'l.if- .iuliftiiipii ■tai Kv BV 811 .B347 1882 Baird, Samuel John, 1817 1893. The great baptizer THE GREAT BAPTIZER. Bible History OF Baptism, BY SAMUEL J. BAIRD, D. D. "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."— Matt, hi, 17. "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh."— Acts ii, 16, 17. PITILADELPITTA: JAMES H. BAIRD. 1882. Copyright SAMUEL J. BAIRD, 1882. PREFACE lyrOT only (.Iocs the ordinance of baptism hold a -Li position of pre-eminent honor, as being the door of entrance to all the priA'dc^es of the visible church, but it has been distinguished with a place of paramount importance and conspicuity in the transactions of the two grandest occasions in the history of that church, — in sealing the covenant at Sinai, by which Israel be- came the church of God, and the grace of Pentecost, bv which the doors of that church were thrown open to the world. Proportionally interesting and signifi- cant is the ordinance, in itself, as symbolizing the most loftv, attractive and precious conceptions of the gospel, and unfolding a history of the plan of God in pro- portions of unspeakable interest, grandeur and glory. And yet, heretofore, the discussion of the subject has been little more than a disputation, alike uninteresting, inconclusive and unprofitable, concerning the word ba2)tlzo. The present treatise is an attempt to lift the sub- ject out of the low rut in which it has thus traversed, and to render its investigation the means of enlighten- ing the minds and filling the hearts of God's people with those conceptions, at once exalted and profi)und, and those high hopes and bright anticipations of the i'uture which the ordinance was designed and so hap- ]>ily fitted to induce and stimulate. Eighteen years ago, — in a catechetical treatise on "The Church of God, its Constitution and Order,'' 4 PREFACE. from the press of the Pres})yterian Board of Publica- tion,— the author enunciated the essential principles which are developed in this volume. In 1870, they were further illustrated in a tract on " The Bible History of Baptism/' which was issued by the Pres- byterian Committee of Publication, in Richmond, Va. The reception accorded to these treatises has encouraged me to undertake the more elaborate disquisitions of the present work. The questions are sometimes such as require a critical study of the inspired originals of the holy Scriptures; and occasional illustrations are drawn from classic and other kindred sources. It has been my study so to conduct these investigations that while they should not be unworthy the attention of -scholars, they may be intelligible to readers who are conversant with no other than our common English tongue, the richest and noblest ever spoken by man. The circumstances and manner of the introduction of the rite of immersion into the post-apostolic church presented a rich and inviting field of further investi- gation. But the volume has already exceeded the intended limit; the Biblical question is in itself com- plete, and its authority is conclusive. To it, there- fore, the present inquiry is confined. The fruit of much and assiduous investigation and thoughtful study is now reverently dedicated to the glory of the baptizing office of the Lord Jesus. May he speedily arise and display it in new and transcend- ent energy; pouring upon his blood-bought church the Spirit of grace and consecration, of knowdedge and aggressive zeal, of unity and power; baptizing the nations with his Spirit, and filling the world with the joy of his salvation and the light of his glory. Covington, Ky., Feb. 8, 1882. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION, Page li Book I. OLD TESTAMENT IirSTORY. Part I. BAPTlS}r AT SINAI. Section I. Baptism originated in the Old Testament.— It was fa- miliar to tlie Jews when Christ came. There were " divers baptisms " imi^osed at Sinai, Page 21 Section- II. No Imnwisions in the Old Testament.— ^ono in the ritual. None in the figurative language, 23 Section III. The Old Teatamnd Sacraments.— 1. Sacrifice. 2. Circumcision. 3. The Passover. 4. Baptism, 24 Section IV. The Baptisin of Israel at Sinai.— Scene at ihe mount. The covenant proposed and accepted. A great revival. Bap- tism of the converts. The feast of the covenant, • • • • -o Section V. The Blood of Sprinkling.— It was a type of Christ's atonement, .... 30 Section VI. The Living water.— A type of the Spirit. Living and salt water. The river of Eden. That of the Revelation and of the prophets. The Dead Sea. Rain and fountains. Their symbolic functions, 31 Part II. THE VISIBLE CHURCH. Section VII. The Ahrahamic Covenant.— It was the })etrothal,— not the marriage. Its terms spiritual, everlasting, exclusive. The Seed Christ. It adumbrated the covenant of grace. No salvation but on its terms, 37 Section VIII. The Sinai Covenant.— Its Conditiom. — Moi^es' commission. 1. " If ye will obey." 2. " And keep my C(n'- enant," '^- Section IX. The Sinai Covenant.— Its Promises.—]. A peculiar treasure. 2. " All the earth is mine." 3. A priest kingdoin. 4. A holv nation. T). Pal.'stinc, 45 6 CONTENTS. Section X. The Visible Church Est ahUshnl— The Church de- fined. Its name. Its fundamental law. Membership. Fam- ily and eldership. Ordinances of testimony. The relation of the ritual law, Page 49 Section XI. The Terms of Membership. — Professed faith and obedience. The same to Israel and Gentiles. Separating the unworthy, 56 Section XII. Circumcision and Baptism. — The former sealed the Abrahamic covenant. The latter alone sealed the eccle- siastical covenant of Sinai, 58 Part III. A 1) HUXIS TERED BA P TlSiJS = SPRINKLINGS. Section XIII. Unclean Seven Days. — The meaning. Childbirth. Issues. Contact with the dead. Leprosy. Characterized by (1) inward corruption; (2) seven days continuance; (3) con- tagiousness ; (4) requiring sacrifice and sprinkling, ... 60 Section XIV. — Baptism of a Healed Leper. — Seven sprinklings. The self-washings. Meaning of the rites, 66 Section XV. Baptism of the Defiled by the Dead. — Tlie ordi- nary seal of the covenant. The ashes. Manner of the baptism, 68 Section XVI. Baptism from Issues. — The law seemingly incon- gruous. The water of nidda, 69 Section XVII. Baptism of Proselytes. — Talmudic traditions. Question between the Schools of Shammai and Hillel. The Levitical mode exemplified in the daughters of Midian, 76 Section XVIII. Baptism of Infants.— The principle of infant membership recognized. Evidence of the baptism of He- brew children. Example of the infant Jesus, 82 Section XIX. BapAism of the Xa'<7f.s.— Sprinkled with " water of purifying," 85 Section XX. These all were one Baptism. The rites were essen- tially the same. Slight difierences explained, 86 Section XXI. The Symbol of Rain. — Descent from heaven. Life and fi'uitfulness imparted. Testimonies of the prophets. Carson's doctrine, 88 Section XXII. It meant, Life to the Dead. — Men dead by na- ture. The Spirit shed down gives life to soul and body. Je- sus at the grave of Lazarus, 92 Section XXIII. The Gospel in this Baptism.— {\) The red heifer. (2) Without the camp. (3) Blood sprinkled, and blood and water. (4) Seven times. (5) Seven days' defilement. (6) The fishes. (7) The water. (8) The sprinkling. (9) The CONTEXTS. 7 third day and tbopoventh. (10) The self- washing. (11) Things defil(>d and si)rinkled, I'agc 95 Section XXIV. Tliese were the " Divers Bapthms,^^ — Tlic urgn- nuMit of lleb. ix, S, 1). Tiio sprinklings wore the theme of Paul's argument. They were his " divers baptisms," . . 103 Part IV. RITUAL SELFWASIIINQS. Sectiox XXV. Unclean until the Even. — From expiatory rites. From contact with the unclean. Self-washing, 108 Section XXVI. Grades of Self-ivashing.—l. The hands. 2. Tiie hands and feet. 3. The clotlies. 4. The clothes and flesh. 5. Shaving the hair, Ill Section XXVII. Mode implied in the meaning. — Tiie self- washings meant the active putting oil of the sins of the flesh, 115 Section XXVIII. llie icords used to designate the \]ytshings. — 1. Shataph. 2. Kabas. 3. Rahatz, IIG Section XXIX. Mode of Domestic Ablution. — By water poured on. The patriarchs. Mode in Egypt. In the wilderness. Story of Susanna. Purgation of a concealed murder. Wash- ing the feet at table, Ill) Section XXX. Facilities requisite. — The water drawn from wells by women. No vessels for immersion. The bath of Ulysses, 126 Section XXXI. The Wasliings of the Priests. — Symbolism of the tabernacle. The laver. Priestly washings. The laver and river of Ezekiel. No immersions here, 128 Section XXXII. Like these were the Self -washings fif the People. — Designations and meaning the same. Immersion would have been without meaning, 134 Section XXXIII. Purifyings of things. — One case of immer- sion. Minor defilements cleansed by this immersion and l)y washings. The major, by sprinkling, 130 Part V. LATER TRACES OF TIIE SPRINKLED BAPTISMS. Section XXXIV. Old Testament Allusions. — The rite every- where, from Moses to Zechariah, 139 Section XXXV. Rabbinic Tradilionx. — One heift-r from Mo- ses to Ezra. Eight thence to the end, 142 'Seition XXXVI. Festival of the Outpouring (f Water. — Feast 8 CONTENTS. of tabernacles. The outpouring. The festivity. Its mean- ing, Page ]43 Section XXXVII. Hellenistic Greek. — Alexander's favor to the Jews. Alexandria. Hellenistic Greek. Its literature. Baptizo. Dr. Conant's definitions. Baptisma and baptis- moi, 151 Section XXXVIII. Baptism of Naaman. Tdbal=baptizo. — The law of leprosy. Office of Elijah and Elisha. Naaman was sprinkled seven times, according to the law, 157 Section XXXIX. " Baptized from the Dead." — Ecclus. xxxi, 30. The water of separation here called baptism. " Bap- tized for the dead."— 1 Cor. xv, 29, 1G9 Section XL. Judith's Baj^tism. — Story of Judith. Her baptism. Mohammedan washing before prayer, 172 Section XLI. The Water of Separation in Philo and Josephus. — Philo on the subject. Josephus' description, 175 Section XLII. Imitations by the Greeks and Romans. — Diffusive influence of Israel. The stain of crime, and purgation for it, novelties in Greece. Purifying always by sprinkled water. Ovid and Virgil. The Greek mysteries, 178 Section XLIII. Baptism in Egypt and among the Aztecs. — The libation vase of Osor-Ur. Aztec infant baptism, . . . .189 Section XLIV. Levitical Baptism in the Fathers. — Tertullian on the idolatrous imitations. Other fathers on the water of separation. They recognize it as bajHism, 192 Part VI. STATE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ARGUMENT. Section XLV. Points established by the foregoing Evidence. — Twenty-one points of evidence enumerated, 196 Book II. NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY. Part VIL jnteoductoey. Section XL VI. State of the Question. — 1. Baptism by sprink- ling,— fifteen centuries old, — the Jewish Scriptures full of it, — the Jewish mind molded by it. 2. Immersion, — new, — incongruous, — unmeaning. Carson's double symbolism, 201 CONTENTS. 9 Part VIII. THE runiFYlNG3 OF THE JEWS. Section XLVII. Accounts in the Gospels. — Purifying before the feiiats. The marriage in Ciina. Wasliings and bap- tisms, Page 2(JS Section XLVlll. W(iiirit; then the making upon him of the sign of the cross; anointing him with oil, once before and once after the baptism; the adniinistration of salt, milk and honey, and three immersions, one at the name of each person of the Trinity. Such was the connection in which baptism by immersion first ap- pears. For its reception, the candidate, of whatever sex, was inva- riably divested of all clothing, and, after it, was robed in a white garment, emblematic of the spotless purity now attained. The rite of baptism by bare sprinkling, however, still survived. And the question is entitled to a critical attention which it has not yet received, whether, always or generally, the more elaborate rite consisted in a submersion of the candidate. y\gainst this supposition, is the practice of the Abyssinian, Greek, Nestorian and other chuiches of the east. In them, the candidnte, in preparation for the rite, is placed, or we may say, immersed, naked, in a font of water, the quantity of which neither suffices, nor is intended, to cover him. The administrator then performs the baptism, while pronouncing the formula, by thrice pouring water on the candidate, once at the mention of each name of the blessed Godhead. •' To the same effect is the evidence of numerous remains of Christian art, which have been transmitted to us from the early ages. Among these are several representations of the baptism of the Lord Jesus by John; one, of that of Constantine and his wife, by Eusebius; and others. The baptism of Constantine precisely corresponds with the description above given. Tiio cm- ^My :nilhoritics :ire "A voyage to Abyssinia, and travels in the interior of Uial cuiintry, cxociitu'l untior the onlcrs of llif lirilisli ^overnuH'nt, in llie years 1S(K.» nn.i 1810, etc., \>y Henry S:.lt. K-«\., F. K. S., etc , London. ISH ;" and the |..'i-n:d ti-.stiiiionies of several of our missionaries to the east, wlio liave related to lue wliat they s;iw. 18 INTRODUCTION. peror is seated naked in a vessel, which if full would not reach to his waist; and the bishop is in the act of performing the baptism by pouiing water upon them. In the representations of the baptism of Jesus, he sometimes appears waist-deep in tlie Jordan, and some- times on the land. But in all cases, the rite is performed by the baptist pouring water on his head out of a cup or shell. Such is, in fact, the invariable mode represented in these remains of ancient art. In this connection the analogy of the forms of religious purify- ing prevalent throughout the east is worthy of special notice. The Brahmin, before taking his morning's meal, repairs to the Ganges, carrying with him a brazen vessel. By hundreds, or by thousands, they enter the stream, and while some take up the water in their vessels, and pour it over their persons, others plunge beneath the stream, for the purging away of their sins. Then filling the vessels, they repair to the temple, and pour the water upon the idol, or as a libation, before it. The Parsee, worshiper of the sun, goes, in the morning, to river or sea, and entering until the waves are waist high, with his face toward the east, awaits the rising of the sun, when, using his joined hands as a dipper, he dashes water over his person, and makes obeisance to his god. On the other hand, the Mohammedan, deriving his usage from the earlier Pharisaic ritual, repairs to the mosque, and from the tank in front, without entering it, takes up water in his hands with which to bathe face, feet and hands, before presenting his prayers. By the corruptions in the Christian church, before exemplified, the key of knowledge was taken away from the people. The in- structive meaning of the sacraments was obscured and obliterated, by the idea of their intrinsic efficacy for renewing the heart and aton- ing for and purging sin. The preaching of the word was disparaged and ultimately set aside; the preachers having become pi'opitiating priests, working regeneration by the baptismal rite, and making atonement by the sacrifice of the mass. The corruption and tyranny of the clergy of the middle ages, and the ignorance, slavery and spir- itual darkness which for centuries brooded over the people, were the inevitable results. The reformation came, through the recovery by Luther of the golden doctrine of justification by faith, which had so long been bur- ied and lost under the accumulated mass of ritualistic error. But even Luther was unable to shake ofi^ the fetters of superstition and falsehood in which he had been cradled, and to enjoy the full liberty of the doctrine which he gave to the awakened church. In the dogma of consubstantiation, he transmitted to his foUowei'S the very error which had corrupted the church for more than a thousand years. And the result in the churches of his confession has added another INTRODUCTION. , 10 to the already abundant evidence of the ever active and irrecon- cilable antagonism which i-xists between the theoi'y of sacramental grace, and the dt)cirine, — criterion of a standing or falling church, — of justification by free grace through faith. Our space docs not admit of a critical tracing of the history of the sacramental question in the churcliesof the reformation. On llic one hand, ritualists of every grade, misled by the erring primitive church, and attributing to the sacraments a saving virtue intrinsic in them, render indeed high but mistaken honor to the sacred rites; but fail to enjoy them in their true intent and office, or to view and honor them in their proper character. On the other liand, our im- mersionist brethren, misguided respecting the form of baptism, by the sanic erring example, and thus lost to the true and comprehensive meaning of the ordinance, have failed to apprehend the instruction which it. was designed to impart, and to enjoy the abundant edifying which it WMs atlapied to minister; and, instead, have found it a potent agent of separation, and an efficient temptation to the indulgence of a disproportionate zeal on behalf of mere outward rites amd forms. Nor do those who have escaped these errors always seem to ap- preciate the sacraments, in their true design and charactei', as ever active and efficient witnesses, testifying to the gospel, through sym- bols as intelligible and impressive as the most eloquent speech. The beauty and rich significance of the supper have, indeen the sulijVrt, wc might suppose that this ordi- 22 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Part I. nance had no better source than the nnauthorized inven- tions of Jewish tradition. But the Apostle Paul,-''- an He- brew of the Hebrews, taught at the feet of GaniaHel, and versed in all questions of the law, excludes such an idea. He declares that in the first tabernacle " were oftered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaiuing to the conscience ; which stood only in meats and drinks and (diaphorois baptismois) divers baptisms — carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation." — Heb. ix, 9, 10. The conjunction *' and" (" divers baptisms and carnal ordinances") is want- ing in the best Greek manuscripts ; is rejected by the crit- ical editors, and is undoubtedly spurious. The phrase *' carnal ordinances" is not an additional item in the enu- meration, but a comprehensive description of' " the meats and drinks and divers baptisms" of the law. Paul thus speaks of them by w ay of contrast with the spiritual grace and righteousness of the Lord Jesus. A critical examina- tion of this passage will be made hereafter. For the pres- ent, we note two points as attested by the apostle : 1. Among the Levitical ordinances there were not one but divers baptisms. 2. These were not merely allowable rites, but were *' im- posed " on Israel as part of the institutions ordained of God at Sinai. It may be proper to add that they were baptisms of persons, and not of things. They were rites which were de- signed to purify the flesh of the W'Orshiper. (vs. 9, 13, 14.) These baptisms were, therefore, well known to Israel, from the days of Moses. This explains the fact that, in the New Testament, we find no instruction as to the form of the ordinance. It was an ancient rite, described in the books of Moses and familiar to the Jews when Christ came. No description, therefore, was requisite. We are then to *I assume what I believe to be demonstrable, that Paul w\as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Skc. 11.] Ao L\fMiiRs/oy 7///;a"/;. 23 look to the Old Tcslainciit to ascertain the I'orin and nian- lUT of baplisin. Section 11. — No Immersions in the Old Tcdament. Says Dr. Carson: " Wc deny that the phrase 'divers baptisms' includes the sjjrinkliiKjs. The phrase alludes to the immersion of the dificrcnt things that by the law were to be immersed"^ Had this learned writer pointed out the things that were to be immersed, and the places in the law where this was required, it would have saved us some trouble. In default of such information, our first inquiry in turning to the Old Testament will be for that form of observance. We take up the books of Moses, and exam- ine his instructions as to all the prominent institutions of divine service. But among these we find no immersion of the person. We enter into minuter detail, and study every rule and prescription of the entire system as enjoined on priests, Levites, and people, respectively. But still there is no trace of an ordinance for the immersion of the person or any part of it. We extend our field of inquiry, and search the entire volume of the Old Testament. But the result remains the same. From the first chapter of Gen- esis to the last of ]\Ialachi, there is not to be found a rec- ord nor an intimation of such an ordinance imposed on Is- rael or observed by them at any time. Kot only is this true as to baptismal immersion performed by an official administrator upon a recipient subject. It is equally true as to any conceivable form or mode of immersion, self-performed or administered. There is no trace of it. But here is Paul's testimony that there were "divers bap- tisms imposed." By hapti>'ms, then, Paul certainly did not mean immersions. The impregnable position thus reached is further forti- fied by the fact that, in all the variety and exuberance of -"Carson on Baptism" (puhlished by C. C. P. Crosby: New York, 1S32\ p. 117. 24 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Part I. figurative language used in the Bible to illustrate the method of God's grace, no recourse is ever had to the fig- ure of immersion. All agree that the sacraments are sig- nificant ordinances. If, then, the significance of baptism at all depends on the immersion of the person in water, we would justly expect to find frequent use of the figure of immersion, as representing the spiritual realities of which baptism is the symbol. But we search the Scriptures in vain for that figure so employed. It never once occurs. Section III. — T)i& Old Testament Sacraments. As there are no immersions in the Old Testament, we must look for the divers baptisms under some other form. Assuming that in this rite there must be a sacra- mental use of water, we will first examine the ancient sac- raments. On a careful analysis of the ordinances compre- hended in the Levitical system, we find among them four which strictly conform to the definition of a sacrament, and which are the only sacraments described or referred to in the Old Testament. 1. Sacrifice. — The first of these in origin and prominence was sacrifice. Originating in Eden, and incorporated in the Levitical system, it had all the characteristics of a sac- rament. In it the life blood of clean animals was shed and sprinkled, and their bodies burned upon the altar. Thus were represented the shedding of Christ's blood, and his oflfering of atonement to the justice of God. But here is no water. It is not the baptism for which we seek. 2. Circum^cision. — The second of the Old Testament sac- raments was circumcision, whereby God sealed to Abra- ham and his seed the covenant of blessings to them and all nations through the blood of the promised Seed. Here, again, no one will pretend to identify the ordinance with the baptisms of Paul. 3. The Passover. — The third of the Old Testament sac- raments, the first of the Levitical dispensation, was the Sec. IV.] n.-iPT/SM OF ISRAEL. 25 feast of the passover. In it, the pasclml Isunb Avas slain, its blood sprinkled on the lintels and door posts of the houses, and the flesh roasted and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. At Sinai, this ordinance \va,s mod- ified by requiring the feast to be observed at the sanctuary, the blood iKMUg sprinkled on the altar, and the fat burned thereon. And, to the other elements appointed in Egypt, the general provisions of the jMosaic law added wine. All peace offerings, free will offerings, and offerings at the sol- emu feasts, of which the passover was one, were to be ac- companied with wine, and were eaten by the oflferers, ex- cept certain parts, that were burned on tke altar. (See Num. XV, 5, 7, 10.; xxviii, 7, r4.) This ordinance, elim- inated of its sacrificial elements, is perpetuated in the Lord's supper. In it was no water. It was not the rite for which we seek. 4. BajHiam. — There remains but one more of the ^lo- saic sacraments. It was instituted at Sinai. In it, water was essential, and by it was symbolized the renewing agency of the Holy Spirit. It was "a purification for sin," an initiatory ordinance, by which remission of sins and admis- sion to the benefits of the covenant were signified and sealed to the faith of the recipients. It occupied, under the Old Testament economy, the very position, and had the signifi- cance, which belong to Christian baptism under the New. jMoreover, it aj^pears under several modifications, and is thus conformed to Paul's designation of *' divers baptisms," whilst these, in their circumstantial variations, were es.scn- tially one and the same ordinance. Section IV. — The Baptism of Israel at Sinai. The occasion of the first recorded administration of this rite was the rccepti(m of Israel into covenant with God at Sinai. For more than two hundred years they had dwelt in Egypt, and for a large part of the time had been bond- men there. The history of their sojourn in the wilderness 3 26 BAPTISM A T SINAL [Part I. shows that uot only was their manhood debased by the bondage, but their souls had been corrupted by the idola- tries of the Egyptians (Josh, xxiv, 14; Ezek. xx, 7), and they had foi-gotten the covenant and forsaken the God of their fathers. They were apostate, and, in Scriptural lan- guage, unclean. But now the fullness of time had come, Avhen the prom- ises made to the fathers must be fulfilled. Leaving the nations to walk after their own ways, God was about to erect to himself a visible throne and kingdom among men, to be a w'itness for him against the apostasy of the race. He Avas about to arouse Israel from her debasement and slavery, to establish wdth her his covenant, and to organize and ordain her his peculiar people — his Church. Proportioned to the importance of such an occasion was the grandeur of the scene and the gravity of the transac- tions. Of them we have two accounts, one from the pen of Moses (Ex. xx-xxiv), and the other from the Apostle Paul, in exposition of his statement as to the divers baptisms. (Heb. ix, 18-20.) As to these accounts, two or three points of explanation are necessary. (1) The two words, "cove- nant" and "testament," represent but one in the originals in these places, of which "covenant" is the literal meaning. (2) Paul mentions water (Heb. ix, 19), of which Moses does not speak. The fact is significant, as the apostle is in the act of illustrating the " divers baptisms," of which he had just before spoken. (3) The word "oxen," in our translation (Ex. xxiv, 5), should be "bulls." Oxen w^ere not lawful for sacrifice. Yearling animals seem to have been preferred. Says ]\Iicah, " Shall I come before the Lord wdth burnt-ofierings, with calves of a year old?" — Micali vi, 6. Hence Paul indifferently calls them bulls and calves. The goats of Avhich he speaks were no doubt among the burnt-, offerings of Moses's narrative. Both ' ' small and great cattle" seem to have been offered on all great national solemnities. The redeemed tribes came to Sinai in the third month Skc. IV.] r>APT/SAr OF ISRAEL. 27 after the exodus. Moses ^vas culled up iuto the mouut and coniMuinded to propose to them the coveutint of God. It was in tliese terms: "If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and ye sliall be unto mc a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." — Ex. xix, 3-G. This i)roposal the people, with one voice, accepted. God then commanded Moses: " Sauctify the people to-day and to-morrow, and let them -wash their clothes and l)e ready against the third day ; for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mouut Sinai."— Vs. 10, 11. On the third day, in the morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And ^Yhen the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses sj^ake, and God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down uj[)on the top of the mount; and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. In the midst of this tremendous scene, so well calcu- lated to fill the people with awe, and to deter them from the thought of a profane ai:)proach, Moses was nevertheless charged to go down and warn the people, and set bounds around the mountain, lest they should break through unto tlie Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. After such means, used to impress Israel with a profound sense of God's majesty and their infinite estrangement from him, his voice was heard, uttering in their ears the Ten Com- mandments, prefaced with the announcement of himself as their God and Redeemer. (Compare Dent, iv, 7-13.) At the entreaty of tlie people, the terribleness of Gcxl's audible voice was withdrawn, and ^Moses was sent to tell 28 BAPTISM A T SINAI. [Part I. them the words of the Lord and his judgments. The people again unanimously declared, ''All the words which the Lord hath said, will we do." — Ex. xxiv, 3. In this sublime transaction we have all the scenes and circumstances of a mighty revival -of true religion. It is a vast camp-meeting, in which God himself is the preacher, speaking in men's ears with an audible voice from the top of Sinai, and alternately proclaiming the law of righteous- ness and the gospel of grace, calling Israel from their idolatries and sins to return unto him, and offering him- self as not only the God of their fathers, but their own Deliverer already from the Egyptian bondage, and ready to be their God and portion — to give them at once the earthly Canaan, and to make it a pledge of their ulti- mate endowment with the heavenly. The j^eople had pro- fessed with one accord to turn to God, and pledged them- selves, emphatically and repeatedly, to take him as their God, to walk in his statutes and do his will, to be his people. It is true that, to many, the gospel then preached was of no profit, for lack of faith ; whose carcasses therefore fell in the wilderness. (Heb. iii, 17-19 ; iv, 2.) But it is equally true that the vast majority of the assembly at Sinai were children and generous youth, who had not yet been besotted l:>y the Egyptian bondage. To them that day, which was known in their after history as " the day of the assembly" (Deut. X, 4; xviii, 16), was the beginning of days. Its sublime scenes became in them the spring of a living faith. With honest hearts they laid hold of the covenant, and took the God of the patriarchs for their God. Soon after, the promise of Canaan, forfeited by their rebellious fathers, was transferred to them. (Num. xiv, 28-34.) Trained and disciplined by the forty years' wandering, it was they who became, through faith, the irresistible host of God, the heroic conquerors and possessors of the laud of promise. Centuries afterward, God testified of them that they j^leased Bkc. IV.] B.IP7VS.\f or ISRAEL. 29 him: "I reinonil>or thee, the kindness of lliy youtli, the love of thine espousals, wlien thou weutest after nie in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. Israel was holi- ness to the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase." — Jer. ii, 2, 3. Until the day of Pentecost, uo day so memora- ble, no work of grace so mighty, is recorded in the history of God's dealings with men as that of the assembly at Sinai. And as on the day of Pentecost the converts were bap- tized upon their profession of faith, so was it now. Moses appointed the next day for a solemn ratifying of the transaction. He wrote in a book the words of the Lord's covenant, the Ten Commandments; and in the morning, at the foot of the mount, built an altar of twelve stones, according to the twelve tribes. On it young men designated by him offered burnt-oficrings and sacrificed peace-offerings of young bulls. Moses took half the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Half of it he kept in basins. He then read the covenant from the book, in the audience of all the people, who again accepted it, saying, "All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." Moses thereupon took the blood that was in the basins, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, " Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words." — Ex. xxiv, 8» compared with Heb. ix, 19, 20. In the morning Moses had already, l)y divine com- mand, assembled Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And no sooner was the covenant finally accepted and sealed with the baptismal rite, than these all went up into the mount, and there celebrated the feast of the covenant. "They saw the God of Israel ; and there was under his feet, as it were, a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of Israel, he laid not his hand. Also, they saw the God of Israel, and did eat 30 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Part I. and drink." — Ex. xxiv, 1, 9-11. So intimate, privileged, and spiritual was the relation wliich the covenant estab- lished between Israel and God. Thus was closed this sublime transaction, ever memora- ble in the history of man and of the church of Christ, in which the invisible God condescended to clothe himself in the majesty of visible glory, to hold audible converse with men, to enter into the bonds of a public and perpetual covenant with them, and to erect them into a kingdom, on the throne of which his presence was revealed in the Shechinah of glory. Such were the occasion and manner of the first insti- tution and observance of the sacrament of baptism. In its attendant scenes and circumstances, the most august of all God's displays of his majesty and grace to man ; and in its occasion and nature, paramount in importance, and lying at the foundation of the entire administration of grace through Christ. It was the establishing of the vis- ible church. Section V. — T\ie Blood of Sprinkling. In all the Sinai transactions, Moses stood as the pre-emi- nent type of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and the rites admin- istered by him were figures of the heavenly realities of Christ's sacrifice and salvation. This is fully certified by Paul, throughout the epistle to the Hebrews, and especially in the illustration which he gives of his assertion con- cerning the divers baptisms imposed on Israel. See Heb. ix, 9-14, 19-28. In these places, it distinctly appears that the blood of the Sinai baptism was typical of the atonement of Christ. Not only in this, but in all the Levitical baptisms, as will hereafter appear, blood was necessary to the rite. In fact, it was an essential element in each of the Old Testament sacraments. The one idea of sacrifice ^vas the blood of atonement. The same idea appeared in circumcision, revealing atonement by the blood Skc. VI. 1 THE LIVIXC. WATER. 31 of the seed of Abriiluim. In tlie passu vcr the l)loo(] of sprinkling ^VIls the most conspicuous feature ; and in tlie Sinai baptism blood and water were the essential elements. Peter states the Old Testament prophets to have " in- quired and searched diligently, searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should foUow."— 1 Pet. i, 10, 11. Of the time and manner they were left in ignorance. But the blood, in all their sacraments, was a lucid symbol, pointing them forward to the sufferings of Christ as the essential and alone argument of the favor and grace of God. In it, and in the ntes associated with it, they saw, dindy it may be, but surely, the blessed pledge that in the fullness of time "the Messenger of the covenant" would appear (Mai. iii, 2), magnify the law and make it honorable (Isa. xlii, 21), by his knowledge, justify many, bearing their iniquities (Isa. liii, 11), and sprinkle the mercy-seat in heaven, once for all, with his own precious and effectual blood — the blood of the everlasting covenant. (Heb. ix, 24-26; xiii, 20; 1 Pet. i, 11.) Section VI. — The Living Water. In the Sinai baptism, as at first administered to all Israel, and in all its subsequent forms, living or running water was an essential element. This everywhere, in the Scriptures of the Old Testament and of the New, is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, in his office as the agent by whom the virtue of Christ's blood is conveyed to men, and spiritual life bestowed. In the figurative language of the Scriptures, the sea, or great body of salt or dead water, represents the dead mass of fallen and depraved humanity. (Dan. vii, 2, 3; Isa. Ivii, 20; Rev. xiii, 1; xvii, 15.) Hence, of the new heavens and new earth which are re- vealed as the inheritance of God's people, it is said, "And there shall be no more sea." — Rev. xxi, 1. 32 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Part I. The particular source of this figure seems to have been that accursed sea of Sodom, which was more impressively familiar to Israel thai! auy other body of salt water, and which has acquired in modern times the appropriate name of the Dead Sea — a name expressive of the fact that its waters destroy alike vegetation on its banks and animal life in its bosom. Its peculiar and instructive position in the figurative system of the Scriptures appears in the prophecy of Ezekiel (xlvii, 8, 9-11), where the river of living water from the temple is described as flowing east- ward to the sea ; and being brought forth into the sea, .the salt waters are healed, so that "there shall be abundance of fish." Contrasted with this figure of sea water is that of liv- ing water, that is, the fresh water of rain and of fountains and streams. It is the ordinary symbol of the Holy Spirit. (John vii, 37-39.) The reason is, that, as this water is the cause of life and growth to the creation, animal and vegetable, so, the Spirit is the alone source of spiritual life and growth. The primeval type of that blessed Agent was the river that watered the Garden of Eden, and thence flowing, was parted into four streams to water the earth. This river was a fitting symbol of the Holy Spirit, " which proceedeth from the Father," the "pure river of water of life clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (John xv, 26 ; Rev. xxii, 1), not only in its life-giving virtue, but in its abundance and diffusion. But the fall cut man off from its abundant and perennial stream, and thenceforth the figure, as traceable through the Scriptures, ever looks forward to that promised time when the ruin of the fall will be repaired, and the gates of Paradise thrown open again. In the last chapters of the Eevelation, that day is revealed in a vision of glory. There is no more sea ; but the river of life pours its exhaust- less crystal waters through the restored Eden of God. But the garden is no longer the retired home of one human Sec. VI.] THE I.IVIX'G \VATF.h\ 83 pair, but is built up, a G:reat city, with walls of gonis and streets of goKl and gates of }>earl and the light of the glory of God. And the nations of them that are saved do walk in the light of it. But still it is identified as the name of old, by the flowing river and the tree of life iu the midst on its banks. (Rev. ii, 7 ; xxii, 1,2; and compare Psalms xlvi,4; xxiii, 2; John iv, 10, 14; vii, 38, 39; Zech. xiv. 8.) In Ezekiel (xlvii, 1-12) there apjiears a vision of this river as a prophecy of God's grace in store for the last times for Israel and the world. In it, the attention of the prophet and of the reader is called distinctly to several points, all of which bear directly ou our present in(|uiry : 1. The source of the waters. In the Kevelation, it is described as proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In Ezekiel the same idea is presented under the figure of the temple, God's dwelling-place. The waters issue out from under the threshold of the house "at the south side of the altar" — the altar where the sprinkled blood and burning sacrifices testified to the Person by whom, and the price at which, the Spirit is sent. (Com- pare John vii, 39; xvi, 7; Acts ii, 33.) 2. The exhaustless and increasing flow of the waters is shown to the prophet, who, at a thousand cubits from their source, is led through them, — a stream ankle deep. A thousand cubits farther, he passed through,' and they had risen to his knees. Again, a thousand cubits, and the waters were to his loins ; and at a thousand cul)its more it was a river that he could not pass over. ''And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this?" 3. The river was a f )untain of life. On its banks were " very many trees," " all trees for meat," witli fadeless leaf and exhaustless fruit, ''the fruit thereof for moat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." "And there shall be a very great multitude offish" in the Dead Sea, "because these waters shall come thither." ' For " it shall come to pass that every thing that liveth which moveth, whithersoever 34 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Paut I. the river sliall come shall Hve. Every thing shall live, whither the river cometh." 4. By these hviog waters, the Dead Sea of depraved humanity shall be healed. "Now this sea of Sodom," says Thompson, "is so intolerably bitter, that, although the Jordan, the Arnon, and many other streams have been pouring into it their vast contributions of sweet water for thousands of years, it continues as nauseous and deadly as ever. Nothing lives in it; neither fish nor reptiles nor even animalculse can abide its desperate malignity. But these waters from the sanctuary heal it. The whole world afibrds no other type of human apostasy so appro- priate, so significant. Think of it! There it lies in its sulphurous sepulcher, thirteen hundred feet below the ocean, steaming up like a huge caldron of smouldering bi- tumen and brimstone! Neither rain from heaven nor mountain torrents nor Jordan's flood, nor all combined can change its character of utter death. Fit symbol of that great dead sea of depravity and corruption which nothing human can heal!"* But the pure waters of the river of life will yet pour into this sea of death a tide of grace by which " the waters shall be healed." — Ezek. xxvii, 8. In the prophecy of Joel (iii, 18,) there is another allu- sion to these waters. Again, in Zechariah a modified form of the same vision appears. " It shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem ; half of them toward the former" (the Eastern or Dead) " sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea" (the Mediterranean). *' In summer and winter shall It be ;" not a mere winter torrent, as are most of the streams of Palestine, but an unfailing river. (Zech. xiv, 8.) Such is the type of the Spirit, as his graces flowed in Eden, and shall be given to the world, in the times of restitution. But, for the present times, the symbols of rain and foimtains of springing water are used in the Scriptures * " The Land and the B^ok." Vol. II, pp. 531, 534. Skc. VI.] THE IJl'IXG U'ATEh\ 35 as the ap})ropriaic i\{)(^s of the now liinitc'd and unequal measure and distriljutit)n of tlie Spirit. The manner and effects of his agency are set forth under three forms, each having its own significance : 1. Inasmuch as the rains of heaven arc the great source of life and refreshment to the earth and vegetation, tlie coming of the Spirit and his efficiency as a life-giving and sanctifying power sent down from heaven are expressedyby Avater, shed down, poured, or sprinkled, as the rain de- scends. Says God to Israel: '* I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine off*- spring." — Isa. xliv, 3. The Psalmist says of the graces of the Spirit to be bestowed by Mcssiali, " He shall come down like rain upon tlie mown grass" (the stubble, after mowing) ''as showers that water the earth." — Psalm Ixxii, G. Of this we shall see more hereafter. 2. The act of faith by wliich the believer seeks and re- ceives more and more of the indwelling Spirit is symbol- ized by thirsting and drinking of living water. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." — Isa. Iv, 1. " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. . . . This he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive." — John vii, 37-39. "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." — Pev. xxii, 17. The intimate relation which this figure sustains, responsive to the one jireceding, is illustrated by the expression wherein God describes the land of promise: "A land of hills and valleys, and c/ri»/:- eth water of the rain of heaven. A land which the Lord thy God careth for."— Deut. xi, 11, 12. With this, com- pare the language of Paul : "The earth which drinlrth in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing of God ; but that which bearcth thorns and briars is re- jected and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be 36 BAPTISM AT SINAI. [Part I. burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better tbings of you." — Heb. vi, 7-9. The figure is further illustrated iu the sublime description given by Ezekiel of the destruction of Assyria, in which he speaks of " the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drhik water!' ^^^ so grow and flourish, (Ezek. xxxi, 16.) 3. The duty of the penitent to yield himself with dili- gent obedience to the sanctifying power and grace of the Holy Spirit, to put away sin and follow after holiness, is enjoined under the figure of washing himself with water. "Wash ye; make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; learn to to well." — Isa. i, 16, 17. "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved." — Jer. iv, 14. So, James cries, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." — Jas. iv, 8. In the rite of self-washing, to which these last passages refer, the pure water still symbolized the Holy Spirit given by Jesus Christ; whilst the washing expressed the privilege and duty of God's people conforming their lives to the law of holiness, and exercising the graces Avhich the Spirit gives. Seo. VI I. J Tin: ABRAUAMIC COVENANT. ol Part II. THE VISIBLE CHURCH. Section VII. — The Abrahamic Covenant. THE interest attaching to the Sinai baptism is greatly enhanced by its immediate and intimate relation to us. The covenant then sealed is the fundamental and per- petual charter of the visible church. The transaction by "svhich it was established Avas the inauguration of that church. It was the espousal of the bride of Christ, whose betrothal took place in the covenant with Abraham. So it is expressly and repeatedly stated by the Spirit of God in the prophets. (See Jer. ii, 1, 2; Ezek. xvi, 3-14; xxiii ; Hos. ii, 2, 15, 16.) It is true that this is controverted. It is asserted that the relations established by the covenants between God and Israel were secular and political, not spiritual ; that the blessings therein secured Avere temporal ; that they conveyed nothing but a guarantee that Israel should become a numerous and powerful nation, that God would be tlieir j^olitical king, the Head of their common- wealth, and that the land of Palestine sliould be their possession and home. How utterly at variance with the teachings of God's AVord are these assertions a brief anal- ysis of the record will prove. Tlie covenant of Sinai was the culmination of a series of transactions which began with the calling of Abrani from Ur of the Chaldces. " The Lord had said unto Aljram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee; an, passing between the })icces. (Vs. 8, 9, 17, IS.) 5. It was an express provision of the covenant thus rati tied that, so far as it concerned the seed of Abram, its realization was to be held in abeyance four hinidred years. (Vs. 13-16.) It was the betrothal, of wliich the marriage consummation could only take place when the long-suffer- ing of God toward the nations was exhausted and the in- {(piity of the Amorites was full. About fifteen years afterward God was pleased to ap- pear again to the patriarch, to renew the covenant, and to confirm it with a new seal. (Gen. xvii, 1-21.) Of this edition of the covenant the principal provisions WTre : (1) That he should be a father of many nations. (2) That Canaan should be, to him and his seed, an everlast- ing possession. (3) That God woidd be a God to him and to his seed after him. By the first of these prom- ises, as Paul assures us, Abraham was made the heir of the world, and the father of all believers; of the go.spel day, as well as before it; of the Gentile nations, as well as of Israel. (Rom. iv, 11-18; Gal. iii, 7-9, 14.) Hence the name given him of God, in confirmation of this promise (Gen. xvii, 5), Abraham, ** Father of a multitude," Father of the church of Christ. But the cen- tral fact of this transaction remains. The covenant was epitomized in one brief word: "I will establish my cove- nant between me and thee and thy seed after thee, in their crenerations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." — v. 7. 40 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Part II. 1. The covenant thus set forth is " an everlasting cov- enant ;" no lapse of time can alter or abrogate its terms. 2. By it the Godhead assumed toward Abraham and his seed relations peculiar, exclusive, and of boundless grace. God, even the infinite and almighty God, can do no more than to give himself. Christian can conceive n6 more, and the most blessed of all heaven's ransomed host will know and enjoy no more than this, which was first assured to Abram, in those words, " Fear not ; I am tliy shield, and thy exceeding great reward ;" and is now con- centrated into that one word, " Thy God." What can there be, not spiritual, in a covenant thus summed? And w^hat spiritual gift or blessing is not coraj^rehended in it? But this is not all. AVhilst Paul testifies that all who be- lieve are the seed of Abraham, and heirs with him of the promises, he also declares that Christ Avas the seed to whom distinctively and on behalf of his people they v.'ere ad- dressed : ' • To Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds as of many, but as of one: And to thy seed, wdiich is Christ." — Gal. iii, 16. It thus appears that the promises in question were addressed immediately to the Lord Jesus, and they indicate all the intimacy and grace of his relation to the Father, — the re- lation which he claimed, when, from the cross, he appealed to the Father by that title: ''My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me ?" It follows, that the title of others to this promise is mediate only: ''As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. . . . And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." — lb. 27-29. It was with a view to this relation of the covenant to the Lord Jesus, that circumcision was appointed as a seal of it. In that rite was signified satisfaction to justice through the blood of the promised Seed, and the crucify- ing of our old man with him, to the putting off and de- 8kc. VII.] THE AliRAJIAMIC COl'I-lXAXT. 41 Btroying of tho body of the flesh. (Dent, x, 10; Jer. iv, 4; kom. vi, 6; cJl. ii, 11, 12.) Upon occasion of the ofiering of Isaac, the covenant was again confirmed to Abraliani in promises which do not mention Canaan, l)nt are summed in the intensive assur- ances: "In l)lessing I will hless thee, and in mnltiplying I will multiply tliy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore, and thy seed shall jiossess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."— Gen. xxii, lG-18. What seed it was to whom these promises were made, we have seen before. The assurance to him of triumph over his ene- mies renews the pledge made to Eve, through the curse upon the serpent, " Iler seed shall bruise thy head." — Gen. iii, 15. Of the same thing, the Spirit in Isaiah says. " Therefore will 1 divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath ])oured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors." — Isa. liii, 12. Of it, Paul says: "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet."— 1 Cor. xv, 25. The covenant thus interpreted, was confirmed to Abra- liani with an oath (v. 16), of which Paul says: "AVhcrein ( Jod, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that, by two immutable things, in which it was iiiiiwssible for God to lie, we might have a strong consola- tion who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. AVhich hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the forerunner is for us ent(>red, even Jesus." — Ileb. vi, 17-20. Here, again, it ap})ears that the covenant with Abraham comprehended in its terms the very highest hopes which Christ's blood has pur- chascil, — which he, in heaven, as his jK'o))le*s forerunner, 4 42 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Paut II. uow possesses, and wliicli with him they shall finally share ; and that the oath hy which it was confirmed contemplated these very things, and was designed to perfect the faith and confidence of his people, in the gospel day, as well as of the patriarchs and saints of old. It is thus manifest that while the Abrahamic covenant did undoubtedly convey to Abraham and his seed after the flesh many and precious temporal blessings, it was at the same time an embodiment of the very terms of the cove- nant between God and his Christ; that its provisions of grace to man are bestowed wholly in Christ ; and that it is, therefore, exclusive and everlasting. There can be no reconciliation between God and man, but upon the terms of this covenant. There can, therefore, be no people of God, no true church of Christ, but of those who accept and are embraced in, and built upon, that alone founda- tion, 'Hhe everlasting covenant" made with Abraham. Section VIII. — Tlie Conditions of the Sinai Covenant. At length, the four hundred years were past. The pro- bation of the apostate nations was finished. The iniquity of the Amorites w^as full. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, and sent Moses into Egypt, saying to him: "I am Jehovah. And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty ; but by my name, Jehovah, Avas I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Where- fore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I Avill bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyp- tians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm and with great judg- ments ; and I will take you to me for a people, and I will Sec. VIII.] COXniT/ONS OF S/NAI COVENANT. 43 1)0 to you a G«>(1 ; and yc shall know that I am the Lord your God, which l)rinn;eth you out from uudur tiic hurdeus of the Egyptians. And I will hring you iu unto the laud, t'oncerning wiiich 1 did swear to give it to Ahraliam, to Isaac, and to Jacob." — Ex. vi, 2-8. Iu this initial com- munication we have the key to the Sinai covenant, and to all God's subsequent dealings with Israel. In it three things are specially observable. (1.) The Abrahamic covenant is designated, "my covenant," in accordance with what we have already seen as to the nature of that cove- nant, as exclnsive and everlasting. (2.) Its scope is stated in those all-embracing terms, "I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God." (3.) The possessiou of the earthly Cauaau is s})ecified as a minor particular, under this comprehensive pledge. With all this the Sinai covenant was in accord. Its conditional terms we have seen, as propounded through IMoses. "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel : Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself Now, therefore, if ye ivill obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant." — Ex. xix, 3-5. The " voice" which they were to obey they heard on tlie next day, when God spake to them the words of the law, from the midst of the smoke and flame. Of it jMoses afterward reminded the people: " Ye came near and stood under the mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire : ye heard the ^voice of the words, but saw no similitude, only a voice. And he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone." — Deut. iv, 11-13. Very great emphasis attaches to the Ten Commandments, in their relation as thus the fundamental law of the covenant. The first overture hav- 44 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Part II. ing been addressed to Israel, in the terms, " If ye will obey my voice," and by them accepted, the next day that voice was heard uttering those commandments. Again the people are called upon, and again respond in pledge of obedience. Moses then wrote in " the book of the cov- enant" all these words of the Lord, and read them in the audience of the people. And it was not till again they promised obedience to the terms thus set before them that the covenant was ratified, as we have seen. The Ten Commandments were then, by the finger of God, engraved on the two tables of stone, which were thence known as " the tables of the covenant." These w^ere placed in " the ark of the covenant," which w^as in the holy of holies, in " the tabernacle of the covenant." Both of these derived their names and significance from these tables, which were the very center of the whole system of religion and wor- ship connected with the tabernacle. The lid of the ark which covered these tables was the golden mercy-seat, wdth its cherubim of gold, between which stood the pillar of glory, the Shechinah, overshadowing the mercy-seat. It thus typified God's throne of grace immovably based upon the firm foundation of his eternal law — mercy to man only possible on condition of satisfaction to that law. There- fore, when remembrance of sins was made every year (Heb. X, 3), it was by the sprinkling of blood upon the mercy-seat and \\\^ ark of the covenant. (lb. ix, 7.) A proper regard to the fact that the moral law was thus the fundamental condition of the covenant, while the ritual law was no part of it, but a later system of testimony, would have prevented much perplexing and erroneous speculation on the subject. But the covenant had a second condition, "If ye wall A^eep imj cmenanty This second clause is implied in the first. But it is none the less important and significant, as being a categorical statement of the nature of the obedi- ence required. We have already pointed out the fact that Skc. IX.] PR OAf/SES OF SINA/ COVENANT. 45 hv ''mil covenant" was meant the covenant witli Almiliain, so interpreted by God hinitJelf in his first coinniunicatiou to Israel in Egypt. The covenant thus defined had hut one condition and two pr(>niises. The })roniises were, to bring them out of the bonchige of Egypt and give them tlie land of Canaan, and to be to tliem a God. Tiie condition was, that Israel, in turn, would surrender themselves to be for a people to God. (Ex. vi, 7.) This condition is the only thing that can be meant by the plirase, " li' ye will keep my covenant." It was the only duty laid upon them by that covenant. We thus find the two funda- mental conditi(ms of the Sinai covenant to have been in the terms, *' If ye will obey my voice indeed" — the voice that spake in the Ten Commandments — and, " If ye will keep my covenant," to be a willing people unto me, and cleave to me as your God. Such was the foundation-stone on which the church was built. Section IX. — The Pronme^ of the Sinai Covenant. As were the conditions of the covenant, so were its promises altogether and eminently spiritual. 1. " Ye shall be unto me a peculiar treasure above all people; for all the earth is mine." A treasin-e is a j)rop- erty, valuable, highly ])rized, and cherished. It is riches to the owner; his enjoyments largely depend thereon; and over it he therefore exercises a watchful guardianship. Such was the relation which, by the covenant, God con- ferred on Israel. The expression is strengthened by the qualifying {idjective, " peculiar," which means, special and exclusive. "My own .^^pecial treasure." AVhat was thus implied may be gathered from a single Scri})ture. Says the Lord, by Malachi : "Then they that feared the Loronl, and that thought uj^oii his name. And tiiev shall be nunc, saitli the Lord of 46 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Part II. hosts, in that day wheu I make up my jewels" ("my pe- culiar treasures." The word iu the original is the same), "and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own sou that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern be- tween the righteous and the Vvicked ; between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." — Mai. iii. 16-18. By this clause, Israel became the object of God's assiduous watchfulness and constant care as his own j^e- culiar treasure of price. 2. The parenthetic clause, " For all the earth is mine," is of singular interest. The covenant with Abra- ham conveyed the assurance that in him should "all the families of the earth be blessed." The clause inserted in the Sinai overture was a reminder to Israel of that fact, to certify them and the world that the purpose concerning the latter was unchanged, that the peculiar relation now assumed toward Israel w^as not incongruous to it; that, on the contrary, whilst Israel was first, it was not alone in the obligations and promises of the covenant. "Ail the earth is mine;" and the claim wiiich, in such a transac- tion, God thus makes he will surely vindicate, in his OAvn good time, by taking his own to himself, bringing them, also, Avithin the pale of his covenant, and gathering from them a revenue of praise and glory. 3. "A kingdom of priests." Israel's acceptance of the first condition of the covenant, " If ye will obey my voice," erected them into a kingdom, of which God was the alone sovereign, — the kingdom of God. This promise defines the character and function of that kingdom, — "a kingdom of priests;" or, rather, "a priest -kingdom." Israel was thus ordained to the exalted ofiice of intercessory mediation for the world, and of testimony to it on God's behalf Had ten righteous men been found in the cities of the plain, they would have been spared, for the sake of those ten. (Gen. xviii, 32.) Tlie angels of destruction could do noth- ing to Sodom until Lot departed out of it. (lb. xix, 22.) Skc. IX.] PRO.\f/SES OF SIXAI COyiiN.iA'T. 47 Had oue righteous nuiu bccu found in Jerusalem in tho days (.)f Jeremiah, the eity would have been spared for the sake of that one. (Jer. v, 1.) Aaron the priest, with his golden censer — a ty^K^ of the prayers of the saints (liev. V, 8 ; viii, 3) — standing between the living and the dead, stayed the plague in the cam^^ of Israel. (Num. xvi, 46-48.) 80, Israel it:?clf was now ordained a mediating j)riest, to stand for the time then present, between the living and tlie dead of the nations, in the ordinances at the sanctu- ary, uplifting a censer of intercession which stayed the sword of justice that was ready to destroy them; and ap- })ointed to become at length the agent of the world's salva- tion, through atonement made by one of their nation, and the gospel sent forth from Jerusalem to all the world, by the preaching of Israel's sons. Thus was it a priest-king- dom, set apart and sanctified of God, to be for salvation to all the ends of the earth. This priestly consecration of Israel, moreover, consti- tuted her a witness on behalf of God among the nations. It was the lighting of a lamp to shine amid the darkness of the world. The office to which she was thus ordained was not yet aggressive ; for the times of the Gentiles were not come. Yet was hers none the less a public and active testiniDny, which, if they would, the Gentiles could hear, a g().