Title: Understanding Baptism
Author: Bobby Jamieson
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Price: $7.99
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 80
In 1523 Martin Luther wrote a
baptismal booklet that would later be attached to his Small Catechism (1529). He wrote this booklet because he perceived
“that those present understand nothing of what is being said and done.”[1]
Though her erred on the issue of infant baptism, Luther was right to address
the ignorance he detected among those receiving and witnessing baptism. A
similar and equally admirable pastoral impulse has led Bobby Jamieson, a PhD
candidate in New Testament studies at the University of Cambridge and former
assistant editor for 9Marks ministries, to write Understanding Baptism.
Understanding Baptism is a practical book (better: booklet) in
ecclesiology aimed at a popular, non-academic audience. As a member of the Church Basics series, editor Jonathan
Leeman explains, the work is “written for
the average church member” (v). Within this booklet, Jamieson distills
content from his recent work Going
Public: Why Baptism is Required for Church Membership (B&H Academic,
2015) and expands its scope to include other basic issues.
Three audiences are targeted by
Jamieson throughout the volume: (1) unbaptized persons who are considering
baptism, (2) baptized persons who want to reflect more deeply upon their
baptism, and (3) pastors and other church leaders who want to equip their
people to think biblically about baptism (1–3). Jamieson has differing goals
for each audience. For the unbaptized, he hopes that they will be convinced “to
take the plunge” (2). For the baptized he hopes to “provide biblical answers to
questions [they]’re asking—and even questions [they]’re not asking but maybe
should be” (2). For the pastor and church leader, he hopes to provide a “useful
resource for . . . members” (2).
Chapter 1, “What is Baptism?”
examines the nature of baptism, providing and expounding upon an extended
definition of baptism. Chapter 2, “Who Should be Baptized?” considers the
mandate, benefits, and potential objections to believer’s baptism. Here
Jamieson provides a credobaptist (believer’s baptist) answer to the question
“Why should all believer’s be baptized as believers?” Chapter 3, “What about
Infant Baptism?” extends the question of “who should be baptized?” (ch 2). This
is the booklet’s longest chapter. Here Jamieson introduces major lines of
paedobaptist (infant baptism) argumentation and his counter-arguments in favor
of credobaptism. He also anticipates five paedobaptist objections to his
arguments, concluding that “infant
baptism isn’t baptism” (41). Chapter 4, “Why is baptism required for church
membership?” summarizes arguments for requiring baptism for church membership,
arguments Jamison develops with greater detail in his larger work Going Public. Chapter 5 “When is
‘Baptism’ Not Baptism?” considers the line between valid and invalid “baptism”
via several theoretical scenarios. The practical aim of this chapter is to help
individuals who were baptized under questionable circumstances or in
questionable ways to think through the validity of that “baptism” as a sign of
their personal faith in Christ. Finally, Chapter 6, “How Should Churches
Practice Baptism?” briefly addresses the mode, administrator, result, context,
and timing of baptism.
Understanding Baptism achieves the author’s goal of practicality
and accessibility across the wide range of topics it addresses (e.g., nature,
recipients, mode, connection to church membership, validity, etc. of baptism). Key
to this achievement is Jamieson’s creation of a dialogue with his reader, in
which he frequently frames an issue in the form of a question and then responds.
This rhythm of question and answer appears at the high level of chapter titles,
but it also extends to the sub-section and paragraph levels as well. The result
is that the logic governing frequent topic shifts within a chapter remains
clear to the reader. The practicality and accessibility of the work are
important given its non-academic target audience.
Another strength of this booklet
is Jamieson’s acknowledgement that credobaptism is more than mere personal profession.
Recognizing that personal profession is a central feature of believer’s baptism,
Jamieson also emphasizes the role of the local church. This emphasis is carried
throughout the work (e.g.,7–8, 13–14, 46–47, 65–66), but it features
prominently in his definition of baptism. Jamieson defines baptism as both “a church’s act of affirming and portraying a believer’s union with
Christ . . .” and “a believer’s act
of publicly committing him or herself to Christ and his people” (6; cf. 15; emphasis
added). This dual aspect simply recognizes, “You don’t baptize yourself; there
are always two parties involved. And both parties say something to each other
and to the world” (6; cf. 8). The recognized place and role of the local church
in this definition is an important corrective to an underappreciated aspect of
believer’s baptism.
Given the volume’s economy of
space (66, 4 x 7 in pgs), imbalances in presentation are more apparent. The
positive development of what baptism is (chs. 1 and 4; 20 pgs) receives less
development and emphasis than the polemical issues of what baptism is not (chs.
3 and 5; 30 pgs). On one hand, Jamieson’s attention to the baptismal debate is
necessary given the contentious history between paedobaptist and credobaptist
traditions and the pastoral problems that result. Consequently, Understanding Baptism will prove most
helpful in counseling persons who have previously been baptized as infants to
see the deficiency of such a baptism and aid them toward being baptized as a
believer.
On the other hand, Jamieson’s
emphasis upon the debate over baptismal validity (i.e., paedobaptism vs
credobaptism) means that he spends less time developing what baptism is. This
is observed primarily at points where Jamieson makes a poignant observation
about the meaning of baptism but does not develop it in full. For example,
though Jamieson rightly notes that baptism “dramatically depicts [a believer’s]
union [with Christ] and all its benefits” (9), including the new way of life it
inaugurates (cf. Rom 6:4; Col 2:11–12), he does not give the ethical aspect of
this “new life” much development. Further, no attention is given to the eschatological
reality of bodily resurrection to which baptism points. A discussion of how
baptism emblemizes the Christian hope of resurrection would strengthen
development of what baptism is both for those looking toward believer’s baptism
(audience 1) as well as those looking back at believer’s baptism seeking
greater understanding (audience 2). Though this reviewer would like to have
seen more positive development at points, the imbalance of emphasis does not negate
the booklet’s value or achievement of the author’s purpose.
In providing this “brief book
on baptism” (1) Jamieson has produced an introduction to believer’s baptism that
will benefit each of his three target audiences. As Jamison notes, “Baptism
pictures and promotes the gospel” (71). Understanding
Baptism provides light to those considering believer’s baptism, those who
have already received it, and those who will administer it both to see and
paint this gospel picture more clearly. For both Southern Baptists as well as those
within the broader credobaptist tradition, Understanding
Baptism is a helpful resource for leading unbaptized persons thoughtfully
and biblically toward obedience to Christ’s Great Commission command.
Notes
- Jamieson's longer work, Going Public, is an important work that deserves the attention of pastors and church leaders. There Jamieson develops a strong, biblical-theological case for connecting believer's baptism and church membership.
- This review is forthcoming in JBTM (2016).
[1]Martin
Luther, The Baptismal Booklet: Translated
into German and Newly Revised, in The
Book of Concord, eds. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, 371–75
(Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 371.
No comments:
Post a Comment