Under the Anglican concept of “lex orandi, lex credendi” (the rule of prayer is the rule of faith) the public worship of the church is the teaching of the church. When a same sex couple (or an unmarried couple) present their child for baptism they are required to answer publicly the following question:
“Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?
I renounce them.”
This question and answer, as well as others in the baptismal covenant, unavoidably present the question of what the church’s teaching on sex outside traditional marriage really is. If the same sex or unmarried couple answers this question affirmatively, they and the officiant are publicly proclaiming that the teaching of the church does not consider their relationship sinful. Under the lex orandi standard, that is the teaching of the church.
So what do people think about the infant baptism that occurred in “The Godfather”? A serious question. Certainly a strong argument can be made under the ACI “lex orandi” standard in this article that that child in the movie should have never been baptized.
Not intending to take a particular stance on the specific baptism at issue here, but my guess is if we were to get serious about the prerequisites for infant baptism, an awful lot of infant baptisms would not happen.
Please read this brief (and time urgent) entry in conjunction with Radner’s fuller essay herewith.