BAPTISTS. 



BAJt 



They defend the postponement of UM rite from the word* of the bap- 

 tismal niwnmissinn, in which UM AposUes are commanded to teach 

 before they baptist : ' Go ye and teach all nation*, baptising them in 

 UM MOM of UM Father, and of Uk Son, and of t he Holy - 

 reception of UM Gospel being thus assumed as an indispensable quali- 

 fication for baptism, the lUpttsts require that all to whom they 

 administer it should repent of their sms, U lieve in Christ, and joyfully 

 receive UM word ; a profession to this effect is made by most persons 

 who are baptised in their communion. 



An outline of the chanoteristio opinions of this sect has been pro- 

 mulgated in the four following heads : 1. That baptism commenced 

 with the ChrUtian dispensation, and was peculiar to it, bearing no 

 analogy to any previous institution, such as circumcision ; nor in any 

 sense derived from previous enactments, but revealed as a positive law 

 of the kingdom of Christ 2. That baptism is only scriptural as 

 adniiniiU-rcd l.y the immenion of the whole body in water. 3. That 

 it cannot cripturally be administered to any but as a profession of 

 faith in ChriM Jesus, and therefore not to infants. 4. That as a com- 

 mand of the New Testament, it is obligatory on all who profess faith 

 in Christ, and is intended to form a great line of separation between 

 Christ and the world. 



The question of baptism was brought before different council* in the 

 5th century, whose decision* wen given in favour of infant Inpti.-m. 

 The opposite opinion* were therefore anathematised, and those who 

 held them incurred the penalties attached to heresy. The Kipti-m.-d 

 controversy u alluded to in the writings of several of the fathers, some 

 of whom did not scruple, in spite of edicts and decrees, to condemn the 

 practice of baptising infant., as a deviation from Scripture and the early 

 custom of the Church. The same view of the subject was very preva- 

 lent in the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, where it became so 

 popular that, in the 9th century, when that powerful schism arose 

 which led to the formation of the Greek Church, this was one of the 

 articles in which an irreconcileable difference of opinion prevailed 

 between the new communion and the old ; the Western Church 

 adhering to its established custom of sprinkling infanta in baptism, 

 while the Greek Church performed the ceremony by trine immersion. 

 The schism which had occasioned such a defection from the Church 

 of Rome did not remove the cause of controversy concerning baptism ; 

 but, on the contrary, increased it by the intolerant proceedings which 

 were taken against those who refused to be silenced. Driven from the 

 bosom of their own communion, they took refuge in the churches of 

 the Waldenses, in the vallies of Piedmont, and, at a later period, joined 

 the disaffected sects in Germany and Flanders, amongst whom they 

 sowed the seeds of their own doctrines. The zeal with which they 

 laboured to spread their opinions only made them a more conspicuous 

 mark for persecution. Imprisonment, exile, or death, was the fate of 

 those who persisted in their adherence to this heresy. All the terrors 

 of the Church were invoked to extinguish the offensive tenet ; but so 

 rapid was its growth under persecution, that the numbers of those who 

 professed it in the beginning of the 12th century are said by Mosheim 

 to have amounted to 800,000. 



From this time to the commencement of the Reformation, Germany 

 ws the chief seat of the Baptist reformers; from whence, following 

 the course of the Rhine, they spread over Holland. Being thus 

 scattered over that part of the continent in which the doctrines of the 

 "formation were agitated, they availed themselves of the opportunity 

 of gaming attention to their own views. From this great epoch in the 

 history of religion, opinion* may be dated a new era in the history of 

 baptism. Up to this time the doctrine, though so long and tenaciously 

 maintained, appears not to have bestowed any particular designation 

 upon those who held it Their existence, as a distinct ect, com- 

 menced in Germany in the days of Luther, under the name of Ana- 

 baptists. Unhappily for the success of the doctrine, it was blended 

 with principles so fanatical and lawless, that none who had a respect 

 for the morals and order of society dared to avow it So disreputable 

 did the very name of this disorderly sect become, that it has made the 

 advocates for baptismal immersion averse to the name of Anabaptists. 

 term Baptist ha* the advantage of being more etymologically 

 correct than the earlier designation of Anabaptist, as anabaptisni is 

 only an accident, and not an essential circumstance. It is only neces- 

 for us to remember, in order to preserve the thread of their 

 ny, UMt those person* who first insisted upon the necessity of 

 hsptiemil immersion were, snd are still, frequently known on the 

 Btfasnt by the name of Anabaptists (in German Wiedertoufer), 

 Jthongh the opinions now held by them bear a close, if not a complete, 

 resemblance to UIOM of their English brethren who are called Baptist* 

 But the term Wiedertaufer is considered by the continental Baptists 

 is a word of reproach ; and in Germany they prefer to call themselves 



ft''''*?*"*' d '" HollMad D V'9 aind '- * Mennonites, so called 



JUnno Simonis, always disclaimed all connection with the Ana- 



HUnster ; they now form a numerous body in Holland, and 



'! md J" T riou Prt* of Germany; ta Prussia they are said to 



- 



Little u known of the Baptists in England before the 18th century. 

