#infant baptism

[buggie-hagen]

If the validity of Baptism depends on the quality of our faith, then we would all be in great trouble. As Christians we know our faith is not a constant "truth" like a mathematical formula. Two plus two will always equal four. But faith does not work that way. It often wavers, trembles, and doubts. Luther understood this himself. He even likened the fragility of faith to "butter in the sunshine." He often said that the devil is especially busy tempting people of faith because he knows such folk threaten his power as God's chief opponent on earth. So they are special targets of his attacks. As a consequence, faith needs an anchor, or something to which it can cling when it is under assault. And that anchor is Baptism, the most precious "jewel in body and soul." ~Mark D. Tranvik, "Infant Baptism and Saving Faith" in Luther's Large Catechism with Annotations and Contemporary Applications, 624.

[stjohncapistrano67]

A post renaissance era Catholic religious art image of an infant baptism. Artist unknown.

[mattdamethodist]

1.8.23 Come on in the Water is fine

1.8.23 Come on in the Water is fine

Sermon Topic: Baptism Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13-17

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional: Exodus 4:24-26

Daily Devotional: Exodus 4:24-26

This part of the story sits awkwardly in the text. If someone was inventing a story to tell, this detail would be one left out. But, when recording actual events in narrative form—one cannot escape the awkwardness of the story. The Lord meets Moses at one of the lodging places on the way to Egypt in order to kill him. The reason is obscure at best in the text. We don’t know God’s method—whether…

[reformedontheweb]

May I appeal to persons who, although Baptists in principle, are yet members of Pedobaptist churches?

May I appeal to persons who, although Baptists in principle, are yet members of Pedobaptist churches?

May I, in the second place, appeal to persons who, although Baptists in principle, are yet members of Pedobaptist churches? This class of persons is much more numerous than has generally been imagined. Many of them are not themselves fully aware that they approximate our principles. They have derived all their knowledge of them through Pedobaptist channels, and such have been the representations…

[amcatholic4life]

Catholic Baptism Dresses for Infants and Adults

Catholic Baptism Dresses for Infants and Adults

The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church in the world, with over 1.3 billion members worldwide. It is also one of the oldest Christian churches, with a history that can be traced back to the time of Jesus Christ.One of the most important rituals in the Catholic Church is baptism. This sacrament is seen as a way of welcoming a new member into the Christian faith. It is also a way of…

[tomicscomics]

05/10/2024

The widdle baybeee!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. This cartoon is based on a story from the 6th session of St. Joan's trial. Before I explain it, here's the original segment, translated by W. S. Scott: "Asked what was the age of the child at Lagny that she went to see, she replied: The baby was three days old. And it was brought to Lagny to Notre Dame. And she was told that the maidens of the town were before [the statue of] Our Lady; and that she might like to go and pray to God and Our Lady that it might live. And she went there and prayed to God with the others. And finally life appeared in it, and it yawned three times; then it was baptised and immediately after died, and was buried in consecrated ground. For three days, they said, no life had appeared in the child; and it was as black as her tunic. But when it yawned, the colour began to come back. And she was with the maidens on her knees in front of [the statue of] Our Lady, offering prayers. Asked if it were not said by the town that she had brought this about, and that it was by her intercession, she replied: I never inquired." 2. To summarize, Joan was in a town called Lagny, where a stillborn child was placed before a statue of Mary in hopes of a miraculous revival. Joan is asked to pray over him with the other young women of the town, and when they finish, the baby is temporarily revived and quickly baptized before dying again. 3. Medieval Catholics believed baptism was essential for salvation, and that anyone who died without it could not get into heaven. Losing a child would've been bad enough without believing their soul was lost too, so although this baby's return to life was only temporary, his quick baptism would have meant the world to his family and community. For those who are curious, the Church still believes that baptism is necessary for salvation, but they also teach that God can offer its graces Himself, without the need for formal ceremony. The sacraments are bound to God, but He is not bound by His sacraments. 4. Though it's not explicitly stated in this part of the manuscript, one of the narratives being pushed by the judges during the trial was that Joan was always out to glorify herself, not God. They ask her if the people of Lagny credited her for the miracle, but in this cartoon, I expand that question a bit to get at what they were really trying to say. 5. For more background on this story, here's one of the sites I referenced: https://www.online-literature.com/anatole-france/joan-of-arc/25/

[heckling-hydrena]

love being the resident Atheist Blasphemer in a household of Lax "yeah sure we believe in God" Orthodox Christians. I've already eaten 2 of our easter eggs early. Hristos vaskrse to all who celebrate I hope your chosen egg beats the shit out of all the other loser eggs

[brontes]

…………………….

