In the comments section of Sam Storms’ contribution to the baptism debate is a comment that is too good to leave there. Here is what the commentator said: Adrian, I think Sam might be misunderstanding Mark’s position. He keeps referring to the idea that Mark would deny a [paedobaptist] (visiting his church, maybe even speaking in his pulpit) access to communion. Hence Sam writes: “One more thing should be noted. In his recent post, Dever indicated that he planned on... Read more
In light of Sam Storms’ contribution to the great baptism debate yesterday, Wayne Grudem has sent me an e-mail which includes an extract from his Systematic Theology which, unlike his perspective on baptism and church membership, has not changed recently. The rest of this article was written by Wayne Grudem and is published with permission: Just for the record, I am already in print agreeing with what Sam Storms says on this question. (And, I would add, in the case... Read more
UPDATEIn January 2008, the following post was identified as the 4th all-time most popular post with readers of this blog. The 5th most-read post was “Steve Chalke and the Lost Message of Jesus.” The 4th most widely-read post was one in a series of posts that catalogued a major debate about baptism and church membership, and took place online between such theological heavyweights as John Piper, Sam Storms, Wayne Grudem, Lig Duncan, and Mark Dever. The posts listed below were... Read more
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I preached the following sermon at Jubilee Church, London yesterday. You can read the notes, download the audio, or listen to it right here: HEROES—At the outset I should warn you that Jacob is not your typical biblical hero. We often go to the Bible to learn about how to behave. We want to read about great men of God who we can model ourselves after. We want to learn how to behave, how to be a good father, a... Read more
Justin Taylor has shared a number of statements on which Mark Dever agreed with David Coffin from the PCA about baptism. The following extracts stood out to me (hence the odd numbering), but they are all worth reading. Do any of you, my readers, disagree with any of these? You will note that, for once, I’m standing on the sidelines of this debate, simply pointing out what various people are saying. I should, however, at least say that there are... Read more
Lig has written about his main reasons for believing in paedobaptism. What he hasn’t said is whether he thinks he should be allowed to become a member in a baptist church if he wanted to, or whether a baptist would be free to join his church. Here are Lig’s arguements for christening babies:- 1. God, in both the Old and New Testaments, explicitly makes a promise to believers and to their children (Genesis 17:7; Acts 2:39). 2. God, in both... Read more
Desiring God has published the following response to Dever’s contribution to the Baptism debate John Piper says- On almost every disagreement that Christians have about what should be believed and what should be done, someone is living in “unrepentant sin”—that is, they are not doing what they ought to do and they are not confessing it as sin…. The question is: what do we do with all these Christians who can’t agree on what ought to be done and therefore... Read more
John Bunyan has been brought in to butress Piper’s posisiton which had suffered from the declaration of Dever for the other side. This remains a very good natured discussion, and demonstrates clearly the ability to be united around the gospel but disagree on secondary issues. Aaron Menikoff of the 9Marks Blog begins his post as follows – Maybe it simply worth noting that there is a long history, first in England, then in the States, of Baptists addressing the question... Read more
I am really enjoying the latest debate on baptism and church membership. My “lite blogging” plan for August has so far prevented me from entering the fray and declaring my own thoughts on it. Mark Dever has now posted briefly about his views. It is great to see some of our theological heroes respectfully disagreeing with each other. It is a model for the rest of us. (HT Alex) Baptism SHOULD be required for church membership: Because Jesus clearly commanded... Read more
Observant readers of my blog will have noticed that I didn’t post any larger photos of Rob Rufus when I spoke about Together On A Mission and interviewed Rob Rufus. One reason for this was that the snapshots I took while we were together were ruined in my hurry as I had the camera on the wrong setting. As a result the color was all wrong and I thought they were beyond salvation. Well, my MacBook and the wonderful iPhoto... Read more
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