Showing papers on "Baptism published in 2018"

Nature rituals of the early medieval church in Britain : Christian cosmology and the conversion of the British landscape from Germanus to Bede

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Family Ministry and Evangelism: An Empirical Study of Family Ministry Engagement and Baptism Ratios in the Southern Baptist Convention

Abstract: FAMILY MINISTRY AND EVANGELISM: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF FAMILY MINISTRY ENGAGEMENT AND BAPTISM RATIOS IN THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION Kevin Bryce Saxton, Ph.D. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017 Chair: Dr. Brian C. Richardson Proponents of a family ministry strategy believe that Christian parents are called to be the primary disciple-makers in their children’s lives and that the church is called to equip parents for that important task. This type of strategy is commonly critiqued as an internally focused strategy that neglects another very important part of Christian discipleship, evangelism. This study empirically addresses that critique by examining baptism ratios in relation to family ministry emphasis within the Southern Baptist Convention. Chapter 1 establishes the need for this study by outlining the critique. The critique is one which finds proponents outside of family ministry strategy, but also has support from within family ministry strategy as family ministry practitioners within various stream of family ministry philosophy offer critiques of other family ministry models. This chapter also outlines the procedure to be followed to accomplish the study. Chapter 2 is an exploration of the precedent literature in the fields of both family ministry and evangelism. An emphasis on both of these fields is important as the two biblical priorities of family ministry and evangelism are meant to function in tandem and not in competition. When juxtaposed with the precedent literature in the field of evangelism in this chapter, the precedent literature in the field of family ministry indicates that family ministry is not only an evangelistic endeavor in itself, but is part of an overall strategy to be evangelistically effective outside of the walls of the church. The third chapter of this study outlines the methodological design of the study. There are two components to the way in which this study was accomplished. First, a survey was built directly from DNA of D6’s Church Health Assessment. Applicable portions of this verified instrument were disseminated electronically throughout the Southern Baptist Church. Responding churches received scores based upon their responses that were used to rate the level of engagement in family ministry within those churches. Demographic information was also gathered from those churches and was used to access the individual Annual Church Profiles for the purpose of ascertaining the ratio of average weekly attenders to baptisms within those congregations. This data was then used to conduct the analysis portion of the study. Chapter 4 contains the analysis of the information gathered through this empirical study. The variables of family ministry engagement and baptism ratio were measured for relationship to determine if there is any correlation between the two variables. This was also done with three individual sections of the Church Health Assessment used in the survey portion of the study. The data was also examined for any other trends that may illuminate a causal relationship. Finally, chapter 5 addressed conclusions that could be drawn from this research. These conclusions are used to respond to the critique that family ministry philosophy is an inwardly focused strategy that is ineffective for reaching those who are far from God outside of the walls of the church. In addition, this chapter provides suggestions for future research in the area of study, as well as the individual disciplines of both family ministry and evangelism.

The Uniting Church in Australia

Abstract: This chapter focuses on the history and development of the Uniting Church in Australia, with particular reference to the evolution of its liturgical traditions and resources.

Catechumens in the East in the Light of Pseudo-epigraphic Normative Church Sources from the 4th Century

Abstract: The article discusses the requirements that 4 th -century catechumens in the East were expected to meet. Accordingly, the pseudo-epigraphic Church regulations found in the Canons of Hippolitus and in the Apostolic Constitutions are analysed. It can be seen from these texts that their authors showed considerable concern for maintaining high standards associated with the period of the catechumenate; furthermore, they put considerable emphasis on the adherence to the Church regulations and the implementation of Christian standards of thought in daily life.

Is it ethical for a Christian to treat depression with anti-depressants?

