theological ^cminavy, 
 
 BV 811 .T39 
 
 Taylor, C. 1756-1823. 
 
 Apostolic baptism 
 
APOSTOLIC BAPTISM 
 
 FACTS AND EVIDENCES 
 
 SUBJECTS AND MODE 
 
 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 
 
 BY C . ^T A Y L O R 
 
 EDITOR or calmet"s dictiosaky op the bible 
 
 WITH THIRTEEN ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 B. H, BEVIER, 102 NASSAU STREET. 
 
 1843. 
 
Entered 
 
 According to the Act of Congress, in the )'ear 1843, by 
 
 BENJAMIN H. BEVIER, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern 
 
 District of New York, 
 
 DEAN, PRINTER, 2 ANN STREET, 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE, ..... 5 
 
 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 13 
 
 Origin of this Discussion. — Jewish and Christian Sympathies. — Feel- 
 ings towards Children. — Consecration. — Institution of Baptism. — 
 Tertullian.—Origen.— Tradition.— Origen's Family. — Distinction 
 between House, Family, and Household. — Rules of Interpretation. 
 — OtKos. — OiKia. — House. — Household. — Infants. — Oi<co;.— Lydia. — 
 Cornelius. — Onesiphorus. — Philippian Jailor. — Stephanas. — Infant 
 Baptism. — Church Membership of Children. 
 
 MODE OF BAPTISM, . . . . . . 109 
 
 Importance of Truth. — Perversion of Terms. — BanT(j.—Ei>0anTu. — 
 Banrto-^of.— Synonymous Words.— Baptism by the Holy Ghost. — 
 Meaning of Baptism. — Corresponding terms in different languages. 
 — Inferences. — Overwhelming. — Submersion. — Immersion. — Bap- 
 tism in the sense of Overwhelm. — Staining. — Pouring or Afi'usion. — 
 Sprinkling. — Washing. — " Doctrine of Baptisms." — Anabaptism. — 
 " Divers Baptisms." — John's Baptism. — Baptism separate from Im- 
 mersion. — Philip and the Eunuch. — Baptism in Abyssinia. — Meta- 
 phorical Scripture. — Cornelius. — Christian Baptism was Pouring. 
 — Baptizing of personsnaked. — Deaconesses. — Enon. — YSaraTToWa. 
 — Hebrew Christians. — Syrian Church. — Greek Church. — " Buried 
 in Baptism." — Baptism as signifying Death and Life.— Primitive 
 Baptisteries. — Catacomb at Rome. — Ancient pictorial representa- 
 tions of Baptism.—" Chapel of the Baptistery," at Rome. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS, . . . 179 
 
 BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES, ..... 201 
 
 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY, . . . . 215 
 
 CATALOGUE OF TEXTS, 219 
 
FACTS AND EVlDExNCES 
 
 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 "All those things happened for Ensamples, and they are written 
 for our Admonition ; that your love may abound yet more and more 
 in knowledge and judgment." 
 
 The Author of these " Facts and Evidences on the 
 Subjects and Mode of Christian Baptism" has concisely 
 detailed the causes of his work in the preliminary para- 
 graphs to the ensuing chapter on the " Subjects of 
 Baptism." But as that narrative only partially applies 
 to the present edition of his very important volume, it 
 is requisite to delineate the alterations which have now 
 been made in the form of his original publication ; es- 
 pecially as this edition is presented to the Christian 
 churches, as altogether Mr. Taylor's own researches and 
 arguments — for the Editor did not deem it proper to 
 append a single explanatory note, even where it might 
 have tended to elucidate the subject. 
 
 For Mr. Taylor's immediate and protracted investi- 
 gation of Christian Archeeology, in reference to the or- 
 dinance of Baptism, the result of which appears in this 
 volume, we are indebted to a discussion between himself 
 and a Baptist Deacon, respecting the evangelical authority 
 
 i* 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 of the Baptist practice in prohibiting all persons from 
 the Lord's Table, who have not been submersed according 
 to their practice in adult age. The Baptist Deacon was 
 perplexed by Mr. Taylor's " Facts and Evidences" In 
 conformity with his desire, Mr. Taylor presented him a 
 " sketch of the argument," that it might be confuted, if 
 any of the Baptist brethren could accomplish that work. 
 But they all preserved a most profound and ominous 
 silence upon the subject. After a long period had elap- 
 sed, several attemj)ts were made to introduce the topic 
 into the English Baptist Magazine, thereby to give the 
 Baptists the most eligible and advantageous opportunity 
 to rebut Mr. Taylor's " Facts," and to disprove his 
 " Evidences ;" but the editor and his consociates, wisely 
 for themselves and their exclusive sectarian dogmas, 
 sternly rejected every endeavour to elicit a public 
 examination of the Baptismal controversy in that pecu- 
 liar aspect within their own ecclesiastical boundary. 
 
 In consequence of their unalterable decision not to 
 discuss the topic with Mr. Taylor, nor even to admit his 
 statements into the Baptist Magazine, the editor of Cal- 
 met's Dictionary, in February, 1815, published a pam- 
 phlet, entitled " Facts and Evidences on the Subject of 
 Baptism, in a Letter to a Deacon of a Baptist Church ; 
 with Two Plates." That letter was restricted entirely 
 to the Mode of Baptism. 
 
 About two months after, appeared the " Second 
 Letter" to a Baptist Deacon, which was devoted to the 
 Subjects of Baptism. 
 
 Those letters excited great interest on the part of the 
 Poedobaptists, who were deeply impressed with the novel 
 " Facts" and irresistible " Evidences" which Mr. Taylor 
 had thus arrayed in favour of " Family Baptism," and 
 against the exclusive interpretation of the words BAUTJl 
 and BAllTlUMOi:, which the Baptists have endeavoured 
 to enforce in connection with the Christian ordinance. 
 On the contrary, the Baptist brethren were extremely 
 disquieted at the exhibition of Mr. Taylor's illustrations ; 
 especially as they had previously been adopted and vir- 
 tually sanctioned by their great champion, Robert Rob- 
 inson, in his " History of Baptism." But they cautiously 
 
INTRODUCTORY. Vll 
 
 abstained from any direct assault upon Mr. Taylor's 
 theory, arguments and demonstrations. 
 
 Therefore, in June, 1815, the editor of Calmct's Dic- 
 tionary published his " Third Letter to a Deacon of a 
 Baptist Church," corroborating his opinions in reference 
 both to the subjects and the mode of Baptism. He also 
 united his two previous letters with it in the same 
 pamphlet, and prefixed an Introduction narrating the 
 circumstances through which his disquisitions were 
 presented to general notice. He also included those 
 essays which had been transmitted for insertion in the 
 Baptist Magazine, but which the editor had excluded 
 from that miscellany. 
 
 In April, 1816, another pamphlet was issued, entitled 
 " Three Additional Letters, being the Fourth, Fifth, and 
 Sixth, to a Late Deacon of a Baptist Church.''' With 
 the letters was combined an examination of Dr. Ry- 
 land's Candid Statement, which had also been refused 
 by the editor of the Baptist Magazine. Those letters 
 not only discussed the two primary topics of the Chris- 
 tian ordinance of Baptism, but they also introduced 
 several other collateral themes. 
 
 From Mr. Taylor's prefatory notice to the " Three 
 Additional Letters," one paragraph is extracted. 
 
 "The former letters were published with a boncifide 
 desire on the part of the Deacon to receive such an- 
 swers as might effectually confute their contents. Up- 
 wards of a year has elapsed, and no answer has aj)- 
 peared ! Under Providence, the Deacon has been led 
 to change his religious connection. The present letters 
 are published in compliance with requests, amounting to 
 commands, from the most respectable quarters. Hence 
 the writer enjoys the satisfaction, that whatever addi- 
 tional strength former arguments in favour of Poedo- 
 baptism may derive from his views, not one of them is 
 in any respect deteriorated, but retains its full force and 
 effect with undiminished authority. Should any one 
 think proper to examine these Letters, the author desires 
 that Facts maybe met by Facts; and while he in- 
 treats candour for himself, for his ' Facts and Evidences^ 
 he desires neither grace nor favour." 
 
VIU INTRODUCTORV. 
 
 Another year passed away, and with the exception of 
 a short essay in the Baptist Magazine of March, 1817, 
 '•710 answer appeared P' Mr. Taylor, therefore, in the 
 latter part of the year 1817, pubhshcd another pam- 
 phlet, which he denominated " Concluding Facts and Evi- 
 dences on the subject of Baptism ;" from the Introduc- 
 tion and Preface to which, the two ensuing paragraphs 
 arc selected. 
 
 '• The arguments which have been adduced in this 
 discussion of the question of Baptism have made con- 
 siderable impression, not only on thinking Baptists, but 
 also on the religious public. The more learned Baptists 
 now confess that Infants are included in the term Oikos, 
 family, as used in the New Testament ; while it is curi- 
 ous to observe the difficulties to which those are reduced, 
 who contend that infants are excluded from the term 
 Family, and that the w^ord must be restricted to adults. 
 */f our translators had employed the term Family instead 
 of the words House and Household, the sect of Baptists 
 never ivould have existed /' 
 
 " If the Letters, to which the present pages are the 
 conclusion, had been announced as a treatise on Baptism, 
 the writer would have been liable to well-deserved cen- 
 sure for their disorder and want of arrangement. Fiom 
 the very nature of the case, the confidential conversations 
 between friends which have been recorded are unfa- 
 vourable to logical order, and being desultory, are dis- 
 advantageous to the general argument. The first letter 
 was written to be answered ; and if, instead of a resolu- 
 tion by the Baptist Committee to disregard it, an attempt 
 had been made to meet it, probably none of the suc- 
 ceeding letters ever would have appeared. Some ser- 
 vice however has been done to truth by their arguments, 
 and the religious world have received them in an ex- 
 tremely flattering manner. After perusing these pages, 
 the reader is desired to consider and answer this ques- 
 tion — ' When the Apostles say they baptized Houses and 
 V/iiOLE Houses, did they not include infants in the sa- 
 cred rite T " 
 
 From that period, the year 1817, it is believed that 
 Mr. Taylor's " Facts and Evidences on the Subjects 
 
INTRODUCTORY. IX 
 
 and Mode of Christian Baptism," have been neglected 
 by the Baptists ; who judged that it was preferable, not 
 to force out any more memorials of Christian anti- 
 quity, from a scholar who had devoted much of his 
 time during half a century to researches connected 
 with the history of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 When however it was proposed in New York some 
 time since to republish those letters, it was instantly 
 discovered, that to issue the work in its original form 
 would include all the disadvantages and imperfections 
 to which the editor of Calmet's Dictionary, in the par- 
 agraph just cited, adverts. After due deliberation, it 
 was therefore decided to remodel the work — neither to 
 change Mr. Taylor's diction; nor to alter his argu- 
 ments ; nor to omit his " Facts and Evidences ;" nor to 
 interpolate any additional matter — but merely to con- 
 dense his labours, to cancel his frequent repetitions and 
 redundancies, to reduce the confused mode, in which 
 the subjects are commingled and severed, into method, 
 according to the general topics ; and thus to give 
 to his " Facts" their essential weight, to his *' Evi- 
 dences" their just preponderance, to his arguments all 
 their force, and to his illustrations all their evangelical 
 resplendency. 
 
 To accomplish this design, the work is subdivided 
 into two general chapters. — I. The " Subjects of Bap- 
 tism" — and II. The " Mode of Baptism." To which is 
 added the gallery of engraved representations of the 
 manner in which the ordinance of Baptism was ori- 
 ginally administered. Some of the engravings which 
 Mr. Taylor had introduced are excluded, because they 
 were merely duplicates of those which are exhibited 
 at the end of this volume. 
 
 The desultory manner in which the letters were com- 
 posed rendered it a very difficult task to " set in order," 
 the arguments, criticisms, and incidental remarks and 
 statements which are scattered from one end of an 
 octavo volume of 330 pages to the other ; and to bring 
 them into such juxtaposition, that they may produce 
 their legitimate effect upon the mind of the reader. 
 But the attempt most carefully has been made, and this 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 volume now presents the " Facts and Evidences on the 
 Subject of Baptism," in as consistent an arrangement 
 of the materials as could possibly be effected, in con- 
 formity with the design of adopting the ''First" and 
 the " Second" Letters, as the text with which all the 
 other portions of the work should be incorporated. 
 
 There were two great difficulties appertaining to the 
 revision of the work, and its publication in the present 
 form. The original was printed with such numberless 
 errors, that for a London work, the incorrectness of 
 the typography is a genuine anomaly — and the Letters 
 also, having been published separately, contain not one 
 particle of reference, by which the editor could be 
 guided ; thus involving great additional labour and per- 
 plexity. To remedy that defect, a catalogue in order 
 of all the texts of Scripture explained in this discus- 
 sion is now embodied ; and a Topical Index has also 
 been compiled, that directs to every distinct subject 
 which is noticed throughout the volume. 
 
 The reader will remember that the ensuing work, 
 as to its contents, is precisely the '' Facts and Evidences 
 on the Subject of Baptism," as they were at first pre- 
 sented by the "editor of Calmet's Dictionary of the 
 Bible," It having been decided that no additions 
 should be made to the original work, some annotations, 
 which might profitably have been subjoined, were ex- 
 cluded. Nothing is interpolated, except where from 
 the dislocation of the paragraph or sentences, from one 
 letter to the others, it was essential to insert the neces- 
 sary connecting word or phrase, that the arguments, 
 or facts, or inferences, or quotations might cohere. 
 
 With this explanation, the volume is submitted 
 to the Poedobaptist Churches, with the full conviction 
 that it contains more important information upon the 
 " Subjects and Mode of Baptism" than ever yet has 
 been published in the United States ; and that as no 
 person in Britain hitherto has attempted to disprove 
 these " Fads," and to deny these " Evidences," during 
 nearly thirty years, so the researches of Mr. Taylor 
 will remain irrefragable proof amounting to moral 
 demonstration ; that the dogma which the Baptists 
 
INTRODUCTORY. XI 
 
 promulge — that Bamo) and Bamiafiog, when applied to 
 the Christian ordinance, mean plunging under water 
 only ; and that Oi^og and Oima, when used in the Old 
 and New Testaments, " include only adults" is not more 
 substantial than the " baseless fabric of a vision." — 
 Therefore, their practice in excluding from " the com- 
 munion of the body and blood of Christ," those be- 
 lievers whom at the same time they acknowledge to 
 be " beloved of God, sanctified in Jesus, and called to 
 be saints," is an absurd and anti-evangelical perversion 
 and infraction of the law of Christian charity — while 
 their sectarian proscription of every disciple of the 
 Redeemer, except the members of their own denomi- 
 nation, from the divinely appointed external institute 
 of brotherly love, and the sacramental symbols of 
 church-fellowship, is altogether opposed to " the unity 
 of the spirit in the bond of peace ;" and moreover, is a 
 lamentable schismatic impediment to the extension and 
 triumph of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 New York, 
 4 May, 1843. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 
 
 Origin of this Discussion. — Jewish and Christian Sympathies. — Feel- 
 ings towards Children. — Consecration. — Institution of Baptism. — 
 TertuUian.— Origen.— iradition.— Origen's Family.— Distinction be- 
 tween House, Family, and Household. — Rules of Interpretation. — 
 
 OiKOi. — Ou-in.— House. — Household. — Infants. — Oiko;. — Lydia 
 
 Cornelius.— Onesiphorus.— Philippian Jailor.— Stephanas.— Infant 
 Baptism. — Church Membership of Children. 
 
 The occasion of the following illustrations of Baptism was 
 this. A gentleman not a Baptist, who had recently married 
 a lady from a Baptist Church, desired occasional communion 
 with that Church. The Deacon pleaded a conscientious ne- 
 gative. The Pastor, less rigid than the Deacon, struck with 
 his scrupulosity, requested his reconsideration of the subject, 
 putting into his hands certain tracts for that purpose. During 
 the Deacon's perusal of those tracts, the writer of these pages 
 called on him. The Deacon had in his hands Mr. Booth's 
 " Posdobaptism Examined." That work gave rise to a con- 
 versation which ended in saying — " Do not tell me of Mr. 
 Booth ; tell me of Scriptural authority. If you wish to lui- 
 derstand the subject, consult Scripture." But on examination, 
 Holy Writ was found to declare in favour of Infant Baptism ! 
 A sketch of the argument was submitted to those whom the 
 Deacon respected as able casuists. It remained unanswered. 
 After long waiting, it was supposed that an appeal to the 
 Baptist denomination must meet with attention. While look- 
 ing for an opportunity, an article by Dr. Ryland appeared in 
 the Baptist Magazine, of which an examination was transmit- 
 ted to the editor of that miscellany, which was disregarded. 
 In a subsequent number of that work was inserted a challenge 
 by the late Andrew Fuller in these words — " Why is it that 
 Dr. Ryland's ' Candid Statement' is entirely kept out of view ? 
 Let its evidence be fairly met and answered, in the Siune 
 
 2 
 
14 SUDJKCTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 candid spirit in which it is wrilten." In consequence of that 
 challeriffc, some aiticlfs were sent, but they were returned, 
 witli a denial of insertion in the " Baptist iMagazine." 
 
 These researches were intended to meet objections against 
 *' the communion of saints," and were strictly defensive. If 
 any one should examine these pages with a view to their con- 
 futation, as they contain only "Facts and Evidencks," the 
 facts should be met with opposite facts : and these evidences 
 by contrary evidences. For it is perfectly absurd to discuss 
 any question argumentatively, till all the facts and evidences 
 on which it rests are before us. The writer feels the neces- 
 sity of beseeching the candour of the reader for himself — but 
 as for liis Facts, they await every attack with firmness, and 
 willingly braA-e the utmost efforts both of learning and of 
 ignorance. 
 
 The argmnent is brought to this point. — The Old Testa- 
 ment writers use the term IIousi:, in the sense oi fundi y, 
 with a special reference to Infants — the New Testament 
 writers use the term House exactly in the same sense as the 
 Old Testament writers — therefore ; when the New Testa- 
 ment writers say that they " baptized houses" they mean to 
 say, that they " baptized infants." 
 
 Of all the arts of logic, there is none I admire more than 
 a well-managed sophism ; a proposition that presents the 
 semblance of truth, but is essentially/^/^e. Take an instance 
 from Booth, which includes the very essence of the argu- 
 mems against Posdobaptism. " To imagine that the first pos- 
 itive rite of religious worship in the Christian Church is left 
 in so vague a state as Poedobaptism supposes, is not only con- 
 trary to the analogy of Divine proceedings in similar cases, but 
 renders it morally impossible for the bulk of Christians to 
 discern the real ground on which the ordinance is adminis- 
 tered. — An ui\lettered man must become a disciple of those 
 who are the humble pupils of Jewish Rabbis, of the writings 
 of the Talmud ; for it is thence only he is able to learn, that 
 the children of proselytes were baptized along with their 
 parents, when admitted members of the Jewish Church: and, 
 thence also he must infer that our Lord condescended to borrow 
 of his enemies on important ordinance (f religious u)or ship for 
 his own disciples." — That our Lord condescended to borrow 
 of John Baptist " an important ordinance of religious worship 
 for his own disciples," is true ; but I never knew before that 
 .John was an " enemy" of Jesus. If by " enemies of Jesus," 
 the Jews of that age are meant, though I deny that our Lord 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 15 
 
 borrowed Baptism of them, since they practiced only immer' 
 Stan ; yet I would assk, did not our Lord condescend to borrow 
 of them in that important ordinance of religious worsliip, bis 
 sacred supper ? — and can any indettered man thoroughly 
 comprehend that service without 5(.'mi?acquainta'ice with Je.v- 
 ish learning 1 Can he so much as discern the " real giound" 
 of the Apostle's language, J Cor. v. 7. 8. " Purge out there- 
 ibrc the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump — therefore 
 let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the 
 leaven of malice and wickedness, but Avith the unleavened 
 bread of sincerity and truth ?" — Who can adequately under- 
 stand this reference, unless he have some acquaintance with 
 the pains taken by the Jews to cleanse their houses from lea- 
 ven ? How many other things are there in Christianity, on 
 which an unlettered man needs almost perpetual assistance ? 
 
 Our Lord by birth, by nation, and by religious ordinances 
 was a' Jew. His gospel was first offered to Jews by descent ; 
 and Judaism was the basis on which the Redeemer founded 
 his religion : — but it does not follow that the spirit of the two 
 dispensations was the same. On the contrary, their difter- 
 ences are striking and essential. Some things, which Juda- 
 ism held sacred and binding, the gospel held with a great lat- 
 itude ; and allowed the human will to follow its own determi- 
 nation concerning them. — Nothing could be more positively 
 enjoined by divine authority, than the distinction of meats ; 
 yet the Apostle leaves it to the choice of converts to adopt it 
 or not : Rom. xiv. 15 ; " God hath received him who eateth," 
 says he, although God had ordered such transgressors to be 
 cut off. Neither was the distinction of days less authorita- 
 tively enacted ; yet Paul dispenses v/ith the observance in 
 those who objected to it. What was this, but leaving in quite 
 as vague a state as Poedobaptism supposes, most important 
 points of the divine law ? — or if Poedobaptism be left in the 
 same state of liberty, how is it '^ contrary to the analogy of Di- 
 vine proceedings in similar cases V 
 
 There are other instances which affect the closest connec- 
 tions of the heart and life, and are more nearly related to the 
 main purpose of our present inquiry. 
 
 Moses forbad the " taking of the daughters of the land, 
 unto thy sons for wives, — lest ihey make thy sons go a whoring 
 after other gods." Exod. xxiv. 16. He admits not the slight- 
 est ray of hope, " that thy sons may convert their wives to 
 the worship of the God of Israel." — He is tormented by fear ; 
 jealousy corrodes, and despair confounds him. — But what 
 
16 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 says the Gospel in a similar case ? With what a noble con- 
 sciousness of superiority over all other religions, it commands 
 the very contrary ! " How knowest thou, O wife, whether 
 thon shalt save thy husband ? — Or how knowest thou, O 
 man, whether thou shalt save thy wife ?" i Cor. vii. 16. 
 Hope triumphs here ! Despair is banished ! and the same 
 feeling is cherished by another sacred writer, who strongly 
 advises wives to exemplary conduct, 1 Peter iii. 1 . ; *' that if 
 any obey not the word, they may without the word be won 
 hy the conversation of their wives." — Why did not these Apos- 
 tles, like Moses, dread the heathenish consequences of such 
 abhorrent connections ? Because they served a dispensation 
 of Grace, not of terror : they knew their master's mind : — 
 " Whosoever is not against us, is for us." 
 
 We have a practical illustration and instance of the jeal- 
 ousy of Judaism in the conduct of the priest Ezra ; who caused 
 the " chief priests, the Levitc •;, and alt, Israel to sweaj^, that 
 they would put away their ioreign wives — and they made 
 proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem — and allowed 
 only three days — and called the people over — after the house 
 of their fathers, and all of them, by their names, and ex- 
 pelled their foreign wives, even those hy whom they had chil- 
 dren." Ezra X. 3 — 44. But what does Christianity direct 
 in similar cases ? 1 Cor. vii. 12. " If any brother hath a 
 wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, 
 LET HIM NOT PUT HER AWAY. And the womau who hath a 
 husband that believeth not, if he be pleased to dwell with her 
 — LET HER NOT LEAVE HIM." What a iiobJe triumph of the 
 kindness of Christ over the severe correctness of the Mosaic 
 law ! The gospel disturbs no domestic harmony : it dissolves 
 no happily formed connection : it finds the bands of love tied ; 
 and in the name of that God who is love, it sanctifies, and by 
 sanctifying strengthens them. 
 
 It would be strange if this most sympathizing feeling, 
 which studies the affections and love of the parents, were re- 
 pugnant to their children. In this, the gospel is opposed 
 to the law. Timothy was the son uf a Jewess by a Greek 
 father : Acts xvi. 1. ; he had not received in his infancy the 
 divinely appointed sign of the Abrahainic covenant, circum- 
 cision ; because he was allied to the Abrahamic descent, by 
 half-blood only. The balance between holiness and unholi- 
 ness was equipoised in him : — the unhoUnf.ss of his father 
 prevailed against the holiness of his mother, and Judaical 
 scrupulosity reprobated Timothy as unclean. Not so the 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 17 
 
 law of liberty ; not so the attractive kindness of the blessed 
 Jesus. The Apostle advises, whenever the bal.aice is even 
 between holiness and unholincss, to incline to the most favour- 
 able *de : exclude none who do not exclude themselves. 
 " For the unbdicving husband is, has been, his intercourse 
 rendered holy to the believing wit'e, and the unbeiieving wife 
 is, has been rendered hohj to the believino- husband : else were 
 the issue of such intercourse unholy, as under the law it was, 
 but now under the gospel, it is holy." 1 Cor. vii. 14. Di- 
 rectly contrary to the dogmata of the Jewish Rabbins, con- 
 trary to the decisions of Ezra and of the prophets, and con- 
 trary to the case of Timothy. 
 
 Did this accord with the sentiments of our Divine Mas- 
 ter I Did HE thus favourably regard and accept what his 
 nation pronounced unclean ? It was prophecied of him, that 
 in his name should the Gentiles trust ; — that he should not 
 " break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax :" — that 
 as " the good shepherd he should carry the lambs in his 
 arms" — did his personal conduct justify the language of pro- 
 phecy ? Three of the Evangelists instruct us by instances 
 of this ; Mat. xix. 13 ; " Then were brought to him little 
 children, that he should put his hands on them and pray ; and 
 the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, suffer little 
 children, and forbid thkm not, to come unto me; for of 
 such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on 
 them." Mark expresses our Eord's feelings, by saying ; 
 Mark x. 13. "he was much displeased" — at the Jewish in- 
 sensibility of his disciples. That Evangelist adds, " Jesus 
 took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and 
 blessed them." Luke describes them as infu/Us. All the 
 Evangelists agree in saying that our Lord compared his real 
 disciples, those who enter the kingdom of heaven worthily, 
 to such uifants. What pious mind, by any reluctance in 
 showing favour to infants, would incur the risk of this " much 
 displeasure" of our blessed Lord ? Nor is this the only 
 lesson the disciples received from their Master, by means of 
 little children : for he tells them explicitly, Mat. xviii. 3. 
 " Except ye be converted, and become as little children, 
 ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven : — whosoever 
 shall offend, give occasion of scandal, or cause to trip, one 
 of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for 
 him lliat a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were 
 cast into the depth of the sea-" So then, these little ones 
 
 2* 
 
18 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 were BELIEVERS in Jesus, and the severest punishment await- 
 ed whoever despised or dishonoured llieni. 
 
 A pious attention to littlh ones has the proniisL^ of a 
 blessino-. Mat. x. 42. " Whosoever shall give a cup of cold 
 Avaler to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, 
 shall in no wise lose his reward!" The little onks then 
 were capalde of being DISCIPLES : — liow in defiance to this 
 text, can any insist, that when our Lord commands his Apos- 
 tles to " go and disciple all nations," he absolutely excludes 
 little ones ? 
 
 But the conduct of tlie Apostles, in repellino children from 
 the affectionate arms of the condescending Saviour, was pre- 
 cisely according to their Jewish feelings. 'J'he old leaven of 
 Judaism, with unabated fermentation, actuated the Pharisees : 
 Mat. xxi. 15;" who when they saw the children crying in 
 the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David! were sore dis- 
 pleased ; and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say ? 
 and Jesus answered them ; have ye never read out ok the 
 
 MOUTHS OF babes AND SUCKLINGS THOU HAST PERFECTED 
 
 PRAISE ?" A Striking picture this, of the powerful distinction 
 between the starched sup})orters of the law ! and the mild, 
 condescending, benign tendernesses of the Son of God. 
 
 After these repeated reproofs, admonitions, and instructions 
 of their divine master, what could be the conduct of the Apos- 
 tles towards little ones ? — could they look with askance eye 
 on children ? — could //<py professionally sanctify to the service 
 of God, such a man as Simon Magus, because he could make 
 a credible profession of his faith — while they refused the 
 token of Gospel devotion to little children who were disciples 
 of Christ ? Could they baptize an old conjuror, hardened in 
 guilt by the confirmed habit of many years, and actually " in 
 the gall of bitterness, and the bonds of iniquity," but repel 
 from the sign of consecration to Christ, those babes and 
 SUCKLINGS, ow; of whose mouths GOD himself had perfected 
 
 PRAISE ? 
 
 The term consecration requires to be explained. — Consec- 
 ration is a setting apart from an ordinary or profane use or 
 purpose, to which a ])erson or thing has been accustomed — 
 to a particular use or purpose — usually in relation to the 
 Deity. The sign or mark of such consecration anciently was 
 anointincr. So Jacob anointed the stone at Bethel, Gen. 
 xxviii. 18 : so the implements of the tabernacle were anointed, 
 Exod. xxix : Aaron was anointed to the priest's office ; 1 Sam. 
 x. 1, Saul and David were anointed to the regal office, 1 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 19 
 
 Sam. xiv. 1. Prophets also were anointed. But not all 
 consecrated persons were anointed ; for the daughter of .Tep- 
 thah was consecrated, yet Ave cannot tliink she was anointed ; 
 and .'^anuiel, who was consecrated I'roni his infancy, was not 
 anovntcd. 
 
 Now whatever, or whoever was set apart from a former 
 character and destination, and received a new character and 
 destination as marked by anointing, without violating the 
 metaphor, might be said to die to former connections and self, 
 and to begin a new life marked by new functions ; — which is 
 the very acceptation and import of baptism. For this purpose 
 our Lord was baptized : not to put away sin ; but to mark 
 his passing over from his former life, in which he had paid 
 some attention to worldly concerns, as appears from his sub- 
 jection to his parents at Nazareth, Mark vi. 3 : and from his 
 being described as " tlte carpenter'''' by those who well knew 
 his origin and previous deportment. But he enters on a new 
 life — he commences a new character — he is publicly conse- 
 crated to the great purposes of his mission : Acts x. 38, he 
 becomes " the man whom God had anointed with the Holy 
 Ghost :" Acts iv. 27, " thine holy child Jesus, whom thou 
 hast anointed.'''' His followers in some humble degree re- 
 sembled him : for the Apostle John writes to those who had 
 received an unction, anointing, from the Holy One, 1 John ii. 
 27 : and who were taught by this anointing. With this doc- 
 trine Paul agrees, when he says, 2 Cor. i. 21 : " He who 
 hath anointed us, is God : — who hath also sealed us." When 
 Avere those disciples anointed, if not at their baptism ? — and 
 for Avhat purpose, if not in token of their future devotion to 
 the Christian name and profession ? They were not anointed 
 Avith oil ; it follows, that baptismal water or the baptismal 
 service became the sign or the occasion of their consecration ; 
 and this dedication to God is the most simple, most direct, 
 and most perspicuous notion we can form of baptism. 
 
 Baptism was instituted from heaven by the ministry of John 
 the Baptist. Did John the Baptist dedicate, or consecrate, 
 those Avhom he baptized ? Yes ; for he caused them to 
 pledge themselves to a new life and to devote themselves to 
 the practice of holiness. 
 
 Did the Apostles, avIio followed John in baptism, follow 
 him also in this ? There can be no doubt of it ; though by 
 Avhtit form of Avords they consecrated or devoted those Avhom 
 they baptized does not appear. 1 suppose it Avas in the 
 name of the God of Israel, or Jehovah ; of Avhich I take the 
 
20 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 subsequent form of " Fatlier, Son, arul Holy Ghost," to be a 
 mure explicit renderiri<^, fur the use of the Cicntiles, or in our 
 Lord's words, " all nations." The Apostles had had long and 
 oxlensive practice in l)aptism ; lor by them " Jesus made and 
 baptized more disciples than John." They were under the 
 immediate eye ol' their master : — they were familiar with the 
 subject : — they were habituated to the service : — they knew 
 when, where, how, and to whom, to administer it. Very 
 inconsistent therefore does it appear, to deny the original 
 instiliition of a rite so long adndnistercd, previous to its en- 
 largement and universal extension, as a Christian ordinance ; 
 — a rile wliicJi had been among the daily ministrations of the 
 Apostles during several years. 
 
 By his final instructions, our Lord extended the application 
 of this rite commensurate with his commission to the Apostles 
 for preaching the gospel, to all nations. No longer, said 
 he, confine your teachings to Jiidea, to Samaria, to Galilee ; 
 carry them over all the earth, wherever are souls to be saved. 
 No longer consecrate to the true God, by the rite of baptism, 
 the inhabitants of this land only : include all men in your 
 Christian affection, and dedicate them to the name and honour 
 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; whether "Jew 
 or Gentile, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free : that the 
 religion of the cross may be all, and in all." What special 
 enactments could the Apostles need for their direction, after 
 years of practice, guided by their Lord himself? ^Vhat cases 
 of nice discrimination could they now require instructions 
 how to treat — they who had received his commands on the 
 subject. Mat. xxviii. 19. " Teach ai.l nations, as you have 
 taught the Jews : baptize all nations, as you have baptized 
 the Jews ;" is their unlimited commission. 
 
 Those who w^ere baptized by John and liy the Apostles, 
 were voluntkeics. They left their houses, and came and 
 solicited the rite ; but all might come to the Jordan who 
 pleased. Those who staid at home declined the rite : no 
 force compelled them to come :— was it possible that there 
 should be any repulsive force acting against those who did 
 come ? 
 
 " Thy people shall be willing, in the day of thy power." 
 Luke xvi. 16 ; they " pressea" into the Kingdom of Heaven ; 
 Mat xi. 1 2, they " loak it by force ;" Did those, who thus 
 vehemently solicited consecration to God, restrict that conse- 
 cration to their own persons ? Did Jewish parents, who 
 knew that " the chUdreri of proselytes were baptized with their 
 
SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 21 
 
 parents" never think of bringing- their own children to 
 be baptized with themselves ? Did those vokmteers from 
 among the heathen, who knew that chihiren were consecrated 
 to some of their gods by baptism, — but who dedicated their 
 own persons to the sacred Trinity — withhold from the Chris- 
 tian rite, those whom they most earnestly desived should be 
 kept from the pollution of idolatry — E plies, vi. 4 ; and 
 " brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" ? 
 Or rather, did they not, by the earliest possible consecration 
 of them to the Holy Trinity ,y«;e5'^a// their forcible consecration 
 to idols ? Did they not by anticipation render impossible that 
 Avhich they so much dreaded 1 
 
 Is it asked, " why then did not our Lord enact that all 
 young children should be baptized ?" I answer, because the 
 gospel was no local, national, or partial religion, like the 
 Jewish ; but was to be promulgated all over the world. It 
 was to be received, by choice ; but Jews had no choice whether 
 they would be born of their nation, or not. When one parent 
 only was a Jew, the issue was pronounced unclean by the 
 Jews, as Timothy was ; but in those days, the gospel might 
 be received by one parent only, the other remaining an idolater 
 during many years. The believing wife might desire to 
 devote her child to the Holy Trinity : " no ; says the unbe- 
 lieving husband, THE child is my property ; and I forbid 
 THAT ;" or says the believing husband, " I earnestly wish to 
 consecrate to rny Lord and Saviour this increase of my family." 
 — "I OPPOSE THAT WITH ALL MY MIGHT," says the unbelicv^ 
 ing wife. What broils, what bickerings, what contentions, 
 what animosities must inevitably have followed wherever the 
 gospel had entered a family by means of one of the married 
 parties only, had the Saviour strictly enjoined the liaptism of 
 babes and sucklings, as an act of obedience to hiin ! What 
 a struggle it must have produced in every family, and in the 
 most virtuous and upright bosoms, between duty on one hand, 
 and IMPOSSIBILITY on the other ! — between the desire of 
 submission to Christ, and the opposition of conjugal authority, 
 supported by the public laws and the public force ! Our 
 Lord's infinite wisdom knew the human heart. He was the 
 author of peace, and lover of concord. Never did he violate 
 the bonds of natural aflection — he sanctified a marriage by 
 his presence, but he hated divorce and putting away. 
 
 To domestic considerations we add the troubles of the 
 times, and the persecuted state of the Church, 1 Cor. vii. 29. 
 If the apostle felt himself constrained to advise those who 
 
22 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 liad wives, to conduct themselves as though they had them 
 not ; did not the same cause influence those who had child- 
 ren, when th(i name of Christian was death ? Ihmdreds of 
 Christian cliilrlren, and tens of thousands of half l)loo<l might 
 remain unhaptizcd, agniiist their parent's wishes ; enforced 
 by hard necessity. We cainiot ade(|uately sym])athize with 
 Christians under the terror of Roman persecution, and the 
 violence of heathen priesthood. Hence the necessity of some 
 acquaintance with Church History, beyond the limits of the 
 New Testament : and the necessity for some to teach " plain 
 imlettered men :" and the guilt of those who never instruct 
 their hearers in what v.^^ould contribute so greatly to their 
 knowledge, edification, and comfort. 
 
 On all who came to Jordan, John conferred baptism : — 
 since whoever received his rite stood pledged to repentance 
 and holiness. On those who desired baptism from the apos- 
 tles, they bestowed it. Their practice demonstrates their 
 principle. The history of the Christian Church has preserved 
 instances in proof of this proposition ; for we read of several, 
 when Christianity was extensively promulgated, who were 
 baptized in adult years. Those were in the same situation 
 as the children who were left at home when their parents 
 travelled to the Jordan to John : or as those children who in 
 the wilderness, under Moses, did not receive circumcision, 
 because the perils of time and place forbad the safe perfor- 
 mance of the rite. These were afterwards circumcised in 
 adult years, Josh. v. 2 — 7 ; from the necessity of the case ; 
 though in strict compliance with the Divine law they ought 
 to have been circumcised on the eighth day after their birth. 
 Now these instances of adult baptism, recorded in Church 
 History, demonstrate that Christian parents " were not under 
 bondage." — Divinebenevolence "preferred mercy to sacrifice." 
 But that same Church Historj' unequivocally proves the 
 baptism of little ones to be a Christian practice : and we accept 
 its testimony on llux, with equal confidence. 
 
 Late in the second century, and within a hundred and fifty 
 years after the churches were planted by the apostles, A. I). 
 200, TertuUian wrote against infant baptism. Now he could 
 not have written against a custom which did not exist ; nor 
 unless it prevailed. His reasons are sophisticated by " the 
 spirit of bondage" of the ancient law. They are marked by 
 that disposition to dread and despair which characterized the 
 Mosaic dispensation. — He argues — " Give to them who ask 
 thee, but children cannot ask : Do not forbid them to come : 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 23 
 
 therefore let them stay till they can come : let them come when 
 they are grown up — when they understand — when they are 
 instructed Avhither it is tJiey are about to come : let them be 
 made Christians when they can know Christ." For reasons 
 equally valid, unmarried persons ought to be kept off from 
 baptism, Avho are likely to be visited by temptation — as well 
 those who never were married ought to be ktrtl off\ on account 
 of their coming to maturity ; as those in a widowed state, by 
 reason of the loss of their conjugal partners. Add the thou- 
 sand reasons which deter persons engaged in the multifarious 
 concerns of life, in middle age, — and the inevitable infirmities 
 and weaknesses, mental and bodily, of old age — and baptism 
 is postponed till doomsday. A hopefid method of establishing 
 the Church of Christ ! 
 
 But TertuUian had a shorter way of confounding the pop- 
 ular practice, could he have availed himself of it. He omit- 
 ted the STRONGEST ARGUMENT that possibly could be employed 
 against the object of his aversion, had truth allowed him to 
 use it : the very battering-ram of destruction against Infant 
 Baptism, could he have wielded it. "This practice is a 
 NovELTV : it dates but of yesterday : it was unknown to 
 Christians fifty years ago : it was unknown to the first 
 churches : it was unknowist to the Apostles." He would 
 willingly have said this, for this must have condemned the 
 practice conclusively. Not another word was necessary : 
 but he could not. He might twist a few texts out of their 
 perpendicular, in support of his principles ; or he might go 
 so far as to hazard a slight fib ; but on a downright falsity the 
 Christian Father would not venture ; although intent on sup- 
 pressing Infant Baptism. 
 
 I know not Avhich speaks most loudly, the silence of Ter- 
 tuUian, notwithstanding what he would have said, or the uffir- 
 inatton of his contemporary' Origen, who expressly ascribes 
 the practice of infant baptism, to the Apostles. Origen had 
 many advantages not then common : — he was of Christian 
 descent ; — his father was a Christian martyr ; his grandfather, 
 and great-grandfather also were Christians. Could a family 
 so early Christianized be ignorant what had been the primitive 
 rites and customs of the Apostles, and the apostolic churches ? 
 Origen's words are these — " The Church received from the 
 Apusiles the injunction, or tradition, ^o give baptism fwen 
 TO infants. According to that saying of our Lord concern- 
 ing infants — and thou wast an infant when thou wast bapti- 
 zed — their angels do always behold the face of my Father 
 
24 sunjECTS or bai'tisjt. 
 
 who is in heaven." We have these explicit passages in a 
 translation and abridqemoiit of Origen's works from Greek 
 into Latin ; and if the testimony of Origen had stood orpo- 
 SED to infant baptism, we should never have heard one word 
 on the disadvantage of having his work in a translation only, 
 or any impmation on the competence or correctness of his 
 translator, Rufinus. 
 
 We justify the practice of the primitive churches, for what- 
 ever opinions might obtain in different places, or whatever 
 difference in administration, no instance of reproof from the 
 Apostles is recorded. The Corinthian church transgressed 
 in the administration of the Lord's Supper. By the admoni- 
 tion addressed to them on that occasion, succeeding ages are 
 taught. It were but a dubious specimen of Christian charity 
 to regret, that some occasion of reproof on the subject of bap- 
 tism did not occur among the churches, by which we also 
 might have been instructed ; but from this silence it is clear, 
 that this Sacrament had not, in the days of the Apostles, been 
 misunderstood or misapplied. 
 
 The churches, says Origen, acted upon tradition : Tradi- 
 tionem, riaquSoaiv. What is the meaning of the word tradi- 
 tion in the Apostolic writings, and those of the early fathers ? 
 We are accustomed to afhx to it the notion of a mere rumour 
 unsupported by documents, and therefore liable to perversion ; 
 — but this is directly contrary to the import of the word among 
 the first Christians. The Apostle writing to the Thessalo- 
 nians, ii. 15, exhorts them to " hold the traditions they had 
 been taught, whether by word, or hy our epistle.'''' He makes 
 no difference between what he had written, and what his au- 
 thorized agents reported in his name : and he calls his own 
 epistles, traditions. The first epistle to the Corinthians is a 
 collection of traditions ; for it was delivered to the church at 
 Corinth, by Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus, in the 
 name of Paul. It is a series of instructions communicated 
 by second hands ; it is composed of written traditions ; and 
 supposing that Paul added verbal instructions on some points 
 to Stephanas and his brethren, these became unwritten tradi- 
 tions, when they were reported by those Christians to their 
 constituents, the Corinthian church. This " Instruction," 1 
 Cor. xi.2, is rendered prec^p<a — traditiones, in Latin : in Eng- 
 lish, directions. Instructions, Doddridge. Injunctions, Park- 
 hurst. Ordinances, in our public version, traditions — " tradi- 
 tion, which ye received of us." So then, the apostle calls his 
 own teachings, traditions, 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; iii. 6, instructions, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 25 
 
 directions, injunctions^ or ordinances. Origen uses the word in 
 the same sense. " The church," says he, " received from the 
 Apostles, the tradition, injunction, direction, instruction, or 
 ordinan<:e, to give baptism to infants." This is very cred- 
 ible in itself, on the authority of the relator ; but it becomes 
 much clearer, by a closer examination of the facts of the 
 case. 
 
 It is certain from their own testimony, that the Apostles 
 took care to establish means of conveying their directions or 
 injunctions to succeeding generations : for such clearly is 
 the import of the Apostle Peter's language, 2 Peter i. 15 ; " I 
 will endeavour, that after my decease, you make mention of 
 these things ;" — and thereby perpetuate the remembrance of 
 them. This is perfectly coincident with Paul's directions to 
 Timothy, 2 Tim. ii, 2 ; " 1'he things which thou hast heard 
 from me, dm, fur the purpose of instructiiig many Avitnesses, 
 the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to 
 teach others also." If the Apostles were so careful, there 
 can be no doubt, but the primitive Christians their successors 
 were also equally anxious to be informed respecting whatever 
 accounts, of the conduct of Christ, and of his Apostles, were 
 in preservation among them. Irenaus, born A. D. 97, de- 
 scribes his anxiety to acquire information from his master 
 Polycarp : " / remember his discourse to the people concerning 
 the conversations he had had with John, the Apostle, and others 
 who had seen our Lord ; how he rehearsed their discourses, and 
 what he heard them who were eye-witnesses of the Word of 
 Life, say of our Lord, and of his miracles and doctrine." 
 This proves that Polycarp had diligently inquired from those 
 who could tell him, concerning our Lord and his doctrine. 
 He had made himself master of whatever was to be known. 
 It proves also, that such traditions Avere repeated by him in 
 his public discourses to the people ; the best of all possible 
 modes of instruction. Moreover, these discourses made the 
 deepest impression on the memory of Irenaeus ; for he 
 did not forget them to his dying day. In this he was not 
 singular. Thousands of other hearers, equally desirous to 
 know, were equally attentive and equally affected. The 
 same desire animated Origen ; because for the purpose of 
 acquiring such knowledge, he visited the churches planted by 
 the Apostles in Cappadocia and Arabia, in Greece and Rome ; 
 while the main part of his life was spent in Syria and Pales- 
 tine, the seat of the first churches ; where he could not fail 
 of acquiring an intimate acquaintance with tlieir constitution, 
 
 3 
 
26 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 manners, and practice. He Avas a native of Alexandria in 
 Eg:ypt. 
 
 Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, who had been the dis- 
 ciple of John the Apostle, lived long, and might bear his tes- 
 timony to the truth seventy or eiglity years after the death of 
 John ; — but to avoid cavil, I take the generations in the family 
 of Origen, and of those " faithful men" to whom Timothy 
 gave charge, vX forty years oidy ; and because Origen's father 
 was martyred, I take him for tivcnty-five years oidy. It ap- 
 pears then that the testimony of Paul, of Timothy, of Tim- 
 othy's " faithful men" and of " others also" instructed by 
 them, reaches downward to the year 180. Origen was born 
 in 185; add his father, Iwe.nty-five years; his grandfather, 
 forty years ; and his great-grandfather forty years also, and 
 we are brought to the year 80, when Mark the Evangelist 
 had been dead only twlve years at Alexandria. Mark knew 
 the practice of the Apostles. He would select his " faithful 
 men" to transmit his instructions to his church in subsequent 
 years. .Tohn was still living, for twenty years, in case any 
 difficvdty had arisen. The intercourse by sea from Ephesus 
 to Alexandria was direct : but from Alexandria to Crete, the 
 intercourse was almost daily. There was Timothy, or Titus, 
 or some one of their " faithful men," living contemporaries 
 with the Origen family for nearly a hundred years .' Is it 
 possible that under such circumstances, the practice of the 
 Church derived from the Apostles, in a matter of daily oc- 
 currence, could be forgotten ? Could it be perverted, abused, 
 counteracted 1 Could a rite totally new, unfounded, diamet- 
 rically opposite to Apostolic injunctions, be established and 
 prevail ? Where was Timothy 1 where were his " faithful 
 men ?" Not at their duty, if such abominable transgression 
 could be suffered and announced and acted on, as derived 
 from the Apostles themselves ! 
 
 What is it short of impossible to imagine that Origen had 
 been imposed upon — he who travelled for the express pur- 
 pose of acquiring information, who visited the Apostolic 
 churches, and resided among the chief of them — that he 
 should not KNOW the Christian observances in his own family, 
 from his father, his grandfather, &c., derived from Mark the 
 Evangelist? Were this a question on a fact of modern his- 
 tory, said to have occurred a hundred, a hundred and twenty, 
 or a hundred and fifty years ago, would you not deem the 
 evidence sufficient to establish your belief? — Such is the tes- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 27 
 
 timony of Origen in reference to injunctipns for infant bap- 
 tism, derived from the Apostles.* 
 
 We shall now support the affirmation of Origen, that " the 
 Church received from the Apostles an injunction to confer 
 baptism on infants," by inquiring whether any traces of such 
 practice by the Apostles themselves, or by any one of them, 
 are preserved in Scripture ? The facts of that question are 
 our immediate object. 
 
 The import of that language in which such facts are trans- 
 mitted is not to be decided by the conceptions of " an unlet- 
 tered man, with the New Testament only in his hand" — at 
 the distance of nearly two thousand years from the original 
 writer, in point of time, and several thousand miles from his 
 
 • CONTEMPORARIES AND DESCENT OF THE 
 
 A.D. 
 
 JOHN Apoxtle. 
 
 96 Polycarp, disci- 
 
 ple of John. 
 
 97 Irenaeus born. 
 
 101 JOHN dies. 
 
 116 Polycarp, bish- 
 op of Smyr- 
 na. Rev. ii. 8. 
 
 ORIGEN FAMILY. 
 
 PAUL, 67 
 
 Timothy, 97 
 
 MARK, Evan. 
 Origen's great- 
 grandfather 
 
 Origen's grand- 
 father 
 
 A.D. 
 63 
 
 80 
 
 12a 
 
 170 Irenaeus, bishop 
 of Lyons, disci- 
 ple of Polycarp, 
 mentions " re- 
 born infants." 
 
 Faithful men, 140 
 2 Tim. ii. 2. 
 
 Origen's father 160 
 
 Others also, 180 
 2 Tim. ii. 2. 
 
 Origen born 185 
 
 Origen's father mar- 
 tyred 202 
 
 There can be no doubt that many Apostolic persons were living in 
 Egypt, who had daily intercourse with Judea ;— that many of the Jew- 
 ish Christians, after the destruction of Jerusalem, settled among their 
 countrymen at Alexandria ; and that from these, as well as from other 
 Christians, in Greek churches, Origen obtained correct information re- 
 specting all Christian rites, occasional or constant. This Table shows 
 only the contemporaries with his family from indisputable authority. 
 
28 SUBJECTS OF BAl'TISM. 
 
 country ; — but front those of a Greek man, able to peruse the 
 New Testament, who must know what was included in the 
 current language of his age and country : more properly still, 
 from those of Theophilus, to whom Luke dedicated his work, 
 and who certainly understood the full sense of what the 
 sacred writer addressed to him. 
 
 Whoever is acquainted with any language besides his own, 
 knows well, that with whatever skill a translation from a for- 
 eign tongue be executed, it will be liable to imperfections in 
 the application of words, either as to meaning or to spirit. 
 Valuable as our public version of the New Testament is, it 
 could not escape this defect, which is inherent in the very na- 
 ture of language ; and I have never yet seen those passages 
 of Scripture set in a just light wliich support the testimony 
 of Origen. 
 
 A precept or practice referring to the baptism of children 
 might naturally be expected in connection with the mention of 
 children ; — or with such particulars as imply the presence of 
 children, and demonstrate their participation. Parents with- 
 out children are not to the purpose, however numerous. 
 Children without parents, the circumstances of the Gospel 
 history do not warrant us to expect. If such occur, they are 
 doubly worthy of notice ; but in general, we expect to find 
 children in company with their parents, children of various 
 ages, especially in numerous families. Families imply chil- 
 dren. Families are composed of children in every stage of 
 life. 
 
 To express the presence of children, our language formerly 
 employed the term house ; but modern correctness adopts an- 
 other usage of the word. 
 
 The English term house means a building or residence. 
 Outhouses are buildings somewhat removed from the family, 
 usually inhabited by inferior persons, the servants and assist- 
 ants. House is also used metaphorically, to denote succes- 
 sive generations of men allied by consanguinity. By the 
 addition of a syllable, house imports the attendants or princi- 
 pals ; their whole establishment of every description, their 
 HOUSEHOLD — whocver holds, belongs, or appertains to their 
 house. 
 
 Otxog, House, has the following meanings j — the temple of 
 the Lord ; the temple of an idol ; a royal palace ; the palace 
 of a great man ; a military establishment ; a college or place 
 of learning ; a private dwelling ; a cot, hovel, hut, or shed ; 
 a bird's nest, and perhaps a mere roosting-place ; a nation ; a 
 
SUBJKCTS OF BAPTISM. 29 
 
 family descent through ages ; a private family, contempcra- 
 ries ; the celestial state ; the vehicle of disembodied spirits 
 in the celestial state ; the church of God on earth ; the per- 
 sons of believers on earth ; a tent ; a parlor ; a chamber and 
 retiring rooms distinct from the temple. Is it possible, lliat 
 these twenty senses of this word can be thoroughly examined 
 and fully understood, as it has been said, in the short space 
 of a " single hour ?" We must seek for knowledge as for 
 silver in a mine — we must dig for it, as for hid treasure. 
 One instance in proof of this is the extent of research de- 
 manded by this single Avord, if we determine thoroughly to 
 understand it. 
 
 In our inquiries after truth, it is of great moment to estab- 
 lish the rules which are to guide us — and by the following 
 rules we should attempt to elucidate Scripture : — 
 
 I. Every word should he token in its primary, obvious, and 
 ordinary meaning, unless there be something in the connection, 
 or in the nature of things, which requires it to be taken other' 
 wise. — II. Whenever by the connection of a term, or by the 
 nature of things, me are obliged to depart from the primary, 
 obvious, and ordinary meaning of a word, we should depart as 
 little as possible from that meaning, and even with reluctance. 
 The necessity of this rule on the word Baptism, is evident ; 
 for though to the English reader it imports purif cation, yet 
 the Greek scholar knows that it is metaphorically taken to 
 denote corruption. — III. I Whatever is expressed in Scripture is 
 conclusive argument ; and whatever is not expressed is not con- 
 clusive. Hence, we must examine and ascertain the proper 
 meaning of the terms Oi^og and Oixlu. 
 
 0IK02. — The first passage recommended to consideration 
 is this, Ecclesiasticus xxix. 28. 
 
 " The first indispensables for human life are water, and 
 bread, and a wrapper for the body, and — oikos — a hut, to 
 conceal the shame of the party. Better is the life of a poor 
 man under the shelter of a shed, or log-house, than delicate 
 fare at another man's. Be it little or much, hold thee con-, 
 tented : and thou shalt not hear reproach cast on thy — oikia 
 — residence. It is a miserable life to go from oikia to oikia — 
 from residence to residence : and where thou dost not own 
 even a hovel, thou shalt not open thy mouth, Thou mayest 
 receive food ; thou mayest receive drink ; bestowed with an 
 ill grace ; and bitter words upon it. " Come, HousE/e.yy, help 
 spread the table ; and hand me up the dish, that I may eat, — 
 Go away, house/cs^, from before a man of fashion ; my oikia 
 
 3* 
 
30 SUDJECTS or BAPTISM. 
 
 — whole fistahlishinent — all my lodging room is engaged : a 
 brother grandee is coining to enjoy my hospitality." 
 
 It is evident, that oikos hero describes the meanest shelter 
 possible, and that oikia implies an extensive establishment or 
 capacious premises. They are in absolute opposition to 
 each other. The compound word par-oiKE, imports " not 
 possessing a hovel of the meanest kind :" and it is so used 
 with an inexpressible opposition, by the apostle, Eph. ii. 9. 
 " Now therefore, ye arc no more strangers, but fellow-citizens 
 with the saints : no more, lu^oiyoi, uovheIcss vagrants — but 
 inmates of the royal palace — of the household of God." 
 The apostle could not find a stronger term than por-oiKE, to 
 denote in what a forlorn state the heathen had been ; — nor a 
 stronger opposition, to denote their present happiness, as 
 believing Christians. 
 
 The structure cannot be too slight that is marked by the 
 term oikos. It signifies a bird's nest* in the " Geoponics," 
 edited by Niclas, more than once. Domus is so used by Lu- 
 cretius at the opening of the first book : 
 
 " Frondiferasque domos avium, camposque virentes." 
 
 This will remind the reader of the Psalmist's expressions, 
 Psahn Ixxxiv. and civ. 17: " the sparrow hath found a house y 
 " As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house :" her roosting 
 place. 
 
 It is impossible to reduce the import of the term oikos 
 "lower ; but we shall see the distinction yet more strongly in 
 the investigation of oikia. 
 
 OIKTJ. — In further proof that oiA?a implies spacious prem- 
 ises, consult the simile ; " For, as the architect of a ncAv 
 oiAi'a — extensive residence — must take care of the whole struc- 
 ture, in all its various parts ; so, to stand on every point, and 
 to go over things at large, and to be curious in particulars, 
 belongeth to the Archigetes, the first author of the story :" — 
 not to those who abridge it. 2 Maccabees ii. 20. 
 
 * Nor is this idea uncommon in reference to persons in other lan- 
 guages besides the famous oikiscos of Demosthenes, in Greek. There is 
 a pretty antique basso relievo representing a group of children, in a 
 bird's nest, looking out for their paients. The Welsh have a poem by 
 Jolo Goch, who passed the following encomium on a lady : 
 
 Her children come in pairs ; 
 A beautiful nest of children ! 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 31 
 
 An othia then resembles a history at large, including all 
 particulars ; and treating on every point specitically. 
 
 The same extensive import of oikia, is satisfactorily ex- 
 pressed in the history of the Magi, Matt. ii. 11, who visited 
 the Babe at Bethlehem. There was no room in the inn, says 
 the Evangelist : his mother therefore retired to the stable: — 
 "And the Avise men came into the oikia — premises— out- 
 houses or stable, where the young child was, and found him 
 and his parents." This oikia cannot possibly denote the 
 dwelling-house ; it 7nust denote out-houses. 
 
 Whoever is acquainted with a tanner's business knows 
 that it requires considerable space, and various and large out- 
 buildings. So the oikia of Simon the tanner at Joppa, Acts 
 X. 10 ; his establishment was by the sea-side. The men who 
 were sent to Peter inquired for the establishment — oikia — of 
 Simon, Acts xi. 11, 17 ; and stood before the gate — not the 
 door of the dvvelling-house, but the gate of the tanner's yard. 
 The premises therelbre included the dwelling-house, on the 
 top of which Peter had his vision, and the offices, yard, &c., 
 around it. 
 
 This is also strikingly apparent to the slightest attention, 
 in the history of Peter's deliverance, Acts xii. 12. Having 
 considered, he came to the ozAi'a— premises of Mary the 
 mother of John — where many were gathered together, pray- 
 ing. Peter knocked at the door of the gate— not the door 
 of the dwelling-house, but of the outer gate — and a damsel 
 named Rhoda went out to listen ; and when she knew Peter's 
 
 voice she opened not the gate for joy, but running in . 
 
