BV 806 .A7 1857 Armstrong, George D. 1813- 1899. The doctrine of baptisms THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. ANCIENT PICTORTAI, REPREPF.N'TATIOXS OF THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST, BY JOHN, IN JORDAN. This picture is copied from the door of the Church at Beneventum, which was one of the first cities in Italy where the Gospel was intro- duced. It is rudely executed, and extremely ancient. This is a representation in Mosaic of the Baptism of Christ in Jordan, preserved in the Church, in Cosmedin, at Ravenna, which was erected, A. D. 4t)l. In the centre is Christ our Saviour in the river Jordan. On a rock stands John the Baptist, in his left hand is a bent rod, and his right hand holds a patera, shell; from which he pours water on the head of the Redeemer ; over whom descends the dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost, with expanded wings, and emitting rays of glory and grace. THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION OF THE QUESTIONS RESPECTING I. THE TRANSLATION OF BAPTIZO, II. THE MODE OF BAPTISM, in. THE SUB.JECTS OF BAPTISM. BY GEO. D. ARMSTRONG, D.D., PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NORFOLK, VA. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER. 877 AND 8T9 BROADWAY. 1857. ENTKRI.D Hcconlii.g In Act f.r Cmittrtus, in llie yeiir ISSfi, l.y CHARLES SCRIBNER, 1 the Cleik'8 Office of the District Court of the Uuited States for the Southern District .if New York. W. H. TIN80N, SIBEEOXVPBE. GEOKGK BUSSKLL S CO., FKINIBK8. PREFACE In the following treatise, the author's aim has been, to give a discussion of the subject of Baptism : First. — Purely Scriptural. — Every passage of Scripture, in which the words " baptize " or " baptism " occur ; or ■which in the author's view, or that of prominent Baptist ■writers, can properly claim attention, in a full and fair Scrip- tural examination of this subject, is considered, and a correct exposition of it attempted. In order- to avoid frequent repe- tition, these difierent passages have been classified ; and hence, they will not be found in the order in which they occur in the word of God. But, by means of the Scriptural Index at the end of the volume, the reader will be able to turn to the exposition of any particular passage, at his pleasure. The Word of God, and that alone, can bind the faith of the Church ; and in the following treatise, to the Word of God, and to that alone, is the appeal made. Hence, the title Vlll PUEFAC]*:. of the work — " The Doctrine of Baptisms " (Heb. vi. 2), i.e., the teachings of Scripture respecting baptisms. Second. — Adapted to the present state of the controversy in the Christian Church. — The formation of the " American and Foreign Bible Society," for the avowed purpose of intro- ducing words equivalent to our English word "immerse," as a translation of the Greek " baptizo,''^ into all new versions of the Scriptures, which may be required in the progress of the Foreign Missionary work, and more recently, the forma- tion of the " Bible Union," for the purpose of substituting for our English Bible, an English translation, in which similar changes shall be made, have given to the " translation ques- tion," a practical importance, as great as that which belongs to the questions respecting " the mode " and " the subjects " of baptism. Indeed, at the present time, this " translation question," is the prominent question before the Church. To adapt the discussion to this new phase of the contro- versy, the author has given to the question respecting the translation of haptizo, a distinct and separate examination. Third. — Popular. — The author has aimed to treat even the translation question, in such a way, that any person, by tlie aid of the English Bible alone, and without a knowledge of the Greek, may reach an intelligent decision. In any such question as this, if we attempt to go back of the authority of Lexicons (and Dr. Carson, one of the ablest of modern Baptist writers, admits that he " has all the lexicographers and commentators against him,") ' we must appeal to the use ' Carson on Baptism, p. 65. of the word in passages, in which, from the context, its mean- ing can be determined. By means of garbled quotations; or the quotation of some passages and the omission of others, of equal, or even greater importance, a plausible argument may be constructed in support of a fiilse translation. But when, as in the present case, the appeal is to the Bible alone, a book in the hands of all, either in the original, or else, in a translation regarded by all as substantially correct, no such difficulty can arise. No imperfect or garbled quotation can be made ; no important instance of the use of the word can be omitted, without its beins^ evident to all. CONTENTS. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT, Question respecting the Mode of Baptism — Question respecting tlie Subjects of Baptism — Translation Question, 17 l^nrt /irst. TRANSLATION QUESTION. CHAPTER I. § 1. Statement of the Question. § 2. Limitation to Baptizo— Kelsons for this. § 3. Limitation to Baptizo used as a religious Term — Reasons for this— History of the HeUenistic Greek. § 4. Radical FaUacy in the Baptist Argument, . 25 CHAPTER II. § 5. Jno. lii. 25, 26. Katharizo (to purify), used as a synonym for iaptiso § 6. Jno. i. 19-25. Confirmation of this sense of baptizo. § 7. Significance of John's silence respecting the nature of baptism, 48 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. MOSAIC LAWS OF PURIFICATION. § 8. Rites of personal Purification. § 9. Rites of Purification for inanimate Things § 10. Purification by bathing and washing. § 11. EfiTects of Purification. § 12. Definition of the Term purify {katharizo). § 13. Definition of tlie Term baptise {baptizd), as used in the Word of God, 54 CHAPTER IV. USE OF BAPTIZO IN THE SEPTUAGINT TERSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. § 14. 2 Kings, V. 14. § 15. Ecclesiasticus, xxxiv. 25. § 16. Judith, xii. 7. § 17. Isaiah, xxi. 4, 66 CHAPTER V. USE OF BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO SIGNIFY MOSAIC PURIFI- CATIONS. §18. Mark.vii. 4,andLul£e, xi.S8. § 19. Hebrews, ix. 10. § 20. Hebrews, vi. 2. SO CHAPTER VI. FIGURATIVE APPLICATIONS OF THE WORD BAPTIZO. § 21. Christ's Baptism in his Death, Matt. xx. 20-23 ; Mark, x. 38, 89 ; and Luke, xii. 50. § 22. Baptism " unto Moses," 1 Cor. x. 2. § 28. Baptism in the Ark, IPet. iu.21, 92 CHAPTER VII. BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE. § 24. Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark, i. 8 ; Luke, iii. 16 ; John, i. 26, 83 ; Acts, i. 4-8, 22 ; ii. 1-4, 16-18, 32, 33; X. 44-48; xi. 15, 16 109 CONTENTS. Xm CHAPTER VIII. USE OF BAPTIZO I.N A SPIRITUAL SENSE. § 26. 1 Cor. xii. 13. § 26. Gal., iii. 27. § 27. Epli. iv. 5. § 28. Origin of the Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, 121 CHAPTER IX. ALL WATER-BAPTISMS IN THEIR NATURE PURIFICATIONS. § 29. "The Baptism of Repentance." Matt. iii. 7, 8, 11 ; Mark, i. 4 ; Luke, iii. r, 8, 12 ; Luke, vii. 29, 30; Matt., xx\. 2.5 ; Mark, xi. 80 ; Acts, i. 22; Acts, xiii. 24; Acts, X. 37 ; Acts, xix. 1-7 ; Acts, xviii. 24-26. § 30. Christ's Baptism by John. Matt., iii. 14-17; Mark, i. 9-11; Luke, iii. 21, 22; John, i. 32, 33. § 31. Christian Baptism. Acts, ii. 41 ; Acts, viii. 12-16; Acts, xviii. 8, . . 128 Summing up — Conclusion, 143 ^art Inntilr. THE MODE OF BAPTISM. CHAPTER I. § 82. Statement of the Question— § 33. Arguments relied on to prove that Immer- / sion is essential to valid Baptism, 151 CHAPTER II. SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. S 84. Rom. Ti. 8, 4; Col. ii. 12. §85. Rom. vi. 8, 4. § 86. Col. ii. 12. § 87. 1 Cor. XV. 29, 165 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. § 88. John's Baptisms in Jordan. Matt. iii. 1-6; Marie, i. 4-10; Luke, iii. 8, 21. Jolin, i. 28, X. 40. § 39. John's Baptisms at JEnon. John, iii. 23. §40. The Bap- tism of the Eunuch. Acts, viii. 36-39, ....... 179 CHAPTER IV. §41. The Baptism of the three thousand in Jerusalem. Acts, ii. 88, 41. §42. Paul's Baptism, Acts, ix. 17, 18 ; xxii. 12-16. § 43. The baptism of Cornelius, Acts, X. 4448. § 44. The Baptism of the Jailer at PhiUppi, Acts, xvi. 32-84, 198 imming up — Conclusion, SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. The Practice of Immersion in Early Times, . THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. CHAPTER I. i 48. Statement of the Question, and of the Arguments relied on by Baptists and \ Pedo-Baptists, 228 CHAPTER II. § 46. Christ's commission to his Church, Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; Mark, xvi. 15, 16 ; Luke, xxiv. 47^9 226 C0NTKKT8. XV CHAPTER III. i 4". Is the import of Baptism inconsistent with its administration to Infants ? Acts, xxu. 16, and Deut. xxx. 6. Gal. iii. 2T, and Rom. ii. 2S, 29. 1 Cor. xii. 13, and Rom. iv. 11. Col. 11. 12, and Col. ii, 11, 285 CHAPTER IV. : 4S. Essential Character of the visible Church. § 49. Nature of Church Member- ship 245 CHAPTER V. RELATION OF THE CHURCH UNDER THE NEW TO THAT UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT DISPENSATION. § 50. The Charter of the Church unchanged. § 51. Scriptural Representations. § 52. The first Christian Church but the Old Testament Church purged of the Apostasy, 252 CHAPTER VI. § 53. Christ's Recognition of Infant Membership in the Church. Matt. xix. 18-15. Mark, x. 13-16. Luke, xviii. 15-17. § 54. Christ's re-commission of Peter. John, xxi. 15. § 55. Peter's preaching of Christian Baptism. Acts, ii. 88, 89, and iii. 24-26. § 56. Significant Silence of the Jews, 268 CHAPTER VII. INFANT MEMBERSHIP RECOGNIZED BY GIVING TO CHILDREN THE PECU- LIAR TITLES BELONGING TO CHURCH MEMBERS. § 57. Names given to Church Members in Scripture. § 58. Eph. i. 1, and vi. 1-3; Col. i. 1, 2, and iii. 20. § 59. Titus, i. 6. § 60. 1 Cor. vii. 1^-14, . 287 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. § 61. Family Baptisms. Acts, xvi. 14, 15, and 32-84; 1 Cor. 1, 13-17, . 306 Summing up — Conclusion, 812 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. The Christiau world has long been divided in sentiment, on the question — What constitutes a valid Christian bap- tism ? All agi-ee, that in Christian baptism, there must be an application of water to the person of the baptized ; and that this application must be made " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The differ- ence is — First. Respecting the mode in which this water is to be applied ; some contending- that in order to valid baptism, the subject must be immersed ; others, whilst admitting the validity of baptism by immersion, hold, that the application of water by sprinkling or pouring, constitutes a baptism equally valid ; — and that to require immersion, in order to admission to the church of God, is to infringe upon that XVlll PKELIMINARY STATEMENT. Christian " liberty wherewith Christ hath made his people free ;" and to " teach for doctrine, the commaudments of men," This is the difference between the Baptist, and, what may be called, the Non-Baptist churches. Second. Respecting the -pro-per subjects of baptism ; some, contending that none but such as make a credible profession of their faith in Christ, are proper subjects of baptism ; others, holding that, "not only those that do actually profess faith in, and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized" (Presby- terian Confession of Faith, chap. 28). This is the differ- ence between the Baptist, and that large portion of the Pedo-Baptist churches, to which the Presbyterian church belongs. A controversy, on these two points, has long existed in the Christian Church. In support of their doctrine, that immer- sion is essential to a valid Christian baptism. Baptist writers affirm, that the word baptizo (the word in the original Greek corresponding to baptize in our English version) "has but one signification — it always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode ;" and hence, they argued, that to speak of baptism by sprinkling or poui'ing, is to be guilty of a con- tradiction in terms, just such as there would be in speaking of dipping, by sprinkling or pouring. Thus, does the ques- tion respecting the urooer translation of haptizo enter as an PRELIMINAKY STATEMENT. XIX element, and a most important element, too, into the decision of tlie qnestion respecting the mode of baptism. On such a version as our commonly received English version, in which the Greek baptizo has been simply Angli- cized and transferred, persons diftering in opinion respecting the meaning of the word, may unite, without any compro- mise of principle ; and had not the Foreign Missionary work, in its progress, called for versions of the Bible in heathen tongues, the probability is, that no breach in the church of God would even have arisen from the " translation question." A breach, however, has been ci'eated by this qnestion ; and the Baptist church, in our country, has withdrawn itself from the " Bible operations," in which all other Protestants are united, and formed the " American and Foreign Bible Society," for the express purpose of translating the word baptizo, by words corresponding to our word immerse, in all new versions of the Bible required for heathen lands. As a natural consequence of the formation of this Bible society, and more especially of the spirit in which they have pursued their work, we have, within the last few years, the formation of the " Bible Union," for the purpose of giving us a new English version of the Word of God, in which, among other changes, the words immerse and immersion, shall be substituted for baptize and baptism. The American and Foreign Bible Society, at its anniversary, held April 28th, XX PRELIMINAKY STATEMENT. 1840 : "-Resolved, That by tlie feet, that the nations of the earth must now look to the Baptist denomination alone, /o/" faitlifal translatwns of the Word of God, a respousibility is imposed upon them, demanding for its full discharge, an unwonted degree of union, of devotion, and of strenuous per- severing effort throughout the entire body." And in their Annual Report, the society stigmatizes all the translations made for the heathen, excepting only such as may be pub- lished under Baptist auspices, as " versions, in which the real meaning of words is purposely kept out of sight, so that Bap- tists cannot cxvqmXsXq faithful versions, unless they print them at their own expense." And they add : " It is known that the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the American Bible Society, have virtually combined to obscure at least a part of the divine revelation, and continue to circulate ver- sions of the Bible, unfaithful, at least, so far as the subject of baptism is concerned." It is true, that a majority of those united in the " Ameri- can and Foreign Bible Society," condemn the new version movement, and declare that they are unwilling to see our venerable English version altered in a letter. And yet, we believe we do them no injustice, when we speak of the for- mation of the " Bible Union " as the natural consequence of the formation of their society, and of the spirit in which they have pursued their work; — and when we hold, not those PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. XXI engaged in the " new version " alone, but the wliole Baptist church, directly, a party to this translation controversy. Here, then, we have a third point of difference, in which the Baptist church stands as the one party, and all other Christian churches in our land, as the other. PART I THE TRANSLATION QUESTION THE DOCTROE OF BAPTISMS CHAPTER I. § 1. Statement of the Question. § 2. Limitation to Baptizo—Ueasons for this. § 3. Limitation to Bnptizo used as a religious Term — Reasons for this— History of the Hellenistic Greeli. § 4. Radical Fallacy in the Baptist Argument. § 1. Statement of the Question. The -word laptizo is a word used in the Scriptures to designate the performance of a Christian rite, in ■which water is applied to tlie body, in the name of the Trinity. Eitlier this word is specific as to mode, like our Englisli word.^^, dip, sprinkle, pour; or it is generic, denoting simply the production of an effect, like our English words, consecrate, l)urify, cleanse. The Baptist affirms that haptizo is a specific term, that it '•''has hut one signification — it always signifies to dip^ never expressing anything hut mode.'''' ' ' Carson ou Baptism, p. 55. 26 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS, We affirm that haptizo, when used as a religious term (and it is always so used in the New Testa- ment), is a generic term, havi7ig no reference to ■mode; and hence, to translate it by dip, immerse, sprinkle or pour, will be to mis-translate the word of God. In this statement of the question, we have pur- posely limited it to the word laptiso^ and to that word used as a religious term. § 2. Question limited to baptizo. The question is limited to ha/ptizo. Notliing is affirmed respecting hapto, a word frequently used by the sacred writers. This limitation is made for two reasons. First. The word haptizo, is the word invariably used, iu the inspired Scriptures, when speaking of the rite of Christian baptism : the word lapto., although of frequent occurrence in tlie New Testa- ment, is never aj)plied to that ordinance. Even admitting, then, that hapto is the primitive word, and haptizo a derivative from it, the fact that the sacred writers, when speaking of Christian baptism, always use the latter, and never in one instance the former, is strong presumptive evidence that they understood the words as differing in meaning. Second. Although most of the earlier Baptist QUESTION LIMITED TO BAPTIZO. 27 wi'iters contended as strennously for the uniform modal meaning of hajpto^ as for that of hajptizo, their later writers give up this point: and claim, and we think they do so fairly, that the word haptizo alone, is in controversy. Commenting on Dr. Gale's translation of hapto, as used hy II. ' Carson on Baptism, pp. 398, 72. 42 THK DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. the same principles, and with a much greater array of evidence, it can be proved that the Lord's supper {dei])noii) is not validly administered in any church on earth, at this present day. For, certainly, the eating a morsel of bread, and swallowing a single sup of wine, is \\o,i more unlike a banquet or the principal meal of the day, than pouring or sprinkling a little w^ater on the person to be baptized, is unlike the entire immersion of that person. And if depar- ture from the classical and secular sense of the name of one sacrament, vitiates its administration, the same must be true of the other also. The " translation question," must, if possible, be settled by an appeal to the Scriptures alone ; or if compelled to go beyond the Scriptures, we must ever bear in mind, the distinction between the secular and sacred use of such terms as the one in controversy ; and our appeal should be, not to the classic Greek writers, who did not write in the dialect of Judea, but to Josephus and the earliei- Greek Fathers. We be- lieve that the question can be settled satisfactorily, from the Scriptures alone : and hence, to the Scrip- tures alone shall we appeal . And bearing in mind, the sacied use of such terms as haj^tizo^ we insist uj)on the second limitation of the question, viz. : that it he limited to baptizo, used as a religious or sacred term. THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 43 CHAPTER II. § 5. Jno. iii. 25, 26. Kathnrizo (to purify), used as a synonym for haptizo. § 6. Jno. i. 19-25. Confirmation of tl:is sense of hapiiso. § 7. Significance of John's silence respecting tlie nature of baptism. § 5. John III. 22-30, a7id lY. 1-3. III. 22. "After these things came Jesus and his dis- ciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them and baptized. 23. And John also was baptizing in ^non, near to Salim, because there was much water there ; and they came and were baptized. 24. For John was not yet cast into prison. 25. Then there arose a rpiestion between some of John's disciples and the Jews, about purify- in G {kaih a rism cu) . 26. And they come unto John and said nnto him: Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold the same baptizktii {haptisei), and all men come to him. 27. John answered, and said: A man can receive nothing except it be given lum from Heaven. 44 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 28. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30. He must increase, but I must decrease. lY. 1. "When, therefore, the Lord knew^ that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and BAPTIZED more disciples than John, 2. (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his dis- ciples,) 3. He left Judea and departed again into Galilee." What was this "question about PURiTYmG," which is here said to have arisen between some of John's disciples and the Jews? According to the plain record of the text, the question is the one which they immediately propose to John : " And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was witli thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." Is his baptism a higher and holier ba})tism than thine? And is it about to take the place of tliy baptism? A question most natural in the cii-cum- THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS, 45 stances of the case; John and Jesus being engaged in baptizing at ])laces not veiy remote from each other, and the Jews, who, a little while before, had flt)cked to John's baptism, now turning to that of Jesus in such numbers, that " he made and baptized more disciples than Jolm." With the very imper- fect, and, in many respects, erroneous views of the nature of the Messiah's kingdom then universally entertained in Judea, we can hardly conceive how this question could have failed to arise. It is just this question to which John replies. " John answered and said : A man can receive nothing except it be given him from Heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He must increase, but I must decrease." As if he had said: This is all according to divine appointment; I never claimed any other honor, as compared with him, but such as "a friend of the bridegroom" has, as com- pared with the "bridegroom" himself; I the fore- runner of Messiah, he the Messiah himself. " He must increase, but I must decrease." Thus understood, the interpretation of this whole passage is perfectly simple ; and each part consistent with every other. And now, we ask the reader to notice that this intei-pretation proceeds upon tlie sup- position, that what is called " a question about puki- 46 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. FTiNG," in V. 25, is, in v. 26, stated as a question about BAPTISM. That is, that John Baptist, and liis disciples and the Jews, and John the writer of the Gospel record, regarded baptism as, in substance, a " PURIFICATION." Dr. Carson, to get rid of this conclusion, takes the ground : 1st. That when " they came to John," they "did not state the case concerning purifying; they stated another case quite different, one different from that at issue between the disciples of John and the Jews." ' Let the reader turn to the record. "There arose a question between some of John's disciples and tlie Jews, about purifying. And they came unto John, and said unto him — John answered and said;" and especially bearing in mind that the modern division of the New Testament into chapters and verses, is of no authority; say, whether an ingenuous interpetation of that record will admit of Dr. Carson's explanation. 2d. That our exposition pro- ceeds upon the assumption " that if two words refer to the same ordinance, they must be identical in meaning," whilst "nothing is more unfounded. There are situations in which two words may be interchanged at the option of the writer, while they are not perfectly synonymous." " To this we reply, synonymous terms are seldom identical in meaning. ' Carson on Baptism, p. 432. '' Ibid. pp. 432, 433. SYNONYMS NOT IDENTICAL. 47 Our treatises on synonyms arc treatises to point out the differences in meaning between such terms. In the case before us, ruRiriuATioN is the more compre- hensive term, whilst baptism is more limited in meaning; and when we say that these terms are used as synonyms, we mean that the former inchides the latter ; that baptism is a species of pukification. We by no means assert, "that if two words refer to the same ordinance, they must be identical in meaning." § 6. John I. 19-25. 19. " And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, Who art thou ? 20. And he confessed and denied not ; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21. And they asked him ; What then ? Art thou Elias ? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet ? And he answered, no. 22. Then said they unto him : Who art thou ? that we may give an answer to tliem that sent us. 23. What sayest thou of thyself ? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as saith the Prophet Esaias. 48 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 24. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. 25. And they asked him, and said unto him, Why BAPTizEST i^ajptizeis) thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet ?" How comes it that the Pharisees ask of John this question, " Why baptizest thou tljen ?" We answer : Because the Jews, as instructed out of the Prophets, expected Messiah, when he came, to come as a great Purifier among them, and they understood baptism, as administered by John, to l)e substantially a purifi- cation. Therefore it was, that whilst they could un- derstand how a baptism might properly be adminis- tered by Messiah himself, or Elias, who was to come as his forerunner ; they could not understand the propriety of John's baptizing, when he expressly dis- claimed being either the one or the other. The prophecies, upon which the Jews based this expectation, were such as : (Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 28) : — "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean (purieied) ; from all your filthiness (uNCLEANNESs) and from all your idols will I cleanse (purify) you. A new heart also, will I give you ; and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit witliin you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, BAPTIZO USED AS A RELIGIOUS TEEM. 49 and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and 1 will be your God." And (Mai. iii. 2, 3,) " But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he ap- peareth ? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like ful- ler's soap. And lie shall sit as a refiner and purifier {katharison) of silver : and he shall purify (Jcathari- sei), the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may ofi'er unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." To tiiese prophecies respecting Messiah, John him- self had particularly called their attention at the commencement of his public ministry ; and this too, in connection with his administration of baptism : — '" I, indeed, baptize you with water, unto repentance ; but he that cometh after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes 1 am not worthy to bear : He shall BAPTIZE you with the Holy Ghost and w'ith fire : Whose fan is in his hand, and he w'ill thoroughly PURGE {diakatharii i) his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff wuth unquenchable fire." (Matt. iii. 11, 12.) Understanding baptism to be essentially a purifica- tion, how natural was it, for the Pharisees, when they saw Jolm baptizing, to ask the question : Art thou our promised Messiah, the great Purifier, foretold 60 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. by our Prophets ; He, who at his comiug, will sepa- rate us from among our enemies, that "dwelling in the land given to our fathers," we may serve him ? And when he answered ; No. How natural was it for them to ask the further question : Ai-t thou Elias, the "messenger who should prepare the way before" Messiah ? And when, again, he answered, I^o : how perfectly natural their surprise ; a surprise which finds expression in their last question ; " Why baptizest thou tlien, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that Prophet?" On this supposition, not only is the conduct of the Pharisees natural ; but every part of the record is perfectly plain. But adopt the Baptist hypo- thesis, that baptism was an entirely new rite, of the na- tm'e of which the Jews knew nothing, except what they could gather from its being an immersion (for John gave no exposition of the nature of baptism, in in so far as appears from the Gospel narrative), and how inexplicable the question of the Pharisees appears. § 7. Johi's Silence resj)ecting the Nature of Baptism significant. In so far as appears from the sacred record, nei- ther John nor Christ ever gave any special exposi- tion of the nature of baptism, unless we regard our 61 LorcFs parting M-orcls to his disciples (Mark xvi. 16), after his resurrection, as such. Certain it is, that we have not the slightest hint of any explanation of its nature having been given by them, at the time these Pharisees came to John, and questioned him in the numner related in John i. 19-25. And yet, both John and the Pharisees talk about baptism as if it Avere a rite, the nature of whicli was well understood by all parties. And in just the same unquestioning manner had "Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan." already been" baptized of John, in Jordan, confessing their sins." (Matt. iii. 5, 6.) IIow strange does all this seem, on the supposition that baptism was a new rite, then, for the first time, administered in Judea. Some have attempted to explain this, by saying that the Jews had been familiarized with baptism as a religious rite, by their established rite of proselyte Jjaptism j and therefore, no question is asked, nor answer given, respecting its nature in John's day. The existence of the rite of proselyte baptism among the Jews, in John's day, rests upon no higher autho- rity than the Talmud, a part of which was not written until the seventh century, and the remainder still later : and the fact that the law of Moses prescribes a different rite for the admission of a proselyte into the Jewish Church, renders its practice then exceedingly 62 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. improbable.' "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover of the Lord, let all his males be circumcised^ and then let him come near and keej) it; and he shall be as one that, is born in the land ; for no uncircnmcised person shall eat thereof." (Exodus xii. 48.) Others would get rid of the difficulty by supposing that John did give an exposition of the nature of baptism, although no record is made of it in the Gospels. Eespecting this supposition, we remark: 1. It seems passing strange, that such should have been the course pursued by the Evangelists, in the case of a sacred rite entirely new ; and such, most Baptist writers contend that this rite is; when in the case of the only other sacrament instituted in the Church, viz. the Lord's Supper, confessedly only the Gospel counterpart of the Paschal Supper, observed from the days of Moses, they are so particular in recording our Lord's exposition of its nature. "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them, saying, this is my body which is given for you ; this do in remembrance of me. Like- wise, also, the cup, after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you." ' For a fuller examination of this question respecting proselyte baptism, the reader is referred to Jenning's Jewish Antiquities, Book I. chap. 3. John's silence respecting baptism. 53 (Luke xxii. 19, 20.) See also Matt xxvi. 26-30, and Mark xiv. 22-25. 2. It is at variance with the soundest principles of biblical criticism, to explain a difhcultv, by supposing something of which the IScriptures give us no hint, when it can be as well, or better, explained from the Scriptures themselves. Even in the best view which we can take of such a course, it is preferring an apocryphal explanation to a scriptural one. In this fact, then, that in the Gospel narrative, baptism breaks upon us as an unquestioned, and evidently, a well-understood rite, we have very strong confirmation of the view we have taken: That bap- tism is substantially the same with the purifications established under the Old Testament dispensation. A further proof of the correctness of this view we shall have, when we come to examine particularly the nature of John's baptism; a Jewish, and not a Christian baptism ; and performed, whilst as yet, the Old Testament dipensation had not passed away. 54 THK DOCTEINE OF BAPTISMS. CHAPTER III. MOSAIC LAWS OF PURIFICATION. §8. Rites of personal Purification. §9. Rites of Purification for inanimate Things. § 10. Purification by bathing anil washing. § 11. Effects of Purification. § 12. Definition of the Term purify (katharizo). § 13. Definition of the Term laptize (b(ipUzo), as used in the TVord of God. In our examination of Jno. iii. 25, 26, and i. 19-25, having seen good reason to believe that John and his disciples, and the Jews, considered John's baptism as essentially a rite of purification, we propose, in the present chapter, to give a summary of the Old Testament law of purification ; that we may be pre- pared, the more intelligently, to examine into the use of the word baptizo by the sacred writers. The Mosaic law of purification is embraced in the following passages, viz. Ex. xxx. 17-21. The rites of purification for a priest about to engage in the services of the sanctuary. Lev. xi. 31-46. The rites of purification for any person or thing defiled by the touch of an unclean animal or creeping thing. Lev. xii. The rites of purification for a woman after MOSAIC LAWS OF PUEIFIOATION. 55 childbirth. (Lev. xiv.) The rites of purification for the leper. (Lev. xv.) The rites of purification for those having issues, &c. (Lev. xvii. 15, 16.) The rites of purification for one who had eaten that which died of itself. (Xumb. xix.) The rites of puri- fication for one who had touched a dead body, or a bone, or a grave. (Xumb. xxxi. 19-24.) The rites of purification for soldiers after battle, and for spoils taken in battle. In Heb. ix. 19-22, Paul gives a brief summary of the rites of purification for the "tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry," written out more at large in various places in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. After a careful examination, we present the fol- lowing, as a correct summary of the Mosaic law of purification. § 8. Rites of personal Purification. 1. Fm' a slight defilement; such as that arising from the touch of an unclean animal; the washing of the clothes alone. (Lev. xi. 23.) For defilement resulting from eating an animal which had died of itself; or from having a running issue; or from sprinkling with the "water of separation" an unclean person or tent; the washing of the clothes, and the bathing of the body in water. (Lev. xv. 8, xvii. 15, 66 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. xix. 19.) For such defilement as a priest would acquire in tlie routine of every-daj life; the washing of the hands and the feet. (Exod. xxx. 19.) 2. J^or more serious defilement ', such as that con- tracted in childbirth; the offering of a presciibed sacrifice. (Lev. xii. 6, 7.) For defilement arising from touching a dead body, or bone, or grave ; sprinkling M'itli the "water of separation," or "the ashes of an heifer.'- (Numb. xix. 17, 18.) For defilement arising from leprosy ; sprinkling with blood and water seven times, the touching of cer- tain parts of the body with blood and oil, the offer- ing of certain prescribed sacrifices, the shaving of the head and the face, and the washing of the person and clothes in water. (Lev xiv. 2-32.) § 9. Rites of Pimfication for inanimate Things. For clothing, skins, sacks and culinary vessels of wood, purification was effected by washing, rinsing or di]3ping in water. (Lev. xv. 12 — 17, and xi, 32.) The purification of tents, houses, and all ordinary household furniture, w^as by sprinkling with the "water of separation." (ITumb. xix. 18.) Gold and all that would abide the fire, when taken as spoils in battle, was purified by passing through the fire, and BATHINGS AND WASHINGS. 57 then sprinkling Avith "the water of separation." (Xnnib. xxxi. 22, 23.) Altars, the Tabernacle, and "all the vessels of the ministry," were puriiied by sprinkling with blood. (Heb. ix. 21, 22.) § 10. The Bathings and Washings required by the Law. On the subject of the bathings and washings required by the law of Moses, we remark : 1. The words used in the Hebrew, and in the Greek of the Septuagint, and translated in our Eng- lish vei-sion by the words bathe and wash, are, con- fessedly, woi'ds having no reference to mode; and, therefore, are properly translated in our English ver- sion. In Lev. XV. 5, both of these words occur. "And whosoever shall touch his bed, shall wash {Sept. jAunei) his clothes, and hathe (Sept. lousetai) himself in water." In the "New Version," the first of these words is translated wash in Eev. vii. 14. "And they washed their robes;" and the other is translated wash also, in Rev. i. 5. "And washed us from our sins." Tlie Greek language has the word l:atadmio^ corresponding exactly to our word im- merse; and the word lajyto, meaning to dip (although this is not its only meaning), and the last mentioned of these words is frequently used in the Septuagint, 3* 58 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. in tlie sense of dip; and this in tlie very passages in which the bathing of the body is prescribed (e. g. Lev. xix. 18, 19, "And he shall take hyssop, and dijp (bajysei) it in water, &c.); and yet, in no instance is either of these words used to designate the bath- ings enjoined ; but instead thereof, we have general terms, translated even in the "New Version" by our word wash. 2. The oriental manner of washing the hands and feet, at the present day, is not by putting them in water, but by pouring water upon them; and this has been the custom, in eastern countries, as far back as the days of Ehjah; as we learn from 2 Kings, iii. 11, M'here Elijah's attendant is spoken of as "Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah." Tlie oriental method of bath- ing, at the present day, is not by immersing the body in the water of the bath, but by having the water thrown upon the body by an attendant, as all travellers tell us. 3. A fundameptal principle in the Mosaic law of purification, viz. : the principle of defilement by contact, w^ould forbid bathing by immersion, when performed for purposes of purification, unless tliat bathing were in running water. This principle of defilement by contact runs all through the Mosaic law. In the case of "the water BATHINGS AND WASHINGS. 59 of separation," for example, the priest who presided at the slaughter and burning of the heifer, and the person who performed a part of the labor under the priest's direction, were both rendered unclean, by touching the heifer. The "clean person" who gathered the ashes of the heifer, was rendered unclean by their touch. The person who afterwards sprinkled the one to be cleansed by these ashes, was rendered unclean by the act. And any one even touching "tlie water of separation" was thereby defiled. See Numb. xix. That the reader may see liow far this principle was carried, let him read attentively Lev. xi. 33, 34:. "And every earthen vessel wherein any of them" (i. e., unclean animal or creeping thing), "falleth, whatsoever is in it, shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water" (i. e., water contained in a vessel defiled by the toacli of an unclean animal or creeping thing), "cometli, shall be unclean; and all drink that maybe drunk in any such vessel, shall be unclean ;" the only excep- tion made being in the case of "a fountain or pit, wherein was plenty of water." Ver. 36. Upon the Mosaic principle of defilement by contact, had a person bathed by immersion, or washed his hands by dipping them in any ordinary household water-vessel or bath, or even cistern, he would thereby have defiled 60 THE DOCTEINE OF BAPTISMS. the whole body of water, and the vessel which con- tained it; and these, in their turn, unless first purified, would have defiled any water which might subsequent- ly liave been put in them. And thus, one such bathing would have rendered a long series of cleansing acts, to be subsequently performed, absolutely necessary. For these three reasons we conclude; not simply that there is no evidence ihat personal purifications were ever effected by immersion; we go further than this, and affirm that the Scriptures give us good reason to believe that immersion was never resorted to for such a purpose. The only instances in which immersion may have been resorted to, was in the purification of certain inanimate things, such as "raiment, skins, sacks, and culinary vessels of wood." Of these, it is said in Lev. xi. 32, "They must be put in water." (Sept. l>aphasetai.) Tlie quantity of water defiled in im- mersing such things would be small, and the Mosaic law, in its principles, miglit be observed without great inconvenience. §11. The Effect of Purification. An unclean person, according to the law of Moses, was, in all circumstances, excluded from participa- tion in the public worship of Jehovah, and from all EFFECT OF PURIFICATION. 61 intimate association with God's people. If the imcleanness were not of a serious kind, it did not cxchide a person from all association with the clean ; l)ut only such intimate association as is involved in eating together. (Acts x. 28.) But if the unclean- ness were such as that resulting from touching a dead body slain in battle, or from the leprosy, it excluded the person from the camp or city where his brethren were. (Numb. xxxi. 34, Lev. xiii. 45, 46.) In all instances, even those of slightest uncleanness, the unclean person was strictly excluded from the sanc- tuary; and this, in certain cases, under penalty of death. (Lev. xii. 4; ISrumb. xix. 20; Ex. xxx. 21; Acts xxi. 27-29.) Purification removed these re- strictions, and admitted the purified person to un- restrained association with God's people, and gave him access to the solemn, public worship of Jehovah. An unclean thing could not be used in the service of the sanctuary ; nor by a clean person, in the ordi- nary business of life. Purification removed these restrictions. The rites of purification prescribed in the law of Moses had a reference to the state and condition of things then existing, and an immediate efi'ect upon the person receiving them, in admitting that person to unrestrained association with God's people, and to participation in the public worship of Jehovah. 