The True Followers of Holy Christ - Essay Example

The True Followers of Holy Christ Part I Significance of Baptism: Baptism enjoys central place and a very high status as well in the Catholic Christian faith as the first and most important of the seven fundamental sacraments attributed to Christianity (Chadwick 1975). This Sacrament is given to the newly born babies through bathing, which simply means that they have been purified from all pollutions of non-belief, and hence have entered the Christian faith as the true followers of Holy Christ. The logic behind baptism includes that since the children are the most innocent stratum of society, and contain limited mental capacities, they are unable to comprehend with the concept of religion as well as the meaning and significance of religious and spiritual allegiance. Consequently, they could only be included in the religion through holy bath or baptism in order to associate them with their parents as the followers of Jesus Christ. Infant baptism, according to American Catholic Organization, only makes sense if parents are true Christian disciples. If they are not, then it makes little sense to initiate their children into a Church which calls for a commitment to living the mission of Christ (2012). Baptism is conducted with the same religious fervor as the ancient Jews used to make arrangements for the execution of circumcision of the newly born boys in order to demonstrate their love and affiliation with the first patriarch Abraham (Diamont, 2005); the same is the case with baptism, which seeks its roots in the earliest Christian era, when the Church had maintained rigorous standards for the entry of non-Christians in the faith; consequently, the saints used to baptize the people embracing the faith, which used to be the sign of the grant of pardon from all the previous sins they had committed before converting to Christianity (Latourette 1975). In addition, baptism is also performed by repeating the ways of Jesus Christ, as New Testament manifestly reveals that Jesus was baptized himself by John (Luke 3:21; Matthew 3:16; Mark 1: 9-10). Later, the saints including Augustine of Hippo and others were also baptized at the eve of adopting the faith (Augustine 2011). Gradually, the tradition earned the status of an essential religious sacrament to be performed on all the new born babies. Being the part of old tradition, which has become a sign and symbol of the adopting Christianity as faith, the Catholics still stick to the ritual of baptizing their young ones in order to demonstrate their unflinching belief in Jesus Christ as Savior on the one hand, and the source of spiritual guidance, and worldly and eternal bliss on the other. Thus, baptism has become an integral part of Christian faith, which is performed on infant babies and converts with great religious fervor and enthusiasm in all parts of the globe at large. PART II Baptism/ Initiation Rites in Christianity and Islam: Initiation in Christianity: While discussing the initial Catholic rites other than baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are also included in the list. The Sacraments of Initiation are the initial sacraments by which persons become members of the Catholic Faith (saintanne.org). All the three initiation rites are conducted equally on the young members of Christian faith as well as on the adult converts. Baptism is the bathing in a pool, tank, brook or river etc, which could be performed while standing, sitting, or kneeling in some water, where another Christian then lowers him under the water and then brings him back up out of the water, which is literally called immersion; the same word is found in the Bible (clarifyingchristianity.com). The same process is conducted on the infants with the help of their parents, while they take in their arms or laps during the process. Like baptism, confirmation also maintains an important place in basic Sacraments. Baptism corresponds, according to Pope St. Leo, to our bodily birth, while confirmation corresponds to our bodily growth (Hardon 1998). Confirmation process is conducted at the church under the supervision of a bishop or church minister, where the young or newly-converted adult demonstrates his allegiance towards Christ, and aims to lead his life in the light of his noble teachings in order to obtain worldly and eternal bliss, bounties and blessings (Noll 1999). The affirmation of the confirmation is confirmed through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop at church. The young and adults are in a position of understand the wording and processes of confirmation; while in case of infants, their confirmation is conducted with the help of their parents. Confirmation is more important than baptism even due to the very reality that baptism purifies human body, while confirmation cleanses their soul actually. In addition, the Scripture also authenticates its significance, as it not only blesses divine filiations, but also spiritually unites the humans with Holy Jesus Christ by turning them from ordinary humans to the true followers of the Lord (Romans 8:15). Like Jews and Muslims, the Christians also observe circumcision of male children, though it is not an essential rite among Catholics. Somehow, the Christians living with Jewish and Muslim populations perform the same on the male infants. Nevertheless, the rite has lost popularity in many Christian dominated countries of Europe and America. Moreover, the Christians also name their children after holy personalities and Biblical figures; it is therefore, John, Adam, Abraham, Gabrielle, Michael, Mary, Rachel, Sarah, Moses and others have been in vogue in the Christian community. Initiation in Islam: Christians and Muslims share many initial religious rites including bathing the child, naming, circumcision and others. Like all other