ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have argued that the baptismal ceremony began the process of incorporating a child into the Reformed community of Geneva. That discussion leads to the question of how the incorporation into the community was fully achieved as the child grew older. According to Calvin’s defence of infant baptism, the full significance of the sacrament was realised through the diligent instruction of the baptised child in the teachings of the Reformed faith. This education would teach a child the fundamental elements of Reformed beliefs and, just as importantly, it would inculcate in that child the discipline required of a faithful Christian and the member of a peaceful Reformed community. The baptismal ceremony publicly acknowledged that the child’s parents, as well as the Reformed church and the city government of Geneva, would be responsible for overseeing and ensuring that education. The success of that plan can be determined only by a thorough examination of the connections between the ‘baptismal vision’ of the church and city authorities, as represented in the baptismal rite, and the reality of raising children in Geneva. The goal of this final chapter is to set out a number of possible questions for such an investigation and to serve as an initial consideration of some of these connections, based on a sampling of Consistory and Council cases.
