The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-12-21

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Saul, the Lord even Jesus who appeared
unto thee in the way which thou earnest,
hath sent me that thou may st receive
fthy sight and be filled with the Holy
Ghost. And straitway there fell from
his eyes as it were scales and he received
his sight; and he arose and was baptized
and he took food and was strengthened.
Paul was baptized standing up, anastas,
standing up. Was any man ever i'm
mersed while standing up? And Paul
was baptized straitway-in the room
where he had been blind and weak and
without food for three days. Where was
the river or the reservoir in which to i'm
merse him? They cannot be found with
out human addition to the inspired
Word of God2 Who will dare to make
it? And the case of the jailor of Philippi
is as strong against immersion as that of
Paul. This jailor was converted and be-
lieved, in his house in the Jail building
and at night. And go we read: "And
he took them the same hour of the night,
and washed their stripes; and was bap-
tized he and all his Immediately" We
read of no going out of the Jail to seek
river or pool of water and of no reser-
voir in the Jail. All these are vagaries
and dreams and imaginations, and are
not found in the Word of God nor in the
facts of the case. Therefore the jailor
and his household were not baptized by
immersion, but by the effusion of baptis-
NAL waters in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost
Some lovely Christians. male and fe-
male, whom / have known, have quoted
Hebrews x: %; as sustaining the INNER
sion theory. The verse is as follows
"L Let us draw near with true heart, in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water"
immersion, acquainted with the Greek
original, ever ventures to refer to this
verse as favorable to his views. For, in
fact, it initiates powerfully against them.
The verb rendered mashed is not bapto
or baptizo, but louo which means to nash,
in its generic sense-that is-to apply
water to the person or thing for the pur-
pose of cleansing or purifying. 1t does
not mean to dip, to plunge, or to i'm
merse. Moreover, the proposition "aOith"
is the proper rendering-not the. prepo-
sition SIN" Now, immersion is per-
formed not with" but always Gin"
water or other liquid. Moreover the
word soma" body, and not the word
sonata" bodies, is used A perfectly
liberal rendering, therefore, would be,
eve, being washed, as to the body, in
pure water" The Revised Version of
1881, gives the whole verse as follows:
Let us draw near, with a true heart, in
fulness of faith, having our hearts sprin-
killed. from an evil conscience and our
body washed with pure water" And
this verse so far from teaching immersion,
finds its appropriate illustration from the
very words of Christ our Lord who at
the time when He washed the feet of His
disciples to teach us the duty of purity,
of humility, and of bearing one anothers
burdens said, He that is washed 10 le-
lo1menos using this same verb louo)
needeth not save to wash his feet but is
they have no direct allusion to baptism,
yet strongly confirm the true theory of
baptism, viz: that the immersion Of the
person in water is not essential, but that
the application of water as an emblem of
cleansing is sufficient and valid, in the
view of Christ himself.
Having thus shown that all evidences,
whether of lexicons, or of Greek authors
and usage, or of the fathers of the Church;
or of Old Testament teaching, or of Jew
ish customs, or of the teachings OF the
New Testament are against the claims of
exclusive immersionists, now come to
their stronghold-their ultimate argu-
ment. That argument is founded on two
passages from Scripture-one from the
sixth chapter of Paul's epistle to the
Romans and the other from the second
chapter of his epistle to the Colossians.
In each of these passages, believers are
said to be buried with Christ through
baptism or in baptism. Immersionists
insist that this is distinct inspired teach
ing as to the mode of baptism, and is de-
signed to show that baptism is symbolic
memorial of the burial and resurrection
of Christ, and that as Christ was buried
and rose again, so the believer in INNER
sion is buried for time under the water
and then rises again. But a close exam
nation will satisfy US that these Scrip
lures are not intended to teach and do
not teach, any thing as to the mode or
action involved in Christian baptism.
The burial of Christ is not an event in
any manner essential to our salvation.
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