THE 
 
 PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN: 
 
 OR, 
 
 REASONS 
 
 WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 
 
 •: Hfcstica. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 118 ARCH STREET. 
 1851. 
 
" The right disposition of mincl is, that which desires 
 earnestly "The Truth !" " The Truth !" in whatever man- 
 ner it may come to us. Not that the manner of its being 
 conveyed is quite indifferent; far from it; but "The 
 Truth," howsoever it come, has its own intrinsic — eternal 
 value. And what a fool I am, if I will not take it, and 
 apply it to its use, just because the manner of its coming 
 to me has not pleased me !" Foster. 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by the 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in 
 and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
 
 STEREOTYPED BY GEORGE CHARLES. 
 PRINTED BY KING 4: BAIRD. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 REASON I. 
 The Episcopal Church retains some of the vital 
 Roots of Romanism 6 
 
 REASON II. 
 The Episcopal Church has abolished the Primi- 
 tive Popular Government 12 
 
 REASON III. 
 The Episcopal Church has changed the Primi- 
 tive Church Officers '. 16 
 
 REASON IV. 
 The Episcopal Church unduly exalts the Au- 
 thority of the Fathers 28 
 
 REASON V. 
 The Episcopal Church makes Unscriptural Pre- 
 tensions 40 
 
 REASON VI. 
 The Primitive Church is now in existence with 
 Legitimate Claims 44 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 To all who do not love "a Church" better 
 than they love Christ — and are willing to 
 receive the truth in the love of it — this Tract 
 is inscribed. As an apology for writing it 
 (a work but little congenial to his feelings,) 
 the author would state that, besides the secta- 
 rian book styled " A Walk about Zion," a 
 pamphlet designed not to make people Chris- 
 tians but " Episcopalians," has been circulated 
 most industriously among his parishioners. 
 
 Without saying any thing of the unkindness 
 with which these productions assail all other de- 
 nominations, and the arrogance which puts forth 
 claims that are a speculation on the ignorance 
 of readers, I shall in a few words give the rea- 
 sons why I am not, and cannot be an Episco- 
 palian ; much as I love and revere many who 
 belong to that sect, which rather invidiously 
 seeks to monopolize the word " Church." 
 
THE 
 
 PRIMITIVE churchman: 
 
 OR, 
 
 REASONS WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN 
 
 It is of most solemn importance to every 
 man what Church he joins, since by that act he 
 throws all his influence in favor of her doctrines 
 and practices, and against those Churches which 
 differ from her. For this step, therefore, we 
 must give account to God. And, while I yield 
 to none in esteem for many in the Episcopal 
 Church, and although I admire the beauty of 
 her liturgies as I do of other fine compositions, 
 I dare not unite myself with that Church, and 
 for several reasons : — 
 
 5 1* 
 
THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON I. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH RETAINS SOME OF THE 
 VITAL ROOTS OF ROMANISM. 
 
 I cannot be an Episcopalian, (and if there 
 were no other reasons this would be enough,) 
 because the Episcopal Church has brought out 
 with her from the Homan, and perpetuates 
 practices and doctrines repugnant to Scripture 
 and to common sense. And, in proof of this, I 
 ask the reader only to take the book of Com- 
 mon Prayer, and turn to the chapter on the 
 Baptism of Infants, and decide for himself. 
 
 1. First, see this — " There shall be for every 
 male child to be baptized, when they can be had, 
 two God-fathers and one God-mother ; and for 
 every female, one God-father and two God- 
 mothers." Now, is there a pretence of reason 
 or Scripture for such a practice ? Is it not an 
 invention of man ? 
 
 2. These sponsors are often unconverted and 
 wicked people ; but I do not dwell on this, be- 
 cause the almost incredible part of the whole 
 
WHY I AM NOT AX EPISCOPALIAN. 7 
 
 affair is, that the Rubric considers the questions 
 as actually put to the child, and answered by 
 the child! The Minister says to the sponsor, 
 "Wilt thou be baptized in this faith?" The 
 sponsor replies, "That is my desire" Hear- 
 ing this, you conclude, of course, that he is the 
 candidate, and " desires," and is about to re- 
 ceive, baptism. In this, however, you only 
 betray your simplicity. The man who says 
 "that is my desire," has no such desire at all. 
 It was the infant who spoke, and the Minister 
 accordingly pours water, not on the sponsor, 
 but the child ! In the Church of Rome, Au- 
 gustine gives us the form invented, and which, 
 like the form before us, was a pious artifice to 
 meet the plain requirement of the Bible, that 
 repentance and faith must precede baptism. 
 The Roman formulary was thus : — " Doth this 
 child believe in God ? Doth he turn to God ?" 
 The framers of the Prayer Book seem to have 
 felt that this was too glaring. They have 
 therefore introduced a strange medley ; at first 
 making the sponsor renounce for the child ; 
 and then getting back into the Romish fiction 
 that it is the child itself that answers. I quote 
 the whole. 
 
8 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 "Minister. Dost thou, in the name of this 
 child, renounce the devil and all his works, the 
 vain pomp and glory of the world, with all 
 covetous desires of the same, and the sinful 
 desires of the flesh ; so that thou wilt not fol- 
 low, nor be led by them ? 
 
 Answer. I renounce them all ; and by 
 God's help, will endeavor not to follow, nor be 
 led by them. (This is " in the name of the 
 
 CHILD.") 
 
 Minister. Dost thou believe all the articles 
 of the Christian Faith, as contained in the 
 Apostles' Creed? 
 
 Answer. I do. (Is this u in the name of 
 the child" too? — i. e. "in the name of this 
 child, I do believe P") 
 
 Minister. Wilt thou be baptized in this 
 Faith ? 
 
 Answer. That is my desire. (Here ive have 
 the child !) 
 
 Minister. Wilt thou then obediently keep 
 God's holy will and commandments, and walk 
 in the same all the days of thy life ? 
 
 Answer. I will, by God's help." ( Who will?) 
 
 3. The Episcopal Church does teach the 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 9 
 
 dangerous heresy of Baptismal Regeneration. I 
 cheerfully admit, that her evangelical Ministers 
 reject this doctrine, for when these very chil- 
 dren, who have been pronounced "regenerated," 
 grow to years of discretion, they are e ihorted 
 as to the necessity of regeneration ; and, in- 
 deed, we hear them spoken of as being then 
 regenerated, and joining the Church. But this 
 only proves that such Ministers should leave 
 that Church. For what contradiction ! A. B., 
 when six months old, is pronounced " regene- 
 rated by the Holy Spirit, made God's oivn child 
 by adoption, and incorporated into God's Holy 
 Church ;" and yet, some years afterwards, this 
 very child is told he must be regenerated ! And 
 the Minister very gravely tells you, when A. B. 
 is thirty years old, that he is regenerated and 
 has joined the Church. What ! regenerated 
 twice ? And what Church has he joined — for he 
 has been for thirty years " incorporated into 
 God's Holy Church?" That my readers may 
 see that this is the doctrine of the Episcopal 
 Church, although many who are allured there 
 know it not and deny it, I here quote her own 
 language, which, of course, all her members 
 declare to be their creed : — 
 
10 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 " Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that 
 this child is regenerate, and grafted into the 
 body of Christ's Church, let us give .thanks 
 unto Almighty God for these benefits, and with 
 one accord make our prayers unto him, that 
 this child may lead the rest of his life accord- 
 ing to this beginning ! ! 
 
 " We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful 
 Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate 
 this infant with thy Holy Spirit, to receive him 
 for thine own child by adoption, and to incor- 
 porate him into thy Holy Church. And humbly 
 we beseech thee to grant, that he, being dead 
 unto sin and living unto righteousness, and be- 
 ing buried with Christ in his death, may cru- 
 cify the old man, and utterly abolish the whole 
 body of sin ; and that as he is made partaker of 
 the death of thy Son, he may also be partaker of 
 his resurrection ; so that finally, with the residue 
 of thy holy Church, he may be an inheritor of 
 thine everlasting kingdom, through Christ our 
 Lord. Amen." 
 
 And the child is afterwards confirmed in this 
 doctrine, and made (0 parents, will you thus 
 nourish in your offspring a fatal delusion ?) to 
 repeat it in the Catechism. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 11 
 
 " Question. What is your name ? 
 
 Answer. N. or M. 
 
 Question. Who gave you this name ? 
 
