Baptist Beliefs Baptist beliefs are not completely consistent from one church to another, as Baptists do not have a central governing authority. However, Baptists do hold some common beliefs among almost all Baptist churches. Since the early days of the Baptist movement, various denominations have adopted common confessions of faith as the basis for cooperative work...
Ablution In Christianity Ablution in Christianity is a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects, with the intent of purification or dedication. In Christianity, both baptism and footwashing are forms of ablution. Prior to praying the canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times, Oriental Orthodox Christians wash their hands and...
Ablution Ablution is a term referring to washing, and can mean ordinary washing, hand washing, or washing of the body. By extension, ablutions can refer to a collection of regular activities taken to produce physical cleanliness, including washing but also tasks like oral hygiene, and shaving. It is most often...
Amish The Amish (Amisch or Amische) are an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States and Canada (Ontario and Manitoba) known for their plain dress and avoidance of modern conveniences such as cars, zippers and electricity. The Amish separate themselves from mainstream society for religious reasons. They do not join the military, apply for Social Security...
Fate Of The Unlearned The fate of the unlearned, also known as the destiny of the unevangelized, is an eschatological question about the ultimate destiny of people who have not been exposed to a particular theology or doctrine and thus have no opportunity to embrace it. The question is whether those who never hear of requirements...
Trinitarian Formula The Trinitarian formula is the phrase “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (original Greek: εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, eis to ónoma toû Patros kaì toû Huioû kai toû Hagíou Pneúmatos, Latin: ĭn nōmine Pătris ĕt Fīliī...
Christianity In The 1st Century Christianity in the 1st century covers the formative history of Christianity, from the start of the ministry of Jesus (c. 27–29 AD) to the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles (c. 100) (and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age). Early Christianity developed out of the eschatological ministry of Jesus. Subsequent to Jesus’ death,...
Anabaptism Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin anabaptista, from the Greek ἀναβαπτισμός: ἀνά- “re-” and βαπτισμός “baptism“,) is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation. The movement is generally seen as an offshoot of Protestantism, although this view has been challenged by some Anabaptists. Approximately 4 million Anabaptists live in the world today with adherents scattered...
Ritual Purification Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of uncleanliness, especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such...
Sacraments Of The Catholic Church There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those who receive them with the...
Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing believers only (believer’s baptism, as opposed to infant baptism), and doing so by complete immersion (as opposed to affusion or aspersion). Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul competency (the responsibility and accountability of every person before God), sola fide (salvation by faith alone), sola scriptura (scripture alone as the rule...
Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or Classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Christian movement that emphasises direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, as described in the second...
Born Again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to “spiritual rebirth“, or a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit, contrasted with physical birth. In contemporary Christian usage, the term is distinct from sometimes similar terms used in mainstream Christianity to refer to...
Rite A rite is an established, ceremonial, usually religious, act. Rites in this sense fall into three major categories: rites of passage, generally changing an individual’s social status, such as marriage, adoption, baptism, coming of age, graduation, or inauguration; communal rites, whether of worship, where a community comes together to worship, such as Jewish synagogue or Mass, or of another character,...
Esoteric Christianity Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion. In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is...
Baptism For The Dead Baptism for the dead, vicarious baptism, or proxy baptism today commonly refers to the religious practice of baptizing a person on behalf of one who is dead—a living person receiving the rite on behalf of a deceased person. Baptism for the dead is best known as a doctrine of...
The Gospel Of Mark The Gospel According to Mark is one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his death and burial and the discovery of the empty tomb – there is no genealogy of Jesus or birth narrative, nor, in the original ending...
Sources For The Historicity Of Jesus This article covers the sources for the historicity of Jesus. Christian sources, such as the New Testament books in the Christian Bible, include detailed stories about Jesus, but scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the Biblical accounts of Jesus. The only...
Ministry Of Jesus In the Christian gospels, the ministry of Jesus begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the river Jordan, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples. The Gospel of Luke (Luke 3:23) states that Jesus was “about 30 years of age” at...
Salvation In Christianity Salvation in Christianity, or deliverance, redemption is the “saving [of] human beings from death and separation from God” by Christ’s atonement for sin, and the justification following this atonement. Christians partake in this redemption by baptism, repentance, and participating in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The idea of Jesus’ death as...