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BAPTISM OP CHRIST IN JORDAN. 
 
APOSTOLIC BArTISM. 
 
 FACTS AND EVIDENCE^V 
 
 SUBJECTS AND MODE 
 
 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 
 
 BY C.^/tAYLOR, 
 
 EDITOB OP CALMET'S DICTIONAKT OP THE BIBLE, 
 
 WITH THIRTEEN ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 STEREOTYPE EDITION. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY M. W. DODD, 
 
 BRICK CHURCH CHAPEL, CITY HALL SQUARE, 
 (opposite the city hall.) 
 
 1850. 
 
EXTERED 
 
 According to Act of Congress, in the year 1S44, 
 
 Bt BENJAMfx BEVIER, 
 
 In the Clerk's OflBce of the District Court for the Southera 
 
 District of New- York. 
 
 VISCEXT I^ BlXi. STSHSOTYPEa, 
 

 
 
 '>\>% 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTIC'K-^ ^• 
 
 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 pre- 
 liminary paragraph to the ensuing chapter on the 
 *' Subjects of Baptism." But as that narrative only 
 partially applies to the present edition of this very 
 important volume, it is requisite to delineate the 
 alterations which have now been made in the form 
 of his original publication. 
 
 For Mr. Taylor's investigation of Christian Archas- 
 ology, in reference to the ordinance of Baptism, the 
 result of which appears in this volume, we are 
 indebted to a discussion between himself and a Bap- 
 tist Deacon, respecting the evangelical authority of 
 the Baptist practice in prohibiting all persons from 
 the Lord's Table, who have not been submersed in 
 adult age. The Baptist Deacon was perplexed by 
 Mr. Taylor's " Facts and Evidences.''^ In confor- 
 mity with his desire, Mr. Taylor presented him a 
 '' sketch of the argument," that it might be confu- 
 ted, if any of the Baptist brethren could accomplish 
 that work. But they preserved a profound silence 
 upon the subject. Several attempts were made to 
 introduce the topic into the English Baptist Maga- 
 zine, thereby to give the Baptists the most eligible 
 and advantageous opportunity to rebut Mr. Taylor's 
 *' Facts," and to disprove liis "Evidences;" but 
 the editor and his consociates, sternly rejected every 
 endeavour to elicit a public examination of the Bap- 
 tismal controversy in that peculiar aspect within 
 their own ecclesiastical boundary. 
 
 In consequence of their decision not to discuss the 
 topic with Mr. Taylor, nor even to admit his state- 
 ments into the Baptist Magazine, the editor of Cal- 
 met's Dictionary, in February 1815, published a 
 1* 
 
VI INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 pamphlet, entitled " Facts and Evidences on the Sub- 
 ject of Baptism, in a Letter to a Deacon of a Baptist 
 Church; with Two Plates.^' That letter was re- 
 stricted 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 impressed with the 
 novel " Facts and Evidences'^ which Mr. Taylor 
 had thus arrayed in favour of " Family Baptism," 
 and against the exclusive interpretation of the words 
 BAHTSi^ Bapto, and BAnrmMOi:, Baptismos, which 
 the Baptists have endeavoured to enforce in connec- 
 tion with the Christian ordinance. On the contrary, 
 the Baptist brethren were disquieted at the exhibi- 
 tion of Mr. Taylor's illustrations ; especially as they 
 had virtually been sanctioned by their great cham- 
 pion, Robert Robinson, in his " History of Baptism ;" 
 but they cautiously abstained from any assault upon 
 Mr. Taylor's theory, arguments and demonstrations. 
 
 Therefore, the editor of Calmet's Dictionary pub- 
 lished his " Third Letter to a Deacon of a Baptist 
 Church," corroborating his opinions in reference 
 both to the subjects and the mode of Baptism ; and 
 also prefixed an Introduction narrating the circum 
 stances through which his disquisitions were pre- 
 sented to general notice. 
 
 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 those letters was combined an 
 examination of Dr. Ryland'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 Christian ordinance of 
 Baptism, but they also introduced several other col- 
 lateral themes. 
 
 From Mr. Taylor's preface to the " Three Addi- 
 tional Letters,^'' one paragraph is extracted. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. VU 
 
 " The former letters were published with a bona 
 fide desire on the part of the Deacon to receive such 
 answers as might effectually confute their contents. 
 Upwards of a year has elapsed, and no answer has 
 appeared ! 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 additional strength former arguments 
 in favour of Poidobaptism 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 exam- 
 ine these Letters, the author desires that Facts may 
 be met by Facts ; and while he intreats candour for 
 himself, for his ' Facts and Evidences^ he desires 
 neither grace nor favour." 
 
 Another year passed away, and with the excep- 
 tion of a short essay in the Baptist Magazine of 
 March, 1817, '■'•no answer appeared!''^ Mr. Taylor, 
 therefore, in the latter part of the year 1817, pub- 
 lished another pamphlet, which he denominated 
 " Concluding Facts and Evidences on the subject of 
 Baptism; " from which, the two ensuing paragraphs 
 are selected. 
 
 " The arguments which have been adduced in 
 this discussion of the question of Baptism have made 
 considerable impression, not only on thinking Bap- 
 tists, but also on the religious public. The more 
 learned Baptists now confess that Infants are inclu- 
 ded in the term Oikos, family, as used in the New 
 Testament ; while it is curious to observe the diffi- 
 culties to which those are reduced, who contend that 
 infants are excluded from the term Family, and that 
 the word must be restricted to adults. If our trans- 
 lators had employed the term Family instead of the 
 words House and Household, the sect of Baptists 
 never would have existed ! 
 
VllI INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 " If the Letters, to which the present pages are 
 the conclusion, had been announced as a treatise on 
 Baptism, the writer would liave been liable to well- 
 deserved censure for their disorder and want of ar- 
 rangement. From the very nature of the case, the 
 confidential conversations between friends which have 
 been recorded are unfavourable to logical order, and 
 being desultory, are disadvantageous to the general 
 argument. The first letter was written to be an- 
 swered ; and if, instead of a resolution by the Baptist 
 Committee to disregard it, an attempt had been made 
 to meet it, probably none of the succeeding letters 
 ever would have appeared. Some service however 
 has been done to truth by their arguments, and the 
 religious world have received them in an extremely 
 flattering manner. After perusing these pages, the 
 reader is desired to consider and answer this question 
 — ' When the Apostles say they baptized Houses and 
 Whole Houses, did they not include infants in the 
 sacred rite V'' 
 
 From that period, Mr. Taylor's " Facts and Evi- 
 dences on the Subjects and Mode of Christian Bap- 
 tism," have been neglected by the Baptists; who 
 judged that it was preferable, not to force out any 
 more memorials of Christian Antiquity, from a scho- 
 lar who had devoted much time to researches con- 
 nected with the history of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 When it was proposed to republish those letters 
 in New York, it was instantly discovered, that to 
 issue the work in its original form would include all 
 the disadvantages and imperfections to which the 
 editof of Calmet's Dictionary, in the paragraph just 
 cited, adverts. It was therefore decided to remodel 
 the work — not to change Mr. Taylor's diction ; nor 
 to alter his arguments; nor to omit his " Facts and 
 Evidences;" nor to interpolate any additional mat- 
 ter — but merely to condense his labours, to cancel 
 his frequent repetitions and redundancies, to reduce 
 the sul)jects into method, according to the general 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. IX 
 
 topics ; and thus to g'ive to his " Facts" their essen- 
 tial weight, to his " Evidences" their just prepon- 
 derance, to liis arg-uments all their force, and to his 
 illustrations all their evangelical resplendency. 
 
 To accomplish this design, the work is divided 
 into two general chapters. — I. The " Subjects of 
 Baptism''^ — and II. The " Mode of Baptism.^'' To 
 which is added tlie gallery of engraved representa- 
 tions of the manner in which the ordinance of Bap- 
 tism was originally administered. Some of the en- 
 gravings which Mr. Taylor had introduced are exclu- 
 ded, because they were merely duplicates of those 
 which are exhibited in this volume. 
 
 The confused manner in which the letters were 
 composed 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 has care- 
 fully been made, and this volume now presents the 
 " Facts and Evidences on the Subject of Baptism," 
 in as consistent an arragement of the materials as 
 could possibly be effected, in conformity 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. 
 
 Two great difficulties appertained to the revision 
 of the work, and its publication in the present form. 
 The original was printed with numberless errors ; 
 and the Letters contain not one particle of refer- 
 ence by which the editor could be guided. To 
 remedy that defect, a catalogue in order of all the 
 texts of Scripture explained in this discussion is now 
 embodied ; and a Topical Index has also been com- 
 piled, that directs to every distinct subject which is 
 noticed throughout the volume. 
 
 The ensuing work, as to its contents, is precisely 
 the " Facts and Evidences on the Subject of Baptismy^ 
 
X INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 as they were at first presented by the " editor of Cal- 
 met's Dictionary of the Bible" — it having been 
 decided that no additions should be made to the 
 original work. Nothing is interpolated, except 
 Avhere it was essential to insert the necessary con- 
 necting word or phrase, that the arguments, or facts, 
 or inferences, or quotations might cohere. 
 
 With this explanation, the volume is submitted 
 to the Pcedobaptist Churches, with the full convic- 
 tion 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 at- 
 tempted to disprove these " JParf^," and to deny 
 these " Evidences,'^'' during nearly thirty years, so 
 the researches of Mr. Taylor will remain irrefraga- 
 ble proof amounting to moral demonstration ; that 
 the dogma which the Baptists promulge — that Bunrca 
 Bapto, and Butttio/ho;, Baptismos, when applied to the 
 Christian ordinance, mean plunging under water 
 only ; and that Ojxoc, Oikos, and Oixta, Oikia, 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 iu 
 excluding from " the communion of the body and 
 blood of Christ," those believers, whom at the same 
 time they acknowledge to be " beloved of God, 
 sanctified in Jesus, and called to be saints," is an 
 anti-evangelical perversion and infraction of the law 
 of Christian charity — while their sectarian proscrip- 
 tion of every disciple of the Redeemer, except the 
 members of their own denomination, from the 
 divinely appointed external institute of brotherly 
 love and church-fellowship, is altogether opposed 
 to " the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ;" 
 and moreover, is a lamentable schismatic impedi- 
 ment to the extension of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 JVfjy Yo)-k, 
 4 May, 1843. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE STEREOTYPE EDITION. 
 
 The first edition of Mr. Taylor's " Facts and Evi- 
 dences" respecting Christian Baptism was sold within a 
 few months, without any of the customary methods of 
 disseminating; books. The increasino; demand for the work 
 has induced the Publisher to stereotype it ; especially as 
 the American Antipoedobaptists, like their British brethren, 
 have not ventured either to dispute the " Facts" or to 
 invalidate the "Evidences !" 
 
 The volume, having been carefully revised, is presented 
 to the American Churches, as the authentic delineation of 
 original Christian Baptism — with the assured conviction, 
 that an erudite Polemic cannot be found, who will seri- 
 ously controvert Mr. Taylor's oracular position — Bap- 
 tism, FROM " THE DAY OF PeNTECOST" WAS ADMINISTERED 
 
 BY THE Apostles and Evangelists, to Infants, and not 
 BY submersion — therefore, the subsequent " FACTS and 
 EVIDENCES" are irrefutable, as " the truth is in Jesus." 
 
 G. B. 
 J\rew-York, June 13, 1844. 
 
h 
 
 
 
 G %0. 
 
 SUBJECTS OF BAPTIji^ 
 
 V 
 
 "^V 
 
 Origin of this Discourse. — I. Jewish and Christian Sympathies. — 
 II. Feelings towards Children. — III. Consecration. — IV. Institution 
 of Baptism.— V. TertuUian.— VI. Origen.— VII. Tradition.— VIII. 
 Origen's Family. — IX. Distinction between House, Family, and 
 Household. — X. Rules of Interpretation. — XI. Oi/cos; Oikos- — 
 XII. OiKia; OUda.—XUl. House.— XIV. Household— XV. In- 
 fants— XVI. Lydia.— XVII. Cornelius.— XVIII. Onesiphorus.— 
 XIX. Philippian Jailor. — XX. Stephanas. — XXI. Infant Baptism. 
 —XXII. 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 con- 
 scientious negative. The Pastor, less rigid than the Dea- 
 con, struck with his scrupulosity, requested his reconside- 
 ration 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 Dea- 
 con had in his hands Mr. Booth's " Pcedobaptism Exam- 
 ined." That work gave rise to a conversation which end- 
 ed in saying — " Do not tell me of Mr. Booth ; tell me of 
 Scriptural authority. If you wish to understand the sub- 
 ject, 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 Bap- 
 tist 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 
 transmitted to the editor of that miscellany, which was dis- 
 regarded. In a subsequent number of that work was in- 
 serted a challenge by the late Andrew Fuller in these words 
 2 
 
14 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 — " Why is it that Dr. Ryland's ' Candid Statement' is en- 
 tirely kept out of view .' Let its evidence be fairly met and 
 answered, in the same candid spirit in which it is written." 
 In consequence of that challenge, some articles were sent, 
 but they were returned, with a denial of insertion in the 
 "Baptist Magazine." 
 
 These researches were intended to meet objections 
 against " the communion of saints," and were strictly de- 
 fensive. If any one should examine these pages with a 
 view to their confutation, as they contain only " Facts 
 and EvIDE^'CES," the facts should be met with opposite 
 facts : and the 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 necessitj' of beseeching the can- 
 dour of the reader for himself — but as for his Facts, they 
 await every attack with firmness, and willingly brave the 
 utmost efforts both of learning and of ignorance. 
 
 I. The argument is brought to this point. — The Old 
 Testament writers use the term House, in the sense of 
 family, with a special reference to infants — the New Tes- 
 tament writers use the term House exactly in the same 
 sense as the Old Testament writers — therefore ; when the 
 New Testament writers say that they " baptized /lOitses," 
 they mean to say, that they " baptized infants." 
 
 Of all the arts of logic, I most admire a well-managed 
 SOPHISM ; a proposition that presents the semblance of 
 truth, but is essentially false. Take an instance from 
 Booth, which includes the very essence of the arguments 
 against Pcedobaptism. " To imagine that the first positive 
 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 ad- 
 ministered. — An unlettered 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 icith 
 their parents, when admitted members of the Jewish Church : 
 and thence also he must infer that our Lord condescended 
 to borrow from his eijemies om important ordinance of religious 
 worship for his oivn disciples. ^^ — That our Lord condescend- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 15 
 
 ed to borrow from John Baptist "an important ordinance 
 of religious worship for his own disciples," is true ; but 
 John was not an " enemy'''' of Jesus. If by " enemies of 
 Jesus," the Jews of that age are meant, though I deny that 
 our Lord borrowed Baptism of them, since they practiced 
 only immersion ; yet I would ask, did not our Lord conde- 
 scend to borrow from them in that important ordinance of 
 religious worship, his sacred supper ? — Can any unlettered 
 man thoroughly comprehend that service without some ac- 
 quaintance with Jewish learning ? Can he so much as dis- 
 cern the " real ground" of the Apostle's language, 1 Cor. 
 V. 7, 8. " Purge out therefore 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 wicked- 
 ness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth .^" 
 Who can adequately understand this reference, unless he 
 have some acquaintance with the pains taken by the Jews 
 to cleanse their houses from leaven .' 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 ordinan- 
 ces was a Jew. His gospel was first offered to Jews by 
 descent ; and Judaism was the basis on which the Redeem- 
 er founded his religion: — but it -does not follow that the 
 spirit of the two dispensations was the same. On the con- 
 trary, their differences are striking and essential. Some 
 things, which Judaism held sacred and binding, the gospel 
 held with a great latitude ; and allowed the human will to 
 follow its own determination 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 authoritatively enacted ; yet 
 Paul dispenses with 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 Divine pro- 
 ceedings in similar cases V 
 
 There are other instances which affect the closest con- 
 
16 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 nectlons of the heart and hfe, and are more nearly related 
 to the main purpose of our present inquhy. 
 
 Moses forbad tfhe " taking of the daughters of the land, 
 unto thy sons for wives, — lest they make thy sons go a whor- 
 ing after other gods." Exod. xxiv. 16. He admits not 
 the slightest ray of hope, "that thy sons may convert their 
 wives to the worship of the God of Israel." — He is tor- 
 mented by fear ; jealousy corrodes, and despair confounds 
 him. — But what says the Gospel in a similar case.^ With 
 what a noble consciousness of superiority over all other 
 religions, it commands the very contrary ! " How know- 
 est thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband.? — 
 Or how knowest thou, man, whether thou shalt save 
 thy wife .?" 1 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 icon by the conversation of 
 their ivives.''^ — Why did not these Apostles, like Moses, 
 dread the heathenish consequences of such abhorrent con- 
 nections } Because they served a dispensation of Grace, 
 not of terror : they Icnew their master's mind : — " Whoso- 
 ever 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 Levites, and all Israel to 
 SWEAR, that they would put away their foreign wives — 
 and they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusa- 
 lem — and allowed only three days — and called the people 
 over — after the house of their fathers, and all of them, by 
 their names, and expelled their foreign wives, even those by 
 whom they had children.''^ 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 woman who hath a husband that believeth not, 
 if he be pleased to dwell with her — let her not leave 
 HIM." What a noble triumph of the kindness of Christ 
 over the severe correctness of the Mosaic law ! The gos- 
 pel disturbs no domestic harmony : it dissolves no hap- 
 pily 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. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM 17 
 
 II. It would be strange if this most sympathizing feel- 
 ing, which studies the affections and love of the parents, 
 were repugnant to their children. In this, the gospel is 
 opposed to the law. Timothy was the son of a Jewess by 
 a Greek father: Acts xvi. 1.; he had not received in his 
 infancy the divinely appointed sign of the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant, circumcision ; because he was allied to the Abraha- 
 mic descent, by half-blood only. The balance between ho- 
 liness and unholiness was equipoised in him : — the iinholi- 
 ness of his father prevailed against the holiness of his mother, 
 and Judaical scrupulosity reprobated Timothy as unclean. 
 Not so the law of liberty ; not so the attractive kindness 
 of the blessed Jesus. The Apostle advises, whenever the 
 balance is even between holiness and unholiness, to incline 
 to the most favourable side : exclude none who do not ex- 
 clude themselves. " For the unbelieving husband is, has 
 been, his intercouse rendered holy to the believing wife, 
 and the unbelieving wife is, has been rendered hohj to the 
 believing 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. Directly contrary to the dog- 
 mata of the Jewish Rabbins, contrary to the decisions of 
 Ezra, and of the prophets, and contrary to the case of 
 Timothy. 
 
 Did this accord with the sentiments of our Divine Mas- 
 ter .'' Did HE thus favourably regard and accept what his 
 nation pronounced unclean t It was prophesied 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 prophecy } 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 them not, to come 
 unto me ; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he 
 laid his hands on them." Mark expresses our Lord's feel- 
 ings, by saying ; Mark x. 13. " he was much displeased" 
 — at the Jewish insensibility of his disciples. That Evan- 
 gelist adds, " Jesus took them up in his arms, put his hands 
 upon them, and blessed them." Luke describes them as 
 infants. Ail the Evangelists agree in saying that our Lord 
 2* 
 
18 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 compared his real disciples, those who enter the kingdom 
 of heaven worthily, to such infants. 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 ex- 
 plicitly. Mat. xviii. 3. " Except ye be converted, and be- 
 come as LITTLE CHILDREN, ye shall not enter into the king- 
 dom 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 that a millstone were 
 hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the depth of 
 the sea." So then, these little ones were believers in 
 Jesus, and the severest punishment awaited whoever de- 
 spised or dishonoured them. 
 
 A pious attention to little ones has the promise of a 
 blessing. Mat. x. 42. " Whosoever shall give a cup of 
 cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a 
 DISCIPLE, shall in no wise lose his reward !" The little 
 ONES then were capable of being disciples : — how in defi- 
 ance to this text, can any insist, that when our Lord com- 
 mands his Apostles to " go and disciple all nations,'''' he 
 absolutely excludes little ones .'' 
 
 But the conduct of the Apostles, in repelling children 
 from the affectionate arms of the condescending Saviour, 
 was precisely according to their Jewish feelings. The old 
 leaven of Judaism, with unabated fermentation, actuated 
 the Pharisees: Mat. xxi. 15; "who when they saw the 
 children crying in the temple, iJosa?jnffl to the Son of David.' 
 were sore displeased ; and said unto him, Hearest thou 
 what these say .'' and Jesus answered them ; have ye never 
 read out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou 
 HAST perfected PRAISE .?" A Striking picture of the pow- 
 erful distinction between the starched supporters of the 
 law ! and the mild, condescending, benign tenderness of the 
 Son of God. 
 
 After these repeated reproofs, admonitions, and instruc- 
 tions of their divine master, what could be the conduct of 
 the Apostles towards little ones ? — could they look with 
 askance eye on children } — could they professionally sanc- 
 tify 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 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 19 
 
 children who were disciples of Christ ? Could they bap- 
 tize an old conjuror, hardened in guilt by the confirmed 
 habit of many years, and actually " in the gall of bitterness, 
 and the boncls of iniquity," but repel from the sign of con- 
 secration to Christ, those babes and sucklings, out of 
 whose mouths GOD himself had perfected praise ? — 
 
 III. The term consecration requires to be explained. — 
 Consecration is a setting apart from an ordinary or pro- 
 fane use or purpose, to which a person or thing has been 
 accustomed — to a particular use or purpose — usually in re- 
 lation to the Deity. The sign or mark of such consecra- 
 tion anciently was anointing. 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 Sam. xiv. 1. Prophets also 
 were anointed. But all consecrated persons were not 
 anointed ; for the daughter of Jepthah was consecrated, yet 
 we cannot think she was anointed ; and Samuel, who was 
 consecrated from his infancy, was not anointed. 
 
 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 subjection to his parents at Nazareth, 
 Mark vi. 3 : and from his being described as '■'■the carpenter'''' 
 by those who well knew his origin and previous deport- 
 ment. But he enters on a new life — he commences a new 
 character — he is publicly consecrated to the great purposes 
 of his mission : Acts x. 38, he becomes " the man whom 
 God had anointed witli the Holy Ghost :" Acts. iv. 27, 
 " thine holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed.'''' His 
 followers in some humble degree resembled 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 doctrine Paul 
 agrees, when he says, 2 Cor. i. 21 : " He who hath anointed 
 us, is God : — wlio hath also sealed us." When were those 
 
20 " SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 disciples anointed, if not at their baptism ? — and for what 
 purpose, if not in token of their future devotion to the 
 Christian name and profession ? They were not anointed 
 with oil ; it follows, that baptismal water or the baptismal 
 service became the sign or the occasion of their consecra- 
 tion ; and this dedication to God is the most simple, most 
 direct, and most perspicuous notion we can form of baptism. 
 
 IV. Baptism was instituted from heaven by the ministry 
 of John the Baptist. Did John the Baptist dedicate, or 
 consecrate, those whom 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, who followed John in baptism, follow 
 him also in this .'' There can be no doubt of it ; though 
 by what form of words they consecrated or devoted those 
 whom they baptized does not appear. I suppose it was in 
 the name of the God of Israel, or Jehovah ; of which I 
 take the subsequent form of "Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost," to be a more explicit rendering, for the use of the 
 Gentiles, or in our Lord's words, " all nations." The 
 Apostles had long and extensive practice in baptism ; for 
 oy them " Jesus made and baptized more disciples than 
 John." They were under the immediate eye of their mas- 
 ter : — 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 there- 
 fore does it appear, to deny the onginal institution of a rite 
 so long administered, previous to its enlargement and uni- 
 versal extension, as a Christian ordinance ; — a rite which 
 had been among the daily ministrations of the Apostles 
 during several years. 
 
 By his final instructions, our Lord extended the appli- 
 cation 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 Judea, to 
 Samaria, to Galilee ; carry them over all the earth, wher- 
 ever 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, Bar- 
 barian or Scythian, bond or free :" that the religion of the 
 cross may be " all, and in all." What special enactments 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 21 
 
 could the Apostles need for their direction, after years of 
 practice, guided by their Lord himself? What cases of 
 nice discrimination could they require instructions how to 
 treat — they who had received his commands on the sub- 
 ject, Mat. xxviii. 19. " Teach all nations, as you have 
 taught the Jews : baptize all nations, as 3"ou have bap- 
 tized the Jews ;" is their unlimited commission. 
 
 Those who were baptized by John and by the Apostles, 
 were volunteers. 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 '■^ pressed^'' into the Kingdom of 
 Heaven , Mat. xi. 12, they " took it by force ;" Did those, 
 who thus vehemently solicited consecration to God, re- 
 strict that consecration to their own persons } Did Jewish 
 parents, who knew that " the children of proselytes were 
 baptized with their parents,^'' never think of bringing their 
 own children to be baptized with themselves .'' Did those 
 volunteers from among the heathen, who knew that chil- 
 dren were consecrated to some of their gods by baptism, — 
 but who dedicated their own persons to the sacrfed Trinity 
 — ^withhold from the Christian rite, those whom they most 
 earnestly desired should be kept from the pollution of 
 idolatry — Ephes. 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, forestall their forcible consecration to idols ? Did 
 they not by anticipation render impossible that which they 
 so much dreaded .' 
 
 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 Avas to be promulgated all over the world. 
 It Avas 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 tm- 
 clean 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 
 
22 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 wife might desire to devote her child to the Holy Trinity : 
 " NO ; says the unbelieving husband, the child ^is^*my 
 PROPERTY ; AND I FORBID THAT ;" or says the beheving 
 husband, " I earnestly wish to consecrate to my Lord and 
 Saviour this increase of my family." — " I oppose that 
 WITH ALL MY MIGHT," says the Unbelieving 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 baptism of babes 
 and sucklings, as an act of obedience to him ! 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 ! — betvveen 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 affection — he sanctified 
 a marriage by his presence, but he hated divorce and putting 
 awa}'. 
 
 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 had wives, to conduct themselves as though they had 
 them not ; did not the same cause influence those who had 
 children, when the name of Christian was death } Hun- 
 dreds of Christian children, and tens of thousands of half 
 blood might remain unbaptized, against their parent's 
 wishes ; enforced by hard necessity. We cannot adequately 
 sympathize with Christians under the terror of Roman per- 
 secution, and the violence of heathen priesthood. Hence 
 the necessity of some acquaintance with Church History, 
 beyond the limits of the New Testament : and the neces- 
 sity for some to teach " plain unlettered men :" and the 
 guilt of those who never instruct their hearers in what 
 would contribute so greatly to their knowledge, edification, 
 and comfort. 
 
 On all who came to Jordan, John conferred baptism : — 
 and whoever received his rite stood pledged to repentance 
 and holiness. On those who desired baptism from the 
 apostles, they bestowed it. Their practice demonstrates 
 their principle. The history of the Christian Church has 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 23 
 
 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 re- 
 ceive circumcision, because the perils of time and place 
 forbad the safe performance of the rite. These were after- 
 wards 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." — Divine be- 
 nevolence "preferred mercy to sacrifice." But that same 
 Church History unequivocally proves the baptism of little 
 ones to be a Christian practice : and we accept its testi- 
 mony on this, with equal confidence. 
 
 V. Late in the second century, and within a hundred and 
 fifty years after the churches were planted by the apostles, 
 A. D. 200, Tertullian wrote against Infant Baptism. Now 
 he could not have written against a custom which did not 
 exist ; nor unless it prevailed. His reasons are sophisti- 
 cated 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 : therefore let them stay till 
 they can come : let them come when they are grown up — 
 when they understand — when they are instructed whither 
 it is they are about to come : let them be made Christians 
 when they can know Christ." For reasons equally valid, 
 UNMARRIED PERSONS ouglit to be kept off from baptism, 
 who are likely to be visited by temptation — as well those 
 who never were married ought to be kept 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 
 thousand reasons which deter persons engaged in the mul- 
 tifarious concerns of life, in middle age, — and the inevita- 
 ble infirmities and weaknesses, mental and bodily, of old 
 age — and baptism is postponed till doomsday. A hopeful 
 method of establishing the Church of Christ ! 
 
 But Tertullian had a shorter way of confounding the pop- 
 
24 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ular practice, could he have availed himself of it. He 
 omitted the strongest argument that possibly could be 
 employed against the object of his aversion, had truth al- 
 loAved him to use it : the very battering-ram of destruction 
 against Infant Baptism, could he have wielded it. " This 
 practice is a novelty : it dates but of yesterday : it was 
 UNKNOWN to Christians fifty years ago : it was unknown 
 to the first churches : it was unknown to the Apostles." 
 He would willingly have said this, for this must have con- 
 demned 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 princi- 
 ples ; or he might go so far as to hazard a slight fib ; but 
 on a downright falsity the Christian Father would not ven- 
 ture ; although intent on suppressing Infant Baptism. 
 
 VI. I know not which speaks most loudly, the silence 
 of Tertullian, notwithstanding what he would have said, 
 or the affirmatioji of his contemporary Origen, who ex- 
 pressly ascribes the practice of infant baptism to the Apos- 
 tles. Origen had many advantages not then common : — ■ 
 he was of Christian descent ; — his father Avas a Christian 
 martyr ; his grandfather and great-grandfather also were 
 Christians. Could a family so early Christianized be ig- 
 norant what had been the primitive rites and customs oil 
 the Apostles, and the apostolic churches ? Origen's words 
 are these — " The Church received from the Apostles the 
 injunction, or tradition, to give baptism even to infants. 
 According to that saying of our Lord concerning infants — 
 and thou iccist an infant ivhen thou toast baptized — their 
 angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in 
 heaven." We have these explicit passages in a transla- 
 tion and abridgement of Origen's Avorks from Greek into 
 Latin ; and if the testimony of Origen had stood opposed 
 to infant baptism, we should never have heard one word 
 on the disadvantage of having his work in a translation 
 only, or any imputation on the competence or correctness 
 of his translator, Rufinus. 
 
 We justify the practice of the primitive churches, for 
 whatever opinions might obtain in different places, or 
 whatever difference in administration, because no instance 
 of reproof from the Apostles is recorded. The Corin- 
 thian church transgressed in the administration of the 
 Lord's Supper. By the admonition addressed to them on 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 25 
 
 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 baptism did not occur 
 among the churches, by which we also might have been 
 instructed ; but from this silence it is clear, that this Sa- 
 crament had not, in the days of the Apostles, been misun- 
 derstood or misapplied. 
 
 VII. The churches, says Origen, acted xiTpon tradition : 
 Traditionem., UaguSoaiv ; Paradosin. What is the mean- 
 ing of the word tradition in the Apostolic writings, and 
 those of the early fathers .•' We are accustomed to affix 
 to it the notion of a mere rumour unsupported by docu- 
 ments, and thei'efore liable to perversion ; — but this is di- 
 rectly contrary to the import of the word among the first 
 Christians. Tradition is a Scripture term used by the 
 Apostle to describe his own writings. It has latterly been 
 employed to express unwritten reports, handed down from 
 age to age, and therefore uncertain and often mutilated or 
 perverted. That sense of the term is perfectly inapplica- 
 ble to the age of the Apostles and of the Apostolic men, 
 among whom it had no such meaning. The term IJcxQadocri^g, 
 JParadosis, Tradition, as used by the ancient Fathers, sig- 
 nifies good and credible evidence delivered by one person 
 to another, either written or by speaking ; and is applied 
 even to the Gospels. Suicer. Thesaur. Tom. ii., EvuyyeUxac 
 naqadooeig^ Traditionary Gospels. Thus Irenzeus says of the 
 Gospel of Mark — " Marcus discipulus et interpres Petri., et 
 ipsa qua. annunciata erant per scripta nobis tradidit. Mark 
 the disciple and interpreter of Peter, and the things that 
 were spoken by Peter he has preserved by writing tra- 
 dition for us." The people urged Mark to write; as 
 the Elders of the church afterwards urged the Apostle 
 John to write. This desire for written tradition was the 
 very contrary to a disposition to depend on uncertain tra- 
 dition. Clement of Rome says, Epis. Corinth, 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 coin- 
 cident with Paul's charge to Timothy, to commit to faith- 
 ful n»en what he had heard that Apostle deliver to many 
 Christian brethren for this purpose, 2 Tim ii. 2. Justia 
 
26 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Martyr says ; " Having been a disciple of the Apostles, I 
 became a teacher of the nations. Those things which were 
 delivered to me I minister to them who are become Avorthy 
 disciples of the Truth." The Epistle to Diognetus ascrib- 
 ed to Justin says expressly, " the Tradition of the Apostles 
 is observed.'''' 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 remonstrated against Infant Baptism ; 
 which proves the prevalence of the practice. 
 
 The Apostle writing to the Thessalonians, exhorts them 
 to " hold the traditions they had been taught, whether by 
 word, or by our epistle.'''' He makes no difference between 
 what he had written, and what his authorized agents re- 
 ported in his name : and he calls his own epistles tradi- 
 tions. 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 un- 
 written traditions., when they were reported by those Chris- 
 tians to their constituents, the Corinthian church. This 
 " Instruction," 1 Cor. xi. 2, is rendered precepta — tradi- 
 tio7ies, in Latin : in English, directions. Instructions, Dodd- 
 ridge. Injunctions., Parkhurst. Ordinances., in our public 
 version, traditions — '■'■tradition., which ye received of us." 
 So then, the apostle calls his own teachings, traditions., 
 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; iii. 6, instructions, 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 ordinance, 
 to give baptism to infants." This is very credible on the 
 authority of the relator ; but it becomes much clearer, by 
 a closer examination of the facts in 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. Such clearly is 
 the import of the Apostle Peter's language, 2 Peter i. 15 ; 
 " I will endeavour, that after my decease, you make men- 
 tion of these things ;" — and thereby per])etuate the re- 
 meiiibrance of them This is jjerfecll_y coincident with 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 27 
 
 Paul's directions, 2 Tim. ii. 2 ; " The things which thou 
 hast heard from me, dia, dia, for the purpose of instructing 
 many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, 
 who shall be able to teach others also." If the Apostles 
 w^ere so careful, there can be no doubt, but the primitive 
 Christians were also equally anxious to be informed 
 respecting whatever accounts of the conduct of Christ, and 
 of his Apostles, were in preservation among them. Irenauis 
 describes his anxiety to acquire information from his mas- 
 ter Polycarp : '■'■ I remember his discourse to the people con- 
 cerning the conversations he had ivith John, the Apostle, and 
 others icho had seen our Lord ; how he rehearsed their dis- 
 courses, and ivhat 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 in- 
 quired 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 were repeated by him in his public discourses to 
 the people; the best of all possible modes of instruction. 
 Moreover, these discourses made the deepest impres- 
 sion on the memory of Ireneeus ; who expressly mentions 
 " reborn infants.''^ Thousands of other hearers, equally 
 desirous to know, were equally attentive and equally 
 affected. The same desire animated Origen. For the 
 purpose of acquiring such knowledge, he visited the 
 churches planted by the Apostles in Cappudocia and 
 Arabia, in Greece and Rome ; while the main part of his 
 life was spent in Syria and Palestine, the seat of the first 
 churches ; where he could not fail to acquire an intimate 
 acquaintance with their constitution, manners, and practice. 
 He was a native of Alexandria in Egypt. 
 
 VIII. Irenseus, the disciple of Polycarp, who had been 
 the disciple of John the Apostle, lived long, and might 
 bear his testimony to the truth seventy or eighty years after 
 the death of John ; — but to avoid cavil, I take the gene- 
 rations in the family of Origen, and of those " faithful 
 men" to whom Timothy gave charge, at forty years only; 
 and because Origen's father was martyred, I take him for 
 twenty-jive years only. It appears then that the testimony 
 of Paul, of Timothy, of Timothy's " faithful men" and of 
 " others also" instructed by them, reaches downwaid to 
 the vear 180. Origen was born in 185. Add for his 
 
28 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISil. 
 
 father, twenty-fice years ; his grandfather, forty years ; and 
 his great-grandfather forty years also, and we are brought 
 to the year 80, when ^lark the Evangelist had been dead 
 only twelve years at Alexandria. Mark knew the practice 
 of the Apostles. He would select his " faithful men" to 
 transmit his instructions. John survived for twenty years. 
 There was Timothy, or Titus, or some one of their " faith- 
 ful 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 occurrence, could be forgot- 
 ten .- Could it be perverted, abused, counteracted .' Could 
 a rite totally new, unfounded, diametrically opposite to 
 Apostolic injunctions, be established and prevail .' Where 
 was Timothy .' where were his " faithful men .'" Not at 
 their duty, if such transgression could be 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 f Were this a question on a fact of 
 modern history, said to have occurred a hundred, or a hun- 
 dred and twenty years ago, would 3'ou not deem the evi- 
 dence sufficient to establish your belief.' — Such is the 
 testimony of Origen in reference to injunctions for infant 
 baptism, derived from the Apostles. ]Many Apostolic 
 persons were living in Egypt, who had daily intercourse 
 with Judea. Jewish Christians, after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem, settled among their countrymen at Alexandria ; 
 and from these, as well as from other Christians in Greek 
 churches, Origen obtained correct information respecting all 
 Christian rites. 
 
 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 r The facts of that 
 question are our immediate object. 
 
 The import of that language in which such facts are 
 transmitted is not to be decided bv>hi> conceptions of '' an 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 29 
 
 unlettered 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 country ; — but from 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 foreign 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 nature of language ; and I 
 have never 3^et seen those passages of Scripture set in a 
 just light Avhich 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 pai'ticulars as imply the presence 
 of children, and demonstrates their participation. Parents 
 without 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 children. Families are composed of children in 
 every stage of life. 
 
 IX. To express the presence of children, our language 
 formerly employed the term house; but modern correct- 
 ness adopts another 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 
 assistants. House is also used metaphorically, to denote 
 successive generations of men allied by consanguinity. 
 By the addition of a syllable, house imports the attendants 
 or principals ; their whole establishment of every descrip- 
 tion, their household — whoever holds, belongs, or apper- 
 tains to their house. 
 
 Otxog, Oikos ; ^o?<se, has the following meanings ; — the 
 3* 
 
30 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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 family descent through ages ; 
 a private family, contemporaries ; the celestial state ; the 
 vehicle of disembodied spirits in the celestial state ; the 
 church of God on earth ; the persons of believers on earth ; 
 a tent ; a parlor ; a chamber and retiring rooms distinct 
 from the temple. Is it possible, that these twenty senses 
 of this word can be thoroughly examined and fully under- 
 stood, 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 demanded by 
 this single word, if we determine thoroughly to under- 
 stand it. 
 
 X. In our inquiries after truth, it is of great moment to 
 establish the rules which are to guide us — and by the fol- 
 lowing rules we should attempt to elucidate Scripture : — 
 
 I. Every word should he taken in its primary, obvious, and 
 ordinary meaning, unless there be somefhinc/ in the connection^ 
 or ill the nature of things, ivhich requires it to be taken other- 
 wise. — II. Whenever by the connection of a term, or by the 
 nature of things, we 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 reluc- 
 tance. The necessity of this rule on the word Baptism is 
 evident; for though to the English reader it imports ^>«n- 
 fcation, yet the Greek scholar knows that it is metaphori- 
 cally taken to denote corruption. — III. Whatever is ex- 
 pressed in Scripture is conclusive argument ; and ivhatever 
 is not expressed is not conclusive. Hence, we must ex- 
 amine and ascertain the proper meaning of the terms Otxogj 
 Oikos; and Oixm, Oikia. 
 
