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What exactly does the baptism do?
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Is Christianity the only religion that does baptisims or can other pathoeons/practices/religions do them to?
. If so, how are these baptisms similar and different to the christian one?
Also
" Churches of Christ consistently teach that in baptism a believer surrenders his life in faith and obedience to God, and that God “by the merits of Christ’s blood, cleanses one from sin and truly changes the state of the person from an alien to a citizen of God’s kingdom.”
Cool ritual I can repurpose
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Interesting. I certainly would not surrender or be obedient to some “God”. I like freedom.
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IT’s actually kind of a normal ritual for any religious sect, and like all rituals, there’s something we can use in there.
I’m not religious. Nor do I follow any gods/etc. I work with on equal terms, not follow.
Maybe if one could “edit” it and improvise it would be useful.
I never said you were, ,and I’ not relating it to you, or religious obedience being something you should follow.
nevermind lol
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According to Christians, it guarantees access to Heaven.
And no, it doesn’t actually do that.
I think so? I want to say that Islam does it too but I’m not sure.
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Then what does it actually do? If anything.
It does nothing. It’s just a ceremony.
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I see. Thanks for the reply.
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A baptism is a magical ceremony of rebirth. It’s purpose is to wash away the old life, and to purify all sins (that’s why the one being baptised is usually dressed in white. It symbolises the new self being created). It is pretty much the exact same thing magical orders seek to do with their initiations. It is supposed to symbolise a new beginning, welcoming the devotee into a new reality.
However, Christians would shudder at such a suggestion, and most baptisms these days are empty of any real power. Every so often, though, you hear stories of someone who had a truly transformative spiritual experience while being baptised.
Ritual washing has been part of religious and magical traditions since ancient times. It symbolises washing away the dirt and “sin” of the world so one can be worthy to stand before the gods. One washes before prayer, and before ceremony.
The main difference is that in the Christian tradition, the baptism takes the place of an initiation ritual, whereas in the ancient traditions it would be a prelude to it.
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I agree with that. As I understand it, the baptism in Christianity has its origin in the baptism that Jesus received from John and it means precisely that, the birth of Jesus as a preacher.
It is the line that, according to Christianity, divides the “private life” of Jesus (from the time he was born until he was baptized) from the “public life” (from the baptism to his death on the cross)
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You get wet while others watch you. Its more for recruitment when they have large crowds watching esp via recorded telescreens.
The actual baptism in christ with god can be done alone and is far more powerful. No water is needed. When I was in Missouri i joined a few churches and was checking them out. I had a few obes and one particularly spiritual dream in rocky crags in a pool with a few possibly old spirits. I was insfantly under spirit water in the dream and resurfaced in a baby bathtub. Very accurate symbolism. This was weeks before i chose the church baptism. During the month i was under a huge rapture influence and teared up often. Everything was so bright and overly happy. I couldn’t get angry/slighted/etc for a few months.
The church baptism seemed hollow, fake, and i was mildly upset they kept airing it on the tekescreen each week and on the internet. I learned many of the christians at these churches were very judgemental and lost themself looking for answers. Money was a huge worry always esp offerings.
Night and day for me to compare their ceremony and what I assume would be the holy spirit. I left the church later due to circumstances beyond my control. I put discontent and had to reinforce hatred, wrath, and vices into my life. It was not easy when loving spirits are always blocking that. I eventually succeeded but they are always there deep in the background even during my lust/glutton/greed fest last year.
Covid occurred and now i have lost most of my sense of taste and smell. I don’t really hate these days but view archiving all beliefs. I set my mind to fight god just because it would be the ultimate honor to go against the supposed most powerful idea in existence.
Perhaps baptism is different for different people. There is the baptism of fire as well. I experienced that after i left the church and felt much elation in that obe dream burning to a crisp and becoming living flame. This too faded over time.
There was the baptism of leviathan in the crushing depths of the deep. The baptism in the eye of tiamat at a temple where i believe i saw my first glimpse of Asenath Mason.
There was the baptism in the milky waters of the 7 that could be norsemen or angels.
I am sure there are many types and rituals aren’t always needed. Sometimes they happen.
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I was raised in the Catholic faith though I cannot say that I was ever Catholic myself. I didn’t agree ever with the principles. I was however baptized into the faith as a baby. We were taught that it is to cleanse the “Original Sin.” A sin inherited by all babies from Eve who took the serpent’s apple of knowledge. Personally, I think this is a stupid tradition because although theoretically something is being cleansed, the person being baptized has no say. In other Christian denominations (looking at the Baptists and Protestants) a child chooses to be baptized but I view this as wrong because what choice do you have as a child living with your religious family? What will you have to endure if you refuse? So I think many baptisms are meant to “give yourself” over to the “Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ” without knowing what’s happening and therefore, in my opinion, they aren’t authentic because the lack of free-will.
Aside from the people who buy the little initiation cards to get into massive RHP cults/groups, I can’t think of anything else like a baptism…