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Title: Children of Promise by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Geoffrey ÊBromiley ISBN: 1-57910-148-8 Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers Pub. Date: 01 October, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but not the best treatment available
Comment: I had heard many good things about Bromiley's work on this subject, and so I had high expectations for this book. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed.
Don't get me wrong; I would highly recommend that anyone interested in the subject read it. It just didn't live up to all the revolutionary hype I had heard. The chapters are as follows:
1. The Practice of the New Testament
2. The Witness of the Old Testament
3. The Meaning of Baptism
4. The Election of the Father
5. The Reconciliation of the Son
6. The Regeneration of the Spirit
7. The Scope of Baptism
8. The Salvation of Infants
I think he does a good job in the first two chapters surveying the Bible's inclusion of infants in the covenant community. Does the New Covenant offer less for the children of believers than the Old?? He also nicely offers a brief treatment of baptism's meaning, showing that it points not to the person being baptized, but to the work of God. Hence, there is no warrant for saying that baptism signifies something that can only occur in those who can consciously profess faith.
One thing that is unique about Bromiley's book is that it is one of the few that expounds what it means to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pointing again not to the activity of the person but of God, he shows how this relates to the salvific purpose of the Triune God (chs. 4-6).
Chapter 7 avers that the "scope" of baptism is not only the present status of salvation and the past, but also refers to the future consummation of salvation in the resurrection. Thus, whether baptized as adult or infant, the full significance of a person's baptism is still yet to come to pass.
The last chapter briefly argues that, since the Bible affirms that salvation of children, there is no reason why the children of believers should not have the sign of the covenant administered to them.
Bromiley's book is barely over 100 pages, and succintly offers a cogent case for the baptism of infants. It is not designed to be a deeply exegetical and theological work, but one that he says is designed for the layperson.
Bottom line -- good for the beginner; worth the read; definitely not the best treatment available (see Booth's "Children of the Promise," Murray's "Christian Baptism," Wilson's "To a Thousand Generations," and Adams' "Meaning and Mode of Baptism" for more).
Rating: 4
Summary: Valuable Study
Comment: The doctrine of infant baptism has been a controversial one in the churches of the Reformation. Many denominations argue that the doctrine lacks Biblical foundation. To address this question Geoffrey Bromiley wrote this concise study of the question some years ago. It's good to see this book in print again. As Bromiley notes there is no question that adults who come to faith out of paganism are to be baptized. The issue is whether children of believers should be baptized. While the New Testament doesn't explicitly say "yes," there are good reasons to support the practice. Most importantly, if the children of believers are members of the church, then it follows that they should be baptized. Particularly strong is Bromiley's linking of the practice of infant baptism to a Calvinist approach to predestination. This is a brief, but rewarding book on a controversial subject.
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Title: Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism by Robert R. Booth ISBN: 0875521657 Publisher: P & R Publishing Pub. Date: 01 November, 1995 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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