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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 V ■ "ii*iv,- r ' ti ■*1 I J m I ' V A I • BAPTIST HISTORY. ■. • Mi tr. UCATE BAPTIST HISTORY: FROM THE Foundation of the Christian Church to the Present Time, By J. M. cramp, D.D., AUTHOR OF "a T:;.\T book of popery " ETC. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. J. ANGUS, D.D. Illustrated by Fifty-eight First-class Engi^ayings. TORONTO : H. LLOYD, BAPTIST BOOK ROOM. LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1871. 5L%t V^ ^i9 PREFACE. T T is desirable that the members of our churches gene- "*• rally should be acquainted with the early history of the Denomination. Hitherto, however, that object could not be attained without the purchase of large and expen- sive works. The author has endeavoured to supply this want, and to furnish, in one small volume, an abstract of Baptist records, that all our brethren may know the struggles and sufferings through which their forefathers passed while "witnessing a good confession." The work was originally written in the form of Letters, which were addressed " to a Young Christian," and inserted in the Nova Scotia Christian Messenger during the years 1856 — 8. They have been revised and re- arranged, and the authorities carefully consulted afresh. J. M. CRAMP. Acadia College, Nova Scotia, yunc, i858. *^* The present edition has been again carefully revisedj with some brief additions, bringing it down to the date of publication. INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. " I ^HOUGH I have undertaken to say a few words on ■^ behalf of this volume of Dr. Cramp's, it really needs no introduction. He himself is well known in both hemispheres, and has laboured in both. He has been a student of ecclesiastical history from his youth. Nor has he studied in vain. His work on the Council of Trent is still a standard book on all questions connected with the doctrines and policy of the Church of Rome. His candour and intelligence, his love of good men, and appreciation of great principles, have won the esteem and affection of all who know him. These qualities will be found to distinguish the volume which is now introduced for the first time to English readers. Though there are Histories of " English Baptists," of " Foreign Baptists," and of " American Baptists," there is no volume in which the history of all is given in a condensed and interesting form. The history of Baptism Vlll Introductory Notice, in the Early Church and in the Middle Ages is still probably to be written, but the reader will find a fuller and more satisfactory account in these pages than any- where besides. The volume deserves and will repay careful study, and 1 very heartily commend it. JOSEPH ANGUS. College, Regent's Park. jtill Her ny- CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE PRIMITIVE PERIOD. ;>ECT. I. Introductory Kemarks_P«.do.bap.is, Concession. . , . ""3 ". The Apostolic Fathers-Justin Ma„j,_j,,„.^„^ ' ' ' in, Tertullian-Baptisn, of Cildrcn in Africa-Orieen-yirs. .„. rearan „f Infant.Baptis._The Cinics-Christiani.y „ England .... iG CHAPTER H. THE TRANSITION PERIOD. I. The Catechun^ens-Progress of Infant-Baptism-Delay of Ba,u.n,_GregoryNa.ien.en-Chrysosto„,-Basil-Eph™, o^^Edessa-The E.peror Constantine-r.mersion sti'l .: - 2i) ii' Christian Intolerance— Justinian's T =,». . • • • .. ^, ^^ . •'"'''"'^"^ ^^'^^^'''^"JO'ninglnfant-Bap- t.sm-The Novat.ans-The Donatists-Pelagianism • • • i/ Contents. CHAPTER III. THE OBSCURE PERIOD. SECT. PAGE I. The Manichceans — Cautions to the Student — All Opponents of Infant-Baptism not Baptists — Account of the Paulicians — Their Views of Baptism 50 II. Religious Reform in Europe — The Canons of Orleans — Arras — Berengarius — Miscellaneous Anecdotes 63 CHAPTER IV. THE REVIVAL PERIOD. I. State of Affairs in Europe during this Period — The Crusades — Other Important Events — The Scholastic Divines and Philosophers — Universities — Printing 70 II. Paulicians in France and Italy — General View of th'j Reform Movement — Various Names given to the Re*"ormf.i-s — Senti- ment'' held by them — False Charge of Mr.aichff.ism — Their Activity — Reinerus Saccho's Account 7G III. Success of the Reforming Parties — Consternation at Rome — Anathemas — The Dominican and Francis:an Orders — San- guinary Persecution — Crusade against the Albigenses — The Inquisition — Movement in England — John de WycliiTe — The Lollards — Bohemia 87 IV. Various Opinions respecting Baptism— Berengar— Peter of Bruys — Henry of Lausanne — Arnold of Brescia — Cologne — England — Lombers — Pope Lucius III 100 V. Heretics of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries — WycIIffe's Sentiments on Baptism — The Bohemians — Baptism among the Waldenses — Church Government — Immersion. . . . 116 Contents, XI 70 76 «7 lioo ii5 CHAPTER V. - THE REFORMATION PERIOD. SECT. PAGE I. Rise of the Reformation — Opinions held by the Baptists — Mis- represented by the ReforniL-rs — Their Wonderful Increase — Support under Sufferings 124 II. German Baptists — Thomas Munzer — The Peasant War — Michael Satler — Hans Schaffler — Salzburg — Wolfgang Brand-Hueber — The Burggraf of Alzey — Imperial Edicts. . 133 III. Persecuting Tenets of the Reformers — German Diets— The Congregation at Steinborn — Leonard Bernkop — The Crown of Straw — Johannes Bair — Hans Pichner — Hans Breal — Baptists in Italy 142 IV. Baptists in Switzerland — Zuingli — Concessions of Bullinger and Meshovius — Disputations — Drownings— Felix ivlantz — BaUhazar Hubmeyer — Louis He«:zer — Emigration to Mora- via — ^Jacob Hutter 151 V. The Netherlands — Sicke Snyder — Furious Edict — The Inquisi- tion — Severities of Philip II. — Torture — Lysken — Gerrit Hase-poot — Joris Wippe — Private Executions — Horrid Rack- ings i65 VI. Biography of Menno Simon — Account of his Publications — Church Government among the Baptists — I-Iissionary Ex- cursions 1C6 VII. Baptists in England — Proclamation of Henry VIII. — Lati- mer's Sermon before Edward VI — Baptists excepted from " Acts of Pardon " — Royal Commicsions against them — Ridley — Cranmer — Joan Boucher— Rogers — Philpot — Bishop Hooper's Scruples — George Van Pare — Protestant Persecu- tions Inexcusable — Congiegations in Essex and Kent — 9 \ xn Contents, »tCT. PACE Bonner — Gardiner — Disputations in Gaol — Queen Eliza- beth's Proclamation against Baptists — Bishop Jewel- Archbishop Parker — Dutch Baptists 204 VI 11. The Enormities Perpetrated at Munster and other Places — Injustice of Ascribing them to Baptist Sentiments . . . . 223 CHAPTER VI. THE TROUBLOUS PERIOD. I. Baptists Persecuted by all other Sects — Liberal Policy of William, Prince of Orange — The " Union of Utrecht " — Differences of Opinion — Persecution in Moravia, and in Switzerland 232 II. Dutch Baptists Persecuted in England — Account of Hen- drick Terwoort and Jan Pieters — Their Martyrdom — Their Religious Sentiments — Whitgift's Invectives against the Baptists 240 III. Severity of Elizabeth's Government— Bigotry of James I. — The Hampton Court Conference — Emigration — John Smyth's Church — Their Confessions — Bartholomew Legate — Extracts from Baptist Publications on Liberty of Con- science — The King's Distress at their Increase 250 IV. Character of Charles I. — Sufferings during his Reign — First Particular Baptist Church — Samuel Howe — Dr. Featley's Book — Baptist Confessions of Faith — Toleration hated by the Presbyterians — Their Attempts to put down the Baptists —Milton's Lines — The Assembly of Divines — Outcry against Immersion — Parliamentary Declaration in favour of the Baptists — Fearful •' Ordinance " against them — Their Ac- tivity during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate — Cromwell's Baptist Officers — The " Triers " — Baptists in Ireland 263 Contents, xiu SECT. PAGE V. Character of Charles II. and James II. — Commencement of Persecution — ^Venner's Rebellion — Disclaimer by Baptists — Severe Sufferings — ^John James — Act of Uniformity — The Aylesbury Baptists — Benjamin Keach Pilloried — Conventicle Act— Five Mile Act— Their Effects 281 VI. History of the Broadmead Church, Bristol 304 VII. Declaration of Indulgence — Confession of Faith — Fierce Per- secution — Thomas Delaune — The Duke of Monmouth's Re- bellion — Account of the Hewlings — Mrs. Gaunt — The Dark time — Another Declaration of Indulgence — William Kiffin — The Glorious Revolution 313 VIII. Principles and Practices of the Denomination — Human Tra- dition Renounced — Freedom of Conscience Demanded — Personal Piety requisite to Church Fellowship — Purity of Discipline — Cases Cited — Mode of Public Worship — Plurality of Elders — Communion — Singing — Laying on of Hands— The Sabbath 334 IX. Biographical Notices — John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John Spilsbury — Henry Denne — Francis Cornwell, A.M. — Christopher Blackwood — Major-Genera! Harrison — Colonel Hutchinson 344 X. Biographical Notices Continued — Henry Jessey, A.M. — John Canne — ^Vavasor Powell — Abraham Cheare 356 XI. Biographical Notices Continued — John Tombes, B.D. — Francis Bampfield, A.M. — Henry D'Anvers — Edward Terril — Dr. Du Veil — ^John Bunyan 369 XII. Biographical Notices Concluded— Thomas Grantham— Han- serd Knollys — Benjamin Keach — William Kiffin .... 382 XIV Contents. SECT. PAGE XIII. Baptists in North America — Church at Providence — Baptists in Massachusetts — Persecuting Enactment against them — v The Whipping of Obadiah Holmes — First Church at Boston —Newport — Swansea — Other Churches — Roger Williams . 403 CHAPTER VII. THE QUIET PERIOD. I. General Character of the Period — Baptist General Assembly in London — Questions — Particular Baptist Fund — Baptist Board — The Dissenting Deputies — The Book Society — Bristol College — Dr. John Ward — Toleration Act — Schism Bill — Dissenters excluded from Office — Restrictions — Relief —Decline of the General Baptists — Communion Controversy — Effects of High Calvinism on the Particular Baptists — Commencement of Revival — Fuller and Sutcliffe — State of the Denomination in England — Foreign and Home Missions 420 II. Biographical Notices — Dr. John Galef — Dr. Gill — John Mac- gowan — Robert Robinson — Robert Hall, Sen. — John Ryland — The Stennetts — Benjamin Beddome — Samuel Pearce — Dr. Andrew Gifford 441 III. Prjgress of the Penomination in North America — Sufferings in New England — Mrs. Elizabeth Backus — Mrs. Kimball — , . Virginia— Whitfield's Preaching— The " New Lights "— Philadelphia Association — Other Associations — Correspon- dence with London Ministers — Great Revivals — Brown University — Nova Scotia^-^New Brunswick — Canada . . ; 452 Contents. XV CHAPTER VIII. THE PRESENT CENTURY, Effects of the Mission Enterprise — Revivals— Extension of the Denomination— Statistical Table— Societies— Diversity and Adaptation of Talent— Baptist Agency now Employed— Rev. C. H. Spurgeon— Baptist Union— Peculiarities of the Pre- sent Period— Duties of Baptists 470 ■^ \ 7 f ■' ■■ ■■ II Jl II I II H " ■■ ' CSC ■'»» Jiymi^My^ " ■' " " " I !■ ■■ II II ^'% a£ LHAPTER I. THE PRIMITIVE PERIOD. FROM A.D. 3T TO A.O. 254. -tO»- Sectioj^ I. Introductory RemarKa — Psedobaptist Concessions. BAPTISTS are often asked for information respecting the history of their distinctive opinions and practices, inquirers say that statements various and even contra- dictory are made in their hearing, and they are very desirous of being put on the right track, so that they may be able to correct the erroneous and expose the false. It is the object of this work to endeavour to meet their wishes. Let us begin with the New Testament. Who can read that blessed book with serious attention without coming to the conclusion that the religion of which it treats is personal and voluntary, and that none are worthy to be called Chris- tians but those who " worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh"? (Phil. iii. 3). When Moses addressed the Israelites, and exhorted them to obedience, he included their children in his exhortations, because the children were in the covenant. Judaism, with all its privileges and responsibilities, was hereditary. The rights and duties of the parents became B 2 m Baptist History, the rights and duties of their offspring, as such. It is not so under the New Dispensation. Men are not born Chris- tians, but they become Christians, when they repent and beheve. ** As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that beheve on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God " (John i. 12, 13). Judaism was a national institute : Chris- tianity is an individual blessing. The Jews were a nation, dealt with as such, and separated from other nations : Christians are believers, taken out of all nations, and in Christianity '* there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ .is all and in all" (Col. iii. 11). Hence, when the Apostles wrote to Christian churches their mode of address was altogether different from that adopted by Moses. They did not say, "you and your children," or represent the children as in covenant with God, and therefore entitled to certain rights and bound to the performance of cer- tain duties. The churches to which they sent their epistles were spiritual societies, that is, associations of individuals professing " repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts xx. 21), to whom they had surrendered themselves, as their Prophet, Priest, and King. If those individuals were parents, they were taught to bring up their children " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. vi. 4); but their children were not classed with them, as the children of the Jews were, nor could they be, till they themselves also repented and believed. It is an obvious inference, that no mo- dern society deserves to be called a Christian Church, which is not founded on such principles as have now been explained. If you were to place a New Testament in the hands of an intelligent, impartial person, who had never heard of Baptist History, our divisions and denominations, what idea would he be likely to form or the spirit and design of Christianity, or of a Christian Church ? Would he not see, in every part of the book, appeals to men's understandings and emotions, and such requisitions as could be addressed to those only who were capable of thinking and acting for themselves ? Would he not conclude that Christianity has to do with mind, that a Christian must be a man of repentance and faith, and that a church is a voluntary society, formed of such men ? We come to the question of baptism. What is baptism ? It is *' the answer of a good conscience toward God " (i Pet. iii. 2i). It is "putting on Christ" (Gal. iii. 27). It is the voluntary act of a believer, an act of obedience and self-dedication. Such is the uniform tenor of the history. So the multitudes went out to John, " even all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan " (Mark i. 5). So the Samaritans, "when they believed Philip preaching the things concern- ing the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, were baptized, both men and women " (Acts viii. 12). Mark it well — " men and women," — no children ! So, in later times, the baptized were reminded of their obligations : " 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 should walk in newness of life " (Rom. vi. 4). The New Testament tells of the baptism of believers, and of churches composed of believers. We read of no other baptism, no other churches. It will not do to say in reply that all who were baptized were not believers, and that all the members of Apostolic churches were not sincere. There were, doubtless, hypocrites then, as there are hypocrites now. Even the Apostles were sometimes deceived. But this does not affect the case. All who m^ Baptist History, were baptized professed to be believers, and were bap- tized as such. The profession of faith was held to be essential to baptism and to church fellowship. None could profess faith who were incapable of understandin«; the faith. The act of profession implied approbation, con- viction, choice. This, then, is the starting point. Here is the beginning of the history of baptism. With the New Testament only before us, we find baptism connected with the profession of faith. It is a personal, voluntary act ; and such an act only is befitting Christianity. But in the Christianity of the nineteenth century, or what is called such, there is a service of anothc* kind. It is sprinkling — not immersion ; and the subjects are infants — not believers. How is this ? In what manner was it introduced ? How and when did it originate ? These questir»ns will be answered hereafter. This sec- tion will be closed by placing before the reader a few extracts from Pa^dobaptist writers of the nineteenth cen- tury, showing how the learned men of these times regard the subject, from an historical point of view. North British Review, Presbyterian (article ascribed to the Rev. Dr. Hanna). " Scripture knows nothing of the baptism of infants. There is absolutely not a single trace of it to be found in the New Testament."