The Washington herald., 1914-06-28
DIR. v. v. BAKER
ON 'SACRAMENTS'
General Principles Involved
Are Applied to Concrete
Examples.
POSITION OF WEDLOCK
Putting of Marriage Out of the Rank
4 L. nll
POSITION OF WEDLOCK
Putting of Marriage Out of the Rank
of Sacrament Has Degraded
Its Lofty Ideal.
ny DIR. w. w. BAKER.

We have now to apply the general
principles given last Sunday to concrete
examples. and see how they explain and
Justify the sacramental rites found in
all religions.
1t will be sufficient II We take as ex-
amples three of the sacraments used in
the Church Catholic. Two are recog-
nized as obligatory by all Christians,
although extreme Protestants deprive
them of their sacramental character.
giving them a declaratory and remem-
brance value only instead OF a sacra-
mental; yet even among them the heart
of true devotion wins something Of the
sacramental blessing the head denies.
The third IL not recognized as even
nominally a sacrament by Protestant
churches, though It shows the es-
sential signs Of a sacrament, as
given last Sunday in the definition In
the Catechism Of the Church of England.
The first II that of baptism: the second
that OF the eucharist; the third that of
marriage. The putting Of marriage out
OF the rank Of a sacrament has much
degraded its lofty ideal. and has led TO
much OF that loosening OF its tie that
thinking men deplore.
Sacrament of Baptism.
The sacrament Of baptism is found
in all religions, not only at the entrance
into earth-life, but more generally as a
ceremony Of publication. The ceremony
which admits the newborn or adult-in-
conner into a religion has a sprinkling
with water as an essential part OF the
rite, and this was as universal in an
cient days as 1t is now.
A few weeks after the birth OF a
Hindu child a ceremony is performed, a
part Of which consists in sprinkling the
child with water-such sprinkling enter
ing into all HiDdu worship.
In most religious communities a minor
form of baptism accompanies all religi-
Gus ceremonies, water being used as a
symbol Of purification, and the idea be-
ing that no man should enter upon wor-
ship until he has purified his heart and
conscience, the outer washing symbolic
ing the inner lustration. In the Greek
and Roman Churches a small receptacle
for holy water is placed near every
door. and every incoming worshipper
touches 1t, making with II on himself
the sign Of the cross ere he goes onward
toward the altar.
In the baptism OF initial reception into
the church. water is the material agent
employed. the great cleansing fluid in
nature. and therefore the best symbol
for publication. Over this water a man
ira is pronounced. in the English ritual
represented by the prayer. ''Sanctify this
water to the mystical washing away of
sin." concluding with the formula, In
the name Of the Father. and Of the Son.
and Of the Holy Ghost. Amen" This
is the word Of power, and II IL accom-
panied by the sign OF power, the sign
Of the cross made over the surface or
the water
The word and the sign give to the
water as before explained, a property
1t previously had not, and II is rightly
named holy water" The dark powers
VIII not approach Il; sprinkIed on the
body 1t gives a sense Of peace, and con-
veys new spiritual life When a child Is
baptised. the spiritual energy given to
the water by the word and the sign re-
inforces the spiritual life in the child
and then the word of power again IL
SPOKEN. this time over the child, ana
the sign is traced on his forehead, and
In his subtle body the vibrations are
felt' and the summons to guard the life |
thus sanctifed goes forth through the |
invisible world: for this sign is at once |
purifying and protective
Sign of Recognition.
the early church baptism was pre-
ceded by very careful preparation,
those admitted to the church being most
ly converts from surrounding faiths. A
stages Of instruction. remaining in each
grade until he had mastered its teach
ings, and he was then admitted to the
church by baptism. Only after that was
he taught the creed, which was not COM
nitted to writing, nor ever repeated in
the presence of an unbeliever; it thus
served asa sign of recognition. and a
proof of the position of the man who was
able to recite It, showing he was a bap-
tised member OF the church.
The custom of infant baptism gradu-
ally grew up in the church, and hence
the instruction which in the early days
preceded baptism came to be the prepa-
ration for confirmation, when the awak-
ened mind and intelligence took up and
reafhrmed the baptismal promises The I
reception of the infant into the church is
seen to be rightly done, when mans life
Is recognized as being lived in the three
worlds. the physical, astral and mental,
and when the spirit and soul who have
come to inhabit the newborn baby are
known to be not unconscious and unin-
tellgent, but conscious intelligent anu
potent in the invisible worlds.
We come to the second of the sacra-
nents selected for study, that Of the sac
rifce Of the eucharist. a symbol OF the