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Confessing Christ: An Invitation to Baptist Dogmatics
Edited by Baptist scholars Steven A. McKinion, Christine E. Thornton, and Keith S. Whitfield, Confessing An Introduction to Baptist Dogmatics offers a unique and comprehensive exploration of Baptist theology. Grounded in the belief that theology is both exploratory and explanatory, the book introduces a historical, covenantal, ecclesial, and confessional approach to Baptist Dogmatics.
Each essay delves into a specific area of dogmatic theology, covering essential topics such as God, Scripture, anthropology, Christology, salvation, ecclesiology, the sacraments, the Christian life, and eschatology. The volume editors emphasize the importance of renewing Baptist life and mission through a rediscovery of the rich theological heritage. By understanding and engaging with this tradition, Baptist Christians can express their faith more authentically in the contemporary context and future endeavors.
The book's four key elements—historical, covenantal, ecclesial, and confessional—provide a structured framework for exploring core Christian doctrines within the context of Baptist dogmatics. Each chapter incorporates biblical exegesis and dialogue with at least one historical Baptist theologian.
Confessing Christ stands as a significant contribution to the field of Baptist dogmatics, serving as essential reading for Baptist scholars, pastors, and church leaders seeking a deeper understanding of the Baptist theological tradition and its contemporary relevance.
Each essay delves into a specific area of dogmatic theology, covering essential topics such as God, Scripture, anthropology, Christology, salvation, ecclesiology, the sacraments, the Christian life, and eschatology. The volume editors emphasize the importance of renewing Baptist life and mission through a rediscovery of the rich theological heritage. By understanding and engaging with this tradition, Baptist Christians can express their faith more authentically in the contemporary context and future endeavors.
The book's four key elements—historical, covenantal, ecclesial, and confessional—provide a structured framework for exploring core Christian doctrines within the context of Baptist dogmatics. Each chapter incorporates biblical exegesis and dialogue with at least one historical Baptist theologian.
Confessing Christ stands as a significant contribution to the field of Baptist dogmatics, serving as essential reading for Baptist scholars, pastors, and church leaders seeking a deeper understanding of the Baptist theological tradition and its contemporary relevance.
- GenresTheology
416 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2024
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56 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 7, 2025
Baptists are a creedal people. They always have been. Historically, Baptists have, with gratitude, received the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the Chalcedonian Creed as the grammar of Christian faith. Tracing out this theo-logic - the discipline of dogmatics - is at the heart of this book and is, more or less, successfully borne out in each chapter. It’s a welcome application of many of the sentiments on offer today. Much ink has been spilled about, over, and around dogmatics - not as much has been spilled on writing dogmatic theology. Even less ink has been spilled on “Baptist” dogmatic theology, so this book is especially unique, and so all the more welcome.
By “Baptist” dogmatic theology, the authors mean theology that takes Baptist distinctives seriously and presses dogmatics to that specific, Baptist end. For example: “When engaging in the task of dogmatics, a covenantal community of faith embracing believer’s baptism will situate and express Christology or trinitarian theology in unique ways, while also affirming the orthodox faith” (16). Pressley and Inman do just this by drawing out how “the fullness of life found in the triune name is available to us by means of our abiding profession of the triune name” and that “credobaptism is the sacred initiation into the fullness of life in the triune name” (119). It’s Christian dogmatic theology with an eye toward Baptist theological distinctives. So, this book is, in many ways, without a peer.
As is the case with most edited volumes, some essays are stronger than others. Particular standouts were Stamps and Wittman on Christology, Finn and Whitfield on the Christian life, and Lorance and Thornton on the ordinances. I especially appreciated Lorance and Thornton’s approach to baptism, which grouped three themes (resurrection, reconciliation, and illumination) to explain the significance of baptism: “The Baptist practice of baptism, then, is first and foremost a confession of Christ. It is the visible proclamation that Christ has gathered up the promises of God in himself so that in him we participate in the new creation, the new temple, and the new exodus” (327). This offers a thicker description of baptism that more fully integrates scriptural motifs and also has the effect of re-centering Christ in baptism, making it not just about one’s individual profession of faith, but first about God’s promises to us in Christ. Stamps and Wittman’s essay on Christology ends by rightfully correcting deficiencies in Baptist emphasis on the Virgin Birth, re-situating Mary as an exemplar of Christian faith: “Protestants should feel no compunction about honoring Mary as uniquely sanctified for this blessed role. They should confess (and must not deny) that she is the theotokos, the bearer of God” (197).
The difference in approach between the essays demonstrates that Baptist Dogmatic Theology is a live project - it’s still settling into itself and probably needs a bit more methodological work to ensure a coherent and unified enterprise. While this book is unique, I pray that’s not true for very long. Hopefully, this book occasions more like it. May it be so.
By “Baptist” dogmatic theology, the authors mean theology that takes Baptist distinctives seriously and presses dogmatics to that specific, Baptist end. For example: “When engaging in the task of dogmatics, a covenantal community of faith embracing believer’s baptism will situate and express Christology or trinitarian theology in unique ways, while also affirming the orthodox faith” (16). Pressley and Inman do just this by drawing out how “the fullness of life found in the triune name is available to us by means of our abiding profession of the triune name” and that “credobaptism is the sacred initiation into the fullness of life in the triune name” (119). It’s Christian dogmatic theology with an eye toward Baptist theological distinctives. So, this book is, in many ways, without a peer.
