Comments on: What Augustine’s Baptism Can Teach Our Churches

By: health,ED, mens health

health,ED, mens health — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:33:27 +0000

health,ED, mens health…

[...]Moore to the Point – What Augustine’s Baptism Can Teach Our Churches[...]…

By: Patrick Brink

Patrick Brink — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:59:06 +0000

@Buffie,

I would claim that the Bible states that we as Christians are the sons of God, and that those who reject Christ are of their father satan. The Gospel is offensive to the Jew and gentile alike, and I would be worried that we were preaching another Gospel if Jews really were not offended- by the message that is not the messenger.

By: Buffie

Buffie — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:06:29 +0000

I’m sorry but our roots are not found in Rome they are found in Israel. For the life of me I cannot understand why Augustine, Martyr, Luther etc are even considered to be church fathers. They were divisive, wrongly claimed that G-d was finished with the Jews, and were racist and filled with hate for G-d’s people. Because of the likes of these men we have stripped every piece of our Jewish heritage out and thus sanitized a Jewish Jesus. Men today with this sort of rhetoric would not even be considered a “Christian” let alone a church father and yet we in our Western culture have allowed it. It’s no wonder the Jews today want nothing to do with our so called “Christianity”. My friends, Jesus Christ came to finish an old religion…not start a new one.

By: James Latta

James Latta — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:05:38 +0000

Enjoyed the article. No baptism can give new life. Only the
power of God can do that. Romans 6:4 “Therefore we are buried
with Him by baptism into death:(many people will disagree, but
I’m convinced this is not a water baptism. Water baptism cannot
do what Paul is talking about here.) that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Now I understand we often quote this scripture when we baptize someone in the water.Paul does not say this is water baptism, I am convinced maybe contrary to to the way I was taught in my earlier years, this is Baptism of the Holy Spirit which comes with salvation. A baptism
that human hands cannot touch; it’s a baptism that a lost person can have no part in. In water baptism, we can never be sure of a person’s salvation. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 referring to the Body of Christ. :For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” Paull writes to believers. What’s the next word? all
not just to a few, or a special elite but how many ? ALL .

By: Chip Collins

Chip Collins — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:51:25 +0000

Just yesterday we baptized a young man in a cattle trough. As I lowered him into the water, symbolizing his burial with Jesus, how fitting it was that the trough’s shape reminded us all of a coffin.

By: The Gospel Splashes, too! | Mark Moore

The Gospel Splashes, too! | Mark Moore — Sun, 06 May 2012 12:35:23 +0000

[...] dean of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes an especially informative post on What Augustine’s Baptism Can Teach Our Churches. Moore has read Garry Wills book Font of Life: Ambrose, Augustine, and the Mystery of [...]

By: Tyler Wittman

Tyler Wittman — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:17:37 +0000

So when should we go ahead and propose a motion from the floor of the convention that our SBC churches (and baptismal candidates especially) be catechized?

Because we should. ;)

By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:56:52 +0000

@JamesBrett, That’s profound. Thanks for sharing. My own people know that, very often, I am going to paraphrase 2 Cor 5:15: “Jesus died for us, therefore we must live for Him.” Baptism illustrates it.

By: Combing the Net – 5/1/2012 « Honey and Locusts

Combing the Net – 5/1/2012 « Honey and Locusts — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:46:51 +0000

[...] What Augustine’s Baptism Can Teach Our Churches — When a staunch Southern Baptist like Russell Moore starts talking about learning from a Roman Catholic author’s book about a paedobaptist church father, you know it’s going to be interesting! Great stuff as always from Dr. Moore. [...]

By: David Lee

David Lee — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:38:13 +0000

Too often, I see the act of baptism being minimized as just an act of obedience rather than a sacred event. We line folks up and run them through as if on an assembly line. Perhaps if we held it in greater esteem, my wife might see immersion differently, and she might be compelled to finally take this step rather than be offended that her infant baptism isn’t accepted in our church.

By: študija požarne varnosti, zasnova požarne varnosti, požarni red, požarni načrt, varnostni načrt, fotovoltaika, presoja, gradbeni odpadki, izkaz, izkaz požarne varnosti, načrt evakuacije, načrt gospodarjenja z gradbenimi odpadki, ocena požarne o

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:54:53 +0000

študija požarne varnosti, zasnova požarne varnosti, požarni red, požarni načrt, varnostni načrt, fotovoltaika, presoja, gradbeni odpadki, izkaz, izkaz požarne varnosti, načrt evakuacije, načrt gospodarjenja z gradbenimi odpadki, ocena poža…

[...]Moore to the Point – What Augustine’s Baptism Can Teach Our Churches[...]…

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:33:54 +0000

An excellent post, Dr. Moore, and it would be wonderful to see baptism as more of a teaching exercise, of the enormous measure and weight of sin and the need of Christ’s redemptive work. Teaching like this is not something a church can do with a baby…

By: JamesBrett

JamesBrett — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:23:53 +0000

long time subscriber, few times commenter.

just wanted to take a moment to tell you i particularly enjoyed this post. as a church of Christer, i always appreciate teaching on baptism which presents it as more than a command to be fulfilled.

i often teach baptism as a play in which the performer acts out the story of Jesus Christ, publicly proclaims it to be true, and declares to all that it is, too, his story. baptism is a play about two deaths, two burials, and two resurrections.

By: Jacob Haywood

Jacob Haywood — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:18:24 +0000

Augustine, looking back on his life, wished he would have been taught these things sooner, when there was opportunity, but instead his baptism was pushed off.

From Augustine’s “Confessions”:
“My cleansing was therefore deferred on the pretext that if I lived I would inevitably soil myself again, for it was held that the guilt of sinful defilement incurred after the laver of baptism was graver and more perilous…

…Why is it that we still hear nowadays people saying on all sides of another person, “Let him be, let him do as he likes, he is not baptized yet”? Where bodily health is at stake we do not say, “Let him be, let him go on injuring himself, he is not cured yet.” How much better it would have been if I had been healed at once, and if everything had been done by my own efforts and those of my family to ensure that the good health my soul had received should be kept safe in the care of you who had given it. Yes, how much better it would have been!”

We must make discipleship a priority in baptism instead of using baptism as simply a means to increase our church roster, and we must utilize every opportunity God gives us to do so.

By: Luke Wilson (Deep Roots Library)

Luke Wilson (Deep Roots Library) — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:51:20 +0000

I have thought for a long time that as Baptists, we sure don’t make a very big deal in our churches about being baptized - most of the time the “profession of faith” is a much more celebrated event.

I remember hearing a former IMB missionary to China talking about their baptisms in bathtubs, and how when they were baptized, it was a serious moment, because they might very well die because of the choice.

Love the delve into church history! Thanks!

By: Christiane

Christiane — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:40:39 +0000

you might find this quote meaningful from St. Ambrose concerning ‘baptism’:

““See where you are baptized,
see where Baptism comes from,
if not from the cross of Christ, from His death.
There is the whole mystery:
He died for you.
In Him you are redeemed,
in Him you are saved “
( St. Ambrose)