 XI. OTKO^ : Oikos. — The first passage recom.mended to 
 consideration is this, Eccl. 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 contented : and thou shalt not hear reproach cast on 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 31 
 
 thy — oifiia — ^residence. It is a miserable life to go from 
 oikia to olkia — 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, iiovsEless, help spread the table ; and hand 
 me up the dish, that I may eat — Go away, uovsuless, 
 from a man of fashion ; my oikia — whole establishment — 
 all my lodging room is engaged : a brother grandee is 
 coming to enjoy my hospitality." 
 
 It is evident, that oikos here describes the meanest shel- 
 ter possible, and that oikia implies an extensive establish- 
 ment or capacious premises. They are in absolute opposi- 
 tion to each other. The compound word par-oiKE, im- 
 ports " not possessing a hovel of the meanest kind :" and 
 it is so used with an inexpressible opposition, by the apos- 
 tle, Eph. ii. 9. " Now therefore, ye are no more strangers, 
 but fellow-citizens with the saints: no more, Tragoixoi, 
 paroikoiy novsEless vagrants — but inmates of the royal pal- 
 ace — of the household of God." The apostle could not 
 find a stronger term than par-oiKE, to denote in what a for- 
 lorn state the heathen had been ; — nor a stronger opposi- 
 tion, to denote then- present happiness, as believing Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 The structure cannot be too slight that is marked by 
 the term oikos. It signifies a bird's nest in the " Geopo- 
 nics." Domus is so used by Lucretius at the opening of 
 his first book : 
 
 " Frond iferasque domos avium, camposque virentes." 
 
 This will remind the reader of the Psalmist's expressions. 
 Psalm Ixxxiv. 3 ; and civ. 17 : " the sparrow hath found a 
 house.'''' " 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. 
 
 XII. OIKIA^ oikia. — In further proof that oiJcia implies 
 spacious premises, consult the simile ; " For, as the archi- 
 tect of a new oikia — extensive residence — must take care 
 of the whole structure, 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 Ai-chigetes, the first 
 
32 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 author of the story :" — not to those who abridge it. 2 Mac- 
 cabees ii. 20. 
 
 An oikia then resembles a history at large, including all 
 partictalars ; and treating on every point specifically. 
 
 The same extensive import of oilia, is satisfactorily ex- 
 pressed in the history of the Magi, Matt. ii. 11, who visit- 
 ed the Babe at Bethlehem. There was no room in the 
 inn, says the Evangelist : his mother therefore retired to 
 the stable : — " And the wise men came into the oilda — 
 premises — outhouses or stable, where the young child Avas, 
 and found him and his parents." This oilcia cannot possi- 
 bly 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 establish- 
 ment — oikia — of Simon, Acts xi. 11, 17; and stood before 
 the gate — not the door of the dwelling-house, but the gate 
 of the tanner's yard. The premises therefore 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 oikia — premises of Mary the 
 mother of John — where many were gathered together, 
 praying. 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 voice, and im- 
 mediately 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^ 
 and may be separated. That the idea of divisibiUty is at- 
 tached to this term in the New Testament, is evident from 
 the language of the apostle, 2 Tim. ii, 20 ; "In a great 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 33 
 
 house — not olkos, 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 pas- 
 sage imports divmhUUy. So says our Lord, John xiv. 2 : 
 " In my Father's house — not oikos., but oikia — are many 
 mansions." Many mansions imply dii-isihility ; and pre- 
 mises extensive, spacious, wide, large, broad, infinitely be- 
 yond the feeble comprehension of mortal man. 
 
 The Evangelists frequently express the same fact in dif- 
 ferent terms, and denote the same identical object by dif- 
 ferent appellations In the case of the Paralytic, JVIatt. 
 ix. 6, Mark ii. 11, and Luke v. 24, all three say, "take 
 up thy bed, and go to thine house — oikias. The Pharisees 
 charged with "devouring widows' houses^'' Matt, xxiii. 
 40, Luke XX. 47, — all read oikia, not oikos. Though 
 there are variations among the evangelists, in the phrase- 
 ology forbidding a man to regard the property in his oikiUy 
 yet not one of the sacred writers substitutes oikos for oikia. 
 In the course of a long history, in which we have the words 
 from the mouths of different speakers, not one stumbles 
 on this interchange of oikos and oikia — but everj' 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 
 dwelling of Simon is called oikia, by the angel, by the evan- 
 gelist, by Cornelius, and by Peter. How is it that no in- 
 terchange 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 accepta- 
 tion } Is a hut interchangeable with a great house } Is the 
 same term that signifies the fragile materials and small di- 
 mensions of a bird's nest, interchangeable with that which 
 denotes the heavenly seat of Almighty power and glory .'' 
 Is the careful distinction 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 ; — -jeiv, Jew- 
 ess ; — tiger, tigress, &c. interchangeable in English t That 
 
34 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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. oixo;, oikos, uh-p] oixia, alige oikia a small 
 oikia. Odyssey, •2>. 16 ; — xiu usQog rt zj/g oixiag, kaimeros 
 ti tes oikiaSj also a certain part of the oikia. II. Z. 490. 
 Od. A. 356. Penelope was really within the building 
 when she was commanded to go into the oikos, which is 
 described as an upper and retired apartment, xa ev ttj 
 oixiu, ta en te oikia, the substance or property within the 
 oikia.— Oi\. B. 4S. 
 
 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 ; Mark 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 " ejitoinr; therein." Luke xvii. 
 31, speaks of "his stuff — his property — in the oikia,'''' 
 which is strictly and remarkably conformable to the pas- 
 sage 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. Luke i. 27. et Prochenium 
 de Styl. N. T. § 120. 2 Kings xxiii. 8, 13.— Filii; 1 
 Chron. ii. 10. Jer. xvi. 14. Amos iii. 1. Zeph. i. 9. 
 cubiculum, conclave. Jer. xxxv. 4. Jer. xxxvi. 10, 12, 
 20, 21. et confer Lud, de dieu. Act. 1. 13. Joseph, de 
 Bell. Jud. vi. 6. conclavia circa templum structa vocantur 
 oiy.ot, oikoi. Eodem sensu vox legitur in Odyss. A. v. 353. 
 
 'uilX Eig oixov isaa ra TavTTjg sgya xoui-^e. 
 
 Sed abi in conclave, et tuarum rerum curam habes. 
 
 Quo respiciens Hesychius, oixov interpretatur fi^Qog ti itjg 
 oixiag partem quandam domus." 
 
 " Oikos, house, tent, temple, parlour, family, inner 
 chamber. The coenacula, or retiring rooms, built around 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 35 
 
 the temple were, called oikoi. In the same sense the 
 word is employed in the Odj^ssey ; Book i. 35S.= — 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 divi- 
 sion of a large building, expressed by the term oikos, fre- 
 quently occurs. Even the abode of Jupiter on Olympus 
 seems to have conformed to it : for we find, Iliad A. 532. 3, 
 4, 5, that the gods had a great hall, dauu dio:, doma Dios, in 
 which they met to hold councils, to dine, and to sup : but 
 after supper, they retired s^av olxords exaaiog, ad suam quis- 
 qiie donmm, each to his own oikos, his division of the palace ; 
 for Olympus was common to all the gods. Homer took 
 his description from a well-known custom of his time. 
 The Labyrinth of Egypt, Herod, lib. i. cap. 148, is an 
 mstance in point. 
 
 The same idea of a separate retired apartment is con- 
 veyed in later ages by this word : for-Eusebius informs us, 
 Vita Const, lib. iii. c. 10, that the council of bishops at 
 Nice was held in a large hall — oikos — of the royal resi-* 
 dence — tw /neounaTot oikoj BaaiXeio3v. This he expresses 
 in another place by " the great Hall in the palace" — oixov 
 /liyiqav iv joZg ^aaiXsioig, — or olxog evxTTjgiog — an ora- 
 tory, or place of prayer : — not a temple, not a separate 
 building — but an apartment 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 oikia, — if oikos be a part or 
 DIVISION in an oikia, — if it be an upper part, an elevation, 
 while the oikia extends in breadth, how can these nouns 
 be interchangeable .' 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 accepta- 
 tion 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, not- 
 withstanding it be taken metaphorically ; according to the 
 positive affirmation of Aristotle — that oikos is a society of 
 free persons, whereas oikia is composed of both bond and 
 
36 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 free — and consequently, it includes the oikos which forms 
 a part of it. The pan cannot be the same as the wholey 
 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 children from the import of the term oikos in the 
 sense of 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 establisheth the 
 oihous — houses — of sons : while the curse of a mother 
 rooteth up foundations." — Ecclesiasticus iii. 9. — The bless- 
 ing of a father has no effect on brick and mortar ; the 
 term therefore must mean a family of young children ; for 
 such infantine prattlers are the delight of a grandfather. 
 
 Lycophron calls an adulterer 'oixocfOoqi^w, oikophthoron^ 
 " the corrupter of oikos ;" meaning, not merely the seducer 
 of wives, but the corrupter of the blood — of the family 
 descent., by introducing a spurious brood. All the women 
 in Penelope's household, o/A-i«, as well as the dozen that 
 Ulysses dangled on a rope, might have been seduced by 
 Penelope's suitors, without affecting the fidelit}' 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 domus, house, in the same sense. And there is the 
 same distinction between domus — us, domus — /, as between 
 oikos and oikia. — The modern Italian preserves it strongly ; 
 for casa is a house, but casone, w ith 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 — 
 family — descent, disgraced by adultery: Dedecus ille domus 
 sciet ultimus. lb. 342. 
 
 Childrex are the primary objects of — oikos — house ; but 
 oikos includes connections by marriage ; the son-in-law. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 37 
 
 and the daughter-in-law, with their children — the family- 
 descent. I know but one text where it expresses family- 
 ascent : 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 grandchildren — which is the 
 meaning of the word rendered nephews — let them learn to 
 show piety in their own family.^ ^ov idiov oixov^ ton idion 
 oikon, and to requite their parents.," Exactly coincident 
 with this, is the expression of Pindar — Ode xiii. oixof 
 TQiqolv/uTiiovixav, "the ^owse .thrice victor in the Olympic 
 games :" meaning, the family of Xenophon, to whom the 
 ode is addressed : — Xenophon, his father Thessalus, and 
 his grandfather -Ptoeodorus. Is it possible, knowing this, 
 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 
 impoverishes 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 Aris- 
 totle, where he describes the progress of a family. " The 
 first social connection, he says, is the conjugal : then that 
 of children : these constitute a domus — 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 weal. 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 recol- 
 lections, the same family rites, and the same family 
 sepulchre."* 
 
 * Nam cum sit hoc natura commune animantium, ut habeant lubi- 
 dinem procreandi, prima societas in ipso conjugio est: proxima in li- 
 beris : deinde una domus, communia omnia. Id autem est principium 
 urbis, et quasi seminarium reipublicae. Sequuntur fratrum conjuncti- 
 ones, post consobrinorum sobrinorumque : qui cum una domo jam capi 
 non possint, in alias domos, tamquam in colonias, exeunt. Sequuntur 
 connubia et affinitates : ex quibus etiam plures propinqui. Quae pro- 
 pagatio, et suboles, origio est rerum publicarum. Sanguinis autem 
 conjunctio, benevolentia devincit homines et caritate. Magnum est 
 enim eadem habere monumenta majorum, eisdem uti sacris, sepulchra 
 habere communia. — Cicero, de Off. Lib. i. c. 17 
 4 
 
38 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 This societj' 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 them first 7 
 and does not Cicero himself, as well as Aristotle, follow 
 that course in this very passage, wherein he traces consan- 
 guinity and affinity 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 ? — Now if we cannot separate the idea of children 
 from a nation, from a long 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 term family, according to the course of nature, 
 according to the general and established use of the word, 
 it rests with those who undertake to confute this proposi- 
 tion, to show convincing cause for denying this import of 
 the term ; but especially where the term occurs in Scrip- 
 ture, connected with baptism. They are bound to show, 
 in the instances of Cornelius, of the Jailor, of Lydia, of 
 Stephanas, of Crispus, and of Onesiphorus, to which add 
 those of Aristobulus and Narcissus, with the many believers 
 who formed the church of Corinth, that there neither icere, 
 nor could be young children in any one of those 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 Avomen, 
 in the epistle to Timothy, cannot include young children — 
 infants. 
 
 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," OiKiag, oikias. — Eccl. 
 xxvi. 16 ; and iv. 30. " Be not as a lion in thy oikia, and 
 frantic among thy servants .'" — Here a parallelism is intend- 
 ed. The term frantic is parallel to lion; and servant is 
 parallel to oikia, or household. — 2 Mac. iii. 30. " But it 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 39 
 
 any one, old or young, shall conceal any Jew, he, with all 
 his household, Ttavuixiu, panoihia, shall be put to death with 
 the most ignominious torments." — Here the master is dis- 
 tinct from his 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 falsifj'ing history, 
 it is IMPOSSIBLE to include the family in the term oiHttj 
 Phil. iv. 22. " All the saints salute you, especially those 
 who are of Ctesar's household," oixiag, oikias. Not one 
 of Cajsar's /amz7y Avas at that time converted to Christiani- 
 ty ; though some of his household attendants, servants or 
 courtiers, were. The names of several are apparently 
 mentioned 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 excluded, of equal necessity. These terms cannot be 
 regularly and grammatically interchangeable. In this, 
 the metaphprical or figurative acceptation of the terms 
 coincides completely with their primary and proper im- 
 port. The terms oikos and oikia- when used Jigurativeli/ 
 are not regularly and grammatically interchanged in Scrip- 
 ture language. 
 
 The Septuagint translation justifies the general principle. 
 
 Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Sep. oixcav 
 oixiap. Two manuscripts, the Aldine edition, and Cyril. 
 Al., read oixa)v ev oixia. He oikosed in the oikia of his 
 father. He occupied a portion of the general establish- 
 ment of Isaac ; enjoyed 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. snoiT^asv 
 kvcvTatg oixiag. — Aquila stioitjctev kavxaig otxovg, — Symma- 
 chus STTOiTjasv iavTuig oixiag. — Theodotion, snoirjasv ainaig 
 otxovg, — Gr. Ven. btioujctev ow exsirav dojuog, dofiovg. — 
 The meaning is well explained by a Greek scholiast in 
 Caten. Nicet. roiovxov ego to, snoirjasv avruig otxovg^ tout' 
 egiv TjvlTiaEv avTuig to ysvog. The writer's thought is, that 
 inasmuch as the midwives had assisted the Israelite women, 
 
40 
 
 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 rendering them mothers of children, therefore the Lord as- 
 sisted the midwiv^es, and rendered them in return mothers 
 of nmiierous famihes. The Greek schohast 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 acceptation of the term, oikos, 
 in the sense oi family or issue of the body — infants. 
 
 XIII. The term House in the sense of family is meta- 
 phorical ; and is derived from the term House in the ori- 
 ginal sense of a Building ; not a tent, but a fixed, perma- 
 nent, and lasting residence. Now as the term is used 
 metaphorically In several languages, and as there is a cor- 
 responding similarity between the original 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 illustration. 
 
 
 Garden or Grounds. 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 02 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 "S 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 HOUSE. 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 c/5 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 OIKOS. 
 
 
 & 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FAMILY. 
 
 § 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 s • 
 
 t/1 
 
 Entrance 
 
 o 
 
 Here is the separation of the out-houses from the prin- 
 cipal dwelling. It is evident that the house cannot be said 
 to include the grounds and out-houses : the house might be 
 huilt up or pulled down, enlarged or diminished, without 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 41 
 
 affecting the out-liouses. But the out-houses include the 
 house : — and the whole may be expressed by one com- 
 prehensive 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 ineta- 
 phorical application of the term to this reality. There can- 
 not be equal authority on this subject to that of Aristotle. 
 In writing on the polity of cities, Aristotle thus defines a 
 House. " A House is a Society or Companionship connect- 
 ed tooether according; to the course of nature, for lona; con- 
 tinuance. Such a Society is called by Charondas, *• those 
 who eat from the same cupboard,'' or pantry ; but it is called 
 by Epimenides, ' those who sit around the same fireside ;'' " 
 — Or, as Du Val, the editor of Aristotle supposes, " those 
 who sit around the same tabled Such a Society, says 
 Aristotle, is an oikos, or house.* 
 
 XIV. But the old Grecian distinguishes between oikos, 
 House, oiKiA, Uouse-noLB, exactly as Scripture distin- 
 guishes. Speaking of a city, he says ; " In order to ob- 
 tain 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 "//-ee" Aristotle means, the Master 
 and his family : one who is capable of citizenship ; one 
 " among those who are free by nature." J He afterwards 
 
 * Societas igitur in omneis vitee dies constitula, Naturae conveniens 
 et consentanea, Domus est: cujus societatis participes et consortes, 
 ojioanrvoii Charondas appellat, id est, eodem panario, seu ex eadem apo- 
 theca victum sumentes: nos convictimas appellemus : Epimenides 
 autem Cretensis ofjoKairoig, id est, uno et communi foco seu fumo uten- 
 teis : dicamus, si placet, contubernaleis. — Aristotle, Pol. Lib. i. c. 2. 
 
 f EjTCt 6s (pavspov e^ fiopicov tjv TTo\ts (rvvt^ijicev, avayKrj Ttcpi oiKovo^iai, lege 
 irepi otKtas, cnreiv irpoTtpov. Trarra yap ttoAij, i^ oiKiiiiv cvyK^irai otKta;, lege 
 otKovofitas, St /tcprij t^ u>v av6tg o'lKia rrvvtTixrai' o'lKla cc rt^ciog, ck Sov^cov, kui 
 
 e'\evd€pui/. Quando autem perspicuum est quibus ex partibus constet 
 civitas, necessario de Domo prius dicendum est. Omnis enim Civitas 
 ex domibus et familiis componitur. Domus porro partes sunt, ex qui- 
 bus Domus constituitur; at Domus perfecta atque integra, ex servis et 
 liberis constat. — Pol. Lib. i. c. 3. 
 
 J n fiiv yap, eXivdcpoM/ (pvcrei. iji/ 6e, Sov\oiv £r'. Civilis est liberorum 
 natura: herile imperium vero, serv"^>"» 
 4* 
 
42 SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 
 
 expatiates on this definition, speaking of the wife as being 
 " free ;" not as among barbarians, a slave ; and of the chil- 
 dren, as being " free." He saj^s, " There is but a slight 
 difference between the skill required to govern a great 
 oiKiA — House-nohV) — and that required to govern a small 
 city." Nothing can be clearer, than that the term olkos 
 ■ — House— EXCLUDES the oiMa — out-houses, or JIousc-noLD ; 
 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, hav- 
 ing only the Greek New Testament in his hand," have 
 understood, when reading in his native language — " We 
 baptized Lydia, tvith her society connected together accord- 
 ing to the course of nature for long continuance.'''' — " We 
 baptized the Jailor, with all those xoho eat from the same 
 cupboard as himself.''^ — " I baptized those who sit around 
 the same fire-side loith my valued friend Stephanas'''' — or, " I 
 baptized those who sit around the same table with my honour- 
 ed friend.'''' A Greek reader must have understood this 
 term — house — in a very extensive sense : including not 
 only ALL the children, in every stage of life, but something 
 more. 
 
 But the elegance of the last definition, " those who sit 
 aromid the same table,'''' reminds me of the exquisite com- 
 parison 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 Scrip- 
 tures, 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 dwell- 
 ing-house being built up of stones. A metaphorical House, 
 therefore, a family, was a building of I'lwing stones. Now 
 which are the proper I'lving 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 t — And here I will not allow that, " the term 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 43 
 
 house, as used in the Old Testament, implies the Elders 
 of the family, striclltj and ■properly ; but the infants acci- 
 dentally, and improperly .'''' On the contrary, I affirm that 
 the direct, straight-forward, explicit, and unquestionable re- 
 ference 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, Lord God of Israel, hast 
 revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house," 
 will establish 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 house of thy ser- 
 vant — 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 fear- 
 ed God, that he made them houses," he gave them nu- 
 merous families. 
 
 Consult the history of Jacob and Rachel, Gen. xxx. 
 i. 1-2 ; " Give me children, or else I die," said the dis- 
 appointed wife. — Her husband replied : " Am I in God's 
 stead, who hath withheld from thee Phe fruit of the womb ?" 
 Psalm cxxvii. Except the Lord 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 here fixes 
 the sense to issue : " those who labour to build the house, 
 
 IN IT." 
 
 This etymological derivation of the term house — as im- 
 porting a metaphorical building — continued, and was 
 ADOPTED by the Apostles. 
 
 Eph. ii. 19-21. Now therefore, ye are no more stran- 
 gers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and 
 members 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 Building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a 
 holy temple in the Lord : in whom ye also are euilded 
 together lor a habitation of God through the Spirit. 1 Pet. 
 ii. 4, 5 ; Coming to the Lord, as to a living, life-giving 
 
 stone ye also, as liviiig stones are built up a spiritual 
 
 uovsE, family, as that of Aaron, a holy priesthood, to offer 
 
44 SUBJECTS OF EAPTISil. 
 
 up.;.;n^»«/sacrifices.-Titusi. 11. They subvert-over- 
 turn v,-HOLE HorsEs-families : the very reverse of build- 
 ing up : vy.bialdmg.— These passages are decisive. 
 
 in prooi that HOUSE imports children, distinct from 
 their parents.-Deut. xxv. 9. "Then shall his brother's 
 wite spit in his face, and say, so shall it be done unto that 
 man who will not build up his brother's house "— bv 
 obtaining children— /«/««/,_from his widovv.-Gen. xvi 
 
 t T mTu'""''- ''"^'' ^^'^'"^^ t^e ^oi-d hath restrained me 
 from child-bearing: I pray thee go in unto my maid; it 
 may be hat /may obtain children by her^^ "be builded 
 
 ,/ rS?^^\"''^^ ^\ "^""^^^ '^'^ to Jacob, behold 
 
 my maid Bilhah-she shall bear upon my knees' that / 
 may also have children by her"— " be builded by her" 
 — t^en. vii. The Lord said to Noah, come thou and all 
 thy house into the ark. 
 
 The parent is distinguished from his family.— 1 Kincrg 
 xvm 8, 16. The widow woman of Zarepta did accordino- 
 to the saying 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 concern- 
 ed 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 whch came out of his loins~^\\ the souls of the house 
 
 ot Jacob were threescore and ten." The phrase those 
 
 ^yhxch came out of the loins of Jacob, must exclude Jacob 
 himself, ^umb xvm. H. " The heave-offerings have I 
 given to thee and thy sons, and to thy daughters w ith thee, 
 every one that is clean in thy house." The parent is evi- 
 dently not comprised in the term Aow^e.— Deut xxvi 11 
 Ihou Shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord 
 thy God hath given thee, and to thine house. The dis- 
 tinction IS here preserved also.— 2 Sam. xiii. 11 "I will 
 raise up evil against thee David, out of thine own house :^' 
 — trom among thy children. 
 
 That this distinction between parents and children, con- 
 tinued and was adopted hj the Apostles, is manifest 
 .'J""!^^' ' ''"'^ ^^"^ house;— the Bishop, and his house: 
 -the Deacon, ««^,is house : -the family of Stephanas, 
 separate from himself ;-the famih; of Crispus, separate 
 from himself ;-the family of Onesiphorus separate, &c. 
 In proof that house means infants, explicitly.— ^^nmh. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 45 
 
 xvi. 27, 32. Datlian and Abiram came out and stood in 
 the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and 
 their little children. — And the earth opened her mouth 
 and swallowed them up, and their houses. — Their little 
 children, then, were their houses. — Job xx. 28. " The in- 
 crease of his house shall roll away ; shall flow away as a 
 torrent flows, in the day of his wrath." The term "in- 
 crease of a house," means a famili/, 1 Sam. ii. 3. — Psalm 
 Ixviii. 6. " God setteth the solitary man in families :" in 
 a HOUSE — INFANTS. — Psaliii cxiii. 9. God maketh the 
 barren woman to sit in her house — famihj; the joyful 
 mother of children., infants. — Isaiah xiii. 6. Their chil- 
 dren 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 ivomb : 
 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 — infants. 
 
 House means Infants, before they are conceived — con- 
 sequently, when they are not present. — Gen. xviii. 19. " I 
 know Abraham, that he will command liis 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 pro- 
 mised by the three Angels. — 2 Sam. vii. 11-16. " The Lord 
 
 telleth thee that he will .make thee, a house and 
 
 set up thy seed after thee, ichich shall proceed out of 
 thy bowels.'''' — Consequently, this infant, David's successor, 
 was not yet begotten. — Ruth iv. 12. " All the people that 
 wei'e in the gate, and the elders said — The Lord make the 
 woman that is come into thy dwelling house, like Rachel 
 and like Leah, which two did build 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 woi'ds whatever, to ex- 
 press 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 
 proposition that the term house in Old Testament language 
 MUST mean an infant. The building up the house of Israel 
 is infant-child-hednu^ Thy House — thq. "seed which 
 
46 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the Lord shall gi\'e thee of this young "woman," must 
 mean an infant. Tliis 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 ths 
 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 term house, both by the side of the father and 
 mother, even before it is begotten. The same usage of the 
 \vord continued and was adopted by the Apostles, as is 
 clear from the case of the young women, 1 Tim. v. 14 ; 
 concerning whom Paul says, as of a future event, that 
 he would have them marry, bear children, despotise 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 f An In- 
 fant. — In these ten instances, twenty might be added, the 
 term house must signify I/fants ; and moreover, it is used 
 for Infants, though not actually present. 
 
 But an objection to this inference has been propounded. 
 — " If the argument be riiade to turn rather upon Avords 
 than things, there is ahvays this risk that the disputants 
 become involved in ail th:^ diihculties arising from the 
 attempt to fix the meaning; o^i words which are necessarily 
 fleeting, as well as from their incompetent acquaintance 
 with a dead language. Every linguist knows that the 
 words pais, paidos, brcphos, hrcphylUon, tecnon, puer, pue- 
 rulus,parvul IS, infans, infant ulus, piccierillo, infante, infanta, 
 infanzo, enfant, barne, infant, child, are used indiscrimi- 
 nately for MINORS, whether they be twenty dai/s or twenty 
 yeo.rs old ; and sometimes for terms of endearment at any 
 age. Hence it happens that \\e hear of "an itfant who 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 47 
 
 was hanged for killing his tutor," — of " the last will and 
 testament of the little infant^ iri/antulus, Adald," aged 
 eighteen — of the " Speculum parvulorum,^'' or mirror of 
 little ones, that is, of the simple or little ones in undei'stand- 
 ing — of the '■'■childe of the age of xiiii yere, vesture pryce 
 iii shiUings," 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 John 
 the Baptist, or " Johan the dopper" called puer. 
 
 Thus Luke the Evangelist, and Paul the Apostle, how- 
 ever intent on relating the practice of the Apostles in 
 respect to Infant Baptism, are prohibited the use of the 
 word Infant ! ! Let him not dare to say, we baptized 
 children : — neither pais, paidos, brephos, brephijllion, tecnon, 
 puer, pueruhis, parvulus, infans, infantulus, piccierillo, in- 
 fante, infanzo, enfant, barne, infant or child, if met with 
 in his writings connected with Baptism, could signify what 
 it universally signifies, or could mean, vv'hat elsewhere 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 
 hnportance ; why are they not mentioned in connection 
 with baptism .^" — The answer is easy. The New Testa- 
 ment 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 equivo- 
 cal denominations, in reference to baptism. Instead of 
 saying " we baptized men, women, and children,''^ in three 
 words ; they tell us so in a plainer and more direct manner, 
 in one word ; and to that word both Greek and Jew at- 
 tached the same import and application. 
 
 Thei-efore with the preceding ten instances of the signi- 
 fication of the term house 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 w^ithout 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 
 Teslameut have understood by the term house in the da^s 
 
48 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of the Apostles, when he found it in various parts of their 
 sacred writings ? Could 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 contradictory to common and popular ac- 
 ceptation, ichy did theij not tell us so ? How 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 employed from the days of our 
 father Abraham to this very day ; and in which it is now 
 used ?* 
 
 Do those Evangelist writers ever drop a hint of such 
 novelty and deviation ? So far from it, they give this term 
 the most comprehensive sense possible. They speak of 
 the whole house of Crispus, Acts xviii. 8 ; and no excep- 
 tion is marked. Aristotle, Poet. 16, says ; olov ds egi, to 
 sxoi'y "c"^ fieoov^ Tcat relevTTjv — " The whole includes begin- 
 ning, middle, and end." — No ; say some moderns, it only 
 includes the beginning ! — We baptized ALL the hotise 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 .'' W^hen 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 im- 
 piety, if not incipient blasphemy — and allied to it is the 
 desire to exclude from baptism any member of a " house,^^ 
 concerning which an Apostle or an Evangelist says, the 
 whole, or all were baptized ! 
 
 Oixog, Oikos. — The Greek term for house, oikos, cor- 
 
 * The present customs of the East add their testimony to this prin- 
 ciple. D'Arvieux, in his " Manners of the Arabs," says — " The Arabs 
 never speak of their wives, nor does any person speak concerning their 
 females to them;" but indirectly they say, "my house," and ^' those 
 at home;" instead of '' my tcife and my daughters!" When one 
 inquires after their health, it is by this form, ^' how does your house 7" 
 and '• how do those of your house do T' This fact favours the conjec- 
 ture, that daughters were the hovse of Lydia 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 49 
 
 responds exactly with our usage of the English word ; and 
 the distinctions are unitbrmly preserved throughout Scrip- 
 ture, without any instance of confusion or interchange. 
 As apphed 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 David, 
 through any indefinite number of generations. It signifies 
 also a family living at the same time, and usually under 
 one roof, contemporaries. With the addition of a syllable, 
 eiki-AS^ oixi-A2^ it changes its application, and imports 
 the attendants on a family, the servants of various kinds, 
 or the house-aohV) ; whoever holds to the house. Marriage 
 or adoption might engraft a member of the house-Ao/rf into 
 the family ; yet that is not according to the appointment 
 of nature, but is an arbitrary convention of civil society. 
 
 The term house, in the sense of a building, or as signify- 
 ing a series of descending generations, can have no con- 
 nection with the subject of 'baptism of persons. Neither 
 has the term house-nohD any immediate connection with 
 this subject ; Scripture affording no instance of a hoiise- 
 HOLD being baptized, as such; though individuals com- 
 prised 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 family 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 pregnancy, 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 the family. A 
 widow with six or eight children is left, we say, with a 
 large family : and speaking of them, we ask, " whether the 
 whole family be well .' — whether all be at home .'" 
 
 The same precisely is the application of the Greek term 
 oixog, oikos, in the New Testament. I know no instance 
 in which it imports a married pair not having children ; or 
 the parents distinct from their children : but in several 
 instances it imports children distinct from their parents. 
 For the Apostle Paul baptized the family of Stephanas ; — 
 but he did not baptize Stephanas himself; and he salutes 
 the family of Onesiphorus, but omits Ouesiphorus himself, 
 .5 
 
50 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 who was probably absent from them ; or he might have 
 been dead, leaving an unsettled family behind him. 
 
 Scripture always employs this term oixog^ oikos, family , 
 to import the nearest degree of kindred ; by consanguinity 
 generally, yet not excluding marriage ; and by descent 
 generally ; yet in one instance by ascent of parentage : — 
 never varying however from the notion of the nearest pos- 
 sible degree of kindred. 
 
 It excludes servants or the House-uoLD. An unimpeach- 
 able instance of this presents itself in the allusion to Noah, 
 Heb. xi. 7, who was saved by means of the ark, with his 
 FAMILY. The Apostle Peter assures us, 1 Peter iii. 20, 
 that only eight persons were saved in the ark ; Noah with 
 his wife, and his three sons with their wives ; it follows, 
 that no part of his House-noiX) is included in the term 
 " family," used by the writer to the Hebrews. The chil- 
 dren of Noah saved with him in the ark, were certainly 
 adults, for chronologers allow 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 
 ruleth well his owN/awu'/i/, having his children in subjec- 
 tion 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 pupilage, and youth, which requires ruling and 
 guidance by their father. 
 
 In 1 Tim. iii. 12, we find a precept which directs that 
 a Deacon be the husband of one wife, ruling well his chil- 
 dren, even iiis own family — his issue. Lest 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 warrants 
 any degree of strength that can be annexed to it. — There- 
 fore, in both these places and connections, it fixes the par- 
 ties designed by it, equally in reference to the Bishop as 
 the Deacon, to natural issue or family. Nor can these 
 children be adults, for then the term ruled could not be 
 applied to them : thej- must be young children, under their 
 father's direction, subject to his command and obedient to 
 liio contiol : he is to rule tUeui 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 51 
 
 But those 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 siickHngs, 
 consult the advice of the apostle to young women, 1 Tim. 
 V. 14. *' I would have the j'oung widows to marry, bear 
 children, and guide their offspring ; oixodsanoTeiv, oikodes- 
 potein, literally, despotise their family ^ This order of the 
 words is definitive : " marriage, — child-bearing, — child-rfes- 
 polisimj .'''' This third term must mark that guidance, care, 
 and assiduity concerning infant children, which mothers 
 feel with the most lively anxiety. Who interferes Avith a 
 mother's solicitude for her infant? — the father may sym- 
 pathize with it when indisposed ; he may express his fond- 
 ness M^hen 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 Provi- 
 dence. These could not be foster children : for the apos- 
 tle speaks of child-bearing ; nor could they be adults, for 
 then, neither could their mother despotise them ; nor could 
 she be young if her children were of mature age. Observe 
 also the change of term. The father, Bishop or Deacon, 
 was to rule his family ; the rnother is to despotise her off- 
 spring, her infant, with maternal solicitude. The infant 
 family is of necessity attached to the mother ; and the mo- 
 ther is attached to the infant family, by Divine appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 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 al- 
 ways more attached to Iheir mothers than sons are, and 
 for a longer term of years ; I demand also valid reasons for 
 denying that Lydia'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 Philippi. That she was on a visit 
 or on a journey of traffic, does not appear. That conjec- 
 ture is set aside by the mention of her family and her resi- 
 dence, which must have been a large house, to accommo- 
 date several lodgers, Paul, Silas, Luke, &c. ; and a con- 
 gregation 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 
 Paul :" but nothing of this is said of her family The bap- 
 
52 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tisin 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 difficulty .' 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 /o?h?7j/, the children might be young; and every 
 thing leads to that conclusion ; 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 families de- 
 serves notice. It imports many in lesser numbers, Matt, 
 xiii. 56 : " his mother ^lary, 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 brethren, it makes eight or nine with the mother : a 
 large or numerous family. 
 
 The nobleman who came to our Lord 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 house- 
 hold ; for we read, John iv. 5-3 ; " the father believed with 
 ALL his household." JNow here notice the necessity of 
 preserving the distinction between house, the word used 
 by our translators in the sense of family, and Aoi/se-iioLD ; 
 for the story seems to say that this nobleman had only one 
 son : but he had many domestics : the household was nu- 
 merous, but all this household was believers. 
 
 Paul uses the term, Acts xvi. 28, speaking to the terri- 
 fied jailor — " Do thyself no harm ; for we are all here ;" 
 many prisoners, beside Paul and Silas. 
 
 The consequence is inevitable, that families distinguish- 
 ed by the word all or whole, had many children; since 
 children are the family. Acts xviii. 8 ; Crispus, the ruler 
 of the synagogue, believed with all his numerous family. 
 Cornelius the Centurion feared God with all his numerous 
 family, Acts x. 1. This particular was so striking, that it 
 is repeated ; for Peter reports the Angel to have said to 
 Cornelius, Acts xi. 14 ; that not only himself, but " all 
 his/ami/y should be saveil," by the word to be spoken to 
 them. This is not noticed in the first account of the ap- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 53 
 
 pearance of the angel ; but it was a striking fact ; and the 
 apostle knew it to be true from his own observ^ation. 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 as- 
 sembly. 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 probably, those two domestics 
 who accompanied him in bringing Peter, were also at this 
 meeting. Now as the Holy Ghost fell on all who heard 
 Peter speak, these members of the house-AoM of Corne- 
 lius were among the first fruits of the Gentiles ; — but they 
 were not of his /«??!?///, though consecrated and baptized at 
 the same time with their master. 
 
 The assembly baptized at Cornelius's, was a kind of 
 Epitome — 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 counti'ies near, and 
 distant countries. Julian the Apostate, who acknowledged 
 only livo eminent converts to Christianity, named Corne- 
 lius the Centurion as one of them. 
 
 Now is it probable, that Crispus should have a numerous 
 family, that Cornelius should have a very numerous fami- 
 ly, and that the jailor should have a numerous family, but 
 no young children in one of them } although the word ex- 
 pressly signifies young children ! The families are spoken 
 of as being baptized ; 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 (umily ; 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 more deliberate in its determinations. The 
 action is that of a fervid mind. In like manner, " he call- 
 ed 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 na- 
 
54 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ture jmist have contained young children. Cornehus 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 advised him ; " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and thou shalt be safe, with thy family. And the}'' spake 
 unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his 
 Ao«se-HOLD, 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-KOL.D, attendants, 
 prisoners, &c., were baptized, which is said of the whole 
 company at Cornelius's, but " he and his family were bap- 
 tized :" " he rejoiced with all his numerous family believ- 
 ing in God." — All heard the word : but onli/ his family ac- 
 companied the jailor in baptism. This Jailor became one 
 of the Philippian brethren ; and would not lose the oppor- 
 tunity of attending the consolatory exhortation at Lydia's : 
 and of bidding his spiritual fathers farewell. The haplism 
 of this family is spoken of as that of Lydia : as the ordina- 
 ry course of events ; the children accompanying 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." Con- 
 sidering 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 connected instances of this practice. 
 
 The Church at Philippi, though apparently consisting 
 of a few members only, especially Avhen first planted by 
 the Apostle 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 uncer- 
 tain number of others. 
 
 Stephanas was " the first fruits of Achaia," 1 Cor. xvi. 
 15; and Paul confesses ihathe baptized his famili/. "Cris- 
 pus, the chief of the .synagogue, believed on the Lord, with 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 55 
 
 ALL his numerous family, Acts xviii. S ; and many of the 
 Corinthians believed and were baptized." 
 
 The family of Crispus is said to believe, but it is not 
 marked as baptized. Their baptism will readily be granted ; 
 for to leave this believing family unbaptized would cut up 
 " believer's baptism" by the very roots. The same reasons 
 imply that among the " mamj Corinthians" baptized, others 
 beside Crispus had families. 
 
 Stephanas, who was a deputy from the Church of Co- 
 rinth 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 .'' Stepha- 
 nas their father is described as the first fruits of Achaia ; 
 are we obliged to take this term in the sense of ^^ first con- 
 vert ?" 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 bap- 
 tism ; — 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, separately from its head or 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 Christians, though they be not expressly described as 
 baptized. That of Onesiphorus, 1 Tim. i. 16, IS ; 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 particular salutation. Also, that of Aristobu- 
 lus, and that of Narcissus, Romans xvi. 10, 11 : which 
 are described as being " in Christ." We have this evi- 
 dence on this subject — four Christian families recorded as 
 baptized — that of Cornelius, of Lydia, of the Jailor, and of 
 Stephanas. Two Christian families not noticed as baptized 
 
56 SUBJECTS OF BAPTTSJl. 
 
 — that of Crispns, and of Onesiphorus. Two Christian 
 families mentioned neither as families nor baptized — that 
 of Aristobulus, and of Xffrcissus. Eight Christian fami- 
 lies, and therefore baptized I although as there was no 
 such thing previously as a Christian family, there could be 
 no'children of converts to receive the ordinance ! 
 
