Review: Understanding Four Views on Baptism

Understanding Four Views on Baptism by John H. Armstrong
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One would have to consider this title from Zondervan's Counterpoints series against its counterpart in IVP's Spectrum Multiview titled Baptism: Three Views (Edited by David F. Wright). I read both titles a few months ago and leafed through them again for the purposes of this review.

Unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands, I recommend you skip this and pick up the latter for reasons due to its superior (1) format, (2) quality of scholarship and accessibility. I will discuss these two factors at length later, but if you can borrow this book from a friend or library, be sure to read the editor's introductory chapter, which provides a helpful, sombre call for humility, love and unity even when we approach other Christians who hold differing views on baptism.

1. The four view breakdown of this Zondervan Counterpoints title is messy and less relevant - (i) Baptist, (ii) Reformed, (iii) Lutheran and (iv) Churches of Christ. The latter two are not as well-known, and therefore not be of interest to the majority of readers. The extra two views (and contributors) makes the response sections longer and a great chore to read.

On the other hand, the three view breakdown of the IVP Spectrum Multiview title is more clean-cut and relevant - (i) Believer's Baptism (credobaptism), (ii) Infant Baptism (paedobaptism) and Dual-Practice (or plural practice). These three positions are an all-encompassing categorisation that the majority of readers would likely identify with.

2. The quality of scholarship in this Zondervan Counterpoints title is inferior to that of the IVP Spectrum Multiview one. I found myself struggling to retain an interest in the content of the baptismal view that I lean most toward. I felt that this editor could have wielded a heavier hand in summarising what felt like long and convoluted academic debates from the contributors. The scholars in the IVP title wrote in a more engaging, brief and accessible manner than their Zondervan counterparts. I make this observation by comparing the respective chapters on the credobaptist view (between Thomas Nettles and Bruce Ware) and on the paedobaptist view (between Richard Pratt Jr. and Sinclair Ferguson). The clarity and accessibility of the IVP contributors clearly outshine that of the Zondervan Counterpoints.

The purpose of readers picking up such multi-view titles is likely for the purpose of receiving an introduction on the various theological positions. The Zondervan Counterpoints contributors and editor have failed in the aspect of presenting their positions in a concise, understandable and interesting manner that a novice reader would find useful. I feel that the material is targeted at experts on the subject of baptism, who would probably go straight for the monographs that discuss a single theological position in detail.

In summary, I cannot recommend this Zondervan's Counterpoints series title, and instead point you to the superior IVP's Spectrum Multiview title - Baptism: Three Views (Edited by David F. Wright).

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