Even though there are widely differing views of baptism, I have no intention of trying to flesh out the entire paedobaptist (infant-baptizing) position. But I do want to take a minute to explain why I am most convinced of paedobaptism. (Understand that I am no theologian and that there are other, much more theologically advanced reasons for paedobaptism. I'm only explaining one part of what convinced me personally.) In the Christian church we baptize people when they become part of the church. For credobaptists (people who don't baptize babies), baptism comes only after a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Paedobaptists believe that babies are part of the church, just as professing adults are part of the church. Toby goes to church with us and though right now he sleeps through most of it, he will be just as much a part of the church as Jimmy or I. (The same is true for Nathan and Isaac in a way that is more meaningful than for Toby because they're more interactive, however they have not yet professed a personal faith in Christ.) We paedobaptists believe that we can't know a person's heart, so why wait until a profession of faith to welcome a person into the church community who has been there all along? It seems like credobaptists are trying to "weed out" the believers from the nonbelievers and only baptize the believers. That's just not possible; there are plenty of examples of people who were baptized upon profession of faith in Christ who are certainly not doing anything to make anyone believe they actually meant it. One of the arguments against paedobaptism is that you might be baptizing people who aren't actually believers, but then I would counter that plenty of people who have professed faith in Christ aren't actually believers, either. There's no way to accurately know a person's heart, so why try to figure it out? What we can know for sure, however, is if the person is part of the visible Church. If the point of baptism is to welcome someone into the community of believers, well, Toby is certainly part of that community. For us, baptism is much less about the individual and much more about God's promise to fulfill the promises of His covenant with us. It's not so much about the individual and his decision, but it's a tangible sign of God and His work in the church. We baptized Toby because he is part of the church and that's the sign of welcome into the church.
Anyway, whether you agree with me or not, you can still enjoy the pictures :) (Oh, and pay no attention to the incredibly short haircut on the Mama. I cheated on my hair stylist, got a terrible haircut by someone else, went back to him to beg forgiveness and to ask him to fix it and along with evening it up, he got a little revenge of his own apparently!)
And now some pictures of the cutest baby this side of 4/28/08 (that's Isaac's birthday, btw)!!
A first smile! Well, maybe a third or fourth, but it was while I was talking to him and holding him he smiled at me for the first time, about three minutes before I took that picture! Those dimples are going to be the death of my sternness as a mother...
2 comments:
Hello Suzanne. I appreciated your post on the baptism! Great pictures of your little guy.
I think knowing WHAT baptism means brings clarity to the differing views. Credobaptists see baptism as an outward symbol of an inward change of repentance and faith (see Romans 6) Historically, MANY people took part in the church before being baptized. In the early church, people often waited years until being baptized yet being a part of the community.
Pedobaptists see baptism as entrance into the church community. This is a legitimate desire. There is some Biblical support for it, with much of the support is equating baptism with circumcision (from Col. 2:11-12).
I do want to note, children feeling a part of the community is not about an "act" but a heart toward the kids. At our church, we do not baptize infants but all the kids feel VERY much a part of the body and can participate in service. They are honored and shepherded and pointed toward Jesus.
While I am credobaptist, theologically I am comfortable with either view being held by Christians. However, missionally I am not very supportive of pedobaptism. I live in Minnesota, where everyone you meet has been baptized as an infant in a Lutheran or Catholic church. They believe that baptism saved them and makes them a Christian. I have been to a Lutheran church that literally preached a message on how "your baptism saved you", without mentioning anything about Jesus or faith. That makes it VERY difficult to enter into a discussion about faith and repentance, which is the major focus of Jesus' message.
That said, our little guy loves worshipping God and talks about Jesus all the time. I'm actually not that opposed to him getting baptized. But I will probably let him choose.
One other note...
In our church, we do a baby dedication. This is a ceremony where everyone in the community audibly agrees to shepherd and care for the child and encourage them toward Jesus (it takes a village...). We then as a community pray and welcome them into the community. So children are seen as part of the church body, however, everyone feels the weight of the need to continually encourage them to seek Jesus.
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