What has this to do with baptism? Certainly nothing directly; only if it be held indirectly to show that infants were received by Christ as members of His Kingdom on earth, that is, of His Church, can it bear on the controversy. But notice Dr. Strong’s comment: “None would have ‘forbidden,’ if Jesus and his disciples had been in the habit of baptizing infants.” Does he really think this touches the matter that is raised by this quotation? Nobody supposes that “Jesus and his disciples” were in the habit of baptizing infants; nobody supposes that at the time these words were spoken, Christian baptism had been so much as yet instituted. Dr. Strong would have to show, not that infant baptism was not practised before baptism was instituted, but that the children were not designated by Christ as members of His “Kingdom,” before the presumption for infant baptism would be extruded from this text. It is his unmeasured zeal to make all texts which have been appealed to by paedobaptists — not merely fail to teach paedobaptism — but teach that children were not baptized, that has led him so far astray here.
Sorry but I still do not see any indgination on the part of Warfield regarding infant baptism but rather an indigination towards Strongs premise that children are not members of the of Kingdom of God.
Sorry but I still do not see any indgination on the part of Warfield regarding infant baptism but rather an indigination towards Strongs premise that children are not members of the of Kingdom of God.I read Warfield's position from the two quotes as follows: There are absolutely no indications in scripture that infants were baptized in the era of the writing of the New Testament. Warfield seems to be indignant that Strong said that many of the verses dealing with baptism forbade baptizing infants. I don't think I concluded at any point that Warfield was indignant. Warfield's position rests on Christian liberty and the Reformed reliance on the Old Testament to support paedobaptism. This liberty becomes arguable only because the New Testamnet failed to forbid paedobaptism.