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LECTURES ON BAPTISM-
No. 11.
DR. JAMES H. KILPATRICK.
GOING DOWN INTO THE WATER
The question before us is, Did
Philip and the eunuch go down into
the water, or only to it ? The origi
nal is, katebesan eis hudor. Now
does this mean, “they went down
into the water,” or “they went down
to the water?” Most anti-immer
sionists, in contending that these
words do not necessarily carry
Philip and the eunuch into the wa
ter, content themselves by referring
to the admitted fact that cis does
sometimes appear to mean to, I
say “appear,” for it is by no means
certain that the conception of the
Greek mind ever gave to this pre
position any other meaning than
into. Our own use of into will il
lustrate my idea. We say, familiar
ly, “A pitched into B.” Our actual
meaning is that there was simply a
furious attack —it may be, one of
words only, and yet, we designedly
say into, in order to make the state
ment more forcible. “A drunken
man ran into me as I came up the
street,” Some critic might say,
“Here into means against." Not so :
I employ into in its true sense, ard
upon its being so understood, de
pends the proper apprehension of
my meaning. “That fellow is al
ways into some difficulty.” Does
irto here Zu- 3 -- Net at al!: we
intend to emphasize the idea that
this man get* into difficulties. If we
were as well acquainted with the
Greek language as we are with our
own, I believe we would be able to
trace the idea of entrance within,
either in a literal or figurative sense,
in every use of this word eis, as
much so as in the case of our own
into. As we have not this know
ledge, however, let us concede that
here is an instance of divided usage.
What, then, are we to do? The
universally received rule of inter
pretation is; “Give preference to
the prevailing meaning in the ab
sence of necessary reasons to the
contrary.” And that into is the
prevailing meaning of eis, every
one knows who is not dependent
upon lexicons, and small ones at
that, for his knowledge of the mean
ing of Greek words. This was
clearly shown in the last lecture
just by reference to the first ten in
stances of its use in the New Tes
tament. To make the proof still
more decisive, let us extend our ex
amination a little further.
Reading as far as through the
qth ch., of Matthew we find, by ac
tual count, fifty-two additional
instances of the use of this prepo
sition. Os these fifty-two, we find,
in the common version, the render
ing into in thirty five, and any one
can see that into is the natural
meaning in every place, and ia
most places, no other is possible.
In eight places only is the rendering
to, or unto, given, and in every one
of these, into is clearly the real
meaning. The two most doubtful
of these eight occur in connection
with the word “repentance,” (Chr.
3:11, and 9: 13,) and whatever
may be the rendering, it certainly
cannot be that the people were not
expected to come into a state of
penitence but only to the edge of
it. In two of them, (ch. 8 : 18, 28)
the original is eis pecan, literally,
“into that beyond,” i. e., into the
region beyond. And that this is
the real meaning, is demonstrated
by the repetition of the phrase in
v. 28, where it is ceartainly equal
to “into the country of the Gerge
senes.” The remaining four nec
essarily mean into. Ch. 7 : 13, it is
eis opoleian, "into destruction,” not
just to the edge of it. In Rev. 17 :
8, 11, these words are rendered
“into perdition.” So also, in the
next verse, the real meaning is into
life, as the Saviour said elsewhere,
“the righteous into life eternal.”
Ch. 9:6, 7, we have “unto thy
house” and “to his house,” and the
man certainly went into his house.
We generally say one has gone to
his house, even when we know he
has gone into it; so also, we say one
has gone to heaven, when we real
ly mean he has entered it. If we
say to the house, and to heaven
THE CHRISTI AN INDEX.
etc., when we really mean into them
we ought not to think it strange if
the Greeks said “into,” when they
meant “into.’
Os the remaining nine instances,
one (ch. 4*. 24) is rendered
“throughout,” though the meaning
is clearly into, and it is so given in
the revised version. Another, (ch.
6: 34,) while properly rendered
according to our idiom, "for the
morrow,” is, nevertheless, truly and
quite graphically, "into the morrow”
i. e. “do not push your anxious
thoughts into the morrow.” In ch.