 Answer. My sponsors in baptism ; wherein 
 I was made a member of Christ, the child of 
 God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 Now reader, in a few days you and I will 
 stand at the bar of God — that God who says, 
 " If any man shall add unto these things, I 
 will add unto him the plagues that are writ- 
 ten in this book : And if any man shall take 
 away from the words of the book of this pro- 
 phecy, I will take away his part out of the 
 book of life ;" (a) — and I ask, will you, can you 
 lend all your authority to these doctrines and 
 practices, and against the Churches which are 
 struggling for the truths of the Gospel.* 
 
 (a) Rev. xxii: 18, 19. 
 * With what grace can EpiscomHfins say, that Baptists 
 make too much of Baptism ? ]fl Hfy Baptist hold doc- 
 trines like these ? Do they ncB(Kiuire a profession of 
 faith and repentance before Baptism ? And are they not 
 most strict in rejecting candidates who ascribe to water 
 any saving virtue ? 
 
12 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON II. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH HAS ABOLISHED THE 
 PRIMITIVE POPULAR GOVERNMENT. 
 
 I cannot be an Episcopalian, because the 
 Episcopal Church has entirely abolished the 
 popular form of government instituted by 
 Christ and his Apostles and introduced one 
 which is aristocratical. This subject has been 
 placed in such a light by Neander, and Cole- 
 man, and Barnes, in their late works, that if 
 a candid person will read those authors, he 
 must esteem this second reason quite as strong 
 as the first. To defend their Church organiza- 
 tion, Episcopal writers sometimes pretend that 
 the Church in England was founded in the time 
 of the Apostles, and even that Paul was the 
 founder ! To those acquainted with the Acts 
 of the Apostles, giving the history of Paul, 
 this last claim will serve as a sample of the 
 rest. Every body knows that the Church 
 of England commenced in the reign of King 
 Henry VIII, (A. D. 1533,) and owed its origin 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 13 
 
 to the worst passions of a Monarch who opposed 
 the Reformation, and wrote against it, and 
 only left the Church of Rome because the Pope 
 righteously refused him a divorce. Suppose, 
 however, the Apostles had planted Churches in 
 Great Britain, this would only put them on the 
 same footing with those at Rome and Corinth, 
 &c, and it is certain the Churches organized 
 at those places were not Episcopal ; they were 
 independent popular assemblies, vested with 
 rights which the Bishops and Clergy of the 
 Episcopal Church arrogate to themselves. 
 
 1. The Apostolic Churches exercised, them- 
 selves, the power of discipline — thus securing 
 to each member the right of trial by his peers ; 
 and even inspired Apostles did not venture to 
 trench upon this perogative. The language of 
 the Saviour is, " If thy brother shall trespass 
 against thee, go and tell him his fault between 
 thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou 
 hast gained thy brother. But if he will not 
 hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, 
 that in the mouth of two or three witnesses 
 every word may be established. And if he shall 
 neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church ; 
 but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him 
 
 2 
 
14 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 be unto thee as an heathen man and a publi- 
 can." [a) The language of the Holy Ghost to 
 the Churches, is, " If any man obey not our 
 word by this Epistle, note that man, and have 
 no company with him that he may be asham- 
 ed."^) "Donotye" (the Church,) "judge them 
 that are within ? (members of the Church,) there- 
 fore put away from among yourselves that wicked 
 person." (<?) " In the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my 
 spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 to deliver such an one unto Satan for the de- 
 struction of the flesh, that the spirit may be 
 saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. "(d) " Suffici- 
 ent to such a man is this punishment, which was 
 inflicted of many, (the majority,) so that contra- 
 riwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and com- 
 fort him, lest perhaps such an one should be 
 swallowed up with overmuch sorrow."(e) " It is 
 manifest," as Neander remarks, "that the rule 
 is here set forth, requiring the action of the 
 Church in all such concerns of general inter- 
 est." (/) But in the Episcopal Church the 
 
 (a) Matt, xviii. 15-17. (6) 2 Thess. iii. 14. (c) 1 Cor. v. 
 12, 13. (d) 1 Cor. v. 4, 5. (e) 2 Cor. ii. 6, 7. (/) Allgem. 
 Gesch., 1. p. 292. Comp. p. 350. Apost. Kirch., 1. pp. 
 319, 320. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 15 
 
 whole power over all the Churches in a Diocese, 
 is usurped by one man, who is called the Bishop, 
 and is sole arbiter, though often a stranger. 
 The course there is, " tell it to the Bishop /" 
 and he decides without regard to the Church. 
 
 2. The entire government of the Apostolic 
 Churches was popular. The members of each 
 Church enacted all their rules, and managed 
 all their affairs by suffrage. " With them re- 
 sided the power of enacting laws, as also of 
 adopting or rejecting whatever might be pro- 
 posed in the general assemblies, and of expell- 
 ing and again receiving into communion, any 
 depraved or unworthy members. In a word, 
 nothing whatever, of any moment, could be de- 
 termined on, or carried into effect, without their 
 knowledge and concurrence." (g) And this is 
 admitted by the most learned Episcopalians, as 
 Riddle, (h) Bingham, (i) Whatly, (j) and 
 others. I need not say that the members of 
 Episcopal Churches are entirely deprived of 
 this right by the priesthood. 
 
 (g) Mosheim, De Rebus Christ., Saec. 1, \ 45. (h) Chron. 
 2nd Cen. (i) B. 16. (;) Kingdom of Christ. 
 
16 THE PREMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON III. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH HAS CHANGED THE 
 PRIMITIVE CHURCH OFFICERS. 
 
 I am not an Episcopalian, because the Church, 
 as instituted by the authority of the Neiv Tes- 
 tament, had only two classes of officers, Pres- 
 byters, {viz: Elders,) and Deacons; and the 
 third class, styled in England Lord Bishops, 
 and in this country misnamed Bishops, is the 
 creation of spiritual ambition, and condemned 
 both by the spirit and letter of the Bible. 
 
 1. With reference to Presbyters (named 
 also according to the work to which they 
 devoted themselves, Pastors, or Teachers, or 
 Overseers) I will only call the reader's atten- 
 tion to the fact, admitted by Episcopalians, 
 that whenever the term Bishop occurs in the 
 New Testament, it describes the Presbyter, and 
 never, in one instance, has the meaning which 
 is now attached to it, viz : Prelate. Even Dr. 
 Onderdonk says, " that name (bishop) is there, 
 (i. e. in the New Testament,) given to the 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 17 
 
 middle order or Presbyters ; and all that we 
 read in the New Testament concerning 'Bishops' 
 (including of course the words 'overseers,' and 
 oversight,' which have the same derivation;) is 
 to be regarded as pertaining to that middle 
 grade. It was after the Apostolic age, that the 
 name ' Bishop ' was taken from the second 
 order, and appropriated to the first." (k) 
 
 2. As to Deacons, I refer the reader to Acts 
 vi., when they were first chosen, their election 
 being by "the multitude of disciples," and 
 their office the supervision of the temporal af- 
 fairs of the Church. In 1 Tim. iii., the Holy 
 Ghost gives the qualifications necessary for the 
 officers of the Christian Church, viz : of Bishops, 
 (i. e. pastors,) and Deacons, and while the 
 former are required to be "apt to teach," no 
 such talent is demanded of the latter. We 
 find, too, in Rom. xvi. 1, that women (who are 
 forbidden to teach, 1 Tim. ii. 12) were Dea- 
 cons ; the word " servant of the Church" be- 
 ing "Diakonos," "Deacon." All this is vio- 
 lated in the Episcopal Church ; the Deacons 
 are not chosen by the disciples, and as the 
 Presbyters in their ambition became Prelates, 
 (*) Ond. Epis., p. 12. 
 
18 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 the Deacons moved up too, and became an in- 
 ferior order of Presbyters. 
 
 3. The great assumption of Episcopacy, how- 
 ever, rests on the order of Prelates ; and here 
 I will repeat what Episcopal Churchmen are 
 compelled to admit, and what Bishop Onder- 
 donk, the great champion of his order, confes- 
 ses, " that it was after the Apostolic age that 
 the name 6 Bishop* was taken from the second 
 order, and appropriated to the first." (I) My 
 reader will not expect me to do more than in- 
 dicate one or two of the arguments by which 
 this innovation of Romanism, still persisted in 
 by the Episcopal Church, has again and again 
 been overthrown. 
 
 (1.) In the first place, then, we see Episco- 
 palians confessing that they have perverted the 
 use of the term "Bishop!" Now why this? 
 Plainly, because the Prelatical office has no ex- 
 istence in the Bible, or else it would have had 
 a name. We are sometimes gravely told that 
 Bishops are successors of the Apostles. Well 
 why not, then, call them Apostles ? Who but 
 perceives that such a title would at once have 
 exposed the arrogance of the thing, and that 
 (l) Ond. Epis. p. 12. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 19 
 
 the word Bishop has been purloined only for a 
 disguise, in which spiritual usurpation may 
 masquerade and elude detection ? 
 
