That Rock Was Christ

That Rock Was Christ

A Baptist Response and Rebuttal
to Rock and Sand by Josiah Trenham

Prepared by Jonathan Shore

A review owes its readers two things: a fair account of what a book says, and an honest judgment of whether it is true. Rock and Sand, by Archpriest Josiah Trenham, deserves both. It is the work of a learned man, it is clearly written, and it asks questions that matter a great deal. Where does final authority lie? What is the Church? How is a sinner saved? What is baptism, and who should receive it? A book that asks such questions should not be waved aside. It should be answered.
— from the Preface

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An independent review. Not affiliated with Josiah Trenham or Newrome Press.

Contents

  1. Preface
    1. The Standard
    2. A Note on the Bible Used in This Review
    3. A Note on Terms and Sources
  2. 1. How to Read Rock and Sand
    1. Whom the Book Is For
    2. What the Book Takes for Granted
    3. A Fair Rule, Fairly Applied
    4. What Follows
  3. 2. Where Trenham Is Right
    1. Conversion Without Instruction
    2. Christians Without a Church
    3. Faith Without Memory
    4. Old Wrongs
    5. A Call to Self-Examination
  4. 3. Authority: Scripture and Tradition
    1. What Is Being Claimed
    2. Where Trenham and Baptists Agree
    3. The Word of Mouth
    4. A Test for Tradition
    5. The Unwritten Customs
    6. The Argument from Disagreement
    7. Who Gave Us the Bible?
    8. The Early Witnesses
    9. Conclusion
  5. 4. The Church: Is Orthodoxy the Only True Church?
    1. What the Church Is
    2. Who Leads the Church
    3. What Makes a Church Apostolic
    4. The Rock
    5. Where Baptists Come From
    6. Conclusion
  6. 5. Salvation: By Grace Through Faith
    1. Where Trenham Is Right
    2. Where the Disagreement Lies
    3. What Paul Says
    4. The Word “Alone”
    5. What James Says
    6. Faith and Baptism
    7. Union with Christ
    8. The Early Witnesses
    9. Why This Matters
  7. 6. Assurance and the Security of the Believer
    1. What Trenham Teaches
    2. Can a Believer Know?
    3. Can a Believer Be Lost?
    4. Those Who Fall Away
    5. The Hard Passages
    6. Does Security Lead to Carelessness?
    7. Conclusion
  8. 7. Baptism: Its Meaning and Its Subjects
    1. Common Ground
    2. What Baptism Follows
    3. Born of Water and Spirit
    4. The Passages on Baptism and Forgiveness
    5. The Covenant Sign
    6. The Households
    7. Children and the Kingdom
    8. Baptizing Again?
    9. The Early Witnesses
    10. Conclusion
  9. 8. A Brief Note on the Filioque
    1. Why This Section Is Short
    2. What Scripture Says
    3. The Book’s History of the Dispute
    4. Conclusion
  10. 9. Closing Appeal
    1. What Has Been Shown
    2. An Invitation to Every Reader
    3. The House That Stands
  11. Appendix A: Documented Issues in Rock and Sand
    1. Foreword
    2. Logical Fallacies
    3. Sources
    4. Introduction
    5. Historical Inaccuracies
    6. Logical Fallacies
    7. Unsupported Assumptions
    8. Biased Language
    9. Double Standard
    10. Sources
    11. Chapter 1: The Life of Martin Luther, Founder of the German Reformation
    12. Historical Inaccuracies
    13. Logical Fallacies
    14. Cherry-Picking
    15. Unsupported Assumptions
    16. Misuse of Scripture
    17. Sources
    18. Chapter 2: Lutheranism and Orthodoxy
    19. Historical Inaccuracies
    20. Logical Fallacies
    21. Cherry-Picking
    22. Unsupported Assumptions
    23. Biased Language
    24. Misuse of Scripture
    25. Double Standard
    26. Other Misrepresentation
    27. Sources
    28. Chapter 3: The Life and Teachings of Ulrich Zwingli
    29. Historical Inaccuracies
    30. Logical Fallacies
    31. Cherry-Picking
    32. Biased Language
    33. Misquoted or Unreliable Sources
    34. Double Standard
    35. Other Misrepresentation
    36. Sources
    37. Chapter 4: The Anabaptist Reformation and Its Triumph in America
    38. Historical Inaccuracies
    39. Logical Fallacies
    40. Cherry-Picking
    41. Unsupported Assumptions
    42. Biased Language
    43. Misuse of Scripture
    44. Sources
    45. Chapter 5: The Life and Teachings of John Calvin
    46. Historical Inaccuracies
    47. Logical Fallacies
    48. Biased Language
    49. Other Misrepresentation
    50. Sources
    51. Chapter 6: Calvinism and Orthodoxy
    52. Historical Inaccuracies
    53. Logical Fallacies
    54. Biased Language
    55. Double Standard
    56. Sources
    57. Chapter 7: The Church of England
    58. Historical Inaccuracies
    59. Logical Fallacies
    60. Cherry-Picking
    61. Unsupported Assumptions
    62. Biased Language
    63. Misquoted or Unreliable Sources
    64. Double Standard
    65. Other Misrepresentation
    66. Sources
    67. Chapter 8: The Catholic Counter-Reformation
    68. Historical Inaccuracies
    69. Biased Language
    70. Double Standard
    71. Other Misrepresentation
    72. Sources
    73. Chapter 9: America’s Folk Religion: Evangelicalism and the Rise of Non-Denominationalism
    74. Historical Inaccuracies
    75. Logical Fallacies
    76. Unsupported Assumptions
    77. Biased Language
    78. Misquoted or Unreliable Sources
    79. Double Standard
    80. Other Misrepresentation
    81. Sources
    82. Chapter 10: An Orthodox Appreciation of Protestant Virtues
    83. Historical Inaccuracies
    84. Logical Fallacies
    85. Biased Language
    86. Other Misrepresentation
    87. Sources
    88. Chapter 11: The Heresies of Protestantism
    89. Historical Inaccuracies
    90. Cherry-Picking
    91. Biased Language
    92. Misquoted or Unreliable Sources
    93. Other Misrepresentation
    94. Sources
    95. Appendix I: On the Use of the Word “Heresy/Heretic” in the Scriptures and in the Holy Orthodox Church
    96. Historical Inaccuracies
    97. Cherry-Picking
    98. Sources
  12. Appendix B: Glossary of Logical Fallacies
    1. Ad Hominem
    2. Appeal to Antiquity
    3. Argument from Silence
    4. Begging the Question
    5. False Analogy
    6. Hasty Generalization
    7. Non Sequitur
    8. Straw Man
    9. Tu Quoque