4 : 13, while our idiom demands in,
yet, with absolute literalness, it is
“having come into Capurnaum he
fixed his abode.” As to the six
cases still unreviewed, while they
furnish nothing decisive, for the
meaning into, neither do they furn
ish anything decisive against it, and
quite certainly, do not even remote
ly favor the meaning to as indica
ting actual motion terminating at a
place without entrance. From all
of which we are shut up to the
conclusion that cis most undoubted
ly does mean into, and that this
alone can be truthfully called the
meaning, and must always be un
derstood when there are not abso
lutely necessary reasons requiring
some other meaning.
The author of “Baptismal Dem
onstrations,” hower, finds imagin
ary proof of the indefiniteness of
this preposition in the very chap
ter (Acts Sth) where our narrative
occurs. Well, let us see. The first
instance of the use of eis is in v., 3 :
“Commit them to (eis) prison.”
Everybody knows that people are
committed to prison by being put
into prison. This is definite. V. 5-
“To (eis) the city of Samaria” —
literally "into the city;” and the
narrative shows that Philip did
certainly go info it. V. 16. “Bap
tized in (eis) the name of the Lord
Jesus” —literally and truly, into the
name, and so rendered in the re
vision. V. 20. “Thy money perish
with thee” —literally“be into destruc
tion (eis opoleian with thee.” V.
23. "In (eis) the gall of bitterness.”
Olshausen brings out the true force
of eis thus : “I see that thou hast
fallen into sin and art now in it.”
V. 25, Returned to (eis) Jerusa
lem.” We commonly say, “return
ed to Augusta,” “to New \ ork.
etc., and yet the veriest simpleton
would not suppose we meant
“stopped outside of the city.” V.
26. “The way that goeth down
from Jerusalem unto (eis) Gaza.”
We sometimes say a road leads
to a city and sometimes into it.
The Greeks generally said into,
as in this case, and the Greek
usage strictly accords with the
fact. Roads lead not only to
cities, but info them. V. 27. “Had
come to (eis) Jerusalem for to
worship”—surely info Jerusalem,
for he did not worship outside of
the city. V. 38. “Went down both
into (eis) the water.” This well
harmonizes with the preceding
cases. V. 40. “Philip was found at
(eis) A zotus.” This is elliptical,and
the ellipsis may be thus supplied :
“Philip was found having entered
into Azotus.” We have a similar
ellipsis in daily use : “I found my
self into a difficulty,” and the
strength of the expression depends
upon the retention of the proper
meaning of into. But let the ex
planation be what it may, Philip
certainly went into the city, for he
is said to have passed through it.
Same verse : “Till he came to (eis)
Caesarea.” We learn from Acts
21:8 that Philip lived in this city,
and quite surely, therefore, did not
stop until he got into it. Thus, in
every one of these cases, we find
the real meaning of eis to be into, or,
to say the least, in, the meaning to,
in the sense contended for, being
nowhere admissible even, much
less, necessary.
That Philip and the eunuch
actually went down into the water
becomes plainer still when we no
tice the several cases where this
identical expression occurs. The
Greek is katabaino eis, and is found
in the following places only : Mk.
13 : 15 ; Lu. 8 : 23 ; 10 : 30 ; 17 : 14 ;
John 2:12; Acts 7 : 15 ; 8 : 26 ; 8 :
38; 14:25; 18:22 525:6; Rom. 10:
7; Eph. 4:9; Rev. 13: 13- Now
in every one of these, the plain,
and in most of them, the necessary
meaning, is into. I will refer fully
to the only two, where there is the
least room for doubt. Lu. 8:23 :
“And there came down a storm of
wind on the lake’’—literally and
truly, into the lake. The wind did
not come to the edge of the lake and
stop, but went out into it and stirred
up its waters. Rev. 13: 13: “He
makelh fire come down from heaven
on the earth”—literally, out of
heaven into the earth ; that is, into
the area of earth, or into the midst
of the earth. There is no possible
objection to the ordinary meaning
into in either case.
Now add to the foregoing those
instances where the inspired writers
do certainly mean go down to, and
mark the change of preposition:
John 6: 16, “His disciples went
down to (epi) the sea.” Acts 10:
11 : “Saw heaven opened and a
certain vessel descending unto (epi)
him.” Acts 10:21: “Then Peter
wen down to (pros) the men -
Acts 14 :11 : “The gods are come
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down to (pros) us in the likeness
of men.” Rev. 12 : 12 : “The devil
is come down to (pros) you.
