I : 1 *\ BAPTIST PAMPHLETS ^jjilnklpljia: AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 530 ARCH STREET. CONTEXTS 1. A Plea for Principles ; or, Th» Baptists and the Ordinances. By Rev. Geo. W. Anderson. 2. Ancient Landmarks : or. Belief and Baptism before Communion. By Rev. W. T. Brantly, D. D. 3. The Pure Chnrch, Characterized by Spirituality. By Rev. LuciAB Hatden. 4. A Pedobaptist Church no Home for a Baptist. By Rev. Robert T. Middleditch. 5. The Sufficiency of Water fojBaptizing at Jerusalem. By Rev. George TV. Samson. D. D. 6. Bunsen ? s View of Baptism, Ancient and Modern. By Rev. Ira Chase, D.D. 7. Reasons for Becoming a Baptist. By Rev. S. Remington, A. M. 8. A Defence of Restricted Communion. By Rev. S. Remington, A. If. C^" These works are also bound separately, in paper covers, for general circulation. PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES; OB, %\t baptists anb % ©rbinatiMS. BY GEO. W. ANDERSON, PASTOR OF THE LOWER MERIOX BAPTIST CHCRCH. "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. fljilnMpljht: AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 630 AKCH STREET. This volume has been stereotyped, and thus per- petuated, by Deacon Nathan L. Joxes and Horatio G. Joxes, Esq., of the Lower Merion Baptist Church, near Philadelphia. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. The ordinances of the Church of Christ are precious institutions. They are fitted, when duly observed, to refresh and strengthen the believer, and to impress the hearts of those that are without. The Baptists, in every era of their long and eventful history. have loved and cherished these ordinances, and have always, sought to observe them in their original form and spirit. They deeply regret that their conscientious efforts for so good an end, should call down on them the censures of their brethren. They can affirm, in all truth and sincerity, that they do not willing!}- make the sacred ordinances of the Church of Christ an occasion of separation (3) A PLEA FOIl PRINCIPLES. from those whom they esteem very highly as sincere believers in Christ. "Why then this separation ? Whence this difference between them and their brethren ? Why do they not conform their practice to the practice of other disciples of their com- mon Lord ? These are questions that may naturally and properly be asked. And it becomes the duty of the Baptists to give a kind and fraternal reply. Let such be our attempt in this little work. The Baptists deem it necessary in all re- ligious practices to be governed by fixed and established principles. They have there- fore made careful search; and as the result of their inquiries, they have been led to adopt certain fundamental principles which they believe to accord with the dictates of sound reason, and the teachings of the Word of God. Their practice they believe to be the neces- sary result of these principles which they hold. And, without doing violence to their A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. consciences, they could not reject principles which they think to be correct ; nor adopt practices which these do not fully sanction. If they are in the wrong, then, when they differ from other dissiples of Christ, it must be be- cause they have incautiously admitted some wrong principle ; or, from correct principles, liave unconsciously deduced some wrong practice. They are, however, always open to conviction ; and will ever have reason to be grateful to those who, speaking the truth in love, point out what false principle they have adopted, or what correct principle they have misapplied. It is only by a kind and can- did consideration of fundamental principles, and of the connection between principles and practice, that real unit}- in the truth can be se- cured. They would, therefore, earnestly invite their brethren in the Lord to a fraternal ex- amination of the principles on which they act, and of the process by which their practice is deduced from these principles. 1* A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. BAPTISM. Principle I. It is the duty of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep his or- dinances in strict accordance with his com- mand. This principle recognizes the supreme authority of Christ, as the head of the church. It forbids any disciple, or any number of disciples, whether gathered toge- ther as a church, a council, an association, or a convention, to alter or modify in any degree what he has commanded. It pre- scribes to the disciple the duties of inquiry and obedience ; inquiry to know the will of the Lord ; obedience to do precisely what he has enjoined, without change or modification. He who faithfully carries it out will search diligently for the precise mind and will of his Lord. He cannot consider such an inquiry a vain and unprofitable one. It may be, A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. sometimes, a long and difficult task that is imposed ; but lie will not shrink from it. Amid the multitude of footprints in the sands around him, he may need to pause long before he can distinguish between those which men have made, and those which have been left by the blessed feet of the Son of G-od. But, if he is to follow in those steps, he must prolong his search until he finds what he has sought. Then may he move as rapidly as possible onward, tread- ing with safety and with joy in the way his Saviour has marked out. In this the Baptists have the authority of the most eminent jurists. Blackstone, after defining what is necessary in the promulga- tion of a law, says: "But when this rule is in the usual manner notified, or prescribed, it is then the subject's business to he thoroughly acquainted therewith."* This thorough and accurate knowledge of the law is what the * N. Y. Edition, 1822, Vol. I., p. 46.' 8 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. Baptists have always held to be obligatory upon the disciples of Christ. This principle demands the bowing of the disciple's will entirely to the will of the Lord, the first and most important lesson to be learned in the school of Christ. He may not ask what is most easy or grateful to him- self, or what will be most pleasing to his relatives or friends. All of his own prefer- ences, as well as those of his nearest and dearest friends, will be put aside; and his constant aim will be to keep the ordinances as the Lord himself has commanded. How very appropriate the teaching and enforcing of such a lesson at the very commencement of the young Christian's course ! How desir- able that the sovereign authority of Christ should be deeply impressed at that early stage, when the mind is open to the influence of truth, when the affections are warm, when the impressions that are made are likely to be so permanent. A Christian will be weak A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 9 or strong in proportion to -the thoroughness with which he has learned the lesson of prompt, thorough, implicit obedience to Christ. But, if we are thus to keep the ordinances as the Saviour has given them, we need to know precisely what he requires. This leads us to the consideration of another principle. Principle II. It is possible to ascertain the precise meaning of the commands of the Saviour ; otherwise, they would not be bind- ing upon us. It were surely cause for deep regret, were each of the followers of Christ to be left to guess the meaning of the commands of his Lord. How little of uniformity, then, we could hope for, in Christian conduct. Unity of practice, so difficult to attain under any circumstances, would then be utterly hope- less. Each one would guess according to his own preconceived notions, or his peculiar 10 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. inclinations, and there would be no means of deciding upon the correctness of the prac- tice which any might adopt. It is difficult to understand how obedience can be secured, or how it can be rendered, to a command that is obscurely expressed or imperfectly comprehended. When the sea is angrily hissing, and the wild wind shriek- ing around the laboring ship, the captain on deck may issue his command to the sailor aloft. If, however, the noise of the warring elements prevents the sailor from catching the important word, he could not surely be counted worthy of praise, because he begins to busy himself about what he vaguely guesses to be the meaning. Par better to descend to the deck and learn precisely what is required, than loose the sail When it ought to be furled, or furl it when it ought to be loosed. Or, to change the figure, a father from beyond the sea has sent to his son a letter of special instructions ; but it comes to A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 11 his hands with the words so dimmed and ob- scured by the damps of the voyage, that he is unable to determine precisely what it means. If he is wise, he will not rush head- long to the performance of what he merely guesses to be his father's wish. He will rather, much as he regrets the delay, defer all action in the matter, till another letter from abroad shall make his father's wishes clear. The Baptists cannot think that there need be any hesitancy in regard to the commands of Christ. They cannot believe it to be im- possible to know precisely what acts the Lord would have his disciples perform. There was no battling of angry elements, to pre- vent the great Captain of our salvation from making his voice distinctly heard by those to whom the commands were at first ad- dressed. And no unfriendly damps have blurred or obscured the meaning of those words which he has sent across the sea of 12 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. ages, to tell us what he would have us do. The meaning of his commands, to those who caught the words that issued from his lips, must have been perfectly clear and dis- tinct. Nor has the lapse of years changed in the slightest degree the original import of the command, or laid any serious diffi- culty in the way of those who are willing honestly to seek until they find it. In the giving of a law it may be justly taken for granted that the lawgiver means to be understood. Blackstone says : "It is incumbent on the promulgators to do it in the most public and perspicuous manner ; not like Caligula, who, according to Dio Cassius, wrote his laws in a very small character, and hung them up on high pillars, the more ef- fectually to ensnare the people."* Laws which emanate from righteous lawgivers are designed for a rule, not for a trap, as * Vol. I., p. 45. A FLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 13 were those of the infamous Caligula. In order to serve as a rule, it is necessary that the terms in which they are expressed should be perfectly intelligible to those who are called to obey. And the permanent obligation of the law supposes that thus it must always be possible to determine with accuracy its original import. The moment it ceases to be intelligible, that moment its authority is at an end. The celebrated jurist, Pothier,- applying the civil law to contracts that are helplessly ambiguous, says, that contracts thus obscure have no binding force, and that the person who contracts the obligation must be dis- charged. On the same principle, a law that is hopelessly obscure, has no binding power, and no person can be held respon- sible for obedience. The Baptists regard the Lord Jesus Christ * See Smith's Law of Contracts, p. 421. 2 14 A PLEA FOE PKLNCIPLES. as a righteous lawgiver who meant to be un- derstood, and, therefore, gave a command which he presumed to be perfectly intelli- gible. They regard him as a wise lawgiver, who has chosen terms that were, and ever will be, fully adapted to make known with precision his very mind and will. They, therefore, cannot avoid the conclusion, that his people, in the faithful use of the means that lie within their reach, may attain to a certain knowledge of the precise import of his command. It would seem to be scarcely necessary to lay much stress on what approaches so nearly to a self-evident truth. But the dif- ferent phases of the long controversy that has been waged in regard to the ordinances of the house of Grod, show that it needs to be distinctly presented, and its claims specifi- cally urged. The possibility of assured cer- tainty in regard to the meaning of the doc- trines and duties of the sacred Scriptures, it A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 15 becomes us to recognize fully, and to main- tain with constant vigilance. Without such a certainty, the people of God can raise no effectual barrier against the inroads of those who would make war upon all that is vene- rable in doctrine or in practice. If then the meaning of the commands of the Lord may be clearly and distinctly as- certained, how shall we proceed in order to its discovery? This question prepares us for the introduction of a further principle. Principle III. The meaning of the Sa- viours commands must be sought by the application of the ordinary established prin- ciples of interpretation to the words in which they are conveyed. A large proportion of the business of life is carried on by means of written language. In consequence of this, there is a constant neces- sity for deciding on the meaning of laws and contracts, and other written documents. To 16 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLE £ this constant necessity, it becomes im- portant to seek out certain fixed, unalter- able principles of interpretation. Without such principles, binding on all who have Lsk of interpreting laws, and contracts, locuments, endless discord and confu- sion would arise. The law which forbids a ld thins: to-day. might be made to SailC- tion it to-morrow. The contract which one of the parties supposes to mean one parti- cular thing, the other might decide to mean a something widely different — perhaps the reverse. There would be thus no au- thority to law, and nothing binding in con- tracts. In short, all kinds of communication, by means of written language, between man and his fellow-man, would be rendered un- satisfactory, if not absolutely useless. By the application of these ordinary fixed principles are to be interpreted all books and documents, of whatsoever kind, in which words are used for the conveyance of A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. human thought. They are to be ernr in the interpretation of the Scrip- tores; and in order to the dis true meaning of those precious words, they must be stead. . The sacred Scriptures, while often tee tfi that lie far beyond the reach human reason, nevertheless call constantly into play a human instrumentality — language. It is only by means of tb strumentality that its truths can find a to the human mind. It follows, ther that the meaning of the sacred books must be sought by the application of the principles of interpretation that conduct us to the true meaning of other documents, out the application of the ordinary, fixed rules of interpretation, the Bible might be to teach what any man wished it to teach; and the refutation of theol _ errors would be rendered an entirely fa >k. The Word of G 2* 18 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. stripped of all its authority, and all its in- fluence as a sufficient rule of faith and prac- tice. Dr. Planck says : " Whoever is not con- scious of having conducted his interpreta- tions according to such rules, [according to fixed rules], cannot certainly think of at- tempting to defend or to oppose the correct- ness of an exposition. * * * * We ought, in one word, to have such rules as both can and must be regarded, generally, as true and binding. So long as such principles arc applied as are admitted by one party only, and rejected by others, it is impossible to unite in the true meaning of Scripture, be- cause it is impossible for the one party to convince the other of the truth of their inter- pretations, or to show the falsehood of the opposite." * The views of the Baptists on this point * Edinburg Ed., p. 132. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 19 harmonize with those of all the ablest .Re- formers, who have striven to disencumber the theology of the Scriptures from the false interpretations which the adherents of the Romish Church have heaped upon it. The fundamental .rule of "Wickliffe, Tyndale. Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, "and the other leading Reformers, was ever the same as that enunciated above. It is thus expressed in the words of Melancthon: "The sense of Scripture is one, certain and simple, and is everywhere to be ascertained in accordance with the principles of grammar and human discourse." " It was only such a vigorous and general movement as the Reformation," saysDr.Fairbairn, "a movement basing itself upon the true sense of Scripture, and per- petually appealing to that for its justifica- tion, — which could break the trammels that had so long lain upon men's minds in this respect, and recall sincere students of Scrip- ture to the simple grammatical sense of its 20 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. words." * To the Baptists it has ever seemed important to adhere without wavering in the interpretation of commands, as well as of doctrines, to this principle, which gave energy and vigor to the Eeformation. It is regarded by them as the only safeguard against the return of all the errors which the Keformers assailed and banished. They have been led to seek for, and faithfully apply, rules of interpretation which have thus done such noble service in the cause of God, and which have secured the unqualified sanction of the highest legal and literary authorities in the world. Principle IV. In the interpretation of do- cuments, each word should be taken in its primary, ordinary, literal signification ; and we should never depart from that, unless the context makes it absolutely necessary ; * Hermeneutical Manual, p. 68. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 21 and then the departure should be as slight as possible. The principle here presented is applicable to the interpretation of all kinds of docu- ments. A firm adherence to it is necessary, in order to refute the arguments of those who hold to error, in doctrine or in practice. It is constantly acted on in our courts of law. And in their inflexible adherence to it is to be found our only security for the faithful per- formance of contracts, or for the uniform and equitable administration of law. A case such as frequently occurs, will show the manner in which the principle is applied, and aptly illustrate its importance. A merchant in Ohio writes to his agent in Philadelphia, to send him ten pieces of blue- black cloth. He receives in due time ten pieces of cloth ; but finds, on examination, that the color is a jet-black or an invisible green. He refuses to receive them, or to pay for goods which, he insists, he has not 22 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. ordered. To secure payment, the agent brings an action against him, and it is car- ried before the court. His lawyer pleads on the trial that the merchant wanted ten pieces of dark cloth, which his client had sent him, supposing that he was not so narrow- minded as to make any difficulty about the petty difference of a shade or two. The essen- tial thing, as it seemed to him, was a dark- colored cloth — the precise shade was non- essential. He further states, that the parti- cular shade which had been forwarded was much more readily found, and much cheaper than the blue-black ; and that thus, by a jus- tifiable departure from the precise letter of the order, his client was both consulting his own convenience, and promoting the real interests of the merchant. There he rests his case ; and on these grounds he asks for a verdict in favor of his client. But notwithstanding his nice distinction between essentials and non-essentials, the A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 23 court would decide that this was a question with which an agent had no right to inter- meddle — that his single duty waa to ascer- tain and to send what his correspondent had ordered. And while all due credit might be awarded to him for his desire to promote the merchant's interest, the Court would be under the necessity of informing him that the only proper way to manifest that desire would have been to abide by the literal meaning of the words, "blue-black cloth." He would be either absolutely non-suited, or the verdict would be given for the defendant. For the correctness of such a decision, reference may be made to u The Law of Con- tracts/' by John William Smith, Esq. The common sense, practical rule which has been adopted, he says, "we find thus tersely ex- pressed in Mallam vs. May, 13 Meeson and Welsby's Eeports, 517, by the Court of Ex- chequer: "Words are to be construed accord- ing to their strict and primary acceptation, 24 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. unless from the context of the instrument, and the intention of the parties to be col- lected from it, the j appear to be used in a different sense, or unless in their strict sense they are incapable of being carried into effect."* Blackstone says: " Words are generally to be understood in their usual and most known signification ; not so much regarding the propriety of grammar, as their general and popular use? "Where words bear either none, or a very absurd signification, if liter- ally understood, we must deviate a little from the received sense of them."f For the correctness of this principle in the interpretation of literary, as well as of legal documents, we have the authority of able writers. Ernesti directs us, " not readily to depart from the literal signification * * i. e., not to depart from the literal sense un- less in cases where the literal sense is tame, ridiculous, or contradictory.";): * Am. Edition, pp. 421-2. f p ages 59-61. ? Edinburgh Ed., Vol. I., p. 136. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 25 Dr. Planck says : " We should seek, in the first place, the literal sense of every passage to be interpreted, as it must be afforded, either by the general usage, or by one which is pe- culiar to the writer. But why this must be sought first, is a point which need not be explained to any one ; for every man's na- tural sense will tell him why, and will also instinctively bring him first to this means of exposition."* This principle seems to the Baptists, as well as to Dr. Planck, to commend itself to the com- mon sense of men. And they feel themselves bound to apply it faithfully in the interpreta- tion of the commands of their Lord. They do not deem themselves at liberty to sit as judges to decide what the law ought, or what it ought not to require. They regard themselves as subjects, not judges of the law. It appears to them to be their first business to use all dili- gence to ascertain the literal meaning of the * Edinburgh Ed., p. 137. 26 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. words in which the command is given. When that is once determined, then the work of interpretation is ended, and the duty of obedience begins. Application of the preceding principles, in order to determine luhat is to be baptized. It is well known that the Baptists uni- formly demand the immersion of the candi- date for baptism, and that they never recog- nize any thing else as a fulfillment of the law of the Lord. We come now to show how they are led on, from the principles they hold, to the practice they have adopted. It is conceded by all that the Saviour has given the command to be baptized. As faithful servants, and especially as grateful disciples, we wish to obey the Lord. In order to obey, it is necessary, according to the first principle, to keep the ordinance as he meant it to be kept. "We are led to seek with earnestness for his meaning, because, according to principle second, we hold it to A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 27 be possible to ascertain precisely what he required. In order to determine bis mean- ing in the law of baptism, we are taught by principle third to apply the ordinary rules of interpretation, just as we do when we wish to ascertain what truths he taught in the Sermon on the Mount, or in any of his discourses to his disciples, or to others. According to principle fourth, that mean- in or will be found when we have ascertained o the primary, common, literal meaning of the word in which the command is expressed. The important word in the law of baptism is the Greek word " baptiso. Two inquiries demand our attention. 1. ^Vhat is its primary, ordinary, literal meaning ? 2. Is it necessary, in order to, give an in- telligible sense to the command, to depart from this primary signification ? If, on due examination, it should be found that the primary, ordinary, literal meaning 28 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES of the word gives a clearly intelligible sense to the command, then it will not concern ns especially to inquire what other meanings may belong to the word, or may have been foisted upon it by the ingenuity of commen- tators. In order to determine the meaning of the word, it will be necessary to quote the opin- ions of several learned lexicographers and scholars. These quotations shall be taken from members of different religious denomi- nations. None of them, however, are Bap- tists, or liable to the suspicion of a design to favor their peculiar views. The Baptists have never felt themselves under the neces- sity of making dictionaries of their own in order to justify their opinions or their prac- tices. They take the Lexicons of the Greek language prepared by scholars of other de- nominations, and find in them all that is ne- cessary for settling the primary meaning of this important word. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 29 Liddell & Scott's Greek Lexicon. — 14 Baptizo, 1. To dip repeatedly. Of ships, to sink. Passive voice, to bathe. 2. To draw water. 3. To baptize, 1ST. T." This is from the second English edition of this great work, by two scholars of the Church of England. In the first edition they inserted as a second meaning, " 2. To pour upon, to drench" This, however, in their second edition, from which our quota- tion is taken, they entirely withdrew. In the American edition, however, the Ameri- can editor has retained this meaning, which the learned authors saw fit to discard. Of course, even had it been retained by them, it could not affect our inquiry. According to the fourth principle, we seek only the pri- mary, ordinary, literal meaning. That is ex- plicitly given. Dr. Kobixsox's Lexicon of the New Testament. — " Baptizo. A frequentative in form, but apparently not in signification 3* 30 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. To dip in, to sink, to immerse. In Greek writers, spoken of ships, of animals, of horses, sinking in a marsh ; also, of men, or [of men] partially to the breast. Also, to dip in a vessel, to draw water. 11 Donnegan's Lexicon, London Edition. — " Baptizo. To dip, immerse, submerge, sink' ships, and frequently, to sink, viz., to descend" Dr. J. Pickering's Lexicon. — "Baptizo. To dip, immerse, submerge, plunge, sink, over- whelm ; to steep, to soak, to wet? Dunbar's Lexicon. — "Baptizo. To dip, immerse, submerge, plunge, sink, overwhelm, to soak. Passive. To be immersed, to be drenched with ivine." Greenfield's Lexicon of New Testa- ment. — " Baptizo. To immerse, immerge, sub- merge, sink; in K. Testament, to vmsh, per- form ablution, cleanse : Mark vii. 4 ; Luke xi. 38 ; to immerse, baptize, administer the rite of baptism: Mark i. 4, and elsewhere." Other Lexicographers might be quoted. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 31 But these will suffice. They are all ac ble to the English reader. From a compa- rison of these authorities, it appears that the word is a frequentative in form ; that is, that it denotes the repeated doing of a thing. Hence Liddell & Scott give it the mean- ing " to dip repeatedly,' 1 '' and Donnegan u to immerse repeatedly" According, however, to Dr. Eobinson, it is a frequentative only in form, but not in signification. He, there- fore, merely gives as its meaning " to dip inP All agree that the action denoted is the same, to dip. This is the point to which our inquiry is directed. It will also be noticed that Greenfield says, that in the New Testament it means "to wash." So also do Dr. Eobinson and Dun- bar, whose language, however, we have not deemed it necessary to quote. The Baptists think that any person can satisfy nimself of the incorrectness of this, by attempting to substitute "wash" for the word baptize, 32 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. wherever it is found in the English New Tes- tament. The learned authors, doubtless, had they expressed their views in full, would have removed the present objection to their phraseology. It would be more accurate to say that the word may sometimes, whether in the New Testament or elsewhere, be freely translated by the word wash. This is ad- missible, however, only when the context shows that the object was dipped in pure water, and was consequently cleansed by the process. In the whole range of Greek au- thors, from the earliest appearance of the word, until the time of the Saviour, the primary, ordinary, literal meaning of bap- tizo is fixed and unalterable. And the Baptists, in common with many of the ablest scholars of other denominations, can see no necessity for assuming a special signification in the books of the New Testament. That invariable meaning is, to immerse, or some other word equivalent to it. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 33 But our second inquiry must be, whether, on examining the law of Baptism, it is ne- cessary to depart from that primary mean- ing, in order to make an intelligible sense. Let us insert the word "immerse" in the law which Christ gave to his disciples ; and the passages will read as follows, a reading as plain, and as easily understood, as we could reasonably demand. " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is immersed shall be saved ; he that be- lieveth not shall be damned." This is clear and intelligible, and accord- ing to our principles we can ask no more. Yet we may pursue our inquiry further, and it will be found that in every passage in the New Testament, where the words baptize, baptized, baptizing, or baptism are em- S-i A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. ployed, the j may be readily translated by the words immerse, immersed, immersing, or im- mersion. In no single case is there any neces- sity for departing from the primary meaning of the word. Since this is so, the path of duty would seem to be plain and clear be- fore the humble and obedient disciple of Christ. No matter what success himself or others may have in finding particular pas- sages, in which it may possibly have a mo- dified meaning, it cannot be consistently allowed to influence, in any degree, his prac- tice. He is concerned only to know the mind of Christ. The mind or will of Christ would seem unquestionably to be, that all who love and trust in him should take that literal meaning as their guide, and should be immersed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Baptists are often censured for their firm adherence to the conclusion which we have shown to result inevitably from their prin- A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. ci pies. Will their Lord censure them for carefully using these principles in order to ascertain his will; or deem them over-scru- pulous because they cannot consent to change or modify an ordinance which they are fully convinced that he himself has established ? They know no better principles to guide them in their search for his will. They know no better proof of honest allegiance and ardent love than to keep his own pre- cious ordinance, according to the mind and will of their gracious Lord. They leave their judgment with him. He will not err in the decision that he makes. INFANT BAPTISM. Why do the Baptists deem this solemn ordinance of no authority, and wound the feelings of their brethren who practice it as an ordinance of God? The answer to this we shall endeavor to give in all kir.d- §6 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. ness ; and this will bring into view a further principle which the Baptists hold. Principle V. An ordinance which has been established bj a direct command, can never be set aside by one for which a command equally clear and direct cannot be shown. A wise lawgiver will never enact two laws that necessarily conflict with each other. Every law is the expression of the will of him who enacts it. If he wills his subjects to do one particular thing, he surely does not will them, at the same time, to do .an- other thing which must prevent the doing of the former. If, therefore, the baptism of believers and the baptism of infants neces- sarily conflict with each other, they cannot both be ordinances of the Lord's appoint- ment. It becomes our duty to ascertain which of them has the sanction of the divine com- mand, and which of them rests its claims on lower, or questionable, authority. "When A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLE*. 7 tliis has been determined, the one that is commanded must be faithfully observed ; the «>ne that lacks the same authority should be disregarded. It may be sustained by many and plausible inferences ; but no number of inferences, however plausible they may be. can avail when weighed against the autho- rity of a positive command of the Lord. An illustration of this principle, directly to our purpose, is furnished by the sacred Scriptures in the history of the man of God. who was sent from Judah to prophesy against Bethel." He had been strictly commanded by the word of the Lord to eat no bread and drink no water, in the place to which he was sent. Having performed his mission, and successfully resisted one temptation to disobey the word of the Lord, he departed on his journey homeward. An old prophet of Bethel, however, who had heard of his mission, rode after him and urged him to * 1 Kings, 13. 38 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. return. He refused again, as he had done before. But when the Bethelite proclaimed himself a prophet also, and stated that an angel had bid him follow in his course and bring him back, he consented to return. Here was a case in which a something of doubtful authority came in conflict with the direct command of God. On the one hand was the positive command of the Lord to the prophet himself; on the other, the word of the old prophet of Bethel, and the mes- sage which he said, he bore from the ansrel. A clear judgment would have discerned on which side duty lay; an obedient spirit would have followed the explicit command. The situation was a trying one to a weak mind and a wavering heart. The prophet disobeyed, and the punishment which he had merited speedily came upon him. And by this example, men in all succeeding genera- tions are taught this important lesson : A DIRECT COMMAND OF GOD CAN ONLY BE SET A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 39 ASIDE BY ANOTHER COMMAND EQUALLY EX- PLICIT FROM HIM. The foregoing remarks will aid their brethren in the examination of the position which the Baptists have assumed in regard to the rite of infant baptism. Three things seem to them to be unmistakably true. 1. The baptism of believers is clearly and explicitly commanded. 2. Xo clear command is given for the bap- tism of infants. 8. The two ordinances are in direct con- flict,* one ever tending to supercede the other. The reasons which lead the Baptists to re- gard these ' propositions as true, may be briefly presented. 1. The baptism of believers is generally conceded to have the authority of a distinct command for its observance. It is contained in the commission given by our Lord to his apostles. By combining the testimony of 40 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. Matthew and Mark, in regard to that com- mission, we find that its full* import may be thus expressed: Go ye into all the world and teach all nations, preaching the Gospel to every creature, baptizing those who be- lieve, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He that be- lieveth and is baptized shall be saved; he that belie veth not shall be damned. This is universally conceded to enjoin upon the apostles the duty of baptizing be- lievers; and, as it has often been justly re- marked, the command to the apostles to « baptize those who exercise faith, implies ne- cessarily the duty of believer^ to submit themselves to the rite. By the • commission, however, the administrators of the ordinance are charged with the care of its observance ; they are taught both, what is the act, as we have already seen, and who are the subjects. In regard to the directness and explicitness of this command, the Baptists are* happy to A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 41 have the concurrent opinion of most, if not all of their fellow disciples. Lest we should seem to overlook any of the opinions of Christian brethren, it will be necessary to glance at one interpretation of the commission which some have advocated, and show why it has never commended itself to the judgment of the Baptists. It is thought by some that the apostles were commanded to make disciples by baptism ; as though their commission had read: Go ye into all the world and make disciples of every creature, by baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. By virtue of the command, as thus understood, some few, perhaps, are led to baptize infants, in order to makes disciples of them. The Baptists have never been able to adopt this view of the commission for the following, among other reasons. It does not require faith in order to bap- 4* 42 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. tism ; and therefore it is as proper to make dis- ciples of men and women as of infants, by the administration of the rite. If all nations are to be made disciples by such a summary pro- cess, then the first duty of a missionary to a heathen nation would seem to be to baptize both old and young. Then Francis Xavier, and the Jesuits that followed in his footsteps, were right when- they administered the rite with such profuse liberality. It does not require faith ; then we must suppose that the apostles went beyond the command of their Lord, when they made faith in him a prerequisite to the administra- tion of the ordinance. One instance of this demand for faith is clear and explicit, and may justly be taken as proof of their gene- ral practice. "If thou believest with all thy heart," said Philip to one who asked for baptism, at his hands, "thou mayest." As the Baptists search the records of the doings of these early servants of the Lord, and ex- A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 43 amine the letters which they penned so full and rich in their instruction to the churches, they find no single instance of a believer on whom the duty of baptism was not speedily urged, and not one single example of a person baptized without a profession of his own faith in Jesus Christ. They cannot then extend the commission to embrace any that have not faith; they must regard it as a solemn command of the Lord to baptize all believers, after they have come to exercise precious faith in him. 2. Xo clear command is given for the baptism of infants. If there be any undoubted authority from the Lord for the observance of infant bap- tism, it is competent for those who % have found it to publish their discovery. If such there be, the Baptists have sought it in vain, although they have searched with care, and have often asked their brethren to aid them in their inquiry. They search the sacred 44 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. Scriptures — the Christian's only rule of faith and practice, and find therein no trace of a written command. They peruse with care the books in which their brethren explain and defend the rite ; but no command is pre- sented. They ask for the grounds of its ob- servance, only to find that its most zealous friends are not agreed among themselves on this essential point. Dr. Chalmers points them to the Abrahamic covenant : " It" — ?'. e. the passage in Bom. iii. 15, which refers to the Abrahamic covenant — " seems to con- tain in it the main strength of the scriptural argument for infant baptism." Dr. Moses Stuart replies: " The Abrahamic covenant furnishes no ground for infant baptism." Several churches — among; them the Komish Church — baptize infants in order to bring them into the church; others — including those technically called Eeformed Churches ■ — baptize them because they were born therein. Many learned writers find their A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 45 main reasons for the observance of the rite in the wide acceptance which, they say, it found with the churches immediately after the age of the Apostles. But the Chevalier Bunsen, whose authority will outweigh scores of others, affirms with confident assur- ance : " It was utterly unknown to the early church, not only down to the end. of the second, but even to the middle of the third <>entury." . In the absence, then, of any specific com- mand for the rite of infant baptism, and in the perfect chaos of opinions as to the grounds of its observance among its friends, the Baptists see an ample justification of the conclusion to which they come, that it has no divine authority. It appears to them that the baptism of believers is like the positive command of God himself to the prophet of Judah, and the baptism of infants like the word of the old prophet of Bethel, and of his fabled angel visitor. They think 40 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. themselves called upon by the example of the prophet of Judah to exercise a sounder judgment, and a more implicit obedience than he. It seems, moreover, to the Baptists, that their brethren themselves do not regard the baptism of infants as equal in authority with the baptism of believers. They will not, as we are informed, receive into their churches a professed believer who refuses to be bap- tized. They cannot countenance such pal- pable disobedience to a direct command of the Saviour. But when he has once sub- mitted to that command, and has been re- ceived into the fellowship of the church, he may or he may not bring his infant children- to be baptized. His neglect may be long-con- tinued, systematic and open, yet few are the churches that would put him out in consequence. It is not the design of the Baptists to draw any invidious inferences from this well-known fact; or to make any A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 47 ungenerous use of it. They only refer to it to justify their own conscientious course. They admit that the neglect of the direct command forms a sufficient reason for refus- ing to grant a person admission to the church ; but they cannot see why a stedfast refusal to observe another command, that is equally binding, does' not constitute an ade- quate reason for putting him out. It is true that their brethren sometimes publish to the world their conviction, that "those who refuse or neglect the baptism of their children, not only sin against Christ by diso- beying his solemn command, but they also de- prive both themselves and their children of great benefits."* Yet even such strong lan- guage, from a friend of strict discipline, does not come coupled, as we might have ex- pected, with a proposition to have them sub- jected to the discipline of the church because of their neglect. From such facts the Bap- * Miller on Infant Baptism, p. 42. 4:3 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. tists are justified in their inference, that their brethren themselves do not believe the baptism of infants to rest on equal authority with the baptism of believers. They may speak, as in the quotation above, of a "sol- emn command," but it is not seemingly re- garded as a direct command, like that which the ascending Saviour gave to his disciples on sending them out into all the world. 3. The two ordinances are in direct con- flict, one ever tending to supersede the other. It is not assumed by the Baptists that no two ordinances can be in force at one and the same time. They see no conflict be- tween the ordinance of Baptism and that of the Lord's Supper. They are separate and distinct, occupying entirely different ground, with different ends in view. It is only when two ordinances both claim possession of a common ground, that they come in conflict the one with the other. The baptism of infants comes into conflict A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 49 with the baptism of believers; because those -who have been baptized in infancy, and continue to acknowledge the validity of this rite, are thereby prevented from being baptized on a profession of their faith in Christ. In the case of all such persons, in- fant baptism puts aside the baptism of believ- ers. They perhaps rarely pause to ask whether the ordinance which the Saviour enjoined is binding upon them.. So far as its influence now extends, infant baptism pre- vents the observance of that sacred and im- pressive ordinance which the Lord has es- tablished ; and should it ever come to secure universal sway, it would cause the Saviour's law to fall into utter neglect. The reality of this conflict is also seen in the embarrassment which it causes in certain cases. It is no uncommon thing for those who have been baptized in infancy, when they grow up to years of understanding, and come for themselves to hear and believe the 50 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. Gospel, to desire to be baptized on a pro- fession of their repentance toward God. and faith in the Lord Jesns Christ. Such an one may be fully convinced that to be thus baptized is a positive duty; he may long to obey what he believes to be the command of his Saviour; but no strength of conviction in his mind, and no urgency of desire in his heart, can secure him the privilege at the hands of those who baptized him in his years of unconsciousness. If he finds his convictions of personal duty too strong to be put down by the arguments that are brought to bear upon him, and feels his desire too powerful to be repressed by the influences that are gathered about him, he must adopt either one of two courses. He must either go to the Baptists, or to some of the few exceptions among the ministry of the churches with which he has been as- sociated, and ask for the baptism of a believer at their hands ; or if he shrink from this, he A. PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 51 may live on, leaving the duty unperformed, often troubled, often uneasy, but neglecting still obedience to the ordinance which he has been convinced was commanded by the Sa- viour. Thus, in the case of many, their baptism in infancy tends to hinder and embarrass them when they subsequently come to wish for believers' baptism ; while, in the case of others, it prevents them from ever asking whether it is not the will of the Lord, that they should be baptized upon a profession of their faith in him. Thus it tends ever to diminish the number of those who receive the baptism of believers. And if the time should ever come, when all who are born into the world shall be baptized in infancy, then the baptism of believers will be utterly abandoned, known, — if known at all, — only in the pages of the New Testament and of ecclesiastical history. It is sometimes, however, argued that the 52 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. baptism of infants does not conflict with that of believers, because they are binding on two different classes of persons. The baptism of believers is binding on all who have not been baptized in infancy ; the bap- tism of infants belongs to the children of believers. It is said that, as they are not designed for the same class of persons, there can be no conflict between them. It seems to the Baptists, however, that there are two valid objections to this view, ingenious though it undoubtedly is. 1. The Scriptures speak of "one bap- tism" ; by which is doubtless meant, one in regard to subjects, one in regard to the prerequisites and one in regard to the end and design. But, if the supposition which we are considering be correct, there are two baptisms, differing entirely from each other in all these three particulars. The Baptists cannot, by any fair process of reasoning, A PLEA FOR PR^CIPLES. 53 combine these dissimilar rites into the one baptism, of which the apostle speaks. 2. If the baptism of infants was designed to be practiced by all Christians, then, as we have already remarked, in the advance of the Gospel, the baptism of believers will be ever administered to smaller numbers, until it ceases at length to be anywhere observed. Its place will thus be wholly occupied by the baptism of infants. The baptism of in- fants, according to this view, would be the permanent ordinance, while that of believers cnly subserves a temporary purpose. If such be the case, it seems strange to the Baptists, that in the Xew Testament so much is said of that ordinance which, in its nature, is only temporary ; while that which is to be perpetual is not once mentioned, nor even remotely hinted at. Certainly no similar case can be found in which the temporary takes precedence of that which is perma- nent. 5* 54 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. For these weighty reasons they deem it necessary to put aside the supposition that the two ordinances are of equal authority — a position which, as we have seen ; few of their brethren practically hold — and de- signed to be binding at the same time on two different classes. Ingenious as it may appear, it will not bear the test of a careful examination. If our course of remarks is conclusive, we are led to the following results : infant baptism ever tends to banish the baptism of believers from the churches — that rite which has no direct divine authority, ever tends to put aside. the ordinance which has the direct and explicit authority of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The Baptists feel compelled to exalt the command of their Lord above every thing that cannot show an equally high authority. They think that the principle by which they are guided is eminently adapted to honor A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 55 their Lord, and to secure a just regard for his authority. They think themselves bound, therefore, by this principle, to ignore the baptism of infants, and stedfastly to claim for all believers the privilege of obeying, without fear or embarrassment, the com- mand of their Lord to be baptized on their own, personal profession of repentance and faith. They are sometimes placed in circum- stances of. special delicacy in following out their principles. Application is frequently made for baptism at their hands, by those whom fond parents have brought to the rite in their infancy ; as also by those who, in riper years, have submitted of their own ac- cord to what they then believed to be the rite that Christ commanded. If they refuse such applications, they withhold the Sa- viour's baptism from those for whom it was designed. Yet if they administer the ordi- nance according to his command, they must 56 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. treat as a thing of no efficacy, or authority, that which, to the fond heart of some chris- tian parent, or to the minds of christian re- latives and friends, has always appeared a sacred and solemn ordinance of God. They recognize it as the part of christian cour- tesy to treat with respect the opinions and often the prejudices and errors of brethren., Yet the necessity of honoring their Lord is always paramount with them. They think themselves, bound to honor him by a careful observance of the commands that he has given. The disciple of Christ, unless he loves him more than father or mother, or brethren or friends, is pronounced by the Lord himself, unworthy of him. And he has also said : "If ye love me, keep my com- mandments." They would be wanting, there- fore, in faithfulness to Christ, were they to allow the erroneous opinions and prejudices of brethren to stand in the way of implicit obedience to. the acknowledged law of their A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 57 gracious Lord. They are sorry to incur the censures of brethren. But to their Lord they stand or fall ; they leave their judgment with him. He knows how honestly they have striven to know, and how stedfastly they have endeavored to do, what he has com- manded. Their brethren may deem them separatists, because they stedfastly follow principles which must ever hold their ground until the day for the triumph of principles arrives. But it is a small matter to be judged of men, and censured by them, if the Lord will condescend to recognize the hon- esty of their intentions, and the purity of their motives, and to speak his gracious approval of their course. THE LORD'S SUPPER. Of all the charges which have been brought against the Baptists, none has been urged with more persistency than their so- 58 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. called want of charity, in excluding from the table of the Lord so many of their chris- tian brethren. It is under the name of exclu- sion that their practice is too generally spoken of. Many persons do not see the injustice of this language. Yet, it is certainly pos- sible to draw a clear distinction between not inviting to the table, and positively exclud- ing therefrom. The latter is at least the harsher, perhaps the harshest form of ex- pressing the fact. The Baptists might per- haps be justified in suggesting that, in speak- ing of them and their practices, their breth- ren should not use a harsher form of ex- pression, while a milder and more cour- teous form lies directly at their hand. They claim that their practice, in regard to this ordinance also, is dictated by no unkind and uncharitable feeling toward their brethren ; but results necessarily from a correct scriptu- ral principle, one which they hold in common with the wisest and best of their brethren. A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 59 Principle VI. Since the ordinance of the Lord's Supper was established by Christ, those only whom he designates can properly be invited to participate. It may not be amiss to give a brief sketch of the means by which we attain to a knowl- edge of the Lord's will, in regard to this sacred ordinance. It was first established by the Saviour on the night in which he was betrayed. But there were present on that occasion only his apostles. How is it shown that the duty en- joined upon this small band becomes incum- bent on all the churches of Christ ? It would seem to be necessary, in order to prove its universal obligation, that we should have something more clear and definite than what we find in the brief narratives of the Evan- gelists. Accordingly, we find that the apos- tle Paul furnishes us with the steps by which we advance to the conclusion that this pre- cious ordinance, first given to the apostles, 60 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. was designed for all the churches of Christ. We find it in the epistle to the church at Corinth. " For I have received," he says, " of the Lord, that which I delivered unto you." 1 Cor. xi. 23. He then proceeds to give them certain rules for the proper observance of the ordinance, and certain cautions against its abuse. We may notice, in this language of the apostle : — 1. That he 'had received what he taught from the Lord Jesus Christ, and that all which he prescribes had therefore the full weight of the divine authority. 