Newspaper Page Text
The “-Christi an Index.
VOL. 57—NO. 28.
Table of Contents.
First Pack. —Alabama Department: Record of
State Events ; Spirit of the Religious Press ;
Baptist News and Notes j The Mission Field ;
General Denominational News ; etc. Florida
Department: Inconsistencies of Pedobaptism;
Ministerial Convention; etc.
Second Page. —Our Pulpit : Young Christians
Instructed,—Sermon by Sylvanus Landrum,
D.D., Memphis, Tenn. Our Correspondents :
Macon Letter—B. Boykin; Ministers’ and
Deacons’ Institute New Sunbury Association
—D. G. Daniel; “The Recordor’’—W. M. H.;
Decatur Baptist Church ; Letter from Colum
bus ; Dalton Baptist Church—R. T. Hanks ;
Sidney Root—J. H. Campbell; Orphan Homes
in Texas and Georgia. The Sunday-School :
The Draught of Fishes—Lesson V—August 4,
1878.
Thibd Paoe.— Memorial of Hon. Thos. Stocks—
By Dr. B. F. Tharp.
Fourth Paoe. —Editorial: Baptized for the
Dead—Rev. H. *O. Hornady. Questions of
Church Discipline—ltev. 8. G. Hillyer. Cath
olooism. The Perishing Millions ; The Sum
mer Campaign ; North Georgia Convention—
Rev. D. E. Butler. Editorial Contributions on
Church Polity—Dr. P. H. Mell. Our Corres-
Sondents and Contributors; Telephone Wou
ers ; Dr. R. \V. Fuller; Timely; Associations;
etc.
Fifth Paoe. —Georgia Baptist News. Secular
Editorals : A Black Medal ; Wrathy Rome ;
Hot; Yellow Fever ; Compulsory Education ;
Cash and Credit; Cardinal Franchi; Sensa
tional Journalism ; Georgia News ; ete.
Sixth Page. —Home Influences : The Greater
Power—How It Moulds Charcter—Fourth
Paper—By Sidney Herbert. The First Born—
Poetry. Missions ; The Famine in China ;
Flint River Missions. :
Seventh Page. —To Whom Shall we Give
Thanks Poetry. Why Children Do Not At
tend Church.
Eighth Paoe. Marriages. Reading Notices.
Advertisements.
INDEX AND BAPTIST.
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT.
Livingston has four churches
Cullman continues to improve rapidly.
\ There is a reading club at Villula, Russell
bounty.
There is talk of building a Methodist
church at Seale.
Troy Creek camp meeting will commence
Friday before the first Sunday in August.
Work has been commenced on the Epis
copal church in Troy.
They have an Agricultural Society of 27
members at Dodsonville, Jackson county.
The attendance at the State Sunday-school
CoofijUd was very large.
Rust has attacked the cotton plant in some
parts of the State.
A Sabbath school has been organized at
the Oakey Streak Methodist church.
W. L. Fluker has been appointed post
master at Boiling Spring, Marengo county.
A sulphur spring near Grove Hill is at
tracting considerable attention.
The Congressional Convention for the
second district will be held at Pollard, Au
gust 15th.
Anew mail route has been established
between Tuscaloosa and Pikeviile via Fay
ette C. 11.
The degree of D. 1). has been conferred on
Rev. Josiah Lewis, of Greensboro, by Trini
ty College, N. C.
Rev. Mr. Norris, pastor of the Troy Bap
tist church, is in South Carolina to move his
family to Troy.
The Baptist house of worship at Tallade
ga, in its new coat of paint, looks quite at
tractive.
Prof. W. D. Lovett, of Ruhama, Jefferson
county, will take charge of the Female Col
lege at Pickensville, Pickens county.
■ ♦ ♦
A tri-weekly mail has been established be
tween Monroeville and Buggsville, via Clai
bactve and Gosport.
Labor on the LarkinsviHe (Jackson coun
ty) Academy has been stopped for want of
means.
Mrs. Judge Goldthwaite, an excellent and
beloved lady, died recently in Montgomery,
where she had resided for many years.
