Still Never Trump

Before signing my mail-in ballot, I feel compelled to write a signing statement. I will not vote for Harris because I don't believe in the Democrat's secular progressive agenda. But I will not vote for Trump because of his deeply flawed character and his rejection of core conservative values. So I'm writing in Mitt Romney. Here are some of my reasons.

I reject the idea that voting strategy reduces to a binary choice even if there are only two leading candidates. Every vote counts for something, if only increasing the number who refused to go with their party's pick. Some good can come from that in four years. Also, during primary season, my fellow Republicans had many good choices, but overwhelmingly chose Trump. You can't make a "lesser of two evils" argument in November when 85% of you voted for one of those "evils" in the spring.

I don't think Trump is a threat to democracy the way the Democrats portray him, but I also think he is no defender of democracy either. If the Democrats could rewrite the Constitution to toss out the electoral college, the equal representation of states in the Senate, lifetime tenure of Supreme Court justices, or tamp down First and Second Amendment rights in order to advance their social agenda, they certainly would. But Donald Trump would gladly do the same rewriting, only for his own personal advancement. They have a similar stance toward the Constitution. The same could be said for Trump's fiscal policy, judicial picks, and foreign policy. It's all secondary to whatever advances his brand.

The main argument that social conservatives can make for Trump is that he gave us several conservative Supreme Court justices which resulted in overturning Roe after 50 years. I am grateful for that. But I think Constitutional originalism is a compelling idea that doesn't need deeply compromised supporters. If it's right and true, it would have been best to pursue it without Trump with the hope that doing it right gives it a chance of standing longer. It's obvious to everyone that Trump doesn't believe in or even know what Constitutional originalism is, so there are sure to be unintended consequences for his transactional politics.

Finally, Trump in 2024 is a fully known political figure. I don't believe there are any more new insights or ideas. In 2016, his governing philosophy was largely unknown so you could hope for something good. In 2020, you could debate how effective or ineffective he had been because of the large distortions from COVID-19 and the George Floyd riots. But in 2024, it's all out there. If we get Trump, we are getting chaos, crazy talk, deficits, impeachments, and just a great big mess. If your main goal is to piss off the libs, then Trump is your man. He will surely do that. But that's not governing and I don't want to be part of it.

I predict that the Trump will lose, he will claim the election was rigged, but it will not rise to another January 6 moment. I think Americans are tired of the shtick and will not let anything major foment. That will be the end of Trump in politics. One jaw-dropping win in 2016, followed by a steady string of losses, kind of like a new TV show that starts with a bang, then slowly degrades season after season.

The more pressing question is whether the Republican party will recover from its veer into populism and post-liberalism and away from the Reagan coalition of limited government, Christian morality and strong foreign policy. I don't know. It will take leaders who can clearly articulate a vision that is true to our American values, can competently deal with today's challenges, and is appealing to the masses. I hope that's possible. But until then, it's Still Never Trump.

Thomas Jefferson

I've long had a general admiration for Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and our nation's third President. After reading Jon Meachem's Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power I found that admiration renewed and deepened.

It's easy to find fault with Jefferson. He was a Southern slave owner, seen as his greatest flaw today. He attempted to end slavery in the Virginia House of Burgesses and later at a federal level, but after those attempts were stymied, he gave up. He was a womanizer and fathered several illegitimate children with his slave Sally Hemings, although part of this is rooted in a foolish promise to his dying wife that he would not marry again. He was a poor money manager, leaving his country a great legacy but his family a pile of debts. He is America's leading secular progressive, the opposite of the religious conservative I am. And yet, his positive qualities are so immense and far reaching that I can forgive these faults as being a man of his age.

Jefferson was an eminent Renaissance man. He loved Greek and Roman literature, in the original languages no less. He read philosophy, history and poetry from youth to old age. He was curious about the new science and mathematics of his day. He attempted his own works of architecture and agriculture. And he pursued all this in the isolation of a colonial Virginia farm. In contrast, I have immediate low-cost access to everything he had, and far more, and yet my level of engagement pales in comparison.

Jefferson loved French food and wine and engaging conversation while enjoying that food. He knew the French language and so was ready to live in Paris as our new nation's ambassador. After returning home, he employed a French chef at the White House and back in Monticello. I can imagine sitting down for dinner with him and enjoying the finest food that Western culture has produced, all while talking about a wide range of engaging topics. He understood the beauty and function of food.

Jefferson was the nation's leading champion of democracy. Although there was broad support for becoming independent of Britain, that did not automatically transfer into a desire for rule by the people. We could easily have become another monarchy or some other elitist system of rule. But Jefferson saw that the cause of freedom was best rooted in giving the right to rule to the people. I don't think our Land of the Free, Home of the Brave would exist without Thomas Jefferson.

