliefs based on faith and repentance-reconciling with God and accepting one’s role as His son/daughter, participation in the life, death and resurrection of Christ by being able to partake in celebrating His sacrifice for mankind, and finally the forgiveness of sins- turning towards a life filled with God’s guidance and righteous presence.

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.

My family and I got up, got ready, and drove less than a mile down Old Hickory Boulevard to Forest Hills Baptist Church, like we had always done. Except, that day I packed my swimming trunks. On August 5th of 2007, I was baptized by a minister at my church. I was eager to get started. With both of us cloaked in white, the minster and I stepped into the baptism “tub” during the worship service. Colorful rays of light were beaming through the stained glass windows, the water was warm, and my mother was standing beside of me for comfort and reassurance; I was at peace. Out of the opening, I could see the watchful eyes of the choir, worship leader, congregation, and my family; I was at peace. As part of tradition, I was getting ready to be immersed into the water; I was at peace. While in the water, an extraordinary sensation of purification swept through my body. I, for the first time in my eight years of life, had truly felt cleansed from head to toe. This feeling was a direct action of the Holy Spirit entering and presiding in my vulnerable self permanently.

When Nakirra was a little girl in church she did not understand what getting baptised meant. Her church school teacher use to explain to her what the values of getting baptised was and how it was important for her to get baptised. She said ,”That baptism was their personal identification with Jesus Christ”. In the bible found in Ephesians 2: 8-9 it states that “For by grace you have been saved through faith”. And this is not their own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works,so that no one may boast.”

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 is a highly significant practice for most Christians as it is the rite that marks the admission of an individual into most of the Christian churches. It is through this practice that candidates (commonly infants in Anglican, Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity) hand themselves to God whilst receiving a promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Baptism is significant to the individual and also to the wider church community as it is through this introduction of a new person into the community, that adherents are able to live out their principal beliefs in different ways and therefore fulfill their relationship with God. Within the sacrament of baptism, all three aspects of the principal belief of the Trinity is revealed, “Go, therefore, make disciples of all

Water and Feast of Booths Jesus’ statement of living water comes at an opportune moment. John did not place this event unwittingly into the narrative of the story. The Feast of Booths, according to Josephus, was the greatest and most holy of the Jewish festivals. The celebration would have drawn large crowds; many would have been gathered as each Jewish male was expected to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the celebration (CITATION). Jesus made his claims around the Temple; there would have been plenty of festival goers around to listen and hear him. His audience also would have understood the significance of his statements in relation to the events occurring around them.

Baptism is the basic of the perfect christian life, it is the sacrament of rebirth through water. When a person gets baptized they are free from sin and reborn as the Son of God and becomes members of christ. This symbolized christ when he died a rose again as a new person. Tevilah is the biblical act of immersing oneself in a natural water source. Tevilah is a full

This paper on Salvation is defining both objectively and subjectively from the two required reading text. The first text is written by Alistair McGrath’s “Theology: The Basics and the second is written by Dr. Yung Chul Han’s “Transforming Power: Dimension of the Gospel. I will describe how the both texts are in association as well as seeking observations, and other conclusions to gain a better understanding of salvation from both perspectives. According to (Mc.Grath, p.78), the word salvation is referred to as something that has already happened in the past, to something that will happen in the future. Spiritual transformation requires of us what is called dependent responsibility. All the moral commands and exhortations of scripture assume our responsibility. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. The word salvation carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation (www.biblia.com). Salvation can be viewed as a spiritual transformation which the dependency of the Holy Spirit assist in the change of a believers past, self to a vessel of God in the present lives which exemplifies life, deliverance, peace, and a victory won through personal conviction. The victory is one that only Jesus Christ has authority save us which gives believers complete approval to have possession to enter the kingdom of heaven.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, ESV). This is probably one of the most recognizable Bible verses of all time because it encompasses the core beliefs of Christianity. The Christian worldview is a set of monotheistic beliefs and values that involve a personal and relatable God that relies heavily on faith in God and Jesus Christ. This paper will describe the essential elements of the Christian worldview: God, humanity, Jesus, restoration as well as evaluate some of the benefits, perplexities, and impacts of being a Christian and explain how I am able to live out my own personal Christian beliefs.

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.

Love & Talbot are in congruence with Vygotsky in regards to pacing of spiritual development being of the same nature as moving through identified developmental stages. For example, “[Spiritual development] can be motivated by the unrest of dissatisfaction individuals feel when their sense of values and meaning are not clear or congruent with the way they live their lives” (Love & Talbot, 2014). Oftentimes leaps of spiritual development follow the realization of the aforementioned dissonance. The practice of water baptism, for example, illustrates this. The candidate for baptism typically makes a statement of faith, usually including a brief allusion to his or her testimony. The symbol of water baptism is “dying” to the old, pre­salvation sinful­natured

As I sat next to the loud river that was bursting out of the Sylvan Dam, I noticed the water was in an invariable battle with the rocks, crashing and thrashing against each other like medieval warriors scraping for land. I looked around the edges of the river to see the copiousness of colors from the trees contrasting the sinister blue water. The rapids put off a pleasant and dulcet sound that ultimately ended in me having to relieve some building pressure down the trail. After returning to my riverside view, I noticed that farther down the gleaming river, fish were jumping and flipping like delicious pancakes on a griddle. Making the split-second decision to fish, I sprinted to my 1999 black Chevy Silverado, unlatched the tailgate and snatched all of my waterproof fishing gear. Slipping on my Mossberg max 4 Camo Gander Mountain guided series waders is no easy chore. While looking like the most incapable human being ever I finally managed to slip on the foul scum smelling waders that I so dearly should have washed. Feeling like a professional mountain climber, I started scaling the steep inclement of the river bank. Stomping my insulated waders into the frigid dour murky water, I ventured my path out onto a construction of rocks forming a beautiful approach for spotting fish. I released my light green jointed shad Rapala from my St. Croix Legend Elite spinning rod and casted the shad into pooling backwater just off of my rocky approachment. Feeling the vibration of the shad through my rod, smacking against slime covered rocks and ripping through dense weedy areas. I felt aspirant to not get hung up on a rock resulting in a line break, I successfully retrieved my lure. After casting and reeling my line several times and just started zoning out, I was abruptly startled to hear a ruckus coming from the west side embankment. Glancing quickly back to the water to see where my lure was only to hear a loud splash coming from the same place where I first noticed the ruckus. Three deer, with golden brown fur coated enrolled into the water. Realizing that the leaders of the small herd were both doe’s and a younger buck eagerly followed. The buck had a nice six-point rack, with long tines and a wide spread. He kept his

Just as Christ was crucified and died, our submersion in water symbolizes us too dying with him. In turn, our removal from the water symbolizes our rebirth and connection with Christ giving us our first divine-human encounter. The depth of such an act clearly portrays how vital of a part cleansing of sins by way of water is important and used in our faith since the beginning of time and an example of initiation into Christ’s life. Water has, since the beginning of time, been used to symbolize cleansing and new beginnings and in turn a major reason why this sign is seen as such in the symbolic ritual.