Religious expressions of identity Flashcards
Outline the importance of baptism as a form of expressing religious identity
Coming from the etymology to “dip” baptism serves as a key expression of Christian identity signifies an important moment in an individual’s religious life and as a rite of passage into the Christian community.
Jesus himself was described to be baptised by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. Upon ascension from the water the heavens were said to have opened revealing the voice of God. “This is my blessed son with whom I am well pleased.”
This highlights both the special relationship between Jesus and God by helping to establish belief in the trinity but also signifies baptism as an important practice within Christianity that God wants theists to perform.
Describe the baptism practices of Catholicism
Catholics practice paedo/infant baptism.
Baptism takes place during early infancy. This is as due to belief in the original sin, Catholics believe an infants’ journey to salvation cannot be initiated until this sinful state is cleansed. The holy water symbolises this act of cleansing as it is poured of the baby’s head.
As the first of the 7 Catholic sacraments, baptism acts as an outward display of inward grace. “Forming the basis of the whole Christian life” the Catechism states baptism enables a Catholic to “gain access to all the other sacraments.”
During infant baptism, the parents and godparents of the child will make promises to raise the child within the Church and help their journey to salvation on the understanding that they will go on to make their own promises during confirmation.
Describe the baptism practices of the Baptist Church
Credo/believer’s baptism
Rather than a sacrament, baptism is seen as an ordinance, a command given to Christians by Jesus. Upon his ascent to heaven, Jesus’ Great Commission describes Jesus to tell his followers to “make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the son, the father and the holy spirit.”
As an ordinance, baptism is not compulsory but shows an independent commitment to Christ.
Believer’s baptism takes place when an individual chooses to make their commitment to faith and a new life in Christ. Involving a full immersion in a baptismal pool, believer’s baptism signifies the cleansing of accumulated sin and the rebirth of the believer. It also unites the believer with Christ in both his death and resurrection.
Evaluate baptism
Infant baptism only makes sense for those who believe in original sin. Pelagius rejects the idea of the original sin, arguing that the corruption of Adam was not transferred to the rest of humanity. Therefore, infant baptism is not necessary and baptism should be an act done by adults to draw them closer to Jesus.
Jesus was baptised as an adulthood. However, Jesus is crucially different from the rest of humanity. During his birth the doctrine of baptism did not yet exist, similarly he was the product of a virgin birth and therefore was not conceived in sin and neither inherited it.
John 3:5 suggests baptism is needed for salvation. “unless one is born of water and the spirit, they cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”
Book of Acts suggests baptism is needed for salvation stating “be baptised and wash your sins away”
Jesus stated “whoever believes and is baptised will be saved.” - suggests belief is an important aspect of baptism.
The great commission links discipleship with baptism. Discipleship therefore seems to require an adult understanding of Jesus’ commands and the intention to follow them. And so, it appears incoherent for a declaration to be taken on behalf of an infant who can’t understand it.
Outline the importance of Holy Communion as a form of expression of religious identity
Originating from the Passover meal the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Holy Communion is an event that takes place in commemoration of the last supper.
The gospel of John describes Jesus as the “ lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” The sacrificial death of Jesus enabled humanities sins to be atoned for and restore the relationship between mankind and God. As a result Jesus are grateful for Jesus’ actions as they now have the ability to earn salvation. The eucharist therefore signifies their gratitude.
The Last supper also served as the transition from Judaism; Jesus stated “this cup is the new covenant in my blood”, signifying the move towards Christianity as well as being symbolic of the blood of Christ.
Outline the Catholic practice of holy communion
Also referred to as mass, Holy Communion is important in Catholicism as one of the seven sacraments and therefore acts as an outward display of inward grace.
The Catechism describes Holy Communion as “the source and summit of Christian life”. This highlights the importance of the ceremony.
During the service of Mass, prayers are said and Catholics confess their sins. They are given bread by the priest and wine from a shared cup. Due to the belief in transubstantiation, communion acts as a spiritual feeding for Catholics who believe upon receiving mass, they are receiving Christ into their bodies and are united with him.
Only baptised Catholics can receive the Eucharist.
Outline Holy Communion in the Baptist Church
Also referred to as the Lord’s supper, Baptists see Holy Communion as an ordinance, and so it should be done because Jesus told us to. “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me”
Baptists do not believe in transubstantiation, the wine and bread are only symbolic of the blood and body of Christ.
Anyone can receive Holy Communion and it serves as a communal activity of commemoration.
Outline the mission of the Church as evangelism
A key mission for Christians was to evangelise, meaning to preach and spread the word of God.
Upon is ascent to heaven, the Great Commission describes Jesus commanding his followers to “go forth and make disciples of all nations.”
In early Christianity, St Paul travelled around the Mediterranean and visited synagogues to spread the news of Jesus as the messiah and in attempts of converting people to Christianity.
An increase in secularisation has seen Christian organisations looking for other ways to promote their faith. Alpha was set up in the 1970s as an 11 week course teaching people the basics of the Christian faith. Accessible in over 100 languages and reaching over 24million followers to date, Alpha encourages accessibility to new followers.
Fresh expressions in response to the rise in secularisation attempt to grow Christian communities where they don’t yet exist and bring people into Christianity from their own context.
News, TV and social media are also increasingly being used as platforms to evangelise and spread the gospel.
Christians may see this as an integral mission as it was commanded by Jesus. Those who believe scripture is the literal word of God will take the bible as infallible and therefore see Jesus’ Great Commission as crucial.
Similarly, despite Christianity being the most popular religion with over 2Bn followers, the mission to evangelise is still seen as important. Pope John Paul II wrote in an encyclical of “the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate.”
Jesus taught that “nobody come to the father except through me” Therefore, for those who believe the only way to receive salvation is through Christianity, it can be seen as an act of compassion to spread the word of God in order to save others.
Pluralists see all religions as equally valid therefore conversion is not necessary.
Outline the mission of the Church as ministry to the poor and disadvantaged
The parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25) teaches the importance of good works and caring for others.
“whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”
“I was hungry and you fed me”
Christian aid is an organisation who seek to follow the teachings of Christ by working for a better world through the aid of others.
Developments in mission resulted in greater focus on social justice to address the causes of poverty. This influenced, for example, the development of Church overseas aid agencies, and similar initiatives amongst deprived areas of
Britain
Outline the mission of the Church to the Christian Community
The Church looking after those within their congregation and religious community. In the 20th century, increasing populations among cities meant building more Churches.
Today it also means promoting unity among the world’s Christian Churches and different denominations. This is known as ecumenism and serves to express greater unity in mission and ministry.
From these partnerships, collaborative initiatives developed, for example Fresh
Expressions. Fresh expressions encourages people to engage with the Church by meeting with them within their own context. Such initiatives have influenced and reshaped the traditional denominational models of Church by developing new ways of engaging
with society, and offering new styles of, and venues for, worship.