 It seems, then, that Mary's dwelling-house standing across a 
 courtyard, somewhat removed from the street, preserved that 
 privacy which the case required ; as passengers could not 
 hear the devotions offered. The outer gate of the courtyard 
 had a smaller door ; and the whole was strongly fastened. 
 Rhoda ran across the courtyard to the outer gate, where 
 she knew Peter's A'^oice, and immediately ran across the 
 courtyard back again. 
 
 If the out-houses and courtyard include the house, it is 
 clear that they are distinct erections. They are divisible, Q.r\A 
 may be separated. That the idea of divisibility is attached 
 to this term in the New Testament, is evident from the lan- 
 guage of the apostle, 2 Tim. ii. 20 ; " In a great house — not 
 oikos, but oikia — there are not only vessels of gold and of 
 silver, but also of wood and of earth ; and some to honour 
 and some to dishonour." The whole of this passage imports 
 
32 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 divisihiliiy. So says our Lord, John xiv. 2 : " In ray Father's 
 house — not oikos, but oikia — are many mansions." Many 
 mansions imply divisibiUiy ; and premises extensive, spacious, 
 wide, large, broad, infinitely beyond the feeble comprehen- 
 sion of mortal man. 
 
 The Evangelists frequently express the same fact in differ- 
 ent terms, and denote the same identical object by different 
 appellations ; in the case of the Paralytic, Matthew ix. 6, 
 Mark ii. 11, and Luke v. 24, all three say, " take up thy 
 bed, and go to thine house — oihios. The Pharisees 'are 
 charged with "devouring widows' houses" Matt, xxiii. 14, 
 Mark xii. 40, Luke xx. 47, — all read oikia, not oikos. 
 Though there are variations among the evangelists, in the 
 phraseology forbidding a man to regard the property in his 
 oikia, yet not one of tlie sacred writers substitutes oikos for 
 oikia. In the course of a long history, in Avhich we have the 
 words from the mouths of different speakers, not one stum- 
 bles on this interchange of oikos and oikia—\mi every speaker 
 preserves the distinction. I allude to the history of Corne- 
 lius, Acts X. xi. The dwelling of Cornelius is called his 
 oikos, by the servants of Cornelius, by Cornelius himself, and 
 by Peter twice, Acts xi. 12, 13. On the contrary, the dwell- 
 ing of Simon is called oikia, by the angel, by the evangelist, 
 by Cornelius, and by Peter. How is it that no interchange 
 occurs here, if the words be interchangeable ? Luke was a 
 good Greek writer, and well aware of the difference. 
 
 With all these distinctions and diametrical oppositions, are 
 these terms interchangeable, in their proper acceptation ? Is 
 a hut interchangeable with a great house ? Is the same term 
 that signifies the fragile materials and small dimensions of a 
 bird's nest, interchangeable with thatv/hich denotes the heaven- 
 ly seat of Almighty "power and glory ? Is the careful distinc- 
 tion preserved by the evangelists, the merely casual result of 
 accident ? 
 
 But oikos is a masculine noun, while oikia is feminine. 
 How long have nouns masculine and feminine been inter- 
 changeable in Greek ? Are prince, princess ; —jew, Jewess ; — 
 tiger, tioress, 6fc., interchangeable in English ? That they 
 denote the same genus and species is certain ; but as terms 
 in language, they are not interchangeable. 
 
 Neither can a part be the same as the whole, or be inter- 
 changeable with it. That oikos really is part of oikia is 
 the testimony of Hesychius ; and of Biel, repeating him. 
 
 Hesychius. oixos, aXiyrjoixia, oikos, d^ smzWoikia. Odys- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 33 
 
 sey, *. 16 ; — ><«» fisgog n iijs otxiag, also a certain part of the 
 oikia. II. Z. 490. Od. A. 356. Penelope was really with- 
 in the building when she was commanded to go into the oikos, 
 which is described as an upper and retired apartment. >«at 
 Ta ev jTj otxiu, and the substance or property within the oikia. 
 — Od. B. 48. 
 
 In the Evangelists, the property of a householder is de- 
 scribed as deposited in the oikia ; for the person who is said 
 to be on his house-top is directed not to go down to take any 
 thing out of his oikia. Matt. xxiv. 17; or as Mark expresses it, 
 xii. 15, " Let him not go down into his oikia ; neither let him 
 enter therein — which implies some distance to be passed over, 
 and marks a strong distinction ; for whoever was on his house- 
 top, was already in his oikos : therefore he could need no 
 caution against ^'^ entering therein." Lukexvii. 31, speaks 
 of " his stuff — his property — in the oikia," which is strictly 
 and remarkably conformable to the passage in Homer. 
 
 BiEL, Thesaurus ; — " oixog, domus, tentorium, templum, 
 conclave, familia. Gen. ix. 21 . xxiv. 67. Num. ix. 15. Deut. 
 V. 30. Ez. xxxii. 14. 1 Chron. xxix. 19. Gen. vii. 1. 1 
 Kings vii. 1, 6, 8, 9. et confer. Luke i. 27. et Prochenium 
 de Styl. N. T. ^ 120. 2 Kings xxiii. 8, U.—Filii; 1 
 Chron. ii. 10. Jer. xvi. 14. Amos iii. 1. Zeph. i. 9. cubi- 
 culum. conclave. Jer. xxxv. 4. Jer. xxxvi. 10, 12, 20, 21. 
 et confer Lud. de dieu ad. Act. 1. 13. Sic et Josepho de 
 Bell. Jud. vi. 6. conclavia circa templum structa vocantur 
 otxoi. Eodem sensu vox legitur in illo Poetae, Odyss. A. v. 
 353. 
 
 'AXX Big on(ov tscra t« javrrjg sqya xofnt^e. 
 
 Sed abi in conclave, et tuarum rerum curam habes. 
 
 Quo respiciens Hesychius, omov interpretatur fisqog ti rrjg 
 oixiag partem quandam domus." 
 
 " Oikos. house, tent, temple, parlour, family, inner chamber. 
 The ccpnacula, or retiring rooms, built around the temple 
 were, called oikoi. In the same sense the word is employed 
 in the Odyssey. Book i. 358. — But go into your parlour, and 
 mind your own business. — On which authority, Hesychius 
 interprets oikos, a certain part of a house." 
 
 This notion of a retired apartment, or appropriate division 
 of a large building, expressed by the term oikos, frequently 
 occurs. Even the abode of Jupiter on Olympus seems to 
 
34 SUBJKCTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 have conformed to it : for we find, Iliad A. 532. 3, 4, 5, that 
 the gods had a great hall, dwau Jiog, in which they met to 
 hold councils, to dine, and to sup : but after supper, they 
 rctircnl triur otxindf txnuiog, ad auum quisquc doinum, each to 
 his own oikos, his division of the common palace ; for Olym- 
 pus was common to all the gods : and in this, Homer took 
 his description from a well-known custom of his time. The 
 Labyrinth of Egypt, Uijrod. lib. i. cap. 148, is an instance in 
 point. 
 
 The same idea of a separate retired apartment is conveyed 
 in later ages by this word : for Euscbius informs us. Vita 
 Const, lib. iii. c. 10, that the council of bishops at Nice was 
 held in a large HALL-ot/:o.y — of the royal residence — tw 
 fieoaiiuiu} cnyw BuoiXfimv. This he expresses in another 
 place by " the great Hall in the palace" — oixov itiytcov iv 
 ■lolg ^(tadsioig, — or oixog svxtrjoiog — an oratory, or place of 
 prayer : — not a temple, not a separate building — but an apart^ 
 raent in the palace itself, destined to sacred service : not 
 accessible to all the world ; but, as becomes a place of prayer, 
 retired from the noise and bustle of the palace. 
 
 If then oikos be a small ozkia, — if oikos be a part or divi- 
 sion in an oikia, — if it be an upper part, an elevation, while 
 the oikia extends in breadth, how can these nouns be inter- 
 changeable ? And if small and large, a part and the whole, 
 height and breadth, be not interchangeable — then the argument 
 of the Baptists fails ; and with it falls their whole system. 
 
 It is unnecessary to say much on the figurative acceptation 
 of the terms, in reference to living persons — to families. 
 Our second rule of interpretation imports, that we keep as 
 nearly as possible to the proper meaning of a word, notwith- 
 standing it be taken metaphorically ; according to the positive 
 affirmation of Aristotle — that oikos is a society oi free persons, 
 whereas oikia is composed of both bond and free — and con- 
 sequently, it includes the oikos which forms a part of it. 
 The part cannot be the same as the whole, or interchangeable 
 with it. 
 
 It was common in the East for a son, though married, to 
 continue in his father's house for years ; and such an instance 
 we have, in which it is not possible to exclude young chil- 
 dren from the import of the term oikos in the sense oi family . 
 " In word and deed honour thy father and thy mother ; that 
 upon thee may come blessings from all men. For the blessing 
 of a father establishelh the oikous — houses — of sons : while 
 the curse of a mother rooteth up foundations." — Ecclesiasti- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAI'TISM. 35 
 
 cus iii. 9. — The blessing of a father has no effect on brick 
 and mortar; the term therefore mnat mean di family of ymuig 
 children ; for such infantine prattlers are the delight of a 
 grandfather. 
 
 Lycophron calls an adulterer 'oixog ^o^w* ," the corrupter 
 of oikus ;" meaning, not merely the seducer of wives, but the 
 corrupter of the bluud — of the family desani, by introducing 
 a sjRirious brood. All the women in Penelope's household, 
 oikia, as well as the dozen that Ulysses dangled on a rope, 
 might have been seduced by Penelope's suitors, without affect- 
 ing the fidelity of their mistress in the least. On the other 
 hand, had Penelope alone been unfaithful to her husband 
 Ulysses, the chastity of all her attendants would have been 
 no compensation to him. 
 
 The Latin writers Dumenil. Lat. Syn. Domus use the 
 word dmnvs^ house, in the same sense. And there is the 
 same distinction between domus — us, domus — i, as between 
 oikos and oikia. — The modern Italian preserves it strongly ; 
 for casa is a hoiisf, but casone, with an additional syllable, 
 forming the termination, is a great large house. 
 
 So, speaking of families, Juvenal says — 
 
 Evertere domos totas optantibus ipsis 
 Di faciles Sat. x. 7 — 
 
 "The too easily acceding gods overturn houses — descent 
 of families — by granting the wishes of their principals, in 
 behalf of their children." He speaks also of a house— fajnily 
 — descent, disgraced by aduUery : Dedecus ille domvh sciet 
 ultimus. lb. 342. 
 
 Childrrn are the primary objects of — oikos — house ; but 
 oikos includes connections by marriage ; the son-in-law, and 
 the daughter-in-law, with iheir children — the family -df-scent. 
 I know but one text where it expresses family-«.vr^n/ ; yet 
 nothing can be clearer than the consanguinity marked by the 
 term, even in that text ; 1 Tim. v. 4, " If any widow have 
 children or grandchildnn — which is the meaning of the word 
 rendered nephews — let them learn to show piety in their own 
 family, mv iSmv oixnv^ and to requite their parents." Exactly 
 coincident with this, is the expression of Pindar — Ode xiii. 
 04X01- jQic^nXvfinioi ixiti^ " the house thrice victor in the Olym- 
 pic games :" meaning, the family of Xencphon. to whom 
 the ode is addressed : — Xenophon, his father Thessalus, 
 and his grandfather Ptoeodorus. Is it possible, knowing this, 
 
Jb SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 that it was intended to restrict the term oikos to children — 
 to children " only and always ?" If so, what could be meant 
 by introducing a quotation from Aristotle, importing that 
 " Oikos is a society connected together according to the 
 course of nature, for long continuance ?" — Any sense impover- 
 ishes the sentiment, unless by " every day" all the days of 
 life 'are intended. It was so understood by Cicero, who 
 has very elegantly distributed the argument of Aristotle, 
 where he describes the progi'css of a family, De Off. lib. i. 
 c. 17 : " The first social connection, he says, is the conjugal : 
 then that of children : these constitute a dornus — house or 
 family common to all. This is the commencement of a city, 
 as it were, the plantation of young trees — the succession-plot 
 of the common Aveal. Then follow the union of brothers and 
 their families ; of sisters and their families : and when one 
 house cannot contain their numbers, they form other houses. 
 
 After these follow relations by marriage they have the 
 
 same family descent, the same family recollections, the same 
 family rites, and the same family sepulchre."* 
 
 This society extends from the cradle to the grave : from 
 the original parents, perhaps to second cousins : and to this 
 relation it may, possibly, be traced in Scripture. But what 
 is there here inconsistent with the idea that children are the 
 primary, and usually the immediate object of the term family ? 
 Is it not according to Nature to place themfrst 1 and does 
 not Cicero himself, as well as Aristotle, follow that course in 
 this very passage, wherein he traces consanguhiity and affin- 
 ity to their utmost extent ? 
 
 Now in all this, where are servants or slaves admitted ? 
 Is the relation of master and slave " according to the course 
 of nature ?" Can we separate the idea of children — young 
 children — infants, from the terms " house of Israel — house of 
 Jacob — house of Judah — house of David ?" Surely not : for 
 without descents by infants, what becomes of the nation ? — 
 
 • Nam cum sit hoc natura commune animantium, ut habeant lubidinem 
 procreandi, prima societas in ipso conjugio est : proxima in liberis : 
 deinde una domus, communia omnia. Id autem est principium urbis, 
 et quasi seminarium reipublic^. Sequuntur fratrum conjunctiones, 
 post consobrinorum sobrinorumque : qui cum una domo jam capi non 
 possint, in alias domos, tamquam in colonias, exeunt. Sequuntur con- 
 nubia et affinitates : ex quibus ctiam plures propinqui. Quae propaga- 
 tio, et suboles, origio est rerum publicarum. Sanguinis autem conjunc- 
 tio, benevolenfia devincit homines et caritate. Magnum est enim 
 eadem habere monumenta majorum, eisdem uti sacris, sepulcra habere 
 communia. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 37 
 
 Now if we cannot separate the idea of children from a nation, 
 from a lotig descent, how can we separate it from the families 
 composing that nation, from an immediate descent — from any 
 one link in the chain of descent ? — If, then, children of all 
 ages be the primary and immediate object of the iernx family, 
 according to the course of nature, according to the general 
 and established us© of the word, it rests with those who 
 undertake to confute this proposition, to show convincing 
 cause for denying this import of the term ; but especially 
 where the term occms in Scripture, connected with baptism. 
 They are bound to show, in the instances of Cornelius, of 
 the Jailor, of Lydia, of Stephanas, of Crispus, and of Onesi- 
 phorus, to which add those of Aristobulus and Narcissus, with 
 the many believers who formed the church of Corinth, that 
 there neither were, nor could be young children in any one of 
 these instances. — If this be thought too much trouble, the 
 purpose may be answered with equal certainty, by merely 
 proving that the families of the Bishop, the Deacon, and the 
 young women, in the epistle to Timothy, cannot include young 
 childr e n — infa n Is . 
 
 OIKIA — Oikia includes, besides the family, slaves, ser- 
 vants, or attendants. — " As the sun rising in mid-heaven is a 
 good wife to her household," Otxiag. — Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 
 16 ; and iv. 30. " Be not as a lion in thy oikia, and frantic 
 among thy servants .'" — Here a parallelism is intended. The 
 term frantic is parallel to lion ; and servant is parallel to oikia, 
 or household. — 2 Maccabees iii. 30. " But if any one, old or 
 young, shall conceal any Jew, he, with all his household, 
 natoi-AKx^ shall be put to death with the most ignominious 
 torments."— Here the master is distinct from liis servants, 
 and both family and servants are threatened by the edict ; 
 because servants are privy in cases of concealment : and the 
 intention of this edict was to deter universally. 
 
 We have a passage in which, without falsifying history, it 
 is IMPOSSIBLE to include the family in the term oikia, Phil, 
 iv. 22. " All the saints salute you, especially those who are 
 of Ccesar's household," oixiag. Not one of Caesar's family, 
 then, was at this time converted to Christianity ; though igome 
 of his household attendants, servants or courtiers, were. The 
 names of several are on record, and apparently meationed in 
 Scripture. 
 
 The conclusion therefore is, as in the instance of Noah's 
 family, that the servants are of necessity excluded from the 
 oikos ; and in this instance of Caesar's oikia, the family is ex- 
 
 4 
 
38 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 cliuled, OF EQUAL NECESSITY. Thcsc tcmis cannot be regularly 
 and grammatically interchangeable. In this, the metapho- 
 rical or figurative acceptation of the terms coincides completely 
 with their primary and proper import. The terms oikos and 
 oikia when wse A figuratively are not regularly and gramma- 
 tically interchanged in Scripture language. 
 
 The Septuagint translation justifies the general principle. 
 
 Jacob luas a plain man dwelling in tents. Sep. oixntv oixiay. 
 Two manuscripts, the Aldine edition, and Cyril. Al., read 
 otxwj' (V oiMiu. He oikoscd in the nikia of his father. He 
 occupied a portion of the general establishment of Isaac ; en- 
 joyed the patriarchal and patrimonial tent. This is another 
 instance of oikia being much more extensive than oikos : and 
 is a proof that tents were known under the general appellation 
 of houses ; as they are at this day, among the Arabs. 
 
 Exodus i. 21. He made them houses. Sep. enoirjaey 
 eavTuig oixiag. — Aqnila, eTjoirjae f fuviuig otxovc. — Symmachus, 
 SnotTjOfP iavTaig oiyiug. — Theodotion, enoirjasv avTa<f oixovg. 
 — Gr. Ven. enoirjaey ovy exsiynv doftog^ So/uovg. — The meaning 
 is well explained by a Greek scholiast in Caten. Nicet. 
 lotovrov sgv TO, Bnoiijaev avraig oixovg, jovi^ eqir 7jv^rjney uvraig 
 10 yevog. The writer's thought is, that inasmuch as the mid- 
 wives had assisted the Israelite women, rendering them 
 mothers of children, therefore the Lord assisted the niidwives, 
 and rendered them in return mothers of numerous families. 
 The Greek scholiast employs oikos in such a manner that 
 having in his mind the idea of the parturition of the midwives, 
 he becomes an additional and effectual evidence for the accep- 
 tation of the term, oikos, in the sense of family or issue of the 
 
 body INFANTS. 
 
 The term House in the sense of family is metaphorical ; 
 and is derived from the term House in the original sense of 
 a Building ; not a tent, but a fixed, permanent, and lasting res- 
 idence. Now as we always can recur to the proper use of 
 the term, and as it is used metaphorically in several languages, 
 and as there is a corresponding similarity between the ori- 
 ginal object and the significative appellation, our inquiries 
 into its meaning must be satisfactory. Therefore I present the 
 plan of a house in ancient Greece, sufficient for every purpose 
 of illustration. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 39 
 
 Garden or Grounds. 
 
 HOUSE. 
 
 + + 
 
 OIKOS. 
 
 + • 
 
 -f 
 
 Entrance. 
 
 Here is the separation of the out-houses from the principal 
 dwelling. It is evident that the house cannot be said to in- 
 clude the giounds and out-houses : the house might be built 
 up or pulled down, enlarged or diminished, without affecting 
 the out-houses. But the out-houses include the house : — 
 and the whole may be expressed by one comprehensive term 
 — establishment, premises, residence or place- 
 Such is the proper and real application of the term house. 
 Our present object is to trace the conformity of the metaphor- 
 ical application of the term to this reality. There cannot be 
 equal authority on this subject to that of Aristotle. In wri- 
 ting on the polity of cities, Aristotle thus defines a House. 
 *• A House is a Society or Companionship connected together 
 according to the course of nature, for long continuance. 
 Such a Society is called by Charondas, ' those who eat from 
 the same cupboard,^ or pantry ; but it is called by Epimenides, 
 the Ci-etun, ' those who sit around the same fire- side i' ''"' — Or, 
 as Du Val, the editor of Aristotle supposes, " those who sit 
 around the same table." Such a Society, says Aristotle, is 
 an oiKos, or house.— Aristotle, Pol. Lib.'i. c. 2.* 
 
 Societas igitur in omneis vitje dies constituta, Naturae conveniens 
 
40 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 But the old Grecian distinguishes between oikos, House, 
 oiKiA, House-HOi.D, exactly as Scripture distinguishes. 
 Speaking of a city, he says, Polit. Lib. i. c. 3, "In order to 
 obtain a clear idea of the parts of which a city is composed, 
 it is necessary that we should previously explain what an 
 OIKIA is. For every city is composed of connected oikias : 
 and further, an oikia is composed of several parts ; and these 
 placed together in their stations, constitute the oikia. But a 
 COMPLETE oikia Comprises the servants and those who are 
 free."* By "/ree" Aristotle means, the Master and his fam- 
 ily : one who is capable of citizenship ; one " among those 
 who are free by nature."! He afterwai-ds expatiates on this 
 definition, speaking of the wife as being " free •" not as among 
 barbarians, a slave ; and of the children, as being " free." He 
 says, " There is but a slight difference between the skill re- 
 quired to govern a great oikia — //ow^c-hold— and that re- 
 quired to govern a small city." Nothing can be clearer, than 
 that the term ojAo.y — House — excludes the oikia— out-houses^ 
 or Hoiise-uoLT> ; but the term oikia includes the House. 
 
 If Aristotle had met with the term house in reading the New 
 Testament, what would he have understood by it ''. — or rather, 
 what would any "unlettered Greek man, having only the 
 Greek New Testament in his hand," have understood, when 
 reading in his native language — " We baptized Lydia, tvilk 
 her society connected together according to the course of nature 
 for long continuance" — " We baptized the Jailor, vntk all those 
 who eat from the same cupboard as himself." — " I baptized those 
 who sit around the same f reside with my valued friend Ste- 
 phanas"— or, " I baptized those who sit around the same table 
 with my honoured friend" A Greek reader must have under- 
 
 et consentanea, Domus est : cujtis societatfs participes et consortes» 
 ofioaLnvoti Charondas appellat, id est, eodem panario, seu ex eadem apo- 
 theca victum somentes : nos convictimus appellemus : Epimenides 
 autem Cretensrs o^ok-arroif, id est, uno et communi foco seu fumo uten- 
 teis : dicamus, si placet, conlubernaleis. 
 
 Efffl it (pavcpov e^ fiopioiv /jv woXij (rvvcsmx^", nvayKr\ jjrspt otKovufjiai^ l'^^ 
 TTCpi ojifia?, ciTTttv -npoTcpov. naaa yap ttoXij, c^ o'lKiMV cvyKtirai oi/cio?, lege otKov- 
 Ofitai, it I'tprj, tf ojii avOis oUia ffinrurai" oiVia (5t rtXti^s, £« (J)wXwi', Kai cXevOt- 
 
 pa>v. Quando autem perspicuiim est quibus ex partibus constet civitas, 
 necessario de Domo prius dicendum est. Omnis enim Civitas ex dom- 
 ibus et familiis componitur. Domus porro partes sunt, ex quibus Domus 
 constituitur ; at Domus perfecta atque Integra, ex servis et liberis 
 constat. 
 
 + ;; fitv ynp, c\cvdepMv <pvasi. iji/ it, iov>.<,>v cTi' Civilis est liberorum na« 
 tura : herile imperium vero, servorum. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 41 
 
 Stood this term— house— inn, very extensive sense : including 
 not only all the children, in every stage of life but some- 
 thing more. 
 
 But the elegance of the last definition, though conjectural, 
 " those toho sit around the same table" reminds me of the ex- 
 quisite comparison of the Psalmist, Psalm cxxviii. 3—" Thy 
 wife shall be like a fruitful vine, by the side of thy house ; thy 
 children like olive plants round about thy table." 
 
 Though writing in Greek, the Apostles were Hebrews by 
 descent ; and perfectly familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures, 
 and with the Hebrew language, as spoken by their nation. 
 Beyond a doubt, they used the term house in the same sense 
 as it is used by the Old Testament writers ; hence we have 
 only to consult Moses and the Prophets, and rest our inquiry 
 on their answer. 
 
 According to the Hebrews, the metaphorical derivation of 
 the term House was from the circumstance of a dwelling- 
 house being built up of stones. A metaphorical House, 
 therefore, a family, was a building of living stones. Now 
 which are the proper living stones to build up a family or 
 house/ — are they the seniors or the juniors? — Is the infant 
 born to-day, or the man of a hundred years old who dies to- 
 morrow ? — And here I will not allow you to say, "the term 
 house, as used in the Old Testament, implies the Elders of 
 the family, strictly and properly ; but the infants accidentally, 
 and improperly." I affirm on the contrary, that the direct, 
 straight-forward, explicit, and unquestionable reference of the 
 term House is to the Infants, primarily and properly ; and to 
 the seniors, or even to the Parents, if at all, only accidentally, 
 improperly, and occasionally. The 'proof of this may safely 
 rest on the following passages. 
 
 2 Sam. vii. 27. " Thou, O Lord God of Israel, hast revealed 
 to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house," will estab- 
 lish thy family. 1 Chron. xvii. 25. 2 Sam. vii. 11,29; 
 The Lord telleth thee that he will make thee a house. 
 
 " Now let it please thee to bless the Aow.se of thy servant — 
 and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed 
 for ever," his family. 1 Kings xi. 38. Exod. i. 21 ; "And 
 it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he 
 made them houses," he gave them numerous families. 
 
 Consult the history of Jacob and Rachel, Gen. xxx. 1-2 ; 
 " Give me children, or else I die," said the disappointed wife. 
 — Her husband replied : " Am I in God's stead, Avho hath with- 
 
 4* 
 
42 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 held from thee the fruit of the womb ?" Psahn cxxvii. Except 
 the Jjord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. 
 
 " Lo ! CHILDREN are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of 
 the womb is his reward." The Hebrew, very remarkable 
 here, fixes the sense to issue : " those who labour to build 
 the house. i\ it." 
 
 This etymological derivation of the term house — as import- 
 ing a metaphorical building — continued, and was adopted 
 by the Apostles. 
 
 Eph. ii. 19-21. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers 
 and foreigners, but fellow-ritizens with the saints and mem- 
 bers of the household-establishment of God ; and are built 
 on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ 
 himself being the chief corner-stone ; in whom all the Build- 
 ing, fitly framed together, gTOweth unto a holy temple in the 
 Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habita- 
 tion of God through the Spirit. 1 Peter ii. 4, 5 ; Coming to 
 
 the Lord, as to a living, life-giving stone ye also, as livi7ig 
 
 stones are built up a spiritual house, family, as that of 
 Aaron, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. — 
 Titus i. 11. They subvert — overturn whole houses — fam- 
 ilies : the very reverse of building up : v^-building. — These 
 passages are decisive. 
 
 In proof that house imports children, distinct from their 
 parents. — Deut. xxxv. 9. " Then shall his brother's wife spit 
 in his face, and say, so shall it be done unto that man who 
 will not build up his brother's house," — by obtaining 
 children — jn/an/5 — from his widow. — Gen. xvi.2. "Sarai said 
 unto Abram, the Lord hath restrained me from child-bear- 
 ing : I pray thee go in unto my maid ; it may be that / may 
 obtain children by her,'' "be builded by her." Gen. xxx. 3. 
 " Rachel said to Jacob, behold my maid Bilhah— she shall bear 
 upon my knees, that / may also have children by her" — " be 
 builded by her." Gen. vii. The Lord said to Noah, come 
 thou AND all thy house into the ark. 
 
 The parent is distinguished from his family. — 1 Kings xvii. 
 8, 16. The widow woman of Zarepta did according to the say- 
 ing of Elijah ; — and she, and he, and her house, did eat many 
 days." — Her son must be her house, distinct from his mother; 
 as there were but three persons concerned in the history. 
 Gen. xl.— xlvi. 27.31. " Jacob and all his seed came into 
 Egypt, his sons, his sons' sons, his daughters and his sons' 
 daughters, all his seed. All the souls which came out of his 
 loins — k\\ the souls of the house of Jacob were threescore 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 43 
 
 and ten." The phrase those which came out of the loins 
 
 of Jacob, must exckide Jacob himself. Numb, xviii. 11. 
 " The heave -offerings have I given to thee and thy sons, and 
 to thy daughters with thee, every one that is clean in thy 
 HOUSE." The parent is evidently not comprised in the term 
 house. — Dewi. xxvi. 11. Thou shalt rejoice in every good 
 thing which the Lord thy God hath given thee, and unto thine 
 HOUSE. The distinction is here preserved also.— 2 Sam. 
 xiii. 11. "I will raise up evil against thee David, out of thine 
 own Ao«5e;"— from among thy children. 
 
 That this distinction between parents and children, con- 
 tinued, and was adopted hy the Apostles, is manifest from 
 — Lydia, and her house ; — the Bishop, and his house : — 
 the Deacon, antZhis house : — the family of Stephanas, separate 
 from himself; — the family of Crispus, separate from himself; 
 — the family of Onesiphorus separate, &c. 
 
 In proof that house means infants, explicitly. — Numb, 
 xvi. 27, 32. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the 
 door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their 
 LITTLE CHILDREN. — Aiid the earth opened her mouth and 
 swallowed them up, and their houses. — Their little children, 
 then, were their houses. — Job xx. 28. " The increase of his 
 house shall roll away ; shall flow away as a torrent flows, in 
 the day of his wrath." The term " increase of a house," 
 means a family, 1 Sam. ii. 3. — Psalm Ixviii. 6. " Godsetteth 
 the solitary man in families:" in a house — infants. 
 Psalm cxiii. 9. God maketh the barren woman to sit in her 
 HOUSE — family; the joyful mother of children, infants. — 
 Isaiah xiii. 6. Their children shall be dashed to pieces before 
 their eyes, their houses shall be spoiled. The Medes shall 
 not regard silver, nor delight in gold. — Their bows shall dash 
 the young men to pieces : they shall have no pity on the fruit 
 of the womb : their eye shall not spare children — It was not 
 the dwelling houses which the Medes were to spoil, for they 
 regarded not silver nor gold which are the natural spoil of 
 dwelling houses ; but houses in the sense of families — the 
 fruit of the womb — infants. 
 
 House means Infants, before they are conceived — conse- 
 luently, when they are not present. — Gen. xviii. 19. "I 
 know Abraham, that he will command his children, even 
 his HOUSE, after him." Here Isaac is spoken of as house 
 to Abraham, in the close of the day on which he was 
 promised by the three Angels ; consequently before his con- 
 ception. — 2 Sam. vii. 11-16. "The Lord telleth thee that 
 
44 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 he will MAKE thee, a house aiid set up thy seed after 
 
 thee, which shall proceed out of ihy bowels." — Consequently, 
 this infant, David's successor, was not yet begotten. — Ruth 
 iv. 12. " All the people that were in the gate, and the ciders 
 said — The Lord make the woman that is come into thy 
 dwelling house, like Rachel and like Leah, which two did 
 BuiLU UP the house of Israel : — And let thy house, family, 
 be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, 
 
 OF THE SEED WHICH THE LORD SHALL GIVE THEE OF THIS 
 YOUNG WOMAN." 
 
 It is not possible by any form of words whatever, to express 
 InfantS' more decidedly, than by these applications of the 
 term house : and if there were no other text in the Old 
 Testament, this last alone is sufficient to establish the propo- 
 sition that the term house in Old Testament language must 
 mean an infant. The building up the house of Israel is infunt- 
 child-bearing. Thv house — the " seed which the Lord 
 SHALL GIVE THEE of this young womau," MUST mean an infant. 
 This is the national and acknowledged language, used by 
 " all the people that were in the gate ;" not by the vulgar 
 only, but by those well instructed, by the elders ; and this 
 took place before Boaz was married : for it follows — " So Boaz 
 took Ruth to wife." 
 
 Thus an infant is expressed in Old Testament language 
 by the terra house, both by the side of the father and mother, 
 even before it is begotten. The same usage of the word 
 continued and -was adopted by the Apostles, as is clear from 
 the case of the young women, 1 Timothy v. 14 ; concerning 
 whom Paul says, as of a future event, that he would have 
 them marry, bear children, despotize their house or family ; 
 in exact conformity with the wishes of the elders and the 
 people, in behalf of Boaz and Ruth. Let us reduce the result 
 to conclusive evidence. 
 
 By what was Sarah and Rachel builded up ? By Infants. 
 — What does the term houses imply ? Little Children. — 
 In what house does God set the solitary man ? In an Infant 
 family. — In what house does God set the barren woman ? In 
 an Infant family. — What is the increase of a house ? Infants. 
 — What is a house in the sense of fruit of the womb ? Infants. 
 — What was to be commanded by Abraham, as his house ? 
 His expected Infant Isaac. — What house was the seed which 
 should proceed out of thine own bowels ? An Infant. — 
 What house was the seed which the Lord shall give of the 
 young woman ? An Infant. — In these ten instances, and 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 45 
 
 twenty might be added, the term house must signify Infants ; 
 and moreover, it is used for Infants, though not actually present. 
 But an objection to this inference has thus been propounded. 
 — " If the argument be made to turn rather upon words than 
 things, there is always this risk that the disputants become 
 involved in all the difficulties arising from the attempt to fix 
 the meaning of words which are necessarily fleeting, as well 
 as from their incompetent acquaintance with a dead language. 
 Every linguist knows that the woxAs pais,paidos, hrephos,bre- 
 phylUon, tecnon, puer, puerutus, parvulus, infans, infantulus, 
 piccieriUo, infante, infanta, infanzo, enfant, barne, infant, child, 
 are used indiscriminately for minors, whether they be twenty 
 days or twenty years old ; and sometimes for terms of endear- 
 ment at any age. Hence it happens that we hear of " an 
 infant who was hanged for killing his tutor," — of " the last 
 •will and testament of the little infant, infantulus, Adald," aged 
 eighteen — of the " Speculum parvulorum," or mirror of little 
 ones, that is, of the simple or little ones in understanding — of 
 the " childe of the age of xiiii yere, vesture pryce iii shillings," 
 in a statute of Henry VII. — of "the barne, the young 
 man, is not dead but sleepeth." In a book of sacred dramas 
 " compiled by Johan Bayle, we find Jolm the Baptist, or 
 " Johan the dapper," called puer. 
 
 Pater cetlestis. 
 Preache to the people, rebukynge their negligence, 
 Doppe them in water, they knoicledsynge their offence, 
 And say unto them the kingdom of God doth cum. 
 
 John Baptist. 
 Unmete Lord I am, Q,uia puer ego sum. 
 
 Thus Luke the Evangelist, and Paul the Apostle, however 
 intent on relating the practice of the Apostles in respect to 
 Infant Baptism, are prohibited the use of the Avord Infant ! ! 
 Let him not dare to say, we baptized children : — neither pais, 
 paidos, brephos, brephyllion, tecnon, puer, puerulus, parvulus, 
 infans, infantulus, piccieriUo, infante, infanzo, enfante, barne, 
 infant or child, if met with in his writings connected with 
 Baptism, could signify what it universally signifies, or co^lld 
 mean, what else whore it really does mean. In Homer, a 
 child imports a child: — but in New Testament Greek, it 
 imports a man. Of what avail then is the argument, " if the 
 Apostles meant to say they baptized children, why did they 
 not use the term child ? Children are mentioned on occasions 
 of much less importance ; why are they not mentioned in 
 
4(6 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 connection with baptism ?" — The answer is easy. The New 
 Testament writers well understood that those names were 
 liable to ambiguity ; and they might foresee that in after ages 
 men would pervert the meaning of the terms, had they used 
 them ! Happily, they have not once used such equivocal 
 denominations, in reference to baptism. Instead of saying 
 " we baptized men, women, and children," in three words ; 
 they tell us so in a plamcr and viorc direct manner, in one 
 word ; and to that word, both Greek and Jew attached the 
 same import and application. 
 
 Therefore with the preceding ten instances of the signifi- 
 cation of the term houi;c in the Old Testament language, and 
 with every demonstration of the continued sense and adoption 
 of the term by the Apostles, to the same purport and intention 
 and without variation in the New Testament ; I ask — what 
 did the Apostles baptize, when they say they baptized houses ? 
 
 What would a pious Hebrew Christian reading the New 
 Testament have understood by the term house in the days of 
 the Apostles, when he found it in various parts of their sacred 
 writings ? Coidd he possibly have separated from it the idea 
 of Infants ? And if he had been told that it was to be taken 
 as excluding Infants, would he not have complained of the 
 deception practised on him ? Would he not have said — " If 
 the New Testament writers use this word in a sense never 
 before known in our nation, a sense entirely new and contra- 
 dictory to common and popular acceptation, why did they not 
 tell us so ? IIow are we to understand them, if not by the 
 language which they adopt, and how are we to understand 
 their language, if not in its popular and fixed acceptation ; 
 the same as that in which it has uninterruptedly been em- 
 ployed from the days of our father Abraham to this very day ; 
 and in which it is now used ?* 
 
 Do those Evangelist Avriters ever drop any hint of such 
 novelty and deviation ? So far from it, they give this term 
 the most comprehensive sense possible. They speak of the 
 
 • The present customs of the East add their testimony to this princi- 
 ple. D'Arvicux, in his " Manners of thp Arahs," says- " The Arabs 
 never speak of their wives, nor does any person speak concerning their 
 females Lu them ; but indirectly they say, " my house," and " those at 
 home;'" instead of" my wife and my daughters!" When one inquires 
 after their health, it isby this form, " how does your house ?" and " hotv 
 do those of your house do ?" Besides its application to the general 
 subject ; this authoritative fact favours the conjecture, that daughters 
 were the house of Lydia. 
 
SUBJECTS Of BAPTISM. 47 
 
 whole house of Crispus, Acts xviii. 8 ; and no exception is 
 marked. Aristotle, Poet. 16, says ; oXov 8e eqt to f;^o» , xai fiS' 
 (jof, xa» Tslevrr^f — " The Avhole includes beginning, middle, 
 and end." — No ; say some moderns, it only includes the 
 beginning ! — We baptized ALL the house of the Jailor, says 
 the Evangelist, Acts xvi. 34. But it is retorted — when the 
 Evangelists say all, they do not mean all ; they only intend 
 some ! — When our Lord said to his Disciples ; " Drink you 
 all" of the sacramental cup ; did he mean, only two or four 
 of you drink of it ? When he says ; go and disciple all 
 nations ; does he mean some nations only ? — To contract the 
 free grace of God ! — to narrow the extensiveness of the gospel 
 of Christ ! — is impiety, if not incipient blasphemy — and allied 
 to it is the desire to exclude from baptism any member of 
 a " //owAf," concerning which an Apostle or an Evangelist 
 says, the whole, or all were baptized ! 
 
 Oixog. — The Greek term for house, oikos, corresponds ex- 
 actly with our usage of the English word ; and the distinctions 
 are uniformly preserved throughout Scripture, without any 
 instance of confusion or interchange. As applied to persons, 
 this Greek term signifies a continued descending line of many 
 generations. So we have the house of Israel, and house of 
 David, the nearest line by consanguinity that can be drawn to 
 Israel, to Da\T.d, through any indefinite number of generations. 
 It signifies also d^ family living at the same time, and usually 
 under one roof, contemporaries . With the addition of a syllable, 
 oiki-AS, oiyi,-A^, it changes its application, and imports the 
 attendants on a family, the servants of various kinds, or the 
 house-HOhD ; whoever holds to the house. Marriage or adop- 
 tion might engraft a member of the house-hold into the family ; 
 yet that is not according to the appointment of natiu-e, but is 
 an arbitrary convention of civil society. 
 
 The term house, in the sense of a building, or as signifying 
 a series of descending generations, can have no connection 
 with the subject of baptism of persons. Neither has the term 
 house-noLB any immediate connection with this subject; 
 Scripture afibrding no instance of a house-uoLo being bap- 
 tized, as such ; though individuals comprised in it might be. 
 We are therefore restricted to the consideration of the term 
 house in the sense of family : and it corresponds perfectly 
 with our English term. Had it been rendered /awi'/y at first, 
 no error could have arisen on the subject of Baptism. There 
 can be no family without children. A man and his wife are 
 not a family. When a young woman is advanced in preg- 
 
46 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 nancy, she is " in the family way ;" — when her child is born, 
 she has a family ; yet this term is seldom used absolutely, 
 unless three or four children or more compose i\ic family. A 
 widow with six or eight children is left, we say, with a large 
 family : and speaking of them, we ask, " whether the v:hole 
 family be well ? — whether all be at home ?" 
 
 The same precisely is the application of the Greek term 
 oixog, in the New Testament. I know no instance in wliich 
 it imports a married pair not having children ; or the parents 
 distinct from their children : but in several instances it im- 
 ports children distinct from their parents. For the Apostle 
 Paul baptized the family of Stephanas ;— but he did not bap- 
 tize Stephanas himself; and he salutes the family of Oncsi- 
 phorus, but omits Onesiphorus himself, who was probably ab- 
 sent from them ; or he might have been dead, leaving an 
 unsettled family behind him. 
 
 Scripture always employs this term oixog, family, to import 
 the nearest dei^ree of kindred ; — by consanguinity generally, 
 yet not excluding marriage ; and by descent generally ; yet 
 in one instance by ascent of parentage : — never varying how- 
 ever from the notion of the nearest possible degree of kindred. 
 
 It excludes servants or the House-Hoi.D. An unimpeach- 
 able instance of this presents itself in the allusion to Noah, 
 Heb. xi. 7, who was saved by means of the ark, wilh his 
 FAMILY. The Apostle Peter assures us, 1 Peter iii. 20, that 
 only eight persons were saved in tlie ark ; Noah with his 
 wife, and his three sons with their wives ; it follows, that no 
 part of his House-uoLD is included in the term "family," used 
 by the writer to the Hebrews. The children of Noah saved 
 with him in the ark, were certainly adults, for chronologers al- 
 low the youngest of them a hundred years of age : I proceed 
 therefore to show, that this term family, denotes not only 
 minors, but children in the youngest possible state of life. 
 
 The Apostle, describing the qualifications for a Christian 
 bishop, 1 Tim. iii. 4, insists that he should be "one who ru- 
 leth well HIS own family, having his children in subjection 
 with all gravity — for if a man know not how to rule his own 
 family, how shall he take care of the church of God ?" 
 Here it is evident, the children are the family ; in a state of 
 non-age, pupilage, and youth, which requires ruling and guid- 
 ance by their father. 
 
 In 1 Timothy iii. 12, we find a precept which directs that 
 a Deacon be the husband of one wife, ruling well his children, 
 even his own family — his nearest of kin — his issue. Lest 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 49 
 
 this should admit the possibility of equivocation, the apostle 
 marks the family as his own. Nothing can be more a man's 
 own than his children ; and the force of the Greek term war- 
 rants any degree of strength that can be annexed to it.— 
 Therefore, in both these places and connections, it fixes the 
 parties designed by it, equally in reference to the Bishop as 
 the Deacon, to natural issue or family. Nor can these chil- 
 dren be adults, for then the term ruled could not be applied 
 to them : they must be young children, under their father's di- 
 rection, subject to his command and obedient to his control : 
 he is to rule them. 
 
 But these children being under the rule of their father, 
 though still young, are somewhat advanced in life. In proof 
 that the term family imports babes and sucklings, consult the 
 advice of the apostle to the young women, 1 Tim. v. 14. " I 
 would have the young widows to marry, bear children, and 
 guide their offspring ; oixodeanoieiv, literally, despotise their 
 family y This order of the words is definitive : " marriage, 
 — child-bearing, — ch.ildi-despotising.'''' This third term must 
 mark that guidance, care, and assiduity concerning infant 
 children, which mothers feel with the most lively anxiety. 
 Who interferes with a mother's solicitude for her infant ? — 
 the father may sympathize with it when indisposed ; he may 
 express his fondness when it is in health ; but it is the mother 
 who must despotise it, govern it, direct all its motions and 
 watch all its ways. This is the appointment of God in his 
 Providence. These could not be foster children : for the 
 apostle speaks of child-bearing, bearing children of their own 
 body ; nor could they be adults, for then, neither could their 
 mother despotise them ; nor could she be young if her chil- 
 dren were of mature age. Observe also the change of term. 
 The father, Bishop or Deacon, was to rule his family ; the 
 mother is to despotise her offspring, her infant, with maternal 
 solicitude. The infant family is of necessity attached to the 
 mother ; and the mother is attached to the infant family, by 
 Divine appointment. 
 
 I demand, therefore, valid reasons why the family at- 
 tached to their mother, Lydia, Acts xvi. 15, was not a young 
 family. Moreover, seeing that Daughters are always more 
 attached to their mothers than sons are, and for a longer term 
 of years ; I demand also imlid reasons for denying that Ly- 
 dia's family were Daughters, in whole or in part : since there 
 is the greater chance that they were Daughters, rather than 
 Sons. Lydia was a native of Thyatira, but settled at Phil- 
 
 5 
 
50 SUBJECTS or BAPTISM. 
 
 ippi. That she was on a visit or on a journey of traffic, docs 
 not appear. That conjecture is set aside by the mention of 
 her faniily and her residence, which must have been a large 
 house, to accommodate several lodgers, Paul, Silas, Luke, 
 &c. ; and a decent congregation in addition to her family. 
 
 It is said of Lydia, that " her heart was opened by the 
 Lord : and that she attended to the things spoken by Paid :" 
 but nothing of this is said of her family. The baptism of 
 her family evidently accompanied her own ; and is spoken of 
 as a matter of course connected with her own baptism — 
 
 " And when she was baptized, and her family" — There 
 
 is no salutation to any of Lydia's family in the Epistle to the 
 Philippians :— if her family were sons of mature age and 
 members of the church, has not this omission its difllculty 1 
 The fixing of the term brethren to the family of Lydia, in 
 a restricted sense, is unwarranted by the fair construction 
 of the passage. In the instance of Lydia's /owii7y, the chil- 
 dren mtghl be young ; and every thing leads to that conclu- 
 sion ; but in a numerous family, the certainty that some must 
 be young is greatly heightened. 
 
 Scripture uses the words all and whole, to import many — 
 numerous. The application of this word to yawii/ic^ deserves 
 notice. It imports many in lesser numbers. Math. xiii. 56 : 
 " his mother Mary, and his brethren James and Joses, and 
 Simon and Judas, and his sisters, are they not all with us ?" 
 Admitting an equal number of sisters as of bretlixen, it makes 
 eight or nine with the mother : a targe or numerous family. 
 
 The nobleman who came to our I/ord to beseech him to 
 cure his son, had servants who met him ; and as became a 
 nobleman, literally a little king, he had a numerous household ; 
 for we read John, iv. 53 ; " the father believed with all his 
 household.*' Now here notice the necessity of preserving 
 the distinction between house, the word used by our translators 
 in the sense oi family, and house-HO-LV) ; for the story seems 
 to say that this nobleman had only one son : but he had many 
 domestics : the household w^as numerous, but all this house- 
 hold was believers. 
 
 Paul uses the term, Acts xvi. 28, speaking to the terrified 
 jailor — " Do thyself no harm ; for we are all here ;" many 
 prisoners, beside Paul and Silas. 
 
 The consequence is inevitable, that families distinguished 
 by the word all or whole, had many children ; since chil- 
 dren are the family. Acts xviii. 8 ; Crispus, the ruler of 
 the synagogue, believed with all his numerous family. Cor- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 51 
 
 neliiis the Centurion feared God with all his numerous 
 family, Acts x. I . This particular was so striking, that it is 
 repeated ; for Peter reports the Angel to have said to Cor- 
 nelius, Acts xi. 14; that not only himself, but "all his 
 family should be sared," by the word to be spoken to them. 
 This is not noticed in the first account of the appearance of 
 the angel ; but it was a striking fact ; and the apostle Imew 
 it to be true from his own observation. This is included also 
 when Cornelius says — " we are all here present before 
 God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God" — 
 my family is numerous. This idea even runs through the 
 story — " moreover the Holy Ghost fell on all them who 
 heard the word" — on the numerous assembly. As Cornelius 
 selected for his piety, the soldier whom he sent to Joppa, who 
 was " a devout man," there can be no doubt, that he also 
 heard the discourse of Peter to the family ; and most proba- 
 bly, those two domestics who accompanied him in bringing 
 Peter, accompanied him also at this meeting. Now as the 
 Holy Ghost fell on all who heard Peter speak, these mem- 
 bers of the house-//«/ti of Cornelius were among the first 
 fruits of the Gentiles ; — but they were not of his family, 
 though consecrated and baptized at the same time with their 
 master. 
 
 The assembly baptized at Cornelius's, was a kind of Epi- 
 tome — representatives of the future Gentile church ; and 
 therefore contained individuals of every description ; young 
 and old — rich and poor — masters and servants — high and low 
 — foreigners, natives of countries near, and of distant countries. 
 Julian the Apostate, who acknowledged only tuio eminent 
 converts to Christianity, named Cornelius the Centurion as 
 one of them. 
 
 Now is it probable, that Crispus should have a numerous 
 family, that Cornelius should have a very numerous family, 
 and that the jailor should have a numerous family , but no _yow«^ 
 children in one of them ? although the word expressly signifies 
 young children 1 The families are spoken of as being baptiz- 
 ed ; no exceptions are marked : and the most numerous of all 
 was baptized by the Holy Ghost, as well as afterwards with water. 
 
 This leads to the history of the Philippian jailor who re- 
 joiced believing in God, with all his numerous family ; Acts 
 xvi. 34. He could not have been an old man. His first 
 intention after the earthquake — " he drew his sword, and 
 would have killed himself " — is not the character of age which 
 is much rtvore deliberate in its determinations. The action i? 
 
52 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 that of a fervid mind. In like manner, " he called for lights, 
 and SPRANG IN." The original well expresses the strenuous 
 action of a man in the vigour of life ; yet this man had a 
 NUMEROUS FAMILY, which according to nature must have con- 
 tained young children. Cornelius was a soldier too, and 
 taking human life as generally modified by professions, had 
 young children in his very numerous family. 
 
 Luke was a good Greek writer, and relates the history of 
 the jailor with his customary precision. He says, Paul ad- 
 vised him ; " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be safe, with thy family. And they spake unto him the 
 word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house-i\oi,\), to 
 all in the jail." He brought all in his power under the word 
 as Cornelius had done ; but it is not said, that all who were 
 in his house-uoi.T), attendants, prisoners, &c., were baptized, 
 which is said of the whole company at Cornelius's, but " he 
 and his family were baptized:" "he rejoiced with all his 
 numerous family believing in God." — All heard the word : but 
 only his family accompanied the jailor in baptism. This 
 Jailor became one of the Philippian brethren ; and would not 
 lose the opportunity of attending the consolatory exhortation 
 at Lydia's : and of bidding his spiritual fathers farewell. 
 The baptism of this family is spoken of as that of Lydia : 
 as the ordinary course of events ; the children arrompanying 
 the father, as is perfectly natural ; but his family was more 
 numerous than that of Lydia ; as appears from the use of the 
 word all which is not applied to her family. 
 
 " I will take you," says the prophet, Jer. iii. 14 ; " one of a 
 city, or two of a tribe, and bring you to Zion." Considering 
 the isolated nature of the first conversions, it is wonderful 
 that we have so many instances of the baptism of families ; 
 but if we could trace the establishment of a church within 
 a limited neighbourhood, we might expect to find more con- 
 nected instances of this practice. 
 
 The Church at Philippi, though apparently consisting of a 
 few members only, especially when first planted by the Apos- 
 tle Paul, affords two families, that of Lydia, and that of the 
 Jailor which were certainly baptized. 
 
 The Church at Corinth also offers two families baptized, 
 that of Crispus and that of Stephanas ; besides an uncertain 
 number of others. 
 
 Stephanas was " the first fruits of Achaia," 1 Cor. xvi. 15 ; 
 and Paul confesses that he baptized his family. " Crispus, 
 the chief of the synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 53 
 
 his numerous family, Acts xviii. 8 ; and many of the Corin- 
 thians believed and were baptized." 
 
 The family of Crispus is said to believe, but it is not mark- 
 ed as BAPTIZED. Their baptism will readily be granted ; for 
 to leave this believing family unbaptized would cut up " be- 
 liever's baptism" by the very roots. The same reasons imply 
 that among the " many Corinthhms" baptized, others beside 
 Crispus \id.A families. w 
 
 Stephanas, who Avas a deputy from the Church of Corinth 
 to Paul, had been baptized and was a member of that Church. 
 Neither of these particulars is recorded : but if Stephanas 
 were not of their body, how came they to depute him, for the 
 purpose of obtaining answers to questions in which their 
 body was concerned ? and if his family were not attached to 
 the Church at Corinth, what relation could it have to the state 
 of parties in that Church ? or why recollect it in conjunction 
 with Gains and Crispus ? Stephanas their father is described 
 as the first-fruits of Achaia ; are we obliged to take this 
 term in the sense of '■'■first convert V This worthy man 
 might have resided at a short distance from Corinth ; and yet 
 be a member of the Corinthian Church. 
 
 The Church of Corinth then presents two particulars which 
 have not heretofore occurred in the history of baptism ; — 
 that Crispus the head of his family was baptized by Paul, 
 separately from his family, which was ■not baptized by Paul ; 
 and that the family of Stephanas ■was baptized by Paul, sep' 
 arately from its head ox father who was not baptized by Paul : 
 directly contrary to what we have remarked of Crispus. 
 
 But if we admit that the family of Crispus was baptized, 
 because we find it registered as believing, then we must admit 
 the same of all other families which we find marked as Chris- 
 tians, though they be not expressly described as baptized. 
 That of Onesiphorus, 1 Tim. i. 16, 18 ; and iv. 19; which 
 the Apostle distinguishes by most hearty good-will for their 
 father's sake, not for their own, and to which he sends a par- 
 ticular salutation. Also, that of Aristobulus, and that of Nar- 
 cissus, Romans xvi. 10, 11: which are described as being 
 " in Christ." We have this evidence on this subject— /owr 
 Christian families recorded as baptized — that of Cornelius, of 
 Lydia, of the Jailor, and of Stephanas. Two Christian fami- 
 lies not noticed as baptized — that of Crispus, and of Onesi- 
 phorus. r«;o Christian families mentioned neither as fami- 
 lies nor baptized — that of Aristobulus, and of Narcissus. 
 Eight Christian families, and therefore baptized ! although as 
 
 5 
 
54 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 there was no such thing previously as a Christian family, 
 there could be no children of converts to receive the ordi- 
 nance ! 
 
 Have w^e eight instances of the administration of the Lord's 
 Supper ? Not half the number. Have we eight cases of the 
 change of the Christian Sabbath from the Jewish ? Not 
 perhaps one-fourth of the number. Yet those services are 
 vindicated by the practice o^^e Apostles as recorded in the 
 New Testament. How then can we deny their practice on 
 the subject of Infant Baptism, when it is established by a 
 series of more numerous instances than can possibly be found 
 in support of any doctrine, principle, or practice derived from 
 the example of the Apostles ? Is there any other case be- 
 side that of Baptism, on which we would take families at 
 hazard and deny the existence of young children in them 1 
 Take eight families at a venture in the street, or eight pews 
 containing families in a place of worship, they will afford 
 more than one young child. Take eight families on a fair 
 average : suppose half to consist of four children, and half of 
 eight children : the average is &ix : calculate the chances, 
 that in forty-eight children, not one should be an infant : it is 
 hundreds of thousands to one. But there is no occasion that 
 absolute infancy should be the object : suppose children of 
 two or three years old ; the chances would be millions to one, 
 that none such were found among forty-eight children, 
 composing six families. Or supposing Baptism were 
 completely ought of sight — " How many young children 
 would be found, on the average, in eight families, each con- 
 taining six children V — What proportion do these eight fam- 
 ilies, identified and named in the New Testament, bear to 
 that of Christians also identified and named ? The number 
 of names of persons converted after the resurrection of Christ, 
 in the Acts of the Apostles, is twenty-eight. Four baptized 
 families give the proportion of one in seven. The number of 
 names of similar converts in the whole of the New Testa- 
 ment is ffty-jive. How many converts may be fairly inferred 
 from the History of the Acts of the Apostles ; ten thousand ? 
 this gives one thousand baptized families. How many 
 from the whole of the New Testament, one hundred thousand ? 
 — this gives ten thousand baptized families. How many 
 must be allowed during the first century and down to the days 
 of Origen ? one million ? — it gives one hundred thousand 
 baptized families : ten millions ? the proportion is one mil- 
 lion OF BAPTIZED FAMILIES. Tliis Calculation or one to the 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 55 
 
 same effect, can neither be evaded nor confuted ; for if this 
 proportion be reduced one-half, still Origen, whose great- 
 grandfather, grandfather and father were Christians ; and who 
 himself travelled into the countries, and among the churches 
 where Christianity was first established, who "w^as the most 
 inquisitive and learned man of his time, could not be ignorant 
 whether the churches. received infant baptism from the apos- 
 tles or not ? Could he have any inducement to deceive or to 
 be deceived on this most notorious matter, this every-day 
 public occurrence ? Mr. Booth was right in saying, " the chil- 
 dren of proselytes were baptized with their parents^'' among 
 the Jews ; and he would have been amply justified by the 
 New Testament in adding — " this practice the apostles 
 
 CONTINUED AMONG CHRISTIANS." 
 
 It is said ; " If the New Testament presents so many in- 
 stances of baptized families, it were not unreasonable to ex- 
 pect that some allusion to them should occur or at least to 
 some part of them, as being in that imperfect state of Church 
 relationship, which is so general in our own day ; that while 
 they may be said to belong to a Church in some respects, 
 they do not belong to it in others ; — that while registered 
 among Christians, nevertheless, they should not be compe- 
 tent to appear in Church transactions." In answer to this, 
 observe ; that where families were baptized previous to the 
 formation of churches, that case was absolutely impossible ; 
 — that a history so succinct, as that in the Acts of the first 
 propagation of the Gospel, could not possibly contain express 
 mention of every supposable fact ; and that the case imagined 
 could only happen where a regular and numerous church was 
 established. Nevertheless, the counterpart of it may be found. 
 By the Apostle's reproof of a party spirit among the Corin- 
 thians, we learn incidentally and unexpectedly, the baptism 
 of the family of Stephanas. The Apostle was not discussing 
 the subject of baptism, but was intent on suppressing party. 
 Having censured this disposition, he takes. occasion to thank 
 God that his party, the Paiilists, was so few ! for how many 
 did it consist of in the Corinthian Church ? only two, Cris- 
 pus and Gains. 1 Cor. i. 14-16. " / thank God that 1 bap- 
 tized none of you, Corinthian church-members, except Crispus 
 and Gains ; lest any should say that I had baptized in my own 
 name, and so had formed a party among your church. How- 
 ever, I did baptize also the family of Stephanas ;" but, they 
 are out of the question, as they cannot support any party. 
 Beside, or as to the rest of baptized families, / do not recollect 
 
56 SUBJECTS OF BAPTI8M. 
 
 that I baptized any other family : —but if I did, they also are 
 out of the question ; since they also cannot support any party 
 in the Church. 
 
