Baptism Yet Again

What started out as an interchange between Wayne Grudem and John Piper developed into a discussion involving 9Marks’s Mark Dever and Aaron Menikoff. The dialog—no longer really a back-and-forth debate—continues.

Abraham Piper raises the question of whether Baptists should consider paedobaptists as unrepentant sinners, which seems to be the necessary conclusion if, from the Baptist’s perspective, non-first-generation paedobaptists are failing to obey the Scriptural teaching to be baptized after conversion. It would seem logically that, if they are sinning unrepentantly, they are destined for hell.

Mark Dever responds that we need to nuance discussions of sin. The paedobaptist’s sin—if he is wrong—is a sin of ignorance, which God views and treats differently than known sin.

Here are some of the most recent contributions:

• Justin Taylor: The Case for Paedobaptism
• Abraham Piper: Are Paedobaptists Unrepentant?
• Ligon Duncan: Why Presbyterians baptize believers and their children
• Justin Taylor: Ligon Duncan on Paedobaptism, and Some Thoughts on Acts 2:38-39
• Justin Taylor: Agreements on Baptism
• Aaron Menikoff: Historical Reflections on Baptism and Church Membership, Part Two
• Mark Dever: “Unrepentant Sinners”
• Sam Storms: Piper, Grudem, Dever, et al. on Baptism, the Lord’s Table, and Church Membership (just how “Together for the Gospel” are we?)
• Abraham Piper: Together for the Gospel?
• Ligon Duncan: The Local Church—the place Jesus chose for discipleship
• Wayne Grudem: Wayne Grudem Says Sam Storms is Right About the Lord’s Supper
• Ligon Duncan: Yes, we really are Together for the Gospel
• Sam Storms: Mark Dever and “occasional communion”

Here is the complete list of relevant posts and material:

• Grudem on baptism in his Systematic Theology (Amazon | Google Books | Libronix)
• Grudem on baptism in his updated Systematic Theology
• Justin Taylor: Grudem’s Change of Mind regarding Differences on Baptism within a Local Church
• John Piper: Response to Grudem on Baptism and Church Membership
• (John Piper earlier on baptism and church membership)
• Wayne Grudem: Wayne Grudem’s Response to Piper
• Mark Dever: Baptism, Church Membership and Congregationalism
• Aaron Menikoff: Historical Reflections on Baptism and Church Membership, Part One
• Justin Taylor: The Case for Paedobaptism
• Abraham Piper: Are Paedobaptists Unrepentant?
• Ligon Duncan: Why Presbyterians baptize believers and their children
• Justin Taylor: Ligon Duncan on Paedobaptism, and Some Thoughts on Acts 2:38-39
• Justin Taylor: Agreements on Baptism
• Aaron Menikoff: Historical Reflections on Baptism and Church Membership, Part Two
• Mark Dever: “Unrepentant Sinners”
• Sam Storms: Piper, Grudem, Dever, et al. on Baptism, the Lord’s Table, and Church Membership (just how “Together for the Gospel” are we?)
• Abraham Piper: Together for the Gospel?
• Ligon Duncan: The Local Church—the place Jesus chose for discipleship
• Wayne Grudem: Wayne Grudem Says Sam Storms is Right About the Lord’s Supper
• Ligon Duncan: Yes, we really are Together for the Gospel
• Sam Storms: Mark Dever and “occasional communion”

See our previous posts:

• Two Baptist Perspectives on Baptism
• More Baptism Discussion

See also Justin Taylor’s overview post: Baptizoblogodebate Roundup (with Breaking News).

You may also be interested in this recent debate on the proper subjects of baptism:

• Pastor Gene Cook vs. Paul Manata (Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3)

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