I chiefly admire Jefferson as the author of our nation's Declaration of Independence. He brought his education and talents to the Second Constitutional Convention and was the obvious choice to write a unifying and decisive statement for a country in peril. He even had to endure the agony of group wordsmithing, yet still we end up with, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Our Declaration is a thoroughly Christian statement of politics. One might think it's merely a deistic statement. To his fault, Jefferson loved the morality of Christ but denied the supernatural center of his redemptive work. He was a man of the Enlightenment. The Apostle Paul writes that the cross of Christ is an affront to human reason (1 Cor 1), and it was to Jefferson. Even so, Jefferson saw that the freedom of man is rooted in being created by a freedom-giving God. His vision of religious liberty came from a conviction that God doesn't need the state to promote His ends. True religion comes from free and rational men who believe without state compulsion. These ideas come from Jesus.

Finally, I appreciate Jefferson's friendship with John Adams. They were both there in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776 and they both held on to life until July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the country. They enjoyed comradery in Paris and London, yet fell into opposite sides of the two original political factions of our country, the Federalists and the Republicans. They had plenty of reason to go their separate ways after serving as the second and third Presidents. Yet, at the end of their life, they made a deliberate effort to regain their friendship through persistent correspondence. It is a lovely example of friendship and love that transcends disagreement.

Going Public by Bobby Jamieson

For years I have appreciated 9Marks books and videos on ecclesiology. They contain a wealth of practical Biblical teaching on membership, eldership, missions, congregationalism, baptism and the Lord’s supper. But I have often wondered, “What about our children?”

I anticipated Going Public: Why Baptism is Required For Church Membership would address this. Of course it would be credobaptist, but I’ve been paedobaptist-leaning while attending credobaptist churches most of my life, so I’m used to the tension. I’ve seen that these two views can work in the same body. But I was not prepared for the strenuous argument for excluding paedobaptists from Baptist church membership.

But it also left me perplexed. In arguing that baptism should be required for church membership, why are paedobaptists the main concern in a Baptist church? Why the repeated scare quotes on their “baptism”? Are they really infiltrating the ranks? By chapter 10, I felt rising anger in response to the direct confrontation. “So why would a paedobaptist seek to join a baptist church? …Is it really a conviction? …Indifference may be closer to the mark. …And indifference is right next door to disobedience.” Even absorbing those blows, I was still waiting to hear Jamieson’s guidance on when and how to baptize our children.

Finally, on page 215, right before the book ends, Jamieson writes, “One sticky issue this whole discussion raises is the age at which churches should baptize young people.” Now we are finally there. What is the answer? To my shock and surprise he continues, “Historically, Baptists have tended to begin baptizing believers around age eighteen.” Now it made sense to me.

The following is my critique of delaying baptism to adulthood and not accepting paedobaptism by other churches. I hope it leads to greater understanding and less division.

First, children are not “a special case” (p217). They are the main case. To be fair, he uses the phrase “special case” only to qualify the New Testament practice of “immediate baptism”, but addressing children only in the last few pages of a 228 page book suggests he really thinks of children as a special case on the issue of baptism and membership. On the contrary, most Christians come to know the Lord as children. A healthy church will also have new adult converts, but they will soon be having children or grandchildren that outnumber them. A church will also have transfer growth, but the primary challenge for Baptists is whether to accept infant or child baptism. So the baptism or non-baptism of children is the main case in any doctrine of baptism, not a special case.

Second, it is not true that “churches are not in a strong position” (p216) to assess whether a child’s claim to believe in Christ is credible. The church is required to make this very assessment concerning the children of its elders. Titus 1:6 says that elders should be “above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers [or faithful], and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.” Can the church carry out this duty? Clearly it can. The church’s children are known in worship, in Sunday school, in home fellowship. Normal church life will lead to innumerable age-appropriate conversations and real-world observations that reveal if those children know the Lord because of their father’s instruction.

Third, Jameison doesn’t believe we can “separate baptism from church membership” (p218), which is surely correct, but he sees this as an insurmountable barrier for children. He suggests accommodations in congregational practices to recognize baptized children as part of the church even if they aren’t ready for all adult responsibilities. But he feels the cost of the inconsistency is too high. Best to wait. But what about the costs of waiting? The children are officially outside the church and excluded from its ordinances. I have never felt the force of Jesus words’ more strongly, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Imagine a young man who grows up in such a Baptist church. He has Christian parents but he is unbaptized. He never takes the Lord’s supper. He has no official recognition by the church body that he’s a believer (although he has lots of unofficial recognition which is meaningful). On his 18th birthday he begins the membership process. He is baptized. He takes communion once, maybe even a few times. But then he moves away to college. When he meets the atheist professor, or the worldly but attractive young woman, you want him to know deep in his bones that he belongs to Christ. The spiritual formation should be substantial. The Lord gives us baptism and the Lord’s supper, official recognition by the church, precisely for this spiritual formation. To delay it in order to gain greater assurance of the genuineness of his profession seems misordered.

