Iosias
16th November 2006, 06:45 AM
I would heartily recommend you purchase a copy of Hoeksema's Believers and their Seed.
It possess a great exposition of the covenant and a fantastic defense of the covenantal basis for infant baptism.
A reviewer said:
As Prof. Engelsma points out, the significance of the book is that it makes six points about the covenant, points we believe Reformed churches need badly to hear today. 1) The essence of the covenant is friendship, friendship between God and His people through the work of Jesus Christ. And this friendship is to be traced back to the triune life of God Himself. God is the covenant God because He enjoys a life of friendship, first within Himself, and then with His people. 2) Included in this covenant life are the children of believers, for God saves His church in the line of continued generations. And for this reason infants are to be baptized. 3) There is one church throughout the ages, one covenant under Old and New Testament forms. Baptism has replaced circumcision. Infants must receive the token of the covenant. 4) The covenant is established only with the elect. Here we see Hoeksema faithful to the Canons of Dordt as he applies the doctrines of grace to the covenant. Because believers bring forth a twofold seed, the elect and the reprobate, it is necessary to distinguish the covenant from the sphere of the covenant. Only elect children of believers are in the covenant of grace. The Esaus in the church are not in the covenant, but are merely in the sphere of the covenant for which they are judged the more strictly. 5) The doctrinal struggle of 1953 must be seen as a controversy over the covenant: Would the Protestant Reformed Churches remain faithful to her historical moorings, or would she adopt bilateralism as regards the covenant? Hoeksema shows that the Christian Reformed view of the covenant was basically the same as that espoused by Dr. K. Schilder and the Liberated Churches, and therefore must be rejected. And 6) Hoeksema rejects the Kuyperian notion of presupposed regeneration as the reason for the baptism of infants.
http://www.rfpa.org/sb/TheStandardBearer.asp?Search4=90&SearchYesValue4=0&biblebook4=0&biblechapter4=0&volume4=74&issue4=181&article4=1429&Narrow4=1&TOCValue4=0
American: http://www.rfpa.org/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=15
UK: http://www.cprf.co.uk/bookstore/believersandtheirseed.htm
WARNING: IF YOU ARE A BAPTIST DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK - IT WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND! ;)
It possess a great exposition of the covenant and a fantastic defense of the covenantal basis for infant baptism.
A reviewer said:
As Prof. Engelsma points out, the significance of the book is that it makes six points about the covenant, points we believe Reformed churches need badly to hear today. 1) The essence of the covenant is friendship, friendship between God and His people through the work of Jesus Christ. And this friendship is to be traced back to the triune life of God Himself. God is the covenant God because He enjoys a life of friendship, first within Himself, and then with His people. 2) Included in this covenant life are the children of believers, for God saves His church in the line of continued generations. And for this reason infants are to be baptized. 3) There is one church throughout the ages, one covenant under Old and New Testament forms. Baptism has replaced circumcision. Infants must receive the token of the covenant. 4) The covenant is established only with the elect. Here we see Hoeksema faithful to the Canons of Dordt as he applies the doctrines of grace to the covenant. Because believers bring forth a twofold seed, the elect and the reprobate, it is necessary to distinguish the covenant from the sphere of the covenant. Only elect children of believers are in the covenant of grace. The Esaus in the church are not in the covenant, but are merely in the sphere of the covenant for which they are judged the more strictly. 5) The doctrinal struggle of 1953 must be seen as a controversy over the covenant: Would the Protestant Reformed Churches remain faithful to her historical moorings, or would she adopt bilateralism as regards the covenant? Hoeksema shows that the Christian Reformed view of the covenant was basically the same as that espoused by Dr. K. Schilder and the Liberated Churches, and therefore must be rejected. And 6) Hoeksema rejects the Kuyperian notion of presupposed regeneration as the reason for the baptism of infants.
http://www.rfpa.org/sb/TheStandardBearer.asp?Search4=90&SearchYesValue4=0&biblebook4=0&biblechapter4=0&volume4=74&issue4=181&article4=1429&Narrow4=1&TOCValue4=0
American: http://www.rfpa.org/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=15
UK: http://www.cprf.co.uk/bookstore/believersandtheirseed.htm
WARNING: IF YOU ARE A BAPTIST DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK - IT WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND! ;)