6^. THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. Besides this — they were all typical, exhibiting spirit- ual truth in a visible form, as we are most clearly .taught in the word of God ; and thus they formed a homogeneous part of the system of worship established in Moses' day, which was " a shadow of good things to come." As in uncleanness, and its consequence, ill excluding the unclean person from association with God's people, and all part in his public worship, we have symbolized sin in its fearful consequences ; so in purification, and its visible effect, we have symbo- lized the removal of guilt and the blessed consequences flowine; therefrom. § 12. Definition of the word Purify (katharizo). With this summary of tlie Mosaic law of purifica- tion before us, we give as a definition of the word purify, as used in Scripture : — 1. To purify is to administer a prescribed rite, by which a person, before excluded from association with God's people and the worship of the sanctuary, is publicly declared to be re-admitted to association with the one and participation in the other. This may be called the technio sense of the word. Ex. " And the Levites were jpurifiefV (i. e. had the rite of purification administered to them), " and they DEFmrnoN of tut. word purift. '^S washed their garments, and Aaron oflPered them as an offering unto the Lord." (Numb, ^^ii. 21.) 2. To Jpurify is visibly to separate unto God's ser- vice. This we would call the literal sense of the term. Ex. " And the priest shall offer it before the Lord, and make an atonement for lier, and she shall be cleansed^'' {purified — i. e. the restriction arising from the issue of her blood shall be removed, and she visibly separated unto God's service) " from tlie issue of her blood." (Lev. xii. 7.) These two uses of the word imrify may be illus- trated by our use of the analogous word inaugurate. We may say that the delivering of the keys and a Bible are a part of the inauguration of the president of a college — meaning by the inauguration, the rite by which a new president is inducted into office. Or, using the term in wliat we have called a literal sense, we may say, that a president of a certain college was inaugurated under very favorable circumstances — meaning thereby that he was inducted into office under very favorable circumstances. 3. Since the purifying rites of the law symbolized the removal of the guilt and pollution of sin, the word purify naturally came to be used in what we would call its spiritual sense, the name of the symbol being put for that of the thing symbolized. When thus used, it means regenerate, sanctify. Ex. " And 64 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. lie shall pttrify (i. e. sanctify) the sons of Levi, that that they may ofler unto the Lord an offering in right- eousness." (Mai. iii. 3.) This is much the most common use of the word in the New Testament. Ex. " And put no difference between us and them, purifying^'' (i. e. sanctifying) " their hearts by faith." (Acts, XV. 9.) Which of these three senses belongs to the word purify, in any particular passage of Scripture, must be determined by an examination of the context ; and, as a general thing, the Bible student will find but little difficulty in thus determining the meaning of the word in each particular passage. §13. Definition of BajMze (haptizo). As abeady intimated, we believe that the word BAPTizo, when used as a religious term, is used in the Word of God, as substantially the same in meaning with the word Kathaeizo. And hence we would define it : — 1. To mean the administration of a rite, whereby a person is admitted to association with God's people. This we call its technic sense. 2. To mean the visible separation of the baptized person from the world, and into association with DEFINITION OF BAPTIZE. 65 God's people. This we call its literal sense. In this sense its meaning is very nearly the same with the word consecrate. 3. To mean regenerate, sanctify. This we call its spiritual sense. And we add — that as in the case of the word purify, we must determine which of these senses belongs to it, in any particular passage of Scripture, by an examination of the context. Note. — Tliat we may avoid the constantly repeated introduc- tion of tlie word baptizo, in the following pages, the use of this word in the original will be indicated by printing tlie corres- ponding words in small capitals — baptize, baptism. The same rule will be observed with respect to the word Katharizo, translated in our English Bible by the words ptjeify, cleanse, PUEGE. 6Q THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. CHAPTER lY. EXAMINATION OF THE USE OF BAPTIZO, IN THE 8EPTUAGINT VERSION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. § 14. II. Kings, V. 14. § 15. Ecclesiasticus, xxxiv. 25. § 16. Judith, xii. 7. § IT. Isaiah, xxi. 4. The word ?)apt{so is used four times iu the septnagint version of the Old Testameut. As it is in this ver- sion we iirst meet with tlie Hellenistic Greek, or Greek of the Synagogue, the peculiar idiom in which the New Testament is written, we will examine these instances before turning to the New Testament itself. § 14. //. Kings, Y. 14. " And. his (1. e. Naanian's) servants came near and spake unto him, and said : My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it ? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean." (v. 13.) "Then went he down, and dipped (baptized) himself BAPTIZO IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, 67 seven times in Jordan, accordiug to the saying of the man of God ; and his flesli came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (v. l-i.) That this washing here enjoined was considered, both hj Elisha and Naaman, as a religious washing or purification, and is so set forth in the context, ap- pears from several considerations. 1. The cure sought was expected, not from any medicinal action of the waters of the Jordan, but from a direct exercise of divine power. Hence Elisha's language, in his message to the king of Israel, — '' Let liim come now unto me, and he shall know that there is aj^rophet" (not a physician) " in Israel," (v. 8.) And hence, too, ISTaaman's language, when he turned away in a rage : " Behold, I thought, he will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper," (v, 11.) It will not appear strange that Naaman, although a Syrian and not an Israelite, should thus have understood this matter, if we call to mind the fact that religious washings or purifications were not peculiar to the Israelites, but formed a part of the ritual worslnp of almost all an- cient nations ; as they do of many heathen nations at the present day. To bathe in tJie sacred waters of the Ganges is one of the highest acts of devotion which the Hindoo can perfoi-m ; and of the existence bo THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. of similar notions at a very early day, we have a proof in the washing of Pharoah's daughter at the Nile, " not for pleasure, but for purification," as Bishop Patrick remarks. (See Exod. ii. 5.) 2. Elisha promises to Naaman, on condition of obedience, not healing only, but cleansing also. " Go and wash in Jordan eeven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee" (here is the promise of healing), " and thou shalt be clean " (here is the promise of cleansing also). And in the subsequent account of IJ^aaman's obedience, and its consequences, we read, " And his flesh came again, like unto the flesh of a little child" (here was the healing), " and he was CLEAN," or CLEANSED (here was the cleansing also). And let the reader notice, that the word translated, clean, is, in both instances, the word commonly used in the Septuagint to designate the cleansings or puri- fications enjoined in the law of Moses. 3. After the cure of his leprosy is efiected, Naa- man treats his washing in Jordan as a cleansing or purification, i. e. a separation unto the worship of Jehovah the God of Israel, by the direction of whose Prophet, and in the river of the land of whose pecu- liar people, the washing had been performed. " And he (Naaman) said. Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel ; thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacri- BAPTIZO IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 69 fice unto other gods, but unto the Lord." (Yerses 15-17.) Admitting now, that the word used in the original Hebrew, the inspired text, is a word which means to dij) (although this is not its only meaning, since in Gen. xxxvii. 31, the seventy translate it by moluno^ M'hich never means to dip, but " to soil, to stain, to defile"), the question comes up, why did the seventy, in their rendering of the passage under examination, translate it by the word haptizo? The Baptist answers — Because Naamau's washing was a dipping in Jordan, and haptizo was the proper word to convey this idea. We answer, because they regarded it as a religious washing, and they meant so to designate it by styling it a baptism. Our answer is, we think, the more probable one, for two reasons : 1. The i-eligious character of IS^aa- man's washing is prominently set forth in the con- text, whilst its character as an immersion (if he did dip himself in Jordan,) is left to be inferred from the one fact that it was performed in or at the Jordan. 2. This is the only instance in which the Hebrew word, here translated by haptizo^ is used to designate a religious washing or purification ; and it is the only instance in which the seventy have translated it by lajjtizo. It occurs in the Hebrew text, in Gen. xxxvii. 31 ; Exod. xii. 22 ; Lev. ix. 9 ; Deut. xxxiii. 24 ; 70 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. Eutli, ii. 14; 2 Kings, viii. 15, in the sense of dip or stain, and in none of these instances is it translated by baptiso. What weight ought to be given to Dr. Carson's frivohjns objection, that " if the meaning of the word is purity, then there would be seven purifications," * the reader will learn, by turning to Lev. xiv., where in the process for cleansing the leper, he is at three different stages of his cleansing pronounced clean by the priest, vs. Y, 9 and 20 ; or from Dr. Carson's own use of the word baptism, by which he under- stands immersion, and innnersion only, when speaking of the "trine-immersion" practised in the Greek church ; the three immersions constituting but one baptism (i.e. immersion according to Dr. C). § 15. Ecclesiasticus, XXXIV. 25. " He that washeth {haptizeth^ Sep.) himself after the touching of a dead body, if he touch it again, what availeth his washing?" Tliat the cleansing rite here referred to, and styled a BAPTISM in the Septuagint, is the rite prescribed in the 19th chapter of Numbers, is conceded on all hands. The cleansing of a person who had become ^ Carson on Baptism, p. 316. BAFriZO IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 71 defiled by touching a dead body, was eflected by one rite, and one only, viz.: sprinkling upon liim "tlic water of separation." "Whoso toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and pukifietii not himself, delileth the tabernacle of the Lord ; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sjJrinJdecl upon Jiirn, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not PUEIFT himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanc- tuary of the Lord ; the water of separation hath not hecn sjrrinldecl upon him; he is unclean," ]^umb. xix. 13, 20. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinMing the unclean, sanctifieth to the pukifting of the flesh." Heb. ix, 13. The expressions "ashes of a heifer" and "water of separation," are used interchangeably in the Scriptures, to designate the purifying material used in this rite. An instance of this we have in Niunb. xix. 9. "And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel, for a water of separation?'' This use of these expressions has arisen, doubtless, from the fact that the ashes of the heifer was the essential ingredient in " the water of 72 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. separation," and the material actually sprinkled upon the person to be cleansed. If the word haptizo " always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode," we ask where was the baptism here? Dr. Carson writes: "The answer must be obvious to every person who consults Numb. xix. 19, which shows that sprinkling was but a part of that purification, and that the unclean person was also haihed hi water. It is this bathing which is effected by baptism." * Numb. xix. 19 reads: " And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe him- self in water, and shall be clean at even." Here " Ae" has for its antecedent, '■Hhe clean person who shall spinnkle %ipon tlie unclean^ This which appears, even in our English version, is seen most clearly in the Septuagint, and is placed beyond all question by ver. 21, which is an explanatory repetition of ver. 19, just as ver. 20 is of ver. 13. "And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinJdeth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toncheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even." The fact that he is spoken of, in ver. 19, as a "clean person," is not at variance * CarSon on Baptism, p. 66. BAPTIZO IN THE OLD TESTAIIENT. 73 with this idea, since he became unclean by the operation of sprinkling. His case is just like that of the one who gathered "the ashes of the heifer." "And a man that is clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer; and he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer, shall wash his clothes and be undcan until even." Vers. 9, 10. The defilement acquired by the person thus sprinkling the water of separation, as also that acquired in gathering the ashes of the heifer, was but a slight defilement, and, therefore, was purged awa}^, bj bathing the body and washing the clothes; the rites of purification for cases of slight defilement. (See § 7.) Most unfortunately, then, for Dr. Carson's expla- nation, the person who had become unclean by touching a dead body, and whose purification is styled a baptism in the passage under examination, was not the person directed to bathe himself and wash his clothes. For him, there is but one purify- ing rite prescribed, and that is sprinkling with the water of separation. Here then, we have a rite, to which the name of a baptism is given in the Septua- gint, which was, beyond all question, a purification; and in which, according to the express declaration of Scripture, there was nothing approaching nearer to an immersion than sprinkling with the water of separation. 4 74 THK DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. Instance of the %ise of the word baptizo as a religioub term hy Josejphus. "When, therefore, any persons were defiled by a dead body, they put a little of these ashes" (i. e., the ashes of the heifer) "into spring water, with hyssop, and dipping (baptizing, Josephns) part of these ashes in it, they sprinkled with it, both on the third day and on the seventh, and after that they were clean." (Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, book iv. chap. 4th, Whiston's translation.) This instance from Josephus is the only one cited by Dr. Carson, in which the word haptizo seems to be used as a religious term; and we direct the read- er's attention to it, in connection with the examina- tion of Ecclesiasticiis xxxiv. 25, because they both refer to the same cleansing rite. Josephus, in the passage under examination, is evidently giving a summary of the Mosaic law contained in the 19th chapter of Numbers. In what sense does Josephus use the word baptizo, when he speaks of the ashes as being baptizkd in the water? Evidently in the sense of dipping, says Dr. Carson; and so Winston has translated it. To this we object. The ashes are already described as "put into the sj)ring water," in the member of the sen- tence immediately preceding this; and to translate BAPTIZO IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Y5 laptizo here, to dip, is to make one member of tlie sentence a mere useless repetition of the other. The word is here used in the sense of purify, i. e., set apart for a sacred use; for this is the sense of the word purify, when used respecting inanimate things. (See § 10.) As a substitute for the awkward (to say the J east of it) translation of Whiston, we would render it: '•When, therefore, any persons were defiled by a dead body, they put a little of the ashes to spring water, and thus (baptizing) setting them opart to a sacred tise, with hyssop, they sprinkle the unclean person with them on the third day, and also on the seventh day; and after that, they are clean. § 16. Judith XII. 7. Ver. 5. "Then the servant of ITolofernes brought her (Judith) into the tent, and she slept till midnight, and she arose when it was toward the morning watcli; 6. And sent to Holofernes, saying, let my lord now command, that thine handmaid may go forth unto pi-ayer. 7. Then Holofernes commanded his guard, that they should not stay her: thus she abode in the 76 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. camp three days, and went out in the night, into the valley of Bethulia, and washed (bap- tized, Sep.) herself in a fountain of water, by the camp. 8. And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel, to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her people. 9. So she came in clean, and remained in her tent, until she did eat her meat in the evening. That this washing of Judith, here styled a bap- tism, was a religious washing or purification, appears from several considerations. 1. It was a washing performed as a preparation for prayer. "And she sent to Holofernes, saying, let my lord now command, that thine handmaid may go forth to prayer. And when she came out, she besought the Lord God of Israel to direct her way to the raising up of the children of her j)eople." It is true, that in the law of Moses, there is no specific rite of purification prescribed as a preparation for prayer, excepting in the case of the priests, "when they came near to the altar to minister." (See Exod. XXX. 17-21.) But yet, a purification in preparation for worship was practised by all, long before Moses' day, as we learn from Gen. xxxv. 2. "Then Jacob said unto his household, and all that were with him : BAPTIZO IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. YY Put away the strange gods tliat are among you, and be CLEAN, and change your garments.'" This direc- tion was given by Jacob, when about to go up with his family to Betliel, to worship. 2. The effect of this washing is expressly declared to be that of a purification. "So she came in clean, and remained in the tent until she did eat her meat at evening." That this washing of Judith was performed by immersion, seems alrngether improbable. 1. Because even the priests, when they were about to engage in a move solemn act of worship; when "they came near to the altar to minister," were required to wash their hands and their feet only. (See Exod. xxx. 17-21.) If washing the hands and the feet would sufiice to remove such defilement as was acquired in the ordinary business of life by a priest, surely no more would be required of a Jewish maiden, and one so careful to avoid every source of defilement, as, from the context, Judith appears to have been. 2. From the 10th verse of the 13th chapter, we learn that her maid accompanied Judith, when she thus went forth to prayer. "And she gave Holofernes' iiead to her maid, and she put it in her bag of meat; so they twain went together, according to their cus- tom, unto prayer." It is true that other reasons 78 THK DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. may be assigned for this; Lut tlie one most naturally suggested by the Scriptures, is, that like Elislia with his master, Elijah, she went that she might "pour water" upon Judith's hands, 3. Because this washing was performed by Judith, "in 2, fountain of water, hy the camjp^'' according to our English version. Or if we translate literally from the Septuagint, "in the camp, at a fountain of water." Had this record formed a part of any other history, these facts alone, that the washing was "at or in a fountain," and "in or near to" a large mili- tary encampment; and performed, too, by a modest young woman, reared with oriental notions of pro- priety, would, we doubt not, have forever excluded the idea of immersion from the mind of every reader. And all that Dr. Carson could say about the water-troughs, sometimes placed near to foun- tains, in the East; and of the poetic fancy of " Castalian nymphs bathing themselves in fountains," would not alter that judgment one iota. § 17. Imiah XXI. 4. "My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me (bap- tized me, Sep.); the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me." Our English version, "fearfulness affrighted me," BAPTIZO m THE OLD TESTAMENT. 79 is a literal translation of the Hebrew; so that the version of the Seventy, in their use of the word " baptized," must be regarded as a paraphrase rather than a translation ; and in just what sense they did nse it, it is difficult to determine. ITor is it of any importance that we should determine its meaning here, in so far as our present inquiry is concerned ; since — 1, "The language of the whole passage is so higldy figurative, that no prudent reasoner would make any use of it in determining the literal mean- ing of a word." And 2, Tlie word is here evidently used as a seculai-, and not as a religious term ; and it is its use as a religious term, alone, we are attemptr ins: to determine. 80 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. CHAPTEE Y. APPLICATION OF hapUzO, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, TO MOSAIC PURIFICATIONS. § 18. Mark Tii. 4, and Luke xi. 38. § 19. Hebrews ix. 10. § 20. Hebrews vi. 2. In the New Testament, in four instances, ritual purifications prescribed in Moses' law, are termed baptisms. These instances we purpose examining in the present chapter. § 18. Ifarlc YII. 4. Yer. 1. "Then came together unto him the Phari- sees, and certain of the Scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2. And when they saw certain of his disci])les eat bread with defiled (that is to say, with un- washen) liands, they found fault. 3. For the Pliarisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tra- dition of the elders. BAPriZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 81 And when tliey come from the market, except they wash (baptize), they eat not. And many otlier things there be, which they liave received to hokl, as the washing (baptizing) of cups, and pots, and. brazen vessels, and tables." Luke XI. 38. Ver. 37. "And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in and sat down to meat. 38. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not iirst washed (baptized) before dinner." These two passages are here placed togetlier, not because they are parallel passages, for the incidents they record occurred on very diflerent occasions; but because the one will serve in some measure to explain the other. That the baptisms here spoken of were regarded V)y all parties as ritual cleansings, is evident from the whole tenor of the context. Indeed, no writer on either side, in so far as we know, has ever called this in question. The only point about wliich there is difference of opinion is, whether they were immer sions or not. And let the reader notice, that they 4* 82 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. ninst all have been immersions, in order that we may here translate the word hajptizo immerse, since it is, in these passages, applied alike to all. First. Tlie washing of hands is mentioned among these BAPTISMS practised by the Jews. That the washing (baptism) wdiich the Pharisee expected from oar Lord, before dinner, as recorded in Luke xi. 38, was simply a washing of the hands, is placed beyond all reasonable question by Mark vii. 3, "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not." 1. The washing of the hands, among the Jews, from time immemorial, has been performed by pour- ing M^ater upon them, and not by dipping the hands in water. See 2 Kings, iii. 11. 2. A further proof that such was the method adopted in our Lord's day, where purification was aimed at, we have in the record contained in John ii. 6. "And there were set there six water jpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." Tlie word here translated '■'■ water jyots"*^ is the same word used to designate the vessel brought by the w^oman of Samaria to Jacob's well (see John iv. 28), and is the w^ord used in the Septuagint, where our version uses the word jpitcher, in Gen. xxiv. 15: "Behold Kebekah came out, with her pitcher upon her shoul- BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 83 cler" and in Judges, vii. 14: "xlnd he put a trum- ]»et in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and hunps within the pitchers." Judging from the use to which these water pots or pitchers were put, viz. tliat of carrying water from the well, the pitcher being placed "upon the shoulder," we have every reason to suppose that they were of like form witli those used in the East for the same purpose at the present day — that of broad-mouthed bottles, rathei- than jars. Now, such vessels, whilst very well adapted to washing the hands or feet by pouring, are not at all suited to washing by dipping or immer- sion. llieir size, "holding two or three firkins apiece," may seem to be at variance wnth this idea. But it must be borne in mind, 1, That on this occasion, they were intended to answer the demands for purifi- cation of the large company collected at a wedding ; when, of course, pitchers of the largest size would be selected. And 2, That the word here translated firkins, if we take the only guide w^e have to its meaning as used in our Lord's day, viz. its use in the Septuagint (2 Chrou. iv. 5), to translate the Hebrew word lath, must be understood to be a measure much smaller than our "firkin," having the capacity of only about one cubic foot. And we may remark that this was about the capacity of the meas- 84: THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. lire to which the English name "firkin" was ap])liecl, at the time our English version of the Bible was made. A pitcher, of the capacity of two or three cubic feet, might well be used for pom-ing water upon the hands of guests at a wedding, but would utterly exclude the idea of the immersion of the per- sons of those guests, as some Baptist writers have imagined was customary among the Jews. Second. Pots and hrazen vessels are mentioned among the things baptized. According to the law of Moses, such things were purified, in all ordinary instances, by sprinkling them with the water of separation; and when taken as spoils of war, by passing through the fire, and then sprinkling with the water of separation. (See § 9.) It is true, that the baptisms here spoken of, are said to have been practised in obedience to " the traditions of the elders." But then, it should be remarked — 1, In the expression, "Except they wash their hands oft," we have a clear intimation that the addition made to Moses' law by the elders, was in the way of a great multiplication of the washings, and not in the way of a change in the Mosaic mode. And 2, That the substitution of dipping for sprinkling with the water of separation, i. e. the substitution of the less for the more solemn mode (see § 8), is utterly at variance with the course of superstition, v/hich is BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 85 always onward ; and also, at variance witii all tlie intimations of the text. Third. Tables {klinoti) are also mentioned among the things baptized. The law of Moses is specific respecting the purifi- cation of household furniture ; and according to that law, this is to be eflected by " sprinkling with the water of separation." (See § 9.) On the one hand, we have no I'eason to suppose tliat the law has been departed from, in this particu- lar ; whilst on the other hand, there is a strong improbability, we might say, almost an impossibility, from the size and structure of these tables, that they should have been purified by immersion. If we follow our English version, we must understand these tables to have been the tables at which the Jews ate their meals. Or, if we translate the word Minon^ as most modern scholars do, couches^ we must understand these couches to have been those on which the Jews in our Lord's day, in common with the Greeks and Romans, reclined at their meals — such as those used by Christ and his disciples at the last supper. These couches were of such a size as to accommodate sev- eral persons each (see John xxi. 20), and moreover, were generally made fast to the walls of the building. Is not immersion, in such a case as this, to the last degree, improbable ? We need not say, impossible ; 86 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. because, as Dr. Carson suggests, these tables or couches, might have been made to take to pieces, and so immersed, piece by piece. And so, we add, might houses be made to take to pieces ; and therefore, if we had read in the Scriptures, of the baptism of houses, it woukl not, upon such principles, have proved, that haptizo did not mean " to dip, never sig- nifying anything but mode." § 19. Eelrews, IX. 10. Yer. 9. " Which," i. e. the first tabernacle — " was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as per- taining to the conscience ; 10. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers wasJdngs^ (baptisms) and carnal ordi- nances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." A literal translation of this passage is — "Which was a type for the time then present, in which were offered gifts and saci'ifices ; which cannot, with respect to the conscience, make perfect, the person worshiping only with meats and drinks, and diverse BAPTISMS, carnal ordinances, imposed until the time of reformation." BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 87 This literal translation is given, because, in our English version, several phrases are interpolated in the text (as is acknowledged by printing them in italics) ; and these phrases, we think, render the con- nection between the several members of the sentence obscure, where that connection is very plain in the original. And also, because the kai " and," before " carnal ordinances," is now rejected from all our best editions of the Greek Testament. AVhat were these diverse baptisms, of which Paul here speaks, as " imposed until the time of the refor- mation?" "We answer — the purifications enjoined in the law of Moses. To the translation of the word haptismois, here, immersions, there are we think, insuperable objec- tions. 1. The baptisms here spoken of, it is evident from the context, were acts of personal cleansing, •' Which cannot, with respect to the conscience, make perfect, the person worshiping only with meats and drinks and diverse baptisms." Now, according to the law of Moses, not only were personal cleansings, in most cases, effected without anything which could possibly be construed into an immersion, but there are good scriptural reasons for believing, that immersion of the person was never practised. (See § 8 and 10.) And let it be remarked, we have here nothing to do M'ith 88 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. customs wliich may have been introduced under authority of " the traditions of the elders," since these baptisms were " imposed until the time of reforma- tion ;" and constituted the service of the first taber- nacle, " a type of good things to come." An inspired apostle would call nothing, but that " imposed " of God, " a type of good things to come." 2. In verse 13th, Paul gives a specification of one of these baptisms — " For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh : how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eter- nal Spirit ofi"ered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God ?" The close logical connection, between verses 10 and 13, requires us to consider the latter verse, as containing a specification ujider the former. Let the reader turn to Heb. IX. and read from verse 8 to verse 15, and he will see how close this connection is. 3. The baptisms here spoken of, are spoken of as '■'■diverse^'' or difierent. If mode is the only thing essential to baptism — as the object of baptism was always the same under the law of Moses, viz. the removal of uncleanness — the application of this epi- thet " diverse," to baptisms performed, always in the same mode and with the same object, is inexplicable. Take the view for which we contend, and the appli- BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 89 cation of the epithet " diverse," is at once evident, and most appropriate. In some instances, the bap- tism was a washing of the hands and feet ; in others, the offering of a prescribed sacrifice ; in others, sprinkling with the ashes of a heifer ; and so on, tlirongh a long catalogue of rites " imposed until the time of reformation." § 20. Hebrews VI. 2. Yer, 1. " Therefore leaving the principles of the doc- trine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection ; not laving again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." ISTear the close of the preceding chapter, Paul writes — " For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach yon again which be the first principles of the orades of God.'''' (Ileb. V. 12.) For the expression, "the first princi- ples of the oracles of God," he substitutes, in the passage before us, the phrase, "the principles of the doctrine of Oiirist." To the mind of a Jew, the idea naturally suggested by " the oracles of God," would 90 thp: docteine of baptisms. be that of the Old Testament Scriptures ; and by immediately afterwards substituting for it, the phrase, "the principles of the doctrine of Christ," he would present to their minds, the truth that the doctrine of Christ, and that of the Old Testament Scriptures, were one and tlie same. This would be in perfect keeping with the course of thought and argument, which prevails throughout the Epistle to the Hebrews. In this epistle, to use Paul's own language — " unto the Jews, he becomes a Jew, that he may gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that he may gain them that are under the law ;" illustrating, explaining, and proving " the doctrine of Christ," from " the oracles of God," i. e. the Old Testament Scriptures. Hence, when he comes to specify " principles," we must understand him as referring to them as exhib- ited in the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as in the clearer light of the New Dispensation. The reader will iind but little difficulty in catching the Apostle's style of thought, if he will turn to the xi. chapter, and study the illustration there given of it, in the case of " faith toward God." There were ha/ptisrns under the Old Testament dispensation, so much the same in their effect in visibly separating the baptized unto God's service, and so much the same in their symbolic import with the baptism BAPTTZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 91 iuliiiinistcred in Paul's day, that to the Jews, familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures, and rightly under- standhig those Scriptures, " the doctrine of baptisms," might well be reckoned among the "first principles of tlie oracles of God," or " the doctrine of Christ." It is in this view of the matter, as we think, that Paul here uses the word haj)tisms, in the plural, meaning to include, not only Christian baptism, and the baptism of John, but also the " diverse baptisms " of which he speaks in chap. ix. ver. 10, as " imposed " of God, under a former dispcTisation, By " doctrine^'''' we understand — God's teaching. It is in this view of the Apostle's meaning, that we have selected the phrase, " the doctrine of bap- tisms," as the title of the present treatise. 92 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. CHAPTER YI. FIGUKATIVE APPLICATIONS OF THE WORD " BAPTIZO." § 21. Christ'3 Baptism in his Death, Matt. xx. 22, 2.3 ; Mark, x. 38, 39 ; and Luke, xii. 50. § 22. Baptism " unto Moses," 1 Cor. x. 2. § 23. Baptism in the Ark, 1 Pet. iii. 21. § 21. Christ'' s haptistn in his death. Matt. XX. 20-23. V. 20. "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's child- ren witli her sons, worship- ping him. 21. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thj' right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 22. But Jesus answered and said. Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be BAPTIZED with the bap- Mark, X. 35-40. V. 35 "And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying. Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatever we shall desire. 36. And he saith unto them, What would ye that I should do for you ? 37. They say unto him. Grant unto- us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. 38. But Jesus said unto them, Ye BAPTIZO m THE NEW TESTAMENT. 93 TiSM that I am baptizkd with? They say unto him, Wc are able. 23. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the BAPTISM that I am baptized with : but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of ray Father." know not what ye ask: Can yc drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the BAPTISM that I am baptized with? 39. And they say unto him. We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized ; 40. But, 10 sit on my right hand and on my left hand, is not mine to give : but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. Luke, XII. 50. Yer. 49. " I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled ? 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accom- plished." The declaration of our Lord, made in answer to the request of the two sons of Zebedee, and the one recorded in Luke xii. 50, were made on entirely dif- ferent occasions ; yet, from the context, it appears so 94 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. evident that lie referred to his death, in both, that all commentators agree that it is of this he speaks as the baptism which was before him. The only point on which commentators differ, is as to the particular view of his death, in which he calls it a baptism. Many understand onr Lord to call his death a bap- tism inasmuch as it was to be a scene of overwhelm- ing suffering; and hence, cite tliis use of the word BAPTIZE, as instances of its use in the sense of over- whelm. To this interpretation, we have two objec- tions, suggested by an examination of the passages themselves. 1. Jesus asks the sons of Zebedee, " Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" and in their reply, as also in our Lord's subsequent rejoinder, the same specifications are kept up, and this according to the Gospels both of Matthew and Mark. The metaphor our Lord uses in his words, " are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" is a standing metaphor with the sacred writers to represent bitter sufferings, and is thus used by Jesus himself when, " sorrowful unto death," over- whelmed with the very sufferings referred to in the passage under examination : " O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. O my father, if this cup BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TP:STAMENT. 95 may not pass away from me, except I drink it, tliy will be done." (Matt. xxvi. 39, 42.) There can be no doubt, then, that in the question, " Can ye drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" Christ refers directly to the overwhelming character of his sufferings in his death. If now we understand him to refer to his death, in the same aspect of it, in his question, " Can ye be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ?" then have the two questions but one and the same meaning, and we can see no reason why the distinction between the two questions is so carefully preserved, as it is, throughout both the Gospel nar- ratives. 2. In Luke xii. 50, Christ speaks of this his bap- tism in his death, as something for the lack of which he is straitened, cramped in the establishment of his kingdom, " And how am I straitened until it be accomplished." Now it is not by his death, viewed directly as a scene of bitter suffering, but rather as a scene of perfect obedience of Christ, the sinner's substitute, on the sinner's behalf, that he comes into the possession of the powers and preroga- tives of the mediatorial throne : " And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name ; that 96 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of tilings in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesns Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. ii. 8-11.) Christ's priesthood is a priesthood "after the order of Melchisedec," (Heb. vi. 20.) i. e., both an eternal and a royal priesthood; one in which the character of "King of righteousness and peace" is blended with that of "Priest of the Most High God," (See Heb. vii.) and by his death was he fully set apart to this royal priesthood: "For every high-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefoi-e it is of necessity that this man ('Christ Jesus') have somewhat also to offer." "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet, that he should offer himself often, as the high-priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others ; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now, once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God ; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his foot-stool." BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 97 (ITeb. viii. 3, ix. 2tl:-26, x. 12, 13.) In the view wliicii Pa:il liere gives iis of Christ's sufferings, thej are distinctly presented as consecrating sufferings — sufferings bj which he was to be separated unto God's service as a royal priest; and his death, is a baptism, in the sense in which we understand that word. Understanding our Lord to speak of his death as a baptism, in this view of it, we avoid both of the ditficulties attaching to the other interpretation; and in both instances, we give to his words a meaning which exactly suits the context. 1. In Matt. XX. 20-23, and Mark x. 35-40, it is the request of the sons of Zebedee, that "they may sit, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left, in his kingdom," which gives rise to the ques- tions, "Can ye drink of the cup that I shall drink of? Can ve be baptized with tie baptism that I am baptized with?" By drinking the cup of divine wrath, when he took the sinner's law-place, when "the chastisement of our peace was upon him," he redeemed from death those who were to be the sub- jects of his kingdom; by his baptism in his death, he wa3 publicly set apart to his royal priesthood, and "all power in heaven and in earth was given unto him," that he might rule, and defend, and establish his kingdom. How natural the questions 5 98 THE DOCTEINE OF BAPTISMS. then, to those aspiring to share that kingdom with him — "Can ye drink of the cup that I shall drink of? Can ye be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" John and James evidently had very low and earthly notions of the natm^e of the kingdom which Christ had come to establish ; and they had, at the same time, a very inadequate idea of the sufferings by w^hich that kingdom was to be purchased and put into his possession. They did not yet understand that his sufferings must be unto death, although he had expressly informed them that such was the fact. Hence their reply to his questions, "We can." Christ Jesus, in characteristic sympathy with their weakness, and because they were not yet able to bear the whole truth, does not correct their erro- neous notions (erroneous, in that they were inade- quate); but using the terms in the sense in which they understood them, he replies: "Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with." That the reader may understand how Christ could use such language in the sense which we give it, let him consider such passages of Scripture as these: "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Icings and jpriests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever, BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 99 Amen." (Rev. i. 5, 6.) "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 ^?i the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. xix. 28.) 