those of the Egyptians were in the form of lions, the heads of oxen, calves, and asses. The illustration, taken from a tomb at Thebes, belonging to the time of Thothmes III., represents the weighing of a considerable quantity of circular ingots. Other Egyptian balances have instead of scales only hooks, to which bags or other objects were attached. [Paxton, "Illus Egyptian Balance and Weights. (Lepsius.) trations," 1., p. 342; Rosellini's "Mon. Civ. Tav.," tom. ii.; Lepsius' "Denkmäl," iii. 1. Abth. iii. B.C 39, &c.] BALD'NESS. The loss of hair may be a sign of disease, or of age. Baldness was often caused by artificial means among the heathen, a practice which the Jews were forbidden to imitate [Lev. xix. 27; xxi. 5; Deut. xiv. 1]: it was produced also by shaving or plucking off the hair, in token of sorrow and mourning [Isa. xxii. 12; Jer. vii. 29; xvi. 6; Amos viii. 10]. BALD LOCUST. [See LOCUST.] BALM, OR BAL'SAM. Two Hebrew words(pronounced basam, besem, and bosem), or by (baal shemen), and or y (tzari or z'ri)—have been translated as "balm" in the authorised version of the Scriptures. The word basam, however, denotes at times fragrance in general and spices, as in Exod. xxxv. 28; 1 Kings x. 10; but in some passages of the Song of Solomon, these names most probably denote a particular plant. Thus we read, v. 1, "I gathered my myrrh with my basam;" and in verse 13, and also in vi. 1, "basam beds" are mentioned. The Arabic name balesan leaves no room for a doubt that the true balsam shrub is here meant, our word balsam, like the Greek balsamon, being derived from it. The balsam shrub was one of the most celebrated and highly esteemed among the ancients. Pompey boasted of having had it borne in triumph. Dioscorides and Pliny notice three species of plants, differing as to height, strength, bark, and foliage. Botanists have distinguished the Amyris Gileadensis from the Amyris opobalsamum or balsam of Mecca. Carthage has also its Amyris sylvatica. Others, however, admit only one true balsam tree-the Amyris opobalsamum-and trace the synonym of balsam of Gilead to a mistranslation of the word tzeri or zeri. The true balsam is a native of Southern Arabia, and was only cultivated in Judea. Theophrastus, Pliny, and others, speak of it only as a cultivated plant, and Josephus describes the cultiva tion as limited to the plains of Jericho. But in Abdullatif's time it was no longer to be found in Palestine, and was only cultivated at Ain Shems (Spring of the Sun), in Egypt. Belon, in the early part of the sixteenth century, saw balsam gardens at Matariyah, near Cairo, or Kahira. Gerlach, as quoted by Bergius, found the tree that produced the balsam of Mecca confined to a small tract of sandy, rocky soil, near Bederhunin, between Mecca and Medina. Forskal, a competent authority, found the plant growing near Har, where it was termed abasham, or abusham. He also described another species, which he called Amyris kafal, from its Arabic name. Strabo described the balsam as growing on the coast near Saba, in the happy land of the Sabæans; but Bruce considors its original native country to have been that part of the African coast near the Straits of Bab-el-Mandel, which bears the name of Azab, and whence it must, like the coffee plant, a native of Kaffa, have been transported to Arabia Felix, and thence to Judea. Professor Royle considered the tzeri, zeri, or zori (also rendered “balm" in the authorised version), to have been the oil of the zakum or zukkum tree, sometimes called the Jericho plum-tree, and also the Jerusalem willow, oleaster, or wild olive tree-the Eleagnus angustifolius of Linnæus, and well known to travellers. This is the balm of Gilead conveyed by the Ishmeelite merchants, to whom Joseph was sold, to Egypt. Jeremiah, in viii. 22; xlvi. 11; li. 8, notices it as a remedy for healing wounds, brought from Gilead; and Maundrell and other travellers speak of the Arabs as preferring it to the balsam of Mecca, as more efficacious against contusions and wounds. The balm of Gilead is supposed by some to be the Myrobalanus of Pliny and other ancient writers; but by others, the fruit of Melia azadirachta, or that of Hyperanthera moringa, or H. aptera, are considered as the true Myrobalanus of the ancients. There is no reason to doubt that in former times the zukkum tree was to be found in abundance in Gilead (the modern Jel'ad). Professor Robinson ("Bib. Res.," ii., 290) observes:-"The Myrobalanum alone appears still to thrive here, being probably identical with the tree called by the Arabs zukkum." writer has seen it as far north as the Vale of Antioch. The We must distinguish, then, between the balsam of Mecca, a plant formerly cultivated in Judea, and known as basam and baal shemen, and the balm of Gilead, known as tzeri, or zeri. With the corruption of names constantly going on, balm is now applied to a species of melissa, a labiated plant; and a kind of turpentine, the produce of a fir tree, is called balm of Gilead. Of balsams we have the balsam of Copaiba, of Peru, and of Tolu, the balsam apple and balsam tree. The word has, indeed, become significative of soothing and healing virtues in plants in general. BA'MAH, a high place, a word of frequent use in Hebrew [Ezek. xx. 29], but translated in our version. The passage referred to is very obscure, and it is