Comprendre le baptême

Church Basics

by Bobby Jamieson, Loanne Procopio (translator)

English Understanding Baptism


Pourquoi le baptême est-il si important ? Jésus ordonne à ses disciples de se faire baptiser. Ce commandement biblique constitue une illustration glorieuse de l’union entre une personne et Jésus dans sa mort, son ensevelissement et sa résurrection. Pourtant, de nombreux chrétiens ne comprennent pas bien cette pratique, et celle-ci suscite en eux davantage de questions que de réponses.

Ce court ouvrage fournit une explication biblique à propos du baptême. Qu’est-ce que le baptême ? Qui doit être baptisé ? Pourquoi le baptême est-il nécessaire pour devenir membre d’une Église ? Comment les Églises doivent-elles pratiquer le baptême ?


Auteur
Bobby Jamieson est titulaire d’un doctorat en études du Nouveau Testament de l’université de Cambridge. Il a été rédacteur en chef adjoint pour 9Marks et il est l’auteur du livre La saine doctrine.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology, Church, Christian, Discipleship, Nonfiction, Audiobook

104 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2016

About the author

Bobby Jamieson is a Ph.D. student in New Testament and affiliated lecturer in New Testament Greek at the University of Cambridge. He and his wife are members of Eden Baptist Church, and they live in Cambridge with their three children. Bobby previously served as assistant editor for 9Marks.

See also R.B. Jamieson

Reviews

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

ANOTHER great book from Bobby Jamison on baptism, this one actually came first, and is slightly different than the church questions “why should I be baptized?”

Both are great! I think honestly someone could read both and benefit from each differently, this one has more on believers baptism vs. infant, but the other one directly answers normal objections to baptism more. Both are short and really helpful, giving concise, persuasive, and clear answers from scripture.

Both do a really good job at challenging our understanding by distinctly connecting baptism to the local church, as an act of the church as well as of the believer, this is the most important aspect of if.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

It is difficult to review any book that is specifically aimed at being “basic." I found some parts simplistic and one dimensional. I agreed with many of his conclusions and sincerely value the goal of the book and the need to present a meaningful credobaptist position. I’m sure Dr Jameison’s larger book on the subject would have been more satisfying.

I wanted a lot more out of this book. There were many portions which were helpful. But his dialogue with peadobaptism seemed to lack depth of engagement. As a foil for his view, I think it took up too much real estate and limited the space given to presenting a positive rather than negative vision of baptism. I didn’t like the consequentialist reading another reviewer pointed out, seen in quotes such as "paedobaptism undermines the church's saltiness" and "paedobaptism makes God's new covenant promise less than a promise." And too readily discounted the peadobaptist position as one which is a structural system rather than a position that presents a scriptural interpretation that must be engaged seriously. Especially since a 'structural' alternative is not presented.

I appreciated the presentation of baptism as the baptizee going public. But, I got the impression that that aspect of the act of baptism was the primary or most important aspect: i.e. the point of baptism is to say "I'm a Christian". I agree that baptism is one way in which a person can testify to their covenant community and the world of the resurrection work of God in their life. And with its essential requirement for covenant membership in a church. I might not be looking in the right place in the book, but it seems like Dr Jamieson’s prestation over emphasized an individualistic approach to baptism; perhaps unintuitively since he rightly brought in the role of the church throughout the book. There seemed to be a lack of ink on the idea that baptism is the ‘going public’ of God; that through his church, God declares over his people that they are his and performs a visible sign that he has claimed them as his. the "oath-sign" is performed by God. What the church binds on earth is bound in heaven as the church is the body of Christ. There is something significant in baptism being an act done to/on a person. You cannot baptize yourself. And Dr Jamieson does mention this, but the focus is on an individual’s act, unnecessarily presenting baptism in an individualistic mode. The emphasis on public profession seems to have overshadowed other ways scripture speaks about baptism such as washing (Heb 9) and the putting on of a new garment (Gal 3:27).


I think I would restate his definition of baptism as follows: "Baptism is [[God’s act through his church]] of affirming and portraying a believers union with Christ by immersing him or her in water, and a believers act of publicly committing him or herself to Christ and his people, thereby [[effectively demonstrating the believer’s union with Christ]] in uniting a believer to the church and marking him or her from the world."

One of my favorite parts of the book was in its pastoral application and its helpful encouragement to take baptism seriously. “Confessing faith strengthens faith”, “view baptism as an aid rather than an obstacle”, “all those in the covenant will fulfill the covenant”, “the new covenant does not operate by birth but by rebirth”, “church membership is first and foremost inclusion at the table, and church discipline is first and foremost exclusion from the table,” “baptism binds one to many” (and i think he may have said something else where about the lord's table “making many one”).

