ImaginaryDay2
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2015
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- 3,967
- Gender
- Male
- Religious Affiliation
- Lutheran
- Political Affiliation
- Moderate
- Acceptance of the Trinity & Nicene Creed
- Yes
In Post #1 ImaginaryDay2 told us his baptismal history (sprinkled or something similar as an infant using the trinitarian formula in the Presbyterian Church, then baptised as a believer in the name of Jesus alone by a church that did not believe in the Trinity.)
He then asked would he be welcomed into membership within mainline baptist churches.
Based on my association with a Baptist church over a number of years, the answer is No. For three reasons.
1. The Baptist tradition is to baptise only people that the Baptist church considers to be believers.
2. The Baptist church recognises only baptism by full immersion.
Therefore, ImaginaryDay2’s first baptism is considered null and void.
3. Generally speaking, the Baptist church recognises only (full immersion) baptisms performed using the trinitarian formula. That is common to most churches. In fact, in recent years in more than one part of the world, groups of churches agreed to recognise each other’s baptisms, as long as they continued to use the trinitarian formula.
So ImaginaryDay2 is out of luck there, too.
Thank you for the honest answer (not that anyone else was not forthcoming), and it's what I suspected.
By way of contrast, the well-documented Apostolic practice was to baptise in the name of Jesus alone. (Acts 2:38; Acts 8:16; Acts 10:36,48; Acts 19:5; Romans 6:3)
And as previously pointed out by a poster named visionary, Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI, and recognised as one of the greatest Roman Catholic scholars [I could not find that scholar reference a few minutes ago when I looked for it again, but I have seen it]) admitted that the trinitarian formula in Matthew 28:19 was not in fact stated by Jesus, but was a later addition to the text (that is, a deliberate corruption).
Hence my second baptism. The Pentecostals appealed to the same number of references as above to support baptism in the name of Jesus alone. And it made sense on the surface at the time. However, since I rarely take anything merely on someone's word, I studied the overarching concept of "Oneness", as the baptism formula was tied in to this concept. I studied the bible and other reference material extensively, including supportive references given to me by the church. What I found was a history based on the concept that after the original twelve and their cohort either died, or were killed off, the original idea of "Oneness" disappeared. Since there was no written bible (so the claim went), and the Apostolic churches were beginning to rise to power (read: Catholic), much of the doctrine was 'controlled' by them, as well as by church councils.
So, for one attempting to support the Oneness tradition, there had to be a 'story', and this one made sense to them. Suddenly, in the early 20th century, Oneness began to make a revival through the Azuza street meetings and other such movements. The conclusion drawn (by the Oneness crowd) was that what was lost was being restored by God.
So that's just the "Reader's Digest" version. But as I looked at these "revivals", it was hardly a "Oneness" revival at all. There were many 'flavors' of Pentecostalism that were born during the time (I can recommend many good books and references for anyone interested).
So, the more I studied, and the more I attempted to see "One" God (and I reeeealy did want to see it - I was 7 years into it at the time), the more it just didn't make sense. Perhaps the biblical record does not reflect a trinitarian formula in any of the cases stated above, but I have no reason not to believe that Apostolic tradition - using a trinitarian formula - is not correct.
Now we’ll see how many people will try to twist what I’ve said, to mean something else.
But perhaps they won’t try after all, now that I’m preempting that attack.
Hopefully I have explained my pov a bit so that it comes across as neither an attack nor a twist
It is obvious that I was not questioning the doctrine of the Trinity. (Readers will have noticed that my questions regarding doctrine and practice (and requests for supporting Scripture), pertain to post-Nicene theological developments.) It is abundantly clear that I was merely pointing out (as is my custom) that the churches of Christendom should follow Inspired Apostolic Practice, and asking (indirectly): Upon what basis (now known to be valid or invalid) do those churches deliberately not do so? And: What does God think of that?
My pov is that we are following Apostolic Practice. The church councils and creeds that (some of us) follow and consider authoritative for practice help in that regard. Otherwise, I'm left with a rather twisted version of "sola scriptura" a'la Pentecostalism that looks nothing like any other Christian church, and that rejects any other Christian of any other flavor.
Because he has mentioned no third baptism, are we to assume that ImaginaryDay2 was welcomed into the Lutheran church on the basis of his first baptism?
Yes.