On the Road to Pietism?

September 22, 2006 at 6:31 pm (Baptism, Federal Vision)

Peter Leithart has a very interesting article here. He argues that the recent fuss over baptismal regeneration is really the fuss about Presbyterians going in a Pietist direction. However, one is puzzled by his method of argumentation: is he arguing that since the German Pietists argued for baptismal regeneration that therefore those who are opposed to the FV are not really in the tradition of Pietism? That is, is he trying to take the rug out from under Lig Duncan, Rick Phillips, etc? This would seem to be his method of argumentation. If it is, then he has forgotten one all-important fact: the language of sacraments. What I mean by this is what WCF 27.2 “There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation, or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing signified: whence it comes to pass, that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other.” And even in Leithart’s previous post about Chemnitz, we can see Chemnitz’s care in making faith integral to the effect of what baptism signifies. Duncan, Phillips, etc. would agree whole-heartedly with the idea that when baptism is improved by faith, regeneration occurs. They would merely deny that it occurs always at the time-point of baptism regardless of whether faith is present. That is my position, as well. So, Leithart has failed to take the rug out from under Duncan, Phillips, etc.

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