A String of Pearls Unstrung

Originally written as a personal journal in 1977 and later expanded in The Baptism of Disciples alone, this work is not presented as a final academic statement but as a transparent account of Fred Malone's theological shift from paedobaptism to credobaptism. Malone illustrates a "string of pearls" that his paedobaptist brothers hold, and how examining those pearls lead to him to adopt an understanding of baptism that is for professing believers' only.

The pearls that he examines are:

• The covenant theology of the Old and New Testaments
• The relationship between circumcision and baptism
• The proof-texts concerning baptism
• Jesus’ attitude toward the children
• The sanctification of believers’ children
• The disjunction of the baptism of John’s and Christian baptism
• The argument of silence
• The argument of expanded blessings
• The testimony of tradition

Honest, reflective, and grounded in Scripture, this booklet is especially helpful for pastors, students, and church members working through the doctrine of baptism and its implications.