Table of Contents
Introduction
Religion is as old as mankind. Owing to this fact, man has had a set of beliefs and various explanations as to the existence of the universe. Additionally, reasons have been sought with regard to the subsistence of nature. As such, the universe has been attached to the existence of a supernatural being that is behind every occurrence on earth. In the light of this point, various faith movements have been in existence depending on their belief system. However, Christianity is viewed as the most prominent denomination. More to this, Forell (1975) asserts that faith is imperative in understanding of human beings and society. As such, the protestant faith gives us a better understanding of our society and ourselves as it highly influences culture (12). Therefore, in this research paper; focus will be narrowed down to the Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist or Protestant Faith as the major Christian faith movement.
Research findings and discussion
Generally, the Protestant faith has its origin in the reformation of the Roman Catholic back in the 16th Century. Basically, this faith movement surfaced in an attempt by a certain movement to reform the Western Church (Ron 14). This is because there was a lot of permissiveness and compromise in the Roman Catholic Church. More to this, people were at liberty to do as they wished and no one could question them. As a result, there were disparities in views and those who protested against the practices of the Roman Catholic deviated forming the Protestant faith.
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The Baptists forms the largest group of the Protestant faith and they emerged out of certain seventeenth century English Separatists who had a congregational polity. They alleged that the church should be made up of simply revived membership. However, in America, Baptist churches were founded by Roger William and John Clarke. (Ron 36). This protestant group preached salvation to all with much emphasis on the word of God. In line with this, Seventh day Adventist and Baptist are one and the same thing.
As a matter of fact, the Baptists have a strong belief in the Bible as the living word of God. More to this, they are convicted of the birth of Jesus Christ as their Savior, His life and death as well as His coming back. Along with this, the Baptists too believe in the existence of one and only living and true God, Jehovah (Forell 281). He is the Supreme Being, maker of Heaven and Earth and by whom everything came into being. It is their belief in God that gives them a reason for living with the assurance of a new life in Christ Jesus. Moreover, they have a strong belief in the Holy Spirit, a helper left to them by Jesus as He ascended to Heaven. The Holy Spirit convicts them of their transgressions and seals them for salvation. Besides, they believe in the church as a place of worship established by Jesus Himself. Lastly they do baptism by immersion alongside taking sacraments in remembrance of the death of Christ (Ron 41).
The nature of the protestant faith is to defend the Truth of the Word of God. This vividly explains the beliefs of the Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists since their way of life is dictated by the Word. Conversely, the Baptists and Adventists differ in the interpretation of the scriptures. Whereas the former permit liberty in the understanding of the scriptures under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the latter holds to a common interpretation. Additionally, the Baptists believe in tithing as a form of worship while the Adventists hold tithing as a requisite.
Nevertheless, the protestant faith believes in the Holy Trinity with God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son with eternal deity and the Holy Spirit. All the same, the three are one and work as one. Above and beyond, Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world whose death brought an atonement of sins. On the other hand, he Holy Spirit is God’s presence dwelling among His people convicting them of their sins. (Ron 116).
Nonetheless, it is faith that keeps Christians moving. As such Protestants strongly hold on to faith as it their source of inspiration. For instance, Mathew 5:13-14 teaches them to be salt and light of the earth. As well, Mathew 5:12 states that “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” (Kraus 73). More to this, as followers of Christ they are encouraged to witness Christ and do service to the poor as Christ Himself did. Kraus (2005) attests that Jesus frequently witnessed to the needs of the underprivileged in the reign of God. As such, He challenged the rich young ruler and sharply condemned the hard-heartedness of religious leaders.
Basically, Jesus taught that those who reached out to the marginalized persons were serving Him (Luke 18; 18-25, Matthew 19:16-24 and Luke 10:25-37) (74). Hitherto, it is by faith that people are put right with God along side receiving the promises of God. In the light of the above facts of faith, many people have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior hoping to meet Him someday. Alongside this, the Baptists have set aside Saturdays as their day of worship in Honor of God. Besides, the Protestants have laws as stated in the bible not to eat certain foods; such as would cause one to sin or backslide. Additionally, drinks that have got alcohol are not acceptable among those who profess the protestant faith since it is punishable by God.
Conclusion
The Baptists have a firm believe in God as their Maker and creator of the Universe of which the seventh day Adventist also believe with much emphasis on the diet and health. Being followers of Christ, they have reached out to most parts of the world. At present, they constitute the second largest Christian family in the United States after the Roman Catholic Church. However, the growth has been influenced by their appeal to the marginalized groups (Ron 39). More to this, the growth of the faith has brought positive tremendous changes in the society yielding noble leaders in the government and other sectors.