The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-07-02

ee that our opponent says that "fhere
no baptism into water { Il Hador) in I.
NJ whole Bible Mark says, tsIt come
+. pass in those days that Jesus came fro
Il Nazareth of GaliIee and was baptized
Sc John into (eis1 Jordan. Do you belle
Ie Mark? And did baptizm into Jordan ke,
n. Jesus there It twas this sort of objectil
D. in the face of plain facts that, in OF
d warmth, We called quibbling. Mayl
n thar is the wrong word, but what is il
re When .by..a vast array Of evidence fro
sr every creditable source, including tt
4 most scholarly .Ppdo-baptists, the Wor
q baptize means iinmerse and NJ
|. sprinkle or pour, and when immerS
suits the context, as immersed into JoI
}. fdan, immersed in Jordan, and whe
h sprinkle into Jordan or pour into Joi
e drn makes foolishness. and when we Sc
!. the baptized coming mp out of the Watel
2 see Jesus after hehad been baptized int
i Jordan going abeutdaing good, DR., Hun
! ter still wants to know how to get out O
/ the water. Walk out Doctor, there
nothing to hinder you. The word doe
: not forbid, and that will be to follow
D Jesus. Was there ever such splendid
] capacity for finding difficulties? Blu
E I'VE give it as our solemn conviction be
, fore that God who shall Judge US all tha
: one was ever kept from going in water
i from any difficulty as to getting out
The case is a luminous as day.
Our opponent has repeatedly spoken
of Greek language as dead language
We wonder that he makes this mistake
1t is to-day spoken language and has q
current literature. We have ourselves
seen a newspaper printed in Greek and
it is more like New Testament Greek
than the English of to-day is like that
of Chances time. We saw a statement
within year that the University at
Athens,where Greek is the spoken tongue
has $500 students. Prof Trinayenis
!. native Greek, and of the Hellenic Insti-
tute, Wy, in a lecture at Chactauqua
in 1881, speaking of the Greek religion
said: ''The Greeks baptize, of course
they baptize in the real way. The
Greek word bapto means nothing but inn
merse in the water. Baptism means
nothing but immersion In the Greek
language we have different word for
sprinkling. When you put piece of
wood into the water and cover it entire
| ly, you baptize, you do what is expressed
by the Greek work baptO. ] am really to
discuss htis apith a1g diriae about the Greek
Eord, spfiakling Is not aehGt the Bible
teaches; thu. is a fact aQu may depend on.
know that this custom is too deeply
rooted in your congregation to be taken
away easily, but the baptists have the
best of you on this point"
Speaking of infant baptism he said:
"He"-the minister--'sdips it three
times. That is the le0d We use, to dip;
goa cannot go sdack on It. II Is our ererg-
dag trord. So, III dip a man, / bdptiae
him. I say You must cover somebody
entirely With water to use baptize as the
Greeks use it to day"
The Greek church does nothing but
immerse. Do these people know Greek
1t is when the Doctor deals with words
as modal or generic that he requires the
greatest watching. Work is, indeed,
generic; it is the genus, of which dig,
plough, hoe, spin, and many other words
are the species. Ploughing is working,
digging is working, each il kind of
work. This is not what our opponent
teaches with reference to baptize Over
and over, he tells us that sprinkling is
not baptism, pouring is not. Now if
baptism is generic and pouring and
sprinkling are species, then there are
several kinds of baptisms. The genus
includes the Species and the species are
so many kinds of the genus.
Feline is the genus for the cat family.
The vatatnouHt, the house-cat, the
American iauger, the tiger, are species.
Each is cat. Ii baptize is q genus, |
where are the species? Pouring is not |
one, sprinkling is not one; for Doctor |
Hunter says neither one is baptism. |
Christ commanded people to be baptized. |
DR.. Hunter says, II baptize youp and
he sprinkles the water or pours it, and
then tells us that the thing he did is not /
what Christ commanded, but only q
manner of obeying the command. Well |
what was the thing commanded? What
is the baptism? and how many species
of baptism are there? If there is just one
thing that is baptism, then the word is
not generic
just along here our brother is hard to
comprehend. He declares 81 did not
condemn Tertulian for saying that bap-
tie means sprinkle" Not in so many
words and fatty we admit But hear
iHg the meaning given the word by
Gazes, he says, Now, so far as any of
these words is specific aud modal / deny
that it can define the Greek word bap-
tie" Pour is one of the definitions,
and is not that and sprinkle, also, spe-
cific? Yet he declares that he does not
condemn Tertulian for giving defni-
ton which cannot define the word bap-
tie. Tertulian gives sprinkle, as mean
ing of the word; DIR. Hunter declares
that sprinkling is not baptism, and yet /
he does not condemn Tertulian, and we
misrepresent him when we say he does
We have never seen greater confusion.
He explains that Tertullian believed
that baptize means to sprinkle as to
mode" And yet, DIR. Hunter declares
that baptize is not modal. How then
can Tertullian be right in giving it
specific, modal definition? Our Oppo-
nents can take no position and hold it.
They try to prove modes and then de-
clare that the mode is not taught. They
define the word and reject the definition
when pressed. How true is it that error
may often make fair show, but can
never have the consistency and solidity
of truth.
Read this: at ID precisely because /
there is no mode expressed directly by /
the word, that Pedo-baptists can admit /
the validity, but not the regularity, of /
Baptists dipping.
This Is q curious statement. 1T no
mode is expressed directly, by the word,
why is-pot Baptist dipping as regular
as any Where comes in the Irregular
ity, pray?
But did not the Doctor in former
articles try to prove sprinkling and I
pouring from theScriptures7 Certainly, I
and he went 50 far as to affirm that, if
we would properly represent the work
of the Spirit, We fought 20 sprinkle the
waters Of baptism thus cutting of other
modes. Again God enjoined sprink-
ling and never enjoined any other mode. =
If that is true, even though the word
might not Be modal, how can the Doc
tor practice pouring, and admit .Bap-
list dipping In the Judgment of
charity. lie might say; but charity Z
reioiceth IN the truth, If God eniOin-
cd sprinkling and that only, then we are
shut up to that, If ne mean to obey God, Il
Let rs walk in the truth.
The Doctor cannot maintain these Il
positions. He Is wrong first or last, Of
both.
DR.. Hunters treatment of Naanaan's +
case Is specimen Of bold assertion
Reader, turn first and read what he L
saws on that case Note these facts
]. Naanlan was commanded to wash i,
himself seven times IN Jordan. Not to
sprinkle himself seven times IN Jordan.
Sprinkle and wash are not the same, nor
do they imply each other.
2. Tie record SAYS he DIPPED himself. |
Dr. Hunter says lie sprinkled himself
TO dip Was to. fulfill the cemmand
because dip and wash imply each other.