 Have we 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 of the Apos- 
 tles 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 in- 
 stances than can possibly be found in support of any doc- 
 trine, principle, or practice derived from the example of the 
 Apostles .' Is there any other case beside that of Baptism, 
 on which we would take families at hazard and deny the 
 existence of young children in them .' Take eight fami- 
 lies 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 */j; : 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 com- 
 pletely ought of sight — " How many young Children 
 would be found, on the average, in eight families, each 
 containing six children .-" — What proportion do these eight 
 families, identified and named in the New Testament, bear 
 to that of Christians also identified and named .' The num- 
 ber of names of persons converted after the resurrection 
 of Christ, in the Acts of the Apostles, is ticenty-eight. 
 Four baptized families give the proportion of one in seven. 
 The number of names of similar converts in the whole of 
 the New Testament is Jlfty-fite. How many converts may 
 be fairly inferred from the History of the Acts of the 
 Apostles ; ten thousand .- this gives oxe thovs.xnd bap- 
 tized FAMiucs. How many from the whole of the New 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 57 
 
 Testament, one hundred thousand ? — this gives ten thou- 
 sand 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 million of 
 baptized FAMILIES. This calculation or one to the same 
 effect, can neither be evaded nor confuted ; for if this pro- 
 portion be reduce.d one-half, still Origen, whose great-grand- 
 father, grandfather and father were Christians ; and who 
 himself travelled into the countries, and among the churches 
 where Christianity was first established, who was the most 
 inquisitive and learned man of his time, could not be igno- 
 rant whether the churches received infant baptism from 
 the apostles 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, " (he children of proselytes icere 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 
 instances of baptized families, it were not unreasonable to 
 expect 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 competent to appear in Church transactions." In an- 
 swer to this, observe ; that where fixmilies were baptized 
 previous to the formation of churches, that case was abso- 
 lutely 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. Neverthe- 
 less, the counterpart of it may be found. By the Apostle's 
 reproof of a party spirit among the Corinthians, 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 Paulists, was so few ! for how many did 
 
58 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 it consist of in the Corinthian Church ? only two, Crispus 
 and Gaius. 1 Cor. i. 14-16. '■'• I thank God that I bap- 
 tized none of you, Corinthian church members, except 
 Crispus and Gaius ; lest any should say that I had baptized 
 in my own name, and so had formed a party among your 
 church. However, I did baptize also the family of Ste- 
 phanas ;^^ but they are out of the question, as they 'cannot 
 support any party. Besides, or as to the rest jo( baptized 
 families, / do not recollect 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 discus- 
 sions ; for had it been completely of the Corinthian body, 
 then the Apostle must have baptized others of that body, 
 beside Crispus and Gaius, which he denies. Then that 
 uncertain number of baptized families, which he denomi- 
 nates " THE REST," must havc been full church members, 
 equally with the family of Stephanas. In that case, it 
 would have been to his purpose to recollect them, lest his 
 enemies should have recollected them for him. Nor could 
 he have described his party 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 7nany Corinthians believed, and were baptized ; but 
 he says not a word of any family except that of Crispus ; 
 and nothing about the baptism 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; 
 much less, should we ever have known icho baptized him. 
 The undeniable inference is, that there were many bap- 
 tisms 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! 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 59 
 
 The passage div^ides into two branches : — Whoiir Paul 
 did NOT baptize : he baptized none of the Corinthian 
 church members, except Crispus and Gains. He rejoices 
 • that none can charge him with having baptized in his own 
 name ; and so conckides this branch of his subject, refer- 
 ring 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 " 6es«rfes," 
 or as it is better rendered " as to the rest,^^ and also those 
 ^'■others;'''' the connection implies that they reall}' 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 augmenta- 
 tion of a PARTY in the Corinthian Church, in behalf of 
 Paul ; for which reason he passes them. Those baptized 
 famiUes in some sense belonged to the Church at Corinth ; 
 yet they were not members of it — what but the youthful 
 state of those baptized families prevented them from being 
 full church members, capable of giving their voices in be- 
 half of the Apostle from whom they had received baptism? 
 
 Notwithstanding, a writer, treating on the subject of 
 Baptism, could discover in Scripture no more than three 
 instances of that rite, conferred on what he undistinguish- 
 ingl)' 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 Cris- 
 pus, 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 Hosanna to the Son of David! 
 whom our Lord compares to babes and sucklings. 
 
 On the subject of Lydia and family, I condemn that dis- 
 ingenuousness 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 
 
60 SUBJECTS OF BAPTIsr. 
 
 drew them unto the forum, and brought them to the com- 
 MANDixG OFFICERS of the troops in garrison, the Strategoi, 
 
 saying, these Jevrs do exceedingly trouble our city 
 
 And the commanding officers rent off their clothes, and com- 
 manded to beat them ; and when they had laid many 
 stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging 
 the jailor, the commander of the place for militanj punish- 
 ments, to keep them safely., And when it was day, the 
 
 commanding officers sent the Serjeants, saying, let those 
 men go : and the jailor, miUtarrj ruler of the prison, told 
 this to Paul, saying, The commanding officers have sent to 
 let you go: now therefore depart in peace. But Paul re- 
 turned his answer to the commanding officers, by their 
 own messengers, the sergeants ; they have beaten us open- 
 ly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into 
 prison ; and now do they thrust us out privily .' let 
 
 THEM COME THEMSELVES, AXl? FETCH US OUT. And the 
 
 Serjeants told these things to the commanding officers ; 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 cit}-. And 
 they went out of the prison publicly, and entered into Ly- 
 dia's house where they lodged ; and when they had seen 
 the brethren who naturally resorted to the Apostle's lodg- 
 ings, they coxsoled them as publicly as they had been con- 
 soled by the commanding officers ; the same word being 
 used in the same sense, and then departed. Now if the 
 consolation at Lydia's was private, then the consolation ten- 
 dered to Paul and Silas b}- those officers was private ; but if 
 the consolation tendered to Paul and Silas b}- the 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 con- 
 fined to the family of Lydia. Moreover, the Avhole of 
 Paul's conduct proves that he studied publicitij throughout 
 every part of the transaction : in absolute humiliation of 
 the tyrannic military officers who had wrongfully impri- 
 soned him. He thus gave an example of firmness and 
 courage, of resistance to oppression, and knowledge of his 
 privileges and his duty, that could not be too generally 
 known at Philippi, nor too .strongly evinced in the publi- 
 city of his consolation to all the Philippian converts. 
 
 The third rule of interpretation, the acceptance of Scrip- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 61 
 
 ture 07ily, as conclusive authority, may be exemplified by an 
 examination of the history of Lydia, Acts xvi. 15. " On 
 the Sabbath days we went out of the city to the river, 
 v/here under protection of the law was a Proseucha, or 
 place of Jewish worship ; and sitting down, we spake to 
 the women who resorted there ; and a woman named Ly- 
 dia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, who wor- 
 shipped God, heard ; whose heart the Lord opened to at- 
 tend 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 constrain- 
 ed 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 me faithful : — come into my house : and she con- 
 strained us." No mention is made of any one of her fami- 
 ly in conjunction with herself. She does not say, " come 
 into OUR house." Neither is any person of her family mark- 
 ed as attending to the discourses of Paul : nor as resorting 
 with her to the Proseucha, where Paul discoursed. 
 
 We should never have known that she had a family, 
 were they not incidentally mentioned as accompanying her 
 in baptism : — " And when she loas baptized, with her fami- 
 ly ^ Insert he)- baptism, we find her family ; omit her 
 baptism, she has no family recorded. The act of her bap- 
 tism cannot be separated 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 re- 
 ceiving 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 bap- 
 tism, has appeared to the Baptists themselves so unac- 
 countable, that they have taken different ways to account 
 for it ; which they have not accomplished ; for there can- 
 not be a clearer instance to Avarrant 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 hav- 
 6 
 
62 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ing an}' so}Js. Others say, those brethren were " her ser- 
 vants, 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 Samothracia 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 wo- 
 men — 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 pass, as we went to prayer, 
 a damsel having a spirit of divination 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 breth- 
 ren''^ Timothy and Luke, from whom they had been sepa- 
 rated one night. Timothy and Luke remained at Phi- 
 lippi 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 sa3's, " we sailed away from Philippi." 
 Luke remained at Philippi during that interval, naturally 
 continuing at Lydia's. Luke also inust have had intimate 
 knowledge of the jailor and all his family ; but he does 
 not once intiinate 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 /o?n<7y 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 famihj of Stephanas. 
 Scripture says his famihj was baptized ; I therefore believe 
 that fact — Scripture says nothing of the baptism of his 
 household, I therefore do not believe it. But I will believe 
 
rUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 63 
 
 tV, whenever a passac/e of Scripture shall be prodiicedj in 
 which HOUSEHOLD, OIKIA, is connected ivith 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 Tim. i. 16, 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 express both the family and household of 
 Stephanas, though Scripture uses tivo icords in order to 
 mark the distinction, and certainly does not mean the same 
 persons. This has produced confusion, and various weak 
 and inconsistent arguments. 
 
 The Baptists thus allege — " As to the term ' household,^ 
 there is no proof that infants were included in the house- 
 hold of Stephanas, of Lydia, and the Philippian jailor. 
 Stephanas is not mentioned in the Acts, but by Paul, 
 1 Cor. i. 16, and xvi. 15. " I baptized the household of 
 Stephanas ;" and he besought the brethren to submit them- 
 selves 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 infants 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 house- 
 hold," is impugned by the grammar of the passage — by 
 the reasons assigned b}"^ the apostle, and by the j)ossibilities 
 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 translators, as a part of the original text written ac- 
 cording to the train of thought current in the apostle's 
 mind. The necessity felt for including them in a paren- 
 thesis is demonstrative proof that they have not been so 
 considered ; but a parenthetical sentence should be so con- 
 structed as to read in with the text, and with the subject 
 treated on in the text, which these vv'ords will not. 
 
64 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 
 
 The apostle's " I beseech you, brethren," requu-es to be 
 followed by some term congruous to his leading and intro- 
 ductory expression. There is no such cause ivhy he besought 
 them marked ; but a harshness of transition irreconcilable 
 with usual and regular construction ; "I beseech you 
 brethren, ye know" — . This want of connection and con- 
 sequence cannot be reduced to grammar, in the sense of 
 the objection. 
 
 The reason assigned for subinission is absolutely incon- 
 sistent with the purpose. Nobody supposes that submis- 
 sion in temporals is intended by Paul. Can he sa}^, " the 
 household of Stephanas had addicted itself — eis diaconian — 
 to do certain services in temporals to the saints ; do you 
 therefore submit to that household in 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 Ihe household of Stephanas resided. The 
 Corinthians therefore knew mtich more about the dispositions 
 of the household of Stephanas than Paul did : they knew 
 it lo7ig before he did. It must have been announced to 
 them many weeks — more likely 7}iany months^ prior to his 
 information about it : — why then should he so earnestly 
 " beseech them" — on a matter which was not a secret .'' Its 
 usefulness and application depended on its being exten- 
 sivel}'^ 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 Chris- 
 tian Brother in the first chapter of the epistle. Paul men- 
 tions Crispus and Gaius, all the members of this body 
 whom 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 \vas 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 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 65 
 
 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 con- 
 sist of two or three only ; is it credible that the whole 
 church at Corinth which " came behind in no gift," inclu- 
 ding also Crispus and Gaius, were besought to yield sub- 
 mission to those two or three ? Crispus the ruler of the 
 synagogue, a man evidently of great respectability and 
 influence ; and Gaius " mine host," says Paul, f' and that 
 of the whole church ;" are they to submit themselves to 
 two or three young persons ? Is it that Gaius, to Avhom 
 the apostle John addressed an epistle, commending his 
 " faithful doings," and announcing his high respect in terms 
 the most remarkable of any complimentary passage that 
 can be selected from the New Testament. " Beloved, I 
 jvish 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 ? 
 
 The passage that alludes to the family of Stephanas, 1 
 Cor. i. 16; has no difficulty; but that respecting the 
 household of Stephanas, 1 Cor. xvi. 15, 16 ; is neither 
 Greek, Grammar, nor common sense. Whitby thus para- 
 phrases — " I beseech you, brethren, seeing j'ou know the 
 house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of the gospel 
 in Achaia, and that they have ever since addicted them- 
 selves to the ministry of the saints ; that you submit your- 
 selves to such giving reverence and honour to them, and to 
 everyone that helpeth with us and laboureth." Doddridge 
 renders ; " I beseech ye brethren as ye know the House- 
 hold of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and 
 AS they have set themselves 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 ivork of ministering to 
 the saints, that ye would submit yourselves unto such, and 
 to every one who Avorketh with them and laboureth." 
 The Bishop saw clearly that " it is," in the singular, will 
 not construe with " they are" in the plural — and that the 
 phrase " I beseech you brethren" — must have an imme- 
 diate subject ; and therefore he renders " I beseech you 
 6* 
 
66 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 have regard." In his notes he gives as his reason for this 
 version, that many MSS. read " ihcij are the first fruits." 
 Pagninus and all the Latins read " Stephanas and Fortuna- 
 
 tus 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 was the Apostle's intention in writing it .'' 
 
 The Apostle's description of Timothy, 1 Cor. xvi. 10, is 
 remarkable, " He workelh the work^ Y.RGAzetai ergon, of 
 the Lord, as I also do !" Paul desires their submission to 
 co-ivorkers, synERGONTi. There seems to be a mutual 
 reference 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 trans- 
 lators ; 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 Apollos 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 dissentions ; yet he will come when he hath a con- 
 venient season. And I beseech you, brethren, that ye 
 submit yourselves unto such as Timothy and Apollos, but 
 Timothy especially ; and to every one co-working with ?we, 
 and labouring." Here every thing is in its proper place, 
 and reference : and to induce their greater care of Timo- 
 thy, 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 ones 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 Corin- 
 thian Church then was not exhorted to submit itself to the 
 household of Stephanas. The notion is unreasonable : the 
 cause assigned is absurd. Crispus and Gaius, with the 
 whole church, submit themselves to the servants of Ste- 
 phanas, because those servants very readily and cheerfully 
 offered their kind assistance to travelling brethren ! Where 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 67 
 
 is the congruity between cause and efTect ? But that Cris- 
 pus and Gaius with the Corinthian Church might show all 
 deference and honour to Timothy, might lodge, and enter- 
 tain him respectfully, and bring him forward on his journey, 
 with every mark of Christian attention ; is exactly coin- 
 cident with what the Apostle before had requested. 
 
 The concluding chapter of other epistles is composed of 
 memoranda addressed by the Apostle to his Christian 
 friends ; and when introduced into the text, they are not 
 placed precisely in order. This reference to the household 
 of Stephanas is a marginal note. It could occasion no con- 
 fusion 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 
 worketh 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 breth- 
 ren. 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 3-ourselves to 
 such and to every one that helpeth with me and laboureth." 
 — You know the household of Stephanas, inasmuch as he is 
 the first fruits of Achaia, that theij have set themselves to do 
 services of accommodation, to diacoxize, to the saints. — I 
 am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and 
 Achaicus : for that which w^as lacking on your part they 
 have supplied. For they have refreshed my spirit and 
 3"ours. Therefore acknowledge them that are 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 bro- 
 ther who had refreshed his spirit, and the spirits of the 
 Corintbians to whom he writes ; but to submit to his ser- 
 vants, whose kindness though extremely laudable termi- 
 nated on strangers, from whom neither the Corinthians 
 nor Paul had received the same " refreshment" as they 
 had from Stephanas. To complete this absurdity, Ste- 
 phanas a member of the Corinthian Church is commanded 
 by the Apostle, to submit, '■'■ (jiving Reverence and Honour,'''' 
 as Whitby paraphrases, to his own servants ! This becomes 
 
68 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 absolutely monstrous, if these were the sons of Stephanas ; 
 for then, that eniihient Christian, a brother, a deputy from 
 the Church, the /zVs;//-»?7s q/"ylc/iaia is commanded to sub- 
 mit to his own children ! ! ! 
 
 The result of the whole is this, that the household of 
 Stephanas 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 as- 
 cribed to this household decide nothing whether the family 
 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 small- 
 est subterfuge to those who impugn the testimony of Ori- 
 gen, that the Apostles enjoined on the churches, the prac- 
 tice OF GIVING BAPTISM TO INFANTS. — Whcreforc I re- 
 cord my full conviction, that the Apostles practised infant 
 baptism ! 
 
 NFANT BAPTISM. 
 
 The differences between the Hebrew Christian Church- 
 es and the Gentile Christians almost from the first divided 
 and distressed the community of believers. That the sen- 
 timents of Paul prevailed among the Gentiles is evident, 
 not from the New Testament history only, but from Ec- 
 clesiastical History also, and from existing facts. That the 
 Hebrews had sentiments which they strongly retained, ap- 
 pears from the same evidence ; and on this subject. Bap- 
 tism. It is commonly said, that " BajJtism was given in 
 the room or place of circumcision :" 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 inaccurately described 
 as a succession. 
 
 Mr. Booth says, " That baptism did not come in the 
 place of circumcision, we have the strongest presump- 
 tive evidence. If Baptism succeeded in the place of cir- 
 cumcision, 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 sue- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 69 
 
 ceed in the place of another we are unavoidably 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 circum- 
 cised Timothy after he had been baptized .'' For this, on 
 the principle here opposed, there does not appear the least 
 reason. It is plain on this hypothesis, that it was the in- 
 dispensable duty of those parents who were baptized by 
 John and by the Ap.ostles, 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 there- 
 fore, if ever they partook of the holy supper, in the lan- 
 guage of Poedobaptism, must have had the covenant rati- 
 fied 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 Jew- 
 ish converts were highly disgusted at the thought of cir- 
 cumcision 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 .'" 
 
 But the rite oi circumcision was not obsolete, this snc- 
 cession never was thought of, much less allowed by He- 
 brew 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 
 opponents, Titus i. 10, Phil. iii. 2, plainly enough, as 
 " vain talkers, and deceivers of the circumcision." " Be- 
 ware of dogs: beware of the concision." Thouo;h the 
 Apostle manfully supported Christian liberty in behalf of 
 the Gentiles, it appears demonstrably from his circum- 
 cising 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 
 ALi- Hebrew Christians were both circiuiiciscd and bap- 
 tized. In proof of this, the following testimonies which 
 
70 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 refer to the Hebrew Church in Judea are perfectly satis- 
 factory. 
 
 Hegesippus, apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. lib. Hi. cap. 32, 
 says, " The Church of Jerusalem continued a virgin, or free 
 from heresy, till the death of Simeon," about A. D. 100, 
 or 110. The least this can mean is this, that the Church 
 at Jerusalem retained during the first century, the customs 
 derived from its predecessors and original founders. 
 
 Irenaeus says, lib. i. cap. 26 ; " The Ebionites used only 
 the Gospel of ^Matthew : were over curious in the exposi- 
 tion of the Prophets ; disowned the Apostle Paul, calling 
 him an apostate //-orw the law. They circumcised, and re- 
 tained the Jewish law and Jewish customs.'''' These Ebio- 
 nites were Hebrews. They used the Syriac Gospel of 
 Matthew o?j/2/ ; 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 Gen- 
 tiles ; and though Christians, they circumcised their infants. 
 
 Origen sa3-s, " Those of the Jews who believe in Christ 
 have NOT abandoned the law of their ancestors ; for they 
 live according toit ; bearing the name, Ebionites. Origen 
 also mentions as a proof of ignorance in Celsus ; — that he 
 had not noticed Israelites believing in Jesus, but not re- 
 linquishing the law of their Fathers." 
 
 How confusedly does Celsus's Jew speak on this sub- 
 ject .' when he might have said more plausibly — Sojie of 
 3'ou have relinquished the old customs — Some neverthe- 
 less observe the customs of their ancestors — Some are 
 willing to receive Jesus as the person foretold by the Pro- 
 phets, and to observe the law of Moses according to the an- 
 cient customs. 
 
 This disposition of the Hebrew Christians to adhere to 
 the law of Moses, continued unabated during the second 
 century. It continued also in the third and fourth centu- 
 ries ; for Eusebius says : " The Ebionites used the Gos- 
 pel according to the Hebrews. They kept both the Jewish 
 and the Christian Sabbath.''' Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. 27. 
 
 The Gospel according to the Hebrews is usually sup- 
 posed to have been the Syriac Gospel of jNIatthew. Those 
 who kept both the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sab- 
 bath might well enough practice both the Jewish ordi- 
 nance of circumcision, and the Chiistian ordinance of 
 baptism. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 71 
 
 Jerom, Comment on Isaiah^ mentions Hebrews believing 
 in Christ. He says they were anathematized for their 
 rigid adherence to the ceremonies of the Jewish law which 
 they mingled with the Gospel of Christ ; Propter hoc so- 
 lum a patribiis anathematizati sunt, quod Icgis caremonias 
 Christi evangelio miscuerunt. He also has this expression 
 — " The Nazarenes who so receive Christ, that they discard 
 not the rites of the ancient law.'''' 
 
 Jerom describes the Nazarenes as persons " who be- 
 lieved 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 Nazarenes, who, 
 from a desire of being Jews and Christians, both at once, 
 are neither Jews nor Christians." Epist. ad Augnslimim, 
 de dissidio Petri et Pauli. Who anathemat'ized these He- 
 brews, and by what authorit}^, we 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, pre- 
 vailed chiefly in the East. 
 
 With this agrees Epiphanius who says : " Ebion ad- 
 hered to the Judaic law, with respect to the observa- 
 tion of the Sabbath 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 Chris- 
 tians, were Heretics;'''' the Gentiles called them so ; but 
 that they erred in this particular does not appear. I add 
 another testimony which regards those who were orthodox, 
 m 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, were circum- 
 cised during many successions. It seems, however, that 
 not ALL their people retained the Mosaic law entire ; but 
 that soiue of them exercised a liberty respecting those ob- 
 servances, which liberty others .scrupled.* The Church 
 
 * Sulpitius Severus, Hist. Sac. lib. ii. cap. 31. Et quia Christiani 
 in Palsestina viventes ex Judaeis potissimum putabantur, namque turn 
 Hierosolyma iiori nisi circumcisione liabebat ccclcsia sacevdotcin, uii- 
 lituin coliortem cuslodias in peipetuuia agitaie jussit, qii±' Judicos 
 
72 SiriBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of Jerusalem comprehended the great body of Hebrew 
 Christians. It was justly esteemed orthodox. It pro- 
 duced men of great leannng, says Eusebius : who gives us 
 Eccl. Hist. A. D. 302, lib. vii. c. 32, a list of fifteen bish- 
 ops in succession who were circumcised. The first who 
 was vncircumcisedy was Marcus, A. D. 136. Those He- 
 brev/ Christians, as well as the Apostle Paul, saw nothing 
 in circumcision inconsistent with Baptism ; and most cer- 
 tainly, 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. Isevertheless, this gross absurdity 
 may be stated in terms by which it becomes a correct 
 assertion. 
 
 Baptism loas 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 
 cannot be saA^ed," Acts xv. 1, 5. At Jerusalem, the sect 
 of the Pharisees insisted on this ; and there was much dis- 
 puting 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 posi- 
 tive ; but merely negative ; abstinence from certain things 
 offensive to the Jews. For the council knew that Baptism 
 already was sufficiently administered. They therefore did 
 not add circumcision to baptism, in reference to the Gen- 
 tiles, although it appears demonstrated that the Jeicish 
 Church members retained the same principles and practices 
 as to themselves, for which the Pharisees among them con- 
 tended ; and which certain teachers from Judea had jjropa- 
 gated among the Gentiles. 
 
 It is singular enough that among the false accusations 
 urged against Paul, by the believing Jewish zealots, at Jeru- 
 
 omnes Hierosolymae aditu arceret. Quod quidem Christiance fidei 
 proficiebat; quia turn pcene omnes, Christum Deum, sub legis obser- 
 vatione credebaut. Nimirum id Domino ordinante dispositum, ut Ic^is 
 siTvitus a libertate fidei ;itque ecclesia; tolleietur. Ita turn primum 
 Marcus ex Gentibus apud Hierosolymam episcopus fecit. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM'. 73 
 
 salem, Acts xxii. 20, 21 ; one was, " thou teachest all 
 THE Jews which are amonij the Gentiles that they ought 
 not to circumcise their children.'''' What then did they 
 suppose Paul p'^ctised, in regard to children generally? 
 They had heard that he did something or advised something 
 to be done concerning them, what could it be ? what did 
 he substitute in the place of circumcision ? We know of 
 nothing but baptism that could give occasion to this in- 
 formation 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 unbe- 
 lieving Jews from distant countries ; but it by no means 
 followed that because Paul conferred baptism on Jewish 
 children, therefore he prohibited circumcision : — since 
 BOTH were practised among those Hebrew Christians 
 themselves. This however confirms the assertion of Ire- 
 Hfeus, that the Hebrews, the mass of the people disowned 
 the Apostle Paul ; and considered him as an apostate from 
 the Law. Those Jews who were zealous for the circum- 
 cision made by hands, 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. 11, In Christ " ye are cir- 
 cumcised by the circumcision made icithout 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 we find them saying 
 that THEY received Baptism instead of receiving circum- 
 cision ? 
 
 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 lltsh ; but that circunicision 
 
74 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 which is spiritual ; and moreover, for indeed we were sin- 
 ners, we have received this circumcision in Baptism ; for 
 the purpose 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 cir- 
 cumcision. In other words, the Gentiles accepted and 
 practised Baptism, instead of accepting and practising cir- 
 cumcision. Baptism was to them instead of Circumcision. 
 
 Here is the evidence of the Quest, ad. Orthodox, ascribed' 
 to Justin Martyr, " ^Vhy, if circumcision be a good thing, 
 do ice not use it as well as the Jews did ?" The answer is, 
 " Because WE Gentile Christians are circumcised by Bap- 
 tism icith Christ''s Circumcision.'''' To support this senti- 
 ment, the writer refers to Col. ii. 11, 12. "To us Gen- 
 tiles, baptism is given instead of giving us circumcision." 
 
 John Chrysostom, Horn. 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 for 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 palpable. Fidus asked whether 
 baptism might be performed before a child was eight days 
 old. Cyprian, to whom he wrote for advice, and the sixty- 
 six Bishops of the neighbourhood convened in council, with- 
 out 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 resem- 
 blance to Jewish circumcision } Why did not Fidus men- 
 tion 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 !" Wh}' did not they cen- 
 sure him for uttering a heresy so erroneous and judaizing, in 
 reference to such infants .'' 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 iiifanbs To this alt 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 75 
 
 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 
 Church saw nothing improper in retaining the Abrahamic 
 circumcision, and receiving the practice of baptism, per- 
 forming both — while the Gentiles acknowledge, that they 
 received in baptism that spiritual circumcision which origi- 
 nated in God's mercy and that led to further communica- 
 tions of it; Acts xxiii. 10. Baptism was their circumcision; 
 which was not restrained to a particular time, but which 
 might be administered as propriety might determine. It 
 also deserves notice, that the writer of the epistle to the 
 Hebrew Christians attempted not to draw them off 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 ivilh 
 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. Never- 
 theless, 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 ordinances 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 perhaps 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 nation, did 
 but embody and perpetuate the practices of his forefathers, 
 the Patriarchs. 
 
 When the Covenant of Circumcision was made with 
 Abraham, Gen. xvii. 10, 25 ; he was already the father 
 of Ishmael ; who, at the time when he received this rite in 
 his own person, in consequence of the faith of his father 
 Abraham, was " thirteen years of age." 
 
76 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 At the same time with Ishmael, were circumcised pro- 
 bably about fifteen hundred men of different ages, who had 
 no relation whatever by consanguinity to Abraham ; but 
 merely received this sign, " the seal of Abraham's faith," 
 in conformity with the faith and obedience of their Mas- 
 ter. The posterity of Ishmael in imitation of his compli- 
 ance, now practice circumcision at the same time of life 
 as their first father underwent that rite. 
 
 The Baptists assert, that circumcision was only a token 
 of right to temporal blessings in the land of Canaan ; and 
 therefore 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 ; therefore circumcision could not be to them the seal 
 of righteousness by faith. What faith had the Edomites 
 and the Midianites .'' — Circumcision was not a mark of per- 
 sonal 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 Persians who became Jews, Esth. viii. 
 17 ; under the patronage of Mordecai '^ 
 
 The precept given to Abraham commanded Adult Cir- 
 cumcision ; 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 Ish- 
 mael, we do not deny the cii'cumcision of a hundred chil- 
 dren at the same time ; so when we acknowledge the bap- 
 tism of " men and women," we do not deny the baptism 
 of their families. " Now we, as Isaac was, are children 
 of the promisQ," says the Apostle ; Gal. iv. 2S, 30 ; and 
 he adds,. " cast out the bondwoman and her son .'"' — " so, 
 then. Christian Brethren, we are not children of the bond- 
 woman but of the free ; stand fast therefore in the liberty 
 wherewith Christ has made us free." This was not ad- 
 dressed to Jews by descent : but to converts resident in 
 Galatia ; formerly heathen, but then Christians. 
 
 I'he primitive Church understood this Gospel liberty ; 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 77 
 
 but those who in later times take upon them to be wiser 
 than the primitiv^e Church, charge the early professors 
 with perverting liberty into licentiousness, and with intro- 
 ducing and cherishing 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 vigo- 
 rous," were those that were taught by the apostles, and 
 constituted the fundamental doctrines of the Christian reli- 
 gion. The observable harmony and iinaniinity 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 imagine that ALL the churches should 
 combine in the same error, and conspire together to cor- 
 rupt the doctrine of Christ. This argument is justly in- 
 sisted upon both by Irenseus and Tertullian against the 
 heretics of their respective times. They both affirm 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 find generally practised, while 
 " the blood of Christ was yet warm in the hearts of Chris- 
 tians, and the faith and spirit of religion were brisk and 
 vigorous" — 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 in- 
 fancy. Jesus Christ commanded no alteration ! The natu- 
 ral consequence 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 pri7iciple transferred to a succeedincj rite ? 
 Let us examine some particulars connected with circum- 
 cision as understood by the descendants of Isaac, Jacob, 
 Moses, and David. 
 
 " Circumcised the eighth day" is placed by the Apos- 
 tle of the Gentiles, Phil. iii. 6 ; as the first of his privi- 
 
78 SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 
 
 leges 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 circum- 
 cision on the eighth day ? In every Jewish book describ- 
 ing this service, there is an observation to this effect — " If 
 the child be sickly, he is not circumcised till he is well." 
 David Levi Cerem. Jews. But this liberty had its bounds ; 
 which terminated at the pi'oper time for registering the in- 
 fant 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. 
 
 " Ht'zekiah appointed Kore son of Imnah the Levite, 
 over the free-will offerings of God, to distribute the obla- 
 tions of the Lord and the most holy things. 2 Chron. xxxi. 
 14. Next to him were Eden, and Miaimin and Jeshua, 
 and Shemaiah, 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 q/" ma/cs 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 char- 
 ges according to their courses. Both to the genealogy of 
 the priests by the house of their fathers, and to the Le- 
 vites from twenty years okl and upwards, in their charges, 
 by their courses ; and to the genealogy of all their lit- 
 tle ONES, their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, 
 through 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 every several city, the men that were expressed 
 by name, to give portions to all the males among the 
 priests, and to all that loere 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 uncircum- 
 cised state ; but prepared by the initiatory rite of their law. 
 It follows, that the threat of a child's being cut o/f for want 
 of circumcision was executed, by omitting to inscribe him 
 in the genealogy 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, 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 79 
 
 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 that early time of life ! 
 How could they eat them with proper reverence .'' How 
 could they acknowledge God in partaking of them .'' How 
 could they perform any one act, or cherish any one senti- 
 ment connected with them ? 
 
 Moreover, the text is studiously precise. These Offi- 
 cers were to distribute to the small as well as to the great: 
 according to the genealogy of all their little ones who 
 are distinguished from soiis and from daughters. This 
 principle extended through all the congregation. Neither 
 is this a forced sense on the passage " given to such of their 
 7nale 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 sa- 
 cred 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 with the Lord thy 
 God." Children of three years old enter into God''s cove- 
 nant ! They could not tell what a covenant was ; much 
 less could they assent to its conditions ; and much less 
 still, if they promised to 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 ;" Josh, 
 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 
 
so SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ritual principles as their fathers. What reason may be 
 alleged for this ? 
 
 1 answer, three years old was the rveaning time. The 
 Israelitish women suckled their children three years; as 
 the mother 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 at- 
 tended at the Divine Altar. 
 
 While children sucked, they were infants or babes ; but 
 after they were weaned, they were described by another 
 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 BgEcpog, brephos, " a new-born child, nourished by the teat 
 from his birth, until he be four years old." The Greeks 
 extended infancy to four years of age : the Jews only to 
 th7-ee years. On what pretence have some affirmed that 
 infancy in the Gospel times extended to the age of tioenty., 
 or twenty-one ? — and that " brephos, brephyllian,^'' are used 
 indiscriminately 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 further 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 TTuidm, paidia, " little children ;" Luke calls them 
 "infants," Luke xviii. 15, rd ^Q£Cjf»i, ta brephe. They 
 were about that time of life, when infancy ends and child- 
 hood is beginning ; — about three yeai's of age. They were 
 so young that the benignant Redeemer for their security, 
 took them up into " his bended arm.s," Mark x. 16. An 
 action in the Saviour of tlie World at once graceful and 
 sracious ! 
 
 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 — • 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 81 
 
 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 Grego- 
 ry " a new affair ; new as the days of Hezekiah, King of 
 Judah ; new as the days of Moses and Aaron ; and proba- 
 bly 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 wonderfully preserved and at length produced to the 
 people ; we read, 2 Kings xi. 17 ; 2 Chron. xxiii. 16, 
 " Joash was seven years old ; and Jehoiada made a cove- 
 nant 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 guardianship, 
 yet his assent was authoritative and binding : and no doubt 
 Jehoiada delayed the installation of Joash to that time of 
 life purposely for this reason. 
 
 At what time did childhood end } About twelve years 
 of age. At that time of life, Luke ii. 42, our Lord paid 
 his first visit to the Temple. About thirteen, those Jews 
 who can 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 childhood continued ; and about twelve or 
 thirteen it ceased, to give place to another appellation ; for 
 at twelve or thirteen^ began the character of " young 7ncn,^^ 
 or " young ivomen,'''' which ended about twenty years of age ; 
 to give place to that of " me?i" or " women;'''' of '■'■fathers'^ 
 or " mothers.'''' 
 
 The same progress obtains among the Jews at this day. 
 Mr. Frey tells us in his Narrative : " Before I was three 
 years old I began the Hebrew alphabet, and when but six 
 years of age I could perfectly read any chapter of the five 
 books of Moses. When a Jewish boy has arrived at the 
 age of thirteen years and a day., he is considered a man, fit 
 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 honorary degree to be a leader of the synagogue, 
 
82 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 to read the public prayers and the law of Moses." Have 
 we any such division of life in the Gospel ? One Apostle 
 speaks of " travailing again in birth" of Children ; Gal. iv. 
 9 ; which must be taken metaphorically. The Apostle 
 John also uses the term " little children," both metaphori- 
 cally and in its proper and literal import, 1 John ii. 12 ; "I 
 write unto you little children, because your sins are 
 forgiven 5'ou for his name's sake. I write unto you, young 
 MEN ; I write unto you, fathers." 
 
 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 they are : 
 John xxi. 15 ; Feed my little lambs ; tu aoviu, ta arnia ; it 
 follows that this term also expresses children young in years. 
 Are not the souls of children at tivelve 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 ? 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, himself a Jew, should not comply with the 
 custom of his country, and direct his address to children of 
 the same age, as Moses, and Joshua, and Hezekiah had 
 included 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 patronized. 
 
 Here we perceive the genuine application of the invalu- 
 able rule — " Every word should be taken in the primary, ob- 
 vious and ordinary meaning, unless there be something in the 
 connection or in the nature of things ivhich requires it to be 
 taken otherwise.'''' But there is nothing that requires this 
 word little children to be taken in any other than its obvious 
 and literal meaning ; unless we would annul the proceed- 
 ings of Hezekiah, Joshua and Moses. 
 
 What is the doctrine addressed to these children .'' Is it' 
 a deep question of divinity .? It is the simplest proposition 
 possible ; " ycur sins are forgiven you, /or 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 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 83 
 
 state of " little children" connected with a single church 
 only ; though it may remind us of those many who in a 
 sense were members of the church at Corinth ; as the 
 Apostle John speaks of these without reserve, wherever 
 his Epistle might be presented. We cannot possibly con- 
 fine 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 follows, 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 report ; but on well authenticated 
 Apostolic warrant. For those children addressed by the 
 Apostle were either iviihin 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 loithout ?" — and John was 
 actuated by the same spirit. But if these " little children" 
 were ivithin the church, hoiv and tchen became they so .-* 
 They must have undergone the initiatory rite. Like the 
 families 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," says the ancient Church ; and the ancient Church 
 was right. These children were admitted into the church 
 by baptism administered 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. 
 
 Ireneeus may be considered as a kind of grandson of the 
 Apostle John : for Polycarp was intimate with John ; and 
 Irenseus was the disciple of Polycarp. He was a man of 
 an inquisitive mind ; and diligently treasured up the dis- 
 courses of his master, which he repeated from the Apos- 
 tles. These are not only in perfect concord with the lan- 
 guage of John, but are a convincing commentary on it. 
 A. D. 167. Adv. Hser. lib. ii. Christ " sanctifying every 
 several age by the likeness it has to him, for he came to 
 save ALL by himself.* All, who by him are re-born of 
 
 * Magister ergo existens Magistri quoque habebat aetatem. Non 
 reprobans nee supergrediens hominem, neque solvens suam legem in 
 se humani generis : sed omnein ajtatem sanctificans per illam quae ad 
 
84 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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, sanctifying 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 ritualbj by baptism, " re-born of water," 
 John 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 inca- 
 pable of following an example, and the Apostle John does 
 not address infants ; but he was an example to little ones., 
 because children from three years old to six are capable of 
 being influenced by example. This demonstrates, that 
 infants in the sense of " men newly converted," cannot be 
 intended here ; for Christ is an example to them, which 
 they are bound to follow. Irenoeus contemplated MEN 
 in all conditions of life ; are then youths, children, little 
 ones, or infants., men .^ 
 
 Years of life. IRENJEUS. JOHN, Apostle. 
 
 Birth to 3 or 4 years Infants 
 
 3 or 4 years to 6, or 7 little ones . . LITTLE ) 
 
 6 or 7, to 12 or 13 Children . . CHILDREN \ 
 
 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 ac- 
 curately in unison with the sentiments, the language and 
 the feelings of the inspired Apostle, who was the affec- 
 tionate disciple of the most benevolent of masters } " Suf- 
 fer little children to come unto me," says our Lord ; " lit- 
 tle children, your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake," 
 says the beloved disciple. " Infants, little ones, children 
 are re-born to God by him, sanctified by him," says the 
 
 ipsum erat similitudinem. Omnes enim venit per semet ipsum salva- 
 re: omnes, inquam, qui per eum renascuntur in Deum; infantes, & 
 parvulos, & pneros, & juvencs, & seniores. Ideo per omnem venit 
 EBtatem : & infantibus infans factns, sanctificans infantes : in parvulis 
 parvulus, .sanctificans banc ipsam babentes aetatem ; siinul &. exemplum 
 'His pietatis effectus, &, justitije & subjectionis,: in juvenibus juvenis. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 85 
 
 " Faithful Man," recording his testimony for the benefit 
 of " others also." The Law shall never triumph over the 
 Gospel in its tenderness for infants. Does it describe Utile 
 ones entering into covenant with God ? Does it allow lit- 
 tle children to enter the sacred precints and partake of the 
 most holy rites ? Does it register them at their early age 
 as members of the holy community " among the living in 
 Jerusalem .^" Does it sanctify 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 ; afamibj! Oikos includes both sexes, and 
 all ages. This is the reason why Luke employs that 
 term. Had he said " infant,'''' some would have discover- 
 ed 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. Whereas, by using the 
 term oikos or famil}', he includes ALL ; so the inspired 
 Evangelist says, " We baptized the whole family of the 
 jailor !"* 
 
 It has also been objected, that had the old Saxon com- 
 pound word, " cradle-child,''^ been used in reference to 
 Baptism, it would have fixed the application of the rite. 
 
