The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-11-08

shotSA
iot immersion as set forth bys |. tile
/ Christian o. Disciple Denomination:
He had not tdsunkind word TO say lei
specdng the people Of this dcnoniina;.
ton. but he did dtsseet flefr ,lM.t
Ftrines, laying bare w Int he considered
tatoibetheirs Inconsistencies. fnlslties.
criticizing the immersion theory of
the Christian Disciples 4 he declared
Ethnts the texts used by tbs. denoniIna-
,tion us proofs that 6apiisnf IN 5ior The
rcmissioils of sias were never applied
Ftosnny except Jews. The i.tewsFwere
In Jcoyennnt.relIlionsliip with i Col
through the MosaIc Law. II they got
Into sln5lt was proper for them to re-
sent. return to God and use. water:
sy,pl,olirally, Indicating return from
sin. All Jews In futt harmony With
the Law Covenant in jesus day were.
transferred from Moses to Christ.
Only those who had committed spc.
cial sins were called upon TO wash
away those sins symbolically In wa
ter. Is & Z y 81 ~ 81. Ii
Others living consistent lives as
"lsraelites indeed were never in.
structed to be baptized or TO wash
away, their sins. Amongst the Apos-
tles.s Pastor Russell said. there Is no
record, of any Of them. having been
immersed IN water for tho remission
Of, sins. except st. Paul. and he only
because he had prosecuted the Church
Of Christ. The baptism into Christ
announced for Gentle converts is
wholly different, he declared. from the
Jewish baptism. for the. remission Of
sins: An Illustration Of this, he sald.
Is found In ACES xviii. q. 25., where
Apollos had baptized certain Gentiles
Of Ephesus' with Johns baptism for
the remission Of Sins. St. Paul after.
ward, declared this incorrect and III.
rectcd them to lie immersed tnsain-
not for the omission Of sins. but for
Induction INTO the Body Of Christ,
which Is tile Church. tActs xiS l.Gl
But the chief point Which Pas.
tor Russell made against the Chris.
dan.Dlsclple theory. TINT Baptism Is
for the remission Of sins. was that it
naturally dis.felowships NIL Christians
who have not been immersed. The
Iloglc of this theory. be declared. would
find few supporters In the Christian
Disciple denomination. The logic Of 1t
is, this: If immersion is necessary for
m udut in order that his sins may
be RENTED or washed AWAY. 1t would
logically follow TINT MI adults not I'M.
mcrsed are yet in their slns-unforgiv.
en-. And this signifies. according TO
this theory. that. II they die thus they
must suffer the penalty of their sins.
which penalty. they say. is eternal
torture.
Baptist Theory In Error
Next the Baptist theory Of Baptism
was dealt with. 1t was comp!imented
as being more nearly In line with the
Scriptures than any theory Of Baptism
held In the world! And yet. snil the
speaker. remarkably few Baptists to;
day could or do stand by their theory.
IL put to the test Nevertheless. In
theory and practice. the great mass Of
BaptisIs declare that immersion Is n
necessary incidental to admission to
the Church Of the Living God. whose
names are written In heaven!" 4
In full keeping with this. In nine. out
of every ten Baptist Churches the
world over. only immersed Christians
are ever invited to the communion tn.
BILE to participate in the Lords Sup.
per. Why? Because they claim TINT
only immersed persons belong to the
true Church and that the communion
service Is exclusively for the Church.
Eve ask them what nre the ndvan
tagcs claimed for membership In ths
Church, they REPRESENTATION! What
is the antitbesis or opposite of saliva
ton? we ask. They answcr-Lost
What do you mean by losy we inquire
The reply Is. To be banIsllcd from Got
md suffer everlasting torture.
So then. theoretically. our Dnp;is
friends deliver to the unimmcrsed III.
same blood.curdllng theory handed on
by -Disciples-thnt Catholics
Luthernns. rresbyterians. Metl,odlsts
Congrcgationallsts. etc..9 are enrout
for eternal torture. The difference lie
tween the two theories is that the Dis
ciplcs say that this awful fate impcnd
upon the masses Of Christcndom, IL
well MS upon heathcndom, because thci
sins have not been forgiven, while tn
Baptists say,, No. not for that cause
for Jesus, died for nil. Aut bccaus
they hnve not tnien the necessary step
to get into the. Church. %.
Times Of Such Ignorance"
| st. Paul tells us of certain times 0
Ignorance which God winked att o
disregarded. We believe that the Al
mighty gr;lciously Overlooked such In
consistcncIes In the theories Of som
Of Ills children and charged them no
with the responsibility of SO terribl,
!. mnligning the Divine Character am
misreprescnting the Divine Word. BIZ
now our God Is opening the eyes o
our understanding aud there is n
longer excuse for any to believe sue
monstrous theories. nor excuse to Sti
| nrOfnss TO believe them n ftpr thny In y