Review: Why I Am a Baptist

Reviewed by T. C. Pinckney                                                                    Vol. XV, No. 9, October 2002

Why I Am a Baptist, Tom J. Nettles and Russell D. Moore, editors (Broadman & Holman, 2001) has several attractive features. First, at a time when firm commitment to biblical authority is under sustained attack, the book offers decisive reasons why such authority is the root of valid, vibrant Christianity. Second, while similar attacks against historic Baptist distinctives are being conducted by both the secular humanist, evolutionist, post-modernist culture and the touchy-feely, loony, liberal left within the Baptist orbit, the book provides convincing proof that believer’s baptism, church discipline, local church autonomy, a commitment to evangelism and world missions, and other typically Baptist distinctives are not relics of some outdated time and place, but rather essential characteristics of true biblical Christianity whether in 100 a.d., 1609, or 2002.

Tom Nettles writes the first chapter, “Opening Thoughts,” and co-editor Moore chapter 26, “Concluding Thoughts.” In between, the body of the book is comprised of 24 brief chapters by as many different authors. Part Two, “Thoughts from the Past,” has three chapters by Isaac Backus, Ann Judson, and F. H. Kerfoot. Part Three, “Thoughts from the Baptist Leadership,” offers the views of Jimmy Draper, Al Mohler, and Paige Patterson. Part Four, “Thoughts from across the Seas,” presents three contributions from Britain and one from Zambia. Part Five, “... from the Pastor’s Study,” brings five accounts from well-known pastors. Part Six, “... from the Family Room,” offers two chapters by Baptist wives. Part Seven, “... from the Professor’s Lectern,” includes three chapters, each by a professor at one of our SBC seminaries. And Part Eight, “... from Evangelical Leaders,” Wayne Grudem, Carl F. H. Henry, C. Ben Mitchell, and Roger Nicole.

This format has several attractions for the reader. Each chapter is brief, from four to eleven pages, so each can be read in one sitting. The book is also clearly written for the layman with few arcane theological terms. And it presents a cross section of perspectives varying in time, geography, gender, and profession, thus making for interesting comparison.

Ours is a time of challenge and controversy for Baptists, but that is not all bad. Controversy and challenge force us to re-examine our positions, to recognize and deal with inconsistencies, to reaffirm and appreciate strengths. Why I Am a Baptist fills this role admirably. At $14.99 it would make an important but not expensive gift.