Infant Baptism: What Is a Baptist to Do? (Part 1)

Since my own baptism in 2009, my first thoughts about baptizing infants goes immediately to Roman Catholicism, a religion with which I often disagree vehemently. However a few weeks ago, my wife and I went to an ELCA branch of the Lutheran church to attend my little nephew's baptism. Now, I have struggled lately with a desire to answer the question of the authenticity of paedobaptism, but I also knew that it was important to go and be there with the family.

Upon arriving at the church, the first problem I had was that the associate pastor was a woman. This didn't surprise me; the ELCA is not a traditional Lutheran "synod," and often I have found their insubordination with God's Word to be something for which they pride themselves on. Nevertheless, what was most alarming was that, after the pouring of the water, the senior pastor announced, "Now the child is sealed by the Holy Spirit forever." What? Talk about walking away from the very foundations for which Lutheranism was formed! That was not "Christ alone"; that was works salvation through and through. He wasn't just talking about bringing a child into the faith community. No, he was talking about salvation; that is, works salvation.

Working Toward a Solution

Although a Southern Baptist by denomination, I am Reformed in much of my theology (and am thankful that many SBC members and Baptists are coming around)[1], so I have so much in common with some Lutheran, and certainly Reformed Presbyterian denominations. Having said that, one of my earliest problems with infant baptism was that I once believed that all denominations administering this form of the baptismal sacrament were doing so with the same motives as the aforementioned ELCA church or Roman Catholics. That being said, what I am discovering about the beliefs of my Reformed Presbyterian brothers is quite different. In fact, I have been spending time listening to their Reformed reasons for paedobaptism (Why Baptize Children?) and I just ordered Bryan Chapell's booklet Why Do We Baptize Infants? (P&R: 2006). A future post will be devoted to the fruit of my reading and studying the arguments there.

Moreover, I recently spoke to my hermeneutics professor after class to discuss paedobaptism further with him. I believe that that discussion was quite fruitful, and I truly walked away with a sense of great hope for future, satisfying, Christ-centered fellowship with my Reformed Lutheran and Presbyterian brothers. My professor once ministered at an interdenominational church at one time, and they performed infant baptisms. What he would do was have another minister perform them instead.Now, even though I myself could not administer baptism to an infant in good faith (Rom 14:23b), nevertheless, I have so little issue now with my Presbyterian brothers who do conform to this tradition, but I have questions that need to be answered, and I'm not sure I am even aware of all of the questions yet.

Tough Questions for Me

Some questions I do need to resolve:

• Is it not true that Luther brought infant baptism with him out of Roman Catholicism before it was part of the Reformed view of a faith community?
• Can we say that the Reformed view is meant to redeem infant baptism from the flawed view of Roman Catholicism?
• Could it be perfectly permissible for an adult man who never grew up in the church to be baptized by immersion, and at the same time be equally permissible for that man to start a family and have his infant baptized under the covenant sign of baptism? In other words, are both forms of baptism equally permissible under one congregation?

Resources I Plan to Study

Chapell, Bryan. Why Do We Baptize Infants? P & R: 2006.

Piper, John. Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. Nashville: B & H, 2002, 

[Chapter 18].

Schreiner, Thomas R and Shawn D. Wright. Believer's Baptism. Nashville: B & H, 2006.

Wright, David F. Baptism: Three Views. Downers Grove: IVP, 2009.

I plan to continue my course of studying infant baptism as practiced by the Reformed Presbyterian tradition in Part 2.

[1] Over recent years,studies have shown that many from Southern Baptist Theological (KY) and my own alma mater of Golden Gate Baptist Theological (CA) are likely to graduate with a much more Reformed and Calvinistic view of theology. For a detailed discussion of these stats, see Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue, E. Ray Clendenen and Brad J. Waggoner, eds. (Nashville: B & H, 2008), 13-28.