Baptism center opens in Jordan

[Crabtownboy]

AMMAN, Jordan (ABP) -- Baptist leaders and other dignitaries -- including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- took part in a ceremony March 20 dedicating a new evangelical Christian baptism center at the Jordanian spot traditionally regarded as the site of Jesus' baptism.

The afternoon celebration at the Baptism Center at Bethany beyond Jordan included more than 120 baptisms by immersion in the Jordan River. They were conducted by pastors from the Jordan Baptist Convention.

Eron Henry, associate director of communications for the Baptist World Alliance, said in a travel blog it is the first time Baptists in Jordan have received such prominent coverage in Jordan's major media outlets. About 120 people were baptized as part of a dedication at a new baptism center in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. (BWA photo)

One of several new churches being built along the Jordan River at about the location Christian pilgrims have long believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, the center is intended to cater to Christian traditions that practice believer's baptism by immersion.

http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3948&Itemid=53

 

[Joseph M. Smith]

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 ...