Passenger rates over the Western Rail
road have been reduced 10 per cent, during
July and August.
Under a dicree of the Dallas chancery
court, the Selma and Gulf road will be
again offered for sale on the 16th of Sep
tember.
In the State University, W. J. Vaughan
is professor of mathematics in place of H. 8.
Whitlock, Dr. D. L. Foster is surgeon, vice
Dr. J. B. Read, and Gen. Gorgas is presi
dent instead of Dr. Smith.
The Southern Argus says:
Rev. J. L. West, for mule than a year the
managing editor of the Ala
bama Baptist, will resign that position at the
meeting ot the Baptist State Convention
at Talladega, when his successor will be
chosen. Mr. West has peculiar editorial
aptitude, and is a most accurate and sys
tematic business man, and the church will
be fortunate indeed, if it shall find one
equally capable in all respects to take his
place.
the south-western baptist,
of Alabama.
Spirit of !h Religious Press,
—The Brethren at Work says ;
In answer to a sister who wishes to know
whether it is acc rding to the Gospel for sis
ters to adorn th unsrives with ihe fashions of
the world in the wearing of gold, costly array
and sup rfluities generally, we remark, that
the Scriptures are not only plain, but pos
itive regarding the adorning to be used by
both brethren and sisters, and there is not
much danger of those who have been prop
erly taught, and have an eye single to God’s
glory, departing from the simplicity of the
Truth in this respect. We never could un
derstand why a woman, or anybody else,
should want to wear g id as an ornament.
Why should a woman think to use, for an
ornament of her person, that which is of less
value than herself ? If she thinks as much
of lierselt as a true woman ought, she will
certaiuly value herself above anything ot a
perishable nature. It women would spend
as much time cultivating their minds and
improving their health, as many do adorn
ing their bodies, it would be far better for
themselves and the rising generation.
There is too much of this vain show in
ourchurches. We rail against the extrava
gance of fashion, deplore its demoralizing
influence, and listen to long and emphatic
homilies on the subject, but we do not see a
single piece of jewelry removed Iroin the
person in consequence, or one frill or flounce
the less. The envy excited by showy dress,
and the influence rustling silks and flashing
jewels exercise upon the minds of many to
distract them, and push aside sober and
worshipful reflection, is a serious evil and is
an element of considerable power for level
ing the distii.etions between the Church and
the World which the mandates of the Scrip
tures and the godly prudence of church
discipline strive to maintain intact.
—The Congregationalist beautifully re*
marks:
If every traveling Christian could carry the
suushiue of lieaveu iu his lace, the peace of
heaven in his heart, and the good will of
heaven in his whole aspect, and particularly
in his open hand, it would be a blessed re
vival ot religion simply to have them work
or play.
—lt would be well for some of ourchurches
to heed and profit by the admonition given
below, and which we clip from the Christian
Union:
The church that has no social life is apt to
have no true life of any kind; and the
church whose social life is so like in spirit
that ot the world at large, that one can only
tell a church sociable from an ordinary party
by a label, is apt to develop a life which is
worldly and Chnstless. The social gather
ings of the church may be as truly a means
of grace as the prayer-meetings, and it
should be the business of pastors and people
to study to make them so.
—How true that anxiety and worry is the
friction of the soul, irritating, disorganizing,
wearing out the delicate machinery of life.
They dim the brightness and sour the sweet
ness of what might otherwise be the happiest
life. They repel sympathy, alienate friend
ship, and destroy love. They are produc
tive of no good and work only evil, both to
self and others.
—The Baptist Battle Flag don’t think Bap
tists ought to let their church touses toother
denomimtions.
Do unto others as you wish others to do
unto you.
—The Baptist Weekly has the following
well-considered remarks on the subject of
making Model Preachers :
Without capacity for the work, the first con
dition of fitness for it is wanting, and efficien
cy in the pulpit will generally be graded by
the natural ability brought to the service. Io
exceptional cases, there may be a surprising
development of power, and under inspiring
circumstances or as a result of careful train
ing, great preaching ability may appear
where it was little expected, But, after all,
great preachers are born, not made; and,
while it is important to instruct young men
how to frame their sermons, and to counsel
them to cultivate a proper delivery, it will
still be true that only such as have a natural
faculty, a heart right with God, and a zeal
for the salvation of men, will ever make
effective preachers.
