I was baptized Catholic as a baby. My mother was very religious. My father's parents were Jewish. He, not so much. Later when my first daughter was born, we went to a Catholic church to have her baptized. We were not members. So they said they would not baptize her till we signed a contract pledging 10% of our income to join. A tithe is normal but we had nothing but a new baby and here they were charging to save her immortal soul! We got her baptized and never went back. After that husband died, three months later, the Mormons started calling. I ended up getting baptized again because they held a tenant where you could be sealed to your husband for all eternity, which I wanted very much. They also claim that they are the only church that actually had the authority to baptize. What they did not tell me was that after baptism, they told you your calling. I said, I don't think so, as my calling was to teach their religion class. I guess Mormons don't say no. So, I was baptized by the One True Church, the only church with authority to baptize and I am of the chosen people! I am IN.
My Mother was Catholic, here is a photo pre world war II taken in a tiny community bordering Houston. Today it is wall to wall massive population. The surroundings in the photo make it look so country which of course it was in the late 30s.
I had no control over any of it and I'm thinking I was a few weeks old in the catholic church and had 2 god parents and both are long gone.... Wonder how those who were never baptized will make it??? Is this all more fake control???
I can't say that I believe that someone is going to hell if they're not baptized, mostly because I don't accept that God works without nuance. For example, I was baptized as an infant. Whether you think of that as a dedication or a baptism, it was called baptism and people in the church that I grew up in did not believe that they needed to be baptized again as an adult, and those who remained in that church weren't. This included my mother and most of my uncles, aunts, and other relatives. I don't believe that they are all in hell because they failed to be baptized as adults. Insofar as we are responsible for obeying God, I can't help but believe that God considers our hearts more so than our actions. Believing that they had no need for adult baptism, they were in obedience to God, as they understood it. Conversely, when I became a young adult and moved to California, I decided to find a church. As the denomination I grew up in did not have a church nearby, I went through a period of determining what the Bible really taught so that I could decide which of the many churches nearby would be the best choice. In doing so, it occurred to me that baptism was the Christian's first act of obedience. Accepting that, it would have been disobedient of me to not be baptized as an adult, as I would be disobeying what I believed to be what God expected of a Christian. Had I remained in my church in Wallace, I would probably not have come to that realization. Would I have been punished in hell for believing what I heard rather than doing my own homework? I don't know. I don't think so, but that's not for me to say.
Personally, I don't see the point in baptism. As I understand it a Bible verse says "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." And being saved is defined: "Being saved, spiritually speaking, means your sins no longer count against you toward an eternal death sentence. Instead, they are forgiven by the grace of God, and you are given the free gift of eternal life. Being saved does not spare you from earthly troubles, but it does spare you from eternal judgment."--https://www.tyndale.com/stories/what-does-it-mean-be-saved Therefore, even the unbaptized, if they are true believers, will be saved. (Of course, I'm probably missing the fine print but that's how it seems to me.)
saved from what? So many suffer here and to suffer more when we no longer breath? and again do we go somewhere else when we're done breathing? my dear friend is saying how his mother is suffering in her last days, she should suffer more.....
In the sense of my post; saved from eternal damnation. Of course you have to believe in eternal damnation for that to apply. I'd venture to say that most people are suffering when they are near death. That's just a fact of life. Maybe he should be asking the doctors for more pain management drugs for his mom.
I don't believe in eternal damnation.I did talk to him to talk to doc and family members about his mom..... As far as when we stop breathing, I will say "rest in peace" dad or mom or Mary or whomever.