As is the case with most edited volumes, some essays are stronger than others. Particular standouts were Stamps and Wittman on Christology, Finn and Whitfield on the Christian life, and Lorance and Thornton on the ordinances. I especially appreciated Lorance and Thornton’s approach to baptism, which grouped three themes (resurrection, reconciliation, and illumination) to explain the significance of baptism: “The Baptist practice of baptism, then, is first and foremost a confession of Christ. It is the visible proclamation that Christ has gathered up the promises of God in himself so that in him we participate in the new creation, the new temple, and the new exodus” (327). This offers a thicker description of baptism that more fully integrates scriptural motifs and also has the effect of re-centering Christ in baptism, making it not just about one’s individual profession of faith, but first about God’s promises to us in Christ. Stamps and Wittman’s essay on Christology ends by rightfully correcting deficiencies in Baptist emphasis on the Virgin Birth, re-situating Mary as an exemplar of Christian faith: “Protestants should feel no compunction about honoring Mary as uniquely sanctified for this blessed role. They should confess (and must not deny) that she is the theotokos, the bearer of God” (197).
The difference in approach between the essays demonstrates that Baptist Dogmatic Theology is a live project - it’s still settling into itself and probably needs a bit more methodological work to ensure a coherent and unified enterprise. While this book is unique, I pray that’s not true for very long. Hopefully, this book occasions more like it. May it be so.
December 23, 2024
The editors and contributors should be commended for publishing a strong, constructive vision for Baptist Dogmatics. Baptist pastors should prioritize reading it and return to it as a resource.
Also, Keith Haper sure has some zingers in the afterword worth reading.
Also, Keith Haper sure has some zingers in the afterword worth reading.
December 19, 2025
“Christology is upstream from all of the Baptist distinctives.”
- Stamps and Wittman
“Baptist dogmatics is the corporate and continued reflection on our confession in baptism, and so, takes on a baptismal frame. As Baptists practice theology, we ought always to remember our baptism.”
- Thornton and Lorance
This is a great book exploring the key loci of Christian dogmatics from a Baptist and Christocentric perspective. Each chapter puts dogmatic reflection into conversation with voices from Baptist history and the many traditions of premodern church history. My favorite chapters were Inman and Presley’s chapter on theology proper, Stamps and Wittman’s chapter on Christology, and Thornton and Lorance’s chapter on the ordinances. I should also add that the 3 editors of this volume were key influences on my theological development during my time at SEBTS. I was also able to assist with the Dogmatics round table from which this project is based, and got to proofread a couple of chapters. Thornton, Whitfield, and McKinion develop four Baptist and dogmatic “signposts” for discussing each subject of Christian dogmatics: historical, ecclesial, confessional, and covenantal. Some chapters discuss Baptist distinctives and contributions to dogmatic topics better and more explicitly than others, but the main takeaway is that Baptists are well situated in the “Great Tradition” (a term I’m not fond of) of Christian theology and do not depart in any significant way from historic Christian orthodoxy. There is also a fantastic afterward from the late Keith Harper situating this book in the larger scheme of Southern Baptist history. Well done! I do wish that there was a chapter on creation, though.
“This is the message of the Gospels, that Christ Jesus renews God's place through his miracles and especially through his resurrection; that he rules over God's place through his authoritative teaching, his calling of new Israel around himself, his atoning death and victorious descent and resurrection, and his ascension into heaven; and that, crucially, he obeys where Adam, Israel, and we do not. Not only does he live, die, and rise on Israel's and the nations behalf, but he also gives those who are united to him his Spirit who also enables them to obey. And Jesus is fruitful, and he multiplies his people by his Spirit through the proclamation of his gospel. We see this primarily in Acts, when the good news of Jesus goes to new places.”
- Emerson and Martin
- Stamps and Wittman
“Baptist dogmatics is the corporate and continued reflection on our confession in baptism, and so, takes on a baptismal frame. As Baptists practice theology, we ought always to remember our baptism.”
- Thornton and Lorance
This is a great book exploring the key loci of Christian dogmatics from a Baptist and Christocentric perspective. Each chapter puts dogmatic reflection into conversation with voices from Baptist history and the many traditions of premodern church history. My favorite chapters were Inman and Presley’s chapter on theology proper, Stamps and Wittman’s chapter on Christology, and Thornton and Lorance’s chapter on the ordinances. I should also add that the 3 editors of this volume were key influences on my theological development during my time at SEBTS. I was also able to assist with the Dogmatics round table from which this project is based, and got to proofread a couple of chapters. Thornton, Whitfield, and McKinion develop four Baptist and dogmatic “signposts” for discussing each subject of Christian dogmatics: historical, ecclesial, confessional, and covenantal. Some chapters discuss Baptist distinctives and contributions to dogmatic topics better and more explicitly than others, but the main takeaway is that Baptists are well situated in the “Great Tradition” (a term I’m not fond of) of Christian theology and do not depart in any significant way from historic Christian orthodoxy. There is also a fantastic afterward from the late Keith Harper situating this book in the larger scheme of Southern Baptist history. Well done! I do wish that there was a chapter on creation, though.
“This is the message of the Gospels, that Christ Jesus renews God's place through his miracles and especially through his resurrection; that he rules over God's place through his authoritative teaching, his calling of new Israel around himself, his atoning death and victorious descent and resurrection, and his ascension into heaven; and that, crucially, he obeys where Adam, Israel, and we do not. Not only does he live, die, and rise on Israel's and the nations behalf, but he also gives those who are united to him his Spirit who also enables them to obey. And Jesus is fruitful, and he multiplies his people by his Spirit through the proclamation of his gospel. We see this primarily in Acts, when the good news of Jesus goes to new places.”
- Emerson and Martin
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews