Baptisma: the mode and subjects of Christian Baptism

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V BAPTISMA:

THE

MODE AND SUBJECTS

CHEISTIAN BAPTISM

BY J. LATHERN.

T^IIIXJ 3ES33ITIO OXT.

'' THE DOCTRIKE OF BAFTISMSrSt. Paul

HALIFAX, N. S.— EEV. DE. PICKAED.

CONTENTS.

I. MODE OF BAPTISM : THE OLD TESTAMENT.
It. MODE OF BAPTISM : JOHN THE BAPTIST,
ill. MODE OF BAPTIST: WITH WATER.

IV. MODE OF BAPTISM : PENTECOST AND NEW TESTA-

MENT.

V. MODE OF BAPTISM: ARGUMENT FROM ANALOGY.

VI. SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM.

Vn. OBJECTIONS TO INFANT BAPTISM.

VIII. TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY.

IX. CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM.
INDEX AND SUMMARY.

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PEEFACE TO THIED EDITION.

The volume, whatever its value may be, will be found to con-
tain chiefly the results of independent investigation.

Through several of the earlier chapters, in this examination
ot the ordinance and administration of Christian Baptism, there
has been presented, in consecutive and formulated view, the
positive teachings of God's word: "To the law and to the testi-
mony" must be the first and also the final appeal.

It has been the usual practice, iu treatises of tliis class, to
deal with the question of the subjects of Baptism— involving that
of the Moial Status of children — in a second or separate part ; but,
in the present case, for continuity of inspired idea, as part of the
main icriptural argument, it has been deemed expedient that this
part of the discussion should immediately follow that of positive
teaching in regard to mode.

Citation, disquisition, the examination of authorities, and
other matters belonging to the more general literature, which has
originated with the question of Mode of Baptism, have been reser-
ved for later chapters.

As baptismal questions are varied, of necessity grouped, and
frequently controverted, the conditions of structural arrangement
are considerably complicated. With the hope that Baptisma may
for the present supply the place of Hand Book to students, not
having access to more exhaustive works on the subject, and for
the sake of lucid presentation and facility of reference, the several
chapters have been distributed into sections.

The aim has been, throughout the discussion of this subject,
to secure as much of definiteness and conclusiveness as was com-
patible, with an easy and attractive style.

Oct. 1879. J. L.

" I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He
that Cometh after nic is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not
worthy to bear : He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and
with fire."— Matt. iii. 11.

" For John truly baptized with water ; but ye ohall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost not many days hence." — Acts i. 5.

" Three that bear witness in earth." — John v. 8.

" And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, For the
promise is unto you, and to your children." — Acts ii : 38, 39.

'" Having first stated the insignificance of his own baptism, he
proceeds to the baptism ordained by Christ, which was replete
with an ineffable gift." — Chrysostom.

"But wit ne o;jinio?i unto all the world, that the Scriptures
solely, and the Apostles' Church, is to be followed, and no man's
authority, be he Augustine, Tertullian, or even Cherubim or
Seraphim." — Bishop Hooper.

" My apology is, that I judged the argument could be placed
in a better light than that in wliich it is generally found in treatises
on the Mode of Baptism ; besides several important points have
not been duly noticed in any work that has come under my obser-
vation."— Dr. Hibbard.

BAPTISMA.

CHAPTER I.
MODE OP BAPTISM: THE OLD TESTAMENT.

" And sprinkled both the book and all the people." —
Hebrews.

*' Then will I sprinkle clean loater upon you, and y«
shall be clean." — Ezekiel.

" So shall He sprinkle many nations." — Isaiah.

'' The Bible is its own dictionary; the spirit of God
His own interpreter." — Dr. Whedon.

In Beethoven's matchless symphonies one grand
idea is wrought out through all variations and vibi-ations
of measure and of melody. It is intimated in the pre-
lude, whispered softly in the treble, murmured in the
bass, becomes clearer and fuller as the composition and
rendering advance, rises and rolls into magnificent
chorus ; and then, gradually, in the same rich and varied
strain, winds back to the sweetness, as of lute melody,
and the whole closes in triumphant harmony.

In the anthem-strain of Eevelation we have the

mingling of varied minstrelsy :

" It hath a voice high and clear,
From the lips of heaven-taught seer,
From harp of Zion that charms the ear,
From the choir where seraph minstrels glow."

But may we not, in the noble compositions of inspi-
ration, look for chord and consonance, and that superb

8 BAPTISMA ;

wUty of idea which coiiBtitute the charm and tlic crown-
ing glory of human effort and achievement? Through
all changes, in minor mclod}- and in might}' majestic
chorus, the harmony will be unbroken. The varied
voices of all consecrated signs and symbols, of promise,
prophecy and appointed ordinance, will meet and blend,
'• as lute to lute" into perfect unison. In the absolute
perfection of inspired ti-uth there will be no solitary dis-
cord. The emblems and symbols consecrated to God,
and to the things of God, will harmonize with each other
and above all they will be in exact accord and complete
correspondence with that which they are intended to
sign if)' and represent. The outward and visible, we are
told, is but the type and counterpart of that which is
unseen and spiritual. Earth is

" But the shadow of heaven and things therein,
£ach to other like, more than on earth is taught."

Turning to the " Oracles of God," for the purpose
of ascertaining the mind of the spirit, in reference to the
subject of Baptism, we maj^ hear the voice of God, autho-
ritively speaking upon this matter, as upon others of
more or less impoi*tance, and there is a marvellous clear-
ness of utterance. The refrain cannot be mistaken.
Evangelical promise supplies the prelude. Through all
changes of prophetic teaching and of religious obser-
vance the same idea is sustained. The grand climax,
the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire, we have in
the magnificent inaugural of Pentecost. Evangelists
and Apostles touch the theme with accordant voice ; and,
in their most distinctive allusions, especially in the
"different baptisms,". and the baptism of "cloud" and
"sea," we have but the resonance of ancient fact and
form.

EVANGELICAL PROMISE : THE PRELUDE 9

I. EVANGELICAL PROMISE. — THE PRELUDfc.

The prelude, of the universal and unbroken strain of
inspired teaching, we have in glorious evangelical prom-
ise— the idea and imagery of which, by natural transi-
tion and blessed accomplishment, have passed into
Christianity : " Then icill I sprinkle clean water upon you
and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness and from
all 5'our idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will
I give you and a new spirit will I put within j'ou, &c."

"The spirit signified by the water," saj'^s the elo-
quent exponent of the "Tongue of Fire," \fi never once
promised under the idea of dipping. Such an expression
as, "I will immerse you in my spirit," '• I will plunge
you in ray spirit," " I will dip you in clean water," is
unknown to the scripture. But "I will pour out my
spirit upon you," " 1 will sprinkle clean water upon
you," is language and thought familiar io all readers of
the Bible.

Between this grand and glorious promise, the most
comprehensive, pei-haps. in the whole range of inspired
prophecy, appropi-iated, b}" incontestable authority, as
the heritage of the Christian Chui'ch, and the ordinance
of baptism there is a vei-y close and striking parallel.
The promise refers to the Holy Spirit and so prominent-
ly does baptism. The promise is associated with the
renewal of the heai-t and baptism has a like significance.
The promise is bynibolicul and baptism is emblematical.
The promise has external allusion and special spiritual
blessing; and baptism has the outward and visible sign
of an inward and spiritual grace. The promise compre-
hends water symbolism and water is the element of
baptism. There is mode likewise specified, that of affu'

10 BAI'TISMA ;

sion: and coiibistoncy demands adoption of the name
mode ill the administration of Christian baptism.

The great. saving sanctifying operations of the Holy
Spirit of God arc represented as the sprinkling of clean
water. And, if the modus operandi of the work of the
Holy Ghost, in the salvation and sanctification of the
soul, can justify the phraseology of the great evangeli-
cal promise, surely the outward sign, the application of
water in baptism, ought to correspond with the inward
and spiritual grace. Then as candidates for admission
to the church present themselves for baptism, and as
suitable subjects arc in faith and prayer dedicated to
God, with the assurance that of such is the Kingdom of
God, prayer may in confidence bo offered that, simultan-
eously with the a])plication of water, the jjromise may
receive its full accomplishment: I will sprinkle clean
ivater and ye shall be clean.

II. DIFFERENT BAPTISMS.

The mode, indicated in the prophetic ])mmise, is in
harmony with appointed and established ordinand'S and
institutions of the Old Testament Church : and therefore
it has been appropriately perpetuated ami (.-on-cc -ated in
the administration of Christian baptism.

The various purifications and ceremoMiai ablutions,
of the Old Testament, were doubtless the foundation of
the baptism of the proselytes, — for which there was no
other authority in the word of God, — which indisputably,
according to Eabinical testimony, was the established
usage, and which accounts for the general tamiliarity
with the rite of baptism everywhere apparent and as-
sumed throughout the Gospel.

It is evident from the wisdom of Sirach xxxi, 25 :

DIFFERENT BAPTISMS. 11

" When one is baptized from a dead body — baptlzomenos
apo nekrou— and touches it again," of what avail is his
washing — to loutrh. Unquestionably the writer, accus-
tomed to legal ablutions, writing the Greek language in
much the same diction as that of the New Testament,
speaks of ceremonial cleansing as a baptism.

Can we, by any means ascertain the mode of ancient
ablutions aj)pointed by God ? Was there any thing of
deflniteness of teaching in regard to legal purification ?
Is the s/^rm/c^m^ of water enjoined, or at all sanctioned
in that early ritual ? ,

Turning to the Pentateuch we find most minute and
explicit requirement. It may be satisfactory, upon this
point of vital importance, to rej)roduce all the leading
passages.

The law of ceremonial purification from uncleanness
by contact with dead bodies, spoken of as a bajjtism in
the wisdom of Sirach, may be found in the nineteenth
chapter of the Book of Numbers ; " and for an unclean
person they shall take the ashes of the burnt heifer of
purification from sin, and running water shall be put
thereto in a vessel : and a clean person shall take hys-
sop, and dip it in the water, and sprinklmin'^oxi the tent,
and upon all the vessels and upon the persons that were
there, and upon him that toucheth a bone, or the slain,
or the dead, or a grave ; and the clean person shall
sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day and upon the
seventh day, and on the seventh day he shall purify
himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water
and shall be clean at oven."

There was, it will be seen, in addition to legal official
Jidministration, washing and bathing, and in other pas-

12 BAPTISMA;

sages shaving; but these were personal mutters — purely
of cleanliness. In such case there was no administrator ;
and no specification of mode. It must not be supposed
that the bathings required were immersions. The ex-
planation of these will be found in the supplementary
notes. Thej' were not of importance, however. But
of such necessitj^ was the ^^ sprinkling which sanctifieth ;"
that whoever was not purified by this mode was put to
death : — " Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man
that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defilcth the tab-
ernacle of the Lord; and that soid shall be cut of from
Israel; because the water of separation was not sprinkled
upon him, he shall be unclean ; his uncleanness is 3'et
upon him."

In the law of purification of leprosy, we have the
same requirement: " This shall be the law of the leper
in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto
the priest." The priest was directed to take two birds,
— one of which was to be " killed in an earthen vessel
over running water :" as for the living bird he shall take
it and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hj^ssop,
and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of
the bird that was killed over the running water: and he
shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the
leprosy seven times, and shall jyronounce him clean."
There were subsequent shaviugs and washing of cloth
cs ; but the sprinkling sanctified ; and the priest was com-
manded at once to pronounce him clean.

There was also, for houses tainted with leprosy, the
same law of purification : "And he shall take the cedar
wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living
bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in
the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times : and

BlfFERENT BAPTISMS. 13

he shall cleanse the house." Of course the house could
not be dipped in water: the purification was by "sprink-
ling" of "clean water."

The Law for the purification of Levites, also, was
specific. " The Lord spake unto Moses, saying : Take
the Levites from among the children of Israel, and
clease them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to
cleanse thera: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and
let them shave their flesh, and let them wash their
clothes, and so make themselves clean."

Turning to the inspired exposition of the ancient
ritual, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are assured :
that ^'Sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of
the flesh.''

By authority, therefore, which cannot be disputed,
this question has been determined. The inspired writer
of the Epistle to the Hebrews was intimately acquainted
with appointed rites of the ancient Church. He com-
prehended unquestionably the nature and design of
Christian baptism. He was an accomplished scholar,
master of Greek literature, and yet those purifications he
collectively speaks of as : diaphorois baptisrnois — different
baptisms — in the English text : " divers washings."

Here, then, we have not simple supposition. We
have something more than inference. We have positive
authority. In every application of water that sanctified,
the mode was sprinkling ; and the several purifications of
which we have most minute explanation are specifically
designated baptisms.

III. PROPHETIC SYMBOLISM : SUBMERSION.

The prelude of inspired teaching upon this subject,
has been supplied by evangelical promise : But what of

14 BAPTISMA ;

tho general and uniform tone and t-^nor of prophetic tit-
teranee* Do inspired men, in the appropriation of
imagerj' from water speak with distinctness and dis-
crimination ? Do the}' give any certain sound? Are
the}' in accord with the ample sweep and scope of Scrip-
tural teaching?

In the psalms and prophecies of the Old Testament,
the imagery of water is frequently that of submersion,
oveiflow, the rush of a whelming flood ; and in all such
passages there is a dominantly pervasive thought— that
o£cala77nty.

Turning to figurative scriptures, in which we find
water alluded to as a flood, we have one constant and
only uniform and continued idea. " For thus saith the
L'V-d God when T shall m-ikc thoo a desolate city, like
the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall brini,' up
the deep upon thee, and great icaters shall cover thee,"
" Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a
noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of
mighty waters!'' " Thus saith the Lord; Behold waters
ri.-e up out of the North, and shall be an overflowing
fltjoi."— " Xow, therefore, behold, the Lord bringoth
upon them the icaters of the river, strong and many,
even the King of Artsyria and all his glory ; and he shall
come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
«...', ••.0. ol.r.Il ;..--^ through .Tnd-ih; he shall overflow and
go over, ho shall reach even to the 7ieck."—" A destroying
pto:m as the flood of mighty waters.''—" Who is this
that comet h up as a flood, whose waters are moved as
the rivers ? Eirypt riseth up like a flood and his waters
. and he saiih, 1 will go up, and will cover the earth; I
w-ill destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof." — St.
Pete;-, in allusion to the ark sprinkled by rain as a figure

PROPHETIC SYMBOLISM : SUBMERSION. 15

of baptism, speaks in contrast of the judgments of God
" bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly."
There was immersion at the flood, but that was not a
figure of baptism which saves.

"And the Lord God of Hosts," says the Prophet
Isaiah, "is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt,
and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise
up \. holly like a flood ; and shall be drowned as by the
flood of Egypt " The flood of Egypt could only suggest,
i^pthe mot*t supreme and striking manner, the idea of
calamity and ot overwhelming disaster: — the hosts of
Pharoah, his horses and his chariots engulfed in the
Eed Sea. Take these passages, and others such as these,
— what is the one uniform sustained idea? It is evil and
not good! It is calamity, ondnot blessing ! Itis destruction
and not salvation ! !

IV. PROPHETIC SYMBOLISM : AFFUSION.

But then in the figurative language of the Psalms
and Prophecies, in many metaphorical passages of the
Old Testament, in which water is spoken of, the ima-
gery is that of sprinkling — as the dew, " I will be as the
dew unto Israel," and of pouring — as the rain: "He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as
showers that water the earth."

A few such passages for illustrative purposes will
be sufficient : " As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew
that descended upon the mountains of Zion : for there the
Lord commanded the blessing, even life forever more."
— "Then," says the prophet, "shall we know, if we fol-
low on to know the Lord : his going forth is prepared
as the morning: and he shall come unto us as the rain
as the latter and former rain unto the earth." — "Thou

16

IJAI'TISALV :

O God,'" saystho Psalmist, in commemoration ot nation-
al visitation, " didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thon
didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary." —
" Bo glad then ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the
Lord your God ; for lie hath given you the former rain
moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the
rain, the former rain and the latter rain." — "My Doc-
trine shall drop as the rain, my speech sh»ll distil as the
dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the
showers upon the grass." — "Awake and si7ig yc that
dwell in the dust; for thy deiv is as the dew of heHte."
" I will pour neater upon him that is thirsty and floods
upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thj-
seed and my blessing upon thine offspring." Passages —
such as that of the memorable prediction in Malachi : —
" If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and
pour you out a blessing — do not positively include water-
symbolism, except the general idea of copiousness, and
cannot fairl}' be appealed to in this connection. There
are numerous passages in which the promised blessing
is set forth as " the dew of youth" — as '•' the dew of the
morning" — as the sprinkling of water. The Apostle
Peter, who in one Epistle speaks of the Flood as a revel-
ation of judgment' writes in another Epistle of " the ark
wherein a few, that is eight souls were saved by water :
the like figure whereuuto baptism doth also now save
us." — " Xoah's Ark floating upon the water," says Dr.
Clarke, ^^ im6. sprinkled by the rain from heaven is. figure
corresponding to baptism."

One more passage, and only one, I need to quote
from the figurative language of prophetic declaration :
"And I will make them and the places round about my
hill a blessing ; and I will cause the shower to come down

PROPHETIC SYMBOLISM : AFFUSION. 17

ill his season : there shall be showers of blessing." What is
the grand all-jiervading idea of these promises and pro-
phecies of the word of God ? Always good and never evil,
always blessing and never calamity, always salvation and
never destruction/ Would it not have been strange if, in
the baptismal element of Christianity, the mode ahva3-s
suggestive of salvation had been set aside ; and another
mode, which in figurative teaching had always tj^pified
destruction, had been substituted ? It would have been
difficult, Avith our conceptions of- the orderly arrange-
ment of infinite wisdom, to have comprehended such an
anomaly.

It is true that in utterances which are tigairative, but
which do not include icater, — which do not therefore
belong to this domain of inquirj", — in the outpouring of
divine fur}" and indignation, wo have the idea of calamity.
But even there the idea of mode imperatively presses its
claim, and determines the otherwise inexplicable render-
ing of Isaiah xxi. 4, in the Septuagint, "Iniquity baptizes
me; M anomia me baptizei." The j^ouring out of judgment
was the fearful baptism of iniquity.

The inquiry instituted, however, has purely and ex-
clusively reference to prophetic imagery in which water
is emplo^-ed. The field of inquiry is broad and clear.
The margin is wide. There was ample room for chance
and choice of mode. Water, the visible emblem of bap-
tism, was the symbol of insj)ired prophecj' and enters
into many of the most lofty and sublime of ancient ])vc-
dictions. The question is lifted from the sphere of petty,
puny strife, up to the clear noontide light of straight
and honorable investigation. Does submersion, in all
that range of water imagery, symbolize evil ? Has af-
fusion the constant consecrated significance of salvation ?

18 BAPTISM A ;

In tlio interests of trutli, of supi-enic importance,
and in the name of sober scarcliin^i^ ci'iticism, we submit
that this appeal, to the broad decisive and uniform
teachings of the Word of God, in relation to water sym-
bolism— of close affinity and in perfect consonance with
the main subject — the mode of application in the baptis-
mal element — which therefore strikes home to the very
heart of the subject, cannot be disposed of b}' quibble or
mei-e evasion. If, in this exhibition of inspired teaching
— of its spii'it and scope — of the uniform tone and tenor
of prophetic imageiy, the sacred writers have been mis-
understood and misi-epresented. let the argument vanish.

If, in this comparison of scripture with scripture,
the results have been stated fairly and Avith substantial
accuracy: upon what principle or procedure of divine
consistency, and oi' unchanging wiadom, are we to account
for the fact — that a mode, always in ancient annals ex-
pressive of evil, should be perpetuated and that which
had uniforml}', in prophecy and promise, been symboli-
cal and suggestive of salvation and blessing, should be
abandoned and condemned ?

CHAPTER II.
MODE OF BAPTISM: JOHN THE BAPTIST.
'• Unto John's baptism." — Acts.
" It cannot he certainly j^roved from Scrijjture that
even John's (baptisni) icas performed by dipping. — Wesley.

I. John's baptism.
The mode of John's administration has heen exhaus-
tively' discussed bj' controversial exponents of the bap-
tismal rite. John's baptism, hoicever icas not christian

John's baptism. 19

baptism — not of authoritive obligation in the Church of
Christ — therefoi'e it were a superfluity to press the in-
quiry beyond one phase of the subject.

Turning to the nineteenth chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles, we have positive proof of the insufficiency of the
baptism of John — as a compliance with the initiatory
rite of the Christian Charch. "Paul having passed
through the upper coasts," says the inspired historian of
the early Apostolic Church, " came to Ephestis : and
finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye re-
ceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they
said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether
there be an}^ Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto
what then were ye baptized ? And they said. Unto Johns
baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the
baptism of repentance, saying unto the jjeople that they
should believe in him which should come after him,
that is, in Christ Jesus. When they heard this theyivere
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul
laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came upon
them, etc." The baptism of John was insufficient, and
thus these twelve men were baptized into the faith of
Christ, " in the name of the Lord Jesus."

"In the whole compass of theological literature,"
says the learned and luminous Baptist author, Eobert
Hall, aware that some had attempted to deny snd ex-
plain away the significance of the historic record, " it
would be difficult to assign a stronger instance, of the
force of prejudice, in obscuring a plain matter of fact.''
He denounces the unfair attempt as " violence to the
language of Scripture."

John's Baptism was not Christian Baptism; but his
mission was one of divine appointment. " There was a

20 baptisma;

man sent from God whoso name was John." His minis-
try was one of national projxiration. When the Lord God
came down amongst the people, at Sinai, they were re-
quired to sanctif}' themselves. A service of solemn cere-
monial preparation was held. That covenant into which
God then entered with the nation had its seal and its
Bymboi : '' For when Moses had spoken every precept
to all the i)eople, according to the law, ho took the blood
of calves and goats, icith tenter, and scarlet wool, and
hyaso'p, and sprinkled both the book and all the peojjle."
At the advent of Jesus, in whose sacrificial work all
altar-offerings were to have their fulfilment, the onl}^
symbolical service which remained in John's ministry
was the application of water. John baptized with water,
and, from the fact that such an immense concourse
thronged to his ministry, it is incredible that any other
mode should have been practicable. " Then went out to
him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region about
Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan."

"Can any man suppose," inquires Dr. Adam Clarke,
in his comment upon this passage, " that it was possible
for John to dip all the inhabitants of Judea and of all
the country round about Jordan ? Were both men and
women dipped, for certainly both came to his baptism?
This never could have comported either with safety or
decency. Were they dipped in their clothes? This
would have endangered their lives if they had not with
them a change of raiment : and as such baptism as John's
was in several respects a new thing in Judea, it is not at
all likely that the people would come thus provided.
But suppose these were dipped, which I think it would
be impossible to prove, does it follow that, in all regions
of the world, men and women must be dipped in order

John's baptism. 21

to be evangelically baptized?" "Such prodigious num-
bers," says Wesley in his Notes, " could hardly be bap-
tized by immerging their whole bodies under water : nor
can wo think they were provided with change ot raiment
for it, which was scarcely jiracticable for such a vast
multitude. And yet the}'' could not be immerged naked
with modesty, nor in their wearing apparel with safety. '
It seems, therefore, that they stood in ranks on the edge
of the river, and that John passing along before them,
cast water upon their heads or faces ; by which means he
might baptize many thousands in a day. And this way
most strikingly signified Christ's baptizing them " with
the Holy Ghost and with fire," which John spoke of as
prefigured by his baptizing with water, and which was
eminently fulfilled when the Holy Ghost sat ujDon the
discijjles in the appearance of tongues or flames of fire."

John baptized at the Jordan, and at other places —
one of which was the wilderness. The mere fact of bap-
tism at a river does not, as sometimes has been imagined
and asserted, necessarily imply immersion. Analogous
to the narrative of baptism at the Jordan was a custom
connected with the solemnization of the "Elousinian
mj^steries." Those admitted into the lesser or introduc-
tory mysteries of Eleusis were previously purified, on
the banks of the TUissus, by water being poured upon
them by the Adranos," The candidates for admission to
the "mysteries." went to the Athenian River. There
was the lustration — purification by water ; but there was
no immersion.

John baptized in Enon, because there was (Jiudata
polla — many springs) much water there. Was not the
place selected by John, to tvhose ministry a great con-
course of people gathered, for the same reason that the

-- BAPTI8MA

travelling caravan iseoks an encampment near some
fountain at the present day? The cliildreii of Israel, in
their march through the wilderness, "came to Elim,
whore there were twelve wells of water, and threescore
and ten palm-trees; and they encamped there by the
.waters.''

In the East Indies there is said to be a sect calling
themselves the "disciples of John the Baptist," who an-
nually repeat and reiterate the service of baptism.
"They proceed in a body," says Norberg, as quoted by
a late writer, " to the water, and among them one bears
a standard; also, the priest dressed in his camel's hair
ornament, holding a vessel of water in his hand, he
sprinkles each person as he singl}" comes out of the
river."

ir. THE SAVIOUR AND JOHN's BAPTISM.

" Then cometh Jesus from Galileo to Jordan unto
John to bo baptized of him." The fact of the Saviour's
compliance with an appointed ordinance of national pur-
ification, just as he went up to the annual Feasts and
complied with other requirements of rite and ritual and
established institutions of religion, — has Leon made the
subject of frequent and urgent apj)eal, plausibly present-
ed, and to imperfectly instructed converts more potent
than argument, to "follow the blessed Saviour." Was
the baptism of Jesus in a literal sense an example for
his people ?

It is well that piety should rest upon an intelligent
basis. The most strenuous advocates for following the
Saviour litei-all}', do not act out their profession. "Ye
call me master and Lord;" said Jesus, on the eve of his
passion, " for so I am. If I then j^our Lord and master
have washed your feet: ye also ought to wash one ano-

THE SAVIOUR AND JOHN's BAPTISM. 23

thei-'s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done unto j'ou." If following Jesus
implies literal compliance with his example and teach-
ings, then the oriental washing of feet ought to be pei*-
petuated through all time and in all lands. The Saviour
was not baptized until he was thirty j-ears of age. Must
obedience in our case be deferred ? In the Gospel of
Luke, we learn " when all the people icere baptized, it
came to pass that Jesus also being baptized : — He was
not with the first applicants, — the baptism of Jesus was
at the close: must we linger and wait, and, instead of
leading the way, seek to fall in the last place. "\Ye can
surely adopt a more rational and more consistent prin-
ciple of exegesis. The Saviour was the sinless one. He
was separate from sinners. Upon an ass, "whereon
never man yet sat," he made his public entry into Jeru-
salem; and he was buried in a new sepulchre, " wherein
was never man yet laid." In his baptism also there was
a sacred sense in which Jesus was alone. The distinc-
tion was well understood by the Baptist : " John forbad
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and
comest thou to me f But Jesus answering said unto
him : Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." ' The
righteousness of every dispensation of the law and the
prophets, and, that there might be no defect in obedience
of John's ministry, the Saviour was pledged to fulfil:
But can we be baptized with the baptism that he was
baptized with ?

The baptism of Jesus incidentally illustrates mode.
It is in pei'fect consonance with the tenor of Scriptural
teaching "and Jesus when He was baptized went up
struightwaj^ out of the water." The preposition apo

2-4 BAPTISMA ;

"out of," beiiii^ the same as in the ])i-cvious verse,
'^ivom" apo " the Avrath to come," would be cori-cctly
rendered in this passage "from the water" and it de-
cides nothing; but the descent of the spirit has been
minutely described. "The Spirit of God likeadove" — the
pure luminous baptismal symbol — not suggestive, as in
immersion, of passive inert clement acted upon — descend-
ed and lighted upon him.

CHAPTER III.

MODE OF BAPTISM: WITH WATER— A
VINDICATION.

" I indeed baptize you with icater'' — John.
" For John truly baptized with water." — Acts.
" Mit ivasser : ivith ivater." — Luthefs Vers.
"Not by water only." — St. John.

John testified : " I indeed baptize you with Avater."
The accuracy of this rendei-in^ has been challenged. It
may be sufficient at this stage to read a passage fiom
Ezekiel : —

" Then I Avashed thee ivith water; yea, I thoroughly
washed away the blood from thee, and I anointed thee
with oil."

The construction in this case, and the use of thej^re-
position, are exactly the same in each clause. If it de-
mands the force of into the water, then immersion into
oil must follow b}' the same law.

" Baptism with water," the phrase of John the Bap.
tist, in this testimony, carries with it the force of instru-

MODE OF BAPTISM : AVITH AVATER. 25

mentalit}', iind implies, therefore, the application of the
baptismal element to the subject. It has been claimed,
in discussion upon this question, that the words in the
Greek text : en hudati, ought to have been rendered in
water. The preposition in this connection however
governs the dative of the instrument, and has been rendered
in our version with propriety and with grammatical ac-
curacy. Sometimes the preposition, en, governs the
dative of locality — as in Matthew, the first verse of the
second chapter: en Bethleem, in Bethlehem. The prepo-
sition also in other j)assages governs the dative of time
— as in the fifteenth verse of the tenth chapter of St.
Matthew's Grospel : e/i hhnera kriseos, in the day of judg-
ment. Very ft-equently, however, as in the passage un-
der consideration, the Greek preposition governs the
dative of instrumentality. We have good example of this
iu 1 Cor. iv. 21 : en rhabdo eltho proshwmas, ami to come
to you ivith a rod ? "VVe have in Luke xxii, 49 : en
machaira, icith the sword. The difference between
the dative of locality", and that of time and of instru-
mentalit}'- will be sufficiently obvious to any inquirer.
The ajjpeal for the rendering in contention must be,
from the nature of the case, chiefly to the Gi-eek of the
New Testament.

The law of literal usage and of primary significa-
tion must be, of necessity, modified and governed b}' the
higher law of dominant and imperious Fact.

"The language of the Xew Testament," says Pro-
fessor Eobinson, the Lexicographer, " is the later Greek
language, as spoken by foreigners of the Hebrew stock, and
applied by them to subjects in ichich it never had been em-
ployed by native Greek writers. The simple statement of
fact suggests at once what the character of the idiom

26 BAPTISMA ;

must be; and mighi, one would think, liixvo saved vol-
umes of controversy." The fact thus emphatically
stated, fundamental in its character, applicable especial-
ly to the phrase in question, because of the influence of
the Septuagint rendering of the Hebrew preposition —
supplies a canon of criticism which, through every step
of this investigation, will be found of incalculable value.

The paragraph, claiming and contending for the ac-
curacy of the rendering " with water," as originall}' pub-
lished, has not been invalidated by eager opponents, and
without scar or scathe, has safely run the gauntlet of
more than one column of criticism. It may be expe-
dient, however, that a matter of essential' interest and
impoi'tance should receive fuller elucidation.

The unexceptionable testimony of Apostles may be
adduced in evidence and illustration of New Testament
construction. The gospel of St. Matthew comes first in
order :

"If the salt have lost his savor, wherewith,'' en, by
what application shall it be salted." — Matt. 5, 13.

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with, en, all thy
heart, and icith, en, all thy soul, and loith, en, all thy
mind." — En hole kardia sou, kai en hole te psuche sou, kai
en hole te dianoia sou. — Matt. 22, 3t.

" Then he that had received five talents went and
traded with, en, the same." — Matt. 25, 16.

St. Paul, the Ai^ostle of Jesus Christ, was an accu-
rate and accomplished master of Greek language and
literature : Do his Epistles afi'ord any example of this
rendering? Take one Epistle: " If thou shalt confess .
with, en, thy mouth the Lord Jesus." — Eom, 10, 9.

3I0DE OF BAPTISM : WITH WATER. 27'

"Overcome evil icith^ en, good:" — jiika en to agatha
to A-aA-on.— Eom. 12, 21.

"Salute one another with an holy kiss :" enphilemati
hagib. — Rom, 16, 16.

The competent testimonj" of St. John may, so for as
witnesses are concerned, close the case.

" For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God
by, en or icith, Thy blood." — Rev. 5,- 9.

" To kill with, en, sicord and icith, en, hunger and
loith, en, death." — Rev. 6, 8.

"He that killcth idth, en, must be killed ?ftY/i, en, the
sword." — Rev. 13, 10,

Would it be contended that the forms of expression
<' with salt," "with the sword," "with the heart," "with
the mouth," " with hunger," " with an hoi}" kiss," sanc-
tion, and of necessity imply, into in the modal BenBQ of
immersion ?

Three passages have been quoted from three sections,
of the New Testament : Gospel, Epistle and Apocalypse
Three Apostles, St. Matthew, St, Paul and St, John
have furnished testimony; and "in the mouth of two or
three witnesses, may every word be established." Con-
tinued inquiry ma}'' assume somewhat the appearance
of a work of supererogation ; but the question opens the
way into comparatively a new and, as far as my acquaint-
ance with the subject extends, untracked field of inquiry.
It is expedient therefore that the investigation be con-
ducted to thorough and satisfying result.

Examples of classic usage have been cited from.
Conant, the chief Baptist author, for the pui-pose of in-
validating argument: established by authority and evi-.
dence the most apposite and irrefragable.

28 baptisma;

111 tlio writings of Basil the en occurs in llio pas-
sage : ''.Steel baptized with the Jirc ; en to piiri, kindled
up by the sjMrit (wind)." The quotation, from the au-
thor referred to, ]ias of course the rendering, "immersed
in the tiro."

But docs the en, even in this proof passage from
Basil, dip the steel, oy plunge the steel or m?n^rse the
steel? The smith at the forge thrusts the steel into the
fire; but that is not IJasil's baptism. The action of the
workman is followed b}' an action, or effect of wind and
flame; and that is baptism. An important signification
of en is locality — " ?'est in a ■place,'" as Valpy in his Greek
grammar phrases it, and the steel, at restin thefurnacej
was acted iij)on by wind and fire — b}'' blast and fierce
flame — the action and effect, one or both, constituted the
baptism. A tolerably good example that of Basil of the
signification of en, denoting ?t'«Y/t, the dative of the instru-
ment, and in consonance with scriptural examples.

Another passage, depended upon to break the force
of cumulative jiroof, in evidence of loith, upon which
great stress has been placed, is also from Conant : " but
I in the waves of the sea immersing." The Greek text :
Ego de se kumasi 2)onton baptizon, would be legitiraatelj^
rendered: " but I ifjY/i the waves of the sea baptising."

The action indicated clearly is not that of the appli-
cation of a person to passive, inert element, but that of
the element — the waves of the sea scattered and broken
into foam and spray — applied to the person.

Kuhner, the eminent German scholar, of the \evy
highest authority as a Greek grammarian, consulted at
this point, because easy accessible, gives as the very
first illustration of En, with the dative of instrument :

MODE OF BAPTISM : WITH "WATER. 29

Horan, horastJuii. 671 ophthalmois — "to see, be seen ivith
the eyes." It would require considerable ingenuity to
work out the idea of into or of immersion, from an ex-,
pression such as this : en ophthalmois — '■ with the eyes." *

Tui-ning to the copious grammar of Matthice, by
Bloomfield, a standard of reference in all questions of
G-reek philology and criticism, we find that "the
Greek dative also supplies the place of the Latin abla-
tive; and, in this case, expresses relationship of the
connection or companionship to the question where-.
with ? of an instrument or means to the question
whereby?" From Homer, Euripides and other classics,
passages are cited to shew that " sometimes, instead of
the simjole dative, propositions as en, arc used."

The appeal cannot, however, bo legitimately made
to classic usage. The idiom and structure of New Tes-
ment Greek, as all scholars know, and the preposition
en eminently and exactly exemplifies and illustrates the
principle and position in contention, take their caste and
coloring from the Hebrew and Septuagint version of the
Hebrew books.

The testimony of the New Testament writers, in-
spired of God, will abundantly suffice; and walking in
the light of sacred teaching, we shall be less likely,
amidst the intricacies and niceties of abstract philologi-
cal investigation, to lose the golden thread of thought
and truth.

Two things in regard to the New Testament use of
En, are clear and conclusive :

1. That the preposition en, governing the dative of
locality, denoting "rest in a place," means what we ex-,
press by the word at.

* See on page 179.

30 bai'T[5MA;

The pco])lo were baptized by John, en to Jordanc,
"at the Jordan." Jolui also baptized, en t<' eri'mo, "at
the desert," encampment not under the desert sand. Ho
baptized beyond Jordan, en "at Bethabara." The pre-
position is not only iised in baptismal passages, but in
other narratives: "Josus was born, en Bcthleem, at Beth-
lehem"— "upon whom the tower, en Siloam, at Siloam,
fell." — " It is Christ that dictl, yea, rather that is risen
again, hos kai estin en dexia tou Theou, who is even at
the right hand of God."

2. That the preposition En, governing, as in the
passage chiefly under consideration, the dative of the in-
strument cannot, with precision or propriety, be- trans-
lated, except by with.

Examples of this meaning, in addition to those pre-
viously given, may be found Luke 1, 51. " He hath
s'.icwed strength, en brachioni hautou, with his arm ;"
Luke 22, 49. " Shall we smite, en Machaira, with the
sword ; Gen. 48, 22 — with, en, my sword and tvith, en,
my bow."— Vers. lxx. ; Ezckiel 16, 9. "Then I
washed thee 2t«7/i water; * * ^ and I anointed thee
with oil." Turning to the Septuagint, we have the
reading: kai elousa se en hudati, kai echrisa se en elaih.

But for example we need only the passage in ques-
tion; the testimony of John, " I indeed baptize you icith
icater, &c." Matt. iii. 11. The authorized version has
been determined by a sound canon of philological criti-
cism,— the distinction betweon place and instrument which
the dative imperatively demands.

The rendering, in this and in the other Gospels,
becomes more evident and assured, because it, alone, can
be consistently and legitimately carried through the
passage : " He shall baptize jo\x with the Holy Ghost,

MODK OF BAPTISM : WITH AVATER. 31

and ivitli fire." Auto& humas haptisei en pneumati hagio
kai puri. Ecad that important passage once again: He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and icith Fire !
Eead it in the full clear noontide light of Pentecostal fact
and magnificent accomplishment ! " If en hudati " must
be " into water; " en pneumati hagio kai puri must there-
fore be into the Holy Ghost, into the fire. But the Holy
Ghost fell on them, and the fire sat upon each brow.
Therefore en cannot be translated into except in defiance
of authenticated historic fact.

The vital importance of this ex])ression may be in-
ferred from the fact that by all the Evangelists, and in
the Acts of the Apostles, it has been solemnly recorded.
The utterance is not obscure, indefinite and uncertain.
It is repeated and reiterated, clear and legible, as if in-
scribed in characters of flame. From the lips of John
the BaiDtist the testimony was taken up by the four
Evangelists. The Gospel of John, the last portion, pro-
bably, of the sacred canon, bears witness : —

"He that sent me to baptize ivith, en, water, the same
said unto me, upon whom thou shall see the Spirit de-
scending and remaining on him, the same is He which
baptizeth thee with, en, the Holy Ghost."

Amongst the very last words of Jesus, before ascend-
ing to His mediatorial throne, was the assurance, "John
baptized with, en, water, but ye shail be baptized with, en,
the Holy Ghost." Ten times in the Gospels and Acts,
we have the same emphatic and sublime expression. In
Luke iii, 16, we have hudati baptizo ; and in one other
place, which only adds to the fitness and force of the ren-
dering, we have the dative without the preposition.
Special stress, in a slenderly sustained argument, might

32 n.vPTisMA;

bo placed upon the iiuclc dative; but the advantage is
not pi-essed. The appeal made is to the frequent and
familiar form of the authorized version. It could not
have been mere accident, or any want of scholarly pre-
cision, that the venerable translators, amongst them the
most learned men of their time, uniformily rendered en
huJati and en pneumati ^' icith water" and "with the
Holy Ghost."

The baptism spoken of and promised in all these,
passages, comprises a three fold a))plication : loith water
with the Holy Ghost, and ivith fire. The instrument in
each case has been indicated. The en j^neiwiati cannot
in this connection mean into.

We do not need an}- vindication of our version, " I
indeed baptize you with water," except what the struc-
ture of parallel passages clearly exemplifies. This ren-
dering is not only grammatically correct, but it is that
■which, carried through the passage, harmonizes with the
historic facts of Pentecostal baptism ; icith the Holy
Ghost and uith fire. It is both good grammar and sound
sense ; but dipping with water, a rendering for which
some strenuously contend, would carr}' the passage at
once into the region of sheer absurdity.

The argumeat, clear and conclusiv'e as it may have
been up to this point, finds its culminating force, how-
ever, in the theological significance of the rendering in
question. The H0I3' Ghost, the third Person in the
glorious Trinity, cannot fitly be represented as passive
essence or inert substance. The personalit}', office and
work of the Holy Spirit have been distinctl}' revealed.
As a divine agent, proceeding from the Father and the
Son, He is ever actively engaged in applying to believing
ones the benefits and blessings of a purchased salvation :

MODE OF BAPTISM. 33

"His work completes the great design,
And fills the soul with joy divine."

Thus grammatical sense, historic fact, aud theological

signification constitute a perfect vindication of the

authorized vei'sion*.

CHAPTER IV.

MODE OF BAPTISM: PENTECOST AND THE
CHEISTIAN CHUECH.

^^ Replete with an ineffable gift.'" — Chry sostom.

"Everyone shall see that verily the Spirit is poured
out like water, and the rains are descending from above." —
C. H. Spurgeon.

" Conceive the outburst of that burning moment : Body,
Soul, and Spirit, glowing with one celestial fire.'' — "Wm
Arthur.

We have, in the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost,
an irrefutable and irresistable argument in favor of
affusion. The subject admits of positive proof. The de-
monstration is just as complete as the force of language
and the well authenticated facts of history, by possibi-
lity, can make it.

I. INSPIRED RECORD.

It may be satisfactory exhibition, of the baptism of
the Holy Ghost, to gather and to group into one view
* Vide page 181.

34 baptisma;

the facts and statements of the inspired record. First,
we have the promise of the Father : " ye &hall be bap-
tized tvith the Hoi}' Ghost not many days hence." The
baptism was near at hand. It was calculated to awaken
expectation : " Ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Grhost is come upo7i you." When the day of Pen-
tecost was fully come the promised gift was received.
" And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." " This,"
said the Apostle Peter, with wondrous illumination, is
that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel : " And it
shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out my spirit upon all flesh." " Having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear." The Apostles
Peter and John, prayed for the Samaritan convei'ts that
they might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost : for as
yet " He was fallen upon none of them." " While Peter
. spake these words," in the House of Cornelius," the
floJy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And
they of the circumcision were astonished ; because that
on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
Ghost." "As I began to speak," said St. Peter, in a
subsequent account before the Council of the Church,
" the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Then remembered I the word of the Lord: ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost." Was the Apostle Peter
at fault in remembering that the outpouring was the
baptism of the Holy Ghost? The question at this point
is purely one of mode. The narrative is clear and de-
cisive up to the very utmost measure and capacity of
human speech. To prevent possibility of mistake there
was the accompanying symbol, a visible baptismial elc.
iBient. Histoi-ic fact determines the New Testament

CONSONANCE Or MOEE. 35

meaning of Baptize. T7hat does tke main fact of Pente-
cost teach in i-elation to mode ? In what manner ? The
answer is explicit and the demonstration conclusive.
The Holy Ghost was not passive and inert, but an active
agent, in that baptism. The disciples were not plunged
into personality, substance, element, sound as of wind or
the likeness as of fire. The mode of contact, in thai bap-
tism of God, between the persons baptized and that with
which they were baptized was affusion. " Till better aa-
thority be produced," says Dr. Wardlaw, with special
reference to St. Peter's affirmation, that the baptism of
the Holy Ghost was a pouring out, " I desire to bow to
this; and, when Peter himself tells me that he did con-
sider affusion as baptism, it is not the learning of all the
Etymologists in Europe, that will persuade me against
his own word, that it was impossible he should."

II. CONSONANCK OF MODII.

" When we know how Christ baptized with the Holy
Ghost, we know how John baptized with water. For he
declared he was doing with water what Christ should do
with the Holy Ghost: * I baptize; He stall baptise.'
When Christ b&ptiaed with the Holy Ghost, aa we have
seen. He shed forth the Holy Gho&t; Ee poured Out the
Holy Ghost; Ee sent the Holj'- Ghost upon them-; the'
Holy Ghost fell upon them. When John did th3 same
thing with water— when he bapiiaed, ho shed for^H
water ; he poured out the water ; ho sent the water upoft
them ; the water fell on tbem. When Peter said : ' He
hath shed forth this,' did he mean he hath i'nmersed in
this which ye see and hear ? When Christ said : * Be*
hold I send the promise of pay Father upon you,' did he
mean, * I will immerse you in the promise of my father?'
When God said: * I will pour oci, my spirit upon ali

36 BAPTISMA ;

flosh,' did He mean that lie would immerse all flesh in
his Spirit ? When Peter said : ' The Holy Ghost fell on
them,' did he mean to say, ' When I began to speak, they
were immersed in the Holy Ghost as we were at the be-
ginning? Immersion is not administered by pouring or
shedding — baptism was. If to baptize bo a specific term,
always meaning one and the same act, that act is to pour
out, to shed forth as the Word of God is true. If it be a
generic term, signifying the thing done — as to purify —
without reference to the manner of doing it, then the
mode is fixed by other terms — as to pour out, to shed
forth, to send upon, &c. Whether it be specific or gen-
eric, the doctrine of immersion utterly fails."

III. PENTECOST: AUDIBLE SIGN.

In promise, prophecy, and ancient ordinance, in con-
secrated symbol and inspii'ed imagery, we have found,
upon this subject, distinct aad definite utterance. It is
only, howevei*, when we reach the sublimity and mag-
nificence of Pentecostal inaugural, the j)romised baptism
of God, a scene of simple, but of absolutely unparalleled
grandeur, that symbol and substance, voices and testi-
monies meet and culminate ; and, as in the roll of a
mighty chorus, the full strength and deep significance
of authoritive teaching breaks in upon the ear of the
hushed, waiting, fire-crowned church : " and suddenly
there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting..
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as.
of fire, and it sat upon them."

The baptism of the Holy Ghost, the narrative of
which can never lose its unique interest and importance,.
whjch we can never peruse without a fresh thrill, was.

PENTECOST : AUDIBLE SIGN. 37

accompanied by an audible sign — " a sound as of a mighty
rushing wind." It was not wind ; but only something
which mysteriously resembled it — '' as of^ hosper,''' — like
unto wind. Affinity and analogy find decisive expres-
sion in the correspondence between the sign and the
person signified : "The wind bloweth," Jesus said to
Nicodemus, as in midnight interview, they held converse
upon Olivet. The wind sighed and moaned through the
valley of Kedron, rushed through the branches of the
olive trees and beat coldly upon the Ruler's brow,
" The wind bloweth,^' said the Saviour, " and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth : ' So is every one that is born of the
Sjnrit:'

The word ordinarily used by the sacred writers for
wind, is not the word employed in this narrative. It is
not pneuma, wind, hut pnoS — blast or breath. It is the
same as in Acts 17, 25 : " He giveth to all life and
breath, and all things." It was as the sound of a
mighty breathing. It would recall the vision of Ezekiel :
" Come from the four winds, O breath and breathe on
these." They would be especially remindad of the re-
cent memorable manifestation of the risen Saviour:
"He breathed on them; and said 'Receive ye the Holy
Ghost." The ascended exalted Redeemer was upon His
throne ; and now the sound as of a mighty breathing
came straight '• down" from heaven.

" Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a
rushing mighty wind." " Not, mark you, a wind," says
Wm. Arthur, the eloquent exponent of the Tongue of
Fire, " no gale sweeping over the City struck the sides
of the house, and rushed around it. But " from heaven,"
directly downward fell "a sound," without shape or

38 BAiPTISMA ;

step, or movement U) nccount for it — a sound as if a
mighty mud were rushing, not along the ground, but
straight from on high, like showers in a dead calm.''

