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chose to leave himself and his
kingdom to vindicate their claims
and press their power and win
this world by the moral force of
his doctrine and the democratic
aggression of his churches.
Any other system of church
organization and operation is in
the teeth of the Scriptures, and
whatever good these extra and
anti scriptural systems have
accomplished,has been under the
overruling power of God, who
permitted these innovations as
in the case of Saul and the king
dom chosen by Israel in the
place of the judges, under God’s
protest and yet permission for
some wise and inscrutable pur
pose. Alas! whatever their good,
they have done much evil in di
viding and opposing God’s peo
ple in their unholy union with
the State and use of the secular
arm, and in the persecutions and
bloodshed by which they have
stained the pages of history and
blackened the name of Christian
ity. Such organizations are al
ways dangerous as they grow
powerful. They court the world
and grow strong with uncon
verted material, and they have
seized, and will seize again, upon
any opportunity to combine with
and control the secular power for
purposes cf position and influ
ence. These organizations are
still dangerous, even in a free
country like this, and there is
not one of them but has a proto
type in the old world as a State
Church, and there is not one of
them, if they ever have the
power, but will gravitate back to
the normal union of Church and
State in this country. The form
of this organization is an imita
tion of human government, and
it is perfectly natural that they,
by assimilation and power,
should coalesce with their kin
dred organization when both or
ganizations shall be composed of
the majority of the same people
in any nation, under favorable
conditions.
But it will be remarked that
Baptists have similar organiza
tions—that Baptists are united
and confederated under general
organic bodies, and the question
is often asked, “What is the dif
ference, when the effect is the
same by influence if not author!
ty?” I answer, The difference is
radical, not only in the nature but
in the effect of our general organ
izations. A Baptist Association
or State Convention or Gene
ral Convention is a purely
advisory or benevolent body,
without any legislative or judi
cial power whatever over the in
dependent churches which may
or may not be their representa
tive constituency. In other
words, our general organizations
are only methods of co operation
and work in order to the general
spread of the Gospel, the unity o’
God's people and the mainte
nance of a common faith and prac
tice. The Council at Jerusalem
is the precedent for the advisory
conference of one church with
another, under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit and the inspired
apostles, and what was decided
then under the Council of God’s
Church at Jerusalem in conjunc
tion with the inspired apostles
and under the direction of the
Holy Spirit, may be done now
under the inspired Bible and the
leadings of the same Holy Spirit.
So in matters of benevolence and
missions, it is apparent that the
churches of Macedonia co-op
erated with Paul, and so to day,
under these precedents, Bap
tists and Baptist churches confer
and co operate with each other
under general organizations.
1. Baptists are utterly opposed
to the moss back or hard shell
literature which denies the use
of methods for which there is
not a Thus saith the Lord. The
very people among us who often
object to conventions and boards,
or who are advocating what they
call Gospel missions or methods,
forget that they are compelled to
use methods in other directions
for which there is no express
Scripture precept or practice.
Nine tenths of our country
churches, and some of our city
and town churches, are without
an ordained elder, and have once
a-month preaching at the hands
of a missionary supply, when the
Scripture rule is that every
church shall have ordained elders
to rule over it and should wor
ship and serve God in collective
capacity on every Lord’s day.
These people forget, too, that
the Sunday-school, the religious
newspaper, the denominational
college or school, are all un
revealed methods which are left
to our sanctified judgment as the
ages develop in the furtherance
of God’s cause and kingdom in the
earth. Where is there a word in
the. New Testament for a house
of worship, a hymn book, or a
printed Bible, or a church clerk,
or any one of a hundred unwrit
ten methods by which we carry
forward the business of God’s
house? Where is there any fixed
plan for sending the Gospel to
the heathen, or for raising money
for the purpose? Paul and Bar
nabas went from under the con
secration of the prophets and
teachers at Antioch by the com
mand of the Holy Spirit to the
heathen; Timothy and Titus went
under Paul’s direction to Ephesus
and Crete; Philip, the evangelist,
went without special instructions
to Samaria; the dispersed church,
which left Jerusalem, “went
everywhere preaching the word;’’
the “twelve” and the “seventy ’
went out two by two, as sent of
Christ; our Baptist fathers and
pioneers in every generation
went as they could and made con
verts in every nation; Carey
organized a missionary society
and went to India; Judson was
converted to the Baptists while
going to India from another de
nomination,and upon the strength
of these movements the Baptists
of the United States organized a
convention and a board to carry
on the great work of missions to
the uttermost parts of the earth.
Who will say that any and all of
these methods are not scriptural
according to the spirit and vari
ant forms in which the Gospel
illustrates the work of God?
The only question with a Baptist
should be, “Which is the best
method, and which, under God,
will be the most comprehensive
and efficient for the salvation of
a lost world for which Jesus
Christ died?”
