Should baptism be required for church membership? Yet many Christians follow the majority practice of church history and administer the ordinance to adults and their infant … Which is the proper baptismal mode: sprinkling, pouring, or immersion? . . . Better that they be sanctified unaware, than that they depart unsealed and uninitiated” (ibid., 40:28). Baptism: Three Views does not discuss baptismal regeneration (thus excluding the Churches of Christ, the Anglicans, and Roman Catholics from the conversation). baptism in question, citing strengths and weaknesses along with corresponding reasons for why the particular view is right or wrong from biblical-theological and ... Paul K. Jewett, Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978). Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . Sinclair Ferguson, the senior minister at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, describes the infant baptism view. Should baptism be required for church membership? Rather, we all judge that the mercy and grace of God ought to be denied to no man born” (Letters 64:2 [A.D. 253]). “The Church received from the apostles the tradition of giving baptism even to infants. A number of Christian publishers have begun releasing books that include various essays and interaction between opposing viewpoints. Michael Green attempts to steer a straight, biblical course through the troubled waters of baptism. The difference is that circumcision was powerless to save (Gal. While these texts do not specifically mention—nor exclude—infants, the very use of the term “households” indicates an understanding of the family as a unit. Does this mean unbelieving spouses should be baptized? No matter which position you hold, if you are interested in finding out something about the other views, you will find this book to be a good resource. Since others respond for children, so that the celebration of the sacrament may be complete for them, it is certainly availing to them for their consecration, because they themselves are not able to respond” (On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4:24:31 [A.D. 400]). gives also the most hidden grace of his Spirit to believers, grace which he secretly infuses even into infants. The fact is, the Bible gives us no way of bringing anyone to Jesus apart from baptism. let him be anathema [excommunicated]. Allow sin no opportunity; rather, let the infant be sanctified from childhood. 2. The weakness, from a Lutheran perspective, is that the recipient remains uncertain if baptism and the Lord's Supper actually accomplish anything at all. On the other hand, the disadvantage of infant baptism is that. They sanction the variety of practice that we see in the early church.” (166). On the other hand, nowhere do we read of children raised in believing households reaching the age of reason and then being baptized. An actual baptism has not occurred. “Every soul that is born into flesh is soiled by the filth of wickedness and sin. From his most tender age let him be consecrated by the Spirit. I understand that the infant baptist position hinges on this assumption, but this kind of statement is exactly that which needs to be proven from Scripture, not merely stated. In the Church, baptism is given for the remission of sins, and, according to the usage of the Church, baptism is given even to infants. Baptism is the Christian equivalent of circumcision, or “the circumcision of Christ”: “In him you were also circumcised with . The Gospel Coalition supports the church by providing resources that are trusted and timely, winsome and wise, and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. In seeking common ground among various Christian traditions, he looks first at what Scripture has to say and then assesses the strengths and weaknesses of differing views in that light. permission to publish this work is hereby granted. Copyright © 2021 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved. The kingdom is theirs, Jesus says, and they should be brought to him; and this means baptism. Life and Books and Everything: Division, Whataboutism, & Christian Nationalism, Life and Books and Everything: John Piper Talks Books. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or receive his columns via email. Baptist, the Christian Church/Church of Christ, Lutheran, and Reformed scholars debate both the meaning and practice of one of the church's central and most spiritually significant sacraments. But Jesus says “even infants” can be “brought” to him. 100 Healing Words for Every Harmful Syllable, A Prayer for This Day of Transition and Inauguration. In the early church of the third and fourth centuries there was a remarkable variety of baptismal practices within the 'One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church', including infant baptism, believers' baptism, delayed baptism, emergency baptism and death-bed baptism. . “Cyprian was not issuing a new decree but was keeping to the most solid belief of the Church in order to correct some who thought that infants ought not be baptized before the eighth day after their birth. 1 7.2 7. This, of course, would be contrary to historical Christian practice. These and other questions are explored in this thought-provoking book.Four … 2 Infant Baptism Some Protestant denominations such as the United Methodist and Presbyterian Churches believe in infant baptism. Evolutionary creationists.God created life using evolution – much like he creates children using natural processes from egg and sperm to embryo to infant. 3:21). presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors. 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