2: That the ordinance, with the rules for its observance, was given to the church* at * The Baptists are often asked how they find a scriptural argument for the admission of women to the Communion tahle. If it were as easy to estab- lish the right of infants to baptism, they would doubtless soon adopt the ceremony. The proof is suggested by the above facts. The ordinance was given to the church at Corinth by the apostle, from the Lord. It was to be observed when they came to- A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 61 Corinth, for their joint participation therein. It was not a rite to be observed by each one singly, but when they came together. 3. That it was not to be observed without due thought and proper qualifications on the part of each member of the church. It is from the example and word of the Lord, explained and enforced by his own chosen apostle, that we derive our knowledge of the ordinance, and our authority for the manner of its observance. From the fact that this ordinance is often called the Lord's Supper, it is sometimes argued that the Baptists ought to invite all who love the Lord to participate in its pri- vileges. They, however, find in this very fact, that it is the Lord's table and not their gether — all jointly participating. That there were ■wives, and widows, and other sisters in that church the apostle himself has informed us. See 1 Corin- thians, 7th chapter. The conclusion is sufficiently clear ; the proof deduced directly from the sacred Scriptures. 6 62 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLE^. own, a powerful motive for guarding against any invitation that is not in strict accordance with his will. Were it their own table, then, they might justly extend the invitation as far as their feelings prompted. Then, if they nar- rowed their invitation, they might with more propriety be taken to task. But as it is the Lord's table, they have no right to make any rule, either for the admission, or for the ex- clusion of any. They are in so sense law- makers. They are the subjects of the law of Christ, bound to invite all whom he invites, equally bound not to enlarge the invitation which he has given. In the following propositions we have the concurrence of all, except perhaps a small proportion of our brethren. The ordinance of the Lord's Supper be- longs exclusively to the churches of Christ. It was given to them for their spiritual growth, in remembering their Lord, and for the promotion of his sacred cause, by show- A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 63 ing forth his death until he comes. Its sweet and precious privileges pertain to none out- side of the churches of his saints. Of course, an invitation should be given to all who have been received into his churches, in the way that the Lord has prescribed ; and no invitation can be given, by his authority, to any who have not been thus received. All who have been received into his churches in the way that the Lord has pre- scribed — such, and only such, are the persons to be invited, by the authority of Christ, to come to the Communion table. The Baptists have striven ever to abide by that rule ; yet they do not invite many persons whom their brethren, who profess to be governed by the same, are accustomed to ask. How does it happen, that while they and their brethren both hold by the same rule, they differ so widely in their practice ? Here we are brought face to face with the real point at issue between the 64 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. Baptists and their brethren — Who have been received into his churches in the way that the Lord has prescribed ? This is the ques- tion around which all the conflict should gather. Their brethren often make side issues, but this is the point to which all inquiry- should tend. Upon the answer which is given to this question, the character of the churches of Christ depends. Are they to be composed, according to the will of the Lord, of believers alone, or are unbelievers, also, to have part and portion therein? They do the Baptists great injustice, who re- present the points for which they plead as trifling non-essentials. Few questions of deeper interest, and of more far-reaching importance, can be agitated by the disciples of Christ. Was it the design of the Lord that his churches should be kept as spiritual bodies, or did he contemplate the admission thereto of those who never professed to be- lieve with all their heart in him ? When A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 65 their brethren come to a full agreement with the Baptists on this momentous point, then they will also agree as to the proper persons to come to the Communion table. Then this long controversy will end, and we shall have a real union — a union in the truth. In our preceding remarks we have gone on, step by step, from principle to principle, and these are the conclusions to which we have arrived. The disciple of Christ is commanded, when he comes to exercise faith in the Son of God, to be baptized in his holy name. It is an act that is to follow, not to precede his faith. To be baptized, according to the meaning of the Lord, is to be immersed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Those only who have made a credible profession of their faith in the Son of God, and have been immersed upon that profes- A PLEA FOE PKINCIPLES. sion, in his holy name, have been received into his chnrches in the way that he has pre- scribed. In the principles that they have adopted, the Baptists have the sanction of the highest authorities in the world. They have not been led to their adoption by any unfriendly feeling toward their brethren. They have labored to divest themselves of all feeling except a desire to know the mind and will of their Lord. They claim, it is true, the exercise of their own reason and judgment in the adoption of principles, and in their application, in order to deduce their prac- tice. But in this they do not differ from their brethren. The right and duty of all men to search for principles, and to apply their principles when found for the shaping of their practice, is a truth which they have labored, and suffered, and died to uphold. So long as they believe their principles to be true, and their own application of them A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 67 legitimate, they cannot consistently vary their practice. It surely should not grieve their brethren that they abide with strictness by their principles. It cannot be the part of christian kindness to ask another to for- sake a course which principle enjoins, or to adopt a practice which principle forbids. Their brethren would have just grounds for censuring the Baptists were they to go be- yond the teaching of the Lord, and invite to the Communion table those who lack the qualifications that he has prescribed. The ties of kindred and friendship are dear and sacred, and within their own ap- propriate limits may justly be allowed to control our actions. But the tie by which the disciple is bound to kindred and friend, must always be held as subordinate to that which binds him to his Lord. He need not cease to love his relatives and friends when he becomes a follower of Christ. He will rather love them with a truer, deeper love. 68 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. But a higher love must always be given to Christ, if he would not place himself among the number of those whom the Saviour has declared to be unworthy of him. If then the Baptists do not invite all of their chris- tian relatives and friends to the Communion table, it is not that they love them less, but that they love the Saviour more. The}" would raise no barrier in the way which. he has not erected ; nor would they dare to throw down a barrier which he has raised. They are accustomed to invite all who have repented of sin, have believed in Christ, have been baptized in accordance with his command, and are living consistent christian lives. Do the sacred Scriptures warrant a wider invitation ? Do their brethren them- selves give one that is more full and com- prehensive ? But do not the Baptists deny to their brethren, if not in words, at least in fact, the name of Christians? By no means. They PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 69 esteem them very highly as believers in Jesus Christ. They rejoice in all their christian graced, and all their christian usefulness. But it would scarcely be consistent for them, because of the christian graces or christian usefulness of their brethren, to alter or mo- dify the teachings of their Lord. It is those who believe and are baptized whom the Lord invites. There must be both the inward character and the outward act. Their breth- ren, themselves, require not only the evi- dence of Christian character, but also what they can accept as the external act of baptism. Both, in their esteem, are necessary. The Baptists ask no more. They would fain hope, therefore, to secure from their brethren lull confidence in their professions of chris- tian regard, even though they cannot invite those, whom they regret to look upon as un- baptized, to the Lord's table. Such, in brief, are the principles which 70 A PLEA FOE PRINCIPLES. dictate, from first to last, the practice of the Baptists. If their brethren deem the princi- ples which they hold to be erroneous, or think that any of their principles are misapplied, it is competent for those who have wisdom and learning to point out wherein their error lies. To point out any error which they have held, will be the most effectual means of leading them to seek for other and better principles, or for a better mode of applying those that they hold. It has been their aim, as a denomination, to seek out carefully, and to maintain with unshaken firmness, the truth as it is in Jesus. They would gladly accept of the aid which their brethren may be able to give them, in finding that which they have not yet discovered. They long and pray for the triumph of correct principles, and their supreme sway in all that pertains to religious truth and scriptural practice. Men pass away, but principles live. Cor- rect principles are the safeguard of the cause A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. 71 of Christ, and ever tend to the glory of God. In defense of their principles, the Baptists have had many trials to bear. Burnings and banishment, fines and imprisonment, scourgings and mockery, have all" been among the familiar incidents of their lot. Their firm adherence to their principles in the midst of such trials of faith and pa- tience, are matters of history. They have had ample opportunity to learn patience by the things which they have suffered. Nor have they altogether failed to profit by the stern discipline to which they have been subjected. The work which they have per- formed as pioneers in the cause of religious freedom, and religious effort, bears ample testimony to this. Yet they, would not ask that this same stern discipline may be pro- longed. They long for the coming of that day when they may serve God in peace and quietness, according to the teachings of his 72 A PLEA FOR PRINCIPLES. own sacred word. They hope that the day may soon come when, throughout the whole world, as well as in our own land, the hand of persecution may be stayed. They would also hope that, in our own country, while their brethren meet them with arguments, as hard as the overthrow of their errors may demand, they may be exposed no longer to the reproaches and odium which they think their honest effort in all things to follow the laws of their Lord has little merited. THE END. THE ANCIENT LANDMARKS OR, BELIEF AXD BAPTISM BEFORE COMMUNION. Bi Rev. W. T. BRANTLY, P.D. PASTOR OF THE TABERXACLE BAPTIST CHURCH PHILADELPHIA . ^Ijilnfolfiljia : AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 530 AliCH STREET. The following pages were adopted as the Circular Letter of the 151st Anniversary of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, and recommended by the Association to the American Baptist Publication Society for publication. BELIEF AND BAPTISM BEFORE COMMUNION. We propose to submit, for your considera- tion at the present time, a few reasons why our churches should adhere to the practice of in- viting to the Table of the Lord only those persons whom they believe to be the baptized and orderly followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. At a time when, in consequence of our views on this subject, we are constantly assailed with the charges of exclusivism and illiberality by Christian brethren with whom we love to co-operate in prayer and other efforts intended to advance the Kingdom of Christ, it is proper for us to review tha reasons for our practice. If these be found sufficient let us maintain with renewed zeal (3) 4 BELIEF AND BAPTISM the rules by which we have heretofore been governed. Bat if we have been defending a position which a maturer and more search- ing investigation discovers to be untenable, let us as honest people abandon it, and re- lieve ourselves from the imputations under which we have so long labored. I. Our first reason for restricting these in- vitations to the persons whom we have desig- nated is, that the practice accords with the law and the testimony of the Holy ScrijJtures: We mention this as our first reason, because we hold it to be the foundation on which all arguments, entitled to our respect on this subject, must be built. Whatever may be urged in favor of the practice by other con- siderations, we should not insist upon its retention unless it be enforced by the com- mand of Jesus Christ and the practice of the Apostles. It especially becomes us, dear brethren, who profess to discard all merely human traditions and superstitions, to in- quire, when seeking the truth on this subject, BEFORE COMMUNION. 5 What is taught in the Sacred Oracles ? and to cleave only unto that doctrine which has been delivered by "holy men of old, speak- as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 1. Let us begin our inquiries on this head with the institution of the ordinance. It can be shown, beyond a reasonable doubt, that all the persons who participated on this oc- casion had been previously baptized. The administrator certainly had submitted to the ordinance. There is not the like mention of the baptism of each of the apostles. It would be unreasonable to expect records which would embrace those particulars of their history which, from the circumstances of the case, may be very properly taken for granted. "We believe that they were baptized : (1.) Because a rite which their leader deemed so important, that he submitted to it in his own person, could not have been neg- lected by any of those whom he recognized as his followers. (2.) Because those who baptized many of 1* 6 BELIEF AND BAPTISM the converts of the Lord, must themselves have been baptized, (3.) Our Lord would not, after his ascen- sion, send forth men to "baptize all nations" who were living in the neglect of that which he enjoins on others. (4.) As some ' of the apostles had been baptized by John, and as the disciples made by the personal ministry of the Saviour were baptized, all of his apostles must have been baptized. (5.) When an apostle was to be elected in the place of Judas, one of the qualifications of the candidate for the vacancy was (we may justly conclude), that he had been baptized; and reference is made to this qualification in such terms as to carry with it the strong im- plication that they had all been baptized. 11 Wherefore of these men which have com- panied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, . . . must one be ordained," &c. Acts i. 21, 22. BEFORE COMMUNION. 7 (6.) If a requisition was laid upon the con- verted Saul to be baptized before .he could' enter upon his work, a similar requisition must have been laid upon the other apostles. (7.) When our Lord was preparing to re- ceive baptism from John, he said : " Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." "We cannot suppose that he would have chosen, as the depositaries of a most important trust, those who were willfully neglecting their duty with regard to this righteousness. Can there be, then, a reasonable doubt, that the first Supper was celebrated by a baptized company ? Whether you choose to call it John's baptism, or Christian bap- tism, it is the baptism which God appointed ; and all present on this memorable occasion had submitted to the divine command. 2. The terms of the Great Commission show that baptism precedes the Supper. This is the law by which we are to be gov- erned on this subject. (See Matt, xxviii. 19 ; 20 ; Mark xvi. 15, 16.) By this charter we are 8 BELIEF AND BAPTISM directed, 1. To make a proclamation of the -Gospel ; 2. To administer baptism to be- lievers ; and 3. To instruct the baptized .in their duty to Christ. If we suppose, as we have sufficient reason for doing, that the Lord's Supper was one of the things to be taught the baptized converts, then we find the Commission clearly establishing baptism as a prerequisite to the Lord's table. It will not do to say that the Commission prescribes no particular order in which we are to pro- ceed. This argument would prove too much. For if we are at liberty to make a transposi- tion and to teach men to observe the Supper before they had been baptized, we might by the same liberty transpose a little farther, and administer baptism before there had been a profession of faith. But as no one among us will, we presume, deny that faith is an indis- pensable preliminary to baptism, so no one ought to dispense with baptism as a pre- requisite to the table of the Lord. The order of the Commission, reported in the BEFORE COMMUNION. same way by both the Evangelists, is not a matter of accident, but of design, and should be conscientiously observed by all who love the great Lawgiver. We most cordially concur in the views of Baxter, that "The paramount law of the great Institutor, the Commission, is not like some occasional his- torical mention of baptism, but is the very command of Christ, and purposely express- ed their several works in their several places and order. Their first task is, by teaching, to make disciples, which Mark calls believers. The second work is to bap- tize them. The third work is to teach them all other things which are afterward to be learned in the school of Christ. To contemn this order is to renounce all rules of order ; for where can we expect to find it, if not here ?"* 3. The practice of the apostles shows that they understood baptism to be the first duty of every believer, and therefore antece- dent to the Supper. Any one who will * Quoted in " Howell on Communion," p. 49. 10 BELIEF AND BAPTISM read the Commission, and observe the action of the apostles under this law, must be struck with their constant adherence to the order which their Divine Master enjoined. On the day of Pentecost, " when they heard this (i. e., Peter's discourse), they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. . . . Then they that gladly received his word were baptized. And they continued stead- fastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellow- ship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers." Here then we have, 1. The preach- ing of the Gospel; 2. The belief of the hearers ; 3. Their baptism ; 4. Their partici- pation of the Lord's Supper ; being one of those things which they were taught after their compliance with the preliminaries of faith and baptism. All this is in exact con- formity with the terms and the order of the BEFORE COMMUNION. 11 Commission which Peter had received from his divine Master. Again, "Philip . preached unto him Jesus. . . And the Eunuch said, See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said. If thou believest with all thy heart thou may est. And he answered and said, I be- lieve that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. . . And he baptized him." Here again we have the same order rigidly observed. Philip first preaches Jesus to his hearer. The latter then expresses his belief. Next he is baptized. Was the practice of Philip an un- designed coincidence with that of Peter, or did it spring from the same interpretation of the Commission ? Who can doubt that they understood the order to be authoritative ? When Ananias addressed the converted Saul, he did not first direct him to com- memorate the sufferings and death of his Lord ; there was a duty which took prece- dence of this requisition. He must be buried in the same watery grave in which 12 BELIEF AND BAPTISM his Saviour had been laid. He had already heard and believed the Gospel. In those memorable words which entered his soul, u I am Jesus whom thou persecutest," Saul had. heard a sermon from the skies. When his belief followed this preaching, there came the command: "And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Having been baptized, the same Jesus who had preached the sermon under which he was converted, teaches him, among the many things which he learned, that he must celebrate his sufferings and death. And when he writes to the Corinthians, en- joining this duty upon them after they had been baptized, he can speak with effect, when he says : " I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night on which he was betrayed, took bread," &c. Here we see the Son of God co-operating with his apos- tles in carrying out his own commission in BEFORE COMMUNION. 13 the order in which he delivered it. Paul hears, believes, is baptized, and learLS that he is then to "show in the Supper," the " Lord's death, till he comes," and so teaches the churches. And when this Saul, afterward a minister of the Cross, hears from the jailer the anx- ious cry — " What must I do to be saved?" he first directs him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. As the next step he does not receive the Supper, though this would have been much more convenient, in the judg- ment of some of our friends, than what was required, but he is baptized ; and one act of obedience in this case follows another so rapidly, that we see the close proximity in which Paul placed belief and baptism. But perhaps some may say: Granted that the apostles invariably administered baptism before communion, their example in this particular, is not binding upon us. We answer: When the apostles acted officially, they acted under divine direction, 1-1 BELIEF AND BAPTISM and their conduct and teaching, when so acting, are invested for us with all the au- thority of law. It is, in fact, Jesus speak- ing to us through his servants, and illus- trating by- their teaching and practice his own requisitions. Why do we feel eafe in saying to every inquirer after life, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" ? Because an inspired apostle once gave this direction to an inquirer. Why do we resist the doctrine of celibacy, as held by the Eomish church ? Because an apos- tle has pronounced marriage to be " honor- able in all." Why would we feel no hesi- tation in excommunicating a person charged with the offence for which the apostle re- commended excision to the Corinthian church? Because we hold his directions to them to be inspired, and therefore incum- bent on us. No one questions that the in- structions of the apostles on these subjects are rules by which we must be governed ; and when we find these apostles uniformly BEFOKE COMMUNION. 15 insisting on baptism before believers are in- vited to approach the table of theii Lord, we should hold this rule to be as obligatory upon us as though we had an express com- mand, in every instance, from our great Lawgiver. •i. The incidental references to baptism in the Epistles confirm what we are taught by apostolic practice, viz.: That the first visible act of homage which believers paid to Christ was baptism. Writing to the Cor- inthians, Paul addressed them in these terms: "Were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas : besides I know not whether I baptized any other."' The question in this passage assumes that every one connected with the Corinthian church had been baptized. Paul does not ask, " Have you been baptized ?" but taking this as granted, he inquires whether they had been baptized in his name. Next, he 16 BELIEF AND BAPTISM mentions several persons whom he had bap- tized, and though he is not advised of the baptism of other members, his language im- plies that they had all submitted to this or- dinance. Who, in reading this Scripture, can resist the conclusion that the church of Corinth was composed of believers who had been baptized in the name of Christ ? Now it was to those who had paid the act of homage which baptism implies, that the apostle delivered the command of his Lord respecting the Supper, "This do in re- membrance of me." In the Epistle to the Galatians we find this language: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." All the members of the church in Galatia must have put on Christ. They must therefore have all been baptized. But when did this symbolical putting on of Christ occur ? Was it before or after they partook of the Lord's Supper ? If after they had received the Supper, why is the faut BEFORE COMMUNION. 17 ignored? Why is the apostle so careful to mention the second rite whilst he omits the initiatory ordinance of the Supper? As baptism was the putting on of Christ, surely we may conclude that the symbol was indi- cated so soon as the faith symbolized existed in the heart. The putting on of Christ was the act by which they proclaimed their alle- giance to the Son of God. This of course would very naturally and properly take precedence of all those acts which are pre- scribed for those who have taken the oath of allegiance. The interpretation which we have now given of the Commission, and of the practice of the apostles, is accepted by the Christian world at large. Though some now deny that baptism is a prerequisite to communion, there has heretofore been very great una- nimity among our Pedobaptist brethren on this subject. Those who deem us so exclu- sive, recognize, in the standards of their churches and in the opinions of their ac- 2* 18 BELIEF AND BAPTISM credited expositors, the necessity of baptism before communion. " In the very depths of the Romish apostasy," says Mr. Booth, " and since the Reformation, both at home and abroad, the general practice has been to receive none but baptized persons to com- munion at the Lord's table." Says Dr. Wall, (History of Infant Bap., Part 2, Chap. 9), "No church ever gave the communion to any persons before they were baptized. Among all the absurdities that ever were held, none ever maintained that any persons should partake of the communion before they were baptized." In the -Discipline of the Methodist Epis- copal Church we have these words: "Let none be received into the church until they are recommended by a leader with whom they have met at least six months on trial, and have been baptized." In the Order of Confirmation in the Episcopal Prayer-book, baptism is a prerequisite to confirmation, and confirmation is a prerequisite to the Supper. BEFORE COMMUNION. 19 According to the Presbyterian Confession of Faith: "Baptism is a Sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, for the solemn admission of the party bap- tized into the visible church." The Lord's Supper is an ordinance "in the church"; hence, an ordinance for those whom Presby- terians believe to be baptized.- It would be easy to quote from standards and individuals in corroboration of the view which is now presented. The limits prescribed for this paper forbid. We submit, in addition, only the testimony of Dr. Griffin, a learned and eminently useful minister of the Congrega- tional Church. "I agree with the advocates for close communion on two points: 1. That baptism is an initiating ordinance, which in- troduces into the visible church. Of course, where there is no baptism, there are no visi- ble churches. 2. That we ought not to com- mune with those who are not baptized, and of course are not church members, even if we regard them as Christians. Should a 20 BELIEF AND BAPTISM pious Quaker so far depart from his princi- ples as to wish, to commune with me at the Lord's table, while he yet refused to be bap- tized, I could not receive him ; because there is such a relation established between the two ordinances that I have no right to sepa- rate them ; in other words, I have no right to send the -sacred elements out of the church." Thus, from the " law and the testimony" as understood both by ourselves and by Pedo- baptist commentators, submission . to the ordinance of baptism is an indispensable preliminary to an orderly participation of the Lord's Supper. If this point be made out, (and we humbly conceive that it is es tablished beyond successful assault), it is not really necessary for us to add any thing more. Having a " thus saith the Lord" for our practice, we may submit quietly to whatever of opprobrium it may involve. Though it cuts us off from a sacramental fellowship with multitudes whom we believe BEFORE COMMUNION'. 21 to be the children of God, and whose zeal in the service of our common Lord awakens our constant admiration and gratitude, and though it constrains us to dwell in a painful isolation, making us the " sect which is everywhere spoken against," yet we must adhere to that rule which we honestly be- lieve to have been prescribed by our Lord and his apostles. "Let it be admitted," says the gifted Hall, " that baptism is, under all circumstances, a necessary condition of church-fellowship, and it is impossible for the Baptists to act otherwise. The recol- lection of .this may suffice to rebut the ridi- cule and silence the clamor of those who loudly condemn the Baptists for a proceed- ing which, were they but. to change their opinion on the subject of baptism, their own principles would compel them to adopt. They both concur in a common principle, from which the practice deemed so offensive is the necessary result." The hypothesis of this writer is, we humbly conceive, estab- 22 BELIEF AND BAPTISM lished. " Baptism is, under all circumstan- ces, a necessary condition of church-fellow- ship." It is therefore impossible for Baptists to invite to the Lord's Supper those who have not complied with the Lord's preliminary. II. The next reason which we offer for adhering to our practice on the subject in question, is because, in so doing, we bear our testimony against those who depart from the scriptural law of baptism, both a3 to its mode and subjects. Holding baptism to be a prerequisite to the Supper, it is plain that, if we invite those who have not been im- mersed on a profession of their faith to par- take, we recognize something else besides immersion to be baptism. Most of the mem- bers of Pedobaptist churches have not, in our view, been baptized; many others have not received even that which they hold to be baptism, on a profession of their faith — the rite having been administered at an age so tender that it made no impression on their minds. To invite such persons to the Lord's BEFORE COMMUNION. 23 table, would be in effect, to say, We believe that you have complied with the terms of the Commission and with the practice of the apostles— an assertion which no Baptist could conscientiously make. In withholding our invitation, we express the convictions that their custom of adopting infants into the church, by what is termed baptism, is with- out a warrant in the Word of God ; and that their refusal to submit to the baptism which Christ appointed, disqualifies them for a scriptural participation of the Snpper. If our Pedobaptist brethren should say, this surely is magnifying the rite of baptism into very great consequence ; can the ques- tion of the application of water in a particu- lar wav, whether before or after believing, be a matter of so much moment as to pro- duce a separation at the communion table, of those who are the regenerated friends of Jesus ? We answer, that we make no more of this ordinance than did our Divine Ex- emplar — we dare not make any thing less. 24 BELIEF AND BAPTISM If he deemed it so important as to submit to it, in his own person, and that in a particular way, arid when he was in the full maturity of his powers; if that baptism was hallowed and made forever memorable by the first simultaneous appearance of the whole God- head, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, to men ; if the Son of God gave this ordi- nance so conspicuous and well-defined a place in his valedictory charge to his apos- tles; and if these apostles invariably enjoined baptism on those who believed; and if the rite be so important that they deem the fact of its observance worthy of especial record in so jiisliij instances; it is not easy for us to magnify it into an undue consequence, so long as we only insist upon it as the first duty of all who " believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." Nor do we lay a greater stress upon this ordinance than do our brethren who differ from us as to the circum- stances. We would respectfully ask, What Pedobaptist confession of faith ignores it? BEFORE COMMUNION. 25 We have seen that it is mentioned in the. standards of their churches. Which one of these churches, in practice, dispenses with it as a matter of too trivial a nature to be in- sisted upon? The truth is, that in their estimate of the ordinance, they attach to it a value greater than that which we accord. We are satisfied if it be administered to be- lievers — they administer that which they regard as baptism to 'unbelievers — to persons at an age when belief is an utter impossi- bility. If our brethren with whom we differ • on this subject should say, We have submitted conscientiously to what we believe to be baptism, and we therefore claim our place at the table; we answer, That it is Christ's table, and we have no authority to invite there any other persons than those whom we believe to have complied with Christ's con- ditions. We rejoice, dear brethren, in the evidences of piety which you exhibit ; we love to- hold spiritualuommunion with those 26 BELIEF AND BAPTISM .whose lives abound in so many good works: bat Christ has not taught us how we may hold sacramental communion with those who remain, in our view, unbaptized. It is pain- ful to us not to meet you at the table; we esteem you for your works of faith, and labors of love, but we love the Lord Jesus Christ more. Loyalty to his commands, devotion to the truth as it is in Jesus, com- pel us to withhold our invitations to the Supper. By this act we say to you, We believe, in the matter of baptism, you include subjects for which you have only the com- mandments of men, and are satisfied with an administration which the Scriptures do not recognize. III. Another reason for our position is found in the fact that we thus express our dissent from ' the practice of those churches who do not insist upon repentance and faith as a condition of admission to the table of the Lord. That multitudes of our brethren who have not complied with the other pre- BEFORE COMMUNION. 27 liminary on which we have insisted, possess, notwithstanding, the fundamental requisites of which we now speak, we rejoice to be- lieve. But at the same time there are churches in which satisfactory evidences of spiritual regeneration are not required as terms of admission to the Lord's Supper. In some of these churches, all that is re- quired after the baptism of the candidate in infancy, is his confirmation by the proper officer. This rite introduces him into full communion. Many of those who are thus introduced do not even profess to be con- verted. That we do not speak harshly on this subject, appears from the testimony of Archbishop "Whately, who says: "Confir- mation is too often so mistaken and per- verted, as to become an empty and unmean- ing form, or a dangerous snare." (" Charges and other Tracts," Lond. 1836, p. 93.) Says Dr. Smyth, an eminent minister of the Presbyterian church, when speaking of this prelatical rite of confirmation, (" Conf. 28 BELIEF AND BAPTISM Examined," p. 115), "As to any serious be- lief in the necessity of regeneration as a pre- requisite qualification, they dream not of it. They have been taught, as Bishop Mant words it, to ' believe in baptismal regenera- tion, and that there is no other regeneration,' and they now therefore confirm their belief that there is no other, by becoming communi- cants while impenitent and unconverted." So, again, it is well known that there are other churches in which persons are in- vited to the Lord's Supper, that they may be converted by the ordinance. In the terms which they prescribe for admission to the Supper, though baptism may be speci- fied, there is no distinct intimation that the candidate must have experienced the renew- ing power of the Holy Spirit. To invite such persons to the communion- table, with our principles, is to say to them, " We believe that you have been converted ■ when thanks were returned for your regener- ation in bapt : sm, we believe you passed BEFORE COMMUNION. 29 from death unto life : in connecting yourself with a Christian church, you became a Christian." We are Dot prepared to en- courage their error ; we are not prepared to sanction a violation of that law which, (as we have seen), requires belief and baptism to be antecedent to communion ; and as Ave spread the table, we must throw around it the fence which the Lord Jesus has constructed, and sav : u This is for baptized believers in his holy name.'" IV. The last reason which we assign for adhering to our practice is, that by such a course we advance most effectively, under the Divine blessing, those great principles for which we contend. If we believe our practice with regard to church communion to be scriptural, we should be obliged to rm to it, whether our views be acknowl- edged by multitudes, or by a very limited number of adherents. But when the policy vie adopt is obviously the most favorable tor the dissemination of those doctrines which ■6* 30 BELIEF AND BAPTISM are taught in the Word of God, this surely supplies an additional reason why it should he faithfully observed. It has often been said that, if restricted communion were abolished, our principles would achieve a much more speedy triumph. But the question of success or of defeat should not affect our action. We have but one inquiry — What is right? What is according to the "law and the testimony" ? Better is it for us to fail whilst clinging to the truth than to triumph (as men count triumph) whilst submitting to an error. But facts demonstrate that our views have always been most successful when we have adhered most uncompromisingly to the prac- tice of inviting to the table of the Lord only those whom we believe to be scripturally qualified. If we institute a comparison be- twixt the United States, where strict com- munion prevails, and Great Britain, where to a great extent our brethren recognize mixed communion, we shall discover that BEFORE COMMUNION. 31 our principles have progressed much more rapidly in the former than in the latter country, e. g. : In the year 1850, the number of communicants in the United States, of Baptist churches holding our views on the communion question, was 75-1,652. In Great Britain and Ireland, the total number of Baptists is reported, in the same year, to be 132,719. From this statement, copied from the Baptist Almanac of 1850, it appears that the number of Baptists in the United States is nearly six times as great as their number in Great Britain and Ireland. Difference of population does not account for the difference: for at the time of the comparison, the popu- lation of the European countries was a little greater than that of our own country. Xor is the disproportion explained by the earlier introduction of Baptist principles into this country. In this respect Great Britain has enjoyed a decided advantage. Nor can any thing be assigned in the different govern- ments of the countries as an adequate expla- 32 BELIEF AND BAPTISM nation of the fact, though we believe our government to be most favorable for the spread of a spiritual Christianity. We be- lieve the chief cause to be that which has been mentioned. Kor are we alone in this judgment. After a fair statement of the rela- tive advantages and disadvantages which the denomination has experienced in both coun- tries, Prof. Curtis well concludes, in view of the superior progress of our churches in the United States, that, "under God, this has originated in their assuming an independent and uncompromising basis; their churches being formed, not on Eobert Hall's plan of mixed membership, but upon that derived from the apostolic practice of making bap- tism a prerequisite to membership in their churches." In our own country, our Free-will Baptist brethren practice open communion. Does this promote their prosperity ? Let us see. In 1844 the whole number of Free will Baptists in the United States, was 50,634. BEFORE COMMUNION. 33 In 1858 they report 50,312. Thus it ap- pears, that in the course of fourteen years, instead of increasing, they have really de- clined in number. (See Baptist Almanac.) It will not do to say that this decline is due to their Arminianism ; for our Methodist brethren, who agree with them in this view, do not appear to have been much hindered on this account. But whilst the mixed communion Baptists of our country have lost 322 members in fourteen years, those who insist on the Kew Testament requisition have gained in the same period nearly 300,000 members. If we institute a com- parison betwixt England and Wales, we shall have a like result. The number of those who hold our sentiments in Wales is greatly larger, in proportion to the population of the country, than the number of Baptists in En- gland. The Welsh Baptists, it is well known, insist upon inviting to the communion those only who have been baptized on a profession of their faith. Thus it appears, that whether 34: BELIEF AND BAPTISM we compare the denominations holding dif- ferent views on this subject, and found in different countries, or whether we compare those pursuing these different practices in the same country, the result abundantly con- firms the position which we have taken. Yes, brethren, God has blessed us whilst we have been contending for what we believe to be the truth on this important subject. Never have our principles been so triumph- ant as in this country. Look at your own As- sociation. Though you have been frequently dismissing churches to join other Associa- tions, your number is to-day nearly three- fold as great as it was twenty years ago. We believe that one source of our prosperity has been, under God, our stedfast adherence to the teaching of Christ and his apostles, respecting the ordinances of the Christian church. And "as we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so let us walk in him ;" let us continue to contend for the faith on this subject, which we believe to have been de- BEFORE COMMUNION. oO livered to the saints ; asking on this, as on all other questions, Lord, what will thou have us do ? In the mean time let us endeavor to culti-. vate a closer spiritual communion with our brethren of every name. Let us emulate the earnest piety, the enlarged benevolence, and the self-sacrificing zeal, which they so beau- tifully exhibit in the service of that same Jesus for whom we toil. Let us, as far as we possibly can, co-operate with them in efforts for the extension of the kingdom of Christ. And when they say to us, that as vou expect to commune with us in heaven (as most assuredly we do), you ought to wel- come us to the table now ; let us remind them that there will be no table spread in heaven ; and that we can have, and do have the same communion with them on earth which we hope to enjoy, in a higher and holier degree, in that bright world where " Perfect love and friendship shall reign Through all eternity." THE PURE CHURCH CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. A. Discourse preached before the Baptist Convention of the State of Vermont, at Brandon, October 5, 1S53. Kl' LL' U 1 A N 11 AIDE N. Pastor of the Baptist Church at Button's River, "Yi ET REQUEST OF THE CO>"VENTIO?f. ^jjilnhlpljia : AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 630 ARCH STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, hy the AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, In and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. STEREOTYPED BY GEORGE CHARLES. PRINTED DT KING & BAIRD. THE PURE CIIU11C1I CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 1 Peter 11 : 5. — Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ The ancient Jews beheld in the exter- nals of their appointed worship, numerous and powerful attractions. The magnificent proportions of the edi- fice in which that worship was conducted ; its massive walls ; its grand colonnades ; its spacious courts ; its sumptuous apartments : its costly furniture ; its pompous retinue of a gorgeously robed and mitred priesthood ; its often repeated and imposing sacrifices; (3) 4 THE PURE CHURCH all conspired to invest their system with an enchanting splendor. When Jecus of Nazareth appatredas the promised Messiah, many enrolled them- selves among his followers. But to Juda- ism they still cherished, nevertheless, an undying attachment. Though the orb of that economy, while they yet looked upon it, was sinking into the night of the past, their eyes lingered on the varied hues of the mellow twilight, and they saw in them a glory, which, to their ardent imaginations, surpassed the pure and spreading effulgence of the gospel dawn. This mischievous illusion, adapted to " corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ," and to ensnare their affec- tions "to weak and beggarly elements," the Apostles timely discerned, and with becoming prudence and energy, sought to dispel. The external splendor of the old dispensation, they did not deny; but an CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 5 internal splendor, greatly transcending it, they discovered in the spirituality of the new. During the Ions; nisjht-time of anti- qnity, the brightest star in the firmament, they cheerfully conceded, was Judaism: but when the world was flooded with the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, the brilliancy of that star faded and disappeared. :i If THE MINISTRATION OF DEATH was glo- rious," says Paul, "which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministra- tiox of the Spirit be rather glorious ? For if the ministration of condemnation be odorv, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory ! For even that which was made glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is doxe away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." Mind excels matter. The moral purity- of tl^e soul outshines the splendor of the 6 THE PURE CHURCH sun. So the spirituality of the new eco- nomy, glows with a divine radiance, im- measurably surpassing the outward pomp and Hare of the old. Did the magnificence of the tempk, a mere material fabric, enchain the heart of the Jew ? A nobler temple is the church, a a spiritual house," built up of "living stones." Was there enshrined in the breast of the Israelite, an ineffaceable veneration for the Aaronic priesthood ? A more illustrious priesthood is that of Christ — and under Him, the church of Christ, every member of which, by "an unction from the Holy One," is solemnly consecrated to the sacerdotal office. Was the daily immolation of ani- mal life by Jewish priests, a sacrifice to be revered? A more acceptable oblation is the one great offering of the Son of God upon the cross for our sins ; and the daily offering of the redeemed, the holocaust of the "hidden man of the heart" — a CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 7 "spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." The grand characteristic of the kingdom of the Messiah, then, is its Spirituality ; a glorious element, which serves to distin- guish it, not only from Judaism, but from heathenism ; nay, even from the corrup- tions of Christianity itself. A church of Christ, as far as it is conformed to the scriptural model, uncontaminated by error, unperverted by tradition, unpolluted by connection with the principalities and pow- ers of this world, and uninvested with the meretricious trappings of papal Rome, — such a church, I say, is characterised by spirituality. In a word, a pure church is a Spiritual Church. i In maintaining this position, I would first observe that, a pure church is spiritual in its membership. The materials of which it is composed, are all endowed with spi- 8 THE PURE CHURCH ritual vitality. Such is the teaching of the text. Metaphorically viewed, the church is represented as a temple. Christ, the foundation, is a living stone: "To whom coming as unto a living stone." But, hy the same omnipotence which breathed life into Adam's nostrils, this vital principle is sent up from the foundation, throughout every part of the edifice. Hence, each particular stone is pronounced * lively,' or rather ' Iking.' Each stone being ani- mated, the whole house is animated - : "Ye are built up a spiritual house." The effect of this animating principle, Paul describes as a growth: "In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord ; in whom ye also are builded together, for an habitation of God through the Spirit." The result is, that all the materials, whether considered sepa- rately as isolated stones, or collectively as a magnificent buildiug, are ■ vivified with CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. \) spirituality. The church, throughout its entire membership, being animated with the Spirit of Christ, is itself spiritual. A glorious transformation has been wrought. Once, the materials of this church were dead : now, they are alive ; once, in bondage under the elements of this world : but now, delivered. The Son has made them free, and they are free indeed. Once, they " walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of dis- obedience." Xow, they have received, "not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that they might know the things that are freely given to them of God." Once, they had their " conversation in the lusts of the flesh; fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Xow, their "conversation is in 10 THE TRUE CHURCH heaven." "The Spirit itself beareth wit- ness with their spirit, that they are the children of God." Their minds are re- newed. The old man is put off. The new man, created after God in righteous- ness and true holiness, is put on. They are "led by the Spirit," are "after the Spirit," and do "mind the things of the Spirit." They bear his image and superscription. They are regenerate, holy, heavenly. "Ye are a chosen generation," says Peter, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light ; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." How clearly every epithet, every contrast, and every varied form of expres- sion, involves the doctrine of the spiritu- ality of the membership in the church ! CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 11 To the same effect, is the testimony of the Faithful and True Witness, at the tribunal of Pilate : " My kingdom is not of this world Xow is my kingdom not from hence." Such, then, in an uncorrupted church, is its membership. Spirituality is their distinguishing endowment. Xow, as the entire membership is spiritual, the minis- try, being a component of the church, must be spiritual. It follows, moreover, by a law of congruence, that the ministry shall be spiritual in an eminent degree. "When all the rank and file that compose an army, must be distinguished for hero- ism, much more must the same quality distinguish their chief. TVTien, in the animal economy, the hand, the foot, and every member must possess vitality, much more must the living principle animate the heart and the head. When the whole church is a priesthood of saints, "an holy 12 THE PURE CHURCH priesthood," all having received the "anoint- ing which teacheth all things," Jiow copious and fragrant should he the divine unction of their examplars and overseers! Both the memhership in general, then, and the ministry in particular, must be spiritual ; renewed by the Holy Ghost, enjoying his influences, graces, and gifts. Here we discover the true bounds, with- in which, a church of Christ must be cir- cumscribed. She may " enlarge the place of her tent, stretch forth the curtains of her habitation, lengthen her cords and strengthen her stakes ;" yet she may never stretch herself beyond her measure. She may never surpass the limits of visible spiri- tuality. But spirituality, visible or invisi- ole, is not yet universal. Ko zone so salubrious, no Eden so well dressed, no tract of country so exempt from the wiles of the serpent, as to contain exclusively a holy people. Under the most propitious CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 13 sky, and on the most thoroughly fallowed soil, tares thrive as well as wheat. Hence, a pure church cannot be territorial. Neither theoretically nor practically, can she include wdthin her pale, the entire population of a given area, let that area be either narrow or broad. Away, then, with territorial organiza- tions. Away with establishments — pro- vincial, state, national, and ecumenical — as of Scotland, England, Greece, and Rome. Away with that ostentatious nomenclature, which appropriates to a sect, or to the clergy of a sect, territorial names ; which. in an exclusive sense, styles some particular communion, in a given region, the church of that region ; — which singles out, in the same local section, here and there a min- ister, perhaps a worthy one, perhaps other- wise, as pre-eminently its bishop; — the bishop, for instance, of Massachusetts, the bishop of ISTew York, or the bishop of 2 L4 THE PURE CHURCH Vermont. If in the forum of modesty, uhese high-sounding assumptions escape an indictment, yet inevitably are they arraigned at the tribunal of the Gospel. There they must answer to the grave charge of banding together, in a perpetual conspiracy, to remove the ancient land- marks from between the church and the world. It needs not the prescience of a seer, to predict with unerring certainty, that with Jesus as the judge, and the twelve apostles as the jury, the verdict must be — guilty. II. As the church unalloyed, is spiritual in membership, so it is spiritual in doctrine. The uncompromising enemy of tumult and sedition ; the steadfast friend of wholesome government; the efficient patron of law and order; the church, nevertheless, has no distinctively political principles. It espouses no political creed. It strikes CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 15 bauds with no political party. It weds no particular system of civil government. Nor are its principles literary or scien- tific. On every department of learning tliey shed, indeed, a genial influence ; but are themselves another system. The beams of noonday permeate, warm, and enlighten the atmosphere, yet partake not of its pro- perties, but retain the luminous element which they receive from the sun. So gos- pel doctrines traverse and illuminate the firmament of politics, science, and liter- ature, partaking not of their properties, but distinguished by a divine nature which they receive from the Father of Lights. Philosophy may change her dog- mas ; Science, her theories ; Literature vary like the hues of the chameleon : now may flourish the tenets of the Peripatetics ; now of Bacon ; now the system of Ptolemy, and now again of Copernicus : Archaeo- logy may wring from the shriveled hands 16 THE PURE CHURCH of hoary Time his choicest relics; and Geology disembowel the earth, to inspect its entrails and divine new theories. But what of it ? Daylight is unchanged. Rays from the - eternal throne are unchanged. Here and there, the beams may be sepa- rated by a prism, converged by a lens, or reflected by a mirror ; yet the light from on high ever shines in its own unborrowed brightness — is ever resplendent with its own native lustre. III. A pure church is spiritual in its Worship. " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers, shall worship the Father, in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth." The " living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spirit- ual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 17 Christ." Their sacrifice of prayer is spiri- tual : "I will pray with the Spirit." Their sacrifice of. praise in sacred song is spiritual : " Teaching aud admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Their preaching is spiritual : ""We are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." Even their symbolic worship is spiritual — baptism and the Lord's supper. The out- ward signs, indeed, are physical ; but by a divine constitution they become to be- lievers the exponents of spiritual truth. And from this, their relation to truth, they are used in acts of worship, exclusively in a spiritual sense. Think of these central fatts of the Gospel — Death and the Resur- rection. Trace out their several ramifica- tions : the literal death and resurrection of Christ; the literal death and resurrection 18 THE PURE CHURCH of believers in Christ ; and their metaphor- ical death and resurrection — their death and burial to sin, involving a cleansing from guilt, and their resurrection to a new and holy life. As often as a new believer, personally and voluntarily answers, in the baptismal burial, " a good conscience to- ward God," how appositely and impressively is every portion of this fundamental truth avouched and taught, " Buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so even we also should walk in newness of life." Think of that vital doctrine, the Atonement — the Saviour's body and blood, considered as the source and support of spiritual life. How vividly is this essential truth declared and com- memorated by the solemn participation of the bread and the cup ! The authoritative injunction is, " This do, in remembrance of me." "For as often as ve eat this bread CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 19 and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." The appointed worship with symbols, then, is spiritual ; eminently so, inasmuch as their lawful use is limited to spiritual persons. Bites are not the germ of vitality in the "living stones," but the manifes- tation. Even the initiatory rite of the church, originates nothing. Baptism is not a friction-match, smeared with phosphor- ated grace, to be dextrously plied by con- secrated fingers, for lighting up a piety "not seen as yet;" but is the vivid corrus- cation of an internal fire already visibly glowing — a fire kindled by the breath of Him, who consumed the drenched sacrifice on the Tishbite's altar. IV. So far we have seen that a pure church is spiritual in its constitution and economy; particularly in its membership, doctrines, and worship. But I go further. 