Now compare these two sets of
examples, and what do we see? In
every case where the meaning is
and must be, went down into, we
find katabaino eis : and on the other
hand, in every case where the
meaning is and must be, went down
to, in not one of these do we find
katabaino cis, but katabaino epi, or
katabaino pros.
But enough, enough. Philip and
the eunuch certainly went down into
the water; and if so, immersion
must have been the baptism admin
istered.
COMING UP OUT OF THE WATER,
If any further proof be desired
that Philip and the eunuch went
down into the water,it is to be found
in the supplemental statement, that
after the baptism, they came up
out of the water. Os course, if they
first went into the water, they must
afterwards have come out of it; but
the Holy Spirit had the fact re
corded, thus giving double oppor
tunity of demonstrating that the
baptism took place while they were
in the water.
The Greek in this place is. hote
de anebesan ek ton hudatos “and
when they were come up out of
the water” just as literal and correct
a translation as it is possible to
give. This, however, is denied by
some. Drs. Summers, Myrick and
others, in the face of the scholarship
of the the world, say that ek “pri
marily denotes motion from a place”
—which would give us two preposi
tions meaning primarily from, and
none with the primary meaning out
of! But Buttman, the noted Ger
man grammarian, says : "Ek* marks
a going forth out of an object from
within it; and is thus distinguished
essentially from apo,'" which, he
says, “marks the going forth or
away from an object.” And if a
single grammarian,or lexicographer,
of note, or without it, says other
wise, I am not aware of it.
But I do not propose to settle
this matter by an appeal to learned
men, but to a higher authority,
namely : The actual usage of the
language. This will enable every
one to decide for himself.
Tn the common version, ck is
translated out of, according to my
count, one hundred awl sixty one times.
E. g., Matt. 2: 6-15 "out of thee
shall come a governor.” “ Out of
Egypt have I called my son.” In
chapter 15 : 11-19, we have
Jin contr. t, just as ia the case be
fore us: “Not that which goeth
into (eis) the mouth defileth a man ;
butthat which cometh out ij - (ek)
the mouth” —“those things which
proceed out of (ek) the mouth— out
of (ek) the heart proceed evil
thoughts,” etc. Equally explicit is
almost every example of the whole
hundred and sixty-one.
The translation from occurs one
hundred and eighty, nine times.
When, however, we examine these
closely, we find, that while in con
formity to our idiom, the rendering
from is admissible, the real meaning
in almost every case is plainly out
of. I mention just two, each of
which presents quite clearly the
true meaning of both eis and ek:
John 3 : 13 —“No man hath ascend
ed up to (eis) heaven, but he that
came down from (ek) heaven ;”
literally, and so rendered in the re
vision, "into heaven,” "out of heav
en.” I suppose no one will ques
tion that the Son came down out
0/heaven and that he returned into
it. Ch. 5 : 24 : "From (ek) death
unto (eis) life”—literally, and much
more expressively, "out of death into
life.” Out of a state of death, they
pass into one of life. And so with
the most of the others. The truth
is, there are not more than a dozen
in which it is at all difficult to trace
the true meaning out of, and in these,
the difficulty is no greater than in
our common expressions, “out of
money,” “out of breath,” “out of
corn,” etc.
In nearly four hundred places we
find ek translated of. This will not
seem at all strange when we re
member that of is often the exact
equivalent to out of, indicating
origin, source, cause, etc., just as
truly as does out of itself—in fact,
it often appears to be but a short
ened way of saying out of, or made
out of. A throne of ivory, is one made
out of ivory—a hammer of steel is one
made out of steel. Very often, there
fore, in translating ek, of gives the
meaning in English just as well as
out of would do, and sometimes,
more in harmony with our common
manner of speaking. And if we
go through with these four hun
dred cases we will find that in
every one of them (at least, I have
found no exception) that ek marks
the place, or number, or thing, out
of which some other thing is sup
posed to proceed —or, some essen
tially equivalent idea.
Ek is translated with, occording to
my count, twenty-three times,in every
one of which the meaning out of can
be easily traced. E. 9 :Mk. 12:30 —
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with ( ek) all thy heart, and with (ek )
all thy soul,” etc—literally, and
much more expressively and beau
tifully, “ out of all thy heart, and
out of all thy soul,” etc —Love cer
tainly proceeds out of a man’s spir-
itual nature, and all the Iparts and
powers of that nature must be uni
ted in sending forth that tribute.