 The family of Stephanas was not of the Corinthian Church, 
 so effectually, as others who said, " I am of Paul :" or to 
 exert any activity or give any voice in party discussions ; for 
 had it been completely of the Corinthian body, then the 
 Apostle must have baplized others of that body, beside Crispus 
 and Gaius, which he denies. Then that uncertain number 
 of baptized families, which he denominates " the rest," 
 must have been full church members, equally with the family 
 of Stephanas. In that case, it would have been to his pur- 
 pose to recollect them, lest his enemies should have recol- 
 lected them for him. Nor could he have described his parly 
 as restricted to two church-members only, when it might have 
 comprised a higher number. 
 
 Paul's reference to many baptized families completes the 
 epitomized narrative of Luke ; who tells us, Acts xviii. 8 ; 
 that many Corinthians believed, and were baptized ; but he 
 says not a word on any family except that of Crispus ; and 
 nothing about the baplisin of the family of Crispus, but leaves 
 us to infer that, as the natural consequence of believing. 
 Had not Paul been intent on reprimanding the Corinthians, 
 because of their party disputes, we should never have known 
 that Crispus himself was baptized ; for Luke omits that fact ; 
 much less, should we ever have known who baptized him. 
 The undeniable inference is, that there were many baptisms 
 conferred on persons and families in the primitive Church, 
 which are not mentioned. We see one instance among the 
 Corinthians, in the person of Crispus and his family ; and 
 another, in the family of Stephanas. This strengthens the 
 average already taken of such baptisms among Christians 
 not mentioned by name in the New Testament; that baptized 
 families were very numerous ! 
 
 The passage divides into two branches : — Whom Paul did 
 not baptize : he baptized none of the Corinthian church 
 members, except Crispus and Gaius. He rejoices that none 
 can charge him with having baptized in his own name ; and 
 80 concludes this branch of his subject, referring to church 
 members. — Whom Paul did baptize : he baptized the family 
 of Stephanas ; by which nevertheless, his party in the Church 
 at Corinth was not augmented. Besides this there were 
 many others. Now this " besides," or as it is better ren- 
 dered " as to the rest," and also those " others ;" the connec- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 57 
 
 tion implies that they really were baptized families, of the 
 same description as the immediate antecedent, the baptized 
 family of Stephanas :— but equally with that family, they 
 were incompetent to the augmentation of a party in the Co- 
 rinthian Church, in behalf of Paul ; for which reason he 
 passes them. Those baptized families in some sense belonged 
 to the Church at Corinth ; yet they were not members of it — 
 what but the youthful state of these baptized families preven- 
 ted them from being full church-members, capable of giving 
 their voices in behalf of the Apostle from whom they had 
 received baptism 1 
 
 Notwithstanding, it is singular that a writer, treating on the 
 subject of Baptism, could discover in Scripture no more than 
 three instances of that rite, conferred on what he undistin- 
 guishingly calls households. Omitting that of Cornelius, 
 which is a chief and prominent instance of the interference 
 of the Holy Ghost, as well as of baptism by water; that of 
 Crispus, of Onesiphorus, of Aristobulus, and of Narcissus, — 
 he contents himself with mentioning that of Lydia, of the 
 Jailor, and of Stephanas. 
 
 Concerning these, he argues that the Jailor's family must 
 have been adults, because they " rejoiced in God." — Yes, 
 exactly such adults as those children who rejoiced in the 
 temple, crying Ilusuimu to the Sun of David ! whom our Lord 
 compares to babes and sucklings. 
 
 On the subject of Lydia and family, I condemn without 
 reserve that disingenuousness which affirms, that her family 
 exclusively were the " Brethren'^ comforted by Paul and Silas 
 — that this consolation was a private, and not a public act, — 
 and that the Brethren were not the Christians of Philippi, but 
 the sons of Lydia. 
 
 Acts xvi. 16, &c. Paul and Silas expelled a Pythonic 
 spirit from a certain damsel ; her masters caught them and 
 drew them unto the forum, and brought them to the command- 
 ing OFFICERS of the troops in garrison, the Strategoi, saying, 
 
 these Jews do exceedingly trouble our city And the 
 
 commanding oficers rent off their clothes, and commanded to 
 beat them ; and when they had laid many stripes upon them, 
 they cast them into prison, charging the jailor, the comman- 
 der of the place for military punishments, to keep them safely. 
 
 And when it was day, the commanding oncers sent the 
 
 Serjeants, saying, let those men go : and the jailor, military 
 ruler of the prison, told this to Paul, saying. The commanding 
 officers have sent to let you go : now therefore depart in 
 
as SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 peace. But Paul returned his answer to the commanding 
 officers, by their own messengers, the Serjeants ; They have 
 beaten us openly, uncondenmed, being Romans, and have 
 cast us into prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily ? 
 
 LKT THEM COME THEMSELVES, AND FETCH US OUT. And the 
 
 Serjeants told these things to the commanding ojjicers ; and 
 they feared when they heard that they were Romans. And 
 they came in person, and consoled them, and brought them 
 out, and desired them to depart out of the city. And they 
 went out of the prison publicly, and entered into Lydia's house 
 where they lodged ; and when they had seen the brethren 
 who naturally resorted to the Apostle's lodgings, they con- 
 soled tliem as publicly as they had been consoled by the 
 commanding officers ; the same word being used in the same 
 sense, and they departed. Now if the consolation at Lydia's 
 was private, then the consolation tendered to Paul and Silas 
 by these officers was private ; but if the consolation tendered 
 to Paul and Silas by these officers was public, which the 
 whole story demonstrates, then the consolation tendered to 
 the Christian brethren by Paul and Silas was public ; and if 
 it were public, it was not confined to the family of Lydia. 
 Moreover, the whole of Paul's conduct proves that he studied 
 publicity throughout every part of the transaction : in abso- 
 lute humiliation of tho tyrannic military officers who had 
 wrongfully imprisoned him. He thus gave an example of 
 firmness and courage, of resistance to oppression, and knowl- 
 edge of his privileges and his duty that could not be too gen- 
 erally known at Fhilippi, nor too strongly evinced in the pub- 
 licity of his consolation to all the Philippian converts. 
 
 The third rule of interpretation, the acceptance of Scripture 
 only, as conclusive authority, may be exemplified by an exam- 
 ination of the history of Lydia, Acts xvi. 15. " On tVie Sab- 
 bath days we went out of the city to the river, where under 
 protection of the law was a Proseucha, or place of Jewish 
 worship ; and sitting down, we spake to the women who re- 
 sorted there ; and a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple 
 of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard ; whose 
 heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul ; 
 and she besought us, saying. If ye have judged me to be 
 faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there : 
 and she constrained us." 
 
 So far as this passage refers to Lydia, it is throughout in 
 the singular number : her heart was opened to attend to the 
 things spoken: she besought us— saying, if ye have judged 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 59 
 
 ME faithful : — come into my house : and she constrained us." 
 No mention is made of any one of her family in conjunction 
 with herself. She does not say, come into our house : we 
 will endeavour to make it as agreeable to you, as we can." 
 Neither is any person of her family marked as attending to 
 the discourses of Paul : nor as resorting with her to this 
 Proseucha, where Paul discoursed. 
 
 We should never have known that she had a family, were 
 they not incidentally mentioned as accompanying her in bap- 
 tism : — " And when she was baptized, with her family." Insert 
 her baptism, we find her family ; omit her baptism, she has 
 no family recorded. The act of her baptism cannot be sepa- 
 rated from that of her family. Now if her family were of 
 mature age, capable of attention to the word spoken, how is 
 it that they are not mentioned with her, as attending, since 
 they are mentioned with her as receiving baptism ? How is 
 it, that they having received baptism with her do not concur 
 in her invitation of their spiritual fathers ? Their non-age 
 only can explain this. And that those who are not marked 
 as having attended to the word, should nevertheless be marked 
 as receiving baptism, has appeared to theBaptists themselves 
 so unaccountable, that they have taken different ways to ac- 
 count for it ; which they have not accomplished ; for there 
 cannot be a clearer instance to warrant the baptism of those 
 children who have not attended to the word preached. They 
 have also taken different ways to characterize the brethren 
 mentioned in verse 40. " They were sons of Lydia," say 
 some— but Scripture says nothing of her having any sons. 
 Others say, those brethren were " her servants, employed 
 in preparing the purple dye which she sold : and her house 
 contained only brethren, probably men-servants, whom Paul 
 comforted." 
 
 We read in Acts xvi. 3, 10 ; Paul would have Timothy "to 
 go forth with him ;" — and no doubt Timothy did go forth with 
 him:— and they, Paul, Silas and Timothy went through the 
 cities, by Mysia to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul ; and 
 after he had seen the vision ; " WE, / Luke the writer being 
 one, endeavoured to go into Macedonia ; we came to Samo- 
 thracia and to Philippi, " and we were in that city certain 
 days." — And on the Sabbaths, we went out to the Proseucha 
 — we sat down, and spake to the women — Lydia constrained 
 us to come to her house and abide there." Now who were 
 this WE, and this us, if not Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke ? 
 The whole company lodged at Lydia's. " And it came to 
 
09 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 pass, as WE went to prayer, a damsel having a spirit of divi- 
 nation met us, and followed Paul and us many days." Her 
 masters caught Paul and Silas. Timothy and Luke remained 
 at Lydia's. 
 
 When Paul and Silas were delivered from prison, they 
 went to their abode at Lydia's, and there met " the brethren" 
 Timothy and Luke, from whom they had been separated one 
 night. Timothy and Luke remained at Philippi after Paul 
 and Silas left that city. Paul and Silas went to Thessalonica, 
 and were sent away by night to Berea, where we again find 
 Timothy ; but Luke did not rejoin the company until they 
 returned to Philippi, Acts xx. 6 ; for Luke says, " we sailed 
 away from Philippi." Luke remained at Philippi during that 
 interval, naturally continuing at Lydia's. Luke also must 
 have had intimate knowledge of the jailor and all his family ; 
 but he does not once intimate that any one of them was grown 
 up to maturity. Inasmuch therefore as the rule directs me 
 to accept as conclusive evidence whatever is expressed in 
 Scripture, I believe that the family of Lydia was baptized, 
 because it is so expressed ; but that one of her servants was 
 baptized, I do not believe, because it is not so expressed ! — 
 The same rule is applicable to the family of Stephanas. 
 Scripture says his family was baptized ; I therefore believe 
 that fact — Scripture says nothing of the baptism of his house- 
 hold, I therefore do not believe it. But I will believe it, when- 
 ever a passage of Scripture shall be produced, in which house- 
 hold, OIK I A, is connected with Baptism! 
 
 The mischance that our translators should have used the 
 terms " house" and " household'' interchangeably, though 
 Scripture preserves the distinction, is glaring respecting the 
 family of Onesiphorus, 2 Timothy i. IG. and iv. 19. The 
 Greek word in one text is rendered " house," and in the other 
 "household," notwithstanding the same persons are intended. 
 Our translators also have used one word, " household,'' to ex- 
 press both the family and household of Stephanas, though 
 Scripture uses two words in order to mark the distinction, 
 and certainly does not mean the same persons. This has 
 produced confusion, and various weak and inconsistent argu- 
 ments. 
 
 The Baptists thus allege— "As to the term ^household,' 
 there is no proof that infants were included in the household 
 of Stephanas, of Lydia, and the Philippian jailor. Stepha- 
 nas is not mentioned in the Acts, but by Paul, 1 Corinthians 
 i. 16, audxvi. 15. " I baptized the household of Stephanas ;" 
 
StfBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 61 
 
 and he besoiiglit the brethren to submit themselves to them ; 
 because the members of his family were " the first fruits of 
 Achaia, who helped the Apostles and laboured with them, 
 and were addicted to the ministry of the saints." Now in- 
 fants could neither preach the gospel, nor even assist and 
 wait upon those who did ; and some time must elapse before 
 they could be fit to take the lead in the church." 
 
 This view of the Apostle's words, 1 Corinthians xvi. 15, 
 16 ; that the household of Stephanas was " fit to take a lead 
 in the church at Corinth," and that the church as a body were 
 directed to " submit themselves to that household," is im- 
 pugned by the grammar of the passage — by the reasons as- 
 signed by the apostle, and by the possibilities of the fact, as 
 they existed at that period. 
 
 The grammatical construction of the passage does not allow 
 us to accept the words inclosed in a parenthesis by our trans- 
 lators, as a part of the original text written according to the 
 train of thought current in the apostle's mind. The neces- 
 sity felt for including them in a parenthesis is demonstrative 
 proof that they have not been so considered ; but a parenthe- 
 tical sentence should be so constructed as to read in with the 
 text, and with the subject treated on in the text, which these 
 words will not. 
 
 The apostle's " I beseech you, brethren," requires to be 
 followed by some term congruous to his leading and introduc- 
 tory expression. There is no such cause why he besought 
 them, marked ; but a harshness of transition irreconcilable 
 with usual and regular construction ; " I beseech you breth- 
 ren, ye know" — . This want of connection and consequence 
 cannot be reduced to grammar, in the sense of the objection. 
 
 The reason assigned for submission is absolutely inconsis- 
 tent with the purpose. Nobody supposes that submission in 
 temporals is intended by Paul. Can he say, "the household 
 of Stephanas had addicted hseU—eis diacoman — to do certain 
 services in temporals to the saints ; do you therefore submit 
 to that household m spirituals ?" This is ridiculous. Popery 
 itself never hazarded a more futile consequence ; never drew 
 a more monstrous inference. 
 
 The possibilities of the facts are completely repugnant to 
 that statement. Paul was at Ephesus, distant far from 
 Corinth, where the household of Stephanas resided. The 
 Corinthians therefore knew much more about the dispo- 
 sitions of the household of Stephanas than Paul did : they 
 knew it long before he did. It must have been announced to 
 
69" SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 them many weeks — more likely many months, prior lo his in- 
 formal ioi) about it : —why then should he so earnestly " be- 
 seech them" on a matter which was not a secret? Its usefulness 
 and application depended on its being extensively reported. 
 
 The assertion that the household of Stephanas was " fit to 
 take a lead in the church," is utterly inconsistent with the 
 little importance attached to the family of that Christian Bro- 
 ther ill the first chapter of this epistle. Paul mentions 
 Crispus and Gaius, all the members of this body which he 
 had baptized : but he overlooks or forgets this family ; and 
 adds it subsequently as by an after-thought. Crispus and 
 Gaius were more prominent in the Apostle's contemplation 
 than the family of Stephanas, which does not appear to have 
 been esteemed by the apostle, for the purposes concerning 
 which he was writing, on the same level with Crispus and 
 Gaius. Is it possible that an act of recollection would be 
 necessary to this inspired penman, in reference to a family 
 " fit to take a lead in the church ?" Is it possible, that family 
 should be " fit to take a lead in the church" which was not 
 so competent to support the party of Paul, as Gaius and 
 Crispus were ? 
 
 But if it be said the family of Stephanas might consist of 
 two or three only ; is it credible that the whole church at 
 Corhith which " came behind in no gift," including also Cris- 
 pus and Gaius, were besought to yield submission to these two 
 OX three? Crispus the ruler of the synagogue, a man evidently 
 of great respectability and influence ; and Gaius " mine host," 
 says Paul, "and that of the whole church ;" are they to 
 submit themselves to two or three yountr persons ? Is it that 
 Gaius, to whom the apostle John addressed an epistle, com- 
 mending his " faithful doings," and announcing his high re- 
 spect in terms the most remarkable of any complimentary 
 passage that can be selected from the New Testament. 
 " Beloved, / wish above all things, that thou mayest prosper 
 and be in health, as thy soul prospereth." Is this the man 
 directed by Paul to submit himself with the whole church at 
 Corinth, to the "younglings" of the household of Stephanas? 
 Impossible. 
 
 The passage that alludes to the family of Stephanas, 1 
 Cor. i. 16 ; has no difficulty; but that respecting the house- 
 hold of Stephanas, 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 16 ; is neither Greek, 
 Grammar, nor common sense. Whitby thus paraphrases — 
 " I beseech you, brethren, seeing you know the house of 
 Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of the gospel in Achaia, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 63 
 
 and that they have ever since addicted themselves to the 
 ministry of the saints ; that you submlBj^ourselves to such 
 giving reverence and honour to them, Ema to every one that 
 helpeth with us and laboureth." Doddridge renders ; " 1 be- 
 seech ye brethren as ye know the Household of Stephanas, 
 that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and as they have set them- 
 selves to ministering to the Saints, that you subject yourselves 
 to such, and to every associate in that good work and labour." 
 Pearce renders, " And I beseech you, brethren, have regard 
 to the family of Stephanas, because they are the first fruits 
 of Achaia, and have set themselves about the work of minis- 
 tering to the saints, that ye would submit yourselves unto 
 such, and to every one who worketh with them and labour- 
 eth." The Bishop saw clearly that " it is," in the singular, 
 will not construe with " they are" in the plural — axid that 
 the phrase "I beseech you brethren" — must have an imme- 
 diate subject ; and therefore he renders " I beseech you have 
 regard." In his notes he gives as his reason for this version, 
 that many MSS. read " they are the first fruits." Pagninus 
 and all the Latins read " Stephanas and Fortunatus who are" 
 
 • Others read " Stephanas and Fortunatus, and Achaicus, 
 
 who are." 
 
 To prepare our minds for a correct view of the place, we 
 ask, what is the Apostle's intention inwrhing it? To answer 
 this question we must consider the whole of the Apostle's 
 theme. 
 
 The Apostle's description of Timothy, 1 Corinthians xvi. 
 10, is remarkable, "He worketh the work, v^RGAzetai ergon, 
 of the Lord, as I also do !" Paul desires their submission to 
 co-workers, synERGONTi. There seems to be a mutual refer- 
 ence between these words, which leads us to infer, that he 
 who " worketh the work as I also do," must be a co-worker 
 with me. This is implied in the us of our translators ; but it 
 dismisses the " associate in that good work" of Doddridge ; 
 and it dismisses the " worketh with them^'' of Pearce. 
 
 " If Timothy come to Corinth, take care that he be without 
 fear or vexation from your party disputes among you ; for he 
 worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no one 
 therefore despise him, but accompany him on his journey, 
 that he may come to me in safety ; for I and the brethren 
 expect him. As to ApoUos our brother, I and the brethren 
 exhorted him much to come to you ; but he was by no means 
 inclined to come now, during your party dissenlions ; yet he 
 will come when he hath a convenient season. And I beseech 
 
64 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 you, brethren that yc submit yourselves unto such as Timothy 
 and Apollos, but '(■■othy especially ; and to every one co- 
 working with me, IM labouring." Here every thing is in its 
 proper place, and reference : and to induce their greater care 
 of Timothy, when he arrived, the Apostle reminds them that 
 the household of Stephanas had set themselves to do acts of 
 hospitality and kindness to Christian ministers and brethren, 
 at once an example and a stimulus ! Why did not Paul then 
 recommend Timothy to lodge at that residence ? — Probably 
 because Stephanas resided not in Corinth. The Corinthian 
 Church then was not exhorted to submit itself to the household 
 of Stephanas. The notion is unreasonable : the cause assign- 
 ed is absurd. Crispus and Gains, with the whole church, 
 submit themselves to the servants of Stephanas, because 
 these servants very readily and cheerfully offered their kind 
 assistance to travelling brethren ! Where is the congTuity 
 between cause and effect 1 But that Crispus and Gains with 
 the Corinthian Church might show all deference and honour 
 to Timothy, might lodge, and entertain him respectfully, and 
 bring him forward on liis journey, with every mark of Cliris- 
 tian attention ; is exactly coincident with what the Apostle 
 before had requested. 
 
 The concluding chapter of other epistles is composed of mem- 
 oranda addressed by the Apostle to his Christian friends ; and 
 when introduced into the text, they are not placed precisely in 
 due order. The same is the case here ; and this reference to 
 the household of Stephans is neither more nor less than a margi- 
 nal note. It could occasion no confusion in the original from 
 the manner of writing it. The whole, I conceive, stood thus : 
 — " Now, if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you 
 without fear ; for he workcth the work of the Lord, as I also 
 work. Let no man therefore despise him ; but conduct him 
 forth in peace that he may come to me, for I look for him 
 with the brethren. As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly 
 desired him to come to you ; but his will was not to come at 
 this time ; but he will come when he shall have convenient 
 time. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith ; quit you like men : 
 be strong ! Let all things be done with charity ; and I 
 beseech you, brethren, that ye submit yourselves to such and 
 to every one that helpeth with me and labourelh." — You know 
 the household of Stephanas, inasmuch as he is the first fruits 
 of Achaia, that they have set themselves to do services of accom- 
 modation, to DiACOXizE, to the saints. — I am glad of the coming 
 of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus : for that which 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 65 
 
 was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they have 
 refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknovi^ledge 
 them that arc such." 
 
 Strange were it true, that the Apostle should command the 
 Corinthian Church to submit to the servants, but only to 
 acknowledge the master ; only to acknowledge the brother who 
 had refreshed his spirit, and the spirits of the Corinthians to 
 whom he writes ; but to submit to his servants, whose kind- 
 ness though extremely laudable terminated on strangers, from 
 whom, neither the Corinthians nor Paul had received the 
 same " refreshment" as they had from Stephanas. To com- 
 plete this absurdity, Stephanas a member of the Corinthian 
 Church is commanded by the Apostle, to submit, "^juin^ 
 Reverence and Honour," as Whitby paraphrases, to his ow7i 
 servants ! This becomes absolutely monstrous, if these were 
 the sons of Stephanas ; for then, that eminent Christian, a 
 brother, a deputy from the Church, ihe first fruits of Achaia 
 is commanded to submit to his own children ! ! ! 
 
 The result of the whole is this, that the household of Ste- 
 phanas, as individuals, differ from the family baptized by 
 Paul ; and therefore, that the notion of baptized households 
 has no sanction from this passage. It follows, that the actions 
 ascribed to this household decide nothing whether ihe famihj 
 of Stephanas were young or old ; children or adults ; — these 
 actions are performed by others, not by them. Thus the 
 three instances of baptized families, for which God has been 
 thanked, that he had preserved sufficient proofs of their being 
 adults, crumbles into dust. Neither of them singly, nor the 
 whole of them together, affords the smallest subterfuge to 
 those who impugn the testimony of Origen, that the Apostles 
 enjoined on the churches, the practice of giving baptism 
 TO infants. — Wherefore I record my full conviction, that the 
 Apostles practised infant baptism ! 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 The differences between the Hebrew Christian Churches 
 and the Gentile Christians almost from the first divided and 
 distressed the community of believers. That the sentiments 
 of Paul prevailed among the Gentiles is evident, not from the 
 New Testament history only, but from Ecclesiastical History 
 also, and from existing facts. That the Hebrews had senti- 
 ments which they strongly retained, appears from the same 
 
 6* 
 
66 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 evidence ; and on this subject, Baptism. It is commonly said, 
 that " Baptism was given in the room, or place of circmnci- 
 sion :" and the imperfect manner in which this proposition 
 has been expressed and defended, has occasioned much false 
 argument and many mistaken assertions. It has been inac- 
 curately described as a succession. 
 
 Mr. Booth says, " That baptism did not come in the place 
 of circumcision, we have the strongest presumptive evidence. 
 If Baptism succeeded in the place of circumcision, how came 
 it that both of them were in full force at the same time ; from 
 the commencement of John's ministry to the death of Christ ? 
 If one institution succeed in the place of another we are un- 
 avoidably led to consider that other as having vacated its 
 place. For one thing to come in the room of another, and 
 the latter still hold its place, is an odd kind of succession. 
 Admitting the succession pretended, how came it that Paul 
 circumcised Timothy after he had been baptized ? For this, 
 on the principle here opposed, there does not appear the least 
 reason. But why do I mention the case of Timothy ? seeing 
 it is plain on this hypothesis, that it was the indispensable 
 duty of those parents who were baptized by John and by the 
 Apostles, before the death of Christ, to have all their male 
 infants both baptized and circumcised. For that the law of 
 circumcision was then in its full vigour none can doubt ; and 
 that Infant Baptism was then in its prime our opposers insist. 
 Those favoured infants therefore, if ever they partook of the 
 holy supper, in the language of Poedobaptism, must have ha'd 
 the covenant ratified to them by three seals. 
 
 " Had the supposed succession been a fact, not only the 
 Apostles, but all the apostolic churches must have known it. 
 What was the reason then that so many of the Jewish con- 
 verts Avere highly disgusted at the thought of circumcision 
 being laid aside ? Why such warm endeavours to support 
 the credit of an ancient ceremony, which they themselves 
 must have known to be obsolete, and for this very reason ; 
 Baptism came in its room .'" 
 
 I3ut the rite of circumcision was not obsolete, this succes- 
 sion never was thought of, much less allowed by Hebrew 
 Christians, and the fact intended is true, though the terms 
 adopted in stating it are incorrect. 
 
 Paul severely censured the Hebrew Christians for their 
 attachment to the Mosaic law ; and though circumcision be 
 not derived from the Mosaic law, yet he describes his oppo- 
 nents, Titus i. 10, Phil. iii. 2, plainly enough, as " vain talk- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 67 
 
 ers, and deceivers of the circumcision." " Beware of dogs : 
 beware of tlie concision." Though this Apostle manfully sup- 
 ported Christian liberty in behalf of the Gentiles, it appears 
 demonstrably from his circumcising Timothy, that he saw no 
 opposition between the two rites. He practised them both 
 on the same person. This was the sentiment of his nation 
 generally, so far as it was converted ; and there is little 
 hazard in saying, that all Hebrew Christians were both 
 circumcised and baptized. In proof of this, the following 
 testimonies which refer to the Hebrew Church in Judea are 
 perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 Hegesippus, apiid Euseb. Ecc. Hist. lib. Hi. cap. 32, says, 
 " The Church of Jerusalem continued a virgin, or free from 
 heresy, till the death of Simeon, who succeeded James the 
 Just :" till the time of Trajan, about A. D. 100, or 110. The 
 least this can mean is this, that the Church at Jerusalem re- 
 tained during the first century, the customs derived from its 
 predecessors and original founders. 
 
 Irenasus says, lib. i. cap. 26, " The Ebionites used only the 
 Gospel of Matthew : were over curious in the exposition of 
 the Prophets ; disowned the Apostle Paul, calling him an 
 APOSTATE from the law. They circumcised, and retained the 
 Jewish law and Jewish customs." These Ebionites were He- 
 brews. They used the Syriac Gospel of Matthew only ; 
 because the other Gospels being written in Greek were not 
 in the Holy Language. They disowned the Apostle Paul, 
 because he was the Apostle of the Gentiles ; and though 
 Christians, they circumcised their infants. 
 
 Origen says, " Those of the Jews who believe in Christ 
 have NOT abandoned the law of their ancestors ; for they live 
 according to it ; bearing a name, Ebionites. Origen also 
 mentions as a proof of ignorance in Celsus ; — that he had 
 not noticed Israelites believing in Jesus,h\xi not relinquishing 
 the law of their Fathers." 
 
 How confusedly does Celsus's Jew speak on this subject ? 
 when he might have said more plausibly — Some of you have 
 relinquished the old customs — Some nevertheless observe the 
 customs of their ancestors — Some are willing to receive Je- 
 sus as the person foretold by the Prophets, and to observe the 
 law of Moses according to the ancient customs. 
 
 This disposition of the Hebrew Christians to adhere to the 
 Law of Moses, continued unabated during the second cen- 
 tury. It continued also in the third and fourth centuries ; for 
 Eusebius says : " The Ebionites used the Gospel according 
 
68 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 to tlio Hebrews. Tkey kept both the Jewish and the Chris- 
 tian ISahbath.^' Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 27. 
 
 The Gospel according to the Hebrews is usually supposed 
 to have been the Syriac Gospel of Matthew. Those who 
 kept both the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sabbath 
 might well enough practic(! both the Jewish ordinance of 
 circumcision, and the Christian ordinance of baptism. 
 
 Jerom, Comment on Isaiah, mentions Hebrews believing in 
 Christ. He says they Avere anathematizkd for their rigid 
 adherence to the ceremonies of the Jewish law which they 
 mingled witli the Gospel of Christ ; Propter hoc solum a pa- 
 tribus aimtliematizati sunt, quod legis cmrcmonias Christi evan- 
 gelio miscuerunt. He also has this expression — " The Naza- 
 rencs who so receive Christ, that they discard not the rites of 
 the ancient law." 
 
 Jerom describes the Nazarenes as persons " who believed 
 in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, in whom 
 the orthodox believe : — but were nevertheless so bigoted to 
 the Mosaic law, that they were rather to be considered as a 
 Jewish sect, than a Christian. To this day a heresy prevails 
 among the Jews in all the synagogues of the East, which is 
 called that of the Nazg^renes, who, from a desire of being 
 Jews and Christians, both at once, are neither Jews nor 
 Christians." Epist. ad Augnstinum, de dissidio Petri et Pauli. 
 Who anathmatized these Hebrews, and by what authority, Ave 
 need not be solicitous to learn. This disposition to be Jews 
 and Christians both at once, this bigotry to the Mosaic law, 
 in Jerom's days, prevailed chiefly in the East. 
 
 With this agrees Epiphanius who says : " Ebion adhered 
 to the Judaic law, with respect to the observation of the Sab- 
 bath and to circumcision ; and to all other things which are 
 common to the rites of the Jews and the Samaritans." 
 
 It may be said, that " these, though Hebrew Christians, 
 were Heretics ;" the Gentiles called them so ; but that they 
 erred in this particular does not appear. I add another tes- 
 timony which regards those who were orthodox, in a much 
 later age. 
 
 Other writers, Eusebius, Sulpitius Severus, &c., inform us 
 that the bishops of the Christian Church at Jerusalem, who 
 had been correctly and fully baptized, Avere circumcised du- 
 ring many successions. It seems, hoAvever, that not all their 
 people retained the Mosaic law entire ; but that some of them 
 exercised a liberty respecting those observances, which lib- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 69 
 
 erty others scrupled.* The Church of Jerusalem compre- 
 hended the great body of Hebrew Christians. It was justly 
 esteemed orthodox. It produced men of great learning, says 
 Eusebius : who gives us Eccl. Hist. A. D. 302, lib. vii. c. 32, 
 a list of fifteen bishops in succession who were circumcised. 
 The first who was uncircumcised, was Marcus, A. D. 136. 
 Those Hebrew Christians, as well as the Apostle Paul, saw 
 nothing in circumcision inconsistent with Baptism ; and most 
 certainly, they did not consider Baptism as being the succes- 
 sor of their family rite which dated from before the law of 
 Moses. 
 
 As to the Gentiles who never practised circumcision, it is 
 impossible that Baptism should be the successor of that rite 
 to them. Such an assertion would be a gross absurdity in 
 language and fact. Nevertheless, this gross absurdity may 
 be stated in terms by which it becomes a correct assertion. 
 
 Baptism was given to the Gentiles instead of giving 
 THEM Circumcision as the initiatory ordinance of their 
 religious profession. 
 
 We learn from Acts xv. that " certain men from Judea 
 taught the Gentile brethren, except ye be circumcised, ye can- 
 not be saved," Acts xv. 1,5. At Jerusalem, the sect of the 
 Pharisees insisted on this ; and there was much disputing 
 about it. The Council however at length determined to the 
 contrary. But the Council's letter does not mention baptism 
 or any other Christian rite : it enjoins nothing positive ; but 
 merely negative ; abstinence from certain things offensive to 
 the Jews. For the council knew that Baptism already was 
 sufficiently administered. T/jey therefore did noi add circum- 
 cision to baptism, in reference to the Gentiles, although it 
 appears demonstrated that the Jewish Church members re- 
 tained the same principles and practices as to themselves, for 
 which the Pharisees among them contended ; and which 
 certain teachers from Judea had propagated among the Gen- 
 tiles. 
 
 It is singular enough that among Xke false accusations urged 
 
 * Sulpitius Severus says, Hist. Sac. lib. ii. cap. 31. Et quia Christiani 
 in Palrestina viventes ex Judaeis potissimum putabantur, namque tnm 
 Hierosolyma non nisi circumcisione habebat ecclesia sacerdotem, mili- 
 tum cohortem custodias in perpetuum agitare jussit, quae Judaeos omnes 
 Hierosolymae aditu arceret. Q.uod quidein Christianae fidei proficiebat; 
 quiatumpcEne omnes, Christum Deum,sublegisobservatione credebant. 
 Nimirum id Domino ordinante dispositum, ut legis servitus a libertate 
 fidei atque ecclesiae to]leretur. Ita turn primum Marcus ex Gentibus 
 apud Hierosolymam espiscopus fecit. 
 
70 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 against Paul, 5y the believing Jewish zealots, at Jerusalem, 
 Acts xxi. 20,21; one was, " that tliou teachest all the 
 Jews which are among the Gentiles that they ought not to 
 circumcise their children.''^ What then did they sujipose Paul 
 practised, in regard to cliildren generally ? They had heard 
 that he did something or advised somothi7ig to be done concern- 
 ing them, what could it be 1 what did he substitute in the 
 place of circumcision ? We know of nothing but baptism 
 that could give occasion to this information respecting Paul's 
 proceedings. We know the credulity of the multitude, and 
 the frequency of error in vague reports ; and these reports 
 were brought by unbelieving Jews from distant countries ; 
 but it by no means followed that because Paul conferred bap- 
 tism on Jewish children, therefore he prohibited circumcision : 
 — since both M^ere practised among those Hebrew Christians 
 themselves. This however confirms the assertion of Irenaeus, 
 that the Hebrews, the mass of the people disoioned the Apostle 
 Paul ; and considered him as an apostate from the Law. 
 Those Jews were zealous for the circumcision made by hands. 
 Those who reported this falsity concerning the apostle, Jews 
 who themselves dwelt among the Gentiles were equally zealots 
 in the same cause. 
 
 It is not then to Jewish converts, that the Apostle Paul 
 addressed his expression. Col. ii. II, *' In whom Christ ye are 
 circumcised by the circumcision made without hands" — for they 
 had been circumcised by hands, by the Mosaic process : 
 neither had they been circumcised by Christian profession, 
 by baptism ; for that would have been a second circumci- 
 sion : whereas the Gentiles, had not been circumcised by 
 hands, but had put off the body of the sins of the flesh, by 
 Christian circumcision,''^ Baptism. 
 
 To expect to obtain a clear view of this subject from Hebrew 
 writers, were to expect them to be free from their prejudices. 
 We must consult the writings of the Gentile Christians to 
 discover their view of this matter, and how they expressed 
 their judgment. Do Ave find <Ae/n saying that they received 
 Baptism instead of receiving Circumcision ? 
 
 That the Gentile Christians thus understood it, appears 
 from their own testimony : so Justin, a few years after the 
 Apostles, A. D. 140, writes; "We Gentile Christians also, 
 who by him have access to God, have not received that 
 circumcision according to the flesh ; but that circumcision 
 which is spiritual; and moreover, for indeed we were sinners, 
 we have received this circumcision in Baptism ; for the pur- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 71 
 
 pose of God's mercy : and it is enjoined on all to receive it 
 in like manner." Justin therefore thought that " spiritual 
 circumcision," Baptism, was given to us, the Gentiles, instead 
 of giving us, the Gentiles, carnal circumcision. In other 
 words, the Gentiles accepted and practised Baptism, instead 
 of accepting, and practising circumcision. Baptism was to 
 them instead of Circumcision. 
 
 Here comes in the evidence of the Quest, ad Orthodox, 
 ascribed to Justin Martyr, " Why, if circumcision be a good 
 thing, do lue not use it as well as the Jews did 1 The answer 
 is, Because WE Gentile Christians are circumcised by Bap- 
 tism tvith Christ's Circumcision." To support this sentiment, 
 the waiter refers to Col. ii. 11, 12. In other words, " To us 
 Gentiles, baptism is given instead of giving us circumcision." 
 
 John Chrysostom, Hon. 40, in Gen. says " There was pain 
 and trouble in the practice of that Jewish circumcision ; but 
 OUR circumcision, I mean the grace of Baptism, gives cure 
 without pain ; and this /or infants as well as men." 
 
 Fidus, A. D. 250 ; hesitated to confer baptism on an infant 
 before the eighth day after its birth. The reference of this to 
 circumcision is too palpable to be questioned. Fidus asked 
 whether baptism might be performed before a child was eight 
 days old. Cyprian the Bishop to whom he wrote for advice, 
 and the sixty-six Bishops of the neighbourhood convened in 
 council, without a dissenting voice, decided explicitly, that 
 Baptism might be performed before the eighth day. But how 
 did Fidus think of such a thing unless it bore some resemb- 
 lance to Jewish circumcision ? Why did not Fidus mention on 
 the eighteenth or the twenty-eighth day ? Why had not one 
 among that assembly of Bishops, the honesty to tell him — 
 " We never heard of Baptism conferred at all in early life ; 
 never but on men and women and youth grown to years of 
 discretion !" Why did not they censure him for uttering a 
 heresy so erroneous and judaizing, in reference to such in- 
 fants ? He seems to have adopted the Jewish notion that 
 a child is not perfect till a Sabbath has passed over it ; but 
 Cyprian informed him, that a child being a work of God, the 
 spiritual circumcision ought not to be restrained by circumcision 
 according to the flesh ; but that the most extensive notion 
 should be connected with that of the grace of Christ, especially 
 to infants. To this all the bishops in council agreed. Thus 
 the testimony of Origen is fully confirmed ; that " the Apostles 
 commanded to confer baptism on Greek infants ;" and that 
 being a Greek infant, thou wast baptized." Wherefore, the 
 
72 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Church saw nothing improper in retaining the Abrahamic 
 circumcision, and receiving the practice of baptism, performing 
 both — while the GentiUis acknowledge, that they received in 
 baptism that spiritual circumcision which originated in God's 
 mercy and that led to further communications of it ; Acts 
 xxiii. 1 0. Baptism was their circumcision ; which was not 
 restrained to a particular set time, but which might be ad- 
 ministered as propriety might determine. It also deserves 
 notice, that the writer of the epistle to the Hebrew Christians 
 attempted not to draw them ofT from circumcision, although 
 he earnestly labours to moderate their attachment to Moses.* 
 
 Dr. Gill expressly denies that any covenant could exist 
 between man and God previous to that of circumcision made 
 with Abraham ; but he overlooked or forgot the expression of 
 the Deity, Psalm 1. 5 ; " Gather my saints together unto me ; 
 those who have made a Covenant with me by sacrifice." 
 Sacrifice was long prior to circumcision ; and covenants were 
 ratified by sacrifice. This expression is not referable only to 
 saints subsequent to the Abrahamic covenant; but is addressed 
 to the earth at large, and also to the heavens. It is general 
 and not restricted. Nevertheless, we know so little of the 
 modes of performing sacrifice in the earlier ages of the 
 world, that unless we accept the Mosaic writings and ordi- 
 nances as representing the more ancient services, we must 
 remain unenlightened on the subject. It cannot be supposed, 
 that the special forms observed in that extraordinary and per- 
 haps singular covenant made between Abraham and God, 
 Gen. XV. 17; were customary on all occasions of sacrifice ; 
 but rather, that Moses in reducing his Levitical precepts to 
 writing, for the guidance of his people, now becoming a na- 
 tion, did but embody and perpetuate the practices of his fore- 
 fathers, the Patriarchs. 
 
 When the Covenant of Circumcision was made with Abra- 
 ham, Gen. xvii. 10, 25 ; he was already the father of Ish- 
 mael ; who, at the time when he received this rile in his own 
 person, in consequence of the faith of his father Abraham, 
 was " thirteen years of age." 
 
 * The circle or glory, which painters from the earliest ages have 
 placed around the heads of saints, is called Nimbus, and marks the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, or his inspiration of the person so ornamented; 
 and their custom of anointing after bathing might possibly give occa- 
 sion to the ecclesiastical custom of Unction after Baptism ; yet I suspect 
 that it was a sign of the Holy Spirit retained long after the thing signified 
 had ceased. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 73 
 
 At the same time with Ishmael, were circumcised probably 
 about iifteen hundred men of different ages, who had no rela- 
 tion whatever by consanguinity to Abraham ; but merely re- 
 ceived this sign, " the seal of Abraham's faith," in conformity 
 with the faith and obedience of their Master. The posterity 
 of Ishmael in imitation of his compliance, now practice cir- 
 cumcision at the same time of life as their first father under- 
 went that rite. 
 
 The Baptists assert, that circumcision was only a token of 
 right to temporal blessings in the land of Canaan ; and there- 
 fore was conferred on infants in proof of their descent from 
 him to whom the land originally was promised ; but what 
 right to such succession did it confer on Ishmael, and on 
 those persons who were circumcised at the same time with 
 him ; among whom were many children. They were neither 
 Abraham's posterity, nor partakers of Abraham's faith ; there- 
 fore circumcision could not be to them the seal of righteous- 
 ness by faith. What faith had the Edomites and the Midian- 
 ites ? — Circumcision was not a mark of personal faith among 
 the Hebrews, but of obedience. What right to inheritance in 
 the land of Judea did circumcision confer on the Gileadites, 
 Joshua ix. 23 ; on Achior, Judith xiv. 10; and on the Per- 
 sians who became Jews, Esther viii. 17 ; under the patronage 
 of Mordecai ? 
 
 The precept given to Abraham commanded Adult Circum- 
 cision ; but Infant Circumcision was included. The command 
 given to the Apostles was " baptize all nations ;" infants were 
 equally included. If in the term " all males," every boy-child 
 was a party ; so in the term " all nations" every state of life 
 in the community was a party. When we acknowledge the 
 circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael, we do not deny the 
 circumcision of a hundred children at the same time ; so when 
 we acknowledge the baptism of " men and women," we do 
 not deny the baptism of their fa7nilies. " Now we, as Isaac 
 was, are children of the promise," says the Apostle ; Gal. iv. 
 28, 30 ; and he adds, " cast out the bondwoman and her 
 son ? — " so, then, Christian Brethren, we are not children of 
 the bondwoman but of the free ; stand fast therefore in the 
 liberty wherewith Christ has made us free." This was not 
 addressed to Jews by descent : but to converts resident in 
 Galatia ; formerly heathen, but then Christians. 
 
 The primitive Church understood this Gospel liberty ; but 
 those who in later times take upon them to be wiser than the 
 primitive Church, charge the early professors with perverting 
 
 7 
 
74 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 liberty into licentiousness, and with introducing and cherish- 
 ing corruptions in faith and practice. 
 
 " The opinions held by the majority of real and pious 
 Christians, in the early ages, as Jerom observes, when the 
 blood of Christ was yet warm in the breasts of Christians, 
 and the faith and spirit of religion were brisk and vigorous," 
 were those that were taught by the apostles, and constituted 
 the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion. The 
 observable harmony and unanimity of the several churches in 
 their most public acts is a circumstance which irresistibly 
 confirms this position. It is scarcely probable that any large 
 church of those early ages should vary, in things of moment, 
 from the Apostolical doctrines : and it is quite absurd to ima- 
 gine that ALL the churches should combine in the same 
 error, and conspire together to corrupt the doctrine of Christ. 
 This argument is justly insisted upon both by Irenaeus and 
 TertuUian against the heretics of their respective times. 
 They both aflirm that the true disciple, one who believes that 
 He who wrought their salvation upon earth was God, " is a 
 follower of the public doctrine of the church." 
 
 Is this* argument totally inapplicable to this subject? May 
 we not depend on what we And generally practised, while 
 " the blood of Christ was yet warm in the hearts of Chris- 
 tians, and the faith and spirit of religi(m were brisk and vigo- 
 rous" — in reference to Baptism ? May we not accept the 
 current opinion of those times, as really the doctrine of the 
 Apostles, and the genuine intention and command of Christ ? 
 
 It was the established practice of the Jews to confer the 
 initiatory rite of their religion on children in early infancy. 
 Jesus Christ commanded no alteration ! The natural conse- 
 quence is this, the continuation of the principle of it. But it 
 is objected, " the rite is not the same ;" yet if the principle 
 be the same, not abrogated, the inquiry follows — Is the prin- 
 ciple transferred to a succeeding rite ? Let us examine some 
 particulars connected with circumcision as understood by the 
 descendants of Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. 
 
 " Circumcised the eighth day" is placed by the Apostle 
 of the Gentiles, Philippians iii. 6 ; as the first of his privileges 
 enjoyed as a Hebrew ; but supposing that he, as thousands 
 of other new born infants, had been sickly or weakly, did the 
 law allow no dispensation from circumcision on the eighth 
 day? In every Jewish book describing this service, there is 
 an observation to this efl^ect — " If the child be sickly, he is 
 not circumcised till he is well." David Levi Cerem. Jews. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 75 
 
 But this liberty had its bounds ; which terminated at the proper 
 time for registering the infant among the descents of his house 
 or family. What that time was, will admit of no hesitation, 
 after having considered a few passages of the Old Testament. 
 " Hezekiah appointed Kore son of Imnah the Levite, over 
 the free-will offerings of God, to distribute the oblations of 
 the Lord and the most holy things. 2 Chron. xxxi. 14. 
 Next to him were Eden, and Miaimin, and Jeshua, and She- 
 raaiah, Amariah, and Shechaniah in the cities of the priests, 
 in their set-Office, to give to their brethren by courses, as 
 well to the great as to the small. Beside their genealogy 
 of wa/c5 from THREE years old and upwards, even unto every 
 
 ONE THAT ENTERETH INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LoRD, his 
 
 daily portion for their service in their charges according to 
 their courses. Both to the genealogy of the priests by the 
 house of their fathers, and to the Levites from twenty years 
 old and upwards, in their charges, by their courses ; and to 
 the genealogy of all their little ones, their wives, and their 
 SONS, and their daughters, tlirough all the congregation : for 
 in their set-Office they sanctified themselves to holiness. 
 Also, the sons of Aaron the priest, who were in the fields of 
 the suburbs of their cities, in eveiy several city, the men that 
 were expressed by name, to give portions to all the males 
 among the priests, and to all that were reckoned by genealogies 
 among the Levites." 
 
 According to this passage, the genealogy of the males 
 was authenticated at three years of age ; and they then entered 
 into the house of the Lord ; not in an uncircumcised state ; 
 but prepared by the initiatory rite of their law. It follows, 
 that the threat of a child's being cut off for want of circum- 
 cision was executed, by omitting to inscribe him in the gene- 
 alogy of his family. He was not slain, that had been murder : 
 — but not being recorded among his tribe, he could claim no 
 civil existence in their line — but if he were found circumcised 
 when he was to be enrolled, the want of circumcision on the 
 eighth day did not affect his registry. 
 
 Children at three years old entered into the house of the 
 Lord : — but children of the priests, whose were the most holy 
 things and the oblations to the Lord, had a right to eat of those 
 most holy things, at iliat early time of life ! How could they 
 eat them with proper reverence ? How could they acknowl- 
 edge God in partaking of them 1 How could they perform 
 any one act, or cherish any one sentiment connected with 
 them ? 
 
76 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Moreover, the text is studiously precise. These Officers 
 wore to distribute to the small as well as to the great : ac- 
 cording to the genealogy of all their little on'ks who are 
 distinguished from sons and from daughters. This principle 
 extended through all the congregation. Neither is this a forced 
 sense on the passage ''■given to such of their male children from 
 THREE years upward as came into the house of the Lord." 
 Therefore at that early time of life, children entered the Holy 
 Temple, were participators in the rites there performed, and 
 were inscribed on the sacred registers. 
 
 Moses says ; Deut. xxix. 11;" Ye stand all of you this 
 day before the Lord your God. ...your little ones" — children 
 of three years old, according to the passage in the Chronicles 
 — " to ENTER INTO COVENANT witli the Lord thy God." 
 Children of three years old, enter into God's covenant ! They 
 could not tell what a covenant was ; much less could they 
 assent to its conditions ; and much less still, if they promised 
 lo observe those conditions, could any dependence be placed 
 on their conduct in future life. 
 
 Joshua confirming, or rather renewing this covenant of the 
 Lord on Mount Gerizim, " read all the words of the law, the 
 blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in 
 the book of the law to the little ones ;" Joshua viii. 3, 4 ; 
 to children of three years old ! Why read to them who could 
 not understand a word ? — or if read to them, why record the 
 reading and so particularly identify them ? Hence, children 
 of three years old were members of the Hebrew community, 
 civil and religious, in the most sacred rites, and in the most 
 solemn transactions, equally as their fathers were. They 
 were subject to the same preparatory purifications, and were 
 treated on the same ritual principles as their fathers. What 
 reason may be alleged for this ? 
 
 I answer, three years old was the weaning time. The 
 Israelitish women suckled their children tliree years ; as 
 the mother in the Maccabees adjured her son, 2 Mace. vii. 
 27 ; " have pity on me, who gave thee suck three years, and 
 nourished thee." While children were at the breast, they 
 were not considered as subjects of regular religious admission 
 to the temple service. Hannah attended to this in the case 
 of Samuel, till she weaned him; and while he was yet young 
 a mere childling, she brought him, and thenceforth he attended 
 at the Divine Altar. 
 
 While children sucked, they were infants or bahes ; but 
 after they were weaned, they were described by another 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 77 
 
 name, little ones or little children. The first stage of life was 
 passed. Have we any thing resembling this in the Gospel ? 
 
 Eustathius and Phavorinus state that an infant, or babe is 
 BQscpog, " a new-born child, nourished by the teat from his birth, 
 until he be four years old." The Greeks then extended 
 infancy to four years of age : the Jews only to three years of 
 age. On what pretence have some affirmed that infancy in 
 the Gospel times extended to the age of twenty, or twenty- 
 one ? — and that " brephos, brephyllion," are used indiscriminate- 
 ly for MINORS, whether they be twenty days or twenty years 
 old ?" The testimony of Eustathius and Phavorinus proves, 
 that an infant is such only to the age of four years at the 
 utmost. 
 
 This is fmther evident, if we consider the terms used to 
 denote the " little ones," whom our condescending Saviour 
 blessed. Matt. xix. 13. The Evangelist Matthew calls them 
 nuidicc, " little children ;" Luke calls them " infants," Luke 
 xviii. 15, T(i ^QBCfi}. They were about that time of life, when 
 infancy ends and childhood is beginning ; — about three years 
 of age. They were so young that the benignant Redeemer 
 for their security, took them up into " his bended arms," Mark 
 X. 16. An action in the Saviour of the World at once grace- 
 ful and gracious ! 
 
 What has this to do with Baptism ? Much : for if the 
 Greek language extends infancy to four years old, and the 
 Greek church extended baptismal infancy to four years, while 
 the Jewish custom extended it only to three years — we see 
 the reason at once why Gregory Nazianzen adopted three 
 years as the term beyond which he would not have baptism 
 delayed. Robinson called this opinion of Gregory " a new 
 affair ;" new as the days of Hezekiah, King of Judah ; new 
 as the days of Moses and Aaron ; and probably as new as 
 the sacrificial rites of the Patriarchs Jacob and Abraham, if 
 not of Noah himself ! 
 
 The next period of life ends about the conclusion of the 
 sixth or the beginning of the seventh year. In what we have 
 yet seen, the little ones were rather passive than active, in 
 making a covenant : but in the case of King Joash wonder- 
 fully preserved and at length produced to the people ; we read, 
 2 Kings xi. 17 ; 2 Chron. xxiii. 16, " Joash was seven years 
 old ; and Jehoida made a covenant between the Lord and the 
 King, and the people— between the King also, and the people." 
 A child at that time of life therefore was competent to acts 
 of the most important nature ; and though in fact under guar- 
 
 7* 
 
78 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 diansliip, yet his assent was autlioritative and binding : and 
 IK) doubt Jehoiada delayed the installation of Joash to that 
 lime oi life purposely for tliis reason. 
 
 At what time did cliildhood end ? About twelve years of 
 a<^e. At that time of lil'e, Luke ii. 42, our Lord paid his first 
 \ihit to the Temple. About thirteen, those .lews who ean 
 read are called to attend to the reading in the synagogue. 
 The child raised to life by our Lord, Mark v. 42, Luke viii. 
 42, who was of the age of twelve years is called a " little 
 daughter," the " little child," for to that age the state of child- 
 hood continued ; and about twelve or thirteen it ceased to 
 give place to another appellation ; for at twelve or thirteen, 
 began the character of '' young me?i" or " young women" 
 which ended about twenty years of age ; to give place to that 
 of " w?e?i" or " women ;" of '■'■fathers''^ or " mothers.'''' 
 
 The same progress obtains among the Jews at this day; 
 for Mr. Frey tells us in his Narrative : " Before I was three 
 years old 1 began the Hebrew alphabet, and when but six 
 years of age I could perfectly read any chapter of the live 
 books of Moses. When a Jewish boy has arrived at the age 
 of thirteen years and a day, he is considered a man, tit to be 
 one of the ten necessary to constitute a full number for public 
 worship. At the age of twenty -one I received a second hon- 
 orary degree to be a leader of the synagogue, to read the 
 public prayers and the law of Moses." Have we any such 
 division of life in the Gospel ? One Apostle speaks of " trav- 
 ailing again in birth" of Chihh-cn ; Gal. iv. 9 ; which must 
 be taken metaphorically. The Apostle John also uses the 
 term " little children" both metaphorically and in its proper 
 and literal import, 1 John ii. 12 ; " I write unto you little 
 CHILDREN, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's 
 sake. I write unto you, young men ; I write unto you, 
 
 I-ATHERS." 
 
 Nobody has ever supposed, that the terms fathers'^ and 
 young men are to be taken metaphorically ; but the term 
 little children is exactly of the same nature as thev are : 
 John xxi. 15 ; Feed my little lambs ; ta uQvm ; it follows that 
 this term also expresses children young in years. Are not 
 the souls of cliildren at twelve years old as precious as those 
 at thirteen ? those of ten as those of twelve ? and those of 
 eight or six, as those of ten 1 Since the Jewish period of 
 life at which infants became " little children," commenced at 
 three years of age, what reason can be given why John, him- 
 self a Jew, should not comply with the custom of his country, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 79 
 
 and direct his address to children of the same age, as Moses, 
 and Joshua, and Hezekiah had inchided in the most solemn 
 religious rites in the personal act of covenanting with God ? 
 No reason can be assigned why the Gospel should exclude 
 little children whom the law had included, favoured, and pa- 
 tronized. 
 
 Here we perceive the genuine application of the invaluable 
 rule — " Every word should be taken in the primary, obvious 
 and ordinary meaning, unless there be something in the con- 
 nection or in the nature of things which requires it to be taken 
 othenoise." But there is nothing in the connection nor in the 
 nature of things that requires this word little children to be 
 taken in any other than its obvious and literal meaning ; im- 
 less Ave Avould annul the proceedings of Hezekiah, Joshua 
 and Moses. 
 
 What is the doctrine addressed to these children 1 Is it a 
 deep question of divinity ? Are the powers of a Newton ne- 
 cessary to comprehend it ? It is the simplest proposition pos- 
 sible ; " your sins are forgiven you, for his name's sake." 
 Any child can comprehend this. Thousands of children of 
 three years old are daily taught this very doctrine ; and they 
 understand it as much as is necessary for their tender years : 
 though they cannot explain or learnedly expatiate on it. 
 
 This Epistle is GENERAL. It does not describe the 
 state of " little children" connected with a single church only ; 
 though it may remind us of those 7nany who in a sense were 
 members of the church at Corinth ; whereas the Apostle 
 John speaks of these without reserve, wherever his Epistle 
 might be presented. We cannot possibly confine this within 
 the limits of the seven Asiatic churches. The influence of 
 his writings must have penetrated far and wide in Asia. 
 Now as he employs neither hesitation nor exception, it fol- 
 lows that the custom of admitting infants into the church by 
 baptism was general : and this accounts for our finding it in 
 all parts of the Christian world of which we have any hints 
 or histories. A practice so general did not rest on vague re- 
 port ; but on well authenticated Apostolic warrant. For those 
 children addressed by the Apostle were either within the 
 Christian church, or they were without it. If they were 
 without it, why did the Apostle address them ? A brother 
 Apostle says, " What have I to do with those who are with- 
 out /"' — and John was actuated by the same spirit. But if 
 these " little children" were within the church, how and ichen 
 became they so ? They must have undergone the initiatory 
 
80 SUDJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 rite. Like i\\e farnilies of Lydia, Stephanas, &c., they had 
 been admitted by baptism, for no other means of admission 
 existed. 
 
 Seeing " their sins were forgiven," when were they for- 
 given ? " I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of 
 sins," say the ancient Church ; and the ancient Church Avas 
 right. These chikh-en were admitted into the church by bap- 
 tism adnhnistered for the remission of sins, Mark i. 4 ; Luke 
 iii. 3 ; Acts ii. 38. They were past three years of age, and 
 they had been already consecrated to God. 
 
 Irenaeius may be considered as a kind of grandson of the 
 Apo.stle John : for Polycarp was intimate with John ; and 
 Irenajus Avas the disciple of Polycarp. He Avas al.so a man 
 of an inquisitive mind ; and diligently treasured up the dis- 
 courses of his master, which he repeated from the Apostles. 
 These are not only in perfect concord Avith the language of 
 John, but are a convincing commentary on it. A. D. 167. 
 Adv. Hffir. lib. ii. Christ " sanctifying every several age by 
 the likeness it has to him, for he came to save all by him- 
 self.* All, who by him are re-born to God ; infants, and 
 LITTLE ONES, and CHILDREN, and youths, and Persons of 
 Mature Age. Therefore he passed through these several 
 ages ; — for infants, he was made an infant, sanctifying 
 INFANTS. For LITTLE ONES, he was a LITTLE ONE, Sancti- 
 fying thereby those of that age ; and also being to them an 
 example of goodness, holiness, and dutifulness. To youths, 
 he became a youth." " Re-born to God," regenerated ; how 
 this could be in the case of infants, except rilually by. baptism, 
 *' re-born of Avater," Jolm iii. 5, may puzzle the most knowing. 
 
 Observe the variation in his language. He does not say, 
 Jesus was an example to infants ; because infants are incapa- 
 ble of following an example, and the Apostle John does not 
 address infants ; but he was an example to little ones, because 
 children from tliree years old to six are capable of being in- 
 fluenced by example. This demonstrates, that infants in the 
 
 * Magister ergo existens Magistri quoque habebat setatem. Non 
 reprobans nee supergrediens hominem, neque solvens suam legem in 
 se huraani generis : sed omnem oetatem sanctificans per illam qute ad 
 ipsum erat similitudinem. Onnies enim venit per seinet ipsum salvare 
 omnes, inquam, qui per cum renascuntur in Deum ; infantes, & par 
 vulos, & pueros, & juvenes, & seniores. Ideo per omnem venit tetatem : 
 & intantibus infans factus, sanctificans infantes : in parvulis parvulus, 
 sanctificans banc ipsam habentes setatem ; simul & exemplum illis pie 
 talis effectus, & justitise & subjectionis : in juvenibus juvenis. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 81 
 
 sense of " men newly converted," cannot be intended here ; 
 for Christ is an example to them, which they are bound to 
 follow. It is said that Irenseus contemplated MEN in all 
 conditions of life ; are then youths, children, little ones, ox 
 infants, men 1 
 
 Years of life. IREN^US. JOHN, Apostle. 
 
