THE BAPTISM CONTROVERSY: Judson’s Perspective
THE BAPTISM CONTROVERSY: Judson’s Perspective
Adoniram Judson left the shores of America as an educated, ordained, and commissioned Congregationalist missionary. At no time in his early writings is there a question of doubt regarding his position on baptism. As a Congregationalist, he practiced pedobaptism. Yet doubt’s shadow began to darken his mind as he studied the issue in passage from Plymouth to Calcutta. Within a period of four months, Judson’s doubt rose to such heights that his convictions on the issue shifted from the position of pedobaptism to post-conversion immersion. In doing so, Judson isolated himself from his co-workers, his mission board, his home church, and his family. Judson records this theological journey in two significant historical documents. The first is a letter to his home church, in which he communicates the personal and doctrinal struggles he endured while making this decision. The second document is a “sermon,” perhaps better called a treatise today, on the topic of baptism.