Abstract: In this essay I consider whether it is right for a Christian to use an anti-depressant to treat depression. All human beings are responsible to image God in a moral and dignified manner as mortal creatures living in a broken world. It is not easy to do so in our modern culture of narcissism and therapy, which encourages the abuse of medicine. The calling of the Christian, however, extends beyond the ethics of a common humanity. The disciple of Christ suffers by virtue of living in a fallen world, but also because of her baptism into the death of Christ. Like Jesus, believers suffer first and then find glory. Suffering and death are, paradoxically, God’s means of accomplishing and furthering salvation. In light of the body and soul components of depression, and in view of the Christian vocation of suffering, the use of anti-depressants invites careful reflection. In this essay I argue that in some cases it is appropriate to incorporate the likes of Prozac into a holistic approach to treating depression. I set forth my case in four parts. First, I show how depression is part of the plight of humanity broken in body and soul, but not without God’s mercy extended through health care and the cross. Secondly, consideration is given to the Christian’s call to and benefit from a life of cross-shaped suffering. Thirdly, I argue that the Christian mind must guard against a theology of glory clothed in the therapeutic narcissism of our age. Finally, I set forth a recovery programme grounded in the sacred means of the church and the God-given helps of modern medical science.

The Wittenberg Concord

Abstract: The Wittenberg Concord is often overlooked since it is generally held that it failed to resolve the eucharistic controversy. Such a judgment might be premature, however. As Timothy Wengert notes, it was the benchmark for Melanchthon's interpretation of the Lord's Supper. Assessing its value is complicated by the multiple layers of theology, history, politics, and linguistics woven into this concord ratified by the Lutherans and some south German theologians. While consensus was quickly reached on baptism and absolution, agreement on the Lord's Supper was more difficult. Still, the Concord had a lasting impact on the Augustana Variata of 1540 and the Formula of Concord of 1578. More recently, its statements on the Lord's Supper helped shape the 1973 Leuenberg Concord between Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe. Its original success lay in the way it provided space for dialogue, and this is what makes the Wittenberg Concord instructive for ecumenical dialogues today.

From the Tetragrammaton to the Name of Jesus: A New Look at God’s Presence in the Holocaust

Abstract: This article shows how God’s revelation of His divine Name by means of the Tetragrammaton (Exod. 3:13–16) sheds light on the question of His presence in the Holocaust. Just as the reference to the future meaning of the divine Name implies that the Lord will not abandon His people, so does the meaning of the new Tetragrammaton (the name of Jesus in the New Testament) imply that God the Father does not leave His people in – and because of – His Son. The spiritual journeys of such Holocaust victims as rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, Etty Hillesum and Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) show that only an openness of Judaism to Christianity can provide an answer to the question of God’s presence in the Holocaust. It is primarily the Father’s gift of His Son on the Cross which has made it possible for God to enter the world of suffering. It is the same gift of the Father which has enabled those who bear the name of Jesus – the new Tetragrammaton – through Baptism, under the guidance of Pope Pius XII, to courageously serve as instruments of God’s presence among the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

Augustine’s Conception of Divine Incorporeality in Homiletic and Polemical Contexts

Abstract: This article analyzes Augustine’s thinking on God’s incorporeality, a doctrine he mainly developed in reaction against Manichaean and Arian reflections in this regard. Augustine’s decision to enter the Catholic Church was strongly influenced by his understanding of divine incorporeality, a concept to which he was introduced in the mid-380s in Milan. This means that God is not subject to time and space in any way. This metaphysical commitment enabled Augustine to answer several of his objections to Christianity. Shortly after his baptism, Augustine applied this understanding of the divine to his critiques of the Manichaeans. In this article we see how, decades later, this doctrinal commitment was developed and expressed in his homiletic corpus and in his polemics against the Arians. Knotts looks at sources from the 390s, and then homilies mostly from the second decade of the 400s. This enables us to see how the theme of incorporeality is further developed and deployed in homiletic and polemical contexts. Thus, two closely related themes emerge. First, Augustine holds that we must not think of the generation of the Son according to an earthly logic; we must not seek temporal duration in eternity. Second, we must possess the intellectual humility to realise that our earthly categories are not sufficient for thinking about God. Augustine opts to confess his ignorance of what it means for the Son to be eternal, and rather grounds his theology in scripture. These are two major points that arise in Augustine’s critique of the Arians. We shall also see how the Gospel of John forms a locus theologicus for Augustine. The development of divine incorporeality figures in Augustine’s homilies and polemics as a way to neutralise his opponents and provide further resources for his audience.

