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Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplimentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ Ie meilleur exempiaire qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les dReMMfNABV OBSERVATION'S. tions of alienation and disgust which they may evince. The very appeihition of Baptist, together with the tenets by which it is de- signated, become associated with the idea of bigotry. With min- gled surprise and indignation they behold us making pretensions which no other denomination of Protestants assumes, placing our- selves in an attitude of hostility towards the whole Christian world, and virtually claiming to be the only church of Christ upon earth. Fortified as it is by its antiquity and universality, and combining in its exterior whatever has a tendency to dazzle the imagination and captivate the senses, there is yet nothing in the church of Rome that has excited more indignation and disgust than this very pretension. What then must be the sensation produced, when, in the absence of all these advantages, a sect comparatively small and insignificant erects itself on a solitary eminence, from whence it repels the approach of all other Christians. We propose to ex- tirpate an error, and we plant a prejudice; and instead of attempt- ing to soften and conciliate the minds of our opponents, we in- flict a stigma. Professing serious concern that the ordinance of baptism, as it was practiced in the first ages, is fallen into neglect, we attempt to revive an unpopular rite, by a .node of procedure which, without the remotest tendency towards the removal of error or the elucidation of truth, answers no other purpose than to make ourselves unpopular."* The sentiments which we have exhibited from the writings of the incomparable Hall, are only specimens from a mass of kindred materials: they are marked by a grandeur of conception respecting the essential verities of the Christian system, and an expansion of love towards all, of every name, that compose the extended fold of our Redeemer, truly worthy of their author, and in perfect harmony with the inspired directions pre- fixed to these remarks. With the admirable Works of Hall, it is natural to conceive that Mr. Crawley is intimately conversant: that he has yet, however, to imbibe the spirit of liberality, by which they are pervaded, we are presented with rather repulsive evidence in the very first sentence of his Treatise. " It would be easy," he says, '•' to settle the controversy respect- ing Infant Baptism, if men would agree to let the New Testament decide; for who, that had never heard of the custom of baptizing infants, and should confine his inquiries to the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, would ever think of introducing such a practice ?"!■ Considering the exulted intellectual and spiritual cha- racter of a numberless host rangcl on the Pedobaptist side of this *HRir» Workii, vol, 2. TV' 226, 227. tTreatisB tn Bartism, p. 5. PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIOiVS. 11 long-ngitated controversy, how extremely modest and deferential is this declaration !! Really, it must be adoiitted, it is no small trial of patience to be thus cavalierly treated in the very onset; nor can it be n matter of wonder, that the immediate tendency of such 'loftiness of pretension and arrogance of language' should be to excite in us ' mingled surprise and indignation.' The troubling of these waters, methought, is not very likely, at this Kate, much to resemble in its effects the agitation of the pool of Bethesda. The recollection, however, that in the present era of lights the distinc- . lion, in a matter of doubtful disputation, between a gratuitous assumption and a reasoned conclusion is pretty generally under- stood, soon perfectly restored our equanimity. Implicit faith in human dicta has so long impeded the advancement of science and religion in the world, that it has most deservedly becom.e quite un- popular; nor can any enlightened friend of either wish it ever again to prevail. Hence, in minds of penetration, bold assertion is much more likely to arouse suspicion than to create confidence: it cannot aid a bad cause; and it is admirably adapted to discredit a good one : if allowed by the unprejudiced and Judicious to take the character of evidence at all, they will only admit it in proof of the weakness of the individual who hopes to produce conviction by such an expedient. In this view some may de"m it presump- tive evidence. A distinguished theologian — who has laid «// orthodox Christiana under deep obligations !>y a triumphant defence of doctrines of much more vital importance than the mere ceremonial of Christianity, — the learned and excellent Da. Wahdlaw — in addressing himself to a discussion of the baptismal controversy, approaches it with no such port of confidence as Mr. Crawley has assumed. We shall not, it is hoped, be suspected of a design to institute any invidious comparison, in suggestingj that at the feet of such a man as Dr. Warulaw, Mr. Crawley might well deem it a privilege to sit and learn : at least loe should : and while we admire, as every one must, it is our unfeigned wish also to imitate, in the course of the present discussion, the spirit of the subsequent passage:— " Al- though" observes the Dr. "our opinions Jid practice are not to be decided by names ; yet the manner of our treating any subject not only may be, but ought to be, not a little affected by them. — And when I think of the names of high eminence, both for intel- lect and for piety, both for scholarship and for integrity, that are ranged on both sides of the present controversy, I cannot but con- sider pertncss and dogmatism as indications, not of vigour of judg- 15 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION*. ment, but of the imbecility of self conceit. If through infirmity and corruption, I should, in any part of rny argument, be found guilty of these oviis or of the appearance of them, 1 have thus pronounced a previous verdict against myself.— My aim, however, shall be to avoid them, and to state my views and reasoning.s, al- though with decision and tirmness, (because to this I do believe them, bona tide, to be entitled,) yet with becoming simplicity, self- diffidence, and charity."* Having thus animadverted on the rigid and repulsive spirit of Mr. Crawley's performance, we njay be considered as iuiving given a sufficient answer to all that it contains in the shape of pure and positive assertion, a figure of speech for which he indicates an ardent predilection. It is his argumeyils however, not his oracles, that we purpose to examine : on those we shall bestow our best attention, with all possible brevity. In every species of controversy, there ought, obviously, to be a distinct and perfect understanding between the disputants in re- gard to the preliminaries of the d':i»ate. Unless the priiicif»les from which they deduce their conclusions are matters of mutual concession nnd confidence they may indeed lorangle, but it will be impossible for them to reason. All difficulty upon this point is, in the present case, eflectually precluded by the dignified enuncia- tion recorded in 2 Tim. 3: IG, viz: — " All Scripture is givkn by inspiration of God." By the test of this principle, taken in the whole range of its legi- timate application, we wish to stand or fall. Recognising, equally with ourselves, the Bible in all its entireness as the only authorised standard of faith and practice, our Baptist brethren are bound to re- ceive whatever is clearly evinced from an examination of its records, to have the sanction of Divine authority, — although the manner in which its claim to that sanction is demonstrated may not accord with their previous conceptions of propriety. It is surely not the province of an erring mortal, to dictate to the Oiimiscient in what way he shall convey to us the knowledge of his will. For aught we are warranted to assume to the contrary, the mode of his coiu- municutions may as far transcend our preconceptions an the matter of them. Mr. Crawley lay3 it down as a principle which ought to be uni- versally admitted by Chrisitians, that " the New TestamfcUt is the * Disierlntigu ua theJ^crip. Aiitliority ot'Inraiit Gnptisni, p, 17. PKEMMINARY OBSE UVATIONS, IS onhj\'u]e of Christian onlinanoes,"* and reprosents nn ap])pa1 to the Old Testament on this snhject as " inconsistent with the dictates of common sense." We, on the contrarj, can neither atlrnit the principle, nor divest ourselves of the in)i)ros.--i()n that there is imicli more niimon sansej — the Jlev. Richard Watson, the late ' talented Secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, — iftho \ Abraliamic covenant and the Christian covenant is the same gra- cious engagement, on the part of God, to sliow mercy to man, and to bestow upon him eternal life, through faith in Christ as the true sacrifice for sin, differing only in circumstances ; and if the sign and seal of this covenant under the Old dispensation was cir- cumcision, and under the New is baptism, which has the same federal character, performs the same initiatory ofiice, and is in- stituted by the same authority ; — if none could have auihority to . lay aside the appointed seal, but the Being who first instituted it, ' who changed the form of the covenant itself, and who has in fact abrogated the old seal by the appointment of another — even bap tism — which is maile obligatory upon " all nations'' to whom the gospel is preached, then, Antipedobaptist writers are bound to em- ploy all their strength to prove that baptistn was not appointed in the room of circumcision, since if they fail in establishing this posi- tion, one of their main objections to infiint baptism is rendered wholly nugatory. Could they persuade us to treat the Old Testa- ment, in this controversy, as though its authority and use were alike superseded by the New, their endeavours to give plausibility to their system would, we have no doubt, be materially facilitated, — although even then, it would l)ehove them to assign reasons, of a very conclusive character, to justify their conduct in precluding from the church of Christ those whom he himself enfolded in his arms, and respecting whom, while he blessed them, ho said, — 41 < 1 * Traalita on Daijliaiii. ». 