Mystorioua sound, whence comest thou ? Is it the
Lord r.gain hreatHng upon them, but this time from his
throne. " When the risen Srviour stood in the midst of
the disciples," He breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy G/iOst." And in the same manner at
Pentecost the breath of God was indicative of the pro-
mised baptism, " And they were all filled with the
Holy Gbost, and began to speak with tongues as the
spirit gave them utterance." The influence of the
spirit, as if pent up for ages accompanied by the like-
ness as of fire, a fitting symbol, expressive of the burn-
ing energy of the Holy Spirit's operations, was poured
forth in abundant afiusiou :

" 0 'twas .1, most auspicious kour,

Season of grace and sweet delight,
When He came with mighty power,

And light of truth divinely bright."

Lord, xfe believe to us and ours

The apostolic promise given :
We wait the pentecostal pov^'crs,

The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.

In harmony, with this record of sacred fact, we are
accustomed, from spiro, to speak of the saving sanctify-
ing influences of the Holy Ghost as an inspiration. The
idea has found its noblest application, perhaps in the
solemnization of sacramental service, "Cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts by the irvspiration of Thy Holy
Spirit." In the same strain, we are accustomed to plead
in consecrated song.

" Breathe on us, Lord, in this our day, etc."

PENTECOST : AUDIBLE SIGN. 39

The audible sign of accomplished spiritual baptism
was, richly significant in regard to mode. It was the
sound as of a breathing upon the disciples.

The only attempt at an encounter with this invul-
nerable testimony, has been an assertion — perhaps sug-
gestion would be the more correct expression : for but
few expositors have had the temerity to attempt more
than the suggestion — that the disciples must have been
immersed in sound! If, instead of the sound, the room
had been full of water that would have been immersion.
The question is not water, at this point, but of sound.
It is not of quantity; but of mode. They were not
plunged into the sound : It " came from heaven,'' di-
rectly down " where they were sitting."

"The room in which I now wi-ite," says the most
recent exponent of immersionist thaoiies, " is tilled with
air. I am certainly immersed in it, so ir. this case,
there came a sound, &c."

The absurdity of such an argument must be palpa-
ble to the dullest sense. The essential conditions and
the direct elfects are completely changec'. and reversed.
Immersed in the air of the room ? Certainly. But how
did he get there ? By walking, plunging into it. He
may call that immersion but it is not baptism. The
disciples at Pentecost wei-c already sitting in the room
when the sound, as ol" wnnd came dovcn upon them.
They were not plunged. There w.as no immersion —
even in sound; but there vras a glorious baptism.

IV. PENTECOGT : VISIBLE SYMBOL.

Conscious of gracious manifestation and the breath-
ing of hallowed influence, the waiting disciples — in
bowed, hushed, expectant attitude, experiencing, doubt-

40 BAPTISJIA ;

less, in that supremo moment, " the sacred awe which
dares not move," gazing up in the direction of the
rushing sound, with deepened sense of divine presence —
beheld a visible glory, brightness as of flame, suggestive
of the Shekinah.

Fire is one of the most potent forces of nature. It
searches, purifies and transforms. That brightness as
of purifying flame, " like as of fire," the beautiful and
expressive emblem of " the spirit of burning," at first,
as a luminous cloud, overshadowed them ; and then, in-
stantly, in disparted form and spiral shape, streamed
down upon the head of each waiting disciple. "And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,
and it sat upon each of them." " Timidly turning up-
ward, John sees Peter's head crowned with fire ; Peter
sees James crowned with fire; James sees Nathaniel
crowned with fire; and round and round the fire sita
upon each of them."* " And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost." Has that visible symbol of sacred
record lost its significance ? Are we not authorized to
plead, in expectant attitude, for that spiritual baptism?
Though, no longer accompanied by visible symbol, it
constitutes the accomplishment of promise : " Ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost " : —

Grant this, 0 holy God and true !

The ancient seers, Thou didst inspire ;
To us perform the promise due ;

Descend, and crown us now with fire.

Strikingly and strictly analogous to the Pentecostal
baptism was the scene, in the temple vision, of pi'ophetic
sanctification. The application by seraphic agency, of
burning coals, and not a plunge into the altar fire, was
the means and the mode of purification. The lips of

* " The tongue of Fire," — page 34.

EXEGESIS. 41

Isaiah were touched with hallowed flame ; and he laid
it upon my mouth and said, Lo ! this hath touched thy
lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
purged.

V. EXEGESIS.

The clement of fire in that baptism has been, in
some cases, by strange exegesis, symbolize made todes-
truction. The jar and recoil of such an exposition we
feel in all the instincts and sensibilities of our being.
Baptism, in Christianity, carries with it the idea of sal-
vation and not of death. " I indeed," said John, " bap-
tize you with water," and that was all the Baptist could
do for his disciples ; but he announced a more glorious
ministration. '' He that cometh after me is mightier
than I." He comes, not to destroy men's lives, but to
save them. He shall accomplish tbut which no human
agency can effect. " He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire." The Saviour also, in his
own ministry, used the same emblem as John . and ev
dently with the same meaning, worth volumes as to the
exact meaning of this symbol, " I am come to send fire
on the earth," — the fire of salvation, — " Oh ! that it
were already kindled.''

But I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how I
am straitened till it be accomplished ! Fii-st, the Sa-
viour's own baptism, the mysterious cup pressed to his
lips, and then the baptism of his people. How the deep
intense yearning of Christ comes out in that utterance,
which has been rendered : " I am come to send fire on
the earth," — the fire of salvation, — " Oh, that it were
already kindled /"

42 BAPTI8MA ;

VI. SIGNIFICANCE OP SYMBOL.

The emblem of fire, bj'^ which the descent of the
Holy Spirit was accompanied, was indicative of person-
ality— not merely influence. Even amongst the Grreeks
and Eomans the element of fire was suggestive and sym-
bolical of a divine pi'esence and personality. But to the
Hebrew people especially this symbol was one of conse-
crated significance. When in the eai-ly time Abraham,
standing by his altar, beneath the open sky, a solitary
woi-shipper of Jehovah, asked some covenant sign, where-
by he might know that though a stranger he should in-
herit the land, there passed before him, and between the
two parts of the cleft sacrifice, a smoking furnace and a
burning lamp. When the great I Am appeared to
Moses in Horeb, the bush burnt with fire. That flame
hallowed and consecrated every object around. Moses
put off his shoes, reverentially worshipped, for the
ground on which he stood was holy ground. When the
redeemed people of God marched through the wilderness
the Divine presence accompanied them, for guidance
and defence, — a pillar of cloud by day, and a luminous
flame by night. The brightness of the Shekinah, which
flamed upon the Mercy Seat, was, for ages, the visible
acknowledged symbol of the Thrice Holy One. At the
dedication of the temple, the fire of God came down upon
the altar, consumed the offerings, filled with its splendor
the whole sanctuarj", and the priests were unable to
minister, because of the glory of God. In the magnifi-
cent imagery of the Apocalypse, in the midst of the
Throne, goi-geous with jasper and sardine, around which
living ones, in unceasing service perpetual! j' cry. Holy,
holy, holy, are the seven burning lamps of fire, which

THE SPIRIT OP BURNING. 43

are the seven spirits of God, — symbols always sugges-
tive of the seven-fold energy and plentitude of grace
which abide in Him whom we invoke:

Thrice holy fount, immortal fire I

We have thus a chain of symbolism, stretching from
one end of Eevelation to the other, in which the Pente-
costal baptism of fire iinds clear and satisfactory inter-
pretation. The advent of the holy was not simply the
communication of grrcious influence; but a personal
promised presence, " And I will pray the Father, and He
shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with
you for ever."

VII. THE SPIRIT 0¥ BURNING.

The likeness as of fire, by which the baptism of
the Spirit was accompanied, was indicative and expres-
sive of the purifying, sanctifying, transforming energy of
the Holy G-host. " And it shall come to pass that he
that is left in Zion, and he that rcmaineth in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy, even every one that is written
among the living in Jerusalem." Holiness shall be the
grand distinction of the Church of God. The filth of
the daughters of the Zion shall be washed away; and
the blood of Jei'usalem shall be purged. Sanctity, and
therefore spiritual power shall be a distinction of the
people of God, Every one shall be called holy.
Seriptui-al holiness shall spread through the land.
Meetings for fne promotion of higher life shall not be
the exceptional arrangements of church organization.
Holiness unto the Lord will become the normal condi-
tion of the people of God. The agency by which that

44: BAPTISJLA. ;

work of sanctifying power shall be carried on to a bles-
sed consummation, has been indicated " by the spirit of
judgment, and by the spirit of burning." In the last of
the prophecies, thcTt of Malachi, we have the glorious
announcement which in every age has struck home to
the heart of the church, and fired the expectation of
waiting souls : the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple, "But who may abide the day of his
coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for
Se is like a refiner's fire, and he shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer
unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." Under
this gracious dispensation of the Son of God, the opera-
tions of the Holy Spirit ai-e represented as the fire of
the refiner, and as the purifying of silver.

I have often seen the ore of precious metals as it
has been dug from the rich vein, and from the rifted
rock. It is generally threaded through and through,
encrusted with impure and worthless substances. By
what means shall the pure ore be separated from the
crystallized rock? How shall the dross be purified
from the silver ? There can be but one certain eflScient
process. It is put into the fire — into the crucible — into
the smelting furnace. There it flows down. The dross is
purged. The impurities are consumed. In a pure white
stream of molten flame the metal flows into the ap-
pointed mould. Apart from the softening, subduing,
penetrating operations and influences of the Holy Spirit,
our hearts are hard and dull and cold. But He sits as a
refiner and pm*ifier of silver. Threadings and incnista-
tions of sin and selfishness are consumed ; and the soul,

PENTECOST: god's BAPTISM. 45

soft and plastic, melted into tenderness, takes the divine
likeness and impress. With scriptural accuracy, there-
fore, we plead :

" Refining fire go through my heart,

Illuminate my soul ;
Scatter the light through every part,

And sanctify the whole."

VIII. PENTECOST : GOD's BAPTISM.

In regard to the visible symbol, the baptismal flame
by which the descent of the Spirit was accompanied,
expressive of burning energy, were the disciples plunged
into the fire ? Was the element of fire, the likeness as of
flame, applied to the waiting suppliants in that upper
room? The history of that superlatively grand fact of
the Christian economy is most minute and circumstan-
tial. The fire sat upon each of them ! It sat upon the
head, the seat of intelligence, and covered the forehead.
Every disciple was baptized. They were all filled with
the Holy G-host. That one authenticated fact of Pente-
costal baptism, the fire upon the head, is abundantly
ample for all purposes of demonstration. That teas
God's baptism! It was the model for the Christian
church. It meets us upon the very threshold of Chris-
tianity. When, just before his death, a well known
composer wrote his last hymn he emphasized the
thought: rather in the dark with God than in the light
of human wisdom without God. In the ordinance of
baptism, administered by ourselves, as an institution of
the church, we have so far as mode is concerned, for
guidance and authority, the model baptism — the divinely
promised baptism, — " baptism with the Holy Ghost and
with fire." Even if the question were involved in some

46 BAPTISMA ;

obscurity, wo would rather bo in the dark with God,
with this example before us, than follow the lights and
the lamps of human teaching and the traditions of men.

There is no ambiguity. Suppose that a person in
perplexity upon this point were invited to that upper
room and permitted to Witness the promised bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost. The only thing visible in con-
nection with that rush of energy, of which he becomes
conscious, is the tongue of fire — the likeness as of flame.
Yes, he would say, I understand it now ; I have been in
doubt as to the New Testament meaning of that Greek
verb baptizo. I have been undecided in relation to action
and mode — implied and required. The baptism compre-
hends things of vital essential importance, of which no
external symbol can afford adequate interpretation ; but,
in relation to mode, it is luminous as the flame upon the
forehead. I understand it all now : the baptismal sym-
bol was applied to the heads of the disciples.

Tnis anxious inquirer you next take down to the
sea-shore, to the rushing river, or to the somewhat im»'
pure waters of the deep font, into which the shivering
candidates are in succession thrust beneath the flood.
He might say at once, I am perplexed more than ever.
In that upper room all was clear; it is now confusion
worse confounded. The mode is reversed. Instead of
the element being applied to the candidate, the candidate w
plunged into the element f

In contrast with that immersion in water, we are
called to witness another baptismal scene. The service
is impressive. There is no disturbing influence. There
ia nothing to shock the sensibilities— even of the most
refined taste, or of feminine delicacy of feeling. The

PENTECOST: ALTERNATIVE VIEW. 47

deep, silent hush has settled over the great congregation.
The baptismal element is applied to the candidates.
That is sufficient for satisfaction. The correspondence is
perfect. It harmonizes completely with God's baptism. In
that case it was fire; in this case water. The element dif-
fers ; hut the mode is the same : baptism with wafer, and
tOith the Holy Ghost, and with fire. '

IX. PENTECOST : ALTERNATIVE VIEW.

It has been urged as an opposite and alternative
view of this passage that the fire spoken of by John the
Baptist was a penal one — that it refers to the unquench-
able fire of hell.

Whence comes this suggestion of wrath and terror ?
Turning to the iaspired history, and remembering with
Eichard Cecil, that " the meaning of the Bible is the
Bible," without resorting to any torturing process of
violent criticism, are we compelled by any intuition of
truth, or by any pressure of e^egetical exigency, to
adopt such a principle Ot interpretation ?

It is easy to see, with Daniel Isaac, that the Pente-
costal baptism is " very embarrassing to our Baptist
brethren " ; and that " if this difficulty cannot be got
over their cause is lost.'^

The bearing of the subject becomes so palpably
evident, when searchingly investigated, that some res-
traint is felt in writing these lines. The demands of
truth, however, are supreme and imperative. Force and
fulness of conviction must find free and unfettered
utterance. The examination of the question must be
thorough and exhaustive, and then the results inevitabljr
accepted.

48 BAPTISMA ;

Is there anything in the nature of thai visible sym-
bol to warrant the application "which has been attempt-
ed? "Was not the likeness as of fire, through all ages —
at Abraham's altar, in Horeb's burning bush, in the
wilderness pillar and cloud of fire, in the Shekinah of
the palace sanctuary, in the dedication glory of the
Temple — the constant consecrated emblem of the gracious
Presence of God.

If not in the nature of the symbol, can we find,
experhnentum crucis, lurking in the Form of that visible
symbol any latent suggestion of threatening and des-
truction ? It was not a shapeless flame, or patriarchal
lamp, or burning bush, or cloud-pillar, or seraphic coal
from an altar-fire, or careening splendor of Che bar
vision. It was not a flaming thunderbolt flashing ven-
geance upon the men who plotted and perpetrated the
death of the " holy and just One." It was not the
gloria of Italian art. It was a tongue — an insti'ument of
speech — the voice of an appointed messenger — signifi-
cant of the grand agency employed for the world's
salvation. They began at once to speak with tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance. Thus " the tongue
of fire, ^' and not the trumpet of an angel, became the
hallowed emblem of published salvation to them that
dwell upon the earth.

The alternative of John's testimony would be : I in-
deed baptize you— you my disciples — you on whom the
mightier baptism of the Holy Ghost shall yet descend —
" unto repentance." But he that cometh after me shall
consume and destroy you. I baptize you with water,

PENTECOST: VISIBLE SYMBOL, 49

but he shall burn you up with " unquenchable fire?"
The record is explicit.

John, in testimony affirmed that Jesus should " bap-
tize with the Holy Grhost and fire" — that He should save
and sanctify His people — that He should throughly
purge his floor" — that He should gather His wheat into
the garner" — harvest home every golden sheaf — that
then He should " burn up the chaff with unquenchable
fire." But are we to confuse and confound the bright-
ness, " like as of fire," the consecrated symbol for ages
of the Divine presence, with that lurid lasting flame
which shall in the end consume the chaff? Was the
"unquenchable fire" any part of that promised baptism
of the Holy Ghost and fire, of which John testified, and
for which the disciples were commanded to wait ? The
bare suggestion, of such an application, of the most
glorious historic fact in the church of God, startles and
shocks the very spirit and genius of devout feeling,
scholarly taste, and of high-toned exegisis.

Desperate indeed must be the cause which demands
"confusion of tongues" contravening and traversing
grand historic fact ! Forlorn the hope which can take
advantage of mere miserable subterfuge. Fundamental
is the distinction and the difference, cleaving their way
to the very heart of the subject, between the baptismal
symbol, the likeness as of fire, which came down upon
the disciples at Pentecost, and the " unquenchable fire"
of hell. The one was promise ; the other threatening.
The one was likeness; the other real. The one was
salvation : the other damnation. The one was a bap-
tism ; the other a burning up. The one was for the
wheat or garnered souls ; the other for the ungodly
" which are as the chaff." The one Avas fulfilled at Pen-

50 baptisma;

tecost ; the other awaits its most fearful exhibitions in
the punishment of the finally impenitent. The one was
the beginning of a new dispensation of mercy ; the other
an element of " the wrath to come.'"

If in such a contrast, and upon such a theme, the
modal idea must still be contended for, the case is con-
clusive: The baptismal fire was hy effusion; the fire of
infinite wrath suggests the ideal of immersion. The brow
of each waiting disciple, in the upper room, was touch-
ed and brightened by the streaming, luminous likeness
as of flame ; the finally impenitent will be cast "m^o a
lake of fire."

X. THE BAPTISMAL SERVICE OP PENTECOST.

There was baptism with water subsequent to the
baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. The more we pon-
der the facts of conversion at Pentecost, the greater the
improbabilities of baptism by immersion, will appear.
Difficulties must have been all but insuperable. It would
be difficult, even to-day, in the heart of a crowded west-
ern metropolitan city, with all the pi"ejudices and pre.
possessions of the people in favor of Christianity, to
make arrangement for the baptism of three thousand,
converts by immersion, in the afternoon of a single day,
though water is vastly more abundant, and more access-
ible than in oriental cities. In few places, perhaps,
could fewer facilities have been found than in Jerusalem,
It was at the driest season of the year, — when the waters
of the brook Kedron failed.

" Three thousand persons" — says Dr. Eobinson, the
eminent scholar — whose Oriental travels and Biblical
Eesearches constitute a most competent authority upon
this point, — " are said to have been baptized at Jerusa-

THE BAPTISMAL SERVICE OF PENTECOST. 51

lem apparently on the day at the season of Pentecost in
June ; and the same rite is necessarily implied in respect
to five thousand more. Against the idea of full immersion
in these cases there lies a ditB.cu\ty apparently insuperable
in the scarcity of water. There is in summer no running
stream in the vicinity of Jerusalem, except the mere rill
of Siloam, a few rods in length ; and the city is and was
supplied with water from its cisterns and public reser-
voirs. From neither of these sources could a supply
have been well obtained for the immersion of 8,000 per-
sons. The same scarcity of water forbids the use of pri-
vate baths as a general custom."

There would be a difficulty also in regard to time.
The day of Pentecost begun in prayer. The baptism of
of the Holy Ghost and fire followed. Then came the
testimonies of the disciples : they spake with tongues
" as the spirit gave them utterance." After the testi-
mony came the keen, pungent sermon of St. Peter. An
anxious inquiry meeting followed ; and thousands of
penitents had to be directed in the way of salvation.
Opportunity would be afforded for profession of disciple-
ship. Before a single baptism could have been adminis-
tered the day must have been far spent. With what
possibility of decorum, and appropriate religious exer-
cises, could three thousand persons have been immersed
in water in the brief closing hours of that day? In a
Congregational Church, of the United States, the oppor-
tunity was once afforded of witnessing the reception of
considerably over a hundred converts. The sacrament
of baptism was administered, by immersion, to a few
candidates on the Friday evening, and to a much larger
number at the Sunday service. The time occupied in
the different portions of those services, was indicative

52 BAPTISMA ;

of tho possibilities of Pentecost. An early immcrsion-
ist writer, Du Veil, " Acts of the Apostles literally ex-
plained," in loco, remarks : "No wonder is to be made
that three thousand persons should be plu7iged, in one
day, by Peter, a fisherman and used to the waters The
explanation does not quite dispose of the difficulties of
the case.

But even if there had been ample facilities, in re-
gard to time and place there were still more serious diffi-
culties to be encountered. There were pools in the city,
Bethesda and Siloam, but they were under the direct
control of the authorities — the bitterest opponents of
Jesus of Nazareth, The pool of Bethesda, used for the
washing of sacrifices, was in the precincts of the Temj)le,
*"and cei'tainly could not have been given up to the fol-
lowei's of the " Nazarene." The pool of Siloam was
three-fourths of a mile distant from the city ; and we
hear of no procession to the pool. Nudity in the admin-
istration, in a promiscuous assemblage, could not have
been thought of; there was no time for providing bath-
ing dresses ; and the art and elaboration of modern im-
mersionist services had not been invented. Immersion
at Pentecost, in view of the insuperable difficulties in-
volved, must have been a sheer imj)ossibility.

It has been replied to this objection that Pentecost
was a "day of power" and that the converts to Chris-
tianity had "favor with all the people." With the nar-
rative before us, we cannot regard this answer as rising
to the dignity of sober sufficient confutation. The pools
at Jerusalem were under control of the men who " cru-
cified the Lord of Glory ;" and therefore inaccessible to
the Galilean disciples. Even when priests and pharisees
in the temple, in the last days of the Saviour's ministry,

THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH. 53

were planning and plotting his death : " all the people
were very attentive to hear him." At Pentecost the
Apostles of Jesus Christ and the first members of the
Christian Church, though in favor with the people, were
so far from being favored by constituted authorities,
that, in the immediate narrative, we read : " the captain
of the temple, and the Saducees, came upon them, being
grieved that they taught the people ; and they laid hands
upon them and put them in hold until next day."

The baptism of initiation to the christian church,
at Pentecost, in the name of the Triune God must have
been " m'iY/i water" and therefore in consonance "with
the Holy Ghost and fire." The three bear record ; '-and
these three agree in one."

XI. THE ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH.

The Ethiopian Eunuch read as he sat in his chariot
in the Proj)hecy of Isaiah. He had before him in im-
mediate connection with the narrative of the Saviour's
Passion, " wounded for our transgressions," the magnif-
icent Messianic prediction : He shall sprinkle many
nations. The rendering of this passage in the Septua-
gint has been adduced. The Hebrew word, according
to eminent Oriental scholars, and this settles the case,
signifies : to sprinkle. " Does it not," inquires Dr.
Clarke, " refer to the conversion of the Gentile nations ?"
The Eunuch was reading when, driving in his chariot,
he was joined by the Ev^angelist Philip, on his way
through the Desert to Gaza. The thoroughfare to that
southermost city of Palestine was through a region des-
titute of dwellings, a waste land in which no man has
ever found foaming flood, or water deep enough for sub-
mersion, but which might aiford suflicicnt for baptism
by effusion. As Philip expounded the Scriptures, con-

64 BAPTISMA ;

corning the sacrificial work and redeeming purposes of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we can readily understand that
one expression of the Prophet would most forcibly ar-
rest his attention. He well knew the exclusiveness, the
severely local character of the Jewish religion ; but here
was an utterance which seemed to overlea}) all barriers,
and to comprehend within its range the scattered fami-
lies of the earth. What does this mean Philip ? Does
this refer to the conversion and baptism of Gentile na-
tions ? How the soul of Philip would take fire and his
countenance glow with suffused light as he expatiated
upon the universialityof the Gospel — for Jew and Gentile
— for bond and free — for the cultured Greek, the haughty
jRoman, and the swarthy African — for all nations and
tongnes of the earth. "We do not wonder at the sur-
pi'ise and exclamation of this Ethiopian Eunuch : —
"Lo! Water."* As the baptismal element was applied
in the only way probable or ever possible in that desert
the Evangelist, no doubt, explained very fully the agen.
cy and work of the Holy Spirit, as the chief distinction
of this Christian dispensation, and as constituting the
most distinguished fulfilment of the prophetic utterance
the confirmation and the consecration of the mode im-
plied in John's ministry, perpetuated in the Church —
baptism with water. Thus the Treasurer of Queen Can-
dace was enrolled amongst the first fruits of the great

*The preposition eis, "into" upon which great stress has been
placed and the changes rung, " with variations" of every possible
kind, is after all but very slender ground on which to base the
weight of argument in favor of immersion. The same preposition
occurs no less than five times in this same narrative : eis, "unto
Gaza, — eis, " to Jerusalem, — eis, "atAzotoz, — eis, "to Caesarea."
"They went down," from the chariot, ei5, "to the water," — ^just
in the same sense, as Philip afterwards came to Caesarea." The
tis cannot, even upon immersionist theory, be made to do here.
The baptism was a subsequent act.

BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES. 55

prediction, passing on to its accomplishment, He shall
sprinkle many nations.

XII. BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES.

If the principle of interpretation which has guided
us through prophetic ages, which found such ample and
evident illustration at Pentecost, be a correct one, it
will not fail us in the only remaining passage — in which
there was literal baptism with water, and positive indi-
cation of the mode in which the element employed came
into contact with the persons baptized, " Moi'eover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how
that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed
through the sea ; and were all baptized unto Moses in
the cloud and in the sea." They were under the cloud,
and yet were baptized. " By faith," says the apostle,
in Hebrews, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry
land : which the Egyptians, assaying to do, were drown-
ed." There was a baptism in that passage through the
sea ; but, except the fact : that the passage was on dry
land, incompatible with the idea of. immersion, we have
no distinct intimation as to mode. "We must travel back
in search of historic fact.

That memorable event of Hebrew history was con-
secrated by the most sacred historic associations. There
was there a great national baptism. The captivity of
Israel was broken. From the land of bondage they were
to be forever separated : and were now to constitute the
Church of God — the church in the wilderness. Their pas-
sage through the Eed Sea was for them a baptism.
What are the facts of that baptism ? In what manner,
on that night of marvellous mighty deliverance, was the
baptismal element brought into contact with the people
of Israel ? " And the Lord caused the sea to go back by

56 BAPTISHA ;

a strong cast wind, nil that night, and made the soa dry-
land, and the -waters were divided. And the children of
Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry-
ground," etc. Some other facts of that midnight march
through the mighty deep have been furnished to us by
the Psalmist: " the clouds poured out water: the skies
sent out a sound ; thine arrows also went abroad."
Through the dry depths of the sea, as on a pavement of
adament, marched the host of God. The channel was
not narrow and crowded. The waves stood far apart as
if they had been walls of granite ; and so broad was the
pathway, and far away the watery walls, affording
ample space for great multitudes to move abreast, that
in a few houi-s the passage had been effected. " They
passed through the Eed Sea as by dry land : which the
Egyptians assaying to do were drowned." The depths
have covered them : they sunk into the bottom as a
stone. They sank as lead in the mighty tcaters. That
submerging of the host of Pharoah was the flood of
Egypt to which the prophet refers. The Israelites were
baptized. They were saved — gloriously delivered. But
whence came the baptismal element ? The clouds poured
out water. Only by affusion, by pouring or sprinkling,
could the baptismal waters come into contact with the
redeemed people. The Israelites were baptized ; but not
immersed. The Egyptians were immersed, but not bap-
tized.

XIII. THREE BEAR RECORD : OMNE TRINUM PERFECTUM.

" There were three," says John the Divine, " that
bear witness in earth, the spirit, the water, and the
blood : and these three agree in one." They agree in
one in relation to their purpose : the necessity of purity" ;
and, also, in reference to mode, the sprinkling of water

THREE BEAR RECORD. 5t

which sanctified harmonizes with the hloocl of sprinkling
which speaketh better things.

These closing voices of inspiration are in harmony
with all the utterances of the past. They sound like
the echo, along the corridors of ages, of the penitential
prayer : " Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."
The hyssop was used, in services of solemn dedication
and ceremonial purification, for sprinkling the blood and
water upon *■' all the people."

It is impossible to ponder the teachings of God's
word, in relation to mode without the impression of com-
pleteness of efficacy, which, in idea and expression, in
substance and in symbol, are intimately and uniformly
associated with effusion. The suggestion, not unfre-
quently made, more eifective in some cases than a better
reason, that sprinkling is of necessity symbolical and
significant of that which is slight and superficial in idea
and result, vanishes before the facts and forms of sacred
and authoritative record. " If I wash thee not," said
Jesus to Simon Peter, when he had " poured water into
■a basin," and began to wash the disciples feet, " thou
hast no part in me." " Not my feet only," was the im-
pulsive reply, " but also my hands and my head." The
only case upon record of a demand for more water, as re-
quisite to complete purification; and "Jesus saith to
him. He that is washed needeth not save his feet, but is
clean every whit.'"

Salvation and purification by sprinkling, ideal or
actual, shadowy, slight and superficial! What is the
testimony of the ages, of the goodly fellowship of the
prophets, "of the glorious company of the apostles," of
" the noble army of martyrs," and of the " great cloud

58 BAPTISMA ;

of witnesses?" They have but one voice. They came
"to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better
things."

" This is Ho that came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ ; not by water only, but by water and
blood." The flowing of that mingled stream, of " blood
and water," from the pierced side of Jesus, was the ac-
complishment of the prediction : " A fountain opened
for sin and uncleanness." The main idea of that promise,
and of its fulfillment, has found application in the
stanza :

*' There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins, &c.,"

which was recently appealed to in a convocation sermon
in advocacy of immersion. Were the mode then contend-
ed for, " plunged beneath that flood," of divine appoint-
ment, the phraseology of the hymn would thread through
and through the entire teaching of God's word. Cowper's
hymn of Calvary has marked merits of another kind;
and therefore in spite of defect has struck home to the
heart of the Church. But in the imagery alluded to,
it thoroughly and positively traverses and contradicts
the voice of God in fact and testimony.

Turning to the inspired statement of sacred fact^
from which the stanza has been woven, we read : " One
of the soldiers, with a spear, pierced his side, and forth-
with came there out blood and water. And he that saw
it bare record, and his record is true." That purple cur-
rent from the pierced side of the Eedeemer was the
" fountain" for sin; and there is not, therefore, perhaps,,
in the whole range of hymnology, a more striking ex-
ample of incongruous imagery, and of utterly false and
absolutely unscriptural figure than that which finds ex-

JEWISH BAPTISMS. 59

pression in the opening stanza of that otherwise noble
and treasured hymn.

The " water and the blood" are in perfect accord ;
and " through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Chi-ist" these " agree
in one." Therefore we plead with propriety and with
the utmost scriptural accuracy :

"Let the water and the blood,
From thy wounded side which flow'd,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure."

XIV. JEWISH BAPTISMS.

The Greek verb baptizo, in some of its forms, has
been occasionally employed in the New Testament, with
reference to lustrations and purifications not connected
with Christian baptism. The value of such passages can
only, of course, be incidental and collateral ; but it may
be well to ascertain to what extent, and with what ac-
cord, they are in keeping with the united and unbroken
testimony of all the past.

" For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they
wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the traditions of
the elders, and when they come from the market, except
they wash, baptisontai, they eat not. And many other
things there be, which they have received to hold, as
the washing, baptismous, of cups and pots, brazen ves-
sels, and of tables." Mark vii. 3, 4.

The oriental mode of baptizing the hands before eat-
ing, the pouring of water, can be fully ascertained by
reference to Thompson's "Land and the Book" — the tes-
timony of twenty years of Syrian obsei'vation. Elisha
poured water on the hands of Elijah," 2 Kings iii. 11 ;
and as Eastern customs do not usually change, the same

60 BAPTISMA ;

practice is still continued. The servant jpowrs water from
the pitcher on the hands of his master and upon the
hands of all the guests. "Water is never previously
poured into a basin as in Occidental life. The servant
pours the water from a pitcher, and carries a vessel to
receive the water as it falls from the hands. The 'pouring
of water in these ablutions, upon which, in the time of
Christ, much stress was laid, was designated by St. Mark
as baptism.

The tables, or as in the margin beds, klinon, were
beds or couches — often used for beds at night and for
couches at meals. If an unclean person sat upon the
couch or bed it was rendered unclean and needed puri-
fication. To guard against defilement the Pharisees
were scrupulously exact and frequent in their lustrations.
They baptized their beds and couches. Was that baptism
an immersion ? Were the beds plunged in some foam-
ing flood before they were used for repose ? The Phari-
sees baptized their beds and couches. They would unless
insane, have immersed them.

The characteristic style of Eev. Daniel Isaac, in ex-
position of this passage, though not quoted as a model
for controversialist, has the ring of clear, Saxon sense,
and finds warrant in the subject :

"The vessels of brass were undoubtedly used for or-
dinary purposes ; and, how these vessels were baptized
any servant girl can give better information than a
learned divine, I have just interi'ogated my servant upon
-this knotty subject : How do you wash your brass pans?
•I jpour water upon them. Do you never dip them in
water ? No ; never. As to the tables whether we take
•them literally or as the couches on which they sat or re-

RHANTIZO. 61

clined at meals, — dipping is out of the question. What
then becomes of the bold assertion that baptism always
denotes immersion."

The New Testament sense of Baptism can only be
settled by appeal to the inspired writers, and the usus
loqendi of the word. This one example abundantly dis-
poses of and sweeps away, like the chaff of the thresh-
ing floor, all exclusively immersionist assumptions.

The case is conclusive : In ancient ablutions for
purposes of legal and ceremonial purification beds and
couches were baptized. Tn such frequent baptisms there
was no possibility of immersion. Immersion and bap-
tism are not equivalent terms. Therefore immersion is
not Scriptural baptism.

XV. RHANTIZO.

The question has been asked: If there is not a
word in Greek literature for sprinkling f Yes ! we say
rhantizo means to sprinkle ; and there is another word
cheo, which means to pour. Then if sprinkling or pour-
ing be the Scriptural mode in the application of the
baptismal element, why it is demanded, in tone of tri-
umph, were not rhantizo and cheo employed by the sac-
red writers. It may be sufficient to ask in reply, if
baptism meant " mode, and only mode," dip, and onlj/
dip, why yvere not buthizo; dupto, epiJdvzo, or pontizo used
for the sacrament of baptism ?

Buthizo, to throw in the deep, to immerse, to sink,
would have been Greek equivalent for immerse. Kata-
dud " to go under," to sink, to immerse has been, for
example substituted by later Greek writers for baptize.
"Immerse," ka tadusi, the child three times," was the
phrase of Photius — Patriarch of Constantinople. Triune

62 BAPTISMA ;

Immersion, it is ^vcll known, was amongst the corrup-
tions early introduced into the Greek Church. Infant-
baptism is practised ; but they immerse three times and
sprinkle or pour three times. But for the adequate ex-
pression of the active immersion the verb kataduo ob-
tained preference, in some cases at least, over the conse-
crated New Testament haptizo.

The fact is that the verb haptizo, consecrated by in-
spiration, means a great deal more than words which
simply imply mode. A man going out in a shower of rain,
without an umbrella, will be sprinkled ; hut that is not
haptism. An excursionist upon the lake on a summer
evening, may be immersed by falling out of his boat in-
to the water ; But that immersion is not baptism. To bap-
tize is to produce an effect without specifying mode, or
change corresponding in character and completeness with
the agent or element employed ; and hence its exact and
exquisite adaptation to the Christian ordinance.

XVI. AUTHORIZED VERSION.

The fidelity of the venerable men who translated
the English Bible has again and again been called in
question ; because G-reek words, noun and verb, were
only transferred in the Anglicized forms of baptism and
baptize. But does not the same principle lie at the very
foundation of English literature ? More than any other,
the English language is eclectic. It has been enriched
from all sources; and, especially in the class of words to
which baptism belongs, has been indebted to the un-
rivalled language and literature of ancient Greece. Even
supposing that we were prepared to admit that baptize
meant only mode, and that the mode was to put under
water, the Anglicized Latin words immersion and im-

AUTHORIZED VERSION. 63

merse do not correctly and fully express all that is meant
by putting the candidate into the water, in the ordinance
of baptism. They simply speak of putting under — with-
out having anything whatever to say of any subsequent
action — raising up from the water — an important part of
the transaction. There is the Saxon word dip, which,
as if '' to the manner born," conveys, with the utmost
accuracy and precision, the meaning and the mode con-
tended for ; but it is difficult, without a seeming burlesque
upon the sacred words of Jesus, to carry dip as an equi-
valent of baptize through the New Testament: '^ Are
ye able to be dipped with the dipping that I am dipped
with?" There is an ambiguity about the Latin phrase
which helps, by its haze, to conceal somewhat the ab-
surdity of certain renderings, and which has secured for
it a decided preference ; but, even were we prepared to
surrender the question of mode, we should be sorry to
accept the Anglicized Latin, immerse, for the Anglicized,
consecrated G-reek, baptize.

If in opposition to all canons of criticism and of
common sense the modal meaning must still be insisted
upon ; it may be pardonable to apply another test. The
word plunge is used as an equivalent of immersion : —
John the plunger — the plunging of repentance — he shall
plunge you in fire — plunged with the plunging that I
am plunged with — the plunging of cups and pots, of
brazen vssels and tables (beds or couches) — they eat not
except they plunge — plunged into Moses — plunged into
Jesus Christ!" The absurdity is at once apparent.

Clamour for external rite, moreover, is associated
with and constitutes a distinctive feature of some of the
least reputable of all religious organizations. In the
rhapsody and rhodomontade of Mormonite preachers

64 BAPTISMA ;

listened to from curiosity in other (lays, there was little
of polygamy, of the land of promise, or of any other pe-
culiarity of Mormonism ; but a strenuous and vociferous
contention for immersion. Mormonite converts, perverts,
were exultingly led down into the liquid grave.

XVII. DEMONSTRATION.

Thus, in relation to mode in baptism, we have war-
rant for the application of the baptismal clement to the
person, that by effusion — of the most ample and assur-
ing character. We have traversed the complete circle
of sacred record. The Old Testament and the New, the
Law and the Prophets, ordinance and symbol, ablution
and imagery, the baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire,
and, in all the facts and inferences of subsequent state-
ment, we have one uniform, conclusive, and triumphant
testimony in approval and in attestation of affusion.

Unquestionably too much of recognition, far too.
much in controversy, has been accorded to a matter of
mere form. " the letter killeth ; but the spirit giveth
life : now shall not the ministration of the spirit be
rather glorious?" The genius of our holy Christianity,
like the snow-white brilliant dome of the loftiest Alpine
mountain, towering in grandeur above mist and vajDour,
in its magnificence of spiritual reality, stands far above
the region of shadoio and of form. "For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcis-
ion, but a new creature. And as many as walk accord-
ing to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God."

The agitation to which the Churches have been sub-
jected upon the vexed but comparatively insignificant
question of mode in the administration of baptism, may

DEMONSTRATION. 65

by means of parallel instituted between this saci'ament
and that of the Lord's Supper, be made to stand out in
its true light. The Lord's Sup2:)er was solemnly institu-
ted. We have a very full account of the first celebra-
tion. The disciples, as they took the elements of the
broken body and shed blood, did not sit or kneel as with
us; but reclined upon their couches. The consecrated
name by which the apostle designated this sacrament of
the body and blood of Jesus was deijmon — which in
classic usage meant the chief meal of the day. To ob-
serve this ordinance literally, we ought, in the night
time, in an upper room, reclining upon sofas, or couches,
to take a full meal, and the Lord's Supper ought to be
celebrated as a grand festal entertainment. Would any
thoughtful Christian man ever dream of commencing a
crusade against the Churches because deipnon, the Sup-
j)er, meant the principal meal of the day : and because
in the administration of this sacrament we use only the
smallest quantity of bread and wine. It would not be
difficult, upon the basis of such a parallel, to construct a
conclusive reductio ad absurdum argument ; but the sim-
ple suggestion, in the direction of consistency in dealing
with the two sacraments of the Church, and of making
the same law of interpretation to sweep the whole
circle, shews sufficiently the supreme folly of attempting
to build np a lofty fabric upon so slight a foundation.

But, if, while satisfied that others should adoj^t the
mode, which to them seems preferable, we are challejiged
for scriptural proof, and denounced for inconsistency, we
confidently appeal to the oracle of Clod. " To the law
and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this
word it is because there is no light in them." The res-,
ponse is clear and decisive, the evidence obvious and

G6 BAPTISMA ;

ubuiulant, and the testimony trinmplianL and complete.
There are three that bear witness. There is a three-fold
baptism : icith water and with the Holy Ghost and ivith
fire. In each case, as already elucidated and demonstra-
ted, there is an application of the baptismal element to
the candidate. These three agree in one. " In the mouth
of two or three witnesses," upon the authority of the
great Lawgiver, " every word ma}' be established."

XVII. SUMMARY OF MODE.

1. Evangelical promise: "I will sprinkle clean
water.

2. Different baptisms : " Sprinlding the unclean
sanctified to the purifying of the flesh ; and was by
inspired authority baptism.

3. Throughout prophetic imagery submersion im-
plied calamity.

4. In all the sj'mbolism of Psalms and Prophecy
whenever and wherever icater was poured or sprinkled,
as in rain and dew, it invariably meant blessing and sal-
vation; and the mode consecrated by inspiration could
not be consistently abandoned.

5. John testified : "I indeed baptize you vcith
water."

6. The baptism of the Holy Ghost was hj ])onrinrj
out. " They of the circumcision were astonished because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the
Holy Ghost." "Then remembered I," says the Apostle
Peter, in explanation, "the Avord of the Lord, John in-
deed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with
the Holy Ghost."

V. Baptisms that exactly agreed : "With water
and with the H0I3' Ghost." Immersion is never admin-

SUMMARY OF MODE. 67

istered by pouring: the baptism of the Holy Ghost was
by jiouring out ; therefore the pourhi'j, and not immer-
sion, is scriptural baptism.

8. Aiidible sign, " He breathed on them."

9. The baptism of Fire at Pentecost was by appli-
cation of the visible symbol to the persons. The
"tongue of fire," suggestive in its form of testimony for
Christ, sat upon the head. The idea of immersion in a
tongue is utterly absurd. The disciples were not
plunged into the emblem; but the likeness as of fire de-
scended and rested uj)on each of them.

10. To the administration of baptism to three
thousand persons, on the day of Pentecost, there must
have been insuperable obstacles; and therefore it may be
assumed that the baptisms were with water.

11. The Ethiopian Eunuch was baptized in the
desert, a dry and thirsty land, where no water was, ex-
cept when obtained as Isaac did by sinking deep wells,
and therefore not affording facilities for immersion.
But as the Eunuch read and Philip expounded the
sprinkling of many nations, they come unexpectedly, as the
narrative implies, to water sufficient for the administra-
tion of baptism by sprinkling.

12. Baptized unto Moses in cloud and sea: The
Egyptians were immersed but not baptized ; the Israelites
were all baptized but not one Israelite icas immersed.

13. Baptism, as the consecrated designation of the
iniatory ordinance of the Christian Church, cannot in
any word, merely exjDressive of mode, find adequate
equivalent. Immersion and baptism are not equivalent
terms; for a man may be immersed and yet not
baptized.

•()8 BAPTISMA ;

14. The administ ration of l.aptism with water, the
clement applied to the candidate, corresponds with the
"breakinijj of bread," small in quantit}-, and with the
wine, in the administration of the Lord's Supper. The
philosophy may be explained : Simi^licity of outward
sign, does not absorb the interest of the moment. It is
calculated to direct the mind at once to the true
significance.^-

CHAPTER V.

SPIRITUAL BAPTISM: ARGUMENT PROM
ANALOGY.

" One baptism." — St. Paul.

" The doctrine of baptisms.''' — St. Paul.

" One the pure baptismal flame." — Charles Wesley.

" But observe, yet further, that from that ivhole, so
various, so vast, so complete as it is, ice gather a final total
impression of the truth which it brings, which is far more
sufficient and far more impressive than toe othencise coidd
have had," — Br. B. S. Storrs.

In one of the grand and gorgeous cathedrals of
Europe, "unimpaired, shining, imperial, in the serene
Italian air," the vast and varied magnificence and massy
richness of statelj' aisle, wreathed pillar, " storied win-
dow," fretted roof, and the solemn, silent gloom at once
strike the sense with awe ; but immediately there fol-
lows the satisfying consciousness of a unity reaching up

* " A little drop of water may serve the fulness of divine grace
in baptizing as Avell as a small piece of bread, and the least tasting
of wine in the Holy Supper." — Witsins.

THE GREAT COMMISSION. 69

to the very ideal of perfection. Through mighty nave,
transept, chancel and every extension, there is the ex-
pression of supreme architectural harmony.

In the magnificent temple of inspired truth we may
stand with subdued and reverential awe beneath the lofty
dome — tread the noble aisles which stretch through cen-
turies of prophetic ministration — traverse every recess,
angle and extension, with the certainty that each several
part will deepen the sense of that perfect unity of idea —
to which the glorious structure, as a whole, gives voice
and eloquent expression.

We have now, therefore, to examine some passages of
another class, in which baptism is spoken of in the New
Testament. T\\qj are mainly figurative and do not ad-
mit of any positive proof, as to manner of baptismal
administration; but for profound importance of theme,
force of figure and ai-gument from analogy, the searching
test which they supply of that continuity of scriptural
idea, up to this point, indisputable and undisturbed, de-
mand 8j)ecial and separate consideration.

I. THE GREAT COMMISSION.

The Saviour in the Great Commission said nothing
of water. That command, to disciple, matheteusate, all
nations, was given at a time when the one absorbing-
theme was the advent of the Spirit ; and it cannot, even
in thought, be separated from the last jiromise-: "Ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days
hence." The command must be interpreted in the light
of the promise. There was silence in regard to mode;
but not many days hence there would be complete eluci-
dation. Two things would be at once suggested to the
minds of the disciples : Judaism, the adoption and the
glory and the service of God and the covenants pertained

70 BAPTISMA ;

pro-omincntly to one nation; but tho Gosiicl, si more
glorious ministi-ation of tho Spirit, is, in co-ordinato and
co-oxtcnsivo sense, for all nations : there is no hint of
restriction, — only of enlargement, — the world takes the
place of the nation. The other thought which would
most immediately and most permanently impress the
minds of the disciples, significant of closer relationship
to God, would be that o{ dedication to the Triune One —
baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

That which ought in the commission to be consider-
ed as subordinate has, however, received most distinct
recognition ; and that which, even in the outward and
visible sign, should occupy a secondary place, has been
brought into boldest and most distinct relief. Appeal to
the Commission for proof of immersion has been thrown
into syllogistic shape :

Christ commanded His Apostles to bajitize.

The meaning of baptize, according to all the learn-
ing in the world, is immerse, or its equivalent.

Therefore the Commission authorizes immersion,

A more striking exhibition of the Petitio Principio,,
a mere begging of the question, could not perhaps be
attempted. The usual assumption in tho premises,
through all this parade of halting logic : that by con-
fession of learned men baptism and immersion are equi-
valent, constitutes the fallacy, and vitiates the conclu-
sion. Taking up the most accessible authority, upon
the meaning of the Greek verb. Dr. Eobinson's Lexicon,
a work of the very highest authority for scholarly
thoroughness, we find that, in the earliest Latin versions
of the New Testament, the Greek baptizo "is never

THE GREAT COMMISSION. tl

translated by immergo ; shewing that there was something
in the rite of baptism to which the latter did not corres-
pond."

"But nine-tenths of the christian world," saj^s Dr.
Pope, Professor of Theology, one of the most learned
men in England, "have understood by baptism the
pouring of water " — effusion and not immersion.*

The New Testament meaning of the verb Baptizo,
around which this controversy has gathered, and which
has so often been made the battle ground of fierce
disputation, we have been able to determine in the New
Testament sense. The classic usage of this word, not-
withstanding erudite and elaborate investigation in that
direction, is of comparatively little value in this ques-
tion; and the results of learned disquisition are of no
material importance. Such words as aggelos, ekklesia,
pistis, almost all theological and descriptive terms, have
in the Gospel changed their meaning. They are used not
as by old Greek writers; but with aNeio Testament sense.
The only valid inquiry in relation to such words, so far
as the teachings of Christianity are concerned, is that by
which their force and significance as used by the inspired
writers of the New Testament, can be ascertained.

