(Part 1)

JBTM Book Reviews
156
Lord’s Supper structure the church” (3).
Going Public is divided into the following three parts: Getting Our Bearings; Building a
Case; and The Case Stated, Defended, Applied. In Part 1, Jamieson provides an introduction
in which he explains why baptism as a requirement for membership is a topic worth debating.
After providing some foundational definitions regarding membership and communion,
Jamieson then describes two key issues surrounding the baptism-membership debate: 1)
“the question of whether baptism is the initiatory rite into the church and how that bears
on its relationship to church membership,” and 2) “the theological relationship—or better,
interrelationship—between baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and church membership” (16–17).
In chapter 2, Jamieson offers six reasons why “open membership just feels right” (21).
These include: the culture of tolerance, a pendulum swing on discipline and denominational
divisions, evangelicals’ cooperative DNA, evangelical essentialism (i.e., boiling doctrine
down to the essentials of salvation), advancing secularism and the need to stick together,
and not wanting to be the odd man out (22–32).
In Part 2, Jamieson builds his case for the ecclesial shape of baptism and communion—
their “intrinsic connection to local church membership” (56). He first offers a theology of
baptism, arguing that “baptism is where faith goes public” (36). After providing a biblicaltheological
understanding of baptism, Jamieson argues that the biblical evidence suggests
that all Christians should be baptized, and because baptism is where faith goes public,
paedobaptism is not biblical baptism. In the next two chapters, Jamieson suggests that
baptism should be understood in two ways. First, baptism should be understood as the
initiating oath-sign of the new covenant. In describing baptism as the initiating oath-sign of
the new covenant, Jamieson is saying that “baptism is a solemn, symbolic vow which ratifies
a person’s entrance into the new covenant” (63). Second, Jamieson considers baptism to be
the passport of the kingdom, meaning baptism is “how the church identifies someone as a
kingdom citizen” (93). He writes, “When a church baptizes someone, they identify him or her
as a member of the new covenant, a citizen of the kingdom, someone who belongs to God
and God’s people” (93).
In the next chapter, Jamieson connects baptism with communion and church membership.
Jamieson notes, “The Lord’s Supper, therefore, is an exercise of the church’s authority
to affirm and oversee its members’ professions of faith in Jesus” (118–19). This leads him to
conclude several points, including that baptism should be a requirement to participate in
communion and that the Lord’s Supper is an effective sign of membership (125–26). Because
baptism and communion provide the church with ecclesial shape, “they give the church visible,
institutional form and order” (144). Ultimately, to remove baptism as a requirement for
membership obviates membership altogether.
In Part 3, Jamieson puts together the pieces he discussed in Part 2 together. First, he
provides a thorough summary of why baptism is required for membership. Then, he answers