 (2.) In 1 Tim. iii., God gives the perfect 
 canon of Scripture, as to the qualification of 
 permanent officers for the Church, and there 
 are only two, viz : Bishops (i. e. Pastors,) and 
 Deacons. There is not an intimation of this 
 third and lordly order. It is, therefore, not 
 only without an appellation in the Bible, but 
 without any required qualifications ! It was 
 neither named nor contemplated by the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 (3.) Every candid reader of the Bible per- 
 ceives that the Apostles were chosen for a spe- 
 cial and temporary purpose, and the peculiarity 
 of their office is expressly specified. They 
 were chosen : 1st, to be with Christ, and to be 
 endowed with miraculous powers, which they 
 also conferred on others — "And he ordained 
 twelve, that they should be with him, and that 
 he might send them forth to preach, and to 
 have poiver to heal sickness, and to east out 
 devils.'\m) 2nd, to be eye-witnesses of the re- 
 surrection — "Wherefore of these men which 
 
 (m) Mark iii. 14, 15. 
 
20 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 have companied with us all the time that the 
 Lord Jesus went in and out among us, begin- 
 ning from the baptism of John, unto that same 
 day that he was taken up from us, must one be 
 ordained to be a witness with us of his resur- 
 rection." " This Jesus hath God raised up, 
 whereof we all are witnesses." (n) 3rd, to be 
 with the Saviour after his resurrection — " Him 
 hath God raised up the third day, and showed 
 him openly; not to all the people, but unto 
 witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, 
 who did eat and drink with him after he rose 
 from the dead." (o) And hence Paul rests his 
 title to Apostleship on this very fact — " Am I 
 not an Apostle, am I not free, have I not seen 
 the Lord." {p) Will it be pretended that Epis- 
 copal Prelates are Apostles after this ? Their 
 fear of taking the name is an acknowledgement 
 that they feel the claim to be utterly indefen- 
 sible. Whately, an Archbishop, (here is an- 
 other rank higher than Bishop !) frankly de- 
 clares that " Successors, in the apostolic office, 
 the Apostles have none. As witnesses of the 
 resurrection — as dispensers of miraculous gifts 
 
 (n) Acts i. 21, 22, also ii. 32. (o) Acts x. 40, 41 
 (p) 1 Cor. is. 1. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 21 
 
 — as inspired oracles of divine revelation, they 
 have no successors. 1 But as members — as minis- 
 ters — as governors of Christian communities, 
 their successors are the regularly admitted mem- 
 bers — the lawfully ordained ministers — the re- 
 gular and recognized governors, of a regularly 
 subsisting Christian Church." (q) 
 
 (4.) But even the twelve Apostles never 
 usurped the powers now arrogated by diocesan 
 Bishops. We have seen already that the right 
 to choose officers (and even an Apostle, Acts 
 i.) was in the popular body. We have shown 
 that the prerogatives of discipline and govern- 
 ment were also in the body. The Apostles 
 never put forward the proud claims of Epis- 
 copal Bishops, as to these matters ; nor as to 
 others. 
 
 For example : did Jesus Christ institute any 
 other rites than Baptism and the Supper? 
 Whence then the ordinance of confirmation ? 
 Both the Old and New Testaments speak of 
 " laying on of hands." " Thus Jacob in bless- 
 ing the sons of Joseph, laid his hands upon 
 their heads." So, Jesus "took young children 
 in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands 
 
 (?) Whately, p. 235. 
 
22 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 upon them." And Paul and Barnabas were 
 dismissed, to go on their missionary tour, 
 with the blessing of the brethren at Antioch, 
 " by the laying on of hands," (Acts xiii. 3,) 
 although they had long been engaged in mini- 
 sterial duties. But to create an ordinance out 
 of this is palpable contrivance to give import- 
 ance to the Bishop. Episcopalians themselves 
 differ as to what this apochryphal ceremony 
 means. If it be only a mode of pronouncing a 
 benediction, or of admitting members to the 
 church, adopted for expediency, no notice would 
 be required of it, except to ask, why the Pastor 
 may not perform the office ? Episcopalians, how- 
 ever, maintain that there is Scriptural authority, 
 and cite Acts viii. 14-17, and Acts xix. 1-7. 
 But in these cases, visible miraculous gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost were imparted ; and Bishops 
 must show that these visible miraculous gifts 
 are now imparted, or these texts prove nothing. 
 Nor does Heb. vi. 1, 2, furnish evidence of 
 anything except the imposition of hands in 
 some cases, which no one denies, and which is 
 now practised in all Churches. So, too, of 
 superiority over other Presbyters : did the 
 Apostles assert it ? Just the reverse. Their 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 23 
 
 language is constantly that of men addressing 
 equals; (1 Pet. v. i.) "Even the Apostles, 
 though next to Christ himself, invested with 
 the highest authority, assumed no superiority 
 over the Presbyters, but treated them as bre- 
 thren, and styled themselves fellow-presbyters, 
 thus recognizing them as associates in office, "(r) 
 And so again as to ordination : while the 
 Apostles, as Presbyters, ordained, they allowed 
 the same power to other Presbyters. Episcopa- 
 lians deny this right to any Presbyters but the 
 unauthorized order of Prelates ; it is, therefore, 
 their duty to establish by positive proof this 
 high-handed exclusiveness. The truth, how- 
 ever, is, that if Episcopal ordination be valid 
 at all, it is only as an ordination by Presbyters. 
 The Bishop is only a Presbyter, and ordination 
 in the New Testament was by a Presbytery, 
 viz : a council of Presbyters, and of this 1 Tim. 
 iv. 14, is conclusive : " Neglect not the gift 
 that is in thee, which was given thee by pro- 
 phecy, with the laying on of the hands of the 
 Presbytery." This is exactly the account of 
 an ordination now in Presbyterian, Congrega- 
 tional, or Baptist Churches. Episcopalians say 
 
 if) Apostol. Christengemeinen. Halberstadt, 1819. 
 
24 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 the Apostles were distinguished from the Elders 
 by the power to ordain, and yet Jesus never 
 intimates this as part of their duties, although 
 he gives them minute directions ; nor when the 
 Seventy were sent forth, was any such function 
 assigned them ; nor is it pretended that the 
 Apostles ever declared this work to belong to 
 their office. In cases, in fact, of some most 
 eminent Preachers mentioned in the Bible, it is 
 certain the Apostles never laid hands on them 
 at all. For example, who ordained Apollos? 
 (Acts xviii. 24-27.) And so, too, Paul him- 
 self, what apostolic ordination had he ? As 
 soon as converted he began to " preach Christ 
 straightway" (Acts ix. 20) "What, then, is 
 Ordination ? The answer is, a decent and be- 
 coming solemnity, adopted from the Jewish 
 customs by the primitive Church, significant of 
 the separation of an individual to some specific 
 appointment in the Christian Ministry, and 
 constituting both a recognition on the part of 
 the officiating Presbyters of the Ministerial. 
 character of the person appointed, and a desir- 
 able sanction of the proceedings of the Church. 
 It is, however, something more than a mere 
 circumstance, the imposition of hands being 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 20 
 
 designed to express that fervent benediction 
 which accompanied the ceremony, and which 
 constitutes the true spirit of the rite. To an 
 occasion which, when the awful responsibility 
 of the pastoral charge is adequately felt, im- 
 parts to the prayers and the affectionate aid of 
 those who are fathers and brethren in the Mi- 
 nistry, a more special value, the sign and sol- 
 emn act of benediction must appear peculiarly 
 appropriate. This venerable ceremony may also 
 be regarded as a sort of bond of fellowship 
 among the Churches of Christ, a sign of unity, 
 and an act of brotherhood." (s) 
 
 (5.) In fine, all the efforts of Episcopalians 
 to find such an officer as their Prelate, in the 
 Bible, are as fruitless as they would be to find 
 archbishops, cardinals, and popes. Timothy 
 was an evangelist in Ephesus, and Titus in 
 Crete, just as now we have missionaries in for- 
 eign lands, to whom instructions are sent as to 
 their course of action, and the regulation of 
 Churches of native converts. To say they were 
 prelatical Bishops, is not only to affirm the very 
 thing which ought to be proved, but to repeat 
 
 (s) Cond. Prot. Non. Vol. i. p. 242. 
 