"The body of learned critics and lexicographers,"
says the eminent theologian and scholar Dr. Dwight, —
who tells us that he " examined almost one hundred in-
stances, in which the word haptizo, and its derivatives,
are used in the New Testament, and four in the
Septuagint," "declare that the original meaning of
both these words (haptizb and bapto) is to tinge, stain,
dye, or color; and that, when it means immersion, it is

♦Christian Theology, p. 670.

72 BAPTISMA ;

only in ;i secondary and occasional sense; derived from
the fact that such things as are dyed, stained, or colored,
are often immersed for this end. This interpretation of
the words also they support by such a series of quota-
tions as seem unanswerably to evince that this was the
orignal, classical meaning of these words."

" I do," says Professor Stuart, " consider it as quite
plain, that none of the circumstantial evidence thus far,
proves immersion to have been exclusively the mode of
Christian baptism, or even that of John. Indeed, I con-
sider this point so far made out that I can hardly sup-
press the conviction, that if any one maintains the
contrary, it must be cither because he is unable rightly
to estimate the nature and power of the Greek language ;
or because he is influenced in some measure by party-
feeling; or else because he has looked at the subject in
only a partial manner, without examining it fully and
thoroughly."— P. 313.

Yery reluctanly have authorities been multiplied;
but only in this way can sweeping assertion in regard
to "all the learning in the world" be satisfactorily re-
futed. The influential names of Eobinson, Dwight,
Stuart and Pope have been cited, not because of their
opinions on baptisms, but as representatives of the most
advanced scholarship, critical and theological, of modern
times.

The preponderance of scholarship, extensive re-
search, and acknowledged erudition are in affirmation of
what Lexicographer and Theological Professor have
deliberately declared. What then are the value and

ONE BAPTISM. YS'

validity of demonstration, based upon premises so false?
It must always prove fallacious and delusive — flimsi/
and frail as a sjpider's web.

II. ONE BAPTISM.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism ; the grand
essential baptism of the Holy Ghost — of which the ap-
plication of water is only the symbol. Adherents of the
immersionist theory are in danger, in strife and in the
strenuousness of persistent and imjiassioned appeals, of
resting in the shadow and of losing sight of the one
essential glorious baptism of the spirit of God. Great
injustice has been done to a noble passage, in the Epistle
of St. Paul to the Ephesians by the unwarrantable sever-
ance of a single clause from the context — thus w^resting,
as also the other scriptures, and taking away gems of
truth from the rich and beautiful setting which God gave
them. The "one baptism" occupies conspicuous and
commanding position in the very centre of a most mag-
nificent passage, descriptive of the grand and glorious,
essentials of the Christian system — especially of its hai'-
mony and spiritual unity. The introduction, to such a
connection, of a clause having relation to mere rite and
external service, would not only constitute a juxtaposi-
tion of the most incongruous and inconceivable kind ; ..
but it would be a violation of the spirit of Christianity
and it would be strangely at variance with the logical .
sequence of the 23assage : "there is one, and one spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all^
who is above all and through all and in you all." The
force and beauty of the text are brought out in the nobl©

74 BAPTISMA ;

hymn, on the " Communion of Saints.'" A single stanza
will bo sufticicnt for illustration:

" Build us in the body up,
Call'd in the high calling's hope :
One the Spirit whom we claim ;
One the pure baptismal flame :
One the faith and common Lord ;
One the Father lives adored,
Over, through and in us all ;
God incomprehensible."

Rather than be a party to strife in which outward
service should be unduly exalted in the Church at
Corinth, the apostle Paul, who exulted in the one bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost, was prejiared to sink the sym-
bol and to abandon the rite, and with vehemence ex-
claimed/or Christ sent me not to bajytize, but to 2'>reach the
Gospel. "I do not know Avhat God intends to do with
me," said one of the most distinguished Baptist minis-
ters, whom I have been privileged to know, in these
Eastern Provinces — with whom, in his last sickness I
had much intercourse, " I do not know what G od intends
to do with me," he said, with all the energj^ of which he
was capable, just before death, " but if I should be raised
up and be permitted to preach again, two themes now
seem to me only worthy of consideration, I shall feel
that I have a special mission to preach holiness and the
importance of the one glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost.''

III. BURIED AVITII HIM BY BAPTISM.

The baptism of the Holy Ghost alone introduces us
into that close and vital relationship with Christ which
eatisfies the soul. " Know ye not that so many of us as
were baptized into His death. Therefore we are buried
with Him by baptism into His death : that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,

' BURIED WITH IIISI BY BAPTISM;. 75

even so we also should walk in newness of life." " For if
we have been planted together into the likeness of His
•death, we shall bo also in the likeness of His resurrec-
tion. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with
Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we shall not serve sin." *

The Apostle Paul, whose acute and comprehensive
mind grasped the most subtle and profound laws and
principles of spiritual life, developes, in this noble pas-
sage, wrought out in logical and luminous language, a
three-fold relationship to Christ — crucified, buried and
planted together. By Eomans, for whom this epistle
was written, " a handful of dust flung upon a corpse was
held to be a legal ritual burial," and accustomed to the
practice of burning their dead, of which the ashes were
collected and deposited in tomb or urn, the appositeness
of this allusion to the Spirit's baptism, — which alone
could be meant in this connection, a baptism of fiire, an
element of searching, dissolving, purifying, quickening
energy — would be at once apparent, and the illustration
would carry and command conviction and intelligent ac-
ceptance of the important truth. In spiritual crucifixion
the old nature gradually dies, as in the Eoman mode of
death upon the cross, tlie victim after excruciating pain
and lingering agony at last expired. In burial, by bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost, — for the whole process is one of
spiritual change and acknowledged canons of criticism,

* John "Wesley, in lo co, says "Buried with him, alluding to
the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion." — Notes.

Wesleyan and other expositors have supposed that, in the
phrase of the Apostle, there was allusion to ancient immersions —
purifications of the Jewish Church, which were supposed to be
mostly by immersion. Later research has done much to correct
the supposition.

76 BAPTISM A ;

shut us up to one law of interpretation — the soul of the
believer crucitied with Christ, dying unto the world, ne-
vertheless lives and, quickened, purified, saved and sanc-
litiod, is thrilled and pervaded by the pulsation and
power of a new life. The metajjhor of planting is also
employed in this passage to work out the same thought
— a life of faith roofecZ in Christ Jesus. This baptism
into Christ's death, by the agency and operation of the
Holy Ghost, fulfils every conception of the mind and
meets, and satisfies every capacity of the renewed nature.
Conscious of insuflicient religious life and power, we
meet occasionally W'ith cases of doubt and perplexity.
It cannot, in view of well authenticated facts, be regard-
ed as any violation of the law of Christian charity to
make the assertion that the policy and practice of some
religionists, always troublesome neighbours, meddling
and muddling, is for the sake of propounding a solution,
to confuse and disturb the simjile hearted and unwary
ones. In such cases the success is sometimes worthy of
a better cause, and immersion in water is vainly res-
orted to — because of the assurance, confidently but /a Zse-
ly given, that such an act in itself must be accompanied
by great and signal blessing. I^ot in any such resource
can rest and satisfaction be found. Some time ago the
Baptist churches of one of our metropolitan cities were
jubilant over the accession to their ministerial ranks of a
clergyman from an influential Ej)iscoj)al church ; but the
result was chagrin and bitter disappointment : he soon
severed his connection with his new associates and gave in
his adherence to another religious organization. In such
circumstances it is always better to give than to receive.
Only in the baptism of the Holy Ghost can we find cen-
tral bliss, stability and certainty of spiritual life. That

BURIED "WITH HIM BY BAPTISM. TY

richer effusion therefore with faith and fervor we in-
voke :

" Come, Holy Ghost all quick'ning fire !
Come and our hallowed hearts inspire,

Sprinkled with the atoning blood :
Now to our souls Thyself reveal ;
Thy mighty working let us feel,

And know that we are ho7~n of God."

It may he still thought that there is not sufficient
warrant for the principle of interpretation now urged;
and that this passage may have reference to baptismal
service. But has there been any adequate estimate of
the consequences whic-h, in logical sequence, follow
from such position. There could not possibly be a
more direct way to the demonstration of baptismal regeri-
eration.

''Buried with Him" is a great verity of personal
salvation. But the baptism of water is the agency by
which this great and glorious work has been effected
and accomplished. Therefore we are saved by the ap-
plication of water. The Sacramentarian would bo well
eatisfied to entrench his pernicious sj^stem in a posi
tion of such security and strength.

The congruity of the principle of interpretation con-
tended for in this passage, and its complete conformit}^,
to the whole analogy of faith, become at once apparent,
and if additional proof, the positive testimony of scrip-
ture, be needed, then " hy one Spirit are ice all baptiz-
ed into one body'" that is into Christ.

"What then becomes of the whole fabric of exegesis
and appeal based on the alternative principle of interpre-
:tation ? It vanishes like the mist from the mountain brmv.

18 BAPTISMA ;

IV. HORN OK WATER AND THE SPIRIT.

The Baptism of tlio Holy Ghost, as the grand and
glorious distinction of Christianity, was announced by
Christ to Xicodemus, in one ol the most profound and
spiritual of all his discourses : " Jesus answered and
said unto him, verily, verily I saj'' unto thee, except a
man be born again, he cannot sec the Kingdom of God."
With startling effect upon the shivering ear of that man
of the Pharisees, scrupulous in all that i-elated to the
ritual of the Church, fell the words of the Saviour : Ye
must be horn again. There was no attempt to tone down
the impressive solemnity of this authoritive utterance,
"Veril}', Verily" — Amen, Amen — "I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he can-
not enter the kingdom of God."

The profound significance of these words, bom of
uater and the Spirit, avw ow\y be understood from the
staiulpoint occupied by Nicodemus. Jesus spoke of a
baptism of tire. To the Hebrews that symbol was hal-
lowed. The burning bush of Horeb, the pillar of fire in
the Avilderness, and the Shekinah cloud were the conse-
cration and the explanation : so of this figurative utter-
ance of the Saviour, born of loater. Its significance could
not -be misunderstood. To the mind of Nicodemus it
would be immediately suggestive of the " clean water"
which sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. The heifer.
all red from horn to hoof, and without blemish, when
found amongst the herds of Israel, was slain, consumed
upon the altar of burnt-offering, and the ashes, the con-
centration of the offering, were mingled with water
from a running stream. This was technically '-'clean
water." It was the water of sacrifice. It takes
us directly to the altar and to the atonement — ta

BORN OP WATER AND THE SPIRIT. ^9

the water and the blood— from the Saviour's side which
flowed. '' I saw it," John testified ; " I saw that pierced
side, that opened fountain, that mingled current."

But, while the ashes from the sacrificial altar, sug-
gestive o^ pardon, pointed to the " cross and passion" of
our blessed Eedeemer, the tvater from the running brook,
typical of purity, in perfect correspondence, as a symbol,
with the baptismal element, has direct reference to the
saving, sanctifying operations of the ever-blessed Spirit
of God.

Thus we have not only relative change, reconciliation
through Christ : but real change : regeneration by the
Holy Ghost— born of the Spirit. There is mystery in
this change — this renewal of the heart by the Holy
Spirit — this transformation of the soul into a living
temple for God. But there are mysteries in the world
around us, — that something which we call speech, a mere
wave of sound, a pulsation of the atmosphere, will trans-
mit from one mind to a thousand the same thoughts. An
operator at Valencia, sitting at the end of a cable, the
other end of which is in the depths of the vast Atlantic
Ocean, finds himself, at midnight, watching intently the
delicate magnet, disturbed by the influences of the sea,
by a tiny flash of light, suddenly placed in communica-
tion with men separated from him by a vast expanse of
stormy waves. There is mystery in such communication,
but the fact is none the le^ss real. " The wind bloweth,"
the Saviour said, in this midnight interview^ upon the
Mount of Olives : the wind moaned through the Yalley
ofKedron, rustled amongst the branches of the grove,
beat coldly upon the brow of Nicodemus, but who could
explain the law of that midnight breeze ? The laws
which ffovern the motion of winds and the course of

80 n.vPTisMA ;

storms have been closely investigated, and are partially
understood, but tbe rising and falling of gentle breezes,
and their frequent changes, will, probably, forever re-
main a mj-stery. — " The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hoarest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, or whither it goeth : so is every one
that is born of the Spirit.'"

" The Spirit answers to the blood."

5. A FIGURE CORRESPONDING TO BAPTISM.

A favorite mode, moi-c .ingenious than ingenuous,
involving a suppressio veri, alwa^'s discreditable in a
Tvitness, sworn to the Avhole truth, has been to accumu-
late scraps and shreds of paragraphs and sentences, from
voluminous writings of able and learned theologians and
expositors ; and to parade them as clouds of icitnesses. It
is not always easy, in such multifarious and not unfre-
quently mutilated fragments, by comj)arison with the
deliberate and definitely formulated judgments and
opinions of the writers themselves, to ascertain their
real value; but confessedly when such "witnesses" are
brought into court there ought to be no lie forced upon
their lips. They should be allowed in their vernacular
to tell the whole truth.

^^liiii probable" says Dr. Adam Clarke, following-
previous expositors, who supposed that there might be
allusion to an ancient practice of immei'sion, " that the
Apostle here alludes to the Inode of administering baj)-
tism by immersion, the wiiole ho&j being put under
water." To an intelligent audience the above sentence
was quoted as an embodiment of Dr. Adam Clarke's
opinion. To the important qualification of the passage
which follows immediatel}', there was not the faintest
allusion. The bulk of the people present at that time,

EXIGENCY, FACT AND INFERENCE. 81

not having the Commentary for reference, could only-
carry away one impression. But what must have been
the feeling of indignation, with the few who consulted
and compared authorities, when they came to read the
whole passage — calling for special attention because
emphasized by the use of italics: ^' I say it is probable
that the Apostle alludes to this mode of immersion ; but
it is not absolutely certain that he does so, as some
imagine ; for in the next verse, our being incorporated
into Christ by baptism is also denoted by our being
planted, or rather grafted together in the likeness of his
death ; and Noah's Ark, floating upon the water, and
sprinkled by the rain from heaven, is a figure corresponding
to baptism."

The great Wesleyan Commentator generously, but
as we have seen from mistake, made the concession, as
above stated, and also in the parallel passage of Colos-
sians. He believed that there was probable allusion to
immersion — probably, as in Wesley's note, the ancient
Jewish purifications were in mind — because " some do
imagine it."

The concession is quoted without any cognizance
of the accompanying argument : sufficiently cogent and
positive, we should say, to balance all probabilities and
even certainties that rest only upon imagination.

VI. EXIGENCY, FACT AND INFERENCE.

The first pastoral duty called for after exposition of
the subject of baptism, early on the following morning,
was the administration of baptism to one who, supposed
to be dying — not by any means a solitary instance —
could not by possibility have been baptized, except by
affusion — with water.

82 BAPTISM A ;

The fact, in relation to spii'itual interests involved,
is not one of vital iniportance. Salvation is not a mere
ritual. The dying thief, who first reviled and then be-
lieved, though baptism was out of the question, passed
away fi-om the cross of shame to the paradise of God.
Even in regard to the baptism of the disciples of Jesus
Christ, the silence of Scripture is complete. Simon
Magus, though baptized by an Apostle, was still in the gall
of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity ; and Cornelius and
his friends, ivithout any application of water, received the
baptism of the Holy Ghost.

The Church of Christ is built " upon the founda-
tion of the Apostles and prophets." If immersion had
been an imperative requirement, and mode in the out-
ward rite an essential thing, we might have expected
ample and explicit detail as to the manner in which the
apostles were baptized. They were at the foundation, you
know. Inexplicably, upon the immersionist theory and
appeal, we have not even proof that they were ever bap-
tized at all.

The bearing of the fact, previously indicated, upon
the question at issue, however, must be sufficiently evi-
dent. Can we admit, in harmon}" with our convictions,
of the infinite wisdom of the Eedeemer, that if immer-
sion were the only valid mode of baptism, an ordinance
should meet us, at the threshold of the Christian
Church, with which, in the case of thousands, comj)li-
ance was an utter impossibility ?

The glorious dreamer, John Bunyan, though a Bap-
tist, in his great allegory, following closely the word of
God, took his pilgrims all the way from the city of des-
truction to the celestial city, and, in all their progress,

DISPENSATION OF THE SPIRIT. 83

we meet with no flood until, in the deep, dark river of
death, they finished their earthly pilgrimage, were wel-
comed by the shining ones, and then went up throiigh
the golden gates into the city of the Great King.

Very apposite to the subject, in view of numerous
assumptions,* looked at from this and other standpoints,
are the eloquent words of the illustrious Baptist minis-
ter, Robert Hall : — slightly softened in this closing quo-
tation— " Let him reflect on the enormous impropriety
of demanding a greater uniformity among candidates
for admission into the Church militant, than is requisite
for a union with the Church triumphant — of claiming
from the faithful, while encompassed with darkness and
impei'fection, more harmony and correctness of senti-
ment than is necessary to qualify them to sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of God — of
pretending to render a Christian societ}' on enclosure
more sacred than the abode of Divine Majestj^ — and of
investing any little teacher with the prerogative of re-
pelling from his communion a Howe, a Leighton, or a
Brainard. Transuhstantiation presents nothing more re-
volting to the dictates of common sense.

VII. DISPENSATION OP THE SPIRIT.

It is impossible not to be profoundly imjDressed in:
many a prayer-service, with the earnestness and tremu-
lous fervor of petition for the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Have we warrant for such j^leading ? Are we in accord
with the teachings and testimonies of the insjjired word
of God ?

* One of the most amiable and eloquent ministers I have
known, ventured AThen convalescent to preach on the Sabbath, and
afterwards to administer the rite of baptism, by immersion ; the
next day, in his golden prime, he died — the direct consequence of
imprudence.

84 BAPTISMA;

Wo live under the dispensation of the spirit. The
great substantial blessings of Pentecost are unex-
hausted and inexhaustible, and wo believe to us and
ours: —

" The apostolic promise given."

According to the sacred record when, at the inau-
gural of Christianity, the baptism was first received,
" they were all filled with the Holy Ghost;" and, indi-
cative of undiminished privilege, the Apostle Paul,
writing to the Church at Ephesus, earnestly enjoined
upon them : to "be filled with the Spirit.'' "We have
tbais, in the phraseology of inspired exhortation, an
ample vindication of the form of supplication, in relation
to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to which we are ac-
customed in services of prayer. Who shall dare to place
limitation where the terms of gospel are without re-
striction ? The great promise of this dispensation, " I
will pour out my spirit upon all flesh," has not yet re-
ceived its full accomplishment : and, until then, we are
justified in asking and expecting in richer plenitude :
'' Until the spirit bo poured upon us from on high, and
the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field
be counted as a forest."

One more promise from the lofty and magnificent
predictions of Isaiah, who by the golden-mouthed Chrys-
ostom was spoken of as "the cloud of God," will be
amply sufficient in illustration of exalted privilege, and
of confident expectation: "And the Lord will create
upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon all
her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day and the shin-
ing of a flaming fire ; for upon all the glory shall be a
defence." The imagery of such promises and predic-
tions, involving in their accomplishment a glorious bap-

THE KEY-NOTE. 85

tism of the Holy Ghost and of fii-e, has by a natural
transition passed into Christian language and literature ;
and, in the hymns of the Church, has found fitting appli-
cation :

' ' O, that he now from heaven might fall
And all our sins consume ;
Come, Holy Ghost, for Thee we call,
Spirit of burning come."

CHAPTER VI.
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM.

"-For the promise is unto you and to your children." —
Acts 2 : 39.

*' For of such is the kingdom of God. — St. Mark 10 : 14.

'^ And whoso shall receive one such little child in my
name receiveth me." — St. Matthew 18 ; 5.

^^But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord."—Eph. 6 : 4.

" One common tiote on either lyre did strike." — Dryden.

I. THE KEY-NOTE.

The chief point at issue, in regard to subjects, is in-
volved in the relationship of children to the Church of
Christ : Have we any thing of definiteness and distinct-
ness of teaching upon this question ?

In relation to mode we have found, in evangelical
promise, a distinctive utterance, the ;^ibrations of which,
through all dispensations, and in varied revelations,
have been attuned to the most absolute harmory. Is

86 BAPTISMA ;

there in relation to subjects any ''certain sou7id" which
comes to us as the authoritive voice of God, and strikes
home to the great heart of the Church. The statue of
Memnon, at Thebes, on the banks of the !N"ile, according
to ancient legend, remained silent and impassive Avhile
the cold shadows of night j-ostcd upon it; but when
struck by the first bright beams of morning light the
marble breathed and gave forth its wondrous vibrations
and mystic harmonies of sound. The infallible oracles
of Grod are not, upon this important inquir}', mute and
dumb because of deep shadows and the dark uncertainty
of night.

From the region of obscurity and of uncertainty the
whole question has been, by inspired teaching and the
proclamation of heavenly law, lifted up into the broad,
bright, blessed, sunlight, the noontide radiance of revealed
truth, positive privilege, and Gospel Day. In exj^lana-
tion of the I^ew Dispensation, of the gift of the Holy
Grhost, of the laws of the kingdom, of the range and
rights of subjects, of the conditions of evangelical accep-
tance, and of the terms of family relationship, the
Apostle Peter, at a time when passover memories — the
sprinkled blood, the salvation of their children, the des-
troj'ing angel, passing over the dwellings of Irsael, and
smiting the first-born of Egypt, — recently solemnized,
were fresh in their recollection, — emphatically affirmed :
The 2'>romise is unto you and to your children. The
key-note was sounded in the first message.

II. A COVENANT GOD.

It is impossible to hear the distinct utterance of St.
Peter at Pentecost, "unto you and to your children,"
without being reminded of the provision and privilege
of ancient covenant.

A COVENANT GOD. 87

The cardinal promise is in exact accordance with
previous stipulation : "And I," said the Lord God unto
Abraham, ''will establish my covenant between Me and
thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy
seed after thee." The Lord promised to be a God unto
Abraham and his seed ; and the Gospel promise is unto
you and to your children. The only distinctive change,
apart from the local, temporal, inferior blessings then
promised, was in the covenant-sign, — from circumcision
to baptism; and for this according to Rabbinical auth-
orities, the baptism of proselytes, after the Captivity, of
families, men, women and children, would be a general
preparation. This aspect of the question, the full force
of which, unless, putting ourselves in thought in the
place of the Jews, who, regarding this promise made to
their fathers as an inalienable birth-right, listened to the
Apostle Peter at Pentecost — has been explicitly affirmed
by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians : " That the
blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ, etc. For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female ; for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abra-
ham's seed, and heirs according to the promised

In every covenant of God, made with his people, in-
fants have been included.

In the original covenant of Eden children were com-
prised; and upon "them that had not sinned after the
similitude of Adam's trangressions," the consequences of
disobedience were directly entailed. It was, therefore,
a fundamental and corvelative necessity of that divine

ss

BAPTISMA ;

scliome, in which '•gmcc did much more abound," that
each .successive covenant of salvation should be compre-
hensive as the Fall. Thus " in Christ, the tribes of
Adam boast more blessings than their fathers lost."

The covenant made with Noah was of this distinc-
tive character : " I establish my covenant with thee
and rcith thy seed." " Behold," said the Lord God unto
Abraham, "I establish my covenant with thee, and with thy
seed after thee." In the Mosaic covenant, they are re-
presented as " standing before the Lord their God, with
their little ones."

The last ''Mw Covenant" intimation, in the Epistle
to the Hebrews, is that of comprehensiveness: ''from
the least to the greatest." Is there anything in the New
Testament to traverse Old Testament covenant, or to
collide with evangelical promise? All convictions of
consistency of divine jDrocedure constitute a standing
protest againt such supposition.

III. THE VOICES OP THE OLD TESTAMENT.

In choral execution there may be a multitude of
voices and many instruments, the soft lute, the silvery
cymbal, and the organ's majestic roll — " all the forms
and forces of sound, dual, semichoral, antiphonal response,
burst and swell of voice and instrument, attenuated
cadence, apostrophe and repeat, united and full har-
monious combination" — yet, wuth exquisite accent and
perfect precision, each note of melody obtains clear and
accurate expression.

In the Old Testament, we have the voices of patri-
archal ages and of prophetic times— covenant, command,
and promise. la "times past" and in "divers manners
God spake unto the fathers by the prophets." At Pen-

THE VOICES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 89'

tecost listening to St. Peter, we stand on the threshold,
of a new dispensation — that of the Son of God. But,
there is a pi-ofound and glorious sense in which the
Church of Christ is built upon the foundation of the
Apostles and Prophets. Before we turn away, from the
rapt utterances of inspired men, it is well that we should
ponder their testimony : " unto whom it was revealed,,
that not unto themselves but unto lis they did minister
the things."

The promise of which St. Peter spoke, in exposition;
of the gift ot the Holy Ghost, chords in beautiful har-
mony with the divine declaration, as spoken by the
prophet: "For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour
my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine
offspring."

Promise can never in the Covenant of God collide
with command; and, accordingly, the "promise of the
Father," unfolded by the Apostle at Pentecost, embodies
and crystalizes the very spirit and essence of former in-
junction : " For he established a testimony in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded
our fathers that they should make them known to their
children : that the generation to come might know them,
even the children which should be born ; who should arise;
and declare them to their children ; That they might
set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments."

" Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your
God ; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and
your officers, with all the men of Israel,

Your little ones , your wives, and thy stranger that

90 baptisma;

is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the
drawer of thy water :

That thou shouldest enter into covenant icith the
Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God
maketh with thee this day :"

Thus in the Old Testament we have varied voices :
but from each immortal bard, and from each consecrated
lyre, there sounds " one common nofe" " That they might
set their hope in God.''

IV. IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH.

It is not without significance that such phrases as
''Jewish Church" and "Christian Church," are not to
be found in the sacred Scriptures. " Nor," says Doane,
" is such form of words : as the Church of Christ, to be
met with in the Bible. It was alwaj^s the Church, or
the Church of God.''

Grranting the identity of the Christian Church —
demonstrated by the Apostle Paul, in his masterly and
conclusive argument of the Olive Tree, in which, though
original branches were broken otf because of unbelief,
and, upon a corresponding principle of faith, new ones
grafted in, through all developments and transitions the
trunk and roots remained unchanged — its essential
identity unimpaired — there was, upon the supposition of
reversal in relationship of children, an imperative neces-
sity/or the repeal of former law. But the total silence of
Kevelation, in regard to any covenant-change in this
direction, affords the strongest presumptive evidence of
the divine purpose to perpetuate former right and privi-
lege ; and there was therefore no necessity for additional
enactment. What force in court of law, in a case invol-
■■v'lng the rights of infants and minors, and their legal

IDENTITY OP THE CHURCH. 91

status in this Island, would there be in the plea : we are
under a new and more extensive political dispensation ;
and since Confederation there has been no direct and
positive legislative for the benefits of the class concerned:
therefore their status and their legal rights are nihil ?
If there has been no act of repeal the old statute law of
the colony remains in full force under the new regime ;
and according to its provisions and stipulations adjudi-
cation will be made and rights sacredly vindicated.

If there linger still a doubt as to the identity of the
"Church of God," through all dispensations, that doubt
vanishes before the authoritive and masterly statement
of the subject, by the Apostle Paul, in the Epistle to the
Ephesians : " Ye are fellow citizens with the saints, and
of the household of God ; and are built upon the found-
ations of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the Chief Coi-ner Stone ; in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in
the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded together for an
-habitation of God through the Spirit."

The Apostle's ideal of the "Church of God" was
that of a gorgeous temple, fitted and framed, not of cedar
and mai-ble but " living stones" — its courts thronged
with worshijDpers : no more strangers and foreigners —
its altars flaming with love and devotion, prayer and
praise, incense and a pure offering — its splendor the
glory of the Lord. But at the very foundation of the
Church, bearing the weight of the mighty structure are
the Apostles and Prophets^

Through the golden gate way of appointed ordinance
.and initiatory rite, in virtue of unchanging covenant
stipulation, for thousands of years, the people of God

92 baptibma;

passed into the brightness and glory of Divine Presence. •
They took, in solemn dedication, their " little ones" with
them ; and sacredly resolved : " As for mo and my house ■
we will serve the Lord." Has that gate of God's tempi©'
ever been authoritively and formally closed ? Was there
ever inscribed above the portals of the Church of God,,
in interdict of infant dedication : No admission hereiT
No ! a thousand times. No ! That has not been done in
the national Church of England. It has never been done-
by the influential Presbyterian Church, — for that has
always been distinctively distinguished for loyalty to
the AVord of God. It has not been done by the Congre"
gationalists — the living representatives of the grand
Puritans of Old England and of the Pilgrim Fathers of
New England. The Methodist Church, carrying the
triumphs of the Cross, the wide world over, promulgates
the fundamental promise — unto you and to your children.

To the apostle Peter, in acknowledgment of memor-
able confession, the Saviour accorded one, and but on«,
special distinction , that of opening the kingdom, — the
New Testament Dispensation to Jew and Gentile.
" Thou art the Christ the Son of God," was the testi-
mony, of Peter. And Jesus said, " Thou art Peter," —
a name which signifies rock — with thy name corresponds
thy confession ; and, "upon this rock," the fundamental
doctrine of Christ's divinity, embodied and expressed in
the testimony, " I will build my Church ; and the gates
of hell shall not px-evail against it."

Then came the declaration of proposed investiture :
"And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of hea-
ven ; and whatsoever thou shalt build on earth shall be
built in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven ; Matt. 16 : 19. The-

OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OP GOD. 93

' keys of gates were, in ancient times and still are, the
. emblem of official constituted authority. Oriental keys,
were very different from Italian pictures of St. Peter's
keys. The imagery of the prophet — the key of the
house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so shall he
open and none shall shut — was in literal keeping with
actual fact.

At Pentecost the gates "of the kingdom" the Gospel
Dispensation, were to be opened. Christ has delegated
authority to his servants for this purpose. They are to
open "and none shall shut.'' St. Peter in virtue of
Christ's investiture, claims the distinction of first open-
ing the portals of the Church to Jew and Gentile. I
see him there standing at the threshold of the New
Dispensation. The " keys of thej^kingdom," are upon
his shoulder. The emblem of authority is not carried
there as an empty, unnecessary badge.

The massive apparatus in which there has been
perfect adaptation presents no difficulty. The portals
of the kingdom are thrown wide open. Shall we enter ?
anxiously inquire the multitudes of penitents. Yes,
and be baptized every one of you" — just what missionar-
ies of the Church are saying to-day — when like the
Apostle, they are opening their commission for the
first time. Can our friends in many lands obtain access?
Yes " all that are afar off" — from Orient to Occident.

But most essential of all, may the little ones enter ?
Yes! emphatically and assuredly : "for the promise
is unto you and to your children."

V. " OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD."

The relation of children to this economy of grace,
the spiritual kingdom of the Eedeemor, was very strik-
ingly exemplified, and very explicitly stated, in the

94 BAPTISMA ;

personal ministiy of Christ. The "blessing of the lit-
tle children" has formed a fitting theme for poet and
painter. It has been woven into immortal song. It has
been limned by the pencil of glowing genius. But, after
all, the ellbrts and aspirations of art and genius, of story
and of song, there has been nothing yet i)roduced com-
parable, in power and enduring interest, to the simple,
artless, but exquisitely beautiful, narratives of the evan-
gelists. According to Luke; " they brought unto Him
also infants; and Jesus called them unto Him.^' " In
Mark, however," says Dr. David Brown, in loco, we have
a most precious addition. " But when Jesus saw it He
was much displeased, and said unto them : Suffer the lit-
tle children, ta paidia, to come unto me, and forbid them
not." What words are these from the lips of Christ !
The price of them is above rubies. But the reason as-
signed, in the words that follow, crowns the statement
— for of such is the kingdom of God. But the action that
followed is the best of all : And He took them up in His
arms, pnd his hands upon them, and blessed them. Did not
the grave mistake of the disciples, which so much dis-
pleased the Lord Jesus Christ, consist just in the thought
that infants should not be brought to Christ, because only
grown up p)eople could profit by Him. That explanation,
correctly stated, would jjut into the mouth of the Great
Teacher the purely absurd proposition: "Suffer the
children to come unto me, because believing adults who
resemble them in moral disposition, are proper subjects
of the Kingdom of God." The Saviour was not furnish-
ing reason for receiving persons of child-like character j
but for receiving and blessing the children themselves.

There might be mistake in the reception of adults.
" Yerily I say unto you," Jesus said, " whosoever shall

OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 95'

not receive the kingdom of God, as a little child shall
not enter therein." Instead of the little children becom-
ing like the discijjles, in order to enter the kingdom of
God, in earth or heaven, in grace or glory, the disciples
must then become like the little children.

Before turning away from " that sweet story of
old," in such consummate harmony, and delightful ac-
cordance, with all other grand and glorious teachings
and testimonies of the word of God, let us note once
more its distinctive features.

Hebrew parents brought their children to Christ,
and were rebuked by the disciples. The disciples were
as apparently contracted in their views as some Chris-
tian people of our times. " But when Jesus saw it He
was much displeased." In one or two other passages
that word eganaktesH, Avas displeased, is used by the
evangelists .• when at Bethany, the alabaster box was
broken and the costly fragrance poured upon the head
and feet of the Saviour, the disciples had much indigna-
tion ; and when, at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
the children shouted Hosannah : the Priests and Phari-
sees were displeased. Only once, however, is this word
applied to Jesus : not when desj)ised and betrayed and
scourged and condemned and crucified , but, when the
disciples rebuked those that brought their children.
Jesus eganaktese — "was displeased" — had, as rendered,
in the other passage, "much indignation." He said unto
them : " Suffer the little children to come unto me and
forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom of God."*
That expression is the New Testament j^hrase for the

*" Of such is the Kingdom of heaven ; not of such only as were
like these infants. For iithey themselves were not fit to be sub-
jects of that Kingdom, how could others be so because they were-
like them?" — Wesley.

96 baptisma;

Church of God, the Gospel Church, and here we have
not simply inference, hut explicit authoritative state-
ment. We are encouraged and authorized to receive the
little ones, hy the initiatory rite of baptism, into the
Kingdom of God upon earth; and we are assured that, if
taken from us by death, as thousands arc, in virtue of
the free gift which has come upon all, of their salvation
into the Kingdom of God in heaven. The blessing of
Jesus was no sentimental unmeaning act; and whom
Christ blesses man may receive. In the very next narra-
tive, in each of the synoptic Gospels, wo read of the
young man who came to the Saviour by the way.
Earnest, enthusiastic, correct in creed, and of unexcep-
tionable deportment ; the Master looked upon him and
loved him ; but he could not receive him. He could not
bless him as he blessed the little ones. In their relation
to the Kingdom there was fundamental difference. The
children were welcomed, but of the other the Lord could
only say it was hard " to enter the Kingdom of God."

The example and utterances of Christ, in this de-
lightful and influential ej)isode of his personal ministry
are authoritive and conclusive in regard to the children.

He was much displeased with his Disciples for put-
ting obstacles in the way of the little children. But "it
is an acknowledged fact that when any sin is forbidden
the contrary duty is commanded.''

Therefore the rebuke of Jesus was equivalent to
command, and carries with it the duty of offering infants
up to Him.

The Saviour said in exposition and in explanation
of the kingdom, of the laws by which it shall be gover-
ned, and of the subjects which it should comprehend " of
such is the kingdom of God."

AND FORBID THEM NOT. 97

The rite of initiation into that kingdom was bap-
tism.

The children, according to the positive assertion of
Christ, belong to the kingdom.

Th.^- kingdom, and the right of initiation, which is no-
thing more than recognition of privilege, belongs to the
children — and to such as shall become like them.

Therefore, children are proper subjects for baptism.

Children that die in infancy are because of " the
abundance of gi'ace" received to exalted place in the
Kingdom of Cod in heaven.

Children that live are in virtue of the same "gift of
righteousneds," only forfeited by actual transgression,
members of the Kingdom of God upon earth.

Baptism is the only ordinance of God by which right
and recognition can be publicly and scripturally de-
clared.

Therefore, Children are proper subjects for Christian
baptism.

VI. " AND FORBID THEM NOT."

Turning from the Gospel narrative, with its touch-
ing records of the Redeemer's love, and his words of
immortal tenderness, to the annals of modern Christian
enterprise, in the great North West of our own country,
we meet with a beautiful incident, — illustrative of the
solicitude, in their isolation, of converted Indians for
their children, which even an inspired evangelist would
have found satisfaction in recording :

" One morning, just at daybreak, during the home-
ward journej' we were ac^^osted by a band of Indians,
who, having heard from some hunters that the mission-

98 BAPTISMA ;

:vry had j)asso(l that way a few days before, had come
and encamped at a nari'ow pass throiigli which our route
lay for the purpose of having their children ba])tized.
We responded to their signals to land ; and there upon
the barren rocks, with the blue heavens above us for
covering, and the rushing stream as our font, we per-
formed the solemn rites. A fathej and mother brought
their little girl a distance of two hundred miles for this
purpose. We gladl}* baptized the little one, giving her
the name of Elizabeth, after which the parents imme-
diately started off on their homeward journey."

Could that scene have been displeasing to the Lord
of Glory, who folded little -ones in his arms, and laid his
hands upon them and blessed them? Could "any man
forbid water that these should not be baptized?"

One incident, because of its unique interest, has
been culled from the annals of Mission work in our own
country. But the thought takes a wider range. All the
great Evangelical denominations, with one exception,
cherish solicitude in regard to the dedication of infants
to God. What multitudes are thus brought in faith and
prayer to the Saviour; and Jesus bids them come. The
statistics of the Methodist E^^iscopal Church, in the
United States, alone, shew that more than fifty thousand
children are annuall}' dedicated to God in the solemnity
of baptismal administration.* What accession from the

* The Methodist Episcopal Church, North, which does not
include Southern Methodism, in the United States, for 1877, re-
ported upwards of 56,000 infants. The total membership, of all
the Methodism of the United States, according to Dr. DePuy, in
Quarterly is 3,293,469. For the other evangelical churches,
Baptists, Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Protestant Episco-
pal, unitedly, the number of communicants, reported is 3,6i7,904.

POSITIVE AUTHORITy. 99

ranks of children are being constantly made to the re-
deemed throng before the throne of God. Out of 10,*746
deaths, which in one year were recorded in the City of
Glasgow, the Commercial metropolis of Scotland, 3.963
were children under tito years of age — ^more than one-
third of the whole. *

" In that beautiful place He is gone to prepare,

For all who are washed and forgiven ;
And many dear children are gathering there,

For of such is the kingdom of heaven."

" Take heed that yo despise not one of these little
ones ; for 1 say, unto you, that in heaven their angels do
always behold the face of my Father which is in
heaven."

VII. POSITIVE AUTHOKITY.

Positive authority for the admission of children into
recognized relationship to the Christian church, we have
from the lips of Jesus. Mistakes may be made in the re-
ception of adult candidates into church membcrshij);
but in regard to the Other class there can be no possibility
of decej)tion. It is questionable if language would admit
of a declaration more distinct arid positive than that of
Christ, introdiiced with the solemn formula : " Verily
I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."
What could be more decisive, tblirt- it he iSaviow's ni'i^raor-
able manifesto : " except ye be converted, and beeome
as ^little children, i ye shall not enter the kingdom of
heaven." "And whoso shall receive one such littfe child in
my ixame receiveth we." To no act could higher recogni-
tion be accorded. Upon no service does Jesus Christ so,
deeply and so broadly put the stamp and seal . of his ap-
proval. The little ones are to be received in Christ's
name. "What ordinance of reception of /m7/a/ory kind has

100 baptisma;

been indicate J ? In what manner has the Church been
authorized to comply with this sacred requirement ?
Are we at liberty to set aside and supersede appointed
order and ordinance in the Church ?

We are commanded to receive little ones in Christ's
name. Baptism into the divine name, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, is the only ordinance of initiation, recep-
tion, and dedication, appointed and instituted in the
Christian Church.

Therefore, we are solemnly authorized, and posi-
tively commanded, to administer infant baptism.

Then, again, the moral relation of infants, to the
Saviour and His kingdom, through the meritorious
" cross and passion" of the blessed Eedeemer is just the
same as that of adult believers : Except ye be converted
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven.

Either we must incur the penaljty of direct disobe-
dience; we must substitute some human device -for the
appointed initiatory ordinance of the Church, which would
be only an impertinence ; or, we must respond to the
positive teaching of Christ and, as He has commanded
us, receive the little ones in His name.

VIII. APOSTOLIC COMMISSION.

The Commission claims special consideration : "Gro
ye therefore," said Jesus, and teach, mathetevsate, all
nations, baptizing, haptizontes, them * * * teaching,
didaskontes, them &c.

Three things are solemnly enjoined in the Commis-
sion : matheteuein, baptizein, didaskein. 1. To disciple.
2. To baptize. 3. To teach.*

* Bloomfield.

APOSTLES DOCTRINE. 101

The Jews made disciples to their faith, and in cases
of proselytism, children were included with their
parents.

In what sense then, it may be pertinently inquired,
would the men to whom the Commission was given, in
the first place, naturally and nocessai'ily understand it?
They were to make disciples : How ? By baptism.
To disciple : For what purpose ? Teaching them. To
disciple : Whom ? All nations ! The only limitation
that would have been thought of, consequent upon their
deeply-rooted prejudices, would have been to one nation
— " to the Jew first." The Commission overleaped all
barriers of clime, and race, and creed, Jesus said all
nations : All I Were an act to pass the Dominion Le-
gislature now in session, applying to all Prince Edward
Island, declarative of personal right and privilege, uni-
versal in its terms : would not that legislation include
children of all ages ? Of course it would.

IX. "apostles doctrine:" law op infant baptism.

The New Testament dispensation was instituted,
and the first converts continued steadfastly, in the
** Ajjostles' doctrine," Here then we have the indica-
tion of crucial test. We meet and mingle with the
crowd at Pentecost. The recent solemnities of Passover
observance have afresh moved and thrilled our hearts.
The blood which saves and sanctifies has been sprinkled
for a testimony upon lintel and doorposts. The thought
of the children is uppermost at this moment. Tremul-
ous with feeling we hear the words of St, Peter, in his first
sermon: "Eepentand be baptized every one of you,"
The rite of baptism, become so familiar in the numer-
ous national ablutions, needs no explanation ; and none
apparently is given — except that they are to be bap-

102 BAPTISMA ;

tized " ill the name of Jesus Christ," Wo have, how-
ever, an inquiry of supremo imjjortanco to make —
uppermost at this moment. Tell us, Peter, what in this
new era of privilege and blessing, in the Church of God,
shall be the relation of the little ones? The answer is
immediate, satisfying, conclusive : The j^romise is unto
you, and to your children.

It is desirable, upon a point of such vital moinent,
that appeal should be made to the original text. The
Greek tekna, — infants, children, descendents, posterity*
— fully authorizes and sustains the English version.
The consonance of this promise with that of ancient
covenant affords additional confirmation of teaching;
"and Peter's reference to it is the first trill of its echo
sounding down through the christian ages." How eu-
phonious its accents ; ''unto thee and to thy seed! Unto
you and to your children /"f

We are now prepared once again to acce^^t the
challenge in regard to command. According to an ac-
knowledged canon of interpretation : Promise is equiva-
lent to command. God's will through all the ages of
revelation and inspiration, was distinctively and alter-
natively made known by promise and command. Each
and eqiially, they imply indisputable authority. Disre-
gard and disobedience, in either case, involve peril and
penalty. What then is the promise of which St. Peter
authoritively speaks ? Definitely and distinctly, beyond

* The primary meaning of teknon is child. It is derived from
tikto, " to bring forth" — as in the Septuagint etehe. Genesis iv : 1.
It is used, in its native sense, Gen. iii : 17, " God said unto the
woman — thou shalt bring forth children : — text tekna. The Greek
of the seventy, therefore gives the very word of St. Peter, in Acts,
and also establishes the signification. Primarily it signifies chil-
dren, in a more extended sense posterity.

t Doane p. 96.

BAPTISMS OP HOUSEHOLDS. 103

a question : that, which in the j)lenitude of inspiration
has just been spoken ; " and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost." '•' For," said he, in continuation of the
same sentence, and in explanation of •' the gift of God,"
" the promise is unto you and to your children." Ye
shall receive it — that promise of the Father — that essen-
tial glorious baptism of the Holy Ghost — and your
children shall receive it. The case is conclusive.
The promise is equivalent to command. Can any man
then forbid water that these should not be baptized which
receive the Holy Ghost as well as loe ?

X. BAPTISMS OP HOUSEHOLDS.

Throughout the Acts of the Apostles we find that,
whenever congregational ministry is the subject of sacred
history, and the gospel was for the first time preached
in a city, the first record of baptisms, as at Samaria, and
as in all new missionary stations up to the present time,
is that of their converts. But wherever the ministry
€f the A2:)0stlea had to do with home-life, we have then
the church in the house, and the narrative of saving
work includes the facts of households. Heads of famil-
ies were converted and baptized, and their households
were baptized with them — the Jailer and all his straight-
way— Lydia and her household — Crispus with all his
house — the household of Stephanas. Households may
be found without children ; but the membei-ship of
children in the family is the general law of life, and
their absence the exception. There are unqestionably
families unblessed with children. "Wc have been assured
that such a state of things exists, to an extraordinaiy ex-
tent, in a neighboring congregation. But that is not to
the purpose. " Through the entire history of the Old
Testament Church, the accession of a household to the

104 BAPTI8MA ;

Lord' s people necessarily included the infants of that house-
Jiokl." Upon the supposition that exclusion -was the
new Testament idea : Looking upon households of tho
New Testament in their representative character, no
language could have been more calculated to mislead or to
pervert tho right way of the Lord. "What are the facts ?
The narratives of baptism in the Acts of the Apostles
are niM in all. They are doubtless intended to bo re-
presentative in their character. To Cornelius it was
said: "who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all
thy house shall be saved." It is recoi-ded, very signifi-
cantly, of Lydia : that when the Lord " opened her
heart," "she attended to the things spoken by Paul, and
she was baptized and her household," and " sh£ besought
the Apostles," saying " If ye have judged me faithful to
the Lord." Yery plainly does the narrative through-
out distinguish Lydia as the only believer. Either, we
must assume the fact of children, in the household of
Lydia, or the alternative fact that adult members were
baptized in unbelief. Tho jailor was converted, and
though his conversion is the only one plainly distinguish-
ed, in the narrative ; yet, " he was baptized, and all his,
straightway." During the ministry of St. Paul, at Corinth,,
he baptized, as he tells us, very few ; yet, of tho number,
there is special mention of "the household of Stephanas."
More than one-third, nearly half, of the New Testa-
ment narratives of baptism, designed for tho guidance
of the Church in all ages, are devoted to examples of
households — with not an intimation of changed relation-
ship. Think in contrast of the style adopted, in modern
papers and periodicals, by those who repudiate infant-
baptism !*

* The reference is purely to rtports of christian work, which,
alone admit of comparison, and not to controversial notices.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 105

"It surely is an extraordinary thing," says Dr.
Wardlaw, writing many years ago, and the fact is even
-move patent to-day, " that in the journal and periodical
accounts of Baptist missionaries, in heathen countries,
we should meet with any thing of the kind. I question,
whether in the thirty years of the baptist mission in
India, there is to be found a single instance of the bap-
tism of a household. "When do wo find a baptist mis-
sionary saying, "When she was baptized and her
family" — or " I baptized the family of Krishnoo," or any
other convert ? We have the baptism of individuals ;
but nothing corresponding to the apostolic baptism of
•families. This fact is a strong corroborative proof, that
there is some difference between their practice and that
of the apostles. If the practice of both were the same,
there might surely be expected some little correspon-
dence on the facts connected with it.

