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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est filmA d partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes solvents illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ( PRIW THE BAPTISTS: WHO ARE THEY? AND WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? LY Ilev. ^V^. 73, BOGGS, A.M. American Baptist Telugu Mission. MADRAS: PRINTED AT THE LAWRENCE ASYLUM PRESS, MOUNT ROAD, BY w. n. Moore. 1831. ft I 8X\ i: 0" t: 1'] A t'] S( E. CJ A3 01 81 CONTENTS. Page. INTRODUCTION ,,,, 3 OUR NAME THE INFALLIBLE STANDARD 8 PERSONAL FAITH INDISPENSABLE , H A REGENERATED CHURCH MEMCERSHir 15 CHURCH POLITY 1-;nc,plo here laid Sown ;«„t'''r^' ^°^ the principle is ignored Ik '^''^^'^''ned. This '•fceived int/church irr*" uP^'-«°°« are tl'oy have arr?.ed ,t .''"■f ? ''°^«"«e because they have received aS'" "^"^ «'• «f rehgions instruction or k *'" '"'"^unt onts are roUeion^ n°i' '^ ''ecanse their par- ly respectabErd ZtlTj '""'y^^^^B^ ^-^^^ -dor suc^cStsAlTr -fiti5r:itrncTn'^^^^^^^ -^ da-ectly opposed to aS snhv''^"- ^^^^ ^^e other. Because, by infant t''^^ ""^ ^'^^^ are brought into tCcWh ^*'''°' P^^'^^' aud mvoluntarilv wh? ' unconsciously ,^ain. But the/^rli. T^ °^^«'- ''e born 'J^hishas been iSSed""'"-^'^^ ^^"'^''^■ again by leading Pedobanlr"'; ^""^ ^^^r 'er. therefore, fi-rbrouX • !" ^^''^^^W'w- mth s way wh; may ne^^A^"'"^ *he Church 8-odlmsss ; and whTse cln7 ''^'? *°J^ ^^ta' *^d Isss probable by tLflt7h7 '' '■''^*^^'- jf "le idct that somethino- {3 Christ, and nd life, are dispensable Q a church, 'd, and the ned. This ersons are p because n age, or in amount their par- ' are high- and influ- te largely scriptural a dream. ship and They are of each persons sciouslj be born Church. d over re num- hurch ly vital ender- ething 17 iwas (lone for tlicm in their infancy, which i\\Qy wvc in damjcr of regarding as in sonic sense a spiritual benefit, if not an actual substitute for the new birth. In fact, in sonic denominations tliey are taught that it ii< the new birth. Why should one think conversion necessary when ho is taught from liis childhood, as the writer was, that in baptism he was nuiJe ''a member of Christ, a cliild of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven ?" How unmean- ing to preach to '^ a member of Christ^' the necessity of being born again ! He miglit well reply. " I am an inheritor of the King- dom of Heaven ; the Church made me such ; go and preach repentance and regeneration to those who need it.^' How can a regener- ated Church membership be even approxi- mately realized under such circumstances ? It is not claimed that the membership of all Baptist churches is pure. They doubt- less include some who have never known Christ by faith. But, Avhile this is to be deplored, it cannot be wondered at when we remember that even under the eyes of the Apostles, false professors, such as Si- mon Magus, crept into the church. But there is a vast difference between unknow- ingly receiving some who, although solemnly professing faith in Christ and a 2 18 chaugc of heart are, ncvcrtLjlcss, unre- newed ; there is, I say, a groat difference between this and knowingly, deliberately, and purposely introducing largo numbers in their natural, unrenewed state, into the Church. If unconverted persons come into the fellowship of our churches, it is not the fault of our principles. Wo receive those only who make, what we believe to be, a sincere and honest profession of saving faith in Jesus Christ. hi iii 10 CHURCH POLITY. 15ai)tisls ]n)]{\ tliJit II Clirisnan CLuruli is, according to tlic New Testament, a coiii- pauy of true believers in Christ, who, having boon baptized, mutually band themselves together to observe the ordinances of Christ ; to walk iii the followshij) of tho Gospel ; to maintain a godly life ; to uphold the worship of Cod ; to glorify His name ; and to seek the extension of His Kingdom throughout the world. In the matter of Church Government, 1 baptists believe that each separate and indi' vidual Church is independent of the autho- rity of all other churches, persons, and bodies of men, either civil or ecclesiastical, and that its affairs are to be administered by its own members, under the authority of Christ. This is generally known as the Congrega- tional form of Church polity. The use of the word Church in the New Testament is instructive on this point. We find it frequently used in the plural, the *' churches. '^ When it is employed in the singular, it generally refers to a particular company of believers, in a certain place, e.g. : " The Church that was at Antioch ;'* '^ the Church of Ephesus ;" *' the Church in 2(1 Smyrna/' etc. In the other cases where it occurs in the singular, it plainly refers to the whole number of Christ's people, considered collectively, but evidently never meBnis a large ecclesiastical organization, embracing a number of churches, such as those of a whole country or province. We find no ex- pression in Scripture corresponding to such terms as the " Church of England,'' or the '' Church of Scotland," or '' the Church of the United States." "We do not here read of the Church of Judea, or the Church of Galatia, or the Church of Macedonia, but the churches of Judea, etc. " Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, etc. (Acts ix : 31). '' And so were the churches established in the faith. '^ (Acts xvi : 5.) Paul speaks of ^^ all the cJiurches of the Gentiles" (Rom. xvi ; 4), and " the Churches of God" (1 Cor. xi : 16). Again he says, "And so ordain I in all the Churches" (] Cor. vii : 17), not in the whole Church ; and " that which cometh upon me daily, the care," not of the whole church, but " of all the churches" (2 Cor. xi : 28.) We find in the New Testament nothing of the nature of ecclesiastical courts, as they are called, exercising jurisdiction and autho- rity over churches. Our Lord Jesus Chi'ist ■1 21 here it s to the sidered a large ing a ;e of a noex- :o such or the Jhurch )t here '~i hurch lia, but lad the ija and s: : 31). shed in eaks of m. xvi ; /Or. xi : in I in not in :ometh whole (2 Cor. othing as they autho- Chi'ist in his directions for the treatment of offences (Matt, xviii) recognizes the Church (evi- dently the individual church to which the offender belongs) as iJie ultimate tribunal of appealy and its action as final. He says, when the previous steps have failed, '' tell it unto the Church." He makes not the remotest reference to any higher court of appeal, either ecclesiastical or civil. We find another illustration of this prin- ciple in 1 Cor. V : 2, 5, 12, 13. Paul re- proves the church at Corinth for not dealing promptly with an offender, and calls upon them, when they are assembled together, to deliver him to Satan, etc. Again, in re- ferring to this case (2 Cor. ii : G), he states tliat the punishment was infiictod by ''many," or literally by the greater number, which manifestly means the majority. It has been claimed that the fifteei>th chapter of the Acts furnishes authority for Church courts. Is this a valid claim ? Let us turn to the account of it. A church sprang up in the Gentile city of Antioch. Certain men from Judea visited them, and taught that they must be circum- cised, or they could not be saved. This doctrine was a subversion of the Gospel. After much discussion it was decided to 11 u i 99 carry tlio question to JcM^uaaleni^ wlioro most of the Apostles were, and where tliey would be most likely to ascertain the truth in reference to the disputed doctrine. Paul, Barnabas and others were sent as delegates. When they were come to Jerusalem they were received by the Church, and the apos- tles and elders. Then a meeting was held to consider the matter. At the close of Peter's address, '^ all the multitude kept silence^^ while they heard what Paul and Barnabas had to say. Then James spoke, and after his address, ^^ it pleased the apos- tles and elders, icith the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antiochwith Paul and Barnabas,'^ to bear their communication ; and the document which they prepared commences thus : — '^ The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting,^^ etc. We are led to the fol- lowing conclusions : — L This was not a general council, for only two churches were represented, and therefore, it bears no resemblance to modern councils. 2. It was unlike any council which can now be convened, for it was presided over by Apostles and inspired men. 3. It furnishes no warrant for authorita- U 23 tlvc councils, since they cannot now issue inspired decrees. 4. It was in all respects, and in the highest degree exceptional and extraordi- nary. The celebrated Archbishop Wliately says : — " As for so-called general councils we find not even any mention of them, or allusion to any such expedient. The pre- tended First Council at Jerusalem does seem to me a most extraordinary chimera, without any warrant whatever from sacred history." — Kingdom of Christ, p. 36. Mosheim, the great Church Historian, says: — '^In those primitive times, each Christian Church was composed of the people, the presiding officers, and the assist- ants or deacons. These must be the com- ponent parts of every society. The highest authority was in the people, or the whole body of Christians ; for even the Apostles themselves inculcated by their example that nothing of any moment was to be done or determined on, but with the knowledge and consent of the brotherhood. — Acts i : 15 : vi : 3 ; XV : 4 ; xxi : 22." — Eccles, Hist., Vol. I., p. 77 (Murdochs Translation) , - Again, he soys, — " All the churches in those primitive times were independent 24 bodies, or none of them snlijcct to the juris- diction of any other. For though the churches which, were founded by the Apos- tles themselves, frequently had the honor shown them to be consulted in difficult cases, yet they had no judicial authority, no control, no power of giving laws. On the contrary, it is as clear as no on -day, that all Christian churches had equal rights, and were in all respects on a footing of equa- lity/'— Fo?. 7., p. 83. And again, he says : — " These councils, of which no vestige appears before the middle of this (2nd) century, changed nearly the whole form of the church. For, in the first place, the ancient rights and priv- loges of the people were, by them, very much abridged ; and on the other hand, the influence and authority of the bishops were not a little augmented. '^ — Vol. J., p, 150. Dean Waddington, speaking of the churches of the first century, says ; — " Every church was essentially independent of every other. The churches thus consti- tuted and regulated, formed a sort of federative body of independent religious communities, dispersed through the greater part of the Eoman Empire, in continual \ I ■^- 25 the jnris- >iigh tlio he Apos- he honor difficult lority^ no On tlie ', that all O^tSy and of equa- imcils, of e middle arly the in the nd priv- mi, very er hand, J bishops '^. I., p, of the says ;— ejwndent 3 consti- sort of religious J greater ontinual communication, and in constant harmony with each other /^ — Eccles. IHst., p. 4o. All this agrees precisely with the views held by Baptists concerning the churches of Christ and their government. Baptists hold that, according to the plain teaching of Holy Scriptures, the regularly appointed offices in a Christian church are but iiro— that of bishop or pastor, and deacon ; the first, to minister in things spiritual, and the second, in things temporal. The New Testament Bishop was certain- ly not a " lord over God^s heritage,^' placed in authority over a number of churches and ministers in a large district, but was simply the pastor, or one of the pastors, of a church. Paul, in writing to the Church at Philippi, addresses ''the saints in Christ Jesus, with the bishops and deacons." The terms '' bishop" and '' clder'^ are synonymous. In Paul's address at Miletus, to the elders of the Ephesian Church (Acts xx), he says, '' Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over thd which the Holy Ghost hath made you over- seers'' (episcopous). The same word is here used which is elsewhere translated bishop. The elders, therefore, were bishops. 26 Tlio same tiling is proved conclusively in Titus i : 5 — 7; where Paul reminds Titus that ho left him in Crete to ordain elders in every city. He goes on immediately to mention the necessary qualifications of the men to be so ordained, and then adds, ''/or a bishop'^ must be blameless, &c. '' Elder/' '' bishop,'' '' pastor" therefore refer to the same office. That these two officers, bishop and deacon, were the only ones recognized in the primitive churches seems evident from Paul's directions both to Timothy and Titus. In treating of the qualifications of church officers, he mentions these only. If others had existed he would undoubtedly have referred to them. We find no warrant in the Book for the almost endless '^ariety and gradation of clerical orders and distinc- tions, from pope to parson, from cardinal to curate, which exist at the present day. We must, therefore, conclude that these offices are the inventions of men ; and we are of the opinion that the Lord Jesus Christ does not need men to invent any- thing for Him, ^' His work is perjcct,'' Baptist Churches are presided over by '^ bishops,'^ in the New Testament sense — i. e.j overseers or pastors — and their tem- poral affairs are in charge of deacons, ^ 27 Baptists call councils from time to time, as occasion seems to require, but no autlio- rity is claimed for them. 'J'liey do not issue '* decrees," but arc only adcisory. They arc not clerical conclaves, but are composed of private brethren as well as ministers. Baptists hold Associations and Conventions, but they arc merely meetings for general religious purposes, and have no legislative authority or ruling power what- ever. And yet, there is as much i^eal unity among Baptist churches, the world over, as among those which are bound together by extensive, complicated, ponderous ecclesias- tical systems, of human origin. Baptist churches, though independent of each other, are united by the most powerful of all bonds, even those specified by Paul, when exhorting the Ephesian Christians to main- tain unity (Eph. iv : 4 — 6) ; — " There is one body, 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.'^ This system of Church Government, fram- ed, we believe, by Divine wisdom, is charac- terized by simplicity, instead of complexity ; I i 1 28 and jet it is comprohonsivo enougli to meet- all requirements, and adequate to the suc- cessful settlement of all difficulties, when administered in tlie spirit of christian love. It is in connection with this principle of the independence of the churches, that Bap- tists have ever maintained an uncom- promising disapproval of the unhallowed union of church and state ; it being per- fectly clear that thus united, the Church must bo secularized by the State, as is lamentably apparent in all such establish- ments. < 29 SOUL LIBERTY. Another priuciplc for which Baptists have always conteDiled, is Soid Liberty, or jyerfed freedom of Conscience, Most denominations are very ready to advocate this principle noiv, that in the light of the nineteenth century it is seen to be built on the foundation of truth and justice ; but trace back its history, and it Avill be found to be a distinguishing prin- ciple of the Baptists. 'J'hey have ever stood forth as the champions of perfect religious liberty, — holding that no man, or body of men, civil or ecclesiastical, has a right to interfere with the conscience, or to force any one to believe this or that doctrine, or to worship God according to this or that form. The celebrated John Locke, in his Essay on Toleration, says : — '^ The Baptists were, from the first, the friends of liberty ; just and true liberty ; equal and impartial hberty/^ Bancroft, the American Historian, says, ^' Freedom of conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, was, from the first, the trophy of the Baptists.^'— ^/.s'^. U. IS. Vol, 11., pp. 66, 67. 