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Covenant Theology: A Reformed Baptist Primer
Covenant theology is often said to be the domain of infant baptists alone. But there really are such things as Reformed Baptists who believe in covenant theology as a basic system for approaching Scripture. This primer sets out to give the basics of a Reformed Baptist covenant theology.
It agrees with classical formulations of covenant theology in that there is a Covenant of Redemption, a Covenant of Works, and a Covenant of Grace in the Bible. It differs from Paedobaptist covenant theology in that it sees the the Covenant of Grace as only properly coming through Jesus Christ. OT gracious covenants are typological of the Covenant of Grace, but save people on the basis of the coming work of Christ through faith alone. This is the traditional way Reformed Baptists have articulated the Covenant of Grace.
It takes a multi-perspective approach to the Covenant of Redemption in that this covenant is the basis for the classic formula that Christ's death is sufficient for all, but efficient for the elect. It sees the Covenant of Works for Adam in a broader context of a covenant made with all of creation, a covenant where laws establish the parameters for creation's existence. Finally, it sees an entire covenant in the Old Testament as often (but not always) missing from formulations of covenant theology. In the opinion of the author, this "priestly covenant" is vital to a proper understanding of 1. The continuity of the the practice of baptism from OT to NT, 2. The answer to why we never find infants being baptized in the NT, and 3. A more precise way to parse the legal aspects of the OT economy, thereby helping us understand why the moral law continues today.
This volume works from the basic presupposition that continuity in God's word is more basic than discontinuity. In this, it differs from dispensationalism and new covenant theology. The book suggests that this is the greatest strength of covenant theology, which does also recognize discontinuity.
It agrees with classical formulations of covenant theology in that there is a Covenant of Redemption, a Covenant of Works, and a Covenant of Grace in the Bible. It differs from Paedobaptist covenant theology in that it sees the the Covenant of Grace as only properly coming through Jesus Christ. OT gracious covenants are typological of the Covenant of Grace, but save people on the basis of the coming work of Christ through faith alone. This is the traditional way Reformed Baptists have articulated the Covenant of Grace.
It takes a multi-perspective approach to the Covenant of Redemption in that this covenant is the basis for the classic formula that Christ's death is sufficient for all, but efficient for the elect. It sees the Covenant of Works for Adam in a broader context of a covenant made with all of creation, a covenant where laws establish the parameters for creation's existence. Finally, it sees an entire covenant in the Old Testament as often (but not always) missing from formulations of covenant theology. In the opinion of the author, this "priestly covenant" is vital to a proper understanding of 1. The continuity of the the practice of baptism from OT to NT, 2. The answer to why we never find infants being baptized in the NT, and 3. A more precise way to parse the legal aspects of the OT economy, thereby helping us understand why the moral law continues today.
This volume works from the basic presupposition that continuity in God's word is more basic than discontinuity. In this, it differs from dispensationalism and new covenant theology. The book suggests that this is the greatest strength of covenant theology, which does also recognize discontinuity.
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 8, 2017
This is a short, but very helpful work on Covenant Theology from a Reformed Baptist perspective. The author accepts 1689 Federalism, though he does not name it as such. The central tenant of 1689 Federalism is that the New Covenant alone is the Covenant of Grace, and this is a point which Van Dorn stresses throughout the book. He also cites from Pascal Denault.
He has helpful and enlightening discussions on all covenants, though some are quite short, though I would have liked a lot more pages. I wish that the author had made the work longer (though it may not have been a primer) and dealt with more issues (e.g. the NC breakable?; Abraham's seeds; more on infant baptism).
One helpful aspect of this book is in calling the post-Fall OT covenants "gracious legal covenants." He does not call them covenants of works or covenants of grace, but rather shows that each of these covenants have aspects of works and blessings-based-on-obedience principles in them, and therefore they cannot be the Covenant of Grace (capitals). They are gracious ultimately because they typify and point to the Covenant of Grace in Christ (the New Covenant). All the OT covenants point to the New Covenant in Christ. Furthermore, none of the post-Fall covenants were like the pre-Fall Covenant of Works. The post-Fall covenants had provisions for covering and forgiveness, while the pre-Fall Covenant of Works knew no such thing. People were always saved by grace through faith. In the OT it was by looking forward to the promised Seed; in the NT it is by looking back to the promise-fulfilling Seed. There is both continuity and discontinuity in the covenants, but Covenant Theology gives more emphasis upon the continuity of the covenants.