20 THE PURE CHURCH Such a church is spiritual, considered in reference to any and every other object, internal and external. That is, a pure church is spiritual in all its relations. Toward its own individual members its relations are spiritual. It is not related to them as a householder to his family, or a corporation to the stockholders, or a state to its citizens ; but as the church triumph- ant, to the saints before the throne. In the economy of grace, " we know no man after the flesh." The relations of the church to Christ, are spiritual. Does it sustain to him a relation, analogous to that of the branch to the vine, the wife to the husband, the body to the head, a temple to its foun- dation, or a kingdom to its sovereign? None of these are the relations of nature, but all of grace ; none external and tem- poral, but all internal and spiritual ; " Yea, though we have known Christ after the CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 21 flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." Of the same character are the relations of the church to the unrenewed world ; the relations of light to darkness, of the living to the dead, of animated stones to stones inanimate. Carnal relations, the church knows not. " There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female ; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." She sustains no peculiar affinity to any particular race, Mongolian, African, Caucasian, or even Abrahamic. Her law of succession is not natural, nor prelatic, but spiritual. ■ Parentage in Christ's house, is spiritual parentage; births, are spiritual births ; children are spiritual children. Natural consanguinity has there no lawful place. If it enters, it enters not by the door, but climbs up some other way. If it gains a footing within, it 22 THE PURE CHURCH gains it, not by equity, but by usurpation. Hereditary affinities, hereditary rights, and hereditary privileges, are suited to Caesar's kingdom only ; not to Christ's. And the law is, " Render unto Caesar, the things which are Caesar's ; and unto God, the things that are God's." In this matter, the church is distinguished, not only from the governments of this world, but from the ancient theocracy of the Jews. An essential element in that theocracy, was natural inheritability. "I will estab- lish my covenant between me and thee," said Jehovah to Abraham, "and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an ever lasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting pos- session; and I will be their God."* By * Gen. xvii. 7, 8. CHARACTERISED DY SriRITUALITY. 2S the terms of this compact — a compact which was afterward fully unfolded in the Mosaic economy — Abraham and his natu- ral posterity in a particular line, were re- ceived by the Lord into a peculiar relation. But this relation was external and temporal only ; not spiritual and permanent.* For as to duration, the covenant itself — and consequently the relation involved — was to be commensurate only with the possession, by Abraham's descendants, of the land of Canaan. Both the "possession" and the "covenant" are styled "everlasting;" that is, while one was continuing, the other would continue. Whenever one should expire, the other would expire. Xot with exact precision, indeed, but essentially, each would survive for the same protracted though limited period of time. The here- ditary " token of the covenant," was cir- cumcision ; — to Abraham " a seal of the * Heb. vii. 18, 19. 24 THE PURE CHURCH righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised;" but to uncon- scious infants, not a seal of their faith, nor of the faith of their parents, but a badge of their inherited privileges in that external covenant. As was indicated by this badge, the peculiar advantages of the covenant in question, were transmitted from father to son, by the law of physical descent. But as, in the visions of the Apocalypse, from the face of him who sat on the great white throne, the heavens and the earth fled away, and there was found no place for them, so when the King of Glory ap- peared in the flesh, and assumed his seat upon his holy hill of Zion, " to be the head over all things to the church," hereditary affinities, privileges and rights, together with the dispensation to which they be- longed, all quickly vanished, to reappear no more forever.* Then was ratified, as * Heb. viii. 6—13. CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. *2i) the visible constitution of a new economy, the Covenant of Grace. The rudiments of this covenant had early been given to Abraham and to Isaac, in the promise of the Messiah.* But unlike the "covenant of circumcision," with which it never was incorporated, it was in its inception, is now, and must remain to all generations, exclu- sively spiritual. f Accordingly all its pe- culiar privileges follow the line of spiritual descent only — the line of Abraham's true "seed through the righteousness of faith. ; 't "Were it otherwise, were an unconscious infant, by virtue of the piety of its parents, to bear some special affinity to the Gospel Covenant, such an affinity, too, as to be entitled to it3 distinguishing badge, how irresistible would be the inference, that grace is subject to a law of physical entail ! How inevitable the doctrine, that piety, * Gen. xn, 3 ; xxii. 18; xxvi, 4. f Gal. iii, 8, 9, 14—18. J Rom. iv, 13—18; Gal. iii. 29: John viii, 39. 3 26 THE PURE CHURCH like consumption, flows presumptively at least, in the family line ! How obvious the deduction, that, by some occult dia- thesis, the rudiments of salvation run in the blood ! " But what saith the Scripture?" Abra- ham is " the father of all them that be- lieve ;" not of such as are incapable of faith. " The children of the flesh, these are not the children of God." Natural descent, then, is excluded — lineal inheritance, set aside. Relationship in the household of Christ is not carnal, but spiritual. " The children of the Church," are not the fruit of the body, but the offspring of a heavenly birth — " "Wliich were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." All her children are " taught of the Lord." All have " received the Spirit by the hearing of faith." Her new-born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby." CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 27 Will it be objected to this doctrine, that it wears toward our helpless offspring, "a cold and forbidding" aspect? The very reverse. It strips, indeed, from the de- pendent little one, the threadbare robe of an antiquated tradition, but tenderly wraps it in the fresh, sweet swaddling-bands of parental affection, fidelity and hope ; and, bearing it upward in the arms of faith and prayer, lays it, a priceless offering, on the Saviour's altar. It espies the lovely infant, in its pitchy rush ark, where maternal so- licitude has carefully placed it, among the flags, on the brink of " that ancient river, the river" Delusion ; and clasping it with a compassionate embrace, summons yearning Piety, and says to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And it questions not that in due time this Moses, drawn from the wa- ters, shall be qualified by assiduous instruc- tion, succeeded by a divine impulse, to 28 THE PURE CHURCH identify himself voluntarily with chosen Israel, and go forth with the ransomed hosts to the true Canaan. It declines to convey the child to the font, "which can never make the comers thereunto perfect, as pertaining to the conscience ; " but car- ries it directly to the bosom of Him, who once took up infants in his arms, laid his hands on them, blessed them, and benignly said, " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." Let republican America be charged, if it must be so, with indifference to the chil- dren of her land, because she withholds from them the freeman's oath, until they can receive it voluntarily and understand- ingly. But let not the charge be brought against a church, that she assumes a bear- ing of indifference toward the offspring of her members, because, while she inculcates the strictest parental fidelity, she adminis- CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 29 ters not that far more sacred oath — the oath of allegiance to the Great King — until she discovers a preparation to receive it, both with the understanding and the heart. The several considerations to which we have adverted, may serve to indicate 1. The scriptural criterion of a true church; namely, Spirituality. As is the spirit- uality of any church, so is its triteness. Whatever church, considered as a house, is most thoroughly charged with this vital element; whatever church is built upon the living foundation and of living stones, offering sacrifices pre-eminently spiritual, and consequently most " acceptable to God by Jesus Christ;" whatever church excels in spirituality of membership, of doctrine, of worship, and of relations, — such a church, I say, beyond all others, is scriptu- rally true. On the contrary, any particular church, in proportion to its want of spirit- 3* 30 THE PURE CHURCH uality, is scripturally antichristian, or, in other words, false. Will the trueness of a church be argued, however, on the ground that she traces up her existence to a remote antiquity? As well, for a similar reason, might manhood be predicated of a mummy. Will the unbroken succession of regular orders in the ministry be urged ? As well might the plea be advanced, that the bandages are unbroken with which this mummy is en- wrapped. The mummy was once a man. Centuries on centuries ago, it lived, moved, breathed, and sustained the various rela- tions of genuine manhood. Even now, it exhibits the outlines of the human form. It possesses human members ; the head, the hands, the feet, all symmetrically ar- ranged in their appropriate positions. Xo one can say that the blood of this mummy is not now coursing his own veins. Why not then pronounce the mummy a man ; CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY, 61 since, undeniably, many ages before we were born, it was a member of the race, — to us, perchance, an ancestral member, — and since it retains to the present time the general figure of a man ? Because it lacks life. Long, long ago, history, paleology saith not when, the spirit fled. The clayey tenement, however, remained. By an un- interrupted existence, it has continued, in form unbroken, to this day. But obvi- ously it is not now a man. It is mere inanimate dust. Some particular ecclesiastical organiza- tion mav boast of having existed as a church in primitive times, and of having descended in an uninterrupted course, through the long succession of intervening centuries, to the present day. But if this ancient confraternity has been abandoned by the Spirit of Truth ; if it cherishes " a show of wisdom in will-worship, after the doctrines and commandments of men ;" if 32 THE PURE CHURCH it is bound about with unscriptural cere- monies, canons, and the like — in a word, if vitality is gone, it is no longer a true church, but an unseemly mockery. 2. Our subject may serve, furthermore, like the astronomical observations of a ship on her voyage — to indicate, beloved fathers and brethren, our true denomina- tional position. Shoulder to shoulder, with the whole " sacramental host of God's elect," we maintain unmutilated, the com- mon standard of evangelical truth. Not boastingly, but in humble sinceiity, we would proclaim to all people our unwaver- ing purpose, "not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified :" to " preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." But in preaching a crucified Saviour, we are pained to discover, that a distinguish- CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 33 ing principle of his life-giving gospel, is extensively overlooked ; — the doctrine of the complete spirituality of the church. On us especially, if not exclusively, de- volves the high trust of maintaining this heaven-given doctrine in its original purity. As we revere the authority of the King hi Zion, as we prize his precious truth, as we desire acquittal at his har, we would not, we dare not neglect this trust. Besides, if with this necessity laid upon us, we altogether hold our peace, where is the place whence " enlargement and deliv- erance" shall arise ? Who shall proclaim the scriptural distinction between the two Abrahamic covenants, — the covenant of circumcision, external and temporal, and the covenant of grace, internal and spirit- ual ? "Who contend, that, under the gospel economy, none but a voluntary and responsible agent can be the subject of any religious duty? "Who teach that univer- 34 THE PURE CHURCH sally in theory, and (unavoidable mistakes excepted,) universally in practice, the temple of the new dispensation must be huilt up exclusively of " living stones ?" "Who maintain that the reception of the sacred symbols must invariably follow — never precede — the manifestations of spi- ritual life ? Who vindicate the position, that, in the initiatory symbol, a personal spiritual faith in the resurrection — that grand corner-stone of Christianity — must be voluntarily and intelligently avowed? Who sustain the incorrupt doctrine, that, as regards sacredness, the two symbolic ordinances are equal ; and, as an obvious consequence, that, whoever scripturally receives the first, may then, — though not until then, — receive the second? "Who assert and defend the momentous principle that spirituality — this unseen electricity of the heart — travels downward from genera- tion to generation, not in the highway of CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 35 flesh and blood, but along the telegraphic line of the new birth? Touching these vital sentiments, were we to seal our lips in silence, from what Anathoth would the faithful Jeremiahs rise to hear the impera- tive "word from the Lord?" — "Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them ; diminish not a word." Yet the assertions have sometimes been hazarded, that, as a denomination, we are devoid of distinguishing principles — that we are grounded on non-essentials — that we contend merely for forms and shad- ows — and that the only question at issue, is the insignificant circumstance of the quantity of water in the baptismal ordi- nance ; or, as it has been tartly expressed, "the mere mode of a mode." These seve- ral imputations, charity, which "hopeth all 36 THE PURE CHURCH things, and endureth all things," would prefer to attribute, not so much to the spleen of malignity, as to the short-sighted- ness of mistake. The eye has been caught with the glitter of the symbols ; the prin- ciples which underlie the symbols, it has failed to discover. Mistake, however, admits of correction. For this purpose, shall a single illustration suffice ? Go then with me, in imagination, to the shore of the ocean. Descry far off that gallant ship of the line, joyously plow- ing the bosom of the deep. Her " star- spangled banner," the symbol of her na- tionality, floats proudly in the breeze. She encounters a foe, sailing under a different flag, bearing different devices. A bloody action begins. Broadside after broadside is given and received. Her oaken hull trembles. Carnage and death rage on her deck. Is there no relief? She has but to strike that flag, and instantly the contest CHARACTERISED BY SPIRIT UALITT". 37 shall cease. But she refuses to strike. The flag still floats on high. What then ? Does she contend for non-essentials ? for mere devices and emblems ? for the quan- tity or cut of the linen in her flag ? Who is ignorant that she regards her flag, not as indued in its texture or form with a latent or mysterious value, hut merely as the appointed symbol of her national relations and principles — that these relations and principles, not the flag which waves from her mast, distinguish her from her rival — and that for these, and these alone, she really contends ? Now the particular religious rite which constitutes the universal badge of our com- munion, contains no latent, no mysterious value. It is merely the gospel flag, ap- pointed of heaven as the distinctive banner of a pure Church, the true symbol of her spiritual relations and spiritual principles. And like as our navy is expected to sus- 4 38 THE PURE CHURCH tain untarnished the flag of our country, so we endeavor to sustain unmutilated the distinctive banner of our Saviour. But the glorious affinities which that banner proclaims — affinities to Christ, and through him to his people — these are our rock and our fortress. The vital truths symbolized, truths essential to the purity and integrity of Christianity, these are our joy and our crown. Yet, would to God that all his dear chil- dren in the great family of the redeemed, were really in as close proximity to us, as the imputations in question seem to imply ; that not a veil, ay, not a shadow were lin- gering between us ! "With what profound emotions of joy unfeigned, would we greet them ! Not with the misgivings of hesita- ting Isaac, would we doubtingly ask, " Art thou my very son Esau?" but with the yearning heart of Isaac assured, we would say in tones of tenderness, " Come near, CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 39 now, and kiss me, my son." "We would throw around them the arms of our affec- tion, clasp them to our swelling bosoms, and weep upon their necks a great while, as Joseph wept over his once estranged, but then reconciled brethren. "We would hold them, and not let them go, until we had brought them into our " mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived" us. Our pensive spirits, cheered as was the harassed and tempest- tossed Apostle's, when his brethren "came to meet him as far as Appii Forum," would "thank God and take courage." 3. We discover, in the light of our sub- ject, the appropriate sphere of the whole militant church. It is the entire field of spiritual truth, duty, privilege, and influ- ence. The mechanical construction of the eye, denotes that it is formed as the organ for sight. So the spiritual construction of 40 THE PURE CHURCH the Church of Christ,, demonstrates that she is formed as the organ for all things "per- taining to life and godliness." Her grand design, worthy of the combined energies of the whole host of heaven, is to rescue a lost world ; to snatch immortal beings from the jaws of the pit; to invest them with the spotless robe of the righteousness of Christ ; guide them heavenward, and en- throne them with the Lord in glory. T conducting this godlike enterprise, she be- gins " where Satan's seat is," — in the very- core of moral turpitude, — the individual heart. From the deadly Upas of depravity, which thence towers toward heaven, other agencies may lop off here and there a bough, but she, divinely commissioned, passes on directly to the trunk, and with the axe of truth, hews down the tree and extirpates the roots. The spring of nox- ious waters which flows forth from the soul, and, not unlike the fountain of CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 41 Jericho in the days of Elisha, overspreads the moral soil with spiritual sterility and death, other agencies may divert into new, and perhaps subterraneous channels ; but from the cruse of the gospel, she casts into this deadly spring the healing salt of renewing and purifying grace, that there shall not be thence any more sterility or death. How promising, how gladdening, then, is the work of the Church ! How valuable beyond all price ! " He who converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins." How acceptable her sacrifice to God by Jesus Christ ! How well approved in heaven ! " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." "Who, if not effectually enslaved and infatuated by the god of this world, would not aspire to 4* 42 THE PURE CHURCH the high rank of " a living stone," fit to be laid in the walls of the spiritual temple ? Who, if not stultified by the grand De- ceiver, would not account " a place and a name in the Lord's house, better than sons and daughters?" What tongue, if not wholly palsied by sin, would not emulate the strains of the bard of Israel, and sweetly sing, "One thing have I desired of the Lord ; that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple?" What individual of our favored race, if nourishing in his bosom a particle of genuine love to God, would not gladly identify himself with the Church; and, marshaled among her militant hosts, reso- lutely come " to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty ?" The Church, considered not only as the appointed agent of God for conducting CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 43 souls to glory, but even as the effective means for purifying and blessing the world, is entitled to universal esteem and love. By healing the fountain, she heals the stream. By renewing the heart, she renews the entire individual man. By renovating individual after individual, she renovates the race. " Ye are the light of the world." "Ye are the salt of the earth." Hence, in every true reformatory enter- prise, she may rightfully demand — and if true to her Head, to mankind and herself, will really demand, and unhesitatingly as- sume — the precedence ? An engine of vast capacities, placed by the arm of Jehovah on the railway to the city of the Living God, she sends forward now and then, indeed, some little hand-car of human en- deavor to clear the track ; but presently, impelled by a potent, though invisible energy, she sweeps majestically along, 44 THE PURE CHURCH drives aside her petty harbinger, and draws not only crowds of passengers, but, at- tached to the rear, every car of true philan- thropy — a long and stately train ! Let not the sincere friend of humanity, then, whose heart glows with benevolent affection for the ignorant, the despised and the oppressed, be insidiously enticed, in an evil hour, to join in the insane cry, " Down with the Church !" Let no man, unless his heart is the heart of a fiend, gloat over her imperfections, whether fancied or real. In the evening of her depression, when the Lord " covers the daughter of Zion with a cloud, and casts down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel," let there be none to " clap their hands and hiss, and wag their heads," and tauntingly ask, "Is this the city that men call The Perfection of Beauty, The Joy of the whole Earth?" But let every harp be hung upon the wil- CHARACTERISED BY SPIRITUALITY. 45 lows. From all eyes " let tears run down like a river." From every heart let the sentiment break forth, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my light hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." And when, with the progress of her nisrht-time, the cloud of her covering begins to break away, revealing in her firmament the day-star of hope, let that brilliant star be eagerly hailed, a3 the herald of the auspicious morning, when her animated walls, slowly and toilsomely built up, shall be carried to their grand completion ; and when, by the right hand of the Most High, the head-stone thereof shall be brought forth; while all worlds, transported with joy, shall swell their mighty shoutings of " Grace, grace, unto it!" THE END. A PEDOBAl'TIST CHURCH m HOME FOE A BAPTIST. AN ARGUMENT ADDRESSED TO THOSE VTHO ARE BAPTISTS TX SENTIMENT. BIT VTEO CONIEMPLATE RECEIVING IMMERSION FROM PEDOBAPIISIS. OR JOINING WITH THEM IN CHURCH FEIIOWSHIP. BY ROBERT T. MIDDLEDITCH, Pastor of the Shrewsbury Church, Eedbank, 1*. J. &£r.:2sr.:S PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, US ARCH STREET. A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. INTRODUCTION. Should a reader of the Bible, unskilled in the controversies of the age, go forth on the Sabbath by the river side, and see a minister, after leading the solemn devotions of a large assemblage, go down into the water, and, in the hallowed name of the Trinity, bury a fellow- being in baptism, his heart would be naturally touched with the solemn beauty of the scene. But he would certainly receive a very unplea- sant impression by learning, afterwards, that the act in which the administrator had engaged, was performed by him, not from a belief of its having any peculiar acceptability with God, but in order to satisfy the erring conscience of man. He would be still more surprised if in- formed that the candidate, who believed obe- dience to Christ rendered this observance impe- 3 4 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH rative. had needlessly sought the services of an administrator who, so far from personally view- ing it with favor, regarded it as originating in ignorance or weakness, if not in formality and bigotry, and himself neither had submitted, nor would submit to the ordinance. The plea for this inconsistent course, by both parties, is charity. Christian men are often willing to incur odium on any account more readily than by a charge of uncharitableness to the opinions of others. It should, therefore, occasion no surprise that in the excess of unre- gulated Christian zeal, some, who are Baptists by conviction, are willing to throw the mantle of charity over their unbaptized brethren; and thus, while hiding the supposed nakedness of their faith, not only flatter themselves in their own eyes, but obtain great estimation with others of similar opinions. On the same plea of charity to a " weak bro- ther," many unimmersed Pedobaptist ministers consider themselves justified in administering baptism contrary to their own views of proprie- ty. Paul never attained to such a charity as this course of procedure indicates. He taught those among whom he had labored, to abstain NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 5 from a course by which a brother " stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak;" and with re- gard to the observance or non-observance of certain days, he says, " Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." He, however, knew nothing of that fallacious charity, which would foster a brother's delusion, or become a partaker of it. Abstinence, from respect to a brother's conscience, is a very different thing from action. When we go beyond the bounds which the inspired Apostle prescribes, so far from exhibiting true Christian charity, we be- tray a laxness of principle which must be high- ly offensive to the Head of the Church. All Christians ought to obey the Apostolic exhortation, " Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good, unto edification." This, however, cannot be quoted in defence of an ir- regular administration of immersion; for few ministers who reject Baptist sentiments think there is anything "good," or tending to "edi- fication," in the act of a believer's being "bu- ried with Christ in baptism." If the writings of Pedobaptists are to be re- garded as an exponent of their principles, many of them believe " Sprinkling the only mode of 6 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH Baptism." The Rev. Dr. Peters has lately is- sued a work with this very title. Another, with extraordinary biblical perceptions, has disco- vered that "Baptists can produce neither ex- press command, nor an undeniable example of baptism by immersion in the Bible." Not a few, it is to be presumed, agree with the Rev. Dr. Murray, in his opinion of immersion : " To insist on it, is like Popery in this respect — it teaches for doctrines the commandments of men." Such writers, no doubt, believe immersion a service which God has not required at then* hands, and- would refuse to administer the or- dinance. Others, however, professing precise- ly the same opinion, engage in the service ; al- though, according to their own consciences, they are acting in a similar way to those who were guilty of offering "strange fire" before the Lord. One writer, whom we have quoted, has re- corded his opinion of immersion, that "with too many it is the one thing needful." Another writes, " the native tendency of the doctrine is to superstition and abuse." The countenance and high honors which have been awarded them NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 7 by their brethren, and that portion of the reli- gious press under Pedobaptist influence, affords reason for the belief, however unwelcome to Baptists, that these sentiments are entertained by the majority of Pedobaptists. To adminis- ter immersion with such views, so far from be- ing in accordance with Christian liberality, is positive wickedness. As well might a Protes- tant pastor endeavor to relieve a burdened soul by extreme unction, as Y>j thus conniving at immersion, and taking an active part in what he holds is not only a " superstition and abuse," but one which tends to foster " arrogance and exclusion." If any man is not satisfied that immersion is of Divine authority, he must believe that it is an invention of men. In this case there is aw- ful sacrilege in administering the ordinance. The use of "the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost," in an observance which it is thought the Sacred Three do not re- gard with complacency, would fill any truly Christian mind with horror. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." A sincere Pedobaptist minister in sprinkling a child, upholds an observance in which he has 8 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH faith. Although a Baptist may consider his defence of the rite altogether insufficient to jus- tify it, he will yet respect him for carrying his belief into practice in a prayerful and orderly manner. Far different, however, is the effect likely to be produced when that minister re- nounces what he believes the true or preferable mode of baptism, for what he regards as but a pernicious form. In baptism, a believer presents a penitential, grateful, and confiding surrender of himself to Jesus Christ. A glaring inconsistency is evi- dent when a servant of the Saviour makes him- self an instrument in the solemn dedication of a soul to his Lord, without any conviction on his part of the obligation, propriety, or accept- ableness of the service. In the whole transac- tion he is an automaton. In pronouncing the form employed in baptism he degrades himself as a minister of Christ. Instead of appearing as the living minister of a living faith, he acts in a way which does little to "magnify" his of- fice, for he is scarcely more to be accounted of in the spiritual house than the Organ in the material — that of an auxiliary to a worship in which no interest is felt. The difference is cer- NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 9 tainly in favor of the latter instrument. The vast pipes which are under the direction of man will give forth a harmony of sounds which causes the breast to heave with emotion, and throws a subduing spell over the soul; while the performance of him into whom God has breath- ed the breath of life, will only awaken emotions of contempt or pity. Far better will the life- less Organ harmonize with its employment, than will the soul of the minister with the office he assumes. "Why then should a Christian believer, who desires to be baptized after the example of his Lord, in order "to fulfill all righteousness," make application to such a minister for immer- sion ? Why thus invite him to sin by perform- ing an act in which he has no faith, or in which, at best, he is a mere automaton, the passive in- strument of another's will, in administering the most solemn act of Christian worship under Heaven ? 10 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH CHAPTER I. PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH RELATIONSHIP ON THE PART OF IMMERSED BELIEVERS, INCOMPATIBLE WITH NEW TESTAMENT REQUIREMENTS. "Ye are not your own," is one of the first truths which a ransomed sinner must recognize upon his adoption into the family of God, Bought with a price which cannot be computed by arithmetical rules, henceforth he is to set the Lord always before him, and all his actions must be subservient to the will and glory of God. He is not, therefore, at liberty to merge himself into a body of Christians on any consi- derations which have reference merely to his present enjoyment. The fact that under the ministry of any de- nomination he was first awakened to the truth, does not make clear his duty as to the church relationship he should form. Gratitude to those to whose labors we are indebted, may give a bias for church relationship; but the choice which is grateful to our own feelings, and seem NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 11 ingly proper, must be surrendered when it conflicts with the requirements of the Divine word. Many a Christian has been induced to make a sacrifice of his convictions to his pleasure; but he has afterwards learned, by a course of /painful experience, that happiness cannot be ob- tained when it is sought by the sacrifice of duty. The fraternal greetings and fellowship of love, to which he is introduced, may cause a tempo- rary oblivion of the sentiments, in which he dif- fers from those with whom he is associated. But the period will arrive, when the remem- brance that the solemn act of initiation by which he entered into fellowship with them, was one whose significance they do not perceive, will convince him that he is not in his right place. Whatever instruction he may derive from the pulpit, he will scarcely feel at ease when such opinions as we have quoted, of immersion and those who practice it, are advanced. He has little reason to complain ; for frankness is com- mendable in the minister of any denomination ; yet this consideration will not afford relief to his wounded feelings. " How can two walk to- gether except they be agreed?" 12 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH 1. One guiding principle, necessary always to be remembered is, that Divine ordinances ought to be observed in accordance with Divine teaching. Matt, xxviii. 19. In Apostolic times, those who "gladly re- ceived the word, were baptized," that is to say, were regularly immersed, in order to be added to the church. Acts ii. 41. Here they were to be taught to "observe all things whatsoever" Christ has commanded. But no man is justi- fied in uniting with a church in which member- ship varies from what it was in the Pentecostal church ; nor is he at liberty to place himself in circumstances in which he cannot as freely ut- ter his sentiments on baptism, as could every one who received the ordinance on that memo- rable day. That society, however, with which a per- son irregularly immersed intends to unite, far from requiring his immersion, would feel best satisfied by its omission. It is not a prerequi- site to their fellowship or communion. The candidate, immersed by a Pedobaptist, believes immersion the Scriptural law of bap- tism, and, it follows, believes that the members of the churches planted by the Apostles were NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 13 immersed. It is evident that lie must have the most faulty views of the relation of baptism to other Christian privileges, to think of joining any other. Although baptized to profess his allegiance to Christ, the act is not performed with a view to union with a church composed of those who have submitted to the same divine observance, but chiefly of persons who repudi- ate it altogether. "When he shall come to know the will of the Lord more perfectly, he will see that whatever superiority he might have in his conscientious observance of immersion, his want of this knowledge greatly detracted from the value of the service. 2. Another guiding principle for a disciple of Christ to observe is, that however important his end, he is not at liberty to sanction any sub- version of Gospel ordinances. In other words, he is not at liberty to " do evil that good may come." Rom. iii. 8. The believer who after immersion unites with a Pedobaptist church, may find an opiate for his conscience in the thought, that by this union he manifests his love for all who love the Sa- viour. If, however, he believes the primitive Christians were immersed, whence did he ob- 14 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH tain a commission to sanction a departure from the original institution?* Believers have no authority to annul, or render inoperative a sin- gle article of the constitution of Christ's king- dom. God converts men to obey, not to legis- late, 3. No Christian, however trifling he may deem his influence, is at liberty to favor mea- sures which detract from the spiritual aspect of Christianity. John xviii. 36. Pedobaptists pursue a course which tends to obliterate the distinction between the church and the world. An eminent Congregation- alistj" has truly observed: "From the manner in which some have spoken and written, one is almost tempted to imagine their notion of a * A lamented writer (Robert Hall), who directed some of the greatest efforts of his massive intellect against scriptural terms of communion, was asked for a New Testament precedent for the course he advo- cated. " You should not ask for one, Sir. You should not ask for one," was his reply; "they were all Baptists in those days, Sir ; but a new case has arisen now." If however, no new rules can be found for the "new cases' which human misjudgment developes, we must be satis- fied that it is best to obey the teaching of the New Testament. t The Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow. NO HOME FUR A BAPTIST. 15 Visible church to be, that of a body as different as it can be rendered from the invisible, — the latter, of course, meaning those whose hearts, which cannot be seen by man, are right in the eight of God. Now instead of this, the aim evidently ought to be, to bring the visible, as far as possible, to identity with the invisible, — that is, to make the visible a community of those only whose rectitude of heart in the sight of God is made apparent, or visible to men, in their characters; and where the exceptions are the result of mistake, not of open-eyed in- tention." Now, what tends to efface the distinction be tween the world and the visible church so much as Infant Baptism? The pernicious dogma, that " the children of professing Christians are already in the church," does more than any- thing else to hide the spirituality of God's king- dom. " Infant Baptism defeats the design of Christian baptism, and makes the ordinance the reverse of what it is intended to be, — it bap- tizes the world instead of baptizing the church. Infant baptism baptizes the world, but it never baptizes a disciple of Christ. Some who are baptized in infancy may afterwards be convert- 16 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH ed, and become the disciples of Christ ; but this is in no way denoted by their baptism in infan- cy — the unconverted are as much baptized as they are. In all countries where infant baptism prevails there are more baptized worldly people. than there are baptized Christians. The god of this world has more baptized subjects than the King of Zion."* 4. No Christian should unite with a church where baptism is, in his own opinion, degraded and subverted. * One of the missionaries of the Maryland Union Association, writes thus of his field of labor in that State: "Upon examination I found there was very lit- tle ' world' left — in other words, the people were nearly all members of the church, made so by infant sprink- ling. This practice hinders the Gospel; as I have found by experience, the idea possessing the minds of such people that something has been done for them so that they would somehow get to heaven." This hindrance to the Gospel has often been seen and lamented, by pious Pedobaptists themselves. Many testimonies might be cited* but let a single sentence from Pascal tell the fearful truth. In speaking of the effect of infant baptism in his own Church, that emi- nent man observes: " The course which she [the Church) has adopted for her children's safety, becomes the almost certain occasion of their ruin." — See Pascal's Thoughts, Am. Ed. 1829, p. 251. J. N. B NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. ll In the beginning, baptism was a voluntary and personal profession of attachment and sur- render to Christ. Of this aspect it is entirely despoiled by infant baptism. If the views of those who adhere to this observance prevailed, such baptisms as are recorded in the Xew Tes- tament would be rare indeed. Should a Chris- tian of the Apostolic age now return to the earth, and witness the ceremony which some- times takes place in edifices devoted to the wor- ship of God, would he imagine that anything so unlike the primitive practice deserves to be called baptism ? When immersed belie- vers unite with those whose only claim to be considered baptized is, that they were "sprinkled in infancy," though they may think thus to manifest their love to all the members of the so-called visible church, they, in fact, countenance a fearful prostitution of Christian baptism. Of its extent they cannot be igno- rant. The abodes of profligacy and intempe- rance abound with those who in infancy were baptized into the "visible church," who are not even visible believers, but visibly those " whose end is destruction, .... and whose glory is in then shame." 2* 18 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH It may not have been the " open-eyed inten- tion" of those who gave them the rite, but it 13 so frequent a result that they must suffer from a fearful obtuseness who do not perceive the impropriety of thus degrading an institution of Christ. If, as its friends themselves admit, there is no express authority nor clearly proved example of infant baptism in the New Testa- ment, are baptized believers justified in joining "hand in hand" with it? No Christian ought to identify himself with a custom he is un- willing or unable to defend.* 5. In a gospel church, all baptized members, against whom no charge can be sustained, ought to be admitted to the Lord's table. Acts ii. 41, 42; 1 Cor. x. 16,17. * Assertions are far easier than proof. A large and expensive volume was lately published, bearing the boastful title, "Infant Baptism a Scriptural Service." As far as demonstration is concerned, the title page is the vestibule of "airy nothingness;" and after pass- ing through more than five hundred pages, the best proof afforded that Infant Baptism is a " Scriptural ser- vice" is the assertion, that those who deny baptism to babes "trample upon the strongest probabilities." Thus far, has the " Professor of Sacred Literature for the Gen- eral Assembly Royal College, Belfast," fulfilled his pro-, mise to those who have purchased his costly volume. NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 19 Pedobaptists consider sprinkling in infancy, baptism. On their own grounds, they are in- consistent. It was not the custom of the Apos- tles to refuse to commune at the Lord's table with any whom they had baptized; but thou- sands are called baptized every year now, who never will be admitted to this privilege. In- stead of being " baptized," and then "breaking bread," according to the Apostles' doctrine and practice, they are not permitted to touch the elements. The very lips which pronounce them baptized, fence them from the Lord's table, without trial or charge. Though said to be " in the Church," and never in any way excluded from its privileges, they are treated as heathen and infidels.* Most righteously, we admit, are * An instance, in point, is now before our eves. In the "Presbyterian Sabbath School Visitor," Philadel- phia, Feb. 1, 1851, the following article appears as the first under the editorial head. "children of the church. 'Do you belong to the church?' one of the schol- ars asked another, on the way home from school last Sabbath day. 'To be sure I do/ was the quick reply, 'and so do you/ '0 no, I do not/ the other said, 'and I did not know that you did/ 'Yes, we are both members of the church, having 20 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH they prevented from taking in their hands the emblems of the Saviour's passion; but most un- bcen born of parents who are members, and having been baptized in our infancy. But I wish you would hear what the teacher has to say; he is just ahead of us.' " They overtook him, and stated the case with much freedom and simplicity. He was glad to explain to them as well as he could, the relation they sustained to the church of Christ. 1 The church is made up of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their children. Your parents are believers, and as members of the church you have been baptized; but you are not admitted to the commu- nion of the Lord's Supper, until you are prepared to say that you love him, and trust in him for the pardon of your sins, and the salvation of your souls. The vows of God are upon you. It is your first duty to repent of your sins, and to believe in that Saviour who died for you. If you grow up in sin, you are more wicked than those who have not enjoyed such blessings as you, and if you perish in your sins, your punishment will be much greater than that of the heathen, or of the children of wicked parents who live around you/ "The children were very thoughtful as they walked along, and the teacher added a few words as they part- ed, begging them to remember that, as members of the church, their account would be a dreadful one to give, if they refused to love the Saviour." The above instance is, perhaps, the best use which i? ever made of the doctrine of infant church member- ship. But apart from its utter want of Scriptural au- thority, see what a character it gives to Christian churches — a majority of their members excluded from communion as unregenerate or profane ! J. N. B. NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 21 righteously were they baptized. The one ordi- nance belongs not more to Christ's disciples than the other. Those who have no claim to the children s bread, can have no claim to the children s baptism. Why was this sacrilege committed? Why was Christ thus dishonored by his ministers ? How can a believer dare to sanction such a prostitution of an ordinance which Christ in- tended only for that people whom he should 6ave from their sins ? We should grieve to see a young lady with a cross on her bosom, enter- ing the theatre or the ball-room, for we feel that such a token should not be carried into the haunts of worldly pleasure. But how much more may we mourn to know that thousands go down into hell who have been pronounced bap- tized. How much better is the course of Baptist churches, who honestly aim "to bring the visi- ble, as far as possible, to identity with the invi- sible," and therefore so observe baptism accord- ing to the Scriptures, that they can make com- munion in the Lord's Supper co-extensive with it; except in those rare cases, in which, in accord- ance with apostolic precept, they "withdraw 22 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH themselves from every brother that walketh disorderly." 2 Thess. iii. 6. 6. The sincerity of those who hold error, though it may claim tenderness, is no reason why any Christian should give it his fellowship. Rom. x. 2, 3. They do not forfeit our personal esteem, but their error is none the less to be deprecated. On the plea of sincerity the followers of Baal deserve regard. A Christian martyr could scarcely show more willingness to suffer, than they did in their self-inflicted tortures. Before his conversion, Paul was sincere in opposing the gospel of Christ. Who are now more sin- cere than Romanists ? If the lack of light or reflection is considered to detract from the force of these parallels, we may ask where can men be found more sincere than literary Unitarians, or contemplative Swe- denborgians ? No Christian, no church has au- thority to fellowship error, whether it be the error of an individual or of thousands. How can baptized Christians exhibit a more glaring defection from New Testament principles than by sanctioning infant baptism ? But this they do when they unite with those who ground their NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 23 right to Christian privileges on the fact that they were sprinkled in infancy. Before showing a fellowship for this depart- ure from the Truth of God, the candidate should inquire how many inventions of men may be adopted by a body of professed Christians with- out losing their right to be called a Church of Christ ? If the basin may be admitted, is there not room for the Confessional? It has the same parentage, and equal scriptural authority. A Romish priest, with the passage, " Confess your faults one to another," (James v. 16,) will make a far better case for Auricular Confession from the New Testament, than a Protestant minister for Infant Baptism. The tendency of the principles here laid down we are neither desirous to disguise nor evade. Consistently followed out, they limit those who hold them to communion at the Lord's table with none but immersed believers. To some this appears uncharitable. The often answered inquiry is reiterated, "It is the Lord's table; why do you exclude any of his disciples?" The reply of a scriptural Christian is founded on the fact that it is the Lord's table. Christ is the only Lawgiver for his churches. It i> 24 A PEDOBAPTTST CHURCH treason to the King of Zion to intrude upon his prerogative. The trust which he has commit- ted to his churches they are not at liberty to violate. It is to be their aim to keep his table as He left it , "till he come." If none but im- mersed believing guests found a place there when he was on earth, who shall annul his laws ? When the hand of fellowship must be the "hand of the betrayer," who shall dare to extend it ? We have no record of any persons "breaking bread" in the Pentecostal church, who had not "gladly received the word" and been "baptized." And this is all that Baptist churches require now. They have raised no bar to communion. They can throw none down. They do not refuse to receive any disciple who i3 willing to enter on the same footing as those already incorporated in the body of Christ. Of the Supper of the Lord, like the gospel feast, they can say, " None are excluded thence, but those Who do themselves exclude ; Welcome the learned and polite, The ignorant and rude." Let our brethren be just. Baptists are not alone in restricting communion at the Lord's NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 25 table to their own membership. Large bodies of Pedobaptists do the same.