30 The first modern trcatihse ever written aj)on Religious Liberty was by Leonard Bu slier, a Baptist, in IGl k Its title is '^ Keligious Peace, or a Plea for Liberty of Conscience/' It asks full liberty for men to worsliip God in the manner they believe to be right. Three years before that the Baptist Confession of Faith, then published, used this language — '^ We believe that the magistrate is not to meddle with religion, or natters of conscience, nor compel men to this or that form of religion, because Christ is the King and Lawgiver of the Church and the conscience," The honor of being the first advocate of religious liberty has beer claimed for Jeremy Taylor. This claim is not support- ed ; for, in the first place, his plea is only for toleration of a few Christian sects, which falls far short of religious freedom ; and, moreover, his treatise was issued nearly forty years after that of Leonard B usher. This principle is so manifestly reasonable and right, and in accordance with truth and equity, that it would be superfluous to enter into an argumentative defence of it. How surprising that the opposite prin- ci])le of intolerance and persecution — a prin- ciple so unreasonable, unjust, unscriptural, 31 and thoroughly bad — should have survived so long ! The name of llogcr Williams being in- separably connected with the cause of religious liberty, we cannot pass it over in silence. It is a name on which rests im- perishable honor. He was the first advocate of soul liberty in America. For this cause he was banished from the Colony of Mas- sachusetts, in 1635, by the very men who had fled from their own land to find religious freedom. There is no exhibition of moral heriosm in the history of the American continent grander than that which is presented by Roger Williams going into exile among savage Indians, and enduring all the hardships of banishment in mid-winter, on account of principle ; and, under such circumstances founding a Com- monwealth, the law of which should be perfect toleration — a Commonwealth where, in the language of Judge Storey, '^ we read, for the first time since Christianity ascended the throne of the Caesars, the declaration ^ that conscience should be free, and men should not be punished for wor- shipping God in the way they were per- suaded He required.' '^ Roger Williams and the BaptidSy hy Dr. Eddy, Baptists, though often suffering pcrsecu- 32 tion from both Papists and IV ^estants, lidre never persecutrd ; have never exercised intolerance towards others. It has been said that the reason of this is that they never had the power. This assertion is false, as might be shown by several histori- cal references. Take one instance. The Colony of Rhode Island was found- ed under Baptist auspices. Had Williams and his people chosen to establish the Baptist faith as the religion of the land, they might have done so. Had tliey desir- ed to secure to themselves peculiar religious privileges and monopolies, and to oppress those who dissented from them, they might have done so. On the contrary, per/ec/ reli- gious freedem for aZZ was secured by their laws from the first. But, the 'principles of Baptists render it impossible that they should persecute. Their views of the individuality of religion, and the spirituality of Christ's Kingdom, forbid that they should coerce men in matters of faith. If they did so, they would cease to be Baptists. 3a BAPTISM THE DESIGN. As rcf^aiMls l)Mptism wo heliuve that tlic 'main tliiuj^^ is the objoct or dosign. What is the princiijlc, wliicli underlic^s tlie ordi- naiico ? 'Jliis is the first and vital poiut. If this bo not Scriptural the most ortho lo.^ ["orm of administration is vain. Evidently tlie Scriptures teach, in all their references to the subject, that baptism is the conscious, voluntary, deliberate act of a be- liever in Christ, because he is a believer, and because Christ requires this public acknow- ledgment from all His true disciples. The Bible does not teach that baptism is some- thing done for a person without his know- ledge, or forced upon him without his con- sent. Nor is it something that ho observes because it is customary, or as a more out- ward form. Nor is it a sacrament for the purpose of ol)taining salvation, nor a me- chanical process by which Christians are made. But it is the conscious, A\nlling pro- fession of personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of surrender to Him. The- be- liever thus declares, in the way appointed by the Redeemer himself and enjoined on all His followers, that he now trusts in Christ, •and gratefully accepts Him as his all-suffi- 3 Iff' 31 cient Saviour, and rightful King, and gladly becomes Plis disciple and follower. The act expresses the Christian's faith in the two greatest facts of redemption, the death and resurrection of Christ ; and also symbolizes his own death to sin and his rising to the new life. We believe that this is the meaning and design of baptism, according to the word of God. It is either expressly taught or im- plied in every passage where the ordinance is mentioned. It does not mean any more ; as for instance, regeneration, or deliver- ance from sin, or a passport to heaven. It does not mean any less ; as, for instance, joining the Church, or receiving a Christian name, or showing respect for religion, or conforming to a custom. 35 BAPTISM-THE SUBJECTS. This has been partly anticipated in what lias been said in the foreffoini:f section con- jcrning the design of baptism. Baptists hold that believers only arc Jit uhjects for baptism. This, they believe, is ibundantly proved by the positive precepts >f the word of God, and by the principles )f Christ's kingdom. Let us look at the teachings of Scripture. There is not a passage in the Bible where we are told that m infant was baptized ; there is not a com- mand in the whole book to baptize infants. Belief is always the expressly enjoined prerequisite. Take the commission, as re- corded by Matthew (xxviii : 19, 20), " Go ye, therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations, )aptizing them in the name of the Father, Liid of the Sop, and of the Holy Ghost ; ^caching them to observe all things whatso- sver I have commanded you." Notice here, irst, the order of the icnrds — I. Disciple ; 2. Ba])tize; 3. Teach. This order must be jignificant and important. To affirm the contrary is to charge the Saviour with using indeiinite and random speech in one of the most notable utterances which ever fell from [lis lips. We Icain, then, that the first tiling 3G I f is to make disciples, theyi to baptize them, tJien to instruct them in the commands of Christ. If it is asked, how are the ser- vants of Christ to make disciples ? we an- swer, by preaching the glad tidings to sin- ners. Those who truly believe the good news, and heartily accept the proffered sal- vation become disciples. Notice, secondly y the tense of the participle. It is not haptis- antes, having baptized, but haptizontes, bap- tizing. Note, in the third place, the gender of the pronoun y autous, which refers directly to disciples (understood) and cannot refer to nations. It was disciples they were to baptize. But it has sometimes been said that the passage means they were to make disciples hy baptizing them. This interpretation, be- sides teaching a most unscriptural doctrine, and being utterly unsupported, is forbidden by John iv ; 1— where :^ is said that the Pharisees heard " that Ji : vl. made and bap- tized more disciples than John/' The mak- ing of the disciples and the baptizing of | them, are here clcarl}'^ distinguished. If we turn to the Commission, as recorded by Mark (xvi : 15, 16), the same doctrine of believer's baptism is clearly taught : *^Preach the Gospel to every creature ; he that 2>6- •'>7 lievdh and i^* /^f//>hVj(i sliall be saved." Here is the same order— 1 . Belief; 2. Bapti.sm, '^ Then they that gladly received his word were baptized." — Acts ii : 41. " But ivhen they believed Phib'p, preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." — Acts viii.l2. Then answered Peter, can any man for- bid water, that these shovld not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ?''— Acts x : 46, 47. " And many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized/^ — Acts xviii : 8. The baptism of the households of Lydia, and the Philippian jailor, is not at all at variance with the doctrine of believer's baptism. For, in the case of Lydia, we learn that she was "of the city of Thyatira," in Asia Minor, far distant from Philippi, where she was converted ; and that she was " a seller of purple," probably a travelling I merchant. Is it likely that her household included infants ? Says DeWette, " there is nothing here which shows that any, except adults, were baptized. Meyer a^ys : — "When Jewish 38 . > or heathen families became Christians, the children in them could have been baptized, only in cases in which they were so far developed that they could profess their faith in Christ, and did actually profess it ; for this was the universal requisition for the reception of baptism. On the contrary, if the children were still unable to believe, they did not partake of the rite, since they were wanting in what the act presupposed.'^ Olshausen says : — ^^ Since a confession of faith preceded baptism, it is improbable in the highest degree that, by ^her household,' children of an immature age are to be under- stood.'^ These three eminent German com- mentators are Pedobaptists. In the case of the jailor, we are expressly told that Paul and Silas "spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that ivere in his house ;'' and afterwards we read that he " rejoiced, helieving in God with all his house/' Let us now hear what Ecclesiastical Historians, and other eminent Christian scholars have to say on this subject, especially in reference to the practice of the early church. Since none of us knows, from his own personal knowledge, what have been the belief and practiceof Christians in former :J9 ages, we must ap]x^fil to history, aiul call for tho testimony of those who have made these subjects their special study. And that these may be reliable, they nuist be men whose ability, learning, and oppor- tunities for investigation were of tho highest order, whoso testimony is irrefragable, and whose works have become standard authori- ties throughout Christendom. In order that our witnesses may be entirely free from suspicion of partiality, we will not summon a single Baptist to the witness stand. Dr. Augustus Neander, one of the most eminentChurch historians, a name of world- wide reputation, says : — '^ Baptism was ad- ministered at first only to adults, as men were accustomed to conceive baptism and faith as strictly connected. We have all reason for not deriving infant baptism from Apostolic institution/^ — Eccles. Hist., Vol. I., p. 311, Am. Ed. Again ho says : — ^^As baptism was closely united with a conscious entrance on Chris- tian communion, faith and baptism were always connected with one another ; and thus it is in the highest degree probable that baptism was performed only in the instances where both could meet together, and that the practice of infant baptism was unknown ■'I 40 If at this period.'' — Plcmdng and Training of the Christian Church pp, 161, 162. CuRCELL(EUS (diod 1659), an eminently learned man, published a critical edition of the Greek Testament. '* The baptism of infants in the first two centuries after Christ was altogether unknown, but, in the third century, was allowed by some few. In the fifth and following ages it was generally received. The custom of baptizing infants did not begin before the third age, after Christ was born.'' — Inst, Rel. Ch.y I. /, c. xii, Pkof. Jacobi, University of Berlin : — '' Infant baptism was established neither by Christ nor the Apostles. In all places where we find the necessity of baptism notified, either in a dogmatic or historical po.^ ^t of view, it is evident that it was only meant for those who were capable of comprehend- ing the word preached, and of being con- verted to Christ by an act of their own will." — Kifto's Cyclopedia of Bib. Lit,, Vol. L,p.287. Baron Bunsen, Prussian Ambassador at the British Court for many years, a deeply learned man and voluminous writer on Eoclesiasiical subjectn : " Pcdobaptism, in 41 the modern sense, meaning tliercby the baptism of now-born infants, with the vicarious promises of parents and sponsors, was utterly unknown to the early church, not only down to the end of the second but, indeed, to the middle of the third century." Hippolytus, Vol. III., p. 180. Prof. Moses Stuart, D. D., Andovcr Theological Seminary : '' Commands, or plain and certain examples in the New Testament 4'clativc to it (infant baptism) I do not find."— Z^i6. Rep. for 1833, 2^. 305. Kev. Dr. J. P. Lange, the eminent Ger- man Commentator. '' All attempts to make out infant baptism from the New Testament fail. It is totally ()p[)osed to the spirit of the Apostolic age and to the fundamental principles of the New Testament." — Inf. Bap., j>. 101. The North British Rpjview, a publica- tion of the highest standing. The article from which we (piote is attributed to Dr. Hanna, of Edinburgh : — " Scripture knows nothing of infant baptism. There is «abso- lutely not a single trace of it to be found in the New Testament. There are passages which may be reconciled Avith it, if the [)racticc can only be proved to have existed I i! 42 l>nt there is not one word whicli asserts its, existence."-— /?////, 1852, iq), 209-212. The eminent Dean Stanley, of Westmin- ster, than whom there is probably no hirrher living authority on questions of Oriental Ecclesiastical History, contributed an article on ''Baptism'^ to the Nineteenth Century Review in 1879. He first shows what bap- tism was in the primitive churches, viz., the immersion of a believer, as a voluntary profession of personal faith in Christ. He then proceeds to point out the changes which have since been introduced. The third change noticed is that which refers to the subjects of baptism. Under this head he says ; — '' Another change is not so complete (as that from immersion to sprinkling), but it is perhaps more important. In the Apostolic age and in the three centuries which followed, it is evident that, as a general rule, those who came to baptism came in full age, of their own deliberate choice. We find a few cases of the ba])tism of children; in the third century we find one case of the baptism of infants. The litur- gical service of baptism was framed entirely ior full grown converts, and is only by con- siderable adaj)tation a}>plied to the case of infants." 4^ Tliis testimony mi^lit ha exteii(letism saves the soul, and that salva- tion is impossible without it. All the evi- dence needed on this point is a reference to the writings of some of the *' fathers.'* Cyprian, Ambrose, Chrysostom, and others speak in the most extravagant terms of the benefits and miraculous effects of baptism. They taught that all who died unbaptized must inevitably be lost. It is easy to see what such a doctrine would lead to. How could parents endure the thought of their dying children sinking to perdition when it was in their power to save them, by having them baptized ? Claudius Salmasius, who filled a professorship at the University of Lcyden, in 1G32, says:--" An opinion pre- vailed that no one could be saved without l^eing baptized ; and for that reason the cus- tom arose of baptizing infants.^'* First, the design of the ordinance was corrupted, and that led to unscriptural lyractice. Many authorities might be cited to show that this was the true historic origin of infant baptism. The doctrine of baptismal re-generation 45 iumI iniiiiit ]K'ii)tisTu were closely oonnoctiid then ; have tlioy tver been clearly scj)aratr(i, or can they be i Another clew to the practice of primitive times is found in the adult baptism of several of the distinguished theologians and preacli- ors of those days, — althoiu/h their jmrents were Christians of unquestioned intelligence and piety. Gregory Nazianzen, Archbishop of Con- stantinople, who died A. D. 389, and whose father was bishop of Nazianzen, was not baptized till he was nearly thirty 3^ears old. — Ullman's Gregory of Nazianzen, Ephrem, of Edessa, a learned writer (died A. D. 378), was born of parents who '' were ennobled by the blood of martyrs in their family, and had themselves both confessed Christ before the persecutors, under Diocle- tian or his successors. They consecrated Ephrem to God from his cradle, like another Samuel, but he was eighteen years old when he was baptized.'' — Alhau Butler's Lives of the Saints* We learn from ecclesiastical history that Basil of Caesarea, (A.D.350.) though he could boast of christian ancestry for several gene- rations, was not baptized till he was twenty- seven years old. Chrysostom (died A. D. u; 11 M)7), the t^oUlrn-Tnouthcd proiiclior, Arcli- binhop of Constantiu()])le, aad burn of Christian parents, received baptism at the af^e of twenty-eight. Anibrosins, bishop of Milan, was a citizen of Rome, but born in France, A. D. 340. lie received a religiouH education, and was reared in the habits of virtuous conduct; but ho was not baptized till he had reached the ago of thirty-four. Augustine was not baptized until he was nearly twenty-five years of age, though his mother Monica, was a woman of great piety, and instructed him carefully in the prin- ciples of the Chrif *^* an religion. Jerome was baptized at the i of thirty-one. The Emperor Theodosius was baptized in the thirty-fourth or thirty-fifth year of his ago, though he had been trained up from his childhood in the Christian faith. How strange that these persons were not baptized in their infancy ! Evidently the erroneous practice had not yet become very general. It is not to be wondered at that Baptists cannot find authority in the word of God for infant baptism, when its advocates are so divided in opinion in reference to it. Some of its ablest defenders point to the Abra- hamic Covenant, as containing the main strength of the scriptural argument in 17 its iavor. Other {>(|ii.'illy high luilhoi-itics doclare that the Abraham ic covenant fur- nishes no ground for infant baptism. Some denominations baptize infants m order to bring them into the 67/ /^T/i ; others baptize them hccaut^e they are already in. Tliurc is a perfect chaos of opinion in recrard to it. Tlie reasons alleged for its observance are wondrously diverse. Among the far-fetch- ed, irrelevant, and contradictory reasons j)ut fortli by its advocates perhaps the most unique is the following. Infants ought to he baptized, because the command to do so may have ht 1 ;' . . ■ L V ■ - ,' ... i « 51 "■ BAPTISM-THE MODE. Baptists hold that Scriptural Christian Bajpiism is the immersion of a believer, in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, they believe, the Word of God plainly teaches. . " Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.