 Birth to 3 or 4 years Infants 
 
 3 or 4 years to 6, or 7 little ones . . LITTLE > 
 
 6 or 7, to 13 or 13 Children . . . CHILDREN J 
 
 12 or 13, to 18 or 20 Youth .... Young Men 
 
 18 or 20, to elder life Seniors . . . Fathers. 
 
 Is it possible to produce a closer commentary more accu- 
 rately in unison with the sentiments, the language and the 
 feelings of the inspired Apostle, who was the affectionate 
 disciple of the most benevolent of masters ? " Suffer little 
 children to come unto me," says our Lord ; " Utile children 
 your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake," says the be- 
 loved disciple ; " Infants, little ones, children are re-born unto 
 God by him, sanctified by him," says the " Faithful Man," 
 recording his testimony for the benefit of " others also." 
 The Law shall never triumph over the Gospel in its tender- 
 ness for infants. Does it describe little ones entering into 
 covenant with God ? Does it allow little children to enter the 
 sacred precincts and partake of the most holy rites 1 Does 
 it register them at their early age as members of the holy 
 community " among the living in Jerusalem ?" Does it sanc- 
 tify them to the Lord as Samuel was sanctified ? So does 
 the Gospel. " HE came to save ALL by himself ; — Infants, 
 Little ones, Children, Youths, and Seniors ;" so says the 
 reverend Disciple ; so says the Apostolic Master ; and so 
 says the DIVINE LORD— WHO DARE GAINSAY IT? 
 
 " Youths, Children, Little ones. Infants !" this is a whole 
 oiKOs ; 2, family ! Oikos includes both sexes, and all ages. 
 This is the reason why Luke employs that term. Had he 
 said " irfant," some would have discovered that he did not 
 mean " little children." Had he said " youths," they would 
 be doubly sure, that he could not possibly mean " children or 
 little ones." Had he used a masculine term, Sons ; females 
 had been excluded on the principle of circumcision. Where- 
 as, by using the term oikos or family, he includes ALL ; so 
 
83 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the inspired Evangelist says, " We baptized the whole fam- 
 ily of the jaih)r !"'* 
 
 It has also been objected, that had the old Saxon compound 
 word, " cradle-c/nld," been used in reference to Baptism, it 
 would have fixed the application of the rite. Listen ti) Gre- 
 gory Nazianzen — " Hast thou an infant child ? Id him be ded- 
 icated from his CRADLE. Give him the great and excellent 
 phylactery." Here is the very " cradle-child " which the 
 Baptists afTect to want ! When the same writer gives his 
 opinion for baptizing children at three years of age ; it is re- 
 torted, " this was a new afl'air !" But the difficulty is this, 
 on the Baptist hypothesis, how could it be any alTair at all ? 
 How could any man think that the baptism of a " cradle-child'^ 
 under three years of age was lawful ? How could Gregory 
 Nazianzen recommend it, if Infant Baptism had never before 
 been heard of in the Church ? 
 
 Every Baptist admits the similarity between the Jewish 
 Passover and the Lord's Supper. Why then will they not 
 follow out the conformity ? "Christ our Passover is sacri- 
 ficed for us ;" says the Apostle, 1 Corinthians v. 8 ; what 
 did the law require of worthy partakers of the Passover ? — 
 Exodus xii. 48. " VVhen a stranger shall sojourn with thee, 
 and will keep the passover to the Lord, let ALL his males 
 BE circumcised, and then let HIM come near and keep it." 
 Was not his own personal circumcision sufficient passport to 
 the Passover Table ? No. Moses says inflexibly, let all 
 His males be circumcised. No perhaps, says Moses ; after 
 " every male" is circumcised, then let him come near and 
 keep the sacred institution." Not only must the father of 
 
 * Distribution of the ages of life. — The Baptists insinuate that this 
 distribution of the ages of life is a peculiarity of IreniEUS. — Xenophon, 
 Cyropoedia, Book I, describes four stages of life, popularly distinguished 
 among the Persians — " CliiLdhuod,_ Youth, Mature at^e, and Eldership, 
 or the time which was past military service." Epiphanius, Heres. 
 
 XXXlil. says — " AAXk tlo iiev vitotitBiui Sia idKTvXov vaiScta yipeTiit : naiStoj 6c 
 Hei^'iti^ctp'ii fiaTnTinaTOi ftcipaKico ic Sia i^airui' veaDiiriKioj Sia naftiov, avfipi Se 
 CKiSiKriati TMV fui^oiioiv TTiipaTTTi.tixnTUV nu'yatpa iia vnfiov. — But tO infants 
 
 correction is given with the finger; to children with the hand; to yomig- 
 sters with the whipping-rod ; to youths with the cane ; but for grosser 
 crimes nicti are punished with the sword." This progress from infancy 
 to childhood, to youngsters, to youth, and to manhood, is precisely an- 
 alogous to that of IrenaRus from infancy to little ones, to children, to 
 youth, and to seniors ; which proves that the distribution of life em- 
 ployed by the Apostle John, 1 John ii. 12 ; "Utile children, young vien, 
 and fathers," was well known among those to whom he wrote; and being 
 familiar to them, they must literally have understood his words. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 83 
 
 the family be circumcised, but his whole oikos. The whole 
 oikos was baptized, because " in Christ Jesus there is neither 
 male nor female," no distinction in behalf of either sex. 
 None can deny that if ALL the sons of a family must be 
 circumcised under the law, something of a similar duty ob- 
 tained under the Gospel. Think of Lydia, of the Jailor, of 
 Stephanas, &c. ; were not their families baptized on good 
 and valid reasons, or causes completely satisfactory ? Was 
 not the baptism of the inimerons family of Cornelius by the 
 Holy Ghost, both a warrant and an example ? 
 
 Were it admitted that as the Lord's Supper was given to 
 Gentile converts, instead of the Passover, so Baptism was 
 given to them instead of Circumcision, controversy would 
 cease. The baptism of families would be assigned to its 
 proper place ; and the law of the ancient ritual would be ful- 
 tilled in the new dispensation. Nor can we deny that reasons 
 might be adduced for the injunction given by Moses. It 
 might be the will of God for the trial of obedience. It might 
 be appointed as the test of established faith. It might be 
 enacted to prevent discord in families. And if obedience 
 must be so, and no more, and no less, and no otherwise, then 
 that precept might rest on a conviction of its being a touch- 
 stone of character, of the hearty good-will with which a con- 
 vert showed himself animated by fulfiUing the law to its 
 uttermost punctilio. 
 
 I have sought only Facts and Evidences : but the present 
 topic furnishes an exhortation. Let me affectionately ask : 
 Do you believe that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for 
 us ? Are you willing to manifest your regard to this great 
 Passover to the same extent as was expected and commanded 
 of old ? — if not, have you any reason to think that you can 
 be an acceptable guest at the Christian Passover Table, while 
 you have at home any belonging to you, any over whom your 
 care extends, any whose welfare you are bound to seek, upon 
 ■whom the initiatory rite of your religious profession has not 
 passed ? This obligation was of Divine appointment. The 
 Gospel exceeds the law in its attention to children. Christ 
 has sanctified the state of Infancy — why do you withhold the 
 sign of sanctification from those in that state ? How dare 
 you partake of the Christian Passover, while your children 
 are in the unconsecrated condition ! — Think what a contrast 
 there is to your disadvantage, between your conduct and that 
 of a convert to Judaism ! Think what your avowed allegiance 
 
84 SUBJECTS or baptism. 
 
 demands of you : and to what your duty as a Christian by 
 profession ought to bind you ! 
 
 Historical Scripture expressly states the Baptism of families 
 which are composed of children in all states of life ; infants, 
 little ones, children. The Apostle Paul acknowledges that 
 he baptized or was the cause of baptizing many families. 
 The Apostle John addressed children, as members of the 
 Church, and fit subjects of his Apostolic care, in an epistle 
 general to the churches. His disciple at one remove affirms 
 the sanctification of the state of infancy by Christ, and the 
 ritual sanctification of the persons of infants by Baptism. 
 The Christian writer who of all others took the greatest pains 
 by inquiry, by travelling, by close examination, purposely 
 instituted and long continued, says ; the Church received 
 from the Apostles, the injunction to confer Baptism on infants. 
 This was in the very earliest ages of the Church ; within 
 two centuries. Can falsehood boast of all these incidental 
 unanimities, these coincidences, which in fact and argument 
 dove-tail into one another 1 Can this be error supported by 
 such extensive, universal, and satisfactory evidence ? 
 
 It is said " we in these days ought not to be too sure, too 
 overweening in our interpretation of Scripture and the Fa- 
 thers ?" I wish the sentiment on which this proposition is 
 founded were more prevalent among Christian sectaries. But 
 let us direct our attention to those who best understood their 
 own language, and the practice of their own days. What say 
 the various communities, whose evidence interests us on this 
 subject ? — Did they conform to the Arab or the Israelite prin- 
 ciple and practice ? Did they postpone their rite of distinction 
 from other religions, or did they not rather anticipate than delay 
 it ? Did they ritually sanctify infants, little ones, children, 
 and youths ; or did they defer ritual sanctification to the 
 seniors and the aged ? 
 
 In following this inquiry, we may properly commence with 
 the harbinger of the Gospel. 
 
 John the Baptist baptized Infants. — For proof of this, 
 we refer to the testimony of a body of men still existing in 
 Syria, the acknowledged disciples of that eminent prophet. 
 They are known under the appellation of " Disciples of John" 
 or simply "disciples," or "Sabians," Baptists: and sometimes, 
 Hernero-Baptists, or Daily-Baptists. Disciples of John are 
 spoken of repeatedly in the Gospel history. 
 
 These Sabians denominate the Baptism of their Master 
 John, " the Baptism of Light ;" Heb. x. 32. where Christians 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 85 
 
 are spoken of as illuminated, baptized. They speak of a 
 Being called Light, distinct from the Supreme Being, which 
 united itself with John the Baptist — the inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit, John i. 33 — at the time Avhen he baptized a celestial 
 Being the J^ord from Heaven, who appeared to him in the form 
 of a LITTLE CHILD. Marsh's Michaelis on New Testament, vol. 
 iii. part 1 . Their books say. When John baptized in the Jordan 
 of living water, with the baptism of life, and pronounced the 
 name of life, the disciple of life said, " Stretch out thy arms, 
 take me, and baptize me with the baptism of life, and pro- 
 nounce over me the NAME which thou art accustomcf) to 
 pronounce ! John answered the disciple of life, ' that cannot 
 be /' But the scholars of John earnestly requested him ; he 
 baptized, therefore, the disciple of life. As soon as the Jordan 
 perceived the disciple of life, the river overflowed, and covered 
 John himself, so that he could not stand. The lustre of the 
 disciple of life shone over the Jordan ; the Jordan returned 
 within its banks, and John stood on dry ground." " The 
 river overflowing covered John himself." — This was a phe- 
 nomenon, a singular incident : for the river did not overflow 
 on account of ordinary baptisms ; but on such occasions, John 
 standing on dry ground was beyond its reach. 
 
 This statement supports two decided inferences. That 
 John baptized in the Great Name: meaning the name of 
 the God of the Jews, Jehovah. That he who baptized dis- 
 ciples as little children, could have no aversion to the bap- 
 tism of little children themselves. And this is rendered 
 evident by the practice of his followers who baptize children 
 at forty days old ; and Avho use a formula, importing, " / 
 baptize thee with the baptism with which John the Baptist 
 baptized." They say that they know not correctly the words 
 which John used, and therefore they adopt this form ; in 
 which the reader will perceive an indisputable allusion to the 
 sacred name which no Jew ventured to pronounce ; the true 
 pronunciation of which the Jews affirmed to be lost. These 
 people also baptize by trine immersion ; which is an unquestion- 
 able reference to the Trinity: three plungirigs,hut owe baptism. 
 
 It may be worth while to compare with this the history as 
 recorded in the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. Hier. lib. iv. 
 Comm. in Esaiam. " It came to pass, as the Lord ascended 
 out of the water, that the whole fountain of the Holy Spirit 
 descended, and rested upon him, and said unto him, " My son, 
 I have eorpected thy coming in all the Prophets ; and now I 
 remain upon thee ; thou art he in whom I rest, who shall reign 
 
86 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 for ever."* The Gospel of the Ebionites, a branch of the 
 Nazarcnes, had these words — Epiph. Hscr.; " John came bap- 
 tizing the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan. After 
 the people had been baptized, Jesus came also, and was 
 baptized by John, and as he ascended out of the water, the 
 heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit of God in 
 the form of a dove, which descended and came towajds him ; 
 and a voice was heard from heaven, saying, ' Thou art my 
 beloved Son, in thee have I been veil plcasf;d.' Immediately 
 a great light shone about the place. John seeing it, said unto 
 him. Who art thou, Lord ? Again a voice from heaven said 
 unto him, ' This is my beloved Son, in v:hom 1 haiie b<en uell 
 pleased.' Then John falling down before him said, ' f pray 
 thee. Lord, baptize thou me;' but he forbade him, saying, 
 ' Suffer it to be so; for thus it becornelh that all things be 
 fulflled: " 
 
 Whether the " Great Name" was light, or life, certainly it 
 intended Jehovah. An ancient creed adopts the simile, " Light 
 of light ; very God of Aery God ;" and this Baptism inculcates 
 the doctrine of a Trinity, before there could possibly be in 
 this expressive rite any commemoration whatever of the 
 washing of the dead body of the great Redeemer. 
 
 In the form of words commanded by our Lord, to be used 
 in administering Baptism, Matth. xxviii. 19, there is a clear 
 and immutable inculcation of the doctrine of the Trinity, but 
 not a shadow of injunction to perpetuate any ritual remem- 
 brance of his dead body : not the slightest allusion to any rite 
 of purification passed upon it, or to any imitation of such rite 
 to be practised by his disciples. 
 
 If we examine the practice of the churches severally, the 
 same ideas are predominant ; that consecration to the Trinity 
 is the main import and purport of Baptism ; and that they 
 were and are desirous of conferring this consecration on chil- 
 dren in early life — in baptismal infancy. 
 
 • Baptism amone; the Jews, although administered in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus only, might include a recognition of the Trinity, iren.tushas 
 preserved two formularies of baptism used by the Valentinians, of which, 
 though apparently mere gibiberish, it has lately been attempted to make 
 sense and meaning. This is the version — " In nomen tuum, Kxal- 
 tissime ; in id quod est lumen, est principium vita;, Spiritus, quoniam 
 tu in corpore tuo regnasti.— In thy name, O most exalted, in that which 
 is light and the principle of life. Spirit, inasmuch as thou in thy body 
 art reigning." The mention of light, spirit, and exaltation clearly 
 alludes to a Trinity. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 87 
 
 The Apostles rebaptizecl the disciples of John. That was 
 not because they had received his baptism in their infancy, 
 but because they had explicitly professed neither the name of 
 Jesus, nor that of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Oixog and Oixtu. — It is proper to advert again specifically 
 to these terms in connection with Infant Baptism. 
 
 Aristotle says that Oikia means both "bond and free." 
 One passage of Scripture afforded the most proper opportu- 
 niiy to include a servant in the term family, John viii. 35 ; 
 " 'i"he SERVANT abidelh not in the house — not oikos, h\xi oikia 
 — for ever ; but the son abideth ever." Thus the son is a 
 member o'i the oikia, but the servant is not a member of the 
 oikos. 
 
 VVhen oikos is used to denote & family, the connection of 
 numbers with the term forms the experimentum crucis of the 
 distinction between the family, oikos, and oikia the entire 
 establishment, including servants. We read of the oikos, 
 family of Noah, consisting of eight persons, being saved in 
 the ark : here servants are evidently excluded. Gen. vii. 1 ; 
 2 Peter iii. 21. So we read of the whole oikos — (amily of 
 Jacob that went down into Egypt with him, being sixty-six 
 persons. Genesis xlvi. 26. The servants are excluded, for 
 they amounted to some hundreds. " Ahab had seventy sons 
 in Samaria— look out the best, and fight for your master's 
 family" — oikos. The servants are excluded ; 2 Kings x. 1,5, 
 &c. 
 
 That the lxx express infants by the term oikos, appears 
 from the following instances. Gen. xviii. 19 : " For I know 
 Abraham that he will command his children, even his family 
 — oikos — after him." Isaac was only promised, not born at 
 the time. Gen. xxxiv. 30: "I being few in number, shall 
 be destroyed, I and my family, oikos.'" There were infants 
 in Jacob's family, at the time. — Numbers xviii. 31 : "Ye shall 
 eat it in every place, ye and your families, oikos; for it is 
 your reward for service." The infants of the priests and 
 Levites did eat at three years old their "rewards for service." 
 — Deut. xii. 7 ; xv. 20 : " And ye shall eat before the Lord 
 and rejoice, ye and your families, oikos." The same infants 
 who did eat before the Lord are here said to " rejoice" before 
 the Lord. — Deut. xiv. 26 : " Thou shalt eat before the Lord 
 thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy family, oikos." 
 Here again the parent is said to " rejoice" with his family 
 before the Lord ; which is exactly what is said of the Jailor's 
 
bo SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 family when baptized ; and as it here expresses the presence 
 of infants, children of tliree or four years old, so undoubtedly 
 it does in the New Testament. — Deut. xxv. 9 : " Then shall 
 his brother's wife say, " Thus shall it be done unto that man 
 who will not build up his brother's family, oikos" — by pro- 
 creation of infants. — 1 Sam. ii. 33 : " The increase of thy 
 family — oikos — shall die in the flower of their age." This 
 must mean infants. — 2 Sam. vii. 16, 18, 25, 27, 29 : " And 
 thy family, oikos, and thy kingdom shall be established for 
 ever. Thou hast spoken of thy servant's family, oikos, for 
 
 a great while to come." 1 Chron. xvii. 23, 23, 25. This 
 
 must mean infants. — 1 Kings xiii. 2 : " Behold, a child shall 
 be born to the family, oikos, of David." — This child must be 
 an infant. — Tsalm cxiii. 9 : "He caused the barren woman 
 to have a family, oikos ; and to be a joyful mother of children." 
 Infants are here intended. 
 
 When Jacob was going down into Egypt, the sacred wri- 
 ter informs us that the number of his sons and his sons' sons, 
 of his daughters and his sons' daughters, with him, was sixty- 
 six, lie then mentions particularly the "two souls" born to 
 Joseph in Egypt, who were infants, and closes by saying ; 
 " All the souls of the house, oikos, of Jacob were three score 
 and ten" The phrase " all the house" is evidently inappli- 
 cable till these two infants of Joseph are included. Omit 
 these, the term does not apply : insert them, the term is in- 
 stantly and correctly applied. The term, therefore, express- 
 es the presence of those infants. Without those infants the 
 number cannot be made up. The sacred writer wails io express 
 them ; and then all the house is the suitable phrase. This 
 passage is demonstrative of the presence of infants in the 
 term oikos ; not merely morally or grammatically ; but by 
 means of the numbers, mathematically and strictly demon- 
 strative. The infants are here expressed in the term all the 
 house. Neither fraud nor force can eject them. The Greek 
 adds five infants, the sons of Manasseh, and a grandson of 
 Benjamin, making all the house of Jacob seventy five persons. 
 
 The presence of infants is expressed beyond all possibility 
 of doubt, in the use of a term by the lxx. Exod. i. 1 : 
 " Now these are the names of the children of Israel who 
 came into Egypt, every man, napoixi, with all his house," his 
 own personal family. The sons of Jacob did bring their 
 little ones in the wagons sent by Pharaoh. Gen xlvi. 5. 
 The intention of the lxx is to inform us, that the whole did 
 not come down confusedly, but each man distinctly, exagog, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 89 
 
 heading all his family. Here then the term with all his house, 
 PANOIKI, intentionally expresses the presence of infants. 
 
 What is desired ? Merely to allow the same force to the 
 same word in the New Testament which it bears in the lxx. 
 The Apostles icrote in a language, the words of which had been 
 long settled. The Jailor was baptized, he and all his family; 
 and he rejoiced ^A'ITH all his house, -napoixi,, at the head of 
 his family, believing in God. But panoiki expresses the pre- 
 sence of infants in the instance of the sons of Jacob de- 
 scending into Egypt ; why then does it not equally express 
 the presence o/" infants in the instance of the Jailor's family ? 
 If the terms all tlie house express infants in the instance of 
 ALL Jacob's family, why do they not equally express infants 
 in the case of all the Jailor's family ? If there be any scruples 
 about the Jailor's family, there can be none about the family of 
 Cornelius, of which it is said, "he with all his house — aw 
 ■navTi, t(Tj oXxo} aviov — feared God :" and all were baptized. 
 " Can infants fear God ?" Did not Samuel fear God, when 
 he " ministered" to the Lord in his sanctuary ?— and Timothy, 
 when he studied Holy Scripture ? They were irfants. 
 
 Being myself convinced that the Apostles practised Infant 
 Baptism, and that the Evangelist meant to tell us so ; I affirm 
 that the natural import of the term oikos, family, includes 
 children of all ages. In proof, I offer ffty examples ; ii fifty 
 are not sufficient, I offer a hundred ; if a hundred are not suf- 
 ficient, two hundred; \i two hundred are not sufficient, yowr 
 hundred. I affirm that oikos very often expresses the pre- 
 sence of infants ; of this I offer fifty examples ; ai^ if we 
 admit classical instances, _^;:y more. Euripides alone affords 
 half the number ; though he frequently uses domes instead of 
 oikos. xMore than three hundred instances have been examined, 
 which have proved perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 What terms could the Evangelist have used to satisfy us of 
 the Apostolic practice of Infant Baptism ? Had he said, 
 " We baptized i7ifants ;" Origen says this — and Baptists im- 
 mediately exclaim, '■^Metaphorical infants! metaphorical in- 
 fants !" Had he said, " We baptized children," as the apostles 
 Paul and John, and Clement of Alexandria say, they answer, 
 " Metaphorical children !" But Clement's allusion, " the fisher- 
 man and CHILDREN drawn out of the water," is extant among 
 other Christian emblems of ancient sculpture — Arringhius, 
 Roma Potteranea, Tom. II. tab. xiii ; in which are seen an 
 angler, at whose line three fishes are nibbling ; and already 
 
 8* 
 
90 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 drawn out is, not a bearded sage, not a man, but a boy about 
 four or five years old ! So much for metaphorical children ! 
 
 I submit this rule — " Whenever a verb implying locomo- 
 tion, entering in, going out, Slc, is coimected with the term 
 oikos, look for a dwclli?} g-house ;" for a man enters a family 
 by affinity, matrimony, adoption, &c. ; but he enters a dwell- 
 ing by locomotion. I^et us try some passages by this rule. 
 " Into whatever house ye enter." Men on a journey enter a 
 house by locomotion ; it therefore means a d well in i:;-. Acts 
 vii. 10 ; We are informed, that Pharaoh made Joseph gover- 
 nor over Egypt, and over all his house ;" but what have chil- 
 dren to do here ? In 1 Kings xiii. 8, we have the expres- 
 sion—" The man of God said to the King, If thou wilt give 
 me half thine house," oikos, lxx— his Royal Property : surely 
 he did not mean half his children. Joseph was over Poti- 
 phar's house so supremely, that his master knew not ought he 
 had, save the bread he did eat; and had kept back nothing 
 from Joseph, save his wife. Into exactly the same supre- 
 macy of administration over his property, house, oikos. Gen. 
 xli. 40, did king Pharaoh place Jdseph — "ordy in the throne 
 will I be greater than thou." This is the li^ht in which the 
 Psalmist viewed the transaction; for he tells us, " He made 
 him lord of his house, and ruler over all his substance," his 
 Royal Property. Psalm cv. 21. Substance is properly con- 
 nected with the king'' s house. 2 Chron. xxi. 17; Proverbs 
 vi. 31 : "A thief shall restore seven-fold, all the substance o( 
 his house," all his property. Canticles viii. 7 : " If a man 
 would give all the substance of his house," all his property for 
 love, it would be utterly contemned. 2 Sam. xii. 8 : Gen. 
 xxxix. 5. 
 
 When the Philippian Jailor inquired, " What must I do 
 to be saved ?" the Apostle answered, " Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house," inclu- 
 ding his servants. The oikia, servants of the Jailor, heard 
 the Word : but we do not read that one of the oikia was bap- 
 tized, saved. But this Ave do read of the Jailor, and of all 
 his house ; which is exactly what the Apostle foretold. 
 
 Well therefore may the words of an objector, only changed 
 in the application of them, be adopted — T/ie .s^cre^i ivriters 
 baptized infants ! The primitive Christians baptized infants! 
 " We know they did, because they have told us so themselves." 
 
 Christian Symbols used in the first centuries. — 
 The witness of Scripture is preponderant and decisive ; yet 
 inquirers should examine and obey whatever evidence bears 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 91 
 
 upon the question from other sources. Hence the value of 
 the Christian writers, and of the Christian pictures of the first 
 ages.* 
 
 The open profession of Christianity was at first exposed to 
 incessant and imminent peril. Against this, believers provided 
 in part by a certain degree of secrecy. To preserve which 
 they adopted a series of private symbols ; and by these, while 
 they concealed themselves from the heathen, they discovered 
 each other. The Revelation opens with one ; " I am the 
 Alpha, and the Omega,'' Eyw eifit TO A kolv TO SI. Admit- 
 ting the usual date of this symbolical book, A. D. 96, it 
 follows that before the end of the first century, and during the 
 life of the Apostle John, this symbol A and SI was current 
 among the faithful. 
 
 * Tradition— Notwithstanding Tradition is a Scripture term used 
 by the Apostle to describe his own writings, because it has latterly been 
 employed to express unwritten reports, handed down from age to age, 
 and therefore uncertain and often mutilated or perverted, the Baptists 
 charge the Pcedobaptists with depending on incompetent and unworthy 
 authority. That sense of the term is perfectly inapplicable to the age 
 of the Apostles and of the Apostolic men, among whom it had no such 
 meaning. The term IlapaJomf, Paradosis, Tradition, as used by the an- 
 cient Fathers, signifies good and credible evidence delivered by one 
 person to another, either written or by speaking ; and is applied even to 
 the Gospels, which were called, Suicer. Thesaur. Tom. ii., E"ayy£Ai/ca( 
 Trapaioattq, Traditionary Gospels. Thus Irenaeus says of the Gospel of 
 Mark — " Marcus discipulus et inle.rpres Petri, el ip^a qihce annunciata 
 erant per scripla nobis tradidit. JVIaik was the disciple and interpreter 
 of Peter, and the things that were spoken by Peter he has preserved by 
 writing tradition for us." The people urged Mark to write ; as the 
 Elders of the church afterwards urged the Apostle John to lurite. 
 This desire for ivritlen tradition was the very contrary to a disposition 
 to depend on uncertain tradition. Clement of Rome says, Epis, Co- 
 rinth, xlii. xlv., " The Apostles appointed their first-fruits to be Bishops 
 and Ministers over such as should believe, having first proved them by 
 the Spirit. They gave direction, when they should die, how other 
 chosen and approved men should succeed in their ministry." This is 
 perfectly coincident with Paul's charge to Timothy, to commit to faith- 
 ful men what he had heard that Aposile deliver to many Christian bre- 
 thren for this purpose, 2 Tim. ii. 2. Justin Martyr says of himself : 
 " Having been a disciple of the Apostles, I became a teacher of the na- 
 tions. Those things which were delivered to me I minister to them who 
 are become worthy disciples of the Truth." The Epistle to Diognetus 
 ascribed to Justin says expressly, " the Tradition of the Apostles is ob- 
 served" The churches enjoyed the instruction of the Apostolic men 
 long after that date. This, on the subject of Baptism, is of so much 
 the greater consequence, as about A- D. 200, there arose a violent 
 dispute concerning this rite ; and about the same time Tertullian re- 
 monstrated against Infant Baptism ; which proves the prevalence of the 
 practice. 
 
92 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 A passage hitherto covered Avith impenetrable darkness, as 
 commentators confess, is illustrated by this custom, Uev. ii. 
 17 ; " To him that ovcrcomcth will I give a while stone, and 
 in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth 
 saving he that receiveth it." On this, says Doddridge : 
 *' Among the Greeks, a white stone was a token of absolution, 
 as a black stone was of condemnation ; but the writing a n&w 
 name upon this stone is not illustrated by any ancient prac- 
 tice. I liavc sometimes thought the phrase may signify one 
 that hath received it, as it seems a name given to any person 
 must be known to others, or it would be given in vain." 
 
 The term for stone here used does not import a large stone 
 proper for building, but a small pebble. It is used to describe 
 the vote, voice, given by Paul — if"](fOf, Acts xxvi. 10 ; about 
 the size of a bean ; as customary among the Greeks in voting. 
 The Egyptian pebbles, on which the scarabeus is scidptured, 
 are usually red Carnelian, about the size of our watch-seals ; 
 but there is also a white Carnelian equally used, and this is 
 apparently the stone intended in the text. 
 
 The term name does not of necessity imply an appellation, 
 but a badge or cognizance ; that by which a person or thing 
 is known or distinguished ; and it is so used in this book : 
 Revelation xiii. 1 ; xiv, 1 ; xvii. 3. "A Lamb stood on 
 Mount Sion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand 
 having his Father's na?ne written on their foreheads ;" an ab- 
 breviated token, or significant cypher, or symbol, the mark 
 of God set on the forehead of his people, as in the vision 
 seen by Ezekiel, iv. 6. " I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet 
 coloured beast, full of names of blusphemy," blasphemous 
 symbols : "full of names" is clearly inapplicable ; the beast 
 could not be written all over. " I saw a beast rise out of the 
 sea, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy," a blasphe- 
 mous device, badge or cognizance, like those placed on the 
 head of idols ; the sun with its rays, the moon with her cres- 
 cent, &LC. 
 
 We have now the key to our text — " To him that over- 
 comcth will I give a white Carnelian pebble stone, and in the 
 stone a new cognizance or device engraved, which no man 
 knoweth save one who hath received it," and is in the secret. 
 With this exactly coincides the language of Clemens Alex- 
 andrinus, A. D. 190, writing to primitive' Christians, who says, 
 " You have also your little private tokens or symbols, that of a 
 dove or of a fish, or a swift ship driven by the wind, or a 
 musical lyi-e, a device used by Polycrates, or a ship's anchor, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 93 
 
 which Seleucus engraved on his coins ; or if your device be 
 any one engaged in fishing, angling, it puts you in mind of the 
 Apostle, and of the children which are drawn out of the 
 water."* 
 
 This testimony is vahiable ; as it proves the use of private 
 symbols among the Christians in the second century, and by 
 illustrating the passage in the Revelation, shows the practice 
 to date from the first century ; and as it proves that children 
 Avere at that time, as formerly by the Apostle, dravi^n out of 
 the w^ater of baptism. 
 
 Although Clemens describes all Christian w^ho are not 
 arrived at heaven as children, compared with what they will 
 be in that state ; yet the term cannot be taken metaphorically 
 in this passage, unless the dove, the fish, the ship, the lyre 
 and the anchor could be taken metaphorically ; which would 
 be false ; for the anchor may be seen on the coins of Seleucus. 
 Among the symbols on Christian sepulchral inscriptions of 
 the earliest ages we find the jish, the anchor, and the done ; 
 which justify his words in their full extent and literal accep- 
 tation.! " A FAITHFUL, descended from ancestors who were also 
 FAITHFULS, Here lies Zosimus : he lived two years, one month, 
 and twenty-five days." The anchor and the fish mark a period 
 of primitive and suffering Christianity. A faithful ! — a 
 church member ! at two years of age, descended from faith- 
 fuls ; who in causing their infant to be baptized, continued 
 the practice of their primitive Christian ancestors. In what 
 sense did they or their forefathers understand the Apostolic 
 injunction ? — The following with the symbol of a dove bears 
 the same import. " Achillia, newly baptized, is buried 
 here ; she died at the age of one year and five months. \ Pro- 
 bably the accompanying figure of a dove marks the female 
 sex particularly. It is a Christian symbol of the second 
 century, derived doubtless from an earlier period. " Newly 
 baptized .'" — In what sense did they who baptized that child, 
 
 * Sint autem nobis vel vobis signacula, columba, vel piscis, vel 
 navis, quae celeri cursu a vento fertur, vel lyra musica, qua usus est 
 Polycrates, vel ancora nautica, quam insculpebat Seleucus: et si sit 
 aliquis qui piscetur, metninerit Apostoli, et puerorum qui ex aqua extra- 
 huntur. Clemens Alexandrinus. Pccdasogus. lib. iii. cap. 11. 
 
 t Fidelis ex Fidelibus Zosimus Heic'Jaceo. Vixi Annos II. Mens. 
 1. Dies XXV. — Muratori, Fabretti. 
 
 t Defuncta est Achillia Neophyta unius anni Mensium v. vii. Kal. 
 Martias Die Lunae. Muratori, vol. iv. 
 
94 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 not a year and a half old, understand the language and practice 
 of the Apostles ? 
 
 The Inscriptions which the Sepulchres contain, furnish 
 abundant materials for " Facts and Evidences." Among 
 the thousands which remain are many of the primitive 
 Christians : and some of these refer to children who died 
 young. An example may explain my meaning, while it 
 furnishes a specimen. Buonarotti, 43. 
 
 2 IM HAIKU -J T.Kyi I- 
 KJASINTMO^I-EZH 
 :SEN- E TIT- L4- HMEPJ V- K F 
 ETEAEYTHi:ExN mir-KAL-AOBEMP «>AETi2 KAI 
 TAAAS2 YlIATOIIi. 
 
 SiMPLiciA — called also Calonvmus, ivho lived Years XL 
 Days XXI II. His course was ended by violence, the I3th 
 of the Calends of November, Faustus and Tallus being Consuls. 
 
 This reference to the Consuls gives a date, by which we 
 find the child was a martyr under Dioclesian. He had cer- 
 tainly been baptized, as appears from his receiving a second 
 name Calonymus ; and he was a martyr at eleven years of 
 age. 
 
 Another inscription commemorates a still younger Christian. 
 It has explicit marks of primitive Christianity in persecuting 
 times. Buonoratti 17; Fabretti, cap. 4. 
 
 I XQ rc . 
 
 I Posthumius. Euthcnion. Fidelis. qui. Gratia sancta. con- 
 
 secutus. 
 X Pridie. natali suos erotina. hora. reddit. debitum. vitae. 
 
 suae, qui vixit. 
 Annis Sex. et depositus. v. idus Julias, die Jovis. quo et 
 
 natus. est. cujus. 
 T Anima. cumSauctos inpace. Filio Bcnemerenti. Postumii. 
 
 felicissimus. 
 C. N. Ey Euthenia Fytista. avia. ipse jus. 
 
 Posthumius Euthcnion, a faithful Christian brother, accom- 
 panied with the Holy Grace. On the day before his birth-day, 
 early, he gave back again that which he had received, his life. 
 He lived six years ; and was buried the fifth of the ides of 
 July, on a Thursday, on which day he was born : whose soul 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 95 
 
 is with the Holy One in peace. Erected to a welt-deserving 
 son, the most happy Posthumius, by order of his grandmother, 
 Euthenia Fytista. 
 
 Was the title of Fidelis ever given by the primitive Chris- 
 tians to any one before baptism 1 — On the contrary, they were 
 baptized to be md^Ae. jidclrs. This then decides the character 
 of this child. He was a follower of, or was followed by, the 
 " Holy Grace." This child then had been baptized : yet he 
 died before he was six years old. As his grandmother appears 
 to have been a zealous, warm-hearted Christian, we cannot 
 suppose this son would pass the third year of his life without 
 undergoing this rite : perhaps much earlier. " His soul is 
 with the Just One in Peace," says the iascription : while the 
 symbolical Acrostic IX&TC sufficiently marks his Christi- 
 anity ; with the necessity of the time, for concealing the 
 profession of the cross. A more satisfactory instance of Infant 
 Baptism, excepting the absence of a date, can hardly be ex- 
 pected ; for this "faithful" baptized Christian brother, was 
 not SIX YEARS of age. 
 
 But the Christian symbol IXGTC is placed on the top, as 
 well as down the side of this inscription ; probably expressing 
 a Christian ancestry. The letter N. importing Nika, " Christ 
 has overcom'" being a Greek symbolical term, seems to 
 suggest, with the Greek termination Euthenion, that it was a 
 Greek family. Euthenia, the grandmother, only did for the 
 child what had formerly been done for herself and her family ; 
 and this fact refers the Infant Baptism back to that earlier 
 date.* 
 
 These instances show that the words of Clemens in reference 
 to those Christian symbols, the fsh, the anchor, the dove, and 
 the ship, must be taken literally ; where then is the pretence 
 for taking his term children other than literally ? Were not 
 Zosimus, Achillia, and the other little ones, literally children 
 
 ' The term IX0YC is derived from the first letters of the name of 
 Christ placed ihus — 
 
 I lerrovi JeSUS 
 
 X Xp«rroy Christ 
 
 G Ocov of God 
 
 Y Y<oj the Son— 
 
 G C'orrip Saviour. 
 
 Those united letters form the Greek word signifying a fish ; whence 
 ^fish became the private mark of Christian sepulchres, and concealed 
 ihem from violation by the Heathen. Clem. Alex. Paedagog. Lib. iii. 
 Cap. 10. 
 
96 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 drawn out of the water of baptism ; and in no other sense 
 could that Christian teacher, when writing to Christians and 
 using that expression, understand the Apostle's language and 
 practice. 
 
 The primitive Christians also caused the symbol to be en- 
 graven on their seals and rings ; and by that token they dis- 
 covered those who had been baptized into their common faith. 
 In reference to this, TertuUian, De Bapt., chapter i, speaking 
 of Fideles, the Faithful, who had passed through the water 
 of Baptism, calls them pisciculi, little fishes. Combine this 
 with the repetition of the symbol, IX(:)YC, on the tomb of 
 Posthumius. Whoever perseveringly pursues this argument 
 will produce many instances which may be referred to the 
 first and second century. Who then will venture to affirm 
 that " Infant Baptism is a new affair ?" 
 
 CHURCH-MEMBERSHIP OF CHILDREN. 
 
 Under the Mosaic law, the children of the Hebrews, 
 when arrived at three years of age, or from that to four years, 
 were thought capable, by the leaders of their nation, of cov- 
 enanting with God, in common with other members of the 
 Old Testament church ; and became in a sense public per- 
 sons. The Children of the priests were at that age admitted 
 into the Temple and " did eat the most holy things." At 
 three years old Samuel " worshipped the Lord," 1 Samuel i. 
 28, ii. 11, in his sanctuary: and in New Testament times, 
 at three years old, from his infancy, 2 Tim. iii. 15, ano ^gecpovg, 
 Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures which were able to make 
 him wise to salvation. Woidd the Apostles have refused 
 Baptism to such Children ? 
 
 When our Lord's doctrine during his personal ministry was 
 favourably received, the persons so disposed were called dis- 
 ciples ; and this is their usual appellation in the Gospels. So 
 we read, " Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John." 
 He made them disciples ritually by baptism, by the agency 
 of his Apostles. After our Lord's death, his followers were 
 called by their enemies. Men '* of that way" — " Nazarenes" 
 — " Heretics ;" but they called themselves Christians. They 
 added moreover, when addressing each other, the appellations 
 of Brother or Sister in the Lord, with the titles, the called, the 
 elect, the illuTninated, holy persons or saints, faithful, Sic. 
 These were regidfirly given to church-members only. None 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 97 
 
 without the church ever received one of these appellations. 
 They were given at or immediately on Baptism, and Baptism 
 was initiatory to those appellations. The newly -baptized 
 were called new plants. 
 
 Whoever was baptized was a member of the church of 
 Christ : and as baptism was the onli/ way of admission into 
 the church, it follows that whoever was a member of the 
 church of Christ had been baptized. The terms are inter- 
 changeable. If then it be shown that any one of these 
 Christian appellations is bestowed on children, that children 
 are designated by any one of these titles, the church-mem- 
 bership of children is the imdeniable consequence ; and with 
 their church-membership their Baptism. 
 
 The Appellation Holy ascribed to Children. — HOLY 
 persons is an appellation given to church-members. So 
 Paul confessed, that " many of the holy persons he had shut 
 up in prison," Acts xxvi. 10, tw»' dyicov : though afterwards we 
 find him speaking repeatedly in the most respectful manner 
 of them ; " I go to Jerusalem to minister to the holy persons,'" 
 Rom. XV. 25, roig uyioig. He also writes on various occa- 
 sions to them " who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, to the 
 called, to the holy persons" — " To the holt/ persons at Ephe- 
 sus" — " To the holy persons at Colosse" — " To all the holy 
 persons in Christ Jesus at Phillippi." This is a title given 
 in a multitude of places to members of the Christian Church 
 ONLY. But this appellation is also given to children of a 
 church-member — " Now are your children holy," 1 Cor. vii. 
 14 ; ayttc. The lowest sense that can possibly be put on this 
 term in this passage, even by a writeY against Infant Baptism, 
 is that of Tertullian, who says they are holy, because design- 
 ed for holiness in baptism. Even in that ancient adversary's 
 opinion, their ritual holiness was complete at baptism ; for 
 which he assigns two reasons : Seminis prerogativd, the priv- 
 ilege of descent from a church-member ; and Institutionis 
 disciplimi, the course of education which such a child would 
 naturally receive from its parent. He implies, that the heathen 
 dedicated their children to their idols before they were born. 
 But the fact is indisputable, that the appellative Holy is not 
 bestowed in the New Testament on any person not a member 
 of the church of Christ ! 
 
 The following examples prove that the term "Holy," was 
 appropriated to children. 
 
 " Maurentius son of Maurentia, a most pleasing child, who 
 
 9 
 
98 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 liA'ed five years, eleven months and two days ; worthy to re- 
 pose in peace among the Holy persons."* 
 
 " Sacred to the great God. Leopardus rests here in peace 
 with Holy spirits. Having received Baptism he went to the 
 blessed innocents. This was placed by his parents, with 
 whom he lived seven years and seven months. "f Fabretti 
 refers this expressly to Baptism. 
 
 " To the honourable memory of Innocentius Amantius. who 
 lived eight years and six days ; he reposes in the bosom of 
 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the peace of the I^ord .Tesus 
 Christ."! From the phraseology it is probable that the child 
 was of Hebrew parentage. 
 
 " The most innocent Cervonia Silvana, gone to enjoyment 
 with Holy Spirits," A. D. 291.^ 
 
 " Julia reposes in peace among the Holy persons."|( The 
 terms " in peace and Ao/y" prove that she was a member of 
 the Christian church. Consequently it was the appellation 
 given to the disciples among both the Greeks and the Latins. 
 
 The Appellat/on Faithful applied to Children. — 
 In connection with the appellation holy given to church-mem- 
 bers, we find the appellation faithful ; and this was more 
 
 • Maurentius Maarentiae 
 
 F. D. qui vixit Annis V. Menses 
 
 XI. Dies Duo. Digna inter 
 
 Sanctos Deu3 jussit in Pace. 
 
 t D Ma Sacrum. XL. 
 
 Leopardum in Pacem 
 
 cum Spirita Sancia. Accep 
 
 turn eunte abeatis innocinem 3 
 
 Po9uer. Par. q. Ann. VII. Men. VII. 
 
 t Bone Memorie 
 
 Innocent! Amantio 
 
 qui vixit Annos 
 
 VIII. Dies Sex 
 
 Quiescenti in 
 
 Sinus Abrahae 
 
 Isaac et Jacob 
 
 in pace XTI DMNI 
 
 PS. VIII. KAL. IAN. 
 
 Muratori, 7. Calari in Caemetrio. Bonfanto. 
 
 5 Innocentissima Cervonia Silvana 
 Refrigera cum Spiritu Sancto. 
 
 II EL.YAIA EN EIPHNH 
 META Ta.N AriwN. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 99 
 
 extensively and more permanently used in the church, as the 
 distinguishing title of church-members in Scripture. 
 
 It ts applied to individuals, in the singular:— To Timo- 
 thy, to Tychicus, to Onesimus, to Silvanus, and probably to 
 others. I Cor. iv. 17 ; Eph. iv. 21 ; Col. iv. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 12. 
 The mother of Timothy, is called a faithful. Acts xvi, 
 1 ; mair^g. 
 
 What concord hath Christ with Belial ? what part hath a 
 FAITHFUL with a. non-faichful ? 2Cor, vi. 15. If any faith- 
 ful man or faithful woman, niqog ^ 711517, have widows ; let 
 such relieve them, that the Church be not charged ; 1 Timothy 
 V. 16. 
 
 It is also applied in the plural ;— They of the circumcision, 
 '' FAITHFULS, nigToi,'" who came with Peter, were astonished. 
 Acts X. 45. These are called brethren. Acts. ix. 23 ; Acts 
 xi. 12. 
 
 Those servants who have masters that are faithfuls, 
 nigovg ; despise them not ; 1 Timothy vi. 2 ; because they 
 are brethren. 
 
 Let no man despise thy youth ; but be thou an example to 
 the faithfuls; 1 Tim. iv. 12. 
 
 The things thou hast heard from me ; 2 Tim. ii. 2 ; com- 
 mit thou to faithfuls, men. 
 
 He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they who are 
 with him are called, and chosen, and faithfuls ; Revelation 
 xvii. 14. 
 
 It is also addressed to Churches, as communities : — Paul 
 to the holy persons who are at Ephesus, and to the faithfuls, 
 ■mqoig ; in Christ Jesus ; Eph. i. 1. 
 
 Paul to the holy persons in Colosse, and to the faithfuls, 
 Tiiqot; ; to the brethren in Christ ; Col. i. 2. 
 
 A remarkable instance is that of Lydia, in her address to 
 the Apostle — " When she was baptized, with her family, she 
 besought us, saying. Since you have adjudged me to be a 
 faithful, Ttngj^i- ; to the Lord Jesus, come into^ my house, 
 and abide." Acts xvi. 15. Here the appellation yizi^A/'M/ is 
 so strongly connected with the term baptism, as to be even 
 interchangeable with it ; for the sense would be the same, if 
 the term baptized were submitted {or faithful, and faithful for 
 baptized. It amounts to an identity. 
 
 The title faithful was a current designation of members of 
 the Christian church. To call a man a faithful was equiva- 
 lent to calling him a Christian brother, or a disciple of Jesus 
 Christ, or by any other appellation denoting his relation to 
 
100 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Christ and the church. Is this appellation faithful applied 
 to children ? Certainly it is : and in the sense of a whole 
 family. For so writes the Apostle, Titus i. 6; describing 
 the character of a bishop — " he must be the husband of one 
 
 wife, HAVING CHILDREN WHO ARE FAITHFULS." 
 
 This passage is decisive. Of the two terms, we have ex- 
 amined FAITHFULS. The Other, children, in Greek tekna, on 
 the authority of Baptist writers themselves, expresses 
 " MINORS yVowj twenty days old to twenty years." The pas- 
 sage then stands thus in sense ; " having children, minors 
 from twenty days old to twenty years, who are church-memhers."'' 
 But the Apostle speaks of children. He does not say, " those 
 of full age ;" — Nor does he say, " excepting the younger ;" — 
 but the Bishop's " children" of any age must be faithfuls, 
 church-members. 
 
 This was a proper place to have stated exceptions, if such 
 existed in the Apostle's mind or practice : for he was not 
 giving instructions to Titus only, but to all the Christian 
 world. Error there was error in perpetuity. Nor does the 
 Apostle formally introduce or treat the subject : he mentions 
 it as an expected thing, without emphasis or explanation. It 
 was therefore no novelty. The baptism of their children — 
 their Church-membership — is here charged on the Minis- 
 ters as a duty ; and the omission is a marked disqualification 
 for ecclesiastical office. 
 
 Some inconsiderate mind may insist — " those children 
 must be adults ; for they are supposed to be accusable of riot 
 and unruliness." But in that case, the official character of 
 the parent is made to depend on the established character of 
 his children ; and this publicly known and notorious, before 
 their father can enter on his office. Supposing then his chil- 
 dren to be born, when he is about thirty years of age, and 
 their characters to be civilly and ecclesiastically fixed at the 
 same time of life — their father must be sixty years old before 
 he can possess this qualification for a bishop. What service 
 could churches expect from their Bishops, every one aged 
 sixty at his entrance on office ? Is this consistent with the 
 other facts ? 
 
 The parallel passage in Timothy plainly expresses the 
 bishop's having a family of young children. The injunction 
 applies to all bishops. 
 
 But suppose the bishops had daughters only, they may be 
 relieved from this imputation of being riotous and unruly : 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 101 
 
 yet these must be made faithfuls ; for the term children in- 
 chides both sexes. 
 
 Moreoi'er, a bishop might have no children. Were not 
 Timothy's qualifications for the episcopal office sufficient, 
 without wailing till he became a husband and a father, and 
 till the character of his children should be pronounced by the 
 church and the world ? 
 
 The Baptists would be bound by their own argument to 
 admit only old men, married men and fathers, into the ministry. 
 The argument goes to prove that all ministers, all Baptist 
 ministers, havin<r children who are not baptized, in PauVs opin- 
 ion, are unjit for their ojjice. They are not " ensamples to 
 the flock." 
 
 These consequences follow this interpretation of the pas- 
 sage. Here then I make my stand — not on unrecorded tra- 
 dition, not on the universal practice of the churches, not on 
 the positive affirmation of Origen and others, who plead 
 Apostolic injunction for the baptism of children — but on 
 Scripture. The language of the Aposlle is explicit and 
 could not possibly mislead those who consulted his writings. 
 
 The Apostle Paul speaks of children as being church-mem- 
 bers under the terms holy and faithfuls. The Apostle 
 John writes distinctly to little children. The inference 
 is all tliat can be desired. Here then I stand on the rock 
 of Scripture ; and Scripture is consistent with itself; for the 
 Evangelists applied to children the terms believer a.nA disciple. 
 
 Though the Apostolic tesiimoiiy is explicit and satisfactory, 
 yet it may be gratifying to know whether Scripture has re- 
 corded any instances of conformity with this injunction. 
 That inquiry must be answered in the affirmative ; as is 
 evinced by three instances of conformity by christian 
 
 TEACHERS TO THE APOSTLe's INJUNCTION. 
 
 " Greet Pi^scilla and Aquila, and the church in i\\e\x fami- 
 ly ;" Rom. xvi. 3. 5. This is the sense given to the word 
 house, in this place, by Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Theo- 
 phylact, who say literally, " their family was ALL made 
 faithfuls; and such whole families the Apostle calls a 
 church."* The same persons are mentioned, 1 Cor. xvi. 19 ; 
 " Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the 
 
 * wr£ Tov oiKov avrcov -ravTa; itirov; noiriaat, rovrovi xai CKKXrioriav ovojiaatv — 
 tov oiKnv navra -Kirovi ji^evj <^re xai cKK^naiav KoKuaQai — They Converted 
 their whole families to the Christian profession ; for such families he 
 calls a church. 
 
 9* 
 
102 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 church in their house, family." All the Greek scholiasts and 
 Grotius say, that " this signifies a family consisting wholly 
 of Christian converts, as was the Jailor's, Acts xvi. 31, 32 ; 
 and that of Crispus, Acts xviii. 8. " Salute Nymphas and the 
 church in his house;" Colossians iv. 15. "House" means 
 " Family," as is afhrmed by Theodoret, Oecumenius, Chry- 
 sostom, and Theophylact. " He had made his whole family 
 Christians, so as to be called a Church" — Literally — " He 
 had made his whole family Faithfuls, so as to be called a 
 Church."* " Paul to Philemon, and to the church in thy 
 house ," Philemon 2. " To the church in ihy family ;" says 
 Theodoret, for his " family" was " illustrious for the piety of 
 all its members." 
 
 The following inscriptions will illustrate the opinions and 
 practice of the ancient Christians. 
 
 Cyriacus a Faithful died aged eight days, less than tliree 
 years. t 
 
 Eustafia the mother places this in commemoration of her 
 son Polichronio a Faithful who lived tlifee years.J 
 
 Urcia Florentina a Faithful rests here in peace. She lived 
 five years, eight months, and eight days.^ 
 
 The sepulchre of the twin brothers Alcinous and of Alex- 
 ander their cousin, three Faithfuls, of twelve years old, erected 
 by their mother Proemissa. With tliree Fishes. || 
 
 The three fishes form another justification of the literal 
 language of Clemens. On this term, Muratori De Resur. thus 
 annotates — " Fish : by this name the most ancient Christians 
 were accustomed to express Christ the Lord, according to 
 the testimony of Augustin, Prosper, Optatus, Milevitanus, and 
 others. This was also the symbol during the reigns of the 
 Heathen Emperors, under which the Christians concealed 
 
 • " Nam ubi Apostolus ad Collossenses scribens, cap. iv. 15; ail — 
 " Salutale Fratres qui sunt Laoclicese et Nynipham, et quam in domo 
 ejus est Ecclesiani," subdit de liac sanctissimi exempli muliere; tam 
 enim devoia videtur fuisse, ut omnis domus ejus signo litulata asset 
 Crucis, hoc est in Ecclesiam conversa." — Ambrose. 
 
 t Cyriacus Fidclis decessit octo dies minus tres annus, iii. Kal. Mar. 
 — Boldetti ; Muratori. 
 
 t B. M. In commemoratione Eustafia Mater Filio Polichronio. Fid. 
 qui vixit annis iii. Grater No 8. 
 
 § Urcia Florentina Fidclis in pace Vix. An. v. Mens. viii. Dies. viii. 
 — Muratori. 
 
 II Geminorum Alcinoorum Sepulchrum, Alexandrique Consangui- 
 neorum, Tres Duodennes. Mater Proemisi, Pisciis iii. 
 
 ICGYC, id est Piscis, uti perquam notum, literis suis indicat nomen 
 Jcsu Christi Dei Filii Salvatoris. — Muratori, No. 6. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 103 
 
 their profession ; but their brethren very well knew what it 
 signified." Tertullian says, " We little fishes according to 
 the example of our fish, icthon, Jesus Christ, are born in 
 water ; neither are we safe any longer than while we remain 
 in water. — One kind of flesh of birds, martyrs who soared to 
 heaven in suflerings ; another kind of Fishes, those who 
 received only Baptism." 
 
 One Inscription will prove that the term Faithful was 
 continued and applied to children during several centuries. — 
 " Here lies Maria daughter of John, who was of the town of 
 Nicerata, sbe lived three years, three months and a half, a 
 Faithful. She died the fourth day of the month Xanticus ; 
 under the consulate of the Princes Honorius, xi. and Con- 
 stantius, ii."* 
 
 The term Faithful continued to denote church members, 
 from the days of the Apostles. — " It is not enough for the 
 true character of Christians, that they be pure, but also that 
 their works are conspicuous ; that they are clear from every 
 censure by others ; that they are of consummate chastity 
 excluding all cause of suspicion ; that they are not only 
 Faithfuls, but also evidently, worthy Faithfuls ;" not only 
 church members, but honourable in that station. f 
 
 Eusebius more formally says — " There are three descrip- 
 tions of members in the church — one who guide, and two 
 who are guided. The people of the Christian church are 
 divided into Faithfuls ; and those who have not been admit- 
 ted by the " laver of regeneration." 
 
 The interpretation of the terra House " in the sense of 
 Family was universal both in the Eastern and Western 
 churches ; and thus these three families of Christian teachers 
 must be added to those previously adduced. How then can 
 any say — " We have neither example nor precept for baptising 
 children in all ages ?" — The Apostle's injunction has the force 
 of a precept : and so great a number of Christian families ex- 
 emplifies the practice to demonstration : for there is no excep- 
 
 * Heic jacet Maria filia Johannis cui Niceratum vixit Annos tres, 
 Menses tres et semis, Fidelis, Defuncta est Mensis Xantici Die iv. 
 Sub consulalu Honorii Aiif^usti xi. et Constantii ii. 
 
 Niceratum, Vicus ingens, apud Apameam Syriae situs ; called by 
 Theodoret, Nicerie. — Muraiori. 
 
 + Non sulum enim temperaniibus satis est, ut sintpuri.sed etiam 
 adhibenda est opera, ut sint ab omni reprehensione Alieni, ut sit 
 consummata caslitas, omni exclusa suspirionis causa ; ut non simus 
 solum Fideles, sed etiam videamur fide digni — w? /oj jiovov ttvai rinas 
 nirovi aWa a^ioTrtrovs ipavtivai, — Clem. Alex. Pssdag. Lib. ill. Cap. ii. 
 
104 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 lion, no reserve, and no restriction marked in any passage of 
 Scripture connected with baptism. Nothing therefore is 
 desired Irom any society of Christians, but that tkey follow 
 the Apostolic example and baptize whole familu'S ! 
 
 Application OF the term NEOPHYTOS ; Newly plant- 
 ed ; to children. — A third appeliuliou is strongly identified 
 with Baptism by the Baptists themselves. " They are planted, 
 say they, in the likeness of his death, being buried with him 
 by baptism." The Apostles charged Timothy that a person 
 newly planted, newly baptized, shall not bear office in the 
 church. Our translation of 1 Timothy iii. 6 ; says, " not a 
 novice,^'' — the original is this — " not a Neophytes ;" a new plant. 
 
 I select a few examples from the ancient existing me- 
 morials. 
 
 Rufiilo, newly baptized, who lived two years and forty days. 
 Quintillian the father places this to the memory of his son 
 who sleeps in the peace of Christ."* 
 
 To Doniitius, an innocent, newly baptized, who lived three 
 years and tliirty days.f 
 
 Valerius Decentius the father places this to his son, newly 
 baptized, who lived three years, ten months and fifteen days.| 
 
 To Pisentus, an innocent soul who lived one year, eight 
 months and thirteen daj's. Nkwlv-baptized : buried on 
 the ides of September in peace. ^ 
 
 To Jovius son of Callistus, who lived six years, ten months, 
 and nineteen days. Newlv-baptized, he died in peace. || 
 
 To Leoni, newly-baptized, who lived six years, eight 
 
 * Rufiilo Neafito qui vixit An. ii. D. xl. Cluintillianus Pater filio 
 dulcissimo in pace XPI — Ariinghius, Lib. iv. 
 
 t Domitio In nocer.li Nerifito qui vixil An. iii. Dies xxx. Dep. viii. 
 Kal. Junias.— Fabrelli No. 3«. 
 
 t Valeri Decenlius Pater fiHo suo NrfUo bene Merenti Valerio 
 Vi;aliano qui vivit xc. cum parentibus suis Anno.s N. iii. at Menses 
 X. et dies N. xv. Iiahanete in pace.— Muratori. 
 