XI. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

The appeal throughout this investigation has been
made to the word of God. The voice of ecclesiastical
history, however, is in such perfect consonance with the
teachings of scripture that we are compelled to heed the
testimony.

The prevalence of infant baptism at the time of

. Augustine's ministry, A.D. 634, is not disputed. He
speaks of the baptism of infants as an apostolic tradition
handed doum and held by the universal church.

" And if any one," he says, against the Donatists,
" do ask for divine authority in this matter, though that

. which the universal church practices, which has been institu-
ted by Councils, but has always been observed, most justly
believed to be a thing delivered, or handed down by th^
authority of the apostles, &c." — Letters.

106 BAPTISMA ;

In tlio third century a question arose amongst the
then influential African churches whether a child might
bo baptized before the eighth day. A council of sixty-six
bishops convened under Cyprian, A. D., 253, gave it as
their unanimous judgment that baptism might be admin-
istered before that age. The validity of infant baptism
was not even questioned. Origcn, who lived within a
century of the apostolic ago, affirms " that little children
are baptized agreeably to the usage of the church ; and
that the church received it as a tradition from the
apostles that baptism should be administered to child-
ren." This tradition, according to Eusebius, was recei-
ved by Origen from a pious ancestry. Tertullian, who
lived some years eai'lier than Origen, alone opposed the
baptism of infants. He refers to the custom as one of
general observance ; and in his oj)j)osition does not refer
to Scripture. He took the ground that the blessing of
baptism once forfeited was never retrieved. He con-
tended for the delay of baptism in different cases, inclu-
ding infants, unmarried persons and widows. Justin,
who was contemporary with Polycarp, the disciple of
St. John, whose First Apology appeared about A.D. 150,
takes the chain of ecclesiastical evidence up to the
apostolic age, testifies, in his Apology: "Numbers of
men and women sixty and seventy years old, who from
childhood ivere discipled to Christ — hoi et paidon emathe-
teusan te Christo — still continue uncorrupt," Irenceus,
who belongs to the earlier part of the Second Century
affirms : Christ came to save all persons through himself;
all I say who through him are regenerated to God — renas-
cuntar in Deum — infants and little ones, and children,
and youth and the aged. The phrase of Irenceus, " re-
generated to God," was constantly applied to baptism at

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 10-7

that time, and indicates the general prevalence of this
custom. The word used by Justin, in his Apology, for
discipleship is the same as that of the Commission.

Can we believe that if infant-baptism had not been
of apostolic authority that all history would have been
silent in regard to its introduction ? If a practice of such
important character, in violation of apostolic teaching
and traditions, had heaxi foisted upon the Church ; would
not the voice of protest have sounded along the ages f

" On the opposite side of the question," says Turner
in "Divine Validity of Infant Baptism," we have seen
nothing " to invalidate the following conclusions :"

" First, during the first four hundred years, from the
formation of the Christian Church, TertuUian alone urged
the delay of baptism to infants, and that only in some
cases; and Gregory only delayed it, perhaps, to his own
children. But neither any society of men, nor any indi-
vidual denied the lawfulness of baptising infants.

" Secondly, in the next seven hundred years, there was
not a society or an individual who even pleaded for this
delay; much less who denied the right or the duty, of
infant baptism.

"Thirdly, in the year 1120, one sect of the Waldenses"
— a mere fragment — declared against the baptism of
infants ; because they suppose them incapable of salvation.
But the main body, "of the "Waldensian Church," re-
jected the opinion as heretical ; and the sect which held
it soon came to nothing.

" Fourthly, the next appearance of this opinion was
in the year 1522:" — the Anabaptists of Munster in
GeiTuany.

108 BAPTISMA ;

"The first Baptist Church in England appears to
have been founded between the years 1633 and 1G49."

In explanation of the fact that a small section of
the Waldonsian Church declared against the baptism of
infants, it may be stated that the Petro-brussians, fol-
lowers of Peter de Bniis, a very small faction — "not
more than a thirtieth or fourtieth part of the whole"
held that infants not being capable of salvation ought
not therefore to be baptized. The great body of the Wal-
densian witnesses for the truth were Pedo-baptists.

" If these historical facts be correct, and that they
are so is just as well attested as any facts whatever in
the annals of the Church, the amount of the whole is
conclusive, is demonstrative that for fifteen hundred years
after Christ, the practice of infant baptism was universal ;
that to this general fact there was absolutely no excep-
tion, in'the whole Christian Church, which in principle or
even analogy can countenance in the least degree, modern
Antipedobaptism" — vide Prof. Miller.

SUMMARY OP SUBJECTS.

1. Chord and Consonance of all voices and testi-
monies of Revelation and Inspiration.

2. Authoritive Apostolic Announcement: "Unto
you and to your children."

3. Stipulation of the " everlasting Covenant :"
" Unto thee and to thy seed."

4. Promise equivalent to command. It involves
faithfulness on God's part, to fulfil what He has pro-
mised, and faithfulness also on man's part — in com-
pliance with condition expressed or understood.

5. The identity of the Church unimpaired — built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets.

SUMMARY OP SUBJECTS 109

6. Command and promise and established testi-
mony in Jacob, in Pentateuch and Psalms and Prophecy,
speak with one accord : " He comma,nded onr fathers that
they should make them known to their children.^'

7. Jesus took up infants in His arms, put his
hands upon them, and blessed them; and, whom the
Saviour blesses and receives, the Church may receive and
acknowledge.

8. " Suffer the little children to come unto me and
forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God."

9. Infants are not excluded from the Kingdom of
God in heaven : Why exclude them from recognition in
the kingdom of God upon earth ?

10. The Church by the positive teaching of Christ
has been authorized to receive the little ones in His name
— and such adults as may, in ?noral disposition, resemble
them.

11. The little child, in the fulness of its interest,
and <all benefits and blessings, comprehended in the
kingdom, is the model of discipleship; and unless adults
be converted and become as little children, even if im-
mersed in an ocean of water, they " shall not enter into
the kingdom."

12. Most of Evangelical Denominations of Christ
attach the utmost importance to the solemnity of infant
baptism ; and we cannot believe that nine-tenths of the
Lord's people, throughout the world, have been suffered
greatly and grievously, from Apostolic times until now,
to misinterpret His work and, palpably, to misunder-
stand the object of His appointed ordinance.

13. The Acts of the Apostles chronicle services of
baptism io the New Testament Church ; and a large pro-

mo BAPTtSMA;

portion of them were of househohfs: Was the Ian i^n age
employed by the .sacred writer, which from the usage of'
initiating households, including infants, into the ancient'-
church, evident from indisputable Eabbinical authority,
had current and established meaning — a usiis loquendi
which could not be ignored — purjiosely designed to mis-
lead ?

14. Do the annals of Baptist enterprise furnish re-
cords of the baptism of households in exact harmony of
jihrase with the New Testament?

15. Promise equivalent to command: The prom-
ise was spoken by St. Peter at Pentecost. " And ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Ye shall re-
ceive it and your children shall receive it : for the pro-
mise is unto you and to your children. Can any man forbid
icater that these shoxdd not be baptized ichich receive the
Holy Ghost as xcell as ice ? ...,.■

CHAPTER VII.
OBJECTIONS TO INFANT BAPTISM.

" And -His disciples rebuked those that brought them.
But when Jesus- s(m it, He teas much displeased.^' —
St: Mark. ■-'■

" Break but one

Of a- thousand keys, and the paining jar

Through all will run." — Whiitier. ' '

Many seriously inclined p)eop)le run to infant bapitism fo
satisfy a sense of duty in reference to their children.'" —
Writerin. Baptist London ^'■'Freeman."'

SILENCE OF SCRIPTURE, 111

Discordant notes are not pleasant to an ear attuned
to melody ; and never are the jar and dissonance of dis-
cord more sensitively felt than when they break in upon
the grandeur of rolling harmonies. In the present chap-
ter we have to listen to the voices of opposition and un-
belief. The spirit of opposition, as exhibited in tke
ministry of Christ, has been very graphically described
in] the Gospel: "And they brought 3'oung children
to Him that Ho should touch them ; and His disciples
rebuked them." It has been said that history repeats
itself. The words and acts of Jesus were so clear and
decisive, and the testimony of God's word so full and
complete, that, for nearly twelve centuries, the voice of
opposition to bringing infants to the Saviour, was un-
known in the Chui-ch. But in modern times, there are
zealous disciples whose special mission and distinctive
denominational existence are not unfairly represented by
the Gospel record : — not an enviable one — and His dis-
ciples rebuked those that brought them.

As most prominent amongst objections the following
may be noted : —

I. SILENCE. OF SCRIPTURE.

Objection to the fact of Baj)tism taking th^ place
of circumcision, as. the initiatory rite ef the Church of
God, has been urged.

a That the Scripture is silent concerning such a
change ; therefore no such change was made,.

The, Scriptural record of apostolic effort, and acces-
sions of saved souls to the Church of Christ, extending
over a period of sixty years, is silent concerning any
adult baptism in a Christian Community. Even-Timothy,
who had known the truth from: childhood, whom St.

112 baptisma;

Paul found at Lystra long after the Church had boon
there planted, and the peculiarities of whose case w-ore
specially favorable for such record, cannot be claimed as
an example of adult baptism. The silence is profounds
Is that utter silence to bo accepted as conclusive evidence-
upon the subject ?

But, instead of silence, in regard to the initiatory
rito of membership in the Church, we have the positive
affirmation : "As many as have been baptized into-
Christ," of which water is the sign and seal, " are Abra-
ham's seed and heirs" — according to the Covenant
promise — of which circumcision was the sign and seaL
The Covenant of salvation in its glorious promises and'
provisions has not changed. One seal has been replaced
by another — that is all:

A few months ago, in the Eastern Section of this-.
Dominion, the discovery was made, in legal and literaiy
circles that the Seal of the Province had been changed..
The introduction of a New Seal had not been legalized
bj' any special legislation. Did that silent substitution
of one Seal for another invalidate thereby any important
document? Was any covenant transaction by tliat
moans annulled? The application of this analagoas
fact, and the inference which it suggests, may be safely
left to any intelligent student of this subject.

b That Timothy was circumcised twenty years
after the institution of baptism ; and therefore the one'
had not superseded the other. But the fact in Timothy's
case is mentioned specially as an exceptional one.- It
was harmless, providential compliance, for the sake of
greater usefulness, with a rite which, though obsolete,
in the christian economy, was deeplj' rooted in the pre-

NO EXAMPLE. 113

ferences and prejudices of his countrymen. Exceptio
probat regulam: — " the exception proves the rule."

II. NO EXAMPLE.

Opposition to the doctrine of infant baptism, has
usually shaped itself into syllogism: —

That ordinance of which no example is found in the
New Testament does not belong to the Church : But
there is no example of infant baptism ; therefore, it is not
of Christ.

Propositions of this class may be supplied to order.
They are, as in Miltonic legend,

" Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks
In Vallambrosa."

The usual assumption of the minor premise, which,
when persisted in assumes an appearance oi presumption,
invalidates the affirmation.

No examples of infant baptism ! And yet nearly
half the representative examples, of the inspired record,
are baptisms of households ; and, if not enjoined as en-
samples to us, of all the books that have ever been writ-
ten, the Acts of the Apostles would be the m3st calcul-
ated to mislead. No examples ! " They were all bap-
tized " at the Eed Sea ; and in that baptism of Grod there
were thousands of little ones.

That passage through the Eed Sea, beneath pour-
ing rain and drifting spray was baptism. The fact is
also emphasized : " All were baptized." Five times in
that brief record, it is most suggestively and significant-
ly affirmed — all were under the cloud, all passed
through the sea, all were baptized, &c. Example is
asked for ; and we are assured that, in that baptism ol

114 BAPTI8MA;

Gotl, infants as well as adults, "all were baptized."
"Now," adds the apostle, with intensified emphasis,
" these things icere our examples.'^

III. NO COMMAND.

The position, in which error at this point seeks in-
trench ment, may be fjiirly and fully presented by the
proposition : —

Baptism is a positive command- but the baptism of
infants has not been commanded ; therefore, infant bap-
tism is not of God.

The validity of the logic, and the value of the affir-
mation, may be tested by another proposition — perfect
in coincidence and correspondence. The Sabbath is a
positive institution : and for its observance there must
be direct command. But no such command is contained
in the New Testament ; therefore, the observance of the
Sabbath is not of God. The conditions in this case are
essentially the same as in the other. The change, from
circumcision to baptism, in the initiatory rite of church-
membership finds counterpart and exact equivalent in
the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the
first day of the week. Is the obligation of the Christian
Sabbath to be lightly and loosely held ?

The sacred claim of the holy Sabbath, as in the or
dinance of infant baptism, rests upon evidence which is
inferential, cumulative and conclusive:

The Apostles of Jesus Christ, "filled with the Holy
Ghost," led into all truth, were authoritatively, and in
virtue of their sacred office, commissioned to bind and
to loose — to appoint and to abrogate — to perpetuate and
to annul. They had the distinct assm-ance that their

CANNOT BELIEVE, 115

administration, under the guidance of an infallible spirit,
should be ratified in heaven. But of the abrogation of
the Sabbath, and of infant membership in the church,
alike important institutions, we have not, either in the
form of example or of precept, any record. We have
intimation of changed conditions ; but upon these ordin-
ances, in all their integrity, we have the imprimatur of
apostolic authority — deeply and indeliblj^ stamped.

IV. CANNOT BELIEVE.

But then it has been argued, the Gospel of Mark
contains specific condition. " He that believeth shall
be saved."* The syllogism is summoned into service :
Believing is necessary to baptism ; infants are incapable
of believing ; therefore they are not proper subjects of
baptism. The logic may be satisfactorily tested by
another proposition of the same character and construc-
tion : Believing is necessary to salvation: but infants
ai"e incapable of believing ; therefore infants are not
saved,"
" That which proves too much proves nothing."

The condition is not, however, he that believeth and
afterwards shall be baptized ; but he that believeth and
is baptized. The Greek Aorist carries the idea of past
time. The verb in the Greek text is haptistheis —
Aorist, passive, participial. The condition, therefore,
literally reads: "He that believeth, having been bap-
tized, &c. " How definitely and distinctly this teaching
of Christ meets and satisfies the case of many converts :
as they seek closer communion with the visible church,

* The last twelve verses of St, Mark is Gospel, though sanc-
tioned by certain M,S.S., being considered an interpolation, will
be omitted from the revised version.

116 baptisma;

They have bowed in prayer. They have believed with
the heart unto righteousness. They were early dedica-
ted unto God. They have been baptized. In personal
public profession of faith in Jesus they avow the solem-
nity of baptismal obligation and, in sacramental
service, — the elements of the broken body and
shed blood, — tremulous with emotion and thrilled by
hallowed memories of the garden, the cross and the
sepulchre, they assume the appointed badge of disciple-
shi]). Blessed, thrice blessed, is that scene and service
of renewed dedication and of covenan1> obligation :

" O happy band, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love ;
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move."

V. 80 FEW HOUSEHOLD BAPTISMS !

" The fact" says the latest exjoonent ot Baptist ten-
ets in " voice of God," " that so few household baptisms
are recorded in the divine record, while so many thou-
sand baptisms are recorded proves household baptism to
be a rare occurence, and in the few records, &c."

With the quotation just made in which the objection
in question finds formulated expression, a slight liberty,
in the use of italics, has been exercised. Whatever
transgressions of taste may be tolerated in the effusions
of ordinary mortals, the "voice of God" ought to reach
us in satisfying style and until it does so, we really can-
not accord to it any very special respect.

The objection : Many thousand baptisms and so few
households ! throws us back upon the Acts of the Apostles
and the facts of the New Testament.

1. Three thousand converts baptized on the day of
Pentecost. In the church of the prophets, children had

so FEW HOUSEHOLD BAPTISMS. 117

recognized right, and the tendency of the Gospel is to
extend privilige. "Nothing' says Eev. J. C. Eyle,
" would astonish a Jewish convert so much as to tell him
his children could not be baptized. In fact I never heard
of a converted Jew becoming a Baptist.

2. The baptism of the Samaritan converts : " they
were baptized both men and woman." There has been
stress put upon the omission of infants from the record.
In the utter destruction of Ai, in which infants were in-
cluded, it is said, " all that fell that day, both men and
loomen, were twelve thousand." The phrase, of the Sam-
aritan narrative, " from the least to the greatest," in
all probability originated in household baptisms.

3. The baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch : as he
traversed the desert " that goeth down to Gaza."

4. The baptism of Saul of Tarsus at Damascus.

5. The baptism of Cornelius : " thou and all thy
house."

6. The baptism of Lydia ''and her household."

7. The baptism of the Philipian jailor : " he »nd
all his straightway."

8. The baptism of Corinthian converts : which in-
cluded Crispus, "with all his house," and "also the
household of Stephanas."

9. The baptism of John's twelve disciples at
Ephesus.

These nijie baptismal services comprise all the facts
of the Acts of the Apostles and of the New Testament.
They are all which find any permanent place in the in-
spired record. They extend over a period of thirty
years ; and have been selected as the pattern and model

118 baptisma;

for tlic administration of Christian baptism in every age
of the Chureli.

The baptisms of Saul of Tarsus and of the Ethiopian
Eunuch are of individual interest and character ; and
the baptismal service at Ephesus was a2:)parently an ex-
ceptional incident of apostolic ministry. In all the
other narratives we have the idea; and, omitting the
Ephesian exception, m the half of these records, we have
positive affirmation of household baptism.

But these baptismal services represent a vast num-
ber of others, possessing the same character solemnized
by Ajjostles and Evangelists, during that period of thirty
years mission and ministry : Are we not therefore, war-
ranted in the belief, based upon the propoi'tion of inspired
historic fact, that of every thousand baptismal services,
belonging to those yesirs, fully five hundred, and probably
a much greater proportion, were household baptisms ?

It is not suprising to learn, from Turner's "Divine
Validity," that a gentleman who had formerly been a
Baptist minister, compelled from conviction of principle
to leave the denomination in explanation to his congre-
gation, emphasised the fact: — " That in all the Baptist
missionary reports, we never read of the baptism of
whole households at one and the same time."

VI. THE TERMS OF THE COMMISSION ARE DEFINITE.

"Were not the apostles commanded to baptize all
nations, and were not infants a part of the nation ? Yes,

and so are idiots and infidels.*"

* The voice of God on the Qualifications for membership in
the visible Church of Christ &c., by pastor D. G. McDonald,
Charlottetown, P.E.I.

THE TERMS OP THE COMMISSION ARE DEFINITE. 119

Such is the inquiry, of the most recent interpreter
of baptist principles, in that extraordinary publication,
"The voice of Grod;" and such the severely repulsive
reply : but

1. Idiots are not incapable of ultimate salvation,
and they are fitting objects of comjaassion, divine and
human; but in regard to the present life they are utter-
ly helpless and hopeless. In the condition of infants
there is nothing of the hopelessness of imbeciles.

2. Infidels, by the very term of the commission,
because of defiance and disobedience, are doomed to
damnation : ai-e infants excluded " after the same man-
ner of unbelief ?"

The Saviour took uj) little children — described by
St. Luke as infants, brephe — and blessed them ; and ac-
cording to St. Matthew, said : for of such is the kingdom of
heaven. " tori gar toiouton estin he hasileia ton oiiranon."

The form of expression, in that authoritive, and em-
phatic declaration, in the original text of St. Matthew,
is essentially that of the Beatitudes : "Blessed are the poor
in spirit for theirs, is the kingdom of heaven : Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Two pictures are presented to our mental vision ;
Look on this and then on that :

In one group shadowed in chilling and repulsive
forms, are infants, the objects of fond parental hope and
affection; imbeciles, from whom all the brightness and
sunshine of life have been excluded; infidels, hardened
and impenitent unbelievers, condemned to eternal
perdition.

120 baptisma;

In the other group, resplendent with the gentleness
and tenderness of Jesus, we have a scene of imperisha-
ble interest : Infant heirs of immortality, in all the
sweetness, purity, and innocence of their new lives radi-
ant in beautiful promise, and rich in the boundless pos-
sibilities of their being, are brought into hoi}" and bles-
sed association with the " poor in spirit," "the pure in
heart" and the heroic and heavenly minded sufferers for
righteousness sake. They are inheritors and participa-
tors of like precious privilege and possession; for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.

Between the two systems of doctrine: the one in
which infants are classed with imbeciles and unbelievers
and the other, in which they are gathered and grouped
with the patient, pure and good, there is an impassible
gulf.

There are two voices of God, two schemes and sys-
tems of doctrine and faith : One comes to us, the au-
thoritive manifesto of the Saviour's spiritual kingdom,
from "the sermon on the mount," and the other from
the " little tract."

We are compelled to the conviction that the voices,
and the systems, as thus expounded, are utterly adverse
and irreconcilable. There is a gulf between them, which
no principle can bridge, and an antagonism, of essential
idea, which can admit of no compromise.

It is no violation, therefore, of the law of charity,
and of Christian courtesy, to stamp that passage — with
its incongruous juxtaposition of infants with " idiots and
infidels" — as unlovely, un Christ-like, an offence to pure
sentiment — an insult to the Saviour and an injury to
the denomination — which in other days, through its

BRINGS NO BLESSING. 121

exponents and representatives, has challenged and com-
manded esteem and respect.

It is refreshing, from such an interpretation of the
" Yoice of God," to read in contrast, upon the same
subject, in the " Compendium of Christian Theology"
lately published, the thoughtful and beautiful utterance
of Dr. Pope :

"And the gentle theory of Christianity is that the
influences of the spirit upon them will bless their in-
struction, amidst the Gospel ordinances, to their full
participation, in all the blessings of both the visible and
the invisble Church."*

NOTE.

Since the above lines were written " Bible Baptis-
ma," has been put on my table. Conscious apparently
that perversions and flippant remarks would prove ofi'en-
sive to persons of sober thought "he would simply say
that the approbation of Jesus is infinitely more desirable
than theirs." Are passages such as this likely to win
the approbation of Jesus ? Once, and only once,
in Christs' earthly ministry, do we read that he was
displeased^ and that was because of the rebuke of those,
who brought their little children to Him : Jesus is the
same yesterday to-day and forever. That which dis-
pleased Him on earth is not likely to command His appro-
bation now. Sooner than pen such a passage, grouping
infants with "idiots and infidels," many a true and tender
disciple of Jesus, in living sympathy with his Master
would prefer, that his right hand should lose its cunning.

VII. BRINGS NO BLESSING.

The objection that children subsequent to their
dedication to God in baptism fall into sin — equally and
* Page 669.

122 BAPTISMA ;

painfully true also in too many cases of adult baptism —
springs from a fundamental mis-conception of the nature
and design of baptism as a covenant-sign — the obligation
and privilege of which, at the fitting time and place, by
public jH'ofession of fiiith in Christ are recognized and
acknowledged. Were the theory of baptismal regenera-
tion, or a ivater-salvation, in question the objection would
then be a valid and legitimate one. Circumcision in the
ancient Church could not save ; but it indicated covenant-
relationship, and, as evidence of God's care and concern
for the little ones of the families of Israel, could not but
produce salutary impression upon the minds of devout
and thoughtful parents. Baptismal regeneration, as a
scriptural doctrine, we do not accept. The application
of water washes away no stain, and in itself secures no
blessing; but infant baptism, as a sign and seal of the
relationship of children, to this dispensation of salvation,
we i-egard as the sacred ordinance of God. Under this
economy of redemption, because of the free gift of
righteousness which hath come upon all, where sin
abounded grace doth much more abound ; and, though
" born in sin and shapen in iniquity," the little ones are
not excluded from gracious communication. The pi'O-
visions of redeeming mercy are commensurate with the
race, and meeting us at the threshold of life, run parallel
with all the lines of human existence. In the dedication
of our children to God, in the sacrament of baptism, of
which the application of water, as the outward sign of
inward and spiritual grace, fervently implored, is only
an incidental and subordinate consideration, we are con-
stantly reminded of solemn and sacred parental obligation
— publicly and prayerfully acknowledged ; and confi-
dently, therefore, may we expect accompanying aj)-

UNRECOGNIZED INFANT BABTISM. 123

pi'oval and blessing :

" For 'twas to bless such souls as these,
The Lord of angels came.

VIII. UNRECOGNIZED INFANT BAPTISM.

The objection has been urged that practically the
evangelical churches of Protestantism do not recognize
the membership of children.

It must be confessed that, in the past, churches have
greatly failed in this duty. The old theory, which has
not yet exhausted its evil and pernicious influences, was
that the bright beautiful years of early life must of
necessity be spent in the service of sin and Satan.

The mother of President Olin, a member of the
Baptist Church, though a woman of decided piety, be-
lieved that children ought not to be religiously influen-
ced. She did not, from principle, even teach them to re-
peat the Lord's pi-ayer.

The most discouraging experiences of a very youth-
ful membership in the Church, at that time sensitive and
easily wounded, were the thoughtless utterances of
really good christian people. They did not compre-
hend the right relationship of the children of the church
to Christ ; fearing that such early admission to recog-
nized membership was premature, fraught with peril,
and ought not to. be encouraged ; but the accessions,
though almost regarded with suspicion, proved, in a few
years, to be a rich and valuable acquisition to the
church. The very persons moreover whose godly
jealousy found expression in fears and misgivings, by a
strange inconsistency, would frequently, in services of
christian fellowship, testify to the fact that they could

124 baptisma;

not remember a time when they were not the subjects of
the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit of God.

" Ecgeneration," says a recent writer, dates often
from " so early a period that the time of change is en-
tirely unknown to the subject of it. This has been the
case with some of the most eminent saints that have
over lived. They began to lov^e Jesus so early that they
could remember no time when their hearts were not in
loving sympathy with the Saviour : why may not this
be the case usually, instead of being a rare exception ?"

We have in the inspired volume memorable exam-
ples of early piety. The prophet Samuel was from his
infancy dedicated to God. Jeremiah was "sanctified"
from his birth. There is special recognition of the heri-
ditary piety of Timothy — of " the unfeigned faith which
dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother
Eunice." '' From a child," says the Apostle, thou hast
known the Holy Scriptures. These cases were not alto-
gether exceptional; and were tenderness of feeling and
the gracious impressions of early years, from the first
dawning of capacity and responsibility, nurtured and
directed; they would more frequently develope into
convictions and habits of genuine piety and love to the
Saviour. "Have ye never read," said Jesus to Chief
Priests and Scribes, when they wei-e displeased with the
rapturous hosannas of the little children, in acclamation
of the Saviour's entrance into the holy city. " Out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings, Thou hast jDerfected
praise."

Some of the most beautiful and attractive exhibitions
of interest in church enterprise are of the character
which Jesus approved and accepted. At an annual
Missionary Meeting a few evenings since, when the con-

UNRECOGNIZED INFANT BAPTISM. 125

tributions of the infant-class, amounting to twenty-five

dollars were presented, a little child of not more than

four or five years of age, with a face of suffused rapture

and a sweet and beautiful enthusiasm, exclaimed audibly

and unconsciously: Thafs my class. Is not that

identity of an infant class, with the church and with the

cause of the Eedeemer, in harmony with the genius of

Christianity and the teachings of inspired truth ?

" And infant-voices shall proclaim
Their young hosannas to His Name."

There have been on the part of the baptized children
of the church, we have been often reminded, frequent
lapses into sin, and grievous departure from God ; and,
in like manner, every church has had to mourn over
backslidings and over cases of foul sin in its adult-mem-
bership. The validity of baptism is not of consequence
affected: In no church is there any requirement /or the
re-baptism of restored members.

The testimony of Eev. C. H. Spurgeon, as quoted by
Foster, is very much to the purpose. The great Baptist
preacher is not only open communion, but he comes as
near as possible to infant church-membership : "I have"
he says, during the past year received forty or fifty
children into church membership. Among those I have
had at any time to exclude from church fellowship out of
a church of twenty-seven hundred members, I have
never had to exclude one who was received while yet a
child."

Children are addressed in the Epistle to the
Ephesians as in the church. They are in the church as
an institute for making and moulding christian life.
They are to bo trained up in the riurture and admonition
of the Lord.

126 IIAI'TIS.MA ;

In the best days of the church there shall be the ac-
complishment of ins])ired pi-ediction : " All thy children
shall be taught of the Lord."

" For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those da3's, saith the Lord; I will
put my laws into their mind and Avrite them in their
hearts: and I will be unto them a God, and they shall
be unto me apeo])le- and thev slull not teach every
man his neighboi. and every man his brother, saying,
know the Lord ; for all shall knoic me from the leant to the
greatest."'

CONCLUSION-.

It is not too much to assume that objections tu infant
baptism which have, at diffei-ent times, been most
plausibly presented and most persistently pressed, have
been thoroughly investJgj'ted. In the '"balances of the
sanctuarj^" they are only as the " small dust." There is
however, "a more excellent way," enforced m the wise
and weighty words of the veneiable Dr. Osborne, of the
British Methodist OoTiference — u'hieh may fitly close this
chapter, lie cordially commends the example of the
saintly and leanieu Philip Ilenry — father oi' the well
known commentator. " He had a method of improving
infant baptism, superior to that of most divines, and de-
cidedly bet'er than I have at any time met with. He
drew out what he called the form of the Baptismal Cov-
enant: "I take God the Father to be my Father; I take
C-rod the Son to be my Saviour; I take God the Holy
Ghost to be my Comforter, Teacher, Guide and Sanctifier ;
I take the word of God to be the rule of my actions ; I
take the people of God to be m}- peojDle in all conditions :
and all this I do deliberate!}', freely and forever." He
taught all his children to say this to him every Satur-

TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY, 127

day night. When they were able to write, he made
every one of them write it and sign it. " Now," he said,
"I will keep this for a testimony against you." And
he did keep it. And there is found amongst his papers
one of the most affecting documents in the English lan-
guage— a copy of this Covenant signed by each of his
children in succession. But he never had to produce it
against them. By Grod's grace they kept it ; and they
verified his own frequent adage, Fast bind, fast find."

"That our sons," pleads the psalmist, " may be as
j)lants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may
be as corner stones polished after the similitude of a
palace:" — as the polished and beautiful stones prepared
for the magnificent sanctuary.

' ' And infants, though part
Of the true archetypal house of God,
Built on the heavenly Zion, are not now,
Nor will be ever, massive rocks lough hewn,
Or ponderous corner-stones, or fluted shafts
Of columns, or over shadowing pinacles.
But rather as the delicate lily-work
By Hiram wrought for Solomon of old,
Enwreathed upon the brazen chapiters,
Or flowers of lilies round the molten sea.
Innumerable flowers thus bloom and blush
In Heaven."

CHAPTER VIII.
TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY.

'' Till he can read Sanctii Minerva, ivith Scoppius and
Perizzonius' 7iotes." — Locke.

" When two authorities are up,
Neither of them supreme, how soon confusion
May enter twixt the gap." — Shakespeare.

128 baptisma;

" Hast thou appealed unto Ccesur? Unto Cccsar thou
shalt go." — Festus.

There is a suggestive legend of the old Greeks,
which though mythical in regard to fact, expresses and
crystalizes an essential truth. Ariadne,* the queenly
daughter of Minos, had a clue, a famous little thread
which had been given to her by Vulcan. In love with
the " Godlike Thesus," she gave him the clue; and, by
its assistance, he safely traversed the dark and danger-
ous labyrinth of Minotaur. The ancient story has not
yet lost its significance.

"We are leaving the safe and sure light of heavenly
wisdom and of authoritive scriptural teaching; we are
plunging into the intricacies, discrepancies and fallibili-
ties of classic, historic, and other human authorities.
We shall need some safe and sure guiding clue— such as
that by which, in the misty morning of Mytholgy and
shadowy Greek legend, the renowned Athenian hero was
enable! securely to traverse the famous Cretan Cave.

The fundamental principle, the

ARIADNE CLUE,

which we need to grasp firmly : the supremacy of in-
spired teaching — an ultimate and absolute standard of

*The Greek legenrl of the Ariadne thread had been already ap-
propriated, for this passage, when it was incidently discovered
that, in a popular lecture on Biology, the same classic clue had
been used to represent axiomatic truth.

The authorities chiefly cited in these pages are mostly indica-
ted Distance from any important and comprehensive collection
of Standard works has been felt at some points, to be a serious in-
convenience ; and has necessitated occasional quotation from other
than original sources. In no case, however, has any citation been
made except from reliable and responsible writers. To several
friends, and especially to the esteemed Rector of Charlottetown,
the Rev. D. Fitzgerald, I have been indebted for valuable books
of reference.

CLASSIC USAGE. 129

appeal — will enable us to thread our way through the

intricacy and entanglement of complicated, conflicting

human testimonies and authorities.

" O how unlike the works of man
Heayen's easy artless unencumbered plan.
No Metricions graces to beguile,
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile.
From ostentation as from weakness free
It stands like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its simplicity." — Cowper.

I. CLASSIC USAGE.

Elaborate and exhaustive investigation, by compe-
tent scholars, has shewn that the essential idea of the
verb haptizo is not mode, but condition, no matter by
what moans eifocted. — changed condition.

When Alexander marched his army at the foot of
Mount Climax, in Lycia, the sea having covered the
path: "the troops," says Strabo, "were in the waters a
whole day, baptized (baptizomenon) up to the middle,"
— wading up to the waist a whole day, the soldiers were
baptized but not immersed. — Strabo, Lib. 14, 982 p.

Plutarch cites the Sybilline verse, a prediction of
Athenian fortunes, " askos baptize dunai de toi ou themis
esti, " as a bladder thou may'st be baptized, but thou art
not destined to sink." The city would be subjected to
disaster, but like the bladder floating lightly upon the
surface of the waters, would surmount them all, — bap-
tized but not sunk: no immersion. — Dr. Halley, 352 p.

Describing the slaughter of Cleobulus, in his six-
teenth book of the Iliad Homer tells that Ajax "struck
him in the neck with his hilted sword, and the whole
sword was warmed with blood." A Greek commentator
on Homer, Dionysius, remarks on the clause : " In this
he expresses greater emphasis, as the eword being so

130 BAPTISMA ;

baptized (baj^tisthentos) ai even to be wanned." The
hiked sword of the mi<^h( J Ajax was baptized in blood
flowing from a wound in the neck of his falling foe :
that was baptism, but no immersion. — Vit. Horn., 297 p.

A youth, in the company of Sophists, was bewilder-
ed with the subtle questions, and that is said to be a
baptism: Ego gnaus haptizemenon to meirakion — " I
knowing the youth baptized." — Enthd. 277, D. There
was baptism by questioning, but no immersion.

In a battle description, Dioderus Sicidus says of
troops, that had been defeated and driven into the river,
" the river flowing down with a more violent current,
bajytized many, (pollens ehapdize) and destroyed them
swimming across in their armour." A threefold action
is described : 1. — The defeated troops were "driven into
the river" — immersion but not bajitism. 2. — The action
of the waves upon the men in their armour — "many bap-
tized"— a baptism. 3. — "And destroyed them;" ihey
sank in their armour ; but that utter destruction was not
their baptism.^ — Diod. Sie. 2, 142.

Josephus in his Jewish wars, describing the action
of waves upon certain vessels, says : " The billow high
raised baptized them — ebaptize." Clearly the mode sug-
gested is that of the element acting upon the ships. —
Jewish Wars, 3, 8, 3.

For an exhaustive treatment of the whole question
of baptism, where matters of scholarship and research
are concerned, I must refer to the noble volumes of Dr.
James Dale, a learned Presbyterian Minister.* In each
book Judaic, Johannic, Christie and Patristic, but espe-
cially in

* Dr. Dale in student life sat at the feet of Prof. Moses
Stewart, and now wears the mantle of that illustrious scholar.

CLASSIC BAPTISM. 131

CLASSIC BAPTISM.

the intelligent student will obtain all the aid that can be
required for examination of the whole subject.

I have noticed that a reviewer of " Baptisma"
speaks'of the volumes of Dr. Dale, confessedly, what-
ever else they may not be, monuments of massive and
accurate scholarship, and of stupendous research, as an
^^ amusing work, and the author as ''a certain man in the
United States."* Dr. Dale has traversed the whole
domain. In vindication and verification of authorities
and citations, he explored European libraries. Scores
of the most learned men of the time, including Biblical
critics, Theological Professors, Presidents of Colleges,
have staked the reputation upon the assertion that Dr.
Dale has made good his position. " On which side is
the weight of opinion ?"

To attempt to deal in detail with the puny criticism
of the "review," or to meet the charge of "gross mani-
pulation" would be grievous sacrifice of space and waste
of words. The chapter of criticism on Dr. Dale's noble
and comprehensive work, apart from its few quotations,
reminds one only of Eobert Hall's daring metaphor: a
mouse nibbling at the wing of a flaming archangel.

The author of "review" whose complete work I have
just seen, has selected a remarkable caj)tion for a book
of such pretensions. A compound of Anglicised and
classical form and termination, such as that of the title-
page, constitutes a rare phenomenon in the literary
world. For a man who could not write his own title-
page correctly to undertake the criticism of Dr. Dale's

* " Bible Baptisma, by D. G. McDonald, Pastor of the Bap-
tist Church, Charlottetown."

132 BAPTISMA ;

erudite volumes, is, in his own phrase, to say the least,
"very amusing."

That title-page announces " Bible Baptisma" "and
its qualifications. Docs the Bible, for the defence of his
system, demand qualification ? Alas, for the system !

An exhaustive selection from Dr. Dale's Classic
Baptism would of itself demand a volume. The utmost
that can be attcmj)ted is to indicate the scientific and
satisfying nature of the treatment and the clearness and
decisiveness of result. The inquir}^ extends to all pas-
sages in classic authors in which the word is known
to occur. One hundred and twelve passages, according
to their character, are distributed into classes and sub-
jected to searching analysis :

1. A list of twelve examples : these include Aris-
totle's baptism of the sea-coast, Plutarch's baptism of
the bladder and Strabo's baptism to the waist.

2. A class of examples, page 254, in which a cer-
tain influence of baptizo, as in the destruction of vessels,
finds illustration — "the ship neai-1 3^ baptized," baptizetai,
— " baptized, baptis thentes, by their own weight" — "and
breathed as one out of a state of baptism," behaptisthai, —
"and ships anchored were baptized," baptisthenai, —
" carrying down many baptized, ebaptize, and destroyed
them." In the destructions of vessels, desci-ibed in many
of these passages, the mode is to sink : For centuries
they have been beneath the whelmning wave ; but
surel}" the sinking of ships as a mode cannot meet the de-
mands of immersion as a rite. There was in all these
cases an influence, or effect, of the action, which deter-
mined the classical use of the word.

3. A classification of twenty-four passages, page

CLASSIC BAPTISM. 133

266, in -which instrumentality is indicated : "I baptiz-
ing you by the sea- waves" — baptizing with his hands
the fleet of the Persians" — " baptizing his hand into the
blood, &c."

4, A selection of thirty examples, page 283, in-
tended to exemplify the secondary meaning of baptizo.
Dr. Dale contends conclusively that words of this class,
in their secondary sense " secure well defined meaning,
through continued use, and great breadth of application,
lose wholly their figurative character and must be con-
sidered simple and literal in their expression." Amongst
illustrative examples we find: "what is sudden, astounds

-the 8onl, falling on it unawares, and thoroughly baptizes
it" — "baptized with calamity" — "when midnight had
baptized the city with sleep" — "they do not baptize the
peoj)le by taxes" — "for there fighting he baptized all
Asia" — " baptized by the affairs of life" — " baptized by
grief." "Ehj^me and reason" says Dr. Dale, "carry
licence often into licentiousness ; but I do not remember
that either has ever taken the liberty of putting a city
to sleep, figuratively, by plunging it into water. The
communication of the gentle influence of sleep, when re-
presented by figure proceeds on a wholly difi'erent basis."
According to Ovid, the Latin Poet, humid night gathers
from the dwelling of the Grod Somnus the sophorifics of
rich poppies, and countless herbs, and sprinkles them
over the darkened earth. Heliodorus baptized the city with
sleep ; but does not specify mode : Ovid explains that
the somnolent condition is produced by sprinkling.

5. A list of fifteen examples, page 31Y, which in-
cludes Plato's youth baptized with bewildering ques-
tions— baptism by unmixed wine — Alexander baj)tized
by much wine — baptism by an opiate drug — baptized by

134 baptisma;

drunkennoss into insensibility and sleep, &c. The idea of
immersion in wine is certainly absurd, and not for a
moment to be entertained. Drunkenness is produced by a
reception of the element, and not by an immersion
into it.

As the result of this thorough inquiry it has been
shewn :

1. That Baptizo in classic usage demands for its
OBJECT condition — condition characterized by complete-
ness. " Whenever any liquid possessed of a quality ca-
pable of exerting a controlling influence of any kind
whatever is applied to an object, so as to develope influ-
ence it is said on all classical authority to baptize the ob-
ject, without regard to mode of application and with as

Utile regard to physical position."

2. To meet the demand for a completely changed
condition it accepts any agency, physical or spiritual,
competent to the task: -'hot iron made to pass into a
cold condition; intoxicating wine made to pass wi^o an un-
intoxicating condition ; a defiled man made to pass into
a purified condition ; a sober man made to pass into a
drunken condition ; a wakeful man made to pass into a
deeply somnolent condition;" and other changed condi-
tions exemplify the dominant idea of classic baptism.

3. That Baptizo is a many-sided word adjusting itself
to the most diverse cases : Agamemnon was baptized,
Bacchas was baptized, Panthia was baptized, and a host
of others were baptized; each one differently from the
others in the nature or mode of the baptism, or both. It
would be easier to thread the Cretan Cave, without a
clue, than to determine the nature or mode of any given
bajDtism, of the classic record, merely from the meaning
of the word baptizo.

CLASSIC BAPTISM. 135

Baptisms were variously effected ; and classic Greek
pronounces a man, who is in a condition of drunkenness,
to be a baptized man — in a condition of obloquy to be a
baptized man — in a condition of grief to be a baptized
man — in a condition of mental perplexity to be a bapti-
zed man — "then I say any one who chooses to apply the
term to a man restored by any competent influence to a
condition of religious purity, will have the unanimous
support of every classic Greek writer through a thousand
years."

4. In the exhaustive inquiry of Dr. Dale we obtain
an answer to the question : What is Classic Baptism ?

"Whatever is capable of thoroughly changing the
character, state, or condition of any object, is capable of
baptizing that object ; and by such change of character,
state or condition does in fact baptize it."

Accordingly classic baptisms were effected by a
draft of wine, by an opiate drug, by a heavy sleep, by a
bewildering question : "Accumulate, around these bap-
tisms, metaphor, figure, picture, and what not. I make
my ai'gument with finger pointed to the cup, the ques-
tion, the opiate drop and say : the old Greeks baptized
through a thousand years ivith such things as these."

5. The distinctive idea of the G-reek verb baptizo :
changed condition, produced by any competent agency,
permissible by any possible mode, that which — in contra-
distinction to cheo, to pour : rhantizo, to sprinkle : dupto, to
dip : buthizo, to immerse : kataduo, to go under, and words
of merely modal action — has always clung to its use,
gathering strength and significance with varied breadth
of application, proves that the selection of this woi d, by
the inspired writers, was not the result of accidental and

136 BAPTISMA ;

arbitrary arrangement ; and that it was dictated and do-
tormincd by governing philological principle.

6. Wo must bear in mind that classic usage
throughout this discussion, is a very diftercnt thing and
demands ditferent treatment, from the same word ap-
plied to the christian saci'ament.

The author of Classic Baptism " claims, and nothing
more, to have followed the golden thread of truth, slow-
ly, steadily, simply, absolutely, through intricacy,
winding and bewilderment, until brought into a broad
place. Those who examine and believe they see the
golden filament stretching, unbroken, un wrested all
along the way, will approve and accept." The
controlling idea of all these passages, and that
doubtless which determined the exclusive selection
of the Greek verb baptizo for the christian sacrament,
carries us far beyond the insignificance of mere mode,
constitutes the "golden filament" of clear and intelligi-
ble principle.

In possession of this

ARIADNE THREAD

we are enabled through the windings of a thousand years,
and all the varied applications of the word in disputa-
tion, to traverse the deep labyrinth of classic Literature.

II. GREEK LEXICONS AND GREEK AUTHORS.

The opinion has been repeatedly expressed : that,
inasmuch as nearly all words of distinguished import-
ance, in the Greek of the New Testament, are used in a
new sense and applied to subjects of which ancient
authors had no knowledge, the New Testament meaning
of Baptize and Baptism must bo sought in inspired
teaching. This law of investigation must ever form the

GREEK LEXICONS.

13Y

golden gateway through which we pass into sun-lit temple of
truth. We prefei- in this inquiry to consult the oracles
of God ; but if others appeal to Csesar, then to Ccesar
they must go.

The following extract from an important work by
Eev. W. Thorn, an English writer, published some
years ago, exhibits in compact and compendious form
the result of learned and laborious research. It does
not sufficiently discriminate between the verbs bapto and
haptizo — a matter of moment in this inquiry — but for a
comprehensive view of this part of the field it is some-
what valuable.

GREEK LEXICONS.

** That the word baptize has a variety of significa-
tions, and is of a generic nature, may be made by an
appeal to the best Lexicographers. The following have
been consulted : Hedricus, Leigh, Parkhurst, Schleusner,
Scapula, Stephens and Suidas. Eeference has also been
made to Montanus', ' Literal version' of the Apocrypha
and New Testament, and to the Hebrew terms, rendered
baptize by the seventy translators. The result of the
research is, that the word is deemed synonymous, with
the following Latin verbs : —

Ahluo

To wash away

Madefacio

To wet

Colo

To colour

Macula

To pollute

Demerge

To dive

Mergo

To dip

Duco

To lead

Mundo

To cleanse

Figo

To pierce

Obruo

To overwhelm

Fuco

To colour

Pereo

To perish

Haurio

To draw up

Pur go

To purge

Imhuo

To imbue

Rubesco

To redden

Immergo

To plunge

Suhmergo

To put under

Impleo

To fill

Terreo

To affright

Intingo

To die

Tingo

To stain

Lava

To wash

138

BAPTISMA ;

GREEK AUTHORS.

" Wo proceed now to the tx-anslations of oux* oppo-
nents. Considerable pains have been taken by them to
enlist the Greek Authors under their banners for the
purpose of aiding their cause. Five only of their most
eminent and learned divines — Booth, Cox, Gale, Eyland
and Gibbs — have cited numerous passages from Greek
■vrriters, to establish their position, that baptize means
only to dip or plunge, and that they do not remember a
passage where all other senses are not necessarily
excluded.' That these gentlemen have not perverted the
sense of their authorities to the prejudice of their cause,
may be readily supposed — and what is the result ? That
the word baptize, as employed by the ancient Greek
poets, philosophers, historians and divines, signifies only
one and the same definite action, and that to dip, plunge
or immerse ? — Far from it. — The following list of trans-
lations, pi'esents the fruit of their laborious researches
and philosoj)hical acumen. According to them it is used
for

Bathe

Dyed

Over head and ears

Sprinkled

Besmear

Fill

Plunged

Stained

Caused

Given up to

Pour

Steep

Coloured

Infected

Purify

Sink

Covered

Imbue

Put

Swallowed up

Crushed

Immersed

Put into

Thrust

Daubed

Involved

Quenched

Tinged

Dip

Laid under

Redden

Washed

Drawing water Let down

Run through

Wetted

Drank much

Oppressed

Smeared

Drowned

Overwhelmed

Soaked

" By cursory reference to the citations, our oppon-
ents have made from Greek writings, for the express
purpose of suj)porting their exclusive mode of baptism,
we find the following operations, conditions, or designs,
are designated by the word baptize or baptism."

GREEK AUTHORS. 139

Staining a sword with blood or slaughter.

Daubing the face with paint.

Colouring the cheeks by intoxication.

Dyeing a lake with the blood of a frog.

Beating a person till red with his own blood.

