In Baptism, God transforms believers into the humans they are meant to be. In The Baptismal River: Studying the Sacrament throughout Scripture,  a new eight-unit Bible study from author Rev. Dr. Richard Davenport, readers will learn how Baptism was always part of God’s plan. Through this study, Christians will see how events in the Old and New Testaments show the meaning and purpose of the sacrament of Baptism. 
 
“Baptism is certainly a singular moment in a Christian’s life,” Davenport writes. “Coming to the font and receiving that gift of grace is a life-changing event. But that doesn’t mean everything God does in Baptism begins and ends in that moment.”

This study will enrich any Bible study group’s understanding of baptismal theology and what it means to live as a baptized child of God. A Student Guide and a Leader Guide are included in the study. Each unit contains instructions, Bible verses to guide study, a hymn relating to the topic, and review questions. When readers finish the study, they will be able to answer questions such as “Why does Jesus need to be baptized?”; “What does it mean to be made holy?”; and “According to Jesus, what is the role of the Spirit in Baptism?” 

“Using especially Old Testament events that foreshadow the baptismal flood in Christ, the study provides the participant with all the gifts that God promises through Baptism, which ‘assuredly means forgiveness, but it also means quite a bit more,’” says Rev. Dr. Kent J. Burreson, professor of systematic theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. “Through The Baptismal River, the reader will be submerged in all the wonders of our life-giving Trinity that the baptismal flood delivers.” 

Visit books.cph.org/the-baptismal-river for more information. Contact Erica Sontag to schedule an interview with Rev. Dr. Davenport.

Praise for The Baptismal River

Rev. Davenport’s study is a pleasant surprise. He develops the richness of Baptism from the Old Testament, integrating theological themes with the New Testament. He makes excellent use of Scripture, the Confessions, and theologians to answer relevant questions about Baptism. He provides congregationally appropriate rules for interpretation, exegesis, apologetics, typology, and polemics. While describing the fullness of Baptism, he integrates Christology, pneumatology, original sin, justification, sanctification, faith, the Lord’s Supper, and the Church. Davenport also relates Baptism’s gifts to liturgy, hymnody, church history, pastoral care, and home life. Including its helpful illustrations and analogies, The Baptismal River is a little gem. 

—Rev. Tim Beck, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Milford, Ohio

“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Psalm 46:4). Seeing that river and returning to its renewing waters is the aim of Rev. Richard Davenport’s Bible study, The Baptismal River. Using especially Old Testament events that foreshadow the baptismal flood in Christ, the study provides the participant with all the gifts that God promises through Baptism, which “assuredly means forgiveness, but it also means quite a bit more.” Through The Baptismal River, the reader will be submerged in all the wonders of our life-giving Trinity that the baptismal flood delivers.

—Rev. Dr. Kent J. Burreson, professor of systematic theology, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Richard Davenport lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas, with his wife and son. He currently serves as pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. He received his MDiv from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 2009 and his PhD in doctrinal theology, also from Concordia Seminary, in 2013, focusing on a Lutheran theology of hope. You can read more of his writing at sacramentalstreams.wordpress.com.