These are certainly the elements essential
to success as a first rate preacher. Brains,
and the determination to use them right, can
not be created where they do not exist. You
can not expect figs of thistles, and all the
“model training” in the world will not alter
the fact. The anecdote quoted by the
Weekly is good and to the point:
In accounting for the unavailing efforts of
a college and theological seminary to make
anything of a preacher out of one just ad
mitted to the ministry, we remember to have
heard a venerable man say: “Yes, he has
been studying seven years and yet don’t
know how to preach!" “What’s the reason?”
“Why you might try seventy-seven years to
put a cannon ball into a musket, but you
couldn’t doit.’*
■—The standard, (Chicago,) in a somewhat
doleful editorial, discusses the oft repeated
charge that whito Baptists in the South
withhold from Northern teachers in the
freedmen schools the courtesies “ to which
they are in every sense entitled.” Is that
true ol brother Corey and his school here ?
Certainly not; he is more visted by Baptist
preachers than any man in Richmoud. Nor
fis it true of schools in Raleigh, Augusta,
Nashville, and some other places. But still
we are no better than we ought to be.—Re
ligious Herald.
Why keep up this useless and unprofitable
discussion? None so blind as those who
will not see; none so deaf as those who will
not hear. The best way to counteract the
ignorance and prejudice of some Northern
editors is to leave them “ severely alone.”
—lf all church members would only think
of giving in the true light, 'as expressed in
FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, ATLANTA GEORGIA, JULY 25, 1878.
the following article, which we clip from
The Churchman, there would never have to
be any special call for missions, or any other
church purposes. The treasury of the Lord
would always be full and ready for any
emergency :
The source or motive ot giving to God,
and the purpose to which the money given
is to be applied, are entirely distinct. The
purpose should never serve as a motive.
Men are not to give because money is neces
sary. They are to give simply because giv
ing is necessary. And giving is necessary for
the sake of the giver. It is for the giver’s
own benefit that God expects him to give.
The same p iper has the following in re*
gard to the phrase “missionary spirit,” and
carries out our idea fully as expressed above
in regard to giving :
There is a certain degree of fallacy under
lying the phrase “missionary spirit,” or
rather under a certain use of it. Such a
spirit is fostered, its cultivation is urged with
the avowed purpose of making men give
their money in order that missions may be
supported. We believe that the “missionary
spirit” ought never to be used for that pur
pose. It is not, and should not be, the
reason of the Christian’s giving to the Lord
of his substance. The missionary spirit
should prevail when the authorities of the
church make distribution of (lie offerings of
tlie people. Gut those offerings should be
made by the people out of love for Christ.
—Here are tender thoughts for the Melli
odist Recorder:
A man ought never to get rid of his child
hood. He may put away childish things
and yet retain what is sweet and beautiful in
childhood. There is a simple faith, an in
uocence and a liberty of childhood which
should he carried up into and become the
bloom of our manhood. We are timid ot
the man whose life brings with it none of
the fragrance of boyhood, who cannot be a
boy again, whenever burdens of maturer
years may belaid aside. “Except ye be con
verted and become as little children, ye can
not enter the kingdom,” says the Master.
—Looking on tiie Bright Side. —The
following is the conclusion of a beautiful
little story for the children in the Christian
Weekly. Let us all profit by the lesson, and
make our lives and homes brighter and hap
pier:
It is a good thing to cultivate the habit of
looking on the bright side. There is, you
may Le sure, a bright side somewhere, to all
our experiences, and if we do not see it, why
may be the angels do. The disposition to
contentment can be trained, as vines are to
grow round a trellis, but we need the trellis
of prayer, before we can have the blossoms
of praise.