* Professor Jacobi, University of Berlin, Reformed Clmrch. ** Infant baptism was established neither by- Christ nor by the Apostles. In all places where we find the necessity of baptism notified, either in a dogmatic or historical point of view, it is evident that it was only meant for those who were capable of comprehending the word preached, and of being converted to Christ by an act of their own will."f * August, 1852. f Kitto's Cyclopadia of Biblical Literature. Art. "Baptism.'* Baptist History, Dr. Hagendacii, Basle, Reformed Church. •' The pas- sages from Scripture which are thought to intimate that infant baptism had come into use in the Primitive Church, are doubtful, and prove nothing."* Neandkr, the Church Historian. ** 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 ; and the recognition of it which fol- lowed somewhat later, as an Apostolical tradition, serves to confirm this hypothesis." ..." In respect to the form of baptism, it was, in conformity with the original insti- tution and the original import of the symbol, performed by immersion, as a sign of entire baptism into the Holy Spirit, of being entirely penetrated by the same."t Professor Stuart, late of Andover, Congregatiojialist. ** There are no commands, or plain and certain examples, in the New Testament relative to infant baptism." :{: Dr. Hodge, of Princeton, New Jersey, Presbyterian. '• In no part of the New Testament is any other condi- tion of membership in the Church prescribed than that contained in the answer of Philip to the eunuch who de- sired baptism. The Church, therefore, is in its essential nature a company of believers." § Dr. Woods, Congregationalist. "We have no express precept or example for infant baptism in all our holy writings." || Dr. Chalmers, Presbyterian. '* The original meaning of the word baptism is immersion ; and though we regard it as a point of indifference whether the ordinance so named be performed this way or by sprinkling, yet we doubt not that the prevalent style of the administrations * History of Doctrines, i. 193. + History of the Church, i. 310, 311. J Hayne's Baptist Denomination, p. 31. § Ibid. \\ Ibid. 8 Baptist History, in the Apostles' d?ys was of an actual submersion of the whole body under water."* Dr. Bloomfield, Episcopalian. " There is here (Rom. vi. 4) plainly a reference to the ancient mode of baptism by immersion ; and I agree with Koppe an4 Rosenmiiller (two German commentators), that there is reason to regret it should have been abandoned in most Christian churches, especially as it has so evidently a reference to the mystic sense of baptism." t Rev. W. J. CoNYBEARE, M.A., Episcopalian. *' This passage (Rom. vi. 4) cannot be understood unless it be borne in mind that the primitive baptism was by im- mersion." J Many more quotations might be given, but these will be sufficient. It will be observed that none of these writers are Baptists. But they do not venture to aiifirm that infant sprinkling is derived from the New Testament. Learned Paedobaptists generally admit that believers only were baptized in Apostolic ttmes. OECTION II. The Apostolic Fathers -Justin Maityr — Irenseus. THIS, then, is our starting point. The baptism of the New Testament is the baptism of believers. Our next inquiry v/ill be,, How the post-Apostolic Church thought and acted on this subject ? Christian baptism, as instituted by the Saviour, and practised by the Apostles, was the immersion of believers * Lectures on Romans, ch. vi. 4. f Critical Digest, in loc. % Life and Writings of St. Paul, i.i. 172. Quarto Edition. Baptist History. in water, " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." It was the declaration of their adhesion to Christ, and the symbol of their renrnciation of sin. It was in every case the act of a free agent, and thus it harmonized with the spiritual nature of Christianity. All this is now generally admitted. The next inquiry is, Did the usages of the period im- mediately succeeding the Apostolic, accord with these views ? Or did they indicate any change or any depar- ture from them ? Here it is necessary to interpose a caution. Apostolic example has the force of authority. It is the inspired exposition of the law. Not so the example of the primitive churches as they are called, that is, as they existed after the Apostolic age. The plainness of the Christian cere- monial offended those who were fond of pomp and show, and the equality of the Christian brotherhood offended those who loved power. Hence corruptions crept in. They were anticipated and forefold by the Apostles. And hence the necessity of distinguishing between Divine law and human tradition. We have no power to change the law, or to make any addition to it. The assumption of such power in primitive times was a fatal error, the evil consequences of which are felt to this day. Instead of adhering strictly to the Scripture rule, men dealt with Christianity as they dealt with systems of philosophy. They treated it as if it were susceptible of improvement, and might be accommodated to circumstances. They took the liberty to engraft on it certain peculiarities of Judaism, and even of Paganism. They multiplied forms to the sore detriment of the spirit and the life. It has been customary to appeal to the opinions and practices of the churches of the first three centuries after the Apostles. In the controversy with the Church of Rome it is an available argument to this extent, that it takes from 10 Baptist History. that Church the plea of antiquity, since it proves that Romanism, as such, did not exist in the above-mentioned period. Yet it cannot be denied that the first steps towards Romanism were then taken. Professing Christians soon abandoned the high ground of Scripture, and took pleasure in " vain deceit " and " will-worship." In this they are not examples for our imitation. We must go further back — to the Book itself — to the recorded enactments of the Divine rt THE FORUM AT ROME. (As it appeared in the First Century of the Christian Era.) Lawgiver , and our object will be to ascertain how far, and by whom, the Saviour's will has been regarded. This can only be accomplished by consulting the writers of the times now under consideration. The ** Apostolic Fathers " first claim attention. They are : Barnabas, Hermas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycarp. To 1*1 Baptist History, II these some add Papias, a few fragments only of whose writings have been preserved by Eusebius. the ecclesiastical historian. They contain no reference to the subject now before us. The writings ascribed to Barnabas and Hermas were probably composed in the second century, by some weak- minded Christians, who fathered their own poor effusions on the coadjutor of the Apostle Paul, and the brother men- tioned by him in his epistle to the Romans (ch. xvi. 14). But though they are not genuine books, they may be re- garded as witnesses to the religious views entertained by the Christians of those times. In the work ascribed to Barnabas, we find the following passage : — " We descend into the water laden with sins and corruption, and ascend bearing fruit, having in the heart the fear [towards God], and in the spirit the hope towards Jesus."* There are several references to baptism in the writings bearing the name of Hermas, some of them exceedingly fanciful, but there is not the slightest allusion to infant baptism ; he speaks repeatedly of descendl-ig into the water, and ascend- ing out of it, evidently alluding to immersion. Let us pass on to Clement of Rome. He was bishop or pastor of the Church in Rome, and died about the year 100. His epistle to the Corinthians is a precious gem. Baptism is not mentioned in it. A second epistle to the Corinth- ians is attributed to him, but without sufficient grounds. There is one sentence referring to baptism. It is as follows: — "If we do not keep the baptism pur. ar.d un- defiled, with what confideice shall we enter the kingdom GfGod?"t Ignatius comes next. He was pastor at Antioch in Syria, and suffered martyrdom by exposure to wild beasts at Rome, a.d. 116. Several letters were written by him, which have come down to us in an interpolated state. * Ch. ii. f Sect. 6. u 12 Baptist History. There are a few allusions to baptism. He refers twice to the baptism of our Saviour by John. He tells the Smyr- neans that the ordinance should not be administered with- out the bishop.* In writing to Polycarp he uses this military phraseology — *' Let your baptism continue as a shield, faith as a helmet, love as a spear.f This is all." SMYRNA (The Place oj Martyrdom of Polycarp in a.d, 167;. Polycarp suffered martyrdom by fire at Symrna, a.d. 167. An epistle to the Philippic.ns is attributed to him. It does not allude either to baptism or to the Lord's Supper. Justin Martyr was a philosophic Christian. He wns put * Sect. 8. t Sect. 6. Baptist History, 13 to death at Rome, a.d. 166. In his first " Apology," ad- dressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, he gives the following account of baptism as practised in his days : — "As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach is true, and undertake to conform their lives to our doctrine, are instructed to fast and pray, and entreat from God the remission of their past sins, we fasting and praying to- gether with them. They are then conducted by us to a place where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. F or they are then washed in the name of God the Father and Lord of the Universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit."* Observe the manner in which he speaks of baptism. The candidates are those who are *• persuaded " and " believe ;" and the ordinance is administered, not by sprinkling, but by the washing of immersion. Senr.isch, the learned biographer of Justin, says, " Whenever Justin refers to baptism, adults appear as the objects to whom the sacred rite is administered. Of infant baptism he knows nothing." Irenaeus became bishop of Lyons in France, a.d. 177, and died A.D. 202. He mentions baptism several times, and seemingly connects it with regeneration, as Justin had done before him, in the passage just cited : but it is extremely doubtful whether Justin or Irenaeus thought that men were regenerated in or by baptism. Their object was to show that as the convert came under new obligations and entered into new relationships, at his baptism, it was equivalent to the assumption of a new life : he v/as in this profession " born again unto God," and publicly entered into the spiritual family. This view of the subject is confirmed by another representation given of baptism by Justin in the course of his narrative. He says, "This washing is called ' Illumination^ because those who learn these things are * Sect. 79. il r 4 14 Baptist History. enlightened in their minds."* Baptism is not *< illumina- tion," but it is so called because it is connected with an enlightened state of mmd: in like manner, baptism is called *' Regeneration," not because it regenerates, but because it is connected with a regenerate state and a new life, pro- fession of which is then made. Two passages used to be quoted by Psedobaptist writers, as testimonies in favour of infant baptism. One is from LYONS. (The Scene of the Bishop/ic of Irenceus) Justin Martyr. He writes thus : — " Many men and many women, sixty and seventy years old, who from children have been disciples of Christ, preserve their continence."! The other is from Irenasus. These are his words : — " He came to save all persons by Himself; all, I say, who are regenerated by Him unto God — infants, and children, and boys, and 3'oung men, and old men." But baptism is not ♦ Sect. 80. t ApoL i. sect 18. tu Baptist History. \ 15 mentioned in either of these passages, and modern critics have confessed that they afford no support to the Paedo- baptist view. All that Justin means is, that he knew many persons who had been disciples of Christ from early life ; and he expressly connects " choice " and ** knowledge " with baptism, of which infants are incapable. The lan- guage used by Irenaeus " merely expresses," says Hagen- bach (a German Paedobaptist), " the beautiful idea that Jesus was Redeemer in every stage of life, and for every stage of life; but it does not say that He became Redeemer for children by water baptism."* We are now brought to the close of the second century. But few Christian authors had as yet appeared. Is it not remarkable, liowever, that in none of their vvritings 1 which have be en pre served is Ikere any mention of infant b.a|lLisjQa ? If it existed, it must have been a promiq^ent thing in the Church transactions of the period. But these Christians knew nothing of it. Neither Clement of Rome, • nor Ignatius, nor Justin, nor any other author, wrote a ' word which would lead us to suppose that infants were ^ baptized. There is a singular difference in this respect/, between the statements of these Christian fathers andli the correspondence of modern Paedobaptist missionaries. | Read the letters of missionaries in the Reports of Mis-| sionary Societies. How careful they are to give us fullj information respecting the number of children that havel been baptized, and how numerous are the references tof them ! With what solicitude are arrangements made, and \ their operation watched over, with a view to the religious instruction and training of baptized children ! We search the Christian writings of the first two centuries in vain for anything of this kind. That the Christians of those times gave their children the benefit of religious teaching and example is not to be doubted ; but they did not baptize * History of Doctrines t i. 193. \ i6 Baptist History, Ithem till they could answer for themselves, and voluntarily assume the vows of the Christian profession. We have now advanced two hundred years, and have mit..yet fbuad-infant baptism. It will come in sight soon, along: with other corruptions and inventions. Sectiojv III. TertuUian— Baptism of Children in Africa— Origen — First Appearance of Infant Baptism— The Clinics— Christianity i.i England. WE are now approaching the development of those corrupting influences which had been at work from the Apostolic age, silently sapping the foundations of personal piety. In adverting to the language employed by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, we endeavoured to clear those authors from the imputation of unevangelical sen- timents, and to interpret their expressions in a sound and safe sense. But though it may be possible to hold them guiltless, it is feared that many of their cotemporaries were fairly open to the charge of holding unscriptural opinions. A notion had grown up, that k.ptism actually accomplished what was professed in it. As the miracu- lous gifts of the Spirit were often bestowed upon believers immediately after their baptism, men began to think that it was then first that the Spirit wrought on the soul. And as the act of obedience to the Saviour in the ordi- nance was commonly associated with spiritual enjoyments and manifestations, and happy converts, like the eunuch, " went on their way rejoicing," there were some who came to the conclusion that what was connected with baptism was produced by it. If the convictions that led the candidate to the baptismal water, and impelled him to the act