A Methodist scholar on the Apostle Paul suggested today at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama that Protestants try using the sign of the cross as a reminder of the importance of Jesus' sacrifice for mankind's salvation."I think we have lost that very heart of the gospel," said Michael J. Gorman, a visiting New Testament scholar at Duke Divinity School. "What if Baptists made the sign of the cross?"
Typically, liturgical Christians make the sign of the cross by using the right hand to touch the forehead, then chest, then left shoulder, then right shoulder, while reciting, "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
"It's a perpetual reminder our lives are shaped by the cross," said Gorman, dean of the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore.
Protestants revolted against many traditional rituals at the time of the Reformation, Gorman said. "It think it's an anti-Catholic reaction, and it's time to get over it," he said.
After Gorman's remarks, former Baptist pastor Michael K. Wilson, director of the Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence at Samford, led the interdenominational group in prayer, beginning with the sign of the cross.
[from The Birmingham News - by ppierce@bhamnews.com]
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