Mental disorders in commentaries by the late medieval theologians Richard of Middleton, John Duns Scotus, William Ockham and Gabriel Biel on Peter Lombard's Sentences

Abstract: In their commentaries on the Sentences, Richard of Middleton, John Duns Scotus, William Ockham and Gabriel Biel reflect whether mentally-disturbed people can receive the sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, confession, marriage) and fulfil juridical actions (make a will or take an oath) They consider that the main problem in 'madmen' in relation to the sacraments and legal actions is their lack of the use of reason Scotus and Ockham especially are interested in the causes of mental disorders and the phenomena which happen in madmen's minds and bodies In considering mental disorders mostly as naturally caused psycho-physical phenomena, Scotus and Ockham join the rationalistic mental disorder tradition, which was to become dominant in the early modern era and later

The baptism of a prodigal son in marilynne robinson’s gilead

Abstract: As a contemporary American female writer, a devout Christian, Marilynne Robinson gets her religious thoughts fully manifested in her Gilead . The novel is actually a home epistle that an aged and ailing father Ames passes to his 7-year-old innocent son, which narrates the three priesthood generations’ life changes from the Civil War to 1956 by making use of Ames’s first-person narration. However, the outsider John Ames Boughton (Jack) has been subject to diverse academic interest, which proves that he dominates an important textual place. This research makes the priest Ames’s baptism for prodigal Jack as an entry point. Ames has baptized Jack and has to reluctantly confer the name “John Ames” to Jack under the request of his bosom friend Boughton. Due to Ames’s mixed feelings (jealousy) in addition to Jack’s own diverse prodigality, Ames does not want to accept Jack at all. With the focus on the tiny difference between the religious ritual baptism and the true meaning of baptism in the novel, this research aims to put forward that the priest Ames has dilemma in conveying the Bible doctrine “love your neighbors”. However, at the end of novel, after seeing the unacceptable prodigal’s love and responsibility toward his old father, colored wife and interracial son, Ames starts to introspect his inappropriate attitude toward Jack. Under the guidance of the divine epiphany, Ames is willing to accept Jack and to give Jack the spiritual consolation. By analyzing Ames’s inner conflicts between his own “covetise” and the divine epiphany—the developmental process of Ames’s acceptance of unacceptable prodigal godson, this paper hopes to argue that the last blessing Ames gives to Jack reveals that Ames’s divine epiphany overwhelms his human nature—covetise which enables him to accept even to love the unacceptable people or unpleasant things in life so as to make faith and spiritual pursuit truly become a part of contemporary life.

Eating as One? : Dutch Mennonite Anti-sacramental Response to the 1982 WCC Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry Report

Abstract: In 1982, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches published a report on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (hereafter BEM), describing what the Commission then saw as ecumenical convergence on three ecclesiological matters that had divided churches for centuries. The WCC asked its member churches to offer responses “from the highest appropriate level of authority” on the extent to which each could recognize “the faith of the Church through the ages” in the text of BEM. Churches were asked to answer “as precisely as possible” and to organize a process of reception among their respective constituencies.1 As a WCC member, the Dutch General Mennonite Society2 gave a response that can be characterized as a searing critique of the sacramental language of the report, particularly the section on the Eucharist. Although a sense of anti-sacramentality was not uncommon among Mennonite theologians, I want to problematize it in this essay. I will take the discourse between BEM and the Dutch Mennonite response on the Lord’s Supper as the point of departure for a reflection on the usability of sacramental language in Mennonite theology.

