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Baptism center opens in Jordan

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by Crabtownboy, Mar 25, 2009.

  1. Crabtownboy

    Crabtownboy Well-Known Member
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    http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3948&Itemid=53
     
  2. Joseph M. Smith

    Joseph M. Smith New Member

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    I'm not very comfortable with what has been done in Jordan.

    First, I am just conservative enough to think of baptism as baptism into a particular congregation. In Baptist theology, we have thought of the congregation as having all the attributes of the church, so that it is the locus of such things as baptism, even though that baptism will be recognized by all congregations henceforth. Maybe these converts are understood as becoming members of particular churches, but that is not clear from the article.

    Second, building a baptism center at "the spot" (which I think is dubious historically anyway) seems to me to promote a magical or sacramental view of baptism, as something that confers grace in and of itself. We understand baptism to be obedience and witness as a result of a saving profession of faith. You can teach that at a baptism center, but the very act of going to such a place suggests a mystical experience.

    Third, I would just prefer that (allegedly) archaeologically significant sites not be adorned with modern buildings. Constantine and then the crusaders and then colonial-era builders have already peppered the landscape with buildings supposedly commemorating this or that happening, and it seems to me to obscure rather than enhance the original landscape. And what a lot of money the various groups are spending on their buildings, all of which will witness to the divisions within Christianity!

    Curmudgeonl this morning ...
     
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