Holy Baptism (5)

What did our forefathers of Dort say about baptism?

In the last article in this short series about baptism, we would like to hear what our forefathers of Dort had to say. In the whole of the Canon, this subject is expressly discussed two times. In the first head of doctrine, article 17 we read of the death of young infants, and we read about baptism in the conclusion to the Canons.

In short, something about the first mention of baptism. In the first head of doctrine we read about election and reprobation. The placement of this article is significant. In the first place, God’s election is confessed in detail in articles 6-14. In article 15, the decree of rejection is described in a well-balanced manner. Following this, three pastoral articles appear. In these, the shepherds of Dort show care and concern for the congregation, especially right after the article dealing with rejection.

One of the three closing articles speaks about “children whom it pleaseth God to call out of this life in their infancy.” The dying of children occurred quite frequently in those days. He who experiences this himself knows how it can cause pain in the heart of a father and mother. Such a tender matter does not lend itself to a great deal of words. In such circumstances, the flock is not looking for long dogmatic generalities. Our forefathers in Dort, as true shepherds, knew this all too well. That is why there is a short article dealing with these sad circumstances.

The background to this article is the criticism of the Remonstrants who considered all young dying children to certainly be saved. They criticized our Reformed forefathers “that when you hammer so much about the necessity of regeneration, you must be consistent and must consider that all of these young dying children have gone to the hell. Since the fruits of regeneration were not visible, they are eternally lost.”

Over against this libelous reasoning, the Canons of Dort confess in this article God’s one-sided work, and that His Covenant of Grace may serve as an incentive for godly parents to hope upon the God of the covenant. Faith is granted to believe that because of this one-sided work of grace, the Lord will glorify Himself in these little ones—in spite of the fact that they were conceived in sin and, therefore, are children of wrath—in spite of the parents who of themselves are incapable of any good and inclined to all evil. What will electing love now express with this? It is never automatic or self-evident, for the wonder of sovereign grace is never self-evident. The call is made to God’s Church to exercise faith upon the one-sided God of the covenant in these sad circumstances. It is to hope upon God when being faced with death. It is to lift up the eyes to above and to place your hope alone upon His free good pleasure with which He was moved from all eternity so that Immanuel will never appear to be the hope that makes ashamed.

It will avail

A similar situation is seen in the conclusion. In that paragraph, our forefathers again make mention of the libelous comments of the Remonstrants. Eight examples of these wrong notions are named. The last one states “that many children of the faithful are torn guiltless from their mother’s breasts and tyrannically plunged into hell.”

One can hear in their bitter examples the false presentation of the matters; “You hard-hearted Reformers, you would just cast the little ones directly into the hell.” This is a notion “that the Reformed Churches not only deny but also detestably reject with their whole heart.”

We definitely do not confess this representation of these matters; rather, we totally abhor them. To what do they then ascribe their grounds for hope and comfort? It is definitely not the case that “neither baptism, nor the prayers of the Church at their baptism can at all profit them.” It is remarkable that these three matters, the blood of Christ, baptism, and the prayer offered at baptism contain such a blessed comfort for our godly forefathers.

They speak in the first place about the blood of Christ whereby they are sanctified (Hebrews 10:29b). Following this, they mention baptism itself. It is not that it will go well with all children but the sacrament can be a means of grace for the strengthening of personal faith. We can compare it to the comfort which is spoken of in the Heidelberg Catechism, question 69, “How art thou admonished and assured by holy baptism that the one sacrifice of Christ upon the cross is of real advantage to thee?

When speaking of the strengthening of faith, there is also a strengthening upon God as the God of the covenant. In His faithfulness and truth, He is working from child to child in His eternal good pleasure in Jesus Christ, who stretches out His hands to the little ones and blesses them. “Therefore the signs are not in vain or insignificant, so as to deceive us. For Jesus Christ is the true object presented by them, without whom they would be of no moment” (Confession of Faith 33).

The sacrament is not meaningless or without benefit. That is also true for the prayer of the Church at the baptism of our little children, our children who must die at an early age. That is also true for the children whose lives the Lord spares. That is the third item which is named.

Here we can see the great value which our forefathers in Dort attached to infant baptism and of the two prayers which are spoken, namely:

• Before the administration of baptism: “We beseech Thee, that Thou wilt be pleased of Thine infinite mercy, graciously to look upon these children and incorporate them by Thy Holy Spirit into Thy Son Jesus Christ…”

• Immediately after the administration of the sacrament the church again prays, for the Church continues to pray for her baptized offspring: “We beseech Thee through the same Son of Thy love, that Thou wilt be pleased always to govern these baptized children…”

Do you savor how reverently our forefathers considered the administration of baptism? It is not an empty form but a living substance as a means of grace through the indispensable operation of Immanuel’s Spirit. That was how our forefathers thought of infant baptism. The prayers which were then uttered remain and continue to work; they are not forgotten. On the contrary, they are reverently placed before the Lord, not only when the child has died but also when a healthy child matures. It can also be with the sad walk of life of our child, for there is no end to God’s unfathomable mercy. In a parent there exists no reason for unfathomable mercy.

Infant baptism was a living subject for Dort. Is that true also for us? There is so much strife and discussion about covenant and baptism that we are in danger of no longer experiencing the positive experience of it as did the Synod of Dort. Or is it possible that we also begin to question it? That would be appalling.

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

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