of dedication to the Saviour's service, were Baptist History, 17 greatly strengthened at his baptism, so that he then ex- perienced a more intensely satisfying consciousness of pardon and union with Christ, results were confounded with causes, and the new believer was taught to ascribe to baptism' the Messings which he had in fact enjoyed before, but which he realized more vividly when he obeyed the Lord. This step taken, the transition to yet more perilous errors and evils was easy. When baptism was thus invested with a kind of supernatural power, the outward act was soon substituted for the spiritual qualification. Instead of direct- ing inquirers to the Atonement, and encouraging them to seek by prayer for the teaching and aid of the Holy Spirit, the religious instructions of that age expatiated on the vast powers of baptism. TertuUian, for example, a Christian writer who flourished at the close of the second and the commencement of the third century, " declares the follow- ing spiritual blessings to be consequent upon baptism : — remission from sins, deliverance from death, regeneration, and participation in the Holy Spirit. He calls it the 'sa- crament of washing,' the ' blessed sacrament of water,' the * laver of regeneration.' "* When such opinions as these were entertained, is it not evident that the door was open to manifold abuses, and that those who had so far departed from Christian truth, would be likely enough to interfere with Christian worship and obedience ? TertuUian was a native of Carthage in Africa, and spent most of his life in that city. It is supposed that he died about the year 220. His tract, '• De Baptismo,'' was pro- bably written twenty years before his death. From that tract and from other writings of his, we learn that at the beginning of the third century, there were some strange additions to the ordinance of baptism. The new convert was placed among the catechumens, that he might be * Bishop Kaye's TertuUian, p. 432. C I 18 Baptist History, fully instructed in the faith. After a sufficient probation he was admitted to baptism. The following account of the manner in which it was administered is taken from the late Bishop of Bristol's "Ecclesiastical History of the Second and Third Centuries, illustrated from the Writings of Ter- tullian":— " The candidate, having been prepared for its due recep- tion by frequent prayers, fasts, and vigils, professed, in the presence of the congregation and under the hand of the RUINS OF CARTHAGE. (The Birth-place of Tertullian). president, that he renounced the devil, his pomp, and angels. He was then plunged into the water three times, in allusion to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, making certain responses which, like the other forms here mentioned, were not prescribed in Scripture, but rested on custom and tradition. He then tasted a mixture of milk and honey — was anointed with oil, in allusion to the prac- tice under the Mosaic Dispensation of anointing those who were appointed to the priesthood, since all Christians are. Baptist History, 10 in a certain sense, supposed to be priests — and was signed with the sign of the cross. Lastly followed the imposition of hands, the origin of which ceremony is referred by our author to the benediction pronounced by Jacob upon the sons of Joseph."* The administration of baptism was at that early period encumbered by ceremonies of merely human invention; in fact, Tertullian complains, in another work, that "various forms and observances had been introduced into the Chris- tian worship, of which soniQ bore too close a resemblance to the customs and practices of the Gentiles." The signing with the sign of the cross was a superstition early practiced among the Christians. They crossed themselves perpetually. Whatever they undertook or engaged in — when they went out — when they returned home — when they dressed them- selves, or put on their shoes, or sat down to a meal, or went to the bath or to bed — the sign of the cross was asso- ciated with everything. We need not wonder that the heathen suspected it to savour of magic. We have mentioned these particulars for the purpose of showing that, at the beginning of the third century, re- ligious declension had considerably advanced. No one will now be surprised at hearing that an attempt was made to extend the administration of baptism in an unwarrant- able manner. It is referred to by Tertullian in his tract, " De Baptismo,'" in terms of strong disapproval. Some persons had introduced children (not infants) to baptism, or advocated the administration of the ordinance to them. Tertullian indignantly reproves the practice. " Let them come," he says, "when they are taught to whom they may come ; let them become Christians when they are able to know Christ. Why should this innocent age hasten to the remission of sins ? " f Now, is it not obvious that Ter- tullian was entirely unacquainted with infant baptism, and * P. 434. f De Baptismo, ch. xviii. C 2 20 Baptist History, that this children's baptism, which then first befjan to be talked of, was regarded by him as an unauthorised innova- tion ? The sign of the cross, the giving of milk and honey, and similar ceremonies, were comparatively small matters, trifling circumstances ; they were uncalled-for additions to the ordinance, and were so far mischievous but they did not change it. It was still connected with knowledge, and repentance, and faith. But the admission of children, if they were not old enough to repent and believe, would change the ordinance. It would dissever it from those religious prerequisites with which it had been hitherto uniformly associated. The Gentile or Jewish rites which had been added to it tended to make it more im- posing, and so attracted the notice of the weak-minded; but to allow children to be baptized, who were not subjects of repentance and faith, would be, in Tertullian's opinion, to revolutionize the institute altogether. We act more wisely, he remarked, in temporal matters ; surely we ought not to admit to baptism those whom we consider unfit to manage temporal affairs. So he argued. The case is quite clear. Children (not infants y but probably children from six to ten _ "•.rs old) are first men- tioned in connection with the ordinance at the beginning of the third century, and then with disapproval. "Tertullian's opposition," the learned Baron Bunsen remarks, *'is to the baptism of young, growing children ; he does not say a word about new-born infants."* Some writers have laboured hard to prove that Origen referred in his writings to infant-baptism as a then existing fact, and that he assigned to it an Apor.tolic origin. Origen was the most learned Christian of that age. He flourished from a.d. 203 to a.d. 254, and attained high repute, both as a teacher in the catechetical school of Alexandria and as an author. But his references are to * Christianity and Mankind, ii. 115. Baptist History, 21 c/nVrf-baptism, not to ^;//rtn^bapt^sm ; and the difference between him and Tertullian is, that the latter decidedly objected to the practice, while Origen spoke of it with approbation. How far, however, did that approbation extend ? Only to the baptism of such children as were capable of instruction, and gave indications of piety; for he uniformly taught that "the benefit of baptism depended on the delibeiate purpose of the baptized." His reply to an objection of Celsus expresses his views. That heathen writer, having stated that ** intelligent and respectable persons " were invii ;d to initiation in the heathen mysteries, proceeds thus: — "And now let us hear what persons the Christians invite. Whoever, they say, is a sinner, whoever is unintelligent, whoever is a mere child, and, in short, whoever is a miserable and contemptible creature, the kingdom of God shall receive him." Origen answers him in the following manner : — ** In reply to these accusations we say, it is one thing to invite those who are diseased in the soul to a healing, and it is another to invite the healthy to a knowledge and discernment of things more divine. And we, knowing the difference, first call men to be healed. We exhort sinners to come to the instruction that teaches them not to sin, and the unintelligent to come to that which produces in them understanding, and the little children to rise in elevation of tJiougJit to the man, and the miserable to come to a more fortunate state, or (what is more proper to say) a state of happiness. But when those of the exhorted that make progress show that they have been cleansed by the Word, and, as much as possible, have lived a better life, then we invite them to be initiated among us."*" Such children as Origen here describes would be " ini- tiated," that is, baptized by any Baptist in these days. * See Christian Review, April, 1854, containing an article by Dr. Ira Chase on the " Opinions of Origen respecting Baptism." iH 22 Baptist History. H ! If they have been ** cleansed by the Word," what more can we require ? Tertullian's objection seems to have arisen from the undue eagerness of some persons to hurry children to the baptismal water before they could fully understand and receive the truth. But neither of these fathers refers to infants. They ascribed influences to baptism which are nowhere mentioned in the New Testament. They used language implying that an outward ceremony produced an inward, spiritual effect. They taught the necessity of baptism in order to pardon and salvation. And yet they also maintained the necessity of repentance and faith ; and therefore they demanded, that, if young children were baptized, they should not be admitted to the ordinance till they were *' able to know Christ," and were " cleansed by the Word." We have at length arrived at the origin of Infant Baptism. Its birth-place was a district of Northern Africa, one of the least enlightened portions of the earth in that age; the time, the middle of the third century; the occasion, certain unscriptural notions which had gra- dually gained prevalence respecting the design and efficacy of the baptismal rite. Having adverted to those extrava- gances in a former section, it is unnecessary to adduce further proof. But the reader can easily trace the pro- gress of error. When believers, newly baptized, rejoiced in the forgiveness of sin, and exhibited satisfactory evidence of a regenerated state, men soon began to regard pardon and regeneration as the effects of baptism. Hence sprang the opinion of its necessity to salvation. That being admitted, the question of time came next under con- sideration. Was it not desirable to obtain pardon and regeneration at the earliest period possible ? And besides, were not infants circumcised under the Jewish law ? These questions v/ere in the mind of Fidus, a bishop of some place in Northern Africa. We can have no doubt Baptist History. 23 irang con- and sides, law ? op of loubt as to his duty under such circumstances. He ought to have searched the New Testament, if he had one (we cannot be sure of it, for books were scarce and dear in those days), and inquired into the differences between the Old and the New Dispensations, the carnal and the spiritual Israel. If he had carried on the inquiry fairly, his difficulties would have been removed without further re- ference. But he either could not or would not conduct the requisite investigation. Cyprian was at that time Bishop of Carthage, and was reverenced as a great authority in all Church affairs. Fidus wrote to Cyprian. Certain persons, he said, had advised the baptism of infants im- mediately after birth ; but he could not agree with them, and particularly for this reason, that whereas it was cus- tomary to receive the baptized with a brotherly kiss, a newly-born infant could not be so received, being treated as unclean for several days after its coming into the world. He thought it best, therefore, to wait till the eighth day, and to baptize the infant at the same time at which, under the law, it would have been circumcised. But he asked advice of Cyprian, who laid the case before a council which had assembled at Carthage, in the year 252, for the settlement of various ecclesiastical matters. Sixty- six bishops met on that occasion. The answer is given in a letter written by Cyprian, from which the following extract is taken : — ** None of us could agree to your opinion. On the con- trary, it is the opinion of us all, that the mercy and grace of God must be refused to no human being, so soon as he is born ; for since our Lord says in His Gospel, ' The Son of Man is not come to destroy men's souls, but to save them,* so everything that lies in our power must be done that no soul may be lost. As God has no respect of persons, so too He has no rejpect of age, offering Himself as a Father with equal freeness to all, that they 3 in 24 Baptist History. I may be enabled to obtain the heavenly grace. As to what you say, that the child in its first days of its birth is not clean to the touch, and that each of us would shrink from kissing such an object, even this, in our opinion, ought to present no obstacles to the bestowment of heavenly grace ; for it is written, ' To the pure all things are pure ;' and none of us ought to revolt at that which God has condescended to create. Although the child be but just born, yet it is no such object anyone ought to demur at kissing it to impart the divine grace and the salutation of peace, since each of us must be led, by his own religious sensibilit}', to think upon the creative hands of God, fresh from the completion of their work, which we kiss in the newly formed man when we take in our arms what God has made. As to the rest, if anything could prove a hindrance to men in the attainment of grace, much rather might those be hindered whose maturer years have involved them in heavy sins. But if even the chief of sinners, who have been exceedingly guilty before God, receive the forgiveness of sin on coming to the faith, and no one is precluded from baptism and from grace, how much less should the child be kept back, which, as it is but just born, cannot have sinned, but has only brought with it, by its descent from Adam, the infection of the old death ; and which may the more easily obtain the remission of sins, because the sins which are forgiven it are not its own, but those of another ?"* This is very misty theology. In fact, the religion of great numbers, in the third century, was a compound of Judaism and Paganism, with a slight seasoning of Chris- tianity. Gaudy ceremonials were delighted in, and the strange power which had been ascribed to magical in- fluences was transferred to the ordinances of the Gospel. The immersion in water, the eating of the bread, and the * Labbe and Kossart, Concil. i. 742 — 744. Baptist History. 25 As to its birth IS would , in our vment of 11 things it which child be )ught to and the 1, by his ^e hands c, which e in our anything ment of maturer even the before e faith, ce, how as It is Ibrought of the in the )rgiven non of bnd of Chris- id the lal in- ^ospel. id the drinking of the wine, were associated in their minds, as producing causes, with spiritual transformations and bless- ings. The bodily act was substituted for the mental, and " faith was made void." We do not affirm that every professing Christian was enveloped in this dark- ness ; but it is too evident that the views of the majority were confused, and that, under the leadership of such men as Cyprian, the churches were fast drifting into dangerous notions. Nevertheless, they were consistent in some things. They did not separate baptism from the Lord's Supper, as is done by all Paedobaptists in these times. They held that those who were entitled to the one had an equal right to the other. When the infant had been plunged into the baptismal water, it was considered a member of the Church, and received the Lord's Supper. If it was too young to eat the bread, they poured the wine down its throat. This, too^ originated in Northern Africa, and there only we find it, in the period now under notice.