quite uncertain what is the place meant. [See HIGH PLACES.] stations of the Israelites. It was in the territory of BA'MOTH, the plural of the preceding, one of the the Moabites, and no doubt in a valley [Numb. xxi. 19, 20]. Baal. It is taken to be the same as Bamoth BA'MOTH-BA'AL, the high places of Baal. So the Hebrew, in Numb. xxii. 41, and Josh. xiii. 17. This place is usually identified with Bamoth [which see], and was part of the allotment of Reuben. It appears and dark blue. Standards amongst the Egyptians to have been situate upon the Arnon. The name were of various kinds; sometimes they were poles surpoints it out as one of the places counted specially mounted by figures in relief of the sacred animals in sacred by the Moabite worshippers of Baal. [See BAAL.] bronze or brass; at other times they were square BAND. This word has various meanings. Properly, boards, on which carved devices, such as wrestlers, it is something which binds, and then something bound boxers, were painted, and the names and titles of the or united together, as a band of men or animals [Gen. monarch were cut. Those which resembled the labaxxxii. 7; Exod. xxxix. 23; Acts x. 1, &c.]. The word rum of the later Roman Empire, had two pendent is sometimes used metaphorically, of sorrow, as Ps. streamers. According to the Rabbis, the device of the lxxiii. 4; or moral and spiritual influences [Eccles. vii. tribe of Judah was a lion; that of Reuben, a man; of 26; Hos. xi. 4; Zech. xi. 7]. The verb to band" Ephraim, an ox; of Dan, an eagle. Fans, or high flabella, have often been confounded with standards; and may, indeed, have formed the standards around the monarch. [See monuments in British Museum.] The Assyrian standard seems to have been borne in the chariot of the monarch, and consisted of an upright pole surmounted by a disc of open work, in which are two different emblems, one a divinity, Ashur, standing occurs in Acts xxiii. 12. lent to BA'NI, from a root signifying "to build," or equiva(banith), "posterity.' 1. A Gadite, one of David's mighty men [2 Sam. xxiii. 36]. 2. A Levite, the descendant of Merari, and a forefather of Ethan, one of those appointed singers by David [1 Chron. vi. 46], Six hundred and forty-two of his descendants returned from the captivity [Ezra ii. 10]; some of them had married strange wives [x. 29, 34]. He is called also Binnui [Neh. vii. 15]. 3. A descendant of Pharez, of the tribe of Judah [1 Chron. ix. 4]. 4. A Levite, the father of Rehum, one of those who rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem after the Captivity [Neh. iii. 17]. 5. A Levite, who caused the people to understand the law," when it was read by Ezra [Neh. viii. 7]; who made a religious confession [ix. 4, 5]; and who sealed the covenant [x. 14]. 6. Another Levite, who made a religious confession [Neh. ix. 4]. 7. A son of Bani [Ezra x. 38]. 8. The father of Uzzi, overseer of the Levites at Jerusalem [Neh. xi. 22]. 66 BANISHMENT. [See EXILE.] 5 BANK. 1. The bank or margin of a river; 2. An embankment, or mound of earth; 3. A place for the deposit [Luke xix. 23] and exchange of money [Mark xi. 15]. In the last sense the word is derived from one signifying a "bench," or "seat," because bankers originally sat on benches in public, with tables before them, to receive and exchange money. [See ExCHANGER.] This form of bank for money-changers may still be seen in the south of France, as at Toulouse, where the writer has witnessed it; thus vividly illus- 1. Banner of goddess Isis. 2. With Ibis of god Thoth. trating the allusions to the money-changers in the New Testament [Matt. xxi. 12]. [See MONEY-CHANGER.] The Greek word translated "bank" means a table." Bankers were an important class in the Roman state, and were under special and peculiar laws. BAN'NER. The name of the ensign borne by the Hebrews is D (nays), supposed by some to have been a pole, surmounted by a flag or streamer, placed on an elevation, such as a mountain top, to call the people to arms, and equivalent to the modern standard [Isa. v. 26; xiii. 2; xviii. 3]; but, according to others, it had no flag. Michaelis even considers that the word may have signified a blazing torch. The word nays properly means an elevated signal, and is applied to the pole on which the brazen serpent was raised [Numb. xxi. 8]. It is probably the same as that represented in the Egyptian sculptures on the top of forts hostile to the Egyptians, in the shape of a pole, having above a kind of shield-shaped object which the Egyptian kings make their target. According to the Talmudists, it was also the maritime standard, which, in the Egyptian sculptures, is of a similar form, placed at the head of the mast. An ensign or banner called (degel) was borne by each of the four divisions of army, being respectively white, purple, crimson, 5225 the EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN BANNERS. ("Description de l'Egypt.") 3. 4. With name of Thethmes IV. 5. Bearing as emblem two wrestlers. 6. On a fort. (Rosellini.) 