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Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands: Recovering Sacrament in the Baptist Tradition
"Amidst Us Our Belovèd Stands will help all pastors and theologians, whether Baptist or not, to consider our own understanding of the sacraments afresh in light of the past." ― Themelios Baptists are sacramental When it comes to baptism and the Lord's Supper, many Baptists reject the language of sacrament . As a people of the book, the logic goes, Baptists must not let tradition supersede the Bible. So Baptists tend to view baptism and Communion as ordinances and symbols, not sacraments. But the history of Baptists and sacramentalism is complicated. In Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands , Michael A. G. Haykin argues that many Baptists, such as Charles Spurgeon and other Particular Baptists, stood closer to Reformed sacramental thought than most Baptists today. More than mere memorials, baptism and Communion have spiritual implications that were celebrated by Baptists of the past in sermons and hymnody. Haykin calls for a renewal of sacramental life in churches today―Baptists can and should be sacramental.
160 pages, Hardcover
Published April 6, 2022
14 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Michael A.G. Haykin
112 books70 followersDr. Michael A.G. Haykin is the Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality and Director of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
He is also the editor of Eusebeia: The Bulletin of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. His present areas of research include 18th-century British Baptist life and thought, as well as Patristic Trinitarianism and Baptist piety.
Haykin is a prolific writer having authored numerous books, over 250 articles and over 150 book reviews. He is also an accomplished editor with numerous editorial credits.
He is also the editor of Eusebeia: The Bulletin of The Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies. His present areas of research include 18th-century British Baptist life and thought, as well as Patristic Trinitarianism and Baptist piety.
Haykin is a prolific writer having authored numerous books, over 250 articles and over 150 book reviews. He is also an accomplished editor with numerous editorial credits.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 28, 2023
I appreciate the clear presentation of just how important baptism and the Lord Supper are in historic baptist theology/ecclesiology. I really like how he handled the chapter on open communion/open membership. I loved seeing the seriousness with which early Baptists treated even the form of baptism, and the events Haykin recounts capture the way their obedience was a deeply moving act of faith.
I found the language of sacrament and particularly as applied to LS confusing. Largely because, as far as I could tell, Haykin never provided a definition of 'sacramentalism'. So there are some quotes stating these figures didn't hold to real presence in a RCC or Lutheran sense (46). And lots of statements about enjoying Christ's presence. And a critique of memorialism as presuming Christ's absence (46ff). But without a clear definition, all that I can come away with is that these figures treated the ordinances as an act of worship--great! But if that's the case, I'm confused about who they're arguing with? I guess there are modern day baptists who see the LS as an empty ritual that isn't important? But I've never heard that built on a theologically articulated memorial view, as much as just a disinterest in the ordinances.
If the choice is between Christ's presence or his absence being marked in the LS (the former being a spiritual presence view, the latter a memorial view), I think that's not a choice we can make as Christians. Isn't that a choice between Christ's divinity and humanity? The LS *is* marking Christ's absence from us in body, as well as his presence by his Spirit. Jesus said he is going away (John 16) and he said he is with us to the end of the age (Matt. 28). We need to hold together his bodily absence (and therefore his return we look forward to) and also his presence with us. The emphasis is so much on an immediate experience of Christ, that I think it neglects the way the supper is supposed to prompt us to look back and look forward. I'd also say it leaves undeveloped the corporate function of the LS (though Haykin asserts the imp of that in his own theses--p123--that's not what he emphasizes in the historic figures).
What gets left out is the fact that the LS gets its significance as an act of worship (and so as an experience or celebration of Christ's intimacy with us) from its attachment to the Word (something even Augustine asserted! "“Why does He not say, You are clean because of the baptism wherewith you have been washed, but he says, ‘because of the word which I have spoken to you,’ save only that in the water also it is the word that cleanses? Take away the word, and what is the water except water. The word is added to the element, and it becomes a sacrament, as if itself a kind of visible word….And whence has water so great a power, as in touching the body to cleanse the heart, unless by the working of the word, not because it is spoken, but because it is believed.” (Tractates in the Gospel of John 80.3).
I get the basic point that Baptists used to use the word 'sacrament' more than we do now. But my counter point is that the word sacrament is inherently confusing. Maybe it's more confusing now (after 19th century resurgence of RCC theology in the Anglican communion?). But sacrament is not a word we can just use without introducing tremendous amount of theological confusion. And the word 'ordinance' is accurate, and we can continue to explain why Christ has ordained the ordinances to help people understand their value and power as parts of corporate worship. To just rely on the word 'sacrament' to accomplish that is-- I think-- to rely on a vague sense of mysticism to get people to feel about the ordinance what they should feel following faithful teaching about it.