2. Baptists abhor all conven
tional interference with the polity
of an independent church. The
churches are originally separate
from and independent of each
other in all matters of faith
and practice, and the churches
can delegate no authority to gen
eral bodies to legislate oradjudi
cate in matters of faith and prac
tice. Nevertheless, there is a
moral dependence which exists
between God’s churches, and
they have a moral right to con
fer and co operate in delegative
association for counsel, advice,
benevolence, education, missions
and any purpose which will
further the unity in the faith and
spirit of God and advance
Christ’s kingdom in the earth.
The poorest, smallest and most
insigniticent little Baptist church
on earth is equally the peer of
the greatest in sovereign authori
ty and independence as a body of
Christ, and Christ holds the least
as the greatest as precious as the
apple of his eye The local
ecclesia in every place is the sov
ereign representative of Christ
on earth—the pillar and ground
of his truth, and in the moral
unity, independence and co oper
ation of the bodies of Christ con
sists the harmony, peace, de
velopment and prosperity of
Christs organic kingdom, of
which he is the sole head in all
the world. He who organized
these independent and sovereign
representative, in every locality,
and set them in operation, is able
to guide and care for them as he
established and left them, and it
is but the presumption of men to
differ from Christ’s plan and. to
set up organizations wholly
copied after the systems of men.
Dr. Whitsitt vs. Baptist History.
BY W. A. JARREL. D. 1)., AUTHOR BAP
TIST HISTORY.
Dr. Whitsitt’s book is made up chiefly
of what he has taken from other writers.
Likewise will be my reply. Bat I will
be very careful that my citations be re
liable and that they be from only relia
ble authorities.
THE ORIGINAL MENNONITES OR DUTCH
BAPTIST 1M M ERSIONISTS.
Dr. Whitsitt’s attempt to impeach
what he so charitably calls “ the Ep
worth, Crowle and Butter wick fraud,”
is a failure. Dr. Clifford will, to say the
least, suffer nothing in comparison with
Dr. Whitsitt, as a historian. By proof
1 cannot here stop to give, he demon
strates the Epworth and Crowle record
reliable. An antiquarian, F. Chapman,
says of these records: “ As keeper of the
Manor Charts of North Lincolnshire, I
have examined the old Baptist Records
and believe them to refer to the last
days of Queeu Elizabeth and James the
First, and recommend the friends con
nected with the Baptist cause, to quick
ly copy them or they will vanish away. ”
Being unable to reconcile this well cer
tified-to Baptist record with the
Mosheim impeached veracity of Men
nonite authorities. Dr. Whitsitt does
not hesitate to denounce them as
“frauds." But admitting the Mennon
ites reliable, who knows that historical
discoveries will not yet reveal things
that will show the two seemingly irre
concilable accounts in harmony with
each other. Surely, to await this rec
onciliation is far more in harmony with
reason, charity,and denominational loy
alty than to say as Dr. Whitsitt says:
“Theonly English production in Bap
tist history that has come to the atten
tion of the general public has been the
fraud at Epworth, Crowle and West
Butterwick, that brings blushes to the
cheeks of intelligent Baptists in all parts
of the world," p. 15. This old church
record says: “On the 24th of March,
1606, at midnight, to avoid the satellites
of the persecuting church, and under
the glare of the torch light, John Smith
was baptized by elder John Morton, in
the river Don. "—Church Perpetuity, p.
852. Thus we have immersion before
1641.
But, again, admitting the Mennon
ite authorities correct as to Smith bap
tizing himself and then renouncing his
baptism, their statement that Smith
was not immersed and that the original
Mennonites did not immerse, is certainly
a false statement to reflect on Baptists
and to prop up affusion for baptism.
Armitage well says: ‘ ‘ There is not a
S article of evidence that he affused
imself and it is a cheap caricature to
imagine that he disrobed himself,
walked into a stream, then lifted hand
fuls of water, pouring them liberally
upon his own head, shoulders and chest.
We have the same reason for believ
ing that he immersed Helwys.as that he
dipped himself.” Masson writes that,
" Heluissies' folks differed from the In
dependents generally on the subject of
infant baptism and dipping.” Armi
tage’s Baptist Hist ,p. 459. Says a la
mented scholar, J. A. Smith D D.,
formerly lecturer on Church T (story to
the Baptist Theological Seminary in
Chicago: “ Whether Menno Simon was
strictly a Baptist has been lately called
in question. Pertinent to the matter is
a quotation from his writings—Men
nonis Simoni Opera, p. 24, by a writer
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY. OCTOBER 15. 1896.
in the Konconformint and Independent.
At the place noted Simon Menno says.
“ After we have searched ever so dili
gently we shall find no other baptism
besides dipping that is acceptable to God
and maintained in his Word.’ Says Dr.
