Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1897-06-25
VOLUME XXVI.
= Dsgbt IL.

IN the matter al ISSUE bCtwCen mfn ana
myself. tu, there is vide room for
doubt yet. The main issue vas pre-
sented By my critic as follows: "Orly
bitterness and neighborLood divisions
are their fruits" This assertion as to
debates pertains to matter of fact.
and must stand or faA upon testimony.
Having had vide e>perience and large
observation / stated that lShad not
observed these alleged fruits How
does my critic try to Offset this tesh-
monyl Listen: "Frotn the gentle
mans own confession he has n bad
case OF theological habit and is not
In a position to consider the subject
from an unpreiudioed standpoint" "
Shades OF Hamilton! Experience and
observation dIsquahfy one 10 testify as
TO a matter Of tact involved III his ex-
perieuce and observation, II lack oil
experience and observation qualify
one to testify. my critic IS 4 most CON-
petent witness, for he does net pre-
tend 10 have either. His opinion is
purely n matter Of prejudice, unsup-
ported by any OF the factors necessary
to enable one to form an Intelligent
Judgment lie ough, to present some
evidence or ADMIT that ne spoke hastily
and from prejudice
But | am detected in two errors
Firstly: My quotations are not
exact And here The preachers gen.
orally are given the benefit OF quite a
lecture on the importance of always
citing the exact language Of scripture
Now, unfortunately, my critic was
born too late in the wotld's history for
his wisdom to be effective He should
have been present when the Savior
and his apostles lived to correct their
.'haphaz lrd" way Of quoting the writ
ten word" Manv of the New Testa-
ment quotations from the Old Testa-
ment are substance quotations and not
word for word quotations / hide
myself among my iIlustrious predcces-
sors and let the CHAsrros CoURIER's
censure fall upon them.
Secondly: 1 Inadvertently credited
Jude's language to Paul. Now, IS not
that awiull
MY critic does not condemn con-
tenion for principle, and says that he
was contending for principle In the
campaign last fall Is il possible that
he regards a question in politics as
out-ranking in importance the will Of
the Lord Jesus Christi The masters
controversies with the Jews Pertained
largely to their traditions which made
void the commandments of God. My
contention is that sprinkiing and pour
ing are human inventions and radi-
tons which can not be traced in his
tory beyond the middle of the third
century, and that they make void i'm
merslon which is Christ's command
contend also that infant baptism Is
an invention and tradition Of men
which can not be traced beyond the
last quarter Of the second century, and
that II makes void Christ's command
to bapiize believers. Thus II is seen
that the matter involves a vital prin-
-ciple of vastly more Importance than
the money standard, or any other
question pertaining to human govern
ment.
l contend also that orthodox
teaching as to the pardon OF SIN makes
void the design OF Christian baptism
rs set forth in the scriptures My
critic expresses his negative theology
on this subject as follows: "But not
that by. in or through. the act (of
baptism) by any mode, the sins Of any
human being have ever been or ever
will be washed away or remi,ted."
Reciprocating my friends kindness
I advise him to restudy the foregoing
statement in the light of the scriptures
Except a man be born of water and
of the spirit. he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God'-John 5:5- He
that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that belieyeth not shall