I had a reader email in and ask a few questions about baptism; what is it, what is the difference between sprinkle/pour and immersion baptisms, infant baptisms, and is any of it biblical?
Let me start at the beginning and cover what baptism is and what it is not. A Christian baptism is an act we perform to show our faith in Christ as our savior. The act itself is symbolizing us going into the grave, just as Jesus did, and then coming out of the water represents us coming to life is a Christian just as Jesus was resurrected on the third day. In the bible we read:
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life
Romans 6:3-4
Yesterday, we spoke about the Gospel of Mary, a Gnostic Gospel that was found in the town of Nag Hammadi with a large collection of early Gnostic writings. This place then became known as the Nag Hammadi Library. In both that post of the Gospel of Mary and the couple of sentences above, I have used the word ‘Gnostic’ repeatedly. I had a reader ask me what ‘Gnostic’ is and what makes it different than the Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John? 
As anyone who pokes around the site knows, I do love the Da Vinci Code as a fictional piece; excellent thriller. I had a hard time putting it down even though I did not agree with it on a religious level. And as a side tangent, I am REALLY looking forward to the prequel of Angels & Demons that is coming out May 19, 2009! Angels & Demons was a better book than the Da Vinci in Becky and my opinions. But that is not what we are here to talk about is it!
One thing that I enjoy doing in the back end of my blog is reviewing the stats page. It shows you all sorts of interesting information about your blog. Not only does it give you the number of visitors, but it also shows how people got to the site, any links to the site that others have put on their sites(Thank you very much by the way), what stories people are reading, and so forth. The one that interests me the most, however, is the category called “Search Engine Terms” this shows me a list of what people were searching for on Google, Yahoo, etc. to get to my site. I can then use this info to try to give those searching more information about the subjects they are searching for.
In a poll compiled by Beliefnet.com, 33% of the polled population states that they would believe Oprah Winfrey over their own clergy in spiritual matters!
Beyond Faith Ministry 
You must be logged in to post a comment.