Scott Bushey
Puritanboard Commissioner
REFUTATION OF THE HYPERCOVENANTAL SACRAMENTOLOGY OF REV. S. WILKINS
Back in the 1990s, Auburn Avenue P.C.A. Monroe Louisiana´s Rev. Steve Wilkins, taped eight of
his sermons -- proposing that also baptized but unconfirmed young children should manducate at the
Lord´s Supper. Later, he augmented his tapes with four articles (which were posted to his website
in 2001). Here is an updated 125-point critique of those taped sermons and published articles -- by
Australia´s Presbyterian Rev. Professor-Emeritus Dr. Francis Nigel Lee.
1) Rev. Wilkins should note that God the Father, Son and Spirit have all and always been
mature Persons -- from all eternity past. They have never been immature children
2) This mature Triune God made a mature Adam (and a mature Eve) as His Own mature
image(s). Though infant humans too, immaturely image God -- they are immature images. So too
(in His human nature) was the pre-adolescent human being, Jesus Christ Himself. Significantly,
Luke 2:40-52 records His first attendance at a Passover celebration when He was twelve -- one year
before attaining His human maturity at thirteen.
3) The transgression by the mature Adam of God´s first covenant with man, is recorded at
Hosea 6:7. Later, his sons Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to God only when they had become
mature enough to be married. Genesis 4:3-17. Indeed, even the re-establishment of this covenant
with the mature Noah and his sons, was effected only when all of those sons were themselves
mature. Genesis 6:18.
4) The Bible never calls the prefall tree of life, a Sacrament. Yet it was not for manducation
by the unweaned or by toddlers (neither of which existed before the fall) -- but only for adults. Even
if the fall had never occurred, the fruit of that tree would not have been given to unfallen children at
least until after weaning them (probably around four years of age) -- and more likely yet, not till they
attained adolescence and became capable of marrying (cf. Genesis 2:24). Indeed, the fruit of that
tree of life would not have been given to anyone -- until all were fully mature in their service of God
(cf. Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24; Proverbs 11:30; 13:12; 15:4; Revelation 2:7; 22:2,14,19).
5) It is true that olive-trees produce olive-shoots, and not shoots of trees other than olive-trees.
Yet even olive-shoots are only non-fruitbearing olive-shoots. They are not fruit-bearing olive-trees
-- till they themselves later mature. Romans 11:16f cf. John 15:1-7.
6) It is incorrect to claim that infidels´ babies were killed at the exodus. Only the first-born
sons of the Egyptians were -- and such first-born would then usually have been adults.
7) It is incorrect to claim, in Psalm 137, that the Babylonians´ babies were to be bashed. Such
babies were not criminally wicked. Those to be bashed (though called "˜little ones´), were not
sucklings or toddlers but obviously adolescents or adults who had cruelly wronged Israel. The same
applies to the sodomites in Sodom who had pestered Lot. Genesis 18:26-33 & 19:4-11 cf. Second
Peter 2:5-8 and (Calvin´s commentary on) Jonah 4:11´s "œ discern" with First Corinthians 11:28-29.
8) "œSuffer the little children to come to Me" indeed includes babies (or at least toddlers who
could toddle to Jesus), but has nothing to do with the Eucharist from which also Rev. Wilkins would
exclude babies (yet not exclude toddlers). If he wishes to use this text to support Paedocommunion,
he should admit even babies thereto. But he admits babies only to Baptism, but not to the Lord´s
Supper. And herein he rightly differentiates between those two Sacraments.
More here
http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/ccoaa/ccoaa.pdf
[Edited on 4-23-2006 by Scott Bushey]
Back in the 1990s, Auburn Avenue P.C.A. Monroe Louisiana´s Rev. Steve Wilkins, taped eight of
his sermons -- proposing that also baptized but unconfirmed young children should manducate at the
Lord´s Supper. Later, he augmented his tapes with four articles (which were posted to his website
in 2001). Here is an updated 125-point critique of those taped sermons and published articles -- by
Australia´s Presbyterian Rev. Professor-Emeritus Dr. Francis Nigel Lee.
1) Rev. Wilkins should note that God the Father, Son and Spirit have all and always been
mature Persons -- from all eternity past. They have never been immature children
2) This mature Triune God made a mature Adam (and a mature Eve) as His Own mature
image(s). Though infant humans too, immaturely image God -- they are immature images. So too
(in His human nature) was the pre-adolescent human being, Jesus Christ Himself. Significantly,
Luke 2:40-52 records His first attendance at a Passover celebration when He was twelve -- one year
before attaining His human maturity at thirteen.
3) The transgression by the mature Adam of God´s first covenant with man, is recorded at
Hosea 6:7. Later, his sons Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to God only when they had become
mature enough to be married. Genesis 4:3-17. Indeed, even the re-establishment of this covenant
with the mature Noah and his sons, was effected only when all of those sons were themselves
mature. Genesis 6:18.
4) The Bible never calls the prefall tree of life, a Sacrament. Yet it was not for manducation
by the unweaned or by toddlers (neither of which existed before the fall) -- but only for adults. Even
if the fall had never occurred, the fruit of that tree would not have been given to unfallen children at
least until after weaning them (probably around four years of age) -- and more likely yet, not till they
attained adolescence and became capable of marrying (cf. Genesis 2:24). Indeed, the fruit of that
tree of life would not have been given to anyone -- until all were fully mature in their service of God
(cf. Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24; Proverbs 11:30; 13:12; 15:4; Revelation 2:7; 22:2,14,19).
5) It is true that olive-trees produce olive-shoots, and not shoots of trees other than olive-trees.
Yet even olive-shoots are only non-fruitbearing olive-shoots. They are not fruit-bearing olive-trees
-- till they themselves later mature. Romans 11:16f cf. John 15:1-7.
6) It is incorrect to claim that infidels´ babies were killed at the exodus. Only the first-born
sons of the Egyptians were -- and such first-born would then usually have been adults.
7) It is incorrect to claim, in Psalm 137, that the Babylonians´ babies were to be bashed. Such
babies were not criminally wicked. Those to be bashed (though called "˜little ones´), were not
sucklings or toddlers but obviously adolescents or adults who had cruelly wronged Israel. The same
applies to the sodomites in Sodom who had pestered Lot. Genesis 18:26-33 & 19:4-11 cf. Second
Peter 2:5-8 and (Calvin´s commentary on) Jonah 4:11´s "œ discern" with First Corinthians 11:28-29.
8) "œSuffer the little children to come to Me" indeed includes babies (or at least toddlers who
could toddle to Jesus), but has nothing to do with the Eucharist from which also Rev. Wilkins would
exclude babies (yet not exclude toddlers). If he wishes to use this text to support Paedocommunion,
he should admit even babies thereto. But he admits babies only to Baptism, but not to the Lord´s
Supper. And herein he rightly differentiates between those two Sacraments.
More here
http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/ccoaa/ccoaa.pdf
[Edited on 4-23-2006 by Scott Bushey]
Isn't it amazaing how much you can learn about truth from refuting error? Those pithy statements could be used to educate adolescents in the nature of justification, sanctification, and the sacraments.
If you don't know about the Federal Vision controversy then that's probably a good thing. It's a controversy within primarily Presbyterian and some Dutch Reformed congregations. It is not really a credo-Baptist "thing".
. Having said that, considering that it appears to be an "in house" struggle, I'm inclined to think that FV is, to say the least, a Trojan Horse.