7, 8. Assyrian -Kouyunjik Sculptures. (Bri ish Museum.) on a bull and drawing a bow; the other a flower, and BAN'QUET, BAN'QUETING. [See FEASTING.] word is generally, but not invariably used by the And 66 to hold, as the washing (Barrioμovs) of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and beds " [Mark vii. 4. See also Heb. vi. 2; ix. 10]. The word is now exclusively applied to the sacrament of baptism-the initiatory rite of the Church. Baptism is of two kinds-adult baptism, and infant baptism or pædobaptism, from the Greek word παιδίον, an infant." Of these, adult baptism must be considered to be the original and typical form, and infant baptism to be an application of the sacrament to the modified circumstances of a Christian church. A consideration of the first is, therefore, necessary to a proper understanding of the questions involved in the second. Adult baptism may be regarded in two aspects, historical and doctrinal. The history of the sacrament first claims attention. I. The authority of the ordinance rests upon the institution of Christ himself. The Church of England accordingly distinguishes baptism, in common with the Lord's Supper, from the five spurious sacraments of the Church of Rome, by this as one of the two necessary conditions of a sacrament, that it was ordained by Christ himself. The formal enactment is thus recorded by the Evangelist: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" [Matt. xxviii. 19]. These words have accordingly constituted the formula of baptism in the Church of Christ ever since, with some trivial exceptions. Among the latter were the Tritheists, who baptised in the name of three unoriginated principles; the followers of Menander and Montanus, who added their own names to the formula; of Sabellius, who baptised into one person only; of the Marsosians, or Marcites, who baptised in the name of the unknown Father; and one or two other insignificant bodies of early heretics. The Valentinians, Manicheans, and some others, rejected the validity of baptism altogether. But these exceptions are only important enough to illustrate the general use of the sacrament, and of the primitive formula in the Church. It is, however, deserving of notice that, while our Lord instituted baptism by water as the rite of admission into his Church, he has nowhere supplied any explanation of the rite, nor any directions for the mode of its administration. His silence on these points indicates that the ordinance itself was not then for the first time originated, but was already familiar to his hearers. This conclusion is confirmed by the language used by the Jews relative to the baptism of John, the first mention of the sacrament in the New Testament. Their question was not what was the meaning of baptism, but what the authority in which John adWhy baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?" [John i. 25]. The explanation is supplied by the unanimous testimony of the Jewish writers, that baptism was already in use among the Jews. Thus, Maimonides asserts, and the Babylonian Talmud confirms the assertion, that the admission of a proselyte involved three things-circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice. The Jewish expositors of the law teach that the whole congregation of Israel were baptised before the law was given on Mount Sinai. This they consider to have been commanded by God in Exod. xix. 10: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes." Sanctify them," ɔnw❤ (kiddashtam); in the Septuagint, äyvσov aurous, purify them." "By three things," says Maimonides, "did Israel enter into covenant: by circumcision, and baptism, and sacrifice. Circumcision was in Egypt, ministered it: as it is written, 'No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof' [Exod. xii. 48]. Baptism was in the wilderness just before the giving of the law; as it is written, ' Sanctify them to-day and to-morrow' [Exod. xix. 10]; and sacrifice, as it is said, And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings' [Exod. xxiv. 5]." The same rule they therefore applied to a proselyte. Objections have been raised as to the accuracy of these statements by Winer, De Wette, and others; but their credibility is confirmed by the admitted fact that the heathen were familiar with baptism, and that it formed a part of initiation into the ancient mysteries. We have inspired authority for the statement that the escape of Noah, and the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, were typical of baptism [1 Cor. x. 1; 1 Peter iii. 21]. These statements account for the absence of detailed explanation from our Lord's institution of the sacrament, and show that he did not originate a new rite, but gave authority and significance to one which already existed. 66 The narratives of the Evangelists and of the Acts of the Apostles illustrate the mode in which both Christ himself and his followers acted on the inspired declaration, "He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved" [Mark xvi. 16]. In the early establishment of the Church it appears that persons were baptised immediately, on making a simple profession of faith, such as that which the Ethiopian eunuch expressed to Philip, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" Acts viii. 37]. But as the Church emerged from the persecutions of the early days, it was found necessary to adopt further precautions against insincerity and corrupt motives in the candidates for baptism. A period of preparatory instruction and examination was interposed, which was sometimes extended to two years. Candidates for baptism were called catechumens (Karnxovμevoi), and the persons