«pel light which did, in fact, j-jenetrate far into the darkness, and prepared the nations for the coming of Christ and the gospel day. For the time being, it was the office of Israel to cherish the light, by keeping the oracles and maintaining the ordinances of God's worship, and transmitting them to their children, until the fullness of time. 4. " A holy nation." The word *' holy" primarily desig- nates the completeness and symmetry of the moral perfec- tions of God. From hence, it is transferred to those attri- butes in the intclligc^it cn-atures which are in llu' likeness of GcmI's holiness. And, as the distinguishing characteristic 48 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Part IL of holiness in a creature is surrender and consecration to God, tlie word is used to designate all such things as are his by peculiar dedication to his service. Thus, the altar, the tabernacle, and all the vessels and things pertaining thereto, were holy. So the tithe of the land, of the flocks, and of the herds, was holy ; and the firstborn of men and of beasts. (Lev. xxvii, 30, 32 ; Luke ii, 23.) In this sense of accepted consecration, and of appropriation to him- self, God here puts upon Israel the designation of " a holy nation." Henceforth, they wxre so named, and the obliga- tion implied therein constantly insisted upon, as demand- ing from them real separation to God, and holiness of heart and life. Says the Lord: ''Ye shall be holy men unto me, neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field." — Ex. xxii, 31. Moses exhorts them to abhor and destroy the idols of the land, " For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God ; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. . . . Thou shalt, therefore, keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which I command thee this day to do them." — Deut. vii, 6-11. From this article of the cove- nant, the New Testament designation of the members of the visible church is derived. Says Peter, "Ye are a cliosen generation, a royal priesthood, a liohj nation, a pecu- liar people." — 1 Peter, ii, 9. Hence, the name of " saints," or, "holy ones," Avhich, familiar in the Psalms, is con- stantly used in the epistles, as the distinctive title of the members of the New Testament Church. Thus it appears that in all the provisions of the cove- nant earthly and temporal blessings are not once alluded to. Tliat clause of the Abrahamic covenant which con- cerned the possession of Canaan was, indeed, referred to at Sinai, and Israel was assured of its fulfillment. (Ex. xxiii, 23.) But it was then, and ever after, spoken of and treated as already and finally settled by the promise made Skp. X.] ITS IXAUaUh\iTIOX. 49 to Abraham. (Ex. vi, '>-8; Deut. vii, 7-9; ix, 5, G; Psalm cv, 8-11.) Moreover, the bestowal of Canaan "svas in no sen.*«c a secular transaction. Not only as a type of the better country was it desii^ned and calculated to awaken and stimulate heavenly aspirations. (Heb. xi, 8-16.) But, like the fastn(^sses of the Alj)s, for centuries the retreat and home of the gospel among the martyr Waldenses, Ca- n: in, planted in the very center of the old world-empires, n.id upon the mid line of march of the world's great history, was chosen and prepared of God as a fortress of security entrenched for Israel's protection, in the midst of the apos- tate and hostile nations, while tending and nourishing the beacon fire of gospel light which glowed on ]\Iount Zion, and shed its beams afar into the gloom of thick darkness which enshrouded the world. As such, it was assured to Abraham's seed by the covenant with liim and the seal set in their flesh. Section X. — The Visible Church was thus established. The Sinai covenant gave origin to the visible church of God. By the visible church, I mean that society among men which God has called and taken into covenant and communion with himself, and ordained to be his witness to the world. Two points are essentially involved in the definition. The first is the relation to God established by the terms — "I will take you to me for a i)eople ; and I will be to you a God." The second is the office to which the church is thus called and ordained, to be God's wit- ness, testifying on his behalf against the world's aposta.«y. Such is Peter's declaration, quoting the terms of the Sinai covenant, and applying them to the New Testament church: *' Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the j>rabies of him who hath called you out of darkness into liis marvelous li;:ht ; wliich in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.'' — 1 Peter ii, 9, 10. This 50 THE VISIBLE CHURCH, [Part II. privilege of communion, and this office of testimony were implied and involved in the whole covenant, and all its terms; but especially indicated by that expression, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation." It is the privilege of priests to draw nigh to God, and their office to testify on God's behalf to men. The manner and meaning of the designation by which, throughout the Greek Scriptures of the Old Testament and of the New, the body thus constituted is known as the elcklesia, the church, is worthy of special notice in this con- nection. The fact of God having met with Israel at Sinai, and communed with them in an audible voice, is referred to by Moses and emphasized as being a signal demonstration of relations established of extraordinary in- timacy. " What nation is there so great which hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God in all things that we call upon him for ? . . . Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart, all the days of thy life ; but teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons, specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me. Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. . . . And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire ; ye heard the voice of the AVords, but saw no similitude ; only ye heard a voice." — Deut. iv, 7-13. Again, he says: "Ask now of the days that are past, which were befi)re thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such a thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it. Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another Skc. X.] /TS /X.irc L/ RATION. 51 nation, 1)V temptation?, l)v siirns, and by wonders, and by Avar, and by a niiixlity liand, and by ii stretched ont arm, and by irrcat terrors, according to all tliat the Lord thy (iod did tor yoii in Egy})t before your eyes? Unto thee it was showed, that thou mii,ditest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him." — lb. iv, 32-35. The presence of God with Israel, thus impressively manifested, was not casual or transient. The fires and the terrors of Sinai were indeed withdrawn. But the tabernacle of testimony was erected, and the sliechinah there revealed for the express purpose of being a testimony to Israel that God was with them dwelling iu their midst. Of the services to be there established, he directed Moses that there should be "a continual burnt-offering through- out your generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will meet you to si)eak tliere unto thee. And there will I meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle" (or rather, as the margin, ** Israel") "shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God."— Ex. xxix, 42-46. Thus the gathering of Israel at Sinai was not a mere congregation or assembling of the people to each other, but a meeting with God ; and this fact is very remarkably indicated in the Septuagint Greek. In the description of the Sinai scene, given in Dent, iv, in that version, the tenth verse stands thus: **The day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb {te hemera tes ekklesias), in the day of the assembly, when the Lord said to rae (Ekkle- siason pros me), At<.icnible to me the people." Previous to that occasion the word ekhli!.4a is not found in the Greek Scriptures. That day wa>, by Moses, lKil)itually >, of Membership in the Church of Israel. With some shght circumstantial differences, having ref- erence to the difierence iu the office of the church under the two dispensations, the conditions of membership were essentially the same as propounded at Sinai and as pre- scribed under the gospel. While the spiritual blessings of the covenant Avere from the beginning conditioned upon true faith and loving obedience, the privilege of member- ship in the visible church was at Sinai bestowed upon those, with their households, Avho made credible profession of these graces, and upon them only. On " the day of the assembly," all the people professed to lake God for their God, and to devote themselves to him as his believing Skc. XI.] TE/^AfS OF MEMBERSHIP. 57 aiul obcdkiit jn'ople. And us ou tlu* diiys of Peutccost, so on tlii.s occasion, the proi'cssion was a('coj)te(l, and tlicir admission was scaled witli baptism ; altliou^di doubtless, in l)oth cases, there were false prolcssors included with tlie true. With certain exceptions, ordained for special reasons (Deut. xxiii, 1-(S), the conditions of membership were the same for the Gentile world as for Israel. The law was explicit and most emphatic on this point. "One ordinance shall be both for yoik of the congregation and also for the stranger that sojourueth with you, au ordinance forever in your generations : as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourueth with you." — Num. xv, 14- 16, and 29 ; and see ix, 14 ; xix, 10 ; Ex. xii, 43-49 ; Deut. xxxi, 12; Josh, viii, 33, etc. For eliminating unw(jrthy members, the means provided in the Sinai ordinances were as abundant as those now en- joyed by the church, and w\)uld seem to have been as well adapted to the effectual securing of the end proposed. They come under three heads. (1.) Certain offenses were visited with the penalty of death or of utter separation from the communion of Israel. (Ex. xxxi, 14 ; Num. ix, 13, etc.) (2.) The expenses incident to a faithful perform- ance of the duties required of members of the church of Israel were large and continual. Firstfruits, firstlings, and tithes, trespass offerings, sin offerings, freewill offerings, and other oblations, made up an aggregate which can not have fallen short of one-fifth of all the income of Israel, and pr(i])ably went far beyond that amount. The law pro- vided none but moral means for enforcing these require- ments ; and numerous facts in the history of Israel show- that by many they were entirely neglected. (Neh. xiii, 10-13; :\Ial. iii, 8-10.) Those whC) thus withheld what belonged to the Lord were self-excluded from the fellow- ship of the covenant society, and were "cut off from the congregation (ekkltsia from the church) of the Lord." (3.) 58 THE VISIBLE CHURCH. [Part II. The irksome aud hiimiliatiug nature of the regulations con- cerning uncleauness and purifying were very efficient means of separating between tiie believing and the pro- fane. As we shall presently see, occasions of uncleanness were of almost daily occurrence in every house. These required a conscientious watchfulness and assiduity, in guarding against defilement, and in using the appointed rites of purifying, which often involved the interruption and expense of journeys to the sanctuary and offerings there. The communion of the church of Israel thus consisted of those only, with their families, who added to the obliga- tions of a public profession of faith, a fidelity to all the requirements of the law, its moral precepts, its ritual ob- servances, its tithes and offerings, its rites of purifying and its annual feasts. In a word, the account given of Zacha- rias and Elizabeth describes the character required, in order to fellowship in the church of Israel: "Righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." — ^Luke i, 6. Such, and such only, were the clean, to whom the privileges of Israel's com- munion belonged. To them they were certified by the seal of baptism. Section XII. — Circumcision and Baptism. It is commonly assumed that baptism has come into the place and office of circumcision. This I conceive to be a mistaken view, which involves the whole subject in confusion. Circumcision is the distinctive and peculiar seal of the Abrahamic covenant. While it is true, that in that covenant, as relating to the terms of salvation, all believ- ers were accounted as seed of Abraham, and heirs of the promises, it is equally true that, by its terms, peculiar blessings unspeakably great were assured to the seed of the patriarch after the flesh. Not only was Christ to come of his flesh ; not only was the church to be for fifteen centu- pKr. XII.] C/RCU.\fC/SIO\ AXD n.lPT/SAf. 69 rics cDUstituted of bis ofispriug, but Paul moreover testifies, tlijit ricber blessings tbaii tbey buve ever yet eujoyed are to be bestowed ou Israel and ou tbe Geutiles tbrougb Israel, in tbe eoniing future: "' H tbe i'all of tbem be tbe riebes of tbe world, and tlie diniiuisbing of tbeni tbe riebes of tbe Ci entiles, bow mueb more tbeir fullness? . . . For if tbe casting away of tbem be tbe reeonclling of tbe world, wbat sball tbe receiving of tbem be but life from tbe dead?" — Rom. xi, 12, 15. Tbis tbe apostle, futbermore, puts upon tbe ground tbat " tbe gifts and calling of God are witb- out repentance." — lb. 29. It was witli a view to tbis re- lation of tbe covenant to Abrabam's natural seed, tbat cir- cumcision was appointed as its seal. Said God: "I will establisb my covenant between me and tbee and tby seed after tbee, hi their generations^ for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto tbee and to tby seed after tbccT" — Gen. xvii, 7. Hence, by circumcision, tbe token of tlie cove- nant was set in tbe flesli of tbe males, tbrougb wbom tbe descent is counted. So long, tberefore, as tbe church was; for tbe divine purposes, restricted to the family of Israel, the rite of circumcision was necessary as a prerequisite condi- tion of admission to its pnvileges, because it was tbe seal of incorporation by birth or ado})tion into that family. But tbis did not constitute admission into tbe church. The Sinai covenant bad its own ba})tismal seal. Tbe church consisted, not of Israel, the circumcised; but only of tbe elean of Israel. Of tbis, baptism was the token and seal. It hence resulted tbat when the restriction was re- moved, and the gospel was given to tbe Gentiles, emanci- pated from the yoke of circumcision, baptism remained unchanged in place or office, tbe original and only seal of actual admission to the fellowshi}) and privileges of the church of God. Of all tbis we shall see more hereafter. 60 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. Part III. ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS=SPRINKLINGS. Section XIII. — Unclean Seven Days. IN the laws of Moses there were two grades of uucleau- ness defined — imcleanness of seven days, and uucleau- ness till the even. The former was a symbol of that essential corruption which is in us by nature, to which are essential the redeeming blood of Christ and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, without which no man can see God in peace. Uncleanness till the even symbolized those casual defilements to which God's rene\ved people are liable by contact with the evil of the world. The ritual, concerning the uncleanness of seven days, was designed to signalize the light in which man's apostate nature, and the deprav- ity and sin thence resulting, appear in the sight of a God of ineffable holiness. To this conception the w^ord unclean was designed to give expression, the intense meaning of which is liable to escape the casual reader of the Scrip- tures. It signified, not the mere external soiling of the living person, but death, corruption, and rottenness within the heart, the fermenting source of pollution poured forth in the outward life. To impress us with a just sense of the exceeding evil of this thing the Spirit employs every variety of figure expressive of deformity and loath- someness. In the primitive faith, of which the book of Job is a record, it is characterized in language which is a key-note to all the Scriptures on the subject. "Behold he putteth no trust in his saints" (his holy angels); "yea, the heavens are not pure in his sight. How much more abom- inable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like Skc. X 1 1 1.] uxcr. r.A.v sr. rnx n.-i vs. 61 Milter." — Job XV, 15, 10. Says tlic Psalmist, **Tlic Lord looked down iVoni lieiiveu upon the eliildren of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. Tliey are all gone aside; they are all together beeome filthy."— Psa. xiv, 3. Here the wonl "fdthy" is in the margin rendered "stiuking." It is the same in the origi- nal as in the above place in Job, and means the offensivc- ness of putrefiiction. David, in his penitential Psalm, indicates his sense of this radical e\il of his nature. *'Wash me thoroughly from mine ini(piity and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Behold I \vas shapcn in ini(juity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold thou desirest truth in the inivard parts- and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be dean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. . . . Create in me a dean heart, O God; and renew a right s})irit within me." — Psa. li, 2-10. Isaiah and other sacred writers represent the same evil by the figures of the vomit and filthiuess of a drunken debauch, and by every kind of abominable and loathsome thing. (Isa. xxviii, 8; Prov. XXX, 12.) By the designation, unclean, the moral deform- ity and offeusiveness of Satan and the "unclean spirits," his angels, are described. And in the accounts of the riches of grace and glory in store for the church, the crowning feature is the exclusion of the unclean. "A highway shall be there, and a way; and it shall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it." — Isa. XXXV, 8. The church is called upon for this cause to exult: "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beaudful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the un- circuracised and the unclean." — lb. lii, 1. And again, John, in the vision of the glory of the new Jerusalem, which crowns and closes his revelation, says of her: "And there shall in nr> wise enter into it any thing that dcfilcth" (lit- erally, "any thing unclean"), "neither whatsoever worketh 62 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. \y kwi IIP, abomination, or maketh a lie; but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." — Kev. xxi, 27. For the purpose of inducing a profound sense of this evil and loathsomeness of sin, as working in the heart, the ordinances respecting the uncleauness of seven days were appointed, each having its own lesson. 1. The birth of a child was the actual propagation, from the parents, of pari in the uncleauness of the apos- tate nature. It was, therefore, attended v>ith natural phe- nomena, and marked by ritual ordinances which character- ized it, and every function connected with it, as unclean and defiling. Emphasis was tlius given to the challenge, " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one." — Job xiv, 4. 2. Kunning issues of all kinds were apj^ropriated as symbols of the corruption of man's nature, festering within, and breaking forth in putrescent streams of depravity and sin in the active life. (Ezek. xvi, 6, 9.) 3. Death is "the wages of sin" (Eom. vi, 23), and physical death is a terrible emblem of its loathsome and accursed nature. And as sin and the curse are diffused to Adam's seed by the very contagion of nature, tliis, their symbol, was ritually endowed with the same contagious character. He that touched the dead was reckoned no longer among the living but the dead. He was, therefore, cast out from the camp, from his family, the sauctuary, and the privileges of the covenant. To them all he was dead. He was unclean. Thus, as the loving and bereaved stood by the couch of death, gazed upon the face and form once blooming in health and beauty, and beheld the sightless and sunken eyes, the ghastly features and cadaverous hue — pledges of corruption begun — while the very air of the chamber seemed to breathe the cry, "Unclean!" as they realized the instinctive recoil which love itself must feel from the very touch of the departed, and felt as Abraham, concern- P i:c . XIII.] UXCL E.I X SE VEX DA VS. 63 iii^j: the beloved Surah, the coustraint to *' bury his dead out of his sigiit," — as, in all this, they knew that these last (offices even must be fulfilled at the expense of defilement ji!iil exelusion from the i)rivileges of God's earthly courts and the soeiety of his people, for seven days, they and all Israel reeeived a lesson of divnic instruction as to the ex- ceedintr sini'uhiess of sin, the wages of which is death, its loathsomeness in God's sight, its contagious diffusion and power, and its curse, to Avliich human speech or angel elo- quence could have added nothing. 4. No less impressive "sverc the ordinances concerning leprosy. The name designated a class of diseases, some of which would appear to have been altogether miraculous in their origin, and peculiar in their symptoms, while others were attributable to natural causes. The disease was pe- culiar for the shocking and loathsome a])pcarance of its victim, its poisoning the blood and pervading the whole body, and its incurable and inevitably deadly nature. It was, therefore, employed by God as, at once, an extraord- inary punishment of sin, and a most fitting symbol of it, as seated in the heart and nature of man, and pervading and corrupting his whole being. (Num. xii, 10 ; 2 Kings v, 27 ; 2 Chr. xxvi, 20.) The leper was accounted as one dead (Num. xii, 12), and, therefore, excluded from his family, from the congregation and ordinances at the sanctuary, and from the very camp of Israel, where the living God walked. { Num. V, 2 ; xii, 14.) Thus, outcast from the abodes of men and the house of God, " the leper in whom the i)lague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall j)ut a covering u})on his up})er lip, and shall cry, Unclean! Un- clean! All the days wherein the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled ; he is unclean ; he sh.all dwell alone; without the camp shall be his habitation." — Lev. xiii, 45, 40. How dreadful the figure thus presented to the senses of Israel, of the loathsomeness of sin in God's sight, and of its ruinous effects upon the sinner ! The person offensive 64 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. with scabs and sores, the rent garments, the uncovered head, the waiKng cry, " Unclean ! Unclean !" v.'hile the ex- clusion from the house of God, and from the abodes of men, and the covered lip, proclaimed to Israel that the spiritual leper, yet in his sins, brings danger to his fellow- men with his very presence, and is an offense and loathing to God, before the eyes of whose purity he may not ven- ture to come, save through the cleansing blood and Spirit of Christ. Hence, the cry of Isaiah, when he beheld the glory of the Lord : "Woe is me ! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And hence, the coal of fire from off the altar of atonement, and the seraph's assurance, " Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." — Isa. vi, 5-7. Thus, every way, under the idea of indwelling defile- ment, was sin and its source in man's corrupted nature held up to Israel as loathsome in itself, propagated to the race and infecting all, defiling in its contact, deadly in its in- dwelling power, and abhorrent to the eyes of God. Four circumstances in the ritual on these defilements are peculiar and characteristic : 1. The first of these exhibits a broad and fundamental contrast between these defilements and those which con- tinued only till the even. The latter, as already intima4ed, presented the conception of an outward soiling of the liv- ing person. But the uncleanness of seven days exhibited the idea, not of surface defilement of the living, but of the loathsomeness and pollution of the dead and decaying car- cass, pouring out its own corruption, and infecting all around with its unclean and abhorrent presence, — a pollu- tion v\^hich no extrinsic or surface vrashiug can ever cleanse. 2. The defilement was for seven days. God's w^ork of creation ended in the rest of the seventh day. That day was hence appropriated as a type of the final rest of Christ Sec. X 1 1 1.] U.\TL KAiW S/i FEX DA \ S. 05 and his people upon the C()ni{)leted work of redemption. Ileuee, the argument oi" Paul : " For he spake of the seventh day on tliis wise, And (Jod ditl rest the seventh day from all his works. And in tliis i)laee again, If tliey shall enter into my rest. There remaineth therefore a rest for the ixiople of God."— Ileb. iv, 4-9. *' A rest:" liter- ally, as in the margin, "a kee[)ing of a Sahhath," or, *' a Sabbatism." But the Sabbath thus reserved for God's jxiople, coincides with. " the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Hence, a seven days' uncleanness was typical of such a corruption of nature as is essential and, therefore, persistent to the end; and the exclusion of the defiled from the camp and the sanctuary signified the sen- tence of the judgment of the last day, when those whose natures are unrenewed, and whose sins are unpnrged will be excluded from the Sabbath of redemption and from the new Jerusalem, and remain finally under the woe of the sec- ond death : "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still. . . . For without are dogs and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever lovetli and maketh a. lie." — Rev. xxii, 11, 15. 3. The defilement was contagious. If the unclean for seven days touched a clean person, the latter was thereby defiled until the even. For, such is the inveteracy of this native corruption of the race that God's people are liable to defilement from every intercourse and contact with the world, — a defilement, however, which they will leave be- hind them when the day of earthly life is ended. There- fore, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." — 2 Cor. vi, 17. 4. This seven days' uncleanness could not be purified without sacjrifieial rites, and water sprinkled by the hand of one that was clean. F<»r nothing but the atoning merits of Christ's one ofiering, and the Spirit of life which he sheds down upon his people, can enter and cleanse our 66 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. defiled nature, and fit us for admission to the presence of God, or for part in the New Jerusalem. All this will more fully appear as Ave proceed to notice the rites of purifying appointed for the several kinds of this uncleanness, re- spectively. Section XIV. — 27ie Baptism of a healed Leper. The rites appointed for the purifying of a healed leper come under two heads, — those administered by the priest, and those performed by the person himself When a leper was healed, he was first inspected by the priest, who went forth to him to ascertain that the healing was real, and the disease eradicated. This being ascertained, the priest took two clean birds, and had one of them killed and its blood caught in an earthen vessel, with running water. He then took the remaining bird, alive, with cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop, and dipped all together in the blood and w^ater; "and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field."— Lev. xiv, 7. The rite which thus ended by the official decree of the priest, "^6 rs dean," completed the purification, properly so called. The man is now clean. The remaining ordi- nances were expressive of duties and privileges proper to one who is cleansed and restored to the commonwealth of Israel, and the communion of God's house. First of these he was required to " Avash his clothes, and shave off* all his hair, and wash himself in Avater, that he may be clean." — lb., vs. 8. He was noAv admitted to the camp, but must not yet enter his own tent, nor come to the tabernacle for seven days. On the seventh day he w^as again required to shave oflT all his hair, wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh ; and ''he shall be clean." — Vs. 9. Now, on the eighth day, he came to the sanctuary, bringing a sacrifice of a trespass ofl^ering, a sin offering, and Sicc. XIV.] BAPTISM OF HEALED LEPER'S. G7 a burnt offering. The rites attendant upon these offerings completed the ceremonial. Thenceforth, the leper resumed all the privileges of a son of Israel, in his family, in the the congregation, and at the sanctuary. The e-eneral signification of these ordinances is evident. The priest, by whom alone the cleansing rites could be administered, was the official representative of our great high-priest, Christ Jesus. The two birds Avere with the priest a complex type of him who offered himself without spot to God, who was dead and is alive for evermore, and by the merits of whose blood and the power of whose Spirit remission of sins and the new hfe of holiness are given to men. The first self-washing symbolized the duty of the redeemed to turn from their old ways and walk in holiness. The continued exchision, for seven days, from his house and the sanctuary was a testimony that for the present w^e are pilgrims and strangers, and that only at the end of earth's trials and purgations can we enter our '* house which is from heaven." The seventh day's wash- ing indicated the final putting off of all evil in the resur- rection ; and the offerings of the eighth represented the way Avhereby, in the regeneration, God's redeemed people shall have access to his presence and communion with him, throuijh the blood of Jesus. We are now able to understand why the cleansing of the healed leper was thus separately ordered, and not in- cluded in the provision which we shall presently see was made, in common, for all other cases of seven days' un- cleanness. The extraordinary and frequently supernatural character of both the disorder and its cure rendered it proper and necessary to take it out of the category of or- dinary uncleannesses, and place it under the immediate jurisdiction of the priests. This was necessary, alike, in order to a judicial determination at first as to the existence of the leprosy, and afterward as to the cure. And the priestly a j/ /.sscz/cs. 7 1 xii, 2, 4, 5.) Tlicy all were incliulcd in one decree of ex- clusiou from the ciimp, except lor nmnil'est reasons — women in childbed. (Num. v, 2.) At the end of the seven days of purifying, when they were clean, offerings were to be made at the sanctuary by the leper, the Nazarite defded by the dead, and all the others, except those purged from the ordinary dcfdcmcnt by the dead. And tlie offerings ■were in each case essentially the same. The lejocr, if able, brought three lambs, one for a trespass-offering, the second for a sin-oflTcring, and the third for a burnt-oflx^ring. If he was poor, he brought one lamb for a trespass-offering, and two young turtles or pigeons, one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-oflTerinf]:". This oflfcrins: of a land) and two turtles was the same that was required of a Nazarite, defded by the dead, after his cleansing. (Num. vi, 10, 12.) The two turtles, or pigeons, "were alone re- quired of those defiled by childbirth, or by issues, one for a sin-ofl?ering, and the other for a burnt-offering. Thus, the only difference in these observances was the trespass- offering which was, for evident reasons, required of the Kazarite and the leper, and of them only. The Xazarite, although by an involuntary act, had trespassed in profaning the head of his consecration. (Num. vi, 9.) As to the leper, his disease seems usually, if not always, to have been a special divine retribution for some specific and aggra- vated oflxinsc, for which, therefore, upon his cleansing, a tresjoass-ofl^ering was required. (Xum. xii, 10 ; 2 Kings v, 27; 2 Chron. xxvi, 19.) 3. The supposition that these defilements all did not call for rites of purifying essentially the same in each case, would involve incongruity and contradiction in the testi- monies uttered by th^m severally. That they all were typical of human depravity in its diflTerent aspects can not be questioned by any one who will candidly studv the Scriptures, and especially the Levitical and prophetic books on the subject. But, ujxm the supposition in question. 72 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. their several representations as to the remedy are irrecon- cilable. For leprosy, and those defiled with the dead, the rites of purifying declare that there is cleansing for man's moral defilement nowhere but in the blood and Spirit of Christ. But the rites for cleansing a man defiled with an issue w^ould proclaim our own w^orks and righteousness all- sufHcient; whilst the silence of the law as to any rites whatever for women^ in any form of issue, would declare no cleansing necessary, but that time and death would purify all. Thus, three several testimonies, each contra- dictory to the others, are incorporated in the ordinances, if complete in those chapters. The key to these difficulties is found in the general character and intent of the law" concerning the water of separation. That law was the latest that was given on the subject of purifyings, and is, therefore, not expressly re- ferred to in the earlier regulations which have been under examination, although the divine Lawgiver intended the later statute to fill up and supplement those wdiich had gone before. Of this there is a very plain indication in the ordinances respecting the Nazarite. "If any man die suddenly by him, and he hath defiled the head of his con- secration, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day shall he shave it." — Num. vi, 9. Here the defiling effect of contact with the dead is not declared, but assumed; although the law to that pur- pose was not yet given. It is left to the subsequent ordi- nance (Num. xix) to prescribe the rites of cleansing, which are here, as in the rules concerning issues, alluded to, but not stated. Those rites might seem to relate only to the case of de- filement by the dead. But among the directions as to them, there is one which is unequivocal and comprehensive. "The man that shall be unclean and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off" from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord ; the Skc. XVI.] B.IPT/SAf /'7C(:>.}f /XSO'/iS. 73 water of soparalion luitli not been sprinkled on liini. lie is unclean." — Xum. xix, 20. Here is no limitation nor exception of any kind. ** The man that is unclean ;" un- clean, from wliatever cause. Of all such, -sve are here cer- tified that no lapse of time ^vill bring cleansiiig. He must be purified before he can be clean. Till that is accom- plished, his presence is a profanation of the sanctuary. It is, moreover, here declared that the one only mode of cleansing for all such was the water of separation, sprinkled according to the law. That this is a true interpretation, is confirmed by the testimony of Philo, of Alexandria, a Jew- ish writer of the highest reputation, contemporary with the apostles. Giving an account of the Levitical law, he dis- tinguishes between defilements of the soul and of the body; by the latter meaning, ritual defilements. Of them, he says, in unrestricted terms, that the water of separation was appointed for purifying from those things by which a body is ritually defiled.* We shall presently see one notable example of this com- prehensive interpretation of the law, in the case of the daughtei-s of Midian. Their need of the rites of purifying did not arise out of any of the categories specified in the laws which we have examined. They were unclean, be- cause they were idolatrous Gentiles (Compare Acts xv, 9) ; and were purified with the water of separation, because that was the general provision made for the unclean. This is further illustrated in the fact that all the spoil taken at the same time was also purified with this same water of separation. (Num. xxxi, 19-24.) A fact remains, which is conclusive of the present point. It is the remarkable name by which the purifying elements are designated. " It shall be kept fi)r the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of (niddd) separation.''* This word, vidda, occurs in the Old Testament twenty-three times. Its radical idea is exclusion, banishment. Hence, * Below p. 175. 74 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Paut III. the name of the land to which Cain was driven. "Cain w^ent out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod," that is, " the land of banishment." — Gen. iv, 16. Under this general idea of exclusion, the particular form, nidda, is appropriated to the separating or putting away of a wife from her husband, and to the uncleannesscs which gave occasion to such separation. And inasmuch as God is the husband of his church, the same word is used to designate those apostasies and sins which separate her from his favor and communion. (Lam. i, 17 ; Ezek. xxxvi, 17, etc.) In the two chapters in Leviticus, which present the law respecting defilement by childbirth and by issues (Lev. xii and xv), the w^ord occurs no less than eleven times. Those who were thus defiled were, nidda, "put apart/' "separated." Six times, in the directions as to the ashes of the red heifer, the water is called "a water of 7iiddaf— Num. xix, 9, 13, 20, 21, 21; xxxi, 23.. Once, again, the word is used in the same way by the prophet Zechariah. (Zech. xiii, 1.) "A fountain for sin and for nidda." Elsewhere it always has distinct reference, literal or figurative, to the causes of separation here indicated; whilst it is worthy of special mention, that it never desig- nates defilement by the dead. The conclusion implied in these facts becomes a demon- stration when we observe that in the figurative language of the prophets, the defilement of nidda is expressly re- ferred to as requiring the sprinkled water of purifying. In Ezekiel (xvi, 1-14) God's gracious dealings with Israel at the beginning are described under the figure of the marriage tie. "I sware unto thee, and entered into a cov- enant with thee, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly w^ashed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee w^ith oil." — vs. 8, 9. " I thoroughly washed away." The verb in the original is shdtaph, which will be critically examined in another place. It signifies such action as of a dashing rain. In Bhc. XVI.] JLiPT/SAf F/^OAf /SSU£S. 75 another place (Ezek, xxxvi, 17-2()), the Lord, under the Bunio iigiire, (h'scrihi's tlie siihs(Mjiu'nt transgressions of Is- rael: "Their way was hrl'ore u\c as nidda." — v. 17. lie- cause of this, God deelarts that he scattered them among the nations. But, says tlie Lord, *' I \\ill take you from among tlie heathen and gather you out of all eoiiiitrics, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I 6}>rinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ; from all your iilthiucss and from all y<>ur idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." — vs. 24-2G. So, says the Spirit by Zechariah : "In that day there shall be a fountain (a flowing sjiriug) opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for siu and for nidila.'" — Zech. xiii, 1. Xiilda, then, signi- fied a defilement for which that fountain was necessarv ; and to imagine the ritual uncleanness of nidda to have been healed without ritual water of purifying, would be to suppose the ordinance to contradict the doctrine of the prophets. From these pas.=ages it appears: (1.) That the defile- ment of nidda was a figure representing the sins and apostasies of Israel, viewed as God's covenant people, his married wife. (2.) That the sprinkling of water is the ordinance divinely chosen to represent the mode of the Spirit's agency in cleansing from these ofl^enses. (3.) That this defilement and the water of nidda were so intimately associated with each other in the usage of Israel as to serve the prophets for a familiar illustration of the gracious purposes of God, indicated in the texts. If the figure of six^ech used by the prophet is the proper (me for illustrat- ing his doctrine in words, the water of nidda sprinkled on the unclean was the appropriate fi)rm by which to express it in ritual action. "When, therefore, in the light of these facts, we read the law that the ashes of the heifer ''shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for 76 ' ADMIMSTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. a water of nidda,'' tlie conclusioD is irresistible, that those defiled with nidda were to be purified with that water. And when to this we add the further declaration coucern- ing " the mau that is unclean," and is not sprinkled with it, and see it illustrated by the case of the Midianite chil- dren, the further conclusion is equally evident that, except the peculiar case of the leper, the water of separation was designed for all classes of seven days' defilement. To all others who were in a state of ritual separation from the communion of Israel, it was essential in order to being restored. Section XVII. — Tlie Baptism of Proselytes. Mairaonides was a learned Spanish Jew of the twelfth century. He wrote large commentaries upon the institu- tions and laws of Israel. Concerning the reception of proselytes, he is quoted as saying: "Circumcision, bap- tism, and a free-will offering, were required of any Gentile who desired to enter into the covenant, to take refuge un- der the wings of the divine majesty, and assume the yoke of the law; but if it was a woman, baptism and an offer- ing were required, as Ave read, ' One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.' — Num. XV, 16. But what was the law 'for you'? The covenant was confirmed by circumcision and baptism and free-will offerings. So v>'as it confirmed with the stranger, with these three. But now^, that no oblations are made [the temple being destroyed], circumcision and baptism are required. But after the temple shall have been restored, then also it will be necessary that an offering be made. A stranger who is circumcised and not baptized, or baptized and not circumcised, is not called a proselyte till both are performed."'-^ Various similar statements are frequently quoted from the same writer, and from the *Maimonides, Issure Biah, Perek 13, in Lightfoot, Harmo- nia Evang. in Joan i, 25. Skc. XVII.] BAPTISM OF PR'OSKLV/rs. <7 Tiiliiiiul Kospectiiig them the following; jxiinis tire to be noticed : 1. The Hebrew word which is used by Maiiiionides and the Tahiiudic writers, and is here trunshited, to ba})tize, is tahcd, a word whicii in the books of Moses is never used to designate rites of jjurifying of any kind. 2. The tabaluigs, or Talniudic baptisms, were self-per- formed, and not the act of an official administrator. The recei)tion of the person must be sanctioned by the con- sistory or eldership of a synagogue, and attested by the presence of three witnesses. But it was ijerformed by the person's own act. Being disrobed, and standing in the water, he was instructed by a scribe in certain j)recepts of the law. Having heard these, he plunged himself under the water; and as he came up again, "Behold he is an Israelite in all things." If it was a woman, she was attended by women, while the scribes stood apart and read the precepts: "And as she pluugeth herself, they turn away their faces, and go out, when she comes out of the water." =i^ It is perfectly evident that the rite thus de- scribed is wholly foreign to any thing to be found in the Mosaic law, and that it belonged to the category of self- washings, and not to that of the sacrament, in which an official administrator was essential to the validity of the rite. 8. This baptism is an invention of the scribes, of post Biblical origin. Our sources of information are (1) the Scriptures and Apocrypha ; (2) the writings of Philo and Josephus, authors, the former of whom was contemporary with Christ, and the latter with the destruction of Jerusa- lem, both of whom wrote largely of the institutions and history of the J^ws ; (3) the Targums of Onkelos and of Jonathan; (4) the Mishna ; (5) the Gemaras. The Targums are Aramaic versions of the Old Testament. The Jews, at the return from the Babylonish captivity, had lost the knowledge of the Hebrew language. It was, * Maimonides, as above, in Lightfoot, on John iii, 23. 78 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. therefore, necessary that the public reading of the Scrip- tures should be accompanied with a translation into the Aramaic dialect, which they now used. (Neh. viii, 2-8.) The translations thus given were, no doubt, at first extem- poraneous and somewhat variable. But they gradually assumed fixed forms, more or less accurate, as they received the impress of ditierent schools of interpreters. At first transmitted orally, they were at length committed to writ- ing, the Targum of Onkelos soon after the end of the second century, and that of Jonathan a century later. The former, as a rule, keeps closely to the text. The Targum of Jonathan indulges more in paraphrase. The Mishna is the text of the Oral law, the traditions of the scribes. It was reduced to writing by Rabbi Judah Hak- kadosh, about the end of the first century, and is believed to be a faithful exhibit of the traditions of the Jews, as they stood at that time. The two Gemaras, Avitli the Mishna, constitute the Talmud. They are collections of interpretations and commentaries on the Mishna, or oral law, by the most eminent scribes. The Jerusalem or Pal- estinian Gemara was compiled in the third and fourth centuries, and that of Babylonia one or two centuries later. The former represents the great rabbinic seminary at Tiberias, in Galilee ; the latter that of Sora, on the Euphrates.* From these sources of information, the indications are conclusive that Talmudic baptism came into use after the destruction of Jerusalem. We have seen already part of the evidence, which will be more fully developed in the following pages, that no such rite was ordained in the law, observed by Israel, or recognized in the Scriptures. The Apocrypha are equally silent on the subject. The writings "■■• According to Etheridge, the final revision of the Babylo- nian Gemara was completed by Rabbi Jose, president of the rabbinic seminary at Pumbaditha, on the Euphrates, in the year 499 or 500. — Jerusalem and Tiberias, pp. 174-176. Skc. XVII] n.\rT/.SM or PROSELYTES. i\) of Pliili) aiitl Jost'j)hus i;;ii(»n' such a rik-; as (1(» the Tar- \f\\\\\^ aii'l Misliiia. In llu' lalU'r, the \V(»r(l, tdhal, which in CDinmoiily Iraiishited, to dip, is used constantly to (hsi^natc the scU-washings of the law, whicli, as will presently ap- pear, can not have been immersions. In fact, there is sufficient evidence that this word, in addition to its modal sense, was also used to express a washin<,^ or cleansing, irrespective of the manner. That it was so employed to describe the cleansing of Naaman, will hereafter appear. It is not until we come to the Gemara of Babylonia, dating at the close of the fifth century, long after the destruction of Jerusalem and cessation of the temi)le service, that we meet with any distinct account of proselyte immersion. After that it is found everywhere. 4. Whilst it is thus evident that the baptisms of the Talmud are wholly without divine warrant, they arc never- theless valuable as constituting an authentic rabbinic tra- dition that a purifying with water was requisite in the reception of proselytes. A key to the truth on this sul)jcct presents itself in a statement found in the ^lishna. "As to a })roselyte who becomes a proselyte on the eve of the passover" (that is the evening before the day of the pass- over), "the school of Shammai say. Let him receive the ritual bath" (tubal), "and let him eat the passover in the evening, but the disciples of Hillel say, He that sejiarates himself from his uncircumcision is like one who separates himself from a sepulcher."'-' It thus appears that between the two schools of Jewish scribes there was a division on this subject. The one party taught that the uncleanncss of the Gentiles was of such a nature as to require seven days of purifying with the water of nulda, according to the law for one defiled by the dead. The others held them subject to that minor uncleanness which ceased with the close of the day, upon the performance of the pre- scribed self-washing. We shall presently see that the * Tract Pesaciiim, cap. viii, § 8. 80 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. former were correct, according to the explicit testimony of the Scriptures. But here we have a clue to the later history of Jewish practice on the subject. Upon the de- struction of Jerusalem and the termination of the sacri- ficial services there, the rites for purifying with the water of nidda were of necessity pretermitted, as the ashes of the heifer were no longer obtainable. The rabbins were, therefore, induced to substitute the self-washing which the looser school of scribes had already espoused. At what precise time the self-washings of the law became the self-immersions of the Gemaras does not appear. But at the beginning of the Christian era, causes had been already for centuries at work which were abundantly sufficient to account for the change. From the times of the captivities, the vast multitude of Hebrews who never returned, dwell- ing in Babylonia and the farther east, had been exposed to the nifluences arising from the religions of the lands of their dispersion, as embodied in the Zend Avesta and the Shasters, the teachings of Zoroaster and of the Brahmins, and from the related manners and customs and religious rites Avhich have their native seats upon the banks of the Indus and the Ganges. The profoundness of the opera- tion of these influences is seen in the pantheism of the Kabala, traceable as it is to the kindred doctrines of the Zend Avesta and the Vedas.* How conspicuous the place held by self-immersion in the religious customs of the peo- ple of the East, from the earliest ages, every one knows. The Hebrews dwelling among them were not i^estricted by the law to any defined mode of self-washing in fulfilling its requirem.ents. It was, therefore, natural and inevitable for them to adopt the mode which \\as daily practiced before their eyes. The relations between the Jews of "the Dis- persion," and those of Palestine, were of the most intimate "•••"This is clearly shown by Etlieridge, in "Jerusalem and Tiberias." Pp. 339 et seq. The same .thing is largely illustrated in Blavatsky's "Isis Revealed." Skc. XVII.] P.iFTISM OF riWSIiI.YTES. 81 kind, sustained through uttrndance upon th(> annual feasts ftt Jerusalem (Aets ii, J)), and afterwards Ity ('(mlinual cor- respondence and travel, and l)y the intercourse of tlie school at Tiberias witli those of 8ora and I*und)aditlia. If to these facts be addcirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee. Ye must be born again." — John iii, 6, 7. 4. To signalize this native corruption of man and the remedy, the ordinances concerning the defilement of nidda and its cleansing were appointed. In them the new born infant was regarded as the product of overflowing corrup- tion, and as a fountain of defilement to the mother, who thus became unclean, until purified with the water of separation. 5. The child was identified with the mother in this un- cleanness (1) as being its cause in her ; (2) as being sub- ject to her toucli, which Avas defiling to the clean ; and (3) as being bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh, born of her body. 6. In accordance with the doctrine of man's native de- filement, above illustrated, it was characteristic of the law that it recognized none as clean, unless purged by water of sprinkling. The infants at Sinai were so purified and admitted to the covenant, as well as their parents. So it was Avith the daughters of INIidian ; and no other principle was known to the law, — no other practice tolerated by it. *' The man" (the person) "that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut ofi' from amoug the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord : the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him ; ho is unclean." — Num. xix, 20. 7. It is a very remarkable fact, that while we have in the Scriptures but one single example specifically mentioned of the purifying of an infant from this ritual defilement of birth, that example occurs in the person of Him re- Skc. XIX.] BAPTISM OF THE LEVITRS. 85 specting whom the augel said to ^lary, ''That holy thing which shall he horu of thee shall he called the Son of God." — Luke i, 35. lu the same gospel in which is this record, we read, respecting Mary, in the common version, that "when the days of /ler purification, according to the law of i\Ioses, were accomplished, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord." — lb. ii, 22. But it is agreed by critical editors that this is a corrupted reading, which is wholly without authority from any resj^ectable manuscript. Instead of " the days (ciutes) of her purifica- tion," it should read (autdii), " the days of their purifica- tion;" that is, of both mother and child. Beside all the other authorities, the three oldest manuscripts, Sinaiticus, Yaticanus, and Alexandrinus, unite in this reading. How the mothers were purified, we have seen ; and, from these facts, we know the children to have shared with them in the baj)tism. Section XIX. — TJie Baptism of the Levites. The case of the Levites, in their cleansing and conse- cration, was peculiar. They had already enjoyed with the rest of the congregation the purifying rites and sprinkled seal of the Sinai covenant ; and were thus, in the ordinary sense of the Mosaic ritual, clean, and competent to the enjov- ment of the ordinances and privileges of Israel. But when they were set apart to a special nearness to God, in the service of the sanctuary, they were required to undergo additional ceremonies of purifying. Moses was instructed to " take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them to cleanse them. Sprinkle water of purifying upon them ; and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean." They were then to bring two bullocks ; " and the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt oflTer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, unto the SQ ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. Lord, to make an atonement for tlie Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron and before his sous, and oifer them for an offering unto the Lord. Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be mine." — Num. viii, 6-14. Section XX. — T]ie%G all were one Baptism. The baptism of the Levites was official and peculiar. Its analogies to tlie other examples will readily occur to the reader, as we proceed. As to them, there is a common identity in all essential points, in form, meaning, and office. The design of the first administration at Smai, and of all the attendant circumstances, was to impress Israel with a profound and abiding sense of the evil of sin, and of their own utter vileness and ruin as sinners in the pres- ence of a God of infinite power, majesty, and holiness; and to illustrate to them the manner in which grace and sal- vation are given. In accepting that baptism, Israel pro-, fessed to submit themselves to his sovereignty and ac- cept him in the offices of his grace, as symbolized in the baptismal rites. On God's behalf, the transaction was an acceptance and acknowledgment of them as his covenant people. The laws of defilement and the rites of purifying were continual reminders and re-enactiugs of the Sinai transaction, and for the same essential j)urpose, — the re- storing to the fellowship of the covenant of those who came under its forfeiture. In each several case, sacrificial elements — blood or ashes — were applied by sprinkling. In each, those elements were mingled with running water, and the instrument for sprinkling was a bush of hyssop, and in each, scarlet and cedar were used. The meaning of the scarlet, cedar, and hyssop is un- explained in the Scriptures. Expositors have wandered in conjectures, leading to no satisfactory conclusions. One result of their use is manifest. To us, devoid of meaning, they more distinctly mark the essential identity of the Skc. XX.] rill'SE WERE OXE n.lPT/S.^f. 87 rites, in wliicli thoy occupy the same place, and perform the same office. This mny liave been one desii^n of tlieir use. Tlie cssiutinl i-leiility of th<'se rites is altooctlicr con- sistent with the minute variations in their forms. Tlie.sc liad respect to the diversity of circumstances under whicii they were administered. The inferior (Hirnity of a single person, a leper, as compared witli the whole people, ex- plains the acceptance of Limbs or birds for his offerinirs, while bulls and goats were sacrificed for the nation. In the case of ordinary uncleannesses, the circumstances ren- dered special provision necessary. Sacrifice was lawful only at the sanctuary, which was the figure of the one holv place and altar where Christ ministers in heaven. But death and other causes of uncleanness were occurring evervwhere. Tiie ashes of the red heifer were, therefore, provided. They presented sacrificial elements in a form incorruptible and convenient for transportation. Tliey were a most fitting representation of the "incorruptible blood of Christ." And, as the j^roper place of the priests was at the sanctuary, and their presence could not be ex- pected on every occasion of uncleanness elsewhere, it was appointed that any clean person might perform the sprink- ling. This was, in fact, a mere ministerial sequel to the sacrificial rites, performed by the priest, at the burning of the red heifer. The probability of the circumstances, and intimations from the rabbins, lead to the conclusicm that, as the priests multiplied and were released from the neces- sity of constant attendance at the sanctuary, they were commonly called to sprinkle the water of purifying. In fact, the Talmud indicates that in the later times the ad- ministration, when practicable, took place at Jerusalem, by the hands of the priests, with water from the pool of Siloam, which, flowing from beneath the temple, was recognized as a type of the Holy Spirit.* * Compare Ezek. xlvii, 2; Jolm ix, 7. "Go wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, Sent." " 88 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Paut III. The minute variations traceable in these rites only make it the more clear that essentially, in form, meaning, and office, they were one baptism. Section XXI. — THs Symbol was derived from the Rain. We have seen, in the prophecy of Isaiah, the source whence the figure of sprinkling or j^ouring is derived. "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring; and they shall S2:)ring up as among the grass, as Avillows by the water courses." — Isa. xliv, 3, 4. It is the descent of the rain from heaven, penetrating the earth, and converting its deadness into life, abundance, and beauty. Herein the rites in question stand in beautiful contrast with the self-washings of the law. The latter accomplished a surface cleansing, by a process which neither coidd, nor was designed to penetrate the substance, or to affect its essential state or nature. They indicated to God's people the duty of conforming the external life to the grace wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit. But the rite of sprinkling represented the rain of God, sent down from heaven, penetrating the soil, pervading and saturating it, converting its hard, dead, and sterile clods into softness, life, and fertility, and causing the plants and fruits of the earth to spring forth, saturated with the same moisture, and thus possessed and pervaded with the same spirit of life. Thus was typified the work of the Spirit, entering, pervading, and softening the stony heart, converting all its powers and faculties as instruments of holiness to God, and causing the plants of righteousness to spring up and grow in the life and conduct. The two words, sprinJde, and j^our, are used throughout the Scriptures with reference to the same' figure of rain, the only apparent difference being that the word, pour, ex- presses the idea of abundance. No phenomenon of nature Sec. XXL] 'J HE FICURE IS I-'h'OM THE NAIN. 81) is of greater iiiaiiill'^t iniportaiico, or more pervasive and vital in its intliieiiees than the rain of lieaveii, and none more suitable to illustrate the method of graee. The land from whieli the rains are withheld is without fruit, or beauty, or attraetiou. It is given over to barrenness, death, and eursing; and, in the language of the Seriptures, is accounted unclean, as being shut out frojn the favor of God, "whose favor is life. Hence, the word of God, to the prophet, concerning Israel: "Sn.ove cited appear undoubtedly to have had this typical ])rophecy in view. In the design of this ordinance, as a prophecy of the resurrection, we have the reason of its peculiar relation to that particular form of defilement which arose from con- tact with the dead. Although designed as has been seen for the cleansing of other defilements, also, it was ordained in immediate connection with this particular uncleanness, because that is the connection in which this distinctive meaning shines forth most clearly. 10. He that was purified with the water of separation was required to follow it with an act of self-ablution, "On the seventh day, he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even." — Num. xix, 19. It has been asserted that this rule was meant for tlie administrator of the rite. But the exposition afterward given by P^ieazjir, the priest (Num. xxxi, 21-24), shows this to be a mistake. The propriety 102 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. and beauty of the requirement, in the connection, are ap- parent. It was a perpetual monition to Israel that those who have been redeemed with precious blood, and raised up to new life by the Holy Spirit, should walk worthy of their calling, and keep themselves from the evil that is in the world, in the blessed assurance of being freed from all corruption and evil, and made partakers in the perfection of holiness and life, on the great Sabbath day of redemption. This thought was more fully developed in the rites con- cerning the leper. Immediately upon his baptism, he was required to shave his hair, wash his garments and bathe his flesh. The hair and the defilement adhering to the gar- ments and flesh were evident types of the outgrowth and fruits of his leprous life. Of the shaving and cleansing thus appointed, Paul may give the interpretation — "That ye put ofl^ concerning the former conversation, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." — Eph. iv, 22. After this, the meaning of the Hke shaving and washing on the seventh day is apparent. It sets forth the final and complete putting oflT of the old carnal nature, in the resurrection of life, when our bodies themselves also shall be transformed into the likeness of Christ's glorious body, and be reunited to our souls, perfected in holiness. 11. The defilement from the dead, and the purifying use of the water of separation were not only incident to persons ; but the tent or house where the dead lay, and every thing that was in it, became defiled, and must be cleansed by the water of separation, sprinkled on the third day, and on the seventh. (Num. xix, 14, 18; xxxi, 20, 22, 23.) Thus were Israel taught that the curse of sin is on the earth, also, and all that is in it, as well as on man; that, only as sanctified to him through the atonement of Christ, can the productions and possessions of the earth be blessed, and that in the regeneration, the earth and the creatures themselves, also, shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious Uberty of the sons Sec. XXIV.] 'JIIl-l^E 'J ///'l DJl'Ek'S riAPTISAfS. 