* Another innovation is traced to the third century. We allude to clinic baptism, that is, the baptism of sick per- sons, confined to their beds. It was not baptism, properly so called, as they were only sprinkled with water, or had water poured on them. The reason alleged for this departure from Apostolic practice, was the necessity of baptism to the salvation of the soul, and the consequent danger of deferring it, lest the sickness should terminate in death. Thus one error led to another. If those clinics recovered, they were not baptized afterwards ; but they were not admitted to the ministry. Novatian, however, was an exception to this rule. He had been sprinkled or received a pouring on his bed, when his dissolution was hourly expected. After his recovery, his eminent qualifica- * Bingham's Christian Antiquities, book xii. chap. i. sect. 3, and bool: r.v. chap. iv. sect. 7. i^ .1 26 Baptist History. tions for the ministry induced the churches to deviate from the established custom, and he was ordained. Subse- quently he took a high stand as a reformer. We are now brought dov/n to the year 254, the date of Origen's death. The downward tendency Is before us. Baptism, at first the voluntary act of a believer in Christ, has become, in numerous instances, the performance of a ceremony upon an unconscious infant. In all these cases the design of the Christian profession is subverted. Mem- bers are introduced into the churches who are necessarily destitute of the spiritual qualifications enumerated in the New Testament. It does not require the gift of prophecy to foretell the disastrous consequences. Religious declen- sion was both the cause and the effect of the introduction of infant-baptism. The cause, inasmuch as so great a change could not have taken place if the Christian mind had not previously lost a due sense of the spiritual nature of religion : the effect, since the unholy mixture arising from the new arrangement could not but prove injurious to the interests of piety. *' What communion hath light with darkness ?" It may be expected that some account of the introduction of Christianitv into England should be given. It is highly probable that the Gospel reached this country at an early period, by means of merchants of Gaul m the first instance, and of missionaries afterwards. But dates and details are wanting. The statements of Tertullian and others are rather rhetorical flourishes than truthful records. That Joseph of Arimathea went to England, with several com- panions, and built a church " made of rods, wattled or interwoven," in which they *' watched, prayed, fasted, preached, having high meditations under a low roof, and large hearts betwixt narrow walls," * is now generally acknowledged to be a fable. That the Apostle Paul visited * Fullers Church History , cent, i. sect. 13^ Baptist History. 27 ite from Subse- date of fore us. I Christ, ice of a 36 cases Mem- :essarily I in the )rophecy 1 declen- oduction great a an mind .1 nature I arising" rious to krht with Britain when he travelled *' to the extreme bounds of the West," as Clemens Romanus expressed it, is more easily said than proved. That Claudia, mentioned by Paul in 2 Tim. iv. 21, was of British origin, is a conjecture, and nothing more. The story of King Lucius, as Dean Milman observes, *' is a legend."* We must be content to remain in ignorance of the special instrument employed for the enlightenment of England, and can only remark that the Christian Church, ,vhen planted there, harmonized, in its doctrines and services, with the churches of Gaul, from which country missionary expeditions naturally took their westward course. * History of Latin Christianity, book iv. chap. iii. )duction highly m early istance, tails are >ers are That il com- ttled or fasted, )of, and merally visited .1 i- ! lifi 1 ! » CHAPTER II. THE TRANSITION PERIOD. FROM A.U. 254 TO A.D. 604. ^ECTIOjN I The Catechumens— Progress of Infant Baptism — Delay of Baptism — Gregory Nazienzen — Chrysostom — Basil — Enhrem of Edessa — The Emperor Constantine — Immersion still the Mode. THE Statements made in former sections are abundantly confirmed by impartial divines and historians. One of the most learned men of the present day, the late Baron Bunsen, writes thn? in his work entitled, " Christianity and Mankind." *' The Apostolical Church made the school the connecting link between herself and the world. The object of this edu- cation was admission into the free society and brotherhood of the Christian community. The Church adhered rigidly to the principle, as constituting the true purport of the bap- tism ordained by Christ, that no one can be a member of the communion of saints, but by his own free act and deed, his own solemn vow made in presence of the Church. It was with this understanding that the candidate for baptism was immersed in water, and admitted as a brother upon his confession of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It Baptist History. 29 is understood, therefore, in the exact sense (i Pet. iii. 21), not as being a mere bodily purification, but as a vow made to God with a good conscience through faith in Jesus Christ. This vow was preceded by a confession of Chris- tian faith made in the face of the Church, in which the catechumen expressed that faith in Christ, and in the sufficiency of the salvation offered by him. It was a vow to live for the time to come to God and for his neighbour, not to the world and for self; a vov/of faith in his becoming a child of God, through the communion of his only-begotten Son, in the Holy Ghost; a vow of the most solemn kind, for life and for death. The keeping of this pledge was the condition of continuance in the Church ; its infringement entailed repentance or excommunication. All Church dis- cipline was based upon this voluntary pledge, and the re- sponsibility thereby self-imposed. But how could such a vow be received without examination ? How could such examination be passed without instruction and observation? As a general rule, the ancient Church fixed three years for this preparation, supposing the candidate, whether heathen or Jew, to be competent to receive it. With Christian chil- dren the condition was the same, except that the term of probation was curtailed according to circumstances. Pajdo- baptism in the more modern sense, meaning thereby the baptism of new-born infants with the vicarious promises of parents and other sponsors, was utterly unknown to the early Clmrcli, not only down to the end of the second, but indeed to the middle of the third century.'" The catechumen institution may be traced back to an early period — as far as the second century.** At first, as we gather from the New Testament, converts were baptized as soon as they acknowledged Christ. Afterwards, it was judged expedient to prepare them for baptism by a course of instruction, generally extending, as Baron Bunsen states * Vol. ii. p. 105. • I 30 Baptist History » ^ \ in the above-cited passage, to three years. In the first ages they experienced Christianity, and then professed it. In after times they learned Christianity, and that, in too many instances, was all : conversion and experience were , unknown. But this catechumenical system was adapted to ! those only who were able to learn, and therefore excluded infants. Its very existence was incompatible with infant- ', baptism ; and the consequence was, that when the latter became general the former disappeared, or dwindled down to an unmeaning form. But in the period which is now before us the Catechumens were a distinct order. Certain persons, called Catechists, were appointed to instruct them. They occupied a separate place in Christian assemblies, and were required to withdraw before the celebration of the Lord's Supper, which they were not permitted to witness. From the Latin phrase used in dismissing the assembly, the v/hole service was called "ilfma," from which the English word " Mass " is derived. There were the Missa Catcchumcnorum, or service of the Catechumens, and the Missa Fidclium, or service of the Faithful ; the former comprising the reading of the Scriptures and the sermon ; the latter, the Lord's Supper and the devotional exercises which preceded and accompanied it, denoti g the fellowship of believers, to which class the Catechumens did not belong till after their baptism. It is a very noticeable fact, that the baptismal service, as prescribed in the earliest liturgies, was prepared for Cate- chumens only. There was no provision for infants. Had infant-baptism been then in existence, the ecclesiastical arrangements would have re :ognized it, and there would have been a twofold service, as there is now in the Church of England, one for infant, and the other for "those of riper years." We have called the period from a.d. 254 to a.d. 604 the " Transition Periodj" becaub", so far as baptism was Baptist History. 31 concerned, and, indeed, in many other particulars which might be adduced if needful, the ecclesiastical system was in a formative state. It was neither one thing nor the other, but a mixture of incongruities. The catechumenical arrangement was founded on the theory of baptism on a personal profession of faith, and so far accorded with the New Testament. But infant-baptism had sprung up in Northern Africa, and was gradu extending itself through the powerful influence of AugUbiine, Bishop of Hippo, who wrote largely on the subject. His sheet-anchor in the argument was the supposed efficacy of baptism in removing the defilement of original sin. These two theories were in opposition to each other, for if all candidates for baptism were to become catechumens and receive preparatory in- struction, infant-baptism had no place. Yet there it was, daily gaining ground. Augustine's authority gave it the advantage in the West ; but in the East, the bpptism of children from three to ten years of age, who could in some sort answer for themselves, lingered much longer. And great numbers followed the example of the Emperor Con- stantine, who deferred his baptism till the latest possible period, that all his sins might be w^ashed away at once, as he, poor man, vainly imagined they would be, by the administration of the ordinance. Thus we find a great diversity of practice. There was infant-baptism spreading from North Africa — child-baptism prevalent in the East — catechumen-baptism, properly so called, the ordinary mode of admitting converts — and procrastinated-baptism, includ- ing such cases as Constantine's. We see, then, that this period is rightly termed the; *' Transition Period." Neander says, " It was still very far from being the case, especially in the Greek Church, that infant-baptism, although acknowledged to be necessary, was generally in- troduced into practice. Partly, the same mistaken notions which arosi3 from confounding the thing represented by ^1^ 3-^ Baptist History. baptism with the outward rite, and which afterwards led to the over-valuation of infant-baptism, and partly, the frivo- lous tone of thinkin*;, the indifference to all hifjher concerns, which characterised so many who had only exchanged the Pagai. for a Christian outside, — all this together contributed to bring it about, that among the Christians of the East, infant-baptism, though acknowledged in theory to be neces- sary, yet entered so rarely and with so mucJi difficulty into the Church-life during the first half of this period."* ** The baptism of infants," Gieseler observes, **did not become universal tUl after the death of Augustine. "f Had infant-baptism been universally regarded as a Divine ordinance, it would have been everywhere observed, and Christian parents would have been scrupulously heedful of their duty towards their children in this matter. But it was not so. Some of the best men of the time were children of pious parents, but were not baptized till they attained maturity. We say again, this could not have taken place if infant-baptism had been from the beginning regarded as an Apostolic institution. A few instances may be given. Gregory Nazianzen, Archbishop of Constantinople, who died in the year 389, and whose father was Bishop of Nazianzen, was not baptized till he was nearly thirty years old. He expressly intimated his disapproval of infant- baptism, in one of his public discourses, and advised that children should not be baptized till they were three years old or more, at which time they might be able to answer the questions proposed to candidates. | Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed preacher, also Arch- bishop of Constantinople, and born of Christian parents, received baptism at the age of twenty-eight. He died in the year 407. Basil of Caesarea, though he could boast of Christian * History of the Church, ii. 319. f Ecclesiastical History, ii. 47. I Ullmann's Gregory of Naziatizfit, p. 27. Baptist History. 33 ancestry for several generations, was not baptized till he was twenty-seven years old. Addressing Catechumens, he says (a. d. 350), " Do you demur, and loiter, and put it off, when you have been from a child catechised in the Word ? Are you not acquainted with the truth ? Having been always learning it, are you not yet come to the knowledge of it? A seeker all your life long, a considerer till you are old ? When will you become one of us ? " Observe — '■^ from a child catechised " — but baptism still delayed.* Ephrem of Edessa, a learned writer of the Syriac Church (died A.D. 378), was born of parents who, as Alban Butler remarks, " were ennobled by the blood of martyrs in their family, and had themselves both confessed Christ before the persecutors, under Diocletian or his successors. They consecrated Ephrem to God from his cradle, like another Samuel, but he was eighteen years old when he was bap- tized. "f They would be called good Baptists in these times. They "consecrated" their child, that is, prayed for him, and trained him *' in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" but they did not think of his being bap- tized till he was a believer, which was not till he was *' eighteen years old." Would they have acted thus, if infant-baptism had been the universal and binding practice of the Church? Speaking of the Emperor Constantine, the historian Gibbon says, " The example and reputation of Constantine seemed to countenance the delay of baptism. Future tyrants were encouraged to believe that the innocent blood which they might shed in a long reign would instantly be washed away in the waters of regeneration : and the abuse of religion dangerously undermined the foundation of moral * (( ■ Oratio exhortatoria ad baptismum," quoted in Wall's History of Infant Baptism, chap. xii. t Lives of the Saints, Art. " St. Ephrem." II' 34 Baptist History. ! [\ ill U I If ii i^ i'^ 1 virtue."* The truth of the last observation is undeniable. All ecclesiastical history illustrates it. And there is no more melancholy confirmation than that which is afforded by the records of baptism. The fi<;ment of baptismal re- generation, one of the earliest corruptions of Christianity, was an outrage on morals and religion. It encouraged men in sin, and bolstered them up with a false hope, sub- stituting the outward form for repentance, faith, and a changed heart and life. Infant-baptism, also, soon un- folded its injurious tendencies and effects. They will pre- sent themselves at every step of our progress. It seems astonishing that so gross a perversion of Christianity should have acquired such a firm hold of men's minds. But it is among the things that are doomed, and the day is not far off. With the sole exception of the clinics, already referred to, baptism still consisted in the immersion of the candi- date, who was ordinarily divested of clothing. The same method was adopted for children as for adults. And the immersion was still commonly performed thrice. The following passages are taken from Bingham's "An- tiquities " (book xi. ch. xi). *' Cyril of Jerusalem " (died a.d. 386) ** makes it an em- blem of the Holy Ghost's effusion upon the Apostles ; for as he that goes down into the water and is baptized is sur- rounded on all sides by the water, so the Apostles were baptized all over by the Spirit ; the water surrounds the body externally, but the Spirit incomprehensibly baptizes the interior soul." " So St. Ambrose " (died a. d. 396) ** explains it. 