Those last paragraphs are quite a ways away from Haykin's book, but are part of my dissatisfaction with the LS chapters. Define sacrament!
But the book was a great short meditation on Baptism and LS through the lens of early Baptists. Despite critiques, highly enjoyed!
I found the language of sacrament and particularly as applied to LS confusing. Largely because, as far as I could tell, Haykin never provided a definition of 'sacramentalism'. So there are some quotes stating these figures didn't hold to real presence in a RCC or Lutheran sense (46). And lots of statements about enjoying Christ's presence. And a critique of memorialism as presuming Christ's absence (46ff). But without a clear definition, all that I can come away with is that these figures treated the ordinances as an act of worship--great! But if that's the case, I'm confused about who they're arguing with? I guess there are modern day baptists who see the LS as an empty ritual that isn't important? But I've never heard that built on a theologically articulated memorial view, as much as just a disinterest in the ordinances.
If the choice is between Christ's presence or his absence being marked in the LS (the former being a spiritual presence view, the latter a memorial view), I think that's not a choice we can make as Christians. Isn't that a choice between Christ's divinity and humanity? The LS *is* marking Christ's absence from us in body, as well as his presence by his Spirit. Jesus said he is going away (John 16) and he said he is with us to the end of the age (Matt. 28). We need to hold together his bodily absence (and therefore his return we look forward to) and also his presence with us. The emphasis is so much on an immediate experience of Christ, that I think it neglects the way the supper is supposed to prompt us to look back and look forward. I'd also say it leaves undeveloped the corporate function of the LS (though Haykin asserts the imp of that in his own theses--p123--that's not what he emphasizes in the historic figures).
What gets left out is the fact that the LS gets its significance as an act of worship (and so as an experience or celebration of Christ's intimacy with us) from its attachment to the Word (something even Augustine asserted! "“Why does He not say, You are clean because of the baptism wherewith you have been washed, but he says, ‘because of the word which I have spoken to you,’ save only that in the water also it is the word that cleanses? Take away the word, and what is the water except water. The word is added to the element, and it becomes a sacrament, as if itself a kind of visible word….And whence has water so great a power, as in touching the body to cleanse the heart, unless by the working of the word, not because it is spoken, but because it is believed.” (Tractates in the Gospel of John 80.3).
I get the basic point that Baptists used to use the word 'sacrament' more than we do now. But my counter point is that the word sacrament is inherently confusing. Maybe it's more confusing now (after 19th century resurgence of RCC theology in the Anglican communion?). But sacrament is not a word we can just use without introducing tremendous amount of theological confusion. And the word 'ordinance' is accurate, and we can continue to explain why Christ has ordained the ordinances to help people understand their value and power as parts of corporate worship. To just rely on the word 'sacrament' to accomplish that is-- I think-- to rely on a vague sense of mysticism to get people to feel about the ordinance what they should feel following faithful teaching about it.
Those last paragraphs are quite a ways away from Haykin's book, but are part of my dissatisfaction with the LS chapters. Define sacrament!
But the book was a great short meditation on Baptism and LS through the lens of early Baptists. Despite critiques, highly enjoyed!
May 18, 2022
Two things about this book immediately piqued my interest. First, that it was by Michael Haykin who is a noted church historian with a particular interest in Baptist history. Second was the subtitle which suggested not only that this was an exercise in theological retrieval but also that in that retrieval there might be a deeper and fuller understanding of the ordinances that would justify the use of the word ‘sacraments’ while still remaining Baptist. That was enough for me. I knew I wanted to read it.
The book opens with one chapter devoted to baptism followed by three devoted to the Lord’s Supper before it closes a chapter tying the two together. I was most interested in what Haykin could tell us about the Lord’s Supper, but what caught my interest in the chapter on baptism was his use of “a collection of twelve hymns” titled “Hymns Compos’d for the Celebration of the Holy Ordinance of Baptism” (26). I’m not sure I’ll be able to forget the closing words of the chapter: “It is telling that modern Baptist congregations normally do not sign baptismal hymns when celebrating the baptism of believers—further evidence that the rich implications of this ordinance do not inhabit the imaginations of contemporary Baptists” (27-28). Any hymn-writers out there up to remedying this?
My favorite chapter on the Lord’s Supper was chapter 2 which recounted the views of Baptists in the 1700s. Andrew Fuller, the lesser known but perhaps more theologically oriented contemporary of William Carey, sums up the view Haykin aims to recover this way: “Sin is washed away in baptism in the same sense as Christ’s flesh is eaten, and his blood drank, in the Lord’s supper: the sign, when rightly used, leads to the thing signified” (42). Haykin argues that “the view that the Lord’s Supper is primarily or merely a memorial only began to become widespread in Baptist circles during the last quarter of the eighteenth century” (46). Haykin goes on to argue that this shift in emphasis had unfortunate and unintended consequences: “In the later decades of the nineteenth century . . . the memorialist position was generally accompanied by some degree of ambivalence with regard to the importance of the Table for the believer’s Christian experience” (50).