5. — t p. li! t H PKEMMINAHY OUSER V ATfONS. f " of SUCH is tlio kiiiijdoin of heaven." But it will be quite soon liiiouyli, we deem, to interdict till tipplicatioii to those venerable uirI inspired orucles of God, on the point at issue betvveerj us and our opponents, when we shall have ascertained either, that they are perfectly silent on this subject, or that their responses are as equivocal in their import, as history informs us were those of the oruclr^ of Paganism. There are several interesting and important aspects in which the great covimemoralive rite of Christianity, a.s well as the initia- lory one, is susceptible of illustration only in the light which the Old Testament throws forward on the New. It so occurred, that the very last Sabbath 0:1 which the writer of these observations administered the Lord's Supper, he addressed the congregation from I Cor. v. 7, 8,—" Purge out therefore, the old leaven, that ye may be a new hnnp— therefore let us keep the feast, not with old lyaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness— but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." With the re- cent recollection of the references which he found it absolutely re- quisite to make to the institution of the Passover, the preparations for its observance, and the manner of its celebration, in order to a due exposition of the words of the Apostle, how, he would ask could such allusion?, replete as they are with materials of Chris- tian edification, be elucidated independently of the Old Testament;' There lies another objection of a most serious nature against the principle assumed by Mr. Crawley, that " the New Testa- ment is th-) only rule of Christian ordinances":-— It strikes at the root of the obligation of the sabbatic institution under the gospel economy. This objection he endeavours indeed to dispose of, by classing the duty of observing the sabbath with those principles of moral truth that have " belonged to religion under every dispen- Fation, such as, love to God and salvation by faith."* Butthe fallacy of this mode of reasoning appears, from its confounding the pal- pable distinction between duties of a nature purely moral, and those which are of a mmc? character— being partly mom/ duties and partly positive institutions. Now of this latter kind is, unquestion- ably, the law of the Sabbath. The consecration of a part of our time to the worship of God is indeed a moral duty,— and one of pre-eminent practical importance; but the />ro/>oWi07t of time to be thus appropriated, the designation of every seventh day to be observed as a holy rest,— must obviously be matter of positive * Tiealiie on Baptism, j). 6. enfi shal the II a7iC( mal reci inqi suh^ Q8 ( I tUKLIMINARY OliSF,nVATI0N.-«. t& enactment. Without an appenl to tlic Old Testament whcro shall vvG find such an nulhoritativc appointment in referenco tu the Christian ordinance of tlie Sabbath 7 It is indisputably apparent then, that with rcj,'ard to the crdin- atices as well as the (Zoc/rmts ol' Christianity, tliere subsists an inti- mate connection between the Old Testament and the Now : ihf-y reciprocally illustrate each other. lu proceeding, therefore, lu inquire ' JVhat saith the Scripture' in relation to the mode and «u5/cc<» of Baptism ? we shall take the tinimUilated woni of God Q8 our only adequate guide. CHAPTER II. TM« MODE OF BAPTISM NEITHER ENJOINED NOR DESCniBED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. BAPTISTS INCONSISTENT WITH THEIR OWN PRINCIPLES. ■ Weur there n particle of precise injunction in the New Testa- ment in reference to the mode of performing the baptismal rice, an expeditious method might be adopted to put an e7i(l to ail con- troversy u[)on the point. The fact, that our Baptist brethren have •,)roduced no inspired prescription favourable to their views, will be deemed on all hands i)roof abundant that none such exists; since if it did, who can suspect that, by any possibility, it could have es- caped tiio perspicacity of those who consider the manner of the thing of such essential consequence. Not only have our Lord and his Apostles omitted giving any p" press direction in relation to this particular, but, vve diffidently conceive, it will appear extremely probable, to say the least, from the tisus loqucndi forms of expression used by the sacred writers when speaking of Christian baptism, as compared with classic usage, and interpreted as the established laws of syntax and idioni in the Greek obviously require, that they have studiously avoided a description of the mode in which it ought to be administered. That they have done so, whether with or without design, will in- contestibly appear in the sequel. Onr opponents, who impugn the validity of baptism performed by affusion or sprinkling, are bound, in order to sustain their ex- clusive immersion scheme, to prove, 1. That the word baptise means to dip, submerge, and nothing else, and 2. That a strict as- similatiftii to the original manner of 5)racticing :ai outward cere- mony is obligatory upon all christians, in all climates, and in all the ages of iho church. tiODE or BAt'TISM. IT Let them establish those positions by irrefragable arguments, and we shall strike hands with thorn at once. Yes! with their per- mission wo shall be baptized slraia;htw ay, —and seek in the bosom of aehiirch where there is Christian discipline, the covenanted be- nefits of a duo participation in the ordinances of our Redeemer ; regretting only, that the method adopted by them to convinco us of the rectitude of their sentiments, has so long given to truth the appearance oC discourtesy, and prevented us from recognizing her celestial features. " Convince them [the Pedobaptists] says Mr. Hai.l to his less candid brethren, convince them that it Js their duty to be baptized in the method whi.n we approve, and they stand ready, many nf them at least we cannot doubt, stand ready to perform ir. Convince them that it is a necessary infer- ence from the correct interpretation of the apostolic commission and they will without hesitation bow to that authority." Now the only way in which they can possibly produce this con- viction in enlightened minds, is, by establishing upon a Scriptural basis, the two principles which we have mentioned above. Nay, were we freely to concede what, with unyielding positivi- ty, they maintain, though upon evidence the force of which none can appreciate but themselves, namely, that the original word by which the sacred writers designate the baptismal ceremony, con- stantly involves the idea of immersion, to the exclusion of every other meaning, still, in order completely to vindicate their system, it would remain for them to evince, that in a religion supremely spiritual "and designed to be universal, a mode of administering this ordinance should be obligatory, the practice of which is so ill adapted to many climates, where it would either be exceedingly harsh to immerse the candidates, male and female, strong and fee- ble in water ; or in some places, as in the higher latitudes, for a great part of the year impossible. Even if immersion were in fact the original mode of baptizing in the name of Christ, these rea- sons make it improbable that no accommodation of the form should take place without vitiating the ordinance."* The princii)le that a conformity to the Apostolic mode of prac- ticing an outward rite, is necessary to its appropri;ite and valid observance, our Baptist brethren themselves most palpably sur- render in point of fact, by departing from the primitive manner of partaking of the Lord's Supper. Is the impressive ceremonial insti- * Watson'* Thnnl. lust. vol. ?. II MODE 01" BAPTISM. V I ^ fi I tuted by our Lord immediately before his crucifixion, and design- ed lo commemorate that atoning death by which ho achieved the redemption of the world, of less importance and significancy than the rite of Baptism? Let it be remembered, that the Eucharist was not only appointed by our Saviour, during the time of his sojourn upon earth, but was made the subject of a special and immediate revelation by him to the Apostle of the Gentiles, after his ascen- sion. " For," says Paul, "I have received of the Lord" that which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: and when he had given thanks he brake it, and said, Take eat : this is my body which is broken for you ; this do in remembrance ofme.^^ i Cor. xi: 23, 24. Now it is worthy of remark, that the circumstances of the first celebration of this commeinorative Institute, are detailed in the gospel with a minuteness, to which there is not the most distant approximation in any recorded case of the administration of Bap- tism. When our Lord instituted and kept the feast with his Dis- ciples,— they were in an upper room,— it was night,— they kept it with unleavened bread, for the houses of the Jews furnished no other at the time of the parsover,— they drank the wine of Pales- tine—and reclined upon couches, or tricliniums, according to the oriental custom. If then— admitting for a moment that baptism was originally practiced by immersion— the principle for which our Baptist bre- thren so strenuously contend in relation to the initiatory rite of Christianity is a just one, why do they not recognize it as equally imperious in its application to the Lord's Supper.?—" I ask now," says Prof. Stuart, "all the advocates for the literal sense of Baptizo, who urge upon the churches the original mode of this rite, why they do not urge upon them,in the same manner, and for the same reason, the literal doing of what Christ commanded, as to the sa- crament? Is that ordinance, which is a symbol of the blood of Jesus shed for the remission of sins— of that blood which taketh away sin, and without which there is no salvation— is that ordm- ance of less significance and importance than the rite of Baptism ? This cannot be pretended. Why then do you not plead for its celebration by night -, and this too in a reclining posture, m an upper chamber, with unleavened bread, with the dress, furniture, and attendance that originally were exhibited ? You regard not one of all these circumstances •, not even a single one. How then do you oboy the command of Jesus, This oo in remembrance MODE OF BAPTISM. 19 design- iveil the icy than ,rist wua sojourn inedinto IS ascen- \t which night in n thanks i broken 24. • the first ed in the t distant of Bap- I his Dis- jy kept it lished no of Pales- ing to the originally iptist bre- ry rite of IS equally isk now," 'Baptizo, rite, why ' the same to the sa- e blood of ch taketh [lat ordin- Baptism ? 