*'— Matt, iii : 5, G. "And were all baptized, of him in the river of Jordan/* etc. — Mark i : 5, ''And Jesus, when he was baptized, xvent up straightway out of the water,*'* — Matt, iii : 16. . " And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan, And straightway coming up out of the water,'* etc. — Mark i : 9, 10. " And John also was baptizing in ^non, near to Salim, because there was much water there!"* — John iii: 23. ... ''And they tvent doivn both info the water, both Philip and the Ennuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, '^ etc. — Acts viii : 38, W, I 52 '* Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in new- ness of life/' — Romans vi : 4. ^^ Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen luith him, through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.'' — Col. ii: 12. It is clear that they went down into the water, and came up out of the water ; but what was the act performed while they were there ? This is the point at issue. The act is always expressed by a certain word, in one or other of its forms. The unvarying use of this one word is very significant. If mode is a matter of indifference, why is owe, distinct, definite term always employed ? If a variety of modes was intended, why do we not find a variety of terms used ? There was no poverty of words or forms of expression, for the Greek was a remarkably rich and copious language. There were rantizo to sprinkle, heo to pour, louo to wash, and other words to express the various ways in which water could be applied to the person or the person to water. How strange that some of these were not occasionally used by some of the writers in the New Testament ! But 53 it is always haptizo. Evidently or\e definiie ad was intended. Let us then call for evi- dence concerning the meaning of this word ; for if we can ascertain that, we shall know what Christ and his Apostles practiced and commanded. We turn first to — LEXICONS OP THE GREEK LANGUAGE. Groves — To dip, immerse, immerge, plunge. ScHREVELius — Mcrgo, lavo. Grkknpield — To immerse, im merge, sub- merge, sink. LiDDELL AND ScoTT — To dip repeatedly ; of ships, to sink them ; Baptisis, a dipping ; Baptisma, that which is dipped ; Baptistes, one that dips. Dawson (enlarged and revised by Taylor) — 'Vo dip, or immerse in water. DoNNEOAN — To immerse repeatedly into a liquid, to submerge. Bass — To dip, immerse, or plunge in water. > . Robinson — To dip in, to sink, to im- merse ; a frequentative in form, but appa- rently not in signification. Pickering — To dip, immerse, submerge, plunge. : 1 ■■■' f Hi 54 Dunbar — To dip, immerse, submerge, plunge, sink. Scapula — To dip or immerse ; also to dye, as we immerse things for the purpose of coloring or washing them. Bagster — To dip, immerse, to cleanse or purify by washing. Jones — To plunge, to plunge in water, dip, baptize, bury, overwhelm. It is needless to extend this list. The same meanings are given by Alstedius, Bailey, Schoettgenius, Parkhurst, Pasor, Hedericus, Young, Robertson, Stokius, Stephanus, Suidas, Schleusner, Bretsch- neider, Suicerus, Richardson, and others. All agree in giving dip, or immerse, as the ordinary meaning of the word. If the Greek Lexicon has ever yet been published which gives sprinkle as the meaning of haptizo, it has been most carefully concealed, and kept out of reach of those who have investigated this, question. Writers on the subject have sometimes made the assertion that such Lexicons exist ; but this assertion requires to be substantiated, for grave doubts rest upon the truth of it. But the important fact is that all Lexicographers of ayiy note are unanimous in their definition of the ordinary meaning of the word. Now let us turn to the eanse or STANDARD ENCYCLOPEDIAS. Encyclopedia. Britannica. — " Baptism ii^ derived from the Greek haptizo, to dip or wash. The usual mode of performing the ceremony was by immersion, but the practice of baptism by sprinkling gradually came in, in spite of the opposition of Councils and hostile decrees. The Council of Ravenna, A. D. 1311, was the first Council of the Church which legalized bap- tism by sprinkling, by leaving it to tho choice of the officiating minister." Edinburgh Encyclopedia. — '' The first law for sprinkling was obtained in the following manner : — Pope Stephen II. being driven from Rome by Astolphus, King of tho Lombards, A. D. 753, fled to Pepin, who, a short time before, had usurped the throne of France. While he remained there, the monks of Cressy, in Brittany, consulted him whether, in case of necessity, baptism performed by pouring water on the head of the infant would be lawful, and Stephen replied that it would. But though the truth of this fact be allowed — which some Catho- lics deny — yet pouring and sprinkling were only admitted in cases of necessity. It was not till 1311 that the Legislature, in a Council held at Ravenna, declared immer- sion to be indifferent. In this country ■i ■ t I I 5G (Scotland), however, sprlnklino' whh never jiractised in ordinary cases nntil after the Reformation. And in England, even in the reign of Edward VI., immersion was com- monly observed. But during the persecution of Mary many persons, most of whom wore Scotchmen, fled from England to Geneva, and there gradually imbibed the opinions of that Church. In 155G, a book was publish- ed at that place containing the forms of piTijors and ministrations of sacraments approved by that famous, and godly, and learned man, John Calvin, in which the administrator is enjoined to take water in his hand and lay it on the child's forehead. These Scottish exiles, who had renounced the authority of the Pope, implicitly acknow- ledged the authority of Calvin, and return- ing to their own country in 1559, with John Knox at their head, established sprinkling in Scotland. From Scotland this practice made its way into England, in the reign of Elizabeth, but was not authorized by the Established Church." Chambers' Cyclopedia. — '^ It is, however, indisputable that in the primitive church the ordinary mode of baptism was by im- mersion, in order to which baptisteries began to be erected in the third, perhaps in the second century." Again — ^' It was the 57 )m were ordinary practice in England, before the Keforu.ation, to immerse infants, and the fonts in the churclies were made large enough for this purpose.'' Encticlopedia Americana. — " Baptism, that is, dipping, immersing, from the Greek word Bajptizo. In the time of the Apostles, the form of baptism was very simple. The person to be baptized was dipped in a river or vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered. The immersion of the whole body was omitted only in the case of the sick, who could not leave their beds." KiTTo's Cyclopedia op Bib. Lit. — " The whole body was immersed in water." National Cyclopedia. — " The manner in which the rite of baptism was performed appears to have been at first by complete immersion. It was the practice of the English, from the beginning, to immerse the whole body." Smith's Bible Dictionary.* — '^ The lan- guage of the New Testament, and of the primitive fathers sufficiently points to im- mersion as the common mode of baptism.'' — TW. /.,2), 241. CHURCH HISTORIANS. MosHEiM, Chancellor of the University of Gottingen in 1755. 'Mn thi.s (1st) century m ii :''i 68 baptism was administered in convenient places without the public assemblies, find by immersing the candidates wholly in water.'^ — Kccles. Hist,, VoL I*,'p* 104. Again ho says (2nd century) — " The can- didates for it (baptism) were immersed wholly in water, with invocation of the sacred Trinity, according to the Saviour's precept." — VoLL,p. 179. Neander, already quoted on another subject — "The usual form of submersion at baptism, practiced by the Jews, was passed over to the Gentile Christians. In- deed, this form was the most suitable to signify that which Christ intended to ren- der an object of contemplation by such a symbol ; the immersion of the whole man in the spirit of a new life.^' — Planting and Training of the Christian Church, p, 161. GuERicKE, Henry E. F., Doctor and Pro- fessor of Theology, of Halle — ''Baptism was originally performed by immersion in the name of the Trinitv.*' — Ancient Church History, p, 141. Venema (17th century) — '' It is without controversy that baptism in the primitive church was administered by immersion into water, and not by sprinkling. The essen- tial act of baptising in the second century consisted not in sprinkling, but in immer- 59 li. siou iulo water, iu the name of oacli person of the Trinity. To the essential rite of bap- tism in the third century pertained immer- sion and not aspersion, except in cases of necessity ; and it was accounted a half per- fect baptism. Immersion, in the fourth century, was one of those acts that were considered as essential to Baptism." — EHes. Hist., CeiiL L, par, I'iS ; Cent. IL, par. 100; Gent. III., jmr. 51; Cent. /T., j>ar. 100. Kurtz, Professor of Eccles. Hist, at Dor- pat — '^ Baptism was administered by a com- ])lete immersion in the name of Christ, or the Triune God." — Eccles. Hist., Vol. J., p. 70. ScHAFP, Dr. Philip, of New York. — " The usual form of the act wus immersion, as is plain from the original meaning of the Greek -words, from the analogy of JoIiq's baptism in the Jordan, and finally from the custom of the ancient church, which prevails in the east to this day." Hist, of Ancient Christianity (1st Cent.), Vol. L, p, 123. " Immei'sion continued to be the usual form of baptism, especially in the east." Same work, fith Cent. J, Vol, If., p. 480. id*." 60 ii M ii V I N I COMMENTATORS, KTC. . 1 — Reform era. Maktin Luthkk — On the Sacrament of Haptism {at the bpffivvivfi) — ''First, tho name Haptism is Greek ; in Latin it can be rendered immersion, when we immerse any- thing into water, that it may be all covered with water. And although that custom has now grown out of use with most persons, (nor do they wholly submerge children, hut oniy pour on a little water) yet they ought to be entirely immersed, and immediately drawn out. For this the etymology of the name seems to demand.'' — Op. Liithcrij 15G4, F:?/. Z, /o/. 819. John Gatvin — " The w^ord baptize itself signifies immersf'j and it is certain that the rite of immersing was observed by the ancient church." — Institntion of the Christian Bellg'wn, Booh IV,, chap, 15. ZwiNGLi — *' Into his death ; when ye were immersed into the water of baptism ye were ingrafted into the death of Christ ; that is, the immersion of your body into water was a sign that ye ouglit to be ingrafted into Christ and hi? death.'' — Annotations on Boniahs vi : 3 ; Works, vol. iv., p. 420. WiLLiAAi Tyndalk — '' The plunging into the water signitieth that we die, and are buried with Christ, as concerning the old 61 lite of siu, which i« Adain. And the pulliug out agaiu significth that we rise again with Christ in a new life, full of the Holy Ghost, which shall teach us, and guide us, and work the will of (rod in us, as thou seest: Kumaus vi." — Ohedicnce of a Chrialian Man, editwn of 1571, p. 143. 2 — Homau Catholic. Est, Chancellor of the University of Douay — '^ For iinniersiou represents to us Christ's burial, and so also his death. For the tomb is a symb(jl of death, since none but the dead arc buried. Moreover, the emersion, which follows the immersion, has a resemblance to a resurrection. We are, therefore, in baptism conformed not only to the death of Christ, as he has just said, but also to his burial and resurrection." — Comment, on the Epistles ; Bom. vi : 3. Brenner — ^^ Thirteen hundred years was baptism generally and regularly an immer- sion of the person under the water, and only in extraordinary cases, a sprinkling or pour- ing with water ; the latter was, moreover, disputed as a mode of baptism, nay, even forbidden." — Historical Exhibition of the Administration of Baptism from Christ to our own times y p. 306. Bishop Bossuet, of Meaux, France, (died 1701) — ^^We are able to make it appear. 62 hi m 'ii: by the acta of Councils and by ancient ritu- als, that for thirteen hundred years baptism was administered by immersion throughout the whole Church, as far as possible." 3 — Episcopalian. Archbishop TiLLOTSON — "Anciently, those who were baptized were immersed, and buried in the water, to represent their death to sin, and then did rise up out oi the water, to signify their entrance upon a new life^ and to those the Apostle alludes — Rom. vi : 4-6." — Sermons vii.y p. 179. Bishop Taylor — '^ And the ancient churches did not, in their baptism, sprinkle water with their hands, but immerged the catechumen or the infant." After some references in proof of this assertion, he adds : — " All which are a perfect con viction, that the custom of the ancient churches was not sprinkling, but immersion, in pursuance to the sense of the word in the commandment, and the example of our blessed Saviour." — Rule of Conscience, Booh in., chap, iv,, Rule xv. Dr. Whitby — " It being so expressly de- clared here (Rom. vi : 4 and Col. ii : 12) that we are ' buried with Christ in baptism,' by being buried under water, and the argument to oblige us to a conformity to his death by dying to sin, being taken hence j and this 63 immersion being religiously observed by all christians for thirteen centuries, and approv- ed by our Church ; and the change of it into sprinkling, without either any allow- ance from the author of this institution, or any license from any Council of the Church, it were to be wished that this custom might be again of general use." — Commentary on the New Testament — Rom. vi : 4. CoNYBEARE AND HowsoN. — '' It is needless to add that baptism was (unless in excep- tional cases) administered by immersion, the convert being plunged beneath the sur- face of the water, to represent his death to the life of sin, and then raised from his momentary burial to represent his resurrec- tion to the life of righteousness. It must be a subject of regret that the general dis- continuance of this original form of baptism (though perhaps necessary in our Northern climates) has rendered obscure to popular apprehension some very important passages of Scripture.^' — L?/« and Epidles of St, Paul, Vol I., p. 439. Again they say, in a note on the paseage '^Buried with him by baptism"— ^^ Thin passage cannot be understood, unless it ba borne in mind that the primitive baptism was by immersion." — Vol. II., p. 169. Dk. Cunningham Glikik, author of the I 1: 64 ^' Life and Words of Christ,'* the most scholarly work of the kind, says in reference to the baptism of Jesus : '^ John resisted no longer, and leading Jesus into the stream, the rite was performed. * * * Holy and pure before sinking under the waters He must yet have risen from them with the light of a higher glory in His countenance. * * * Past years had been buried in the waters of the Jordan. He entered them as Jesus, the Son of Man ; He rose from them the Christ of God." Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and President of the New Testa- ment Revision Company in England, and Dr. Plumptbe, Professor of Exegesis of the New Testament at King's College, London, say in their recently issi;ied New Testament Commentary, on Matthew 3. L '^ The bap- tism was, as the name implied, an immer- sion." * * * On verse six they say : '^ They came confessing their sins — i. e. As the position of the word (baptize) implies, in the closest possible connection with the act of immersion." On verse eleven, '^ He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, etc.," they say, " As heard and understood at the time, the baptism with the Holy Ghost would imply that the souls thus baptized would be plunged, as it were, in that crea- G5 tive and iuformiDg Spirit w) is- pels ; note on Matt. Hi : 11. This same writer says, " I have heard a disputant, in defiance of etymology and use, maintain that the word rendered in the New Testament, baptize, means more properly to sprinkle than to plunge, and in defiance of all antiquity, that the former method was the earliest, and for many centuries,, the most general practice of baptizing > One who argues in this manner never fails, with persons of knowledge, to betray the cause he would defend ; and though with respect to the vulgar, bold assertions generally suc- ceed as well as arguments, sometimes better ; yet a candid mind will disdain to take help of a falsehood, even in support of the truth," — Lectures on Systematic Theology, p. 480. 