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Early American Methodists Maintained Wesley’s Doctrine of Infant Baptismal Regeneration

The present paper demonstrates that the early American Methodists (1784-1830) followed John Wesley in affirming the Anglican doctrine of infant baptismal regeneration, which was rooted in their interpretation of the Nicene Creed. Like Wesley, the American Methodists maintained this sacramental emphasis of objective grace even while emphasizing the importance of evangelical conversion. Some, however, such as William Nash Wade, have argued that certain liturgical revisions reveal that this delicate balance fell apart almost immediately after the founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1784). Indeed, Wade argues that the 1792 revisions of Wesley’s Sunday Service show that Methodists ceased connecting regeneration (at least in any certain sense) to infant baptism. However, this paper argues that, despite such objections, the early American Methodists maintained this fragile synthesis and upheld infant baptismal regeneration. To be sure, the Wesleyan synthesis proved challenging to maintain, especially with the advent of the Second Great Awakening, which began shortly after the founding of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The revivals of this time emphasized subjective experience and conversion as the key metrics for evangelistic success. However, despite the nation’s growing preference for subjective experience, early American Methodists maintained Wesley’s understanding of baptismal regeneration, which was rooted in the Anglican tradition and the tradition’s interpretation of the Nicene Creed. As Jesse Lee’s historical account shows, ordained Methodist elders generally were simple and pragmatic men who lacked substantial theological training but felt called to preach. Indeed, the arduous difficulties associated with itinerant ministry forced them to rely on the Wesleyan/Methodist theological presuppositions handed to them. As later denominational literature reveals, many of these preachers likely lacked a sufficient theological understanding of infant baptismal regeneration. However, they passionately administered the sacrament, though they undoubtedly devoted the lion’s share of their efforts to converting adults via preaching. This paper mainly establishes its primary argument by delving into critical primary sources, namely, writings of Methodist leaders and official denominational literature. While it is true that the doctrine of baptismal regeneration eventually weakened in the mid-nineteenth century, this paper argues that the early American Methodists maintained the Wesleyan synthesis and taught that infants are indeed regenerated in the waters of baptism.

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