San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-04-26
HITS HIM AGAIN.
REV. MACK HENSON REPLIES TO THE
PARSON FROM KENTUCKY.
Usage, the Sole Arbiter of the Lam
guage Used-Says the Bishops
Claims are Very Slim
Editor San Antonio Lirht

Editor San Antonio Light.
| am glad my letter had the desired effect II
brought out an explanation from the
| " bishop. They certainly have missed the
| whole issue by appealing TO photographers
| of dead languages. The truth is the leXicons
are Tut the echo Of usage, and nothing but
examples from actual usage can be ultimate
authority in determining the meaning of
words in any language. The word bishop,
which means an oyeTseer, was never used TO
designate Baptist preacher. The word
| given by this new but selt-styled bench of
| bishops is foreign to the sense in which the
word Is used throughout ChristendOm, espe-
cially when applied to a Baptist preacher. No
one ever thinks of regarding the common
class of preachers rs bishops. II any class
had right to the appellatiOn besides regular
COnseCrated bishop | am quite sure a Baptist
preacher would stand the least chance of
being so regarded. The most common accept
alton of the word in the New Testament occurs
in Acts Xxx, y; Phil. |, !, where II signifies
the pastor of u church. But do English sChOl
ars think of bishop when they see pastor of
a church passing the strcetsi Any of our sun
day school scholars, eight or nine years old,
can very easily answer the question. St
Peter calls Jesus Christ the shepherd and
bishop of your sOuls-Petcr ], =, p. Paul de
scrbcs the qualities requisite in bishops
Timothy |, 3, :, and Titus ], Z.
Christ himself is their great exemplar
If you, gentlemen, possess these qualities
the next thing necessary for you TO do is to
BE- cOnsecrated and set apart to that office by
some recognized authority, then you may be
regarded US honest in your cOnventionalities.
Again, IL has always been the pride of Baptist
ministers to taunt and SCOT at the appelatiOns
of bishops. But drowning men win grab at
straw If II comes within reach. Knowing how
ambitious some men are, we cannot feel sur
prised at the assumptions of these self-COnsti-
tutcd miniature bishops, G. W. Dupee and J
". Carr, who set themselves up as the repre-
sentatives of the only true church IN all the
universe. and inform the public from what
they choose to .call historical and scriptural
standpOnts that Jesus Christ, the World 5 Re
deemer, was Baptist. If this is your proof,
point, gentlemen, viewing your position from
philosophic standpoint, II is u pOiut-nO
point. Whoever heard from the creation Of
the Missionary Baptist Church down to tine
present date that their preachers were bishops.
But there are SO many kinds OF Baptists IL
might be of a little point of information to tho
public for these lattsT.date bishops to tell us
which one of the many Baptist churches is the
one organized by John the Baptist or his Mas
ter. But If the bishops had to say why, they
would say, we are! But there are other kinds
OF Baptists who do not allow their preachers to
be called bishops, would cOslly tell you to go
slow. When you walk along these lines, for
they are the unbrOken chain, and could
reach back farther than 1881 years, and
they might be just as correct as the ArcadiOns
were when they said they were older than the
moon! And therefore, the succession would
be played for by you Baptists. And II one of
the many should set up II claim. would be
right, precisely SO, by right of cheek aud eh-
preston. So far US being a renegade, had
rather be such than TO be n Baptist with IA
mad cap ON, and name myself bishop, than
fusiladc of TRADES because you were mildly
asked to prove your wild observations. Thou
that abhOrest idols, dOest thou commit sacTi-
legey' The Rev. Bishop q. W. DupcC, DID, of
Paducah, Kentucky, has nothing good for
"Nibber Henson" not even u mOrsel of good
advice. However, | feel more generous To-
ward him and his esteemed colleague, and
wSuld like them to read Romans l., begin at
the I'D verse and read II clear through to the
I'D verse; one more bit OF advice is, should
you take notion to read II in either of the
Ian NtHnaF
any part of il on baptism or the bishOpTiC,
please don't forget that you are trying to con-
vince people who do most of their reading in
English. Why, you almost persuade me to
say "DccIte Pavoli " common sense view
Of your bishops tissue of misconceptions, one
sees at once that your claims are thinner than
thin and on the very grounds you seem will
ing 10 rest your claims are mere assumptions
void OF ethics, and are utterly wanting in all
essential elements of truth, and what you
claim as scrptural allegations are fla
grant perversions of the authorities you pre-
tend TO quote. Alexander, the disciple
of Aristotle, said he would prove to Demos.
themes that he was man, us that sage had
styled him a boy.
Now, for that baptismal proof sermon: as
baptise a specific or generic terml what is
its real character Does IL or does IL not
definitely express the mode of using the water!
Mr.. Carson, one of the ablest critics who has
written on the subject in the interest of m-
mersionism, and is generally recognized as II
standard authority in all the church where ex-
word is strictly univOcal" word that is
'strictly univocal' Is "a word Of one meaning,
ought to be so well defined that there could be
no possible ground for controversy concern
ing IL. If this word is "strictly univOcal," the
lexicOns, which give several meanings" are
wrong, the Bible use is wrong and classic use
is wrong. On the other hand, generic word
is one which cOmprehends a genus or kind !;
and there are many generic words in common
use whose character, in this respect, we never
stop to consider. For instance, say rode to
asanfI int
in reference to the fact of passing FROM one
city TO another; vet the word rode is generic.
IL tells the general fact, but tells nothing AS to
the mode of riding. | might have ridden in
the cars, or in a buggy, or on horseback. In
either case, the word properly expresses the
idea intended. This, then, is a generic word
which expresses thing done without express
ing the way of doing 1t. Wet is a generic
word, so is wash, because the wetting and the
washing can be done in different ways.
According to the assumption of immersion
lsts the word immense is equivalent 10 baptiZe.
But IL so the naked fact of sinking under
water exhausts its meaning. Mr.. A. Campbell,
whose learning has never been questioned,
says: No learned man will ever rest his faith
upon dictionaries. Again he says: 81 say
the dictionaries are sometimes wrong, and that
can prove. So say all philolOgists and critics
of eminence. The lexicons frequently contra
dict each other on various points" The word
baptize is derived from bapto. Where bapto
occurs with such surroundings IL can not pos
sibly mean immerse as wish now to refer you
TO Leviticus, XIV, ~. The cedar wood and
the scarlet and hYssOp shall be dipped in the
blood of the bird that was killed over running
water and the priest shall sprinkle upon him
that Is to be cleansed, etc. In this passage
bapto is rendered dip. and can not be under
stood in the sense to immense. In Revelations
xix, l3, bapto is used highly fgurative. The
son OF God is described AS a warrior, triumph
ing over his enemies, clothed in a "yesture
dipped (bebammenon) in blood, etc. Bapto
expresses the stain without regard to mode
Isaiah, So: l, 4; John u: ~; Mathew 26: %
BaptiZo is derivative of baptO and can not be
more specific. Whether Bishop Dupee or Dr.
Adam Clark composed his piece that can not
change truth into falsehood. You will have to
go back TO your magazine once more ana take
refuge in your watery citadel Your baptist
preachers are not at peace among yourselves
on the water question. You invalidate the
work of one another and often do IL over
again. Yours truly NJ, HENSON.