Journal: Reformed Baptist Theological Review
Volume: RBTR 07:1 (Jan 2010)
Article: "The Christian And The Sabbath", Tom Wells: A Review Article (Part I)
Author: Richard C. Barcellos

RBTR 7:1 (Jan 2010) p. 81

The Christian And The Sabbath, Tom Wells:
A Review Article (Part I)

Richard C. Barcellos

Richard C. Barcellos, Ph. D., is a pastor of Heritage Baptist Church, Owensboro, KY, and Administrative Assistant to the Dean and Resident Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at the Midwest Center for Theological Studies, Owensboro, KY (www.mctsowensboro.org). His newest book is The Family Tree of Reformed Biblical Theology and is available at www.rbap.net.

On Friday, November 19, 2010, I received a free copy of Tom Wells’ new book, The Christian and The Sabbath.1 It is a 141 page book, including bibliography and indices. My name was referenced on four pages and Dr. Sam Waldron’s (my pastoral and teaching colleague) name was on 16 pages. Wells quotes from my In Defense of the Decalogue and Waldron’s unpublished Lectures on the Lord’s Day. I would have liked to see some interaction with our exposition of the new covenant in our book Reformed Baptist Manifesto and with Waldron’s A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. There are a few RBTR articles I would have liked to see some interaction with as well. For instance, Dr. Jim Renihan contributed a fascinating historical article dealing with the Sabbath among the first English Particular Baptists,2 Dr. Robert P. Martin contributed an article entitled “The Remaining Sabbath for the People of God,”3 and I contributed a two-part series on a biblical theology of the Sabbath,4 but I fully realize you can’t interact with everything. However, it seems to me that if you are going to critique a view held by contemporary Reformed Baptists (and this is, in part, what I think Wells is doing5), you should be more up-to-date with the literature produced by them.

RBTR 7:1 (Jan 2010) p. 82

In this review article I will interact with some of Wells’ main arguments against a remaining Sabbath to be rendered under the new covenant between the two comings of Christ by the people of God. I will not give a brief overview of the book but will interact chapter by chapter in only those areas (and in only those chapters) I think warrant interaction. I realize this leaves me open to criticism. But I do not think it is practical to expect a review article (even a two-parter) to interact with everything with which everyone might demand interaction. That would not even be fair to demand of a book-length response!

Foreword