At same time Calvin condemned it, so did Council of Trent.
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Well, thereās that.
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This may be drawing too long a bow, but I wonder if there is, thus, a connection between paedocommunion and that interest in some parts of the Reformed community in Eastern Orthodoxy.
Iām interested in reading about how Reformed churches have determined whether a covenant child is ready to be communed. Can any of you, especially Evangel guys, point me to resources that have been helpful to you here? Let me know if my question isnāt clear.
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Catechesis plays a major part in admitting children to the Supper. From Manetschās Calvinās Company of Pastors:
Admission to the Lordās Table was not tied directly to a childās level of schooling or age. The Ecclesiastical ordinances made clear that boys and girls were welcomed to the Lordās Supper only after they had reached the age of discretion (around ten years of age) and were able satisfactorily to articulate the basic doctrine of the reformed religion and confess it as their own. Toward that end, four times a year on the Sunday before Genevaās quarterly communion service, young people who were prepared to confess their Christian faith stood in front of the worshipping congregation and, in response to the ministersā questions, recited the shortened form of the Catechism that served as their formal profession of faith. A week later, they were invited for the first time to feed upon the body and blood of Jesus Christ offered in the sacred meal of the Lordās Table. (pp 270-1)
There are some great old Scottish Catechismās for children, written for the express purpose of being admitted to the Supper. Iād be happy to email them to you. You can find them in Torranceās School of Faith. This is from his introduction:
Thus it belongs to the fundamental nature of Christian instruction to impart to the learner a great deal of information which he does not have and could not acquire apart from receiving it from without and from others. Only with this Christian information can a child learn to think in a Christian way, and learn Christian Truth. This again is one of the important characteristics of catechetical instruction, for it imparts to a child at an early age long before his mental powers can grasp the meaning of it all, a considerable body of historical and doctrinal matter, and so provides him with something to think about in the years when he is developing his mental and spiritual capacities. Without any doubt it contributes to the success of this method that it imparts to the child more than he can grasp at the time, for it so stretches his powers that it helps him to reach beyond his grasp and then grasp beyond his former reach. (pp xxvii-viii)
Catechesis should come from the Church and family, but also Christian schools (if they go to one). But knowledge is not the end, it is confession of faith - making it their own. That requires the judgement not only of the parents but of the session. And their session should know the child. That means pastors and elders should spend time with the children of the church.
Thatās the context going into the childās interview for admission. How the session decides whether to admit requires wisdom and tenderness . You donāt want to squelch their faith, but you also donāt want to be willy nillyā¦
The key is do they know they are a sinner, that they repent of their sins, and by faith know that Jesus has died for their sins? Do they know that Christ is in heaven, and we are not eating his body physically, but spiritually. Just as His body and blood were broken and spilt, we now feed on the bread and wine as a sign that He was broken and spilt for our sins. They donāt need a seminary level education, but they also should understand what it is they are doing when they take and eat and drink.
The session also has to have the faith to say no to parents if they judge their child not to be readyā¦
Blessings,
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Would you please post them here?
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On a related note - it seems to me that the issues with paedocommunion are actually symptomatic of a general unwillingness to Fence the Table, so there is scope to lift our game there as well.
The Anglican church I go to, when we have communion (monthly or so), makes a general invite to people, that if they āknow the Lordā they are welcome to partake. I can understand why the leadership of the church I go to would do this - partly because we have people from every Christian background imaginable - but I am coming to the view that we could be a little tighter (or a lot tighter) in this respect.
What do the churches represented here do in this respect?
Here they are as a PDF scan, and as a word doc.
There are three: the Little Catechism (1556), Craigās Short Catechism (1592), and The ABC (1641).
One thing Torrance notes is that catechisms have long been centered on the Apostlesā Creed, the Lordās Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. He suggests we should add other things, like the Beatitudes. I think he is right. Of course catechisms do not replace Scripture reading and memory, but there are other portions of Scripture that lend themselves to childrenās catechisms (e.g. 1 Cor. 13, the 12 Tribes, the 12 Apostles, the fruits of the Spirit)
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And hereās Calvinās
Genevan Catechism.pdf (29.2 KB)
ā¦which my youngest (10) is learning now because she desires to come to the Table.