2. Turning now to Luke xii. 50, in ver. 49 our Lord has set forth the designs of his mission. "I am come to send tire on the earth," i. e. I have come to establish a kingdom, which, in its progress, shall be like a fire, consuming that which is dross, and refining all that is gold. "And what will I, if it be already kindled?" i. e. What do I wish but that it were already kindled. " But 1 have a baptism to be baptized with," i. e. I must be consecrated, separated unto God, as a royal priest, ere this, my desii*e, can be fulfilled; ere "all power in heaven and in earth shall be given" into my hands. "And how am I straitened until it be accomplished?" Christ's three years of public minis- try had resulted in bringing into his kingdom "one hundred and twenty souls." (Acts i. 15.) On the single day of Pentecost, after his consecration, his baptism in his death, "three thousand souls" were added to the number. (Acts ii. 41.) We have remarked that commentators differ as to the particular view of his death, in which Christ calls it a baptism. Most modern commentators un- 100 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. derstand him to refer to it in view of the overwhelm- ing sufferings by which it was to be accomplished. Not so the earlier Christian Fathers, especially those of the Eastern Church, who wrote while the Hellenis- tic Greek remained a living language, and who there- fore may be presumed to have known the meaning of the word baptize, as used in our Lord's day. These, without exception, take the view of it which has just been presented as the true one. Christ calls his death a baptism, because by that death he was to be set apart to the office of his royal priesthood."' § 22. IsraeVs haptism " unto Ifoses.^^ 1. Corinthians, x. 1, 2. "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all pass- ed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea." Paul here refers to events accompanying the pas- sage of the Red Sea, by Israel, in their exodus from Egypt. That we may see in what sense he speaks of these events as a laptis7n, let us turn to the ac- count of them, given us by Moses. * For proofs the reader is referred to "Beecher on Baptism," pp. 61—67. BAPIIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 101 1. Tlxey were hapthed '-''in the cloucV Exod. xiv. 19, 20. '"And the pillar of cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these : so that the one came not near the other all the night." Was there any iinmersion of Israel in the cloud ? " And the pillar of cloud," — it was only ?^ pillar j i. e. a small cloud in the form of a pillar — " went from before their face and stood behind them, and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel " — it was not directly over either — " and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these ; so that one came not near the other all the night." It continued between the Egyptians and the Israelites all the night until the sea was })as?ed. To imagine the immersion of Israel in this cloud, is not simply to go beyond the record, but is to contradict that record. That which the cloud effected, by its peculiar movement, on this occasion, was a separation of Israel unto God's service, and this in union with Moses. Hence it comes " between the camj) of the Egyptians and ihe camp of Israel ;" and whilst it "gives light to the one, it is cloud and darkness to the other ;" and so continues until the sea is passed — " and the 102 TFIE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. one came not near the other all the night." This se- paration unto God's service, constituted Israel's baptism in the cloud. 2. They were haptized " in the sea.'''' Exod. xi v. 27 -31. " And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared ; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and cov- ered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the hosts of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them ; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians ; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians : and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses." This last phrase — " and believed the Lord and his servant Moses," probably suggested to Paul the phraseology, " baptized into or unto Moses." Under- standing the term haiMzed to mean separated unto God's service, how appropriately does Paul style the passage of the sea by Israel, accompanied as it was BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 103 hj the utter destruction of the Egyptian hosts, tlieir baptism in the sea. It was that they might be- come his peculiar people, separated from among the nations, and separated unto his service, that the Lord interposed in the miraculous manner related by Moses, so that Israel " walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea," whilst the Egyptians were over- thrown. If we translate the word haptiso here, immersed^ we make Paul flatly contradict Moses. Moses says, " they walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them, on their right liand and on their left." Yet, with this record before him, Dr. Carson writes — " Moses, Mr. Hall tells us, walked on dry ground. Yes, and he got a dry dip. And could not a person, literally covered with oil- cloth, get a dry immersion in water?" ' To attempt to evade the force of plainly recorded facts, by such worse than childish trifling with God's Word, is utterly unworthy the character of an expositor of Scripture ; and none but a desperate cause could call for such defense as this. There was an immersion on this occasion, as Moses informs us ; but not of baptized Israel. " And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the ' Carson on Baptism, p. 413. 104 TIIK DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. horsemen, and all the liost of Pharaoh, that came into the sea after them." And as the consequence of this immersion, Moses tells us — "And Israel saw the Egyptians dead npon the sea-shore." The Egyptians were the party immersed. Here, then, is a case, in which, according to the express testimony of Scripture, there was both a Ijajptism and an iTnmersion ', but the party haj^tised^ was the one not {miner sed ; and their haptism consisted in their escaj^ing immersion i whilst the -partj immersed, was the one that was not baptised; their immersion was a terrible immersion to them. 23. Bcqjtism, in the Ark. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit : 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison : 20. Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Koah, while the Ark was a prej)aring, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water : BAPTIZO IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. 105 21. The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now save us" — literally, as hapiism, the ante-tvpe ch)es now save ns, — "• (not the put- ting away of the filth of the flesh, but ths answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ : 22. Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God ; angels, and authorities, and powers, being made sul)ject unto him." We are clearly taught in Scripture, that in early times, God did often "so disjDose the events of His providence, and appoint the external relations of His people, as to give by means of them, an exhibition of the better things of the Gospel ;" thus giving rise to that class of types, which, by way of distinction, are called historic types. In the passage before us, true Christian baptism, is declared to be an ante-type of the salvation of Koah, and the few that were with him in the ark. Between a type and its ante-type, there must be a resemblance, such that the former will set forth, and suggest the latter. In what particular or particulars, was the salvation of Noah a type of baptism ? Let the reader notice particularly. 1. Peter does not say that the ark was a type of baptism ; so that the shutting up of Noah in the ark, between which 5* 106 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. and immersion, some persons have a fancy lively enough to discover a resemblance ; might be under- stood to be the particular upon which the typical relation rested. His declaration is — that it was the salvation of the eight souls in the ark, and hy the water (our version is literal here), of which baptism is the antetype. 2. He does not say, that salvation by baptism, is the antetype of the salvation of the eight in the ark, but that baptism itself is the ante- type ; and this, that baptism which consists not in the mere " putting away of the hlth of the fiesh," but that which results in " the answer of a good con- science toward God," and saves through " the re- surrection of Christ Jesus." A statement of the question then, in exact accor- dance with the declaration of Peter, will be : In what particular or particulars, was the salvation of the eight souls (including Noah) in the ark, hy the waters of the flood, a type of true Christian baptism ? Understand the word 'baptism to mean immersion, and immersion only, and give it that sense here, and the typical relation between the salvation of Noah in the ark by water, and this baptism, is inexplicable. Tiie eight were tlie only ones of all the inhabitants of the teeming earth that were saved, and they were not immersed; and were saved because they were not immersed. But understand the word baptism in BAPTIZO TN THE NEW TKSI'AMENT 107 the sense for which we contend — i. e. a visible sepa- ration unto God's service — and how simple the expo- sition of this passage. Tlie salvation here spoken of was not a salvation from the flood. The eight were saved from the flood ; hut had Peter intended tliis salvation, he would have called it a salvation from the water, and not "J?/ the water." The flood itself wrought out for them a greater salvation than their deliver- ance from its overflowing waters — a salvation similar to that which was wrought out for righteous Lot in God's terrible overthrow of the guilty cities of the plain. To which last Peter refers, in connection with the salvation of Noah, when declaring the truth that, " The Lord knoweth how to deliver'" (to save) " the godly out of temptations;" (2 Pet. ii. 9) — a sal- vation for them as constituting God's church, from the overflowing flood of iniquity which threatened to ingulf them. This was their salvation in the ark Ijij water, w^hich was a type of the baptism which now saves us. True Christian baptism — " not the putting away the filth of the flesh, bnt the answer of a good con- science toward God" — i. e. not the external rite, bnt tlie spiritual substance symbolized in that rite — now saves us from the dangers and temptations of an apostate world, and this " by the resurrection of Jesns Christ ;" he who " once suflfered, the just for the 108 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. unjust," but now, in his resurrection, has " ascended up on high, leading captivity captive," tliat he might "give gifts unto men." (Eph. iv. 8.) When God " opened the windows of heaven," and " broke up the fountains of the great deep," deluging the earth, he immersed the guilty multitude, now " in prison," to whom he had, by his spirit, preached long in vain ; and a terrible immersion it was to them. By this same deluge he haptized his little church in the ark, not one drop of water touching them ; thus visibly separating them unto his service. And on the cleansed earth the Church commenced her course anew. Such is a heaven-selected type of baptism ; and we will search the history of early times in vain to find one more beautiful, or more appropriate, than this salvation of " the eight souls in the ark, and hy the water." BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AOT) FIRE. 109 CHAPTER YII. BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE. § 24. Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark, i. 8 ; Luke, iii. 16 ; John, i. 26, 33 ; Acts, i. 4-S ; ii. 1-4, 16-lS, 32, 33 ; x. 44-4S ; xi. 15, 16. Matt., iii. 11. " I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance : but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not wor- thy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Mark, i. 8. " I indeed baptize you with water : but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Luke, iii. 16. " John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water ; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose ; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." John, i. 26. " John answered them saying, I baptize with water ; but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not." Vs. 33. " And I knew him not : but he that sent me to baptize 110 THK DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. with water, tlie same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Sj)irit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which BAPTizETH with the Holy Ghost." A-Cts, i, 4-8. " And being assembled together with tliem, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know tho times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own jjower. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you : and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts, ii. 1-4. " And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven^ as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the hon^e where they were sitting. BAPTISM WITH THE HOLT GHOST AND FIRE. Ill And tliero appeared nnto them cloven tongues like as of iire, and it sat ujjoii each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts, ii. 16-18. "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will ])Our out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : And on my ser- vants and on my hand-maidens I willpour out in those days of my Spirit ; and they shall prophesy." Acts, ii. 32, 33. " This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." Acts, X. 44-^8. "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circum- cision which believed, were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift 112 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. of the Holy Ghost. For they lieard them epeak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not he baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as M-ell as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." Acts, xi. 15, 16. "And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on iliem^ as on iis at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water: but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." "We have here, placed together, all the passages in the New Testament which refer directly and explicitly to the "baptism with the Holy Gliost and with fire ;" that the reader, having the whole record before him, may be able to judge more correctly what this baptism was. As a summary of what is hei'C stated^ we give the following^ viz. 1, John, when baptizing in Jordan, utters a pro- phecy, or an inspired exposition of a prophecy, viz. That one, mightier than he, was coming, who should baptize, not with water as he did, but with " the Holy Ghost and with fire." (Matt., iii. 11; Luke, iii. 16.) 2. Ho that was to administer this better bap- BAPTISM WITE THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE. 113 tisni with "the Holy Ghost and with fire," was the Lord Jesus. (John, i. 33.) 3. The Lord Jesus, after his resurrection, meets his disciples assembled in Jerusalem ; and repeating tlie promise given by John, of a baptism with the Holy Ghost not many days thereafter, commands them that they dei)art not from Jerusalem until they had received this baptism. (Acts, i. 4, 5.) 4. Shortly after this, the disciples were "all with one accord, in one place" in Jerusalem; when sud- denly, "there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of tliem; and they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts, ii. 1-4.) 5. This gift of the Spirit was a gift immediately from Christ Jesus. (Acts, ii. 32, 33.) G. As the consequences of this, we read: "And the multitude came together and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language : Parthians and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and in Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and J'amphylla, in Egypt, and in the parts of Lybia about Gyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and Proselytes, Cretes and Araljians. Then they were ])ricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the 114 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them. Repent, and be BAPTIZED, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his word, were baptized, and the same day, there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts, ii. 6, 9, 10, 37, 38, 41.) 7. In the event subsequently occurring in Cor- nelius' house, at Cesarea, a similar effect follows, the evident gift of the Holy Ghost: "For they heard them speak with tongues." (Acts, 10, 45.) And this, Peter declares to be a fulfillment of our Lord's words, "Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.'' (Acts, xi. 16.) What was this baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire? or rather, why was this miraculous gift of the Holy Ghost, in consequence of. which those who received it "spake with other tongues," called a baptism? We answer : It is called a baptism, not on account of anything in the mode of bestowment of the Holy Ghost, or the visible symbol of the Holy Ghost; but because it was a visible setting apart of the Church for God's service, in the fulfillment of the commission a little while before given to her. "Go ye, there- fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND FIKE, 115 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you." (Matt., xxviii. 19, 20.) "And he said unto them, that repentance and remis- sion of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke, xxiv. 47.) This idea is most distinctly set forth in our Lord's words, when directing them to remain in Jerusalem and await the promised baptism with the Holy Ghost. "But ye shall receive ^02^^;' after that the Holy Ghost is come upon vou: and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost pavti of the earth." (Acts, i. 8.) And the subsequent history is but an illustration of these words. The gift of tongues was "a sign'''' (samion), as Paul tells us, "to them that believe not." (1 Cor., xiv. 22.) Christ's own miracles were signs, (See Matt., xii. 38 ; John, ii. 18) i. e., "tokens and indicarions of the near presence and working of God;" and this gift of tongues had all the legitimate effects of a sign, as related in the second chapter of the Acts. John's language, repeated by Christ himself, seems clearly to imply that this baptism was to be a nobler and truer baptism than that with water. And 80 it appears, in the view which we take of it. This baptism was a literal, not a figurative one as 116 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. Dr. Carson contends. In water-baptism, such as that administered by John, there is, 1. The living person baptized, 2. The sensible element (using the term element in its theological sense) with which the baptism is performed, i. e. water; and 3. The living person administering the baptism. In the case before ns, there are, 1. Living persons bap- tized. 2. A sensible element with which the bap- tism is performed, i, e. the cloven tongues of fire. Were this wanting, the baptism might be called a figurative baptism. And 3. A living person admin- istering the baptism, viz. the Lord Jesus — not visible to mortal sense, it is true, but perfectly visible to the eye of faith, "//e hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." This baptism was a nobler baptism than that of John, because per- formed by a nobler person, and for a nobler pur- pose. Li ordinary baptisms, we but symbolize the gift of the Holy Ghost; and whether or not the sym- bol shall represent that which has been truly received into the heart, depends, not upon the bap- tizer, but upon the faith of him who receives the baptism. Here, the Lord Jesus, himself the baptizer^ in his sovereignty, bestows the gift along with the symbol. Li this view of the matter, we remark^ the baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire, administered on the day of Pentecost, was the truest BAPTISM WITH THE HOLT GHOST AND FIKE. 117 baptism ever administered upon earth. In the one particular in which water-baptism is often notliing more than a ligure, a shadow without a substance, this baptism was reah Was this baptism an immersion ? AYill the word baptizo, in this account of tlie baptism " with tlie Holj Ghost and with fire," bear the translation im- merse or dip, without doing violence to the context ? First. — There was a baptism " with fire." It is distinctly so set forth bj John, as his w'ords are reccrded bv Matthew and Luke, and also in the in- spired account of the baptism itself. This fire was in the form " of cloven tongues," and " it sat on them." Acts, i. 3. Is not this language as definite as language can be ? And does it not exclude the idea of immersion ? Second. — ^This baptism with the Holy Ghost is the only baptism recorded in the New Testament in which terms distinctly modal are used to designate the application of the baptizing element. These terms are — " came from heaven," ^''fell on them," ^'■poured out " and " shed forth. '''' And here let the reader remark : — 1. The use of modal terms does not occur once only, but uniformly throughout the whole account given us of this baptism. In the narrative of Luke we have — '■'- came from heaven," ""fell c^/i them," was '■'' alced forth^'' and ^^ poured out f — in Joel's pro- 118 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. pliecj, as quoted by Peter, we have '''■poured out^'' and a second time '''' jpouredout f — in the baptism at the house of Cornelius, '''fell on tliein^'' and " was jpoured out y" and in Peter's defence at Jerusalem, ''fell on them." 2. These modal terms, whilst all in harmony one with the other, are all utterly at variance with the modal terms diy and immerse. 3. As already remarked, this is the only instance in which terms distinctly modal are used to describe the application of the baptizing element, in the whole course of the ISTew Testament. Third. — It is not of the Holy Ghost in his spiritual essence, nor yet of the spiritual influences of the Holy Ghost, that this language is used. That which " came from heaven," which '' was poured out," was "shed forth," which "fell on them " that were bap- tized of the Holy Ghost, was simply the sensible sym- bol of the Spirit's presence and influences ; it was that which stood in the same relation to the spiritual essence and influences of the Holy Ghost, which the water of baptism now does ; and hence Peter's lan- guage — " he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. Dr. Carson's horror at what he is pleased to repre- sent as the opinion of his opponents, is a horror at the creature of his own imagination. " Our opponents," BAPTISM WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND FIEE, 119 writes he, " understand llie baptism of tlie Spirit to be a literal pouring out of Him who is immaterial. Baptism, whatever be the mode, cannot represent eitlier the manner of conveying the spirit, or his operations in the soul. These things cannot be re- presented by natural things. There is no likeness to the Spirit, nor to the modes of his operations. It is blasphemy to attempt a representation. It would be as easy to make a likeness of God creating the world, and attempt to represent, by a picture, the Divine operations in the formation of matter, as to repre- sent by symbols the manner of the communication of the Holy Spirit, and his operations on the soul. If Christians were not infatuated with the desire of es- tablishing a favorite system, such gross conceptions of God could not have so long escaped detection."* To this, we reply — We agree perfectly with Dr. Carson, that it is not the spiritual essence " of him who is immaterial" which is said to be '■'■ poured out,'''' to ^'-fall on them," to be " shed forth;'''' nor is it a re- presentation of " the mode of the Spirit's operations " which we have in these words. Were it either the one or the other, this language would furnish no legitimate argument for determining the meaning of the word laptizo as used by the Apostles, or of the Apostolic mode of baptism. It is just because that of which * Carson on Baptism, p. 105. 120 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. such language is used, is the audible and visible symbol of the Spirit's presence and influences — tliat which stands in just the same relation to the spiritual essence of the Holy Ghost, and to his spiritual influ- ences, that water does in Christian baptism — that we speak of this baptism as a literal baptism ; and ap- peal to this language as a sound and legitimate argu- ment, and — in the absence of all other modal lan- guage in the Word of God — as an argument of great weight, in determining such a question as that before us. To state the case in brief : — Here is " a baptism with the Holy Ghost and with Are." Can we reconcile the idea that hajytizo " has but one signification — it always signifies to dij>, never expressing anything hut mode^'' with the use of such expressions, to repre- sent the application of the baptizing element, as — it '■'-came from heaven^'' it '-'•sat on them," it "was jpoured oxit^'' it " was shed forth ^'' it '"''fell on them ?" USE OF BAJPTIZO IN ITS SPIKITUAL SENSE. 121 CHAPTER YIII. USE OF haptizo in its spiritual sense. S 25. 1 Cor., xii. 13. § 26. Gal., iii. 2T. § 27. Eph., iv. 5. § 28. Origin of the Doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration. In our definition of the term hajptizo^ as used in the Word of God, in § 13, we remarked, that it was sometimes used in a spiritual sense ; to mean regen- erate, sanctify. Of this statement, we purpose giving proof in the present chapter. As instances of a similar use of the analagous terms, circumcise, cleanse, purify ; we cite : Deut., XXX. 6, "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Eph., v. 25, 26, " 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." Acts, xv. 9, "And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith." This use of the 6 122 THE DOCTEINE OF BAPTISMS. terms circumcise, cleanse, purify, renders it proba- ble, a priori, that baptize will be used by the sacred writers in a similar way. § 25. 1 CorintAicms, XII. 13. 12. " For as the body is one, and hath many mem- bers, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body : so also is Christ. 13. For by one Spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whe- ther we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." That the word baptize is here used in a Spiritual sense, appears from these considerations, viz. 1. The baptism is said to be "by one Spirit," or, "by the one Spirit," i. e. as all evangelical com- mentators agree, by the Holy Spirit — the third person in the blessed Trinity. Man administers ritual baptism with water ; Christ Jesus baptized his Church on the day of Pentecost, with " the Holy Ghost and with fire," in visible form. The Holy Spirit, in so far as we can learn from Scripture, bap- tizes with those spiritual graces which constitute regeneration alone. 2. As a con>(.(iik'nce of the baptism here spoken USE OF BAPTIZO IN ITS SPIRITITAL SENSE. 123 of, or ratlier, as an expression equivalent to "we are all baptized into one body," the Apostle adds, " and have all been made to drink into one Spirit ;" thus presenting the same idea which he has, a little before, dwelt upon in his words. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? For we being many, are one bread and one body." (1 Cor., X. 16, IT.) The unity here spoken of, is evi- dently the unity of all Christians in Christ ; the unity which is symbolized by their communion in the Lord's supper. In other words : it is a spiritual unity, the result of a spiritual baptism. "We would paraphrase the verse : " For by the one Holy Spirit are we all regenerated into one church spiritual, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and as we all drink of one sacramental cup, so have we, in our regenera- tion, all been made to drink into one Spirit. § 26. Galatians, III. 27. 26. " For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. 124 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor fe- male : for, ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." That the baptism here spoken of, is a spiritual, and not a ritual, baptism, we infer : 1. From what is said respecting the result of this baptism, in the case of those who have received it, viz. they " have put on Christ ; " a phrase uniformly used by Paul, to express a spiritual change. Eom., xiii. 12, 14, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand : let us, therefore, cast off the works of dark- ness, and let us put on the armor of light. But put ye on the Lord Jesus GJirist^ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof." Eph., iv, 22-24, " That ye put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, accord- ing to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind : and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." 2. From the context. Paul's argument, which runs tbrough all this portion of his epistle to the Galatians, turns upon the distinction between " the letter," and "the spirit," and his design is, to set USE OF BAPTIZO IN ITS SPIRITUAL SENSE. 125 forth the peculiar excellence of the Christian dispen- sation, as a spiritual dispensation ; and thus to guard the Galatian Christians against that legal spirit with which they seemed "bewitched" (iii, 1); and to keep them from making their religion consist in the "observance of days, and months, and times, and years," the " beggarly elements whereunto they desired to be again in bondage," (iv. 9, 10). In con- trast with such a religion. Paul sets before them a religion of faith, such as he affirms that true religion, in this world, has ever been. The spiritual sense of baptism, in the passage under examination, alone, suits such a context. We would paraphrase the passage: "For ye are all the children of Grod, by faith in Christ Jesus ; for as many of you as have been regenerated into a spiritual union with Christ, have, by that very opera- tion, cast off the works of darkness, and put on Clirist Jesus ; and thus have ye evidently been made one with Christ, and through him, have become the seed of Abraham, and heirs according to the pro- mise, in the true sense of that promise. § 27. Ephesicms, lY. 5. Ver. 3. "Endeavoring to keep the imity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 126 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. 4. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling ; 5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." We would give to the word baptism here, a spirit- ual sense : 1. Because there is an incongruity, amounting almost to impiety, in j^lacing a mere external rite in such association as baptism is here i>laced in ; but give to the word its spiritual sense, and a beautiful harmony is seen in its association. We can understand why •regeneration should be associated with membership in the Church spiritual, (i. e. the " one body,") the Christian's hope, the Holy Ghost, Christ Jesus, and God the Father, as constituting " a bond of peace ;" but not, why water-baptism should. 2. Paul is here giving a summary of Christian uni- ties. If either sacrament is to be introduced into this summary, the Scriptures would lead us to expect that it would be the Lorcfs Sujp])er j one express design of which is, to set forth the unity of Christians by their communion in " the body and blood " of their common Lord (see 1 Cor. x. 16, 17), and not the sacrament of Baptism. We would paraphrase this passage : " Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace. USE OF BAPTIZO IN ITS SPIRITUAL SENSE. 127 There is one body, even the church spiritual, of which Christ is the head, and je are all members ; (see 1 Cor. xii. 27). and there is one Holy Spirit, by whom ye are all effectually called, in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, Jesus Christ, one faith in Him, by the which ye are all saved, and one regenera- tion^ by the which j^e are made one with Him ; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Other instances of the use of haptizo, in its spirit- ual sense, will be given in a subsequent part of this work. (See § § 35, 36.) § 28. Origin of the doctrine of hajptisnial ration. That the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, pre- vailed in the Christian Church at an early day, and that there is much in the phraseology of the early Christian Fathers which, at first sight, seems to coun- tenance this doctrine, are facts well known to every one who has studied the history of the Church. Many account for this, by saying, that the doctrine once adopted, has given rise to this peculiar phrase- ology. On the contrary, we believe the phraseology 128 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. has given rise to tlie doctrine ; and we believe this for two reasons, viz : 1. We find this phraseology in use at a very early date, and long before we have any sufficient evidence that the doctrine of baptismal regeneration had begun to prevail in the Church. Indeed, the Romanists, and Puseyites, and Campbellites, of our day, in common with the earlier advocates of baptismal regeneration, derive their most plausible arguments from the language of Scripture itself, by giving to the term baptism, a ritual, when it is evidently used in a spiritual sense ; as in Gal., iii. 27, " For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." 2. Where a word, such as laptizo, is used in two senses — one spiritual, and the other external and material — the tendency of religious formalism is ever to substitute the latter sense for the former ; and this, for the reason, that a " manipulated religion " suits well the pride of the natural heart. Abundant proof of this remark, will, at once, suggest itself to every student of Ecclesiastical History. THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. 129 CHAPTER IX. ARE "WATER- BAPTISMS, IN THEIR NATURE, PURIFICATIONS ? § 29. "The Baptism of Repentance." Matt., iii. 7, 8, 11 ; Mark, 1. 4; Luke, iii. T, 8, 12 ; Luke, vii. 29, 30 ; Matt., xxi. 25 ; Mark, xi. 30 ; Acts, i. 22 ; Acts, xiil. 24; Acts, X. 37; Acts, xix. 1-7; Acts, xviii. 24-26. § 30. Christ's Baptism by John. Matt., iii. 14-17; Mark, i. 9-11 ; Luke, iii. 21, 22; John, i. 22, 35. § 31. Christian Baptism. Acts, ii. 41 ; Acts, Tiii. 12-16; Act,s xviii. 8. § 29. " The Baptism of Repentance^"* Matt., iii. Y. "But when he (John) saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his BAPTISM, he said nnto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? 8. Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance. 11. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repent- ance^ but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear ; he shall baptize you with the Iloly Ghost and with fire." Mark i. 4. "John did baptize in the wildernesSj 6* 130 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. and preach the baptism o^ repentance^ for the remission of sins." Luke, iii .3. "And he (John) come into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins." 1. " Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O ! generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? 8. Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repent- ance.'''' 12. " Then came also publicans to be baptized." Luke, vii. 29. " And all the people that heard him (Jesus), and the Publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30. But the Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not BAPTIZED of him." Matt., xxi. 25. "The baptism of John, whence was it ? from heaven or of men ? " Mark, xi. 30; Luke xx. 4. "The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men ? " Acts, i. 22. " Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection." Acts, xiii. 24. "When John had first preached THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. 131 before his (Jesus') coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel." Acts, X. 37. " That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, and be gan from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached." Acts, xix. 1. " And it came to pass, that while Apol- los was at Corinth, Paul having passed through tlie upper coasts came to Ephesus ; and finding certain disciples, 2. He said unto them. Have je received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said. Unto John's baptism. 4. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the BAPTISM of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 6. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied. 7. And all the men were about twelve." Acts, xviii. 2-4. " And a certain Jew, named Apollos» 132 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Epliesus. 25. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord : and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26. And he began to speak boldly in the syna- gogue : whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and ex- pounded unto him the way of God more per- fectly." We have here placed together, all the passages of Scripture in which John's baptism is spoken of as a BAPTISM of repentance. And along with these, cer- tain other passages, calculated to throw light upon the import of that phase and the true nature of John's baptism. "We do not design, in this place, to inquire into the mode in which John administer- ed his baptism : that subject properly belongs to Part II. and is not necessarily involved in the de- termination of the meaning of the word haptizo. The only questions we shall attempt to answer now, are : What was the nature of John's baptism ? and what its import ? In answer to the first of these questions we re- mark : — THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. 133 1. John's baptism was not Christian baptism, nor could it serve in the phace of Christian baptism. It was not Christian baptism inasmuch as it was not baptism in the " name of the Fatlier, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" and it was not an initiatory rite into any church. It was not a rite of initiation into the Old Testament church, since those who re- ceived it, " Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan," were already members of that church, in virtue of their circumcision. It was not a rite of initiation into the Christian Church, since that church had not begun to be established ; and although many thousands must have received John's baptism, yet after our Lord's crucifixion, and just before the " day of pentecost," we find the Christian Church containing but " about one hundred and twenty " members. (Acts, i. 15.) That John's baptism was not Christian baptism is rendered yet more evident, by the fact that when Paul finds certain persons at Ephesus who had received John's baptism, he re-baptized them in the name of Jesus. The most eminent modern Baptist writers all admit the correctness of the views just expressed. Some of the older Baptist writers took difi'erent ground, and in order to maintain their position, con- tended that those said to have been baptized by Paul at Ephesus, in Acts, xix. 5, were not the persons said 134 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. to have been baptized by John, in v. 3. On this, Robert Ilall, himself a BajDtist, remarks: — " In the whole compass of theological controversy it would be difficult to find a stronger instance than this, of the force of prejudice in obscuring a plain matter-of- fact." 2. John's ministry and baptism, according to the plain and oft-repeated representations of Scripture, belonged to the Old Testament dispensation; and were on\ j preparatory to the new. " And he (John) shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Luke, i. 17. See also Matt., iii. 3., John, i. 23.) Tlie Old Testament dispensation, with all its ceremonies, continued nntil the crucifixion of Christ. Then, and not till then, Christ appears " blotting out the hand- writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nail- ing it to his cross." (Col., ii. 14.) Hence, Jesus himself was " circumcised," and when the days of his mother's purification were ac- complished, according to the law of Moses, he was brought to Jerusalem and presented to the Lord, (Lnke, ii. 21, 22.) Hence, too, when among his first miracles he cleanses a leper, he gives the direction — " go show thyself to the priest, and ofi'er for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. 135 testimony unto them." (Luke v. 14.) To " the mul- titude, and to bis disciples," Christ gives the gen- eral direction : — " The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat : All, therefore, whatsover they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but do not ye after theii works." (Matt., xxii. 2, 3.) One of his last public acts, before his betrayal, was to observe with his disciples the Jewish feast of the Passover. " iNow the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him; "Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover ? And he said : Go into the city, to such a man, and say unto him ; The Master saith, my time is at hand, I will keep the jpassover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them, and they made ready the pass- over. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve." (Matt., xxvi. 17-20.) In answer to the other question — What was the import of John's baptism ? we reply : — It was a " baptism of or unto repentance ;" that is, a baptism in which the recipient professed repentance {meta noia, a change of mind or spirit), and thus placed himself in the attitude of an expectant of the coming Messiah. In other words, a purification, a separation unto God's service, by which " the way of the Lord was prepared and his path made straight." Many, 136 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. doubtless, received the baptism un worthily ; and to them it was no blessing. Many, also, received it worthily, and by their baptism were prepared for the reception of the Messiah. " And all the people that heard him (Jesus) and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." In this respect, John's baptism was not unlike the purification which Israel underwent in pre23aration for the reception of the Law at Sinai. (See Exod., xix. 10, 11.) All that has been said respecting John's " baptism unto repentance," is true also of the baptism admin- istered by Christ's disciples, before their Lord's cru- cifixion. The substance of their preaching and that of John was the same. " As ye go, preach, saying, the Icingdom of heaven is at hand f (Matt., x. 7.) "Into whatsoever city ye enter, heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them. The kingdom of heaven is at hand f (Luke x. 8, 9.) So closely were the baptism and the new doctrine connected, that the one term is, in Scripture, employed for the other. "The baptism of John " (i. e., the new doc- trine), "was it from heaven, or of men?" (Matt., xxi. 25). "After the baptism" (i. e., the doctrine), " which John preached ;" (Acts, x. 37.) Christ's baptism by john. 137 Jolin's baptism, then, was in its essential nature, siinpl J a PURIFICATION. And here, as we shall after- wards have occasion to refer to this matter, we ask the reader to notice, that baptism, though it be administered by divine appointment, be "from heaven," is not necessarily an initiatory rite into any church. It may be, like the ordinary purifica- tions, established by Moses' law, but a setting apart of those already in the Church, for some special purpose or service of God. Christian baptism is, we believe, always an initiatory rite; but this is not the case with every rite to which, in Scripture, the name of baptism is given, as illustrated in the case before us. § 30. Chrisfs Baptism hy John. Matt., iii. Ver. 13. "Then cometh Jesus from Gali- lee to Jordan, unto John, to be baptized of him. 14. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be BAPTIZED of thee, and comest thou to me? 15. And Jesus answering, said unto him, suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. 16. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was BAPTIZED, went up straightway out of the 138 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. water ; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him : 17. And lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom 1 am well pleased." Mark, i. 9. "And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John, in Jordan. 10. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Sj^irit, like a dove, descending upon him. 11. And there came a voice from Heaven, saying. Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Luke, iii. 21. " Now, when all the j)eople were BAPTIZED, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the Heaven was opened. 22. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon him; and a voice came from Heaven, which said. Thou art my beloved Son ; in thee I am well pleased." John, i. 32. "And John bear record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to Christ's baptism by john. 139 BAPTIZE with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descend- ing and remaining on him, the same is he which BAPTizETii with the Holy Ghost." "What was this baptism which Christ received at the hands of John? "We do not intend, here, to inquire into the mode of this baptism; that subject will be examined in another place; (See § 38). But what was this baptism in its nature and import? We answer: Certainly not a baptism such as that which John administered to others; i. e., "a baptism unto repentance." Christ Jesus was "holy, harm- less, undefiled, and separate from sinners," and hence, repentance was, for him, not only uncalled for, but impossible. On this point, all commenta- tors are agreed. Christ's baptism was, we think, a purification, in the Old Testament sense of that terra (i. e., a conse- cration), similar to that administered by Moses to Aaron and his sons, when setting them apart to the priesthood ; (see Lev., viii. 5.) A visible setting apart of him, for his public ministry on earth. To this conclusion we come : 1. Because Christ received this baptism, not in infancy. When eight days old, he had been cir- 140 THE DOCTKIlSrE OF BAPTISMS. cumcised ; (see Luke, ii. 21.) As the promised seed of Abraham, come to fulfill God's covenant with Abraham, he bore in his flesh the seal of that cove- nant ; but this, his baptism, he received when about thirty years old ; (see Luke, iii. 23), and when just about to enter upon his j)ublic ministry. 2. This view of the matter ex])lains John's objec- tion to baptizing Christ — "I have need to be bap- tized of thee." Kegarding this baptism as a purifi- cation, and understanding that Christ, as Messiah, possessed a nobler and truer priesthood than his; that he (John) stood to him in no higher relation than " the friend, to the bridegroom" himself (John, iii. 29) ; he would naturally say, " I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ?" Our Lord's reply to John is, " Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becom- eth us to fulfill all righteousness." Li his wondrous humiliation, "made under the law" (Gal., iv. 4), he complied with all the requirements of that law. As a priest, he was set apart for his priestly work, as was Aaron ; the law, which he afterwards " nailed to his cross," being not yet " taken out of the way." (Col., ii. 14.) 3. Our Lord's baptism by Jolm is immediately followed by a more solemn baptism from heaven, when the Spirit was seen, " descending like a dove, OHBISTIAN BAPTISM. 141 and remaining on him," and " a voice from heaven" dechired, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." § 31. Christian Baptism. Acts, ii. 41. " Then they that gladly received the word were baptized : and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." Acts, viii. 12. "But when they believed Philip, preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13. Then Simon himself believed also; and when he was BAPTIZED, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 16. They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." Acts, xviii. 8. " And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house ; and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed, and were baptized." Li a large number of passages of Scripture, of which the above-cited are a fair specimen, it is agreed 142 THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. on all hands, that the word baptize is used simply to designate the rite of Christian baptism. Now Chris- tian baptism is, in its nature, a purification, or conse- cration of the person baptized ; a visible setting apart of that person to God's service. And we refer to it here, not for the purpose of discussing its nature — that will be done hereafter — but for the purpose of remarking that, as all the instances, not already examined, in which the words baptize and baptism occur in the New Testament, are instances in which they are evidently used to signify Christian baptism, the Old Testament sense of purify must suit the context. We have now completed our examination of the use of haptizo in the word of God, in so far as is necessary to a fair and proper determination of the "translation question." No instance of its use, which, in the view of the author, or of any promi- nent Baptist writer, could assist us in arriving at a correct determination of this question, has been omitted. Let us now state, in brief, the results of this examination, that we may see what conclusion we must come to. SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. 143 SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. Throwing out of account, for reasons already given, (see § IT,) Isaiali, xxi. 4, we have, in the Septuagint version of the Old and in the Greek New Testa- ment : Fh'st. A large class of passages — viz., those in which John's " baptism of repentance," John's bap- tism of Christ, and Christian baptism, are spoken of, in all of which (1) baptism is unquestionably a puri- fication, in the Old Testament sense of the word purify (see § 12), and in which (2) the baptism may have been an immersion — to give the Baptist every possible advantage, we are willing to say, in as far as the matter is involved in " the translation question," loas an immersion. This class of passages, then, will determine nothing respecting the signification of baptizo i since, in every one of them, we may give to the word either of the meanings, purify or im- merse, and meet the demands of the context equally well. Second. Tliree passages — viz., those referring to Christ's baptism in his death — in which we may give to haptizo tlie sense of overwhelm (but not of dip, or immerse, as a synonym of dip), but in which the 144: THE DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS. Old Testament sense of purify better meets the demands of tlie context. (See § 21.) Third. One passage — viz., Kings, v. 14 — in which a religious washing, substantially a purification, and which washing may have been effected by " dipping in Jordan," is called a baptism. (See § 14.) Fourth. A passage — viz., John, iii. 25, 26 — in which haptizo is used as a synonym of katharizo (purify). And a second passage — viz., John, i. 19-25 — from which it is evident that John the Baptist and the Jews understood these terms as synonymous. (See §§5, 6.) Fifth. A class of passages, in which haptizo is used in a spiritual sense ; and this sense the same with the spiritual sense, which Scripture use assigns to the word purify. (See §§ 25, 26, 27.) Sixth. A class of passages — viz., Ecc, xxxiv. 25, § 15 ; Judith, xii. T, § 16 ; Mach., vii. 4, § 18 ; Luke, xi. 38, § 18 ; Heb., ix. 10, § 19 ; Heb., vi. 2, § 20— in which haptizo is expressly applied to Mosaic puri- fications. Seventh. A class of passages — viz., those record- ing and referring to the " baptism with the Holy Ghost and with fire" — in which, to translate the word haptizo, immersed, is to contradict recorded fact, in so far as the " baj^tism with fire " is con- cerned ; and in the case of the " baptism with the BUMillXG UP CONCLUSION. 145 Holy Ghost ;" to apply to it a modal term, utterly at variance with the whole class of modal terms used in the Word of God ; and this, in the only case in which modal terms are used, with respect to baptism, in the whole Bible. (See § 24.) In all this class of passages the word purify, in its Old Testament sense, meets every demand of the context. Eighth. Two passages — viz., 1 Cor., x. 2, §22; and 1 Pet., iii. 21, § 23 — in which the translation, purify, i. e., separate unto God's service, exactly accords with, whilst the translation, immerse, flatly contradicts, the plain record of the Word of God. Or we may state the case diflferently. We have affirmed that hajAizo^ when used in the Word of God as a religious term, is used in the Old Testament sense of the word purify. Our reasons for limiting the question thus are given at large in Chapter I. If now, the Baptist can show one single instance in which haptizo is used in the Word of God as a reli- gious term, in which the context, upon a fair and full examination, forbids this sense, our position is overthrown. After a careful examination of every instance in which haptizo occurs in the Word of God, we do not hesitate to express the opinion, that the Baptist will search, for one such as he requires, in vain. On the other hand, the Baptist affirms that haptizc 7 146 THE DOCTKINE OF BAPTISMS. " has but one signification — it always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode." If, now, we can show one single instance in which the context, upon a full and fair examination, forbids tliis sense, the position of the Baptist is overthrown. Instead of one instance only, we give the Baptist his choice among the following eight : 1st. The baptism of Judith. § 16. 2d, The baptism after touching a dead body. §15. 3d. The diverse baptisms under Moses' law. §19. 4th. The baptism of the tables. § 18. 5th. The baptism with fire. § 24. 6th. The baptism with the Holy Ghost. § 24. Tth. The baptism in the cloud and in the sea. § 22. 8th. The baptism in the ark, by the flood. § 23. And we here remark, for the information of those not accustomed to the examination of such questions as this, that it is but seldom that a meaning for a word can be established by so many clear and deci- sive instances as these. What, then, is the conclusion to which we come? Plainly this — 1. If we reject our English word ba])tize — for bap- tize has now become truly and properly an English word — and attempt to translate the Greek hajptiso, we should translate it by the word purify, and not SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. 147 the word immerse. At the same time, we remark, that tlie word imrify^ as used in the Old Testament, is used in a sense diiferent from that in which it is used in common conversation and in the English classics. The English word haptize, in its common acceptation, more nearly expresses the exact idea of the Greek haptho than the English word purify would. And on this account, we would greatly pre- fer to see our venerable English version stand " as of old." 2. To translate the Greek haptizo^ in the Word of God, by the English words dijp or immerse j or, in any other language, by words corresponding to our English words dip or immerse, is to mis-translate the Word of God. Not simply to make an allowable variation in a version of the Bible, but — to mis-tkans- LATE THE WoRD OF GoD. END OF PART I. PART II THE MODE OF BAPTISM, THE MODE OF BAPTISM CHAPTER I. STATE]tfENT OF THE QUESTION.' § 32. Statement of the question— § 83. Arguments relied on to prove that immer- sion is essential to valid baptism. § 32. Statement of the Question. Whilst tlie Baptist and non-Baptist cliurches agree, that in Christian baptism there must be an applica- tion of water to the person of the baptized, and that this application must be made " in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the IIolj Ghost," thej differ as to the mode in which tliis water is to be applied. The Baptist holds that there can be no valid bap- tism without the immersion of the person baptized. The non-Baptist churches, whilst admitting the 152 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. validity of baptism by immersion, hold that the appli- cation of water bj sprinkling or jpouring constitutes a baptism equally valid ; and that to require immer- sion, in order to admission to the Church of God, is to infringe upon that Christian " liberty wherewith Christ hath made his people free," and to " teach for doctrine the commandments of men." And here, we would ask the reader to notice par- ticularly, the real points of difference between the parties to this controversy. 1. It is not as to the validity of a baptism by im- mersion. On this point, both parties are agreed. 2. The difference is simply and solely as to the validity of baptism by sjprinMing or pouring. The question, then, is fairly stated thus : Is immer- sion essential to the validity of Christian baptism ? § 33. Statement of the arguments relied on. The arguments by which the Baptist seeks to establish his position are derived — 1, From the meaning of the word haptizo. Affirm- ing that it is a specific term ; that it has but one sig- nification ; it always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode. He argues, that to speak of AB0UMENT8 RELIED ON. 15S^ baptizing by sprinkling or pouring, is a contradiction in terms, and must so have presented itself to the mind of every one to whom the command, " repent, and be baptized," was addressed in the days of Christ and his apostles ; just as we, at the present day, would see a contradiction in terms in speaking of immersing by sprinkling or pouring. 2. From the emblematic import of baptism : the Baptist affirming that in the ordinance we have an emblem, not of spiritual purification alone, but also of the spiritual death, burial, and resurrection of the person baptized. On these points, Dr. Carson writes : "The immersion of the whole body is essential to baptism, not because nothing but immersion can be an emblem of purification, but because immersion is the thing commanded," This he affirms on the ground that haptizo " always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode." "And because that, without immersion, there is no emblem of death, burial, and resurrection, which are in the emblem (equally with purification. Had no emblem but that of purification been intended in this ordinance, we do not say that immersion would be either essential or preferable."' 3. From the practice of Christ and his apostles, ' Carson on Baptism, p. 381. 154 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. as that practice is to be gathered from the inspired narratives of baptisms administered in tlieir day. The first of these arguments we have ah-eady ex- amined in Part I. ; the other two we purpose exam- ining in Part II. , in the order in which they have been mentioned. SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 155 CHAPTEK II. SY3IB0LIC DtlPOET OF BAPTISM. § 84, Rom. vi. 8, 4; Col. ii. 12. § 35, Rom. vi. 3, 4. § 36, Col. li. 12. § 3T, 1. Cor. XV. 29. The passages of Scripture upon which Baptist writers rely, as proof that in the rite of Christian baptism there was intended to be incorporated an " emblem of death, burial and resurrection," are — Romans, vi. 3, 4; Colossians, ii. 12; and 1 Corin- thians, XV. 29. § 34. Rom. VI. 3. 4 ; Col. II. 12. Romans vi. Yer. 1. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? 2. God forbid; how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were bapt'zf.) into Christ, were baptized into his death ? 156 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 4. Therefore, we are buried with him bj baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have been planted together in the like- ness of his death, we shall be also in the like- ness of his resurrection. 6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Colossians, ii. Yer. 10. "And ye are complete in him (i. e, Christ), which is the head of all prin- cipality and power ; 11. In whom also ye are circumcised with the circum- cision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumci- sion of Christ: 12. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the opera- tion of God, who hath raised him from the dead." In the course of his comments on these two pas- sages. Dr. Carson remarks : " I value the evidence of these passages so highly that I look on them as per- fectly decisive. They contain God's own explanation of his own ordinance. And in this I call upon my SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 157 unlearned brethren to admire the Divine wisdom. Tliey do not understand the original, and the adop- tion of tlie words haptize and laptism can teach tliem nothing. Translators, by adopting the Greek words, have contrived to hide the meaning from the unlearned. The Spirit of God has, by this explana- tion, enabled them to judge for themselves in this matter. While the learned are lighting about laptizo and certain Greek prepositions, let the unlearned turn to Rom. vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12." ' In attaching so great importance to these passages, Dr. Carson does not differ from other Baptist writers ; and these passages are those from which the necessity of im- mersion is most frequently argued from the pulpit. On this account we shall examine them with greater care, and at greater length, than would otherwise seem necessary. We have placed the two together at the head of this section, because the Baptist argument from both is substantially the same. After examining this ar- gument, we shall make such comments upon the passages, separately, as will serve to set before the reader what we consider the true import of them. The Baptist argument for immersion, from Rom. vi. 3, •!, and Col. ii. 12, may be stated in brief, thus: — ' Carson on Baptism, pp. 144, 145. 158 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 1. The baptism here spoken of is ritnal baptism, or baptism with water. 2. Paul treats it as a universally acknowledged fact, and therefore, one from which he may reason in settling a controverted point of doctrine, that in the rite of bajDtism there is symbolized the spiritual death, burial and resurrection of the believer.' 3. Hence the inference is drawn, that as immer- sion is the mode in which baptism with water most aptly represents a death, burial and resurrection, these passages teach us that immersion is the divine- ly-appointed mode of baptism. ^ Baptist writers, when treating of the death, burial and resurrection symbolized mi baptism, often make use of language so equivocal as to leave the reader in doubt whether they mean a spiritual death, burial and resurrection, or the death, burial and resurrection of the body of the behever. In Rom. vi. 3, 4, the death and resurrection are un- ^ doubtedly spiritual ; since the death is expressly declared to be, a death '■'■unto sin,'''' that we "should live no longer therein," and the resurrection, a resurrection " to walk in newness of life ;" not here- after, in heaven, but here, upon earth. So Dr. Carson regards it. Hence he writes — " Here we see that baptism is an emblem also of the new life of the Christian. He dies with Christ to sin, he rises with him to a new life of holiness^ (Carson on Baptism, p. 143.) To confound the two — i. e. natural and spiritual death, burial and re- surrections, is to be imposed upon by the mere sound of words, to fall into the same sort of error which Nicodemus did with respect to the phrase " Ye must be born again," when he asked " Can a man enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born ?" SYMBOLIC mPOET OF BAPTISM. 159 Admitting, for the present, that we may give these passages a more thorough examination, that the baptism here spoken of is ritual baptism, as the Bap- tist contends ; we remark — First. It is the common faith of all evangelical Christian churches, that water-baptism symbolizes regeneration^ or that spiritual change of which our Lord speaks, when he says to Nicodemus, " Except a man be horn again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John, iii. 3.) Thus the Presbyterian Con- fession of Faith teaches, that in baptism there is symbolized, not only " the remission of sins," but also our " ingrafting into Christ," and " our giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in new- ness of life," (chap, xxviii.) ; i. e., there is symbolized regeneration, in the full Scriptural sense of that term. What, now, we ask, is the meaning of the phrase, " the spiritual death, burial, and resurrection of the believer," his " death unto sin," his resurrection to " walk in newness of life ?" Nothing more nor less than simply regeneration. "Wlien, then, the Baptist expositor of these passages says, Water-baptism has a two-fold import ; viz., 1st, symbolizing regenera- tion in the washing with water ; and 2d, symboliz- ing^ the spiritual death, burial, and resurrection of the believer, in the immersion of the person baptized, 160 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. be is imposed upon by tbe mere sound of words. His two tbings are but one and tbe same tbing. Second. Wbere spiritual tbinga-ana to be symbol- ized by material tbings, tbe cboice of a symbol cannot be based upon any proj^er similitude between tbe two ; for, as Dr. Carson remarks, wben discussing tbe " baptism witb tbe Holy Gbost," " Tbere is no like- ness to tbe Spirit, nor to the mode of his ojperations. It is blaspbemy to attempt a representation. It would be as easy to make a likeness of God creating tbe world, and attempt to represent by a picture tbe Divine operations in tlie foi'mation of matter, as to represent by symbol tbe manner of tbe communica- tion of tbe Holy Spirit, and his operations on the souV"^ In all sucb cases, tbe cboice of a symbol must be based upon some one of tbe several analo- gies wbicb exist between tbe material symbol and tbe immaterial tbing symbolized. In tbe case under consideration, several of tbese analogies bave been incorporated in tbe figurative language of Scripture. Tbus, tbe sacred writers speak of regeneration as tbe substitution of a beart of flesb for a heart of stone: "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a beart of flesh." (Ezek., xxxvi. 26.) As tbe taking ' Carson on Baptism, p. 105. SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 161 of a stone out of the earth and building it into a habitation : " In whom also ye are builded together, for a habitation of God through the Spirit." (Eph. ii, 22.) As the ingrafting of a limb into a body : " I am the vine, ye are the branches ; he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." (John, xv. 5.) As the putting off of filthy garments and the putting on of clean : " Put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Eph., iv, 22, 24.) As a death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, in the passages under examination. As the application of a cleansing element to the body : " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." (Ezek., xxxvi. 25.) These, and many more such analogies, are found incorporated in the figurative language of Scripture. The choice of a symbol for regeneration may, in the first instance, be based upon any one of these analogies ; and when that choice is once made, the symbol will represent the thing symbolized, no mat- ter by what figui'ative language you may choose to designate it. To introduce a new symbol, or to incorporate a new element in the symbol, for each one of the analogies found embodied in the figurative language of Scripture, on the ground tliat ihe^e 162 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. figures, although equivalent, are not one and the same — as by making the application of the purifying element, water, emblematic of regeneration, and immersion in water emblematic of spiritual death, bm-ial, and resurrection, which is neither more nor less than regeneration — is like insisting upon the payment of a debt, once paid in gold, a second time in silver ; because, whilst gold and silver are equiva- lent in value, they are not one and the same sub- stance. God has chosen to base his selection of a symbol for regeneration, upon the purifying efiect of water applied to the body, an analogy familiar to the minds of those among whom Christian baptism was first administered, through their observance of Moses' law ; and now, the choice being made, the applica- tion of water to the body symbolizes regeneration, by whatever figurative language we may choose to designate it. Is, now, the question asked. Does not baptism symbolize the spiritual death, burial, and resurrection of the believer? we answer. Yes. And for the same I reason, would we answer the questions. Does not I baptism symbolize the putting ofi^ of the old man^' I and the putting on of the new? Yes. Does not baptism symbolize the ingrafting of a believer into Yes. Does not SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 163 baptism symbolize the taking away of the stony heart out of our flesh, and the giving instead thereof a heart of flesh ? Yes. Does not baptism symbolize the cleansing of the soul from the gnilt and pollution of sin ? Yes. Baptism symbolizes them one and all ; and this for the simple and suflicient reason, that they are all one and the same thing — viz. the spiritual change which Christ calls Tegeiieration^ a heing horn again. Is the further question asked, Do not the Scrip- tures teach that the analogy between " death, burial, and resurrection" and regeneration was in- tended to be incorporated in the symbol, baptism, in saying, " We are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life ?" we answer. No more than they teach that the analogy between the ingrafting of a branch into a vine and regeneration was intended to be incorporated in it, in saying, " For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." (1 Cor. xii. 13.) Or, that the analogy between the putting off of filthy garments, and the putting on of clean, and regeneration, was intended to be incorporated in it, in saying, " For as many of you as have been BAPTIZED into Christ have put on Christ." (Gal. iii. 27.) 164 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. In fact, one of the earliest departures from the simplicity of this rite, as administered by the Apos- tles, was the. removal of the old garments from the person to be baptized, and the clothing of him in a clean white robe after baptism. Gah iii. 27, was pleaded as authority for this practice, and the argu- ment from the sacred text was of just the same kind as that by which the Baptist proves immersion from Rom, vi. 3, 4 ; Col. ii. 12, at the present day. Admitting, then, that the baptism spoken of in the passages under examination is ritual baptism, they do not teach immersion ; and every reason for sup- posing that they do is based upon a misapprehension on one or other of two points — viz. 1. That the spi- ritual death, burial, and resurrection of the believer is something different from his regeneration ; whereas, they are but one and the same thing. Or, 2, That a material symbol of a spiritual thing, must embody, as distinct elements, all the analogies existing be- tween that material symbol and the immatei"ial thing symbolized. Thus far, we have taken it for granted that the baptism here spoken of is ritual baptism, or baptism with water. "We now raise a question on this point ; and express our belief that Paul here uses the term baptism in its spiritual sense, i. e. in the sense of regeneration ; and, of course, that there is no refer- SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 165 ence to the mode of baptism intended. From this point, we must conduct our examination of Rom. vi. 3, 4, and Coh, ii. 12, separately. § 35. Romans, YI. 3, 4. ^ . /^^^ In this passage, the spiritual sense of baptism / seems to be demanded, both by the peculiar form of the expression Paul uses, and by the course of his argument. ^^-'r-'V*"-^ /"'''■ -" ^ ) First. Paul here uses the peculiar form of ex- pression " baptized into Christ," and not the more / ' common form " baptized in the name of Christ." Let the reader attempt to picture to- his mind, as a rite to J ' ^« I # be administered, a baptism in the name of Christ, ^^^ . ^t and he will find no difficulty in the work. It is just -?>-^*<- / ^ a rite consisting in the application of water to the person of the baptized, which act, the baptizer declares to be done in the name of Christ. But let him now make a similar attempt with '' a baptism into Christ," and he will see that this phrase can appropriately belong to a spiritual act only. Tliis distinction in the use of these forms of expres- sion, appropriate in itself, is uniformly observed by the sacred writers. The form " baptized into Christ," is never used where ritual baptism is intended; the ■Oi 166 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. form "baptized in the name of Christ," is never used but when ritual baptism is intended. As ilhistratiug the use of the latter form, we cite Matt, xxviii. 19. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Acts, ii. 38, "Then Peter said unto them, Eepent, and be bap- tized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts, xix. 5. "And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." In all these instances, the context determines that the baptism spoken of is the external rite. As illustrating the. use of the other form, we cite Gal. iii. 2Y. "For as many of you as have been bap- tized imio Christ, have put on Christ." 1 Cor. xii. 13. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." 2 Cor. x. 2. "And were all baptized unto (or hito^ Moses, in the cloud and in the sea." These passages," with the one we are examining, are all the passages in the ITew Testament, in which this peculiar form of expression occurs. In the case of the two first quoted, we have already shown that the baptism spoken of is a spiritual baptism. (See §§ 25, 26.) In the case of the third, the baptism ^'■unto^ or into Moses," ritual baptism is not in- SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 167 tended; but in caccordance -svith a common Scrip- tural usage, the name of the antetype is thrown back upon the type ; Paul meaning- by the baptism of Israel into Moses, simply, their separation unto God's service, in union with Moses. (See § 22.) These instances of the use of these two forms of expression, baptized into^ and baptized in the name of, go to establish the usus loquendi of the sacred writers, in their application of them; and require us to understand Paul, when he writes "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ," (Eora. vi. 3,) as speaking, not of a ritual, but of a spiritual baptism. Second. The course of Paul's argument here, de- mands the spiritual sense of baptism, in this passage. He is answering the objection of a caviller, to the doctrine which forms the grand subject of his epistle to the Romans — the doctrine of justification by faith, without the deeds of the law. This objec- tion he first states in ver. 1. "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" — just the grand objec- tion made to this doctrine by the caviller, in every age and in every country, that it tends to immorality. In ver. 2, Paul indignantly repels the inference which constitutes the objection ; " God forbid," his usual form of expression at once of denial and of abhorrence, "How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer 168 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. therein?" And here, in the figurative expression, '•'•dead to sin,'''' a very common expression with Paul (See Rom. vii. 4; 2 Cor. v. 14; Eph. ii. 1 ; Col. iii. 3), is the fountain from which springs the phraseology running through vers. 3, 4, in which verses he pro- ceeds to answer the object more at large. Let us now ask the question ; what is the answer, which the Scriptures teach us to make to this objec- tion — that the doctrine of gratuitous justification tends to immorality? Is it not this? That in God's scheme of salvation, justification, and sanctifi- cation (using that term in its widest sense, as in- cluding regeneration) are inseparably connected. They are both acts of a sovereign God; and in the exercise of his sovereignty, God never pardons a sin- ner, without working in that sinner a death unto sin, that he may live unto God. This is just the answer which Baptist expositors, in common with ourselves, understand the Apostle to be giving expression to in vers. 3, 4; but with this difi"erence: Baptist exposi- tors understand Paul here to declare, that Christians have professed to receive this as true, whilst we understand Paul here to assert its truth'; and con- sidering that he is here answering the objection of a caviller, tliere is all the difference between these two, in so far as argument is concerned, that there is between & ^profession and a. fact. SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 169 To make this matter plain, let us paraphrase this passage, in accordance with these different views of its interpretation. 1. Know ye (i. e. ye cavillers, who saj, let us " continue in sin that grace may abound,") not, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ, were baptized in a mode Avhich represented in emblem our spiritual death with him? We have professed, in receiving such a baptism, that we were spiritually buried with him, and also our belief 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. 2. Know ye (i. e. ye cavillers) not, that so many of us as have been regenerated into a spiritual union with Christ, have been regenerated into union with one dead to tlie world? Therefore, being regenerated into union with him in this his death, our death is complete; we are buried with him in the regenera- tion. (For the use of even stronger language than the word huried^ to express the idea of death com- pleted, see Ezek. vii. 3, 12; Gal. vi. 12; Col. iii. 3.) And we thus die, that the same glorious God who raised up Christ from the dead, may raise us up also, to walk in newness of life. Third. The immediate context demands the spir- itual sense of baptism hero. The resurrection of the 8 170 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. believer, here spoken of, is one, the consequence of which is that he shall "walk in newness of life:" — not hereafter in heaven; but here, at this present time, upon earth. The resurrection, then, is a spir- ittioZ resurrection. The death of which Paul speaks is styled in verse 2, a " death to sin ;" i. e. a sj)ir- itual death. The burial is a burial " into this death ;" verse 3. A burial into a spiritual death must be a sj)iritual hurial. If, then, the death, burial, and re- surrection, here spoken of, are spiritual, is it a forced interpretation, which would make the baptism which they constituted ("buried ly baptism") a spiritual baptism? Is it not, rather, a forced interpretation, which would make it anything else than a spiritual baptism ? § 36. Colossians^ U. 12. The phrase, "ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God," is sometimes spoken of as if the " operation," here mentioned, were bap- tism. Perhaps there is something equivocal in our English translation: — In the original Greek, how- ever, it is not so. Doddridge translates the phrase : " Ye were raised with him, by belief in the energy of God, who raised him from the dead." McKnight translates it : " Ye have been raised with him SYMBOLIC IMPOKT OF BAPTISM. 171 through the belief of the strong-working of God, M'ho raised him from the dead." Both of these transhitions are more literal than that of our com- mon version, and they both bring out the sense in which "the operation of God" is to be understood. The spiritual sense of the word baptism, in this passage, is demanded : — First. By the immediate context. (1.) Paul says of the believer's resurrection in baptism, it is " by belief in the energy, or strong-working of God," a resurrection by faith, i. e. a spiritual resurrection; and not a resurrection out of the water, by the strength of the one administering the baptism. " Buried with him in baptism, wherein,^'' i. e. in your baptism, "also ye are risen again by faith in the energy of God." If the resurrection is spiritual so must the bm-ial be also, since both the resur- rection and burial belong to, and, in fact, consti- tute one baptism; and the baptism, constituted as it is, of a spiritual burial and spiritual resurrection, must be a spiritual baptism, i. e. regeneration. (2.) Paul is here evidently using the understood nature of the older rite, circumcision, to illustrate the nature of baptism ; and to mark this the more dis- tinctly, he calls baptism " the circumcision of Christ," or Christian circumcision. Xow, the circumcision of which Paul speaks, he declares expressly, is a 172 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh," i. e. a spiritual circumcision. We can understand how spiritual circumcision, as understood by those to whom Paul addresses himself, shall illustrate the nature of a spiritual baptism, but not of water baptism. Second. By Paul's train of thought and reasoning running throughout this chapter. He is warning the Colossians against the danger of substituting formalism for spirituality in religion, "Beware," writes he, "lest any man spoil you, through phi- losophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of this world," (verse 8 ;) which he afterwards more fully explains in his words : " Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect to a holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath day. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility, and worshipping of angels," (verses 16, 18.) A striking specification, this, of the developments of formal- ism, as they presented themselves in the Jewish Church in Paul's day, and as they have appeared in " the great apostasy " since. "What reasons does Paul urge why Christians should not give such attention, as some of their Judaizing members contended for, even to some things lawful and proper in themselves and in their SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM. 173 own place? Among others, this: "They were com- plete in Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," (verse 9.) And this is jusl the point on which he is enlarging in the passage under examination. "In whom (i. e. in Christ), also, ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: hurled with hhn in haptism I (i. e. completely dead with him in your regeneration), wherein, also, ye are risen with him, through faith in the energy of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Thus interpreted, verse 12 falls in with the spirit of verse 11, both of them being expository of Paul's meaning in saying that be- lievers are " complete in Christ." § 37. 1 Coiinthians, XY. 29. " 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 ?" Dr. Carson's comment on this passage is: "There must be an argument here, and this object of bap- tism must be a Scriptural object, otherwise it could not be an argument. Indeed, though to us the pas- sage may be diflicult, from difference of circum- 174 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. Stances with respect to those immediately addressed, yet it is evident that the Apostle considered the argument as very obvious and convincing. JS^ow, to consider the expression to be a reference to the mode and import of baptism, as implying an emblem of the resurrection of believers, will afford a natural meaning to the words, and an important argument to the Apostle. Baptism is an ordinance that repre- sents our burial and resurrection Avith Christ. We are baptized, in the hope that our dead bodies shall rise from the grave. Now, if there is no resurrec- tion, why are we baptized? On that suj)position there is no meaning in baptism. It is absurd for any to be baptized, baptism being a figure of a resur- rection, if they do not believe in a resurrection." On this exposition, we remark: 1. It seems unaccountable to us, if the resurrec- tion of the dead was so clearly figured forth in bap- tism, in the believer's "rising from his watery grave," as the Baptist contends for, that serious doubts respecting the reality of a resurrection should ever have arisen in the Church at Corinth. And yet, that tlie doctrine of a resurrection had been called in question, and even rejected by some, is evident from the lengthened proof of that doctrine which Paul gives in the context. If immersion were the mode of baptism practised at Corinth, and SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BAPTISM, 1T5 by divine appointment, the rising of the person immersed out of the water, was universally under- stood to be an emblem of the believer's resurrection from the grave; and this so unquestionably true, that Paul could appeal to it as a decisive argument in establishing the fact of a resurrection ; we cannot understand how it is possible the Corinthians could ever have rejected that doctrine. 