—Let those of us who feel poor in this
world’s goods, learn a lesson from the fol
lowing paragraph which we clip trom The
Standard:
Just as the hunger of the multitude was,
in Christ’s sight, a claim upon ti e disciples,
that they should furnish food, so now, the
ignorance, the darkness, the spiritual famine,
the sinfulness of the world gather them
selves into a thunderous demand upon the
church to give Christ to it, who only is wis
dom for it, our light and food and comfort
and forgiveness. Ana when our resources
seem as meagerly proportioned to our duty
as seemed those bits of bread and those two
fishes to those disciples, staggering before the
vast hunger of that crowd, let us remember
the Glirist behind the scant supply, and
what he did unto it, and let us remember,
too, that we can never do our duty of dis
tribution except, s through a joyful conse
cration of our resoures we get them great
eued by His power. But the five loaves
and the two fishes can become a magazine
when blessed by Him.
—Tne Illustrated Weekly learns this lesson
from the Phonograph, and should we not all
learn it?
You utter a word into the mouthpiece of
the phonograph. To-morrow, or next week,
or next year, or a century hence, that word
with its very tone of love or hate, can be
reproduced to the listener’s ear. A little
scratch on the foil, and the word is caugh'
and held fast! There is no changing of its
quality then. But you are uttering words
all day long and every day, and they are im
pressing themselves somewhere, fixing them
selves in the lives of your friends, your
children. They are recorded before the
throne of God. This tinfoil from the pho
nograph simply makes palpable to our sens
es the awful fact that we shall meet one dav
every utterance of our lives in the presence
of the Judge. God is preserving our words
not simply, but our deeds find our very
motives. All is down in his book of remem
brance. What sort of a record is it we are
preparing to face ?
—A few weeks ago says The Congregation
alism “ a letter was received in Andover,
asking to whose order a check should be
drawn if the Theological Seminary were in
need of funds for special or general purposes.
A reply brought almost immediately in re
sponse a check for $25,000, payable to the
order of Edward Taylor, treasurer of the
Theological Seminary, ‘for the benefit and
purposes of Andover Theological Seminary,
as the trustees may think best. ’ ” We hold
ourselves in readiness to furnish the ad
dresses of several Treasurers of Seminaries
and Colleges to any Baptist who feels moved
to do likewise.
The above is from the Examiner and
Chronicle, New York. Won’t somebody
please write us and make the same inquiry
concerning Mercer University or the Georgia
Baptist Seminary at Gainesville ? The latter,
by the way, is fast growing into strength,
and will be open for pupils before the com
ing autumn glides into the bleak day- of
winter.
The sale of the Selma, Marion and Mem
phis Railroad, under a decree of the Perry
chancery court, will take place August 12th.
Alexander Bell, a child of ten years, liv
ing in the vicinity of Troy, weighs two hun
dred and eighty pounds. Alabama claims
the prize on this.
BAPTIST NEWS AM) NOTES.
The Baptists of Brooklyn, New York,
have undertaken an endowment for “ The
Conant Fifty Years’ Biblical Chair,” to en
able Rev. Dr. T. J. Conant to complete the
translation of the Old Testament, on which
he cas been engaged for half a century.
—The Calvary Baptist Church of New
lork city has just introduced anew feature
into its work. Wednesday evening has been
set apart for the meeting of committees of
all kinds, for the reception of strangers and
for the social, intellectual and spiritual cul
ture of young and old. Committees of la
dies and gentlemen are in attendance to
welcome and introduce strangers, the pastor
and some of the deacons are present to see
all who come, a reading room is open con
taining denominational and other literature
in papers and magazines, the foundation of
a library will be laid soon, and rooms are
set apart for su.'h amusements as are proper
at such a time and place. The design is to
make the church contribute as largely as
possible to growth in all departments of life.
It is not yet known “whereunto this may
grow,” but the idea is to govern it with
sanctified common sense, so as to make it a
powerful coadjutor iu all departments of
church work.
—Rev. Anthony Jacobs is now pastor of a
very prosperous Danish Baptist church of
140 members, in lowa, located between
Avoca and Harlan. He preaches Sunday
mornings in the Danish language, and at
night in the English.
—The German Baptists in the United
States have doubled their number in ten
years.
—The Baptists have a church in Chester
field county, Virginia, called the “Skin
quarter Church.” To this church should
migrate all the mean men of the denomina
tion. The name of the place befits them
well.— Baptist Weekly.
