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That a Thing May Be Inconceivable
is no argument Against its Exis
fence.
It is quite as difficult to con
ceive of a state of eternal happi
ness as of a state of eternal woe.
We cannot judge of a goal until
the goal is reached. An existence
of which we have had no experi
ence must remain inconceivable.
Tlie categories of time and space
are so inseparable from our
modes of thinking, so inwrought
in our experience in the present
state, that we cannot conceive of
a conscious existence where these
do not prevail.
The most we can do is to con
struct heaven and hell out of
fragments of finite experiences,
and finite terms must ever be the
vehicle by which we translate the
infinite —a vehicle totally inade
quate. In vain the finite tries to
interpret infinite weal or woe.
Thought wearies ami swoons in
that thin, far air and falls, ex
claiming, “Alas, we do not
know!”
It is just here where we are
prone to make the mistake of try
ing to utter what Christ left
silent, to describe what he never
revealed. What Christ left cov
ered with the veil of mystery, it
is safe and sane for us to leave to
him. To those curious about
things the angels desire to look
into, Christ says: “What is that
to thee? Follow thou me.”
What God will do we do not
know. What he does now is per
fectly plain. “He commandeth
men everywhere to repent.”
Flashing rhetoric and senti
mental oratory about the un
wearying benevolence of God
that will pursue the sinner
through immeasurable cycles of
purifying discipline till at last he
is brought home, are no doubt
very captivating; but after all
they are nothing more than hu
man speculations that cannot
change the nature of things. One
thing is sure: God cannot invade
and force a will and yet leave it
free. There can be no self-sur
render of a being whom God has
placed under the compulsion of
necessity. A forced will can
never be a free will. Our friends,
the final restorationists, are bet
ter at rhetoric than at thinking.
If God at last merges by might
all wills into his own, that is a
pantheism which means the spir
itual suffocation of every person
ality. As I turn away from the
morally unfettered words of the
preachers of the Larger Hope, I
am compelled to say, that any
line of religious instruction which
takes for its leading principle the
notion that the dominant aim of
divine revelation is to give to the
generality of defiant men a cheer
ful and hopeful view of their ulti
mate destiny, differs toto caelo
from the awful doctrine taught
by Christ and his apostles. It
seems to me, if we investigate as
a historical question what Christ
taught, unbiased by our natural
liking to think that he taught the
things we wish to believe to be
true, we find no ground to assert
that Christ or his apostles taught
anything to strengthen the hope
of universal restoration that nat
ural religion or sentimental feel
ing may have led us to form.
There are some problems we can
not solve. How the existence of
evil can be reconciled with an
omnipotent, all-good God, is a
problem for which the human
mind can find no solution. Step
ping aside from the revelation
given us in the Gospels, we are
back again in the moral twilight
of paganism. We lose all expla
nation why God should have
made us exposed to temptation in
this life, if we think it possible
that hereafter he can, without
annihilating virtue as well as
vice, ordain a constitution of
things in which inducements to
THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.
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well-doing iS'/ 1 be so overpower
ing that shall be im
possible. As me may dare
limit the mercy of God, so no one
can tell to what awful depths the
wickedness of man may reach, or
what irremediableness may cling
to it in the way of natural conse
quence. In its own character
wickedness possesses no element
of cure, nor even of exhaustion.
It grows by what it feeds on. It
may make a hell on earth, and
that, therefore, it may make a
hell in the future, everlasting as
itself, he must be a rash man who
would deny. The solemn facts of
the present life are against him.
We know the hardening effects of
sin here. To assert in the face of
Scripture and experience that all
men will be saved, is to make an
un wa rrantable assertion.
But if the holders of the Larger
Hope have dogmatized where
they had no warrant, their oppo
nents have not been behind them
upon the other side. Lurid and
terrible descriptions of the future
state have been dogmatically
given. This from Emmons is a
good sample: “The happiness of
the elect in heaven will, in part,
consist in witnessing the tor
ments of the damned in hell.” Em
mons stated what he did not
know.
As a matter of fact the day
of preaching the punishment by
literal fire has gone by, because it
is unwarranted by Scripture.
None of us like that method
which is cited from Emmons.