* A single in- stance here may suffice. The Rev. John N. M'Leod, D. D., thus explains the position of the ''Covenanters." " On the subject of sa- cramental communion, the principles of the church are, that such communion is the most solemn, intimate, and perfect fellowship that Christians can enjoy with God and one ano- ther; that when Christians are associated to- gether in a church state, under a definite creed, communion in the sacraments involves an ap- probation of the principles of that creed ; and that as the church is invested with authority which she is bound to exercise, to keep the ordinances pure and entire, sacramental com- munion is not to be extended to those who do not approve the principles of the particular church, or submit themselves to her authority. In maintaining, these principles, the Reformed Presbyterian Church does not design to un- church any other religious denomination, or deny the Christianity of its members. She re- * Ample proof of this may be seen in the works of Howell, Curtis, or Remington on Communon. 3 26 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH cognizes the validity of the ordinances of all Christian communities who hold the Divine Head, and the plenary inspiration of his word. She rejoices to know that these contain many of the saints of God, who have fellowship with him and with one another at the table of the Lord, and she is willing to co-operate with them to the extent of her ability, in promoting the common Christianity. But she does not feel at liberty to allow every man to be the judge of his own qualification for sealing ordinances, to dispense these ordinances to such as do not assent to her religious principles, or whom she could not submit to her discipline were they found violating their Christian obligations." In most respects the ground here taken is that which the Baptist denomination occupies. If a Presbyterian can advance arguments which relieve him from odium, in declining church communion with those who have received the same baptism as himself, surely these arguments have accumulated force when applied by a Baptist to the case of those who, in his view, favor an entire subversion of Christian ordi- nances. The objections which are made against this NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 27 scriptural and consistent communion are not always made in sincerity. Many persons who "illiberally contend for liberality," and indulge in multiplied censures with respect to Baptist exclusiveness, will pass an edifice in which a church assembles with whom they might com- mune, without manifesting the least desire to show their fellowship with them at the Lord's table. Such inconsistency can only be account- ed for by the fact that, like our first parents under temptation, they desire what is forbid- den, and forbidden, too, by the same authority. That authority shields us from the charge of sectarianism. Yet, let no one imagine that there is any- thing in itself pleasant, in the stand which Baptists feel compelled to take. Only alle- giance to the King of Zion could keep them there. It would be far more pleasant, could they with a clear conscience, cordially merge themselves with the rest of the Christian church. But the torch of love cannot be applied to the sacrifice of duty. That is a false libe- rality which, for the sake of union, would resign the positive commands of Truth. The desire for association is not less powerful in our hearts 28 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH than in the hearts of others, but it cannot anni- hilate our obligations. The principles which guided the Apostles, we may safely follow whi- thersoever they lead. " Once right, they are for ever right. Anywhere right, they are everywhere right. They keep a course like the luminaries of heaven. They witness against the wrong-doer. Their straight line exposes the contrast of the crooked generation. They constitute a standard of appeal, amidst the ca- prices of fashion and the meannesses of com- promise. They stand as a sea-mark, against which the waves only dash themselves to foam." Instead of forming church relationships, where Christ's authority must be trifled with, far preferable is the conduct of the disciple who, not fearing the misconception of his mo- tives, is able to say, "I dwell among mine own people." A few years since a Christian man, whose early training and predilections were all in favor of infant sprinkling, was encouraged to make a thorough examination of the Scriptures on baptism, by hearing a minister remark that a immersion was not so much as named in the New Testament." Prayerful study made i' evident to his mind that infant sprinkling was NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 29 the invention of man, and the immersion of be- lievers the only Christian baptism. On his re- turn from being baptized by a Baptist minister, the Pedobaptist minister, whose labors he had previously greatly valued, waited upon him, and in the course of conversation remarked, "Well, now I hope you are satisfied, and will sit down with us and make yourself happy." His reply was, "No, I am now more unhappy in your connexion than before, and cannot continue with a church which I conscientiously believe to be in error ; for I am now a Baptist in prin- ciple and practice, and intend to carry out my belief." Christians of any denomination would honor a man who thus preserves his fidelity to his convictions, and lifts up his testimony for Truth. The bitter consequences of the opposite course will more clearly appear in the ensuing chapter. 3* 30 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH CHAPTER II. IMMERSED BELIEVERS IN UNITING WITH PEDO- BAPTIST CHURCHES DISHONOR THEIR OWN PRINCIPLES, AND TAKE PART IN THEIR OWN DEGRADATION. Truth is a costly article, and when a Chris- tian has bought it, he is not at liberty to hide or sell it. Prov. xxiii. 23. He is but a trus- tee. It is his duty to pass it on, as he received it, to bless the world. An immersed Christian, in forming church relations with Pedobaptists, sacrifices a portion of the Truth. He dishonors the principles he professes, and after all his steadfastness, in adhering to immersion as the law of Christ, shows a very poor estimate of it indeed. 1. One condition of his membership in a Pedobaptist church, sometimes expressed but always implied, is silence on the subject of baptism. Such persons are not at liberty to impair tne comfort of their fellow-members by awakening NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 31 in their minds any doubt as to whether they have been baptized. The Apostle enforced the obligations to holiness from the fact of baptism, but they must not venture on a similar course. Conquerors always regard the patriotic songs of a vanquished people as mischievous and revo- lutionary, and forbid their use. An immersed member of a Pedobaptist church must submit to similar discipline. He -will soon repent his te- merity if he uses any " plainness of speech" about baptism. His lips are forbidden to speak a word which conjures up what so much tends to disconcert his fellow-members. Though the church may not seem very inflammable, there are "words that burn" when uttered by some tongues. Baptism is one of these, and it is vir- tually proscribed. If any one's affections are so interested in the subject that he cannot hold his peace, nor refrain from advocating immer- sion in the case of others, he will soon find him- self in a very unenviable position. He must show his penitence by observing "silence, — deep, — unnatural, — like The quiet of the grave," or his intractable course will alienate his breth- 32 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH ren from him; and, if not excommunicated, he will know little of the joys of a spiritual home. 2. As far as an immersed member of a Pedo- baptist church has the means and the disposi- tion to give, he contributes to the support and extension of Pedobaptist institutions and senti- ments. It may be that the Gospel is about to be sent to a heathen nation, who have never been bless- ed by the beams of truth. A baptized belie- ver, we naturally conclude, desires they should have the ordinances among them agreeably to the mind of Christ. But will it be so ? Is he not contributing to a different result ? He knows that so far as Pedobaptist missionaries go, so far they carry sprinkling instead of im- mersion ; and that, as soon as possible, infants will receive the rite. Who that is at all acquainted with the mis- chiefs which the controversy has produced in our own land, and the fearful extent to which it has diverted the energies of Christians, de- sires to plant the same controversy on what is now heathen ground ? Yet the Baptist mem- ber of a Pedobaptist church will help to forward NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 33 this result. In his own case he received his convictions of the propriety of believers' immer- sion from the Bible. When the Scriptures shall be given to the heathen, although the or- dinance may be veiled in an " unknown tongue," yet still, without greatly mutilating the truth, believers' immersion will shine forth. The same Spirit of Truth who enlightened Roger Williams, Adoxiram Judscx, and many others, in the midst of Pedobaptists, may lead some convert to see the importance of observing the ordinances as they were first delivered to the churches by Divine authority. Then will the fierce sirocco of controversy sweep over the fruitful fields reclaimed from heathenism. It may be but a small amount which an immersed believer has contributed to this result, but he is not blameless. He cannot escape on the plea that it is better to give the heathen the Gospel with a few errors, rather than not at all, be- cause he well knows he might have contributed through institutions in which Divine ordinances would not be made void by human tradition. In that case he would not have given his aid to nourish a plant which our Heavenly Father hath not planted, and thus he would not have to la- 34 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH ment that lie was helping to implant errors which so much time, talent, and energy are re- quired to uproot. Nor would he have the sin of helping to give God's word, with baptism, hidden, marred, or mis-translated. In nearly every Pedobaptist church, contributions are made to a Bible So- ciety, whose translations, in many instances, leave the heathen with as little clue to the meaning of baptism as possible. If an error is even uttered from the pulpit, its influence is comparatively limited ; but where, as the result of deliberate action, it is propagated from the press, it may deceive the nations for ever. Those who thus mystify baptism may sincerely dis- claim all intention to teach error ; but the course they pursue shows their unwillingness candidly to study the meaning of the term, and then give to the world — whatever conclusion they reach — that definition which they honestly believe is Truth. Now, there is no investigation of the subject. It is purposely involved in mystery. How can an immersed disciple inflict greater dishonor on his own principles, than by forming a fellowship where he will aid such a system of concealment, or perversion ? NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 35 3. The practice of a Baptist member of a Pedobaptist church, provided he has a house- hold, does not agree ivith that of other members. His children •will not be sprinkled. They will only have, like the children of other Baptists, a prayerful dedication to God daily. If a minister Believes the principles generally maintained by Pedobaptists — so well expressed by Dr. Clark — that infants "are sanctified by being born of believing parents," and are "al- ready, in some sense, within the limits of the church and of the covenant of promise," can he think it a trifling omission? How can any man, who believes infant baptism a divine in- stitution, be a party to the admission of any persons into church fellowship whom he has rea- son to believe will neglect the observance by which the " seed" of believers, in his views, are made "partakers of the benefits of the cove- nant of grace ?" Are not such parents, to hi3 new, guilty of sin in depriving their children of so distinguished a privilege ? Ecclesiastical standards are not set up, to be taken down just when it suits convenience. "When principles are so little valued that men are not prepared to 36 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH abide by them in any event, the sooner a di- vorce is made the better. 4. Immersed parents who unite with unbap- tized churches expose their children to influ- ences prejudicial to their spiritual welfare. Those who desire to foster right religious in- fluences in the young, find that the impres- sions they receive of ministerial character have a very powerful bearing for evil or for good. Everything which depreciates a minister in their esteem, will detract from the power of the truths he presses on their regard. When infants are sprinkled, the children of immersed parents hear the minister they have been taught to love and revere, enforce a tradition of men, virtually nullifying their own parents' baptism. Parents, if they have any proper sense of responsibility to Christ, must vindicate his institutions. It will become their duty to show their chil- dren not only the mode of baptism, but to teach them that, like every other religious act, it re- quires that we " obey from the heart the form of doctrine delivered to us." When, howe- ver, an attempt is made to correct the erro- neous impressions which the minister would NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 37 leave, a sceptical and captious disposition may be encouraged. Will not the opinion be form- ed, that a minister who is mistaken in one mat- ter, may be wrong in another? Saving veri- ties, when proclaimed by him, may be discred- ited, and, instead of receiving with meekness the engrafted word of God, children may try every discourse by their own limited knowledge. Here is one evil effect of injudicious church re- lationships, and who can tell how far this evil may extend? Parents who act thus inconsistently, may ex- ercise an injurious influence in another respect. They will partake of the Lord's Supper in the company of those who are unbaptized, and their children will be taught, by this act, that, though immersion is a command of Christ, yet when neglected, the omission is of very tri- vial importance. However active the con- sciences of the parents may have been on the subject of baptism, the consciences of their children will be blunted. Whereas, had they been accustomed to mingle in the worship of those who insist that baptism is for him " that believeth," they could not escape the conviction that their remaining unbaptized indicates the 4 38 A PEDOBAPTIST CHUKCH absence of saving faith, and a constant expo- sure to perish in their sins. Mark xvi. 16. 5. It is remarkable that those Pedobaptist churches whose pliability is so extreme, that they adopt all modes according to request, should generally refuse immersion to those who were sprinkled in infancy. The man who received sprinkling in infancy, must keep it, however unwillingly, after he be- comes a believer ; while he who was born of un- godly parents has his own choice — sprinkling, pouring, or immersion ! The child of the re- probate has privileges superior to the child of the godly! He who has parental negligence on his side, may well congratulate himself, if he desires, without repudiating the act of an honored parent who had them sprinkled in in- fancy, to " put on Christ" scripturally. The ef- fect of this system will be, that many who have been made to dispense with baptism, will feel unwilling to thrust their children into like per- plexity, and, therefore, will leave them un- sprinkled. Pedobaptists thus give a premium to those who despise their own customs, and make a breach in their own walls. 6. It is expected that members of any church NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 39 tvill be able to defend the fundamental princi- pies by which their fellowship is regulated. Membership in a Peclobaptist church, of course, as far as a ceremonial prerequisite is concerned, is based on infant baptism. Here, then, the Baptist believer of such a church is involved in a serious dilemma. He may be called upon to defend the practice of his church, not only by Baptists, but by parties from whom they are wide as the poles asunder. Let a Ro- manist ask him to show scriptural authority for this observance. As a member of a Baptist church he could show he was in no way identi- fied with it ; but as a member of a Pedobaptist church, he is shorn of his strength. He must defend a custom in which he does not believe, or let it appear that he clings to a church whose principles will not bear inquiry. It is useless for him to plead his own immersion as a believer, when his antagonist can reply, "But your church baptizes infants — does it not ?" We are not drawing upon fancy for argu- ments. Romanists know the weak point of their opponents. They delight to torture a Protestant Pedobaptist by pinioning him to the Bible with respect to infant baptism. In a 40 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH public discussion, which from the learning and ability of the parties engaged, excited great at- tention, the Roman Catholic inquired of the Protestant champion, who Tauntingly held forth the Bible as his only rule of faith, "Where, in that book, is to be found one word relative to the baptism of infants? I ask, unless Tradi- tion comes to the rescue of my learned friend, by what refining ingenuity will he call upon the Bible to protect him in baptizing infants that cannot give the answer, — that cannot exclaim, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God V " The discomfiture of his opponent was complete. The Romanist turned to the Bap- tists then present, and remarked, in reference to Pedobaptist inconsistency, "These men, in order to confute us Catholics, take up the Bi- ble and proscribe Tradition; but in order to confute you, they throw away the Bible, and take up Tradition as the standard of their faith, the confounder of their enemies." Is there a Baptist who would expose himself to such rebuke ? If he cannot defend infant baptism, why should he join with Pedobaptists ? His fellow-members may defend themselves honestly with respect to the observance, but hf NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 41 cannot. He must degrade himself in liis own estimation, or in the estimation of others. He must be unfaithful to his conscience, or unfaith- ful to his church. T. A Baptist cannot develope his gifts in a Pedobaptist church. The peculiarity of his views will in general prevent his sustaining any office. As well might a Jew aspire to a distinguished station in Rus- sia, as for an individual holding to immersion to think of being a minister among Pedobap- tists. Any young man, whatever his piety, talents and acquirements, whose belief extends no farther than that immersion is the prefera- ble mode of baptism, will find this single opi- nion entirely debar him from the ministry. Pe- dobaptist ministers instinctively feel, "It is not safe to let him in." Not only ought there to be deep reflection on the part of any person who believes in immer- sion, whether it is right for him to unite with a denomination in which his sentiments would prove a hindrance to any individual attaining to the ministry; but it also deserves serious consideration from the men of piety in those churches, whether, whatever the prospect of pre- 4* 42 A PEDOBAPTTST CHURCH sent usefulness, they ought to encourage young men who, there is reason to believe, may after- wards prove suitable for the Gospel ministry, to place themselves in a position which must oc- casion such serious perplexity. 8. Pedobaptist ministers, as far as possible, dissuade candidates for church fellowship from immersion. Although they admit that it is not unscrip- tural, they will use every plea which their in- genuity can invent, so that the converts may recede from primitive ground. They will lead people many miles from Jerusalem to water their cattle, and assuage their own thirst, ra- ther than admit that "much water" was re- quired for baptism. In the face of demon- strated facts, they will assert the impossibility of immersing three thousand converts at Jeru- salem on the day of Pentecost. They can in- vent an ingenious hypothesis, by which they will prove a person can be "buried" without being covered over. Nor is this the worst. We blush to tell truth so humbling to our brethren, as we must tell of some at least. If they have a young lady to deal with, they will strive to influence her NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 43 womanly nature by considerations of the "in- decency" of being baptized as Jesus Christ was.* When they have thus reasoned, ridi- * That such arguments are not confined to private conversation, but are actually deemed legitimate for public discourse, and for the widest diffusion from the press, is proved, we regret to say, by the following ex- tract from a sermon, delivered by a distinguished min- ister of the Presbyterian Church, whom we personally know and love. The sermon was published, by request qf his church, at Petersburg, Ya., in 1847. The lan- guag^ is exquisitely guarded. "Would it be venturing too far, also to suggest, that this mode of baptism often requires an exposure ex- ceedingly trying to a modest and sensitive female, and such as, in othpr circumstance 5 , would be esteemed in- delicate. I know that where Scripture is explicit, all must bear the cross, if they would be followers of the Lamb: but where the Divine authority contended for, can, to say the least, admit of reasonable doubt, does not the fact, that the mode of administering an ordi- nance, which «almost of necessity requires a painful trial to the highest and finest feelings of a woman's na- ture, afford strong presumptive evidence such is not the mode which came from God/' See "Scriptural Bap- tism explained and defended." By Rev. John Levburn, P. D. In connection with the above, we think it proper to present an extract from the Memoir of Mrs. Lydia M. Malcom, for the express purpose of showing the feel- ings of a lady of the most refined delicacy, on the occa- sion of her baptism, by the Ptev. Dr. Staughton, in 1818. Affpr stating in a letter to a friend her previous fears of being intimidated, she proceeds: ""When the hour arrived, I experienced no such emotions. My 44 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH culed and distorted the ordinance, then, per- haps, rather than lose the convert, they will soul was devoid of rapturous feeling, but serene joy pervaded every faculty, and every feeling vibrated with ce- lestial love. I exulted when I stood up with the Dr. dur- ing a portion of his address, in thus publicly professing myself a candidate for an eternal world, a child of God, a follower of the blessed Jesus. My happiness was consummate, and I panted to tell those who were pre- sent what a precious Saviour I have found, and most ar- dently I desired again to relate to them what Jesus had done for my soul, and to persuade precious immortal souls, who do not love God, no longer to pursue the fleeting, shadowy pleasures of time, while immortal sub- stance awaits them. I regretted that it was not custom- ary for candidates on baptismal occasions to speak to the audience. I would have told them that I was once the infatuated votary of pleasure, and immersed in amuse- ments that abstract the affections from God ; that it was his power alone that defended me from the shaft of death which they conceal, and rescued me from the gulf of destruction to which they allure ; and that I would not exchange the happiness I derive from the promises of the sacred oracles, for all that human pow- er can afford me without Christ. Truly the ways of religion are pleasantness and her paths peace. The soul that has once enjoyed them, acknowledges that they present the highest happiness that a rational crea- ture can desire. My dear friend, why do you delay to come before the world, and profess the name of the holy Jesus 1" — Memoir of Mrs. Lydia M. Malcom, page 14. Could an honorable, high-minded man, and sincere Christian, like Dr. Leyburn, have drawn his represent- ation from facts like this, and not from the preconcep- NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 45 say, as did one "who occupies a highly re- spectable position, "Well, if nothing else will satisfy you, I'll douse you."' Now, while the person is to be pitied, who would submit to be baptized by persons who thus scoff at and caricature the Divine ordinance, what measure is there diminutive enough to show the dwarf- ishness of attainment — literary and spiritual — of the men who adopt such arguments ? Ministers who thus undertake to immerse, certainly compromise their own character for purity of heart. A recent circumstance affords an illustration. A young lady, belonging to a highly respectable family, having been, as she trusted, brought to the knowledge of the truth, was impressed with the Divine authority of im- mersion, and, therefore, desired it in her own case. She conversed with a Pedobaptist min- ister on the subject. He used the common ar- gument for the propriety of sprinkling, and en- tions of a startled imagination, we cannot but believe he would have spared such indelicate insinuations as those in which he has indulged in his published dis- course. As it is, we judge him not. "To his own Master he standeth or falleth." J. N. B. 46 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH deavored to show that immersion was unneces- sary. He had directed every arrow in his qui- ver against the ordinance but one. His visitor was a young lady. She was modest. He thought he could not fail to hit his mark. "It is not decent for a young lady to go into the water with a man." This did not move her. " To the pure all things are pure." Unwilling to lose her from his church, the minister deter- mined to make a last effort to retain her. "If you still insist upon being immersed, allow me to offer my services" Patiently had his visi- tor endured his behaviour hitherto, but now he appeared so degraded that this was no longer possible. Rising in all the majesty of woman- hood, she addressed him as follows : " And would you ' offer' to do an indecent thing to me, Sir? I have discovered a new feature in your charac- ter. I did not think you would do an indecent thing, sir." Let those who can, form an opi- nion of the feelings of the man whose inso- lent modesty was thus rebuked. And let them not fail to appreciate the moral deducible from such a circumstance. A minister who assails immersion on the score of indecency, lays him- self open to imputations of immodesty. A XO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 47 spectator of a baptismal scene in which such a clergyman officiates, might well feel justified in using the tone of indignant remonstrance, and exclaiming, " I blush for you ! Men of your quality, expose your fame To every vulgar censure." Other considerations might be adduced to sustain the ground we have taken, but the mor- tifying facts already presented — that immersed members of Pedobaptist churches are expected to sustain sentiments they reject, and observe a servile silence as to those they do hold ; that their children are exposed to influences prejudi- cial to their spiritual welfare ; that their practice does not agree with that of other members, and must lead to disorder and rebuke; that their principles are a disability to holding office, and are even subjected to the imputation of inde- cency by Pedobaptist ministers — are sufficient to prove the dishonor they put on their own views of truth, and the degradation they incur by such a union. 48 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH CONCLUSION. From the inquiry we have now prosecuted we believe it is evident, that while the adminis- tration of immersion by those who have not themselves received the rite, is inconsistent and indefensible, still more so is the course of the person thus baptized. Though manifesting, by observing the ordinance, an attachment to the primitive institution, yet by receiving the ordi- nance at the hands of an unimmersed minister (who has never been baptized as a believer,) and with a view to union with a church, the majori- ty of whose membership have never been bap- tized as believers, he by the same act professe3 Truth and sanctions Error. lie clasps the Bible to his heart, and salutes Tradition. Into the very Jordan he seems to carry a basin; for while rejecting sprinkling, a sprinkled minister officiates. Though baptized on his own personal NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 49 profession he countenances a proxy faith. He cannot believe that such a baptism occurred in apostolic times. That there should be strong affections exist- ing in the mind, towards a minister, by whom spiritual blessings have, under God, been com- municated, does not excite surprise. There is however reason for gratulation, that notwith- standing this, many clearly perceive their duty. The number of persons who yearly leave the churches in which they have been irregularly immersed, and seek union with Baptist churches, affords ample proof that a Pedobaptist church can be no home for those who adopt believers' baptism. The " sophist's rope of cobweb" may be twined with great ingenuity, but the Chris- tian who has been led to see the true mode of observing Christ's ordinance, will soon perceive how rotten is any line of argument which tends to place him in church fellowship with those, who, as far as their influence extends, endeavor to bring into contempt the baptism of Jesus, to which he has delighted to submit. As to the validity of the baptisms which such persons have received, it is not our desire to in- termeddle. Many believe that Paul re-baptized 5 50 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH the twelve at Ephesus, (Acts xix. 1-7), be- cause their gross misconceptions vitiated the ordinance. Those skilled in casuistry must de- cide what extent of ignorance renders a re-bap- tism expedient. But it is evident that when persons have views materially defective, their baptism, however sincere, loses all claim to re- gard as a Divine sendee. On this ground, pro- bably, there is frequently more reason for re- baptism than the disability which applies to the administrator. That it is the duty of those who prize primi tive institutions, in every consistent manner to discountenance these irregular immersions is evident, if for no other reason, because they are administered upon principles which have an in- timate affinity to Popery. There is the very spirit of Popery in the administration of the ordinance, without any necessity, by an unim- mersed minister. Whence did the idea arise that it is fitting for men to administer to others, rites and ceremonies which they do not observe themselves ? It can be attributed to none but "the Man of Sin." When Protestants thus act, they infringe the patents of the Papacy. This doctrine may suit the slaves of the Yati- NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 51 can, but will it be endured by Christ's freemen? "We trust not. Such priestly assumption must receive the severest reprobation of intelligent Christians. In closing, we congratulate the friends of Truth upon the "signs of the times." In the period in which our lot it cast, it is evident that it is high time for every spiritual house to be set in order. A reason must be given for every practice and observance. The hope may be entertained that infant baptism will not long exert its blighting influence. The mere fact that so many of its advocates are willing to im- merse believers, shows the slightness of its hold upon public esteem.* Nothing will gain currency now which has not the superscription of Truth. " Every thing is in the crucible, in this age." The issue is not * Pedobaptists advocate sprinkling as sufficient for all the purposes of the ordinance. If sprinkling is suffi- cient, and of equal authority, why should they sanction a departure from its observance? The Pedobaptist ad- ministrator throws contempt upon his own baptism. A spectator of his proceedings is justified, in believing that so unusual a course would not be adopted if it had not the best of arguments in its support. He is not unlikely to inquire, "has sprinkling like evidence in its favor ?" 52 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH doubtful. " Eternal Truth will gain the supre- macy — all temporal plausibilities will perish." The baptismal controversy is not ended. It has to do with all that is spiritual and volun- tary in religion. For the sake of Christian union an attempt may be made to coffin and bury it, and " Non-essential" may be inscribed upon its tomb. But it will rise again. As God has made this ordinance so prominent in his Word, he will not allow it to be so lightly re- garded among his people. There can be no real alliance among Christians, if any portion of His will must be put out of sight in order to form it. There will yet be union among the peo- ple of God, but it will be union in the Truth. It is only as Christ dwells in his people that the breaches of Zion will be healed, and that they will become "perfect in one." The more His presence is individually realized, the nearer shall we be to the settlement of this vexed ques- tion. One great end of those who desire the return of a spirit of union and love among the disci- ples of our Lord is, to cherish a spirit of free inquiry. "If any man will do His will, he NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 53 shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." Conviction depends not alone upon the nature and amount of evidence, but upon the disposition of mind with which a subject is ex- amined. When a man, with his own predilec- tions and prejudices, gives himself to the study of baptism, or any other controverted subject in which he may be in error, it is no wonder if he rises up with only increased bitterness against the arguments which conflict with his own che- rished views. Many satisfy themselves with the idea that Baptists are unlovely in practice, without in- quiring what makes their practice appear un- lovely. If they would do this, they might learn that what is deemed exclusiveness, would have been unnecessary had all Christians " kept the ordinances as they were delivered." It is mat- ter of little surprise that those whose minds are thus prejudiced should fail to be convinced. " Honest impartiality and earnest desire to know the truth for its own worth, are no less rational and necessary, as instruments for its acquisi- tion, than excursive investigation and decisive argument. Without them, in vain are men dazzled by the concentrated blaze of evidence. 54 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH Evidence can influence only as a moral means ; but what are moral means, without a disposi- tion to use and improve them ? The Jews and Gentiles of Apostolic times wanted neither evi- dence of the truth of Christianity, nor diligent research, yet they remained unconvinced, be- cause morally unfitted for being convinced. " " They loved darkness rather than light." They failed to comply with the exhortation, " Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Prejudice and pride often dwell unconscious- ly in the bosoms of sincere Christians. Like heavy vapors in the air, they darken the keen- est eye, and chill the warmest heart. "We see this in such a man as Nathaniel, "an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile." But a day of purer light is promised. It already be- gins to dawn. As a humble and teachable spirit shall be more generally diffused in the Christian world, the ecclesiastical atmosphere will become clear, and no longer sustain those clouds which now so often obscure the vision of our holiest men. Then, true to their great Commission, the dis- ciples of Christ will perceive, that, like the glo- NO HOME FOR A BAPTIST. 55 rious Gospel, whose leading facts it is designed visibly to embody, Immersion is adapted to men of every nation, kindred and tongue, inhabiting every zone of the earth — even though they find a home beneath the burning fires of a tropical sun, or amid the perpetual snows of an arctic winter.* * Let it not be thought that the above statement is exaggerated. It is well known that all the great Re- forraers of the Sixteenth Century, freely admitted that Immersion was the meaning of the original word, and also the primitive practice. But they pleaded for a liberty of change to suit the climate. This plea is un- sound. 1. It rests on a false assumption of power in the Church. 2. It opens the door for other innovations. 3. It is without support from any real necessity : as the uniform practice of the Greek Church demonstrates. 4. It is acquiesced in, mainly from custom, convenience, or taste, and therefore in all such cases, is not " the answer of a good conscience towards God." Even were it true, that Immersion is impracticable in a few places on the habitable globe, how could this excuse Sprinkling in mild and temperate climates like ours ? Every year, in the United States, more than fifty thousand persons professing faith in the Redeemer, are immersed, without the slighest injury — often to the awakening of the unconverted. What fact in Science is better proved than the perfect safety of Immersion ? Immersion is actually practised now, by the Baptist Missions of the Indian Archipelago, directly under the heat of the Equator ; and by the Russian Greek Church amid the inhospitable wastes of Siberia — the coldest regions inhabited by Man. j. x. b. 56 A PEDOBAPTIST CHURCH, ETC. Human tradition shall then no longer mar the significant symbols of the Christian's faith. — "Then shall the offering of his people be pleasant unto the Lord, as in^the days of old and as in former years." Intelligent Man- hood shall then, in the waters of baptism, pre- sent its voluntary and reasonable service of a " living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." Childhood too shall be there, but it shall be Childhood "taught of the Lord," and bright with the fmfading " beauty of holiness." Then shall "the churches have rest" from controver- sies more paralysing than persecution; "and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, be multiplied." THE END. THE ufficirncjj of Mlatrr for ^aptijing, AT JERUSALEM, AND ELSEWHERE IN PALESTINE, AS RECORDED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT; SET FORTH IX A LETTER BY THE KEY. GEORGE TV. SAMSON, ^jjilntolpjjin: AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 530 ARCH STREET THE SUFFICIENCY OF WATER FOR BAPTIZING, AT JERUSALEM AXD ELSEWHERE IX PALESTINE. To the Rev. G. TV. Samson. Boston, April 1, 1851. Rev and very Dear Sir, — As you have lately visited Palestine, and enjoyed ample means of becoming acquainted with the interesting locali- ties of Jerusalem, and with other places con- nected with the history of baptism as presented in the Xew Testament, I have a request to make. It is this. That you communicate such facts as may illustrate the points discussed in Dr. Ripley's manuscript, which you saw at my house yester- day. Yours, with much esteem and christian love, I. C. Reply. Rev. Dr. Chase. Dear Sir, — You have asked me to note down some personal observations and impressions as to (3) 4 WATER SUFFICIENT the facilities offered for immersion at Jerusalem, and other localities in Palestine, where in the New Testament the rite of baptism is recorded to have been administered. It is no easy task you demand ; though at first it might seem a simple one. The eye certainly is the instructor of the mind, and the knowledge gained by sight is in- deed the surest and the most positive we can ob- tain ; yet many things come in to restrict the ex- tent, and to modify the real value, of such know- ledge. After all the crowds of Christian men that have traversed throughout the length and breadth of the Holy Land, there are some spots of interest which have not been sought out. Moreover, many that have been visited have been but imperfectly explored and more imperfectly described ; for only the jaded traveler himself knows how the fatigues of constant journeying take away the mind's stimulus and zest, and make the eye heavy and the pen sluggish over the evening journal. Yet again, scenes that are ex- amined with leisure and interest take a form and a hue corresponding to our previous preposses- sions ; things that one person would distinctly ob- serve being unconsciously overlooked by another. And still ' once more, when the mind in distant, subsequent years, endeavors to run back and re- view the thousand varied scenes long past from AT JERUSALEM. 5 vision, the keenest observer, and the most sin cere and faithful chronicler, will inevitably some- times mistake the images of fancy for the remeni- hrjmce of realities. " Charity believeth all things, hopeth all things f } and a large measure of the exercise of that grace is justly due toward either of two travelers who may widely differ as to their statement of matters of eyesight and as to impressions derived from scenes visited. I feel assured, therefore, that, in reading this letter, you will not be hasty to detect any unjust censure of others who differ with the writer ; that you will feel the value of citations from the writings of men who have traveled through Palestine in ages long gone by, before the differ- ence of opinion now existing among Christians as to the mode of baptism had assumed its pre- sent marked tone, and when, therefore, men wrote free from the bias of prepossession ; and that moreover you will charitably excuse any statement of an impression which may seem to you to indicate that the writer's own mind has been warped from the nice line of a just conclusion, since the great Apostle evidently speaks of an attribute belonging only to the All-Perfect when he says, " We know that the judgment of God is according to truth." 6 WATER SUFFICIENT Some of the Ancient Chroniclers. Before we enter, then, on our survey, allow me to recall from the treasures of your own lifetime's study the honored names of some of those men who have gone before us in their visits to the scenes where Christian baptism was first admin- istered ; that thus, when we shall stand and view the localities they describe, we may be prepared rightly to weigh and to compare their testimony. First among the early Christian writers who par- ticularly describe the places hallowed in the life of Christ is. the famed Bourdeaux Pilgrim, who wrote in Latin an account of his visit to Palestine, A. D. 333. Previously to that age, indeed, numberless Christian scholars and pilgrims, as we know, had traversed the Holy Land, visiting its hallowed scenes ; for Jerome, in his beautiful eulogy on Paula, a Roman lady who was descended from the renowned Scipios, and who during his day had visited Palestine, states, that great numbers of pilgrims, (to use his own words,) " through all the ages from the ascension of the Lord to the time in which we live? 1 journeyed through Pales- tine, among which pilgrims he mentions men from "India, Ethiopia, Britannia, Hibemia."* During that early age, however, the necessity * Jerome, Epist. XXII. AT JERUSALEM. 7 had not yet arisen for any thing but a bare men- tion, such as Origen, for instance, makes of the localities then well known; just as the time has not yet arrived when Americans need in the his- tory of Washington any thing more than a mere reference to places now familiar, as Bunker Hill, Saratoga, and Yorktown. When, however, Chris- tianity became the established religion of the Ro- man empire, then detailed descriptions of places whose localities were known to residents of Pales- tine was demanded by distant believers in Christ : as localities in this country must be described to an Englishman, Frenchman, or Italian. When that necessity arose, the Grecian Eusebius, who was born at Caesarea in Palestine, A. D. 270, and lived and died there, wrote an extended his- tory of the Christian Church, and wrote also a description of localities in his native land hal- lowed in the life of Christ and of his Apostles. Then also Jerome, who had been baptized at Rome at about forty years of age, came and dwelt at Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, for more than thirty years, from A. D. 386 until his death, A. D. 420 ; preparing there his version of the Old Testament in Latin, and visiting again and again, and describing the sacred spots of the Holy Land. The testimony of these early writers has been deemed invaluable on every point of Bibli- 3 WATER SUFFICIENT cal geography ; and their statements, therefore, which may show the facilities for immersion at Jerusalem and in Palestine, are of the first im- portance. In the age next following, from the time of Constantine to the day when Jerusalem was taken by the followers of Mohammed, A. D. 63T, pilgrims still flocked to tread the venerated soil ; as a specimen of whom may be mentioned Arculfus, a French bishop, who on his return from Palestine was cast away on the coast of Scotland, where a Scotch abbot named Adam- nanus wrote out his account of his travels, and presented the record to King Alfred, A. D. 698. During the Mohammedan supremacy then suc- ceeding, other adventurous Christian scholars re- corded their travels in the Holy Land ; and when the Crusades restored the sacred places again to Christians, numberless chroniclers penned their notices ; some of which are of great value on the question we would investigate. Pages could be filled with merely the names of those who, in later centuries, down to our time, have visited and written descriptions of scenes in Palestine. Selecting from among the more valuable of these honest chroniclers, so far as their works are in our reach, and storing our memories with what they have recorded to aid our, investigation, let us go, thus prepared, to stand amid the scenes AT JERUSALEM. 9 where Christ's apostles baptized, and there ex- amine for ourselves the facilities offered for im- mersion. Supplies of Water at Jerusalem. Perhaps the student of the Xew Testament finds most difficulty in accounting satisfactorily for the immersion of the great numbers converted in the early days of Christianity at Jerusalem. The facilities for the performance of this rite in and about the Holy City, therefore, demand the first notice. The nearest living stream to Jeru- salem in which immersion could be performed is the Jordan, which is distant fifteen miles, or about a five hours' journey ; and moreover there is no natural sheet of standing water within the same distance. The brook Kedron, often mentioned in the Old and Xew Testaments, is, as the original term indicates, nothing but the bed through which the rains of winter drain off between the eastern wall of the city and Mount Olivet ; and its chan- nel is therefore dry in the early spring, several weeks before the period, in the month of June, when the feast of Pentecost occurred. Unfavor- ably situated, therefore, as this great capital is in reference to natural provisions for water, as might be expected, the arrangements for an artificial supply are on a scale peculiarly extensive. The 10 WATER SUFFICIENT cisterns, reservoirs, and pools prepared by Solo- mon, Hezekiah, and Herod (not to mention other rulers), for this purpose, have been the admiration of men from every part of the world in many a succeeding age. The sources from which this supply is obtained are principally five ; from a fine natural fountain or spring breaking forth from underneath the rocky rise on which the old temple stood ; from the winter rains, gathered as they fell into cisterns under the court-yards of private houses and of public buildings, such as the temple and the castles ; from the extensive drainage of the winter rains gathered from the northern and western hills, whose slope for a mile around con- verges into the valley of Gihon ; from a single large well, pierced to a great depth, in the valley of Hinnom ; and, finally, from natural springs in the hills seven or eight miles south of the city, the waters of which springs are gathered first into a large underground reservoir, whence they flow through a narrow passage to three immense tanks some quarter of a mile distant, called " the Pools of Solomon," whence, again, they are conducted by a massive aqueduct to the city. It should perhaps be added, that though at present there is but a single natural spring in Jerusalem, and but a single well (and that a very deep one in the valley outside) fed by living springs, yet there AT JERUSALEM. 11 were probably, before King Hezekiah's day, other fountains about the city. Solomon was crowned at "Gihon," which Josephus calls "the fountain of Gihon." Hezekiah " stopped the upper water- course of Gihon," and "all the fountains without the city."* Perhaps, if excavations could be made, it would be found that the fountain now gushing so copiously from under the ancient temple area is furnished by concealed streams brought from without the city.f The settlement of this question, however, is unimportant to our present inquiry. Various Facilities for Baptism common to most Eastern Towns. It is worthy of a passing notice, that even the cisterns of Jerusalem are not unadapted to the rite of immersion. Any one who has visited the immense ancient reservoirs at Constantinople, or those about ancient Baiae in Italy, will have some idea of what is found throughout Palestine, and especially at Jerusalem. The visitor descends by steps into a vast subterranean hall, sometimes covering acres in extent and supported by scores * 1 Kings i. 33, 38 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4, 30. Josephus, Antiq., VII. 14. 5. f See Robinson's Researches. Vol. I. p. 512; and Biblio- theca Sacra, Vol. III. pp. 634-638. 12 WATER SL'FFICIENT of columns, where water stands, increasing in depth as a person advances along the sloping bottom, offering the most favorable opportunity possible for immersion. Such cisterns even in Jacob's day seem to have existed in this land, where they are so much needed ; and the historian Moses, who had occasion often to allude to them, deems it of importance to mention, that the one into which Joseph was cast by his brethren " was empty, there was no water in it."* Many such reservoirs, without water, Dr. Robinson describes on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza.f Several such, of magnificent size, containing water deep enough for immersion, are found on the road from Jerusalem by the tomb of Moses to the Jordan.J Underneath the grotto of Jeremiah, near the nor- thern wall of Jerusalem, is such a reservoir. Entering a side door and descending a few feet, the traveler finds himself in a fine ante-room, * Gen. xxxvii. 24. f Robinson's Researches, Vol. II. pp. 353, 395-398. J At a distance of 2h. 10m. from Neby Mousa on the road to Jerusalem, at a place called er-Reib er-Rohawab, near the junction of Wady Rohawah with "Wady Sidr, are fine springs of water, and three noble reservoirs cut into tbe rocky side of tbe valley. Into one, which is about 25 by 40 feet, the en- trance is by a doorway and staircase. Another, about 50 feet by 60, has an open front and a gradual slope to the water. AT JERUSALEM. IS twenty or twenty-five feet square, cut in the rock. Passing through a side door and descending by a stairway twenty-five or thirty feet farther, he stands in a large subterranean hall, about sixty feet square, whose arched top is supported by columns, and whose sloping bottom is nearly covered with water ; into which he can descend to a considerable depth. That such cisterns, and other facilities for lathing, were peculiarly abundant about the cities of Palestine in the age of the Apostles, Josephus is witness ; who often mentions the aqueducts, and baths, and reservoirs, and costly fountains, which Ilerod before Christ's day built, and which after Christ's day existed in different towns of Judea, as Ascalon, Caesarea, and Herodion, and in different quarters of Jerusalem, as under the towers of Hippicus and Phasaelus, and of Antonia, " the castle" into which Paul was borne.* That such baths and cisterns were used by the Apostles for immersion seems to be indi- cated by the Bourdeaux Pilgrim, who, visiting the Caesarea where Peter baptized Cornelius, about three hundred years after that event, records, "There is the bath of Cornelius the centurion, who did much alms." The frequency with which * Josephus, Antiq., XV. 9. 4 and 6; wars, I. 21. 10 and 11; V. 4. 2; V. 5. 8. 2 14 WATER SUFFICENT such reservoirs are met, not only in Palestine, but in Southern Italy and the whole Levant, re- moves from the mind of the inquiring traveler all difficult}' as to facilities for immersion at Jeru- salem, Philippi, Corinth, Rome, and elsewhere, in the Apostles' day ; as from the mind of the late Dr. Judson the same difficulty was removed by observing the baths in the jail-yards of Barman and India. While, then, the lexicographer finds the meaning of the word used for this ordinance to be immersion, the ancient and the modern Christian traveler alike find no difficulty as to the means for immersion, even when he has examined only the ordinary conveniences for bathing in an Oriental city. Pools at Jerusalem. Passing, however, these facilities for immersion common to most Eastern towns, observe those peculiar accommodations offered at Jerusalem in the numerous large public pools of the city ; six of which will claim our special notice. In devout harmony of soul with the ancient Psalmist, loving as he did the truth and honor of God, seeing that Jerusalem's ancient "towers," and "bulwarks," and " palaces" are all laid low, take we up the spirit of his language : " Walk about Zion, and go round about her. See the pools, mark ye well AT JERUSALEM. 