tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post9203683890035025906..comments2023-10-19T10:34:33.030-05:00Comments on Praisegod Barebones: On Mandatory Age Thresholds for Believer's BaptismBart Barberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-10570360499709876892009-05-02T07:58:00.000-05:002009-05-02T07:58:00.000-05:00I'm aware that it isn't actively practiced in most...I'm aware that it isn't actively practiced in most places in the SBC. Lots of things aren't practiced and that's why the GCR was drafted to correct some of those things (whatever one thinks of the GCR). Resolutions are brought up at the annual meeting to create policies and practices that are deemed helpful. If I'm out of date and that's a bad thing then that would explain why the SBC is in Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557557130782165768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-70470277276274946492009-05-01T21:50:00.000-05:002009-05-01T21:50:00.000-05:00Blake;
“accountability/discipline are applied to ...Blake;<br /><br />“accountability/discipline are applied to adult believers --- you are joking, right?"<br />I have no idea what you mean by this. Please explain.<br /><br />If you are really suggesting that church discipline of adults is actively practiced; you must have totally ignored Baptist blogging, SBC annual meetings, and church life for a good many years. <br /><br />In summary; the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-14533710526184760042009-05-01T06:15:00.000-05:002009-05-01T06:15:00.000-05:00dbrady: "These children's sins that you emphasize;...dbrady: "These children's sins that you emphasize; just don't seem to rise to that level of blatantly defying God."<br /><br />They don't rise to that "level of blatantly defying God" PURELY BECAUSE THEY ARE CHILDREN. When adults "act like children" people get concerned and we begin a process of church discipline. If grown men have a fist fight or grown women are causing division over petty Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557557130782165768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-78048331467545752952009-04-30T20:51:00.000-05:002009-04-30T20:51:00.000-05:00Blake;
I count 'Accountable'(ability) nine (9) ti...Blake;<br /><br />I count 'Accountable'(ability) nine (9) times and references to discipline. You worry at length about sins that children are likely to be unaccountable for. Leaving the implication that accountability/discipline are applied to adult believers --- you are joking, right?<br /><br />Surely, that has to be a joke? <br /><br />Would you care to compile a list of preacher/deacon Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-75301252300713289512009-04-30T15:21:00.000-05:002009-04-30T15:21:00.000-05:001. I disagree. It's not an abandonment of account...1. I disagree. It's not an abandonment of accountability for children on behalf of the congregation, rather it is recognizing that children can not be held to the level of accountability that adults can. Boys get in fights on playgrounds and girls become cliquey and create division. Middle schoolers and high schoolers will experiment with drugs, pornography and maybe with sex. Kids are also Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557557130782165768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-18557849993880341512009-04-30T10:57:00.000-05:002009-04-30T10:57:00.000-05:00DBrady, my good friends, is my father-in-law. One ...DBrady, my good friends, is my father-in-law. One of the children whom he led to Christ is a beautiful young lady who prays beside me every day with my children and with whom I pray to grow old and go to glory.<br /><br />He knows whereof he speaks.Bart Barberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-24893929565380593662009-04-30T10:54:00.000-05:002009-04-30T10:54:00.000-05:00Blake,
I offer this critique:
1. I am uncomforta...Blake,<br /><br />I offer this critique:<br /><br />1. I am uncomfortable with the inauguration of a category of converted-yet-unaccountable people. Is that not the necessary implication of having a class of people whom we acknowledge to have been converted, yet whom we will not baptize, and that explicitly because we refuse to hold them accountable. Is that biblical? I think not.<br /><br />2. IBart Barberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-69834785176476658292009-04-30T00:12:00.000-05:002009-04-30T00:12:00.000-05:00I had not thought much about baptismal practices b...I had not thought much about baptismal practices before attending the Mennonite seminary I'm currently attending and found a very different view of baptismal practice. The early Anabaptists held strictly to an adult believer's baptism (don't ask when someone becomes an adult). Mennonite churches today by and large will not baptize anyone younger than 15. However, Mennonites will admit that Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557557130782165768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-5326840489608493532009-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:002009-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:00Please note that Bart is obligated to imply sympat...Please note that Bart is obligated to imply sympathy with my view(s), without regard to his real opinion.<br /><br />Having spent some 17 years directing Church Bus Ministries in 2 southern cities; I’ve had a lot of ‘experience’ counseling hundreds of children, generally between 6 and 18 years of age, regarding salvation and baptism. I’ll leave the theological discussion to those so educated (Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-73239701848006124832009-04-28T10:03:00.000-05:002009-04-28T10:03:00.000-05:00Bart,
