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    citation , it must equally apply to all the Chrtstian commands which are mC 0 tibned in the same connexion whicb , I apprehend , no Christian will imag ine . . _„ .. . ,.,. - _ of this institution

    The object seems evidently to have been no other than the adoption of the Christian profession * it was the introductory act of submission to Christ . This appears in the subsequent history , in which we are informed that persons on

    believing and being baptized were ranked in the number of the disciples ; but without submission to this introductory requisition they were not so regarded ; it formed , if I mistake not , the line of distinction between the decided professor of Christianity and him who had not yet made that profession . This , therefore , was its

    leading use , and , I apprehend , it was necessary thus by a peculiar act appropriated to that purpose to separate the decided and avowed professors of Christianity from the mass of the community . Other acts which had not this for their sole and proper object ,

    such as an occasional or even frequent attendance at the assemblies of Christians , might be of a dubious and indeterminate nature , arising from various motives ; and when such a mode for the adoption of his profession had been expressly enjoined by Christ , they

    could at least be but preparatory to that measure . Besides this leading use of drawing a line of distinction between the decided professors of Christianity and the rest of mankind , which is obvious in the state of persecution to which the former were exposed , the

    command , in the peremptory terms in which it is expressed , Mark xvi . lfi , must operate as a powerful stimulus to examination into the grounds of the authority with which it was uttered , and to follow up conviction with

    submission and general obedience . A society thus formed would be mutually united to support and animate each ° ther in their Christian course , in opposition to the frowns and allurements <> r the surrounding world . And such

    appears to have been the actual state Wi ^ first Christian communities . mule many of the impurities contracted durin g their past lives wouldnecess y remain to be gradually purged > they soon became genera ] ly disun ffuishcd as " a peculiar people zeal-

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    ous of good Works , " whose mutual love and benignity of conduct toward their very enemies became the object even of their admiration . Whereas , if no such decided test of their Christian

    faith and fidelity had been prescribed , the body of avowed professors , which became so numerous and powerful that all the powers of darkness could not prevail against them , would probably have been comparatively few . Great numbers , not feeling themselves

    called upon to come to any certain and absolute decision , would have remained in suspense , halting between two opinions , or concealing their faith till a more convenient opportunity should offer for its avowal 3 and in this state of things neither the doctrine nor the influences of

    Christianity could have flourished under the obstacles with which it had to contend In short , it may reasonably be questioned whether , without this peremptory call of Christ upon his followers to forsake the vanities of the Heathen world by an express and unequivocal act of enlistment into his service , that

    glorious victory which his soldiers , thus formed and marshalled , obtained over the votaries of idolatry and vice would ever have been achieved , and whether the latter would not have maintained their original ascendency .

    Now in what respects and to what extent are these advantages of baptism applicable to the present state of society ? The Christian name , from being the object of opprobrium , is now become popular , and many from their earliest years are trained up in

    an acquaintance with the Christian Scriptures . This constitutes an important difference between the circumstances of society in this and several other countries at the present time , with respect to Christianity and those to whom it was first introduced .

    But whereas they were under inducements to reject that religion without giving it an impartial examination , or to abstain from openly professing it when convinced of its truth , we are liable to the opposite extreme of

    embracing it in those forms in which it happens to be presented to us , without duly weighing its evidences and its obligations , or endeavouring to rescue it from those errors in doctrine and practice with which it has been adulterated . It is surely improper that our

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    Mr . Pme on Moral Uses of Perpetual Baptism . 735

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1826, page 735, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2555/page/35/