3ad for its ure, in an furniture, regard not ine. How nembrance of me ? According to the tenor of your own exegesis, you do not obey it ; you cannot, while you do not literally imitate uU thea* particulars." The philological accuracy, however, of this exegis, and its conson- ance with the word of truth, must bo subjected to examination : and if it stand not the ordeal of these tests, then is the exclusive immersion ucneme built upon a foundation of precisely the same material as compose that of the fabric of a vision — imagination ! In perfect coincidence with the preceding observations, ii re- mark, of rather an opposite kind, might here be introduced, in re- gard to the Greek word deipnon— a supper i. e. a full meal, used in the New Testament to denominate the great commemorative ordinance ; but having said quite enough, it is conceived, for our immediate purpose, I shall plac« the observation to which I have reference on my list of reserve, and avail myself of it in a future t^tage of the discussion. The reader, I trust, will not be dispirited when apprised that all that has been advanced hitherto, is merely preparatory to the decid- ing process of investigation, which it becomes necessary to institute. The meaning of those words, employed in the original language of the New Testament concerning the initiatory ceremony, is a mat- ter intimately relevant to the question at issue between us and our Baptist brethren; what their meaning is therefore, according to the usage of the Greek language, and in passages of the New Testa- ment respecting the import of which there can arise no question, must be accurately examined. Details of this kind, I am not una- ware, even in relation to water, must be extremely dry to those who have not at least an elementary acquaintance with the Greek : should any of our readers therefore regard the investigation now before us as a " hill of difficulty," — I must here take my leave of them with a request that they will wind round its base : mean- while I shall endeavour, with all possible agility, to climb its sum- mit, — and descending on the other side, I shall present them with a true and faithful account of its statistics, in a popular form. n CHAPTER in. RIMARKI ON PKnoriAPTIiT CONCEiSlONi IN nETERENCB TO THK MICANINU OF THB WOUU BAPTIZO. In the absence of all express Scriptuie direction ns to the ode of Baptism, the ohly sources from which we can derive informa- tion upon this subject are,— 1, the Scripture meaning of the word employed to designate the ordinance, — 2, the recorded circumstan- ces of its administration, and— 3, those allusions to the ceremony which are supposed to indicate the nianner in which it was per- formed in the Apostolic age. As the meaning attached to the word baptize, baptism— \n the sacred idiom, is the matter upon which the controversy as to the mode of the rite especially hinges, we shall, in the first place, en- deavour to settle this point. — Does the word 3.\ptizo, the appro- priate term, the vox signata, of the ordinance in question, always and exclusively signify to dip, immerse? It must be perfectly obvious to every intelligent mind, that when our Baptist brethren appeal to the recorded circumstances of the administration of the ordinance, they virtually concede that to im- merse is nut the unvarying meaning of baptize; for were it shewn to have but the one meaning the necessity of such an appeal would be entirely precluded. 1 cannot therefo" •e'' Min from expressing my wonder, that Baptist writers do not om. ' , ^e all tht "r 'ener- gies to prove immersion and baptism t . ui. resp'^^ts perfect- ly synonymous terms. This would be the direct method to estab- lish their sentiments upon the mode, and nothing but this can sus- tain them. Whoever has examined this subject must have perceived, that the above statement precisely accords with the estimate which our opponents foem of the very strength of their cause. Its whole 'veight reposes like a pyramid upon its point, upon the meaning of i Mode of baptism. tl » ihis soIitHi-y word daptizo. So thought Dr. fJaU', i\ B;i|)tist~"The meaning of thu wonl daptizo," he snyn, " must be corisiidrnMj hs the nuiiri brai.ch of !)ur dispute."* Mr. liobinsun, nnmher Baptist writer, okoorves, " Whether John baptized by powin'^ on watei*, or l)y bathinq tn water, is to bo dotrrtNiti«d chiclly, fhoutfh not wholly, l)y ascertaining the precise moaning of theword baptize. "t When they speak out u\mn the subject the periect harmony of their views iu relation to this matter id palpable. Hence all their pains— taking research to collect together conces- pions from Pedobaptist writers, that baptizo nieans to immerse. — But such concessions, were they nccutnulated to the skies, are per- fectly irrelevant to the end which our Baptist brethren liave in view, unless they can show that those authorities (to which they attach not the shadow of importance only when they ctin cull from them n detached expression speciously though not realhj favourable to their views) also decide that baptizo means nothing cl.ne hut to dip. In the array of Pedobaptist concessions, falsely so called, which, following the example of Messrs. D'Anvers, Kcach and Booth, Mr. Crawley has marshalled together, we see nothing whuiever that omens ill to our cause, or produces the slightest intimidation. What Dr. Williams said of Mr. Booth's labours in this line, we may with the uttnost propriety say of the Pedobaptist concessions exhibited by Mi. Crawley.:}: " What he has produced from Pe- dobaptist writers as concessions, no more regards the leading point in dispute than, I was going to say, the first verse of the first book of Chronicles, 'Adam, Scth, Enoch.' For the immediate ques- tion is not vi'hat is the radical, primary and pr()[)cr moaning of the word baptism, in a philological or etymological sense ; but whe- ther the legal, the ceremonial or sacramental sense of the word, excludes, absolutely excludes, every other idea but immersion .'' — No concession short of this is of any real service to our oppon- ents. "|| Were a Pedobaptist to make such a concession, his opi- nion would not of course be entitled to exemption from scrutiny, any more than the assertions of an opponent. But the tenden- cy of the maneuvre on which we are now animadverting, really and truly is to make an erroneous impression on the minds of the reader who is not versant in the controversy. After perusing such a list of concessions as Mr. Crawley has adduced, would not any ♦Re/lections on Wall's Hist p. 73, 71. tHist. of Baptism, p. 5. * Treatise on Baptism, p. IS7, 8, 9, HO. li Autip. Exam. vol. ii. p. 5, 6. 52 MODE or BAPTISM. f simple reader imagine, lluit those men designed to plead for the exclusive system of immersion, or at least, — that they deemed iin- luersion the moru Scriptural moion, no one can be properly baptized who is not itnmer.sed then by parity of reasoning, no one can properly partake of the Lord's Su[)per by merely receiving a crumb of bread and a table spoonfull of wine in connnemoration of the death of Christ, because supper means a full meal. It would indeed be much more specious thus to nrgue in relation to the Lord^s Supper, than to baptism; because, whereas the word baptism often means less than immersion of the whole ^g\'60v\, supper, never means less than a full meal. Were names of high celebrity sufficient to establish the position, that a single case cannot be produced from the New Testament iu which ba;)tism necessarily involves tlie idea of immersion, we might with the utmost facility muster a cohort of them. Let one sufiice : tliat one Mr. Crawley himself will admit is a /iosf on a question of biblical philology. Professor Stuart after an investi- gation — t;andid and elaborate to admiration, into the whole of the evidence furnished by the sacred text pro and con — thus presents the reader with the result of his inquiry ; — " I have now examined all those passages in the N. Testament, in which the circumstances related or implied would seem to have a bearing on the question before us, viz, : — Whether the mode of baptism is determined by the sacred xcrilers 7 I am unable fo find in thctn any thing which appears to settle this question, * * ^. — I do consider it as quite plain, that none of the circumstantial evi- dence, thus far, proves iirmersion to have been exclusively the moile of Christian baptisjn, or even that of John. Indeed, I con- sider this point so far ni;i(le out, that I can hardly suppress the conviction, that if any one maintains the contrary, it nmst ba either because he is unable rightly to estimate the nature and power of the Greek language ; or because he is influenced in some measure by party-feeling ; or else because he has looked at the subject in only a partial manner without examining it fully and thorough- ly."* Much as we esteem Mr. Crawley as a Christian and a Christian minister (and W(; do most sincerely regret that a sense ofduty impels us to meet one on the field of polemic theology with whom we have cordially united in the services of the sanctuary) ■' Bib, Rpp. >■(!. X. p. C'7, O,"!?!. inu( his quei wer rity and The Mode of baptism. ippropn- lisli word import a caning of ho is not ^ partake md and a f Christ, uch more >•, than to less than ss than a S5 much however as we esteem him, and respectable as no doubt are his literary attainments, yet we must think, that his opinion on a question ol philological criticism is not of sufficient weight, even were ,t disinterested, to sustain any comparison in point of autho- rity with that of his erudite instructor. But enough of names and authorities! dmicus Plato, amicus Socrates, sed magis arnica Veritas. The ultimate appeal must be to a higher tribunal. position, uiiient in si on, we Let one wst on a I investi- )le of the presents istament, 1 to have ; mode of lo fo find ntlal evi- ively the hI, Icon- press the b3 either power of measure ubject in lorough- an and a t a sense ogy with iictuary) D If i CHAPTER IV. THE WORD BAFTISM USED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO DESIG- NATE CEREMONIAL PURIFICATION, WHETHER PERFORMED BY WASHING, POURING, OR SPRINKLING. That the words baptizo, baptismos, as used by the sacred writers, are terms applicable to all the various modes of ablution or cere- monial purification, whether performed by washing, pouring- or sprinkling, is a fact, in proof of which we shall adduce some pas- sages from the New Testament. If the word can be lucidly evinc- ed to have this latitude of meaning when no« employed to desig- nate the initiatory rite,— and if our Lord, when he commissioned his Apostles to baptize all the nations who should believingly re- ceive their message, did not restrict them to a particular mode of administering the ordinance,— and if neither the Scripture narra- tives of baptism nor the allusions to it, require us to believe that the Apostles baptized by immersion, we are fully authorised to conclude, that the ordinance is scripturally obeyed, when perform- ed by effusion or aspersion. Mr. Crawley has affir/ned that "the English version of the Bible has in fact loft the word baptize untranslated."* There is an inexcusable want of precision in this statement, for this obvious reason— it is calculated to mislead the unlettered reader. I do not intend to insinuate that Mr. Crawley had such a design in thus vaguely expressing himself ; but in order to preclude mistake, he ought to have said, that it is left untranslated, lohen used in reference to the ceremony nf baptism. The intelligent reader would then have seen the propriety of endeavouring to obtain a clear perception of its meaning, from those places where itoccurs in the New Testament, without such a reference, but in which it * Treatise on Bnptism, p. 107, II ililillillllWIMiiliUMlHIWi MODE OF BAPTISM. 