Expressions of religious identity

• Baptism


  The significance of baptism
• Pei' me to dip


  In a number of religions, initiation into the faith is marked by pouring water over someone or immersing them in it
• Approaches to baptism


  • Catholic, Anglican, Methodist practise infant baptism
  • Baptist, Pentecostal practise believers' baptism only
  • Quakers and the Salvation Army reject all outward symbols and ritual
• Baptism in Judaism


  A sign of cleansing from religious impurity or of being set apart for a particular role
• John the Baptist's baptism


  1. Symbolised penitence for sins

  2. God's forgiveness of sins

  3. A new start in readiness for the Kingdom
• Jesus showed his support for John's ministry by coming to be baptised
• Jesus saw baptism as a powerful symbol of spiritual rebirth and as a sign of entry into the Kingdom of God
• After his resurrection, Jesus instructed his disciples to baptise converts
• Rite of initiation


  A ceremony that marks becoming a member of a particular group. Baptism confers membership of the Christian community
• Sacrament


  An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Catholics and Anglicans regard baptism as a sacrament
• Paedobaptism


  Infant baptism
• Significance of infant baptism in the Catholic Church


  • Cleanses the child of original sin
  • The water is a symbol of God's grace
  • Enables the Holy Spirit to begin the work of salvation in the child's life
  • The child becomes a member of the Christian Church and of the Kingdom of God
  • It is the first rite of initiation, opening up the way to the other rites of initiation and to the other four sacraments
• Key rituals of infant baptism in the Catholic Church


  1. Signing of the cross on child's forehead

  2. Anointing of child on chest with holy oil

  3. Blessing of the baptismal water

  4. Renunciation of sin and affirmation of faith by parents and godparents

  5. Dipping the child in the water or pouring water on the child three times, with the spoken words 'I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'

  6. Anointing the child with the oil of chrism
• Significance of baptism in the Baptist Church


  • Baptists reject the idea of infant baptism
  • Baptism is a public commitment to faith in the triune God that is made after careful preparation
  • It marks becoming a member of the Christian community
• Believers' baptism in the Baptist Church


  1. Those being baptised give a public testimony to their faith in Christ

  2. They declare their repentance of sin and their acceptance of Jesus as Saviour

  3. They are then totally immersed in a baptismal pool, and the minister performing the baptism says, "I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

  4. They then rejoin the congregation as full members of the Church community
• Arguments for and against infant baptism


  • For: Baptism is a sacrament that is entirely a gift of God's grace, so even babies can receive it
  • Baptism is a sacred mystery: the way it works cannot be understood by humans, so it is not just for those who understand
  • Baptism removes original sin and gives the gift of eternal life, so it should be available to babies
  • The story of Jesus welcoming children supports the idea of infant baptism
  • When the New Testament refers to whole households being baptised, this would have included any children
• Ordinance


  (for Baptists) A rule deriving directly from the Bible and particularly from the teaching of Jesus. It is also a ceremony that comes from that rule
• Credobaptism


  Believers' baptism
• Holy Communion


  The importance and practice of Holy Communion
• Different names for Holy Communion


  • Holy Communion
  • The Eucharist
  • The Mass
  • The Lord's Supper
  • The Breaking of Bread
  • The Divine Liturgy
• Holy Communion in the Catholic Church


  • The bread and wine are consecrated, becoming the Body and Blood of Christ
  • Catholics receive Communion, usually just the bread
  • The Mass ends with a blessing and the words 'Go forth, the Mass is ended'
• Importance of Holy Communion for Catholics


  • Transubstantiation - the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ
  • Receiving Communion unites Catholics with Christ and with one another
  • It is a foretaste of the heavenly Kingdom of God
• Holy Communion in the Baptist Church


  • There are readings from the Bible and a sermon
  • The holy table is prepared with cubes of bread and individual glasses of grape juice or wine
  • The minister reads out the passage from 1 Corinthians
  • People pass round the bread and the wine, serving one another
  • Anyone, even young children, may receive Communion
• Importance of Holy Communion for Baptists


  • It is an ordinance, based on Jesus' command to 'Do this in remembrance of me'
  • It is a memorial of the Last Supper and of Jesus' saving death
  • It does not affect any spiritual change in those who receive
• Fraction


  Symbolises the breaking of Jesus' body on the cross
• Sharing of the Peace


  A sign of the unity of those present with one another
• End of the Mass


  Catholics are sent back into their homes and communities to spread the love of Christ by word and action
• Holy Communion in the Baptist Church


  • There are readings from the Bible and a sermon
  • The holy table is prepared with cubes of bread and individual glasses of grape juice or wine
  • The minister reads out the passage from 1 Corinthians
  • People pass round the bread and the wine, serving one another
  • Anyone, even young children, may receive Communion
• Holy Communion


  • It is an ordinance, a memorial of the Last Supper and of Jesus' saving death
  • It does not affect any spiritual change in those who receive the bread and wine
  • Its main value is to bring the community together to remember what Jesus did
• Transubstantiation


  The name given to what happens when the bread and wine are consecrated: their substance is changed and they become the Body and Blood of Christ
• Consecration


  Making holy and refers to the part of the Eucharistic Prayer when the priest invokes the presence of the Holy Spirit, performs certain ritual actions and repeats the account of the Last Supper
• Fraction


  The ritual breaking of the consecrated bread as a symbol of the breaking of Jesus' body on the cross
• The Last Supper, Luke 22:17-20, was the Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem on the night before the crucifixion
• At the Last Supper, Jesus gave the bread and wine a new significance linked to his death, the bread symbolising his body, and the wine symbolising his blood
• There are several references in the New Testament to celebrations of Holy Communion and to beliefs about it, so it was an established practice within 20 years of Jesus' death
• Jesus as the Paschal (Passover) Lamb


  His death on the cross was a sacrifice to atone for humanity's sins
• Holy Communion


  Celebrates deliverance from the slavery of sin rather than from physical slavery
• In the Baptist Church, Holy Communion is just a simple meal to remember what Jesus said and did: symbolism is not important
• Jesus: '(Jesus) took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'
• The Passover is a meal celebrated annually by Jews, which celebrates the liberation of Moses and the Israelites from slavery in Egypt; the Last Supper was, according to the first three Gospels, a Passover meal