Staining the hand by squeezing a substance.

Ornamenting clothes with a paint, needle or brush.

Imbuing a person with his own thoughts, or justice.

Polluting the mind by fornication and sophistry.

Poisoning the heart with evil manners.

Involving a person in debt and difficulties.

Bringing ruin on a city by besieging it.

The natural tints of a bird or flower.

Plunging a sword into a viper or army.

Kunning a man through with a spear.

Sticking the feet of a flea in melted wax.

Quenching a flaming torch in water.

Seasoning hot iron by dipping it in cold water.

Plving the oars and rowing a vessel.

Dipping children into a cold bath.

Drowning persons in a lake, pond or sea.

Sinking a ship crew and persons under water.

Sweetening hay with honey.

Soaking a herring in brine.

Steeping a stone in wine.

Immersing ones'self up to the middle, breast or head.

Destroying ships in a harbour by storm.

Pilling a cup with honey.

Drawing water in a pitcher or bucket.

Popping cupid into a cup of wine.

Poisoning arrows, and presents like arrows.

Wasliing wool in or with water.

Cleansing the body wholly or partially.

Tinging the finger with blood.

Dipping birds or their bills in a river.

A dolphin ducking an ape.

The tide overflowing the land.

Pouring water on wood and garden plants.

Dyeing an article in a vat.

Throwing fish into cold water.

Dipping weapons of war in blood.

Overwhelming a ship with stones.

Oppressing or burdening the poor with taxes.

Overcome with sleep or calamity.

Destroying animals with a land flood.

"Little comment is requisite on these allusions. It
is clear as the light at noon, that the passages which

140 baptisma;

our opponents have selected from Greek authors, as the
best calculated to sustain their cause of exclusive
dipping, have completely failed. But there are other
passages in Greek writers, which our brethren have
purposely or inadvertenly overlooked — and where, in
several instances, the sense of the word in question is,
if possible, still more adverse to their conclusions."

Aristophanes. — 'Magnes, an old comic of Athens,
used the Lydian music, shaved his face, and baptized it
with tawny colours.' He applied the colours to his face.
— ' Dress not with costly clothes, which are baptized
with the richest colours.' Several colours must be ap-
plied to the cloth.

Aristotle. — ' If it is pressed, it baptizes the hand
which sustains and presses it.' Here the hand is tinged
by an application of the colouring matter to it.

Dion Cassius. — 'Those from above baptizing the
ships with stones and engines.' Hei-e the baptizing
materials came from above, down upon the vessels.

Homer. — ' He, the frog breathless fell, and the lake
was baptized with blood.' The blood was applied to the
water, and not the water dipped into the blood.

Aelian. — ' Having baptized with precious ointment,
a garland woven of roses.' The garland was surely not
dipjDcd into a box of ointment, but the ointment was
poured or sprinkled on the garland.

Athenaus. — 'I have been baptized with wine.' Not
bathing in it, but intoxicated — the wine was applied to
him, for he drank it.

Bentley's Epigrams. — ' You baptize your head, but
you shall never baptize old age.' You adorn your head
with gay attire. Here the baj^tizing material is applied

BAPTO. 141

to the head. — ' Who first baptized the muse with viperish
gall.' Who first tinged or imbued the mind, by apply-
ing the element to it ?

lamblichus. — ' Baptize not in the periranterion.'
This was a small vessel like those kept at the doors of
all Roman Catholic Chapels — the act here is evidently
sprinkling.

Julius Pollux. — 'The girl observing the mouth of
the dog, (which had eaten the murex,) stained with an
unusual baptism.' The murex is a small shell-fish. The
mouth of the dog was baptized by an application of the
colour to it.

Justin. — ' Sprinkling with holy water was invented
by demons, an imitation of the true baptism, signified
by the prophets, (Is. Hi : 15 ; Ezek xxxvi : 25,) that their
votaries might have their pretended purifications by
water.' Here sprinkling and baptism ai-e used synony-
mously.

Potter's Antiq. — ' The priests of Cotys were called
Baptists, from staining their bodies with certain colours.
Here also, the colouring element is applied to the body.

" These passages are sufficient as specimens of a
great many more. The deduction from this branch of
investigation is simple and easy : — That the word gene-
rally, if not exclusively, expresses an effect produced,
rather than any precise mode of accomplishing it."

III. BAPTO.

Bapto is never in any of its forms, in the New Tes-
tament, applied to Baptism as an ordinance of the
Christian Church. Baptizo is always used; the verb
bapto never ; and therefore the discussion to which it
has given rise, has no value — except that which is in-

142 BAPTISMA ;

ferential and illustrative. Two or three examples, of
the use of this verb, without attaching importance to
them, may be given.

In the Battle of the Frogs, a mock heroic poem,
sometimes iscribed to Homer, one of the champions
called Crambophagus was mortally wounded: "He fell
and the lake (epabteto) was tinged with blood." Was
that baptism, the lake in the blood of a frog, an immer-
sion? In the Book of Daniel, iv, 33, we read of the
judgment of Nebuchadnezzar : "and his body was wet
wita the dew of heaven." The Septuagint has ebaphe
for wet — was baptized. The question is one of mode not
of quantity. AVas there an immersion ? Was the insane
King plunged into dew or did the dew descend? There
is one passage in the New Testament in which the verb
bapto occurs, which calls for special attention: '• and he
was clothed with vesture dipped (6e6ammenon) in blood."
Eev. xix, 13. There is no question but the verb was
used in its secondary sense, and that the literal render-
ing would be ; " vesture stained iu blood." But what of
mode ? The passage is one of the few which admits of
positive proof. In the parallel passage of Isaiah, the
conquei'or coming " from Edom with dyed gai-ments
from Bozrah" speaking in righteousness, mighty to
save, declares of His foes : " their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment."
According to G-rove, the Greek lexicographer, bapto sig-
nifies, " to dip, plunge, immerse ; to wash; to wet, moisten,
sprinkle ; to steep, imbue ; to dye, stain, color. The use of
bapto, in the secondary sense of to stain, is accounted
for; and the mode is expressly said to be sprinkled.

It is freely conceded that Bapto is used some times
in the sense of to dip. The more numerous the examples

HELLENISTIC GREEK. 143

of such use which by possibility can be accumulated, and
the more apparent and cogent becomes the discrimina-
tion of which the sacred writers have given evidence.
In no solitary case, in any form has Bapto been applied to
the ordinance of baptism.

Sixteen times in the Septuagint it is used as the
rendering of the Hebrew word Taval. In the English
Bible we have, as the rendering of the Hebrew and in
correspondence with the Septuagint, the Saxon dip ; but
in some cases the only admissible action is that of mois-
tening and wetting. The living bird, according to the
rendering of Leviticus, cedar wood, scarlet wool and
bunch of hyssop were all to be dipped in the blood of
another bird, of the same size as the first.

Having given the meaning of bapto, according to
the G-reek lexicographer Grove, it may be desirable to
close this notice with the definition of Taval, by the em-
inent Hebrew Lexicographer, Fi\rst : '' To moisten, to
sprinTxle, to dip to immerse in anything fluid with accu-
sative of the object." To bathe, Deut. xxxiii : 24." The
fundamental signification of the stem is to moisten, to
besprinkle."

IV. HELLENISTIC GREEK.

The language of the New Testament is the later
Greek language, as spoken by foreigners of the Hebi-ew
stock. The literature to which appeal can be most le-
gitimately made for the interpretation of the New Tes-
tament Greek, the version of the Seventy and the
Apocrypha, exhibits suggestive illustration of baptizo.

1. Septuagint : The only example of the verb
with a literal meaning, is in the account of the miracu-
lous cure of Naaman's leprosy : " And Naaman went

144 baptisma;

down. — Kai cbaptisato en to Jordane — and baptized
in, or at, the Jordan, seven times, according to the saying
ofElisha." The authorized version is, that Naaman
went down and dipped himself. lie was commanded by
the prophet to wash seven times. The verb louo, to wash,
(bathe) has been appealed to in the discussion. The fol-
lowing quotation, from Dr. Smith's Dictionary of An
tiquities, maybe carried along w^ith us in this and other
passages of the Septuagint, in which washings and bath-
ings are commanded : "In ancient vases, in which per-
sons are represented bathing, we never find anything
corresponding to a modern bath, in which persons can
stand or sit ; but there is always a round or oval basin,
louter or louterion') resting in a stand, by the side of
which those who are bathing are represented standing un-
dressed and washing themselves.' ' The disease of Naaman
was local. " I thought," he wrathfully exclaimed, "that
he would strike his hand over the place." But instead
of striking with his hand, the Prophet in harmony with
Divine requirement for purification of leprosy, the sprink-
ling of water, and in accordance with Oriental idea and
usage, prescribed the application of water to the place.
Seven times, as in the version of the seventy, the Syi-ian
General bajjtized himself and as the result there was a
completely changed condition.

In one other passage only does haptizo occur in the
Septuagint. Instead of the rendering of the authorized
version, in Isaiah xxiv ; iv, " fearfulness hath affrighted
me" the Greek of the seventy has he anomia me bap-
tizei ; " Iniquity baptizes me." The use is figurative and
extended discussion unnecessary. One such passage
abundantly refutes the erroneous assertion that the verb

BATHINGS AND WASHINGS. 145

means " to dip and only to dip, through all Greek lite-
rature."

2. Apocrypha : Two passages only afford example
and illustration of the use of the verb baptizo in the
aj)Ocryphal books. And she went out every night to the
valley of Bethulia and baptized herself (ebaptizeto) in the
camp at the fountain of water. Judith xii. Y. " The un-
seemliness of a lady," says Prof. Wilson, "submitting to
nightly immersion, in the midst of a camp, and at the
fountain from which, it is considered probable, an army
derived its supply of water, has staggered most inter-
preters and tested the nerve of the majority of Contro-
versialists." The " wisdom of Sirach" asks "when cne
is" — ba2)tiz omenos aponekrou — baptized from a dead body,
and touches it again of what avail is his washing?" The
sprinkU7ig oi' the unclean, which, according to inspired
teaching sanctified, was understood in the " wisdom of
Sirach" to be a baptism.

V. BATHINGS AND WASHINGS.

In the personal acts of bathing and washing, which,
in addition to the official sprinkling of the unclean,
sanctified and saved, were required in the Jewish laws of
purification, of which we have a full account in the Book
of Leviticus, the Hebrew word used is Rahats, which
means simply to wash. It is translated chiefly by louo
and nipto in the Septuagint, by lavo in the Latin, and by
hathe and wash in the authorized version.

The various purifications of the Old Testament
designated, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "different
baptisms," have been described in the early part of the
chapter mode of Baptism, — Page 32. In addition to
official administration, there were, as we have seen,

146 BAPTI8MA ;

private and j)e;-sonaZ ablutions. This part of the subject
is of very subordinate importance, but it is necessary
that it should bo placed in clear and satisfactory light.
" Wc prepare the way," with Dr. Whedon, " by one
SAvceping affirmation, that the Hebrew word for immerse
is not once used in the commands which imjDOse the
modes of these various baptisms. The English words
arc sj)rinJde, irash, bathe, neither of which imposed the
specific mode, immersion. The word bathe simply sig-
nifies to wash. Even ivith the bad rendering, bathe, a false
idea will not be received by those who are aware that in
the East bathing is performed, 7iot by immersion, but by
affusion."

••No immersions of jyersons,'' says Dr. Beccher on
Baptizo, in Biblical Eepository, " are enjoined under the
Mosaic ritual." As this fact does not appear to have been
noticed as it ought, and as man}^ assume the contrary,
it is necessary to furnish proof of this assertion.

"It lies in this fact, that no washings of jicrsons,
even in a single instance, enjoined by any word that de-
notes immersion ; but, as I think, without excejDtion, by
the word rahats which denotes to wash or j)urify —
without any reference to the mode."

" Those who read the English version might suppose
that where the direction to bathe occurs, immersion is
enjoined ; but in every such case the original word de-
notes onlj' to xcash. If any doubt whether this be the
true view of the import oi" rahats, let him take a Hebrew
concordance, and trace it through the whole of the Old
Testament, and he will have abundant proof"

"In all this process" speaking of ancient purifica-
tion by the application of water to an unclean person.

BATHINGS AND WASHINGS. 147

" immersion is not once enjoined. The Greek louo and
the Hebrew rahats do'not imply bathing or immersion ;
because bathing denotes a specific mode of cleansing,
whereas rahats and louo are not sj)ecific."

"If it be still urged," says Dr. Hibbard, Christian
Baptism, page 66, "that baptize refers to the outward
mode of using water : to which of the modes in the
original command, Numbers 19: 11 — 19, does it answer
in signification? Does it answer to perirhraino, to
sprinkle around u])on, or^to louo — answering to the Hebrew
rahats, wash ? These are all the words that are used, in
the original command, to describe the outward act or
mode of using water. To which of these original words
does baptizo refer ? Which of the two positions will our
opponents adopt ? Are they not faii-ly grounded? and
will not their theory overwhelm them in difficulties if
they do not speedily abandon it ?"

"It is contended," in reference to "review" of Pro-
fessor Stuart, "that where the law requires the Jews to
loash—KohvQVf rahats and (rreek louo — they understood
it to mean immerse. To sanction this construction he
cites Talmuds and Maimonides ; and he might as ivell have
appealed to Zoroaster and Zendavesta. Why did he not
appeal to the Old Testament? This would have settled
the question at once." The question is not, how did the
Talmudical writers understand rahats f but, how did the
Holy Spirit employ the word m the Old Testament
Scriptures ?

In the thirtieth chapter of Exodus will be found a
description of the brasen laver : " Thou shalt make also
a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass to wash withal :
and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the con-

148 BAPTISMA ;

grcgation and tlio altar, and thou shalt put water there-
in. For Aaron and his sons sliall Avasli their feet
thereat."

The nineteenth verse reads, in the Septuagint:

" And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands
and their feet ^c'lt^l water from it,'' Kal nipsetai Aaron
kai hoi uiiioi auton ck auton fas cJieiras, kal tons ^lodas hu-
dati.

Tlie brazen laver, loutrva chalkoiin, elevated upon a
pedestal of brass would have been a most inconvenient
arrangement for bathing the feet, in the mode of dipping
them. The sense of the Septuagint, held to be in strict
accordance with the original Hebrew, is most explicit:
ek auton — out of it. The act prescribed was to be jier-
formed with water drawn from that laver.*

"It is remarkable," says Thorne, "that the laws of
purification were given to the Hebrews, in a wilderness,
where there tvas comparatively no water ; and yet what
Moses enjoined was never objected to as impossible,
through scarcity of water." For forty years, in that
waste howling wilderness, washing by immersion, daily,
great multitudes of people in water, must have been ut-
terly impracticable.

VI. PATRISTIC TESTIMONY.

The testimony of the /af/iers, in regard to doctrine
and rite of the christian church, comes to us in strangely
conflicting forms. "I see plainly," says Chillingworth,
an eminent Protestant writer of the 17th century, "that
there are Popes against Popes, Councils against Councils,
some Fathers against others, the saine Fathers against
themselves.'' The conflict and confusion of Avhich the

* Prof. Wilson, p. 169.

PATRISTIC TESTIMONY. 149

learned Chillingworth became so painfully conscious,
in his patristic researches, led to his noble axiomatic
utterance: — by which Protestantism ought ever to
abide : " The Bible, the Bible alone, is our religion."

The sole purpose for which patristic testimony is
introduced, in common with other voices of antiquity,
to which appeal has been made, is for the light which it
throws upon the meaning of the word, chiefly in dispu-
tation. These G-reeks were at home in the language, to
which baptizo helongs; and their testimonj- ought to be
accepted as valid evidence.

Clemens of Alexandria Avas one of the most learned
writers of the early part of the third century. The great
purpose of his teaching, developed in his stromata, was
to show that the best elements of Christianity had been
already in existence in heathen institutions. Penelope
"in waters washed" and Telemachus, "having icashed
his hands in the hoary sea," cheiras nipsamenos polies
halos &c. — Odys. II, 261, presented to the mind of
Clemens an image of christian baptism : " handed down
from Moses to the poets." Clemens also mentions the
the customs of the Jews, " often baptized oyithciv couch,''
— which could not mean immersion.

Origen, who became Catechist of Alexandria at the
commencement of the third century, was one of the most
learned of the ante-Nicene Fathers. Most of the fathers
were satisfied with the Septuagint, or with Latin trans-
latiojis of the Old Testament, but Origen of Alexandria
drank from the pure unsealed fountains of original
truth. In reference to the interrogation of John the
Baptist: why baptizest thou then? Origen, as quoted
by Dr. Wall, has the comment : " what makes you think

150 BAPTISMA ;

that Elias when he comes will baptize, who — in Ahabs
time — did not baptize, baptizantos, the wood upon the
altar, which required washing in order to be burnt up
when the Lord should reveal himself by fire ?"

" We here," says Prof. Wilson, " come into contact
with the most learned Greek Father, and one of the
most accomplished Biblical scholars of the ancient
church. Origen knew that Elijah commanded his at-
tendants to pour water on the burnt sacrifice and on the
wood. The author of the Ilexapla had carefully studied
his Bible and entered profoundly and minutely into
peculiarities of thought and forms of expression. How
invaluable the testimony, when a writer, of such un-
doubted attainments, identifies the command to j^our
water upon the icood with a command to baptize." — In-
fant Bap. p. S'TO.

Cyril of Alexandria, in allusion to ancient purifica-
tions, says: "We have been baptized, not with mere
water, nor yet with the ashes of a heifer, but with the
Holy Spii'it and fire." Strange bajjtism : that of ashes f
Compared with the well-known passage in Hebrews —
" The ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sancti-
fied to the purifying of the flesh" — it is perfectly
explicable.*

* As this chapter passes through the press, at the last moment,
I have obtained a glance at a "Review of Baptisma" in which the
author complains of torture of Cyril's passage. There was scarce-
ly more than an allusion to Cyril's testimony, and therefore hardly
room for the perpetration of such injustice. From the work of
Conant, to which " review" is chiefly indebted for what is most
valuable in its pages, the reviewer quotes the Greek text of Cyril,
The vigorous and scholarly President Beecher in the "Biblical
Repository, critically expounds the passage ; and if the charge of
" unpardonable torture" had been applied as originally intended
to the masterly criticism of Dr. Beecher there might have been,
whether sound or otherwise, some sense in it.

PATRISTIC TESTIMONY. 151

"Wonder not," said Chrysostom of the golden
mouth, " that I call martyrdom a baptism, for there also
the spirit descends in rich abundance."— Biom. The lan-
guage of the eloquent Greek preacher is in pure and per-
fect accordance with the inspired account of Pentecostal
baptism.

" These two baptisms he shed forth from the wound
of his pierced side :" Hos duo baptismos de vulnere per-
fossi lateris emisit. — Tertullian p. 53*7, Paris.

"Baptized a second time with tears:" kai tois dak-
rusi haptizomenos ek deuteron. — Clem. Alex. II, 649.

Thou seest the power of baptism, baptisniatos * ^ *
He will sprinkle upon you clean water : Rhantiei ep
humas hudor katharon. — (7yri7 of Jerusalem.

" And the ver}^ image of baptism, baptismatos, both
continually illuminated and saved all Israel at that time,
as Paul wrote, and as prophesied Ezekiel, 36 : 25, I will
sprinkle clean water upon you, and David Ps. 50: 9,
sprinkle me with hyssop." — Didymus Alex. ^13.

" I know a fourth kind of baptism, that which is by
martyrdom and blood, with which Christ himself was
baptized; and I know a fifth, the baptism of tears." —
Gregory Naz. 353.

"John was baptized, ebaptisthe, by putting his hand
upon the divine head of his Master and by his own
blood." — John of Damascus.

"A passage like this," says Dr. Dale, "as with the
strong arms of Manoah's son takes hold of the pillars of
immersion, and shakes them into hopeless ruin."

These citations from the Fathers are not made, be-
cause of their doctrinal value, or because they exhibit

152 BAPTISMA ;

continuous and consistent patristic view; but because they
shcAv the sense in which the early christian writers un-
derstood the Greek verb baptizo, and as evidence that
the ancient teachers, when adhering to scriptural phrase-
ology, notwithstanding the introduction of baptismal
error, represented effusion as the ideal of mode and action
in the administration of baptism.

The student of this subject can, in " Christie and
Patristic Baptism,"* pursue the inquiry. One more
testimony must close this section. It comes to us from
Justin Martyr. He was born at the close of the first
century, and therefore testifies of Apostolic usage :

''Sprinkling with holy water was invented by
demons, in imitation of true baj^tism, signified by the
prophets (Is. 52'. 15; Ezek. 36: 25), that their votaries
might have their pretended pm-ifications by water:"

1. The lustrations of Greek and Eoman worship
"were believed by Justin to be borrowed from Hebrew
purifications: "in imitation of the true baptism signi-
fied by the prophets;" and he had considerable warrant
for the belief. In the Hebrew scriptures he read of
divine requirement: "And a clean person shall take
hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the
tent and upon all the vessels, and ujwn the persons that
were there, &c." — Xumb. 19 : 18. How the lustration
was performed by the Eomans we learn from the Man-
tuan Bard :

"A verdant branch of olive in his hand,
He moved around and purified the band ;
Slow as he passed the lustral waters shed,
Then closed the rites &c."— Pitt's Virgil, 229.

2. Ancient applications of water, in religious
* Dr. Dale.

PATKISTIC TESTIMONY. 153

ceremony, ■were all by affusion. A small vessel, called
the per€interion, for "sprinkling with holy water," of
which Justin Martyr speaks, was kept at the entrance
of their temples. Triple aspersion was administered —
which was done with a torch, or branch of laurel or
olive." "In the writings of Homer," says Ewing,
"Essay on Baptism," "I have not met with a single
instance of immersion as a religious purification." Many
instances are given of religious ajjplication of water —
" all by pouring."

"The heralds ranged
The rites in order. . . . and poured
Presh water on the hands of all the kings."

—Cow. II. 298.

3. All these lustrations 'and purifications, with the
" sprinkling of holy water," in Greek and Eoman ritual*
were regarded by the eminent Apologist, Justin Mart}^-,
as "imitations of true baptism:" therefore we are
warranted in the inference that early in the second cen-
tury, true baptism was administered by sprinkling and
pouring.

4. The testimony of Justin Martjn-, according to
Thorn to whom I have been indebted for the closing il-
lustration of Patristic exposition, accounts for the s il-
ence of the enemies of the Gospel respecting the mode
of Christian baptism as administered by the Apostles.f

* The heathens themselves had the custom of sprinkling
with water those who gave themselves up to the worship of any of
their Gods. — Bishop Heber.

The PaganPriest sprinkled the multitude with the holy dew-
by means of an aspergillium, or light brush.

Idem ter socios pura ci cumtulit unda spargens rore levi. —

Withrow's Cat. 538.
t Page 283.

154 baptisma;

The fallibility of the Futhers, and their vagaries in
regard to baptism, have been emphatically asserted.
That they lived to witness and to testify in regard to
immersion and other corruptions of the church, we do not
for a moment dispute. The position has been taken, by
strenuous advocates of immersion, that the Greek verb,
means to dip and only to dip through all Greek litera-
ture. A single passage from any of these Greek writers,
destroys the whole position and completely overturns
the argument.

A single citation in evidence of patristic use of bap-
tizo might have sufficed, but abiindantia it has been
shewn :

Whose are the Fathers !

VII. EPHESIAN AND EARLY FONTS.

The excavations which were commenced inEphesus
in 1863, and which have been largely aided by the funds
of the British Government, have resulted in most im-
portant discoveries. An account of these excavations
and discoveries with numerous and valuable illustra-
tions, has just now been published in a splendid and
scholarly volume. The work of Mr. AVood has command-
ed unqualified approbation. " The Discoveries," says
2in n\A<i vQ'f iQWQY mi}\& British Quarterly, "will occupy
a place in the archrological lore which will hand his name
and fame to posterit}^." Amongst the objects found in
digging on the east side of the form was a large basin of
stone (breccia'), fifteen feet in diameter, raised upon a
pedestal. It is figured in the book, and shews a shallow
receptacle for water — about nine inches deep. It is sup-
posed by Mr. Wood, whose sagacity and scholarship,
tested through many years, have rarely been at fault,

EPHESIAN AND EARLY FONTS. 155

that it was used in early Christian times for the baptism
of converts to Christianity, and he uses it as an argu-
ment against baptism by immersion up to the third century.
As the most recent discovery, and the latest contribu-
tion to the elucidation of a controverted subject, that
Ephesian baptismal basin, possibly with a history of
its own — previous to conversion for use in the Christian
Church, it may have been employed for purposes of aS'
persion in the great Ephesian temple of Diana itself, —
has for us a special interest. Evidence from such a dis-
covery, if standing alone, could not be much depended
upon, except in a very incidental and collateral way ;
but it does not, by any means, constitute a solitary proof..

" The baptismal fonts," says Dr. Eobinson, " still
found among the ruins of the most ancient Greek
churches in Palestine, — as at Tekoa and Gophna, and
going back apparently to very early times, — are not
large enough to admit of the baptism of adult persons
by immersion ; and were obviously never intended for
that xise." — See Bibl. Ees.

The fonts of the early pure centuries of the churchy
afford no evidence of immersion. It is, of course, only
the most ancient baptismal fonts, carrying us back to
usages of the Apostolic Church, that can possibly pos-
sess any value in this inquiry. No one doubts that im-
mersion, with many other corruptions, came into the
church in the fourth century, and for such administra-
tion deeper fonts or tanks would be demanded.

The earliest traces of baptismal fonts, and in the
earliest Mosaics representing baptismal scenes, thQmode
of administration invariably is that o? affusion. — Cat. 540.

Eusebius speaks of baptisteries without the chui'ch.

156 BAPTISMA ;

" for those who vcquirc yet the ])ui-ification and sprink-
lings of water and the Holy Spirit." — Ec. His.

Tliere is a niai-ble fountain in the crypts of St.
Prisca, of which IJev. AV. II. AVithrovv gives an excel-
lent engraving, which, according to tradition, was used
for baptismal purposes by St. Peter. Tradition and in-
scription attest its extreme antiquity ; and " its basin is
quite too small even for infant immersion."-. Cat. 537.

The earliest rejiresentation of baj^tism whicli is
known to exist is the fresco from the cemeteiy of St.
Calixtus, at Eome. '• It is believed," says Dr. Smith's
Dictionary of Antiquities, for which the picture has
been engraved, " to be of the second century y The mode
represented is that of ^'pouring water from the hand, or
from a small vessel in the hand, uj)on a person standing
in shallow water.' '

An elaborate effort has been made by the able but
erratic Eobinson, in his ''History of Baj)tism," to obtain
evidence from the practice of the early pure ages, in
favour of immersion. According to his own acknowd-
edgement, " there were no baptistries within the
churches till the sixth century. ''

"Any one" says Thorn, " has only to read Eobin-
son's History 'of Baptism, and he will presentl}^ discover
the difficulty the writer labours under, the shifts and
contrivances he is obliged to make, and, as pronounced
by competent authority, the perversions he sometimes
displays in order to present anj-thing like precedent for
the practice of his fraternity. In fact he has indirectly
established our vieio of the case. For justly considering
caiwed Avork and pictures of baptism made at the time,
the surest criterion of ancient modes and ceremonies, he

ORIENTAL EVIDENCE. IST

has been at considerable pains and expense to procure
engravings of them — and, what is very remarkable all
the sculpture and paintings of the greatest antiquity^ repre-
sents the baptized ones as standing in the water, while
the officiating minister jsowrs a little of the element on
his head." Eobinson, according to the latest published,
estimate of his work " will be accepted by all as good
authority upon ancient baptisteries," — that is of fonts
and rites after the introduction of immersion and other
superstitions into the ceremonial of Christian baptism.
But Eobinson' 8 evidence has no more to do with the ear-
ly wwcorn^^^ec? age of Christianity than to use his own
phrase the first verse of first Chronicles: "Adam, Sheth,
Enosh."

VIII. ORIENTAL EVIDENCE.

"Without any literaiy apparatus," writes an Ame-
rican missionary, from Constantinople, in 1849, " I have
for many years felt confident that the Apostles and
primitive Christians did not baptize by immersion. I do
not find in the climate, dress or social customs of the
East anything to lead to immersion for baptism— though
their religious customs might have led to it.

The geography of Palestine is much opposed to its
having been the prevailing custom. The only river with
water in it, the whole year, is the Jordan. The Arish
south of Gaza has no water in it for part of the year.
The houses of ancient Jerusalem, as appears by the
ruins of the city, had cisterns and not tanks. People
would not be allowed to defile the Avater in the large
reservoirs by being bathed for immersion— as on the day
of Pentecost. In various places, on the roads in Pales-
tine, are to be found wells, fifteen feet deep, with steps

158 baptisma;

to go down to them, for the purposcof supplying travel-
lers. It is by a fliglit of steps that one arrives at the
pool of Siloam. In the Quarantine at Jaffa we descended
to the well b}' a flight of forty steps. Towards Enon,
near Salem, in a company of twenty-five horsemen, we
pressed on to reach it by night. We wished to encamp
there because there was much icater, or many waters,
for ourselves and horses. The cliffs around have several
" eyes" or springs that give out little driblets of water.
How absiird that John, wherever he was, bai:»tizing by
imraersioi), Avent to Enon because it was only there that
he could get enough.

As to the "many waters" or much water, "it is
equivalent to the phrase Saratoga waters, as often used
for the springs. We say in Turkey of a hill near
Constantinople, where arc scattered several springs:
There are many waters there — alwaj's using the plural."

In addition to these inferences from the geography
and customs of Palestine, \ve have the evidence of im-
portant philological fact : It is generally understood
that the language spoken in Judea, at the period of the
Saviour's ministry was not the Grreek of the New Testa-
ment, but a mixed dialect of Syriac and Chaldaic. In
this language, the language of the common people of
Syria, the language of the 2:)eoplc to whom John admin-
istered baptism, the language in which the Saviour
taught the people, the language in which, probably, the
Apostles received their commission, the word for bap-
tize is taken from a Hebrew word " to stand, to continue
to subsist, &c." " We come almost necessarily," says
Professor Stuart, " to the conclusion, then, inasmuch as
the Syriac has an appropriate word which signifies to

ORIENTAL EVIDENCE. 159

dip, plunge, immerse, and yet it is never employed in the
Peshito, that the translator did not deem it important
to designate any particular mode of bajDtism ; but only to
designate the rite by a term which evidently appeai-s to
mean confirm, establish, &c." *

And, not only in " the lands of the Bible," and in
the language of the people, but, in the traditions of
Johannic Baptism, as perpetuated in Eastern religious
rite, we find incidental illustration of the New Testa-
ment mode of bajDtism' "We have an instance," says
Eichard "Watson, in Theological Institutes, " in the cus-
toms of a people of Mesopotamia, mentioned in the
journal of Wolfe the missionary. This sect of Christians
call themselves thefoUoivers of John the Baptist. Among
other questions, Mr. Wolf inquired respecting their
mode of baptism, and was answered : the priests or bishop
baptize children thirty days old. They take the child to the
banks of the river and the priest sprinkles the element upon
the child. Mr. "Wolfe asks, Why baptize in rivers ? An-
swer : Because St. John the Baptist baptized in the river
Jordan. Thus we have in modern times river-baptism
without immersion." f

The chief ua?Me of this fact of modern administration,
and that lor which it has mainly been adduced, is to
prove that in the East baptism at a river does not — nume-
rous affirmations to the contrary notwithstandino- —
necessarily imply immersion.

Thus, again, we obtain — as of incidental and col-
lateral value, — a threefold testimony. The voice of the
missionary — after observation of Syrian modes of life ;

* Page 363.

t Volume 12, page 277.

IGO BAPTISM a;

the voice of language — the speech of the Syrian people,
as represented by the Syriac Yersion; the voice of
Johannic rite — the perpetuation of immemorial Sj^rian
traditions — afford evidence. in favor of affusion. These
also agree in one.

9. CHURCH OF THE catacombs.

" Among the cultivated grounds," saj^s the Poet
Prudcntius, quoted by Eev. ^Y. H. "Withrow, in his ex-
haustive and scholarly book on the " Catacombs of
Eome," " lies a deep crypt with dark recesses. On all
sides spreads the densely-woven labyrinth of paths,
branching into caverned chapels and sepulchral hails ;
and throughout the subterranean maze, through frequent
openings penetrates the light."

These immense excavations, galleries and deep
caverned recesses, from which stones and sand had been
dug for building the streets and palatial structures of
trophied Eome, were in days of persecution the refuge
of early Christians, where tens of thousands of the fol-
lowers of Christ lived and died, and where it has been
estimated that not less than /our millions, many of them
forming part of the noble army of martyrs " found
cemetery."

For a thousand years the catacombs were closed.
In the sixteenth century the ancient galleries were
opened and explored in search of evidence for discussion
upon relics — then a question of exciting interest. The
exj)lorers Avere employed as they traversed the vaults
and galleries of this subterranean city. They found
marble records, carved slabs, and sculptured sarcophagi :
witnesses from thepui-est days of the church; and after

CHURCH OP THE CATACOMBS. 161

the long silence of centuries still eloquent in. their testi-
mony for the truth.

The deepest and most distant caverns and intricate
labyrinths were of course the abode of the church in the
days of severest trial, and therefore of greatest purity :
to the testimony of these most ancient records, rude and
simple though they might be, and of little valiie as
works of art, we accord the very highest and most dis-
tinguished recognition.

It is with no ordinary interest that we descend into
those subterranean abodes. Here we worship with the
primitive church. We are not far away from the Apos-
tolic age. We mingle with them in saci'ed service. We
meet them in Eucharistic solemnity. We decipher the
record of their faith. We are in immediate contact with
scenes of baptismal administration. What then is the
testimony of the pure primitive church, and of the
"early unconscious art-record," in regard to christian
baptism? There could be no possibility of tampering
with this testimony: and whatever its voice may be,
the result must be inevitably accepted. During the
dai'k ages monks were not unfrequently employed, In
the scriptorium, in erasing the words of inspiration from
ancient and valuable Greek manuscripts. But during
all these centuries there were witnesses for the trutR
carefully concealed in eaverned recesses and subterra-
nean silence. For a thousand years their lips were
sealed, and now when their voice of attestation is needed,
we find ourselves in direct communication with the
ancient church, of the Catacombs : rich in christian
remains and " eloquent in the mute, marble records of
the young ages of the faith."

^IV2 BAPTISM a;

Following the guide, into those deep and tangled

JabyiinthB, we are conscious that the system of doctrine

■ta relation to the christian baptism contended for in

Uxese pages is about to bo subjected to a decisive test;

'^t on the side of truth there can be no fear for the

^,ro3ult. 1V^e have no dread of a conflict of testimony.

^jfhe ialjyrinihs and recesses of the Catacombs are deep

^^d intricate; but in their remains and records we are

^brought into immediate contact with the purest period

of the church. Even without the aid of an

ARIADNE THREAD,

ngre may, in search of evidence, fearlessly traverse the
'^Sftaze ahd winding passages of crypt and cavern.

" The testimony of the Catacombs respecting the
^iiode of baptism, as far as it extends, is strongly in
'ikvor of aspersion or affusion. All their pictured repre-
.^ntations of the rite indicate this mode, for which alone
'*^e early fonts seem adapted ; nor is there any early art
!^Hdence of baptismal immersion. It seems incredible, if
^the latter were the original and exclusive mode, of
'Apostolic and of Divine authority, that it should have
Xeh no trace in the earliest and most nnconscious art-
record, and have been supplanted therein by a new
"^tinscriptural and unhistoric method. It is apparent,
indeed, from the writings of the fourth and fifth century,
'fixat many corrupt and unwarranted usages were intro-
duced in connection with this Christian ordinance that
greatly marred its beauty and simplicity. It is un-
questionable that, at that time, baptism by immersion
'was practised with many superstitious and unseemly rites.
Bet in the evidences of the Caiacomf*^, which are ihe

CHURCH OF THE CATACOMBS. ^ -163

testimony of an earlier and purer period, there is no indi-
cation of this mode of baptism.'' — Withrow's Catacombs,
p. 535.

There are,in the ancient Catacombs, the tombs of
Neophytes, that is baptized persons — one of which,
*' Candidas the neophyte, who lived twenty months: " —
^* Flavia Jovina, who lived three years and thirty days,
a neophyte, in peace: " — " Innocentia Preditus who lived
six years, eight months, eleven days : " '• the well de-
serving neophyte Eomanus, who lived eight years and
fifteen days, he rests in peace."

The following resume, says Mr. Withrow, of the
principal patristic evidence is corroborated by the testi-
mony of the Catacombs. Justin Martyr, about A. D.
148, speaks of persons sixty and seventy years old who
had been made disciples of Christ (ematheteathesan — the
very word employed in Matthew xxviii, 19) in their
infancy. Irenteus expi'essly speaks of ' infants, little
ones, children, youth, and the aged, as regenerated unto
God,' which phrase he elsewhere applies to baptism ;
Infantes et parvulos, et pueros, et juvenes, et senior es,
TertuUian, indeed, in the third century, recommends
the delay of baptism, especially in the case of infants:
-Oanctatio baptisnii ntilior est, pro'cipue tamen circa parvulos
-^an indication of the Montanist heresy, into which he
fell, which regarded post-baptismal sins as inexpiable.
The practice, however, continued, and Origen expressly
asserts that little children were baptized for the remis-
sion of sins Parvuli haptizantur in femissioncm, pecca-
forwm— which custom, he eays, the Church handed down
from the Apofstles: ' Ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem
mscepit. When the question arose, in the third century,
not whether baptism should be administered to infants,

IGi BAPTISMA;

but wlictlior it shoiikl be adminislorcd before the eighth
day, Cypriiin and a Council ofsixty-.^ix African bishopw
unanimousl}' decided that the right should be den'od to
none, even in earliest infancy: Universi potius judica-
vimus nulli hominum nato misericordiam Dei et gratiam
denejandam. ' And this,' says Augustine, ' is no new
doctrine, but of Apostolic authority': Nee 6m,nino cre-
denda, 7usi Apostolica esse traditio. Tho later Fathers
abound in similar testimonies. Tho infant children of
heathen converts were baptized inunediately, and the
older ones when instructed. The prevalence of the
Montanist heresy, which regarded as inexpiable all sins
committed after baptism, led many to postpone its recep-
tion, although this practice was strongly censured by
the Church."*

* It has been objected to reSurne la Reference to Drigen that it
possesses no value — that little children, parvuli, are said to hare
been baptized. But the context abundantly and incontestably proves
that the reference of this eminent Greek Father was to children
from their infancy. The question in contention was not that of
baptism, but of original sin : Addi his etiam illud potest, ut
requiratur quid causoe sit, cum baptisma ecclesice in reraissionem
peccatorum detur, secundum ecclesise observantiam etiam parvulis
quod ad remissionera deberet et indulgentiam pertinere gratia
baptismi superflua videretur. — Bom. in Levit. " Besides all
this it may be learnt since the baptism of the Church is given for
the remission of sins, why, according to the usage of the Church,
is it likewise given to little children? Whereas if there was no-
thing in little children that needed remission and mercy, the grace
of baptism would be superfluous to them." Parvuli (says Origen
in a Homily on Luke) baptizantur in remissionem peccatorum.
Quoram peccatorum? Vel quo tempore peccaverunt? Aud
quomodo potest ulla lavacri in parvulis ratio subsistere, nisi juxta
ilium sensum de quo paulo ante diximus ; nullus mundus a sorde
nee si unius diei quidem fuerit vita ejus super terram? Et quia
per baptismi sacramentum nativitatus sordes deponuntur propterea
baptzantur et parvuli. — Horn, in Luc. "Little children are bap-
tized for the forgiveness of sins. Of what sins? Or when did
they commit them? Or how can any reason be given for baptiz-
ing them but only according to that sense which we mentioned a

CONTROVERSY ANL CRITICISM, 165

We have, therefore, testimony from the eariy chris-
tian tombs of the most positive and express kind ; and
in perfect consonance with the clear teachings of the"
word of God,

"A glow of fellowjship with the iirst believers,"
says Eev. William Arthur, eloquently deciphering for
us the old records, '•' lights up our very soul. Antiquity
is on our side. Church of the Catacombs ! thou art our
Church. Martyrs of the Catacombs ! we are partakers
with you of like precious faith ; your Loi'd is our Lord,
your faith is our i'aith, your baptis7n is our haiJtism. We
exult in the sense of our oneness with Christ's earliest
followei's " : —

CORPUS IN CHRISTO UNUM SUMUS.

CHAPTER IX.
CONTEOVEESY AND CEITICISM.

^^ And the contention was sharp between them, that they
parted asunder one from the other." — Acts of the Apostles.

" To avoid the subject, because it is controversial, is neither
honest nor wise." — Bev. J. C. Ryle.

little before? None is free from pollution though his life be but
the length of one day upon the earth ; and for that reason infants
are baptized, because by the sacrament of baptism the pollution
of our birth is taken away."

The question in dispute was that of original sin, and affirma-
tive argument was based upon the admitted practice of infant
baptism ; and, even were other patriotic writers all silent on the
subject, this testimony, of an incidental kind, would warrant
belief and assertion in regard to the usage of the Apost jlic age
and of the early church.

166 BAPTI8MA ;

" One of them has stated in a very few words the entire basis
of their system; the acceptation of the Greek word — the circum,'
stances of our Lord's baptism — those of the Eunuch — allusion in
Romans to a burial — this is in fact the whole." — Thorn.

Arguments and ideas ex adverso, in their usual spirit
and accustomed form of intolerance and exclusiveuoss —
marshalled for the controversial arena — flanked and
supported in imposing array by united and combined
resources — elaborated and consolidated through all the
year between, have been reproduced in permanent form :
and Baptisma has had to bear the brunt of potent publi-
cation.

A few of the sheets only belonging todiflferent chap-
ters,— floating incidentally and unexpcctedlj'^ upon some
passing breeze — as they fell from the press, dropped at
my feet. It would not perhaps be deemed unfair to
accept these fugitive pages, upon the average, as fair
and respectable representatives of review attempt as a
■whole : Ex iino disce omnes.

Whatever may be the incidents or exigencies of
local agitation, however, th^ main points at issue are
the same through all the range of baptismal disputation.
In every extension and direction of latitude and longi-
tude they are to be determined by one meridian. The
aim has been, throughout the following sex'ies of disqui-
sitions, to select passages of widely representative in-
terest; and to deal chiefly with forms and phases of the
subject which, at nearlj- every point, in season and out
of season, have been prominently and pertinaciously
pressed to the front.

The discussion, of necessity, as in every such essay,
must take us beyond the domain of Inspiration and the
direct teaching of God's infallible word — to which legi-
timately this question belongs.

CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM. 18?^

There are, it will be found, certain considerations
of merely collateral interest to which controversialists,
have accorded conspicuous recognition ; and which, on
that account, claim a somewhat close and searching
scrutiny.

The Eeview, as represented by fujitive sheets,
amply sufficient for the purpose, is largely composed oi
quotations — bad, good and indifferent. But, character-
istically and conspiciousl}-, it is deficient and defective
in the quality and quantity of inspired dicta jprobantia;
and the paucity and povei'ty of positive and authoritive
scriptural teaching are baiely concealed and but ill-^
protected by flimsy array and the thin disguise of
vared and multifarious quotations: "to the law^ and
the testimony."

Through the several sections of this chapter, as
indicative of the standpoint occupied, a passage or more
has been selected fi-om some standard author upon the
subject; and, then, from review^ follows the paragraph
by which the question for discussion is directly intr<y-
duced.

I. BAPTISM A.

^' It fortifiea my soul to know
That though I perish, Truth is so :
I steadier step when I recall
That if I slip, Thou dost not fall."

—A. a. Cl<m^.

" It may be surprising to some to see so large a book writMn
as a review of so small a work as Baptisma." — Review.

The substance of Baptisma — which has provoked
the spii'it of criticism and led to the publication of %
" review " — was preached to my own congregation, pnbr
lished by request, inscribed " to the youQg people of m;r

U)8 BAPTISMA ;

own charge" — nearly One Hundred of whom, at that
lime had been upon profession of faith publicly received
iuto communion with the Church. They were conse-
quently only imperfectly instructed, and but slenderly
prepared for the quccstio vexata by which the communit}^
was then disturbed.

In response to request of very many persons present
on that occasion, wearied with the strife of water, and
grateful for a higher theme, the Sunday evening sermon
was published. It was not, at the time, deemed any
valuable contribution to a vexed question, or proposed
as a complete presentation of the subject ; but mainly
as an expression of interest in " the young people " of
my charge, — to whom it was specially addressed.

In early life, then recently from England, never
having studied any standard work upon the question of
baptism, and never, except through the Mormonite
Missionaries, having heard any discussion upon the con-
ti'overted points of baptism, I was subjected to a painful
experience. The first shock of contact with immersion
in all the strength and exclusiveness of a community in
which, at that time, the Baptist denomination was the
dominant religious body, was a painfully disturbing and
perplexing feeling. My equipment lor discussion, upon
that question, was of the most insignificant character.
The positiveness of assertion, and the vehemence of argu-
ment to be encountered at every point led me into the
grievous mistake, since then abundantly apparent, of
attaching an importance to the matter of mere mode ichich
it does not, according to any canon of Christianity or
common-sense, deserve or demand.

BAPT'lSMA. 169

All my sympathies and sensibilities, at that time,
and since then the feeling has only deepened, instinct-
ively recoiled from the possibility of having to desert a
denomination to which, under God, I owed all that I
most highly value and esteem in life — an idea which
nothing but youth and inexperience could for a moment
have justified. Of all the evangelical churches, chiefly
because of its sectarian narrowness, and the tendency of
stress in mode to baptismal regeneration, the Baptist
Denomination was the least attractive ; yet there was
a feeling that the claims of truth must be supreme,
and that if, as the result of investigation, duty pointed
in that direction, the sacrifice at any cost of feeling, must
be made.

The inquiry was scarcely commenced, when, with
the blessing of God upon inexperienced effort, a revival
of religion, of more than ordinary depth and power,
gathering densely crowded audiences, and producing a
profound impression, broke out in that community;
and, as the result, many people were baptized with
water. For nearly four months, having ordinarily two
services on the week day and three on Sunday, that
work was continued. The time which could be spared
from special services, and hours that ought to have been
devoted to sleep, far in the night, were devoted to close
and systematic study of Christian baptism. The result
of that examination was a most decided conviction of the
validity of baptism, infants and adults, by affusion.

In the years between, I have not, in any exceptional
way, been brought into close contact with immersionist
agitation ; and the renewed examination of the subject,
as the result of prevalent discussion and dissension, has

ItO bapxi^ma;

only tended to deepen and confirm the impression and
conviction consequent upon earlier inquiry.

In no part of the discussion has there intentionally
been a disposition to take advantage of a quibble; and
there has been no consciousness of flaw or fallacy in the
principal Scriptural arguments which have been adduced.
The book has been written, under many disadvantages,
with a fulness and force of conviction, which, finding
free and unfettered expression, have not, upon ray own
mind, in regard to all facts and teachings of the word of
"Grod upon this subject, left the shadow of an uncertainty,

I have only to add, that, if " Baptisma " be found
unequal to the ordeal of " review," let it perish ! The
truth, ever invulnerable and invincible, will secure
stronger and more skilful auxiliaries.

II. CLASSIC.

•* In attachina; to the verb," baptize, " this generic sense,
we take our stand upon the solid toundation of the usage ot
the Greek languajje through all periods concerned : includ-
ing the classical, the Biblical and the Patristic."— Pro/. Wilson.

" My third purpose is to shew you that baptizo does not
invariably drown its object even in Oreek literature." — Review
of Baptism.

It is not very difficult to prove that in passages,
from G-rcek authors, baptizo does drown its object — sinks
it beneath the swirling waters, never to I'ise again ; but

CLASSIC. 171

that significance of mode does not sarely meet the de-
mands, or satisfy the exegetical necessities of modern,
immersion.

