One
objection to the Latter-day Saint doctrine of baptismal regeneration is, if the
doctrine is true, why are there so many baptised members of the Church who bore
absolutely no spiritual fruit after their baptism?
The following
comes from two 19th-century advocates of this doctrine, David Henkel
(Lutheran) and M.F. Sadler (Anglican):
Many whose children have been baptized,
bestow no labor upon them, when they arrive at the age of maturity, to instruct
them with respect to the use, and design of baptism; hence, as the good seed
receives no nourishment, how can it be expected to prosper? Suppose an
husbandman had planted a good seed, but neglected its cultivation; noxious
weeds overrun it, and prevent its fertility, could we conclude, that he spoke
the language of reason, if he vilified the seed, or denied its principle of
procreation? We would say, he is beside himself. Although we do not hear sober
men vilify the seed, they neglected to cultivate; but many after neglecting the
religious education of their children, and finding them graceless; they like
men bereft of the use of heir reason, deny the divine virtue of baptism. (David
Henkel, On Baptism and Justification [American
Lutheran Classics Volume 10; Ithaca, N.Y.: Just and Sinner, 2019], 151)
Regeneration in Baptism, be it remembered, is
only the seed, now its growth or development. To the growth or perfection of
the plant many other things must contribute. The providence of God must, ordinarily
speaking, bring to bear upon the recipient of His grace many things,--such as care
of pious parents or spiritual pastors and there must be that divine pruning or
purging, often by sicknesses or calamities, or the distresses attending a hard
lot in this world, or persecution for righteousness’ sake, borne meekly and
forgivingly after Christ’s example.
And there must be also the possession of the
written word, as that by which the seed is internally nourished; for it is the
word of God, and the doctrines drawn from it, and the teaching grounded upon
it, which by the power of God’s Spirit, fill the mind with thoughts of God and
heavenly desires; and there must be the constant and faithful use of the other
Sacrament, by which the inner man is renewed and strengthened with Christ’s own
strength. (M.F. Sadler, The Second Adam
and the New Birth: Or, the Doctrine of Baptism As Contained in Holy Scripture [New
York: Daniel Dana, 1857], 99-100; the “other Sacrament” Sadler speaks of is
that of Confirmation)