Baptism and feet-washing

Preface

This work has been undertaken to supply a felt want in our Lutheran Church. Ever since " The Waynesboro' Discussion," in 1879, of which debate only two thousand copies were published, we have been solicited for copies, from the East and West, and when the discovery was made that the edition was exhausted in a short time, some brethren in high position in the Church wrote to us, and urged us to prepare our arguments, on the various propositions discussed, and to publish them in separate book-form. The work now issued is an attempt to do this. This book is fuller on the propositions discussed than the debate, because we had more leisure to investigate the subjects.

Any person of ordinary intelligence can find in this work sufficient arguments for all ordinary purposes to refute those who make a dipping baptism essential to salvation, and also to convince them of our more beautiful and scriptural mode of baptism by pouring or sprinkling, as well as for the refutation of those who oppose Infant Baptism.

On Feet- Washing the treatise is quite full, and should satisfy any impartial reader that there is no such sacrament commanded in the Word of God to be practiced in the public assemblies of the Church.

The work is commended to the prayerful attention of the whole Church.

PETER BERGSTRESSER,

RocKwooD, Pa.

Introduction

This book needs no introduction. The author informs us in his preface that the book has been born of controversy, and conies forth in this new dress and enlarged enfoldment at the request of religious teachers, East and West, and in answer to a felt need in the Church. We have nothing of so comprehensive a character in the literature of the Church. We have some excellent manuals and tracts upon parts of the subject comprehended in this work, but no single volume so comprehensive in completeness and entirety of the subject as " Baptism and Feet-Washing." This work is not the child of an hour, but bears the marks of years of drudgery. Every paragraph exhibits the scholarly research and logical arrangement that characterize everything that Doctor Bergstresser has ever written. It is exhilarating, in these days of sham and pretense, to fall in with a naturalness and scholarly simplicity that make obscure things plain and the secrets of scholars common property.

Phillips Brooks, one of the greatest preachers that America has ever produced, once said, * ' Some books (7)

8 INTRODUCTION.

are friends, and bring to us suggestions ; some books are teachers, and come to us with systematic and well-ordered truth. " If I were to devote myself to the piracy of paragraphing, I know of no sentence in the English language that so truly characterizes the work that has passed my examination on " Baptism and Feet- Washing "as, " Some books are teachers, and come to us with systematic and well-ordered truth." We always value a teacher for his truth. It is so with the author ; he has but one story, and he tells it consistently from first to last, his enemies as his judges.

The work divides itself very naturally into three parts: First, The Mode of Baptism; second, The Subjects of Baptism ; and third, Feet- Washing as a Sacrament. Part first, as to The Mode of Baptism, is an old battle-field, where ecclesiastics have displayed their cleverness all down the centuries. Naturally we would expect, upon this point, little other than the threshing over of old straw ; but the reader will not have gone far into the book until he meets a delightful surprise of new faces on old truths. The new light brought to us upon the mode of Baptism is born, not of the dexterous handling of a concordance or the shrewd compilation of what has already been said and written upon the subject, but of scholarly exegesis, lifting into vision with convincing, masterly arrangement, passages hitherto omitted in the discussion of the mode of Baptism, displaying a most profound knowledge of the Word of God.

^ INTRODUCTION. 9

When we think of Dr. Dale and the small army of " and others " who have so thoroughly discussed the mode of Baptism, the tendency is to regard the final word on the mode of Baptism as spoken, and to turn a deaf ear to anything further. It may be well to remember, as suggested by another, that * * The world moves now on the principle that everything thought to be settled and established on immutable foundations is just ripe for investigation. " A very thoughtful reading of part first, The Mode of Baptism, fully justifies and verifies the suggestion, and at once demands a place and claims a most cordial and respectful hearing for the author. The chapters on the subjects of Baptism and Feet- Washing as a sacrament are especially helpful. The argument upon Infant Baptism is a marvel in clearness, and comes to us with a thoroughness of investigation that leaves no room for a demurrer. This chapter alone should place the book in every Sundayschool library in the Lutheran Church, and in the hands of every catechumen.

