Southern Baptists and American Evangelicals
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 65, No. 2 - Spring 2023
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Michael A. G. Haykin. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022, 153pp., $24.99
Haykin demonstrates that Baptists in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries used the term “sacrament” without any apparent worry, at times using that term and “ordinances” interchangeably (as quite a few nineteenth century Baptists did as well). Our Baptist forebears saw baptism and the Lord’s Supper as precious means of grace, not as mere externals, but divinely ordained venues by which the Holy Spirit ministers to the people of God. Our churches desperately need to recover this understanding.
On baptism, I was encouraged to see the clear affirmation by seventeenth century Baptists of baptism as the profession of faith. I think the New Testament is clear on this point, so I was delighted to see agreement from these forebears. I believe Haykin is correct in suggesting the “altar call” has lamentably replaced baptism as the profession of faith in the regular practice of most of our Baptist churches, thus diminishing the perceived value of baptism.
A good bit more space in the book is devoted to communion, so I will give it more space as well. The most important contribution of the book is demonstrating how prized communion was to these Baptists, how much they benefited from it, and how earnestly they approached it. Modern Baptists should read this and wonder what we have missed when so often indication of the Lord’s Supper being celebrated on a Sunday is met with a sigh and resignation to a slightly longer service. We would do well to meditate on the beautiful language they used. I love Benjamin Keach’s phrase for the Supper, “Soul-reviving Cordial” (p. 37). It is helpful also to note the care with which churches protected the table. I was encouraged to see they did not allow for private celebration of the Supper (seeing that as too much like Cathloic Mass). I have argued against this practice as well, but that argument has not always been well received.
The argument over who is qualified to preside over communion is instructive since this question often comes up today. It seems Baptists today usually agree that anyone designated by the church can preside. It was helpful to read the arguments of earlier Baptists that only pastors can preside. I think those arguments end up as man-made law fearing to trust the congregation, no matter how well intended (pp. 88-90). I am still unconvinced by the arguments for closed communion and was happy to see William Carey (at least at one time) and John Rylands, Jr. on my side (pp. 88-90). As a side note, the aorist tense does not mean a single, once-for-all action (discussion of 1 Cor 12:13, p. 79).
Perhaps the most central point in the book is the real spiritual presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Haykin makes a strong argument that most Baptists in the eighteenth century affirmed this. Mostly it seems to me, they saw no conflict between the Supper being a memorial and the fact that Christ was present in a way such as the Puritans had affirmed.
Eventually Baptists moved away from real presence toward a memorial-only view. Without entering that debate, I am not sure Haykin demonstrates that the memorial view led to all the ills he suggests. This is often suggested but never proven. Causality is often hard to prove. I will simply say that I would heartily welcome memorialists such as Sutcliff whom Haykin quotes at length. Sutcliff saw the Table as “a place of re-consecration,” and “an open avowal that one was subject to Christ as his Sovereign, according to Haykin (p. 49). Haykin notes that Sutcliff sought to guard against indifference about the Lord’s Supper, but his perspective intime would “help to foster” indifference (p. 50). Perhaps, but not proven. There may be more historical data, but with what is given here, we need to be careful not to conflate bad results from bad examples with better examples of that idea.
Haykin seems critical of those describing Supper as a “commemoration” or “memorial” of Christ’s death, but this is the language of Scripture (p. 52). It may be more, but these are good things to affirm and here he does not cite these people as saying “merely” or “only” this (similarly, p. 55).
I am not always convinced of every aspect of the argument about presence or at least that the more memorialists discussed in the book are doing poorly. My main take away is that both sides seem to be far more engaged with communion, appreciative of it, and benefiting from it than most Baptist churches today. I’d welcome at least a return to the hearty memorialist practices described here!
One of the great values of this book is its engagement with the hymnody of the era which focused on the ordinances. Not surprisingly, as our practice of the ordinances has faded so has our hymnody related to them. Haykin notes that the authors of hymns expressly intended to raise proper affections and “kindling devotion to Christ” (p. 94). This is an important way to help people not simply go through the motions. Our songs train our affections. Haykin quotes from these hymns at length, and the doctrinal robustness paired with earnest affection is wonderful. Pastors today can use some of this language as they preside at the Table. I have marked several I am eager to use soon!
This is a wonderful book, accessible and valuable for all church leaders. Its great value is as an encouragement and exhortation to more meaningful engagement with the Lord’s Supper and baptism, and as an aid to stirring up our affections thereto. Too bad so many important works on Baptist history and practice, like this book, have to look outside our denomination for publication. Like John Ryland, Jr. and Andrew Fuller, I am happy to disagree with Haykin on some points while celebrating his great work and the help it will be to pastors and churches.
