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14 TH
Contributed
BAPTISM FROM THE POINT OF VIEW
UT 111 I CLLIULIMVyC.
"What is the action performed in
Christian baptism? The action performed
in Christian baptism is immersion in
water." "Can there be Christian baptism
without immersion? No." "Why ought
Baptists not to take the Lord's Supper
with believers of other denominations?
Because we think they have not been
baptized, or are not walking orderly as
to Church connection." (A catechism of
Bible Teachings by John A. Broadus, pp.
32, 33, 34). Dr. W. H. Whitsitt writes of
the Anabaptists, "they had quitted the
UCICUOMC IU uaouuic au afjgicasnc puattion
by styling themselves 'the baptized
churches. * * After the adoption of
immersion, it was easy to insist that
those who practised it were alone 'baptized
people,' emphasis being laid not
only upon the subjects as formerly, but
also unon the mode of baDtism. This lat
ter emphasis was indicated by the name
Baptist." Johnson's Univ. Ency., Ed.
1894, Vol. 1, p. 489). This then Is the
imposing attitude of our brethren of the
Baptist Church they plainly declare that
they only have been baptized, that the
rest of us have not been baptized," because
we have not been baptized by immersion,
and therefore they refuse to
recognize us as in the Church of Christ,
and to fellowship us as such. Face to
face with such an exclusive claim, it is
worth our while to ask who is this people
that make such an exclusive claim to
the rite of baptism? Whence came they?
Who are they? How many is their num
ber? What is their religious history?
What is their history touching this exclusive
claim? This question of the mode
of baptism is not a fact of experience,
but a question of the correct interpretation
of an intelligible Book, the Bible;
what is their claim to the exclusive right
to interpret correctly this Book? On the
other band it is a matter of some interest,
who are they that are excluded
from the Church by this claim, are they
few in number, the heretics of a day, of
no religious standing, and no claim to
the right to interpret this intelligible
Book ?
As to the age of the Church of our
Baptist friends who make this claim,
their own historians (Whitsitt and McGlothlln)
tracing their origin, say the
'movement originated * "between Jan.
18 and 25, 1525." As to their source, Dr.
McGlothlin plainly says "all their leadCPD
on far oc hoir Huoo o ro 1/n/vnm
out of the Catholic Church." As to their
religious history, they have taught all
kinds of doctrines from the rankest type
of Arminianism to the extremest form
of Calvinism, "sometimes falling into Socinian
denial of the deity of Christ and
Pelagian denial of original sin" (Newman),
Arminianism continuing until
quite recently, 75 or 90 years ago, to be
the prevailing type of theology. As to
their numbers, Dr. Newnam says, "count
E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOI
ing all nominally Baptist bodies
throughout the world, the present number
is about 6,000,000." As to their intellectual
qualifications to interpret a
Book, their own historian (Dr. Newman)
writes of them in this country,' which
claims more than five-sixth of the "nominally
Baptist bodies throughout the
world" that until about ninety-five years
ago they were uneducated and even illiterate,
to quote his language: "by the
beginning of this period," 1812, "they
U'nro Hofininnt in nnltn **<-v n ?-* A KnA
no provision for an educated ministry":
"the vast majority of American Baptists
at this time regarded ministerial education
as an impertinent human effort to
exercise the divine prerogative of calling
and equipping ministers": 'the tendency
was to neglect the towns * * * * where
enthusiastic and illiterate ministers were
less acceptable." But when this is said,
we have not yet felt the full weight of
the intellectual competency of our Baptist
friends to interpret this Book for us
until we have asked, Who are they? And
Dr. Newman tells us "Counting all nominally
Baptist bodies throughout the
world, the present number of Baptists is
about 6,000,000," he further informs us
"the nresent memhershin" "of ihp Pol.
ored Baptists" "according to the statistician
of the National Baptist Convention
(1905) being 2,189,u00." (New SchaffHerzog,
Vol. 1, pp. 476, 480.) Now what
will we say of the intellectual competency
of this 2,189,000, more than one
third of the whole of the church? Considering
then that this Church until a
few years ago was opposed to an educated
ministry, and that of its "present
number throughout the world" more than
one third are negroes; what claim has
this body of people so arrogantly to plead
an exclusive right to interpret correctly
a Book, the Bible, touching the mode of
baptism, so as to make them say to us
dogmatically "You haven't been baptized"?