Nothing but the true meaning of
ek can unlock the preciousness of
this noble passage. How miserably
inadequate to the task would be the
meaning for which our affusion
brethren contend: “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God/mm the edge
of thy heart!
The rendering by is given fifty
si re n times, but when we examine
them, we find no case which re
fuses to yield the common mean
ing. By suits our idiom better in
translation, and that is all. E. g.
Mk. 7.11. “By whatsoever thou
mightest be profited ly (ek ) me”—
literally and actually, "ent if me."
We have similar language in daily
use. A charitable agent expects to
get a large gift out of & certain one.
Such a man gets a great deal of
work out of his laborers. John 3:34:
“God giveth not the Spirit by (ek)
measure unto him”—literally, out
of a measure”—as though the sup
ply was limited, but abundantly,
without measuring His gracious in
fluence. Acts 19 125 : “/to (ek) this
craft we have our wealth”—liter
ally and truly, "out of this craft.’
This was the source of their wealth
And so with the remainder of this
rendering.
(iff occurs once— “ Cut down
branches off (ek) the trees. Mk 11:
8, Here out of is not only admissi
ble, but more graphically describes
what was done. The original is
exactly the same in Rom. 11 :2.|,
For is found twice: “Agreed
with the laborers for (ek) a penny
a day,” (Matt. 11 :22) and “Gnaw
ing their tongues for (ek) pain,
Rev. 16 :io. As to the first, “for a
penny” is certainly agreeable to
our idiom, but the Greek is just as
rational. The penny was the basis
of the contract —that out of which
it originated. As to the other,
“gnawed their tongues out of pain,”
is not only the literal Greek but
good English.
In we have seven times, but every
one of easy solution. The most
difficult is Rev. 3:18, “Gold tried
in (ek) the fire”—literally, out of the
fire.” i. e. tried in the fi'e and then
taken out Our expres ion, “a fish
caught out of the sea,” i« precisely
parallel.
At occurs three times, and in each
instance the meaning out of is clear
ly traceable, and in one of them,
(Jas. 3:11) should havsPbeen ex
pressed. ““1
In more than
have the rendering on Rev. 18:20:
“God hath avenged you on (ek)
her” i. e. “God hath taken venge
ance, or satisfaction, for you out of
her.” We have a similar expres
sion, “ I’ll have satisfaction out of
him.” Matt. 21 =l9 : “Let no fruit
grow on (ek) thee.” It is strictly
true that the fruit does grow out of
the tree, and this is strikingly true
of the fig tree. Matt. 20:21 : “Grant
that these my two sons may sit,
the one on (ek) thy right hand, and
the other on (ek) thy left hand, in
thy kingdom.” About all the re
maining instances of this rendering
are exactly the same as this, and
one explanation will do for all; and
as affusionists have made much
capitol out of this particular use of
ek, I will notice it fully. A literal
rendering would be, “Sit, the one
out of my right and the other 011! of
my left,” and the explanation is
very easy and very simple. Lan
guage designates or describes not
only facts, but oftentimes also, a
particular conception of facts. We
may conceive of the same fact in
different ways, and according to
our conception so will be our lan
guage. We may say, one is sitting
by the fire, or before the fire, or to
the fire, or at the fire. Here the
fact is one, but there being four dif
ferent conceptions, the language is
correspondingly varied. This is
the common origin of what are
called idioms. Facts are largely the
same the world over, and in every ,
age, but conceptions vary with time,
occasion, and people. Hence the
difficulty of a strictly literal trans
lation from one language to an
other —nor is it generally desirable.
How absurd, though, to suppose
that because the differing concep
tions of different races of people
sometimes demand in translation a
difference of phraseology, therefore,
in these cases, the words them
selves, which really embody and
outline these differing conceptions,
must undergo a correspondent
change of meaning!
