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judgment as in submission to the prejudice of weak brethren ; but he rejoiced that he had practised so few baptisms , and he declared that baptism was not in his apostolic commission . Every reader knows , of
course , that we refer to 1 Cor . i . 13—17 , a passage of vital consequence to the subject of these Lectures , but which is not produced in the course of them , and only approached by one of the Lecturers in a Note .
Dr . Evans makes free use in his Lecture of the late Mr . Robinson ' s History of Baptism , an amusing book on a heavy ( we must not say , dry ) subject ; and , having brought the history down to the present times ,
concludes with three inferences , which none , we hope , and least of all ourselves , dispute , viz . that the Baptists are , 1 , an ancient , 2 , a respectable , and 3 , a conscientious people . The Lecturer is throughout candid to opponents , and declares himself strongly
for mixed communion , or the admission of unbaptized persons ( according * to his view of baptism ) to the Lord ' s table . It occurs to us , however , that this charitable practice takes away one of the alleged uses of baptism ,
of €€ winnowing the chaff from the wheat , " and severing " the unbelieving and immoral from the church . " P . 64 . To serve as a test of personal religion , baptism should be a constant and not an occasional ordinance .
This Lecturer quotes with high admiration Milton ' s description of baptism , in which the great poet speaks of " running' water" and " the profluent stream ; " but this will scarcely include the practice of the majority of the modern Baptists , who resort in the rite to enclosures in places of worship , called Baptisteries .
Dr . Evans does injustice ( undesignedly , we are sure , ) to Cromwell , in adopting the charge that he persecuted the pious Biddle . ( P . 46 . ) The Protector detained Biddle in prison , it is
true , but it was only to keep him out of the hands of his sanguinary persecutors ; and he allowed him an hundred crowns per annum for his subsistence . * The Dr . has also fallen into the common mistake , which surprises us
uj- " * Ti *< - i . m i . ajir i *\ ii . n m i-il . hi n ¦ . LfWI , -, M ,- , _ - , -n ¦ ¦ ¦ _ r * See Life of Biddle , 8 vo . pj > , 7 , 8 .
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in a G ^ br 0-Brifc # nf gf coufouadii ^ the ancient and modern Baqgon ( p . 41 . ) The British Bangor is on the river Dee , above the town of Holt , in Denbighshire . The second Lecturer discusses the Proper Subjects of Christian Baptism
and the Scriptural Mode of administering the Rite , with ability and tem - per . He d /> es not pretend to advance any thins : new upon these trite subjects . . The common arguments of the Baptists , which he states
perspicuously and urges with no little force , must be allowed considerable weight , even where they do not produce conviction . If we were inclined to object to any part of this Lecture , it would be to the introduction , in which he
combats Mr . Belsham ' s Plea for Infant Baptism from all Christian antiquity . We do not say that the argument of this distinguished divine is unanswerable ; but we think that the Lecturer has not hit the exact point of the argument . This strong-hold of the Psedobaptists would indeed be
destroyed if it could be proved that infant baptism was unknown to the three first centuries , or if its rise in any period within them could be ascertained : the . Lecturer fairly attempts this : we question , however , whether he himself be fully satisfied with , his success *
Mr . Chapman ingenuously admits Mr . Belsham ' s observation upon the story of Naaman , as told in the Septuagint , that " washing * and baptizing" are the same ; but urges rationally that washing- may include immersion .
( T . 101 . ) This is an important point in the controversy ; for drop the Greek and use only the English term , and the whole question will assume a different aspect . This the next Lecturer seems to be aware of , if we may judge from a note , suo more , p . 137-The third Lecturer most zealously
maintains the perpetuity of Christian Baptism . He adopts the text of the baptismal commission , Matt , xxviii . 18— , 20 , without any explanation of it , except incidentally , and without
taking any direct notice of the argument for the limitation of its injunction ia point of time , from the concluding clause , from the parallel place in Mark , and from the interpretation put upon it by the apostles , wUt > se
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548 Revie&&i ~ JForsbip' * J 3 treet jbeotmres &n Baptism *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1826, page 548, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2552/page/40/
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