The True Followers of Holy Christ Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The True Followers of Holy Christ - Essay Example Consequently, they could only be included in the religion through holy bath or baptism in order to associate them with their parents as the followers of Jesus Christ. Infant baptism, according to the American Catholic Organization, only makes sense if parents are true Christian disciples. If they are not, then it makes little sense to initiate their children into a Church which calls for a commitment to living the mission of Christ (2012). Baptism is conducted with the same religious fervor as the ancient Jews used to make arrangements for the execution of circumcision of the newly born boys in order to demonstrate their love and affiliation with the first patriarch Abraham (Diamont, 2005); the same is the case with baptism, which seeks its roots in the earliest Christian era, when the Church had maintained rigorous standards for the entry of non-Christians in the faith; consequently, the saints used to baptize the people embracing the faith, which used to be the sign of the grant of pardon from all the previous sins they had committed before converting to Christianity (Latourette 1975). In addition, baptism is also performed by repeating the ways of Jesus Christ, as New Testament manifestly reveals that Jesus was baptized himself by John (Luke 3:21; Matthew 3:16; Mark 1: 9-10). Later, the saints including Augustine of Hippo and others were also baptized at the eve of adopting the faith (Augustine 2011). Gradually, the tradition earned the status of an essential religious sacrament to be performed on all the newborn babies. Being the part of old tradition, which has become a sign and symbol of the adopting Christianity as faith, the Catholics still stick to the ritual of baptizing their young ones in order to demonstrate their unflinching belief in Jesus Christ as Savior on the one hand, and the source of spiritual guidance, and worldly and eternal bliss on the other. Thus, baptism has become an integral part of Christian faith, which is performed on infant bab ies and converts with great religious fervor and enthusiasm in all parts of the globe at large. PART II Baptism/ Initiation Rites in Christianity and Islam: Initiation in Christianity: While discussing the initial Catholic rites other than baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are also included in the list. The Sacraments of Initiation are the initial sacraments by which persons become members of the Catholic Faith (saintanne.org). All the three initiation rites are conducted equally on the young members of Christian faith as well as on the adult converts. Baptism is the bathing in a pool, tank, brook or river etc, which could be performed while standing, sitting, or kneeling in some water, where another Christian then lowers him under the water and then brings him back up out of the water, which is literally called immersion; the same word is found in the Bible (clarifyingchristianity.com). The same process is conducted on the infants with the help of their parents, while they take i n their arms or laps during the process. Like baptism, confirmation also maintains an important place in basic Sacraments. Baptism corresponds, according to Pope St. Leo, to our bodily birth, while confirmation corresponds to our bodily growth (Hardon 1998).