Haykin deserves our thanks for reminding Baptists of our heritage, for exposing us once again to our own history (all too easily forgotten), and causing us to take a hard look at our understanding and our practice of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
4. 5 stars
*My thanks to the publisher who provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was not required to provide a positive review.
The book opens with one chapter devoted to baptism followed by three devoted to the Lord’s Supper before it closes a chapter tying the two together. I was most interested in what Haykin could tell us about the Lord’s Supper, but what caught my interest in the chapter on baptism was his use of “a collection of twelve hymns” titled “Hymns Compos’d for the Celebration of the Holy Ordinance of Baptism” (26). I’m not sure I’ll be able to forget the closing words of the chapter: “It is telling that modern Baptist congregations normally do not sign baptismal hymns when celebrating the baptism of believers—further evidence that the rich implications of this ordinance do not inhabit the imaginations of contemporary Baptists” (27-28). Any hymn-writers out there up to remedying this?
My favorite chapter on the Lord’s Supper was chapter 2 which recounted the views of Baptists in the 1700s. Andrew Fuller, the lesser known but perhaps more theologically oriented contemporary of William Carey, sums up the view Haykin aims to recover this way: “Sin is washed away in baptism in the same sense as Christ’s flesh is eaten, and his blood drank, in the Lord’s supper: the sign, when rightly used, leads to the thing signified” (42). Haykin argues that “the view that the Lord’s Supper is primarily or merely a memorial only began to become widespread in Baptist circles during the last quarter of the eighteenth century” (46). Haykin goes on to argue that this shift in emphasis had unfortunate and unintended consequences: “In the later decades of the nineteenth century . . . the memorialist position was generally accompanied by some degree of ambivalence with regard to the importance of the Table for the believer’s Christian experience” (50).
Haykin deserves our thanks for reminding Baptists of our heritage, for exposing us once again to our own history (all too easily forgotten), and causing us to take a hard look at our understanding and our practice of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
4. 5 stars
*My thanks to the publisher who provided a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. I was not required to provide a positive review.
January 12, 2024
In a short, 135 pages, Micahel Haykin does an excellent job of blending history, devotion, and piety. Haykin gives a niche insight into Baptist life during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and demonstrates our rich historical development with our understanding of the ordinances/sacraments. His citation of hymns and prayers was refreshing and deepened my appreciation of the Lord's supper and Baptism in the life of the church. Haykin concluded with 6 practical takeaways after surveying Baptist thought on the ordinances.
While Baptists have had many internal debates from the 16th - 18th century about the Lord's supper, I was most challenged by the charity each brother or sister showed to one another. In an age of dis-unity and deconstruction, we have much to learn from the charity of the Baptists.
May Christ nourish His church through the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's supper.
While Baptists have had many internal debates from the 16th - 18th century about the Lord's supper, I was most challenged by the charity each brother or sister showed to one another. In an age of dis-unity and deconstruction, we have much to learn from the charity of the Baptists.
May Christ nourish His church through the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's supper.
February 7, 2025
This is a good, concise introduction to historic Particular Baptist views and debates concerning Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Those looking for exegetical and theological resources on the subject should look elsewhere, as Haykin is concerned primarily to introduce readers to the thought of the early Particular Baptists, not necessarily the depths of their exegetical and theological reasoning. Overall, however, Haykin convincingly argues that a mere memorialist view of the ordinances/sacraments was not the historic norm for the British Baptists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
May 9, 2022
Dr. Michael Haykin provides an abundance of evidence to show the sacramental nature of historic Baptists. By citing treatises, hymns, and prayers, the Baptist tradition contains many examples of how Baptists saw baptism and communion as ordinary means of grace.
I found Haykin’s observation of the formation of the BMS and the deepening evangelistic zeal of the Particular Baptists leading to a decline in the sacramental tradition fascinating and worth pondering.
The hymns and prayers written by Baptists on the subject were rich and a means of spirituality for the present generation.
One weakness in the book is the failure to utilize or cite General Baptists who held sacramental views. This would have strengthened the thesis of the book.
Solid resource!
I found Haykin’s observation of the formation of the BMS and the deepening evangelistic zeal of the Particular Baptists leading to a decline in the sacramental tradition fascinating and worth pondering.
The hymns and prayers written by Baptists on the subject were rich and a means of spirituality for the present generation.