27 ro DE8IG- ORMKD 3d writers, HI or cere- jouring- or some pas- idly evinc- 1 to desig- imissioncd evingly re- [ir mode of ure narra- elieve that thorised to 1 perform- sion of the * There is lis obvious . I do not gn in thus e mistake, m used in e)it reader to obtain a re it occurs in which it is nevertheless translated, or its import unfolded, by the connec- tion in which it stands. A few examples in point shall now be adduced :— " And when t they came from the market, except they wash {baptisontai, baptize) they eat not." Mark, vii: 4. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled, that he had not first washed {ebaptislhe, baptized) be- iore dinner." I.uke, xi : 33. From the question which the Scribes and Pharisees put to our Lord—" Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders ? for they wash not their hand$ when they eat bread." Matt, xv: 2; it evidently appears that the baptism mentioned in the above passages, consisted merely in washing the hands. This Mr. Crawley concedes,* and endea- vours to show that the Jews washed their hands by plungiu'r, or dipping them in water. We have however a more venerable do- cument than any to which Mr, Crawley refers, which throws light upon this sul)ject. Let the reader take his Bible and turn to the ' second book of Kings, .S eh. 11 v. and he will learn in what man- i ner the Jews baptized their hands ;— " Jehoshaphat said, is there ' not here a Prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord \ by him } And one of the King of Israel's servants answered and 1 said. Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on \ the hands of Elijah." The oflicc here attributed to Elisha plainly ! designates him as having been the attendant or servant of Elijah ; and therefore it is descriptive, not of a solitary instance, but of a f custom. In the Odys>ey of Homer, f who flourished probably i al)out half a century after Elijah, there ii an allusion to a similar usage among the Greeks : — ' Tlicn came a nytDpli, ' With golden cwcr oliargcd and silver \m\\], ' Wiio poured pure water on my tiandii, and jd.sceJ ' Tiie i-hiiiii);;5 stuiid Ix'Ibrc nie.'f This moib; of washing before nioals still provnils in Por.sia. A riindoni traveller (Sir J. Kerr Porter) remarl.s, — " A silvt r pla- teil jug, with a long spout, accompanied by a bason of the stune metal, was carried round to every guest by an attendant, who poured water from the jug nn our rit^ht hands, which we held in siiceessioii over the ltason."f 'I but, poun7ig from a vesrscl was the Jeui-^ii mode of washing the ham! , has been ftjlly established by Dr. Pocoek,— ' nnn favanr he says, ' Tnnnus nid e vase affma * Trent isi' on IJaptisni, p. 130. t I,i!i. X. 3t;7, ;i70. ; Truvt'ls 111 Georgia, I'ersia. «&c. Ml! l. pp. 23P, 239. \ SB MODE OF BAPTISM. aqua.''* The fact thus clearly made out, renders totally inadmis- sible tho accuracy of the criticism, which Mr. Crawley adduces from Dr. Campbell, who himself explains ' washing the hands oft, hy pouring water uponthem.^\ Now this ablution of the hands is represented by St. Luke xi: 3S, as the haplizing of the person. From the insupera- ble difficulty that the baittism of the hands was the baptism of the man, Mr. Crawley, endeavours to escape, by observing, that the words, the hands, are to be supplied^ in Luke xi : 33, after wash. That cause must certainly be in a most desponding state which is driven to such pitiful expedients for support. Unfortunately, however, for Mr. Crawley, even this refuge fails him; for the expression in the original, oti ou proton ebaptisthe protouaristou, should be translated thus : — that he was not baptized before dinner. We adduce another example of the translation of the word bap- tism in our English Bible: — "And many other things there bo which they have received to hold, as the washing {baptismous, baptisms) of cups and pots, brazen vessels, and tables." Mark, vii: 4, 8, The traditional purifications, or baptisms, as the sacred his- torian denominates them, here mentioned, were quite different in their intention from common washings. Though originated by superstition, they would naturally conform to the legal mode of ceremonial purification in similar cases. What that was, we learn from the following direction in the Mosaic institute : — " And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinklk it upon the tent, and wpo/i all the vessels.'" Num. xix: 18. Apart in- deed from the illustration thus snpj)lied, the idea of their immers- ing tables, or as the word ought to be rendered beds or couches, in water, is palpably absurd; and with regard to the other articles specified in this catalogue, wc know from the highest authority that even the Pharisees ceremonially washed merely ' the outside of tho cup and platter' and of course did not dip them. Here then are baptismous, baptisms, of the various articles in domestic use anion" the Jews, in which we discover not a trace oi immersion. The proof that the term baptism is employed by the sacred wri- ters with a range of application inclusive of all the various cere- monial purifications among the Jews, whether traditional or di- vinely instituted, accumulates as we advance, and becomes brighter Ly scrutiny:—" Which stood only" says Paul, in meats and drinks * Not. Mis. cap l.v. t In Loc. + Treatisi; on Haptisni, \i. vSi. MODE OF BAPTISM. 99 inadmis- ' adduces iic hands St. Luke lusupera- sm of the , that the tor wash, which is tunately, ; for the u aristou, e dinner. rord bap- there bo otismous, lark, vii : cred his- fferent in inated by I mode of we learti id a clean [iiNiri,E it Apart jn- • immers- mches, in r articles ority that ide of tho I then are se among icred wri- ious cere- lal or di- s brif?hter nd drinks and {diaphorois baptismois) divers baptisms, and carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation." Heb. ix; 10. Nothing can be more perfectly obvious ut first view, nor susceptible of stronger confirmation from the most scrutinizing inquiry, than that the Apostle here alludes to all the various species of purification enjoined under the Mosaic dispensation. From the result of an examination in.stituted by Mr. Stuart, and extended through the whole of the ceren.onial laws of Moses, in regard to ritual purifi- cations, we present the reader with the following details:— "We find," he says, " 1. That washing the clothes only, is one of the ceremonial rites of purification. The first direction of this nature we find in Ex. xix: 10-14. Other similar directions, the reader will find, by con- sulting Lev. xi: 28, 40.— xiii: 34, 54, 58.— xiv: 47— xv: 17.— Num. viii: 7, 21.— xix: 10, 21. 2. That washing the person is also enjoined, by way of purifica- tion. Aaron and his sons were washed with water, when entering on the priest's office; Ex. xxix: 4.— xx: 19, &c. xl: 12. In all these and the like cases, the Hebrew verb is rachatz; which cor- rer.ponds to the Greek louo, [and the Latin lavo.] 3. That both the clothes and the person loere washed, on a great variety of occasions. Lev. xiv: 18, 9.— xv: 5, 6, 7, &c, Num xix- 7,8, 19. 4. Th".t sprinkling was used most frequently of all, by way of pu- rification and consecration. As of blood. --Ex. xxiv : 6-8. -xxix : 20, 21. Lev. i: 5, 11.— iii: 2,8, 13.— iv: 6, 17.— v: 9.— vii: 2.— viii: 19^ 24, 30.— ix: 12, 18— xiv: 7, 51.— xvi: 14,15,19. Num. xviii: 17. —xix: 4. Also sprinkling of oiY; Lev. viii: 11.— And sprinkling of the water of purification; e.g. Num. viii: 7. —xix: 13, 18,20,21. 5. That affusion was also used in the rites of purification; Lev. xiv: 18, 29. 6. That smearing over was also a rite of purification. Lev. xi v : 17, 28.— xiv; 25.— xvi: 18." It is relevant to our present inquiry, particularly to state, that although there is in the Hebrew hingu .e sensie of haplito; and it is one in which it not oily does not, hut cannot, by any imaginable method of interpretaticn, present u *fi(nart on ilm mode ofnaplism. ITreatise on nuptisni, \\. i;i3. MODE OF BAPTISM. 31 nivourublo aspect to our oppononts. I refer to the Apostle's man- ner of expressing himself respecting the exode of the chilthen of Israel iiom Egypt. "Moreover, hrethrer., I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all {ebaptisanlo) baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." I. Cor. x: 2. That this passage should ever have been appealed to with exultation by our opponents, as affording confirmation to their sentiments, may well e.icite the astonishment of any one who has read theMosaic narra- tive of the event alluded to. It is as follows:—" And it [the pillar of cloud] came between the camp of the Egyptians, and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these ; so that the one came not near to the othor all night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Ipord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land ; and the waters were divided. — And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon DRY GROUND ; and the waters were a wall unto them, on the right hand and on the left." Ex. xl: 21, 22. Whatever view we take of this matter, one thing is certain — the collation of the words of Paul and Moses above given, clearly precludes the idea of tmmerston ; for they went wnc^er the cloud, or as David, referring to 'ho miracle says, the Lord « spread a cloud for a co- vering.'' Ps. cv: 39 ;— and then, in egard to the sea, ' the waters were a wall unto then, on each side, while they passed over upon dry ground. Deeming the position assumed by many of his bre- thren, in adducing the baptism of the Israelites on dry ground, and under the incumbent cloud, as favourable to immersion untenable, Mr. Crawley prudently endeavours to get over the difficulty by citing the opinions of various writers, who on some points mate- rial to the present investigation widely differ.* Professor StuarVs words are partially quoted by Mr. Crawley, as tending to remove an objection ; but, when fully exhibited, they also throw one in the way of our brethren ; for he immediately subjoins to what Mr. Crawley has produced, the very significant little sentence — " So much is true, namely, that they (the i&raelites) were not immersed.'' St. Paul by saying, that our fathers were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea, obviously meant not merely, that then and there, were they brought under the obligation of act- ing in conformity with the divine legp.iion of Moses, but that in ^ Treatise on Baptism, p. ii2. 