humans, the Muslims also cleanse the baby immediately after his arrival in the world. As soon as he has been cleansed with clean water, he is taken to show him to the family members. At this moment, very little quantity of honey or chewed date is offered to him through the index finger on his tongue; it is generally performed either by father or mother of the newly-born child, or some elderly relation or sibling executes the same. Giving the child chewed date or honey as very first diet simply means that his disposition should be as sweet and delicious as honey. It also refers to the concept that the child will take after the traits of the person offering honey to him. Islamic traditions quote the noble statement made by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that when any human being is born, Satan pinches the body with his two fingers, except Jesus Christ, the son of Holy Virgin Mary, whom Satan tried to pinch but failed, for he touched the placenta cover instead. (Sahih Bukhari 4:506). It is therefore, at the eve of his birth, the call for prayer (i.e. azaan) is communicated in both the ears of the newly-born one by one, so that the child could hear the religious call as the first sound on arriving in the world, and hence can escape the evil attacks from man’s eternal enemy Satan. The traditions narrate that the people observed the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) saying the adhan of salah in the ear of his elder grandson, Hassan Bin Ali, when the sacred child was born to his beloved daughter Bibi Fatimah. The Muslims make arrangement for the shave of infant’s head on the seventh day of his/her birth, and give gold, silver or alms (according to the parents’ financial position) equivalent to the weight of the infant’s first hair are distributed among the needy and/or poor as charity. Moreover, aqeeqa rite is also performed on the same day, where goat or sheep is sacrificed, meat of which is distributed among relatives, neighbors and the needy. Furthermore, in case the baby is male, circumcision is also arranged the same day in accordance with the teachings of all Abrahamic faiths by cutting the foreskin of male sex organ. In Islam, the mother of newly-born is encouraged to suckle the infant, as the mother-feed would make the infant strong and healthy. Another very important rite is naming the child, which is called tasmia in Arabic language. The Muslims are expected to give their child a good and apposite name. Such names are selected that are either the names of holy men discussed in the Scripture, or the names attributed to the most sacred or important religious personalities. It is therefore, names including Muhammad, Ali, Ibraheem (Abraham), Moosa (Moses), Fatima, Mariyum (Mary) are very common among the Muslims. Since name reveals the personality behind it, it should be beautiful and having good meanings. As a result, the names like Abdullah (slave of God), Hassan, Hussein and others are also given to the male infants. The children are taught how to offer prayer at or before reaching the age of seven, while they start learning the Holy Quran generally from the age of seven to twelve years. The male children are taken to mosque five times a day to offer prayer, while the girls offer the prayers at home. While describing the initial rites conducted on a newly convert adult, the convert is asked to take bath and wudu (ablution) in order to embrace Islam. Then he is asked to recite kalema (holy statement) La ila ha illal-lah, Muhammad-ur-rasool-Allah (there is no god but except Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of God). Then he/she is asked to offer prayer, and learn the same gradually. To conclude, it becomes evident that Christianity and Islam are regarded as two of the three Abrahamic faiths, which share many commonalities in it including mythology and several basic concepts. It is therefore the followers of Islam revere all the prophets and holy men elucidated and discussed in the Holy Bible. In addition, stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Deluge, Abraham’s life, wrath of God on the people of Lot, the departure of Hajar and Ishmael to Mecca, and the life of Jacob, Joseph and Moses, and People of the Cave etc maintain such similarities that they appear to be created by One and the Same Author i.e. Almighty God. Consequently, both the faiths also share initial rites in them, though there are several dissimilarities too, which make them as pole-apart religions existing on the face of the earth. However, belief in God, Christ, Mary and Gabrielle is essential among the Christians, while belief in Oneness of God and the Prophet-hood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is essential according to the Islamic faith. However, there are many differences in respect of initial rites among both the faiths, which have been examined in the above discussion. Works Cited Augustine, St. The Confessions Hendrickson Publishers, 2011 Print Chadwick, Henry The Early Church The Pelican History of Church 1 Penguin Book 1975 Print Hardon, John A. “The Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation” Catholic Education Resource Centre 1998 Retrieved from (visited on October 18, 2012) Latourette, Kenneth Scott A History of Christianity Volume I Harper Collins 1975 Print Noll, Ray Robert Sacraments: A new Understanding for a New Generation Twenty-Third Publications 1999 Print Clarifying Christianity “What is Baptism”? Retrieved from (visited on October 18, 2012) St. Anne Catholic Community “Sacraments of Initiation” Retrieved from (visited on October 18, 2012) American Catholic Organization Why are babies baptized? Aren't they too young to accept Jesus? Retrieved from (visited on October 18, 2012) Muslim Directory “Newborn Baby and its Islamic Rites” Retrieved from (visited on October 18, 2012) Read More