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Romans Excursus on Baptism

Romans Excursus on Baptism. Part I. Historical Overview. A Brief Overview of the History of Baptism in the Christian Church Q. Why?

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Romans Excursus on Baptism

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  1. Romans Excursus on Baptism

  2. Part I. Historical Overview

  3. A Brief Overview of the History of Baptism in the Christian Church Q. Why? A. By understanding how the issues of baptism developed within the history of the Church, we can understand how certain (mis)understandings developed, as well as why, where, and when they developed. We will then be in a better position to evaluate those (mis)understandings. Q. What? A. We will consider the historical development of meaning the baptism, the mode of baptism, and the subjects of baptism.

  4. Key Scripture passages during Early Church Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved . . .” John 3:5 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’”

  5. The Post-Apostolic & Early Church The 2nd & 3rd Centuries

  6. The Shepherd of Hermas (c. 140 AD) • And I said to him, “I should like to continue my questions.” “Speak on,” said he. And I said, “I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins.” He said to me, “That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. For he who has received remission of his sins ought not to sin any more, but to live in purity. • Mandates, 4.3

  7. Justin Martyr (100-165) • “Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, ‘except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’” • “. . . in order that we . . . may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe.” • The First Apology, chp. 61

  8. Irenaeus (c. 125-190) “The first mention of infant baptism, and an obscure one, was about 185 by Irenaeus.” Walker, History of the Christian Church Note: this in not merely obscure, it is always not positively the first mention of infant baptism. There is plenty of debate over this occurance.

  9. Irenaeus (c. 185) • “For He came to save all through means of Himself—all, I say, who through Him are born again to God 1 — infants 2, and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord.” [Heresies.2:20] • 1 The reference in these words may be to baptism, as appears from comparing book iii. 17, 1. • 2 It has been remarked by some this may be a reference to the baptism of infants in the primitive Church.

  10. Tertullian (c.160-220) • “Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life!” • Baptism, chp. 1

  11. Tertullian (160-240) • Opposed baptism of children. • “And so, according to the circumstances and disposition, and even age, of each individual, the delay of baptism is preferable; principally, however, in the case of little children. • Let them know how to ask for salvation, that you may seem (at least) to have given to him that asketh.” [cf. Luke 6:30] • Baptism, chp. 18

  12. Tertullian (160-240) • Opposed early baptism of anyone. • “For no less cause must the unwedded also be deferred . . . until they either marry, or else be more fully strengthened for continence. • If any understand the weighty import of baptism, they will fear its reception more than its delay.” • Baptism, chp. 18

  13. Origen (185-253) • “According to the usage of the church, baptism is given even to infants” [Homil. VIII in Lev. Chp. 12] • “Infants are baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Of what sins? Or, when have they sinned? . . By baptism native pollution is taken away, therefore infants are baptized.” [Homil. In Luke, 14] • “For this cause it was that the church received a tradition from the apostles to give baptism even to infants.” • Comm. on Rom 5:9

  14. The Nicene Era The 4th Century

  15. Constantine & the Edict of Milan (313 AD) Christianity is legalized. In 313 Constantine announced that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best, thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. This edict made the Empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made paganism illegal nor made Christianity the state religion.

  16. Constantine The Edict of Milan “was a decisive step from hostile neutrality to friendly neutrality and protection, and prepared the way for the legal recognition of Christianity, as the religion of the empire.” “With Constantine, therefore, the last of the heathen, the first of the Christian, emperors, a new period begins.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 2, 72, 73.

  17. Constantine “The story, that in one year (324) twelve thousand men, with women and children in proportion, were baptized in Rome, and that the emperor had promised to each convert a white garment and twenty pieces of gold, is at least in accordance with the spirit of that reign, though the fact itself, in all probability, is greatly exaggerated. “ Schaff, Hist. Vol 3, 31-32.

  18. Constantine “The emperor now issued a general exhortation to his subjects to embrace the Christian religion, still leaving them, however, to their own free conviction. In the year 325, as patron of the church, he summoned the council of Nice, . .” “He first introduced the practice of subscription to the articles of a written creed and of the infliction of civil punishments for non-conformity.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 3, 32.

  19. Constantine Q. How would these facts regarding Constantine impact “the Christian church”? Q. How did the view of baptism at this time correspond with the “Christianization” of the Roman Empire? How were Christians “made”? Q. What impact would this potentially have on the view of infant baptism?

  20. 4th Century “Gregory Nazianzen [329-390] sees in baptism all blessings of Christianity combined, especially the forgiveness of sins, the new birth, and the restoration of the divine image. To children it is a seal of grace and a consecration to the service of God.” “According to Gregory of Nyssa [335-394], the child by baptism is instated in the paradise from which Adam was thrust out.” “Chrysostom [347-407] taught: We baptize children, though they are not stained with sin, in order that holiness, righteousness, sonship, inheritance, and brotherhood may be imparted to them through Christ.” Schaff, History, Vol 3, 481.

