Rituals in Christianity

Answer 1

There are only two rituals or sacraments for Christians in the New Testament: one is water baptism and the other is the Lord's supper or communion. Both depict the Lord's death.

Baptism is to be performed once after conversion and is a figure of the Lord's burial and resurrection, thus a Christian confesses to be dead to the world and to self, and alive unto God.

Romans 6:3-4 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

The communion is repeated on a regular basis by a local church (a group of Christians, gathering in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ) and is meant to remind the believers that they live by faith in the one who died for them.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come".

The Christian rituals have no merit in and of themselves, but only as acts of obedience to, and worship of God carried out sincerely from the heart of a true believer. It is better not to participate in it at all, then to do so irreverently, superficially or hypocritically.

1 Corinthians 11:29-30 "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep [dead]."

Answer 2

There are no "rituals" per say in Christianity. There are things that Christians should do out of love and obedience to God because they want to. Some of these things are obeying the commandments that are in the bible and not negated from Old Testament to New Testament, baptism though this is not salvation, they should love the Lord God with all their heart mind and soul, love their neighbor as themselves, have communion. There are much more but these are simple. A special note would be that in Christianity "rituals" are not done out of duty or because the members feel they have to; they shouldn't be done for those reasons but they often are. Christianity should be a following of commandments because the followers love God and want to do obey what He says. An easy very simplified parallel to this in today's terms is if you love to watch Kobe Bryant play basketball you probably try to play like him when you play basketball and imitate his moves etc. In a similar way we as christians follow God and do commandments out of love and obedience not out of duty. For salvation is not by works as Catholics, Mormons, and other heresies believe. The bible says, " 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Hope this helps. God bless.

In Christ alone.

I think Christianity has two rituals/ordinances:

1. Baptism of believers - Jesus told his disciples to:

Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2. Breaking of bread/communion - Paul wrote this to the Corinthian Church (he was speaking about Jesus):

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

Answer 3

"Ritual" would not be the correct word to use in describing Christianity, nor, for that matter, would the word "religion" be appropriate. Instead, Christianity is a relationship between God and man - made possible through Jesus Christ. All to often, people over-complicate it ... you don't have to be perfect to come to God, we come to Him to be made perfect...

Prayer and worship are lifestyles - not rituals. Talking to God and spending time meditating and acting on His word are not rituals persay, but rather ways and means of building a meaningful relationship with our Father (in much the same way that human relationships are developed - you can't be friends with someone you never talk to or know nothing about).

I think Christianity has two rituals/ordinances:

1. Baptism of believers - Jesus told his disciples to:

Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

2. Breaking of bread/communion - Paul wrote this to the Corinthian Church (he was speaking about Jesus):

1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1Co 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

1Co 11:25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."