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Examined Doctrine
Church & Sacraments

Baptism

Who is baptism for, and what does it accomplish?

9
8
9
3
Believers onlyInfants includedInfants includedNo stance
29 FIGURES · 20 QUOTED · 3 WITHOUT A STANCE

Believers only

Believers only, on profession of faith

Second London Baptist Confession1689AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDCharles Haddon Spurgeon1834 – 1892AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDGavin OrtlundlivingAFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJohn MacArthur1939 – 2025AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Piperb. 1946AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJosh HowertonlivingAFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCEJustin PeterslivingAFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDThe Church of Eleven22 Statement of Faithundated (read 2026)AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDVoddie Bauchamb. 1969AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNT

Infants included

Infants included, as a covenant sign

Huldrych Zwingli1484 – 1531AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJacobus Arminius1560 – 1609AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJohn Calvin1509 – 1564AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Owen1616 – 1683AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJonathan Edwards1703 – 1758AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDWestminster Confession1646AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDR.C. Sproul1939 – 2017AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDTim Keller1950 – 2023AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNT

Infants included

Infants included, and effective for regeneration

Augustine of Hippo354 – 430LEANS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDCouncil of Constantinople I381AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDCouncil of Nicaea I325LEANS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDIrenaeus of Lyonsc.130 – c.202LEANS°STANDARD ACCOUNTJohn Chrysostomc.347 – 407AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNT❝ QUOTEDThomas Aquinas1225 – 1274AFFIRMS°STANDARD ACCOUNTMartin Luther1483 – 1546AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDPhilip Melanchthon1497 – 1560AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTEDJohn Wesley1703 – 1791AFFIRMS°PRIMARY SOURCE❝ QUOTED

Figures who hold no stance here

These are not gaps in the table. Each group below says which kind of blank it is — searched and not found, held open on purpose, never framed in these terms, or deliberately unassigned because no stance fits.

HELD OPEN ON PURPOSE1 FIGURE

Engaged the question and concluded it should not divide anyone. A position, not an absence.

NO POSITION FOUND2 FIGURES

Searched and not located. An honest gap in the corpus.

How to read a cell — sourcing tiers, blanks, and why some figures are never quoted
PRIMARY SOURCEread in a primary source
STANDARD ACCOUNTstandard scholarly account
DISPUTED READINGdisputed among scholars
NOT LOCATEDnot located in a source

A cell marked quoted carries the figure's own words — 285 of 402of them, about 71%. Where there is no quotation the claim is still sourced, and the tier says how far. 4 figures carry no quotation at all, for reasons that differ: a living author cannot be quoted at length under copyright where Calvin can, and a figure at the standard account tier has simply had no primary-source pass yet. 4 of them state their own reason on their page.

A state label ending in ° was read from the stance, tier and note rather than stated by the corpus. See themethodology.