Troubled Waters: Rethinking the Theology of Baptism

by Ben Witherington III

Baptism has been a contested practice from the very beginning of the church. In this volume, Ben Witherington rethinks the theology of baptism and does so in constant conversation with the classic theological positions and central New Testament texts. By placing baptism in the context of the covenant, Witherington shows how advocates of both believer's baptism and infant baptism have added some water to both their theology and practice of baptism.

Genres: Theology, New Testament, Ecclesiology, Biblical Studies, Religion

135 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and is on the doctoral faculty at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including The Jesus Quest, The Paul Quest, and The New York Times bestseller The Brother of Jesus. He has appeared on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN.

Reviews

[Andrew Hains · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Muddy Waters: Deconstructing the Theology of Baptism" may have been a better title for this book. Witherington seeks to interpret what the New Testament says about Baptism. The "Muddy" parts of this book are based on Witherington's interpretations that the New Testament does not give any clear instruction on the practice of Baptism. The deconstruction aspects of this book deal with his emphasis to set the infant baptism people and believer's baptism people straight about a "biblical" understanding of Baptism. In addition, he attempts to critique the important works on Baptism: Beasley-Murray "Baptism in the New Testament" (1962), Marcel "The Biblical Doctrine of Infant Baptism" (1953), Cullmann "Baptism in the New Testament (1950), and James Dunn "Baptism in the Spirit" (1970).

According to Witherington, "We have no absolutely clear guidance on the mode of baptism in the New Testament, no clear guidance on whether water baptism must precede Spirit Baptism or follow it, though the former pattern seems more in evidence..." (110-111). Furthermore, "The NT does not answer all of our modern questions about baptism, and it especially does not answer questions about what to do with Christian children when it comes to baptism" (111).

I did not find Witherington's arguments completely convincing nor did I find his solutions in the postscript helpful for the modern Christian. In the end, Witherington is right to say that the symbolism of "baptism depicts not the work of humans, but of God" (128) and that a person's theology of baptism is dependent on their theology of salvation. Maybe this book will help produce a better work on the theology of baptism in the early church.

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben Witherington III's "Trouble Waters: The Real New Testament Theology of Baptism" is a befuddling little book. While Witherington does a thorough job of investigating NT passages relating to the practice of infant baptism, he does not seem to make many clear statements. Even his conclusion seems muddled; while he himself seems to side with infant baptism (he is a Methodist), he also does not believe infant baptism was the normative practice of the early Church (and he says that the NT does not directly teach infant baptism) and as such, it should not be strictly enforced but rather postponed until the believer getting baptized can understand the public proclamation they are making by being baptized. One point I do appreciate that Witherington raises is that if those who subscribe to "believer's baptism" are so firm in their demand for a personal statement of faith, they will have trouble because NO ONE knows if someone's faith is truly authentic, only God does (whether the person getting baptized is three months or thirty). Oddly, Witherington really only addresses Baptist and Paedobaptist positions on baptism (though the publisher is a Baptist university so that may be the reason why). I would have liked to have seen him bring in Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and other denominational approaches to baptism in order to gain a fuller picture of the practice and sacrament.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive exegetical review of biblical and extra-biblical teachings and practices on baptism. I found it very helpful to focus on individual conclusions. The survey of the many different biblical passages and historical evidence ended up being somewhat confusing. The synthesis of it all did not tie things together as well as I would have liked. But this is definitely a book to consider if you are interested in a biblical theology of baptism.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witherington's small book on baptism debates is a welcome edition to the discussion. Witherington has the ecumenical position that baptism is best done by baptizing professing believers alone, but that it is also acceptable to baptize the children of believers.

Witherington discusses such topics as: paedo/credo baptism (and a lot of what is involved in that debate, viz., household passages, I Cor. 7, Acts 2, etc); water baptism's relation with spirit baptism, John's baptism; the great commission; the missionary setting of baptism, etc.

Witherington disagrees (and agrees) with both paedo scholars and credo scholars on varying issues. For example, he disagrees with a popular credobaptist approach to 1 Cor. 7 - P.K. Jewett's take on that verse. He argues that the great commission is not a decisive verse on the proper subjects of baptism. He disagrees with many paedobaptists who might separate spirit baptism and water baptism; but(!), he leaves room for this view in some instances (e.g., Acts 8), showing somewhat decisevely that there is no necessary connection, i.e., the two could be, and were distinguished (contrary to some credo scholars, e.g., Tom Schreiner). I thought Witherington made an extremely helpful observation regarding Acts 2. He claims that the phrase "you and your children" is referring to the Jews there and their children. This is not a claim that the Spirit will be poured out on all of those who profess faith. If it were, why were the early Christians, and the orator of the claim(!), surprised to learn that the Gentiles would receive the spirit too?

Overall the book was a good read. It is a short read so you could finish it in a sitting or two. There are some helpful insights, for both paedo and credo baptist. The book could have delved further into some areas, handling some tougher responses (from both sides), and so that's why I gave it 4 stars. I would recommend this as a helpful addition to the "sacramental" section of your library.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

How a scholar of Witherington's caliber can read Romans 6 and not see the connection Paul is making between baptism and resurrection is beyond me. I also believe that he is misreading 1 Corinthians 1:17. But beyond those two issues (and the things indirectly related to them), I think Witherington is ahead of most evangelicals in reevaluating the importance of the act of baptism.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good debate on the subject of baptism; not so convinced by the conclusions.