especially appointed to instruct them catechists. The sacrament was not administered till the candidate, in the most solemn manner, had made a public renun ciation of sin, had entered into covenant with Christ, and made a profession of faith. Sponsors were required, who were called patrini, or susceptores, and whose office it was to watch over the spiritual life of the candidate, both before and after baptism. These precautions were rendered necessary by the cessation of persecution, the adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, and the growing tendency to profess it from worldly and ambitious motives. It will be seen how closely the course of proceeding adopted by the Protestant churches, alike in home and foreign missionary work, follows the primitive model. As the Church of Rome, however, gradually developed herself into her peculiar doctrinal characteristics, the tendency to administer baptism indiscriminately, without any security for the personal faith and sincerity of the recipient, appeared among other corruptions, and continues to be a distinguishing feature of her missionary operations to the present day. We shall see that this follows necessarily from the doctrinal principles on which she is founded. The sacrament of baptism was never administered a second time, except in the case of some heretics whose departure from the faith appeared to render their baptism altogether invalid. The question of rebaptisation was considered at the Council of Nice, and a special clause was added to the Nicene Creed to express the common consent of the Church on this subject: "One baptism for the remission of sins." But there were certain classes of persons who were BAPTISM. formally excluded from the sacrament; such were the makers of images, soothsayers, stage-players, astrologers, practisers of curious arts, charioteers, gladiators, racers, curators and practisers of the Olympic games, minstrels, dancers, vintners, and, in general, frequenters of the public games and theatres. It was a peculiarity of the followers of the heretic Marcion that, under pretence of peculiar sanctity, they excluded all married persons from baptism. 66 155 suggests the following explanation. He supposes the Apostle to refer to the custom of requiring every catechumen at his baptism to declare his belief in the resurrection of the dead by repeating the creed which asserted it, and so being baptised into the hope of the resurrection of the dead; and therefore the Apostle puts them in mind of this, saying, "If there be no resurrection of the dead, why are they then baptised for the dead?" that is, the body. We, therefore, then, During the fourth and fifth centuries the Church are baptised for the dead, believing the resurrection of rapidly declined from the doctrinal purity of apostolic the dead, that the body may not remain dead, but redays. The extravagant and unscriptural conceptions vive again; so that "baptism for the dead" would be formed of the virtue of the sacraments led to the an elliptical expression for "being baptised unto the adoption of views relative to baptism which exhibited belief of the resurrection of the dead." It is the habit a pagan rather than a Christian type, and developed to explain St. Paul's words as having reference to this themselves in various superstitious practices. Ex- custom of vicarious baptism without expressing any pressions used by the early fathers rather as rhetorical approval of it, as if the Apostle argued only for their amplifications than as dogmatic assertions, and which admission. But it seems impossible to adopt this exwere qualified and corrected by more careful expositions planation, for many reasons. For not only was the of doctrine, came to be used as literally and dogmati- custom an idle superstition, strongly condemned by cally true. An almost magical virtue came to be every orthodox authority, but there is not the slightest assigned to baptism. It was called "remission of trace to be discovered of its existence during the two sins," "the sacrament of grace," the sacrament of first centuries; above all, we know, on the authority of absolution, the regeneration of the soul," the Chrysostom, in the sequel of the passage quoted above water of life,' the divine fountain," the gar-from his homily on the Corinthians, that the superment of immortality," &c. Such views rapidly led stition was based on a misapprehension of St. Paul's to corresponding errors in practice. Hence arose language, and the Apostle's words were quoted as the what was called clinical baptism, from the Greek only authority for it. The superstition must have been word λivn, a bed, being baptism administered to later in date than the Epistle, from a perversion of persons on their death-bed. The Emperor Constantine which it took its origin. and his son Constantius were both baptised in this way. The habit was encouraged by the advice of Tertullian, on the ground that sins after baptism were peculiarly dangerous, and that it should therefore be performed at a period when further sinning became almost impossible; but was opposed in powerful language by Gregory and Chrysostom. Several causes really concurred to give currency to this habit, such as religious indifference, unwillingness to give up the licentious pleasures which belonged to idolatrous worship, and a dread of falling into sin after baptism. The sincerity of persons baptised under such circumstances was justly regarded with great doubt; and by a decree of the Councils of Neocesarea, A.D. 350, and of Laodicea, about 363, no clinic could ever be admitted to the order of a presbyter. 