 * DisTRiBUTioar of the ages of life. — The Baptists insinuate 
 that this distribution of the ages of life is a peculiarity of Irenseus. — 
 Xenophon, Cyropcedia, Book I, describes four stages of life, popularly 
 distinguished among the Persians — " Childhood, Youth, Mature age, 
 and Eldership, or the time which was past military service." Epi- 
 phanes, Heres. xxxiii. says — " AXXa tcS ntv vttotltQio} &ia BmtvXov -rraiSaa 
 yivtTai : 5rai(5ia) 6e nei^ov^ci poqpaTnc^aTOi latpaKtoi is. Sia ifxavTOS' veaviaiKioi 
 6ia pafiSov, avipi Se e-mSiKrjcns roiv iisi^ovMv TTapairroifiaTbiv jjLa^atpa ita voiiov. 
 — But to infants con-ection is given with the finger; to children with 
 the hand; to youngsters with the whipping-rod; to youths with 
 the cane ; but for grosser crimes men are punished with the sword." 
 This progress from infancy to childhood, to youngsters, to youth, and 
 to manhood, is precisely analagous to that of Irenaeus from infancy to 
 little ones, to children, to youth, and to seniors ; which proves that 
 the distribution of life employed by the Apostle John, 1 John ii. 12; 
 " little children, young men, and fathers," was well known among 
 those to whom he wrote ; and being familiar to them, they must lit- 
 erally have understood his words. 
 
86 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Listen to Gregory Xazianzen — " Hast thou an infant 
 child .' let him be dedicated from his cradle. Give him 
 the great and excellent phylactery." Here is the very 
 " cradle-child'''' which the Baptists affect to want ! When 
 the same writer gives his opinion for baptizing children at 
 three years of age ; it is retorted, " this was a new affair !" 
 But the difficulty is this, on the Baptist hypothesis, how 
 could it be any affair 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 re- 
 commend 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 sa- 
 crificed for us ;" says the Apostle, 1 Cor. v. S ; what did 
 the law require of worthy partakers of the Passover .' — 
 Ex. xii. 48. "• When a stranger shall sojourn with thee, 
 and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let ALL his 
 MALES BE CIRCUMCISED, and thcii let HIM come near and 
 keep it." Was not his own personal circumcision sufficient 
 passport to the Passover Table .' No. Moses says in- 
 
 flexibh', LET ALL HIS MALES BE CIRCUMCISED ; (tftCr 
 
 "every male" is circumcised, then let him come near 
 and keep the sacred institution. Not only must the fa- 
 ther of 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 obtained 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 numerous 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 lav,- of the ancient ritual 
 would be fulfilled in the new dispensation. Nor can we 
 deny that reasons might be adduced for the injunction 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 87 
 
 given by Moses. It might be the will of God for the trial 
 of obedience. It might be appointed as the test of esta- 
 blished faith. It might be enacted to prevent discord in 
 families. And if obedience must be so, and no viore, and 
 no less, and no otherwise, then that precept might rest on 
 a conviction of its being a touchstone of character, of the 
 hearty good-will with which a convert showed himself 
 animated by fulfdling the law to its uttermost pimctUio. 
 
 I hav^e sought only Facts and Evidences : but the pre- 
 sent topic furnishes an exhortation. Let me affectionately 
 ask : Do you believe that Christ our Passover was sacri- 
 ficed 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 wel- 
 fare you are bound to seek, upon whom tlie initiatory rite 
 of your religious profession has not passed ? This obhga- 
 tion 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 sancti- 
 fication 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 
 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 ac- 
 knowledges that he baptized or Avas 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 in- 
 fancy 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 injunc- 
 tion to confer Baptism on infants. This was in the very 
 
88 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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 ? 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 
 Fathers P'' I wish the sentiment on which this proposi- 
 tion is founded were more prevalent among Christian secta- 
 ries. But let us direct our attention to those who best un- 
 derstood their own language, and the practice of their own 
 days. What say the various communities, v/hose evidence 
 interests us on this subject } — Did they conform to the 
 Arab or the Israelite principle and practice .'' Did they 
 postpone their rite of distinction from other religions, or 
 did they not rather anticipate than delay it .' Did they ritu- 
 ally sanctify infjyits, 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 ex- 
 isting in Syria, the acknowledged disciples of that eminent 
 prophet. They are known under the appellation of ^^Dis- 
 ciples of John,'''' or simply " disciples," or " Sabians," 
 Baptists : and sometimes, Hemero-Baptists, or Daily-Bap- 
 tists. 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 Chris- 
 tians 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 when he bapti- 
 zed a celestial Being the Lord from Heaven, who appear- 
 ed to him in the form of a little child. Marsh's Michae- 
 lis's 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 pronounce over 
 me THE NAME which thou art accustomed to pronounce ! 
 John answered the disciple of life, ' that cannot be ! ' But 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 89 
 
 the scholars of John earnestly requested him ; he baptized, 
 therefore, the disciple of life. As soon as the Jordan per- 
 ceived the disciple of life, the river overflowed, and cover- 
 ed 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 phenomenon, 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 
 disciples as little children, could have no aversion to the 
 baptism of little children themselves. And this is rendered 
 evident by the practice of his followers who baptize children 
 at forty days old; and who use a formula, importing, "i 
 baptize thee imth 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 saci'ed 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 unquestionable reference to the Trinity : three phing- 
 ings, but one 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 expected thy coming in all the Pro- 
 phets ; and now I remain upon thee ; thou art he in whom I 
 rest, ivho shall reign for ever.''''* The Gospel of the Ebio- 
 
 * Baptism among the Jews, although administered in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus only, might include a recognition of the Trinity. Ire- 
 naeus has preserved two formularies of baptism used by the Valentini- 
 ans, of which, though apparently mere gibberish, it has lately been 
 attempted to make sense and meaning. This is tlie version — " In no- 
 men tuum, Exaltissime; in id quod est lumen, est principium vitae, 
 Spiritus, quoniam tu in corpore tuo regnasti. — In thy name, most 
 exalted, in that which is light and the principle of life, Spirit, inas- 
 much as thou in thy body art reigning." The mention of light, spirit, 
 and exaltation clearly alludes to a Trinity. 
 8* 
 
SUEJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 nites, a branch of the Nazarenes, had these words — Epiph. 
 Hffir. ; " John came baptizing the ba[)tlsm 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 towards him ; and a voice was 
 heard from heaven, saying, ' Thou art my beloved Son, in 
 thee have I been well pleased.^ 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 
 hmi, ' This is my beloved Son, in ichom I have been icell 
 pleased.^ Then John falling down before him said, ' I pray 
 thee, Loi-d, baptize thou me;'' but he forbade him, saying, 
 ' Suffer it to be so; for thus it becometh that all things be 
 fuljilkd:'' 
 
 Whether the " Great JS'ame^'' was light, or life, certainly 
 it intended Jehovah. An ancient creed adopts the simile, 
 " Light of light ; very God of very God :" and this Bap- 
 tism 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, ]Matt. 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 remembrance 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 Ave 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 conse- 
 cration on children in early life — in baptismal infancy. 
 
 The Apostles rebaptized the disciples of John. That 
 was not because they had received his baptism in their in- 
 fancy, but because they had explicitly professed neither the 
 name of Jesus, nor that of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Oikos and Oikia. — It is proper to advert again specifi- 
 cally 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 oppor- 
 
SUBJECTS OF EAPTISM. 91 
 
 tunity to include a servant in the term famili/, John viii. 
 35 ; " The servant abideth not in the house — not oikos, 
 but oikia — for ever ; but the son abideth ever." Thus the 
 son is a member of the oikia, but the servant is not a 
 member of the oikos. 
 
 When oikos is used to denote a 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 — family of Jacob that went down into Egypt with 
 him, being sixttj-six persons. Genesis xlvi. 26. The ser- 
 vants are excluded, for they amounted to some hundi-eds. 
 " 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. — Num- 
 bers xviii. 21 : " 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 j'our fami- 
 lies, 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 be- 
 fore the Lord ; which is exactly what is said of the Jailor's 
 family when baptized ; and as it here expresses the pre- 
 sence of infants, children of three 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 
 
92 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 flower of their a2;e." This must mean infants. — 2 Sam. 
 vii. 16, IS, 25, 27, 29 : " And thy familj-, oikos^ and thy 
 kingdom shall be established for ever. Thou hast spoken 
 of thy servant's family, oilcos, for a great while to come." 
 
 1 Chron. xvii. 23, 24, 25. This must mean infants. — 1 
 
 Kings xiii. 2 : " Behold, a child shall be born to the family, 
 cnJcos, of David." — This child must be an infant. — Psalm 
 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 
 writer informs us that the number of his sons and his sons' 
 sons, of his daughters and his sons' daughters, with him, 
 was sixty-six. He 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 inapplicable till these two infants of 
 Joseph are included. Omit these, the term does not 
 apply: insert them, the term is instantly and correctly 
 applied. The term, therefore, expresses the presence of 
 those INFANTS. Without those infants the number cannot 
 be made up. The sacred writer waits to express them ; 
 and then all the house is the suitable phrase. This pas- 
 sage 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 fii-e infants, the sons of Manasseh, and a 
 grandson of Benjamin, making all the house of Jacob sev- 
 enty-five persons. 
 
 The presence of infants is expressed beyond all possi- 
 bility 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, Ttaponti, panoiki, with all 
 his house,''^ his own personal family. The sons of Jacob 
 cfi(i 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, ekastos, heading all his family. 
 Here then the term with all his house, vanoiki, jjanoiki, in- 
 tentionalhj expresses the presence of infants. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 93 
 
 What is desired ? INIerely to allow the same force to 
 the same word in the New Testament which it bears in 
 the Lxx. The Apostles wrote in a language, the icords of 
 which had been long settled. The Jailor was baptized, he 
 and ALL his family ; and he rejoiced with all his house, 
 TKxvoixt,, panoiki, at the head of his family, believing in 
 God. But panoiki expresses the presence of infants in 
 the instance of the sons of Jacob descending into EgJl^t ; 
 why then does it not equally express the presence of in- 
 fants in the instance of the Jailor's family .'' If the terms 
 ALL the 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 — 
 avp nayrt tib oixco avTov — feared God :" and all were 
 baptized. " Can infants fear God V Did not Samuel 
 fear God, when he " ministered" to the Lord in his sanc- 
 tuary } — and Timothy, when he studied Holy Scripture } 
 They were infants. 
 
 Being myself convinced that the Apostles practised 
 Infant Baptism, and that the Evangelist meant to tell us 
 so ; I afhrm that the natural import of the term oihos^ 
 family, includes children of all ages. In proof, I offer ffti/ 
 examples ; if fifty are not sufficient, I offer a hundred ; if a 
 hundred are not sufficient, two hundred ; if two hundred are 
 not sufficient, /o;f/' hundred. I affirm that oikos very often 
 expresses the presence of infants ; of this I offer fifty ex- 
 amples ; aud if we admit classical instances, yj/)'^ more. 
 Euripides alone affords half the number ; though he fre- 
 quently uses donios instead of oikos. INIore than three 
 hundred instances have been examined^ which have proved 
 perfectl}' satisfactory. 
 
 What terms could the Evangelist have used to satisfy us 
 of the Apostolic practice of Infant Baptism ? Had he 
 said, "We baptized infants;''^ Origen says this — and Bap- 
 tists immediately exclaim, " Metaphorical infants ! ineta- 
 phorical infants !" Had he said, " We baptized children,^'' 
 as the apostles Paul and John, and Clement of Alexandria 
 say, they answer, ^^ Metaphorical childrenV^ But Clement's 
 allusion, "the fisherman and children drawn out of the 
 icater,'''' is extant among other Christian emblems of ancient 
 S'julpLure— ^^tinghiub, Roma I'uUcianLd.Tom. II. tab. xiii.; 
 
94 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 iu which are seen an angler, at whose line three fishes are 
 nibbling ; and already drawn out is, not a bearded sage, 
 TxOt 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, &c., is connected with the term 
 oikos, look for a dweUing-\\o\i&Q ;" for a man enters a family 
 by alfinity, matrimony, adoption, &c. ; but he enters a dwell- 
 ing by locomotion. Let 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 dwelling. 
 Acts vii. 10 ; We are informed, that " Pharaoh made Joseph 
 governor over Egypt, and over all his house ;" but what 
 have children to do here .'' In 1 Kings xiii. S, we have 
 the expression — " The man of God said to the King, If 
 Ihou wilt give me half thine house.,'''' oikos, lxx — his Royal 
 Property : surely he did not mean half his children. 
 Joseph was over Potiphar'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 supremacy of administration over 
 his properly, house, oikos, Gen. xli. 40, did king Pharaoh 
 place Joseph — " only in the throne will I be greater than 
 thou." This is the light 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 Pro- 
 perty. Psalm cv. 21. Substance is properly connected 
 with the king's house. 2 Chron. xxi. 17 ; Proverbs vi. 31 : 
 " A thief shall restore seven-fold, all the substance of his 
 house,'''' all his property. Canticles viii. 7 : " If a man 
 would give all the substance of his Ao?/se," 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 Aouse," 
 including his servants. The oikia, servants of the Jailor, 
 heard the Word : but we do not read that one of the oikia 
 was baptized, saved. But this we do read of the Jailor, 
 and of all his house ; which is exactly what the Apostle 
 foretold. 
 
 Well therefore may the words of an objt^ctor, only 
 changed in the a])pliL-aUoii uf tlieiii, he adopted — T/it uit- 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 95 
 
 cred wnters 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 ; 
 3'et inquirers should examine and obey whatever evidence 
 bears upon the question from other sources. Hence the 
 value of the Christian writers, and of the Christian pic- 
 tures 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 pre- 
 serve which they adopted a series of private symbols ; and 
 by these, while they concealed themselves from the hea- 
 then, they discovered each other. The Revelation opens 
 with one : " I am the Alpha, and the Omega,'''' Eyw eifit 
 TO A, A, xui TO Jl, O. Admitting 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, A, and Ji, O, was current among the 
 faithful. 
 
 A passage hitherto covered with impenetrable darkness, 
 as commentators confess, is illustrated by this custom. 
 Rev. ii. 17 ; " To him that overcometh will I give a tchite 
 stone, and in the stone a new name v/ritten, which no man 
 knoweth, saving he that receiveth it." On this, says 
 Doddridge : " Among the Greeks, a white stone Avas a to- 
 ken of absolution, as a black stone was of condemnation ; 
 but the writing a nexn name upon this stone is not illus- 
 trated by any ancient practice. I have 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 — i/ir^cpoi', psephon. 
 Acts xxvi. 10; about the size of a bean; as customary 
 among the Greeks in voting. The Egyptian pebbles, on 
 which the scarabeus is sculptured, are usually red Corne- 
 lian, about the size of our watch-seals ; but there is also a 
 while Cornelian, equally used, and this is apparently the 
 stone intended in the text. 
 
 The term name dues nut of necessil) iuipl} uu iij>pella- 
 
96 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 tion, but a badge or cognizance ; that by which a person 
 or thing is known or (listing uisked ; and it is so used in 
 this book : Rev. 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 name written on their fore- 
 heads;" an abreviated token, or significant cypher, or 
 symbol, the mark of God set on the forehead of his peo- 
 ple, as in the vision seen by Ezek. iv. 6. "I saw a wo- 
 man sitting on a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of 
 blasphemy,'''' blasphemous symbols : "/«// 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 blasphemous device, 
 badge or cognizance, like those placed on the head of 
 idols ; the sun with its rays, the moon with her crescent. Sec. 
 
 We have now the key to our text — " To him that over- 
 cometh will I give a while Cornelian pebble stone, and 
 in the stone a new cognizance or device engraved, which no 
 man knoweth save him who hath received it," and is in 
 the secret. With this exactlv coincides the language of 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, 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 hTe, a device used 
 b}' Polycrates, or a ship's anchor, which Seleucus engra- 
 ved 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 valuable ; as it proves the use of pri- 
 vate symbols among the Christians in the second centurj*, 
 and by illustrating the passage in the Revelation, shows 
 the practice to date from the first century ; and as it proves 
 that CHiLDREx were at that time, as formerly by the Apos- 
 tles, drawn out of the water of baptism. 
 
 Although Clemens describes all Christians who are not 
 arrived at heaven as children, compared with what they 
 will be in that state ; yet the term cannot be taken meta- 
 phorically in this passage, unless the dove, the fish, the 
 
 * Sint autem nobis vel nobis signacula, coluraba, vel piscis, vel navis, 
 qus celeri cursu a vento fertur, vel IjTa musica, qua usus est Polycra- 
 tes, vel ancora nautica, quam insculpebat Seleucus : et si sit aliquis 
 qui piscetur. ineiuini.Tit .\p<^>toli, et pikrorl-m qui ox aqua exira- 
 huulur Cit/iuiis .iiej:aiuitmu6. /'<K/a^i/^u^. lib. iii- cap. 11. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM, 97 
 
 ship, the lyre and the anchor could be taken metaphori- 
 cally ; which would be false ; for the anchor may be seen 
 on the coins of Seleucus. Among the symbols on Chris- 
 tian sepulchral inscriptions of the earliest ages we find the 
 fish, the anchor, and the dove ; which justify his words in 
 their full extent and literal acceptation.* "A faithful, 
 descended from ancestors who were also faithful. Here lies 
 Zosbnus : he lived two years, one month, and twenty-five 
 days.^^ The anchor and the fish mark a period of primi- 
 tive and sitffering Christianity. A faithful ! — a church 
 member ! at two years of age, descended from faithfuls ; 
 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 Apos- 
 tolic injunction ? — The following with the symbol of a 
 dove bears the same import. " AchiUia, newly baptized, 
 is buried here; she died at the age of one year and five 
 months. "f Probably the accompanying figure of a dove 
 marks the female sex particularly. It is a Christian sym- 
 bol of the second centur}", derived doubtless from an 
 earlier period. '■'■Newly baptized!'''' — In what sense did 
 they who baptized that child, 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 Evibences." Among 
 the thousands which remain are many of the primitive 
 Christians : and some of these refer to children who died 
 young. An example maj"- explain my meaning, while it 
 furnishes a specimen. Buouarotti, 43. 
 
 SIMnAIKIA-H-KAI- 
 KAAP.NTMO^-EZH 
 SEN-ETH-IA-HMEPAS-Kr 
 ETEAEYTHLEX III-IT-KAL-NOBEMP *AST2 KAI 
 TAAA2 Yn.lTOIL. 
 
 SiMPLiciA — called also Calonymus, who lived Years XI. 
 Days XXIII. His course was ended by violence, the 13th 
 
 * 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'Cie Lunae. Mui-atori, vol. iv 
 9 
 
98 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of the Calends of JVovember, Faust us and Tallus being 
 Consuls. 
 
 This reference to the Consuls gives a date, by "which 
 we find the child %vas a martyr under Dioclesian. He had 
 certainly been baptized, as appears from his receiving a 
 second name Calonifinus j and he was a martyr at eleven 
 years of age. 
 
 Another inscription commemorates a still younger Chris- 
 tian. It has explicit marks of primitive Christianity in 
 persecuting times. Buonarotti, 17 ; Fabretti, cap. 4. 
 
 ixe re. 
 
 I Posthumius. Euthenion. Fidelis. qui. Gratia sancta. 
 
 consecutus. 
 X Pridie. natali suos erotina. bora, reddit. debitum. vitae. 
 
 suae, qui vixit.- 
 Annis Sex. et depositus. v. idus Julias, die Jovis. quo 
 
 et natus. est. cujus. 
 T Anima. cum Sancto in pace. Filio Benemerenti. Pos- 
 
 tuniii. felicissimus. 
 C. N. Ey Euthenia Fytista. avia. ipse jus. 
 
 Posthumius Euthenion., a faithful Christian brother, ac- 
 companied with the Holy Grace. On the day before his 
 birth-day, early, he gave back again that ichich he had re- 
 ceived, his life. He lived .s-Zx years ; and icas buried the 
 fifth of the ides of July, on a Thursday, on which day he 
 icas born : whose soul is with the Holy One in peace. Erect- 
 ed to a well-deserving son, the most happy Posthumius, by 
 order of his grandmother, Euthenia Fytista. 
 
 Was the title of Fidelis ever given by the primitive 
 Christians to any one before baptism .- — On the contrary, 
 they were baptized to be made fideles. 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 : per- 
 haps much earlier. "His soul is with the Just One in 
 Peace," says the inscription : while the symbolical Acros- 
 tic IXSYC sufficiently marks his Cluistianil'> ; svith the 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 99 
 
 necessity of the time, for concealing the profession of the 
 cross. A more satisfactory instance of Infant Baptism, ex- 
 cepting the absence of a date, can hardly be expected ; 
 for this "/rt«7/t/?//," baptized Christian brother, was not 
 SIX YEARS of age. 
 
 But the Christian symbol IXOTC is placed on the top, 
 as well as down the side of this inscription ; probably ex- 
 pressing a Christian ancestry. The letter N. importing 
 Mika, " Christ has overcome,''^ being a Greek symbolical 
 term, seems to suggest, with the Greek termination Eu- 
 thenion, that it was a Greek family. Euthenia, the grand- 
 mother, 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 re- 
 ference to those Christian symbols, the fish, 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 lit- 
 tle ones, literally children drawn out of the water of bap- 
 tism ; and in no other sense could that Christian teacher, 
 when writing to Christians and using that expression, un- 
 derstand the Apostle's language and practice. 
 
 The primitive Christians also caused the symbol to bt 
 engraven on their seals and rings ; and by that token they 
 discovered those who had been baptized into their com- 
 mon faith. In reference to this, TertuUian, De Bapt., 
 chap, 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, 
 1X0 YC, on the tomb of Posthumius. Whoever perse- 
 veringly pursues this argument will produce many instan- 
 
 * The term IX9YC is derived from the first letters of the name of 
 Christ placed thus — 
 
 I Itcrouj Jesus 
 
 X XjsioTos Christ 
 
 e Omv of God 
 
 Y Yios the Son— 
 
 C Cbirni) Saviour. 
 
 Those united letters form the Greek word signifyinaj ajish ; whence 
 a fish became the private mark of Christian sepulchres, and concealed 
 them from violation by the Heathen. Clem. Alex. Pd^dagog. Lib. iii 
 Cap. 10- 
 
100 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ces 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 na- 
 tion, of covenanting with God, in common with other 
 members of the Old Testament church ; and became in a 
 sense public persons. 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 Sam. i. 28; ii. 11, in his sanctuary: and in 
 New Testament times, at three years old, //-oh? his infancy^ 
 2 Tim. iii. 15, uno ^oecpovg, apo brephous, Timothy knew 
 the Holy Scriptures which were able to make him wise to 
 salvation. Would 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 disciples ; and this is their usual appellation in the 
 Gospels. So we read, " Jesus made and baptized more 
 disciples than John." He made them disciples rituaUy by 
 baptism, by the agency of his Apostles. After our Lord's 
 death, his followers were caviled 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, M'ith the titles, the called, the elect, the 
 illuminated, holy persons or saints, faithful, &c. These 
 were regularly given to church-members only. None 
 icithout the church ever received one of those appella- 
 tions. 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 only 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 appellatiuns is bestowed on children, that children 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 101 
 
 are designated by any one of these titles, the church- 
 membership of children is the undeniable 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, tuj' dcylMv ; ton agion ; 
 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, toig iyloig, 
 tois agios. He also writes on various occasions to them 
 " who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, to the called, to the 
 holy persons'" — " To the holy persons at Ephesus" — " To 
 the holy persons at Colosse" — " To all the holy persons 
 in Christ Jesus at Philippi." 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; ciyiUj agia. The lowest sense that can possibly be 
 put on this term in this passage, even by a writer against In- 
 fant Baptism, is that of Tertullian, who saj's they are holy., 
 because designed for holiness in baptism. Even in that an- 
 cient adversary's opinion, their ritual holiness was complete 
 at baptism ; for which he assigns two reasons : Semiiiis 
 prerogatioa, the privilege of descent from a church-mem- 
 ber ; and Institutionis discipUna, the course of education 
 which such a child would naturally receive from its pa- 
 rent. He implies, that the heathen dedicated their chil 
 dren to their idols before they ivere 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 " JTo/y," 
 was appropriated to children. 
 
 " Maurentius son of Maurentia, a most pleasing child, 
 who lived five years, eleven months and two days ; worthy 
 to repose in peace among the Holy persons."* 
 
 " Sacred to the great God. Leopardus rests here in 
 peace with Holy spirits. Having received Baptism he went 
 
 * Maurentius Maurenti^B 
 
 F. D. qui vixit Annis V. Menses 
 
 Xr. Dies Duo. Digna inter 
 
 Sanctos Deus jussit in Pace. 
 
 9* 
 
102 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 to the blessed innocents. This was placed by his parents, 
 with whom he lived seven years and seven months."* 
 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 
 Lord Jesus Christ, "t From the phraseology it is probable 
 that the child was of Hebrew parentage. 
 
 " The most innocent Cervonia Silvana, gone to enjoy- 
 ment with Holy Spirits," A. D. 29 l.i 
 
 "Julia reposes in peace among the Holy persons. "§ 
 The terms '■'• in peace and holy'''' prove that she was a mem- 
 ber of the Christian church. Consequently it was the ap- 
 pellation given to the disciples among both the Greeks and 
 the Latins. 
 
 The Appellatiox Faithful applied to Children. — 
 In connection with the appellation holy given to church- 
 members, we find the appellation faithful ; and this was 
 more extensively and more permanently used in the church, 
 as the distinguishing title of church-members in Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 It is applied to individuals, in the singular : — To Timo- 
 thy, to Tychius, to Onesimus, to Silvanus, and probably 
 to others. 1 Cor. iv. 17 ; Eph. iv. 21 ; Col. iv. 9 ; 1 Pet. 
 V. 12. 
 
 • D Ma Sacrum. XL. 
 
 Leopardum in Pacem 
 
 cum Spirita .Sancta. Accep 
 
 turn eunte abeatis innocinem 
 
 Posuer. Par. q. Ann. VII. Men. VII. 
 
 t Bone Memorie 
 
 Innocenti Amantio 
 
 qui vixit Annos 
 
 VIII. Dies Sex 
 
 Quiescenti in 
 
 Sinus Abraha; 
 
 Isaac et Jacob 
 
 in pace XTI DMNI 
 
 PS. Vfll. KAL. IAN. 
 
 Muratori, 7. Calari in Csemetrio. Bonfanto. 
 
 I Innocentissima Cervonia Silvana 
 Refrigera cum Spiritu Sancta 
 
 § EIoYAIA EN EIPHNH 
 META TcoN AricjN. 
 
SUBJECTS OP BAPTISM. 103 
 
 The mother of Timothy, is called a faithful. Acts 
 xvi. 1 ; TTfOT^f , pistes. 
 
 What concord hath Christ with Belial ? what part hath 
 a FAITHFUL with a non-faithfull 2 Cor. vi. 15. If any 
 FAITHFUL man or faithful woman, mqbg r\ Trtg^, pistos he 
 piste, have widows ; let such relieve them, that the Church 
 be not charged ; 1 Tim. v. 16. 
 
 It is also applied in the plural : — They of the circumci- 
 sion, " faithfuls, mgot," pistoi, who came with Peter, 
 were astonished. Acts x. 45. These are called brethren. 
 Acts ix. 93 ; Acts xi. 12. 
 
 Those servants who have masters that are faithfuls, 
 mgovg, pistons ; despise them not ; 1 Tim. 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 ; Rev. 
 xvii. 14. 
 
 It is also addressed to Churches, as communities : — Paul 
 to the holy perso7is who are at Ephesus, and to the faith- 
 fuls, ntgoig ; in Christ Jesus ; Eph. i. 1. 
 
 Paul to the holy persons in Colosse, and to the faith- 
 fuls, niqoig • 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, ^ttc;?/*', pisten ; to the Lord Jesus, come 
 into my house, and abide." Acts xvi. 15. Here the ap- 
 pellation faithful 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 sub- 
 mitted for faithful, and faithful for baptized. It amounts 
 to an indentity. 
 
 The title faithful was a current designation of members 
 of the Christian church. To call a man a faithful was 
 equivalent to calling him u Christian brother, or a disciple 
 of Jesus Christ, or by any other appellation denoting his 
 relation to 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 
 
104 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISif. 
 
 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 
 examined faithfuls. The other, children, in Greek teknOy 
 on the authority of Baptist writers themselves, expresses 
 " MINORS from 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-mem- 
 bers.^^ 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 ex- 
 planation. It was therefore no novelty. The baptism of 
 their children — their Church-me:mbership — is here charged 
 on the ^linisters 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 unruhness." But in that case, the official character 
 of the parent is made to depend on the established charac- 
 ter of his children ; and this publicly known and notorious, 
 before their father can enter on his office. Supposing then 
 his children 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 sixtj' 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 injunc- 
 tion applies to all bishops. 
 
 But suppose the bishops had daughters only, they may be 
 relieved from this imputation of being riotous and unruly : 
 yet these must be made faithfuls ; for the term children 
 includes both sexes. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 105 
 
 Moreover, a bishop might have no children. Were not 
 Timothy's qualifications for the episcopal office sufficient, 
 without waiting 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^ having children tvho are not baptized, 
 in PauVs opinion, are unfit for their office. They are not 
 " ensamples to the flock." 
 
 These consequences follow this interpretation of the 
 passage. Here then I take my stand — not on unrecorded 
 tradition, 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 Apostle is explicit 
 and could not possibly mislead those who consulted his 
 writings. 
 
 The Apostle Paul speaks of children as being church- 
 members under the terms holy and faithfuls. The 
 Apostle John writes distinctly to little children. The 
 inference is all that 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 and disciple. 
 
 Though the Apostolic testimony is explicit and satisfac- 
 tory, yet it may be gratifying to know whether Scripture 
 has recorded any instances of conformity with this injunc- 
 tion. 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 Priscilla and Aquila, and the church in their 
 family ;''"' Rom. xvi. 3. 5. This is the sense given to the 
 word house, in this place, by Chrysostom, Theodoret, and 
 Theophylact, 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 
 
 * oi^t Tov oiKOv aVTOiv -KavTag ni^ovg noirjcrat, tovtov; Kai c:KK\r)<nav oivo^a- 
 ocv — TOV OIKOV vavra vi^'ovs civcv, (x);-s Km eKK\rimav KU^sicrOat — They Con- 
 verted their whole families to the Christian profession ; for such fami- 
 lies he calls a church. 
 
106 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the Lord, with the 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 
 affirmed by Theodoret, Oecumenius, Chrysostom, 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 thy 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 three 
 years, f 
 
 Eustafia the mother, places this in commemoration of her 
 son Polichronio a Faithful who lived three 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' 
 Alexander their cousin, three Faithfuls, of twelve years 
 old, erected by their mother Proemissa. With three 
 Fishes. II 
 
 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, 
 
 * "Nam ubi Apostolus ad CoUossenses scribens, cap. iv. 1-5; ait — 
 "Salutate Fratres qui sunt Laodiceae et Nympham, et quam in domo 
 ejus est Ecclesiatn," subdit de hac sanctissimi exempli muliere; tam 
 enim devota videtur fuisse, ut omnis domus ejus signo titulata asset 
 Crucis, hoc est in Ecclesiam conversa." — Ambrose. 
 
 t Cyriacus Fidelis decessit octo dies minus tres annus, iii. Kal. Mar. 
 — Boldetti ; Muratori. 
 
 X B. M. In commemoratione Eustafia Mater Filio Polichronio. Fid. 
 qui vixit annis iii. Gruter No. S. * 
 
 § Urcia Florentina Fidelis in pace Vix. An. v. Mens. viii. Dies. viii. 
 — Muratori. 
 
 II Geminorum Alcinoorum Sepulchrum, Alexandrique Consangui- 
 neorum, Tres duodennes. Mater Prcemisi, Pisciis iii. 
 
 IC9YC, id est Piscis, uti perquam notum. Uteris suis indicat nomen 
 Jesu Christi Dei Filii Salvatoris. — Muratori, No. 6. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISil. 107 
 
 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 their profession ; but their brethren' 
 very well knew what it signified." TertuUian says, " We 
 little fishes according to the example of our fish, icthox, 
 Jesus Christj 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 sufferings ; 
 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 centu- 
 ries. — " Here lies Alaria daughter of John, who was of 
 the town of Nicerata, she 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 Ho- 
 norius, xi. and Constantius, 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 consum- 
 mate chastity excluding all cause of suspicion ; that they 
 are not only Faithfuls, but also evidently, icorthy Faith- 
 fuls;''^ not only church members, but honourable in that 
 station, t 
 
 Eusebius more formally says — " There are three de- 
 scriptions 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 
 admitted by the " laver of regeneration." 
 
 The interpretation of the term House in the sense of 
 Family was universal both in the Eastern and Western 
 churches ; and thus these three families of Christian teach- 
 
 * Heic jacet Maria filia Johannis, cui Niceratum vixit Annos tres. 
 Menses tres et semis, Fidelis, Defuncta est INIensis Xantici Die iv. 
 Sub consulatu Honorii Augusti xi. et Constantii ii. 
 
 Niceratum, vicus ingens, Apud Apameam Syriag situs; called by 
 Theodoret, IS'icerte. — Muratori. 
 
 t Non solum enim temperantibus satis est, ut sint puri, sed etiam 
 adhibenda est opera, ut sint ab omni reprehensione Alieni, ut sit con- 
 summata castitas, omni exclusa suspicionis causa; ut non simus solum 
 Fideles, sed etiam videamur fide digni — (jj fir) fiovov tivat rifias rtj-ovs 
 aiK^a a^ia-Tis-ovi (pavrti/ai. — Clem. Alex. Pffidag. Lib. iii. Cap. ii. 
 
108 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISir. 
 
 ers must be added to those previously adduced. How 
 then can any say — " We have neither example nor pre- 
 cept for baptising children in all ages : " — The Apostle's 
 injunction has the force of a precept : and so great a num- 
 ber of Christian families exemplifies the practice to demon- 
 stration : for there is no exception, no reserve, and no re- 
 striction marked in any passage of Scripture connected 
 with baptism. Nothing therefore is desired from any so- 
 ciety of Christians, but that they follow the Apostolic exam- 
 ple and baptize ichole families ! 
 
 Application of the term jN'EOPHYTOS ; IVeidy 
 planted; to childrex. — A third appellation is strongly 
 identified with Baptism by the Baptists themselves. 
 " They are planted, say thej', in the likeness of his death, 
 being buried with him by baptism." The Apostles charg- 
 ed Timothy that a person newly planted, newly-baptized, 
 shall not bear office in the church. Our translation of 
 1 Tim. iii. 6; says, "not a riorfce," — the original is this 
 — " not a JVeophrjtos ;'*'' a neic plant. 
 
 I select a few examples from the ancient existing me- 
 morials. 
 
 Rufillo, 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 Domitius, an innocent, netcly-baptized, who lived 
 three years and thirty days j 
 
 Valerius Decentius the father places this to his son, 
 neivly-baptized, who lived three years, ten months and fif- 
 teen days.;]; 
 
 To Pisentus, an innocent soul who lived one year, eight 
 months and thirteen days. Newly-baptized : buried on 
 the ides of September in peace. § 
 
 * Rufillo Neafito qui vixit An. ii. D. xl. Quintillianus Pater filio 
 dulcissimo in in pace XPI. — Arringhius, Lib. iv. 
 
 t Domitio Innocenti J\''eofito qui vixit An. iii. Dies xxx. Dep. viii. 
 Kal. Junias. — Fabretti No. 36. 
 
 t Valeri Decentius Pater filio suo JVefito bene Merenti Valeric Vi- 
 taliano qui vivit xc. cum parentibus suis Annos N. iii. et Menses x. 
 et dies N. xv. Italianete in pace. — Muratori. 
 
 § Pisenti Anima in 
 
 nox q. vixit. Ann. I. 
 M. VIII. D. XIII. Neofit. 
 Dep. Idibus Sept. in Pace. 
 
 Muratori. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 109 
 
 To Jovius son of Callistus, who lived six years, ten 
 months, and nineteen days. Newly-baptised, he died 
 in peace.* 
 
 To Leoni, newly-baptised, who lived six_ years, eight 
 months, and eleven daj^s. He reposed the sixth of the 
 nones of July, Phillippus and Sallia being Consuls.! 
 
 To Aristus, who lived eight months : newly-baptised, 
 he went oflf the first of the nones of June : Timasius and 
 Promotorus being Consuls. ]{; 
 
 To the memory of Libera, who rests in peace. She 
 lived eight years : newly-baptised. 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-baptised ; deposited in peace, the eleventh 
 of the calends of October, A. D. 367..|| 
 
 B. M. to Silvinus, newly-baptised ; who lived on 
 earth eleven years, five months, and ten days. Virilianus 
 
 * Jovio Filio Callistus qui vixit Annis 
 
 xesei Menses Decern, et dies Dece. et 
 
 Novem. NOF. in pace morenti. 
 
 Fortasse Callistus. Nihil est xesei nisi Sex. Nof. creditur pro 
 
 Neophtto. — Muratori. 
 
 f Leoni Neoftto qui vixit Ann. VI. 
 
 Mens VIII. Dies XI. Requies — 
 
 VI. Non. Jul. Phillippo et Sallia Conss 
 
 A. D. 348.— Bosio. 
 
 ^ X Aristo Puer Innox. qui 
 
 vixit Menses Octo Neo- 
 
 FiTus Recessit Pridie Nonas 
 
 Junias Timasio et Promotor. 
 
 CC. Conss. A. D. 3S9. 
 
 Gruter, CDLXII. 1. Ex Passionei 
 
 Append. Muratori Supp. 
 
 § Benemerenti 
 
 in pace Libera 
 
 que bixit Ann. rll- 
 
 Neofita. Dep. Die 
 
 III. Nonas. Mais. Con. 
 
 Gratiano III et Equitio. 
 
 II Fl. Jovina quae vixit Annis tribus D. xxxii. Depos. JVeofita in 
 Pace, xi. Kal. Octob. A. D. 367.— Boldetti. Gruter. 
 10 
 
110 SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 and Lampadius have placed this to the memory of their 
 scholar.* 
 
 The following refers to a catechumen who was not a 
 faithful — " Here rests in peace Onesima, a Catechumen, 
 aged four years, five months and three days."t 
 
 Here repose two brothers, Innocents : Constantine, xew- 
 LY-BAPTisED ; who iived 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, a FAITHFUL, who lived seven years. J This 
 Justus is called a faithful, because in his earliest infancy 
 he had been baptized ; but Constantine is called a neophy- 
 tos, because he had been recently baptized. 
 
 This inscription seems to prove that the same family 
 was not always strictly uniform in observing the rite. 
 
 To Romanus, xewly-eaptized, who lived eight years 
 and fifteen days. He reposes in peace. Flavins Gratia- 
 nus being a second time Consul, and Petronius Probus, 
 Consul also.§ 
 
 Pascasius lived six years, and received baptism on the 
 eleventh of the calends of ^lay. He took his white robe 
 
 * B. M. Silvino. Neoftto. Qui vixit in Seculo. Ann. xi. Mens. v. 
 Dies. X. Virilianus et Lampadius Alumno suo Innocenti Memoriam 
 posuerunt. — Gruter, No. 3. Ex Apiano et Alciati. 
 
 t B. A. 2. M. Quievit Onesime Catechumena, in Pace, vii. Kal. 
 Julias, Annorum iv. Mensium v. Dieram iii. 
 
 t B. A. 0,. 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 Svmb. Navis Eccl. — Jus- 
 tum hunc ideo, Fideleji appellat, quia in prima infanti Sacro fonte 
 ablutus fuerat : Constantinum vero Neophitum nominat, quod recens 
 baptizatus esset. Gruter Ex Apiano et Velserianis. 
 
