UNDERSTANDING FOUR VIEWS ON BAPTISM
• Thomas J. Nettles
• Richard L. Pratt Jr.
• Robert Kolb
• John D. Castelein
• John H. Armstrong general editor
• Paul E. Engle series editor
Understanding Four Views on Baptism
Copyright © 2007 by John H. Armstrong
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nettles, Tom J.
Understanding four views on baptism / Thomas J. Nettles, Richard L. Pratt Jr., Robert Kolb.
p. cm.—(Counterpoints)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26267-1
ISBN-10: 0-310-26267-4
1. Baptism—History of doctrines. I. Pratt, Richards L., 1953– II. Kolb, Robert. III. Title.
BV811.3.N48 2006
234′.161—dc22
2006026525
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Introduction: Division, Differences, and a Dream
JOHN H. ARMSTRONG
Baptism as a Symbol of Christ’s Saving Work
THOMAS J. NETTLES
RICHARD L. PRATT JR.
ROBERT KOLB
A Christian Churches/Churches of Christ Response
JOHN D. CASTELEIN
Baptism as a Sacrament of the Covenant
RICHARD L. PRATT JR.
THOMAS J. NETTLES
ROBERT KOLB
A Christian Churches/Churches of Christ Response
JOHN D. CASTELEIN
God’s Baptismal Act as Regenerative
ROBERT KOLB
THOMAS J. NETTLES
RICHARD L. PRATT JR.
A Christian Churches/Churches of Christ Response
JOHN D. CASTELEIN
4. CHRISTIAN CHURCHES/CHURCHES OF CHRIST VIEW:
Believers’ Baptism as the Biblical Occasion of Salvation
JOHN D. CASTELEIN
THOMAS J. NETTLES
RICHARD L. PRATT JR.
ROBERT KOLB
Conclusion: Finding Common Ground Amid Disagreement and Agreement
JOHN H. ARMSTRONG
Appendix 1: All Instances of the Words for Baptism in the New Testament
Appendix 2: Statements on Baptism in Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms
Appendix 3: Quotations on Baptism
BIBLE TEXTS, VERSIONS, ETC
KJV King James Version
NASB New American Standard Bible
NIV New International Version
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
OLD TESTAMENT, NEW TESTAMENT
Gen. Genesis
Exod. Exodus
Lev. Leviticus
Num. Numbers
Deut. Deuteronomy
Josh. Joshua
Judg. Judges
Ruth Ruth
1–2 Sam. 1–2 Samuel
1–2 Kgs. 1–2 Kings
1–2 Chr. 1–2 Chronicles
Ezra Ezra
Neh. Nehemiah
Esth. Esther
Job Job
Ps./Pss. Psalm/Psalms
Prov. Proverbs
Eccl. Ecclesiastes
Song Song of Songs
Isa. Isaiah
Lam. Lamentations
Ezek. Ezekiel
Dan. Daniel
Hos. Hosea
Joel Joel
Amos Amos
Obad. Obadiah
Jonah Jonah
Mic. Micah
Nah. Nahum
Hab. Habakkuk
Zeph. Zephaniah
Hag. Haggai
Zech. Zechariah
Mal. Malachi
Matt. Matthew
Mark Mark
Luke Luke
John John
Acts Acts
Rom. Romans
1–2 Cor. 1–2 Corinthians
Gal. Galatians
Eph. Ephesians
Phil. Philippians
Col. Colossians
1–2 Thess. 1–2 Thessalonians
1–2 Tim. 1–2 Timothy
Titus Titus
Phlm. Philemon
Heb. Hebrews
Jas. James
1–2 Pet. 1–2 Peter
1–2–3 John 1–2–3 John
Jude Jude
Rev. Revelation
THE DIVISION
In spite of these clear biblical texts and the consensus in the early church, the debates and divisions over baptism have continued since the fourth and fifth Christian centuries, especially since the East and West divided in AD 1054 through the “Great Schism.” Baptismal debates and the resultant separation in church communions have proliferated in the West, especially through the divisions that followed the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century.
The deep tragedy of this division was perhaps never as apparent as on a cold January day in 1527 when Felix Manz, a Swiss Protestant minister who had rejected the practice of infant baptism, was put to death by drowning in the River Limmat. Manz had openly confessed his simple faith by writing, “We bring together those who are willing to accept Christ, obey the Word, and follow in his footsteps. We unite them by baptism, and leave the rest to their present conviction.” Ulrich Zwingli, the Protestant Reformer, said of men like Felix Manz, “Let him who talks about going under [the water] go under.” In this incredible act one evangelical Protestant killed another evangelical Protestant for the crime of seeking to obey God with a clear conscience.
