Ecko to Claire: "It is said that when John the Baptist baptized Jesus the skies opened up and a dove flew down from the sky. This told John something -- that he had cleansed this man of all his sins. That he had freed him..."

Anybody out there Catholic? Is that really what Catholics believe?

(I don't want to argue it, I'm just curious how true to the faith Ecko really is.)

This is false, according to Matthew. John only reluctantly baptized JC at his insistance that it was commanded by God, not because he needed cleansing.

Eko is freelancing on this.

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Sorry...I think my Kharma just ran over your Dogma...

Matthew may not support his baptism description but Mark does:

And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.
And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Mark 1 : 9 - 11 (King James Version)

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Things fall apart, the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

--Lines 2-6, "The Second Coming" by Wm. Butler Yeats

This is the specific part that Im wondering about:

"This told John something -- that he had cleansed this man of all his sins. That he had freed him..."

That sounds right to me ^. John knew that he had done a good thing, he was happy he did this.

EDIT by Toad: Religiously offensive comment's from me will cease.

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Both Catholics and Protestants believe Christ was pure and born without sin. Christ had to "order" John the Baptist to baptize Him. The account in Mark says that the baptism was a confirmation of Christ's holiness...no cleansing of sin was done, because Jesus never sinned. Eko's "Catholicism" is skewed, something tells me he didn't make it to any seminary classes.

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On the contrary, there are accounts of Jesus sinning. A long time ago (not in a galaxy far far away), a book from the bible was removed because it was causing waves in the new religion.

The book speaks of Jesus one day pushing his friend off the roof of a house. Though Jesus showed great remorse and was forgiven, it was still a sin. Thats if you believe it happened or not.

Also Jesus once (when he was older) ripped up a bazzar because he was P.O. That one you can find in the bible. I am not picking on Jesus, I am just saying that it is unfair to say that a human never sinned.

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Well - the Bible says many times that Jesus was "holy and blameless" therefore He was the perfect sacrifice for us. He tore up the marketplace that had been placed in His father's house...God can get angry - anger is not a sin.

And Jesus, although human, was God as well, and God never sinned.

Anyway, I think Eko meant well, he just doesn't have it quite right.

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Anger is not a sin, but breaking peoples things and shoving people over is.

I guess this means that God is some kind of fuehrer, he can preach one thing and say another. Eh? I do not live in belief that Jesus was perfect, I think that he had a childhood in which he lied to his parents and did other silly things that kids do. If he did not do things like that, he would have not been shaped in to the great person he was. You may argue that he was already debating with religious zealots at a young age, but he still was not the man he was destined to become.

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Well, like I said, I wasn't looking for an argument, just an explanation. However, it would be quite un-Christian-like for me to let this go without comment...

I believe Jesus was holy and blameless. That is what saves us. I don't believe Jesus sinned when He pushed over the tables of the vendors in the temple... He was making a point. There are plenty of examples in the Bible of God's wrath, and they weren't very pretty. That doesn't make God a sinner.

Still, I don't want to argue... just sharing my stance.

As far as Ecko, I still can't quite figure why his skewed comment was made. Maybe it will make more sense later?