A Review of "Getting the Garden Right" by Richard Barcellos*

In the late 1970s, a grassroots movement arose among Calvinistic Baptists that has been the source of much debate. This movement eventually became known as New Covenant Theology (NCT). Since its birth, this internal debate among Baptists has had not a little ink spilled regarding the key issues. Those issues consist of:

1. Was there a covenant made with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and if so, what are its theological implications, namely was it a Covenant of Works?
2. Is the moral law summarily found within the Decalogue (10 Commandments)?
3. Are Christians obligated to maintain a Sabbath (a.k.a the Lord’s Day) in the New Covenant?

One of the primary opponents has been Richard Barcellos. In the fall of 2017, his much anticipated Getting the Garden Right: Adam’s Work and God’s Rest in Light of Christ was released by Founders Ministry. One could say this is his magnum opus, drawing upon many of the issues and works he has previously produced.

Getting the Garden Right has three parts. The first section (which is unlabeled) consists of an introduction followed by two chapters. The first chapter seeks to provide an overall understanding of NCT. Here, he insists that his work is comprehensive, and cannot be exhaustive, because NCT is such a broad movement. By depending upon quotes from some of NCT’s major adherents, he allows them to define themselves in their own words. The second chapter is an overview of the hermeneutical methods used by Barcellos and by Puritan authors in the classic confessions of faith from the seventeenth century. These two preliminary chapters provide the underlying method and discussion for the rest of the book.

Part I is Barcellos’s treatment of the Covenant of Works. In the space of about 50 pages, consisting of three chapters, he addresses the question as to whether a covenant was made with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Chapter 3 engages directly with the various views of NCT. Some proponents of NCT deny the presence of a covenant with Adam, while others admit that there is a covenant, but seek to downplay its theological implications. Chapter 4 defines the Confessional view of the covenant of works, and chapter 5 treats the Scriptural arguments for it. For Barcellos, the establishment of a well developed understanding the Adamic Covenant is paramount, since it provides the basis for best understanding the Gospel, and providing the backdrop for understanding why “there remains a keeping of a sabbath for the people of God” (Heb 4:9 KJV margin).

Part II is the bulk of the book. Coming in just shy of 200 pages broken down into nine chapters, Barcellos first explains the Confessional and NCT views, followed by an in-depth look at various concepts and passages of Scripture from both the Old and New Testament. In three chapters, he specifically focuses upon Adam and the creation narrative. He then proceeds to expound upon the Old Testament expectations of the Sabbath and the New Testament fulfillment, and ends with a thorough exegetical treatment of Hebrews 4:9-10 and Revelation 1:10. He also provides a brief conclusion and an appendix, his book review of Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel’s work New Covenant Theology: Description, Definition, Defense.

Getting the Garden Right is not merely a title, but a theme that must be remembered as one works through Barcellos’s book. From beginning to end, he crafts and builds an intricate argument from creation to glory. Only by understanding why God ordained and sanctified the first Sabbath can a person fully comprehend the purpose behind the Lord of the Sabbath, not abolishing, but changing the day of worship from the seventh day to the first day of the week. This concept is vital as one progresses through redemptive history, first to see the typological use of the Sabbath in the life of Israel, but then to see it as an ordinance continued for believers under the New Covenant to remember the redemptive work of Christ and to encourage them forward to that eternal future rest. This idea climaxes in his dense exegesis of Hebrews 4, where he shows this narrative provides the best context for understanding the thrust of the author’s argument and why a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God.

This work is a culmination of much of the author’s writing and studying over many years. What began as a small, pamphlet entitled In Defense of the Decalogue, has since expanded. Getting the Garden Right was originally an update of this original work, but Barcellos soon realized that an entirely new work would emerge. Throughout the book Barcellos also refers to and draws heavily upon other various works which he has written. I see this as both a positive and a negative. It is positive, because it gives further resources to consider. It is negative, however, in that the book might appear to be a repackaging of his other works. This might be helpful for someone unfamiliar with his writings, but those acquainted with his work may find this book repetitive.

One final point of contention is that the book provides no application. This is purely a book about orthodoxy (the doctrine of the Sabbath), but there is little in the way of orthopraxy (how to practice the Lord’s Day). Anti-sabbatarians are not always opposed to the concept of a special day, as they must admit the existence of the Lord’s Day (I especially am thinking of those who hold to Progressive Covenantalism, which is like a matured form of NCT). Their hang-up is often due to the term “Sabbath” and the legalism that came with it in Jesus’s day. I think much headway could be had in the discussion between the two camps simply by discussing positive applications of how to practice the Lord’s Day. Such a discussion may not convince entirely, but it may draw the two sides closer together. I think this book would be stronger with a small chapter on application, or at least an appendix to direct the newly persuaded reader where to go next.

Overall, I commend this book. I found it provides a unique, well developed, and convincing argument. Reformed Baptists have been given a solid work which presents a cogent argument for the perpetuity of the Sabbath, yet is not dependent upon a Presbyterian scheme of the covenants which inevitably leads to the acceptance of paedobaptism. Advocates for NCT have been presented with a weighty work, not easily laid aside. They will undoubtably have a reply, but, hopefully, it will not be one of dismissal. I trust that they might find the work edifying and challenging, and if not convincing, then at least something which drives them back to the Scriptures for further study.

*Originally written for the Reformed Baptist Trumpet, a quarterly e-journal put out by the

Reformed Baptist Fellowship of Virginia and posted here with permission.