Anyone here an ex-creadeobaptist?

[Grace_Alone4gives]

I am just wondering if there are any people who used to believe in 'Believers Baptism / Crdeobaptism' but are now in favor of infant/peadeobaptism. Can you let me know what persuaded you?

This is not a debate...I am a paedeobaptist - but would like to know if anyone ever did 'the switch' as far as their baptism belief stands, and why.

Victoria

 

[Islander]

I was Free Will Baptist but have been studying the Scriptures diligently for over 15 years starting when I was young and in that time my views have changed several times. I became a Calvinist but for the last 10 years I've been Arminianist. Although Arminian now I discuss theology with Calvinists and agree with Calvin on the importance of the covenant relationship Christians have with God and I agree with him on baptism. There are various reasons why I "switched" but it's mostly because I believe baptism is the NT equivalent of circumcision and therefore should be done around the 8th day.

 

[LuxPerpetua]

I'm not Methodist but I was raised Southern Baptist and am now a Lutheran, so by definition I was raised believing in "believer's baptism" and am now a firm "infant baptism" believer. My reasoning? I agree with Islander above: Baptism is the NT equivalent of circumcision, which was done on infants and adults alike. Also, NT Scripture supports infant baptism (Jesus' words "let the children come unto me," entire households were baptized in the NT, plus there are no parts of Scripture that contradict this tradition.) Another reason is that baptism is needed to wash away original sin, thus, imo, it should be done as soon as possible after birth. Hope that helps.

 

[wvmtnkid]

I am a bit torn on my beliefs. I don't have a problem with infant baptism and have always supported that belief. But recently, I have had another way of thinking. I have helped with mentoring in our youth confirmation class the last several years. Several of the young people I have mentored have expressed to me they wished they could remember their baptism. They were baptized as babies. I was baptized when I was 13 or 14, when I joined the church and was confirmed. I remember mine and I share my memories with them. I think that is such an important part of our faith journey, that it should be remembered and celebrated. I don't believe that you are going to hell if you haven't been baptized, as a child or an adult. I think you should be baptized when you make the decision to follow Christ. But I am now more leaning to baptism at the point you make that decision instead of as an infant. Jury is still out though.....

 

[Bonifatius]

Hi,

I was raised in an evangelical Free Church tradition. In our church infant baptism was regarded as totally wrong. So I was baptized as a young adult, but I always felt that it was very difficult to make that decision. Not because I did not believe in Christ, but as I had been brought up in a Christian family and my parents were committed Christians, it was just difficult to find the point when I felt *ready* and worthy enough for baptism. This is imho one of the stronges arguments against credobaptism: it puts too much stress on the human part. My question always was if I was strong enough in my faith to ask for baptism ... but I think that it should be the other way round: God is acting in baptism and it is much stronger a sign of his prevenient and unfailing grace when we baptize children who are not even able to make decisions on their own. So I became more and more a sacramentalist, believing in God's mighty acts in and through the sacraments.

I also think that the covenant theology is a very strong argument for infant baptism. For New Testament societies it was crucial to belong to the community of believers, the church. So I think it is pretty sure that Christians wanted even their children to be part of that sacred community - as the Jews did it with circumcision - and baptized their children.

There is a very good Methodist paper on baptism available: "By Water and Spirit - a United Methodist Understanding of Baptism" which was adopted by General Conference some years ago. I highly recommend it!

 

[WiredSpirit]

I come from a Baptist-like non-denominational church and I always believed in believer's baptism, but I really do understand both points of view and I believe there are good arguments for both. Now that I know both sides, I prefer the Methodist view.