That does not, however, invali
date the tremendous doctrine
which \ve keep in the background
because we follow the methods of
the New Testament writers. They
do not teach that the wicked shall
cease to exist, nor do they teach
that they who reject the means
of grace which Christ lias provid
ed for their restoration to virtue
and happiness in this life, may
rely on some means provided
hereafter, which they cannot re
sist.
Christ did little more than as
sert the fact of the existence of
heaven and hell. I am content
to let alone what he left unde
scribed. He gives warrant to no
one to dogmatize here. He has
authorized no man to be a judge
here. I cannot know what may
be between Christ and another
soul. Ido not know what is the
degree of faith he accepts. I
only know he will not do wrong.
The thoughtful reader of the
New Testair,ent must be impress
ed with the astonishing greatness
of Christ as he walks through its
pages. On one side he comes
close and touches men in most
intimate human familiarity. The
very children draw near to the
Man on friendliest terms. On
the other side he is mysteriously
joined to the heart and power of
God. Yonder, by the lake shore,
we see him coming into sympa
thy with the homely hunger of the
multitude, but the next instant
the loaf of bread in his hands be
comes a manifestation of his in
scrutable power. No soul came
near him that it did not at once
hear the voice of a brother, and
yet a voice blending at once with
that of divine wisdom. So again
in this story, which called forth
those deep words in which he
claims honor equal with the Fa
ther, we behold him coming to
that poor cripple there, by the
pool of Bethesda —how humanly
his sympathy goes out to the
poor unfortunate —then instantly
commanding, “Arise, take up
thy bed and walk!” thus attesting
his might of Lordship. Along
with that tenderest human sym
pathy there was also the blazing
out of awful judgment. While
we cannot separate his humanity
from his divinity, neither can we
be blind to the judicial side of his
character! What insight into
pretensions! What unerring ex
posure of motives! What laying
bare of disguises! He is not be
nevolence only. He is Judge.
“Neither doth the Father judge
any man, but he hath given all
judgment unto the Son; that all
may honor the Son, even as they
honor the Father.”
It is not morally wise to trifle
with his Word. It is not quan
tity, but quality of life, that holds
before the bar of heaven. He
was gone before mid-life; three
years, at most, achieved the work
of which two thousand years only
suffice to begin to show the won
drousness. The poor villages of
Galilee and the precincts of Je
rusalem bounded his steps, and
yet before him the front ranks of
all mankind, for sixty genera
tions, have bent the knee and lis
tened to his Word as the ultimate
truth of God. He is Judge, be
cause he is the manifestation of
the one and only morality which
is in God.
“Neither is there salvation in
any other; for there is none other
name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved.”
—The Teaching of Christ Con
cerning the Future Life—Rev. G.
H. Pend Won.
For the Index.
Reminiscences of Georgia Baptists.
BY S. G. HILLYER.
No. 12.
MRS J. L DAGG.
Georgia Baptists include among
them many noble women, as well
as men, who truly deserve to be
remembered. But, because they
have lived, for the most part, in
retirement, and almost in seclu
sion, their pious and self denying
labors in the Master’s service
have failed to attract the notice
of the busy public; and reminis
cences of them are, in great meas
ure, limited to the sad column of
“obituaries” which are often
passed unread, save by relatives
and a few personal friends.
But this neglect has not been
intentional.. It has been the nat
ural result of the retired lives
which our sisters have led. This
is especially true of the great ma
jority of them who have lived in
country homes away from our
cities and our towns. Absorbed
in their domestic cares, their la
bors and their virtues have pass
ed, for the most part, unobserved
and, therefore, unrecorded. I
have already presented in these
reminiscences two signal exam
ples of our Georgia sisters—Mrs.
Rebecca Matthews and Mrs. Cyn
thia Sanders—who may well be
called “Mothers in Israel.”
1 now propose to give what I
remember of Mrs. J. L. Dagg.
1 first met Dr. and Mrs. Dagg
in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1837. But
my interview was a brief one.
The next time I saw them was
soon after Dr. Dagg had taken
charge of Mercer University, in
1844.
Being associated with Dr. Dagg
for nine years in the college, and,
at the same time, being his son
in-law, 1 had the best opportunity
to become intimately acquainted
with Mrs. Dagg and to learn, in
our frequent conversations, some
items of her early life.