2. Dr. Carson's interpretation' requires us to read, " Else what shall they do, wliich are haptized m the hoj)e of a resurrection of the dead^'' instead of " bap- tized /b?' the dead^'' as Paul has written it — i. e. to interpolate "the hope of the resurrection," a phrase which may entirely change the meaning of the text. Such interpolations should never be made, unless there be unquestionable intimation in the context, that such word or phrase is intended to be supplied; and no such intimation is given here. By throwing in a word or phrase here and there, on the same principles upon which Dr. Carson interpolates the passage under examination, it will be a very easy matter to make the word of God teach anything Avhich the expositor chooses. 3. K the Scriptures teach that in baptism we have symbolized "the resurrection from the dead," of the believer, they teach that truth in this jpassage only. ' Carson on Baptism, pp. 163, 164. 176 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. The believers resurrection spoken of in Rom. vi. 5, is undoubtedly a spii-itual resurrection, i, e. a resur- rection only in figure; since it is expressly declared to be a resurrection "to walk in newness of life." So also the resurrection sjjoken of in Col. ii. 12, where the resurrection is said to be a resurrection "through faith." Eespecting the true interpretation of this passage, there has been great difference of opinion among our ablest commentators; and this, because of the obscurity of the phrase "baptized for the dead." The exposition which on the whole we prefer, is that which makes this phrase refer directly to Christ Jesus, here called "the dead," on the supposition made in ver. 16, that he is not risen from the dead. Paul's argument then, would be a proof of the believer's resurrection, from the resurrection of Christ. 1. This interpretation suits the course of Paul's argument in the context. This chapter oj^ens with the proof of the resurrection of Christ, that he was seen after his resurrection by the twelve, by five hundred brethren, the greater part of whom were then living, and by Paul hhnself. (Vers. 4-8.) Then, from the resurrection of Christ thus esta- blished, he undertakes the refutation of the danger- ous error taught by some in Corinth, that there was SYMBOLIC IMPORT OF BATTTSM. 177 110 resurrection of the dead. Yers. 12-16. Pointing to the connection existing between Christ and the believer, such as that between the first fruits and the harvest, ver. 20, and similar to that between Adam and his descendants, vers. 21, 22, Paul argues that the condition of the one is determined by that of the other; and hence, concludes that "if there be no resurrection of the dead" believer, "then Christ is not raised," Yer. 16. Adopting, for argument's sake, the supposition that "Christ is not raised," he shows the consequences which must follow: 1. "Your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins," i. e. your faith is in a dead person, who cannot help you. Yer. 17. 2. "Having hope in Christ, in this life only, we are of all men most miserable." Yer. 19. 3. It is folly to be baptized for a dead one, as Christ is on this supposition; "Else what shall they do, wdiich are baptized for" (i. e. separated unto the service of) "the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" Yer. 29. Considering from ver. 24 to ver. 29 a parenthesis, and such it evidently is, ver. 28 will follow immedi- ately the other statements of difficulty, under which the supposition that "Christ is not raised," in Paul's view, labors. And then Paul goes on to answer certain objections to the doctrine of the resurrection. 178 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. and to state tliat doctrine at large thronghont the remainder of the chapter. 2. In the original, the word translated "the dead," is in the j^lural form. "In Greek the plural form is often used where only an individual or a particular thing is meant." (See Stuart's N. T. Grammar, p. 149.) And grammarians notice, what they call "the plural of dignity," i. e. the plural form used to indicate dignity in the person spoken of. This plu- ral of dignity in "the dead," if we understand Chris-t Jesus to be "the dead" one intended, is just in place here. This peculiarity, then, in the origi- nal, when we call to mind the idiom of the Greek, affords strong confirmation of the correctness of this interpretation. We would paraphrase the passage: On the sup- position that Christ is not risen — is yet dead, what shall they do who are baptized for this dead one? If the dead rise not at all, why are we then baptized for the dead, as we all have been when "baptized in the name of Jesus?" John's baptisms in Jordan. 1T9 CHAPTER III. § 38. John's Baptisms in Jordan. Matt. iii. 1-16 ; Mark, i. 4-10 ; Luke, iii. 8, 21 ; John, i. 28, x. 40. § 39. John's Baptisms at .SInos. John, iii. 23. § 40. The Bap- tism of the Eunuch. Acts, viii. 36-39. § 38. John's Baptisms in Jordan. Matt. m. Yer. 1. "In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea." 5. "Then went out to him, Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." 13. "Then cometli Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John, to be baptized of him." 16. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightw^ay out of the water." Marie, I. Ver. 4. "John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins. 180 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 5. And there went out unto liim all the land of Judea, and they of Jernsalem, and were bap- tized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." 9, "And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was bap- tized of John, in Jordan. 10, And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened." Luke^ III. Yer. 3. "And he" (John), "came into all the coun- try about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins." 21. "]^ow, when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being bajDtized, and praying, the Heaven was opened." John, I. 28, X. 40. "These tKings were done in Bethabara, beyond Jor- dan, where John was baptizing." " And he," (Jesus), "went away again beyond Jor- dan, into the place where John first bap- tized." John's baptisms in jokdan. 181 That these baptisms of John were baptisms by immersion, is thought by Baptist writers to be fairly inferable : 1. From the phraseology of the sacred text, "w Jordan," '■'in the river Jordan," and more especially, "he we7it up out of the water. ''^ And 2. From the fact that they were performed in a river. First. Respecting the phraseology used by the Evangelists, we ask: Supposing that John and Jesus, in the baptism of the latter, had together entered the water to such a depth that John, by reaching down his hand, could conveniently obtain the water needed to baptize him by aspersion, would not precisely the same phraseology have been used in recording the baptism? — "in Jordan," "in the river Jordan," and "he went up straightway out of the water," That this was indeed the way in which Jesus was baptized by John is, we think, rendered more than probable by several considerations. 1. With the dress of the people of Judea, such a baptism would be altogether natural. The princi- pal articles of dress worn by the common people were, a loose coat or toga, reaching down a little below the knee, and bound to the body by a girdle, and wooden sandals. Such a dress was that worn by John at the time of these baptisms. "And the 182 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. same John had bis raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about liis loins." (Matt. iii. 4.), If baptism were to be administered in a warm country like Judea, and where such was the dress of all par- ties, and where it was not customary for the people to carry drinking vessels of any kind with them (in the army of Gideon, containing at the time ten thousand men, there was not a single drinking ves- sel found. See Judges, vii. 5, 6,) in which water could conveniently be brought ; what more natural than that a baptism hy aspersion should be adminis- tered IT) the way we have supposed. 2. To drink by raising water in the hand to the mouth, in the same way in which we have supposed John to have raised the water for baptizing Jesus, is a very common custom in Eastern countries now, and has been so from a very early date, as is evident from the way in which God directs Gideon to select those who are to accompany him against the Midi- anites. See Judges, vii. 5, 6. The true explana- tion of the phrase "every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth," undoubt- edly is that these men, instead of kneeling down to take a long draught, or successive draughts, from the water, employed their hand as the dog employs his tongue ; that is, forming it into a hollow spoon, and dipping water with it from the stream. This John's baptisms in jokdan. 183 mode of drinking is often practised in the East, and practice alone can give that peculiar tact which generally excites the wonder of travellers. The interchange of the hand between the water and the month is managed with amazing dexterity, and with nearly or qnite as much rapidity as the tongue of the dog in the same act. The water is not sucked out of the hand, but by a peculiar jerk is thrown into the mouth before the hand is brought close to it ; so that the hand is approacliing with a fresh supply almost before the first has been swallowed. This explanation will serve to show how the distinc- tion operated, and why those who 'lapped, putting their hands to their mouths,' were considered to evince an alacrity and readiness for action, which peculiarly fitted them for the service in which Gideon was engaged." (Bush's Kotes. Judges, vii. 5.) 3. As remarked in § 10, the oriental method of bathing, whether performed in a river or in a bath, is not by immersing the body in water, but by having the water thrown upon the body by an attendant, as all travellers tell us. And such, we have reason to believe, has been the custom prevail- ing for ages: 1. Because the oriental nations are remarkable for seldom or nevei* changing a custom ; and, 2. Because the Scriptural accounts of bathings performed in ancient days contain hints, at the least, 184 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. of these bathings being performed in this way. Pharaoh's daughter, when she went "to wash her- self at the river," was acconapanied by her maidens. (See Ex. ii. 5.) Judith, when she washed herself in the valley of Bethulla, was accompanied by her maid. (See Judith, xiii. 10.) And in the sixth chapter of Tobit, we have an account of a young man washing himself in a river, where the word ^er*-klusasthai, to throw up the water as in waves around his hody^ is used to describe his washing. (Tobit, vi. 2.) In inter^jreting such a narrative as that given us in the Gospels, of John's baptisms, we must be guided by the customs of the country in which the transaction narrated occurred, and not by the cus- toms of some other country : and, in view of these facts just stated, we affirm that all we can learn of the customs prevalent in Judea at the time John baptized in Jordan, favors the idea of baptism by aspersion in the manner we have sujjposed, and is adverse to the idea of baptism by immersion. 4. All the most ancient pictorial representations of the baptism of Christ in Jordan, and some of them are of great antiquity, represent the baptism as per- formed in the way we have supposed. The evi- dence, in questions respecting ancient manners and customs, afforded by contemporary pictures, is, on John's baptisms in jokdan. 185 all hands, considered the most reliable which can be obtained. The pictures which have been discovered in the ancient tombs of Egypt have shut the mouth of many an infidel caviller at Moses' history ; and did the pictures of John's baptism of Jesus date back to the days of Christ, they would be absolutely deci- sive of the question. They cannot, however, claim so great antiquity as this. From the peculiar circum- stances attendant upon the early spread of Christian- ity, and more especially the persecutions which it en- countered, if there were any such pictorial representa- tions then made they have not come down to us. Still, there are some very ancient engraved plates and mosaics depicting the scene (for this was a favorite subject of early Christian art), and more recently, pictorial representations have been discovered in the catacombs of Rome, which, probably, date back to the time of the primitive persecutions, and these all agree in representing the baptism of Jesus in Jordan as performed by aspersion, and in the way we have supposed.' Now, we do not think that the evidence of these pictorial representations absolutely decides this mat- ter, as it would if they were contemporary represen- tations. But this, we do think, must in all fairness be allowed, that when the language of the record ' For copies of two of these, see frontispiece. 186 TEE MODE OF BAPTISM. will suit either method, equally well, this evidence should come in to determine our choice between the two, considered as a choice between probaMlities. Second. — The tact that these baptisms by John were performed in a river, is thought, by Baptist writers, to furnish proof that they were performed by immersion. " What could take him," i. e. Jesus, " into the river at all if he was only to be sprinkled ? what could take him to the edge of the water ? what could take him to the river? 'No rational answer can ever be given to this on the ground that sprink- ling a few drops of water is baptism." ^ So writes Dr. Carson. Let us see if the Scriptures will give us any answer to these questions. 1. John was preaching in "a wilderness" (Matt, iii. 1), and this wilderness extended down to the very bank of the Jordan, for thus only can we explain the language of Mark, " John did baptize in the wilder- nessJ^ (Mark, i. 4.) A wilderness, or desert country, would not contain either wells or springs of water. If, then, baptism is to be administered, even by aspersion, to the multitudes who thronged about John — " Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan" (Matt. iii. 5) — to receive bap- tism at his hands, we see not how the water could be conveniently obtained, excepting by all parties going ^Carson on Baptism, p. 373. John's baptisms at ^non. 187 to the river ; and in the warm climate of Jndea, and with the dress and costumes common at that day, we see not how it could be as conveniently adminis- tered, in an_y other way, as by the parties walking into the Jordan, as we have supposed them to do. 2. A second reason why John baptized in Jordan, exists in the nature of John's baptism. As we have already shown in § 29, John's baptism was not Chris- tian baptism, but a Jewish baptism. It was a bap- tism administered in Judea, by a Jew, to Jews, and whilst the Old Testament dispensation had not as yet passed away. The law of Moses was still in force, as is evident from our Savior's teaching and example, up to the time of the pentecostal baptism of the Apos- tles with "the Holy Ghost and with fire." According to the law of Moses, whatever an unclean person touched, even water, was thereby rendered unclean — an exception being made in the case of running wa- ter, including fountains and " pits wherein is plenty of water" (see § 10), a kind of pit not to be met w^ith in " a wilderness." John's baptisms were undoubt- edly of the nature of purifications," i. e. a separation of the baptized unto God's service, as expectants of the coming Messiah, and if these baptisms are to be performed in accordance with the requirements of the law, no other place than such an one as the " river Jordan," or vEnon (sec § 39), will answer the pur- 18S THE MODE OF BAPTISM. pose. And in proof that this was the great reason wliy John baptized, first in Jordan and afterwards at J^non, we ask the reader to remark the fact that af- ter the Christian dispensation was fairly introduced, we read no more in the Word of God of baptisms " in rivers," but, in every instance, baptisms appear to have been administered just where the convert has been led to embrace tlie truth, as in the case of the three thousand on the day of pentecost, and the cases of Paul, of Cornelius, and the Jailer at Phillippi. Here, then, we have two answers to Dr. Carson's questions, " What could take him to the river if he was only to be sprinkled ? what could take him to the edge of the water?" And they are both of them sj)iritual answers too, suggested by the inspired nar- rative itself. Can as much be said on behalf of im- mersion, as a reason for John's baptizing in Jordan. § 39. JolirCs haptisms at JEnon. John, iii. ver. 23. — " And John also was baptizing in JEnon, near to Salim, because there was much water (literally, many waters) there." 1. What are we to understand by the " much water " (or, as both the words in the Greek have the John's baptisms at ^enon. 189 plural form, a literal translation will be " many waters") here spoken of? Some will answer — sim- ply, a large quantity of water. To this we reply ; Scripture usage is at variance with this answer, No example can be adduced of the use of this form of expression, in the New Testament, to designate the quantity of water merely. It is the waters of a sea or lake, as broken into waves, or the multiplied waters of numerous streams or fountains to which alone it is applied. Rev. i. 15 ; Rev. xvii. 1, 15. The suggestion arising out of the peculiar form of expression used in the text, becomes, in our view, a certainty, when we take into account the name of the place " ^non." " En or ^n," says Calniet, in his Bible Dictionary, " signifies a fountain^ for which reason we find it compounded in many names of places ; e. g. En-Dor, i. e. the fountain of Dor, En-Geddi, i. e. the fountain of Geddi." Ononis the l)lural of J^n, and of course means fountains. The names of almost all places, in early times, were signi- ficant, and given on account of some remarkable event which had happened there, or some peculiarity of the place. How is it likely that this place ever got the name of ^non (the springs) excepting from the fact that there were many fountains there. Translate the passage literally, and fully, and it will read — " John was baptizing at the springs near to 190 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. Saliin, because there were many waters there." Does not the interpretation which wouhl make these " many waters" to be many fountains or streams, ap- pear, not simply the most natural, but the only natural one. 2. But why select this place, on this account, for administeriDg baptism? Certainly, not because fountains, or streams near their fountains, are pecu- liarly adapted to immersion. We have read, in our day, of baptism by immersion in rivers, in ponds, and in baptistries, but never of immersions in springs or fountains. Nor can we admit the explanation some- times given, that the " many waters " at -^Enon, made it a very suitable place for peojjle to congre- gate in large numbers, since they would thus be se- cured against all suffering from thirst. In writing as the Apostle does — " John was haj>tizing at ^non, near to Salim, because there were many waters there," he seems, according to fair principles of inter- pretation, to mention the " many waters" there, as that which rendered the place a fit one for adminis- tering baptism at. John selected ^non for his later baptisms, and ^Enon was a fit place for those baptisms, because those baptisms were Jewish and not Christian bap- tisms. The law of Moses must be complied with, and that law required that baptisms such as these TUK BAPTISMS OF TUK KUNCCH. 191 sliould be administered in running water, or in a spring, or a pit wherein was plenty of water ; and this, in order that the defilement which the water ac- quired by contact with the person first baptized, might not unfit it for the baptism of the second. § 40. The haptism of the Eunuch. Acts. viii. ver. 36. '' And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water : and the eunuch said, See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be baptized ? 37. And Philip said. If thou believest with all thy heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38. 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. 39. And when they were come uj) out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more : and he went on his way rejoicing." This baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip is thought to have been a baptism by immersion, from 192 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. Luke's use of the expressions — " And they went down both i7ito the water. And when they were coone up out of the water." Admitting, for the present, the Baptist's supposition, that the "certain water here mentioned was some large body of water, such as a river or pool ; we ask — Would not Luke liave used the same forms of expression in describing tlie trans- action, had the baptism been performed in the other way, which all the most ancient pictorial representa- tions of our Lord's baptism point out as that which John practised? But there are circumstances in this narrative, which lead us to think that the eunuch was baptized with- out either he or Philip entering the water. The Greek word here translated into^ is the same word translated unto, in Matt. xv. 24, " I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel ;" Matt, xxii. 4, " All things are ready : come imto the mar- riage ; John, xi. 31, "She goeth v.nto the sepulchre, that she may weep there ;" said of Mar}^, while the stone which closed the sepulchre was not yet taken away, v. 39. And the Greek word, translated '■^ out o/"," is the same translated from, in Matt. xiii. 49, " And sever the wicked from among the just," Mark, xiii. 27, "And shall gather together his elect from the four winds ;" Mark, i. 11, " And there came a voice from heaven, saying. Thou art my beloved THE BAFriSM OF THE EUNUCH. 193 Son, in whom I am well pleased." From these ex- amples (and we could easily adduce many more, did it seem necessary), it is ev'ident that Scriptural usage will authorize the translation, either into or unto, and Old of or from, and consequently the translation, in an}' particular instauce, must be determined in some way, before it can be appealed to in argument. Can the sense in which they are here used be de- termined from the context ? The Baptist will say the expi-essions ••' went down'''' and " came ujp''' call for the translations ?Wo and out of. The verbs of motion here in question, in the original Greek, are compound- ed with the prepositions, instead of standing separate, as they do in our English version. A literal transla- tion, preserving the exact form of the original as far as it can be preserved in a translation, is — " And he commanded the chariot to stand, and they descended both eis {unto or into) the water, that is, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they ascended ek {from or out of) the water." It is only in our English translation, then, that the expressions " went down^^ and " came up " seem to call for the translations into and out of. If, however, as we think, the '•''certain water''"' at which this baptism was performed, can be shown to have been, in all probability, a wayside well or fountain, this would determine the translation of 194 THE MODE OF BAPTlSil. these prepositions, as men do not usually go into, but unto a well or fountain, and do not come out oi'. hviifroyn one. Our reasons for thinking this "certain water" was in all probability, a wayside well or foun- tain, are: 1. The name which Luke gives it — "a certain water," (and this is a literal translation of the ori- ginal), does not imj^ly anything more than such a wayside well. This fact, taken in connection with the other, that he gives it no specific name — rivers, lakes, and even pools, ordinarily having particular names, and names by which they are spoken of in Scripture — naturally suggests that this was some inconsiderable wayside well or fountain, having no particular name, and therefore called by the most general of all names, "a certain water." 2. On the way from Jerusalem to Gaza, the way that Philip and tlie eunuch were travelling when they came to this "certain water," neither the Scriptures nor the writings of modern travellers give us the slightest intimation of the existence of any river or other large body of water. 3. Luke expressly tells us, that the way they were travelling was a ^'■desert'''' way: "In the way that goeth down from Jerusalem to Gaza, which is desert" — not Gaza, but — "the way is desert." On THE BAP-nSM OF THE EUNUCH. 195 a desert way, it is altogether improbable that any hirge body of water would be met with: whilst we know, from various intimations in Scripture, as well as from the testimony of modern travellers, that wayside wells are to be met with even in desert countries, and that the routes of travel are usually arranged with reference to these wayside wells. 4. Besides all this, we think that there is intima- tion in the inspired record of this event, of the way in which this baptism was actually performed. Let the reader notice that the subject of baptism is introduced by the eunuch, and not by Philip : " And the eunuch said. See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Was there anything in the passage of Scripture that Philip was expounding? which would naturally bring up this subject before the mind of the eunuch? The passage from which Phi'ip was preaching unto him, Jesus, was from the prophecy of Isaiah. (See vers. 32, 33.) Turning to this passage (remembering that the division of the Bible into chapters is of modern origin, and there- fore, of no authority), it will be seen that the pas- sage commences with the 13th verse of chap. 52, and embraces the whole of chap. 53; since it is in the verse first mentioned, Isaiah introduces the sub- ject of Christ's vicarious sufferings, the subject of which he continues to treat throughout the follow- 196 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. ing chapter. Among the first things that Isaiah says of Jesus is, "so shall he sjyrinkle many nations." (Isai. Hi. 15.) Could Philip have expounded these words without being led to speak of baptism — and then, how natural would it be, when they came to "a certain water," that the eunucTi should say, "See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized ?" But if Philip preached baptism to the eunuch, from the words "he shall sprinkle many nations," was it likely to be a baptism by immersion? Whilst, then, we grant that the Greek preposition eis means into as well as to^ and eh means out of as well ^^froin\ for all these reasons, we translate the passage under examination: "And they descended both to the water, that is, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they ascended from the water;" and we exj)ress the opinion that whilst there is not absolute certainty, yet all the probabilities which can be gathered from a careful examination of the sacred nai-rative, favor the idea that this bap- tism of the eunuch by Philip, was performed by '■'■s^inkling^'' and not by immersion. The reader has now all the facts of this case before him ; and we ask, is there anything here to author- ize such language as that of Dr. Carson? "The man who can read it (-?'. e. Acts, viii. S6-39), and not see hiwiersion in it, must have something in his THE BAPTISM OF THE EUNUCH. 197 mind unfavorable to the investigation of truth. As long as I fear God, I cannot, for all the kingdoms of the world, resist the evidence of this single docu- ment. Nay, had I no more conscience than Satan himself, I could not, as a scholar, attempt to expel immersion from this account. All the ingenuity of all the critics in Europe could not silence the evi- dence of this passage. Amidst the most violent perversion that it can sustain on the rack, it will still c\'j OMi, immersion, immersion P'' '' Is this the calm expression of a conclusion intelligently reached? or is it the blustering dogmatism and denunciation of the prejudiced advocate of a weak cause? ^ Carsou on Baptism, p. 128. 198 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. CHAPTEE lY. §41. The Baptism of the three thousand, Acts, ii. 88, 41. §42. Paul's Baptism, Acts, ix. IT, 18 ; xxii. 12-16. § 43. The baptism of Cornelius, Acts, x. 44-48. § 44. The Baptism of the Jailer, Acts, xvi. 82-34. § 41, The Baptism of the three thousand. Acts, ii. ver. 38. " Then Peter said unto them, Pepent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 41. Then they that gladly received his word were BAPTIZED : and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." In this record, it appears : — 1. That the three thousand persons here mentioned, were baptized im- mediately upon the close of Peter's sermon ; and, of course, in but a part of a day ; and 2. That these bap- tisms were administered in the same place where that sermon had been preached, i. e. at the door of the house in which the Apostles were, when they them- THE BAPTISM OF THE THREE THOUSAND. 199 selves were baptized " with tlie Holy Gliost and with fire ;" at the least, there is no intimation given by Luke of their having quitted that place. Taking nothing for granted now, but what appears in the sacred record, the baptism of these three thousand, if performed bv aspersion, would all seem ver}- natural ; the water-pots which the Jews were accustomed to keep near the entrance of their houses for purification (see John, iii. 6), would have furnished a convenient and abundant supply of water for baptizing the whole three thousand in this way. But in supposing they were baptized by immersion, there is serious diffi- culty, both in the fact that so large a number were baptized in so short a time, and in the fact that no mention is made of their having quitted the place where they had listened to Peter's sermon, in order that the baptism might be performed. This last-mentioned fact would not have claimed, fairly, as much attention as it does, were it not true that in the case of the travelling eunuch, in circum- stances in which no convenient vessel for bringing the water was likely to be at hand (for in eastern countries travellers do not ordinarily carry drinking vessels with them, as illustrated in the case of Gideon's ten thousand men. Judges, vii. 5, 6), we are expressly informed that they both left the chariot, " and descended to the water ;" whilst, in the bap- 200 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. tism of these three thousand, the baptism of Paul, the baptism of Cornelius, and that of the Philippian jailer, all which were performed in cities, or in honses, where water vessels must have been at hand, no intimation is given of the parties having quitted the spot, for baptism. But, in every instance, the natural interpretation of the narrative is, that the baptisms were performed just where the parties to be baptized first believed in Christ Jesus. § 42. PauVs Baptism. Acts, ix., ver. 17. "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house : and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord (even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest) liath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy siglit, and be filled witli the Holy Ghost. 18. And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales: and he received siglit forlh- wath, and arose, and was baptized." Acts, xxii., ver. 12. " And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good re- port of all the Jews wliich dwelt there, 13. Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Paul's eaptism. 201 Brother Saul, receive tlij sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14. And he said, The God of our fathers hath cliosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of his mouth. 15. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16. And now why tarriest thou? ai*ise and be bap- tized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Let the reader call to mind now the facts in Paul's case, as we learn them from Luke's narrative. Ho had been struck blind, by Jesus appearing to liim in a light above the brightness of the mid-day sun ; and in this condition, led by his attendants, he had come to the house of Judas, in the city of Damascus. Here he had remained three days, blind, neither eating nor drinking, but engaged in prayer, when Ananias was sent of God to him. Head now the in- spired record of his baptism. And is not this the fair and natural interpretation of it ; that Paul is found of Ananias, kneeling or sitting down, and engaged in prayer, and tliat whilst he is yet in this position, his blindness is miraculously removed ; and then, imme- 202 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. diately, lie arises from his knees, and is there baptized upon the spot, and baptized in a standing position ? This is the natural interpretation of Luke's lan- guage, as it appears in our English version. In the original, the language is more definite. On the ex- pressions " arise and be baptized (literally, standing up be bai^tized), and " arose and was baptized" (literally, standing up he was baptized). Dr. J. H. Kice remarks correctly : " According to the idiom of the Greek language, these two words do not make two different commands, as tlie English reader would suppose, when he read 1, arise ; 2, helaptized. But the participle (arise, literally, standing iijp) simply modifies the signification of the verb, or rather is used to complete the action of the verb ; and, therefore, instead of warranting the opinion tliat Paul rose up, went out, and was immersed, it definitely and pre- cisely expresses his posture when he received bap- tism."^ § 43. Baptism of Cornelius. Acts, X. ver. 44. " While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45. And they of the circumcision which believed, ' The Pamphleteer. No. 1, p. 89. 9* n.VPTISM OF CORNELIUS. 203 were astouislied, as many as came witli Peter, because that ou the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be BAPTIZED, which have received the Hol}'^ Ghost as well as we ? 48. And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." This discourse of Peter's, thus followed by the outpom'ing of the Spirit, was delivered in the house of Cornelius (see ver. 27), and was addressed to Cornelius and "his kinsmen and near friends," whom he had assembled there. "While Peter was yet speaking," i. e. before he had brought his discourse to its intended close, "the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." Thus were they baptized by the Lord, as foretold by John: "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Peter seeing this, and prepared by his vision at Joppa to understand it aright, at once asks, (not as needing or desiring an answer, but as strongly expressing the conclusion to which he had come), "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the 204 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." Here, then, as in the cases last examined, the natural, and the only natural interpretation of the language is, that these baptisms were administered upon the spot; and as God had baptized them by ^'•pouring out^'' by causing to '-'-fall on them'''' the visible symbol of the Holy Ghost, that God's ser- vants baptized them also by '■'• jpouring out'''' water, the symbol of the Holy Spirit's influences upon them. § 44. Ba;ptisin of the Jailer. Acts XYL Yer. 32. " And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. 34. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believ- ing in God with all his house." There is a slight apparent discrepancy l)etween the parts of this account, as it aj)pears in our Eng- BAPTISM OF THE JAILEK. 205 lisli version, which docs not exist in the Greek. It is first said, "And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house^'' thus plainly implying that the address of Paul and Silas was delivered in the house. And then afterwards, it is added — "And when he had brought them into his house^ he set meat before them," as if they had not entered the house before. In the original, there are here two different words translated by the one English word house. The one used in ver. 32 is the more comprehensive term, including not only the house (in our English sense of that word), but also the out-houses and servants' apartments, which, in most ancient habitations, surrounded the house proper, and enclosed it with its court. The one used in ver. 34 is a term corresponding more exactly to our word house. Bearing this distinction in mind, a fair interpreta- tion of Luke's narrative will require us to imder- stand that the baptism of the jailer "and all his" was performed in the court, and this, straightway (literally, on the sjwt). And then, that after this, they were taken into the house proper, and there refreshed. Here, then, we have still another in- stance of baptism upon the spot where the convert has received Christ, and where wc have no intima- tion of there being water for baptism by immersion. 206 THE MDDE OF BAPTISM. Some Baptist writers have attempted to break the force of the argument, from these several baptisms upon the spot, by telling iis of the dependence in wliicli the inhabitants of Jerusalem were, upon the rains of heaven for the water needed for daily use; and, consequently, of the large number of cisterns which had been built in that city. The evidence of the existence of such numerous cisterns in Jerusalem is very questionable, to say the least of it. But, granting their existence, it matters not, for our pres- ent purpose, in how^ great numbers. Of w^hat use will cisterns in Jerusalem be, for immersing Paul at Damascus, or Cornelius at Cassarea, or the Jailer at Philippi — not one of which places is even in Judea? Whilst, in the case of the only one of these baptisms which did take place at Jerusalem — the baptism of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost — the number is so great that even Baptist writers are not satisfied with the cisterns, but imagine the multi- tude to have gone to some such pool as that of Be- thesda for immersion. SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. 207 SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. The arguments by wliicli the Baptist would estab- lish his position, that immersion is the one, only- mode of baptism, as stated in §33, are, from — 1, Tlie meaning of the word haptizo ; 2, The emblematic import of baptism ; and 3, The practice of Christ and his apostles. The reader has now before him all that can be gathered from the Word of God on these several points. In our examination, no passage of Scripture calculated to throw light upon this subject has been omitted. Let us bring together now the results of this examination. First. The argument from the meaning of the word BAPTizo. Affirming that " haptizo is a specific term ; that it has but one signification ; that it always signifies to dip, never expressing anything but mode" — the Baptist argues that to speak of bap- tizing by sprinkling or pouring, is a contradiction in terms, and must so have presented itself to the mind of every one to whom the command "repent and be baptized " was addressed, in the days of Christ and his apostles — just as we, at the present day, would 208 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. see a contradiction in terms in speaking of immers- ing by sprinkling or pouring. In Part I. we have examined every instance of the use of the word haptizo in the Scriptures ; and, as the result of that examination, have found that, in the Word of God, tajptizo is always used as a reli- gious term, in the Old Testament sense of the word purify, and never in the sense of dip or immerse. The Baptist argument for immersion, from the mean- ing of this word, then, when the falsity of the as- sumption upon which it rests is made to appear, falls. But we stop not here. We admit that, could it he shown that haptizo did signify to dip and to dip only, this would, to say the least of it, create a strong presumption in favor of dipping, as the truly primitive, apostolic mode of baptism. And admit- ting this, we have a right to claim — when it is shown (and this we think has been done) that haptizo is always used, in the Word of God, in the sense of hatharizo, to purify — on this ground, a strong pre- sumption in favor of a variety in mode being allowed in baptism, such as all admit was allowed in the purifications practised under the Old Testament dis- pensation. Second, The o,rgument from the emblematic im- port of haptism. Assuming that in baptism we have an enil)lem, not of spiritual purification, or BUMMING UP CONCLUSION. 209 regeneration, alone, but also of " death, burial, and resurrection," it is lience inferred that as in immer- sion we have the aptest representation of death, burial, and resurrection, baptism must have been administered by Christ and his apostles, and ought to be administered in our daj, by immersion. 1. Understanding this death, burial, and resur- rection to be spiritual — and this is the only sense which the text will admit of in Rom. vi. 3, 4, and Col. ii. 12, the passages chiefly relied upon by the Baptist — we have seen that the argument rests upon the false assumption that spiritual death, burial, and resurrection, was something different from regenera- tion ; whereas, as the terms are used in Scripture, they mean one and the same thing. §§ 34, 35, 36. 2. Understanding the death, burial, and resurrec- tion to be that of the believer (and Baptist authors sometimes write as if this were what they intended), the argument rests upon 1 Cor. xv. 29 alone, a pas- sage of somewhat doubtful interpretation ; but in which all the probabilities of the case j^oint us to the death of Christ as that to which Paul refers in his expression, "baptized for the dead:" and this, not as something symbolized in baptism, but as some- thing which Paul has simply supposed to be true, in the course of his argument for the resurrection of the believer. § 37. 210 THE MODI-: OF BAPTISM. Dr. Carson writes : " Had no emblem but that of purification been intended in this ordinance, we do not say that immersion would be either essential or preferable." (p. 381.) This might be fairly claimed by us, even if not expressly admitted by the Baptist. W^e have seen that according to Scripture, no emblem but that of purification is intended to be included in this ordinance ; and hence, we conclude in Dr. Carson's own words, " that immersion is neither essential nor preferable " to pouriug or sprinkling, as a mode of baptism. Third. In our examination of the practice in tJie days of Christ and his Apostles^ as that practice is to be gathered from the inspired narrative of bap- tisms then administered, we have found : 1. That the baptisms administered by John Bap- tist and by Christ's disci j)les, before our Lord's death, were not Christian, but Jewish baj^tisms; at least, in so far as is implied in their being adminis- tei-ed in Judea, to Jews, by John and Christ's disciples, themselves Jews, and whilst the Old Tes- tament dispensation had not as yet passed away — the law of Moses, as decided by Christ himself, being yet in force. (§§ 29, 38.) Even should we admit, then, that they were baptisms by immersion, this admission could affect our decision of the ques- tion respecting the mode of Christian baptism, only SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. 