Smith: “We can from personal knowl
edge testify to the accuracy of this quo
tation." The same writer goes on to
say: “It is true that the followers in
Holland departed from the practice."
Vindicating the translation of Menno's
words doopsel in den water, Dr Howard
Osgood tnan whom there can be no bet
ter authority, says, “The words in
doopenege, onderdoopenege, onderdom
pelinge,, are employed in Dutch to ex
Sress immersion Doop and
oopen in Dutch exactly correspond to
taut and tanfen in German All these
words come from the same root and ety
ontologically signify dipping and dip.”
Says Dr Armitage: “That many ”of
Menno's followers, “clung to immersion
is evinced by the fact that some of the
followers of Menno pleaded that they
could not immerse in -prison, nor al
ways in their own houses, and so prac
ticed pouring. . . Dr Angus, a
critic in Mennonite lore, says that he
always laid great stress on immersion
Menno's words imply this" —Armitage's
Bap Hist. p. 421. Robinson, whom
Dr. Whitsitt quotes as authority,
quotes Menno as I have just quoted him,
and adds: “ Menno was dipped himself,
and he baptized others by dipping, but
some of his followers introduced
pouring, as they imagined through
necessity, in prison, and now the
practice generally prevails.”—Robin
son's Hist'of Bap., p 694. Prof. How
ard Osgood says. “In 1666 and '6B,
Arents, a Mennonite author,published a
treatise in favor of immersion.” “In
1740 an anonymous Mennonite author
defends immersion.” “Bchyn,the histo
rian of the Mennonites, certainly leans
in favor of immersion. Dr. 8. H. Ford,
who has made this subject a specialty,
says: “In the Dutch Martyrology, trans
lated by that eminent Dutchscholar, Rev.
Benjamin Millard, of Wigan, the name
given to the Anabaptists or Mennonites,
is that of Dippers. Thus on page 34
are found these words: ' Some of the
principal Dippers, that is Baptist peo
ple, were seized ' ” We read in the
Dutch Martyrology that one Herz
Lowrys, in 1528, persecuting the Bap
tists, addressed the council in strong
terms inquiring what they intended to
do with the dipping heretics (Marty
ology. vol. 1, p 71). Several such
instances might be cited. But these
are surely sufficient to show that the
use of such expressions and epithets
can be accounted for only on the
ground that they immersed all candi
dates for baptism.
But Dr. Whitsitt, of Menno's words:
“After we have searched ever so dili
gently we shall find no other baptism
besides dipping that is acceptable to
God and maintained in his Word, "says,
“But," adds Dr. Burrage. ‘the passage
is not thus correctly rendered. What
Menno has in view is the representa
tion that Christ and the apostles taught
two kinds of baptism, that of believers
and that of infants;’ and ( with respect
to that point) says, 'However diligently
we seek night and day, yet we find no
more than one baptism in water that is
pleasing to God, expressed and con
tained in his Word —namely, this bap
tism on faith.’” The “last clause” is
relied on to prove that Menno did not
here teach immersion. But, in the fore
going, from the highest authority on
this point, I have already proved that
Menno’s words must be rendered, “no
other baptism besides dipping.” The
English reader may see from Burrage’s
translation that his objection is not
well made; for with all immersionists,
“ baptism in water” means only immefl
sion The expression, “namely, thio
baptism on faith,” as Dr. Burrage says,
is against infant baptism; but it is that
baptism Menno here says is “dipping.”
"We shall find no other baptism besides
dipping.” But, evading what Menno
really says on the action of baptism, Dr.
Whitsitt says: "Menno’s most definite
expression touching the act of baptism
is found in the folio edition of his
works (1681), p. 22. where he says “I
certainly think that these and similar
commands (to love one’s enemies, to
crucify the flesh and lusts thereof), are
more painful and burdensome to per
verted flesh, which-is everywhere so
prone to walk in its own way. than it is
to receive a handful of water.” Dr.
Whitsitt adopts, as the meaning of this
passage, the quibbling of his great af
fusionist teacher, Scheffer: “A handful
of water, that is to say, simple pouring
with water, was in use with Anabaptists
during the first half of the sixteenth
century, both in Switzerland, where
they first arose, and also in the countries
where they first extended themselves.”
Saying nothing of Scheffer’s contra
'diction of history, in stating that the
Anabaptists arose in the 16th century,
to make the phrase, “a handful of wa
ter,” commit Menno to affusion is to
make him contradict himself—“ After
we have searched ever so diligently, we
shall find no other baptism besides dip
ping that is acceptable to God and
maintained in his Word," and to make
him contradict his words as rendered
by Burrage and Whitsitt—“baptism in
water.” Like the words of Christ,
“Whycallest thou me good ?there is
none good but one, that is God,” Men
no, in the passage under considera
tion, without saying anything as to
what is the act of baptism, says a hand
ful of water is useless. In truth, the
expression, “handful of water," is an ex
pression by whictx Baptists have often
ridiculed affusion as baptism lam
therefore inclined to take the phrase, on
which these perverters of history build
up their imagined mighty anti-Baptist
historical argument, as positively
against them.