103 of God, iiiul " lloluic^s to the Lord,'' be written on the very bells of the horses. (Zech. xiv, 20.) " For," siiith the Loril, " behold 1 create new heavens and a new earth." — Isa. Ixv, 17. Thus, all the great truths of the Gospel, were set forth and symbolized in this ordinance, the last, the consummate and crownins: sacrament of the Old Testament. Section XXIV. — These \ueve the Divers Baptisms. That the sprinkled i)urifyings were the theme of Paul's argument is evident : 1. He distributes the whole ritual system under two categories. His statement (Ileb. ix, 8, 9), literally trans- lated, is, that '* the first tabernacle," erected by Moses, was '* (parahole els ton I'alron enestehota) , an illustrative simili- tude, unto the present time (Jcath heii^') in accordance with which (similitude), both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which, as to the conscience, can not perfect the worshipers; depending only on meats and drinks and divers baptisms, — righteousnesses of the flesh, imj^osed until the time of ref- ormation." The word (dlkaiomatd) *' righteousnesses" (from dlkaioSj righteous), is repeatedly so translated in our En- glish version (Rom. ii, 26; v, 18; viii, 4), although in some other places beside the text it is rendered, — '* ordi- nances."— Luke i, 6 ; Heb. ix, 1, 10. The latter rendering, however, fails to develop the true idea of the word, which is, — ordinances imposed, in order to the attaining of righteous- iifi^s by obedience. So it should be in the first verse of this chapter. " Then, verily, the first covenant had also right- eousnesses of worship," (ritual righteousnesses), "and an earthly holy place." By the phrase, " righteousnesses of the flesh," the writer indicates the contrast between the outward ritual risrhteousnesses of the law, — its circumcision *This rcadinc: is attested by codices Vtczve, Alexandriniis, Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and is fully sustained by tlic internal evidence. 104 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. of the flesh, its offerings of bulls and goats, and its wash- ings and sprinklings with material elements, — and '' the circumcision of the heart;" "the offering of Jesus Christ," and " the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost." The ritual observances fulfilled the law of carnal commandments, and were thus righteousnesses of the flesh, and figures of the true, the righteousness of Christ. Paul distributes these observances into the two cate- gories of offerings and purifjings. The law required each sacrifice to be accompanied with a meat offering made of fine flour mingled with oil, and a drink offering of wine. For the altar was God's table, where he as a Father fed and communed with his children. It must, therefore, be furnished with all the provisions of a table. (Kum. xv, 3-5, 7, etc.) Thus, the offerings upon the altar were all comprehended under the two heads of meats (hi^omasi, solid food), and drinks, — nourishments for the body. Paul's other category is, the divers baptisms. These, of neces- sity, are the purifying rites of the Levitical system. For, he describes the w^hole system as including ^' only meats and drinks and divers baptisms;" whereas all were actu- ally comprehended under the two heads of offerings, wliich symbolized atonement made, and purifyings, representing its apphcation, to the purging of sins. That it is of the purifyings that he now speaks, is evident not only from the meaning of baptism, itself, but from the whole tenor of his argument, which is directed exclusively to the two points just indicated, atonement made, and purification accomplished. 2. The baptisms of which the apostle speaks were pur-' ifyings of persons and not of things. Tliey were righteous- nesses of the flesh, upon which men in vain relied for the purging of their consciences, (vs. 9, 14.) 3. There were but two ordinances to which Paul can possibly refer. Except the sprinklings, and the self- Skc. XXIV.] THESE THE DIVERS BAPTISMS. 105 pertorinod Wiishiugs;, there was no rite in the Levitic-iil system in wliich water was used, or to which the name of baptism is, or cuii l)o, attril»iito(l, witli any [)rotensc of rea- son or probal)ility. 4. The self-washings will Ije examined presently. As compared with the sprinklings, they were of minor impor- tance. Separately nsctl only for su])erlieial defilements, they jHirged no essential corruption. They were without sacrifice, administrator, or sacramental meaning. They symbolized no work of Christ, signified no bestowal of grace, and sealed no blessing of the covenant. In all this, they stood in eminent contrast Avith the sprinkled rites. To suppose that Paul, in a discussion which has respect to the cleansing efficacy of Christ's blood and Spirit, and the Levitical types of it, should refer to the minor rite of self- washing, which did not synd)olize those things, and by an exclusive '' onhf reject from place or consideration the sprinklings which did, is absurd ; as it is, moreover, to suppose that, in such an argument, the latter would not, of necessity, have a paramount place and consideration. 5. This conclusion is fully confirmed upon a critical ex- amination of the connection of Paul's argument. The "meats and drinks and divers baptisms" he characterizes as " righteousnesses of the flesh," in confirmation of the assertion just made, that they could not "perfect," or purify the conscience of the worshiper. He then, imme- diately, presents in contrast the atonement of Christ. "They," says he, "depended only on meats and drinks and divers baptisms, righteousnesses of the flesh imposed until the time of reformation. But Christ being come, . . . neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having ob- tained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of hnUi and of qoafs and the nshe.oi of a Imfrr f^prinl-Ung the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ . . . purge your conscience." 106 ADMINISTERED BAPTISMS. [Part III. Thus, in immediate exposition of his statement as to divers baptisms, the apostle specifies the two most conspicuous forms of tlie sprinklings of Sinai, that of the whole peo- ple, upon the making of the covenant, and that adminis- tered with, the w^ater of separation — the one being the original of the ordinance, and the other its ordinary and perpetuated form. For, that there may be no mistake as to his reference, in speaking of the blood of bulls and of goats, he proceeds, a little farther on to describe particu- larly its use in the Sinai baptism : ' ' For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying. This is the blood of the testa- ment (the covenant), which God hath enjoined unto you." — Vs. 19, 20. As we examine Paul's argument throughout the chapter, we find his attention directed, from first to last, to the sprinklings of the law alone, Avhile the self- washings are not once named nor alluded to. This, after- wards, very signally appears in that magnificent contrast of Sinai and Sion, in which he sums up the Avhole argu- ment of the epistle. The crowning feature in the attrac- tions of Sion is "the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things tlian .that of Abel."— Heb. xii, 24. In the presence of it the self-washings are not counted worthy to be named. 6. The manner in which, in the next chapter, self- wasbing is at length introduced is a singular confirmation of the view here taken. So long as the writer is occupied in the argument as to Christ's work of expiation, he makes no allusion to the self-washings. But when he proceeds to urge upon his readers the practical plea which his argu- ment suggests, he does it by referring to the two rites, in the relation to each other which w^e have indicated. ''Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, . . . and having a High Skc. XXIV.] THESE THE Dll'l-.RS liAl'TlSMS. 107 Priest over tlu' lioiiso of (Jod, let us draw iicur witli u (rue lu'art, ill i'lili assuraiifc of I'aitli, liaviiid during which he bore its burden, and fulfilled his atoning work, he himself says : "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is daij; the night Cometh, wheu uo mau cau work."— Jolm ix, 4. Aud on the uight of the betrayal he said to the Father, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." — lb. xvii, 4. It thus appears that a day is a symbol of the period of man's natural life, the period during which the Lord Jesus was under the curse. Hence the typical un- cleanness of the j)riests aud assistants was limited to the even of the day on which it was incurred. It Wiis removeil by self-washing ; for it was by his own power and Spirit that Christ threw ofi' the curse aud rose from the dead. (Kom. viii, 2, 11; John x, 17, 18.) 2. The other class of uncleannesses until the even arose from the more or less intimate contact of the clean with persons or things that were unclean in the higher degree ; or from other causes essentially similar in meaning. De- filements resulting from expiatory rites synd)olized the putative guilt incurred by the Lord Jesus, in making atonement for us; while he ever remained, in him.self, ** holy, harmless, undcfded, separate from sinners." — Heb. vii, 26. But the forms of uncleanness now under exami- nation resulted from contact with things that were typical of the debasement, corruption, and depravity of the world. The uncleanne.ss hence arising signified the spiritual defile- ment to which God's people are liable from contact with evil. Hence, the grades of defilement, consequent upon the closeness and fellowship of the contact, and the nature of the unclcanne.«s with which it took place. These were designed to teach the lesson with which James crowns his 110 RITUAL SELF- WASHINGS. [Part IV. definition of pure religion and undefiled. "To keep him- self unspotted from the world." — James i, 27. The same idea is presented by the beloved John. " We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is be- gotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one" (that " unclean spirit," the representative and source of all moral evil) *' toucheth him not" (to defile him, as would the touch of the leper or the unclean). "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." Literally, — " lieth in that Vvicked one," — in his bosom, and the defilement of his contact and communion. (1 John v, 18, 19.) And, again, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." — 1 John iii, 2, 3. From many such Scriptures, the meaning of these un- cleannesses and of the self- washings is easily gathered. The defilements which they symbolized are not of a radical nature, but extrinsic and superficial. They represented those spiritual defilements, — those soilings of heart and conscience to which God's people are subject through con- tact and intercourse with an ungodly world. It is postu- lated only of those whose hearts have already been quick- ened and sanctified by the blood and Spirit of Christ, " once for all" (Heb. x, 10); and who are "the habitation of God through the Spirit." They do not require a new atonement and renewing of the Spirit, but the exercise of the graces of that Spirit which is already in them. For their cleansing, therefore, no new sacrificial rites nor offi- cial administrator were appointed ; but they were required to wash themselves. This did not j^^'ohibit the employment of any customary assistance in the washing ; as, for exam- ple, that of a servant pouring water on the hands. But such assistance, if employed, w^as merely ministerial, and Skc. XXVI.] GRADATIOX OF SELF-WASn/XCS. Ill not official. The washing, liowovor porioniu'd, was the duty ami act of the subject of it, and therein hiy its sig- nificance. Its hmguage was that of the apostle; "Hav- ing, tljerefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all tilthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfect- ing holiness in the fear of Go. With this conijmre the (U'finition of " })ure religion and unde- filed," — " to ke<'p hiniselt' unspotted from the \vorhl." — .Tas. i, 27. "Tliou luist a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white; for they arc worthy." — Rev. iii, 4. In his visions, John saw tlie souls of them that were slain for tlie word of God, and a great multitude out of every na- tion, *' clothed with white robes." And the angel told him, "These are they tliat have washed tiicir robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." — lb. vi, 11 ; vii, 9, 14. "Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." — lb. xvi, 15. To the bride, the Lamb's wife, it " was granted that she should be arrayed in tine linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." — lb. xix, 8. Literally, " is the righteousnesses of the saints." From these Scriptures, it is evident : that clean or white garments primarily and essentially mean, the right- eousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, in which his people are robed, so that the shame of their spiritual nakedness may not appear (Rev. iii, 18; vii, 14; Phil, iii, 8, 9); that keci)ing them clean, or unspotted, means, the maintain- ing of that watchful holiness of heart and life Avhich is becoming those who have been bought and robed as are Chri.st's people ; and that washing the garments signifies recourse to the blood and Spirit of Christ, as the only and effectual means of making and keeping them free from defilement. 4. In certain cases, the unclean until the even were re- quired to wash their clothes and bathe their flesh. The characteristic examples of this observance, are those who had carried or touched any thing on which one defiled with an issue had sat or lain. (Lev. xv, 5, 6, etc.) A careful examination of this class, in c<>mparis(in with the preceding, 10 114 RITUAL SELF-WASHINGS. [Part IV. proves them to be esseDtially one iu meaning, the difference being mainly if not entirely in degree. The defilement in the present case was aggravated by the fact that its cause was symbolical of man's depravity, breaking out iu active corruption and transgression. On the other hand, the un- clean animals, from which the milder form of this unclean- ness was contracted rej)resented the evil of man's nature, simj^ly as native and indwelling, without the active ele- ment of outbreaking depravity and wickedness. Hence, the difference, in requiring the washing of both the flesh and the garments, was designed to give emphasis to the admonition conveyed; and to teach the additional lesson, that whilst all contact with the ungodly and the world is dangerous to the purity of Christian character, and renders necessary a continual recourse to the sanctifying power and grace of the Holy Spirit; especially is this requisite in case of intimate relations with it, in its active forms of ungodliness and corruption, dissipation and riot. 5. The only other class, to be enumerated under this head, consists of those who, in addition to other rites of purifying, were required to shave off their hair. Such were lepers, in their cleansing (Lev. xiv, 8, 9) ; the Le- vitcs, upon their consecration (Num. viii, 7) ; a Nhzarite, defiled, before the completion of his vow (Num. vi, 9); and a captive woman, chosen as a bride (Deut. xxi, 12). With these may be compared the Nazarite, at the comple- tion of his vow, although this did not belong to the cate- gory of purifying. The Scriptures contain no formal explanation of this requirement. But the nature and cir- cumstances of the cases as compared with each other, and the general principles of typical analogy, indicate the inter- pretation. The hair of the leper, for example, was the product and outgrowth of his leprous state, and must there- fore be put off and repudiated, with his entrance on the the new life of the clean. The same principle applies to all the other cases, except that of the Nazarite, upon the Bkc. XXVII.] THE MODE IMPLIED. 115 completion of his vow. His liair was the prod net of the time during which, l)y the c'«)nsecration of his vow, all be- longed to God. It could not, therefore, be retained, but was shaved otf and offered upon the altar, as holy. (Num. vi, 18.) In the other cases, it was cast away as unclean. Thus, as in all tlie preceding regulations, the same lesson is re|Xiatcd, which is so needful, and to our stupidity, so hard to learn ; — the lesson of putting off the old man and putting on the new. Section XXVII. — J/oJc implied hi the Meaning of the Rite. The instructiveness and utility of types and symbt^ls consist in an appreciable analogy between them and the spiritual things which they are appointed to symbolize. . In the case of the Old Testament self-washings, I suppose it has never entered the imagination of any one that they were tyi:)es of the burial of the Lord Jesus. Of such an interpretation there is not a trace anywhere in the Scriptures. On the contrary, such meaning is there attrib- uted to them that, in order to a sustained analogy, thesuliject of the rite should, by a voluntary and active exercise of his own powers take and apply the water to his members and person, for their cleansing. In this res^^ect, they stand in emphatic contrast with the sprinkled water of purifying. Tliat was designed to concentrate the attention of Israel upon the active agency of the ^lediator, in bestowing the baptism of his blood and S])irit, for the renewing and quickening of dead souls. In it, therefore, the subject was the passive recipient of rites dii=^pensed by the hands of an- other. But the activity of the Christian life and warfiire were symbolized by the self- washings. Christ's grace is given his people, not to sanction supineness and indolence ; but to stimulate to activity in the pursuit of holiness. As the Spirit is now to them an opened fountain, they are to have recourse to it, to seek and obtain, day by day, more grace, for the purging of the flesh, for overcoming the 116 RITUAL SELF- WASHINGS. [Paut IV. world, for bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, for fight- ing the good fight of faith and laying hold on eternal life. This, which comprehends the whole matter of practical religion is urged in the Scriptures, not only by direct and continual admonitions, but in the use of every variety of figures and illustrations. It was the lesson taught, under the figure of self-washing. Pure water is alike adapted to quicken the soil, to quench the thirst, and to cleanse the garments and the person. But, as the water of life will not quench the thirst of the soul, unless we come and drinh, neither will it purge away the defilements of evil, unless "sve take it and apply it, with diligence and labor. "Wash ye ! make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; learn to do well ; seek judgment, relieve the oj^pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." — Isa. i, 16, 17. The Spirit thus clearly indicates that self-washing signified an intense and life- pervasive activity, — an activity applied, in detail, to each particular relation and duty, so as to purge out every prin- ciple of evil, and conform every act to the law of holiness. To correspond with this meaning of the rite, its form should be such as to call forth the active energies of the subject, by the application of the water to the appointed parts and members of the person in detail ; and by such successive manipulation as is proper to secure a thorough cleansing. The ordinary mode of washing, among Israel, as we shall presently see, perfectly met these requirements ; whilst im- mersion would have been wholly inadequate, not to say directly contradictory to them, since it indicates a mere passive recipiency, and not an active appropriation and use of the means of cleansing. Section XXVIII. — The Worch med to designate the Washings. Tlie discriminatiDg use of words on this subject, in the original Scriptures is very noticeable, and is susceptible of Sec. XXVIII.] WOkDS DESIGXAT/.\G 7//R.\r. 117 being bnniirht witliiu the comprelicn.*:i(ni of any intelligent reatler of the English version. There are three whieli are worthy of special notice. 1. 'Shdtaph means, to overflow, or rush over, as a swollen torrent or a heating rain. Thus, — "Behold the Lord hath a mighty au'd strong one, which, as a temi)est of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overfinwing," shall beat down the crown of pride. (Isa. xxviii, 2.) Again, — *'Say unto them which daub with un- tempered mortar that it shall fall ; there shall be an over- flowing shower," beating it down. (P^zek. xiii, 11-14.) From this, the radical meaning of the word, is derived its use to signify the act of washing or rinsing, by means of water dashed or flowed over the object. It is employed in application to ves-^^els of wood and of brass (Lev. vi, 28 ; XV, 12), and to the hands of the unclean. (lb. xv, 11.) In all these places it is translated, to rinse. 2. Kabas. The radical meaning of this verb is, to tread, to trample. The participle from it is used to desig- nate the craft of the fuller, who fulled his goods by tread- ing them with the feet. Hence its use to signify the thorough cleansing and whitening of clothing and stuffs. The word occurs in the Old Testament forty-six times, with this uniform meaning. It is used whenever the ritual washing of clothes is sp(jken of. From it a very strik- ing ligure is derived, which appears twice, to imlicate the nKjst thorough self-cleansing, under the idea of a garment scoured, with "nitre and much soap" (Jer. ii, 22; iv, 14), and twice, to indicate a like thorough cleansing wrought by the Holy Spirit. " Wa-^h me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psa. ]i, 2, 7), white, as a garment is mai)lie(l. When the Lord, ])y I.^aiah, s|H?aks of the time when he "shall liavc waxhcd away the tilth of the daughters of Zion" (Isa. iv, 4), and when the Preacher describes "a generation that are pun^ in their own eyes, and yet is not v'((.plie(l to the surface, so as to de- tach and carry off the dirt. In another place this defini- tion is even more imperatively indicated. "Then (rahatz) washed I thee with water; yea {shdtaph), I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil." — Ezek. xvi, 9. Here three things unite to de- termine the meaning of rahatz. 1. It is explained by shdiaph, the signification of which we have seen. 2. The dofilemeut from which the washing is promised, is that of nidJa, for which expressly the sj)rinkled "water of nidda" was appointed and named. 3. The construction is pre- cisely the same in the two clauses of the verse, " I washed thee ^cith water," and "I anointed thee with oil." Of the mode of the latter there can be no question. In both clauses the element named is the imtnnnent of the action specified. The ideas of washing and of inmiersion are not merely different, but sharply contrasted with each other. "Where there is an immersion, there may also be a washing. But it must be by additional action. Rcdiatz expresses the latter. It neither expresses nor implies the former. Section XXIX. — TJie Mode of Domestic Ablution. The customs of Israel as to personal ablution w^ould, it is evident, decide the manner of these self- washings, in the absence of explicit directions. The indications in their history are very decisive on this point. 1. The patriarchs were kee])ers of cattle, dwelling in 120 RITUAL SELF- WASHINGS. [Part IV. tents. The circumstances of such a mode of life forbid the supposition that they were accustomed to the use of the immersion bath. The possession, the transportation, and the use of the requisite vessels, are Avholly foreign to that mode of life. 2. Facts in the history of the patriarchs confirm the correctness of the inference thus indicated. Although in later ages, after Palestine had been pierced "with wells, water was abundant for all the uses incident to the mode of life of the people, the contrary was true, m earlier times. Surface streams are of rare occurrence. The sub- stratum is a cavernous limestone, into the cavities of which the rains quickly percolate. Hagar and Ishmael were in danger of perishing of thirst, when sent away by Abraham. (Gen. xxi, 15.) Abraham and Isaac relied on digging for water; and the scarcity and value of the element were indicated by the violence with which the other inhabitants of the country seized wells digged by each of those patriarchs. (Gen. xxi, 25; xxvi, 19-22.) These were usually deep, and all the w^ater used for per- sonal washings, as well as for drinking and for culinary uses, must be laboriously drawn and carried by the maidens of the camp. AVe can thus see the bearing of the phrase- ology of Abraham in tendering his hospitality. "Let a liiile ivater, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet." — Gen. xviii, 4. 3. We may safely conclude that Jacob and his family did not take with them into Egypt the hal)it of bathing by immersion. But may they not have acquired it in the land of their bondage? It happens that we have very interesting evidence as to the custom of the Egyptians on this subject. Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, in his splendid work on " The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyp- tians," gives an engraved copy of the only pictorial ilhis- tration on this^ subject found by him among the abundant remains of Egyptian art. It is taken from a tomb in Bkc. XX I X.J CL'srOAfS AS TO Alil.UTlOW 121 Thebes. \\\ it,' a lady is represented with four attendauts. One removes the jewelry and clothes which she has put off; another pours water iVoni a vase over her head : the third rubs her arms and body with open hands; and a fourth, seated near her, holds a llowei- l(t her nose, and supports her, as she sits. "The same subject," says Wilkinson, " is treated nearly in the same manner on some of the CJreek vases, the water being poured over the bather, who kneels or is seated ou the ground."-'- The Greeks were colonists from Egypt, with wliieh country their relations were always intimate. xVud the fact, which will hereafter appear, that this was the oidy mode of domestic or in-door bathing, in use among them, is very significant, as to the customs of Egypt on the jTOint. 4. It is hardly necessary to insist on the utter impossi- bility of the Hebrew bondmen having acquired in Egypt more luxurious habits than those of their Egyptian task- masters,— habits, too, requiring much more expensive appli- ances, such as would be necessary for immersion-bathing. And, when they left Egpyt, *' their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders" (Ex. xii, 34), the supposition that they had with them a suffi- cient supply of bath tubs to serve for the continual immer- sions which, upon the Baptist theory, the Levitical law demanded, does not need to be controverted. In fact, the customary mode of washing, among Israel, as traceable in all their history, was precisely that which we have seen in use among the patriarchs and the Egyptians. It was, with water poured on, and the necessary rubbing by the bather him- self, or by an attendant. This custom was universal in Israel and throughout the east, from the earliest ages. At first, the only utensil used was a pitcher or jar, out of which the water was poured. A case before referred to in the history of Abraham illustrates the circumstances and man- ner of tliis usance. As he sat in his tent door, in the heat * Wilkinson, vol. iii, \^. :i88 ; Abridged edition, ii, 349. 11 122 RITUAL SELF-WASHINGS, [Part IV. of the day, lie saw three meu approach. He rau to salute them, and said, "Let a httle water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree." — Gen. xviii, 1-4. The washing was done in the open air, and the earth received the flowing water. In the same region, the Dead Sea expedition found the same custom among the tent- dwelling Aral)s. On one occasion, "having as usual sub- mitted to be stared at and their arms handed about and inspected, as if they were on muster, water Avas brought and poured upon their hands, from a very equivocal water jar; after which followed the repast."-'^ So long as the simplicity of tent life was maintained, this Avas all-sufficient. But, afterAvard, the couA'enieuce of a boAvl or basin Avas added, Avhich Avas so placed as to catch the AA'ater, as it floAved off, in Avashing, thus preA^enting the Avetting of the floor. The AA'ater, once used, Avas not ap- plied a second time, but rejected, as being defiled. The examples of Bathsheba and Susanna indicate that, in bath- ing the person, even in the later times, the primitive custom still so far surA^A^ed that resort Avas sometimes had to a retired place outside the house ; no doubt because of the inconvenience of flooding the floor Avith the Avater, as it Avas poured OA^er the person. "The History of Susanna," (one of the Apocryphal books), dates as far back as tAvo centu- ries before Christ. The heroine is described as an emi- nently modest and virtuous Avoman. Her husband, Joachim, " Avas a rich man, and had a fair garden adjoining his house." His house Avas a place of resort to the Jews, and the magistrates commonly sat there, to exercise their office. It AA'as Susanna's custom to Avalk in the garden at noon, after the people had left the house. Two of the elders are described as plotting against her. "And it fell out, as they Avatched a fit time, she Avent in as before Avith two maids only, and she Avas desirous to Avash herself in the garden ; for it Avas hot. And there AA'as nobody there save the two * Lynch's Dead Sea Expedition, p. 20G. Skc. XXIX.] Ci'STOMS AS TO A/iLUT/OX. 123 elders, that luul hid theinselvcs iiiid ^vatched lier. Thcu she siiid to her maids, ]^Y\\\\^ ine oil and washing balls, and shut the garden doors, liiat I may wash. And they did as she had bade them, and shut the garden doors, and went out themselves at private dt)ors, to fetcli the things that she luul commanded them." Her })nrj)()se is prevented by the a])pearanee of the two elders, from whose false aeeu- satiou she is in the seipiel rescued i)y the I'amous "judgment of Daniel." • The same custom is illustrated by the case of Pharaoh's bises said unto the congregation, This is the thing whieh the J^ord eonnnanded to be done. Aned, was appointed, not for persons, but f n* tilings, — and for things tainted with this slightest of all the defilements known to the law. On the other hand, as we shall presently see, for major defile- ments of things, — by the dead and bv leprosy, — the same 12 138 RITUAL SELF-WASHINGS. [Part IV. sacrificial rites, aud sprinkling of water were ordained, as in the case of persons. Such is the divine testimony as to the relative ritual value of immersion and sprinkling. I will not wrong the intelligence of the reader, by discussing the possibility of this immersion, being what Paul meant by the ' " divers baptisms " of the law. Other minor defilements of things w^ere, (1.) Brazen ves- sels used for cooking the flesh of the sin offerings. ^ They were to be ''scoured and rinsed in water." If the vessel was of earthenware, it was to be broken. (Lev. vi, 28. Compare 1 Cor. xi, 24.) (2.) "The vessel of earth that he toucheth, which hath an issue, shall be broken; and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water" — Ik xv, 12. 2. Things defiled by the dead, were to be sprinkled with the water of separation, on the third day and on the seventh. (Num. xix, 14, 15, 18.) In the case of the spoil of Midian, there was a further purifying. — "Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire ; and it shall be clean ; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation ; and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water." — Num. xxxi, 23. The word "go through," here, is the same that is used when Jesse is said to have caused seven of his sons to "pass by," and to "pass before" Samuel, (1 Sam. xvi, 9, 10); when Jacob caused his household to " ^mss over" the brook, (margin. Gen. xxxii, 23) ; and when God promised to make all his goodness to " pass before" Moses. (Ex. xxxiii, 19.) The alternatives here of fire and water seem to have reference to the two great facts of purgation in the world's history, of which Peter speaks. (2 Pet. iii, 5-7.) The deluge w^as a purifying of the earth, defiled by sin, and so will the fire be, in the final day. 3. A house infected with leprosy, when cured, was treated in a manner essentially the same as was a person so afflicted. (Lev. xiv, 34-53.) 6ec. XXXIV.] OLD TE^TAMEMT ALLUSIO.\S. 139 Part V. LATER TKACKS OF THE SPIIINKLED BAPTISMS. Section XXXIV. — Old Testament Allusions. n^HE rite of purifying with the aslics of the red heifer JL was oue of the most fiiniihar and impressive of the Mosaic institutions. Tliat its observance was maintained through the whole course of Israel's history, is evinced hy the frequent allusions of the sacred writers. King Saul found in the ordinances on this subject an explanation of David's absence from his table. — "Something hath befallen him. He is not clean : surely he is not clean." — 1 Sam. XX, 26. The words of David himself have been referred to already, as he cries, — "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." — Psa. li, 7. This was written about five hundred years after the giving of the law. Three centu- ries later, the Lord says to Israel by Hosea, — "Their sac- rifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners," (that is, bread made or touched by those that were defiled l)y the dead), "all that eat thereof shall be polluted." — Hosea ix, 4. Isaiah began his prophecy ab(jut twenty-five years later, — about B. C. 760-098. In his time a great revival took place, under the hand of King Hezekiah, in connec- tion with which the laws of purification came into promi- nent notice. It began with the exhortation of Hezekiah, to the priests and Levites. — "Hear me, ye Levites; sanctify'" (or, cleanse) " now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord Gud of your fathers; and carry forth the filthi- Dess out of the holy place." — 2 Chron. xxix, 5. When this was done, the king appointed a service of dedication. In it " the priests were too few, so that they could not flay 140 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Pakt V. all the burnt offerings; wherefore, their brethren theLevites did help them, till the work was ended, and until the other priests had sanctified themselves: for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests." — vs.. 34. Immediately afterward the king kept a great passoYer, gathering the remnants of the ten tribes, with Judah. "And the priests and the Levites were ashamed and sanctified themselves, .... for there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified : therefore the Levites had charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover other- wise than it was written. But Hezekiah prayed fi)r them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. And the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people."— lb. xxx, 15-20. In Isaiah, occurs that prophecy of God's grace for the Gentiles, " Behold my servant, ... as many were aston- ied at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; so shall he qyrinkle many nations." — Isa. lii, 13-15. There are two words in the original Hebrew, meaniug, to sprinkle. That which here occurs is used to describe the purifying of the leper, and of those defiled by the dead. The priest, with the scarlet wool, cedar wood and hyssop, ''shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy, seven times." — Lev. xiv, 7. "A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprhikle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons." — Num. xix, 18. The Jewish translators of the fSeptuagint, have ren- dered the passage, "so shall he astmdsh many nations." But this only shows how willingly those writers Avould 8kc. XXXI V.J OLD TESTAMENT Al. I. I'SIOXS. Ill have ohlitonittMl from the text the ])r he uiieleaii — " (U^ad in tres- passes and sins." — ICph. ii, 1, 11, Acts x, 14-1('), 28; xv, 9. We have seen l)aptisni l)y sprinklinii; to liave been aj)- p(»inle(l for the purifying of every kind of unclennness, and witnessed its use iu the reee})tion of the eliihhvn of JMidian. Moreover, the word here ft)und in the original is everywhere else used in the sense of sprinkling. With ont; exception, it is invariably employed as descriptive of the ritual purifyings. The exception describes the sprink- ling (U- spattering of the blood of Jezebel, when she was hurled from the height of the palace. (2 Kings ix, 33.) There is no conceivable reason for making the text an exception to the meaning thus invariably indicated. Christ, the Baptizer, will sprinkle many nations. He '*will pour out of his Spirit on all flesh." — Acts ii, 17; Joel ii, 28. Of this it is that Isaiah speaks in the place in question. The same grace was promised to Israel by the prophet Ezekiel (B. C 595-574), in language which wc have already quoted, "Then will 1 sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be. clean." — Ezek. xxxvi, 24-27. In this prophet's vision of the future temple, he says of the priests: "They shall come at no dead person to di'file themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves. And after he is cleansed, they shall reckon unto him seven days. And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court to min- ister in the sanctuary he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord God."— Ezek, xliv, 25-27. About fifty years after the close of Ezekiel's prophecy Haggai was sent to Judah (B. C. 520). He inquires of the priests, resi)eeting " ])read, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat," "If one that is unclean by a dead body 142 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. touch any of these shall it be unclean? And the priests answered, and said, It shall be unclean." — Hag. ii, 13. Except the brief testimony of Malachi, Zechariah was the last of the prophets. His ministry closed, about B. C. 487. In his prophecy occurs that promise of "a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." — Zech. xiii, 1. The word, "fountain," in the original means a flowing spring, ''opened," as was the rock in the wilderness; of which the Psalmist says, "He opened the rock and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places hke a river." — Psa. cv, 41. The language of Zechariah seems to be an allusion to this. We have thus traced the baptism of purifying with the water of separation through the writings of the proph- ets for a thousand years, from the time of its institution to within less than five hundred years of the coming of Christ. We shall presently follow it down to the time of Christ and to the destruction of Jerusalem. Section XXXV. — Eabhimc Traditions as to the Bed Heifer. According to Jewish tradition the burning of the red heifer took place but nine times, from the beginning, until the final dispersion of the nation. The first was by Ele- azar, in the wilderness. (Num. xix, 3.) This, they say, was not repeated for more than a thousand years, when Ezra ofl^ered the second, upon the return of the captivity from Babylon. From that time, until the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was about five hundred years, during which they report seven heifers to have been burned — two by Simon, the just,' two by Johanan, the father of Matthias, one by Elioeuai, the son of Hakkoph, one by Hanaueel Hammizri, and one by Ishmael, the son of Fabi. Since then, it has been impossible for them to fulfill the rite according to the law, as the altar and temple are no more. The tenth they say wiU be ofiTered by the Messiah, at his Skc. XXXVI.] i-j:sT/rAL OF roc'h'/XG ii\itea\ 143 coming.* Liglitfoot finds in tlio inorcjisod freqncnoy ^vitli Avliii'h tlie lu'ifcr was burned, duiiiiir the Iat(>r jK-riod of .Jewish liistorv, ii eirennistantial ilhi-tralioii <*i" the •rrowin'r Spirit of rituahsni, wiiieli nudtijjlied the occasions of using the aslios. It is, however, impossible to accept the account, at least, as to tlie earher period, as authentic history. It is probably mere conjecture, suggested liy the silence of the Scriptures, and is most improbable in itself. But the later tradition is more reliable; as, at the time when it was put upon record, the Jews were undoubtedly in possession of abundant historical materials, for the period subsequent to the return of the captivity under Ezra. According to this account, seven heifers served all the purposes of that form of purification, for five hundred years. In that time, over fifteen generations, or not less than fifty millions of Jews were consigned to the sepulcher, and the couserjueut sprinkling administered to the families, attendants, houses, and furniture. If we ignore all other applications of these ashes, to those defiled by the slain in battle, and to those subject to other causes of defilement, it is still evident that the sufiiciency and virtue of the rite were not held to dcjiend upon the quantity of the ashes employed, and that the amount actually used was so minute that it can not have been perceptible in the water. The manner of ad- ministration was thus true to the nature of the ordinance, as having no intrinsic virtue, in itself, but only in its sig- nificance as addressed to intelligence and iiiith. And it prepared the minds of the people to witness without per- plexity, the change from water in which an inai)precial)le quantity of ashes appealed to the imagination, to that in which, while no aslies were used, the association of ideas and meaning remained the same. Section XXXVI.— Th*^ Fe>eople, clothed in holiday garb, assembled at the temple, each having a lulab in one hand and a cit- ron in the other, and each carrying a branch of willow, with which they adorned the altar round about. As soon as the morning sacrifice was placed on the altar, a priest descended to the fountain of Siloam, which flowed from the foot of the temple mount, bearing a golden vase or pitcher, which he filled with water. As he entered the court, through that gate which was hence called " the water gate," the trumpets sounded. He ascended to the great altar of burnt offering, where were placed two silver bowls, one on the east side of the altar and the other on the west, one of which contained wine. Into the other, he poured the water from the golden vessel, and then ming- ling the water and wine, slowly poured it on the ground, as it would seem, to the east and to the west, as the bowls Skc. XXXVl.] I-KST/rAL OF POUR/XC, WATIiR. 145 were j)laced. (Couiparo Zecli. xiv, 8.) In tlie mean time the temple clioir sang the llallel to the accompani- ment of instruments of music.'=- Then, tlic people who lhrt)nge(l the court marched in pi'ocession about the altar, waving their lulubs, and setting them bending toward it, the trumpets sounding and the pe()i)le sliouting, " Halle- lujah!" and "Ilosanna!" with ejaculations ot prayer, thanksgiving and praise, selected from the Psalms. In this service, even the little children, as soon as able to wave a palm branch, were encouraged to join. After this tliev went home to dine, and spent the afternoon reading the law or hearing the expositions of learned scribes. In the evening commenced the festive joy of the outpouring of the water. The water was drawn and poured out, at the time of the morning sacrifice and in connection with it, — a solemnity in the presence of which any hilarious demonstrations were inopportune. The festivity was there- fore reserved until the evening. The multitude then as- sembled in the court of the women, that being the largest court, and the nearest approach that the women as a body could make to the holy house. On this occasion they occu- pied the galleries which surrounded the court, whilst the men thronged the open space. At suitable places, in the c(.)urt there were great candelabra of such size and height that they overlooked the whole tem})le mount. A ladder stood by each, by means of which young priests from time to time ascended and replenished the oil, of which each bowl is reported by the Talmud to have held seven or eiglit gallons. Many of the people also carried torches, so that the whole mount was flooded with light. The festiv- ity was begun by the temple choir of priests, who, stand- ing in order upon the fifteen steps that led down from the court of Israel to that of the women, chanted some of the *P8. cxiii-cxviii, were known among the Tews as, the Hallel, that is, Praise, })oin.ir sun.L' at the temple on the first of each month, and at the annual feasts. 13 146 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Pakt V. "songs of degrees," to the accompaniment of instruments ; whilst such of the people as were skilled in music joined their voices and instruments. Then, the chief men of the nation, rulers of synagogues, members of the sanhedrim, scribes, doctors of the law, and all such as were of eminent rank or repute for gifts or piety laid off their outer robes, and joined in a joyous leaping and dancing, in the presence of the multitude, singing and shouting Hosannas and Hal- lelujahs, and ejaculating the j^raises of God. Thus a great part of the night was expended, each one emulating the others in imitation of the humility of David, at the bring- ing up of the ark (2 Sam. vi, 15, 16) ; for, the excitement now indulged in, the leaping and dancing, were, at other times, accounted unbecoming the dignity of the nobles of Israel. At length, two of the priests, standing in the gate of Nicanor, which was at the head of the stairway, sounded their trumpets, and descending the steps continued to sound as they traversed the court, until they came to the eastern gate. Here they turned around toward the west, so as to face the temple. They then cried, — " Our fathers who were in this place, turned their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east.* But as for us, we turn to Him, and our eyes look unto Him." The assembly then dispersed. With slight variations, the same order was observed each of the seven days of the feast.f The joy of the people at the ingathering of the harvest and the prosperous end of the labors of the year, — the gay and festive appearance of the city, every housetop and open space, and even the sides and top of the mount of Olives, covered with the green booths, — the extraordinary services at the temple, where more sacrifices were offered during the week than in all the other feasts of the year together, — the green willows adorning the altar and daily *Pee Ezek. viii, 16. tLightfoot on this Feast and that of Tabernacles. Lewis's "Origines Ilebraeie." Pool's "Synoi»sis," etc. SKr. XXXVI.] FESl IWll. OF POURIXG WATER. 147 renewed — the processious arouiul it, the brauches carried by the jwople, — the trumpete, songs, aucl Ilosaunas, — and, at nii^ht, the flaming lights, the juWiaut concourse, the waving of tlie hihibs, tlie music and dancing, the shout- ings, songs, and trumpets, must have i)reseuted a scene of exhihiration and gladness hard to conceive. It was a say- ing of the rabbins, that " lie that has not witnessccl the festivity of tiie pouring out of the water, has uever seen festivity at all." The ral)bins are o])scure in their explanations of the (>l)servauce here described. Some would represent it as a thanksgiving for the rains by which the soil had been fer- tilized and the harvests matured. But with a better ap- ])reciation, Rabbi Levi is reported iu the Talmud, " Why is it called the drawing of water? Says Rixbbi Levi, Be- cause of the receiving of the Holy Spirit, according to that which is written, — With joy will we draw water from the wells of salvation." — Isa. xii, 3. That the outpouring had reference, not to the receiving of the Spirit l)y Israel, but to its outpouring ujwn the Gentiles, in the days of the ^Messiah, is confirmed by the tenor of the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the authors of the observance, and by language of our Savior, which expositors agree in re- ferring to this rite. Both of those prophets encouraged Judah iu rebuilding the temple by the assurance that '* the Desire of all nations should come" to it. — Hag. ii, 7, Sai possession and control of the nicrs- ing cienient, iho word was hence used to exj>ress the establishing of u complete possession and controlling,^ infhi- ence. As \ve say that a man is drowned, — immersed, — overwlielmed, in business, in trouble, in drunkenness, or in sleep ; having, in these expressions, no reference whatever to the mode in which the described condition was broujrlit about; so the Greeks used the verb baptizo. They spoke of men as baptized with grief, with passion, with l)usiness cares. An intoxicated person was " baptized with wine," etc. In such use of the word, the essential idea is that of the action of a pervasive jiotency by which the subject is brought and held in a new state or condition. On this sub- ject, no authority could be better or more conclusive than that of the Rev. Dr. T. J. Conant, a scholar of unquestioned eminence and whose researches on this subject were under- taken at the rc(|uest of the American (Baptist) Bible Union. The result of his investigations he thus states. " The word, baptizein, during the whole existence of the Greek as a spoken language, had a perfectly defined and unvarying import. In its literal use, it meant, as has been shown, — to put entirely into or under a liquid, or other penetrable substance, generally water, so that the object was wholly covered by the enclosing element. By analogy it ex})ressed tlie coming into a new state of life or experience, in which one was, as it were, inclosed and swallowed up, so that tem- porarily or permanently, he belonged wholly to it."* Dr. Dale has been at the trouble to list and enumerate no less than forty different wonfs which Dr. Conant employs in his translations of this word of *' perfectly defined and unvary- ing import." It is, however, enough for our present pur- pose, that this distinguished scholar here expressly ad- *"The Meaninoj and Use of Baptizcin, Philologically and Historically investigated for the American Bible Union. By T. J. Conant, D. D.," p. 158. The italics arc by Dr. C. 156 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. mits with Italic emphasis, that "by analogy," the word "expressed the comiDg into a new state of life or expe- rience, in which one was, as it were, inclosed and swallowed np, so that temporarily or permanently he belonged wholly to it." Now, here was the very word required to designate the Mosaic rites of purifying. Of dippings and immersions, Israel had none; and, if these had been found in their ritual, the verbs, hapto, to dip, and hataduo, to plunge into, to immerse, and the nouns, baphe and hatadusis,''—a dipping, an immersion, were at hand and specific in meaning. But they did want words to express that potency by which the un- clean were, in the words of Dr. Conaut, introduced into " a new state of life," — a state of ritual cleanness, typical of the spiritual newness of life in Christ Jesus which God's people receive, by the baptism of the Spirit. To express the working of that change, they appropriated the word baptizo, to baptize; that is, to cleanse, to purify. Then, to give name to the rites by which that change was accom- plished, they formed from it the two sacred words, bap- tisma and baptismos, words wholly unknoAvn to classic Greek literature. They are, as to etymology and meaning identical. By grammarians, the termination, mos, is said generally to indicate the act signified by the verb, while ma indicates its effect. But the rule is neither absolute nor universal; and the sacred writers do not maintain the distinction. By them baptisma is used alike to signify the act of baptizing, and the effect, the new state produced by it. In their writings, the distinction seems to consist in the employment of baptismos generically, as designating divers kinds of purifying rites ; while baptisma is specifically applied to the bajotism of John and of Christ. It is found in no other Avritings of that or preceding ages. Outside the Scriptures, baptismos occurs once, in the works of Josephus, who thus designates John's baptism.* *■ " Antiquities of the Jews," XVIII, vi, 2. Skc. XXXV III.] /i.lPT/SAf OF JV.I.-IAf.lN. 157 Section XXXVIII. — T/jf Bapfl.wi nf Xaaman. In the 8optua<;int or (iroek Scriptures, 6^/;>(l ; willu)ut cxphiniitioM anywlirrc, and without coii- ceival)K' motive or inoaiiin^, iink'ss it was, to repudiate the autliority of tlir Lcvitical law. Instead, tlKTclori', of tlie ordinanco luMnir a L'uido lin(\ to lead Naanian to the Word and worsiiip of tlu- true (J-'d, tlie natural ctl'cct of such a c'han^a* as is supposed would luive been to deter him from any such incpiiries. The facts would have certilied him that the (lod of Klisha was not the same that reigned at .Jerusalem ; — that the doctrine of the one, set forth in the rite of sj)rinkliug, was manifestly different from that of the other expressed by immersion, — and that, theCefore, the Word and ordinances of the God who dwelt in Zion were likely to mislead him, rather than to slied a true light ui)on the character of the God of Elisha, by whom he had been healed. The snare thus presented to the mind of Naaman would have been the more insidious and fatal in propor- tion as he should still have recognized an intimate relation, or even a kind of identity, between the God of Israel and the God of Judah. It was a general characteristic of the ancient idolatries, that the same gods, as worshiped at dif- ferent places, were supposed to be endowed with different attributes and affinities, and to require different rites of worship. Thus, Zeus Olympius, Jupiter Capitolinus, and Jujuter Amon, were looked upon as the same deity ; but revealing one character, as on Olympus he was worshiped by the tribes of Greece ; another, as, on the Capitoline hill he i)resided over the destinies of mighty Rome ; and yet another to the dark tribes who assembled at his tem- ple in Thebes in Upper Egypt. Such was the idolatry which the supposed rite would have tended to confirm in the mind of Naaman. To all this we are to add the fact that the very ])urpose of the miracle wrought by Elisha was to let the Syrian " know that there is a prophet in Is- rael."— 2 Kings V, 8. Not, certainly, that Elisha thus pro- posed to glorify himself: but to announce himself a pro})hct and witness, for the only living and true God, the God 168 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Paut V. of Israel, whose sanctuary was in Zion. (Compare lb. 15-18.) 8. The fact that no admmistrator is mentioned, but Naaman is said to have " baptized himself," is no embar- rassment to our position. The self-baptism implied by the phrase, in the English translation,' is not required by the form of the Greek nor of the Hebrew. The same kind of expression is used, in the directions originally given as to the water of separation. "If he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself ... the water of separation was not sprinkled on him; he shall be unclean. ... A clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh." — Num. xix, 12, 13, 19. The form of ex- pression is intended to emphasize the responsibility of the person in the matter of his own cleansing, and is equis^- alent in meaning to the phrase, — " cause himself to be sprinkled." Although he can not cleanse himself, he is not therefore irresponsible. Pie must seek to the cleansing, if he would enjoy it. The same form is used by Paul, who si^eaks of Ananias as saying to him (Anastas, baptisai), "Rising, baptize thyself, and w'ash away thy sins." — Acts xxii, 16. In the parallel account, we are told that " he arose and was baptized." — Acts ix, 18. It has been shown already that, in the epistle to the Hebrews, haptismoi means the sprinklings ordained in the law for defilements of which leprosy was one. In our next section, it will appear that the sprinkling of the water of separation, upon those defiled by the dead, was familiarly known as a baptizing. And as to the case of Naaman, the considerations here presented render it certain that baptizo is there used in the same sense. He was not immersed, but sprinkled seven times, according to the law. Tdhal is here used, not in a modal sense, but to express a cleansing, without defining the manner of it. Bkc. XX XIX.] B.WnZlCD I-J^OM THE DEAD. lOii Section XXyiiy^.— ''Baptized from tJie DecuL" The book of Eoclosiasticus, or "The Wisdom of Jesus the son of Siracii," is oue of the Apochry{)ha. It was written by Joshua ben Sira ben EHezer, a priest, at Jeru- salem, about two huiulrcd years ])efore the coming of Christ. "The original Hebrew, with the exception of a few fragments in the Gemaras and Midrashim, is no longer extant, but wc have translations in Greek, Syriac, and Arabic. The work has been always held in high esteem, by both Jews and Christians, and was judged by some of the Talmudists to be worthy of a place among the canon- ical Scriptures."* In this work, the priestly author has "written this proverb, "He that is baptized from the dead, and again toucheth the dead, what availeth his washing?" — Ecclus. xxxi, 30 (xxxiv, 25 of the English version). Here, it is unquestionable that reference is had to the cleansing of those who were defiled by the dead. Such persons were "baptized from the dead," that is, purged from the defilement, incurred through the touch of the dead, by the sprinkling of the water of separation. It has been said, by Baptist writers, that the author of the prov- erb meant to designate the self-washing which was required of those who had l)een thus sprinkled. But, in the first place, ^Ye must again repeat it, the self-washings were not immersions. In the second, they were not the purification from the dead. On that point, the law was express. " The man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congre- gation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: the water of separation hath not been sjmnJded upon him; he is unclean." — Num. xix, 20. The self-washings are never called purifyings, nor alluded to by that name. Be- sides, as licfore remarked, on another point, the pre-emi- nence thus assigned to those washings, as compared with * J. W. Etheridge, in "Jerusalem and Tiberias." P. 105. 15 170 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. the sprinklings, is contrary *to the whole spirit and tenor of the law, and would imply a preference given to our own righteousness, which the former symbolized, over the blood of sprinkling of the Lord Jesus, and his renewing Spirit, typified by the latter. Moreover, upon this view, we are to suppose that the author of the proverb, himself a priest, ignored that official sprinkling which must be performed by a clean person, acting in priestly capacity, and which, in his days, was performed almost invariably by the priests, and falsely attributed the consequent cleansing to the self- washing, which was a private personal duty of the cleansed. On the relative position of the two ordinances, the prayer of the Psalmist, in his deep sense of guilt and defilement is very significant. *' Purge me with hyssop. Wash me." He does not once think of self-washing, but looks up to the great High Priest for all. It was unquestionably of the sprinkled water of separation that this Avriter says, "He that is baptized from the dead, and again toucheth the dead what availeth his washing?" Here again we have an impregnable demonstration. We have before seen that Paul testifies that the sprinklings of the Mosaic system w^ere baptisms. We now have the added voice of the son of Sirach certifying the same thing. By the mouth of tW'O or three witnesses shall every word be estab- lished. These witnesses are ignorant or false, or else ha:p- tizo does not here mean, to dip, to immerse. This conclusion is . yet farther confirmed by the light which the above proverb sheds upon a passage in the writings of Paul, which has greatly perplexed expositors. "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"— 1 Cor. xv, 29. Paul is discussing the doc- trine of the resurrection. As elsewhere in the epistle, so here, he assumes his readers to know the law of Moses. (Compare 1 Cor. ix, 8-10; x, 1-10.) To it, he, therefore, appeals. — "You know that there is in the law an ordi- Skc. XXXIX.] PArriy.F.n from rni': dead. 171 nance for the ritual restoration of such as, by contact witli the (lead, iiave hoconie ritually dead, liut what means this rite? If the saints shall not really be raised up, to what intent is this ritual resurrection?" That such was the meaning of Paul, will hardly be (juestioned by any who consider, (1.) That the law of defilement by the dead, and of purification with the water of separation, was a statute of universal obligation to Israel, at home, and in foreign lands: (2.) Tiiat the ordinance and its ol)servance were so familiar that, two hundred years before Christ, it was made the ground of the proverb above cited. As we shall })resently see, it is mentioned by Philo and by Jose- pluis as, in their days, universally observed: (3.) That it was known to Paul by the name of baptism : (4.) That it meant the giving of life to the dead : (5.) That, hence, whatever miirht be Paul's allusion, it was a fact, throuirh- (Hit tiie dwellings of Israel, that, whenever death visited a house, it involved the consequent necessity of the baptism of the family and attendants, — a baptism which signified the resurrection of the dead. It is, therefore, beyond (jues- tion that Paul meant to refer to that Levitical purification. Such were the facts that his readers could not but so un- derstand him. jNIoreovcr, his expression here, and that which we have heretofore examined concerning the divers baptisms of the law, mutually illustrate each other and confirm all our conclusions on the subject. Thus, starting with the ''divers baptisms" of the epistle to the Hebrews, we have identified them with the seal of the Sinai covenant and the water of separation. We have traced the ordinance in the historical books, the Psahns and the prophets; have found it, in the time of the son of Sirach, fiimiliarly known as baptism, autl have recognized it in the New Testament itself, referred to by the same name, by that He])rew of the Hebrews, the apostle Paul. AVe may add that the same apostle again refers to imita- tions of this ordinance in his dissuasive against "doctrines 172 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLINCj. [Part V. of baptisms." (Heb. vi, 2.) Here, he alludes to those Pharisaic rites which under the same name were condemned by the Lord Jesus, who reproved them as "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men," concerning their baptizings. (Mark, vii, 7, 8.) Section XL. — Judith'' s Baptisms. Keturning to the Apocrypha, the next example of bap- tism occurs in the book of Judith. The book dates from the period of the Maccabean kings of Judali, between one and two hundred years before Christ ; is a historical fiction, and is designed to present, in the j^erson of Judith, an ideal type of female piety, courage, and virtue, as con- ceived by the Jews of that age. According to the story, " Nabuchodonosor, the king of Nineveh," being incensed against the Jews, had doomed them to destruction. He therefore sent Holofernes, with a large army to execute his vengeance. This army being re-enforced by the Ammon- ites and the sons of Esau, the mighty host, enters on the siege of Bethulia, a frontier city of Judah. Surrounding the city and filling the whole country, they sieze "the water and the fountain of waters," upon which Bethulia depended for its supply. Soon, "all the vessels of Avater failed all the inhabitants of Bethulia, and the cisterns were emptied, so that they had not water, to drink their fill, one day ; for they gave them drink by measure." — Judith vii, 12-2L In this extremity, the elders of the city yield to the clamor of the famished populace, and promise that if suc- cor should not come within five days they will surrender the city to the Assyrians. It is now that the young and beautiful widow, Judith, appears on the scene. Rebuking the elders, for their lack of faith and courage, she decks herself and goes forth to beguile Holofernes, w^hom, in the sequel, she slays, in his drunkenness, with his own sword, and so delivers her nation. When she came to the Assy- Skc. XL.] J UD I TIPS BAPTISM. 