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the last installment that I read from the Church Basics series and was definitely the worst. The major reasons I did not like this book were not simply the fact that he absolutely whiffed on his critiques of Paedobaptism and his defences of Credobaptism, but the fact that baptism is so squarely truncated into a testimonial ceremony that is drained from all the Biblical emphasis that the NT authors place on it.

For instance, his definition of what baptism is and does is as follows:

"Baptism is a church's act of affirming and portraying a believers union with Christ by immersing him or her in water, and a believers act of publicly commiting him or herself to Christ and his people, thereby uniting a believer to the church and marking him or her from the world."

Notice the emphasis on who is in control here and who this is centered upon. It revolves around the believer and his act towards others and God. But this is simply not what Scripture shows us baptism to be. Rev. Daniel Hyde poignantly shows the exact opposite to the be the case when he states that:

"Infant baptism, on the other hand, focuses our attention and our hearts upon God's action, which we receive through faith alone. The baptism of children teaches that our children are sinful, and that they, along with the congregation, need to trust Christ alone for cleansing from their sins in order to be justified. Whereas dedication looks back and says, 'We gave you to the Lord,' baptism looks back and says, 'The Lord gave himself to you in the promise of washing away your sins.' Whereas dedication says, 'We will raise you to trust the Lord,' baptism says, 'The Holy Spirit will raise you up from death to life to serve the Lord.' The baptism of covenant children is the best dedication service possible, because God promises to dedicate himself to our children."

– Rev. Daniel R Hyde, "Jesus Loves the Little Children," pg. 53.

Just as Hyde has shown with baptism, so too the problem flows into the baptist's view of the Lord's Supper. It is nothing more than a memorial that we get to participate in. There are no teeth to it whatsoever. This type of view empties the grace and the importance of both the Lord's Supper and Baptism and instead turns it into a man-centered event. Now, it is important to note that all Paedobaptists are also Credobaptists. We do not deny a professing believer the sign of the covenant but we do it for different reasons than the Baptist. There are similarities here to the doctrine of Unconditional Election in which Christ elects those whom he chooses for his glory. We are not giving the individual the sign of the covenant because we affirm their profession of faith, though that is certainly assumed, but rather because we are affirming their covenantal status. This becomes clear if that person who is baptized falls from the faith. To the Baptist, they have affirmed their profession and as such are left with two options; either they left the faith that they were truly part of, or they are said to never actually be a part of that faith. Depending on that baptists view of reformation theology, they will choose one of those options. But we did not affirm his profession of faith because we simply cannot do that, only Christ can. We can believe that they are a believer, to be sure, but it is as Spurgeon once said that the Elect do not have big, red, capital E's on their backs to tell us their salvation status before God. But we can certainly affirm their participation in the visible covenant. In any event, this review is becoming longer than I intended. I would avoid this book if for no other reason than that it does not get baptism right and moreover reduces the complexities and mercies that are intertwined with the baptism process and Biblical context to a bare minimum.

[Shea Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If Understanding Baptism makes me focus almost completely on myself and my confession rather than the work of God... Well I just don't know if I understand.

I may be unqualified to say this but, non covenantal Baptists seem fundamentally gnostic... Perhaps I'm missing something.

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the importance and practice of baptism in the local church. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this booklet. I mean, how much can you really cover in 71 pages? A lot of beautiful theology, it turns out! This will be my go-to book for teaching on baptism.

I read this along with our pastoral interns at our church in Brazil in 2021.

[Sloan French · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubt this booklet will ever win any awards for masterful prose, but it’s a phenomenally helpful book one can read quickly to understand baptism. It is easily the one I will recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about baptism or has questions about it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biblical, clear, concise, and practical.

[Alexander Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5/5) Helpful resource for me as I prepare to teach a baptism class at church - I’m ready as ever to defend the baptist practices of my forefathers 🫡

[Ryan Cable · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re Christian and not baptized, what are you doing?
Great book about learning about baptism(obviously).
I liked his discussion about paedobaptism.

[Ryan Hawkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve loved the church leadership and congregational authority books in this series. Moreover, I love 9Marks as an organization and agree with most things they teach and write. Yet I also am a former (emphasis on former!) paedobaptist and so am always hesitant at reading credobaptist books on baptism. I grew up credobaptist, was paedo- for a few years, but now believe strongly credo- than I ever have. So why am I hesitant to read credo- books? Because they often don’t treat the paedo- side well. And sadly, I think this book did it again.

In short, the book is somewhat helpful in the practical areas, but when it comes to giving good credence to the paedo- view, it falls into the typical baptist error, namely, assuming that paedobaptism is some huge system and series of logical connections, rather than something that has some really solid Scriptural support. (Again, I’m a Progressive Covenantalist credobaptist! But I’ve been there, and I think the paedo- side is stronger than most I-grew-up-baptists recognize.)