  21. 4th Century “Augustine [354-430] brought the operation of baptism into connection with his more complete doctrine of original sin. Baptism delivers from the guilt of original sin, and takes away the sinful character of the concupiscence of the flesh, while for the adult it at the same time effects the forgiveness of all actual transgressions before baptism.” “Like Ambrose [337-397] and other fathers, Augustine taught the necessity of baptism for entrance into the kingdom of heaven, on the ground of John 3:5, and deduced therefrom, in logical consistency, the terrible doctrine of the damnation of all unbaptized children, though he assigned them the mildest grade of perdition.” “The council of Carthage, in 318, did the same, and in its second canon rejected the notion of a happy middle state for unbaptized children.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 3, 482.

  22. 4th Century “In Augustine we already find all the germs of the scholastic and Catholic doctrine of baptism, . . . According to this view, baptism is the sacrament of regeneration, which is, negatively, the means of the forgiveness of sin, that is, both of original sin and of actual sins committed before baptism (not after it), and positively, the foundation of the new spiritual life of faith through the impartation of [grace].” “The subjective condition of this effect is the worthy receiving, that is, penitent faith. Since in the child there is no actual sin, the effect of baptism in this case is limited to the remission of the guilt of original sin; and since the child cannot yet itself believe, the Christian church (represented by the parents and the sponsors) here appears in its behalf, as Augustine likewise supposed , . .” Schaff, Hist. Vol 3, 482.

  23. Summary of the First Five Centuries In Summary, from the earliest records of the ‘early church fathers’ it is evident that baptism was viewed as necessary to regeneration. From this view point developed the later idea (as articulated by Augustine) that anyone who died without baptism would be eternally lost – including infants and children. It is little wonder that the practice of infant baptism developed in the early church given these mis-interpretations of baptism.

  24. The Mediaeval & Middle Age Church 6th – 13th Centuries

  25. Mediaeval church (590-1073 AD) “Mediaeval Christianity was intensely sacramental, sacerdotal and hierarchical. The ideas of priest, sacrifice, and altar are closely connected. The sacraments were regarded as the channels of all grace and the chief food of the soul. They accompanied human life from the cradle to the grave. The child was saluted into this world by the sacrament of baptism; the old man was provided with the viaticum [necessities for a journey] on his journey to the other world.” “The chief sacraments were baptism and the eucharist. Baptism was regarded as the sacrament of the new birth which opens the door to the kingdom of heaven; the eucharist as the sacrament of sanctification which maintains and nourishes the new life.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 4, 436.

  26. The Middle Ages (1049-1294 AD) “Baptism is the door to the other sacraments and to the kingdom of heaven. It is certain evidence that the heart is already regenerated. For the necessity of baptism, Thomas Aquinas and the other Schoolmen rely upon John 3:5, ‘except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ ” “Of all the sacraments the most necessary, baptism effects regeneration, nay, it is regeneration itself. Baptism also has the positive effect of conferring grace, an effect which is symbolized by the clearness of water.” Schaff, Hist, Vol 5, 708-9

  27. The Middle Ages (1049-1294 AD) “Children are proper subjects of baptism because they are under the curse of Adam. As the mother nourishes her offspring in the womb before it can nourish itself, so in the bosom of mother Church infants are nourished, and they receive salvation through the act of the Church.” “The definition of baptism excludes all unbaptized children, dying in infancy, from heaven.” Schaff, Hist, Vol 5, 710

  28. The Protestant Reformation 16th Century

  29. Unbaptized Children? “The Reformers, Zwingli excepted, shared the views of the mediaeval theology that unbaptized children dying in infancy are lost. . . It remained for a still later Protestant period to pronounce in favor of the salvation of all such children in view of the superabounding fullness of the atonement and our Lord’s words, ‘for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ ” Schaff, Hist, Vol 5, 710

  30. Martin Luther (1517-1530) “Luther thanks God that this sacrament has been preserved uninjured, and kept from "the foul and impious monstrosities of avarice and superstition." He agrees essentially with the Roman doctrine, and considers baptism as a means of regeneration; while Zwingli and Calvin regarded it merely as a sign and seal of preceding regeneration and church-membership.” “Luther agreed substantially with the Roman Catholic doctrine of baptism.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 218; 607 “As to the mode of baptism, he gives here, as elsewhere, his preference to immersion, . .” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 218

  31. Martin Luther (1517-1530) “Luther’s view of baptismal regeneration seems to be inconsistent with his chief doctrine of justification by faith alone. He says, ‘It is not baptism which justifies any man, or is of any advantage; but faith in that word of promise to which baptism is added: for this justifies and fulfills the meaning of baptism. For faith is the submerging of the old man, and the emerging of the new man.’ ” “But how does this apply to baptized infants, who can not be said to have faith in any proper sense of the term, though they have undoubtedly the capacity of faith? Luther here brings in the vicarious faith of the parents or the Church. But he suggests also the idea that faith is produced in the children, through baptism, on the ground of their religious receptivity.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 218