173 riaus, " the servants of Holoferncs brought her into tlie tent, and she slei)t until niichiight, and she arose at the morning watch, and sent to llolol'ernes, saying, Let my lord now command that thy liandniaid be aHowed to go out for prayer. And Holofernes commanded his body-guard not to liiuder her; and she remained in the tent three days, and went out nightly into the valley of Bethulia and baptized in the camp, at the fountixin of water, And as she returned, she besought the Lord God of Israel to di- rect her way to the raising uji the children of her people" — Jud. xii, 5-8. Judith's baptism, was evidently not one of those re- quired by the law. It was performed statedly every night, as a preparation for prayer, and was, no doubt, one of those washings which Jewish tradition was, at that time, multi- j^lying, and which were so rife in the days of our Savior. Judith's maid was with her, and this baj)tism was no doubt performed in the ordinary mode of washing, with water poured on her hands. As to the place of her baptism, the language is explicit. It was (eji) in the camp, but (ejn) at and not in the fountain. Not only does the language thus forbid the supposition that she was immersed in the fountain, but the circumstances were e^pially conclusive. She was a young and beautiful woman, in the midst of a host of rude and licentious soldiers and followers of the army. They held the fountain with jeal- ous care, both for the convenience of their own supply, and as the sure means of bringing Bethulia to surrender. Judith could not there be private for a moment, even at midnight, and such exposure as is imagined would have l)een an invitation to certain violence, even though there had been no question of defiling the very fountain whence the camp drew its supply of water. Baptist writers, to prove that Judith, nevertheless, im- mersed herself, cite the fiict that '*as she went up {ancbi), she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to 174 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. the raising up of the children of her people." But Dr. Dale has pointed out the fact that the very same language occurs in a parallel place in the Septuagint Greek, where no one ever pretended to find an immersion. Rebekah " went down to the well, and filled her pitcher and went up (anebe)." — Gen. xxiv, 15, 16. The fountain of Bethulia was in the valley, to which Judith had to go down from the head-quarters of Holofernes, which would be in an ele- vated position, so as to command a view of the situation. To suppose the going up to be out of the water, would give her a time for prayer so brief and in circumstances so pe- culiar as to give the suggestion an air of ridicule. It is well known that the impostor Mohammed was as- sisted in constructing his institutions by renegade Jews, who early became his proselytes. The following precept of the Koran Avill illustrate the practice of baptism before prayer: " O true believers, when ye prepare to pray, wash your faces and your hands unto the elbows ; and rub your heads and your feet unto the ankles ; and if ye be pol- luted . . . wash yourselves (all over). But if ye be defiled, and ye find no water, take fine sand, and rub your faces and your hands therewith. God would not put a difficulty upon you. But he desireth to purify you, and to complete his favor upon you, that ye may give thanks."* This reg- ulation by Mohammed is remarkable in relation to that request of Peter, — " Lord not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." — John xiii, 9. Both he and the prophet of Mecca would seem to have had in view the same custom of the scribes. From the passages thus examined it appears that in Hellenistic Greek the word, baptizo was employed to desig- nate two classes of cleansings, — the sacramental sprinklings of the law, and the self-imposed washiness of tradition, the mode of which, whether perf )rmed by affusion or sprink- ling, is not clear. As to the former: the proverb of the * Sale's "Koran," chapter v. Skc. XLl.] PHI I A) A\'D JOSEPH US. 175 son of Sirac'h is cloarly a reference to the sprinkled water of separation. To tlic same class, the arguments adduced entitle us to refer the bai)tisni of Naanian. To the rites of self-washing the case of Judith is to he assigned, — not to those appointed by the law, but tliose imitations of the scribes which obscured the meaning of the ordinance, as a])pointed of God. Section XLI. — TliC Waicr oj Separation in PJulo ami Josephus. Philo, commonly called Juda^us, was a Jew of Alex- andria, who was coteniporary with the apostles. He thus expounds the laws of purification : — "The law requires him who brings a sacrifice to be clean in body and soul ; — in his soul, from all passions, dis- order and vices, whether in word or deed ; and pure in body, from such things as ritually defile it.'-^^ And it has appointed a purification fur each of these; for the soul, by animals suitable for sacrifice ; — for the body, by (loutrdn hai perlrrhantendn) ablutions and sprinklings. . . . The body is purified, as I have said by washings and sprink- lings ; nor does the law allow a person washed and sprinkled once to enter immediately the sacred courts ; but requires him to wait without, sevCn days; and to be sprinkled twice, on the third day and on the seventh ; and after these, having washed himself, it admits him to enter and share the sacred rites. It is to be considered what judgment and philosophy there is in this. For, nearly all other peo- ple are sprinkled with mere water, the most drawing it from the sea ; some from rivers, and others again out of vessels of water replenished from fountains. But Moses, providing ashes from sacrificial fire (and in what manner *a^' av Wnq avro mavtadai. — " From those tilings which cus- tom causes to defile it." 'E^of, commonly means a custom grounded in law. (Compare Acts vi, 14; xv, 1 ; xvi, 21 ; xxi, 21; XXV, 10; xxvi, 3; xxviii, 17; etc.) 176 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. will be sliown fjresently), directed that some of these should be put into a, vessel, aud water poured upon them ; and then dipping twigs of hyssop in the mixture, to sprinkle those who were to be cleansed. "It is now proper to explain the suitableness of these ashes. For they are not bare ashes of wood, consumed by fire, but of an animal suited to such purification. For it is required that a red heifer which has never borne the yoke be sacrificed outside the city, aud that the high priest, taking some of the blood, shall seven times sprinkle with it toward the front of the temple, and shall then burn th^B whole animal with its hide and flesh, its viscera and dung. And when the flame declines, that these three things be cast into the midst of it ; — a stick of cedar, a stick of hys- sop, and a bunch of cummin. And when the fire has wholly expired, it is required, that a clean person collect the ashes and deposit them outside the city, in a clean place."* Josephus was a Jewish priest, who was made prisoner by Titus, in the war Avhich ended in the destruction of Je- rusalem. He afterward, at Kome, wa-ote his Jewish "An- tiquities," and his " History." He thus describes the man- ner of purifying with the ashes of the heifer. " Any persons being defiled by a dead body, they put a little of these ashes and hyssop into spring water, and baptiziyig with these ashes in water, sprinkled them on the third day and on the seventh."! This is a literal translation from the Greek of Josephus; but diflfers from the popular version of AVhiston. He renders it,— " They put a little of these ashes into spring water with hyssop, and dipping part of these ashes in it, they sprinkled them with it," etc. But this is a very incorrect translation, is incongruous to the ordinance as described by Moses, and converts the account *Philonis Judsei Opera omnia, Frankofurti, 1691, De Yic- timas Offerentibus. t Josephus, Antiquities, IV, iv, 6. Skc. XLL] PIllLO AXD yosKPiius. 177 into uouscusc. According to it, the iialics are in the first place put into the water, and then part of them "dipped in it!" How they were recovered from the water, in order to the dipping, and liow the ashes could he dipped in the water at all, we need not inquire, as the translation is in- correct. " Baptizing with these ashes-in-water," truly rep- resents the original.-'^ "Baptizing," was the action; the mixture of " ashes iu water," was the element; "sprink- ling," the mode; and "the third and seventh days," the time. In fact, in using the water of separation, according to the law, there was no dipping of any sort, except of the hyssop bush, with which the water was sprinkled. The only action to which Josephus can refer, — that to which he does undoubtedly refer, — by the word, " baptizing," is the purifying rite, of which he immediately states the form to have been a sprinkling. To get rid of the force of this passage. Baptist writers have proposed an arbitrary alteration of the text, by the erasure of the entire clause (te kai — pcgen) "with these ashes in water." The change thus suggested is purely gratuitous. The reading which they propose is without the pretense of sanction from any manuscript of Josephus, and is sustained by no sound principles of criticism. Its only warrant is the necessities of the Baptist position. On the contrary, the rendering which we have given is, in some of the manuscripts of Josephus, enfon^ed by the pre- position (meta) icith, after the word, "baptizing." Accord- ing to this version, the passage can be read no otherwise than as we have given it. "Baptizing with these ashes in water." In the writings of Josephus there is another and very * " BaTTTiaavTsc Te Kai rrjq rfifipac TavTiji; e\<; 7rr^i/v.^^ Trjq Tepaq ravrrj^ is the partitive and instrumental Genitive, and indicates the ashes-in-water, as that with which the baptism was to })e performed. (Compare John ii, 7. — " Fill the water pots with water.") 178 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Pakt V. characteristic notice as to the use of the water of separa- tion. Speaking of the funeral rites, he says, ''Our law also ordains that the house and its inhabitants shall be purified after the funeral is over, that every one may thence learn to keep at a great distance from the thought of being pare, if he hath once been guilty of murder."* We are not to suppose that the spiritual meaning of these rites had been so utterly lost by the Jews, that Josephus, a priest, a Pharisee, a man of extensive learning and rep- utation, imagined this to be a true account of the nature and meaning of the ordinance. But he was speaking in defense of Judaism, against the assaults of Apion, a Greek philosopher of Alexandria, at the bar of the pagan philos- ophy of Greece and Rome. He affects, for himself, a pro- foundly philosophic style and spirit, and aims to vindicate a similar character for the laws and institutions of Moses. Knowing that the truths of God as committed to Israel would be foolishness to the wise, to whose applause he aspired, he sets them aside in favor of his ov»^n "philo- sophic" inventions. He seems to have taken the sugges- tion from certain heathen observances, of which we shall see more further on. The foregoing extracts not only illustrate the law as to the water of separation, and the use of the w^ord, baptizo, with reference to it, but indicate the place held by the ordinance among the observances of Israel, down to the time of Jeru- salem's desolation. Section XLII. — Imitations of these Bites by the Greeks and Romans. Placed as was Israel in the very center of the civiliza- tion of the ancient world, and on the direct line of commu- nication between its peoples and empires, her influence upon the institutions and religious rites of other nations must have been very great, and is traceable in every direc- *■ Josephus against Apion. Book ii, 27. Skc. XLIL] IDOLATROi'S /.\f//A770XS. 179 tion. TluTi' is icmsoii lo believe tluit Greece uiid its colo- nics ill Italy, Iroiii Nvhicli sprung the republic and empire of Koine, derived from Isriiel the first <;rejit impulses of their civilization, as well us contiiniul siibscerirrha)isek) ; — are not all these eflectual to one end, — to render a man pure, both as to body and soul?"t On this subject, the historian Grote makes some note- worthy statements. — " The names of Orpheus and ]\Iusacus (as well as that of Pythagoras, looking at one side of his character), represent facts of importance in the history of the Grecian mind, .... the gradual influx of Thracian, *That this altar was the expression of a ])lind though real groping after the true God, is distinctly attested l)y Paul.^ "AVhom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." — Acts xvii, 23. To suppose as do some that the altar was erected by one who was uncertain wliich of the tutelary dei- ties he should propitiate, imi)lies PauV to have resorted to a weak pretense, founded" on the mere jingle of words, wliich, so far from constituting an appropriate and impressive basis for his argument and appeal, would have invited the derision and contempt of his skeptic^il audience. He adopted no such arti- fice ; but appealed to a recognized and affecting fact. t Plato, in Cratylo, xxii. 182 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLIXG. [Part V, Phrygian and Egyptian religious ceremonies and feelings, and the increasing diffusion of special mysteries, schemes for religious purification, and orgies (I venture to Angli- cize the Greek word, which contains in its original mean- ing no implication of the ideas of excess to which it was afterward diverted), in honor of some particular god, dis- tinct from the public solemnities, and from the gentile solemnities of primitive Greece During the iuterval between Hesiod and Onomakritus [B. C. 610-510], the revolution in the religious mind of Greece was such as to place both these deities [Dyonisus and Demeter, the Bacchus and Ceres of the Latins] in the front rank From all these couutries [Egypt, Tlirace, Phrygia and Lydia], novelties unknown to the Homeric men found their wav into the Grecian worship ; and there is one amongst them which deserves to be specially noticed, because it marks the generation of the new class of ideas in their theology. Homer mentions many guilty of private or in- voluntary homicide, and compelled either to go into exile, or to make pecuniary satisfaction ; but he never once de- scribes any of them to have either received or required purification for the crime. Now, in the times subsequent to Homer, purification for homicide comes to be indispensa- ble. The guilty person is regarded as unfit for the society of men, or the worship of the gods, until he has received it; and special ceremonies are prescribed whereby it is to be administered. Herodotus tells us that the ceremony of purification was the same among the Lydiaus and the Greeks. We know that it formed no part of the early religion of the latter, and we may reasonably suspect that they borrowed from the former The purification of a murderer was originally operated not by the hands of any priest or specially sanctified man, but by those of a chief or king who goes through the appropriate ceremonies in the manner represented by Herodotus, in his pathetic Bec. XLii] inor.AThuu's L^tr/Aiioxs. 183 narrative rcspoctiiig C'r(vsiis and AdrasI us.-'- The idea of a special taint of criino, and of tlie necessity, jis well aa tlie sufliciency of })rescril)ed religious cereniouies, as a means of removing it, ai)pears thus to have got footing in Circeiau practice subscipient to the time of Homer." f Again he says, — " Herodotus had been profoundly im- pressed with what he saw and heard in Egypt. The won- derful monuments, the evident antiquity, and the peculiar civilization of that country acquired such preponderance in his mind, over his own native legends, that he is dis- jiosed to trace the oldest religious names or institutions of Greece, to Egyptian or Phctnician original, setting aside, in favor of this hypothesis, the Grecian legends of Dyoui- sus and Pan."! In these statements, the eminent historian seems studi- ously to avoid a recognition of the direction to which all his facts so distinctly point. All the countries mentioned by him border on the ^lediterranean, and ^vere in constant and intimate communication with Egypt and Phoenicia, the relations of which with Israel are too well known to need emphasis. They were, in fact, the channels through which Hebrew ideas must ordinarily pass, in order to gain access to Greece and the continent of Euroj^e. To whatever source the Greeks may have been immediately indebted for the novel ideas of a special stain or defilement, result- ing from crime, and of ritual purifying from it, we know that they were incorporated in the laws and ritual of Clo- ses ages before there is a trace of them in any of the coun- tries mentioned. The disposition of Herodotus to refer *But Herodotus does not "represent" the manner of the purifying of Adrastus. ^Moreover, the le<,'end of Croesus and Adrastus, is fabulous, as appears from internal evidence (see Riiwlinson's note on the place) ; and with it, the theory of Grote. as to the Lydian orij^in of the Greek purifying rites falls to the ground. See Rawlinson's Herodotus, Hist. I. 35. t Grote i, 20-35. X lb. 530. 184 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. them to Egypt and Phoenicia is therefore entitled to more respectful consideration than our author gives it. That the Gentile rites in question, however grossly cor- rupted, were derived from divine originals, must be man- ifest to any one who will compare the significance and beauty of the Scriptural rites as connected with the spirit- ual truths of revelation, w^hich they symbolized, with the bareness and absurdity by which they are characterized, in their distorted Gentile forms, detached from the spiritual connection to which they natively belonged. On the matters of which it treats, no authority is higher than Dr. Wm. Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. As to the present subject, it testifies that their purifyings, "in every case of which we have any certain knowledge were connected with sacrifices and other religious rites, and consisted in the sprhiklimj of ivater, by means of a branch of laurel or olive; and at Rome, some- times by means of the aspergiUum, and in the burning of certain materials the smoke of which was thought to have a purifying effect."* Of the Greek heroes the Abbe Barthelemi says, — " They shuddered at the blood they had spilt, and aban- doning their throne and native land, went to implore the aid of expiation in some distant country. After the sacri- fices enjoined them by the ceremony, a purifying water was poured upon the guilty hand, after which they again returned into society and prepared themselves for new combats, "t Of the Romans, Ovid says: — ''Our fathers believed purifications to be effectual for blotting out every crime and every cause of penalty. Greece was the source of the custom. She believes the guilty, when purified with lustral rites, to be freed from the guilt of their evil deeds. Thus * Smith's Greek and Roman Antiquities, article, "Lus- tratio." t Travels of Anacharsis, Introduction. Skp. XLIL] inOLATlTOi'S /.\tIT.t770XS. 185 IVU'ii!? purifiod tlie crrandson of Artor; and tluis Acastiis, Vvith the Avators of Ila'inus, cleansed Peleiis himself, from the blood of Phocus. — Ah credulous jxiople ! who siujjpoae that the dreadful crime of murder can be obliterated by (flumin^a aqua), running waters."-'^ The same poet describes the festival of Pales, the tutelary goddess of shepherds. Some days before her fes- tival, cows were sacrificed and the unliorn ofl'spring torn from their bowels and burned with fire by the eldest of the Vestals, "that their ashes may purify the people on the day of Pales." On the festival day he sings: "I am called to the Palilia. . . . Often, truly, have I carried in my full hand the ashes of the calf and the bean stalks, liallowed purifiers. Truly I have leaped over the fires kindled in three rows, and tlie dripping branch of laurel has scattered the water. . . . Go, ye people, seek the fu- migation from the altar of the virgin! Vesta will give it. By the grace of Vesta, you shall be purified. The blood of a horse shall be your fumigatory, with the ashes of the calf, and third the empty husk of the hard bean. Shep- herd, purify your full fed flocks in the early twilight. Water should first sprinkle them, and a twig broom should sweep the ground."! Again, lie tells of "a fountain of Mercury near the Capanian gate. If we choose to Ijelieve those who have tried it, it has a divine virtue. Hither comes the merchant with purse-girdled tunic, and being purified, draws Avater which he may carry away in a })cr- fumed vase. In this, a branch of laurel is moistened, and with the wet laurel all things are sprinkled that arc to have new owners. He sprinkles his own locks, also, with the dripping bush, and with a voice familiar with deceit offers his prayers. 'Wash away my past perjuries,' says lie : * Wash away the falsehoods of the past day. Whether I have called thee (Mercury), to witness, or have called upon the great majesty of Jove, wishing him not to hear; *Ovidii Fast.ii, vs. 27-46. tib. iv, 633-640; 731-736. 16 186 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLIXG. [Paut V. or, if I have been false to auy other god or goddess, let the swift zephyrs carry away my dishoDest words, and let my perjuries be obliterated by to-morrow. Let not the superior powers give heed to what I may say/"* In Virgil, JEneas, preparing for flight from the over- throw of Troy, says to his father, — " Do you, my ftither, in your hand take the consecrated things and the ancestral gods? To me, just returned from such and so recent a battle and slaughter, it were sacrilege to touch them, until I shall have washed in a living stream." f In another place the closing rites at the funeral pyre of Misenus are thus described, — "The same (Chorinaeus) passed thrice around his companions with water, sprinkling them with a gentle spray, and with a branch of the auspicious olive purified the men and uttered the parting words." J; Of funeral lustrations at Home, Adams in his Antiqui- ties, gives this account: ''When the remains of the dead were laid in the tomb, those present were, three times, sprinkled by a priest with pure water, from a branch of olive or laurel, to purify them. . . . The friends when they returned home, as a further purification, after being sprinkled with water, stepped over a fire.§ . . . The house itself also was purified and swept with a certain kind of a broom." The classic writers frequently refer to similar observances among the Greeks. Thus, in Euripides, the people are perplexed as to the death of Alcestis, king Admetus' wife, because '' they do not see the lustral water before the door, as is customary at the doors of the dead."|| The census of the population of Rome was taken every five years, and was followed by a lustration of the city. *Ovidii Fast.ii, v, 673-688. tyEn. ii, 717. X Ibid, vi, 229.— The (novissima verba) last or parting words, were addressed to the deceased, — "Vale! Vale! Vale!" Fare- well! Farewell! Farewell! § Compare above, p. 138. 11 Euripides in Alcest. 398. See, also, Aristophanes in Eccl. 1025. Skc. Xhll.] IDOLATROUS IMITATIONS. 187 From this custom tlio word ludriim (:i lustration), came to biguify a i)orio(l of five years. Tliere was also a lustration for new born inlimts, when tlu'ir nanu's were ears in Eurip- ides. Iphigenia speaks of Orestes and his companions, defiled with dreadful crimes, — "First would I (nipsai) imbue them with holy purifyings." King Thoas. "From springs of waters? Or, from spray of the sea?" Iphigenia. "The sea spray (kluzeiX) washes away all the crimes of meu.">^ *Rees's Encyclopedia, article, " Lnsfnition." t Above, p. 175. JK;\t\(j (kluzo) to besprinkle, to water, to rinse, to dash over. "The sea, l)espriiikHng, washes away all the crimes of men." Hi>hivilii walcr sprini-cKMl on tiieni, l)y an oliiccr \yho was tiienee called the fnflntnos.''^^ At Eieusis they ollercd sacriliees and prayers, \vearing garlands of flowers; and, standing on the skin of a sacrificial animal, were again purified by the sprinkling of water by the hydranos. That the observances thus illustrated were corrupted forms derived from the rites and institutions of Ptoses, is a})parent. So manifest is this, that in the third and fourth centuries it was made the ground of a specious theory by meaus of which the advocates of i)aganism sought to stay the progress of Christianity. " Among those who wished to appear wise, and to take moderate ground, many were induced to devise a kind of reconciling religion, interme- diate between the old superstition and Christianity, and to imagine that Christ had enjoined the very same things which had long been rei)reseuted by the pagan priests, un- der the envelope of their ceremonies and fables." f There was, no doubt, an element of truth in this con- ception. The rites of Gentile idolatry were, it is evident, corrupted forms derived from divinely appointed institu- tions, partly, it may be, by traditon, from the parents of the race ; but chiefly by imitation of the ritual of Moses. Section XLIII. — Baptism hi Efjijpt and among the Aztecs. I am indebted to the courtesy of W. H. Ryland, F. S. A. Secretary of the (British) Society of Biblical Archaeology, for a copy of the proceedings at a meeting held on the 4th of May, 1880. From it I make the following extract in- cluding part of a communication read from M, Paul Pierret. It is descriptive of " the Libation Vase of Osor-ur," pre- *Yf5p«i'0f [hydranosi), a waterer, a sprinkler with water; fntin vr^potvu^ to water, to sprinkle any one with water, to i)our out libations."— Liddoll & Scott's Greek Txjxicon. tMoshftim, Ecd. Hist., Book II., Part i, ? 18. 190 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. served iu the Museum of the Louvre (No. 908), an inscrip- tion on which h.as been deciphered by M. Pierret. " The vase, of the SaUic epocli, is of bronze, and of an oblong form, covered with an inscription, finely traced with a pointed instrument. The text has been published, by M. Pierret in the second volume of his ' Recueil d' Inscrip- tions du Louvre,' in the eighth number of the ' Etudes Egyptologiques.' The goddess, Nout, is represented stand- ing in her sycamore, pouring the water which is received by the deceased, on one side, and by his soul, on the other. ' Saith the Osiris, divine father and first prophet of Am- nion Osor-ur, truthful ; — Oh, Sycamore of Nout ! give me the water and the breath [of life] which proceed from thee. That I may have the vigor of the goddess of vigor; that I may have the life of the goddess of life ; that I may breathe the breath of the goddess of the respiration of breaths ; for I am Toum. Saith Nout ; — Oh the Osiris, divine father, etc. , thou receivest the libation from my own hands ; I, thy beneficent mother, I bring thee the vase, con- taining the abundant water for rejoicing thy heart by its efiiision, that thou mayest breathe the breath [of life] re- sulting from it, that thy flesh may live by it. For, I give water to every mummy ; I give breath to him whose throat is deprived of it, to those whose body is hidden, to those who have no funeral chapel. I am with thee. I reunite thee to thy soul, which will separate itself no more from thee, never.'" The Saitic epoch, to which this vase is referred, began with the accession of Psammetichus I, about 664, B. C, and closed with the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses in 525. The parallel period of Jewish history extends from the closing years of Manasseh's reign to the time of the machinations by which the decree of Cyrus for rebuilding the temple was suspended. But, although the date thus given is such as might suggest the idea of derivation from the institutions of Moses, it seems highly probable that the inscription Sec. XLIII.] IX liCVPT, A.\D !\ .yfHMCO. 191 j^resonts a vosti^e, in a f:;reatly corrui)t('(l form, of the primitive faith touching the rosurrection, as held by Noah and the patriarchs of the old world, and transmitted to the fonntlcrs of the Eiryptian empire. Whatever the view adopted on that point, the relation of the inscription to the subject of the present treatise is manifest and very inter- esting. Not only does it very strikingly illustrate the doc- trine of life to the dead, as symbolized by the efi\ision of water, but it brings together the two symbols of water and the breath of life, in such a manner as presents a very re- markable analogy to the similar association of ideas pre- sented in the scene of Pentecost, as unfolded hereafter. Very remarkable was the rite of infant baptism, as it was found by the St)anisli conquerors among the Aztecs of Mexico.* " When everything necessary for the ])aptism had been made ready, all the relations of the child were assembled, and the midwife, who was the person that performed the rite of baptism, was summoned. At early dawn, they met together in the court-yard of the house. When the sun had risen, the midwife, taking the child in her arms, called for a little earthen vessel of water, while those a])out her placed the ornaments which had been prepared for the baptism in the midst of the court. To perform the rite of baptism, she placed herself with her face toward the west, and immediately began to go through certain cere- monies. . . . After this she sprinkled water on the head of the infant, saying, * O, my child ! take and receive the water of the Lord of the world, which is our life, and is *■ As this work goes into the hands of the i)rinters, the news- papers announce that " the Rev. Professor Campbell of Mont- real has discovered that the Hittite and Aztec alphabets are identical, and by applying the latter to the former, he has been enabled to read inscriptions belonging to the ninth century be- fore Christ." Should this announrement prove true, it brings the Aztecs into a relation to Israel which the reader will at once recognize. 192 LATER TRACES OF SPRL\'KLING. [Part V. given for tlie increasing and renewing of our body. It is to wash and to purify. I pray that these heavenly drops may enter into your body and dwell there : that they may destroy and remove from you all the evil and sin which was given you before the beginning of the world ; since all of us are under its power, being all the children of Chal- chivitlycue [the goddess of water]. She then washed the body of the child with water, and spoke in this manner ; ' Whence thou comest, thou that art hurtful to this child ; leave him and depart from him, for he now liveth anew, and is born anew ; now is he purified and cleansed afresh and our mother, Chalchivitlycue, again briugeth him into the world.' Having thus prayed, the midwife took the child in both hands, and lifting him toward heaven, said, — ' O Lord, thou seest here thy creature, whom thou hast sent into the world, this place of sorrow, suffering, and pen- itence. Grant him, O Lord, thy gifts, and thiue inspira- tion, for thou art the great God, and with thee is the great goddess.' Torches of pine were kept burniug during the performance of these ceremonies. When these things were ended, they gave the child the name of some one of his ancestors, in the hope that he might shed a new luster over it. The name was given by the same midwife or priestess who baptized him."* How like, yet how different, the Graeco-Romau , the Egyptian, and the Mexican rites, from each other, and from those of Israel and of Christ, appears at a glance. Section XLIV. — Tlie Levitical Baptisms in the Christian Fathers. The writers of the primitive church distinctly recognize the Old Testament sprinklings, and especially the water of separation, by the name of baptism. By the same name, they designate the idolatrous imitations above described. *Sahaj;un. Hist, de Nueva Espana. vi, 37. In Prescott's ** Conquest of Mexico." Vol. HI, p. 385. Bkc. XLIV.] A/./.l'S/OXS /.V 7V/A- I-ATIl/ik'S. 193 Tertullian was born about fifty yoars after the death of the apostle John. In alhision to tlie renewing cflieacy which he attributed to Christian baptism and tlie futiHty of the Gentile rites, he says, — "The nations, strangers to all understanding of true spiritual })()tencies, aseribc to their idols the self-siinie efficacy. But they defraud theni- Bclves with uu wedded waters; for they are initiated, by washing, into certuiu of their sacred mysteries — as for ex- ample of Isis, or ^Mithras. Even their gods themselves they honor with lavatious. IMoreover, everywhere, coun- try seats, houses, temples and whole cities are purified by sprinkling with water carried around. So, it is certain they are imbued (tinguntur) in the rituals of Apollo and Eleusis; and they imagine this to accomplish for them renewing and impunity for their perjuries. Moreover, among the ancients, whoever was polluted with murder, expiated himself with purifying waters. . . . We see here theMiligence of the devil, emulating the things of God, since he even administers baptism to his own."-^ Here, Tertullian expressly designates these rites of the Gentile idolatries by the name of baptism, and represents them as imitations of the divinely appointed ordinance. Some he distinctly describes as sprinklings, and among them evidently refers to Ovid's representation of the dis- lionest merchant, sprinkling himself to wash out his ''perju- ries." lie does not allude to immersicm, and in fact that form of rite was not found among the Greek and Roman superstitions. The only difference which Tertullian recog- nizes between the idolatrous rites and Christian baptism is indicated by the phrase (vidnis aryjn'x), *' unwedded," or •' widowed, waters," by which he designates the element used in the pagan rites. His meaning, here, is to be found in the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which already prevailed in the church ; according to which, it was be- lieved that, in baptism, in response to the invocation of *Tertull. de Baptisma, chapter v. 17 194 LATER TRACES OF SPRINKLING. [Part V. the officiating minister, the Holy Spirit descended upon the water, imparting to it a divine potency to produce a new birth in the recipient of the rite. Thus, the waters of Christian baptism were married waters, as being capable of generating life; whilst the others were unmarried, — unendowed with any "spiritual potency." It is further Avorthy of special notice, that Tertullian here refers, among other Gentile imitations of baptism, to that purgation for murder, by affusion of water, from which evidently Josephus derived his preposterous explanation of the sprinkling of the water of separation, for defilement by the dead. The probability is great that the Greek pur- gation was derived from that appointed for the elders of Israel, in the case of a concealed murder. Jerome, living between A. D. 340 and 420, comments thus upon Ezekiel xxxvi, 25-27. — "I will pour out or sprinkle (effundam sive asj)ergam), upon you clean water and ye shall be cleansed from all your defilements. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a right spirit within you. ... I will pour out the clean water of saving baptism. ... It is to be observed that a new heart and a new spirit may be given by the pouring out or sprinkling of water." Again, he paraphrases; — " I will no more pour out on them the waters of saving baptism, but the waters of doctrine and of the Avord of God."— Jerome v, 341. Ambrose, bishop of Milan from A. D. 374 to 391, thus expounds the 7th verse of Psa. li.— " He asks to be deanmd with hysi^op, according to the law. He desires to be washed according to the gospel, and trusts that if washed he will be whiter than snow. He who would be purified by typi- cal baptism was sprinkled with the blood of a lamb, by a hyssop bush."* Again he says, "He fthe priest), dipping the living sparrow, with cedar, scarlet and hyssop, into water in which had been mingled the blood of the slain sparrow, * Arabrosii Opera, in Psa. li. Skc. XLIV.] .l/./.l'S/OXS AV 77//t FATHERS. 195 spriiiklt'tl the l(^por seven times, and thus was lie ri^^litly puritied By tlie eedar wood, tlie Father, by the hyssop the Sou, and by tlic searlet wool, liaviii<,' the bright- ness of fire, the Holy Spirit, is desin;nated. With these three, he was sprinkled who would be rightly })uriiied, })c- cause no one can be cleansed from the leprosy of sins, by the water of baptism, except through invocation of the Father and the Sou and the Holy Spirit. . . . We are represented by the leper." * Again, addressing the newly baptized, he says, — " You took the white garments, to indicate that you cast away the cloak of sin and put on the spotless robe of innocence ; whereof the prophet said : ' Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be clean, thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.' For he that is baptized appears cleansed lioth according to the law and the gospel ; according to the law, since Moses, with a bunch of hyssop sprinkled the blood of a bird ; according to the gospel, be- cause the garments of Christ were white as snow, when, in the gospel, he showed the glory of his resurrection. He \vhose sins are forgiven is made whiter than snow."t Cyril lived in the next century. He was bishop of Alexandria, A. D. 412-444. In his exposition of Isaiah iv, 4, he says, *' We have been baptized, not with bare water, nor with the ashes of a heifer, — We are sprinkled [with these] to purify the flesh, alone, as says the blessed Paul, — but with the Holy Spirit, and fire." Thus, from the translation of the Old Testament into Greek down through the time of Christ and the apostles, and to the middle of the fifth century, the Levitical sprink- lings were known and designated as baptisms. Further we need not trace them. * Ibid., in Apocal. cap. 6. » t Ibid. Lit. ad initiandos. c, 7. 196 STATE OF THE ARGUMENT, [Paut VI. Part VI. STATE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ARGUMENT. Section XLV. — Points established by the foregoing Evidence. REVIEW of the preceding pages Avill discover the A following points to have been established. 1. Baptism was a rite familiar among the Jews at the time of Christ's coming, and not a new institution then first introduced. 2. Paul being witness, it was an ordinance imposed on Israel at Sinai, as part of the Levitical system. 3. There is no trace, in the Levitical law, of an ordi- nance for the immersion of the person, in any circum- stances, or for any purpose whatever. 4. There is not, anywhere, in the Old Testament an allusion to immersion as a symbolic rite, nor a figure de- rived from it, although those Scriptures are full of allusions and figures referring to the symbolic import of the pouring and sprinkling of Avater. 5. There was an ordinance for the immersion of cer- tain things very slightly defiled ; which at once illustrates the ritual value of immersion as compared with sprinkling, and the plainness of the language where immersion was meant. 6. The baptisms, therefore, to which Paul refers as having been "imposed on" Israel, could not have been immersions, and the word, baptizo, did not in his vocabu- lary mean, to immerse. 7. The only institutions to which he can have referred are comprehended under the two heads of, administered rites, and self-performed washings. Skc. XLV.] rO/XTS so F.\R ESTAH I.ISIIED. 197 8. The st'lf-wasliinij:s ^Yore not sacranu-iits, or seals of the covciuiiit, but inomtory syiiilxd.s ol duty. 9. The gnulution of tlicse washings, the frequency and eireunistauees of tlieir observance, and the limited facilities available, render it impossible that they can have been immersions. 10. Their symbolic significance, the words used to de- scribe them, the customs as to ablutions, and the washings of the priests in the court of the sanctuary, and of the high priest in the holy place, concur to demonstrate that they were ablutions perf(jrmed by affusion. 11. The administered rites were sacramental seals of the covenant. They were essentially one iu meaning, office, and form ; and were invarial^ly performed with a hyssop bush, by an official administrator, sprinkling the recipient with living water, in which was the blood or ashes of sacrifice. 12. In tlie Hellenistic Greek, the language of the Sep- tuagint, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament, these purifications by sprinkling were called baptisms, and they were known and designated by that name by the primitive fathers of the Christian church. 13. These sprinklings of the law were the "divers baptisms" of Paul. So far, therefore, from baptizo meaning to dip, or, to immerse, and nothing else, it is an indisputa- ble fact that for at least fifteen hundred years after the first institution of the rite, baptism was always performed by sprinkling. 14. The ordinance was first instituted to seal the cov- enant by which the church of God was founded in Israel; and that f )rm of it in which the ashes of the red heifer were used was divinely appointed as the ordinary rite for the reception of applicants to the privileges of that cove- nant and church. 15. Its symbolism set forth all that is recognized in the Scriptures as meant by Christian baptism. Esi)ecially 198 STATE OF THE ARGUMENT. [Part VI. and distinetively was it the sacrament of the purification, or remission of sins. 16. The figure presented in the form of sprinkling or pouring is derived from the rain descending out of heaven, penetrating the earth and making it fruitful; and it signi- fies the Spirit of life from God imparted to the dead, en- tering the heart, purging its corruption, and creating new life. To the case of indwelling corruption, with reference to which this rite was appointed, no external Avashing, such as immersion is supposed to represent, can be of any avail. 17. Affusion is the constant form of action in the rit- ual law, whether with water, blood, or oil, to signify the efficient agency of the Lord Jesus, in all the functions of administration in his mediatorial office. 18. The recipients of the Levitical baptism, were, at its first institution, the whole congregation of Israel, old and young, thus purified from the defilements of Egypt, sealed unto the covenant of God, and installed as his church. Afterward, they were all, without distinction of sex, age, or nation, who having been suspended for any cause from the communion of the church of Israel, sought in the appointed way restoration; or who were received into it, as infants or proselytes. 19. While this rite was the door of admission to the privileges of the covenant, at Sinai, and so long as the Levitical system survived, it is appropriated by the Spirit, as the chosen figure by which is set forth, in prophecy, the bestowal of the grace of Christ upon the Gentiles, in the gospel day, and upon Israel, restored. "So shall he sprinkle many nations." "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." 20. The figures of speech corresponding to the forms of sprinkling and pouring appear everywhere in the Old Testament. Pervading and determining the entire struc- ture of the ritual law, they reappear continually, in the historical records, in the devotional and penitent utterances BlC. XLV.l rO/XTS so FIR ESTABLISHED. 199 of the ri^ulinist, llio diticounses i)f' the rreachcr, and the expostulatious and waruhigs of tlie prophets, and in their glad anticipations of the grace of the coming Messiah. With one and the same s})irilual meaning everywhere, these figures pervatle and control the whole texture of thought and mode of expression of the sacred writers. 21. This rite of purilieatiou by sprinkling was not only thus familiar to Israel, but, under corrupted forms, it had been disseminated throughout the civilized world; so that Avheu the apostles went forth to ciirry the gospel to the nations, the ideas of sin and guilt, defilement and cleansing, thus nourished, were a very important element in the prov- idential preparation of the world to appreciate and accept the salvation of Christ. While such was the case, the fact is equally significant that among the nations contiguous to Israel there is no trace of ritual purification by immer- sion,— a form of observance which, had it existed in Israel, could not have failed of imitation by her idolatrous neighbors. Thus assiduously and multifariously were the people of Israel taught, and trained — by instructions, by warnings, by promises, by rites and ceremonies, enjoined and observed at the sanctuary and at home, which laid hold upon them in every relation of their being and every function of their lives — to conceive of thenrsclves in all their sinfulness and need, and of the coming Messiah in his offices of grace, in the light of this ordinance, and according to the similitude embodied in it. For fifteen centuries these influences were continually at work, until the very bent and tendency of their thoughts and conceptions, in so far as they yielded themselves to the divine agencies thus applied, were moulded to the forms of those rites. In view of the facts thus developed, two questions pre- sent themselves fir thoughtful consideration as we proceed with our inquiry. (1.) Is it to be imagined that John and Jesus, in coming to fulfill the j)roj)hecies of the Old Testa- 200 STATE OF THE ARGUMENT. FPart VI. ment, which were embodied in spriukled baptism, would ignore that ordinance, and silently substitute in its place the rite of immersion ; thus bringing to naught and repu- diating the products of the divine discipline so assiduously pursued through all those centuries, and dissolving every tie of association between the gospel of Christ and the hopes and expectations which the saints had been taught to cherish, by the unanimous testimony of the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, all speaking in the language of the repudiated rite? (2.) Since the name of baptism, was, beyond question the designation used for the Levitical sprinklings, how else can we understand John, Christ, and the apostles, than as meaning the same thing, in the similar use which they make of the same word? The Grkek Bath.— From Sir. Wm. Hamilton's vases, in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Koman Antiquities ; articlo"Ija?jjece." Book II. NEW TESTAMEiNT HISTORY. Part VII. INTRODUCTORY. Section XLVI. — State of the Question. BEFORE entering upon an examination of tlie New Testament, it will be well to notice distinctly what, at this stage of our inquiry, is the precise state of the ques- tion to which our attention is directed. In a word, two rites present themselves, each claiming to be the true and legitimate ordinance which Christ commanded to be dis- pensed to all nations. On the one hand is the ritual sprinkling of water. In this rite, we have an ordinance instituted at Sinai by di- vine ccmimaud, with specific directions as to the mode of observance, and abundant exemplification in the history of Israel and the writings of the Old Testament, — an ordi- nance by which the tribes of Israel and the Gentile chil- dren of Midian were both alike received and sealed unto the covenant of God, — its rites replete with the richest gos- pel meaning, as expounded by poets and prophets, and constituting in connection with the Lord's supper, a clear and symmetrical representation of the whole plan of grace. In this ordinance, the sprinkling of water for the ritual purging of sin, is a lucid symbol of the very baptizing office which is now fulfilled from the throne of heaven by Him whom John fjre-announced as the Baptizer with the Holy Gho.st. That the doctrine which the Xew Testament identifies with Christian baptism was symbolized by the 202 NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTORY. [Part VII. ordinance, in its Old Testament form, can not be success- fully questioned ; nor that there was a beautiful symmetry, congruity and significance in each several part and feature of the observance. It thus stands forth, luminous with most precious gospel truth. Appointed of God at Sinai, as the most fitting form under which to figure the first act of His grace, in the bestowal of salvation on sinners, — honored as the rite by which the church was at the beginning con- secrated to her exalted office, as God's witness and herald to the nations, — it comes to the New Testament church, hoary and venerable with a history of fifteen centuries, — embalmed and hallowed by commemoration in the poetic strains of the psalmist and the brightest visions of the prophets, and fragrant from association with the profound- est and most precious experiences of God's people, in all those centuries, and with every beam of hope for a better life beyond, which shone into their stricken hearts, in the times of bereavement and mourning. It comes, its image indelibly stamped on the face of God's word, and its con- ceptions therein transmitted to blend with the clearer visions of hope revealed to the gospel church, by Him, in whom life and immortality are brought to light. On the other hand is that form of observance in which the person of the subject is immersed in water, as a sym- bol of the burial of the Lord Jesus. For this rite, no higher antiquity is claimed, by its advocates, than that in- volved in its supposed institution by the Lord Jesus, after his resurrection. It has no precedent in the Levitical rit- ual, nor place among the figures employed by the Old Tes- tament writers. The prophets did not foreshadow it in their imagery, nor the psalmist in his strains. All other rites of divine authority, are distinctly described, both as to office and form. But, of the rite of immersion, there is neither description nor explanation anywhere in the Scrip- tures. Its evidence stands wholly in definitions, contrary to the unanimous testimony of lexicographers, unsustained Skc. XL VI.] S7ATE OF THE QUESTION. 203 by any bn^ad induct ions from tlio facts and analogy of Scripture, and at variance witli the conclusions which such induction demands. And wlien we examine tlie rehitions and details of the rite, we find inconi^ruity and contradiction conspicuously displayed. If the rite be regarded as a typical seal of the covenant of grace, as are all sacraments, it follows that the administrator represents the Lord Jesus, administering the true baptism, the real seal of that covenant. But, if ba]>tism is by immersion, to represent the burial of the body of the Lord Jesus, we are reduced to the alternative that the office of the administrator means nothing, in whicli case wc have a burial with no one to perform it ; — or, that he represents Joseph of Arimathea, and Kicodemus; by whom the body of Jesus was laid in the sepulcher. Again, in the Scriptures everywhere, and especially, and in the most express terms, by the Lord Jesus himself (John iv, 14; vii, 37-39), living water is recognized as the divinely appointed symbol of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of quickening and life. How l)cautifully and richly appro- priate to this purpose it is, we have seen. But, according to the immersion theory, the dipping of the person in this element, — that is, mersion in water of life, represents the consigning of the body of Jesus to the grave, the den of corruption and death ! Besides, the supposed resemblance of this rite to the burial of Christ's body is a transparent misconception. It results from the transfer to Palestine of ideas derived from the wholly different western method of interment. In the sense required by immersion, Jesus never was " buried." The sepulcher of Joseph, in which his body was laid was not a grave, but a spacious above-ground chamber. Such were its dimensions that, at one time, on the morning of the resurrection, there were present in it *']\Iary Magda- lene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women," at least five or six persons, and with them the 204 NE W TESTAMENT INTR OD UCTOR Y. [Part Y II. two aDgels before whom they fell prostrate. (Luke xxiv, 1-10.) To this day, the hillsides around Jerusalem and throughout Palestine are pierced with innumerable such chambers, excavated horizontally in the rock, and frequently used as dwellings by the present inhabitants. Such was the sepulcher of Jesus, — an artificial chamber with a per- pendicular door, so that Peter and John and the women could by stooping walk into it. — John xx, 5-8. The entomb- ing of Jesus was no more a burial, in the sense required by the immersion theory, than was the laying of the body of Dorcas in an upper chamber. (Acts ix, 37.) The sup- posed similitude of immersion in water is a figment of the imagination, in entire disregard of the real facts. But, even should we allow the ordinance to be a true and fitting symbol of the burial of Christ, it remains void of all spiritual significance. Study it as we may, it teaches nothing, — it means nothing. In all other sacraments the plan of salvation, in one or other of its grand features, is lucidly represented. The Lord's supper is the acknowledged symbol of Christ's atonement and death, and of the man- ner in which he imparts to his people the benefits of that death, — while they by faith feed upon his broken body. According to the immersion theory, baptism represents and shows forth the burial of the dead body of Jesus, contra- distinguished from his death, as symbolized in the Lord's supper. But that burial is a thing Avholly unim23ortant and insignificant, in itself, whether viewed as to the fact or the mode. No emphasis is ever in the Scriptures put upon either, nor spiritual meaning attributed to them. Thus, if Ave admit immersion to a place among the ordinances, it must remain a mere form, shedding no ray of divine light, — an opaque spot among the luminaries in the instructive con- stellation of Scripture rites. The result moreover of accept- ing this ordinance is, to strip the New Testament church of all sacramental knowledge of the power and glory of Christ's triumphant sceptre. In Levitical baptism, the Pkc. XLVI] STATE OF THE QUESTION. 205 Old Tostuiuont church liiid ii most bojuitiful i)led<,'C of Ills t.riiiiui)li over death and a symbol of* his irracc^ shod down from ihc throne^ of his i^dory. IJul, npon the iinnuM-- sion theory, all this is utterly i<:nored in the New Testa- ment ritual, and all attention directed to the humiliation, sufferings and death, — one sacrament setting forth his death, and the other his burial ; whilst both arc left void of meaning ; since the intent of the abasement can only be found iu his exaltation, and the bai)tizing office exercised from his throne. We are to believe that at the very inomeDt when his exaltation became a glorious reality, and his baptizinu^ office an active function, and when these facts had become the very crown and sum of the gospel thereujwn sent forth to the world, all trace of them was obliterated from the sacramental system, to the marring of its symmetry and the utter destruction of its completeness and adequacy as a symbolical gospel. jNIoreover, it is the office of the rite of baptism, to seal admission to the benefits of the covenant, in the bosom of the visible church. Appropriate to this office, the Old Testament rite was a symbol of that renewing and cleans- ing which the Lord Jesus by his Spirit gives, in the be- stowal upon his people of the benefits of the better covenant, and the fellowship of the invisible church. The same im- port is attributed to baptism throughout the New Testa- ment. But in the rite of immersion, as symbolizing the burial of the Lord Jesus, not only is this meaning excluded, but the ordinance has no conceivable congruity to the office ^vhicli it fills. Dr. Carson attempts to evade this diflficulty by the assumption that there are two distinct emblems in baptism, — one, of purification by washing; another of death, burial and resurrection, by immersion.-!^ Then, we are to understand that in baptism, the administrator re])re- sents at once, the men by whom the body of Jesus was laid in the sepulchre, and the Lord Jesus himself, dispensing * Carson on Baptism, pp. 265-268. 206 NE W TESTAMENT INTR OD UCTOR V. [Pa ut VII. the baptism of his Spirit ! The water symbolizes both the grave which is the abode of death and corruption, and the Holy Spirit of life ! And the immersion of the person of the baptized rej^resents at one and the same time, the placing of the body in the grave, and the bestowal of his Spirit by Jesus, for quickening and sanctifying his peo- ple! Manifestly, the two sets of ideas thus brought to- gether, as involved and represented in the one form, are wholly irreconcilable. They are not merely incongruous, but mutually destructive. To assert water, in one and the same act, to signify the Spirit of life, and the corruption of the grave ; or an immersion to symbolize, at once, the burial of the dead body, and the quickening of dead souls, is to deny it to have any meaning at all. The rite may be labelled with these incongruous ideas. But they can not be made to cohere in it. The theory ignores and con- tradicts the true nature of the rites of God's appointment; which are not mere mnemonfcal tokens, but representa- tive figures, ordained as testimonies, which convey intelligible expression of their meaning by their forms ; and are there- fore constructed upon fixed and invariable principles, and characterized by definiteness and unity of meaning. Are these diflficulties evaded by falling back to the posi- tion of the first Baptist confession, — that baptism " being a sign, must answer the thing signified, which is, the interest the saints have in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ ; and that as certainly as the body is buried un- der the water and risen again, so certainly shall the bodies of the saints be raised by the power of Christ, in the day of the resurrection?" This is, to abandon the very citadel of the cause, which consists in the position that the form and meaning of the ordinance are to be determined by a strict interpretation of the classic meaning of the word baptizo. That word never means "burial and resurrec- tion,"— the immersion and raising up of the subject. It sometimes means a submersion; that, and nothing more. Sko. XL VI.] STATE OF THE QUESTION}. 207 Tills is now distinctly adniittcd hy tlic ahlost ro|)r(\s('iit;itiv(.'S of the iinniorsion theory, us wo shall soc iihundiintly evinced he tore wo close. 8uch are some of the considerations that present them- selves, as, at this point in onr in(|uiry, wo view the two diverse rites which assnnie the name of ('hristiun baptism. Their claims are now to be jndged, by a comparison of the New Testament evidence, with what has l)een already con- centrated from the hiw, the prophets, and the Tsalms; — writings all of them equally authoritative and divine. TheGreekBath— Thegod.Eros.presides. From Sir. Win. Uaniiltoira vhpch, in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Iloruaa Antiquities; article"i?u;jtece." ' 208 PURIFYINGS OF THE ^EWS. [Part Yill. Part VIII. THE PURIFYING S OF THE JEWS. Section XL VII. — Accounts of them in the Gospels. THE fact has been referred to already that at the great passover, in the days of Hezeldah, to which the rem- nant of the ten tribes were invited by the king, "a multi- tude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written," not being ''cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary;" that, thereupon, a plague was sent among them ; but at the intercession of the king, the Lord healed the people. (2 Chron. xxx, 17-20.) In the law, it apj)ears that, at the entreaty of certain persons, who, at the regu- lar time of the passover, were defiled by a dead body, pro- vision was made for a second passover, to be kept a month later, by such as, by reason of defilement, or absence at a great distance, could not keep it at the appointed time. (Num. ix, 6-1 L) These facts illustrate the statement of John respecting a certain • occasion when the "passover was nigh at hand ; and many went out of the country up to Jerusalem before the passover, to purify themselves." — John xi, 55. The self-washings could all be performed by the people at home. But, in the later period of Jewish history, the ashes were kept at Jerusalem, and the sprink- ling of the unclean usually performed there by the priests alone. Hence, the coming of these Jews to Jerusalem for purifying before the feast. It is thus evident that at all the annual feasts, the preparatory purifying of the people must have been a very conspicuous feature of the occasion, Skc. XLVII.J ACCOUi\TS IN TI IE GOSPELS. 209 a fact of no little signiticancc, as bearing upon the observ- ances in the EleiKsiniuu mysteries, already rel'erred to. AVe have shown the name of baptiwi to have been used to designate both the Levitical rite of s])rinkliiig -Nvith the water of separation and the ritual purify ings invented by the scribes. "With the growth of rituahstic zeal, the occasions for the latter observances were multi- plied. The earliest allusion to them, in the life of our Savior, appears in connection with his first miracle, wrouglit in Cana of Galilee at the marriage feast. "There were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." — John ii, G. That this provision for the purposes of ritual purifying upon such an occasion was absolutely necessiiry, in obedience to the traditions of the scribes, ■will i)resently appear. The next occasion on "which these rites come into notice, is recorded by Luke. In the course of our Lord's second tour through Galilee, after having preached the gospel to a vast concourse, *'a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, a'ad sat down to meat. And "when the Pharisee saw' it, he marveled that he had not first baptized {chaptUthc) , befjre dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the out- side of the cup and the platter; but your inward })art is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold all things are clean unto you." — Luke xi, 37-41. The next incident is mentioned very briefly by ^latthew (xv, 1-9), and more fully in Mark. The apprehensions of the rulers at Jerusalem seem to have been aroused by reports of Christ's ministry, and the excitement caused by it among the people of Galilee. And as they had formerly sent messengers to challenge John, so, now, scribes and 18 210 PURIFYINCrS OF THE JEWS. [Part VIII. Pharisees from Jerusalem were on the watch to find occa- sion against Jesus. And "when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with uu- washen hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they haiotize (ean me baptlsontai), they eat not, and many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the baptkms (haptismous) , of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables" (or "beds." So the margin and the Greek.)— Mark vii, 1-4. These are the only places in which the ritual purifyings of the Pharisees are so mentioned as to shed light upon the subject of our inquiry. In them, we traoe three dis- tinct observances. These are enumerated by Mark, who represents them as common to "the Pharisees and all the Jews." They are, (1) Washing the hands, before meals; (2) Baptism, after coming from the markets; (3) The baptisms of utensils and furniture. Section XL VIII. — Washing the Saiids before Meals. It appears to have been a custom, enjoined by tradi- tion and observed by all the Jews, always to wash the hands ritually before eating. The origin and meaning of the tradition may probably be inferred from a few Scrip- tural facts. (1.) Flesh was used for sacrifice, before it was given to man for food. Compare Gen. i, 29; iv, 4; viii, 20; ix, 3. It was thus transferred from the altar to the table. (2.) One essential idea in the Levitical system as to sacrifice, was communion of Israel with God at his table. Of this, the passover was but one among many illustrations which the books of Moses contain. (Deut. xii, 17, 18, 27, etc.) (3.) Hence, all eating of flesh was treated as sacrificial in its nature, and, therefore, the pro- hibition of blood — a prohibition perpetuated in the church by the apostles. (Gen. ix, 4; Lev. xvii, 3-14; Deut. xii, 6kc. XLVIIL] U\ISI//\G T//i: HA\DS. 211 20-27; Acts xv, 20, 29.