Sprinkle or immerse? Wine or grape juice? We re talking about sacraments in the Protestant Christian faith. There are so many questions, opinions, and arguments that there has to be an answer. Are sacraments needed for salvation? Do I need to be a church member to take communion? Who can perform a baptism?
A Teacher's Guide to Understanding the Sacraments gives an explanation about how churches came to practice the holy rituals in certain ways and why they are so important. By looking at the Bible, theology, and tradition, Samuel M. Powell reveals the true nature and necessity of the sacraments.
Samuel M. Powell is professor of philosophy and religion and dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry at Point Loma Nazarene University. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in religion from Claremont Graduate University. He is an editor, author, and ordained deacon in the Church of the Nazarene. He also serves on the editorial committee of Kingswood Press and as secretary-treasurer of the Wesleyan Theological Society. From 1999 to 2001, he participated in the John Templeton Foundation Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity. In 2005, he received the Wesleyan Theological Society's Smith-Wynkoop award for his book, Participating in God: Creation and Trinity. He and his wife, Terrie, live in Santee, California, and have two children and two grandchildren.