 § Romano Neofito 
 
 Bene merenti qui vixit 
 
 Annos VIII. D. XV. 
 
 Requiesit in Pace. D N. 
 
 Fl. Gratiano. Aug. II. et 
 
 Petronio Probo C. S. A. D. 371. 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. Ill 
 
 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 inscrip- 
 tion, 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 gov- 
 ernments are inaccessible to us. These few inscriptions 
 however contain most of the terms by Avhich Baptism is 
 signified in the New Testameni ; all which terms are ap- 
 plied to children. 
 
 The Apostle wrote to the Heb. Chap. x. 32, that " after 
 they were illuminated they endured great atflictions." Com- 
 mentators, by illuminated, understand baptized. Accord- 
 ingly the inscriptions describe Achillia as neo-photistos, 
 " newly illuminated," meaning newly baptized. This illu- 
 mination could be ritual only to a child of seventeen 
 months. Thej^ describe Refrigerius,"f" a neophyte, as Ajia- 
 bio, " receiving a new life," in baptism. The baptized 
 were called <iva^naaig, anabiosis, says Arringhius, vera e 
 mor(uis operibus carnis et infidelitute reviviscentia ; 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 induce parents so to describe them .' That parental 
 affection should mark infants as innocents, not guilty of ac- 
 tual transgression is easily conceivable ; but who could 
 first think of calling infants holy, an appellation proper to 
 church members only.-" Do we call our children saints? 
 Who could think of denominating miantsfaithful? in what 
 had their faith been tried ? in what had it triumphed .'' 
 These are not difiiculties to a Poedobaptist. Those terms 
 are used in Scripture and therein are applied to children. 
 
 * Natu severi nomine Pascasius, dies Pascales Prid. non. April N 
 die Jobis FL Constantino et Rufo VV CC CONSS. qui vixit Annorum 
 VI. Percepit XI. kal. Maias et albas suas Octabas Pascee ad Sepul- 
 crum deposuit D. IIII. Kal. Mai. FL. Basilic V. C. CO.— Fabretti. 
 
 t In iVIire Exempli Innocentiae Ac Neofito Anabio Satrio Refrige- 
 rio qui vixit Annis X. Dies XLVI. Publius Cornelius Zetos et Satria 
 Dignitas Parentes in pace B. M- Fecerunt. — Reinesius Inscriptionum 
 Antiquorum, No. 172. 
 
112 ■ SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 He traces them from Scripture, 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 
 Children, Newhj-Baplized, Newly Planted, and in which, 
 he was followed by the whole Christian Church. 
 
 I close these researches upon the subjects of Chris- 
 tian 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 men^^ of Apostolic ages, 
 and than all 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 per- 
 son 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 purpose, as the primary and peculiar 
 intention of the rite. This is neither toisdom, nor grace, 
 nor orthodoxy, which would put the pi'incipal things of re- 
 ligion in the principal place. I adhere to the initiatory 
 words of Christ as the best and greatest authority on the 
 subject ; for it is very extraordinary that in a religion hav- 
 ing 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 credible, 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 
 
SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 113 
 
 in the Lord's Supper a commemoration of the interposing 
 Humanity — if for this reason, consecration to the Deity is 
 sufficient by one act and ought not to be repeated — while 
 devotedness 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. 
 10* 
 
MOM OF BAPTISM. 
 
 I. Importance of truth. — II. Perversion of terms. — III. Butttcj. — IV. 
 E/'/JaTTTfo. — V. 'BaiTTt(7fto;. — VI. Synonymous Words. — VII. Baptism 
 by tile Holy Giiost. — VIII. Meaning of Baptism. — IX. Corresponding 
 terms in different languages. — X. Inferences. — XI. Overwhelming. 
 — XII. Submersion. — XIII. Immersion. — XIV. Baptism in the 
 sense of Overwhelm. — XV. Staining. — XVI. Pouring or Affusion.— 
 XVII. Sprinkling.— XVIII. Washing.— XIX. "Doctrine of Bap- 
 tisms." — XX. Anabaptism. — XXI. " Divers Baptisms." — XXII. 
 John's Baptism. — XXIII. Baptism separate from Immersion. — 
 XXIV. Philip and the Eunuch. — XXV. Baptism in Abyssinia. — 
 XXVI. Metaphorical Scripture.— XXVII. Cornelius.— XXVIII. 
 Christian Baptism waa Pouring. — XXIX. Baptizing of persons na- 
 ked.— XXX. Deaconesses.- XXXI. Enon.— XXXII. YSara iroWa.— 
 XXXIII. Hebrew Christians.— XXXIV. Syrian Church.— XXXV. 
 Greek Church.— XXXVI. " Buried in Baptism."— XXXVII. Bap- 
 tism as signifying Death and Life. — XXXVIII. Primitive Baptiste- 
 ries. — XXXIX. Catacomb at Rome. — XL. Ancient pictorial repre- 
 sentations of Baptism. — XLI. " Chapel of the Baptistery," at Rome. 
 
 I. Truth should be the object of our most anxious re- 
 search ; and when recognized, should be most affection- 
 ately and fervently 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 Institu- 
 tions of Eternal Truth, established, enjoined, 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, that pro- 
 fessors of the name of Christ, however varying in opinion 
 on certain doctrines, confessedly too profound for human 
 comprehension, would nevertheless have preserved these, 
 in their clear, well defined, and unadulterated observance. 
 The history of the Church and the state of religion at this 
 day demonstrate the fallacy of such expectations. Yet 
 the multifarious practices of the various sects, known by 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 115 
 
 history or observation, 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 proceedings. Amid this diversity, Truth 
 is essentially the same ; but is not seldom lost to the in- 
 genuous inquirer, amid the contentions and prejudices of 
 parties. Some dare not seek Truth;' and many dare not 
 acknovifledge her when found. Some will not follow 
 where she leads ; and others so far overshoot her unso- 
 phisticated determinations, that they do her little or no 
 more honour than the veriest dastards : and if " an argu- 
 ment that proves loo much proves nothing,^'' then it must be 
 confessed that those who trangress by excess, though 
 Truth may support them in part — those who deduce ex- 
 treme consequences from arguments valid to a certain point 
 only — enfeeble the very doctrines they mean to support, 
 and contribute to render them objects of suspicion, of dis- 
 like and denial. 
 
 II. Before we can discuss a theological subject, we 
 must clear away those perversions in which industrious 
 ignorance and criminal presumption involvQ it. The prin- 
 cipal of these on the present topic is the following propo- 
 sition — " Christian Baptism is neither more nor less than 
 an immersion of the whole body in water, solemnly per- 
 formed in the name of the Father, the Son, and of the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 I answer — the bad Latin term. Immersion, is a convenient 
 cover for a very delusive proposition ; especially when used 
 in an unlimited, unfixed, or unqualified sense. By way of 
 showing 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 nei- 
 ther more nor less than a manufacture ; for the Apostle, 
 Eph. ii. 11, distinguishes circumcision into manufactured 
 and unmanufactured. No linguist in the world can trans- 
 late 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 by hands,'''' Col. ii. 11. 
 
 Equally fallacious and little less preposterous is the term 
 
116 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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 faluits 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 trace the strict use of a icord notoriously uncertain in its 
 application and import, let us examine the thing it should 
 represent. Instead of poring over bad Latin, let us en- 
 deavour 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 examined. Does the original Greek word 
 baptize, wherever it occurs in Scripture, denote plunging ? 
 — Let us try this by applying the term to the leading pas- 
 sages. 
 
 III. BartTO), Bapto.—rln the New Testament the verb 
 bapto occurs 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. 
 
 IV. EitSaTiTu. — 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. 
 
 IVIark 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 whom 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 .''' 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 117 
 
 does common decency tolerate the plunging of two hands 
 in the same dish, at the same time ? 
 
 V. Bomjiafiog. — The noun baptismos occurs four times: — 
 
 Mark vii. 4, 8. — The icashing 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 foundation of the doctrine of baptisms ; 
 — doctrine of plungings. 
 
 Heb. ix. 10. — Services, in nfieats and drinks, and divers 
 washings ; — divers plungings. 
 
 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 neccssdiiWy plunged. Who- 
 ever considers what cumbersome pieces of furniture these ■ 
 tables were — fifteen or twenlij feet long, by four 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 1 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 plung- 
 ings : 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 of 
 jilunging, 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 figu- 
 rative baptism. It was a real and indisputable subject of 
 the senses seen by John the Baptist, by the Apostles, in 
 company of the hundred and twenty, as is generally thought, 
 and by Peter with his brethren, in the instance of Corne- 
 lius ; and not less conspicuous than at the Jordan. It was 
 the subject of John Baptist's repeated prediction ; Mat. ili. 
 11 ; 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 pro- 
 mise of my Father upon you — ye shall be endued with 
 
118 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 poAver from on high.'''' Acts i. 5 : " Ye shall be baptized 
 with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." — xlcts ii. 2 :• 
 " And suddenly there came from heacen, and appeared inito 
 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 : x\cts 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, (jjaneQ, osper, denotes a strict and exact simili- 
 tude, likeness, or conformity. 
 
 The manner in which this baptism was conferred or 
 administered was not only distinct from plunging, but it 
 was absolutely inconsistext with that action — Plunging 
 was an impossibility in the administration of this baptism. 
 
 VI. It is projjer to adduce those synonymous ivords which 
 the sacred Spirit has graciously thought fit to emplo}', for 
 the purpose of fixing the sense of that word which is the 
 immediate subject of investigation. We waive all reference 
 to critics and commentators, however numerous, and how- 
 ever positive. We depend on the New Testament alone — • 
 on those writers, under the immediate inspiration of the 
 Holy Ghost, who were his instruments in explaining spirit- 
 ual things by spiritual words. 
 
 This test is a sort of experimentum crucis to false propo- 
 sitions. It has detected many. Let us try it in the case 
 before us. 
 
 Luke xxiv. 49. — Shall send 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 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 yet he 
 was fallen upon none of them; Acts viii. 10. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 119' 
 
 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. 6. — The Holy Ghost; which he shed on us 
 abundantly. 
 
 1 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 with baptize : — 
 
 Sending down ; Coming ; Giving ; Falling ; Shedding ; 
 Pouring ; Sitting or Abiding ; Anointing ; Filling ; and 
 Sealing. 
 
 In all these synonymous words, there is not one that 
 raises the idea of plunging, or even approaches to it. Yet 
 they all refer to baptism. " The Apostles shall be baptized 
 with the Holy Ghost," is the prediction ; the Holy Ghost 
 was POURED out upon them is the accomplishment. 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 M^e 
 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 ABIDING and sealing. 
 
 VII. We are now advanced to the question, " Did bap- 
 tism by water resemble baptism by the Holy Ghost ? — and 
 in what .?" That there must have been some resemblance 
 is certain ; and the resemblance must have been striking ; 
 for the Apostle Peter, seeing the Holy Ghost poured out on 
 the company at Cornelius'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 Apostle's memory to be 
 refreshed with what he saw r How came he to lay a stress 
 
180 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 on his recollection, thus raised to exercise ? This made 
 so strong an impression on his mind, that he adverts to it a 
 long while afterwards. Acts xv. 8. If it be asked what 
 he did see ? I answer, he saw the pourincj down of the 
 Holy Ghost ; for this is the term expressly used in the 
 history. 
 
 Try both these irreconcilable propositions by the substi- 
 tution of their synonyms. " John plunc/es 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 
 fall 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 language .' Even that seemingly inappro- 
 priate term, anointing, preserves the action though it 
 changes the fluid. 
 
 The baptism by the Holy Ghost was conferred by the 
 descending of the baptismal element. Are there any in- 
 stances of the use of the word baptism in reference to 
 watery 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 de- 
 ranged state, should be baptized with the dew of heaven, 
 Dan. iv. 23, 25, 33 ; and this is repeated, to inform us that 
 he really was baptized with the dew of heaven, v. 21, af- 
 fording so many unquestionable applications of the word 
 baptize, to the descent of the dew of heaven upon Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. The vapours raised into the atmosphere 
 during the heat of the day, descended, shed themselves, 
 fell down, during the cooler hours of the evening and night, 
 on the person of the unhappy Babylonian monarch : by 
 these, say the Seventy, he was baptized! A clearer in- 
 stance of descent there cannot be. 
 
 A New Testament instance is furnished by a passage 
 from an eminent Greek scholar, who, intending to eluci- 
 date the subject, remarks that the word baptism is used in 
 reference to the Israelites passing ihroayh the sea, and 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 121 
 
 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 oner on dry land. 
 Exod. xiv. 2i, 29. Nehem. iv. 11. 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 
 Nebuchadnezzar. The word baptize maintains the same 
 reference to descending, when water is the baptismal ele- 
 ment, 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, 
 
 OBVIOUS, AND ORDINARY MEANING, UNLESS THERE BE SOME- 
 THING IN THE CONNECTION OR IN THE NATURE OF THINGS 
 WHICH REQ,UIRES 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 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, Luke vii. 44 ; 
 and the hands also. So we read of Elisha's "pouring 
 water upon the hands of Elijah." 2 Kings iii. 11. 
 
 VIII. 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 bapti- 
 zed, say the lxx, moistened, damped, icetted, dipped, in 
 the smallest possible quantity 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 confined the water, 
 than immersed in the water itself. This our translators 
 11 
 
122 MODE OF BAPTISM, 
 
 have properly expressed. All Israel passed over on dry 
 ground, as at the Red Sea. 
 
 The bird that was to be let fly avray 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 dipped. The word baptize is never used in the lxx 
 in the sense of plunging ; nor is it so understood by our 
 translators, except in one instance, Job ix. 31, for the 
 sake of a strength of expression. 
 
 Jinto Tabal ; — The Hebrew term, rendered baptize, ex- 
 presses not only in the Old Testament, but in Tahnudical 
 Hebrew, ablution, immersion, washing, &c. But to Gospel 
 Baptism this can have had no reference ; though it preced- 
 ed that ordinance ; as in the instance of Naaman, 2 Kings, 
 V. 14, the allusions to the custom in the Psalms of David 
 and other passages 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. 
 
 IX. Corresponding terms. — Whoever translates from 
 a foreign language, most solicitously should select corres- 
 ponding 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 import, a caution should mark 
 in what sense it is used, lest the writer should subject him- 
 self 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 bap- 
 tized'''' — sunk, or overwhelmed. The death of Aristobulus 
 — " Enticed in the water to swim, and then, under pre- 
 tence of play, baptized him" — he was drowned. " The 
 young man being immersed in a fish-pond, he came to his 
 end." Jos(>phus^s "own ship being baptized'''' — wrecked. 
 " Tlie Dolpliiu, vexed at the Ape"'s falsehood, 'uiuners'mg 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 123 
 
 him, killed him," by plunging him into the water. Lu- 
 cian 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, 1 would push him down again when 
 s'mking, 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 overwhelmed. Are all these English terms synony- 
 mous } Have the words dip, plunge, immerse : imbue, 
 drench, soak, overwhelm, the same meaning, in our lan- 
 guage, 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 baptize, then the Baptists' cause 
 is resigned to its adversaries. 
 
 Let us interchange some of these synonj'ms. I content 
 myself with phmge and dip. The instances shall be taken 
 from the New Testament. — Luke xiv. 24 : " Send Laza- 
 rus, that he may plunge the tip of his finger in water." 
 Blunge the extreme tip of his finger ! The ideas are irre- 
 concilable : the phrase is ludicrous : the thing is impossi- 
 ble ! Matt. xxii. 3 ; Mark xiv. 20 : '•' Judas who plunges 
 his hand tvith 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 etFect of grapes trodden in a 
 wine-press ; does the man who treads 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 Cor. 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, sanctions this by allusion, when he speaks of men 
 passing the sea drij-shod. How then were the Israelites 
 baptized, in the sense of being plunged ? By what means, 
 while this is maintained, shall we reconcile these inspired 
 writers.' Moreover, if full-grown men were xeaWy plung- 
 ed in the seu, what became of children not half their 
 
124 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 height ? They must have been " bajitized unto Moses " 
 in the sense of drowning. 
 
 X. 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 drown- 
 ing, or plunging; or that "Bapto means I dip or plunge y^'* 
 without explaining the distinction between those terms in 
 the English language, and marking in what places they 
 occur in the sense proper to each term. Were this cor- 
 rectly practised, it would contribute essentially to the pro- 
 motion 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, ohc 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 differences. Inasmuch as our lan- 
 guage affords more than one term to express various cir- 
 cumstances or modes of the same action, we should en- 
 deavour correctl}'^ to understand those terms. 
 
 Dipping imports precisely a partial plunging : — when a 
 person dtps into a book, we infer his slight acquaintance 
 with its contents. Swallows dip into a pond, but we 
 never see the plunge. To add no more, it would be non- 
 sense to call the '■'■dipping needle," by 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 equally strong between the terms 
 plunging and overwhelming ; by both of which the original 
 word Baptism, has been rend-ered. 
 
 XI. Overwhelm is a compound term. When resolved . 
 into its 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 ; Avhe- 
 ther 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 person. We find it used in this sense by Spenser : 
 
 They by cninmatidmt'nt (if Di.iua there, 
 Her vvhelm'd with s-tones. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 125 
 
 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 thrown 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 we 
 say, oreHiead, orertop, ore/shade, oue/tlow, overlay, over- 
 arch, &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 per- 
 son be plunged into water, the Avater is below him ; he 
 descends into the water, he is lowered into it ; he is under- 
 whehned ? — If a person be o\ER-ivhelmed with water, the 
 water is above him : it descends on him from a height. A 
 person plunged into water approaches, or is brought to that 
 water : when a person is overwhelmed with water, 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 
 sand. He may be overwhelmed with gravel or stones ; but 
 he cannot be plunged into gravel or into stones. He may 
 be overwhelmed with earth falling down 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 
 which tliey are described be s^'nonymous ? To use them 
 synonymously deludes the unwary. It leads the confiding 
 reader to admit as true, what is false in fact. It conjures 
 up a kind of shadow in place of 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 indis- 
 criminately, 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, distinct, and individual import in other cases ; 
 11* 
 
126 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 where do they find their warVant for annexing to the term 
 a single sense exclusively, 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 
 BuTCTM, Bapfo, and Buniia[.ioQ, Baptismos, mean only put- 
 ting under water ; and that they express in English terms, 
 as synonymous, to dip, to overwhelm, to plunge, and to 
 soak, with similar words. A few remarks are interspersed, 
 to show that the evidence is either totally irrelevant, or 
 altogether defective, or that the instances adduced directly 
 confute their own fundamental proposition. 
 
 BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF PLUNGING ; 
 
 MEANING THE WHOLE AND ENTIRE 
 
 SUBMERSION 
 
 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, BanTitsaOat, sunk or over- 
 whelmed." Antiq. Lib. ix. C. x. 
 
 2. Josephus uses the same word twice concerning the 
 death of Aristobulus, the brother of Mariamne, who was 
 drowned at Jericho, according to Herod's order, by certain 
 Greeks, who enticed him into the water to swim, and then 
 under pretence of play, ^umitovisg, ovx avijxav ew; xat 
 xut'Tunuair anonvi^ai, baptizing, immersing, or putting him 
 underwater, they did not leave off until they had quite suf- 
 focated 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 Jeri- 
 cho, and there, according to his order, being immersed^ 
 ^umitofiEPo:, in a fish-pond, he came to his end." 
 
 4. Josephus, in his Life, speaking of his own voyage to 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 127 
 
 Rome, and providential deliverance when shipwrecked, 
 says ; — " ^umiadevxog yug yuwy tov nloiov, for our own ship 
 being baptized, or overwhelmed in the midst of the Adri- 
 atic Gulf, we being about the number of 600 persons, swam 
 all night, and at daybreak about 80 were taken up by ano- 
 ther ship." 
 
 5. Speaking of the sons of Herod, he says, " This, as 
 the last storm, ent^amiaev^ epibaptizedy or utterly over- 
 whelmed, 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 ttt- 
 terhj overwhelmed, em^amiaeiv, no one daring to oppose its 
 enemies, if he, who kept their courage up, should depart." 
 
 7. Esop's Fables ; The Ape and the Dolphin.—" The 
 dolphin vexed at such a falsehood, ^anntfiiv aviov anex- 
 TEivev, 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 bj'^ the wings, ESanxioBig tov 
 oivov^ I immersed him, or plunged him into wine, and drank 
 him up with it." Melancthon's Anacreon. 
 
 9. Polybius, speaking of a sea-fight between the Car- 
 thaginians and the Romans, says : " They immersed or 
 sunk, e^umi'Qov^ many of the vessels of the Romans." 
 
 10. Gregory Nazianzen. — " That we may not be im- 
 mersed or sunk with the ship and the crew ;" ^aTcriado/nsv. 
 
 11. Dion Cassius. — " How would not his ship be im- 
 mersed or su7ik, ^aTtTiaOeirjy by the multitude of our rowers .'*" 
 Book 1. § 18. 
 
 12. " They were immersed, e^aTtnlpvio^ their ships being 
 bored through." 
 
 13. Diodorus Siculus. — " ti/$ davswg ^vdiadeiarjg,'''' in the 
 Text, "whose ship being sunk." In the Note, " (?a7rnCT(9et- 
 <7/;g, being immersed is the Coislinian reading, which is 
 sufficiently elegant." Polybius, Lib. xi. § 15. 
 
 14. 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 
 when sinking, ^unti'QovTa, that he should never rise again." 
 
 It must be observed that not one of those instances is 
 
128 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 from Scripture : therefore, Scripture never uses the term 
 Baptism^ in the sense of plunging ; for then it would have 
 been discovered and quoted. 
 
 As it is not denied that plunging is one sense of the 
 term Baptismy there is no need to add a word on this divi- 
 sion of the subject. 
 
 BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF DIPPING; 
 
 MEANING THE PARTIAL COVERING, OR 
 
 IMMERSION 
 
 Person or Thing, in Water. 
 
 1. Exod. xii. 22. — Ye shall dij) a bunch of hyssop in 
 the blood, &c. — ^aipavxe^ dipping, ye shall strike it. 
 
 2. Lev. iv. 6. — The priest shall dip his finger in the 
 blood, and sprinkle it ; ^axpei — kul nQoggavsi. 
 
 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 heput into 
 water ; slg vdwg i^aqpijaera*. 
 
 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, ^aipsi^ in the water, and sprinkle, a very different 
 word, Tcsqi^^uvsv, upon the tent. 
 
 10. Deut. xxxiii. 24. — Let Asher dip his foot in oil. 
 
 11 Josh. iii. 15. — The feet of the priests were dipped 
 in the brim of the water. 
 
 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 &h.a\i plunge me in the ditch. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 129 
 
 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 
 dipping ; 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 ditch of shallow muddy 
 water." 
 
 17. Luke xvi. 24. — That Lazarus may hapt^ or dipf his 
 finger. 
 
 18. John xiii. 26. — He to M'hom I bapting the sop — no 
 doubt, dipping. 
 
 19. Rev. xix. 13. — Clothed with a vesture, bapted in 
 blood, dipped in it. 
 
 20. Matt. xxvi. 23 ; Mark xiv. 28. — He that inbapis, 
 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 hatch- 
 et or pole-axe, §amEi, dips it in cold water. — Odyssey ix. 
 line 392. 
 
 23. Lycophron. — The child ^aipsj, shall plunge his 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 ^axpaao, dip 
 in the sea. Hecuba, Act iii. ver. 609. 
 
 25. Theocritus. — Every morning my servant ^uipas, 
 shall dip me a cup of honey. Idy Ilium v. ver. 126. 
 
 26. The boy let down a capacious pitcher, making haste 
 ^aipac, to dip it. Idi/llium 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 } 
 
 27. Dionysius Halicarnensis. — One plunging, ^aipag, 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, fourteen feet long, or of any length entithng it to 
 
130 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the name of a spear, should be plunged, thrust from end 
 to end, in a man's bell3\ Some spears were twenty-five 
 feet in length. 
 
 2S. 2 Kings v. 14. — Naaman dipped., or baptized, him- 
 self in Jordan seven times. 
 
 29. An old verse has often been quoted from Plutarch 
 — AaKog ^aTTTit?], dvvav ds rot ovdsjLug eqt — The bladder 
 may be dipped, but never drowned ; or it may be immers- 
 ed, 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," 
 ^amitof-iEvoig. 
 
 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 im- 
 mersed 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'C.Eiai fiB/M xsq)a).Tjg. 
 
 34. Strabo uses, " fi^xov oficpalov ^amiL^ofievav. — Im- 
 mersed 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, sup- 
 port the notion, that plunging is i\\Q4nherent and only sense 
 of the word Baptism ? Is a man in water up to his waist, 
 plunged ? So directly is it the contrarj', that an eye-wit- 
 ness of only common sense, would think him only partially 
 immersed, and no more ; for all the upper parts of his per- 
 son are above the water, consequently he cannot be plung- 
 ed. Immersed tip to the breast, up to the head, afford the 
 same remark. Had Porphyry said, " over 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 the things which cannot swim, to be immersed, ^amc- 
 X,Eadui, but they swim on the surface like wood." Geo- 
 graphy, ix. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 131 
 
 37. Strabo speaks of a river, in another place, whose 
 waters are so buoyant, " that if an arrow be thrown in, 
 fioXXis §univ%Eodai,^ it would scarcely be immersed^ or would 
 hardly sink.'''' L. xiii. 
 
 38. Strabo mentions also a lake on the top of which 
 bitumen floats, in which a man cannot be immersed^ ^ami- 
 l^eadai, but is borne up by the water. L. xvi. In these 
 passages the sense is clear ; partial plunging is the wri- 
 ter'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 y" Ta nXoiu ra ev tw Ti^tqiSv ^anxiaOijvav^ 
 Book xxxvii. § 57. 
 
 40. Diodorus Siculus. — " Mo.st of the land animals, if 
 they are intercepted by the river, are destroyed, being i?n- 
 mersed,''^ ^uni'Cpixeva. Lib. 1. § 36. 
 
 41. Diodorus Siculus. — " The river being borne on with 
 a more violent stream, nollovi; e^anziae, immersed, or over- 
 whelmed many." Lib. xvi. § 30. 
 
 42. Heliodorus. — " Killing some on the land, and im- 
 mersing or plunging, (^ami'QovTojv, 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 owners jt>/?m^ec?; for the same word applies to both 
 boats and men. 
 
 43. Life oj Homer, ascribed to Dionysius Halicarnensis. 
 " Homer speaks of the whole sword being so immersed, 
 ^antiadsviog, in blood, as to grow warm with it." Opus- 
 cula Mythologica, P. 297. 
 
 44. -iEschylus. — " 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. 
 
132 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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 wherewith I shall be overwhelmed ?" " With 
 the immersion wherewith I shall be overwhelmed, shall 
 ye be immersed." 
 
 2. Luke xii. 50. " I have a baptism wherewith to be 
 baptized ; " which Campbell renders, " I have an immer- 
 sion 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, ^ami'zousvrjg, swam away, as it were, 
 from the city" — overwhelmed by the miseries about to be- 
 fall 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, s^uTtxiaav xrjv 
 nohv, ovenchelmed it, plunged it into ruin, or were the 
 cause of its utter destruction." — They brought upon the 
 city utter destruction. 
 
 5. Josephus, speaking of the sons of Herod, says, " This, 
 as the last storm, Em^uTtTiaep, epibaptized, or ovenchelmed 
 the young men, already weather-beaten." 
 
 6. Plutarch uses this word figuratively; speaking of 
 Otho's " being immersed., or overwhelmed, or sunk, ^e^un- 
 jiofiBvo;, in debts of fifty millions of drachmae." — Having 
 brought on himself great debts. 
 
 7. Plato speaks of his " knowing the youth to be " over' 
 ichelmed or immersed in sophistry." — Having habituated 
 himself, brought on himself the habit of sophistrj^. 
 
 8. Plato. — " These from above immersing, ^amitovrsg, 
 or sinking the ships with stones and engines ; " Book i. § 
 32 — " overwhelming them with stones." These stones are 
 expressly said to come from above. 
 
 9. Plato. — Tov; ds idiWTfxg ov ^anntoucrir raig Eiacpogaig. 
 — But the common people they do not overwhelm with 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 133 
 
 taxes. Lib. 1. § 67. They do not bring or lay upon the 
 common people enormous taxes. 
 
 10. Plato. — " Perceivino; that he was alto2;ether aban- 
 doned to grief, and overwhelmed or immersed in calamity," 
 TTj avucpooa ^e^anna/uevoy. Lib. ii. Cap. 3. Calamity was 
 brought over or tipon him." 
 
 11. Plato. — " Since the things you met with have over- 
 whelmed you," E^ami'Qsv . Casus tui obruebant ac demerge- 
 bant. Lib. v. Cap. xvi. 
 
 12. Aristotle uses this word when speaking of the Phe- 
 nicians 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 with water, §anii'c,sadat,^ but when the tide is at the 
 full, the coast is quite inundated." De Mirabilibus, p. 735. 
 Nothing can be clearer than that these lands are not 
 plunged. Neither can there be a clearer instance of over- 
 whelming — for the water advances to the lands when the 
 tide flows ; and when the tide is at the full they are over- 
 whelmed ; or as the Baptists assert, they are covered over 
 with water ; undoubtedly not by their sinking under the 
 water, as is the case in plunging, but because it poured it- 
 self over them. 
 
 13. Aristophanes says, " I am one of those baptized 
 yesterday," meaning who drank much, or as an English- 
 man would say, " who had well soaked ourselves, or were 
 immersed in wine." 
 
 This may mean a person " disguised in liquor ;" as the 
 ancient 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 
 lam when sober." 
 12 
 
134 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF STAINING; 
 
 MEAXIXG A 
 
 DIFFERENT COLOUR PUT UPON A THING, 
 
 FROM WHAT IT HAD BEFORE 
 
 1. Ezek. xxiii. 15. — ^^ Dyed attire upon their heads." 
 
 2. Plato uses the word several times in one paragraph. 
 — Ot 3u(f£i; smduy Sov).rjOo)ai Suipai foi« ,' The DuerSy 
 when they are minded to dip wool : oura Se Samovaiy and 
 so they dip it. De Repiiblica, Book iv. 
 
 3. Marcus Antoninus. — " A conqueror in that noble strife 
 of mastering the passions, SeSuuusvov, immersed entirely in 
 justice — penitus justitia inbutiim.''^ Lib. iii. 
 
 4. ^Marcus Antoninus. — " The mind SumeTai, is imbued 
 by the thoughts ; dame^ dip or imbue it therefore in the 
 constant meditation of such thoughts." Lib. v. 
 
 5. Isa. xxi. 4. The clause rendered in the English trans- 
 lation, fearfulness affrighted ?«e, is in the lxx, Iniquity bap- 
 tizes me, overwhelms me. 
 
 6. Aristophanes in Plato says : " I am one of those 
 baptized yesterday ;" meaning, who drank much, or as an 
 Englishman would say, who had well soaked ourselves, or 
 were immersed in wine. 
 
 7. An instance has been quoted from Homer's BuTou/ofi- 
 voua%ia, or Battle of the Frogs and Mice, where it is said 
 of the death of the frog Crambophagus, 
 
 eSaniETo daiuuTi Xiuvtj noocpvgeOy 
 
 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 height- 
 ened 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 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. > 135 
 
 of the word Baptize: but in all it imports to put another 
 colour on a thing, by whatever action. — In Ezekiel xxiii. 
 15 : the probability is, that it means striped turbans of more 
 than one colour ; as blue and white. In Plato it means 
 also to stain, but a dyer would think wool very indifferently 
 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, dye, or 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 connec- 
 tion 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, meaning that when a painter having several 
 colours on his pallete, mixes two or more of them together, 
 they adulterate, corrupt, baptize each other, by changing 
 each other's tint, thereby making 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 imb.ued with justice is im- 
 proved, as dyed ivory acquires a more splendid colour : but 
 a mind that stains, pollutes itself in its own phantasies or 
 wandering imaginations, is discoloured, deteriorated by mix- 
 ture, 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 
 
 * VI. 30. Mfi fia^fti ne mergaris et obruaris, Xyl. imo, ne tinga- 
 rii, ne inficiaris : ne moris aulici genuinum animi candorem obfus- 
 cent, quod inquinamentum combibere Septimius dixit de Spectae. 
 C. 14. 
 
 cos ire Tiq T t^i(pavTa yvvri (poivtKi fiifivn, 
 
 ut Homerus loquitur II. 6. 141. i. ut Maro .E/i. xii. 
 
 Indum sanguineo veluti violaverit ostro 
 
 Si quis ebur — 
 quod nos dicereraus, " that you be not stained :" nam quod Graeci /iia- 
 iveiv et ffdirTuv, nos dicimus, " to stain." — Classical Journal, No. 23. 
 
136 MODE OF EAPTISM. 
 
 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, throusjh alienation of mind, 
 by the force of liquor. It is certain that Bapsei is used in 
 association with pthoras, and to the same eifect : 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 per- 
 turbation of mind. If then these words are employed in 
 conjunction and conformity with Bapsai, used metaphori- 
 cally to express corruption, discoloration of mind ; why 
 may not Bapsai^ equally with them, also import perturba- 
 tion of mind, whether from intoxication or from terror.' — 
 What now becomes of plunging ? Is that the only way in 
 which a person may prove " beside himself .?" 
 
 BAPTISM IX THE SENSE OF POURING; 
 
 MEANIXG THE 
 
 DESCENT OR AFFUSION 
 
 OF A 
 
 CONSIDERABLE QUANTITY OF WATER. • 
 
 As I have elsewhere explained the nature of Baptism 
 hj 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 washed., bathed or immersed her- 
 self in a fountain, eia.-rrCero." 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 water that was ix the camp ;" can we possibly 
 suppose, that she was plunged into the supply of water for 
 an army of two hundred thousand men .- Would they have 
 suffered it, who were to drink the water after her ablution .•* 
 Would she endure it, whose scheme demanded the closest 
 privacy, for three or four days only, and would have been 
 totally ruined by such immodesty .' 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 137 
 
 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 scarcehj ever im- 
 merse their bodies in loater : 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 pur- 
 pose, the women scarcely ever immerse their bodies in icater^ 
 how can Ave 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 de- 
 lusion — " which the attendants take out with a small basin^ 
 and POUR 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. 
 
 That Judith performed her ablutions by having water 
 poured on her hands is sufficiently credible. The manner 
 of which service is thus : — " A copper vessel is placed be- 
 fore the person, sitting on a piece of red cloth, to prevent 
 the carpet or mat from being wet : a servant kneeling on 
 the ground, pours out water for his master ; another holds 
 a cloth destined for those purifications. The person be- 
 gins by baring his arm as far as the elbow, then washes his 
 hands, mouth, nostrils, face, arms," &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 pour- 
 ed water on the hands of Elijah ; in other words, he bap~ 
 tized 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 mis- 
 
 12* 
 
13S MODE OF BAPTrSM. 
 
 sion. Exod. xiv. 19; xv. 8. The watar pourmg from 
 the cloud baptized the IsraeHtes. 
 
 4. Mark vii. 4. The Immersion of cups, pots, brazen 
 vessels, and tables. Refer to Gill on that place. 
 
 5. ]\Iark vii. 8. The tradition of men, as the immer- 
 sion of pots and cups. Cups, pots, and tables were bap- 
 tized then as they are now, by having water poured upon 
 them. The term " tradition of men'''' refers to some esta- 
 blished order and ceremony in the ablutions. It still ex- 
 i.sts in the east. 
 
 6. Describing the purification of the people at Sin, Jose- 
 phus says ; " when persons were defiled bj- a dead body, 
 they put a little of these ashes into spring water with hys- 
 sop, and SuTTTtauvTeg, baptizing, dipping or immersing part 
 of these ashes into it, iqqnivov, they sprinkled them with 
 it." Lib. iv. C. iv. § 6. This quotation, say the Bap- 
 tists, 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 shall take of the ashes of the burnt 
 heifer, and running water shall be put thereto, in a ves- 
 sel." Numb. xix. 17. The ashes were baptized by the 
 water put to them. 
 
 7. One pasaage is produced from Origen, on which more 
 stress is laid than on all others, in which he speaks of the 
 wood of Elijah's sacrifice as being baptized, 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. 32-3-5. 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 propriety, and without render- 
 ing its usual meaning ambiguous } Would not our oppo- 
 nents think such a three-fold soaking as bad as even a 
 " trine immersion .'" 
 
 Anj' child may detect this silly evasion. The question 
 is this : " By what action* were those faggots soaked .'" 
 They answer: " The quantity of tvater was great." 
 
 Origen was speaking of John's baptism, and considering 
 him as the Elias who was to come, he says : " How came 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 139 
 
 you to think that Elias, when he should come, Avould bap- 
 tize ? 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 thei'efore, who did not himself bap- 
 tize^ but assigned the work to others," &c. The compa- 
 rison 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. 
 
 BAPTISM IN THE SENSE OF SPRINKLING; 
 
 MEANING THE 
 
 DESCENT OR AFFUSION 
 
 OF A 
 
 SMALL QUANTITY OF WATER, 
 
 OFTEN BY WAY OF 
 
 RITUAL OBSERVANCE ONLY. 
 
 1. Nebuchadnezzar wet with the dew of heaven. Dan. 
 iv. 33; and v. 21. 
 
 That the dew of heaven descended on Nebuchadnezzar 
 is as clear, as that it ever descended on an}' grass of any 
 meadow under heaven. Who has not read of " dew-be- 
 sprinked grass .'" Such is the progress or action of dew. 
 
 2. Ecclus. xxxiv. 25. " He that washeth himself from 
 a dead body. He was to bathe himself in water. Num. 
 xix. 19 ; ^aTTTi'^Ojusvog ano j'exoou." 
 
 Moses gives these directions: Numb. 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 
 
140 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 day, he defilelh the tabernacle of the Lord ; and that soul 
 shall be cut off fro in Israel, because the water of separation 
 was NOT SPRINKLED iipon him : he shall be unclean : his 
 UNCLEANNEss IS YET UPON HIM And for an unclean per- 
 son 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 
 the 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 un- 
 clean 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 
 amono; the consfregation : because he hath defiled the sanc- 
 tuary of the Lord ; — the water of separation hath not 
 been sprinkled upon him : he is unclean." 
 
 Nothing can be clearer than that this service was divided 
 into TWO parts. The first performed by the unclean per- 
 son himself. He was to wash himself, and to bathe him- 
 self thoroughly in water : and secondly, a clean person, it 
 is not said priest or Levite, but a clean person, shall sprin- 
 kle on the unclean the water of separation. Until the 
 very moment that the water of separation is sprinkled upon 
 him, he is unclean. He may wash himself times without 
 number, in any imaginable profusion of water, all goes for 
 nothing. He is unclean till the ashes of the heifer sprinkle 
 his flesh. The virtue of effectual 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 goeth again and 
 doeth the same : — who will hear his prayer : or what doth 
 his humbling profit him } So he who has been baptized 
 from a dead body, and again toucheth it, of what use is his 
 leashing ?" 
 