211 as it "vrould render it probable that the Apostles afterward practised the same mode ; the mode of John's baptism can no more bind the faith of the Church, under this our Christian dispensation, than that of other Jewish baptisms (the " diverse bap- tisms" of which Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Hebrews), many of which were undoubtedly per- formed by sprinkliug. 2. But we do not admit that these baptisms of John's and Christ's disciples were baptisms by im- mersion. So far from it, we think that the true rea- son why these baptisms were performed in Jordan and "at ^non (the Springs) near to Salim," is to be found in the fact that they were Jewish baptisms, Moses' law requiring the purification, in such cases, to be effected in running water. §§ 38, 39. 3. The baptism of the eunuch, the onlj- Christian baptism, in the account of which the Baptist finds any evidence of immersion, appears to have been ad- minstered at a wayside well or fountain — and, in-so- far as anything can be learned from the Scriptures, to have been a baptism by sprinkling. § 40. 4. The other baptisms recorded in the Scripture ; viz., the baptism of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost, that of Paul, that of Cornelius, and that of the Jailer at Pliilippi, all appear to have been administered upon the spot, where the person 212 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. baptized lirst believed in Christ Jesus ; in the streets of Jerusalem, in the private house at Csesa- rea and Damascus, in the prison-court at Philippi, and that of Paul, at the least to have been adminis- tered with the baptized person in a standing posture. All these circumstances, irreconcilable with the idea of baptism by immersion, accord well with that of baptism by sprinkling or pouring. §§ 41, 42, 43, 44. 5. Even admitting (and we admit it simply for argument's sake) that it could be clearly shown that the Apostles did baptize by immersion ; this, of it- self, could not bind the faith of the Church, unless the principle were established that mere mode is essential to the validity of a sacrament, a principle which no Christian church will admit to be true. There can be no question that the Lord's Supper, as administered by Christ to his disciples, was adminis- tered at night, the communicants lying upon couches around a table. On these points no question has ever been raised. Unless, then, some good reason can be given why mode is essential to one sacra- ment and not to the other, consistency requires of the Baptist that he first administer the Lord's Sup- ])er in the mode in which he admits that Christ adnii;iistcMcd if, ere ho demand of others that they SUMMING UP — CONCLUSION. 213 administer baptism in that mode, alone, in wliicli it was ndmistered in Apostolic times. The conclusion, in this whole matter, to which we come, is — 1. There is nothing in the meaning of the word haptlzo^ nor in the emblematical import of the rite of baptism, to authorize the belief that any particu- lar mode of applying the water to the person of the baptized, is essential to the validity of baptism. 2. AVhilst we cannot determine, with absolute cer- tainty, whether sprinkling, pouring or immersion, was the inode of baptism practised in the days of Christ and his Apostles, immersion is the least pro- bable of the three. 3. To require immersion in order to admission to the church of God, is to infringe upon that " liberty wherewith Christ hath made his people free," and to " teach for doctrine, the commandments of men.'' And to exclude from the Lord's table, the Lord's people, because they have not been immersed, is to bring Tipon the soul the guilt of tlie sin of schism. 214 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. SUPPLEMENT AKY NOTE. THE PRACTICE OF IMJMEKSION IN EAKLY TIMES. Baptist authors, generally, attach a great deal of importance to the fact that immersion was practised in the Church at a very early age. The author of the article on " BajMsm^^^ in the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, writes : " On this point there is overwhelming evidence. The best ecclesiastical historians — Mosheim, Waddington, Neander, &c. — • affirm that the practice of the primitive Church was immersion." And this fact he makes one of his four arguments for immersion, the other three being — The meaning of the word hajytizoj The emblematic import of baptism ; and, The practice of Christ and his apostles. If by " the primitive Church" we understand the ancient, as contradistinguished from the Apostolic Church — i. e.^ the Church in the third century, and later — the coi-rectness of the above statement will IMMKKSION IN EARLY TIMES. 215 not be called in question by any one. But why do many Baptist writers keep back the fact, established by precisely the same authority, that this immer- sion was performed with the person of the baptized naked f Dr. Carson, in his reply to Dr. Miller, admits that immersion was received naked,, in the third and fourth centuries, and does not deny that such was the fact at an earlier date. (Carson on Baptism, pp. 380, 381.) The Baptist historian, Robinson, in his " History of Baptism" (a book written by request of the Bap- tist ministers of .London), is more ingenuous. His words are : " The primitive Christians haptized naked. I^s'othing is easier than to give proof of this, by quotations from the authentic writings of men who administered baptism, and who certainly knew in what way they themselves performed it. There is no ancient historical fact hetter autJumticated than this. This evidence does not go on the moaning of the single word naked] for then the reader might suspect allegory ; but on many facts reported, and many reasons assigned for the practice." Wall, in his "History of Baptism," writes: "The ancient Christians, when they were baptized by im- mersion, were all haptized naked,, whether they were men. women, or children.'*^ 216 thp: mode of baptism. As one reads such statements as these, the ques- tions will arise — Can these things be so ? Is there not some mistake about this matter ? Is it credible that in the East, where the most rigid notions of womanly propriety have prevailed from time imme- morial, women received haptism naked f Is such a practice as this consistent with that "modesty" which no book more emphatically than the New Testament enjoins upon woman ? To these questions we do not hesitate to return the answer — The thing is incredible ; such a practice is utterly at variance with Christian modesty in woman. The true explanation of the matter, we believe, is that given by Taylor, in his " Facts and Evidences," viz.. That, at an early date, there was added to the simple baptismal rite, as practised by Christ and his apostles, a washing of the whole body in water, as a preparation for the baptism proper — just as there was added the anointing of the body with oil, and the clothing of the pei'son in a white garment, as rites following upon the baptism, at almost if not quite as early a date. This preparatory washing of the body was performed in a bath, and, in the case of women, with none but women present ; and this it was which was performed by immersion, and with the person naked — •the baptism proper being after- IMMERSION IN EAKLT TIMES. 217 wards administered in presence of the church, and bj sprinkling or pouring. In support of this exphmation, we urge : 1. With the peculiar attachment of the Jewish converts to the law of Moses, the addition of an abhition, preparatory to baptism, would be one of the most natural changes which could be made in the apostolic rite of baptism. They regarded bap- tism as, essentially, a purification ; and a prepara- tory washing was, in many instances, enjoined in Moses' law ; e. g., in the cleansing of a leper (Lev. xiv.), the cleansing of one having an issue (Lev. xv.), the cleansings to be effected by the water of separa- tion (Numb, xix.) 2. There is nothing in any of the statements made by ancient writers, and relied upon to prove the early practice of immersion (in so far as we have seen), inconsistent with this explanation, but much to favor it. 3. In the Abyssinian Church, at the present day, a washing of the whole body, preparatory to bap- tism, is practised, the baptism itself being performed by affusion (See Taylor's Facts and Evidences, pp. 153, 154). The Abyssinian Church being that one of the ancient churches which has for ages been almost entirely cut off from all communication with 10 218 THE MODE OF BAPTISM. other parts of the world, is, on this account, the one most likely to have retained the practice prevailing in early times. 4. The testimony of Epiphanius, Bishop of Con- stantia, who wrote during the fourth century, when speaking of the office of the deaconess: "There are also deaconesses in the Church ; but this office was not instituted as a priestly function, nor has it any interference with priestly administrations ; but it was instituted for the purpose of preserving a due regard to the modesty of the female sex, especially at the time of 'bajptismal washing^ and while the jperson of the woman is naked, that she may not be seen by the men performing the sacred service, but by her only who is appointed to take charge of the woman during the time she was naked." (Epiphanius, as quoted by Taylor in his " Facts and Evidences," p. 168.) We refer to this matter here, not as an argument for baptism by sj)rinkling or affusion — for our pur- pose is to offer as argument nothing but what the Scriptures themselves furnish — but, 1. That the Baptist argument from the early prac- tice of the Church — an argument based, as we think, upon a misapprehension of the facts recorded — may not prejudice the mind of the reader against the reception of Scripture truth. IMMERSION IN EABLY TIMES. 219 2. To show the reader the way in which immer- sion has come to be substituted for sprinkling or pouring, as practised by the apostles. And, 3. As affording a strong incidental confirmation of the correctness of the definition we have given to haptizo when used as a religious term, viz.. to cleanse or pui'ify. PART III. THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. OHAFTEE I. § 48. Statement of the Question, and of the Arguments relied on by Baptists and Pedo-Baptists. To the question, To whom is Christian baptism to be administered? The Baptist replies : To such as make a credible profession of faith in Christ, and to such onlj. The I^reshi/terian replies : "Kot only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized." (Presbyterian Confes- sion of Faith, chap. 28.) And here we ask the reader to notice — 1. With respect to the case of adults who have not been baptized in infancy, there is no difference of opinion. They are to be baptized upon a credi 224 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. ble profession of faith in Christ alone. Such must have been the case with all the converts on the day of Pentecost, and for some time afterwards, since proper Christian baptism was never administered before that time. 2. The only point, in so far as the subjects of baptism are concerned, on which the Baptist and Presbyterian differ, is — Does the Word of God teach that Christian haptism is to he administered to infant children^ where one or hoth the parents are professed helievers f The grounds upon which the Baptist seeks to establish his position are — 1. The commission given by Christ to his Church, •when about to be taken in bodily presence from his disciples, and recorded in Mark. xvi. 15, 16. This commission, he affirms, is given in terms which exclude the idea of the administration of baptism to infants. 2. The import of baptism, as the ordinance is explained in the Word of God. This, he affirms, is utterly inconsistent with its administration to any but believers. The ai'guments by which we shall seek to esta- blish the position assumed in the Presbyterian Con- fession of Faith, are : 1. Assuming that Christian baptism is the initia- STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION. 225 tory rite of the Church, under the Christian dispen- sation (and this the Baptist maintains as zealously as we do), and that infant-membership in the Church was established of God, under the Old Testament dispensation (and this we shall prove from Scrip- ture, although but few Baptists will deny it). We shall attempt to show, 1. That the visible Church of God has ever been one; and consequently, as the rite of infant-membership in that Church has not been repealed, it must continue. And 2. That this right of infant-membership — and hence, of infant- baptism — was expressly recognized by Christ and his Apostles. 2. The express mention made in the New Testa- ment Scriptures, of family baptisms. Other arguments have been adduced, some of them of great weight, from the experience of the Church at the present day, the history of the Church, especially in primitive times, and what are thought to be the proprieties of the case. As, how- ever, our purpose is to give a purely Scriptural dis- cussion of the question, settling it, if at all, upon the authority of the Word of God, and the Word of God alone, we shall take no notice of these arguments, as ui-ged on either side. 226 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. CHAPTEK II. § 46. Christ's commission to his Church, Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 ; Mark, xvi. 15, 16 ; Lulie, xxiv. 47-49. § 46. Matt. XXYIII. Yer. 19. "Go ye, tlierefore, and teach all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 20. Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever 1 have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Mar\ XYI. Yer. 15. "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- ture. 16. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved ; but lie that believeth not shall be damned." Christ's commission to his church. 22 1 Lule, XXIY. Ver. 47. " And" (Jesus said unto them, v. 46) " that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, be- ginning at Jerusalem. •iS. And ye are witnesses of these things. 49. And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusa- lem, until ye be endued with power from on high." Kemarking upon Mark, xvi. 16., Dr. Carson Avrites: — "I am willing to hang the whole contro- versy on this passage. If I had not another passage in the Word of God, I would engage to refute my opponents from the words of this commission alone. I will risk the credit of my understanding, on my success in showing that according to this commission believers only are to be baptized," ' The Baptist reasons upon this passage, thus: Baptism is here made consequent upon faith — " He that helieveth and is haptized shall be saved." And as no one pretends that infants can exercise faith in ' Carson on Baptism, p. 169. 228 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. Christ, the faith here spoken of, this passage prohib- its their baptism. For the jjiirpose of bringing out distinctly the nature of this argument, let us give it the form of what logicians call a syllogism. " He that helieveth and is haptized shall be saved." Says the Baptist, Syl. I. Baptism is here made consequent upon faith. Infants cannot exercise faith ; Therefore — Infants must not be baptized. If, in our Lord's words, " He that helieveth, and is baptized, shall be saved; he that helieveth not, shall be damned^'' baptism is made consequent upon faith, in such a sense as to restrict it to those who believe, upon precisely the same principles of interpretation salvation is made consequent upon faith, in such a sense as to restrict it to those that believe, and dam- nation is made consequent upon not believing. We, therefore, call upon the Baptist, consistently to fol- low out his principles of interpretation, as express- ed in the two following syllogisms : — Syl. II. Salvation is here made consequent upon faith. Infants cannot exercise faith ; Therefore — Infants cannot be saved. CHPIST'S COMMISSION TO HIS CHURCH. 229 Si/l. III. Damnation is here made consequent upon not believing. Infants do not believe. Therefore — Infants must be damned. And further ; if in these words of our Lord, bap- tism is made consequent upon faith — upon the same principles of interpretation, but more clearly, is sal- vation made consequent upon baptism; since faith and baptism are connected together by the copula- tive " and," and together declared to be the antece- dents of salvation. We, therefore, call upon the Baptist to follow out his principles, as expressed in a fourth syllogism : — Si/l. lY. Salvation is here made consequent upon baptism. The Baptist will not baptize an infant. Tlierefore — Tlie Baptist secures the damnation of that infant. Kow, we do not say that the Baptist believes the doctrines embodied in syllogisms 11., III., IV. What we do say is, that the principles of interpreta- tion, which would, in these words of our Lord, give him a restriction of baptism to those exercising faith, shut him up to these doctrines. The same logic which, from these words, places a bar in the infant's 230 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. way to the baptismal fout, places a triple bar in his way to heaven. In view of these conclusions, which the Baptist will be as unwilling to admit as we, we say to him — There must be some fault in your logic. And this fault, if we mistake not, lies just here. You have entirely mistaken the true nature of the commission recorded in Mark, xvi. 15, 16. This is not the Apos- tles' commission, either to preach or to baptize. And we offer this Scriptural proof of our statement : Their commission to j^reach they had received long before. " And he (Jesus) goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would, and they came unto him, and he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach^^ (Mark, iii. 13, 11). "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying. Go not into the w^ay of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Isi*ael, and as ye go, preach^^ (Matt. X. 5-7). Here is the commission to preach, of those to whom the words recorded in Mark, xvi. 15, 16, were addressed. But a commission to preach, under cei'tain restrictions. "When, therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples).''^ 231 (John, iv, 1, 2.) This record refers to events which occurred near the commencement of onr Lord's min- istry, and shortly after his ordination of the twelve, as recorded in Mark, iii. 13, 14. His disciples must have received authority to baptize, at this time, or else they were here baptizing, under the very eyes of Jesus, without an}^ authority so to do. K the commission recorded in Mark, xvi. 15, 16, is not the Apostles' commission to preach, nor to baptize, the question will be asked : — What, then, is it? "We answer, it is just what it purports to be. Having before given them their commission to preach and baptize, with the restHction that they " go not in the way of Gentiles and enter no city of the Samaritans, but go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel " alone, now that all power is given unto him, in heaven and in earth" (Matt, xxviii.), and by his death he has " broken down the middle wall of partition" (Eph. ii. 14) between the Jew and the Gentile ; has taken out of the way " the hand- writing of ordinances which was against us (Gen- tiles), nailing it to his cross" (Col. ii. 14), he takes off this restriction, and says — " Go ye into all the world.^ and preach the Gospel to every creature^ Applying now the principle of interpretation uni- versally admitted — that every part of an article must be interpreted with an eye to the scope and 232 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. object of that article — we conclude that baptism is mentioned here, only incidentally ; our Lord taking it for granted that his Apostles were already fully instructed as to the proper subjects of baptism. Of the correctness of this view of the passage under examination, the corresponding records in Matthew and Luke aiford the strongest confirma- tion. In Luke's report of our Lord's words, the subject of baptism is not even formally mentioned — " And that rejtentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations^ begin- ning at Jerusalem." (Luke xxiv. 47.) And Mat- thew's report is in the words, " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of tlie Holy Ghost ; Teaching tiiem to observe all things, what- soever I have commanded youP (Matt, xxvii. 19, 20.) Here Christ expressly refers them to his instructions previously given, as their guide in the discliarge of this very commission. What these instructions on the subject of baptism were, we shall inquire here- after. (See §§ 53, 54.) If we disregard this principle, that every part of an article must be interpreted with an eye to the scope and import of that article, we run into all kinds of absurd- ties. In the very passage under examination, Christ says, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gos Christ's commission to his church. 233 pel to every creature^ Creaiure is often used in the word of God, as a general term, including the lower ordei*s of animals as well as man. "Will the Eaptist interpret this commission, so as to cover such preaching as that ascribed, in the Eomish legends, to St. Anthony, viz. his preaching to the fishes ? All that our Saviour means to teach in his words — " lie that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. But he that believeth not, shall be damned" — is just what his words, in their most natural interpretation, seem to convey, viz ; That he who does believe, and is worthily baptized, shall be saved ; and then, to mark faith as essential, and baptism as not essential to salvation, he adds, reversing the form of his declaration, "he that believeth not, shall be damned." He is speaking of such, and of such only, as he sends his disciples ^oj9?'mcAhis gospel to; the case of infants is in no way referred to in his declaration respecting either faith or baptism. If his disciples are to believe (as the Baptists, in common with our- selves, think they are,) that infants are saved with- out faith, he has taught that doctrine on some other occasion, and he does not recall that teaching here. If his discii)les are to believe that intants may pro- jjerly be baptized without faith, he lias tauglit it on 234 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. some other occasion, and he does not recall that teaching here. The two cases are precisely similar, and our interpretations of them must stand or fall together. BAPTISM AITD CIECTJMCISION. 235 CHAPTEE III. § 47. la the import of Baptism inconsistent with its administration to Infants ? Acts, xxii. 16, and Deut. xxx. 6. Gal. iii. 2T, and Rom. ii. 28, 29. 1 Cor. Jrii. 13, and Rom. iv. 11. Col. ii. 12, and Col. ii. 11. 47. Baptist writers are accustomed to quote all that class of passages of Scripture, in which the spiritual import of baptism is taught us, as utterly inconsis- tent with the idea of its administration to infants. We give below the most important of these, adding the substance of Dr. Carson's comments on them. These we have placed in the column to the left. In the right hand column, we have placed certain passages of similar character, respecting the ana- logous rite of circumcision, and added comments of our own, in Dr. Carson's strain of Bible criti- cism. THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. CIRCUMCISION, Acts XXII. 16. "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." "Here we see baptism figura- tively washes away sins, and sup- poses that they are previously truly washed away. Could our opponents say to the parents of the infant about to be baptized, "Arise, and wash away the sins of thy infant?" Carson, p. 212. Deut. XXX. 6. " And the Lord thy God wiU cir- cumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Here we see that circumcision represents in figure the loving of the Lord our God, with all our soul. Could our opponents say to the parents of an infant about to be circumcised — Do you de- clare that this infant loves the Lord our God with all its soul ? Gal. III. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Emn. II. 28, 29. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh : But he is a Jew which is one in- wardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter : whose praise is not of men, but of God." ' Nothing can be more express. Nothing can be more express. BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION. 237 BAPTISM. CIRCUMCISION. Here baptism is represented as Here circumcision is said to be implying a putting on of Christ. " of the heart, in the spirit, whose Surely this is peculiar to believers, praise is not of men, but of God." Infants cannot put on Christ." Infants cannot be thus circum- Carson, p. 213. cised. 1 Cor. XII. 13. Rom. IV. 11. Tor by one Spirit are we all "And he received the sign of BAPTIZED into one body, whe- ther we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, being yet un- circumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe." "They who are baptized, are here supposed to belong already to the body of Christ; and for this reason they are baptized into it. None are here supposed to be baptized upon the expectation, or probability, or possibiUty that they may yet belong to that body. They are baptized into the body." Carson, pp. 212, 213. Here circumcision is said to be the seal of the righteousness of a faith already possessed by the one circumcised; not a seal of the expectation, or probability, or possibility of that person's be- lieving at some future day. Col. II. 12. Col. II. 11. 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith In whom also ye are circum- cised, with the circumcision made without hands, in put- 238 THE BtTBJECTS OF BAPTISM. of the operation of God, who raised him from the dead."' "Here baptism is explained in a sense which suits believers only." They who are baptized "are view- ed as already risen with him through faith. Can anything be more express than this? Are infants risen with Christ through faith of the operation of God? If not, they are not among the number of those that were bap- tized." Carson, p. 212. CIRCUMCISION. ting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circum- cision of Christ." Here the circumcised are viewed as in their circumcision, putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. Can anything be more express than this? Was it true of infants, when presented by their parents, at eight days old, that they had put off the body of the sins of the flesh? If not, then must we conclude that they had no right to be counted among the number of the circumcised. And tlius we might go on, quoting passage for passage with the Baptist; for just as explicitly as the Scriptures teach us the Spiritual import of bap- tism, just so explicitly do they teach a similar truth respecting circumcision. In no way could this be more clearly set forth than in Col. ii. 11, 12, the two passages last quoted, in which Paul makes use of the known and acknowledged spiritual import of the earlier rite, circumcision., to illustrate that of the later, haptism. And to mark their identity, in this particular, the more clearly, he calls baptism " the circumcision of Christ," or Christian circumcision. BAPTISM A^B CIRCUMCISION. 239 The very same course of reasoning, then, which from the passages of Scripture teaching the spiritual import of baptism, would give us a prohibition of infant baptism ; will, when applied to passages of similar import respecting circumcision, give us as positive a prohibition of infant circumcision. And yet, there is nothing clearer from Scripture, than that circumcision was, by God's direction, adminis- tered to the child eight days old (see Gen. xvii. 12). Here, then, as in the case of our Lord 's words, re- corded in Mark, xvi. 16) we say to the Baptist — Your argument proves too much, since it proves that which no man, with the "Word of God in his hands, can admit to be true. There must, then, be some fault in that argument. That we may see just where the fallacy in the Baptist's argument lies, let us ask the question. On what principle was circumcision — a rite symbolizing regeneration, " the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh," that change of heart, in conse- quence of which we " love the Lord our God with all our soul, that we may live" — administered to infants ? To this question, we answer : 1. Circumcision, viewed as a symbolic rite, simply exhibited grace ; did not confer it. The doctrine of circumcisional regeneration, like the analogous doc- 240 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. trine of baptismal regeneration, is a doctrine which finds no support from the AVord of God. Now, grace may be exhibted, either (J), as something act ic- tually bestowed of God ; or (2), as sometliing hrought near, by God's covenant relation to the recijjient of the rite. To Abraham, circumcision was " the seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised," i. e. of righteousness by faith, in actual possession. To Isaac, circumcised when eight days old (Gen. xxi. 4), it was, from the first dawn of his intelligent moral agency, a seal, or certification, of God's peculiar willingness to bestow upon him that same "righteousness of faith" by which his father Abraham was justified. And who w^ill venture to say that this rite, in its symbolic im- port, was of less practical importance to Isaac than it was to Abraham ? 2. Yiewing circumcision as sealing or certifying an obligation on the part of the recipient; to Abraham, it was a seal of his obligation to " put ofi* the body of the sins of the fiesh," to walk by faith before God, an obligation which he had personally acknowledged in his reception of the rite. JS^ot an obligation created by his reception of the rite, for the obligation is one growing out of Abraham's po- sition as a sinner, placed under a dispensation of grace ; and viewed simply as an obligation, it BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION. 24:1 would have been perfect had no rite been given as a certification thei-eto. Jn his circumcision, he had personally acknowledged that obligation, and thus rendered it the more solemnly binding upon him. To Isaac, it was a seal or certification of this same obligation, to walk by faith before God ; an obliga- tion which rested upon him as it did upon his father Abraham, as a sinner placed under a dispensation of grace, and an obligation which his believing father, by God's direction, acknowledged on his behalf. And who shall say that circumcision, viewed in this aspect of it, was of less importance in the one case than in the other. The fallacy in reasoning from the passages of Scripture which teach the spiritual import of circum- cision, in such a way as to prohibit its administration to infants, lies, 1. In the groundless assumption that grace can be exhibited only as grace hestowed j whereas God chooses to exhibit it as grace hrought near, or ready to he hestowed, also : the groundless assumption that a seal can be affixed to a deed only ; whereas God chooses (and men, in the ordinary business of lifCy act in the same way) to affix his seal to promises as well as deeds. 2. In the unscriptural idea, that circumcision created the obligation to walk by faith, whereas it 11 242 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. was simply a public achnowledgment of an obligation already existing, and growing immediately out of man's relation to God, as a sinner placed under a dispensation of grace. Of just the same character is the fallacy of the Baptist's reasoning from a simi- lar class of passages respecting baptism, " the cir- cumcision of Christ." And here, let us correct the error into which many Baptist writers have fallen respecting the na- ture of circumcision : 1. In representing it as belonging to the politico- ecclesiastical state of the Jews. Circumcision was given of God to Abraham, four hundred and thirty years before the politico-ecclesiastical state of the Jews was established ; and was given for the confirma- tion of a promise, in which we Christian Gentiles have as direct and deep an interest as ever had a Jew. "Now, to Abraham and Ms seecV (subsequently ex- plained by Paul, in the words — "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs ac- cording to the promise" v. 29) " were the j)romises made. And this I say, that the covenant that was cou firmed before of God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot dis- annul, that it should make the promise of none effect." (Gal. iii. 16, lY.) 2. In representing it as intended to be a mark of BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION. • 243 natural descent and temporal privileges, rather than of a religious relation. In proof of this, we are told that the Ishmaelites and Edomites were circumcised. " The Ishmaelites and Edomites were apostates from the faith of Abraham. And will it be pretended that the abuse of circumcision by apostates, proves that it was not the initiatory rite of the Church ? Why not argue that since Mormons practise bap- tism, and yet do not enter into the Christian church, baptism cannot be an initiatory rite." ' And what clearer proof can we have that circumcision was not intended as a mark of natural descent, than the fact that by God's appointment the Gentile proselyte was circumcised as well as the Jew ? " And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circum- cised, and then let him come near and keep it ; and he shall be as one that is born in the land ; for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof." (Ex. xii. 48.) And now, we ask — Shall we accept as proof of the " mind of the spirit," that baptism, under the new dispensation, shall not be administered to in- fants, an argument which proves at the same time, and just as decisively, that circumcision was not to be administered to infants under the Old Testament dispensation, when God from heaven has said, and ' N. L. Rice on Baptism, p. 220. 2:1:4: THE SITBJECTS OF BAPTISM. placed it upon record before onr eyes, " He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you — the imcircunicised man-child shall be cut off from his people ; he hath broken my coyenant." (Gen. xvii. 13, 14. ESSENTIAL CIIAKACTKK OF THE VISIBLK CHURCH. 245 CHAPTER lY THE CHUECH. § 48. Essential Character of the visible Church. § 49. Nature of Church Mem- bership. Having completed our examination of the argu- ments (in so far as they are arguments from the Scriptures), urged against infant baptism — before turning to the particular examination of the argu- ments on the o^:iier side, and as preparatory to such examination, we ask the reader's attention to what the Word of God teaches us, respecting the essential character of the visible Church, and what is imj^lied in Church membership. And here we insist the more strenuously upon a direct appeal to the Word of God, because, if we mistake not, unscriptural notions on these points are entertained even by many mem- bers of Pedo-Baptist churches. § 48. The essential Character of the vislUe Church, The visible Church has, from its first institution, possessed the cliaiacter of a school. 246 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISMS. " What advantage, then," writes Panl, " hath tlie Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way : chiejlij^ because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." (Eom. iii. 1, 2,) i. e. the Holy Scrij^tnres. For what purpose were these " oracles of God " committed unto the circumcised — the Old Testament Church ? Let the Scriptures answer. God says : " Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." (Gen. xviii. 18, 19.) By Moses God gives direc- tion to Israel : " And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart : And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." (Deut, vi. 6-9.) Can any one doubt that under the Old Testament dispensation, the visible Church was NATURE OF CHUKCH MEMBERSHIP. 247 a school, in wliicli disciples were to be trained for Heaven ; or that, by God's direction, these disciples — scholars — were to be entered in this school in ear- liest childhood ? Under the New Testament dispensation, the visi- ble Church retains this same character. "Go ye, therefore, and teach {i. e. make disciples — scholars — of) all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you ; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) Such is the commission of the Church, as given by her Lord and Master himself. So plainly is this set forth as the great office of the Church, in these words, that on this point all Pro- testant commentators agree. § 49. Natti/re of Chwch Memhersh/lp, The visible Church being, by God's appointment, his school, the essential right of membership — the only right which is necessarily implied in affirming the Church membership of a person — is the right to instruction "in all things which God hath com- manded." There are other rights and privileges 213 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. wliicli may belong to members of tlie Church upon certain conditions, and these may be spoken of (when speaking loosely) as rights of membership. But the right to instruction, and what is necessarily implied in it, can alone be regarded as an essential right of membershiiD, This whole subject may be illustrated by the rights of citizenship under a civil government. As a citizen of the United States, I am entitled to the protection of my country against illegal or unjust oppression, both at home and abroad. As a free male citizen, over twenty-one years of age, I am entitled to vote in the election of tliose who are to be my civil rulers ; and both of these rights are often spoken of as rights of citizenship. My infant child, from the hour of its birth, is as truly a citizen of the United States as I am, and all the rights which are essential to citizenship must belong to it. Let any one, at liome or abroad, attempt to oppress that child, and the civil government is bound to interpose for its protection, and secure to it the enjoyment of its rights. Yet that child, if a female, will never be entitled to vote ; and if a male, not until twenty-one years of age. Civil government is an institution for securing its subject in the enjoy- ment of his rights ; and hence the right to protection is the essential right of citizenship. The right to NATURE OF CHURCH MKMBKRSHIP. 240 vote, althongli often spoken of as a riglit of citizen- ship (wlien speaking loosely) is, in fact, a riglit ■\vliicli belongs to a citizen, npon certain conditions, which are prescribed in the Constitution of the country ; and a person to whom that right is denied {my infant child, for example), maj be as truly a citizen as one to whom that right is granted. Just so in the visible Church. As a member of tliat Church, I am entitled to be " taught all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded." As a believ- ing member, I am entitled to a place at the Lord's table. This latter right is often spoken of as a right of membership, just as a right to vote is often spoken of as a right of citizenship. Yet, in fact, it is a right belonging to members upon certain condi- tions only — conditions prescribed in the Word of God. "Faith to discern the Lord's body" (1 Cor. xi. 29) is declared to be essential to a right partici- pation in the Lord's supper; and until a member of the Church gives credible evidence of the possession of such faith, he cannot claim a place at the Lord's table, in virtue of his membership, any more than my infant child can claim a right to vote in virtue of his citizenship. As already remarked, the essential right of church meniberhsip is the righj; to instruction " in all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded." Hence, in 11* 250 THE STJBJECTS OF BAPTISM. admitting an infant by baptism., we require the parent, already a believing member of that Clmrch, to covenant with God and with his Church, that he " will teach the child to read God's Word ; that he will instruct it in the principles of our holy religion, as contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments ; that he will set an example of piety and godliness before it ; and endeavor, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring up the child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," (Presbyterian Directory for "Worship, chap, vii.) In the first instance, the religious instruction of the infant member is committed to the believing parent, in baptism, recognized as the representative of the Church, in his entering into a covenant with that Church : but in the case of the removal of the believing parent by death, then the duty of " teach- ing the child all things whatsoever Christ hath commanded," devolves upon the Church, and the Church is bound to see to its instruction. By neglecting the obvious distinction between the Church visible and the Church spiritual, and apply- ing what in Scripture is said of the latter to the for- mer. Baptist writers would make the Church visible to consist of believers only. Certainly such was not the case under the Old Testament dispensation : nor do the Scriptures give any countenance to the NATURE OF CHtTRCH MEMBERSHIP. 251 attempt to make a change in this particular. The visible Church of Christ, according to his own decla- ration, " is as a net, which was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind ; which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." (Matt, xiii. 47, 48.) 252 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. CHAPTER Y. EELATION OF THE CHUKCH UNDER THE NEW TO THAT UNDER THE OLD TESTAMENT DISPENSATION. § 50. The Charter of the Church unchanged. § 51. Scriptural representations. § 52. The first Christian Church but the Old Testament Church purged of the Apostasy. § 50. The Charter of the Church unchanged. The visible Church first assumed, distinctly, its form as a Church (i. e. a sealed company, separated from the world) under the operation of God's cov- enant with Abraham. " Before this time, the Church of God had existed in the patriarchal form. Every pious family was a little Church, of which the father was the ofiiciating priest. By him the morn- ing and evening sacrifices were ofi^ered ; and he led the family devotions. Thus, we find that Abram, wherever he spent a night, built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. And as every pious family was a little Church, so were the children CHAKTER OF THE CHURCH UNCHANGED. 