Baptist brethren, do you believe a five year old has the cognitive ability to have true faith in Christ and be baptized. Do, you believe that God draws His elect out at such a young age to embrace him by faith? If not, what do you tell a five year old who comes up to you and says, " I believe Jesus died for my sins and I am forgiven of my sins", and this child produces fruit in accordance to repentance? I already have my own take on this, I just want to hear other views.

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Paul Woods
Currently searching for a solid
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I don't believe a child has the full capacity to understand what an adult or adolescent can. A child of this age is also to young to participate in any of the functions of the Church except for worship. While the conversion may be true I think it is wise to examine the Child for a few more years. I did this with my kids and it was a wise decision. The youngest any of mine were baptized is 12 years of age. And it was wise to wait to examine their lives. Their mother persuaded them to pray a prayer when they were all very young. Preschool. But they really didn't understand the faith. The did believe in Jesus but biblical concepts were way over their heads.

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Our children could really be saved... And we pray they are... But they could also be toss to and fro by every wind of doctrine... Both Good and Bad...... They could believe they are saved but absent of a regenerate heart..... In most Reformed Baptist Circles I know, we hold off Baptism to between 17 and 25.... When they are mature and can give a Credible profession of faith... a Child can give a Profession of Faith, but not a credible Profession of Faith...

So If my child at the age of 5 or even at the age of 12 comes to me and tells me they have accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts and believe they are saved I would tell them GOOD Keep calling on the name of the heart... But neither will I allow nor any of the pastors I know will baptize the child until they have reached a mature age... Somewhere in between 17 and 25... It is a judgment call but when the child exhibit maturity and is an adult who can make a credible profession.....

This prevents the error of Rebaptism and of making Mockery of the Sacrament of Baptism. Since baptism happens 3, 4, 6 times on one person throughout their teenage years... "I know I am saved, they get baptize", Then they say 3 years later "I was not saved, now I know I am saved and wish to be rebaptized" then again 2 years later.....

Michael

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Michael Daniels
Reformed, RPCNA
Denton, Maryland

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Having just recently (within the last few years) fallen into the Reformed camp, I can say that I have baptized a 5-year old. The family has since left the church (since I turned Reformed) to go to a more seeker-sensitive church. My concern in doing such a thing is wondering if the child understands sin, repentance, the cross, etc. This is why I currently make it a practice to wait.

Sometimes this view upsets parents who are absolutely sure their child is a believer and wonder why they can't be baptized. My concern is that I rightly administer the ordinance (sacrament, if you will) of baptism. I have to answer to God first, then the parents!

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Firstly, I hold to believers only baptism, not adults only baptism.

Secondly, each case is different. I wouldn't make a child wait until they were 17 if they had made a profession of faith at 5 and continued to walk with the Lord. I would certainly require that there was SOME wait involved, to gauge the response. Someone who is genuinely converted and wants to be baptised will wait. Someone who is being childishly impetuous will not. My own son is ten. If he professed faith and brought forth the fruits of the spirit (and it would be OBVIOUS if God was working in his life) then I would be happy to baptise him after about a year I suppose- but I would be able to observe him closely for that period of time. Every person is different.

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Jonathan Hunt

Preaching Elder
Cheltenham Evangelical Free Church (Confessionally Based)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.
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I'm also dealing with this question in my ministry here. I have had a 9 yr old come, walk the isle and profess Christ. He has come to me several times asking for baptism, and I have deferred. I have spoken with him in regard to what it means, and he can communicate what faith is clearly. I have taken by his own insistence and determination (not his parents) that the lord is calling him at this young age.

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Wes Faulk
Southern Baptist
Oklahoma

Goodness that must have been a long altar call. I know Okinawa is small but it isn't that small. :-)

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Mr. Tim Cunningham, Dip. CS (Regent College)
Member, First Baptist Church
Vancouver, BC

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"The Reformation was a time when men went blind, staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellar of 1500-year-old, 200 proof grace—a bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture, one sip of which would convince anyone that God saves us single-handedly. The word of the gospel—after all these centuries of trying to lift yourself into heaven by worrying about the perfection of your own bootstraps—suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home-free before they started. Grace was to be drunk neat: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale." – Robert Farrar Capon

This thread is proof that if you ask 10 different credo's who are the proper recipients of baptism, you'd get 10 different answers.

At least paedo's are consistent in this area.

