John Burgess explores the distinctive qualities of Christian identity by demonstrating how baptism, the Eucharist, and the Commandments are basic points of orientation for Christians. He challenges the church and its members to identify and claim key practices and disciplines of faith to deepen baptismal identity and give the Christian life solid form today. His work ultimately seeks to stimulate pastors, educators, and church leaders to encourage the church to practice ways of life together that will lead to a more faithful living of the Christian faith.
John P. Burgess is the James Henry Snowden Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he is the author of Why Scripture Matters: Reading the Bible in a Time of Church Crisis and After Baptism: Shaping the Christian Life, both published by WJK.