But we haven't yet seen the full
force of this argument: Dr. Newman af
ter telling us of the number of Baptists
throughout the world, in his desire to
roll up the number of immersionists,
adds: "If to these other bodies of antiPedobaptist
immersionists be added, the
number is increased to about 7,500,000."
This figure includes all Campbellites,
Mennonites, and all immersionists in the
world of Protestant Christendom. Of the
age, religious history, and# intellectual
qualifications of our Campbellite friends
to judge in this matter we all know.
Now against this put the following:
Methodists 6,838,779
Lutherans 2,082,766
Presbyterians 2,264,104
Episcopalian ., ., 893,972
Congregationalists .. .. 650,000 (?)
A lO TOO COI
Here then we have the statistics of
just Ave of the leading Protestant religious
bodies in the United States and yet
their membership in this country alone
(and it should be borne in mind that the
main strength of the Presbyterians, Episcopalians,
and Lutherans is in other
JTH. September 15, 1909.
countries) totals 12,729.621 against 7,500,000
immerslonists of all kinds "throughout
the world." Every one of these five
Churches, except the Methodist has a
claim to as great age as the Baptist, and
we may say a just claim to a more
evangelical, as consistent and as religious
a history as our Baptist friends.
Every one of these, with a modified exception
of the Methodists, has been
through all these years a friend to education
and learning, and each has made
educational qualification a condition to
entrance into the ministry. Four of
these haven't enough negro membership
to count, and all together, even including
the large meaibership of the Meth
odist Church, haven't as many negroes as
our Baptist friends. Once more will any
man in any ordinary community claim
that the Baptists are more conscientious
in interpreting the Bible than are Presbyterians,
Lutherans, Methodists, Congregationalists,
and Episcopalians? In
other matters that concern the interpretation
of a book, we appeal to the most
learned, the most conscientious, and
stable characters, If in this we make our
appeal so, what will be our judgment as
to the claims of our Baptist friends? If
it were not so serious and so sacred a
thing we would not hesitate to say it is
ridiculous, the boldest bigotry and egotism.
It is passing strange that the people
would be so easily teased by their
claims.
Analyze those statistics, "7,500,000 immorainniatc
" tho +? 11?
??.w...wlu| tuc piujiuiuun iu iue professing
Christian world, the intellectual
and religious character of these exclusive
claimants, and tell me which is the
more reasonable view of baptism, the interpretation
of our immersioni8t friends
or those who practice affusion?
Troupe, Texas, S. M. Tenney.
OPEN-AIR PREACHING TO JEWS.
By Rev. Thomas M. Chalmers.
The opportunity for street nreachlnc
among the million Jews of Greater New
York is simply wonderful. We have been
feeling our way on this line, and find
the door is open for a wide development.
That Jews today will enter halls to hear
tue gospel is clear from what can be
seen In l^ondon, Chicago, and New York.
A case in point is the work of Rev. B.
Angel of the New York City Mission,
who after fourteen years' effort has secured
a regular audience of from 200 to
300 Jews. But great multitudes of Jews
will never be reached if we use this
method alone. So the street work is imperative.
The writer, a Gentile, after years of
experience among Jews elsewhere, began
work in the great New York field in
April, 1908, having first organized the
New York Jewish Evangelization Society.
Our mission, located in the lower
J en /?.?A ? ~
vuav oiuu aiiiuug tuUpUVU jews, is in r
very encouraging state. Here and ii
Brownsville, where we have charge 01
the Jewish wortc for men of the Brooklyn
City Mission and Tract Society, we
have two open-air meetings weekly, each
attended by several hundred Jewish men,