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It's not a matter of if your church and pastor will face these kinds of questions. It's a matter of when. Here's a scenario: a same-sex couple or someone openly living in a same-sex relationship starts to attend your church. Maybe they've got a child from another relationship or a child conceived through IVF. Because your church practices infant baptism, they ask to have their child baptized. What do you do? I recently heard of a church that faced this exact situation. A lesbian couple who'd been attending asked to have their child baptized. The church had theological convictions about...

Should we baptize babies? The Christian Church continues to be sharply divided over this important question. Those who answer "yes" (Lutherans, Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, etc.) claim Biblical support for their position. Those who answer "no" (Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, many "Bible" or "evangelical," or "non-denominational" churches) say the Bible is on their side. The pro-infant baptism churches assert that Christ commanded infant baptism. The opposing side asserts that nowhere is such a thing commanded. They hold that at best it is useless and at worst harmful. It is their practice to rebaptize adults who were baptized as babies. The Lutheran...

At this point in our series on the sacraments, it is important to look at the best Baptist arguments against the Reformed position on infant baptism. Iron always sharpens iron! This lecture deals with specific Baptist objections to paedobaptism in light of our previous and comprehensive development of the theology of the Covenant of Grace and the initiatory sacrament of that covenant; circumcision--baptism. Thus, this lecture is not a positive statement but a polemical response, which necessarily builds upon the previous lectures. The Baptist arguments against infant baptism that I have selected [many of which I myself used when a...

REMEMBERING SANDY HOOK Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate. Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there. They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say. They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. "Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. "This is heaven." declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house." When what to their wondering eyes did appear, but Jesus, their Savior, the children gathered near....

Pope Benedict XVI baptized 14 infants in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday, January 10, in a traditional ceremony marking the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Holy Father said that the 7 boys and 7 girls were beginning “the joyful and exciting adventure of being disciples.” The Pope noted that St. John the Baptist encouraged a baptism of repentance. Such repentance is certainly an important aspect of Christian life, he said: “Indeed, we cannot aspire to a new world while wallowing in selfishness and in the habits of sin.” But the sacramental Baptism that the Church offers her...

IÂ’ve spent most of my life conflicted over baptism, not about whether or not one should be baptized, but about the proper age for baptism.My parents dedicated me when I was an infant. Back then, Dad pastored a Wesleyan church and the denomination believed that baptism was for those who had reached the age of accountability and could personally choose to be baptized. They believed that dedication is something parents do for their child and that baptism is something the individual chooses for himself. The denomination based its theology on the fact that the New Testament seemed to indicate that...

A Lutheran professor, Kurt Aland, after intensive study of infant baptism, says, "There is no definite proof of the practice until after the 3rd century," and he says, "This cannot be contested." A Catholic professor of theology, Hegerbocker (sp.), writes, "This controversy has shown that it is not possible to bring in absolute proof of infant baptism by basing one’s argument on the Bible." Good. B.B. Warfield, who is no mean theologian, was an astute and really a great, great theologian who, again, influenced my life in my seminary days…B.B. Warfield affirmed—he was, by the way, an advocate of infant...

BAPTISM By Francis A. Schaeffer In introduction, there are several things to emphasize as we begin this study. 1. We do not believe in Baptismal Regeneration. Let me remind you that it was over the question of the sacraments that Calvin and Luther differed during the Reformation Period. To Calvin, and those who have followed him, the important thing is the individual's coming directly to Christ for salvation. In regard to baptism, we who are Presbyterians, are interested primarily not in the water baptism but in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which takes place when the individual accepts...

A Journey Home By Pastor Randy Booth How natural and easy it is to assume the beliefs we have grown up with to be correct. Yet, we are often unable to give solid biblical reasons to support many of the things we believe. Failing to clearly understand our own views, we may be tempted to attribute wrong motives and reasons to those who hold contrary positions. Among Protestant Christians the doctrine of baptism seems especially vulnerable to such sloppiness. Our symbols are important to us because they represent who we are. When someone messes with our symbols, then they...

ELEMENTS OF DIVINITY. BOOK II. CHAPTER XIII. CHRISTIAN BAPTISM—ITS SUBJECTS. IT is admitted by all who believe in the propriety of water baptism that believers in Christ, or all who are "the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus," are proper subjects of baptism; hence we deem it useless to stop a moment to present proof upon that subject. The question we propound is this, Are believers the only proper subjects of baptism? That the Baptist position upon this question is erroneous, we shall endeavor to show. I. That the INFANT CHILDREN of believing parents are proper subjects of...