This event prompted the authors of a marvelous book on the nature of this sad division over baptism to ask the $64,000 historical question, “How could so strange a thing happen just ten years after the beginning of the Reformation in Europe?” These two ministers, coming from different positions on the practice of baptism, conclude that “[this] happened because the Reformation of the sixteenth century rediscovered the New Testament gospel, but failed to re-create the New Testament church.”13 Perhaps they are correct. But if this was true in the sixteenth century, what about today? Thankfully, we no longer kill one another over differences about baptism, but we seem to have a deep aversion to the role doctrine played in the thought of the Protestant Reformers. Recovering the essence of the NT church will be no easy task today, especially in an age committed to easy solutions and pragmatic results.
The authors quoted above further observed that the Reformers rediscovered the gospel and preached it with great effect on multitudes, to the conversion of many. In doing so they transformed both church and culture by tearing down the framework of medieval Christendom. “But when they were required to replace that framework and to cater to those converts,” write Bridge and Phypers, “they faltered and became confused and divided. The division of Protestantism into Lutheran, Calvinistic and Anglican forms shows this. The later subdivision of Calvinism into Presbyterian, Independent and Baptist denominations underlines it further.”14
Another problem clinging to modern Protestants is that baptism is commonly seen only as the baptism of individual persons who understand what they do in very individualistic ways. Even where infant baptism is practiced the problem remains, since parents often have no place for the church community in the nurture of their baptized children. The idea that the primary emphasis in baptism is on incorporation into Christ’s death and resurrection—thus baptism being seen as initiation into the one church (Eph. 4:3–6)—is practically denied because of two common caricatures. The first caricature sees baptism as nothing more than a personal insurance policy that the one baptized will go to heaven; the second reduces baptism to receiving a name or to getting into the membership of a particular church within a certain cultural expression. These caricatures plainly “promote an individualistic baptismal concept.”15 They also fail to address the issue of how the church and baptism actually relate to one another. As a pastor I often faced this problem when people wanted baptism for themselves or their children but no relationship to a particular church at all. The contributors to this book all seek to keep this vital connection in mind and thus contribute positively to the healing of certain aspects of our sad disunity.
THE DREAM
Is it possible that a study like this one, where the reader is brought squarely into the middle of one of the greatest controversies that still divides Christians, could help us attain a deeper experience of unity? I actually believe it can. This is one of several reasons why I accepted the offer to serve as this book’s general editor and to work with these four writers.
The contributors are all deeply devoted to the Christ revealed in Holy Scripture. They believe that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ. You can only be saved in and through his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. They also believe that those who would be disciples of Jesus must repent of their sins and have faith in the Son of God. They further agree that Scripture should function as the canon (rule) of all faith and practice. This belief is what theologians have commonly called “the norming norm,” and it simply means that Scripture judges tradition, including that of each writer in this book. Theologian James D. G. Dunn gets this right when he concludes, “For a faith that centers so much on the incarnation it can hardly be otherwise, since that faith invests paramount and normative significance in the revelation of a specific life and ministry in a particular time and pale in history, and our only witness/access to that life and ministry is through the New Testament.”16
Finally, the recovery of the power of symbol and the attendant importance of visual images in the modern world suggest to me that the importance of baptism might be recovered even while we disagree about its exact meaning. How can this be done? By a careful reevaluation of the biblical, cultural, and historical factors that have shaped each of us in drawing our particular conclusions about Christian baptism.
Increasingly dark clouds of secularism and postmodernism impact both church and culture in the West. This context provides a new opportunity for the church to deal with issues that have commonly divided us—baptism, for example. British Baptist theologian Richard Kidd concludes, “The world is already too racked with pain and conflict to permit Christians the luxury of adding to its fragmentation by internal arguments about baptism.” He then writes:
I can no longer work … with a stark and uncompromising contrast between believers’ baptism, which is right, and infant baptism, which is wrong. Rather, I am discovering here two histories of the one sign we call baptism, both of which are proper responses to social and cultural encounters across the years.… These histories simply cannot be mixed, nor should one be allowed to replace the other; for in both these ways, the proper integrity of each would be destroyed.… But I would like to think I can participate in and celebrate the integrity of what is other, without threat to what is profoundly my own.17
The message of Christian baptism speaks powerfully to the developing “spirituality” of modern culture. While multitudes are seeking meaning and purpose in life through a myriad of ways, Christians can keep saying to a confused world, “Jesus is Lord.” And baptism keeps such a confession central to our Christian faith and community. By working to understand our differences, we can demonstrate to the world that we love one another. We may still disagree, and perhaps we should for the present time, but we’ve come a long way since the time of the Reformation. When we consider what Zwingli did to poor Felix Manz, we can safely say that not all the changes that have ensued over the years are for the worse. Perhaps a book like this can foster renewed discussion among thoughtful Christians, all the while encouraging them to study the Scriptures more carefully and thus to love Jesus Christ more deeply.
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