I, therefore, conclude that there is
not so much as a shadow of ground for
believing that the original Mennonites
were other than immersionists From
the close relation of the English Baptists
to the original Mennonites as Anabap
•tists we are certain they were exclusive
immersionists.
Thus we see that Dr. Whitsitt has, in
his anxiety to sustain his deplorable
blunder, blindly swallowed affusionist,
Mennonite, anti Baptist perversions of
history. The English and Dutch Bap
tists having been so closely related that
their history is almost inseparable, Dr.
Whitsitt found that to sustain his blun
der he must swallow Mennonite affu
sion -Mosheim-impeached authorities.
As Dr. Whitsitt makes this Mennonite
perversion one of his main forts, I now
in the name of the great Baptist host
and its great Captain hold it, in spite of
Dexter, Mennonites, Whitsitt ana com
pany. The Dutch Baptists, Mennonites,
having been immersionists, the English
Baptists must have been immersionists.
THE GERMAN AND SWISS ANABAPTISTS
immersionists.
That some so-called German and
Swiss Anabaptists were affusionists is
not questioned. That some who be
came leaders of the true Anabaptists
practiced affusion just before they be
came members of any Baptist church is
not questioned. By Dr. Whitsitt and
some others their practice, in leaving
the Romish church, is used to prove
Baptists were once affusionists. The la
mented scholar, Dr. E. T. Winkler, has
so well replied to this that an answer
has never been attempted. Here is his
answer: “Neither do 'he cases of pour
ing decide anythingVFor the adminis
trators who acted on their own author
ity, were members of the Reformed
Party, and would etill, if permitted, re
tain connection with it. The pourings
were administered bl those who were
associates or disciples of Zwingli and
Luther. , . . who began their pub
lic labor at Wittenburg and Zurich.
Except that they insisted on a converted
membership, they agreed in doctrine
and ordinances with the Reformers.
Nay, some of them, a'i we are expressly
tola, held aloof from the general body
of the Anabaptists; so it was with the
Anabaptists of Munster, who were sepa
ratists, and considered all others bear
ing the name as dunned. ( Luther’s
tier. Works, vol. 2, quoted by Michel
et's Luther, p. 54.) These cases of pour
ing were due to these advanced reform
ers. . . and at the very chaos of the
Reformation. The jiractice of these
dissenters, under sncti circumstances,
can afford no satisfactory evidence of
the customs that prevailed among the
general body of the Anabaptists, as the
opinion a year or ,two after he broke
from Rome cannqß le identified with
the established cr&ei; of Lutheranism
The inchoate Anat*V f,H t H advanced ac
cording to the light they had. Thus
Grebel, who in 1525 baptized Wolfgang
Uliman, afterwardwiinmersed him in
the Rhine ” —(Cht Jih Perpetuity by
W. A Jarrel), p 205 Inasmuch as the
Anabaptists, in the language of Mo
sheim “before the rise ot Luther and
Calvin. . . lay concealed in almost
all the countries of Europe, particularly
in Bohemia, Moravia and Switzerland,”
Dr. Winkler's reply Is conclusive.
I now come to Dr. Whitsitt’s treat
ment of Huomeir’s explanation of bap
tism. Dr. Whitsitt translates his state
ment : “To baptize in water is to pour
water over the confessor of his sins in
accordance with the divine command,
and to inscribe him- in the number of
sinners upon his own confession and ac
knowledgement. So has John baptized.”
Dr. Whitsitt did not give the original.
This is: “ Taufen im-wasser ist dem be
kennenden verjeher seiner sunden auss
Gotlichen -beneleh mit eusserlichem
wasser übergeissen un in die zal der
sundern auss eygner erkant uss und be
willigung einschreioen ” This Dr.
Howard Osgood has correctly rendered:
“To baptize in water is to cover the
confessor of his sins in external water,
according to the divine command, and
to inscribe him in the number of the
separate upon his own confession and
desire” Dr. Osgood says: “I have
translated übergiessen to cover; we can
not translate here ‘ to pour the confes
sor’ . . . with external water, for
which signification see Sander’s Lexi
con under giessen." With only an
English education it is easy to see that
the translation, “to baptize in water
is to pour’ and that “to inscribe him
in tie number of x'nnerx” is, t« say the
least, a very unnatural translation.