One weakness in the book is the failure to utilize or cite General Baptists who held sacramental views. This would have strengthened the thesis of the book.
Solid resource!
October 9, 2022
A delightful retrieval of historic Baptist sacramentalism. Far too often Baptists neglect their ecclesiological inheritance and think that we lack the same depth of sacramental piety found in traditional Reformed denominations, yet as Haykin conclusively proves here, the Particular Baptist regard for catholicity means that we may rightfully claim such classical Protestant emphases with our own distinctives still well in tow.
July 19, 2023
Short, edifying treatment of baptism and the Lord’s Supper as they were understood and practiced by Baptist forebears.
June 12, 2023
I found this book very helpful and excellent in many facets!
Haykin traces out historically through disputations as well as hymnody the thoughts of Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries as it relates to the sacraments (Baptism & the Lord's Supper). He concludes by the end of it that "like their Puritan forebears, Baptists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries -- who laid the foundations of the Baptist tradition -- were agreed in their understanding of these two ordinances as means or vehicles by which the Holy Spirit enables Christians to persevere in the Christian Life" (121).
Thus our forebears in the Baptist tradition did have room to talk about these things as memorials, signs, and symbols. In this sense, Baptists are happy to use Memorialist language at times in talking about the Supper. However, they were "unwilling to regard it as solely as an act of remembrance" (39). Instead, these activities were real means of grace, as Haykin has already show in his conclusion. So he can write that these "signs, when rightly used, leads to the thing signified" (42). This is a very sacramental line indeed, though it does depart from Romanist understandings by saying that the sign must be "rightly used." What is meant by the language, Haykin describes, is that the sign works "when the believer comes to the Table with Faith in the crucified Christ" (43). Not only does this signal Baptist doctrine ("the believer") but that the signs do not work in and of themselves as things that impart faith, but they only work for those who already have faith in Christ preceding them.
Take note though that the Supper is not reduced by this faith into merely a prop like a thin Memorialist position might suggest. For the one who approaches the Table with this faith, "she is assured" that she has received what they symbolize -- namely, the forgiveness of her sins through the death of the Lord Jesus. The Supper thus conveys an assurance of salvation" (43). See again how Haykin is developing the thesis that the sacraments are real vehicles that can "convey" what they are promised to grant, and can be received confidently as giving that which people by faith appropriate to themselves.
Indeed, one of the most striking sections of the work is when Haykin says that the Table then brings us closest to Christ in this life. In some striking quotations, he shows how Baptists said things like it "admits us into the nearest approach to his [Christ's] glorious self that we can make in an ordinance -way on the eart, on this side of the presence of his glory in heaven" (107). Haykin does note that the above quote (by Dutton) is a rather strong statement even for its time, but highlights that it is not antithetical to anything in the 1689 confession and falls within the realm of real Baptist thought, even given Baptist emphasis on preaching of the Word.
If this is true, why is this position almost shocking to us today given that Baptists largely hold a Memorialist position in our churches today? Haykin does discuss this by saying that much of the view was a result of a "shift in British Baptist ecclesiology that was underway during the final decades of the eighteenth century" (53). This shift was largely an evangelistict one and was overhwelmingly positive. This emphasis though tended to "downplay the importance of the Lord's Supper" as it seemed to be "an aspect of the Christian life that played little part in the evangelization of the lost" (55). So while an emphasis on Baptism remained due to Jesus' words around them in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, the Supper largely fell into disrepair in its understanding. Haykin notes that this is one of the few negatives of the "Evangelical Revival" that was experienced during this time" (107). In this, he shows that our emphases in ecclesiology can have great gains -- and I imagine most of us would be glad for the missiological emphasis our churches have. Yet the emphasis can come with potential lossess or neglected aspects if we are uncareful, and so we should learn from our brothers of the long eighteenth century that we should be careful not to jettison the institutions of the Lord simply because they do not seem obviously useful to the goal of our churches.
One final thing that was helpful was the discussion of Closed and Open membership in Baptist churches. Particularly striking was how John Bunyan was actually somewhat unpopular in his day for allowing unbaptized people to partake in the Lord's Supper (an Open position). While most Baptists rejected this position and agreed that the church's historical witness saw baptism as the entrance ordinance into the church, it is notable that the 1689 confession does not take as strong of a stance on this as one might expect (81). Baptists like Kiffin were "unwilling to break the fellowship of the Spirit over such issues" (82). Charity amongst them in the midst of such heated debates seems to be a hallmark of Baptist tradition and I was very proud to see it. Especially of note and worth more investigation is that the 1689's silence on the issue was likely more out of respect for Paedobaptists than for the "Open membership" proponents. Still, the appendix that was removed in the second republishing of this document means that there is some freedom that can be extended on this matter. Perhaps Baptists need to consider whether we should close off the Table to our Paedobaptist brethren, even if we consider their baptismal practices to be so irregular as to be nearly unrecognizable as baptism at all. Charity may extend our hearts to not break fellowship with them if we see they possess the same Spirit as us, even as we continue to remain firm in our convictions. I know modern Baptists like Gavin Ortlund are working on some similar positions, and this would be a good line of inquiry for us to discuss as Baptists.
