Intinction is the practice of administering the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) by dipping the bread into the wine rather than by giving the cup directly to the laity. It is not in itself a denial of the cup but arguably it is . . . Continue reading →
Respect the sacramental table to which you have approached, the bread of which you have partaken, the cup in which you have communicated, being consecrated by the sufferings of Christ.5 5. Note that this allusion implies that Communion in both Kinds was . . . Continue reading →
45. The Lord’s Supper shall be celebrated at least every month, and everyone at their location should strive that if the whole congregation cannot participate every Sunday (which most corresponds to Christ’s ordinance and to apostolic custom and is greatly desired), at . . . Continue reading →
I do not, however, concede to [Rome] that Paedobaptism had its origin in the Tradition of the Church. It certainly appears to be founded on the institution of God, and to have derived its origin from circumcision. It would have little foundation . . . Continue reading →
HB reader Mike asks whether this language requires Reformed believers to confess that baptism necessarily regenerates, i.e., is new life necessarily conferred at the moment of administration. It is widely claimed that “the ancient church taught baptismal regeneration.” In this context “regeneration” . . . Continue reading →
The prayers had been offered, the promises read, and the psalm sung. Two princes stepped forward to receive Communion, but the deacon refused to give them the cup. The superintendent of the city’s pastors ordered a second minister present to take the . . . Continue reading →
With this episode now we dive into the question of baptism itself. So far we have been setting the stage because, from the historic, confessional Reformed point of view, the debate about infant baptism is really a debate about how to understand . . . Continue reading →
Andy Smith writes to ask about the administration of communion outside of the visible, institutional church. Specifically he writes to ask whether a Christian college or university may administer communion in chapel or in some other setting but the question is whether . . . Continue reading →
We are just about ready to immerse ourselves, as it were, in the question of baptism but we have at least one more thing to discuss before we get to baptism and that is this: what is baptism? In the Reformed tradition, . . . Continue reading →
What do sacraments do? Do they anything or are they just rituals we perform? These are some of the questions Les, Tanner, and I discussed on this episode of the Pubcast. The most fundamental question is whether God ordinarily uses means? In . . . Continue reading →
They were saved (διεσώθησαν) “through the waters” (δι᾿ ὕδατος). What Peter says is that it was in the midst of the circumstance of the flood or from the flood that Noah and his congregation were saved. Peter is not saying that the water was an instrument of their salvation. He has already said that the ark was the instrument or means of their salvation. If you have ever been whitewater rafting or found yourself in rough waters in a canoe, you understand. The rapid waters do not save anyone. No one was saved by the rising flood waters in Hurricane Katrina. They were saved in the midst of them by clinging to a rooftop or by a brave member of the Coast Guard (known affectionately as “Coasties”) dangling from a helicopter. Continue reading →
Others, like the sacramentarians, (those are justly called sacramentarians, who attribute to the sacraments what they do not contain, and by high-sounding but false and made-up promises, lead men away from simple trust in the one God to belief in the power . . . Continue reading →