5 — Wesley an. John Wesley — '^' ^ Buried, ivith him by bap- ^1 tis7n/ — alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion." — Comment on Rom, vh : 4' Dr. Adam Clarke — '^ ^ We are buried vjithhim by baptism into death,' It is probable that the Apostle here alludes to the mode of administering baptism by immersion, the whole body being put under the ivater which seemed to say, the man is drowned ; is dead ; and when he came up out of the water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life ; ike man is risen again ; he is alive /" — Comment on Rom, vi : 4. Again, on the passage ^'baptized for the deadj*' he says, '^ But as they receive bap- tism as an emblem of death, in voluntarily going under the water, so they receive it as an emblem of the resurrection unto eternal life, in commg up out of the water; thus they are baptized for the dead in perfect faith of the resurrection." — Comraent on I, Cor. xv : 29. The above SLvebut a few of the extracts of similar import, which might be given. All the great German commentators and critics, such as Tholuck, Meyer_, Gesenius, DeWette, Bretschneider, Fritsche, Winer, Rheinwald, Halm, etc., have said the same thing; as also Bloomfield, Doddridge, Lightfoot, Moses Stuart, Wall, Baxter, Whitefield, Towerson, if ' ii 68 III! and 7)iany more. Volumes might be filled with such quotations stating, not in ambi- guous or equivocal language, but in the plainest, most unqualified terms, that bap- tism, as instituted and practiced by Christ and the Apostles, and continued for centu- ries, was immersion,, and that only. The man who stands up in these days to defend sprinkling, or pouring, as the primitive mode of baptism, has all the learned Chris- tian world against him. It is sometimes said, when we cite the published uttei^ances of eminent biblical scholars of different denominations in sup- porfc of our views, that we build our faith and practice more on the words of men than on the word of God. This is false. We build our faith and practice on nothing but the vjord of God, And we make such quotations only to show that the highest authorities in Ecclesiastical History and Scripture Interpretation, in all communions, have really taken the same views of God's Word, which we do, whatever their practice may have been. Tlius, the doctrines which we hold, because we believe them to be God/s truth, are supported by the ancient history and the scholarship of Christendom. But it is said, ^' Why quote such utter- ances, when it is well known that many of the 69 men who made them held, at the same time, the faith and practice of the denominations to which they belonged V^ We reply that, with that we have nothing to do. To their own Master they stand or fall. Whether they taught and practiced contrary to their convictions of truth, it is not for us to inquire. The fact remains that they unanimously admit the truths and scriptural- ness, and antiquity of those very doctrines and practices which, we believe, the Divine oracles plainly teach. But why did they make such admissions ? Genuine scholar- ship and a fearless honesty required it. And their statements are published, and, therefore, given to the world. THE PRACTICE OF THE GREEK CHURCH. The practice of the Greek Church is worthy of notice. The New Testament was written in Greek. What can be fairer than to submit the question to the Greeks them- selves ? If it had been originally written in the Arabic or Persian language, certainly it would oe important to ascertain what the original pnd unvarying understanding of its terms had been by the Arabs or Persians. The Greek, or Eastern Church, so called, iu distinction from the Roman, Latin, or Western Church, extends over Greece and 70 all tbrougli Russia, from the Black Sea to Siberia, and has branches scattered through Egypt, Abyssinia, Arabia, Palestine, and other African and Asiatic countnes. Now, it is well known that the Greek Church has always practiced, and still invariably prac- tices, immersion in baptism, even in the severe climate of Nothern Russia. Dr. Wall, an Episcopalian, Vicar of Shoreham, England, declares, ^^ The Greek Church, in all its branches, does still nse immersion, and so do all other Christians in the world except the Latins. All those nations of Christians that do now, or for- merly did, submit to the authority of the Bishop of Rome, do ordinarily baptize their infants by pouring or sprinkling ; but all other Christians in the world, who never owned the Pope's usurped power, do, and ever did, dip their infants in the ordinary use. All the Christians in Asia, all in Africa, and about one-third part of Europe, are of the last sort." — History of Infant Bapticm, Part II., chap. 9. The celebrated Dean Stanley says : — '^ There can ])e no question that the original form of baptism — the very meaning of the word — was complete immersion in the deep baptismal waters ; and that, for at least four centuries, any other form was either nn- 71 known, or regarded, unless in the case of dungerous illness, as an exceptional, almost a monstrous case. To this form the Eastern Church still rigidly adheres ; and the most illustrious and venerable portion of it, that of the Byzantine Empire, absolutely repu- diates and ignores any other mode of ad- ministration as essentially invalid. •The Latin Church has wholly altered the mode, and, with the two exceptions of the Cathe- dral of Milan, and the sect of the Baptists, a few drops of water are now the western substitute for the three-fold plunge into the rushing rivers, or the wide baptisteries of the East." — Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church, j9. 29. Alexander de Stourdza (of the Greek Church), llussian State Councillor, says : — ^' The distinctive characteristic of the insti- tution of baptism is immersion, baptisma, which cannot be omitted without destroying the mysterious sense of the sacrament, and contradicting at the same time the etymo- logical signification of the word, which serves to designate it. The Church of the West has, then, departed from the example of Jesus Christ; she has obliterated the whole sublimity of the exterior sign ; in short, she commits an abuse of words, and of ideas, in practising baptism by aspersion^ 72 fchis veiy term being in itself a derisive con- tradiction. The verb haptizo, immergOf has, in fact, but one sole acceptation. It signi- fies literally, and always, to plunge. Bap- tism and immersion are, therefore, identical, and to say hajHisvi by aspersion, is as if one should say immersion by aspersion, or any other absurdity of the same nature.'' — CoU' siderations on the Doctrine and Spirit of the Orthodox Church, Stuttg, 1816,2?. 87. Pkopessoe Timayenis, of the New York Hellenic Institute, delivered a lecture on ** Greece" before a large non-denomination- al assembl} at Chatauqua in America in August 1879. He is a native Greek, born in Smyrna, educated in the schools of Athens, and a member of the Greek Church. After discussing a number of interesting questions concerning his country, he said, " The Bible is the book of Greece. It needs not translation with the modern Greeks.'' And again, — '' All our services are read in the original tongue in which St. Paul and the other apostles wrote their epistles." Further on he says^ — '* The Greeks bap- tize of course. The baptism of their infants takes place at six months after birth. If the child is going to die they believe it must be baptized at once. I am not able to 73 say whether they believe the child will go to Paradise or not, but there is a great horror of having a child die without baptism. The;^ baptize in the real way. The word bapto means nothing l)ut immerse in the water. Baptism means nothing but im- mersion. In the Greek language we have a different word for sprinkling. When you but a piece of wood into the water, and cover it entirely, you baptize, you do what is expressed by the Greek word hnjdo. I am ready to uiscuss this with any divine, about the Greek word. Sprinkling is not what the Bible teaches ; that is a fact you may depend on. I know that this custom is too deeply rooted in some cuugi'egations to be taken away easily, but the Baptists have the best of you on this point . * . . . That is the word we use, to dip ; you can- not go back on it. It is our everyday word. So, if I dip a man I baptize him. I say you must cover somebody entirely with water to use baptize as the Greeks use it today.'' This clear and decisive statement by one who speaks the language in which the New Test iment was written, is confirmed by Rev. D. Z. Sakellarios, of Athens, in a letter to the author, dated June 25th, 1881. He also is a native Greek, brought up in the Greek Church, He says, '* The true mean- 74 ing of the word Baptko is expressed by the word ithielf. liantizo means to sprinkle; Louo to wash; Epikeo to pour upon, Bapto or Biijitizo means to immerse or baptize " He also states that baptism in the Greek Church is always by immersion, the font being called a Kolumbethraj literally a swim- ming bath. The Greek Church, then, numbering about 97,473,000, and the Nestorians, Maronites, Copts, Armenians, Jarobite- Syrians, Abys- sinians, and other Oriental Christian sects to the number of about nine or ten millions more, — makings together, over one hundred millions, — have from the first, and still do practice, immersion in baptii^m. That is, according to Dr. Wall, Dean Stanley, and others^ all Christians in the world, except the Church of Rome, and those who came out from her at the Reformation, retain the original mode of baptism. BAPTISTERIES. We will now turn to another class of wit- nesses, by no means the least interesting and satisfactory. Their testimony is a silent one, but most convincing. 1 refer to the ancient baptisteries. The most ancient one is found in the Catacomb of San Ponziano at Rome, It was in these subterranean passages and 75 chambers that the early Cliristians of tbat city sought refuge during the dark days of Pagan persecution. Here they lived and worshipped and were buried. And hero they constructed baptisteries for the adminis- tration of the sacred rite. Through the Catacomb of San Ponziano a stream of water runs, the channel of which is diverted into a reservoir, which was used for adminis- tering baptism by immersion from the first t/O the fourth century. The dimensions of the reservoir, which is still full of water, are four and a half feet in length, three and a half in width, and three and a half in depth. See Northcote's Eoman Catacombs, and Archaeology of Bajptism, by Dr. Cote, of Rome. On *;he wall immediately above this font is a fresco ^^ainting, representing the baptism of orr i'r^avV'ur. The following explanation of th'3 paxiiting is from Bottari's Roma Sot- t^rrtrnm. r., I., p. 194: — "Upon the wall, over tiiAj arch, the Redeemer is represented up to his waist in the waters of the River Jordan^ and upon his head rests the right hand of John the Baptist, standing on the shore. It is by mistake that modern artists represent Christ in the Jordan up to his knees only, and John pouring water on His head. And although on the portico of the Church of San Lorenzo, outside of the wall of Rome, that saint is seen in a painting pouring water upon the head of San Roma- no, this was certainly not the case, as that picture is far more modern (r2th cent.) than those of the first centuries, and the artist was evidently ignorant or wrongly informed concerning the acts of San Lorenzo. It is not improbable, however, that subsequently it became customary to pour water upon the head of the catechumen after he had been immersed. On the other shore an angel is seen upon a cloud, holding the Saviour's robe ; the Holy Ghost descends like a dove and alights upon the Redeemer. John places his hand upon the head of Christ to immerse him." A relic of this kind is of special impor- tance from the fact that the Christians who worshipped in the Catacombs were, in pri- mitive simplicity, in purity of doctrine and practice, nearest to the churches of the Apostolic Age. This baptistery and paint- ing in the Catacomb of San Ponziano carry us back almost to the time af the Apostles. There are at this day at least sixty-three ancient baptisteries existing in different parts of Italy, which ma ay travellers have examined and described. One of the most notable is the Baptistery 77 of Constantine, at Rome. It is in connection with the famous Church of St. John of Lateran, the oldest, and in some respects, the most sacred of all the churches of Rome ; the '^ omnium urhis et orhis ecclesiarum Tnater et caput,'' This baptistery I myself saw and examined in the month of February, 1876, It belongs to the fourth century. The building stands at a little distance from the Church, is octagonal in form, and very highly embellished. In the centre is a cir^alar basin, twenty-five feet in diameter and three feet deep, lined and paved with marble. A descent of three steps leads to the bottom of the basin, which is provided with a small outlet for the purpose of empty- ing it after the ceremony had been per- formed. The water was conducted to the basin from the adjoining Claudian aqueduct, the remains of which are still standing. On the architrave, supported by the columns of porphyry which surround the basin, is a long Latin inscription, which clearly shows what its use was in former ages. References to this interesting relic of antiquity, ana to its use for immersion, are found in the works of ancient Italian authors. We might go on for hours describiug the baptisteries of Rome, Naples, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Ravenna, &c. Such struc- 78 tures are to be found in all the principal citi<3S of Italy. But the description given above will suffice to give a general idea of all. One main feature exists in them allj viz. : the large basin, three or four feet deep, v^ith steps descending into it. There they stand as they have stood for many centuries, silent, yet unanswerable witnesses to the practice of Christians in the early ages. Remains of the same kind are found in France, Belgium, Germany, and other parts of Europe. The Venerable Bede, the Ecclesiastical Historian of Great Britain, says that Paulinus, the Apostle of the North of England, who baptized King Edwin at York, A. D. 627, baptized also great numbers of people in the rivers Glen and Swale. — Eccles. Hist.y Lib. II., ca.j). xiv. The following description of one of the natural baptisteries used by Paulinus is given by a writer in an English aper : — '^ About eleven miles from the Cheviot Hills, separating England and Scotland, and about the same distance from Alnwick Castle, the celebrated seat of the Dukes of Northumber- land, and near the village of Harbottle, there Vi a remarkable fountain. It rises on the top of a slight elevation, and just now it is thirty-four feet long, twenty feet in breadth, 79 IS and two feet in depth ; but it is capable of being made deeper by placing a b3ard over an opening at one side. The traditions of Northumberland point out this fountain as one of the baptisteries of Paulinus, the Apostle of the North of England, where he immersed three thousand during the Easter of A. D. 627. The ^'History of Northumberland^' contains and confirms the testimony of tradition. An ancient statue, as large as life, which formerly lay prostrate in the spring, now stands against a tree on its margin. The drapery of ^^ the bishop," as the statue is called, shows that it was set up at a very remote period, probably only two or three centuries after Paulinus, whom it was doubtless intended to represent. A large crucifix now stands in the centre of the fountain, which bears the following inscription: — *' In this fountain, called the ^ Lady's Well,' on the introduction of Chris- tianity in the Saxon reign of Edwin^ and early in the seventh century, Paulinus, an English bishop, baptized about three thousand people.'' The ' Lady's Well' is somj thirty or forty miles from Newcastle, and is full of interest to the antiquary." — Jlev. W. Cathcart, D. D.,in Religious Herald. Dean Stanley, already quoted as to thf3 subjects of bnptism, says in his Minetcenth 80 Century Article, above referred to, '^ What then was baptism in the Apostolic age ? In that early age the scene of the trans- action was either some deep wayside spring or well, as for the Ethiopian, or some rush- ing river, as the Jordan, or some vast reser- voir, as at Jericho or Jerusalem, whither, as in the Baths of Caracalla at Rome, the whole population resorted for swimming or washing.'