Baptism: Considered in Relation to Its Mode and Subjects

The Church has been divided with respect to many doctrines over the previous 500 years since the Protestant Reformation but one of the greatest divisions centers around the doctrine of baptism-its mode and its subjects. There are those that dogmatically insist that the word baptizo and its cognates as found in Scripture means to immerse and nothing more. Given this view they must conclude that to be properly baptized, as God commands, then a person must be baptized by immersion-and only by immersion, into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Are they correct though? Since the majority of those that hold to Reformation theology, hold to a differing view of baptism-namely, that baptism should be applied by sprinkling or pouring-the Church of Christ remains at odds. And who should be baptized? Only those that are old enough to credibly profess their personal faith in Christ-or as the Paedobaptist believes, their children born into the covenant home? In this classic work, Archibald Burgess deftly tackles the issues with compelling logic and Scriptural support. Although unabashedly Paedobaptistic, Burgess writes in an irenic tone that makes this a valuable addition to the libraries of all Christians regardless of where you currently fall out on this issue. Every Christian must wrestle with this matter and come to his or her own settled conviction. This approachable volume is an excellent basis for studying this important doctrine as it deals with the original language but not so deeply as to confuse the layman. Whether Baptist or Paedobaptist, everyone will benefit from exploring the Scriptures along with Burgess as you study the doctrines of Christian Baptism.