The title of scholar in the church is not easily come by. It requires years and years of gathering information, digesting that information, and then dispensing it so God’s people can benefit from it . That is why Hughes Oliphant Old is such a treasure to the church, but especially the reformed church. He is a scholar of the highest caliber and has done his work in an area that for years was ignored by the church, liturgical worship. I do not know of any author who has written so many helpful works on reformed worship. He has written some very practical works, such as Leading in Prayer where he gives example after example of prayers he wrote for various parts of worship. He has written a popular, but learned book on reformed worship that traces the different facets of worship to their biblical origins and through their historical development. He has written a seven volume set on the history of the reading and preaching of God’s Word in worship. Finally, he has written numerous academic works on various aspects of worship, such as, The Shaping of the Reformed Baptismal Rite in the Sixteenth Century.
Whenever I read a book that influences the way I think and live I like to introduce people to it, like introducing them to a new friend. So without further delay I would like to introduce you to the last book I mentioned above. Very few books have clarified my thinking on an issue like this one. In The Shaping of the Baptismal Rite Hughes Old traces the reformers thinking on baptism by looking at how they changed the baptismal rites and liturgies from the Middle Ages, as well as how those rites and liturgies changed throughout the years of the Reformation itself, especially as the Reformers interacted with the Anabaptists. The book is a wonderful combination of history, theology, liturgy, and Bible. There are so many great quotes in the book. One of Old’s strengths is clearing the mud away from an issue and helping the reader see exactly what is at stake and why a certain practice developed the way it did. Today I would like to pull out a few quotes,which show how the Reformers viewed baptism. Tomorrow I will post some quotes from the Anabaptist perspective to show the contrast.
“The early Reformed theologians were all in agreement that even before the children of believers made a confession of faith, even before they were old enough to make a decision, the Holy Spirit was at work within them applying the benefits of redemption in Christ. As Oecolampadius puts it, ‘Christ washed us from our sins by his blood and in this grace our children also participate.'”
Old spends a lot of time on Oecolampadius who seems to have influenced the Reformers quite a bit. I had heard his name, but was not familiar with his theology or contribution to the Reformation until I read this book.
“At the very heart of the Protestant Reformation was the revival of Augustinian theology with its strong emphasis on the primacy of grace. The Reformers believed that God took the initiative for humankind’s salvation. In the light of such a strong doctrine of grace the baptism of infants was quite understandable. In fact, the baptism of infants demonstrated very powerfully that our salvation rests not on any knowledge or work or experience or decision of our own, but entirely on the grace of God.”
“Baptism is a divine action because of the divine institution of the sacrament, the divine promises behind the sacrament, and the divine empowering of the ministry.
“Another matter which should be equally clear from this study is that the position of the Reformers in regard to infant baptism was an integral part of their whole theology.”
“Covenant theology is in fact the sacramental theology of the Reformed Churches.”
The two quotes above make me wonder whether reformed soteriology can be maintained where there is a loss of reformed sacramentology? Can a reformed view of God’s grace and sovereignty in salvation be kept if there is a low or wrong view of the sacraments?
“The confession of the daily sins of the already baptized Christian, the forgiveness of these sins, growth in grace, the spiritual gifts of understanding and enlightenment, the daily increase in faith, hope, and love, and the sanctifying of the Christian life are understood as the fruit of baptism. While baptism stands at the beginning of the Christian life, its fruit is born throughout the whole of the Christian life. The earliest Reformed theologians saw in baptism a sign not of a one-time-only repentance and cleansing of sin, but rather as a sign of a continual cleansing of sin.
“The Reformers came to the conclusion that the central sacramental action [in baptism] was washing, not a dramatization of the death and resurrection of Jesus in and out of a grave of water. “
In the quote above, Old is explaining why some Reformers used immersion, but it never became the dominant mode of baptism.
“Reformed Churches should not in their liturgical practice give ground to a separation of the baptism with water and the baptism of the Spirit.
“The final, and perhaps the paramount, goal of this reshaping of the rite of baptism was the concern that this sacrament should be clearly a sacrament of grace.”
“The Reformers continued to baptize the children of Christians because the practice was consistent with the revelation of God’s grace in Jesus Christ.”
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By Mark Horne
By Mark Horne