Her maiden name was Mary
Young, and her first hus
band was Rev. Noah Davis. And
here let me add parenthetically,
Mr. Davis was the founder of the
American Baptist Publication So
ciety. To the development and
growth of this society he devoted
the latter part of his short but no
ble life. In his arduous labors he,
no doubt, found a sympathizing
helper in his faithful wife. He
did not live to see the grand suc
cess of what, at first, soemyd to
be a bold, but doubtful enter
prise. His wife, however, lived
to see the prayers and the hopes
of her husband realized in the de
velopment of the society, which
he had founded, into one of the
most beneficent publishing houses
ever established on this globe. It
stands, to-day, second to none,
unless it may be to the British
and Foreign, and the American
Bible Societies. This was the
first great work in which Mrs.
Davis (afterwards Mrs. Dagg)
became an important factor.
By the death of her husband
Mrs. Davis was left a widow with
two little boys upon her hands
and her heart. She lived in this
sad condition two years or more,
when she became the wife of Dr.
J. L. Dagg.
He, too, had children by a for
mer marriage—three daughters
and one son. These Mrs. Dagg at
once took under her care with the
tenderness and faithfulness of a
mother. The children, however,
had not been neglected during
brother Dagg’s widowerhood. He
had living with him a maiden sis
ter, several years younger than
himself. Her name was Sarah.
She had the motherless little ones
in her charge for seven or eight
years. And kindly did she watch
over and guide them. They re
paid her kindness with an undy
ing love. As long as they lived
“Aunt Sallie” was a cherished
name in all their households. But
at length “Aunt Sallie” married
and left her brother’s home. Then
the care of the children devolved
upon Mrs. Dagg, and nobly did
she meet its responsibilities.
I cannot record the details of
her life in Philadelphia, at Had
dington, and at Tuscaloosa. It
must suffice to say that in all
these positions she was a prime
factor in the work of her hus
band; for it was, in a great de
gree, due to her wise and faithful
co-operation that he, with his
physical infirmities, was able ( to
accomplish so much for the ben
efit of his own and of succeeding
generations.
The elements of her character
were such as qualified her to be
the woman above described.
Among these elements was
HER CULTURE.
Mrs. Dagg was a highly culti
vated lady. At Tuscaloosa, she
filled the chair of rhetoric in the
Atheneum with signal success.
She had read much of secular lit
erature. And when reading for
Dr. Dagg she had the opportunity
of reading the best religious lit-
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1896.
erature in the English language.
In addition to a high mental cul
ture she was an accomplished
pianist and a most melodious and
delightful singer. Again, she was
a corfect elocutionist. This gave
to her conversation an inexpressi
ble charm. Then, as a finishing
touch to her accomplishments,
she was exceedingly graceful in
her manners. Shq understood
and observed the proprieties of
social life. Had she been so in
clined, she was well prepared,
with her rich endowments of
mind and manners, to adorn the
circles of worldly society. But
she had no such inclination. And
this leads me to speak of
HER PIETY.
Mrs. Dagg was a Christian;
and whatever may have been her
fondness for the world in her
early girlhood days, when she, at
length, put on Christ by baptism,
she consecrated herself to a
higher and better life than can
be found anywhere along the
walks of worldly society. She
chose rather to be “a companion
of all them that fear the Lord,
and keep his precepts.” Hence
she loved the house of prayer, and
the place of public worship. In
these she hoped to find the water
of life and the bread of heaven
that her spiritual strength might
be sustained.
But Mrs. Dagg was not content
to be only a recipient of heavenly
grace, but to be also its distribu
tor to the extent of her opportu
nity. Hence she was ready for
any church-work that might be
assigned her. She was willing
to lead the female prayer-meet
ing when it came to her turn; and
delighted to gather around her a
Bible class of young ladies from
the village that she might aid
them in the systematic study of
the Scriptures. And I venture
to say that few Bible classes
have ever been more intelligently
taught than hers.
But her benevolence did not
stop at her Bible class. It ex
tended to the poor, and to the
suffering ones within her reach.
Had her means been equal to her
good will, this whole world would
have been the beneficiary of her
charity.
During the last years of her
life she was afflicted with blind
ness. She died during the war
at the house of her step-son, Rev.
J. F. Dagg.
In taking leave of this interest
ing
I'S
of
the University of Virginia? He
graduated early in the fifties at
Mercer University while Dr. Dagg
was its President. His subse
quent life has conferred honor
upon his alma mater, and the
friends of Mercer may well be
proud of him.