26 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 what has over and over been disproved, (t) 
 After all their labor and research, Episcopalians 
 are reduced to the figment that the ' Angels' 
 addressed in the letters to the seven Churches, 
 must have been Prelates. But I cannot sup- 
 pose it necessary to refute this. Where is the 
 evidence? " How much," says Neander, "must 
 we assume as already proved, which yet is en- 
 tirely without evidence, in assigning to this 
 early period, the rise of such a monarchical 
 system of government, that the Bishop alone 
 can be put in the place of the whole Church. 
 In this phraseology I recognize rather a sym- 
 bolical application of the idea of guardian an- 
 gels, similar to that of the Ferver of the Per- 
 sees, as a symbolical representation and image 
 of the whole Church. Such a figurative repre- 
 sentation corresponds well with the poetical and 
 symbolical character of the book throughout. 
 It is also expressly said that the address is to 
 the whole body of the Churches. "(u) And Stil- 
 lingfleet, than whom an abler man, and one whose 
 praise is higher in Episcopal Churches, is not to 
 be found among the advocates of prelacy, says 
 
 (t) See Coleman and Barnes, passim, (u) Introduction to 
 Coleman. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 27 
 
 of these Angels : "If many things in the epis- 
 tles be directed to the angels, but yet so as to 
 concern the whole body, then, of necessity, 
 the angel must be taken as the representative 
 of the whole body; and then, why may not 
 the word angel be taken by way of representa- 
 tion of the body itself, either of the whole 
 Church, or, which is far more probable, of the 
 consessors, or order of Presbyters, in that 
 Church? We see what miserable, unaccount- 
 able arguments those are, which are brought 
 for any kind of government, from metaphorical 
 or ambiguous expressions, or names promiscu- 
 ously used." (y) My reader will judge from 
 this, what confidence to put in the bold, unscru- 
 pulous, unblushing statements hazarded on 
 this point by the writer of the " Reasons for 
 being an Episcopalian." 
 
 (y) Irenicum. 
 
28 THE PEIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON IV. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH UNDULY EXALTS THE 
 AUTHORITY OF THE FATHERS. 
 
 To support errors clearly condemned by the 
 Bible, it is customary with different denomina- 
 tions to cite the early 'Fathers,' as they are 
 called. If the reader will peruse Taylor's 
 'Ancient Christianity,' written by an Episco- 
 palian, he will be astonished at the respect 
 hitherto paid to patristic authority. And if he 
 have time to consult those ' Fathers ' himself, 
 he will find that there is scarcely an absurdity 
 but may be defended by passages from them. 
 On this subject there is an admirable article in 
 the Edinburg Review for April, 1843. "We 
 are convinced, (says the Review,) that nothing 
 more is needed than the indiscriminate exposure 
 of an impartial sample of the works of these 
 unparalleled writers to the popular gaze, to ob- 
 literate that feeling of traditional reverence 
 with which they are regarded. The drunken 
 Helots never taught the Spartans a more 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 29 
 
 wholesome lesson of temperance, than the in- 
 imitable antics of these holy men would teach 
 the present age, of the folly of deferring to 
 them, as our spiritual guides ; and still more 
 of investing them, under any conditions, with 
 the authority of Scripture." Even when John 
 wrote the Revelation there were many corrup- 
 tions to censure, as we find in the letters to the 
 Churches in Asia ; nay, in Paul's Epistles, 
 mention is made of those who were seeking to 
 advance their ambitious views by innovations 
 in the Churches he had founded. It would, 
 therefore, be no matter of surprise, if spiritual 
 usurpations had begun in the very first century. 
 But in truth, the Episcopal clergy cannot 
 obtain support for their encroachments, even 
 from the early Fathers. The great bulwark of 
 Episcopalians is Ignatius, as to whose Epistles, 
 it is enough to remark, that they are pro- 
 nounced by some most learned men, to be the 
 fabrications of a later age ; and incontestibly, 
 they have been so interpolated as to be un- 
 worthy of any confidence. My readers know 
 the weight of Milton's name on such a question, 
 and hear what he says, after exposing the ana- 
 chronisms and contradictions of the work : 
 
30 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 " These, and other like passages, in abundance 
 through all those short epistles, must either be 
 adulterate, or else Ignatius was not Ignatius, 
 nor a martyr, but most adulterate and corrupt 
 himself. In the midst, therefore, of so many 
 forgeries, where shall we fix, to dare say this is 
 Ignatius ? As for his style, who knows it, so 
 disfigured and interrupted as it is, except they 
 they think that where they meet with anything 
 sound and orthodoxal, there they find Ignatius? 
 And then they believe him, not for his own 
 authority, but for a truth's sake, which they 
 derive from elsewhere. To what end, then, 
 should they cite him as authentic for Epis- 
 copacy, when they cannot know what is au- 
 thentic in him, but by the judgment which they 
 brought with them, and not by any judgment 
 which they might safely learn from him ? How 
 can they bring satisfaction from such an au- 
 thor, to whose very essence the reader must 
 be fain to contribute his own understanding ? 
 Had God ever intended that we should have 
 sought any part of useful instructions from 
 Ignatius, doubtless he would not have so ill pro- 
 vided for our knowledge, as to send him to our 
 hands in this broken and disjointed plight ; and 
 
WHY I AM NOT AX EPISCOPALIAN. 31 
 
 if he intended no such thing, we do injuriously, 
 in thinking to taste better the pure evangelic 
 manna, by seasoning our mouth with the tainted 
 scraps and fragments of an unknown table ; 
 and searching among the verminous and pol- 
 luted rags, dropped overworn from the toiling 
 shoulders of Time ; with these deformedly to 
 quilt and interlace the entire, the spotless and 
 undecaying robe of Truth, the daughter, not 
 of Time, but of Heaven, only bred up here 
 below in Christian hearts between two grave 
 and holy nurses, the doctrine and discipline of 
 the gospel." (iv) 
 
 Even, however, if these Epistles of Ignatius 
 were genuine, they would not sustain the posi- 
 tion of the Episcopal Church. Let the reader 
 bear in mind the concessions given before, that 
 the word ' Bishop ' was at first never used to 
 signify anything but a Pastor, and he will find 
 the vaunted passages from Ignatius not at all 
 implying any superiority of Bishops over Pres- 
 byters. Ignatius' Bishops were plainly Pastors 
 of only one Church, and not lords over many ; 
 and there are now hundreds of Independent 
 and Baptist Churches, to which a letter would 
 
 (w) Milton's Prel. Epis. P. W. vol. 1, pp. 79-80. 
 
32 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 speak of the " Bishop " (or Pastor) and " Pres- 
 byters" (Ministers who are members, and, per- 
 haps, assist the Pastor,) and "Deacons." If 
 Ignatius' Epistles were not written in or near 
 the first century, they are forgeries ;• if they 
 were, they do not prove diocesan Episcopacy; 
 for the word "Bishop" then meant only the 
 overseer of a Church, as is admitted by the 
 Prelatists themselves. Dr. Burton, regius Pro- 
 fessor at Oxford, speaking of the beginning of 
 the third century, says, " The term diocese, as 
 has been observed in a former chapter, was of 
 later introduction, and was borrowed by the 
 Church from the civil constitution of the em- 
 pire. At the period which we are now con- 
 sidering, a Bishop's diocese was more analogous 
 to a modern parish, and such was the name 
 which it bore. Each parish had, therefore, its 
 own Bishop, with a varying number of Pres- 
 byters, or Priests and Deacons." (x) So Lord 
 Chancellor King — " As for the word diocese, 
 by which the Bishop's flock is now expressed, 
 I do not remember that ever I found it used in 
 this sense by any of the ancients. But there 
 is another word still retained by us, by which 
 
 (x) Hist. Christ Ch. p. 179. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AX EPISCOPALIAN. 66 
 
 they frequently denominated the Bishop's cure ; 
 and that is parish." (y) "Every Bishop had 
 but one congregation or Church. This is a 
 remark which deserves your particular notice ; 
 as it regards an essential point in the consti- 
 tution of the primitive Church, a point which 
 is generally admitted by those who can make 
 any pretensions to the knowledge of Christian 
 antiquities. Now as one Bishop is invariably 
 considered in the most ancient usage as having 
 only one UkJclesia, (Church,) it is manifest that 
 his inspection at first, was only one parish." (z) 
 " Instead, therefore, of presiding over myriads 
 of his fellow-men with authority, which even 
 princes might envy, this your ancient Bishop 
 was nothing more than an humble parish mi- 
 nister, having the charge of some little flock 
 over whom he had been duly appointed an over- 
 seer in the service of the Chief Shepherd."(«). 
 If the reader will consult Coleman's masterly 
 treatise he will find this matter forever settled, 
 and he will see, too, that the only works of re- 
 mote antiquity known to be genuine, disprove 
 the claims of Episcopal Prelates. In fact ; 
 
 (?/) King's Prim. Ch., p. 15. (z) Camp. Lect., p. 105. 
 (a) Coleman, p. 203. 
 