Moreover, his reasoning for why paedobaptism is wrong is usually less biblical, and more consequential. Such as “paedobaptism undermines the church’s saltiness” and “paedobaptism makes God’s new covenant promise less than a promise.” To be blunt, these, and more, aren’t helpful.

Also, as to how he defines what baptism is, it’s also pretty typical for baptists to define baptism as a public profession of faith, which he does, and I don’t think I agree with this either. It, again, is a more typical baptist position, but how biblical is it? What if baptism is more a symbol of washing in the gospel? Of what’s been done to me, and not at all how *I* believe?

Finally, I think I disagree with him about the membership issue (and this would be perhaps my biggest disagreement with 9Marks as a whole). But I’m still working on that, and that’s an issue for another time…

Please don’t hear that this book is awful. It isn’t. It’s a pretty typical baptistic book, and to give him credit, he's consistently baptist through and through. I only wish more baptistic books were more robustly biblical, and more understanding and sympathetic to the paedo side—a side, once again, I disagree with, but very much respect.

[H.b. Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biblical, clear, practical, thorough, and helpful. I intend to give a copy of this book to every baptism candidate in our church from now on!

[Chase Cohee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and very understandable read on the Baptist perspective of baptism. Especially good are Jamieson's thoughts on the integral connection between baptism and the church, particularly church membership. He offers very clear and comprehensive answers to arguments for infant baptism, especially highlighting the new covenant community of Jer. 31:31-34 as the model for what our local church communities should look like (i.e. regenerate communities). I think this is the single strongest argument for credobaptism. My only response would be that it seems to me that what the Prophet is seeing in Jeremiah 31 is an eschatological new covenant community, especially since the new covenant community pictured in Hebrews appears to be a mixed community where apostasy is possible. I could wish Jamieson had spent more time dealing with 1 Cor. 7:14. He seems to assert that the children of believers are "holy" because of the subjective gospel exposure they receive in their homes, not because of the objective fact that they are the children of believers. Additionally, the idea that Jewish children under the Abrahamic covenant were only covenant members in a nationalistic sense, not in a spiritual sense of having communion with God, does not seem to hold weight when reading Gen. 17:7. Nevertheless, Jameison highlights the complexities of these discussions and his arguments shouldn't be overlooked by paedobaptists.

[Alex Dunkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly Biblical, short, practical, and easy to read. I recommend this to any ministry leader who regularly engages with questions on baptism, and likewise I’d recommend it to anyone wrestling with their own views on baptism.

Who should be baptized? Should babies? How should a person be baptized? Where should they be baptized? When? By whom? To what purpose?

All these, Bobby Jamieson answers succinctly and convincingly from a biblical perspective.

[Brenden Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, concise, and worth reading for any Christian seeking to understand the nuts and bolts of biblical baptism

[Eric Durso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful introduction to baptism. Thorough without getting into the weeds.

[Ty Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand now

[Craig Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Christian life is a churched life.” This simple, yet profound statement under-girds a new series of books Church Basics edited by Jonathan Leeman from B&H. This series is aimed at the average church member and each book addresses a specific part of church life of which every church member ought to be both knowledgeable about and involved in.

Understanding Baptism answers basic questions like What is Baptism?, Who Should be Baptized?, and How Should Churches Practice Baptism? This book, as well as all those in the series, are written, and thus the questions are answered, by those who take a Baptistic understanding of church government, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Even those Christians who have a different understanding of these church life issues will benefit from these books if they want to learn the other side and want to be challenged about their own position. Leeman defines baptism as follows: “Baptism is a church’s act of affirming and portraying a believer’s union with Christ by immersing him or her in water, and a believer’s act of publicly committing him or herself to Christ and his people, thereby uniting a believer to the church and marking off him or her from the world.” (6)

Understanding the Congregation’s Authority addresses basic issues about the congregations role in the church such as what Jesus expects of his disciples in the church, the role Adam had and how that relates to church members, and the role pastors play in a church members discipleship. Too often is our churches the pastors (and its even worse if there is only one full-time pastor) and elders (though this is not always the case with them) are expected to do the lion share of church ministry. But is this the case? Is a pastor supposed to master all ministries so that he can be the only one ministering to everyone else? This book argues no and provides a solidly biblical case for the every-member-a-minister mindset. This is congregationalism, which is to say that, while the elders lead a local church, the congregation rules the church because that’s their God-given responsibility.