 § Pisenti Anima in 
 
 nox q. yixit. Ann. I. 
 
 M. Vir. D. XIII. Nkofit. 
 
 Dep Idibus Sept. in Pace. 
 
 Muratori. 
 
 II Jovio Filio Callisius qui vixit Annis 
 
 xesei Menses Dpcem. el dies Dece. et 
 
 Novem. NOF. in pace morenti. 
 
 Fortasse Callistus. Nihil est xesei nisi SeX. Nor. creditur pro 
 
 Neophy TO. — M u ratori. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 105 
 
 months, and eleven days. He reposed the sixth of the nones 
 of July, Phillippus and Sallia being Consuls.* 
 
 To Aristus, who lived eight months : newly-baptized, he 
 went ojft* the first of ihe nones of June : Timasius and Pro- 
 motorus being Consuls. t 
 
 To the memory of Libera, who rests in peace. She lived 
 eight years: newly baptized. She was buried the third of 
 the nones of May : Gratianus and Equitius being Consuls. |: 
 
 Flavia Jovina who lived three years and thirty-two days : 
 newly-baptized ; deposited in peace, the eleventh of the 
 calends of October, A. D. 367. § 
 
 B. M. to Silvinus, newly-baptized ; who lived on earth 
 eleven years, five months, and ten days. Virilianus and Lam- 
 padius have placed this to the memory of their scholar. || 
 
 The following refers to a catechumen who was not a, faith- 
 ful — " Here rests in peace Onesima, a Catechumen, aged four 
 years, five months and three davs."TJ 
 
 Here repose two brothers. Innocents : Constantine, newly- 
 baptized ; who lived eight years, two months and six days : 
 was buried the third of the ides of November, our lords the 
 princes Arcadius and Honorius being Consuls. Also, Justus, 
 
 * Leoni Neofito qui vixit Ann. "VI. 
 
 Mens VIII. Dies XI. Requies— 
 
 VI. Non. Jul. Pillippo et Sallia Conss. 
 
 A. D. 348.— Bosio. 
 
 t Aristo Puer Innox. qui 
 
 vixit Menses Octo Neo- 
 FiTus Kecessit Pridie Nonas 
 Junias Timasio et Promotor. 
 
 CC. Conss. A. D. 389. 
 Gruter, CDLXII. 1. Ex Passionei 
 
 Append. Muratori Supp. 
 
 t Benemerenti 
 
 in pace Libera 
 
 que bixit Ann. s-II. 
 
 Neofita. Dep. Die ■ 
 
 III Nonas. Mais. Con. 
 
 Gratiano III ct Equitio. 
 
 § FI. Jovina quae vixit Annis tribns D. xxxii. Depos. Neofitam 
 Pace, xi. Kal. Octob. A. D. 367.— Boldetti. Gruter. 
 
 II B. M. Silvino. Neofito. Qui vi.Kit in Seculo. Ann. xi. Mens. v. 
 Dies. x. Virilianus et Lampadius Alumno suo Innocent! Memoriam 
 posuerunt.— Gruter, No. 3. Ex Apiano et Alciati. 
 
 tr B. A. 9.. M. Quievit Onesime Catechumena, in Pace, vii. Kal. 
 Julias, Annorum iv. Mensiura v. Dierum iii. 
 
106 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 a FAITHFUL, who livcfl seven years.* This Justus is called 
 Vi faithful, because in his earliest infancy he had been bapti- 
 zed ; but Constantine is called a neophytos, because he had 
 been recently baptized. 
 
 This inscription scorns to prove that the same family was 
 not always strictly uniform in observing the rite. 
 
 To Romanus, newly-baptized, who lived eight years and 
 fifteen days. He reposes in peace. Flavius Gratinniis being 
 a second time Consul, and Petroiiius Probus, Consul also.f 
 
 Pascasius lived six years, and received baptism on the 
 eleventh of the calends of May. He took his white robe 
 with him to the sepulchre. | The dates give for the birth of 
 Pascasius, A. D. 457, and for his death, A. D. 463. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of Christian children died in in- 
 fancy, whose graves were not marked by a single inscription, 
 and of those which were so marked not one in a thousand is 
 come down to us. The evidences of this kind which exist 
 in Eastern countries under Mohammedan government are in- 
 accessible to us. These few inscriptions however contain 
 most of the terms by which Baptism is signified in the New 
 Testament ; all which terms are applied to children. 
 
 The Apostle wrote to the Hebrews, x. 32, that " after they 
 were illuminated they endured great afflictions." Commen- 
 tators, by illuminated, understand baptized. Accordingly the 
 
 * B. A. 6J. M. 
 
 Hie . requiescunt . duo . fratres. 
 » Innocentes . Constantius . NEOFITUS. 
 
 qui. vixit . Annis. Octo . M II. 
 
 D . VI. Depositus III. Idus . Novemb. 
 
 Cons . D . D . N . N . Arcadi . et . Honor. 
 
 Augg . Justus . FIDELIS . qui . vixit. 
 
 Annis VII. A. D, 394. 
 
 Boldetti refers to Hieronym. Aleand. in Symb. Navis Eccl. — Jiistum 
 hunc ideo, Fidei.em appellat, quia in prima infanti Sacro fonte ablutus 
 fuerat : Constantiniim vero Neophitum nominat, quod recens baptiza- 
 tus esset. Gruter Ex Apiano et Velserianis. 
 
 + Romano Neofito 
 
 Bene merenii qui vixit 
 
 Annos VIII. D. XV. 
 
 Requiesit in Face. JD N. 
 
 Fl. Gratiano. Aug. II. et 
 
 Petronio Probo C. S. A. D. 371. 
 
 t Natu Severi nomine Pascasius, dies Pascales Prid. non, April N 
 die Jobis FL Constantino et Rufo V V CC CONSS. qui vixit Annorum 
 VI. Percepit XL kal. Maias et albas suas Oclabas Pascae ad Sepul- 
 crum deposuit D. IIII. Kal. Mai. FL. Basilio. V. C CO.— Fabretti. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 107 
 
 inscriptions describe Achillia as neo-photistos, " newly illumi- 
 nated," meaning newly baptized. This illumination could be 
 ritual only to a child of seventeen months. They describe 
 Refrigerius,* a neophyte, as Ana-bio, " receiving a new life," 
 in baptism. The baptized were called ixvu^naaig, says Arrin- 
 ghius, vera e mortuis operibus carnis et infidelitale reviviscen- 
 tia ; because they were called to quit the dead works of the 
 flesh and of unbelief, to live a new life to the glory of God. 
 This is applied to a child ! 
 
 Whence could originate the custom of applying these terms 
 "holy" and "faithful." to children? What could in- 
 duce parents so to describe them ? That parental aftection 
 should mark infants as innocents, not guilty of actual trans- 
 gression is easily conceivable ; but who could first think of 
 calling infants holy, an appellation proper to church members 
 only ? Do Ave call our children saints ? Who could think 
 of denominating m{a.nts faithful ? in what had their faith been 
 tried ? in what had it triumphed ? These are not difficulties 
 to a Poedobaptist. Those terms are used in Scripture and 
 therein are applied to children. He traces them from Scrip- 
 ture, with the history of the Church, through Apostolic men, 
 to the fourth century — or if the order be more desirable, they 
 can be traced from the fourth century up through Apostolic 
 men to Scripture. Hence, they originate and terminate in 
 Scripture. They rest on the authority of the Apostle Paul ; 
 or rather on the revelation of the Holy Spirit speaking by 
 him. If that sacred writer had " the mind of Christ ;" and if he 
 spake, and wrote, and practised, according to the intention of 
 the only authoritative and infallible Legislator to the Church 
 of God ; then we may safely rest in his application of the 
 terms " Holy" and " Faithful ;" which he applies to Chil- 
 dren, Newly Baptized, Newly Planted, and in which, he 
 was followed by the whole Christian Church. 
 
 I close these researches upon the subjects of Christian 
 Baptism with two inferences. 
 
 1 . The Christian Churches in the North, in the South, in 
 the East, and in the West never did refuse Baptism to 
 Infants. Are the Baptists then wiser than all the world ? 
 than all the " Faithful Aleft" of Apostolic ages, and than all 
 
 • In Mire Exempli Innocentige Ac Neofito Anabio Satrio Refrigerio 
 qui vixit Annis X. Dies XLVI. Publius Cornelius Zetos et Satria 
 Dignitas Parentes in pace B. M. Fecerunt. — Reinesius Inscriptionum 
 Antiquorum, No. 17'2. 
 
108 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 their contemporaries ? Is it likely that they alone, of all the 
 millions of Christians of every period and nation, in spite of 
 these " Facts and Evidences," should be the only persons 
 who have elicited Scriptural truth ? 
 
 2. In all Christian Churches, Baptism is a consecration to 
 the Trinity ! Not one uses any form of words — the Baptists 
 themselves do not use any form of words, in the administration 
 of Baptism, allusive to the burial of the person baptized, as 
 they say Christ was buried. Had our Lord intended any 
 such allusion, he would have said so. They have taken a 
 secondary sense referring by allusion only, not by direct pur- 
 pose, as the primary and peculiar intention of the rite. This 
 is neither wisdom, nor grace, nor orthodoxy, which would put 
 the principal things of religion in the priijpipal place. I ad- 
 here to the initiatory words of Christ as the best and greatest 
 authority on the subject ; for it is very extraordinary that in 
 a religion having but two rites, they should both point at the 
 same thing. The death of the Saviour is clearly the primary 
 and direct purport of the Lord's Supper. Is it likely or cred- 
 ible, that the primary and direct purport of Baptism should 
 also be the death of the Saviour ? But if in the initiatory 
 rite there be a commemoration of the interposing Deity, and 
 in the Lord's Supper a commemoration of the interposing 
 Humanity — \i for this reason, consecration to the Deity is 
 sufficient by one act and ought not to be repeated — while de- 
 votedness to Jesus, as Lord of all, is frequently renewed and 
 to be repeated continually — then there is between the two 
 rites that distinction which was evidently intended ; and 
 which it well becomes all professors of our common faith to 
 retain to the latest generation. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM, 
 
 Importance of Truth. — Perversion of Terms. — Banrw. — E/i/Jajrrw. — 
 BaiTTiTftoi. — Synonymous Words. — Baptism by the Holy Ghost. — 
 Meaning of baptism. — Correspondino terms in different languages. 
 — Inferences. — Overwhelming. — Submersion. — Immersion. — Bap- 
 tism in the sense of Overwhelm. — Staining. — Pouring or Aff'usion. — 
 Sprinkling.— Washing.— " Doctrine of Baptisms."— Anabaptism.— 
 " Divers Baptisms." — John's Baptism. — Baptism separate from Im- 
 mersion. — Philip and the Eunuch. — Baptism in Abyssinia. — Meta- 
 phorical Scripture. — Cornelius. — Christian Baptism was Pouring. 
 — Baptizing of persons naked. — Deaconesses. — Enon. — YiaTaTroX)^a. 
 — Hebrew Christians. — Syrian Church. — Greek Church. — " Buried 
 in Baptism." — Baptism as signifying Death and Life. — Primitive 
 Baptisteries. — Catacomb at Rome. — Ancient pictorial representa- 
 tions of Baptism. — " Chapel of the Baptistery," at Rome. 
 
 Truth should be the object of our most anxious research ; 
 and when recognized, should be most affectionately and fervent- 
 ly embraced. Religious Truth rises in consequence, according 
 to the importance of that branch of the general system with 
 which it is most intimately connected : and what can be more 
 important than Institutions of Eternal Truth, established, en- 
 joined, perpetuated for the edification of the Christian Church 
 at large ? Such are the Gospel Sacraments : two in number, 
 simple in administration. It might have been expected, tliat 
 professors of the name of Christ, however varying in opinion 
 on certain doctrines, confessedly too profound for human com- 
 prehension, would nevertheless have preserved these, in their 
 clear, well defined, and unadulterated observance. The his- 
 tory of the Church and the state of religion at this day de- 
 monstrate the fallacy of such expectations. Yet the multifa- 
 rious practices of the various sects, known by history or ob- 
 servation, have rested or have affected to rest on the ground 
 of Scripture authority ; and all appeal to the " Law and the 
 Testimony" in justification of their sentiments and proceed- 
 
 10 
 
110 MODE OF BAPTISW. 
 
 ings. Amid all this diversity. Truth is essentially the same ; 
 but is not seldom lost to the ingenuous inquirer, amid the 
 contentions and prejudices of parties. Some dare not seek 
 Truth ; and many dare not acknowledge her when found. 
 Some will not follow where she leads ; and others so far over- 
 shoot her unsophisticated determinations, that they do her 
 little or no more honour than the veriest dastards : and if " an 
 argument that proves too much proves nothing" then it must 
 be confessed that those who trangress by excess, though 
 Truth may support them in part — those who deduce extreme 
 consequences from argiunents valid to a certain point only — en- 
 feeble the very doctrines ihey mean to support, and contribute 
 to render them objects of suspicion, of dislike and denial. 
 
 Before we can discuss a theological subject, we must clear 
 away those perversions in which industrious ignorance and 
 criminal presumption involve it. The prirtcipal of these ori 
 the present topic is the following jjroposition — " Christian 
 Baptism is neither more nor less than an immersion of the 
 whole body in water, solemnly performed in the name of the 
 Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 I answer — the bad Latin term, Immersion, is a very conve- 
 nient cover for a very delusive proposition ; especially when 
 used in an imlimited, unfixed, or unqualified sense. By way 
 of shewing what enormities lurk under expressions so vague 
 and indefinite, converted into technical terms, I adduce an 
 instance exactly the same in kind, and nothing worse in 
 degree. 
 
 The Jewish rite of circumcision, to which Christian baptism 
 is supposed to bear some analogy, was in fact neither more 
 nor less than a manufacture; for the Apostle, Eph. ii. 11, 
 distinguishes circumcision into manufactured and unmanufac- 
 tured. No linguist in the world can translate the Greek 
 original more accurately into a bad Latin term ; but this is 
 little less than high treason against the English language, 
 which recognizes the terms, " made by hands" and " not made 
 hy hands" Col. ii. 11. 
 
 Equally fallacious and little less preposterous is the term 
 Immersion, used indefinitely. A man is immersed who stands 
 on his toes or up to his knees in water ; he also is immersed, 
 Baptists say, over whose head the water flows. If the term 
 then be so indeterminate, it were chasing an ignis fa tuns to 
 follow it, when facts are in question ; it eludes the test of 
 Scripture, reason, and common sense. 
 
 Instead therefore, of bewildering ourselves in attempting to 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Ill 
 
 trace the strict use of a word notoriously uncertain in its 
 application and import, let us examine the thing it should 
 represent. Instead of poring over bad Latin, let us endeavour 
 to apply good English. Translate the term into our mother 
 tongue. To put under water the whole body, is to plunge it. 
 — Now mark the proposition : — " Christian Baptism is neither 
 more nor less than plunging the whole body, in the name, 
 &c." This affords a precise idea, that may easily be ex- 
 amined. Does the original Greek word baptize, wherever it 
 occurs in Scripture, denote plunging ? — Let us try this by 
 applying the term to the leading passages. 
 
 Bunju). — In the New Testament the verb bapto occiurs 
 thrice : — 
 
 Luke xvi. 24. — Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of 
 his finger ; — that he may plunge the tip of his finger. 
 
 John xiii. 20. — He to whom I shall give a sop when I 
 have dipped it ; — a sop when I have plunged it. 
 
 Rev. xix. 13. — His name is called the Word of God : — he 
 was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood ; — clothed in a 
 vesture plunged in blood. 
 
 EuSanTO). — The compound verb embapto is used three 
 times : — 
 
 Matthew xxvi. 23. — He that dippeth his hand with me in 
 the dish ; — he that plungeth his hand with me in the dish. 
 
 Mark xiv. 20. — One of the twelve that dippeth with me in 
 the dish ;-»-one of the twelve that plungeth with me in the 
 dish. 
 
 John xiii. 26. — He it is to whom I shall give a sop, when 
 I have dipped it ; and when he had dipped the sop ; — he it 
 is to wliom I shall give a sop when I have plunged it ; and 
 when he had plunged the sop. 
 
 Now, does language tolerate the expression " to plunge the 
 tip of a finger ?" does Christianity tolerate the notion of our 
 Lord Jesus " wearing a garment plunged in blood ?" does 
 common decency tolerate the plungmg of two hands in the 
 same dish, at the same time ? 
 
 BumiatioQ. — The noun baptismos occurs four times : — 
 
 Mark vii. 4, 8. — The washing of cups and pots, and of 
 brazen vessels, and tables ; — the plunging of cups and pots, 
 and of brazen vessels, and tables. 
 
 Heb. vi. 2.— The fovmdation of the doctrine of baptisms ; 
 — doctrine of plungings. 
 
 Heb. ix. 10. — Services, in meats and drinks, and divers 
 washings / — divers plungings. 
 
113 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 These passages imply very different modes of performing 
 that action which the sacred writer calls baptism ; and their 
 order is favourable to the eliciting of conclusive evidence 
 from their connection and tenor. 
 
 Whoever has seen cups and pots washed at a pump, may 
 judge whether they were necessarily plunged. Whoever 
 considers what cumbersome pieces of furniture these tables 
 were — -fifteen or twenty feet long, by/owr feet broad, and about 
 four feet high — may judge whether they were plunged, after 
 every meal taken upon them. Why does the sacred writer 
 describe the doctrine of baptisms, in the plural, as one of the 
 foundations of Christianity, if there were only one mode of 
 baptism, that by plunging ? The same writer says expressly, 
 that under the law there were divers kinds of baptisms : — and 
 from the law itself, we know that by far the greater part of 
 them were not plungings : the word therefore cannot possibly 
 be restricted to that import. 
 
 If then the word baptism be not restricted in Scripture to 
 that import, but is used in senses distinct from that oi plunging, 
 in reference to things, let us examine its import in reference 
 to persons. What think you of the baptism by the Holy Ghost? 
 This was not a metaphorical or figurative baptism. It was a real 
 and indisputable subject of the senses seen by John the Bap- 
 tist, by the Apostles, in company of the hundred and twenty, 
 as is generally thought, and by Peter with his brethren, in 
 the instance of Cornelius ; and not less conspicuous than at 
 the Jordan. It was the subject of John Baptist's repeated pre- 
 diction ; Mat. iii. 1 1 ; Mark i. 8 ; Luke iii. 16 : "He shall 
 baptize you with the Holy Ghost." It was also the subject 
 of our Lord's repeated prediction ; Luke xxiv. 49 : "I send 
 the promise of my Father upon you — ye shall be endued with 
 power /rom on higfi." Acts i. 5 : "Ye shall be baptized vsith 
 the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." — Acts ii. 2 : " And 
 suddenly there came from heaven, and appeared unto them 
 cloven tongues, like as of fire ; and it sat upon each of them, 
 and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." The same 
 occurred in the case of Cornelius : Acts x. 44 ; for Peter says, 
 "the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning." 
 Acts xi. XV : 8 : " God.... gave them the Holy Ghost, even as 
 he did unto us, and put no difference between them and us, 
 purifying their hearts by faith." 
 
 Two words are employed to express this similitude ; one 
 of which, coartRQ, denotes a strict and exact similitude, likeness, 
 or conformity. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 113 
 
 The manner in which this baptism was conferred or ad- 
 ministered was not only distinct from plunging, but it was 
 absohitoly inconsistent with that action — Plunging was an 
 iMPossiiuLiTY in the administration of tlus baptism. 
 
 It is proper to adduce those synonyrnous words which the 
 sacred Spirit has graciously thought fit to employ, for the 
 purpose of fixing the sense of that word wliich is the imme- 
 diate subject of investigation. We waive all reference to 
 critics and commentators, however numerous, and however 
 positive. We depend on the New Testament alone — on 
 those Avriters, under the immediate inspiration of the Holy 
 Ghost, who were his instruments in explaining spiritual things 
 by spiritual words. 
 
 This test is a sort of experimentnm crucis to false propo- 
 sitions. It has detected many. Let us try it in the case 
 before us. 
 
 Lukexxiv. 49. — Shall i'en J the Holy Ghost — from on high. 
 
 I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, 
 and it abode upon him ; John i. 32. 
 
 This is what was spoken — I will pour out of my Spirit ; 
 Acts ii. 2. 
 
 Jesus having received of the Father the promise of the 
 Holy Ghost, has shed forth this which ye now see and 
 hear ; Acts ii. 35. 
 
 Suddenly there came from heaven, and appeared unto them 
 cloven tongues; Acts ii. 2, 17. 
 
 That they might receive the Holy Ghost ; for as yat he 
 Avas fallen upon none of them ; Acts viii. 16. 
 
 Ananias put his hands on Paul, that he might be filled with 
 the Holy Ghost ; Acts ix. 17. 
 
 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost ; 
 Acts X. 38. 
 
 Acts^x. 44. — The Holy Ghost fell on all. 
 
 Acts xi. 15. — The Holy Ghost fell on them, even as on 
 us at the beginning. 
 
 Acts X. 45. — They of the circumcision were astonished, 
 because on the Gentiles was poured out the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Acts XV. 8. — Giving them the Holy Ghost, even as unto us. 
 
 Titus iii. G. — The Holy Ghost ; which he shed on us 
 abundantly. 
 
 ) Peter i. 12. — The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. 
 
 Eph. i. 13. — Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. 
 
 These passages give us as synonymous Avith baptize : — 
 
 Sending down; Coming; Giving; Falling; Shedding; 
 
 10* 
 
114 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Pouring; Sitting or Abiding; Anointing; Filling; and 
 Sealing. 
 
 In all these syTionymous words, there is not one that raises 
 the idea oi^ plunging, or even approaches to it. Yet they all 
 refer to bapdstn. " The Apostles shall be baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost," is the prediction ; the Holy Ghost was i>oured 
 OUT upon them, is the acconiplishihcnt. Even Paul who was 
 then absent speaks of the Holy Ghost as being shed on him ; 
 doubtless at his baptism ; Acts ix. 17. Perhaps, however, 
 the instance of our Lord is the most complete, of baptism by 
 the Holy Ghost ; and in that we have the very height of 
 certainty, there was no plunging, nor any thing like it : 
 although almost all the synonyms meet in his person ; — as 
 
 DESCENDING, COMING, FILLING, ANOINTING, SITTING Or ABI- 
 DING and SEALING. 
 
 We are now advanced to the question, " Did baptism by wa- 
 ter resemble iap^i^m by the Holy Ghost? — and in what?" That 
 there must have been sotne resemblance is certain ; and the 
 resemblance must have been striking ; for the Apostle Peter, 
 seeing the Holy Ghost poured out on the company at Corne- 
 lius's, immediately recollected an allusion to John's baptism 
 by water. The Lord said, " John baptized with water ; but 
 ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost." If there were no 
 resemblance between the two baptisms, how came the Apos- 
 tle's memory to be refreshed with what he saw ? How came 
 he to lay a stress on his recollection, thus raised fo exercise ? 
 This made so strong an impression on his mind, that he ad- 
 verts to it a long while afterwards. Acts xv. 8. If it be asked 
 what he did see? I answer, he saw the pouring down of the 
 Holy Ghost ; for this is the ter?n expressly used in the 
 history. 
 
 Try both these irreconcilable propositions by the substi- 
 tution of their synonyms. " John plunges you in water ; but 
 ye shall be plunged in the Holy Ghost." Shocking abuse 
 of language, and principle ! Try the other : " The Holy 
 Ghost shall be poured upon you, shed upon you, fall upon 
 you, &c. ; as John pours water, sheds water, lets full water, 
 &c., upon you." What is there offensive in this ? What is 
 there contrary to fact? What to decency? What to the 
 analogy of faith ? What to the analogy of grammar and lan- 
 guage ? Even that seemingly inappropriate term, anointing, 
 preserves the action though it changes the fluid. 
 
 The baptism by the Holy Ghost was conferred by the de- 
 srending of the baptismal element. Are there any instances 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. Il5 
 
 of the use of the word baptism in reference to water, which 
 instances also mark the descending of the baptismal element ? 
 If there are, then water baptism must be taken in a sense 
 strictly coincident with baptism by the Holy Ghost ; or else 
 we render one part of the Word of God repugnant to 
 another. 
 
 The first instance is afforded by the Greek translators of 
 Daniel, who inform us that Nebuchadnezzar, in his deranged 
 state, should be baptized with the dew of heaven, Daniel iv. 
 23, 25, 33 ; and this is repeated, to inform us that he really 
 was baptized with the dew of heaven, v. 21, affording so 
 many unquestionable applications of the word baptize, to the 
 descent of the dew of heaven upon Nebuchadnezzar. The va- 
 pours raised into the atmosphere during the heat of the day, de- 
 scended, shed themselves, /e// down, during the cooler hours 
 of the evening and night, on the person of the unhappy Ba- 
 bylonian monarch : by these, say the Seventy, he was bap- 
 tized .' A clearer instance of descent there cannot be. 
 
 A New Testament instance is furnished by a passage from 
 an eminent Greek scholar, who, intending to elucidate the 
 subject, remarks that the word baptism is used in reference to 
 the Israelites passing through the sea, and under the cloud. 
 1 Cor. X. 2. But the Israelites did not pass through the sea, 
 if by sea he means the water ; for Moses affirms twice, that 
 they passed over on dry land. Exod. xiv. 21, 29. Nehem. 
 iv. II. If he means to say, they passed along, or across the 
 bed of the sea, where the waters usually were, though at that 
 time absent, he is right ; but what language is this ? — to pass 
 through dry land ! On the other clause of the sentence there 
 can be but one opinion ; for if Israel were under the cloud, 
 then was the cloud over Israel ; and if Israel were baptized in 
 the cloud, then did water, the baptismal element, descend on 
 the Israelites from above, as the dew had descended on Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. The word baptize maintains the same reference 
 to descending, when water is the baptismal element, as it bears 
 when employed to describe the pouring out, or pouring down, 
 SHEDDING of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 In these preparatory remarks, I have adhered to the rule, 
 
 that EVERY WORD SHOULD BE TAKEN IN ITS PRIMARY, OB- 
 VIOUS, AND ORDINARY MEANING, UNLESS THERE BE SOME- 
 THING IN THE CONNECTION OR IN THE NATURE OF THINGS 
 WHICH REQUIRES IT TO BE TAKEN OTHERWISE. 
 
 When the Pharisee saw that our Lord went to dinner without 
 BAPTISM, Luke xi. 38, is it possible that he could expect our 
 
il6 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Lord should plunge himself before dinner ? But to see the real 
 force of this word in this instance, we must recollect that the 
 feet were washed, as a customary compliment, by pouring 
 water upon them, I^uke vii. 44 ; and the hands also. So we 
 read of Elisha's " pouring water upon the hands of Elijah." 
 2 Kings iii. 11. 
 
 If it is asked whether the word baptize, as used by the 
 Greek translators of the Old Testament, necessarily implies 
 PLUNGING, let the use of it in the instance of the passage of 
 the Jordan by the Israelites, Josh. iii. 15, 17, be considered; 
 a history that affords great illustration of the passage of the 
 Red Sea by Israel under Moses. "As they who bare the 
 Ark of the Lord were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the 
 priests that bare the Ark were baptized, say the lxx, moist- 
 ened, damped, vjetted, dipped in the smallest possible quan- 
 tity of water, the very reverse of plunging, the water recoiled, 
 and stood on a heap." The feet of the priests were rather 
 at than in the water : rather at the brim of the bank that con- 
 lined the water, than immersed in the water itself. This our 
 translators have properly expressed. All Israel passed over 
 on dry ground, as at the Red Sea. 
 
 The bird that was to be let fly away at the cleansing of the 
 leper. Lev. xvi. 6, was to be baptized, dipped, in the blood 
 of the bird that was killed : but no bird could yield blood 
 enough to admit the plunging of the living bird ; of cedar 
 wood, scarlet, wool and hyssop, which also were to be dip- 
 ped. The word baptize is never used in the lxx in the sense 
 of PLUNGING ; nor is it so understood by our translators, ex- 
 cept in one instance, Job ix. 31, fur the sake of a strength of 
 expression. 
 
 ^^to — The Hebrew term, rendered baptize, expresses not 
 only in the Old Testament, but in Talmudical Hebrew, ablu- 
 tion, immersion, washing, &c. But to Gospel baptism this 
 can have had no reference; though it preceded that ordi- 
 nance ; as in the instance of Naainan, 2 Kings, v. 14, the al- 
 lusions to the custom in the Psalms of David and other pas- 
 sages in the Old Testament. That it was continued afterwards, 
 appears not only from the united, unequivocal, and uniform 
 testimonies of the best informed and most inquisitive Jewish 
 Rabbis ; but also John iii. 25, from the questions agitated 
 between certain Jews and the disciples of John, about ritual 
 purification. 
 
 Corkesponding Terms. — Whoever translates from a for- 
 eign language, most solicitously should select corresponding 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 117 
 
 terms in the language into which he translates. He should not 
 adopt several terms having distinct ideas in his own language, 
 to express one idea of his original ; and he should be most 
 anxiously cautious not to combine them, or so to employ them 
 as if they were synonymous, that his ordinary readers must 
 misapprehend them. If the foreign term be of extensive im- 
 port, a caution should mark in what sense it is used, lest the 
 writer should subject himself to unpleasant imputations. For 
 instance, says some perverse sophist : — 
 
 " The term Baptism imports drowning." He quotes from 
 Josephus — " The ship of Jonah was about to be baptized" — 
 sunk, or overwhelmed. The death of Aristobulus — " Enticed 
 in the water to swim, and then, under pretence of play, bap- 
 tized him" — he was drowned. " The young man being im- 
 mersed in a fish-pond, he came to his end." Josephus's " own 
 ship being baptized" — wrecked. "The Dolphin, vexed at 
 the Ape's falsehood, immersing him, killed him," by plunging 
 him into the water. Lucian represents Timon, the man- 
 hater, as saying, " If any one being carried away by a river, 
 should stretch forth his hands to me for aid, I would push him 
 down again when sinking, baptizonta, that he should never 
 rise again." 
 
 Baptists, when writing on the subject, thus begin their 
 statements—" Baptism, from the Greek word Baptizo, of 
 Bapto, I dip or plunge ;" " to dip, plunge, or immerse ;" to these 
 three words are added, imbued, drenched or soaked, and over- 
 whelmed. Are all these English terms synonymous ? Have 
 the words dip, plunge, immerse, imbue, drench, soak, over- 
 whelm, the same meaning, in our language, to say nothing of 
 sinking and drowning ? If it be true, that either or all of 
 these words fairly express the sense of the Greek word bap- 
 tize, then the Baptists' cause is resigned to its adversaries. 
 
 Let us interchange some of these synonyms. I content my- 
 self with plunge and dip. The instances shall be taken from 
 the New Testament. — Luke xvi. 24 : " Send Lazarus, that he 
 may plunge the tip of his finger in water." Plunge the ex- 
 treme TIP of his finger ! The ideas are irreconcilable : the 
 phrase is ludicrous : the thing is impossible ! Matthew xxii. 
 3 ; Mark xiv. 20 : " Judas who plunges his hand with me 
 in the dish." What ! two hands plunged into the same dish 
 at the same instant ! Rev. xix. 13 : " The person called the 
 Word of God was clothed in a vesture plunged in blood." 
 The context shows that the writer had in his mind the effect 
 of grapes trodden in a wine-press ; does the man who treads 
 
118 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 grapes in a wine-press plunge his clothes in their juice "? 
 Surely not ; for the treaders held supports in their hands, to 
 avoid that plunging. 
 
 To these passages may be added another, 1 Corinthians x. 
 2 ; " our fathers were baptized, plunged in the sea." But 
 Moses says, Exod. xiv., " The children of Israel shall go on 
 dry ground through the sea ; the children of Israel walked on 
 dry land in the midst of the sea." Isaiah also, xi. 15, sanc- 
 tions this by allusion, when he speaks of men passing the 
 sea dry-shod. How then were the Israelites baptized, in the 
 sense of being plunged ? By what means, while this is main- 
 tained, shall we reconcile these inspired writers ? Moreover, 
 if full-grown men were really plunged in the sea, what be- 
 came of children not half their height 1 They must have 
 been " baptized unto Moses" in the sense of drowning. 
 
 Hence, I infer that we should be cautious not to err by 
 stating even truth in extreme terms — because it is not safe to 
 say, either that Baptism always includes drowning, or plung- 
 ing ; or that " Bapto means / dip or plunge,'"' without explain- 
 ing the distinction between those terms in the English lan- 
 guage, and marking in what places they occur in the sense 
 proper to each term. Were this correctly practised, it would 
 contribute essentially to the promotion of Christian charity. 
 
 Therefore, as it is impossible to reduce the Greek word 
 Baptism to one signification, so it is impossible to reduce it in 
 translation to one English term, and to intend by that term, 
 one action only in one form. But if we use several terms, it 
 is our bounden duty to ascertain the meaning of those terms, 
 to understand them fully, and to state clearly their distinctions 
 and diflerences. Inasmuch as our language aflbrds more 
 than one term to express various circumstances or modes of 
 the same action, we should endeavour correctly to understand 
 those terms. 
 
 Dipping imports precisely a partial plunging : — when a 
 person dips into a book, we infer his slight acquaintance with 
 its contents. iSwallows dip into a pond, but we never see 
 them plunge. To add no more, it would be nonsense to call 
 the *' dipping needle," by the term '■^plunging needle." 
 
 The inference is undeniable, that to plunge and to dip are 
 not equivalent terms ;— and our purpose now is to point out 
 distinctions equall)'^ strong between the terms plunging and 
 overwhelming; b_y both of which the original word Baptism 
 has been rendered. 
 
 Overwhelm is a compound term. "VV^hen resolved into its 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 119 
 
 component parts, it divides into whelm and over : and each of 
 them demands attention. 
 
 To whelm is to throw upon a subject, whether person or 
 thing, or over that person or thing : or to throw upon or at a 
 person or thing, what may fall upon him or it ; whether he 
 or it be covered therewith or not. It is not to throw a person 
 down into the mire ; but to throw mire at or against the per- 
 son. We find it used in this sense by Spenser : 
 
 They by commandment of Diana there, 
 Her vvhelm'd ivith stones ; 
 
 They did not throw her at the stones, nor throw her upon 
 or against the stones ; but they threw the stones at her, 
 against her, upon her; and these stones whelmed her. — 
 Stones throAvn at a person may strike the legs, or the back, 
 or elsewhere. 
 
 If there be any truth in language, any accuracy in the 
 principles on which our language is constructed, the term 
 over implies upper, above, a higher station or place ; so Ave say, 
 ouerhead, ouertop, ouershade, oversow, overlay, ouerarch, &c. 
 Matters falling from above, on a person or thing, ovERwhelm 
 him or it. Here then, we perceive an essential difference 
 from the notion of plunging. If a person be plunged into 
 water, the water is below him ; he descends into the water, he 
 is lowered into it; he is vtiDV.Kwhelmed'^. — If a person be 
 ovER-whelmed with Avater, the Avater is above him : it descends 
 on him from a height. A person plunged into Avater ap- 
 proaches, or is brought to that water : when a person is 
 overwhelmed with Avater, the water approaches, or is brought 
 to him. The actions are the reverse of each other, and are 
 also incompatible. Snow may overwhelm a person ; but he 
 cannot be plunged into snoAV. He may be overwhelmed with 
 sand falling on him ; but he cannot be plunged into sand. He 
 may be overwhelmed Avith gravel or stones ; but he cannot be 
 plunged into gravel or into stones. He may be overwhelmed 
 Avith earth falling doAvn and covering him ; but he cannot be 
 plunged into earth. As one of these actions is possible, and 
 the other impossible, they cannot be the same. How then, 
 can the terms of language by Avhich they are described be 
 synonymous ? To use them synonymously deludes the un- 
 Avary. It leads the confiding reader to admit as true, Avhat is 
 false in fact. It conjures up a kind of shadow in place of 
 
120 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 real argument, which is the thing wanted. Wherefore it is 
 the duty of those who know better, to detect such fallacies ; 
 and to separate and arrange the passages which have been 
 passed by indiscriminately, without having accurate ideas 
 affixed to them. 
 
 Thus the distinctions which exist in the use of the terms 
 in the English language enable us properly to arrange the 
 instances of the term Baptism in " the Scripture of Truth." 
 Whence we infer, that if the Baptists employ the words " dip, 
 overwhelm, plunge, soak," &c., as synonymous, they mislead 
 themselves and their readers : but as they use those words 
 correctly in different senses, and according to' their true, dis- 
 tinct, and individual import in other cases ; where do they 
 find their warrant for annexing to the term a single sense ex- 
 clusively, that of plunging, when it is applied to the mode of 
 administering the ordinance of Christian Baptism ? 
 
 The following examples are cited by the Baptists as their 
 strongest demonstrations from the Pagan authors, in favour of 
 their exclusive interpretation, that the Greek Bamw, and 
 Banna fxog mean only putting under water ; and that they ex- 
 press in English terms, as synonymous, to dip, to overwhelm, 
 to plunge, and to soah, with similar words. A iew remarks are 
 interspersed, to show that the evidence is either totally irre- 
 levant, or altogether defective, or that the instances adduced 
 directly confute their own fundamental proposition. 
 
 I. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF PLUNGING ; 
 
 MEANING THE WHOLE AND ENTIRE 
 
 SUBxMERSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Person or Thing baptized, under water. 
 
 1. Josephus says, concerning the ship in which Jonah 
 attempted to flee from the presence of the Lord, " The ship 
 was about to be baptized, (ianxi^eadai, sunk or overwhelmed." 
 Antiq. Lib. ix. C. x. 
 
 2. Josephus uses the same word twice concerning the 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. l^l 
 
 death of Aristobulus, the brother of Maviamne, who was 
 drowned at Jericho, according to Herod's order, by certain 
 Greeks, Avho enticed him into the water to swim, and then 
 under pretence of play, ^ami'c.ovTeg ovx avrjxav coj, x«t xajror- 
 Ttaoiv nnonri^at, baptizing, immersing, or putting him under 
 water, they did not leave off until they had quite suffocated 
 him. Jewish Antiq. Book xv. 
 
 3. He mentions the same event in his Wars of the Jews, 
 Book I. c. xxii, § 2. " The young man was sent to Jericho, 
 and there, according to his order, being immersed, ^anxitp/jisvog, 
 in a fish-pond, he came to his end." 
 
 4. Josephus, in his Life, speaking of his own voyage to 
 Rome, and providential deliverance when shipwrecked, says ; 
 — '■'■ ^ariTiadevjog yuQ rj!.io)v lov nloiov, for our own ship being 
 baptized, or overwhelmed in the midst of the Adriatic Gulf, 
 we being about the number of 600 persons, swam all night, 
 and at daybreak about 80 were taken up by another ship.'" 
 
 5. Speaking of the sons of Herod, he says, " This, as the 
 last storm, eni^umiaev, epibaptized, or iitterly overwhelmed, 
 the young men, already weather-beaten." 
 
 6. When the inhabitants of Jotapata urged him to stay 
 there, they pressed him not " to leave his friends, nor to leap 
 out of a ship enduring a storm, into which he had come in a 
 calm. For the city must be epibaptized, or utterly over- 
 whelmed, eniBunJiaeiv, no one daring to oppose its enemies, 
 if he, Avho kept their courage up, should depart." 
 
 7. Esop's Fables ; The Ape and the Dolphin. — " the 
 dolphin vexed at such a falsehood, ^ami'Qwv uvtov anBXTEivev, 
 immersing him, killed him," by plunging him into the water. 
 Let any child judge what the word means here. 
 
 8. " Platting a garland once, I found Cupid among the roses. 
 Taking hold of him by the wings, E^unxioeig lov oirov, I 
 immersed him, or jjlunged him into wine, and drank him up 
 Avith it." Melancthon's Anacreon. 
 
 9. Polybius, speaking of a sea-fight between the Cartha- 
 ginians and the Romans, says ; " They immersed or sunk, 
 e^anntov^ many of the vessels of the Romans." 
 
 10. Gregory Nazianzen. — " That we may not be immersed 
 or sunk with the ship and the crew ;" (^amiadofisv. 
 
 1 1 . Dion Cassius. — " How would not his ship be immersed 
 or sunh, ^umiadeir], by the multitude of our rowers ?" Book 
 1.^18. 
 
 12. "They were immersed, s^ami'Qovto, their ships being 
 bored through." 
 
 11 
 
122 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 13. Diodorus Siculus. — " rr^g dsvfMg (^vdiaOeiOTjg" in the 
 Text, " whose ship being sunk." In the Note, " ^umiaOeiarjC^ 
 beintr immersed is the Coislinian reading, which is sufiiciently 
 ekigant." Polybius, Lib. xi. ^ 15. 
 
 14. Lucian represents Tinion the man-hater as saying ; 
 " If any one being carried away by a river should stretch 
 forth his hands to me for aid, I would push him down when 
 sinking, ^umi'Qovia, that he should never rise again." 
 
 It must be observed that not one of those instances is from 
 Scripture : therefore, Scripture never uses the term Baptism, 
 in the sense of plunging ; for then it woiUd have been dis- 
 covered and quoted. 
 
 As it is not denied that plunging is one sense of the term 
 Baptism, there is no need to add a word on this division of 
 the subject. 
 
 II. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF DIPPING ; 
 
 MEANING THE PAPvTIAL COVERING, OR 
 
 IMMERSION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Person or Thing, in Water. 
 
 1. Exod. xii. 22. — Ye shall dip a bunch of hyssop in the 
 blood, &c. — f^atpavTF, dipping, ye shall strike it. 
 
 2. Lev. iv. 6. — The priest shall dip his linger in the blood, 
 and sprinkle it; ^aipei — hiu ngogoarei. 
 
 3. Lev. iv. 17. — The priest shall dip his finger. 
 
 4. Lev. ix. 9. — He dipt his finger in the blood. 
 
 5. Lev. xi. 32. — Every vessel, &c., it must he pmt into 
 Avater ; cf? vdo)g ^aq^rjoeiai. 
 
 6. Lev. xiv. 6. — He shall dip them, and the living bird, in 
 the blood of the bird. 
 
 7. Lev. xiv. 16. — He shall dip his right finger in the oil. 
 
 8. Lev. xiv. 51. — He shall dip the cedar, hyssop, scarlet, 
 and the living bird. 
 
 9. Num. xix. 18. — A clean person shall take hyssop, and 
 dip, (?«y/£t, in the water, and sprinkle, a very different word, 
 7Trgi(]()ni Fv, upon the tent. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 123 
 
 10. Deut. xxxiii. 24. — Let Asher dip his foot in oil. 
 
 11. Josh. iii. 15. — The feet of the priests were dipped iu 
 the brim of the Avater. 
 
 12. Ruth ii. 14. — Dip thy morsel in the vinegar. 
 
 13. 1 Sam. xiv. 27. — Jonathan dipped the end of his rod in. 
 a honeycomb. 
 
 14. 2 Kings viii. 15. — Hazael dipt a cloth in water. 
 
 15. Job ix. 31 . — Yet thou shalt plunge me in the ditch. 
 
 16. Psa. Ixviii. 23. — Thy foot may be dipped in blood and 
 the tongue of thy dogs in the same. 
 
 All these places clearly refer to partial immersion or dip- 
 ping ; the passage in Job not excepted : for the import of 
 that passage is not, " that a righteous person should be entirely 
 plunged over head and ears into mire and dirt" — but " that 
 his imperfections and failures would prove so many stains on 
 his character : like the defiled condition of a person who has 
 fallen into a ditcfi of shallow muddy water." 
 
 17. Luke xvi. 24. — That Lazarus may bapt, or dip, his 
 finger. 
 
 18. Jolm xiii. 26. — He to whom I bapting the sop — no doubt, 
 dipping. 
 
 '19. Rev. xix. 13. — Clothed with a vesture bapted'm blood, 
 dipped in it. 
 
 20. Matthew xxvi. 23 ; Mark xiv. 28. — He that inbapts, 
 dips, his hand with me in the dish. 
 
 21. John xiii. 26. — Inbapting or dipping the sop. 
 
 22. Homer.' — As when a smith, to harden an iron hatchet or 
 pole-axe, ^amsi, dips it in cold water. — Odyssey ix. line 392. 
 
 23. Lycophron. — The child ^utpei, shall plunge liis sword 
 into the viper's bowels. Cassandra, ver. 1121. 
 
 No child can plunge, from end to end, a sword into a viper's 
 bowels : the handle at least must be excepted. A viper is 
 but a slender creature, neither thick nor broad ; and cannot 
 contain a sword. 
 
 24. Euripides. — Go take the water-pot, and ^uipaao, dip 
 in the sea. Hecuba, Act iii. ver. 609. 
 
 25. Theocritus. — Every morning my servant ^aifiae, shall 
 dip me a cup of honey. Idylliwn v. ver. 126. 
 
 26. The boy let down a capacious pitcher, making haste 
 ^nxpui, to dip it. Idyllium xiii. ver 47. No servant would 
 think of plunging, submerging, a cup in a honey-pot. Good 
 honey does not allow of it. Who has not drawn water in a 
 pitcher, without submerging, or plunging the whole of the 
 vessel ? 
 
124 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 27. Dionysius Halicarnensis. — One plunging, ^atfjag, 
 his spear between the other's ribs, who at the same instant 
 pushed his into his enemy's belly. Antiq. Rom. lib. v. It is 
 completely impossible that a spear of the shortest kind, four- 
 teen feet long, or of any length entitling it to the name of a 
 spear, should be plunged, thrust from end to end, in a man's 
 belly. Some spears were twenty-five feet in length. 
 
 28. 2 Kings v. 14. — Naaman dipped, or baptized, himself 
 in Jordan seven times. 
 
 29. An old verse has often been quoted from Plutarch — 
 Aaxog fianri'Ct], dvvat ds lot ovdejuig sqi — The bladder may be 
 dipped, but never drowned ; or it may be immersed, but it 
 cannot be kept under water. 
 
 30. Basil, the Christian Father, speaks of " suffering with 
 those that were immersed or plunged in the sea," ^unnQofievotg. 
 
 31. Polybius.— " Such a storm suddenly arose, through all 
 the country, that the ships were baptized, or immersed, in the 
 Tyber." 
 
 32. Polybius, III. c. 72, quoted by Livy, Book xxi.— " The 
 infantry crossed it with difficulty, baptized, or immersed up to 
 their breasts." 
 
 33. Porphyry, speaking of Styx, the fabulous river of hell, 
 says ; " The person that has been a sinner, having gone a 
 little way into it, is plunged or immersed up to the head," 
 ^umi'QBTui, fie;(Qi xewaXtjg. 
 
 34. Strabo uses, ^^ /hs/qi o/JcpotXov ^ami'i^ofiEvoiv — Immersed 
 up to the middle." 
 
 35. Diodorus Siculus. — " Many land animals, carried 
 away by the river Nile, being immersed, are destroyed : others 
 escape, fleeing to higher places." Ships may be run ashore 
 in a river, without being entirely sunk under water. But how 
 can it be said, that the cases 32, 33, and 34, support the no- 
 tion, that plunging is the inherent and only sense of the word 
 Baptism ? Is a man in water up to his waist, plunged? So 
 directly is it the contrary, that any eye-witness of only com- 
 mon sense, would think him only partially immersed, and no 
 more ; for all the upper parts of his person are above the 
 water, consequently he cannot be plunged. Immersed up to 
 the breast, up to the head, afford the same remark. Had Por- 
 phyry said, "ouer the head," the passage had been to the 
 purpose. 
 
 36. Strabo. — "The lakes near Agrigentum have the taste 
 of sea-water, but a different nature ; for it does not befall 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 125 
 
 the things which cannot swim, to be immersed, ^aTtiit,ea6ai, 
 but they swim on the surface like wood." Geography, ix. 
 
 37. Strabo speaks of a river, in another place, whose wa- 
 ters are so buoyant, " that if an arrow be thrown in, /uoUig 
 ^ami^EaOai, it would scarcely be immersed, or would hardly 
 sink." L. xiii. 
 
 38. Strabo mentions also a lake on the top of which bitu- 
 men floats, in which a man cannot be immersed, [iumi'Qsadai, 
 but is borne up by the water. L. xvi. In these passages the 
 sense is clear ; partial plunging is the writer's idea. 
 
 39. Dion Cassius. — " Such a storm suddenly pervaded 
 all the country, that the ships that were in the Tyber were 
 immersed or sunk ,•" t« nloiu ru ev tw Ti^eqidi, ^unriadijvcti. 
 Book xxxvii. ^ 57. 
 
 40. Diodorus Siculus. — " Most of the land animals, if they 
 are intercepted by the river, are destroyed, being immersed,"^ 
 f^amto/usra. Lib. 1. ^ 36. 
 
 41. Diodorus Siculus.— "The river being borne on with 
 a more violent stream, noXlovg s^umiae, immersed, or over- 
 whelmed many." Lib. xvi. ^ 30. 
 
 42. Heliodorus. — " Killing some on the land, and immers- 
 ing or plunging, ^ann'QovTwv^ others into the lake, with their 
 boats and their little huts." Ethiopia, Lib. i. Cap. xxx. 
 
 Boats which are plunged into a lake are sunk. Not so those 
 which are immersed or partially plunged, as we see every 
 day. Now if these were not sunk, neither were their own- 
 ers plunged; for the same word applies to both boats and 
 men. 
 
 43. Life of Homer, ascribed to Dionysius Halicarnensis. 
 " Homer speaks of the whole sword being so immersed, §un- 
 TioOeviog, in blood, as to grow warm with it." Opuscula My- 
 thologica, P. 297. 
 
 44. JEschy\us.—" Immersing his two-edged sword in 
 slaughters." Doubtless by plunging it into their bodies, not 
 by holding it before a small puncture to be sprinkled. The 
 handle must be excepted in both these cases. 
 
126 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 III. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF OVERWHELMING ; 
 
 MEANING THE WATER, OR OVERWHELMING MATTER, 
 
 BROUGHT ON THE PERSON. 
 
 1 . Mark x. 38, 39.—" Are ye able to be immersed with the 
 immersion wlierewith 1 shall be overwhelmed?" " With the 
 immersion wherewith 1 shall be overwhelmed, shall ye be 
 immersed." 
 
 2. Luke xii. 50. " I have a baptism wherewith to be bap- 
 tized ;" which Campbell renders, " I have an immersion to 
 undergo." ''Are ye able to suffer such sufferings as will be 
 brought on me ?" 
 
 3. In the Wars of the Jews, Josephus says ; "Many of the 
 noble Jews, as though the city was on the point of being 
 overwhelmed, ^amitofierijc, swam away, as it were, from the 
 city" — overwhelmed by the miseries about to befall the city. 
 
 4. Josephus, also speaking of the Heads of the Robbers 
 getting into Jerusalem, says ; " These very men, besides the 
 seditions they made, baptized the city, efiumiauv n]v nohr, 
 ouer whelmed it, lounged it into ruin, or were the cause of its 
 utter destruction." — They brought upon the city utter destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 5. Josephus, speaking of the sons of Herod, says, " This, 
 as the last storm, em^unjiafr^ epibaptized, or overwhelmed the 
 young men, already weather-beaten." 
 
 6. Plutarch uses this word figuratively ; speaking of Otho's 
 " being immersed, or overwhelmed, or sunk, ^s^iumiaiisvoi, in 
 debts of fifty millions of drachma?." — Having brought on 
 himself great debts. 
 
 7. Plato speaks of his " knowing the youth to be " over- 
 whelmed or immersed in sophistry."— Having habituated him- 
 self, brought on himself the habit of sophistry. 
 
 8. Plato. — " These from above immersing, ^aniil^oyTsg, or 
 sinking the ships with stones and engines ;" Book i, ^ 32 — 
 " overwhelming them with stones." These stones are express- 
 ly said to come from above. 
 
 9. Plato. — loug ds idionag ov ^unzitovui laig siaq^nooccg. — 
 Hut the common people they do not overwhelm with taxes. 
 i^ib. J , ^ 67. They do not britig or lay upon the common 
 people enormous taxes. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 127 
 
 10. Plato. — " Perceiving that he was altogether abandoned 
 to grief, and overwhelmed or immersed in calamity," rrj av^cpoqu 
 ^B^amiafiBvov. Lib. ii. Cap. 3. Calamity was brought over or 
 upon him." 
 
 11. Plato. — "Since the things you met with have over- 
 whelmed you," e^unTit,6y. Casus tui obruebant ac dcmerge- 
 bant." Lib v. Cap. xvi. 
 
 12. Aristotle uses this word when speaking of the Pheni- 
 cians that dwell at Cadiz ; " who sailing beyond the Pillars of 
 Hercules came to certain uninhabited lands, which at the ebb 
 are used not to be immersed, or covered over loith water, §an- 
 Tt'Ceadui, but when the tide is at the full, the coasi is quite in- 
 luidated." De Mirabilibus, p. 735. Nothing can be clearer 
 than that these lands are not plunged. Neither can there be 
 a clearer instance of oxERwhelming — for the water advances 
 to the lands when the tide Hows ; and when the tide is at the 
 full they are ovERwhelmed ; or as the Baptists assert, they 
 are covered over with water ; undoubtedly not by their sink- 
 ing under the water, as is the case in plunging, but because 
 it poured itself o\ ex them. 
 
 13. Aristophanes says, "I am one of those baptized yes- 
 terday," meaning who drank much, or as an Englishman 
 would say, who had well soaked ourselves, or were immersed 
 in wine." 
 
 This may mean a person " disguised in liquor ;" as the an- 
 cient comedians baptized their faces to disguise them. I 
 rather think it may be referred to another head : " I was 
 stained, discoloured, being a very different man from what I am 
 when sober." 
 
 IV. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF STAINING ; 
 
 MEANING A 
 
 DIFFERENT COLOUR PUT UPON A THING, 
 
 FROM WHAT IT HAD BEFORE. 
 
 1. Ezek. xxiii. 1.5.—" Dyed attire upon their heads." 
 
 2. Plato uses the word several times in one paragraph. — 
 Oi ^ucpets sntdup ^oulr^OMai ^txipnt. sqia ; The Dyers, when 
 they are minded to dip wool : ovim ds ^aniovai, and so they 
 dip it." De Republica, Book iv. 
 
128 MODE OF DAPTISM. 
 
 3. Marcus Antoninus. — "A conqueror in that noble strife of 
 mastering the passions, fie^aju/aevov, immersed entirely in jus- 
 tice — penitus juslitia inOutum." Lib. iii. 
 
 4. Marcus Antoninus. — " The mind (ium£iai,, is imbued by 
 the thoughts ; f^anTs, dip or itnbue it therefore in the constant 
 meditation of such thoughts." Lib. v. 
 
 5. Isa. xxi. 4. The clause rendered in the English trans- 
 lation, fearfulncss affrighted mc, is in the lxx, Iniquity bap- 
 tizes me, overwhelms rne. 
 
 6. Aristophanes in Plato says : "I am one of those bap- 
 tized yesterday ;" meaning, who drank much, or as an Eng- 
 lishman would say, who had well soaked ourselves, or were 
 immersed in wine. 
 
 7. An instance has been quoted from Homer's Baiquxofi- 
 vofinxttt, or Battle of the Frogs and Mice, where it is said of 
 the death of the frog Crambophagus, 
 
 efiamejo dai/juji hfivrj noQCfv^eu), 
 
 and the lake was tinged or dyed with purple blood : or it 
 was overwhelmed with blood. But let the burlesque nature of 
 the poem be considered, where every thing is heightened to 
 the most extravagant degree, and the gods are introduced as 
 consulting about this tremendous war, and the word immerse 
 would not be too strong for the Poet's design. The heart of 
 this gigantic and heroic frog was so full of blood, that it made 
 the lake so red, that a solid body dipped in blood could not 
 have been redder. 
 
 These passages contain a proper and a metaphorical use of 
 the word Baptize : but in all it imports to put another colour on 
 a thing, by whatever action. — In Ezekiel, xxiii. 15 : the pro- 
 bability is, that it means striped turbans of more than one co- 
 lour ; as blue and white. In Plato it means also to stain, but 
 a dyer would think wool very indiflerently dyed that was only 
 plunged^ 
 
 On the use of the word Baptize by Marcus Antoninus, I 
 transcribe a note.* Xylander renders, " thou shalt not tinge, 
 
 • VI. 30. Mr) /?a(/)i7f, ne mcrgaria el obruaris, Xyl. imo, nc iingaris, 
 ne inficiaris : ne mores aulici genuinum animi candorem obfuscent, 
 quod inquinamenluvi combibere Septimius dixit de Spectac. C. 14. 
 
 w? Srt n'? T iXlipaura yvfi] (poivtKi jicnvr], 
 
 ut Hotnerus loquitur 11. i. 141. i. ul Maro ^?^. xii. 
 
 Jndum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro 
 
 Si quia cbur — 
 quod nosdicereraus, " that you be not stained:" nam quod Grseci f<ia- 
 intv et PdiTTciv, nos dicimus, " to stain." — Classical Journal, No. 23. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 129 
 
 dye, OX change the colour of" — and what the Greeks expressed 
 by Baptein, observes the author, we express by " to stain." — 
 In the continuation, Baphe is used in connection with the 
 words importing discoloration, a communicated tincture ; as 
 when ivory is dyed, green or red : also with other words, 
 importing what the Greeks called corruption of colours, mean- 
 ing that when a painter having several colours on his pallette, 
 mixes two or more of them together, they adulterate, corrupt, 
 baptize each other, by changing each other's tint, thereby mak- 
 ing a compound tint, different from either of the original tints. 
 This is called in modern language, " breaking of colours, 
 and is one of the grand arts of painters. 
 
 Marcus Antoninus uses the word Baptize, both in a good and 
 in a bad sense. A mind imbued with justice is improved, as 
 dyed ivory acquires a more splendid colour : but a mind that 
 stains, pollutes itself in its own phantasies or wandering ima- 
 ginations, is discoloured, deteriorated by mixture, and is the 
 worse for such baptism ; it is no longer itself. This perhaps 
 elicits the origin of that seemingly strange and erroneous 
 version of the lxx hitherto found unaccountable. " Iniquity 
 baptizes me ; it terrifies me so, that I am beside myself." My 
 mind is alienated, changed from what it was ; corrupted by 
 the force of terror : which is coincident with the sense of 
 our' English version, Isaiah xxi. 4 ; " Fearfulness, rather the 
 cause of fearfulness, affrighteth me." 
 
