A string of pearls unstrung: A theological journey into believers' baptism

by Fred A. Malone

Genres: Theology

2 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[Abrahamus · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a final stage in the process of my paedobaptist "conversion", I felt that it would be a good idea to test my new convictions by reading at least one work from the opposing viewpoint, as familiar as I felt myself to be with the arguments, since that was more-or-less my own background. This one caught my attention since it was written by a fellow who had switched twice, from baptist to paedobaptist and then back again. Suffice it to say that I remained solidly paedobaptist after finishing this one.

[Jordan Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This small booklet is better than the full-length book. Malone is strong at poking holes into the beautiful continuity that is Paedobaptism. As a system, Paedobaptism is near perfect, however when you begin to examine each piece (argument/pearl) you see the fundamental issues with the position.

Malone's weakness is his apologetic for Believer's baptism. In his defense, once you prove Paedobaptism to be in error you have no choice but to believe in the baptism of disciples alone. However, a strong apologetic can be made showing the beauty of Baptism throughout all of scripture. But this is not what Malone set out to do, instead, he demonstrates that a chain is only as strong as its links.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and profound!

[Ryan Jankowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Popular level and fairly simplistic critique of paedobaptism from a particular Baptist trained at RTS.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A useful primer on the subject of baptism. It is not intended to be a thorough treatment of the topic as the author explains in the introduction the book started as some journal articles and was later published as a book discussing some key issues in the author's theological shift from paedobaptist to credobaptist. A more complete and thorough treatment of baptism is found in his later work: The Baptism of Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credobaptism Versus Paedobaptism.

The book gives a good overview of the following topics which the authors labels as pearls in the argument for infant baptism:

1. Covenant Theology in the Old and New Testaments
2. Relationship between Circumcision and Baptism
3. Specific Proof Texts (Acts 2:39, Acts 10:22, 11:12,14, 16:15, 16:30-34, 18:8, 1 Corinthians 1:16, Jesus' 4. Attitude towards Children (Matthew 18:1-10, Matthew 19:13-15)
5. The Sanctification of Believers' children (1 Corinthians 7:12-16)
6. The Disjunction of John's and Jesus' Baptism with Christian Baptism
7. The argument from silence
8. The argument of expanded blessings
9. the testimony of tradition (addresses jewish proselyte baptism and early church fathers practice of baptism)

For a brief 80 page book it covers a wide range of topics and frequently cites paedobaptist authors to avoid misrepresenting views in the debate on baptism. Be sure to get the book on Founders for the updated second edition, which isn't displayed here on goodreads from 2022, and it is much cheaper than Amazon or other alternatives at Founders for $9.

https://press.founders.org/shop/a-str...

[Seth Cusson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I thought that the author presented a variety of compelling and thoughtful reasons for credobaptism and its hermeneutical approach. It is a short book which is a feat in itself given the topic. It was written as auto-biography, and it is also a polemic against his former views.

A couple things I appreciated about the book: 1) His explanation of the relationship between Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the inconsistency of paedobaptism on this relationship. 2) The wide variety of in-house answers to this relationship among paedobaptists. 3) The way that he draws on biblical theology and hermeneutics for the defense that persuaded him. This is where a lot of credobaptist arguments go south, because of the heavy emphasis on proof-texting. Malone offers a theological approach alongside his exegesis.

One qualm that I have is that it struggles to find its genre. Is it autobiography or is it a polemic? Certainly there will be some overlap, but I think it would be better if it leaned further into the autobiographical nature of its content. This might also help with the nuance and length of the book, considering it is pretty short. The arguments can be expanded in his larger, more polemical book, “The Baptism of Disciples Alone”.

[Adam Kareus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and to the point- nine “pearls” or arguments for infant baptism are considered and examined. While I doubt people’s minds will be changed by the arguments, the personal joinery of Malone is engaging and helps show how someone could change their view.

[Hammer Shalawylo · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to see the best theological critique of the reformed view of baptism in summary form, this is the book. While falling short of convincing me, it’s an important work that the reformed shouldn’t ignore if they want to engage their Baptist / “reformed Baptist” brethren.

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great. I am looking forward to reading Pastor Strawbridge's critique of this.