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The correct term is "insolvent," rather than "bankrupt."

I'm not sure they ought to be separated. The word "salvation" confuses the issue because we use the word differently than the Bible does. In the Bible, salvation is a state of being that directly results from an active practice of obedience to God. By that definition, I don't think the two...

I think perhaps it says more about the character of the people in churches.

Can you be adopted without an adoption ceremony? Yeah, but that isn't what usually happens.

Yes. Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

That's simply not true at all. Nothing is lost that Christianity requires. Maybe we should take stock of exactly what would be lost? Young Earth Creationism is lost. Genesis would still teach creation, just without the silly insistence that the world is 7000-ish years old. Can't say I'd be...

Ok, but is it speaking of more than one kind of baptism, or is it talking about the same one type of baptism being performed on multiple people? I think it's the latter. If I say that I performed 3 adoptions that doesn't mean they were three different kinds of adoptions, it means I did the...

I think if there is belief (A), then God will bestow the Holy Spirit (secret letter D), and then the water (B) becomes a bit of a moot point.

The original says though faith, but faith (aka belief aka repentance)... it is a part of baptism.

Immersion is for the church. Immersion is meant to be a recognition by the church that they have received a new adoptee. It makes clear who is "One of Us." The baptizee doesn't receive a direct benefit... only an indirect one from his association with the group. Repentance is for the convert...

You don't seem to be recognizing those patterns very well. The book of Joshua, where Jericho's walls fall, is not written as a history, but rather a collection of short stories. Are the stories based on real events - probably. But each story has its own purpose. Some of them are there to...

Yes, water baptism... but there's only one baptism... the water part is about 1/3 of it.

Those aren't two different things. Adoption into the church, and adoption by God, are the same. Who is the church if not God's children? Once again, this is a case of describing the same event from two different perspectives. When everything goes right, God works through the church to adopt...

I do, and I reckon many others would like to model their practice of Christianity after that of the early church. Also... yes, that is a validation. If the people who lived in the era Scripture was written interpreted it a certain way... why is your version different? I do believe them; I...

There are 3 words in the New Testament that are all translated into English as "heal." They're not all the same things: The first one describes healing generically (iaomai) The second one describes a miraculous "faith healing" (sozo) The third one describes treatment for a sickness as a...

You speak at least one - English. :p

In a strict cause-and-effect sense I agree, but... Baptism is a ceremony of ADOPTION. The submersion and resurfacing are meant to picture death and re-birth. The idea of being "born again" is that one is adopted to a new Father. So, while the water doesn't directly do anything to save, I do...

Many early churches practiced a period of instruction and teaching for proselytes before they were baptized, at which point they were admitted fully to the church. You may also remember that there was a theological dispute between those who practiced infant baptism and those who taught that the...

Related historical/archaeological stuff: The earliest form of writing was cuneiform, and the whole Middle East learned it - Sumer, Babel, Egypt, the Hittites, etc. However, cuneiform wasn't a phonetic language - the glyphs didn't correspond to sounds. As a result, while the whole region...

That's the point - God triumphs over chaos.