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Taking Note of Baptism From Dr. Luther / Ramblings
I. 1520 “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church” (LW 36:11-126)
In this benchmark writing Dr. Luther laments that no one takes comfort or knows the meaning of their Baptism anymore. The present tense of Baptism has been lost in the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. The good ship “Baptism” only floats for a while. Then she sinks and the baptized move on to a second plank: the sacrament of penance. Sins are now taken care of through contrition, confession, and satisfactions. Baptism is irrelevant – past tense. But even the sacrament of penance could not provide the certainty of salvation people needed. So they clung to other “planks” such as vows, religious orders, works, satisfactions, pilgrimages, indulgences, etc.[1]
The 1519 Augustinian matrix of signum -- res signata that’s bridged by faith is not to be found here in 1520. Dr. Luther now runs point #1 with the Lord’s promise: Mark 16:16. The divine promise is the first thing to be considered. Salvation depends on the Lord’s promise (promissio). His words are most certain. So don’t preach sermons that point people to themselves. Rather, point them to their Baptism where God made a sure promise. Luther rings in 2 Timothy 2:13. Have you sinned? Of course.
But your Baptism remains. The divine promise and faith go together. The efficacy of Baptism, however, is ascribed to faith in the Word of promise.
In addition, Dr. Luther rejoices in the fact that Christ / God does the baptizing through the instrumentality of the pastor. This flows out of the biblical teaching of justification by grace. Holy Baptism is the Lord’s doing and giving. Salvation’s delivery and bestowal is pure GIFT from the Lord Jesus! The baptized are free from the slavery of the “you shall be as gods” lie by which they are curved in on themselves. They are free to trust in their Baptism. “Solius gloria baptismi sui securi et salvi [saved and secure only in the glory of their baptism]” (AE 36:73).
II. 1523 & 1526 Baptism Rites (LW 53:96-109)
Does the liturgy run Holy Baptism or does Holy Baptism run the liturgy?
Holy Baptism’s liturgy! It’s holy because it belongs to the ... ?
Heirs of Dr. Luther: John Gerhard and C.F.W. Walther had a threefold way of speaking of the Holy Baptism’s liturgy:
1. What the Lord gave: mandate and institution.
2. Things that are inherent with what the Lord gave.
3. Things that were added (human ceremonies).
Does the exorcism do something to the devil? Or does the exorcism extol what Holy Baptism does to the devil? Or does the exorcism extol what Jesus has done to the devil?
In these baptismal rites we are confronted with “How much is enough to extol the gift of Holy Baptism?”
Holy Baptism’s liturgy that Luther inherited had three divisions:
1. The preliminaries (pregame festivities or warmups). Males and females were
set on the right and the left of the priest respectively. This was a remnant of a
time when the adults were separated because they would be immersed in the
nude. The infants were exorcised and signed with the cross, given salt with an
exorcism of the devil. Different prayers were provided for males and females.
These ceremonies together with the Gospel reading, the Ephphatha, Lord’s
Prayer, Hail Mary, and the Creed recited by the priest were all that remained of
the catechumenate.
2. The Blessing of the Water (more pregame). If the water in the font was not
already blessed, then a blessing with oil together with the Litany of Saints
followed.
3. The Baptism (game time). The godparents renounced Satan, assented to the
creed, and after the infant had been anointed with oil he was baptized in the
Triune Name. The liturgy ended with the priest giving the infant a white band – - a remnant of the white garments once given in Holy Baptism -- and a taper as a symbol of illumination.
It was this liturgy that Luther spoke highly of in The Babylonian Captivity (1520): “Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to the riches of his mercy has preserved the church this sacrament at least, untouched and untainted by the ordinances of men, and has made it free to all nations and classes of mankind and has not permitted it to be oppressed by the filthy and godless monsters of greed and superstition” (LW 35:25).
