(V):

> Is it? Is that straight out of Roman Catholicism ..?

Just to clarify, Jesus as the savior of humanity comes directly from Saint Paul. In the Pauline view of salvation, human beings are born tainted with Adam and Eve's original sin. In Paul's interpretation, death (or damanation if you will) came through one man: Adam. Then life (salvation) came through one man, the Messiah; that is, Jesus Christ. I forget the exact verses of the New Testament, but it is attributed to Paul.

Then, the sacrament of baptism takes the place of circumcision. Circumcision is the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. When a Christian is baptized, he or she accepts Jesus Christ as their true savior and enters a new Covenant between God and humanity. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist we have the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, and at that moment God enters into a ne Covenant with humanity. At least that is the theological interpretation that came through the centuries.

I am no expert in theology, but I did do some reading on it. The "meat and bones" of Christianity is found in Paul's writings. He was Christianity's first great theologian.