Bücher von Anthony R (McMaster Divinity College Canada) Cross

The aim of the book is to reexamine Baptist theology and practice in the light of the contemporary biblical, theological, ecumenical and missiological context, drawing on historical and contemporary writings and issues. It is not a study in denominationalism but rather seeks to revision historical insights from the believers' church tradition for the sake of Baptists and other Christians in the context of the modernpostmodern context.

The subject of baptism continues to be of considerable interest--though it frequently appears within broader studies of sacraments, liturgy, worship, and ecumenical studies, and within confessional bounds: credobaptist or paedobaptist--yet it is rarely discussed by Evangelicals. This book, however, is neither an apologetic for credobaptism nor paedobaptism; rather Cross believes that, as practiced today, both forms are a departure from New Testament baptism, which, he maintains, was an integral part of becoming a Christian and part of the proclaimed gospel. He argues that the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5 is conversion-baptism and that the baptism referred to in the various New Testament strata refers to this "one baptism" (of Spirit and water). The study sets out the case for this interpretation and contends that in key passages "baptism" is an example of synecdoche. The case is then made for a sacramental interpretation of baptism from a thoroughgoing Evangelical perspective. Cross concludes with reflections on the necessity of baptismal reform and the relevance of a return to conversion-baptism for the contemporary church in a post-Christian, post-Christendom, mission setting.