89 MODE or fiAPTIS.Nf. f respect to the outward manner in which they were thus dedicated, there wns a resemblance to the administration of Chris4ian bap- tism. The question then is, Wherein did that rosembhmce con- Bist ? No similitude to immersio7i can, we have seen, be jjretend- ed. The view of a recent Commentator, supplies a very probable solution of one difficulty. Speaking of the cloud. Dr. A. Clarke observes, " it was a covering for them during the day, and pre- served them from the scorching rays of the sun, and supplied them witn a sufficiency o( aqueous particles, not only to cool that burn- ing atmosphere, but to give refreshment to themselves and their cattle ; and its humidity was so abundant, that the Apostle here represents the people as thoroughly sprinkled, and enveloped in its aqueous vapour."* With reference to their baptism in, or by the sea, the vehement agitation of the waters, produced by an east wind so strong as to dispart them, and make the sea dry land, may well be supposed to have occasioned a spray, by which they would be sprinkled in passing over. On a review of the passages that have been adduced and consi- dered in this chapter, wc are, it is with deference apprehended, fully authorised to conclude, that while in not one of them is there a particle of internal proof, that to baptize signifies to immerse, — viewed together, they most satisfactorily evince that it docs mean to wash, to affuse, to smear over, and to sprinkle, * See Comment, in Loc. M. IcdicatcJ, s4iun bnp- ance con- 3 pretcnd- ' probable A. Clarke and prc- >liecl them that burn- und their jstle here /eloped in 1 in, or by by an east dry land, .'hich they and consi- rehended, m is there nmerse, — M it docs CHAPTER V. SCRIPTURE NARRATIVns Or BAI»TIBM. ALLUSIONS TO BAFTIIU. THE GREEK CHURCH. VERSIONS OF THE BIBL;. With the advantages derived from the preceding investigations, for a corrfi' muerstanding of the meaning of the term baptism ia tho idiom of the New Testament writers, let us now briefly con- template the circumstances associated with the administration of the initiatory rite in the sacred narratives. We might with tho utmost propriety, object to include the baptism of John in this ex- amination, since the material and essential difference between it and Christian baptism, is admitted by some ofour most distinguish- ed opponents ;* but well knowing that they would not only demur to this mode of procedure, but exultantly interpret it, as an ad- mission that John's baptism was performed by plunging, we shall obviate all difficulty, by giving it our earliest consideration. The whole weight of the arguments which our Baptist brethren rest on the circumstances of the Baptismal ceremony, as practis- ed by the forerunner of the Messiah, and the apostles, depends upon the meaning of Greek prepositions eis, apo, ek, and en, and on the remark John iii: 23 that John was baptizing in En on, be- cause there was much water there. Before we direct our atten- tion to those most unequivocal particles (which ofcou.se indispu- tably fix the precise import of every word with which they are as- sociated) let us just look for a moment at our English translation, and see how triumphantly it bears Mr. Crawley out in the follow- ing declaration. He says with overwhelming positiveness, " It is impossible to read the above passages [namely, those which relate to the baptisms performed by John, and that of the eunuch by Philip] without feeling assured,that the ceremony which was performed in the river Jordan; to perform which the parties interested went * Hall's Essen. Dif. imnMimmmmi,'^'. S4 IluDE OF BirTIS»f. «lowii iiitotlin water; and at'tor which tln-y nro ropix-seiitctl ns coin- ing up out of thu wutcr, could he; nothing less than bathing or iin- iMursing tho whole ixM-sjon." VV'c begin with remarking on thiti docliiration, that wo arc witnesses oi' iho pos.iUjility of reading all the passages referred to, without receiving from them tho pcrsua- nion which Mr. C. conceives, they tnust necessarily produce; for wc have read them again and again, and arc assured of no such tiling. ' Olr Ml. C. will ho ready to vcX ofChristiiins call themselves " The fol- lowers of :Sr. .lolin tho Hripiist. who Wiis n follower of Christ." Among many other questions, Mr. W'olii" in(]uire(l ofone of thetn r<-s porting their ir.oilc of baiiiism, lind wn« nnswereil, " The Triest or Bishop baptizes rhil.lren thirty davs old. They take the child tn the hanks oi" the rivtr: n relative or friend holds the child near the siirtace of the \va- i»r. while (he Pnest spnt\klct the element upon the child, and with pravrrs thev nam* *»*«^'i'''''" Journal, tol. ii. ;>. 311. Mode of uAfTisM. 8ft I ns coin- ig or im- ^ t)ii this nding uii J pcrsun- luce; for no such rahle ob- liowcvcr, thitn All , for not • «h trnns- r it is an )ns, thnr, nmerscd, ■sed liini- at Philip is sniil of s ociually the ordi- , without wns per- le in ima- vere per- wnrmth IOCS, and I refresh - ;d it ap- as signi- rsion cor- 10 prepo- ptizo, a.i r'o phing- icy with y do not kind, in 'h^ •s " The fol- niniiy other ni, niul \vn« ke the clnlii ? of the \va- » thev nftm>« ii. r. 311. lliink proper to conform to the ()i>if inimpr**ion of the (Jroek church, they should at leant dip the tuhject ticice. But, in point of fact, the prepositions upon which our opponents lay Huch stroHS, arc too indelinite to prove nny thing relevant to their design. Of this a person oc(|uainted with the Greek, may Hoon satisfy himself by consulting the best Lexicographers upon them— as BrelHchneider or Schleusner. According to the last of these authors, apo has twenty six distinct senses— e«« as many— ^A- twenty four, and en thirty six. What estimate must we fornj of an argument founded upon particles of language ho varying in their import! From an examination of the authorised version oftho Scripturosit has been ascertained, that the translators of the Nevr Testament have rendered apo by twenty four English terms— Eminently on the day of Pentecost, when there appeared •Treatise on nnptism, pp. 107, 108. tTliorn On Mod. Imiiierii. iAri. Uaptizo. ^''.fcsiis went awny again beyond .lordan, into the place where Jolm at flrii baptited; nnd there he abode. John x; 40. Interpret this verse with nnptist i-lrirtnCHPi. and \ on inakr our Lord amphit.ions. For if .lolin litcralJN went into the water, nnd baptt7>-d' br iininersion; and il.iur Saviour went itifo ilie vrr\ p/ic-r wlicrc .lohn Imptized, and at>o'tt there; it iiccrssarily lollow, that thfj Red(ein«r must bnve liv«U princ-ii)ally in lUa w*- ter!"— Mr. I»A4f . >;Ti'«aiiii* on Uaptlsm. pp 1U3. lOy. 4 S6 MODE OF BAPTISM. .# i* to them cloven tongues as of fire and it sat upon ench of them, and they were nil (not immersed in, but) filled with the Holy Ghost. And when this memorable visitation of grace took place, Peter represents it to the astonished multiudes, as the accomr)lish- ment of Joel's prophetic declaration — ' I will pour out my spirit UPON all flesh; while he thus describes the mode in which the ex- alted Saviour communicated the heavenly gift : " Therefore being by the right haud of God exalted, and having received of the Fa- ther, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." In the words which the Holy Gh>j9t teacheth, not one word do we hear of his own baptism— the divine archetype of water baptism, beingadministered by immerdon. Per- fectly coincident with the language that Peter employed on the day of Pentecost, is tnat in which he relates the success of his mission to the household of Cornelius ;--" And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning. Then re- mombered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized you with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." Acts, xi : 15, 16. The expression baptized in, or into the Holy Ghost is alike anomalous and unmeaning in itself, and per- fectly incompatible with the inflexible propriety of inspired lan- guage. Mr. Crawley's proposed alteration of the authorised ver- sion in this instance, receives as little countenance from the laws of Greek syntax and idiom, as it doi ^ from Scripture, and, I had al- most used his own expression — common sense. For he must be aware, that when the Genitive or Dative case is used after the verb, either with or without a preposition, the expression does not designate the manner of the baptism, but only the kind of element by which the baptism was effected,* Against Mr.Crawley's proposed translation of John's prophecy, respecting the Messiah's baptizing with the Holy Ghost, we have then 1, Its revolting absurdity, 2. Its incompatibility with the re- corded ftict of the case, as to the mode in which the baptism of the Spirit took place, and 3. Its entire want of support from the ad- mitted usages of the Greek language. For i7,— the only pretence ho alleges is, that since the same particle is translated in, in some other places, it would harmonize those passages in which the pre- position en occurs in reference to baptism, ahvays to translate it, in.t Now if this principle of interpretation be admitted, we have no doubt we could gratify Mr. C. and our readers to satiety, with * Stuirt on th« mode of Rapiisin, p. 317. tTrentisiMiu Uopiism, p. I0;t. ■wmmmnsmif^- of them, the Holy >ok place, coninlish- my spirit (i the ex- 'ore being f the Fa- iRTH this, oly Gh>j9t the divine ion. Per- in the day is mission peak, the Then re- in indeed the Holy >r into the ', and per- pired lan- rised ver- he laws of , I had al- e must be after the 3 does not r element prophecy, , we have th the re- ism of the m the ad- ' pretence ^, in some k the pre- anslate it, , we have iety, with MODE OF BAPTISM. 87 the delightfxd harmony that would result from its u|)plication to almost innumerable passasjes in the New Testament. We shall exhibit examples of this species of harmony, under each of tho prepositions. Apo, eis, ek, en. I. Let APo be translated, out of, in the following passages, in which it occurs, euphonicn causa for the Bake of luirntony. Matt, xxi: 43. ' Tlie kingdom of heaven shall be taken out of yon.' xxvii ; 42. ' Let him come down out o/tlie cross.' Luke i: 38. ' And the angel departed out o/hcr.' II. Let eis for the same reason be rendered, into, in the follow- ing cases. Matt, xii: 18. 'Behold my servant into whom I am well pleased.' xviii: 29. ' And his fellow servant fell down into his feet.' John ix: 7. ' Go,washin/o thepool of Siloam.' III. We shall translate ek, out of in the subjoined verses. Matt. XX : 2. ' He agreed widi the labourers out of a. penny a day.' John xiii; 14. • He risetli out o/ supper and laid aside hia garments.' Rev. ix: 21. * Neither repented they out o/ their murders, nor out of their sor- ceries, nor out o/ their fornications, nor out o/ their tlicfts.' IV. Tho fourth part is necessary to complete the harmony ; we shall therefore iu accordance with Mr. Crawley's proposal translate en, in. Matt. V: 34. ' Swear not at all, neither in heaven, nor in thy head.' Mark 1: 23. < There was in the Synagogue a man in an unclean spirit.' Ileb. ix: 25. ' The High Priest enfiretU into the holy place in the bluod.' Enough ! These examples fully establish the propriety of sacri- ficing sense, to such entrancing harmony. More especially, let not our Baptist brethren stumble at trifles, when they can thus make the Bible harmonize with their own views. The reader will now be able to estimate the real worth of any argument founded by our opponents, on the versatile meaning of the Greek prepositions. In fact, Dr. Cox, the most distinguished perhaps of all the Baptist writers, unhesitatingly surrenders them, as deciding nothing." The criticisms of opposing parties on these prepositions," says he, "are comparatively immaterial, and in whatever ^manner adjusted, they must be deemed insuflicieut of themselves to determine the contro- versy." *Cos'»Ilq)Iy,p. 104. ammmmm^m^-' flS MODE OF BAPTISM. hF !»