66 Among the extravagances that sprang up in this matter, may be mentioned baptism of the dead, and for the dead. The former was an African superstition, and was founded on the notion that when men had neglected to receive baptism in their lifetime, some compensation could be made by receiving it after death. The second arose from a perversion of St. Paul's words, "Else what shall they do which are baptised for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptised for the dead?" [1 Cor. xv. 29]. Chrysostom says that this mode of baptism was practised by the Marcionites (a branch of the Gnostic heresy), with a great deal of ridiculous ceremony. "After any catechumen was dead, they hid a living man under the bed of the deceased; then, coming to the dead man, they spake to him, and asked him whether he would receive baptism; and he making no answer, the other answered for him, and said he would be baptised in his stead. And so they baptised the living for the dead, as if they were acting a comedy for the stage; so great was the power of Satan on the minds of these vain men." The same habit existed among the Corinthians. As regards the passage of St. Paul, on which this superstitious folly was founded, Chrysostom As regards the manner of administration of baptism, several particulars may be noted. In the earliest ages baptism was administered in any convenient place, as John baptised in Jordan, and Philip baptised the eunuch in the wilderness, and Paul the jailor at Philippi, in his own house. Tertullian observes that there is no difference whether a man was baptised in the sea or in a lake, in a river or a fountain, for the same Spirit sanctified the water in all places ["De Baptis.," iv.]. In later days, when the Church was more settled, special places were set apart for the purpose, and baptisteries were built adjoining the churches, and then rules were made that baptism should ordinarily be administered nowhere but in them. Exceptions were made, however, for special cases, either of sickness, or where some other circumstances appeared to the bishop to authorise a deviation from the general rule. The authority to baptise has been usually restricted to the ordained ministry, in every age of the Church of Christ, subject, however, to any urgent necessity for baptism when an ordained person is not at hand to administer it. Tertullian and Jerome fully admit this exception, and it was recognised by the Council of Eliberis, A.D. 305. In both these particulars, alike of place and ministrant, the Church of England acts upon the same principles, and admits the same exceptions. She is indeed so careful to exclude all idea of re-baptisation, when the rite has been once administered, that in cases where the fact is doubtful, she instructs her clergy to add to the usual formula the words, "If thou art not already baptised." The element of water constitutes the outward and visible sign in the sacrament of baptism; but after the third century, when corruptions began to be introduced, oil was likewise used, and the catechumen was anointed both before and after baptism. A prayer of consecration was offered over the water, a practice which is retained by the Church of England, by whom also the use of the sign of the cross is retained; but it is now employed only once at the formal reception of the The Romish theology places it in the elements; Protestant theology in the recipient. In this decision Protestantism goes hand in hand with the primitive and apostolic times; while Romanism follows the principles gradually developed in the fourth and subsequent ages of the Christian era, when the public recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire, under Constantine, had opened the door to a baptised person into the Church, instead of four times, as subsequently became a habit. The Church of England, in retaining the sign of the cross, has very carefully guarded against the superstitious abuse of it, and against misapprehension of her motives, in the Canons of 1603. In the 30th Canon she says:"First, the Church of England, since the abolishing of Popery, hath ever held and taught, and so doth hold and teach still, that the sign of the cross used in bap-flood of superstitious errors. In this corrupting protism is no part of the substance of that sacrament; for when the minister, dipping the infant in water or laying water upon the face of it (as the manner also is), hath pronounced these words, I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' the infant is fully and perfectly baptised. So as the sign of the cross being afterwards used, doth neither add anything to the virtue and perfection of baptism, nor being omitted doth detract anything from the effect and substance of it. Secondly, it is apparent, in the Communion Book, that the infant baptised is, by virtue of baptism, before it be signed with the sign of the cross, received into the congregation of Christ's flock, as a perfect member thereof, and not by any power ascribed unto the sign of the cross. So that for the very