Robert Truelove
Puritan Board Sophomore
Within Presbyterian and Reformed circles the main tsunami of the Federal Vision has come and gone. These days it seems that most Presbyterian and Reformed churches know to avoid the Federal Vision and defections have slowed dramatically as more and more pastors are getting their hands around this issue.
Just when I thought the storm was passing, I am concerned that the Baptists will be the next body to be hit with this controversy and they are in some ways highly susceptible.
That may sound like a contradiction of sorts. After all, Baptists do not hold to the underlying Reformed system of thought that the Federal Vision twists and wrangles so they should be immune, or so the thinking goes. On the one hand this is true, however, as Baptists are introduced to teachers like Doug Wilson through influential leaders like John Piper, there are worrisome implications.
The trouble is, there will be those amongst Baptists (indeed, its already happening) who become enamored with charismatic leaders like Doug Wilson through his teachings on the family and other topics. Through his influence they will move to adopt infant baptism and move in what appears to be a more Presbyterian direction. However, not being grounded in historic Reformed theology because of their Baptist roots (and I use Reformed with a capital R), many of these will flow right into the Federal Vision waters without ever being challenged with what historic Reformed theology is actually teaching.
Just when I thought the storm was passing, I am concerned that the Baptists will be the next body to be hit with this controversy and they are in some ways highly susceptible.
That may sound like a contradiction of sorts. After all, Baptists do not hold to the underlying Reformed system of thought that the Federal Vision twists and wrangles so they should be immune, or so the thinking goes. On the one hand this is true, however, as Baptists are introduced to teachers like Doug Wilson through influential leaders like John Piper, there are worrisome implications.
The trouble is, there will be those amongst Baptists (indeed, its already happening) who become enamored with charismatic leaders like Doug Wilson through his teachings on the family and other topics. Through his influence they will move to adopt infant baptism and move in what appears to be a more Presbyterian direction. However, not being grounded in historic Reformed theology because of their Baptist roots (and I use Reformed with a capital R), many of these will flow right into the Federal Vision waters without ever being challenged with what historic Reformed theology is actually teaching.