In part third. Feet- Washing as a Sacrament, we come upon hitherto unexplored territory. Rev. Prof. C. P. Krauth, D. D., LL.D., whose knowledge of books was far beyond that of ordinary men, when asked to cite a treatise upon the subject of Feet- Washing as a Sacrament, made answer, " I know of nothing upon the subject — have never seen nor read a treatise upon the subject." Beyond the casual reference made by the more scholarly commentators, lO INTRODUCTION.

there is no formal treatise on the subject. To the city pastor, who is never called to rub against the shrewd sophistries of the quaint assumption of feet-washing as a sacrament, this chapter may mean little ; but those pastors who are called to meet this misreading of the Divine Word will hail this third chapter as not only timely, but a downright benefaction. It is one thing to laugh at a fallacy, but quite another to disprove it. This third chapter stands out unique, not only from the rest of the volume, but from the whole realm of ecclesiastical literature, as the first thorough treatise upon the subject. It comes as the final word, for it leaves no place for an objection. It has even hopelessly divided the sect that urges feet-washing as a sacrament.

This book is good throughout, with not a dry chapter in it. Difficult things are made so plain that a novice in the study of the great doctrines that it elucidates, with it in hand, can pose as a master in the discussion of Baptism and Feet-Washing.

This book will be hailed by hundreds as not only an additional emphasis to Baptism as a sacrament, but as setting at rest forever all reasonable doubt as to its mode and subjects, and consigning to charitable forgetfulness the unscriptural assumption of feet-washing as a sacrament. This book is what Montaigne calls " vital and spermatic, not leaving the reader what he was ; he shuts the book a richer man. ' ' WILLIAM ALFRED SHIPMAN.

Johnstown, Pa.

PART L

THE MODE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.

BAPTISM AND FEET-WASHING.

Chapter I. The Definition Of Baptism

It is in the interest of truth and for the glory of God that we undertake a thorough and radical investigation of the Mode of Christian Baptism, which must be learned from the definition of the word, from its use in the sacred Scriptures, and from the nature and design of the sacrament.

The investigation is not to be conducted as though we had any doubts of the validity of our baptism, or as though we had not yet entered into the temple of truth; but it is for the purpose of unveiling the glory of the truth, which we have discovered on this important subject, that all who hear and love the truth may be fully persuaded and established in it. This we are sure will be the case with all persons who come to the investigation of this subject with unprejudiced minds; for the Spirit of truth will guide them into all truth. As St. John says : * * But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him," i John ii. 27. That is, if we have discovered the fundamental principle of truth, we shall be able to unfold this whole subject clearly, logically and scripturally, to the minds of all unprejudiced persons. But if we come to the investigation of any subject with prejudiced minds, enlisted under some sectarian shiboleth, we will not be able to discern truth from error. On this point a distinguished writer has said : ' * Let us agree to find out the truth, adhering closely to Scripture, carefully endeavoring to detect the cause of error, the first lie, which vitiates all the subsequent reasoning, and then it cannot be difficult for an unprejudiced mind to ascertain the truth," Herein lies good advice for every lover of the truth ; and we will endeavor, as ^ar as in us is, to follow it.

The great fundamental error, under which the whole Baptist system is laboring, consists in the erroneous meaning which it attaches to the Greek word baptizo^ defining it as a definite act, to dip. On the heels of this error follow a great many others, some of which we may have occasion to point out in this discussion.

It appears from what St. Paul says in i Cor. i. 17, ' ' For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, ' ' that there are some things, both in the Bible and also in nature, which are more important

THE DEFINITION OF BAPTISM. I5

than others. For instance, the finger-board pointing out the road to travelers is important ; but the road itself is more important. The signs above your stores are important ; but the goods in your stores are much more important. What benefit the sign or finger-board, if the goods be wanting or the road obstructed? So it is with baptism and the gospel. He that believeth not, though he be baptized, shall be damned. Baptism as a symbol of grace is important ; but the preaching of the gospel, by which faith is received, is more important. We do not say that grace does not accompany baptism; but St. Paul evidently laid more stress on the inner than on the outer, more on preaching the gospel than on preaching baptism, the symbol of grace. Much more would St. Paul have protested against preaching about the mode of baptism to the neglect of preaching the gospel ; turning the mode of baptism into a divine commandment, and teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Let us therefore follow the spirit of St. Paul, our apostle, the apostle of the Gentiles.

That is therefore wrong preaching which gives more prominence to the outer sign than to the inner grace ; that has more to say about the mode of baptism, the washing of feet as a religious ceremony, the shape of the hat or cap, the holy kiss, and other traditional rudiraents, than about * * the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith." Matt, xxiii. 23.