remembrance of the cross, which is very precious to all them that rightly believe in Jesus Christ, and in the other respects mentioned, the Church of England hath retained still the sign of it in baptism; following therein the primitive and apostolical Churches, and accounting it a lawful outward ceremony and honourable badge, whereby the infant is dedicated to the service of Him that died upon the cross." Lastly, as regards the outward element. Baptism in early times was generally administered by immersion, the person to be baptised being sometimes dipped three times-once at the name of each person of the Trinity. For this purpose separate portions of the baptisteries were set apart for the use of men and women respectively. At the same time, baptism was accounted equally valid whether administered by immersion or by sprinkling; and, in certain specified cases, the latter mode was formally recognised. The difference between the Church of England and the Baptist congregations, in this particular, is but slight; for the Church admits both modes, and instances of baptism by immersion have very recently occurred in metropolitan churches, though the obvious inconvenience and risk of it in this climate, and especially in the baptism of children, has caused sprinkling to become the ordinary mode. The existing difference on this point is simply that the Church of England holds the equal validity of immersion and sprinkling; while the Baptists admit the validity of immersion only. Any long and elaborate dissertation on the doctrine of baptism would be wholly unsuitable to this work, which aims at the statement of facts, and not the advocacy of opinions. At the same time, a brief reference to the doctrinal bearings of the question, and the facts belonging to it, is necessary. What has been already said will have indicated the direction in which the theology of the Church of Rome and of the Reformed Churches have parted on this subject, and the relation in which the primitive ages of Christianity stand towards them both. The necessary information may bo the more easily given, because diversity of opinion depends upon one crucial principle, which constitutes, in regard to both the Christian sacraments, the distinctive turning-point between the two antagonistic systems. The question is, whether the effect of baptism is in the elements or in the heart of the recipient. cess of the faith of purer times two elements especially concurred. The first was the general depravity of human nature, and its invariable tendency, when left to follow its own instincts, to prefer the sensuous and outward form to the inward and spiritual reality. A system which placed virtue in the sacrament itself, independently of the moral condition of the recipient, has ever shown itself to be in accordance with its corrupt and grosser tendencies. The second was the active influence of heathenism, which was wholly unconscious of any purity beyond what was solely external and ceremonial, and which succeeded in introducing its own belief in incantations even into the sphere of the Church herself. Hence, as the process of corruption went on, and doctrine declined more and more from the scriptural standard, baptism came to be invested with a kind of magical virtue, as if its mere reception took away all the guilt of sin and rendered further spiritual regeneration unnecessary. The system finally culminated in the doctrine of the opus operatum, the technical phrase in which the Romish Church teaches the inherent and necessary virtue of the sacraments. The definition of the doctrine is due to the scholastic theology. The position of Thomas Aquinas was that the sacraments had virtue ex opere operato, and not ex opere operantis. The Council of Trent, in the middle of the sixteenth century, laid it down-"If any one shall say that grace, as far as concerneth God's part, is not given through the said sacraments, always, and to all men, even though they do not rightly receive them, but (only) sometimes and to some persons, let him be anathema. If any one shall say that, by the said sacraments of the new law, grace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for obtaining grace, let him be anathema" (Sess. vii., canons 7, 8). The ultimate principle on which this system of thought rests, is the assertion of a corporate life laid up in the Church; so that a person becoming a member of the Church necessarily shares the life and grace laid up in hera principle which every student of the Bible will see to be wholly repugnant to the teaching of the Scriptures. There we are taught that a person truly enters into the Church only by being brought into personal relation with Christ by faith. Whereas, the Church of Rome teaches that a person first enters into relation with the Church, and only and necessarily through the Church into relation with Christ. The Churches of the Reformation unanimously repudiated this unscriptural principle, and placed the effect of the sacrament not in the element, but in the recipient. Consequently, they teach that grace is not received by virtue of the water in baptism, but is the free work of the Holy Spirit upon the believing heart, in answer to prayer. Thus, the Church of England teaches, in her twenty-seventh Article:-"Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of forgive |