15 her fountains, consider her flouring waters; that ye may tell it to the generation following." 1. The Pool at Bethesda. Proceeding from the southern brow of Zion, where the Spirit of God is supposed to have been poured on the disciples of Jesus upon the memo- rable Pentecost, a few minutes' walk brings us to the north of the ancient temple* area on Mount Moriah. Here, in the open air, by the side of the wall of the ancient temple inclosure, is a long, broad excavation into the earth, the sides of which are built up with masonry of small stones, whose surface is covered with a hard, smooth cement. According to Dr. Robinson's measurement it is 360 feet long, 130 feet broad, and 75 deep, being now partly filled with rubbish. The natives call it "Birket Israit? — The Pool of Israel ; and the tradition of ages has declared it to be the ancient Pool of Bethesda, mentioned in Christ's day.* Tacitus, the Roman historian, in describing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans after Christ's day, says of the temple-area : " There were ]jooh and cisterns for preserving rain water. ''f Eusebius, the Christian historian, three hundred years after Christ, speaks of the Pool of Bethesda thus: "Bexatha, a pool in Jerusalem, which is * John v. 2. f Tacitus' Hist. VoL II. 1 6 WATER SUFFICENT the sheep-pool, anciently having five porticos ; and now it is shown in the double pool at the same place, one of which is filled by the yearly rains, aud the other of which shows its water in a singular manner, tinged with red, bearing the mark, as they say, of the sacrificial victims anciently washed in it ; for which reason also it is called the sheep-pool, on account of the sacri- fices." Jerome a few years later wrote : "Beth- esda, a pool in Jerusalem which is called xpoSanxr probatike, and may be interpreted by us sheep- pool. This had formerly five porches ; and there are shown two lakes; one of which is usually filled by the winter rains ; the other of which, in a wonderful manner tinned with red, as if by bloody waters, witnesses the marks of the ancient work done in it. For they say that victims were washed in it by the priests, whence also it received its name." The testimony of both these ancient inhabitants of Palestine agrees, that at their early day the pool of Bethesda was well known that it was in the city, that it was so near the temple as to be convenient for the washing of sacrifices, that it was then filled with writer, and that it was (though in two sections and then without por- .ticos) the same structure as the single pool which once was surrounded by covered colonnades. The Crusaders, eight hundred years later, found two AT JERUSALEM. IT immense pools near the inclosure of the temple, filled with water by rain and aqueducts from a distance.* The Greek pilgrims who visited Jeru- salem afterward, and travelers down to our day, describe the Pool of Bethesda at the same point. Dr. Robinson, though differing with ancient and modern authorities as to the identity of this pool with the ancient Bethesda, nevertheless agrees in all that is essential to our inquiry. He regards it as the fosse, excavated for the defense of the fortress Antonia, as rebuilt by Herod the Great ; saying, however, " It was once evidently used as a reservoir ;" and again, " That it was once filled with water is apparent from the lining of small stones and cement upon its sides ;" and yet again, "The reservoir has now been dry for more than two centuries.""]" Here, then, was an expanse of water, in an open pool, existing before Christ's day, covering more than an acre of ground. Just such a body of water was needed for the purposes of bathing by the thousands of Jews who of old came up to Jerusalem, bringing their oxen and sheep for sacrifice ; and whether they entered by the eastern, northern, or western gates, this immense reservoir was on their road as a conve- nient and needed place to perform the washings * See Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 479, Note 3. f Researches, Vol. I. pp. 429—432, 434, 490. 9* 18 WATER SUFFICENT demanded by the Law. Accredited historians, who could no more mistake than a Sparks re- cording the life of Washington, declare that the Jewish priests used to wash the sacrificial victims here, and that hence it was called the " Sheep- pool." Here, or near this spot, was in Christ's day a pool so large that it had five covered colon- nades about it, under which lay a great multi- tude of diseased persons, free to bathe there and have ample room for the bath. Here certainly has remained since Christ's day an expanse of water furnishing nine hundred and sixty bap- tisteries, each six feet by ten. When, therefore, iii Christ's day, three thousand were converted at the Pentecost, and the converts had such "favor with the people" that they could continue " daily with one accord in the temple" in Christian wor- ship, it is utterly inconceivable that they should find no facilities for Christian baptism according to the form Christ prescribed. 2. The King's or Solomon's Pool. Passing now out of the eastern gate, from which the pool just described is but a stone's throw distant, descending thence the steep declivity to the bed of the Kedron, and proceeding from the Garden of Gethsemane down the valley southward, a ten minutes' walk brings us near the head of the AT JERUSALEM. 19 rich bottom which once formed "the King's Gar- den.'' Here, in the rocky hill-side, above which towers the wall of the temple, we descend beneath the arched roof of a natural cave, and by a flight of steps cut in the rock, to what is now called the "Fountain of the Virgin." It is probably the "King's Pool" mentioned by Nehemiah, to which Josephus gives the name of " Solomon's Pool.."* At the foot of the steps we stand in a cavernous chamber "fifteen feet long by five or six wide," and "six or eight feet high," according to Dr. Robinson's measurement. . From the side toward the temple, through an arched passage-way, enters a copious stream of water, which goes out on the opposite side through a passage-way large enough to stand up in. The water in the basin formed by the floor of this chamber is from one foot to three feet deep, any desired depth being in a few minutes attained by throwing a slight dam of earth and stones across the outlet ; a practice which, as Dr. Robinson observed, is now resorted to by the natives, f At certain hours of the day, troops of Arab females from the opposite village of Selwan, (the ancient Siloam mentioned in the New Testament,) come with their water-jars on their heads, and thronging down the steps, linger * Neb. ii. 14: and Jopephr?. War?, V. 4. 2. f Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. pp. 5U0, 502. 20 WATER SUFFICIENT to wacle about in the cool pool and to bathe their feet and faces.* At other times it is so retired, that Dr. Robinson was able to change his raiment, and, wearing only a pair of Arab drawers, to spend a considerable time in examining the outlet to the pool of Siloam. f If Providence had de- signed this place expressly for immersion, there could hardly have been prepared a more conve- nient and appropriate font ; furnishing as it does ample room, an abundant supply of water, and also (if needed) retirement even for change of raiment. 3. The Pool of Siloam, with its smaller Eeservo'r. Proceeding now still down the valley about a quarter of a mile farther southward, we come to that spot so fall of sacred interest, the "Pool of Siloam." It is an open reservoir, built into an excavation in the hill-side, and lined with hard cement. It is fifty-three feet long, eighteen broad, and nineteen deep. The wall next the valley is now so broken down, that not more than two or three feet of water stands in the bottom. The water enters from an arched passage-way high up on the side next the hill. Mounting the hill back * Luke xiii. 4. See Spencer's East, (published at Xew York, 1850,) p. 311. j Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 502. AT JERUSALEM. 21 of the Pool, we find a smaller reservoir, six or eight feet broad and eight or ten feet long, having a descent by steps to its bottom.* Into this smaller basin the water comes from the Pool of the Virgin just described ; and doubtless the original supply is from the gushing source under the temple area and the aqueducts centering there. In either the lower pool or upper basin, any depth of water may be readily obtained by dam- ming temporarily the mouth of the outlet ; a practice now resorted to, as Dr. Robinson has remarked. f It is evidently the fountain and the reservoir mentioned before the Babylonish cap- tivity by Isaiah, after that captivity by Xehemiah, and in the day of our Saviour by John the Evangelist. J As to the permanence and abund- ance of the supply of water here furnished, the amplest evidence may be presented. Josephus, describing it as it was in the days of the apostles, says of Siloam : " That is the name of a foun- tain which hath sweet water in it, and that in great plenty;" and again, representing to his besieged countrymen the hopelessness of their holding out against the Romans, and exhorting them to surrender their city to Titus, he remarks, * Ptobinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 497. f Researches, Vol. I. 497. j Isaiah viii. 0; 2seheuiiah iii. ]5; John ix. 7, 11. 2 2 WATER SUFFICIENT "You know that Siloara, as well as the other springs without the city, .... now have such a great quantity for your enemies, as is sufficient not only for drink both for themselves and their cattle, but also for watering their gardens." The old Bourdeaux Pilgrim, who visited Pales- tine before Constantine's day, after describing some things within the city, adds : " The pool which is called Siloam has four porticos ; there is another large pool without." Of this pool Jerome a few years later speaks, distinguishing the fountain and the pool of Siloam. An interesting description of the religious washings or bathings at this place, while the sacred structures of the Christian emperors yet stood, is given by Anto- nius the Martyr in the sixth century. Speaking of the fountain of Siloam, the pious chronicler says : " There is a circular church there, from under which rises Siloam ; an inclosure of lattice- work, in one part of which men bathe, and in the other, women, before the benediction ; in which waters many things are shown, and even leprous persons are cleansed. Also before the court is a vast pool, artificially constructed, in which the people bathe constantly, though at certain hours only ; for that fountain sends forth many waters which descend through the valley of Jehoshaphat." The bathing here mentioned seems to be a reli- AT JERUSALEM. 23 gions act. The mind accustomed to the opinions of that age will readily distinguish between the historian's statement of facts and the religious devotee's allusion to signs miraculous. The abundance of water supplied for bathing, and the freedom with which it was thus used, recalls to mind Christ's direction to the blind man, if it does not impress the scene of baptism at the Pentecost, The concurrent testimony of numerous other travelers in succeeding ages might be cited ; so that a chain of testimony from Christ's day to our own might present the facilities which Siloam always has afforded for immersion. And when one accustomed to honor the ordinance of baptism in its primitive simplicity now stands at this sacred spot, and beholds before him the copious gushing fountain, and the broad tank and vast pool to re- ceive it, when he sees the freedom with which men and women, by scores, now come hither, and, damming up the broken wall and the circular outlet, bathe their persons, and wash their clothing, he wonders that any one who knows that the proper meaning of the word designating the ordinance of baptism is immersion, and who has visited this spot, could hesitate as to the facilities for that rite at Jerusalem. 24 WATER SUFFICIENT 4. The Old Pool, or the Upper Pool in the Highway of the Fuller's Field. Having now surveyed the group of pools on the east of the city, we return to our starting- point, where on the southern brow of Zion the converts of the Pentecost were gathered, and pro- ceeding again thence, let us visit the correspond- ing group of pools on the west of the city. A ten minutes' walk brings us to the " Castle of David," at the western gate. Passing through that gate, we proceed up the gentle ascent north- west, a distance of half a mile. Here, in the broad valley, where is centered the drain of the northern and western hills for a mile or two around, is a vast ancient pool dug into the earth and limestone rock, and its sides are built up with masonry and lined with cement. Its dimensions, according to Dr. Robinson, are, length 316 feet, breadth 218 feet at one end and 200 at the other, and depth 18 feet. It is probably one of the structures of which Solomon says, " I made me pools of water ;" the one which even in Isaiah's early day was called "the old pool," and which the same prophet also speaks of as " the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; 11 the one also by which the Assyrian army encamped in Hezekiah's day, and from which that king brought AT JERUSALEM. 25 the water down into the two pools on the west of the city.* It is, then, a pool of very great antiquity. and one at which, when in proper repair, there was a quantity of water sufficient to accommodate the city dyers, to give drink to a besieging army. and to supply two other pools below. It now re- ceives only the drain of the winter rains from the surrounding hills ; but originally it seems to have been supplied by fountains in the neighborhood, which Hezekiah concealed by covering up and conducting underground their waters, f Xear the bottom, on the side toward the city, an under- ground passage conducts its waters thither. Je- rome, in the early Christian times, mentions it, attributing its construction to Solomon. The Crusaders speak of it, calling it " Lacus Patri- arch.ee" the Lake of the Patriarch, the former part of the name probably referring to its size, the latter to its antiquity. An old Norman Chronicle lately found in the Royal Library of Paris, and first published in 1843, a work con- taining facts of great value, speaks of this pool as it existed during the occupation of the Holy City * Eccles. ii. 6; Isa. vii. 3; xxii. 11 j 2 Kings xviii. 17; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. -f- 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. See Robinson's Researches, Vol. I, p. 514, and the remarks above, pp. 10, 11, on the " Fountain of Gihon." 26 WATER SUFFICIENT by the Franks, and represents it as still supplied with water, and used to give drink to the horses of the Crusaders' army. * Travelers of our day, who visit Jerusalem in April, a month after the winter rains, find this pool dry. Dr. Robinson explains the reason thus : " The tank was now dry, but in the rainy season it becomes fully Again : " It would seem to be filled in the rainy season by the waters which flow into it from the higher ground round about. Or rather, such is its pre- sent state of disrepair that it probably never be- comes full." In further description of it he says : " The sides are built up with hewn stones laid in cement, with steps at the corners by which to descend into it." f Here then, again, is another broad basin of water, which could hardly have been better adapted to immersion if it had been constructed for that purpose. It is retired from the city : it is broad enough, covering more than an acre and a half of ground, to accommodate any supposable number of administrators ; and it has steps at the corners convenient for descent. In the days of Isaiah and Hezekiah, and again in the days of the Crusaders, it was well supplied with water, and now would be if a small sum were ex- pended in repairing it. Nothing but the very * Wriiam's Memoir. Appndix, No. II. Sect. 6. | Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. pp. 352, ±6-1. AT JERUSALEM. 27 perversity of scepticism would deny the prob- ability, or doubt the certainty even, that in the days of Herod, the great fountain builder, (and hence in the time of Christ.) it furnished ample facilities for the immersion of Christian converts.* 5. The Pool of Hezekiah. Turning our steps now toward the city again, in a few moments we reach the western gate whence we went out. Entering, passing the Castle of David, and bending through the narrow streets to the left, in two or three minutes we stand look- * The suggestion may arise to some minds, that, when the pools of Jerusalem above described ■were full, the great depth of water would render them ill fitted for immersion. This difficulty will be removed by the following considerations. The supply of rain-water in these pools is now exhausted (and probably always was) early in the spring. As we have seen, on the testimony of Dr. Robinson and others, the main and permanent supply of water in all these pools is from aqueducts fed by springs. Of course the supply, except during the winter and early spring, would be a gradual one, and tbe depth of the water could be graduated at pleasure. We have seen that this is now precisely the fact at the two pools on the east side of the city; the people keeping the water at just such a height as they desire. That the same practice was pursued in our Saviour's day is evident : for the pool of Bethesda was then supplied with just the amount of water sufficient for bathing. Farther on, we shall perceive that the lower pool of Gihon, the largest of all these pools, is adapted, even when full, to immersion. 28 -WATER SUFFICIENT ing into the "Pool of Hezekiah." The general opinion is probably correct, that this is the work of Hezekiah, thus alluded to in the sacred history :^ He " made a pool and a conduit and "Drought water into the city." * Jerome men- tions this pool as the Dragon Fountain alluded to by Nehemiah, describing it as " at the west of the city, near Mount Calvary." f The Crusaders, from its location evidently, called it the " Pool of the Holy Sepulchre." This reservoir, according to Dr. Robinson, is about one hundred and forty- four feet broad and two hundred and forty feet long. The natives now call it "Birket-el-Huni- mam," the Pool of the Bath ; from the fact that a neighboring bath is supplied from it. Though hemmed around by houses, there are narrow alleys by which its sides are approached ; and the people freely descend to wash, and to fill their water-jars. Of this pool Dr. Robinson says : " The reservoir is supplied with water during the rainy season by the small aqueduct or drain brought down from the Upper Pool, along the surface of the ground and under the wall at or near the Yafa Gate. * 2 Kings xx. 20. "f- Jerome on the article " Fons Draconis." This mention of it as & fountain seems to confirm the idea that the upper pool and this pool were once supplied by a fountain called Gihon. See Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 511. AT JERUSALEM. 29 "When we last saw it, in the middle of May, it was about half full of water, which however was not expected to hold out during the summer.''' * The Rev. George Williams, an English clergyman who had resided fourteen months at Jerusalem, and who prepared his works with the aid of the accurate sur- vey made in 1841 by the ordnance corps attached to the English force which recovered Syria from the Pacha of Egypt, adds these particulars : " There is a descent by steps into it at the northwest angle ; and the water which in the rainy season runs in from the rude aqueduct at the southwest corner, occu- pies only a small part of the pool at the south- east angle." f This latter remark evidently refers to the quantity of water in the pool in the dry season of the year ; for in April it is well filled, and even to the middle of May, as Dr. Robinson mentions, is well supplied with water. His former remark shows that the bottom is sloping, and thus favor- able for descent into the water. Here then, again, near where the apostles stood preaching, is a pool which existed long before their day, furnishing even now an ample supply of water for bathing at * Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p 4S7. f Williams's Memoir, p. 19. The full title of his work is. "Historical and Descriptive Memoir on the Town and Envi- rons of Jerusalem. To accompany the Ordnance Survey. By George Williams, B. D., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge London. 1849." 3* 30 WATER SUFFICENT the season of the ancient Pentecost, having every facility for a gradual descent into the water, cov- ering more than an acre of ground, so as to furnish room for scores to enter together, and still gener- ally used for the very purpose of bathing. It is not surprising that one whose early prepossessions were opposed to the mode of baptism indicated by the word which Christ's apostles used to ex- press the rite, has not mentioned the natural and inevitable conclusion to which a view of this ex- panse must lead ; but it would seem impossible that the mind bent on the inquiry should fail to see the facilities here offered for immersion. 6. The Loicer Pool of Gilwn. Retracing our steps now to the western city gate, and proceeding on south still in the valley about a quarter of a mile, we come to the "Lower Pool of Gihon." It is rather a pond than a pool, unlike all the others about Jerusalem, being formed by two dams built across the bed of the valley ; these dams forming the ends of the reservoir, while its sides are the sloping sides of the valley. It is in fact formed like a Xew England mill-pond ; except that it has a dam at the head as well as at the foot of the pond. A covered passage leading from the upper pool comes in at the upper dam, and, though now dry like the upper pool, it was AT JERUSALEM. 31 originally supplied, doubtless, from that pool with the rain and spring water which once filled it. The immense aqueduct from the Pools of Solo- mon south of Bethlehem, also crosses the valley about two hundred and twenty feet above the upper end of this pool, and probably from this aqueduct a supply of water was also obtained; for the dam at the head of the pool (or pond) evidently indicates that the water in the pool was once made to rise above the ordinary level of the valley, so as to require a raised embankment to restrain its spread. The dimensions of this pool are, according to Dr. Robinson's measurement, as follows : length along the centre 592 feet ; breadth at the north end 245 feet ; and at the south end 275 feet ; depth at the north end 35 feet, and at the south end 42 feet. This pool has generally been regarded as " the lower pool" mentioned by Isaiah, and is probably the work ascribed to Heze- kiah by the prophet Isaiah and the two historians of the Jewish king. * Though this reservoir is now dry, in the days of the Crusaders it was well supplied with water. The Norman chronicler above alluded to calls it "le Lai Germain," the Lake of Germain, saying that " Germain had it made to collect the waters which descended from the mountains when it rained;" and he adds, "there * Isa. xxii. 9; 2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 30. 32 WATER SUFFICENT the horses of the city are watered."* Another Latin chronicler of the same age, (A. D. 1177) calls the reservoir, in like manner, " Lacus Ger- mani," and says that it "is common for the use of the whole city." j* The reservoir is now called Birket es Sultan, — the Sultan's Pool ; this desig- nation probably denoting (as usual) superiority, either in size or excellence. Of its present con- dition and of its former supply of water, Dr. Ro- binson says : " A road crosses on the causeway at the southern end along which are fountains erected by the Muslims, and once fed from the aqueduct which passes very near. They were now dry. . . . . This reservoir was probably supplied from the rains and from the superfluous waters of the Upper Pool. It lies directly in the natural channel by which the latter would flow off, but is now in ruins." J Here then, again, is an immense reservoir, * The Chronicler probably means simply that this Germanus repaired the reservoir ; for William of Tyre, an earlier writer, mentions this same pool as celebrated in the times of the kings of Judah ; and the continuator of William of Tyre men- tions that this same Germanus, who was burgess of the city under Baldwin the Fourth, opened in a time of famine the well of Job, which had been filled up. See Williams's Memoir, pp. 55 and 63, and Appendix, No. II. Sect. 6. ■f See Williams's Memoir, Appendix, No. II. Sect 6. J Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. pp. 485, 486. AT JERUSALEM. 33 acknowledged by all to have existed long before the days of Christ and of his apostles. So late as the days of the Crusaders, it was so abundantly supplied with water that all the city were allowed to use it freely, and it was the great watering- place for horses. From the rains, the aqueduct, and the Upper Pool, an ample supply of water could have been obtained to keep it full when those structures were in their perfection. The pool, of course, was made of its ample dimensions with the intention that it should be filled, and it is a presumption which no ingenuous mind would think of disputing, that it was, in its original per- fection, kept filled. The days of the apostles were just subsequent to the time of Herod, who repaired with the greatest care the reservoirs at Jerusalem and throughout Palestine ; and no foreign invasion had between his day and that of the apostles occurred to break up or impair those structures. There is, therefore, an historic cer- tainty, that when the Spirit of God was poured out at Jerusalem, after Christ's ascension, there was in this single reservoir, covering as it does more than four acres of ground, and its sides having a slope just adapted to a descent for im- mersion, — there was, in this single reservoir, ample room for all the seventy, and for the twelve added, to act as administrators of the sacred rite. If 34 WATER SUFFICIENT then, as the learned lexicographer seems to admit, the only ground for doubting that the rite prac- ticed by the apostles was immersion, is the want of facilities at Jerusalem in their age for that observance, the sincere inquirer needs no longer to stumble at that imaginary difficulty. For, not the imaginings, nor even the personal investigations, of a fallible individual, have here been stated. On the other hand, the plain declarations of ancient, unprejudiced visitors, and the equally honest statements of those moderns who make the objection, have been brought together, and have been found to present a uniform picture by one who on the sacred soil has sought to compare and harmonize their views, and from them to educe the truth as it is in the Word of God. And if now, after our survey, you are in wonder that two minds, with all these same acknowledged facts be- fore them, should come to conclusions so diverse, let me ask that you read again the first paragraph of this letter, and bear in mind that no man needs to exercise greater candor and charity than he who follows over the footsteps of eminent, but in- terested travelers. Other places: Bethabara and Enon. There are two or three other localities in Palestine where the rite of baptism is said to AT BETTIABARA. 35 have been administered in the days of Christ and of his apostles, which demand a brief notice. There are, first, the two spots at which John the Baptist administered the rite ; namely, Bethabara and Enon. The precise location of neither of these places can now be fixed ; yet the slight in- deiiniteness as to their exact situation does not at all impair our decision of the main question, Three of the Evangelists record that John bap- tized "in the Jordan;" couveying the impression that in this stream alone was the rite performed. The evangelist John mentions two particular lo- calities where John baptized ; both of which there is the strongest reason for believing were on the Jordan, so that the four Evangelists harmonize in their statements. Xow the Biver Jordan (as in our day is well known) is a stream supplying throughout its whole length peculiar facilities for immersion. Xear ancient Jericho it was a stream of such size, that, by a special miracle, God divided its waters for the passage of Israel under Joshua, and afterward of Elijah and Elisha. Only at particular places could it in ancient times be forded, while at other points it must be crossed in a boat.* Above ancient Succoth and Sichem, we learn that in Jacob's age a river called Jabbok, so large that it must be passed at a ford, * Josh. ii. 7 ; Judg. iii. 23; 2 Sam. xis. 1;. 36 WATER SUFFICIENT joined its waters to the Jordan ; so that the united stream must have been throughout the greater part of its length of no small size. * What the Jordan was in that early day, it was in Christ's age, and has been ever since. The thorough exploration by Lieutenant Lynch, in the spring of 1848, has established its varying breadth at from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet, and its depth (increasing of course ordinarily as the breadth diminishes) from three to twelve feet.f The facilities for immersion * Gen. xxxii. 22; Dent. iii. 16. The Yermak, which enters the Jordan several miles north of Bethshean, is "40 yards wide," and "as wide and as deep nearly as the Jordan," and is "crossed by a bridge." — See Lynch's Expedition, pp. 191, 194, 196. f Lieut. Lynch gives the average breadth and depth of the Jordan on the 1st, 2d, 4th, 5th, and 6th days of his descent. On the Sth and 9th there are separate notes; but on the 3d, and 7th there are none. The following are the details given : — Breadth. Depth. pp. 1st day 25 to 30 yds. 175 2d " 40 " 2£ to 6 ft. 184 3d " (rapids) 40 « (as the Yermak) 191, 194 4th - 45 " 4 ft. 203 5th " 30 to 70 " 2 to 10 ft. 221 6th * 56 " 4 ft. 238 7th " (a short Sabbath's journey.) Sth « 40 yds. 7 ft. 252 9th " 40 " 12 ft. 266 " - 50 " 11 ft. 267 " " 180 " 3 ft. 268 AT BETHABARA. 37 therefore, are, and always have been, sufficiently ample in any portion of the stream. The point on the river, near Bethabara, at which John first baptized, is fixed by an unbroken and unvarying tradition. As early as one hundred and fifty years after Christ's day, the place was known ; just as Americans know, and always will know, the spot on the banks of James River where the first colony settled, the place on the Delaware where Washington crossed, and the point on the St. Lawrence where "Wolfe landed, fought and fell. Such a spot could no more be forgotten than can Bunker Hill. Less than two hundred years after Christ was baptized, Origen, coming from Alexandria to visit, as travelers now do, the Holy Land, found the site then fixed by a permanent tradition. Alluding to the fact that, in some of the manuscripts of his day, the name of this place was Bethabara, and in others Bethany, (a difference arising perhaps from the frequent occurrence that a place changed its name, or that the same place had two names,) Origen says : " We were persuaded that we ought Dot to read Bethany, but Bethabara, having been in the region tracing the history of the footsteps of Jesus, and of his disciples and of the pro- phets." He adds: "There is shown, they say, on the bank of the Jordan, the Bethabara where 4 38 WATER SUFFICIENT they relate that John baptized." The Latin pilgrim of A. D. 333, records the following : " Thence [from the Dead Sea] to the Jordan where John baptized is five miles. There is the place above the river, a little mount on the farther bank, where Elijah was taken up to heaven." In his day the place was known, its distance being particularly noted ; and it was regarded as the same as that over wilich Elijah passed. The latter fact perhaps explains Origen's allusion to "the prophets" in the same connection. Eusebius has the following note : "Bethabara, where John was baptizing, beyond the Jordan. And the place is shown in which, also, many of the brethren, even to the present time, are anxious to receive the redemption." Jerome's note is much the same : " Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John baptized unto penitence. Whence also even to this day very many of the brethren, that is, of the number of those believing, desiring there to be born again, are baptized in the life-giving flood." In his beautiful letter in memory of Paula, a devout Roman female who had made a pilgrimage through the Holy Land, Jerome has this eloquent passage, suggesting other historical traditions as to this locality : " Scarcely had night passed when with most fervent ardor she came to the Jordan. She stood on the bank of the stream, and, as the sun AT BETIIABARA. 30 rose, she remembered the Sun of righteous how in the midst of the bed of the river the priests plant ed their dry footsteps, and at the word of Elijah and of Elisha, the waters standing on either side, an open passage offered itself; and how the Lord by his baptism cleansed the waters polluted with mud and stained with the slaughter of the whole human race." The Scotch Abbot Adam- nanus. who entertained the shipwrecked French bishop in King Alfred's day, about A. D. 698, gathered from the pilgrim's lips these particulars, as the venerable Bede has transcribed them : u In the place in which the Lord was baptized there stands a wooden cross as high as the neck, which sometimes is hidden by the water rising above it ; from which place the farther bank, that is, the eastern, is a sling's throw distant ; while the hither bank bears on the summit of a little hill a large monastery renowned as a Church of Saint John the Baptist ; from which over a bridge sup- ported by arches they are accustomed to descend to that cross and to pray." The river, then, seven hundred years after Christ's day, at the point of his baptism, must have been several rods wade, and it is indicated that the depth east of the cross was over a man's head. Chateaubriand, the modern French tourist, mentions that the river at the same spot is " six 40 WATER SUFFICIENT or seven feet in depth under the bank, and nearly fifty paces (or one hundred and seventy-five feet) in breadth." Dr. Robinson, though he spent a day or two in the valley, did not make any esti- mate ; but, quoting from a certain English tra- veler of 1815, named Turner, he gives the rough guess, " rather more than fifty feet wide and five feet deep."* Lieut. Lynch gives the general dimensions of the river in that region as " forty yards wide and twelve feet deep." In farther description of his own impressions at the spot, Lieut. Lynch records : " 9^ o'clock P. M. We arrived at 'El Meshra,' the bathing place of the Christian pilgrims. . . . This ford is consecrated by tradition as the place where the Israelites passed over with the ark of the cove- nant, and where our blessed Saviour was baptized by John. Feeling that it would be desecration to moor the boats at a place so sacred, we passed it, and with some difficulty found a landing below. My first act was to bathe in the conse- crated stream ; thanking God, first, for the pre- * Robinson's Researches, Vol. II. p. 261. The opposing tradition alluded to here and at p. 257, though mentioned by- English travelers of the last half-century, has no authority, or even mention, among the earlier writers; it was evidently the result of a temporary spirit of controversy between the Greek and Roman Church, and is now seldom heard of or mentioned. AT BETHABARA. 41 cious favor of being permitted to visit such a spot, and secondly for his protecting care through- out our perilous passage. For a long time after, I sat upon the bank, my mind oppressed with awe, as I mused upon the great and wondrous events which had here occurred. . . . Tradition, sustained by the geographical features of the country, makes this the scene of the baptism of the Redeemer. . . . On that wondrous day, when the Deity vailed in flesh descended the bank, all nature, hushed in awe, looked on, — and the im- petuous river, in grateful homage, must have stayed its course and gently laved the body of its Lord. . . . Over against this was no doubt the Bethabara of the Xew Testament. . . . The in- terpretation of Bethabara is 'a place of passage over.' Our Lord repaired to Bethabara where John was baptizing ; and as the ford probably derived its name from the passage of the Israelites with the ark of the covenant, the inference is not unreasonable that this spot has been doubly hal- lowed." Speaking of the caravan of pilgrims, who came on the annual bathing-clay, the very morning the American party were encamped there, Lieut. Lynch says: "The pilgrims de- scended to the river where the bank gradually slopes. Above and below, it is precipitous. The banks must have been always high in places, and 4* 42 WATER SUFFICIENT the water deep. . . . Each one plunged himself, or was dipped by another, three times below the surface, in honor of the Trinity."* Lieut. Lynch is not alone among intelligent Americans who thus feel and act at this sacred spot; for the American mind, cultured remote from the realm of superstitious tradition and of irrational scepticism also, has learned to " dis- tinguish things that differ." The Rev. Mr. Spencer, of the Episcopal Church in New York, thus records his experience at this hallowed place : " Alone in a woody and retired spot, protected by the shade of the sycamore, the ilex, and the willow, I disrobed and advanced into the river. The bank is very declivitous, and in a few mo- ments I was nearly out of my depth. . . . From the depth of my soul I blessed God for the privi- leges of his covenant sealed to us by the holy sacrament of baptism ; and I seemed to myself to be looking on the solemn and touching scene of our Lord's baptism by his messenger whom he sent to prepare the way before him. Earnestly did I supplicate that God of his mercy would wash and purify my soul, body, and spirit, by the blood of Christ Jesus our Lord ; and with the deepest reverence, remembering whom I was wor- shiping I bowed my head beneath the waters of * Lynch's Expedition, pp. 255-263. AT BETHABARA. 43 the Jordan three times, and pronounced each time the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Triune God of our salvation."* The most impressive season for a visit to this hallowed spot on the Jordan, is during Easter week, in the middle of April, when a mighty throng of from three to five thousand persons goes pouring out of the eastern and northern gates of Jerusalem for the annual bath. There are young and old, rich and poor, men and women, mounted on horses, camels, and donkeys, or plod- ding on foot. They are members chiefly of the various branches of the Eastern Church, Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, and Copts, only here and there a Roman Catholic and a European traveler being seen. They all retain, from the days of their fathers and of the apostles, the primitive ordinance of immersion, and though they have in infancy received from others the rite, they re- gard it almost indispensable to salvation that once in their lives they be immersed, on profession of their own faith, in the very spot where Jesus was baptized. Hence that immense multitude is every succeeding year an entirely new one ; pil- grims gathered from Russia to Egypt, and from Greece to India. A Turkish guard of four hun- * " The East," by the Rev. J. A. Spencer, p. 392. New York, 1S50. 44 WATER SUFFICIENT dred men, with the governor of Jerusalem at their head, goes to guard the host from intestine strifes, and from attacks of the desert Arabs. The slow march of so vast a throng through the various defiles leading to the valley of the Jordan occu- pies the first day. The night encampment is near ancient Jericho, four or five miles from the sea. At midnight the whole camp is roused, and, a hasty breakfast being partaken, the traveler mounts into his saddle, and by one o'clock all are moving toward the sacred stream at the thrice sacred spot where Israel crossed, where Elijah passed, and where John baptized the Son of God. So tediously slow is the movement of the motley throng in the dark, that the gray dawn is stream- ing along the eastern mountain peaks ere the river is in sight. Then, with a headlong rush, all hasten to plunge in the turbid waters ; laying aside on the banks their upper garments, wading out to their middle in the stream, and then plung- ing themselves forward three times beneath the waters. In the sacred rite, strong youths support persons tottering and trembling with age, and parents plunge their little children, while vigorous men swim off beyond their depth, breasting the rapid current and again and again bowing their heads beneath the reverend tide. The Christian scholar, as he stands and gazes on the impressive AT BETHABARA. 45 scene, learns that important distinction made by the apostles of Christ between traditions which are history and traditions which are superstition ;* separating the true from the false, clipping the text of history from the added gloss of bigotry ; sifting the kernel of the permanent and valuable from the mere chaff of the temporary and worth- less. Historical traditions, as to objects of sight and of permanent existence, are as sure and as valuable in the land of our Saviour as in the land of Sesostris, of Alexander, of Ca?sar, of Charle- magne, of Alfred, or of Washington. The primi- tive mode of baptism, the spot where our Lord received it, the identity of that spot with scenes in the lives of patriarchs and prophets, — these are objects of sight, matters of historical fact, and the tradition in reference to them, like all other per- manent historical traditions, is the surest of all testimony and the most worthy of credit. It is testimony, in fact, of such a kind, that to reject it would be to leave the whole past without any basis of certainty. There can be no question that * Compare Stephen's reference to Moses's learning, Paul's allusion to Jacob's leaning on his staff, and to Jannes and Jambres, and Jude's mention of Michael, Balaam, and Enoch, &c, -where historical traditions are confirmed as true, ■with Christ's statement as to the religious "traditions of the elders." Mark vii. 3-13; Acts vii. 20-22; 2 Tim. iii. 8; Heb. xv 21: Jude ix. 15. -■':■ WATER SUFFICIENT John selected as : e of his preaching and baptism the point on the Jordan where the great route of travel from Jerusalem and Jericho to the important cities beyond the river crossed ; a spot ivorable to gather hearers, and at the same time furnishing facilities for immersion. In that age the spot bore a name so general in signifi- cation, and so changeable in form, that before Ori gen's day it began to be supplanted by another ilar import;* and afterward, for the same :>nd name also disappeared. The only important fact, the locality of our Lord's - known long after its transitory name I away ; just as the spot where the Pilgrims landed will a thousand years hence be certainly fixed, although even now only the anti- quary knows that its original name was Pawtuxet. E'\on. The second locality where John baptized, called E ton, cannot with so much precision be I ined. Yet the followi:._ mi be estab- lished : i: was situated on the Jordan; it was * The signification usually assigned to Betltalara is " house or place of the ford or ind that of Bethany (the name Origen rejected) is "house or plate of sh: two being equivalent. — Sea Robinson's X. Test. Greek LsJCU ML AT BN09. 4 7 eight Roman or about seven and one third E - glish miles south of ancient Bethshean or - - thopolis ; and it was at or near the great thorough- fare from Galilee and Samaria across the Jordan to the important cities on the other side. That it was on the Jordan is implied in the fact, that no one of the Xew Testament writers mentions any other water than the Jordan in which John baptized. Eusebius and Jerome describe the lo- cation as well known in their early day ; implying that, for the three hundred previous years since Christ's day, the place had always been marked. The former makes this record : " Jinon, near to Alim, where John baptized, as in the Gospel ac- cording to John. And even to the present time the place is shown, eight miles from 8 - thopolis, toward the south, near to Salim and the Jordan." The latter records : " J^non, near Salim, where John baptized, as it is written in the Gos- pel according to John; and the place is shown, at the eighth milestone from Scythopolis at the South, near Salim and the Jordan. ?? The testimony of these ancient writers, who li- near the time of Christ, and had such ample op- portunities for investigation, fixes the site of En : d on the Jordan, and at seven and one third English miles south of ancient Scythopolis, or Bethshean, whose ruins yet remain a distinct laQdmar-k. 48 WATER SUFFICIENT ing the name of Beisan. Among more modern authors, Brocardus, in the later period of the Crusades, makes this mention of it : — "Before Mount Galaad, toward Jezreel, which is on the northern side of Mount Gilboa, a level road passes from Jordan at Salim, where John baptized. From Bethsan there are two Gallic miles (nearly three English) toward the west to Jezreel." A reference to Dr. Robinson's map will show that this road must have passed all along the north- western slope of Mount Gilboa, through the plain to the river ; and that it was at the point upon the Jordan where the great thoroughfare from West- em Galilee and Samaria crosses it, that John se- lected his favorable location for baptizing. Burk- hardt has the following on the general locality. Of Beisan he says : " The ancient town was watered by a river now called Moiet Bysan (Waters of Beisan), which flows in different branches through the plain." " The town is built along the banks of the rivulet." Having spoken of the mountain range north of Beisan, he says : " At one hour distant to the south, the mountains begin again." Burkhardt crossed the Jordan, two hours distant (about six miles) from Beisan, from which point its ruins lay north-northwest. It was the 2nd of July, in midsummer, when he crossed ; and at that season he found the stream AT ENON. 49 "80 paces broad and 3 feet deep." lie adds: " the river is fordable in many places during sum- mer, but the few spots where it may be crossed in the rainy season are known only to the Arabs. The river, for three hours from the lake [Tiberias], flows on the west side of the valley, then on the eastern, and at two hours south of the ford returns to the western side. Near where we crossed, to the south, are ruins called Lukkot." Burkhardt's statement as to the waters of the Beisan does not interfere with Josephus's statement, that the val- ley was without water except the Jordan ;* since what he calls a river in one sentence he calls a rivulet in another. As he crossed evidently near the place where John baptized, his statement as to the size of the stream is valuable. His men- tion of the direction of the river from Beisan, nearly due south, shows that, according to Euse- bius and Jerome's statement, Enon might be south of Beisan, and yet on the Jordan. We learn, also, that, at the point where John baptized, the valley ran near the eastern mountains, having on the west a plain where a habitable town would naturally stand. We see from his statement, also, that John's place of baptizing could not have been far from the thoroughfare by which Jacob and his family and flocks crossed. * Josephus, Wars, IV. 8. 2. 50 WATER SUFFICIENT Dr. Robinson thus describes Am Jalud, "a very large fountain" near Jezreel, which is about eight miles northwest of Beisan : " It spreads out at once into a fine limpid pool forty or fifty feet in diameter, in which great numbers of small fish were sporting." In speaking of the stream which passes Beisan he says : " This would seem prob- ably to be the rivulet which comes down from the valley of Jezreel." * While this account shows that in Palestine there are pools and other places where immersion might be practiced, it of course furnishes no information as to Enon, which was eight Roman miles south of Beisan. The cele- brated English travelers, Irby and Mangles, make the following statements on this locality: "At one hour and twenty minutes from Bysan the depth of the ford reached above the bellies of the horses. "We measured the breadth and found it 140 feet About half a mile to the south is a tomb on a barrow called Sheikh Daoud." The expedition of Lieut. Lynch, during the spring of 1848, has added some important partic- ulars to what was before known as to this local- ity. In his account of the day previous to his passing the section of the river where Enon must have been situated, he records, that, near their en- * Robinson's Researches, Vol. III. pp. 167, 168, 175. AT BNON. 51 camping' place (which on the map is two or three miles below Beisau), "the river describes a series of frantic curvilinears, and returns in a contrary direction to its main course. " " The river aver- aged to-day forty-five yards in width, and four feet in depth." The land party who visited Bei- sau, not far from that town " came to quite a large stream," evidently the same mentioned above. The following day, during which the position of ancient Enon must have been passed, Lieut. Lynch seems to have passed the most enchanting region on the river. Of this day he says : " The river, from its eccentric course, scarcely permitted a correct sketch of its topography to be taken. It curved and twisted north, south, east, and west, turning, in the short space of half an hour, to every quarter of the compass, seeming as if desirous to prolong its luxuriant meanderings in the calm and silent valley." " Here and there were spots of solemn beauty. The numerous birds sang with a music strange and manifold Above all, yet attuned to all, was the music of the river, gushing with a sound like that of shawms and cym- bals At times we issued from the shadow and silence of a narrow and verdure-tented part of the stream into an open bend, where the rapids rattled, and the light burst in, and the birds sang their wild wood song." Over and over, with a 52 "WATER SUFFICIENT spirit resembling that of romance, the almost enchanted navigator repeats the varied beauties of that day's progress. Knowing now, as we do, from the ancient Christian writers, that in the midst of this very- scene stood "Enon," who can fail to see where the descriptive John obtained his expression " many waters" or " much water," for these interminable windings of the river certainly gave many a shady retreat, and a shallow, gentle flow, for the ad- ministering of immersion ; and those " rattling- rapids" and dashing cataracts are, in their appro- priate measure, "the voice of many waters." Further on, in reference to this same day's jour- ney, Lieut. Lynch says : " In our course to-day we have passed twelve islands, all but three of diminutive size, and noted fourteen tributary streams, ten on the right [or west] and four on the left bank. With the exception of four, they were trickling rivulets." " The width of the river was as much as seventy yards, with two knots current, and narrowed again to thirty yards, with six knots current ; the depth ranging from two to ten feet." "About five miles nearly due west from the camp were the ruins of Succoth." Lieut. Lynch has so much of his own impressions to record this day, that he has mentioned little or nothing of the observations of the land party, except that, on at enon. 53 account of the mountain range running near the river, they were obliged, most of the day, to travel far to the west of the stream. This, however, they were not obliged to do, until farther south than the site of ancient Enon. It was the happy lot of your correspondent, four days afterward, on Tuesday, April 18th, 18-48, to meet the party at the Pilgrim's bathing-place below, when Dr. Anderson became his companion to Jerusalem. Particular inquiries were made as to the shape of the country, and as to other par- ticulars. No stream or fountain was met by the party during the day on which they traversed the plain where Enon once stood. Xo relic of such a name seems to remain. The permanent record of the early Christians, sanctioned by the New Testament writers, and confirmed by all subsequent observations, leaves no doubt that Enon was at a passage of the Jordan in the romantic region above described, and at a point which might be accurately ascertained by any one who should measure the distance from Beisan. It was my de- sign to visit this locality, a few days after meeting the party on the Jordan, and personally to ex- amine it ; but on arriving within a day's journey of the region, no persuasion or offer of money could prevail on my Arab attendants to venture into the dangerous neighborhood. The replies to 5* 54 WATER SUFFICIENT my inquiries, however, and my own distant scan- ning of the region from mountain summits, left an impression hardly less definite and satisfactory than a personal visit could have given. The Place where Philip baptized the Eunuch. Yet one more locality in Palestine mentioned as the scene of Christian baptism in the time of the Apostles demands notice ; namely, the place on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza where the Ethiopian eunuch was baptized by Philip. !No spot in Palestine was marked with more interest and more particularity by the early Christian pil- grims and Christian scholars. The Bourcleaux Pilgrim, less than three hundred years after the event, described with care its situation. His note is (as he advances from Bethlehem) : " Thence to Bethazsora is fourteen miles, where is the fountain in which Philip baptized the eunuch. Thence to the oak where Abraham dwelt is nine miles. Thence to Hebron is two miles." Eusebius, on the word Bethsur, has the followipg note : " Beth- sur of the tribe of Judah or Benjamin. There is also now a village Bethsoran, twenty miles distant from Jerusalem toward Hebron, where also a fountain issuing from a mountain is shown, in which the eunuch of Candace is said to have been baptized by Philip. There is also another Beth- FOR BAPTIZING THE EUNUCH. 