In 1523 Dr. Luther remarks that this liturgy is in need of improvement because “its framers were careless men who did not sufficiently appreciate the glory of baptism” (LW 53:103). However, Dr. Luther is deeply concerned about the evangelical Christians under his care. “However, in order to spare the weak consciences, I am leaving it unchanged” LW 53:103). Make drastic changes in Holy Baptism’s liturgy and the people will doubt whether Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Dad were really baptized. However, changes were made in 1523 from the traditional Roman rite. For example, the exorcism of salt, the consecration of the water, and the differentiation between sexes were removed, exorcism was shortened, the Creed moved to the questions, and the magnificent “Flood Prayer” replaced “Deus patrum nostrorum.”
Speak the service in German so that the people take Holy Baptism seriously! Stirred to greater faith and earnest devotion!
Part of this seriousness is that in Holy Baptism the child (once possessed by the devil and a child of sin and wrath) becomes a child of God (LW 53:101). Consequently, the child now has a great enemy: the devil. So the church must be an ecclessia orans.
Least important are the external things such as “blowing under the eyes, signing with the cross, putting salt into the mouth, putting spittle and clay into the ears and nose, anointing the breast and shoulders with oil, signing the crown of the head with the chrism, putting on the christening robe, placing a burning candle in the hand, and whatever else has been added by man to embellish baptism For most assuredly baptism can be performed without all these, and they are not the sort of devices and practices from which the devil shrinks or flees. He sneers at greater things than these! Here is the place for real earnestness” (LW 53:102). [Got that LCMS boys who are tempted by the liturgical experts of the day?]
Pay attention everybody! Be there in “true faith, listen to God’s Word, and earnestly join in prayer.” The priest isn’t talking to the walls and the floor when he says: “Let us pray.” And you pastors: “Slow down. The rubric of time can be broken. Say the prayers clearly and slowly so the people can follow along and give their hearty ‘Amen!’” Anyone ever hear of doctrine and practice? The two go together don’t they?
Dr. Luther rejoices in the fact that Holy Baptism is as Scripture says it is: a new birth “by which we are being freed from all the devil’s tyranny, loosed from sin, death, and hell, and become children of life, heirs of all the gifts of God, God’s own children, and brethren of Christ. Ah, dear Christians, let us not value and administer this unspeakable gift so indolently and indifferently; for baptism is our only comfort and admits to every blessing of God and to the communion of all the saints. To this may God help us. Amen” (LW 53:103).
But where’s the mandate and institution passage(s)? Where’s Mark 16:16? Matthew 28:19-20? They are not included in 1523 or 1526. The mandate passage was in the Roman rite but was hooked with the consecration of the water. Luther left this part out with its misuse of the mandate passage. Luther contended that the mandate words are centered in “baptism itself” (LW 53:103), i.e. “And I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” [The 1856 Missouri Agenda published in 1881 included Matthew 28 and Mark 16:16 at the beginning.]
Integral parts of Holy Baptism’s 1523 liturgy showing Baptism’s glory:
a. The Triune Name. He’s there doing and giving what He says.
b. Application of water.
c. Vows. Complete confession of the Christian faith. Keep this vow
and you’ve got enough to do all your life.
The 1526 order deletes the #3 stuff (see above) such as exsufflation, the first of the two opening prayers, salt, the first of the two exorcisms, prayer after the exorcism, salutation before the Holy Gospel, the Ephphatha, the two anointings before and after baptism, and the lighted candle.
This order was appended to the 1529 Small Catechism as the “Baptismal Booklet.” See The Book of Concord, Kolb-Wengert pp. 371-375.
III. 1528 Letter “Concerning Rebaptism” (LW 40:225ff.)
Faith the biggie? If so, “You’re like butter in sunshine!”
Anabaptists are at work. Causing trouble and doubt among the evangelical Christians in Germany. “Can you help Dr. Luther?” is the plea from some Roman clergy. This is Dr. Luther’s reply.
Note these points:
1. Dr. Luther’s emphasizes that Holy Baptism is God’s work and that it is commanded by God Himself (LW 40:239, 250, 259).
2. Christ Himself is present and Christ Himself is the baptizer (LW 40:242).
3. Anabaptist twisting of Holy Scripture and especially the Lord’s words of Mark 16:16. No one is to be baptized unless he believes. Faith is the basis for Holy Baptism. Faith is the certainty for Holy Baptism. The turn is inward and ironically medievally scholastic! Faith is turned in on itself (incurvatus in se), self-directed and self-conscious! And the pastors are turned into the “faith police.”
