Paul W. Manuel: More on the blessing of children

Child Blessing¹
pdf

Dr. Paul Manuel—2001

"The Rabbi's Blessing" Moritz Oppenheim (1800-1882)

When the gentile church separated from the synagogue, it jettisoned some Jewish practices and altered others. Circumcision, for example, gave way to infant baptism (Manuel 1990).² After the Reformation, some Christian groups attempted to restore biblical practices. Baptists reinstated believer's (adult) baptism and, wanting some appropriate ceremony for children, replaced infant baptism with infant dedication.³

I. The common practice today is infant dedication, derived from Luke 2:22-24.

The biblical justification for the latter is often Jesus' first visit to the temple, when his parents "present him to the Lord" (v. 22).

Luke 2:22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "EVERY [firstborn] MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD"), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, "A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS."

The Old Testament passages Luke quotes indicate that this event is something quite different from what many Christians assume.

A. What that passage illustrates is redemption of the child.

Contrary to popular belief, this was not a dedication service but a redemption ceremony, as God commanded for all firstborn males in Israel.⁴

Exod 13:12 you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. 13 "But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem [it], then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem."

Had God not allowed parents to buy back their firstborn, the children would have become servants in the sanctuary. Instead, He chose the entire tribe of Levi for that
task.⁵

The one exception in scripture to this act of redemption, and the only recorded act of dedication, was Samuel, whose mother gave him to the Lord and left him at the sanctuary in Eli's charge.⁶

1 Sam 1:24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with a three-year-old bull and one ephah of flour and a jug of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh, although the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and brought the boy to Eli.... 28a "So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD." ...2:11 Then Elkanah [Samuel's father] went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.

Today, if parents were to fulfill their promise of "dedication," churches would become nurseries for future pastors. Ministers would then have the task of raising and training them, additional responsibilities few would care to assume.

B. What parents intend is their own dedication.

Infant dedication, therefore, is a misnomer. What parents actually intend is the dedication of themselves to raising the child in accordance with God's instructions. Indeed, that is what many services state, although they often include reference to the child's dedication.⁷ There is, of course, nothing wrong with parent dedication. Scripture contains several admonitions to proper child-rearing.⁸

Deut 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Nevertheless, people should not confuse this ecclesiastical tradition with biblical teaching.

II. The biblical practice is child blessing, as in Mark 10:13-16.

A practice that does have biblical precedence, and that would be preferable to infant dedication, is infant—more properly, child—blessing. Here, Jesus' life does provide both justification and illustration. In the late Second Temple Period, it was customary for parents to bring their children to a respected teacher that he might beseech God's favor upon them.⁹ As Jesus' reputation grew, parents came to him with their children for this purpose.¹⁰

Mark 10:13 And they were bringing children to him so that he might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Permit the children to come to me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all]." 16 And he took them in his arms and [began] blessing them, laying his hands on them.

(The disciples did not oppose the custom but the disruption it posed their master.¹¹)

A. What that passage illustrates is blessing of the child.

This practice continues in the Jewish community today, especially in Orthodox circles, as parents will bring their children to the rabbi for his invocation of God's blessing. Rabbi Johanan (mid 3' c.) advises parents not to neglect this opportunity.

Ruth Rabbah 6:2 One should never keep back from going to an elder to be blessed.

His admonition suggests that the blessing is not only for children; adults may also avail themselves of it.¹²

B. What the church practices is dedication of the child.

Few churches, though, have continued the practice of blessing. Those that did adopt it, such as German Seventh-Day Baptists, have tended to replace it with the more common dedication ceremony.¹³ In 1844, William H. Fahnestock, a member of the Ephrata church and, later, Vice President of the American Sabbath Tract Society (1846-1851), described the practice for the Sabbath Recorder (boldface below added).

The dedication of children of believing parents is a practice of the Society, in obedience to the saying of our Lord and Master, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God." "And he took them up in his arms and put his hands upon them and blessed them;" which we attempt to imitate, by presenting them to the Lord, before the church, with the laying on of hands and prayer by the senior Elder: but which we do not consider as conferring any of the privileges of church membership. It is merely making a public dedication of them to the Lord, and introducing them to the care of the church; always regarding baptism, upon faith and repentance, as the initiatory rite into the church, and requisite to full fellowship.

Fahnestock cites the correct NT passage for child blessing (Luke 18:16) but draws the wrong conclusion regarding its application.

Beyond its being a biblical custom, there is an additional advantage to practicing child blessing. Ministers often receive requests to perform services by parents with little or no connection to the church and with little or no intention of establishing such a connection. Dedication includes a commitment to raise the child in accordance with biblical precepts and in the context of the believing community, conditions neither of which such parents are likely to fulfill. This places the minister in the awkward position of having them make an empty promise before God. Some Christians might contend that such an assertion is their decision and not the minister's responsibility, but he is complicitous if he fails to warn them of God's disapproval.¹⁴ Others might recommend that the minister inform them about the seriousness of their vow and advise them against the service, but he then risks losing an opportunity for ministry and alienating them unnecessarily (i.e., over a custom that is extra-biblical). Blessing, focusing as it does on the child, demands nothing from the parents. Consequently, it enables the minister to (re)establish a connection between the parents and the church, opening a door that welcomes future contacts, and allows him to challenge them to seek God's guidance in raising their child, appealing in a non-confrontational manner they will likely hear (even if they do not heed). While the practice of child dedication, traditional in many churches, is not contrary to scripture, neither is it confirmed by scripture. The blessing of children, however, is a biblical custom, one that has the support of the savior.

For the bibliography and endnotes, see the pdf here.