One might wonder why I question the meaning of baptism, communion, and other things that we take as tradition. It is very simple. As I have stuided a lot of theology and church/christian history, I have found a few interesting things worth mentioning.
With God’s promises, why does statistcs show that the Christian population is less happy, less successful, less healthy, and often more poor. Why, and HOW, can people question the existence of miracles? If miracles do not happen as often as they should, for example the miracle of healing, then there is a lot of room for questioning.
Joseph Smith, the main founder of LDS, Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ AKA Mormonism, argued that the true church came to an abrupt end at the end of the apostolic era (as the apostles died out, so did the true church). Church history will support this to a certain extent. Church history does not support LDS, I am saying that it supports the fact that the church changed drastically in the first century.
What I discovered as I studied was that people fell away from the true teaching of Jesus Christ more and more. People and the church lost the belief and expectancy in the supernatural. The church started to replace supernatural elements with things that could be understood with a rational logic. Baptism was no longer a supernatural “becoming” the likeness of Christ, rather, it became a public confession to demonstrate an understanding and belonging to the death and resurrection of Christ. The Eucharist, communion, became nothing but a remembering celebration of Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and teachings.
Doubt had taken place that there could be a supernatural act and happening connected to a material manifestation. The baptism, whatever kind, could not be anything more than what was seen and touched, and even heard.
The doubt in a spiritual/supernatural/mystical manifestation/happening in conjunction with the taking of the bread and the wine is stronger today than maybe ever before. Baptism has lost all its glory.
This loss of faith in God’s awesome abilities and “almightiness” is showing in the lack of the fulfilling of his promises in our daily lives.
I argue that God has not changed. He is the God of Genesis through Revelations. He breathed, do you get it, a little bit of his breath gave you and I life!!! He kept the sun still for a few hours. He made a man stronger than thousand. I mean what can this God NOT do! Well, you might think that he can do anything. He is constantly limited by a strong force! Your will, my will, your lack of faith and my lack of faith are all limiting factors for what God can do!
The God that, by a sigh, created life in Adam, is far more superior than what you and I can even imagine. I want to re-discover what it is all about. I want to discover the simple rituals of God that connects us with HIM in the way it is meant to be. I want to see miracles today!
So, yet one more blog update!