55 Bur in the tribe of Jiulah, distant one mile from the city of Eleutheropolis." Jerome in like manner says on the same word : " Bethsnr in the tribe of Judah or Benjamin. And there is at this day a vil- lage Bethsoron, to ns going from Jerusalem to Hebron, at the twentieth milestone ; near which a fountain, boiling up at the foot of a mountain, is absorbed by the same soil from which it springs ; and the Acts of the Apostles record that the eunuch of Queen Candace was baptized in this by Philip. There is another village Bethsnr in the tribe of Judah, a mile distant from Eleutheropolis." In his beautiful eulogy on Paula, the Eoman pil- grim, Jerome records : " She began to pass over the ancient way which leads to Gaza, the power or the riches of God, and in silence to revolve with herself how the Ethiopian eunuch, prefiguring the people of the nations, had changed his skin ; and while she read again the ancient document, she found again the fountain of the Gospel. And thence she passed to the right. From Bethsnr she came to Escol, which is translated, the grape-clus- ter And she ascended to Hebron." In the days of the Crusaders the same locality was fixed. Brocardus, A. D. 1283, records: "From Hebron it is reckoned three Gallic leagues [four and a half Roman miles] toward the north, declining a little to the west, to Nehel-Escol, that is, the 56 WATER SUFFICIENT torrent-bed of the grape-cluster, whence the spies bore the branch of the grape : Xurn. xiii. 23, 24, 25. A t the left of this valley through half a league [three quarters of a Roman mile] de- scends the stream in which Philip baptized the eunuch of Queen Candace, not far from Sicelech. From Nehel Escol it is reckoned eight leagues [twelve Roman miles] to the house of Zachariah." At a later period, (perhaps for the reason that Bethsur was a general name, and given to differ- ent places, perhaps also from a spirit of contro- versy between the Eastern and Western Christians, or for convenience,) the location of the tradition- ary spot was changed ; as Sinai was in like man- ner changed to Serbal. * Hence several succeed- ing modern writers, as Quistorpius, Pococke, and Buckingham, describe the fountain of Philip as being in a valley, which Pococke states to be "about six miles north-northwest of Bethlehem." Dr. Robinson doubts the authority of the early tradition ; intimating the two objections, that the Itinerary of the Bourdeaux Pilgrim makes Beth- sur eleven Roman miles from Hebron, whereas it is but six miles to the site he himself (doubtless correctly) has marked for Bethsur, and again, that the road from Jerusalem to Gaza could not have * Alluded to in Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. pp. 173- 186. FOR BAPTIZING THE EUNUCH 57 passed that way. * As to the first difficulty, it is doubtless explained by Jerome, who describes Paula as turning to the right in going from Beth- sur to Escol, evidently making a circuit around the mountain interposed, instead of going directly over it. The Bourdeaux Pilgrim is precisely ac- curate in the other distances he mentions ; for his six miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and his fourteen miles from Bethlehem to Bethsur make the twenty miles of Eusebius and Jerome ; and his two miles from the oak of Abraham to Hebron agrees precisely with the forty minutes occupied by Br. Robinson in passing over the same ground. "j* As to the second objection, Reland will reply to it. Dr. Robinson marks another locality, Tellel-Hasy (which is also on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza by way of Hebron), suggesting that there is a sufficient expanse of water for the administration, though he does not describe its size.J Many others equally favorable might be mentioned on the same road ; but the authority of Eusebius and Jerome, as to the precise locality where the rite was administered, cannot be disre- garded where baptism is concerned, any more than where the site of an old Roman town, as Eleu- * Researches, Vol. I. p. 320. t Ibid., Vol. II. p. 429. J Ibid. Vol II. pp. 3S0, 641. 58 WATER SUFFICIENT theropolis, is to be determined. The best au- thority in Biblical geography of modern times, Belaud, speaking of Bethsar, regards the locality mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome to be the same as that mentioned among the mountains be- tween Jerusalem and Hebron in Joshua's time, which was afterward fortified by Rehoboam.* He thinks it also the same as the Bath sura forti- fied by the Maccabees, which is described as "in Iduruea,"' and again as "on the borders of Judea;'' while he regards the mentioned distance, "five furlongs from Jerusalem," either to be a mistake, or to refer to another fortress, f As to the road to Gaza and the locality where the eunuch was baptized. R eland's language is: "Near this vil- lage there is fountain boiling up at the foot of the mountain, and in which, they say, the eunuch of Queen Candace was baptized. [See Eusebius in his Ononiasticon and the Jerusalem Itinerary.] This tradition Cellarius argues to be false, because the Ethiopian was not going in the way leading to Hebron, but in the way leading to Gaza, which declines far to the west of Hebron. But, though Gaza may lie to the west of Hebron, the roads were not always constructed straight through the * Josh. xv. 5S and 2 Chron. xi. 7. f 1 Mac. iv. 29, 61; vi. 7, 26, 31, 49; ix. 52; xir. 7, 33; also, 2 Mac. xi. 5, etc. FOR BAPTIZING THE EUNUCH. 59 shortest routes ; nor do I think that by this cir- cumstance the authority of this tradition is di- minished. I acknowledge that a route might be established from Jerusalem to Gaza, first toward the west as far as the plains of Juclah, and then through the region bordering on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea to Gaza. TVe know also that formerly (whether as early as the time at which the eunuch lived that third route existed is un- certain) journeys were made from Jerusalem to Eleutheropolis, and thence to Ascalon, and so on to Gaza. This follows from the Itinerary of Antonine. But that through Hebron also the journey to Gaza was made, follows from the fact, that in almost all the itineraries of the moderns we read that, if any one journeyed from Jerusa- lem to Gaza, they went through Hebron thither ; never, so far as I know, through the plains bor- dering on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea." With reason does Reland express the doubt whether the route by Eleutheropolis existed in the eunuch's day; since according to Dr. Robinson that town is not mentioned, even by its name Betogabra, until the beginning of the second century after Christ, nor by its later and more important name till the fourth century. On the Article "JElia Gazam," From Jerusalem to Gaza, Reland presents the same view again. On the 60 WATER SUFFICIENT word Gaza he expresses the opinion, that the word " desert," in Acts viii. 26, refers to the city. not to the route. It is worthy of remark, how- ever, that the designation, coming as it does from the pen of Luke, is peculiarly applicable to the route by Hebron ; for the same writer uses the same word, in the same general sense, and in describing the same region, when he mentions that John the Baptist was reared "in the deserts;" the home of John's parents, according to Dr. Robinson, being at Jutta near Hebron.* Starting now from Jerusalem on the route thus indicated, let us view the facilities for immersion along its course, and especially at the spot where history has fixed the eunuch's baptism. Pro- ceeding on horses, at the ordinary rate of three Roman miles an hour,f in two hours and thirty minutes we reach the three immense pools of Solomon, from which water was conducted to Jeru- salem. In Christ's day they were little lakes of water, for the three cover about three acres of ground, J and when filled they furnished all needed facilities for immersion, lying open, as they do, and in a retired valley. Even now, such is the quantity of water in the lower pool, that a more * See Luke i. 80. f See Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 545. J Ibid. Vol. II. p. 165. FOR BAPTIZING THE EUNUCH. Gl convenient place for the sacred ordinance could hardly be desired. Proceeding thence over hill and dale, and through one long valley, which, from the number of its wells, the muleteers call " \Yady-el-Beer," the Valley of Wells, in one hour and fifty minutes more we stopped on a hill- side to water our horses, and to drink at a large reservoir with an arched roof, from which the water is drawn up with a bucket. Of this place Dr. Robinson says : " The road up the ascent is artificial ; half way up is a cistern of rain water, and an open place of prayer for the Mohammedan travelers. ' : * At this spot immersion would not be difficult. Descending thence into the fine valley before us, crossing it, and ascending on the opposite side, in thirty-five minutes more we reached the ruins of an ancient town, which our muleteer calls Howoffnee, but which Dr. Robinson has marked Abu Fid; mentioning "olive-trees and tillage around, and a reservoir of rain water, "f This reservoir lies in the open field, with a grassy brink around it. It is fifty or sixty feet square, and it is now, in the last of April, full of water, the depth being apparently from three to five * Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 320. The water is evi- dently sprtng-wsLter, rather than rain-water; for it is slightly tinctured with the limestone of the hills. | Ibid., Vol. I. p. 320. 6 62 WATER SUFFICIENT feet. It is evidently ancient, the walls being built up of large hewn stones. A fitter place for im- mersion could not be desired. Along in front of the old town and pool, a fine old Roman road, paved with stone and having neat curbing stones at the side, may be traced in the grass some dis- tance down the hill-side toward Jerusalem ; as evident a carriage-road as is the old Appian Way now seen south of Rome. Proceeding on- ward, through a country quite open and con- siderably cultivated, in one hour and five minutes we reach, at the foot of a long and steep hill, the ruins of a fortress or church on the left of our road. The structure is perhaps fifty feet front, and sixty feet long. Within there are the remains of two large halls, with an arched ceiling. The stones of the building are massive, some of them eight feet long and two feet square. There are three door-ways in front. In some respects it re- sembles a fortress, in others an ancient church. On the hill side, half a mile southwest, is another less ruined fortress. The one near us is called, by the shepherds keeping their flocks here, Anee- ed-Dirweh, and the other, Es-Soor-ed-Dirweh. In front of the fortress by us is a fine gushing fountain of sweet water, and broad stone troughs in which we water our horses. This spot has been fixed on by Dr. Robinson as the Bethsur FOR BAPTIZING THE EUNUCH. 63 mentioned by Eosebius and Jerome as the place where the eunuch was baptized.* Halul, men- tioned next to Bethsur in the list of towns of Joshua's age,f stands on the hill top, a mile or more distant, still called Hulhul by the natives. The distance, which we have made six hours by horse or eighteen Roman miles from Jerusalem on the direct route, agrees well with the twenty miles of the ancient route, which bent easterly through Bethlehem. The ground in front of the fountain and of the structure behind it is so broken up and covered with stones, that it is difficult to determine what was once here. There is now a slightly depressed hollow, with a sandy or gravelly bottom. It is hardly conceivable that, in the days of Herod, the fountain-builder, this most favorable spring should not have been made to supply a pool in this land of such structures ; and even now water sufficient to supply such, a reservoir flows from the troughs, and soaks into the soil ; as, according to Jerome's mention, in his day it seems also to have been absorbed. That there was an ancient and even a modern route • Robinson's Researches, Vol. I. p. 320, note. Under the word Beth-tsur, in Robinson's edition of Gesenius's Hebrew Lexicon, the name Beit-Sur is said also to be applied to ed- Dirweh. j- Joshua xv. 58. 64 WATER SITFICENT, ETC. from Jerusalem to Gaza by Hebron, Reland and the ancient Christian writers have shown ; and, what is more, even now the usual route from Jerusalem to Gaza is by Hebron. If the traveler at Gaza, for instance, hires horses and mules to Jerusalem, the understanding is, that the journey is to be made by Hebron, as the smoother and safer road ; and an extra price must be paid to go by the more direct, though rougher and more dangerous route. That an ancient " chariot 11 road passed this way, the observant traveler will often perceive on his journey. Dr. Robinson twice between Hebron and Jerusalem, notices this ;* and we have traced even plainer evidences. The task to which you invited me is at length finished; having swelled into a more extended labor than was at first anticipated. If the con- clusions here suggested shall seem to be just, awakening in the minds of other inquirers the same confident and cheering faith they have be- gotten in the mind of the writer, it will be an ample requital both for the toil of the study and for the fatigues of the journey. Yours as ever, G. W. S. * Researches, Vol. I. pp. 316, 320; "the path is here paved," t because they are naturally holy. I trust that through the infinite benevolence of God, as they have never actually ginned, so. the merits of Jesus will be un- conditionally app^ed to regenerate and save them. 32 REASONS FOR . Answer. None. They may be baptized, and they may partake of the holy sacra- ment of the Lord's supper, which they ought to do if they are members of the church. Hence infant communion is almost, or quite, as old as infant baptism. But is all this obeying -the laws and enjoy- ing the privileges of the kingdom of Christ? I think not. I see then no evidence that infants are the proper subjects of either the kingdom of grace, or glory. The word " skc/i" in the text, I do not understand to express identity, but comparison. The context plainly -shows it. " And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily, verily I say unto you, except }*e be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." No one supposes that Christ meant to teach that we must shrink into the size and age of little children by hum- bling ourselves as little children. Conse- quently, in that passage where Christ says, " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein," he would teach us that BECOMING A BAPTIST. 33 adults must receive the kingdom of God in that humble, meek, and depending temper, which will make them appear like or as little children. So we believe that Christ uses the word " such" as a term of comparison. Hence this passage does not appear to have any thing to do with baptism, either directly or indirectly. The next passage to which I looked is found 1 Cor. 7 : 12 — 14. " Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy." What holiness ? It is either moral, ceremonial, or civil. It could not be moral holiness, for holiness is not hereditary. It could not be ceremonial holiness, for the ceremonial law was abolished. It follows, then, that it must be civil holiness, — these children being the pure and legiti- mate offspring of the holy institution of matrimony ; and hence the true sense of the text evidently is — Else were your children illegitimate, but now are they legitimate. I ask again, what has this to do with baptism ? I next inquired if it could not be inferred from what the scriptures say of the bap- tism of whole householders ? At Phillipi there were two households baptized — Lydia's, Acts 16 : 13, and the jailoi's, verse 33. Lydia's household 34 REASONS FOR comprised all who were first baptized within the boundaries of Europe, and the jailor's the second company of baptized individuals. This company Paul and Silas left at the prison when they went back and entered the house of Lydia. Here " they saw and comforted the brethren." What brethren ? Were they not those believing individuals whom they baptized in the family of Lydia? Dr. Whitby on this passage, says : — " And when she and those of her house- hold were instructed in the Christian faith, in the nature of baptism required by it, she was baptized, and her household." The assembly of divines in their anno- tations and note on this text say, that " Paul and Silas entered into the house of Lydia doubtless to confirm them in the faith, which they had preached to them. Lydia and hers hearing of their miraculous deliverance, could not but be comforted and confirmed in the faith." These testi- monies from Pedo-baptists show that there is nothing to be drawn from this, in favor of infant baptism. As to the jailor's household, I could find no infants there. It is said that the apos- tles spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. Mark BECOMING A BAPTIST. 35 ya — they spake the word of the Lord " to all that were in his house." Would they speak the word of the Lord to infants ? Certainly not ; but they spake the word to all that were in his house. It follows then that there were no infants in his house. And hence verse 34th says, '• that when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house." As Matthew Henry says, " the voice of rejoicing, with that of salvation, was heard in the jailor's house. He rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. There were none in his house that refused to be baptized, and so make a jar in the ceremony ; but they were unanimous in embracing the gospel, which added much to their joy." Acts 8 : 4, 5 — S, we are informed of the baptism of Crispus and his household. But it is said that he " believed on the Lord with all his house." Hence they were all believers, and no infants. The next is the household of Stephanas. 1 Cor. 1 : 16. Of this household Paul says, ch. 16 : 1-5, " Ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia." Fruits of what ? The ministry of the word by which they believed, who 36 REASONS FOR were rendered the proper subjects of bap- tism. Of this household Paul further adds, " that they have addicted themselves to> the ministry of the saints." To whom will this apply ? Not to infants. We know that none but adults could adminis- ter to the wants of the poor persecuted followers of Jesus. The household of Cornelius, Acts x. Here is the formation of the first Christian church among the Gentiles ; and as such we should look to it as a model church. But what is the sum of the wmole history bearing upon this question ? It is simply this : 1. Peter preaches to them. 2. The Holy Ghost falls upon them. They re- ceive it and believe ; and 3. They are baptized. Now, if the infants of those who believed were also to be admitted into the pale of the visible church of Christ, the apostle omitted a very important item in giving to the gentile world a model for a Gospe] church. There were doubtless many families present to hear Peter, who were converted to God under his ministry, and yet after all there was not an infant bap- tized, nor a single hint cnven to that effect. Surely Pedo-baptist missionaries in hea- BECOMING A BAPTIST. 37 then In nds do not follow Peter's example. From their journals we find that they as regularly baptize the children of their con- verts as they do the converts themselves. But why Peter neglected this branch of his duty I cannot conceive, unless he were a Baptist, and had no confidence in infant baptism. Confidence, did I say ? I doubt whether he had ever heard of such a thing. Ay, more. I seriously doubt whether he had ever thought of such a thins:. I am sure I never should if I had never heard any more about it than what is taught in the Bible. Again, I looked for some intimations which might favor infant baptism in Acts 2. But I found that all who were baptized on the day of Pentecost were believers. 1. They were pricked to the heart, and said, &c. 2. They were required to re- pent, &c. 3. " Then they that gladly received the word were baptized." 4. " They continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the break- ing of bread, and in prayers." But did not the apostle hint at the bap- tism of infants, when he said, "the promise is to you and your children V" I think not; for to what "promise" does he refer? Answer. The promise of the Holy Ghost, 4 3S REASONS FOR which infant. children are incapable of re- ceiving. But a cursory view of his dis- course makes this evident. The Apostle's exhortation teaches that upon their repentance and baptism they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. " For the promise," says he, " is unto you and your children — even as many as the Lord our God shall call." The promise, then, can only be claimed by such as re- pent and are baptized, having been called by the Gospel. The children mentioned are such as can repent, and hence the term does not mean infants ; but posterity. The promise is recorded in Joel 2 : 28. And the children are those mentioned m Acts 2 : 17, 18. " Your sons and your daughters, young men, servants and hand- maids." One more case. We learn in the eighth chapter of Acts, that Philip, one of the first deacons of the church at Jerusalem, became the instrument of a revival of re- ligion that moved the city of Samaria. So general was the work, that it is said that. " the people with one accord gave heed unto the things that Philip spake," &c. And that " when they believed, they were bap- tized, both men and women." Strange, indeed, that Philip should have BECOMING A BAPTIST. 39 neglected the children. If he did net, it is equally singular that Luke omitted the mention of it. He says he baptized both men and women. Wfry not children, also? Then it would have read, " Baptized men, women and children." lam satisfied why the word children was not added ; and so / think every honest man must be who ex- amines this subject, and draws his proofs from the holy scriptures. I thus went through the New Testament scriptures, and asked, where is infant bap- tism to be found ? And echo answered, Where ? It was not there, neither in pre- cept, example, intimation, nor inference, as I could see. Pedo-baptists admit the silence ofthe New Testament upon infant baptism. But this silence, they say, is one ofthe strongest ar- guments in favor of its truth. They say that baptism is substituted in the place of circumcision, and that all believers are under the Abrahamic covenant. Now, as children were interested in that covenant .under the law, so must they also be under the gospel, unless the gospel states to the coutraiy. The gospel being silent upon that subject, makes it sure that infant chil- dren are to receive the substitute of circum- cision, namely, baptism. In this whole 40 REASONS FOR statement I find the premises are assumed. They are not proved, neither can they be proved. What then becomes of the con- clusions drawn from them ? I was led to this decision by an examination, critically, for the first time in my life, of the Abra.- hamic covenant. It is recorded in Gen. 17. This covenant embraces, 1. God's promise to Abraham, that be should be the father to many nations — and of kings— that he would be his God, and the God of his posterity, to whom he promises to give the land of Ca- naan for an everlasting possession. 2. This covenant was conditional ; — which condition he and his posterity must comply with, in order to a fulfilment of the promise, " Thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee, in their een- e rat ions. This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee. Every man-child among you shall be circumcised." In order to ascertain whether we areui- der the Abrahamic covenant, and that bap- tism is the substitute for circumcision, I in- quired : — 1. What part of the law of cir- cumcision as applicable to baptism is still in force? The rite itself is abolished. Here we all agree. But what in reference to the law of circumcision is binding ? BE COM IN ft A BAPTIST. 41 Does it include forks substitute the sr.me classes of subjects, viz. — Infant children, slaves and domestics, whether adults or in- fants, believers or unbelievers, and finally none but males? Does it require us to bap- tize our children precisely at eight days old, under the/penalty of breaking the cove- nant '? What is the practice of the whole Pedo-baptist world? Do they not baptize their infants at any age, and of both sexes — adult slaves and domestics not at all, except by their own request as believers ? Why depart from this law ? Is not the gospel silent upon this subject, and does not this silence imply, according to their own argument, that it is still binding ? 2. What was the design of circumcision? I instituted this inquiry to ascertain if bap- tism answers the same design. For sure- iv it ought, if believers are under the Abra- hamic covenant. 1. The first design of it was to form a national church, the nucleus of which was in the family of Abraham. It was a rite by which persons became entitled to all its blessings and privileges, which, as promised in Genesis, 17th chap- ter, were principally of a temporal nature. 1 need only to ask, is this the design of baptism ? We know it is not. 2. Cir- cumcision was designed to prefigure the 42 BE^SONSFOR necessity of regeneration. Rom. 2:28, 29. "For he is not a Jew who is one out- wardly ; * * and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the let- ter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God." Gal. 4 : 15. Col. 2:11. This rite, then, when applied to infants, was designed to show the want of a new heart, and not the actual possession of it. But baptism does not teach the necessity of the new birth ; it is the " outward and visible sign of the inward, and spiritual grace" already received, and must be in- applicable to all infants, unless we regard it as regeneration, as some Pedo-baptists do, in which they are consistent, thougn the doctrine itself is absurd. 3. The sign of circumcision was design- ed to be a seal of the righteousness of faith, Rom. 4 : 3. It was a seal to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It was in- tended to perpetuate this glorious doc- trine, — that there was a substitute for the law of works or perfect obedience as a con- dition of the sinner's justification. It was the seal of this blessed truth. It preached it until the gospel day, every time this rite was administered. It was not the condi- tion of justification, for Abraham was jus- tified when in uncircumcision. It was not BECOMING A BAPTIST. 43 the badge of its profession ; but it was a seal to its truth and perpetuation. Is baptism the seal of the doctrine of justification by faith ? Answer. It is not. Christ has scaled the doctrine in his own person and ministry. Circumcision sealed it until Christ came. To circumcise after Christ's ministry had been enjoyed, was a tacit denial of Christ. It was a refusal to admit the truth of Christ's ministry, and a going back to the law, and bearing its heavy yoke, from which Christ makes his people free. Hence Paul says, Gal. 5 : 2, '3, " If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that ho is a debtor to do the whole law." Such have nothing to do with the gospel. He has more confidence in this bloody rite than he has in the words of Jesus Christ. If baptism be the substitute of circumcision, then it must be the seal of the doctrine of justification by faith. But why have this seal when we have the thing for which it was instituted ? Has not Christ sealed this truth in his life, death, resurrection, ascension into heaven, and his preached gospel ? Is baptism more significant than all this ? I challenge the Christian world to find a single passage that intimates that 44 REASONS FOR baptism is the seal of the righteousness of faith. Where, then, is the evidence that baptism is substituted for circumcision ? But it is said that we are still under the Abrahamic covenant. We will suppose for a moment that we are. If so, those children who were circumcised previous to the institution of the ordinance of bap- tism needed not to be baptized in order to become members of the gospel church, because they had fulfilled the condition of that covenant in their circumcision ; and as baptism is designed for the same pur- pose, its administration to all such would not only be unnecessary but improper. It would be the same as baptizing a person twice, each of which being according to the divine institution. Yet all John's subjects had been cir- cumcised. All Christ's disciples had been circumcised. . All the males of the three thousand on the day of Pentecost had also received that rite, and Paul, speaking of himself, says that he was circumcised the eighth day — and yet when he believed he was baptised. What, I could but ask my- self, were all these persons baptized for, if they had already fulfilled the condition of the Abrahamic covenant ? The truth is, I have concluded that believers under the BECOMING A BAPTIST. 45 gospel are not under this covenant, but ns St. Paul says, Heb. 8 : 6, "a better cove- nant, which was established upon better promises." I see then nothing in the promise of the Abraham ic covenant — nothing in the la\K of circumcision — nor in the design of the institution, that intimates that baptism is to be its substitute, and withal I am well satisfied that believers are not under the covenant of circumcision. If we were disposed to turn the tables, we think it would not be a difficult task to show, that the design of baptism is totally dissimilar from that of circumcision. But for want of time we will not pursue this idea. Of one thing, however, I feel well assur- ed, and that is, that these two institutions are as dissimilar one to the other in their design, as they are in their forms. I think it can be satisfactorily shown from the New Testament, that baptism never was designed to be a substitute for circumcision.* In the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the xVpostles, by the unanimous voice of a council, comprising most if not all of the * See page 53. 46 REASONS FOR apostles and elders of the whole Cnristian church, and by the approbation of the Holy Ghost, we see circumcision put down and no substitute proposed in its room. In this whole account there is not the most distant hint that baptism was to be the practice in the room of circumcision. In the twenty-first chapter of Acts, there is a case still plainer than the one record- ed in the fifteenth chapter. When Paul made his last visit to Jerusalem, we are informed that the day after his arrival he went in unto James, and all the eiders were present. Before these he rehearsed what wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord. But one of them remarked, " Thou seest, broth- er, how many thousands of the Jews there are which believe,, and they are all zealous of the law ; and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews that are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, say- ing that they ought! not to circumcise their children." Here is a case directly in point. Paul is charged with teaching: his Jewish con- verts to neglect the circumcising their children ; but in case he taught them to baptize in its room, was he not called upon BECOMING A BAPTIST. ' 47 in the most imperious manner in self-de- fence to have declared it ? But did he ? No. His total silence on that occasion comes to my mind with all the weight of positive evidence, that no such practice was then in existence. Where, then, is the evidence for infant baptism ? It is not in the New Testa- ment. It is not in the Old Testament. — Nor is it in the Old and New Testaments if taken both together. Where, then, is the proof? The Roman Catholic church may answer, but revelation is silent. I am quite sure it is not an institution of Christ, that it was not practised by his apostles, nor during the apostolic age ; — that it is an institution of man, originating in false views of the design of baptism it- self, and was not known in the Christian church until the latter part of the second century, or the beginning of the third. I fully believe with Martin Luther, as to in- fant baptism it cannot be proved by the sa- cred scriptures that it was instituted by Christ, or begun by the first Christians alter the npostles." I know it has been said, that Iremeus states that " the church received a tradition from the apostles to administer baptism to little children, or infants." This would be coming pretty 48 ^ REASONS FOR near to it. For Irenaeus was a disciple of Polycarp, and Polycarp'was a disciple of John the Evangelist ; but Dr. Gill has spoiled this argument by challenging the whole literary world to produce such a passage from the writings of Irenaeus. It was afterwards acknowledged that Origen, of the third century, and not Irenaeus of the second, was the writer intended. Tertullian, of Africa, in the latter part of the second, or beginning of the third cen- tury, is supposed to be the first writer who makes any mention of infant baptism. He wrote a book against the indiscriminate baptism of minors. He contends that it is most expedient to be regulated by the dis- position and age of the person to be bap- tized. He says, " Let them come while they are growing up, let them come and learn, and let them be instructed when they come, and when they understand Christianity, let them profess themselves Christians." About the middle of the third century, or about fifty years after Tertullian, the people in Africa had got baptism down to new-born babes. i Fidus, a country bishop, wrote to Cy- prian of Carthage, to know whether chil- dren might be baptized before they were BECOMING A BAPTIST. 49 eight days old, for by his bible he could not tell. This question could not be deci- ded by Cyprian without consulting a coun- cil of bishops. This council consisted of between sixty and seventy bishops, who finally decided, that as baptism was so ne- cessary to save men, infants ought to enjoy the benefits of it as soon as they were born. Here lies the secret of the origin of infant baptism. If men had not blended it with regeneration and made it regeneration it- self, it had never been known. TSo argu- ment was then sought from the example or precept of Christ, or his apostles. It was wholly a matter of expediency, and was introduced and prevailed for the sake of the salvation of precious, immortal souls ! Dr. Gill says, " No instance can be given of infant baptism, so early as of infant communion." If it be asked, how could infant baptism ever have been begun in the church ? the answer is, just as the worship of angels and saints, and praying to them, celibacy of the clergy, the observation of Lent and other popish festivals, the worship of relics, the doctrine of purgatory and of transub- stantiation, and the order of monks, were begun. For all these took their rise in t^e 5 &0 REASONS FOR church about the same time with infant baptism and infant communion. For the reasons above assigned, I can but reject infant baptism as absurd and ridiculous. It is also evil in its tendency. It prevents us from owning Christ in the way of his appointment. It is that by which Antichrist has extended his domin- ions over many nations. It is the founda- tion of national churches ; and its influence is to lessen the authority of the word of God, which it makes void by human tra- dition. Thus, my hearers, you have my reasons for changing my denominational relation, and you have heard the substance of the arguments which have made me a Baptist. I was sprinkled soon after I found the Lord, and I verily thought myself bapti- zed. But I. am now quite sure that in this I have erred. And as baptism is to answer a good conscience, for conscience' sake I have been obliged to make this concession, and follow my Saviour. And I rejoiced when the hour came. I hailed it not as a cross. I complied with Christ's command, not as a task, but as one of the happiest and most privileged acts of my life. „In conclusion I would remark, that I nave heard much said about my being BECOMING A BAPTIST. 51 precipitate in deciding these great ques- tions. But I can assure the public that I not been hasty in my conclusions. — - And I think that those who have heard me on this occasion, will at least admit that decision on these points was never made without much study and careful re- search to find out the truth. I can assure you, and all whom it may concern, that I never announced myself a Baptist, until I fully and unequivocally believed their doctrine — that I never gave up the sub- ject until, to my mind, infant baptism and sprinkling were annihilated, and nothing left as scriptural baptism but the immer- sion of believers. It has been inquired, " Why did you not go to the most intelligent of your min- isterial brethren and frankly state to them your doubt V" To this I reply, Why should I ? Did I not understand all that could be said by Pedo-baptists ? That ground was familiar to me, and I was cer- tain that they could add nothing new. — They might have given me advice, but surely they could not have given me argu- ments which t had not seen. I wanted arguments to counteract the Baptist argu- ment, and not merely friendly advice. Finally, I would say to all such as are 52 REASONS FOR BECOMING A BAPTIST. Inclined to censure me for dissolving my connexion with the church of my early choice — a church of which I have been a member ever since I was seventeen years old, and in which I have been an ordained minister for nearly twenty years — I wouid just say : You may think me unwise, pre- mature, or even acting under an infatua- tion, and in this you may be honest. I also claim to be equally so, in believing it to be my imperative' duty to come out as I have done in defence of what 1 regard as the truth. Should even my motives be im- pugned, still an approving conscience will sustain me, and in the exercise of Chris- tian love I hope to pra} r , " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." But to all such as honestly inquire, Why have you done this ? I would say, consider well the statements to which you have at- tentively listened. And above all, take the holy scriptures, and " search and see " for yourselves. And may God grant his Holy Spirit, by which we may understand His word, and be made wise unto salvation thereby, through faith in Jesus Christ. Amen. I .Note. In the 16th chapter of Acts we have an account of Paul's circumcising Timothy, upon whom this rite had never been before performed. For though his mother was a Jewess, yet his father was a Greek. But he had been baptized, because, in verse 1, he is called a disciple, and doubtless belong- ed to the Christian church. For he was " well re- ported by the brethren, 'J &c. ; upon which the apos- tle not only received him as a brother, but as* a son in the gospel, and a fellow laborer in the ministry. Here, then, is a clear case of circumcision after bap- tism. How, then, could baptism be its substitute ? The substitute must follow — not precede. Besides, if the rite of circumcision and the ordinance of Chris- tian baptism be the same, then Paul, by circumcising Timothy, sanctioned the doctrine of baptizing the same person twice. 55 At a meeting of the Official Board belonging to St. Paul a Station, held on Friday evening, the 6th inst., it was sug- gested that I should prepare an address to my congrega- tion, informing them of my change of Theological views ; to meet which, the following was prepared and read to the Quarterly Meeting Conference, at their own request, on the next evening. Objections were strongly urged against its being read to the people, on the ground of its dangerous tendency. Though it was admitted that it did not contain the argument, yet to their mind there appear- ed a certain something about it which they feared might to many be more conclusive than the scriptural argument itself. These explanations are made, and the " farewell letter " is published, with a view of answering a question, which has been so often asked, namely, — " Why was it, Br. Remington, that you left us so suddenly as not even to bid us, farewell?" 54 FAREWELL LETTER TO MT LATE CHARGE. My Dear Congregation — Many of you have by this time probably heard that your Pastor has of late changed his theological views on some points, by which it is rendered ne- cessary for him to resign his charge of this church and congregation, and to connect himself with an- other church, whose faith upon these points is in ac- cordance with his own. It is due to himself, and to the people to whom he has officiated, that some explanations should be made by which the cause of this change may be definitely known. And believing that none can be better qual- ified to discharge this duty than himself, the Officio. Board has not only given him liberty so to do, but have expressed a desire to have him do it; for which he feels very grateful to them, and equally free to discharge the duty, as he is grateful for the privilege. For persons to leave one church and unite with another, is an occurrence which often takes place both in the ministry and membership. But such an occurrence never ought to take place without being well considered. It is a serious matter, and ought pot to be entered upon without a clear conviction of 56 FAREWELL LETTER duty. Principle, not passion, should guide us in such an affair. So distinctly should we see every step of the ground over which we pass in going from one denomination to another, that our way should be perfectly clear to ourselves, and there should not be a lingering doubt as to the expediency and propriety of our eomse. When a private member of a Christian church changes his denominational relation, he should be so enlightened himself as to the path of duty, as to be prepared on all proper occasions to give his reasons for so doing. If this may be said of the private member of a church, how much more so of a minister who has the pastoral oversight of a church and congregation. It is a duty he owes to the people — to the cause of Christ, for which he is supposed to act, and to him- self, that the ministry be not blamed. What I am now doing is not the practical result of mere impulse ; but I trust that I am guided by mo- tives to glorify God, and advance the interests of His cause. I cannot but believe that the hand of God is in it, for he hath led me in a path that I knew not. A few months ago, I should as soon have expected to have been a Roman Catholic as a Baptist. Not that my opinion of the latter people was the same as cf the former. For I always believed them to be a good, spiritual people, though I thought bigoted, and exceedingly narrow in their Christian charity. This I supposed grew not exactly out of their hearts, but TO MY LATE CHARGE. 5? out of their creed, or out of their peculiar notions of the ordinance of baptism. I acknowledge that I was strongly prejudiced against them ; and so far did my prejudice extend itself, that I was almost ready to question their sin- cerity, and to look, upon their rigid adherence to this point rather as a pretext by which to proselyte from other churches. As to my own views of baptism, I scarcely be- lieved at all in immersion. Indeed, my faith was so weak as to this mode, that I determined never, when I could possibly avoid it, to be its administrator. — Secretly did I almost hope that such persons would go to the Baptists, where I thought they more pro- perly belonged. Still, occasionally I had to administer the ordi- nance, either in person or by proxy. For I generally found such persons incurable. If I talked them out of it, in a short time their convictions would return again ; and then our hands were tied, and they must either leave our church and go to the Baptists, or iemain dissatisfied, which generally injured their spiritual enjoyments. One class, however, I never would baptize. I mean those who were Baptists, — f that is, believe that immersion was the only mode, or the only true baptism. Such I either convinced to the contrary, or advised to join the Baptists. My reasons for this course must be obvious. We, as Methodists, believe baptism to be the door of admis- sion into the visible church, and that no person has a 5S FAREWELL LETTER right to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per who has not been baptized, it being a privilege belonging exclusively to members of the visible hurch. Hence I always thought the Baptists con- lstent in what is called close communion. They believe that baptized Christians have a right to the communion, and none but such ; and so also do the Methodist Episcopal Church believe. The only difference is, that the latter recognizes sprinkling equally valid as baptism with immersion, while the former contends that immersion is the only baptism, or in other words, that sprinkling or pouring is no baptism. It happened, a little more than two months ago, that several persons belonging to my congregation desired to be immersed. I could not refuse them, though I resolved not to immerse them myself. — Accordingly I engaged a brother in the ministry to officiate for me. To confess the whole truth, I felt rather vexed than pleased. The weather was cold, and I thought it presumptuous to go into the river under such circumstances. There were eight can- didates, all females; one of whom was very feeble in health, and I was requested to reserve her for the last, which request I readily complied with. Suffice it to say, they went down into the water one by one, and came straightway up out of the water, while I stood upon the shore a silent specta- tor. Soon, however, the scene began to melt my heart, and something seemed to kindly whisper, this TO MY LATE CHARGE. 59 is the way to follow Jesus. I felt that Jesus was present to own and sanction his ordinance. That Spirit that descended upon him at his baptism in the river Jordan, appeared to be hovering over us, and to nhange the whole aspect of the occasion in my mind to one of the most intense interest and delight. At length the last subject came ; that feeble young woman went down into the water, and to my sur- prise she came up out of the water praising God. — And every step to the shore she repeated her praises, declaring that the water was not cold, though the ice was swimming all around her. So warm was her heart with the love of God, that she was unconscious of the cold. My heart was humbled, and I felt to mingle my tears of gratitude with hers. The im- pressions made upon my heart that morning, I trust will continue while memory endures. I went home and confessed to my family that I had spoken unadvisedly about the solemn and inter- esting ordinance of immersion, and in my heart re- solved never to do so again. Moreover I determined ts examine more fully than ever I had done, the claims of the Baptists, thinking that by so doing my prejudices might become permanently softened, and my feelings more charitable towards them. Little did I think that such a result would follow as the sequel will show. In the prosecution of this work, my Bible was my text-book, my only authority. I read the arguments of the Baptists, — the arguments of Pe do-baptists T 60 FAREWELL LETTER abeady understood. I therefore endeavored to weigh each on both sides, in the balances of divine truth. I think I was honest, and I am sure I ear- nestly prayed to be guided into the truth. I had not pursued the examination very far before I became convinced, and as I advanced, those convictions in- creased, till at last, I was fully cpnverted to the views which are entertained by the Baptist church on these points, by which they are distinguished as such. Or, in other words, I found myself in doc- trine, a Baptist. I went over the ground again, and again, and came every time precisely to the same conclusions : viz. That there was no divine war- rant for infant baptism in the word of God, and no evidence of its being an institution of the gospel — that believers alone, are the proper subjects of that holy ordinance. I also came to the conclusion, that sprinkling or pouring is an unscriptural mode of administering baptism, for which we have neither precept, nor ex ample, nor the most remote inference in the New Testament. And that immersion being sanctioned by precept and example, is baptism. In short, that there is no baptism without it. Of course my opin- ion must be, that those who are sprinkled are not baptized — and as unbaptized persons have no right to the communion, none but such as are immersed ought to commune together. With these views, my congregation will plainly 6ee that I could not remain in the Methodist church, and be an honest man. I could not baptize infants. TO MY LATE CHARGE. G 1 or sprinkle in the name of the Lord, and by his au- thority, when I felt perfectly satisfied that He never gave authority to do it. Nor could I virtually allow the validity of sprinkling or infant baptism, by an admission of such to the table of the Lord. As, therefore, I must give an account of myself to God, so must I act for myself. Honor, duty, consis- tencv, religion, require me to resign my pastoral charge over this church and congregation. I have served you as long as I could discharge, with fidelity, the duties imposed upon me by the Methodist Epis- copal Church. I leave you with no unkind feelings. JSo. The members of this church and congregation have always treated me in the most gentlemanly and Christian-like manner. For all your kind attentions to me and mine, during my ministration among you, you have my sincere and hearty thanks. I shall always feel an interest for you, and not cease to pray that God may be with you, and bless you. You all know that I have not sought to proselyte any to my new views. I have cautiously concealed all my thoughts from you with regard to this sub- ject. I do not wish to divide or injure the church for whose spiritual welfare I have labored as their pastor. 1 love them no less now than ever. My advice to you is — " Be of one mind ; live in peace ; and the God of love and peace be with you and bless you." Commit your cause into His hands. — 44 Give to the winds your fears." while yon put your trust in God. And I trust that God will send you a faithful pastoi, who will edify and build you 62 FAREWELL LETTER up. I am soon to take up my lot and inheritance with another tribe of our common Israel, and the recollection that we belong to the same common family, will always afford me no small degree of pleasure. And finally, the hope of meeting in that bright world of light and glory, where we shall see truth without error, and forever bask in its sunshine, is most cheering and delightful in the prospect. — There I hope to meet you and the many thousands of the tribe of our Israel with whom I have been as- sociated for more than twenty of the last years of my life. Allow me to say, in conclusion, that the step which I am now taking, is guided by principle. Had I one doubt as to its propriety, I would hesitate ; but 1 have not. My mind is clear. I think I know my ■ duty, and I shall cheerfully perform it. I am aware many may impugn my motives, and censure me for * so doing ; but if they do, I shall still pray for them. 1 am sure of one thing, and that is, those who know me best will give me credit for moral honesty ; and those who do not know the facts as they are, but ileal in wholesale censure, as may be the case, will do it ignorantly, and I hope to put the most charita- ble construction upon what they may say. I know the power of prejudice, and that man\ r good men have much of it about them. Sad experience has taught me that lesson. I shall therefore remember the simple couplet, — " That mercy I to others show, That mercy show to me." TO MY LATE CHARGE. 63 I love the Methodist church. I love her for her simplicity — for her zeal — for her unity of evangelical faith — for her experimental and practical piety. 1 love her for her revival spirit — for her zeal in the missionary cause — for her activity in every religious and benevolent enterprise. I love her for her insti- tutions by which to fan up the flame of vital godli- ness in the church, and to keep her membership alive to God. Why should I not love her? — she has been a mother to me. She took me in youth and inexperience, and bore with my ignorance and mistakes. She has carried me in her arms, and always treated me with the utmost kindness and tenderness. Under God, I owe much to her instruc- tion, forbearance, and fostering care. I leave her communion with deep emotion — I leave her minis- try with feelings unutterable ; for there are hundreds in her self-sacrificing ministry, to whom my heart has been wedded by many a "tie that binds our hearts in Christian love." But duty directs — I must obey. My compliance is cheerful and volun- tary. I leave a flourishing church to go to another equally so ; and remember this is my last prayer while within the walls of the M. E. church, " Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy pal- aces. " S. REMINGTON. Lowell, Feb. 8, 1848. Pedobaptists not Open Commiinionists. A DEFENCE OF RESTRICTED COMMUNION, ftraisrir unit <£nlnrgilt : WITH AN APPENDIX ON THE NATURE OF A GOSPEL CHURCH. BY REV. S. REMINGTON, A. ML, ^TOR OF THE THIRD BAPTIST CHCRCH, PHILADELPHIA .u'lHui: ok "Reasons for becoming a Baptist." Pfi!LAl)£LPB I A : AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 630 ARCH STREET. ADVERTISEMENT. Twr.N"TT-oxE thousand copies of this little work have been already circulated iu its original form, and the evidences of its usefulness are abundant. As the demand for it is steadily increasing, it has been thoroughly revised bj the Author, enriched witjb several important additions, and enlarged by a valuable Appendix on the Nature of a Regular Gospel Church. Thus improved, it has been stereotyped anew by the American Baptist Publication Society; and although enlarged more than one fourth, it is still soil at the original price of six cents a copy, to encourage its wider circulation and more extensive usefulness. The Author's preceding work, " Reasons for becoming a Baptist," of which 32,00P copies have been printed. has recently been translated into the French and German ; and this work also is demanded, and will soon be issued in the German language. Together or apart, they present very concise and correct views of the scriptural practice of Baptist churches in regard to Baptism and the Lord's Supper — the very vieAvs by which the Author himself was convinced, and which, by the Divine blessing, have been successful in convincing many others. J. BJ. d. Philadelphia, ) August 10, 1852. J Entered according to Act of Congress, in the y«ar 1852, by the AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in i for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PREFACE Theue is nothing that is considered peculiar to the Baptist denomination, which its ministers and members have to meet 8o frequently, ns the charge of "close communion." We often hear this phrase pronounced in a satirical tone, and with an air of contempt, which seems to imply that we arrogate to our- selves a peculiar sanctity, as if we said to our brethren of other churches — " Stand off, I am more holy than thou." The writer of the following Treatise has been a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church for nearly a score of years ; and having been stationed during that time in eight different cities, besides country villages and towns, (and a member of three different Annual Conferences,) his acquaintance with the ministry and membership of that church is very exten- sive. Although he dissolved his connection with that church because of a change of theological views, as the little work which he published, entitled, "Reasons for becoming a Baptist/' will show, and not because he was disaffected to- ward nis brethren ; yet has he had to meet at almost every turn, where he has met them, the popular charge of contracted- ness in Christian charity. "Will you eat and drink with us ?