As there would not be room enough in
that church to hold all of that class, we sug
gest that the majority of them migrate to
the “Dimeclipper” church in this part of
the country.
—Rev. L. C. Tichenor, Baptist, is to have
a debate with a Methodist, sometime in Oc
tober, a notice of which will be given iu due
time.
Qui hono?
—Rev. William Cathcart, 1).D., author of
the “The Papal System” and “The Baptism
of the Ages,” has undertaken the prepara
tion of k Cyclopedia of the Baptists. It will
comprise sketches of eminent Baptists and
Baptist institutions all over the world, and
will be a complete magazine of all that re
lates to the growth, the history, the biogra
phy, and the literature of the denomination.
It will be similar in size and style to the
“Cyclopedi i of Methodism” prepared by
Bishop Simpson. A number of eminent
w iters in the denomination have already
promised their co operation in the prepara
tion ol the work. It will probably be brought
out within three years.
—The death of Dr. Dowling bereft the
denomination of one of its most venerable
divines, and of an author of high rank in
literature.
THE MISSION FIELD.
—The Missonary Advocate puts this striking
contrast: We spend annually in this country
$700,000,000f0r intoxicating drinks. All the
Boards of Missions spend for the salvation of
the world less than $6,000,000.
—The ever watchful eye of the Papacy is
upon Central Africa, and twelve missionaries
of the Roman Church have already left for
Zanzibar to establish missions throughout the
interior.
—The latest news from the Nyanza Mis
sion of the Church Missionary Society is of
an unfavorable tenor. In consequence, it is
supposed of Egyptian influences, King
Mtesa’s friendship for Mr. Wilson cooled,
and he was induced to order the missionary’s
residence to be removed further from the
palace. About the same time the King re
ceived intelligence of the murder of O’Neil
and Smith, at Ukerewe, and Mr. Wilson was
constrained to ask leave to quit Uganda,
which he did, crossing to Speke's Bay and
making his way to Unyanyembe.
—The Rocky Mountain Presbyterian says:
“The banner church of the West, in Home
Missions, is that of Portland, Oregon, the Rev.
A. L. Lindsley, D.D., pastor. Its contributions
to Home Missions for the last year were
$5,700.”
—According to Dr. Duff, the great Scotch
missionary, recently deceased, “the chief end
of the existence of the Christian church is the
evangelization of the heathen nations.”
—A religious exchange says: Of every 100
cents raised for religious purposes in this
country, 98 cents are spent for home work,
and only two cents appropriated to foreign
missions. And yet the Master said, “Go ye
into ail the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature.”
—Dr. William Fleming Stevenson, who
has been Ihe effective leader of the Foreign
Mission work of the Presbyterian Church of
Ireland, has just returned from a journey
round the world, in which he has visited the
various Mission Stations of his own and other
churches. He was listened to with profound
attention when he rose in the late Irish As
sembly to make a report of his journey, but it
THE LX)
of Tennessee,
shows how finely-balanced are his head and
heart that he began his speech with a plea
for missions at home. Said he: “If there is
one mission which conies first it is surely
that at home—that which lies among our own
neighbors and in our own land. It is that
which is peculiarly the work that God has
given us, and from which nothing must dis
tract us until the simple truth of God is as
free and as well known in one part of the
island as in another.”
—At a large meeting of missionaries and
others interested, held in Shanghai, China,
the following gentlemen were appointed a
committee to organize a Chinese Tract So
ciety upon the same princigles as the Ameri*
can Tract Society of New York: J. M. W.
Farnham, A. P. Happer, D.D., J. W. Lam
breth, J. W. Davis and William Mnirhead.
The plan is to seek to organize local societies
in connection witli the native churches
throughout China, thus enlisting the natives
in contributing, writing, and distributing.
The Board of Managers will be half foreign
missionaries and half native Christians, prob
ably selected from the native ministry largely.
General Denominational News.
—Before the Unitarian Association re
cently held in Chicago, a prominent member
read a paper on “ The present need of
another John the Baptist."
