Valid baptisms?

[S. Spence]

I have been wondering about the validity of Roman Catholic and some mainline Presbyterian church baptisms, not because I’m primarily concerned if these are true churches or not but because of what the WCF says of baptism, ‘Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.’
Many people were baptised as infants indiscriminately, their parents were not believers and yet they were baptised – are these true baptisms?

I'd be really interested to hear what some PB'ers think.

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

You might find this resource to be of interest.

 

[VictorBravo]

I have been wondering about the validity of Roman Catholic and some mainline Presbyterian church baptisms, not because I’m primarily concerned if these are true churches or not but because of what the WCF says of baptism, ‘Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.’
Many people were baptised as infants indiscriminately, their parents were not believers and yet they were baptised – are these true baptisms?

I'd be really interested to hear what some PB'ers think.

I can vouch for that personally. I was told I was baptized as an infant in a liberal Methodist Church (I have no other evidence of it). My father was a blasphemer and denier of Christ, my mother was an unbeliever then and is now a new age priestess of sorts. I was not raised in the church at all except to go to Christmas and Easter services as a form of pennance before the fun began.

It wasn't until I was in my 40s that God convicted me and converted me. The first issue I had was about baptism. I concluded that under either the WCF or the LBCF, I was not validly baptized.

 

[SRoper]

I think as long as the parents are members in good standing of their church they count as "believing parents" for the purpose of baptism.

My own experience was that my parents were not actually believers at the time, but my mom was a member of the United Church of Christ where I was baptized. When I sought membership in the PCA I informed the session about the circumstances of my baptism and they saw no need to baptize me.

 

[S. Spence]

I think as long as the parents are members in good standing of their church they count as "believing parents" for the purpose of baptism.

My own experience was that my parents were not actually believers at the time, but my mom was a member of the United Church of Christ where I was baptized. When I sought membership in the PCA I informed the session about the circumstances of my baptism and they saw no need to baptize me.

I know we can not truly say if a parent is regenerate or not but what if it's almost certain a person is unregenerate (absolutely no spiritual fruit and they attend church only for special occasions like weddings etc.) would their infant's baptism be valid?

 

[SRoper]

It seems to me that that should come up before the parent presents his child for baptism. If he doesn't attend worship on the Lord's Day he should already be under discipline.