While this book was overwhelmingly encouraging, I could see where one would be frustrated by certain aspects of its introductory nature. Haykin has very little of his own exegetical work in the book. He does note some strained interpretations here and there, which shows he is clearly not looking at these things uncritically. This lack of extended analysis of Baptist positions means that this book will really only serve to whet the appetite of anyone looking for how to think about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but to fully flesh out those thoughts and think about them through the lens of Scripture in more thorough detail one may need to take recourse to the footnotes.
I'm not sure though that, even having said that, it is a very real criticism of the book. Because Haykin does have very good footnotes and there are excellent, excellent resources one could follow up with! Haykin does exactly what I think he meant to do in a 120 page book. To convince us of the dominant position our Baptist brethren stood in, to offer us good resources for further conversation and dialogue with them as we think about our own positions, and to enter into the communion of the saints as we search out these things -- all done in charity and sincere conviction.
Whatever else this book has accomplished, I think it has strengthened me that when I take the Supper next I will believe Christ is really there fellowshipping, feeding, and assuring me of his love. That is a sweet thing since it does mean that our beloved really does amidst us stand. If for nothing else, that makes me very glad this book was written.
I commend it highly to anyone, especially those in the Baptist tradition who may not have thought much about the Lord's Supper!
Haykin traces out historically through disputations as well as hymnody the thoughts of Baptists in the 17th and 18th centuries as it relates to the sacraments (Baptism & the Lord's Supper). He concludes by the end of it that "like their Puritan forebears, Baptists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries -- who laid the foundations of the Baptist tradition -- were agreed in their understanding of these two ordinances as means or vehicles by which the Holy Spirit enables Christians to persevere in the Christian Life" (121).
Thus our forebears in the Baptist tradition did have room to talk about these things as memorials, signs, and symbols. In this sense, Baptists are happy to use Memorialist language at times in talking about the Supper. However, they were "unwilling to regard it as solely as an act of remembrance" (39). Instead, these activities were real means of grace, as Haykin has already show in his conclusion. So he can write that these "signs, when rightly used, leads to the thing signified" (42). This is a very sacramental line indeed, though it does depart from Romanist understandings by saying that the sign must be "rightly used." What is meant by the language, Haykin describes, is that the sign works "when the believer comes to the Table with Faith in the crucified Christ" (43). Not only does this signal Baptist doctrine ("the believer") but that the signs do not work in and of themselves as things that impart faith, but they only work for those who already have faith in Christ preceding them.
Take note though that the Supper is not reduced by this faith into merely a prop like a thin Memorialist position might suggest. For the one who approaches the Table with this faith, "she is assured" that she has received what they symbolize -- namely, the forgiveness of her sins through the death of the Lord Jesus. The Supper thus conveys an assurance of salvation" (43). See again how Haykin is developing the thesis that the sacraments are real vehicles that can "convey" what they are promised to grant, and can be received confidently as giving that which people by faith appropriate to themselves.
Indeed, one of the most striking sections of the work is when Haykin says that the Table then brings us closest to Christ in this life. In some striking quotations, he shows how Baptists said things like it "admits us into the nearest approach to his [Christ's] glorious self that we can make in an ordinance -way on the eart, on this side of the presence of his glory in heaven" (107). Haykin does note that the above quote (by Dutton) is a rather strong statement even for its time, but highlights that it is not antithetical to anything in the 1689 confession and falls within the realm of real Baptist thought, even given Baptist emphasis on preaching of the Word.
If this is true, why is this position almost shocking to us today given that Baptists largely hold a Memorialist position in our churches today? Haykin does discuss this by saying that much of the view was a result of a "shift in British Baptist ecclesiology that was underway during the final decades of the eighteenth century" (53). This shift was largely an evangelistict one and was overhwelmingly positive. This emphasis though tended to "downplay the importance of the Lord's Supper" as it seemed to be "an aspect of the Christian life that played little part in the evangelization of the lost" (55). So while an emphasis on Baptism remained due to Jesus' words around them in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, the Supper largely fell into disrepair in its understanding. Haykin notes that this is one of the few negatives of the "Evangelical Revival" that was experienced during this time" (107). In this, he shows that our emphases in ecclesiology can have great gains -- and I imagine most of us would be glad for the missiological emphasis our churches have. Yet the emphasis can come with potential lossess or neglected aspects if we are uncareful, and so we should learn from our brothers of the long eighteenth century that we should be careful not to jettison the institutions of the Lord simply because they do not seem obviously useful to the goal of our churches.