—The First Presbyterian church at Lou
isville, Kentucky, recently under the pasto
ral care of the late Rev. Dr. Lowry, has
given a unanimous call to the Rev. Dr. Al
exander Martin, of Danville, Ya.
—During the present year four new Con
gregational churches have been organized in
Washington Territory.
—Bishop McCloskey, of the Roman Cath
olic diocese of Louisville, has issued a circu
lar letter to his priests, calling attention to
the “scandal growing out of the use of in
toxicating liquors at picnics gotten up for
church purposes.”
—The oldest church in Missouri was or
ganized in 1805. The oldest church in Vir
ginia was organized in 1763.
—By a recent act of the Norwegian Par
liament, religious liberty is granted to all
persons in that country, excepting govern
ment officials, ministers and judges. What
these latter unfortunates have done to justify
the government to punish them by such de
grading spiritual slavery is not stated.
—The English papers report that in a
Lincolnshire village recently, the Episcopal
Vicar refused to read the burial service over
the corpse of an unbaptized child. The
reverend gentleman visited the church-yard
when the little boy was laid in the grave,
but when the company present began to sing
‘Safe in the arms of Jesus,” he could not
contain his holy indignation, but endeavored
to stop the singing and told the parents “Its
all hypocrisy; the child is lost.” Comment
is superfluous.
—There has been an increase of 470 Ro
man Catholic priests in England and Scot
land since 18G7, and convents, monasteries
and religious orders have multiplied rapidly.
This does not look as if the old Roman
“Mother of Error” was in her death throes.
—The demand for the fiye cent Testa
ments issued by the American Bible Society,
is so great that it has led to the issue of 1000
copies a day.
—There are in the United States 18,000,-
000 persons between the ages of three years
and eighteen, and there are but 7,357,154
Sunday-school scholars and teachers all told.
Large room for improvement.
—The South Carolina State Sunday-school
onvention will be held August 31st and
23d. A bazar for Sunday-school literature
will be open. Sunday-school workers from
abroad are cordially invited.
—According to the statistics for Sabbath
schools in the United States and Canada,
recently published by E. Payson Porter,
Statistical Secretary for the International
Convention, there are in the United States
78,046 Sabbath-schools, with 853,100 officers
and teachers, and 6,504,054 scholars In
Canada there are 5,395 schools, with 41,-
693 officers and teachers, and 339,943 schol
ars.
Buffalo Lithia Springs—Cutaneous Dis
eases.—The Buffalo Lithia Water is good for
very many of the ills that afflict humanity.
Week after week, we have published a double
column of certificates, many of them from gen
tlemen who have distinguished themselves in
the various walks of life. Now Col. Goode
sends us another instalment, and in the list
we find some good Baptist names. Here is our
good friend, Dr. C. Tyree—known only to be
loved—who steps forward to say that he has
“found more relief from the Buffalo Lithia Wa
ters than from all other remedies. ”
On cutaneous diseases these waters act very
favorably, as will be seen from Col. Goode’s
double column of this week. We wonder that
there are not a thousand guests at the Buffalo
Springs.— lteligous Ueralil.
The “Baby's 15 st Kre id" is the most appro
prints title for Dr. Bil l s Baby H.' nip. It is ab
solutely free uom Opium, Morphia and other
poweiful agents, is perfectly Hafe and reliable
under all circumstances, and by allaying the
usual stomach and bowel disorders of babyhood
keeps the child from 1 retting and crying, so in
jurious to itself and annoying to all. l’rico 25
cents.
$4.10 foe 3.oo.—“The Buckeye Cookery and
Practical Housekeeping. ”$1.50. A royal book
for women. 425 pages, tinted paper, every pa
per fairly bristling with new ideas. This valu
able book and The Index, for one year, $3 60.
WHOLE NO. 23281
INDEX AND BAPTIST.
||larib3
REV. H. B. McCALLUM EDITOR.
INCONSISTENCIES OF PEDOBAPriSDI.