But yet it is necessary for the minister of the Word to instruct his people in the doctrines of the sacraments, which are Baptism and the Lord's Supper.

In the discussion of the mode of Christian Baptism, we will consider in regular order the position of our Baptist friends, who are forever talking and preaching of the baptism of adults by dipping. The general position taken by Baptists, whether Tunkers, Campbellites, Millerites, or all the other numerous and diversified orders into which the Baptist persuasion is divided, may be summed up in the following particulars: '* That Christian baptism is dipping, immersion, overwhelming, plunging. That baptism, both in its primary and secondary meaning, expresses dipping, and nothing else. Dipping is baptism, and baptism is dipping Dipping only is baptism. ' ' That this is a fair statement of the Baptist position can be proved by opening any of their standard works on the subject.

We here lay down the plain proposition that the words of the Bible must be interpreted according to the meaning which the sacred writers attach to them. When we read a book, and desire to understand the author, we must interpret his words by the evident sense in which he employs them. We are not permitted to read obsolete meanings into his words, when he uses them in another well-received sense. So with the word baptizo. It has two meanings, a classical and a scriptural. We must not read the classical into the scriptural, or the scriptural into the

THE DEFINITION OF BAPTISM. 1 7

classical ; the primary into the secondary, or the secondary into the primary. In the old classics baptizo means to sink something to the bottom of some fluid or element, and to leave it there, there being nothing in the original word to bring up that which was sunk to the bottom. Of this use of the word examples will be furnished further on.

There is a Greek word which signifies this double action, which is bapto^ but bapto is never used in any passage of Scripture where the ordinance of baptism is mentioned. The word for the sacrament of baptism is always baptizo. With the word dip our Baptist friends also frequently associate the words immerse^ plunge^ overwhelm^ etc., as if these were synonymous with dip and explanatory of baptizo. This is done to cover up the weakness of their position in asserting that the Greek word baptizo^ throughout all the Greek classics and the Bible, means dippings and nothing else. That this is a fair statement of the Baptist position can be proved by opening any of their standard works on the subject. In order to see this charge fully developed and proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, turn to James W. Dale, D. D., on Classic Baptism, a work which cannot be too highly estimated for settling forever this disputed word.

Now, before entering upon the discussion of this illogical and unscriptural position, which confounds baptizo with bapto^ we will say once for all, that we do not find fault with our Baptist friends for choosing to perform their baptism by dipping. This is a liberty of which we do not wish to deprive them. But the arrogant assumption with which it is sought to brand our baptism as not valid but profane, and the unwarrantable exclusiveness of denying us a place in the visible Church, or any good hope of heaven, we cannot give place to by subjection — no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel may continue with us. We stand therefore entirely on the defensive in this discussion, and demand the proof, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. But we fear that the unity of the faith can never be secured on the Baptist basis, unless we all become immersionists against our honest convictions. We hold firmly to the Sacrament of Baptism, but administer it by affusion or sprinkling.

Chapter II. John S Baptism

Baptists endeavor to prove their position, that Baptism is dipping, and nothing else, by John's Baptism. The passages of Scripture mostly relied on are these : * * John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins," Mark i. 4, 5. ** And were baptized of him in Jordan," Matt. iii. 6,

Suppose we should admit, for the sake of argument, that John did dip in the river of Jordan, how would that prove that Christian Baptism is dipping, and nothing else? For if this was Christian Baptism, then John the Baptist, not Christ, instituted Christian Baptism. Who then did institute Christian Baptism? Christ instituted Christian Baptism, when he said to his disciples : " Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.

The idea of Christian Baptism is poorly illustrated by putting a person into water and drawing him out ; for ritual Baptism is a symbol agency, and not an enveloping element. Christian Baptism is a symbol of grace. The symbol is to be applied to the subject, and not the subject to the symbol element. The symbol is pure water, applied to the subject in the name of the Triune God, and the grace thus symbolized is the Holy Ghost, by whom alone we are brought into a permanently saved state or condition. As the Holy Spirit is applied to the subject, so also ought the water to be applied. * * For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit," i Cor. xii. 13.