«• the )f Mark i: 10, nnd of Mfltt. ression iii: 16, that Josus came up, or ivent up out of the water, it has ob- viously no reference to his emergins out of that element, but is merely descriptive, of his returning /rom it (r.s«/J0 properly signi- fies) ufler the baptism was completed. Both Evangelists accord in giving this view, representing his going up from the water, as an action perfectly distinct from his baptism, and as having taken place {euthus, eutheos) immediately after it. Nor does the verb {anabaino) which they use, signify to emerge from water. No ex- ami)le of its being employed in this sense, has been produced from either classic or sacred writers. The word in Greek, which ap- propriately means to emerge from, is anaduo, which is never connected with anabaino, which means ii the Spirit,' which though two-edged is imbued with no blood, and formed for the destruction of nothing but sin, and t rror. Claiming this privilege, I shall call the attention of the reader to a few of those cases of Baptism written for our learning, which present difficulties of rather a serious nature to immersion. I do not intend to lay much stress on the indelicacy of the ordinance as adminis- tered to females. Those who are persuaded that the rite was originally practiced by immersion, are not to be condemned for deviating a little from the suggestions of conventional decency; and most certainly they are rather to be commended, than blamed, for the invention of leads and dresses to diminish as much as pos- sible the indelicacy to which we allude; though I am not aware that any of our opponents have as yet attempted to prove from sa- cred, or ancient ecclesiastical history, that such precautions were resorted to by John the Baptist, the Apostles, or the fathers of the first ages of Christianity. Making all due allowance, however, for the refinement of modern times, when compared to the days of the first commissioned administrators of the ordinance in ques- *Towgoodon Baptism, p. 101. Fourth Ed. MODE OF BAPTISM. 4i ;e it upoit by sprin- e priest's iing, is a }^h all the 3 directed 1 take an- ommand- constitu- I strongly )hn or of For John >ns agree- n, an ap- irity; it is ally, sup- practiced water on irly prac- e allowed sword of lood, and Claiming \ a few of \x present lot intend adminis- rite was jmned for decency; 1 blamed, jh as pos- lot aware 5 from sa- lons were ers of the however, ) the days 3 in ques- tion, still, it cannot be tienicd thai those honoured persons them- selves, had as great a sense of delicacy as we have; and therefore there is a little obstacle to the admission of the idea, that they, without any of the cautionary inventions of more recent times, plunged under water all the women who believed their repoit. If John the Baptist was a person of like infirmities with other men, it is demonstrably impossible, that in the space of six months, lie could have dipped such vast multitudes as, in that period, the sacred narrative represents him to have baptized. " There went out to him," we have seen, " Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan and loere baptized oi him.'^ "Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized," &c. Luke iii: 21. It is an admitted fact that as John was a priest, he entered on the exercise of his sacred office at the age of thirty. He was six months older than our Lord, of whom it is said that he was baptized, ' when he began to be about thirty years of age': therefore the Baptist could not have been en- gaged in preaching to the people, and baptizing them more than about six months. Take the population of the country surround- ing the scene of his ministry at the very moderate estimate of 2,000,000, and suppose that John baptized but the tenth of them,— " to have accomplished this, he must have stood in the water twelve hours every day for six months. Sabbaths excepted, and have dipped over head and ears, and pulled up again 1,230 between the rising and setting sun— about 107 every hour— and nearly 2 every minute. The difficulty of doing this must be apparent on more accounts than one:— His garments must have rotted— his saturated flesh must have pee'-d from his bones— and the cold water must, without a miracle have caused a fiitalrush of blood to his head."* Our opponents arc exceedingly pressed, or rather oppressed with the difficulties, attendant on the immersion of the three thousand converts on the day of Pentecost. After their modest demands in forma pauperis, aa to premises wholly destitute of scriptural sup- port, they give a most singular account of the matter, to which, however, all their ingenuity has failed to impart the shadow of verisimilitude. Mr. Crawley, of all the Baptist writers, decidedly bears away the palm in settling this matter: according to him thirty mmutes arc quite sufficient for the immersion and emersion of 3,000 persons under the circumstances in which the Apostles *Thom',-i Modern luijucidoii, p, 2D0. F >'1l®Ki8«iW<.:*^ 43 MODE or BAPTTiiM.' ff tvere placed Oil that mc.noi-ablc day !^ Some, however, may be Jiiclincd to dispute his eluim to the pii/e, when they estimate the largeness of the grant that must be made him, before even /tc, m louml asscrtioujacileprincepfi, can so thoroughly expedite the bu- siness. For you must grant him, that, although according to St. Jcrom, there was no natural fountain of water ia the city of Jeru- salem itself, and but one in the immediate neighbourhood— the spring of Siloam, which was sometimes dry,t although pure water was so exceedingly scarce "nd estimablo in the city, that it was chiefly procured from the -Vt* Is, and preserved with the greatest care in domestic reservoirs,, '.e Apostles had, nevertheless, eigh- teen or twenty thousand hogsheads of this pure and precious ele- ment at their disposal in the driest season of the year, without one objection from the inhabitants, to whom their change of religion had made them detestable;— you must grant him that the three thousand eiCher came prepared to clothe themselves after their baptism, with a change of raiment, or as soon as they were pricked in their hearts ran home, " Parthians, and Modes, and Etamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judca, andCappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, strangers of Rome, Jews and prose- lytes, Cretes and Arabians," and procuring a second dress came to receive the initiatory ordinance;--you must grant him that every one of the candidates had been previously examined, as to their conversion, and given full satisfaction to the church on that head —yes, and you must after all this, grant him that the seventy dis- ciples aided the Apostles in administering the rite, and obtained without any difliculty, each and all of them, convenient places for dipping men and women simultaneously, with delicacy, and with all the°required despatch. Withhold from Mr. Crawley these un- supported premises and his circumstances are exceedingly per- plexing: doomed to the fabled punishment ofSisyphus, he no soon- er rolls the difficulty a little up hill, but anon it rolls back again.-- Just so it must ever be, " Lnbitur et labelur in omne volubilisxvutn,'' Not more auspicious to the cause of our Baptist friends is the sacred narrative of the baptism of the Jailor of Philippi, and his household. Acts xvi : 25, ct seg. Here too, they require us to bo most liberal and accommodating in our concessions, or they can prove nothing. Even then, indeed thoy are by no means at unity in their theories on the puzzling (luestion, ' Where was the Jailor * Tveatisf eu Uaiiti.iii!, \\ U?. t L'aUuct'., Uiaiouaiy, urt, Siloain, 11 Mode of baptism. 43 nnd his family baptized ? in the prison ? ov in a neighbouring liveri" Wlio shiill decide when Doctors disagree ? as Dr. Ry- hind and Dr. Jenkins, buih Bajjliiits, do, in referenee to this mat- ter. Tlie text proves not an iota more than that they were taken out of the cell or dungeon, not out of the precincts of the prison. And if there was, as some of our opponents (capable of appreciat- ing the 4e/iignanf spirit of Pag-onism lowanU prisoners,) imagine, a tank in the gaol, it is a lilile strange that Paul and Silas had not the benefit of it after so severe a flogging, till the obdurate heart of the keeper yielded to grace, and conceived the grateful wish of alleviating their sufferings. If our opponents are determined, without cither permission from the properly constituted authori- ties, or countenance from the sacred text, to give the prisoners a gaol delivery— then of course we recognize their liberty to believe —that the Jailor let them out of the precincts of the prison- directed the various members of his family to put under their arms a second suit— to follow him and the apostles through the streets of the city— till, having reached a river, tiio whole household v 5re dipped, and waiting a few moments to change their apparel, re- turned to their unbolted prison, and found all the inmates in per- fect order : I say we freely accord to our opponents the right to adopt either of those explanations, or any other, distinguished by superior felicity of imagination, that they may think proper ; but, really, unless the n^cessifj/ of the case cfeni«/i(/s «»ur implicit ac- (juiescense, we must be pardoned for rejecting ideas so extrava- gant and contradictory. As no such necessity happens to exist, the whole statement is susceptible of the most rational and easy interpretation, on the supposition that the Jailor and his house- hold were baptized by sprinkling or aflTusion. It is only by the omnipotence of mere assumptions, that the bap- tism of the Ethiopian eunuch is made to favour the scheme of baptists-assumptions plainly opposed to all the probabilitirs ofthe case. His descending from his chariot to the water, — for, as we have ascertained, the Greek preposition does not necessarily imply more, cannot be alleged in evidence that he was immersed, unless those who maintain so absurd an idea, are willing to take the consequence — that Philip was imi" sed in like manner. The scone of the ceremony is expressly called a desert, Actsviii: 36, the appropriate designation of a place insusceptible of cultivation from the unproductive nature ofthe soil, and the extreme scarcity of water. The sight of water in such a place accordingly produc- ed a sensation of surprise, of which the exclamation ofthe eunuch is emphatically expressive, — See! water! (the words here is, are 44 MODE OF DAI'TISM. ii 'I I' ii not ill the on;^iimI) what doth hinder me to be bapti/od ? In a desert in the cast, every one, ac(|uaintcd with book.'