The “Articles of Religion as adopted by the
General Council of the Reformed Episcopal
Church,” hai accidentally fallen into our
hands. We became interested to know what
the “Reformers” had to say about infant bap
tism, and turned to the article on baptism,
(xxvi) which we found to be in these words:
“Baptism represents the death of believers
with Christ, and their rising with Him to
newness of life. It is a sign of profession,
whereby they publicly declare their faith in
llim. It is intended as a sign of regeneration
or the new birth. They that are baptized are
grafted into the visible Church ; the promise of
the forgiveness of Bin, and adoption to be the
sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly set
forth. The baptism of young children iB re
tained in this Church, as agreeable to ancient
usage and not contrary to Holy Writ.”
A more self-condemnatory article could not
well be written. If baptism “represents the
death of a believer with Christ, and their ris
ing with Him to newness of life,” as they de
clare it does, what sense is there in subjecting
an unconscious infant to baptism, when, from
the very nature of the case, it is impossible for
it to be a believer. How can it arise with
llim to a “newness of life,” when it is incapable
of exercising faith upon which the Scriptures
base the new birth ?
Again : “If it is a sign of profession, where
by they publicly declare Iheir faith in Him,”
as they say it is, what reason is there to give
the sign to those who, in the nature of things,
cannot have the thing signified ? Unconscious
infants cannot have faith, and are therefore in
capable of signifying it publicly to the
world.
Furdier: If “it ,s intend' and as a -ign of regen
eration, or new birth,” as they declare, wbat fit
ness or reason is there in affixing the sign to
those who cannot have the thing signified?
Again : The reason given for retaining “the
baptism of young children” is strikingly in
consistent with the principles they •themselves
lay down. In article xxi, it is said “a visible
Church of Christ is a congregation otlelievers in
which the pure Word of God is preached, and
baptism and the Lord’s eupper are duly min
istered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all
those things that of necessity are requisite to
the same. And those things are to be consid
ered requisite which the Lord Himself did, he
Himself commanded, and His apostles con
firmed.” Now apply this rule to the case in
hand, the Lord himself did not command
infant baptism, He did not practice it himself,
nor did his apostles confirm it. This is virtu
ally admitted in the reason given, as quoted
above, for “retaining the baptism of young
children,” viz: because “it is agreeable to an
cient usage and not contrary lo\Holy Writ." This
is an acknowledgement that the Scriptures Jo
not give either a command or example of infant
baptism. If, then, that only can be” requisite
to baptism," which the Lord commanded, or
practiced, and the apostles confirmed it follows,
that what they taught and confirmed only
can be regarded as true baptism, and all bap
tisms which have not these characteristics are
spurious. Infant baptism, according to the Ar
ticles of the Reformed Church has not these
characteristics, and is therefore spurious It
would seem that men who can see the truth
as clearly as these divines in many respects do,
ought to be able to emancipate themselves'
from a superstition which had its birth in the
false doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which
doctrine they reject. In our opinion the rejec
tion of this doctrine, which can be defended on
no Scriptural grounds, and which they have
condemned in principle, would have greatly
strengthened their cause. But Pedobaptism
has blinded the intellects of great men for ages,
and so strong is its hold now upon the Pedo-'
baptist world, that it is retained long after the
foundations upon which it formerly rested have
been swept away. The truth, however, as held
by the Baptists for ages upon this point will
ultimately gain the day, as did the doctrine of
religious liberty for which they, for a long time
were almost the only advocates. It may he re
moved into the distant future further than any
of the present generation will be permitted to
go, but come it will, just as sure as truth and
righteousness shall ultimately prevail.
MINISTERIAL convention,
In the third Union Meeting of the Manatee
Baptist Association, convened with the Alafia
Baptist church, it was on motion of Elder L. J.
oimmons,
Resolved, That a Minieterial Convention will
be held with the Oak grove church ot Her
nando county, Florida, to commence on Fri
day before the fifth Suuday in September
next, the obiset of which is, that w e may dis
cuss slight difh-rer ces amongst us in doctrines,
practices ami chutch polity. We have appoint
d the Convention to meet with the Oak-grove
church, for the convenience of sister Associa
tions, and respectfully invite the ministers of
those Associations to meet us, as well as
deacons, and all others who wish to.
J. W. Hendry Moderator.
F. M. Bryant Clerk.
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