'Thou wast asked, Dost thou believe in God the Father Almighty? And didst thou answer, I believe ; and then thou wast im- merged in water, that is, buried.' " *• St. Chrysostom " (died a. d. 407) " proves the resurrec- Dccline and Fall, chap. xx. Baptist History. 35 e resurrec- tion from this practice ; ' for,' says he, ' our being baptized and immerf^ed into the water, and our rising again out of it, is a vsymbol of our descending into hell or the grave, and of our returning from thence.' " "St. Jerome" (died a.d. 420) "makes this ceremony to be a symbol of the Unity as well as the Trinity. * For,' says he, * we are thrice dipped in the water, that the mys- tery of the Trinity may appear to be but one ; we are not baptized in the names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but in one name, which is God.' " " St. Augustine " (died a.d. 430) '• tells us there was a twofold mystery signified in this way of baptizing. The trine immersion was both a symbol of the Holy Trinity, in whose name we are b 'ptized, and also a type of the Lord's burial, and of His resurrection on the third day from the dead. For we are buried with Christ by baptism, and rise again with Him by faith." Leo the Great (died a.d. 461) says, "The trine immer- sion is an imitation of the three days' burial ; and the rising again out of the water is an image of Christ rising from the grave." Gregory the Great (died a.d. 604) wrote thus to Leander, Bishop of Seville : — •' Concerning the three immersions in baptism, you have judged very truly already, that different rites and customs do not prejudice the Holy Church, whilst the unity of faith remains entire. The reason why we use three immersions at Rome is to signify the mystery of Christ's three days' burial, that whilst an infant is thrice lifted up out of the water the resurrection on the third day may be expressed thereby. But if anyone thinks this is rather done in regard to the Holy Trinity, a single immer- sion in baptism does no way prejudice that ; for so long as the unity of substance is preserved in Three Persons, i*: is no harm whether a child be baptized with one immersion or three ; because three immersions may represent the D2 f I 36 Baptist History, Trinity of Persons, and one immersion the Unity of the Godhead." At first, baptism was administered in rivers, pools, baths, wherever a sufficient quantity of water could be con- veniently obtained. In the fourth century, baptisteries began to be erected. These were large buildings, con- SEVILLE. (The seat of the Bishopric of Leander.) tiguous to the churches. There was usually but one in a city, attached to the bishop's or cathedral church. The baptistery proper, or font, was in the centre of the build- ing, and at the sides were numerous apartments for the accommodation of the candidates. Several of these bap- tisteries yet remain, and have been frequently described by 'A'k Baptist History, 37 travellers. The baptisteries at Rome (in the church of St. John Lateran), Ravenna, Florence, Pisa, and Parma may be particularly mentioned. The fonts in these baptisteries are from three to four feet .deep, and of proportionate size. Of course they were intended for immersion. , tt*-%-*^-*-^ FLORENCE. (Where one of the ancient Baptisteries still remains.) Sectioj^ II. Christian Intolerance— Justinian's Law, enjoining Infant-Baptism— The Novatians — The Donatists— Pelagianism. THE period now under consideration was marked by one " transition " which can never be sufficiently deplored. Hitherto, Christians had endured afflictions for the Lord's sake, and had willingly suffered the loss of all things rather than renounce the faith. But a \ n! i 38 Baptist History, chancre had taken place, involving a temptation which proved too powerful for many of them. When Con- stantine the Great declared for Christianity, he expected to stand in the same position towards that religion as he had before occupied with regard to Paganism. The Emperors were the high priests of Paganism, and the civil government had from time immemorial directed and controlled the religion of the country. Was not the same policy still to be observed ? Had Constantine examined the New Testament, the question would soon have been answered. But he was very imperfectly acquainted with that book; and, besides, the exclusive authority of God's Word in matters of religion had long been given up. The profession of Christianity in those times was a very different thing from what it had been in the first and purest ages. Scripture was smothered by tradition. The simplicity of Apostolic form had given place to complicated ceremonies. Expediencj' had supplanted right. The enquiry was not. What has Christ com- manded ? — but rather. How may influence, and power, and patronage, and wealth be obtained ? How may the Gospel become popular ? Such being the views of the leaders, it is not surprising that the people grovelled in worldliness, or that rulers determined to use Christianity as a State machine, as they had used Paganism. Con- stantine led the way, and his successors naturally trod in his steps. He began by enjoining external com- pliance with Christian institutions. The observance of the Lord's-day was enforced by imperial law. Interference in Christian controversies followed. The bishops were too ready to invoke the exercise of the imperial autho- rity, and there was not religious intelligence enough among the people to discern and resist the usurpation. The State set up the idol, uniformity, and they bowed down and worsliipped it. The views entertained by the Baptist History. 39 n, and the majority were called " Catholic," because they were said to be held by all, and " Orthodox," because they were assumed to be right. Those who differed from the majority were termed heretics. The words "orthodoxy" and "heresy" were not always employed, however, in the same sense. As each man deemed himself right and his opponent wrong, every man was orthodox in his own eyes ; and as successive emperors patronized one or another form of belief, he who was orthodox in one reign was liable to be stigmatized as a heretic in the next. Patronage, power, and persecution are closely allied. When imperial inter- vention was called for, to settle Christian disputes or to suppress a rising sect, there was no way of exercising it but by means of penalties, for law must of necessity be powerless unless offences against it are punished. Hence arose the monstrous anomaly of Christian persecution. If orthodoxy was in the ascendant, the Catholic emperor pulled down Arian churches, and fined the people for attending Arian worship. The sarne measure was meted out to other sects. If an Arian sat on the throne, the Catholics were subject to the same indignities. It was unchris- tian on both sides. Pagans and Jews were hardened in their unbelief. When Christianity was forced into an alliance with the State, the form (though even that was disguised) remained, but the spirit had departed. Were we writing an ecclesiastical history, we should enlarge here. We should expatiate on the sin of legis- lation in the Church, whose duty it is to obey Christ's laws, not to make new ones, — on the pomp and pride of bishops, — the tyranny of kings, — the arrogance of councils,— and especially on the evils which have re- sulted from the wordly admixture connected with the " introduction of infant-baptism. But just now we must confine ourselves to the influence of the State on religion, and particularly in relation to the subject before us. 'r- ^ I i 40 Baptist History. The Emperor Justinian (who reigned from a.d. 527 to A.D. 565) was a thorough despot. He would acknow- ledge no will but his own. The rights of conscience were altogether ignored by him. He claimed absolute mastery over his subjects, and required them to renounce Paganism and embrace Christianity, because he willed it, without reference to other considerations. A notable edict of his illustrates these remarks. It enacted, "that such parents as were yet unbaptized should present themselves, with their wives and children, and all that appertained to them, in the Church; and there they should cause their little ones immediately to be baptized^ and the rest as soon as they were taught the Scriptures, according to the canons. But if any persons, for the- sake of a public office or dignity, or to get an estate,, received a fallacious baptism themselves, but in the meantime left their wives, or children, or servants, or any that were retainers, or near relations to them, in their ancient error, their goods in that case are ordered to be confiscated, and their persons punished by a com- petent judge, and excluded from bearing any office in the commonwealth." * Thus the fabric of infant-baptism rested on two pillars. — delusion and force : delusion, inasmuch as the cere- mony was supposed to be invested with regenerating and saving power,— force, as employed by the State, in the interest of the Church. It is true they called it an •' apostolic institution ;" but that was an after-thought. Exorcism, unction, the sign of the cross, holy water, infant-communion, and many other childish practices, were also called "Apostolic institutions," — not at first, but long after they were invented, to concal their real origin, and prevent men from discovering the trickery. Unquestionably the progress of religion in the com- * Bingham, book xi. chap. iv. Baptist History. 41 .D. 527 to I acknow- :onscience absolute renounce he willed (^ notable ed, ''that I present all that lerc they baptized^ scriptures , for the n estate^ t in the i^ants, or them, in ordered ' a corn- office in o pillars he cere- nerating- i State, :alled it bought. water, ■actices, rst, but origin. e com- if munity, which was emphatically designated "the Church,"^ was altogether downward during the "Transition Period."" It is an interesting inquiry, how far the spirit of the Gospel was preserved, and its essential truths maintained, by those whom ecclesiastical historians have denominated " heretics " and " schismatics." We shall pursue this inquiry in succeeding chapters. In order to find the true Church, we must look out of the " Church " commonly so called. The Novatians and Donatists were the two leading; sects of the period now under consideration. There were many other sects, so called, for it was the fashion to designate as a " heretic " every individual who thought differently from the majority, and to consider those who agreed with him as constituting a party, usually bearing his name. If we were to do so now, the multiplication of sects would be indefinite. Novatian lived at Rome. He had embraced Chris- tianity, but his baptism had been deferred ; and it has been already stated that in sickness which threatened tO' be fatal he had been sprinkled or poured on as he lay on his bed, since it was impossible to immerse him. This is the first recorded instance of clinic baptism. It was in fact no baptism at all, though it differed from infant- sprinkling. In the latter, both the subject and the act are wrong. In Novatian's case, there was a proper subject, but the ceremony performed was not baptism,, though it was the best substitute they could think of. It shows us, by the way, how error was creeping in. Novatian ought to have waited for his recovery, when he would have been in a fit state to receive the ordinance. Had it pleased God that his sickness should be fatal, he would have died without baptism, and he would have been in David's position, who desired to build the temple, but was not permitted. The desire was ap- 42 Baptist History, proved, though the ^urpose was not accomplished. He *• did vveir that it was in his heart." Already, however, the pernicious notion o^ the necessity of baptism to salva- tion had become prevalent, and consequently Novatian was sprinkled or received a pouring. Novatian possessed such talent and zeal that he became a popular teacher. On the death of Fabian, Bishop of Rome, in the year "250, there was a strong desire that Novatian should succeed him, and so he would, had it not been for his known sentiments on one point. Lax habits of discipline, as he believed, had grown up, and were very mischievous in their tendencies. In the Decian persecution great numbers had apostatized, who, on the return of tranquility, sought re-admission into the churches. Novatian differed from his brethren on this subject. He held that apostacy was a sin which wholly disqualified an individual for restoration 'to Christian fellowship, and that it would be destructive to the purity of the Church to re-admit those who had so grossly fallen. God might pardon them. They might find a place in heaven. But the Church must not be defiled, for it is a congregation of saints. Now, whatever opinion we may form respecting Novatian's particular theory, it is unde- niable that the principle on which it rested was derived from the New Testament. Yet it was too spiritual for the times. A majority declared in favour of Cornelius, who was duly installed Bishop of Rome. Nevertheless, the minority would not yield. The time had come (so they argued) for a decided stand. The holiness of the Church was in danger, and must be maintained at all hazards. Separation was better than corruption. They withdrew, formed a separate church, and invited Novatian to become their pastor. Others imitated their example in various parts of the empire, and Novatian churches sprang up in great abundance. They continued in ex- Baptist History, 43 shed. He however, n to salva- Novatian le became Bishop of esire that Id, had it int. Lax 1 up, and In the zed, who, 1 into the ti on this :h wholly Christian :he purity sly fallen. place in )r it is a we may is unde- 5 derived •itual for lornelius, irtheless. :ome (so 5 of the ;d at all . They ^ovatian fel example :hurches s:'.---: in ex- |y istence more than three centuries. In all the principal towns and cities, these dissenting communities might be found. They were the Puritans of those days, and were so designated. There was a wholesome rivalry for some time between them and the " Orthodox " or *' Catholic " body, each operating as a stimulus and a check upon the other. Carrying out their governing principle in all its details, they baptized all who J lined their churches, ^ven though they had been already baptized by ministers of the ortho lox body, deeming the baptism of a corrupt church invalid. They were therefore the first " Anabaptists," in the strict and proper sense of that word. They were also genuine reformers. Dr. Waddington, an Episcopalian historian, observes, that Novatian ** considered the genuine Church of Christ to be a society where virtue and innocence reigned universally, and refused any longer to acknowledge those as its members who had even once degenerated into unrighteousness. His followers were called Cathari or Puritans, and they comprehended many austere and inde- pendent Christians, in the East no less than in the West. But this endeavour to revive the spotless moral purity of the primitive faith was found inconsistent with the corrup- tions even of that early age : it was regarded with sus- picion by the leading prelates, as a vain and visionary scheme ; and those rigid principles which had character- ised and sanctified the Church in the first century, were abandoned to the profession of schismatic sectaries in the third."* There is no evidence that, at the time of Novatian's separation from the Roman Church, infant-baptism had found its way into Italy. The probability is all on the other side, since one hundred and sixty years after that event we find Boniface, Bishop of Rome, propounding * History of the Church, i. i66 (Second Edition). r . ill' 44 Baptist History. doubts and questions to Augustine which indicated that infant-baptism was looked on by him quite distrustfully. These difficulties would not have existed if he had believed that the rite had a divine origin. The incongruity between the ceremonial employed and the reality struck him forcibly. The ceremonial had been originally prepared for catechu- mens, and was then a reasonable service. When infants were substituted for catechumens, the same forms were observed, but they were strangely out of place. In answer to the usual question, the sponsor replied on behalf of the infant, " I believe," whereas, as Boniface remarked, not only was the child unable to believe, but no one could tell whether he would believe in •'fter life or not. No wonder the good man was puzzled.