Newport daily independent., 1902-06-16
COMMUNICATION FROM
 REV. MIR. RICHARDSON.
EDITOR OF THE INDEPENDENTS

Rev. Dr. Cline through the labored articles he has been giving us good deal of which has been repetition.
 He might have saved himself much writing, as he has missed the whole point of my sermon which is con- tained in the title of my discourse, "The Essentially of the Mode of Baptism Known As Immersion" :" That is his position which he will not deny, and which he has been covertly arguing behind the other question,
 seIs immersion a correct mode of bap- tism?" This latter question all the different denominations answer in the
 affirmative, and some scholars ac- knowledge as the primitive mode.
 Thisyis the position of those Presby- terian authors quoted by him, though by none of them is the position talk en that it is the only mode or that it is essential to salvation. Such is evil denced by the fact that during their life time they were or are within the Presbyterian church, and at the same time practice according to the custom of this church the other modes of baptism, known as sprinkling and pouring in baptism. Apropos to this point it might be we'll to see the con- clusion of Dr. Cline's reasoning. If Calvin and Barnes, Turrentine and Baxter, Zwingle, Cnybaare and How son, Ellicott and Lightsoot and host of others in the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, that he has quoted as sustaining his position in the first proposition mentioned above and this is the purpose Of his quot ing them-and yet they continued to practice baptism by sprinkling or pouring, what is the conclusion? Either that these men were bad men insincere in their convictions, and not worthy of anyone's confidence, or that Dr. Cline has misunderstood them. He can take either horn of the dilemma be chooses for he will be pushed out of his position by both.
 Now, for Dr. Cline to make these authorities count anything for him in his contention, he will have to show that they held to the "Essentiality of the mode of baptism known as i'm mersion, as does he, and that they never baptized in any other way than by immersion.
 the space, for me to reply in detail to all the particular authorities he has quoted. However will give one or two examples of how Dr. Cline has quoted his authorities.
 1. Dr. Chalmers (Rom. 6:3) Dr. Cline quotes "The original meaning of the word is immersion etc." pr. Chalmers himself says on Rom. 6:3, "The original meaning of the word is immersion, though we regard it as a point of indifference, whether the or dinance be performed in this way or by sprinkling."
 2. Albert Barnes, (Rom. 6:3). Dr. Cline quotes, "It is altogether prob- able that the apostle had allusion to the custom of baptizing by immer sion.n
 Barnes in Common. Rom. 6:3 says "It is altogether probable that the apostle had allusion to the custom of baptizing by immersion. This indeed cannot be proved so as to be liable to no objection; but presume that this is the idea which would strike the great mass of unprejudiced readers. But while this is admitted, it is also certain that his main scope and in- tention was not to describe the mode of baptism; nor to affirm that that mode was to be universal, the design was very different"
 Then few lines further down he further proceeds to refute the i'm mersionist view, and says among other things, "It is just as true that they who are baptized by diffusion or sprinkling are baptized into his death."
 8. Calvin. Dr. Cline quotes, "Here we perceive how baptism. was ad- ministered among the ancients, for they immersed the whole body in water" To which no reference to Vol. or page is given by Dr. Cline, as in several otLer quotations.
 Calvin in his Institutes Vol. 2, p. AQ1 saws 0Rnt whathar the narsnn