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Ryan Barnhart - Pastor of OGBC
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He came on several different ocasions. Finally when I had certenty to his decision, I told him he could walk the isle.

I think we all agree that baptism is an ordinance observed when one evidences faith in Christ. This is the biblical model seen through out the book of Acts, and taught clearly in the New Testament. That said goodness knows there are plenty of credo paedo discussions going on. This is really as discussion on when, if an age of accountability exists.

I was not trying to hijack the thread with a credo/paedo discussion. My point was, credo's don't believe that infants are the proper recipients of baptism. But I've just sat here and read that some believe 5 year olds are proper recipients of baptism. Some believe you have to be between 17 and 25 to be proper recipients of baptism. Others probably believe you have to be at least 7 or 8 to be the proper recipient of baptism. Still others would say somewhere between 13-15.

?????????

Where's the consistency?

I think the consistency lies in the always challenging task of sharpening oneself by the word of God so that a person might believe and follow what God's word says. From our beginnings we have felt that post conversion baptism is the biblical pattern. Though an age of accountability is not specifically in the bible it does not invalidate it. The trinity is not specifically in the bible, yet one would hardly say it is not biblical. To place an age on a person as to salvation is often a hard task. God calls many to salvation at different ages. Would not a paedo baptize a 40 year old man if he is new to the faith? We are simply asking at what age can a child, teenager, or adult recognize the call of the lord.

In regards to unity as means of correctness, the argument is flawed. Would not the entire religion of Christianity fail the test of complete unity of belief? Our disagreement means that we are continuing to cut away at the traditions of man so as to find what is right and biblical. Calvin was a great scholar, but his words are not inspired. One should not go to the works of Calvin to define baptism; they should go to the word of God. Baptists feel they have done this, kept (those of us who are reformed) the fact that Salvation belongs to God, and cut away the traditions of men... paedo baptism. Would this disagreement invalidate the entire reformation, or is it a continued search for the sole truth of scripture. Unity is not correctness.

This is really interesting and something I've not seen in all my years going to Baptist Churches.

What is the biblical reason for waiting?

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
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I wasn't arguing from a standpoint of unity. I am arguing from a standpoint of consistency. Yes, a paedo would baptize a 40 year old man if he is new to the faith. Philip did when he baptized the eunech. Other examples include Lydia and the jailor in Acts 16. What is true of all those converts is that they were baptized immediately upon their profession of faith. Yet, I heard many on here say this isn't possible with children. That's my argument of inconsistency. Either baptists don't understand the true meaning of baptism or they are inconsistent in their understanding of it. That has nothing to do with unity, brother.

I apologize, I misunderstood your argument. We as Baptists do believe that once one professes Christ, then they are immediately baptized. The problem often is with parents who are eager to get the kids fire insurance box checked, that the kids do what their parents want them to do. This is why we ask the question, when can a child understand God's calling? The fear of parents has always diluted the act of baptism. It was the fear of parents for their children’s souls that created the problem of paedo baptism. Now even in believer’s baptism churches, parents in their fear that their children might go to hell, push them down the isle.

My previous pastor gave a sermon on this a number of years ago... Let me dig it out so I can get every point he brings out regarding why we wait.... Maybe if I can copy the sermon into an MP3 and upload it might be better..... Let me see what I can do.....

This is very Consistent in Montvillian Reformed Baptist Circles.... Ala Pastor Al Martin, Pastor Greg Nichols, Pastor Mark Chanski, Pastor John Price, etc... It is very heavy in the New England and Eastern Coast Reformed Baptist circles that follow the Montvillian mold.........

I can't speak for many Baptists because I have not had much interaction with them. But at the last Baptist Church I attended the Elders and Parents both met together to examine the child to make a decision concerning the child's qualifications or candidacy for baptism. I think that is a wise way to do it because maturity and understanding are arrived at during different ages for each child. I do know of adults who after examination were held off until they had a better grasp of the gospel and how their lives related to it. It should be the same way for children also. And some adults have wanted to be baptised just so they could be members of the Church. Elder examinations are very wise and it was practised in the early church. That is a consistent way of looking at the situation.

What is also true of all of those converts is that they were adults that could clearly evidence by profession and change of life that they had been converted. The question of the OP is whether a very young child can evidence this. You will have a variety of answers because each child is different. Some may be good liars or just parrot answers. If we truly believe that baptism must be administered after a person is converted (the way it was done in the New Testament) then we must be cautious with young children.