I taught about the Sevetus incident when I taught on the reformers. You wouldn’t believe the knots they twist themselves into to justify this situation. Most claim that Calvin couldn’t do anything about it. Hogwash, is my retort. They need to accept that Calvin was a sinner. They often treat him as fully “sanctified.” They also treat each other the same way. The rest of us are sinners who can’t even think straight.

Calvin succeeded in getting Michael Servetus executed for daring to publicly disagree with him theologically.

One of the legal accusations against Servetus was “That infant baptism is a diabolical invention, and a mere conjuration”

Calvin approved the execution and watched as Servetus was burned at the stake.

I can’t even imagine why anyone would gladly call themselves a “Calvinist”.

This has been a point of contention for some brave souls to mention at SBTS. It has been waved off as not that big of a deal. (baptizing infants) Seems the need for unity in the reformed movement is more important than the doctrine of Baptism or other sacraments.

But it is a big deal to Baptists. Many were persectued for refusing to do this or for being ‘rebaptized’ as believing adults.

Some Baptist history is being rewritten on account of this major schism of thought with the reformers. Where do Baptists come from is the question of the day.

As today’s teenagers would say “My bad!” Thank you for your careful reading of this post. I can assure you it was MY editing blunder, and it has been corrected. Now it reads:

“Of particular note, the Baptists sought refuge in Rhode Island after the Puritans booted them out because they (the Baptists) would not baptize their children.”

Here’s what I don’t understand about the New Calvinists. They are so unbending on their reformed doctrine, yet when it comes to baptism, they appear to be accepting of viewpoints contrary to their own. Ligon Duncan, a PCA minister, believes in paedobaptism, yet his T4G buddies are proponents of believer’s baptism.

As the Reformed Baptists and Presbyterians (PCA) become more aligned, there are signs that theological differences may come into play. Here’s the link to an article written by Mark Dever on paedobaptism.

http://blog.9marks.org/2009/03/the-sin-of-infant-baptism-written-by-a-sinning-baptist.html

Dever also contributed the final chapter of a book entitled Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. On page 329, he writes:

“The meaning and mode of baptism have already been written about admirably. We have been instructed about the NT background of the ordinance and its practice in the first century. We have seen something of its use in the early church and among the early Anabaptists. Arguments for paedobaptism have been summarized and rejected…”

Is this a topic worth discussing in the future?

Great series!

One question. You wrote, “Of particular note, the Baptists sought refuge in Rhode Island after the Puritans booted them out because they (the Puritans) would not baptize their children.” Do you mean “they (the Baptists) would not baptize their children”?

Love the video! It clearly demonstrates how ridiculous the Salem Puritans were. They made quite a name for themselves…