What an exciting week it's been! Thank you to everyone who has already preordered one of our new upcoming books. These preorders help us out SO much more than you'll ever know.
We have FIVE new books for preorder and they have all been so much fun to write. Here's what you can snag. When you preorder by tonight, you'll also get the eBook AND the audiobook versions for FREE (which will be sent out long before the print versions are ready to go)!
If you order the books in print TODAY, you will also get the eBook and the Audiobook versions for FREE!
Few theological topics are more discussed and debated
than baptism. The majority of American Christians,
who make up Baptist denominations and most
nondenominational churches and organizations, look
askance at Presbyterians, and wonder why they insist
on preserving the Roman Catholic practice of infant
baptism.
Similarly, Presbyterians and Lutherans look with
sadness at Baptists, wondering why they would
withhold such a meaningful sign from their children. A
lot of Christians, dare I suggest, most Christians, live
out their entire lives embracing the baptism tradition
they grew up with or were saved into. They don’t
know much about the alternative view, other than that
is strange and other and clearly must be wrong because
it just is.
This reality is seemingly harmless, but is it ideal?
I submit to you that believers should care much
more about this topic and spend the time to research it
more fully. (That is, after all, the entire point of this
little book).
Why do I say this? Aren’t there more important doctrines to study than baptism? It is, after all, a secondary issue, isn’t it?
Yes, it is a secondary issue, but that is not to say that
it is an unimportant one. Baptism is a significant
doctrine, one that can have a profound effect on our
worship, parenting, choice of church, and more. I think
I can safely say that spending some time digging into
the topic is well worth it. After all, baptism hits at the
very center of the Great Commission charge that Christ
left His disciples with in Matthew 28:18-20, and
represents the heart of our faith, the gospel.
I wrote this book with myself from several years ago
in mind. As I’ll share in the next chapter, I was once the
sort of person I’m talking about here: relatively
ignorant of the biblical arguments for the opposing
view to my own. My goal for this book is twofold: first,
to convince you that you should care more about
baptism, and second, that you should study it in more
depth than you ever have. If you come away from
reading this book, and perhaps a few of the other
books I recommend at the end, having deepened your
current baptism conviction, then I will be happy.
Likewise, if you do the study and realize by the end
that your conviction has changed, I will also be happy.
The purpose of this book is to help you deepen your
knowledge and understanding of the main views of
baptism. I hold to my own conviction, of course, and I
will include the reasons and arguments that have led
me to it. But my main goal isn’t to convince you that
I’m right. It’s to help you hold your own view more
confidently and with a deeper appreciation for the
doctrine of baptism.
I’ve laid this small book out in a pretty straightforward manner. First, I’ll summarize the doctrine of baptism and explain what it is and what all views agree with about it. Then, we’ll look to the Bible for the passages each view uses to build their
arguments supporting their view. Finally, I’ll conclude
by sharing my own view and the reasons why I
believe it is the correct one. I’ll also share a list of
recommended resources that I found useful as I
studied this topic in depth for the first time several
years ago.
Are you ready to get started? Let’s go!