From Luther through William Perkins to John Wesley, there is an internal logic to the rise of evangelicalism. Baird Tipson boldly asserts Anglo-American theology of revivals to be the predictable outcome—not inevitable, but predictable—of Luther's intellectual frustration with the sacrament of baptism. Of course, there are many cultural factors in the rise of evangelicalism, but Baird offers a honed theological argument that he hopes will “prove useful to people outside the academic community, especially pastors and inquiring lay people” (3).

The crux of Baird's argument is a theological shift from a sacramental relationship between God and humanity to a relationship based in the human heart. Baird sees Duns Scotus in the late Middle Ages stirring up a problem by assuming “most sinners were not capable of true contrition without sacramental help” (34). Luther rejected this but “was forced back to an Augustinian understanding of predestination” (54). Mysteries of the doctrine of predestination joined with quandaries surrounding infant baptism to create confusion about the relationship between inward faith and outward baptism. Resolving the confusion, the Puritan William Perkins promoted inward baptism over outward baptism. The encounter between God and a human occurs primarily in a person's conscience. Outward baptism is a sacramental sign and seal of the changes God had already made or eventually would make in the human heart or mind. By the end of the book, the theological foundation of evangelicalism is the way revivalists, especially John Wesley, promote inward baptism and begin giving advice on ways to self-authenticate one's new birth and inward baptism.

Baird's procession of logic leads him to deemphasize the role of Arminianism and Pietism in the beginnings of evangelicalism. Baird, who has returned to teaching after a long and distinguished career as an academic administrator, cites many classic studies of early evangelicalism in his footnotes but is not interested in defending his position against other positions. He is not interested in delving into historical complexities. He is not interested in entering into debates about defining the term “evangelical”, or even defending theology's place in the definition. Baird is generous. He thinks there are many ways to approach the origins of evangelicalism. What he offers is a concise, clean, powerful, theologically specific way to see the Wesleyan evangelical movement as answering an intellectual problem begun in the Reformation.

But there is a twist. Evangelicalism is rooted in the Augustinian doctrine of predestination. The logical consequences of Augustinian predestination, not free will, demand evangelicalism to arise. Baird's trail of logic supports an undercurrent in Wesleyan studies that downplays the differences Wesley had with Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and even John Calvin. Baird quotes Charles Wallace that Wesley had a “recessive Puritan gene” (157).

The Puritan William Perkins is central to Baird's argument. In the chapter titled “Conscience Religion,” Baird justifies his emphasis on Perkins not by Wesleyan quotes citing Perkins as a source but by the many reprintings of Perkins's three-volume collected works. Baird emphasizes various short works by Perkins that upend the sacrament-oriented, outward-baptism claims of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. Perkins “warned his readers that hell was full of people who had put their trust in their baptism” (83). Inward baptism, whether perceived and acknowledged or not, is the secret to life, not outward baptism. If one sought assurance of salvation, Perkins and his followers identified the conscience as the place to look for signs, not any outward act. Later, the traditional founders of evangelicalism—Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley—would be much moved by this. “The God of the evangelicals,” Baird declares in the conclusion, “required little ecclesiastical mediation; he was lodged deeply in the human heart” (173). Outward acts, whether they be contrition, devotion, or sacraments, were replaced, in the beginnings of evangelicalism, with “reliance on an individual's receiving perceptible communication directly from the Holy Spirit” (173).

Baird offers a strong logic-driven argument. Grant him his narrow focus, which admittedly is crucial, and a reader is carried through three stages of thought over the course of 250 years from the Lutheran Reformation to Wesleyan revivals. Overall, Baird asks: “What developments in the history of doctrine since the Protestant Reformation made evangelicalism not only theological possible but also inevitable?” (143). At other points in the book, Baird backs off from the term “inevitable,” but logical inevitability is what drives the book. I think the book excellent for an academic classroom discussion. Pastors reading it alone in their study should be careful not to be drawn too far into its internal logic. I am impressed by Baird Tipson. After serving as provost and president of small liberal arts colleges, he retired back to the undergraduate classroom. This is the second book with Oxford University Press since his retirement.