Many Members, One Body
Strong paedobaptist covenantalists frequently talk about the corporate nature of God's covenant(s) and the Bible's style. Unless the speaker/writer is directly addressing an individual (Ahab, Mary, Hezekiah, Philemon, or Yahweh for example), most of the "you's" in Scripture are plural. Paedobaptists argue that credobaptists overlook this corporate nature and read the Bible too individualistically: Credos just can't help it: it's wired into their theological DNA.
If credobaptism only originated with the anabaptists, or the First and Second Great Awakenings (I know, that's a really broad swath of history) -- then maybe individualism is intertwined into the credo baptist position. That doesn't mean that it has to be. After all, we are learning that we can improve upon our physical genetic material -- say, diet and exercise can diminish a strong genetic tendency towards heart disease.
I've been memorizing Psalm 139 and have just started verse 15: "My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret: intricately woven in the depths of the earth." It's an intensely personal statement. Yahweh made me. And if we take Psalm 139 with what He spoke through Paul and with what He has revealed in the physical world, we see: He made me to be part of a body. He calls out the individual human systems and organs and structures as He crafts a person in the womb (starting with the two original cells!). He forms a body as He forms individuals. Children are usually called into a family one at a time -- even for twins, triplets, etc, there is a sequence. (Remember Jacob and Esau struggling in the womb?) But whatever the number, children are immediately born into a corporate identity by reason of having parents. And we welcome them as individuals.
Certainly, our individualistic culture has caused us to overlook the way God works through groups of people (specifically the Church). Just as with our physical birth, we step into a family with all the privileges, expectations, and responsibilities that come with it, our spiritual birth also naturally brings us into a spiritual, universal family. A child coming at 8 years old for baptism shouldn't have any more trouble understanding this fact than the child presented at 8 weeks. Looking for the fruit of the Spirit and repentance before baptism should not have to make this harder. Infant baptism or paedocommunion is not a preventative against doubt and rebellion.
When we are baptized we are baptized into Christ and in becoming united to Him, we are also united to His Bride, the Church. We are not scattered organs in petri dishes; we take our proper place in a body nourished by Christ's blood. The Church is who she is because she identifies with Christ. This is a lovely calling and a gift.
If credobaptism only originated with the anabaptists, or the First and Second Great Awakenings (I know, that's a really broad swath of history) -- then maybe individualism is intertwined into the credo baptist position. That doesn't mean that it has to be. After all, we are learning that we can improve upon our physical genetic material -- say, diet and exercise can diminish a strong genetic tendency towards heart disease.
I've been memorizing Psalm 139 and have just started verse 15: "My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret: intricately woven in the depths of the earth." It's an intensely personal statement. Yahweh made me. And if we take Psalm 139 with what He spoke through Paul and with what He has revealed in the physical world, we see: He made me to be part of a body. He calls out the individual human systems and organs and structures as He crafts a person in the womb (starting with the two original cells!). He forms a body as He forms individuals. Children are usually called into a family one at a time -- even for twins, triplets, etc, there is a sequence. (Remember Jacob and Esau struggling in the womb?) But whatever the number, children are immediately born into a corporate identity by reason of having parents. And we welcome them as individuals.
Certainly, our individualistic culture has caused us to overlook the way God works through groups of people (specifically the Church). Just as with our physical birth, we step into a family with all the privileges, expectations, and responsibilities that come with it, our spiritual birth also naturally brings us into a spiritual, universal family. A child coming at 8 years old for baptism shouldn't have any more trouble understanding this fact than the child presented at 8 weeks. Looking for the fruit of the Spirit and repentance before baptism should not have to make this harder. Infant baptism or paedocommunion is not a preventative against doubt and rebellion.
When we are baptized we are baptized into Christ and in becoming united to Him, we are also united to His Bride, the Church. We are not scattered organs in petri dishes; we take our proper place in a body nourished by Christ's blood. The Church is who she is because she identifies with Christ. This is a lovely calling and a gift.
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