The Baptist

The Baptist faith believes in the precepts of Trinity, Heaven, and Hell. Surprisingly Mary does not have a special place in the Baptist religion. They don't teach the assumption of Mary because Mary is seen as just Jesus' mother. As for the belief in Saints, they really don't designate saints because they believe that we all have been saved and we are all God's messengers. Unlike Christianity, Baptists don't have bishops or Cardinals. The Baptist religion has a much more loose structure than the Catholic faith.

There are also five pillars of understanding in the Baptist religion. These five pillars are tracing the history of God, the belief in the never ending kingdom of God, the gospels of Matthew and Mark, the revelation of Paul's gospel, and the gospels of Luke and John. They also believe that held four titles. Son of Man, Son of God, Son of Abraham, and Son of David.

I asked Byron what a person in the Baptist faith must do to make their journey to heaven. He responded by saying "Confess with your mouth, believe in your heart that Jesus died for you, and show love and compassion." Also one must be baptized and receive communion. Byron added, "We are born sinners and are saved by God."

The Sacraments that they have are Fruit of the Vine and Bread, which are grape juice and ceremonial bread. In the Baptist religion they have interfaith communion, where anyone can receive it. To the Baptists the sacrament of communion is more symbolic than what Catholics believe it to be. I found it interesting marriage and confession are not sacraments in there faith.

The Baptists don't have a set version of the bible, but usually they use the King James or the New King James version. Sometimes they do use the Catholic bible.

The format of a Baptist Sunday service consists of the choir, devotion (psalms, scripture, message, prayer, song), responsive readings, congregational prayer, choir, sermon, and invitation to join the church, offering, and then special announcements. Each month a different part of the church is in charge of the prayer service.

They receive communion by the Priest and Eucharistic ministers taking it down to the isles and distributing it. Communion is distributed to "everyone who is saved." As stated before the body and blood of Christ is very symbolic to the Baptists.

In order to become a Minister in the Baptist church you must go through meetings with the Pastor. Then you do a trial sermon at a mass and then go on from there. Their encouraged to take theology classes.