The following review was written by Dan Key, a member of Grandville PRC church, on The Reformed Lord’s Supper Form: A Commentary. The book was originally published by Dr. Bastiaan Wielenga in 1913, but has since been translated by Dr. H. David Schuringa and edited by Prof. David J. Engelsma for publication by the RFPA. Read More
Reformed Baptism Form If you are a Reformed Christian, you are probably familiar with the biblical form read at baptism. Witnessing the baptism of others is important, but what is this sacrament really about, and how does it relate to you personally? The Reformed Baptism Form: A Commentary explains each part of the baptism form, setting forth and applying the covenant of grace, the foundation of baptism. As the author wrote, “The ardent desire of my heart is that…many people reading...
The Reformed baptism form in the back of the 1912 Psalter has a glorious history that is rich in significance. In previous articles, we have traced the work of Peter Dantheen in compiling this great work. This group of articles will focus on the history of the form from Dantheen, through Dordt, to the New World, to the 1912 Psalter.
The inspiration for this group of articles comes from Bastiaan Wielenga in his book, The Reformed Baptism Form: A Commentary. In that book, he cries out that the Reformed Churches return to the unadulterated baptism form passed at the great Synod. You can read the official version of the form on pages 11–17 of this book recently translated by the RFPA. When one reads this official version, one is quickly aware that the version in the Psalter of the Protestant Reformed Churches is very similar to that form. In the book Portraits of Faithful Saints we read: “The form we use in baptism came from his [Dantheen's] hand, although the Synod of Dordt in 1618–1619 added the section for the baptism of adults and made some minor changes in it.” (p. 235). During this four hundredth anniversary year of the Synod of Dordt, let us commemorate God's work of preserving this form which we use.Read More
Christian Education and the Reformed Baptism Form (10): Instruction with a Goal The instruction of covenant children is the rearing of royal children of King Jesus. In this blog, we have treated several passages of the baptism form that deal directly with Christian education. Now we come to the goal of that education. Wielenga concludes his commentary on the form with a section on the glorious prayer of thanksgiving. The prayer in the form is that our Triune God will govern...
Christian Education and the Reformed Baptism Form (8): Instruction that is Governed The instruction of covenant children is governed by God himself. In the thanksgiving prayer of the form for baptism we pray for the covenant children “that they may be piously and religiously educated.” This rearing was first mentioned in the form at “the end of the doctrinal part, where it was said, ‘parents are in duty bound to instruct their children further herein while they grow up.’ This was...
This series of blog posts are written by Rev. Nathan J. Langerak. I continue to answer a Canadian reader who objected to my contention in a book review that “the proponents [of a conditional covenant] hate predestination and now have revived the old Arminian war against predestination.” The reader professed her “love [for] the doctrine of predestination” and her belief “that ALL our children are included in that covenant, both the elect and the reprobate.” The view that both elect and...
The Reformed Form for the Administration of Baptism is one of the most important of all the secondary confessions of many Reformed churches worldwide.The commentary sets forth the Reformed doctrine of baptism as sign and seal, the doctrine of the covenant of God with the children of believers.
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The Reformed Baptism Form: A Commentary, by B. Wielenga (Edited by David J. Engelsma and translated by Annemie Godbehere). Jenison, MI: RFPA 2016. 448 pages. $39.95 Hardcover. [Reviewed by Rev. Martyn McGeown] The publication of this book will interest—and even excite—all those who love baptism, and in particular, all those who love the Form for the Administration of Baptism used in Reformed churches. Many church members and officebearers have heard the Form read, or have used the Form, hundreds of times...
