Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-06-18

moisten in the word baptize, or you
could not baptize without moistening.
But the moistening depends on the
substance in which you baptize. IF
you baptize your hand in water it is
moistened but the molstening is only
the result OF the baptizing and not the
baptizing itself. Baptlze your hand
IN -four and it is not moistened. You
do not get the idea OF moisten from
the word baptize, for it has no such
idea in 1t. Baptize a man in ink and
you have the idea; he is stained, not
because the idea of stain is in the
word baptize; it has no such idea in
it. You get the idea of stain from
the word ink. Baptize a man in
water and you have the idea he is
washed, but you do not get that idea
flom the word baptize, for it has no
such idea in it. You get the idea
from the word water.
Now cannot you see, gentle reader,
that DIR. Gallaher is lost in the fog?
The idea of sprinkle is not in the
word ''baptizo' = the very word
Jesus employed when he gave the
great commission. Had the Savior
meant sprinkle he no doubt would
have employed rantizo, if pouring,
cheo. If he had meant sprinkle he
had a word before him with that
meaning. Why did he not use that
word? But he did employ a word
that the Lexicons all say mean prima-
rily to dip, immerse. submerge, and
then as consequence they give wash,
dye, stain, purify, cleanse, &C., but
not sprinkle. No scholar has ever
dared to translate the word baptizo
to mean primarily sprinkle or pour.
The DIR. says disciple" seeing the
futility of his arguments from the
Greek classics in favor of dipping
has May the 21st brought in per-
version of Paul's teaching IN Rom.
6, 5, 5, to prop his sinking cause,
and says Disciples" Interpretation
of that passage Of scripture was like
his dipping immersion, originated by
the superstitious Catholics. Now I
must say that it is strange, Ir., that
man of your ability and opportuni-
ties would dare make the glaring as
sertions you have made. Let me
whisper in your ear, sir, if you please,
that the Catholics are responsible for
the change from immersion to that of
sprinkling, as all authorities of any
note depose. And you cannot show
to the contrary to save you from
death. The Catholic church will not
say I misrepresent them when l say
that they made the change. And
you deny and the proof will be intro
duced. And now, sir, undertake to
say when you lift your hand towards
heaven and say 1 baptize you and
sprinkle water upon a person, adult
or child, you say in thunder tones
the old Catholic church is right; that
she is what she claims to be. You
recognize the authority of Rome,
"sprinkling water, unmixed, upon any.
thing or person for any moral OF re
ligious purpose by the authority oi
God, was never done since the world
began.
You talk about disciple and his
hackers" Now who are Disciples
hackers? We might begin with JOIN
the Baptist, Jesus Christ and his
Apostles, all, or nearly all, the churcf
fathers, such as Barnabas, who
flourished about 14O A. D. He says
BLESSED are they who, placing thei
trust in the cross, have gone dow1
into the water See s'Apostoll'
Fathers" published by T. & T
Clark, Edinburg, 1867. Justin Mar
tyr, who was a Christian, wrot'
about $50, having been born A. D
ia, suffered martyrdom 165 a
Rome. Next the Shepherd of Her
mas, who wrote A. D. $50, speakin!
of baptism, says "they descend int
the water dead and they arise alive.
He says they "descend with then
into water and again ascend" VIII
would suppose that they would de
scend into the water to be sprinkle'
or poured upon? Clement of Rome
who wrote probably in the latter par
of the second century, is also anothe
''backer for Disciple" Also Mosh
elm Church History, speaking Of tn
I baptism of the second century, say
: "the candidates for baptism were i'm
5 mersed wholly in water according t
j the Savior's precept.' Tertullian A
D. 2O4 says, "the person baptized
t let down into the water and wit
, a few words is dipped" Basil A. Z
r $50, Cyril Of Jerusalem, who flour
ished A. D. 374, Witsins, G. J. Vas
r sius, DR.. Wall all say that the prim
!, tive practice of baptism was immel
r sion. F. Bremen, Roman Catholi.
t says, 'sfor thirteen hundred yea,
t immersion was generally and ord
D narily practiced." john Calvin, job
+ Wesley, George Campbell, Lightfoe
e Adam, Clark, Martin Luther, Ma
, Knight, Doddridge, Matthew, Henr
A. Barnes and others that we canns