^=) li', to tluvsc facts l)c added the rule which rc(iuiivd the priests to wash themselves before eutering ujk)ii their ofKcial duties, one of whidi was the Ciitiug of the saerilieial llesh iu the holy ])laee, and the words of the Psaliiiist, — "I will wash mine hands iu inno- cency, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord" (Psa. xxvi, 6), wc will have the probable foundation of the ritualistic structure. As to the mode of these washings, the rules given in the ritual law are very significant. But two cases in which the washinjr of the hands was reciuired are there found. qi One of these is the washing of the hands of the elders iu expiationof a concealed murder. (Dent, xxi, 3-9.) Here the circumstances render it certain that the water was poured on the hands. The other is mentioned in Lev. xv, 11, where the English, *' rinsed," represents the Hebrew, shiltaph, to dash, or pour on with violence. If the Jews imitatcil the Levical rites they did not immerse their hands. ^Lirk throws but little light upon the mode of the Phari- saic washing. In the expression, " except they wash their hands off,'' the last word of the original (piirjme, — ''oft"), probably had a technical meaning, by which the mode was designated. But if such was the case, that meaning has been lost. By some writers, it is interpreted, *' to the el- bows, *' to the wrist," " with closed fist," etc. But all this is mere conjecture, as is the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot, that it denoted a certain form of the affusion of water upon the hands. The account of the marriage feast affords ground fn* surer deductimis. There were set six water pots of stone, holding two or three firkins apiece. Whatever were the *This is not the place to enlarge upon the present oMiira- tion of this law. In the above places, the reader will finil it, as at first priven to Noah, as expounded and perpetuated under the Levitical dispensation, and as jiL'nin re-enforced upon the Gentile churches by the apostles. Wiun and why was it ab- rogated ? 212 PURIFYINGS OF THE ^EWS. [Part VIII. rites referred to by Mark, under the two designations of " washing the hands," and " baptism," it was necessary that sufficient water should be provided for all occasions of both kinds which were likely to occur, in the large concourse of wedding guests, of w'hom Christ and the apostles were but a small proportion. For, ^vhilst the guests, generally, were expected, of course, to make use of the ordinary rite, by washing their hands, there might be numbers who had incurred such exposure as to require the appointed bajjtism. What, then, are the indications as to the nature of the rites thus provided for? The capacity of the w^ater-pots, according to the most probable estimate, was not more than ten gallons each. The highest supposition sets them at about eighteen. They were, therefore, altogether too small to have been used as bath-tubs, for the immersion of the guests. The possibility, therefore, of such a necessity, did not enter into the calcu- lations of those who provided for the occasion. Were the w^aterpots, then, used for immersing the hands? The cus- toms of the east, then and to this day, — the fact that Jesus and his disciples evidently appear as but a small propor- tion of the guests, — and the quantity of wine miraculously made by Jesus for their supply, unite to certify that the great body of the community of Cana was present at the feast. The first suggestion, therefore, that presents itself is, that the supposed process must soon have rendered the water disgusting, from its use in the manner supposed, by a succession of persons. Another and conclusive fact is the use made by our Savior of these waterpots. The feast had been some time in progress, so that the guests had '' well drunk," before the exhausting of the wine. All had been purified, and the pots, appropriated to that use, stood with the remaining water, as tlius left. When, Jesus said to the servants,— " Fill the waterpots with water," "they filled them to the brim," and immediately carried the wine to the governor of the feast. The servants were ignorant Skc. XLViii.j n-./.sv/AV(; iiin iiaxds. 21.') of the purpose of Jesus, and, us the luunitive shows, sim- ply ilid :is they were directed. There wiis no cn4)tying of foul water. There was no cleansini^ of the walerpots. There is no consciousness, manifested in the narrative, of occasion for it. Nor was there time. It was in the mither, in (raiiscTi[>tion ; and the alteration received l)y the ablest men in the ehnreh, wilhont (pieslion or protest, then or afterward, or the betrayal even of a conseionsness of change; des[)itc the watchfulness of a criticism systematic in its exercise and jealous for the purity of the text. If the i)rimitive church understood baj)tism to mean immer- sion, if the rite was administered in that, as the only Scriptural mode, the occurrence of the case here presented AVi)uld have been plainly impossible. It could only happen where the two words were identified as designating the same rite. How easily the words might be confounded will ajjpear by a comparison of them as written in the primitive Greek, known as uncials, or capital letters : — BAnTIZS2XTAI. PANTIZi2NTAI. Were the first and third letters dimly written, or blurred, the one word might readily be taken for the other. Section LI. — Baptisms of Utensils and Furniture. Another point in Mark's statement is the baptisms of cups and pots, brasen vessels and tables. It is unneces- sary to insist upon the argument which is dcducible from the practical impossibility of the immersion of these things; nor to notice the theories which have been devised to over- come the difficulties which it interposes to the Baptist mode. The reader who has fijllowed the course of this history will recognize, in the Levitical ordinances respect- ing the purifyings of things, the source whence was de- rived the hint of these supererogatory rites. And a com- parison of the various Mosaic regulations on the subject will satisfy the ciindid reader that the list here given is not de- signed to be exhaustive, but an exemplification merely of 220 PUR/FYINGS OF THE JEWS. [Part VIII. the observances in question. This is further evident from the fact that the enumeration, as made by the Lord Jesus (v. 8), was of pots and cups, only; which Mark in his subsequent account ampKfies by the other additional exam- ples. Respecting them, the ritual of Moses provided modes of purifying varied both with respect to the nature of the things to be cleansed, and the character of the defilements; as we have formerly seen. We may well suppose that the scribes did not fail to imitate every form of the legal pur- ifyiugs, in their additions to the law of God. It is not only possible, but very probable that some of these inven- tions were in the form of immersion. For, as we have for- merly seen, that was one of the forms appointed in the law, for the purifying of things. But the evangelist speaks, not of one, but of various rites ; which he designates by the plural and generic name of (haptlsmous) , — baptisms. The word thus selected is the very same which is used by Paul as the comprehensive designation of the purifying rites of the Mosaic law, — the "divers baptisms," imposed at Sinai. The conclusion is therefore irresistible, that whilst Paul used the the Avord in a generic sense, as comprehending the various forms of legal purification, among which the im- mersion of person is not to be found, Mark uses it in a like generic sense as comprehensive of the various forms for the purifying of things, among whic-h immersion may have been one, although, if such was the fact, the proof is yet to be produced. The result of our examination is, that among the Phar- isaic rites, no trace of the immersion of the person is to be found. Skc. LIL] II/STORY or yOILWS MISSION. 221 Part IX. JOHN'S BAPTISM. Section LTI. — Tlic JIient and return to the fold of God's longsuffering mercy ; and to seal the offered grace, by baptizing those who professed to obey his call. The alternative which his ministry set befn-e them ^vas plain and imperative. To absent themselves, or to attend on his preaching without receiving his ba})tism, would have been an o[)en act of treastism, and that by sprinklinf^, whilst there were no immersions of persons, whatever. It therefore furnishes no trace of the origin of the supposed form. On the other hand, it certainly did not originate with John. Baptism, — the rite which he administered, was in his day, no novelty among the Jews. The only remaining supposition, if we assume John to have immersed his disciples, is, that it may have been borrowed from the inventions of the scribes. But, in the first place, there is not a trace of evidence nor of probability that such a rite was ilien included in the rit- ual of the scribes ; — and in the second, it is preposterous to suppose that, in such circumstances and on such a mission, John would have turned his back on the ordinances of God's law, by which for fifteen centuries the covenant had been sealed, and chosen for the characteristic and seal of his ministry one of those inventions by means of which that law was made void and God's })eople led astray. (Mark vii, 6, 8, 13) This too, when he in the most open and de- cisive manner set himself in opposition to the inventors of those rites, whom he denounced as a generation of vipers ! 2. The meaning of the rite, in supposed connection with John's ministry, is as inexplicable as its origin. Neither the law nor the Old Testament Scriptures anywhere give a clue to it. John in his ministry is equally silent. Or, rather, his statements are altogether incongruous to the supposed form.— *' He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff* with unquench- able fire." — Matt, iii, 11, 12. Thus, John, announced the Lord Jesus, not in his character of humiliation and death ; but in his exaltation and royalty, as he appeared at Sinai, the covenant King of Israel, — as he is now, the enthroned Baptizer, dispensing his Spirit and grace to his people, and pouring out the fire of his justice on his and his Father's Skc. LVI.] /■/ U: IS \OT /AfA//-: A\S/()X. 2o9 eiiciuics. In such cMrciiinstiiiiccs, and in ronnoction witli such apreacliing, ^\■h{lt nicauiiiLi: could the disciples of Jolm liave discovered in the rite of immersion? Respecting it, they ask no questions, and John makes no explanation. If it be supjiosed to have meant the burial of Christ, this much at least is certain, that the resemblance Mas not so close as to have been self-evident to tlie })copIe. And even though understood by them in that sense, it would have been so far aside from the immediate intent and end of John's miniistry, and so defective in its testimony, since it knows nothing of the resurrection, that it would liave been calculated to distract and perplex his hearers, rather than to serve the object of his preaching. But John was ex- plicit as to the meaning of his baptism. Whatever if x form, if meant — not the burial of the Lord Jesus, but the baptism of the Spirit by him dispensed. '' I baptize you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." 3. The great discomfort, and the gross indecency which are inevitably involved in the supposition that Jf)hn im- mersed his followers are decisive against it. Neither had John a water-proof suit in which to officiate, nor were his auditors supplied with " immersion robes," nor change of garments, so needful, now, to obviate the discomfort and danger of the dripping attire. But this, even, is a less consideration than the indecent exposure which the sup- ])osed rite would have involved. The garments of the Jews were of two patterns. That next the person was in the form of a sleeveless shirt, descending to the knees. A sec- ond garment was of the same shape, but usually of more costly materials, which reached to the ankles. Over all were thrown one or two shawls or blankets, large enough to enwrap the entire person. Beside sandals, which were not ordinarily worn, except by those in easy circum- stances,— these were the only articles of apparel. Those of the women were of nearly the same shape ; the distinction of sex aj>{)earing mainly in the materials and ornaments. 240 yOHN'S BAPTISM. [Part IX. When at rest, the garments were left free. But in pre- paring for labor or for travel, they were drawn up to the knees, and fastened with a girdle at the loins, thus leaving the lower limbs unencumbered. That, with such clothing indecent exposure must have been a constant incident to the extemporaneous and hasty immersions which the Bap- tist theory recpiires, is manifest ; and the weight of the consideration needs no enforcing. 4. The number resorting to John was such as to pre- clude the possibility of their having been immersed. When Israel came out of Egypt, they were "about six hundred thousand on foot, that were men, beside children; and a mixed multitude went up also with them." — Ex. xii, 37, 38. When about to enter the promised land, the census was six hundred and one thousand, seven hundred and thirty men, from twenty years old and upward, beside the Levites, who numbered twenty-three thousand males from a month old. (Num. xxvi, 51, 62.) Upon this basis, the whole number of the people was between three and four millions. In the days of David, in the enumeration from which the tribes of Levi and Benjamin Avere omitted, the number of fighting men was one million five hundred and seventy thousand. If we make a proportional addition for the omitted tribes, it gives a total of one million, eight hundred and fifty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty-four. These would represent a population of seven or eight millions. From two independent statements occurring in Josephus, it appears that tlie population, just befi)re the destruction of the nation, was at least as much as four million souls.* If we suppose John to have stood in the water three hours a day, duTing the six months of his ministry, and to have administered the rite at the rate of one per minute, during the entire time, the total results of such miraculous labors and endurance, would have been about thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty persons baptized, that is, one in * Jewish war. II. xiv, 3; and VT. x, 3. 6kc.lv 1 1.] i/H srh'/xh'f./':!} PUh'K U'.{7/':a\ 241 every one hundred and twenty-two of the people. Witli- oiit the intervention of miraek; — and Julin did no niir- aele — even tliis was utterly impossible. And yet, how entirely it fulls short of the statements of the evangelists, upon any eandid inter})retation of them, is evident. That the theory of immersion is encumbered witli ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to oflTer." — Heb. viii, 3. Here, it appears that, inasmuch as he was a priest, he must have an oflxtring; the very reverse of the theory that his oflfering was in order to his consecration to the priest- hood. This man who by the word of the oath, was con- secrated a priest forevermore, needed not, like those priests to enter often into the holy [)laee with blood. "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the Armstrong on the Sacraments, pp. 48, 49. 260 THE BAPTISMS OF CHRIST. [Part X. world," the original date of bis priesthood. ''But now once in the end of the w(jrld hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." — Heb. ix, 26. Of Christ's sufferings, in their atoning character, the Scriptures are full and explicit. And, of them, the cup is the undoubted symbol. But of "consecrating sufferings," and especially, of such contradistinguished from the others, as here sup- posed, we fail to find a trace. Is it asserted that although they are the same sufferings, yet are they viewed in a dif- ferent light? Still the distinction is without warrant in the Scriptures. But, even conceding that point, can it be imagined that the Lord Jesus, in the circumstances of the case as relating to James and John, would pause upon and emphasize that distinction, by separate definitions, re- quiring distinct consideration and answer, by them, when at last the sufferings in question were one and the same? Nothing but an absolute necessity could justify such an interpretation. In order to a right solution of the question here con- sidered, let us ascertain what were the facts and conditions necessarily present in the mind of the Lord Jesus, in mak- ing his answer to James and John. 1. Their application immediately followed, and was no doubt suggested by a statement made by our Lord, in reply to a question from Peter. Upon occasion of the sorrowful turning away of the young ruler, Peter said to Jesus, "Behold Ave have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." — Matt, xix, 27, 28. Here are several indications of the time of enthrone- ment. (1.) It is the time "when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory." This phrase, "the throne of his gloiy," is not used in the Scriptures to designate Skc. LX.] '' THAT I AM UAPTIZIiD with:' 261 the invisible throne of niiijesty and power in the heavens, uuw occupied by the Son of nuin ; but that reveUition to men of his glory, of which he said to his disciples, " the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels." — Matt, xvi, 21. To. this time he expressly refers that throne. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." — Matt, xxv, ol. So Paul declares that the Lord Jesus "shall judge the quick and the dead at his apjicariixj and his kimjdomf' and in view of his own finished course, exults in the fact that, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a croiva of righteous- ness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give nie at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.'' — 2 Tim. iv, 1, 8. (2.) It is the time of the judgment. The apostles shall sit with him, judging the tribes of Israel. (3.) It is the period of "the regene- ration." Some expositors, indeed, refer this word to the preceding clause, which they read, " Ye which, in the regeneration, have followed me." According to this read- ing, the regeneration means, the introduction of the gospel, as being the beginning of a new life to the w^orld. But others understand, by it, the resurrection of the saints which precedes the final judgment of the world. Accord- ing to this, which I take to be the true interpretation, the resurrection is called the regeneration, liecause, in it, the quickening power of tlie Holy Spirit, first experienced, in the renewing of the souls of believers, and in making their bodies his temples, will then take full possession of the whole man, quickening and transforming our vile bodies into the likeness of Christ's glorious body, and reuniting soul and body in glory. In like manner, and at the same time, the work of " restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts iii, 21), will be accomplished. Beginning, as it does in the spiritual world, in the preaching 262 THE BAPTISMS OF CHRIST. [Paut X. and triumphs of the gospel, it will be coDSuramate in the regeneration of the physical system, in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. That the thrones promised to the apostles could only be possessed after the resurrection, is evident from the fact that, physical death being an element of the curse, the blessedness of the saints may, indeed, be unspeakable, even in a disembodied state ; but there can be no properly royal triumph, so long as the bodies are in the bonds of corruption and the grave. 2. While the time of the kingdom of the saints is thus clearly defined, there are also certain conditions precedent, revealed with equal clearness and emphasis. "Ye which have followed me," says Jesus. Elsew'here he explains more fully. " He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."— Matt, x, 38, 39. The following must be a bear- ing of the cross, with the life in the hand. A pertinent illustration appears in the life of the apostle Paul. He thus states the motives and policy which governed his course. — " I have suffered the loss of all things, . . . that I may win Christ, and be found in him ; . . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fel- lowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrec- tion of the dead." — Phil, iii, 8-11. Paul's meaning in the phrase to "know the power of his resurrection," elsewhere appears. He prays for his readers, that they "may know," — that is, may realize by a blessed experience, — " what is the exceeding greatness of his power to nsward who believe, according to the w^orking of his mighty power which he WTOUght in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. . . . And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, . . . together with Christ, . . . and hath raised us up together." — Eph. i, 16-20 ; ii, 1, 5, 6. Skc. Lx.] '' THAT I AM r>APTi/.ED with:' 2g:> In another place, ruul, in view of.his iiiiislied course and assured reward raises the triumphant siiout, — '' I have fougiit a good fight! I have finished my eoursc ! J have kept the faith? Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge, shall give me at that day ;"— the day, to wit, of " his a])- pearing and kingdom."— 2 Tim. iv, 1, 7, 8. It thus appears that the time of the kingdom is the res- urrection ; — and that the condition of its possession is not ])hysieal suflcrings and death, which are common to all men; but a conformity to Christ's sufferings and death, by being, in him, crucified and dead to the world. With this condition is inseparably identified the possession of a part in the resurrection and life of Christ. " If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also Hve with him."— Rom. vi, 8. "I am crucified Avith Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."— Gal. ii, 20. We can be dead with C'hrist, dead to sin and the world, only by being alive to God. Not only is the resurrection of the saints the time of their kingdom, but worthiness of part in the resurrection is stated with emphasis, as the final and conclusive condition precedent to the throne. "They," says Jesus, "which shall be accounted ivorthy to obtain that world and the res- urrection of the dead." — Luke xx, 35. "If, by any means," says Paul, " I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Herein is the j^ropriety of the form of the question put by Jesus to the two brethren : — " Can ye . . . be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ?" That is, *' Are ye ready to endure and to do all that will be required of those who would be counted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection of the dead?" 3. The same word ( paUnrienc'iia) regeneration, which Jesus employs, is used by Paul, who describes God's mercy as saving us, " by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abun- 204 THE BAPTISMS OF CHRIST. [Pakt X. dantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior." — Titus iii, 5, 6. It is the very grace, therefore, of which, uuder the Old Testament as well as the New, baptism with water was the appointed symbol and seal. And particularly was it true of the sprinkling of the water of separation, that it symbolized the resurrection of the Lord Jesus on the third day, and of his people on the seventh, the day of the Lord. Add to these considerations the fact that from the time of his tour in the region of Csesarea Philippi, where he was transfigured, Jesus had been earnestly en- deavoring to impress on the reluctant minds of the apostles the fact that "he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and be raided again the third day.'' — Matt, xvi, 2L We have already seen that Jesus and the apos- tles distinctly recognized and referred to the third day's baptism ^vith the sprinkled water of separation as being a prophecy the fulfillment of which required his rising from the dead on the third day. "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the laiv of Moses, and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. . . . Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day.'' — Luke xxiv, 44-46. In the law of Moses, concerning the water of separation, and there only is tlie third day thus defined.* The points suggested in these considerations are inti- mately and inseparably related to the matter involved in the petition of James and John. They are constantly so treated by the Lord Jesus himself, in his personal teach- ings, and by his Spirit in the waiters of the New Testa- ment. And yet, we are to suppose that, in his response to the brethren, Jesus absolutely ignored all this, which he had, just before, emphasized in his reply to Peter; and that he directed their attention solely to the sufferings * See above, p. TOO. Skc. LX.] '' THAT I AM DAPTIAED WlTIir 265 which he was to endure, iiiul in wliich tliey were to share! The altenuilive is, that on the contrary he reierred to bap- tism, iu the meaning in whicli unquestionably it was used througliout the Ohl Testament, as a type and figure of the resurrection, and thus, by that single word, suggested all that was involved in the vastly inip(jrtant consi(lcrati(jns above mentioned, as connected with the subject. — '* Ye know not what ye ask. Ye neither appreciate the true nature of the honors which ye seek, nor the time and cir- cumstances of their enjoyment, nor consider the conditions' precedent. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, — the cup of the crucifixion of the flesh and the world ; and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, di)ing and enduring all that is involved in attaining to the resurrection of the dead ? For it is not till the resurrection that the thrones which you seek can be possessed ; and only by those who are found W(jrthy of that world and of the resurrection." That such was the meaning of our Savior would seem to be certain. This is confirmed by the words already cited from Luke xii, 49-53. "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accom- plished." The matter present to the mind of Jesus, as the occasion of this utterance, was that discrimination which he was to exercise and separation which he w'as to make, in purging his floor and dividing between the wheat and the chafl*, bringing division into fiimilies and dissolving the closest and tenderost ties. It is of this that he says, '* I am come to send fire on the earth ; and what will I if it be already kindled?" That is, Why should I wish to re- strain it? **But I have a baptism; . . . and how am I straitened !" He thus indicates a straitening of the full exercise of that function which he has just described. The cause of it is an unaccomplished baptism. What then were the facte out of which this language is to be explained ? (1.) Christ was under judicial condemnation for us from 23 266 THE BAPTISMS OF CHRIST. [Paut X. his birth, under the curse and sentence of death. (2.) While in that condition, a servant to the hiw and the curse, he coukl not fully exercise the prerogatives proper to his roy- alty. (3.) Especially must his office as personally the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and with fire, — as the dis- penser of grace to his people and wrath to his enemies, — be in abeyance, till his resurrection and assumption of the throne. Thus, he was from the beginning straitened and looking forward to his resurrection as the time and means of •his enlargement. And, hence his saying, — " I have a bap- tism." That baptism was the bestowal upon him, by the Father, of the Spirit of life, raising him from the dead to the throne, whence he now dispenses grace and judgment to the world. Skc. lxi.] k/xgdom of the soy of man. 267 Part XI. CHRIST THE (JRKAT BAPTIZER. Section LXI. — The Kingdom of the Son of Man. THE phrases, *' tlie kiugdom," " the kingdom of heaven," etc., have primary reference to that throne and king- dom to which tlie Lord Jesus was exalted, wiien he rose from the dead, and was set at the Father's right hand. It is that militant kingdom of the Son of man, the establish- ment of which Daniel saw in vision ; the law of which is, *' conquering and to cimquer" (Rev. vi, 2); and the history of which is that ** he must reign, till he hath put all ene- mies under his feet." — 1 Cor. xv, 25. The phrase is some- times used to express the efficiency of Christ's saving sceptre in tlie hearts of believers, as when Jesus says, — " The kingdom of God is within you." — Luke xvii, 21. It is applied to the visible church, as being that society which by public covenant and profession owns Christ as her King and his Word as her supreme law. So, it is used to desig- nate the millennial dispensation, when " the Lord shall be King over all the earth," when " there shall be one Lord, and his name oue."^-Zech. xiv, 9. Its duration is by Paul said to be, until '* he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and j)()wer. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." "Then cometh the end, when he .shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father."—! Cor. xv, 24-28. Of this end and change of administration Jesus says," "Then .shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." — Matt, xiii, 43. Of it, he teaches us to pray, — "Thy king- dom come." 268 THE. GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. Thus, in all the variety of coDiiection in which it occurs, the phrase in question derives its propriety and significance from that dominion with which man was endowed in his crea- tion, that royalty which is enjoyed in the throne and sceptre of the Son of man, — its authority that of God the Father, — its extent the whole universe of God, — its object the manifes- tation of the glory of the divine perfections, and the recti- fying of the disorders introduced by Satan, — and its end, that work accomplished and the sceptre resigned to the Father, " that God may be all in all." His coronation and kingdom were the consummation of triumph for the Seed of the woman ; toward which, from the beginning, the Spirit of prophecy ever pointed and hastened with ardent desire. Its realization begun with the ascension and the day of Pentecost, — its full meaning of grace, of wrath and of glory, will only then be fully realized in fruition, in that day when the mighty angel shall, with uplifted hand, proclaim the end of the mystery with the end of time. Of its significance, I will now attempt an indication. Sin is, in its very existence, an insult to the holiness and sovereignty of God. Its unclean and evil aspect is a disgust and abomination in his sight, and a pollution and deformity on the fiiir face of his creation. In its first beginning by Satan, it was an immediate assault upon the very throne in heaven. Its introduction into the world was a Satanic device to mock God's proclaimed purpose of favor to man, and to insult His love by rendering its object unworthy of His regard, and loathsome to His holi- ness. At the creation of man, God had said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."— Gen. i, 26. In the eighth Psalm, this decree is anew re- hearsed. (Psa. viii, 4-8.) Again, in the epistle to the Skc. LXI.] A7.\CD0.]/ of THE SOX OI- MAX. 2()9 Hebrews, Pjiul transcribes it irom the rsahnist, and ex- pounds it. " Fur unlo the angels iuith he not i)ut in sub- jection the world to conic whereof we speak. But one," tluit is, the Psalmist, "in a certain place testified, sayin^r, What is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy liands; thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet." — Heb. ii, h-%. From this language of the Psalmist, Paul proceeds to argue the extent of the dominion thus given to man. lie insists, (1) that the decree is unlimited. "In that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him;" (2) that man does not now have such dominion, ''l^oxi}^ we see not yet all things put under him;" (3) that the decree is already fulfilled in the throne which Christ now^ fills. "But we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor;" (4) that to that same glory the Father is now " bringing many sons," the brethren of Christ and co-heirs with him of the kingdom. Vs. 10. In another place, Paul completes the view, in this di- rection. "For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith. All things are put under him, it is manifest that He is excepted which did put all things under him." — 1 Cor. XV, 25-27. It is a legal and common sense rule of interpretation, as to deeds of grant or convevance, that an exception on one point proves the intention of the grant to be otherwise unlimited. 8o it is here. The a])ostle, in excepting God the Father from the grant of dominion to the Son of man, leaves all else in the universe under his subjection. It thus appears that, in the decree of man's creation, a dominion was assigned him which in the purpose of God comprehended all the power which Jesus, the Son of man, now exercises, over the whole creation of God. 270 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. How far this extent of the purpose of God was under- stood by Satan, we are not informed. But it is evident from the whole tenor of the Scriptures that the fulfilhnent of this decree was the subject on which the serpent joined issue with God, in the seduction of our first parents, and his policy toward our race. The issue thus on trial since the foundation of the world is this: Shall God fulfill his announced purpose, by exalting man to the promised throne? Shall he, thereby, vindicate his own wisdom, sov- ereignty, truth, and grace, and reveal and glorify all his perfections? Or, shall Satan triumph over God and man, thwarting God's decree, through man's ruin and bondage? Shall he succeed in the impious attempt to array the very attributes of God against each other, so that his justice and holiness shall forbid the performance of the purpose which his sovereign love determined and his wisdom and truth proclaimed? This has been the problem of the ages: This, the question which has roused intensest interest in all heaven's hosts, "Which things the angels desire to look into." — 1 Pet. i, 12. This is the key to the fact, that, amid the scenes of human sin and ruin which fill the pages of God's word, the doctrine of the kingdom gradu- ally dominates amid the gloom, looming up into proportions of grandeur wliich overshadow earth and heaven. *'I be- held," says Daniel, "till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit; Avhose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. ... I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. Sec. LXI.] A'/XCPOAf OF THE SOX OF Af.i.V. 271 His (loiniiiioM is uii evcrhistiiiir (loiuiiiion, ^vlli('h sluiU ii<»t j)ass a\v:iv, and liis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." — Dau. vii, 9-14. At length, the tidiness of time drew nigh when the mystery of the ages should be diselosed, and the promised kingdom gi\'en to the Son of man. John came, the herald of it8 advent, crying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." — Matt, iii, 2. Soon, Jesus himself went forth ut- tering the same announcement, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."— lb. iv, 17, 23. And lest his voice should fail to reach every ear, he shortly sent the twelve, and then the seventy, to fill the land with the cry. "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." — lb. x, 7; Luke x, 9. But before the kingdom could be established, before the Sou of man might assume the crown, there was a work for him to do. That crown might not be a gift of God's arbitrary grace — a mere assertion of purpose unchanged. It must be a reward of manifest and glorious merit. Xay, not even so is it to be a gratuitous endowment; but as a troj^hy won by battle and conquest is it to be received and worn. The Seed of the woman — the Son of man — must give proof, in presence of all intelligences, both holy and apostate, of his worthiness of that favor which God, from the beginning, so openly bestowed. He must display the mvstery of a man walking in the flesh among men, in the glory of a spotless and untarnished righteousness, amid the reign of abounding sin. He must be seen — this glori- ous man — taking upon his mighty shoulders the vast incu- bus of the curse, with which Satan's malicious fraud had burdened the world, and bearing it away to a land not inhabited. He must meet the great enemy himself, whose impious challenge has raised the issue of the fitness of God's choice, and man's competence to reign — the enemy who, in insolent contempt of God's purpose, has chosen this earth as the seat of his own empire, and here usurped 272 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Pakt XI. dominion over man. He must subdue Satan, break his scejoter and lead him captive in the train of his triumph, before he may claim and assume the kingdom and the glory. Satan saw, with dread the coming of the champion, and proposed a compromise. — "Behold the kingdoms of the world and their glory! Do homage to me, and all shall be thine!" — Matt, iv, 8, 9. It needs not to trace the manner of the triumphs of the carpenter's son, ending in the resurrection from the guarded sepulcher, and ascen- sion to the throne in heaven. As the time of the kingdom came to be immediately at hand, he entered Jerusalem, amid the exultant Hosannas of his followers, proclaiming him the King of Israel. He was betrayed and brought to the council. And when the high-priest adjured him whether he was the Son of God, his answer, whilst attesting that blessed fact, held up to equal prominence his royalty as the Son of man. — "Thou hast said; nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the 8on of Man, sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven." — Matt, xxvi, 63, 64. And so, they crucified him, with the accusation written in letters of Hebrew and Greek and Latin,—" The King of the Jews." He had already foretold his apostles that they should live to see his kingdom established with power. On the morning of his resurrection, he said to Mary, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." — John XX, 17. The word, "I ascend" (properly, "I am ascend- ing"), indicates his immediate ascension and reception of the throne, on the very day of the resurrection. And it is worthy of notice that John who relates this does not men- tion that subsequent public ascension which was made in the presence of the apostles, as Christ's official witnesses. He had already recorded the essential fact. Between these Skc. lxii.] cnk'JSJ j':\iJJh'(\\i:n nArri/.icR. 273 two events, tlie first and tlu> iiiial ascension, on the occa- sion of one of his appearancrs to liis disciples, lie expressly told them that he was now already in possession of the throne. He " came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." — Matt, xxviii, 17, 18. On the day of Pentecost, Peter testified of the supreme authority now vested in Him. " Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified, both lord and Christ." — Acts ii, 36. Paul more fully states the extent of his do- minion. Go^l " raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, aiid every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his bodv, the fullness of him that fiU- eth all in all."— Eph. i, 20-23. Section LXII.— CAris^ is enthroned as the Baptizcr. The announcement of the coming of the Lord Jesus as King was made to the Jews, in a very striking and im- pressive manner. Clothed in sackcloth of hair and sub- sisting on locusts and wild honey, John came in the wilder- ness of Judea, crying to an apostate people, — " Repent ye ; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. . . . He that Com- eth after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire ; whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge liis floor and gather his wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chafi?* with unquenchable fire."— Matt, iii, 2-12. The baptizing office of Christ, as thus set forth, wa.< the objective point toward which the Old Testament baptisms directed the faith and hopes of Israel ; and the theme, as we have seen, of some of the most exultant strains of proi)hecy. And to it, the 274 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. ba2:>tism of tlie Christian churcli ever looks up and testifies. The intent of Christ's enthronement is here stated to be that he may " thoroughly purge his floor." So Jesus him- self explains the parable of the tares. ' ' The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniq- uity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire." — Matt. xiii, 41, 42. The dimensions of his kingdom, to be thus purged, we have seen to be coextensive with the universe of God ; over which Paul declares that "lie must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." — 1 Cor. xv, 25. The same apostle further states that " it pleased the Father that in Hira should all fullness dwell ; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to rec- oncile all things unto himself; by him, wdiether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." — Col. i, 19, 20. In the execution of a work so vast and so momentous, the baptist states two means to be employed, — the baptism of the Holy Ghost ; and the baptism of fire. By the one, Jesus gathers his wheat into the garner ; by the other, he will burn up the chaff. We will first consider the baptism of the Holy Ghost. In the blessed Triune Godhead there is one nature, one mind, and purpose, and will ; so that all concur, equally, and freely in the eternal origination of the divine plan, and in every step of its administrative fulfillment. Yet is there an essential and native order of precedence and operation clearly traceable in the Scriptures. In this order, tlie Fa- ther is the fii^t, of whom the Son is begotten, and from whom the Spirit proceeds. So, in the executive adminis- tration of the sacred scheme, there is an order of prece- dence in the manifestation of the Godhead, revealed with equal clearness. In it, the Son was sent by the Father to humble himself under the law, in the form of a servant; and he so performed the Father's will as to be designated Skc. LXII.] CHRIST F.XTIiROXED nAPTl'/.I'.R. 2/;) l)V liiin "my riu^hlcoiis i^erv:lllt." — Isii. liii, 11. In it, tiie Fatlur pill tiio anointing Spirit upon the incurnale Son. (Isii. xlii, 1 ; Malt, xii, 18.) And, by tlu- Sj)irit thus given, was he direetetl in his entire ministry, until he, " through the eternal Spirit, otiered himself without spot to God," a sacrifice for sin. (Ileb. ix, 14.) But, upon the enthronement of the Lord Jesus as God's great Baptizer, there was a change in this order of adminis- tration. With the sceptre and kingdom of the Father, the dispensing of the S})irit was given to the Son of man. \\\ this endowment, two great ends were accomplished. (1) As the third Person of the Godhead is essentially the ii, or breath, of the Father (2 Sam. xxii, 16 ; Job iv, 9; xxxii, 8; xxxiii, 4; Matt, x, 20), ''which proceedeth from the Father" (John xv, 26), so now, being given to the Lord Jesus, and mediatorially subject to and sent forth by him, as his Spirit, our Savior is thus constituted a likeness and revelation of the Father, in that respect also ; as he is, in being robed with the Father's glory, sitting on his throne, and swaying his sceptre. This was signified by the Lord Jesus, when he came to the disciples after his resurrection, and breathed on them, saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."— John XX, 22. Thus, "in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."— Col. ii, 9. (2.) This in- vestiture with the Spirit, was an essential qualification, without which it was impossible that the Lord Jesus should have fulfilled the work assigned him, of purging the Father's floor and gathering the wheat into his garner. Among the Persons of the Godhead, it is the office of the Spirit to be the author and source of life, by whom only, therefore, dead souls are quickened and dead ])odies raised to life. Hence, Jesus, in announcing his prerogative re- specting these things, attributes it to the gift of the Spirit of life conferred on him l)y the Father. "The Son can do n(»thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these jds(j doeth the 276 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XL Son likewise. . . . For as the Father raiseth up the dead aud quickeDeth them : even so the Sou quickeueth whom he will. For the Father judge th no mau, but hath com- mitted all judgment unto the Son ; that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in him- self; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." — John v, 19-27. In his last discourse with his disciples, the night of the , betrayal, Jesus was very explicit on this subject. Fully to appreciate his statements on that occasion, it is necessary to keep in view the general features of the divine economy which were about to culminate in Christ's exaltation. Inasmuch as Satan, in his insolent scorn of the human race, sought, through its weakness and ruin to cast con- tempt upon God, and to involve his government in chaos. God in the mystery of his glorious love, saw fit, in honor of the human race, to place his government upon the shoulders of the child of that very woman whose weakness Satan betrayed, and to appoint him to redeem her and her seed from the usurper's power, and avenge her WTong upon the betrayer's head ; and ordained him, because he is the Son of man, to rectify all the evil that Satan has done, — to baptize this earth and yonder heavens from the defile- ment and dishonor that he has wrought, through sin, and to " reconcile all things to the Father, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven." It is manifest that in the fulfillment of such a plan, the Son of man must take actual possession of the scepter, before full entrance can be made upon its manifested execution. It is further to be remembered that the entire discourse in question was addressed to the apostles, with distinct reference to their commission and qualification to proclaim the gospel of the Skc. LXII] CHk'IST EXTIIKOXED BAPH/.I.R. Til kingdom. Tlic .sliiteinents and prDiniscri tlicrciu contained do not, therefore, have immediate respect to the ordinary- graces of the Spirit, in the hearers of the word, but to his comforting, enlightening and directing influences in the apostle-witnesses. " I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter that he may al)ide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth. . . . These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. . . . When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proccedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. ... It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, be- cause I go to my Father, and ye see me no more ; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when ho, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ; for he shall not speak of him.«elf ; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you."— John xiv, 16, 17, 25, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7-15. In these passages, there is a very remarkable order of progress in the statements concerning the mission of the Spirit. *' I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter." "The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name." " The Comforter whom I will send 278 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XL unto you from the Father" " If I go not away, the Com- forter will not come unto you : but if I depart I will send him unto you." As the Spirit essentially proceeds from the Father, so, primarily, in the manifestation of the Godhead, he is sent forth by the Father, and in all his work of grace to man, is sent through the mediation of the Son. Hence the form of tlie first statement: — " I will pray the Father, and he shall give." In the next passage, he indicates that whilst, in the concurrence of the Godhead, the Father is the primary source of the Spirit, the mission spoken of, is in the name, and for the purposes of the Son, namely, — to remind the apostles of his words, and interpret them to their understandings and hearts. *' Whom the Father will send in my name," — that is, to do my commission, — to utter my words. In the next clause he assumes to him- self and asserts the prerogative conferred on him, and says, — " When the Comforter is come, whom / ^vill send unto you from the Father." And since the mission thus promised was to be a testimony on his own behalf, he goes on to mark that the testimony of the Spirit is that of the Father, also, since essentially and eternally, he proceedeth from and is the Spirit of the Father, "Even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth fif)m the Father, he shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning." Compare John v, 36 ; Heb. ii, 4. Next, since the triumphs of the gospel were reserved to honor the scepter of the Son of man, Jesus declares that he must ascend to heaven and assume that scepter, before the apostles could receive the gifts which would qualify them for spreading those triumphs. — "If I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you, but, if I depart, I will send him unto you." He declares the Spirit's oflSces, toward the world and toward them, whom he "the Spirit of truth" should "guide into all truth;" and emphasizes the fact that in fulfilling these offices, he Skc. lxii.] c//a'/st i-:.\T//h'i).\/-:n nArn/.i-.R. 279 ^vill act .strictly tis an interpreter. Christ is the Word of God; aiul the Spirit stnt by him, "shall uot s})cak of hiiuself; but whatsoever ho shall hear, that shall ho spcuk." — " He shall erhaiig be accountem. Had the whole thought of the passage been concerning the Father, and in describ- ing him Jesus had said, "From him proceedeth the Spirit," the declaration would seem scarcely reconcilable with a coincident pnxression from the Son. But when the Spirit, himself, and his qualification to be a witness on behalf of the Son, is the distinct subject of discourse, — the state- ment that "He proceedeth from the Father, and will tes- tify of me," utterly excludes a like precession from the Son. This conclusion is strengthened by the remarkable language on the same subject, uttered by the Lord Jesus upon another occasion. "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witiiesseth of me is true. . . . The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witnes of me that the Father hath sent me."— John v, 31-36. Peter declares that "God anointed Jesus of Xazareth with the Holy Ghc«st and with power, who went ab<>ut doing g«x»d." — Acts X, 38. Jesus here expressly certifies that the testi- mony thus by the Spirit given to his ministry was distinct- ivelv the Father's testimony an«l not that of the &:»n. — a statement whollv irreconcilable with the supposition that the Spirit of witness who was the eflScient author of those miracles proceedej the J^oiiccost JjuidUm. In all the cxpressious aud statements concerning the luiptisiu of Pentecost, there is a prominence given to the mnnnor of it wliich can not be casual, nor devoid of special significance. The attendant phenomena are described as •'a sound /ro??i heaven, as of a rushing mighty Avind," Avhich 'Milled all the place Avhere they were sitting." *' Cloven tongues, like as of fire, sat upon each of them." ''And they were ixWjillcd with the Holy Ghost." The facts are by Peter described as a fulfillment of the prophecy, — " I will pour out of my Spirit iijwn all flesh." — vs. 17. He further tells the asscnd)ly, that Jesus ^' shed forth this which ye now see and hear." — vs. 33. Of the similar scene in the house of Cornelius, it is stated that " the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word," aud that *'o/i the Gen- tiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." — Acts x, 44, 45. Peter also, in giving account of this scene to the church at Jerusalem, stated, with reference to these facts, that as he began to speak, "the Holy Ghost /e// on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how he said, ... Ye shall be hajAized with the Holy Ghost."— Acts xi, 15, 16. After the same conception is the language of Paul. — "According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he sJied on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior." — Tit. iii, 5, G. " Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God (ehkechutnl en) is poured out on our hearts (dia) through the Holy Ghost given us." — Rom. v, 5. In these l)laces, the words, " shed," and, "poured," which are in- terchangeably used in the translation, represent one in the original. The first point, here, is the manner in which the phe- nomena of the occasion were introduced. "Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, 300 THE GREA T BAPTIZER. [Part XL and it filled all the house where they were sitting." That this was designed to be a significant sign, would seem certain in the presence of all the other significant features of the oc- casion. And its meaning is not obscure. From the Greek verb, p?ieo, to blow, are derived two nouns, pneuma and pnoe. These words are nearly identical in meaning, except that pneuma is by the sacred writers appropriated to desig- nate the Holy Spirit. It, and the Hebrew ruagh, which is appropriated in a like manner, both mean, primarily, the air, the wind; and hence, the breath, the soul of man, a spirit, the Spirit of God. In all these significations, they are found, the one in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, and the other in the Greek of the Septua- gint version. We have seen how largely the figure of water is used as a symbol of the Spirit. Its chief propriety as thus employed appears in its effects upon the earth and the creatures, penetrating and fertilizing the soil, washing away defilement, and refreshing the thirsty ; while as rain from heaven, it traces the descent of the Spirit from the throne of God, In wind, or air in motion, or the breath, we have another symbol, familiar in the Scriptures, and equally in- teresting and significant. Its peculiar fitness consists in its relation to its source, as representing the Third Person as the Spiritus or breath, "which proceedeth from the Fa- ther ;" and in its nature, as essential to sustain life in the animate creation. .Says the Psalmist, " By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath (to ptneumati, by the Spirit) of his mouth," — Ps. xxxiii, 6. The word, p?ioe, is that which designates the "rushing, mighty wiiuV of Pentecost. It is used in the Septuagint in the sense of wind, stormy or violent wind, the breath, the soul, the spirit. Its relation to pneuma may be seen in such places as follow. — " He that giveth breath (pnoe) to the people upon it and spirit (pneuma) to them that walk therein," — Isa, xlii, 5. "The spirit (pneuma) should fail before me, and the souls (pnoen) Skc. lxvi.] T//I': au\x/':a' of r/cxritCOST. 301 whicli I hiive made." — Ihid. Ivii, IG. " At the hkvit (pnocs) of i\w hrrath (j))in(matos) of His nostrils." — 2 8ain. xxii, l(i. "All the time my breath {jmoea) is iu me, and the Spirit (pmiima) of God is in my nostrils." — Job xxvii, 3. " The Spirit (jmeuma) of God hath made mo, and the breath {pnoe) of the Aliniixhty hath given me life." — Job. xxxiii, 4. In the New Testament, we have the words of Jesus to Nicodemus, — "The ivind bloiveth {pneuma pnei, the Spirit brcathcth), where it listeth." — John iii, 8. And in this same book of the Aets, is the testimony of Paul to the Athe- nians that — " He giveth to all, life and breath (pnoen), and all things." — Aets xvii, 25. Signifieant to the same pur- pose is the word, thco-pneustos (God breathed), whieh de- scribes the Scriptures as the dictate of the Spirit in the prophets. (2 Tim. iii, 16.) Turning now to another word, — says Dr. Alexander, "The word (pheromeiie) trans- lated rushing, is a passive participle, meaning borne, or carried, and is properly descriptive of involuntary motion, caused by a superior power ; an idea not suggested by the active participles, rui^hing, driving, or the like; which seem to make the wind itself the operative agent."* Compare 1 Peter i, 13, — " The grace that is to be brought (pheromenen) unto you ;" and 2 Peter i, 21. — " Holy men spake as tliey ( pheromenoi) ivcre moved hy the H^ Ay Cxhoiit.'" With these notes, let us compare that action of Jesus, in which he breathed on his disciples, and said to them, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." — John xx, 22. This we must understand as designed by him for an interpretation of Pentecost. It can mean nothing else. For not till then was the Spirit to be given. The same figure is fully developed in the prophecy of Ezekiel (xxxvii, 1-14), of the valley of dry bones. " There were very many in the open valley; and 1<>, they were very dry." At the divine command, Ezekiel prophesied to them, — "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. * Alexander on the Acts, in loco. 302 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. Thus saitli the Lord God imto these bones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. . . . And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind. . . . Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." The vision is interpreted to the j^rophet. " These bones are the whole house of Israel. . . . Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you uj^ out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you and ye shall live." Ezek. XXX vii, 1-14. Throughout this passage, the Avords, *' wind," "breath" and "Spirit," are in the original the same (Hebrew, rudgh, Greek, pneuma), and the word, "breathe," — " Cimie from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain," — is the same that describes the action of the Lord Jesus, just referred to. If uov>% in the lisrht of these illustrations, we return to the account of the Pentecostal scene, we read that "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of an outbreathed, mighty breath, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Thus was signified the Spirit of Christ, as the breath of His life, by Him breathed into His disciples. So distinctly and pro- foundly was this idea impressed on the mind of the primi- tive church, that it became the occasion of one of the un- warranted forms which were at an early age added to the Scriptural rite of baptism. After the interrogation and im- Skc. LXVI.] the MAXXKR of PENTECOST. 303 mediately before the baptism, there was an exorcism, with au insufHation or breathing in the face of the person bap- tized ; which Augustine calls a most ancient tradition of the church.'!^ It was meant to signify the expelling of the evil spirit, and the breathing in of the good Spirit of God. In the outbrcathing c^f Pentecost we have the only phenomenon of the day, that was expressive of the actual performance of the baptism by the Lord Jesus. It was the specific symbol of the manner of it. Com])aring it with the various other statements above quoted, it aj)pears that of that baptism, the element was the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; the administrator was Jesus seated on the throne of glory ; the manner of it was an outbreathing from him ; its coming was by descent, — a shedding down from the height of his throne to his disciples in Jerusalem ; in its reception, it was a falling upon them ; and the result was that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, as the breath of their lives. For, in the symbol as described, they were sur- rounded as it were with an atmosphere of the Spirit. " It filled all the house where they were sitting ;" so that they could breathe no other breath. In this account, the chief interest centers on the source of the outpouring. And, in fact, the very purpose of the forms of expression used and of the sensible phenomena which they describe was to direct the attention of all, up- ward to that source. To the same effect, was the whole argument of Peter's discourse to the multitude. Each po- sition in it, has this as the end. — '* Ye men of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth ye know, for him ye crucified. Him God raised from the dead and exalted to his own right hand, and gave the Spirit in all fullness to him. That Spirit hath he shed down upon us, as ye now see and hear, and thus is shown his exaltation and power. Therefore let all the house of Israel know, assuredly, that God hath made *Augustinus de Nupt. et Concup. II, 29. 304 THE GREAT DAPTIZER. [rART XI. that same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ, — both sovereign over all and that Anointed One who was promised to David, and heralded by all the prophets, as he that should sit on David's conquering throne." We have seen how Paul labors to exalt our imagina- tions to some proportionate conceptions of the unapproach- able height of the throne of Christ's glory. And now, in our times, from the day of Pentecost unto the end, it is signalized in the exercise by him of that highest preroga- tive of God, the sending forth of the infinite Spirit. It is shed down by him from yonder height to this. low earth, — down to us worms in the abyss Avhere Ave lay, strown in the upas valley of death, to breathe life into the dead and give salvation to the lost. And to signalize that height of his exaltation, the depth of his condescension, and the measureless immensity of his matchless love, the Baptism of Pentecost was given, its miracles were wrought, and its myriad trophies of salvation gathered. All these point upward and cry, — "Behold! on high! Far above, all powers and dominions, Jesus fills the throne ! Thence he breathes forth the Spirit of God! Thence he sheds down salvation !" Section LXVII. — T]ie New Sjmit ImjMrted on Pentecost. The previous announcements which heralded the bap- tism of Pentecost, and all the attendant flicts and state- ments unite to indicate that in the very nature of the gift then conferred there was something essentially new and different from any previous endowments bestowed on the church, — something by which peculiar honor was reflected on the baptizing office of the Lord Jesus, upon this its first assumption and exercise. It is a question to be con- sidered,— What were the new characteristics of grace now first imparted to the church? The Holy Spirit was no novelty, now first bestowed. At the coming of Christ, the Jews were familiar with the S KC . L X V 1 1 . ] THE A7-; \ I ' SPIR I T L\ tl '. I A' 77'. /). 