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Ross, see Evangelās BCO (Directory for the Worship of God | Evangel Presbytery Book of Church Order), 61.4
Since, by our Lordās appointment, the Sacrament sets forth the Communion of Saints, the minister, at the discretion of the Session, before the observance begins, may either invite all those who profess the true religion, and are communicants in good standing in a Bible-believing, evangelical church, to participate in the ordinance; or invite those who have been approved by the Session, after having given indication of their desire to participate. It is proper also to give a special invitation to non-communicants to remain during the service.
A suggested form is also given which is quite good, being Calvinās (see footnote)
Blessings,
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Thanks, that does help.
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ā¦ and I now see this piece from the Gospel Coalition (sorry) which comes out against this practice as well ā¦
What Should We Think About Paedocommunion? (thegospelcoalition.org)
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An interview recently with Lusk and Wilson on FV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIaj2kg5DbM
Is there an audio-only version posted somewhere?
Looks like their podcast, Reformation Red Pill, is on all the main places. I donāt see this latest interview up yet on any of them though. Maybe check in a day or so.
I listened to the first 10 minutes. Lusk says he retrieved reformed ecclesiology and sacramentology by going back to Calvinās Institutes book 4. Guess heās never read Calvinās condemnation of paedocommunion in book 4ā¦ Lusk says:
For me really personally it was mostly a work of historical retrieval finding things in our tradition that because of revivalism or because of Enlightenment rationalism had just been shaved off of the traditionā¦ (minute 9:00)
This line of argumentation is what paedocommunionists use to justify their novel practice. āReformed Americans have been too steeped in the Enlightenment and revivalism, thatās why they insist on a profession of faith before coming to the Table. Just like revivalistic baptists! This needs to change! We need to go back to reformed sacramentology. Read Calvin!ā
And we say, āYes, read Calvinā¦ā
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The lies of men misrepresenting Calvin are endless, and nowhere worse than their saying he was the sacramentalist they are. Lusk, Wilson, and their ilk donāt know the first thing about Calvin; nor historic reformed ecclesiology, for that matter. Book IV of the Institutes! I laugh out loud.
Sadly though, their acolytes have always been so very credulous, as I told Doug after going to the Auburn Avenue Conference at his request around a decade ago. Listening to him, JimJ, PeterL, and SteveW hold forth to their small group of men and tell those men the most ridiculous things was, as I said to Doug afterward, all I needed to know about the origin of Federal Vision. I told Doug he should never lower himself to speaking there again, it was so very bad. Doctrinally. Biblically.
We all need simply to warn those we care for, and love, away from Moscow and its friends. We need to find our growl and bark, being willing to lose those souls who refuse to be warned. Thatās where I stand now.
Love,
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Iām going to ask another daft question. Remembering that I am not from a Reformed background, what, on earth, is the appeal of FV, especially its āoatmeal stoutā variety? What do people think it actually "adds?
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It forces Godās Hand to save their children.
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That really is āmagic thinkingā - on a par with the āclaiming Godās blessingsā rhetoric I heard far too much of in my time as a Pentecostal.
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What it adds, is the semblance of structure to support their rebellion against authority. When you claim that you are more reformed than your modern contemporaries, that you are retrieving reformed theology from enlightened scholastics (which has been shown to be false time and again), that most modern reformed theologians misunderstand and misapply what the Westminster divines articulated (also mostly untrue), you do what every false teacher does: draw hazy distinctions meant to erode the authority (in this case) of Pastors and Elders, making yourself look like a reformed theology savior, and wind up turning the hearts of ignorant, doctrine hungry sheep away from their shepherds, who donāt quite stack up to your robust reformed theology. You become a sheep thief, acquiring for yourself a large online, ethereal following of rebels, while I suspect that your own actual sheep flounder.
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