Better to be a credobaptist than a paedocommunionist

At issue is not simply covenantal membership, but what one thinks is the benefit of the Supper.How is the Supper a means of grace? For an infant to benefit from the Supper, there would have to be a kind of grace conveyed via the elements apart from a conscious act of faith. This is, as far as I can see, the medieval belief that grace (divine transformative power) is infused into a person simply because the sacrament works. In the medieval conception, so long as the recipient was not opposed to receiving grace, the sacrament would work. Since infants cannot oppose the grace it would ‘work.’ In the Protestant conception, however, the sacrament is seen as stimulating our conscious faith. There is no transformative power in the elements. Rather the elements stir up the faith that is in us, so that it becomes more active. The bread directs our thoughts to Christ’s broken body; the wine to his shed blood. Their very physicality adds a dimension that is missing in hearing. As we eat the elements, we have a sense that we are receiving Christ, that He is ours and we are his. Thus, faith is nurtured and strengthened. As the Word helps us to look upon Christ and so love and trust him, so do the sacramental elements.

Paedocommunionists and Federal Visionists (often times the same persons) really have embraced a medieval, sacramental view of Christian existence.

via The Medievalism of Paedocommunion – Feeding on Christ.

Here we see a perfect inversion of John Murray that substantiates his point. The argument above is that sacraments do not benefit Christians who are (allegedly) too young to engage in some level of conscious understanding. Thus, whatever its many other flaws, it is an argument against paedobaptism.

Duh.

But this is considered a defense of orthodoxy even though it “strikes at the vitals” of baptizing babies and therefore of covenant theology. Get thee to a Reformed Baptist denomination!

5 thoughts on “Better to be a credobaptist than a paedocommunionist

  1. Peter Jones

    Mark, did the PCA rule that TEs can no longer take exception on the issue of paedocommunion? And if so does that mean that men like Jeff Meyers who did take exception will now be forced out of the PCA?

    Thanks,
    Peter Jones, Pastor
    Christ Church of Morgantown

    Reply
  2. Josh L

    So if pc is still an allowed exception, then it’s not “out of accord with the fundamentals”, correct?

    I’m wondering about the cash value of all this. Did the GA actually render a judgment on anything, or did a committee just issue a non-binding statement?

    Of course, plenty has been said and done to encourage a pc-hostile environment in the PCA. But has the PCA formally decided that as an elder, you may privately hold to pc, but may not teach it?

    Reply
  3. Pingback: Mark Horne » Blog Archive » So lets compare real “medieval sacramentalism” to the imaginations of anti-paedosacramentalists

  4. C. Frank Bernard

    “Rather the elements stir up the faith that is in us, so that it becomes more active. The bread directs our thoughts to Christ’s broken body; the wine to his shed blood. Their very physicality adds a dimension that is missing in hearing.”

    So missions/evangelism would be more effective if, along with or instead of soup kitchens, we served bread and wine?

    Reply

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