305 dootriue of the })orf>()iKility and oflit'es of the Tlunl Person of the Godhead. Of this the evidcnec is couclusivc,— iu tlie story of John's birtli, — in the tlienie Jind slyle of John's preaeliing, — in the fjietis slated as to the birtii, anointing, and ministry of Christ, — in His manner of reference to the snbjeet in his teaching, — and especially in his warning as to the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is only expli- cable upon the supposition that the doctrine of the Spirit was fiimiliar to the Jews. The knowledge thus evinced had its source in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. So full are they on the subject that there is scarcely an aspect in which it appears in the New Testament which has not its counterpart in the Old. In them his agency is distinctly and fully recognized, both in the inspiration of the prophets, and in the gifts and graces which have been common to God's people in all ages. See for exam- ple, Psa. li, 11-13; cxliii, 10; Isa. Ixiii, 10, etc. The graces which Paul testifies to be the ft'uits of the Spirit (Gal. V, 22; Eph. v, 9), and which arc in the above cited places, by the Old Testament writers referred to the same source, were abundantly displayed in the saints of the former dispensation, insomuch that Paul holds them up as ensamples to us. (Heb. xi and xii, 1.) The Psalms, which gave expression and nourishment to their graces, are never exhausted by the profouudest attainments of Christian experience. And with all the lamentable facts of unfaithfulness and apostasy which darken the pages of Israel's history, there were periods of fidelity, in which the church shone in the beauty of holiness, fair and comely in the eyes of God. In fact, with all the disposition which we sometimes realize to dwell on the uid)elief and aposta- sies of the twelve tribes, and lamentable as ihey were, it is certain that the New Testament church is in no condi- tion to boast herself against Israel. If we survey the nominally Christian church, in its various sections — the communions of Kome and of the east, and of the various 2G 306 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. Protestant churches io Europe and America — a just judg- ment will pronounce them, on the whole, scarcely less un- faithful and surely more inexcusable than was Israel. Assuredly, there is no such difference in our favor as to indicate the absence of the Spirit from the latter, and his peculiar presence with the former. In what then did the peculiarity of the day of Pente- cost consist? To this question, Peter in his 'discourse on the occasion, gave an explicit answer. " This is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel: — And it shall come to pass, in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." — Acts ii, 16, 17. In this citation of proph- ecy, and in the discourse which followed, Peter defined the peculiarities of the occasion as consisting in three things: First, that the outpouring of that day was made by the Lord Jesus in person. Second, that the miraculous phe- nomena attending it were designed to attest the fact that He, being risen from the dead and exalted to God's right hand, was endowed with supreme and universal au- thority. Third, that the gifts of salvation by him dis- pensed were adapted and designed not for Israel only but for "all flesh," — for the world. Thus was implied a change in the whole aspect of grace, in the hearts of God's people. We have formerly seen that God's entrance into cov- enant with Israel, at Sinai, implied a temporary with- drawal of his overtures from the nations, — " suffering them to walk in their own ways," (Acts xiv, 16), but with a distinct assertion of a reserved right, inserted in the covenant itself, — "For, all the earth is mine." So long as God "winked at" the wickedness of the Gentiles, the church had neither commission nor call to labor for their salvation, nor impulse of grace to look for it. The doors of salva- tion and of the church were held open to all, and the word and ordinances maintained in Zion were an invitation to the world to enter freely. But, beyond that Israel was Skc. LXVII.] THE MiW srih'IT IMPARTEn. ,307 not culk'd to go. On the contrary, tjlie was diricouriigcd from all active or iutinuitc contact or intercourse with the apostate nations. Her primary and paramount office and obligation it was to keep her own self pure, and to preserve and transmit the oracles and ordinances of God faithfully, until the time of the Messiah. In the meantime, since the operations and graces of the tSpirit can not but be in harmony with the will and purpose of God, his iufiueuces in the hearts of Israel, corresponded with the purpose thus indicated couccruiug the nations. For, grace is nothing but harmony of aliections and will with the character and will of God. Grace, in Israel, was therefore without disseminating zeal or power, as toward the Gentiles. It contained no im- pulse to seek their salvation. But, knowing them as apos- tate and enemies to God and to his people, and as the objects of his indignation and wrath, it concurred in that indignation, and at times gave expression to it, in forms which offend a shallow and unsauctified criticism. Yet are they no more incongruous to the active enjoyment and ex- ercise of the profoundest and most abundant measure of the Spirit's graces, than is the absence in heaven's blest inhabitants of zeal for the welfare of Satan, and their adoring approval of God's justice in his doom. All this was rather confirmed tlian modified by the fact that the Spirit of prophecy constantly indicated that a day was coming when all the ends of the earth sliould see and share in the salvation of God. The more distinctly it was revealed as the purpose of God f )r tlie future, the more clearly was it seen to be not of the present. But, now, the time had come. The Son of man, the Prince Messiah, to whom was reserved the ingathering of the Gentiles (Gen. xlix, 10), had assumed the scepter and re- ceived the Spirit of life for the nations. The sanctifying grace of that Spirit must be essentially the same in all ages and times. But there was now a change in its aspect to the Gentiles, coincident with the change of the divine 308 THE GREAT DAPTIZER. [Part XL attitude toward tliem. Instead of the old passive sentiment concerning the world's ruin, — instead of the former ardor of indignation against its ungodliness, — the apostles and the church were now inspired with a divine pity and benefi- cent love, — with an active and aggressive zeal for the con- version of men. While the enclosed water of the laver at the tabernacle was the symbol of the Spirit's influences, under the former dispensation, the increasing river of Ezekiel's vision is their representative in the New Testa- ment times. Flowing forth out of Zion, with a widening and deepening current, it pours its living waters into the dead sea of our apostate humanity, to the healing of the waters. This difference in the nature of the Spirit's in- fluences, now, and of old, is beautifully exhibited in two figures employed by our Savior, the distinctive features of which should not be overlooked because of the points of analogy. Speaking to the woman of Samaria of the per- sonal blessings which the Spirit bestows, he tells her, — *' Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlast- ing life."— John iv, 14. A well, within ; living, active, but confined. But, at Jerusalem, at the festival of the pouring of water, which anticipated the giving of salvation to the Gentiles,— " In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."— John vii, 37, 38. ''Out of his belly shall /o?y." Here is grace, not enclosed and restricted in its sphere, 1)ut outflowing and aggressive, disseminating itself without stint or limit. Hence the explanation which the evangelist adds: — "This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive ; fi)r the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." — lb. vs. 39. Hence, also, the selection made by Skc. LX VI I.] run XEW SPIRIT ntP. Ik' TIC p. 300 Peter, ill ex}>laiKiti()n of tlie Pentecostal scene. Anion;,^ tlic prophecies, there are nuuiy in which the outpouring of tlie Spirit is spoken (>f But of them all the apostle selected that which, in the briefest and ccjnipletest manner, indi- cates the breaking down of the wall of partition. *' I will pour out of my Spirit upon all fleshy This he afterward explains. '* For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."— vs*. 39.' But tlicre was another jx)int, equally important, in the endowments bestowed on that memorable day. Heretofore, not only had commission to the Gentiles been withheld from the church, but gratuitous labors by her in that be- half would have been necessarily futile, for lack of power accompanying the word. But, said Jesus to the apostles, "Ye shall receive jyower, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be w^itnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." — Acts i, 8. What was the nature of the power thus given, Paul tells the church of Corinth. "God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath sliincd in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that tlie excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." — "And my speech and my preaching were not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wis- dom of men, but in the power of God." — 2 Cor. iv, 6, 7; 1 Cor. ii, 4, 5. This illuminating, convincing, and convert- ing power of the Spirit of God attending the word, remains the perpetual endowment and authentication of the Chris- tian ministry. In addition to the zeal and power thus conferred, the apostles were by this baptism invested with those gifts of courage, wisdom, ins|)iration, anoH of Matt, xxvii, o5; Mark xv, 24; Luke xxii, 17; xxiii, .')4 ; and Acts ii, 45."* "There appeared unto tliein di.^^trihiited tongues like as of fire, aud one sat on eaeli of them." ISuch is the literal meuniug of tl»e evangelist. These tongues '' apjjcarcd,'* ''like as of fire." Isot burning, but brightness or illumina- tion Avas their charaeteristie. They had thus the aj)})ear- anec of burning lamps, and seem evidently to have been symbols of that divine illumination Avhieh through the ministry of the gospel was about to be given to the Gen- tiles. In the tabernacle and temi)le stood the seven branched golden candlestick, with its seven lamps, which were by the priests daily replenished with oil, and kept burning continually. In the opening of the vision of the Apocalypse, John saw seven golden candlesticks, or lamp- stands, in the midst of which was one like the Son of man, in whose right hand were seven stars. These stars were the burning lamps of the lampstands. (Compare Rev. i, 12, 13, 16, 20; iii, 1; aud iv, 5.) They were explained to him. The candlesticks were the seven churches of Asia, and the stars were the angels of the seven churches. There has been some question among expositors, as to the form of church government contemplated in this vision. But the most are agreed that, whatever was the form, the angels were the ministry, conceived as lamps of light up- borne by the churches. By this interpretation, we are led to the same understanding as to the golden candlestick in the tabernacle and temple, since the scenery of the Reve- lation is a recognized transcript from the temple, which was a pattern of the heavenly things. The seven lamps shining as stars in the darkness of the sanctuary, through the continual sujjply of oil ministered by the priests, were a beautiful type of the ministry and ordinances of the church of Oud, shinin(r amid the moral darkness of the world, through the gifts and graces of the Spirit poured ♦Alexander on the Acts. 312 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. upon them by Jesus, the great high Priest. The day of Pentecost had been predicted of old, as the time of the shedding of hght upon the Gentiles by the awakened church. ''Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peo- ple; but the Lord shall arise uj^on thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." — Isa. Ix, 1-3. By Zacharias, at the birth of John, and by Sim- eon, at the presentation of Jesus in the temple. He had been described in this character, — "The dayspriug from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in dark- ness and in the shadow of death ; to guide our feet into the way of peace." — Luke i, 78, 79. Says Simeon, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, — a lAglii to lighten the Gen- tiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." — lb. ii, 30-32. John, in the beginning of his gospel speaks in the same manner, — "In him was life and the life was the Light of men, and the Light shineth in darkness." — John i, 4, 5. Jesus had described the ministry of John, under this figure. "He w^as a burning and a shining light." — John v, 35. He had distinctly foretold his disciples that they were or- dained to be the light of the Gentiles. ' ' Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid. Neither do men light a candle (lucJuion, a lamp), and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." — Matt, v, 14-16. And now, upon them waiting and expectant, He sheds down the oil of the Spirit's grace, kindles a light upon every brow, and inspires them to utter God's praises in the tongues of every land ; thus, to them signifying that the time was come to "Arise and shine," and to others an- Skc. LXIX.J CU-T OF OTHER TONGUICS,. 313 iKHUic'ing that tlie Light of tlic Gentiles had risen upon tlie world. Section LXIX.— T/t^ Gifl of Other Tongues, The nature of rliis ixift, and all the eircunistances attx^nd- inii; it unit<' in investing it with a charaetcr oi* peeuliar iin- pre^fjsivcueiss, siguiiieance and propriety among the niiraeles which attested the g()si)el. Devotional in its nature, and cxereised in celebrating *' the wonderful works of God," it was an indication of the reception and enjoyment by those oil whom it fell of a large measure of the sanctifying graces of the Spirit. The report of it, spreading over Jerusalem, was the attraction which assembled together that vast com- pany, of whom three thousand were converted that day. The prophetic nature of the sign demonstrated the identity of the occasion with that predicted by Joel. And the sig- uificauce of the scene, — God's praises uttered in many lan- guages,— as the anticipation of a world-wide acceptance of the gos})el, — brings this sign into intimate accord with the new spirit of missionary zeal, and the tongues as of fire, which were the other principal phenomena of the day. It exhibited, in a figure, all the tribes and tongues of men, till then immersed in idolatry and darkness, uniting with sudden harmony in a glud burst of praise to God for the wonderful works of his grace. The conspicuous position occupied by this gift amid the scenes of Pentecost and the relation which it sustained to the outpouring of the Spirit, as being the most observ- able gift thereby bestowed, occasioned a manner of ex- pression on the subject in the book of the Acts, which has led to some misconception and error. It consists in the use of the name of the Holy Spirit, and of phrases respecting his falling on the disciples, being received by them, etc., when the subject spoken of is, not his renewing and in\ns- ible graces, but the sensible phenomena which attested the preaching of the apostles. Thus, Peter, on the day of Pen- 27 314 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. tecost, having assured the multitude that what they saw and heard was the fulfillmeut of the promise, ''I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy," and explained that Jesus hav- ing received of the Father the promised Spirit, had shed forth this " which ye now me and liearf exhorted his hear- ers to repent and be baptized, "and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost. For the promise (by Joel), is to you and to your children ('your sons and your daughters'), and to all that are afar off ('all flesh')." Here, the assurance of re_ ceiving the Holy Ghost, upon condition of repentance and baptism, as well as the quotation from Joel, shows that Peter did not speak of the renewing gift of the Spirit ; which precedes and gives repentance, but of the miracu- lous gifts which folloAved, and which they saw and heard. Again, upon the mission of Peter and John to Samaria, it is stated that they prayed for the Samaritans, " that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet he was fallen upon none of them ; only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost." — Acts viii, 14-17. Here, no distinct mention is made of miraculous endow- ments. But the manner in which the gift was imparted, the fact that they were already believers, and especially the proposal of Simon magus, on the occasion, show that it was miraculous gifts that were conferred. The sorcerer would have offered no money for the invisible renewing and sanctifying graces of the Spirit. "Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given." And Avhat he saAV was what he sought to purchase. These perceptible and miraculous signs were therefore the things intended in the expressions used, as to the receiving of the Holy Ghost, and his falling upon the disciples. The same manner of expression is seen in the account of Paul's interview with certain disciples of John at Ephe- Sec. LXIX.] C//-T OF OT/{ER TONGUES. 315 8US. (Acts xix, 1-7.) Paul a.^kcd tlicni, " Have ye re- ceived the Holy Cihost, since ye believed V" So reads the comniou version. But it should be, — " {EUibcte, yisieu- sa)ites)i Did ye, upon believing receive the Holy Ghost?" The question had reference to the time of their first recep- tion of the gospel. The apostle predicates his question upon the assumption that these men were believers; and he elsewhere testifies that faith is one of the fruits of the Spirit. It is thus evident, as the sequel also shows, that it was not the ordinary graces of the Si)irit of which Paul inquired, but his extraordinary gifts. Such being the pur- port of his question, the answer is to be interpreted in ac- cordance with it. "They said unto him. We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." That is, We have not heard of the miraculous gifts. "And he said unto them. Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said unto him, Unto John's baptism." So intimately was Christian baptism related to the baptism and miracles of Pentecost, that Paul could not imagine any one to have received the former, and yet remain ignorant of the latter. To suppose, as do some, that these disciples of John meant to declare themselves ignorant of the existence of the Third Person of the Godhead, is little short of a contradiction in terms, in view of the essential place which was given to the Spirit in John's teachings, — even were we to ignore the Old Testament testimonies, of which John's disciples can not have been ignorant. What they meant, is manifest from the whole tenor of the narrative. In the result, the Holy Ghost was bestowed on them by the laying on of Paul's hands, "and they spake with tongues, and proph- esied." That was the subject of Paul's inquiry, — the sub- ject on which they were ignorant. And the form of ex- pression is another example of the style of language which we have seen running through the i)ages of the Acts on the subject. In striking coincidence with the relation of this sign, as 316 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XL representing the dissemination of the gospel to the nations of the Gentiles was the order of its manifestation. The command of Jesus was that the gospel should be preached ** in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost j)arts of the earth." Precisely this was the order of manifestation of the gift of tongues. First, it was given to the disciples assembled in Jerusalem and repre- senting all Judea, on the day of Pentecost. Then Pliilip having preached in Samaria, to the conversion of many, Peter and John were sent thither ; and by the laying on of their hands, the gift was conferred upon the Samaritans. (Acts viii, 12-17.) Afterward, Peter was called to the house of the Gentile, Cornelius, and upon his preaching, " the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word," and they spake with tongues and magnified God. (Acts X, 44-47.) Beside these, there is but one other account, in w4iich the manner of the gift is indicated. It is the case already mentioned, of the disciples of John in Ephe- sus. Eesj)ecting this sign, the following points are to be noticed. 1. As to its nature, it came under the general designa- tion of prophecy, being an inspired utterance of the praises of God (Luke i, 67, 68), in w^hich in the beginning at least, all the assembly, men and women united. (Acts i, 14; ii, 1, 4, 11; 1 Cor. xi, 5.) As such, Peter declared it to be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. . . . And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy." — vs. 17, 18. In this ex- ercise, while the hearts and aflfections of the speakers were edified by the Spirit, in connection with the utterances thus inspired, their understandings did not ordinarily appre- hend the meaning. (1 Cor. xiv, 2, 4, 13, 14, 18, 19, 28. Compare Rom. viii, 26, 27.) It was in *' another tongue" than that which was native to the speaker, and usually to him an " unknown tongue." Sfx. lxix.] gift of other tongues. 317 2. It was not, therefore, designed to faeiliUite the labors of the apostles, by enabling tbeni to preaeh in foreign languages; and there is no reason to believe that it was ever so used. The Scriptures are silent on the subject, and the traditions of the i)riinitive church to that effect are worthless. Its design seems to have been two-fold, — the edifying of those upon whom the gift was bestowed ; — and, for a sign to the hearers. (1 Cor. xiv, 22.) Of what it was a sign, intimation has been, already, given. It was a token that henceforth the Spirit of all grace would be bestowed as freely, and work as effectually, in the hearts of Gentiles, as of the Jews ; and that God's praises thus inspired woukl be equally acceptable to him in every tongue and from every people. 3. Being intended as a sign of the ingathering of the Gentiles, it seems at first, and until the minds of the disci- ples had become fully imbued with that idea, to have been very abundantly bestowed, and especially at Jerusalem, the centre whence the healing waters were to flow. li\ fact, its value as a great public sign depended materially upon the abundance of the gift, whereby, as on the first occasion, it presented a figure of all nations uniting in the worship of the true God and our Savior. But as the idea became familiar to the mind of the church, and the churches of the Gentiles multiplied, this gift seems to have fallen gradually into a subordinate ])lace, among the many with which the church was endowed. (1 Cor. xii, 1-10.) The occasion of its importance as a public sign having passed away, its chief value now consisted in the spiritual edifica- tion which was ministered to the possessors themselves, in its exerci.se (lb. xiv); and it gradually disappeared from the church. 4. As the apostles were the oflicial witne.«.«cs, appointed by the Lord Jesus to testify of his resurrection and exalta- tion to the baptizing throne, this sign was at first given in immediate connection with, and confirmation of, their per- 318 THE GREAT DAPTIZER. [Part XI. sonal testimony. It was also, with a like intimate rela- tion to their witnessing office, conferred by the laying on of their hands, upon disciples who had been gathered in by the ministry of others. Apart from the personal pres- ence and ministry of the apostles, in one or other of these forms, there is no Scriptural intimation, nor reason to be- lieve, that it was ever bestowed. Section LXX. — T}ie Baptism of Repentance for the Remis- sion of Sins. Yie have yet to contemplate the chief and crowning glory of Pentecost. The endowments conferred on the apostles, and the new spirit infused into the church, were but subsidiary means; glorious indeed; but only as they ministered to a more glorious end. The signs and wonders of the day were but an index hand which pointed away from themselves, and directed all interest and attention to that end. It appears, in the baptism of repentance, then first administered by the ascended Savior from his throne ; the first fruits of which Avere the three thousand converts of that day, and the harvest of which still coming in, will only then be complete, when all his redeemed shall have been gathered from every nation and kindred and people and tongue. The baptism of John is called "the baptism of repent- ance."— Acts xix, 4. But it v;as so, only as the rock in the wilderness was Christ ; only as the bread and cup of the supper are the body and blood of the Lord. "The bap- tism of repentance, for the remission of sins " which he preached (Mark i, 4), was not his own. lie preached " saying that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." — Acts xix, 4. He confessed his own weakness, and the emptiness and futility of his own baptism, which was only a symbol, calling men to repentance, but without power to confer it. " I, indeed baptize you with water, unto repentance ; but he that com- Skc. l.XX.] Till'. nAPTISM or RFPRXTAXCR. 019 etli iiftor 1110 is niiu'lilior than 1, uliosc .shoes I am not worthy to bear; lie shall bai>liz«' you with tlie Holy (iliost." — jMatt. iii, 11. Jesus, alter his resurrectiou, told his dis- ciples,— "Thus it is written and thus it l)ehooved Christ to suHer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that re- "peniance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, among all nations." — Luke xxiv, 4G, 47. A few days after the baptism of Pentecost had been received, Peter, in the presence of the rulers of Israel, testified. — " Iliin hath God exalted with his right hand ; a Prince and Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and the fortjivenas of si)is." Acts V, 31. "The forgiveness of sins," here, is the same in the original, as " the remission of sins," in the other places, and esix?cially in the statement concerning John's preach- ing. This identity of language is uuda limMKafinq ''E.KajiijfiTj ■&ef)iiT]Vi;i. — Iliad xiv, 6. §2y fV aV.7.a vtKpu Tuovrpa 7repi,3n?^iv p.' en. — Eurip., Plioon. IfiHT. **Oj'k nioOn ?MVTpdv ohv ai6' T/ud^ tAovaav apTi. — Aristophanes, Lysist. 377, 409. 326 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Paut XL wash a washing"), indicates how very close is the relation between the verb louo, to wash, and its derivative, loutron, a washing. The one expresses the action, or doing; the other, the thing done. The same idiom presents itself in Antigone's account of the obsequies of her slain brother Polynices. " Washing it a pure washing (loiisantes agnon loutron) " they gathered leaves, and burned " the poor remains."* As bathing was performed by the outpouring of water on the person, the word was thence used (3.) to designate libations, performed by a like outpouring of water, in honor of gods or heroes. Thus, Agamemnon having been mur- dered at the instigation of his wife Clytemnestra, Orestes pours (loutra) libations at his father's tonib;t and Electra dissuades her sister Chrysothemis from fulfilling her moth- er's commission, to offer ((loutra) libations at the same place, as a means of averting coming vengeance, j; The word designates (4.) a bathing place. Plutarch describes Alexander as sj^eaking of " having washed off the sweat of battle (loutro) ivith the bath of Darius. "|| In such passages, the controlling idea is not a supposed bath- ing vessel, but the cleansing water of the bath ; as is here indicated by the form of the participle '^(apolousamenoi), hav- ing washed off;" and by the instrumental dative ''(JoKtro), ivith the bath;" which show that, whatever the construction of the bathing place of Darius, the Greek mode was pres- ent in the mind of Alexander. The idea of loutron is further illustrated by its compounds. At Athens, before a marriage, the bride was bathed with water brought from the fountain of Callirhoe, by a young girl, who was hence called (lie loutrophoros) , " the bath-water carrier." So, * Sophocles, Antigone, 1201. t Ilrtrpoc x^ovTsg ?.ovTpd. Sophocles. Elect. 84. X Obde Tiovrpa Trpoaipepeiv irarpi. lb. 434. II 'Icjjuev^ cnroTiovad/LievoL top cltto Tfjq fxaxvc l^pcora no Aapsiov T^vrpC). Plutarch, Alexand. 20. Sec. LXXI.] PAUL'S DOCTRINE OF IT. 827 the fee for tlie privilege of the bath, was, rpilontron,—for the hath. The voice of the classics is clearly aixainst the renderiiii^ in question. The fact that the Greeks arc entirely silent as to a washinj^ by immersion, or any vessel for the pur- pose,— the distinct name of loiitir given to the only vessel that contained water, — the bathing performed by pouring, — the use of louiron to express such bathing, and to designate the water itself, where there was no vessel, and libations, in which there was water poured out, but no laver, n(jr bathing, — the primitive and peculiar employment of the word in the plural number, — and the derivatives formed from it, all inure to the one conclusion. At least, in classic Greek, louiron does not mean, a laver, but ivatcr for washing, and the tvashing accomplished by it ; and that, with intimate reference to its affusion on the person. Nor does the Hellenistic Greek utter a different testi- mony. In the Song of Songs, it is said, — " Thy teeth are like a flock, shorn, which came up from tJie washing (apo tou loutrou)." So reads the Septuagint. From Ecclesiasticus (above, p. 169) we have the proverb, " He that is baptized from the dead, and again toucheth the dead, what availeth his luashing (Joiitro) ?" Here, cleansing by the sprinkled water of separation is called loutron, a washing. So Philo (above, p. 175) describes the purifying rites, the wasliings (hutra) and the sprinklings, of the Jews. Joseph us says of the two springs of ]\[ach£erus, near the Dead Sea, the one hot, and the other cold, that " when mingled together they make a most pleasant hath (loutron) ."^^ And Paul, himself, writes that Christ gave himself for the church, "that he might cleanse it, purifying it with the wash- huj (to loutro) of water." Here the new version must either make nonsense of the passage, or do violence to the Greek. Either it must read, " purifying it with the laver," that is, with the bath tub, not the washing; or, '*m the » Jewish War. VH, vi, 3. 328 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XL laver," a renderiDg forbidden by the instrumental dative {to loutrd.) On tlie other band, in more than a dozen places, — wherever the lavers of the tabernacle and the temple are mentioned, the Septuagint is louter, — the same word, in the same sense in which it was used by the Greeks to desig- nate the containing vessel. In a word, neither in the classics, nor in Hellenistic Greek, is loutron ever found in .the sense of a laver, or bathing vessel. Or, if it is so used, the Lexicons ignore it ; Stephanus, in his great Thesaurus, knows nothing of it ; and the advocates of that rendering do not adduce it. And were such example found, it would be wholly insignificant as to the interpretation of Paul, in presence of all these facts. If now, we ask for the evidence in favor of the new version, the answer presents two points, — ifirst, that certain versions of the New Testament, — the Vulgate, Claromon- tanus, Syriac, and Gothic, — have so translated loutron; and second, that in accordance with Greek usage, the termina- tion, on (loutro?i), justifies the assumption that the word designates an instrumental object. As to the first consid- eration,— it may be asserted with confidence that we are as fully possessed of the means of determining the question as were the unknown authors of those versions ; and the growing prevalence at that time, of a ritualistic spirit in the church, and the consequent introduction of the form of immersion, sufiiciently account for the rendering, apart from any critical considerations. Respecting the termina- tion, on, the number of examples in which it is found in words that designate instrumental objects is too few to es- tablish a rule. But were it accepted as decisive, the whole weight of its authority is against, instead of being in favor of the proposed amendment. A laver, and especially a Greek laver, is no instrument of bathing. Perhaps the arutaina, the dipper, might be so called. But the ivater and the waahing, each are instrumental causes of the cleans- Skc. LXXL] PAL'i:s DOCTh'/XH OF n\ 321) i)}optl(> says, — *' he saved us {dia Imitrd) by nieam of the washing." Nor tlo the classic's ignore this relation. Plato (ahove, ]>. 181) asks concerning " the ivdsh'nnj.^ {loutra) and sprinklrngs," — "Are they not ettectual to one end, to render a man pure, both as to body and soul?" In the text, loufron means, the washing, but with inti- mate reference to the water as the means, — a sense which we have just seen illustrated from the classics. Strictly, the regeneration is the washing, of which the water is the instrument. The figure thus used, the apostle immediately explains. "The washing of regeneration, even the renew- ing of the Holy Ghost." As water is the instrument of washing, so the Spirit shed down by Jesus Christ is the in- strument of that spiritual work which is indicated alike by the two identical words, regeneration, and renewing. Paul then proceeds with the pronoun " which," — equally appropriate, in the construction of the original, to the water {loxdroxi), or to the Holy Spirit, as its antecedent; and, in fact, referring to both, as identified in one, — "which water, even the Spirit, he shed on us abundantly (did) by the hand of Jesus Christ." Orestes speaks of himself and companions '' (cheontcs loutra) pouring water" of libation at the tond). So Paul speaks of *^ (loiitrou hon execheen) the water of cleansing which He shed forth on us." In the latter case, the prefix, ex, emphasizes the source of the outpouring, but otherwise the conception and action of the two passages is the same. By the hand of his Son, God the Father from on high sheds his Spirit, and baptizes us with his renewing power. Thereby united to the Lord Jesus, we are thus invested with his righteousness, and so, says the text, "are justified by his grace." And since by the same union we share his relation as Son; — " if sons, then heirs," "according to the hope of eternal life." This baptism of the Spirit is the tlieme of frequent dis- cussion iu Paul's writings. He particularly dwells on it as 2>i 330 THE GREAT DAPTI7.ER. [Part XL being the instrumeutal cause of that intimate unity which ex- ists in the body of Christ, and of equality in privilege among all the members, Jews and Gentiles. "As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ. For, by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink one Spirit. . . . Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular." — 1 Cor. xii, 12-14, 27. Here, the figure of baptism is followed up by the expres- sion, "have been all made to drink one Spirit;" — literally, " have been all watered with one Spirit." The preposition, (m) "-inio one Spirit," is rejected by tlie critical editors as spurious; and the verb (j^otizo) means, to apjihj water, either externally or internally, — to water, to cause to drink. Compare in the same epistle, 1 Cor. iii, 2, "I have fed you (epotisa) with milk;" and 6-8, — "Apollos watered (epotisen)'' The same point is set forth in another epistle — "En- deavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit ; even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. . . . That we henceforth be no more children, . . . but speaking the truth in love, may grow^ up into him in all things, w^hich is the Head, even Christ, from wdiom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual ^vorking in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love." — Eph. iv, 3-16. That the "one baptism " here spoken of is that wherein, "by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body," is manifest from the connection and the analogy of the other passages here presented above and below. To suppose it to be water Skc. LXXI.] /Ul/L'S DOCTRIXE 01- IT. 331 ]):iptism, would he to mala' the apostle exclude that spiritual and real baptism of wiiieli water Imptisiu is the sliadi>w, and to which, in all his writinj^^s, he constantly gives so much importance as the means of the union whic-h he here discusses. In another })lace, the apostle represents this l)a})tism as luertcing all other relations in the one tie of identity with Christ. "As many of you as have ])een baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female ; for ye arc all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs ac- cording to the promise." — Gal. iii, 27-29. Here, again, it is clear that the baptism spoken of is that of the Spirit. The oneness with Christ, thus complete by this bap- tism, Paul uses as a i)owerful argument of the duty of his people to be dead to the world that crucified him, dead to sin and all the works of the old man, and alive only to God. (Rom. vi, 3-6; Col. ii, 9-11.) These passages will receive special consideration hereafter. The unity of conception which pervades these Script- ures is manifest, and makes it evident that they all contem- plate one and the same baptism, that in which by one Spirit all Christ's people are baptized into one body, the spiritual body of Christ. Touchinfr the nature of this baptism, the following are the chief particulars : 1. The entrance f»f the Spirit shed down by Jesus is regeneration, or the new birth. It is the imparting of new life to the soul, — the introduction of a princi})le of grace, "the new man," which, like its source, the eternal Spirit, is immortal and supreme wherever it exists; and which, sustained and nourished by the indwelling Spirit, will grow and expand until it gains full and exclusive possession of all the faculties and powers, making the soul its seat, the body its temple, and the members its instruments. 332 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XI. 2. Coincident with this is the death of the old man, the destruction of the controlling principle and power of evil in the soul. Hitherto, it reigned supreme. But now, slain; and, cast out, it remains, a " body of death" in the members; offensive in its corruption, and by its loathsome- ness acting as a stimulus to the opposing principle of grace. (Rom. vii, 24.) 3. The result is, that whereas, formerly, the sinful aftec- tions " did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death," "now, being made free from sin and become serv- ants to God," his people have " their fruit unto holiness." — Rom. vii, 5; vi, 22. 4. The Spirit thus given is not a transient influence; but is within the believer, a well -of living Avater, spring- ing up unto everlasting life ; — a well, from which it is his privilege at all times to drink of that one Spirit. Thereby, " to every one of us is given grace according to the meas- ure of the gift of Christ;" so that we " grow up into him in all things which is the Head, even Christ." — Eph. iv, 7, 15. Thus grace is nourished, in preparation for glory. 5. While such are the effects of this baptism on the spir- itual condition of the redeemed, equally important are its influences on their external relations. The first is their justification. United to the Lord Jesus, as members of his body, the consequence is that their sins are laid to the charge of their Head, and satisfaction for them credited to the blood of his cross. On the other hand, his righteous- ness is recognized as theirs, and in it they stand, not only pardoned, but justified ; approved, and entitled to the in- heritance of glory. They are " accepted in the Beloved ; in w'hom we have redemption through his blood, the forgive- ness of sins according to the riches of his grace." — Eph. i, 6, 7. 6. Another result is their reception to the relation and privileges of children of God. Born of the Spirit, — born of God, they are thus by inheritance children. Members Sec. LX X 1 1 .] X( hMI S.l I'liD H V \V.\ TER. XV.\ of Christ, — the first-lxn-ii, (he ctoniul Sou, — thoy sliarc in his relation, aiul are in him sons; and it" sons then iieirs; — heirs of Uod, and joint lieirs witli ('hrist. 7. The final resnlt is the resnrreetion unto gh)ry. "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus fn)ni the dead dwell iu you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies, by his Spirit that dwelleth iu you." — Rom. viii, 11. Such is the one baptism, of which all ritual bai)tisms are mere shadowy symbols, — the baptism which Paul pro- claims,— "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. iv, 5), a baptism, one and alone from its very nature, as dis- pensed by the one only Mediator, in the bestowal of that one Spirit, whicli belongs to and is therefore imparted by him alone. Thus have we the 2)erfect antitype of the bai> tisms of the Old Testament, — the administrator, Jesus the great High Priest ; the element, that living Avater, the Holy Spirit; the mode, his outpouring upon us from heaven ; the effect, washing to the corrupt, — life to the dead. By this means, does our Baptizer bestow on his people all grace for the present time, and the resurrection and glory in the end. Section LXXH.— Xoa/i Haved by Water. Beside the places before cited, one remains to be noticed. It is 1 Peter iii, 17-22. There are some various readings in the MSS., although none that materially affect the inter- pretation. Adopting what seem the best, the passage is as follows : — "It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ, also, once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death as to the flesh, Init quick- ened as to the Spirit. By which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, formerly disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the Jesus Christ from the dead. Forasmuch then as Christ \ c , ^ < hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the J^ 4" * same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh" (that is, -^**^ (^as stated immediately after, he that hath become "partaker .:>\^ of Christ's sufferings"), "hath ceased from sin." — Ch. iv, f^ 1, 13. Here we recognize perfect identity of thought aud Skc. LX X 1 1 .] XOAIf S.i I 'KD 11 Y \\ W Tlih'. 337 nrguineiit \\\{\\ ^vllat lias already ai)i)raro(l in Paul's writ- ings. *'S() many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ. ^ ^t ivercJxiptizccMuto his death. Therefore, we are buried ^ r«u w-itlThTni by the baptism into his death, that like as Christ warnnsccTuJ) from the dead by the glory of the Fatbe^, e"v"eii so "we also should walk in newness of life." — E/>m vi, 3, 4. Tjtc^ coDclusioD of Peter's argument is found, a little fiirther on, — ''BelovedTthiuk it not_ stran^e_ concejnmg tlie fiery trial wliirh is to try you, as tliouL'-h sf)mc stran^^e ^ti^J?. ^^PF""^'! ii"t'» y"'!v ^^^>t rejoice, inasnuirli a.s ye are partakers of Christ's sufil-rin-s, tluit whni his -I'-ry" shall be reyealed, ye may l)e glad also with cxcecdiii*'" joy."— 1 Peter iv, 12, 13. So Paul mivs, -If s-. 1,.. iluo"' we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified to- gether."—Rom. viii, 17. It is eyideut that the two great apostles are perfectly united in their testimony concerning this baptism and its relations io the plan of salyatiou. In the foregoing exegesis, I haye regarded both forms of the pronoun in the beginning of the twenty-first verse, as alike spurious; at the same time that the language of that yerse is understood as containing a reflex allusion to Koah and hjs family^** saved by water." The phrase "au- tityjie baptism" does not, "if is true, necessitate the previous mention of a type baptism. But it certainly does invite lis to look for, and expect such mention, an expectation .o^'^^ confirmed by tji^J^resence of t_he__j2articles,' 'a?.80, now:^ T^.f'^*-' *'T^"' ^^-^> ^^^^^> -"^"titype baptjsm savTs/* Here seems~to ^^'^ . to be an allusion to something in the past, corresponding" ^^ to the antitype liaptism of the present. And when we~' find ilic iiniiicdiatrly jirrcrdinn- jncitiMH of the salvation 1)^' water of Noah and his family, we can not l)e mistaken'' in recogmzing tins as the type to ulii.],, in tho plmi^^ "antitype HaptTsm;' \\\iv i-rfiTs. Tlir .nlvaii .n, t]irivi:.,vj of^c^Oiy^tlKnvaters of the deliijnL'was a l)ai)tism^ Dr. 0ale asserts the ark and not the water, to haye been the 29 338 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Paut XI. iDstrument of the salvation, and quotes exajnples to justify the translation of dm hudatos, by through the~water,'\ as a medium and not an instrument. But (1.) it is, of course, true that this is one meaning of dia. (2.) One of his ex- amples, "faith tried by fire" (1 Peter i, 7), shows that it may also express instrumental relations. (3.) More perti- nent would have been a citation of the parallel clause which immediately follows the phrase in question. As__ Noah is stated- to .feave been saved /^ by w-ater".'(c?ia /mjo^og), in the typical baptism, so "antitype baptism saves us by _ the resurrection (dia anadaseds'), of Jesus_.C'hrist." The^ parallel, here, between type and antitype, requires that in_ both clauses, the preposition should be understood in the_ same sense; and, as iu the antitype, dia certainly p(jiuts out the resurrection of Christ, as being the instrument or means of our salvation, so in the ty])e, must we under-_^ stand it to designate the waters of the flood as the means. of Noah's deliverance. . Section LXXIII. — Chrisfs Baptizing Admimstration. Thus Jesus fills the throne in the heavens, and possesses all power and prerogative for accomplishing the purposes of the Godhead, concerning the human race — the redeemed and the lost; concerning Satan and his angels, and the whole universe of God, moral and physical, as inseparably connected with the moral history and destinies of these. And thus, in every aspect of his work, as it progresses, from the day of Pentecost to the final consummation and glory, he is in the exercise of that oflSce wherein he was announced by his herald John, as he that should baptize with the Holy Ghost, and with fire, — that ofifice of the gracious aspects of which as toAvard his people, the baptism of water has been, for all ages, the symbol and seal. For, on Pentecost, Jesus only began to fulfill the prophecy and promise, — " I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh." Not even yet is the breadth of its meaning accomplished. He 8kc. LXX III.] CIIR/STS A D.}f/.\7STA\t T/(hV. 0.30 will continue to breathe liis Spirit into his jwople, till all are gathered in. 80, of them, individually, the purifying, although a.<;sured hy the first haptisni which they resi)cct- ively receive, is brought to fruition only through the daily breathings of Christ's life in them, the influences of his Spirit quickening them continually ; as the lei)er was not cleansed by one allusion, but was sprinkled seven times. And while the idea of baptism has s^iecial reference to the first act of grace in bestowing the Spirit, it views that act as comprehensive of the whole process of grace, which is potentially involved iu, and secured by it. It is not for us to know the times and seasons " which the Father hath put in his own power." — Acts i, 7. But, respecting some things of vital interest as to the order and issue of coming events, iu the history of Christ's baptizing office, we do know by the testimony of God. 1. Whatever, to our limited and carnal apprehensions, may be the mysteries of the past history of the gospel iu the world, there has been no lack of power in the baptizing scepter of Christ, nor mistake in its exercise. The Baptizer is that Son of man in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and who is the personal Wisdom of God, and the Power of God. His blood paid the price of salva- tion. His arm overcame and his heel crushed the serpent, during the days of his humiliation in the flesh. And now, enthroned in power, he doeth in his wisdom according to his pleasure. If the heathen of old could say, "The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceeding fine," well may we confide in our King, that he need not make haste, in the fulfillment of his purposes. " Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." — 2 Pet. iii, 8. Four thousand years rolled by, before the ])romise made to the fallen woman in the garden was ful- filled, in the virgin birth of the babe of Bethlehem. And now, " the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the 340 THE GREAT BAPTI'AER. [Tart XL end it shall speak and not lie; though the promise tarry ^vait for it ; because it will surely come ; it will not tarry." — Hab. ii, 3. It does not fall in with the purposes of the present dis- cussion to enter into the prophetic question, as to the time and manner of the future developments and glory of the Redeemer's kingdom. Respecting it, one thing is certain. The past has been a time of the hiding of his power; but the light of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will yet cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The Branch of Jesse "shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and his rest shall be glori- ous."—Isa. xi, 1, 10. 2. Every soul to whom the grace of God has come, from the day of Pentecost to this hour, has received it from the immediate hand of Jesus, baptizing him with the Holy Ghost. And so it will be to the end. Thus, each one so redeemed is a new proof and jiledge that Jesus fills the throne, — that Satan and all the powers of darkness are under his feet ; and that the hearts of men are in his hands, to give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given him. 3. When the end shall come, and the mystery of God shall be finished, it will appear that in every aspect of the issues joined with Satan, triumph and glory crown the head of the Son of man. Nor will it be the mere force of phys- ical omnipotence crushing the feebler powers of Satan. But the glory of perfect righteousness, of wisdom and un- derstanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and fear of the Lord, in the Head and leader of the salvation, — a perfection, not merely of moral excellence but of all gifts and endowments, tried and proved, first, in the form of a servant under the law, in obedience and sufferings, amid the temptations of the world and the flesh, the wiles of the devil, and the inflictions of God, — a perfection then shown upon the throne of glory, in administering with perfect Sec. LXXIII.] CHRIST'S .\D.\r/XISTR.tT10^r. 341 wisdom iiiul i)orfoct ykill the vast and various afiairs of God's boiiiulU'ss enii)irc, tlnvartiiig and turning Lo confusion the plots and policies of Satan and his angels, rectifying the disordei-s wrought by the enemy, and vindicating God's glory impeached through man. It will be a moral triumph revealed in each one of the redeemed, once a prostrate slave of Satan and sin, baptized and quickened, and aroused to struggle for liberty, and made more than conqueror, in the conflict, through the grace and Spirit of Christ, over Satan and all his powers without, and indwelling sin and corruption, — each one scarred with the wounds of battle, but all — the crushed serpent writhing beneath their feet, — wearing the white robes of triumph and waving the palms of victory; — all clothed in the righteousness of One, and each grown to the stature of Christ, in the perfection of holiness and beauty, after the image of God. It will be the moral triumph of the whole ransomed liost, by one Spirit baptized into one body, her garments of wrought gold and needle-work, received and revealed, spotless and complete in all divine perfections, — the bride of the Lamb, the glory of her husband, as he is the image and glory of God. (1 Cor. xi, 7.) In them shall the 2)rincipalities and powers in the heavenly places behold and study and admire the reflected likeness of the unapproach- able glory of the infinite Invisible. It will be the triumph involved in all this revelation of glory and blessedness in contrast with the spectacle of Satan and his followers and work, exposed before all intel- ligences, in shame and everlasting contempt; — his achieve- ments seen in discord and darkness, in sin and suffering and sorrow, in lamentation and woe, in the loss to him and to his of all the divine perfections in which they were cre- ated, and in distortion, deformity and discord, possessing and pervading them all ; his confident wisdom and power turned to imbecile folly, and his conspiracies and wiles made the 342 THE GREAT BAPT17.ER. [Part XL occasions and meaDs of fulfilling God's plan which he op- posed, and crowning the Son of man with glory. The true dignity and significance of the rite of baptism can only then be adequately realized when we appreciate this comprehensive extent and grandeur of the baptizing office of Christ, signified by it. In the fulfillment of that office he now orders all things ; and its exercise must be continuous to the end. The Great Baptizer must breathe the Spirit of life into all that mighty multitude, out of every generation and race, whom the Father has given Him. He must send fire uj^on the earth, and divide be- tween his people and his enemies, and vindicate the Fa- ther's sovereignty and grace in all his dealings with the wicked. He must, at last, by the quickening virtue of the baptism of His Spirit, raise up his saints, — their bodies glorious as his own glorious body, and their souls perfect in holiness,— ^and place them on the throne of judgment with himself; judge and cast the wicked out of his kingdom ; confirm the holy angels in rectitude and blessedness, and cast Satan, — thwarted, defeated and bound in chains of darkness, — into the gulf of fire, — him and his angels and followers. He must purge the earth and heavens with fire, from the defilement which Satan and sin have wrought, and out of them create and adorn the new heavens and the new earth, the abode of righteousness, the home of the holy and the blessed, — where the many sons shall dwell with God and the Lamb. He must make all things new. Then may the triumphant Son of man proclaim his work accomplished, and his office ended. Then may he, — not now from the cross, but from the throne, — cry, "It is finished !" "The former things are passed away, and behold I have made all things new." Sin and the curse are abol- ished;— tears, and death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain are no more; and in life and immortality the earth-born sons of God possess the glory. "It is done!" The floor is purged; the garner filled; Skc. LXXIV.] A/CiU.Wf/iXT rA'OAf T///S. 343 and tlu' cliali' biiriud. The bajUisin is accoraplished. Thcu shall the Sou, his coinniissioii I'ulfilk'd, deliver up the kiug- dom to God eveu the Father, aud shall himself also be subject to Him that put all thiugs under him, that God may be all iu ail. (1 Cor. xv, 24, 28.) Section LXXIV. — Argument from tlie Real to Ritual Baptiwi. Thus is Jesus revealed iu characters of unspeakable graudeur, as the true aud ouly Baptizer, — his the real bap- tism, of which all others are mere shadows. His baptizing office is the very eud of his exaltation, the peculiar and dis- tinguishiug characteristic of his throne aud scepter. As the cross of Christ is the symbol of the whole doctrine of his humiliatiou, sorrow and death, so his baptizing scepter represents the whole doctrine of his exaltation his kingdom and glory. And, as the sacrament of the supper show^s forth his abasement and atonement for sin ; so, that of ba^v tism proclaims the glory and power of his exaltation, and the riches of salvation and grace which he sheds on his people from on high. The ritual ordinance therefore if true to its office, must be true to the similitude of the real bap- tism,— must represent and proclaim those very things which are realized in the office and work of the great Baptizer. But what has the real baptism to do with the humiliation of Christ, iu any of its aspects? And, especially, what has it to do with the burial of his dead body? With the throne of his power, the prerogatives of his scepter, the grace, the grandeur and the glory of his achievements to the end, its relations are intimate and from them inseparable. But with humiliation and shame, with death and the grave, it holds no relations but those of boundless distance and in- finite contrast. Here then, at the culminating point in the history of baptism and the plan of God's grace, as identified with it, the divergence of the immersion theory from the statements, 344 THE GREAT BAFTIZER. [Paut XI. conceptions and principles of the Scriptures on the subject interposes between them a widening and deepening gulf, - broad, profound and impassable. Whilst the Scriptural rite points exultiugly upward to Christ's high throne, and calls us to lift up our heads and admire and adore the height of his majesty and the grace and grandeur of his baptizing work, — the immersion theory constrains its vota- ries, with bowed heads and stooping forms, to grope among the graves, in the vain endeavor to trace some fanciful re- semblance between the rite which they espouse and the form and manner of the burial of the dead, — a burial, too, which, as thus imagined, the crucified One never received ! The doctrine of the real baptism is thus utterly incon- gruous to that of immersion. Equally irreconcilable with that form are all the phenomena and expressions used in connection with the administering of Christ's baptism. The sound from heaven as of an outbreathed mighty breath poured dow^n, and filling all the place, was the only phenomenon of Pentecost indicative of form or mode. And its mode was affusion, or outpouring, and descent from above. The language in which the transaction is every- where described and referred to is equally specific and in- variable. It w\as a shedding down — a pouring down — a falling upon— a filling of the disciples ;— a style of expres- sion used, not on the occasion, only, but in every subse- quent allusion to the subject. So, the propehcy cited by Peter is an express definition of this as the mode. "I will pour out of my Spirit." But, more than this, it iden- tifies the outpouring of Pentecost with all those Old Testa- ment prophecies, in which the gift of the Spirit is spoken of in terms of pouring and sprinkling. All these, again, as we have formerly seen, are intimately associated with the baptisms of the Levitical system. Those baptisms represented in ritual form the things which the prophets set forth in analogous figures. If Christian baptism de- Skc.LXXIV.] AA'(U:]f/':XT /'A'OAf THIS. 345 parU iVom tlic OKI Ti'stiinuiit mode, it to tlic saino (U'<;ree departs t'nun tlu' lorni in wliich the grace of IVntecoyt is UMit'onnly predicted, represented, descril)ed, and referred to. The attempt is made to evade tlie force of tiiese facts ]>v the assertlou tliat the "sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind," "filled all the place where they were sitting;" and that the disciples were immersed in it. But (1.) the immersion thus imagined is, au inversion of the Baptist the(^ry. The result of an admitted affusion, it is an api)lication of the element to the person, and by a sustained analogy, on Baptist i)rincii)les, would require that the grave should have been brought and put about the body of Jesus, and that, in water baptism, the element should be poured over the subject, until he is covered, although drowning would be the inevitable result. (2.) There is, in fact, no analogy, except in the jingle of words, between an immersion in water, which is immediately and inevitably fatal to life, and an immersion in the vital air, which is the very breath of life, the withdrawal of which is fatal. (3.) If Christian baptism sustains any real rela- tion at all to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which Christ administers — as it assuredly does — it is that of type to an- titype— of a similitude to the reality. Both the form and the meaning of the rite must ]je derived from the nature of the reality, of which it is the symbol. If then the immersion of the disciples in the wind or breath of Pente- cost is the antitype symbolized in the outward form of baptism, the ordinance means, not the burial of Christ's dead body, but the imparting of his Spirit of life to his people. Thus the Baptist theory of the form and meaning of the ordinance is exploded, since the two ideas can not stand together. They are mutually destructive and the incongruity is fatal to the whole scheme, which can not stand without an immersion on Pentecost; and can not endure the crucial test of the only immersion which they can pretend to discover there. 346 THE GREAT BAPTIZER. [Part XL The alternative is inexorable. If that which Christ dispenses is the normal, the antitype, baptism, then by it the ritual baptisms of both economies are to be interpreted ; and their signification is to be found, not in the sepulchre, but on the throne — in the Spirit thence j:)oured out, and the life and salvation thence dispensed ; — and the form of the ordinance must needs correspond to its meaning. If, on the other hand, immersion in water is the normal bap- tism, and the burial of the body of Jesus, its meaning, then the baptism of Pentecost with all its 2:)henomena and doctrine is to be struck from the record, as no baptism at all. Ij that ivhich Christ dispenses is baptism, immersion is not. Skc. LXXV.j DAPIIIO A.\D REi>UKKECT10N. 347 Part XII. THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. Section LXXV. — Baptizo and the Resurrection. THE argument in proof that tlic disciples of Jolm and of Christ were immersed comprehends four essential propositions. (1) That baptizo means, to dip, to })lun<:e, to immerse, to submerge, — one or other of these, and noth- ing else; (2) That the prejwsitions, eis, en, ek, and apo, as used in the New Testament, in connection with haptizf), require and enforce that meaning; (3) That the resort of John to the Jordan, and to Enou, "because there was much water there," is conclusive to the same effect; (4) That Paul, in saying that we are "buried with Christ in baptism," refers to the form of immersion; (5) It is, more- over, held that the account of the baptism of the Ethio- pian eunuch shows it to have been by immersion. The last point will be considered further on. As to baptizo, enough has already appeared to render it certain that the definition heretofore insisted on by Bap tists is untenable, and that the word, in itself, determines nothing as to form. It was formerly maintained as un- (piestionable, that bapto and baptizo are strictly equivalent ; and that the meaning is, "to dip, and nothing but dip." Tliis assumption may now be considered obsolete. It is definitely abandoned by the ablest representatives of im- mersion. Dr. Conant having been appointed thereto by the American (Baptist) Bible Union entered into an elab- orate investigation of "The Meaning and Use of Bajitizo" In a treatise published under that title, he thus states the re- sult. " Tlie word, immeme, as well as its synonyms, immenje, 348 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. etc., expresses the full import of the Greek word, baptizein. The idea of emersion is not included in it. It means simply to put into or under water; without determining whether the object immersed sinks to the bottom, or floats in the liquid, or is immediately taken out. This is determined, not by the word, itself, but by the design of the act, in each particular case. A living being, put under water with- out intending to drown him, is of course to be immediately withdrawn from it ; and this is to be understood, whenever the word is used with reference to such a case. But the Greek word is also used where a living being is put under the water for the purpose of drowning, and of course is left to perish in the immersing element." ^^ It is of the pri- mary meaning of the word that Dr. Conant here speaks. As we have already seen, he also recognizes a secondary mean- ing, the importance of which he entirely ignores. As to the former, the admission here transcribed is conclusive, although obscured by ambiguous and impertinent explanations. No verb can "determine" any thing subsequent to the comple- tion of its own proper action. The healed paralytic, "de- pcnied to his own house." " Paul arose and was baptized." "John came baptizing." He that should explain that " de- parted " does not of necessity imply that he never returned, that Paul may have sat dow^n again ; and that for all the meaning of " came" John may afterw^ard have gone away, would be held guilty of puerile trifling. Of course, haptizo determines nothing but its o\vn action. The explanation of Dr. C. that the word does not determine whether the object sinks to the bottom or is immediately taken out, is not trifling, because open to a more serious charge. It is a diligent, although undoubtedly unconscious obscuring of of the subject, induced by the instinctive recoil of the author's own mind from the picture drawn by his definition. He is therefore impelled to retire it into the background and veil its nakedness in the drapery of explanations, by *The Meaning and Use of Baptizein, p. 88. Pkc. LXXV.] n.\PTI7.0 AXD R I.SUK R ECTION. 