 XVIII. The word " washing" must mean his washing 
 of himself: for nobody else washed him. The word bap- 
 tism 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 trashing are obviously set in 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. ' 14] 
 
 contradistinction, expressing the different parts of the rite. 
 A man was not clean by washing himself. Moses takes 
 special care to repeat three or four times, that he is un- 
 clean upon whom the spiinJd'mg had not passed on the 
 third day, as well as on the seventh. This is confirmed by 
 the Apostle Paul ; Heb. ix. 13 ; who calls the person un- 
 clean, 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 
 scrupulously soever he might wash and bathe himself. 
 
 This is confirmed beyond denial by the language in the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, who certainly understood the 
 rituals of their country. There were divers kinds of bap- 
 tisms, 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 mea- 
 sure extraordinary on the hypothesis of the Baptists ; ALL 
 those three rites are sprinklings. 
 
 I know no other occasion on v.-hich the bloods of bulls 
 and of goats were used together, as they were combined on 
 the great day of Expiation. What were the directions 
 for that day's service } Levit. xvi. 14, 15 ; — " Aaron 
 shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it 
 with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward : and before 
 the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his 
 finger sev^en 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 allusion is to this service ; Heb. ix. 6, 
 14 ; for his theme is the jNIosaic Tabernacle. He says, 
 " the priests went into the first or outet tabernacle daily : 
 but into the 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 
 
142 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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 blood, 
 called baptisms, can be referred, but to the sprinklings by 
 Aaron. 
 
 Thus the writer of the Ecclesiasticus is not singular in 
 describing the action of sprinkling under the term baptism. 
 
 XIX. Now we are prepared to understand the true re- 
 ference of the Apostle's words: Heb. vi. 1, 2 ; "Leaving 
 first principles, let us go on unto perfection : not laying 
 again the foundation of the doctiine of baptisms, and of 
 laying on of hands." 
 
 " The doctrine of Jeicish baptisms," say some ; — but the 
 Baptists would not choose that Jewish baptism should be- 
 come the foundation of Christian doctrine. " The bap- 
 tism 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 preceded it.* 
 
 But the baptisms concerning which, doctrine was delivered 
 to converts were these ; the washing of the person, signi- 
 fying death unto sin ; and the pouring of water, signifying 
 consecration unto a renewed life. These la}' at the fouiida- 
 tion of Christianity. They were first principles of the 
 
 * Baptism in Abvssixia. — The present Abyssinian method of bap- 
 tism elucidates the subject contained in the phrase " the doctrine of 
 baptisms" — for in what does the baptisnn of the Mussulman Boy, 
 narrated by Mr. Salt, p. 152, essentially 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 Mohainmedism, spoken of by Mr. Salt, was 
 '^ivashed all o'j'r viry cnrefuUy in a tar^v bason oficnter." Next, 
 the ritual baptkm or sprinklin»; elsewhere was performed by a clean 
 person, as a distinct action, yet it was part of the same rite — so the 
 Ab\ssinian youthful candidate \v;is baj)lizi:d from an<>thcr font, in ano- 
 ther place. The activtm were distinct, aitliough the rite wa^J ONE. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 143 
 
 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 ritey 
 to vindicate the accuracy of the apostle, who says Eph. iv. 
 5; "one Lord, one Faith, ONE IBaptism." 
 
 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 adminis- 
 tered Baptism by pouring. 
 
 There is no difficulty in admitting, that three thousand 
 persons might thus be added to the Church by Baptism in 
 one day : since those who administered the rititdl pouring 
 had no occasion to engage in the previous washing. 
 
 Respecting the interval marked by Luke between the 
 immersion of the Eunuch and his baptism by Philip, Acts 
 viii. 36-3S ; it has been stated that the Syriac and Arabic 
 versions are silent on this particular. I answer, Luke cer- 
 tainly " knew the customary separation between immer- 
 sion and baptism;" he must have known it, or he must 
 have been totally ignorant of the rite of baptism on account 
 of pollution by the dead ; which fioin. 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 were regenerated ; for they are washed with 
 water in the name of God the Father and Lonl of all 
 things, and of our Saviour Jesus. Christ, and of the Holy 
 Spirit." The same Justin also says, that sprinkling with 
 Holy Water "was invented by Deemons, in imitation of the 
 true Baptism, signified by the prophets, that their vota- 
 ries, those of the Daemons, might also have their pre- 
 tended purifications by water." If the Heathen sprink- 
 lings imitated the true Baptism, then the true Baptism 
 included sprinkling; for if there was not sprinkling, there 
 could not be any imitation. 
 
144 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 There is a passage in the Epistles of Cyprian to Mag- 
 nus, Ep. 76, A. D. 250, which seems to turn on this dis- 
 tinction of the rite into two parts. A ditnculty 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 com- 
 plete ; 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 know- 
 ing that in the customary mode of baptism, the ritual 
 sprinkling was preceded by a thorough washing of the per- 
 son, he adds ; " If any one shall think that they are not ' 
 all benefited, who have been 6n\y besprinkled with the ' 
 water of salvation, without previous washing, let them not 
 be imposed on ; and if they, the sick, recover ; let them 
 be baptised,'''' undergo the customar}^ washing. But if they 
 cannot with propriety be baptized by the customary wash- 
 ing, because that always preceded, ritual sprinkling, and 
 never followed it, as having been already sanctified with 
 the ECCLESIASTICAL BAPTISM, the Htual sprinkling, why 
 are they distressed with scruples .'' 
 
 Unless the rite were divided into two parts, where is 
 the possibility of any person supposing, that sanclijication 
 uiith ecclesiastical baptism was in any respect imperfect ? 
 How could such expect to render perfect what they had 
 received, by any addition whatever, unless they under- 
 stood that addition 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 believers } 
 
 * Anabaptism. — The following is the only instance I 
 
 * The terms Anabaptism and Anabaptists are considered offen- 
 sive by the Baptist Brethren, upon the principle that they express 
 the unauthorized repetition of the Christian ordinance; which 
 duplicate ceremonial they denounce. But their cardinal dogma, 
 that the administration of the Lord's institution to Infants by atl'u- 
 sion is not commanded, plainly decides the controversy, exclu- 
 sive of all inquiry, whether they or the Pcedobaptists have conform.ed 
 to the divine prescription. Thus having determined that every 
 other exposition of Baptism but their own is erroneous ; they bap- 
 tize after their mode all those whom they receive to their connnii- 
 nion, without any reference to their previous discipleship ; and 
 thus their ritual is Anabaptmn. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 145 
 
 have found. From Cyprian's observation it seems not to 
 be altogetlier 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 
 ofRcer, sent purposely into Sicily to obstruct the progress 
 of Christianity, it may account for his wife, a zealous 
 Christian, being sent to a private country village ; and 
 for the baptism of her child, performed imperfectly, cer- 
 tainly not registered among the faithfuls, in such conceal- 
 ment. During the eighteen months of the child's life, the 
 persecution might somewhat remit, at least so far as 
 Zoilus was concerned, who appears at last to have con- 
 sented to the regular baptism of the infant, at the earnest 
 desii-e 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. 
 
 " Nilae Florentinae infanti dulcissimae atq. Innocen- 
 tissimae Fideli Factae Parens conlocavit quae Pridie 
 nonas martias ante lucem pagana nata Zoilo corre. mense 
 Octavo Decimo et vicesima secunda die completis Fide- 
 Lis facta Hora noctis octava ultim'um Spiritum agens 
 supervixit Horis quatuor ita ut consueta repeteret ac 
 de functa Hyble hora diei prima Septimum Kal Octo- 
 bris cuius occasum cum uterq. Parens omni memento 
 fleret per noctem majestatis vox extitit quae defunctam 
 lamentari prohiberet cuius corpus pro foribus Mart. Xro- 
 rum cum loculo suo per presbiterum Humatu e IIII. non 
 octobr. — Muratori ; Sicilice Inscriptionum. 
 
 " To Nina 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 Zoilus the Cor- 
 rector : having completed eighteen months and twenty- 
 two days, she was mjain made a faithful, at the eighth 
 hour of the night, at the last extremity of life : she lived 
 afterwards but four hours : the rite having been per- 
 formed according to custom, she died at Hybla, the first 
 l'3 
 
146 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 hour of the day, the seventh of the calends of October ; 
 on which disease her parents wept with each other every 
 moment of the night : open lamentation for the Chris- 
 tian dead being prohibited as treason. Her corpse, with 
 its coffin, by the presbyters, was interred in the bury- 
 ing-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 Christian wife. 
 Whose creed shall the child follow, Zoilus, a public offi- 
 cer must comply with the religion of his country ; his 
 child therefore following its father, must be dedicated to 
 idols and become an idolater. Or following the mother, 
 may it be dedicated to the Trinity .'' to Jehovah rather 
 than to Jupiter } It must be to either one or the other ; — 
 It is either unclean or holy. The Apostle says ; " If 
 either parent be a faithful, the child is holy." Such is 
 the Christian practi-ce. I shall therefore cause it to be 
 BAPTIZED, said the mother. 
 
 This is TertuUian's view of the Apostle's direction — 
 He says ; De Anbna ; " The superstition of the Romans 
 place the foetus in the womb under the protection of the 
 goddess Alcmena ; under Partula, who presides over deli- 
 very ; 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 ! Its hair is cut 
 off 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 national custom ; with that of the parentage ; with 
 public or private devotion. Not a birth can be other-, 
 wise than unclean among the heathen. Hinc enim et 
 Apostolus ex sanctificato alterutro sexu sanctos procreari 
 ait. Hence, says the Apostle, either parent's issue, that 
 parent being holy, is also holy, by privilege of descent." 
 
 That these two ideas were included in the rite of bap- 
 tism as late as Augustin's days, A. D. 388, is evident from 
 the 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." — - 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 147 
 
 " A little while ago, says Augustin, when I was at Car- 
 thage, 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 ori^fiVm/ sm was "remitted" at baptism, 
 doubtless prevailed with those who gradually contracted 
 the entire rite into immersion only ; while those who deem- 
 ed 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 different branch of the subject, he says — " If each party 
 would 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 sup- 
 port their own hypothesis — that Bamw^ Bapto, Efj^anrw, 
 Embapto^ and Banjia/uog, Baptismos, mean exclusively, 
 plunging the person or thing into and under water — for the 
 preceding list of passages adduced by themselves furnish 
 three to one against it ; but had the collection been extend- 
 ed 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 this. The population of the 
 countries had embraced the faith of Christ so very gene- 
 rally, that converts from heathenism becoming unusual, 
 the rite proper to them gradually lost its application ; and 
 thus, " the death unto sin," Idolatrj", &c., no longer pos- 
 sessing 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 conse- 
 cration 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 pollu- 
 tion by a dead body, which consisted of washing and 
 sprinkling. It is so divided by the writer of the Eclesias- 
 ticus. It was practised as a double rite by John in his 
 Baptism. Christian Baptism is described as a double rite 
 by the Apostle Peter — by the Apostle Paul, frequently ; 
 who also expressly calls the sprinkling part of the Mosaic 
 rite, baptism. It was understood to be double by Luke. 
 It is described as double by Justin INIartyr. It is so repre- 
 
148 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 sented in all the ancient pictures known, from the second 
 to the fifth century. We find it alluded to by Cyprian 
 and by Augustin, in terms implying the same division : 
 and it is still practised in the same division by the Abys- 
 sinians who received it from the church at Alexandria, 
 A. D. 313. 
 
 The Church at Alexandria, originally planted by Mark 
 the Evangelist, consisted of Hebrew Christians ; whose 
 national manners might easily be preserved in a country, 
 of which Mr. Salt says : " The reader conversant in Scrip- 
 ture, cannot fail to remark the general resemblance exist- 
 ing throughout between the manners of this people, the 
 Abyssinians, and those of the Jews previously to the reign 
 of Solomon ; at which period, the connections entered into 
 by the latter with foreign princes, and the luxuries conse- 
 quently introduced, seem in a great measure to have al- 
 tered 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 mules, with spears and slings to combat 
 against the Philistines." 
 
 I have often pitied that ill-judged zeal by which Chris- 
 tianity 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 were 
 not more fixed and permanent than the Divine Institutions 
 of ancient times. He was rather a reformer than an insti- 
 tutor ; for he perfected what he found existing. 
 
 A parable was a Jewish mode of teaching : — Who taught 
 by parables, equal to Jesus Christ ? What is the most 
 distinguished and appropriate rite of his religion, but a' 
 service grafted on the passover customs among the Jews 
 of his day ? 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 authority whatever from the original 
 institution, yet our Lord found it in use and adopted it 
 as a memorial of his blood : — and taken together, those 
 elements form one commemoration of his death. We 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 149 
 
 therefore infer that whatever rite Jesus appointed as the 
 ordinance of admission into the community of his follow- 
 ers, he would also adopt from some service already ex- 
 isting, 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 prohibition on the minds of a people so remarkably 
 and obstinately tenacious of established customs and no- 
 tions. 
 
 XXI. "Divers baptisms''^ 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. Maimonides is perfectly correct, 
 when he says : " in all ages when a Heathen, or stranger 
 hy nation, icas willing to enter into the covenant of Israel, 
 and gather himself under the ivings of the Majesty of God, 
 and take upon himself the^yoke of the law — he must he cir- 
 cumcised., and BAPTIZED, and bring a sacrifice; or if the 
 jjarty were a ivoman, then she must be baptized, and bring 
 a sacrifice.'''' He adds, " at the present time, when the tem- 
 ple being destroj-ed, there is no sacrificing, a stranger must 
 be circumcised and baptized." 
 
 The more strict among the Jews described this cere- 
 mony 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 performance of this initiatory 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 gal- 
 lons. This was not baptism, correctly speaking ; for bap- 
 tism, being a Greek term, could not be adopted by the 
 Jews to express a religious ceremony practised long be- 
 fore the Greek became the prevailing language of the 
 East. It was i-!"?^2D, tabilah, what the lxx. adopted the 
 Greek word baptize to express ; but that was prior to the 
 daj^s of John and Jesus. This washing I call immersion : 
 — and its signification was Death. 
 
 XXII. Was such washing, or immersion, continued 
 
 13* 
 
150 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 in the administration of John's baptism ? — I apprehend 
 it was. 
 
 Was such IMMERSION the whole of John's baptism .' No. 
 
 Was IMMERSION of the hke kind continued among the 
 primitive Christians i Many expressions in the New 
 Testament have a clear and unimpeachable reference to 
 that preparatory rite. 
 
 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 
 washings ? Not that I can discover. The nearest ap- 
 proach I know of is that by the Apostle Peter. Baptism 
 doth now save us, not the putting aicay the filth of the flesh; 
 1 Pet. iii. 21, but the stipulation of a good conscience to- 
 ward 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 
 performed ; but the second, an engagement to maintain a 
 conscience void of 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 baptism ; 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 administration of the rite was this stipulation 
 made.' Always after ic ashing ; according to the order 
 in which the Apostle Peter places it. 
 
 John Baptist, being the son of a priest, perfectly knew 
 what were the establihsed rites and ceremonies of religious 
 washing ; but not content with these, he added, both by 
 word and deed, to what was customary among his people 
 and nation. 
 
 Matt. iii. 8 ; He baptized unto repentance. He stipula- 
 ted with the Pharisees that they should bring forth fruits 
 meet for repentance. 
 
 Luke iii. 11. He stipulated with the people, for be- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 151 
 
 nevolence and charity ; with the publicans, for equity 
 and moderation ; and with the soldiers, for mildness and 
 content. 
 
 These additions were the tenor of his admonitions at 
 the time of his baptismal administrations. But he did 
 something more in action, something bearing a precise re- 
 semblance to the pouring out of the Holy Ghost, although 
 performed with water ; and on this account he assimilates 
 his own baptism to that by the Hoi}'' Ghost, even while 
 he acknowledged its inferiority ; saying, " I am come bap- 
 tizing with water in order to manifest him to Israel. I 
 saw the Spirit descending and remaining on him ; this is 
 he who baptizeth — not with water, but with divine and 
 ineffable baptism — with the Holy Ghost. This is the Son 
 of God ! " 
 
 When the Pharisees asked John, " Vshyhaptizest thou ?'* 
 they did not mean to ask him " why washest thou .-" 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 ; " Was the baptism of John from Heaven 
 or of men .'" they could have found no embarrassment in 
 answering " from men ;" had the customary washing only 
 been in question. The difficulty lay in admitting that 
 John practised this additional rite, baptism, by revelation 
 from Heaven, for the express purpose of manifesting the 
 Messiah ; yet when he was manifested 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 /rom Heaven, 
 The previous ivashing, though a ceremonial 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 
 thej' avoided inflaming the people, and eluded the point 
 of the question. 
 
 XXIII. Does the New Testament afford any instance 
 of Baptism separate from immersion r 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 bap' 
 lized him ;" here is baptism. 
 
152 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 XXIIL It might be said, taking the text for correct, that 
 baptism was distinct fi-'om immersion, because it followed 
 it ; for the writer does not say, " they went down into the 
 water, that he might baptize him," but — " and lie baptized 
 him." But what are the real facts of the case ? 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 clog- 
 ging the progress of the story, in the very middle and 
 height of the sacrament. It conveys no additional infor- 
 mation, but it marks a pause. It distinguishes the two 
 parts of the service — " the putting av/ay 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 THE Eunuch ; and he, Philip, baptized him, the 
 Eunuch; and when they were come up," &c. We knew 
 both Philip and the Eunuch, from the former part of the 
 history; but the insertion of this description of the parties, 
 has the effect of separating the foregoing from the follow- 
 ing sentence ; and consequently of separating the fore- 
 going from the following action, which is the only assign- 
 able 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 person administering baptism 
 Went himself down into the water. John Baptist did not. 
 Who did ? This then is an exception to the general prac- 
 tice ; and this took place in a country almost or wholly 
 desert ; where no convenience of any kind could be com- 
 manded ; 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 the full ceremony of Baptism, 
 as practised in Abyssinia. 
 
 XXIV. Baptism of a Mussulman eoy. — This cere- 
 mony tQ.ok place at day-break ; an early hour being con- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 153 
 
 sidered 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 thirt}^ 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 arrangements .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 Avas habited in white flowing robes, with 
 a tiara or silver-mounted cap on his head, and he car- 
 ried a censer with burning incense in his right hand. A 
 second of equal rank was dressed in similar robes, sup- 
 porting a large golden cross, while a third held in his hand 
 a small phial containing a quantity of meiron, or conse- 
 crated oil, which is furnished to the church of Abyssinia 
 by the patriarch of Alexandria. The attendant priests 
 stood round in the form of a semicircle, the boy being 
 placed in the centre, and our party ranged in front. After 
 a few minutes interval employed in singing psalms, some 
 of the priests took the boy, and washed him all over very 
 CAREFULLY in a large bason of water. While this was 
 passing a smaller font called me-te-maky which is always 
 kept outside of the churches, owing to an unbaptized per- 
 son not being permitted to enter the church, was placed 
 in the middle of the area filled with water, which the 
 priest consecrated by prayer, waving the incense repeated- 
 ly 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 re- 
 peating a given formula four separate times, turning each 
 time towards a different point of the compass. I named 
 the child George^ when I was requested to say the Belief 
 and the Lord's Prayer, and to make much the same pro- 
 mises 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 
 
154 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." The whole company 
 then knelt doAvn, 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 wrapped 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 was conducted with great 
 decorum and a due degree of solemnity. The boy after- 
 wards, according to the custom of most of the Eastern 
 churches, was admitted to partake of the holy com- 
 munion. 
 
 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 Christianorum ritibus, 
 auctore Johannis Bapt. Casalius Romanus. The same 
 author says, on the reception of the eucharist, by the 
 newly baptized — " Ritum Eucharistiai suscipiendse post 
 Baptismum non solum adultis, verum etiam infantibus 
 fuisse communem." 
 
 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 
 " Ihirty yards'''' distant, where baptism was performed, it is 
 evident beyond all denial, that he would have suffered im- 
 mersion ; but he would not have been baptized. 
 
 The Abyssinian church derived its rites with its conver- 
 sion, from Egypt, A. D. 313 ; and those conversant with 
 the subject, 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 reser- 
 voirs of water. Those priests could have immersed in 
 rivers or lakes, had they so pleased : but the}' had been 
 accustomed to use "great basons of water," from their 
 forefathers, and those they still retain. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 155 
 
 XXV 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 an- 
 nexing to the rite of Gospel Baptism, observances founded 
 on the literal 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 pas- 
 sages of Scripture may be adduced in its favour ; for was 
 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 
 commanded to "^w/ off the Old Man with his deeds," 
 Eph. iv. 24 ; which was done in the previous washing, and 
 to ^9?<i on the New Man i to 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 expressions of Scripture ; do 
 they furnish valid arguments for the practice .'' The sacra- 
 ment of Baptism does not rest on such supports ; neither 
 is it improved by the adoption of such similitudes. 
 
 There is another view of this administration under which 
 it answers punctually to the expressions used in Scripture 
 in reference to Baptism. 
 
 Reflect on the following five questions. 
 
 Did they exhort you to " Arise, and wash away thy 
 SINS, calling on the name of the Lord V 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 
 
156 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 with pure water ? — Yes ; they washed me all over very 
 
 CAREFULLY. 
 
 Were you buried with Christ in baptism ; planted with 
 him; crucified ivith him; baptized into his death, Rom. 
 vi. 3-6 ; immersion in " the great bason of water," im- 
 porting all these ? — Yes. 
 
 Is immersion always practised at baptism ? — Is it es- 
 teemed essential to the ordinance ? — ■ Yes. 
 
 You were " dripping wet from head to foot," after 
 your immersion ; and do you affirm that this is the regu- 
 lar and established administration of the ordinance in the 
 Abyssinian church? — Yes; immersion has been the con- 
 tinued practice for more than FIFTEEN HUNDRED 
 YEARS. 
 
 Thus the practice of Baptism in Abyssinia affords no- 
 thing short of an absolute demonstration ! 
 
 Immersion was an introductory observance. — BAPTISM 
 was administered in a different place, by a different per- 
 son, 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 sub- 
 stitute for his Mohammedan appellation, or name previ- 
 ous to his symbolical death. 
 
 XXVI. ^yhat light this throws on the story of baptism 
 conferred on Cornelius ! Acts x. xi. xv. That every Ro- 
 man family had such a " great bason of water," or what 
 was much the same, is notorious. Cornelius, as a Ro- 
 man, could not be without one ; and what answers the 
 purpose of the church at Chelicut, where baptism is ex- 
 pected to be performed as a Christian rite, might well an- 
 swer 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 "basons.^" — 
 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 niay be seen at St. Denis, five 
 miles from Paris. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 157 
 
 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 immer- 
 sion, this is that instance. 
 
 XXVII. Acts X. 14, 44. It is remarkable in this his- 
 tory, that Peter uses two words to describe the natural 
 condition of food : unwashed and uucleansed. The first 
 certainly, signifies unwashed in the instance of hands not 
 immersed before dinner : the second signifies a ritual^ cere- 
 monial, or religious cleansing : 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 tmwashen, 
 in the lower and weaker degree." This was done thrice. 
 Now taking this in reference to Cornelius, did not the de- 
 scent and pouring out of the Holy Ghost on that good man 
 announce his ritual or religious cleansing though a hea- 
 then, in the strongest possible degree .? What necessity 
 after this unequivocal, sublime and Divine token of a puri- 
 fied and accepted person, could there be for the entire 
 tvashing 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. 
 Having 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 degra- 
 ding 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, 
 coincides perfectly with this representation: — Actsxi. 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. Foras- 
 much, 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 with- 
 stand GOD .'' " 
 
 Nevertheless it being proper that each convert should 
 personally make a clear and distinct profession of his faith 
 in Christ and of his future adherence to him, should be 
 openly consecrated to his service, and this being the regu- 
 
158 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 lar intention of Christian baptism ; the Apostle directed 
 that those highly favoured persons should have that op- 
 portunity, 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 immers- 
 ed previous to their reception of that rite, under Paul's 
 direction, they were baptized in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, as a proper opportunity of explicitly acknowledg- 
 ing 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. 3S, agrees with this ; they had 
 been baptized with John's baptism, Peter therefore coun- 
 sels them, to make an explicit avowal of the name of Je- 
 sus Christ in baptism. 
 
 Thus we have made some progress towards explaining 
 that difficult expression, " baptism in the name of Jesus." 
 Those people had already religiou.sly recognized 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 is the mode. Without fear of 
 contradiction I affirm, that Christian Baptism was pour- 
 ing ; and moreover, the convert teas xaked ! If any per- 
 son object — "Why, would you have us .^ " The 
 
 question is not what any man would have 1 but this is the 
 simple inquiry — " In what state did the primitive Christians 
 receive baptism ?" The answer must be, " naked." 
 
 The Baptist principles demand the most scrupulous ad- 
 herence to the original form of this '■'■positive institution," 
 for " positive precepts admit of no degrees, no supple- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM 159 
 
 ments, and no commutation. It is the will of God, for the 
 trial of our obedience ; nor will he allow us to inquire 
 why'? or how? Compliance must be so, and no more, 
 AND NO LESS, AND NO OTHERWISE. What we Call little 
 things, trilling deviations, are the pins and screws which 
 hold the sacred tabernacle together : take these away, the 
 whole edifice falls. The same rash hand that makes 07ie 
 alteration may make twenty ; if in small things, why not 
 in greater .' till at length the foundation is destro3'ed ; 
 Christianity is superseded ; Superstition takes its place ; 
 and all is death, desolation, and darkness." — Booth's Psedo- 
 baptism Examined. Vol. I. 
 
 This conclusion the Baptist objector foresaw. " The pri- 
 mitive 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 .' 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 argu- 
 ments for the change which they have adopted, with what 
 grace do they deny to others the right to plead decen- 
 cy, 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 censure their bre- 
 thren 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 exten- 
 sively, says, History of Baptism. Vol. II. " It was the 
 most usual and ordinary way by which the ancient Chris- 
 tians 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, 
 
160 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 if the water touched the tent ; of the furniture in the tent, 
 the 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 re- 
 ceiving it was XAKED ; 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 Bap- 
 tism, the putting away of the filth of the flesh ; 1 Peter 
 iii. 21. Church members are said to have had "their 
 BODIES Avashed with pure water," Heb. x. 22. Is there a 
 single Baptist living whose " body was washed with pure 
 water," at his baptism .- — His clothes might be : — but his 
 body .' No. When did any one " put away the filth of 
 the flesh" at this ordinance, as administered by English 
 Baptists } Xone 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.* 
 
 * 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 .' 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 en- 
 tirely : 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. 445, 446. 
 
 " The head and beard of the corpse must be washed with the 
 flowers o( khitiny, or with soap. The risht side must be washed first, 
 while the body rests on the left ; the left side, while it rests on the 
 right : after that it must be turned on the back, and must be rubbed 
 with a soft and gentle hand. 
 
 " From the Booke of Common prayer, London. 1-549. 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 d\"pping the 
 right side : seconde the left side : the third time dvpping the face 
 towarde the fonte : so it be discretely and warely done, saying, &c." 
 
 Considered as rites, this order is similar. One body is " dypped" 
 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. 2sor is this coincidence accidental ; for at first, 
 our Reformers did little other than translate foreign usages into English, 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 161 
 
 The evidence is clear, that the ancient Christian painters 
 were fully justified, in representing 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 
 administered 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, immedi- 
 ately on coming out of the water, was wrapped in an en- 
 velope called Sabano — whence Simon of Thessalonica 
 says, " the naked Catechumen is covered with a large 
 covering neqi^oluiov wrapped around him closely in three 
 windings !" Buonarotti Oss. sopra vasi di Vetro. Thus 
 the Trinity meets us at every turn, among the ancient 
 Christians, in connection Avith 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 administration of the rite of Bap- 
 tism, are precisely the scoffing objections of Julian the 
 Apostate ! 
 
 As the " envelope wrapped around" the washed Cate- 
 chumen had the form of a pallium or cloak, it seems to be 
 alluded to by TertuUian — " Suadeo, reverere habitum 
 unius interim erroris tui renunciatorem — enimvero cum 
 banc primum sapientia vestit, quae vanissimis superstition- 
 ibus 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 rep- 
 resentations of Adam and Eve, on occasion of his describ- 
 ing 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 
 
 and this may be traced for several centuries upwards, as early as trine 
 immersion. 
 
 * " A pictoribus me didicisse derides, quod Adam et Mulier ejus 
 pudenda contexerint, Horatianum illud decantatum audire me prafi- 
 cipis. Quidlibet audiendi semper fuit aequa potestas." — Lib. v. cap. 2. 
 
 15* 
 
162 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 Christians were solicitous to preserve a certain tradition 
 of their sacred 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 on the uniformity found among the paintings on 
 those most ancient pieces of glass, also on the basso re- 
 lievos of the Sarcophagi, Sepulchres, on the paintings of 
 the Ccemeteries, 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 Bap- 
 tism in a state of nakedness. The denial of this lately by 
 the Baptists has taken me by surprise. The evidence now 
 offered must be considered as a kind of gleaning ; com- 
 prising merely such passages as presented themselves in 
 the continuation oT researches on the general subject. 
 
 The first witness is the Baptist Historian Robinson, who 
 says. Chap. xv. ; " The primitive Christians baptized 
 NAKED. JN'othing is easier than to give proof of this by 
 
 * Chi vuol conoscere quanto i Cristiani antichi fossero attenti acon- 
 servare con una certa tradizione i sacri simboli delle pitture, e quanta 
 cura avessero, che sempre si facessero i medesimi, e non si variasse da 
 quello che sul principio avesse cominciato a costumare la Chiesa, 
 basta riflettere all' uniformita, che passa fra le pitture di questi vetri 
 antichissimi, ed i bassirilievi de' Sarcofagi, e le pitture de' Cimiteri, 
 ed i Mosaici delle Chiese di Koma, che non sono tanto antichi; ma 
 particolarmente bisogna osservare il Sarcofago Vaticano riportato dall' 
 Arringhio alia pag. 295, nel mezzo del quale, come si e accennato, vi 
 sono quasi atfatto le medesime cose, che si vedono in questo vetro ; vi 
 e il Salvatore sul Monte, da cui scaturiscono i quattro fiumi; il Salva- 
 tore da alia figura, che e dalla sinistra il volume, questa figura e ves- 
 tita, e sta in attitudine di scendere nel Giordano, come sta in nostra, 
 ed ha una Croce in ispalla;. dalla parte destra vi e quella medesima 
 imagine di uomo coUa barba, e col pallio, e colla destra distesa, che 
 noi abbiarno creduto, che rappresenti S. Giovan Batista; a' piedi del 
 Redentore vi e 1' Agnus Dei, ma con una croce sul capo, e piu basso le 
 pecorine ; di qua, e di la dal Salvatore 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 que torri, e due porte di Citta. — Buonarotti Osser- 
 vationi sopra alciini vast Antichi di Vetros. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 163 
 
 quotations from the authentic writings of the men who 
 administered Baptism, and who certainly knew in what 
 way they themselves performed it. There is no ancient 
 historical fact better authenticated than this. The evidence 
 doth not go on the meaning of the single word naL-cd, for 
 then a reader might suspect allegory : but on many facts 
 reported, and many reasons assigned for the practice. 
 Chrysostom criminates Theophilus because he had raised 
 a disturbance without, which so frightened the women in 
 the baptistery, who had just stripped themselves naked in 
 order to be baptized, that they tied naked out of the room, 
 without having time to consult the modesty of their sex. 
 — Basil rose up with fear and trembling, undressed himself, 
 putting 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 oughtto 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 reputation 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 understood 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 baptism repre- 
 sented 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 
 vitiated. Because the case is so clear, Robinson gave no 
 additional quotations ; and Wall was influenced by the 
 same consideration. His words are these : " The ancient 
 Christians when they were baptized by immersion, were 
 ALL BAPTIZED NAKED, whether they were men, women, or 
 children. Vossius, De Baptism. Disp. i. cap. 6, 7, 8, has 
 collected several proofs of this, which I omit, because it 
 is a clear case." History of Baptism. Vol. II. 
 
 What could Origen mean, if Baptism were not received 
 in a state of nakedness, when he says, " With thy gar- 
 ments newly washed thou earnest to the grace of Baptism ; 
 
164 MODE 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 form, each believer having 
 neither spot nor wrinkle ; but being 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 fur- 
 ther examination : for that writer seems to have enter- 
 tained no doubt that even women were baptized naked ; 
 and Wall expressly asserts the same, not only in the words 
 we have quoted, but in his remarks on the violence offered 
 to Chrysostom'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 undressed, 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 preservation 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, ex- 
 cept 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 wo- 
 men. 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 
 
 * Lota sunt vestimenta tua cum venisti ad Baptismi gratiam ; puri- 
 ficatus es corpore ; purificatus es spiritu ; mundatus es ab omui in- 
 quinamento carnis, et spiritus. Exod. in lib. ii. 
 
 t Abluitis quicumque animas, et membra lavacris, 
 Cernite propositas ad boiiafacta vias. 
 l!ide parens sacro ducit de fonte sacerdos 
 Infantes niveos corpore, corde, habitu. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. " 165 
 
 young women, the maidens. JNloreover, the very mention of 
 priest and deacons in the history confutes this notion. Wall 
 says ; There is an account given by Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. 
 lib. viii. cap. 21 ; A. D. 403, of an insult made by the 
 soldiers in the great church at ConstantinojDle, against 
 Chrysostom and his adherents : for on Easter-eve they 
 rushed in armed ; and, he adds, " There w^as a great tumult 
 at the font, the women shrieking in a fright, and the chil- 
 dren 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 for the 
 purpose of receiving baptism .' Where then was female 
 modesty .' How is this consistent with the former asser- 
 tion 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 wo- 
 man, 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, remained standing in the water ? 
 
 The embarrassment of our Baptist brethren on this 
 matter is very great. They find themselves guilty of de- 
 parting from the primitive usage in this particular, even 
 while most vehemently urging uniform adherence to that 
 usage as a part of positive duty, in which negligence is 
 sinful. If precise conformity in all points to the original 
 ritual be indispensable, as obedience to God and to Christ, 
 and if in this point they violate the original ritual, iheu 
 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 per- 
 formed 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 Baptism — or the woman or women 
 properly habited, after immersion, might go out of their 
 apartment into the Accubituin, or Vestry, and there receive 
 the remainder of the rite from the lesser font. But either 
 of these implies a division of tlie service ; the first part 
 
166 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 being immersion or loashing, and the second, baptism or 
 consecration. 
 
 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. The Dea- 
 coness anointed the female body, which was in conformity 
 with the prior ceremonies respecting the washing with 
 water in Baptism. 
 
 Nor let it be thought strange that this official superin- 
 tendence 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 dress- 
 ing. Possibly she might have done the same services 
 from civility, which were also done as a ritual of religion. 
 At first Deaconesses were widows, Avho 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 pov- 
 erty ; and it is supposed also, that they 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. 
 
 Cum 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. Palmatus was Consul. She was 
 sister to Victorinus the Presbyter ; and had instructed in 
 religion many of her sex." 
 
 Considering that men had scarcely any access to the 
 younger women at home, there can be little doubt thut 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 167 
 
 they received the major part of their religious instruction 
 from the Deaconesses ; and so much of it as was requisite 
 previous to Baptism was a convenient preparation for that 
 ordinance. 
 
 DEACONESSES. 
 
 Deaconesses were of Apostolic institution ; but the 
 office of Deaconess, though unquestionably Scriptural, is 
 discarded from Baptist Churches, which therefore are con- 
 fessedly imperfect. 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, chap. xvi. 1, expressly calls Phebe, diaxo- 
 vov^ diaconon, " Deaconess of the church at Cenchrea ;" 
 and she is described as the succour and protectress of 
 many. To women of this character whom he describes 
 among the Deacons, 1 Tim. iii. 11, as "grave, not slan- 
 derers, sober and faithful in all things;" Paul also refers. 
 Pliny, anxious to discover the secrets of the Christians, 
 caused two female servants ©f the church, called " minis- 
 ters,'''' 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 Trajan, " but a vile supt^rstition."* 
 
 That female Church officer, the Deaconess, long cont.nu- 
 ed to be both popular and useful among the faithful. 
 They gradually became more rarely adverted to by eccle- 
 siastical 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. 
 Hajres. Ixxix. " Quse est Collyridianorum ; " who says, 
 " There are also Deaconesses in the Church ; but this 
 office was not instituted as a priestly function, nor has it 
 any interference with priestly administrations ; but it was 
 instituted for the purpose of preserving a due regard to the 
 modesty of the female sex, especially at the time of baptismal 
 loashing, and ivhile the person of the ivomanis naked; that 
 she may not be seen by the men performing the sacred 
 service, but by her only who is appointed to take charge 
 
 * Quo magis necessarium credidi, ex dnabus ancillis quse ministrcB 
 (licebaiitur, quid esset veri et per tonneuta qutprere. Nihil aliiid iu- 
 veni, quam superstitioneiu pravain et immodicam. Lib. x. Papist. 97. 
 
168 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 of the woman, during the time that she was naked."* 
 Now if the men performing the sacred service did not see 
 the woman receiving baptism while unclothed, how could 
 any one go down into the font and plunge her .' If the 
 woman, while the process of hnviersion or washing was 
 performing, was seen by the Deaconess alone. Baptism 
 could 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 propor- 
 tionally weakened and rendered inefficient as argument. 
 iSevertheless, objections are drawn from incide'ntal cir- 
 cumstances which, however feeble or erroneous, have 
 been announced by the Baptists as highly important. One 
 of them is the passage, John iii. 23 : in which " much wa- 
 ter," as our translators have rendered the words, is as- 
 signed as a reason why John was baptizing in that place. 
 It is admitted, however, " that vSaiu ttoIIu, hydata polla, 
 is plural, and denotes many icaters.''^ — To which I add, 
 that the words vSuia noli-a, hi/data polla, most properly 
 signify Jloicing waters, or currents ; and had the words 
 been rendered " many streams,'''' I should have applauded 
 their correctness. 
 
 ExoN. — The objection is thus propounded by Dr. Ry- 
 land. John iii. 23. — This is rendered by our translators ; 
 " because there was much water there." But our bre- 
 thren, afraid that this expression should countenance the 
 idea of immersion, allege that hydata polla, vdara noD.a, 
 
 * Gabriel Albaspineus. " Diaconissm. — Ministerio Diaconissarum 
 plerisque in locis pudori feminarum consulebatur: illae enim ad Bap- 
 tismum venientes honeste nudabant et exuebant, nequid oculis bapti- 
 zantis inverecunde ingereretur, ut Epiphanius indicat. AiaKoviacuv finv 
 
 Tayjia t^tv ti'j rrtv e<K\r](jiav, aXX' oa^i tij to itparcvetv 'ovieri en^tipetv r.TTi- 
 TOCTTtiv. tvtxcv Sc ctjxvoTriTOi Tov yvvaiKZiv yivov; ij 6i tjpav Xovrpov xai o re 
 yVjiiv(^Biiv GMjia yvvaiKOV, \va firi vt7o o avSpoiu i!:piivpyovtTO}i> OtaOtiv, "aW vko 
 TOV ttpeuis CTifieXsiaOai yvvaiKoi iv Ttj o>pa Ti)s tov aatuaro; avrm y€fiv(oaeats. 
 