If mode must be strenoiisly insisted upon as the dis-
tinctive idea of baptizo, it would be easy to show that
many passages sink, soak, droion, &c. If the action of
immersion were the only one permissable, as claimed
through all discussions upon this subject, it would adapt
and shape itself to the exigencies and requirements of
every passage : It fails to do this, and therefore we
claim that the theory of " immersion without exception"
is an untenable one.

In support of the position, thus taken, the definition
•of the eminent lexicographers, Liddell and Scott, is
highly eulogised and their " latest edition" quoted. The
special value of that edition, and of such others, as most
of us possess, in regard to this one word, was made ap-
parent in the somewhat famous Graves-Ditzler discuss-
ion.

" Of late this lexicon has been completely manipulated
by immersionists. Yet it does not sustain them for the simple
reason that their whole history is so monstrous, unscientific
and absurd, it cannot be sustained.

" Liddell and Scott first define baptizo, " to dip repeated-
ly, dip under ;" second, they erase the second part, and put
it "dip repeatedly;" then they change again, and give ' wet,
pour upon.'' .... In the sixth edition it is patched
again. They now put it ' immerse,' a word not in any early
edition. Here they have changed and re-changed again this
lexicon on this one word. They have done so on no other
word. It is a good lexicon — admirable. But who can attach
any importance to what they say on this word after these
lacts ?"

172 BAPTI8MA ;

But '' Liddell and Scott," like other lexicographers,
makes an important distinction, and one that goes to the
very core of the subject, between classic and New Tes-
tament baptizo. They give the ancient usage, with illus-
trations from Greek authors, and then, as special and
distinct definition of the subject, give the New Testament
meaning : "To Baptize."

In the valuable lexicon of Dr. Edward Robinson,
the eminent scholar and Oriental traveller, we have, as
the definition of baptizo, the following :

1, To wash, to lave, to cleanse by washing, to
Avash oneself, to perform ablution,

2. To baptize, to administer the rite of baptism.

In a " note'' appended to the fuller definition, sever-
al considerations are ui'ged in favor of ablution and affu-
sion as the New Testament sense of the word :

The lexicographer Gases, a learned Greek, " a mem-
ber of the Gi-eek Church, held in high estimation by his
countrymen" — "whose lexicon is generally used by na-
tive Greeks" — gives to baptizo the following definitions .'
To wet, moisten, bedeiv, to ivash, to bathe, to draiv, to pump
water.

In the rcDort of the " Graves-Ditzler Debate," a
volume of over one thousand pages, which now lies be-
fore me — an exhaustive discussion of baptism — Dr

CLASSIC. 173

Ditzler quotes from some twenty-five lexicographers, be-
sides other authorities, in evidence oficet, pour, sprinkle,
&c,, as amongst meanings ot haptizo. *

In contention for the generic sense of the Greek
verb — in opposition to the unsatisfying and unscientific
moc?rtZ idea — demonstration of the unreasonable and un-
tenable nature of certain unqualified assertions concern-
ing the distinctive force and significance of baptizo — in
reference to the march oi Alexnder's army, a passage
was cited from Strabo :

The sea having flooded the path at the foot of Mount
Climax, in Lycia, the troops of Alexander " were in the
waters a whole day, baptized up to the middle " — bap-
tized, but not immersed:

" How would it do," asks reviewer, " to read, and
they marched all day in water, poured as far as the
waist ? Absurd ! " &c.

Had the contra argument been advanced in the
direction of pour and sprinkle, as the fundamental idea
of classic Greek baptizo, there might have been sense
and appositeness in the ad absurdum treatment of the
subject. But the idea of mode, as the distinctive and
essential meaning of baptizo has been utterly and abso-
lutely repudiated. We do not propose to degrade a
word consecrated by inspiration, to such mean and

* The substance of several pages ot definitions, with per-
tinent and forcible application, has been reproduced by Rer.
D. D. Currie, in "Wesleyan," May 26, 1878.

174 ■ BAPTISMA ;

ignoble use. It admits of higher treatment; and the-
i*cffel'61ice in this connection to "poured as far as the
waist," can only be ri^gai*ded as a feeble, frivolous
attempt at burlesque.

The soldiers of Alexander, according to Strabo,
were a whole day in the water — " baptized up to the
middle." They were not /j^wn^eti down. They were not
taken out. They were in the water a whole day. Does
the reviewer call that immersion. Do standing and
wading in the tank constitute an immersion ? Then the
pastor of the Baptist Church is immersed every Timei he
goes into the tank, and that traverses all his declamation
about " one immersion." In earlier life, in the department
of mining, dialing and levelling in old mines, which had
been a family proprietorship, I'hiave, oftener than once,
waded through a whole day, nearly to the waist, exposed
occasionally to dripping water from the roof, but was
never conscious of being immersed.

The historian, Diodorus Siculus, sjDeaking of the
overflow of the Nile, when swollen to an unusual height
says that " the greater number of the land animals over«
taken by the river perished, being baptized — baptiz-
omena" — Lib. 1, 417. From this graphic description of
•'■'tfte Sycilian historian Who lived and wrote very near to
the New TestSniient tlmefe, the facts of the case Can' be

CLAg^C. 175

Veiy easily (iompi^ehended. The inundation of the Nile
fedk place with 8uch suddenness that the battle feeding
tipon the adjflicent pasture-plains were unable to make
their escape. In inost cases ovei'whelfned by rushing
waters they were destroyed ; and the result •v^^as, accord-
ing to the Greek writers, a baptism — a changed condi-
tion. There is a principal of interpretation by which
the use of the verb, in such a connection, can, consis-
tently with its higher New Testament sense, be vindi-
cated ; and which would account for its use by inspired
Writers. But if the purely modal idea must press its.
claims the passage affords no warrant for immersion ;
and if it did it would only prove that immersion was de-
struction. The animals, however, were not taken to
the Nile; but the swollen waters of the Nile swept over-
the animals. The object was not put beneath the ele-
iiient. It was the element overflowing the object.

A passage from Josephus, in like manner, has fre-
quently been cited and reiterated as inco:jte8table proof
of the modal significance of the Greek verb ; and yet
close scrutiny of the case leads us to just the opposite
conclusion. Effect and not mode is the governing prin-
ciple of the word as employed in that narrative. The-
historian of the Jewish xvars describes the foul death of
the youthful high-priest, Aristobolus : •' Sent by night
to Jericho, and tliere he died, being baptized, bctptis
otnenos, by the Galatians in a pool." It might have
been argued with fair shew of probability, had this b^n
the solitary accotint of the high priests' dl^th, that lie
had been plunged by the Galatians into the'Se^ pdol ;

176 baptisma;

and that tho fatal immcrf-ion was in action the baptism
of Ariistobulus. But in tho "Antiquities" of Josephus
there are some additional details of that murderous
deed : " Pressing him down alwa^'s as he was swimming,
and baptizing him as in sport." Throe things in this
account are indisputable: 1. Aristobulus was dipped,
for he was swimming; but that was not the baptism.
2. He was pressed down as in sport ; but that action
has its own distinctively descriptive word in the
original text : it was not the baptism. 3. There was,
as the effect of that pressure beneath the closing waters,
a completely changed condition ; and, in consonance
with tho genius and use of the word through ages of
Greek litoi-ature, that effect was designated a baptism.
The passages thus adduced may be accepted as speci-
mens of classic citations, around which this controversy
has been maintained. We are compelled to the convic-
tion that there has been a fundamental mistake in
claiming mode as the essential idea of this vexed word.
The result of investigation has been to shew that, gen-
erally, if not exclusivel}', it expresses an effect pro-
duced— rather than the precise mode by which it may
have been accomplished.

Another example cited was the oracle in regard to
Athenian fortunes : " As a bladder thou mayest be bap-
tized, but thou art not destined to sink." "Does the
rational being live," asks the reviewer, " who will say
that the bladder, now lightly floating upon the water,
but recently pressed beneath the surface, was not im-
mersed ?" ). . .

CLASSIC. 177

In that Sybilline line, cited by Plutarch there is nothing
about "recently pressed beucath the water." That
expression and the idea which it carries are pure assump'^
tion. Two things are affirmed by the oracle : the bladder
floating upon the water could not possibly si7ik ; and that
bladder, over which curling waves were sending their
drenching spray, was baptized. There was baptism ; but
no sink, no soak — no immersion.

There are two principles of interpretation, bear in
mind, applied to haptizo in classic literature :

1. That of the immersionist who contends for im-
mersion withoiit exception — that is j;Zw?;^efZ into icater :
Less than this cannot satisfy the demand, or justify the
assumptions, of an exclusive system. Two classes of
examples from- classic Greek very effectually dispose of
this theory and its magnificent pretensions :

A class of passages in which bajAizo is applied to
vessels; and which, upon that principle of interpretation,
sinks them beneath the troubled wave and leaves them
to rot in the deep waters. Qui nimium probat, nihil
probat.^

In passages of various signification : the sword of
Ajax baptized with blood flowing from the neck of Cleo-
bulus — the bladder, that could not possibly sink, baptized
by the spray of the breaking sea-wave — the baptism of
''all Asia :" not plunged by the conqueror into the Gulf
of Argolis ; but " subjected to a new state or condition
of things by a triumphant victory which gave Greece a
controlling influence over Asia" — the boy baptized by
bewildering questions — passages too numerous to be
cited demonstrate the fallibility of the immersionist
* "He who proves too much, proves nothing."

178 BAPTISMA ;

principle of interpretation. In fact the chief Baptist
schohir, from whom the reviewer cites his most valuable
passages, in contention for dipping as the supreme ideal
of haptizo hus only ventured in some six or seven passa-
ges to translate dip.

" That any Baptist writer, thoroughly committed
to dipping, should be unable to introduce the word, on
which his system hangs, in more than one passage in twen-
ty, is a fact which, of itself, suggests the gravest doubt
about thejust7iess of the translation in any case.''

2. A more rational theory, in regard to classic
baptizo claims that "the master-key" of interpretation
is not mode of action, but the effect produced: that the
demand for " completely changed condition," as an es-
sential idea, is abundantly met by any mode, and through
any competent agency. Proof of this j)Osition, clear
intelligible and satisfying, has been furnished in a pre-
vious chapter ; and every example cited by the reviewer,
from Conant, in a most decisive manner, affirms and
illustrates this principle of interpretation.

" In the classic," says the veteran Professor Hodge,
— the Nestor of modern Theology, — " in the Septuagint
and Apocryphal writings of the Old Testament, in the
New Testament, and in the writings of the Fathers, the
words bapto and baptizo, and their cognates, are used
with such latitude of meaning as to prove the assertion
that the command, to baptize is a command to immerse,
to be utterly unauthorized and unreasonable."*

One or two of the citations demand special notice
because of the Greek construction : " Since the mass of
iron drawn red hot from the furnace is baptized with
ivater: baptizetai hidati, &c." Conant followed by review-

* Systematic Theology, vol. 3 : p. 526.

CLASSIC. 179

er, has "plunged in water;" but unquestionably the
verb baptizo and the dative of the instrument demand
" baptized with water." Had the Greek author intend-
ed to convey the idea of plunging, the verb haptizetai
would have been followed by eis to hudor. Two methods
of cooling and tempering iron and steel are resorted to
in the forge. The accusative with the preposition would
have conveyed the notion of applying the iron to the
water; but the nude dative, hudati, signifying the in-
strument, applies the water to the " mass of iron," and
the fiery glow is " quenched with water."

Another example. A citation from ^sops Fables,
through Conant, because of a similar construction claims
recognition: "And dipping toAV in oil, &c." The cor-
rect translation of the passage : kai stupeion elai'6 bapti-
sas, &c., would be " and baptising the tow with oil."*

"Here we have," says reviewer, in exposition of
the Greek extract, the dative elaio without the preposi-
tion en, and it is correctly translated in oil, and no true
Grecist will translate it any other way. In Luke 3 : 16,
we have the dative hudati without the preposition en
and it must be translated in water."

It must be translated in water/ It must be!" con-
tends this latest representation of Ea23tist scholarship.
" It must be !" Hear this, ye shades of the mighty dead,
departed scholars, venerated translators ! Ye invariably
rendered the dative of the instrument, in all these pas-

* For the benefit of the reader who understands Greek, the
original text of Conant's extract is reproduced. Unfortunately
we are unable to furnish the passage as it has been quoted : the
typographical resources by which this publication is limited, do
not admit of the use of Greek character. In this edition of Bap-
tisma the reader must be satisfied with the Eoman letter ; and in
most cases the familiar form will be most welcome. To students
ef Greek text, another class of books will be available.

ISO bavtisma;

sages, " xcith water and icith the Holy Ghost and lire ;"
"but no true Grecist will translate it" thus: Yo were
not true Grecistsf Your Oxford and Cambridge scholar-
ship must all go for nothing. " It inust be translated m
water." It is to be hoped that the voice of a true
Grecist will penetrate the Jerusalem chamber, and that
the learned men who are engaged in the Bevision of the
English Bible will hear and heed ! It may not be wise,
however, to hold out any delusive hope. The reviewer
may rest assured that no such canon of interpretation,
as that which he claims, can be adopted in revision ; and
if hudati must be translated "in water," he may as well
go in for an Iminersionist Bible of his own.

As only the very strongest case can justify the un-
qualified assertion of the i eviewer, and as we may take
it for granted that all the force of the immersionist. ar-
gument is to be encountered at this point, let us examine
the position a little more closel}'.

The passage from ^sop may be collated with one
of similar construction from Ezekiel: "I anointed
thee ivith oil." There is the same structural expression.
Thei'e is in each passage the dative of the instrument.
Must the text in Ezekiel be rendered "in oil?" The
anointing of oil, which was done hy pouring is pei-fectly
compatible with the sense of the expression; but a ''soak
in oil" would not be a pleasant experience.

The translation of en hudati, " with water," and still
more imperatively dce^ the Jiude dative press its claims
for the same form of expression, has been fully discuss-
ed in an earlier chaptei-. A review of the subject has
tended to deepen the conviction of the validity of that
reasoning :

CLASSIC. 181

1. It is grammatical 1}^ accurate : The preposition
governs the dative of the instrument, and by an impera-
tive law of construction, claims the rendering " loith
water."

2. It harmonises with historic fact: the Spirit was
poured out, the fire streamed down ; and therefore it was
baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire.

3. Theological definiteness of idea and expression
demands the ajjplication of the element to baptized per-
sons : " To represent the Holy Ghost as the passive re-
cipient of the souls of men baptized within it is an error
subversive of his divinely revealed office and work as the
Agent ever active in applying to the souls of men the
fruits of redeeming love."

Thus an essential law of grammatical construction,
an imjwrtant historic statement, and a principle of
sound Scriptural exegesis, meet indistinct accord. Fact,
philosophy and structural expression, through classical
and Biblical literature, are in perfect consonance. These
agree in one.

NOTE.

In the closing chapter of Baptisma, the conclusions
of Dr. Dale have been very fully accepted. "The au-
thor" says " "Watchman and Eeflecter" (Baptist) "shews
a large acquaintance with his subject." "It is," says
Dr. Cummings, late President of Middletown Univer-
sity, "the most exhaustive discussion of the topic that I
have ever met with." " More and more of late,"
says Dr. Plumer of Columbia Theo. Sem., "our Baptist
brethren have appealed to philology. I have wondered
at this : There is no weaker point in the argument

182 BAPTISMA ;

for their practice — as Scapula's lexicon would enable any
one to see — as Dr. Dale has proved beyond all reason-
able doubt." "1 can truly say," writes Dr. Smith,
Union Theo. Sem., " that for thorough investigation, clear
and logical discussion, scholarly and discriminating ex-
egesis, few works have ever afforded me as much un-
mingled satisfaction. Dr. Dale has succeeded in over-
throwing the immersionist stronghold; and, while the
course of reasoning and investigation is thorough and
conclusive, the style, in courtes}^ and good humor, pre-
sents a most incomparable specimen of polemical dis-
cussion." Were it necessary whole pages might be
occupied with testimonies and statements of a similar
character, from the most eminent scholars of all denom-
inations.

In addition to classic usage, several patristic citations
have been made from Dr. Dale. My own library con-
tains only a very limited selection of Patristic works ;
and 1 have been comjielled to take these passages at
second hand. It will be assuring to know, ujion the
best authority, that Dr. Dale obtained from Paris the
original works of the Fathers to the end of the fourth
century;- and that, therefore, the quotations are thorough-
ly reliable.

In regard to a quotation from Cyril which, in Bap-
tisma, was quoted from Dr. Beecher, the accuracy of
which has been challenged, Dr. Dale, in a private com-
munication, writes :

1. "I limited my investigation (of the Fathers) to
the first four centuries : Cyril of Alexandria comes in
the fifth century, and I had not his work. The quotation
from Cyril was not made by me from the original ; but

AN UNCANONIZED CANON. 183

was taken from President Beecher, otherwise I would
have made the citation more full — as many might
suppose that there was antagonism and contradiction
between bebaptismetJia and errhantismetha. This how-
ever is not the case. I have since examined the origin-
al. It reads thus: kauseos de pneuma, c&c." *

2. In exj^lanation of the passage in question Dr.
Dale writes : " Cyril speaks of three baptisms : (1) by
bare water, this was not chi-istian i.e. patristic baptism;
(2) sjDrinkled heifer ashes, sprinkling is not here in op-
position to baj)tizing, but states the manner in which
the ashes were applied to effect baptism ; (3) by water,
to which the Holy Spirit was applied."

Cyril in effect says, as Dr. Murray the correspon-
dent of Dr. Dale construes the text, "I was not baj)iized
with sprinkled ashes but with something better."

III. AN UNCANONIZED CANON.

" Classical usage can never be certain in respect to the
meaning of a word in the New Testament Who does not
know that a multitude of Greek words here receive their color-
ing from the Hebrew, and not from the Greek Classics ?" —
Professor Stuart.

The contention, throughout the " Eeview" of " Bap-
tisma," as an " accepted Canon of Criticism," in the in-
terpretation of baptisma and baptizo, is for " native sig-
nification" " classic Gri'cek" and " primary literal mean-
ing."

* The whole passage from Cyril, cited from the original text,
is contained in Dr. Dale's communication ; but, as Greek charac-
ter has not been used in this book, its reproduction, in the same
form, cannot be made.

184 baptisma;

The un^oiiiuhiess ol'tliis canon has been already de-
monstrated. It may be expedient, howevei-, in attempt-
ing to dislodge it from false position, and to replace it
b}' a canon of better and truer mould and metal, to
employ the leverage of historic and acknowledged fact : —
The institutions of Christianity, at the date of classic
Greek authorship, and consequently Christian baptism,
had as yet no existence. The Church of the Apostles
and the ordinances of the New Testament, belong to a
later period. Classic Greek was never required to em-
body and express the noble conceptions and ideas of the
•' glorious gospel of the blessed God or to supply, from its
extensive vocabular}', the names which divine Christi-
anity needed for the fitting designation of her institutions
and ordinances.

The pyramid of "review" — consequently the struc-
ture which it upholds — has been built upon the apex of
"literal meaning;" and therefore the point deserves
and demands a somewhat close and intelligent scrutiny.

The Greek of the New Testament, according to the
most accomi')lished students of classical and sacred lite-
rature, has a caste and complexion essentially and dis-
tinctly its own. It cannot be compared critically and
legitimately with the exquisite purity and rich resource
of Attic eloquence — the literary production of the
palmiest days of Greece. But, while the style of the
New Testament .has been thought, by scholars, to lack
some of the finer lines of Greek beauty, it has gained
greatly by the infusion of Aramaic richness and robust-
ness, simplicity and fire. Modified by Hebrew idiom, and
magnificence of idea, and especially moulded and
reformed by the mind of the Eternal Spirit, the style of

AN UNCANONIZED CANON. 185

the New Testament became a titting medium for the
communication of thought that breathed and burned —
thought that was new to Greek tongue and language.
Must we then, for the interpretation of men who spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, explore the dusty
domain and dark heathen recesses of literature ? '' My
sj)eeeh," said Paul the Apostle, "was not with words of
man's wisdom."

In modern life, and in current necessities of speech,
as well as in New Testament times and themes, — con-
ditions are similar and the case parallel — we derive
designation from ancient literature. The processes
of derivation and of manipulation, demanded by modern
development, are continually going on : Do we follow,
by any law of stern necessity, the primary signification ?
The word manufacture, for example, has been derived
from manus, the hand, and facio, to make, and according
to derivation and original signification, would apply ex-
clusively to articles made by the hand ; but the modern
application of the word is mainly to the products of
machinery. The word carriage has, in modern life, an
established use. Any inquirer upon this subject, not
accustomed to philological investigation, may turn to
Acts 21, 15, and the fact will become transparent,
"And after those days," says the historian of Acts
speaking of St. Paul's departure from Ca^sarea, '• we
took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem." The
centuries which have rolled past, since the translation of
the Bible, in 1611, have revolutionized the meaning of
that word. When employed by the venerable transla-
tors, carriage meant baggage — that which is carried.
Now the established sense of carriage is vehicle — that
which carries us.

186 BAPTISMA ;

In case any discusHion might arise concerning
modern invention and enterprise — photography, the
electric telegraph, the steam-engine, the mammoth fac-
tory with its thousand looms and ten thousand wheels
— and the force and fitness of current and technical no-
menclature, no one would ever dream of making appeal
to any writer of the early Anglo Saxon and black-letter
periods— to Bede, Wyclifte and Tyndal— to Coedman,
Piers PloAvman and Chaucer. How then, with any
semblance of philological consistency, can we contend for
the unsatisfactory and unscientific method, of a rigid
adherence and stereotyped sense in the use of words,
which carries absurdity upon its front ?

" Compare particularly the words, to work, faith, to
believe, confession, righteousness, to be justified, the cal-
led, the chosen, the saints, edification, to edify, apostle,
to publish the good tidings, baptism, perhaps to break
bread for the holy repast (the Agape with the commu-
nion^ the world, the flesh, fleshy," etc.*

Bapfizo, like most other weighty words of theologi-
cal import, in the New Testament had been employed
previously by native Greek writers; but, when thus
used, the ordinances of the christian church had not been
instituted; and, like all words of grandest significance
in the sacred canon, when thus appropriated by inspi-
ration, it was employed in a new, a nobler, a consecrated^
sense.

IV. VOICE OF VERSIONS.

" Ancient versions are ot great value in textual criticism,-
for some of them as the old Latin and Syriac are based upon
a text more ancient than that preserved to us in any other
manuscript." — Br. Barrow.

* Winer's " Grammar of the New Testament."

VOICE OF VERSIONS. 18*7'

" The testimony of every true version of the inspired orig-
inal is flatly against pouring and sprinkling for baptism and
unquestionably proves immersion to be the original act."

In su])port of the reviewers unqualified assertion
we have the authority of Conant's name, the Gothic ver-
sion of Uphilas, and of sundry Teutonic versions in
favor of dipping. The authority of the European trans-
lations cannot be considered of decisive value. Either
direct renderings of the Vulgate, or taking character fi-om
it, they can only claim secondary consideration. Teu-
tonic versions may possibly satisfy Goth and Dutchman,
but for the acceptance of an unqualified assertion, of the
character indicated, we have a right to expect authority
and evidence of a very different kind.

The attention of the thoughtful student is specially
solicited to the inquiry which this subject demands.
The statement made admits of examination and of defi-
nite answer. It should therefore be thoroughly sifted,
and if, in the winnowing process, a solitary grain of
wheat remains, it will afford some compensation for the
trouble of disposing of a considerable quantity of chaff.

One of the most ancient and most important versions
of the New Testament, made not far from the close of
first century^, freighted therefore with the authority of
Apostolic and primitive usage, is the Syriac Peshito —
version seinplex, as it is usually called, on account of close
adherence to the Hebrew and Greek text. This version,
according to Dr. "Whedon and Professor Stuart " avoids
the Syriac word for immerse."^

* The -word used in the Syriac for baptize is amad, corres-
ponding with the Hebrew, to stand.

Dr. Detzler, however, contends for a closer affinity of the
Syriac word to the Arabic : '^ Amada, to baptize, to make wet with
rain." — Debate p. 149.

188 ijaptisma;

After adducing definitions from the lexicons of
Buxtorf, Freytag, Castell, Schindlcr, Dr. Murdock,
translator of the Syi'iac^ gw Testament, Bihliotheca Sacra,
Oct. 1850, cited by Dale, says : " This mass of evidence
seems to prove beyond controvers}', that the primary
meaning- of the Syriac word was to stand, stand up, stand
firm.'' There was evidently in the minds of the first
chi-istians an association of idea between the act of
standing in baptism, and of stability in christian pro-
fession.

The word immersion, strenously contended for, as the
■equivalent of baptism, comes to us from the Latin verb
immergo; and. as we are confidently assured that the
testimony of versions " unquestionably proves immersion
to the original act,''^ we may very naturally expect to find
immergo, in its various forms, universally employed in
ancient Latin versions of the New Testament.

The Latin Vulgate, for example, has for many cen-
turies exercised a wide influence on the christian world.
It dates back to the latter part of the fourth century.
It was the work of St. Jerome — a man of most extensive
erudition and of supreme devotion to this work. He
perfected himself in the deserts of Syria, at the feet of
St. Gregory of Nazianzum, at Eome, collating and re-
vising manusci-ipts and translations — in the hermitage
at Bethlehem, where cloistered seclusion was devoted to
the great work of scriptural interpretation. The famous
Bethlehem scholar had access to costly treasures of
manuscripts, containing the words of Jesus and of Paul,
"which since then have perished.

The vulgate version thus made, or carefully revised,
from the original Greek text, was for a thousand years

VOICE OF VERSIONS, 189

venerated throughout the Western Church as the stand-
ard of scriptural authority. It constitutes the original
and determines the character of most of the earlier
European translations. Here then we may surely ex-
pect to find immersion in all its glory. There was here
a noble opportunity for launching the word on its im-
portant mission : No ! The verb imviergo is not in the
vulgate used as the equivalent of baptizo.

The question demands still closer examination. At
the commencement of the Christian Era, the Latin lan-
guage was beginning to supplant the Greek as the lan-
guage of the west. It became the vernacular tongue of
the western church. At a very early period there were
Latin translations of the sacred scriptures — known as
the Ante-Hieronymian versions. One of the best of these,,
according to St. Augustine, w^as the Vetus Itala — or Old
Italic. It is thought to have been made or revised by
Italian scholars. The earliest Latin translation is
supposed to have been made in the former j)art of the
second century. At any rate, before the close of that
century it was quoted by Tertullian ; and, as he was
converted from heathenism comparatively late in life,
it was probably to this version that he was indebted for
all his knowledge of Christianity.

An unrivalled interest attaches to that old Latin
translation. The first printed volume, on the discovery
of the noble art of printing — of itself sufiicient to create
and to constitute a new epoch — was a Latin Bible ; and
the first translation ever made, not even excepting the
ancient Syriac, from the sacred Greek of the New Tes-
tament, was that old Latin version.

We sympathize with geographical and scientific in-

190 BAPTISMA ;

terest whicli, .at diftcrcnt times, have been exhibited in
the exploration of " many an ancient river:" the river
Nile, for instance, recently traced back to its source, was
for ages the problem of African geography.

That Old Latin translation, as a mighty and bene-
ficent stream of living truth, flowed through many cen-
turies and enriched many lands. We travel back, with
profound est interest, along the track of ages, and far
away in the early or middle part of the second century,
amongst African churches, at that time the seat of a
flourishing Christianity, we reach the source.

"We may only pause for a moment, in the course of
investigation, to glance at the editions of Clement and.
Sixtus, and the decisions of the Council of Trent ; but as
we come to the noble rendition of St. Jerome, the special
commendation of St. Augustine, the revised Itala, and
to the fountain of all, tho Old Latin version of the sec-
ond centur}', our interest deepens and intensifies. We
have still to remember, however, that it was the Latin
Bible, found in the Erfurt Library, in which Luther read
the memorable words, containing the germ and main
motive power of the Eeformation : " But the just shall
live by his faith.'" *

Here, then, we have a version of great antiquity,
and of acknowledged authority. It dates almost with
the completion of the sacred canon. It takes us back
nearly to the apostolic age. It is more ancient than any
Greek manuscript now extant. It is the original of
most continental versions — translations of a translation.
Even as a contribution to the Textus Beceptus, for the
revision of the authorized version, it possesses no incon-
siderable value. That Old Latin Version of the middle
* Justus autem in fide sua vivet. — Vulg.

VOICE OF VERSIONS. 191

of the second century; the work of men intimately
acquainted with the usages of the apostolic age, followed
by the vulgate constitutes, next to the word of God, in
its original form, the most decisive testimony. In that
venerable translation, we are assured that the Greek
verb is never rendered by any form of the Latin immergo.

In the Latin, as in the English, the consecratod
Greek, for baptism, has been transferred and natural-
ized. Thus, in early and successive Latin versions and
revisions, in the very language to which immersion be-
longs, the claims of the word, for which modern immer-
sionists strenuously contend, have been utterly and abso-
, lutely repudiated.

" In the earliest Latin versions of the New Testa-
ment," say Dr. Edward Eobinson the Lexicographer and
eminent Biblical scholar, " as for example the Itala,
which Augustine regarded as the best of all, and which
goes back apparently to the second centuiy and to usage
connected with the Apostolic Age, the Greek verb is
uniformly given in the Latin form baptize, and is never
translated by m?ner^o, or any like word; showing that
there was something in the rite of baptism to which the
latter did not correspond."

In three Latin versions, the Vulgate, Beza, and
Castalia, which happen to be in my own library, as the
rendering of John's testimony : — '' I indeed have bap-
tized you with water : but He shall baptize you with the
. Holy Ghost,"— Mark 1 : 8— we have :

. Ego habtizavi vos aqua, ille vero baptizabit vos
spiritu sancto.

Ego quidam baptizavi vos aqua ipse vero batizabit
\ vos spiiitu sancto. ,

192 baptisjia;

Ego quidam vos aqxux hapiizavl : at is vos saneto
spiritii haptizahit.

The uttei' rejection o^ immergo, by ancient and au-
thorized versions, in the vcr}' language of which the
word is a native and in which some recognition might
have been expected brands it in this connection, as an
intruder and an impostei- ; and testifies in absohite oppo-
sition to all exclusively immersionistassumj^tions.

In regard to the various European versions which,
by the reviewer of Baptisma, have been appealed to, in
proof of immersion, we have the suggestive and exclu-
sive fact that, by all the communities of Avhich these
translations form the vernacular speech, the practice of
baptism by affusion obtains as the established mode of
administration. In explanation of continental versions
we must accept, as incontestable evidence, the continen-
tal interpretation — exhibited in the general usage of
their churches.

Three European versions, Italian — "the elegant
and faithful version of Giovinanni Diodati published in
1607" — the French revision of Jean Frederic Ostervald,
and the German version of Martin Luther, are before
me ; and from the Gospel of Mark 1:8, as previously
quoted, we have the following renderings: —

Lo vi ho battezatti con acqtia : ma esso vi battezeva
con lo spiritu santo. —

II est vrai que je vous ai baptise's d'eau ; mais il
vous baptiscra dti Saint Esprit. —

Ich taufe euch mit wasser ; aber er wird euch mit
dem heiligen geist taufen.

In the interests of immersion we should have had.

ANGLICAN TRANSLATION. 193

in these several renderings, the Italian immerge, the
French plunger, and the German intertaiichen.

If in the Teutonic version, for example, the Ee-
former Martin Luther, and his accomplished friend
Melancthon, had intended immersion for baptism, in-
stead of taufen, we should have had the G-erman verb
intertauchen — the definition of which, according to Adlefs
dictionary, is : to dive, duck, submerge, immerge, plunge.

We are compelled to the conclusion, that the testi-
mony of every true version of the inspired original, and es-
pecially of the Latin translations in which if any were im-
mergo should have been recognized, is fiatly against the theory
of immersion for baptism, and unquestionably in evidence of
affusion.

V. ANGLICAN TRANSLATION.

" The word baptism is derived from 6a;2^/!cMi which is to
tinge and to imbue ; and because the Hebrew word tabal which
the seventy render by baptizein, 2 Kings v: 14, is used for
rachaiz which siofnifies to wash." — Pictetus.

" Why did not the translators of our version translate bap-
tizo in the Great Commission as they did in the history of
Naaman, 2 Kings v ; 14?"

Does the writer of "review," who proposes the
question of the quotation just given, and pressinglj^ de-
mands reply, know that the history of Naaman, in the
Old Testament, was rendered from the Hebrew ; and that
the Gospels, containing the commission, were translated
from Greek ? Does he comprehend the difterence be-
tween a personal ablution, in which there v/as no ad-
ministrator, and a solemn ordinance for administration
of which the Apostles received that special commission?
Can he understand the essential distinction between a

194 BAPTISMA ;

mero Avashing at the river and tlie .sacrcdnoss and signi-
ficance of sacramental institution? It is impossible Avith-
out amazement to ponder 8ucli a question ; but it indi-
cates, most palpably, the mist and ha :;e ichich inicrap and
enshroud the reviewer and his subject.

We may go back, in thought, to the learned Hebrew
scholars and theologians, convened at "Westminister,
having specially in charge the Book of Kings. They
are engaged with the history of the Sj'j-ian Naaman ; and
the Hebrew verb, taval, they have translated b}- the
Saxon dip. We then hasten to Oxford, where another
company of eight eminent Biblical scholars, surrounded
by musty manuscript and sundry versions of the New
Testament, arc engaged with the closing part of St. Mat-
thew's Gospel. The consecrated Greek verb, following
the analogy of the language, as alone comjDetent to ex-
press the grand significance of sacrament and ordinance,
they have retained and anglicised as baptize.

The Hebraists, at Westminster, we protest, have
designated the washing ot Naaman a dipping : By what
law of consistency can you reject that word from your
translation of the Commission ? Imagine the astonish-
ment of those mighty scholars, saturated with Greek
literature, accustomed to accurate expression ; un-
able to brook or bear blundering stuj)idity which
confuses Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, does not com-
prehend the immense difference between the verbs dupto
and baptizo, and fails to distinguish between a mere
lustration and the sacredness of a sacrament.

In the Old Testament narrative, of Naaman's ablu-
tion, the translators of the authorized version employed
the Anglo-Saxon verb Dip. But, when the English Bible

ANGLICAN TRANSLATION. 195

was translated, one meaning of dip was ''to wet," "to
moisten, &c." It was thus used by Milton, the most
eminent standard authority of the period :

" A cold shudd'ring dew Dips me all o'er." — Mask of
Comus.

In the same superb exuberance of fancy, and
oriental wealth of imagery, he bathes in dewy rainbow
essence :

" And drenched with Elysian dew."

But in that "shuddering dew," and in " Iris there
with humid bow," there was no dipping in the sense of
plunging into dew. The dew descended copiously ; and
that it'e^^m^, like the sprinkling of rain, because of its
copiousness, by an application of the word permissible
at that time, was designated a dipping.

This view of the subject is sustained and strength-
ened by the vulgate version. Instead of immergo, which
the theory of immersion would imperiously demand, we
have the Latin verb lavo. * Elisha sent a message to the
Syrian General: "Go and wash in Joi'dan, &c." f

In further vindication of this view of the subject, we
have the rendering of the Septuagint. The original word
taval occurs some sixteen times in the Hebrew Bible ;
and the common rendering of the seventy is by the verb
hapto. To this translation, in the Greek of the Old Tes-
tament, there are only two exceptions: and one of these
passages is the 2 Kings 5, 14, — rendered by haptizo. For
this exception, several reasons have been urged :

1. That " the Hebrew word, as Gesenius, De-
wette, Stuart suppose, may have obtained the secondary

* " To wash," " to rinse, &c."

t Vade et lavare — et lavit in Jordane.

19G BAPTISMA ;

meanino:, to cleanse, to purify ;" and that, accordinp^ to
the Septuagint, N aamnn jmrijied himself.

2. That the word "baptizo, and never hapto, was em-
ployed by Jewish Greek writers to express ceremonial
purification.:" and this suggestive and profoundly im-
portant fact probably influenced the translators of the
Greek version.

3. That haj'ito, according to Dr. Dale, " Johannic
baptism,"* would have carried too strongly the idea of
dipping ; and that consequently the verb was rendered
by baptizo because they meant to express, not an act
but effect or condition, or both.

The discrimination evinced by the Seventy, in the
direction of affusion, may account for the uniform rejec-
tion of bapto, by the inspired writers ; and for the adojD-
tion of baptizo, as the constant designation of the Chris-
tian ordinance. In this enquiry there has been no
disposition to "repudiate the wisdom and learning of
the seventy," or to ^^ condemn the translation of the
authorized version." The translators, more than Milton,
in his noble English classic, were not responsible for the
changes which two centuries and a half have wrought
in the use of words. It may only bo necessary, not to
"ignore the inspiration of the Hebrew text," to add in
the way of biblical criticism, the primary meaning of
the original word : Tabal or Taval, according to Fiirstjf
the learned Hebrew lexicographer, is " to moisten,'" " to
sprinkle,'' &c. " The fundamental signification of the
stem is to moisten, to besprinkle."

And must the fidelity of the venerable translators,

* Page 28.

t Hebrew lexicon : Dr. Julius Fuerst, University of Leipzig.
Fourth edition. Translated by Dr. Samuel Davidson.

ANGLICAN TRANSLATION. 197

then, be impeached or impugned because they did not
put " <7ip into the commission," — dip into the name of
the Triune One — dip into the Holy Ghost and fire — dip
with repentance — dip "into one body" — dip "into
Moses " — dip throughout the New Testament ? Even
the Baptist denomination ought, from their own abortive
effort, to have discovei-ed the futility and utter hopeless-
ness of the attempt.

Some years ago the following resolution was jiassed
by the American Baptist Bible Society : —

"Eesolved, that the fact that the nations of the
earth must now look to the Baptist denomination alone,
for faithful translations of the word of Grod, a responsi-
bility is imposed upon them demanding, for its full dis-
charge, an unwonted degree of union,, and of strenous
persevering effort throughout the entire body." " The
ei'ror," says Professor Wilson, "against which this
thunder is mainly levelled, consists in the admission of
the words baptism and baptize instead of immersion and
immerse, into the great majority of the translations of
the New Testament."

" Mark the consistency of these men. They charge
us with using baptism as the veil of the original, not its
vehicle; yet they call themselves Baptists! their
churches the ^op^isi denomination ! ! their Bible Society
the Baptist Bible Society ! ! ! In the name of common
sense, let them purge themselves of this banned term,
before they proceed to the purgation of our Bible."
"Whenever the denomination stands fairly out for that
word, dip, and inscribes it on their banners, it will be
time enough to condemn the translations for not imtting
dipping into the great commission.

198 BAPTISMA ;

Vr. TESSELATED QUOTATION.

" A superficial examination of the case will shew that
many of the quotations are exceedingly partial and distorted
— the truth is but partly told — extracts are improperly made,
— and a stress is laid on words and phrases, which the ori-
ginal writers never intended." — Thorn.

" I shall now add a few of the accredited historians,
scholars and commentators of all ages, in the Christian
Church, which must have weight with every one whose mind
is not so filled with prejudice that there is no room for an op-
posite view of truth, however clearly revealed or firmly
established.

" Having given you the voice of history from the first to
the beginning of the present century, I will now add a few of
the most pi-ominent scholars, theologians, and commentators
that the world ever saw."

In characteristic style, quite in keeping with the
quotation which has just been made, the reviewer com-
mences with St. Luke, the inspired historian of the Acts,
and St. Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ. The Baptist
Church had no organized existence until after the Eefor-
mation ; and yet evangelist and apostle are introduced
as historians of the Baptist Church ! ! It was, probably,
in anticipation of some such indignity that St. Paul
wrote — " I thank Grod that I baptized none of you:" " I
baptized also the household of Stephanas," he might have
continued ; " but you do not acknowledge household
baptism, and therefore you do not belong to me, and I
do not belong to you."

The ''voice of history" begins with Cyril, Bishop
of Jerusalem, the latter jDart of the fourth century, 374:
" Candidates are first anointed loith consecrated oil ; they
are then dij^ped three times into the water." — Orchard's
His. of Baptists.

TESSELATED QUOTATION. 199

1. The "voice" of Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem is the
starting point of a chain of testimony which professes to
go back to the First Century: it belongs to the end of the
Fourth Century. The chain is vastly too short. It wants
many a solid link before it can be made to stretch back
to the staj)le-ring of the First Century.

2. If the "voice" of Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem,
constitute a valid testimony, it goes to prove that, in
dropping the oil and in abandoning the triune dip, the
immersionists of the present time are exceedingly
degenerate. Would it not be expedient to return to the
unction and to resume the threefold plunge f

3. The voice of Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, is in
striking accordance with the facts of ecclesiastical his-
tory : immersion was introduced into the administration
of Christian Baptism at a time when allegory, symbol
and superstition fairly ran riot in fantastic and unseemly
rite. To represent the putting otf the body of sin, the
nudity leading to great scandal, men and women icere
completely divested of their clothes. Exorcism, unction
insufflation, lighted tapers and other accompaniments
were added to the administration of the baptismal ordi-
nance. The descent of three steps into the baptistery
came in time to represent renunciation of the world, the
flesh and the devil.

The second " voice of history and scholarship" is
that of Tertullian, a Latin writer of the early part of
the third century : " Then we are three times immersed
(Dehinc ter mergitamur) answering somewhat more than
the Lord prescribed in the Gosjjel," i. e. the three times-
is somewhat more, &c — Soldier's Crown, Conant.

200 BAPTISMA ;

The whole passage from Tertulliaii may with ad-
vaiitago be reproduced :

Denique ut a baptismate ingrediar, aquamadituri, ibi-
dem, sed et aliquanto prius in ecclesia sub antistitis manu
contestamur, nos renunciare diabolo, et pompoe angelus
ejus. Dehinc ter mergitamur amplius nliquidrespojidentes,
quam Domimis in Evangelio determinavit. Inde suscepti
lactis et mellis concordiam proegust amus : exque ea die
lavacro quotidiano per totam hebdomadam abstinemus, —
Be Cor. Milit. Fol. Ed. p. 337.

1. We have the frank confession of Tertullian that
the practice of triune immersion v^tis " more than the Lord
prescribed in the Gospel." Knowing as we do, that Ter-
tullian used the Old Latin Bible, in which immersion is
never found, we are able to measure accurately the dis-
tance of departure from the Lord's teaching.

2. This Carthaginian Presbyter, not long after his
conversion from paganism, "went over to the Montanist
heresy : all post-baptismal sins inexpiable — the essence
of baptismal regeneration and the fruitful source of
error in the church.

3. Tertullian adds in explanation of the famous
passage : on triune dipping, oblations for the dead, the
sign of the cross — crucis signaculo and other corruptions :
" For these and such like rules if thou requirest a law
in the scriptures, thou shalt find none. ^

Very decisive is the voice of Tertullian, but adverse
to the exclusive claims of immersion, for abstinence
from washing, for oblations for the dead, for the sign of
the cross, there is no law of scrijyture.

* Harem et aliarum ejusmodi disciplinarium silegem expostu-
les scripturarum, nullum inveriies. — De Cor. Milit.

TESSELATED QUOTATION. 201

*4. When TertuUian followed the law of scripture,
' he spoke of aspersion of water in baptism. -i^

In consequence of the place which TertuUian holds
■ in the list of ancient authorities, first in order of time,
considerable attention has been devoted to his testi-
mony.

In regard to these early writers, and to subsequent
citation of authorities, we have the assurance, which needs
however to be taken cum grano, " that all are genuine,
and that " each witness is unquestionable authority."

1. Many oi the testimonies are specially exceiDtion-
able : They came to us through the jjages of Conant and
other writers of the same denomination. It has gener-
ally been found that immersionist streams, more than
other waters, take touch and tinge from soils and shores
which they wash and lave.

2. "We cannot be certain in regard to some of these
testimonies and more especially to several citations of
previous chapters, that an isolated and slender quota-
tion does justice to the opinions of the writers. Theo-
phylact, the Bulgarian Bishop of the 12th Century —
Moses Maimonides, the Egyptian Physician, also of the

'■■ 12th Century : dark ages, too late by many Centuries, of
the Church have been patiently explored in search of
evidence for immersion — Theodore Beza, the successor
of John Calvin at Geneva — Andrew Schott, the learned
German Classicist — Herman Witsius of Utrecht and
Leydon — Prof Eosenmiiller, the erudite Leipzig scholar
and theologian — " the accredited historians and scholars
of all ages :" authorities cited at various points, as well as
in general summary, are not of a character and standing
* Pexiginem acquae. — De Paintentia 6.

202 BAPTISMA ;

to warrant unceremonious introduction and matter of
course quotation. It cannot be expected that extracts
from rare and in many cases almost inaccessible books,
will be taken for granted and pass imcballengcd — as if
from the fiimiliar pages of Lord Macaulay's History or
John Bun3'an's Pilgrim's Progress.

3. The reviewer, in multifarious citation, plods
patiently in the beaten path of laborious predecessors
— whose " clouds of witnesses," in various shapes have
brought scorn and contempt to the whole system of tes-
timony. In some cases the writers quoted, though
esteemed theologians and divines of their several
churches, had no competent acquaintance with the con-
ti-overted points of Christian baptism : in others the
fragments are wrenched from their original connection,
and are made to speak in flat contradiction to the promul-
gated opinions of the writers on that very subject ; in
not a few instances the passage cited was at best an
incidental expression : reflecting fancies and vagaries of
the Church Fathers — reproduced from age to age.

" Those authors," says Prof. Eogers, the eminent
and acute Edinburgh Eeviewer, " who have a simple
desire to establish their point, never needlessly accumu-
late citations or references. When the thesis is such
that authority is essential, or auxiliary to it, they will
even then content themselves with the minimum of cita-
tions. They reckon them by Aveight not by number — by
the scales not by the bushel. If we can cite Aristotle Avhy
go to Keckermannus — if Bacon, how shall we further
confirm the statement by Kettiwigious ? ^STot only is a
large part of the citations in these volumes mere stuff-
ing : we cannot but feel assured that a great number are
%\m^\\ pillaged from previous writers."

TESSELATED QUOTATION. 203

4. Incidental expression, such as manj^ of the tes-
timonies iu ''review" indicate, can only, in fairness to
the writers, be interpreted according to their more
definitely expressed opinions upon the same subject.

There was at one time, in the scientific world, con-
flict of opinion concerning Polemaic and Copernican
theories. In the Avritings of Copernicus, and his adher-
ents, there would be many a passage which, taking caste
and coloring from earlier teaching and terminology,,
would seem to favor the exploded theor}-. What would
be thought of the honesty and common sense of any
writer who should ransack the works of the more
advanced scientists in search of all such passages, and,
then, in the form of demonstration, publish them in
evidence of the Polemaic theory of the Solar system ?
To such an attempt, there would be one short, sharp,
decisive answer : Copernicus and his adherents, accord-
ing to [formulated expression, held diametrically the
opiDOsite opinion.

There are one or two questions which, in regard to
a large proportion of "the most prominent scholars, the-
ologians, and commentators, the world ever saw," will
sufficiently indicate the value of their testimony in-
favor of immersion :

Did they in their most definite utterances teach im-
mersion ? No !

Did they in their own ministrations, in solemniza-
tion of the baptismal rite, j^ractice immersion ? No !

Several of the eminent men, appealed to in this tes-
timony, believed, preached, and jiracticed baptism by
effusion. In the name of Truth, then, where is the
sense, or the justice, of producing, as authority for im-

204 BAPTISMA ;

mersion, tho opinions of men who arc known, positively,
to have held exactly the contrary belief, and to have
practiced the opposite mode ?