Uncircumcision in Early Christian Art

Abstract: Apart from Adam and Eve, all the figures depicted nude in early Christian art are Jewish men, notably Daniel in the lions’ den, Jonah at rest under the gourd plant, and Jesus in the scene of his baptism. Notwithstanding biblical authority to the contrary, they are consistently depicted as uncircumcised. This “error” may be attributed to ignorance, inadvertence, or an unreflective mimicry of readily available models, but this paper argues that such visual uncircumcision had, instead, a principled basis. In particular, it conformed to negative theological, social, and aesthetic attitudes towards the Jewish ritual and, more generally, towards Jews.

A theological inquiry into the doctrine of the sacrament of baptism and rebaptism in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

Abstract: ................................................................................................................................... iv Acronyms/Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... v Chapter One General Introduction to the Study .................................................................. 1 1.

Prophetic Visions of Redemption as Rehydration: A Call to Watershed Discipleship

Abstract: This essay explores water as the heart of Christian baptism in three ways. First, it gives an overview of eschatological visions in the prophetic literature and Revelation portraying redemption as ...

What is it like to take a leadership role at a university

Abstract: Senior management has its perks but it also comes with a host of new practical, philosophical, psychological and even physical challenges. Here, seven people who have lived through that fiery baptism tell their tales

Persons Linking in Baptism Records.

Abstract: This paper describes models that can be automatically created from genealogical records (baptisms, marriages and burials). Those models represent various relationships between people mentioned in the records. The most important relationship is child father or mother, but there can be found others grandparents, godparents, best men, midwifes or priests. Usual goal in genealogy is to create models that are based only on child parents relationships. Such models are called family trees. In this paper we describe whole procedure neccessary for creating such models. We are using rewritten baptisms records of small village that covers year range between cca 1607 to 1899. Those records are loaded from simple database and they are transformed to the structure containing all neccessary information about one person. From this first structure we create another one, that contains all persons mentioned in the record and which is suitable for comparison. After comparison the probability that both persons in two records are the same is computed. If the probability is smaller than threshold, the record is added to the output database, if it is bigger, it is merged with the second record. Because the rewritten records were hand-connected to the family tree in genealogical SW and all persons got its own ID, we are then able to find succes rate of our approach.

A Chrismatic Framework for Understanding the Intersection of Baptism and Ministry in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Churches

Abstract: precis:The Christian tradition lacks a robust chrismatic theology. This is regrettable, since a more developed theology of chrism can clarify the relationship between the baptismal and the ministerial priesthood. This essay outlines the historical origins of chrism, articulates a theology of chrism as a \"Christ-maker,\" and develops a more comprehensive chrismatic ecclesiology that can contribute to ecumenical dialogue. The last objective occupies the bulk of this essay. In developing an ecumenically aware chrismatic ecclesiology, it begins with the top-down chrismatic ecclesiology of Daniel Stramara. A case is made for why this represents an incomplete ecclesiology that must be supplemented by a bottom-up initiatory approach. Only when these two approaches are taken together can a more comprehensive chrismatic ecclesiology begin to emerge that highlights the role chrism plays as the linchpin between the baptismal and the ministerial priesthood in the Roman Catholic and Eastern traditions. The development of a robust chrismatic theology roots the ministerial priesthood in the priesthood of all believers in a way that opens up ecumenical dialogue on ministry and koinonia.

