Overview

Font of Pardon and New Life is a study of the historical development and impact of John Calvin's doctrine of baptism, both adult (or believer) baptism and infant baptism. Did Calvin intend to teach a kind of baptismal forgiveness and regeneration, that is, did he believe that the external sign of baptism actually conveys the spiritual realities it signifies? If baptism does serve in some way as an instrument of divine grace for Calvin, what then are the roles of the Word, the Holy Spirit, divine election, and individual faith? Are spiritual blessings conferred only in adult (believer) baptism or also in the baptism of infants? Did Calvin's teaching on baptismal efficacy remain constant throughout his lifetime, or did it undergo significant change? What impact did it have on the Reformed confessional tradition that followed him?Lyle D. Bierma approaches these questions by examining Calvin's writings on baptism in their entirety, proceeding chronologically through Calvin's life and writings including his Institutes, commentaries on the Bible, catechisms, polemical treatises, and consensus documents. Bierma concludes that Calvin understood baptism as a means or instrument of both assurance and grace. His view underwent some change and development over the course of his life but not to the extent that some in the past have suggested. The overall trajectory of his baptismal theology was one of increasing clarity and refinement of basic themes already present in incipient form in the Institutes of 1536.

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9780197553879

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Reviews

This study is a refreshing, direct, engaging, and insightful look at one of the most popular theologians in the Reformed tradition. Bierma has likely achieved much in reviving interest in Calvin's octrines of the sacraments and charting a methodological and conceptual way forward. * Harrison Perkins, Anglican and Episcopal History * This fine study examines John Calvin's doctrine of baptism. It will be welcomed by a wide range of scholars, from those who focus on Calviniana to those who research sacramental theology, ecclesiology, personal piety, Early Modern theology, history, and so forth. * JON BALSERAK, University of Bristol., The Journal of Religion * the book will provoke and challenge this reviewer's own teaching of Calvin's theology to students and, I suspect, prompt and resource many others to attend more effectively to his sacramental theology. * Michael Allen, Reading Religion * The most interesting parts of the book were those that both registered and settled into some of the cracks in Calvin's own theological system. * Julie Canlis, Scottish Journal of Theology * Bierma's careful and rigorous scholarship has gifted us with a work that will likely outlast many more forthcoming volumes on Calvin. * J. Brittain Brewer, Theology and History * A thorough study. With points of departure for further research into the theory of sacraments during the Reformation, also compared to the present-day context. * P. Veerman, Theologia Reformata *

This study is a refreshing, direct, engaging, and insightful look at one of the most popular theologians in the Reformed tradition. Bierma has likely achieved much in reviving interest in Calvin's octrines of the sacraments and charting a methodological and conceptual way forward. * Harrison Perkins, Anglican and Episcopal History * This fine study examines John Calvin's doctrine of baptism. It will be welcomed by a wide range of scholars, from those who focus on Calviniana to those who research sacramental theology, ecclesiology, personal piety, Early Modern theology, history, and so forth. * JON BALSERAK, University of Bristol., The Journal of Religion * the book will provoke and challenge this reviewer's own teaching of Calvin's theology to students and, I suspect, prompt and resource many others to attend more effectively to his sacramental theology. * Michael Allen, Reading Religion * The most interesting parts of the book were those that both registered and settled into some of the cracks in Calvin's own theological system. * Julie Canlis, Scottish Journal of Theology *

the book will provoke and challenge this reviewer's own teaching of Calvin's theology to students and, I suspect, prompt and resource many others to attend more effectively to his sacramental theology. * Michael Allen, Reading Religion *

Author Information

Lyle D. Bierma is P. J. Zondervan Professor of the History of Christianity at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After receiving his PhD in Religion from Duke University in 1980, he taught church history and theology at Kuyper College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for nineteen years before joining the faculty at Calvin Seminary in 1999. His research and publications have focused on the early history of Reformed covenant theology, the Heidelberg Catechism (1563), and John Calvin.

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