Baptism: What's On My Bookshelves

When I first arrived at seminary, I was appalled that anyone claiming to be Protestant would baptize infants. In my limited understanding, only Roman Catholics conducted themselves in such an unbiblical manner. In my mind, infant baptism may have been as close to heresy as one could get without quite being labeled heresy. 

This shallow view of baptism sent me on a journey to study the sacrament. Since my journey began years ago, I have collected several books on this important topic. I have concluded that the sacrament of baptism is much more than simply placing water on someone's head (or immersion if you prefer). Baptism has direct implications for the way in which one reads the Bible (i.e., covenant theology, dispensationalism, etc.), the way one views the sacraments (i.e. sacramentology), the way one understands the church (i.e., ecclesiology), and the way one interacts with his or her child(ren) in the home.

While I am not endorsing all the information in the books listed, here are some of the books, along with the Bible, that are on my bookshelves. I have not included books on covenant theology nor dispensationalism, though these topics are approached in some of the books listed. If you are wondering which books I would recommend on either side of the debate, I have placed those books at the end of this post. Let me be clear, however. Simply because I am recommending these books--among the others--does not mean I am endorsing everything in the books nor I am necessarily endorsing the author's views on other topics not mentioned in the books.

1. Baptism in the New Testament by G. R. Beasley-Murray

2. Christian Baptism: A Fresh Attempt to Understand the Rite in terms of Scripture, History, and Theology edited by A. Gilmore

3. Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes: An Untold Story from Puritan England by Mike Renihan

4. Pilgrim Pathways: Essays in Baptist History in Honour of B. R. White edited by Brackney and Fiddes

5. Lectures on Baptism by William Shirreff

6. A Decisive Argument Against Infant Baptism Furnished By One of its Own Proof-Texts by John L. Dagg

7. Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ edited by Thomas Schreiner and Shawn Wright

8. Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace by Paul K. Jewett

9. The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Verses Paedobaptism by Fred Malone

10. The Scripture Guide to Baptism: Containing A Faithful Citation of All the Passages by R. Pengilly

11. Baptism and Christian Unity by A. Gilmore

12. Should Babies Be Baptized? by T. E. Watson

13. Waters of Creation: A Biblical-Theological Study of Baptism by Douglas Van Dorn

14. Concerning Believers Baptism edited by F. C. Bryan

15. Baptism and the Baptists: Theology and Practice in Twentieth-Century Britain by Anthony Cross

16. From Paedobaptism to Credobaptism: A Critique of the Westminster Standards on the Subjects of Baptism by W. Gary Crampton

17. Biblical Baptism: A Reformed Defense of Believers Baptism by Samuel E. Waldron

18. Christian Baptism by Adoniram Judson

19. A Conversation About Baptism by R. L. Child

20. More Than a Symbol: The British Baptist Recovery of Baptismal Sacramentalism by Stanley K. Fowler

21. Baptist Sacramentalism by Anthony Cross and Philip E. Thompson

22. Baptism Sacramentalism 2 by Anthony Cross and Philip E. Thompson

1. Return to Grace: A Theology for Infant Baptism by Kurt Stasiak

2. To A Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy for the People of God by Douglas Wilson

3. Word, Water, and Spirit: A Reformed Perspective on Baptism by J. V. Fesko

4. The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism edited by Gregg Strawbridge

5. The Sacraments in Biblical Perspective by Ronald P. Byars

6. Christian Baptism by John Murray

7. Infant Baptism and the Silence of the New Testament by Bryan Holstrom

8. The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism by Peter Leithart

9. The Promise of Baptism: An Introduction to Baptism in Scripture and the Reformed Tradition by James Brownson

10. Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism by Robert Booth

11. A Christian's Pocket Guide to Baptism by Robert Letham

12. The Meaning and Mode of Baptism by Jay Adams

13. What Christian Parents Should Know About Infant Baptism by John Sartelle

14. Baptism by Francis Schaeffer

15. William the Baptist by James Chaney

16. Children of the Promise: The Case for Baptizing Infants by Geoffrey Bromiley

1. The Presbyterian Doctrine of Children in the Covenant: An Historical Study of the Significance of Infant Baptism in the Presbyterian Church by Lewis Schenck

2. The Origins of Infant Baptism: A Further Study in Reply to Kurt Aland by Joachim Jeremias

3. Baptism in the Early Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries by Everett Ferguson

4. Baptism in the Early Church by Hendrick Stander and Johannes Louw

5. What Has Infant Baptism Done to Baptism? An Enquiry at the End of Christendom by David Wright

6. Infant Baptism in Historical Perspective - Collected Studies by David Wright

7. Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries by Joachim Jeremias

1. Baptism: Three views edited by David Wright

If you are struggling through the issue--along with your Bible--here are some books on each side of the baptismal font/tub that may help as you study this important sacrament.

1. Baptism in the New Testament by Beasley-Murray

2. Waters of Creation: A Biblical-Theological Study of Baptism by Van Dorn

3. A Decisive Argument Against Infant Baptism Furnished By One of Its Own Proof-Texts by Dagg

4. Should Babies By Baptized? by Watson

1. The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism edited by Strawbridge

2. Word, Water, and Spirit: A Reformed Perspective on Baptism by Fesko

3. To A Thousand Generations: Infant Baptism - Covenant Mercy for the People of God by Wilson

4. A Christian's Pocket Guide to Baptism by Letham

Also, if you are interested, here are two debates on the matter, as well as a short, non-exhaustive series I wrote on the topic nearly two years ago.

1. Strimple and Malone

2. Shisko and White

3. Baptism: The Doctrine That Caused Tears