Expressions of Religious Identity

Question 1

What is Baptism?

Answer 1

• Baptism (as the washing away of sins) in Christianity goes back to John the Baptist, who baptised Jesus in the River Jordan (Mark 1:9-11).
  o Jesus himself (according to John 3:5) seems to have seen baptism as both a physical and a spiritual event.
  o Jesus commanded his disciples to baptise people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• In the Catholic tradition, baptism is a sacrament that makes a profound and irreversible change to a person’s existence.
  o Baptism enables the baptised person to overcome the stain of original sin by re-enacting dying and rising again, and by joining the Church.
  o This is the main reason that Roman Catholics practise infant baptism.
• In the Baptist tradition, Baptists do not believe in sacraments.
  o Baptism is important simply as an ordinance from Jesus.
  o Jesus was baptised as an adult, so Baptists do not practise infant baptism.
  o Instead, they practise credobaptism, which is a service of membership and commitment to the Church, and the individual has to know the meaning and importance of the ceremony.

Question 2

What are the arguments in favour of infant Baptist?

Answer 2

• It has sacramental value, for example, infant baptism for Catholics.
• It has value as a mystery: for Catholics, baptism is part of God’s grace and its mystery can never be fully understood, so it applies to infants also.
• It acts as a remedy for original sin.
• It signifies the start of life in the Christian Church.
• The story of mothers bringing their children to Jesus suggests that Jesus might perhaps have approved of infant baptism.
• The Early Church seems to have practised infant baptism.
  o If it was acceptable to the Early Church, it is acceptable today.

Question 3

What are the arguments against infant Baptism?

Answer 3

• Baptism is an ordinance that babies cannot understand.
• Jesus was about 30 when baptised, so we should follow his example and practise adult baptism.
• Baptism is the washing away of sins and this concept cannot really be understood by infants.
• Children are born into God’s grace but cannot understand how to live in faith until they become adults.
• Despite the story of the mothers and their children, Jesus probably did not baptise infants, so neither should we.
• The argument that the Early Church practised infant baptism is weak: household baptism was probably of the adults.

Question 4

What is Holy Communion?

Answer 4

• For Roman Catholics, Holy Communion is a sacrament.
• For Protestants it is an ordinance.
• Quakers and the Salvation Army do not celebrate Holy Communion at all, preferring to express their faith in Christian life rather than in symbolic rituals.
• Holy Communion is called the Eucharist in the Church of England
• Mass in the Roman Catholic Church
• Divine Liturgy in the Orthodox Churches
• The Lord’s Supper in the Baptist Church
• In the Roman Catholic tradition, the focus of the Mass is on transubstantiation.
  o Mass is celebrated as a sacrament by an ordained priest and is given only to those who are baptised.
  o Celebration of the Mass is a service full of symbolism and mystery, including the re-enaction of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
  o Preparation for the Mass may involve fasting and confession.
• In the Baptist Church, as in most Protestant Churches, the focus is on the Bible.
  o Baptists celebrate the Lord’s Supper because it is an ordinance from Jesus: ‘Do this to remember me.
  o The Lord’s Supper is usually conducted by a minister, but can be led by someone authorised by the congregation.
  o The Lord’s Supper will involve Bible readings and a sermon to explain them.
  o There is no belief in transubstantiation of the bread and wine, which remain, for Baptists, ordinary bread and wine.

Question 5

What are the Different understandings of the significance of Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper?

Answer 5

• For Catholics, and some Church of England churches, Jesus was instituting a formal ritual based on the Jewish Passover meal.
• The Catholic focus on transubstantiation means that the sacrament has a special effect on the soul that makes it fitting for Catholics to receive it at key points in life, such as at marriage and just before death.
• In the Baptist Church, Holy Communion has a lower status than baptism. It is one ordinance among others from Jesus.

Question 6

What is the mission of the Church?

Answer 6

• Jesus’ last instruction to his disciples was that they should go and make disciples of all nations, and this is the substance of the Church’s mission.
• Mission today is understood in several different senses:
  o Evangelism, for example, in the work undertaken variously by the Church Missionary Society, the Evangelical Alliance Mission, and the Alpha Course.
  o Mission to the poor and disadvantaged, for example, The Children’s Society, Christian Aid, and the Church Urban Fund.
  o Mission to the Christian community. This led to a spirit of ecumenism, which in turn led to the British Council of Churches, rebranded as Churches Together in England (1987). The Methodist Church and the Church of England set up Fresh Expressions to take Christianity to people where they are las opposed to bringing people to a church).

  o Other views about mission. Quakers think that evangelism is wrong because it interferes with the lives of individuals. The Salvation Army put its efforts into serving the poor and needy.