[2] In a 1996 article, Robert S. Rayburn argued that covenant succession was held by John Calvin, and other reformers such as Huldrych Zwingli and Heinrich Bullinger.
[6] In the 19th century, theologians such as R. L. Dabney and J. H. Thornwell held that "baptized covenant children were to be presumed unsaved until they gave evidence of the new birth.
"[8] However, Rayburn's article proved to be influential, and in 2004 Benjamin K. Wikner described him as "the modern patriarch of covenant succession thinking,"[1] In 2011, Adam Harwood suggested that the idea was "common in present-day Reformed churches".
[9] Adam Harwood notes that the doctrine of covenant succession is derived from the statement 1 Corinthians 7:14 that the children of believers are "holy".
[9] Rayburn also appeals to Genesis 17:7 ("I will be a God to you and to your descendants after you"),[10] and argues that "it is emphatically clear from Deuteronomy to Proverbs to Ephesians that nurture, not evangelism, is the paradigm of childrearing in the covenant home".