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M THE Contributed j BAPTISM. By Rev. Edmond La Vergne. In the work of the ministry I have met with quite a number of families the head of which is a Presbyterian and the wife a Baptist. In one of these families I was shown a Baptist book in which the doctrine of immersion is explained. The title of the book is: "Church Members' Guide for Baptist Churches, by Rutherford, Atlanta." This guide book says: "Immersion is the only valid baptism," and regarding the baptism of infants .says: "Baptists finding repentance and faith preceding baptism believe it to be contrary to the word of God to administer it to unconscious babes." The book also .says: "Immersion signifies the death and resurrection of our Lord." I have written this article for the hene lit of persons who have been sprinkled in order to show them that they have been duly baptized, according to the Scriptures, and that their mind may be at perfect peace on that score. Baptism Does Not Teach the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Our Baptist brethren lay great stress <on baptism by immersion because, according to their view, John the Baptist inaugurated this baptism, and also because our Lord was baptized in Jordan. If we read Scripture carefully, we will find that John the Baptist had been baptizing for some time in the Jordan before Christ came, himself, to be baptized by John. Now how could John the Baptist teach the death and resurrection of Christ when the Savior had not yet appeared' it jonn nad preacned the death and resurrection of the Messiah, whom the multitude had not seen yet, certainly the Jews would not have understood him. Then later when Christ came and John said: "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," it is not possible that John immersed our Lord to teach the death an<J resurrection of Jesus. A little later on, we And even John doubting whether Christ was the Messiah, when he sent his messengers to enquire, "Art thou he who should come or shall we wait for another?" Moreover the disciples of Christ also rru?.. ai? ?? uapn^cu. iuc), luu, Miew uuiuillgt Ha yet, of the death and resurrection of their Master. Why even when they found the tomb empty, "For as yet they knew not the scriptures that he must rise again from the dead." John 20:9. Now, how could John the Baptist and the disciples immerse to teach the death and resurrection of Christ when they knew nothing as yet about the death and resurrection? ijut we Know tnat Jonn did not immerse in order to teach the death and resurrection of the Messiah, because John himself tells us the meaning of his baptism: PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUT "And I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water." (John 1:31.) "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." (Matt. 3: 2.) Nothing is here even intimated about the death and resurrection of Christ. Our Baptist friends lay great stress on the words "in Jordan." This does not imply that there was an immersion of the entire body. The little preposition "in" is used very loosely both in the Greek and the English languages, and it seems to me a serious matter to build a creed upon such a feeble foundation and to teach that whoever has not been immersed has not been baptized. The word "in" is used in m?nv wnv? For example, we say: He is in the mountain. That does not mean that he is immersed in the mountain. Again we say: He is in the sun. That does not mean he is in the great orb of light, not even that he is immersed in the light, but that the light is shed on him. Again we say: He is in distress. That does not imply that he is immersed in distress. Further, in the water, or in Jordan, does not positively mean immersion. If a child wishes to w^ide in the stream how does he express himself, "May I go in the water?" or "May I go in the river?" The child simply takes his shoes and stockings off and begins to wade kneedeep in the stream; he is in the water, but not under the water. John, we know, baptized in Jordan; also at Enon, because there was much water there. This manner of using the streams and pools can be very easily explained: At that time there were no facilities in the synagogues for baptizing converts; moreover, had there been such facilities John, who was a child of the desert, and the apostles who were mostly fishermen, could not have used the synagogues which were reserved for the Levites and Priests and other high officials of the Jewish Church. John and the apostles had not studied in any of the Rabbinical schools: thev could not thprofnpo ister in any Jewish synagogue. This being the case, what would prevent them from using the streams of Palestine, free to all; this mode would be in keeping with the surroundings, with their position in the world, and also with the desires of their own hearts. Thus they used the 6tream and pools because it was more expedient, natural, and easy. The mode of baptizing was no doubt practiced in the following manner: John would wade a few yards from the shore, peraaps going nnee aeep into 1De Water and requesting all those who desired to be baptized to leave their sandals on the bank and to wade to the place he was standing In the water; then taking a handful of water from the running stream he would sprinkle it on the head of the convert. The position of the convert was thus H. November 17, igog. highly symbolical. It meant this: With his feet in the water and his head sprinkled with water, it signifies that the con vert was thus washed from head to foot. John the Baptist and the disciples thus fulfilled the prophecy in Gzekiel: "Then shall I sprinkle clean water upon you." (Wv tC OK\ If our Baptist friends insist upon immersion, as the only mode of baptism, can they tell us when this prophecy of sprinkling will be fulfilled? The Greek word "baptizo" does not mean to immerse; its true and simple meaning is "to wash." Thus we find the expression in the Old Testament Ps. 51:2, 7. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Ps. 51:7. And the passage quoted above: Then shall I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean (washed). But there is a passage In the scriptures which shows directly that baptism means the washing away of sins (and not the death and resurrection of Christ). Acts 22:16: "And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." This baptism was not in Jordan, nor at Enon, but in the City of Damascus and did not mean the death and resur recuon or Christ but only the washing away of sin. In the Baptist guide book mentioned, I notice that our immersionist brethren lay great stress on the baptism of the eunuch by Philip. Here is the passage: Acts 8:38: "And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip." Of all the passages in the Bible, I think this is the best one I could bring forward to show that there was no immersion at all, and our Baptist friends in invoking so strongly this passage, are undermining their own doctrine. Let us examine the passage.? "And they went down both into the water." Now if Baptists claim there was an immersion of the whole body, then both Philip and the eunuch went botb under the water, because the text says clearly that "they went down both into the water, both Philip and the Eunuch," and after botb going into the water, then Philip baptized him. This is absurd. Is it not more reasonable to explain the passage in this way: The chariot stopped at a pool of water near the roadside. They both took off their sandals, and wading both into the water, Philip took a handful and sprinkled it on the head of the eunuch, after which they came up out of the water. * Let us consider now the case of the three thousand who were baptized on the day of Pentecost. If three thousand persons were i?* mersed, allowing say, two minutes t?T each convert to be dipped under t&e I water, it would take one apostle ffour I days and four nights to immerse ibem iv m