Baptist Sacramentalism 2

This second collection of essays exploring various dimensions of sacramental theology from a Baptist perspective includes biblical, historical and theological studies from scholars from around the world. Subjects covered are sacraments and sacramentality, sacrament and sacrifice in Hebrews, the sacrament of fearful intimacy, the church as sacrament, baptism and the Lord's supper for post-Christendom Baptists, Pauline baptism and Roman Insulae, open communion for the contemporary church, penance, sacred space, recovering a biblical understanding of baptismal regeneration, the Lord's supper and the spirituality of C.H. Spurgeon, Southern Baptist eucharistic sacramentalism and soul competency, re-thinking ex opere operato sacramentalism, the sacramentality of the word in Gregory of Nyssa, and searching for a common theology of baptism between Baptists and the Churches of Christ. This volume does not speak the final word on the subject, but is a step along the way toward the recovery and reconstruction of a rubust sacramentalism in a Baptist modality.

The first two volumes of Baptist Sacramentalism helped give momentum to a renewal of sacramental theology among Baptists. In the years since, this conversation has come to include a more diverse range of voices and explore a broader range of topics. Baptist Sacramentalism 3 both reveals and shares in these trends, contributing to the continued expansion of Baptist sacramental theology. Essays from Scandinavian and Eastern European scholars reveal the ways in which sacramental thought is taking shape in non-English speaking contexts. Other essays demonstrate the ways in which sacramental thought informs questions ranging from disability to virtual reality. And in keeping with the first volumes, there is continued exploration of the sacramental witness of the Baptist past.

The first two volumes of Baptist Sacramentalism helped give momentum to a renewal of sacramental theology among Baptists. In the years since, this conversation has come to include a more diverse range of voices and explore a broader range of topics. Baptist Sacramentalism 3 both reveals and shares in these trends, contributing to the continued expansion of Baptist sacramental theology. Essays from Scandinavian and Eastern European scholars reveal the ways in which sacramental thought is taking shape in non-English speaking contexts. Other essays demonstrate the ways in which sacramental thought informs questions ranging from disability to virtual reality. And in keeping with the first volumes, there is continued exploration of the sacramental witness of the Baptist past.

'More than a Symbol' seeks to demonstrate that the interpretation of baptism as a mere symbol bearing witness to a previously completed conversion experience is inadequate both as a summary of biblical teaching and as a summary of Baptist thought. Starting with H. Wheeler Robinson and culminating in the work of G. R. Beasley-Murray, British Baptists in the twentieth century argued effectively that baptism must be interpreted as an effective sign, a meeting place of grace and faith, a sacrament rather than a mere symbol. This book argues that the New Testament exegesis that is at the heart of this reformulation is fundamentally accurate, and that the resulting system is theologically coherent. The book also argues that this view is not a Baptist novelty, but is rather a recovery of the foundational Baptist thought of the seventeenth century.

There is no single Protestant spirituality but rather Protestant spiritual traditions usually embedded in denominational families that share some basic Protestant principles. These two volumes of Protestant Spiritual Traditions offer essays on twelve traditions written by scholars within those traditions plus a concluding essay that gathers a number of Protestant contributions to Christian spirituality and Western culture under the category of "the body." These thirteen essays discuss the contributions of significant spiritual figures from Martin Luther to Martin Luther King Jr. and offer insights on a range of topics from the theology of the cross to physical fitness.

Baptism may be more important than you think. Virtually every Christian tradition practices baptism, but with diverse understandings of its form and meaning. Baptists (and similar traditions) have emphasized the restriction of baptism to confessing believers and immersion as the mode, and they have usually interpreted baptism as a post-conversion act of human obedience, rather than a sacramental means of grace. In this book, a Baptist theologian calls for a reformation of Baptist thought and practice, arguing that a biblical theology of baptism interprets baptism as a sacramental seal of conversion. The book develops the biblical case for this perspective and answers questions about its practical implications.

Who should be baptized? Should a person who has not been baptized be allowed to become a member of a church? What happens when a person is baptized? There are a number of important questions about baptism that call for biblical and theological reflection on a more fundamental question—what is baptism? Perhaps no one in the twentieth century addressed that question more thoroughly than British New Testament scholar George Beasley-Murray. While touching on a range of issues related to baptism, this book explores the influence that Beasley-Murray’s work has had on the debate about the meaning of baptism, and shows why his work was referred to as “a bombshell in the baptistery.”

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are likely more basic for the church than you think. When Jesus inaugurated the new covenant by his death on the cross, he established baptism as the new covenant sign of entry and the Lord’s Supper as the new covenant sign of participation. These signs identify believers with Christ and his people. They are integral to the existence, membership, and discipline of the local church. In answer to the question “Who can take the Lord’s Supper?” this book catalogues four major positions in the broad Baptist tradition. While proponents of various views have appealed to the necessity of circumcision for participation in Passover as evidence for their position, none have adequately worked out the covenantal relationships between circumcision and baptism or Passover and the Lord’s Supper. By contrast to Reformed pedobaptist covenantal theology and in distinction from Baptist covenantal theology and dispensational theologies, this book develops the relation of these covenantal signs from a progressive-covenantal perspective. It presents an unprecedented comparison of the continuities and discontinuities between the covenant signs across the storyline of Scripture to demonstrate a biblical-theological principle that the sign of entry should precede the sign of participation.