presuppositions

New books, new notebooks, classrooms and professors, grades and assignments...
I love my new school!! I must warn you, this post is a little... head-y if you will. My mind is being stretched and my world is being rocked. Here is a little bit of what I am learning:

I am taking New Testament History & Theology with Dr. Chapman. I was not super excited about the course until I sat in on his first lecture. He argued the importance of understanding the author's intent when you read any text. Have you ever thought about that? The author had a specific intent for writing the way he or she did. How often do we read a book, an article, or even scripture and think, "What does this mean to me?" before we ask or even wonder what the author was trying to say?

I know I am guilty of doing that all the time. Dr. Chapman discussed our presuppositions and how everyone has them. Presuppositions are the ideas and beliefs you base your life around. We all use these beliefs to help us define and categorize information. Have you ever thought about what shapes how you view the world? Or how those thoughts shape the information you are studying?

Then you throw in the issue of culture. This is an even harder problem because we are so encompassed in our culture that it is hard to even discern. We bring our own culture to that which we are studying and expect the text to fit into our cultural norms. This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing! Text has little to no meaning unless it is placed within its CONtext.

Presuppositions. The word has been challenging me this week. When I start to think about it, almost everything I do is based on my presuppositions. The way I interact with my husband, the way I order my house, the way I take care of Hunter... all based on ideas and beliefs I had before entering into the situation. Nothing is wrong with that, necessarily.

But when I take what I believe and project it onto what I am reading ... especially scripture... is it really considered learning or studying anymore? Or is it just looking for confirmation of what I already believe?

If I am not studying the author's intent for the passage by digging into the author's culture and times, then why am I even reading? I think time might be better spent looking in the mirror.

Covenant

Covenant. It is a word that has been going through my mind a lot lately, for several reasons.

First, it is the name of the seminary my husband and I are going to be attending very soon. Covenant Theological Seminary. Check it out. I am sooooo excited and also a little nervous. We are going to pack up our stuff here, leave our beautiful home and great friends, and move to St. Louis. Josh will begin work toward a Master’s of Divinity and I will begin work toward a Master’s of Counseling, Lord willing, starting in January. Big life changes here in the Hammans family.

Second, and more importantly, Covenant is the word used to describe the promises God makes His people. Since the Garden of Eden, God has made Covenants with His people, each one progressively revealing more and more of His character. God has not only made covenants with Himself and man, He has fulfilled them. This is referred to as “Covenant Theology” and it is something I am still coming to understand. (Another reason I am excited to go to seminary.)

We are having Hunter baptized on Sunday. To be honest, this baptism has been a difficult decision for me. I did not grow up in a denomination that practiced infant baptism. I never understood it, and in my ignorance I assumed infant baptism was a lot of things that it really isn’t. We have taken our choice to baptize Hunter very seriously and I want to share why we have decided to go ahead with infant baptism.

This brings me back to the word covenant. In the Old Testament, believers were given the sign of circumcision. Beginning with Abraham, (Gen. 17:11) God used circumcision as an outward sign of the relationship he had with His children. God promised Abraham that He would be His God and be the God of his descendants after Him. In the very next verse, God commands that every infant born into Abraham’s family be circumcised on the 8th day as a sign of the “everlasting covenant” between God and Abraham. Clearly, the sign of God’s promise was for even the young babies.

Since Jesus’ life on Earth and death on the cross, baptism has become the new sign of the covenant. Just as animal sacrifices are no longer needed because Jesus fulfilled the need for sacrifices, baptism has taken the place of circumcision to symbolize cleanliness and being set a part by God. In Colossians 2, Paul talks about a “circumcision not of hands” but of baptism. In the New Testament and now, baptism is a sign of the covenant.

All throughout the Bible, we see God dealing with His children through their families. For example, because of Noah’s favor in the eyes of the Lord, his entire family was spared in the flood. Psalm 103:17 says, “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children.”

We can see that baptism is a sign of being set apart by God due to His covenant with his people and that God deals with people through their families. Baptism is not salvation, nor does it guarantee salvation, no matter what age the person is who is being baptized. When we baptize Hunter on Sunday, it will not represent salvation in any way. It will be a sign that Hunter is under God’s headship, just as circumcision was a sign to the Jews. We view Hunter as under the covenant of the Lord because Josh and I represent Hunter in his infancy and we are under the covenant. On Sunday, we are entering into a covenant with God to raise Hunter in the ways of the Lord.

We will answer the following questions:
1. Do you acknowledge your child’s need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?

2. Do you claim God’s covenant promises in his behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, as you do for your own?

3. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before him a godly example, that you will pray with and for him, that you will teach him the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God’s appointment, to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

And the congregation will answer:
Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?

Pretty serious promises we are entering into. I am so excited to give Hunter the sign of God’s covenant and do longingly look toward the day when Hunter will place his trust in the Lord. This baptism is a sign of God’s future promise for my son. What an incredible blessing and responsibility the Lord has given parents. I feel the weight of it as I type this, yet I know that it is not me that will save my son, nor can I look to myself for my own salvation. God does all the work and all that is required of me is faith. What a mighty, awesome God we serve.

I am hoping to get the baptism taped and will post that here afterward.

This post is really long. Thanks for getting through it. I am glad to be able to share what I have been learning!