* ol'travtli in such part.s, knows, that the discovery of a sprin-,', though ever so shallow, is recorded with peculiar interest and delight. The inspired narrative relating to Cornelius and his family, Acts x: 47, presents incidental evidence of a nature peculiarly for- cible, that tile rite of baptism was administered in the times of the Apostles by jmuring or sprinkling. " Can imy forbid imtcr'" said Peter, " that these should not be baptized?" "When of two things," says Mr. Isaac, " the one is active, and the other passive, yon never think of api)lying a restraining power to the passive subject: the supposition is absurd : the restraint must be imposed on the active agent. Now in what possible way could the water be forbidden, if it had not been customary to bring it upon the fiubjects of the ordinance ? The Apostle evidently means, ' can p;iy man forbid water being brought into the room for the baptism of those persons." Mr. Crawley egregiously trifles in remarking, it is as easy to say, " can any forbid water to be used, or the use of water, for immersion, as to say, can any forbid water to be brought for sprinkling."' There is this differ- ence in the two suppositions, Mr. Crawley,— yours involves the idea that all in the company were not agree... .i 'o the propriety of using ifaft-r, as the element in baptism,— to the other method of supplying the ellipsis, no such extravagant inference can attach. It is impossible to survey the multifarious and contrasted cir- cumstances associated with the different accounts of baptisms, to which our attention has been called in this chapter, without being struck with the plastic energy of prejudication, by which our op- ponents never fail to mould all circumstances into a perfect adapta- tion to their own views. Like the Israelites in regard to manna, our friends, with respect to water, never have too little, neither is there any over. Place them in Jerusalem at the driest season of the year, and thousands of hogsheads of the pure and limpid ele- ment are at hand— transport them from ' the city full' to a barren Avastc— a miracle is instantaneously wrought for their accommoda- tion,—' the parched ground becomes a pool!' What then shall their condition be in the ' swellings of Jordan,' and amid the much. wafer of Enon ? No complaint shall that abundance elicit— it is aM of course needed for fta/?/im. Into such incongruities does a determined adherence to the system of exclusive immersion lead it- votaries. * Treatise on Baptism, [>. 125, .< It I ? Ill a rnvtl.5 ill I ever !5'» family, ally for- es of the ter''^ saiil of two passive, passive imposetl lie water ipon the ns, ' can for the ly trifles 1 water can any lis iliffcr- olvcs the >ropricty method n attach. listed cir- )tisins, to )ut being our op- t adapta- 1 manna, icither is season of lipid elc- a barren ommoda- hen shall the much licit — it is ies docs a rsion lead CHAPTER Vr. AliLVSIONS TO BAPTISM. a.VPTISM BY SPRINKLING. THE CHUFK CHURCH. VEKSrONS OF THE SCRIPTURES. HI'/t»/- sical burying is here meant, but only a moral one. And although the words, into his death, are not inserted in Col. ii: 12; yet, as tho following verse there shows, they arc plainly implied. In fact it is plain, that reference is here made to baptism, because, when the rite was performed, the Christian promised to renounce sin and to mortify all his evil desires, and thus to die unto sin that he might live unto God. I cannot sec, therefore, that there is any more ne- cessary reference here to the modus of baptism, than there is to tho modus of the resurrection. The one may as well be maintained as the other."* But let us hear Mr, Edwardsf on this subject, whose opinion claims particular regard, inasmuch as he was once a rigid Baptist and adopted Pcdobaptist sentiments solely by the force of truth :— "That the absurdity of supposirgan allusion in this place to the mode of baptism may appear, I would observe, that what tho Apostle calls, in verse 3, a being baptized into the death of Christ, he expresses in verse 5, by being planted together in the likeness of his death. This will bt evident to any one who examines the place. Now if any man is disposed, after the method of the Bap- tists, to pick up allusions to the mode of baptism, here are two ready at hand, and he may take both, or either, as ho pleases. It is usual with the Baptists, when contending for the mode of bap, tism, to affirm that the Apostle calls baptism a burial : and hence they infer that immersion must be the mode. This, however, is affirming what is not true; for the Apostle never, in any of his writings, calls '•' baptism a burial." But on the contrary, he docs in this verse evidently speak of it under the notion of planting ; and says, We are planted in the likeness of his death. Here then, • Comment, Ui Loi-, | Ed ward's Candid Reixsons; pp. lU, 112, lU, " J^ rning, on c'xpoctoil (ortuiit or ;r of Pro- and (lili- c Epistle 10 clubor- ?e, he has of jiidg- t oiso but n to say : lism INTO tei'ul phy- [ althougU i?et, as tho In fact it when the sin and to : he might / more ne- re is to the intaincd as cot J whose ice a rigid the force is place to t what the of Christ, likeness of mines the )f the Bap- re are two ^leases. It 3de of bap. and hence lowever, is any of his ry, he docs ' planting ; Here then, MOUE OK UAl'TISM. 4f upon tho Baptist plan, arc two allusions — planiin;;, and crucifixion. Tlicrc are none, I lioliuvo, who make planting an allusion to tho mode of baptism: but should this be Httcm;)tcd by any, ihcy will have this one advantage which the Bajjiists arc destitute of; and that is, that whereas baptism is no-whorc called a burial, it is in this place plalidy called a planting. Now, if we suppose a person reasoning upon the plan of the Baptists, he will say, that as the Apostle calls baptism a planting be must allude to the mode in which that ordinance was administered ; and every one, who is at all acqu/mted with the art of planting, will easily gncss what kind of mode that must be, to which it alludes. Were this oidy adopt- ed, and it may be adopted with greater advantage than the Baptist plan, Vvo should probal)ly hear of some contention about the mocb; of baptism, between those who innncrse and those who oidy plant: and in this case I can clearly see, that victory will crown the plan- ters. " There is in the same way another allusion in this verse to tho mode of baptism ; I have mentioned it before, but do it again on account of its superior evidence to that allusion ftho Baptists.— The Apostle says, wo are planted, that is baptized, in the likeness of his death. Now, taking this for an allusion to the mode of bap- tism, the argument for the sign of the cross will be incomparably stronger than that of the Baptists for immersion. I say incom- parably stronger ; for whereas it is only said in the fourth verse. We are buried with him by baptism; it is said in this verse. We are planted [baptized] in the likeness of his death: There is no- thing about similitude mentioned in their allusion ; but here the word •' likeness" is actually used. The argument, therefore, in favour of the sign of the cross, will, in the Baptist way of arguing, far outweigh that in favour of immersion. And how much soever the Baptists may despise that ceremony, it is evidently better founded in this context than their own. So that if their argument from this place be good, for immersion, the other is far better for the sign of the cross.— Upon the whole, the examination of this place convinces me of nothing so much as this that both the Bap- tists in general, au'l myself in particular, havo been carried away with the mere sound of a word, even to the neglect of the sense and scope of the truth of God." There is one consideration not yet noticed, abundantly sufliciont of itself to neutralize tho Baptist view of the above passages. Ir is this: on their ichomo of interpretaiion, the two positive Jnsfi- iMimmf*0*"t* 49 MODE or BVPTISM. ,♦•* lutions pcculiai- to the Christian .li.ponaatiou arc cml.lcmaUcul of tho death of Christ, an.l wo h.ivo in conse.incnco none ay.nbolical oftho purijyins injlnencc of the Holy Spirit. Novv, it has ever been the manifest intention of Go.l, by the appointed ritual of h.. rhurch, to present pron.inently to the minds of his worshippers the two distinct but aceordant ideas, oP vicarious atonement for Bin,-an.l interior purijication from sin. This design lies at the basis of the satrijicial and purifyin!r ceremonial of the Mosaic .lispensution: how can it then bo conceived, that under the Chris- tian dispensation which is pre-eminently, ministration of the Spirit wo should have two significant institutions, both emblcma- tical of the atonement, and none to correspond to the ancient ritua of purification, or to recognize tho sanctifying office of the .Spirit 0/ God i II It is deeply to bo regretted, that our opponents in the zeal of their opposition to baptism by sprinkling, so often permit thcm- sclvos to forget tho veneration which they owe to the words of tho livincr God. " How would it sound" asUs Mr. Crawley in refer- cnco'to the baptism of the Spirit " to say he will sprinkle you with the Holy Ghost."* If ho desires to refer tho matter to the deci- sion of reason, we have no solicitude about the result. We sub- mit it to the impartial judgment of .T?/-from the untutored child of nature, to the accomplished scholar, whose mind is disciplined to accord with the purest and most elevated standard of taste, whether it would not bo much more accordant with their concep- tions of propriety, to say I will sprinkle you ^«^<^^^he Holy Ghost, then to say, " I will immerse or plunge you in the Holy Ghost f If I may be permitted to give my own opinion I would say— that is scriptural, this unscriptural, the former is sense-ihe latter nonsense. When the Most High cheers his church with the promise of the most plentiful communications of his grace, what language does he employ?" " I will sprinkle clean w^ater upon you, and ye shall be clean, from all your filthiness and from all your idds I will cleanse you." " I will be as the pew unto Israel." He shall come as the rain, as the former and latter rain on tho earth." When the man after God's own heart, earnestly implores the removal of all guilt from his conscience, and of all moral pol- lution from his mind, in what words is his petition expressed : Furgc me with hyssop and I shall he clean: wash w , and 1 shai. ♦Trcntihc onDaptisu). p nO, >< i MOUE OF BAPTISM. 