blhowes
Puritan Board Professor
I've shared on the board before how some baptist church's I've attended paint all reformed churches, who practice infant baptism, with a big brush that tends to make one apprehensive about even taking the time to learn about the reasons why they baptize their infants. Some of you may have heard something similar in your experiences..."The reformers left the catholic church, but they didn't really break away and follow the Bible because they continued to baptize their infants". When you associate reformed practices with catholic practices, there's a tendancy for warning flags to go off.
I've since come to learn a bit more about CT and the reasons why reformed churches baptize infants, and have come to realize that there's a big difference between the catholic baptism and the reformed baptism...Or, is there?
On the way back from lunch, I started wondering if there's really such a big difference between the two baptisms. (Hear me out, before you start chucking the tomatoes, etc. ) What the baptism accomplishes (baptismal regeneration) is different, but are the reasons for baptizing essentially the same? Does the catholic baptism have the same covenantal basis for performing the baptisms as do the reformed?
Stated another way: The reformers left the catholic church. They changed their views about baptismal regeneration to be better aligned with the scriptures, but did they also change the reason for the baptism, or did that stay the same?
Make sense?
I've since come to learn a bit more about CT and the reasons why reformed churches baptize infants, and have come to realize that there's a big difference between the catholic baptism and the reformed baptism...Or, is there?
On the way back from lunch, I started wondering if there's really such a big difference between the two baptisms. (Hear me out, before you start chucking the tomatoes, etc. ) What the baptism accomplishes (baptismal regeneration) is different, but are the reasons for baptizing essentially the same? Does the catholic baptism have the same covenantal basis for performing the baptisms as do the reformed?
Stated another way: The reformers left the catholic church. They changed their views about baptismal regeneration to be better aligned with the scriptures, but did they also change the reason for the baptism, or did that stay the same?
Make sense?