A favorite story that Brother B. F. Hall loved to tell happened among the Cherokee Indians of North Alabama. A Methodist circuit rider visited the Indian community in the Spring of 1825 to distribute Testaments among them. A young Indian received a Bible and proceeded to read it with diligence. In the fall, the Methodists held a camp meeting in nearby Jacksonville, Alabama. The Indian went, requesting baptism. When he spied the preacher who had…
In Zurich Switzerland on January 18, 1525, an order was given by the Zurich Council that all infants must be baptized within 8 days of birth. Those not compliant with this ruling would be banished from Zurich. On January 21st, all opponents of this decree were not allowed to meet or speak in public. This led to martyrdom and many of those who were martyred were Anabaptist. An Anabaptist is not speaking of those called…
In line with Cyprian (a third-century bishop of Carthage), most Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and some Protestants believe baptism is the “laver of salvation.” According to this view—known as “baptismal regeneration”—the water does not save, but God saves at baptism. An infant or adult believer is freed from condemnation and given new and eternal life. Protestants who affirm baptismal regeneration insist faith is necessary for salvation. So the faith of the infant’s parents and of…
He was described as a man who “dangled the power of life and death over his fellow countrymen and murdered anyone who stood in his way…” By the end of the 1970’s, Manuel Noriega had earned a reputation as the most feared man in Panama. In 1983, he promoted himself to general and gained control of the government. A prominent critic of the military was mysteriously murdered in 1985. In 1988 a U.S. grand jury…
The word for proselyte was first used in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. Often, the Hebrew word “ger,” meaning a “sojourner” or an “immigrant” was translated by the Greek word for proselyte. In time, the first meaning was dropped completely. (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia 3:1005) 1. If a sojourner was circumcised, they could take the Passover (Exodus 12:43-49). 2. Circumcision implies that he has become a convert (Genesis 17:9-14). 3. The…
