UNDERSTANDING INFANT BAPTISM IN THE COVENANT COMMUNITY OF GOD’S PEOPLE By David L. Reichelderfer B.S., Bloomsburg University, 1980 M.Ed., Bloomsburg University, 1987 A THESIS Submitted to the faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Religion) at Reformed Theological Seminary Charlotte, North Carolina October 2014 Accepted Thesis Advisor: Dr. Benjamin Gladd RTS Global President: Dr. James Anderson ii ABSTRACT The understanding of infant baptism within Presbyterian churches is on decline. This decline parallels that in other Protestant churches, especially those who identify themselves as being evangelical. This decline has been attributed to the influence of revivalism in evangelicalism, and the emphasis on baptism which follows an individual’s profession of faith. Furthermore, many evangelicals often attend churches which have different traditions from those they have attended in the past, and influence the practice of infant baptism negatively within Presbyterian churches they attend. This study seeks to present the Presbyterian understanding of infant baptism from the perspectives of history, theology and biblical studies, and apply those perspectives to circumstances in the present-day church. iii CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2. HISTORIAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF INFANT BAPTISM .....................................3 Church Fathers Through The Middle Ages .........................................................3 Middle Ages Through The Reformation...............................................................8 Reformation Through Modernity ........................................................................11 Modernity Through Post-Modern Times ............................................................16 3. THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF INFANT BAPTISM ............................19 The Church..........................................................................................................19 A Sign and Seal ...................................................................................................23 Blessing and Curse ..............................................................................................25 Efficacy of Baptism ............................................................................................27 4. BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF INFANT BAPTISM ....................................31 The Nature of Covenants ....................................................................................31 Genesis 15 ...........................................................................................................35 Genesis 17 ...........................................................................................................38 Genesis 21 and 22 ...............................................................................................42 Water Ordeals .....................................................................................................44 Summarizing Comments .....................................................................................46 iv New Testament Applications ..............................................................................47 Romans 6:1-4 ......................................................................................................55 1 Peter 3:20-22 ....................................................................................................57 Colossians 2:11-13 ..............................................................................................62 Summarizing Comments .....................................................................................65 5. RESPONDING TO PRESENT CHURCH CONTEXTS ............................................67 Gentry and Wellum .............................................................................................68 A Response to Gentry and Wellum ...................................................................72 6. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................77 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................80 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION What do Presbyterians understand about infant baptism? Although the historic teachings of orthodox Presbyterianism fully support infant baptism, many Presbyterians do not have a clear understanding of the practice. 1 The Westminster Confession of Faith (28.4) states that the sacrament is to be performed on infants when one or both parents are believers. Calvin, in his Institutes, speaks to the necessity of infant baptism as something that is “owed to infants” (Book IV, 16.6). John Murray explains that infants of those who make an “intelligent and credible confession” are baptized “simply because God has instituted” the ordinance.2 Yet many who attend Presbyterian churches lack a satisfactory understanding of infant baptism, and some do not find available resources on the subject to be very convincing.3 Those who seek a better understanding of the nature of infant baptism are challenged by the variety of opinions that have been expressed on the subject. Historically, from the Presbyterian perspective, the doctrine of infant baptism has been critical to the understanding of the Christian family. In this view, ecclesiology is vitally important. 4 What has emerged 1 James III, Frank A. “Introduction: The Covenantal Convictions of a Compassionate Calvinist,” in The Presbyterian Doctrine of the Children in the Covenant. Louis B. Schenck, Author (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2003), xvi. 2 Murray, John. Christian Baptism (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1980), 55. 3 Orner, Robert H. Why Baptizing Your Child Matters (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2014), x-xi. 4 James, Introduction, xv. 1 over time is a divergence of opinion within Presbyterian circles regarding the doctrine of infant baptism that involves different ideas of the church, and of children within the church, from that of historic doctrine.5 In our era, the over-emphasis of the individual in God’s redemptive work has resulted in a de-emphasis of the corporate nature of that work.6 A right understanding of infant baptism is of critical importance to God’s people within the context of the covenant community as it is described in Scripture. Unless the rite is understood in terms of God’s covenant with his people, God’s covenant people may misappropriate infant baptism, and engage in sacramental malpractice. The purpose of this study is to examine the Presbyterian understanding of infant baptism through research in the areas of church history, theology and biblical studies, and to apply that research to the circumstances of the present-day church. 5 Schenck, Lewis Bevens. The Presbyterian Doctrine of Children in the Covenant (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2003), 2. 6 Booth, Randy. “Covenant Transition” in The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism. Gregg Strawbridge, Editor (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2003), 184. 2 CHAPTER 2 HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF INFANT BAPTISM The initial step in this study is to examine the Presbyterians’ understanding of infant baptism in an historical context. Examining infant baptism in this way will enable Presbyterians to make connections with the practices of the past and deepen their understanding of the practices of the present. Infant Baptism from the Church Fathers Through the Middle Ages There is general agreement that direct evidence for the baptism of children is found in statements made by Tertullian in 200 A.D.1 In these statements, Tertullian actually advocates for the delayed baptism of little children so that the sponsors of those being baptized do not risk failing to fulfill their baptismal promises, or become disappointed if the child were not to live up to baptismal expectations. Tertullian sees the critical importance of baptism as justification for its delay until the belief is evident in the individual.2 These words mark the earliest direct reference to infant baptism in church history, but a logical assumption can be made that the practice originated before this time. Infant baptism may have been very well entrenched as a practice in the church at that point.3 The working of the 1 Jeremias, Joachim. The Origins of Infant Baptism: A Further Study in Reply to Kurt Aland (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2004), 9. 2 Tertullian. Concerning Baptism. trans. Alexander Souter (New York: MacMillan, 1919), 69. 3 Leithart, Peter J. “Infant Baptism in History: An Unfinished Tragicomedy” in, The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism. Greg Strawbridge, Editor (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2003), 55. 3 Spirit is seen as being operative in baptism. As the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at creation, so he does over the waters of baptism. After the invocation of God is pronounced, the Spirit sanctifies the waters for himself, and the waters are endowed with sanctifying powers. In baptism, the individual’s spirit is washed in the waters and the flesh is cleansed spiritually.4 Those baptized do not actually obtain the Holy Spirit at baptism, but “are cleansed and prepared for the Holy Spirit.”5 There is an “application of hands” in the sacrament that is connected to the “old sacramental rite in which Jacob blessed his grandsons,” and the waters are connected to those of the “deluge”