The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1871-10-18

could be desired, and, in addition, tondness
for such Investigations which led him on
wards er nero naotu. DIR. Dale, at the outset,
wisely discarded Lexicons as authority, upon
the ground that photographers, having as
their object the definition of all the a0OrdS IN
the language, would not, in the nature OF
things, he expected to trace the meaning OF
particular words, so as to exhaust their mean
ing. He consequently went through all the
standard, classical Greek authors, and inves-
tigated the meaning of Baptidzo, in connec-
ton with its context-a method which every
scholar sees at once, to be the only possible
means of arriving at its true meaning
His first great work is called Classic Bap-
tism. In this he has shown that the primary
and physical meaning of Baptidzo was to
sink an object under water without any re-
ference to its ever being brought to the sur
face; as when a ship was sunk to the bottom
of sea or lake, it was said to be baptized.
The word had also a secondary meaning,
where no substance surrounded the object,
as when man was under the influence of
strong drink he was said to be baptized sOith
wiae. When the classic Greeks spoke of
putting substance under the water and TAX
ing it Immediately out, they used another
and different word, Bapto. They never used
either of these words to denote religious
rite.
DIR. Dale next published a large volume
which he calls Judaic Baptism. This was a
step nearer his main object. In this he has
traced the word Baptidzo through all the
principal Jewish authors who have written in
the Greek language, and also through the
early Christian writer's who lived nearest to
the age of the Apostles, and who wrote in
the Greek language, He has shown by nu-
merous quotations from those Jewish writer's
who lived before the coming of the Saviour,
as well as from Josephus who lived in the
apostolic age and wrote in the Greek Ian
guage, that the word Baptidzo-the word
used in the Christian ordinance-was synon
ymous with sprinkZing in that age, when used
in a religious sense.
DR.. Dale has in press, and will soon issue,
third volume under the name of Johannic
Baptism. This volume may be expected to
awaken an interest of no ordinary degree.
He has courteously forwarded to the writer
of this article the proof-sheets of part of
this forthcoming work,-and if he is not
greatly mistaken, it, along with the former
volumes, will accomplish more towards final
settlement of the question than all the works
ever before written. He has conclusively
shown that there was nothing in the object,
the nature, or the locality of Johns Bap-
tism, when properly viewed, in the least fa-
voring the idea of immersion. Is it said
that John baptized in Jordan? So it is said
that he baptized in Anon, IN Bethany, and
ia the wilderness. The word SEN 40 more
proves that he immersed in the waters of
/
Jordan, than that he immersed in the streets
of Bethany, or in the sands of the wilder
ness. The statement, il Mark i: 9, that
Jesus came from Nazareth to Galilee and
was baptized Of John in Jordan" no more
proves that Jesus was ander the avaters Of
the Jordan, than the statement in Matthew
xvii: 27, proves that Peter was onder the
acqter8 Of the sea, when he went from the
Saviour's presence to the sea and caught the
fish from which to obtain the tribute-money.
In the former the Saviour went "eis ton JOr-
damon to Jordan. In the latter Peter
went ei8 tain thalas8an-tO the sea. The
construction of the original in the two places
is identical. *.
Ruralia, Sept. 26, 1871.