* It reminds us of an incident that occurred in England some years ago. A lad, the child of Baptist parents, was sent to a school where the Church of England catechism was taught. Abraham (that was his name) was compelled to stand up with the other boys. It happened one day that it came to his turn to answer this question — *« Why then are infants baptized, when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them " [that is, the conditions, of repentance and faith] ? Abraham looked full in his master's face, and said, ** Why indeed, sir ? " He was not £'sked to recite any more.f Novatianism and infant-baptism were diametrically op- posed to each other. It was impossible to preserve the purity for which the Novatians contended in any church which had admitted the novel institution. Those who had been baptized in infancy might evince, when they reached maturity, an utter destitution of vital godliness, and con- sequent unfitness for union with a Christian body ; but * See his letter in Atigustin. Opera, xxxix. 235 — 244 (Ed. Caillau). f The lad was a son of the Rev. Abraham Austin, many years pastor of the Baptist Church meeting in Elim Chapel, Fetter Lane, London. He died in 1816. See Baptist Magazine, vol. viii. pp. 397, 441. 1 t Baptist History. 45 being already members by virtue of their baptism, they could not be expelled unless they fell into gross vice, and so their influence and example might operate most in- juriously on the religious character of the Church. This could not escape the observation of Novatian Christians. It would prove a salutary caution. We may safely infer that they abstained from, compliance with the innovation, and that the Novatian churches were what are now called Baptist churches, adhering to the Apostolic and primitive practice. Had the writings of Novatian authors been pre- served, we should have had more explicit information ; but it was the ancient policy to destroy all books written by alleged heretics. Novatian publislied a work on the Trinity, which has not been involved in the common de- struction. A copy of it is now before the writer. It is generally commended for its clearness and orthodoxy, but there is no allusion to the baptismal controversy. The Donatists first appeared in the early part of the fourth century. A dispute about an election to a bishopric was the occasion of their separation from the Catholic Church. Ccecilian was chosen Bishop of Carthage in a somewhat irregular manner, and hastily ordained. Among those who officiated at his ordination was Felix, Bishop of Aptunga. This man was said to be a traditoVf that is, one who had delivered up copies of the Scriptures to the civil authorities during the Diocletian persecution. His concurrence in the ordination was thought by some to vitiate the service. They refused to regard Caecilian as a regularly appointed bishop. A secession took place, which spread rapidly and extensively, so that in a short time the Donatist churches in Africa were nearly equal in number to those of the hitherto dominant party. As in the case of the Novatians, the discussion of the general question of church purity arose out of the circum- stances that originated the division. The Donatists pleaded ' I 46 Baptist History. for purity. They mainta" led that Christian churches should consist of godly persons, and no others, and that, in all the arrangements made for their management, that important principle should be kept in view. They followed the ex- ample of the Novatians in rebaptii^ing those who joined them from other churches. They baptized new converts on a profession of faith, a 5 a mo iter of course, for that was the practice of all churches. Whether they went further than this is open to question. Their principles would undoubt- edly lead them to th2 rejection of infant-baptism. Some authors affirm that they did reject it. For our own part, we are disposed to hesitate on that point. V/e are inclined to think that t^ey were divided in opinion, rnd that some of them admitted infant-baptism, though the admission was inconsistent with their acknowledged principles. The majority, we are willing to believe, adhered to the New Testament practice. At one of the African Councils, held about the year 397, it was agreed to consult their *' brethren and fellow- priests," Siricius, Bishop of Rome, and Simplician, Bishop of Milan, respecting those who had beeu baptized in in- fancy among the Donatists, and who, when they reached mature age, desired to join the church which assumed the title " Catholic."* It was subsequently decided that they should not be re-baptized. This proves that infant-baptism was practised in that sect ; whether universally or not, is another question. Augustine never charges them, as a body, with heresy on that point ; nor does Opatus, a cele- brated writer against the Donatists. There is another circumstance proper to be mentioned. The difference between the Donatists and their opponents had been submitted several times to imperial decision. In the first instance the Donatists, it appears, consented to * Labbe and Cossart, ii. 1071. Bingham's Antiquities, bock iv. chap. iii. sect. 12. Baptist History. 47 the reference ; but they soon discovered the impropriety. " What has the Emperor to do with the Church ? What have Christians to do with kings, or bishops at court ? " they asked. Were they not right ? Have not the Baptists been distinguished in all age^ by the maintenance c/ these •iew'o ? Have they not ever held that civil government has nothing to do with religion, that Christianity asks for no support from the State, and that the union of Church and Sjate has been productive of some of the worst evils that have defiled the Christian profession ? Have they not always repudiated the use of carnal weapons in the defence and propagption of the truth, and demancicd, for themselves and for all men, entire freedom of thought and action in all religious concerns ? This is their glory, and no man can take it from them. Both the Novatians and the Donatists suffered severely for their dissent, especially the latter. The celebrated Augustine taught the unchristian doctrine that heresy should be suppressed by the civil magistrate, and invoked the imperial sword against the Donatists. Their property was confiscated, the prisons were crammed with them, and great numbers lost their lives by the hands of the execu- tioner. A sanguinary law was enacted, that the re-baptizer and the re-baptized should be put to death. That so atrocious an enactment should excite tumults in a country where the separatists constituted one-half of the Christ' i population, cannot be considered surprising. Other per- sons, not connected with them, took advantage of it, and great disorders ensued. But Augustine and his party were the aggressors. Pelagianism troubled the Church in the fifth century. As Pelagius taught that infants derive no moral taint from Adam's transgression, it has been inferred that he was of necessity an opposer of infant-baptism, since it had then become a generally admitted notion that baptism ' I p III in f- I I ! 48 Baptist History, cleanses from original sin. Pelagius, however, did not deny the propriety of baptizing infants, who obtained, he said, the kingdom of heaven by their baptism, which *' kingdom of heaven " he distinguished from eternal life, and represented as a kind of intermediate state. We need not dwell on such follies, and therefore pass on to observe, that as many in that age stoutly denied the right of infants to baptism, refusing to acknowledge the power of the Church to add to the ordinances of Christ, the Council of Milevi, held a.d. 416, passed a decree in the following terms : " Whosoever denies that newly-born infants are to be baptized, or affirms that they are indeed baptized for the remission of sins, but that they derive no original sin from Adam, ... let him be accursed."*^* Such are the sup- ports of infant-baptism — the frail buttresses of the build- ing; Justinian's mandate, and this anathematising decree of Milevi. But what has the Saviour said ? " Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up " (Matt. xv. 13). Much has been said respecting the contest of Augustine the monk with the British Christians on the subject of baptism. It has been supposed that infant-baptism was then unknown in England, and that Augustine endeavoured to force it on the people, as an integral part of Romish policy. Neither aGsertion is correct. There is no good reason to suppose that infant-baptism, which had been gaining prevalence all over Europe, by the zealous labours and powerful influence of Augustine of Hippo, had been kept out of England. We have just seen that Pelagius, who was a Welshman, did not oppose it. Augustine's ob- ject was to procure uniformity of ceremonies, and to induce the Britons to adopt the observances grafted by the Romish Church on the simple baptismal service of the New Testa- ment. Nothing was said about children. Their baptism * Labbe and Cossart, ii. 1538. •• Wi,l ' Baptist History, 49 was no doubt gradually introduced into England, as in other parts, and ultimately superseded, as it did elsewhere," the primitive ordinance. At any rate, we find traces of it in Wales in the sixth century.** Whether compliance was refused by any parties, and in what numbers, cannot now be ascertained. Here, as in many other respects, there is a lack of information. God's witnesses lay hid for ages.t • • See the Liber Landavensis. Llandovery, 1840. f Bede's Ecclesiastical History is the only authority for the account of Augustine's interview with the British clergy. The monk required of them, among other things, that they bhould " administer baptism, by which we are born to God, according to the custom of the holy Roman Apostolic Church " (Dr. Giles's Translation). The word used by Bede was *^ compleatis,^' and his meaning was that they should render the administration complete or perfect, by the addition of Romish cere- monies. In some editions of Fabian's Chronicle, Augustine is represented as saying, " that ye give Christendom to children." Fabian, it may be supposed, knew of no baptism but that of infants, and translated, or 'ather paraphrased^ accordingly. He died a.d. 1513. £ ( f fl '! I H I il I I 1 CHAPTER III. THE OBSCURE PERIOD. FROM A.D. 604 TO A.D. IO73. Sectioj^ 1, The Manichaeans— Cautions to the Student— All Opponents of Infant-baptism not Baptists — Account of the Paulicians— Their Views of Baptism. SOME may wonder that we have as yet said nothing about the Manichasans, a sect which first came into notice about the latter part of the third century, and con- tinued in existence, if historians are to be beheved, a thousand years or more. They were charged with deny- ing infant-baptism. But we wish it to be understood that we consider those only as Baptists, in the New Testament sense of that term, who hold baptism as an ordinance bind- ing on all believers, and refuse it to all other persons. Now, Manichaeism was a compound of Oriental philosophy and Christianity. The fanciful and wild speculations in which Manes indulged were as ill-founded in reason as in Scripture, and justly entitled their author to the appellation " fanatic." He incorporated sundry portions of Christianity into his incongruous system, and therefore the party has been ranked among the heretics, though, as we think, with little propriety. The heretics, as they are called, were Baptist History. 51 seceders from the established or Catholic Church. Manes originated an independent body, on entirely original prin- ciples, and ought to be placed in the same list as Mo- hammed and other founders of systems. It is said that he admitted baptism and the Lord's Supper among the ser- vices enjoined on his followers ; but the Supper was cele- brated with water instead of wine, and baptism was op- tional ; those only who wished it were baptized ; those who did not desire it were not debarred from membership on that account, and infants were excluded from participation in the rite. After these explanations it will not be deemed strange that we have refrained from classing the Mani- chasans with the revivers of primitive religion.* We are now entering on the period which we have denominated " obscure." It is so called because the infor- mation is generally scanty, and sometimes of very doubtful character. We may begin by remarking that the student of ecclesiastical history must beware lest he be led astray by the misrepresentations of bigoted historians. Mani- chaeism was soon looked on as a concentration of all that was outrageous and bad in religious opinion, and it became the fashion to call all heretics ** Manichzeans." Hence many excellent men have been so stigmatized, whose views and practices accorded with the Word of God. It is neces- sary to repair to the original sources of history, and even then to scan very closely the statements handed down to us, that they may be disentangled, as far as possible, from mistake or misrepresentation. Further : it is not safe or proper to report all opponents of infant baptism as Baptists, in our sense of the word. Throughout the middle ages there were many dissenters Manes was a Persian. He was put to death by order of Varanes I., King of Persia, in the year 278. See Beausobre's Histoire Critique de Manich6e ct du Manicheisme, and Mosheim's De Rebus Christianis, ^c, p. 728-903. E 2 52 Baptist History. 1 ' i: from the Catholic faith, as it was called, who rejected bap- tism altogether, holding sentiments respecting thai ordi- nance which much resemble those of the Quakers in these times. Possibly they were driven to those extreme views by contemplating the absurd ceremonies connected with baptism, and the superstitious notions entertained by the majority. It seemed to them better to have no baptism at all than to countenance such follies. Doubtless they were wrong, although much might be offered in excuse for them. But when these parties are adduced as witnesses for infant- baptism, an unfairness is sometimes committed. Thei: opposition was against all baptism, and not against infant- baptism only. We are not disposed to regard any persons, as Primitive Baptists unless they practised the baptism of believers ; their rejection of infant-baptism will not warrant the imposition of that worthy name on them. Mr. Or- chard's " History of Foreign Baptists," and other works of a similar kind, have now and then fallen into this error.* * It is not pleasant to be compelled to make any statements calculated to throw discredit on other writers ; but the interests of truth are para- mount to all other considerations, and Baptists ought to be especially careful in this matter. Gibbon writes thus : •* In the practice, or at least in the theory, of the sacraments, the Paulicians were inclined to abolish all visible objects of worship, and the words of the Gospel were, in their judgment, the baptism and communion of the faithful." — Decline and Fall, chap. liv. The Rev. W. Jones, referring to Gibbon as his authority, says : " The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper they held to be peculiar to * the communion of the faithful,' that is, ought to be restricted to believers." — Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, ii. i8i. It will be observed that this is not by any means a correct representation of Gibbon. It is quoted by Orchard as an independent testimony. Mr. Orchard (History of the Baptists, p. 130) gives the following as a quotation from Mosheim : *' It is evident they [the Paulicians] rejected the baptism of infants. They were not charged with any error concern- ing baptism." We are sorry to say that the first part of this alleged quotation is not to be found in Mosheim. The second part is a mutila- tion. The words of the historian, which occur in a note, are here Baptist History. 