253 members of that Clinrcli, trained by the father for God's service." * But it was under the operation of God's covenant with Abraham, that tlie visible Church first assumed, distinctly, its form as a Chui-ch. That covenant is recorded in Gen. xvii. 4^8. " As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceed- ing fruitful, and I will make nations of thee ; and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant ; to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God." This covenant is a record, at once, of God 's prom- ises to his Church, and of that Church's obligations. In some of its particulars, its promises and obliga- tions are addressed to Abraham's descendants through Isaac : — But understo(xl as we are taught in God's words to interpret its terms, and as the men of faith in every age have understood it, from the time *N. L. Rice on Baptism, p. 213. 254 TKE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. that Abraham, having " seen the promises afar off, embraced them, and confessed that he was a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth, and desired a better country, that is a heavenly " (Heb. xi. 13, 16), this covenant, in all its great promises and obligations, has constituted the charter of the Church of God. This truth is presented to us in many forms in the New Testament Scriptures. " Youi- father Abraham rejoiced to see my day," says Christ, " and he saw it, and was glad" (John, viii. 66). "Know ye, therefore," writes Paul, " that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So, then, they which be of faith are bless- ed with faithful Abraham. For ye are all the chil- dren of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor fe- male : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the jy^omise'''' (Gal. iii. 7-9, 26-29). Christians are never called the children of Enoch, of Noah, of David, or of any other eminent believer, but they are called " children of Abraham " and CHARTER OF THE CITCTRCH UNCHANGED. 255 " x\.braham's seed." Evidently, therefore, they sus- tain to liini a peculiar relation. What constitutes tliis relation? I answer, the covenant into which God entered with Abraham, to which Paul refers in the passage just quoted, Christians are "heirs ac- cording to the promise." ' This matter Faiil argues at some length, in his Epistle to the Eomans. " And he (Abraham) received, the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteous- ness of the faith which he liad, yet being uncircura- cised ; that he might be the father of all them that 'believe^ though they be not circumcised, that right- eousness might be imputed unto them also ; and the father of the circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, w\as not to Abraham or his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed : not to that only which is of the law, hut to that also which is- of the faith of Abraham, who is tlie father of us all : (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and ' N. L. Rice on Baptism, p. 196. 256 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. calletli tlie tilings wliich be not as tliongh tliey were. Tliej Avliicli are the children of the flesh, these are not the cliildren of God ; but the children of the jpromise^ are counted for the seed^ (Rom. iv. 11-13, 16, 17 ; ix. 8.) After reading such expositions of God's covenant as these, can any one doubt that it is in fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, that he should be " the father of many nations,''' " the heir of the world^'' the Churcli received her great commission, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark, xvi. 15)? Is the promise which accompanied that commission, " Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt, xxviii, 20), anything else than the promise of that covenant, " I will establish my covenant between me and thee, for an everlasting covenant, to he a God unto thee and thy seed after thee ?" (Gen. xvii. 7.) Hence, we say, this covenant of God with Abra- ham, according to the plain representations of Scrip- ture, is as truly the charter of the Church, i. e. the written instrument, declaring the privileges and ob- ligations of the Church now, as it ever was under the Old Testament dispensation. And those that become Christ's do thereby become "Abraham's seed according to the promise," in what has ever been the true sense of that promise. SCRIPTURAL REPRESENTATIONS. 257 § 51, Scriptural Representations. From ainong many Scriptural representations of the nature of the change which took pLace in the visible Church, in the days of Christ and his Apos- tles, we will ask the reader's attention to two only : one from Paul's Epistle to the Romans, the other from his Epistle to the Ephesians. Eomans, xi. 18-26. Yer. 18. "Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19. Thou wilt say then. The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20. Well ; because of unbelief, they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high- minded, but fear : 21. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God ; on them which fell, severity ; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 2P>. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, 258 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. shall be graffed in : for God is able to them in again. 24. 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. 25. For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits) that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26. And so, all Israel shall be saved." In this passage, by " the wild " and " good olive trees," the Apostle cannot mean the natural state of the parties before God ; for he has fully proved, in a previous part of this epistle, that in this respect, between the Jew and the Gentile, there is no differ- ence. JSTeither can he mean, by the "good olive tree," the jyolitico-ecclesiastical state established in the time of Moses ; for that was then " vanishing away ;" and none more zealously than Paul resisted every attempt of Judaizing teachers, to lay its yoke upon the Gentiles. !N"or can the " good olive tree " mean the true spiTitual Church of G<>d ; for, from SCRIPTURAL REPRESENTATIONS. 259 that, tliese Jews were not cut off, for the simple reason that they were never members of it, as our Lord teaches in his words: "If ye were Abra- ham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God : this did not Abraham. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." (John, viii. 39, 40, U. By the " good olive tree,-' Paul can mean nothing but the visible ClmrcTi. And what says he of it? That the " good olive tree " was cut down or rooted up? That it had withered, trunk and branch, or was no longer the care of the divine planter? Nothing like it. He asserts the continuance of the " good olive tree " in life and vigor ; the excision of some worthless branches, and the insertion of new ones in their stead. "Thou" says he, addressing the Gentile, " partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree." Translate this into less figurative lan- guage, and wliat is its import? That the visible Church of God subsists without injury through the change of dispensation and of members. Branches indeed may be cnt off, but the rooted trunk stands firm, and other branches occupy the place of those which are lopped away. The Jews are cast out of the Church, but the Church perishes not with 260 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. them. There was still left the trunk of the old olive tree ; there was still fatness in its roots ; it stands in the same fertile soil, the covenant of God ; and the admission of the Gentiles into the room of the excommunicated Jews makes them a part of that covenant Church ; as branches graflPed into the olive tree, and flourishing in its fatness, are identified with the tree." ' But this is not all. The Apostle, in the light of prophecy, foresees the restoration of the Jews. These, says he, the " natural branches shall be grafiFed in again — shall be graffed into their own olive tree.^^ Their own olive tree, then, must have been pre- served. Dropping the figure : they shall be brought into the same Church in which the Gentile Chris- tians now are ; and this is their own Church. In coming into it, they are but coming back again into their own C'aurch. How can this be, unless the visible Church be essentially one and the same imder both dispensations ? Eph. ii. 11-1 4, 19-22. Yer. 11. "Wherefore, remem- ber, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the fiesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which, is called the circumcision iu the flesh made by hands ; ' J. M. Mason's Works, vol. ii., p. 309. SCRIPTURAL REPRESENTATIONS. 261 12. Tluit at that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens iVoni the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, hav- ing ni) hope, and without God in the world. 13. But nnw, in Christ Jesns, ye, who sometime ■were far off, are made nigh, by the blood of Christ. 14. For he is our peace, who- hath made botli one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." Can there be any doubt wdiat " commonwealth of Israel " it is, in which the Gentiles, once " aliens," are now made " citizens ? " Can it be any other than the visible Church to which Israel belonged? or what " covenants of promise," to which they, " once strangers," have been " brought nigh ? " Can it be any other than the " covenants of promise " upon which God's Church is built? Or in what the Gentile and the Jew have now been made " both one," by " breaking down the middle wall of parti- tion between them ? " Can it be anything else than the visible Church of God ? The Apostle proceeds: — Yer. 19. — ''Now, there- fore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household 262 THE 8UB,JECTS OF BAPTISM. of God." Fellow-citizens with what saints? The Old Testament saints, bejond a question ; fellow-citi- zens with Abraham, Moses, David and Isaiah. Of what " household of God " does the Apostle speak ? Of the household to which these Old Testament saints belonged. Ver. 20. — " And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone ; 21. In whom all the building, fitly framed togethei-, grow- eth into a holy temple in the Lord. 22. In whom ye also are builded together, for a habitation of God through the Spiiit." Of what "holy temple" does the Apostle here speak ? Of the Church spiritual ? No. For of the Church spiritual he declares, " other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Christ Jesus" (1. Cor. iii. 2). The visible Church alone, can be said to be built upon " the foundation of the Apostles cmd Prophets^ Jesns Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." And it is only the one visible Church which has existed under both the Old and the New Testament dispensations, that can be said to embrace in its foundations, at once, the Apostles and Prophets. THE FIKST CHRISTIAN CHUKCH PURGED. 263 § 52. The first Christian Church hut the Old Testa- ment Church purged of the Apostasy. The essential unity of the Church, under the Old and New Testament dispensations, appears just as plainly in the history of "The Acts," as it does in Paul's Epistles. The first Christian Church existed before the day of Pentecost. " And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples^ and said (the number of the names together were about a hundred and twenty), men and hrethren :" (Acts i. 15, 16). These hundred and twenty disciples^ brethren., formed the first Christian Church ever existing on eai-tli ; and we find them exercising one of the high- est functions of a Church, in the choice of an Apos- tle in the place of Judas (see Acts, i. 16-26). This Church it was that was gathered in Jerusalem, on the (lay of Pentecost, " And when the day of Pente- cost was fully come, they loere all with one accord in one place" (Acts, ii. 1). And to this Church the three thousand converted on the day of Pentecost were added : " Then they that gladly received the Word were baptized ; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts, ii. 41.) Now, these "hundred and twenty," including the Apostles, never received Christian baptism. They 26i THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. had been baptized, in all probability, by Jolm, or by Christ's disciples ; but this baptism, as has been shown in § 29, and as all modern Baptist writers ad- mit, was not Cin-istian baptism ; nor could it take the place of Ciiristian baptism, as Paul decides in the case of certain disciples at Ephesus (see Acts, xix. 1-5). They were also baptized " with the Holy Ghost and with fire" (Acts ii. 2-4): but let the reader notice, (1,) tliev were a Church before this baptism, and ex- ercised the functions of a Church in the choice of an Apostle ; and (-2,) baptism with the Holy Ghost was not Christian baptism, in the distinctive sense of that term, nor could it take the place of Christian bnptism, as is evident from Peter's administering Christian baptism to those in the house of Cornelius, after they had been baptized with the Holy Ghost. (See Acts, X. 44-48.) Admitting that these " hundred and twenty " never received Christian baptism, Mr. Alex. Campbell at- tempts to evade the force of the argument therefrom, by saying, " When a person is appointed by God to set up an institution, he is not himself to be regard- ed as a subject of that institution. Some one must commence the institution — there must be some one to commence Christian baptism ; that could not be done till Jesus had died, was buried, and rose again." "This evasion of the difficulty will not answer. THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH PURGED. 265 Abraham set up the institution of circumcision, and yet he was himself circumcised, Aaron, the first Jewish high priest, was consecrated just as were his successors. Why, then, did not these hundred and twenty receive Christian baptism." ' To this question we can give but one answer, if we answer it in accordance with^the teachings of Scripture. The Jewish Church, as a body, had apos- tatized from God ; and this, their apostasy, was consummated by the crucifixion of Clirist, their Messiah. This crowning act of apostasy being the act of their rulers, was regarded by God, and treated, as the act of the people at large. " The God of our fathers hath glorified his son Jesus ; whom ye deliv- ered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go ; But ye de- nied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a mur- derer to be granted unto you ; and killed the Prince of Life, — And now, brethren, I wot that through ig- norance ye did it, as did also your rulers" (Acts, iii. 13, li, 15, 17), is Peter's address to the Jews, at the gate of the temple, shortly after the day of Penre- cost. In consequence of this apostasy, the Jewish Church, as a body, was cut off. Ere this apostasy was consummated, however, a N. L. Rice on Baptism, p. 208. 12 266 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. few had received the Messiah, and " believed on his name ; and to them had he given power to become the sons of God" (John, i. 12). Thej had no part in the guilty act which filled np the measure of the in- iquity of their people (Matt, xxiii. 32). And, there- fore, in the excision of that people, they were not included. God separated here, as he did in the days of ISToah, and in the case of Sodom. The apostasy was cut off; the election remained. These "hun- dred and twenty" had been initiated into the Chm-ch, at eight days old, by circumcision ; a rite which, from the days of Abraham to the day of Pentecost, was the only initiatory rite of the Church of God (for nothing is more certain than that neither the "baptism of John," nor that of Christ's disciples whilst their master remained with them, were initia- tory rites into any Church). At the time of the cru- cifixion, they were members of the Church, in good standing, and they never lost that standing. The excision of "the apostasy," simply purged the Church of God ; not affecting the integrity of that Church ac all. The part not exscinded, remained, constituting the true, visible Church of God on earth. And around this purged Old Testament Church, as its nucleus, the New Testament Church was collected. Since the day of Pentecost, and the institution of Christian baptism, that baptism is the THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHTRCH PURGED. 267 initiatory rite into tlie Clnircli of God ; and all who enter that Chnrch (including the circnmcised Jews, who had lost their clmrch-standing by being exscind- ed with " the Apostasy), must receive it. These "hundred and twenty" never received it, for the simple and sufficient reason that they were already in the Church, inducted in infancy by circumcision, and they had no need to enter. How perfectly does this history in the book of Acts agree with the representations given us in other portions of Scripture, especially by Paul in his va- rious Epistles. 268 THE SUBJECTS OF BAJTISM. CHAPTEK YI § 53. Christ's Recognition of Infant Membership in the Church. Matt. xix. lS-16. Mark, x. 13-16. Lulie, xviii. 15-17. § 5i. Christ's re-commission of Peter. John, xxi. 15. § 55. Peter's preaching of Christian Baptism. Acts, ii. 38, 39, and iii. 24-26. § 56. Significant SUence of the Jews. § 53. Matt. XIX. 13-15. Marie, X. 13-16. Luke, XYIII. 15-17. Matt. xix. Ver. 13. "Tlien were brought unto him little childi-en, that he should put his hands on them, and pray ; and his disciples rebuked them. 14. But Jesus said, Suflfer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me ; /br of such is the Jcingdom of Hea/oen. 15. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence." Mark, x. Ver. 13. " And they brought young chil- dren to him, that he should touch them ; and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 14. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased. Christ's recognition of infant membership, 269 and said unto them, Suffer tlie little cliildren to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15. Verily, I say unto you, Wliosoever shall not receiye the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein, 16. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." Luke, xviii, Ver, 15, "And they brought unto him also infants, that he should touch them ; but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them, 16. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is the Icingdom of God. 17. Yerily I say unto you, "Whosoeyer shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in nowise enter therein." As preliminary to an exposition of our Lord's words, " For of such is the kingdom of Heaven, (God)," we ask the reader to remark : 1. Tlie persons brought to Jesus were little chil- dren, in the proper sense of that phrase. Matthew styles them " little children ;" Mark, " young chil- dren," and Luke, "infants," (l/rejphe); and Mark 270 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. records tlie fact, that " he took them up in his arms, and blessed them," 2. These infants were brought to Jesus, "that he should put his hands on them, and pray," (Matt.); " put his hands upon them, and bless them," (Mark) ; and not for bodily healing, as Dr. Gill imagines. 3. Our Lord's words must be understood in a sense in which they will convey a rebuke to his disciples ; and a rebuke correspondent to the con- duct, on their part, which has called forth that rebuke. The offence committed by his disciples must have been a serious offence in our Lord's account; for this is the only instance, in the whole course of his life, in which we read of him, "the meek and lowly" one, that "he was much dis- pleased^^ with his disciples. As the displeasure of Jesus must have been a righteous displeasure, nothing short of a rebuke will be the proper expres- sion of it." Turn we now to an examination of our Lord's words, "for of such is the kingdom of Heaven, (God)." 1. ^'■Kingdom of Heaven, {God)^ The word here translated kingdom, is a word of more extensive signification than our English word kingdom ; being used, as Campbell remarks, to express the ideas expressed by our two words reign and Christ's kecognition of infant membership. 271 Wlierever it is used in connection with such phrases as "is come unto you," "is at hand," or the like, it is evidently to be understood in the sense of Mes- siah's reign, as in Matt. iii. 2. "Eepent ye, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." In other instances, it is to be understood in the proper sense of our Eng- lish word, kingdom ; and it is used to designate " the religious constitution, under which subjects were to > be gathered to God by his Son, and a society to be formed, which was to subsist, first, in more imper- fect circumstances on earth, but afterwards to api jar complete in the world of glory." (Dod- driu-j.) Hence, "the kingdom of Heaven, or of God," is sometimes used as equivalent to the visible Church on earth, as in Matt. xiii. 47. "The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind." At other times, it is used to signify the Church of God in her state of glory, as in 1 Cor. xv. 50. "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." 2. " Of suchP On this phrase. Dr. Carson remarks : "'The kingdom of Heaven is of such^ cannot pos- sibly mean that the kingdom of Heaven is of them. The term such does not signify identity^ cannot sig- nify identity, but likeness." ' " Carson on Baptism, p. 200. 272 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. Let lis see if Scriptural usage will bear out this positive assertion of Dr. Carson. Kom. i. 23. "Wlio knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things" {i. e., the very crimes which Paul has just before specified), " are worthy of death; not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." 1 Cor. v. 11. "But now, I have written unto you, not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one " (^. e., with the very persons specified), "no, not to eat." Gal. v. 21. "Envyings, murdei's, revellings, drunkenness, and such like" (here, such signifies likeness; but the word used in the Greek is different from the word used by our Lord, in the passage under examination), "of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do siich things " (here, the word used is the same with that used by our Lord, and evidently means, these very things, env_y- ings, murders, and such like), "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Tim. vi. 4, 5. "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, sti-ife, railing, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of cor- rupt minds and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness. From such " {i. e., from the Christ's kecognition of infant mkmbersiiip. 273 very persons just described), "witlidraw thyself." 3 Jiio. vii. 8. " Dec.iuse that for liis name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such " ii. e., these very persons, and others like them), "that we might be fellow helpers to the truth." Acts xix. 25. "Whom he," Demetrius, " called together, with men of like occupation " (the word here translated like is the same rendered such in the passage under examina- tion; and "like occupation" here means of the occu- pation of Demetrius, as is evident from what fol- lows), "and said. Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth." These instances of the use of this phrase "^ such,^^ have not been selected to serve a purpose; but turning to Robinson's New Testament Lexicon, we have given all the instances there cited, excepting one, viz. Mark, ix. 37, a passage very similar to the one under examination. And now we ask the reader, does Scriptural usage give any coun- tenance to Dr. Carson's remark, " ' The kingdom of Heaven is of such,^ cannot possibly mean that the kingdom of Heaven is of themV On the contrary, Scriptural usage will allow us to understand "the kingdom of Heaven is o{ such^'' in no other way than either the kingdom of Heaven is of them, or of them and those like them^ Dr. Gill explains the passage we are examining as 12* 274 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. follows (and the explanation of eveiy Baptist expos- itor, whose writings we have seen, is substantially the same), " It is, as if our Lord would say, don't drive away these children from my person and pre- sence ; they are lively emblems of the proper sub- jects of a Gospel Church-state, and of such as shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; by these I may in- struct and point out to you what converted persons should be, who have a place in my Church below, and expect to enter into my kingdom and glory above — they are, or ought to be, like such children, harmless and inoffensive, free from rancor and malice." To this exposition we object: 1, It assigns to the phrase " of such" an unusual meaning, and one which, we believe, it never has in Scrij^ture. 2, It makes our Lord say that which is in no way perti- nent to the occasion. The children were brought to him ex^^ressly, that he might pray for and bless them. 3, Thus understood, our Lord's words convey no reproof to his disci]:)les, and yet they are spoken when he is "much displeased " with them. We would understand by " the kingdom of heaven or God" here, the visible Church; and most Baptist writers agree with us on this point. That Church, however, was the Old Testament Church, for " the day of Pentecost had not yet come. These children chkist's kkcognition of infant membership. 275 being the cliildren of Jewish parents, had, doubtless, been introduced as infant members into that Church, by their reception of circumcision when eight days old, and tliis, it is admitted on all hands, was by di- vine appointment. If, now, we understand our Lord's words " for of such is the kingdom of heaven " simply to assert the church-membership of these " little ones, infants," they assert nothing but what is confessedly a fact ; and just the very fact, of all others, which is pertinent to the occasion. "What more con- clusive reason can he assign, why parents should be encouraged to bring their infant children to him, the Messiah, the Son of God, that he may bless them, than that God himself has included them in his pre- cious covenant? What more solemn rebuke can he administer to his disciples than by saying in sub- stance, God does not disdain to notice these little ones ; and in casting them off ye are making your- selves wiser than God, and setting youselves in op- position to him. Thus understanding our Lord's words, how natu- rally does the declaration follow, "Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God, as a little child " {i. e. in the teachable spirit of a little child), " he shall not enter therein." It was the overweening confidence of the disciples in their own judgment, which had led them to do that 276 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. for which our Lord has reproved them ; because they were guided by their own sense of what was fit and proper, rather than by the plain instructions of God's Word, they had fallen into this error. And now, he would guard them against such danger for the future. But, after all, it may be said, these children were not baptized. Certainly not. Christian baptisms had not then been instituted. These infants were, in virtue of their circumcision, members of the visible Church (the Jewish Church, not as yet finally cast off, for the Jews had not then, by the crucifixion of their Messiah, " filled up the measure of their ini- quities"), and on this account, even had Christian baptism then been practised, there would have been no propriety in administering it to them. In the words of the Lord Jesus, " Sufier little chil- dren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Mngdora of heaven^'' we have his dis- tinct and emphatic recognition of infant membership in the Church of God (the Old Testament Church it is true, but not on that account the less the Church of God) as existing toward the close of his public ministry, and this, without the slightest intimation that such membership was ever to cease in that Church. On the contrary, the recognition is made in circumstances strongly implying its continuance. Christ's ke- commission of peter. 277 since it is made in rebuking the disposition mani- fested by his disciples, those by whom the requisite changes in tliat Church were to be carried forward and perfected, to account such membership of little value. "So 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." It is agreed on all hands that in these words and those recorded in the two verses immediately follow- ing, we have " our Lord's renewal of Peter's ajjpoint-- ment to the ministerial and apostolic office." Peter's denial of his master " had, undoubtedly, rendered him unworthy of the Apostleship ; for how could he be capable of instructing others in the faith, who had basely revolted from it? He had been made an Apostle, but it was along witli Judas, and from the time when he had abandoned his post, he had like- wise been deprived of the honor of Apostleship. Now, therefore, the liberty as well as authority of teaching is restored to him. Such a restoration was 278 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. necessary, both for Peter and for his hearers. For Peter, that he might the more boklly execute his office, being assured of the calling with which Christ had again invested him. For his hearers, that the stain which attached to his person, might not be the occasion of despising the Gospel. To lis, also, in the present day, it is of very great import- ance that Peter comes forth to us as a new man, from whom the disgrace that might have lessened his authority has been removed" (Calvin's Commen- tary). Let the reader notice now the terms in which this renewal of Peter's apostolic authority is first given — " Feed my lamhsy And let him remember, at the same time, that in the Old Testament Scriptures, Christ is described as one who "shall feed his flock like a shepherd; shall gather the larnbs with his arms, and carry thejn in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." (Isa. xl. 11.) And let him remember, too, the rebuke which, a little while before, Christ has given Peter, in common with the other disciples, in his words, " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Mark, x. 14.) And then ask himself, How must Peter have under- stood his Lord's words — " Feed my lambs T^ Do they not contain a very strong intimation, to say the Peter's preaching of christian baptism. 279 least of it, that infant-mcmborsliip is to continue in the Church of God, under Peter's apostleship? Are thej not unaccountable, on the supposition that such membership is, from that time, to cease? § 55. Acts, 11. 38, 39; III. 24-26. Acts, ii. 38, 39. " Tlien Peter said unto them, Ke- peut, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call," Acts, iii. 24—26. " Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the pro- phets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his ini- quities." The passage first quoted above is the conclusion 280 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. of Peter's address to the multitude, on the Day of Pentecost. Tlie other is the conclusion of a public address of his, delivered a few days later, in very similar circumstances. In each case, he is evidently urging upon his hearers an immediate repentance, for the reason that this was emphatically their day of grace, and a day of grace granted them in fulfill- ment of God's covenant with Abraham. (Acts, iii. 25, 26.) When, then, in his first address, he says, " the promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off," to what promise does he refer? Undoubtedly, we think, to the promise which God had included in his covenant with Abraham. And when we turn to that promise, we find it answering, in every particular, to Peter's words, as here re- corded. " And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their gene- rations, for an everlasting covenant ; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." (Gen. xvii. 7.) There is the promise, " to you and to your children ;" " for a father of many nations have I made thee." (Gen. xvii. 5.) There is the promise, as Paul ex- plains it in Kom. iv. 13-17, " to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Let the reader notice now, that this address was made by Peter, on the occasion when Christian, petek's preaching of christian baptism. 281 baptism was first preaclied to tlie people. That it was addressed exclusively to Jews and Jewish pro- selytes, at Jerusalem, and by Peter, himself a Jew. That the only way into the Church of Christ, of which any of the parties had a knowledge then, was through the Old Testament Church, for it was not until some time after this, at the house of Cornelius, that the first Gentile was received directly into the Church ; and from Peter's conduct on that occasion, it is evident, that up to that time, neither he nor the other apostles understood God's purposes in this par- ticular. And we ask, is not Peter's paraphrase of God's promise to Abraham, " for the promise is to you and to your children," unaccountable, if the ini- tiatory rite into the Church of God is now, for the first time, to be refused to the children of the believer? How must the Jews have understood Peter, when he calls upon them, by repentance and ba})tism, to enter the Christian Church, assigning as the special reason why they should do so, God's promise to Abraham, which was made, says he, " to you and to your children?" It would be strange indeed, had they understood him to speak of any other way than that in which they and their fathers had always entered into the Church of God, from the time that promise was given — i. e., the infant 282 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. children entering into company with the believing parent. § 56. SigniJiGant silence of the Supposing that the change in the constitution of the Church of God, for which the Baptist contends — viz., the abrogation of infant membership in that Church — had been made, the question at once arises, " How must such a measure have operated upon the feelings of a believing Jew ?" " Tenacious, in a high degree, of their peculiari- ties, regarding their relation to Abraham as momen- tous to their individual happiness, and as the most prominent feature of their national glory ; knowing, too, that their children were comprised with them- selves in the covenant of God ; it is not possible that the Hebrews could have submitted, without reluc- tance, to a constitution which was to strip them of their favorite privilege, to dissever their tenderest ties, to blot the names of their little ones out of the register of God's people, to treat them afterwards, from generation to generation, as the little ones of the heathen man and the publican ! On every other prerogative, real or imaginary, their suspicion was awake, their zeal was inflammable, their passions SIGNIFICANT SILENCE OF THE JEWS. 283 intractable ; but toward tliis, their grand prerog- ative, they evince a tameness which required them to foi'get, at ouce, that they were men, and that they were Jews. " Search the records of the New Testament from one end to the other, and you will not find the trace of a remonstrance, an object, or a difficulty on this subject, from the mouth of a believing or an unbeliev- ing Israelite ! The former never parted with a tittle of even the Mosaic law, till the will of God was so clearly demonstrated as to remove every doubt ; the latter lay constantly in wait for matter of accusation against the Christians. Nothing could have prompt- ed him to louder clamor, to fiercer resistance, or to heavier charges, than an attempt to overturn a funda- mental principle of the covenant with Abraham ; nothing could have more startled and distressed the meek and modest disciple. Yet that attempt is made ; that fundamental principle of the covenant with Abraham is overturned ; and not a friend com- plains, nor a foe resents ! What miracle of enchant- ment has so instantaneously relieved the conscience of the one, and calmed the wrath of the other? Where is that wayward vanity, that captious criti- cism, that combustible temperament, that insidious, implacable, restless enmity, which by night and by 284- THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. day, in country and in town, haunted the steps of the Apostles, and treasured up actions, words, looks, for the hour of convenient vengeance ? All gone ; dis- sipated in a moment! The proud and persecuting Pharisee rages at the name of Jesus Christ ; fights for his traditions and his phylacteries ; and utters not a syllable of dissent from a step which completely annihilates the covenant with Abraham ! that very covenant fi'om which he professes to derive his whole importance ! "We can believe a good deal, but not quite so much as this. " Should it be alleged that the Jews did probably oppose the exclusion of their infants from the New Testament Church, although the sacred writers have omitted to mention it : we reply, "That although many things have happened which were never recorded — and, therefore, that the mere silence of an historian is not, in itself, conclu- sive against their existence — yet no man may assume, as proof, the existence of a fact which is unsupported by either history or tradition. On this ground, the plea which we have stopped to notice is perfectly nugatory. "In the present case, however, the probabilities look all the other way. We mean, that if the Jews had made the opposition, which, on the supposition BIGNIFICANT SILENCE OF THE JEWS. 285 we are combating, it is inconceivable they should not have made, it would have been so interwoven with the origin, constitution, progress and transac- tions of the primitive Church, as to have rendered an omission of it almost impossible. " The question about circumcision and the obliga- tion of the Gentile converts to keep the law of Moses, shook the Churches to their centre ; and was not put at rest but bj a final decision of the Apos- tles and elders (see Acts, xv.). Now, as circumcision was the seal of the Abrahamic covenant, which ex- pressly constituted infants members of the Church, is it to be imagined that so hot a controversy should be kindled about the ensealing rite, and none at all about the privilege sealed ? or that a record should have been carefully preserved of the disputes and decision concerning the sign, and no record at all kept of the tfdng signified, which imparted to the former all its interest and value ? "It is, therefore, utterly incredible that the resist- ance of the Jews to the Christian arrangement for shutting out their children from the Church of God, should have passed unnoticed. But no notice of any such resistance is contained in the New Testament. The conclusion is, that no such resistance was ever offered : and the conclusion from this again is, that 286 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. no cause for it ever existed ; that is, that the infants of professing parents were considered as holding, under the new economy, the same place and rela- tion which thej held under the old." ^ * J. M. Mason's "Works, vol ii. pp. Z61-Z11. mFAUT aLEMBEKSHIP RECOGNIZED. 28 i CHAPTEK YII. INFANT MEitBERSHIP RECOGNIZED BY GIVING TO CHILDREN THE PECULIAR TITLES BELONGING TO CHURCH MEM- BERS. § 57. Names given to Church Members in Scripture. § 53. Eph. i. 1, and vi. 1-3 ; Col. i. 1, 2, and ui. 20. § 59. Titus, i. 6. § 60. 1 Cor. vii. 12-14. § 57. Names given to Church Members in the days of Christ and the Apostles. The name " Chnstian''^ was not given to the fol- lowers of Jesus, until some years after the death of our Lord (see Acts, xi. 26). It eventually became the common name by which the members of the Church were designated, yet such was not the case dm-ing the days of the Apostles. It is a name used but twice in the Avhole N'ew Testament; once by Agrippa, when he addresses Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian''^ (Acts, xxvi. 28), and once by Peter, in his first epistle, written about A. D. 63, " Yet if any man suffer as a Chi'istian^ let him not be ashamed" (1 Peter, iv. 16). 288 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. The names which the Jews gave them, were in- tended as names of reproach ; such as Galileans (Acts, ii. T), and N'asarines (x^cts, xxiv. 5). The names which Christians assumed for them- selves, and by M-hich they are ordinarily designated in the New Testament Scriptures, are, disciples (Acts, i. 15), hrethren (Acts, i. IQ), faithful or heliev- ers (Acts, ii. 44), saints or holy ones (Acts, ix. 13), elect (2 John, i.), and people of God (1 Peter, ii. 10). Of these, the names most commonly used in the I*^ew Testament are (agioi) saints or holy ones, and (pistoi) faithful, helievers, or {pi pisteuontes or pis- teusantes) those believing or those that believed. These titles were in use among the Jews before the coming of Christ, and are frequently to be met with, especially the title saints, in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament Scriptures, " Originally, these terms were descrij^tive of moral quality, but in process of time, the common acceptation of them became so different from their original application, that they implied nothmg more than the distinctive appellation of the Christian community, composed both of Jews and Gentiles," ' i. e. they were used to designate the Church membership of those to whom ' Colmaa's Ancient Christianity, p. 102. INFANT MEMBERSHIP RECOGNIZED. 289 they were applied. Xo more conclusive evidence of this could be given, than that afforded in the fact, tliat whilst Paul addresses some of his epistles to the Churches, e. g. his Epistle to the Galatians (Gal. i. 2), his first and second Epistles to the Thessalonians (I Thes. i. 1, and 2 Thes. i. 1), he addresses others to '■^he saints,^^ or ^'saints and faith if xtl^'' e. y. his Epistle to the Romans (Rom. i. 7), his first and second Epistles to the Corinthians (1 Cor. i. 2, and 2 Cor. i. 1), and his epistles to the Ephesians (Eph. i. 1), the Philippians (Phil, i, 1), and the Colossians (Col. i. 2). In tliis, the earlier Christian Fathers followed the usage of the Aj^ostles. The titles Saint and Faith- ful or Believer, were given by them to very young children, not as persons regenerated by the Holy Spirit, or who had believed to the salvation of the soul, as the advocates of baptismal regeneration con- tend, but as those who had been separated unto God's service, and admitted to tlie visible Church. For abundant evidence of the use of these terms, in this sense, the reader is referred to " Taylor's Facts and Evidences," pp. 100-113.' ' Among other instances, Taylor quotes certain sepulchral inscrip- tions, copied from the Catacombs at Rome, dating back to the time of the primitive persecutions, such as, " Cyriacus, a faithful or be- liever^ died, aged eight days less than three years." 13 290 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. And here, we ask the reader to notice just what it is for which we contend, respecting the use of the terms saints and faithful or believers. It is not that they are always nsed in the sense of Church mem- bers ; but that they are often used in this sense (as when used by Paul in the address of several of his epistles), and that we are to determine, in each par- ticular instance, whether they are used in this or their original sense, by an examination of the con- text. In other words, that these titles were used in the Apostles' day very much as we use the title Christian at the present day. As instances of the use of the terms {agioi) saints or holy ones and {pistoi) faithful or believers, in the sense of Church members, and their application to children, we quote, Eph. i. 1 ; Col. i. 1, 2 ; Titus, i. 6, 7 ; 1 Cor. vii. 14. § 58. Ephesians 1. 