Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A thorough yet succinct refutation of infant baptism

Brian Thornton at Voice of the Sheep, has been hashing over the whole credo vs. paedo baptism debate over the last week or so. It seems to be the topic of conversation among the Reformed in the blogosphere, and while it has led to a number of heated exchanges and some downright ugliness, it is a debate that needs to happen.

Brian's most recent post is a great compilation, very briefly, of all of the problems of infants baptizing. Titled My Problem with Infant Baptism, he manages to compile most of the arguments against infant baptism in one list. When you cut through all the obfuscation of the padeo position, you are left with a couple of obvious point from Brian's list:

  • The only explicit examples we have in Scripture of those being baptized are ones who have first expressed repentance and faith. This one requires no other commentary as it clearly speaks for itself.

  • The only command in Scripture we have telling us who to baptize says it is to be those who have first become disciples, which requires repentance and faith prior to the ordinance of baptism.

Right on target. There is no command and there are no examples of infant baptism anywhere in the NT, and that is the most damaging Achilles heel of the paedo position. Kudos to Brian for a well thought out post.

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