Baptism in the Reformed Tradition, by John Riggs

Recognition of common baptism has been fundamental to the ecumenical renewal and liturgical reform movement. The common texts of the various churches of the Western tradition reflect a common scholarly enterprise of Catholic and Reformation churches. This volume is an important contribution to liturgical theology, focusing particularly on developments in the Presbyterian tradition, but with important implications for the whole liturgical movement.

John Riggs's thesis is that the 1993 Presbyterian Book of Common Worship, and the Lutheran Book of Worship which preceded it, have been so influenced by the liturgical renewal movement of the past two centuries, especially the Roman Catholics' Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, that certain central emphases of the Reformation have been lost. Riggs does not seek to reverse these liturgical reforms. He only wants to correct them to take account of Reformed theology of church and sacraments.

Riggs begins with an overview of the liturgical movement, the development of the RCIA, its ecclesiological implications and a critique of the Lutheran Book of Worship in the light of Luther's theology. He discusses the first-generation reformers, Zwingli, Luther and Bucer; the second generation, Calvin and Bullinger; and devotes a full chapter to Calvin's theology of baptism. The subsequent history of Reformed baptismal theology and the Book of Common Worship are the subjects of the rest of the book. Riggs indicates where Reformed elements have been suppressed in the Book of Common Worship and makes suggestions for revisions that would reflect more clearly the ecclesiology and sacramental understanding of that tradition.