The Contemplative Lutheran

Mankind as a mass will stand on the Last Day before the Judgment Seat of Christ and there be judged, a judgment which Matthew 25 describes as resulting in being separated into two classes, one of sheep and another of goats. A few passages from Scripture will establish the terms of reference: Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:32 ESV) The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31 ESV) So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous (Matthew 13:49 ESV) The criterion of judgment appears to be works, especially works of mercy: And he will place the sheep on his right, but the g...

Regarding infant baptism, one of the key things that bears witness to the rightness of the practice is its historical catholicity. For example...  From as far East as one could go to as far West, and as far North and as far South, Christians could be found baptizing their infants. It would be an amazing conspiracy if all of the whole Church in disparate places somehow concurrently came to universally practice infant baptism if it was not apostolic.  To assert such a conspiracy has quite the burden of proof, especially since there were no controversies over the practice of infant baptism, nor a centralized authority urging such a practice on protesting churches. But someone may point out that not every single Christian practiced infant baptism, and some even suggested delaying it until later, for example, Tertullian.  This objection to infant baptism struggles, however, because it does not prove as much as it perhaps hopes to. It is important to note that those promoting t...