Says a scholar who had a very large
number of old Anabaptist documents,
when I saw them, “Dr. Sear's inference
from their alleged failure to magnify
immersion, and from their apparent
agreement with the reformers as to the
mode, falls to the ground when we learn
from an authority like Holing, that at
the time immersion was as common as
sprinkling, that the Roman ritual, Lu
ther’s books on baptism and almost all
the Lutheran rituals instruct the ad
ministrator to immerse the candidate,
and that the word sprinkle is hardly to
be found in the early regulations. It is
well known that the Church of England
put immersion first, sprink
ling only in
micld
would be that Wey .
Gastins was wont to say with ghastly
sarcasm, as he ordered the Anabaptists
to be drowned. ‘They like immersion
so much let us immerse them,’ and his
word, became a proverb. Zwingli used
to call them 'bath fellows.’ Hubmeyer
destroyed the font as well as the altar
at W aidshut, denounced them both as
nests of evil. ... He says 'the soul
must be sprinkled with the blood of
Christ and the body washed through
pure water.’ The subjoined tract of
this scholar and martyr, is unmistaka
ble on this point. Bullinger admits all
the spiritual significance of immersion
in his controversy with the Anabaptists
Finally, the English Baptiste practiced
immersion and the first of them came
from the continent. From a form for
baptizing in water, Nicolsburg, 1527,
Dr. Everts quotes: “Do you upon this
faith and duty desire to be baptized in
water.” Says Dr. Howard Osgood:
“ Again Kessler, in his Sabatta, vol. 1,
p. 266, says that Wolfang Uliman, of St-
Gall, went to Schaffhausen and met Con
rad Grebel, the most prominent leader,
preacher and scholar among the Ana
baptists, ‘who instructed him in the
knowledge of Anabaptlsm so that he
would not be sprinkled out of a dish,
but was drawn under and covered over
with water of the Rhine by Conrad
Grebel.’ On p. 268 Kessler adds that
Grebel came to St. Gall, Kessler’s home,
where bis preaching was attended by
hundreds from the town and surround
ing country and the longing desire
many had nourished for a year, was
accomplished by following Grebel to
the Sitter river and being baptized by
him there. When I was at St. Gall, in
1867, I made special investigation upon
this point. A mountain stream, suffi
cient for all sprinkling purposes, flows
through the city, but no place is deep
enough for the immersion of a person,
while the Sitter river is between two
and three miles aw-ay and is gained by
a different road. The only explanation
of this choice was that Grebel sought
the river in order to immerse the candi
dates. August Naef, secretary of the
council of St. Gall, in a work published
in 1850, on p. 1021, speaking of the prac
tices of the Anabaptists in 1525. says:
‘They baptized those who belived with
them in rivers and lakes, and in a
great wooden caek and the butcher's
square before a great crowd. These im
mersions were in Switzerland from 1524-
30. An old historian of Augsburg,
Sender, says: ‘The hated sect in 1527,
met in the gardens of houses men
and women, rich and poor, more than
100 in all, who were rebaptized. They
put on peculiar clothes in which to be
baptized, for in the houses where their
baptistries were they wore a number of
garments always prepared.’ A later
historian of Augsburg, Wagenseil,
says: ‘ In 1527 the Anabaptists baptized
none who did not believe with them;
and the candidates were not merely
sprinkled with water, but were wholly
submerged." Zwingli entitles his great
work against the Anabaptists, ’Elen
chus contra Catabaptist” using a word of
post classical Greek, which according to
Passow and Liddell and Scott, means one
who dips or drowns,'and that Z wingli
used the word in this signification, is
shown by his repeated endeavor in this
work to make all sorts of fun of the
baptism of the Anabaptists, ‘immersion,
dying people, redying them, plunging
them Into the darkness of water to
unite them to a church of darkness,
‘they mersed.' ” At the side of these
scholarly words I now quote the pedo
baptist quibbling which, in his zeal to
prop up his blunder, Dr. Whitsitt has
blindly followed —I mean the shameful
quibbling of his unscrupulous authority,
Scheffer. “It need to be said that the
word Katabaptist so often applied to
the Anabaptists, by their opponents
during the Reformation period, con
tained indisputable proof that they
were immersionists. The preposition
kata, in its primary local usage, means
down, and so, it was argued. Katabap
tist must have been one who baptized
downwards, that is immersed. But just
as ana, meaning primarily up, came to
be used in the sense of again, so kata, in
several technical terms, means against,
and Prof. Scheffer shows that in the
usage of contemporary authors this was
its meaning in the word under consid
eration, and that Zwingli and others, in
styling them Katabaptists, meant only
that they were against the corn
monly accepted baptism.”—Whitsitt’s
book, p. 37. On page 140, Dr. Whit
sitt confutes this pedobaptist quib
bling, when he indorsingly quotes
Goodwin, thus: “Catabaptism . . .
after the new mode of dipping," thus
showing that Baptist enemies then
called them Catabaptists.