34 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 even as late as the fifth century, we find Jerome, 
 ■who is admitted by Episcopalians to have been 
 the most learned man of his age, attacking 
 these haughty usurpations. He says "A 
 Presbyter, therefore, is the same as a Bishop : 
 and before there were, by the instigation of 
 the devil, parties in religion, and it was said 
 among different people, I am of Paul, and I of 
 Apollos, and I of Cephas, the Churches were 
 governed by the joint counsel of the Presbyters. 
 But afterwards, when every one accounted those 
 whom he baptized as belonging to himself and 
 not to Christ, it was decreed throughout the 
 whole world that one, chosen from among the 
 Presbyters, should be put over the rest, and 
 that the whole care of the Church should be 
 committed to him, and the seeds of schism 
 taken away. Should any one think that this 
 is only my own private opinion, and not the 
 doctrine of the Scriptures, let him read the 
 words of the Apostle in his Epistle to the Phi- 
 lippians : " Paul and Timotheus, the servants 
 of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, 
 which are at Philippi, with the Bishops and Dea- 
 cons,"&c. Philippi is a single city of Macedonia; 
 and certainly in one city there could not be 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 35 
 
 several Bishops as they are now styled ; but as 
 they, at that time, called the very same per- 
 sons Bishops whom they called Presbyters, the 
 Apostle has spoken without distinction of Bi- 
 shops as Presbyters. Should this matter yet 
 appear doubtful to any one, unless it be proved 
 by an additional testimony, it is written in the 
 Acts of the Apostles, that when Paul had come 
 to Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the 
 Presbyters of that Church, and among other 
 things said to them, * Take heed to yourselves 
 and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit 
 hath made you Bishops.' Take particular 
 notice, that calling the Presbyters of the single 
 city of Ephesus, he afterwards names the same 
 persons Bishops." (b) 
 
 It is thus certain that all the passages quoted 
 from Eusebius and others, have nothing to do 
 with Prelates, the word Bishop meaning Pastor 
 of a Church, and there being no such officer 
 then as the modern Prelate. 
 
 And here I might stop. There is however 
 such ignorance or disingenuousness, in the Tract 
 called "Reasons why I am an Episcopalian," 
 that I must add a word more. 
 
 (b) Hieronymi Com. in Tit. i. 1. 
 
36 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 This writer adduces Irenceus, (A. D. 180,) 
 but either does not see, or by a play on words 
 wishes to conceal from his readers the fact, 
 that the very quotations show a Bishop to have 
 been a Pastor over one Church. " Poly carp was 
 Bishop over the Church in Smyrna," &c. Here 
 the most illustrious man of his time is only 
 Bishop of one Church ; and I now add that 
 Irenasus expressly styles Polycarp, afterwards, 
 " that blessed Presbyter." (<?) Again, the Tract 
 writer cites this passage, " We can enumerate 
 those who were constituted by the Apostles, 
 Bishops in the Churches ; their successors, also, 
 even down to our time." But just before 
 Irenseus styles these very Bishops, "Pres- 
 byters." (d) I have before me other quotations 
 from Irenseus, but cannot suppose them neces- 
 sary. The author of the Tract, next brings 
 forward Tertullian, (A. D. 200,) and the reader 
 will discover, at a glance, that he hopes to suc- 
 ceed by the usual jugglery, with the word 
 Bishop, for the quotations recognize only the' 
 Bishop or Pastor of a Church. The Prelatical 
 usurpation was clearly unknown even then ; for 
 
 (c) Euseb., Eccl. Hist., Lib. 5, c. 20. (d) Irengeus, Adv. 
 Haer., L. 3, c. 2. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 37 
 
 take the strongest passage, viz : " Neither Pres- 
 byters, nor Deacons, might baptize without the 
 Bishop's consent." Now, does this apply to 
 Prelacy ? Is it so that the Presbyters do not 
 baptize without in each case obtaining the Pre- 
 late's consent? The passage plainly teaches, 
 only what is now true in non-Episcopal Churches 
 i. e., that the Pastor is the person to baptize, 
 and others should not baptize candidates for 
 admission into his Church without his consent. 
 Tertullian stood " on the boundary between two 
 different epochs," and in his writings we see 
 the beginning of the Prelatical encroachments. 
 He expressly tells us that one of the Presbyters 
 was chosen President, and shows the origin of 
 the order which now claims supremacy over 
 other Presbyters and over hundreds of Churches, 
 as if by warrant from God. This Presidency 
 soon became a permanent office, and then the 
 word Bishop was misapplied to cover it with a 
 color of Scriptural authority. 
 
 Clement of Alexandria, (A. D. 220,) is our 
 Tractarian's next authority. The reader will 
 notice that he speaks of the Pastor, or Bishop 
 of a Church, distinguishing him from a Pres- 
 byter, not as superior, but simply, as having 
 
 4 
 
38 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 charge of a Church, and he shows fully else- 
 where, that there were but two orders. He 
 says expressly, "Just so in the Church, the 
 Presbyters are entrusted with the dignified 
 Ministry ; the Deacons with the subordinate."(e) 
 
 He speaks, too, of the Presbyter chosen by 
 the Presbytery to be the President. Soon after 
 this, the title President was dropped and the 
 word Bishop surreptitiously appropriated. The 
 admitted import of the term Bishop need only 
 be recollected, and the other passages cited in 
 the so called Churchman's Tract, will demand 
 no further comment from me. When we come 
 to the fourth century, the Episcopal usurpations 
 are established ; but we find also most of the 
 other corruptions of Romanism. 
 
 Had I time, I would gladly cite authors, 
 whom Episcopalians carefully avoid. For ex- 
 ample, Clement of Rome, is the first and most 
 authentic of all the early Fathers. He wrote, 
 A. D. 96, and he is express. He shows clearly 
 that there were but two orders of officers. He. 
 says, " The Apostles preaching in countries 
 and cities, appointed the first fruits of their 
 labors, to be Bishops and Deacons, having 
 (e) Strom. Lib., 7. p. 700. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 39 
 
 proved them by the Spirit." (/) " Clement 
 himself," says Riddle, an Episcopalian, "was 
 not even aware of the distinction between 
 Bishops and Presbyters ; terms which in fact 
 he uses as synonymous." (g) 
 
 (/) Epist. ad Cor. g 42, p. 57. (g) Christ Antiq., p. 5. 
 
40 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON V. 
 
 THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH MAKES UNSCRIPTURAL 
 PRETENSIONS. 
 
 It was the complaint of a distinguished 
 writer, that " people do not know when a thing 
 is proved ;" but if mj reader be candid, he will 
 confess that I have established several things. 
 1. I have shown that the Episcopal Church has 
 brought out from Rome, and perpetuates, doc- 
 trines and practices repugnant to Scripture and 
 reason. 2. I have proved that the Episcopal 
 Church has subverted the form of government 
 established by Jesus Christ and the Apostles. 
 3. It is clear that she has erected a new and 
 unscriptural order in the Ministry. 
 
 And now, if this be so, for me to be an Epis- 
 copalian, would be to lend my influence and 
 contributions to support these abuses, and not 
 only these but others growing out of them. 
 
