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What Is the Purpose of Sacraments? Question: What
is the purpose of the sacraments? Who created them? Answer: Marriage,
for instance, is considered a Holy Sacrament, although marriage was
recognized by primitive and civilized people all over the world for ages
before Christians assigned it sacrament status. Marriage is a public
declaration between two people that they will live together under a set of
rules; but, except that it was blessed as a proper idea by Christ, I do not
know why it should be considered a sacrament. Christ did not promote baptism,
and He never baptized another person. John promoted it as a symbolic cleansing,
which somehow was incorporated later into the belief that whoever was not
baptized could not go to heaven or take part in Holy Communion or the other
sacraments. Again, man has institutionalized tradition into commands with
punitive incentives. At the Last Supper, Christ said, “This do in remembrance
of Me”; He did not say anything about making the Passover meal a Holy
Sacrament or that one must partake of it. Communion is a reminder of a great
event and there can be intense emotional gratification in the ceremony, but I
do not know how the sacraments acquired the rank of commands from God. Mostly
the sacraments are activities that would remind one of what Christ did and
who He was and the importance of being thoughtful about birth, marriage and
concern for afterlife. (10-1973) What Is Your Feeling About Baptism and Communion? Question: What
is your feeling about Baptism and Communion as practiced in the Churches? Answer: During
the Last Supper, Christ said, “Do these things in remembrance of me.”
Symbolicly the bread is His body and the wine is His blood. This is the body
and spirit of Christianity. When you take communion, you are doing so in
remembrance of Christ. John
the Baptist introduced baptism as the symbolic cleansing away of the old ways
in which one was living, and putting aside sinful ways and being born again.
This is the value of Baptism, it is a symbolic thing. The churches have tried
to say that there is some deeper mystery involved in that if you have not
been baptized you cannot see the |
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