New Look, New Blog...

Hey everyone. I've given in and switched to wordpress =) I'll probably delete this blog sometime within the near future, but I've already imported all of my previous posts to the new blog. I'm a little inexperienced with a more complex blogging system, so give me some time and I'm sure the look will be better than this one! Thanks so much for taking the time to actually read my blog. I greatly appreciate it, and hope you'll check out the new look here. Thanks!!

My Purpose in Writing on the Sacraments

"In the sacraments there is a personal encounter with the Triune God through the particular agency of the Spirit. The Jews marveled at the change that came about in the disciples, and noted that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13), and the same is true for us who have not encountered Jesus in the flesh- we are transformed not by impersonal energy flowing from God, but by a personal encounter, in word and water, in bread and wine, with the Lord who has become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor 3:17-18). We are transformed when God shows His favor through granting favors, when God shows His grace through bestowing graces." -Peter J. Leithart, The Baptized Body

Leithart's comments encapsulate the urgency and joy I hope to reflect as I study, write about, and experience the sacraments. One of my greatest concerns in writing this blog is to helpfully put down some concrete thoughts on issues directly related to the covenant. I'm an undergraduate student at a Baptist institution whose personal study of the sacraments occasionally makes its way onto this blog in the form of thoughts, quotes I've profited from, analyses of alternate views, etc. etc. Much of what is said, quoted, and analyzed might seem intentionally antagonistic towards the Baptist position. My intention is not to blatantly discriminate against them in an un-catholic manner, but only to analyze Baptistic ecclesiology in light of my personal experiences as a former Baptist, and my newfound joy in a full-embodied Reformed sacramentology. I do not in any way regard Baptists as heretics whose theology is outside the boundaries of historic Christian thinking. On the contrary, I believe that Reformed folk can profit greatly from healthy theological interaction with their Baptist brethren. The White Horse Inn and T4G are testiomines to this reality, both settings very very catholic, respectful, and theologically charitable. Nevertheless, our understanding of baptism strikes right to the core of historic covenantal theology. Therefore, from my perspective, "Reformed Baptist" ecclesiology can tend to obscure key covenantal doctrines by attempting to synchronize them with an anabaptistic view of church. From my understanding, the "Reformed Baptist" movement can never escape the individualistic influence of their Anabaptist predecessors. I find these kinds of Baptist's inconsistent and historically inaccurate, but not at all heretical or outside the bounds of orthodxy. Baptistic dispensationalism is an entirely different animal. Yet even despite their errors, I know many dispensationalists who treasure the doctrines of grace and love the gospel deeply. I've only recently embraced some of the sacramental views you'll find me writing about on this blog. I'm merely a fellow pilgrim whose eyes have been opened to the beauty of the sacraments as God's effectual means, along with the Scripture, to create, sustain, nourish, enliven, and strengthen our faith. God has not established a gracious covenant bond with believers and their children, only to then to leave them empty-handed. God gives us his sacraments to "dispense the covenant", continually teaching us the all sufficiency of His sovereign grace in every step of our lives. To that end I'll write, and continue to do so. May I be Reformed, catholic, charitable, loving, and above all: Biblical.

Baptismal Regeneration and the Westminster Confession of Faith

In my study of baptism, this article has perhaps been one of the most enlightening pieces I've read.

A Defense of the Baptismal Liturgy

The entire article can be found here. I can't overestimate the power of Nevin's writing in general, and the specific help this article has provided me as I've worked through this issue. Nevin has helped me to understand the real differences between Baptistic ecclesiology and Reformed sacramentology. The baptizing of infants is only one aspect of the differences between Reformed and Baptist practice. The nature of Holy Baptism as objectively and spritually efficacious seems to be regarded by some as the REAL difference between the two systems of thought. Unfortunately, a Presbyterian identity crisis has lead some to believe that the Reformed consensus on Baptism isn't really that different from the neo-gnosticism of Baptist ecclesiology. This "Baptistic Presbyterianism" aroused the ire of men like Nevin, whose theological labors centered upon reviving a genuinely patristic, confessional, and Reformed perspective on the sacraments, liturgy, union with Christ, Reformed Catholicity, etc. etc. Yes, Reformed/Patristic is not a historical and theological contradiction! A fresh reading of the Institutes might help in this area, seeing that Calvin was regarded as one of the greatest patristic scholars of his day. Anyway, I believe Nevin can help us tremendously in this area. While Nevin wouldn't go so far as say Cornelius Burgess (at least in this article) in arguing for a spiritually efficacious baptismal regeneration of elect infants, his thoughts are nevertheless invaluable. Personally, I lean towards Burgess's understanding of baptism. Burgess taught that the gospel is so intimately connected with the sacrament of holy baptism, that it is right to speak of the sacrament as the means whereby the seed of regeneration is bestowed to elect infants through sovereign working of the Holy Spirit. This doesn't in any way contradict a Reformed understanding of faith as the instrumental cause of justification. Reformed and Roman Catholic perspectives on instrumental causality are entirely different. Properly speaking, regeneration precedes faith and enables faith. Once the gift of faith is bestowed by the sovereign working of the Holy Spirit, justification logically proceeds as a once for all declaration of righteousness grounded in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Faith, and not baptism, is the instrumental cause of justification according to Burgess and the entire Reformed tradition Nevertheless, the Reformers and Puritans regarded infants as capapble of receiving the gift of faith, and some (like Burgess) labored in teaching that these gifts accompany the administration of Holy Baptism. I apologize for the rabbit-trail. Anyway... One of the greatest needs in the Reformed church is a sacramental reformation. I think Nevin's work will be immensely helpful in working towards that end. Here's a quote from the article which I found particularly helpful...

