This book meets the need for a comprehensive survey of Martin Luther's theology of baptism in English. It offers a thorough analysis of the doctrine, its development, and its role in Luther's wider thought. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

Baptism in the Theology of Martin Luther satisfies the need for a comprehensive survey, in English, of Martin Luther on baptism. The mature Luther was unstinting in praise of baptism. How does his vigorously expressed sacramental understanding sit with his earlier reformation insights? What is its impact upon justification, faith, conversion, the Church? The tensions and paradoxes are examined. Analysis of formal doctrine is complemented by a picture of baptism 'in action', culled mainly from the Lectures on Genesis. Central is baptism's 'present tense' — its abiding force in the Christian's life, ever available for an encounter with God. His insistence that Christian progress is not onwards from baptism, but a repeated return to it emerges from the heart of Luther's thought. It is one of his most distinctive and important bequests to the Church.

Martin Luther’s historical significance can hardly be overstated. Known as the father of the Protestant Reformation, no single figure has had a greater impact on Western Christianity except perhaps Augustine. In Luther on the Christian Life, historian Carl Trueman introduces readers to the lively Reformer, taking them on a tour of his historical context, theological system, and approach to the Christian life. Whether exploring Luther’s theology of protest, ever-present sense of humor, or misunderstood view of sanctification, this addition to Crossway’s Theologians on the Christian Life series highlights the ways in which Luther’s eventful life shaped his understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Ultimately, this book will help modern readers go deeper in their spiritual walk by learning from one of the great teachers of the faith. Part of the Theologians on the Christian Life series.

In a country where Baptist theology is the default for American Protestantism, Luther's teaching on Baptism is critically needed by pastors, seminary students, and small-group leaders. While Luther's catechisms address the topic of Baptism, his sermons on the subject are more comprehensive. As readers discover Luther's preaching on Baptism in Wittenberg from 1525 to 1539, they are immersed repeatedly in Scripture's clear word that God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is truly present in Baptism. Luther also articulates the divinely sanctioned power of Baptism to forgive and remove sin, as well as its efficacy throughout the life of the baptized. Martin Luther on Holy Baptism equips readers to believe with certainty that God is the one who works life-saving miracles in Holy Baptism. Book jacket.

An updated examination of ecclesiology from a Baptist perspective In this useful book, professor and former pastor John Hammett helps church leaders think through foundational questions about the nature of the church. Blending biblical teaching and practical ministry experience, Hammett presents a comprehensive ecclesiology from a historic Baptist perspective, examining crucial contemporary issues such as church discipline, the role of elders, and church ministry in a post-Christian culture. This second edition contains updates throughout, including: · Substantive changes to chapters on the nature of the church, Baptist church polity, and deacons · An expanded chapter on baptism and the Lord’s Supper · A thoroughly revised chapter on church models like multisite churches and missional churches · A brand-new chapter on meaningful church membership

You've been baptized. But do you understand what it means? Baptism is the doorway into membership in the church. It's a public declaration of the washing away of our sin and the beginning of our new life in Christ. But the sacrament that is meant to unite us is often a spring of division instead. All Christians use water to baptize. All invoke the triune name. Beyond that, there's little consensus. Talk about baptism and you're immediately plunged into arguments. Whom should we baptize? What does baptism do? Why even do it at all? Peter Leithart reunifies a church divided by baptism. He recovers the baptismal imagination of the Bible, explaining how baptism works according to Scripture. Then, in conversation with Christian tradition, he shows why baptism is something worth recovering and worth agreeing on.

This premier work considers the development of the doctrine of baptism in the Reformed tradition. Riggs studies the major early Reformers, concentrating on Calvin's views, and then moves on to trace the trajectory of Reformed baptismal theology from the Reformed Confessions, through Schleiermacher and on to the present day. He analyses the rite in the contemporary Book of Common Worship and makes practical suggestions about its understandings and adequacy.