Should Russell Brand be baptising people?

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Russell Brand has reportedly been baptising people in a penguin enclosure.   In one case at least, the person had only professed faith that day.   Objections have been two-fold. First there are concerns about whether or not Brand should be baptising given that he is currently waiting for court proceedings to be heard about serious criminal… Continue reading Should Russell Brand be baptising people?

Baptism: What about those with a learning  disability?

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Recently in a conversation about when to baptise (paedobaptism or credobelievers’ baptism), one of the questions that came from a paedobaptist was: “What would you do about an adult with a learning disability?” The presumption seemed to be that this would be a barrier to baptism.  It seems to align with a perception that credo-bapfists… Continue reading Baptism: What about those with a learning  disability?

Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem

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Why does Onesimus cause a problem for paedobaptists? Well a lot has been made in their argument of the descriptions of converts being baptised with their whole households.   The argument is that it would run contrary to the culture for people to be only baptized if they repented themselves. Rather, we would expect them to… Continue reading Household baptisms, paedobaptism and the Onesimus problem

Federal Vision and the next Christendom

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In the joint Federal Vision Profession (2007), the authors and signatories state: “We affirm that Jesus Christ is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. We believe that the Church cannot be a faithful witness to His authority without calling all nations to submit themselves to Him through baptism, accepting their responsibility to obediently learn all… Continue reading Federal Vision and the next Christendom

The Federal Vision and paedobaptism

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In the Joint Federal Vision Profession (2007), the signatories wrote: We affirm that God formally unites a person to Christ and to His covenant people through baptism into the triune Name, and that this baptism obligates such a one to lifelong covenant loyalty to the triune God, each baptized person repenting of his sins and trusting in Christ… Continue reading The Federal Vision and paedobaptism

Why do “sound people” baptise babies?  A rejoinder to Darren Moore

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I’ve just been reading an article titled “Why do ‘sound people’s baptise babies?”*  It is addressing the premise that paedobaptism is perceived as unsound and yet people who are solid on everything else are willing to baptise infants.  It’s meant to lead to the punchline that sound people baptise babies because it is actually a… Continue reading Why do “sound people” baptise babies?  A rejoinder to Darren Moore

The baptism of Naaman

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I wonder if you’ve ever preached on Naaman at a baptism service.  Of course there could be a very cliched and unhelpful way of doing this, simply focusing on the fact that Naaman goes down into water  and out again, baptism by immersion QED. You might end up with some iffy practical application there,  Are… Continue reading The baptism of Naaman

The things we hold tight

The other day, I wrote about a peculiar debate within the Anglican Church about the permissible ingredients in communion.  Now apart from the fact that none of the Gospel writers have offered us an ingredients list or recipe for the elements, it seems a strange thing to be getting worked up about. We are at… Continue reading The things we hold tight

Unexpected twists and turns in the baptism conversation

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Someone has approached you about getting baptised.  You sit down to talk to them about why they want to get baptised, what it means and to get a sense of their profession of faith.  As the conversation goes on, it becomes clear that they are not there yet in terms of clear profession.  They have… Continue reading Unexpected twists and turns in the baptism conversation

Only one person gets to impute their righteousness

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I’ve recently picked up again on discussions about paedobaptism.  One of the things that came through in responses that although I suspect still a minority, there are a significant number of people who believe that the baptised child does have faith, not merely might have faith.  It is worth noting that the two things are… Continue reading Only one person gets to impute their righteousness