5. The gross value of the various testimonies,
therefore, which have been advanced, as evidence upon
the question in disputation, is not by any means as
great as the reviewer seems to imagine. They cannot,
even in the aggregate, claim any very special recogni-
tion. It is not at all apparent, according to the extra-
vagant estimate which the comjjiler has formed :

" To confraa'ic^ the evidence of all combined, is an
absurdity of which no scholar will bo guilty."

Having indicated the utter worthlessness of these
testimonies, taken as a whole, for purjooses of demon-
stration, we may dispose of them by summary process.

"Are the books agreeable to the Koran?" asked
the fanatical Caliph Omar, when the Alexandrian
library was committed to the flames : " Then burn them,
they are unnecessary." " Are the writings opposed to
the Koran ? Burn them, for they are false."

There was a principle in that inquiry, of the tierce
Saracen, which admits of absolute application to all
these authorities :

If in accordance with the sacred Oracles, they are
unnecessary ; and if contrary to the word of God, they
are false.

VII. CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES.

" The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

— Legal Maxim.

Amongst the scholars and theologians summoned,
in the " Review of Baptisma," to testify in favour of

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES. 205

immersion, tliree — Enter, Wesley, and Clarke — have
been selected as representatives of the Methodist
Church. If there had been a disposition fairly to repre-
sent the standard teaching of ^Methodism, the works
of men who have made the question of baptism a special
study — such as Watson and Pope, of the British Metho-
diet Church : Hibbard and Whedon, with many others,
of the American Methodist Church — would have been
available for testimony.

The supreme appeal throughout this discussion we
make to the infallible word of G-od; and we cannot,
when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary against
immutable truth, make any exception even in favor of
these honoured " witnesses."

There can be no objection in a question of criticism,
or of disputed rendering, to the introduction of influen-
tial names, and the citation of eminent authorities ; but
in regard to the main subject of controversy, we can only
accept inspired dictum : " thus saith the Lord."

In evidence of the validity of affusion, as a Scrip-
tural mode of baptism, one single passage of inspiration :
" I ivill pour out my Spirit," is of more value, when in-
terpreted by the facts of Pentecost, than all these
Wesleyan witnesses — even if a thousand times more
explicit, — and all the voices of the greatest scholars
" the world ever saw," thrown into the same scale.

On the ground of a deeper denominational iutei'est,
merely, we may ascertain the genuineness of this Metho-
dist testimony.

The Church History of Dr. Martin Enter, selected
as a representative Methodist historian, was once upon
the shelves of ray library ; but not being deemed of any

20C BAPTISMA ;

special value, it has disappeared. The quotation how-
ever, taken at the face, atl'ords no decisive proof; and for
purposes of demonstration, possesses no more value than
many other passages, which, in the form of testimony,
pai-ade the pages of " review."

The opinion of the venerable John- Wesley,* con-
tained in a very brief testimony, is confidently adduced
as constituting a valuable concession.

In Eomans, Wesley notes on "buried with Him by
baptism:" "alluding to the ancient manner of immer-
sion." If the student of Wesley's "Notes " will consult
his own explanation, of the exposition, he will
find indebtedness acknowledged to Heylyn, Guyse, and
other writers ; and especially to Bengelius' Gnomon novi
Testmnenti : " Many of his excellent notes I have there-
fore translated ; many more I have abridged."

The "notes" therefore, reflect and repi'oduce the opin-
ions of Bengelius and other expositors, who, according
to the methods of exposition current at the time, were
in their turn influenced by the writings of the Fathez-s.

* John "Wesley, when first leaving Oxford Universitj, was a
firm, and perhaps bigoted, adherent of the Anglican Church, and
in religious service, an extreme ritualist. Believing that the Ku-
bric of the Church of England favored immersion, he attempted,
in two or three cases, to enforce his views. It would be just as
unfair, however to the Apostle St. Paul, and to the Reformer Mar-
tin Luther, to adduce facts, antecedent to the great change by
which their lives were revolutionized, and that which constitutes
the pivot fact of their history, in proof of their opinion upon
questions of theology and of worship, as to fall back upon the early
hereditary views of the Evangelist, John Wesley, instead of his
later standard publications, — as evidence of modified and matured
judgment in matters of faith and practice. "Therefore, leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ," might have been the in-
spired motto of his life, "let us go on unto perfection; not laying
again the toundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward the God of doctrines of baptism," etc.

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES. 207

111 the published '•'works," of Joha Wesley, we have
not only brief and incidental allusion, as in the note
upon Eomans, from which so much capital has been
made, but we have a Treatise on the special subject of
Baptism. It is published over his own name and bound
up with his -works. It was, as fai' as I know, his latest
utterance upon the subject ; and may therefore be ac-
cepted as the embodiment of his deliberate opinion.

In the interpretation of apparently conflicting
opinions of standard writers: it will always be found
that a sound and safe canon of interpretation is to ex-
jDlain incidental allusion and occasional expression by
the clearer enunciation of full and formulated belief.

No one who quotes Wesle y on Mode, and desires
honestly and fairly to represent his views, can consist-
ently stop short of the "Treatise on Baptism."

Having consulted the note on Eomans, in which
there is supposed to be allusion to ancient immersion,
in continuation of previous exposition, we now turn to
the "Treatise" for an elaborate statement of Wesley's
own opinion — when directed to the special subject of
Baptism :

" As nothing can be determined from Scripture j^re-
cept or example, so neither from the force or meaning
of the word. For the words baptize and baptism do not
necessarily imply dipping, but are used in other senses
in several places. Thus we find that the Jews were all
baptized in the cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. x., 2) ; but
they were not plunged in either. Christ said to two of
his disciples, ' Ye shall be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with.' (Mark x., 38) ; but neither
he nor they wei-e dipped, but only sprinkled and washed

208 BAPTISMA ;

with their own blood. Again we read (Mark vii., 4) of
the baptisms of pots and cups, and tables or beds. Now,
pots and cups arc not necessarily dij)ped when they arc
washed — the Pharisees washed the outside of them only.
And, as for tables or beds, none could suj^poso that they
could be dipped. Here, then, the word baptism, in its
natural sense, is not cakon for dipping, but for washing
or cleansing. And, that this is the true meaning of the
word baptize is testified by the greatest scholars and
most proper judges on the matter. It is true we read of
being ' buried with Christ in baptism.' But nothing can
be inferred from such a figurative expression. Nay, it
held exactly, it would make as much for sprinkling as
for plunging ; since, in burying, the body is not plunged
through the substance of the earth, but rather, earth is
sprinkled upon it." — Treatise on Baptism.

The only remaining Wesleyan witness, brought
upon the stand to testify, in favor of immersion, is Dr. .
Adam Clarke : announced, with considerable flourish,
as " Standard Commentator." To some Methodist schol-
ars that item of information will be new. The noble
commentary of Dr. Adam Clarke contains a valuable
compendium of scriptural truth; but it is marked by
some grave defects, and on this account has never been,
and can never be, accepted by the Methodist Church as
" Standard Commentary." Amongst a few unfortunate
passages are two or three allusions to baptism — which,
like those of Wesley, in the same connection, reflect the
vagaries of earlier writers.

But the most emphatic and distinctive of ^.Dr, .
Clarke's opinions, on mode in baptism, are decisively in
favour of affusion ; and the suppression of such deliberate
and thoroughly formulative view, after the introduction .

CROSS-EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES. 209

of the venerable commentator as a " witness," carries
with it the forfeiture of all claim to trustworthiness in
the matter of quotation.

"We should like, before the learned expositer leaves
the stand, to apply a slight pressure in the shape of
cross-examination :

Is it your opinion, Dr. Clarke, that, in this passage
of the Epistle to the Eomans, " buried with Him by
baptism," and in the corresponding one of Colossians,
including all similar expressions, there is allusion to im-
mersion ? "I say it is probable,'" answers the Doctor,
" that the apostle alludes to the mode of immersion."

"What are we to understand, then. Dr. Clarke, to be
the chief ground for accepting the supposition of prob-
able immersion? " That he does so, as some imagine.'"

But, Dr. Clarke, the probable affords, at least, very
slender foundation for the suggestion of immersion ; and,
if the probability merely rests upon the certainty of
some people's imagination, we cannot accept the state-
ment as valid testimony: Can 3'ou not, from ample and
accurate stores of biblical and theological knowledge,
indicate the certain teaching of God's word upon this
subject ? "In the next verse," replies the commentator,
in a passage of great emphasis, " our being incorjDorated
into Christ b}' baptism is also denoted by our being plant-
ed, or, rather, grafted together in the likeness of his death;
and jSToah's Ark floating upon the water, and sprinkled
by the rain from heaven, is a figure corresponding to bap-
tism."

That Avill do Doctor : argument and exegesis are
more satisfactory than probability and imagination.

As these Wesloyan "witnesses" were brought upon

210 baptisma;

the stand to testify In favor of immersion, the result of
brief cross-examination has been eminently satisfactory.

VII. SYLLOGISM AND nYPOTHESIS.

" The syllogism consists of propositions ; propositions of
words, and words are the tokens and signs ot notions. Now,
if the very notions of the mind be improijerly and overhastily
abstracted from facts, vague aud not sufliciently definite,
faulty, in short, in many ways, the whole edijice tumbles.'''' —
iord Bacon.

" To say that some of these washings ^immersions) (?)
were performed by sprinkling, is absurd. Let us try this
reasoning by the test of logic :

" Immersion is a washing, sprinkling is a washing, ergo.
Immersion is sprinkling ;

" Man is an animal, a goose is an animal, ergo, a man is
a goose."

A very prominent place has been assigned by the
reviewer to syllogistic demonstration. The same pro-
positions, or other syllogisms similar in shape and sound
to these, were, at the recent ba2)tismal discussions, thick
and "plentiful as blackberries." The validity and con-
clusiveness of such reasoning does not depend merely,
as seems to be imagined, upon correctness of structure.
The ]-)remisPS must be also sound. A more perfectly con-
structed syllogism never, perhaps, emanated from the
schoolmen, in their palmiest period, than that which,
like a polished glittering shaft, aimed at the ver}- vitals
of Christianity, was impelled with dexterous force by
the philosophic David Hume.

Nothing that is contrary to experience can be es-
tablished by testimony :

But every miracle is contrary to experience;

Therefore, no miracle can be established by testi-
mony.

SYLLOGISM AND HYPOTHESIS. 211

The vitiating falLicj, lurking in the middle term of
Hume's famous proposition, was not at once apparent.
To some minds the perplexity, produced by this mode
of reasoning, was excessively bewildering. Even to
trained and practised logicians and apologists, it was not
an easy matter to detect and to demonstrate the subtle
error. The proposition was perfect in form ; and grant-
ing the truth of the 'premises, the case was proven. It was
soon discovered, however, that Hume's Syllogism was
qX fault. The miracles of Christianity were not false —
as had been demonstrated.

It would not be difficult, by a method of reasoning,
far inferior to that of the incisive and accomjDlished
Edinburgh scejjtic, and by syllogisms, in which the fal-
lacy is vastly less insidiously concealed, to arrive at
soriie rare conclusions. The revievver — unless, in the
sheets of syllogistic demonstrations, which, by some
erratic gust, have been wafted into my sanctum, the type
has been playing mischievous and mysterious pranks —
reaches by clear sequence the resultant : " Man is a
goose.'' Hypothesis in logic, such as that indulged in,
in the review, may be pardonable and permissible to a
certain point ; but there is only a step from the sublime
to the ridiculous. Dr. Joseph Cook, in his eloquent and
noble " Boston Monday Lectures," culls, from DeMor-
gan's logic, an apposite illustrative incident : A cooked
stork, minus one leg, which, for the gratification of his
sweetheart, the servant had cut off, was placed, in that
mutilated form, upon a nobleman's table. The explana-
tion offered was that "a stork has only one leg." " See,"
— said the nobleman next day, taking the servant out to
the castle grounds, with a shout "off and away," ac-
companied by a frightening gesture, to the storks which

212 BAPTISMA ;

after thoir manner, had been standing moodily upon one
leg, — "eacli stork is running away upon two legs."
But, 6aid the servant, in persistent hypothesis, you did
not say to the baked stork, " off and away."

The " review" — an ambitious aspirant to the digni-
ties and distinctions of logic, and the gravity of syllog-
ism in one of its most pretentious pages of formal hy-
pothesis, and, in parade of proposition, which cannot
claim recognition even for ingenuity of structure, descends
and degenerates into a very burlesque of logical reason-
ing; and, as a last evasive resource, seeks to save itself,
and a cause which, as the result of such treatment, must
inevitably suffer, by a contemptible "goose" syllogism:
about equivalent to the stork hypothesis — " off and
away!"

" Compress the sum into its solid worth,
And if it weigh the importance of a fly,
The scales are false, or algebra a lie." — Cowper.

IX. BAPTI8MATA BIBLIA : CANNOT BE REVERSED.

" The doctrine of baptisms?'' — St. Paul.

" Now I 'praise you. brethren that ye — keep the ordinances,
as I delivered them to you. — St. Paul.

"The Spirit
Poured first on His Apostles, whom He sends
To evangelize the nations, then oji all
Baptized^ &c." — Milton.

The animus and tendency of many a review pas-
sage becomes apparent in a fly-sh-eot clause : — a part it
may be presumed of the "review" effort — "not sparsely
sprinkled: not lightly poured."

The expression just quoted cannot refer to quantity.
That question has not been raised : An ocean of water
foi' spiritual cleansing would not possess more of efficacy

BAPTISMATA BIBLIA : CANNOT BE REVERSED. 213

than a mere " drop in the bucket." The subject in con-
tention, and that which must be faced in the front, is
that of mode. The imputation sparsely sprinkled bears
only upon the insufficiency of baptism by effilsion. But
have not sprinkling and pouring been hallowed and con-
secrated by ancient ordinance and ineffable inspiration?
"Eehold" said Balaam, the son of Beor toBalaktheMoabi-
tish Chieftain, when summoned to curse Israel, "I have
received commandment to bless : and He hath blessed ;
and I cannot reverse it. " "Sparsely sprinkled !" An in-
sufficient rite ? Is that an inference warranted by the
promise : " I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye
shall be clean?" An insufficient application? Does
that idea essentially attach to "the blood of sprinkling?'^
Are not the redeemed, the white robed, radiant throng,
through the efficacy and '•'■sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ," forever faultless before the throne of God —
faultless even in the presence of that pure searching
light which flashes and "flames with the glory of
God?"

Lightly poured ! was the pouring out of the Holy
Ghost a baptism, then, after all ! There must be some
mistake surely? Unwilling to be any party to wilful
misrepresentation, to inflict injustice by twist and tor-
ture of speech, we quote the exact interrogation : "Was
not the Baptism, of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pente-
cost, communicated by pouring?" Tes, that is the
question. The terms of inquiry are explicit. The sub-
ject admits of an answer clear, straightforward, honest
as the light and distinct as the grand historic fact to
which it appeals. "True!" What is true? We are
not to understand that "the baptism of the Holy Spirit"
was " by pouring ?" Yes, true ! " The Holy Spirit

214 BAPTIS3IA;

came from above" — came from above ! "The descent of
the Spirit" amounted according to the reviewer, to " a
figiirative immersion." Then the baptism of Pentecost
was after a'll o-i\\y figurative. The most magnificent fact of
the christian church, constituting the glorious inaugural
of this dispensation, to meet the necessities of exter-
nal rite, dwindles down, under the management and
manipulation of this latest exponent and defender of
immersionists tenets, into a mere figure of speech ! To
designate that pouring out an immersion is to exhibit an
almost unparalleled example of fiat contradiction in terms.
Were the persons baptized plunged into that with which
they were baptized? or was the mode indicated: that-
of application of the baptismal element or substance?
The admission explicitly answers : " communicated by
pouring^ The only explanation is that He " came from
above." "True." But why was that "descent" — that
"communicated by pouring" — designed a baptism ? Does
it not forever, by unexceptionable fact, and by admission
of which there has been no unfair advantage taken, de-
termine the modal sense of the "NTew Testament G-rcek
verb haptizo ? The copiousness of jDOuring does not af-
fect the essential idea ; the abandonment of immersion
at this point implies the surrender, along the whole line,
of exclusive claim.

The abandonment of immersion was not, it may be
assumed, the intention of this emphatic clause. The
contradiction of terms, that pouring because of its
copiousness was immersion, may be allowed to pass. It
looks very much like a sigyial of distress. The tremen-
dous force of historic fact has been telling severely upon
an unsheltered position.

The design of that phrase, lightly poured, and its

PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 215

surroundings, was probably intended to convey the idea
of insufficiency and of insignificance. But then, over
against that phrase, we have the weighty fact : 'pouring,
through all the Scriptures, carries the idea of complete-
ness, of sufficiency, of abundance — hence the fitness of
its approjjriation. This view of the subject has been well
brought out by Eev. C. H. Spurgeon, the popular Baptist
preacher, in an eloquent passage : " My heart exults,
and my eyes fiash with the thought, that very likely 1
shall live to see the outpouring of the Spirit; when " the
sons and daughters" of God again " shall prophecy," and
" the young men shall see visions and the old men shall
dream dreams." Perhaps there will be no miraculous
gifts, for they will not be required : but yet there shall
be such a miraculous amount of holiness, such an extra-
ordinary fervor of prayer, such a real communion with
God, and so much vital religion, and such a spread of
the doctrines of the cross, that every one will see that
verily the Spirit is poured out like water, and the rains are.
descending from above."

IX. PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH.

" The Ethiopian was reading that description of the
Messiah which promises, so shall He sprinkle many nations:
a promise verified by the command, ' Go baptize all nations.'
We fling in to the immersionist his preposition, and give him
his strongest ground, and what can he make of it .►"' — Br.
Whedon.

" The baptism ot the Ethiopian eunuoh next demands
attention. Thinking that the sprinkling theory will suit better
here, our author discards pouring for the present, and accepts
sprinkling, because in the neighborhood of where the eunuth
was reading, when Philip came to him, he finds the word
sprinkle. He quotes a sentence from Isaiah lii : "so shall He
sprinkle many nations," and says : " This, it will b« remem-
bered, was part of the passage which the Ethiopian eunuch

216 baptisma;

was reading when .... he was joined by the evangel-
ist Philip," &c., p. 18. From this he draws the inference tnat
Philip sprinkled rather than baptized him. I am sorry to be
compelled to contradict our author so often ; but a defence ot
the truth demands it, and " we are set lor the defence of the
gospel."

An attempt is made to ostablieh a difforenco between
pouring and sprinkling : the one discarded and tho other
accepted.

But while quibbling at the use of the two words,
expressive of one mode, alternately applied by the
Holy Spirit to baptismal administration, and equally
applicable to affusion : the reviewer, in discussing en
hudati, by a strange inconsistency, solemnly assures us
that •' Baptizein, both in sacred and profane authors,
signifies to dip, to plunge, to immerse" — three modes : a
student dips into Shakespeare, a dagger is plunged in the
breast, and a boat is immersed, sunk, in the river, and
left there ; but these modes do not generally or collect-
ively make a baptism in a sacred sense.

The difference between pouring and sprinkling, in
baptism, admits of no essential distinction : The Holy
Spirit is promised as the rain : Sometimes the rain pours
and sometimes it sprinkles ; but it is the same rain.
Sprinkling is only moderate pouring. The two methods
are one in the common action of applying the element
to the candidate ; and they alike fitly signify the saving
sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit.

Immersion on the other hand, by a fundamentally
changed condition, unauthorised by scrij)tural fact or
phrase, without warrant of inspired imagery or instituted
ordinance, violently applies the candidate to the element.
Mode in baptism, in order that the visible symbol may
correspond with the fact signifiedjShould represent a three-

PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 217

'fold idea : Origen, " I will poui-;" subject, " be baptized
every one of you ;" transmission, " je Bhall 7'eceive the
Holy Ghost," " Pouring alone," says Dr. Whedon, " or
sprinkling, expresses these three, and is thei*efore the
only adequate symbol. Immersion gives not Godthe glory ;
nothing comes from above, all comes to the candidate
horizontally, and nothing vertically ; all from man, and

■ nothing from heaven. It expresses one's own moral re-
formation, but not God's regeneration. It looks the
very child of Pharasaism. It represents only effects,
and atheistically acknowledges no cause.

According to Baptisma, there was substantial reason
for believing that Philij) sprinkledi\iQ Ethiopian ; and one
part of the argument was that, at the time, the Eunuch
was reading the grand Messianic prediction: '' So shall

■ he sprinkle many 7iations."

Though "sorry to contradict" Baptisma, yet the
reviewer is " set for the defence of the Gospel;" and
truth demands the contradiction. The soundness of the
argument, or the accuracy of the inference, is challenged
on several grounds :

1. " Let the reader turn to Acts 8 : 32, 33, and he
will see the part of the passage that the Ethiopian Eun-
uch was reading ; the place of the Scrij)tures, &c. The
objection is accompanied by an extraordinary admission :
" that the chapters are not properly divided, and that the
latter part of the fifty-second of Isaiah belongs more
properly to the fifty-third."

Does the reviewer forget that instead of a neatly
bound volume, such as might come from Bagster's estab-
lishment, the princely African, riding in a chariot, must
-have been reading from a roll of parchment — or more

218 baptisma;

likel}' of rough skins ?^ Does ho know that tho most
valued and most venerable inanuacripts are written in
Uncial character, without stop, accent, or as])iration,
and even without spaces for division of words ? Has he
never in College, or Museum Library, examined Hebrew
or Greek specimens of ancient manuscripts ? Does he
understand that the comparatively modern system of
chapters and verses was entirely unknown to the
ancients ; and that any manuscript of the sacred writ-
ings with a division into chapters, by the original hand,
must be, at least, as late as the 12th century ?

If he does possess such information, the objection,
based upon the two chapters, presumes upon the ignor-
ance of his readers ; and if, on the other hand, the range
of acquaintance with the general literature of the sub-
ject, be of the most meagre character, tho time occupied
by " review," might be more profitably employed in a
variety of preliminary inquiries, f

2. " Further, and still moi'O unfortunate for our
author, tho word in the Septuagint, where we have the
word sprinkle, is not rantizo, but thaumazo. On this pas-
sage Albert Barnes remarks : ' But Martini, Eosenmul-
ler and Gesenius suppose that it is derived from an Ara-
bic word meaning to leap, to sprinkle." |

* "The Jews divided the Prophecies into lifty-four sections for
public reading." — Whedon.

t The fact here indicated may account for the allusion to
third-class Normal certificate. It is a -well known law of hydrodj-
namical science that water does not rise above its own level.

J The word which occurs in Isa. 53: 15, is yazze, the Fut.
Hiphil of the verb Naza. The Pret. Hiphil, Hizza is thus defined
by Gesenius :

1. " To cause to leap for joy, to cause to exult, to make re- -
joice, with accusative, aZ, in or because of anything ; Isa. 52 : 15,
•So shall He cause many nations to rejoice in Himself.' Septg.

PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 219

It might be enough to answer that the expositors
in question have only afforded expression to one phase
of the magnificent idea — in this jDrophetic passage. The
Redeemer, in saving, sanctifying operations, shall sj^rinkle
many nations , and as the result, the saved ones shall
exult and rejoice, and leap for joy :

" 'New songs do now their lips employ,
And dances their glad heart for joy."

But this rendering, while indicating results, fails to
give prominence to redeeming operations — which are
the main theme of this inspiring Messianic prophecy.

From ample knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures,
and es2)ecially of Evangelical promise and prediction, we
may be sure that Phillip would correct the defect of
the Septuagint, if that were needed : and that he would
bring out the full distinctive meaning of the passage.

According to Barnes, the passage only refers to the
fact of the Redeemer's "purifying or cleansing of the
nations : and not to the ordinance of chi-istian baptism."
But according to the suggestion of Dr. Adam Clarke
and others, yet more positive, it does refer to baptism :
The transition, from the purification of nations to the
baptism of individual believers would be, in thought and
phrase, natural, easy and most direct.

The important prediction : — " so shall He sprinkle
many nations : the kings shall shut their mouths at

outo ihaumasonia — Syr. Vulg. Luth. Engl. ' So shall he
sprinkle many nations,' i. e., My servant, the Messiah, shall make
expiation for them ; but this accords less with the parallel verb,
shaman.

2. To sprinkle e. g. water, blood, also oil. Lev. 8 : 11, &c.
The primary idea is that of sparkling, flying out.

3. Of liquids, to leap forth, to spout, to spirt, to be sprinkled,
&c." — Gesenius.

220 BAPTISMA ;

him" — finds a very striking explanation in Roberts
Oriental Illustrations:

" At an Eastern feast a person stands near the en-
trance with a silver vessel, full of rose water, or some
other perfumed liquid, with which he sprinkles the
guests as they approach — as if from a watering pan.
The object is to shew that they are now the king's or the
great man's guest — under his favor and protection. So
shall the eternal Son of God sprinkle many nations ;^^d
admit them into his presence in token of their purifica-
tion and of his protection and favor. The kings of the
earth shall no longer rebel against him; but shall shut
their mouths to denote submission and respect."

The quotation f^om Albert Barnes, in loc, afibrds
a striking example and illustration of the gross and
grievous injustice which, in the severance of j)assages
from the context, is frequently done to the opinions of
eminent writers. They are made to countenance and
support a sense and meaning diametrically opposite to
that for which the words were originally intended.

The remarks of Gesenius and others, quoted by re-
viewer— as some of his friends, who had accepted the
quotations as trustworthy, may be surprised to learn —
were introduced, by the commentator, merely to show
what had been opposite and alternative view. The
refutation which gives the author's own opinion of the pas-
sage has beemcithheld.

" It may be replied," says Barnes, in reference to
these German writers, " that the usual, the universal
signification of the word naza, in the Old Testament is
to sprinkle. It is properly applicable to the act of
sprinkling blood or water and then comes to be used in

PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 221

the sense of cleansing by the blood that makes expiation
for sin, or o^ cleansing by icater as an emblem of purifying."
The paraphrase of the eminent Hebrew Scholar, Bishop
Lowth also accompanies, and is endorsed by the, ex-
position :

" So shall He sprinkle many nations, &c."

The privilege of spending an evening, socially, "with
the accomplished commentator, Albert Barnes, and of
hearing from his own lips the deeply interesting story
of long laborious life-work, devoted to the elucidation of
scriptural truth, holds a prominent place among treas-
ured reminiscences of privileged intercourse. Could he
have been conscious of such injustice to his work, mak-
ing him explain away the meaning of an important text,
the sense and significance of which he sought to establish,
it would not be difficult to imagine the indignant sui-prise
which must have found expression on his venerable and
intelligent face. In additional vindication of the au-
thorized rendering of the passage, in dispute, it may
suffice to. cite the Speaker's Commentary. We have in
these noble volumes the results of the best biblical and
critical scholarship of the Established church of Eng-
land.

" The verb yazze,'' according to the sp)eaker's note on
the original word, " occurs elsewhere nineteen times;* al-
ways in the sense of sprinkling with a view to ceremonial
purification. Ithas been urged that the verb has regularly
an ttccMsa^iue of the liquid which is used in sprinkling,
the object sprinkled being preceded by al. This, how-

* The only places in the Old Testament in which the word
occurs are Lev. G : 27 ; Isa. 63 : 3 ; 2 Kms,s 9 : 33 ; Lev. 6 : 6, 17 ;
5:9; 14 : 7, 16, 27, 67 ; 16 : 14, 15, 19 ; Numbers 19 : 4, 18, 19 ;
Exod. 29 : 21 ; Numb. 19:21; 8:7; Lev. 16 : 14 ; 8 : 11, 30.— In
all instances translated to sprinkle. — Barnes in loc.

222

BAPTISMA ;

over, is to forgot that in the passage before us the verb
refers, not to a literal process of S]mnkling, but to an act
of purification analagous to that which was effected by
coremonial sprinkling. Hence the Syriac renders it,
" shall purify." It is obvious that rhantizo was employ-
ed by Ac. and Theod. in this derived sense with a like
change of construction.*"

The narrative of the Ethiopian Eunuch's baptism
does not, it is claimed, admit of application to baptism
by pouring — as witnessed by reviewer. Very likely
there are some points of difference. An intelligent reader
would scarcely expect to find any thing like exact re-
semblance in ihe minutise of circumstance. Modern
baptismal services, in the desert, in Avhich alone the
varied conditions could converge and centre, are extreme-
ly rare.

"There is in the one," contends the reviewer, "a
rantizing and in the other clieoing, but no baptizing.
There is no comiMi'ison whatever, between the tico narra-
tives.'^

It may be answered to a passage of confused ver-
biage, and of mere rant in composition, that, in Philip's
recent baptism, the Holy Clhost had been 2^oiired out,
and the evangelical promise. He shall sprinkle many
nations, suggested and determined the mode of the
Eunuch's bajDtism: therefore, the worde cheo, ^^ to pour,'"
and rhantizo, to sprinkle, are in exact adaptation to the
sacred narrative. They agree in one.

"I ask the G-reek scholar" continues the reviewer,
who thinks "this ought to be conclusive," "who is an
advocate of pouring or sj)rinkling, if he were going to

* Asperget — shall sprinkle. — Vulg.

PHILIP AND THE EUNUCH. 223

give an account of a baptism as practised by the Baptists
—that account to be written in Greek — whether he
would not use these very identical words" — of the
Eunuch's baptism in the Acts ?

The question may be submitted to competent Greek
scholars. We make the appeal to men who wrote and
spoke the Greek language. They lived to witness, and
to speak of, triune immersions and other corruptions of
their time :

"What say you Cyril of Jerusalem ? Kataduete
triton eis to hudor — "plunge them down," ansAvers the
Father, " thrice into the water."

"What think you Basil ? JS'71 trisi katadusesi : ''By
three immersions/' thunders Basil the great.

Having sanctioned the later superstitions of baptis-
mal administration, they demanded a new phraseology ;
and they seem to have had no scruple about rejecting

. the very identical word of the New Testament — the

■ consecrated, sacramental baptizo.

" The terms kataduo, katadusis," says Dr. Dale, in
Patristic Baptism, page 584, "are not to be found as
words of inspiration descriptive of ritual baptism. The
overwhelming inference, therefore, is, that what these
terms were introduced to express in patristic baptism,
had no existence in Scripture baptisin."

But, suppose the question were pro^DOsed in a modi-
fied form :

"Would the " very identical " words of the commis-
sion, and of the inspired narrative of the Ethiopian's bap-
tism, be apposite and applicable to the administration
of baptism by effusion ?

224 BAPTI8MA ;

Tho verb haptizo, would bo an essential requisite ;
for tho water is only tho symbol and seal of spiritual
baptism — tho pouring out of tho Holy Ghost ; tho eis
would bo demanded ; for tho candidates are baptized
" in " tho name of tho Father, Son and Holy Ghost ; the
correlative preposition ek — according to frequent ren-
dering, as when " Ho riseth /rom, ek, supper" — would
obtain dual application : the officiating minister, after
charge and benediction goes up from the communion to
continue the service ; and " amidst cheerful anthems "
that "fill his house," from tho same scone of consecrated
interest, the baptized ones, like tho Ethiopian convert,
go on " their way rejoicing."

Administration of baptism by affusion is, in spirit
and mode, eminently Scriptural and apostolical. Senti-
ment, syntax, and sacramental scene agree in one.

X. "eis" in greek: "into" in English.

"The authors ol these books being Jews, naturally used
the Greek particles and prepositions, not only in the variety
of their own significations, but in the variety also of the signi-
fications of the corresponding Hebrew particles and preposi-
tions."— Macknight.

" Our ministers tell us that into only means near to. Do
these same ministers tell their impenitent hearers that into
hell, in the ninth Psalm, and into everlasting punishment, in
the twenty-fitth of Matthew, only mean near to ? How happy
the tidings, and how great the encouragement to go on in sin !
And do your ministers tell their Christian hearers that Christ
did not ascend into heaven, as the angels told the apostles in
Acts, first chapter and eleventh verse, — only near to, and that
we have no Advocate in heaven now ; and also, that although
Christ told us that the saved would be received into life eter-
nal (Matt. XXV : 46), he only meant that they should get near
to, — near enough to see its glory, but never be permitted to
enter ? You would not believe them if they thus spake ;
neither believe them if they tell you that ''into the luater''''

"eis" in greek: ''into" in English. 225

does not mean irdo the water, for it is the very same word that
is here used as is used in the places above referred to — eis in
Greek, into in English." — "Voice of Ood.^''

The paragraph ut supra has been thus fully repro-
duced : a specimen of the style adopted by a professed
interpreter of " the voice of Grod." It is doubtful whether
in the complete circle of controversial effort, there can
be found more striking example of violence to all sound
and sober principles of criticism ; and it will account for
somewhat of severity of stricture in this section, and for
attempted closeness and conclusiveness of reply. ]

When a voice reaches us, in that questionable

form, we begin to think at once of credentials, and there

is an irresistible temptation to subject the utterance to

searching test. We read in John Milton's magnificent

Epic, of the marvellous touch of Ithuriel's spear by

which the most specious assumptions were instantly

detected : — ,

" Ithuriel with his spear
Touch'd lightly ; tor no falsehood can endure
Touch of celestial temper, but returns
Of force to its own likeness."

— Paradise Lost.

We shall soon find that, beneath the Ithureal touch
of inspired and authoritive fact and teaching, assertion
and implication take strangely contrary aspects, and
widely different forms.

"Our ministers," it is affirmed, "tell us that
into only means near to." Do they? The fact
thus implied, in nude form, unsustained by evi-
dence, cannot obtain acceptance. The ministers al-
luded to, may, in the connection indicated, have inter-
preted eis to eternal salvation and to " everlasting
punishment." Do they thus weaken or dilute the

226 BArTisMA ;

osscntiiil truth of God's word ? If " their impenitent
hearers" he sent eis, to hell, they will be for ever beyond
the reach of hope; and if "their Christian hearers,"
through the mercy of God, get, eis, to heaven, they will
not only be " near enough to see its glory," but

"The beatific sight
Shall fill heaven's sounding courts with praise,
And wide diffuse the golden blaze

Oi everlasting light."

" A frivolous remark," says Thorn, " has been made
by a reverend brother which shows that the good man
has not fairly studied the 7nerits of this controversy, or
had written contrary to his knowledge in order to make
an affecting impression on the minds of his ignorant readers.
He says if eis does not signifj'" into then entering into
heaven is only going to the gate of heaven ; and entering
into hell is only going to the gate of hell." — Bi-itish
Letters.

" But Pedobaptists never denied that eis sometimes
signifies into. All that they contend for is that the Bap-
tists cannot prove such to be its import in Acts 8 : 38,
and other passages narrating the act of baptism." —
" Neither believe them," is the counsel of reviewer to
youthful converts, " if they tell you that into the water
does not mean into the loater."

The meaning of the modest and Christian admon-
ition can only be that when ministers in their expositions
assert that the Greek preposition eis — " eis in Greek into
in English" — does not mean into the water, in the sense
of immersion they are to be seriously regarded as utter-
ing deliberate falsehood.

Before dealing more clasely with this question of
grammatical criticism, on a point which touches the very

"eis" in greek: "into" in English. 227

existence of the immersionist theory, it may be well to
afford the reviewer the opportunity of expounding his
views to the fullest possible extent. In addition to the
extract from " the voice of God," we give another from
"review of baptisma" on the Eunuch's baj)tism :

" Surely these examples from the word of God prove
conclusively the fact that eis, used in connection with water,
means into and not to. Since eis means into, as it has been
proved, ek being the antithesis oi eis, must mean, as lexico-
graphers say it does out of. If eis is to be robbed of its true
meaning there is some ground for the Dutchman's mingled
feeling of joy and sorrow:— joy at the thought that ''into
everlasting punishment, eis to^asw aionion,'''' Mattxxv:46,
and " into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched—
eis ten geennan; ets to pur to asbeston," Mark ix: 43, does not
mean into, but near by, "just close enough to be warm and
comfortable :" — but sorrow at the thought that "into life eter-
nal, eis zoen aionion^'' Matt, xxv : 46, does not mean into, but
near by ; but close enough to see its glory, but never be per-
mitted to enter there. Again, if eis is to be robbed of its true
meaning, why should the infidel be asked to believe that
" Daniel was cast into the lion's den" and protected by God,
or that the three Hebrews were " cast into the fiery furnace"
and not even scorched : and were not cast into those places,
only near by. Alas for the theory that needs such support!

Let not the quibbles of small minds throw a stigma on the
character of a whole denomination, and on the character of
candid men of other denominations who are honest enough to
admit a thing that is beyond doubt. Such men are Calvin,
Doddridge, Adam Clarke, &c."

The impression produced, by this statement in
question upon any inquirer, approaching the subject
for the tirst time, would be that eis has no equivalent,
and that it could not be honestly rendered except by into.

The intelligent student guided, perhaps, by
the reference supplied, "Hand Book to the Gram-
mar of the Greek Testament, " would find that
the preposition like other words is amenable to
grammatical law ; and he would be amazed to find, in

228 BAPTISMA ;

the authority offered for his guidance, an admirable state-
ment of the law which governs the subject :

" In explanation of the various significance, which
may belong to the same preposition, two points should
be noted : —

1. That its meaning will be necessarily modified
by signification of the vprb that it may follow, and by
that of the noun which it governs, as also by the case
of the latter.

2. That as all languages have a far smaller num-
ber of words than there are shades of thought to express,
one word must often have viany applications. — p 143.

The philosophy of Grammar having been utterly
ignored : How stands the question of fact ?

" We find" says the learned and laborious English
writer, Thorn, " from a careful investigation of the
point'in dispute that in our version of the New Testa-
ment the translators have rendered aj^o by from— three
hundred and seventy-four times ; eis by to or unto— five
hundred and thirty times ; ek by from— one hundred and
eighty six times ; en by at, in or loith — three hundred and
thirteen times."

A very important fact of New Testament construc-
tion, not to be classed with " the quibbles of small
minds" has been pointed out by Prof. Stewart. In
Greek classics the verb baptizo is followed by the pre-
position eis, or its equivalent and the accusative case of
the element. The method of New Testament construc-
tion is different. With only one single exception, and
that admits of easy explanation, the element is either
put in the nude dative, as in Luke, or in the dative with

"eis" in greek: "into" in English. 229

the preposition en, en hudati, as in the Gospel of St.
Matthew."

The inquiry at this point, however, has specific
reference to " eis in Greek : into in English."

In seeking a searching and decisive test, we shall
take different classes of texts : —

1. The use of eis in "various significance:" St.
Matthew, chap. 5, 1, employs the preposition : " He
went up into, eis, a mountain," — chap. 22, 3, "Call them
that were bidden to, eis, the wedding." St. Mark, de-
scribing the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, chapter
11, 8, says : " Many spread their garments in eis, the
way" — warning the disciples, chap. 13, 14, writes — " flee
to, eis, the mountains."

" Jesus went away again beyond Jordan, i7ito {eis)
the place where John at first baptized, and there abode.^'
John X. 40. If into, at or beyond Jordan, meant under
water : that for a considerable time was the place of the
Saviour's abode.

When Peter and John " ran both together," towards
the sepulchre, " the other disciple did outrun Peter and
came first to (^eis) the sepulchi-e;" and yet it is said
expressly : " yet went he not in." — John 20 : iv. 5. The
meaning of eis is clear ; they went to the sepulchre.

We find also in the Acts of the Apostles : chap. 16,
16, " We went to, eis, prayer" — chap. xxvi. 14, in' the
narrative of Saul's conversion, "We were also fallen to,
eis, the earth. In the Septuagint, 2 Kings, ii. 6, we read:
" The Lord hath sent me into, eis, the Jordan." " They
came," says the sacred historian, " unto, eis, the Jordan."
The eis brought them to the banks, but not into the river

230 BAPTISMA ;

of Joi'daii. Elisha and the sons of the prophets surely
did not go into the rushing waters to fell trees.

2. A selection of passages in which the eis has
si)ecial reference to water ; but in which it does not,
and cannot, mean "into water."

In the case of the tribute money the Saviour said to
Simon Peter, Matthew xvii : 27, " Go thou to, eis, the sea,
and cast an hook, &c." Surely the disciple was only
to stand upon the beach, and not to plunge into water.

St. Luke, in describing the Galilean tempest. Chap,
viii : 23 says, "and there came down a storm of wind on
eis, the lake." Did the hurricane strike the surface of the
water or was it buried beneath the whelming wave ?

Again St. John, chap xxi : 4, speaks of the risen
Saviour : Jesus stood on, eis, the shore." In the grey
dawn of that memorable morning the Lord awaited the
disciples as they brought their boat to land : He was
near to the blue rolling wave of deep Gallilee, but the
eis could not take him " into water."

3. A comparison of passages, of still greater signi-
cance, in which eis is used in immediate connection with
baptism :

In Acts chap, xix : 3, St. Paul asked the Ephesian
disciples : "Unto, eis, what," then were ye baptized?

Had they understood the preposition to mean " into
water" in the rigid emphatic sense which modern im-
mersion demands, thinking only of mode, they would
have answered at the Jordan or, as the case might be,
the sea of Tiberias ; they said " unto, eis, John's bap-
tism." Was it baptism into a baptism ?

It is affirmed of the Israelites, 1 Cor. x. 2, that in
passing through the Red Sea, " they were all baptized

"eis" in greek: "into" in English. 231

unto, eis, Moses." Was the eis into Moses ; millions of
people immersed into one man ? Ad ahsurdam.

Another very important passage of the same class,
in which we test the value of the quotation made, and
the trustworthiness of its source, we have in the Com-
mission; Matthew xxviii: 19. " Baptizing them in the
name of the Father, &c."*

It is baptizing them into, eis, the name of the sacred
Trinity. It is not mark you eis hudor, that would be
baptism into loater, and would exactly answer the exigen-
cies of immersion. But the eis does not take us " into
water." The verb instead of expending its force upon
mere mode, lifts us up to a loftier plane of thought and
sacred service. The commision authorizes the adminis-
tration of baptism into the name ; eis to onoma — all that
the divine name represents.

4. Passages where, in the construction, the pre-
position is connected with an active verb.

In the Book of Eevelations xiii : 13, we read of the
wonders of the beast : " he maketh fire to come down
from heaven on, eis, the earth." The preposition here,
as in the Acts of the Apostles, to which so much impor-
tance is attached, by advocates of immersion, is connec-
ted with an active verb. In Acts it is said that Philip
and the Eunuch " went down into, eis, the water;" and
in the Apocalypse, it is said that the beast made fire to
" come down from heaven on, eis, the earth," — fo, not
into in the sense of underneath, — "to the earth." If
rendering " to the earth" be good sense and sound syn-
tax for the Greek of St. John in Eevelation : then must
" to the water" be an adequate rendering for the Greek
St. Lake in the Acts of the Apostles.

* Baptizonies autous eis to onomatou patros, ^e.

232 BAPTISMA ;

There is also the remarkable record in 1 Kings,
chapter 1, which when compared with the Scptuagint
version, goes to prove that the eis is perfectly compati-
ble with pouring : " Cause Solomon my son to ride upon
mine own mule, and bring him down to Giho7i."^ " And
the Cherithites and the Pelethites, went down and caus-
ed Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought
him to eis Gihon, and Zadok the priest took a horn of
oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed, echrise, Solomon.'

They went down to Gihon — to the Kedron or, with

greater probability, to the gentle waters of Siloam :

*' Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God."

We have the eis — they went down to Gihon ; we
have structural expression, echrisan auton, corresponding
with ebaptisen auton of the Acts ; we have waters flowing
softly, "cool Siloam's shady rill ;" we have the pouring,
from the tabernacle horn, of consecrating oil ; but we
have no immersion. The eis does not mean, and cannot
make "into watei-." They went down to Gihon, as in
a western city they might have gone into spacious
square or park — its smooth slopes aff'orded convenience
for crowd and ceremony.

There are in this narrative of the Hebrew Corona-
tion, the eis and the auton, and the pouring of oil, and the
still waters of Gihon ; but there is no immersion..

"What then becomes of the vaunted argument:
based upon " eis in Greek, into in English ?" It shrivels
beneath the slightest pressure. Compared with the tex-
ture of such a passage, in firmness and fibre :

" The spider's most attenuated thread
Is cord, is cable."

* Kai hatayayeta auton eis ten gion.

"eis" in greek: "into" in English. 233

The flimsiness of the quotation, which has led to
this discussion of the Greek preposition, does not, how-
ever, save it from indictment in the name of the common-
wealth of Israel. It cannot, even by its insignificance,
escape from the charge of offensiveness and of flagrant
violation of the nobler courtesies of christian life.

The ministers in question may have been the means
of leading you to the cross and to the Saviour, and the
seals of their ministry may ye be, in the Lord, but do
not believe them !

They may have spent early years in acquiring disci-
plined culture, and they may be Scholars in the truest
sense ; but do not believe them !

They may be independent inquirers, not satisfied to
take their facts and criticism on credit ; but do not believe
them 1

They may be men who, having some respect for schol-
arly reputation, hold themselves amenable to established
canons of inquiry; but do not believe them !

They would not, these ministers of yours, be capa-
ble of petty impertinence, the genuine mark of '' small
minds ;" but do not believe them !

The charge, tremendously serious, as at first sight
it seems, not having in its support the warrant of sound
criticism, and of sober scriptural teaching, dissolves — •
with the first Ithuriel touch of inspired truth. We are
conscious, when first confronted with the stupendous im-
plication of palpitating pain ; but, when scrutinized, the
disturbing element passes lightly away — like the thistle
down which floats upon the soft breeze of a sunny summer
day.

234 BAPTISMA ;

X. THE PHILIPIAN JAILOR's BAPTISM,

"It is therefore pretty evident tliat we Jiave, in this
chapter, very presumptive proof: That Baptism was adminis-
tered without immersion, as in tlie case of the Jailor and his
family." — Dr. Adam Clarke.

"Let the reader turn to Acts xvi: 25-34; from verse 29
we read : Then he (the jailor) called for a light, and sprang
in, and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas,
and hrouqht Ihcm out and said, &c. Reader, where do you
suppose the preachers and the audience are now ? You read
above that the jailor brought them out of their cell, and now
they are speaking to him, and to all that are in his house.
From these facts the natural reply to the question would be,
that they are all in the jailor's house. Then we read that,
after the word of the Lord was spoken to him and to all that
were in his house, he took them. If baptism was performed
by sprinkling or pouring in this case ; why take them any-
where away from the place of preaching ?"

The narrative of the jailor's Baptism, at Philippi,
to which the reviewer asks us to turn, is very ex])licit.
There were the "inner prison" — where Paul and Silas,
all lacerated and bleeding, had been thrust into the
stocks — the outer prison, and the jailor's house, all
doubtless within one enclosure. The jailor, when first
aroused, " brought them out" from that deeper dungeon
to the common prison. To some spacious spot of the
outer prison the members of the jailor's household, ex-
cited by the earthquake, probably hurriedly gathered.
In that part of the prison the word of the Lord was
spoken, baptism administered, and afterwards he
'' brought them into his house." There was confessedly
no opportunity, in immediate connection with the ser-
vice, for immersion. The phrase, therefore, " he took
them," which explains itself to mean: "he took them
and washed their stripes," has been, by a most unwaiv

THE PHILIPIAN JAILOR's BAPTISM. 235

rantable method of exposition, wrung and wrenched
fi'om its j)lain, common sense narrative of the jailor's
humane act ; and twisted and tortured into affirmation
of immersion. " They were talcen," says reviewer,
" either to tank or river." Had immersion been neces-
"sary, we should doubtless have found some such assertion
in the inspired record ; but, as there is no trace of such
a fact, we have good reason for believing that there was
no immersion. Even in the civilization of the British
empire, the reviewer, to this day, would find some diffi-
culty in administering baptism by immersion to prison-
ers in any common jail. To affirm the existence of such,
a convenience in a Eoman jail, in that " northern lati-
tude of snowy Thrace," at the beginning of the Christian
Era, argues a slight knowledge of the annals of prisons,
and of prison life; and cai-ries us, by a single step, into
the region of sheer absurdity.

