If you have read James McDonald Chaney's William the Baptist and its sequel, Agnes, the Daughter of William the Baptist, consider in a similar vein a novel by Littleton Purnell Bowen: A Daughter of the Covenant: A Tale of Louisiana (1901). This is a story that is largely about the covenant blessings of baptism. Though like Chaney's works, it is a didactic narrative that instructs, Bowen's novel is told as a tale that stands on its own merits. Set in bayou country, the reader will follow the La Fontaine and D'Arbonne families as their Huguenot history sets the stage for all that follows in the life of Mary La Fontaine, daughter of the covenant. There is romance, adventure, and poetry in this tale as the blessings of the covenant are unfolded.
Take time to look over our Fiction page as well to find other novels written by American Presbyterian ministers.
Daniel Baker reminds us what baptism is and why Presbyterians baptize infants.
"Water baptism is a sacrament or holy ordinance instituted by Christ. It is a lively emblem of spiritual baptism. It is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace; and implies that the subject is a sinful creature, needing to be cleansed, and that this cleansing is to be accomplished only by the application of the atoning blood of Christ, and the purifying influences of the divine Spirit...
Our argument is this: Infant membership formed a part of the original constitution of the visible Church of God. Infant membership has never been abolished, and therefore infants have a right to member ship still. Baptism has taken the place of the ancient initiatory or recognizing ordinance, and therefore infants are to be baptized. This is the ground which we take."
-- Daniel Baker, A Plain and Scriptural View of Baptism , pages 7-8
What Do Presbyterians Believe About Baptism?
As Baptists and Presbyterians spread throughout the growing United States in the 19th century, debates about baptism became more prevalent. Thus the century saw many books written on the subject of baptism: its meaning, its mode, its recipients. The subject has not lost its importance, and sometimes the writings of the 19th century can be more helpful than modern works. We'll put as many as we can find on our website eventually, but for now check out one from the early 19th century (John Holt Rice's Essay on Baptism), and one from a 19th century man in the early 20th century (Thomas Cary Johnson's Baptism in the Apostolic Age).