Quote:
Originally Posted by satz  Quote:
Originally Posted by Semper Fidelis Quote:
Originally Posted by satz
I would say that such a man cannot answer God with a good conscience. I apologize, but I am not sure what you are getting at.
| Hence, what difference does it make if it is a child or a false professor in your view. It seems that you cannot administer the ordinance for anyone for fear that the person professing may not really be giving an answer with a "good conscience" by your own admission. | The original post concerned a child of at least 18 years of age and asked '...At what point do we require a profession of faith from the child and thus engage in credo-Baptism...'
I admit I was surprised to see some paedobaptists seem to say that an 18 year old could be baptized without having to make a profession of faith, which I believe is against this verse.
I do not believe you need to be 'sure' that a person is really giving an answer with a good conscience before you can baptize. In Acts baptisms happened very quickly after the receipient responded positively to preaching, which would leave no time to investigate the genuineness of a person's profession. However, there was a response to the preaching, and certianly for someone of the age of 18, a profession would at least be required before baptism could be administrated. |
It doesn't really matter what the premise of the original post was about. The real point here is that you have just acknowledged that there must be something more said about this "good conscience" as false professors come forward to be baptized and false professors cannot answer with a "good conscience".
Hence, a "good conscience" cannot be the basis for the administration of any baptism and that passage is really quite immaterial to the decision to baptize in any instance.