show that all of the above came from the Apostles, and were in practice as early as pedobaptism. 10. Finally, as there are no directions in the Bible respecting infant baptism, each one makes his own rules. Hence the schisms and dissensions among the defenders of it. One says it ought to be administered only to the children of believers; another says it may be given to children when but one of the parents is a professor; a third says, it may be administered on the faith of the grandfather; a fourth says it may be given to any infant, if sponsors will appear for it; a fifth, says that all infants are born holy, therefore they should be baptized irrespective of parents or sponsors. Some say that baptism saves the infant's soul; others deny this. Some say that Roman Catholic baptism is valid, others will rebaptize them. Some say that infants should be baptized, because they are members of the church; others say they should be baptized to make them church members; and these, as every man of reading knows, are but an index to the angry and endless debates, which arise from infant baptism. "Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see; and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls."-Jeremiah vi. 16. While it is thus evident that infant sprinkling is not an institution of heaven, nor a means of grace, and therefore not to be practiced; we would exhort you to dedicate your children to God by solemn prayer and Christian instruction, according to the New Testament; and in view of an approaching judgment, and the worth of their souls, we would intreat you to labor early and faithfully for their salvation. CHAPTER V. THE ACTION OF BAPTISM. SECTION Prepositions. MR. SAWYER says that sano ex èv have power to change βαπτω into χέω λουω ραντιζω ; his argument in plain English is this; the prepositions out, from, in, into, have power to change the verb dip, into dip, pour, wash, or sprinkle. To prove that βαπτω εις ( dip into,) means dip into, he quotes from the Septuagint Lev. iv, 6: ix. 9: xiv. 6: and he might have added from the New Testament, Matt. xxviii. 19: Mark i. 9: Acts viii. 16-38: Acts xix. 3-5: 1Cor. xii. 13. Mr. S. says, page 3-17, "that anо does not meanin and out of, but from and with. Hence when this preposition follows the verb fartigo it shows that the liquid employed, is used in some other way than by dipping." To prove that anо does not mean out of, he quotes Matt. iii. 16. "Jesus when he was baptized went up straightway ano (out of) the water." Mark i. 10; "Jesus was baptized of John in Jordan, and straightway coming up ano out of the water." But if these passages prove any thing, they prove Mr. Sawyer sadly mistaken. To show that ano does not mean in, and that it even has power to change Barro, dip, into sprinkle, he quotes four texts from the Septuagint, in which he says the word fanto is followed by Ex. xii. 22, " And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop και βαψαντές απο του αιματοσ,and dip it in the blood." Lev. iv. 17, “και βαψει ὁ ιερευς τον δακτυλον απο του αίματος, and the priest shall dip his finger in [some] of the blood." Lev. xiv. 16, και βαψει τον δακτυλον τον δεξιον από του shaou, and the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil." Deut. xxxiii. 24, " βαψει εν ελαίω τον ποδα αυτον απο dip his foot in oil." It is obvious that Bayer is not followed by anо in Deut. xxxiii. 24, but by sv; hence this text is not only misrepresented, but misquoted, and in the other three, the inviolate meaning of faл dip, is preserved, and ano rendered in: and it is a singular fact, that at Lev. xiv. 15, 16, the three words pour, dip and sprinkle occur in succession, to describe three distinct acts of the same service; thus showing their contradistinction in Hebrew and Greek, as well as in English. We presume Mr. Sawyer made the best selection he could, yet so far from disproving immersion, he has altogether sustained it; for the six texts quoted by him read, "dip in, dip in, dip in, dip in, went up out of the water, coming up out of the water." Mr. Sawyer has made equally wretched work with ax and ev. (See his CRITICAL DISSERTATION, p. 14 -17.) He assures us that & means at or with; hence baptizing εν ιορδανην and εν υδατι means baptizing with Jordon, and baptizing at water. But as he admits, p. 3, that the meaning of fartigo is to dip, it must be obvious to every reader, that dipping with Jordan, and dipping at water, is as foreign from scripture language, as it is from common sense. To reply in particular to each of Mr. Sawyer's errors, would swell this volume beyond its design; therefore we say, the English language has about fifty prepositions, to each of which have been given from five to thirty different meanings, and the law of languages allows the use of one preposition for another. Thus, "I lodge at the City Hotel. That is, I lodge in, not in the street by the side of the Hotel." The Greeks have but eighteen prepositions. It is therefore more necessary that one should often be changed for another, and that each should be used in several varieties. Still, every preposition has its appropriate use. The primary meaning of ax is out of; but it has five other meanings; is in, but it has eleven other meanings; es means into, yet it has eleven others. Still, all grammarians say that each preposition has but one primary meaning, into which all the other significations arising from figurative or analogical relations may be resolved. But as Mr. Sawyer prefers deciding the meaning of words by the inspired text, (see p. 2,) we will examine, a few chapters of the Septuagint, where baptism is not the subject matter of discourse. Genesis i. 1 : εν αρχή "in, not near to the beginning;" verse 11, "Whose seed is ev avτw, in, not at or near by ;" verse 12, "Whose seed was εv auto, in, not at itself;" verse 14, "And God said, Let there be lights ev tw σteqwuati, in, not at the firmament. It is true that our translators have rendered & with, at Matt. iii. 11: Mark i, 8: and a few other places; and it is equally true, that in doing so they have taken the twelfth meaning instead of its primary. Gen. vii. 1: Come thou and all thy house sis tηy xißorov, into, not on or by the ark. Psa. ix. 17: The wicked shall be turned es, into, not at or near by hell. Prov. iii. 4: Who hath ascended up eis, into, Dan. vi. 16: Daniel was cast Jonah i. 12: Jo not on or by heaven. nah was cast es, into, not near to the sea. Matt. v. 13: And the herd ran violently down a steep place sis tr Balassav, and were choked in, not at or by the sea, on dry ground. Matt. xxv. 46: These shall go away ɛs, into, not upon everlasting punishment, and the righteous sus, into, not towards life eternal. Mark i. 9: Jesus was baptized of John sus, into, not by or towards Jordan. Acts viii. 39: Philip and the eunuch came up ex rov idaros, out of the water. But enough has been said, to show that Mr. Sawyer's views of Greek prepositions would ruin the Bible. SECTION 11 Mosaic Baptisms 2 Kings v. 10: Elisha said unto Naaman, Go and , kousai, bathe in Jordan seven times. The word here used in Hebrew and Greek is one which definitely means to wash the whole body, in distinction from those words used to denote washing of clothes or parts of the body, as hands, face, or feet. Verse 14: Then went he down and b, dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God. Parallel cases of washing by dipping constantly occur in the Old Testament, and frequently in the New. Acts xxii. 16: Arise and fantiσαι xαι aлolouças, be immersed, and wash away thy sins. Rom. vi. 4: Therefore WE Συνετάφημεν, are buried with him by baptism. The plural pronouns, we and us, evidently include Paul with others baptized. So Paul declares that he was immersed. Had Naaman and Paul understood and louça as Mr. Sawyer does, (p. 5,) the joint action of pouring and affusion," they would not have been b, Evroaлto, immersed, buried in water. The Jews so far from understanding and fanDĚNÍ to mean pouring or sprinkling, even understood nam, bathe, and love, wash, to mean immerse, as is evident from their best ancient authors, and the concessions of able pedobaptists. .."Every person baptized or dipped, whether he were washed from pollution, or baptized unto proseFytism, must dip his whole body at one dipping; and wheresoever in the law washing of the body or garments is mentioned, it means nothing else."-Maimomides Mikvaot, chapt. 3. "Although the baptism practiced by John and the apostles did not in all circumstances resemble those |