53 At the same time it must be confessed that there is often the utmost difficulty in forming a satisfactory judgment in regard to the opinions held by the reformers of the Middle copied : " The Greeks do not charge the Paulicians with any error in respect to the doctrine of Baptism, Yet there is no doubt that they construed into allegory what the New Testament states concerning this ordinance. And Photius {Contra Munich, lib. i. p. 29) expressly says, that they held only to a fictitious baptism, and understood by baptism, i.e., by the water of baptism — the Gospel" — Eccle'AasticaL History, cent, ix. part 2. chap. v. sect. 6. Mr. Orchard gives also the following, as a quotation from Dr. Allix : " They, with the Manichaeans, were Anabaptists, and were consequently often reproached with that term." We have looked in vain for this quotation. Dr. Allix, speaking of the Manichees, says : " In those barbarous and cruel ages, a small conformity of opinion with the Manichees was a sufficient ground to accuse them of Manicheism who opposed any uoctrines received by the Church of Rome. Thus would they have taken the Anabaptists for downright Manichees, because they condemned the baptism of infants," — Remarks upon the Ancient Church of Piedmont, chap. xv. Mr. Orchard says (p. 300), Ecbertus Schonaugiensis, who wrote against this people, declares, " They say that baptism does no good to infants ; therefore, such as come over to their sect they baptize in a private way, that is, without the pomp and public parade of the Catholics." — Wall's History, part 2, p. 228. This seems to be clear and explicit testimony. According to the statement, as here presented, the Cathari not only rejected infant- baptism, but also baptized adults, " in a private way." The reader will be astonished to learn that the very opposite was the fact. These people, according to Eckbert, as very fairly quoted by Wall, rejected baptism altogether. Here is the entire passage, copied from Wall. He is speaking of Eckbert, or, as he calls him, Ecbertus Schonaugiensis : — He says, Sermon I. "They are also divided among themselves; for several things that are maintained by some of them, are denied by others." And of baptism particularly, he says, " Of baptism they speak variously ; that baptism does no good to infants, because they cannot of themselves desire it, and because they cannot profess any faith. But there is another thing which they more generally hold concerning that point, though more secretly, viz., that no water baptism at all does any good for salvation. And therefore such as come over to their sect, they re-baptize by a private way, which they call baptism with the Holy I ti- ' i III 54 Baptist History. Ages. We know nothing of them but by the reports of their adversaries, who were predisposed against them, and who, for want of rehgious sympathy, were unable to appre- ciate or even to understand their pecuhar views. The same words were sometimes used by opposing parties in different senses, and truths were seen in different aspects. Hence the confusion and contradictoriness which are too often apparent. These observations apply to the case of the Paulicians. They first appeared about the middle of the seventh cen- tury, in Armenia, and soon spread wonderfully, till they were numbered by hundreds of thousands. Their enemies . accused them of Manicheeism, which accusation they in- dignantly repelled. The only ancient authorities whence we can derive a knowledge of their sentiments are Photius and Petrus Siculus, who wrote against them v/ith great bitterness, and on that account can scarcely be considered as worthy of entire credence. Photius was Archbishop of Constantinople, and died a. d. 890 ; Petrus Siculus, a learned nobleman, died a few years later. He was sent by the Emperor Basil to Tibrica, a Paulician town, in the year 870, to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. He remained there seven months, and availed himself of the opportunity of learning the opinions and practices of the Paulicians, both Tjy disputing with them and by instituting inquiries among the Catholics in the neighbourhood. It is unfor- tunate that there is no better authority to consult, for Petrus Siculus was so bitterly prejudiced against the people that his statements cannot be received without doubt and distrust. The only safe course is to endeavour to disen- Spirit and with fire." This was the " consolamentum." It is described in the next chapter. Mr. Benedict copies Orchard, and thus unwittingly propagates the mistake. — History of the Baptists, p. 67, edit. 1848. The original pas- sage, translated by Wall, is in Biblioth. Maxim. Lvgdun. xxiii. 601. Baptist History, 55 tangle facts from opinions, insinuations, and invectives, and thus to ascertain the truth. Yet even then it is im- possible to furnish a complete picture. Petrus Siculus deals chiefly in negatives. He tells us what the Paulicians denied, and rails at them for presuming to differ from the Catholic party, but he leaves us to guess what they really believed, in many important particulars. We mention these things that the reader may perceive the difficulty which lies in the way of an impartial narrator. "About the year 653, during the reign of the Emperor Constans II., a young man named Constantine, resident at Mananalis, in Armenia, rendered hospitable attentions to a stranger whom misfortune had brought under his roof. The stranger proved to be a deacon of a Christian Church, and he had in his possession a precious treasure, which he gave to Constantine on his departure, in return for the kindness shown him. It was a copy of the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul. Constantine read, believed, and obeyed. Mani- chasism, by which he had been deluded, was immediately renounced. His Manichaean books were thrown aside, and the sacred writings were exclusively studied. Shortly after- wards he removed to Cibossa, where he lived and laboured for twenty-seven years. He was a diligent and successful preacher. Great numbers received the truth. In what manner he proceeded to form them into societies or churches, and how they were governed, we have not the means of knowing. We may conjecture and infer, but inference is not history. If the report of Petrus Siculus be correct, they lay under considerable disadvantage in not having the Book of the Acts in their hands, from which they would have gathered the practices of the Apostolic churches, and perhaps this circumstance exerted an un- favourable influence on their arrangements. But we must not affirm positively on this subject. Constantine died the death of a martyr. The Emperor t >i m' fe£' J 'lis *= ' ^ -r 56 Baptist History. Constantine Pogonatu^ sent Simeon, one of his officers, to Cibossa, with a military detachment. He apprehended Constantine, compelled the congregation to present them- selves before him, and ordered them to stone their minister. Tney stood in silence for a while, no one lifting up his hand in obedience to so cruel a command. At length a man named Justus steppea forward, and the murderous deed was done. Simeon then undertook the work of con- version. He disputed with the followers of Constantine, and laboured hard to' estore them to the Catholic Church. But he laboured in vain. Not only so, the arguments used on the other side were too powerful for him. He yielded to the force of truth, and returned to Constantinople a Paulician in heart. At first he did not avow the change BAZAAR IN MODERN CONSTANTINOPLE. that had taken place, but at length he found it impossible to conceal it, and consequently he left the Imperial service, retired to Cibossa, joined the persecuted sect, and became the successor of the very man whom he had murdered by the hand of Justus. After several years of usefulness, Justus, 'who had professed repentance and had been re- stored to the Church, quarrelled with him and betrayed him to a neighbouring bishop, by whose means all the members Baptist History. 57 3ssible irvice, 2came •ed by Iness, n re- 1 him [ibers of the Church then resident in Cibovssa were seized and burned alive in one vast pile. Paulus only escaped. He fled to Episparis. His two sons, Genesius and Theodotus, became Par'.cian ministers. Genesius was on one occasion apprehended as a heretic and taken to Constantinople, where he underwent an examination before the Patriarch. It is thus reported by Petrus Siculus : — Patriarch, — " Why hast thou derided the orthodox faith?" Genesius. — " Anathema to him who denies the orthodox faith " (meaning thereby his own heresy, which he boasted of as the true " orthodox faith "). Patriarch. — -'Wherefore dost thou not believe in and adore the venerable cross ? " Genesius. — "Anathema to him who does not adore and worship the venerable and life-giving cross " (meaning Christ Himself, whose outstretched arms present the figure of the cross). Patriarch. — ' Why dost thou not worship and adore the holy mother of God ? " Genesiits. — '* Anathema to him who does not adore the most holy mother of God, the common mother of us all, into whom our Lord Jesus Christ entered " (meaning the heavenly Jerusalem, into which Christ has entered, as our Forerunner). Patriarch. — <' Why dost thou not partake of the immacu- late body and precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but dost rather despise the same ? " Genesius. — " Anathema to him who despises the body and blood of Jesus Christ " (meaning thereby the words " body and blood," and nothing more). " In like manner," says Petrus Siculus, *' he spake of baptism, saying that Jesus Christ Himself is baptism, and that there is no other, because He said, ' I am the living water.' And thus, perverting everything by his I il 58 Baptist History, own false interpretations, he was acquitted and honourably dismissed." After this, Mananalis was again the head-quarters of the Paulicians. Genesius lived there thirty years, and died in peace. Various troubles and disasters followed. Joseph, who seems to have succeeded Genesius, withdrew to Epis- paris, and '"♦er .ds to Antioch, in Pisidia, where he laboured th uy Vv'^s. He was succeeded by Bahanes. But there mubi ;: . - je^jn many more engaged in the work besides these, for the iiupTfect notices that are left indicate an extensive series of operations, embracing a large number of churches, and a powerful body of adherents. About the year 810 the Paulicians were joined by Sergius, who became one of the most eminent men of their com- munity. The account of his conversion is exceedingly interesting. He was an intelligent, well-educated young man, and much esteemed for his many excellent qualities ; but he was profoundly ignorant of religion. One day a Christian woman (evidently a Paulician) met with him and entered into conversation. " Why," said she, " do you not read the Holy Gospels ? " " Because," he replied, ** it is not lawful for us laymen, but only for the priests." " You are altogether mistaken," she rejoined, " for there is no respect of persons with God ; He will have all men to be saved." She then proceeded to expose the priestly tyranny of the age, and the gross superstitions by which the people were deluded, urging the young man to examine the matter for himself. He did so. He read, and thought, and prayed, and became a Christian *' in deed and in truth." The genuineness of his conversion was proved by his eminently holy life and incessant zeal. He traversed a large part of Western Asia, preaching everywhere, and calling on the people to abandon the follies of a corrupted Christianity, and *' worship God in the spirit." Thirty-four years were thus spent, and marvellous results accompanied his efforts. Baptist History. 59 nourably rs of the i died in Joseph, to Epis- 'here he Bahanes. the work indicate : number Sergius, eir com- eedingly d young ualities ; e day a him and you not , " it is *' You le is no n to be [tyranny people matter [prayed, The inently part of Ion the ;ianity, Is were ifforts. Multitudes were converted. So general was the defection from the established Church, that the Greek emperor was greatly alarmed, and adopted the severest measures for the suppression of the Reformation. The Paulicians had endured persecution from the beginning, and had ♦' in- creased and multiplied " under it. But the storm raged with such terrific fierceness during the first half of the ninth century, that utter extermination seemed inevitable. It is affirmed that under the auspices of the Empres ' Theodora, who held the regency during the minority vt t son Michael, from a.d. 832 to a.d. 846, no fewer *';:^n ^ . i hun- dred thousand Paulicians were put to death. ' '^y 'he sword, the gibbet, or the flames," Sergius was one of le victims. He and his brethren went to join those ot hen it is said that they constantly cry, " How long, O A^Oid, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth ? " (Rev. vi. 10.) •' Oppression maketh a wise man mad." There is a point at which resistance becomes venial, if not obligatory. Imperial cruelty provoked retaliation and re- venge. The Paulicians took up arms in defence of their families and their homes. The transition from self-defence to active rebellion is easy, and the provinces of the East were convulsed with civil war, for all the miseries of which the persecutors were responsible. It continued many years. The cooperation of the Saracens was sought, and many provinces of the Empire were desolated. But we will not pursue the history further. It is difficult to trace the progress of religion when ■ carnal weapons have been taken up. We will only observe that the Paulician revival had early extended to Thrace, now the Turkish pro- vince of Roumelia ; that in the tenth century a large num- ber of Paulicians were removed to Philippoplis in that country, and also to Bulgaria, the adjoining province ; and 6o Baptist History. 'M I ^ i*' that in the following age they began to migrate into Italy, France, and other parts of Europe.* Wher. Petrus Siculus sat down to write his history, he was predetermined to blacken the Paulicians to the utmost. Consequently, he maintained that they were Manichaeans, notwithstanding the disclaimer of Constantine, their founder ; and having taken that position, he was resolved to hold it. We shall not think it worth while to discuss the question. There may have been some amon^' them who Rtill retained a regard to the philosophic speculations with which they were familiar before conversion, and which had for many ages proved very injurious to spiritual Christianity ; and that unworthy persons sometimes crept in among them may be readily admitted. That is the fate of all parties. But here was their distinction ; — they with- <'rew from the Greek Church because that Church had abandoned the high ground of Gospel truth and spiritual worship. They asserted the right and duty of searching the Scriptures, and would admit no other rule. They ab- horred saint-worship. They would not adore the cross, nor bow down before images. They abjured the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In a word, they appear to have been Pro- testants before the Reformation, and even before those who have been commonly reckoned as its precursors. The meagre accounts of them which remain, tinged as they are with obstinate prejudice, fail to give us satisfaction. Had we the letters of Sergius, which Petrus Siculus tells us his followers valued highly, we should be able to obtain full and accurate information. This, however, is certain, that a religious movement, springing from God's word, and so firmly maintained against opposition, that two hundred years after its rise the astonishing number of one hundred * The " Historia " of Petrus Siculus is printed in the sixteenth volume of the Biblioth. Maxim. Lugdimens. Gieseler has given an abstract of the statements of Photius in his Ecclesiastical History, ii. 209—212. Baptist History. 6i nto Italy, story, he ; utmost, ichaeans, le, their resolved ) discuSvS n<^ them :ulations id which spiritual es crept the fate ey with- ch had spiritual [arching ley ab- oss, nor astical Pro- se who The ley are Had us his full that nd so ndred ndred olume ract of 2. in thousand of its adherents were cut off without destroying the body, must have possessed a mighty influence. We agree with Joseph Milner, the ecclesiastical historian, who observes that in this case we have "one of those extraor- dinary eff"usions of the Divine Spirit by which the know- ledge of Christ and the practice of godliness is kept alive in the world."