Brian Hamilton

Baptism and Circumcision

As Diamaid MacCulloch tells it, the justification of infant baptism by recourse to Old Testament circumcision originated with the Reformers. Luther came up with it first, taken offguard by the challenge from the Zwickau Prophets first and then also from Karlstadt. He needed a solid Scriptural argument to remain consistent, and the lack of clear New Testament evidence drove him to offer this parallel. Zwingli ran with it, facing opposition from some group of ‘fervent admirers’ or ‘radical Zwinglians’ that MacCulloch leaves nameless—but which is doubtlessly Grebel’s circle. Zwingli could hold to the argument more thoroughly than could Luther, having from the beginning a more positive view of ‘Divine Law’ rooted in the Old Testament. MacCulloch is Anglican—so no believers church bias—but he senses some desperation in this attempt to ground infant baptism in the Scriptures, and I agree. Who ever heard of a ‘circumcision of repentance’ or ‘circumcision into death’?

1 March 2007 |
tags: Baptism, Reformation