^ Again he says,-^" We now pass to the ciianges in the form itself. For the first thirteen centuries the ahiiost universal prac- tice of Baptism was that of which we read in the New Testament, and which is the very meaning of the word " baptize^' — that those who were baptized were plunged, submerged, immersed into the water. That practice is still, as we have seen, continued in Eastern Churches. In the Western Churches it still lingers amongst Roman Catholics in the solitary instance of the Cathedral of Milan, amongst Protestants in the austere sect of the Baptists. It lasted long into the Middle Ages. Even the Ice- landers, who at first shrank from the water of their freezing lakes, were reconciled when they found that they could use the warm water of the Geysers. And the cold climate of Russia has ^lot Lern found an 8J :he obsl^acle to its continuance throughout that vast empire. Even in the Church of Eng- land it is still observed in theory. Eliza- beth and Edward the Sixth were both im- mersed. The rubric in the Public Baptism of Infants enjoins that, unless for special cases, they are to be dipped, not sprinkled. But in practice it gave way since the begin- ning of the seventeenth century It (im- mersion) had no doubt the sanction of the Apostles and of their Master. It had the sanction of the venerable Churches of the early ages, «and of the sacred countries of the East. Baptism by sprinkling was re- jected by the whole ancient Church (ex- cept in the rare case of death-beds or ex- treme necessity) as no baptism at all The change from immersion to sprinkling has set aside the larger part of the Apostolic language regarding Baptism and has altered the very meaning of the word." While there is no doubt that this eminent scholar is worthy of full confidence as an ecclesiastical historian, and we accept his statements as to historical facts, yet v/hen he comes to matters of opinion, we dissent most absolutely and emphatically from the grounds on which he justifies the change from immersion to sprinkling, viz. : that man's conveniences and tastes and prefer- 6 8. ences may modify and override the com- mands of Christ, and the practice of the Apostles. If this principle be once ad- mitted where shall we stop ? We may go on introducing changes and innovations until there is scarcely a feature of the ori- ginal left. This principle lies at the bot- tom of all the corruptions which disfigure Christianity today. It is a monstrous doctrine, that man has a right to modify his Lord's commands, and substitute his own fancies and inventions. The Book of Common Prayer of the Church of PJngland contains the follow iug directions. For the Public Baptism of Infants — '* Then the Priest shall take the child into his hands and shall say to the God- fathers and Godmothers, Name this child.'' ^' And then naniing it after them (if they shall certify him that the child may well endure it) he shall dip it in the water dis- creetly and warily.^^ *' But if they certify that the child is weak it shall suffice to pour water upon it," The Public Baptism of such as are of riper years . — " Then shall the Priest take each person to be baptized by the right hand, and placing him conveniently by the Font, according to 83 his discretion, shall ask the Godfathers and Godmothers the name ; and then shxill dip him in the water, or pour water upon him/' And yet there are persons, with that Book in their hands, and who ought to know what it contains, seeing that they regard it as such high authority, who will ridicule the Baptists for *^ dipping J* What refreshing consistency ! One of the weak objections sometimes urged by the opponents of Baptist prin- ciples is this, that the Jordan was such an inconsiderable stream that there was not sufficient depth of water for the immersion of the multitudes by John, Lieut. Lynch, of the United States Navy, was sent by his Government, in 1848, in charge of an expedition to explore the river Jordan and the Dead Sea, for antiquarian and scientific purposes. They passed down the entire length of the Jordan in boats, from the Lake of Galiliee to the Dead Sea. ^^ The river was found to vary in width from seventy-five to two hundred feet ; and in depth from three to twelve feet. At Bethabara, where tradition has fixed the place of our Saviour's baptism, and where John baptized the multitudes, Lieut. Lynch gives the width as one hundred and twenty feet, and the greatest depth as twelve feet.^' 81 Lynch's Dead Sea Expeditiou^ chaps, x, xi. Rev. Dr. Edward Robinson, of Union Tlieol. Seminary, New York, who visited Palestine in 1840, fully corroborates the above statements as to the abundance of water in the Jordan, (Robinson^s Biblical Researches, Vol. II, Sec. x, pp. 257 — 267.) Also Dean Stanley, who travelled in the Holy Land in 1853 (Syria and Palestine, Ch. vii, p]). 306-7) ; and Dr. Thomson for a quarter of a century a missionary in Syria, who visited the Jordan and witness- ed the bathing of the pilgrims in 1857 (The Land and Book, Vol. II, pp. 445—6), add their unquestionable testimony to the same facts. The author of this little book visited the Holy Land in Dec. 1878, and bathed in the Jordan at the traditional place of baptism, east of Jericho. At that time the water was low, and at that particular place was com- paratively shallow, and yet it was waist- deep at one-third of the way across, and to have gone further would have required swimming. Both above and below this place it was much deeper. It has also been said that there were no facilities at Jerusalem for the immersion of three thousand people in one day. 85 i^ow, the fact is that the water-supply of the city was very abtmdaut, considering that Jerusalem was but a small city com- paratively. There were, within the walls, and outside, in the immediate vicinity, various tanks and reservoirs of very large proportions. 8omo of them may be briefly described, ^^ The Pool of Bethesda is three hundred and sixty feet long, one hundred and thirty wide and seventy-five deep. " The Pool of Siloam is fifty-three feet long, eighteen wide, and nineteen deep. It now holds two or three feet of water, which can readily be increased to a much greater depth. It was to this pool that Christ sent the blind man to wash, John ix : 7. Therefore it might be used for bathing pur- poses. '^ The Upper Pool is three hundred and sixteen feet long, two hundred and eighteen wide, and eighteen deep, covering an acre and a half of ground. ^' The Pool of Hezekiah is two hundred and forty feet long, one hundred and forty- four wide, and is partly filled with water. ^^ The Lower Pool, or Pool of Gihon, is five hundred and ninety-two feet long, two hundred and sixty wide and forty deep, having an area of more than three and a 8(> balf .acres. This pool is now dry, but so late as the time of the Crnsadei fully was supplied with water, and free to the use of all/' There were several other pools in or near the city. They were all constructed, so as to make a descent into the water to any required depth safe and easy, and were doubtless in constant use for purposes of ablution. For corroboration of the above descrip- tions see Eobinson^s " Biblical Eesearches,'' Vol. I, pp. 480 — 51 5, and Thomson^s " Land and the Book,'' vol. II, pp. 64 and 446. One of the most eminent authorities as to the above facts is Dr. Barclay, for many years a missionary in Jerusalem. His book is '' The City of the Great King." It has sometimes been objected that the Christians would not have been allowed to use these pools for baptism. But do we not read immediately after the record of the baptism of the three thousand, Acts ii, 41 , that they had '^ favor ivith all the people'' (verse 47) ? Dr. Thomson, the missionary to Palestine, already quoted, in seeking to locate the scene of the Eunuch's baptism by Philip, says : '^ He would then have met the chariot somewhere south-west of Latron. There is 8^ a Gno stream of water, calh^d Munibbali dee]) enouorh even in June, to satisfy the inmost wishes of our Baptist frieiids'\— ** Land and tlie Boole," vol. II, p. 310. The objection has frequently been raised that the throe thousand persons baptized on tho day of Pentecost co);ld not have been immersed because it would be im- possible for such a great number to be baptized in that manner in a single day. This statement is based on ignorance. To show that it is simply a rash conjecture, made without any data, it is only necessary to cite a few facts. At Velumpilly, ten miles north of Ongole, in the Madras Presidencv, in the month of July 1878, two thousand, two hundred, and twenty-two persons were baptized by im- mersion in one day. The administration of the ordinance was characterized by duo decorum and solemnity. There were six administrators, but oyily two of them at a. time were engaged in baptizing. They re- lieved each other when necessary. It oc- cupied about nine hours. At Ongole, the writer baptized one hund- red and eighty-seven persons on Sunday evening, April 11, 1880. There was no undue haste. The usual formula w^as dili- berately pronounced at the baptism of each ' ,.*^.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) if. z 1.0 I.I IU|2B |2.5 1^ 1^ 12.2 !!! ii& "^ II 2.0 1.8 11.25 il.4 IIIIII.6 V] Va v: 90 iioi:c ouglit to partaken of the second ordin- ance who have not observed the fir sf. None of these admit the unbaptized to the Lord's table. Now this is close coran} union. The only really open communinnists are those (if any such exist) who hold that no conditions or qualifications are necessary to a right approach to the Lord's Suppe^*, and who admit all who choose to come, baptized or unbaptized, converted or unconverted* As soon as any qualification whatever is requir- ed the communion ceases to be open. All denominations require certain qualifications ; therefore, all are close communiouists. And all make baptism an indispensable qualifica- Hon : therefore, all are close communiouists on the very ground which is so much com- plained of in Baptists. Strictly speaking, then Baptists are no more chargeable with close communion than others. So that all the unkind feelings and hard words with which they are so often assailed on the communion question, are unreasonable, and betray either a state of ignorance that is pitiable, or an ungenerous disposition that is certainly very unlike the spirit of Christ. Thus far, then. Baptists and all others are agreed, viz : that baptism should precede the Lord's Supper. Secondly. It has been already shown 01 what we believe to be scriptural baptism ; that ground need not, therefore, be gone over again at any length. In brief, we be- lieve that the infallible standard — the Word of God — plainly teaches, and ecclesiastical history, and the highest Chiistian scholar- ship fully confirm the doctrine, that Chris- tian baptism is fhe immersion of a believer in water, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and that nothing else answers the requirements of God's Word. Now put these two things together, and what is the result ? We are led immediately, inevitably and logically to the Baptist posi- tion on the communion question. While we hold that baptism is prerequisite to the Lord's Supper, and that nothing but the immersion of a believer, in water, in the name cf the Trinity, is scriptural baptism, we cannot occupy 'any other ground than that of restricted communion. Any other course would be a most dishonest compro- mise of principle. Any one with the slight- est perception or reasoning power must at once see this. Our friends who object to our views and practice in this mav,t«r must first show us that one or the other of the two positions defined above is unscriptural and erroneous. They could hardly ask us to stultify our !• ' in r • ()0 reason, and be dishonest to our convictionii by practicing free communion while hokling the views which we do. In order to make way for a change of practice one of our positions must first be abandoned. Which shall it be ? Shall it be the fir sty viz : that baptism must precede the Lord^s Supper ? That could hardly be expected when wc be- lieve so firmly that it is scriptural ; and other denominations could scarcely ask this of us, when they hold it just as firmly as we do. Shall it be the second ? But how can we do that, when, to our minds, nothing is more plainly taught in God^s Book than that believers only are the proper subjects, and immersion only the proper mode of baptism ; and, when, in addition, we have the universal testimony of history, and the admissions of the best and most learned in all branches of Christ's Church to show that our understanding of Scripture on these points is correct ? As well might we be asked to adopt the consecrated wafer, in- stead of bread and wine, at the Lord's table, as to adopt infant sprinkling instead of Scriptural baptism. It is plain then, that we cannot be loyal to God's word, as we understand it, and abandon either of the above mentioned positions. And while we hold them, it is equally plain that we cannot ill 0:3 bo opon-comniiinionlsts. To do that wc would have to trample on the teachings of the New Testament, stifle our convictions of truth, and bear about with us continually the consciousness of being inconsistent, illogical and dishonest. The only logical way for a Baptist to become an advocate of free communion is to deny that the Scrip- tures require baptism before the Lord's Supper. If he can firmly beli&ve that, then the path is open. This is the ground taken by most of those Baptists who hold open- communion views. But how can we accept that doctrine when the Word teaches us that the breaking of bread was observed by the churches, and that the churches were composed of those who, having believed on Jesus, were baptized ? Let it be shown where the Lord's Supper was observed by any others than companies of Christian disciples ; and then let it be shown where there were companies of Christian disciples who were unbaptized. Till this is done we must believe that the blessed commem- orative ordinance was designed for baptized believers in Christ. Clearly, then, the difference on this sub- ject between Baptists and other denomina- tions is not in reference to communion, but in reference to baptism ; therefore let us bo if li iil if V t 01 charged with close baptisnij but not with close covimunion. There is no controversy between us and other Christian bodies con- cerning the necessity of baptism preceding communion ; that tenet is common to all. The real point at issue is baptism, the sub- jects and mode. Therefore, let ours be called close baptism, or let others be called close communionists, in common with our- selves ; either will be fair, and will satisfy us. The following extracts will show that our position is regarded as perfectly logical and consistent by thinking men of other deno- minations. The distinguished Dr. Griffin, President of Williams College, says : — " I agree with the advocates of close-communion in two points;— 1. That baptism is the initiating ordinance which introduces us into the visi- ble church ; of coursCj where there is no baptism there are no visible churches. 2. That we ought not to commune with those who are not baptised, and, of course, are not church members, even if we regard them as Christians, Should a pious Quaker so far depart from his principles as to wish to commune with me at the Lord^s table, while yet he refused to be baptized, I could not 95 receive hiui ; because there is sucli a relatiou- ship established between the two ordinances that 1 have no right to separate them." Rev. Dr. Hibbard, a very able writer among the Methodists of the United States, says : — " The charge of close communion is no more applicable to the Baptists than to us, inasmuch as the question of Church fellowship with them is determined by as liberal principles as it is with any other Pro- testant churches, so far, I mean, as the present subject is concerned, /. e., it is deter- mined by valid baptism." ''To the question, whom shall we admit to tho Lord's table ? the close-communion l^aptist gives precisely the same answer with the great body of those Congregational- ists and Presbyterians who are so prone to reproach them with their close communion/' — Neiv York Indej)endent, It is worthy of remark " that in one direc- tion, Pedobaptists carry their practice of close communion much farther than the Baptists do ; inasmuch as they exclude from the Lord's table a large class of their own members, viz. : baptized children, not allow- ing them communion, though they be mem- bers. If children are suitable subjects for baptism, it seems most unreasonable to ex- clude them from the communion." There 0<> can bo no doubt that they were admitted to it when infant baptism began to bo prac- ticed. It was clearly seen that if they were fit for one ordinance, they were fit for the other also. When it cannot bo denied that our posi- tion on the communion question is scriptural and logical, then objection is made to us, usually in one of the following f jrms :— We are told that iu inviting to the Lord's Supper none but those who have been baptized, we make too much of baptism ; that we make it a saving ordinance. To this pur only and oft-repeated reply is — '^ We do not make it a saving ordinance, nor do wo attach any more importance to it than is given to it by the Holy Scriptures. If the divine word makes it binding upon every disciple, as his first duty after believing in Christy then we muc ": do the sara3. We daro not change the Master's commands.'^ It is sometimes said, '^ Your refusal to invite Pedobaptists to commune with you implies that you do not regard them as Christians.'' Not at all. We have no such thoughts in reference to them. But we ask, would Pedobaptist churches invito to their communion those whom they regarded as unbaptized, even though they believed them to be conver'iied persons ? 