Infant Baptism (2)

Last time I endeavored to answer the question whenour children should be baptized. This time another question invites our attention, namely, Who is really to present the child in baptism, the father or the mother?

In some private conversations I have noticed that also among us there is a difference of opinion. I’ll gladly comply with the request of several members to give my opinion in regard to this matter. May the Lord bless it to a clearer understanding of the doctrine of truth and of the order of the Church, as we are to walk in agreement with that, according to the command of the King of Zion.

There is (as all of us may know) an article in our Church Order of Dort (art. 57) dealing with “fathers and sponsors.” This article reads as follows: “The ministers shall do their best and put forth every effort to have the father present his child for baptism. And in our congregations where Sponsors or Witnesses are taken at baptism beside the father (which custom, not being objectionable in itself, is not easily changed) it is proper that such be taken who agree with the pure doctrine and are pious in their conversation.”

Reading the article with attention, we observe that it contains two important things: the first, regarding the action of the father at baptism; and the second, the action of the sponsors beside the parents.

Concerning the first: that is a true principle of the Reformation and a strong Anti-Romish statement. With Rome we find the antithesis of nature and grace. The parents are, as the natural carnal propagators of the child, the cause of it that it is conceived and born in sin, and as such, a slave of Satan. The Church, by means of baptism, receives the child in her fold and in the realm of grace. But in order to do so, the Church requires that, instead of the natural parents, the so-called sponsors act as “spiritual” parents at baptism. These sponsors must, at baptism, make confession of faith in behalf of the child that is still too young to believe, and they must moreover vouch for it that the child will be instructed in accordance with its baptism. So with Rome the sponsors or witnesses take the place of the parents.

When God showed mercy on His Church and raised up men like Luther and Calvin, they began to oppose that sponsor-system. They joined battle against it and restored, on the ground of truth, the right of the parents to act at the baptism of their children. The antithesis of nature and grace was replaced by that of sin and grace. Though not all are comprehended savingly in the covenant of grace, nevertheless we are all included (like Israel under the Old Testament) in the ministration of the covenant.

We do not baptize our children on the ground of suppositions but on the ground of Cod’s covenant and promise, as is plainly shown in the 27th Lord’s Day of our Heidelberg Catechism. The parents themselves must act at the baptism of their children; and also, with the parents rests the entire responsibility.

According to the stipulations of the first Synod after the Reformation, the appearance of sponsors was at first still allowed. However, from the very beginning our fathers resolved that the parents should be considered first, the sponsors or witnesses only “beside” the parents. However, it took considerable struggling to purge the Romish leaven out of those who had been brought out of the night of Rome’s superstition to the light of the Gospel.

Many parents still clung to the Romish usage, so that the Synods which were held had to urge again and again that the parents themselves were solemnly obliged to act at the baptism of their children, and to take upon themselves the obligations in regard to their instruction, though sponsors or witnesses were allowed to remain “beside” the father, to “help or cause them to be instructed.” The Synod of 1586 at The Hague also urged the ministers to pay attention to this.

“The Ministers shall do their best and put forth every effort to have the father present his child for baptism.” Here the word “father” is used in opposition to the Romish sponsors who acted instead of the parents. The parents were no longer allowed to concede their rights.

In this article only the father is mentioned and not the mother. This was not done in order to despise the mother, but at that time it was customary to have the child baptized at the first opportunity and consequently it stands to reason that the mother could not be present at baptism.

Our fathers insisted very strongly upon it that the children were entitled to baptism at the earliest season. During the 18th and 19th century this sponsor-system gradually fell into disuse. When the parents act in their own rights, the sponsor-system is entirely superfluous. Only by way of exception is it to be tolerated.

One thing is certain: from Article 57 of the Church Order it cannot be deduced that the mother is not allowed to present her child for baptism. I hope that by this time it is sufficiently plain to you what this article is about.

Our fathers judged that it belongs to the “non-essential” things who presents or holds the child at baptism. The late Rev. Ledeboer insisted that the father present the child for baptism, and not the mother. This minister founded this rule on the fact that God made His covenant with the man and not with the woman, for instance, with Abraham and not with Sarah. Personally, I consider it immaterial whether the father or the mother presents the child. However, let us cling to this rule that the child be presented for baptism by a member who has made confession of faith.

Let all things be done decently and in an edifying way.

Rev. W.C Lamain (1904-1984) pastored the Netherlands Reformed Congregations of Leiden (1929-1932), Rotterdam-South (1932-1943), Rijssen-Wal (1943-1947), and Grand Rapids, Michigan (1947-1984).

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