“The fact that a baptistry was built
at St. Gall, and that John Stamps, a
Lutheran pastor, who lived in Znrich
from 1522 to 1544, and wrote of them
from personal knowledge of their prac
tices, says they ‘re-baptized in rivers
and streams’ is good evidence that they
immersed.” Sicher, a Roman Catholic,
gives the account of their baptisms at
St Gall: “The number of the convert
ed increased so that the baptistry could
not hold the crowd and they were com
pelled to use the streams and the Sitter
river.” Simler says that many came to
St. Gall, inquired for the Taufhaus
(baptistry) and were baptized.” Dr.
Rule, who speaks contemptuously of
them, says that they took their converts
“and plunged them in the nearest
streams.” —Armitage, p 552, 553. Mo
sheim says the Socinian Catech'sm, of
1574, says: “Baptismus est hominis
Evangelio credentis et penitentiam
ajentis in nomine Jesn Christi in aquam
immerso et emersio" —Baptism is an im
mersion and the emersion of a man who
believes and is truly penitent, in the
name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, or in the name
of Jesus Christ in water. The Socian
ians being surrounded by Baptists nat
urally copied their baptism from them.
Any how, the Socinian practice ex
plodes all the idle talk, that immersion
was a "lost art” in the period and
countries under consideration Dr.
Burrage, who is paraded as being on
the side of Dr. Whitsitt in this war, re
plying to the statement that “the only
instance in which immersion occurred
during the sixteenth century, is the im
mersion of Wolang Uliman, at Schaaf -
hausen, in 1525,” says; “Well, let us
see. In the Bekenntniss von beiden
Sacramenten which at Munster, Oct. 22,
1533, was subscribed by . Rockham.
Straprade, Vienne, and Stralen. and
was made public on the eighth of No
vember following, occurs this statement:
“Baptism is an immersion (eintauchung)
in water, which the candidate requests
and receives as a true sign that dead to
sin, buried with Christ, he rises to new
ness of life henceforth to walk not in the
lusts of the flesh but obedient to God.”
Barnas Sears quotes Trecksel. a modern
writer of great weight. “The Anabap
tists baptized in running streams and
in barns.” Turretine, called the theo
logical Blackstone says: “The Ana
baptists are so called from their repeti
tion of baptism of those who have been
already baptized, whether in respect to
infants or adults, who pass from one
sect of this people to another, whom
they again baptize (tingunt) that they
may receive them into their commun
ion.” Samuel H. Schmuker says; “The
held to the baptism -of be- ?
"liters by immersion. ' See Chnrch Per
petuity.
But (pp 42, 43) Dr. Whitsitt rehearses
the old, many-years-agoexploded argu
ment, that the Anabaptists having bap
tized “out of a large bucket” and “in
Rothman’s house,” proves they poured
as baptism In having to reply to a
president of a great Baptist Theologi :al
Seminary for his adopting the old pedo
baptist argument, that the jailer could
not have been immersed in the jail and
to prove that the 16th century Baptists
were affusionists, I must ask pardon if I
manifest some impatience. I will re
ply to this Whitsitt argument in the
language of that lamented scholar,
whom I believe once declined the offer
of a chair in the Seminary in which Dr.
Whitsitt is a teacher (Dr Winkler):
“W&can prove from ecclesiology and
from the testimony of Luther himself
that the tub or pail, such as Hoffman
used at Emden (a large pail), was the
baptismal fontof the Western churches.
There was even a certain sacredness
connected with it.” We find in Luther’s
Table Talk (Bohn's Ed p. 165) the fol
lowing incident: Dr. Menius asked
Dr. Luther in what manner a Jew
should be baptized? The Doctor re
plied: ‘You must fill a large tub with
water, and having divested the Jew of
his clothes, cover him with w’hite gar
ments. He must then sit in the tub
and then you must baptize him, quite
under the water, 'This garb,’ added Lu
ther, ‘was rendered the more suitable
from the circumstances that it was then,
as now, the custom to bury people in a
white shroud, and baptism, you know, is
an emblem of our death. ’ ” Here Luther
alludes to these immersions which are
very familiar to ecclesiologists. There
is reason to believe that the baptismal
fonts in early Europe were tubs. The
ecclesiologist, Pool, (Structure of
Churches, p. 45)jsays: "The first shape
which the font assumed in England is
that a circular tub-shaped vessel, some
probably of Saxon, many of them of
Norman date, as the antique font of St.
Martin’s church, at Canterbury.” Knight
says (Land We Live In, p. 261): “It is
even been supposed to have been built
by Christians in the Roman army, A D.
187. It was certainly one of the first
ever made in England. It was about
three feet high and capacious within.