One final thing that was helpful was the discussion of Closed and Open membership in Baptist churches. Particularly striking was how John Bunyan was actually somewhat unpopular in his day for allowing unbaptized people to partake in the Lord's Supper (an Open position). While most Baptists rejected this position and agreed that the church's historical witness saw baptism as the entrance ordinance into the church, it is notable that the 1689 confession does not take as strong of a stance on this as one might expect (81). Baptists like Kiffin were "unwilling to break the fellowship of the Spirit over such issues" (82). Charity amongst them in the midst of such heated debates seems to be a hallmark of Baptist tradition and I was very proud to see it. Especially of note and worth more investigation is that the 1689's silence on the issue was likely more out of respect for Paedobaptists than for the "Open membership" proponents. Still, the appendix that was removed in the second republishing of this document means that there is some freedom that can be extended on this matter. Perhaps Baptists need to consider whether we should close off the Table to our Paedobaptist brethren, even if we consider their baptismal practices to be so irregular as to be nearly unrecognizable as baptism at all. Charity may extend our hearts to not break fellowship with them if we see they possess the same Spirit as us, even as we continue to remain firm in our convictions. I know modern Baptists like Gavin Ortlund are working on some similar positions, and this would be a good line of inquiry for us to discuss as Baptists.
While this book was overwhelmingly encouraging, I could see where one would be frustrated by certain aspects of its introductory nature. Haykin has very little of his own exegetical work in the book. He does note some strained interpretations here and there, which shows he is clearly not looking at these things uncritically. This lack of extended analysis of Baptist positions means that this book will really only serve to whet the appetite of anyone looking for how to think about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, but to fully flesh out those thoughts and think about them through the lens of Scripture in more thorough detail one may need to take recourse to the footnotes.
I'm not sure though that, even having said that, it is a very real criticism of the book. Because Haykin does have very good footnotes and there are excellent, excellent resources one could follow up with! Haykin does exactly what I think he meant to do in a 120 page book. To convince us of the dominant position our Baptist brethren stood in, to offer us good resources for further conversation and dialogue with them as we think about our own positions, and to enter into the communion of the saints as we search out these things -- all done in charity and sincere conviction.
Whatever else this book has accomplished, I think it has strengthened me that when I take the Supper next I will believe Christ is really there fellowshipping, feeding, and assuring me of his love. That is a sweet thing since it does mean that our beloved really does amidst us stand. If for nothing else, that makes me very glad this book was written.
I commend it highly to anyone, especially those in the Baptist tradition who may not have thought much about the Lord's Supper!
April 22, 2022
Baptists are sacramental. No, that’s not oxymoronic. Michael Haykin provides an excellent ressourcement of Baptist tradition that, I pray, will help renew the life, faith, and worship of local Baptist congregations.
November 26, 2024
Excellent. The historical case for the spiritual presence of Christ during the Lord’s Supper is strong. Haykin’s analysis of Baptist Sacraments in the centuries following the Reformation was insightful!
Big takeaway: Communion is not transubstantive, nor consubstantive, but also more than a memorial.
Big takeaway: Communion is not transubstantive, nor consubstantive, but also more than a memorial.
July 12, 2022
Baptists have a rich theological heritage regarding the ordinances/sacraments. Haykin gives us the essentials. It's manndatory reading for Baptist pastors wanting to depend their congregation's understanding of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
July 24, 2023
Great book. As a Baptist it’s good to learn from our origins as a tradition. Christ is present in the bread and wine and baptism is more than an allegory. They are means of grace. This book makes it more reasonable to argue and defend this posture from the historical perspective.
December 28, 2024
A great length. Haykin clearly had time on his hands because this book is short. A great overview of the historic Baptist position on the sacraments.
I would have enjoyed more biblical citations, but I understand that's not within the scope of this book.
I would have enjoyed more biblical citations, but I understand that's not within the scope of this book.
February 26, 2025
Solid overview of the resources in the Baptist tradition for a faithful sacramentalism. The devotional material at the end was great.
January 3, 2025
A very good introduction to the belief in the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper among early Baptists. Some beautiful hymnody is included. I may come back to it.
June 9, 2023
Baptist retrieval at its finest.
I cannot recommend this enough to understand the Baptist position on the sacraments whether you’re credobaptist or not.
I cannot recommend this enough to understand the Baptist position on the sacraments whether you’re credobaptist or not.
