Paedo-Baptism Answers Paedo-Baptism and Fostering

[NathanielRCalloway]

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[Charles Johnson]

We baptize adopted children, since we see in the Scripture that whole households, including servants, shared in circumcision and baptism. This is especially clear with the household of Abraham in Gen. 17, and in the law of Moses. Theodore Beza is the only theologian I know of off the top of my head that disagreed with this practice.

 

[NathanielRCalloway]

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[Charles Johnson]

Does this imply that foster children should not be baptized until they are legally adopted?

Personally I believe they should be permanent members of the household to be baptized. If there is the possibility that they will later be raised by heathen parents I don't see how they could improve upon their baptism. But if it were known that they would be raised by believers I don't see a problem with them being baptized before their adoption is finalized.

 

[Taylor]

Theodore Beza is the only theologian I know of off the top of my head that disagreed with this practice.

Another notable one is Wilhelmus à Brakel:

"...children to be baptized must...not be children of Jews, Muslims, heathens, or heretics, even if a member of the covenant has adopted them as children, for such adoption does not change the fact that they were not born within the covenant..."​

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—Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012), 2:504-5.​

 

[Charles Johnson]

Another notable one is Wilhelmus à Brakel:

"...children to be baptized must...not be children of Jews, Muslims, heathens, or heretics, even if a member of the covenant has adopted them as children, for such adoption does not change the fact that they were not born within the covenant..."​

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—Wilhelmus à Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke, trans. Bartel Elshout, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012), 2:504-5.​

I thought about mentioning him but I wasn't certain if I was remembering correctly. Thank you for the citation brother.

 

[NathanielRCalloway]

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[Charles Johnson]

Thank you for your insight. Would it then be correct to say that a paedobaptist baptizes all children who are permanently under their authority? Thus, Christians who adopt teenagers would then baptize these teenagers, correct?

If they were willing. I remember @Travis Fentiman saying a while back that the practice in the second reformation was to baptize quite widely, even granting baptism to spouses of believers if they were willing to live in outward conformity to the Christian faith, without asking for a credible profession. Many churches today would ask for a credible profession in those circumstances. So I think you can expect to find some variation between sessions on these sorts of matters, but in general, we would baptize an adopted teenager with household baptism.

 

[Taylor]

Thank you for your insight. Would it then be correct to say that a paedobaptist baptizes all children who are permanently under their authority? Thus, Christians who adopt teenagers would then baptize these teenagers, correct?

I don't know how to express this concisely or eloquently, but I think most Reformed would say that if a child is adopted as a teenager, at which point the child has grown up into semi-adulthood and can make decisions (and therefore profession) for him- or herself, then baptism at that point would be treated as one occasioned not by household covenant, but by conversion.

 

[NathanielRCalloway]

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[Andrew35]

Thank you all for your thoughful replies. This has been very informative and edifying!

Agreed! As someone relatively new to paedobaptism, I thought these were thoughtful and helpful questions and replies. They carry a weight of implications behind them beyond the immediate issue.

 

[smalltown_puritan]

My question in short: How does a paedobaptist lawfully baptize children in their household who are not naturally born to their parents?

Nathaniel,

As you can probably tell, there is not necessarily one uniform way in which reformed Christians would approach this. In the RPCNA, I think this is left up to the local session (along with the issue of dealing with Roman Catholic baptism). My approach would be broad - baptize all members of the household if they are so willing. Any adopted children would fall into that category; however, foster children would seem to not fall under that heading. However, I am thankful that these kinds of ecclesiological questions are the sacraments are left to a plurality of qualified and lawfully-appointed men, and not just one. This is a great question, brother, which gets to the heart of the sacrament of baptism: union with Christ and membership in His Church.

 

[timfost]

Hi Nathaniel,

First, congratulations! Of our six children, four were adopted through foster care.

Three of them came as babies, one only fifteen days old, the other five months and the third eighteen months. The other child came into our care at age 10. Shortly after adopting them they were baptized. The oldest one was obviously not an infant, but she was baptized as part of the household. She was willing to be baptized and at least in word, is very compliant with our faith, though I don't believe she was (or still is at 14) ready for communicate membership. If she was actively opposed to the faith, that may have been a different story, but that was not the case.

Lastly, at least in Pennsylvania, it is illegal to baptize foster children. I think it is also prudent not to baptize them, since it is not guaranteed they are part of the (permanent) household. However, when that legal change occurred, we were excited for them to receive the sacrament.

Again, congratulations! I wish you the best in these adoptions. When my wife first approached me about fostering and adoption, I told her that I didn't think I could love "other people's children" the same as "my own." When the first child came into our care, he didn't feel like someone else's child. He felt like our own. In God's perfect plan, he wasn't able to stay and was adopted by relatives (wonderful Christian people!). I quickly realized that it is parenting, not genetics, that makes them "your own."

Blessings,

Tim

 

[Andrew35]

Hi Nathaniel,

First, congratulations! Of our six children, four were adopted through foster care.

Three of them came as babies, one only fifteen days old, the other five months and the third eighteen months. The other child came into our care at age 10. Shortly after adopting them they were baptized. The oldest one was obviously not an infant, but she was baptized as part of the household. She was willing to be baptized and at least in word, is very compliant with our faith, though I don't believe she was (or still is at 14) ready for communicate membership. If she was actively opposed to the faith, that may have been a different story, but that was not the case.

Lastly, at least in Pennsylvania, it is illegal to baptize foster children. I think it is also prudent not to baptize them, since it is not guaranteed they are part of the (permanent) household. However, when that legal change occurred, we were excited for them to receive the sacrament.

Again, congratulations! I wish you the best in these adoptions. When my wife first approached me about fostering and adoption, I told her that I didn't think I could love "other people's children" the same as "my own." When the first child came into our care, he didn't feel like someone else's child. He felt like our own. In God's perfect plan, he wasn't able to stay and was adopted by relatives (wonderful Christian people!). I quickly realized that it is parenting, not genetics, that makes them "your own."

Blessings,

Tim

I largely agree.

Though I do find it interesting that what seems to be motivating the dissident theologians mentioned above (Beza, etc.) is a desire to preserve a certain something of the natural family. Or rather a sense that a certain something carries over through a natural birth. That's quite intriguing, even if it's incorrect.