Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Book Critique: Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ

A Paper
Submitted to Professor Larry McDonald
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
Ecclesiology
Theo 620

By
Matt Dover

September 8, 2012

Bibliography

Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ. Thomas R. Schreiner & Shawn
D. Wright. Nashville: B & H, 2007. 359 pages. Reviewed by Matt B. Dover

Authorship
Thomas R. Schreiner is the professor of New Testament Interpretation and the Associate Dean of Scripture and Interpretation at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Prior to this he served for 11 years at …show more content…

He states, “This is suggested by the root meaning of the word bapto, ‘to dip’, of which baptizo, ‘to baptize’, is an intensive or frequent form.”(34) This again supporting and validating the thesis of the book developed by the author. Chapter two, which is written by Robert H. Stein, addresses baptism in the gospels of Luke and Acts. In this chapter Stein works to show that baptism is to be administered by the church to the repentant believers as a proof or sign of the believer’s confession of faith. Stein also works to address the special cases of baptism for Cornelius and the Samaritan Christians, in relationship to the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Stein also agrees with the stated thesis of the author, that baptism is not intended for infants, as these practices were not carried out in the book of Acts. Stein states, “No infant is described as being brought and experiencing baptism in Acts. The assumption that in the family conversions and baptisms in Acts infants were present and involved is ultimately unconvincing for they are not referred to in the description of the family, and those baptized in such family baptisms are described in various ways of having repented, believed, spoken in tongues, rejoicing in their new faith, etc.”(65,66) Chapter three, Thomas R. Schreiner, discuses