Great post. I have been wrestling back and ...Bart,<br /><br />Great post. I have been wrestling back and forth on this issue and it is currently being discussed among our church leadership.<br /><br />I think you posit a credible way forward.<br />One question: Could you offer a brief description of what you would expect in a credible testimony of conversion (especially as it would be presented by a very young convert)? <br /><br />Again, Todd Benkerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01946569777635522966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-34839440778474420692009-04-27T11:40:00.000-05:002009-04-27T11:40:00.000-05:00Bart,
As someone who has argued strongly for the ...Bart,<br /><br />As someone who has argued strongly for the possibility of delaying baptism for young children, but like you is also opposed to a mandatory threshold, I resonate strongly with your call for public (or publicly viewed) conversion testimonies. My local church has no official threshold, but we have seen in the last few years that our average age of baptism has crept up. The biggest Nathan Finnhttp://betweenthetimes.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-76165971159271356162009-04-27T10:41:00.000-05:002009-04-27T10:41:00.000-05:00Bart,
I agree with the others in their kudos for...Bart, <br /><br />I agree with the others in their kudos for a fine post. <br /><br />This whole idea really drives home, to me, the point of the great commission .. to <B>make disciples</B>. If our discipling is effective, then the little ones who have been baptized will grow into adults who realize the process, and make it whole in their lives. And .. for those who fall away, it is to the Bob Clevelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06110395869562328309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-2876683495455994762009-04-27T00:15:00.000-05:002009-04-27T00:15:00.000-05:00Bart,
You handled this well! I agree 100%! I wor...Bart,<br />You handled this well! I agree 100%! I work hard regardless of age and yet I have fear and trembling with children (it was that way with my own two)and I was honored to baptize them both. I made them beg me (prove to me with their own testimony of repentence)!<br /><br />Well written and applied!Tim Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10885623376514366024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-50860344703116992192009-04-26T21:51:00.000-05:002009-04-26T21:51:00.000-05:00Dave, David, and Darby,
Thanks for your affirming...Dave, David, and Darby,<br /><br />Thanks for your affirming comments. Now we will be receiving comments next from people whose first names begin with the letter 'E'.<br /><br />;-)Bart Barberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-47280633761894296232009-04-26T21:50:00.000-05:002009-04-26T21:50:00.000-05:00Anonymous,
You are correct. All we know about the...Anonymous,<br /><br />You are correct. All we know about the "household baptisms" in the New Testament is that, as we read at Philippi, every member of the household who was able to hear the message and believe was also baptized.Bart Barberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14021102240441576393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-75670821204989625952009-04-26T21:06:00.000-05:002009-04-26T21:06:00.000-05:00The NT is clear about the people's name who were b...The NT is clear about the people's name who were baptized that were adults but remains unclear when it follows that the whole household professed and were baptized. Acts 10:44 records that the Holy Spirit descended upon all who heard the message. This was a home so there is no indication that the children of Cornelius were not present.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-54212648952695272252009-04-26T20:17:00.000-05:002009-04-26T20:17:00.000-05:00Well thought out and excellent points. I'm glad yo...Well thought out and excellent points. I'm glad you made them. You're not alone in your assessment and the way forward.DLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00775191828560028746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-21341045940096702552009-04-26T15:31:00.000-05:002009-04-26T15:31:00.000-05:00I trusted Jesus as my Saviour when I was five year...I trusted Jesus as my Saviour when I was five years old. <br />David R. BrumbelowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-32788165026630092772009-04-26T14:29:00.000-05:002009-04-26T14:29:00.000-05:00I can only see one requirement for biblical baptis...I can only see one requirement for biblical baptism - a credible profession of faith in Christ. <br /><br />I admit I am always a little uncomfortable when I baptize a child, wondering if I did enough to clearly explain the gospel and to make sure that the child understands what is going on. <br /><br />But I do not see a biblical warrant to refuse baptism to someone of any age who makes a clearDave Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01637750764381837761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5643342666676162215.post-91559027511791860682009-04-26T12:23:00.000-05:002009-04-26T12:23:00.000-05:00Bart,
A very good post. And, I agree that some g...Bart,<br /><br />A very good post. And, I agree that some good observations are readily available which argue for "limiting" baptism to adult believers. <br /><br />Personally, my heart-rate speeds up a bit when I experience the baptism of a little one who can hardly be seen over the top of baptistery. I always wonder... <br /><br />Then again, the reservations you present concerning the age peter lumpkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00515936082186368659noreply@blogger.com