Book Description

Excerpt from Scripture Mode of Baptism, Vol. 1 of 2: Ascertained to Be Sprinkling IT is natural to expect some apology for engaging in the discussion of the subject of baptism at the present time, when there is so much said 'and written upon that perplexing controversy. Mine is, I have long felt the need of a work on baptism, suited to the wants of common readers, who compose the mass of community, as well as a large majority of church members. So far as I am acquainted, most of the works extant are, in my Opinion, either too long or too learned to suit that respectable class of readers or they are too short to afford the infor mation necessary upon that difficult subject. Rendered difficult by so much discussion of a character better calcu lated to darken the subject, and to divide the Body of Christ, than to elucidate the subject thus obviously ren dered perplexing. __besides, a standard work on baptism is still a desideratum in our branch of the Christian Church. Moreover, the present advanced state of biblical literature imperiously demands such a work. Truth is evidently in a state of continual development. It is a fact well known to Bible students generally, that a great many texts of scripture, which were formerly understood to refer to material or water baptism, evidently refer to spiritual baptism or the work of the Holy Spirit. On the heart of the believer and are still retained in some of the most popular works on baptism, and in some of the best notes and comments on the sacred pages; also in more than half the references in' our Confession of Faith. Furthermore, the great diversity of views entertained by the members of C hrist's visible church respecting an ordinance of the New Testament, is a subject of deep regret, and calls loudly upon all parties to contribute their respective mites, in the way Of Christian forbear ance and compromise, to bring about that state of recon ciliation and fraternal feeling, so desirable in this present age of advancement. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.