The subject of baptism continues to be prominent in both ecumenical and denominational (particularly British Baptist) contexts. This collection of essays is therefore timely for quite a number of them engage with such contemporary issues as the mutual acceptance of baptism, whether infant or believers’ (disciples), across the denominations.

The book is in three parts. The first is devoted to baptism in the NT, the second and considerably shorter part to baptism in the Early Church, and the third to baptism in contemporary theology. There is an extensive bibliography (354–79), followed by indexes of references and authors. Space will allow notice of a few contributions.

In the first part Howard Marshall examines the meaning of the verb ‘baptise’ and concludes that ‘while immersion was the practice in NT times … there are a variety of points which indicate that affusion (and even sprinkling, Did. 7.3) was also practised’ (23)

In his consideration of household baptism(s) in Acts, Joel Green seeks to establish that they ‘appear at two crucial crossroads of the Gentile mission in order to demonstrate the incontrovertible geosocial progress of the mission and especially to show how the mission thus established the household as the new culture centre for the people of God’ (74).

Anthony R. Cross contributes two important essays on Spirit and water-baptism in 1 Corinthians 12:13 and the meaning of ‘baptisms’ in Hebrews 6:2. Ramsey Michaels’ chapter on sin and purification in John and 1 John makes the interesting suggestion that in the Johannine tradition.

it was not the human predicament as such, but the problem of post-baptismal sin among believers that gave birth finally to a robust theology of the atonement (162).

David Wright begins the second section with an essay on Jesus’ blessing of children and infant baptism. He shows that there is very little evidence that the early Church associated the blessing of children by Jesus with baptism (193ff). He concludes that the pericope ‘belongs more fittingly in a non-baptismal dedication for a newborn or adopted child’ (206). (An enterprising publisher would do a real service by gathering David Wright’s numerous contributions on baptism/infant dedication in the early Church into a single volume).

In the third section ecumenical and denominational concerns come into sharper focus. Believers’ baptism is seen as a sacrament in which God is active through his Spirit rather than simply as a human act of obedience (Watts, 279). Paul Fiddes argues that baptism should be viewed as part of a process of Christian initiation, which is to be regarded as ‘a journey (that) is characterised by an interplay of divine grace and human faith at all stages’ (295).

Space precludes a more detailed treatment of the essays of Kearsley, Holmes, Haymes and Ellis, but Holmes’ provocative comment that Baptists should be prepared to make room ‘for a strange and inappropriate, but not invalid form, of the sacrament (i.e. infant baptism), refusing to condone the practice, but refusing to let it divide the Church either … (261) calls for notice. This reviewer finds it hard to see how, if Baptists take this view of infant baptism and are prepared to articulate it in a local church in which there are conscientious paedobaptist members, ‘a serious wound’ can begin to be healed.

This collection of essays will be of real service to students who want to research the subject of baptism. However, the very high price being charged for it will limit its circulation to libraries (some!) and individuals with substantial resources.

I have noticed a few blemishes. Craig Evans becomes Crag Evans (p. xv) and Christopher Ellis’ name does not appear in the list of contributors. On page 348, n. 39 ‘Papal Evangelical’ should be ‘Papal Encyclical’.