  32. Zwingli (1484-1531) “He was much less influenced by tradition, and further removed from Romanism. He himself aimed from the start at a thorough, practical purification of church life, and so far agreed with the Radicals. Moreover, he doubted for a while the expediency (not the right) of infant baptism, and deemed it better to put off the sacrament to years of discretion.” “He rejected the Roman doctrine of the necessity of baptism for salvation and the damnation of unbaptized infants dying in infancy.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 8, 72-73

  33. Zwingli (1484-1531) “On maturer reflection he modified his views. He learned from experience that it was impossible to realize an ideal church of believers, and stopped with what was attainable.” “As to infant baptism, he became convinced of its expediency in Christian families. He defended it with the analogy of circumcision in the Old Testament (Col. 2:11), with the comprehensiveness of the New Covenant, which embraces whole families and nations, and with the command of Christ, "Suffer little children to come unto Me," from which he inferred that he who refuses children to be baptized prevents them from coming to Christ.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 8, 72-73

  34. John Calvin (1509-1564) “Whether the person baptized is to be wholly immersed, and that whether once or thrice, or whether he is only to be sprinkled with water, is not of the least consequence: churches should be at liberty to adopt either, according to the diversity of climates, although it is evident that the term baptize means to immerse, and that this was the form used by the primitive Church.” Calvin, Institutes, IV.15.19

  35. John Calvin (1509-1564) “But while meeting the Baptists half-way on the question of the mode, he strenuously defends paedobaptism, and devotes a whole chapter to it. He urges, as arguments, circumcision, which was a type of baptism; the nature of the covenant, which comprehends the offspring of pious parents; Christ’s treatment of children, as belonging to the kingdom of heaven, and therefore entitled to the sign and seal of membership; the word of Peter addressed to the converts on the day of Pentecost, who were accustomed to infant circumcision, that "the promise is to you and your children" (Acts 2:39); Paul’s declaration that the children are sanctified by their parents (1 Cor. 7:14), etc.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 8, 587

  36. John Calvin (1509-1564) “He assigns to infant baptism a double benefit: it ratifies to pious parents the promise of God’s mercy to their children, and increases their sense of responsibility as to their education; it engrafts the children into the body of the Church, and afterwards acts as a powerful stimulus upon them to be true to the baptismal vow.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 8, 587

  37. The Reformers on mode “The mode of baptism was not an article of controversy at that time; for the Reformers either preferred immersion (Luther), or held the mode to be a matter of indifference (Calvin).” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 607

  38. The Anabaptists “All the Reformers retained the custom of infant-baptism, and opposed rebaptism as a heresy. So far they agreed with the Catholics against the Anabaptists, because in their view the baptism of infants was no baptism at all.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 607

  39. The Anabaptists “The Anabaptists or Baptists sprang up in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, and organized independent congregations. They thought that the Reformers stopped half-way, and did not go to the root of the evil. They broke with the historical tradition, and constructed a new church of believers on the voluntary principle.” “Their fundamental doctrine was, that baptism is a voluntary act, and requires personal repentance, and faith in Christ. They rejected infant-baptism as an anti-scriptural invention. They could find no trace of it in the New Testament, the only authority in matters of faith.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 607

  40. The Anabaptists “They were cruelly persecuted in Protestant as well as Roman Catholic countries. We must carefully distinguish the better class of Baptists and the Mennonites from the restless revolutionary radicals and fanatics.” Schaff, Hist. Vol 7, 607

  41. End of Historical Overview

  42. Part II. Current Thought

  43. Part II. Current Thought Roman Catholicism maintains the mediaeval position on baptism. The current Protestant position on infant baptism is closely tied in with the thought and arguments developed in the 17th century.

  44. Roman Catholic

  45. ARTICLE 1 - THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM 1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.“ Catechism of the Catholic Church

  46. The Baptism of infants 1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called. The sheer gratuitousness of the grace of salvation is particularly manifest in infant Baptism. The Church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer Baptism shortly after birth. 1251 Christian parents will recognize that this practice also accords with their role as nurturers of the life that God has entrusted to them. Catechism of the Catholic Church

  47. Protestant Anglican branch Lutheran branch Calvinistic branch

  48. Protestant Branches

  49. The Anglican Church The 39 Articles form the basic summary of belief of the Church of England. Clergymen were ordered to subscribe to the 39 Articles by Act of Parliament in 1571. Article XXVII: Of Baptism Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.

  50. United Methodist The Articles of Religion. When the Methodist movement in America became a church in 1784, John Wesley provided the American Methodists with a liturgy and a doctrinal statement, which contained twenty-four "Articles of Religion" or basic statements of belief. These Articles of Religion were taken from the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England—the church out of which the Methodism movement began—and had been the standards for preaching within the Methodist movement. Article XVII—Of Baptism Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the new birth. The Baptism of young children is to be retained in the Church.

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