Episode 22 - Paedocommunion

PCA Pastors Josh Owen, Aaron Garriott, and Robert Rothwell discuss Paedocommunion.

Show notes are included below after the credits.

Produced by: RE Gabe Williams
Music by: RE James Powers
Logo design: Beth Cragg

The Three Presbyteers is a ministry of Spruce Creek PCA in Port Orange FL. 

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Paedocommunion:
Why address this topic at all? Isn’t it a matter settled in the Reformed and Presbyterian tradition that covenant children receive baptism, they are reared in the Christian religion and catechized, and once they reach a point of discretion and profession, they are admitted by the shepherds of that church to the Table?
Well, this question rises at certain points at times in the church due to a good problem. Many wouldn’t see it as a good problem, but I do. Let me explain:
Many Christians in the Western church have been leaving a more baptistic and Dispensational reading of the Bible, and they have come to understand the covenantal structure of the Bible that is consistent with the Reformed and Presbyterian church. As a result, what happens is an over swing: Many of the Christians once believed that their children shouldn’t be baptized or communed (take the Supper). Once they come into the beautiful world of covenant theology, many now believe that their children should be baptized and communed. Whereas the sacraments were once naked symbols that did nothing more than remind us of something, now they believe that since the sacraments confer real grace, their children should get the sacraments as early as possible and as often as possible. 
So, I say this is a good problem because we rejoice when Christians understand the glorious unity of the Bible and its application to the family and the church. We rejoice in the resurgence of interest in raising our children covenantally. We love the place that has been given to the sacraments in the life and piety of the church. These are all good things. This swing in the opposite direction, however, does betray a misunderstanding of a few things and a departure from Reformed orthodoxy, which we hope to address in this podcast by explaining the Reformed church’s understanding of the Bible’s teaching that the Lord’s Supper is to be administered to baptized persons who have been admitted to the table by the elders on account of a credible profession of faith. 
In this episode, we’ll show why paedocommunion is erroneous from three angles:
(1)    Biblical
(2)    Theological
(3)    Historical
First, it’s important to briefly define what we mean by paedocommunion, because there is a spectrum. Some paedocommunion advocates think that children should be served the Lord’s Supper as soon as they’re weaned. Others believe that children who can give some sort of acknowledgment of wanting to receive the elements, whether it is a raising of the hand or saying “Jesus” or something of the sort. The latter position is a bit closer to Reformed orthodoxy, but both seem to stem from the same misunderstandings of the biblical data, the nature of the sacraments, and the historical consensus of the church.