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

José Arpa Perea (Spanish, 1858-1952) Baptizmo del Infante Don Juan en Sevilla, 1893

[nostalgia-tblr]

okay reading about the reformation it seems everyone thinks the anabaptists are heretical but the "baptism only counts if you choose to do it" idea seems... quite reasonable to me?

[idontliketomatoesleavemealone]

Time to think abt babies

[walterdecourceys]

i know i have a lot of strong and stupid opinions on theological topics but the baptism debate is so silly to me. who cares at what age you choose to immerse yourself in water as long as you understand the significance of the act and what it represents to you

[chapel-roach]

i love baptisms. there was one for a baby today during service and it was so sweet and the baby was so so cute. he tried his best to stick his little fingers in the pastor's mouth while she spoke and gave a blessing, i don't know how she didn't start laughing. i did. his big (but still little) brother did, out loud, which was even cuter and funnier

[theloverstomb]

‘Fragile Microbiomes’ by bio-artist Anna Dumitriu

1. SYPHILIS DRESS- This dress is embroidered with images of the corkscrew-shaped bacterium which causes the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. These embroideries are impregnated with the sterilised DNA of the Nichols strain of the bacterium - Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum - which Dumitriu extracted with her collaborators.

2. MICROBE MOUTH- The tooth at the centre of this necklace was grown in the lab using an extremophile bacterium which is part of the species called Serratia (Serratia N14) that can produce hydroxyapatite, the same substance that tooth enamel is made from.

The handmade porcelain teeth that make up this necklace have been coated with glazes derived from various bacterial species that live in our mouths and cause tooth decay and gum disease, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, which can introduce an iron-containing light brown stain to the glaze.

3. TEETH MARKS: THE MOST PROFOUND MYSTERY- In his 1845 essay “On Artificial Teeth”, W.H. Mortimer described false teeth as “the most profound mystery” because they were never discussed. Instead, people would hide the stigma of bad teeth and foul breath using fans.

This altered antique fan is made from animal bone and has been mended with gold wire, both materials historically used to construct false teeth (which would also sometimes incorporate human teeth). The silk of the fan and ribbon has been grown and patterned with two species of oral pathogens: Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis. These bacteria cause gum disease and bad breath, and the latter has also recently been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

4. PLAGUE DRESS- This 1665-style 'Plague Dress' is made from raw silk, hand-dyed with walnut husks in reference to the famous herbalist of the era Nicholas Culpeper, who recommended walnuts as a treatment for plague. It has been appliquéd with original 17th-century embroideries, impregnated with the DNA of Yersinia pestis bacteria (plague). The artist extracted this from killed bacteria in the laboratory of the National Collection of Type Cultures at the UK Health Security Agency.

The dress is stuffed and surrounded by lavender, which people carried during the Great Plague of London to cover the stench of infection and to prevent the disease, which was believed to be caused by 'bad air' or 'miasmas'. The silk of the dress references the Silk Road, a key vector for the spread of plague.

5. BACTERIAL BAPTISM- based on a vintage christening gown which has been altered by the artist to tell the story of research into how the microbiomes of babies develop, with a focus on the bacterium Clostridioides difficile, originally discovered by Hall and O’Toole in 1935 and presented in their paper “Intestinal flora in new-born infants”. It was named Bacillus difficilis because it was difficult to grow, and in the 1970s it was recognised as causing conditions from mild antibiotic-associated diarrhoea to life-threatening intestinal inflammation. The embroidery silk is dyed using stains used in the study of the gut microbiome and the gown is decorated with hand-crocheted linen lace grown in lab with (sterilised) C. difficile biofilms. The piece also considers how new-borns become colonised by bacteria during birth in what has been described as ‘bacterial baptism’.

6. ZENEXTON- Around 1570, Swiss physician and alchemist Theophrastus Paracelsus coined the term ‘Zenexton’, meaning an amulet worn around the neck to protect from the plague. Until then, amulets had a more general purpose of warding off (unspecified) disease, rather like the difference today between ‘broad spectrum’ antibiotics and antibiotics informed by genomics approaches which target a specific organism.

Over the next century, several ideas were put forward as to what this amulet might contain: a paste made of powdered toads, sapphires that would turn black when they leeched the pestilence from the body, or menstrual blood. Bizarre improvements were later made: “of course, the toad should be finely powdered”; “the menstrual blood from a virgin”; “collected on a full moon”.

This very modern Zenexton has been 3D printed and offers the wearer something that genuinely protects: the recently developed vaccine against Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague.

[reformedontheweb]

Does infant baptism do no harm?

Does infant baptism do no harm?

Does infant baptism do no harm? I persuade myself that no one who reads these pages, will ever again urge that fallacious plea. Every departure from truth must be an evil, and this is one of the most melancholy of them all. Will you not, my brother, ascertain for yourself, its character, and renouncing it, return cheerfully to the word of God? It is “a perfect rule of faith and practice.” If you,…