Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace

As a Baptist minister thinking through the paedobaptist position I was quite disappointed by this book. The fault, however, is not Jewett's. In fact, I think he has done a masterful job of defending the credobaptist position, and I am happy that he has done so from a Reformed perspective. Paul Jewett's book is the best I have read on the subject, which only serves to underline the weaknesses inherent in the credobaptist system.

Jewett insists often that only those blindly entrenched in the paedobaptist tradition can resist the arguments in favour of credobaptism. As one who has (for years) been entrenched in the Baptist tradition, I think the very opposite is true. Indeed, the more of Jewett's book I read the more convinced I became of show more the merits (not of credobaptism but) of paeodobaptism.

Those who are willing to think through these issues should make the time to read "Infant Baptism & The Covenant of Grace". Jewett has done a very fine job. But, don't expect this book to do for you what you think (and even hope) it might. If you are a sincere student of the Bible you may just find yourself adopting the very arguments Jewett set out to defeat. show less

As a Pedobaptist, I must say that I am impressed with Dr. Jewett's work on this subject. Though his Baptist bias shines through the work at various places, and there are some of the typical Baptist errors in argumentation throughout (ie attempting to find evidence for infant baptism instead of looking at it correctly from the direction of Infant inclusion in the Covenant), the work as a whole attempts to analyze the subject of Infant Baptism in a holistic manner. I must say that if your view of Pedobaptism cannot pass the muster of Jewett's work in a consistent biblical manner, it is not worth holding onto.