Mennonite/Catholic group

[MrJim]

Seems completely contradictory but...

http://bridgefolk.net/

Bridgefolk is a movement of sacramentally-minded Mennonites and peace-minded Roman Catholics who come together to celebrate each other's traditions, explore each other's practices, and honor each other's contribution to the mission of Christ's Church.

 

[MrJim]

http://www.bridgefolk.net/theology/PrayerBook.htm

an anabaptist "Liturgy of Hours"...

 

[tulc]

wow. I bet they have some interesting conversations!
tulc(how's your day so far?)

 

[Danfrey]

I wonder what their take is on infant bapitism.

 

[MrJim]

I wonder what their take is on infant bapitism.

and a dozen other doctrines...

 

[Danfrey]

In my time with Mennonites, I have seen many who are very ecumenically minded. They view our differences as "doctrinal distinctives" rather than Biblical or non-Biblical. I guess I have a different take on things because I came to these beliefs rather than getting them from my parents. I have sat and watched Anabaptists defend beliefs that their ancestors were burned at the stake or drown for rejecting. I will step of my soap box now.

 

[MadFingerPainter]

being a former catholic...
i was told that if you were baptized (sprinkled) as an infant you were saved.

 

[Jehane]

You just opened a can of worms there, madfinger!
This should make for some interesting 'discussion.'

 

[MrJim]

You wonder if they are getting past the externals to the core or if there is simply another "agenda". For christians to get to the core--reminds me of Wurmbrandt talking of the christians in the Romanian prison--the denom tags long since lost their meaning and after the torture, the executions, the starvation they were just left with a simple faith.

 

[MadFingerPainter]

~winks @ janie~ nothing new for me...
well what i don't get...this is just my personal view on this...i don't understand how they figure baptizing saves. a baby can not accept Christ because they don't have the ability to understand. so i don't see how that even counts.

 

[MrJim]

~winks @ janie~ nothing new for me...
well what i don't get...this is just my personal view on this...i don't understand how they figure baptizing saves. a baby can not accept Christ because they don't have the ability to understand. so i don't see how that even counts.

No they don't believe baptism saves. It is a sacrament that bestows the grace of salvation but that salvation must be maintained through obedience to Christ or else that person is lost--that is why they must maintain communion with the church, confess mortal sins, etc.

Roman Catholic is not the only group that baptizes its infants---methodists, lutherans, presbyterians, eastern orthodox all do it. And there are believer baptism groups such as the Church of Christ that believe that baptism is a critical part of the salvation process--more than just doing it to follow Christ's example.

<<Mark 16
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.>>

NOW this was a critical departure for the anabaptists--even the name means "rebaptize" so it does create an interesting issue for the two.

 

[MadFingerPainter]

well...i don't think the sprinkling did me a bit of good. ~lol~
after i got saved and became a baptist i got baptized by immersion like it says in the bible. my life has never been the same since all this.
so...what do you mean by re-baptizing? you do it twice or something?

 

[MrJim]

well...i don't think the sprinkling did me a bit of good. ~lol~
after i got saved and became a baptist i got baptized by immersion like it says in the bible. my life has never been the same since all this.
so...what do you mean by re-baptizing? you do it twice or something?

During the reformation the anabaptists believed (just like you did) that baptizing infants did nothing other than irritate the baby. So they got rebaptized (just like you did). The Catholic and Protestant authorities did not like this at all and was one of the reasons the anabaptists were persecuted. This was during the reformation period 1500's-1600's or so.

You are an anabaptist whether you realized it or not

 

[MadFingerPainter]

i doubt seriously our doctrinal beliefs are the same though. ~chuckles~
that's how one becomes a member of this particular church i go to. i had to stand in front of 16 people and give my testimony. i'm kinda shy about those kind of things to begin with so public speaking isn't something i enjoy. regardless of what people think of me in real time i hate being the center of attention. ~lol~

 

[TexasCatholic]

i doubt seriously our doctrinal beliefs are the same though. ~chuckles~
that's how one becomes a member of this particular church i go to. i had to stand in front of 16 people and give my testimony. i'm kinda shy about those kind of things to begin with so public speaking isn't something i enjoy. regardless of what people think of me in real time i hate being the center of attention. ~lol~

Is this a requirement to join your church? A verbal testimony? *just curious* Nothing wrong with it. I had to profess my beliefs in front of the congregation, as well when I entered the Church.

God bless,

-Michael

 

[MadFingerPainter]

well...in order to become a member we have to get saved and get baptised. then we were given a choice of either answering questions or giving our testimony at baptism. i decided it would be much more meaningful if they could hear how i came to Christ rather than answering questions.

 

[MadFingerPainter]

~giggles~ this is kinda odd...you used to be a baptist and became a catholic and i'm the exact opposite.

 

[TexasCatholic]

No they don't believe baptism saves. It is a sacrament that bestows the grace of salvation but that salvation must be maintained through obedience to Christ or else that person is lost--that is why they must maintain communion with the church, confess mortal sins, etc.

Roman Catholic is not the only group that baptizes its infants---methodists, lutherans, presbyterians, eastern orthodox all do it. And there are believer baptism groups such as the Church of Christ that believe that baptism is a critical part of the salvation process--more than just doing it to follow Christ's example.

<<Mark 16
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.>>

NOW this was a critical departure for the anabaptists--even the name means "rebaptize" so it does create an interesting issue for the two.

Very well said and accurate as far as I know (though, I'm no theology expert).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses this:

"Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated." CCC 1272

This is why I was not re-baptized when I came into the Church.

-Michael

 

[TexasCatholic]

~giggles~ this is kinda odd...you used to be a baptist and became a catholic and i'm the exact opposite.

Very true! I'm sure we could have some interesting discussions about our respective testimonies... perhaps in another thread or a PM?

-Michael

 

[MadFingerPainter]

Very well said and accurate as far as I know (though, I'm no theology expert).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses this:

"Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation. Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated." CCC 1272

This is why I was not re-baptized when I came into the Church.

-Michael

i guess what i'm asking is this...
what's the point of being baptized if you never actually get saved? it's my understanding through scripture that all "believers" are to get baptized. how can one be a believer when they are an infant? do you understand what i mean?