The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1880-12-15
For the Central Presbyterian.
The New Directory on Infant
BAPTISM

The revised Directory for public wor-
ship is before the Church for criticism.
Without attempting general review of
this work of the committee of revision,
wish to direct attention to a single point,
the introduction of new doctrine on the
subject of infant baptism. In the form for
the baptism of infants the parents are ad-
dressed as follows:
CAS- Israel of old, by Gods special di-
rection, entered into covenant with him
on behalf of their little ones (Deut.
xxx: 11), so do you, Christian parents,
stand before him here to-day, to covenant
with him on behalf of this your child,
given of God to you. You bring it here
to have it publicly acknowledged as by
Gods appointment member of his visi-
bic Church. Acting now on behalf of
your child, you recognize the obligations
and In faith lay hold upon the privileges
of the covenant belonging TO it as to your
selves
If the phrase ION behalf Of" used three
times in this section, meant merely for
the benefit Of" the passage, whilst still
Objectionable, would not be wholly OBJ
noxious to the criticism [ make upon it,
But it is manifest that in the sentences
in which it here stands it notes substitu-
ton. Israel is said to have entered into
covenant con behalf of their little ones"
The parents are required in like manner
to covenant with God ION behalf of their
child" and "acting on behalf of their
child, to recognize the obligations and
in faith lay hold upon the privileges of
the covenant belonging to it as to them
selves" The parent is made the repre-
sentative of the child, both in his entering
into covenant, and in his recognizing its
obligations and claiming its privileges.
The parents are made sponsors in bap-
tism This doctrine l maintain is un-
known in our standards, hitherto, and is
not found in the scriptures. Our stand
ards contain only the following passages
bearing on this point:
-" Not only those that do actually pro-
TESS faith in, and obedience unto Christ,
but also the infants of one or both be-
lieving parents are to be baptized. -
Confession of Faith, chap. xviii, sec. 4.
Infants descending from parents,
either both or but one of them, protesting
faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are,
in that respect, within the covenant, and
are to be baptized. "-Larger Catechi8m,
CUES 166.
1.-The infants of such as are members of
the visible Church are to be baptized. =
Shorter Catechi8n1, Cues 95.
There is in these statements of our
standards no declaration, nor even init
nation, that parents, when they present
their children for baptism, are to enter
into covenant on their behalf Their
doctrine is that the parents have already
entered into covenant to be the Lord s,
and because they hold this covenant re-
lation their children have a right to bap-
tism. Nor do they act on behalf Of
their children, when in presenting them
they recognize the obligations Of the COW
enant and claim its promises. Having
entered into covenant with the Lord at
the time Of their own profession of faith,
they now claim for their children the
rights and privileges Of the covenant ac-
cording to Gods promise, Z" will be a
God to thee and to thy seed after thee. ~
Indeed in the baptizing of infants there
is no forming Of covenant, unless the
acknowledgment on the part Of the pa
rents Of the obligations Of the covenant,
to command their children and their
households after them, that they may
keep the way of the Lord, may be re-
garded as the forming ola covenant; and
this, if in any sense the making of COW
enant, is the parents own obligation, not
the child's. But the article Of the re-