Mrs. Dagg’s only daughter,
Mrs. R. D. Mallary, of Macon, like
her mother, is a most accomplish
ed lady, and, like her mother, she
has worked with all fidelity with
her husband in his arduous la
bors. She is a bright illustration
of the life and character of her
mother.
563 S. Pryor St., Atlanta.
For the Index.
Preserving Historical Records.
BY B. F. RILEY, D D.
Baptists have made a history
through the centuries of which
they might justly feel proud. The
difficulty is that while they have
made it, others have, for the
most part, written it. Much of
the disturbance which we now
have respecting important his
torical data is due to the fact
that Baptists have not been so
careful as have others in the pre
servation of historical records.
Much of the history of American
Baptists is lost because of this
same fact. The origin of the
Baptists in some of our older
States is not known because rep
resentatives of the denomination
have not exercised sufficient care
in preserving from oblivion much
material that could be valuable.
Every one who has undertaken
chronological investigation along
the line of Baptist history has
encountered the difficulty of
bridging over the chasms because
of the absence of materials.
While we may lament this de
ficiency in denominational his
tory, we cannot now altogether
remedy it; but we can, at least,
preserve the material which is
now readily at hand. Hidden
away in many dusty shelves in old
closets are the records of associa
tions, and of conventions in the
past, that would help fill the
breaches in much of our denomi
national history. If these old
records could be overhauled by
some careful and diligent hand,
they would yield much rich ma
terial. They reflect the senti
ments, the cultures, the views of
the different periods of denomi
national history. How easy it
would be for each association to
appoint some competent brother
to write the history of that body!
Such a mass of material would
be all that the historian of the
future would desire in the prepa
ration of Baptist history, whether
of the State, of a given district,
or of the entire country.
That is one of the means, but
it is only one. Another is that of
which The Index is availing it
self, viz.: Gathering from the
richly-stored recollections of old
brethren reminiscences of men
and events of the stirring periods
of the past. Dr. Hillyer and
others are not aware of the great
value w hich attaches to the work
which they are now engaged in.
These graphic scenes which find
record in the columns of The In
dex will become immortal. The
publication of such matter will
have the effect of stimulating the
historic spirit, and old books will
be more highly valued than ever
before.
Dr. W. L. Kilpatrick had ren
dered most valuable service to
the State before his death in the
accumulation of material for the
Historical Society. Who will
take his place? It is a period of
great historical investigation. As
fully as possible the history of
the denomination, will be written
from different points of view.
Within the last few years a num
ber of valuable historical works
relating to the Baptist denomina
tion have appeared in different
portions of the country. When,
through these different works,
the merits of the denomination
come to be more fully known, our
people will be more appreciated,
and our youth will cease to es
teem others better than our
selves.
Mr. Colgate, of New York, de
serves the gratitude of the de
nomination throughout America
for the diligence of effort which
he has exercised, and still exer
cises, in accumulating material in
a fire-proof building for the Bap
tist historians of the future. No
less so does Dr. Lemuel Moss, the
President of the Baptist Histori
cal Society, the headquarters of
which are located in Philadel
phia. It will be remembered
that the accumulated matter in
the archives of this society was
consumed by the fire last Febru
ary, which destroyed so much of
the property of the American
Baptist Publication Society. But
Dr. Moss is actively engaged in
gathering up more material and
expects to attend the next meet
ing of the Southern Baptist Con
lentiiHfcflSßtb A i:Je est of th? so
ciety. So that in the enterprise
which is being shown by The In
dex in the publication of histori
cal matter it places itself in the
front rank of denominational
progress. It cannot render a
more lasting service to the de
nomination than by encouraging
the publication of historical data.
I trust that the fathers of the
denomination throughout the
State may be encouraged to trans
mit their recollections to the
columns of The Index. This is
one of the surest means of pre
serving historical records.
Seek Advice.
BY C. H WETHERBEE.
It is a very hopeful sign in any
young person who eagerly seeks
the advice of others, especially
elderly and sensible people. And
it is a mark of great weakness in
the young man or woman who not
only does not do this, but spurns
advice when kind friends proffer
it. Os course it does not follow
that one should always act upon
all the advice which he may ob
tain by asking, or by proffer. The
advice may be intended to be
helpful. The giver of it may
think that it is just what is need
ed, and yet it may not be such as
can be presently made use of, or
possibly it lacks real fitness.