Such baptism is certainly not clearly illustrated by the act of dippings putting one into this body, which is Christ, and withdrawing; but by Christian Baptism we are put into a permanent condition or state in Christ, which is never to be disturbed. Dipping does not illustrate a permanent state. But Christian Baptism is a permanent state of rest in Christ ; * * for we who have believed do enter into his rest, ' ' Heb. iv. 3. The Holy Spirit does not dip us into Christ, put into and withdrawn, but when He baptizes us into Christ, He puts us into a permanently saved condition, putting His laws into our hearts, and writing them in our minds, by which we are enabled to love and serve God in Christian liberty. Ritual Baptism only symbolizes this glorious condition ; but it is the

Holy spirit who pours the pure water of life into the soul. A dipping Baptism does not at all illustrate this idea, and therefore it is a worthless symbol, and never used in the Scriptures, because it leads the soul away from the true idea of Christian Baptism, making it to consist in the mere act or mode of its administration .

Christian Baptism therefore consists in the application of water to a subject in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, according to the divine command, as a symbol of spiritual purification, and as a token of Christian privileges. It is the sacrament of initiation into the visible church. The outer form of Baptism was not new when even Christian Baptism was introduced. It was connected with former Jewish ceremonies, as we shall see in the discussion of our subject. In the Old Testament there were washings and purifyings, which in the New Testament are called baptisms; and John the Baptist made use of water-baptism as a symbol of repentance and the remission of sins. That is, all who promised to repent of their sins, and to look to the Messiah for the remission of sins, John baptized with water. But Christ implanted in this ordinance a new signification, which is expressed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. By Christian Baptism we are to be received into fellowship with the Triune God. John's Baptism was therefore only a preparation for Christan Baptism.

This is evident from the fact that John's disciple^ were re-baptized with Christian Baptism. If * ' all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem ' ' were baptized by John, it is highly probable that many of the * * three thousand, ' ' who were baptized with Christian Baptism on the day of Pentecost, had been among John's disciples.

But what shall we say of the twelve disciples of John, who were rebaptized by the order of St. Paul at Ephesus? Paul asked them, " Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said. Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them," Acts xix. i-6. Now, for what was this Scripture given to us, but to teach us that John's baptism was not Christian Baptism, and that the principal thing in baptism is not much or little water, but the name of the Lord Jesus and the gift of the Holy Ghost? You will therefore see clearly that, if John's baptism was even performed by dipping, it is no proof that Christian Baptism is dipping, and nothing else; for John's baptism was only a preparation for Christian Baptism. And not necessarily that; for there is no evidence that all the apostles were baptized with John's baptism.

But John himself makes a distinction between his baptism and that of which Christ should be the author. Let us read John's words: "And I knew Him not : biit He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, ' ' John i. ^^. See also Matt. iii. 13-17. The Spirit descended like a dove, and remained on Jesus. But fhe descent of a dove is like water poured out of a hand, or pitcher, or pump, upon some object. Should not the sign correspond with the thing signified? So forcibly did this point impress itself on the mind of Menno Simonis, the founder of the Mennonite church, that the greater part of that denomination have abandoned the practice of baptizing by dipping, and have introduced in its place the more scriptural, convenient, and beautiful mode of baptizing by pouring.

But we do not admit, by a good deal, that John's . baptism was performed even by dipping ; for it can be proved neither by the language employed in the transaction nor by history or tradition. The same quotation that says, ** John baptized in the river Jordan," says also, ** He baptized in the wilderness." If the former phrase means * ' to dip into the water of Jordan^ ' ' then the latter also means ' * to dip into the sand of the wilderness ;'' but if the latter means

24 BAPTISM AND FEET-WASHlNG.

the locality where John was baptizing, then the former also means locality. But that both phrases, * * in the wilderness ' ' and ' * in the Jordan^ ' ' mean locality, is evident to all those who are acquainted with the topography of the Jordan. The river Jordan has two banks on each side. The first, or inner banky is that of the river in its natural state ; and the second, or outer one, about the eighth of a mile distant, is its bank when it overflows. This overflowing is occasioned by the melting of snows on Lebanon and Hermon, in March and April. During the rest of the year, therefore, the river is in its natural state, between the inner banks, while between the inner and outer banks there is a wide space of rich pasture land, which afforded an excellent locality for the vast multitudes that frequented John's preaching. This corresponds with St. Luke's account of the matter ; * * The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ; as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, * * The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight, " Luke iii. 3, 4. John was therefore in the Jordan land, not for the purpose of dipping the people into water, but that there he might have an excellent locality to preach the baptism of repentance ; for the word, river, does not only include its water, but also its banks and its channel.