Now in the case before us, the
conception of the Greek is just the
opposite to that of the English, and
hence while the fact is one and the
same, the language is, of course,
quite different. The folly of try
ing to make the meaning of Greek
words conform to our conceptions
may be easily illustrated. Take the
case in hand. We, ourselves, have
different conceptions of this very
thing, and so different expressions,
as, "at my ri g h t,” “to my
right,” “on my right.” Now,
supposing that we had only
the first of these conceptions, ac
cording to this canon in criticism,
ek in the passage under review
would have to mean at. If, how
ever, we had only the second, then
ek would have to mean to; and if
we had only the third, then /■/.■
would have to mean on— as indeed,
some contend that it is in this place.
Actually, though, we have all three
of these conceptions, and one of
them has as much right to dictate
the meaning of ck as another, and
that is no right at all. Ek has here,
and in kindred passages, its proper
meaning out of, and from this mean
ing we learn the particular concep
tion of the writer. The writers of
the New Testament had different
conceptions of this just as we do,
and so sometimes we find a differ
ent phraseology. Quite generally,
though, both in the Old and New
Testaments,we find that the writers
had just exactly the opposite con
ception from what we do. And
this should not be deemed strange
when we remember that we not
only have different conceptions of
the same fact, but even directly op
posite pnes. E. 9., we say one is
“Sitting up in a chair” and also,
“sitting down in a chair”—that a
house is “burned up," and that it is
“burned down." In each of these
cases, the essential fact is the same.
So also, we say, “one in ten,” and
"one out of ten." Now what folly
it would be to contend from these
examples of English usage, that in
English down sometimes means up,
and out of sometimes means in!
But enough, enough.
I propose to close this present in
vestigation by presenting every in
stance in the New Testament
where ek occurs in connection with
anabaino, this being the word which
is translated “ come up.” Katabaino
eis showed unmistakably that Philip
and the eunuch went down into the
water before the baptism—let us now
see what testimony anabaino ek will
give as tc what they did after the
baptism. Here they are : Luke 2 :
4 ; John 11:55; Ads 8: 39; Rev.
S:4 ; 9: 2; 11:7 ; 13: 1 ; 13:11;
!7:S.
This ends our discussion of the
meaning of ek. And if it has not
been demonstrated that the mean
ing is and must be, out of, and that
consequently Philip and the eunuch
did certainly come up out of the
water, then we may safely say we
cannot prove anything. And if
Philip and the eunuch came up out of
the water, of course, they first went
down into it, — and this proves im
mersion to be the baptism of the
Bible ; for no sane persons, without
an outside purpose to serve, would
ever go down into the water to at
tend to the ordinance of affusion.
DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE
WHICH OHUROH YOU JOIN?
“It makes no difference which
church you join” is a popular doc
trine which some advocate for the
belief and conduct of others. Those
who advocate these views, as a
rule, are the last in the world to
believe them. You will find them
holding on to their church as if life
and death and heaven depended
upon it.
But let us look at this argument.
In much mercy the great Head of
the church has given us a pattern,
a model by which every religious
organization, claiming to be a
church, must be fashioned, and
governed. You may look at a
drove of horses, or several patterns
of dress goods and decide which
you will take, or a young man may
look at a company of young ladies,
and decide which one he will take
if he can win her, but that person
who has “passed from death unto
life,” has no sueh right of choice,
relative nor absolute, but must ex
amine the New Testament church
and join the religious organization
nearest like the pattern, and the
one nearest to them with regard to
place, other things being equal.
Now the New Testament church
was set for the defense and propa
gation of “the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth,”
the whatsoever things Christ had
commanded. So every organiza
tion now claiming to be a church,
is set for the defense and propaga
tion of certain doctrines and prac
tices. The different denomi nations
hold a few views in common, but
many of their doctrines and poli
ties are diametrically opposed to
each other, and all but one there
fore must be opposed to the truth
which Christ gave to His church.
To those who hold therefore,
that it makes no difference which
church you join, let me ask if it
makes any difference whether you
help to propagate truth or error, the
whole truth or just a part of it?
Infant sprinkling, and in some un
known sense infant church mem
bership, sprinkling for immersion
professedly unregenerate persons
joining the church. Baptism,
church membership etcetera a
means of grace; apostasy, which is
a consistent doctrine with the above
the heathen saved by ignorance, a
monarchical form of church govern
ment, and many other such like
things are either sustained by the
Word of God, and are true, or they
are false.
