Studying in a seminary which supports Infant Baptism

[Ajay]

Hi to everyone,


Recently my friend applied for a seminary which supports Infant Baptism(Presbyterian school). Many of his friends are dissatisfied with the decision because most of them are reformed baptists, The pastor of his church also not happy in these matter, He asked my opinion. I was silent in these matter,what advice can i gibe to him, Because only few seminary options available in our country. Need to take it serious or not because Baptists strongly oppose infant baptism

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

If I understand your statement "The pastor of his church also not happy in these matter, He asked my opinion" correctly, the Pastor of your friend asked you for an opinion about your friend's choice of seminary. Am I correct in my understanding? If this is correct, may I ask why the Pastor sought you out for an opinion instead of speaking directly with your friend?

 

[Ajay]

If I understand your statement "The pastor of his church also not happy in these matter, He asked my opinion" correctly, the Pastor of your friend asked you for an opinion about your friend's choice of seminary. Am I correct in my understanding? If this is correct, may I ask why the Pastor sought you out for an opinion instead of speaking directly with your friend?

Sorry, my friend asked what i think, not the pastor.

 

[johnny]

 

[Jake]

In the US, there are only two confessionally Reformed Baptist options for study that I know of, at least that are larger operations: Reformed Baptist Seminary and the Institute for Reformed Baptist Studies. Particularly interesting about the latter is that they work together with a Presbyterian and Reformed institution (Westminster Seminary California) and then supplement in classes where there are differences. In part, this is because they are remarkably similar. Also, I think it is not uncommon to have Baptist students at many of Presbyterian and Reformed institutions here, even when there are other options.

There is a remarkable amount of similarity between Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians. The only big differences, for example, between our confessions (London Baptist Confession and Westminster Confession) are on the nature of the church (congregationalism vs. presbyterianism) and of the sacraments. For the case of education, I would be happy to learn and study under many Reformed Baptist men, despite these relatively small differences in the face of all we have in common. Yes, how we view Covenant Theology is important and has a lot of impacts in other parts of theology, so this needs to be born in mind when going to study, but even so, there is much common ground.

I would stress all that is in common to those that are asked. I'm surprised it's of as great of concern as it is.

And for what it's worth, I wouldn't mind studying under certain Reformed Baptists either. For example, Malcom Watts is a Reformed Baptist minister and has close ties both to my church and Puritan Reformed Seminary, where he occasionally lectures. I would be delighted to study under him.

 

[Jack K]

Many, many of the Bible-believing churches in the world do not practice infant baptism. So this cannot be a new issue for this seminary. Surely you will not be the first student from a Baptist church to attend that seminary. So ask the seminary how students such as yourself manage there. Ask them what reassurance they can give your pastor. Perhaps they can put you in touch with a former Baptist student who could explain why that seminary is still a good place to be educated even if you will be out of agreement on that issue.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

Hello Ajay (welcome to the PB!),

Your friend's friends, and his pastor are likely worried about his being influenced by the paedobaptist teaching, not only on baptism but the covenant, and becoming a paedo. Perhaps the church is also helping him financially with seminary. So it's reasonable they are dissatisfied. It could be easy for him to change views (some baptists change to paedo just being here on PB). So it is a danger. His church, especially the pastor, needs to be constantly available to him to support him.

I'm switching from a Presbyterian church to a Reformed Baptist one here in NYC due to the declining spiritual quality of the former and the excellent quality of the latter, and there is no danger of me changing to baptistic belief as I am strong and clear in my views (though I have given the pastor of the new church my word that I would not teach others in the church my views).

It is a danger, and your friend's church is right to be concerned. If it means your friend won't be able to go to a seminary if not the Presbyterian one, then what other options does he have? Could he take correspondence classes with one of the Reformed Baptist seminaries in the U.S.? If so, he would nonetheless suffer greatly as regards Hebrew and Greek language classes. I think he should consult with his pastor as to what he could do, seeing as he wants a good theological / ministerial training, and is set on obtaining that (where did his pastor get his training?).

 

[earl40]

Hello Ajay (welcome to the PB!),

Your friend's friends, and his pastor are likely worried about his being influenced by the paedobaptist teaching, not only on baptism but the covenant, and becoming a paedo. Perhaps the church is also helping him financially with seminary. So it's reasonable they are dissatisfied. It could be easy for him to change views (some baptists change to paedo just being here on PB). So it is a danger. His church, especially the pastor, needs to be constantly available to him to support him.

Dangerous in the temporal sense. I say this as one who used to be credo.

 

[Jimmy the Greek]

Is his goal to lead or teach in a Baptist church? If a degree from a Presbyterian seminary would hinder him in that regard, then he needs to account for that in his decision. Otherwise, he should simply look at the curriculum, quality of education, cost, and accessability. I would be more concerned whether it is a conservative confessional seminary or a liberal seminary.

 

[yeutter]

Baptists can and do attend Presbyterian Theological Seminary in DehraDun

Greetings Ajay. I know of one Reformed Baptist couple from Nepal who are studying at Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Dehradun in northern India. www.ptsindia.com

Ministerial training is properly an ecclesiastical function. It is important that your friend look to the Elders of his church for guidance.

 

[yeutter]

An online source for ministerial training for sovereign grace Baptists is available at www.pbministries.org/Landmark_Baptist/Seminary/LBTS.htm

 

[Pergamum]

An online source for ministerial training for sovereign grace Baptists is available at www.pbministries.org/Landmark_Baptist/Seminary/LBTS.htm

Beware. The term "Landmark" Baptist has certain connotations...

As a baptist, I took classes at Covenant Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary because I wanted accreditation, quality, and non-dispensational professors (which can be a big problem in some baptist schools..). I was glad to hear more about the Church (with a Big C) through the councils and Creeds rather than being fed lies like the Trail of Blood.

Baptism is a secondary issue, after all, and so I chose a school with solid soteriology first and foremost.

 

[yeutter]

An online source for ministerial training for sovereign grace Baptists is available at www.pbministries.org/Landmark_Baptist/Seminary/LBTS.htm

Beware. The term "Landmark" Baptist has certain connotations...

As a baptist, I took classes at Covenant Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary because I wanted accreditation, quality, and non-dispensational professors (which can be a big problem in some baptist schools..). I was glad to hear more about the Church (with a Big C) through the councils and Creeds rather than being fed lies like the Trail of Blood.

Baptism is a secondary issue, after all, and so I chose a school with solid soteriology first and foremost.

Agreed, our Landmarkian friends have a seriously defective view of ecclesiology and Church History.

 

[TheInquirer]

RTS has been very respectful to Reformed Baptist students such as myself. They strive to be gracious and put first things first and even have an institute for Baptist studies at their Orlando campus. I think you would have no issues at all as a Baptist student studying there.

 

[RamistThomist]

When I was at RTS Jackson in Ligon Duncan's Covenant theology class, there was the lecture on children in the covenant, which included infant baptism. He went through Mark Dever's critique of it. He actually thought it was a good critique (I didn't). In any case, he didn't push his beliefs on people who didn't want it, yet everyone knew where he stood beforehand.