 Est quidem Diaconissarum in Ecclesia ; sed non est institutus ad func- 
 tionein Sacerdotii, vel ad aliquam ejus modi administrationem, sed ut 
 muliebris sexus honestati consulatur, sive ut tempore adsit Baptismi 
 sive quando nudandum est mulieris corpus, ne ab lis conspiciatur, qui 
 sacris operantur, sed a sola videatur, Diaconissa; quse jussu sacerdotis 
 curam mulieris gerit, dum vestibus exuitur; atque id secundum con- 
 stitutionem boni ordinis et ecclesiasticje discipline ex prescripfo caiio- 
 uis admodum stabilite." — Causaubon, Antiquitates Ecclesiasticae, Ex- 
 erc. xvi. ad Annates Baronii. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 169 
 
 would be more literally rendered many waters, or small 
 streams ; as if these latter words might have been given as 
 the rendering of the Greek. Thus it is insinuated, that 
 though there were such small springs as M'ould suflice to 
 give drink to a multitude of people, or even to their cat- 
 tle, yet they would never suffice for the purpose of im- 
 mersion. It is true that hydata poUa is plural, and de- 
 notes literall}^ many loaterSy 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 Revelation 
 written by this Evangelist; Rev. i. 15, " his voice as the 
 sound of inany waters.''^ Let this description of the ap- 
 pearance of our Lord be compai'ed 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 inhabi- 
 tants of Heaven is said to have been " as the voice of 
 maiiy waters, and as the voice of a great thunder," or "as 
 the voice of many thunderings." That sound which re- 
 sembles mighty thunderings may resemble the sound of a 
 cataract, or the roaring of the sea, but cannot resemble a 
 tinkling rill. The same term is used respecting the Anti- 
 christian Harlot, Rev. xvii. 1, 15; who sat upon 7nany 
 waters ; which are explained, as the emblem of peoples, 
 a^d multitudes, and nations, and tongues. A representa- 
 tion not taken from such small streams as a stranger could 
 hardly find ; but evidently from the situation of old Ba- 
 bylon. Jer. li. 13. " O thou that dwellest upon many 
 icaters, &c." 
 
 QhQ Hydata polla is evidently a Hebraism, the 
 
 t3''i"i Q'sa word for waters in that language being in 
 j^Y,)-, i-,^, the Dual form, mim, and having no singular, 
 ^ ^ always is connected with a plural adjective ; 
 
 as mim rabim, many waters, mim chaiim, liv- 
 ing waters, tnim adirim, mighty waters, mim 
 dints D'^a cabirim, mighty waters, mim tehurim, clean 
 waters. The corresponding phrase inim rabim occurs often 
 in the Old Testament ; Ezek. xvii. 5, 8 ; and xliii. 2. 
 Psalm xviii. 16. " He drew me out of many waters," or 
 small streams. — Cant. viii. 7. " Many waters cannot quench 
 love," small streams cannot ! — Psalm Ixxvii. 19. " Thy 
 way is in the sea, and thy path in many waters,'''' the great 
 waters. Psalm xciii. 4. " The Lord on high is mightier 
 than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of 
 15 
 
170 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 the sea." — Isa. xxiii. 3. It is said of T3're ; "By many 
 
 waters, great waters, the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the 
 
 river is her revenue. Let our Brethren 
 
 t)''i"i CV2 search if they can find an instance of mim 
 rabim heing used as synonymous with small 
 streams." 
 
 A goodly parade of words ! — " voices — roarings — ^thun- 
 derings — Cataracts — Seas — Sihor — Tigris — Euphrates, — " 
 why did not they add — " Burhampooter — Orinoco — Nia- 
 gara .''" the addition would have been quite as much to 
 the purpose, as the other ingredients of the note. Happy 
 fountain ! Happy ^no7i ! ennobled by such mighty asso- 
 ciations, by such magnificent 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 district 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 phantoms of Baptist in- 
 genuity and fancy .' 
 
 Dr. Ryland has a thousand times enforced the establish- 
 ed maxim in logic — " Concerning that lohich does not exist j 
 and that which cannot he shown to exist by credible testimo- 
 ny, 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, in any part of Judea, as the 
 Enon thus described, and thus illustrated. If a spring so 
 copious were in existence, it 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 wa- 
 ters .'' Which of them ever gathered the most distant hint 
 of a phenomenon so mighty, so acceptable ? They have vis- 
 ited Scythopolis, or Beth-Shen : or if Salim 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 dis- 
 tance of it. The French, at the time of Napoleon's ex- 
 pedition into Syria, had a corps of horse at Beth-Shen ; and 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 171 
 
 roamed the country down the Jordan : particularly explor- 
 ing 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 
 Enon. 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 Geographers, to our most adventurous and observ- 
 ant travellers, to our most inquisitiv^e men — I deny its ex- 
 istence : — according to the character attributed to it by 
 the Baptists. 
 
 Enon, by its name, imports a single spring ; " the foun- 
 fain of ON :" but it flowed in several or many streams. 
 There is no difficulty on the word polla; it clearly signi- 
 fies many. Nor ought there to be, on the adoption of the 
 English word streams : notwithstanding the determined op- 
 position to this very convenient and very innocent mono- 
 syllable. The English word, " stream,^'' is of very exten- 
 sive import : it describes the whole course of the Ganges, 
 at its most extensive overflow ; the much narrower course 
 of the Thames, as distinct from the tide-way , the pro- 
 gress of the sea, running thousands of miles in the open 
 ocean — as the guU-stream ; the current of a rivulet, or the 
 discharge from the spout of a tea-pot. But on the subject 
 under investigation, we want an article that we can re- 
 duce 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 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 xvater is naught," says our translation ; but 
 the words are plural in the Hebrew ; and the Greek ren- 
 dering is plural ; rd fi5«r« novijouj fa hydata ponera ; the 
 streams are evil. Now what saj's matter of fact to this .'' 
 Maundrell shall inform us. " Its waters are at present re- 
 ceived in a basin, about nine or ten paces long, and five 
 or six broad : and thence issuing out in good plenty, di- 
 vide themselves into several small streams, dispersing 
 their refreshment to all the field, between this and Jeri- 
 
172 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 cho, and rendering it exceedingly fruitful. Close by the 
 fountain grows a large tree spreading 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 " icaters,^^ " in 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 ; but 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 " many'''' — respect- 
 ing water issuing from one source, the greater be the 
 number of streams into which it is divided, the more is 
 each diminished. Tu-o are of less magnitude than one : 
 /oh/", than two ; eight, than four, &c. Let the Baptists fix 
 on what nuinber 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 .' Let an accurate geographical description of this spot 
 be adduced. Till then, I infer from what I do know satis- 
 factorily, that it is not safe to describe Enon, the spring 
 of On, by comparison with the Euphrates, the Tigris or 
 
 MIGHTY THUNDERINGS. It is SIXXING BY EXCESS ! 
 
 But after affirming that the words, vSuTa'noX^a, hydata 
 polla, are evidenth' a Hebraism, it is added. — " Let our 
 brethren search if they can find an instance of Mm Raeim 
 being used as synonymous 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 2;oodly are th}' Tents, Jacob ! 
 And thy Tabernacles, Israel ! 
 As the Valleys are they spread out. 
 As Gardens alons: the river side : 
 
MODE OF BAPTISiM. 173 
 
 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. 
 mim rabim. 
 
 The Cedar is a mountain tree, the Cedars of Lebanon 
 are far off 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, sup- 
 posing that the Cedar, a tree famous for its strength, should 
 be so fortunate ; none can believe this of that weakest of 
 all trees, the Vine. Yet, of this clasper by nature and 
 necesssity, 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 — tjiiin 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 ? 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 .'' 
 
 15* 
 
174 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 ANCIENT TESTIMONY. 
 
 In further pursuing the inquiry, our w ay is divided 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 Judea : — and of the ancient Church of 
 Antioch, ot the Syrian Church whence the first Chris- 
 tian Gentile Church extended its branches throughout 
 Syria, Asia ]\'Iinor, Mesopotamia, Parthia, and into India. 
 
 HEBREW CHRISTIANS. 
 
 The Egyptian Church, being of Hebrew origin, retains 
 circumcision ; which it places before baptism ; but it bap- 
 tizes the children presently after circumcision. Simon 
 Hist. East. Churches. This seems to have been the order 
 observed by the Hebrew Christians generally ; circum- 
 cision being bound to time ; but not so Baptism. From 
 the question proposed by Fidus to Cyprian, it may be con- 
 jectured, that many Christians in Africa adhered to this 
 order of the rites. The Deacons carry the children to the 
 altar ; where they are anointed before baptism ; and this 
 unction, they say, makes them " new spiritual men." 
 
 The manner of Bai>tism among the Abyssinians, who 
 also practice circumcision, has already been related in the 
 instance of Mr. Salt's ^Mohammedan Boy. The Abyssi- 
 nians are a branch of the Egyptian, which is a branch of 
 the Hebrew Church. 
 
 THE SYRIAN CHURCH. 
 
 It is not easy to ascertain the genuine practices of the 
 Ancient Christian Churches at Antioch. Wars and revo- 
 lutions have destroyed their authentic documents : but the 
 habits of that Church nmst 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 hif 
 immersion^ and about two years of age ; and the child is 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 175 
 
 anointed after the plunging. They hold that this anoint- 
 ing is the principal part of the ordinance ; the Orientals 
 in general call this unction " the perfection of Baptism." 
 
 " Baptism is administered among the Armenians ; Tour- 
 nefort's Voyage au Levant, vol. iii ; by immersion ; and 
 the officiating Priest pronounces the words, / baptize thee 
 in the Name of the Father, and of the Soil, 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 ignorance. — They baptize only 
 on Sundays, if the child be not in danger 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 following, if 
 there be no Saint for the Day, on which the Baptism 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 off 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 
 purpose they prepare an altar in a boat covered with fine 
 carpets : thither the clergy repair as soon as the sun rises, 
 accompanied by their parents, friends, and neighbours ; 
 for whom they provide boats fitted and adorned in the 
 same manner. Be the season ever so severe, after the 
 ordinary prayers the Priest plunges the child three times 
 into the water, and performs the Unctions." 
 
 The Nestorians or Chaldeans, whose Patriarch takes the 
 name- of Patriarch of Babylon, are a numerous bod}' of 
 Christians ; estimated at three hundred thousand fattiilies. 
 — 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 Maro- 
 nites of Mount Lebanon, as to what regards the Sacrament 
 of Baptism, do not preserve in the baptismal fonts the 
 
176 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 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, three times into this water : or 
 they throw a portion of it over him three times. They 
 pronounce but once the necessary form of words, and they 
 give a name to the person at the same time. They 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 Bap- 
 tism, the other after it ; and this last with certain words, 
 which have the air of conferring the sacrament of Confir- 
 mation. They assured me that they do not use this 
 second Unction, and that 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 god- 
 father, 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 some other 
 cause, till the child be fifty or sixty days old." 
 
 The true reason however why the Maronites defer Bap- 
 tism for fifty days is, because they consider the mother 
 unclean during the time she keeps her bed ; and the child 
 would contract ceremonial uncleanness, by remaining with 
 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 parti- 
 cular inquiry respecting the mode of Baptism in the Syrian 
 Church. I found it was affusiois^. In the administration 
 of this ordinance 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 baptized 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 vSyrians are pa:DOEAPTisTS. Brother Hall, who con- 
 versed with those same Priests when he was at Cochin, 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 177 
 
 understood that children were usually baptized at eight 
 years old.'''' 
 
 Is it too much to conjecture, that those distant countries 
 to which Christianity penetrated, have retained the prac- 
 tices derived from their forefathers, 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 extensive communities and interests. A slight 
 sketch of their history may assist us in forming a judg- 
 ment on the antiquity of their rites. 
 
 " A certain Theophilus 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, instruc- 
 tion, &c., took place. His voyage was by the Red Sea, 
 where he made some converts. Proceeding to the penin- 
 sula 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 century, on their dis- 
 covery 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 Ctesiphon, the representa- 
 tive 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 pro- 
 ceed to India. This does not carry up the date of Chris- 
 tianity 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 Christians 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 
 
178 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 although they deny their testimony in respect of Pcedo- 
 baptism. Surely, if it be authority for one practice, it is 
 authority also for the other. It is impossible to account 
 for the " corruplioii''' 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 Scrip- 
 ture ; 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 " cornqif'' the 
 gospel rite. 
 
 Nothing is easier than to perceive by what process they 
 varied immersion into baptism. They have done no more 
 than take a part for the whole. This form of error is the 
 mildest possible ; whereas if they have substituted the 
 baptism of infants for that of men and women, that is the 
 grosse.st 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 original Churches, and of their best-instructed 
 Fathers. Common Charity is at no loss which side to 
 take on this question ; and Scripture and Charity coin- 
 cide. 
 
 " 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 Seculorum. — At the second Immersion he says. 
 
 Sack a one —:lhe Servant of God, is baptized, in the 
 
 Name of the Son, SfC. At the third. In the Name of 
 the Holy Ghost. The godfather answers every timfe. 
 So be it. The parents do not usually present the child 
 till eight days after its birth. On the day of its Bap- 
 tism, 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- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 179 
 
 baptize the Lal'ins who embrace their Communion." — 
 Tournefort's Voyage, Vol. 1. 
 
 " The Muscovites have a custom if there are many- 
 children to be baptized, that the Font is emptied for each 
 child^ and other water is consecrated ; it being their per- 
 suasion, that the former being soiled with the impurity of 
 that chikPs 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 
 always been chosen for immersion. Even the Heathen 
 preferred streams, as the Hindoos at this day prefer the 
 Ganges. Hence the disciples of John say, he baptized 
 in '■'■living water ;^'' — the Jordan. Hence he baptized at 
 Enon, because there were many streams there ; and 
 hence the Jewish priests were so scrupulous, that accord- 
 ing 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 instance of these 
 Christians, a remain of that " putting away of the filth 
 of the flesh,'''' of that " washing of the bodies of believers 
 in pure water," which was certainlj' practised in the Apos- 
 tles' 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 cir- 
 cumcision. 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 sacramental words are pronounced once, 
 or three times — but in all those varying ceremonies the 
 essential intent of the rite is preserved ; because the sub- 
 ject of the ordinance is consecrated to the Trinity ! 
 
180 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 XXXVI. " Buried with Christ in Baptism." — ^Not- 
 withstanding 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 — ^5'et the overpowering- 
 authority of that which describes believers as '■'■Buned 
 loith Christ in Baptism,''^ is urged ; and disregarding the 
 order of the Apostle's words, and consequently the true 
 bearing of his argument, planting is placed before baptism : 
 a demonstrative proof that the meaning of the passage is 
 not accurately understood. It is said of persons approach- 
 ing the baptismal water — " They are about to be planted 
 together in the likeness of his death, being buried 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 Ro- 
 mans, from which these words are taken, we find that in 
 order to impress on Christian converts, the duty and im- 
 portance of a holy life, after their solemn profession made, 
 or in the expressive language of the Apostle Peter to con- 
 vince them that not the putting away of the filth of the 
 flesh., but the stipulation of a good conscience towards God 
 is salutary — Paul uses three similitudes to denote more 
 effectuall}' the same thing : what is rendered bunal : plant- 
 ing : and crucifixion ; which all acknowledge to be une- 
 quivocal death. Now these comparisons evidently in- 
 crease 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 before 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 propriety, alone sufficient to convince us 
 that such disorder cannot be right. Burial after death all 
 the world allows ; but death after burial is unnatural 
 and unscriptural. 
 
 Let us examine the import of these words, and endeav- 
 our to understand them by obtaining some fixed idea on 
 which to reason. In our English language, burial implies 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 181 
 
 DEFINITIVE INTERMENT. So We 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 
 corruption, and was buried; but the son of David saw no 
 corruption, and was not buried., Acts ii. eraqo;?, etaphe, 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. 
 evxatpiaafiov, stg xov evTarpiaofiov ; "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, evTacpiaa/uu^ "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 suf- 
 ferings were at that time future. Nevertheless he calls 
 it the day of his sepulchral rites. 
 
 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 
 Ananias and carried him out, sduipuv^ ethapsan, and buried 
 him." They did the same. Verse 10; edaipuv, ethapsan, 
 to his wife Sapphira : " They buried her by her husband." 
 The term burial used in these cases, in the sense of defi- 
 nitive interment cannot be accepted. 
 
 What ! burij a man, definitively inter him, his nearest and 
 dearest relations not knowing of his death 1 even his wife 
 remaining in perfect ignorance of his disease ! — Bury a 
 woman, too, by men ! Contrary to decency ! Contrary to 
 the custom of the country ! Contrary to the laws ! Con- 
 trary 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 
 16 
 
182 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 bmied, 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 whole funeral apparatus of a dead body. 
 To PREPARE a corpse for burial, as by washing, anoint- 
 ing, swathing, &c. Matt. 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 Arimathea, and Nicodemus. 
 
 The Jewish ceremonies previous to definitive interment 
 were always reckoned strict and essential parts of their 
 religion. The Jews have institutions to enforce them. 
 They cannot be omitted. Those who attempt it incur 
 the greater -excommunication. In our present inquiry, 
 we need only consider two — washing and anointing. If 
 we examine how far these preparatory services were ap- 
 plied to the dead body of Christ, we shall find that in the 
 nature of things, and according to Scripture, he could not 
 have been buried, definitively interred. He himself had 
 hinted, while living, that although anointing was a cus- 
 tomary funeral 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, and oint- 
 ments, and came in the morning early, that they might 
 anoint him ; but his resurrection disappointed their pur- 
 pose, Luke xxiii. 56 ; Mark xv. 47. 
 
 If this second step in the preparation for definitive inter- 
 ment^ ANOINTING, had not passed on our Lord, how could 
 he be definitively interred'^ If he were definitively interred, 
 how could the women expect to obtain his body, that they 
 might anoint it .'' Who would disinter a body — to con- 
 tinue the preparatory services proper before it was com- 
 mitted to the grave ! What a contradiction in terms ! 
 That our Lord's body was washed, is evident ; for the 
 Apostle John saj's, 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. 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 183 
 
 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 ivashing at 
 death that the Jews compared the ritual ivashing bestowed 
 on their converts ; that ivashing indicating ceremonial death 
 in the party ; because such ivashing 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 incomplete ; for the 
 women who designed to anoint him, also " brought s/)i- 
 ces." If then this preparation for intended embalment 
 was so strongly pressed for time, and therefore so slightly 
 executed ; if the second preparation for interment, anoint- 
 ing, 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 delu- 
 sive use of the term " buried'''' in our version, as import- 
 ing the grave in which his body lay ! Was he truly and 
 without equivocation definitively interred .'' 
 
 Let 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 Christy 
 was baptized into the profession of his death, by that ivash- 
 ing at baptism which " put away the filth of the tiesh ; " 
 — by that ivashing, 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 wa.s 
 conformed to what had passed on Christ's body. He was 
 not definitively interred, for Christ was not dejinitivehj 
 interred ; but he iinderwent the ritual preparation for defi- 
 nitive interment, as Christ underwent the mortuary prepa- 
 ration for definitive interment. The resemblance is exact 
 and striking. It gives also the true import of this compa- 
 rison — baptized into a conformity to that preparation for 
 definitive interment which had passed on Christ ; washed 
 from former sins and pollutions ; as Christ was washed from 
 
184 MODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 natural defilements, and from tlie effects of his sufferings. 
 For what 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 baptism, that 
 which represented rising again, as Christ rose again, to 
 the glory of God the leather. 
 
 2. Although the Apostle does not describe the baptism 
 of converts as possessing any resemblance to the death of 
 Christ ; yet he does describe what is rendered planting, 
 as possessing such resemblance, to express which he em- 
 ploys a significant and specific term, ouoiomaTt, omoiomati. 
 
 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 sown ; and the 
 Apostle speaks expressly and repeatedly of the bod}^ as 
 sown in the earth by definitive interment, when his subject 
 related to a body so deposited ; then he employs a distinct 
 and proper word, 1 Cor. xv. 43, artsioeiui, speiretai, to sig- 
 nify definitive interment, or sowing. 
 
 The proper sense of the term here used, v.e learn from 
 the Apostle James, in whose Epistle, Chap. 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 influence from another 
 root, depends on another stem for vitality and progress ; 
 and is wholly supported by its new connection. Is not 
 this the exact " similitude''^ of Christ's personal state in 
 heaven .'' No longer connected with this world by bodilj' 
 ties ; — no longer partaking of earthly food, or drinking of 
 the fruit of the vine ; — no longer subject to bodily incon- 
 veniences — to suffering, to insult and to death : — He being 
 raised, dieth no more. His resurrection is to glory — and 
 he draws all his honours from the blissful state and world : 
 he is TRANSPLANTED fi-om earth to heaven. In like man- 
 ner converts, heathen converts especially, at their profes- 
 sion 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 relin- 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM. 185 
 
 quished. 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 oisr 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, 
 preparatory to interment : — in order that as in transplan- 
 tation we broke off all connection with our former state — 
 so in this crucifixion, " 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 transplant atio7i we should con- 
 form to the holiness and resurrection of Chi'ist ; that after 
 crucifixion., we should " yield ourselves unto God, as those 
 who are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments 
 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 is marked by the point of simili- 
 tude ; the first is the weakest, and preparatory to the others. 
 They must stand prepared for interment, transplanted, cru- 
 cified. 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 longer therein .'' Know ye not that whosoever of us 
 are baptized, ets, eis, to a profession of Jesus Christ, are 
 baptized, e^s, eis, to a jyrofession of his death ? We are 
 therefore prepared for interment, <J(Cf, dia., for the pur- 
 pose of Baptism, e'S, eis, to a profession of his death, ira^ 
 ina, in order that in like manner as Christ was raised from 
 the dead, (Jia, dia, for the purpose of the glory of the 
 Father, so also to the glory of the Father we should walk 
 16* 
 
186 irODE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 m newness of life. So surely as we have been transplanted 
 together bysimilifude of his death, moreover, much more, 
 by that of his resurrection, we shall be. Knowing this, 
 therefore 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 cruci- 
 fixion, and that the resurrection after baptism are intended 
 for this life. The inference is undeniable, that the resur- 
 rection after planting must also be intended for this life. 
 See how easily by foolishly realizing a metaphorical ex- 
 pression into a literal proposition, Hymeneus and Philetus 
 might err concerning the faith, 2 Tim. ii. IS, saying that 
 " the resurrection is past already," in baptism ! 
 
 The Latin term immersion, to an English reader, is not 
 a translation of the Greek term baptize; — which Greek 
 term suffers 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 Xebuchad 
 nezzar descended — 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 — that 
 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 — that Scripture 
 enables us to distinguish between the two actions of 
 immersion and baptism — that the churches who best under- 
 stood the language of the New Testament, it being their 
 mother tongue, observed and perpetuated the distinction 
 between immersion and baptism — that the distinction be- 
 tween immersion and baptism obtains at this day, and is 
 still practised ; that this ritual washing, or cleansing, re- 
 sembling 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 profes- 
 sional holiness, a resurrection, a newness of life ; therefore, 
 
 WHOEVER ADOPTS IMMERSION WITHOUT ADDING POL'R- 
 ING, MAY CERTAINLY CLAIM ALL THE CREDIT DUE TO 
 THE REVIVAL OF AX ANCIENT JeWISH CEREMONY, SIGNI- 
 FYING DEATH ;— BL T CHRISTIAN BAPTISM signi- 
 fying LIFE, THEY DO NOT PRACTICE. 
 
CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 
 
 AS ADMINISTERED 
 
 BY THE 
 
 APOSTLES AND EVANGELISTS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS. 
 
 Of the hundred testimonies quoted from critics by 
 Mr. Booth, on the subject of Baptism, in his " Pcedobap- 
 tism Examined," ninety-nine are repetitions or copies 
 reducible to the effect and power of one or two original 
 witnesses. He thus quotes Deylingius, who sa5's : " 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 dai/y 
 aftb:r having performed the trine immersion." Do 
 the Greeks, at this day, add a kind of pouring, after 
 immersion ? — then they do not consider immersion as the 
 whole of Baptism but only as preparatory to it ; exactly 
 as their disciples in Abyssinia perform the ordinance, and 
 ^^ perhaps'''' this they received from the Apostles' days. 
 But since Baptism has certainly undergone many varia- 
 tions, what confidence is due to the Greeks of this day.' 
 How far may this '■^perhaps'" be converted into certainty r 
 — always supposing that the higher we can trace the evi- 
 dence, the nearer to the first century, the more effectually 
 it justifies our reliance. To which we add, that inde- 
 pendent witnesses, if possible to be obtained, are worthy 
 of more than double honour ; their united testimony is 
 
188 EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 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 
 ExpUquee^ that we learn a thousand particulars from 
 ancient representations, sculptures, &c., concerning points 
 of classic inquiry, vi^hich are not mentioned by any of the 
 old writers. Robinson, in his History of Baptism, intro- 
 duced those ancient representations of that Christian ordi- 
 nance, which he conceived might illustrate the subject. 
 For these speak the 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 ; 
 being thirteen illustrations of the circumstances anciently 
 connected with the mode of baptism. 
 
189 
 
 I. BAPTISM OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 This subject is an ornament on the door of the 
 great Church at Pisa. From the shape of the cha- 
 racters it must be of very ancient workmanship. The 
 motto upon it is Baptizat. It was obviously made 
 for some Christian establishment. According- to the 
 tradition current among- the Pisans, it was brought 
 from Jerusalem by the Crusaders, about the com- 
 mencement of the twelfth century. 
 
191 
 
 II. BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN JORDAN. 
 
 H Baht 
 
 X^ ICHC 
 
 This picture is taken from the Church on the Via 
 Ostiensis, at Rome. The outside is a plate of brass 
 covering a substance of wood. The figures are partly 
 in relief, partly engraved. Some of the hollows are 
 inlaid with silver. The inscriptions are in Greek, 
 with the motto — BAnTlCIIC. 
 
 The door which it covers is dated 1070 ; but the 
 plate is much older than the door ; and from the 
 letters, it is manifestly of Greek origin and very 
 ancient workmanship. 
 
193 
 
 III. JESUS BAPTIZED IN THE RIVER JORDAN. 
 
 This picture is copied from the door of the Church 
 at Beneveiitum, ^^'hich was one of the first cities in 
 Italy where the Gospel was introduced. The ordi- 
 nance of Baptism is represented as conjoining both 
 Immersion and Aspersion. It is rudely executed, 
 and extremely ancient. 
 
 17 
 
195 
 
 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 right hand a shell from 
 which he pours water on the head of Christ who is 
 standing in the water. Over the Lord is a crown of 
 glory, and the figure of a dove, symbolizing 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 
 mythological figure, which according to the custom 
 0^ the ancients represented that river. 
 
1P7 
 
 V. CHRIST BAPTIZED IN JORDAN. 
 
 This is a representation in Mosaic of the Baptism 
 of Christ in Jordan, preserved in the Church, in Cos- 
 medin, at Ravenna, which was erected, A. D. 401. 
 
 In the centre is Christ onr Saviour in the river 
 Jordan. On a rock stands John tlie Baptist, in his 
 left hand is a bent rod, and his right hand holds a 
 patera, shell ; from which he pours water on the 
 head of the Redeemer; over whom descends the 
 dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost, with expanded 
 wings, and emitting rays of glory and grace. 
 
 17* 
 
199 
 
 VI. ANCIENT BATH. 
 
 To remove all doubts whether Baptism could be 
 administered in the house by means of baths ; this 
 plate contains one example of those articles, which 
 might be removed from one room into another ; and 
 in such a bath the'AoM^e'of Cornelius might have 
 been baptized. The Philippian jailor having used 
 probably such a portable bath to wash the lacerated 
 bodies of Paul and Silas, " straightway" used the 
 very same for the purpose of receiving Baptism.* 
 
 • The bath represented above is still extant in the celebrated Baptis- 
 tery of Constantine at Rome near the Lateran. It was used for Baptism 
 from the earliest times. 
 
^Oi 
 
 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 mihtary habit pouring water on them from 
 a vase. In the original, attendants are around them, 
 witnessing the administration of the ordinance. This 
 sculpture combines both this delineation and also 
 that of engraving VIII. ; and is found at Chigi, near 
 Naples. From the dresses, they are Longobardi, 
 who received Christianity through the influence of 
 Theolinda, A. D, 591. It is the Baptism of Argil ulfus 
 the king, and Theolinda the queen of the Longobardi, 
 who occupied Beneventum in the sixth century. 
 
203 
 
 VIII. ADMINISTRATION OF BAPTISM. 
 
 This depicts, 1. The candidate kneeling down and 
 praying' near the bath of water ; and a hand issues 
 from a cloud above him, to denote the acquiescence 
 of heaven in his petitions. 2. Baptism is adminis- 
 tered 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 ; or those persons 
 had previously been immersed, and afterwards re- 
 ceived Baptism, as a distinct, subsequent, and sepa- 
 rate act. Either of these facts, and one of them 
 must be the truth, cuts up the Baptist system by the 
 roots. 
 
S05 
 
 IX. BAPTISM OUTSIDE OF A CHURCH. 
 
 The boy is unclothed, and the ordinance is ad- 
 ministered by pouring. This representation shows, 
 that the present Abyssinian mode of Baptism an- 
 ciently was extant among the Greeks, as well as 
 among the Romans. This plate is at Rome, yet it 
 was the work of Greek artists, in the ninth or tenth 
 century. 
 
 18 
 
207 
 
 X. LAURENTIUS BAPTIZING EOMANUS. 
 
 This representation is in the Church of Lawrence, 
 extra muros, at Rome. The jugs or vases are re- 
 markable ; 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 inconve- 
 nient 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 Mar- 
 tyr-preacher, is depicted as formally administering 
 Baptism in a regular Baptistery by pouring ! 
 
209 
 
 XI. BAPTISM OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE. 
 
 This is a representation of the Baptism of Con- 
 stantine the Great. The Emperor receiving Baptism 
 is immersed in the bath, metaphorically called the 
 " laver of reg-eneration ;" and Eusebius adds the 
 proper rite of Baptism, by pouring water on the 
 Monarch's head. 
 
 18* 
 
211 
 
 XII. JESUS CHRIST BAPTIZED IN THE JORDAN. 
 BY JOHN BAPTIST. 
 
 This picture is in the small cliapel of the Cata- 
 comb of Pontianus, called the "Chapel of the Bap- 
 tistery." Beneath the portraits is painted one of 
 those crosses, ornamented Avith precious stones, call- 
 ed GemmatcB ; to the arms of which are hung the 
 S3anbolical characters of Christ, -^ and Jl. — Arringhi, 
 Roma Solterranea, Tome 1. 
 
 The Lamb is introduced in allusion to " the Lamb 
 of God;" and the single angel in this representation 
 proves that it is a work of the most remote antiquity. 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 We have thus adduced twelve ancient examples of Bap- 
 tism, all administered by pouring. The number might 
 easily be made up to fif 1 1/ ; while on the contrary not one 
 instance of plunging can be adduced. The numerous 
 instances of Baptism by pouring plainly show, that the 
 action and attitude of the administrator of the ordinance 
 and of the person submitting to the rite were constantly 
 the same. Whence as the uniformity amounts to iden- 
 tity, we learn that they are implicit and unvarying repe- 
 titions of one original appointment. On these representa- 
 tions of ancient Baptism in the engravings, the antiquary 
 Ciampini reasons to the following- effect. In these pic- 
 tures we see Christ immersed in water, and John also 
 POURING WATER ou 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 anciently per- 
 formed 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 icho administers Baptism ; — who is a layman, not an 
 ecclesiastic. II. Baptism is administered by immersion, 
 and by aspersion. He concludes, after considerable argu- 
 ment, as to the first difficulty, that all the canonists agree 
 that in cases of necessity, laymen viaij administer Baptism. 
 
 He proceeds to draw the following inferences on the 
 .second point. — " It is beyond all doubt, that the first faith- 
 ful 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, bap- 
 
214 BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 tisni was conferred by immersion : if they were iu a place 
 where streams, fountains, or other lesser waters were 
 found, water was poured on the head." 
 
 Some writers think that submersion was sometimes 
 practised in Baptism. The ivord first occurs in a letter of 
 Alkwin to .^dwin ; 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 : " Bap- 
 tismus ilaque primiiiva in ecclesia, ut nitper exposuiinus, ubi- 
 cunque se offerpbat occasio, cehbratur ; nam in fl,iiminibus ; 
 infontibus; in Mari, Domi, ctliisque in locis hoc primum ad 
 salutis januam ministrahatur sacr amentum.'''' From the 
 expressions used by this antiquary, it appears that he had 
 not arrived at any determinate opinions on the subject of 
 Baptism, as represented by these exhibitions. - He per- 
 ceived their testimony and acknowledged their compe- 
 tence ; but he draws his inferences with 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 con- 
 fined. The descent of the Iloli/ Ghost tons not till after our 
 Lord had come up out of Jordan : yet in all these subjects 
 it is represented as descending 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 represent this action as distinct 
 from the other, without employing two pictures or two 
 sculptors. 
 
 There 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 
 preposition or particle. We have only to open our eyes, 
 and declare whether or not his figure be partly immersed 
 IN the ivater. It is a question not of grammar, but of 
 appeal to the senses. This is immersion. 
 
 Although Jesus is in the ivaler, 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 consistent with Holy Scripture, which 
 never *ives the least hint of John's being in the Jordan. 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 215 
 
 It follows demonstratively, that John, standing on the 
 bank and higher than Jesus, could not possibly plunge 
 him. Unless he 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 eccle- 
 siastical representations, that he did not exert that power. 
 He employed an action entirely different, and even incon- 
 sistent with it : for after the immersion of the party, he 
 administered baptism^ by pouring water on the head of 
 the subject baptized. This is the action of all the in- 
 stances : 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. 
 The Greek letters prove that they are Greek representa- 
 tions ; and their conservation and dedication as spoils of 
 war, mark their origin in a country far distant from Italy ; 
 where their evidence on the subject of Baptism was not 
 anticipated. Arians and Orthodox, who agreed in nothing 
 else, all attest to this representation. 
 
 Those Greek and Latin workmerr, with the Greek and 
 Latin ecclesiastics under whose direction they wrought, 
 together with their churches, either believed that John's 
 baptism was administered by pouring, or they were guilty 
 of a conspiracy 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 workmen lived in distant countries : they lived in 
 distant ages : how then could theif combine .' Who does 
 not see in these distinct evidences the universal convic- 
 tion of the truth of the action, as here represented? — A 
 more forcible appeal cannot be made to the heart and judg- 
 ment, 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 " His- 
 
216 BAPTISMAL CEKEMOMES. 
 
 tory of Baptism," and have restricted my examples to that 
 collection. He notices the preceding representations ; but 
 he did not dare to bring their figurative evidence together ; 
 because their united testimony would completely have 
 overturned the Baptist hypothesis. 
 
 Let us review this part of the evidence, and show its 
 proper application. 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 fur- 
 ther, 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. The Greeks under- 
 stood their own language. They were capable judges ; 
 and how came they to establish this distinction .' — 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 historj" recorded 
 in the Acts .- I rest my interpretation on the obvious con- 
 struction of Luke's words ; but I support it, by the con- 
 sent of all the churches, in the early centuries of Chris- 
 tianity, from whom it descended to their successors and 
 their disciples, and by whom it is maintained at the pre- 
 sent day. 
 
 Of what avail, then, is ^Ir. Booth's would-be dilemma — 
 " Is there any text that requires pouring in opposition to 
 immersion. Has any passage of Sacred Writ been found 
 that enjoins pouring water on the face, head, in contradis- 
 tinction to pliinr/iug the whole body .'....But if immersion 
 be not required, 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 im- 
 mersion preceded baptism, according to the evidences now 
 produced, this miijlits argument is reduced to silence. 
 
 From the small size of m^si of the subjects, I find it-im- 
 
BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 217 
 
 possible to distinguish correctly that vehicle out of which 
 John POURS umter. Ciampini calls it a patera; I have 
 thought it a shell ; but it may be a bowl. Certainly it 
 must come under the general meaning of the Greek word, 
 fiergot'^ metron ; rendered 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 i-ieiQs ; out of a measure unto him ;" as 
 water is given at baptism, by his forerunner, to those upon 
 whom it is poured. This is fixed to the subject of bap- 
 tism., by the occasion of the story ; which was a question 
 or debate between the disciples of John and certain Jews 
 about ritual purification. — That contention could relate 
 only to the addition made by John to the xadaQla/novg^ 
 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 of 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 reall}'' given out of a measure, to 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 represen- 
 tations. 
 
 Unable to deny the authority, or the authenticity of 
 these representations, it is objected that they are not of 
 the first, but of the third, or fourth, or fifth century. 
 But this gives additional strength to their evidence .'' For 
 in the third, or fourth, and still more in the fifth century, 
 the administration of Baptism had departed greatly from 
 its original simplicity. Metaphorical allusions had been 
 multiplied — some Scriptural, and others totally unwar- 
 ranted. 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 — on the second^ 
 to renounce the flesh, and on the third, to renounce the 
 19 
 
218 BAPTISMAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 devil. — Then in returning ; he was supposed to ascend the 
 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 '■'■ unscripturals'''' also were 
 practised. In the subjects of the preceding representation 
 we see nothing of all this ; nor of any thing, the cross 
 excepted in one of them, but the simple rite : for as to the 
 angels " attending on the Son of Man," they are supposed 
 to be invisible ; and as to the different forms of the glory 
 and the dove, they are subsequent k) the act of Baptism. 
 What could induce those Gri-eek and Latin artists from the 
 remotest antiquity 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 " eerily and indeed''^ that to ivhich their Lord and 
 Muster had submitted? The Baptists can neither evade 
 the force of this truth, nor can they answer this argument I 
 
ANCIENT BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 As the practice of immersion ceased, converts from hea- 
 thenism gradually increasing, the conveniencies of Baptis- 
 teries were changed ; so that now few traces of their 
 original accommodations can be discovered. Neverthe- 
 less, we occasionally 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 trans- 
 late by the modern term vestry : and then the passage 
 reads thus — " He made the baptistery of the greater font j 
 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 — 
 
 HIC EST LONGINIANUS QUI FON 
 
 TES BAPTISMATIS CONSTRUXIT 
 SANCTI PAP.E DAMASI VERSIBUS 
 NOBILITATOS. 
 
 A. D. 394. Flavius Macrobius Longinianus fuit prae- 
 fectus Urbi. 
 
 " This is Longinianus who constructed the Baptismal 
 Fonts." Why are 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 praefect, the 
 chief magistrate of the city of Rome. 
 
220 CONSTRUCTION OF ANCIENT BAPTISTERIES. 
 
 But some person may retort as an objection ; " Since 
 those smaller fonts were so useful, it may be regretted 
 that none of them have been preserved as evidences of the 
 ancient practice." One however still exists in the Cathe- 
 dral at Syracuse, where it is regarded as of most venera- 
 ble antiquity ; and in my judgment, 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 primi- 
 tive Bishop Marcian. It is of marble ; small, and has two 
 handles ; therefore was poftable ; but it has a broad foot, 
 on which to stand steady ; and is about iioelve inches deep. 
 This inscription is on the font — " The dedicated present of 
 Zosimiis, loho devotes to God this Holy Cistern for the pur- 
 pose of Sacred Baptism.'''' — The term KPATHPA, kra- 
 tera, 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 exist- 
 ence of smaller fonts, at the same time with the larger at 
 the beginning of the fourth century. 
 
 ANAQHMA lEPOY BAnTI2MArog 
 Z02IM0r SEP-JP-POuviog 
 TON KPATHPA uyiON 
 
 DONARIUM SaCRI BaPTISMATIS 
 
 ZosiMi Deo Donum 
 
 Hoc Vas, sive., Hung Craterem. 
 
 Sicilise Inscript. Class 17. No. 1. — Gualtheri Monum 
 Sicul. — Jac. Phil. Tomasinus de Donariis, Cap. 43. — 
 Paciaudi de Sac. Christian. Balneis, Cap. xvi. 
 
 The only reason assigned by Antiquaries why this font 
 cannot be more ancient than the fourth century is this ; 
 because no instances of Christian inscriptions importing 
 gifts to the church are known before that period ; but the 
 correctness of this inference may be doubted, for the Hea- 
 then much earlier inscribed their gifts to their temples. 
 
