Religion Reading Response #5 Essays - Baptism, Infant Baptism

Religion Reading Response #5 Essays - Baptism, Infant Baptism Madeline Stickler February 26,2016 Reading Response #5 Professor Ryan Menno Simons Menno Simons was born in in 1496 and ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in 1524. Four years after the Anabaptist movement began, at the age of 32, Menno studied the Bible to see if the Anabaptists claims about errors in Catholic teachings were correct. He gradually conceded they were. In 1536, at the age of 40, Menno left the Catholic Church and began living the stressful, dangerous life of an outcast Anabaptist. Mennos main focuses were on baptism, the Lords Supper, pacifism, and the ban. Though I may not personally believe all the same things Menno did, I am a strong advocate against baptism in infants. Not growing up in the church, I was never and still have not been baptized. According to Merriam Webster, baptism is a ceremonial immersion in water, or application of water, as an initiatory rite or sacrament of the Christian church, or washing away of sins. Infants in the first year of their lives are not capable of sin, therefore giving no reason for baptism at such a young age. It is my belief that any young adult or adult should be able to choose when they would like to be baptized, because for baptism, one must have accepted Jesus Christ into their lives, heard His word, and believe it before making any changes in their lifestyle. As said in Mark 16:16, Here, faith did not follow baptism, but baptism followed faith. To me, there is no other scripture that better defends against infant baptism and in the New Testament, there is no scripture implying that baptism must be in infants. I also presume communion, drawn from the Lords Supper, as one of the best ways to commemorate Jesus dying for our sins. The wine and bread, representing the body and the blood of Christ, memorializes just how much we are loved and our devotion of our life to Him. Pacifism is a great outlook we should have on life, but in all reality, every dispute cannot be justified and settled by peaceful means.