Finally, I believe the root problem of Jamieson’s position is a radical skepticism of any young person’s profession of faith. “Kids being raised in a Christian home should generally look and act like Christians. How then can a church tell if they really are? I’d suggest they can’t, at least not in a consistent, principled, across-the-board kind of way” (p216). So the church can’t affirm a child’s profession of faith. Do you really believe in Jesus or are you just trying to please your parents? Do you really believe the gospel or will you just fall into sin right after you move out? How do we know for sure that you are regenerate? Best to wait. This is a strike at the gracious promises of the gospel. Jesus gives himself to repentant sinners freely and generously, and it is the Pharisees who sit back and judge whether this one or that one is really worthy of his attention. This doesn’t remove the need for church discipline or accountability or rebuke when one of our children falls into sin or rejects the faith in adulthood. On the contrary, it establishes a basis for that confrontation.

The paedobaptist raises his children with gratefulness that they are Christians. They belong to the Lord, their simple faith is genuine, and they have been graciously given the gift of life in Christ. They grow up knowing they are part of the church. It seems the credobaptist raises his children with skepticism, waiting to see if they will become Christians and eventually join the church.

My defense of paedobaptism

I have never considered myself a paedobaptist until now. For years I have appreciated paedobaptism convictions at a distance, but I have also valued staying faithful to my credobaptist church. We should not divide unless absolutely necessary. This book has prompted me to shift my stance slightly. I can now simply state that I am a paedobaptist. I have little desire to argue someone into my position, and I have even less desire to shift my church’s practice. But I would like to present my reasons so that such baptism can be accepted as valid for church membership. I do not think we need to divide on this.

The question for me is simple: when did my children become disciples of Jesus? My answer is that they were disciples from birth. Therefore, in obedience to Jesus’ great commission, they were baptized by our church and taught by us and by their church to obey everything he commanded us.

When did my children first hear and believe? They certainly gave a clear profession of faith as young as 4 years old in front of our credobaptist church, and then were baptized. But they were able to profess faith at 3 years old as well. And they were already hearing and believing at 2, with even then the simplest of professions. Jamieson considers the same profession of faith at 3 and 2 years (p218) and he reasons in the opposite direction. If we can’t trust it at 2 or 3, why trust it at 6 or 10? For him this drives the issue out of childhood and into adulthood. But this denies the promise of Acts 2: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” Is that promise really for our children, or only when our children become adults? I see the pattern of belief and then baptism in the book of Acts, but I also see there the belief of parents and the subsequent baptism of households. That is still belief followed by baptism. The promise is for you and for your children.

Regarding parental persuasion, is it possible that my children would not have believed at 4 years old? I don’t think so. God has made the family such that children will believe their parents’ instruction. It is not presumption for a father to know that a newborn child will believe. It is a gracious gift of God that should be stewarded. So it is not presumptuous to apply the sign of initiation into the New Covenant.

Is it possible that in adulthood my children will reject the faith? Sadly it is, but that will be a Hebrews 6 moment where they will reject not only their parents’ instruction but also their inclusion in the church. They will be rejecting the enlightening of baptism and the heavenly gift of the Lord’s supper which was only theirs by being in some sense members of the church. And if it happens, I will appeal to their church’s discipline to confront them with their backsliding and unbelief. Their baptism does not provide an excuse to presume they are Christians apart from the church’s ongoing affirmation. It does the exact opposite. They are raised knowing they are Christians who are part of a body. They have seen church discipline happen. They know the names and faces of people who have been restored and of those who have walked away. They have been part of this from the very beginning.

Jamieson’s has a helpful description of baptism as a synecdoche (p42), a single thing that stands for the entire process of coming to faith and professing that faith, in a way that doesn’t require parsing out exactly when each component happens. This is why the paedobaptist reads Romans 6, Galatians 3, Colossians 2, and 1 Peter 3 and sees that this state of being a baptized Christian must apply to his children.

Jamieson rightly sees how circumcision and Passover are analogous to baptism and the Lord’s supper, but he doesn’t mention the force of the children’s inclusion in the Passover meal. They are part of the covenant by circumcision and so they share in the covenant meal. Presbyterians covenantal system described in the Westminster Confession is surely part of the “sophisticated rationale” (p167) that Jamieson doesn’t like, and I don’t particularly like the formulation of Covenant of Works/Covenant of Grace or the tripartite division of Mosaic Law either. But these more technical arguments aren’t necessary to believe the covenantal nature of the church and God’s promises to include our children in that covenant.

Finally, I have seen how a paedobaptist can function in a credobaptist church as long as his children are baptized at a young age. The impact on his children’s spiritual development doesn’t differ significantly. Likewise, a credobaptist can function in a paedobaptist church as long as he is not derided for waiting some years for a simple profession of faith which is sure to come. His attitude about the covenantal inclusion of his children doesn’t differ significantly. But deferring baptism until 18 years poses a real obstacle. It’s hard to see how it doesn’t divide a body.