 1. It would be to support those pretensions 
 about Ordination, which are designed to magnify 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 41 
 
 the Prelates. Clarkson, himself an Episcopa 
 lian, says, "A Bishop, in the best ages of 
 Christianity, was no other than the Pastor of 
 a single Church. A Pastor of a single congre- 
 gation is now as truly a Bishop. They were 
 duly ordained in those ages, who were set apart 
 for the work of the Ministry by the Pastor of 
 a single Church, with the concurrence of some 
 assistants. Why they should not be esteemed 
 to be duly ordained, who are accordingly set 
 apart by a Pastor of a single Church now, I 
 can discern no reason, after I have looked every 
 way for it. Let something be assigned which 
 will make an essential difference herein ; other- 
 wise they that judge such Ordinations here, and 
 in other Reformed Churches, to be nullities, will 
 hereby declare all the ordinations in the ancient 
 Church for three or four hundred years, to be 
 null and void, and must own the dismal conse- 
 quences that ensue therefrom. They that will 
 have no ordinations but such as are performed 
 by one who has many Churches under him, 
 maintain a novelty never known nor dreamt of 
 in the ancient Churches, while their state was 
 tolerable. They may as well say the ancient 
 Church had never a Bishop, (if their interest 
 
 4 
 
42 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 did not hinder — all the reason they make use 
 of in this case would lead them to it,) as deny 
 that a reformed Pastor has power to ordain, 
 because he is not a Bishop. He has Episcopal 
 ordination, even such as the canons require, 
 being set apart by two or three Pastors at 
 least, who are as truly diocesans as the ancient 
 Bishops, for some whole ages. "(A) 
 
 2. And it would be to sustain the absurdity 
 of Apostolical Succession ; a theory which has 
 been exposed frequently, and like Baptismal 
 Regeneration, is with singular inconsistency 
 renounced by many eminent Episcopalians, who 
 yet act on the principle by excluding Ministers 
 of other denominations from their pulpits, (i) 
 A theory which is such a palpable fiction of 
 Romanism that it would seem impossible for any 
 candid Protestant to treat it with respect. " A 
 theory," says Macaulay, which is this, "that 
 each Bishop, from the apostolic times, has re- 
 ceived in his consecration a mysterious ' gift,' 
 and also transmits to every Priest in his ordina- 
 tion a mysterious 'gift,' indicated in the re- 
 spective offices, by the awful words, * Receive 
 
 (h) Prim. Episc, p. 183. (?) See Whately's Kingdom of 
 Christ, pp. 182-188. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 43 
 
 the Holy Ghost;' that on this the right of 
 Priests to assume their function, and the pre- 
 ternatural grace of the sacraments administered 
 by them, depends ; that Bishops, once conse- 
 crated, instantly become a sort of Ley den jar 
 of spiritual electricity, and are invested with 
 the remarkable property of transmitting the 
 1 gift ' to others ; that this has been the case 
 from the primitive age till now ; that this high 
 gift has been incorruptibly transmitted through 
 the hands of impure, profligate, heretical eccle- 
 siastics, as ignorant and flagitious as any of 
 their lay contemporaries ; that, in fact, these 
 ' gifts ' are perfectly irrespective of the moral 
 character and qualifications both of Bishop and 
 Priest, and reside in equal integrity in a Bonner 
 or in a Cranmer ; a parson Adams or a parson 
 Trulliber." (j) 
 
 (J) Edin. Rev. Apr. 1843. 
 
44 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 REASON VI. 
 
 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH IS NOW IN EXISTENCE 
 WITH LEGITIMATE CLAIMS. 
 
 There are other and minor reasons why I 
 cannot be an Episcopalian ; as for instance, the 
 Romish observance of clays, the formalities of 
 worship, Priestly and Episcopal vestments, 
 Rochets, Gowns and Surplices, and their chang- 
 es, so unlike the simplicity of apostolic customs, 
 the appellation " Priest n applied to Pastors, 
 an abuse condemned by the New Testament, 
 in which Christ is the only Priest, and which 
 betrays its Romish origin by squinting hardly 
 at the impieties of the mass. 
 
 These are with me, however, inferior matters, 
 I therefore do not insist on them, but at once 
 give my last reason why I am not an Episcopa- 
 lian, which is, that I find the church or- 
 ganized BY THE APOSTLES NOW EXISTING, AND 
 I HOLD IT MY BOUNDEN DUTY TO SUSTAIN IT. 
 
 1. The apostolic Churches consisted of bap- 
 tized believers. " Then they that gladly re- 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 45 
 
 ceived his word were baptized : and the same 
 day there were added \into them about three 
 thousand souls." (k) This is said to be "ad- 
 ding to the Church," — " And the Lord added 
 to the Church daily such as should be saved."(7) 
 " And believers were the more added to the 
 Lord, multitudes both of men and women ;"(*») 
 " But when they believed Philip, preaching the 
 things concerning the kingdom of God, and 
 the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized 
 both men and women." (n) 
 
 I do not here design to enter into the bap- 
 tismal controversy. God certainly cannot have 
 given a command which is difficult to com- 
 prehend ; and, though volumes have been writ- 
 ten and thus embarrassed the Scriptures, if my 
 reader will consult the New Testament, he will, 
 I conceive, agree with the author of Lacon, 
 that " were a plain man to read the four Gos- 
 pels and the Acts of the Apostles without note 
 or comment, it would never enter into his heart 
 to conceive the purport of many ideas signified 
 by words ending in ism, which nevertheless 
 have cost Christendom rivers of ink and oceans 
 
 (k) Acts ii. 41. (I) Acts ii. 47. (m) Acts v. 14. (n) 
 Acts viii. 12. 
 
46 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 of blood." I shall only submit a thought 
 or two. 
 
 1. Does not the very commission shut out 
 the idea of infant baptism ? " Go ye into all 
 the world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture, he that belie veth and is baptized," &c. 
 Now let it never be forgotten that this is the 
 only authority under which any one can bap- 
 tize, and I inquire candidly, Does this authorize 
 the baptism of any but believers ? Open any 
 Pedobaptist work addressed to parents, and 
 how certainly do you find them exhorted " to 
 bring their children to the font " with a great 
 deal about "covenant mercies," &c. Is it (I 
 do not say probable, but) possible that in the 
 Bible designed for all ages and for Pagans as 
 well as Jews, there should be such minute ad- 
 dresses as to the duty of parents to their chil- 
 dren, and yet not one word, not one instance, 
 supporting infant baptism ? The only plausible 
 argument I ever saw for the practice is from 
 the Abrahamic covenant of Circumcision ; but,- 
 2. Is it not an ample refutation of this plea, 
 that the Abrahamic rite was restricted to one 
 sex, and extended to all servants bought by a 
 Jew without reference to age or character ? 
 
WHY I AM NOT AX EPISCOPALIAN 47 
 
 Would any one now so restrict baptism ? Would 
 any one so extend it, and baptize the slaves 
 bought by a master simply on the ground that 
 they were his servants, and although they were 
 notoriously wicked ? If not, then the Jewish 
 Congregation into which persons were admitted 
 by circumcision, was not a body like the Chris- 
 tian Church into which baptism initiates. 
 
 (3.)Moreover, even if the argument from the 
 Abrahamic covenant of Circumcision holds, still 
 children ought to be circumcised, not baptized. 
 Baptism has not come in the room of circum- 
 cision. Both are positive institutions ; and the 
 substitution of one for the other requires, 
 therefore, a positive order. But, what is de- 
 monstratively conclusive here, is, that the Jew- 
 ish converts continued in the Apostles' days to 
 circumcise their children. This rite belonged 
 to them as Jews, and they, therefore, did not 
 discontinue it. In Acts ch. xxi. 21, we find 
 that when Paul came to Rome, the Jewish 
 converts alleged as a criminal charge against 
 him, that he had taught the Jews who were 
 among the Gentiles, "not to circumcise their 
 children." Now could this charge have been 
 made, if circumcision had been supplanted by 
 
48 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 baptism ? And would not Paul at once have 
 said, "Yes, I have so taught, because baptism 
 is come in the place of circumcision ?" Instead 
 of this, he plainly treats the charge as a slander, 
 and takes measures to refute it. " And when 
 they heard it, they glorified the Lord; and 
 said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many 
 thousands of Jews there are which believe ; 
 and they are all zealous of the law: And they 
 are informed of thee, that thou teachest all 
 the Jeivs which are among the Gentiles to for- 
 sake 3Ioses, saying that they ought not to cir- 
 cumcise their children, neither to walk after 
 the customs. What is it, therefore ? The multi- 
 tudes must needs come together, for they will 
 hear that thou art come. Do therefore this 
 that we say to thee : We have four men which 
 have a vow on them ; them take, and purify 
 thyself with them, and be at charges with them, 
 that they may shave their heads : and all may 
 know, that those things, whereof they ivere in- 
 formed concerning thee, are nothing ; but that 
 thou thyself also ivalkest orderly, and keepest 
 the law. * As touching the Gentiles which 
 
 * In Acts xvi. we read that he circumcised Timothy, 
 who was a Jew by the mother's side, sometime after he 
 
"WHY I AM XOT AX EPISCOPALIAN. 49 
 
 believe, we Lave written and concluded that 
 they observe no such thing." (o) In Acts xv., 
 we find that some Jewish converts taught even 
 the Gentiles that they should be circumcised ; 
 and this occasioned great discussion, and caused 
 the consultation of the Apostles. Could this 
 difference of opinion have existed, if God had 
 taught the Apostles that baptism was in the 
 room of circumcision, and would not the Coun- 
 cil of Apostles have said so ? But they evidently 
 were of a different opinion, and decided that 
 
 was baptized. He would not, however, allow the rite to 
 Titus, who was a Greek. — Galat. ii. 3. The dissimulation 
 of Peter and Barnabas and other Hebrews, (Galat. ii. 12, 
 13, 14, will satisfy any one, that the thought of baptism 
 as a substitute for circumcision, was unheard of in the 
 Apostles' days. Peter and his companions lived in in- 
 timacy with the baptized Gentiles for some time ; but 
 when certain Jewish Christians arrived, they withdrew 
 and " separated themselves, fearing them which were of 
 the Circumcision." This was unworthy timidity and dupli- 
 city, since Peter knew that in the Christian Church there 
 was no difference between Gentile and Jew. It proves, 
 however, not only that circumcision was still practiced, 
 but so highly esteemed by Jewish converts, that an Apostle 
 shrank from the odium to which he had exposed himself, 
 by associating on a footing of equality, with those who 
 had not this mark, although they were baptized. 
 (o) Acts xxi. 20-25. 
 
