Martin Luther (I remind Protestant readers) would also be included in this “anathema,” since he holds an even stronger view than the Catholic one: in his view the grace of baptism cannot be lost: “Thus the papists have attacked our position and declared that anyone who falls into sin after his Baptism must undergo a distinct type of purification.: (Sermons on the Gospel of St. John, Chapters 1-4, 1540; in LW, 22, 429-430)
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, but actually a lifelong Anglican (reasoning much like St. Augustine often does) accepts the notion of baptism being a seal, without denying that it is at the same time a means or cause of regeneration. He does not dichotomize as Calvin does, but thinks in far more biblically oriented terms. Hence he comments in his Notes on the New Testament, on John 3:5, Acts 22:16, Titus 3:5, and 1 Peter 3:21:
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit — Except he experience that great inward change by the Spirit, and be baptized (wherever baptism can be had) as the outward sign and means of it.Baptism administered to real penitents, is both a means and seal of pardon. Nor did God ordinarily in the primitive Church bestow this on any, unless through this means.Sanctification, expressed by the laver of regeneration, (that is, baptism, the thing signified, as well as the outward sign,) . . .
Through the water of baptism we are saved from the sin which overwhelms the world as a flood: not, indeed, the bare outward sign, but the inward grace . . .
There is a justification conveyed to us in our baptism, or, properly, this state is then begun. (The Principles of a Methodist Farther Explained, 1746; in Lindstrom, 106-107)
So we see that several groups of Protestants accept a view of baptism virtually identical or quite similar to the Catholic one: that baptism effects spiritual regeneration in a person; it is a means, not a sign, of justification. Naturally, we think their exegesis and biblical support is that much better, but readers can draw their own conclusions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Calvin, John, Calvin’s Commentaries, 22 volumes, translated and edited by John Owen; originally printed for the Calvin Translation Society, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1853; reprinted by Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI: 1979. Available online.
Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Henry Beveridge for the Calvin Translation Society, 1845 from the 1559 edition in Latin; reprinted by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (Grand Rapids, MI), 1995. Available online.Lindstrom, Harald, Wesley and Sanctification, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Francis Asbury Press, 1980.
Luther, Martin, Large Catechism, 1529, translated by Lenker, Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1935.
Luther, Martin, Luther’s Works (LW), American edition, edited by Jaroslav Pelikan (volumes 1-30) and Helmut T. Lehmann (volumes 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (volumes 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (volumes 31-55), 1955.
Steinhauser, A.T.W., translator, Martin Luther: The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520, from Three Treatises, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, revised edition, 1970.
Wesley, John, Explanatory Notes on the New Testament, 1766; reprinted by Epworth (London), 1958. Available online.
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Meta Description: John Calvin’s non-regenerational view of baptism doesn’t line up with Holy Scripture.
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