While no Baptist was ever known to base an argument for dipping on the Scripture statement that John was baptizing ** m the wilderness^'' " in Bethany, " "in Enon, ' ' yet the same identical form of statement, " in the Jordan," is made the basis of a universal argument for dipping into, covering over with water ^ although intelligent friends of the dipping theory admit that " in the Jordan " does as truly and as absolutely express locality as does * * in the wilderness." By what authority, then, is the phrase, ' ' in the Jordan, ' ' a locality, metamorphosed into * * in the water, ' ' which is no locality ; for John could not have his home in the water of Jordan, but he could, and he had, his home between the inner and the outer banks during the season he preached there his repentance baptism, which required a penitent state of mind. It was not a ritual baptism that he preached, but a repentance baptism, a penitent state of mind and heart, in which condition alone they could receive the forgiveness of their sins by believing on the Lamb of God, who was already, unconsciously to them, standing among them. There is therefore a great gulf separating John's position in relation to the river Jordan from the Baptist position. Baptists leave their preaching places, and seek out a river in whose waters they may dip by " walking in to a convenient depth, " and by dipping the upper part of the body. There is not one word of any such doing in all the history of John's ministry. Where John preached, there he baptized. When he preached in the wilderness, he baptized in the wilderness. When he preached in Bethany, he baptized in Bethany. When he preached in Enon, he baptized in Enon. When he preached in the Jordan land, he baptized in the Jordan land.

Olshausen says: " The wilderness is spoken of as the place where John preached, which is not to be understood, of course, as literally void of men, but rather as pasture grounds. But in the fact that John preached in the wilderness and not in towns, we discover the particular character of this witness of the truth. It belongs to John's character to flee from men and to preach to those that seek him; while the Redeemer Himself seeks men. The wilderness of Judea bordered on the Jordan and the Dead Sea. ' ' Olshausen thinks that the ministry and the places of John's ministry have some other characteristics than that of dipping and its conveniences. John's wilderness home, his camel's hair apparel, his locust food, his repentance preaching, all told of the severity of the law, to whose dispensation he still belonged, and of preparation for the welcome reception of grace and truth by Jesus Christ.

In view of what has now been said about the locality of * * the Jordan, ' ' the accounts given by Matthew and Mark of the baptism of Jesus by John, can be more easily understood : ' ' Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to be baptized of him, ' ' Matt. iii. 13. " And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of

John in Jordan/' Mark i. 9. Jesus came from the land of Galilee into the land of Jordan, from one locality to another, where John preached the baptism of repentance.

But what is repentance? This we must know in order to learn what John preached. John designed by his preaching to awaken in his hearers those feelings of sorrow and remorse which are excited in a sinner by a knowledge of his sinfulness and danger. By the law is the knowledge of sin. John was a preacher of the law. This was his mission. The age in which he lived was very corrupt. He was the man for the times. He was a truly great man. He was so proclaimed by the Lord Himself. John preached the law to awaken his hearers to repentance. The way of salvation is through the Law into the Gospel. " For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God," Gal. ii. 19. The law serves the gospel. The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law furnishes the moral discipline to be passed through to Christian liberty. Man in his fallen state is under the control of sin, and not under the control of holiness. Regeneration is the radical change of this governing disposition of following sin in preference to holiness and righteousness. * ' For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death," 2 Cor. vii. 10. This shows that repentance is a changed condition of man's mind. This is what John preached. He endeavored by his preaching to change the people's minds, and to turn them to the Lord. He did not preach a dipping baptism ; but he preached the baptism of repentance into the remission of sins. Or, in other words, he preached in order to bring about a condition of repentance in the minds of his hearers, and to lead them to the coming Messiah for the remission of their sins. They did not find the forgiveness of their sins in their repentance and in their baptism, but by these means they were brought into a condition to seek and find forgiveness by faith in the Lamb of God. For John cried and said, ** Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," John i. 29. But is godly sorrow an act or a condition of soul.^ It is a condition of soul, in which faith alone can spring up, by which we are enabled to lay hold of Christ and salvation. The acts of the soul proceed from the will, which, in the impenitent sinner, is inclined to evil, and is turned from sin only when the heart is made sorrowful and sad by contemplating its sinfulness. This is the poverty of spirit to which Jesus alludes in His Sermon on the Mount, where He says : * * Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, ' ' Matt.