 Aristophanes in Plato, in the sixth quotation, may refer to 
 a person no longer himself, through alienation of mind, by 
 the force of liquor. It is certain that Bapsei is used in asso- 
 ciation with pthoras, and to the same effect : now diaphthora, 
 diaphthareises,kataphthora, all from the same root, express the 
 condition of a man — " deprived of his reason in consequence 
 of intoxication ;" in confusion and perturbation of mind. If 
 then these words are employed in conjunction and conformity 
 with Bapsai, used metaphorically to express corruption, dis- 
 coloration of mind ; why may not Bapsai, equally with them, 
 also import perturbation of mind, whether from intoxication or 
 from terror ? — What now becomes of plunging ? Is that the 
 only Avay in which a person may prove " beside himself?" 
 
130 MODE OP BAPTISM, 
 
 V. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF POURING ; 
 
 MEANING THE 
 
 DESCENT OR AFFUSION 
 
 CONSIDERABLE QUANTITY OF WATER, 
 
 As I have elsewhere explained the nature of Baptism by 
 pouring, especially by the affusion of the Holy Ghost, I shall 
 merely allot a few words to the texts alluded to by the 
 Baptists. 
 
 1. Judith xii. 7. " She washcd,hdX\\edi or immersed herself in 
 a fountain, s^umil^eTO." The indecency of this rendering is 
 enormous, if taken in the sense of plunging ! ! When it is 
 said, " She went out, and was baptized at the spring of Avater 
 that was in the camp ;" can we possibly suppose, that she 
 was plunged into the supply of water for an army of two 
 hundred thousand men 1 Would theij have suflered it, who 
 were to drink the water after her ablution ? Would she en- 
 dure it, whose scheme demanded the closest privacy, for 
 three or four days only, and would have been totally ruined 
 by such immodesty ? 
 
 The notion can have originated only in total ignorance of 
 the country ; for D'Ohsson says expressly, speaking of the 
 women's baths in the '^East — " They scarcely ever immerse 
 their bodies in water : the large marble urns which are in the 
 form of bathing-tubs are for invalids. The strictest decency 
 is observed." Now if where every thing is prepared and all 
 conveniences are at hand for the purpose, the women scarcely 
 ever immerse their bodies in water, how can we suppose that 
 Judith would be plunged in an open fountain, in the midst of 
 a camp of soldiers ? 
 
 Denon, describing a bath of the men in Egypt, says, " The 
 bather . . is inundated with water" — plunging ! or at least 
 immersion ! but the next words dissipate the delusion — " which 
 the attendants take out with a small basin, and four over his 
 body." But we cannot suppose that Judith was baptized in 
 this exposed manner, or that water was poured over her whole 
 body at the spring of water in the camp. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 131 
 
 That Judith performed her ablutions by having water pour- 
 ed on her hands is sufficiently credible. The manner of 
 Avhich service is thus : — " A copper vessel is placed before 
 the person, sitting on a piece of red cloth, to prevent the 
 carpet or mat from being wet : a servant kneeling on the 
 groimd, pours out water for his master ; another holds a cloth 
 destined for those purifications. The person begins by baring 
 his arm as far as the elbow, then washes his hands, mouth, 
 nostrils, face, arras," &c. — D'Ohsson. 
 
 This is exactly what the Pharisees expected from our 
 Lord. They wondered that he had not been baptized before 
 dinner ; that he had not had water poured on his hands, for 
 the purpose of purification. Thus Elisha poured water on 
 the hands of Ehjah ; in other words, he baptized him. 
 
 The remark applies also to other passages and facts of 
 Scripture. 
 
 2. With respect to the Pharisees wondering that our Lord 
 had not bathed before dinner ; see Campbell on John xiii. 10. 
 
 3. It is also used with reference to the Israelites passing 
 through the sea, and under the cloud, 1 Cor. x. 2, when they 
 were baptized unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. It 
 would have been madness to follow him into such a situation, 
 had they not been assured of his divine mission. Exod. xiv. 
 19 ; XV. 8. The water pouring from the cloud baptized the 
 Israelites. 
 
 4. Mark vii. 4. The Immersion of cups, pots, brazen ves- 
 sels, and tables. Refer to Gill on that place. 
 
 5. Mark vii. 8. The tradition of men, as the immersion 
 of pots and cups. Cups, pots, and tables were baptized then 
 as they are now, by having water poured upon them. The 
 term " tradition of men''' refers to some established order and 
 ceremony in the ablutions. It still exists in the East. 
 
 6. Describing the purification of the people at Sin, Jose- 
 phus says ; " when persons were defiled by a dead body, they 
 put a little of these ashes into spring water with hyssop, and 
 fiunriaai'Teg, baptizing, dipping or immersing part of these 
 ashes into it, eQQuivov, they sprinkled them Avith it." Lib. iv. 
 C. iv. ^ 6. This quotation, say the Baptists, clearly shows 
 the difference between baptizing or dipping, and rhantizing or 
 sprinkling. 
 
 I maintain the contrary. Does Josephus really say, " they 
 immerse those ashes into the water ?" — Then his order of the 
 rite contradicts the express directions of his master Moses, 
 who enjoins that they pour the water to the ashes : " They 
 
132 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer, and running water 
 shall bo put THERKTO, in a vessel." Numb. xix. J 7. The 
 ashes were baptized by the water put /o them. 
 
 7. One passage is prodviccd from Origen, on which more 
 stress is laid than on all others, in Avhich he speaks of the 
 wood of Elijah's sacrifice as being haptizcd, though the wood 
 was certainly not dipped in water, but four barrels of water were 
 poured upon it three times over. Read the account in 1 Kings, 
 xviii. 32 — 35. Consider the object of the prophet, to prevent 
 all possibility of collusion, and then say, if Origen had written 
 English, might he not have used the word immerse with pro- 
 priety, and without rendering its usual meaning ambiguous ? 
 Would not our opponents think such a three-fold soaking as 
 bad as even a " trine immersion ?" 
 
 Any child may detect this silly evasion. The question is 
 this : "By what action were those faggots soaked ?" They 
 answer : " The quantity of water was great." 
 
 Origen was speaking of John's baptism, and considering 
 him as the Elias who was to come, he says : " How came 
 you to think that Elias, when he should come, would baptize? 
 who did not in Ahab's time, baptize the wood upon the altar, 
 but ordered the priests to do that. Not only once, says he, 
 but do it a second time, and they did it the second time. He 
 therefore, who did not hxmseM -baptize, but assigned the 
 work to others," &c. The comparison shows, that as 
 water was poured on the wood by order of Elijah ; so John 
 the Baptist poured water on the people who received his 
 Baptism. Elijah ordered it to be done by others : whereas 
 John poured the water himself. 
 
 VI. BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF SPRINKLING; 
 
 MEANING THE 
 
 DESCENT OR AFFUSION 
 
 OF A 
 
 SMALL QUANTITY OF WATER, 
 
 OFTEN BY WAY OF 
 
 RITUAL OBSERVANCE ONLY. 
 
 \. Nebuchadnezzar wet with the dew of heaven. Daniel 
 iv. 33; and V. 21. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 133 
 
 That the dew of heaven descended on Nebuchadnezzar is 
 as clear, as that it ever descended on any grass of any meadow 
 under heaven. Who has not read of" dew-besprinkled grass ?" 
 Such is the progress or action of dew. As to the quantity of 
 dew that then descended at Babylon, it is not now remarkable ; 
 for if it were so, no doubt but INIr. Rich would have noticed 
 it. He mentions gardens and cultivation at Babylon ; but says 
 nothing of dews. Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon. 
 
 2. Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 25. " He that waslieth himself from 
 a dead body. He was to bathe himself in water. Num. xix. 
 19 ; ^ami^ouBro; ano vsxqov.^' 
 
 Moses gives these directions : Numbers xix. 11,20. — "He 
 that toucheth the dead body of any man, he shall be unclean 
 seven days. He shall purify himself with it, the ashes of the 
 heifer, on the third day, and on the seventh day : so shall he 
 be clean ; but if he purify not himself on the third day, then 
 on the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever 
 toucheth the body of any man that is dead, and purifieth 
 not himself, on the third day, and on the seventh day, he 
 defileth the tabernacle of the Lord ; and that soul shall be 
 cnt off from Israel, because the water of separation was not 
 SPRINKLED upon him : he shall be unclean : his uncleanness 
 
 IS YET UPON him And for an unclean person they shall 
 
 take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, 
 and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel ; and a 
 clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and 
 sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all f^e vessels, and upon 
 the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, 
 or one slain, or one dead, or a grave. And the clean person shall 
 sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh 
 day ; and on the seventh day he, the unclean person, shall 
 purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in 
 water, and shall be clean at even. But the man that shall 
 be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be 
 cut off from among the congregation : because he hath defiled 
 the sanctuary of the Lord; — the water of separation hath 
 not been sprinkled upon him: he is unclean." 
 
 Nothing can be clearer than that this service divides into two 
 parts. 'i']\G first performed by the unclean person himself. 
 He was to wash himself, and to bathe himself thoroughly in 
 water: and secondly, a clean person, it is not said /jn'e.s/ or 
 Levite, but a clean person, shall sprinkle on the unclean the 
 water of separation. Until the very moment that the water 
 of separation is sprinkled upon him, he is unclean. He 
 
 13 
 
J34 MODE OF nAPTISM. 
 
 may wash himself times without number, in any imaginable 
 profusion of water, all goes for nothing. He is unclean till 
 tlio ashes of the heifer sprinkle his jlesh. The virtue of 
 efi'ectiial purification resides in them only. Let us examine 
 the comparison intended by the writer of the Ecclesiasticus. 
 
 " A man who fasteth for his sins, and goellt again and 
 doeth the same : — who will hear his prayer ? or what doth 
 his hiiinbliiig profit him ? So he who has been baptized 
 Irom a dead body, and again toucheth it, of what use is his 
 washing V 
 
 The word " washing" must mean his washing of himself: 
 for nobody else washed him. The word baptism cannot mean 
 this washing ; for baptism was performed by another person, 
 a clean person ; not by himself. It therefore is not the same 
 action. 
 
 The words baptism and washing are obviously set in con- 
 tradistinction, expressing the difi'erent parts of the rite. A 
 man was not clean by washing himself. Moses takes special 
 care to repeat tlii-ee or four times, that he is unclean uport 
 whom the sprinkling had not passed on the third day, as Avell 
 as on the seventh. This is confirmed by the Apostle ; Heb. 
 ix. 13; who calls the person unclean, that was not yet 
 sprinkled by the ashes of the heifer. Now the comparison 
 employed by the writer of the Ecclesiasticus demands, that the 
 person be in some sense clean, how else could his renewing 
 the cause of his uncleanness renew his unclean state ? — How 
 could he be compared to a relapsed penitent ? 
 
 It is obvious, that if the person who had been baptized on 
 the third day should on the fourth day again touch a dead 
 body, he would not be clean on the seventh day, how scrupu- 
 lously soever he might wash and bathe himself. 
 
 This is confirmed beyond denial by the language in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, who certainly imderstood ihe rituals 
 of their country. There were divers kinds of baptisms, says 
 the Apostle; Heb. ix. 10; and he specifies two of these 
 kinds — baptism by blood ; and baptism by water. Of these 
 he selects three rites : and what is beyond measure extraordi- 
 nary on the hypothesis of the Baptists ; ALL those three 
 RITES ARE SPRINKLINGS. 
 
 I know no other occasion on which the bloods of bulls and of 
 goats were used together, as they were combined on the 
 great day of Expiations. What were the directions for that 
 day's service? Leviticus xvi. 14,15; — " Aaron shall take 
 of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his fnger 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM- 135 
 
 Upon the mercy seat eastward ; and before the mercy seat 
 shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times." 
 
 ■" Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering that is for 
 the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with 
 that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and 
 SPRINKLE it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat." 
 
 The Apostle's aaixision is to this service ; Hebrews ix. 6, 
 14 ; for his theme is the Mosaic Tabernacle. He says, " the 
 priests went into the first or outer tabernacle daily : but into 
 tlie second apartment, went the high priest alone once every 
 year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for 
 the errors of the people — a figure for the time then present, 
 in which were offered gifts and sacrifices, meats and drinks, 
 and divers kinds of baptisms : — the blood of bulls, and of 
 goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean." 
 
 There is nothing in the Apostle's discourse to which it is 
 possible to refer this blood of bulls and of goats, except to the 
 great day of Expiation, 
 
 There is no action to which those sprinklings of.biood, call- 
 ed baptisms, can be referred, but to the sprinklings by Aaron. 
 
 Thus the writer of the Ecclesiasticus is not singular in de- 
 scribing the action of sprinkling under the term baptism. 
 
 Now we are prepared to understand the true reference of 
 the Apostle's words: Hebrews vi. 1, 2 ; " Leaving first prin- 
 ciples, let us go on unto perfection : not laying again the 
 foundation of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of 
 hands." 
 
 *' The doctrine of Jewish baptisms," say some ; — ^but the 
 Baptists would not choose that Jewish baptisms should become 
 the foundation of Christian doctrine. " The baptism by 
 water, and that by the Holy Ghost," say most ; — but this 
 cannot be. What doctrine was connected with the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost ? Was this gift imparted to all ? to women ? — 
 We do not even know in what it consisted : and if it be 
 alluded to in this passage, it is included in the subsequent 
 term " laying on of hands," which ceremony always pre- 
 ceded it,* 
 
 • The present Abyssinian method of baptism elucidates the subject 
 contained in the phrase " the dodriiie of baptisms" — for in what does 
 the baptism of the Mussulman Boy, narrated by JNlr. Salt, p. 144, essen- 
 tially differ, from the ancient mode of Jewish baptism. First, the 
 person rendered unclean by touching the dead body was to wash and 
 bathe himself, thoroughly in water. Thus the convert from JMoham- 
 medism, spoken of by IVlr. Salt, was " washed all over very carefully in 
 
136 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 But the baptisms concerning which Jocirine was delivered to 
 converts were these ; the washing oi the person, signifying death 
 unto sin ; and the pouring of water, signifying consecration 
 unto a renewed life. These lay at the foundation of Chris- 
 tianity. They were first principles of the doctrine of Christ. 
 These it was necessary to learn and to practice ; but it was 
 injurious to rest satisfied only with acquaintance with them. 
 Neither is it possible, unless the plural baptisms here mentioned 
 coalesced into one rite, to vindicate the accuracy of the 
 apostle, who says Eph. iv. 5 ; " one Lord, one Faith, ONE 
 Baptism." 
 
 Thus John the Baptist might easily baptize a thousand 
 persons in succession ; but he required several streams, in 
 which many might be bathing themselves or others, at the 
 same time ; to whom as they approached him he administered 
 Baptism by pouring. 
 
 There is no difficulty in admitting, that three thousand per- 
 sons might thus be added to the Church by Baptism in one 
 day : since those who administered the ritual pouring had no 
 occasion to engage in the previous washing. 
 
 Respecting the interval marked by Luke between the im- 
 mersion of the Eunuch and his baptism by Philip, Acts viii. 
 36 — 38 ; it has been stated that the Syriac and Arabic ver- 
 sions are silent on this particular. I answer, Luke certainly 
 " knew the customary separation between immersion and 
 baptism ;" he must have known it, or he must have been to- 
 tally ignorant of the rite of baptism on account of pollution 
 by the dead ; which from the frequency of its occurrence was 
 impossible. His language, marking a separation of the two 
 actions, is strictly coincident with that established custom. 
 What is there extraordinary or unnatural in it ? 
 
 Justin Martyr, describing Baptism, A. D. 140, says: "I 
 will now declare to you after what manner we being made 
 anew by Christ, have dedicated ourselves to God. We 
 bring converts to some place where there is water, and they 
 are regenerated by the same way of regeneration by which we 
 M-ere regenerated ; for they are washed with water in the name 
 of God the Father and Lord of all things, and of our Saviour 
 
 a large bason of toatcr." Next, the ritual baptism or sprinkling else- 
 where was performed by a clean person, as a distinct- action, yet it 
 was part of the same rile — so the Abyssinian youthful candidate was 
 baptized from another font, in another place. The actions were dis- 
 tinct, although the rite was ONE. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 137 
 
 Jesus Clirist, and of the Holy Spirit." The same Justin also 
 says, that sprinkling with Holy Water " was invented by 
 Daemons, in imitation of the true Baptism, signified by the 
 prophets, that their votaries, those of the Daemons, might also 
 have their pretended purifications by water." If the Heathen 
 SPRINKLINGS imitated the true Baptism, then the true Baptism 
 included sprinkling ; for if there was not sprinkling, there 
 could not be any imitation. 
 
 There is a passage in the Epistles of Cyprian to Magnus, 
 Ep. 76, A. D. 250, which seems to tiurn on this distinction 
 of the rite into two parts. A difficulty was started, whether 
 a person, who being sick in his bed, received baptism by 
 sprinkling or by pouring, only, ought to be considered as 
 completely baptized. Cyprian pleads, that where the faith 
 was complete, this baptism also was complete ; and might be 
 admitted as entire and valid. He supports his opinion by 
 reference to the purifications or baptismal sprinklings, under 
 the Mosaic law. But knowing that in the customary mode 
 of baptism, the ritual sprinkling was preceded by a thorough 
 Avashing of the person, he adds ; " If any one shall think 
 that they are not at all benefited, who have been only be- 
 sprinkled with the water of salvation, without previous wash- 
 ing, let them not be imposed on ; and if they, the sick, re- 
 cover ; let them be baptized, undergo the customary washing. 
 But if they cannot with propriety be baptized by the custo- 
 mary wasliing, because that always preceded ritual sprink- 
 ling, and never followed it, as having been already sanctified 
 with the ecclesiastical baptism, the ritual sprinkling, why 
 are they distressed with scruples ? 
 
 Unless the rite were divided into two parts, where is the 
 possibility of any persons supposing, that sanctification with 
 ecclesiastical baptism was in any respect imperfect ? How 
 could such expect to render perfect what they had received, 
 by any addition whatever, unless they understood that addi- 
 tion to be a part of the same identical rite in its complete 
 state ? And how could Cyprian allow a second baptism, who 
 well knew that ONE baptism only was enjoined upon be- 
 lievers ?* 
 
 * AnahaptUm- — The following is the only instance I have found. 
 From Cyprian's observation it seems not to be altogether singular; and 
 probably it may be referred to his time: but Correctors are mentioned 
 in the ensuing example as early as A. D. 117. If Zoilus were a public 
 officer, sent purposely into Sicily to obstruct the progress of Christianity, 
 it may account for his wife, a zealous Christian, being sent to a private 
 
 12* 
 
138 MODE OF nAPTISM. 
 
 That these two ideas were included in the rite of Baptism 
 as late as Augustin's days, A. D. 388, is evident from the 
 
 country village; and for the baptism of her child, performed imperfect- 
 ly, certainly not regislered among the faithfuls, in such concealment. 
 During the eighteen months of the child's life, the persecution might 
 somewhat remit, at least so far as Zoiius was concerned, who ajipears at 
 last to have consented to the regular buptism of the infant, at the earn- 
 est desire of his wife; and who also solicited that dangerous favour 
 from the Christian presbyter. The language of the original is very 
 awkward; but the general sense is obvious. 
 
 " Nilai Florentinae infanti dulcissimae atq. Innocentissimae Fidkli 
 Factae Parens conlocavit quae Pridie nonas martias ante lucem pagana 
 nata Zoilo corre. mense Octavo Decimo et vicesima secunda die com- 
 pletis FiDELis facta Hora noctis octava ultimum Spiritum agens supc''- 
 vixit Horis quatuor ita ut consueta repeteret ac de functa Hyble hora 
 diei prima Septimum Kal Octobris cuius occasum cum uterq. Parens 
 omni memento Heret per noctem majestatis vox extitit quae defunctam 
 lamentari prohiberet cuius corpus pro foribus Mart. Xrorum cum loculo 
 suo per presbiterum Humatu e IIII. non octobr. — Muratori ; Sicilice 
 Iriscriflionum. 
 
 " To Nila Florentina, a most sweet and innocent infant, made a 
 FAITHFUL by her parent, placed with her in a country seclusion. She 
 was born the first of the nones of March, before day-light, daughter of 
 Zoiius the Corrector: having completed eighteen months and twenty- 
 two days, she was again m.^df. a faithful, at the eighth liour of the 
 night, at the last extremity of life: she lived afterwards but four hours : 
 the rite having been performed according to custom, she died at Ilybla, 
 the first hour of the day, the seventh of the calends of October; on 
 which decease her paretUs wept with each other every moment of the 
 night: open lamentation for the ChrisLiau dead being prohibited as trea- 
 son. Her corpse, with its colIJn, by the presbyters, was interred in 
 the burying-place of the Christian martyrs ; the fourth of the nones of 
 October." 
 
 This case is precisely that supposed by the Apostle, 1 Cor. vii. 14, a 
 heathen husband, and a Christian wife. Whose creed shall the child 
 follow, Zoiius, a public officer viusl comply with the religion of his 
 country; his child therefore Mlowing its father, must be dedicated to 
 idols and become an idolater. Or following the mother, may it be dedi- 
 cated to the Trinity % to Jehovah rather than to Jupiter 1 It mnsl be to 
 either one or the other ; — It is either unclean or holy- The Apostle 
 says; " If cither parent be a faithful, the child is holy." Such is the 
 Christian practice. I shall therefore cause it to be baptized, said the 
 mother. 
 
 This is Tertullian's view of the Apostle's direction— He says ; De 
 Anima ; " The superstition of the Romans place the fcjetus in the womb 
 under the protection of the goddess Alcmena; under Partula, who pre- 
 sides over delivery; under Lucina, who brings forth children to the 
 light. At the birth, Lucina and Diana are invoked, and its bodily frame 
 is consecrated to the goddess Statina. What vows to avert evil from 
 its head ! Us hair is cut ofi'or it is shaved off solemnly ; or it is bound 
 up as an offering; or it is sealed up as devoted; to comply with a na- 
 tional custom; withtliat of the parentage; with public or private devo- 
 tion. Not a birth can be otherwise than unclean among the heathen. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 139 
 
 different opinions which then were held. " Some said, they 
 are baptized, not for forgiveness of sin— but that they may- 
 be made heirs of the kingdom of Heaven." — " A Httle while 
 ago, says Angustin, when I was at Carthage, I cursorily heard 
 some transient discourse of some people who were talking, 
 that infants are not baptized for remission of sins ; but they 
 were baptized, that they may be sanctified to Christ." This 
 he thought a novelty ; and his opinion, that original sin was 
 " remitted" at baptism, doubtless prevailed with those who 
 gradually contracted the entire rite into immersion only ; while 
 those who deemed that consecration to Christ, he should have 
 said to the Trinity, was the object of baptism, contracted the 
 whole rite into pouring only. He is not far from right, when 
 on a dilferent branch of the subject, he says — " If each party 
 ^vould grant to the other what they urge of truth, they would 
 both hold the whole truth." 
 
 Hence it is clear, that the Baptist quotations do not support 
 their own hypothesis — that Bumix), Eft8oinToj, and Banna/uog, 
 mean exclusively, plunging the person or thing into and under 
 vrater — for the preceding list of passages adduced by them- 
 selves furnish three to one against it ; but had the collection 
 been extended, the proportion would have been about one in 
 ten for the sense of plunging, and nine out of ten against it, in 
 the other senses which appertain to the generic term. 
 
 The fact appears to be tliis. The population of the coun- 
 tries had embraced the faith of Christ so very generally, that 
 converts from heathenism becoming unusual, the rite proper 
 to them gradually lost its application ; and thus, " the death 
 unto sin," Idolatry, &c., no longer possessing any reference 
 to infants born of Christian parents, its ritual representative, 
 immersion, declined into oblivion ; while pouring, as the sign 
 of " newness of life" or consecration to the Trinity, was 
 continued ; such consecration being the intention of parents 
 on behalf of their infants. 
 
 Thus we have traced the two branches of Baptism, from 
 the Mosaic institution of ceremonial cleansing from pollution 
 by a dead body, which consisted of washing and sprinlding. 
 It is so divided by the writer of the Ecclesiasticus. It was 
 practised as a double rite by John in his Baptism. Christian 
 Baptism is described as a double rite by the Apostle Peter — 
 
 Hinc enim et Apostolus ex sanctijlcato alterutro sexu sanctos procreari 
 ait- Hence, says the Apostle, either parent's issue, that parent being 
 HOLY, is also HOLY, by privilege of descent. 
 
140 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 by the Apostle Paul, frequently ; wlio also expressly calls the 
 sprinkling part of the Mosaic rite, baptism. It Avas under- 
 stood to be double by Luke. It is described as double by 
 Justin Martyr. It is so represented in all the ancient pictures 
 known, from the second to the fifth century. We find it al- 
 luded to by Cyprian and by Augustin, in terms implying the 
 same division : and it is still practised in the same division 
 by the Abyssinians who received it from the church at Alex- 
 andria, A. D. 313.* 
 
 I have often pitied that ill-judged zeal by which Christian- 
 ity has been set in opposition to the religion of the Jews. 
 Our Lord declares that " he came to fulfil the law and the 
 prophets ;" and that heaven and earth w^ere not more fixed 
 and permanent than the Divine Institutions of ancient times. 
 He was rather a reformer than an institutor ; for he perfect- 
 ed what he found existing. 
 
 A Parable was a Jewish mode of teaching: — Who taught 
 by parables, equal to Jesus Christ ? What is the most dis- 
 tinguished and appropriate rite of his religion, but a service 
 grafted on the passover customs among the Jews of his day 1 
 It was not ordained by Moses, that a part of the bread they 
 had used in the passover should be the last thing they ate, 
 after that supper ; yet this our Lord took and converted into 
 a memorial of his body. The " cup of blessing" has no au- 
 thority whatever from the original institution, yet our Lord 
 found it in use and adopted it as a memorial of his blood : — 
 and taken together, these elements form one commemoration 
 of his death. We therefore infer that whatever rite Jesus ap- 
 pointed as the ordinance of admission into the community of 
 his followers, he would also adopt from some service already 
 
 • The Church at Alexandria, originally planled by Mark the Evan- 
 gelist, consisted oi Hebrew Christians; whose national manners might 
 easily be preserved in a country, of which Mr. Salt says : " The read- 
 er conversant in Scripture, cannot fail to remark the general resena- 
 blance existing throughout between the manners of this people, the 
 Abyssinians, and those of the Jews previously to the reign of Solo- 
 mon ; at which period, the connections entered into by the latter with 
 foreign princes, and tli^ luxuries consequently introduced, seem in a 
 great measure to have altered the Jewish character. I was so much 
 struck with the similarity between the two nations, during my stay in 
 Abyssinia, that I could not help fancying at times that I was dwelling 
 among the Israelites ; and that I had fallen back some thousand years, 
 upon a period when the king himself was a shepherd, and the princes 
 of the land went out, riding on mule.s, with spears and slings to com- 
 bat against the Philistines." 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 141 
 
 existing, and some token familiar among the people of his 
 nation. A ceremony for the first time heard of, would have 
 surprised and shocked them. It would have acted as a prohi- 
 bition on the minds of a people so remarkably and obstinately 
 tenacious of established customs and notions. 
 
 " Divers haptis?ns" existed under the law ; and we have 
 every reason to believe, that the admission of proselytes into 
 the profession of Judaism was really and truly marked by a 
 washing with water, in a ritual and ceremonial manner. Mai- 
 monides is perfectly correct, when he says : " in all ages 
 when a Heathen, or stranger by nation, was willing to enter 
 into the covenant of Israel, and gather himself under the wings 
 of the Majesty of God, and take upon himself the yoke of the 
 law — he must be circumcised, and baptized, and bring a sac- 
 rifice ; or if the party were a woman, then she must be bapti- 
 zed, and bring a sacrifice.''^ He adds, " at the present time, 
 when the temple being destroyed, there is no sacrificing, a 
 stranger must be circumcised and baptized." 
 
 The more strict among the Jews described this ceremony 
 as a death in a religious sense ; and deemed the past life of 
 the party to be as distinct from his ensuing life, as the lives 
 of two separate persons could be. They even showed their 
 conviction of his not being the same person, by allowing him 
 to marry among his former relatives, within the degrees of 
 kin prohibited by the law. They gave rules for the per- 
 formance of this initiatoiy rite ; and caused it to be strictly 
 and thoroughly performed, by washing the person all over, in 
 a bath or other sufficient quantity of water ; not less than a 
 certain number of gallons. This was not baptism, correctly 
 speaking ; for baptism, being a Greek term, could not be 
 adopted by the Jews to express a religious ceremony prac- 
 tised long before the Greek became the prevailing language 
 of the East. It was rt'"'':.'!:) what the lxx. adopted the 
 Greek word baptize to express ; but that was prior to the 
 days of John and Jesus. This washing I call immersion : — 
 and its signification was Death. 
 
 Was such washing, or immersion, continued in the admin- 
 istration of John's baptism? — ! apprehend it was. 
 
 Was such IMMERSION the whole of John's baptism? No. 
 
 Was immersion of the like kind continued among the primi- 
 tive Christians ? Many expressions in the New Testament 
 have a clear and unimpeachable reference to that preparatory 
 rite. 
 
H3 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The Apostle describes the Corinthians, 1 Cor. vi. 11, as 
 being washed and sanctified. 
 
 Having our bodies washed with pure water, Heb. x. 22 : 
 let us hold fast the profession of our faith. 
 
 Christ sanctified and cleansed the church, Eph. v. 25, by the 
 WASHING of water. 
 
 He saved us by the washing of regeneration, Titus iii. 5, 
 and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Does the term baptism ever occur to express these wash- 
 ings? Not that I can discover. The nearest approach I 
 know of is that by the Apostle Peter. Baptism doth now save 
 us, NOT the putting away the filth of the flesh ; 1 Pet. iii. 21, 
 but the stipulation of a good conscience toward God. 
 
 The Apostle evidently divides the rite into two distinct and 
 contrasted parts ; the first of which, washing, he says, has 
 no consequence salutary to the party on whom it is per- 
 formed ; but the second, an engagement to maintain a con- 
 science void oi' offence toward God, is salutary to a person of 
 whose solemn profession it forms a part. This " stipulation 
 of a good conscience toward God" is of the essence of bap- 
 tism ; previous washing or immersion, or " putting away the 
 filth of the flesh" is not ; for if it were it would have had 
 some salutary consequence. At what period of the adminis- 
 tration of the rite was this stipulation made ? Always after 
 washing ; according to the order in which the Apostle Peter 
 places it. 
 
 John Baptist, being the son of a priest, perfectly knew 
 what were the established rhes and ceremonies of rehgious 
 washings ; but not content with these, he added, both by 
 word and deed, to what was customary among his people and 
 nation. 
 
 Matthew iii. 8 ; He baptized unto repentance. He stipulated 
 with the Pharisees that they should bring forth fruits meet 
 for repentance. 
 
 Luke iii. 1 1 . He stipulated with the people, for benevolence 
 and charity ; with the publicans, for equity and moderation ; 
 and with the soldiers, ior mildness and content. 
 
 These auditions were the tenor of his admonitions at the 
 time of his baptismal administrations. But he did something 
 more in action, something bearing a precise resemblance to the 
 pouring out of the Holy Ghost, althouoh performed with wa- 
 ter ; and on this account he assimilates his own baptism to 
 that by the Holy Ghost, even while he acknowledged its in- 
 feriority ; Sciying, " I am come baptizing with water in order 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 143 
 
 to manifest him to Israel. I saw the Spirit descending and re- 
 maining on him; this is he who baptizeth— not with water, 
 bnt with divine and ineffable baptism — with the Holy Ghost. 
 This is the Son of God !" 
 
 When the Pharisees asked John, " Why baptizest thou ?" 
 they did not mean to ask him " why washest thou V That is 
 not the term they use. As a priest he had authority to wash, 
 like other priests of his nation. When our Lord asked the 
 Jews ; " VVas the baptism of John from Heaven or of men ?" 
 they could have found no embarassment in answering " from 
 men ;" had the customary loasliing oidy been in question. 
 The difficulty lay in admitting that John practised this addi- 
 tional rite, baptis7n, by revelation from Heaven, for the express 
 purpose of manifesting the Messiah ; yet when he was mani- 
 fested by John, the Rulers of the Jews persisted in denying 
 his mission. This only was the point at issue, concerning 
 ■which Jesus could have replied, as they foresaw ; " Why did 
 ye not believe him ?" This baptism then was strictly and 
 properly yVom Heaven. The previous washing, though a cere- 
 monial purification, was traditional ; hence, the Jews answered 
 in a dubious phraseology, but without violating truth, that they 
 could not determine whence John's baptism originated. By 
 this they avoided inflaming the people, and eluded the point 
 of the question. 
 
 Does the New Testament afford any instance of Baptism 
 separate from immersion ? Examine, as a subsequent act, the 
 instance of Philip and the Eunuch ? Philip, in company with 
 the Eunuch, " came to water, and he commanded the chariot 
 to stand still ; and they went down both into the water, here 
 is immersion, and he baptized him," here is baptism. 
 
 It might be said, taking the text for correct, that baptism 
 was distinct from immersion, because it followed it ; for the 
 writer does not say, " they went down into the water, that 
 he might baptize him," but — " and he baptized him." But what 
 are the real facts of the case 1 In order to preserve what he 
 knew to be the customary separation between immersion and 
 baptism, the Sacred Writer inserts a whole sentence, in itself 
 perfectly unnecessary, and clogging the progress of the story, 
 in the very middle and height of the sacrament. It conveys 
 no additional information, but it marks a pause. It distin- 
 guishes the two parts of the service — " the putting away the 
 filth of the flesh," from " the stipulation of a good conscience 
 towards God." Luke even takes pains to produce this effect: 
 " And they went down both into the water, both Philip and 
 
144 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 THE Eunuch ; and he, Philip, baptized him, the Eunuch ; and 
 when they were come up," &c. We knew both Philip 
 and the Eunuch, from ihe former part of the history ; but 
 the insertion of this description of the parties, has the ef- 
 fect of separating the foregoing from the following sentence ; 
 and consequently of separating the foregoing from the follow- 
 ing action, which is the only assignable purpose of the writer 
 for there inserting it. Nor is this the only peculiarity in the 
 story. No other passage can be adduced in which the per- 
 son administering baptism went himself down into the water. 
 John Baptist did not. Who did ? This then is an exception 
 to the general practice ; and this took place in a country al- 
 most or wholly desert; where no convenience of any kind 
 could be commanded ; and those exceptions recommended 
 the instance for insertion. 
 
 The Eunuch, says Church History, carried the Gospel 
 into Ethiopia. Are there any remains of this separation 
 between immersion and baptism, extant in Ethiopia at this day ? 
 There certainly are. The Abyssinian records affirm, that 
 Queen Candace had a palace at Axum ; where those rites are 
 now practised. Let us contemplate the rite as described by 
 an observant British traveller, lately returned thence. 
 
 Mr. Salt, thus describes ih.e full ceremony of Baptism, as 
 practised in Abyssinia. 
 
 " B.\PTisM of a Mussulman boy. — This ceremony took 
 place at day-break ; an early hour being considered requisite, 
 on account of the subsequent celebration of the communion 
 which can only be administered fasting. 
 
 " On reaching the church we found the head priest, Abou 
 Barea, with about twenty priests of inferior order, waiting in 
 a small area about thirty yards from the spot ; some of them 
 were engaged in chaunting psalms, while the rest were busy 
 in preparing the water, and making other necessary arrange- 
 ments for the occasion. At sun-rise, every thing being ready, 
 an attendant was sent round from the high priest, to point out 
 to each person concerned, the part which he was to take in 
 the ceremony. The officiating priest was habited in white 
 flowing robes, with a tiara or silver-mounted cap on his head, 
 and he carried a censer with burning incense in his right 
 hand. A second of equal rank was dressed in similar robes, 
 supporting a large golden cross, while a third held in his hand 
 a small phial containing a quantity of meirun, or consecrated 
 oil, which is furnished to the church of Abyssinia by the patri- 
 arch of Alexandria. The attendant priests stood round in the 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 145 
 
 form of a semicircle, the boy being placed in the centre, and 
 our party ranged in front. After a few minutes interval em- 
 ployed in singing psalms, some of the priests took the boy, and 
 tea shed him all over very carefully in a large bason of water. 
 While this was passing a smaller font called me-te-mak, which 
 is always kept outside of the churches, owing to an unbaptized 
 person not being permitted to enter the church, was placed 
 in the middle of the area filled with Avater, which the priest 
 consecrated by prayer, waving the incense repeatedly over it, 
 and dropping into it a portion of the meiron in the shape of 
 a cross. The boy was then brought back, dripping from head 
 to foot, and again placed naked and upright in the centre : 
 and was required to renounce " the devil and all his works,'* 
 which was performed by his repeating a given formula four 
 separate times, turning each time towards a different point of 
 the compass. I named the child George, when I was re- 
 quested to say the Belief and the Lord's Prayer, and to make 
 much the same promises as those required by the Established 
 Church of England. The head priest afterwards laid hold 
 of the boy, dipping his own hand into the water, and crossed 
 him over the forehead, pronouncing at the same moment — 
 " George, I BAPTIZE thee; in the name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost." The whole company then knelt 
 doum, and joined in reciting the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 " Here the ordinary ceremony of baptism concludes ; but 
 as the boy had been a Mussulman, he was crossed with the 
 consecrated oil over every joint of his body. After this, he 
 was XATapped in a clean white linen cloth, and placed for a 
 moment in my arms, the priests telling me that " I must 
 henceforth consider him verily as my Son." The high 
 priest did not take any active part in this ceremony, but the 
 whole Avas conducted with great deconun and a due degree 
 of solemnity. The boy afterwards, according to the custom 
 of most of the Eastern churches, was admitted to partake of 
 the holy communion."* 
 
 * On the subject of the white linen cloth, Mr. Salt adds ; " This is 
 a very ancient part of the ceremony, as appears from the testimony of 
 many of the Fathers collected by Casalius. — " Puellus infans mutatione 
 vestis sensu externo festum colit, quandoquidem interiori animi sensu 
 nondum potest," &c. De veteribus sacris Christianornm ritibus, anctore 
 Johannis Bapt. Casalius Romanus. The same author says, on the 
 reception of the eucharist, by the newly baptized — " Ritum Eucharistiae 
 suscipiendae post Baptismum non solum adultis, verum etiam infanti- 
 bus fuisse communem." 
 
 13 
 
146 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Here we have a clear and incontestable distinction and 
 separation preserved between immersion and baptism : for had 
 it so happened, that this boy had changed his mind in the 
 interval between coming from one place, " dripping wet from 
 head to foot," and reaching the other place, about " tfiirlij 
 yards" distant, where baptism was performed, it is evident 
 beyond all denial, that he would have suffered immersion ; 
 but he would not have been baptized. 
 
 The Abyssinian church derived its rites with its conversion, 
 from Egypt, A. D. 313 ; and those conversant with the sub- 
 ject, will readily recognize in Mr. Salt's description, the 
 baptism of a heathen, as performed in Egypt, in the second 
 century, by Origen, or the other preachers. 
 
 Here is no necessity for tanks and cisterns, and reservoirs 
 of water. Those priests could have immersed in rivers or 
 lakes, had they so pleased : but they had been accustomed to 
 use " great basons of water," from their forefathers, and those 
 they still retain. 
 
 This Abyssinian baptism not only strongly recalls the 
 second century of the Christian Church ; but it affords a 
 memorable instance of the extreme impropriety of annexing 
 to the rite of Gospel Baptism, observances founded on the 
 ?i7er«/ acceptation of METAPHORICAL passages of Scripture. 
 
 The introduction of oil and anointing into the office of 
 Baptism is of extreme antiquity in the church, and passages of 
 Scripture may be adduced in its favour ; for Avas not Jesus 
 Christ anointed at his Baptism ? And why should not believers 
 be anointed also ? " whose duty it is to be conformed in all 
 things to their Head." It is also of almost universal usage, 
 where oil is the product of the country ; and some churches 
 anoint before immersion as well as after it. 
 
 Scripture authority may also be pleaded for the " clean 
 white linen cloth," used as a garment ; for are we not coiTi- 
 manded to " put off the Old Man with his deeds," Eph iv. 
 24 ; which was done in the previous washing, and to put on 
 the New Man? io put on Jesus Christ ? Rom. xiii. 14 ; as 
 signified by this white robe. Anciently also, the first food 
 taken by the person baptized was milk and honey ; for, does 
 not Scripture say, Isaiah vii. 15 ; the Messiah shall eat " thick 
 milk, the Eastern butter, and honey, that he may know to 
 refuse the evil and choose the good." Can we then too 
 closely imitate actions attributed to Jesus Christ ? You see 
 the consequences of adopting into the administration of a 
 Christian ordinance, customs grounded on metaphorical ex- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 147 
 
 ptessions of Scripture ; do they furnish valid arguments for 
 the practice ? The sacrament of Baptism does not rest on 
 such supports ; neither is it improved by the adoption of such 
 similitudes. 
 
 There is another view of tliis administration under which 
 it answers punctually to the expressions used in Scripture in 
 reference to Baptism. 
 
 Did they exhort you to " Arise, and wash away thy sins, 
 calling on the name of the Lord?" Acts xxii. 16. — Yes. 
 
 Did they lead you to the washing of regeneration, Titus 
 iii. 5 ; and putting away the filth of the flesh, Heb. x. 
 22 : 1 Peter iii. 21 : by having your body washed with pure 
 water? — Yes ; they washed me all over very carefully. 
 
 Were you buried with Christ in baptis?n ; flaunted with 
 him; crucified icith him; baptized into his death, Rom. vi. 
 3 — 6 ; immersion in " the great bason of water," importing 
 all these ? — Yes. 
 
 Is immersion always practised at baptism ? — Is it esteem- 
 ed essential to the ordinance ? — Yes. 
 
 You were '• dripping wet from head to foot," after your 
 immersion ; and do you affirm that this is the regular and 
 established administration of the ordinance in the Abyssinian 
 church? — Yes; immersion has been the continued practice, 
 for more than FIFTEEN HUNDRED YEARS. 
 
 Thus the practice of Baptism in Abyssinia affords nothing 
 short of an absolute demonstration ! 
 
 Immersion was an introductory observance. — BAPTISM 
 was administered in a different place, by a different person, 
 from a different font, with a different water, requiring a 
 different action, under a different form of words. The actions 
 were entirely different ; though they formed nominally 
 one ceremony, called Christian Baptism. 
 
 These questions have been formed in reference to the rite 
 importing death only : but the inference is certain that the 
 Abyssinian boy commenced a renovated LIFE ; and was 
 known by his new name GEORGE ; as a substitute for his 
 Mohammedan appellation, or name previous to his symbolical 
 death. 
 
 What a light this throws on the story of baptism conferred 
 on Cornelius ! Acts x. xi. xv. That every Roman family had 
 such a " great bason of water," or what was much the same, 
 is notorious. Cornelius, as a Roman, could not be without 
 one ; and what answers the purpose of the church at Chelicut, 
 where baptism is expected to be performed as a Christian 
 
148 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 rite, might well answer the purpose in the house of a Roman 
 officer, who had not the most distant idea of baptism. Is it 
 asked, did other churches practice baptism in similar " ba- 
 sons ?" — The proofs of it are extant to this day. Several of 
 these " great basons" are still preserved in Italy ; and some in 
 France. Unless they have been destroyed during the French 
 revolution, they may be seen at St. Denis, five miles from 
 Paris. 
 
 The history of the baptism of Cornelius leads to further 
 important consequences : for if I were asked to produce an 
 instance of baptism conferred without previous immersion, 
 this is that instance. 
 
 Acts X. 14, 44. It is remarkable in this history, that Peter 
 uses two words to describe the natural condition of food : un- 
 washed and unchansed. The first certainly signifies un- 
 washed in the instance of hands not immersed before dinner : 
 the second signifies a ritual, ceremonial, or religious clean- 
 sing : and is by far the stronger term. The answer to Peter 
 therefore is — " What God hath ritually, ceremonially, or 
 religiously cleansed, in the strongest and highest degree, 
 that call not thou unwashen, in the lower and weaker degree." 
 This was done thrice. Now taking this in reference to Cor- 
 nelius, did not the descent and pouring out of the Holy Ghost 
 on that good man announce his ritual or religious cleansing 
 though a heathen, in the strongest possible degree ? What 
 necessity after this unequivocal, sublime and Divine token of 
 a purified and accepted person, could there be for the entire 
 washing of his body in water, his immersion ? That might 
 have been indispensable for his regular admission into the 
 Jewish community : not so into the Christian church. Hav- 
 ing received the greater purification, the higher degree of 
 celestial cleansing, why impose the lesser, the carnal and 
 beggarly elements of this world ? It would be degrading the 
 baptism by the Holy Ghost below the preparation for the 
 humble baptism administered by John. This is impossible ! 
 
 The answer of Peter when challenged on the subject, co- 
 incides perfectly with this representation: — Acts xi. 15; 
 '■^ As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us 
 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. Forasmuch, then, 
 as God gave to them the like gift, baptism by the Holy Ghost, 
 as he did to us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, — 
 
 what was I, THAT I COULD WITHSTAND GoD ?" 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 149 
 
 Nevertheless it being proper that each convert should per- 
 sonally make a clear and distinct profession of his faith in 
 Christ and of his future adherence to him, should be openly 
 consecrated to his serA'ice, and this being the regular intention 
 of Christian baptism ; the Apostle directed that those highly 
 favoured persons should have that opportunity, before proper 
 witnesses ; for his justification, and for their own satisfaction. 
 " He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the 
 Lord." 
 
 Such was the authority of Peter for departing from the 
 strict rules of the Judaico-Christian church ; and such the 
 circumstances under which the first fruits of the Gentiles 
 were dedicated to Christ ; and by which those who called 
 Peter to account were put to silence. 
 
 There is another history of which the same view may be 
 taken : that of the brethren who had been baptized with John's 
 baptism only; Acts xix. 3. Having been immersed previous 
 to their reception of that rite, under Paul's direction, they 
 were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, as a proper op- 
 portunity of explicitly acknowledging him as their head and 
 sovereign ; an opportunity that they had not at the time when 
 they received baptism from John. 
 
 The advice of the Apostle to the people of Judea at the 
 feast of Pentecost, Acts ii. 38, agrees with this ; they had 
 been baptized with John's baptism, Peter therefore counsels 
 them, to make an explicit avowal of the name of Jesus Christ 
 in baptism. 
 
 Thus we have made some progress towards explaining 
 that very difficult expression, " baptism in the name of Jesus." 
 Those people had already religiously recogiaized the God of 
 the Jews, in the rite of baptism ; to which they now added a 
 recognition of the Lord Jesus. These are all the places 
 where this phrase occurs. 
 
 BAPTISM OF PERSONS NAKED. 
 
 The immediate subject however is the mode ; and without 
 fear of contradiction I affirm, that Christian Baptism was 
 Pouring ; and moreover, the convert was naked ! If any 
 
 person object — " Why, would you have us ■ ?" The 
 
 question is not what any man would have ? but this is the 
 simple inquiry — " In what state did the primitive Christians 
 receive baptism ?" The answer must be, " naked." 
 
 13* 
 
150 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The Baptist principles demand the most scrupulous adhe- 
 rence to the original form of this "positive institution," for 
 " positive precepts admit of no degrees, no supplements, 
 and no commutation. It is the will of God, for the trial of 
 our obedience ; nor will he allow us to enquire whi/ ? or how ? 
 Compliance must be so, and no more, and no less, and no 
 OTHERWISE. What we call little things, trifling deviations, 
 arc the pins and screws which hold the sacred tabernacle 
 together : take these away, the whole edifice falls. The 
 same rash hand that makes one alteration may make twenty; 
 if in small things, why not in gTeater ? till at length the foun- 
 dation is destroyed ; Christianity is superseded ; Superstition 
 takes its place ; and all is death, desolation, and darkness." — 
 Booth. Pa^d. Exam. Vol. I. 
 
 This conclusion the Baptist objector foresaw. " The prim- 
 itive Christians baptized naked ; we baptize clothed." But 
 whence was derived the authority for this change ? Do you 
 know what is proper, better than the institutor of the rite 1 
 Do you undertake to correct the institutions of the Divine 
 Saviour ? To improve them ? To qualify them ? You talk of 
 decency, did not he know what was decent? If they plead 
 decency, modesty, decorum, as valid argiuiients for the change 
 which they have adopted, with what grace do they deny to 
 others the right to plead decency, modesty, and decorum ? 
 How happens it, that these terms are commanding in their 
 mouths, but horrible in the mouths of others ? I mean not to 
 deny the propriety of their practice in consulting modesty and 
 decorum ; but I expressly deny their right to practice one 
 thing while they profess another ; I deny their right to cen- 
 sure their brethren for deviating from the primitive practice 
 less than they do, and on less controvertible principles. 
 
 Nor does the evidence of baptizing naked rest on those 
 pictures ; for Wall, who had examined the subject extensively, 
 says, Hist. Bapt. Vol. II, " It was the most usual and ordi- 
 nary way by which the ancient Christians did receive their 
 baptism." This he supports by instances in various places, 
 and he censures those who alleged against the Anabaptists 
 as a fault, the practice of baptizing naked. 
 
 The earliest rite called baptism that we know of is clear 
 on this article. Numb. xix. 11-22. The person who was 
 defiled by the dead was to wash himself thoroughly ; to bathe 
 himself in water ; and the sprinkling of the ashes, called 
 baptism, was effectual to the purification of the tent, if the 
 w ater touched the tent ; of the furniture in the tent, the 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 151 
 
 drapery ; if it touched that furniture, that drapery ; and it also 
 sanctified to the purifying of the flesh. It therefore was 
 received by the flesh ; and the party receiving it was naked ; 
 whether absolutely or relatively is no matter. For if the 
 water purified only where it fell, will the Baptists allow, that 
 a few drops falling on the face, all the rest of the person 
 being clothed, the whole man was sanctified? — That were to 
 support the decried practice of infant sprinkling ! 
 
 The New Testament clearly mentions as a part of Baptism, 
 the putting away of the filth of the flesh ; 1 Peter iii. 21. 
 Church members are said to have had " their bodies washed 
 with pure water," Heb. x. 22. Is there a single Baptist living 
 whose " BODY was washed with pure water," at his baptism 1 
 — His clothes might be : — but his body 1 No. When did 
 any one " put away the fd I h of the flesh" at this ordinance, 
 as administered by English Baptists ? None living at this 
 day : whatever some might have done more than a century 
 ago. The error lies in the profession, not in the practice ; — 
 You say, and do not.* 
 
 The evidence is clear, that the ancient Christian painters 
 
 * Inasmuch as this washing denoted, metaphorically, a funeral prepa- 
 ration, it preserved a commemoration of the state of death in which for 
 a time the body of Jesus lay ; but how can a dead body be washed, while 
 clothed 1 The thing is impossible ; the imitation of it therefore while 
 clothed is impossible. The Oriental customs assist us here : the law 
 is : " The Funeral Lotion consists in washing the body entirely ; 
 whether it be that of a man, woman, or child. The law of modesty, 
 which is the same for the dead as for the living, requires that the men 
 should be washed by men, and the women by women." — D'Ohsson, 
 p. 44.0, 446. 
 
 " The head and beard of the corpse must be washed with the flowers 
 of khitmy, or with soap. The right side must be washed first, while the 
 body rests on the left ; the left side, while it rests on the right : after 
 that it mast be turned on the back, and must be rubbed with a soft and 
 gentle hand. 
 
 " From the Booke of Common Prayer, Lon. 1549. The prieste shall 
 take the childe in his handes and aske his name : And nameing the 
 childe, shall dyppe it in the water thryse. First dypping the right side : 
 seconde ihe left side : the third time dypping the face towarde the 
 fonte : so it be discretely and warely done, saying, &c." 
 
 Considered as rites, this order is similar. One body is " dyppedi' to 
 be returned to its cradle ; the other is washed to be prepared for the 
 grave : for it is not yet interred. After the washing come the invel- 
 opement, the funeral prayer, &,c. The conformity ceases long before 
 the final interment. Nor is this coincidence accidental ; for at first, 
 our reformers did little other than translate foreign usages into English, 
 and this may be traced for several centuries upwards ; as early as trine 
 immersion. 
 
152 MODE OF BAPTISM." 
 
 were fully justified, in representini^ the subjects receiving 
 baptism, naked. If they had represented them otherwise, 
 they would have sinned against fact and evidence. Primi- 
 tive Christianity acknowledged no such rite as Baptism ad- 
 ministered by immersion to persons clothed from head to 
 foot. 
 
 It was certainly the custom to baptize the Catechumens 
 NAKED — and the person who had been baptized, immediately 
 on coming out of the water, was wrapped in an envelope 
 called Sabano — whence Simon of Thessalonica says, " the 
 NAKED Catechumen is covered with a large covering negt^o- 
 Ittiov wrapped around him closely in three windings ! Buo- 
 narotti Oss. sopra vasi di Vetro. Thus the Trinity meets us 
 at every turn, among the ancient Christians, in connection 
 with Baptism ! — and it is not a little remarkable, that the very 
 sentiments and language of the modern Baptists, respecting 
 the unclothed state of the Catechumens during the adminis- 
 tration of the rite of Baptism, are precisely the scoffing ob- 
 jections of Julian the Apostate ! 
 
 As the " envelope wrapped around" the washed Catechu- 
 men had the form of a pallium or cloak, it seems to be al- 
 luded to by Tertullian — " Suadeo, reverere habitum unius 
 interim erroris tui renunciatorem — enimvero cum banc primum 
 sapientia vestit, quae vanissimis superstitionibus reunit ; tunc 
 certissime pallium super omnes exuvias, et peplos augusta 
 vestis." — De Pallis ; Cap. 3, and 4. — Hence is supposed to 
 have arisen the error of writers who reported that Christians 
 after baptism left off the toga, and assumed the pallium. 
 
 The ancient Christians had among them also pictures of 
 Adam and Eve. " Paolino clearly makes mention of repre- 
 sentations of Adam and Eve, on occasion of his describing 
 various pictures in the Basilica. Augustin alludes to that 
 subject in his book against Julian the Apostate.* 
 
 Buonarotti thus writes on the subject of Baptism. 
 
 " Whoever desires to know to what degree the ancient 
 Christians were solicitous to preserve a certain tradition of 
 their sacved symbols used in painting, and what care they 
 employed, that they might always be represented in the same 
 manner, and not be changed in any thing, which from the 
 beginning had been customary in the church, let him reflect 
 
 • '« A pictoribus tne didicisse derides, quod Adam et Mulier ejus 
 pudenda contexerint, Horatianum illud decanlatum audire me pra;- 
 cipis. GLuidlihet audiendi semper fuit jequa potestas." — Lib. v- cap. 2. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 153 
 
 on the uniformity found among the paintings on those most 
 ancient pieces of glass, also on the basso relievos of the Sar- 
 cophagi, Sepulchres, on the paintings of the Caemeteries, 
 Catacombs, and the Mosaics of the churches in Rome ; which 
 are not equally ancient : but especially, let him well observe 
 the Vatican Sarcophagus, published by Arringhi, in the 
 middle of which, as there represented, we see almost 
 the very same things, that are seen on the glass. There is the 
 Saviour on the mount, from which issues four streams.* 
 
 I had always understood that it was a fact acknowledged 
 by all parties, that the primitive Christians received Baptism 
 in a state of nakedness : the denial of this lately by the Bap- 
 tists has taken me by surprise. The evidence now offered 
 must be considered as a kind o^ gleaning ; comprising merely 
 such passages as presented themselves in the continuation of 
 researches on the general subject. 
 
 The first witness is the Baptist Historian Robinson, who 
 says, Cap. xv. ; " The primitive Christians baptized naked. 
 Nothing is easier than to give proof of this by quotations from 
 the authentic writings of the men who administered Baptism, 
 and who certainly knew in what way they themselves per- 
 formed it. There is no ancient historical fact better authenti- 
 cated than this. The evidence doth not go on the meaning of 
 the single word naked, for then a reader might suspect alle- 
 gory : but on many facts reported, and many reasons assigned 
 for the practice. Chrysostom criminates Theophilus because 
 
 * Chi vuol conoscere quanto i Cristiani antichi fossero attenti a con- 
 servare con una certa tradizione i sacri simbolidelle pitture, e quanta 
 cura avessero, che senipre si facessero i medesimi, e non si variasse da 
 quelle, che sul principio avesse cominciato a costumare la Chiesa, 
 basta riflettere all'uniformita, che passa Ira le pitture di questi vetri 
 antichissimi, ed i bassirilievi de' Sarcofagri, e le pitture de' Cimiteri, 
 ed i Mosaici delie Chicse di Roma, che non sono tanto antichi; ma 
 particolarmentebisognaosservare il Sarcofago Vaticano riporlato dall' 
 Arringhio alia pag. 295, nel mezzo del quale, come si e accennato, vi 
 sono quasi aifatto le medesime cose, che si vedono in questo vetro ; vi 
 fe il Salvatore sul Monte, da cui scaluriscono i quattro fiumi ; il Sal- 
 vatore da alia figura, che h dalla sinistra il volume, questa figura e 
 vestita, e sta in aititudine di scendere nel Giordano, come sta la nos- 
 tra, ed ha una Croce in ispalla ; dalla parte destra vi e quella mede- 
 sima imagine di uomo colla barba, e col pallio, e coUa destra distesa, 
 che noi abbiamo creduto, che rappresenti S. Giovan Batista; a'piedi 
 del Redentore vi e I'Agnus Dei, ma con una croce sul capo, e piu 
 basso le pecorine; di qua, e di la dal Salvaiore vi sono due palme, e 
 sopra a quella mano dritta vi e un uccello, che sara fatto per la nostra 
 fenice ; e vi sono parimente due torri, e due porte di Citta — Buona- 
 rolti Osservationi sopra alcuni vasi Antichi di Vetros. 
 
154 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 lie had raised a disturbance without, which so frightened the 
 women in the baptistery, who had just stripped tliemselves 
 naked in order to be baptized, that they fled naked out of the 
 room, without having time to consult the modesty of their sex. 
 — Basil rose up with fear and trembling, undressed himself, put- 
 ting off the old man, and went down praying into the water ; 
 and the priest going down along with him baptized him." The 
 reasons assigned for this practice are, that Christians ought 
 to put off the old man before they put on a profession of 
 Christianity ; that as men came naked into the world, so they 
 ought to come naked into the church, for rich men could not 
 enter the kingdom of heaven : that it was an imitation of 
 Christ, who laid^aside his glory, and made himself of no re- 
 putation for them : and that Adam had forfeited all, and that 
 Christians ought to profess to be restored to the enjoyment of 
 all, only by Jesus Christ. Basnage, than whom no man un- 
 derstood Church History better, says, " When artists threw 
 garments over ■pictures of the baptized, they consulted the taste 
 of spectators more than the truth of the fact.'''' Basnage might 
 have added, that all the truly ancient representations of bap- 
 tism represented the person receiving baptism as absolutely 
 naked : not even " a wrapper round the middle" was thought 
 of, till after the simplicity of the Gospel was considerably vi- 
 tiated. Because the case is so clear Robinson gave no addi- 
 tional quotations ; and Wall was influenced by the same con- 
 sideration. His words are these : " The ancient Christians, 
 when they were baptized by immersion, were all baptized 
 NAKED, whether they were men, women, or children. Vos- 
 sius, De Baptism. Disp. i. cap. 6, 7, 8, has collected several 
 proofs of this, which 1 omit, because it is a clear case." 
 Hist. Bapt. vol. II. 
 