97 The objection may take this form :— ^' It is the Lord's table ; why, therefore, do you not invite all who profess to be the Lord's people ?" We reply— it is the Lord/ a table, therefore we are not at liberty to invite any but those who, according to His word, are qualified. If it were our table, we might invite whom we pleased, and modify the qualifications as wo saw fit, or do away with them altogether ; but we are not at liberty to change the institutions of our Heavenly King. Again it is said, '^ We hope to commune together in heaven, why not then on earth ?" One can hardly suppose that such a question as this is asked seriously ; for how can a supposition as to what we may do in heaven regulate our conduct on earth when we have the precept and example of Christ and His Apostles to regulate it ? It is sometimes sentimentally said, in favor of open communion, '^ How approv- ingly the angels would look down on such scenes I" To this we reply, one word from the Bible is worth a thousand guesses as to what uhe angels would approve or dis- approve. We suspect, however, that the angels look most approvingly upon such as faithfully keep Christ's ordinances as 7 08 they are delivered to tliein lu His holy word, neither adding thereto nor taking therefrom anything to suit our fancies or feelings. Surely it should bo the aim of all Chris- tians to reproduce in this ago, as nearly as possible, primitive Christianity ; and cer- tainly the surest way to do this is to adhere Hrmly to the teachings of Christ and His Apostles, and to copy closely the New tament model. Tes- - J ' ■/- <»9 ANTIQUITY OF BAPTIST PRINCIPLES. If those principles are scriptural, then they are as old as Christianity. And it is because wo believe them to bo the principles committed by Christ and His Apostles to the primitive churches that we hold them. But let us see what traces of them we can discover during the intervening ages, We hold that the true succession is suc- cession of doctrines and principles, of faith and works ; that the genuine representa- tives of the primitive Christians, the true successors of the Apostles, are those who hold their doctrines, and follow their exam- ples, as they followed Christ. The Baptist claim to continuity from pri- mitive times is nothing mc "o nor less than this : that during all the intervening ages there have been persons, at times numer- ous and prominent, at other times, scattered by persecution and hidden, persons holding substantially the same distinctive principles which we hold to-day. But their history is to bo '' traced by their sufferings for tho truth, by tho sta fis of their martyrs* blood, by the lig it of th»ir martyrs' fires.'* Pjesidoii'^ Edwards, speaking of the long, dre iry, inte val between the rise ol Anti- christ and the Reformation, says :-^*' In 100 every age of this dark time there appeared particular persons, in all parts of Christen- dom, who bore a testimony against the cor- ruptions and tyranny of the Church of Rome. There is no one age of Antichrist— even in the darkest times of all — but ecclesiastical historians mention a great many by name who pleaded for the ancient purity of doc- trine and worship. God was pleased to maintain an uninterrupted succession of wit- nesses through the whole time, in Germany, France, Britain, and other countries. And there were numbers in every age who were persecuted and put to death for this testi- mony." — Works, VoL I., 2^* 460. Those who during this long period stood out boldly against the increasing corrup- tions of Christianity, the usurped power of the clergy, and the union of Church and vState, and who plead earnestly for liberty of conscience, the sole authority of God^s word, and the purity of the Church, were known by different names in different ages and countries ; but their leading principles were substantially the same. In the earlier ages there were the Novatians, Donatists, I^ulicians and others, and in later times, the Waldenses, Albigenses, or Vaudois, It is not pretended that all these were Baptists in all respects, and we by no means 101 endorse all the sentiments held by the diff- erent bodies. It is only claimed that the distinguishing principles of the Baptists have had advocates in every age, and that, too, among those who are universally re- garded as the preservers of primitive Chris- tianity during the dark ages. In the third century were the Novatians, It was in Rome that their principles began to be declared. The leading principle which distinguished them, and for which they earnestly contended, was the purity of the Church, In fact, it was on account of their adherence to this principle that their dissent and separate organization took place. The dominant church had become very lax in discipline, and looked leniently upon gross oft'ences in its members. The Novatians maintained that the Church should he holy. They were called Cathari, or Puritans ; and they rebaptized those who came over to them from the Catholics, See Mosheira, Cent. III., Part 11 , ch, v. In the fourth century the Donatists seced- ed from the rapidly-degenerating church. It was in Northern Africa that this took place. Concerning their principles, Rev. D. C.Eddy, D. D., says :~" A French his- torian (Crispin) gives the creed of the Do- natists, when he charges them with holding M .\ 102 the following things : — '^ First, for purity of Church members, by asserting that none ought to bo admitted into the Church but such as are visibly true believei*s and real saints : secondly, for purity of church dis- cipline ; thirdly, for the independence of each church ; and, fourthly, they baptized again those whose first baptism they had reason to doubt." — Roger Williams and the Baptists, p. 66 J Rev. T. G. Jones, D* D,, makes the fol- lowing quotations — Twisck, Chron. book vi., p. 201, says :— -^' The followers c f Dona- tus were all one with the Anabaptists, deny- ing baptism to children, admitting believers oaly thereto who desired the same, and main- taining that none ought to be forced to any belief." D'Anvers, in his Treatise on Bap- tism, says, " Austin^ s third and fourth books against the Donatists demonstrate that they denied infant baptism. And, therefore Osi- andor, in his Epit. Cent. 16, p. 175, saith that our modern Anabaptists were the same with the Donatists of old/' — The Baptists, p, 70. Ilev. Thomas Long, Prebendary of Exeter, published a "History of the Donatists in 1677, in which he says (page 103), that ''they did not only rebaptize the adults that came over to them, but refused to baptize children. 103 ley contrary to the practice of the Cliurcli, as appears by several discourses of St. Augus- tiiie.^' According to Dr, Eddy, ^^ Neander asserts that with the Donatists is to be found the true historical origin of the Waldenses.'^ In the fieventh century, and onward for several hundred years, the most prominent witnesses for the truth, and opposers of the wide-spread corruption and ritualism of the dominant church, were the Paulicians, Armenia was the principle scene of their earnest protests and terrible persecutions. They became exceedingly numerous, as may bo judged from the statement of Mosheim, that^ under the Empress Theodora, between A. D. 841 and A. D. 85o, about one hundred thousand of them were put to death. We are entirely dependent on the writings of their bitter enemies for a knowledge of their doctrines ; so that they are probably much misrepresented. This we learn, how- ever, that they protested earnestly against the many error s,both in doctrine and practice, which had grown up in the Catholic Church, and condemned the multiplied forms and ceremonies, the ritualism of that age, such as the worship of the Virgin Mary and the saints, the adoration of the cross and of images, etc. They advocated great sirrvpli- 104 citu of worship. Their opposition to the superstitious and idolatrous worship which then prevailed doubtless led some of them to an extreme position on the opposite side, and disposed them to do away with external forms, Mosheim says, '^ They rejected baptism as a rite of no use as regards sal- vation; and especially the baptism of in- fants,'' — Ce7it. XI,, Part II., ch, v. Large numbers of them afterwards removed to the provinces of Bulgaria and Thrace, whence they spread into Italy, so that in the early part of the eleventh century they were very numerous in Lombardy, and Insubria, and especially in Milan. In Italy they were called Paterini, and Gathari. They after- wards appeared in different countries of Europe. In France they were known as Albigenses and Boni Homines (good men). It seems evident that all these different bodies of dissenters, who, during the course of many centuries, in different parts of the world, and in the face of the fiercest perse- cutions, maintained their advocacy of pri- mitive Christianity, were suhstantially one and the same people. Holding a common faith, the various branches readily merged into one another. So that the different names used by historians are not generally the names of distinct sects, but different 105 appellations, given in different ages and countries to people, holding siihstantially the same principles. We now come to the Wahlejises, who, as a continuation, or , blending of the above- mentioned bodies, occupied a very promi- nent position from the eleventh century onwards for many ages, as the principal advocates of " the faith once delivered to the saints," and the firm protestors against the apostacy and corruptions of the Romish Church. Their principal dwelling places were in the secluded valleys of the Cottian Alps, in Piedmont, on the Italian side, and the Pro- vince of Dauphine on the French side. These, I say, were their principal retreats ; but there were Waldenses, Albigonses, or Vaudois, living in many parts of Europe. President Edwards, speaking of their Alpine retreat, says : — " It is supposed they first betook themselves to this desert, secret place among the mountains, to hide them- selves from the severity of the heathen persecutors which were before Constantino the Great. And there their posterity con- tinued from age to age afterwards. And being, as it were, by natural walls, as well as by God's grace, separated from the rest of the world, never partook of the over- lOG flowing corruption." — Works, VoL T., Hid. Red., p, 460. But what were tlie religious principles of the Waldenses ? It is quite a common thing for different bodies of Christians at the present day to claim direct relationship to those ancient witnesses for the truth. And no wonder there is a desire to trace such a connection, for they were the faithful and heroic preservers of gospel truth and sim- plicity through those long dark ages when the dominant church had gone so far astray. It is true that since the Reformation the modern Waldenses have yielded some points in their ancient faith, and have general iy become Pedobaptists ; but it is concerning the ancient Waldenses that our present in- quiry is made, — those who were God's faith- ful witnesses during the middle ages. In seeking to ascertain their principles, it is important to know what was believed and preached by the eminent men who, in different places were identified with them. Peter de Bruys was one of the most illus- trious of the leaders. After twenty years of most successful labor in the South of France, ' in winning souls to Christ and turning mul- titudes from the corrupted Christianity of those days, he was burnt at the stake A. D. 1 124 or 1130. One of his principles is thus 107 3 given by Moslieim — '^ That persons ought not to be baptized until thoy come to the use of reason/' Cent, XI T., Fart. 11. , ch. v. Neander says " that ho was an opponent of infant baptism, since lie regarded personal faith as a necessary condition for true bap- tism, and denied the benefit in the case oi another's faith — Hist, Ch, lleL and Church, VoL IV,, p. 595. He was followed by Henry of Lausanne^ who preached the gospel boldly, and with great results. The truth as proclaimed by him was accepted by multitudes. He was at last apprehended and committed to prison in A. D. 1148, where ho soon after died. Neander says that ^'he attacked various customs which could not be directly proved from the sacred scriptures, as corruptions of primitive Christianity ; such for example, as the worship of saints ajid infant bap- tism,'' — Hist, Ch. Eel, and Church, Vol. IV., p, 601* Mosheim says: — "An accurate account of the doctrines of this man, also, has not come down to us. We only know that he, too, disapproved of infant baptism, inveighed severely against the corrupt morals of the clergy, despised the festal days and the religious ceremonies, and held clandestine assemblies," — Cent. XII,, Part II , ch, V, 108 In a VValdensian Treatise on Antichrist, Purgatory, Invocation of Saints, and the Sacraments, supposed to have been written about the year 1120, it is said of Antichrist that " He teaches to haiAize children into the faith, and attributes to this the work of regeneration, thus confounding the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration with the external rite of baptism, and on this founda- tion bestows orders, and, indeed grounds all his Christianity/^ M. de Potter, in his account of the Waldenses, says : — " They had a care that it (baptism) should never be conferred on children of a tender age ;'' and again, " laying stress on the truth that in infancy there can be no actual conversion to the christian faith, they therefore, bap- tized anew all those who left the Romish Church, wishing to embrace their doctrine/' In tlie public declaration of their faith to the French King, A. D. 1521, according to Montanus, they " assert in the strongest terms the baptizing of believers, and deny that of infants." One of their ancient Confessions of Faith, declares, " We con- sider the sacraments as signs of holy things, or as the visible emblems of invisible bless- ings. We regard it as proper and even necessary that believers use these symbols, or visible forms, when it can be done. Not- w 109 withstanding, we maintain that believers may be saved without these signs when they have neither place nor opportunity of ob- serving them/' Starck, Court Preacher of Darmstadt, in his History of Baptism, says of the Waldenses, *' they not only re- jected infant baptism, but rebaptized those who passed from the Catholic Church to them.'' Drs. Ypeij and Dermont, in their History of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands, say, '' It is certain that the Netherlands' Waldenses always rejected in- fant baptism, and administered the ordi- nances only to adults. We may find this positively asserted by Hieronymus Verdus- sen, by the Abbot of Clugny, and other Romish writers." The extracts in the fore- going paragraph I have taken from Roger Williams and the Baptists, by D. C, Eddy, D.D, : and The Baptists, by T. Gr. Jones, D.D. They are contained also in many other works. The third canon of the Council of Tou- louse held A.D. 1119, bears witness to the existence and activity of Christians in the Province of Dauphine who were then "busi- ly agitating the questions of the real pre- sence, infant baptism, and validity of sacer- dotal orders," It was the descendants of these sturdy maintainors of truth, whom no that Apostolic man Felix Neff found in the High Alps ages afterwards, and among whom ho spent his useful life. — Life of Felix N,f. Mosheim says, *' I believe the Mennonites (Dutcli Baptists) aro not altogether in the wrong, when they boast of a descent from those Waldensians, Petrobrusians, and others, who are usually styled the Witnesses for the truth, before Luther. Prior to the age of Luther there lay concealed, in al- most every country of Europe, but especial- ly in Bohemia, Moravia, Switzerland and Germany, very many persons, in whose minds was deeply rooted that principle, which the Waldensians, the Wickliffites, and the Hussites maintained, some more covertly, and others more openly, namely, that the Kingdom which Christ set up on the earth, or the visible church, is an as- sembly of holy persons ; and ought, there- fore, to ho entirely free, not only from ungodly persons and sinners, but from all institutions of human device against un- godliness. This principle lay at the founda- tion, and was the source of all that was new and singular in the religion of the Men- nonites ; and the greatest part o£ their singular opinions, as is well attested, were approved ssonie centuries before Luther's IJl s iime, by those who had such views of tlie nature of the Church of Christ.'' — Cent. XF/., Sect, III., Part IL, ch* vi. In the early part of the present century, the King of the Netherlands appointed his chaplain. Rev. J. J, Dermont, and Dr. Ypeij Pi*ofessor of Tlveology in the Uni- versity of Groningcn, to prepare a history of the Reformel Church of the Netherlands. The result of their investigations was givcm to the world, in their work published at Breda in 1819. They were Pedobap- tists, and, of course, had no inclination to favor tlie Baptists any farther than truth required. They say, " We have now seen that the Baptists, who were formerly called Anabaptists, and in later times Mennonitcs, were the original Wahlenses, and who, long in the history of the church, received the honor of that origin. On this account tJic Baptists may he considered as the only Chris- iian community which has stood since the days of the Apostles^ and as a Christian Society which has preserved pure the doctrines of the gospel through all ages.'