First Baptist Beliefs

I attended the 11 a.m. morning worship service at First Baptist Church at 480 Thompsonville Lane in Oak Grove, K.Y. on Sunday November 1st. This is the church that mother attends every Sunday. While I identify myself as a Christian I have not attended a church service in about seven years so this was a somewhat experience for me. I was very nervous at first because I had not been to church in a while and because other Christians I had encountered seemed to very strict and judgmental. However, overall I had a pleasant time and felt very welcome in their community.

Symbols: A symbol is something that is used to represent something else. As Baptist is a Christian denomination, obviously there were several crosses in the room. The symbol of the

cross represents Jesus’ sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Since it was closer to Christmas there was also a nativity scene which symbolizes the birth of Jesus Christ.
Myths: A myth is a story about the past told and retold to illustrate certain religious principles. This Sunday the pastor’s sermon dealt with a myth from bible in Zechariah Chapter 3 Verse 1-7.
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4 The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.” 5 Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. 6 The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: 7 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here”
This myth tells us that Satan is accusing Joshua of sin and the Lord defends Joshua and forgives him.

God tells Joshua that if he obeys Him then he will have a place in heaven. Symbols are often combined with myths as a way to alert us that we should value these stories according to their relevance, not as accounts of historical events. Myths also serve to describe the importance of symbols. In this sermon for example, Satan symbolizes sin and God symbolizes morality and forgiveness.

Doctrine: Doctrines are statements about God, sin, salvation, and heaven. In his sermon, the pastor stated that you must repent and ask God’s forgiveness for your sins in order to gain salvation and entrance into heaven. Doctrine is proven because it expresses a religion’s value. The Christian doctrine of heaven expresses the values that people who do what is right should be rewarded in the afterlife. Doctrine can be proven through its ethical consequences.

Ethics: Ethics are theoretical perspectives on rules governing human conduct. Actions are deemed to be right or wrong; sinful or moral. In this case Christian ethics are outlined in the Ten

Commandments.
“You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them. 7 You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God… 8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 12 Honor your father and your mother… 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Ethics tie into both myths and rituals.

Myths often justify certain ethical positions by telling powerful stories that demonstrate virtuous or sinful behavior. People often turn to rituals when ethical rules have been violated. For example, if someone were to steal they would then pray to God for forgiveness of their sin.

Rituals: A ritual is a prescribed or formalized action that dramatizes religious symbols. The main ritual I noted was prayer. Rituals are repeated in order to attain or sustain an individual’s contact with ultimate relevance and to consolidate the cohesion of the community. The origins of rituals are often explained in myths. Many rituals are reenactments of myths. The performance of rituals usually involves the use of symbols.

People: The people I encountered at this service were very diverse. There were young, old, male, female, and also different ethnicities. This is not all that surprising considering how close this church is to Fort Campbell military

base.
Physical Surroundings: The room where the service was actually held was very open with a stage at the front for the quire and pastor. Instead of traditional wooden pews, there were cushioned chairs lined up together.
Ultimate Relevance: Values cannot be comprehended as cognitive concepts but are based upon relevance to some person: there is no relevance without a promise of value or a threat to value. The kind of faith we have in God must not be some fragile belief that is contingent upon the next laboratory report. We cannot prove the existence of God empirically by using a telescope or microscope. Religion deals with values that are relevant in the realm of the ultimate. Only if you see how your presence and actions tie into ultimate issues of your life can you say that the experience was religious for you.