849 which he is lus much confouiulcd as arc his rcailcrs, — explanations wholly impertinent to the question in hand, which is the meaning of baptizo. That word, in its primary cliissic sense, as here dciined, expresses a definite and com- pleted act. When by one continuous process a i)erson or thing is put into tlie water and withdrawn, it is not a bajdiz- iiuj, in the classic meaning, hut a bdptuKj, a dipping. It is true the word docs not determine *' whether the object im- mersed sinks to the bottom or Hoats in the liquid, or is imme- diately taken out," provided that by "immediately," is not to be understood, instantaneously, — provided that by the baptism, the object is deposited in the water and left there. The emersion, if it take i:)lace at all, must be a distinct and subsequent act, and can not be performed as a j)art of the haptizinfj. This, Dr. Kendrick, professor of Greek in the Rochester University, and a member of the American Committee of Revision on the New Testament, in his review of Dr. Dale, most emphatically concedes, with italics and emphasis none the less significant because of the intense irritation which breathes in his article. *' Granting that hapto, ahcays engages to take its subject from the water (^'hich we do not believe), and that baptizo never does (which we readily admit), we have ISIr. Dale's reluctant concession that it interposes no obstacle to his coming out." Baptizo "lays its subject under the water; it does not hold him there a single moment. Its whole function is fulfilled with the act of submersion. It oflfers no shadow of an obstacle to his instant emergence from his watery entombment. We have the utmost confidence in the kindly purpose of bapAizo, and of Him who has made its liquid grave the external portal to his kingdom. Neither it nor He intends to drown us. We let baptizo take us into the water, and can trust to men's instinctive love of life, their com- mon sense, their power of volition and normal muscular action, to bring them safely out." "The law of God in revelation sends the Baptist down into the waters of ira- 350 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. mersioD ; when it is accomplished, the equally imperative law of God in nature brings him safely out." "As between the two \ha'ptiz(i and ha^io\, baptizo is the appropriate word, partly from its greater length, weight and dignity of form, and still more from its distinctive import. It is not a dip- ping that our Lord instituted, but an immersion. He did not command to lyut i^eople into the ivater and take them out again; but to i^ut them under the water, to submerge them, to bury them, symbolically, in the grave of their buried Kedeemer ; like him indeed, not to remain there, but Avith him to arise to newness of life. This arising, though essential to the completeness of the transaction, could not be included .in the designation of the rite, any more than the rising of the Kedeemer could be included in the words denoting his crucifixion and burial." " AVe repeat with emphasis, for the consideration of our Baptist brethren ; Christian bap- tism is no mere literal and senseless ' dipping,' assuring the frightened candidate of a safe exit from the water ; it is a symbolical immersion, in wdiich the believer goes, in a subhme and solemn trust, into a figurative burial, dying to sin for a life with Christ ; and just as far as Mr. Dale's distinction holds good (which even thus far he has not estabhshed), baptizo, and not bapto is the only suitable designation of the baptismal ordinance. The early Israel- ites were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They emerged indeed, and were intended to emerge at last. But it was in their wondrous march, through that long and fearful night, with the double w^all of water rolled up on each side, and the column of fiery cloud stretching its enshrouding folds above them,— it was in this, and not in the closing emersion that they were baptized into their allegiance to their great Lawgiver and Leader."* Of the baptism of Israel, we shall take notice hereafter. In these passages, it is evident that the distinguished pro- * Keview of Dale's Classic Baptism, in the Baptist Quarterly, 1869, pp. 142, 143. Skc. LXXV.] liAPTIZO A.\D RESURRECTION: 351 fessor is as niiicli disturlxHl at the apparition of his own raising as is Dr. Couaut. At Hrst he seems determined to face it squarely, and calls upon his Baptist brethren to look and see that it is nothing dangerous. But suddenly, he crosses himself, and starts back in a hurried talk of the resurrection of Christ and the rising of his people to new- ness of life; all of which is very true and precioils, but, lias no more to do with the question in hand, himself be- ing witness, than has the doctrine of original sin. The question is, the meaning of baptizo, and the professor ad- mits tliat it has no part in the resurrection. The very j)er})lexing position in which he found himself, is some apology for the confusion of ideas and the incongruities which appear in his statements. He is discussing the rel- ative merits of the two words bapto and baptizo. The for- mer, in its primary and ordinary meaning, he can but acknowledge, engages both to put its subject mto the water and tiike him out again; while baptizo only puts him in. The latter, says the professor, was chosen because of this its distinctive import, because the command was, 7iot "to put the peo])le into the water and take them out again ; but to put them under the water, — to submerge them." But before he is done, we are told that the coming out, "though essential to the completeness of the transaction could not be included in the designation of the rite." Does "the transaction," here mean the life saving opera- tion which he confides to the "instinctive love of life, com- mon sense," etc? Or, are we correct in supposing it to mean that baptismal rite which he is discussing? And if tlie latter be the design, how is the statement to be recon- ciled with the reason just before given for the emjjloyment of baptizo^ l)ecause it does not take the subject out of the water, while bapto does? AVaiving this difficulty, the ques- tion occurs, — Why the rising "could not be included in the designation of the rite," seeing bapto was ready to add that very idea to the meaning of baptizo? The question 352 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. is anticipated by the professor, and the answer given. It is because the latter word has "greater length, iveight, and dignity of form ! " The meaning of the words was a sec- ondary consideration ! Bapto has but two syllables, while haptizo has three. It has the advantage, therefore, in a greater length, and a buzzing zeta, to add to its "weight and dignity of form!" Or, perhaps, the superior "weight" of the one word over the other consists in the fact that while hapto accurately expresses the hasty resurrection which the instinct of life and other influences specified so happily, though not invariably, connect with the adminis- tration of the rite, haptizo maintains a dignified silence on tlmt part of the subject. But the professor drifts back again to his first position. He insists that the baptism of Israel into Moses was received in their " wondrous march" enclosed between the walls of water, and enshrouded in the cloud, "and not in the closing emersion.'* And yet, even here, his protest that hapto itself would not have given absolute assurance of exit, looks like a disposition to weaken the force of "the distinctive import" of haptizo. However these "dark sayings of the wise" are to be interpreted, the facts remain, that confessedly, the word chosen by the Savior to designate the rite of baptism does not include in it the idea of emersion, typical of resurrec- tion,— that it was chosen in preference to a kindred word which does distinctly express that idea, — and that the best reasons suggested by Baptist scholarship for this remark- able fact are, that hurial and not resurrection was the doc- trine symbolized; and that haptizo sounds best! Such are the results of the elaborate researches of the scholarly Cojiant, confirmed by the eminent learning of Kendrick, divines than whom the Baptist churches have had none more zealous or more competent. Essentially the same is the definition reached through the exhaustive studies of our own departed Dale. Thus, according to the Baptist rendering of the gospel Skc. lxxv.] liAPn/.o axd kI'Isl'r/cf.lt/ox. 353 commission, wo arc to go into all the world und Kuhmrrge every creature, — a command which neither contains nor implies authority in anyone to neutralize it by a systematic rescue of its subjects from the "liquid grave." A result of the most serious import to our Baptist brethren follows from these fiicts. The definition, to di}), for the sake of which they have so long separated themselves, in translat- ing the Scriptures into the languages of the heathen, is demonstra])ly and confessedly false, and the result is a cor- rupting of the word of God. The force of these facts against the very foundations of the immersion fabric is utterly destructive. But the mat- ter does not rest even here. Dr. Conant recognizes in baptizo a second meaning. The word does not even limit itself to " submerge and nothing but submerge." It also " expressed the coming into a new state of life or experience, in which one was, as it were enclosed or swallowed up, so that tem- porarily or i)ermanently he belonged wholly to it."* Thus, the man who is brought under the control of a passion of anger, fear, or love, or who is overcome with wine or sleep, was by the Greeks said to be baptized with these things. So, in the Scriptures, he who is under such control that he is "led of the Spirit," is said to be "baptized with the Spirit." This meaning of baptizo no candid scholar can deny ; and in it we have already seen abundant relief from all the perplexities of the immersion theory. Kespecting it, however, a caution is necessary. A mere momentary impulse or influence by which one is seized, but, instantlv, released, is not a baptism, in the classic sense. The word expressed a control which not only seizes but holds its ob- ject. It brings him " into a new state of life or experi- ence." This use of the word flows from the primary mean- ing, to mbmerge, as expressive not of comprehensive control, only, but of continuance. Nothing analogous to a momen- tary dipping was known to the (jreeks as a baptism. ♦"Meaning and Use of Baptizein," p. 158. 30 354 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. Section LXXVI. — Tlie Prepositions. In the common Engiisli version of the New Testament, the translations which occur in connection with baj^tism are such as to show an evident bias on the part of the trans- lators in favor of immersion. In fact they were, all of them, immersionists, if not by personal conviction, then, by constraint of law. They Avere members, and with a few exceptions clergymen of the church of England, by law established. That church had orginally incorporated among its ordinances, baptism by trine immersion. By the par- liamentary revision during the reign of Edward VI, the book of prayer was so altered as to require but one immer- sion. The rubric for baptism was and is to this day in these words : — ' ' Then the priest shall take the child in his hands, and ask the name ; and naming the child, shall dip it in the water, so it be discreetly and warily done, saying, ' N. , I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.' And, if the child be weak, it shall suffice to pour water upon it, saying the aforesaid words."* ** As to the bearing of the prepositions on the present ar- gument, a brief illustration may make it clear to the En- glish reader. In the following citations, the words in italics answer to the Greek prepositions under which re- spectively they are cited. 1. En. " And were all baptized of him (en) in Jor- dan."— Matt, iii, 6. "John did baptize in the wilder- ness."— Mark i, 4. " John was baptizing in Enon."-^John iii, 23. "These things were done in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing." — John i, 28. " The tower in Siloam." — Luke xiii, 4. "Elias is come, and they have done tmto him whatsoever they listed." — Matt, xvii, * " The Two Books of Common Prayer," set forth by author- ity of Parliament, in the reign of King Edward YI, edited by Ed- ward Cardwell, D. D., Principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford, 1852. Skc. lxxvi.] the prepositions. 855 12. ** Turn the disobedient io the -wisdoni of the just." — Luke i, 17. ** Lest tliey trample them wiOi their feet." — ]Miitt. vii, G. *' Sanctify them through thy truth, tliy word is truth." — John xvii, 17. ** They tliat take the sword shall jwrish with the sword." — ^latt. xxvi, 52. "There is none other name . . . hij which we mu.st be saved." — Acta iv, 12. *' He will judge the world . . . by that man whom he hath ordained." — lb. xvii, 31. *'Now revealed by the Spirit." — Eph. iii, 5. ** That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." — Phil, ii, 10. From these illustrations two deductions are manifest. (1.) En does not always mean ill. It may mean with or by, instrumentally. " Witlc the sword." "The name by which," etc. It may mean by a mediate agent. " Ttevealed by the Spirit." " He will judge the world by that man." It may mean at, by, or in, locally. " 1)1 Enon." " At Siloam." It may be used in a yet more general signification, as, ''At the name." Other meanings might be stated, but these are sufficient. (2.) If, by reason of the phrase " i>i Jordan," we must understand that John immersed his disciples into the Jordan, it of necessity fol- lows that he also immersed them ''into Enon," and "into the wilderness." In short, the expression indicates that the Jordan was the place at which the baptizing was done : — this, and this only. Why it w^as done there, we shall pres- ently see. 2. Eis. "Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John (eis) in Jordan." — ^lark i, 9. "They ^^nt down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch and he baptized him." — Acts viii, 38. These passages mu- tually illustrate each other and show that the going into the water was not the baptizing. " He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth." — Mat. ii, 23. "He cometh to a city of Samaria," but he remained outside, at the well, while the ajwstles went " into the city," whence the Samar- itans " went out of the city and came to him." — John iv, 5, 8, 28, 30. "He l..v('d tli.m to tin- md."— 11.. xiii, 1. 356 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. "I speak to the world." lb. viii, 26. "If thy brother trespass agaimt thee." — Matt, xviii, 15. " Therefoix" (Liter- ally, to this) "came I forth."— Mark i, 38. "What are they among so many." — John vi, 9. "The Son which is in (on) the bosom of the Father." — John i, 18. " He went up into (to, or, on,) a mountain." — Matt, v, 1. "Depart vnto the other side."— lb. viii, 18. " Fell down at his feet."— lb. xviii, 29. Els is even used in express contrast with en- trance into. " The other disciple did outrun Peter, and first (tlthen els) came to the sepulchre, .... yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him and (eis-elthen eis) entered into the sepulchre." — John xx, 4-6. This illustrates a usage concerning eis. When entrance into is to be ex- pressed by the mere force of the word, it must be doubled. See Matt, vi, 6 ; x, 5, 12 ; Luke ix, 34, etc. The same remark applies to ek, in the sense of out of. But neither of these words is ever used in duplicated form, with refer- ence to baptism. It is evident that the word of itself de- termines no more as to the mode of the bajitism of Jesus than does en. The ordinary office of eis is to point to the terminus of a preceding verb of motion. When it is said that Jesus came and dwelt (eis) in a city called Nazareth, en would have been the proper preposition to express the in-dwelling ; but eis is preferred because the city was tlie terminus of the coming "He came (eis) to a city." So ]Mark above uses the same word, not because of its appro- priateness to the baptizing, which is always elsewhere ex- pressed by en, but because the Jordan was the termiuus (eis) to which he came from Galilee. 3. Ek. "And when they were come up (ek) out o/ the water." — Acts viii, 39. In his gospel, Luke the author of this account thus uses the preposition. " Saved from our enemies." — Luke i, 71. "Every tree is known bij its own fruit, for of thorns men do not gather figs; nor q/" a bramble- bush gather they grapes." — lb. vi, 44. "He cometh from the wedding." — lb. xii, 36. " All these have I kept from Sec. LXXVI.] THE PREPOSITIOXS. 357 my yoiitli up."— Ih. xviii, 21. 80 far as this word deter- mines, Philip and the eunuch may have come \\\\ jrmn tlic water, without having been in it, at all. 4. Ai>o. "Jesus when he wius baptized, went up straight- way {ai)o) Old of the water."— ]\Iatt. iii, 16. Apo never means, "out of," as here translated; but, "from," "away from." "When Jesus was come down //'o»i the mount- ain."— ^[att. viii, 1. ''From whom do kings take tribute?" — lb. xvii, 25. "Cast them from thee."— lb. xviii, 8. " Beginning /ro?/i the last unto the first."— lb. xx, 8. From these illustrations, which might be multiplied in- definitely, it is evident that the prepositions will not bear the stress put upon them by the Baptist argument. Not anly are they, in themselves, insufficient to constitute a relial)le basis for the conclusions sought; but the statements to which they belong have respect, not to the mode of the baptism, but to the places of it. They are defined by the phrases, "m Jordan,"— " m Euon,"— " m Bethabara." Recent Baptist writers have had the courage to follow their principles to the result of translating John's words, — "I immerse you in water, but he shall immerse you in the Holy Ghost and in fire," — a rendering from which the better taste, if not the better scholarship, of the trans- lators of King James's version revolted. The thorough consideration already given in these pages to the baptism of the Spirit justifies an imperative denial of the correct- ness of this tran.slation. If any thing in the Bible is clear, it is that the baptism admim'stered by the Lord Jesus is not an immersion, but an outpouring. On the question of the prepositions in this connection, light is shed by an expression of the apostle Paul. "By one Spirit are we all l)aptized into one body, . . . and have been all made to drink one Spirit." — 1 Cor. xii, 13. Of this passage we have already indicated that "into," a.s found in the last clause, in the common version ("to drink into one Spirit"), is spurious, and tliat potizo (" n)ade ■ 358 THE BAPTIST ARC.UMIiXT. [Part XII. to drink"), properly signifies, to ai[)-pl\j water or other fluid, whether externally or internally, to water, to cause to drink. In this passage, we have both the prepositions, en and eis, each dependent on the one verb, baptizo, but each having its own distinctive subject. "Baptized (en), in one Spirit (eis), into one body." Into which of these media does the immersion take place? Shall we follow the Baptist interpretation of the words of John, "He shall immerse you in the Holy Ghost?" But in the first place, we have seen that this is false to the real manner of the baptism in question; which consists in a shedding down of the Spirit. In the second, how then, in harmony with Baptist principles, are we to understand the other clause of the passage, — " Immersed in one Spirit, into one body?" Are there here two immersions by one act? the one subject put at one and the same time into two different media? Moreover, the language with which the apostle closes the passage, while it is in perfect accord with the true mode of the baptism of the Spirit, is altogether incongruous to the Baptist interpretation. If we are baptized with or by the Spirit, shed upon us, we may consistently be said to drink (or, to be watered with) the Spirit. For, the earth and its vegetation drink the rain that falls upon them. But if we must be immersed in the Spirit, Paul's language implies that in order that men be cairsed to drink they are to be immersed in the water. "Immersed in one Spirit, and all made to drink one S})irit." But the phrase, en heni Pnenmati, does not mean "in one Spirit." As we have seen, the preposition may and often does mean ^'ivith" or '*%," the Spirit, as the agent or instrument. Especially by Paul, the writer of the pas- sage in question, is the phrase so used, — "Through Him we both have access (en Jieni Piieumati), by one Spirit unto the Father." — Eph. ii, 18. Here is the very phrase in question. Through the Lord Jesus, the Mediator, by his Spirit as the instrumefit, who, being sent by him hel|)eth Skc. lxxvi.] the rREPosiTioNS. 359 our infirmilios, in prayer (Ro?n, viii, 2G), wc liavc access to the Father's presence. ALiaiii, — "On Avhoin," as the chief coruer stone, " we are Iniiltled together, ibr an habi- tation of God {cm Pneumatl), by the Spirit," who is the efficient builder of the spiritual temple. Again, the apos- tle tells of the mystery which is "now revealed unto Ilis lioly ai)ostlcs and projihets (eii Pneumati), by the Spirit" (Eph. iii, 5j, and exhorts us, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled (en) ivith the Si)irit" (lb. V, 18), and to " j)ray with all prayer and supplication (en) by the Spirit."— lb. vi, 18. So in the text,— " jrle. A candid con- sideration of the circumstances will discover it ; and cus- toms peculiar to this country may confirm the solution. The assemblies that attended on the ministry of John and of Jesus were essentially similar to our camp-meetings, with the only difference, that the simpler habits of the people of Judea and Galilee rendered any preparation of tents or booths unnecessary. On one occasion we casually learn that the people remained together three days (Mark viii, 2) ; and the circumstances indicate that generally they were " protracted meetings." For example, at one time, Mark states that "Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea; and a great multitude from Galilee, followed him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard Avhat great things he did, Skc. LXXVII.] MrCH WATER THERE. 3G3 came unto liim." — ^Fark iii, 7, 8. Luke in one place speaks of " an innumcraMc nuiltitude of people (ton. mnruidoa tnu ochlou, the tens of thousands of the throng) insomuch that they trode one upon another." — Luke xii, 1. See, also, the descriptions of John's audiences. In choosing the place for a camp-meeting, three things are recognized as of the first necessity. These are, retirement, accessibility, and abun- dance of water. Why these are essential, needs no explan- ation. As to the last, food may be brought from a dis- tance ; but if abundance of water, f^r the supply of man and beast, is not found on the spot, its use for such a pur- pose is manifestly and utterly impracticable. The argument applies with double force to the thirsty climate of Judea. As heretofore stated, there are very few running streams in the land. The requisite supi)lies for the people in the towns and villages in which the population was concentrated were obtained from wells. There is scarcely a single perennial stream flowing from the west into the Jordan, in its whole course from the sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. Its affluents are *' mere winter torrents, rush- ing and foaming during the continuance of rain, and quickly drying up after the commencement of summer. For fully half the year, these * rivers,' or ' brooks,' are often dry lanes of hot white or gray stones ; or, tiny rills, working their way through heaps of parched boulders."* In a word, the banks of the Jordan, the shores of the sea of Tiberias, and some such exceptional spots as The Springs near Salim, presented the only sites in Palestine in which the three requisites above indicated were to be found united. Sup- pose the multitudes that were gathered to our Savior's mm- i.'^try, — four and five thousand men, beside women, children and cattle; and those of John's preaching were, without doubt, as numerous, — to have been assembled with an im- provident forgetfulness of the prime necessity of water ! *Mr. George Grove, in .Smith's Bible Dictionary, article, " Palestine." 364 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT, [Part XII. Tlie alternative would have been a vast amount of sufter- iug and the dispersion of the assembly, or miraculous inter- position. But this does not meet the case of John's con- gregations; for "John did no miracle." It is plain that Ave need no immersion theory, to account for the places chosen by John and Jesus for fulfiUing their ministry. The necessities of their numerous audiences were decisive, and were in harmony with the requirement of the law that the sprinkled water of purifying should be living or running water. j Section LXXVIII. — ^'Buried with him by Baptism into Death:' The principal remaining Baptist argument is derived from two expressions of the apostle Paul which are sup- posed to show by implication that baptism was adminis- tered by immersion. These are; — Rom. vi, 4, — "Buried with him by baptism into death ;" and Col. ii, 12, — "Buried with him in baptism." In our common English version as here quoted, there is a repeated neglect of the definite arti- cle, where it occurs in the original, which obscures the meaning. This defect being rectified, the first passage reads thus: — Kom. vi, 1-11. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead by sin live any longer therein ? 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 the baptism into the 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 resurrec- tion : knowing this, that our old man {sunestaurothe) was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For (Jio apo- thanon) he that died is freed (dedikoiatai, is justified) from Sec. LXXVIir.] HURIED nv nAPT/S.^f. 305 sin. Now, if wo diod with (Mirist, wc believe tlmt we will also live with him. . . . For in that he died {ic hamartia) by sin he died onee : hut in that he livetli he liveth {to tJieo) by God" (that is, " by the power of God."— 2 Cor. xiii, 4.) Likewise reckou ye also yourselves to be Mead indeed by sni, but alive by the power of God, through Je- sus Christ our Lord." Li the present state of our argument, it might seem almost needless to discuss this passage. But this and the parallel text sustain relations to the subject, Avhich clothe them with an imi)ortance in the discussion, such as attaches to no other Scriptures whatever. In them is contained and exhausted the entire evidence in behalf of the assump- tion that the form of baptism represents the burial of the Lord Jesus. Coufessedly, that supposition, if not estab- lished by these two phrases of Paul, is without warrant anywhere m the Bible. But to prove the interpretation of the rite, they must of necessity, first, establish its very ex- istence, which as yet is more than problematical. That they are not likely to prove adequate to the task thus laid upon them, will be apparent to the reader upon a moment's consideration. It is evident, and admitted by all, that the immediate subject of discussion in them is the baptism of the Spirit, and not ritual baptism, in any form. If the latter is referred to, at all, it is by mere allusion. That, this is true, as to the text to the Remans, is indicated alike by the form of expression, " baptized into Jesus Christ," and by the phenomena and results which are attributed to that baptism. It will hereafter appear that the two phrases, ''baptized into Jesus Christ," and "baptized into the name of Christ," are those by which, in the Scriptures, the real baptism, and the ritual, are discriminated from each other. The one unites to the very body of Christ, the true, invisible church. The other unites to the name of Christ, and to that visible body which is named with his name. That it is of spiritual phenomena, and not of 366 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Pakt XIT. ritual forms, that Paul speaks, is moreover evident, from the purpose aud tenor of his argument. His object is to repel the suggestion that free grace gives liberty to sin. His fundamental point in reply to this is, that God's peo- ple ''are dead hxj sin," in such a sense that it is impossible they should " live any longer therein." To prove this, is the whole intent of his argument. First, in designating the subjects of his statements, he uses phraseology which emphasizes the diifference between a mere outward relation to Christ and the church, and that which is established by the baptism of the spirit. " Know ye not that ^o many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ.'' It is those who are truly one with Christ by a real spiritual union, and only those, whom he describes, and of whom he predicates what follows. " Baptized into Jesus Christ." This is the one only baptism of tlie passage, the effects and consequences of which the apostle proceeds to set forth. Or, are we here to recognize three baptisms, — into Jesus Christ, — into his death, — and into his burial? The first effect of the bap- tism into Christ Paul indicates by the phrase, "baptized into his death." In the baptism into Christ, " by one Spirit a.re we all baptized into one body," the body of Christ, "and are all made to drink one Spirit." But it w\as by that Spirit that he offered himself without spot to God, and " died by sin," it being the meritorious cause of his death ; and that Spirit being in ns by virtue of the baptism, will cause the same hatred of sin, aud induce in us a sense of its demerit and condemnation, so that we can no longer live in it. Such is the meaning of the apostle's expression, "baptized iuto his death," — so united by the baptism into Christ, that as he died for sin to destroy it in ns, so we will be dead to it in the same hatred and zeal for its destruction, inspired by the same Spirit. To inten- sify this conception, the apostle pursues the figure yet farther. — "Therefore, we are buried with him." — How? Skc. lx X V 1 1 1 .] /? uRiiiD n \ ■ HAP Tfs.\r. :]G7 By iininersion in water? or, By any tiling of wliicli such ininiersiun is a synihol ? No. But {dia) tlirou-li, or, l)y means of the ])aptisni just spukoii of; **tlie ba[)tisni into the death" of Christ. That tlic expression ean uot pos.sihly mean any ritual form of baptism is certain cverv way. The ilhitivc, "Therefore," forbids it. It shows the burial to be, uot a physical phenomenon, real or ritual, but a con. sequence which, by virtue of tlie relation of cause and cflect, logically results from something which either pre- cedes or follows. But the boundaries in both directions are the same. — ''Baptized into Jm death. Therefore buried witli him, by the baptism into the death." The baptism into . Christ, by which we are baptized into his deatli, is tlius the instrumental cause of the burial ; a fact which utterly excludes any form of ritual baptism from the purview of the passage. But what is here meant by being buried with him? In order to an answer, it will be necessarv to ascertain precisely who it is that dies and is buried with Christ. The answer comes j^romptly. ''We are buried." True; but the words are to be taken in the light of the apostle's own interpretation. It is not we, in the entirety of our persons, but our old man, of which tliis is said. " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified witli him, tliat the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."— Vs. 6. It is, to sig- nify the utterness of this death and destruction of the old man,— its obliteration out of our lives, so that we can not "live any longer therein," nor "serve sin," that the apos- tle represents it as buried, and hidden away in a resurrec- tionless grave. The old man buried, so that the new man may unimpeded " walk in newness of life." In this doc- trine and these words of the apostle, we have the very baptism which Dr. Conant admits to be expressed, "by analogy," by the word baptizo;—" the coniinr/ into a neiv state of life or experience:' Into the C(mcei)tion of the passage, when critically appreciated, it is imjiossible to introduce 868 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. the idea of immersion, in any congruous or intelligible re- lation. The apostle illustrates his subject with another figure, which has been sometimes pressed into the service of im- mersion. " For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." It has been assumed that the planting of a tree is here associated with immersion in water ("buried by baptism"), as representing the burial of the dead. Thus, "the likeness of his death" which was by crucifixion, is confounded with the form of burial of the dead. This is recognized by Dr. Carson, whose exposition of the figure is essentially correct. Of sumphutoi ("planted together") he saYs, — "It might, I think, be applied to express the growing together of the graft and the tree ; but this would be the effect or consequence of grafting, and not the opera- tion itself It denotes, in short, the closest union, with respect to things indiscriminately. There is no need, then, to bring either planting or grafting into the passage; and as neither of them resembles a resurrection, they should be rejected. When we translate the passage, — ' For, if we have become one Avith him,' or, 'have been joined with him, in the likeness of his death,' — we not only suit the connexion, to both death and resurrection, but we take the word swnphiitoi, in its most common acceptation."* This witness is true. The phrase has no reference to the form of ritual baptism, but to the intimacy of the union which that of the Spirit establishes. The two expres- sions,— "Baptized into his death," and "Coplanted with him in the likeness of his death," are coincident, meaning essentially the same thing. It is, however, a fundamental defect in Carson's conception, that while he earnestly insists on the closeness of the union, by which Christ and his peo- ple are one, he fails to recognize the essential fact that it is effected by the baptism of the Spirit. In his conception * Carson on Baptism, p. 251. Src. Lxxviii.] prK/F.D BY nArT/s.\f. 3G9 and voculnilary, it is ;i ^U-onMitiiffd iiiiidn." A ray of liglit cuteriiig his mind on this point wonld luivc tnms- figurecl his whole system. But what means our heing joined with Christ in tlie likeness of his death? Here and elsewhere, Paul explains ahundantly. " lie died by sin," our sin, as being the mer- itorious cause of his death. *'He was crucified through weakness," — the weakness of his huniiliatiou, under the law and the curse. (2 Cor. xiii, 4.) He died by the cross, the agonies of which he voluntarily assumed. And he lives again, by the power of God who raised him from the dead. So we also, if truly baptized into him, "are weak (en auto) in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward us." — 2 Cor. xiii, 4. We are weak in him, in a realizing sense imparted by his Spirit in us, of the desert and condemnation of sin, and of its prevail- ing power, which renders our emancipation from it a cru- cifixion of the flesh, the agonies of which we voluntarily incur. And we live with him, in the present life of the new man after his image, created by the baptism of his Spirit in us, as we shall finally live with him in the life of glory. Thus we are joined with him in the likeness of his death, and also of his resurrection. From this analysis, it is evident that the assumption of allusion to a supposed ritual burial is wholly unnecessary to the exegesis of the passage. In fact, the supposition of such allusion is altogether incongruous and confusing to the argument of the place. (1.) The real baptism and its effl'cts are the alone subjects of the discussion ; and any exegesis which ignores this must lead to error. (2.) The burial of which the apostle speaks is spiritual, as well as is the baptism. The two are in no sense identical; but the one is, by the apostle distinctly and sharply discriminated from the other. The ba])tism is the primary cause, of which the burial is onr, and but one, of the results. The baptism is the shedding upon us of the Holy Spirit of life 370 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Paut XII. iu Christ Jesus. The burial is the putting away, and ob- literating of the old man out of our lives. It follows, that in any parallel figurative or ritual system, each one of these spiritual realities must have its own analogue, as distinctly defined and discriminated, each from the other, as are the realities which they are designed to represent. And, in fact, such is the figurative system of the Scrip- tures, which represent the one by the figure of the out- pouring of water, and the other by the burial of the dead. To interpret, therefore, a ritual ha^iimi as symbolic of the spiritual burial, is as incongruous to the Scriptural conception, as would be the emj^loyment of the burial of the dead to represent the outpouring upon us of the Spirit of life. And to understand the apostle, by the expression, ''buried by the baptism" to mean directly the spiritual phenomenon which the phrase designates, and at the same time to convey an allusion to a ritual bcqjtism as being a symbol of the burial, is an absurdity which does violence to the whole conception, to the destruction of its propriety and significance. For, not only are the two thus sharply discriminated by Paul, but he attributes to each its own relations and predicates, and assigns to each its own place in the scheme of grace and in the argument which he states. To neglect, therefore, the distinction, and confound them together, as is done by the Baptist interpretation, destroys the whole logical force and sequence of the argu- ment, and dissolves the connection between the premises and the conclusions. Moreover, were it even allowable, as it is not, thus to confound things that differ, there still remains a point of dif- ficulty in the way of the immersion exegesis which, for its removal, demands something more than the mere assump- tion which has heretofore been put in the place of proof. The apostle speaks, not of immersion, but of burial. " Buried with him." That the two ideas are not identical does not need to be j^roved. Nor is the difference so slight Sec. LXXIX] Prk'/l-D IX li.lPT/S.^f. 371 that tlie ()i!0 would icadily siig^a'sl itj^clt' as a figure of tlic utlier. But in orcUr to sustain the liaptist conclusions wiiicli dcpoucl on this language, it would be necessary to demonstrate that the rites of sepulture with which the Mriters of the Scri])tures were familiar, and in eonformity to which the body of Jesus was entond)e(l, bore a resem- blance to immersion in water, so close and manifest, that the one was a recognized symbol of the other. But there is certainly no such resemblance as to justify the gratuitous assumption that such a figure was employed ; and of its actual use, the Scriptures contain not a trace. Is it still insisted that, nevertheless, there is an allusion to the rite of immersion ?. Such an allusion must be sup- posed to shed light or beauty upon the presentaticm of the spiritual theme of the passage ; or, it is an arbitrary im- pertinence. Let us then view the suggestion squarely, in the light of the realized observance, thus forced into criti- cal notice. The theme of the apostle is the calm majesty and power of the Savior's three days' rest in the sepulcher, and of the silent and unseen mystery of his rising on the third day ; and the tranquil energy of the same mighty power in the believer (Eph. i, 19, 20; ii, 1), by which he is quickened and raised up to the life of holiness. The fig- ure which is intruded, to illuminate and adorn this con- ception, calls up before us the apprehension and haste of the ritual observance, and the agitation, the gasping and sputter of the dripping subjects of the rite, as they struggle up out of the " watery grave.'*' Is it possible to conceive that master of rhetoric, the apostle Paul, to have called up these, the essential and in.separable features of the rite of immersion, as a means of shedding light or beauty on his exalted theme? Section LXXIX. — ''Buried with lUm in Baptism" Col. ii, 9-13.—" In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is 372 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [Part XII. the head of all principality and power. In whom, also, ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in i^utting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ (suntajjheutes auto en to baptismcdi) , having been buried with him by the ftap^ism, wherein also ye were raised up with him, through the faith of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uucircumcision of your flesh, did he quicken together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Here, in the phrase, — " the body of the sins of the flesh," which is the reading of the common version, the critical editors unite in rejecting (liamartidn) "of the sins," which M'as undoubtedly a gloss inserted, from the margin, in care- less transcription. It is evident that the doctrine and argument of the passage just examined from the epistle to the Romans, and this to the Colossiaus are essentially the same. In the former, Paul shows that the child of God can not live in sin ; — in the latter that he ought to walk in Christ. The controlling motive of the apostle's argument, here, is, to free his readers from the bondage of ritual ordinances and human devices of religion. He begins with the admoni- tion,— " Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudi- ments of the world, and not after Christ." — vs. 8. To this, he again recurs as the conclusion of his argument.— "Therefore, if ye be dead with Christ, from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world are ye subject to ordinances, . . . after the commandments and doctrines of men?" — vs. 20, 21. It is with a view to these things that the exhortation is written, — "As ye have re- ceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so, walk ye in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith,'" as con- trasted with these traditions of men. Thus, as in the parallel plea to the Romans, so here, the determining idea is union with the Lord Jesus, — that spiritual union of Skc. LXXIX.] /iCAW/iD /X n.l/'T/SAf. .')73 uhic'li the l)ai)(isni of the Spirit is the efHeieiit and only cause. The dii^Miity and glory conferred by it are eniphii- sized by the deehiration that "in lliin dwelletli all, (plcwma) the fullness of the Godhead bodily." hi the i)er- son of Jesus, the Sou is incarnate; the Father's glory and power invest him, and the 8})irit is his and dwells in him. *'And ye are ( prpUroinrnoi) made full in him." " ]\Iade full in him" by virtue of that mutual relation which Jesus describes; — "You in me, and I in you." — John xiv, 20. Thus, made full, with all the graces of his indwelling Spirit, and so needing no recourse to the rudiments of the world. With this fullness of grace, the apcjstle then con- trasts the coincident emptying of the old man. *'In whom ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the flesh, by the circum- cision of Christ." Circumcision signified the cutting off and destruction of the corrupt nature derived by genera- tion, the old man, througli the blood and sufferings of the promised Seed of Abraham. This operation is here called " the circumcision of Christ," as it is that spiritual reality of which ritual circumcision was the type. The apostle holds it up to view, as the substance, in contrast with the em})tiness of the ritual shadow, against dependence on which he dissuades his Colossian readers. This circum- cision of Christ he proceeds to explain farther. " Putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, (^untaphentes auto) having been hurled with Jihn in the bap- tism." In the conception and argument of the apostle, emphasis rests on the definite article, which here, and in the parallel place, already examined, is ignorccl in the com- mon English version, and in the Revised version. Paul's aim in this place is to hold up the sj)iritual realities of the gospel in contrast with the emptiness of ritual forms. He coordinates *' the bajitism " with "the circumcision of C/hrist," in i)ro«lucing the spiritual phenomena of which he is speaking. Or, rather, he postulates the baptism as the 374 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [rART XII. ultimate cause of the circumcisiou and its results. That, by the phrase, " the baptism," he desiguates the same thiug as iu Romans vi, 4, is evident, as it is also that as iu that place, so here, the baptism is not the burial, but is related to it, as the cause to the effect. — " Buried with him hy the baptism." How the baptism effects the burial, has been shown in that place. The distinction between the two, which is there so strongly marked, is in this pass- age equally clear and important ; and the consequences there traced are here as legitimate and pertinent. The supposition of an allusion to immersion in Avater, in either place, is utterly groundless, and in both alike incongruous and destructive to the apostle's conception and argument. Certainly, this place no more than the other necessitates recourse to the supposed rite of immersion, in order to a rational interpretation. And it is equally certain that at the touch of a discriminating exegesis the supposed allusion to such a rite vanishes utterly away. Section LXXX. — End of the BaptM Argument. The Baptist position rests on two assumptions. The fird is, that haptizo means, to dip, to immerse, to sub- merge,— one or other of these, as the different advocates of the cause may select, — and nothing else. The second is, that on account of its resemblance to the laying of the body of Jesus in the sepulchre, the rite of dipping, immer- sion, or submersion in water was appointed as a symbol of his entombing. The first of these assumptions is essential to vindicate the mode in question, and the second to estab- lish its typical significance. If haptizo does not mean as defined, or if that is not the only meaning, the whole im- mersion fabric falls to the ground. And if the second proposition is not established, the rite becomes an unmean- ing absurdity. — On these vital points, the following are the results of the evidence thus far developed in these pages. 1. While the Scriptures everywhere, in the Old Testa- Skc. LXXX.] E.\D of the a R cum EXT. 375 ment and the New, arc full of the doctrine of the baptism of the t^pirit, — while the divers baptisms of the ^Mosaic rit- ual were unquestionably typical of it, and the prophecies abound in references to it under the figure of affusion — the sprinkling of water, and the outpouring of rain, — the rite of immersion does not i)retend to any better evidence than is found in a definition of baptizo, which is now ad- mitted to be erroneous, and a few expressions iu the New Testament which are at best of questionable interpretation. Aside from these, it is foreign and uncongenial to the whole tenor of conception and language of the New Testament as ^vell as of the Old. 2. Not to insist on the special conclusions of Dale, — the admissions of Dr. Conant, confirmed by the authority of Prof Kendrick, prove that the word does not mean, to dip, to put in the water and take out again ; but to put under the water, to submerge. The rite, then, consists in sub- merging the subjects. In that action the baj^tism is com- pleted. There is therefore in it no symbol nor suggestion of the resurrection. 3. The elaborate researches of Dr. Dale, and the re- sults established by the investigations of this volume, are confirmed by the distinct admission of Dr. Conant, that the primary is not the onbj meaning of the word. It not oidy means, to submerge, but also, "the coming into a new state of life or experience." Thus, the citadel of the im- mersion position is definitely abandoned. The word is not limited to one meaning. The mere fact, therefore, that it occurs, in any given place, decides nothing as to the form of action expressed by it ; since the question always arises, — In what sense is the word here used? a question which, in every instance, must be decided by evidence outside the word. Until so decided, any inference from the word is mere assumption. 4. To re-establish the crumbling structure of immer- sion, the prei)ositions avail nothing; since they are as con- 376 THE BAPTIST ARGUMENT. [rAiiT XII. griious to tlie supposition that the rite was performed by affusion. 5. The many waters of Enon prove nothing to the pur- pose ; since abundance of water was necessary to John's congregations, had he made no ritual use of it whatever. 6. Equally futile is appeal to Paul's " buried by the bap- tism," as the imagined allusion is unnecessary to the inter- pretation, incongruous to the argument, and destructive of the distinctions which the apostle draws, and the conclu- sions which he deduces. 7. As to the remaining argument, from the baptism of the eunuch, we shall see hereafter, that while the facts re- corded decide nothing, they create a presumption which dis- tinctly indicates affusion. Thus, the rite in question, — foreign to the whole style of the Old Testament, its ritual and prophecies, and equally so to the language and doctrines of the New, — is left with- out a vestige of evidence, anywhere, whether as to mode or meaning, even in those particular words and passages which have been the reliance of its advocates. Skc. LXXXl.J LOXIh'Al^Y TO TJiE GO^J'EL. 377 Part XIII. BAPTISMAL KKcaONEUATION. Section LXXXI. — The Doctrine is Contrary to the Whole Tenor oj the Goxpel. PAUL ^vas yet in tlie nu'riclian of his strength, and tlie most active })eriod of liis ministry, ^vhen he ^vrote to the Thes\\i what need is tliere of thus in- ferring the sentiuirnts of Paul ? His favorite doctrine, ex- cludes and condemns this theory as an intrusive heresy. " Being justified bij/aifh, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." — Rom. v, 1. "By grace ye are Siived, through faitfi, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." — Eph. ii, 8. " O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? . . . This only would I learu of you, Re- ceived ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing offaitfif" — Gal. iii, 1, 2. How is it that by no ac- cident does he ever say, — " by the hearing of faith, and by kiptUmV It is almost needless to add that the other apostles in their writings are in perfect accord with Paul. In fiict, ritual or water baptism is not once named in their epistles. The word, itself, occurs in them all only once, — in the statement of Peter respecting "antitype baptism," •which has been already examined. If the apostles and evan- gelists are true witnesses as to the mind of Christ, the doc- trine of baptismal regeneration is contrary to his teachings and subversive of the gospel. This heresy is to be regarded with peculiar detestation and abhorrence because of the disparagement which it does to the sovereignty and glory of Christ's baptizing scepter. In any and every form of it, it divides the work of grace between Christ and the human administrators of the empty sign. It subordinates and limits the sovereign exercise of his saving power to the discretion of their wisdom and will, to the measure of their fidelity and ardor of their zeal. Whom they baptize, — upon them his grace may be be- stowed, and upon them only. 384 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. [Part XUI. We sliall not examine in detail all the Scriptures which are appealed to in support of this theory. There are two which are the chief reliance of its advocates, an examina- tion of which will be sufficient. If not in them, thq doc- trine is not to be found in the Bible. They are, John iii, 5, and Eph. v, 25-27. Section LXXXII.—" ^or>i o/ Water and of the Sjyirit." Said Jesus to Nicodemus, — " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." — John iii, 5. Dr. Pusey asserts that "The Christian church uniformly for fifteen centuries interpreted these words of baptism ; on the ground of this text alone, they urged the necessity of baptism ; upon it they identified regeneration with baptism." If the position thus maintained by the churches of Kome and the east for so many centuries be the truth, it presents the Savior, the apostles and evan- gelists, and the Scriptures written by them, in a most ex- traordinary light. In the very beginning of his ministry, in a private interview with the Jewish ruler, Jesus imparts to him this doctrine, on which confessedly the salvation of every man depends. But, from that hour, neither he nor his apostles ever name it. In his public instructions to the people, — in his private interviews with his disci- ples,— in those particular and assiduous teachings by which, as his own ministry drew to a close, he put them in pos- session of his whole mind concerning their ministry and the world's salvation (John xv, 15), he is persistently and entirely silent on this vital point. " Still," says Dr. Pusey, "the truth in holy Scripture is not less God's truth, be- cause contained in one passage only." The principle is sound ; but its application here is a mere begging of the question. That question is. What mean these words? And the above axiom is no more true, and much less per- tinent to the present occasion than is the rule of interpreta- tion laid down by Paul. "Having then gifts difi^ering Skc. LXXXIL] liOh'X or WATER A\D OJ- THIi srih'/T. oSr> according to the grace that is given to us, wlictlier propliccy, let us prophesy according to tlie i)roportion of faith." — Ivom. xii, G, An utterjurUUlon wliich takes a passage out of all congruous relation to the rest of the Scriptures, and overturns the very foundations of the faith therein set forth, is false. And such is the interpretation in (juestion. The circumstances and connection indicate the true mean- ing of the passage. That Nicodcnius, although perhaps lacking in courage, was an honest inquirer after the truth, is evinced by the cir- cumstances of this interview and by his subsequent history. He came by night, for fear of the Jews. He came not to cavil but to 1x3 taught, as apjxiars alike from his own language and the manner of Christ's dealing with him. John had been for some time causing the land tQ ring with his warning cry ; and men's hearts were in expectation be- cause of it and his baptism. After this interview of Nico- demus with Jesus, we incidentally learn that in connection with Christ's preaching his disciples also baptized. And their baptism was assuredly of the same intent as that of John, — to prefigure the office of the Baptizcr with the Holy Ghost. We may, therefore, conclude that their baptism was from the beginning associated with Christ's ministry. Of those facts, a man of the rank and intelligence of Nico- demus, and in his state of mind, could not be ignorant. He therefore comes for instruction as to the way of salva- tion. At the beginning of the interview, he places himself definitely at the feet of Jesus, as a disciple to be taught of him. '* Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him." To an ap])lication thus so pre- cisely in accord with Christ's own testimonies as to himself and his miracles (John v, 36; x, 25; xiv, 10, 11), he responds by entering directly upon the question which was agitating the ruler's heart, — that great question, — How to be saved? "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, 33 386 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. [Part XIIL verily, I say uuto thee, Except a maD be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God," — that kingdom of which the cry then was, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The figure of the new birth was strange to Nicodemus ; for, while the doctrine of renewing by the Holy Spirit is familiar to the Old Testament writers, — the figure of a new birth is not found in them. He therefore asks, — " How can a man be born when he is old ?" Here evidently the ruler views the matter as of practical and present interest to him per- sonally. "How can I, Nicodemus, at my age, be born again?" The purpose of Jesus, in using this new illustra- tion was thus accomplished. Old truths in new forms often develop a power which otlierwise they lack. Jesus therefore, now answers, by a figure, familiar to his hearer, in the Old Testament Scriptures, and in the baptisms of John and of Christ's disciples, " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." From this view of the connection and circumstances, it is evident that the passage is to be interpreted in the light of the Old Testament, and of the baptisms administered at the time of this interview, several years before the ascen- sion and day of Pentecost ; and not by any thing peculiar to the time subsequent to that event. But it is an essen- tial feature of the theory of baptismal regeneration, that it holds the New Testament church to have this eminent ad- vantage over that of the Old Testament, that the grace of regeneration is peculiar to the former, and to the ordinance of baptism as administered subsequent to the ascension of Christ. But the words of Christ to Nicodemus were no abstract setting forth of phenomena of grace to be enjoyed by the church in a coming time, but an explanation of the w^ay in which the ruler must be saved, then and there, tinder the old economy. Viewing it in this light the follow- ing are the facts essential to the exposition of the passage. 1. The figure ot metaphor was especially congenial to Skc. lxxxii.] iwkx of water axd of the spirit. 3S7 the Hebrew iniiid. To it^ ubuiiduiit use, the Scriptures arc largely indebted lor the energy and clearness with which the protbundest thoughts arc there presented. " Lord, thou liast l)ceu our dwelling place in all generations." — l*s. xc, 1. " Moab is my w€uh is tlesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Tlie wind bloweth where it listcth, . . . so is every one that is born of the Spirit." It is impossible to account for the manner in which, after the one explanatory phrase, the water is thus ignored and excluded, upon any other supixjsition than that by which it is viewed as an interpretation of the previous expression, a metaphor for the Spirit. (3.) The fact that in the circumstances, it was impossible for the ruler to have understood the language in question as referring to' a water baptism, which, upon the theory of baptismal regeneration, was not to be admin- istered until after the day of Pentecost; and that he was therefore shut up to regard it as a metaphor, rendered ex- planation necessary, if that theory is true. The absence of any explanation makes it certain that such was not the meaning of Jesus. 5. The author of this narrative had, already, in the beginning of his gospel given an account of the manner of regeneration, which must be accepted as governing the whole of his subsequent record on the subject. "As many as received Him to them gave He power to become" {exousicni genesthai, "gave He the prerogative of being") " the sons of God, even to them that believe 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, is! Here, it is not sufficient to say that baptismal regeneration is ignored. It is absolutely excluded. The born of God are described in terms both exclusive and inclusive, by the phrase, ''As many as received him, . . . that believed on his name." These, all of these, and none but these, were born of God. The addition of baptism makes this no more sure; nor does its absence afll'ct the result. As many as receive Christ,— As many as believe on his name, to them it is given to be the sons of God. 390 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. [Part XIII. It is evident that the record of the interview with Nicodemus, ail of whicli may be read in two or three min- utes, is a mere abstract of leading points of our Savior's discourse. The intent of the words in question may be thus expressed. " You do not understand how a man can be born again. But you are familiar with the rite of bap- tism, and you are acquainted with the Scriptures of the prophets, and the interpretation which they give to that rite as a symbol of the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. It is that of which I speak. Except a man be born of water, even of the Holy Spirit, Avho is the true water of life, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Section LXXXIII.— ''^ie ^yaMmJ of Water by the Word." To the Ephesians, Paul thus Avrites. Ej^h. v, 25-27. ''Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ; that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it shoidd be holy and without blemish." It is asserted that here baptism with water, and its effects are described. The "washing of water" is the baptism, "the word," is the formula of the ordinance and unblemished holiness, the effect. But 1. The subject of Paul's discussion is the relation of husband and wife, and the reference to the church is inci- dental, and by reason of the analogy of the subjects. The conception which runs through and controls the passage is that of a bridal, and each particular of the language is suggested by this conception. Thus, in the phrase, "a glorious church," rather "a church gloriously adorned" (compare Luke vii, 25, "gorgeously apparelled,") the apos- tle seems to have had in his mind (Psa. xlv, 3), — "The king's daughter is all glorious, within ; her clothing is of wrought gold." So, the washing of water is expressly Skc. LXXXIIL] n'./AV//.\V7 OF WATRR BY THE WORD. oOl sUitod to be in oivlcr to liis pivsonlinnr lier to liiinsclf "not having spot or wrinkle." The ininieihtite reference, there- fore, of* the hii]guage is to tlie wasliing and decking of the bride, before marriage; and the original of the whole con- ception i.s to be found in Ezekiel xvi, 9-14. **Then wa.shed I thee with water; yea, I thorougldy wiLslied away tiiy blood from thee, and 1 anointed thee wi^h oil. 1 clothed thee also with broidered work, and sliod thee with badger's skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and 1 cov- ered thee witii silk. I decked thee also witii ornaments, and I put bracelets on tliy hands and a chain on thy neck." It will hardly be pretended that in this language of the prophet, the washing with water implies any mixture of the natural element with that process of grace which is there described. And that the prophet and the apostle refer to the same thing is manifest. There is no direct allusion in the passage to ritual baptism. The water is the familiar metaphor of the Spirit, and the washing is the expression fur his renewing and sanctifying influences on the soul. 2. The assertion that (re?na) "the word," here means the formula of baptism, is an assumption, wholly indefen- sible. In the first place, there is no formula of baptism ordained by Jesus, or recognized or used by the sacred writers. Of this, the evidence will hereafter appear. Moreover, in the Kew^ Testament, and especially in the writings of Paul, the word in question, rewia, is invariably used in the sense of the .testimonies, — the doctrines, — i]\e word of God, — the gospel. Thus, the angel said to the apostles, — " Go, stand and speak in the temple, to the peo- ple, all (ta remata) the words of this life." — Acts v, 20. Peter tells the hou.se of Cornelius, — " That word (rema) ye know . . . how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power," etc.— lb. x, 37, 38. Paul, in this very same epistle, tells the Ephe.sians (vi, 17) that "the sword of the 8])irit" "is the ivord (rema) of 392 BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. [Part XIII. God." And Peter declares that "the word (rema) of the Lord endureth forever; aud this is the ivord (rema) which by the gospel is preached unto you." — 1 Peter i, 25. No word in the Scriptures is of a more unequivocal meaning than this. 3. The interpretation of rema as meaning the baptismal formula, is a recognition of the unquestionable fact that " the word" is made by the aj^ostle the instrumental cause of the sanctifying. Literally transkited the passage reads, — "That he might sanctify it, — having purified it by the washing of water, — by the word." Thus, the Avord is the instrument of the sanctifying, and the parenthetic clause states the figure by which the analogy of the bride is sus- tained. The sanctifying and the purifying are the same spiritual phenomenon, the one phrase being conformed to the idea of the church, the other to that of the bride. And, whether the common English version be accepted, or the construction of the original be literally followed, as above, the result remains the same, that "the word" is distinctly stated to be the instrument of the process de- scribed by the two words, "sanctify" and "cleanse." In what sense the word is sanctifying, let Jesus testify. " The words (ta remata) that I speak unto you" {literally, "that I have spoken unto you," that is, in his preceding dis- course), " they are spirit, and they are life." — John vi, 63. "Now ye are clean, through {tou logon) the word that I have spoken unto you. — lb. xv, 3. "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word (logos) is truth. . . . And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth."— lb. xvii, 17, 19. " Chosen unto sal- vation, -through sanctification .of the Spirit and belief of the truth."— 2 Thes. ii, 13. The word is the means and the Spirit the efficient author of grace. Skc. LXXXIV.] WITUAL LAW NOT REPEALED. 303 Part XIV. Tin: NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. Section LXXXIV. — The Ritual Law was not Eq)ealed. IN the ontraiice of the cliurch upon her new commission, her constitution was unclianged. But the ordinances of testimony with which she was entrusted received an essen- tial modification. The nature and the manner of this were ahke remarkable ; and as"the subject has not received the attention due to its importance, it requires here the more careful consideration. In the course thereof, it will appear that the Hebrew Christian church remained with its insti- tutions all unaltered, as they were received from Moses, and the ceremonial law in full authority and operation, down to the close of the New Testament canon. But the Gentile element, which was by the preaching of the gospel gathered in and incorporated with the church, was, by ex- press statute, exempted from the obligation of that law. 1. The Lord Jesus was " a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers ; and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." — Rom. xv, 8, 9. He lived and died in the full communion of the church of Israel, in so far as his own action or will was concerned ; although he was in the end excommunicated and betrayed by the rulers of that cliurch. He assured his disciples that he came not to destroy the law but to fulfill. (Matt, v, 17.) Neither by example nor by precept did he set aside or abrogate it ; but, on the contrary, having himself obeyed every precept and observed every ordinance, he left it, at his ascension, in full and un- impaired autliority. 394 NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. [Part XIV. 2. The apostles and tlie church over which they pre- sided in Jerusalem were not only zealous in their observ- ance of the law ; but were not altogether exempt from the influence of some of the most obnoxious of the traditions of the elders. Of this, the case of Peter's visit to the house of Cornelius presents a signal illustration. To prepare him to listen to the message from the Roman centurion, a miraculous vision was shown him. And, when the disciples in Jerusalem heard of the matter, they accused him, for having gone in to men uncircumcised and eaten with them. And yet there was not a syllable in the laws of Moses to justify such extreme reserve. It was wholly based upon the traditions of the elders. So powerful and prevalent was the sentiment among Jewish Christians, on this sub- ject, that it subsequently became the occasion of a very singular dereliction on the part of Peter. Says Paul, — " When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he w^as to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles ; but when they were come, he withdrew, and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise wdth him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation." — Gal. ii, 11-13. Respecting this it is not enough to say that Peter and the Judaizers were all wrong. True. But such a state of things could not have existed, had the church or the apostles understood the la^v of Moses to be, in any manner, abrogated or set aside. 3. The calling and decree of the council of Jerusalem are very important facts, as bearing on this subject. The occasion of the council was the attempt of Judaiziug teach- ers to impose circumcision and the ritual law upon the Gentile converts. (Acts xv, 1-5.) Hereupon, " the apos- tles and elders came together to consider of this matter." — V. 6. Here, at once, it is impossible that such a question could have arisen, had the abrogation of the Mosaic law Skc. LXXXIV.] ritual law \0T RF.ri-.AI.F.D. 395 boon a t'jict known U\ ilu' cliui-ch in Jornsaloni ; and assnr- odly in that oaso, tlioro would Imvc been no room lor the apostlos and ohlors to " oon^idor" such a question, the very raising of which would have been the erection of* a standard of open rel)ellion against Christ. The discussions and de- cree of the council were equally conclusive. No doubt was suggested, in any quarter as to the continued authority of the law. No one hinted at the idea of its repeal. The dis- cussion turned entirely on the i)rivilege of the Gentiles to be s|)ecially exempt from its requirements. The evidence of such exemption was found in the fact that God had, in a special manner, shown his acceptance of them, outside the law. Upon this point, the whole issue turned ; and the proof respecting it was formally given by Peter, in a re- hearsal of the facts concerning the house of Gornelius (vs. 7, 8); and l)y Paul and Barnabas, in an account of " the miracles and wonders which God had wrought among the Gentiles by them." — vs. 12. Moreover, the conclusion reached (vs. 14-19), and the decree issued, had express relation, to the Gentiles, only, and not to the whole body of the church. In a word, it was a "decree recognizing and proclaiming the exemption of the Gentiles from the obliga- tion of the existing law. — "The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the lirethren which are oj tJie Gentiles, in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us, have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, say- ing. Ye must be circumcised aHd keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment. ... It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which, if ye keep yourselves ye shall do well. Fare ye well." — vs. 23-29. Such is the only rule or decree found in the New Testa- ment, respecting the ritual law. It exempts the Gentiles 396 NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. [Part XIV. from its obligations ; but otherwise leaves it in unimpaired authority. 4. With this view, the whole subsequent history of the apostolic church agrees. Paul was the great apostle of the Gentiles. He was prompt and decided in asserting and vindicating their liberty from the obligations of the law ; but was himself conscientious in the observance of all its requirements, and fully recognized their obligation upon himself and his brethren of Israel. These facts Avere brought into question, and publicly established in the most signal manner. When he came to Jerusalem after his third missionary tour, in an interview with James and the elders of the church, they said to him "Thou seest, brother, how many thousands (muriades, how many tens of thou- sands,) of Jews there are wdiich believe; and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore ? The multitude 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 w'ith them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads : and all may know that those things whereof they have been informed concerning^ thee are nothius;, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have Written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication." — Acts xxi, 20-25. To this suggestion Paul agreed, and was in the temple in fulfillment of it, awaiting the time when " an offering should be offered for every one of them," when a tumult w^as raised by the unbelieving Jews, and his imprisonment took place, which resulted in his being Si-.r. Lxxxiv.] K/rr.iL LAW xor RKPEAl.lCn. .')07 sent, ill t'hiiiiii?, to Cc^^llrea, aiul tu Uoinc. (Acts xxi, 26, 27.) lu'SjMM'tiiig this matter, tlio first j)()iiit to be noticed is tlie I'act tluit tiie myriads of Jewish (,'iiristians were unan- imous.— Tiiey " were all zealous of the law." The imagi- nation of Conyheare and Ilowson and others that the pro- ceeding was the ^vork of a Judaizing facti()n and was consented to for the sake of peace, is not only without warrant in the record, but is in contradiction to its whole tenor, and spirit. In fact the entire conception of the first named writers on the subject is characterized by a strained and perverse ingenuity, rather than by the simpHcity of a sound criticism. And yet they have to admit that the law continued in unimpaired authority over all Jewish believ- ers. Why then labor to stigmatize the church in Jerusa- lem or an imaginary faction therein for being zealous iu its maintenance ? The purpose and intent of this transaction as expressly avowed by James and the elders was to draw a broad line of distinction between Jews and Gentiles in relation to the law. In their very suggestion to Paul, they refer to the former council and decree. — "As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing." Thus, avowedly, the course pro- posed was designed to interpret that decree, and to limit its purview to the Gentiles. It was, moreover, a trans- action taking place in circumstances which imparted to it the very highest moment. It was in Jerusalem, the center whence Jesus had commanded his apostles that the gospel should go forth. They were to preach in all the world, *' beginning at Jerusalem." There, consequently the first labors of the twelve were expended ; there, some of them were almost always found; and to that cliurch the Gentile churches looked as the fountain of their faith and authori- tative exponent to them of the will of Christ. Such had been the i)r()])hetic antieii)atie of that salvation. Hence the preface to the ten commandments. — "I am the Lord tin/ God which have brought thee out of the land of Effifpt, md of the home of bondage" (Ex. xx, 2); which the West- minster catechism explains that "because God is the Lord and our Gml and Kcdeemer, therefore, we are bound to keep all his commandments." (3.) Jesus himself at the 35 410 NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. [Part XIV. very time when be eliminated the Lord's supper out of the passover, declared the latter to be a type of bis suffer- ings and death. "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it he fulfilled in the kingdom of God." — Luke xxii, 15, 16. How plainly the Lord's supper w'as an epitome and perpetuation of the passover, will be understood, by refer- ence to the manner of observance of the latter in the time of Christ. It was required of those who partook of the feast, that they should not sit, but recline at the table, as expressing liberty and rest. When they were thus disposed, wine was distributed, and after thanks given by the pre- siding person, each one drank a cup. The master then explained the nature and occasion of the feast, and distrib- uted a second cup. He then brake the unleavened bread, gave thanks, and gave it to the company, w^ith the bitter herbs and other provisions that were on the table, and afterward the flesh of the lamb. When all had eaten and the supper was ended, he that presided took another cup of wine, and, after blessing God, all drank of it. This was called "the cup of blessing," because of the blessing on it, which ended the feast. Thus the order of the feast was, (1) Thanksgiving; (2) A cup of wine; (3) The commemorative discourse; (4) A second cup; (5) A sec- ond thanksgiving; (6) The broken bread; (7) The flesh of the lamb; (8) The closing blessing; (9) The cup of blessing. So, at the beginning of the supper, Jesus took the cup, and gave thanks and said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves." After discourse, and washing the disciples' feet, "he took bread, and gave thanks and brake it and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me. Likewise, also, the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." — Luke xxii, 17-20. Skc. LXXXVII.] IIEBRFAV CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 411 The Lord's supper was not, tlierefore, a distinct ordi- nance, instituted aft iiidicatt'il and cxprrsscd in jv vorj ])eculuir and conclii- sivo niaiiJiiT. Tlu' vital (question coucerning tlie reliitioii of tlic Gentiles to the law of Moses arose in the church in Autioch, in ^vhieh there were not only certain i)r()j)hets (Acts xiii, 1, 2), hut Taul the great aj)ostle of the Gen- tiles. Katurally, we siiould have expected such a question to be brought to an innnediate decision, by prophetic rev- elation, or by the authority of the apostle, coulirnied by signs following. And, in fact, there was an immediate divine interposition. But it was an interposition by which the question was remandecV- to Jerusalem to be decided there. Paul says to the Galatiaus, — "I went up to Jeru- salem, with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up {kata ajwkalupsin) in accordance with a revela- tion."— Gal. ji, 1, 2. Again, when he came to Jerusalem, there were present John, the beloved of Jesus, and Peter, the chief of the apostles; beside James, the brother of the Lord and head of the church in Jerusalem. (lb. ii, 9.) But not by either or all of them was the question decided, but referred to the council of the church, and, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, was there determined by de- liberative consultation and vote ; and the decree was drawn up and sent forth in the name of "the apostles, and elders and brethren."— Acts xv, 22, 23, 25. The relation of that council to the Jerusalem eldership and church is indicated by the manner in which at a later date those elders re- ferred to it, in conference with Paul. "As touching the Gentiles which l)elieve, ive have written and concluded." — Acts xxi, 25, 18. Upon Paul's return to Antioch, and resumption of his missionary labors, after the council, he and his attendants, "as they went through the cities, deliv- ered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem." — lb. xvi, 4. It would thus appear beyond question, that this busi- ness t\as so ordered by the Head of the church, as to dem- onstrate the fact of the organic dependence of the Gentile 422 NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. [Part XIV. churches everywhere, — not upon the authority of the apos- tles, as such, but upon the ancient church of Israel, in the councils of which the apostles sat as elders, with the elders. (1 Peter v, 1.) It -was an indication to the Gentile churches that their privilege was that of partaken w^ith Israel in her spiritual things. (Rom. xv, 27.) Believing Israel was thus presented, as not only the source whence the gospel flowed to the Gentiles, but as ordained to be to them the authorized exponent of that gospel. The principle here involved, is appealed to by Paul, when in repressing the arrogant assumptions of some in the Corinthian church, he demands of them, — "What! came the word of God out from you? or, came it unto you, only?" — 1 Cor. xiv, 36. In this relation of the Jewish church to those of the Gentiles, there was a fulfilment of the proph(icy of Isaiah (ii, 3) reechoed by Micah: — "In the last days . . . many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." — Micah iv, 1, 2. Thus, while the great body of Israel after the flesh re- jected the Angel of the covenant, who was promised at Si- nai to their fathers (Ex. xxiii, 20), and in so doing for- feited and were cut off from its fold, their believing brethren remained in full possession of its rights, and privileges ; and the Gentiles, receiving Christ, became Avith them partakers therein, according to the proviso which from the beginning reserved room for them ; — " For all the earth is mine." — Ex. xix, 5. It was at a time when the condition of things here de- scribed, in Judea and -among the Gentiles had attained to its completest realization, that Paul addressed the Romans in a figure which is in beautiful accord with the literal facts; as they had been already realized. " If some of the branches be broken oflf, and thou being a wild olive tree, Src. LXXXVITI.]7'///r CFXT/LES C.RArFF.n /.V. 423 wort ^n-afiiMl in anioii^ tluMii, and with tlioin partakost of the root and fatness of tlu> olivo tree, — l)oast not against the brandies. But, if thou l)oast, thou hcarcst not tlie root ; but the root, thee. Thou wilt say, then, . . . Tlic branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. "Well : because of unbelief they ^vcrc broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highniindcd but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. . . . And they also if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in : for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree ; how much more shall these which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree." — Rom. xi, 17-24. The C'liristian eliurch is not a new institution, nor its constitution a new organic law. But it is, in the strictest an(t most absolute sense, lineally and organically one with that of Israel, founded and perpetuated upon the covenant of Sinai. 424 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM, [Paiit XV. B Part XV. CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. Section LXXXIX. — History of the Rite. ITT two of the evangelists, Matthew and Mark, mention baptism in connection with the last instructions of Jesus; and of these, Mark introduces it in an incidental way, as though it had been a matter already understood. (Matt, xxviii, 19, 20; Mark xvi, 15, 16.) The reason was that the apostles wei-e not then first commissioned to baptize. On this point, Calvin speaking with reference to the argu- ments of the Anabaptists says, " It is a mistake worse than childish to consider that commission as the original institu- tion of baptism, — which Christ had commanded his apostles to administer, from the commencement of his preaching. They have no reason to contend, therefore, that the law and rule of baptism ought to be derived from those two passages, as if they contained the first institution of it."-!^ flUpon this, Ur. D^le sj^^s,— "Calvin is right in dating 1 Christian ritual baptism from tlie •-'rtiinistry and authority of Christ, and not from that of John, even if they were •entirely identical, which they are not. The baptism of ^John is Christian baptism, as far as it goes; but it is Chris- tian baptism undeveloped in the blood shedding of an aton- ing Redeemer, in which shedding of blood, ' for the remis- sion of sins,' ritual baptism has its exclusive ground." Again, speaking of the words of Peter, on the day of Pente- , cost,—" Repent and be baptized,"— he asks,—" What was f this baptism? Was it a Jewish baptism, a ceremonial ' cleansing of the body, merely? Was it John's baptism, a ■'■• Institjites, Book W, chap, xvi, ? 37. Src. i-xxxix.] i//si(h':y or the kite. ^ \'2J) spiritual haptisin {h(tj){i. ; Mark ix, 37. *'They called him Zacharias (epi),for Uu: sake of his fath- er's uame." — Luke i, 51). " That rej)eutance and reinis.i) for the name's sake of Jesus Christ.'* — Acts ii, 38. The Samaritans and the twelve disciples of John at Ephesus were baptized "into the name of the Lord Jesus." — Acts viii, 16; xix, 5. And Paul distinctly implies that the Corinthians were baptized into the same name. "Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or, were ye baptized into the name of Paul?" — 1 Cor. i, 13. How these facts are consistent with obedience to Christ's command we have already seen. The only inter- pretation which will harmonize the record is deduced from that doctrine of baptism which has been unfolded in these pages. He that is spiritually baptized into Jesus Christ, thereby receives the Spirit and is united in Christ to the Father. He is baptized into the Three. Here, the doctrine of immersion is radically defective. The form may be administered with the utterance of the names of the Trinity. But its doctriue contains no testi- mony to the Triune, nor recognition of any Person of the Godhead. It relates altogether to the humanity of Christ, whose burial it represents. Section XCIII. — The Administration on Penteeod. On the day of Pentecost, in reply to the cry of the repentant multitude, — "What shall we do?" Peter said, "Repent and be baptized every one of you (epi to 'ono- 7nati), for the name's sake of Jesus Christ (eis) unto the re- mission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Sf.c. XCIII.] 7///-: AW T/C OX r/-.\-7 It COST. 441 Ghost. For (he promise is to you, and lo your children, and to all that are alar oil', even as many as the Ijord our God shall call. . . . Then, they that <,dadly received his word were baptized; antl the same day there were addi-d unto them about three thousand souls." — Acts ii, .')7-41. Dr. Dale denies this baptism to have been ritual, and demands, — " Was there a visible Christian church in exis- tence at Pentecost? Was there any one competent to or«ranize a C'hristiau church before Pentecost? Did not the divine Head of the church himself furnish the mate- rials for a church organization, officers, and members, 'that day?' Was there a Christian organization effected, as well as a tri-millenary baptism administered ' that day?' Were they organized and then baptized, or baptized and then organized?"* These questions, coming with the authority of the learned writer, are entitled to respectful considera- tion. And although they have, in effect, been answered, already, a few words will here be added, in direct response. The Jewish church, as organized, according to the law of Closes, under the ministry of the elders, was the Christian church, on the day of Pentecost. But as that church had become largely corrupt and apostate, and its rulers had betrayed and crucified the Lord Jesus, her King, a separa- tion had become necessary, and the preaching and baptism of the apostles was the means appointed by Him for elim- inating the apostate elements. The one hundred and twenty who remained together in Jerusalem after the ascension were but a small part of believing Israel, even then ; for the Lord Jesus was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, after his resurrection. (1 Cor. xv, 6.) But they, or the apostles alone, or one of them, would have been abundantly sufficient as a center for gathering the believing from among the apostate. They stood pre- cisely as did Closes in the midst of the com!:regation of Israel, at the time of the apostasy of the golden calf, say- ♦Dale'a Christie Baptism, p. IG'J. 442 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. [Part XV. iug, — "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me." — Ex. xxxii, 26. Hence the style in which the histo- rian of the Acts writes of the converts of Pentecost. "Then they tliat gladly received his word, were baptized; and the same day there were added about three thousand souls." — Acts ii, 4L They are not said to have been "added to the church;" for they were the church, obeying the call of her Head, — "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." — 2 Cor. vi, 17. They are, therefore, said to have been "added (to them)," — that is, to the apostles; or more literally "associated together," — joined in one body. By that act, they stood forth, the church of Jerusalem, di^ vested of the unbelieving elements. Accordingly, we read, immediately after, that "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." — Vs. 47. For all the pur- poses of the occasion, on the day of Pentecost, there was no farther organization necessary than that which existed in the sanhedrim of the apostles, men inspired of the Holy Ghost, and endowed by the Lord Jesus wdth author- ity for presiding over his church in this transition period of her history. The baptism of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost ' has been already illustrated fully. That there was also a rit- ual baptism, with water, I venture to regard as equally certain. (1.) We have just seen that the ajDOstolic com- mission contained a command to baptize the disciples. Peter, therefore, in inviting his hearers to repent and be baptized, was simply following the literal terms of his in- structions. And had he omitted baptism, — that ritual baptism which alone the apostles could administer — he Avould have been acting in direct violation of his commis- sion. (2.) In his exhortation, the baptism is secondary to repentance. This is the proper order of ritual baptism, which is predicated on profession of repentance. But it is the reverse as to the real baptism, which precedes repent- Skc. XCIII.] THE RITE OX PENTECOST. 443 aucc and is its cause. (3.) The language used in descrihing the result of the exhortation is conclusive. — "Then they that gladly rcceiveil his \vord were baptized." The glad re- ception of the word is stated as the antecedent ground of receiving the baptism; the reverse, again, of the order in real l)ai)tisni. (4.) In the case of Cornelius and his house, IVter based their baptizing with water ui)()u the fact that the spiritual phenomena were identical with those of the day of Pentecost. " The Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning." — *• Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?" — Acts x, 47 ; xi, 15. This argument would have been wholly inappropriate had there been no water baptism ou Pentecost. But Dr. Dale urges another objection. — " While the reception of these thousands that day into the church by dipi)ing into water, is improbable to absurdity, for reasons both moral and j^hysical, their reception by any ritual form whatever, is, for moral considerations mainly, not without embarrassment. These thousands were all personally stran- gers to the apostles, mostly from foreign lauds, Parthians, !Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Cretes, Arabians, etc. An hour before, they were mockers of the work of the Holy Ghost, and declared the apostles to be drunk. Now, is there moral fitness in the reception of such men iut(^ the church, by a rite without any personal iutercoui'se, to karn their moral comlition? But the pjissage states that the baptism was grounded in the 'glad reception of the word' preached. If the baptism was the work of the apostles, then this knowledge must also be the knowledge of the apostles; and if so, then it must have been obtained, either by divine illumination, or by personal intercourse touching repentance and faith, the knowledge of Christ and the duty of baptism ; then, how could the addition of three thousnnd be made ' that day?'"''' The theory that, the baptism here •"Christie Baptism, " p. 158. 444 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. [Part XV. in question was spiritual and not ritual, is, here, self- condemned, by the statement which truly represents it to have been "grounded in the glad reception of the word preached." That word was, " Repent and be baptized." Its glad reception, therefore is equivalent to the exercise of repentance, which is the immediate fruit of the spiritual baptism, and therefore of necessity follows, but can not precede it. The baptism, therefore, which was "grounded in the glad reception of the word," can have been no other than ritual baptism. The fundamental fallacy of the argu- ment lies in the assumption, which we have before noticed, that the Pentecostal transactions were incident to the organ- izing of a new church ; instead of being, as we have shown, the separating of the existing church from the corrupt and ungodly elements which had taken possession of it. It is asserted respecting the three thousand that, " au hour before, they were mockers of the work of the Holy Spirit." A kindred statement is frequently heard, in illus- tration of the fickleness of the multitude, — that those who yesterday filled the air with shouts of " Hosanna !" to-day cry, "Away with him." Both representations are errone- ous, and tend to obscure the true state of the case. In the Pentecostal scene, there were "some" mockers, and possi- bly, nay, probably some of these were made trophies of grace that day. But to represent the assembly as char- acteristically of that class, involves au utter misconception of the case as expressly stated by the sacred historian. He represents them as " Jews, devout men, out of every nation uuder heaven." — Acts ii, 5. It was they, who came throng- ing to the assembly of the apostles. It was characteristically they who gladly received the word and were baptized. Nor is the language of Peter to them incongruous to this view. " Him ye have taken, and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain." — v. 23. Their rulers had done it, and the whole people were responsible and polluted with the crime of his blood, until they purged themselves, by separation Skc. xciii.] the rite ox pextecost. 445 auil b;i])tisiii. So, tlic niiiUituendents. (>[ark xv, 11.) " It Mas early," when they brought Je^us before Ti- late. (John xviii, 28.) And it is probable that the sen- tence was already passed and Jesus in the hands of the ex- ecutioners, before the Cuilileans who were accustomed, at the feasts, to encamp on Olivet, had any knowledge of the fearful tragedy of that day. These facts are all of import- ance, in order to a just conceptiou of the real nature of the sejiaration which began in Jerusalem on the (hiy of Pentecost, and ultimately extended throughout Judea, Gal- ilee, and Samaria, and to all parts of the world, where a synagogue of the Jews was to be found. We do no serv- ice to the truth, by underestimating the uumber of those who in that day, were waiting for the consolation of Israel, and "gladly received the word" of the rising of the Sun of righteousness, in the person of the Lord Jesus. From the foregoing considerations, we conclude it to be certain that the three thousand converts of the day of Pen- tecost were baptized with v.atcr. The order of occurrences, as it appears from the record was this: The preaching of Peter was accompanied with the promised power, the bap- tism of the Spirit being bestowed upon his hearers, by the Lord Jesus. By that baptism was given to them repent- ance and remission of sins. (Acts v, 31.) Upon their correspondent profession, they were baptized with water; and thereupon, they received the gifts of tongues and of prophecy, in fidfdlment of the promise of Christ (Mark xvi, 17), and in accordance with the assurance given them by Peter; — " Kepent and be baptized, and ye shall re- ceive the gift of the Holy (ihost. For the promise is to you and to your children," — the promise, to wit, which he 446 CHRISTIAN BAP TISM. [Part XV. had before quoted from Joel, in explanation of the Pente- costal signs. Section XCIV. — Symbolic Meaning of tJds BcqAisin. The rite of immersion is inseparably identified with the theory that ritual baptism is designed to symbolize the burial of the Lord Jesus. By the advocates of this theory, the baptism administered to the converts of Pentecost is held to have been the original of the institution. By all, that baptism must be recognized as a most conspicuous and normal exemplification of the rite. We are perfectly willing to stake the whole issue upon the question of the symbolic meaning of the ordinance, as determined by the Scriptural statements concerning that baptism. It has been shown that the Old Testament ba})tisms symbolized the gift from on high of the Spirit of life from God. We have seen that John administered his baptism as an announcement and symbol of that which the coming One should dispense, — the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We have heard the Lord Jesus ajipropriate to himself the testimonies of Jolm, and promise their fulfillment, in terms by which the baptism to be administered by him was dis- tinctly identified as the antitype of that of John. ''John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." — Acts i, 5. We have seen the promise fulfilled, and heard the testimony of Peter, that therein was accomplished the prophecy of Joel, — a prophecy in which and the kindred language of the other prophets, the baptisms of the Old Testament were so clearly interpreted. We have seen that his baptizing office was the great end of Christ's exaltation, and the consummate function of his scepter, — that by which he begins, carries on, and accom- plishes the salvation and the glory of his people ; and that this, his exaltation and saving power, were, on the day of Pentecost, preached as the express ground of the call to repent and be baptized, for his name's sake. In vi-ew of Skc. XCIV.] THE MRAMXG OF IT. 447 these facts, how i.s it possible, by argument or by sophistry, to avoid the conehision that tlie ritual l)aptism to wiiieh Peter's hearers were thus called, was designed to signify that real baj)tisni with which it was thus so closely identi- fied? But the evidence is more specific. 1. The sum and substance of the preaching of John and of Jesus was the same, and reported l)y the evangelists in the same words: — *' Repent, for the kingdom of heaveu is at hand." 2. In both cases, this preaching was accompanied with a ritual baptism, which was as identical as was the preach- ing. Else, have we a house divided against itself, — the one doctrine, attested by two rival rites, which, under one and the same name, competed for acceptance with the Jews! 3. Of this baptism, Paul says, that "John verily bai> tized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the peo- ple, that they should believe on Ilim which should come after, that is on Christ Jesus." — Acts xix, 4. Of it, Mark and Luke state that "John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baj^tism of re2:)entauce for the remission of sins." — Mark i, 4; Luke iii, 3. And John himself de- clares,— " I indeed baptize you with water, unto repent- ance : but He . . . shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." — ^latt. iii, 11. It thus appears that this baptism was identified with a doctrine the cardinal elements of which are (1) re])entance, and (2) faith in the Lord Jesus ; as the conditions precedent ; and (3) the remission of sins, as the result. These were what the ordinance meant. From them it took its name, — *'The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." 4. On the day of Pentecost, this, precisely, was the preaching and baptism of Peter. "Repent, and be bap- tized every one of you, for the name's sake of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of sins." — Acts ii, 38. 5. Peter had already proclaimed that the Lord Jesus, " being by the right hand of God exalted, and having re- 448 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. [Part XV. ceived of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." — lb. 33. A few days afterward, he explained more precisely to the rulers, the significance of this great fact. — "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for io give to Israel repentance and {aphesin haynartion) re- mission of sins." — lb. V, 31. From these things it irrefragably follows, (1) that whereas, Christ's baptizing office is fulfilled by shedding down his Spirit upon his people, the baptisms of John and the disciples prior to the day of Pentecost, as Avell as that administered by Peter and the twelve on that day, were all proclaimed symbols of this the great reality ; (2) that, while the intent and end of Christ's baptism is, through the bestowal of the Spirit, to give repentance, faith, and the remission of sins — the other baptisms and conspicuously, that of the apostles on Pentecost, were designed to signify and bear witness to that very thing. Not only are these conclusions manifest and incontrovertible ; but by them and the facts on which they rest the idea of the burial of Christ, as included in the symbolism of baptism, is not merely ignored, but utterly excluded, as incongruous and unmeaning, in that connection. This imj)regnable conclusion is further fortified by the fact already shown, that in this meaning of the rite and in it only can be reconciled the Iavo forms of exj^ression, " Baptizing into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" and, — "into the name of the Lord Jesus." Baptism shows forth the Triune Godhead united in the salvation of man, and uniting the saved with that blessed Godhead. Section XC V. — The Mode of the ritual Baptism on Pentecost. As to the mode of the baptism of that day the evidence is not doubtful. The assembled throng were "Jews, de- vout men out of every nation," — men whose cherished faith Skc. xov.] the mode ox PEXTECOST. 4 19 and hopes all ctMitoivd ou Mo.sl'S and the covonant made and sealed with their fathers at Sinai. The baptismal seal of that covenant, perpetuated in the sj)rinkled water of seixiration, was familiar to them everywhere. They were conversant with tlie prnphoeies which assured them that in the latter days Ctod would "sprinkle clean water uj)on them," — that the ^lessiah would " si)rinkle many nations," and " pour out of his Spirit upon all flesh." They arc now told by the apostles that these prophecies are announce- ments of the baptizing ofiice of the Lord Jesus, — that he, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having re- ceived of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, had, in the exercise of his baptizing office, shed forth this, which they saw^ and heard. And, in response to their penitent cry, they are required to be "baptized for the name's sake of the Lord Jesus." Is it possible to avoid the conclusion that the baptism thus propounded Avas the .sprinkled baptism wliich was fanuliar to them all ? Or, are we to acce})t the opposite assumption ? Then must Peter have explained to the multitude. — " Our fathers, at Sinai, were sealed to the covenant with the s])riukled blood and water. In all generations of our race, the same seal has been familiar, in the same office ; as it is, this day, to you. The prophets have explained the affusion of water as be- ing a symbol of the official work of the Messiah. In that office and work, the reality of the Sinai rite is to-day ful- filled. And now, ye are to be baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; but with another- baptism, — a baptism dislocated from all relation to the past, — a baptism severed from all analogy, even, or association of ideas with that of the Spirit, which is this day dispensed by the Lord Jesus. He baptizes by outpouring ; but ye must be dipped. He baptizes by a pouring out of the Spirit, of which, in the prophecies, and in the baptisms of our fathers, living water was the constant symbol ; ])ut to you, di})ped in that living water, it is to become the symbol of the sepulchre of 38 450 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. [Paut XV. Joseph, in which the body of Jesus was laid. His bap- tism gives repentaDce and remission of sins; and the bap- tism to be received by you might seem to mean this very thing ; for it is conditioned upon repentance and is ' unto remission.' But it means not that; but the burial of the dead body of Jesus." And now, where shall the water be found, for the im- mersion of these thousands ? And by what miracle shall the rite be performed, " decently and in order," within the hours of that day? For, not only is the record specific, which limits the time, — but the supposition of a delay implies the encumbrance of after time, of which each day had its own duties and labors, its own converts and baptisms. It is demonstrably possible for the twelve apostles to have bap- tized the entire multitude by sprinkling in the ordinary manner in wdiich Ave administer the rite within four or five hours. But such was not, as I conceive, the manner of the administration. No mere rite could without disparagement, endure such repetition for hour after hour. The reitera- tion must obscure and obliterate the spiritual significance of the rite. The attention of the witnesses would become exhausted and diverted, and the monotony of the form would inevitably become a w^eariness and an ofiense. By such a manner of observance, the very intent of the ordi- nance would be lost, and this as much in one form, as in another. But we are not reduced to the necessity of encounter- ing these obvious embarrassments. We have seen the mil- lions of Israel baptized by Moses, in the hours of one morn- ing, they receiving the rite either collectively in one body, or by tribe-families or tribes. It is very probable that this was the manner in which the rite was ordinarily adminis- tered by John to the throngs that attended on his ministry, and by the disciples of Christ, when he "made and bap- tized more disciples than John." The Jews were familiar with the use of the hyssop bush as appointed in the law, Prr. xcvi.] ruF. .\ri)f>i': i\ other cases. 451 ior adiniiiistoriiiLr the rile. TIumh; was notliiii;^ in the lui- turo of tlio onliiKincc, nor in llie cirfuinstuuces of tlic oc- casion, to render inai>i>r(>i)ria(o or iniproI)al)lc a resort to that mode. On the contrary, every consideration, of con- venience, of di^nnty, propriety and edification, nnile(l to commend it as the most .suitahlo wiiy, the water beinj^ sprinkled with a hyssop busii, aud the recipients of the rite i^reseiitiug themselves iu companies of suitable size, by- scores or by hundreds. Thus was set forth by a joint bap- tism the doctrine of Paul. "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." — 1 Cor. xii, 13. Sucli is the couclusiou to which the analogy of the Scriptures points. Such, I doubt not, was the form of administration that day. For the present purpose, how- ever, this much is clear and sufficient, — that the record of Pentecost contains nothing incongruous to the previous history and doctrine of baptism, — that on the contrary, the Spirit-l)ai)tism of tliat day and all the circumstances, concur to the same conclusion wliicli the foregoing history indicates, ^'■l^ot hnmerdon', hut affn-iioii" — is the unambig- uous voice of Pentecost. Section XCYI. — Other Cases Illustrating tlw Mode. The next case that illustrates the mode, is the baptism of the eunuch. "As they went on their way, they came unto a certain water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? . . . And he commanded the chariot to stand still; and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water." — Acts viii, 3G-39. To what has been said already concerning this passage, one or two points only need be added. Dr. Dale has pointed out the fact that the verb (l:atchh) folding them in hii armn, he put his hands upon them, and blessed them." — Mark x, 13-16; Luke xviii, 15-17. Of these little children, Luke tells us that they were {brephe) babes. That these incidents in the life of our Savior were of special significance is indi- cated by the fiict that they are both given by each of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. As to their mean- ing,— (1.) These children all \vere, at the time, actual mem- bers of that visible kingdom of God the church of Israel, in the bosom of which Jesus himself lived and died. (2.) That church was the type and representative of the invis- ible church and kingdom. (3.) Of all members of the vis- ible church, Jesus selects the little child of the first inci- dent and the babes of the second, as the fittest types or representatives of the temper and spirit which will have admittance and honor in the heavenly kingdom. (4.) He was much displea.sed, that his disciples should attempt to prevent their being brought, in their unconsciousness and helplessness, into his personal presence, for recognition and a blessing from him. (5.) Both the child in the house, and the babes brought to him, he folded in his arms, and upon the latter he laid his hands and blessed them. lie was the great Sliepherd, as himself testifies, — "I am the gyod Shepherd." — John x, 11. Of him the prophet wrote, — "He shall gather the himl)s with his arm, and carry them 464 THE HOUSEHOLD. [Part XVI. in liis bosom." — Isa. xl, 11. Aud Ave ask, — Can any one venture to deny that, by these acts, so distinctly referring to the prophecy, Jesus, designed to recognize and claim the babes as lambs of his fold? As before remarked, these babes were undeniably members of the church, at the time of these occurrences. If the Lord Jesus desigued to leave them in undisturbed possession of the rights and privileges heretofore enjoyed, with his benediction added thereto, all this is clear and intelligible. But, if they were to be deprived and excluded, how are these things to be reconciled ? Another incident, in circumstances even more signifi- nificant, presents itself. After his resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples at the Sea of Galilee. *' When they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs." — John xxi, 15. Peter was present in the house in Capernaum, when Jesus took the ciiild in his arms. Nay, it is not improbable that it was Peter's house, and Peter's child. He was present when the babes were brought for blessing, and saw and heard all that then oc- curred. Pie was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, — the chief apostle of the circumcision. When he received this charge from the Master, in which were commended to his love and care, fird^ the lambs, and afterward the sheep ; and when he pondered this charge and legacy, in the light of the fifteen centuries during which the place of the children had been unquestioned and unquestionable, and in remem- brance of those demonstrative facts which he had seen and heard, — would he understand it as implying a command to purge and renovate the fold, by the exclusion of the lambs? And when, a few days after, or, possibly on this very same occasion, he as the apostle through whom the doors of the gospel were to be opened to the Gentiles, with the rest, received that great command, — "Go disciple all na- Skc. XCVIII.] CHRIST AND THE CHILDREN. 465 tions, baptizing them," — are we to conceive it. possible that be understood it to mean that he must be very tender of the Jewish lambs, bringing them into the fold and school of Christ, but must drive out the children of the Gentiles as unclean ? 3. Under the ministry of the apostles, the Gentiles were called and graffed into the church of Israel. In the church, thus constituted as already shown, some congrega- tions were composed of Jews alone, some, of Gentiles, and some, of the two classes associated together; but in them all Je\vish influences were pervasive and paramount. Now', is it to be imagined that without a word of command from Christ or the apostles, the Jewish believers would unani- mously, gratuitously, and in silence, surrender the place of their children in the church, just at the moment when the privileges thereto incident had become so much more manifest, by the coming of Christ, and the brightness, by his rising, shed upon the gospel day? And even if such a thing could be imagined possible, what else would it have been but a wicked apostasy and rejection of the grace given them? But, that no such apostasy did take place, is as- suredly testified by the silence of the record, and by all the circumstances. That, in the churches of the circum- cision, and among Jewish believers everywhere, the children occupied their old status is beyond controversy or question. Of this, their circumcision is of itself conclusive proof. And as, from the days of Abraham, that rite certified them seed of the patriarch and heirs of the promises, — and at Sinai tliey were introduced, by baptism, into the pale of the church and the privileges of that covenant, — so their continued enjoyment alike of the privileges and the seals must stand forever certain, till some prophet shall arise to tell us when, and how, and for what cause, tlicy were divested of rights once bestowed by Him whose "gifts and callings are without repentance." And if, ])y a special clause in the very covenant of 466 THE HOUSEHOLD. [Part XVI. Sinai itself, grace to the Gentiles was reserved, in har- mony with abundant grace to Israel, the baptism of Israel's babes into the fold of that covenant, that day, was a fore- tokening and pledge of the same grace to the children of the Gentiles, when the times of the Gentiles shall have come. They are not the seed of Abraham, and therefore receive not the seal of his covenant in their flesh. But baptism is theirs, — the seal of the Sinai covenant, in which, now, the rights of the Gentiles are equal. *'For there is no differ- ence between the Jew and the Greek : for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." — Rom. x, 12. Section XCIX. — '^Elm were your Children unclean hut now are they Holy." We have the exj^ress testimony of inspiration, to the children's right within the pale of the church. Says Paul to the Corinthians, — "The unbelieving husband is sancti- fied by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean; but now are they Jioly." — 1 Cor. vii, 14. The significance of this declaration, as concerning the children, depends upon the meaning of the words, unclean (ahdJuirtoi), and Jioly (hagioi), Both of them come into the New Testament, from the Sep- tuagint version of the Old. In the Greek of that version, the word (akathaiios) does not appear in the books of INIo- ses until we come to the laws of ritual uncleanness and purifying, which have been so largely discussed in these pages. Then, beginning with the fifth chapter of Levit- icus, it occurs in that book in about eighty-seven places, in all of which it designates the ritually unclean ; being ap- plied alike to things and persons. In Numbers and Deu- teronomy, it appears about thirty times, in the same sense. Li the entire Old Testament, the word is used about one hundred and forty times ; and with the exception of half a dozen passages in which it indicates the moral oflfensiveness of sin, it is invariably employed in one and the same Skc. XCIX.] YOUR CHILDREN IlOI.y. 467 sense, — to designate persons and things that by virtue of ritual defilements were excluded from the pale of the cov- enant and the sanctuary. If we add to tliis the related noun {cikaiharda) the force of these considerations is greatly increased. It, in like manner, first occurs in Leviticus, as the designation of the uncleaniiesses which were described by the adjective (^akathartos) , unclean. It occurs about fifty times, and with a few exceptions in which it describes the vileness of sin, is constantly used in the ritual sense. The other word (Jiaglos) hohj, has a history and meaning, equally clear and well defined. It has primary reference to the sum of the divine perfections, in view of which God is designated, the holy One. Thence, it is transferred to designate those moral attributes in men which are after the likeness of God's holiness ; as, in the admonition which is often repeated in the books of Moses, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." Again, it is used to denote the relation sus- tained to God by things devoted to his use or service. Thus, the tabernacle and all its jmrts and furniture were holy. In this sense, the word was used in the covenant Avith Israel. " Ye shall be unto me a holy nation (ethnos hagion") — Ex. xix, 6. The acceptance of this covenant, and the seal of baptism by which it was confirmed estab- lished Israel as " holy" unto the Lord. Prior to that cov- enant the word had never been applied to men. But from that transaction forward Israel was recognized in that char- acter. Thus, alluding to the covenant, Moses says to them, — '' Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God ; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto him- self above all people that are upon the face of the earth." — Deut. vii, 6. Upon this title and the covenant ground of it, Moses insists with great emphasis, recurring to the theme again and again. (See Deut. xiv, 2, 21 ; xxvi, 19 ; xxviii, 9.) It is in view of this covenant provision that the dis- tinctive appellation of Israel in the prophets is, " the holy people ;" and to the same source is to be referred the famil- 468 THE HOUSEHOLD. [Part XVI. iar designation of " saints," that is, holy ones, which is con- stantly employed, especially in the Psalins. Thus, the Lord says in Ps. 1, 5, — "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Here, not only is the title used, but the ground of it is stated. It is ^lat public profession and covenant of w^iich sacrifice was essential as a seal, and mcorporated as such m the baptismal rite. Such is the testimony of the Old Testament, respecting these words. The church of Corinth was composed largely of Jews, who as we have seen still maintained the ordi- nances of the synagogue after as well as before their con- version to Christ. In those assemblies, James declares that "Moses of old time hath in every city, them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." — Acts XV, 21. The Corintliian discii^les, therefore, never attended those services without hearing the words in ques- tion used ; and used in this continual sense of ritual un- cleanness and ritual purity. In the New Testament, the words in question are em- ployed in strict accordance with the Old Testament usage. But as the ritual law here sinks into comparative obscurity, okathaHos, more frequently means the loathsomeness of sin. Of the twenty-eight places in which it is found, it in twenty, describes ^^ unclean spirits," or demons. But when the question arises of the right of the Gentiles to a part witli Israel, in the covenant and the church, the ritual meaning of the word, again comes forward. Peter in his vision pleads that he had ** never eaten any thing common, or widean" — Acts x, 14, The lesson w^hich that vision taught him was, that he ''should not call any man com- mon or unclean" — lb. 28. And he afterward said of the house of Cornelius that God "put no difference between us and them, (katharisas) cleansing their hearts by faith." — lb. XV, 9. Except the place in question, in which the re- lation of the children to the church is in view, and that Sec. XCIX.] YOUR CHILDREN HOI. Y. 469 of Peter, coiicerning the like relation of believing Gentiles, the word is invariably used in the New Testament to desig- nate that moral character of which ritual uncleanness was the figure. So, too, as to (hagioi) ''holy,'" or "saints" — it is the peculiar and distinctive appellation in the New Testament, as in the Old, for those whom we would call " members of the church." In the Acts of the Apostles, some half a dozen times, the title of " disciples," is used ; once, Peter employs the name of "Christian" (1 Pet. iv, IG) ; and Paul once speaks of "the believers." (1 Tim. iv, 12.) But, with these exceptions, the appellation universally used is (Jiagioi) "saints." It thus occurs about fifty-six times, of which forty are in the epistles of Paul, the author of the passage in question. In fact, this is the designation which he uniformly employs in this very epistle and his second to the same church to designate the members of the church. "Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust and not before the saints r — 1 Cor. vi, 1. " As in all the churches of the saints." (lb. xiv, 33.) "Paul . . . unto the church of God which is in Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia." — 2 Cor. i, 1. The source of this title, moreover, as derived from the Sinai covenant, is indicated by Peter, who quotes the terms of that covenant and applies them to the New Testament church. " Ye are a chosen wueration, a royal priesthood, a holy 7iation (ethnos hagion), a peculiar people." — 1 Peter ii, 9. As in the Old Testament, so in the New, the w^ord, hagios, invariably means, either, that holiness which is essential in God, and which, in his crea- tures is a bond of consecration to him ; or, the characteristic of persons and things separated by a peculiar dedication and appropriaticm to his use and service. The alternative to which the facts reduce us, is this: — that Paul, master as he was of the Mosaic system and of the language in which it is recorded, — in his reference to 470 THE HOUSEHOLD. \V kv.'X XVI. the children, used the words, akathartoi, aud, hagioi, iu their famiUar ritual signification; or that he meant to deceive his readers. For, that the heirs of the covenant were in fact a holy people to God, was an express and fundamental specification in the covenant. And that the children were comprehended in this provision was no more questionable than was the existence of the covenant itself. Whatever therefore the meaning of Paul, his readers could not possi- bly understand his language in any but one way: — ''Else luere your children excluded from the pale of the covenant ; but now are they embraced in it.^' The attempt is made to evade the overwhelming force of the facts, on this point, by a most extraordinary inter- pretation. It is asserted that Paul means, — "Else were your children illegitimate, but now are they legitimate." The doctrine thus attributed to the apostle, is in the first place, false and abominable in morals. It is an assertion that no child is legitimate, unless one or other of its parents be a Christian. In the second place, it is an inter- pretation false to the Avhole testimony of the Scriptures as to the meaning of the words. In all the multitude of places in which they are to be found, there is not one t-o give the slightest color of sanction to it. It is nothing less than a desperate and unscrupulous attempt to silence the voice of God's testimony because it is in terms of grace to our children. Paul's language is, iu fact, an application to the chil- dren, of the same general principle of divine grace, which governed him in the circumcision of Timothy. The He- brew blood of Timothy's mother was held to entitle him to part in the Abrahamic covenant, although his father was a Greek. So, Paul pronounces the children of believers, Gentiles and Jews, to be clean, as comprehended in the Sinai covenant, and the gospel church, even though one parent sliould be an unbeliever. It is only to be farther considered, that as those only Skc. C] //oi's'/'://()/.n /i.i/>/vs.]/s. 471 ^vllo ;irc Ixiptizod oi' the Spirit urc spiritually clean, so the Scriptures kuow nothing of ritual cleanness, except by l^nptism with water; and that the command, "Go, disciple all nations, baptizing them," makes the baptizing co-exten- sive with the discipleship, — that is, with admission to the school of Christ, and pale of the covenant. Section C — Ilomehold Baptkim. We have seen the grace of God expressed toward the children of his people, nnder the Mosaic economy, by their being embraced with their parents in the terms of the cov- enant. We have seen their admission thereto announced and confirmed by the seal of baptism. AVe have seen no token of the withdrawal of that grace by the Lord Jesus when in person on earth. AVe have heard, on the con- trary, his confirmation of it in terms as strong as language can furnish. AYe have seen that same covenant, its terms imchanged, and its seal the same, thrown open, through the ministry of the apostles, to the Gentiles, and heard the testimony of the apostle, that our children are not un- clean,— oflfensive to God, but holy, — acceptable before him. AVe now proceed to consider the facts and principles in- volved in the household baptisms, which are described in the New Testament. First, however, it is proper to make an important correction in the aspect in which the subject is commonly viewed and discussed. The principle "which the Scriptures set forth and establish is not that of the baptism and membership of infants, as such. The funda- mental element of the visible church, as -conceived and set forth, in Scripture, is not the individual, ])ut the family. As God planted the earth in families, so in the covenant with Abraham he laid down the family society as the foun- dation stone, on which, at Sinai, the church was builded ; and hence the organization of the church of Israel upon the family principle, and its government by the eldership, the representatives of its families. Under this constitution, 472 THE HOUSEHOLD. [Part XVI. the infants, were of course included. But the designation and discussion of the subject, under their name, as if it were a question of injani baptism and injani membership, distinctively, does injustice to the subject, as it leaves out of sight and practically excludes the fundamental principle involved. That principle is, parental headship, and the consequent grace of God bestowed on the families of his people, — their children and bond servants,— as identified in and represented by them. 1. The first case of household baj^tism mentioned is that of Lydia, — "whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us saying. If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there." — Acts xvi, 14, 15. Here, the essential facts are, (1.) that the house of Lydia were by the inspired historian, recognized in no other capacity than as being (oikos aides) her house. Their number, their names, their ages, their distinctive relation to her, whether as children or servants, their several or joint sentiments toward the gospel, — on all these points he is silent. The one single fact to w^hich he directs our attention is Lydia's property in them. (2.) Of Lydia alone it is said that the Lord opened her heart; and upon this fact exclusively is predicated her baptism and that of her house. Should any surmise that her house also believed, we do not object, pro- vided the surmise is not to be made an essential j)art of the record. If it be insisted that they believed and there- fore were baptized, we reply that had such been the con- ception of the sacred writer, it would have been as easy, and far more important for him to have stated their faith, as he has recorded their baptism. The supposition that they did in fact believe, only renders his silence on that point the more significant. (3.) These facts occurred in the ministry of that same Paul whom we have just seen to testify that the children of believers are holy. In a word Skc. C] iJousEi/oi.n n.iPT/sMs. 473 Iwuke states llic fact of the baptism, and the ground of it. Lydia believed, and she was baptized and l»er house. Be- cause of her faith, to her :iiid to hi-r house the old, the everUistiug, covenant was fuliilled, — " to be a Gov the united voice of the Scriptures, — wlieu hrouglit to this supreme and final test, is utterly wanting. It is discountenanced by the transaction at Sinai, in which the church was separated out of the world jiiid cnn- secrated to God hy a haptisni of sprinkled water and blood. It is discountenanced by the rites which certified and sealed the resttu-atiou of the healed le})er to the coniniuuiou of Israel. It is discountenanced by the water of purifying with which the Levites were sprinkled, in their consecration to the service of God's sanctuary. It is discountenanced by the ordinance which appointed the water of separation, to be sprinkled as the ordinary and perpetuated form of the Sinai baptism, for sealing ad- mission to the benefits of the Sinai covenant. It is excluded by the declaration of the son of Sirach that the sprinkling of the unclean with the water of sepa- ration was a baptizing. It is discountenanced by the sprinkled baptism of the thirty-two thousand infants and youtlis of ]\Iidian, whereby they were received into the fold of the covenant and the church. It is condemned by every voice in the Psalms and the prophets which breathes a sense of the sinner's need, or anticipates the ble.«sings of Messiah's grace, in the language of these ordinances. It is excluded by the explicit testimony of the apostle Paul, that these ordinances were baptism.?. It is condemned by the implacable war which it of necessity wages against the identity of the church from the day of the as.