“But” says one, “if I should join
a church with the above tenets, I
don’t believe God’s Word sustains
them, therefore, I would not, in
joining, become a party to this
support.” You need to think on
that statement. Every dollar you
give to missions in such a church
goes toward the propagation of
these views among the heathen :
and your prayers and efforts, and
your influence are fostering agecies
of the same errors at home. What
ever you do for this cause at home
or abroad goes towards the support
of truths held in common with
others; but especially for the,
maintenance of those erratic dif
ferences ; otherwise they would
perish.
SOME CONSEQUENCES.
It is either a sin or not a sin to
teach, or in any way, help in ex
tending an error in the world. The
sin is doubled when we remember
that in disseminating error you are
at the same time defeating the
glorious truth of God. For exam
ple, advocating sprinkling for bap
tism is defeating the teaching of
our Saviour in both precept and
example on the subject of baptism,
as well as robbing the world of that
beautiful, impressive symbol of His
glorious resurrection which is the
arch stone of the doctrines of
grace.
Let no one therefore speak again
of joining the church of his choice,
for their is no choice in the matter.
If you are not willing to join the
church outlined in the New Tes
tament by the Holy Spirit; you
have not parted with that carnal
mind, that enmity to God, and His
Word, and should not therefore
join any church.
G. W. Garner,
Warrenton, Ga.
BAPTIST INTERESTS IN SAN AN
TONIO TEXAS.
Through the indefatigable efforts
of that devoted servant of the Lord,
Elder J. W. D. Creath, a valuable
and eligible lot was procured at the
Southeast corner of Travis Park—
two blocks from the historic
“Alamo”—on which was erected of
stone, a comfortable preachers home
and a plain but commodious church
edifice.
This building is about 50x80 feet,
two stories high, the basement con
taining lecture room, pastor’s study,
and the furnace room; the auditori
um above being warmed in winter
by heated air. In addition to comfor
table old style sittings the audience
room is furnished with an excellent
pipe organ worth 12000.00 operated
by water from San Antonio River,
which runs in its meanderings
through the city several miles, being
/panned.. ijfiat we’ ackn
bn the varioui, oeis. •*' •
Many miles of electric railways
traverse the city in every direction,
so one can go from the Almo plaza
and Post-office to almost any part of
this quaint but beautiful city on an
electric car. San Antonio village,
which has grown to a city of 60, to
70,000 population—was planted by
the Jesuits or Catholics, some two
hundred years ago. The large Mex
ican population, together with nu
merous foreigners from European
countries —mostly Catholics, have
given that hierarchy, from the begin
ning the denomination of the city.
A college and high school for boys,
a nunnery for girls, and numerous
parochial schnols conducted mainly
by Sisters of Charity, keep well in
hand the moulding educational in
fluence of the vast Catholic popula
tion.
Since railroads have penetrated
the city —about twenty years ago—
a progressive spirit has been infused,
and now an excellent system of
Public Free School is in successful
operation. A large number of ex
cellent stone and brick structures
have been erected within a few
years, in which ail children between
the age of eight and sixteen may at
tend. In those public schools the
laws of the State forbid the teach
ing of any sectarian religion. Sep
arate buildings and teachers are pro
vided for the negro population,equal
in every way to those for the whites.
It will be observed at a glance
that this has been and still is a hard
field for Baptists and protestants
even to culvate, or subdue to “the
obedience of the faith.”
In January 1877, about seventeen
years ago, the Home Mission Board
sent Elder W. H. Dodson as its first
missionary to the city. He found
a few Baptists here who has a feeble
organization, “as sheep without a
shepherd” among whom he began to
labor, the buildings above described
having just been finished by the
Board of Missions. In seven years
of toil over two hundred communi
cants were gathered into the fold.
Elder Dodson being called to
Longview, Texas., Elder J. A. Hack
et was called to the pastorate in San
Antonio, which he filled about three
years Elder E. C. Gates served as
pastor a short time and died. Elder
J. N. Prestige was then called, but
this warm climate proving unconge
nial to his temperament, he after a
few months returned to Ken.
Elder E. E. King, of Mississippi,
the present incumbent has been for
five years the popular and success
ful pastor of the First Baptist church.