* is a question of almost every day occurrence, accompanied sometimes with — " I don't like the Baptists, because of their close communion." To such interrogations and declarations, the writer, as a matter of course, would be expected to reply, which he' has 4 PREFACE. done to such as he believed would listen with candor; and en deavored to show that Baptists, in this matter, are actuated by principle, and not by prejudice, bigotry, or a want of Chris- tian affection toward tho disciples of Christ, of whatever name or denomination. But 'still he felt the want of a work directly in point, to meet such objectors. For certain is he, that multitudes are kept from uniting with Baptist churches, by misunderstanding this question. Booth, Howell, Cone, Andrew Fuller, 6. F. Davis, and others, have written ably upon this subject; (and he would commend their works to the perusal of all inquirers after truth;) still they are either too large or too small exactly to meet the thing at which he has been aiming. He there- fore feels that if he can so far awaken inquiry on this subject, as to lead our Pedobaptist brethren to read those works, he has not labored in vain. What seemed to the writer of these sheets to be at this time most needed, was a work that would tend to silence this cla- mor of Pedobaptists, by showing that they themselves are not open communionists, and that it is not possible for them to be so and maintain church order and discipline ; also, at the same time, to vindicate Baptists as being scriptural in their prac- tice of restricted communion, and not thereby justly liable to the charge of bigotry. How far he has accomplished this object, the reader must be the judge. To his candid and prayerful consideration are the thoughts spread out upon the following pages commended, with sincere and earnest prayer to God that the reader and writer may be guided into all truth. S. REMINGTON. New York, August 10, 18-17. A DEFENCE RESTRICTED COMMUNION, CHAPTER I. THE POINT EXPLAINED. Close COMMUNION is the popular phrase used by Pedobaptists, by which they designate what they deem the peculiar views and practice of the Bap- tists with regard to the proper recipients of the Lord's Supper. It is, however, an important question, whether the phrase is justifiable — whether it does not imply- more than is really intended and properly inferred from the practice of the churches to which it is applied. If it necessarily means Christian communioc only with the members of Baptist churches wh . adopt the principles which give rise to it, thou certainly we ought to disclaim it; inasmuch as Wr rejoice to believe that there are genuine Christians in all the evangelical churches, for whom we not only entertain the highest respect, but sincere Chris* tiau aiFection and fellowship. 1* (5) 6 REMINGTON The question, then, may be asked, "Why not commune together at the Lord's Table V This question is by no means novel; and to the minds of many, who may not have carefully examined the principles on which Baptists ground their practice in this particular, it may appear to imply an incon- sistency, irreconcilable with our professions of Christian fellowship for all the lovers of the blessed Jesus. In the examination of this subject, I may be permitted to inquire, whose fault is it that we do not sit down together at the same Table ? Is it the unit of the Baptist churches, or is it the fault of le Pedobaptists ? In view of this question, I shall state some of he prominent points upon which we agree, and one .n particular upon which we differ, — and which one constitutes the barrier to the fellowship enjoyed by churches in the communion of the Lord's Supper. 1. We agree that Baptism is an institution of Christ ; that it is a duty enjoined upon all Christians to be baptized ; and, though it be not a saving or- dinance, yet it cannot be wilfully omitted without iisobedience to the requirements of the gospel. 2. We agree that it is th$ visible line of distinc- rion between the kingdom of Christ and this world, and consequently that it is the door of admission into the visible church of Jesus Christ. 3. We agree that it is one of the essential requi- sites of an admission to the Lord's Table, and that none, however pious, ought to be permitted to enjoy this holy ordinance previous to a compliance with this Christian rite. These points of agreement are so obvious, that it ON COMMUNION. I would appear to be needless for me to quote authori- ties by which to prove them. It would seem to be time enough to do this, when it is affirmed to the contrary. The fact is, that the practice of all the Pedobaptist churches is founded upon the admission of this principle : none are admitted to the Lord's Tabic until they become members of a Christian church, and none are recognized members of a Christian church without having been first baptized. This is as it should be ; and this practice is sanc- tioned by the New Testament Scriptures. We there learn that Baptism was instituted before the Lord's Supper, and that it was the invariable " practice of the inspired apostles to baptize all believers before they admitted them to the Lord's Table, and that to this practice there is not a single exception on record. For proof, the reader is referred to the converts of Pentecost, recorded in Acts ii. ; the Ethiopian eunuch, Acts viii. ; Lydiaand her house- hold, and the Jailor and his household, Acts xvi. ; Cornelius and his friends, Acts x. ; and that of Saul, Acts ix. These were all baptized as soon as they believed, and" not one of them enjoyed the com- munion of the Lord's Supper until after they had submitted to this ordinance. Now if it were a matter of indifference whether they were baptized or not before they partook of the communion, we should naturally look for s : me examples. Ananias might have said to Saul, " Now, brother Saul, let us commemorate the sufferings and death of the blessed Saviour;" but did he? No, He said, " Arise and be baptized." Peter might have said to Cornelius and his friends, " Can any forbid these persons ooming to the Table of the 8 REMINGTON Lord, who have recei red the Holy Ghost as well a? we?" but did he thus address theni ? No; but he said, " Can any forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we V Paul might have said to the jailor, u In a most miraculous manner has God this night interposed and converted you and your family to himself, and let us now eat and drink together in the name of the Lord Jesus, as a token of oiir Christian love and fellowship ;" but did he? Nay; he baptized " him and all his, straightway." And why was this practice so invariable f Be- cause it accorded with the Commission which they received from the Great Head of the Church, Matt. xxviii. 19, 20, and Mark xvi. 15, 16. The order of this Commission is, 1. Teach men the gospel plan of salvation; 2. Baptize all that believe; and 3. Then "teach them to observe all things whatso- ever Christ has commanded you." Among the commands to be observed after baptism is, " This do in remembrance of me." , These passages set forth Baptism as a divinely appointed preliminary to the Lord's Supper; which has been so held in all ages since the days of Christ and his apostles, by all orthodox denominations. Mr. Booth says, " Before the grand Romish apostasy, in the very depths of that apostasy, and since the Reformation, both at home and abroad, the general practice has been, to receive none but baptized persons to communion at the Lord's Table." This declaration of Mr. B. can be proved by an abundance of historical data, which sets the ques- tion under consideration beyond the power of suc- cessful contradiction. ON COMMUNION. \) Justin- Martyr, A. D. 150, only about fifty years after the death of the apostle John, wheu speaking on this very subject, remarks : " This food is called by us the Eucharist, of which it is not lawful for any to partake, but such as believe the things that are taught by us to be true, and have been baptized." • Jerome, A. D. 400, says : " Catechumens can- not communicate at the Lord's Table, being unbap- tized." Augustine, A. D. 400, speaking of administering the Lord's Supper to infants, remarks, " Of which certainly they cannot partake unless they are bap- tized." Bede, A. D. 700, narrates the following incident " Three young men, princes of the Eastern Saxons seeing a Bishop administer the sacred supper, do sired to partake of it as their royal father had done To whom the Bishop replied — If you will be bap tized in the salutary fountain as your father was yau may also partake of the Lord's Supper as he did; but if you despise the former, ye cannot in any wise receive the latter." Theophylact, A. I). 1100, testifies, that " no unbaptized person partakes of the Lord's Supper." Bonayenture, about A. D. 1200, observes : — " Faith, indeed, is necessary to all the sacraments, but especially to the reception of baptism, because baptism is the first among the sacraments." F. Spanheim, who flourished about A. D. 1600, - — " None but baptized persons are admitted to the Lord's Table." Lord Chancellor King, A. D. 1700, says : " Baptism was always the precedent to the Lord's 10 REMINGTON Supper ; and none were admitted to receive the Eu- charist till they were baptized. This is so obvious to every man that it needs no proof." To further show that this doctrine, which is sanctioned by the Apostolical Fathers and the respectable writers quoted, is truly apostolical, we will apply the celebrated rule of Augustine as translated by Dr. Wall : — " What the whole chur<4i through all the world does practise, and yet it has not been instituted by councils, but has always been in use, is, with very good reason, supposed to have been settled by authority of the Apostles." And what is this that he says is " supposed to have been settled by the authority of the Apostles?" Answer. " That they cannot partake of the Lord's Supper unless they are baptized." Hence, Dr Wall boldly states — u No church ever gave the communion to any persons before they were bap- tized. Among all the absurdities that ever WERE HELD, NONE EVER MAINTAINED THAT ANY PERSONS SHOULD PARTAKE OF THE COMMUNION BEFORE THEY WERE BAPTIZED." Dr. AIanton's testimony is — "None but bap- tized persons have a right to the Lord's Table." Dr. Doddridge says — "It is certain that Chris- tians in general have always been spoken of by the most ancient fathers as baptized persons. And it is also certain that, as far as our knowledge of primitive antiquity extends,, no unbaptized person received the Lord's Supper." Dr. Dwight's opinion, in connection with these decisive testimonies, is entitled to great weight. He says — " It is an indispensable qualification for thia ordinance, that the candidate for communiou OX COMMUNION. 11 l»e a member of the visible church of Christ, in full standing. By this I intend, that he should be on of piety; that he should have made a public profession of religion; and that he should have been baptized." T will conclude this chapter with an c: from Rev. Robert Hall, who, though a Baptist, Was nevertheless favorable to open communion. He says — " Let it be admitted that baptism is, under all circumstances, a necessary condition of church-fellowship, and it is impossible for the Baptists to act otherwise. The recollection of this may suffice to rebut the ridicule, and silence the clamor of those who loudly condemn the Baptists for a proceeding which, were they but to change tneir opinion on the subject of baptism, their own principles would compel them to adopt. They both concur in a common principle from which the prac- tice deemed so offensive is the necessary result. Considered as an argumentum ad hominem, or an appeal to the avowed principles of our opponents, this reasoning may be sufficient to shield us from that severity of reproach to which we are often exposed, nor ought we to be censured for acting upon a system which is sanctioned by our acta- * In his " Short Statement,"' Ac. Hall's Works, vol. 213. CHAPTER H. THE REAL POINT OF DIFFERENCE. We perceive then, that this view of the subject is coimnon ground for both Baptists and Pedobap- tists. It may then be asked, wherein do we differ ? Answer. We differ as to what constitutes Christian Baptism. The argument properly turns upon bap- tism, and not upon restricted communion. We all agree that none but believers who have been bap- tized ought to be allowed to commune. The point at issue is, who have been baptized? Pedo- baptists say "all infants or adult believers who have been immersed, poured, or sprinkled." The Baptists say, " none but immersed believers." If the argument, then, turn upon this point, why censure the Baptists for carrying out a principle which all acknowledge to be scriptural ? Why not let the objection be directed to the real question at issue ? Or, in other words, why are the Pedobap- tists always harping upon this string, when they themselves constantly carry out the same principle in their own recognition of proper subjects of the jommumon t Some, probably, do not fully understand the ground upon which Baptists act in restricting the Lord's Supper to immersed believers; and there- (12) VN COMMUNION. *3 fore think them exceedingly bigoted and nairow in their Christian charity. Others who understand the principle upon which Baptists act in this matter, it is to be feared, are tlit-niselves, to too great an extent, the victims of that bigotry which they so unsparingly charge upon ua ; and so they raise the cry of close communion as a denominational ruse, by which to represent us in a light repulsive to that catholic spirit which should characterize every true Christian. "We are God's children," say they, " and wo claim the right as such to sit down with you at his cable ; but you cut us off from this privilege j you lay restrictions upon God's table which the Master will not sanction/' And all this is said by those who guard the Table of the Lord against the intru- sions of all unbaptized persons. Again, they charge us with robbing them of their privilege j and they ask, " How dare you rob the dear children of God of their privilege ? In reply, we ask, " What privilege f" Have you not the Lord's Supper in your own churches, and do you not enjoy that privilege as often as we do in our Baptist churches ? If it were consistent for us to invite you to partake with us at the Lord's Table, how often, think you, would this privilege be en- joyed ? How often do the different denominations of Pedobaptists commune with each other ? For more than twenty-five years I was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and never for once during all that time have I enjoyed the "privilege" of communing with any other denomination. It was not bigotry, nor a want of opportunity that prevented; nor did I for once think to reproach 2 14 REMINGTON myself with the idea, that I was voluntarily cutting myself off from the enjoyment of a great " privi- lege," for I had all the "privilege" I wanted at home in my own church. A few weeks ago, in conversation with a preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; the following colloquy took place between us. Preacher. " I wonder, Brother Remington, how yui. who have always appeared to me to be so liberal towards all evangelical denominations, can subscribe to doctrines or views b}' which you are obliged to debar your brethren of other churches the privilege of eating and drinking with you." R. "Let me ask you, my brother, how long have you been a member of the M. E. Church V Preacher. " Over twelve years." R. " How many times have you communed with other denominations during that period ?" Preacher. "Let me think — upon my word I must confess — not once." R. " What a privilege !" Here our conversation on this topic ended. This is only one case among the multitude; and yet the unjust cry is continued, " You Baptists rob the children of God of their privilege." Indeed, in these days, when Christians of all denominations are favored with churches and ordi- nances to suit their own peculiar views, the com- munion of the different denominations can scarcely be spoken of in the light of a " privilege." And I question whether it is so viewed by our Pedo- baptist* brethren when they seriously and candidly reflect upon it. Sectarian zeal frequently carries good men quite ON COMMUNION. L" loo far, and trader its influence they often say and do things which, with a little reflection, they would -could not conscientiously do. "When I waa the pastor of the Bromfield Street M. E. Church, in Boston, the Rev. Mr. R., a member of the New England Conference, visited the city and spent the Sabbath. He went to one of the Baptist churches in that city to hear the Rev. Mr. — ; it was their ordinance Sabbath, and he remained with the church at the communion, when as he informed me, the following conversation, as near as I can recollect took place between him and Mr. C. R. 4i My name is R. I am a member of a Christian church, and a minister of the gospel: will you permit me to sit down with you and your church at the Lord's Table?" 0. "Are you a Baptist?" R. "No, sir. I am a Methodist, and a mem- ber of the N. E. Conference of ministers; and I should like, if agreeable, to commemorate the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ with you.'' C. "But, my brother, you must be baptized before you come with us to the Lord's Table; — and you know our principles, that we consider n<> baptism valid but immersion." R. '-True; but I have been immersed." O. "Let me inquire, then, my brother, do you, both by precept and example, sanction immersion as the only gospel baptism?" R. "0 no, sir. I believe that a valid gospel baptism, may be performed by either sprinkling or pouring." C. "I thought so; and you certainly know that, wiih such views and practice, we should make our- 16 REMINGTON pelves vory inconsistent to admit you to the com- munion with us." R. "Brother C, this is a hard case." C. "I know it. Brother R., but the remedy is at hand; — do and teach the commandments of Christ, and we shall rejoice to welcome you at his table." Brother R. went away, not indeed sorrowful, for there were no less than six Methodist churches in that city, where he could, if he had desired it, have communed that day. I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions. " It is a hard case," said a gentleman while lis- tening to the above relation from Mr. B., "a hard case, indeed, to shut a man from the Lord's table whom we believe to be a real Christian." And in this he spoke what multitudes of others have said; but they have said it, as he did, more from impulse than sober reflection. For it is an undeniable fact that Pedobaptists, would do this same thing for which they so strongly censure us. To illustrate this, I will give the substance of a conversation which took place between an old and respectable Methodist brother of New York, and myself a few weeks ago. I will call him Brother L. L. " The Methodist Conference is now in session in the Allen Street Church, and a great many of your old friends are there. I should think you would want to see them. Have you been there yet?" R. "0 yes, sir, several times; and I was much pleased to see them, and gave many of them a good hearty shake of the hand." ON COMMUNION. 17 L. ""Do von still believe them to be Christian.* and Christian ministers?" R. "I know nothing to the contrary; and I am bound bo to believe until I do." L. " Should you have communion in your church during the session of the Conference, and these dear old friends and brethren of yours be present, invite them to sit down with you at the table of the Lord?" R. " Not because the.y were my personal friends, □ ministers of the gospel. There are three of fellowship among Christians' — Christian, Ministerial, and Church fellowship. The two for- mer may be exercised without the latter, and the latter without either of the two former. I may fellowship you as a Christian, and them as Christian ministers, without any church fellowship. And. on the other hand, I may be obliged in some case-. lowship persons in the church with myself simply as members, not believing them to be genuine Christians." L. "Then I understand you to say, that you would not let them come with you to the Lord's Table. Bigotry! bigotry! bigotry! How un- charitable and how antichristian. I pity you for your bigoted notions and your contracted Christian charity." R. i; You seem, my brother, to be very sincere, and I doubt not you feel a strong commiseration for me. Perhaps, however, I may relieve your mind a little if you will answer me a few questions. Allow me to ask, do you believe that God h; real Christians and Christian ministers among the Quakers, who were never baptized at all!'" 3* 18 REMINGTON L. "0 yes, many. I have known some rea, converted souls among that people; and some who were excellent preachers, and called of God, ilk my humble opinion, to the work of the gospel ministry." R. " Should any of these gospel ministers hap- pen to be at your church at the time of the com- munion, and should ask to enjoy the privilege of going to the table with you, would the Methodists let them enjoy that privilege?" L. "I suppose not." R. " Why not ? They are Christians and Chris- tian ministers. And is it possible that you are so bigoted — so narrow in your Christian charity, as not to eat and drink with ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ just because they are Quakers and not Methodists ? * Bigotry ! bigotry ! bigotry !' " L. "Why, as to that, Brother R., you know the reason. They have not been baptized, and it is f ontrary to the usages of our church to admit per- sons to the Table without it." R. *' *So it seems, then, that you and I perfectly agree. You have admitted that these Quakers are entitled to Christian fellowship, for they are Chris tians — that they are entitled to ministerial fellow- ship, because they are ministers of the gospel; but that they are not entitled to church fellowship, be- cause they were never admitted into the church iu Christ's appointed way, namely, by Christian bap- tism. Now can you blame me for not having church fellowship with those whom I do not believe have any more obeyed Christ in his ordinance than these pious Quakers who discard baptism alto- gether?" OX COMMUNION. 19 L. "Well, my brother, that does seem to pre- sent the matter to my mind in a new light. If yon are right about baptism, I don't know as you are wrong about close communion; but I think you n.ust be wrong about baptism." R. " I think the fault lies in your refusal to sub- mit implicitly to the example and precept of Christ, the gospel Lawgiver." Thus ended the dialogue. And thus it always ends, when the principle which guides the Baptists in their views of communion is traced to its legiti- mate source. I never was disposed to charge upon Baptists inconsistency with regard to this practice for which they are so much and so severely blamed. 1 always said that their conclusions were correctly drawn from the premises which they laid down If they were right as to their views of baptism then were they also right with regard to what is called close communion ; and I acted accordingly, as the following incident will show. "When, some seven years ago, I was the pastor of the State Street M. E. Church, Troy, X. Y., a young convert applied to me for baptism. The following colloquy took place between us. Young Convert. "I have called to see you, 3Ir. R., to tell you what Grod has recently done for my soul; and if you think proper, after you shall hear my story, I want you at a suitable time to baptize me." Here she related her Christian experience, and then said, "Now, sir, if you think me a proper person to belong to the church, I desire you to im- merse me, for I do not believe that either sprinkling vr pouring is baptism." 10 REMINGTON it. "What! do you not believe in sprinkling or pouring for others, if not for yourself? Do you not believe that either mode is sufficient, if it but answer a good conscience ?" Y. Convert. "No, sir. The Bible is my only guide, and I cannot see any other baptism but im- mersion there. I read in -Matt. iii. 16 — 'And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water ;' and Mark i. 9, says that ' Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan/ And I read in Acts viii. 38, 39, 'And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch j and he baptized him. And when they were come up out or the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch saw him no more ; and he went on his way rejoicing/ I also read in Col. ii. 12, 'Buried with him in baptism;' and in Rom. vi. 4, 'There- fore we are buried with him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life/ Here I have the ex- ample of Christ — that example copied by Philip and the Eunuch — and the testimony of Paul; for Paul must be speaking of immersion ; for who ever heard of any person being buried in a few drops of water. I can't read any thing about sprinkling or pouring for baptism in the New Testament ; and i therefore must believe that immersion is the only true Christian baptism." JR. "Well, madam, if this is your opinion I cannot baptize you, because you are not a Metho- dist, but a Baptist." Y. Convert. "I thought I was a Mclhodist. I ON COMMUNION. 21 was converted among them, and love them; but I begin to think that you are right — that 1 am a Baptist" R. " Let me explain, my young friend, so that you may see that it is consistency at which I am aiming, both for yourself and myself. You must already perceive the inconsistency of your being immersed, in our church, with your views. We believe that baptism is a prerequisite to the Lord's Supper, but according to your views of baptism I myself have never been baptized, for I have only been sprinkled, and that is also the fact with the majority of my church. How could you commune with an unbaptized minister and church t" T. Convert. "But don't you sometimes im- merse ?" R. " Certainly I do; but it is only in those eases where the candidates prefer it for themselver but believe other modes equally valid to such as choose them." Y. Convert. "Then I perceive that I am not a Methodist. I will take your advice and go to the Baptists." CHAPTER III. THE TWO SYSTEMS COMPARED. In surveying this entire question as it lies be- tween Baptists and Pedobaptists, I am obliged to come to the conclusion, that the principal differ- ence between them in this matter is, that the Bap- tists adhere to the Bible and their creed, while the Pedobaptists discard both in this instance for the sake of open communion. I acknowledge that this assertion .seems severe, but only a glance at the grounds upon which it is founded, will show that such a conclusion is drawn from facts, as they appear in the premises. A pious Scotchman, a few years ago, after enu- merating all the different sects in Scotland, remarks, "Each of these sects is close communion in every ssnse of the word. The} T never partake of the Lord's Supper together; they all say, if we have reason to divide into different sects we cannot unite in the Lord's Supper, which is the most essential act of church fellowship." The same may be said of the churches of Eng- land in the seventeenth century, in the days of Baxter, Charnock, Palmer, Saunders, Longly, Doo- little, Henry, Earl, &c. And what shall we say of our own New England (22) ON COMMUNION. 23 Pedobaptist churches, who, in 1636, by force of anus, banished Roger Williams from Salem, Mass., f.r his principles; in 1639 fined the leading men who firmed a little Baptist interest in Weymouth from 20s. to £20 each for the same thing, and them with perpetual banishment if they ted. Did it look like open communion in 1644, when they passed a law in Boston to banish all who openly condemned or opposed infant bap- tism? In 1643 seven men were tried, convicted, condemned, sent to prison, and put in irons in the city of Boston, and in 1644 were banished by order of the general court, and forbidden to return under the penalty of suffering .death ) and all this for the dreadful crime of being Bojitists. In 1644, a poor man by the name of Painter, in Hingham, near :, was condemned, tied up and whipped, and for what? because he turned Baptist and refused to have his child sprinkled. In 1651, three Bap- aen in Lynn, a few miles east of B were arrested while one was preaching on Lord's day, and sent to prison in Boston, where they lay two weeks, and were fined — one £30, one £20, and one £5, and sentenced to be publicly whipped if they refused to pay. How one got out, history inform? us not ; but of the other two we are informed that the fine of one was paid and that the other, Mr. Holmes, was cruelly whipped. Two men who were standing by, and witnessing this bloody scene, showed some signs of sympathy, which led the Pedobaptists to suspect them of being Baptists, and they were accordingly arrested, and each sentenced to pay 40s. and to be publicly whipped. The poor Baptists, after enduring the most re- 24 REMINGTON lentless persecution, succeeded in building a church in Boston. But the Pedobaptists shut it up in 1680, and posted the following note upon the door : " All persons are to take notice, that by order of the court, the doors of this house are shut up ; and that they are inhibited to hold any meeting, or to open the doors thereof without license from au- thority, till the general court take further order, as .they will answer the contrary at their peril. ." Dated at Boston, 8th March, 1680. "Edward Rawson, Secretary." Between the years 1727 and 1733, there were twenty-eight Baptists, two Quakers, and two Epis- copalians imprisoned at Bristol, Mass., (now R. I.) for Congregationalist ministers' tax. In 1770, about four hundred acres of land, belonging to the members of the Baptist church in Ashfield, were sold at auction by order of the Court, to pay the Congregational minister tax. "Nay, they sold their dead ; for they sold their grave-yard. The orthodox minister was one of the purchasers." (See Minutes of the Philadelphia Association, page 116.) In 1658, the court of New Haven, Conn., made a law prohibiting all conversation of the common people with any of those heretics, such as Quakers, Baptists, &c, and all persons from giving them any entertainment on the penalty of £5. It is indeed painful to refer to such historical facts ; but I do it that we may be able to test the practical influence of the doctrine which we are de- fending. We are charged with being bigoted and narrow, and confined in our Christian charities, and that all this grows out of our close communion. But what are the facts ? What do the facts which OX COMMUNION. 2c I have just noted say in behalf of the Pedobaptists of America in the seventeenth, and, I might have added, the eighteenth century also. Are we not under the painful necessity of not only charging them with bigotry, but, in too many instances, with intolerance f Religious intolerance never exists without bigotry, and bigotry never exists without i< ratering a spirit which would lead to the same un- happy results. Any system of religion, therefore, which in its practical influence would lead us to per- bct-ute those who are of a different opinion with ourselves, or would preclude Christian fellowship with those who are right in the fundamentals of re- ligion, and have passed from death unto life, and become the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, just, because they differ from us in some things not absolutely necessary to salvation, must be wrong, radically wrong. Such is the connection between cause and effect, that we may always look for the latter to follow the former so far as the cause is permitted to operate unobstructed by differ- ent circumstances. If restricted communion have a tendency to make us bigoted and uncharitable toward Christians who differ from us in opinion, then we might look for religious intolerance and persecution in some form, either in spirit or practice, to mark the history of the Baptist denomination. But you may trace the history of the denomination from the days of John the Baptist to the present time, and you will find that all the blood that has ever been shed on ac- count of Baptists, has been shed by the cruelty of their persecutors, and flowed from the veins of Bap- tists themselves. Whatever imperfections have 3 ~6 REMINGTON marked their history — whatever zeal untempered by knowledge, or whatever enthusiasm may have Beked their ranks, at any period, they cannot be charged by their most virulent enemies with ever having been a persecuting people.* It is true, great moral tenacity has marked their history; which, while it has also marked their in- tegrity, has nevertheless brought down upon them severe, and, at times, unmitigated persecutions from other Christian denominations. But this tenacity by which they have been distinguished, and for which they have suffered so much calumny and violent persecution, has been for the Bible — the pure and unaltered Word of God in all it com- municates for the faith, and practice of mankind ; and that, too, irrespective of popular opinions and influence. They contend for that liberty which allows every man to read, think, and decide for himself as to the duties and privileges set forth in God's revelation to the world. They contend that * A gentleman put into my hand, a few days ago, an extract which he made a short time since, when in Providence, R. I., from the City Directory. It will he remembered that this is the place in which Roger "Williams took refuge when banished by the Pedobaptists from Massachusetts, in 1636.. for his prin- ciples of religious liberty which were regarded as Baptistieal. It goes to substantiate the fact that Baptists have not been persecutors, when they in their turn have had it in their power to banish those who differed from them in their religious views. We give to the reader the extract, and let it speak for itself.- — " 1658. The town, though strongly urged by the Commissioners of the United Colonies, steadfastly refused to banish such Quakers as were here, or to prohibit others from coming, and consequently became a City of Refuge to that persecuted peo- ple." The reader will observe that this was twenty-two years fcler the liinudinicnt of Roger Williams from Massachusetts. ON COMMUNION. '2 t we should both do and teach the commanding rs of Christ as Christ himself hath said, and not ab inau They contend that the duties and ordinances of the gospel are to be observed as Christ, the great of the Church has directed, and not as the Councils of the Church may decree. In short, they contend that conscience is no safe guide in any of these things, only as it is enlightened by the word and Spirit of God. And all they ask of the whole Pedobaptist world, is for them to follow their ex- ample in this particular — be willing to take God's Holy Word as it may be literally interpreted, and as the best authorities do construe its sacred words, and they are certain that it would not be long be- fore the whole evangelical church would say, we have " one Lord, one faith, one Baptism/' One other thing which is worthy of praise must be allowed us, and that is consistency. We nei- ther believe in, nor will we give countenanc-e to, infant sprinkling ; nor allow sprinkling or pouring to be Christian baptism; nor will we admit that any unbaptized person has a right to commune. Here we stand unflinchingly, and are determined not to move or swerve a hair's breadth. If we should, we would be inconsistent. I mvjld say, if we should depart from any of these land-marks we would cease to be Baptists. If the same consistency marked the Pedobaptisis with regard to the ordinances of Christ, there would be hope of ultimately ending this controversy. It is a fact which all our Pedobaptist ministers and many of the people know, that in their churches there are multitudes who, but for certain manceuver- ings on their part, would have been Baptists. And 28 REMINGTON even now a very little thing would so far wake up this subject in their minds, as to make them feel very uncomfortable in their connection with Pedo- baptist churches.* Let the Pedobaptist churches enforce their re- spective disciplines, and require their members to invariably sanction infant baptism, and there would be such afie kindled among them that nothing but immersion would quench it. They would drive their members off to Baptist churches by hundreds if not by thousands. They dare not do this thing \ but I ask, are they consistent for not doing it ? Again, I know of many ministers of the gospel who, notwithstanding the avowed principles of the Pedobaptist churches, that baptism is an essential prerequisite to the communion, will immerse such as have been sprinkled in infancy, and even adult years, rather than let them go to the Bapfists. Is not this inconsistent ? It is certainly inconsistent with established usage, not to say the plain letter and example of the New Testament; and it is virtually denying the validity of sprinkling as a Gospel ordi- nance. Such, therefore, lay themselves open to the charge of that kind of inconsistency, which shows a want of moral honesty. In their disciplines they say one thing, and in their practice they do another, by which they contradict their own pro- fessions, and set aside their declared belief to the world. This certainly is the most charitable view that we can take of the matter, unless they contend that it is proper to re-laptize, or in other words to * See "A Pedobaptist Church no Home for a Baptist.** Phila ielphia : American Baptist Publication Society. OX COMMUNION. 29 baptize the same person twice. But they r.o not thus contend. They universally hold, that baptism is an ordinance which is to be administered to the same person but once. Yet some of them, to my own knowledge, do re-foaptize; and that, too, with impunity, as far as it relates to any censure that may come upon them from the church to which they belong. They say, "we believe that sprink- ling, pouring, or immersion, is either of them valid Christian baptism, whether administered to infants or adult believers." But the young convert comes forward and says, "I am not satisfied with my infant sprinkling; I want you to immerse me." "Well," says the minister, "as baptism is to an- swer a good conscience you shall be accommodated." But, I ask, what does the minister do with his con- science in baptizing the same person twice ? Again, the more matured Christian comes forward and says, " I was sprinkled when I was converted; but I have examined the subject more minutely since, and am not satisfied. I think the Bible teaches immersion as essential to the right administration of this ordinance, and I feel it my duty to be thus baptized. If you cannot consistently do it, I shall go to the Baptists. I do not desire you to violate your own rules on my account; but still I should like to remain in the church of my early choice, if I can follow Christ in his ordinance." "Oh," says the preacher, "my brother, you need give yourself no uneasiness about the matter. You shall be accommodated. Your own conscience eliall be fully satisfied. I will baptize yon again." I acknowledge that this is not in accordance with established usage in Pedobaptist churches ; but a* 30 REMINGTON this usage is departed from in individual cases. I know several ministers of the gospel, one of whom was in 1847 a Presiding Elder of a District in the New England Conference of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, who will do this thing; — aye, he will go further than this. He told me, that " under some circumstances he would be willing to com- mune with an unbaptized person." This, however, is not Methodism. Yet is this man, with his de- clared views, allowed to be a minister, and even hold the high and responsible office of a Presiding Elder of a District in the M. E. Church. It has been questioned whether the Methodist Episcopal Church really requires baptism as a pre- requisite to the communion, or church membership. The practice of some of her ministers seems to indi- cate that she does not. When a Presiding Eider of a District avows that he would not object to im- merse such as had been sprinkled, if they were dissatisfied with their baptism, and that he would be willing to commune with unbaptized persons, will be very proper to inquire if, in this particular, he is a sound Methodist. I do not hesitate to aver that he is not, nor any one else who shall advocate the same views. To determine what are the doc- trines or discipline of any Church, we must not rely upon the mere statements or practice of iso- lated individuals. They may not be orthodox them- selves; and therefore it would be unsafe to depend upon them for an exposition of the peculiar features of the denomination to which they belong. To ascertain what the Methodist Episcopal Church really believes, or requires her ministers and mem- bers to believe and practise, we must go to her ON COMMUNION. 31 Discipline and standard writers. To these there- tore we will now go, for the purpose of deterniiuhig this question] viz. : IVhat do they teach as to B<'p- tism being a pre-requisite to the Lord's Supper, and Church rut ruber si lip? We begin with their Discipline, the last edition, published by order of the General Conference of the M. E Church, 1850. On page 24, section 2, it is asked — " How shall we prevent improper persons from insinuating themselves into the Church ?" — "Answer. Let none be received into the Church until they are recommended by a leader with whom they have met at least six months on trial, and have been lajjtized." I admit that probationers for "full membership" in the M. E. Church, may be admitted to the Table of the Lord with them, providing they have been baptized, and not without. To this agrees their general invitation on commu- nion occasions, as on page 106. It is as follows : "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neigh- bors, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from hence forth in his holy ways ; draw near with faith and take this holy sacrament to your comfort." Bishop Hedding, in a discourse on the administration of discipline, which he delivered before the New York, Providence, New England, and Maine Conferences, and published at their request, states that there are several things which should debar a minister from giving a general invitation in the congregation to members in good standing in other churches, " to come to the Table of the Lord." Such as, "here- tical doct-ines, immoral practices" any jxractice 32 REMINGTON which would exclude a member from their com* munion, or non membership in any church. We give his own words, (pages 72, 73,) and the reader can then judge for himself. "Is it proper," he asks, "for a preacher to give out a general invita- tion in the congregation to members in good stand- ing in other churches, to come to the Lord's Sup- per?" To this, the bishop gives the following answer: "No; for the most unworthy persons are :-.pt to think themselves in good standing, and sometimes persons who are not members of any church, will take the liberty, from an invitation, to come. And again, there are some communities, called churches, which, from heretical doctrines or immoral practices, have no claim to the privileges of Christians, and ought not to be admitted to the communion of any Christian people." The rule, he adds, in that case, is as follows: "Let no person who is not a member of our church be ad- mitted to the communion without examination, ?.nd some token given, by an elder or deacon. No person shall be admitted to the Lord's Supper ::mong us who is guilty of any practice for which we would exclude a member of our Church." Discipline, page 104. Now I ask, how much further than the above, as to guarding the Lord's Table, would Baptists desire to go? The reader's special attention is invited to one very important item in this quotation, to show that in the opinion of the Bishop, non-membership in any church, disqualifies a person from the privilege of partaking of the Lord's Supper, in the Method- ist Episcopal Church. The preacher is advised not to give a general invitation in the congregation, be- ON COMMUNION. 33 cause, says the Bishop, " sometimes persons who arc not members of any Church, icill take the liberty, from on Invitation, to come." In these authorities we clearly perceive, 1. That no person can be admitted into the Methodist Epis- copal Church until he is baptized. 2. That no one can be admitted to the communion with them, who is Qot cither a baptized member on probation, or in full membership in their church, or a baptized believer belonging to, and in good standing with some other church. 3. The conclusion is that the Methodist Episcopal Church hold, that Baptism is a pre-requisite to the Lord's Supper, and the door of admission into the church. The quotation of one more authority will confirm the above ; and it is good authority. The book from which I am about to quote, is recognized by the G-eneral Conference of the M. E. Church as a standard work, suitable as a text book for young men, in their preparatory studies for the ministry in their church ; and for the " third year/' in their " course of study." See "Discipline," page 217, under the head " Systematic Divinity." The work referred to, is "Hibbard on Baptism." I quote from the edition of 1841, page 174. It reads as follows : " It is but just to remark that in one principle, the Baptist and Pedobaptist Churches agree. They both agree in rejecting from commu- nion at the Table of the Lord, and in denying the rights of church fellowship to ali who have not been baptized. Valid baptism they consider as essential to constitute visible church membership. This also we hold. The only question, then, that hero divides us is, what is essential to valid baptism." 34 REMINGTON I sincerely thank brother Hibbard, my old friend, for the above honest statement, for the concession which he has so frankly made, and for the justice which he has done to Baptist principles. On the communion question, brother Hibbard is m princi- ple a Baptist, and if he should ever happen to dis- cover that the Greek word baptize, means immerse, I think that about the only prop that holds him to Pedobaptist views would fall. And, notwithstand- ing he has written a very elaborate and able work to defend Pedobaptists, yet I have no doubt that the candor and integrity of this excellent brother, would lead him* to follow the example of some of his brethren who have felt it their duty to be u buried with Christ by baptism." To show that this view of the subject is, and ever has been essentially Methodistic, the reader shall be furnished with extracts from the writings of the founders and fathers of Methodism. We will begin with Rev-. John Wesley, their founder. In his notes on Acts v. 2, he says : " Here is a native specimen of a New Testament Church, which is, a company of men, called by the Gospel, grafted into Christ by baptism." Rev. Joseph Benson, who, by the appointment of the English Conference, wrote a commentary, in which he was to embody and expand the notes of Mr. Wesley, in his com- mentary on the same passage, endorses Mr. W's notes. He observes, " As the word church (ekMe- sia) now occurs a second time in this history, it may be proper to observe, that we have here a na- tive specimen of a New Testament Church ; which is a company of persons called by the Gospel, grafted into Christ by faith and the Holy Spirit, ON COMMUNION. • ) admitted into the society of Christians by baptism " Dr. Adam Clarke, on the same passage, q Mr. Wesley's words verbatim, viz., that a New Testament Church must be "1. Called by the Gospel. 2. Grafted into Christ by baptism." In his observations on the nature and importance of baptism at the close of Mark xvi. on page 349, the Dr. remarks that ''according to its nature, it is introductory to the visible church/' And i " Baptism also brings its privileges along with it ; while it opens the way to a partaking of holy things in the church, and places the baptized within the church, over which God exercises a more singular providence than over those who are out of the church." One quotation more may suffice. This is from high authority — Rev. Richard Watson, who is the theological oracle of the Methodists, both in Em • land and in this country. In his Theological Insti- tutes, volume iii. in the chapter headed "The Christian Church," Mr. W. says, " The Church of Christ, in its largest sense, consists of all who have been baptized in the name of Christ, and who there- by make a visible profession of faith in his Divine mission." Again, on the same page, Mr. W. as- Berta : " It is obligatory on all who are convinced of the truth of Christianity to be baptized: and upon all thus baptized, frequently to partake of the Lord's Supper." On page 371, the same author observes, "Thus was baptism expressly made the initiatory rite, by which believers of 'vail nation-'' were to be introduced into the church and coven;; • t of grace." With the above authorities before him, what sound Methodist can ever invite to the Lord's 3G REM1NGT0N Table, or commune with an unbaptized person? And how can he censure Baptists for adhering to a principle which he himself allows? Let all our Pedobaptist brethren commune with us in baptism, and we will commune with them in the Lord's Supper. For the former, according to their own concessions, must precede the latter. Does any one think we demand too much of our brethren in order to union? But of whom do we a*k this ? Only of those who admit that the im- mersion of believers is valid baptism, (and very few dispute this,) and who profess a desire to have every barrier to union at the Lord's Table removed. It is not in our power to remove this barrier, for we did not raise it. TVe have not changed the ordi- nances. On the contrary, is it not clear as the sun, that we adhere to the plain letter of the law of Christ, against our own ease, interest, and popu- larity ? "We ask of them no sacrifices which we do not cheerfully make ourselves. Only as " the answer of a good conscience toward God," do we hold our present position. All that we ask of our brethren is, that in brotherly love they will respect our consciences in this matter, so far as what we ask does not interfere with their own. If we under- stand the case aright, they could all be immersed without any violation of conscience. By so doing, *hey remove the only barrier to our church commu- nion, and having " one Lord, one faith, and one baptism," we shall joyfully come together " in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace." CHAPTER IV. THE COMPARISON CONTINUED. Another fact which illustrates the inconsistency of nearly all the Pedobaptist churches is, that their open communion professions conflict with their own Discipline, public journals, and ecclesias- tical decisions. By an examination of their Dis- ciplines, it will be found that they are but little, if a '.ay, more open communion than Baptists. Let us glance at a few facts. Dr. Howell justly ob- serves — " In reference to the several Protestant de- nominations, I believe they all hold that manifest corruption in doctrine and worship is a disqualifica- tion for the reception of the Lord's Supper. Let that fact be remembered, and then how shall we answer the following interrogatories? Do not Methodists habitually and bitterly charge both these upon the Presbyterians, on the score of their Calvinism ? Are the Presbyterians less ready or adroit in hurling back upon the Methodists the same imputations on the score of their Arminianism ? Each, too, has its own internal war. Old School, New School, Cum- berland, Hopkinsian, and other Presbyterians; and Episcopal, Protestant, Whitfield, and other Metho- dists, strive on the arena of ecclesiastical combat. Do they all commune ? If thev do, is it a feast of 4 37 38 "REMINGTON union, and the love of each other, for the truth's sake, which each denies is held by the other. If so, what means this clangor of arms, this shaking of shields, and the noise of their fierce combats which I hear? If they unite in love at the Lord's Table, why do they denounce each other in derision immediately after, in the conference, the session, and the pulpit?" These remarks of Dr. H. may seem to some severe, yet are they j ust. Dr. Engles, the editor of a leading journal of the Presbyterian Chlrch, under date of Sept. 12, 1840, observed — "It is presumed that a Presbyterian believes in Presby- terian doctrine, or why is he a Presbyterian ? And that a Methodist believes in the doctrine of his own church, or why is he not something else? The Methodists and Presbyterians alike believe that they have very good reasons for being as they are; nay, so potent are those reasons regarded, that neither imagines he could ever be induced to change his position. * * * * Let us ask them if they are prepared to advise their people, on all favor- able occasions, to go and commune with Presby- terians? * * * Wliv> then, should they be angry with us for following their example ? Hold- ing the faith we do, * * can we, or ought we to say to the sheep of our folds — Yonder are pas- tures in which we believe there are poisonous weeds growing, but still there can be little danger in feed- ing occasionally there? In this matter we have never found our Methodist brethren a particle more liberal than ourselves." Thus we see that there is not much of the spirit of communion between Presbyterians and Metho- opt COMMUNION. 