* But we cannot agree with that writer in the statement, that the Paulicians "were simply scriptural in the use of the Sacraments." Neander says, more truly, that " they combated the inclination to rely on the magica! effects of external forms, particularly the Sacraments : in- deed, they went so far on this side as wholly to reject the outward celebration of the Sacraments. "f On the question of baptism, Photius writes to this effect : that though the Paulicians despise " saving baptism," they pretend that they have received it, inasmuch as: they re- ceived the Gospel, wherein Christ declares that He is the *' living water ;"t and he adds, that they are willing that the priests should baptize their children, notwithstanding their disbelief in any saving benefit accompanying the rite. Ad- mitting the correctness of this account, the Paulicians rejected water-baptism, teaching that the knowledge of Christ, which is spiritual baptism, is sufficient. If they allowed the priests to baptize their children, as Photius states, it was probably to save themselves from annoyance, perhaps from persecution; and as, in their opinion, the baptism did the children neither good nor harm, it was looked on as a matter of indifference. We do not justify or commend them. Whatever their views were, the priests judged that they had saved the children by baptizing them, and there should not have been any opportunity given for cherishing that anti-Christian notion. Still it is to be remembered that we are by no means certain of the truth * History of the CLurch, cent. ix. chap. ii. ^ f History of the Chur/th- iii. 263. { Ibid, i. g. "W 62 Baptist History, of the statement, as the writer was a virulent opposer of the Paulicians, and aimed to excite hatred against them. The same remark will apply to Petriis Siculus, who, as Gibbon very properly says, wrote "with much prejudice and passion." Some maintain that the Paulicians did not reject either baptism or the Lord's Supper (which also they are said to have held in a spiritual sent,e only), but the unauthorised additions that had been made to the ordinances, and the current opinions respecting their design and efficacy. In other words, they rejected baptismal regeneration, and transubstantiation. The progress of perversion, it is truly affirmed, had brought men to this point, that baptism was no longer regarded as a profession of Christ, nor the Lord's Supper as a memorial of His love ; the former was held to be the instrument of regeneration, and in the latter there was said to be an actual reception of the Saviour's body and blood. Whoever refused to acquiesce in these repre- sentations was reproached as a denier of the ordinances, whereas his opposition was confined to corruptions and abuses. This is not an improbable supposition, but we have not the means of verifying it, for want of historic materials. It is, however, to be considered, that the Paulicians were not altogether agreed among themselves. There were divi- sions and parties. It may possibly be that Photius and Petrus Siculus designedly referred to those of them whose opinions were, in their judgment, the farthest removed from Catholic verity, and that while some wandered into errors and excesses, the remainder pursued a scriptural course. Photius himself states that some of them observed the Lord's Supper, though, as he affects to believe, they did it " to deceive the simple." This indicates the existence of two parties. Those who observed one ordinance were not likely to neglect the other. We are therefore not indisposed to Baptist History, 63 believe that there were among the Paulicians many who preserved the truths and worship of Christianity, as derived from the New Testament. were e divi- and whose from errors urse. d the did it f two llikely led to Section II. Religious Reform in Europe— The \. nons of Orleans— Arrai—Berensarius— Miscellaneous Anecdotes. ALTHOUGH certain scattered notices in historical writings render it probable that during the "Obscure Period " religious reformers were silently working their way in different parts of Europe, the expressions used are so general and vague that we cannot fully gather from them the opinions supposed to have been held by the said re- formers. Whatever their various sentiments were, we find them indiscriminately libelled as " Manichaeans," which was as much as to say that they were children of the devil, and should be left to their fate. It is a curious fact that Italy was the fountain-head of these heresies. Power- ful and cunning as the Popes were, they could not preserve their own territories from the spiritual infection. Now and then the hidden seed sprouted up and showed itself above ground. An instance occurred at Orleans, in France, in 1022. Ten canons of the Church were discovered to be imbu-'d with heretical notions, which they were said to have received from Italy, by means of a lady of that land. The discoveries excited great horror. Forthwith the king and queen, attended by a large retinue ri prelates, hastened to the spot to make inquisition. One Arefastus, who had pretended to be an inquirer into the new opinions, and by that means had won the confidence of the leaders, became a witness against them. They were charged, among other things, with holding that there is no it'll ill I, it- ;i i i I ii i 11 64 Baptist History. washing away of sins in baptism, that in the Lord's Supper the bread and wine are not changed into the body and blood of the Saviour, and that it is unlawful to pray to the saints. These were unpardonable sins. The accused were men of learning and piety, whose unimpeachable characters VIEW IN AKRAS, FLANDERS. and holy lives were well known, and by whose benevolence many poor were daily relieved ; but they did not believe in baptismal regeneration, transubstantiation, and saint-wor- ship, and therefore they must be burned alive — and burned they were, on the very day of their trial. First, however, Baptist History, 65 's Supper body and •ay to the ised were haracters jvolence ilieve in Hnt-wor- burned lowever, they were solemnly degraded from the priestly office, the queen standing guard at the church door while the cere- mony of degradation was being performed, lest the populace should push in and anticipate the execution by murdering them. Her majesty gave a striking manifestation of her zeal for orthodoxy, immediately afterwards, by knocking out the eye of one of the sufferers, who had been her own confessor, and against whom, therefore, she was especially enraged. They were then taken outside the city walls and committed to the flames. One author states that three or four other persons, who had embraced the same opinions, and who were of very respectable standing in society, suffered with them.* Three years afterwards, another band of heretics made their appearance at Arras, in Flanders. They were appre- hended and brought before a council convened on the occasion, when they gave this account of themselves : — " Our law and discipline," said they, " which we have received from the Master, will not appear to be contrary to Gospel decrees and Apostolic sanctions, if any one will diligently consider the same. For it is this — to relinquish the world, to restrain the flesh from concupiscence, to pro- vide for our support by the labour of our own hands, to seek the hurt of none, to show charity to all. This righteousness being preserved, there is no need of bap- tism ; if this be turned from, baptism cannot save. This is the sum of our justification, to which the use of baptism can add nothing, for it comprises the entire purpose of all Apostolic and evangelical instruction. But if any say that some sacrament lies hid in baptism, the force of that is taken away by these three considerations : First, the reprobate life of the ministers can afford no saving remedy to the persons to be baptized ; secondly, whatever sins are renounced at the font are afterwards taken up again in * Labbe and Cossart, ix. 836 — 842. F 66 Baptist History. m I' I' '^1 I' I • i I'. i! -f. : li )J ! life and practice ; thirdly, another's will, another's faith, and another's confession, do not seem to belong to, or to be of any advantage to, a little child, who neither wills nor runs, who knows nothing of faith, and is altogether ignorant of his own good and salvation, and from whom no confes- sion of faith can be expected."* These men, up to a certain point, were scripturally orthodox. They saw clearly that religious service must be a personal, voluntary act, flowing from faith, and that therefore infant-baptism could have no foundation in the Word of God, since infants were unable to believe. They rejected it, and in doing so they rejected baptism alto- gether, for at that time infant-baptism was the baptism of the Catholic Church. See here an illustration of our Lord's statement to the Jews, *' Ye have made the Word of God of none effect by your traditions." According to the tradition, regeneration and grace were bestowed in infant-baptism, and hence that ceremony, being generally adopted, superseded the baptism of believers. Hence, too, the effect produced on inquiring minds. " This baptism," said they — and they argued conclusively from the premises, — " is manifestly a vain and useless thing. It cannot accomplish the promised results. It never did. If we are already pious, baptism is needless ; if we are not, baptism cannot make us so." Thus a Christian ordinance was suppressed. The men of Arras were " not far from the kingdom of God ;" but it is evident that they were imperfect Christians. They discerned error, but they did not perceive the whole truth, for the error eclipsed it. This was the position of a large number of the reformers of the Middle Ages. They held Baptist principles as we now hold them, so far as regarded the rejection of infant- baptism. Whether they practised the baptism of believers, ihistorians do not say, though we would not build an argu- * Act. Syvod. Attrebalensls, Gieseler, ii.^gG. Baptist History, 67 \ faith, ), or to ills nor jnorant confes- )turally J must nd that in the They n alto- )aptism of our 2 Word ding to wed in merally ce, too, tism," mises, cannot If we e not, inance r from were |ey did ed it. rmers as we nfant- evers, argu- ment on that silence. Those of them who were priests of the Catholic Church, as the canons of Orleans, must have been accustomed to administer infant-baptism. How they reconciled that practice with their convictions, we know not. It is a remarkable fact that the decrees of councils con- tain no references whatever to heretics for several centuries previous to the eleventh. There are enactments in abun- dance touching the honours and privileges of the clergy, anathemas in rich profusion against breaches of ecclesi- astical law, and threatenings of punishment for gross and unnameable violations of chastity. But heresy is not men- tioned, except in two or three individual cases. It is clear that there was no disturbing movement. The operations of the Paulicians were confined to the East till nearly the close of the " Obscure Period," when they entered Europe. There were men in the West who *' sighed and cried for all the abominations that were done," but they mourned in secret, and they were not numerous enough to attract attention or to excite opposition. Certain miscellaneous matters will be now adverted to in conclusion. A.D. 692. Ina, King of the Wesi Saxons, enacted a law by which it was enjoined that all infants should be baptized within thirty days after birth, under a penalty of thirty shillings. If the child died without baptism, the father's entire estate was to be confiscated.* A.D. 741. Pope Zachary, writing to Boniface, a German bishop, affirmed that immersion in the name of the Trinit}*- was essential to baptism, but that the moral character of the administrator was not essential. The Pope's meaning was, that a bad man might be a good priest. Certainly the Pope was a poor theologian. The same pope, writing to the same bishop, referred to ♦ Labbe and Cossart, vi. 1325. F 2 I li i '! I •!: 68 Baptist History, a priest, who, being ignorant of Latin, the only language then used in Church services, in trying to repeat the form, said, ** Baptizo te in nomine Patria, et Filia, et SpiriUt. Sancta. The reader will see what nonsense he made of it ! Nevertheless, said the Pope, as the priest v/as not heretical, but only ignorant, and as he intended to baptize in the name of the Trinity, though he blundered over it, there was no need to re-baptize the child. It must be con- sidered all right.* In another letter the same Pope mentioned one Samson^ a Scotch priest, who held that a person might be made " a Catholic Christian," by the imposition of the bishop's hands, without baptism, and, as far as appears, without repentance or faith. f Verily, there were singular peopl.', in those days. A.D. 754. Pope Stephen II. declared that if an infant was baptized in wine, there being no water to be hadj the baptism was valid. And if, the infant being very sick., t\v^ baptism was performed with water, not in it, t'le wafer being poured from a shelf, or ^y the hand, and the proper words used, that baptism was vaiid. '"^he Pope might have spared himself the trouble of giving there decisions. There was no validity in either case.;}: Immersion was the ordinary mode of administering baptism during all this period. The case mentioned above was one of the exceptions that were sometimes allowed, when children were supposed to be in danger of death. Yet even in such circumstances the Anglo-Saxon priests were warned to abide 1 y the ritual. At a Synod held at Calcuith, in 816, it was, ordained that the priests should not pour water on the heads of the infants, but should immerse the.rn, according to the example of the Son of God, who »V9« thrice immersed (so the Synod declared) in the water * Labk: s'.nd Cossart, 1505. \roid. p. 1520. ; Hid, p. 1652. Baptist History. 69 above [owed^ leath. )riests ;ld at Id not of Jordan.* With this agrees Dr. Lingard's account. He states that " the regular way of administering baptism was by immersion." In the case of an adult, he *' descends into the font, the priest depressed his head three times below the surface, saying, * I baptize thee,' &c." In the case of an infant, " the priest himself descends into the water, which reached to his knees. Each child was suc- cessively delivered undressed into his hands, and he plunged it thrice into the water."-)- A.D. 787. By a canon of the Second Council of Nice, all persons were forbidden to conceal heretical bouks. Bishops, priests, or deacons, disobeying the canon, were to be de- posed ; monks or laymen, excommunicated.^ No wonder we are often so much at a loss respecting the opinions held by those who were called heretics, many of whom were not properly heretics, but genuine religious reformers. Their books were carefully gathered and burned, and it was made a crime to conceal them. You may write it thus : — ^^ Infallible recipe for the suppression of heresy. " If it is propagated by preaching, silence the preacher : if he will preach, put him out of the way. If it is pro- pagated by writing, burn the books ; should the P'thor still persist, burn him too. Prohatiim est.'' -iitains the their birth. ; a gentle- These were A.D. 797. A Capitulary of Charlemagne following enactments : — Ail infants must be baptized within a year < Penalties for neglect, — a nobleman 120 shilli man 60 shillings; other persons 30 shillings. § heavy fines, for at that time the price of a good sheep was a shilling. A fine of one hundred and twenty sheep for neglecting the baptism of a child ! Is it not monstrous ? * Labbe and Cossart, vii. 1489. f History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Chunk, i. 317 — 320. X Labbe and Cossart, vii. 603. § Ibid. 1152. I I ^ m i^ :• '!' I ^ ■ ■ ! i 1 CHAPTER IV. THE REVIVAL PERIOD- FROM A.D. 1073 TO A.D. 1517. Sectiojm I. State of Affairs in Europe during this Period— The Crusades— Other Impor- tant Events — The Scholastic Divines and Philosophers — Universities— Printin