* In exact agreement with this is the state-- nient of that illustrious Christian philo- sopher. Sir Isaac Newton, whose ecclesias- tical investigations were only less extensive and profound than his philosophical. He 112 is said to have frequently expressed the opinion that *' the Baptists were the only Christians who had never symbolized with the Church of Rome." — See AppUton'a American Cyclopedia, 1 1 :{ BAPTIST MARTYROLOGY. Tlie Marty rology of the Baptists would form an almost endless record of persecu- tion and suffering. Age after age they were oppressed in the most relentless manner. Of them it might truly be said, ** they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, pioreover, of bcmds and imprisonment ; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword ; they wandered about in sheep- skins and goatskins, being destitute, afflict- ed, tormented, (()f whom the world was not worthy) ; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth,"— Ifcb. xi : 110-88. According to Moshcim, " Vast numbers of these people (Baptists) in nearly all the countries of Europe would rather perish miserably by drowning, hanging, burning, or decapitation, than renounce the opinions they had embraced." — Cfnt. XVI., Sect, III,, Part IL, ch, vL Cardinal Hosius, who presided at the Council of Trent, says of the Baptists : — " There have been none for these ttcelve hundred years past, that have been more grievously punished." Time would fail to enumerate even a 114 small proportion of those who have suffered for the principles which we hold dear. Such cases crowd the pages of history for many centuries. In Italy, Germany, Swit- zerland, France, England^ — in almost every country of Europe, — Baptists have been tortured and slain in vast numbers for these very principles. They could not yield what they believed to be the truth of God ; life could be given up, but not truth. It would be impossible to tell how terrible were the storms of persecution which fell upon the unoffending Waldense^s, and Al- bigcnses ; how fierce and fiendish the rage of their destroyers; how many thousands of them suffered similar atrocities to those which were perpetrated a few years ago in Bulgaria and other provinces of Turkey. The history of their persecutions is one con- tinuous record of fire and sword, the rack and the gibbet, the most inhuman tortures and heartrending scenes. Tens of thousands were tortured and slain simply for their opmions. Their persecutors acknowledged that they were persons of blameless life and loyal subjects ; but they held certain religious principles, which have always been hated by ungodly men and worldly chris- tians. The names of very many might be given 11. who suffered martyrdom in England, alike under Bloody Mary and Protestant Eliza- beth, solely for holding these views ; but the details of their tortures and death are dreadful. In the sixteenth century im- mense numbers of Baptists suffered by fine, imprisonment, banishment or burning. For details, see Grampus Sapiist History^ chapters v» and vi. One case may be given to illustrate the kind of persecution Baptists had to suffer in England as late as the latter part of the 17th century. Rev. Benjamin Keach was a Baptist minister at Winslow, in Bucking- hamshire. He afterwards became pastor of the same church to which Eev. C. H. Spurgeon now ministers, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London. " In 1664; Mr. Keach published a little book for the use of children, entitled, ^ The Child* s Instructor ; or a New and Easy Primmer,^ For this he was summoned to appear at the assizes at Aylesbury, Oct. 8, 1664. Being brought to the bar, the clerk said, ^ Benjamin Keach, here your charge. Thou art here indicted, by the name of Benjamin Keach, of Winslow, in the County of Bucks, for that thou being a seditious, schismatic person, evilly and maliciously IIG (iisposcd, and disaifected to His Majesty's government, and the government of the Church of England, didst maliciously and wickedly, on the 5th of May, in the i6th year of the reign of our sovereign lord the King, write, print, ami publish, or cause to l^e written, printed, and published, one sedi> tious and venemous book, entitled. The ChihVs Instructor; or a Netv and Easy Primmer ; wherein are contained, by way of question and answer, these damnable posi- tions, contrary to the Book of Common Prayer, and the liturgy of the Church of England ; that is to say, in one place you liave thus written : — Q. — Who are the right subjects for baptism ? A. — Believers, or godly men and women, who make profession of their faith and repentance. '' In another place you have maliciously and wickedly written these words :— Q. — How shall it go with the saints when Christ Cometh ? A. — Very well ; it is the day they have longed for. Then shall they hear the sentence ' Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you / and 117 so shall they reign with Christ ou the earth a thousand years, even on Mount Sion, in the New Jerusalem. ^' In another place you have wickedly and maliciously written these plain P^nglish words : — Q. — Why may not infants be re- ceived into the Church now, as they were under the law ? tI.— Because the fleshly seed is cast out. Though God under that dispensation did receive infants in a lineal way by generation ; yet he that hath the key of David, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man open- eth, hath shut up this way into the church, and opened the door of regeneration, receiving in none now but true believers. Q.— What is the case of infants ? ^.—In- fants that die are members of the King- dom of glory, though they be not mem- bers of the visible church. Q, — Do they, then, that bring in infants in a lineal way by generation, err from the way of truth ? A . — Yea, they do ; for they make not God's holy word their rule, but do presume to open a door that Christ hath shut, and none ought to open/' '^ The judge bade the jury bring him in guilty, and then pronounced the following sentence :— ' Benjamin Keach, you are hero 118 convicted for writing, printing and pub- lishing a seditious and schismatical book, for which the court^s judgment is this, and the court doth award : that you shall go to gaol for a fortnight without bail or mainprize ; and the next Saturday to stand upon the pillory at Aylesbury, in the open market, from eleven o'clock till one, with a paper upon your head with this inscrip- tion ; — i^07' ivritingy printing, mid jmhlishing a schismatical hook, entitled, ^ The Child's Instructor ; or a New and Easy Primmer J And the next Thursday to stand, in the same manner and for the same time, in the market at Winslow ; and then your book shall be openly burnt before your face by the common hangman, in disgrace of you and your doctrine. And you shall forfeit to the King's Majesty the sum of twenty pounds, shall remain in gaol until you find sureties for your good behaviour, and for your ap- pearance at the next assizes; then to re- nounce your doctrines, and make such pub- lic submission as shall be enjoined you/' This inhuman sentence was rigorously carried out. " His head and hands were no sooner placed in the pillory than he began to address himself to the spectators to this effect : — " Good people, I am not 119 ashamed to stand here this day, with this paper on my head ! ray Lord Jesus was not ashamed to suffer on the cross for me ; and it is for His cause that I am made a gaz- ing stock. Take notice, it is not for any wickedness that I stand here, but for writ- ing and publishing those truths which the Spirit of the Lord hath revealed in the Holy Scriptures/^ — The Metrop, Tabernacle, its History and Work, by C. H. Sturgeon, Let us now take a glance at America two hundred years ago, and see how Bap- tists were treated there. We might reason- ably suppose that those who had fled from tyranny in the old world, in order that they might find beyond the Atlantic ^' freedom to worship God,^' would appreciate and practice toleration in their new home. But what are the facts ? The Puritans bitterly persecuted those whose religious views differed from theirs, and the Baptists es- pecially felt the force of their intolerance. By statute law it was ordered, in 1636, in the Colony of Massachussets, that '' no person being a member of au}^ church, which shall hereafter be gathered without the approbation of the magistrates, and the greater part of said churches, shall be ad- mitted to the freedom of this common- 120 wealth/^ thus disfranchising all who wuro not of the standing order. In the same year it was enacted that *' if any Christian shall openly condemn the baptizing of in- fants, or shall purposely depart the con- gregation at the administration of that ordinance, and continuing obstinate therein, he shall be sentenced to bo banished/' In 1651, Obadiah Holmes and John Clark, two Baptist ministers, came from Newport to Lynn, Mass., and attempted to hold a religious service at the house of William Witter, a Baptist, While Mr. Clark was preaching they were arrested by order of the magistrates. At the trial they were charged chiefly with baptizing, and denying the validity of infant baptism, and Mr. Clark was fined twenty pounds, and Mr. Holmes thirty pounds^ and in default of payment to be whipped. The latter would not, or could not, pay the fine, and *^ without mercy, his back was laid bare, and the lash laid on for conscience' sake. The flesh hung in gory welts, and yet the blows fell ; the blood ran down his legs and made puddles on the ground, and yet the blows fell, until intolerance was satified. ' As the strokes fell upon me,' he says, * I had such a spiritual manifestation of God's pre- 121 seucc as I never liad beture, aud the outwanl pain was so removed from me tbat 1 well could bear it ; yea, I felt it not although it it was grevious, as the spectators said, the man striking with all his strength (yea, spit- ting in his hands three times, as many af- firmed), with a three-corded whip, giving me therewith thirty strokes/ " This was not in Madrid or Rome, but in New England — the land of the free. It was not done by the Inquisitors of the middle ages, but by the poor, meek, persecuted Pu- ritans, who, a few years before, longed so earnestly for religious liberty. As we look back over the noble army of Baptist martyrs, all along the centuries^ suf- fering for the truth as it is in Jesus, and sealing their testimony with their blood, we feel that here is a succession worth talking about, and worth defending ; a succession of apostolic principles and apostolic men. Wc are thankful for such a spiritual pedigree. Had not these principles been immortal as the Word of God, they would have faded for ever from the earth, when all the world waged war against them for ages. Well may we with wonder ask why such principles have always been spoken against, and their advocates persecuted. There is nothing in 122 these doctrines that is injurious to men morally or spiritually; nothing that is hostile to the welfare of society; nothing that is subversive of law and good government. And yet they have, from the beginning, been fiercely opposed, and their adherents have been the objects of the most relentless tyranny. Perhaps we may find the explana- tion in the fact that the truth, even when uttered by the Son of God, was hated and resisted, and that He — th. very truth itself ^~was crowned with thorns and crucified. 1 123 OUR POSITION. Wisdom says, '^ Let auotlier mau praise thee and not thine own mouth.'' Let us iear, then, what others have said. The late Dr. Wood, of Andover, Mass., in 1854 thus expressed himself : — *' I entertain the most cordial esteem, love, and confidence towards the Baptists, as a denomination. I have had the freest intercourse, and the sincerest friendship with Baptist ministers, theological students, 8nd private Christians, And I have wished that our denomination — the Congregational — was as free from erratic speculations, and as well grounded in the doctrines and experimental principles of the Puritans, as the Baptists. It seems to me that they are the Christians ivho are likely to maintain pure Christianity and hold fast the form of sound words. The great Scotch Presbyterian, Dr. Chal- mers, pays the following tribute to the Eng- lish Baptists : — '^ Let it never be forgotten, of the Particular Baptists of England, that they form the denomination of Fuller, and Carey, and Eyland, and Hall, and Foster; that they have originated among the greatest of all missionary enterprises ; that they have enriched the Christian literature of our coun- try with authorship of the most exalted piety, 121- as well HS of the lirst talent, and tlio first elociuenco ; that they have waged a vc^ry noble and successful war with the hydra of Anti- nomianism ; that perhaps there is not a more, intellectual community of ministers in our islands, or who have put forth, to their num- ber, a greater amount of mental power and mental activity in the defence and illustration of our common faith ; and what is better than all the triumphs of genius or understandings who by their zeal and fidelity and pastoral labor among congregations which they have reared, ha,ve done more to swell the list of genuine discipleship in the walks of private society, and thus both to uphold and extend the living Christianity of our nation/* Baptists have no cause to be ashamed of the roll call of their illustrious men. Passing by the notable names of the early and middle ages, and coming down to modern times, we might point to John Bunyan, " the immortal d reamer,' ' whose great allegory has been translated into more languages of the world than any other book except the Bible ; to John Milton, whose collossal genius produc- ed the ^' Paradise Lost ;" to Robert Hall, that most finished pulpit orator, the Chrysos- tom of modern times ; to John Foster, whom Sir James Mackintosh pronounces 12;-] '' ono of tlie most profound and eloouont writers that Kii^^laiid has produced : to AndkewFuller, the eminent theologian, who '* traverses with giant steps the whole empire of Revelation, and of reason, as its hand- maid ;" to John Howard, the devoted philan- thropist, and unselfish reformer; to William Carey, one of the most prominent leaders of the modern missionary enterprise, who, dur- ing the forty years of his labors in India in connection with his associates, published over two hundred and twelve thousand volumes of the Bible, in fortu different languages ; to Adoniram Judson, the heroic Apostle of Burmah, one of the first missionaries that ever left the shores of America for a heathen land ; to Sir Henry Havelock, the valiant Christian warrior, whose name and fame can never be forgotten while the dreadful memo- ries of Lucknow remain ; to C. H. Spur- UEON, confessedly the most eminent of living preachers, who, from his pulpit, addresses the largest assembly that regularly convenes to-day in the world, for religious purposes. One of the first of those Missionary Or^ ganizatious, established at the close of the last century and the beginning of the pre- sent, which had for their prime object the evangelization of the heathen world, was 12G the Baptist Missionary Society, established in 1792. Of the efforts of this Society, Chambers' Cyclopedia thus speaks : — *' No mission band has arisen in any denomina- tion within the century who have surpassed the agents of the Baptist Missionary Society in ardent zeal, patient perseverance, and invincible fortitude, in carrying out their Lord's commission to preach the gospel to every creature. The names of Carey, Marshman, Ward and Knibb will be had in grateful remembrance by all succeeding generations ; and their footsteps are now being trod by a long list of Christian mis- sionaries of all evangelical persuasions, who are ^ the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.' " That great parent of Bible Societies (the British and Foreign), having for its object to give the Holy Scriptures to all the world, originated mn^'nly through the efforts of a Baptist minister. Rev. Joseph Hughes, of Battersea, near London. The translation and dissemination of the Word of God have always formed an important part of the work done by Baptists. The London Quarterly Review referring, in 1809,. to the labors of Carey and his friends in India, said, ^^lu fourteen years they have dono 127 11 jro towards spreading tho kuowludgu of the scriptures among the heathen than all the world besides." Among the earliest, if not the very earliest, Evangelical Christian Churches in Bengal, Burmah, Siam, China, West Africa, and the West Indies were Baptist Churches. And the standard of the cross, raised by the faith- ful and fearless pioneers, now waves over multitudes reclaimed from heathenism. , ' > r , i.l ' la, f I . ■•> 128 STATISTICS, ETC. The increase of the Baptists is remarkable. For example : — In the United States, in the year 1 770, there were 77 Baptist churches, now there are 26,0G0 with 2/296,827 mem- bers,— that is, communicants. During the last fifty years we have gained, in that country, nearly 20,000 churches, equivalent to more than one church every day during all thoae years. There were baptized into the fellowship of our Churches in the United States during the year 1880, on a credible profession of their faith, one hundred and two thousarid seven hundred and tiuenty-four per- sons. There are over fifty churches of our denomination in the City of Philadelphia alone. In the Dominion of Canada we have 710 churches and 63,822 members ; in Great Britain 2,591 churches and 268,478 mem- bers ; in the West Indies 1 58 churches and 26,439 members. There are Baptist Churches in nearly every country in Europe, including Russia^ Austria, and Turkey. In Germany there are 121 Baptist Churches, with 25,497 members ; in Sweden 298 churches and 18,851 members. In India and Ceylon we have 147 churches and 25,488 members ; in Burmah 433 129 churches and 21,591 members. Including those in all lands, we obtain the following numbers. Churches. Members. Europe - - - 3,135 - - . 