Dr. Bob Gonzales
Puritan Board Junior
Should we allow minors into the membership of the church? Most evangelical churches would, without hesitation, answer this question affirmatively. Those that practice infant baptism believes the Bible warrants the inclusion of the children of believers into the membership of the church de jure. On the other hand, many Baptist churches today pressure young children to “make a decision for Christ” and accept such decisions or professions of faith without careful reflection on credibility.
In response to these two common evangelical views, Reformed Baptists have rightly stressed the need for a profession of faith as a prerequisite for baptism and church membership (contra paedobaptism) and appropriately questioned the often superficial decisionalism that characterizes far too many Baptist churches (contra decisionalism). While I appreciate and share some of the concerns and cautions raised by Reformed Baptist pastors, I’m decidedly in favor of baptizing and bringing children in to the membership of the church on biblical grounds. My argument is succinctly summarized in the most recent post:
Should We Allow Children into the Membership of the Church?
In response to these two common evangelical views, Reformed Baptists have rightly stressed the need for a profession of faith as a prerequisite for baptism and church membership (contra paedobaptism) and appropriately questioned the often superficial decisionalism that characterizes far too many Baptist churches (contra decisionalism). While I appreciate and share some of the concerns and cautions raised by Reformed Baptist pastors, I’m decidedly in favor of baptizing and bringing children in to the membership of the church on biblical grounds. My argument is succinctly summarized in the most recent post:
Should We Allow Children into the Membership of the Church?