40 nuticul of yinbolical t has ever :iml of his jrshippcrs icment for lies at the 10 Mosaic the Chris- IN OF THE emblcma- licnt ritual the Spirit the zeal of uiit thcni- ords of the f in refer- le you with o the deci- We suh- itored child disciplined rd of taste, eir concep- loly Ghost, ly Ghost ?" .rould say — I— the latter mise of the iguage does you, and ye I your idols srael." He RAIN on the stiy implores II moral pol- expresscd ? •j and I shall t.e whiter than snow." The hyssop, as is well known, from its detersive und purifying qualities, was used in sp r ink litii^ ihe blood of the paschal lamb, and in sprinkling the lopcr. The paraphrasn of the Psalmist's words in the Chaldeo is, " Thou wilt sprinkle me like the priest, which nprinklcth the unclean with the purifying waters, with hyssop, and with the ashes of an heifer, and I shall be clean." " Baptismal sprinkling an unmeaning ceremony!" exclaims an eloquent preacher* " Lot us point those who think it KG, to language such as this, and bid iham blush for their delusion. Nay, let us call upon them to contemplate Jehovah, as it were, rising from his throne, looking round on a world of creatures in- volved in guilt and covered with pollution, and then let them listen to the words which prophetic inspiration utters, " Ho will sprin- kle many nations!" Is there anything qing or insignificant here.? Is there not rather something whi - espeaks at once 'he infinite fulness of his cleansing power.? the rtue which resides in every drop of grace which he sheds upon a fallen world— the enor- gy divine which he puts forth in every individual act of his saving influence— All in beautiful accordance with the spirit of that de° daration of her, who touched bu' the hem of the Redeemer's gar- ment, the truth of which was realized in her blest experience, «« If I may but touch his garment I shall be whole!" Mat. ix: 21. III. An appeal to the immersions of the Greek church, as afford- iug a testimony in favour of dipping, as the original mode of prac ticing the ordinance, is founded on the ostensible but erroneous supposition, that that numerous communion is formed of the des- cendants of the inhabitants of ancient Greece, who retain a dis- tinct knowledge of the language of their forefathers. Whence, if this is the case, arises the necessity of translating the original New Testament into Modern Greek, that those adepts in the pure and ancient language, may read in their own tongue the wonderful works of God.? The truth is, the Greek church consists of a most heterogeneous population, whose languages are marked by a cor- respondent diversity :— « A considerable part of Greece, the Gre- cian Isles, Wallachia, Moldavia, Egypt, Nubia, Lydia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Cilicia, Palestine, the Russian Empire in Europe, great part of Siberia in Asia, i^stracan, Casan, Georgia, and White Russia in Poland. "f The absurdity of recognizing such a motley group as witnesses on a question* of philology,is fur- ther apparent from the fact that " most of the Eastern churches, M)r. O. niirns, foniiPiIv of St. .Toliii, N. B. \ liucyclop. Lonil. vol. 8. p. 97i. o 50 MODE OF BAPTISM. if i» I 1 n hnth an ecclesiastical and a vulgar tongue. Hke the Ro»"^"'''.^^^'^^'J'/Eropic is the ecclesiastical, and l„ that of Abyssnna ho E^h-I^'| ,^„ ^^urehes of Mesopo- thc Amharic ^^c vulgar In the by ^^ ^^^.^^ ,a.„-.a and of Malaba. o- ^^^^^^^^ tongue-while in Me- churches, the Syi ac is tne in Malabar, it is the sopotamia, the vulgar ^s the Arab c a ^ ^f ^^c Malayalin. ; and, elsewhere l^''^^^'^;^^ Coptic is the church country. Among ^he^^f '" ^1^^^^ language, but the ^-^^j/^U^n the offi^^^^^ the Old Testa- the ancient Greek IS ^^'^ J^.^gel^^^ ^^ ^^° ,„ent read in the version of ^^^ ^"^'Jf ^Veek, Arabic, or Turk^ original text-while Romaic, l^^^r^nlJ^l^nrcl., the scrip- th- -3 the case in the Russian church. , *\.c. r.\ura\\ty oibC'lical translations, Mr. Crawley's reference to ^^^ ? "/f ^^^^^ argument, that render baptize immerse, «»gg ^^ ;;X l^ extant, strongly derived from the purest -"-^/^^^l TpTe-nt the institution of opposed to l---:f ";^t\,,'^r^^^^ of'the ancient church, du- ally minute inquiry, ^"*«^^^^ P,.^^, .,wg ;„ relation to the mode seluentto the days of the ^poso^ca^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ of baptism,-it ^\^^""^*"" '^„'"?,7^^^^^^ authentic history traces observe, that to the highest point to ^^^^ .^. j f^^t that the immersion, it aUes. the s -^^^^ ^;:Z^ll^us, naked , candidates received the ordinance ^i^ circumstance and that S-ater importance was at a hea.on^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ connected with the rite, than ^^^^ ^^J/^^J, ,«^^^ stripped, in order to its P^rformaj-Jn «J«^^ ^^^^^^.^^ ^^^ who have been often t^'l^'^P^""'^.^/'^. 'ubiec s being immersed Apostolic mode, .oM ^ -P-^^^^t beini'' naU^^ because they or bathed, but never, with '^ « ^^ f^^ ^\,^^ sentiment and usage thought, (in perfect accordance vvihAposto^ ^^ .^ of course,) that, as Wall ^e-^f ' "^^^^^^^^^^ ,,30 the naked- better represented the putting ^^ ^hc o^^^^^^^^^^^ .^ ^^^^.^^^^ ness of Christ upon the cross -, ''^^'^^'^'^'Zlody, not of th. they judged it should bo the ^^^^^^nlr^^-^^^^^^^ -»»'^»^ clothe.:^ This is the result of ^^^^e ^^^^^^^^^^^^ j.^^,., j,, the fully illustrate this "f [^^^^/"^^^^ .^w'/alt immersion can no mean time I merely allude to it, to ^^oW' ^„,i ^y upor, which more be evinced, from the I'^^^f ^ / /ilvrbceu the Apostd authorised history throws any light, to have been 1 ' EigUtceuth Rip. nl the CUUrdi Mi-a. Soc. MODE OF BAPTISM. 6! I- tongue, ical, and Mesopo- )e Syrian le in Me- , it is the age of the le church ;k church, m Testa- ew in the , or Turk , the scrip- jople— and ranslations, I argument, ,nt, strongly istitution of jhurch, sub- to the mode purpose, to istory traces 'act that the ms,) naked ! circumstance ouldbe thus ;hose fathers, reserving the ing immersed because they 3nt and usage Baptism, " it ISO the naked- n is washing, y, not of th" details which jafter. In the srsion can no ty upo3' which I the Apostulic mode of Baptism ) than to prove that the three thousand on the day of Pentecost — the delicate and faithful Lydia— the sable chan- cellor of Ethiopia — the Philippian Jailor and his family,— in a word all whom they baptized were immersed, naked. That im- mersion was anciently practiced we know — but through precisely the same medium, we know that it was deemed essential to its ap- propriate administration, that the individual baptized — male or female — infant or old person — should be perfectly naked — a strong presumption that like several of its unscriptural and indecent ac- companiments ' it was one of those additions to the ancient rite, which superstition originated.' From translations of the Bible therefore, made subsequent to the introduction of" such a variety into the ritual of the primitive churches, as to render it very diffi- cult" says Mosheim, " to give such an account of the worship, manner, and institutions of the ancient Christians, as will agree with what was practiced in all those countries where the gospel flourished, '■=* no evidence can be adduced, of the slightest weight or authority, to vindicate the claim of immersion to Apostolic sanc- tion. But let us x)ress 'Uto a purer period of the church, than those, in which any of the translations referred to by Mr. Crawley were made, — let us carry our inquiry back to the old Syriac trans- lation of the New Testament, and ascertain how it renders bap - iizo. " This version" observes Stuart "is the oldest of all the translations of the New Testament that are extant ; for in all pro- bability it shmdd be dated during the first halfof the second cen- tury. Withal, it is admitted by those who are able to consult it, to be one of the most faithful and authentic of all the ancient ver- sions." The Syriac, let it be remarked, has a word which signi- fies to immerse, plunge, or dip, but it never employs it to desig- nate, in any way the baptismal ceremony. This is a most striking fact, since if baptism and immersion had been deemed correspon- dent terms at the time when this most venerable, from its antiqui- ty, of all translations of the New Testament was formed, the Syriac word which means to plunge or submerge would have un- doubtedly been used, and used invariably in such cases." In this translation, however, all the words used for baptizing, baptistn, and baptist, are taken from the Hebrew word Homad, which signifies ' to stand, continue, subsist, to cause to stand, to support as by a pillar — to set or raise up — to place, present, or establish, &.c. it is the same word, also, which is used for baptism in the Arabic version. This word is, certainly worthy ofparticular * Ecclfs. Hist. Cent, 1. pi ii, rh. 4. \ 52 MODE OF BAPTISM. I tered, when he came to prepare Ihe ""V ■>' ^ _^^^^,, word used by the messengers ^-"/"'"/I'.^'^'Jrv word used by his reason for dispensing 'l"'' .°'^'"°""';-„ ".very wordnsed Jesus when he gave the apostohc <=°™'"'»7»-;''; „77hey preach- b, the Apostles and Evangehsts, as long, at least^as y I ed Tnd baptized in Judea, Galilee, and Samar.a. From the preceding investigations and reasonings, we are fully authorised to deduce the following eonclus.ons:- , That neither from the precepts of .^e N-J».ame„.,^n^^^^^ r,t:=^rarroiTi:sr^^^^^ or indubitable certainty gathered. ,, That no one instance of the '--X-f'^^roK'hrdtvrn:!; -=tirrrn;or trorT=„., or .om t,. Christian Scriptures. „,. That the word6»p«.o is palpably »du—^^ sprinkling. ,V. That as «pr«««, was ,He «-' /'J™^ ^^ Z^JXt cant method of purificafon ""''<'; .f '^*j^„°„V»^ri„Hi„^ elean ,,„„ of divine grace, '' ^^-^^ ;.;llo:d t .alU ■ the blood o. water upon the rec,p.ent,-a3Jesu so .prmWerf sprinkUn,,' and the ^l^'Xl^irZu:,^:^^^ P«- w-'- ^:'ti':a:e :r:hrrrj;r::a%^-'p--' -d appropriate. V. That this mode of baptism has the ^^^^Z^^^ and universal preference and »'>°1'^':'^„'^ X,t?of which it is with the manner of the bapt,s.. of '''^ »° ^ ^J^° ;„, „„a still is, emblematical, and which we ^.-ow, ""^ P"'ab y ^^ ^^^ administered by shedding, pounng, fiUmg the subject, and not by hi> mmcmn m it. « Ewiiig'a Essay on Baptism. i-o-Chal- by John adminis- the very 3y asked 1 used by irord used SI preacli- 5 are fully ment, nov ce to bap- precision, as a mode le divinely from the ly employ - n by wash- uring, and lost signifi- irgest dona- ikling clean the blood ot )e sprinkled pure water, ippropriate. tt\ to decided best accords f which it is 3 and still is, sending upon N. B. — A digest of the evidence of antiquity, respecting both the mode and the subjects of Bap- tism, will be given in an appendix to the complete work. I