Infant Baptism

Luther wanted Christians to have no doubt that in their baptisms, God had made them his own, and this faith, received at baptism, was to be exercised each day in repentance and trust. Dr. Scaer shows how that confident confession was eroded by a fragmented modern understanding of the individual and a resulting defective theology. This book uncovers the errors, faulty logic and inconsistencies among 19th century theologians and serves to restore the confidence in baptismal faith as the Lutheran Confessions attest.
—Martin E. Conkling, PhD
Associate Professor of Theology
Concordia College-New York

This is a controversy that is erupting again and again. . . . Because the Church grows through Baptism and exists through it as a community in the Body of Christ, this fascinating study by Professor Scaer has a fundamental and exemplary significance.

 

 

In this fascinating study Dr Scaer examines the way infant baptism was handled by nineteenth century Lutheran thinkers. With typical forthrightness he exposes their discomfort—and the theological gymnastics required of them as they sought to retain the practice whilst having discarded much of the theology which justified it, especially Luther’s assertion of infant faith. This book deserves a wide readership not only amongst confessional Lutherans seeking a better understanding of their tradition, but amongst all who seek clarity and honesty in their theology and practice of baptism.
—Rev. Preb. Jonathan Trigg, Ph.D.
Anglican clergyman, Diocese of London
Author, Baptism in the Theology of Martin Luther