It has no stand; but rests upon the
ground. The sculptures upon it are a
sort of ornamental interlacings in low
relief. It closely resembles the font de
lineated by the old illuminators in rep
resenting the baptism of King Ethel
bert; and it is believed to be the very
font in which the first of our Christian
kings were baptized.” Under this divi
sion, the tub fonts, Poole, an Episcopa
lian antiquarian, groups the font of
Castle Frotne, Herfordshire, that at
Bride Kirk, in Cumberland, that at
West Hadden, and that at Thorpe Em
ald, in Leicestershire. And in regard
to all the ancient fonts of England, he
says: “The rule of the Church of Eng
land, however many the exceptions, and
however accounted for, is to baptize by
immersion; and for this all the ancient
fonts are sufficiently capacious. ” (Struc
ture, p. 59, note.) We learn from Bou
rasse, a Catholic archeologist, that the
leaden font in »the Cathedral of Stras
bourg has a tub shape, and so has the
baptismal font at Espanburg, Diocese of
Beauvais. Both these baptismal tubs
are represented on the plates of Bouras
se’s Dictionaire D’Archaologic Sacree.
At Notre Dame, in Rouen, the font was
made in the form of a coffin, six feet
long, with a covering of black wood.
This sculptural figure was the symbolic
translation of the words of Paul: ‘We
are buried with him by baptism into
death.” (Bourasse, p 493) In Smith’s
Dictionary of Christian Antiquities th:s
is confirmed. The lamented Prof. He
man Lincoln. D. D., many years profes
sor of Church History in Newton Theo
logical Seminary, wrote me, just a little
while before hie death, of the Anabap
tists: “My own impression is that the
majority of them accepted both immer
sion ana baptism upon a profession of
faith.” Prof. W. W Everts, once the
occupant of the chair of Church History
in the Chicago Baptist Theological Sem
inary, replying to Dr. Sears, says: “He
would have been nearer right if he had
made pouring the exception and immer
sion the rule among the Anabaptists.
See my Church Perpetuityjp. 206 207.”
Notwithstanding Dr. Whitsitt and
his pedibaptist assailant, Scheffer, with
the foregoing proof I feel perfectly safe
in closing this part of the discussion,
with the statement that the true Ger
man and Swiss Anabaptists were cer
tainly exclusive immersionists. and that
Dr- Whitsitt’s book, therefore, does
them and their successors of to-day a
great injustice and sore injury.
This being made out, the very close
relation of the English to the German
and Swiss Baptists renders very strong
proof necessary to prove the English
Baptists were untrue to the faith—that
they were affusionists. In his assault
on the history of German and Swiss
Baptists, Dr Whitsitt has shown he
recognized this.
Hot Springs, Ark.
th*
Any publication mentioned in this de
partment may be obtained of the
American Baptist Publication So
ciety. 93 Whitehall St., Atlanta, Ga.
When prices are named they include
postage.
The Editors of the Christian Index
desire to make this column of service
to their readers. They will gladly
answer, or have answered, any ques
tions regarding books. . If you desire
books for certain lines ff reading, or
desire to find out the worth or pub
lisher of any book, write to them.
The Presbyterian and Reformed
Review. October Mac Calla &
Co, Philadelphia, Pa. Price $3 00.
80c. a copy.
We are constantly bemoaning our
own lack of a Baptist Review as we
read those of other denominations. A
certain class of questions can receive
adequate treatment nowhere else.
While we are hoping, we must rejoice
in the excellencies of others. This is
exceptionally able. We do not think it
is excelled anywhere in the special line
of book reviews. These are most
thorough and discriminating. In the
present number attention is given to
Dr. Watson’s (“lan Maclaren") “Mind
of the Master ” The criticisms passed
are most just and very searching The
great worth of Dr. Watson's “Bonnie
Brier Bush” and other books bid fair to
give undue currency to his theological
teachings. We commend the stories
but must condemn much in the theol
ogy. Dr. Talbot W. Chambers and A.
D. F. Randolph are remembered in ap
preciative biographical sketches. The
Jerusalem Church, the historic room in
Westminster, is described, and the
striking events of which it has been the
scene are described. The effect of the
Fall ot Man on Nature, and Wanted, a
Definition of Conscience, deal with more
abstruse themes, but are of interest and
value There are other interesting arti
cles, and, as we have already said, the
noth « of books are specially valuable.
The North American Review. Oc
tober. North American Review Co.,
New York Price $5 00 a year. 50c.
a copy.
Five of the articles in this review re
late to the present financial discussion.
That by ex Speaker Reed will be first
read. It is entitled, “The Safe Path-
akms Tß ok o? mo«i.vt WW r HY IS IT that practical painters
bcymer wy everywhere use and recommend
davis Pure White Lead and Pure Linseed
r ■ ! ‘ NEST °c < i-i(ubur K h. oi]? Simply because they know their busi
eckstein ness, have a reputation to maintain, and
Atlantic j cannot afford to use or recommend anything
BRADLEY- else. r f o gure
BROOKLYN I . O O
> New York.
■™ Pure W hite Lead
SOUTHERN .
v Chicago.