50 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 (while the Jewish converts ought to continue 
 the Abrahamic rite) it was not required of the 
 Gentiles. Neander, the ablest writer of Church 
 History who ever lived, and not a Baptist, says : 
 " How could he (Paul,) have set up infant bap- 
 tism against the circumcision that continued to 
 be practised by the Jewish Christians ? In this 
 case, the dispute carried on with the Judaizing 
 party, on the necessity of circumcision, would 
 easily have given an opportunity of introduc- 
 ing this substitute into the controversy, if it 
 had really existed." (p) That in the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, Paul declares the Mosaic cere- 
 monials abolished, has nothing to do with this 
 matter, for the Mosaic ritual was not the Abra- 
 hamic covenant. 
 
 2. The baptism of the New Testament is 
 immersion. On this point, the learned Bossuet, 
 a Roman Catholic, says : " John's baptism 
 was performed by plunging. In fine, we read 
 not in the Scripture, that baptism was other- 
 wise administered ; and we are able to make 
 it appear by the acts of councils, and by 
 the ancient rituals, that for thirteen hundred 
 
 (p) See Plant, of Ch. p. 102. — See this whole masterly ar- 
 gument as to the subjects and mode of baptism, in which 
 his learning and intellect are only surpassed by his candor. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 51 
 
 years, baptism was thus administered through* 
 out the whole Church as far as was possible." 
 The truth is, the word means " immerse" 
 and nothing else, as the reader will see by con- 
 sulting any good Lexicon. That it is some- 
 times figuratively used, to convey the idea of 
 steeping in an abundance of any element, is 
 admitted. Such instances are found in Greek 
 poetry; and in the Bible, Christians are said 
 to be " baptized in the Holy Ghost "(q) intimat- 
 ing, in strong eastern style, their being wholly 
 surrounded and imbued with his influences. 
 But in these cases the very force of the meta- 
 phor is derived from this that the proper import 
 of the phrase is immerse. The English terms 
 "plunge" and "dip" are employed in the 
 same way. Thus we say "Plunged in grief ';" 
 Milton says (in Comus) 
 
 " a cold shuddering dew 
 
 Dips me all o'er." 
 
 And Shakspeare says (in Hamlet) 
 
 "What would he do, 
 Had he the motive and the cue for passion 
 That I have? He would drown the stage with tears." 
 
 (q) Such is the original ; in every case the Greek is 
 "baptize in water" "in the Holy Ghost," not "with." 
 
52 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 All feel, however, that, in examining the mean- 
 ing of a law, it is trifling to go to poets and their 
 metaphors. I shall, therefore, not argue this 
 matter, but simply submit to the reader, whether 
 he can have any sort of doubt what baptism is, 
 with the plain declarations of God's word be- 
 fore him ? Take this passage — " Then cometh 
 Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John, to be 
 baptized of him. But John forbade him, say- 
 ing, I have need to be baptized of thee, and 
 comest thou to me? And Jesus answering, 
 said unto him, Suffer it to be so now : for thus 
 it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then 
 he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was bap- 
 tized went up straightway out of the water." {r) 
 Take this, "And as they went on their way, 
 they came unto a certain water : and the Eu- 
 nuch said, See, here is water ; what doth hinder 
 me to be baptized? And Philip said; If thou 
 believest with all thine heart, thou mayst. And 
 he answered and said, I believe that Jesus 
 Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded 
 the chariot to stand still : and they went down 
 both into the water, both Philip and the Eu- 
 nuch ; and he baptized him. And when they 
 (r) Matt. iii. 13, 14, 15, 16. 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 53 
 
 were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the 
 Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch saw 
 him no more : and he went on his way rejoi- 
 cing." (*) Take this, "And John also was 
 baptizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there 
 was much water there ;"(t) And not to multi- 
 ply passages, take this, "Know ye not, that so 
 many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ 
 were baptized into his death ? Therefore we 
 are buried with him by baptism into death; 
 that like as Christ was raised up from the dead 
 by the glory of the Father, even so we also 
 should walk in newness of life. For if we have 
 been planted together in the likeness of his 
 death, we shall be also in the likeness of his 
 resurrection, "(u) Now, I enquire, are these 
 passages (translated, too, by Episcopalians,) 
 doubtful? Every respectable commentator con- 
 fesses the last quotation wholly without mean- 
 ing, unless the word signifies immerse. 
 
 Doddridge, (Independent,) " ' Buried with 
 him in baptism.' It seems the part of candor 
 to confess, that here is an allusion to the man- 
 ner of baptizing by immersion." 
 
 (*) Acts viii. 36, 37, 38, 39. (t) John iii. 23. («) Rom. 
 vi. 3, 4, 5. 
 
54 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 John "Wesley, (Methodist,) " ' Buried with 
 him,' alluding to the ancient manner of bap- 
 tizing by immersion." 
 
 Whitby, (Episcopalian,) author of a Com- 
 mentary on the New Testament, and more than 
 forty other learned works. " It being so ex- 
 pressly declared here, Rom. vi. 4, and Col. ii. 
 12, that we are buried with Christ in baptism, 
 by being buried under water ; and the argu- 
 ment to oblige lis to a conformity to his death, 
 by dying to sin, being taken hence ; and this 
 immersion being religiously observed by all 
 Christians for thirteen centuries, and approved 
 by our Church, and the change of it into sprink- 
 ling, even without any allowance from the au- 
 thor of this institution, or any license from any 
 council of the Church, being that which the 
 Romanist still urges to justify his refusal of 
 the cup to the laity ; it were to be wished that 
 this custom might be again of general use, and 
 aspersion only permitted, as of old in case of 
 the Clinici, or in present danger of death." 
 
 Dr. Chalmers, on this text, says, " The 
 original meaning of the word baptism is immer- 
 sion, and though we regard it as a point of in- 
 diiferency, whether the ordinance so named be 
 
WHY I AM NOT AN EPISCOPALIAN. 55 
 
 performed in this way or by sprinkling, yet we 
 doubt not that the prevalent style of admin- 
 istration in the Apostle's days, was by an actual 
 submerging of the whole body under water. "(v) 
 
 Archbishop Tillotson : " Anciently those who 
 were baptized were immersed and buried in 
 water, to represent their death to sin ; and 
 then did rise up out of the water, to signify 
 their entrance upon a new life."^) 
 
 Indeed, only adopt any other signification, 
 say 'poured,' and how will it read? "Know 
 ye not that so many of us as were poured into 
 Jesus Christ were poured into his death? 
 Therefore, we are buried with him by pois- 
 ing into death!" Or let us try "sprinkled." 
 " Know ye not that so many of us as were 
 sprinkled into Jesus Christ, were sprinkled in- 
 to his death ? Therefore we are buried with 
 him by sprinkling into death !" It is certain, 
 then, this verse requires immersion ; but note, 
 the Apostle here declares that all who are bap- 
 tized are so buried. 
 
 3. Lastly, the popular form of government ; 
 the simplicity of worship ; the orders of Pres- 
 byter (called Pastor or Bishop when having 
 (v) Lect. on Rom. (w) Serm. vii. 
 