 What could Origen mean, if Baptism were not received in a 
 state of nakedness, when he says, " With thy garments new- 
 ly washed thou camest to the grace of Baptism ; thou wast 
 by it purified in thy body ; thou wast purified in thy spirit ; 
 thou wast cleansed from all defilement of flesh and spirit."* 
 Hence the Christian Fathers took literally, in reference to the 
 baptism of individual converts, the words, Ephes. v. 26 ; 
 Christ "sanctified and cleansed the church by the washing of 
 water;" using also a certain form of words, the Baptismal 
 
 • Lota sunt vestiinenta tna cum venisti ad Baptismi gratiam ; 
 purificatus es corpore; purificalus e$ spiritu ; tnundatus es ab omni 
 inquinamento cahnis, et spiritus. Exod. in lib. ii. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 155 
 
 form, each believer having neither spot nor wrinkle ; but be- 
 ing no less scrupulously washed in his person than was the 
 practice among the Jews, in their administration of baptismal 
 washings. Hence, says a Poet, " The parents receive from 
 the sacred font their infants white as snow, in body, in 
 heart, in habit. The souls of the baptized are cleansed, and 
 the members of their body are washed."* 
 
 The history quoted by Robinson and Wall deserves further 
 examination : for that writer seems to have entertained no 
 doubt that even women were baptized naked ; and Wall ex- 
 pressly asserts the same, not only in the words we have 
 quoted, but in his remarks on the violence offered to Chry- 
 sostom's female converts. " They took great care to preserve 
 the modesty of any woman that was to be baptized. There 
 were none but women came near or in sight, till she was un- 
 dressed, and her body in the water: then the Priest came, 
 and putting her head under water, used the form of Baptism. 
 Then he departed, and the women took her out of the water, 
 and clothed her again with white garments." But the preser- 
 vation of modesty by this mode was impossible, especially 
 when a number of women were to be baptized together. Not 
 so much as the face of any modest woman was seen, at any 
 time, except by her own husband : so that it is not necessary 
 to prove with what inflexible adherence to custom the women 
 in the East conceal their faces. Surely then, decent women, 
 Christian converts, would not suffer themselves to be seen 
 and handled, as they must be if plunged by a stranger; and 
 this impossibility increases as it affects the young women, 
 the maidens. Moreover, the very mention of priests and dea- 
 cons in this history confutes this notion. Wall says ; There 
 is an account given by Sozomen, H. E. lib. viii. cap. 21, A. 
 D. 403, of an insult made by the soldiers in the great church 
 at Constantinople, against Chrysostom and his adherents : for 
 on Easter-eve they rushed in armed ; and, he adds, " There 
 was a great tumult at the font, the women shrieking in a 
 fright, and the cluldreii crying. The Priests and Deacons 
 were beaten, and forced to run away with their vestments 
 on." Were those priests and deacons waiting in the same 
 apartment with the women who were undressing themselves 
 
 * Abluitis quicumque animas, et membra laracris, 
 Cernite proposilas ad bonafacta vias. 
 
 Inde Parens sacro ducit de fonte sacerdos 
 Infantes niveos corpore, corde, habitu. 
 
156 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 for the purpose of receiving baptism ? Where then was fe- 
 male modesty ? How is this consistent with the former as- 
 sertion that " none but women came near ?" The more this 
 is examined, the more evident will it appear that, although 
 those ablutions, or immersions, for they are the same thing, 
 were the initiatory part of Baptism, yet Baptism was not 
 performed by the priest's access to the person of any woman, 
 while she was naked, and " her body in the water." Could 
 the prayers and the responses, or confessions of faith, &c., 
 be rehearsed, while a woman, or a number of women, re- 
 mained standing in the water ? 
 
 The einbarassment of our Baptist brethren on this matter 
 is very great. They find themselves guilty of departing from 
 the primitive usage in this particular, even while most ve- 
 hemently urging imiform adherence to that usage as a part of 
 positive duty, in which negligence is sinful. If precise con- 
 formity in all points to the original ritual be indispensable, as 
 obedience to God and to Christ, and if in this point they vio- 
 late the original ritual, then they stand self-condemned. That 
 they do depart from the institution as at first performed, these 
 extracts evince. 
 
 There are two ways by which Baptism might be performed 
 with due regard to female modesty. After the Deaconess had 
 caused the woman or women under her care to be properly 
 washed, and clothed in the baptismal habit, the Priests and 
 Deacons might come into the same apartment and confer Bap- 
 tism — or the woman or women properly habited, after immer- 
 sion, might go out of their apartment into the Accubitnm, or 
 Vestry, and there receive the remainder of the rite from the 
 lesser font. But either of these implies a division of the ser- 
 vice ; the first part being immersion or washing, and the se- 
 cond, baptism or consecration. 
 
 Nor let it be thought strange that this official superintend- 
 ence of immersion should belong to the Deaconess ; for as 
 the women in the East are in the habit of going often to the 
 public baths, it doubtless often happened that the Deaconess 
 had frequently met with her charge at the baths, under the 
 same circumstances of washing and dressing. Possibly she 
 might have done the same services from civility, which were 
 also done as a ritual of religion. Ai first Deaconesses were 
 widows, who had lived with one husband only ; not less than 
 sixty years of age. In later times they wore a distinguishing 
 dress. They visited women in the name of the Church, 
 when sick or in poverty ; and it is supposed also, that they 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 157 
 
 visited female prisoners suffering as Christians. The Apostle 
 Paul says that Phebe had been the patroness of himself and 
 many others. This implies both dignity and respectability 
 of station in life as appertaining to the office of Deaconess. 
 
 Muratori gives us the following sepulchral inscription of 
 one of those ancient female office-bearers in the Church : 
 
 Daciana Diaconissa 
 
 Que v. An. xxxxv. M. III. 
 
 Et fuit F. Palmati Cos. 
 
 Et Soror Victorini Presbri 
 
 Et multa prophetavit. 
 
 Ctjm Flacca Alumna 
 
 V. A. XV. Deposita in pace III. Id. A. D. 412. 
 
 " Daciana, a Deaconess, who lived forty-five years and 
 three months ; when F. Palraatus was Consul. She was sis- 
 ter to Yictorinus the Presbyter ; and had instructed in religion 
 many of her sex." 
 
 Considering that men had scarcely any access to the young- 
 er women at home, there can be little doubt that they received 
 the major part of their religious instruction from the Deacon- 
 esses ; and so much of it as was requisite previous to Bap- 
 tism was a convenient preparation for that ordinance.* 
 
 DEACONESSES. 
 
 Deaconesses Avere of Apostolic institution ; but the office 
 of Deaconess, though unquestionably Scriptural, is discarded 
 from Baptist Churches, which therefore are confessedly im- 
 perfect. They have abandoned the Scriptural example ; for 
 what cause, it becomes them to explain who profess inviolate 
 and punctual conformity. Paul writing to the Romans, xvi. 
 1, expressly calls Phebe, Siaxovor, diaconon, "Deaconess of 
 the church at Cenchrea;" and she is described as the suc- 
 cour and protectress of many. To women of this character 
 whom he describes among the Deacons, 1 Timothy, iii. 11, 
 
 * The practice of anointing after Baptism is extremely ancient, and 
 was almost universal. In that, the Deaconess performed the principal 
 part among the women ; for the Presbyter anointed the woman's head 
 only. TJie Deaconess anointed the female body, which was in conform- 
 ity 'with the prior ceremonies respecting the washing with water in 
 Baptism. 
 
 14 
 
158 MODE OF BAPTISM, 
 
 as " grave, not slanderers, sober and faithful in all things ;" 
 Paul also refers. Pliny, anxious to discover the secrets of the 
 Christians, caused two female servants of the church, called 
 " mimsters" to be tortured ; but he could not obtain from them 
 any confession of guilt. " I could find nothing," he said, in 
 his formal letter to 'I'rajan, " but a vile superstition." * 
 
 That female Church officer, the Draconess, long continued 
 to be both popular and useful among the faithful. They gradu- 
 ally became more rarely adverted to by ecclesiastial writers, 
 and are not mentioned in connection with the ministrations of 
 the Church after about A. D. 1000. Deaconesses are most 
 particularly specified by Epiphanius. Haeres. l.Kxix. " Qua; 
 est Collyridianorum ;" who says, " There are also Deacon- 
 esses in the Church ; but this office was not instituted as a 
 priestly function, nor has it any interference with priestly ad- 
 ministrations ; but it was instituted for the purpose of preserv- 
 ing a due regard to the inndesty of the female sex, especially at 
 the time of baptismal washing, and while /.he person of the wo- 
 man is na/^d ; that she may not be seen by the men perform- 
 ing the sacred service, but by her ovily who is appointed 
 to take charge of the woman, during the time that she 
 was naked"! Now if the men performing the sacred ser- 
 vice did not seethe woman receiving baptism while unclothed, 
 how could any one go down into th^e font and plunge her ? If 
 the woman, while the process of immersion or washing was 
 performing, was seen by the Deaconess alone, Baptism could 
 
 ♦Quo magis necessarium credidi, ex duabiis ancillis quae ministrse 
 dicebaritur, quid esset veri et per tormenia quaerere. Nihil aliud in- 
 veni, quam superstitionem pravam et immddicaiii. Lib. i. typist. 97. 
 
 t Gabriel Albaspineus. " Diaconissic. — Ministerio Diaconis^arum 
 plerisque in locis pudori feminarum consulebaiur : ilte enim ad Bap- 
 lismum venientes lionesto nudabanl et e.xnebant, nequid oculi.s bapti- 
 zantis inverecunde ingerereiur, ul Epiphanius indicat. A(uko>'i(T(7(ji' 
 
 ^nv Tayjia crrii/ ti'j Tr]v CKKXrj^iav, aXA v^i cis to UpaTtveiv nScrt eni^^ttpcii' £7r(- 
 TpCTTCtv. 'incKtv it atjivOTTiToi Tu yvvaiKCiv ytvaj ri 61 lopav \uTpy kui S tc yvjivo)- 
 6civ aoijm yvvaiKB, Xva f)ri vrro d avUpiov ttpapyuiTiiiv deadeiv, "aXX' vno t« upcdii 
 iTTifjLtXetndai yvvaiKoi iv rii oifia rij; t» aoifxuros avrni yvfivuacoji. E.St quideui 
 
 Diaconissarum in Ecclesia ; sed nonest instituius ad funclionem Sacer- 
 dotii, vel ad aliquam ejus miidi adminisiraiionem, sed ut niuliebris 
 sexiis honestati consulaiur, sive ut tempore adsii Bapiismi sive quan- 
 do nudandum esi mulieris corpus, ne ab iis conspiciaiur. qui .sacris 
 operaniur, sed a sola videatur Diaconissa ; quae jussu sacerdoiis cu- 
 ram mulieris gerit, dum vestibiis exuitur; aiqiie id secundum consti- 
 tulionem boni ordiiiis el Ecclesiasiicae disciplmje ex prescripio cano- 
 nis admodum siabiliiae." — Causaubon Antiquitates EcclesiasticoeExerc 
 xvi. ad Annales Baronii. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 159 
 
 not possibly have been administered according to the notion 
 and practice of the Baptists. 
 
 If the " FACTS and evidences" adduced have Truth on 
 their side, whatever appears to oppose them is proportionally 
 Aveakened and rendered inefficient as argument. Neverthe- 
 less, objections are drawn from incidental circumstances 
 which, however feeble or erroneous, have been announced 
 by the Baptists as highly important. One of them is the pas- 
 sage, John iii. 23 ; in which " much water," as our transla- 
 tors have rendered the words, is assigned as a reason why 
 John was baptizing in that place. It is admitted, however, 
 " that vduzu Tiollu is plural, and denotes many ivatfirs."' — To 
 which I add, that the words vduru nolka most properly si gTiify 
 jlowiug waters, or currents ; and had the words been rendered 
 " many streams,^' I should have applauded their correctness. 
 
 Enon. — The objection is thus propounded by Dr. Ryland. 
 John iii. 23. — This is rendered by our translators ; " because 
 there was much water there." But our brethren, afraid that 
 this expression should countenance the idea of immersion, 
 ♦allege that hydata polla, iidaia nolXu, would be more literally 
 rendered many waters, or small streams , as if the^e latter 
 words might have been given as the rendering of the Greek. 
 Thus it is insinuated, that though there were such saiall 
 springs as would suffice to give drink to a multitude of peo- 
 ple, or even to their cattle, yet they would never suffice for 
 the purpose of immersion. It is true that hydata polla is 
 plural, and denotes literally many waters, but that it does not 
 mean small streams is evident, from all other places where it 
 is used in the New Testament. It occurs only in the Reve- 
 lation written by this Evangelist; Rev. i. 15, "his voice as 
 the sound of many waters." Let this description of the ap- 
 pearance of our Lord be compared with the appearance of 
 the glory of the God of Israel, in Ezek. xliii. 2 ; Rev. xiv. 
 2 ; and xix. 6 ; where the united chorus of all the inhabitants 
 of Heaven is said to have been " as the voice of many waters, 
 and as the voice of a great thunder," or " as the voice of 
 many thunderings." That sound which resembles mighty 
 thunderings may resemble the sound of a cataract, or the 
 roarina of the sea, but cannot resemble a tiidding rill. The 
 same term is used respecting the Antichristian Harlot, Rev. 
 xvii. 1, 15; who sat upon many waters ; which are explained, 
 as the emblem of peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and 
 tongues. A representation not taken from such small streams 
 as a stranger could hardly find ; but evidently from the situa- 
 
160 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tion of old Babylon. Jer. li. 13. "O thou that dwellest 
 upon many waters, t^-c." 
 
 ^^^ Hydata polla is evidently a Hebraism, the 
 
 ' word for waters in that language being in the 
 _^ Dual form, wiiOT, and having no singular, always 
 
 is connected with a plural adjective ; as mim 
 ^ "'^ raJzwi, many waters, »jm cAoMWj, living waters, 
 ^"''^ mim adirim, mighty waters, mim cabirim, mighty 
 D"/int3 D'^a waters, mim tehurim, clean waters. The cor- 
 responding phrase mim rabim occurs often in the old Testa- 
 ment ; Ezek. xvii. 5, 8; and xliii. 2. Psa. xviii. 16. 
 " He drew me out of many waters," or small streams. — Cant, 
 viii. 7. " Many waters cannot quench love," small streams 
 cannot! — Psa. Ixxvii. 19. " Thy way is in the sea, and thy 
 path in many waters," the great waters. Psa. xciii. 4. " The 
 Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than 
 the mighty waves of the sea." — Isa. xxiii. 3. It is said of 
 Tyre ; " By many waters, great waters, the seed of Sihor, the 
 harvest of the river is her revenue. Let our 
 ca-i ca Brethren search if they can find an instance of 
 mim rabim being used as synonymous with 
 small streams." 
 
 A goodly parade of words ! — " voices — roarings — thunder- 
 ings — Cataracts — Seas — Sihor — Tigris — Euphrates, — "why 
 did not they add — " Burhampooter — Oronoko — Niagara?" the 
 addition would have been quite as much to the purpose, as 
 the other ingredients of the note. Happy fountain ! Happy 
 Enon .' ennobled by such mighty associations, by such mag- 
 nificent alliances ! But the nature of the fountain called Enon, 
 is a question not to be solved by verbiage. It is a simple 
 question of pure geography. Was there ever issuing from 
 one spring, a body of water forming many parts, in any dis- 
 trict of the land of Judea, in any locality accessible to John 
 Baptist in his travels, by which these allusions to the Tigris, 
 Euphrates, &c. may be justified ? or are they merely phan- 
 toms of Baptist ingenuity and fancy 1 
 
 Dr. Ryland has a thousand times enforced the established 
 maxim in logic — " Concerning that which does not exist, and 
 that which cannot be shown to exist by credible testimony, the 
 inference is exactly the same." Under the shelter of this 
 maxim, I affirm, in unequivocal terms, that there is no such 
 spring in existence ; there never was such a spring in exist- 
 ence, in any part of Judea, as the Enon thus described, and 
 thus illustrated. If a spring so copious were in existence, it 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 161 
 
 would be invaluable to the native inhabitants : the memory 
 of it could not have perished : it would be still in use : some 
 rumour of it would have reached us. Who mentions such a 
 spring ? European travellers have explored the Jordan, from 
 the lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea, with great assiduity : 
 which of them has ever seen this wonderful discharge of 
 waters ? Which of them ever gathered the most distant hint 
 of a phenomenon so mighty, so acceptable ? They have visi- 
 ted Scythopolis, or Beth Shen : or if Salim, as is probable, 
 be some miles further south — the wonder is so much the 
 greater, that a body of water so considerable should continue 
 unknown ; since hundreds of travellers have been within a 
 short distance of it. The French, at the time of Napoleon's 
 expedition into Syria, had a corps of horse at Beth Shen ; 
 and roamed the country down the Jordan : particularly ex- 
 ploring It on the west. Have they dropped the smallest hint 
 of a discovery so acceptable, especially for cavalry ? Not a 
 single word of any fountain answering to the Baptist Eiion. 
 Our whole information concerning this spring rests on the 
 authority of Eusebius, repeated by Jerom, who says in a few 
 words — it was eight miles from Scythopolis, south, between 
 Salim and the Jordan. This is the whole that appears in 
 Calmet ; of this thundering fountain, he knows absolutely 
 nothing. Since then it is unknown to our ablest Geogra- 
 phers, to our most adventurous and observant travellers, to 
 our most inquisitive men — I deny its existence: — according 
 to the character attributed to it by the Baptists. 
 
 Enon, by its name, imports a single spring ; " the fountain, 
 of On .•" but it flowed in several or many streams. There is 
 no difficulty on the word polla ; it clearly signifies many. 
 Nor ought there to be, on the adoption of the English word 
 streams : notwithstanding the determined opposition to this 
 very convenient and very innocent monosyllable. The Eng- 
 lish word, " stream,^'' is of very extensive import : it describes 
 the whole course of the Ganges, at its most extensive over- 
 flow ; the much narrower course of the Thames, as distinct 
 from the tide- way ; the progress of the sea, running thou- 
 sands of miles in the open ocean — as the ^M-strcam ; the 
 current of a rivulet, or the discharge from the spout of a tea- 
 pot. But on the subject under investigation, we want an ar- 
 ticle that we can reduce to the test of ocular evidence : we 
 want one on which the same Greek word has been employed, 
 as we find employed by the Evangelist John, in describing 
 
 14* 
 
162 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the spring of On. I know of but one such ; and that is the 
 fountain of Elisha, at Jericho. 
 
 In 2 Kings ii. 20 ; the elders of Jericho complained to 
 Elisha, " the water is naught," says our translation ; but the 
 words are plural in the Hebrew ; and the Gjeek rendering is 
 plural; idi vdata novrjqu, ta hydata ponera ; the streams are 
 evil. Now what says matter of fact to this ? Maundrell 
 shall inform us. " Its waters are. at present received in a 
 basin, about nine or ten paces long, and five or six broad : 
 and thence issuing out in good plenty, divide themselves 
 into several small streams, dispersing their refreshment to all 
 the field, between this and Jericho, and rendering it exceed- 
 ing fruitful. Close by the fountain grows a large tree spread- 
 ing into boughs over the water, and there in a shade we took 
 a collation, with the Father Guardian, and thirty or forty 
 Friars more, who went this journey with us." 
 
 Here we have ^' waters "" i?i good plenty ;" and it might 
 appear an unexceptionable rendering of the passage, to say, 
 in Bible language, " John was baptizing in the fountain of 
 Elisha, near Jericho, because there was good plenty of water." 
 But against this rendering, fair as it seems, we are barred, 
 by the plural form of the original : this good plenty describes 
 the water, while flowing in one body ; the Hebrew and the 
 Greek speak of it after its division. To represent the original 
 accurately, we must render : " John was baptizing at the 
 fountain of Elisha, near Jericho, because there were several 
 streams there." It is demonstrated, by this evidence, that 
 the Greek term hydata, imports streams : and as to the " 7nany" 
 — respecting water issuing from one source, the greater be 
 the number of streams into which it is divided, the more is 
 each diminished. Two are of less magnitude than one : 
 four, than two ; tight, than four, &c. Let the Baptists fix on 
 what number they please for this many, and let the argument 
 abide the consequence. 
 
 The present question is this — What was the magnitude, 
 and what were the powers and properties of the spring of On 1 
 Let an accurate geographical description of this spot be ad- 
 duced. Till then, I infer from what I do know satisfactorily, 
 that it is not safe to describe Enon, the spring of On, by com- 
 parison with the Euphrates, the Tigris or mighty thunder- 
 
 I.VGS. It is SINNING BY EXCESS ! 
 
 But after affirming that the words, vSaxu noXla, are evi- 
 dently a Hebraism, it is added. — " Let our brethren search 
 if they can find an instance of Mim Rabim being used as 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 163 
 
 s^Tionymous with small streams." I retort — " our Brethren" 
 have no farther to seek than the very first reference specified 
 in the concordance to the Bible, to annul this futile argument. 
 It is recorded in Numbers xxiv. 5, 7. 
 
 How goodly are thy Tents, O Jacob ! 
 And thy Tabernacles, O Israel ! 
 As the Valleys are they spread out, 
 As Gardens along the river side : 
 As Ahalim trees planted by Jehovah : 
 As Cedars by the water courses. 
 A stream shall flow around his suckers ; 
 And his seeds shall flourish in many streams. 
 mini rabim. 
 
 The Cedar is a mountain tree, the Cedars of Lebanon are- 
 far oflf from broad rivers, the Nile, the Euphrates, or the 
 Tiber. Moreover, the higher parts of mountains are precisely 
 the places where we look for " tinkling rills ;" — and if this 
 majestic tree, when at its full strength, might maintain itself 
 against the impetuosity of " great waters," how the suckers 
 growing around its roots, how the offsets taken from it, or 
 how its seeds, cones, in the instance of the Cedar, could resist 
 the velocity of roaring floods, must continue a secret to all 
 but the objector. However, supposing that the ^edar, a tree 
 famous for its strength, should be so fortunate; none canbelieve 
 this of that weakest of all trees, the Vine. Yet, of this clasper 
 by nature and necessity, the prophet says ; Ezek. xix. 10. 
 
 Thy mother was like a Vine, 
 
 Planted in thy levels, beside thy water courses : 
 
 She was fruitful and full of branches, 
 
 By reason of many waters ; mivt rabim. 
 
 Is a place, the confluence of waters, of great waters, a 
 place assimilated to Sihor, to the Tigris, to the Euphrates, 
 proper for the culture of the Vine 1 Can the feeble scion of 
 this feeble parent, almost a trailing plant, unless assisted by 
 some sturdy associate, possibly come to maturity, if exposed 
 to the dangerous action of violent streams ? Would they not 
 sweep it away in some overflow ? Small streams are most 
 suitable to the services required by the Vine, which naturally 
 loves a dry soil, and there it yields the finest grapes. 
 
 I close this part of the subject, by denying in express 
 terms, that there is now, or ever was such a place as the 
 Baptists describe. Who has seen those mighty waters ? 
 
164 MODE OF Baptism. 
 
 ANCIENT TESTIMONY. 
 
 In further pursuing the inquiry, our way divides into a 
 consideration of the primitive Hebrew Church, the branches 
 of which extended throughout Judea, Egypt, and Abyssinia ; 
 probably also eastward and southward ; especially south of 
 Jud(!a: — and of the ancient Church of Antioch, or the 
 Syrian Church Avhence the first Christian Gentile Church 
 extended its branches throughout Syria, Asia Minor, Meso- 
 potamia, Parthia, and into India. 
 
 HEBREW CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The Egyptian Church, being of Hebrew origin, retains 
 circumcision ; which it places before baptism ; but it baptizes 
 the children presently after circumcision. Simon Hist. East. 
 Churches. This seems to have been the order observed by 
 the Hebrew Christians generally ; circumcision being bound 
 to time ; but not so Baptism. From the question proposed 
 by Fidus to Cyprian, it may be conjectured, that many Chris- 
 tians in Africa adhered to this order of the rites. The 
 Deacons carry the children to the altar ; m here they are 
 anointed before baptism ; and this unction, they say, makes 
 them " new spiritual men." 
 
 The manner of Baptism among the Abyssinians, who also 
 practice circumcision, has been fully related in the instance 
 of Mr. Salt's Mohammedan Boy. The Abyssinians are a 
 branch of the Egyptian Church ; which is a branch of the 
 Hebrew Church. 
 
 the SYRIAN CHURCH. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain, the genuine practices of the An- 
 cient Christian Churches at Antioch. Wars and revolutions 
 have destroyed their authentic documents : but the habits of 
 that Church must be gathered from the practices of those 
 branches of it which remain so far as we know them. Simon 
 Hist. East. Churches. The Georgians and the Iberians 
 practice infant baptism in the name of the Trinity. The 
 Godfather baptizes the child ; the Priest reading the baptismal 
 words. Baptism is conferred by immersion, and about tioo 
 years of age ; and the child is anointed after the plunging. 
 They hold that this anointing is the principal part of the ordi- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 165 
 
 nance ; tlie Orientals in general call this unction " the per- 
 fection of Baptism." 
 
 " Baptism is administered among the Armenians ; Tourne- 
 fort's Voy. au Levant, vol. iii ; by immersion ; and the 
 officiating Priest pronounces the words, / baptize thee in the 
 Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; 
 and plunges the child three times in the water, in memory of 
 the Holy Trinity. Though our Missionaries showed them 
 their mistake, in repeating all the words at each immersion, 
 there are still many Priests who do it through mere i|liorance. 
 
 They baptize only on Sundays, if the child be not in dan- 
 ger of death ; and the Priest gives it always the name of the 
 Saint of the Day, or of him whose feast is to be the Day fol- 
 lowing, if there be no Saint for the Day, on which the Bap- 
 tism is celebrated. The midwife carries the child to Church, 
 but the godfather carries it home to the mother, with the 
 sound of drums and trumpets, and other instruments of the 
 country. The Baptisms which are administered on Christ- 
 mas-day are the most magnificent, and they put oil' to that 
 day the Baptism of such children whose state of health will 
 permit it. The most famous are principally celebrated in 
 places where there is a large pond or river. For this pur- 
 pose they prepare an altar in a boat covered with fine car- 
 pets : tliither the clergy repair as soon as the sun rises, ac- 
 companied by their parents, friends, and neighbours ; for 
 whom they provide boats fitted and adorned in the same man- 
 ner. Be the season ever so severe, after the ordinary prayers 
 the Priest plunges the child tliree times into the water, and 
 performs the Unctions." 
 
 The Nestorians or Chaldeans, whose Patriarch takes the 
 name of Patriarch of Babylon, are a numerous body of 
 Christians ; estimated at three hundred thousand families. — 
 They are spread throughout the east. They baptize children. 
 They use no Holy Oil in Baptism ; but they use it afterwards 
 as a kind of Confirmation. The Jacobites who inhabit the 
 same country, and say they take their name from the Apostle 
 James, practice both circumcision and baptism. 
 
 Dandini, Voyage au Mont. Liban, says — "The Maronites of 
 Mount Lebanon as to what regards the Sacrament of Bap- 
 tism, do not preserve in the baptismal fonts the water, which 
 has been sanctified on Holy Saturday, for this service, but 
 they sanctify it every time it is wanted, by reciting a series 
 of long prayers. They plunge the person receiving baptism, 
 tliree times into this water : or they throw a portion of it over 
 
166 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 him three times. They pronounce but once the necessary 
 form of words, and they give a name to the person at the 
 same time. 'I'hey use no salt ; and they anoint not only the 
 head but also the breast, with the palms of the hands which 
 they hold open. They anoint also the shoulders, with the 
 front and the back of the body, from head to foot ; although 
 in some of their books two Unctions are described, one before 
 Baptism, the other after it ; and this last with certain words, 
 which have the air of conferring the sacrament of Confirmation. 
 They Jlsured me that they do not use this second Unction, 
 and th It such books do not describe their true practice. — 
 The godfather does not hold the child over the font ; but the 
 priest having received him from the godfather, receives the 
 child into a large linen cloth." It should be observed that 
 Dandini was a Roman Priest sent by the Pope on a special 
 commission to this sect of Christians. He adds : " They 
 are accustomed to delay Baptism, whether from negligence, 
 or from any other cause, till the child be fifty or sixty days 
 old." 
 
 The true reason however why the Maronites defer Baptism 
 for fifty days is, because they consider th-^ mother unclean 
 during the time she keej^s her bed ; and the child would con- 
 tract ceremonial uncleanness, by remaining wnth the mother, 
 in that state, after having been ritually cleansed by Baptism. 
 
 Mr. Newell, the American Missionary, who visited the 
 Syrian Christians in India, in 1814, says : " I made particular 
 inquiry respecting the mode of Baptism in the Syrian Church. 
 I found it was affusion. In the administration of this ordi- 
 nance they mix cold and warm water together. When I 
 asked them the reason of this they seemed at a loss for an 
 answer, and finally said, it was because Christ was bap- 
 tized in a part of the Jordan where another stream met 
 with it. 
 
 " Respecting the subjects of Baptism, I made no inquiry, 
 as I supposed it was a matter of notoriety, that the Syrians 
 are pcedobaptists. Brother Hall, who conversed with those 
 same Priests when he was at Cochin, understood that chil- 
 dren were usually baptized at eigJd years old.'''' 
 
 Is it too much to conjecture, that those distant countries 
 to which Christianity penetrated, have retained the practices 
 derived from their forei'athers, more punctiliously than the 
 perturbed nations of Christendom ? They have been less 
 tormented with opposing opinions, and ambition has had less 
 scope for its operations among them, than among more ex- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 167 
 
 tensive communities and interests. A slight sketch of their 
 history may assist us in forming a judgment on the antiquity 
 of their rites. 
 
 " A certain Theophikis arrived from India very young, 
 among an embassy sent to Europe in the thirty-first year of 
 the reign of Constantine, A. D. 337. He returned to India in 
 the character of a missionary, A. D. 356, having staid nineteen 
 years ; during which his conversion, instruction, &c. took 
 place. His voyage was by the Red Sea, where he made 
 some converts. Proceeding to the peninsula of India, he there 
 found churches already established. This seems to be the 
 first mention of Christians on the coast of Malabar. Cosmas 
 Indicopleustes found them there, A. D. 540, and there the 
 Portuguese found them, in the latter end of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, on their discovery of India. 
 
 This church was of considerable standing before the visit 
 of Theophilus. Its liturgy was then as it is now, Syriac. 
 The Bishop, till within these few years, was consecrated by 
 the primate of Ctesijihon, the representative of the ancient 
 Babylon. The merchant fleets sailed in the times before 
 Constantine annually to that coast from Egypt. By some of 
 these, missionaries might easily proceed to India. This does 
 not carry up the date of Christianity in that country to the 
 time of the Apostles : though more than one of them or their 
 immediate disciples are said by good authority to have 
 preached the Gospel in India. I have met with mention of 
 a Bishop in India, about A. D. 180. They are called Chris- 
 tians of St. Thomas. — Kerr's Report La Croze. Eusebius. 
 
 GREEK CHURCH. 
 
 We come now to the Greek Church, whose authority in 
 favour of immersion is strongly pleaded by the Baptists 
 although they deny their testimony in respect of Pcedobap- 
 tism. Surely, if it be authority for one practice, it is au- 
 thority also for the other. It is impossible to account for the 
 " corruption^'' of the church in baptizing children, unless it 
 were an original injunction : -since no mistake could occur in 
 the language used to describe it in Scripture ; for this church 
 spoke the same language which was and still is the dialect of 
 their country. It is not possible to perceive by what process 
 they could " corrvpt" the gospel rite. 
 
 Nothing is easier than to perceive by what process they 
 varied immersion into baptism. They have done no more 
 
168 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 than take a part for the whole. This form of error is the 
 mildest possible ; whereas if they have substituted the bap- 
 tism of infants for that of men and women, that is the gross- 
 est possible form of error. It is the renunciation of a fixed 
 Apostolic principle, for the reception of a contrary principle ; 
 in direct violation of Scripture and Tradition, of their origi- 
 nal Churches, and of their best-instructed Fathers. Common 
 Charity is at no loss which side to take on this question ; and 
 Scripture and Charity coincide, 
 
 " Baptism is performed by Immersion. It is reiterated 
 three times, at each time plunging in the whole body of the 
 child, which the curate holds under the arms. At the first 
 Immersion he pronounces in his Language a Form of Words, 
 
 that signify ; Such a one the Servant of God, is baptized 
 
 in the Name of the Father, now, for ever, and in Secula Secu- 
 lorum." At the second Immersion he says, Such a one -— 
 the Servant of God, is baptized, in the Name of the Son, 6fC. 
 At the third, In the Name of the Holy Ghost. The god- 
 father answers every time, So be it. The parents do not 
 usually present the child till eight days after its birth. On 
 the day of its Baptism, they take care to warm a quantity of 
 water, and to throw into it flowers of a grateful scent. 
 After the papa has blown upon it and blessed it, pouring into 
 it some sacred oil, then with it they anoint the body of the 
 child so thoroughly, that hardly any of the water can dwell 
 upon it. They throw into a hole that is under the altar, all 
 that has been used in the ceremony. The Greeks so firmly 
 believe that sprinkling of water on the head of the child is 
 insufficient for Baptism, that frequently they re-baptize the 
 Latins who embrace their Communion. — Tournefort's Voy- 
 age, Vol. 1. 
 
 " The Muscovites have a custom if there are many chil- 
 dren to be baptized, that the Font is emptied for each child, 
 and other water is consecrated ; it being their persuasion, 
 that the former being soiled with the impurity of that Child's 
 original Sin, who had been baptized before, it is not fit to 
 cleanse a second, much less a third. They dip the child 
 three times, pronouncing the ordinary words." " Apostate 
 Christians, Turks, or Tartars, receive Baptism in a brook or 
 river, whereinto they are plunged over head and ears." — 
 Ambass. Trav. 
 
 The reason for this is evident. Running water has al- 
 ways been chosen for immersion. Even the Heathen pre- 
 ferred streams, as the Hindoos at this day prefer the Ganges. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 169 
 
 Hence the disciples of John say, he baptized in " living 
 water;" — the Jordan. Hence he baptized at Enon, because 
 there were many streams ihere ; and hence the Jewish priests 
 Avere so scrupulous, that according to Lightfoot, if the water 
 in their reservoir vessels had stood more than a few hours 
 without running over, they held it unfit for purification, and 
 drew fresh water. Nothing can more clearly express the 
 ritual cleansing of the person from guilt : and it is in the in- 
 stance of these Christians, a remain of that " putting away of 
 the FILTH of {\\e flesh," of that " waslmig of the bodies of be- 
 lievers in pure water," which was certainly practised in the 
 Apostles' time, previous to Baptism. We have something of 
 it among ourselves, in the cleanliness of the children pre- 
 sented for baptism ; and in the cleanliness of the mother, on 
 such occasions ; as the clean white dress anciently worn 
 after baptism, was a mark of a new life begun, and of putting 
 on the Lord Jesus in a way of professional holiness. 
 
 Hence, Baptism was administered under a variety of forms. 
 In some churches. Baptism did not supersede circumcision. 
 Elsewhere, the priest did not baptize the child. Some also 
 practised Trine immersion. In some churches. Baptism was 
 administered by immersion or by pouring — and the sacra- 
 mental words are pronounced once, or three times — but in 
 all those varying ceremonies the essential intent of the rite 
 is preserved'; because the subject of the ordinance is conse- 
 crated to the Trinity ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the evils and the superstitions which are 
 the natural consequences of accepting metaphorical expres- 
 sions, as valid arguments, and reducing them to practice, as 
 if they were literal propositions — yet the overpowering au- 
 thority of that which describes believers as " buried with 
 Christ in Baptism," is urged ; and disregarding the order of 
 the Apostle's words, and consequently the true bearing of his 
 aro-ument, planting is placed before baptisin : a demonstrative 
 proof that the meaning of the passage is not accurately un- 
 derstood. It is said of persons approaching the baptismal 
 water — " They are about to be planted together in the likeness 
 of his death, being buned with him by Baptism into death ; 
 and they hope to be planted together in the likeness of his 
 resurrection." What a jumble of incoherencies ! I will not 
 affirm that neither burial nor planting has any business here ; 
 but these terms, thus applied without caution or explanation^ 
 delude both speaker and hearer. 
 
 In reading the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, 
 
 15 
 
170 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 from which these words are taken, we find that in order to 
 impress on Christian converts, the duty and importance of a 
 holy life, after their solemn profession made, or in the ex- 
 pressive language of the Apostle Peter to convince them that 
 NOT the putting aioay of the filth of the flesh, but the stipula- 
 tion of a good conscience towards God is salutary ; Paul 
 uses three similitudes to denote more cfTectually the same 
 thing : what is rendered burial : what is rendered planting : 
 and crucifixion ; which all acknowledge to be unequivocal 
 death. Now these comparisons evidently increase in force 
 according to the order in which they stand ; we are therefore 
 obliged to accept the first in a degree of strength less than 
 the second, as the second is in strength less than the third. 
 To place planting if/ore burial is to violate the order of ideas 
 in the Apostle's mind ; and assuredly, to place burial before 
 death, crucifixion, is an inversion of all i)ropriety, alone suffi- 
 cient to convince us that such disorder cannot be right. 
 Burial after death all the world allows ; but death after burial 
 is unnatural, and equally unscriptural. 
 
 Let us examine the import of these words, and endeavour 
 to understand them by obtaining some fixed idea on which 
 to reason. In our English language, burial implied defini- 
 tive INTERMENT. So wc have " burial grounds ;" grounds 
 for definitive interment ; we have a public " burial service," 
 for definitive interment. In this sense, I deny that Jesus 
 Christ was buried. He was not definitively interred. 
 
 For what does the original word import ? David saw cor- 
 ruption, and was buried ; but the son of David saw no corrup- 
 tion, and was not buried, Acts ii. sruqi], in the same sense 
 as his father David was. We find this word rendered 
 burial, applied to our Lord, when a living man, in perfect 
 health, and going about according to his custom ; for we read 
 concerning Mary ; Mark xiv. 8. E^•^u(ftuaf^ov eig lov evTccq>i.aa- 
 fiov ; " she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burial ;" 
 which, if they would adhere to their own principles, they 
 ought to render " to anoint my body in the sepulchre." This 
 the Apostle John expresses, by saying, John xii. 7, mjatfiua- 
 fiii, " unto the day of my burial she hath kept this ;" it was 
 on the day of his burial she expended this ; but can our word 
 burial be correctly applied to a living man in perfect health ? 
 There is not the smallest pretence for annexing the idea of 
 definitive interment to that day : our Lord's sufferings were 
 at that time future. Nevertheless he calls it the day of his 
 sepulchral rites. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 171 
 
 But even in the case of dead bodies, we find the word 
 burial used, where common sense forbids its application. This 
 inadvertency misleads English readers. So we read. Acts 
 V. 6 ; that " the young men arose, and wound up Anamas, 
 and carried him out, edaipav, and buried him." They did the 
 same. Verse 10; sduipav, to his wife Sapphira : "They 
 buried her by her husband." The term burial used in these 
 cases, in the sense of definitive interment cannot be accepted. 
 
 What ! bury a man, definitively inter him, his nearest and 
 dearest relations not knowing of his death ! even his wife 
 remaining in perfect ignorance of his decease ! — Bury a 
 Avoman, too, 6y men! Contrary to decency! Contrary to 
 the custom of the country ! Contrary to the laws ! Contrary 
 to every thing human and divine ! Can there be stronger 
 proof that the word rendered to bury, must be taken here in a 
 sense very distinct from that of definitive interment, although 
 applied to persons no longer living. 
 
 Even in the parable of the rich man, who is said to be 
 buried, Luke xvi. 22 ; our Lord does not mean to admit of 
 the smallest interval between his death and punishment. He 
 died ; and while his body was preparing for interment, his 
 soul was in torment. 
 
 Every thing concurs to support the explanation given by 
 Parkhurst, in his Dictionary. He says, the word " includes 
 the \y\io\e funereal apparatus of a dead body. To prepare a 
 corpae for burial, as by washing, anointing, swathing, &c. 
 Matth. xxvi. 12 ; the instance of Mary anointing our Lord, 
 while living ; " She did it for my burial." John xix. 40 ;" 
 the instance of our Lord's body prepared by Joseph of Arima- 
 thea, and Nicodemus. 
 
 The Jewish ceremonies previous to definitive interment 
 were always reckoned strict and essential parts of their re- 
 ligion. The Jews have institutions to enforce them. They 
 cannot be omitted. Those who attempt it incur the greater 
 excom.muni cation. In our present inquiry, we need only con- 
 sider two : washing and anointing. If we examine how 
 far these preparatory services were applied to the dead body 
 of Christ, we shall find that in the nature of things, and accord- 
 ing to Scripture, he could not have been buried, definitively 
 interred. He himself had hinted, while living, that although 
 anointing was a customary funereal preparation, yet that his 
 body had received all the anointing it ever should have ; and 
 accordingly, the good women, his disciples, who " saw how 
 they laid him," went away into the city, and prepared spices, 
 
172 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 and ointments, and came in the morning early, that they might 
 anoint him ; but his resurrection disappointed their purpose, 
 Luke xxiii. 56 ; Mark xv. 47. 
 
 If this second step in the preparation for definitive interment, 
 ANOINTING, had not passed on our Lord, how could he be 
 definitively interred 7 If he were drfinilively interred, how 
 could the women expect to obtain his body, that they might 
 anoint it ? Who would disinter a body — to continue the pre- 
 paratory services proper before it was committed to the 
 grave ! What a contradiction in terms ! That our Lord's 
 body was washed, is evident; for the Apostle John says, 
 John xix. 40 ; it was " clothed in linen cloths" — which was 
 never done till after washing : and indeed, no body could ever 
 require this more than our Lord's body, for he had been 
 repeatedly baptized in his own blood ; his blood had been 
 poured out over him. 
 
 That WASHING was the first preparation for interment, is 
 evident from the instance of Dorcas ; Acts ix. 37 ; " who 
 fell sick, and died ; whom when they had washed, they laid 
 in an upper chamber." It was to such washing at death that 
 the Jews compared the ritual washing bestowed on their con- 
 verts ; that washing indicating ceremonial death in the party ; 
 because such washing indicated a state of natural death in 
 the body which received it, according to the custom of their 
 whole nation. In like manner our Lord's body was washed. 
 Moreover, as Dorcas was removed for convenience to an 
 upper chamber, so was our Lord removed to an unfinished 
 tomb in the garden. There was no time for more ; and 
 although spices were thrown over him, yet even this was in- 
 complete ; for the women who designed to anoint him, also 
 " brought spices." If then this preparation for intended em- 
 balmment was so strongly pressed for time, and therefore so 
 slightly executed ; if the second preparation for interment, 
 ANOINTING, had not been commenced, but was postponed, 
 and attempted on the third day after his being deposited in 
 Joseph's tomb, what argument can be founded on the delusive 
 use of the term " buried'" in our version, as importing the 
 grave in which his body lay ! Was he not truly and without 
 equivocation definitively interred ? 
 
 J^et us apply this view of the state of our Lord's body, on 
 which the sepulchral rites were begun, to the subject under 
 consideration. How was the baptism of believers assimilated 
 to this ? 
 
 1 , I answer : — Whoever was ritually united to Christ, 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 173 
 
 was baptized into the profession of his death, by that washi?ig 
 at baptism which " put away the fiUh of the flesh ;" — by that 
 washing, which all considered as importing death ; which all 
 esteemed a proof of death ; and which all took for death, and 
 called death. Such a person was conformed to what had 
 passed on Christ's body. He was not definitively interred, 
 for Christ was not definitively interred ; but he underwent 
 the ritual preparation for definitive interment, as Christ under- 
 went the mortuary preparation for definitive interment. The 
 resemblance is exact and striking. It gives also the true 
 import of this comparison — baptized into a conformity to that 
 preparation for definitive interment which had passed on 
 Christ ; washed from former sins and pollutions ; as Christ 
 Avas washed from natural defilements, and from the effects of 
 his sufferings. For Avhat purpose is this death ? — that we 
 might afterwards " walk in newness of life." The Apostle 
 reserves his particle of likeness for the proper action of bap- 
 tism, that which represented rising again, as Christ rose again, 
 to the glory of God the Father. 
 
 2. Although the Apostle does not describe the baptism of 
 converts as possessing any resemblance to the death of Chx'ist ; 
 yet he does describe what is rendered planting, as possess- 
 ing such resemblance, to express which he employs a signi- 
 ficant and specific term, 6,«otw,«aT«. 
 
 Macknight endeavouring to explain this allusion, says : 
 " The burying of Christ and of believers in baptism, is fitly 
 enough compared to the planting of seeds in the earth," &c. 
 How strangely ignorant are some learned men! Seeds are 
 NOT planted : they are soion ; and the Apostle speaks ex- 
 pressly and repeatedly of the body as sown in the earth by 
 definitive interment, when his subject related to a body so de- 
 posited ; then he employs a distinct and proper word, 1 Cor. 
 XV. 43, aneiQstai, to signify definitive interment, or sowing. 
 
 The proper sense of the term here used, we learn from 
 the Apostle James, in whose Epistle, Jam. i. 21, it denotes 
 ENGRAFTING. What is the process of engrafting ? — The 
 scion is wholly and entirely removed from the parent stock ; 
 — no longer draws nourishment, or influence from it ;— no 
 longer depends on that for vitality and progress, Rom. xi. 17; 
 but draws nourishment and inflnence from another root, de- 
 pends on another stem for vitality and progress ; and is wholly 
 supported by its new connection. Is not this the exact " sim- 
 ilitude" of Christ's personal state in heaven ? No longer 
 connected with this world by bodily ties ; — no longer partaU- 
 
 15* 
 
174 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ing of earthly food, or drinking of the fruit of the vine ; — ^no 
 longer subject to bodily inconveniences— to suffering, to insult 
 and to death : — He being raised, dieth no more. His resur- 
 rection is to glory — and he draws all his honours from the 
 blissful state and world : he is transplanted from earth to 
 heaven. In like manner, converts, heathen converts especi- 
 ally, at their profession of Christ, are transplanted into a 
 new state. Old things are done away, all things are become 
 new. Old connections are shaken off ; old practices are 
 abandoned ; old principles are disavowed ; old names even 
 are relinquished. The old man is no more. Instead of these 
 old things, the newly transplanted person draws nourishment 
 ►and influence from his new connection ; depends on his new 
 source for vitality and progress ; is wholly supported by a 
 new sap, and possesses a new life, to be dated and reckoned 
 from the day of his transplantation. " If, then, we have been 
 transplanted conformably to the similitude of Christ's death, 
 we shall be further, into that of his resurrection as the direct 
 consequence ;" spending the remainder of our time in godly 
 fear, and bringing forth the fruits of genuine piety. Col. iii. 1. 
 This resurrection is from the death of sin, to a new life of 
 holiness ; and is manifested on earth — not in heaven. 
 
 3. This sense is confirmed by the import of the third 
 simile, crucifixion, on the consequences of which the 
 Apostle reasons at length. Our old man is crucified with 
 Christ : — in order that as in baptism we professed death unto 
 sin, by undergoing a metaphorical death, washing, prepara- 
 tory to interment : — in order that as in transplantation we broke 
 off all connection with our former state — so in this cruci- 
 fixion, " the body of sin might be destroyed.'''' The Apostle's 
 purpose is one, though his similies be three. He exhorts, 
 that after baptism we should walk in newness of life ; that 
 after transplantation we should conform to the holiness and 
 resurrection of Christ ; that after crucifiocion, we should 
 " yield ourselves unto God, as those who are alive from the 
 dead, and our members as instiuraents of righteousness unto 
 God." These similies are three ; but the purpose of them 
 all is one. The last also is the strongest. The middle one 
 Ls marked Ijy the point of similitude ; the first is the weakest, 
 and preparatory to the others. They must stand prepared 
 for interment, transplanted, crucified. To violate their order 
 IS to wrong the Apostle. 
 
 We are now prepared to understand a literal version of the 
 argument. — '• How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 175 
 
 longer therein ? Know ye not that whosoever of us are bap- 
 tized, etg, to a profession of Jesus Christ, are baptized, eig, to 
 a profession of his death ? We are therefore prepared for 
 interment, diu,for the purpose of Baptism, sig, to a profession 
 of his death, *»■«, in order that in like manner as Christ was 
 raised from the dead, diu,for the purpose of the glory of the 
 Father, so also to the glory of the Father we should walk in 
 newness of life. So surely as we have been transplanted 
 together by similitude of his death, moreover, much more, by 
 that of his resurrection, we shall be. Knowing this, there- 
 fore our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin 
 might be destroyed, that we should not henceforth serve sin : 
 — for the dead is discharged from sin." 
 
 There can be no doubt that the resurrection after crucifixion 
 is intended for this life ; and that the resurrection after baptism 
 is intended for this life ; the inference is undeniable, that the 
 resurrection after planting must also be intended for this life. 
 See how easily by foolishly realizing a metaphorical expres- 
 sion into a literal proposition, Hymeneus and Philetus might 
 err concerning the faith, 2 Tim. ii. 18, saying that "the re- 
 surrection is past already," in baptism ! 
 
 The Latin term immersion, to an English reader, is not a 
 translation of the Greek term baptize ; — which Greek terra 
 sutlers extreme violence when forced into English by the 
 term plunging. I have shown, that the baptism by the Holy 
 Ghost descended — that the baptism of Nebuchadnezzar de- 
 scended — that the baptism received by the ancient Israelites 
 also descended — that the use of the word baptize by the Lxx, 
 stands opposed to the sense of plunging— \hdX the Hebrew 
 rite of washing was long prior to Christ, and was continued 
 in Christian baptism, with additions ; — as the Lord's Supper 
 was a continuation of a part of the Passover with additions ; 
 — that the additions to ritual washing were the true and proper 
 Baptism — i\\Ki Scriptiure enables us to distinguish between 
 the two actions of immersion and baptism — that the churches 
 which best understood the language of the New Testament, 
 it being their mother tongue, observed and perpetuated the 
 distinction between immersion and baptism — that the dis- 
 tinction between immersion and baptism obtains at this day, 
 and is still practised ; that this ritual washing, or cleansing, 
 resembling that always applied to the dead, recalled the idea 
 of mortal departure — while the addition made to it under the 
 Gospel dispensation, expressed and signified professional 
 holiness, a resurrection, a newness of life ; therefore, the 
 
176 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 general inference is, this ; whoever adopts IMMERSION 
 
 WITHOUT ADDING POURING, MAY CERTAINLY CLAIM ALL 
 THE CREDIT DUE TO THE REVIVAL OF AN ANCIENT JewisH 
 CEREMONY, SIGNIFYING DEATH ; BUT CHRISTIAN 
 
 BAPTISM signifying LIFE, THEY DO NOT PRAC- 
 TICE. 
 
CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 
 
 AS ADMINISTERED 
 
 APOSTLES AND EVANGELISTS, 
 
 PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 " DISTINGUISH THINGS WHICH DIFFER. 
 
 Of the hundred testimonies quoted from critics by Mr. 
 Booth, on the subject of Baptism, in his " Poedobaptism Ex- 
 amined," ninety-nine are repetitions or copies reducible to 
 the effect and power of one or two original witnesses. He 
 thus quotes Deylingius, who says : " So long as the Apostles 
 lived, as many believe, immersion only was used ; to which 
 afterwards, perhaps, they added a kind of affusion ; such 
 as the Greeks practice at this day, after having performed 
 THE trine immersion." Do the Greeks, at this day, add a 
 kind of POURING, after immersion ? — then they do not con- 
 sider immersion as the w^hole of Baptism but only as prepara- 
 tory to it ; exactly as their disciples in Abyssinia perform the 
 ordinance, and " perhaps" this they received from the Apos- 
 tles' days. But since Baptism has certainly undergone many 
 variations, what confidence is due to the Greeks of this day ? 
 How far may this '' perhaps" he converted into certainty? — 
 always supposing that the higher we can trace the evidence, 
 the nearer to the first century, the more effectually it justifies 
 our reliance. To which we add, that independent witnesses, 
 if possible to be obtained, are worthy of more than double 
 honour : their united testimony is credible in a much greater 
 ratio, than the testimony of each taken singly ; or if supposed 
 to stand alone. 
 
 Montfaucon observed in the Preface to his Antiquite Ex- 
 pliquSe, that we learn a thousand particulars from ancient re- 
 presentations, sculptures, &c., concerning points of classic 
 inquiry, which are not mentioned by any of the old writers. 
 Robinson, in his History of Baptism, introduced those ancient 
 representations of that Christian ordinance, which he con- 
 ceived might illustrate the subject. For these speak the 
 
180 EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 same language to all nations. They present no difficulty of 
 construction, nor variation of sense in particles or prepositions ; 
 the learned and the unlearned may translate them with equal 
 correctness, and with equal facility. They are vouchers 
 for the time in which they were executed ; and though we 
 cannot hear the men of that generation viva voce, and we dare 
 not put words into their lips, yet we may see their testimony, 
 and judge of its relevancy to the inquiry that engages our 
 attention. For these reasons, and in full reliance on their 
 authenticity and authority, the following subjects have been 
 compiled. 
 
181 
 
 I. BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 This subject is an ornament on the door of the great Church 
 at Pisa. From the shape of the characters it must be of very 
 ancient workmanship. The motto upon it is Baptizat. It 
 was obviously made for some Christian establishment. Ac- 
 cording to the tradition current among the Pisans, it was 
 brought from Jerusalem by their Crusaders, about the com- 
 mencement of the twelfth century. 
 
 16 
 
183 
 
 ir. BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN JORDAN. 
 
 This picture is taken from the Church on the Via Ostiensis, 
 at Rome. The outside is a plate of brass, covering a sub- 
 stance of wood. The figures are partly in relief, partly en- 
 graved. Some of the hollows are inlaid with silver. The 
 inscriptions are in Greek, with the motto — BAUTICHC. 
 
 The door which it covers is dated 1070 ; but the plate is 
 much older than the door ; and from the letters, it is mani- 
 festly of Greek origin and very ancient workmanship. 
 
185 
 
 III. JESUS BAPTIZED IN THE RIVER 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 introduced. The ordinance of Baptism is 
 represented as conjoining both Immersion and Aspersion. It 
 is rudely executed, and extremely ancient. 
 
 16- 
 
187 
 
 IV. BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN JORDAN. 
 
 This representation is the centre-piece of the dome of the 
 Baptistery at Ravenna ; which building was erected and 
 decorated in 454. 
 
 John the Baptist is drawn as standing on the bank of the 
 river, holding in his left hand an oblong cross, and in his 
 right hand a shell from which he pom-s water on the head of 
 Christ who is standing in the water up to his waist. Over 
 the Lord is a crown of glory, and the figure of a dove, sym- 
 bolizing the Holy Spirit. The rite of Baptism appears to be 
 performed both by Immersion and Affusion at the same time. 
 The name jordann is written over the head of the mytholo- 
 gical figure, which according to the custom of the ancients 
 represented that river. 
 
189 
 
 V. CHRIST BAPTIZED IN JORDAN. 
 
 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. 401. 
 
 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 ex- 
 panded wings, and emitting rays of glory and grace. 
 
191 
 
 VI. ANCIENT BATH. 
 
 In order to remove all doubts whether Baptism might not 
 be administered in the house of the person receiving it, by- 
 means of those baths with which every Roman family was 
 furnished, this plate contains one example of those articles. 
 Some of the baths were small and might be removed from one 
 room into another, for many purposes as well as Baptism. 
 In such a bath the Believers in the house of Cornelius might 
 have been baptized. The Philippian jailor having used 
 such a portable bath to wash the lacerated bodies of Paul 
 and Silas probably, " straightway" used the very same bath 
 for the purpose of " washing away Ms sins ;" and of afterwards 
 receiving Baptism in the name of the Lord.* 
 
 ' The bath represented above is still extant in the celebrated Baptistery of Con- 
 stantine at Rome near the Lateran. It was used for Baptism from the earliest times. 
 
193 
 
 VII. BAPTISM OF A HEATHEN KING AND QUEEN. 
 
 This picture represents the King and his Queen in a family- 
 bath ; and in addition to the immersion, a man in a military- 
 habit POURING water on them from a vase. In the original, 
 a number of attendants are around them, witnessing the ad- 
 ministration of the ordinance. This monument of sculpture 
 combines both this delineation and also that of engraving 
 VIII. ; and is found at Chigia, near Naples. From the dresses, 
 they are Longobardi, who received Christianity through the 
 influence of Theolinda, A. D. 591. The picture represents 
 the Baptism of Argilulfus the king, and Theolinda, the queen 
 of the Longobardi, who occupied Beneventum in the sixth 
 century. 
 
 17 
 
195 
 
 VIII. ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 
 
 This depicts two points of time. First ; the candidate is 
 seen kneeling down and praying near the bath of water ; and 
 a hand issues from a cloud above him, to denote the acquies- 
 cence of heaven in his petitions. Second ; Baptism is ad- 
 ministered by POURING WATER out of a vase on persons who 
 are kneeling on the ground, and not immersed at all. Either 
 then, Baptism was administered without immersion, hy pouring 
 only ; notwithstanding the convenience of the bath ; or those 
 persons had previously been immersed, and afterwards re- 
 ceived Baptism, as a distinct, subsequent, and separate act. 
 Either of these facts, and one of them must be the truth, cuts 
 up the Baptist system by the roots. 
 
197 
 
 IX. BAPTISM OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The boy is unclothed, and the ordinance is administered 
 by pouring. This representation shows that the present 
 Abyssinian mode of Baptism, as narrated by Mr. Salt, 
 anciently was extant among the Greeks as well as among 
 the Romans. For although this plate is at Rome, yet it was 
 the work of Greek artists^ in the ninth or tenth century. 
 
 17* 
 
199 
 
 X. LAURENTIUS BAPTIZING ROMANUS. 
 
 This representation is in the Church of Lawrence, extra 
 muros, at Rome. The jugs or vases are remarkable ; being 
 the same as in other pictures of far remoter antiquity. The 
 action of pouring is the same, and by an Ecclesiastic. 
 