3D The same writer gives us to understand, tjiat the hostile attitudes of Old School and New School Presbyterians to each other, is a sufficient barrier to communion together. "The measure/' says Dr. Engles, "by which the New School were excluded from the communion of the Presbyterian Church, was either righteous or unrighteous; if the former, why should we make any professions of at- tachment which our actions do not sustain; or, if the hitter, why do we not magnanimously avow it, and invite them back in a body? We believe it was righteous; and whether right or wrong in our belief, we contend that while the causes exist which led to it, it is utterly inexpedient to hold communion with those churches." Who does not see from these extracts that our Pelobaptist brethren who view the subject of open communion in all its bearings, are obliged to decide in favor of close communion. The fol- lowing views of a distinguished Pedobaptist writer. I believe, will express the feelings of nine-tenths of all the members of the different evangelical churches, if they were to speak out on this ques- tion: "For the last twenty years or more," says the writer referred to, " I do not recollect of having entertained a doubt, that the opening of the doors of communion to all of what are denominated evangelical churches, is erroneous; that it will either be changed, or lead to errors of a still more serious nature, containing in itself essen- tially an indifference to sound religious principle and practice, though slow in its development. ****][ object to the practice, in the firs* place, because I have never yet aech the man, how- 40 REMTNOTON '■vcr strenuously he might advocate it, who couM ihform me how far it was right, and duty called to extend the privilege — a very important item in making out a line of conduct, and without which it' must be unsafe in matters of conscience to act at all. We are told, it is true, that all who are evangelical, or who hold the essentials of religion, are to be ad- mitted to the Lord's Table; but then these essen- tials are undefined; some make them but two or three at most, others, perhaps, four or five, and • •thers still more. * * * M 1 object to the practice, in the second place, because it clearly implies that our church creeds or conl contain certain items of faith and practice, the belief of which, or conformity to which, is not necessary to the right of church privilege. This implies either that these things are not based on divine authority, on which sup- position they are the works of men ; they are schis- matical too, dividing the church where there is no conscientious principle involved, and, therefore, ought to be rejected as evils; or it implies that, not- withstanding they are based on divine autl they are indifferent — of little importance, may be practised or not, as we may see proper, with im- punity; — which last conclusion is to me revolt- ing. * * * * T suppose a case which I think is in point. An individual applies to you for admis- sion to baptism and the Lord's Supper. After ex- amining him to full satisfaction as to his experi- mental religion, you inquire of him whether h conform to the order of God's house, in submitting to discipline, the discharge of religious duty, such as family discipline, the baptism of his children, ON COMMUNION. 41 &C. But he replies, I do not approve of this government, and us to the baptism of children, 1 consider it unauthorized. You would reply, I pre- sume, that you make subjection to this duty a con- diii >u of membership, and of privileges connected with it. Bat on the supposition you practise open communion, he would reply; You admit to all the privilege I desire without such subjection, for you admit B'qitists, and those who neither believe nor practise it. You reply — because they submit to their own order. He takes his departure, connects himaejf with those who will not require this thing, and returns, and, at your invitation, enjoys with you all he asked. I see in such a case a predicament I should not envy. For what is your attitude now in the eyes of your own members ? Most assuredly you appear inconsistent, and they must feel in con- sequence that they lie under a condition, a com- pliance with which guaranties them no privilege. You lay every distinguishing feature of your own church liable to prejudice and reproach. To me the inference would be, your conduct being right, that your church ought forthwith to relinquish its own distinctiveness, and sink into the church catholic, and every other church practising the same ought to do likewise. "lam fully aware that my views on this subject are esteemed very illiberal. This is the uryu- t.ientum ad invididm, which with many weighs heavier than a thousand others. I have, however, always been happy to consider them liberal to truth and sincere in the truth But the state of the case is misapprehended; the principle, on the ground of consistency and sincerity in lue truth, applied 4* 42 REMINGTON equally to all sects, who must, in charity, be sup- posed conscientiously attached to their own pecu- liarities, for where this is the case, they must needs do violence to their own consciences where they dispense with such peculiarities. And I would here add, that the practice is absolutely inconsistent, in my opinion, with the very idea of fellowship. which in all cases implies a community of respon- sibility." In addition to the above, I will call the attention of the reader to an extract from the records of a Presbyterian Synod, as published by its order in the Union Evangelist and Presbyterian Advocate, 1820, vol. ii., pp. 96—99. To the question— "Is it proper that there should be intercommunion between Presbyterians and those denominations who hold Arminian sentiments?" the following answer is given in this report: — "That after giving it all the attention which the importance of the subject demands, they are of the opinion, that .fur Presbyterians to hold communion in sealing ordi- nances with those who deny the doctrines of grace, Through the blood of Christ, &c, is highly preju- dicial to the truth as it is in Jesus. Nor can such intercommunion answer any valuable purpose to those who practise it, as two cannot walk together except they be agreed." Every one perceives that this report is directed against Methodists, and all who hold Arminian sentiments. Another report of a committee on a former reso- lution of a Presbyterian Synod, and which was adopted, goes even further than this. It is as follows :— - "The committee art of opinion, that for Pres- ON cOMMt'XTON. 43 byterians to hold communion in scaling ordinances with those who belong to churches holding doc- eon tra it to our standards, is incompatible with the purity and peace of the church, and highly prejudicial to the truth as it is in Jesus. Nor can such communions answer any valuable purpose, kc. In accordance with these views your committee are of opinion, that the practice of inviting to the corn- munion all who are of good standing in their own churches, is calculated to do much evil, and should not be continued ; while every church session is, however, left at liberty to admit to occasional com- munion members of other denominations, after having conversed with them, and received satisfac- tion of their soundness in the faith and Christian practice." The committee, though full in its report in favor of close communion, yet seems rather to draw back a little by leaving every church session at liberty to admit to " occasional communion members of other denominations/' that is, on the condition that they give " satisfaction of their soundness in the faith and Christian practice ;" in other words, if they are Presbyterians in doctrine and in practice ; for nothing short of this could give the required u satisfaction." The General Assembly of 1839 fully sustains these synodical doctrines. The language of the Assembly is : — " Every Christian church, or associa- tion of churches, is entitled to declare the terms of admission into the communion. And what is the unanimous doctrine of their leading divines as to these terms? Aus. "Agreement in essentiaU." 44 REMINGTON What are the " essentials?" Answer. The reports which I have just quoted inform us. This is going quite beyond Baptists. They do not feci at liberty to exclude any true believer in Jesus from the Lord's Table, whose life is answer- able to his profession, and who by precept and ex- ample sanctions immersion as the only Christian baptism. In short, they refuse not to commune with any exemplary Christian whom they believe to have been inducted into the church of God in Christ's own appointed way. But Pedobaptists will not go thus far. There are a multitude of members whom tlieyhave introduced into the Church of God, and recognized as members of his mystical body, and yet they never 'permit them to commune with them. I mean their baptized children, con- cerning whom they say in their Confession of Faith/ p. 273 : — "A particular church consists of a num- ber of professing Christians, with their offspring, voluntarily associated together for Divine worship and godly living." Again, p. 327: "Children born within the pale of the visible church, and de- dicated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and government of the church. And when they come to years of discretion, if they be free from scandal, sober and steady, and have sufficient know- ledge to discern the Lord's body, they ought to be informed that it is their duty and privilege to come to the Lord's Table." In the Larger Catechism we find the following ■ Quest. 62. " What is the visible church ?" Ans. "The visible church is a society made up of all Buch as, in all ages and places of the world, do pro- fess the true religion, and their children." on communion. 45 Porter, on Christian Baptism, says : Baptized ren are members of the visible church." Dr. Miller, whose views on this subject harmon- ize with those of the Methodists, inquires: "Is there no advantage in publicly ratifying the connection of our children, as well as ourselves, vith the visible church?' 7 Dr. M also avers, that •• there are but two places in the universe where there are no children ; one is the bottomless pit, and the other is the Baptist church." But in this declaration the doctor was mistaken. There is one more place where there are no children, and that is, the Pedobaptist communion table. This is what I call, not " close," hut partial communion. Baptists, close communion as they are, never refuse to commune with their own mem- bers who retain the moral standing they have at the time of baptism; but Pedobaptists shut out from the communion one-half or two-thirds of their mem- bers, who stand as fair as they did when baptized. The peculiar views and discipline of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church render it close communion. They who contend for apostolic succession as essen- tial to the gospel ministry, will not recognize men who are out of that line as ministers of the gospel, and therefore duly qualified to administer the or- dinances of the church. With these views, which the whole Protestant Episcopal Church entertain, no intelligent member or minister of that com- munion will any more receive the ordinances from the hands of Presbyterian, Methodist, or Baptist ministers, than they would from the hands of lay- men. But though they may not deem it consistent to come to the Presbyterian or Methodist com- 40 REMINGTON mnnioii table, yet they will condescend to allow them to come to theirs, after the elements have been consecrated by the hands of one of the regular descendants in the line from St. Peter. And yet by this great condescension they exhibit their incon- sistency, by departing from their own laws ; as will appear by a reference to the Book of Common Prayer under " Confirmation." It reads thus : " And there shall none be admitted to the holy communion, until such times as he be confirmed, or be ready or desirous to be confirmed. " . Of course they cannot admit, according to this law, any but Roman Catholics, and such as have confir- mation like themselves. As for Presbyterians — Old and New School, Congregationalists, Metho- dists, and Baptists, should they desire such a privi- lege, they must all stand aside ; because none of these denominations either desire, practise, or be- lieve in Confirmation. With close communion laws, I ask, how can the Protestant Episcopal Church be open communion ? They cannot claim to be open communionists with these laics, and with their refusal to reciprocate the courtesy of other denominations by sitting down with them at their table, and thereby recognizing them as churches of Christ, and their pastors as his accredited and authorized ministers. The Methodist Episcopal Church, by a fair construction of her Discipline, is far from bein^ open communion.* By open communion, I under. * This is the Discipline of 1847. Since then, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church has somewhat revised this little book. In thus revising it. they have struck out, on page 77, section xxiii. on the Lord's Supper, thos« ON COMMUNION. 47 xtand a joint participation of the different evangel^ cal denominations in the Lord's Supper. This de- finition is intended to include, not only the admis- sion <>t' members of other churches of good and regular standing, but a reciprocity of the different churches in the communion one with the other. We have seen, that though the Episcopalians will break their own rules to allow persons who neither practise nor believe in Confirmation to come to the Lord's Table with them, yet they will not recipro- cate by receiving the elements from what they deem onconsecrated hands. The Methodist Episcopal Church do not deem it wrong to go and eat and drink with them, though they will never return the courtesy. But I shall show that, whatever Metho- dists may do with regard to the act of sitting down at their table, according to their Discipline they are far from being open communion with regard to the admission of members of other churches to their own table. words : " Let no person that is not a member of our church be admitted to the communion without examination, and somo token given by an elder or deacon." "With this notice of this fact, the reader will account for the present edition of this little work, not retaining it, as in the former editions. Still with this alteration of the Discipline of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, she has not gone far enough in reform or revi- sion to merit the name of being an open communion church. Perhaps the next General Conference will strike a blow at the very root of the argument, by which I have endeavored to prove that she is not open communion iu her Discipline, if she is in practice. And then I shall be free to come out and admit that siie is consistent as it relates to an agreement of practice and Discipline. One of her ministers remarked to me that their Discipline was open communion in its spirit, il it were not in its letter. I merely replied that I considered it then a wry extraordinary book. Ita letter said --no," hut its spirit ■aid, "yes." (18S2.) 48 REMINGTON On page 104 of their Book of Discipline, 1850, it is asked : Quest. Are there any directions to be given concerning the Administration of the Lord's Supper ? In the second article of the answer, we have the following : " No person shall be admitted to the Lord's Supper among us, who is guilty of any practice for which we would exclude a member of our church." We will suppose, a minister of another church applies to an elder for admission to the Lord's Sup- per. The elder looks at him, and says: "You are very plain in your dress, and as far as your appear- auce is concerned I can admit you, but I must ex- amine you as to your practice." He then takes the Book of Discipline and reads on page 86, section i., question 4, "What shall be done with those minis- ters or preachers who hold and disseminate, publicly or privately, doctrines which are contrary to our articles of religion ? Ans. Let the same process be observed as in case of gross immorality." "Now," says the elder, "I would inquire, are you with us in doctrine?" "No, sir, I am not;" replies the applicant. " I believe," continues he, " in the doc- trine of personal and eternal predestination and foreordination, as set forth in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, pp. 15 — 19; and I accord- ingly preach it whenever I deem it proper so to do." "Then," says the elder, "I cannot admit you to the table of the Lord, as you must perceive from the Discipline which I have just read." "But, then," responds the applicant, "that applies to your ministers and not to us." "I admit that it does," rejoins the elder; "but think you that we ought to admit a person to the table who is OX COMMUNION. 49 guilty of what would exclude a minister from the church." Besides, the Discipline says in another place, "that no pers u shall be admitted to the Lord's Suppe • as, who is guilty of any practice for which we would exclude a member of our church.'' "May I not further inquire,'' says the applicant, '•whether this last rule which you have quoted does not apply to members, and not to ministers?" "I think not," replies the elder; " for we have another rule very similar to it which particularly applies to members. Page 92, section iv., article o. 'If any member of our church shall be clearly convicted of endeavoring to sow dissensions in any of our socie- ties, by inveighing against either our doctrines or Discipline, such person so offending shall be first reproved by the senior minister or preacher of his circuit, and, if he persist in such pernicious prac- tices, he shall be expelled from the church.' Now, if you will promise that you will not inveigh either against our doctrines or Discipline, I can admit you, otherwise, I cannot." "Why, I thought you were open communion ; but I find I am mistaken," re- plies the applicant. "0 yes," says the elder, "we are open communion. Our greatest objection to the Baptists is, that they will hang on to close com- munion." "Well, upon my word," says the ap- plicant, "all the difference I can perceive between you and the Baptists is, you profess open com- munion, and are in your Discipline close com- munion; while the Baptists make their practice agree with their profession. From what I can learn from you and your Discipline, I find that the terms of communion with you are simply these — we must believe, j>reach } and dress just like the Methodists 5 50 REMINGTON If I mistake not, that is going a little ahead of the Baptists. For Baptists will allow their members and ministers to differ on some theological points, and yet not refuse to fellowship them at the Lord's Table. Permit me, then, my dear friend, to sug- gest, that instead of crying out against the Baptists for their close communion, boasting at the 'same time of your open communion, you lay your hand upon your mouth, until you alter your Discipline, striking out the restrictions which render your church more restricted in her communion, than even that church which we Pedobaptists all agree to cen- sure for its practical want of catholicity." Finally, it can be shown from the Di>\-ipline of the M. E. Church, that it is as strictly close communion as any Baptist church in the land. Page 74, section ii., question 4, it is asked — "What shall we do with these members of our church whe wilfully and repeatedly neglect to meet their class? Ans. 1. Let the elder, deacon, or one of the preachers, visit them, whenever it is practicable, and explain to them the consequence if they con- tinue to neglect, viz., exclusion. 2. If they do not amend, let him who has the charge of the circuit or station bring their case before the society, or a select number, before whom they shall have been cited to appear; and if they be found guilty of wilful neglect by the decision of a majority of the members, before whom their case is brought, let them be laid aside, and let the preacher show that they are excluded for a breach of our rules, and not for immoral conduct. " From the above laws of the M. E. Church, we observe that non-attendance upon class, without ON COMMUNION. 5L any immorality, is sufficient to exclude a person be church. Now suppose this excluded per- son, who may be iu every other sense a worthy member, should join another i I church — nothing against his moral character — no one doubts his piety — not even the Methodists doubt his sin- cerity, and that he is a man of genuine religion. All that can be said of him is, " He will not attend class." Well, now, he comes back to the church from which he has been excluded, and presents himself as a member of another church, in good and regular standing, for admittance to the Lord's Table. Says the elder, "My friend, I cannot admit you. " "Why not?" asks the brother; "do you not believe that I am a Christian, and that I am bound with you, as such, to a better land? And do you not rejoice with me in the hope of sitting down together at the marriage supper of the Lamb V " yes, my brother," responds the elder, "1 must inquire (perhaps I am a little too fast,) are you truly sorry that you did not comply with the rules of the church, and attend class?-' "I am not sorry, my brother," he responds, "for I did not then, neither do I now, believe in class meet- ings." "Well, then, I must read you the law," replies the elder. Page 96, section iv., article 5 — f After such forms of trial and expulsk n, such per- sons shall have no privilege of society or of sacra- ments in our church, without contrition, coni and proper trial.' Now, if you are not penitent, as 1 perceive you are not, you see that you cannot be admitted to the Lord's Table with us." He answers, u I have only to say, my dear brother, as I have not- violated any of the laws of Jesus Christ, 1 aid not 52 REMTXOTON Know but you might deem it proper to allow me to sit down occasionally with my old brethren at the Lord's Table. " "It is true," replies the elder, "I do not charge you with any direct violation of the laws of Christ, but you have broken or refused to yield obedience to the laws of our church, and that is sufficient to shut you away from the table." " Why, elder, the Baptists would not do that thing. They shut the door, they say, because we will not obey Christ. And there seems to be some good reason in that; but you admit that I am not ex- cluded for disobedience to Christ, but to your church, lias your church a power to make laws, and bind them upon its members, that Christ never made, and then for non-obedience to exclude a genuine Christian, and treat him as a heathen and a pub- lican ? If so, I regret not that I am out of the pale of her communion/ * In conclusion, let us inquire whether, by fair inference, this rule appertaining to doss meetings, which would exclude all the members of the M. E. Church who wilfully refuse to attend them, and cut off all such from the Lord's Table in that church, would not also preclude members of other churches who do not attend class meetings from communing with the Methodists ? I think it would. We have seen already that those excluded for the neglect of this duty are cut off from that privilege*, though they may be genuine Christians, and in good stand- ing in other churches. And the rule which says — "No person shall be admitted to the Lord's Supper among us, who is guilty of any practice for which we would exclude a member of our church," would shut out from communion among the Methodists ON COMMUNION. 53 nil members of other churches, who do not practise attending class meetin p N w I would a^k what are the facts in this case? In the first place, class meetings are a peculiarity of Methodism. There may be a few churches that have them to some . lit ; but the great mass of the evangelical cnurches neither have them, nor practise attending them. Their ''practice" essentially varies from that of the 31. E. Church, and is such as would exclude them from the M. E. Church if they belonged to it. Can the Methodists, then, admit them to the Lord's Supper? Their rule says, that they shall not be admitted. If they do admit thc#u they break their own rules; and this they ought not to do, for every traveling preacher is required to pledge "not to mend their rules, but to keep them; not for wrath but conscience' sake." Sec p 4(3, art. 10. CHAPTER V. PRINCIPLE THE UKOUND OF ACTION. I have been thus particular in the examination of this subject, to show the ground upon which Baptists act in the admission of persons to the Lord's Supper — that it is not prejudice nor bigotry that influences them to adopt their course, but principle — that it is not that they believe them- selves any better than other Christians who differ from them in opinion, but because they desire to do the will of G-ocf, as they understand it to be re- vealed in the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ. It is not, in short, because they do not believe that there are multitudes of Pedobaptista who, but for educa- tional influence, would have received the ordinances as Baptists understand and practise them; but they aare not either practise error or sanction it by ox lending church fellowship to such as, in their opin- ion, have been irregularly LUti\MUiX'(J mio the visible church of Christ. For rk.fi course, consistent as it must be admitted to be, they are most unjustly censured as being exceedingly uncharitable towards other Christian denominations. But the censure is powerless, and will remain so until it can be shown that the Baptists have been, or are now, unsocial and intolerant towards those Christians who walk (54) ON COMMUNION. 55 not with them. Baptists will go with other denomi- nations just as far as they can without compromising the truth. This they cannot, will not do. They will ei dlpit — mingle in the social and prayer circle; they will rejoice in the prosperity of i Christ in Pedobaptist churches; but when you ask them to sanction sprinkling or pour- ing ft.-.- i baptism, every true Baptist will be found at his post, and from it he will not move, whatever the consequences may be. He would consider himself a traitor to God and man to forsake it of duty. The truth he will stand up to, whatever it may cost him; nor will he sell it, if for it he could obtain the smiles of the whole Pedo- baptist world. In these sheets I have endeavored to show that open communionists, as some would call them, have not been more distinguished for respect to the rights of conscience, and a brotherly feeling towards all Christians, than the poor reviled Baptists. That many of them have been the persecutors, and the Baptists the persecuted. That whatever Baptists have been, they have never been persecutors. They will suiter any thing for the truth, but they will not coerce any man's conscience. If neither arguments nor gospel means will bring him over to their views, they leave him to God and his own con- science, with their prayers for his spiritual and eternal welfare. Let me say to all whom it may concern in general, and to my old friends of the M. E. Churcli in particular, do not censure us for being close com- munion in our practice, while you are decidedly so in theory. I have shown that the laws of the Epis- 56 REMINGTON copal and M. E. Church, and others, are close com- munion in their character. The former can only admit to the Lord's Supper those that are confirmed or desire so to be; and the latter can admit from other churches none but those who "practise" at- tendance upon class meetings. If we cannot belieTe alike on all points, let us be careful how we impugn each other's principles. If we cannot all have " one baptism," let us all seek to have "one Lord, one faith, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling." In summing up what I have said in this treatise, I will give for the reflection of the reader a brief synopsis of the arguments advanced. I. It is doubtful whether the phrase, "close communien," ought to be applied to Baptists at all. They go as far as they believe the laws of Jesus Christ authorize them to go. They restrict their invitations to all such as sanction these laws; with them and none others can they hold sacra- mental communion. II. Baptists most cheerfully extend the hand of Christian and ministerial fellowship to any Christian or Christian minister, though he be a Pedobaptist or even a Quaker. They do not con- sider this spiritual fellowship inconsistent with re- stricted communion, which they regard essential only to church fellowship. III. The Baptists and Pedobaptists agree that Baptism is a preliminary to the Lord's Supper. The example of Christ, his commission to his ministers, and the practice of the apostles teach it. We also have the testimony of the apostolic fathers, ON COMMUNION. 57 and best and most orthodox divines down to the {.resent day to the same effect. IV. They differ in their views of what consti- tutes Christian Baptism, which they agree is the preliminary to the Lord's Supper; and they al*o differ as to who are the proper subjects of baptism. The Baptists say, noue but immersed believers are the proper subjects of this ordinance. To prove the truth of their position, they have the example of Christ, who was immersed in the river Jordan — that of the Ethiopian Eunuch, whom Philip immersed — the teachings of Paul, who calls it a burial, &c., &c.j and nothing in the New Tes- tament indicates any other mode for baptism, as either taught or practised by Christ or the apostolic churches. They cannot, therefore, admit sprink- ling or pouring to be valid Christian baptism. V. Baptists and Pedobaptists act upon the same principle in admitting persons to the Lord's Table. Let both answer this question — "Who are the proper subj ects of sacramental communion V They both answer — "None but baptized believers." Here, then, we agree in principle. And the only reason why our practice disagrees, is because we do not see alike as to what constitutes Christian bap- tism. Properly the argument, as every sensible man will see, turns not upon close communion, but baptism. If the Baptists are right with regard to their views of baptism, they are certainly right as to their practice of re'stricted communion. Son. r fully understand the ground upon which Baptists act; but it is the duty of all Chris- tians to inform themselves upon this matter, and to be able to decide as the unerring pages of divine 58 REMINGTON truth direct; and as for those who are not candid in their censures upon us, for practising what we conscientiously believe to be right, we pity them, and pray that they may come to a better mind. It is not the design of Baptists to rob God's dear children of their privilege; and I have endeavored to show, that as much as the privilege of open com- munion is talked of, but few avail themselves of it. If it be a great privilege for all Christians to enjoy jointly sacramental communion, the door is open. Let us have "one baptism/' and the difficulty is removed. VI. The practice of close communion does not lead to bigotry ; if it did, we might reasonably sup- pose,., the Baptists would have been persecutors, at some period of their history; for bigotry leads to persecution. Baptists have never been persecutors ; but they cannot say this of Pedobaptists. History with trumpet-tongue proclaims the cruelties which Baptists have suffered from the hands of Pedobap- tists, even in our own favored country. Why is it that at this day, when, though they are among the largest and most efficient of the evangelical churches of our land, all the Pedobaptist churches seem to count it a virtue to unite in the cry of bigotry, bigotry, bigotry? Are they afraid of us, that we shall at some time get so much power as to do as the Boman Catholics of the old countries, or the Puritans of the new have done? They have nothing to fear; and they must be aware that' Baptists cease to be Baptists when they commence a persecuting career. It is a source of great regret, that churches will permit with impunity their ministers to be schis- uutiealj by winking at what they allow to be re- ON COMMUNION. 59 baptism, when fchey profess to believe with us that baptism i- ooi to be repeated on the same person — that instead of censuring the men who thus depart from orthodoxy, they virtually approve the act, by giving them the highest stations, or the most honor- in their church; and thus, for fche sake of preventing people from becoming Baptists, make themselves supremely inconsistent, by practically denying what they declare to the world they believe, Upon the whole I know of no one point upon which the different Pedobaptist churches agree so well, as that of their united opposition to the Baptists. VII. After all that Pedobaptists say against us for our close communion, they themselves are not open communion. The Presbyterians avow it. The Episcopalians ought to avow the same. With their notions of apostolical succession — that there is no church without a prelate — no ministry without Episcopal ordination — of course they cannot com- mune with any but Roman Catholics. And as they have decreed that Confirmation is a prelimi- nary to the Lord's Supper, they cannot admit to the Lord's Table members of the different churches, who do not believe in and practise Confirmation. Hence, they cannot participate with these churches, neither jointly nor disjointly. Is not this close communion The Methodist Episcopal Church is close com- munion. None can be admitted to the Lord's Table among them without the approval of an elder or deacon, and none can obtain this without an ex- amination as to doctrine and plainness of dress. If they do not believe as Methodists, they must pro- mise not to disseminate thoir peculiar views j fur 60 REMINGTON if they inveigh against the doctrine or Discipline of the M. E. Church, not even ministers of other churches can be admitted. Or if they wear rings, ruffles, or superfluities, they must strip themselves from these things or they cannot be admitted to the Load's Table in the 31. E. Church, no matter how good their standing may be in othf 1 - churches. Or if they have been excluded from the M. E. Church for non-attendance upon class meetings, and have connected themselves with another church, and are in good and regular standing in that church, they cannot be admitted to the Lord's Table in the M. E. Church; neither can they be admitted from ..nether church, if they wilfully absent themselves from class meetings, though there are no class meetings in the church to which they belong. For the laws of the M. E. Church would expel such from their communion, and their Discipline reads — " No person shall be admitted to the Lord's Supper among us, who is guilt} 7- of any practice, for which we would exclude a member of our church." Hence, the Discipline of the 31. E. Church is clearly close communion, their practice and professions to the contrary notwithstanding. VIII. Baptists are consistent with their own declared principles, which is more than can be said of some of our Pedobaptist churches. It is iiot consistent for any denomination to break its own laws. If their laws are bad, they should alter and amend them ; if their practice is wrong by which they break their own laws, they should change it; but they should always let their avowed principles and practice work together. But do our Episco- palian brethren, when they practise open commu- ON COMMUNION. 61 mon, do thus ? I ask, do our Methodist Episcopal brethren do thus, by admitting members of other churches indiscriminately to the Lord's Table ? We know their Discipline forbids it; but is it not true that they trample upon the authority of their own Discipline, in order to practise open communion in contradistinction to Baptists ? Whether the charge of bigotry can be made to lie against the Baptists or not, one thing is certain, that the charge of manifest inconsistency must lie against those denominations whose rules are close communion, and whose professions and practice are open communion. IX. Whatever I have said in reference to other denominations in this treatise, I can assure them, has not been said with any unkind feeling toward them. The freedom which I have allowed myself to take with their ecclesiastical decisions and disci- plinary provisions, has not been to bring them into disrepute, or even to find fault with their regula- tions. My sole object has been to show that Bap- tists do not stand alone in the exclusiveness with which they stand charged by Pedobaptist churches, and that they are consistent ; while those who con- demn them for their narrow-minded bigotry, are ar- rayed at the bar of public opinion, and stand there convicted and condemned as being constitutionally guilty in their ecclesiastical polity, of the very thing for which they so unsparingly condemn us. A single quotation, therefore, from a sermon preached by the Saviour of the world, shall close this little volume : " Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be mea- sured to you again." Matt. vii. 1, 2. 6 APPENDIX ON A REGULAR GOSPEL CHURCH. A Regular Gospel Church described. — Tlte Lord's Supper a Church Ordinance, and restricted to Church members. The original word (ekklesia), rendered CJiurch, in the New Testament, signifies an assembly. It was the ancient name appropriated by the Atheni- ans, to the regular assembly of the free citizens, convoked by authority, for the transaction of pub- lic affairs. It may, however, apply to an irregular or tumultuous assembly of citizens (Acts xix. 32); to a lawful civil assembly (Acts xix. 30); or religiously, to the congregation of God's people, whether under the Hebrew theocracy, or under the Law of Christ. Hence the congregation of Israel is called "the church in the wilderness" (Acts vii. 88); and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ when united and organized into a body, are designated by the inspired writers, as " the Church of God," and " the Church of Christ." The titles are synony- mous, because faith in God implies faith in Christ. " Ye believe in God ; believe also in me." (John xiv. 1.) The New Testament describes the Church of (62) REMINGTON ON" COMMUNION. . 03 Christ aa being both invisible and visible, The in* church includes the whole body of God's , people : those on earth and tho.-e ID heaven. This church Paul calls "The general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in hea- Ileb. xii. 23. Of the members of this church it is said, "The foundation i .ndcth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." As to the visible Church of Christ, it is made so by its own organization. Paul calls it " The house of God — the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth." (1 Tim. iii. 15.) Christ's visible Church (Matt. xvi. 18,) is neces- sarily made up of particular churches, and in de- fining a particular church in regular gospel order, I object not to the one given by the compilers of the 39 Articles of the Church of England. " A gregation of faithful men, in which the true word of God is preached, and the sacraments duty ad- ministered, according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." The converts of Pentecost, who constituted the main body of the church at Jerusalem, ha some been looked upon as constituting the first or- ganized church- of Christ. But this is evidently an error. For were not Christ's disciples "a congre- gation of faithful men V 1 Was not " the true word of God" preached to them by their Lord and Master *? and were not " the sacraments duly ad- ministered to them, according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to me?" If so, then the church wag by the great Head himself while he was up' >n earth, and the converts of Pentecost became members of 64 REMINGTON that church. And hence, says 1 nke, Acts ii. 41 : " The same day there were added unto, them about three thousand souls." Observe — they "were ad- ded unto them," not organized out of them. I will not contend that the Church of Christ was fully matured as an organization while he was upon earth. But its immaturity does not necessarily prevent its being a regular gospel church; for whatever deficiencies there may have been with regard to the appointment of its ordinary officers, such as pastors and deacons, while the apostles per- formed the whole work, it does not at all affect it as a regularly organized gospel church. With these facts before us, we are willing to take the apostolic church at Jerusalem for our model as recorded in the second chapter of Acts. We have here 1. The instrumentality by which the chuich is raised up, which is the preaching of the gos- pel by his servants, and the influence of the Holy Spirit, freely imparted in answer to prayer. 2. The materials of which the church is composed. Those who had been instructed in the Apostles' doctrine — to whose hearts the Holy Spirit had ap- plied divine truth — and who had gladly received the word into truly penitent and believing hearts. Such receive the remission of sins — the gift of the Holy Ghost by which they are renewed, sanctified, and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, and prepared to become fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of Grod. Such mate- rials, and such only, are adapted to membership in Christ's visible church. 3. And into it they were inducted, not by conversion or faith alone, but by baptism on the profession of their faith in Christ. ON COMMUNION. • 65 u Then they tliat gladly received the word were baptized." Their "gladly receiving the word" 3 that the}* were believers; and their being baptized consequent upon their faith, shows that they were not baptized until after they believed : and their being admitted to membership in the church by, and after baptism as believers, also shows that the original church of Christ was composed of none bnt baptized believers. What then is a church of Christ but a voluntary association of baptized believers under the law of Christ? And with all deference, to the opinions of great and good men who may assert the contrary, I will venture to as- sert, without fear of successful contradiction, that this is characteristic of all the churches of the New Testament — that it accords with the commission given by our Lord Jesus Christ to his first minis- ters, (Mat. xxviii. 19, 20, Mark xvi. 15, 16) — and therefore, that Baptist churches are the only churches of the present day, who are truly apos- tolic, and regularly organized according to gospel order. A visible churoii it is very properly supposed may be seen — because it is a house, a temple, " a habita- tion of God through the Spirit, built up of lively stones" on Christ the foundation. It is therefore to be presumed that it has a door of entrance, and that this door is also visible. This presumption is sc well-founded, and so explicitly taught in the New Testament, that whatever controversies there may have been between Baptists and Pedobaptists, they generally agree that baptism is the door of entrance into the lisible church, and that it should precede 6* 66 REMINGTON the Lord's Supper.* The points of disagreerrent are as to the subjects, and what is necessary to con- stitute Christian baptism. As Baptists we regard immersion to be essential * Christ alone is the door into the Church Invisible. John x. 7 — 9. The manifestation of His image and spirit entitles the soul to universal Christian fellowship. Rom. xv. 7. But Christ as Lord over all things to the church, has appointed a visible avenue or door of entrance into His Visible Church, viz. Baptism, on the personal profession of faith in His name. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Acts ii. 38, 41, 42, 47. It is true, some have called this view in question. "If," say they, "baptism be the door into the visible church, how can a man, once baptized, be put out of the church, let his con- duct or creed become ever so corrupt ? Can he be unbaptized ?" Errors often arise, as in this instance, from misapplying or straining figures of speech. Let us study to obtain clear ideas. If any force appears in the objection derived from the figure of a door, as urged above, it is because men forget for the mo- ment that a visible church of Christ, like some spacious build- ing, has more doors than one. Carry out the figure fairly, and the objection vanishes. There is the front door of Admission having its two folds, by baptism and by letter ; there is the right side door of Dismission to sister churches; the left side door of Exclusion for persevering offence ; and the great hall door of Death, which leads the holy to the celestial man- sions. The " keys" to open and shut all those doors, (the last excepted,) are delivered alike by Christ, to the members of every gospel church. See Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18 — 20. Ac- cordingly, we see the primitive churches in the actual use of them. Acts ix. 26— 28. 2 Cor. iii. 1. 1 Cor. v. Besides the doors of the church thus established by its Di- vine Head, there is one of modern construction, and more questionable shape. It is a sort of trap door called Erasion. through which erring or missing members are silently dropped, into the ungodly world. But of this it is unnecessary to say more, than that it is sometimes convenient for purging < ur church lists from unknown and unknowable absentees, and to euch its use should be confined. A false tenderness should not adopt it for known offenders, since it is only by mercy and truth that iniquity is purged, J. N. B. ON COMMUNION. 67 to Christian baptism ; because we believe that Jesus Christ taught it by example and command, and thai his teachings wore observed to the letter by the inspired apostles; and consequently that neither sprinkling n>>r pouring was ever thought of in the church as constituting valid baptism. A similar remark is applicable to the proper sub- jects of this ordinance — that according to Christ's command, and the example of inspired men none but credible believers were immersed. And when immersed on profession of their faith in Christ, they were thereby made members of the church of Christ, and entitled to church fellowship. " And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Acts ii. 42. The point to which the reader's attention is now directed, is this. Is the Lard's Supper a church ordi- nance? And if so, are any but members of a regu- lar gospel church allowed to partake of it? These questions have long since been answered. They are answered by the fact that baptism is the first duty subsequent upon believing. It was so with the converts of Pentecost. (Acts ii. 41, 42.) The church in Samaria — u But when they believed — they were baptized, both men and women." (Acts viii. 12.) The first Oentile church — "While Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." "Then answered Peter, Can any forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to be bap- tized," (Acts x. 44, also 46, 47, 48.) The firs* thing that is said of Lydia, "whose heart the Lord 68 REMINGTON opened" so that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul — is that she was baptized. (Acts xvi. 14, 15.) So "the same hour of the night" that the jailor " believed in God with all his house," he and all his were straightway baptized. (Acts xvi. 31-34.) The argument may be thus stated: All true believers ought to be baptized — baptized believers are entitled to church fellowship — baptism being the first duty after believing, it follows that the Lord's Supper must be a church ordinance, and confined exclusively to church members. And so it has ever been regarded by the main body of orthodox divines from the days of Justin Martyr down to the present century. Dr. Dwight remarks: "It is an indispensable qualification for this ordinance, that the candidate for communion be a member of the visible church of Christ in full standing. By this I intend that he should be a person of piety, that he should have made a public profession of religion, and that he should have been baptized." There can be no doubt as to the source whence these numerous divines have derived their views on this question. They were obliged to admit that baptism is the door into the visible church — a pre- requisite to the Lord's Supper, and that none are entitled to the communion but members of the church of Christ. With these admissions, is not the Lord's Supper a church ordinance? We think so; not simply because these divines believed it, but because the word of God teaches it. In addition to the reasons already given in favor of this point, there are two very important argu- lnmts which, in my mind, decide the question. ON COMMUNION. 69 The first is that the Lord's Supper was instituted by Jesua Christ in a church capacity. (See Matt. xxvi.2i>-Mi>; Mark xv. 22-2<5; Luke xxii. 19,20.) in «■ insulting these passages the reader will perceive th it the Lord's Supper was not instituted by a mere command, but by an actual partaking of the symbol* of Christ's broken body and shed blood, in their collective capacity, with the strict injunction of our L-ud to continue its observance in like manner. " This do in remembrance of me." Consequently the second argument is, that the Lord's Supper was observed by the apostolic direc- tion, not only according to the form that Christ gave them, but in a church capacity. By consult- ing 1 Cor. xi., you will perceive that Paul corrects certain evils which had unfortunately been intro- duced into the church of Corinth, one of which was an abuse of the Lord's Supper in not observing it according to the form given by Jesus Christ at the time he instituted it. In stating the case, and re- proving his Corinthian brethren, Paul takes it i< r granted that the Lord's Supper is a church ordi- nance. For when they celebrated it "they came together" — "they came together in one place." (verses 17, 18, 20.) He did not blame them for coming together in the church (ekklesta) collec- tively — this was all right, providing "they came together for the better, and not for the w Their offence consisted in making a literal feast of the ordinance, and thereby perverting it from its design, and profaning it. Hence he expostulates': "What! have ye not houses to eat and drink in i* Or despise ye the church of God ? Shall I praiio you in this? I praise you not," v. 22. 70 REMINGTON The reader will remark, that the apostle takes it for granted that the Lord's Supper was celebrated by the church in its collective capacity. This fact was" understood, and never questioned. The reasons must appear obvious. 1. It is an ordinance to which none have a right but church members. 2. It was instituted by Jesus Christ to be observed by Lis church. 3. To this agrees the practice of the churches of Christ while under the supervision of the inspired apostles. By observing this ordinance otherwise, it loses much of its significance. Christ's church is his family, and the ordinance of the Lord's Supper is instituted to be observed by his family to com- memorate his love to them, when they were pur- chased by his precious blood. It is an act by which they express their obedience, and their grati- tude, and in which the body holds communion with Christ the head. And I may add, it is also an act by which the body expresses its oneness — that they are members one of another, and that these many members fellowship each other as being one body, thereby showing that "by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Hence, 1. We learn that the church of Christ organized according to gospel order, must be composed of bap- tized believers. Baptism being confined exclusively to believers, it follows that there are no infants in the gospel church; for if they are to be baptized on the faith of their parents, the same authority by which they are baptized would require them to become communicants. ON COMMUNION. 71 2. Pedobaptists who are united in a oongre may be regarded as a Church, and a Christian church, though they have never been baptized ac- cnrdin 3t*a example and command ; but they cannot be fellowshiped as a regular gospel church. 3. We learn the reason why Bap;', commune with such. It is not because we do n->t regard them as Christians, but because they have not been baptized. To speak plainly, they are not members of a regular gospel church. We may extend to them the hand of Christian fellowship, but not the hand of Church fellowship. 4. This practice if rightly understood is not un- charitable. Pedobaptists will not commune with unbaptized believers, though they believe then Christians. In this we perfectly agree. We are even more liberal than they, because we will com- mune with all whom we baptize into the fellowship of the church; but they will not — they baptize multitudes whom they never admit to the Lord's Table. They are therefore closer than Bap r ' 5. If the Lord's Supper is a church ordinance to be observed by a church collectively, then I ask, is it proper to admit to the communion with us even baptized believers who are members of Pedo- - churches, and by their exam; I sprinkling and pouring for Christian baptism? Or to baptize believers with a view to their uniting with Pedobaptist churches, vrhcre we know tha will sanction by that act what is called infant bap- tism, as well as sprinkling and pouring, for thus sacred ordinance? It does appear to me. that con- sistency will not permit us in either of these ways to countenance what we as Baptists so distinctively t a REMINGTON contend to be in opposition to gospel order. Can we conscientiously baptize any one, who we know will immediately nullify what he has done by walk- ing disorderly — which he will do, if he sanctions either by word or act, any thing for a valid baptism but that of the immersion of believers ? 6. This view of the subject will lead us to ques- tion the propriety of administering the Lord's Sup- per to the sick unless the church be convened. If our position be correct, then certainly it is not pro- per to administer it to individuals without first noti- fying the church of which they are members, and obtaining the appointment by the church of a suffi- cient number to represent them. I know it may be argued that the sick would, under these circum- stances, be often deprived of the privilege of com- munion while upon their dying beds. The great question is, have we Bible authority for the practice ? If we have not, then we should submit with pious resignation. There are many other privileges which the sick cannot enjoy, and it is a very great attain- ment to submit patiently to suffer the will of God concerning us — a much greater evidence of the ex- istence and possession of the Christian graces than it would be to attend to any form which the gospel requires of us under other circumstances. The hour of affliction and death, of all others, is the one when we should rely upon Christ alone. The fewer forms we have to attend to then, the better. And the dear Redeemer has wisely ordered that his saints shall then be so circumstanced aa to be constrained to say, " None but Christ V THE END