However the case may be, it
should be the rule of one’s life to
seek the advice of others, and
grateful acknowledgment of it
should always be made, even
when the advice is not suitable
nor practicable. One advantage
of such a course is that of getting
the thoughts, wisdom and sug
gestions of others. A compari
son of opinions is often worth a
great deal. What one person
does not think of, another one
may. No one is so wise that he
cannot learn something more.
And one way of learning more is
to ask the advice of others, even
though they may not know so
much on some subjects as you do.
Because you know a good deal
about a certain subject it is no
proof that you know much about
other subjects, nor all that is pos
sible to be known about the one
with which jou are quite famil
iar. The young man or woman
who asks the most questions con
cerning a variety of useful sub
jects, and gives receptive heed to
the answers, is the one who is
most sure to learn rapidly and
become practically progressive. It
is well to listen even to recog
nized fools. We may pick up
valuable suggestions from them.
Never be guilty of rudely treat
ing those whose advice does not
meet your approval. Never be
above taking the advice of those
whom yon regard as your infe
riors, either intellectually or so
cially.
Pen Droppings.
BY L. L. V.
Four great questions arise in
the mind of the thinker as he con
templates the world that presents
itself to his external senses—
what, why, whence, whither? To
the first of these those who call
themselves scientists have long
been laboring to find an answer.
It cannot.be averred that their
success has been very great.
They have crushed stones, and
digging into the earth have
sought to read the story of Gen
esis in its successive formations.
With their instruments they have
caught the feeble rays that come
to us from remote suns, and
have decided that the same ele
ments that compose our own
sphere also make up those far
away luminaries. It is fully as
certained that the same laws
which govern matter on our globe
prevail in Uranus and Nep
tune, and presumably in the
worlds whose existence can be
only inferred. It is not unreason
able when we thus review how
much has been learned, to indu’ge
the hope that in the coming ages
much more will be learned, and
that ere many centuries shall
have'rolled away there may be
proven to sight and touch that
which is now established only by
mathematical induction. There
has been a partial answer work
ed out to that question, What?
and it may some day be alto
gether satisfactory. But to the
other three all the powers of the
human intellect are utterly inad
equate to work out any reply.
For any reply to these fearfully
important queries, w r e are wholly
dependent on Revelation. In the
volume that has been given to us
by God is contained all that man
may ever know of his origin and
destiny. There are those, indeed,
w'ho would persuade us that
their speculations on these grand
themes have led to something
akin to knowledge. But nothing
that they have been able to offer
is a tithe so restful as an implicit
reliance upon the divine Word.
Here we have all the information
given that is needed for the per
formance of Ihe duties therein
plainlk inu!tlci£d. f < t
Praying By Proxy.
MRS. ANNA S. PRUITT, CHEFOO,
CHINA.
I have heard of Christians in
America who felt ■ themselves
quite too busy to find time for
private devotions. The heathen
of our village are in a similar sit
uation. They have actually no
time for looking after religious
matters. But they have found
an easy way out of their predica
ment. They can accomplish the
desired object by employing
others whose time is less valua
ble to perform religious duties for
them. The simple matter of foot
ing the bill transfers all the vir
tue of the good work to the busy
sinners.
The transgressions of our
neighborhood had been accumu
lating for nearly a year until re
cently one of the wealthy fami
lies took steps toward procuring
wholesale forgiveness. Now, for
several days past, a company of
ragged, dirty, licentious priests
have been hired to chant prayers
and burn incense in the village
temple for the spiritual benefit
of any w'ho can afford the luxury
of vicarious prayer. The village
shows no sign of repentance;
there is no call for sackcloth or
ashes. The priests themselves
see no need for even a brief ces
sation from their accustomed
vices. Their filth and low-living
rank them in the very under
most crust of society. Their im
morality makes them a byword.
No respectable people would
think for a moment of choosing
the vocation for their sons. Yet
these same respectable people
hope to have their sins forgiven
through the intercession of these
same priests. Is this the kind of
heathenism, faith in which can
save its devotees either in this
world or the next ?
At the Great Judgment.
BY V. T. ELY.