But then there was " the river that washed its
walls ;" and the jailor and his household must have been
immersed at the Strymon. It is not said, mark you, that
St. Paul took the jailor " and all his " to any river ; only
that the jailor took Paul and Silas " and washed their
stripes." The narrative flatly forbids the inference
which the reviewer finds necessary for immersion.
"They have beaten us openly" said Paul, when next
day, the magistrates ordered their release, " and have
cast us into prison ; and do they now thrust us out priv-
ily? Nay verily but let them come themselves and
fetch us out." The jailor could not, without breach of
fidelity and forfeiture of life, have taken Paul and Silas
beyond the precincts of the prison. The noble protest
of the apostle if, in search of deep water for immersion.

236 BAPTISMA ;

he had been prively prowling through city and suburb,
would have boon little to his credit.

Evidence, inference, and inspired record are all in
dii'ect opposition to the theory of immersion. " If bap-
tism," says the reviewer, " was performed by pouring
and sprinkling ; why take them any where away from
the place of preaching ?" We cannot find from the ac-
count of St. Luke that the jailor took them anywhei'e
except from the inner prison, and after bajitism to his
own house. As in all other New Testament cases there
was baptism, hut no immersion.

XI. JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

" Every later appearance in the Church must be judged
by the model of Apostolic teaching and practice." — Dr. I. E.
Kurtz.

" Who were the Original members of the first New Tes-
tament Church ?"

" They were those who had believed in Jesus, and were
baptized from the time that John commenced his ministry."*

The apparent drift and design of that review state-
ment are, to claim recognition for the baptism and
disciples of John as a constituent of the first christian
church. The mention of John's baptism, in the connec-
tion indicated by reference passages, had exclusive
application to the competence of an apostolic candidate.
The very phrase John's baptism, separates it from Chris-
tianity. We do not, and the sacred writei-s do not,
speak of Paul's baptism, of Peter's baptism, of Philip's
baptism. Whether of Paul or Cephas, or James, the ad-
ministration was in the divine name, and was therefore
Christian baptism.

* "Voice of God."— Pas/or B. G. McDonald.

THE COMMISSION. 237

John the Baptist, as the harbinger of the Messiah,
and nearer to the rising Sun of Righteousness, was
greater than all that preceded him — who could only
gaze through the dimness of ages. But the least of the
disciples of Christ, favored with noon-tide radiance of
gospel day, is greater than he.

There is no haze, however, and nothing of mystery,
or of murkiness, deepening and darkening around the
subject. It is clear and transparent as a sunbeam ; and
woe unto them that put darkness for light.

The Acts of the Apostles dates from the Great Com-
mission. That inspired book contains the history of the
first ISTew Testament Church. After the ascension the
disciples waited in prayer and supplication until the
promised baptism of the Holy Ghost was fulfilled.
" The number of the names together," says the sacred
writer, including both men and women, " was about
one hundred and twenty."

These one hundred and twenty disciples, " baptized
with the Holy Ghost and fire," to whom three thousand
converts were added on the day of Pentecost, to which
additions of bolievei'S were added daily, became the
nucleus of organized Apostolic Churches which, begin-
ning at Jerusalem, in accession and enlargement,
extended " into all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the
uttermost parts of the eai-th."

XII. THE COMMISSION.

" In the corresponding passage oi Mark it is " Go ye into
all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." The
only difference is that in this passage the sphere, in its world-
wide compass and universality of objects, is more fully and
definitely expressed ; while in the former the great aim and
certain resiClt are delightfully expressed in the command
to make disciples of all nations, — Dr. David Brown.

238 BAPTISMA ;

"Every body knows," says reviewer in expounding
the|commission,* "that the word baptize is not translated
only transferred into the text."

"All that the English learner has to do is to find
out the meaning of the Greek word our Saviour used in
the Commission, &c."

In a chapter on Dr. Dale the reviewer gives the
primary meaning of baptizo from Liddell and Scott,
and others, making no mention of their definition of
the New Testament baptizo, and as the secondary mean-
ing :

" Condition ; the result of coynjylete influence effected by
any possible means, and in any conceivable way."

That secondary definition, contradictory, as it is,
to much of strenuous contention in the same book for
rigid literalism, marks a point of interpretation far in
advance of the rank and file of immersionist j)olemic8 :
" Is Saul also among the jii'ophets ?"

The secondary definition, which the reviewer gives
of baptizo, according to the analogy of the New Testa-
ment usage, determines the sense of the Grreek verb in
the commission.

The apostles were not permitted to act under their
commission until after they had received ample interpre-
tation. They were to wait at Jerusalem, and " not
many days hence," God would explain the baptism. The
Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost.

A few days after the commission had been received,
the likeness as of fire streamed down upon each radiant
brow. The descent both symbolical and real was by

* " Bible Baptisma and its Qualifications byD. G. McDonald,
Pastor of the Baptist Church, Charlottetown."

THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH, 239

pouring. That was God's baptism. That was the Sav-
iour's own explanation of baptism in the commission.
That was the sense in which the discij)les, in the fullness
of theix- illumination, comprehended the Saviour's teach-
ing ; " On the Gentiles also," in additional explanation,
was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts x. 45.
" And as I began to speak the Holy Ghost fell on them
as upon us at the beginning.

" Then remembered I the words of the Lord Jesus,
how that Ho said John indeed baptized with water ; but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." Acts xi. 15, 16.

Ths baptism of the Spirit was by pouring.

The baptism of fire was the application of the bap-
tismal symbol to the head.

The "one baptism" of Ej)hesians, and the buried
with Him by baptism," of the Eomans, were baptisms
of the Holy Ghost, spiritual processes ; and no baptism
of the Holy Ghost has ever been represented except by
affusion. The New Testament explains itself.

" The Bible is its own dictionary : the Spirit of God
His own interpreter." *

XIII. THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH : BAPTISM AND
THE lord's SUPPER.

" A little drop of water may serve to seal the fulness of
divine gi'ace in baptizing as well as a small peace of bread
and the least tasting of wine in the Holy Sup^jcr. — Witsins.

An opinion was exj)ressed in " Bajjtisma" that "by
means of a parallel between Baptism and the Lord's
Supper "the agitation to which the Churches have been

* Dr. "Whedon. — The teaching of Christ in the Commission
has been discussed in a former chapter : vid. page 69.

240 BAPTISMA ;

Bubjcctcd upon the vexed but comparatively insignificant
question of mode" might " bo made to stand out in its
true light" — "that upon the basis of such parallel" it
would not be difficult "to construct a conclusive reductio
ad ahsurdum argument."

" I am perfectly astonished," writes the reviewer,
in his chapter : " arguments from the Lord's Supper de-
molished," at the other part of our author's quotation,
that in order to observe the ordinance literally as it
was instituted, the Lord's Supper ought to be celebrated
as a grand festal entertainment."

I am not quite clear whether the misrepresentation
of that passage, of sense and scope, purpose and im-
port, was intentional and deliberate: It may be
that owing to defective mental perception, the statement
in condensed form was not clearly comprehended. In
the interests of charity I incline to the latter alterna-
tive.

A large part of the structure of immersion has been
based on the rigid literal interpretation of the verb hap-
tizo. The contention is that Grreek words have been
employed very generally, by New Testament writers,
in a new sense ; and the presumption is warranted that
baptism is not an exception.

The inquiry very naturally turns in the direction of
the other sacrament. The consecrated name of the sa-
crament of the broken body and shed blood is deipnon —
the Lord's Sup)per.

Is deipnon by inspired writers employed with the
same signification as by the classic writers of G-reece ?
The definitions of two lexicons, which happen to be at
hand, may be appended :

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 241

JDeipnon, " a meal or meal time" — the chief meal
answering to our dinner ^ — Liddell and Scott.

Deipnon, "in Homer, breakfast ; in Attic writers
and in IST. T. dinner or supper, i. e. the chief meal of the
Jews, and also of the Greeks and Eomans, taken towards
or at evening, and often prolonged into the night' — hence
a banquet, feast, &c." — Bobinson.

Then to observe the ordinance of the Lord's Supper,
and to administer it according to the classic use, and
primar}^ signification, of the original word, strenously
contended for in baptism, would require " a grand festal
entertainment."

Such a celebration would bo, of course, a violent
perversion of the sacred ordinance and a direct contra-
vention of Christianity, reason, and common sense.
Therefore we are compelled to the rejection of the princi-
ple of interpretation which presses this absurd demand.
But if the law of literal interpretation must be aban-
doned in deipnon: why not in baptism?

" The simple suggestion," to reproduce the closing
lines of the original paragraph, which has "perfectly
astonished" the writer of " Review," as well it might,
when violently wrested from its original sense, and plain
signification, "in the direction of consistency in dealing
with the two sacraments of the Church, and of making
the same law of interpretation sweep the whole circle,
shews sufficiently the supreme folly of attempjting to build
up a lofty fabric upon so slight a foundation.

XIV. BAPTISMAL REGENERATION.

It is well known that from a very early period the most
extravagant notions prevailed in the church with respect to
the efficacy of baptism. — In proportion as genuine devotion
declined, the love of pomp and ceremony increased. — Robert
Hail.

242 BAPTISMA ;

Having been called upon to administer baptism to
an adult, under circumstances of severe illness, such as
to preclude possibility of immersion, the very natural
reflection, occasioned by such an exigency, found ex-
pression in a closing note of "Baptisma;" that, if im-
mersion were the only valid mode of baptism, we were
met at the very threshold of the church by an ordin-
ance which, in the case of thousands, would be utterly im-
practable. The passage in question is sufficiently expli-
cit. "The fact," it was stated, in immediate connection
" in relation to sj)iritual interests involved is not one of
vital importance. Salvation is not a matter of mere
ritual."

Yet the expression, thus guarded, is charged, by
reviewer, with the "false notion that attributes saving
efficacy to the outward rite."

Is there anything in the passage quoted to warrant
such an inference ? The thought at once returns, that,
if a sentence sufficiently explicit could be so readily de-
prived of its obvious meaning and, with such facility,
applied in an utterly foreign sense; it must be, in the
case of writers to whose works comparatively few have
access, an amazingly easy thing to manipulate testimony
and to compile chapters froni " the most prominent
scholars, theologians and commentators the world ever
saw."

The implication hovvever does not touch the primal
difficulty. It does not enable us to harmonize our con-
ceptions of the infinite wisdom of the Head of the
Church with the theory, thus strenously urged, — which,
by inevitable sequence, leads us to the startling anomaly,
that, of two appointed sacraments of the Church, the
one of initiation is of such a character as frequently to

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 243

prevent possibility of obedience and compliance. This
one objection, as the matter stands, is of sufficiently ser-
ious and fatal character to invalidate the exclusive
claims and assumptions of immersion.

The subject admits of a thoroughly practical and
abundantly satisfactorj^ test. An adult person connected
with church and congregation, an outer court worshipper,
" not far from the Kingdom of God," tremblingly and
keenly sensitive to the demands and imperative obliga-
tions of avowed discipleship, has never reached the
decisive point of public profession of faith in Christ. In
sickness the consciousness of failure begins to be vividly
realized. The merits of the Eedeemer are penitentially
and believingly appropriated ; and though disease wastes
the body the soul is favored with gracious manifestation.
There is a wish to comply with the Lord's command — a
desire to be baptized into the name of Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. The case is not solitary and it is not by
any means exceptional. Three such cases occur ed, at one
charge of mine, within the space of three weeks.

Immersion in the case of that emaciated sufferer
cannot be thought of for one moment. Friends,
physicians, and the instincts and impulses of humanity,
enter an absolute protest against any proposal to admin-
ister baptism by plunging. Even, if it were possible and
permissible, the agitation, weakness and distress, of the
dying candidate, would interfere with all the sacredness,
and solemnity of feeling, by which such service should
at all times be hallowed.

From such a suffering, dying, believing and hoping
disciple of Jesus, a Pastor holding, and hampered by,
immersionists tenets, must turn sadly and sorrowfully

244 BAPTISMA ;

away. '"Yes," ho might say to the anxious inquirer,
" baptism is a positive command of the Lord Jesus. We
are bound by the unqualified terms of the Commission
to baptize all disciples into the name of Three Persons
of the Godhead. But for you it is too late. The oppor-
tunity for immersion is joast. The privilege of being
buried with Chi-ist as we preach and as we believe, is
gone for ever. It is true you have repented and believed
in Jesus. You are saved through the merits of the
Cross and Passion of the blessed Eedeemer. You have
been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the
earnest of your inheritance. But you cannot enter the
portals of the Baptist Church. Your name cannot be
enrolled amongst the Lord's people:

" Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now."

You will ere long come to the general assembly and
church of the first-born ; but you will pass through the
golden gates, and stand before the eternal throne, an un-
baptized believer."

No wonder that the most eminent minister of
Christ, who has added the lustre of a great name to the
Baptist Denomination, when chafed and fretted by the
narrowness and exclusiveness of spirit, which had found
such exhibition, should indignantly declare : that the
"vestibule" of their church was "j^lanted with most
repulsive forms."

In the administration of baptism, by effusion, there
is no such experience of difiiculty and embarrassment.
The nature of the service, in its highest aspect, dedica-
tion to God, is explained, prayer is offered. The candi-
date sweetly composed, and solicitous only for an act of
supreme consecration to Jesus, waits in calm expecta-
tion. The element of water is applied with the fervent

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 245

invocation that simultaneously the promise may be ful-
filled : I will sprinkle clean water on you. Ordinarily
the administration is followed by the sacrament of com-
munion— the elements of the broken body and shed blood
of Christ. With memories of the Garden, the Cross, and
Sepulchre gathering around us, we hear the Saviour say
" Do this in reynemhrance of 7ne." Even though death
should in a few weeks, or days, or still sooner, end the
earthly scene and service, the name of that dying bap-
tized and saved believer is enrolled in membership; and,
through the portals of the earthly sanctuary, the ran-
somed spirit passes upward to the church in heaven : —
" The holy to the holiest leads."

Which, then, in view of the emergency indicated,
seems to be most in harmony with the dictates of Eeve-
lation, reason, and common sense : initiatory ordinance
which comes to us in a form that will not ahcays admit
of compliance ? Is it not rather an institution, which
being of universal obligation, shapes itself to all the ex-
igencies of human life ?

" To apply the waters of baptism to a dying soul
implies criminal unbelief in the all-sufficiency of Christ's
atonement." Was it thus that St. Peter reasoned when
Cornelius and his household received the gift of the
Holy Ghost ? Was not the sufficiency of inward grace,
apart from all other conditions and considerations, the only
argument used for the application of the external rite ?
Was it not the fulness and blessedness of communication
which alone prompted the appeal : " who can forbid
water that these should not be baptized ?"

" Baptism cannot,'" says Eeviewer, " because it need
not be administered to a dying soul." It need not be !
Upon what valid ground has that affirmation been made?

246 BAPTISMA ;

The opinion of reviewer is lighter than the dust that
flits in tlio brightness of the sunbeam — unless sustained
by adequate authority. It need not he ! Have denom-
inational divines deliberated in solemn conclave and de-
cided that question for the church ? It need not he !
Dispensations and decrees of Papal Eome have challen-
ged cognizance ; but Protestants have not been accus-
tomed to pronounce ex cathedra. It need not be!
Something like that dogma has been publicly proclaimed,
accompanied by assurance, upon what authorit}^ it was
not said, that God takes the loill for the deed. Does not
such an assurance directly contravene positive command,
and involve therefore serious responsibility? It meas-
ures at any rate, to some extent, the extremity to which
we are brought by rigid adherence to immersionist
theories.

" But wiio attaches most efficacy to the w'ater," asks
reviewer, "Baptist or Pedo-Baptist ?" The only argu-
ment used, and evidence adduced, for claiming a verdict
favorable to the Baptist is that " immersion cannot — be-
cause it need not be administered tothed^^ing" believer.
Is not that something like making merit of necessity?
Is that one consideration, even if greatly meritorious,
sufficient to outweigh all the controversy, challenges,
heated discussions, wrangling, strife and proselytism,
in which zealous adherence to immersion has involved
the churches. The experience of years, in combined
christian effort, evangelical alliance, the Week of Prayer,
Young Men's Associations, has gone to shew that, al-
most, the only disturbing element which we have had
to dread has grown out of denominational zeal for water.
We are asked soberly to forget the " waters of strife"
and to remember only that " immersion cannot — because

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 247

it need not be be administered " to a dying disciple of
Jesus.

The first converts, in Apostolic ministration, when-
ever converted, no matter where, were immediately
brought into church-membership. They were at once
baptized. But, in consequence of the difficulties of im-
mersion, earnest souls may linger for weeks, and at last
expire, without being received as Christs disciples, and
without being permitted to " break bread" in remem-
brance of Him.

There is a vast difference, between a contention for
mode, in the administration of baptism, which after all
is an incidental thing, and does not touch the spirit of
the ordinance — any more than in the solemnization of
the Lord's Supper, the validity of which does not de-
pend ujwn mode, whether of kneeling at the communion
or sitting in the pew, adopted hy the communicants —
than the value and prevalence of prayer are determined
by the suppliant's mO(ie of standing or kneeling — and the
plea that Christ's baptismal command if unconditional-
ly enjoined, must be universally obligator^-.

But there was a still graver " error" to be charac-
terized and condemned by the reviewer of Baptisma.
It was wrong, as he believes, to administer baptism to
an adult, under the circumstances indicated : but there
is the more serious charge of administering infant bap-
tism— " the child was baptized and in an hour or two
passed into the spirit world." In what way does that
act traverse the letter or the spirit of Christ's universal
command ? "Was it simply prompt observance ? If
Jesus meant to exclude infants from the commission it
was competent for Him to declare his will. He has not

248 BArTiSMA ;

done so; and wo aro not disposed to accept the dictum of
a denomination as a supplement to the commission.

The reviewer is grieved to find " Christians, who,"
he thought " had a proper view of the atonement, taint-
ed with error." But what is " precisely the error?"
In what way does it dishonor the atonement ? Here
again the subject cannot be determined by the ijjse dixit
of a reviewer. It admits of exact and ample demon-
stration. The child that " was baj)tized and in hoar or
two passed into the spirit world" was of infinite worth
in the sight of God. In virtue of the atoning efficacy
of the Saviour's death, and the free gift of righteousness,
it was made meet for heaven. Did not the Saviour say,
"Of such is the Kingdom of God?" * Was not that
little one though Christ the subject of an '' inward
grace" of which baptism is but the " outward sign?"
Could there be the same infallible certainty in regard to
fitness in the reception of any adult candidate for bap-
tism ? Is there any entrance into the spiritual kingdom
excepting as becoming as that little child ? Is it not ex-
pedient that church-organization should coniform as
nearly as possible to divine condition, and thus become
a pattern of the heavenly places themselves ? If the en-
trance of any denomination be narrower and more exclu-
sive than the portals of the kingdom of heaven, all the
worse for the denomination : But is that sufficient
reason for hurling the charge of error in the face of one
who seeks to comply, both in spirit and letter, with the
express teaching of Christ?

* Just because every child born into the world has the in-
ward grace through Christ, which by mere nature he cannot hare,
he is entitled to the outward sign. When this doctrine — the doc-
of Fletcher, Fisk and Olin — is properly understood and felt, our
people will ever be earnest to consecrate their children to God in
God's own appointed wav." — Dr. Whedon in Quarterly.

BAPTISMAL KEGENERATION. 249

^'Foras much then" — the argument of St. Peter
applies equally to this case — " as God gave them the like
gift" — that free gift which in the case of adults, in all
its provisions and blessings is conditional uj)on the ex-
ercise of faith, — "as He did unto us who believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ ; what was I, that I could withstand
God ?"

Implication fi'om fact is followed in "review'' by
imputation of erroneous doctrine: " the soul-destroying
doctrine of baptismal regeneration which crops out in
such conduct!" Was it soul-destroying, and a bar to
heaven, to administer the sacrament of baptism to the
dying members of Christ's mystical body? The serious
charge has been very definitely formulated ; and it ad-
mits therefore of conclusive answer. The opportunity,
which might not otherwise have been presented, has
been afforded of bringing into clear and distinct outline
a fact of ecclesiastical history — which has not yet per-
haps obtained sufficient recognition.

It is affirmed that this " error led to the first devia-
tion from the Apostolic immersion" — that the soul-des-
troying doctrine of "baptismal regeneration" led to the
abandonment of immersionist tenets. It is no violation
of christian courtesy to stamp that statement as abso-
lutely unhistoric. There is no fact of ecclesiastical
history more palpable, than that " baptismal regenera-
tion" was the active principle from which delay in bap-
tism, triune immersion, unction, and other extravagances
and superstitions flowed as from a common source. The
tap-root of error, unquestionably, was the undue im-
portance which came to be attached to mere external
rite. The service was magnified by human devices ; and

250 BAl'TISMA ;

the spirit of ordiuaace was utterly lost in the letter of
ohservauce.

Let the voice of history testify. " The Emperor
Constantiue," says Eusebius,* in Vita Cotistanti, " find-
ing his end fast approaching, judged it a fit season for
purifying himself from his offences, and cleansing his
soul from that guilt which in common with other mortals
he had contracted, Avhich he believed was to be effected
by the power of mysterious herbs and the saving laver."
— I/ib. iv. c. 61.

"The sacrament of baptism," says Gibbon, who af-
fords unbiased testimony in regard to the prevalent
sentiment of the time, "was supposed to contain a full
and absolute expiation of sin ; and the soul was instantly
restoi'ed to its original purity, and entitled to the
promise of eternal salvation. Among the proselytes to
Christianity there were many who judged it imprudent
to precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be re-
peated. By the delay of their baptism, they could venture
freely to indulge their passions in the enjoyments of this
world, while they still retained in their own hands the
means of a sui-e and easy absolution." — Vol, 2, p. 362.

"Some of the noblest characters in the christian
church," says Dean Stanlej', in his Eastern Church, "re-
garded baptism much as the pagans regarded the lustra-
tions and purifications of their own religion, as a com-
plete obliteration and expiation of all former sins; and,
therefore, would naturally defer the ceremony to the
moment when it would include the largest amount of the
past and leave the smallest amount of the future." —
P. 314.

♦ Hall's works, vol. 1, page 318.

BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. 251

The earliest objection to infant baptism, that of
Tertullian,^ of which ecclesiastical history affords any
example, was made purely on the ground of '-the soul-
destroying doctrine of baptismal regeneration." He be-
lieved that the efi&cacy of baptismal water when once
lost could never be fully retrieved ; and for prudential
reasons, therefore, advised delay — De Bapt. C. 18.

Two things are very obvious from the united and
unanimous testimony of history :

1. That the earliest objection, of which we have
any record, to infant baptism, was the legitimate result
of belief in baptismal regeneration. It was not deemed
prudent that the efficacy of baptismal water should be
spent in infancy. It could, with advantage, be delayed
until a late period of life. Experience counselled post-
ponement until there was more sin to wash away.

2. That when other corruptions, especially in the-
fourth century, came into the church, the superstitious
notions and practices of baptismal administration be-
came, at the same time, widely prevalent.

It was not enough to baptize with water, they also
added the anointing of oil. They were not content with
one application ; they introduced the practice of a tri-
une plunge. They were not satisfied with the simplicity
of affusion ; they adopted the cumbersome but more
ceremonious mode of immersion :

" Twixt truth and error there's this difference known,
Error is fruitful, truth is only one."

♦Wilson, p. 529.

252 BAPTISMA ;

XV. A MODEL BAPTISM AND MODERN IMMERSION.

" Behold the pattern shewed to thee when God Himself
b aptized ! See that patte-n where at Pentecost He baptized
His disciples! It was by affusion that blessed work was
done ; and, it thus it is that God baptizeth us, is not this the
way in which His ministers should baptize His people." —
Dr. Whcdon.

" It is satisfactory to discover that all attempts made to
impose upon christians a practice repulsive to the feelings,
dangerous to the health, and ofiensive to delicacy, is destitute
of an scriptural authority, and of really primitive practice."
— Bichard Watson.

" Would it be possible for any Baptist minister to give a
more exjiUcit account ot an immersion than this ? Let me now
give you an account of a so-called baptism by sprinkling or
pouring, as I have witnessed it. After a sermon was preached
from the text "The promise is to you and to your children," the
parent carried the babe in his arms and stood before the pul-
pit ; the minister, in case of sprinkling, took the bowl in one
hand and dipped into it the fingers of the other, thei-eby lift-
ing a few drops of water and letting them fall upon the fore-
head of the babe ; in case of pouring the minister took a jug
and from it poured a little water on the head of the candidate.

The reader can see the comparison, if there be any. To
my mind there is none."

Do all modern immersions come within the range
of this explicit account ?

In the north of England, on the banks of the Tyne,
where the earlier years of my life were spent, we had a
large number of river immersions ; but none of these,
as far as we can remember, were of the Baptist faith.
They were all Mormonite dippings.

From that time, in fourteen years, between 1840 and
1854, according to reliable statistics, the Mormonite
missionaries immersed seventy thousand people in Eng-
land alcne.

A MODEL BAPTISM AND MODERN IMMERSION, 253

The Mormonite preachers called their immersions
baptism — spoke of going down into the water, like
Philip and the Eunuch : Were they upon that score to
he counted as Baptists? Were their dippings to be
considered as proper immersion? " Would it be ^;osSi-
&Ze," to adopt the precise phraseology of the reviewer,
" for any Baptist minister to give a more explicit ac-
count of an inamersion than this ?"

" A large and daily increasing sect," says Dr. Mil-
ler, of Princeton College, " has arisen, within a few
years, in the bosom of the Baptist denomination which
maintains the delusive and destructive doctrine that
baptism is regeneration ; that no man can be regenerated
who is not immersed; and that all, without exception,
who have a historical faith, and are immersed are, of
course, in a state of salvation. This pernicious heresy
has been propagated to a melancholy extent, and is sup-
posed to embrace one half the Baptist body in the
Western country, besides many in the East."

" When all the shivering group stood upon the frost-
bound shore," says Dr. Hubbard, page 155, " muffled in
their double envelope, her slender form exposed to the
keen arctic winds, was let down through the ice into the
cold liquid element below. She afterwards stood upon
the shore, clad in her icy garments, until several more
were immersed; and then, with a body benumbed with
cold, was conveyed to her chamber, whence, after a few
weeks of rapid decline, she was removed to the lonely
domicile of the dead. Her friends regarded her death as
the consequence of her exposure at baptism." Would it be
possible to describe that baptismal service in the same
words as Philips ?

264 BAPTISJLA. ;

" Rivci- iramorsions arc oxtrerael}'" rare", says Rev.
Geo. Turner, writing at Stockport, England, "and yet
two cases of droxcning are now before the public : one in
which the adnwiistrator, and one in which the candidate^
perished in the icater." — Divine Validity, p. 63.

"Would all such cases be included in the same
" explicit" account ?

I have before me an English book, of standard
value, in which no less than six ministers mention the
fatal results of ba2)tism by immersion — one of whom
died instantl}^, and, as their death was attributed, by
two physicians, to immersion, a jury, which sat uj)on
the spot, returned a verdict accordingly." The account
which such ministers might give would be explicit, no
doubt, but ditfcrent from that of the Acts. By way of
very special contrast we give that of a Mr. Walker:

" My friend Mr. G., took cold by immersion, and was
brought into consumption of which he died. I then en-
deavoured with all my soul to drown my convictions by
overpowering the evidence with the advice : We must
not say it was so for it will bring a disgrace ujjon the
ways of God. But I have been compelled to alter my
opinion and of course my practice." — Thorn 409.

Mr. W. was a Baptist minister; and this is the "ex-
plicit account" which he gives: Conviction of the want
of adaptation of immersion to the requirements of bap-
tism, and repugnance to a repetition of similar experi-
ences, led him to renounce his connection with the Bap-
tist Denomination.

It has not been without reluctance of feeling, and a
sense of restraint, that these instances have been speci-
fied. Only a conviction of the necessity of presenting,

A MODEL BAPTISM AND MODERN IMMERSION. 255

in clear and vivid outline, the whole subject has prompt-
ed these paragraphs. The first design was to gather
and to group together only recent incidents of local ad-
ministration. There was a fear, however, that such an
exhibit might seem like burlesque of a serious subject ;
and that sensitive feeling, always to be held sacred,
might be wounded in a trace of some recognized inci-
dent. The substitution of facts from reliable publica-
tions, and only such have been adduced, answers the
same purpose. They are not intended for caricature ;
but to suggest the difficulties of immersion ; and, as a
mode of administration, to stamp it as unfit for exchisive
observance.

The "reviewer of baptisma" has given us "an ac-
coujit of so-called baptism" by sprinkling and pouring.
It may be permissible, by way of contrast, to attempt a
description of a baptismal administration — b}' a different
mode.

The service to which I refer, is of recent occurrence,
the locality of the scene will bo sufficiently indicated by
a general description.

The candidates, unable to unite in worship, await in
a flutter of excitement in an adjoining vestry, in robed
readiness for the approaching ceremonial. The officiating
minister, after preliminary service, compelled first of all
to change his own apparel, — curiosity on the part of the
spectators for the most part taking the place of devotion
— with a splash descends into the tank, with a grasp, as
if in anticipation of violent struggle which not unfre-
quently ensues, almost as difficult as a gymnastic feat,
one which aged and feeble ministers are unable to at-
tempt, the candidates seized by locked hands and neck,

256 BAPTISMA ;

reduced to a posture of helplessness, are plunged beneath
the water. The same water of the tank, pure or im-
pure, must serve for the several candidates in succession.
In this mode of administration the effort of switching
and reducing the light and floating drapery to a soaking,
sinking condition, forms in many cases a difficult, deli-
cate and dexterous part of the transaction; and which,
in the case under consideration, prompted the expression
of a wish, the result of pure delicacy of Christian feeling,
never again to witness an administration of baptism by
immersion. It may be objected that such revulsion of
feeling was simpl}'- due to inveterate prejudice; but
there had been a resolve to stifle, for the moment,
preferences for a diflPerent mode, and this was simply on
the part of cultured, intelligent observation, the expres-
sion of uncontrollable conviction.

The several parties in order to escape as speedily as
possible from the church and discomfort of dripping
apparel, find it necessar}-, after the plunge, to make a
hurried exit ; and, notwithstanding the announcement,
" Yet there is room," the service comes to an uncere-
monious and compulsory close. The theory of immersion,
moreover, concentrates all the interest, and all the
efficacy of the baptismal service, upon mode ; and j^et,
in that supreme moment, in which the baptized ones
are in contact with the element, they are for the most
part only conscious of distress, disturbed feeling, and of
violent action. The sensation of shrinking, shiver and
shudder, and the gasp as of suffocation, are not unfre-
quently most perceptible to the audience.

It is scarcely surprising, that, according to a para-
graph recently going the round of journalism, a lady of
the United States, suffered such revulsion of feeling, from

A MODEL BAPTISM AND MODERN IMMERSION. ZOl

some ludicrous and untoward incident of lier immersion,
that she went immediately and united herself with the
Presbyterian Church.

Such a case of repugnance and revulsion of feelino-
is not altogether solitary. In Thorn's " mode of bap-
tism" many such cases are specified : " A gentleman
was about to be dipped and join the Baptist communion ;
but before undergoing the operation himself, he went to
witness the immersion of two or three women. The
sight and the scenes disgusted him. He thought the
Saviour could not have enjoined such an indecent rite.
He returned, examined the scriptures, altered his mind
— and relinquished the honor of being dipped. He is
now a respectable minister of the Independent Denom-
ination." P. 376.

The Mennonitcs, a large and influential denomina-
tion of Baptists in Holland, once uncompromising con-
tenders for immersion, perplexed and disgusted b\' the
difficulties and, in some cases, impossibility of the mode,
deliberately abandoned it. They decided, as a denom-
ination, to substitute affusion for immersion. They still
baptize none but adults ; but their invariable mode is to
pow- water on the head of the candidate. Commend us
to the moderation and common-sense Christianity of the
Mennonites of the low countries.

There is nothing very objectionable, it must be con-
fessed, in the "case of pouring" as witnessed and deei-
cribed by reviewer. It was evidently a model baptism :
"the minister took njiig and poured a little water on the
head of the candidates."

For the sake of contrast and comparison, more
complete and more suggestive the accessories, which add
not a little to the impressiveness of the scene, may be

258 UAi'Tis.MA ;

ridded; and then wo have, in the descrij)tioii, an ideal
and cxti'nple of simple, sufiicient, scriptural, apostolical,
New Testament Baptism.

After a service of praise and prayer, suitable selec-
tion from the word of God, and a brief exposition of the
nature and obi ligations of the ordinance, the candidates
for baptism, and usually those who accompany them in
a service of public reception and recognition, of eai*ly
baptismal dedication, meet their pastor at the commu-
nion. Approjiriate questions, including as a summary
of doctrine, the Apostle's Creed are proposed. Amidst
hushed stillness of the silent, standing congregation, a
pathos which moves every heart, and not a disturbing
element or incident to mar the interest of hallowed
solemnity, accompanied b}^ invocation for the promised
blessing, " I will sprinkle clean water upon you," and
for the richer, deeper baptism of the Holy Ghost, the
water, b}" pouring or sprinkling, falls lightly on the head
of the several candidates ; and tremulous with emotion,
the thought, at that moment of supreme interest, goes
up to God. They are baptized, eis to onoma, in the name
of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

The converts,

" All glistening with baptismal dew,"
are then, by the right hand of fellowship, with other can-
didates, all of whom have been accepted by the united
assent of the membership of the Church, cordially wel-
comed to the communion of saints. In behalf of the
whole church, the minister, in that service of baptism
and reception can say :

" Welcome from earth : lo, the right hand
Of fellowship to you we give !
With open hearts and hands we stand,
And you in Jesus name receive." —

Hymn Book, p. 675.

A MODEL BAPTISM AND MODERN IMMERSION. 259

There is no necessity, as in administration by im-
mersion, for confusion and hurried departure — the dis-
comfort of saturated :ind dripping garments. The
service, in which they continue to the close, to them of
unique and memorable interest, deepens and intensifies
the feeling of consecrated service. Very frequently an
arrangement is made after the service of baptism and
reception for the administration of sacramental commu-
nion. The elements of the broken body and shed blood
are received not only as a memorial of the Lord's death,
in remembrance of Him; as a covenant-service — asacra-
men^wm —pledge of love and 103'alty to Jesus; but also
as the badge of discipleship: shewing " forth the Lord's,
death till he come."

Who, that has ever witnessed such baptismal scene
and service, has ever failed to receive and retain vivid
and permanent impression of genuine simplicity, per-
vading solemnity, and fitness to all the facts and forms,
of sciiptural teaching and service?

The profound impressiveness of this mode — perfect
congruity to the spirit of Christianity — absolute conson-
ance to institute ordinance, and imagery or inspired
truth — claim and constitute, for the administration of
baptism, by affusion, the stamp and seal of adaptation
for universal adoption and observance.

XVI. CLOSE COMMUNION : A COROLLARY.

" What ! Commune in both kinds?

In every kind —

. . . love, hope, truth, unlimited,

Nothing kept back."

— Eliz. B. Browning.

2(tO IJAl'TISMA;

•' It is sad to see such difterence ot opinion in the family
ot God.' * — Prcf. to Bevicu:

Were immei-sionist tenets held nx^icly or mainly as
matter of theory, or of denominational prefei-ence, no
strictures upon them would be regarded as cither expe-
dient oi- admissible. Unhappily, however, as a matter
of fact, they tend altogether in the direction of exclu-
siveness and ci sectarian narrowness; and, to other
churches, like "waters of strife," they are a perpetual
source oi' trouble and dissension.

J^.s a logical consequence, and a distuibing clement.
afitatloii Conctj*'niiig close communion has entered into
almost all arrangements for union and iHterdenomina-
tional fraternity. On more than one occasion, in recent
years, when for some continuous peiiod social and united
services for exhortation and testimony and prayer had
been accompanied by marked and manifest token of
Divine approval and blessing, the desire was expressed
for a closing, crowning service of intercommunion.
There was a conviction that at the table of the Lord, by
common participation of the elements of the broken
body and shed blood, in thankful remembrance of His
ieath. members of His mystical body, already greatly
blessed, brought nearer to each other in the sacred
bonds of christian fellowship, could most impressively
and in practical form exhibit their spiritual unity and
fundamental belief in " the communion of saints.' '
" But," says Robert Hall, the renowned Baptist preacher
and polendic, " they feel no objeetion to have communion

* An article in the " Christian Guardian," Toronto, Oct. 15th,
1879, which comes to hand as these lines are written, makes refer-
ence to recent expulsion of a prominent Baptist minister and his
church from Baptist Association — an incident of " very close
communion."

CLOSE COMMUNIDX : A COROLLARy. 261

with Pedoba])tists in prayer and praise, the most solemn
acts of christian worship, even on an occasion imme-
diatel}' connected with the recognition of a religious
society ; but no sooner does the idea of the Eucharist
occur, than it operates like a spell, and all this language
is changed and these sentiments vanish. For my part
I am utterly at a loss to reconcile these discrepancies."

At the meeting of the Protestant Ecumenical Coun-
cil, held in New York, 1873, of great and memorable
interest, it was asserted by the venerable Dr. Hodge, the
Nestor of the Assembly, in a speech upon the Unity of
the Church, that denominational churches owed to each
other the duty of intercommunion — that terms of fellow-
ship were prescribed b}' Christ and were the same for
all christian communities — that no particular church
had the right to require any thing as a term of commu-
nion which Christ had not made a condition of salvation
— that if men could not alter the conditions of salvation,
they could not alter the terms of communion. The Inter-
communion Service, on that occasion, by wa}' of compro-
mise, and in deference to the feeling of weaker brethren,
was held in Madison Square Church ; but, unquestion-
abh^, close communion and restricted sentiment were
not the element of the Evangelical Alliance. ''In no
way" it was claimed by the Dean of Canterbury, —
whose beautiful addresses in tender, touching tone, full
of earnest emotion and pathos of the most genuine kind
was accompanied by an unction of the Holy One — could
the communion of saints be better shetvn than in the
Holy Sacrament : Each might have his own ^v'^y of
celebration ; but the}^ shewed the reality of their union
by a common participation in the elements of the Re-
deemer's death. As a confession of faith, at the close of

2G2 baptiSiMA;

liis address, the Dean recited the Apostle's Creed and
was joined in it by the standing congregation. The
llcv. Dr. Angns, a distinguished Baptist scholar of the
London Universitj* — representative of the church of
Hall, Spurgeon, and other liberal-mind English Bap-
tists— ass(jeiated with the Moravian Bishop and other
eminent ministers of leading evangelical denominations,
took prominent part in the administration of that sacra-
mental service. But the enunciation of fraternal senti-
ment and that unstricted mingling at the Lords table
were at once followed by emphatic expression of dis-
satisfaction— from the ranks of close communionists —
the only note of discord by which the unity of that
Alliance was disturbed. To what adequate cause can
such exclusiveness be assigned ? What explanation can
be atforded of that unlovely, thornj', disputatious spirit
which may by encountered at moments the least desir-
able? To what plausible motive can such palpable
violation of New Testament injunction be attributed ?
The denomination to which this dissonance is due, while
nobly holding other essential and evangelical principles,
has unfortunately been led to adopt immersionist tenets
as a distinguishing badge; and, hence, the vital moment of
what under other circumstances might have been deemed
a subordinate consideration. The difficulty then which
hindei's and embarrasses the churches in any attempt at
intercommunion, resolves itself mainly into one of mode
or condition of baptism. Close communion must be
logically regarded as one of the pernicious results of
strenousness, in regard to mere ceremonial ; and of a
series of ussumptions, in regard to baptismal adminis-
tration, which have no suflScient warrant in the word of
(jiod. Even the Baptist Church, if less of stress and

EIRENICON. 263

strenousncss wore put upon mere form, would be less
vulnerable to the organized movement of sects which do
not equal her in evangelical enterprise, but which in
exclusiveness and aggressiveness of fanatical zeal, for
mere rite, take a decidedly advanced position.

" We have endeavoured to shew," says the eminent
Baptist Divine, already quoted, in closing his luminous
disquisition on close coinmunion, " that the system un-
churches every Pedo-Baptist community," " How is it
possible," again he asks, " for principles fraught with
such a corollary not to be contemplated with anxiety
by our Pedo-baptist brethren : AYe should not be sur-
prised if other denominations should be tempted to com-
pare us to the Euphratean horsemen in the Apocalypse,
who are described as having tails like scorpions^ and with,
them they did hurt."

XVII. EIRENICON.

" They who have seen the blessed vision of UnUy, with
the prayers ot the Saviour breathing through it as the spirit
of its life, and the smile of the Father beaming upon it, how
can they turn from this to dote upon any thing so shadowy. —
Archdeacon Hare.

Though compelled, in previous pages, because of
the purposes of prosehjtisni, to which the subject has
been made subservient, to speak iilainly, this chapter
cannot be closed without the expression of an opinion
that all the preferences and attachments of the Baptist
Churches, and their pastors — if only held in the " bonds
of peace," of Christian courtesy and moderation, which
the apostle inculcates, — are quite compatible with all
-conditions and essential requirements ot spiritual, frater-
nal and inter-denomi national union and intercourse.
Each great ecclesiastical division, Arminian, Anglican,
and Presbyterian, has its own cherished traditions.

2(14 BAVTISMA ;

.special mission, and distinctive peculiai-ities; and why
should not Baptist preferences, for immersionist tenets
and theories, be suffered quietly to fall into the samo
place — as matters, mainly of denominational home life, and
not, of necessity, to be obtruded and agitated as elements
of trouble and strife in the churches.

The Creed accepted by all evangelical churches has
cr3'stalized the belief of Christendom in regard to the
Communion of Saints; and the growing intercourse of
christian people has developed essential elements of vital
spiritual unity, and the possibilities of denominational
fraternity, of which until now there has scarcely been
sufficient cognizance.

The distinctive attributes of humanity are indepen-
dent of all arbitrary distinctions. Vocal articulation
and the vital forces of life — the heart-throb with its
mystic murmurings and the tear that glistens in the
eye — are common to all and run along the whole line of
our being; and, in the domain of spiritual life, there are
affinities and aspirations, the throbbings and deep pulsa-
tions of heart and life to that which is heavenly and
divine. There are great and essential verities, " the
voice of blood more audible than speech," which indicate
relationship, proclaim a blessed brotherhood, and that
demand emphatic expression, " Voices like to the
music of the spheres may be heard by the ear of faith
echoing and re-echoing through the ages the great high-
priestly prayer of our Divine Lord : — last uttered in its
fulness it may be the last to be answered — That they
all may be one; as thou Father art in me and I in Thee,.
that the}^ also may be one in Us : that the world may
believe that Thou hast sent Me."' *

* Dr. E. M. Potter.

EIRENICON. 265.

May we not be permitted to cherish the hope that
in the glow, the earnestness and expansiveness of the
Church of Christ in the days which are dawning upon
us, fraught with highest promise and glory long delayed,
the exclusiveness of mere rite will melt away — that it
will give place to purer principle and to nobler catho-
licity of spirit.

Uniformity does not necessarily constitute, or exhi-
bit the noblest unity. Controlling principle, affording
ample sphere for all distinctive preferences, finds expres-
sion in the expansive sentiment, the true Eirenicon of the
Christian Church : " In fundamentals, unity; in matters
doubtful, liberty ; in all things, charity." May the time
soon come, when all varied and adverse hues and rays
of denominational life, blending and co-mingling in
earnest and holy activities, shall be dissolved, by the
effulgence of divine manifestation, into soft, pure, white
light of spiritual unity — for which theEedeemer prayed
" That they all might be one ! "

Numerous and varied instruments, the choir-song
and its accompaniments, the sounding symbol, stringed
instruments and the silver of sweet bells, will still be
found in God's spiritual temple, but there shall be no
voice of discord — not a solitary note of dissonance to
mar the unity. Thought and feeling shall beat and
thrill in perfect ' blessed unison. From "the Holy
Catholic Church, the communion of saints," rich in the
renewed energy of more than Pentecostal effusion, there
shall roll up in triumph the exulting, adoring chorus :

" One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and
Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in
you all."

Amen.

INDEX AND SUMMARY.

'CHAPTER I. MODE OF BAPTISM: THE OLD TESTA-
MENT.

Page.

1. Evangelical Promise — Prelude ... 9

2. Different Baptisms - - - . . 10

3. Prophetic Symbolism : Submersion - - 13

4. Prophetic Symbolism : Affusion - - - 15

CHAPTER II. MODE OF BAPTISM : JOHN THE BAPTIST

1. John's Baptism ------ 18

2. The Saviour's Baptism . - . . 22

CHAPTER III. MODE OF BAPTISM.

1. With Water : A Vindication - - - - 24

-CHAPTER IV. MODE OF BAPTISM : PENTECOST AND
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

1. Inspired Record - 33

2. Consonance of Mode 35

3. Pentecost : Audible Sign - - - - 36

4. Pentecost ; Visible Symbol ... 39

5. Exegesis .......41

6. Significance of Symbol .... 42

7. The Spirit of Burning 43

8. Pentecost : God's Baptism ... 45

9. Pentecost : Alternative View • - - 47

10. Baptism of Three Thousand .... 50

11. Ethiopian Eunuch --.-.- 53

12. Baptized unto Moses - - - - . 55

13. Three that bear Record 56

14. Jewish Baptisms .-..-. 59

15. Rhantizo 61

11 INDEX AND SUMMAnV.

It;. Authorised Version 65

17. Demonstration ---... G4

18. Summary of Mode ..... 66

CHArTEli V. SPIRITUAL BAPTISM : ARGUMENT FROM
ANALOGY.

1. The Great Commission 69

2. One Baptism ...... 73

3. Buried by Baptism 74

4. Born of Water and the Spirit ... 78
">. Figure corresponding to Baptism - - - 80

0. Exigency, Fact and Inference ... 81
7. Dispensation of the Spirit - - - - 83

CHAPTER VI. SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM.

1. The Key-Note 85

2. A Covenant God 86

3. Voices of the Old Testament - - - . 88

4. Identity of the Church .... 90.

5. Of such is the Kingdom of God - - - 93
C. Forbid them not 97

7. Positive Authority ----- 99

8. Apostolic Commission 100

9. Law of Infant Baptism - . . - . 101

10. Baptism of Households .... 103

11. Ecclesiastical History 105

12. Snmmary of Subjects 108

CHAPTER VII. OBJECTIONS TO INFANT BAPTISM.

1. Silence of Scripture ..... m

2. No Example 113

3. No Command ...... 114

4. Cannot believe 115

5. So few Households ...... 116

6. Terms of Commission .... hq

7. Brings no Blessing - 121

8. Unrecognized ...... 123

9. Conclusion .--.... 126

INDEX AND SUJIMARV.

CHAPTER VIII. TESTIMONY OF ANTIQUITY.

1. Classic Usage ------- 127

2. Greek Lexicons and Authors - - - i3(;

3. Bapto 140

4. Hellenistic Greek 143

5. Bathings and Washings ----- 145

6. Patristic Testimony - - - - . 143

7. Ephesian and Early Fonts - - . . 154

8. Oriental Evidence . . - - . 157

0. Church ot the Catacombs - - - - 160

CHAPTER IX. CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM.

1. Baptisma ------- 1^7

2. Classic 170

3. An Uncanonized Canon 183

4. Voice of Versions - - - . - 18G

5. Anglican Translation 193

6. Tesselated Quotation 198

7. Cross Examination of Witnesses - - - 204

8. Syllogism 210

9. Baptismata Biblia - - - - . - 212

10. Philip and Eunuch 215

11. Eis in Greek &c 224

12. Jailer's Baptism ... - - 234

13. Sacraments - 239

14. Baptismal Regeneration . - - - 241

15. A Model Baptism and Modern Immersion - 252

16. Close Communion - - . . . 259

17. Eirenicon ---,.-- 263

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