Paedobaptism
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The role of the children of believing families in Paul’s letters: the presumption of inclusion (pt. 3)
I’m finishing my little mini-series thinking about Paul’s view of the inclusion of children (of believers) in the New Covenant church. To wrap up these few, scattered thoughts, here’s a lengthy quote from Robert L. Reymond’s wonderful A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith. He talks about the vital importance of including children in Continue reading
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The role of the children of believing families in Paul’s letters: the presumption of inclusion (pt. 2)
This is the second of three posts exploring the inclusion of children within the New Covenant people of God. You can find the first post here. Here are two more points that suggest Paul presumes the inclusion of children in the covenant community. 3. Children are to live in way that pleases the Lord When Continue reading
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The role of the children of believing families in Paul’s letters: the presumption of inclusion (pt. 1)
When we read Paul’s letters, what can we tell about the status of children in the believing community? How does Paul speak of them? Let’s pose a few questions: Does Paul consider children as a sub-group of ‘little unbelievers’ in the midst of the ‘real’ believers in the church? Does any of Paul’s teaching betray Continue reading
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Augustine said infant baptism is Apostolic
“What the universal church holds, not as instituted by councils but as something always held, is most correctly believed to have been handed down by apostolic authority. 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 Continue reading
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Jesus blessed infants. That’s kind of a big deal.
The New Testament ascribes many different titles and descriptions to Jesus. He is the King of Kings, the Great High Priest, the Prince of Peace, and the list goes on (waaaay on). Since these descriptions are true, it’s interesting to bear them in mind as we watch Jesus in the gospel accounts. We see people Continue reading
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Bromiley on Infant Baptism
“The children of confessing Christians awaken to self-conscious life with the promise of the gospel in their ears and may thus have the mark of the covenant on their bodies. [ . . .] The call to them is not to enter into a totally new covenant relationship proclaimed for the first time from outside”. Continue reading
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in totidem verbis – considering a problematic hermeneutic (part 1)
Reading and correctly interpreting the Bible isn’t always easy. There are complex historical, social, and theological ideas which are presented to us across an array of literary genres, from multiple authors writing in different contexts. However, there are things the Bible says which are easy to identify without much effort. For example, the Bible claims Continue reading
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Did Tertullian View Infant Baptism as an ‘innovation’?
Short answer, no. In the book Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, Steven A. McKinion suggests that Tertullian’s De Baptismo was “written in response to the innovative practice of infant baptism” (p. 173; emphasis mine). Unfortunately, such a statement reveals a reluctance to deal with Tertullian on his own terms, in his own context. Bryan Holstrom, author of Infant Baptism Continue reading
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More about Origen on Infant Baptism
Here are some quotes from Origen on infant baptism, including the quote I used in my last post about Origen: 1. In his Homilies on Luke (XIV on 2:22a) he remarks “therefore children also are baptized”. 2. In his Homilies on Leviticus (VIII 3 on 12.2) he says baptism is given “according to custom of the Church, to infants Continue reading
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Origen on Infant Baptism
“For this reason, moreover, the Church received from the apostles the tradition of baptizing infants too.” – Origen, Commentary on Romans, (ca.244 A.D.) “Origen could, of course, have been wrong about the apostolic origins of infant baptism. He was writing, it must be recalled, the best part of two centuries after the time of the apostles, and Continue reading
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