In 1887. two years after Elder
Dodson left about forty members
took letters and organized the Ala
ma Baptist church, and called him
their old pastor to be their bishop
I or undershepberd, in which work he
VOL. 75—NO. 18
labored about seven years, gathering
a membership of about two (hundred
and fifty. This body erected a beau,
tiful stone structure in which to
worship worth about $40,000. Elder
Dodson resigned this pastorate to
leal about one hundred who had
taken letters and organized the Cen
tral church, calling him as pastor.
The First church having planted
missions at the three railroad depots
in different suburbs of the city, those
interests within the last three years
have been each organized, each as
our independent church, and now
worship in comfortable wooden edi
fices suited to the accomodation of
their growing congregations, entirely
unincumbered. In the planting and
sustaining of those interests the
Home Board has largely aided the
First church, and still renders each
some assistance in supporting its
pastor.
There are now two city missionaries
laboring here, doing house to house
work. One is appointed by the
Sunday-school and Colportage Board
of the State Convention, the other
by the Executive Board of San An
tonio Association, embracing about
forty churches in two contiguous
counties.
The six churches ia the city all
aid in the maintenance of these mis
sionaries, by their presence and
means, in planting missions in desti
tute places, where dissipation holds
high carnival, and runs riot. A
mission recently established on the
same block with vanity, theatres, sa
loons and brothels, by these zealous
workers is turning many to righ
teousness by the divine blessing.
Religious services are held in a hired
room every night and during the past
two months dozens have been turned
from “the paths of the destroyer into
the way of “wisdom whose ways are
pleasantness, whose paths are peace.”
These converts are advised to join
one of our churches most convenient
to them. Dr. W. 0. Bailey is now
pastor of the Alama church, Elder
E. C. Everett of Sunset, Elder C. D.
Daniel, of Prospect Hill, Elder G.W.
Coltrain of Flores Street, while the
Central church has not yet procured
a pastor. The communicants in the
Six churches number about thirteen
hundred. Active Sunday-schools
and young peoples unions exists in all
the churches. J. T. S. Park.
April 1895
CUBAN LETTER.
Havana, cuba, 24 April, 1895.
owl- I havei.'- ' “Then why db you say
.I--- ■» wo-’-od ■CvV' , w trad iw
eiiinubiao.ii tnau lU-uay. vj.i....
persecutions has rise against the
Master’s work in this land, and in
consequences the members and
ministers work very active.
We have a war in the eastern
and central part of the Island, and
the authority has commence to per
secute all the secret society and
and evangelical churches. On the
first month the Governor of Matan
zas has call the Episcopal minister
and order him to leave the city in
twenty-four hours—so he did. The
Governor at SantajClara has call
the Presbyterian minister and or
der him to leave the place imme
diately, and he did. I was in the
office of this Governor last week
and one of his employees told me
his excellency want to see me. I
did not go, and told him if his ex
cellency want see me please com
municate me by letter and I will go
to see him with my attorney.
The jails, castles and military
headquarters are full with Ct bens
imprisoned. The Masonic lodges
has been all closed. Theatres is
empty —no large gatherings is con
sent in the Central Park, and gen
erally the people are timid, and at
10 1-2 p. m., they are all in their
houses. But do not think our Bap
tist people are afraid—they all at
tend their meetings as usual, and
on the 10th I celebrate the anniver
sary of the organization of the
church, and I have over 2000 per
sons present. Two days after I
preach about the werds of Christ
on the cross, and I have the same
number —so this persecution came
to help us. Our members say if
they are not allowed to meet in
public they will meet in private,
and in numbers of 6 or 8 on differ
ent nights —such is the spirit of our
members. Faithful in the doctrines
of Christ they are not afraid of
those that kill the body and can’t
do nothing after. They try to
seive the Lord, and the Lord said,
“Do not fear. I am with you al
ways.” Pray for us, we need now.
Yours in Christ,
Diaz.
Greensboro. —Pastor Gambrell
leaves for Washington City to at
tend the Southern Baptist Conven
tion, May 6th or 7th.
Our church will send $125 to $l5O
extra collection to assist in paying
the deficit of our Mission Boards.
The lecture of doctor O. C. Pope,
under the auspices of our Young
Peoples Baptist Union was a great
success.
Miss Mannie Bowen Price, one of
our best women and most active
worker is quite ill. We pray for
her speedy improvement.
Send us a new subscriber to the In
dex.