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MarcoPolo
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I also posted this on another forum. Thought some of you might get a kick out of this.
Here is a partial transcript from John MacArthur’s sermon, airing this morning on the subject of infant baptism (full MP3 here):*We certainly have much to thank Martin Luther for, but infant baptism isn’t one of the things. Luther’s Catechism says this, quote, “baptism worketh forgiveness of sins delivers from death and the devil and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe as the Word of the promise of God declare.” Well the baby can’t believe. That’s where Luther jumped in and said, well, surrogate faith on the part of his parents is rendered in his behalf. So baptized babies will be saved. The Lutheran Augsberg Confession says, quote of baptism, “Lutherans teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that by baptism the grace of God is offered and that children are to be baptized who by baptism being offered to God are received into God’s favor.” This view is held by Anglicans, Episcopalians, some Reformed groups. The Roman Catholic Church essentially teaches the same thing, that the removal of sin depends on the sacrament of infant baptism. Without infant baptism, without baptism, no child can be saved. Council of Trent, 1563, based the salvation of infants on Roman Catholic baptism. **In 1951, Pius XII **taught that, quote, “No other way besides baptism is seen as imparting the life of Christ to little children.” The new Catholic Catechism says, “By Christian baptism, one enters into the Kingdom of God, and into the Spirit of the saving work of Christ.” So the answer of the Sacramentalists is the baptized babies are saved, and the unbaptized babies aren’t. Well, this would make salvation not an act of grace but an act of works! That is no credit to the grace of God! *This excerpt is chock full of fascinating perspectives, errors, and perhaps most interesting, is how exactly this discourse matches page 46 of Ronald Nash’s 1999 book “When a Baby Dies.” The exact same quotes from Luther’s Catechism, the Augsberg Confession, Anglicans & Episcopalians, Council of Trent, and Pius XII are on that page, in the same order MacArthur listed them this morning. Nash also had the identical “Catholic Catechism” quote at the end, but he referenced the new Catholic Encyclopedia instead. MacArthur perhaps misread that.
Is it any wonder then, that the depth of MacArthur’s knowledge on Catholicism comes not from studying those original sources, or the theology of Christ’s work imparted in sacraments, etc… But instead these snippets from Nash? This is a scholarly PhD from whom we should expect expertise???
If he had done even cursory homework, he would not have made the terribly erroneous statement that Catholics teach unbaptized babies are not saved!! (cf CCC#1261, et al). And that’s not even to begin addressing his error that baptism is a “human work” as his theology understands it…
Here is a partial transcript from John MacArthur’s sermon, airing this morning on the subject of infant baptism (full MP3 here):*We certainly have much to thank Martin Luther for, but infant baptism isn’t one of the things. Luther’s Catechism says this, quote, “baptism worketh forgiveness of sins delivers from death and the devil and gives everlasting salvation to all who believe as the Word of the promise of God declare.” Well the baby can’t believe. That’s where Luther jumped in and said, well, surrogate faith on the part of his parents is rendered in his behalf. So baptized babies will be saved. The Lutheran Augsberg Confession says, quote of baptism, “Lutherans teach that it is necessary to salvation, and that by baptism the grace of God is offered and that children are to be baptized who by baptism being offered to God are received into God’s favor.” This view is held by Anglicans, Episcopalians, some Reformed groups. The Roman Catholic Church essentially teaches the same thing, that the removal of sin depends on the sacrament of infant baptism. Without infant baptism, without baptism, no child can be saved. Council of Trent, 1563, based the salvation of infants on Roman Catholic baptism. **In 1951, Pius XII **taught that, quote, “No other way besides baptism is seen as imparting the life of Christ to little children.” The new Catholic Catechism says, “By Christian baptism, one enters into the Kingdom of God, and into the Spirit of the saving work of Christ.” So the answer of the Sacramentalists is the baptized babies are saved, and the unbaptized babies aren’t. Well, this would make salvation not an act of grace but an act of works! That is no credit to the grace of God! *This excerpt is chock full of fascinating perspectives, errors, and perhaps most interesting, is how exactly this discourse matches page 46 of Ronald Nash’s 1999 book “When a Baby Dies.” The exact same quotes from Luther’s Catechism, the Augsberg Confession, Anglicans & Episcopalians, Council of Trent, and Pius XII are on that page, in the same order MacArthur listed them this morning. Nash also had the identical “Catholic Catechism” quote at the end, but he referenced the new Catholic Encyclopedia instead. MacArthur perhaps misread that.
Is it any wonder then, that the depth of MacArthur’s knowledge on Catholicism comes not from studying those original sources, or the theology of Christ’s work imparted in sacraments, etc… But instead these snippets from Nash? This is a scholarly PhD from whom we should expect expertise???
If he had done even cursory homework, he would not have made the terribly erroneous statement that Catholics teach unbaptized babies are not saved!! (cf CCC#1261, et al). And that’s not even to begin addressing his error that baptism is a “human work” as his theology understands it…