Understanding the Lord’s Supper first presents a biblical theology of the Lord’s Supper and then answers questions like Who can Celebrate it?, Who can Administer it?, and How Should Christians Approach it? I encourage Christians to read this book and the book on baptism together and to read the book on baptism first. The baptism book will help you understand how baptism unites individual Christians together and this book on the Lords’ Supper will help you see how those united Christians express their unity to the world and reaffirm their unity with each other. Jamieson defines the Lord’s Supper as follows: “The Lords’s Supper is a church’s act of communing with Christ and each other and of commemorating Christ’s death by partaking of bread and wine, and a believer’s act of receiving Christ’s benefits and renewing his or her commitment to Christ and his people, thereby making the church one body and marking it off from the world.” (25)

The Church Basics series is decidedly Baptistic, solidly biblical, immediately practical, and church focused. This series seeks to ground its claims in Scripture and, though it addresses the topics from a certain viewpoint, it interacts with varying positions to show its differences, which only serves to strengthen its conclusions. This is an immensely helpful series that can benefit new believers as they seek or orient themselves to this new thing called the Church and it will further serve other Christians who are looking to grow in their knowledge of these issues so they can be better involved in their local church.

Other books in this series are as follows:

Understanding Church Leadership by Mark Dever

Understanding Church Discipline by Jonathan Leeman

Understanding The Great Commission and the Church by Mark Dever

I received these books for free from B&H for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Joshua Lister · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can understand and respect a view of baptism which considers it to be a sign of personal testimony of faith in Christ. Along with this, I understand the Baptist position that there is no difference between all regenerate believers and members of the New Covenant. Bobby does a fine job of explaining and arguing for this position in the first three chapters. However, I do not see how this position would lead you to reject people who hold different convictions about what baptism is from church membership.

In addressing the question of whether you can admit a Christian who was baptized as an infant and will not be baptized again as a member into a church, Bobby says,

"All members of a church might be convinced that a certain unbaptized person is a Christian, but Jesus has bound the church's judgement - and the formal, public affirmation of membership - to baptism. Jesus has given the church no authority to affirm someone's faith until that faith is publicly professed in baptism.
Because of all that baptism is and does, a church is simply not authorized to extend the relation of membership to those who have not performed its effective sign. A church may not admit to the renewing oath-sign of the new covenant [here he is referring to communion] anyone who has not performed its initiating oath-sign [referring to baptism]."

This means that not only would Bobby tell an enormous part of the current and historic Christian world that Jesus does not permit them to become members of his local church but he would also say that they are not even permitted to participate in communion. If your dogma leads you to say that you would not share the Lord's supper with millions of genuine Christians alive and throughout history, I think you have strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clear, concise, and readable book. Jamieson does a good job explaining baptism. I greatly appreciated the emphasis on the Gospel in connection to baptism, how baptism is a public profession, and the connection with church membership. I disagreed with his take on the lone Christian and baptism. He overworked the Acts 8 passage on the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. If he had just left that out, this already strong book would've been stronger. Overall the book is helpful and worth reading.

[Joseph Potts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for those who want to know the reason for baptism. The first few chapters are very helpful and insightful. I have trouble agreeing with the last two chapters, but it is not an issue that negates salvation. Therefore, I believe it is an issue that can be debated whether a church is needed for baptism or not. I’m on the side that multiple Christian witnesses has the same effect. It is the heart not the specific circumstances that are in question whether salvation happens or not. Overall great book, nice reminder of what Baptism is and isn’t

[Danny Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and immensely helpful book covering the disproportionally thorny issue of baptism. Especially in the more reformed camp, working sometimes closely with those who are convinced from scripture of the validity of infant baptism, it is necessary to carefully think through these issues.

Jameison is ready to fight and I think that's probably why he gets the flak he does. But I respect his heart in defending truth. I defintiely profited even as I thought through some of the implications of my own views of baptism.

Not long at all, this book packs a lot of usefulness-per-page. If you are a church leader or even evaluating your own view of baptism, I would defintely recommend this work.

[David Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short work which is perfect for handing to a church member with questions about baptism. In an age in which many Christians see baptism as a symbol that people can simply choose to place upon themselves, Jamison explains that Biblical baptism is much more. Especially helpful is his explanation of baptism's relationship to church membership and the Lord's supper.

[Talia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, helpful and respectful of other positions.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want a short read on understanding the basics and basis of baptism by immersion, read this.

[Matt Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful book. The writing is clear and the arguments are straightforward and convincing without being tedious.

We use this book quite a bit with individuals attending our church.

[Chris Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to understand baptism well but don’t want to read a huge book— this is the one.

[Tanner Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chapter on paedobaptism may not have fit with the thesis of the book. In that case, it may not be what gets handed out to any lay person…but, the other chapters were greatly helpful.

The most helpful picture was baptism being the front door to the house (the church). Why would anyone not use the front door?

[Matt Felton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent primer. Useful for pastors and members. Helpful not just on baptism, but on nature of ordinances in general, and particularly there function in relation to a church.

[Jeremy Mueller]

Fantastic read on credo-baptism that helps the reader understand what baptism is, how it functions, what the Bible says about baptism, and how baptists practice baptism.

[Andrew Krom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful little book to work people through to establish a biblical view of baptism.