Baptism
Submitted by Heather on January 31 2000 at 17:48:35
In reply to My thoughts Submitted by Sheesh! on January 31 2000 at 00:21:51
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"Does anyone know why did Jesus sought baptism?" According to the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist protested that it wasn't fitting that he should baptize Jesus; whereupon Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." The passage doesn't occur in any of the other Gospels, and it may simply be theological speculation by the author as to why Jesus did this. (Authors in classical times would often embroider real people's speeches in order to convey what they felt the full reality of the situation was.) So it's really anyone's guess as to why he did it, but one possible explanation is the one that Compassion has proposed. "Or must you go through the 'red tape?'" I really think that you should stop thinking of that process as the red tape. In a way, the baptism itself is the "red tape," the outward symbolism of the inner transformation that occurs through living the Christian life. Most Christian communities ask you to go through a learning process before baptism, not in order to make your life bureaucratic hell, but as a way to ensure that you understand your responsibilities as a Christian and in order to help bring about the inner transformation that the baptism is supposed to symbolize. That being said, different ministers have different beliefs about baptism. Some believe that it should come at the end of a learning experience, for the reasons I've mentioned. Others are willing to make baptism the beginning of the experience, first baptizing you and then welcoming you into their church. And some are so terrified of you ending up in hell that they'll baptize you on the spot and send you on your way. I'm afraid that I don't think much of the last idea; it seems to me that baptism is an empty symbol unless it's accompanied by participation in a Christian community. If you reached the point where you believed that CBF was your community, I can imagine that baptism would be appropriate under those circumstances. Otherwise, I'd suggest that you tie in your search for a baptizing minister with your search for a congregation. In the meantime, you can spend your time here going through the "learning process" leading up to baptism. joct |