November 20, 2023
This work attempts to historically analyze views on baptism and the Lord's Supper throughout much of Particular Baptist history. According to the author, history shows that Baptists used to view the ordinances in a more "spiritual" way, seeing them as means of grace where the Holy Spirit is active and working in the believer. The comparison of the Zwinglian and Calvinistic views on the Lord's Supper (memorial vs. spiritual/mystical) is mentioned throughout. Evangelistic efforts and the revivalism ideologies that took over in the 1800s are believed to have contributed to these changes in Baptist ecclesiology. Many old writings are drawn from, as well as communion and baptism hymns that give a picture of what was going on in that day. The open/closed communion controversy was also reviewed to show the changing ideologies of baptism in Baptist life (the controversy between John Bunyan and numerous Baptists advocating for closed communion).
The end of the book contains 6 theses that summarize the work and call Baptists to recover their heritage.
1. The ordinances belong to the essence of the church
2. The ordinances are means of grace in the hands of the Holy Spirit
3. Baptism is the sign of the new covenant and is a believer's public profession that Christ is his and he is Christ's
4. The Lord's Supper is a recommitment of the Christian to the lordship of Christ and to those in their local church body on the basis of their sins being forgiven
5. The altar call during the 20th century undermined the historical, Baptist understanding of the ordinances
6. Modern society participating joyfully in the ordinances is a revolutionary act
Anyone who enjoys church history and sees the sacramental differences across protestant denominations today would benefit from reading this. I think most readers will conclude that Baptists have a heritage that you may not see in many Baptist churches today, nut nonetheless should be recovered.
The end of the book contains 6 theses that summarize the work and call Baptists to recover their heritage.
1. The ordinances belong to the essence of the church
2. The ordinances are means of grace in the hands of the Holy Spirit
3. Baptism is the sign of the new covenant and is a believer's public profession that Christ is his and he is Christ's
4. The Lord's Supper is a recommitment of the Christian to the lordship of Christ and to those in their local church body on the basis of their sins being forgiven
5. The altar call during the 20th century undermined the historical, Baptist understanding of the ordinances
6. Modern society participating joyfully in the ordinances is a revolutionary act
Anyone who enjoys church history and sees the sacramental differences across protestant denominations today would benefit from reading this. I think most readers will conclude that Baptists have a heritage that you may not see in many Baptist churches today, nut nonetheless should be recovered.
September 18, 2024
Author’s point:
Modern Baptists need to speak about their love for Christ at the Lord’s Table with the kinds of terms used by older Baptists, and further this lack of the "real presence" view is an important weakness.
My evaluation:
The love for Christ that His chief servants had among the Baptists of the 1600-1700’s inspires and shames me, and yet these great Christians seemed to surpass us with their zeal in preaching, prayer, and singing as well as their devotion at the Lord’s Table. Their faith was exceptional, but I am not convinced that certain words used to describe the Lord’s Table will produce that today—though such words may help!
Some concerns:
1. His use of sources made me doubt a few times. For example, his treatment of 1 Cor. 12:13 on 78ff would have been handled more openly had that been his position. But since the view of Kiffen on 78 was not Haykin's position, it sure looked like spin to me. That suspicion grew when he did not even summarize Fuller's views a few pages later. But this sounds very complicated in a review. Thought the same on his use of Dutton (104), but I could not find that online.
2. He wants his readers to become more comfortable with both "sacrament" which was sadly in the title and "Eucharist" which he used with a capital E (125). There are reasons that these words are not common in Spurgeon's preaching.
But I hope that our churches can pursue the love of Ephesians 3 especially when we remember our Lord at His Supper. Thank you, Dr. Haykin, for your hard work on these lectures. Your biography of Sutcliff helped me.
Modern Baptists need to speak about their love for Christ at the Lord’s Table with the kinds of terms used by older Baptists, and further this lack of the "real presence" view is an important weakness.
My evaluation:
The love for Christ that His chief servants had among the Baptists of the 1600-1700’s inspires and shames me, and yet these great Christians seemed to surpass us with their zeal in preaching, prayer, and singing as well as their devotion at the Lord’s Table. Their faith was exceptional, but I am not convinced that certain words used to describe the Lord’s Table will produce that today—though such words may help!
Some concerns:
1. His use of sources made me doubt a few times. For example, his treatment of 1 Cor. 12:13 on 78ff would have been handled more openly had that been his position. But since the view of Kiffen on 78 was not Haykin's position, it sure looked like spin to me. That suspicion grew when he did not even summarize Fuller's views a few pages later. But this sounds very complicated in a review. Thought the same on his use of Dutton (104), but I could not find that online.