Many heinous crimes are com
mitted wilfully and in cold blood,
and when the murderer is brought
before the bar of justice to re
ceive his reward, he puts in the
plea of insanity in order to es
cape punishment, and often does
escape punishment. But when
we go before the great judgment
bar of God we cannot put in the
plea of insanity. “For the way
is so plain that a man, though a
fool, need not err therein.”
Thomasville, Ga.
VOL. 76-NO. «
For the Imdix/'
Baptist Position Stated and Contrast
ed—Strict Construction.
BY Q. A. LOFTON, D.D.
Alli.
Baptists are not “literalists,”
but “strict constructionists.”
They abhor literalizing on the
one hand and spiritualizing every
thing in God’s Word on the other.
Canipbellisiu is largely the em
bodiment of literalization; and
Hardshell-Baptist-ism illustrates
spiritualization. Campbe lli sin
turns figures into facts; the Hard
shell turns facts into figures.
Canipbellisiu, like Catholicism
and all the forms of ritualism,
literalizes the symbolism of bap
tism into saving efficacy; and it
is a wonder that Campbellism has
not so regarded the Lord’s Sup
per. The Hardshell does not so
regard the ordinances; but it
spiritualizes away all the truths
which would militate against his
Antinomian theory. For instance,
the “word” by which God of his
own will begat us is made to
mean the personal Christ, in or
der to avoid the theory 7 that no
man can be converted without
sending the Gospel to him. The
Quakers spiritualize even the or
dinances or symbols of the Gos
pel, baptism and the Lord’s Sup
per; and so of all the positive or
external institutions of Christ,
thus getting rid of every duty or
obligation of outward obedience
to God through organic or cere
monial channels.
So much for literalization
which takes the letter without
the spirit, and which leads to
sterility and death in religion;
and so much for spiritualization
which takes the spirit without
the letter and leads to all the
hallucinations of fanaticism in
the world. Baptists have noth
ing to do with either side of these
errors in the interpretation of
God’s Word. Where language is
literal according to the rules of
rhetoric, we so interpret it; and
where language is figurative, by
the same rule we find figures.
When it comes to the interpreta
tion of language, getting at the
meaning of words and the con
struction of sentences, Baptists
treat the Bible as they treat any
other book; and we do not take
the position that language, as
language, has any ground mean
ing in the Bible different from
the ground meaning of language
foupd uaywhere else in lite.cotffre.
Repentance, faith, pardon, justifi
cation, regeneration, sanctifica- ,
tion, predestination, baptism,
supper, church—all these words
mean in English or New Testa
ment Greek just what they mean
in classic Greek, with a new appli
cation to religious ideas. It is
very convenient for pedobaptism
to admit that baptizo always
means to dip in classic Greek, but
in New Testament Greek it as
sumes a new and sacred signifi
cation, and therefore, under the
head of “purify,” it may mean
sprinkle, pour, immerse or any
thing else, or nothing, as you
have a mind to interpret.
Hence there is another head
under which Baptists stand at
variance with others in the in
terpretation or construction of
God’s Word. We construe strict
ly, as opposed to liberally, the lan
guage of Scriptures, especially in
the sphere of positive laws and in
stitutions. In other w’ords, we
want the language of the Bible
to say what it means, and mean
what it says; and we want a
thus saith the Lord for every
article of faith binding upon con
science as a matter of belief and
duty. We have no right to estab
lish divine laws for the govern
ment of God’s people by infer
ence from God’s Word, however
much we may be compelled, some
times, to infer as to the meaning
of law's, precepts, doctrines, prin
ciples and practices set up in
God’s Word. Where language is
ambiguous, or obscure, we have a
right to infer its meaning; but in
all such cases w r e have no right
to dogmatic interpretation, and
we have less right to set up laws
and institutions binding on con
science by inference from such
language. What is not clearly
revealed, or is dimly concealed,
is not a matter of law, but only
of opinion; and what is not re
vealed as a matter of law binding
on the conscience, is simply for
bidden as law and opinion both.
For instance, the New Testa
ment shows neither precept nor
example for infant baptism. It
is expressly clear as to the law of
believers' baptism; and in the ab
sence of any precept or example
for infant baptism, the positive
law' for the baptism of believers
only, forbids infant baptism as a
law fastened upon the church of
God. But it is inferred that bap
tism comes in the place of circum
cision, and that the church is
identical under both the legal and
Gospel dispensation; therefore,