I am going to attempt several posts this semester concerning my thoughts on paedo/believer's baptism. This has been a mystery for me for a long time as I will explain below. However, I am starting to feel the need to come down on this issue for several reasons. Because I hope to be joining Zion Church soon, I would like to be cultivating a theology of baptism that will show me how I will appreciate the sacrament. When a baby is baptized at Zion, I need to have a category for how I deal with it. Is it good? Is it acceptable? Is it praiseworthy? Is it done out of tradition or real biblical thought? Another reason for studying this issue is that I hope to attend seminary after school. This decision may or may not have an effect on my choice of seminary, but it definitely will affect how I relate with ideas and people within seminary.
I grew up in the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) in Mississippi. I witnessed many infant baptisms as I was growing up and did not question its validity until around middle school. I found out that my parents were of a believer's baptist position and that they only went to a PCA church because of the strong teaching. Then I realized that I hadn't been baptized as a child. I was baptized when I was 12 years old--I was sprinkled in that Presbyterian church as a believer. I befriended my pastors and struggled with the concept of baptism throughout high school. I was pretty much sold on the idea of believer's baptism when I finished high school and started college so I looked for Baptist churches in the area. Eventually, I had to come back to the PCA for the same reason my parents had joined years ago. I begin to question baptism again after my freshman year in college because of the influence of teaching and friends. And here I am uncertain again.
So I have picked up some reading that will guide me through this topic. I had some material for this previously, and I have a couple of books on order from Amazon. This may be slow processing because I don't have very much time to read. But I hope to get through these books by the end of the semester:
The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism (Gregg Strawbridge). This came recommended to me by one of the elders in my Church.
Christian Baptism (John Murray). This is a short work but I hope to use Murray to really get an intellectual mindset for infant baptism. He is a very pithy and heady writer.
Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ (Thomas Schreiner & Shawn Wright). I chose this because it seems to be a definitive work on the covenantal aspect of believer's baptism. It is endorsed by the likes of Wayne Grudem and Bruce Ware.
I am also finishing a little essay by Bryan Chapell called A Pastoral Overview of Infant Baptism. As the name would imply, his concerns are largely pastoral and not exegetical, but I am using this as a guide to the key passages on baptism, especially in the Old Testament. Befor e I begin my analysis, here is a presupposition and a disclaimer:
Assumption: Covenant theology is largely true. I concede that there is more continuity between the old and new covenants than discontinuity. There is a flow of redemption that needs to be understood. So, any study of theological issues in the NT need to be understood in the context of the OT. I may find that there is some discontinuity in the area of baptism...especially that it is not the sign of the new covenant. But I must first admit that there is a connection between old and new.
Disclaimer: My study will not focus as much on historical example. I find history to be inconclusive when it comes to this issue. As far back as I can see, there has been disagreement about baptism. Even if one side could lay claim to precedence, it could not precede by much, and there are other historical factors that could be at work.
As I begin this study, I need to be very careful about man's opinion. I don't want to be swayed into either camp because I don't want to offend or hurt people. I have great respect for my parents and the people in my church in Sioux City. I also have respect for my friends and teachers in Lincoln. This is hard, but I want my arguments to be biblically grounded in truth, not what is most convenient for me. Any reading recommendations and solid advice are welcome.
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3 comments:
Gray--
I'll definitely be praying for you on this, because I know how difficult of a journey this was for me. I don't know if you saw it (or if it would be of any help whatsoever to where you are right now), but I did just post a pretty lengthy post on baptism on my blog.
Second, I have another suggestion for a believer's baptism book, but I don't know if it would be better or worse than the one that you are planning to read. It is Fred Malone's Baptism of Disciples Alone, and I read it and found it a very persuasive case in favor in believer's baptism. You might look into that.
Third, please keep us posted on the evolution in your thought. I'd love to see your progress on this and interact with you along the way.
Godspeed, brother!
Gary Young wrote a series of articles about 15 years ago that he called "Baptism's Brute Facts" in which he argues that the Biblical data alone is not enough to sustain the Baptist position -- you need to add other modernist / enlightenment presuppositions to get away from the [we would say] the Bible's covenant baptism position. I'll print out a set and carry it with me on Sunday. Tap me on the shoulder and you can have it.
Keith
Hello Gray,
Spurgeon once said that “Baptism is the mark of distinction between the Church and the world. It very beautifully sets forth the death of the baptized person to the world."
I suppose I fail to feel that infants can set out on this journey without first having a knowledge of Christ.
For myself these principles are clear, and do not require additional interpretations of old and new covanents, just simple obedience. And the act of a new Christian expressing their death, burial and resurrection in Christ is something worth seeing.
However, I hold you in such high regard with your hunger after truth that I know you will give this real consideration and I too look forward to hearing your final conclusion.
-Stacey VZ
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