2. He wants his readers to become more comfortable with both "sacrament" which was sadly in the title and "Eucharist" which he used with a capital E (125). There are reasons that these words are not common in Spurgeon's preaching.
But I hope that our churches can pursue the love of Ephesians 3 especially when we remember our Lord at His Supper. Thank you, Dr. Haykin, for your hard work on these lectures. Your biography of Sutcliff helped me.
August 31, 2022
What an excellent little volume! Dr. Haykin surveys the theology and piety of key 17th and 18th century Baptists concerning the Lord’s Supper. He briefly explains some of the key debates and pinpoints what he believes to be the reason for the departure of this rich theology and piety of the Supper in the 19th century. Appended to the book are six thesis to aid in the contemporary recovery of our forebears understanding of the Supper as well as several prayers that give a glimpse of the spiritual tenor of the Baptists approach to the Supper.
Additionally, Lexham Press has done an outstanding job in the binding and paper quality of this book! Lexham is doing great work.
Additionally, Lexham Press has done an outstanding job in the binding and paper quality of this book! Lexham is doing great work.
July 10, 2023
An important work in the ongoing recovery of historic theology and continuity with the past in evangelical churches. But all too brief. I do wonder if Haykin could have done more to prove his case that much of the Baptist movement in the 17th and 18th centuries were more Calvinistic than Zwinglian in their eucharistic theology; that is to say, a real (=pneumatic) presence as opposed to mere memorialism. Often he would only cite 2 or 3 authors to summarise an entire century of Baptist belief. Perhaps this has much to do with how small, and how persecuted, the Baptists were in those early years.
October 25, 2025
Really enjoyed the book.
Tackles the notion that Baptists haven’t predominantly held to a pure memorialist view but the reformed view of real presence which differs from the Lutheran and Catholic literal views
Towards the end of the book, thesis 5 of Michael Haykin’s 6 theses was that in the 20th century, the modern day altar call has taken over what once was the Lords Supper as the response to the gospel presented in the Sunday Sermon. I hope one day we as evangelicals can return to this practice!
Tackles the notion that Baptists haven’t predominantly held to a pure memorialist view but the reformed view of real presence which differs from the Lutheran and Catholic literal views
Towards the end of the book, thesis 5 of Michael Haykin’s 6 theses was that in the 20th century, the modern day altar call has taken over what once was the Lords Supper as the response to the gospel presented in the Sunday Sermon. I hope one day we as evangelicals can return to this practice!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2022
As I expected, Dr. Michael Haykin has provided another clear, concise, and deep discussion of the two ordinances (sacraments) of the local church. The book is a mere 150 or so pages but is packed with historical references tracing the Baptist tradition concerning Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Dr. Haykin demonstrates that Baptists, until recently, held to the Reformed sacramental teaching on the ordinances.
A terrific book which may be read in a matter of a few hours.
A terrific book which may be read in a matter of a few hours.
February 8, 2024
Loved this book. It was challenging in some places and thought-provoking. My only gripe is that it was a little short and I think it would have benefited from more emphasis being given by the author to taking a stand and making a defense on the various issues of disagreement throughout the book. Overall, though, I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more behind the history of Baptist views on the ordinances or (we are allowed to use this word) the sacraments.
January 6, 2026
A gentle, clarifying reminder that Christ truly dwells among His gathered churches, not in abstraction but through the ordinary means He has appointed (clearly laid out in His word). With a calm tone and historical depth, Haykin steadied my love for the local church, pushing back against both cynicism and consumerism. It left me freshly comforted and reoriented—more eager to love Christ by loving His imperfect, visible bride.
August 24, 2022
Well researched and clearly written, this book provides a useful survey of Baptist positions on the role of the sacraments in the life of the church. Haykin provides six concluding theses that, while written primarily for a contemporary Baptist audience, are more broadly useful to credobaptists in general.
November 29, 2025
An enjoyable read if you're into historical Baptist sacramentology. It is a history book, not a theological or persuasive essay, so don't expect to walk away convinced of one view or another, but rather with a greater understanding of the history.
June 26, 2022
This is an excellent example of how historical theology can benefit the church. A worthwhile look at how Particular Baptists have historically viewed the sacraments.
July 16, 2022
Good and coherent introduction to the eucharistic piety of the particular Baptists until the mid-nineteenth century. Haykin writes in such a way that one could easily read this book in one sitting.
October 15, 2023
Historiography is pretty good. The distilling of Baptist theses for the sacraments is excellent. 5 star rating because it’s the best recent work of its kind on Baptist sacramentalism.
October 25, 2023
Michael Haykin presents arguments that early Baptists had a Sacramentarian view of the Lord's supper. It was an ordinary means of grace, having much more than merely symbolic value.
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