‘ examine the brand (see list genuine brands).
CJ—..IER | o
uissocßi Any shade or color is readily obtained by
red seal using National Lead Co.’s brands of Pure
southern White Lead Tinting Colors.
JOHN T LEWIS A BROS CO
Philadelphia Pamphlet giving valuable information and card showing samples
MORLEY cievelanl co^ors ree • also cards showing pictures of twelve houses of different
SALEM designs painted in various styles or combinations of shades forwarded
Salem, Mast.. upon application to those intending to paint.
CORNELL
KENTUCKY NATIONAL LEAD CO.,
Louisville. 1 Broadw«y, New York-
COAL! COAL!! The Best on Earth.
THE VIRGINIA & ALABAMA COAL CO.
Miners and shippers of beet domestic and steam coals at lowest prices. From our Atlanta yard
we deliver best coal, correct weights and give prompt attention. Send in your orders.
.7. W. WILLS. Manager.
PHONE3S6.
It 1$ Prt-tnjiotot io The Everett Is the onl,
Artistic Toot Quality. trophone? V by g which 'all
I 1 the pleasing effects of th.
If not for sale by your Guitar and Mandolin, or
local dealers write us for Harp are produced at Will
Catalogue and Prices. - R.MMEM9, of performer.
.... r CHICAGO, 1893
Augusta, Ga.., 1889 and 1891
Received HiOest Award G a„ i 8 s 9 .
———- Montgomery, Ala., 1889.
l ATLANTA. 1895.
And numerous other'Fairs and Expositions.
J3F° The Plectrophone is a simple deviee, cannot get out of order and
actually preserves the hammer felts and adds to durability of the Piano.
THE JOHN CHURCH CO.,
CINCINNATI, or CHICAGO
Atlanta Offlce-99 PEACHTREE STREET.
J. C. & I. daniel,
DEALERS IN
jsoots, feather, . . .
. . . findings, Qtc,
Boot and Shoe Uppers a Speeialtjj.
Smouldering fires
of old disease :
lurk in the blood of many a ]
man, who fancies himself in j
good health. Let a slight !
sickness seize him, and the
old enemy breaks out anew.
The fault is the taking of
medicines that suppress, in
stead of curing disease. You
can eradicate disease and
purify your blood, if you use
the standard remedy of the
world,
Ayer’s
Sarsaparilla.
way of Experience.” Secretary Her
bert, of Alabama, has one entitled.
“Why American Industry Languishes ’’
This ascribes our ills to a lack of confi
dence, and agitation. Andrew Carnegie
contributes a second paper on “The
Ship of State Adrift. ” Os the most real
value, however, are: “If Silver Wins,
The Shrinkage of Wages." by Louis
Windmuller, and “Meritable Constitu
tional Changes," by Judge Clark of the
Supreme Court of North Carolina. This
latter has something of authority, as its
author stands high in silver circles.
Other articles are on Hypnotism, Our
.Shipping, Our Electoral System, and
Madagascar. From this it will be seen
that the standard of this pioneer review
is fully maintained, and its timeliness
is most pronounced,
St. Nicholas. October. The Cent
ury Co., New York. $3.00 a year, 25c
a month.
A bright poem stands at the begin
ning of an excellent number. “George
O'Green and Robin Hood” is a tale of
that ever interesting character, Robin
Hood “A Vegetable Ogre” proves to
be a great fig tree, a native of Jamaica.
A good lesson on the mistakes of hasty
judgment of each other is found in “The
Horses of the Castle.” “Historical Mil
itary Powder Horns” introduces inter
esting relics of a day that is far re
moved from this day of Man: ur rifles
and gatling-guns. “The Swordmak
er’s Son” and “Sinbad, Smith and Co,”
are concluded, and "The Story of Marco
Polo” continued. Many other attrac
tions for the young reader are in this
fall number.
Scribner’s Magazine. October. Chas.
Scribner’s Sons, New York. $3.00,
a year, 25c a copy.
Scribner’s is never dull or lacking in
genuine value. Its illustrations are of
the best. The indefinable thing called
good taste prevails throughout, and
month in and month out nothing oc
curs to offend it Sentimental Tommy,
by Barrie, continues with unabated in
terest. It promises to be the chief work
of fiction for the year. It has not been
surpassed in recent years. From Light
to Light is an account of the trip of the
supply ships to the various lighthouses.
The Expenditures of Rich Men, by E L.
Godkin, is also full of interest. Un
usually bright is the article on The New
York Working Girl. It will be a new
glimpse for most of us. The usual
stories are found and they are all good,
s
The Pocket M agazine. October. F.
A. Stokes Co., New York. slooayear,
10c a copy.
This magazine deals with bright,
clear fiction exclussively. The best
writers of short stories contribute to it.
For a ride on the train it will be found
of great interest.