56 THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHMAN. 
 
 charge of a Church,) and Deacon, (an officer 
 having supervision of the temporal concerns 
 of the Church,) I find. in that body to which I 
 belong. And, while I love many who differ 
 from me, and respect most devoutly their right 
 of private judgment, yet, as I love Christ more, 
 and am soon to answer to him, I dare not 
 throw my little influence in favor of any other 
 Church, and in opposition to that which I be- 
 lieve is striving to preserve in all things, the 
 doctrines and usages embodied in the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 These remarks, reader, I now leave with 
 you, praying that God will lead, and guide, 
 and bless you for Jesus' sake ; and entreating 
 you to remember the admonitions, " Ye are my 
 friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."(#) 
 " Not every one that saith unto me Lord, 
 Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, 
 but he that doeth the will of my Father which 
 is in Heaven."(y) Jesus Christ "being made 
 perfect, became the author of eternal salvation 
 unto all them that obey him." (z) 
 
 (x) John xv. 14. (y) Matt. vii. 21. (z) Heb. v. 9. 
 THE END. 
 
VALUABLE BOOKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 
 
 118 ARCH STREET, 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 COMPLETE WORKS OF ANDREW FULLER. 
 
 THREE VOLUMES. OCTAVO. 
 
 The complete Works of the Rev. Andrew Fuller; with 
 a Memoir of the author, and a likeness. Price $6 00 
 in cloth or sheep ; §6 50 in half calf or turkey morocco. 
 
 " Fuller's Works might, without any very remarkable impro- 
 priety, be designated an Encyclopedia of Polemic, Doctrinal, 
 and Practical Theology. With giant steps he traverses the 
 whole empire of revelation, and of reason as its handmaid. 
 He is the Bacon of Scripture. It is a Library in itself. The 
 Bible and these Works will suffice to make any man a first rate 
 theologian." — Rev. Dr. Campbell in the London Christian Wit- 
 ness. 
 
 BAPTISM IN ITS MODE AND SUBJECTS. 
 
 BY ALEXAHEBB CARSON. 
 
 This work contains a brief Memoir of the author, 
 with his reply to Rev. Dr. Miller, &c. One octavo 
 volume of 550 pages. Price $1 50 in sheep or cloth ; 
 $1 60 in half calf or half turkey morocco. 
 
 •' Let those who think that the solemn immersion of believers 
 in water is not baptism, answer, if they can, fairly and without 
 evasion, the learned, candid, and decisive work of Mr. Carson. '• 
 —Rev. B. H. Draper, LL. D. 
 
 HISTORY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 BY ISAAC T H1NTON. 
 
 A History of Baptism, from inspired and uninspired 
 writings. This is a beautiful edition, from new stereo- 
 type plates. It has also been published in England. 
 l2mo. 348 pages. Pi ice 65 cents in cloth or sheep. 
 
FREY'S SCRIPTURE TYPES. 
 
 The Scripture Types. A course of Lectures by 
 Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey. A new edition, in two vol 
 umes. Vol. I. contains 306 pages ; Vol. II. 320 pages. 
 Price, 50 cents per volume Also, in one volume, tor 
 $1.00, in cloth, sheep, or half-calf. 
 
 " The peculiar circumstances of the author, as a natural des- 
 cendant of Abraham ; he having sustained, for a number of 
 years, the office of a Jewish Rabbi, for which he had been regu- 
 larly educated; gave him an opportunity of obtaining a supe- 
 rior knowledge of the Mosaic dispensation, and of the Jewish 
 ceremonies and customs, both ancient and modern, thus ena- 
 bling him to embody in these Lectures much valuable informa- 
 tion. This work should be found in the Libraries of Bible 
 Classes and Sunday Schools." — Spencer II. Cone, D. D. 
 
 " Having carefully read this work of Kev. C. F. Frey, I do 
 very cordially unite in recommending it as one of much'value. 
 It is, though abounding in information, highly devotional and 
 practical in its character." — William R. Williams. D. D. 
 
 THE BAPTIST HARP. 
 
 The Baptist Harp: anew collection of Hymns for 
 the Closet, the Family, Social Worship and Revivals. 
 It contains 583 Hymns and 5 Doxologies. Two sets of 
 stereotype plates have been prepared, large and small. 
 The pocket edition is only 25 cents The medium size 
 (printed from the same plates, but with a wide margin,) 
 30 cents. The large edition, 35 cents. Various styles 
 of ornamental binding, according to price, from 35 cents 
 to $2.00. 
 
 " We hesitate not to say that in some important respects, we 
 must give it a decided preference to anv volume of the kind 
 we have ever yet seen." — Christian Review, Boston, Mass. 
 
 "We are willing to pronounce it unsurpassed, nay unequalled." 
 — Southern Baptist, Charleston, S. C. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 The Scriptural and Historical Arguments for Infant 
 Baptism examined ; by J. Torrey Smith, A. M. An 
 able work on the Covenant of Circumcision, with a re- 
 view of the New Testament Arguments, and thorough 
 examination of the Historical Evidence derived from 
 the Christian writers of the first five centuries. 25 cts. 
 
COMMUNION. 
 BY T. F. CURTIS. 
 
 Communion ; or the Distinction between Christian 
 and Church Fellowship, and between Communion and 
 its Symbols, embracing a review of the arguments of 
 Re v. Hubert Hall, and Rev. Baptist W. Noel in favor 
 of mixed communion. A work logical in argument, 
 calm in tone, elegant in style, devout in spirit, and 
 deeply imbued with the mind of Christ. 12mo. 75 cts. 
 THE DEACONSHIP. 
 
 The Deacoxsuip, by Robert B. C. Howell, D. D. 
 In nine chapters, the author shows the origin and nature 
 of the Deacon's office, the qualifications for the office, 
 lc. 154 pages, 18mo. Price, 30 cents. 
 
 THE BAPTIST MANUAL. 
 
 A Selection of Doctrinal and Practical Tracts, exhi 
 biting the sentiments and practices of the denomination. 
 12mo., 384 pages. 50 cents. 
 
 CLOSING- SCENES. 
 
 Closing Scenes, or Death Beds of Young Persons. 
 A book abounding in narratives of thrilling interest. 
 194 pages, 18 mo. Price, 25 cents, in half-binding ; 30 
 cents, in cloth. 
 
 BAXTER'S SAINTS' REST 
 
 A beautiful edition ; bound in cloth. 444 pages. 40 cts. 
 
 BAXTER'S CALL. 
 
 Baxter's Call to the Unconverted. 18nio. 177 pages. 
 15 cents. 
 
 PUCES GUIDE TO YOUNG DISCIPLES. 
 
 An excellent work for Young Converts. 465 pages. 
 40 cents. 
 
 BAPTIST FAMILY LD3RARY. 
 In six volumes, in uniform binding. Price $3.75. 
 
 1. Hinton's History cf Baptism. 4. Bunyan's Holy War 
 
 2. Howell on Communion. 5. Baptist Manual. 
 
 3. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, 6. Booth's Reign of Grace, 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL BOOKS. 
 
 The Society has issued many interesting volumes for 
 Sunday School Libraries. The publications of the 
 American Sunday School Union, and of the American 
 Tract Society are also kept for sale. 
 
THE TERMS OF COMMUNION, 
 
 BY ROBERT B. C. HOWELL 
 
 A beautiful edition from new stereotype plates, and 
 the price reduced to 60 cents. Its wide circulation in 
 this country, and its republication in England, are the 
 best testimonials of its usefulness. 
 
 THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 
 
 BT JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 This edition contains a likeness of the author and four 
 engravings. Price 60 cents. 
 
 THE HOLY WAR. 
 
 BY JOHN BUNYAN. 
 
 A new edition with six engravings. Price 60 cents. 
 " One of the greatest books ever made." — Albert Barnes. 
 
 MARRIED LIFE.-A WEDDING GIFT. 
 
 BY JOSEPH BELCHER. 
 
 An elegant miniature volume of 128 pages, with gilt 
 edges and ornamental covers. Price 30 cents. 
 
 SCRIPTURE GUIDE TO BAPTISM. 
 
 BY R. PENOILLY. 
 
 The many thousands of this able work which have 
 been sold attest its excellence. It contains 90 pages 
 Price 25 cents in cloth, and 6£ in paper covers. 
 
 FENGILLY'S GUIDE AND BOOTH'S VINDICATION. 
 
 This volume contains two treatises. First, Pengilly's 
 Scripture Guide to Baptism. Second, Booth's Vindica- 
 tion of the Baptists from the charge of bigotry, in refus- 
 ing communion at the Lord's table to Paedobaptists. 
 Price, 25 cents in cloth, and 20 cents in half binding. 
 
 SACRIFICE AND ATONEMENT. 
 
 BY SAMUEL W. LTND. 
 
 One volume, 12 mo. 231 pages. Price 60 cents. 
 
 TRACTS. 
 
 One hundred and seventy-one Tracts are published 
 by the Society and sold at the rate of 15 pages for a 
 cent; 375 pages for 25 cents ; 1500 pages for one dollar.