4. Luther: Who could be baptized then? “How and when can they ever know that [faith] for certain?” (LW 40:239). “SO WHOEVER BASES BAPTISM ON THE FAITH OF THE ONE TO BE BAPTIZED CAN NEVER BAPTIZE ANYONE. Even if you baptized a person a hundred times a day you would not at all know if he believes” (LW 40:240 emphasis added).
5. Please note Dr. Luther’s reference and comparison of this Anabaptist teaching to his life as a monk and his practice of confession and absolution (LW 40:240). That was all intra nos inspection.
6. Therefore Dr. Luther contends that, “neither the baptizer nor the baptized can base baptism on a certain faith” (LW 40:241). Then the paradox from Dr. Luther: “For it happens, indeed it is so in this matter of faith, that often he who claims to believe does not at all believe; and on the other hand, he who doesn’t think he believes, but is in despair, has the greatest faith. So this verse, ‘Whoever believes,’ does not compel us to determine who has faith or not. Rather, it makes it a matter of every man’s conscience to realize that if he is to be saved he must believe and not pretend that it is sufficient for a Christian to be baptized. . . . [The text says] ‘Whoever believes.’ Who has it, has it. One must believe, but we neither should nor can know it for certain” (LW 40:241). FAITH IS NOT CURVED IN ON ITSELF!
7. Children can believe. Luther marshals such texts as Psalm 72 [106:37f.]; Matthew 2:16; 18[19:14]; Luke 1:41. His point? “I’m giving proof that your foundation for rebaptism is uncertain and false inasmuch as you cannot prove that there may not be faith in children. In utero Jesus greets John through His mother Mary. Since Jesus is present and is the baptizer but speaks through the priest, “why should not his Word and baptism call forth spirit and faith in the child as then it produced faith in John? He is the same one who speaks and acts then and now” (LW 40:242-243). And then comes Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 19:14; 18:10; 28:19 and 1 John 1:2.
8. “I maintain as I have written in the Postil that the most certain form of baptism is child baptism. For an adult might deceive and come to Christ as a Judas and have himself baptized. But a child cannot deceive. He comes to Christ in baptism, as John came to him, and as the children were brought to him, that his word and work might be effective in them, and make them holy, because his Word and work cannot be without fruit” (LW 40:244; see also 245-246).
9. “FOR FAITH DOESN’T EXIST FOR THE SAKE OF BAPTISM, BUT BAPTISM FOR THE SAKE OF FAITH. WHEN FAITH COMES, BAPTISM IS COMPLETE. A SECOND BAPTISM IS NOT NECESSARY” (LW 40:246; emphasis added).
10. The Anabaptists have turned Baptism into a work that we do! (LW 40:248-249). “But we are not to base baptism on faith. . . . Whoever allows himself to be baptized on the strength of his faith, is not only uncertain, but also an idolator who denies Christ. For he trusts in and builds on something of his own, namely, on a gift which he has from God, and not on God’s Word alone” (LW 40:252; emphasis added).
11. What about your pastor? Does he really believe? Has he had a conversion experience? Does he have the indelible character of being of people person and team player? I know certain pastors do not. They’re about as unholy as you can get! :-) But we know about Rev. Peter Luther Irving. He’s got a McChurch going full blast. He’s got all the right inside stuff. Been through all the psychological exams. Passed with flying colors. Has a “heart for people.” All ablaze that boy and starting prairie fires galore. Our baptisms and salvations are certain and secure with the likes of Rev. P. L. Irving roaming the aisles! Can you say Donatism? Welcome to the land of American Protestantism where Donatism and sacerdotalism of the highest orders are going on among the “ordination is an adiaphoron” crowd and Assembly of God hand waving and Polo shirts are a matter of confession. (LW 40:250; also 252).