One should not be scared from the tome of this work (188 pages), because the font is huge compared to other regular works.
He has helpful and enlightening discussions on all covenants, though some are quite short, though I would have liked a lot more pages. I wish that the author had made the work longer (though it may not have been a primer) and dealt with more issues (e.g. the NC breakable?; Abraham's seeds; more on infant baptism).
One helpful aspect of this book is in calling the post-Fall OT covenants "gracious legal covenants." He does not call them covenants of works or covenants of grace, but rather shows that each of these covenants have aspects of works and blessings-based-on-obedience principles in them, and therefore they cannot be the Covenant of Grace (capitals). They are gracious ultimately because they typify and point to the Covenant of Grace in Christ (the New Covenant). All the OT covenants point to the New Covenant in Christ. Furthermore, none of the post-Fall covenants were like the pre-Fall Covenant of Works. The post-Fall covenants had provisions for covering and forgiveness, while the pre-Fall Covenant of Works knew no such thing. People were always saved by grace through faith. In the OT it was by looking forward to the promised Seed; in the NT it is by looking back to the promise-fulfilling Seed. There is both continuity and discontinuity in the covenants, but Covenant Theology gives more emphasis upon the continuity of the covenants.
One should not be scared from the tome of this work (188 pages), because the font is huge compared to other regular works.
December 19, 2017
Real quality primer on distinctive Reformed Baptist covenantal theology. Definitely reccomend for beginners in this subject.
December 21, 2020
I realllyyy wanted to like this book, as I do identify theologically as a reformed baptist. However, I just didn’t.
December 23, 2022
Don’t agree with everything, but a good little primer. I appreciate the application to worship and the emphasis of Jesus in the Old Testament.
March 21, 2016
I was looking forward to reading Van Dorn's work since most of the material in print regarding reformed baptist covenant theology can be quite dense and rather long. A primer on the subject was very appealing. However, I found the book lacking in precision. While a primer is not intended to fill all the gaps, I was often left confused and perhaps simply misunderstanding Van Dorn's presentation.
He includes a section on the Levitical Covenant that was new for me, and apparently not given much attention by many other theologians/scholars. It left me wondering if this was something worth including in a primer.
What I loved about the book was the section titled "Applications of Covenant Theology." This was extremely helpful. Van Dorn does a nice job revealing how practical these doctrines become in the life of the church. Covenant theology is not some doctrine left for the theologically elite to debate, but are doctrines that influence many of the church's practices.
While I would have loved for Van Dorn's book to have been the "first book" I use to introduce people to reformed baptist covenant theology, I think there are some better options.
He includes a section on the Levitical Covenant that was new for me, and apparently not given much attention by many other theologians/scholars. It left me wondering if this was something worth including in a primer.
What I loved about the book was the section titled "Applications of Covenant Theology." This was extremely helpful. Van Dorn does a nice job revealing how practical these doctrines become in the life of the church. Covenant theology is not some doctrine left for the theologically elite to debate, but are doctrines that influence many of the church's practices.
While I would have loved for Van Dorn's book to have been the "first book" I use to introduce people to reformed baptist covenant theology, I think there are some better options.
December 11, 2015
Why had I never heard of Van Dorn before this book? This is by far the best treatment of Covenant theology from a credo baptistic perspective that I have read. What I appreciated most was the incredible clarity which he wrote with. He has a gift of communicating what can become terribly confusing truths in a straightforward yet richly biblical manner. If you are convinced of believer's baptism from your reading of the Sacred Scriptures, yet also feel tension from your reading of how the covenants connect, then do yourself the great service of reading this short work.
