Christian Baptist Religion in a Sociological Perspective

Defining the world ‘religion’ is not an easy process, fraught with difficulties. Throughout the ages, many attempts have been made. Often time’s people tend to focus on a very narrow definition that matches the person’s own beliefs but not others. One of the reasons it’s notoriously difficult to define because it crosses so many different boundaries in human experience. According to the Miriam Webster dictionary, religion could be identified as ‘a set of ideas concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs’ . Some see religion as a belief, while some understand it as the interaction of belief, behavior and belonging. In other words, what makes religion religion is that it is something people do together. Private beliefs and practices can be referred to as spirituality, but religion is usually social.
This project attempts to describe Christian Baptist religion, its main beliefs, values and traditions as a part of an urban lifestyle. ‘Baptists are a group of Christian denominations and churches who subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism as opposed to infant baptism, salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice , and the autonomy of the local church’ . Salvation through faith alone is a principle that distinguishes Christian Baptists from other Christian denominations. It states that God's forgiveness for sinners is granted through faith alone, to the exclusion of all individual efforts or works. Scripture alone is a belief that the Bible is the only reliable authority for Christian faith, and that it contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and eternal life.
I grew up in a Christian household and consider myself Catholic even though I do not attend church regularly. As I moved to the United States from Europe around seven years ago, I was forced to work on several days including