222 
 
 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 IxTERNAL view of the Chapel of the Baptistery 
 in the Catacomb of Pontianus, out of the gate Por- 
 te se 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 bv 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 sim- 
 ple, and perhaps, the most ancient of those 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 
 running water which served to administer Baptism in the 
 earliest 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 sub- 
 ject 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 ia 
 which the converts from heathenism renounced their idols. 
 The bason cut in the rock in which the converts stood, j^et 
 exists, while the sacred name and rite consecrated their 
 transition to a renewed life. How awful is this subterra- 
 nean retreat ! This was the depository of all that could 
 die of holy martyrs, who held fast their profession even in 
 death. The Christian symbol still marks where the suf- 
 ferers rest in peace. An inscription thus imports — **** 
 *' Who received the crown of murtyrdora :" the dust barely 
 retains the form of a skeleton ; time having almost oblite- 
 lated its last remains. — ****" Who was decapitated ;''^ the 
 skull separated from the bones of the trunk, with the 
 
224 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 guilty instrument by the side of it, tells the Avhole history. 
 — The phial tinged with blood, half way up to another 
 sepulchral monument, speaks louder than a thousand 
 voices, that the Christian whom it was designed to com- 
 memorate sealed the truth of the Gospel by his death. 
 
 By examining the engraved illustrations of this descrip- 
 tion, 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 exceed six feel 
 square were carried up to the ceiling ; which formed a 
 narrow, cell-like, but complete room. 
 
 But when it was formed into a burial-place, the rocfe 
 was cut away from the upper part and a portion of the 
 sides, leaving the remaining part of the faces of the Bap- 
 tistery projecting about eighteen inches. Those sepul- 
 chres were formed at the time of the 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 subter 
 ranean privacy. The next violent persecution at Rome 
 was during the reigii of Trajan, A. D. 107 ; and the Chris 
 tians then must have found the continual necessity of the 
 most absolute secrecy on mimerous occasions ; for theii 
 " 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 Avill ex- 
 amine the plan, he will observe a small recess of about 
 two feet in depth and width, just sufficient to hold one per- 
 son onhj : — and there undoubtedly stood the person who 
 administered the ordinance. It could serve for no other 
 use : and evidently was cut for that purpose. It follows, 
 that Baptism was not there administered by phimjimj ; 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 witne.ssing that the administrator' did not enter 
 the water : and so far the conclusion is established on the 
 rock itself. 
 
CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 225 
 
 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 pez-secution raged ; and again in the year 257, in 
 which many cliurches built by Christians were destroyed. 
 The 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. — Buonarotti 
 says, " There is a picture and a like history included in 
 the Baptism of Jesus Christ, in an ancient Baptistery in 
 the cemeteiy of Pontianus out of the Porta Portese at 
 Rome." It was discovered in 1687. — The Painter of this 
 baptism certainly 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 answers every cavil. The inferiority 
 of his talents prevented M. d'Agincourt, from strictly esti- 
 mating 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 Baptistery into a 
 Catacomb. I have chosen this picture of Ancient Baptism, 
 because as an example it speaks for itself, beyond contro- 
 versy ; because it agrees with all other ancient representa- 
 tions known ; because the action of the Baptist is clearly 
 that of pouring : and because it is much older than amj 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 monu- 
 ments 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 enlarge- 
 ment for a Catacomb. 
 
 The man who can contemplate this venerable scene, 
 these holy remains, without feeling an awe stealing over 
 
336 CHAPEL OF THE BAPTISTERY. 
 
 his spirit — who can realize to himself the horrors of per- 
 secution raging in the world above — the ardour of a con- 
 vert descending with solemn alacrity to acknowledge a 
 profession of the name of Jesus, unmoved by the sur- 
 rounding graves of parents — acquaintance — countrymen — 
 perhaps deriving fresh vigour from the recollection of their 
 fortitude and felicity, under excruciating torments — deter- 
 mined through the grace of God to 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 unaffi^cted, has little of the feelings of Christianity. 
 He may be more orthodox than the ill-informed who 
 uncovers his head, and exclaims, Sancte, ora pro nobis I — 
 but he knows nothing of Christian sympathy ; and nothing 
 of the communion of saints I 
 
 Yet in this very seclusion, where the light of day never 
 entered, where fallacious ornaments were useless and 
 criminal, where the congregation was composed of a far 
 greater number of dead than of living, and where God 
 the Supreme, and the exalted Saviour were all the objects 
 that could be 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 hii^^self 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 Crcx Gemmata, the cross in glory ; 
 which with the A and fl, 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! 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Paob 
 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. 
 — OiKos. — OiKia. — House. — Household. — Infants. — Lydia. — Corne- 
 lius, — Onesiphorus. — Philippian Jailor. — Stephanas. — Infant Bap- 
 tism. — Church Membership of Children. 
 
 Mode of Baptism, ..... 114 
 
 Importance of Truth. — Perversion of Terms. — BaTrrcj. — E/^/Janrcj. — 
 BaiTTtaixoi. — 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 Affusion. 
 — Sprinkling. — Washing. — "Doctrine of Baptism." — 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. — YSara ttoAXo. 
 — 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. 
 
 Christian Baptism, illustrations of, . . 187 
 
 Baptismal Ceremonies, . . . 213 
 
 Chapel of the Baptistery, ... 223 
 
TEXTS OF SCEIPTUHE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Genesis vii, . 
 
 
 44 
 
 Numbers xviii: 31, 
 
 91 
 
 
 vii: 1, 
 
 3-^ 
 
 , 91 
 
 xix: 11,22, 139, 
 
 159 
 
 
 ix: 21, 
 
 
 34 
 
 " xix: 17, . 
 
 138 
 
 
 XV : 17, , 
 
 
 75 
 
 " xix: 18, 
 
 128 
 
 
 xvi: 2, 
 
 
 44 
 
 «' xix: 19, . 
 
 139 
 
 
 xvii: 10, 25, . 
 
 
 75 
 
 " xxiv: 5, 7, . 
 
 172 
 
 
 xviii: 19, . 
 
 45,91 
 
 
 
 
 XXIV : 67, 
 
 
 34 
 
 Deuteronomy v: 30, 
 
 34 
 
 
 xxviii: 18, 
 
 
 19 
 
 " xii: 7, 
 
 91 
 
 
 XXX : 1, 2, 
 
 
 43 
 
 " xiv: 26, . 
 
 91 
 
 
 XXX : 3, 
 
 
 44 
 
 " XV : 20 
 
 91 
 
 
 xxxiv: 30, 
 
 
 91 
 
 " XXV : 9, . 44,91 
 
 
 xxxiv: 5, . 
 
 
 94 
 
 " xxvi: 11, 
 
 44 
 
 
 xl. . 
 
 
 44 
 
 xxix: 10, 11 
 
 , 79 
 
 
 xli: 40, 
 xlvi: 5, . 
 
 
 94 
 92 
 
 , " xxxiii: 24, 
 
 128 
 
 
 xlvi: 6,26,27, 
 
 
 92 
 
 Joshua iii : 15, 
 
 ]28 
 
 
 xlvi: 26, 
 
 
 91 
 
 iii: 15, 17, 
 
 121 
 
 
 xlvi: 27, 31, 
 
 
 44 
 
 v: 2, 7, . 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 « viii: 3,4, 
 
 79 
 
 Exodus i: 1, . 
 
 
 92 
 
 " ix: 23, 
 
 76 
 
 « 
 
 i: 21, 
 
 39,43 
 
 
 
 «' 
 
 xii: 22, 
 
 
 12S 
 
 Ruth ii: 14, 
 
 128 
 
 <c 
 
 xii: 48, . 
 
 
 86 
 
 « iv: 12, . 
 
 45 
 
 « 
 
 xiv. 
 
 
 123 
 
 
 
 «« 
 
 xiv: 19, . 
 
 
 138 
 
 1 Samuel i: 28, . 
 
 100 
 
 «« 
 
 xiv: 21, 29, 
 
 
 121 
 
 ii: 3, . 
 
 45 
 
 «' 
 
 xv: 8, 
 
 
 138 
 
 ii: 11, 
 
 100 
 
 « 
 
 xxix. . 
 
 
 19 
 
 " ii: 33, . 
 
 91 
 
 <c 
 
 xxxiv: 16, 
 
 
 16 
 
 x: 1, . 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 
 
 " xiv: 1, . 
 
 19 
 
 Leviticus iv: 6, 
 
 
 128 
 
 « xiv: 27, 
 
 128 
 
 " 
 
 iv: 17, 
 
 
 128 
 
 
 
 « 
 
 ix: 9, 
 
 
 128 
 
 2 Samuel vii: 11, 16, . 
 
 45 
 
 «< 
 
 xi: 32, 
 
 
 128 
 
 vii: 11,29, 
 
 43 
 
 ce 
 
 xiv: 6, . 3 
 
 22 
 
 ]28 
 
 vii: 16,18,25,29 
 
 , 92 
 
 " 
 
 xiv: 6, 16, 51, 
 
 
 128 
 
 vii: 27. 
 
 43 
 
 <c 
 
 xvi: 14, 15, 
 
 . 
 
 141 
 
 xii: 8, . 
 
 94 
 
 
 
 
 
 " xii: U, 
 
 44 
 
 Numbers ix : 15, 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 cc 
 
 xvi: 27, 32, 
 
 
 44 
 
 1 Kings vii: 1, 6, 8, 9, . 
 
 34 
 
 (C 
 
 xviii: 11, . 
 20 
 
 
 44 
 
 « xi: 38, . 
 
 43 
 
230 
 
 TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 1 KnvGs xiii: 2, 
 
 
 Page 
 92 
 
 Jeremiah iii: 14, . 
 
 Page 
 54 
 
 " xiii: 8, . 
 
 
 94 
 
 xvi: 14, 
 
 34 
 
 xvii: 8, 16 
 
 
 44 
 
 " XXXV : 4, 
 
 34 
 
 " xviii: 32, 35, . 
 
 138 
 
 " xxxvi : 10,12,20,21 34 
 
 2 Kings ii: 19, 
 
 
 . 171 
 
 EzEKiEL iv: 6, 
 
 96 
 
 iii: 11, . 
 
 . 
 
 121 
 
 " xvii: 5, 8 
 
 169 
 
 v: 14, 
 
 
 . 122 
 
 " xix: 10, . 
 
 173 
 
 " viii: 15, . 
 
 
 128 
 
 " xxiii: 15, 
 
 134 
 
 " x: 1, 5, 
 
 
 91 
 
 " xxxii: 14, 
 
 34 
 
 " xi: 17, . 
 
 
 81 
 
 " xliii: 2, 
 
 169 
 
 " xxiii: 8, 13 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Daniel iv: 23,25,33, 
 
 120 
 
 1 Chronicles ii : 10 . 
 
 34 
 
 iv: 33, . 
 
 139 
 
 " xvii : 
 
 23-25, 43,92 
 
 " v: 21, 
 
 120, 139 
 
 " xxix 
 
 19, 
 
 34 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amos iii: 1, 
 
 34 
 
 2 Chronicles xxi : 
 
 17, . 
 
 94 
 
 
 " xxiii: 
 
 16, 
 
 81 
 
 Zephaniah i : 9, 
 
 34 
 
 " xxxi : 
 
 H, 
 
 78 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Matthew ii: 11, . 
 
 32 
 
 Ezra x : 3-44, 
 
 
 16 
 
 iii: 8, 
 
 150 
 
 Nehemiah ix: 11, 
 
 
 121 
 
 iii: 11, • 
 " ix: 6, 
 
 . 117 
 33 
 
 Esther viii: 17, . 
 
 
 82 
 
 x: 42, . 
 xi: 12, 
 " xiii: 56, 
 
 18 
 21 
 52 
 
 Job ix: 31, . 
 
 122, 128 
 
 " xviii: 3, 
 
 18 
 
 " XX : 28, 
 
 
 45 
 
 " xix: 13, . 
 
 . 17,80 
 
 Psalm xviii : 16, 
 
 
 169 
 
 " xxi: 15, 
 " xxiii : 14, 
 
 18 
 33 
 
 " 1:5,. 
 
 
 75 
 
 " xxiv: 17, 
 
 34 
 
 " Ixviii: 6, 
 
 
 45 
 
 " xxvi: 12, 
 
 182 
 
 " Ixviii: 23, . 
 
 
 129 
 
 " xxvi: 23 
 
 116, 129 
 
 " Ixxvii: 19, 
 
 
 169 
 
 " xxviii: 19, 
 
 . 21, 90 
 
 " Ixxxiv: 3, . 
 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 •' xciii: 4, . 
 
 
 169 
 
 Mark i : 4, 
 
 83 
 
 " civ: 17, 
 
 
 31 
 
 " i : 8, 
 
 117 
 
 " cv: 21, . 
 
 
 94 
 
 ii: 11, 
 
 33 
 
 « ex: 3, 
 
 
 20 
 
 v: 42, 
 
 81 
 
 " cxiii: 9, . 
 
 
 45, 92 
 
 " vi: 3, . 
 
 19 
 
 " cxxvii : 
 
 
 43 
 
 " vii: 4, 
 
 138 
 
 " cxxviii: 3, 
 
 
 42 
 
 " vii: 4,8, 
 
 . 117 
 
 
 
 
 " vii : 8, 
 
 138 
 
 Proverbs vi: 31, . 
 
 
 94 
 
 x: 13, 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 " x: 16, 
 
 80 
 
 Canticles viii: 7, . 
 
 
 94 
 
 « x: 38, 39, . 
 
 . 132 
 
 
 
 
 " xiii: 15, . 
 
 34 
 
 Isaiah vii : 15, . 
 
 
 155 
 
 " xiv: 8, 
 
 . 181 
 
 " xi: 15, 
 
 
 123 
 
 " xiv: 26, . 116, 
 
 123,129 
 
 " xiii: 16, . 
 
 
 45 
 
 " XV : 47, 
 
 . 182 
 
 " xxi: 4, 
 
 
 134 
 
 
 
 " xxiii : 3, 
 
 . 
 
 170 
 
 Luke i : 27, 
 
 34 
 
TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 231 
 
 LxTKE ii : 42, . 
 
 JTOgC 
 81 
 
 Acts x : 38, 
 
 
 rage 
 
 19, 119 
 
 " 
 
 iii: 3, 
 
 83 
 
 
 x: 44, 
 
 
 118, 119 
 
 
 iii: 11, 
 
 . 150 
 
 
 x: 45, 
 
 
 103,119 
 
 
 iii: 16, 
 
 117 
 
 
 x: xi. 
 
 
 33 
 
 <c 
 
 v: 24, . 
 
 33 
 
 
 X : xi : xv, 
 
 
 156 
 
 
 vii : 44, 
 
 121 
 
 
 xi. 
 
 
 118 
 
 
 viii: 42, 
 
 81 
 
 
 xi; 11, 12, 13 
 
 J 
 
 33 
 
 
 xi: 38, 
 
 121 
 
 
 xi: 11, 17, 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 xii: 50, 
 
 . 132 
 
 
 xi: 12, 
 
 
 103 
 
 
 xvi: 16, 
 
 21 
 
 
 xi : 12, 13, 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 xvi: 22, 
 
 . 182 
 
 
 xi: 14, 
 
 , 
 
 52 
 
 
 xvi: 24, . 
 
 116, 123,129 
 
 
 xi : 15, 
 
 
 119, 1.57 
 
 
 xvii: 31, 
 
 34 
 
 
 xi: 17, 
 
 
 118 
 
 
 xviii: 15, . 
 
 80 
 
 
 xii: 12, 
 
 
 32 
 
 
 xx: 47, 
 
 33 
 
 
 xv. 
 
 . 
 
 72 
 
 
 xxiii: 56, 
 
 182 
 
 
 XV : 1-5, 
 
 
 72 
 
 
 xxiv; 49, 
 
 117,118, 
 
 
 XV : 8, 
 
 
 118,119 
 
 
 
 
 
 XV : 10, 
 
 
 75 
 
 JoHN-i: 29—34, 
 
 . 151 
 
 
 xvi: 1, 
 
 
 17, 103 
 
 " 
 
 i: 32, 
 
 118 
 
 
 xvi : 3, 10, 
 
 
 62 
 
 <« 
 
 i: 33, . 
 
 88 
 
 
 xvi : 15, 
 
 51,61,103 
 
 " 
 
 iii : 5, 
 
 84 
 
 
 xvi: 16, 
 
 
 59 
 
 cc 
 
 iii : 23, . 
 
 . 168 
 
 
 xvi: 28, 
 
 
 52 
 
 « 
 
 iii: 25, 
 
 122 
 
 
 xvi: 31, 32, 
 
 
 . 106 
 
 « 
 
 iii : 34, . 
 
 . 217 
 
 
 xvi : 33, 
 
 
 54 
 
 c< 
 
 iv: 53, 
 
 52 
 
 
 xvi : 34, 
 
 
 48,53 
 
 cc 
 
 viii: 35, 
 
 91 
 
 
 'xvi: 40, 
 
 
 61 
 
 «' 
 
 xii: 7, 
 
 181 
 
 
 xviii : 8, 48, 52 
 
 , 55, 106 
 
 «« 
 
 xii: 23, 
 
 . 183 
 
 
 xix: 3, 
 
 
 . 158 
 
 <c 
 
 xiii : 10, 11, 
 
 136 
 
 
 XX : 6, 
 
 
 62 
 
 «« 
 
 xiii: 26, 
 
 116, 129 
 
 
 xxii: 20, 21, 
 
 
 73 
 
 « 
 
 xiv : 2, 
 
 33 
 
 
 xxii: 16, 
 
 
 155 
 
 «« 
 
 xix: 40, 
 
 . 182 
 
 
 xxiii: 10, 
 
 
 75 
 
 cc 
 
 xxi : 15, 
 
 82 
 
 
 xxvi: 10, . 
 
 
 95, 101 
 
 Acts 
 
 i: 5, 
 
 . lis 
 
 Romans vi, 
 
 
 180 
 
 
 i: 13, 
 
 34 
 
 
 vi: 3-5, 
 
 , 
 
 . 150 
 
 
 ii: 2, 
 
 . 118 
 
 
 xi: 17, 
 
 
 134 
 
 
 ii: 2, 17, . 
 
 118 
 
 
 xiii: 14, 
 
 
 . 155 
 
 
 ii: 35, . 
 
 . IIS 
 
 
 xiv: 15, 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 ii: 38, 
 
 . 83, 158 
 
 
 XV : 25, 
 
 
 . 101 
 
 
 iv : 27, . 
 
 19 
 
 
 xvi : 1, 
 
 
 167 
 
 
 v: 6, 10, . 
 
 181 
 
 
 xvi : 3, 5, 
 
 
 . 105 
 
 
 vii: 10, 
 
 94 
 
 
 xvi: 10, 11, . 
 
 55 
 
 cc 
 
 viii: 16, 
 viii: 36—38, 
 
 118 
 . 143 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 iCo 
 
 RINTHIANS i : 
 
 14-16, 58 
 
 cc 
 
 ix: 17, 
 
 119 
 
 
 " i: 
 
 16, 
 
 63 
 
 «c 
 
 ix: 23, . 
 
 . 103 
 
 
 " iv 
 
 17, 
 
 102 
 
 « 
 
 ix: 27, 
 
 19 
 
 
 cc v: 
 
 7,8, 
 
 15 
 
 cc 
 
 ix: 37, . 
 
 . 183 
 
 
 cc v; 
 
 8, 
 
 86 
 
 «c 
 
 x: 1, 5, 6,.' 
 
 52 
 
 
 CC vi 
 
 11, 
 
 150 
 
 " 
 
 x: 10, .. 
 
 32 
 
 
 " vii 
 
 : 11, 
 
 12, 16 
 
 cc 
 
 x: 14,44, 
 
 157 
 
 
 " vii 
 
 :14,17,101,146 
 
232 
 
 TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 1 Corinthians vii : 10, 16 
 
 " vii: 29, 22 
 
 x: 2, 121 
 
 xi : 2, 26 
 
 " XV : ^3, 184 
 
 " xvi : 10, 66 
 
 " xvi : 15, 54, 63 
 " xvi: 15,16,63,65 
 
 " xvi: 19, . 105 
 
 2 Corinthians i: 21, . 19 
 
 " vi: 15, 103 
 
 Galatians iv : 9, 82 
 
 " iv : 28, 30, ' 76 
 
 EPHEsiANsi: 1 . . 103 
 
 i: 13, . 119 
 
 ": 11, . . 115 
 
 11: 19, . 31 
 
 ii: 19,21, . 43 
 
 IV : 5, . 143 
 
 IV : 21, . 102 
 
 IV : 24, . 155 
 V : 26 : 150, 164 
 
 VI : 4, . 21 
 
 Philippians iii : 2, . 69 
 
 " iii : C, . 77 
 
 " iv: 22, . 39 
 
 Colossians i : 2, . 103 
 
 ":11, • " 73,115 
 
 " ii: 11, 12, . 74 
 
 " iii: 1, . 184 
 
 iv: 9, . 102 
 
 " IV : 15, 106 
 
 2 Thessalonians ii : 15, 26 
 
 iii: 6, 26 
 
 50 
 108 
 167 
 
 50 
 103 
 
 37 
 
 46, 51 
 
 103 
 
 103 
 
 63 
 
 Timothy 
 
 iii 
 
 : -i. 
 
 " 
 
 iii 
 
 <J, 
 
 (I 
 
 iii 
 
 11, 
 
 cc 
 
 iii 
 
 : 12, 
 
 <( 
 
 iv: 
 
 12, 
 
 (C 
 
 V: 
 
 4, 
 
 cc 
 
 v: 
 
 14, 
 
 cc 
 
 v: 
 
 16, 
 
 cc 
 
 vi 
 
 2, 
 
 2 Timothy i : 16, 
 
 2 Timothy 
 
 i: 16,18, 
 
 
 ii:2. 
 
 
 ii: 18, . 
 
 
 ii: 20, 
 
 
 iii: 15, 
 
 
 iv: 19, 
 
 Titus i : 6, 
 " i: 10, 
 " i: 11, . 
 " iii : 5, 
 " iii: 6, . 
 
 Philemon 2, 
 
 Hebrews vi : 1,2, 
 " vi: 2, 
 ix: 6, 
 " ix: 10, 
 " ix: 13, , 
 " ix: 14, 
 " x: 22, 
 " x: 32, 
 xi: 7, . 
 
 James i : 21, 
 
 1 Peter i : 12, 
 
 " ii: 4, 5, 
 
 " iii: 1, 
 
 " iii: 20, 
 
 " iii: 21, 
 
 " v: 12, 
 
 2 Peter i: 15, 
 
 1 John ii: 12, 
 " ii: 27, 
 
 Revelation i : 8, 
 
 i: 15, . 
 
 55 
 
 27, 103 
 
 . 185 
 
 32 
 
 . 100 
 
 55,63 
 
 . 103 
 
 69 
 
 44 
 
 150, 155 
 
 . 119 
 
 106 
 
 142 
 
 117 
 
 . 141 
 
 117, 141 
 
 . 141 
 
 141 
 
 150, 155 
 
 88,111 
 
 50 
 
 184 
 
 119 
 
 43 
 
 16 
 
 50 
 
 91, 150 
 
 102 
 
 26 
 
 82,85 
 19 
 
 11: 17, , 
 xiii: 1, 
 xiv: 1, . 
 xiv: 2, 
 xvii: 1, 15, 
 xvii : 3, 
 xvii: 14, . 
 xix: 6, 
 
 xix: 13, 116,123, 
 129 
 
 95 
 
 168 
 
 95 
 
 96 
 
 96 
 
 16S 
 
 169 
 
 96 
 
 103 
 
 168 
 
INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 
 Page 
 
 
 
 Page. 
 
 Abiding, 
 
 . 119 
 
 Baptism on the eighth day. 
 
 74 
 
 Abrahamic Covenant, . 
 
 75 
 
 " 
 
 explained, . 
 
 121 
 
 Abraham's " House," 
 
 45 
 
 " 
 
 for Circumcision, 
 
 69 
 
 Abyssinia, 
 
 142 
 
 « 
 
 illustrated, . 
 
 187 
 
 Abyssinian Boy, 
 
 . 152 
 
 " 
 
 instituted, 
 
 20 
 
 Adult Circumcision, 
 
 76 
 
 " 
 
 of a boy, 
 
 152 
 
 Affusion, 
 
 . 136 
 
 " 
 
 of Children in the 
 
 
 Ages of Life, 
 
 85 
 
 
 first centuries. 
 
 73 
 
 Anabaptism, 
 
 . 144 
 
 " 
 
 of Children not a 
 
 
 Ananias and Sapphira, . 
 
 181 
 
 
 " new affair," 
 
 81 
 
 Ancient Baptism, 
 
 . 176 
 
 c< • 
 
 of Families, 
 
 87 
 
 " Baptisteries, 
 
 219 
 
 " 
 
 Gentiles, 
 
 73 
 
 " Testimony, 
 
 . 174 
 
 " 
 
 Holy Ghost, . 
 
 119 
 
 Anointing, . 
 
 119, 181 
 
 " 
 
 " Households," . 
 
 63 
 
 Anointing at Baptism, 
 
 . 1.55 
 
 " 
 
 Infants, . 
 
 110 
 
 Apostolic Baptism, 
 
 112 
 
 " 
 
 John, 
 
 88 
 
 Appellatives, . 
 
 . 100 
 
 " 
 
 Light, . . 
 
 88 
 
 "Faithful," 
 
 102 
 
 " 
 
 persons naked. 
 
 158 
 
 « Holy," 
 
 . 101 
 
 BaTTTta^os, Baptismos 
 
 117 
 
 « " Neophytos," 108 
 
 Baptisms under the Law, . 
 
 138 
 
 Aquila, 
 
 . 105 
 
 Baptism teaches the Trinity, 
 
 90 
 
 Arabs, .... 
 
 48 
 
 " 
 
 the mode of, . 
 
 114 
 
 Argument entire. 
 
 14 
 
 " 
 
 subjects of. 
 
 13 
 
 Aristobulus, 
 
 55 
 
 Baptisteries, . 
 
 219 
 
 Aristotle's " House," 
 
 41 
 
 BajrrM, 
 
 Bapto, . 
 
 116 
 
 " Testimony, . 
 
 41 
 
 Biel on OiKug, Oikos, 
 
 34 
 
 Arringhius, 
 
 93 
 
 BirdB 
 
 aptized, . 
 
 122 
 
 
 
 Bishops, 
 
 50 
 
 Baptismal Ceremonies, 
 
 213 
 
 Booth' 
 
 s Sophism, 
 
 14 
 
 " P'onts, 
 
 219 
 
 Bp£l/)Oi, 
 
 Brephos, . 
 
 80 
 
 " Resemblances 
 
 ,118,181 
 
 Brethren at Philippi, 
 
 62 
 
 Baptism and Circumcision, S6 
 
 Brother's widow, . 
 
 44 
 
 " Immmersion, 
 
 . 151 
 
 Building a "House," 
 
 44 
 
 " by the Syrians, 
 
 176 
 
 Buonai 
 
 otti on Baptism, 
 
 162 
 
 " consecration to 
 
 the 
 
 Burial, 
 
 
 ISI 
 
 Trinity, . 
 
 90 
 
 " 
 
 of Christ, . 
 
 182 
 
 Baptism divided, 
 
 . 151 
 
 " Buried ia Baptism," 
 
 180 
 
 20* 
 
 
 
 
 
234 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Carthage Council, 74 
 Casaubon, . . . l^^Q 
 Celsus, Ignorance, of, . 70 
 " Chapel of the Baptistery," 2-23 
 Childhood, ... gQ 
 Children and Christ, . 17 
 " of Proselytes, . 57 
 " weaned, . . go 
 Christian Baptism, . 1S7 
 Christianity, ... 70 
 Christian Symbols, . 95 
 Christ's Burial, . . 2S2 
 Chrysostom, . . 74 
 Church at Corinth, . 63 
 " Jerusalem, . 71 
 " Philippi, . . 54 
 " Membership of Chil- 
 .dren, ... 100 
 Ciampini on Baptism, . 213 
 Cicero's Evidence, . 37 
 Circumcision, ... 69 
 " and Baptism, 86 
 " mark of obedi- 
 ence, . . 76 
 Clemens Alexandrinus, . 96 
 " Coming," . . . uy 
 Consecration to Christ, . ]9 
 " the Trinity, 90 
 Contemporaries of Origen's 
 
 P'amily, . . 2S 
 
 Cornelius, ' . . 52 
 
 Corresponding Terms, . 122 
 
 Council of Carthage, . 74 
 
 Covenant of Circumcision, 75 
 
 " Cradle-Child," . . g5 
 
 Crispus, .... 5,5 
 
 Crucifixion, . . . 185 
 Cyprian, . . . 74,144 
 
 Daciana, Deaconess 
 
 Dathan and Abiram, 
 
 Deaconesses, 
 
 Deacons, . 
 
 Dead washed, , 
 
 Definition by Baptists, 
 
 Definitive Interment, 
 
 Deylingius, 
 
 Dipping, . . .1 
 
 Disciples of John, . 
 
 Distinction of Meats, 
 
 Distribution of Ages, 
 
 "Divers Baptism's," 
 
 Divi.sion of Baptism, 
 
 166 
 
 4.5 
 166,167 
 
 50 
 138 
 123 
 181 
 189 
 24, 128 
 
 88 
 157 
 
 85 
 149 
 loJ 
 
 Doctrine of Baptisms, . 142 
 
 Doddridge on Stephanas . 66 
 
 " Domus" ... 3g 
 
 Dorcas, . . . * . 183 
 
 77 
 
 90 
 
 174 
 
 IIG 
 
 184 
 
 Early opinions, . 
 Ebionites, 
 Egyptian Church, 
 E/i/?a?rrco, Embapto, 
 Engrafting, . 
 Engravings, 
 
 I. Baptism of Jesus Christ, 189 
 
 II. Baptism of Jesus Christ 
 
 in Jordan, . . 191 
 
 III. Jesus baptized in Jordan, 193 
 
 IV. Baptism of Christ " 195 
 
 V. Christ baptized " 197 
 
 VI. Ancient Bath, . 199 
 
 VII. Baptism of King and 
 
 Queen, . . . 20I 
 
 VIII. Administration of Bap- 
 
 T^ „ ^'^n^' ... 203 
 
 lA. Baptism outside of the 
 
 Church, . . 205 
 
 X. Laurentius baptizing Ro- 
 
 manus, . . 207 
 
 XI. Baptism of Constantine, 209 
 
 XII. " Christ in Jordan, 211 
 
 XIII. Chapel of the Baptis- 
 tery, . . . 222 
 
 Enon, .... 168 
 
 Epiphanius, ... 85 
 Ethiopia, . . . 150 
 
 Eucharist, . . 87, 154 
 
 Eunuch and Philip, . 152 
 
 Eusebius, . . 35, 107 
 
 Expressions of Scripture, . 116 
 
 "Faithful," titleofchildren,102 
 "Falling," ... 119 
 
 Family 50 
 
 Feelings for Children, . 17 
 
 Fidus on Baptism, . . 74 
 "Filling," ... 119 
 
 First Christians, . . 22 23 
 Fishes as Symbols, . 106 
 
 Forms of Baptism, . 178,179 
 Frey's Testimony, §1 
 
 Gaius, 
 
 Genealogy of Israelites, 
 Gentile Christians, 
 Gill on Circumcision, . 
 
 58 
 78 
 68 
 75 
 
INDEX. 
 
 235 
 
 " Giving," 
 Greek Church, 
 Gregory Nazianzen, 
 
 Page 
 ll'J 
 177 
 
 86 
 
 Hebrew Christians, 69, 174 
 
 Hebrews and Gentiles, . 68 
 
 Hebrew term " Baptize," 122 
 
 Hegesippus, . . 70 
 Heysychius on Oiko;, Oikos, 
 
 and OiKin, Oikia, 34 
 
 Hezekiali on the Genealogy, 7S' 
 
 « Holy," title of Children, 101 
 
 "House," ... 29 
 
 " and Household, 29, 41 
 
 *' builded . 45 
 
 " for Family, . 49 
 
 "Household," . . 29 
 
 " of Stephanas, . 64 
 
 House plan, . . 40 
 
 Husband and Wife, . 22 
 
 Hydata Polla, . 169 
 
 IXOYC, IcHTHus, . 98 
 
 Ignorance of Celsus, . 70 
 
 Illustrations of Baptism, . 187 
 
 Immersion, . . 115,128 
 
 " and Baptism, 151 
 
 Importance of Truth, • 114 
 
 Infancy, . . . 80 
 
 Infant Baptism, . . 68 
 
 Infant Baptism Apostolic and 
 
 Universal, . . 112 
 
 Infant Circumcision, . 76 
 
 Infants, ... 38, 45 
 
 " baptized by John, 88 
 
 Inferences, . . .112 
 
 Inscriptions, . . 97, 106 
 
 Institution of Baptism, . 20 
 
 Intermarriages, . . 16 
 
 Interment, . . . 181 
 
 Interpretation, . . 30 
 
 Introductory Notice, . 5 
 
 Irenaeus on Infants, . 83 
 
 " Tradition, 27 
 
 Ishmael's circumcision, 75 
 
 Israelite genealogy, . 78 
 
 Israelites in Jordan, . 121 
 
 " the Red Sea, 121 
 
 Jacob and Rachel, . 43 
 
 " leaving Canaan. 44, 92 
 
 Jailor at Philippi, . j3 
 
 Jericho, . 171 
 
 Jerom on the Nazarenes, 
 
 71 
 
 Jewish ceremonies, 
 
 
 182 
 
 " cl ildren. 
 
 
 80 
 
 " proselytes, 
 
 . 
 
 57 
 
 " sympathies, 
 
 
 15 
 
 John Baptized Infants, 
 
 
 88 
 
 John's Baptism, 
 
 
 88 
 
 ■ " Disciples, . 
 
 
 88 
 
 Judaism, 
 
 
 69 
 
 Justin Martyr, 
 
 26, 73 
 
 143 
 
 Linen Cloth, 
 
 
 154 
 
 " Little ones," 
 
 18,79 
 
 Logical maxim. 
 
 
 170 
 
 Lord's supper. 
 
 
 87 
 
 Lydia, 
 
 
 59 
 
 Maimonides, 
 
 
 149 
 
 " Many Waters," 
 
 
 168 
 
 Mark the Evangelist, 
 
 
 28 
 
 Maronites, 
 
 
 175 
 
 Maundrell's Travels, 
 
 
 171 
 
 Maxim in Logic, 
 
 
 170 
 
 Meats, 
 
 
 157 
 
 Metai)horical Children 
 
 
 93 
 
 Texts, 
 
 155, 
 
 186 
 
 Mode of Baptism, 
 
 
 114 
 
 Monffaiicon 
 
 . 
 
 189 
 
 Muscovites, 
 
 
 179 
 
 Mussulman Boy, 
 
 
 152 
 
 Naaman, 
 
 
 122 
 
 Narcissus, 
 
 
 55 
 
 Nazarenes, 
 
 
 71 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, 
 
 
 121 
 
 " Neophytos," 
 
 
 108 
 
 Nestorians, 
 
 
 175 
 
 Newell on Baptism, 
 
 
 176 
 
 Noah in the Ark, 
 
 . 39,50 
 
 OiKia, Oikia, 
 
 31, 3; 
 
 , 90 
 
 Oi-c'-s, Oikos, . 29 
 
 , 30, 49, 90 
 
 Opinions, early. 
 
 
 77 
 
 Origen on Baptism, 
 
 24 
 
 ,28 
 
 Origen'a Family, 
 
 
 28 
 
 Origin of the Work, 
 
 
 13 
 
 S2-ir£p, Osper, 
 
 
 118 
 
 Overwhelming, 
 
 124, 
 
 132 
 
 liivniKi, Panoiki, 
 
 
 92 
 
 Parables, 
 
 
 148 
 
 UupaSoais, Paradosis, 
 
 
 25 
 
 Partia. mmersion, 
 
 . 
 
 1-28 
 
236 
 
 Passover, 
 
 
 Page 
 
 SO 
 
 Stephanas, 
 
 Page 
 
 54 
 
 Pearce on Stephanas, 
 
 
 65 
 
 Subjects of Baptism, 
 
 13 
 
 Pentecost, 
 
 
 118 
 
 Submersion, 
 
 126 
 
 Perversion of Terms, 
 
 , 
 
 115 
 
 Sulpitius Severus, 
 
 71 
 
 Peter at Cesarea, 
 
 
 157 
 
 Symbols of Baptism, 
 
 95 
 
 Philip and the Eunuch, 
 
 
 152 
 
 Synonyms of Baptism, 118, 122 
 
 Plan of a "House," 
 
 
 40 
 
 Syrian Baptism, 
 
 . 176 
 
 Planting, 
 
 
 184 
 
 " Churches, 
 
 174 
 
 Pliny, 
 
 
 167 
 
 
 
 Plunging, 
 
 
 126 
 
 Temporal, blessings with 
 
 Polycarp, 
 
 
 27 
 
 Circumcision, 
 
 76 
 
 Positive precepts. 
 
 
 158 
 
 Terms interchanged, 
 
 123 
 
 Pouring, 
 
 119 
 
 , 136 
 
 TertuUian, 
 
 23, 101 
 
 Principle of Circumcision 
 
 
 Texts of Scripture, 
 
 229 
 
 in Baptism, 
 
 
 77 
 
 Timothy, 
 
 21 
 
 Priscilla, 
 
 
 105 
 
 Tradition, 
 
 25 
 
 Proselytes, 
 
 . 
 
 57 
 
 Transplantation, 
 
 184 
 
 
 
 
 Trinity taught by Baptism 
 
 90 
 
 Rebaptism, 
 
 
 90 
 
 Truth, . . 
 
 114 
 
 Reception of Eucharist, 
 
 
 154 
 
 
 
 Resemblance of Baptisms, 119,181 
 
 YJara iroXXa, Hydata polla 
 
 , 169 
 
 Ritual Observances, 
 
 
 141 
 
 Union with Christ, 
 
 183 
 
 " Purification, 
 
 
 122 
 
 
 
 Robinson on Baptism, 
 
 16-: 
 
 ,164 
 
 Wall's Testimony, 159, 164 
 
 Rules for interpretation, 
 
 30,94,121 
 
 Washing, 
 
 182 
 
 Ruth's " House," 
 
 
 45 
 
 " of a corpse. 
 
 138 
 
 Ryland's Statement, 
 
 
 168 
 
 Water Baptism, 
 
 119 
 
 
 
 
 " of Separation, 
 
 138 
 
 Sabians, 
 
 
 GS 
 
 Waters of Jericho, 
 
 171 
 
 Salt on Baptism, 
 
 
 152 
 
 Weaning of children. 
 
 80 
 
 Scripture Terms, . 
 
 116 
 
 119 
 
 Whitby on Stephanas, . 
 
 65 
 
 Sealing, 
 
 
 119 
 
 White Linen clothj 
 
 154 
 
 Sending down. 
 
 
 119 
 
 White Stone, 
 
 95 
 
 Septuagint on Infants, 
 
 
 91 
 
 Words interchanged. 
 
 123 
 
 Sepulchral Inscriptions, 
 
 
 97 
 
 " synonymous. 
 
 118 
 
 Shedding, 
 
 
 119 
 
 
 
 Sitting, 
 
 
 119 
 
 Years of Life, 
 
 84 
 
 Sophism by Booth, . 
 
 
 14 
 
 - 
 
 
 Sprinkling, 
 
 139 
 
 141 
 
 ZoiLUs AND Infant, 
 
 .45 
 
 Staining, 
 
 
 134