Which to pick?

Submitted by David on Tue, 2007-02-13 16:16

Some of you know that lately that I've been gathering some books with the intention of doing some comparative reading between the paedo- and credo- views of both baptism and communion. What do I have thus far (on my bookshelf or in the mail)?

I'm still scouting out books on the Federal Vision and the idea of paedo-communion. Athanasius Press (pro-Federal-Vision) seems to be having a 30-50% off sale on some of its books February 13-14. I'll probably pick up copies of the Paedofaith and "Case for Covenant Communion" books (I'd probably buy all 3 relevant to the topic, but due to the $20 limit at which Canada customs collects tax, I think that I'll keep any order at two.)

I do need some books that constrast with those books advocating the Federal Vision though. P&R published The Federal Vision and Covenant Theology: A Comparative Analysis which may be a good counterpoint to the other books. Anything else out there worth reading on this subject?

Comments

revgot

Tue, 2007-02-13 19:48

I'd probably nix the Infant Baptism and Covenant of Grace book. I have it and don't like it, so don't buy it. You can borrow it.

Doug Wilson's book Reformed is Not Enough is free online and is a good introduction to the real issues in the debate. I have come to see that the con side is missing the thrust of their argument. I wish I had read this first before I formed opinions and jumped on bandwagons. The issues are not about justifcation as much as church life, sanctification, and assurance. Wilson's approach is a good correction to a lot of inward and gnostic tendencies in Reformed evangelicalism. As with all corrections, we all tend to oversteer and end up in the ditch (as people in Calgary know all too well this week).

Another good book on the infant baptism thingie is The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism ed. Gregg Strawbridge. I have it if you want to borrow it.

There's no substitue for reading Calvin on the sacraments as every side in the debate (e.g. Presybterians/Reformed over Federal Vision) claims Calvin for their arguments. Joel Garver's blog has some good insights into the debate. (sacradoctrina.blogspot.com)

Christian Baptism and Redemption, Accomplished and Applied and The Covenant of Grace all by John Murray are key to understanding how the Federal Vision issues came up. I have all three to loan if you so desire.

David

Tue, 2007-02-13 20:04

Thanks for the feedback.

I had found a fairly cheap used copy of the Infant Baptism and Covenant of Grace book, so it presently sits somewhere in the mail system between the bookstore and me.

You wouldn't happen to have a hardcopy of that Doug Wilson book available would you? (I tend to avoid ebooks in favour of paper copies). BTW, I was also pointed to Covenant Radio which seems to have a lot of stuff on the topic available in audio form (for folks like me who often have an iPod close at hand).

One of the problems that I find is always hard to avoid is that of too much information, so I'm never quite sure as to the best way to go and filter that information down. I'm not sure if I have sufficient time to all that many more books on the topic.

David

Tue, 2007-02-13 20:27

The only online version of "Reformed is not enough" that I could find came up as an 18 page PDF, whereas the book is over 200 pages in length. I think that I read a fairly lengthy article with that same title sometime in the past so perhaps I've already read though that piece by Wilson that you mentioned. I'm not sure what the full book adds to the article.