322,537 Asia - - - 609 - - - 40,014 Africa - - 56 . - 3,173 America - - . 26,936 - - -2,386,747 Australasia - 162 - - 7,002 30,898 2,768,473 When we speak of ^* members/' it docs not include '^ adherents/' or " probationers/' or '^ catechumens/' or any such classes, but actual church members, communicants, those who profess to be real Christians > And these principles are spreading very rapidly, and indirectly affecting those who will not yet acknowledge tha^^ they are scriptural, Keferences to the statistics of other denominations sho\/ that, in the United States especially, infant baptism is gradually declining, the number of adult baptisms far exceeding that of infarts. It is stated that in that country, '^not one child in ten receives the rite." Multitudes are becoming convinced of the unscriptural- ness of such an ordinance, and conscien- tious Christians, when they see clearly that there is no warrant for it in God's word, will abandon it. Large numbers of Pedo- 9 130 baptist ministers^ from various denomina- tions every year adopt the principles here advocated and become connected with the Baptist body. In view of the prosperty granted to us as a people, and the prospects of still greater triumphs of the truth, we will but say, to God be all the praise. We do not glory in these things. Wo glory ^^ in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" alone ; but we are thankful for what God has accomplished by his truth through our instrurrentality. As regards their relations with other Christian communities, and with their fellow men in general, Baptists are not open to the charge sometimes brought against them — of illiberality or exclusiveness. They are always ready to co-operate with their fellow Christians of other persuasions, in religious effort, in benevolent institutions, in the pro- motion of every enterprise for the mental,, moral, and spiritual welfare of the world, in every good cause, where no compromise of principle is involved. They entertain sincere respect and love for the people of God of every name, and are ready to mani- fest this Christian friendship as fully and unmistakably as any, but they will not sacrifice God^s truth. 131 Baptists are not, according to the historical signification of the term, Protestants. They do in reality protest, as their predecessors have always done, against all that is un- scriptural in doctrine or practice, wherever it exists; but Protestantism, so-called, is only as old as A. D. 1529>when the cele- brated Protest of certain German states and princes was made at the Diet of Spires. We profess to be real Protestants, and we stand side by side, and are one in heart, with all Evangelical Christians. We say to those who came out from the Great Apostacy, at the Reformation, God speed you, and help you to do a good work ! You have reason to protest against the errors of that body from which you came out, only you do not carry your protest far enough. We never were enclosed within her pale, but we re- joice in the work you are doing, and would rejoice more fully if it were more thorough. Oh that the Reformers had accomplished a complete Reformation ! Oh that they had left certain things behind them when they came out ! How much more glorious, more powerful, and more triumphant would the Reformation have been ! But it was scarcely to be expected that they could at once shake off all the errors among which they had been reared. It was a great spiritual re- 132 surrection, and in coming forth from the tomb some of the grave clothes clung to them. How desirable that their descend- ants should complete the work which they began, and now render the Reformation perfect. The word of our God shall stand for ever. It may be opposed and its holy light ob- scured for a time, but in the end it must be acknowledged. The Bible is the only infallible guide amid the varying currents of human opinion. But if it is to be our guide, it must be fully accepted, and im- plicitly obeyed. Neither long-standing cus- tom, nor natural inclination, nor self- interest, nor the example of numbers, nor any other consideration should be suffered for a moment to stand between us and the hearty reception of, and unhesitating obe- dience to the teachings of Jesus. In God's book we are counselled to " buy the truth and sell it not.*^ Oh, the truth, the truth of God, what a blessed possession ! Be it ours to embrace and keep it, unadulterated by human opinions or traditions ; for when we appear before our Master's throne nothing but Truth will stand. 183 ARTICLES OF FAITH AND COVENANT. The following' are the Articles of Faith which embody the doctrines generally held by the Baptist Chnrches of America, and they are substantially those of Baptists in all lands. A few only of the proof texts under each Article are noted here, since to give them all would occupy much space. Following these Articles is the Covenant which is very generally adopted by our churches, and into which each new member voluntarily enters. I.— The Scriptures. We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter ; that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us : and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true centre of Christian union, and the supreme standard by w^hich all human conduct, creeds, and 134 opinions should be tried. — II Tim. iii : 16, 17; II Peter i : 21 ; Isai. viii : 20. II.— The True God. We believe the Scriptures teach that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and Earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, con- fidence, and love ; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the great work of redemp- tion. — Ex. xxxiv : 6, 7 ; Deut. vi : 4, 5 ; Mark xii : 30 ; Rev. iv : 11 ; Matt, xxviii: 19. III.-The FaU of Man. We believe the Scriptures teach that Man was created in holiness, under the law of his Maker ; but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and happy state ; in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint but choice ; being by nature utterly void of that holiness required by the law of God, positively inclined to evil ; and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin, with- out defence or excuse. — Gen. i ; 27 ; Gen. iii ; Isai. liii : 6 ; Rom. v : 12 — 10. 35 rV— The Way of Salvation. Wc believe the Scnpturcs teach that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace ; through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God ; who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon him our nature, yet without sin ; honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and by His death made a full atonement for our sins ; that having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven ; and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with Divine perfections. He is every way qualified t be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Saviour. — Isai. liii : 4, 5 ; John iii : 16 ; Eph. ii : 5. V. —Justification We believe the Scriptures teach that the great Gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is justification ; that justification includes the pardon of sin, and the promise of eternal life on principles of righteous- ness ; that it is bestowed, not in considera- tion of any works of righteousness which we h?ve done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer s blood ; by virtue of which faith His perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us of God ; that it brings us into a state of most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other blessing needful for time and eternity. — Rom. iv : 4, 5 ; v : 1, 9, 17, 19. « 136 VI.— The Freeuess of Salvation. We believe the Scriplurcs teach that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the Gospel ; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith ; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own determined depravity and voluntary rejection of the Gospel ; which rejection in- volves him in an aggravated condemnation. — 1; John iii: 19; v : 40 ; Rev. Isai. xxii Iv 17. VII.— Regeneration. We believe the Scriptures teach that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated, or born again ; that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind ; that it is effect- ed in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the Gospel ; and that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repent- ance, and faith, and newness of life. — Ezek, xxxvi : 26 ; John iii : 3 ; II Cor. v : 17 ; Eph. v: 9. VIII.— Repentance and Faith. We believe the Scriptures teach that repent- ance and faith arc sacred duties, and also insepa- rable graces, wrought in our souls by the re- i:37 generating Spirit of God ; whereby being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy ; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our prophet, priest, and king, and relying on hira alone as the only and all-sufficient Saviour. — Mark i : 15 ; Luke xv : 18—21 ; Acts ii : 37, 38 ; Rom. X : 9-11. IZ— God's Purpose of Grace. We believe the Scriptures teach that election is the eternal purpose of God, according to which He graciously regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners ; that being perfectly consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end ; that it is a most glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being infinitely free, wise, holy, and unchangeable ; that it utterly excludes boasting, and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy ; that it encourages the use of means in the highest degree ; that it may be ascertained by its effects in all who truly believe the Gospel ; that it is the foundation of Christian assurance ; and that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves demands and deserves the utmost diligence. — Ex. xxxiii : 19 ; Rom. viii : 28 — 31 ; 2 Thess. ii : 13, 14 J 2Tim. i: 8,9. 138 X. — Sanctification • We believe the Scriptures teach that sancti- fication is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness ; that it is a progressive work ; that it is begun in regeneration ; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appoint- ed means — especially the word of God, self- examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer. — Prov. iv: 18; Rom. viii: 5; 1 Thess. iv ; 3 ; V : 23. XI.— Perseverance of Saints. We believe the Scriptures teach that such only are real believers as endure unto the end ; that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors ; that a special Providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. — John viii : 31 ; x : 27-29 ; Phil. i ; 6 ; 1 John ii : 19. XII.— The Law and €k>spel We believe the Scriptures teach that the Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government ; that it is holy, just, and good ; and that the inability which the Scrip- tures ascribe to fallen men to fulfill its precepts, 139 arises entirely from their love of sin ; to deliver them from which, and to restore them through a Mediator to unfeigned obedience to the holy Law, is one great end of the Gospel, and of the means of grace conne(!ted with the establish- ment of the visible church. — Luke xvi : 17 ; Rom. iii : 31 ; vii : 12 ; viii : 2, 4 ; Gal. iii : 21 . XIII.— A Gospel Church. We believe the Scriptures teach that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers ; associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel ; observing the ordinances of Christ ; governed by His laws ; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privi- leges invested in them by His word ; that its only Scriptural ofl&cers are Bishops or Pastors, and Deacons, whose qualifications, claims, and duties are defined in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus. — Matt, xxviii : 19, 20 ; Acts ii : 41, 42 ; Phil, i : 1 ; 1 Tim. iii ; Titus i. IV.— Baptism and the Lord's Supper. We believe the Scriptures teach that Christian Baptism is the immersion in water, of a believer, into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit ; to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect, in our death to sin, and resurrection to a new life ; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a 140 cliurcL relation, and to tlie Lord's Supper, in which the members of the Church, })y the sacred use of bread and wine, are to comme- morate together the dying love of Christ, pre- ceded always by solemn self-examination. — Matt, xxviii: 19, 20; Actsii: 41,42; viii : 12; 36—39 ; Rom. vi : 4 ; Matt, xxvi : 2G-29. vm XV.— The Christian Sabbath. We believe the Scriptures teach that the first day of the week is the Lord's Day, or Christian Sabbath, and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and wordly recreations, by the ^out observ- ance of all the means of grace, .^^oth private and public ; and by preparation for that rest that remaineth for the people of God. — Ex. xx : 8 ; Isai. Iviii : 13, 14 ; Acts xx : 7 ; Rev. 1 : 10. XVI.— Civil Government- We believe the Scriptures teach that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and good order of human society ; and that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscien- tiously honored and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the Kings of the earth. — Matt, xxii : 21 ; Rom. xiii : 1 — 7 ; Acts v : 29 ; Dan. iii : IG — 18. '^/ 111 XVII— Righteons and Wicked. We believe the Scripturen teach that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked ; that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in his esteem ; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked, and under the curse ; and this distinction holds among men both in and after death. — Mai. iii ; 18 ; Matt, xxv : 4G ; I John V : 10. ZVIII.— ^he World to Come. We believe the Scriptures teach that the end of the world is approaching ; that at the Last Day Christ will descend from heaven, and raise the dead from the grave for final retribution ; that a solemn separation will then take place ; that the "wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment, and the righteous to endless joys and that this judgment will fix for ever the final state of men in heaven or hell, on principles of righteousness. — Matt, xxv : 13 ; Acts i : 11 ; 1 Thess, iv : 13—18 ; John v : 28, 29 ; Rev. xxii : 11. Covenant. Having been, as we trust, brought by divine grace to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, and to give ourselves wholly to him, we do now solemn- U2 \y and joyfully covenant with eacli other, to walk together in Him, with brotherly love, to His glory, as our common Lord. We do, there- fore, in His strength, engage — That, we will exercise a Christian care and watchfulness over each other, and faithfully warn, exhort and admonish each other, as occa- sion may require : That, we will not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, 'but will uphold the puV^lic worship of God, and the ordinances of His house : That, we will not omit closet and family re- ligion at home, nor neglect the great duty of religiously training our children, and those under our care, for the service of Christ, and the enjoyment of heaven : That, as Christians are the light of the world, and salt of the earth, we will seek divine aid, to enable us to deny ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and to walk circumspectly in the world, that we may win the souls of men : That, we will cheerfully contribute of our property, according as God has prospered us, for the maintenance of a f,9ichful and evangelical ministry among us, for the support of the poor, and to spread the Gospel over the eai^-h : That, we will, in all conditions, even till death, strive to live to the glory of Hini; who hath 143 to called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. " And may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work, to do His will, working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." us. *