BAPTISM AND THE HIDDENNESS OF GODGraham Watts
The genesis of the preliminary thoughts which make up this paper is
threefold: an analytical question, a creative paper and a pastoral observa-
tion. The analytical question concerns the strangely opposing views of two
theologians on the issue of baptism. That such differences occur is, in itself,
hardly surprising given the degree of heat generated by the historical
debates over the manner and practice of this Christian act. Anabaptists and
paedobaptists have never been comfortable bedfellows. The surprise comes
much more from the theological orientation of our two interlocutors—
Martin Luther and Karl Barth. Perhaps more than any other Protestant
theologians these are the master exponents of the concept of the hidden-
ness of God as an exposition of the manner of God's presence with us. For
Luther this is most expressly seen in his theology of the cross; for Barth it
is axiomatic in his doctrine of revelation. Yet, when it comes to baptism,
one of the clearest places where the hidden work of God is celebrated
openly in the form of something as visible and tangible as a bath, Luther
remained committed to the baptism of infants, while for Barth it was
merely a human act of witness. Why this difference, given such similar
theological starting points?
The creative article is the product of the fertile thought of Robert
Jenson.^1 Here a constructive proposal is made which explores the trinitar-
ian structure of the idea of God's hiddenness. Barth employed the interre-
lationship of hiddenness and revelation as a way in to his doctrine of the
Trinity, yet, for reasons we shall later explore, this fell short of a fully
trinitarian exposition. Jenson suggests that the hiddenness of God can be
understood in three ways in relation to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We
will follow his observations closely, but make special use of his notion of
the Spirit as the freedom of God's future in seeking to explore a more fully
trinitarian theology of baptism.
- Robert Jenson, 'The Hidden and Triune God,' IJST2A (2000), pp. 5-12.