 In the other Baptisms portrayed in Plates VII. and VIII. ; as 
 they were performed in an inconvenient manner and place, it 
 might be alleged, that the peculiar vase was adopted, because 
 there was not a better vehicle at hand ; but this objection does 
 not apply to this case, because Lawrence, the Martyr-preacher 
 is depicted as formally administering Baptism in a regular 
 Baptistery by pouring ! 
 
201 
 
 XI. BAPTISM OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE. 
 
 This is a representation of the Baptism of Constantine the 
 Great. The Emperor receiving Baptism is immersed in the 
 bath, metaphorically called the " laver of regeneration ;" and 
 Eusebius adds the proper rite of Baptism, by pouring water 
 on the Monarch's head. 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 We thus adduce twelve ancient examples of Baptism, all 
 administered by pouring. The number might easily be made 
 up lo fifty I while on the contrary not one instance of plung- 
 ing can or ever will be adduced. The numerous instances 
 of Baptism by pouring plainly show, that the action and atti- 
 tude of the administrator of the ordinance and of the person 
 submitting to the rite were constantly the same. Whence as 
 the uniformity amounts to identity, we learn that they are im- 
 plicit and unvarying repetitions of one original appointment. 
 On these representations of ancient Baptism in the engravings, 
 the antiquary Ciampini reasons to the following effect. In 
 these pictures we see Chirst immersed in water, and John 
 also POURING WATER On his head. This raises a doubt 
 whether Baptism should be performed by immersion, or by 
 aspersion, or by both. That the rite of Baptism was an- 
 ciently performed by immersion, we have the testimony of 
 numerous representations, and of various writers. 
 
 He proceeds to investigate the difficulties presented by 
 these testimonies ; which he reduces chiefly to, I. The person 
 who administers Baptism ; — who is a layman, not an eccle- 
 siastic. II. Baptism is administered by immersion, and by 
 aspersion. He concludes, after considerable argument, as to 
 the first difficulty, that all the canonists agree that in cases 
 of necessity, laymen may administer Baptism. 
 
 He proceeds to draw the following inferences on the 
 second point. 
 
 " It is beyond all doubt, that the first faithful were baptized 
 wherever convenience offered : — some in rivers, others in 
 fountains, others in lakes, others by the way-side, others in 
 the sea, others in private houses. The mode of Baptism also 
 differed, as is believed ; insomuch that if they were in a place 
 convenient for immersion, baptism was conferred by immer- 
 
204 BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 sion : if they were in a place where streams, fountains, or 
 other lesser waters were found, water was poured on the 
 head." 
 
 Some writers think that submersion was sometimes prac- 
 tised in baptism. The word first occurs in a letter of Alkwin 
 to iEdwin ; both being Saxons. They lived in the eighth 
 century. Trine submersion is alluded to by the same writer. 
 
 Ciampini sums up the whole in these words : " Baptismus 
 itaque primiliva in ecclesia, ut nuper exposuimus, uhicunque se 
 offer ebat occasio, celebratur ; nam in fluminibus ; infontibus; 
 in Mari Domi, aliisque in locis hoc primum ad salutis januam 
 minislrabalur sacr amentum." From the expressions used by 
 this antiquary, it appears that he had not arrived at any de- 
 terminate opinions on the subject of Baptism, as represented 
 by these compositions. He perceived their testimony and 
 acknowledged their competence ; but he draws his inferences 
 with hesitation and indecision. 
 
 It does not appear to have occurred to Ciampini, that these 
 pictures represent, as passing at the same instant, actions 
 really distinct ; because such was the necessity under which 
 the art of the painter or sculptor was confined. A moment's 
 consideration will demonstrate this ; — for the descent of the 
 Holy Ghost was not till after our Lord had come up out of 
 Jordan : yet in all these subjects it is represented as descend- 
 ing upon him while in Jordan : contrary to the moment of 
 time, and to the text. In like manner, the action of the 
 Baptist, pouring, is distinct from the prior immersion, though 
 consecutive on it. Neither painter nor sculptor could repre- 
 sent this action as distinct from the other, without employing 
 two pictures or two sculptures. 
 
 Here are five ancient and ecclesiastical representations, in 
 which our Lord Christ appears in the water of Jordan. It 
 is to no purpose to dispute about the power of the Greek pre- 
 position or particle : we have only to open our eyes, and 
 declare whether or not his figure be partly immersed in the 
 water. It is a question not of grammar, but of appeal to the 
 senses. This is immersion. 
 
 Although Jesus is in the water, yet John is not. Every 
 one of these representations, as also others instanced by 
 Robinson, places John on the bank of the river, but not in the 
 water. This is clearly consistent with Holy Scripture, which 
 never gives the least hint of John's being in the Jordan. 
 
 It follows demonstratively, that John, standing on the bank 
 and higher than Jesus, could not possibly plunge him. 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 205 
 
 Unless lie were in the water — which he is not — he could 
 not have sufficient power over the person of any one who is 
 in the water to plunge him. 
 
 Supposing it possible that John could have had power, not 
 being himself in the water, to plunge a person who was in 
 the water, yet it is clear, from these ancient ecclesiastical 
 representations, that he did not exert that power. He em- 
 ployed an action entirely different, and even inconsistent 
 with it : for after the immersion of the party, he administered 
 baptism, by pouring water on the head of the subject bap- 
 tized. This is the action of all the instances : not of those 
 representations only which may be attributed to the Latins ; 
 but of those wrought by Greeks, and for Greeks. There is 
 no room for equivocation here. The Greek letters prove 
 that they are Greek representations ; and their conservation 
 and dedication as spoils of war, mark their origin in a coun- 
 try far distant from Italy ; where their evidence on the subject 
 of Baptism was not anticipated. Arians and Othodox, who 
 agreed in nothing else, all attest to this representation. 
 
 These Greek and Latin workmen, with the Greek and 
 Latin ecclesiastics under whose direction they wrought, to- 
 gether with their churches, either believed that John's baptism. 
 was administered by pouring, or they were guilty of a con- 
 spiracy and intention to deceive their people ; by representing 
 this action as performed in a certain manner, when they knew 
 in their hearts and consciences that it was performed in a 
 manner totally different, absolutely inconsistent with 
 what they represented ; and nothing less than impossible to 
 be thus performed at the time, and for the purpose. — Those 
 may believe this who can. There was no purpose to be 
 answered by this flagrant iniquity. The wopkmen lived in 
 distant countries : they lived in distant ages : how then could 
 they combine ? Who "does not see in these distinct evidences 
 the UNIVERSAL conviction of the truth of the action, as here 
 represented ? — A more forcible appeal cannot be made to the 
 heart and judgment, by means of the senses. Every man 
 not stone blind — or not so blind as those who will not see, 
 must feel the force of this appeal.* 
 
 * I have followed Robinson through the very work that he selected 
 when composing: his "History of Baptism," and have re:>tricted my 
 examples to that collection. He notices the preceding representations ; 
 but he did not dare to bring their figurative evidence together: be- 
 cause their united testimony would completely have overturned the 
 Eapti.st hvpoihe?iis. 
 
 18 
 
206 BAPTISJIAL CEREMONIKS. 
 
 Let US review this part of the evidence, and show the 
 proper application of such testimony. If we inquire what is 
 the authority of the Church of Abyssinia, for administering 
 Baptism after immersion, and distinct from that action, we 
 must turn our eyes to the Greek Church who. says Deylingius, 
 practise affusion after immersion ; and if we examine further, 
 the engravings show, that both the Greek and Latin Churches 
 made a distinction between the actions of immersion and 
 baptism, in the eighth, the sixth, the fourth, and the third 
 centuries ; doubtless grounding their practice on the custom 
 of their forefathers as received from the Apostles, and strongly 
 indicated in the Scripture instance of Philip and the Eunuch. 
 
 Thus we trace the custom, by means of these evidences, 
 to the fountain-head of authority. Let it be supposed that I 
 have misconceived the instance of Philip and the Eunuch, 
 yet the Greeks understood their own language. They were 
 capable judges ; and how came they to establish this distinc- 
 tion ? — whence was their authority for this practice ? — Who 
 could enforce this innovation, if it had not the countenance 
 of Scripture ; and where is that to be found, beside the history 
 recorded in the Acts ? I rest my interpretation on the obvious 
 construction of Luke's words ; but I support it, by the consent 
 of all the churches, in the early centuries of Christianity, 
 from vihom it descended to their successors and their disciples, 
 and by whom it is maintained at the present day. 
 
 Of what avail, then, is Mr. Booth's would-be dilemma — 
 " Is there any text that requires pouring in opposition to immer- 
 sion. Has any passage of Sacred Writ been found that 
 enjoins pouring water on the face, head, in contradistinction 
 to plunging the whole body ?.... But if immersion be not re- 
 quired, in contradistinction to pouring, and if pouring be not 
 required in opposition to immersion : we should consider it 
 as a favour if an opponent would inform us what is required ?" 
 In answer I observe, that if immersion preceded baptism, 
 according to the evidences now produced, this mighty argument 
 is reduced to silence. 
 
 Mr. Booth's goodness was not in exercise when he wrote 
 such a passage as this : — " Whether Guise, and those who 
 follow him, imagine the son of Zacharias lo have used his 
 naked hand, a scoop, a squirt, a brush, or a bunch of hyssop, 
 I cannot say. The poet Gay has mentioned aiiother instru- 
 ment that is well fitted to sprinkle a multitude expeditiously ; 
 
 •• When dexterous damsels twirl the sprinkling MOP." 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 207 
 
 Whether this was the instrument used by John, we leave our 
 opposers to judge." This is not wisdom, if it be wit : and it 
 is not candour, if it be cunning. But what say the foregoing 
 Plates to this particular ? 
 
 From the small size of most of the subjects, I find it im- 
 possible to distinguish correctly that vehicle out of which 
 John POVRS water. Ciampini calls it apa/em ; I have thought 
 it a. shell ; but it may be a bowl. Certainly it must come 
 under the general meaning of the Greek word, /usjqov ; ren- 
 dered measure ; and the Scripture affords an allusion to it. 
 John Baptist was informed by his disciples that Jesus baptized, 
 and all men came to him ; John iii. 34. Part of his answer 
 is this ; " He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of 
 God ; for God giveth not the Spirit ex fiBrqa ; out of a 
 measure unto him ;" as water is given at baptism, by his fore- 
 runner, to those upon whom it is poured. This is fixed to 
 the subject of baptism, by the occasion of the story ; which 
 was a question or debate between the disciples of John and 
 certain Jews about ritual /^wn^cah'on. — That contention could 
 relate only to the addition made by John to the xadaqia^ovg ; 
 washings common among the Jews. The querists, no doubt, 
 attacked his new mode ; and his authority for this innovation. 
 To no other period of our Lord's life than his baptism could 
 those words spoken by John refer, in those early days of his 
 ministry, when he had as yet done comparatively nothing ; 
 and what but the action of giving could recall the Baptist's 
 mind to the recollection o{ giving out of a measure ? Every 
 one of the figures in the engravings, administering baptism, 
 holds in his hand what answers the purpose of, and in effect 
 is that measure : so that we see clearly in what sense the 
 water of baptism was really given out of a measure, io the person 
 baptized ; for a vase, or measure of capacity is a leading sense 
 of the word metron ; and such a vase is used in those repre- 
 sentations. 
 
 Unable to deny the authority, or the authenticity of these 
 representations, it is objected that they are not of the first, hnX. 
 of the third, or fourth, or fifth century. But this gives addi- 
 tional strength to their evidence ? For in the third, ox fourth, 
 and still more in the fifth century, the administration of Bap- 
 tism had departed greatly from its original simplicity. Met- 
 aphorical allusions had been multiplied — some Scriptural, and 
 others totally unwarranted. For instance — the baptistery 
 had three steps leading down to it. The person descending 
 was supposed on the first of these to renounce the world — 
 
208 BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 on the second, to renounce the flesh, and on the third, to 
 renounce the devil. — Then in returning ; he was supposed 
 to ascend ihe first step in the name of the Father — the second 
 step in the name of the Son — and the third step in the name 
 of the Holy Ghost. Many other " unscriplurals" also were 
 practised. In the subjects of the preceding representation 
 we see nothing of all this ; nor of any thing, the cross except- 
 ed in one of them, but the simple rite : for as to the angels 
 *' attending on the Son of Man," they are supposed to be in- 
 visible ; and as to the different forms of the glory and the 
 dove, they are subsequent to the act of Baptism. What could 
 induce those Greek and Latin artists from the remotest an- 
 tiquity to adhere to the one simple action ; to the unvaried 
 truth unadulterated by metaphorical allusions — in contradiction 
 to the taste of their times ; unless they had felt themselves 
 constrained by the unbroken consent of all Christ's disciples 
 to represent Baptism by this mode, as being " verily and 
 indeed'^ that to which their Lord and Master had submitted ? 
 The Baptists can neither evade the force of this truth, nor 
 can they answer this argiunent ! 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 As the practice of immersion ceased, converts from heathen- 
 ism gradually increasing, the conveniencies of Baptisteries 
 were changed ; so that now few traces of their original 
 accommodations can be discovered. Nevertheless, we occa- 
 sionally find hints which refer to them. John the Deacon, 
 in his lives of the Neapolitan Prelates, says of Vincenzio — 
 " Fecit Baptisterium fontis majoris, et accubitum juxta positum. 
 That accubitum I translate by the modern term vestry : and 
 then the passage reads thus — " He made the baptistery of 
 the greater font, and the vestry close by it.'" The mention 
 of the greater font implies the existence of a lesser font ; and 
 the vestry informs us where the priests and deacons might 
 wait, while the women were unclothed, receiving ablution 
 from the greater font, without any disparagement to modesty. 
 The soldiers who beset a Baptistery doubtless would assault 
 the vestry close to it. 
 
 Gruter has preserved this inscription — 
 
 HlC EST LONGINIANUS QUI FON 
 
 TES BAPTISMATIS CONSTRUXIT 
 SANCTI PAPiE DAMASI VERSIBUS 
 NOBELITATOS. 
 
 A. D. 394. Flavins Macrobius Longinianus fuit praefectus 
 Urbi. 
 
 " This is Longinianus who constructed the Baptismal 
 Fonts." Why axe fonts mentioned in the plural, unless as 
 in the foregoing instance of Vincenzio, there were both a 
 greater and a lesser font ? The inscription bears date in the 
 year 394, when Longinianus was the prasfect, the chief 
 magistrate of the city of Rome. 
 
 But some person may retort as an objection ; " Since those 
 smaller fonts were so useful, it may be regretted that none of 
 
 18* 
 
210 CONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 them have been preserved as evidences of the ancient prac- 
 tice." One however still exists in the Cathedral at Syracuse, 
 where it is regarded as of most venerable antiquity ; and in 
 my judgement, the fonts usual in the parish churches of 
 Britain are those portable fonts now fixed in one position. 
 Of the Syracusan font tradition affirms, that it is the very 
 implement used by their primitive Bishop Marcian. It is of 
 marble ; small and has two handles ; therefore was portable ; 
 but it has a broad foot, on which to stand steady ; and is about 
 twelve inches deep. This inscription is on the font — " The 
 dedicated present of Zosimiis, who devotes to God this Holy 
 Cistern for the purpose of Sacred Baptism." — The term KPA- 
 THPA, kratera, cistern imports a receptacle, from which 
 water or wine is distributed at festivals to many applicants. 
 This holy cistern doubtless was imitated in the me-te-mak of 
 Abyssinia ; which with other evidence proves the existence 
 of smaller fonts, at the same time with the larger at the 
 beginning of the fourth century.* 
 
 The only reason assigned by Antiquaries why this font 
 cannot be more ancient than the fourth century is this ; be- 
 cause no instances of Christian inscriptions importing gifts to 
 the church are known before that period ; but the correct- 
 ness of this inference may be doubted, for the Heathen much 
 earlier inscribed their gifts to their temples. 
 
 ANAeHMA lEPOY BAHTISMAroj 
 ZOEIMOY eE12A£2POi>vros 
 TON KPATHPA «y<ON 
 
 DoNARHTM Sacri Baptismatis 
 
 ZosiMi Deo Donum 
 
 Hoc Vas, sive, Hunc Craterem. 
 
 Siciliae Inscript Class 17. No. I.— Gualtheri Monum. Sicul.— Jac. 
 Phil. Tomasinus de Donariis, Cap. 43.— Paciaudi de Sac. Christian 
 Balneis, Cap. xvi. 
 
211 
 
 XII. JESUS CHRIST BAPTIZED IN THE JORDAN 
 BY JOHN BAPTIST. 
 
 This picture is in the small chapel of the Catacomb of 
 Pontianus, called the " Chapel of the Baptistery." Beneath 
 the portraits is painted one of those crosses, ornamented with 
 precious stones, called Gemmatas ; to the arras of which are 
 hung the symbolical characters of Christ, A and fl. — Arrin- 
 ghi, Roma Solterranea, Tome 1. 
 
 The Lamb is introduced in allusion to " the Lamb of God ;" 
 and as the sculptured delineations of many other Baptisms 
 have three angels, the single angel in this representation 
 proves that it is a work of the most remote antiquity. 
 
213 
 
 XIII. CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY 
 
 Internal view of the Chapel of the Baptistery in the Cat- 
 acomb of Pontianus, out of the gate Portese at Rome. 
 
CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 In the first ages of Christianity, that subterranean recess 
 was appropriated to the administration of Baptism. This is 
 witnessed both by the source of living water which is still to 
 be seen in it, and by the subject of the picture. 
 
 This is a subject of " great interest" — and occupies the 
 first place among the Baptisteries, as being the most simple, 
 and perhaps, the most ancient of these monuments. The 
 style of the paintings shows that they were added after the 
 place had been destined to this usage. 
 
 " It is situated at Rome, out of the Porta Portese : in a 
 place called Monte Verde ; there is still seen the bason of run- 
 ning water which served to administer Baptism in the ear- 
 liest times of the church ; from the first to the fourth century." 
 
 This may be considered one of the first Baptisteries of the 
 Christians ; as is evidently proved by the painting in fresco, 
 executed on the wall at the farther end ; the subject of which 
 is the Baptism of Jesus Christ. — This place was undoubtedly 
 a Catacomb of the Christians in the first century ; and also a 
 Baptistery from the very earliest period. The spring still 
 flows whence issued the water in which the converts from 
 heathenism renounced their idols. The basin cut in the 
 rock in which the converts stood yet exists, while the sacred 
 name and rite consecrated their transition to a renewed life. 
 How awful is this subterranean retreat ! This was the deposi- 
 tory of all that could die of holy martyrs, who held fast their 
 profession even in death. The Christian symbol still marks 
 where the sufferers rest in peace. An inscription thus 
 imports — **** " Who received the crown of martyrdom ." the 
 dust barely retains the form of a skeleton ; time having almost 
 obliterated its last remains. — **** " Who was decapitated ;" 
 the skull separated from the bones of the trunk, with the 
 guilty instrument by the side of it, tells the whole history. — 
 
216 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 The phial tinged with blood, half way up to another sepul- 
 chral monument, speaks louder than a thousand voices, that 
 the Christian whom it was designed to commemorate sealed 
 the truth of the Gospel by his death. 
 
 By examining the engraved illustrations at the commence- 
 ment of this description, we may trace some incidents of its 
 history. It was a Baptistery before it was a Sepulchre ; for 
 originally the walls of the small chapel which does not ex- 
 ceed six feet square were carried up to the ceiling ; Avhich 
 formed a narrow, cell-like, but complete room. 
 
 But when it was formed into a burial-place, the rock was 
 cut away from the upper part and a portion of the sides, 
 leaving the remaining part of the faces of the Baptistery pro- 
 jecting about eighteen inches. Those sepulchres were form- 
 ed at the time of persecution ; yet their inscriptions do not 
 exhibit any mark by which the date can be obtained. The 
 first persecution took place under Nero, A. D. 64 ; but it is 
 scarcely admissible, that Baptism was administered at that 
 period in any other place than private houses. There could 
 be no cause for subterranean privacy. The next violent 
 persecution at Rome was during the reign of Trajan, A. D. 
 107 ; and the Christians then must have found the continual 
 necessity of the most absolute secrecy on numerous occasions ; 
 for their " superstition,^'' as it was denominated, had been 
 embraced by many dignified persons as well as by a multitude 
 of other classes of the people. 
 
 The Baptistery therefore may justly be dated before the 
 latter end of the first century. If the reader will examine 
 the plan, he will observe a small recess of about two feet in 
 depth and width, just sufficient to hold one person only : — and 
 there undoubtedly stood the person Avho administered the or- 
 dinance. It could serve for no other use : and evidently 
 was cut for that purpose. It follows, that Baptism was not 
 there administered by plunging; but as the accompanying 
 picture bears testimony, by pouring on the head of the convert. 
 Yet this will not decide whether the convert did or did not 
 there receive a previous ablution. This Baptistery then 
 agrees with every instance known, in witnessing that the ad- 
 ministrator did not enter the water : and so far the conclusion 
 is established on the rock itself. 
 
 We cannot say as much for the sepulchres that may date 
 from A. D. 107, or A. D. 169, or A. D. 202. In 235 to 238, 
 a persecution raged ; and again in the year 257, in which 
 many churches built by Christians were destroyed. The 
 
CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 217 
 
 last was under Dioclesian in 305. Those Sepulchres then 
 ascend to the third century. The medium would place 
 them from about, A. D. 202 to 235. The rock is cut away 
 over where the picture is now placed ; and it was a custom 
 of the earlier Christians, to replace such ornaments, where 
 they had before existed.* The Painter of this baptism cer- 
 tainly was a Christian ; for to have employed any " Heathen 
 sculptor accustomed to represent Jupiter and Priapus," would 
 have placed a most dangerous secret in his power ; a secret 
 which reward, interest, loyalty, duty and religion would 
 incessantly urge him to reveal : which would have insured 
 the destruction of the whole family, or society, on whose 
 premises the private chapel was detected, with all the list of 
 the Baptized. The Artist might be a mere dauber, as a 
 Painter, yet an excellent Christian ; and that ansAvers every 
 cavil. The inferiority of his talents prevented M. d'Agin- 
 court, from strictly estimating the date of his performance. 
 It is bad, but not too bad for a Christian slave of the second 
 century : and of equal date with the conversion of this Bap- 
 tistery into a Catacomb. I have chosen this picture of Ancient 
 Baptism, because as an example it speaks for itself, beyond 
 controversy ; because it agrees with all other ancient repre- 
 sentations known ; because the action of the Baptist is clearly 
 that oi pouring : and because it is much older than any copy 
 of the Gospels now in existence. It is two centuries older 
 than those venerable Manuscripts, the Alexandrian and Vatican 
 copies ; and is one of the earliest possible monuments of 
 Christianity that can be now remaining. But it is not the 
 first of the kind. It is a repetition of an idea borrowed from 
 elsewhere, and may even be a repetition of a picture painted 
 in the same place, previous to its enlargement for a Catacomb. 
 The man who can contemplate this most venerable scene, 
 these holy remains, without feeling an awe stealing over his 
 spirit — who can realize to himself the horrors of persecution 
 raging in the world above — the ardour of a convert descending 
 with solemn alacrity to acknowledge a profession of the name 
 of Jesus, unmoved by the surrounding graves of parents — ■ 
 acquaintance — countrymen — perhaps deriving fresh vigour 
 from recollection of their fortitude and felicity, under excru- 
 ciating torments — determined through the grace of God to 
 
 • Buonarotti says, " There is a picture and a like history included 
 in the Baptism of Jesus Christ, in an ancient Baptistery in the cemetery 
 of Pontianus out of the Porta Portese at Rome." It was discovered 
 in 1687. 
 
 19 
 
318 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 live a new life, or to leave a dying testimony in his turn ; and 
 thus to verify the principle, that " the blood of the Martyrs is 
 the seed of the church :" — the man who can realize this 
 scene and remain unmoved, has little of the feelings of Chris- 
 tianity. He may be more orthodox than the illinformed who 
 uncovers his head, and in a paroxysm of admiration exclaims, 
 Sancte, Sancte, ora pro nobis ! — but he knows nothing of 
 Christian sympathy ; and nothing of the communion of saints ! 
 Yet in this very seclusion, where the light of day never 
 entered, where fallacious ornaments were useless and crim- 
 inal, where the congregation was composed of a far greater 
 number of dead than of living, where departed spirits, if 
 departed spirits re-visit this lower world, were the only wit- 
 nesses, and where God the Supreme, and the exalted Saviour 
 were all the objects that could he adored, there we find one 
 of these pictures. For what purpose was it placed in that 
 subterraneous vault, if not to instruct the administrator and 
 the convert, that thus their Lord himself was baptized in 
 Jordan ? — that duty led them to be thus conformed to this 
 part of the image of Christ ; that it became them " thus to 
 fulfil all righteousness ?" — This picture announces Baptism 
 as the beginning of the profession of Christ and the end is 
 denoted by the Crux Gemmata, the cross in glory ; which 
 with the A and /2, the Alpha and the Omega, points to that 
 better world, to which all who there were baptized, and all 
 who were buried there, directed their ardent wishes, their 
 sincere and steadfast profession^ and their deathless HOPE ! 
 
TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY THE PRECEDING 
 
 "FACTS AND EVIDENCES." 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Leviticus liv: 6, 16, 51, 
 
 -ff. 
 
 Genesis vii, 
 
 42 
 
 Leviticus xvi : 6, . 
 
 116 
 
 Genesis vii : 1, 
 
 33,87 
 
 Leviticus xvi: 14, 15, 
 
 134 
 
 Genesis ix: 21, 
 
 '33 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 
 Genesis xv : 1 7, 
 
 72 
 
 Numbers ix : 15, . 
 
 33 
 
 Genesis xvi : 2, 
 
 42 
 
 Numbers xvi : 27, 32, 
 
 43 
 
 Genesis xviii : 10, 25, 
 
 72 
 
 Numbers xviii : 11, 
 
 43 
 
 Genesis xviii : 19, 
 
 43,87 
 
 Numbers xviii : 31, 
 
 87 
 
 Genesis xxiv : 67, 
 
 33 
 
 Numbers xix: 11, 22, 
 
 133 
 
 Genesis xxviii: 18, 
 
 18 
 
 Numbers xix : 16, 
 
 133 
 
 Genesis xxx : 1, 2, 
 
 41 
 
 Numbers xix: 17, . 
 
 132 
 
 Genesis xxx : 3. 
 
 42 
 
 Numbers xix; 18, . 
 
 122 
 
 Genesis xxxiv: 30, 
 
 87 
 
 Numbers xix : 19, ; 
 
 133 
 
 Genesis xxxix : 5, 
 
 90 
 
 Numbers xxiv: 5, 7, 
 
 163 
 
 Genesii xl, 
 
 42 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 
 Genesis xli : 40, 
 
 90 
 
 Deuteronomy v: 30, 
 
 33 
 
 Genesis xlvi : 5, 
 
 88 
 
 Deuteronomy xii: 7, 
 
 87 
 
 Genesis xlvi : 6, 26, 27, 
 
 87 
 
 Deuteronomy xiv : 26, 
 
 87 
 
 Genesis xlvi : 26, . 
 
 87 
 
 Deuteronomy xv: 20, 
 
 87 
 
 Genesis xlvi : 27, 31, 
 
 42 
 
 Deuteronomy xxv : 9, 
 
 42,88 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 
 Deuteronomy xxvi : 11, 
 
 43 
 
 Exodus i: 1, 
 
 88 
 
 Deuteronomy xxix: 10, 1 
 
 76 
 
 Exodus i : 21, 
 
 38,41 
 
 Deuteronomy xxxiii: 24, 
 
 123 
 
 Exodus xii : 22, . 
 
 122 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 
 Exodus xii : 48, 
 
 82 
 
 Joshua iii : 15, 
 
 123 
 
 Exodus xiv, 
 
 118 
 
 Joshua iii : 15, 17, . 
 
 116 
 
 Exodus xiv: 19, . 
 
 . 131 
 
 Joshua v: 2, 7, 
 
 22 
 
 Exodus xiv: 21, 29, 
 
 115 
 
 Joshua viii : 3, 4, • 
 
 76 
 
 Exodus XV : 8, 
 
 131 
 
 Joshua ix : 23, 
 
 73 
 
 Exodus xxix, 
 
 18 
 
 RUTH. 
 
 
 Exodus xxxiv: 16, 
 
 15 
 
 Ruth ii: 14, 
 
 123 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 
 Ruth iv : 12, 
 
 44 
 
 Leviticus iv : 6, 
 
 . 122 
 
 I SAMUEL. 
 
 
 Leviticus iv : 17, . 
 
 122 
 
 1 Samuel i : 28, . 
 
 96 
 
 Leviticus ix : 9, . 
 
 122 
 
 1 Samuel ii : 3, 
 
 43 
 
 Leviticus xi : 32, . 
 
 122 
 
 1 Samuel ii : 11, . 
 
 96 
 
 Leviticus xiv : 6, . 
 
 116 
 
 1 Samuel ii ; 33, . 
 
 88 
 
220 
 
 TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Page 
 
 1 Samuel x: 1, 
 
 18 
 
 Psalm ex : 3, 
 
 20 
 
 1 Samuel xiv: 1, . 
 
 19 
 
 Psalm ciiii : 9, . 
 
 . 43,88 
 
 1 Samuel xiv: 27, 
 
 123 
 
 Psalm cxivii : 
 
 42 
 
 II SAMUEL. 
 
 
 Psalm cxxviii : 3, 
 
 41 
 
 2 Samuel v : 11, 29, 
 
 41 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 
 2 Samuel rii: 11, 16, 
 
 43 
 
 Proverbs vi : 31, • 
 
 90 
 
 2 Samuel vii: 16, 18,25,29, 
 
 88 
 
 CANTICLES. 
 
 
 2 Samuel vii : 27, . 
 2 Samuel xii : 8. . 
 
 41 
 90 
 
 Canticles viii : 7, • 
 
 90 
 
 2 Samuel xii: 11, . 
 
 43 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 
 I KINGS. 
 1 Kings vii: 1,6,8,9. . 
 
 33 
 
 Isaiah vii : 15, 
 Isaiah xi : 15, 
 Isaiah xiii : 16, 
 
 146 
 118 
 43 
 
 1 Kings xi : 38, . 
 
 41 
 
 88 
 90 
 
 Isaiah xxi : 4, 
 
 128 
 
 1 Kings xiii : 2, . 
 1 Kings xiii : 8, . 
 
 Isaiah xxiii : 3, 
 
 . 160 
 
 1 Kings xvii : 8, 16, 
 
 42 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 
 1 Kings xviii: 32,35, . 
 
 132 
 
 Jeremiah iii : 14, . 
 
 52 
 
 II KINGS. 
 
 
 Jeremiah xvi : 14, 
 
 33 
 
 2 Kings ii : 19, . 
 2 Kings iii ill,. 
 
 162 
 
 Jeremiah xxxv : 4, 
 
 33 
 
 116 
 
 Jeremiah xxxvi: 10, 12, 
 
 20, 21, 33 
 
 2 Kings v: 14, 
 
 116 
 
 Jeremiah li : 13, . 
 
 33 
 
 2 Kings viii : 15, . 
 
 123 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 
 2 Kings x: 1, 5, . 
 
 87 
 
 Ezekiel iv : 6, 
 
 92 
 
 2 Kings li : 17, • 
 
 77 
 
 Ezekiel xvii : 5, 8, 
 
 . 160 
 
 2 Kings xxiii : 8, 13, 
 
 33 
 
 Ezekiel xii : 10, . 
 
 . 163 
 
 I CHRONICLES. 
 
 
 Ezekiel xxiii : 15, 
 
 127 
 
 I Chronicles ii : 10, 
 
 33 
 
 Ezekiel xxxii : 14, 
 
 33 
 
 1 Cbronicles xvii : 23—25, 
 
 41,88 
 
 Ezekiel xliii : 2, . 
 
 159 
 
 1 Chronicles xxix : 19, . 
 
 33 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 
 II CHRONICLES. 
 
 
 Daniel iv : 23, 25, 33, 
 
 115 
 
 2 Chronicles xxi : 17, 
 
 90 
 
 Daniel iv : 33, 
 
 . 132 
 
 2 Chronicles xxiii : 16, . 
 
 77 
 
 Daniel v : 21, 
 
 115 
 
 2 Chronicles xxxi : 14, . 
 
 75 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 
 EZRA. 
 
 
 Amos iii : 1, 
 
 33 
 
 Ezra X : 3-14, . 
 
 16 
 
 ZEPHANIAH. 
 
 
 NEHEMIAH. 
 
 
 Zephaniah 1:9, . 
 
 33 
 
 Nehemiah ix : 11 . 
 
 115 
 
 MATTHEW. 
 
 
 ESTHER. 
 
 
 Matthew ii : 11, 
 
 31 
 
 Esther viii : 17, . 
 
 73 
 
 Matthew iii: 8, 
 
 142 
 
 JOB. 
 
 
 Matthew iii : 11, . 
 
 112 
 
 Jobix : 21, 
 
 116 
 
 Matthew ix : 6, 
 
 32 
 
 Job IX : 28, 
 
 43 
 
 Matthew X : 42, . 
 
 18 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 
 Matthew xi : 12, . 
 
 20 
 
 Psalm xviii : 16, . 
 
 160 
 
 Matthew xiii : 56, . 
 
 50 
 
 Psalm 1:5, 
 
 72 
 
 !Vratthew xviii : 3, 
 
 17 
 
 Psalm Ixviii : 6, . 
 
 43 
 
 Matthew xix : 13, 
 
 . 17,77 
 
 Psalm Ixviii: 23, . 
 
 123 
 
 Matthew xxi : 15, . 
 
 18 
 
 Psalm Ixxvii : 18, 
 
 160 
 
 Matthew xxiii : 14, 
 
 32 
 
 Psalm Ixxxiv : 3, . 
 
 30 
 
 Matthew xxiv : 17, 
 
 33 
 
 Psalm xciii : 4, . 
 
 160 
 
 Matthew xxvi : 12, 
 
 171 
 
 Psalm civ : 17, • 
 
 30 
 
 Matthew xxvi : 23, 
 
 111 
 
 Psalm cv : 21, 
 
 90 
 
 Matthew xxviii : 19, 
 
 . 20,86 
 
TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Mark 
 
 i : 
 
 4, 
 
 Mark 
 
 1:8/ 
 
 Mark 
 
 ii : 
 
 11, 
 
 Mark 
 
 ii : 
 
 42, 
 
 Mark 
 
 vi : 
 
 3, 
 
 Mark 
 
 vii 
 
 : 4, 
 
 Mark 
 
 vii 
 
 : 4, 8, . 
 
 Mark 
 
 vii 
 
 :8, 
 
 Mark 
 
 X : 
 
 13. 
 
 Mark 
 
 X : 
 
 16, 
 
 Mark 
 
 X : 
 
 38, 39, . 
 
 Mark 
 
 xii 
 
 : 40, 
 
 Mark 
 
 xii 
 
 : 15, 
 
 Mark 
 
 xiv 
 
 : 8, 
 
 Mark 
 
 xiv 
 
 : 20, . 
 
 Mark 
 
 XV 
 
 : 47, 
 
 LUKE 
 
 Luke 
 
 i : 27, 
 
 Luke 
 
 ii : 
 
 42, 
 
 Luke 
 
 iii : 
 
 3, 
 
 Luke 
 
 iii : 
 
 11, 
 
 Luke 
 
 iii : 
 
 16, 
 
 Luke 
 
 V : 
 
 24, 
 
 Luke 
 
 vii 
 
 : 44, 
 
 Luke 
 
 viii 
 
 : 42, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xi -. 
 
 38, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xii 
 
 : 50, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xvi 
 
 : 16, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xvi 
 
 : 22, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xvi 
 
 : 24, 
 
 Luke 
 
 xvi 
 
 i:3 , 
 
 Luke 
 
 xviii : 15, 
 
 Luke 
 
 XX 
 
 : 47, 
 
 Luke xxiii : 56, . 
 
 Luke 
 
 XXIV : 49, 
 
 
 
 JOHN 
 
 John 
 
 I : 29-34, . 
 
 Johu 
 
 i: 32, 
 
 John 
 
 i: 33. 
 
 John 
 
 iii : 
 
 5, 
 
 John 
 
 ii : 
 
 23, 
 
 John 
 
 iii : 
 
 25, 
 
 John 
 
 iii : 
 
 34, 
 
 John 
 
 iv : 
 
 53, 
 
 John 
 
 viii 
 
 : 35, 
 
 John 
 
 xii 
 
 ■ ". 
 
 John 
 
 xii 
 
 23, 
 
 John 
 
 xiii 
 
 : 10, 11, 
 
 John 
 
 xiii 
 
 : 26, 
 
 John 
 
 xiv 
 
 : 2, 
 
 John 
 
 xix 
 
 : 40, 
 
 John 
 
 xxi 
 
 : 15, 
 
 Page 
 
 80 
 112 
 32 
 78 
 19 
 131 
 111 
 131 
 17 
 77 
 126 
 32 
 33 
 170 
 111 
 172 
 
 33 
 78 
 80 
 142 
 112 
 32 
 
 no 
 
 78 
 115 
 126 
 20 
 171 
 111 
 33 
 77 
 32 
 172 
 112 
 
 142 
 
 113 
 
 85 
 
 80 
 
 159 
 
 116 
 
 207 
 
 50 
 
 87 
 
 170 
 
 173 
 
 131 
 
 111 
 
 32 
 
 172 
 
 78 
 
 221 
 
 Paga 
 
 ACTS. 
 
 Acts i : 5, 
 Acts i : 13, 
 Acts ii : 2, 
 Acts ii : 2, 17, 
 Acts ii : 35, 
 Acts ii : 38, 
 Acts iv : 27, 
 Acts V : 6, 10, 
 Acts vii : 10, 
 Acts viii : 16, 
 Acts viii : 36—38, 
 Acts ix : 17, 
 Acts ix : 23, 
 Acts ix : 27, 
 Acts ix : 37, 
 Acts X : 1 , 5, 6, 
 Acts x : 10, 
 Acts X : 14. 44, 
 Acts X ; 38, 
 Acts X : 44, 
 Acts X : 45, 
 Acts X : xi. 
 Acts X : 
 Acts xi. 
 Acts XI : 
 Acts xi : 
 Acts xi : 
 Acts xi 
 Acts xi 
 Acts xi 
 
 Acts xi : 17, 
 
 xi : XV, 
 
 11, 12, 13 
 
 11, 17, 
 12, 
 
 12, 13. 
 14, 
 15, 
 
 Acts xii : 
 
 Acts XV, 
 
 Acts XV 
 
 Acts XV 
 
 Acts XV 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts XVI 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi 
 
 Acts xvi : 40,' 
 
 Acts xviii : 8, 
 
 Acts xix : 3, 
 
 Acts XX : 6, 
 
 Acts xxi : 'iO, 21, 
 
 Acts xxii : 16, 
 
 Acts xxvi : 10, 
 
 12, 
 
 1—5, 6, 
 
 8, 
 
 10, 
 
 : S' 10, 
 
 : 15, 
 
 : 16, 
 
 : 28, 
 
 : 31, 32, 
 
 : 33, 
 
 : 34, 
 
 19* 
 
222 
 
 TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Page 
 
 ROMANS. 
 Romans vi, 
 Romans vi : 3 — 5, 
 Romans xi : 17, 
 Romans liii : 14, . 
 Romans xiv : 15, . 
 Romans xv : 25, • 
 Romans xvi : 1, 
 Romans xn : 3, 5, 
 Romans xvi : 10, 11, 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 1 Corinthians i : 14 — 16, 
 
 1 Corinthians i : 16, 
 1 Corinthians iv : 17, 
 1 Corinthians v : 7, 8, 
 1 Corinthians v : 8, 
 1 Corinthians vi : 11, 
 1 Corinthians vii : 12, 13, 
 1 Corinthians vii : 14, 17, 
 1 Corinthians vii : 16, 
 1 Corinthians vii : 29, 
 1 Corinthians x : 2, 
 1 Corinthians xi : 2, 
 I Corinthians xv : 43, 
 1 Corinthians xvi : 10, 
 1 Corinthians xvi : 15, 
 1 Corinthians xvi : 15, 16, 
 
 1 Corinthians xvi : 19, 
 
 II CORINTHIANS 
 
 2 Corinthians 1 : 21, 
 2 Corinthians vi : 15, 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 Galatians iv : 9, • 
 Galatians iv : 28, 30, 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 Ephesians i : 1, 
 -^ ■ - ■ 13, . 
 
 11, . 
 
 19, . 
 19,21, 
 5, . 
 21, . 
 24, . 
 26, . 
 
 Ephesians 
 Ephesians u 
 Ephesians ii ; 
 Ephesians ii : 
 Ephesians iv 
 Ephesians iv 
 Ephesians iv 
 Ephesians v : 
 Ephesians vi : 4, . 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 Philippians, iii : 3, 
 Philippians, iii : 6, 
 Philippians, iv : 22, 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 Colossians i : 2, 
 Colossi ans ii : 11, . 
 
 Colossians ii : 11, 
 Colossians iii : 1, 
 Colossians iv : 9, 
 Colossians iv : 15, 
 
 II THESSALONIANS 
 2 Thessalonians ii : 15, 
 2 Thessalonians iii : 6, 
 
 I TIMOTHY. 
 I Timoihy iii : 4, . 
 1 Timothy iii: 6, . 
 1 Timothy iii: 11, 
 1 Timothy iii : 12, , 
 1 Timothy iv : 12, 
 1 Timoihy v : 4, ; 
 1 Timothy v : 14, . 
 1 Timothy v : 16, . 
 
 1 Timothy vi : 2, 
 
 II TIMOTHY 
 
 2 Timothy i : 16, . 
 ^, ,2 Timothy i : 16, 18, 
 -J 2 Timothy li : 2, . 
 
 11^|2 Timoihy ii : 18, . 
 24 12 Timothy ii : 20 . 
 1 '-^2 Timothy iii : 15, 
 2 Timothy iv : 19, 
 
 TITUS. 
 Titus i : 6, . 
 Titus i: 10, 
 Titus i: 11, 
 Titus iii : 5, 
 Titus iii : 6, 
 
 PHILEMON. 
 Philemon 2, 
 
 HEBREWS. 
 Hebrews vi : 1, 2, . 
 Hebrews vi : 2, 
 113 Hebrews ix : 6, 
 110 Hebrews ix : 10, • 
 30 Hebrews ix : 13, . 
 42 Hebrews ix : 14, . 
 136 Hebrews X : 22, . 
 
 /3 
 
 63 
 
 52, 60 
 
 61 
 
 101 
 
 99 
 
 99 
 146 
 142 
 
 21 
 
 66 
 74 
 37 
 
 99 
 70, 110 
 
 Hebrews x : 32, . 
 Hebrews xi : 7, 
 
 JAMES. 
 James i : 21, 
 
 I PETER. 
 
 1 Peter i : 
 1 Peter ii : 
 1 Peter iii 
 1 Peter iii 
 1 Peter iii 
 1 Peter v : 
 
 12, 
 
 4,5, 
 : 1, 
 : 20, 
 
 21, 
 13. 
 
TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 223 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 Page 
 
 n PETER. 
 
 
 Revelation ii : 17, . 
 
 92 
 
 2 Peter i : 15, 
 
 25 
 
 Revelation liii : 1, 
 
 92 
 
 I JOHN. 
 1 John ii : 12, 
 
 
 Revelation xiv • 1, 
 
 92 
 
 78 
 19 
 
 Revelation xiv : 2, 
 Revelation xvii : 1, 15, 
 
 159 
 159 
 
 1 John ii : 27, 
 
 Revelation xvii : 3, 
 
 92 
 
 REVELATION. 
 
 
 Revelation xvii : 14, 
 
 99 
 
 Revelation i : 8, . 
 
 91 
 
 Revelation xix : 6, 
 
 159 
 
 Revelation i : 15, . 
 
 159 
 
 Revelation xix : 13, 
 
 . Ill 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abiding, 
 
 Abrahamic Covenant, 
 
 Abraham's '' House," 
 
 Abyssinia, 
 
 Abyssinian Boy, 
 
 Adult Circumcision, 
 
 Affusion, 
 
 Ages of Life, 
 
 Anabaptism, 
 
 Ananias and Sapphira 
 
 Ancient Baptism, 
 
 " Baptisteries, 
 
 '• Testimony, 
 Anointing, 
 Anointing at Baptism 
 Apostolic Baptism, 
 Appellatives, 
 
 " Faithful," 
 " Holy," 
 
 " "NeophytoS; 
 
 Aquila, 
 Arabs, 
 
 Argument entire, 
 Ari&tobulus, 
 Aristotle's " House," 
 
 '• Testimony, 
 
 Arringhius, 
 
 B. 
 
 114 
 72 
 43 
 144 
 145 
 
 137 
 171 
 166 
 209 
 164 
 114, 171 
 146 
 
 Baptismal Ceremonies, . 
 Fonts, 
 '' Resemblances, 114, 
 
 Baptism and Circumcision, 
 " " Immersion, 
 '' by the Syrians, 
 " consecration to the 
 Trinity, 
 
 Baptism divided, 
 " eighth day 
 
 Page, Page 
 
 Baptism explained, . 114 
 
 I " for Circumcision, 66 
 
 " illustrated, . 177 
 
 " instituted, . 19 
 
 " of a boy, . 144 
 
 " of Children in the 
 
 first centuries, • 70 
 
 73 Baptism of Children not a 
 
 130 " new affair," . . 77 
 
 82 Baptism of Families, . 84 
 
 '• Gentiles, . 70 
 
 " Holy Ghost, . 114 
 
 " "Households," 60 
 
 " Infants, . 107 
 
 " John, . . 84 
 
 " Light, . 84 
 
 " persons naked, 149 
 
 lOtBanrKTixos, . HI 
 
 97jBaptisms under the Law, 134 
 98 Baptism teaches the Trinity, 86 
 
 971 " the mode, . 109 
 
 104i " " subjects, . 13 
 
 161 Baptisteries, • • 209 
 
 46Ba7rrw, . • HI 
 
 14 Biel on Oikos, . • 33 
 
 53 Bird Baptized, . • 116 
 
 39 Bishops, . • 48 
 
 87 Booth's Sophism, . 14 
 
 Bpefoi, . . 77 
 
 Brethren at Philippi • 59 
 
 Brother's widow, . 42 
 
 Building a " House," . 42 
 
 Buonarotti on Baptism, 152 
 
 Burial, . • 170 
 
 " of Christ, . 172 
 
 " Buried in Baptism," . 170 
 
 C. 
 
 108 Carthage Council, 
 142Casaubon, 
 71 Celsus' Ignorance, 
 
 71 
 
 158 
 
226 
 
 Page 
 
 215 
 
 77 
 
 17 
 
 55 
 
 " Chapel of the Baptbtry,' 
 
 Childhood. 
 
 Children and Christ 
 
 " of Proselytes, . 
 
 " weaned, 
 Christian Baptism, 
 Christianity, 
 Christian Symbols, 
 Christ's Burial, . 
 Chrysostom, 
 Church at Corinth, 
 
 " Jerusalem, 
 
 " Philippi, 
 
 " Membership of Chil- 
 dren, . : 
 Ciampini on Baptism, . 
 Cicero's Evidence, 
 Circumcision, 
 
 " and Baptism, 
 
 " mark of obedi- 
 
 ence, . 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, 
 " Coming," 
 Consecration to Christ, . 
 
 the Trinity, 86, 108 
 Construction of Baptisteries, '209, 
 Contemporaries of Origen's 
 
 Family, 
 Cornelius, 
 
 Corresponding Terms, . 
 Council of Carthage, 
 Covenant of Circumcision, 
 " Cradle-Child," 
 Crispus, . 
 Crucifixion, 
 Cyprian, . 
 
 177 
 67 
 90 
 
 172 
 71 
 61 
 69 
 52 
 
 96 
 203 
 36 
 66 
 83 
 
 73 
 92 
 113 
 
 18 
 
 27 
 51 
 
 116 
 71 
 72 
 82 
 53 
 
 174 
 43, 137 
 
 Daciana, Deaconess, 
 Dathan and Abiram, 
 Deaconesses, 
 Deacons, 
 Dead washed, 
 Definition by Baptists, 
 Definitive Interment, 
 Deylingius, 
 Dipping, . 
 Disciples of John, 
 Distinction of Meats, 
 Distribution of Ages, 
 " Divers Baptisms," 
 Division of Baptism, 
 Doctrine of Baptisms, 
 Doddridge on Stephanas 
 
 ■' Domus,' 
 Dorcas, . 
 
 Page 
 35 
 172 
 
 Early opinions, . . 74 
 
 Ebionites, . , 86 
 
 Egyptian Church, . 164 
 
 E/iffaTTTU), . . Ill 
 
 Engrafting, . . 173 
 
 Engravings, . , 179 
 
 I. Baptism of Jesus Christ, 181 
 
 II. Baptism of Jesus Christ 
 
 in Jordan, . . 183 
 
 III. Jesus baptized in Jordan, 185 
 
 IV. Baptism of Christ " 187 
 
 V. Christ baptized " 189 
 
 VI. Ancient Bath, . 191 
 
 VII. Baptism of King and 
 aueen, . . 193 
 
 VIII. Administration of 
 
 Baptism, . 195 
 
 IX. Baptism outside of the 
 Church, . . 197 
 
 X. Laurentius baptizing Ro- 
 manus, . . 199 
 
 XI. Baptism of Constantine, 201 
 
 XII. " Christ in 
 Jordan, . . 211 
 
 XIII. Chapel of the Baptis- 
 tery, . . 213 
 
 Ennn, , • . 159 
 
 Epiphanus, . . 86 
 
 Ethiopia, • . 144 
 
 Eucharist, . . 145 
 
 Eunuch and Philip, . 143 
 Eusebius, . . 34, 103 
 
 Expressions of Scripture, 113 
 
 F. 
 
 Faithful," title of children, 
 Falling," 
 Family, . 
 
 Feelings for Children, 
 Fidus on Baptism, 
 " Filling," 
 First Christians, 
 118 122 f^^'^^s as Symbols, 
 84^''^'^^^ for Baptism, 
 148 Forms ofBaptism, 
 g2 Prey's Testimony, 
 
 143 G. 
 
 1.35|Gaius, 
 63 Genealogy of Israelites, 
 
 113 
 
 47 
 
 16 
 
 71 
 
 114 
 
 22 
 
 102 
 
 308 
 
 169 
 
 78 
 
227 
 
 Gentile Christians, 
 
 . -II 
 
 Jailof at Philippi, 
 
 "li 
 
 Gill on Circumcision, 
 
 72 
 
 Jericho, 
 
 162 
 
 " Giving," 
 
 113 
 
 Jerom on the Nazarenes 
 
 68 
 
 Greek Church, . 
 
 167 
 
 Jewish ceremonies, 
 
 171 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen 
 
 82 
 
 " children. 
 
 78 
 
 
 
 " proselytes, 
 
 141 
 
 H. 
 
 
 " sympathies, 
 
 15 
 
 Hebrew Christians, 
 
 . 67, 166 
 
 John Baptized Infants, 
 
 84 
 
 Hebrews and Gentiles, 
 
 65 
 
 John's Baptism . 
 
 142 
 
 Hebrew term " Baptize, 
 
 116 
 
 " Disciples, 
 
 87 
 
 Hegesippus, . . 67 
 Hes}'chius on OtKo^ and OiKia, 32 
 
 Judaism, 
 
 Justin Martyr, . 
 
 67 
 70, 91, 136 
 
 Hezekiah oa the Genealogy, 75 
 
 L. 
 
 
 "Holy," title of Children, 97 
 
 
 "House," . . 28 
 and Household," 28, 37 
 
 " builded, . 42 
 
 Linen Cloth, 
 
 " Little ones," -* . 
 
 145 
 
 17,76 
 
 " for Family 
 
 103 
 
 Logical maxim, . 
 
 160 
 
 "Household," . 
 
 28 
 
 Lord's supper, . 
 
 83 
 
 " of Stephanas 
 
 62 
 
 Lydia, 
 
 57 
 
 House plan, 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 Husband and Wife, 
 
 21 
 
 M. 
 
 
 Hydata Polla, . 
 
 160 
 
 Maimonides, 
 
 141 
 
 I, 
 
 
 " Many Waters," 
 
 159 
 
 IXOYC, 
 
 94 
 
 Mark the Evangelist, 
 Maronites, 
 
 26 
 165 
 
 Ignorance of Celsus, 
 Illustrations of Baptism, 
 
 67 
 
 Maundrell's Travels, 
 
 162 
 
 177 
 
 Maxim in Logic, 
 
 161 
 
 Immersion, 
 
 . 109, 122 
 
 Meats, . 
 
 148 
 
 •' and Baptism 
 Importance of Truth 
 
 143 
 109 
 
 Metaphorical Children, 
 " Texts, 
 
 89 
 146, 169 
 
 Infancy, 
 
 77 
 
 Mode of Baptism, 
 
 109 
 
 Infant Baptism . 
 
 65 
 
 Montfaucon, 
 
 179 
 
 Infant Baptism Apostoli 
 
 c and 
 
 Muscovites, 
 
 168 
 
 Universal, 
 
 107 
 
 Mussulman Boy, 
 
 ;. 144 
 
 Infant Circumcision, 
 
 73 
 
 
 
 Infants, 
 
 36,44 
 
 N. 
 
 
 " baptized by Johr 
 
 84 
 
 
 
 Inferences, 
 
 118 
 
 iN'aaman, 
 
 116 
 
 Inscriptions, 
 
 98, 102 
 
 Narcissus, 
 
 53 
 
 Institution of Baptism, 
 
 19 
 
 Nazarenes, 
 
 68 
 
 Intermarriages, . 
 
 15 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, 
 
 115 
 
 Interment, 
 
 170 
 
 " Neophytos," 
 
 104 
 
 Interpretation, . 
 
 29 
 
 Nestorians, 
 
 165 
 
 Introductory Notice, 
 
 5 
 
 Newell on Baptism, 
 
 166 
 
 IreniEus on Infants, 
 
 80 
 
 Noah in the Ark, 
 
 37,48 
 
 " " Tradition 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 Ishmael's circumcision 
 
 72 
 
 
 
 
 Israelite genealogy, 
 
 75 
 
 
 
 Israelites in Jordan, 
 
 116 
 
 OiKia, . 
 
 30, 37, 87 
 
 " " the Red Se 
 
 a, 115 
 
 OiKof, . . 28, 
 
 29, 47, 87 
 
 
 
 Opinions, early, . 
 
 74 
 
 J. 
 
 
 Origen on Baptism, 
 
 23,26 
 
 Jacob and Rachel, 
 
 41 
 
 Origen's Family, 
 
 27 
 
 «' leaving Canaan, 
 
 42 
 
 Origin of the Work, 
 
 13 
 
228 
 
 Qcrrep, . 
 
 
 Page 
 112 
 
 Sprinkling, 
 
 132, 1^4 
 
 Overwhelming, . 
 
 118 
 
 126 
 
 Staining, 
 Stephanas, 
 
 127 
 52 
 
 P. 
 
 
 
 Subjects of Baptism, 
 Submersion, 
 
 13 
 120 
 
 UavotKi, . 
 
 
 88 
 
 Sulpitius Severus, 
 
 69 
 
 Parables, 
 
 
 140 
 
 Symbols of Baptism, 
 Synonyms of Baptism, . 
 
 90 
 
 Ilapa&oaii, 
 
 
 91 
 
 113,117 
 
 Partial Immersion, 
 
 
 124 
 
 Syrian Baptism, 
 
 165 
 
 Passover, 
 
 
 83 
 
 " Churches, 
 
 164 
 
 Pearce on Stephanas, 
 
 
 63 
 
 
 
 Pentecost, 
 
 
 112 
 
 T. 
 
 
 Perversion of Terms, . 
 
 
 109 
 
 
 
 Peter at Cesarca, 
 
 
 148 
 
 Temporal blessings with Cir- 
 
 Philip and the Eunnch, 
 
 
 143 
 
 cumcision, 
 
 73 
 
 Plan of a " House," 
 
 
 39 
 
 Terms interchanged, 
 
 117 
 
 Planting, 
 
 
 173 
 
 Tertullian, 
 
 . 22, 97 
 
 Pliny, . 
 
 
 158 
 
 Texts of Scripture, 
 
 219 
 
 Plunging, 
 
 
 120 
 
 Timothy, 
 
 21 
 
 Polycarp, 
 
 
 25 
 
 Tradition, 
 
 24,91 
 
 Positive precepts, 
 
 
 150 
 
 Transplantation, 
 
 174 
 
 Pouring, 
 
 114 
 
 ,130 
 
 Trinity taught by Baptism, 86 
 
 Principle of Circumcision in 
 
 
 Truth, . 
 
 109 
 
 Baptism, 
 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 Priscilla, 
 
 
 101 
 
 u. 
 
 
 Proselytes, 
 
 
 55 
 
 Yiara iroWa, 
 
 160 
 
 R. 
 
 
 
 Union with Christ, 
 
 172 
 
 Rebaptism, 
 
 
 87 
 
 W. 
 
 
 Reception of Eucharist, 
 
 
 145 
 
 
 
 Resemblance of Baptisms 
 
 114 
 
 ,172 
 
 Wall's Testimony, 
 
 154, 155 
 
 Ritual Observances, 
 
 
 134 
 
 Washing, 
 
 171 
 
 " Purification, 
 
 
 116 
 
 , " of a corpse, 
 
 133 
 
 Robinson on Baptism, . 
 
 153 
 
 155 
 
 Water Baptism, 
 
 115 
 
 Rules for interpretation. 
 
 29 
 
 ,115 
 
 " of Separation, 
 
 133 
 
 Ruth's " House," 
 
 
 44 
 
 Waters of Jericho, 
 
 162 
 
 Ryland's Statement, 
 
 
 159 
 
 Weaning of children, 
 Whitby on Stephanas, 
 White Linen cloth. 
 
 76 
 62 
 
 S. 
 
 
 
 146 
 
 
 
 
 White Stone, 
 
 92 
 
 Sabians, . 
 
 
 84 
 
 Words interchanged, 
 
 117 
 
 Salt on Baptism, 
 
 
 144 
 
 " synonymous. 
 
 113 
 
 Scripture Terms, 
 
 
 113 
 
 
 
 Sealing, . 
 
 
 114 
 
 Y. 
 
 
 Sending down, . 
 
 
 113 
 
 
 
 Septuagint on Infants, . 
 
 
 87 
 
 Years of Life, . 
 
 81 
 
 Sepulchral Inscriptions, 
 
 
 93 
 
 
 
 Shedding, 
 
 
 113 
 
 z. 
 
 
 Sitting, . 
 
 
 114 
 
 
 
 Sophism by Booth, 
 
 
 14 
 
 Zoilus and Infant, 
 
 137 
 

 Date Due 
 
 
 0C17T 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
liilki 
 
 1 1012 01021 4833 
 
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