"A Pelagian anthropology leads over naturally to a spiritualistic construction of the whole Christian salvation; in which, as their is no organic power of the Devil or kingdom of darkness, for men to be delivered from, so there will be no organic redemption either, no objective, historical order of grace, in the bosom and through the power of which, this salvation is to go forward; but all will be made to resolve itself into workings of God’s Spirit that are of a general character, and into processes of thought and feeling, on the part of men, with no other basis than the relations of God to man in the most common, simply humanitarian view. Is there then no organic redemption needed for men, into the sphere of which they must come first of all, in order that they may have power to become personally righteous, and so be able to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, as knowing it to be God that worketh in them both to will and to do of His own good pleasure? Has the Church been wrong in believing through all ages, that "we must be delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son" (Col. i. 13), not as the end of our personal goodness and piety, but the beginning of it, and the one necessary condition first of all, without which we can make no progress in goodness or piety whatever? Has the Church been wrong in believing, that such change of state, such transplantation from the kingdom of the Devil over into the kingdom of Christ, must in the nature of the case be a Divine act; and that as such a Divine act, it must be something more than any human thought or volition simply, stimulated into action by God’s Spirit? Has the Church been wrong in believing, finally, that the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the sacrament of initiation into the Church, was instituted, not only to signify this truth in a general way, but to seal it as a present actuality for all who are willing to accept the boon thus offered to them in the transaction?

Baptismal regeneration! our evangelical spiritualists are at once ready to exclaim. But we will not allow ourselves to be put out of course in so solemn an argument, by any catchword of this sort addressed to popular prejudice. The Liturgy avoids the ambiguous phrase; and we will do so too; for the word regeneration is made to mean, sometimes one thing, and sometimes another, and it does not come in our way at all at present to discuss these meanings. We are only concerned, that no miserable logomachy of this sort shall be allowed to cheat us out of what the sacrament has been held to be in past ages; God’s act, setting apart those who are the subjects of it to His service, and bringing them within the sphere of His grace in order that they may be saved. We do not ask any one to call this regeneration; it may not at all suit his sense of the term; but we do most earnestly conjure all to hold fast to the thing, call it by what term they may. The Question is simply, Doth baptism in any sense save us? Has it anything to do at all with our deliverance from original sin, and our being set down in the new world of righteousness and grace, which has been brought to pass in the midst of Satan’s kingdom all around it, by our Lord Jesus Christ?"

Easter-Paschal Homily of John Chrysostom

Let all Pious men and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first: yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.

Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness.

Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.

When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encourntering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible.

O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and life is freed, Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Stephen Smallman on Discipling Covenant Children

"If we build on the foundation of God's promises and Jesus' statement about our children, then we can view the salvation of our children from the perspective of faith rather than anxiety. And by faith, we then set about the privilege of raising our children "in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). The word that better fits this admonition is discipleship rather than evangelism. The earliest disciples were following Jesus even while they were learning what it meant to believe in him. Can't it be said that our children are part of a family of Jesus' disciples and that in that sense, they themselves are also disciples? As the family serves the Lord, led by the head of the household, the members of the family learn together what it means to embrace Jesus personally. A simple example of this form of discipleship is teaching our children to pray the Lord's Prayer. When we teach them to say 'Our Father;, that is true for them because the God and Father of Jesus is also the God and Father of our family, even if our children do not yet comprehend what it means to believe in him. The term used in earlier generations to describe this more discipleship-oriented way of passing along the faith was "Christian nurture". The question of how children come to faith received a great deal of attention in the Presbyterian church with the rise of revivalism in the nineteenth century. So much attention was given to dramatic conversion stories that the 'boring' examples of people growing up and receiving the faith passed along to them by their families were considered invalid. In some way, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because such ordinary means as family prayers, catechizing children, and faithful church attendance were being set aside to wait for the next great season of revivial, many children were leaving the faith of their fathers. I remember hearing the catchy phrase that came out of that era, 'God has no grandchildren', and finding it appealing because it described my situation. In one sense it is true that God doesn't have grandchildren, but if that means every person, including those raised in Christian homes, come into the world as pagans with no relationship to God, then it is not true." -Stephen Smallman, How Our Chidlren Come to Faith

The Collect for Maundy Thursday

"Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." -BCP (I929)