The Gospel According to Mormon

Abstract: Although scholarly investigation of the Book of Mormon has increased significantly over the last three decades, only a tiny portion of that effort has been focused on the theological or doctrinal content of this central volume of Latter-day Saints (LDS) scripture. This article identifies three inclusios which promise definitions of the doctrine or gospel of Jesus Christ and proposes a cumulative methodology to explain how these definitions work. This approach reveals a consistently presented, six-part formula defining ‘the way’ by which mankind can qualify for eternal life. In this way the article provides a starting point for scholarly examinations of the theological content of this increasingly influential religious text. While the names of the six elements featured in Mormon's gospel will sound familiar to students of the New Testament, the meanings he assigns to these may differ substantially from traditional Christian discourse in ways which make Mormon's characterization of the gospel or doctrine of Christ unique. (1) Faith is understood primarily as action displaying complete trust or reliance on Christ and the power of his atonement. (2) Repentance requires turning away

Papiestwo a regnum piastowskie w latach ok. 965-973

Abstract: The earliest mention of relations between the Holy See and Mieszko’s I country is the text found on the nonexistent Boleslaw Chrobry’s tomb. This text speaks about sending young Boleslaw Chrobry’s heir to Rome, which in usually idnetified with Mieszko’s son, possibly held as a German hostage in 973. The connection between the Holy See and Polish missionary bishop Jordan, who was directly answerable to the Pope, is seen as being problematic. Middle-aged sources tell us that Jordan was established as bishop in Mieszko’s I country in 968, but it is thought that he was ordained Bishop in 967. It is connected with the handing to Otto I, a sword that belonged to the Saxon rebel Wichmann the Younger. The author tries to connect the choosing of Jordan with the establishment of the archbishopric of Magdeburg. There is evidence that Jordan’s nomination happened during synod in Ravenna in April 967. During that synod, the organization of Church structures in Slavic countries was carried out. Because only the Pope could issue the license to prosylete the pagans, the author believes that relations were established before the baptism of Mieszko I.

Baptism and godparenthood in Catholic Europe

Abstract: For most Christian confessions, baptism is the fundamental ritual of birth, through which the newborn child is welcomed into the community.1 The ritual act of baptism maintained its importance even in the face of secularization, as it arguably answers a need that is not purely religious. This chapter shows the resilience of the baptismal rite in contemporary Catholic European societies, which is even more apparent if we control for changes in the religious composition of the population. The social relevance of baptism, though, is more encompassing than merely marking the birth of a child—as the ceremony requires the presence of godparents, with whom many children (and their parents) will acknowledge a special relationship through life. The practices regulating the choice of godparents changed in time, reflecting transformations in culture and society. In many Catholic countries today, godparenthood practices are deeply influenced by demographic change, and indeed, they represent an aspect of religious demography that is worthy of greater attention.

The Theocratic Leviathan : Hobbes’s Arguments for the Identity of Church and State

Abstract: Hobbes’s views on church–state relations go well beyond Erastianism. Rather than claiming that the state holds supremacy over the church, Hobbes argued that church and state are identical in Christian commonwealths. This chapter shows that Hobbes advanced two distinct arguments for the church–state identity thesis over time. Both arguments are of considerable interest. The argument found in De Cive explains how the sovereign unifies a multitude of Christians into one personified church—without, intriguingly, any appeal to representation. Leviathan’s argument is premised on the sovereign’s authorized representation of Christian subjects. Authorization explains why, from Leviathan onwards, full sacerdotal powers are ex officio attributed to the sovereign. In Hobbes’s mature theory, every clerical power, including baptism and consecration, derives from the sovereign—now labelled ‘the Supreme Pastor’. Developments in Hobbes’s account of church personation thus explain Leviathan’s theocratic turn.

On the missiology of the early Dutch Pentecostal Movement (1907–1930)

Abstract: This article focuses on the operational theology of mission implicit in the activities and convictions of the first generation of Pentecostals from the Netherlands. Just like their fellow Pentecostal believers across the world they sought ardently for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in order to participate in the enormous missionary effort of the Western churches. This paper examines important primary sources of the early Dutch Pentecostal movement to uncover the most notable features in their missiological thinking. In particular the writings of Gerrit Polman, Arie Kok and Elize Scharten are in view.

New directions in adult baptism: Baptism in a secular culture:

Abstract: In this article I argue that the rise of secular culture demands a new approach to baptism, especially the baptism of adult converts for whom the claims of Christianity may be entirely unfamiliar a...