1, and Colossians 1. 1, 2. Eph. i. ver. 1. " Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at " Eustafia the mother, places this in commemoration of her son Polychromio, a/aiower of his might" (v. 10). Between his address to wives and husbands, and that to servants and masters, Paul addresses himself to cJiildren and jparents. Does any one ask. What children and parents? we answer in this, as in the other cases, to such as are saints and faithfuls, as is determined by the address of the Epistle. And this, our conclusion, is confirmed by Paul's arguments, " Children, obey your parents in the Lord j for this is right. Honor thy father and mother (which is the jSrst commandment with promise). And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath ; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Eph. vi. 1, 0, 3.) Let us suppose an analogous case. A person who has long been interested in the growth of the city of Xorfoik, and has labored so much and so faitlifully 294: THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. to promote its growth, as to be regarded with great respect by the inhabitants of that city, has, in his old. age, published a letter addressed. To the Citizens of Norfolk. In this letter, after dwelling npon certain matters which concern the general growth of the city, and to which it becomes all alike to give heed ; toward the close of his letter, he gives certain specific advice, to " merchants and mechanics," to " the rich and to the poor," to " masters and servants." Would any one hesitate to understand the advice " to mer- chants and mechanics," as intended for such mer- chants and mechanics as were citizens of I^orfolk ? Supposing, now, that two thousand years after this letter is written, the question should arise, "Were mechanics admitted to the rights of citizenship in ^Norfolk two thousand years ago ? This .letter is pro- duced ; no one questions its genuineness or its authen- ticity. The letter bears the superscription, To the Citizens of Norfolk. Attention is called to the fact, that in the course of the letter, not only " the rich and the poor," " masters and servants," are specifi- cally addressed, but also "merchants and mechanics.'''' "Would not this fact alone be decisive of the question with every ingenuous inquirer ? To the idea that the children here addressed were such as had been received into the Church upon their own credible profession of faith, we object. ENFANT MEMBERSHIP RECOGNIZED, 295 1. TJie duty enjoined upon children, " obey your parents in the Lord," is a dutj binding upon chil- dren from the first dawn of moral agency, and is enforced by reference to the fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother," a command- ment confessedly binding from the same period of life. And both the duty enjoined, and the command- ment by which it is enforced, have an especial refer- ence to early childhood. 2. The exhortation addressed to fathers, which is but the counterpart of that addressed to children, would be out of place if the children were grown, or nearly so. " And ye fathers, bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." If they were already intelligent believers, prepared to be received into the Church upon their own credible profession of faith, " bringing up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord " would be no longer needed by them ; the time for such treatment on the part of the parent would be passed. But understand Paul to speak of children in the ordinary acceptation of that term, and children who had been bi-ought into the Church, entered in the school of Christ, as children were under the Old Testament dispensation, and no more appropriate exhortation could be addressed to their believing parents than " bring them up in the nur- ture and admonition of the Lord." This is just the 296 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. sum and the substance of the parent's covenant en- gagements with respect to his children, in taking Jehovah to be " the God of his seed after him," as well as " his God." As already remarked, the case presented in the Epistle to the Colossians is substantially the same with that presented in Ephesians, the case which we have been examining. In these two Epistles, then, and they are the only ones in which Paul specifies different classes of persons as making up the churches addressed, he mentions children among those classes. § 59. Titus, I. 6. Yer. 6. "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful ihelieving) children, not accused of riot, or unruly. T. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God," Compare with this, 1. Timothy, iii. 4, 5. A bishop then must be, 4. " One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity : 5. (For if a man know not how to rule his own INFANT i>rEMBERSHIP KECOGNIZED. 297 house, liow shall he take care of the Church of God.)" Doddridge paraphrases this passage, " And let Jiim be one that hath believing children, if he have any that are grown '^^^." The interpolation of a phrase which so completely sets aside the natural meaning of the text, as this does, is taking a liberty with the Word of God, which nothing but the most obvious necessity can justify ; and for which, even then, we should have very clear authority from the context. If we disre- gard this plain rule of interpretation, the Word of God may be made to teach whatever the expositor pleases. No such necessity exists in the case before us. If we understand ''''faithful childrei'C here, in the sense of children that are Church members, we get an intelligible interpretation of the text without adding one word to what Paul has written, or taking one word from it. In favor of this interpretation, we urge : 1. It assigns to the word "faithful" a common Scriptural sense of that word ; and to the word " children" its most common signification. 2. It harmonizes Paul's directions respecting the qualifications of a bishop, given to Titus, with those given to Timothy, directions wliich were undoubtedly 13* 298 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. intended to be one in meaning. To " rnle well one's own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity," in the Scriptural sense of the word rule (see Kom. xiii. 3), is to " bring up one's children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," and this is just what a parent covenants to do when his children are made " faithful," are entered as infant members in the Church of God. 3. It makes the fitness of a person, for the office of a bishop, to depend upon something for which he can properly be held responsible, and not upon some- thing which rests with a sovereign God alone. No parent can be held directly responsible for the true conversion of his child to God. But every parent may most properly be held responsible for entering into covenant with God on behalf of his children, and for the faithful discharge of his covenant obli- gations. There can be no clearer evidence that such is the common view of parental responsibilities en- tertained by the Church at large, than the fact that no Church has ever obeyed this injunction of Paul in the sense which Doddridge and most Baptist expositors give it. There are bishops (in the Scrip- tural sense of the term bishop) in all our Christian Churches, having children " that are grown up " and yet unconverted, and no one thinks of this as dis- qualifying them for holding the office of a bisliop. INFANT MEMBERSHIP RECOGNIZED, 299 Ver. 12. " If any brother have a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13. And the woman that hath a husband that be- lieveth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband : else were your children un- clean, but now are they holy " {agia^ saints or holy ones). The law of Moses expressly prohibited the inter- marriage of the Jews witli the heathen Canaanites. This law is recorded in Deut. vii. 2-4. " And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with them nor shew mercy upon them ; neither shalt thou make mar- riages with them ; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from fol- lowing me, that they may serve other gods." Un- der this law, Ezra required the Jew who had mar- 300 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. ried a wife from among the Canaanites, not only to put away liis wife, but required that the children be sent away with their heathen mother (Ezra, x. 3). Such a law as this was in perfect keeping with the spirit of the Mosaic economy, one great object of which was, to keep the Israelites apart, a separate nation in the earth, until the coming of Christ. Most of the diflerences about doctrine which har- rassed the Church in the days of the Apostles, ori- ginated in the over-zealous, and often mistaken attachment of the converted Jews to the law of Moses. Bearing these facts in mind, it will be no matter of surprise to us that in the Church at Corinth — a Christian Churcli, in the midst of a heathen city, and yet embracing among its members many converted Jews (see Acts, xviii. 1-17) — the difhculty, which Paul is here resolving, should have arisen. That difficulty is about the continuance of the marriage connection between a believing hus- band or wife, and an unbelieving partner. That difficulty Paul resolves in v. 12, 13, " If any brother hath a wife that belie veth not, and she be 23leased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the woman that hath a husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him." Then, in v. 14, as we understand him, Paul gives — 1st. A reason for this decision of INFAJSTT MEMBERSHIP RECOGNIZED. 301 his^ "for the uubelieviug husband is sanctified by " (or to^ McKnight) " the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by" (or to) " the husband." And, 2d. A statement of a fact, which, u-pon admitted Jewish principles, pi'oved his reason fm' his decision to he a valid one, " else were your children unclean, but now are they holy :" — the expression " else^'' {epei ara, othenoise, certainly, McKnight) marking this connection between the latter clause and the one preceding it. The use of the word " sanctify''' {agiazo) in the sense of Jpurify, cleanse, is very common in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament Scriptures (see Lev. viii. 10, 15, 30), and in the same sense it is frequently used by Paul (see 1 Tim. iv. 5 ; Heb. ix. 13). An unclean {unsanctified) person was one who might not be associated with by God 's people. "And Peter said unto them" — i. e. Cornelius and those assembled in the house — " Ye know how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company with, or come unto, one of another nation, but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean'''' (Acts, x. 28). When, then, Paul affirms, " the unbelieving husband is sanctified Jy " (or to) "the wife;" he means that such a husband is rendered fit for intimate 302 THE SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. association with, to the wife. This is just what he needs to affirm in solving the difficulty which has been prepensed to him. Then follows Paul's proof of what he ]ias just affirmed, "f^Z.se" (otherwise, certainly) "were your children unclean, but now are they liolyP The law of Mu. do 60 CONFORMITY, ) THE CONVENT BELL, a Tale, f • TIIK ROCKITF. ..,^.. .,.,.,..„, do. 50 CHAKLOTTE ELTZA'RETH'S WOEKS. Uniform ediMon,12 'vols., IS^mo. &r sheep. PWc« |6 00. ,mdot^ We have reocived numerous commendatory notices of Charlotte Elisabeth's works, from the religiovs papers of all denominations of Christians in this country; and for tha benefit of those who have not supplied themselves with her books, we insert here a few which are believed to be a fair specimen of the opinion of the Press. " Mrs. Charlotte Hizabeth Tonna is one of the most gifted, popular, and truly instruc ■ tive writers of the present day. In clearness of thought, variety of topics, richness of imagery, and elegance of expression, it is scarcely too much to say, that she is the rival of Hannah More, or to predict that her works will be as extensively and profitably read as those of the most delightful female writer of the last generation. All her writings are pervaded by justness and purity of sentiment, and the highest reverence for morality and religion ; and may safely be commended as of the highest interest and value to every family in the Xs.nA.''^— Morning Ifews. " If Charlotte Elizabeth were not one of the most attractive and useful wi-iters of the age, we might perhaps be ready to say that slie was in danger of surfeiting tlie public appetite, by her numerous productions ; but as it is, we are constrained to say the oftener she shows herself as an author the better. Her works never tire ; and we are never even in doubt in respect to their useful tundiency."— Religious Spectator. ** Charlotte Elizabeth's works have become so universally known, and are so highly and deservedly appreciated in this country, that it has become almost superfluous to mention them. We doubt exceedingly whether there has been any female writer since Mrs. Han- nah More, whose works are likely to be so extensively and so profitably read as hers. Bhe thinks deeply and accurately, is a great anylist of the human heart, and witha) clothes her thoughts in most appropriate and eloquent language."— ^ZJany Argm. LIFE (IF AKOIilBALD Ai.KaA: NEW EDITION.— FOURTU THOUSAND. LIFE OF ARCHIBAI.D ALEXANDER, D.D. BY BEV. JAMES W. ALEXANDER, D.D. One vol., 8vo., $2 50, cloth ; extra gilt, and half calf, $3 50 ; morocco $5. " It will be cherished and be r^inked as one of the most finished and most complete biographies. Dr. Alexander was one of the greatest and best men that this country baa ever afforded, in Church or State." — Baptist Cincimiati Journal and Messenger. " As a memorial of a beloved and venerated teacher, and of an able, learned, and faithful minister of the gospel, it wiU be welcomed by thousands, and read with interest." — Christian Observer. " This judicious and well-written biography has a two-fold interest in the historical and religious life of its subject."—^. F. {Episcopal) Churchmwn. " His intellect was one of gi-eat grasp, and yet extreme nicety of perception ; his elo- quence not often equalled, and his vital piety such as few on earth attain to. Few men have made so deep and noble a mark upon the Christian Church of our country as Dr. Archibald Alexander."— CowHer & Enquirer. " It is repkte with surpassing interest to aW."— Presbyterian Banner, " The model biography."— JT. T. Observer. " We find the style of the work as admirable as its theme is interesting. When we say this memoir of his life, prepared in part from his own manuscripts, is in the highest degree instructive and engaging, we but faintly express our estimate of its value." — N. Y. Commercial. "It admirably illustrates the character of Dr. Alexander, and presents him as h« was known to his friends, simple and patriarchal in habits, clear and strong in his intellect, laborious in duty, paternal as an instructor of youth, and thoroughly sincere and free from all affectation in his piety." — Presbyterian. "This work has manifold claims upon the attention of the Christian public. With a simplicity well nigh rivalling childhood itself, he united vigor and grace of intellect, an extent of learning, and a power of eloquence, a depth of Christian feeling, and a general elevation and purity of character, which have rendered him pre-eminently a man of mark, not only in his own denomination, but throughout the whole Church." — Albany Argus. " A more valuable contribution to Christian biography has not been made, in any part of the world, during this centm'y. It is chiefly aiito-biographical, and possesses all the peculiar traits of the character of the author; and the editor has arranged the materials with consummate tact and good taste, supplying all deficiencies, and making an admira- ble work." — Baltimore American. " It traces Dr. Alexander's whole course from the cradle to the grave, showing the various inlluences that operated to the development of his faculties and the formation of bis character on the one hand, and the mighty power which he exerted for the benefit of the Church and the world on the other. The book contains an exact and breathing por- trait of the mind, the heart, and we may add, the face, of one of the most gifted, mosj honored, and most useful of our American clergymen." — Puritan Recorder. 50 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY CHAS. SCKIBNER. Fourth Thousand, [mprnved Eilitii.n. with a Nt- \v Index. CYCLOPEDIA OF MISSIONS. BY REV. HARVEY NEWCOMB. One vol., large Octavo, double columns, 700 pages. Price §3 00. Embrac- ing a Uomprelieusive View of all the Missionary Operations in the World, with Geographical Descriptions, Condition of the Unevangelized, &c. : together with the Religious Movements of the Age ; under Alphabeti- cal Arrangement ; Illustrated with an Original Frontispiece, from Rev. XX., 1-3, and Thirty Missionary Maps. TESTIMONIALS. " Missionary HonsB, Boston, Sept. 27, 1854. "It has sei'med to us for some time, that a work which shall exhibit the operations of the different Missionary Societies throughout the world, is very much needed. The num- ber of Christians in the United States, who desire this kind of information, is constantly increasing; indeed, we are often asked to point out the sources where it can be found. Hitherto we have been unable to give a satisfactory reply. "It has given us great pleasure, therefore, to hear of Mr. Nowcomb's intention to pre- pare a ' Cyclopedia of Missions.' His qualifications for such an undertaking we regard as somewhat rare ; and we have no doubt that he will supply a want that has been felt extensively in our Churches. We shall rejoice to hear that the enterprise is generally approved and patronised. "R. ANDERSON, "l S. B. TREAT, XSecretanes of th» S. L. POMROY, f A.B.V.F.M.» G. W. WOOD, J " Missionary Rooms, Boston, Dec. 1, 1853. " Rev. H. Newcomb.— Dear Sir— Your proposal to prepare and publish a Cyclopedia of Missions has been received with much pleasure. The want of such a book, presenting a comprehensive view of the fields, operations, and history of missions, derived from authentic sources of information, has been seriously felt by those who have occasion to investigate the subject. If the work is faithfully executed, as I cannot doubt it will be, it will prove highly useful and acceptable. Respectfully and truly yours, " EDW. BRIGHT, Jun., Corresponding Secretary " American Baptist Missionary Union.'" "New York, Oet.2\, 1853. "I cordially concur with others, better qualified than myself to judge in such a matter, as to the desirableness and importance of the work proposed to be published by Mr. New- comb. His previous publications, as well as the recommendation of the American Board of Commissioners to Foreign Missions, are a sufficient guaranty that his present task will be executed with fidelity and care; and I cannot doubt that it will be interesting and ngeful, not only to the Christian public, but to all who wish to keep up their acquaintance With the great movements of the age. "B. F. BUTLER." newcomb's cyclopedia of missions. 51 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO THE AUTHOR. From a distinguished Metlu>dist Minister. "I am more than ever satisfied that the plan of your book is the only one that will find favor with the various churches." From Rev. J. I'ayne. D.D., Mi/i6'io7iart/ Bishop of the Protestant Fpisoopal Church in West Africa. " I trust I feel too deeply the importance to the cause of missions of the enterprise in which you are engaged, not to be willing to do anything in my power for its advance- ment." From, Bev. F. De W. Ward, late Missionary in India. " A happier thought could hardly have occurred to your mind than the preparation of such a volume." Frotn Rev. J. ticudder. M.D., Missionary in India. " I wish you every success, my dear brother, in your excellent labors. I have no doubt that your work, when published, will be just that work which is so much needed." From Rev. Dr. Poor, Missionary in Ceylon. " May the sovereign and gracious Lord of the mission-harvest speed and prosper you in your great and good undertaking." From Be/0. Dr. Perkins, Oroomiah, May, 1S54. "The work you propose is exceedingly desirable and important; anrl judging from the fruits of your pen, which I have from time to time been so much favored as to receive, through our common friends, Mr. and Mrs. , I am happy in the belief that this great undertaking is fortunate in having fallen into your hands. With all ray heart, I wish you the fullest success." From Miss Cynthia Farrar, of the Ahmednuggur Mission. " We both (Mrs. Graves and herself) rqoice that the Lord has stirred up your bean, and mind to the work of preparing a comprehensive view of i From Bev. C. Byington, of the Choctww " I am glad you are engaged in this very work. There is need of it." From the New York {Baptist) Becorder. "Such a work, thoroughly prepared, will be of great practical value, giving to the friends of missions not only distinct and comprehensive views of their own denomina- tional fields, but of the fields occupied, and the labor performed by all branches of the Christian family. We believe the work to be worthy of patronage, and commend it to our readers." From a Pastor in the State of Mew York. " It gives me pleasure to hear that you are preparing a Cyclopedia of Missions. I have often felt the need of it." From a Pastor in Michigan. " I feel the need of such a work. At the West, we are not supplied with statistics, maps, history, kc, of missions, in such form and fulness as to meet our wants. We are often very much crippled in our efforts as Pastors, in presenting the work and wants of missions." 61 aENIUS AND FAITH; OR, r O E T 11 Y AND H E H G I N . BY IlEV. WM. O SCOTT. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price $1 00. "This work meets an important exigency in the literature of the day. It shows uc that genius and poetry on the one hand, and faith and religion on the other, instead of having separate and adverse interests, should be regarded as twin sisters and fellow- helpers in the great career of human happiness. The work has much sound philosophy and religion in it." — Puritan Recorder. THE EPOCH OF CREATION. THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE CONTRASTED WITH THE GEOLOGICAL THEORY. BY ELEAZEB LORD. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. U. W. DICKINSON, D.D. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price $1 00. " We have here a work for the study of the intellectual man of the world as well as the Christian man of G-od. The subject is discussed with masterly ability and with a force of logic which will impress conviction upon many doubting minds." — Troy Budget. " We are heartily glad to see this book. We ask Christian scliolars to read the volume; thinking learned men will find something here to think of. It is no child's book, it is not a bigot's book. It is a masterly defence of God's ancient word against modern theory, and demands attention." — N. Y. Observer. INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A PASTOR. BY REV. W3I. WISNER, D.D. 1 Tol., 12mo. Third edition, cloth. Price $1 00. " The writer is a shrewd, sensible, practical, and eminently experienced divine, in early life a lawyer, and all his life a thinking, earnest man." — iV. Y. Observer. " It is not a book of controversy, or extended stories ; it tells its truth unaffectedly and forcibly, and in so doing utters volumes of theology. A more suggestive work we have seldom seen. Its solemn facts seize upon the conscience and heart with a power that sur- passes all the force of rhetoric." — K. Y. Eoanyelint. A PASTOR'S LEOACY. BEING SERMON.S ON PRACTICAL SUBJECTS. BY TEE LATE REV. ERSKINE MASON, D.D. With a brief Memoir of the Author, by Rev. Wm. Adams, D.D. 1 vol. 8va with a Portrait. $2 00. RELIGIOUS. 63 EXAMPLES OF LIFE AND DEATH. MY MRS. L. U. SJGOUUNEY. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price 7.') cents. The persons whose characters are delineated in this volume have boen chosen from a period of many centuries. They have been taken from every variety of station — from the lowliest position to the throne. From the records of their lives and deaths are drawn important lessons for the guidance of the living. " Here she has gathered gems from thirteen centuries of time, bringing under review every shade of character as exhibited by the living, and reflected back from the dead, who through her, being dead, yet speak. In voices of warning, encouragement, and hope, to those who still claim a place in the world of thought and action." — Albany Spectator. "Altogether the series forms one of the most delightful volumes that even Mrs. Sigour- ney has ever given us; and by those who know the genial and refined taste, the sterling good sense, and the eminently religious spirit which pervade her writing, this will be con- sidered no mean praise." — N. Y. Com/mercial. INDIA AND THE HINDOOS. BEINO A POPLLAR VIEW OF THE GEOGKAPHY AND HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, MANNEKKS, CUSTOMS, LITERATURE, AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES OP THAT ANCIENT COUN'TRY. BY F. DE W. WARD. LATE MISSIONARY TO INDIA. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth, with Map and numerous Illustrations. Price SI 25. The author of this work, a missionary to India, travelled very extensively throughout the country, and devoted himself to close and accurate observations upon the habits and condition of the people, and the workings of the missionary operations introduced among them. His work is considered a standard authority upon the manners, customs, and religious system of the Hindoos. " The condition of India as it was and as it is, both in a secular and religious aspect; is portrayed at length and with very considerable liveliness and strength of description." —N. Y. Tribune. " It is a book of decided value and interest."— <7oM>ver* <& Enquirer. " In few volumes of its size will be found so much valuable information." — Commercial Advertiser ARCHIBALD CAMERON; OR, HEART TRIALS. 1 vol., 16mo., cloth. Price 75 cents. "There are many thrilling passages, portrayed in such a manner as to fasten the atten Uon, illustrative of those heart trials through which many pass."— (7m«7ma<2 Journal BOOKS PUBLISHED BV CHAS. SCRIBNER. THE SACRED MOUNTAINS. BY J. T. HEADLET. Illustrated with 12 Engravings, by Burt, with Designs by Lossing. 1 vol.,. 12nio., cloth. (20th thousand.) Price $1 25. Do., do., full gilt, $1 75 ; Svo., cloth, full gilt, $2 50 ; morocco, extra, $3 50. "Tlie work consists of a description of the several mountains mentioned in Scripture, and of the wonderful scenes that have been exhibited upon them. Ararat, Moria, Sinai, Hor, Pisgah, Horeb, Carmel, Lebanon, Zion, Tabor, Olivet, Calvary, and the Mount of God, are made successively to rise up before the eye of the mind, invested with all that superlative interest which they gather from having been the theatre of the most wonder- ful exhibitions of divine power, wisdom, and goodness. " As we have gone through the work, we confess that we have felt that the author's power of imagination was well-nigh unparalleled. Here he moves in the fury of the tempest, and there upon the breathing zephyr: here he paints terror and blood till one's own blood actually curdles, and there illumines his page with some beautiful picture which puts in requisition all the brightest hues of the rainbow. The book, so far as we know, is entirely unique in its character. It addresses itself to the best feelings of the Christian's heart, chiefly through the medium of the imagination. Thousands will read it with delight, j.nd will ever afterwards contemplate the scenes which it describes with an interest which they never felt before." — Albany Herald. " Those who have read Napoleon and his Marshals, will find here a book marked by the same impetuous, glowing style, but on subjects more agreeable to a religious taste. We are much gratified ourselves to possess the volume, and we commend it to our readers as a charming gift-book, and a useful companion for quiet hours." — N. T. Recorder. SACRED SCENES AND CHARACTERS. BY J. T. UEADLEY. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth, with 12 Illustrations by Darley. $1 25. Uniform with " Sacred Mountains," Do., do., 1 vol. 8vo., cloth, full gilt, $3 00 ; morocco, S3 50. " These sketches are among the best he has written."— TAc Presbyterian. "No one could have drawn the scenes and characters which this volume depicts, whose soul is not attuned to perceive the historical, descriptive, and moral beauties of the Bible." — WatcJt.man and Reflector. " Mr. Headley's characteristics as a writer are so well known and favorably appreciated, that we need not bespeak public attention to anything from his pen. There is about the present volume, however, an unusual charm, a peculiar attractiveness, especially to the serious, meditative reader, which will secure for it ample audience and lasting jiopularity. The moral tone is elevated and sustained throughout, the coloring vivid and life-like, an. the entire impression upon the reader's heart not unlike what would be produced by an actual pilgrimage among the scenes it describes. The artistical accessories are ia thf most finished style of modern excellence."— CArirfian Parlor Magazine. 62 BOOKS PUBLISHED BY GHAS. SCRIBNER. THI;] FATHERS OF THE DESERT; OR, A\ ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN AND PKACTICK OF MONKERY AMONG HEATHE> NATIONS, ITS PASSAGE INTO THE CHURCH, ANT) SOME WONDERFUL STORIES OF THE FATHERS CONCERNING THE PRIMITIVE MON-RS AND HERMITS. BY REV. nENBY RVPFNEB, D.D.,LL.D. LATE PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, VA. 2 vol-.. 12mo.. cloth. Price 92 00. " This is a remarkable booli. It is a work of great research and learning. The author has shown himself master of ancient and modern languages, and gives proof on every page of his industry and labor in tracing, from the cradles of society in the East, the growth and progress of religious enthusiasm as manifested by the ascetics of all nations in nil ages." — National Intelligiiicer, " This work must have cost the writer an immense amount of labor and research, anc it must secure to the reader a corresponding degree of pleasure and satisfaction." — N. Y Observer. INDICATIONS OF THE CREATOR; OR, THE NATURAL EVIDENCES OF FINAL CAUSES. BY GEORGE TAYLOR. 1 vol., 12ino., cloth. Price $1. Tlie object of the author of this treatise has been to trace the progress of discoveries in the different departments of science, and to ascertain the extent which they reach in proving the existence, constant care, and active goodness of a great First Cause, the origin and supporter of all things. " A careful review of the discoveries in Astronomy, Geology, Comparative Physiology, and the other Practical Sciences, for the purpose of showing the natural evidences of the existence of tlie Creator. He holds firmly to the truth of Revelation, and does not seek to make the light of nature sufficient for human guidance. The work is clearly written, and is marked by great thoughtfulness and candor." — ^V. F. Commercial. MERCANTILE MORALS. A BOOK FOR YOUNG MERCHANTS, BY REV. W. H. VAN DO REN. 1 vol., 16mo., cloth. Price 88 cents. "It discourses wealth, the morals of trade, the dangers of young merchants in society, Sabbath desecration, sale of ardent spirits, kc, &c. It is a book full of interest and im- portance, and may be read by all with ytvo&i."— Daily American. " This volume deserves to be placed by every parent or employer in the hands of each young man as he enters mercantile life."— JT. Y. Commercial. "It should be in the library of every merchant."— TAe RepuUia BOOKS PUBLISHED BT CHA,S SCRIBNER. 45 HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE IN SUBURB AN1> COUNTRY; OR, THE VILLA, TilE MANsIOX, AND THE COTTAGE. Adapted to Americaa Climate and Wants. BY GEBVASE WHEELER, Architect, AtrrnoB or "ktjkal homss," etc. 1 vol. 12mo. With 100 Engravings. $1 50. This -work is to supply a want that, in the opinion of the Publishers, has not as yet been Ptily met. Other books have been presented, offering models for house builders, but they have generally been the crude notions and sketches of men of literary and artistic talent riither than of practical skill. In the present volume, not only the stored hints of a long and successful practice in his profession of an architect have been offered, but the plans elucidating his remarks have had the benefit of realization and of mature tnought and examination. In its pages the reader will find an amount of information that will satisfy nearly his everj want ; and in the plans eianiples of every class of house required by the people throughout the land, from the economically constructed cottage of six or seven hundred dollars to the of thirty thousand. " The author is a man thoroughly versed in his profession — with natural taste, cultivated oy experience, whom any man might safely consult as an architect, and whose book will prove a treasure of practical hints to any about to build in city or country." — Hartfoti Courant. " Many valuable hints are presented in this volume." — iV. Y. Tribune. "The author is a professional architect. He explains the principles according to which a house of any price almost should be built. His pages furnish many valuable hints." — Utica Herald. "This work is issued in beautiful style. The designs are tasteful, and the whole charac ter of the book is such as to commend it to public attention. It is adapted to builders of every class — it has suggestions for houses of all ranges of cost in the city or country." Boston Transcript. " Good taste, practical common sense, and an eye to the usages of the country appear throughout the work, while its designs and illustrations will prove an invaluable assistance to those who wish to build, and to build wisely and well." — N. Y. Evangelist. " The author's study has been to furnish models for convenient, tasteful, and even elegant suburban and country dwellings, from the lowest to a high cost, and to afford all the neces- sary information for their construction. We should like to see such books wide spread, as our national architecture needs improvement.'' — Phila. Presbyterian. •'There are abundance o'' books on architecture and on landscape gardening, but an actual absence of such another volume as the present. The designs are exceedingly tasteful, and imbued with the highest spirit of architectural beauty." — New York Express 18 BOOKS PUBLISHED BT CHAS. SCRIBNER, LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. £T DONALD MACLEOD. 1 vol., 12mo'.. cloth, with portrait. Price $1. "This is a model biography. The author has delineated the character of him onco styled the Great Unknown, so that all who read these pages may know him, and cherish for him a personal attachment." — Chriiiian Intelligencer. " This is a most delightful and even fascinating volume. Its fascination consists in tlie clear flow of its narration, warm with a glowing love for its subject, and all over gemmed with racy and sparkling anecdote. " It tells the story of the great wizard's life with simple directness, condensing the more elaborate narratives of others, and culling from them only the more salient and spicy facts of his biography, thus making it one of the agreeable books of the season." — Watch- man and Observer. " We can but commend this work to our readers as one of unflagging interest, from the beginning to the end ; written in language simple but often exceedingly picturesque, and always in keeping with the particular theme in hand." — Knickerbocker Magazine. " A fresher, pleasanter, more vivacious biography we have seldom read." — Temp, Courier. "We should not be surprised if this Life of the ' Author of Waverley ' finds as many readers as anything which has before been written about the true 'Wizard of the North.' " — The Presbyterian. " It is written with great care and judgment, and portrays the remarkable career of the great novelist with an exactness and fidelity that renders it as valuable as a work of reference, as it is interesting in its subject." — Home Gazette. "With a loving, reverential spirit, and a fair power of discernment, he has drawn a graceful outline of the personal life and character of Sir Walter. It is peculiarly a book for the people, and as such has its charms ; and yet no one, however familiar he may be with the Great Magician of the North, will read it without pleasure." — New York Courier and Enquirer. THE BLOODSTONE. BY DONALD MACLEOD. 1 vol., 12mo., cloth. Price 75 cents. "His style Is chaste and yet animated, and, without being studded with formal senti- ments, is deeply imbued with pure and genial feeling." — Courier <& Enquirer. " The merit of the book lies in its picturesque descriptions of scenery, and the fidelity with which it enters into the sunny side of early life." — N. Y. Albion. " The writer has earned bright laurels by his former pu -lications, but we have seen nothing from his pen that shows so much depth and power jf both thought and feelln|{ M this." — Albany Argus. MISCELLANEOUS 41 "A WORK THAT SHOULD B^ IN EVERT LIBRARY." LIVES OF THK OHIEB" JUSTICES OF THE UNITED STATES. BY GEORGE VAN SANTVOORD. 1 vol., 8vo., cloth. With Portrait. Price $2 25. " This is truly a work of sterling value and should have a place in every library thai pretends to anything like completeness. The book is valuable for its biographical informa- tion respecting these distinguished men, but more so, as it traces the history of the Fede- ral judiciary from its earliest beginning." — Christian Intelligencer. " It is written freely and fluently ; appears to be learned and candid in its representa- tions, and is a work of decided interest." — N. Y. Evangelist. " The work is ably, faithfully, clearly and impartially written. It is a valuable acquisi- tion to the library of any man, and ('^serves the patronage of the public." — Hartford Coui'ant. " Mr. Van 3. ha-s brought out in this volume some of the most important facts in the history of these illustrious jurists. His style is concise and vigorous. » • * The book should have a place in the library of every intelligent citizen." — Troy Times. " Tliese biographies contain much that is new, valuable and interesting, in regard to the private histories and public services of these worthies, and which make this volume a most valuable contribution to our present stock of American biography. They are written in an impartial and candid spirit, free from political and other prejudices, and manifest alike a commendable industry in the collection of the materials, and a successful discrimination in their arrangement," — Boston Atlas. " This volume deserves a place in the library of every American lover of general lite- rature, as well as of every lawyer." — Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. " This work is one that should be in every library, and read by everybody." — Rochester Ad'vertiser. NEW SERIES. BY T. S. ARTHUR. SPARING TO SPEND ; or, the Loftons and the Pinkertons. By T. S. Arthur. 1 vol., ISmo. Price T5 cents. THE OLD MAN'S BRIDE. By T. S. Arthur. 1 vol., 18mo. Price 75 cents. HEART HISTORIES and Life Pictures. By T. S. Arthur. I vol., 18mo. Price T5 cents. HOME LIGHTS AND SHADOWS. By T. S. Arthur. 1 vol., 18mo. Price 75 cents. Mr. Arthur's tales are all of the most beautiful tendency. He selects his subjects from every-day life, and treats them in such a manner that the reader almost feels that he U reading a chapter from the experience of those by whom he is constantly surrounded. While it is no part of his design to excite surprise by violent and improbable incidents, he always succeeds in fl.xing the attention of the reader. His constant endeavcr is to awaken in the minds of his readers kindly feelings, and ready sympathy for their .'ellow creatures. MISCELLANEOUS. 15 VENICE, THE CITY OF THE SEA. FROM THE INVASION OF NAPOLEON, IN 1797, TO THE CAPITULATION TO RADETZKT IN 1849. WITH A COTEMPORANEOUS VIEW OF THE PENINSULA. BY EDMUND FLAOG. LATE CONSUL OF THE UNITED STATES AT THE PORT OP TENICE. 2 vols., 12mo., cloth, with Map and Seven Engravings. Price $2 50 (4th edition.) "He has put forth a work, which for clearness of diction and elegance of style, foi order and method in its arrangement, for the perspicuity of its military details, and foi its display of an intimate knowledge of the historical and political events to be recorded; is hardly equalled by any similar work of the present day. This history, in the romantic interest which attaches to the City of the ' Terrible Ten,' and in its details of heroic valor and enduring fortitude in the midst of famine and bombardment, of pestilence and blockade, will favorably compare with Prescott's Conquest of Mexico." — WasJdngton Union. " Mr. Flagg's elegant production is the result of several years of experience, study, and compilation of all that is most lovely and romantic of that charming and supernatural city of Venice. The painting of scenes and incidents in the City of the Sea, has a great deal of the grace and the gentle beauty of Washington Irving's most familiar and popular writings."— 5*. Louis Intelligeneer. " When we opened Mr. Flagg's book we found a carefully compiled, poetically writteii digest of the history of that glorious old Venice, its Doges, its Councils, its glory and its loves, and a passionate, thrilling, yet accurate and sympathising account of the last struggle for Independence." — T?i6 Knickerbocker. " These volumes exhibit thorough research, careful observation, and a discriminating use of materials. The style is animated, and the descriptive passages are sometimes highly graphic and picturesque."—^. Y. Independent. " He writes with frankness and intelligence ; never grows prosy; and his vivid portrait- ures impress themselves on the memory." — N. Y. Tribune. " Mr. Flagg has embodied in these volumes information concerning Venice which has long been sought for. They will prove invaluable to the student as well as to the politi- cian, as books of reference. This work is written in a graceful and pleasing style, not stiffly historical nor too highly wrought — but truthful and forcible. No library will be complete without this hook."— Buffalo Journal. "These handsome volumes are full of interest and instruction, comilaing as they do many of the excellences and advantages of history and travels." — Boston Traveller. Ulustrated Edition. PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY. BY M. F. TUP PER. A, new edition, with 40 Original Illustrations. 1 vol., 8vo., morocco, $3 ■ cloth, full gilt, $2 50 ; cloth, plain, $1 75. ^ I . r '" T. I,"™"'''^.^-' .^"."^""C:}^" L.brar. III III III III 11 1 1 1012 01021 2241 DATE DUE HIGHSMITH #45115