The blessing in the case you mentioned was not done BY the water, but TO the water because it was "bad" or contaminated...not fit to drink.
This is also what's done to holy water today. The blessing is done TO the water. That's what makes it holy.
Those who became Jesus' first disciples were also 'Torah observant Jews', because the Law covenant was still in force......but after Jesus had inaugurated the new covenant on the night before his death, the old covenant was made redundant upon his return to heaven. The Law then became obsolete with only two laws to be in force for Christians...."the Law of Love". (Love of God and neighbor)
That specific observances of the Torah were considered no longer required by the Pauline sect of early Christianity does not indicate they did away with all ritual. Nor does the New Testament say such a thing.
Paul was Jewish...a Pharisee in fact. Jesus' death removed the need for his disciples to attend the Temple for their prescribed sacrifices under the Law. Worship and prayer were still part of Christian worship.
Paul worshipped in the Temple and synagogues
after his conversion to Christianity. Thus indicating that for the earliest Christians there was no hard and fast distinction for them in how they worshipped before and after Jesus' death. The traditions diverged slowly over time. Never did Christians abandon all ritual as though all ritual is bad.
There was no "clergy/laity distinction in the first century.....because Jesus said that all the brotherhood were equal. The appointment of a clergy class who were the sole shepherds of the flock came later along with the power trips of the Arch Bishops, lording it over the flock. Then there was the Pope. The office of Pontifex Maximus was a pagan Roman title....nothing to do with Christianity.
That is directly contradicted by the New Testament itself, which identifies subgroups of leaders within the churches as deacons, pastors/priests, and bishops. Apostles were yet another class with authority above the rest. The distinctions and layers of bureaucracy definitely did evolve over time, but the notion that there were no positions of leadership among early Chrstians is supported by zero evidence, even Biblically.
The Tanakh was the Hebrew scriptures, which is the scripture that Jesus and his apostles read and taught from, proving that Jesus was the Christ. There is much that we can learn from the Hebrew scriptures, especially about the prophesies concerning the Messiah.....but the Torah was no longer in force.....After Christianity was established, we also had the Christian scriptures to tell us what the situation was in first century Christianity. We can learn a lot from them too about the activities of the first Christians.
And there's no indication in any of them that they abandoned all ritual following Jesus' death.
That was because these were set up for Bible reading and education, so as a model they worked well for Christianity.....
And also for administration of sacraments and worship services. Ie what happens in churches today.
what they didn't have was a Temple or large ornate Cathedrals with alters and an earthly priesthood.
Actually they did have altars, as well as frescoes adorning the walls with Christian symbols and Biblical scenes. I told you, they were modeled after synongues. You should really do some research on the topic, outside of what your organization tells you.
All mention of priests in Christianity was in heaven at a later time, when Christ would return to gather the remaining ones on earth. Those who had died, he would resurrect "first". (Revelation 20:6)
Incorrect. The word "priest" is simply an Anglicization of the Greek term presbyter, which is explicitly mentioned as a leadership position in early Christian churches in the New Testament.
Why are you criticizing things you obviously do not understand and have not researched, Deeje?
Christ's Memorial supper was held on the same night as the Jewish Passover, which was an annual, not a weekly event.
The Bible certainly does not say that, nor do early Christian historians think that's the case either.
Agape meals were routine among early Christians, they were not restricted to a single annual holiday. So again, where are you getting this information, if not from your organization?
Baptism was never performed on infants, as these cannot make a commitment to Christ and no one can do it for you. Full immersion was required so this was hardly something you could do to a baby.
You have apparently never seen an Orthodox infant baptism. Also full immersion was not absolutely
required, simply preferred (see, for example, the instructions given in
The Didache).
Seriously, please do some actual research on the topic from reputable historical sources rather than just accepting what your organization tells you.
For Christians, it was not a rapid process but a gradual drawing away, because there had to be a period of adjustment with many of the Jewish practices no longer required. It was not easy to come to terms with for many. According to the apostles and older men in Jerusalem, neither Jewish nor Gentile Christians were bound to the Law...they did not have to celebrate the Passover, get circumcised, or hold the Sabbath or their annual festivals because those things were a shadow of heavenly things.
Acts 15:28-29.....
"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well."
These were now the only "essential" things....eating unbled meat, or what was sacrificed to idols, respecting the sanctity of blood and to abstain from fornication were already practiced by Jews taught by God's law, but for Gentiles, these things needed to be observed because none of those things were forbidden in their pagan culture. Adjustments were needed in both camps for them to become one people.
That much is correct, but none of that indicates that Jesus or the early Christians regarded following the ceremonial aspects of Torah as sinful or any such thing. Colossians 2 says: "Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths."
The Pauline tradition was "live and let live" with regard to Torah observance. Yet you've somehow shifted that into believing that not just following the Torah, but literally
any ritual observances whatsoever are somehow spiritually problematic. You didn't get that from anywhere in the Bible. Nor again, did the Bible as you know it exist in the 1st century. Nor does the Bible say that everything we do or believe must be derived from the Bible.