Introduction

The gap this book is seeking to fill

There are many lengthy books on baptism, but very few brief introductions to the subject. Each chapter of this book attempts to do just that. I have given over two hundred baptism homilies over the past thirty years, and these talks have produced dozens of requests that the homilies be published. Because of the unpolished nature of these talks, I have been reluctant to do so. But when several pastors have also prevailed upon me to put some of my baptism talks into print, I have finally agreed to reproduce forty of the talks that were recorded. Since each chapter is a word-for-word transcription of an actual baptism meditation, these chapters will not be edited, and there will be a few central themes that will get repeated from chapter to chapter. The reason I have left these talks unedited (with the exception of deleting a few names) is to give people a genuine feel for how I have approached the subject in our congregation. Pastors may feel free to use ideas and phrases without credit. I pray that this book will be a blessing to the church.

What this book is not

For those with a critical eye, it might be useful to say what this book is not. It is not an academic treatise on baptism designed to convince skeptics (though some skeptics may be convinced). It is not an attempt to fairly present both sides of a debate (though I started off as a Baptist and became a Presbyterian, and am sympathetic to both sides). The chapters do not represent carefully nuanced arguments (though I am capable of such). There is no logical progression from chapter to chapter. So I would encourage the reader not to read this book as an academic defense of infant baptism. If you want a treatise defending the doctrine of infant baptism, read my book, Seven Principles That Call For Infant Baptism. If you want a treatise defending the mode of pouring or sprinkling (often called affusion because both modes have the water moving down upon the subject rather than having the subject moving into the water) I would urge the reader to read Ben Rose’s amazing tract, “Baptism by Sprinkling” or to read William the Baptist by James M. Chaney, available at http://williamthebaptist.com.