What does the doctrine of paedofaith mean? We cannot summarize everything here, but we will try to lay out the most salient points of the Bible’s teaching, setting paedofaith in the context of the Bible’s wider covenant theology. This is not intended as a precise confessional statement, but rather one last way of tying everything together for the convenience of the reader.
1. God graciously includes the children of at least one believing parent in the covenant of grace. The covenant promises are not made merely to individuals but to families. They are trans-generational and corporate. This is because the covenantal program of salvation is rooted in God’s plan to reclaim the fallen creation and renew it. But if creation is to be reconstituted, that renovated new creation must be co-extensive with the old. In other words, it must include all the varieties of creational diversity in human life, including infancy. This means covenant infants must be open to receiving salvation in infancy. They are not beyond God’s reach. Nothing hinders the Spirit from working faith in them.
2. The children of believers share in the faith of their parents. Covenant parents are called to believe the gospel on behalf of their child, but also the child himself becomes a believer through the promises of the covenant. Faith spreads from the parents to the child as the Spirit flows out through the family’s organic, covenantal bonds. Obviously, much here is hidden in the secret working of God (as Calvin said), but somehow the Spirit works to connect the faith of the parents to the faith of the child. Faith is not just an individual reality, but also corporate. In the gospels, parental faith procures blessings for children quite frequently, and paedofaith is simply an application and extension of this principle. Parents who believe the gospel for the sake of their children may be assured that their young children are believers too. There is every reason to believe God rewards parental faith by blessing their children with faith. This is why the children of the God-fearing man are called an inheritance and blessing from the Lord.
3. Infant faith is normative and typical. There is no reason to doubt the presence of infant faith in children who belong to healthy Christian families and churches. In apostate church and family situations we can be far less confident, of course. Nevertheless, in any “normal” situation, the Bible gives us a paedofaith paradigm (e.g., David) through which the developing experiences of our children should be viewed. This means revivalism, however necessary it may have been in countering nominalism and deadness in eighteenth and nineteenth century churches, is itself a very serious distortion of biblical teaching. It is urgent that the Church recover a biblically based paedofaith/paedobaptism-grounded approach to parenting so that we can begin countering the influences of our secular culture from the earliest days of our children’s lives.
4. Infant faith, along with the covenant promises and the command of Christ, provides a more than adequate grounding for the practice of infant baptism. Infant faith means children can and do make right use of baptism. In principle, all baptism should be “believer’s baptism.” Because covenant children have faith, there is no reason to doubt that their baptisms “took.” There is every reason to believe they received what God offers in baptism. There are at least a couple possible errors we should avoid here. Baptism is not constituted by faith rather it is offered to faith. Nor does baptism elicit faith rather it presupposes faith and increases strengthens confirms and assures faith.
5. Because of paedofaith and the efficacy of paedobaptism, covenant children should be regarded and treated as Christians. Parents should welcome and receive their children in Christ’s name, meaning the children are regarded as bearers of Christ’s presence and in union with Him. Parents should prize and care for their covenant offspring as they would treasure and treat Christ Himself. Parents should disciple their children, nurturing them in the faith and the fear of the Lord. This also means parents should be diligent in cultivating habits and virtues in their children that will enable them to walk worthy of the calling they have received in the gospel. Parents do not need to be anxious or uncertain about the status of their children or God’s intentions toward their children, but should live by faith in the promises.
6. The covenant state and status of our children also indicates they should be included at the Lord’s Table. Just as children were participants in the sacramental life of the old covenant, including the meals and feasts, so it should be in the new covenant. Paedocommunion is another form of covenant nurture. Because our children have faith, they can receive the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine. They are part of the body of Christ and should not be excluded just because of their youthful immaturity.
7. Covenant infants have faith, which means all who die in infancy are most certainly saved. Grieving Christian parents should be given this solid comfort, However, this is not to say that our children are guaranteed an unconditional salvation if they grow up to reject the covenant. Infant faith is defectible. If covenant children stumble and fall away from the faith, their precious covenantal blessings will become intensified covenantal curses. Their baptism will devolve from waters of life into waters of death and drowning. They will receive the greater condemnation. Furthermore, those through whom offenses come will be judged as well. Jesus said those who turn “little believers” away from Christ will have millstones wrapped around their necks and will be cast into the deepest parts of the sea.
8. Infant faith is mysterious We are not told how God works faith in the hearts of covenant infants. However, we can insist that God’s freedom to work in our children (or the senile or mentally handicapped) is not bounded by our rational and emotional abilities. The gospel is especially for the weak, humble, and poor. Our children are among the best illustrations of gospel grace because their weakness, dependence, and inability are so utterly obvious. Covenant children in home and church are living parables of the gospel for the whole community to see.
9. Infant faith is a matter of relational trust As a matter of relationship this faith will grow over time and as infant believers mature rational and volitional elements (knowledge of and assent to gospel propositions) will get added into their faith. They believe as infants in order to grow into understanding as adults. But in the meantime, their faith is genuine. Paedofaith is real authentic faith It is simply baby faith. Or to put it another way paedofaith is to adult faith what babies are to adults. Paedofaith is not merely a disposition to faith or a potential faith or an openness to faith in the future; it is faith appropriate to the personhood of the child.
10. Paedofaith has a long and venerable theological history. The Church fathers were certainly open to a doctrine of paedofaith (and often paedocommunion), and many who grew up in covenant homes claimed to have served God from infancy. Going back to the Reformation, Luther advocated a very strong paedofaith position. Calvin followed suit, adding nuances, but still insisting that infant “seed” faith is real faith. Later, scholastics and Puritans began to qualify and minimize paedofaith in various ways, which in some measure further opened the door to both Enlightenment rationalism and American revivalism. But after a temporary eclipse, the doctrine of paedofaith is making a comeback in several theological traditions, often bringing along with it a pro-paedocommunion movement. Finally, contemporary paedofaith advocates are very interested in exploring non-cognitive, non-discursive ways in which we acquire knowledge. While no doctrine is to be based on extra-Scriptural considerations, the teaching of Scripture is often clarified and buttressed by these considerations. That seems to be happening, at least in small ways, with the biblical doctrine of paedofaith.