January 16, 2016
To say "highly recommend" is not to speak highly enough. This is an amazing work. It is both thorough and succinct. Anyone who wants to have a deeper and more true perspective on How God saves, relates to humans and his people ought read this book. It clarifies questions on how the law functions in the OT and NT, how we ought worship, what covenants are and why Christians talk about them, what Baptism ought be, what communion ought be, etc. it is a biblical, thorough explanation of theology from the foundations of the world and on.
Must read.
Must read.
April 11, 2018
Very introductory, but great. I'll try to read it again in a year.
July 30, 2024
My main take away here is if this is Doug Van Dorn’s “primer” to Reformed Baptist Covenant Theology, then he really needs to write a more robust work - I would be down for another 300 pages explaining this.
As someone who has read many books on this topic, this one is definitely a great option for both practical application and theological connections, some of which I hadn’t seen or considered before (such as the Levitical covenant.)
As someone who has read many books on this topic, this one is definitely a great option for both practical application and theological connections, some of which I hadn’t seen or considered before (such as the Levitical covenant.)
December 8, 2020
A fantastic primer on covenant theology. Each section was easy to understand, and is a great beginner book for anyone looking to understand this subject. I especially loved the applications section at the end of the book. The author provides fantastic ways to implement covenant theology into our every day lives. Highly recommend!
5/5 ⭐️
5/5 ⭐️
June 2, 2016
Pretty good overview of covenant theology from a Reformed perspective. While I already knew a lot of the topics he covered, he did provide a fair number of original insights. His point on how Noah was a literary contrast to Adam in a chiastic way was particularly fascinating I also found his argument for the Levitical priesthood as being another covenant as also being very interesting--especially in how he created an analogy between the six covenants of the OT and the seventh permanent one of the NT to being similar to the seven days of creation. Van Dorn utilized a bit of a literary perspective in his work and I really appreciated that.
I didn't agree with all of his points with regards to Baptism (surprise! =P Being a Presbyterian kind of leads to that sort of disagreement), but I will say that he made some decent arguments. Some of the arguments he raised against paedobaptism were actually new arguments to me. But he went through that section so fast that he didn't really raise it up to be as strong of a counter as it perhaps could have been.
Anyways, overall this was a pretty good overview of covenant theology, and since there don't seem to be as many from a Reformed Baptist perspective, I found it interesting to see the Baptist perspective on this. Not the greatest book on the subject. But a good summary overall.
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Good).
I didn't agree with all of his points with regards to Baptism (surprise! =P Being a Presbyterian kind of leads to that sort of disagreement), but I will say that he made some decent arguments. Some of the arguments he raised against paedobaptism were actually new arguments to me. But he went through that section so fast that he didn't really raise it up to be as strong of a counter as it perhaps could have been.
Anyways, overall this was a pretty good overview of covenant theology, and since there don't seem to be as many from a Reformed Baptist perspective, I found it interesting to see the Baptist perspective on this. Not the greatest book on the subject. But a good summary overall.
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Good).
January 29, 2017
Reformed Baptist Covenant Theology has inconsistencies that are impossible to clarify. This book does not clarify them. It also mentions other Covenant which most Covenant Theologians never refer to. I'm glad to have read this book, and also glad in reading that Reformed Baptists, although affirming that their children are not members of the New Covenant, treat them as if they were part of the New Covenant. Great inconsistency to have. God is sovereign even when our theology falls short. Good read for Presbyterians.
September 8, 2016
I thought the presentation of the material was great. But, the editing was horrible … typos, grammatical errors, punctuation errors, etc.
I'd like to be able to recommend it, but I can't … the editing is too bad.
I'd like to be able to recommend it, but I can't … the editing is too bad.
October 10, 2015
Great down to earth book on Baptist 1689 Federalism.
Listened to it.
Listened to it.
January 13, 2016
This is a wonderful "primer" that stays true to its title and can wet one's appetite to go and study more. A biblical approach with a pastors heart. Worth the time and thought. Soli Deo Gloria!
November 19, 2018
A clear, helpful and easy to read book that helped shine a fresh light on this topic. I appreciated the clarity with which he communicated his point without losing the depth of the subject.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews