Baptist

I thought I'd pay tribute to my freshman Religion 101 professor for inspiring me to explore religion in the first place. He is a Baptist, in fact he was a Baptist minister as well.

First and foremost, Baptist is a Christian denomination, which does not believe in infant baptism. Rather, they believe in believer's baptism because a baby cannot hear and understand the word of the gospel. A parent cannot pass down immersion of a religion to their child, but instead every individual must find salvation through practicing the faith.

Baptist churches specifically fall under Protestantism, but some individuals further identify with evangelicalism. Unlike Protestants, Baptists believe in two human hierarchy: pastors and deacons, but they do not believe in bishops.

Their origin traces back to English Separatists who left the Church of England during the Reformation. They play a major role in promoting religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Being that Baptist is a Christian denomination they believe in one God, the virgin birth, miracles performed by Jesus Christ, the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, the Trinity, the need for salvation, and the Kingdom of God. Baptists also firmly believe that the second coming of Christ will be the end of the world.

Baptists believe in 4 Freedoms:

1.) Soul Freedom: the soul is competent before God, meaning humans can make decisions without coercion by any larger religious body.

2.) Church Freedom: the local church is free from governmental or civilian interference.

3.) Bible Freedom: the individual can interpret the Bible for himself/herself.

4.) Religious Freedom: the individual can choose whether they want to leave their religion and practice another since they have not yet been Baptized.

So is Baptist a religion that I could follow? Perhaps? I do like that there really is no pressure to bind yourself to this religion. In fact the religion is vastly based on decided for yourself once you have experienced what it has to offer. They believe in the freedom of religion and the freedom of the soul and I like that. I'm still very open-minded and subconsciously narrowing down what I think is for me, but until then I will continue this journey to finding my religion.