SUB-TOPIC...
1) INFANT BAPTISM
What does The United Methodist Church believe about baptism?
Baptism is a sign of belonging to the family of God.
We are not saved by baptism. It is a symbol of salvation, not the act.
Methodists practice infant baptism because there is scriptural evidence that entire households, including children, were baptized, as recorded in the book of Acts. (Acts 16:15 )
A person only needs to be baptized once, even if the baptism occurs as an infant.
A person who was baptized as an infant and wishes to be baptized as a believer may do so by being baptized as a reaffirmation of what his/her parents declared years before.
Baptism is one of the two sacraments of the United Methodist Church. The other is Holy Communion. A sacrament is a special command of the Lord, using outward signs (water or bread and wine) to convey the grace of God.
Asbury offers a focused retreat, called Faith Steps, for all older children (baptized or not baptized) to help prepare them to receive Christ as Savior. This retreat culminates in New Life Sunday in which the retreat participants are invited to make a public profession of faith. Historically, the term used for this focused time of learning and commitment is called confirmation.
SOURCE: http://www.asburyumc.ws/about_us/beliefs/baptism.htm
Official Website of Asbury United Methodist Church in Madison, Alabama
2) LUTHER'S BLASPHEMY
I was utterly ashamed. How have I esteemed this book [Luthers commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians] only because I heard it so commended by others: or, at best, because I had read some excellent sentences occasionally quoted from it! But what shall I say, now I judge for myself, now I see with my own eyes?
How blasphemously does he speak of good works and of the law of God constantly coupling the law with sin, death, or the devil; and teaching that Christ delivers us from them all alike. Whereas it can no more be proved by Scripture that Christ delivers us from the law of God than that he delivers us from holiness or from heaven.
SOURCE: Wesley, John (founder of Methodism). His diary May 1738
quoted by: Nitz, H.C. By the Way Luther Accused of Blasphemy
October 23, 1960. The Northwestern Lutheran. Vol. 47, Number 22, p.346
COMMENTS: yet to come. As for now, know that I disagree with Wesley's position (and the contradictions of Methodism)
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