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most of the corruptions of the genuine doctrine of Christ have arisen . The forms used in the administering of the rite of baptism at the close of the second century , are described in the following passage * collected from various parts of Tertullian's works : " The candidate having been prepared for its due reception by frequent prayers , fasts , and vigils , professed in the presence of the congregation and under the hand of the President , that he renounced the devil , his pomp and
angels-. He was then plunged into the water three times , in allusion to the three persons of the holy Trinity ; making certain responses which , like the other forms here mentioned , were not prescribed in Scripture , but rested on custom and tradition . He then tasted a mixture of milk and honey—was anointed with oil , in allusion to the practice , under the Mosaic dispensation , of anointing those who were appointed to the priesthood , since all Christians are in a certain sense supposeu to be priests—and was signed with the sign of the cross . Lastly followed the imposition of hands ; the origin of which
ceremony is referred by our author to the benediction pronounced b y Jacob on the sons of Joseph . With us the imposition of hands is deferred till the child is brought to be confirmed ; but in Tertullian ' s time , when a large proportion of the persons baptized were adults , confirmation immediately followed the administration of baptism , and formed a part of the ceremony . It was usual for the baptized person to abstain during the week subsequent to his reception of the rite from his daily ablutions . Some also contended that baptism ought to be followed by fasting ; because our Lord immediately after his baptism fasted forty days and forty nights . But our author replies that
baptism is in fact an occasion of joy , inasmuch as it opens to us the door of salvation . Christ ' s conduct in this instance was not designed to be an example for our imitation , as it had a particular reference to certain events which took place under the Mosaic dispensation . In commenting upon the parable of the prodigal son , Tertullian calls the ring which the father directed to be put upon his hand the seal of baptism ; by which the Christian , when interrogated , seals the covenant of his faith . The natural inference from these words appears to be , that a ring used to be given in baptism : but I have found no other trace of such a custom . Tertullian alludes to the custom of
having sponsors ; who made in the name of the children brought to the font those promises which they were unable to make for themselves . " By Daille , Peirce , and many others , it has been maintained that the baptismal use of the sign of the cross was unknown in Tertullian ' s time ; and that it was " the contrivance of the fifth century or the latter end of the fourth . " It is certainly remarkable , that in the treatise De Baptismo , where he professedly enumerates the ceremonies used in baptism , Tertullian has
not said a word respecting this superstitious usage . Yet as confirmation was anciently given immediately after baptism , and as the learned Professor observes , and Mr . Peirce himself allows , formed a part of the ceremony , the signing with the sign of the cross , which preceded the imposition of hands , must be reckoned as a baptismal usage practised at the end of the second century . The Church of England , however , in her forms undoubtedly departs from ancient custom in separating , by a wide interval , confirmation from baptism , and by using the sign of the cross in the latter , and not in the former of these rites .
With respect to the giving of a ring in baptism , we are not at all surprised that the Right Reverend Author has not been able to find any " other trace of such a custom ; " we rather wonder how he could regard the existfiftce of such a custom as a natural inference from Tertulliah ' s words . If he mil look again at the passage ; in the treatise De Pndicitia , to which , he refers , we think he will perceive that he has misapprehended its meaning * In that
Untitled Article
Review . r ~* Dr . Raye * s Tertulliah . 513
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1827, page 513, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1798/page/41/
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