Monday, September 17, 2007

Unto

Baptism is one of those staples of christian life we don't give much thought. Yes, most believers are (or will be) baptized. Yes, it's a good and right thing, yes it's biblical, and yes it has some sort of Jewish association.

We could also go another route ... remember Jesus? Yeah, the guy that scripture tells us was the living embodiment of God? Well, Jesus didn't do any miracles until after he had the holy spirit descend upon him (like a dove) . And that was after he had been baptized. Thus, one might observe, that for most bible-believers, that without the both of them, in that order (baptism + holy spirit), one's capacity to expect and claim miracles might be hampered by the lack of baptism.

Another question is - what exactly is baptism? The christian manner seems to be an asociation with water. Either a bit of sprinkling on the head, sometimes dunking a newborn babe in water (or at least the head), and appears to be (on the surface) and archaic ritual where-by one is introduced to water.

My challenge, for you, dear reader, is
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Discover where baptism comes from
Is it only / exclusively in Jewish culture prior to the Bible being written?
Does it exist outside of christian child-rearing?
are there aspects to it that christians are unaware because they are only accepting the scripture?
I have heard that the word 'baptize' was transliterated instead of being translated

May you grow closer to Christ every day

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