12. “Whoever makes baptism dependent on the faith of him who baptizes will never receive baptism from anyone. For if I ask you if you have been rebaptized, and you say, yes, I again ask, how do you know that you are rightly baptized? Were you to reply, because he who baptized me has faith, I would ask, how do you know that? Have you looked into his heart? SO THERE YOU ARE, LIKE BUTTER IN SUNSHINE” (LW 40:252; emphasis added).
So why are we baptized and why do we baptize children?
13. “Not because we are certain of our faith but because IT IS THE COMMAND AND WILL OF GOD. For even if I were never certain any more of faith, I still am certain of the command of God, that God has bidden us to baptize, for this he had made known throughout the world. In this I cannot err, for God’s command cannot deceive” (LW 40:252; emphasis added).
14. “But a baptism on the Word and command of God even when faith is not present is still a correct and certain baptism if it takes place as God commanded” (LW 40:252). “I want to be baptized because it is God’s command that I should be, and on the strength of this command I dare to be baptized. In time my faith may become what it may. If I am baptized on his bidding I know for certain that I am baptized. . . . But baptism . . . is as sure as are the Word and command of God” (LW 40:253). “Nothing is lacking in baptism. Always something is lacking in faith” (LW 40:253).
15. Luther provides what he calls “good reasons” to baptize children and to maintain that they believe.
First: child baptism comes from the apostles and been practiced from apostolic times (LW 40:254-255).
Second: If child baptism were heretical it would have “gone down in disgrace” and would not have continued for very long (LW 40:255). “This miracle of God is an indication that child baptism is right” (LW 40:255).
Third: The baptized children of the past were enlightened by the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible and God did great things through them (e.g. John Huss) (LW 40:256).
Fourth: If child baptism is wrong, then there would have been no Christian Church prior to the Anabaptists. The creed is wrong too when it speaks of the holy Christian church (LW 40:256).
Fifth: 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and the Antichrist. He takes his seat in the church (LW 40:257). Luther throws in Matthew 19:14; Acts 16:15; 1 John 1:2; and Luke 1:41 again.
Sixth: God’s covenant with the heathen is the Gospel and Holy Baptism is a sign of that covenant. So who would exclude children? Not us! “If we follow his command and baptize everyone, we leave it to him to be concerned about the faith of those baptized” (LW 40:258).
16. In summary, the Anabaptists divorce God’s Word from the water. Consequently, they treat Holy Baptism as a “human trifle, like many other customs under the papacy relating to the consecration of salt, water, or herbs. . . . So they carry on and call it a dog’s bath” (LW 40:258).
17. “We who know that baptism is a God-given thing, instituted and commanded by God himself, look not at its abuse by godless persons, but simply at God’s ordinance. We find baptism in itself to be a holy, blessed, glorious, and heavenly thing, to be held in honor with fear and trembling, just as it is reasonable and right to hold any other ordinance and command of God” (LW 40:259; emphasis added).
18. “Assume that the first baptism is without faith. Tell me which is the greater and the more important in the second baptism, the Word of God or faith? It is not true that the Word of God is greater and more important than faith, since faith builds and is founded on the Word of God rather than God’s Word on faith? Furthermore faith may waver and change, but God’s Word remains forever [Isa. 40:6-9; 1 Pet. 1:24]. Then too, tell me, if one of these two should be otherwise, which should it rather be: the immutable Word or the changeable faith? Would it not more reasonably be the faith that should be subject to change rather than the Word of God? It is fairer to assume that the Word of God would change faith, if a right one were lacking, than that faith would change the Word of God. SO THEY MUST CONFESS THAT IN THE FIRST BAPTISM IT WAS NOT THE WORD OF GOD THAT WAS DEFECTIVE, BUT FAITH, AND THAT WHAT IS NEEDED IS ANOTHER FAITH AND NOT ANOTHER WORD. Why then do they not concern themselves rather with a change of faith and let the Word remain unaltered? Shall we call God’s Word and ordinance false because we do not truly believe it? In that case a true word would be rare and far between. If they were to act rightly according to their own peculiar logic THEY SHOULD BE URGING A REBELIEVING, NOT A REBAPTIZING. . . . So really they should be called ‘Anabelievers’ and not Anabaptists” (LW 40:261; emphasis added).