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September 29, 1909. THE PRESBYTERIi other isms might be given, whereby this version has sought to break the point and blunt the edge of the sword of the Spirit, e. g. 2-Tim. 3: 16, and Acts 2: 23. Waynesboro, Ga. BURIED IN BAPTISM. By Rev. W. S. Bean. Our brethren of another denomination insist that l)iirial in baptism is the only mode; and because the i 1 ? r ? ? ? ? uiv sigiiincs uuncti, no unicr iorm is aamissiDie. L.et us go over the question carefully, with Greek Testament and concordance in hand. i. The word "bury" is not used by a single Evangelist in speaking of the actual disposal of the body of our Lord. The word used is tithemi, "set, put, lay, ..1 ?? - -* *- ? 1 * - piacc ; wiiue lviarK nas Katatitliemi, lay down. 2. In no single passage of the New Testament is the burial of Christ spoken of as having any part in our salvation. Burial was a proof of the reality of Christ's death, and thus a means of proving his resurrection. 3. The death of Christ is always set forth as the means of our redemption. See Romans 5:6-10- "Christ died for the ungodly" "Christ died for us." "Being now justified by his blood." "We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son." Coloss. 1:2i-22. "You?hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh inrougn aeatn." Hebrews 2 :g, "We see Jesus?because of the sufferings of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for every man." Many other familiar passages allude thus to our Lord's cross and blood. 4. The death of Christ is commemorated by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Luke 22:19. "This is my body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of me." 1 Cor. *11: 26, "Ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come." The resurrection of Christ is commemorated by the hallowing of the first day of the week. 5. In Romans 6:4 and Coloss 2:12, Paul uses a compound verb, sunthapto, to bury with. So he uses a compound verb for "planted together" in verse 5, and "crucified together" in verse 6. In Coloss. 2:11, he says, "In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with him in hanti?m wliprpin "p o 1 J were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." In these passages we have a spiritual planting, a spiritual circumcision, a spiritual cleansing, a spiritual resurrection through faith. But among all these figurative expressions, we are required to find a literal burial of the body in a "liquid grave," and a literal "rising again"?not through faith, but through the arm of the baptizer! Neither does Paul say, "We ,are buried with him by baptism into his burial," but "into his death." Water is not mentioned in Romans 6 or Coloss. 2. But can there be baotism without water? Yes?baptism of the Spirit; see Luke 3:16, where the Baptist contrasts his baptism with water with the Messiah's baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 6. Baptism is symbolic of purification. See Acts l 22:16, "Arise, and be baptized and wash away thy 1 OF THE SOUTH. 7 sins." 1 Peter 3:21, "Baptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God." In John 3:25, the discussion begun about purifying goes on at once to speak of baptism. 7. Under the Old Covenant ritual, burial was always connected with defilement. See Numbers 19:11, "He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days." Verse 18: "A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched the bone of the slain, or the dead, or the grave." De filement from the dead was such a fixed idea that the high priest was not permitted to "go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother, nor profane the sanctuary of his God." Lev. 21 : 11-12. Til F.7pWif>l AA OC tllP nripclo rrmio of dead persons to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, etc.?they may defile thmselves." How then could the idea of purification ever be associated with burial, in any mind trained under the Old Covenant ritual? It may be said that the New Testament rites had nothing to do with those of the Old Testament, but this is to deny the New Testament itself. 8. Two great spiritual truths arc prominent in the old ritual, redemption by sacrifice, and purification. The blood of bulls and of goats could not atone for sin; nor could material water itself wash away sin's pollution. "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" is the expression of a spiritual cleansing. Now these two great fundamental truths were not set aside nor altered, but fulfilled by the Messiah. His broken body and shed blood are set before us in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. His purification by the Spirit is set before us in baptism. If purification is not symbolized by baptism, what has become of it, under the New Covenant? If burial, under the old ritual involved defilement, when was it changed to mean purification under the new covenant? Paul's discussion in Romans 5, 6 and Colossians 2 Is about salvation, not about ritual. How can his expression of "buried in baptism" be taken literally; while his "planted together," "crucified together," and "circum cisea witn arc taken spiritually.'* x\ot one ot these expressions refers to a literal act; but to spiritual un- ' ion with Christ, even to partaking of his death, burial and resurrection. Clinton, S. C. At the celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, which was held in July in the beautiful city of Geneva, where Calvin did his great MrArL" fnr f fViirf AAM ffnranf nvin. 1V/I uiv VY Vi l VI, Lllll kVVU llllivi VIII WUUll It3 Wtlt represented. A number of addresses appropriate to the occasion were delivered by French, German and Swiss scholars and theologians. While none of these probably endorsed the stalwart theology of Calvin, nor prpn hie puan nrpliri 1 hplipfc fliAtr o ?on ? < ?as w * UII^VIIVUI MVllVkU, HIVJ UVWI UVU ^tllVJUUO praise to his genius, his high character and his eminent services to the world. The corner-stone was laid of a splendid Reformation monument which is to be erected in memory of the great reformer.