 T n * B> * then appear* among the various sects who were struKKhnir 



r civil and raUgious freedom. Their opinion*, at this early period, 

 were somoiinUT popular to attract the notice of the national establish, 

 nwot, Mis evident from the fact that, at a convocation held in IBM, 



they were denounced as " detestible heresies utterly to be condemned." 

 Proolamatiouii followed t banish the Baptists from the kingdom ; their 

 books were burnt, and several individual* suffered at the stake. The 

 last person who was burnt in England for his religious opinions was a 

 Baptist, of UM name of Edward Wightman, of Burton-upon-Trent : he 

 was not, however, burnt as a Baptist, but for blasphemy sod heresy. 



We do not hear of any congregation of Baptist* in this country 

 before 1607. At that time one was formed by Mr. Smyth, a clergyman 

 of the Church of England, who, having embraced the le*i 

 this denomination, resigned his living, and opened a place for public 

 worship on the principles of the Baptists in the metropolis. This 

 step encouraged others to follow his example who bad hitherto con- 

 cealed or privately professed their opinions. The forms of worship 

 adopted by these congregations, that sprung up in various parts of 

 England and Wales, did not materially vary from the practice of the 

 Puritans. The reformed churches on the continent furnished a model 

 for all the sects which then contended for the right of nonconformity, 

 and have flourished since under the name of the Three Denominations 

 of Protestant Dissenters. Among these, the Baptists were not the 

 least distinguished for the consistency of their conduct in maintaining 



the right of private judgment, and in advocating the principle of 

 universal toleration in matters pertaining to religion. 



The Baptists subsist under two denominations, namely, General and 

 Particular Baptists. The latter designation is given to those wl 

 Calvinistic views, and who are in every respect but their distinctive 

 doctrine the same as the Independents. The General Baptists maintain 

 the doctrine of universal redemption ; but they are divided into the 

 Old Connexion (Unitarian), and the New Connexion (Trinitarian), the 

 latter by far the most numerous. Among both the Particular and 

 General Baptists there is another ground of separation, relating to the 

 terms of communion at the Lord's Supper. Some churches (each 

 society or congregation is a church) do not allow persons who have not 

 received baptism according to their views of it, to join with them in 

 the celebration of this rite. Of this number are some of the Particular 

 Baptists, and all the New Connection of General Baptists. Others, 

 however, do not scruple to meet, on that occasion, not only those of 

 the Baptist persuasion who hold other opinions widely different from 

 their own, but even persons who do not embrace the Baptist tenet, 

 provided their religious faith is, in other respects, as they conceive, 

 orthodox, and their lives conformable to their profession. This is 

 called Free Communion. The tolerant spirit which it cultivates, 

 advocated as it has been by those eloquent defenders of liberty, 

 Robert Robinson and Robert Hall, has made considerable progress 

 through the whole denomination. 



In Ireland and Scotland the Baptists have many congregations ; but 

 neither there nor in this country do their opinions spread so fast as in 

 the United States of North America. The number of registered 

 members in 1854, was 1,078,754. In Great Britain the census returns 

 of 1851 gave the number of places of worship of the Particular 

 Baptists as 1947, of the General Baptists as 98, of the New Con- 

 nexion General, as 182, and S67 as those of Seventh Day, Scotch, 

 and Baptists not otherwise designated. Sittings are provided in these 

 places for 705,693 persons, of which 550,749 were in those of the 

 Particulars. The total of attendants on Sunday, March 30, 1851, was 

 337,614, of whom 267,205 were Particular Baptists. These returns, 

 are, however, acknowledged not to be precisely accurate, as there were 

 181 places which did not make returns of the 'number of attendants. 

 In the United States, the " church accommodation " of the Baptists 

 at the census of 1850 was 3,248,580, being much larger than that of 

 any other denomination except Methodists : the number of church 

 members was estimated at nearly a million (982,693) ; Imt these num- 

 bers include all the several descriptions of Baptists, which are more 

 numerous in America than in England. Their chureh pro]Tty was 

 estimated at the sum of 10,931,382 dollars, and they then had eleven 

 theological schools. . 



The Particular Baptists support colleges at Bristol, Bradford. I 

 pool, Haverfordwest, and in Regent's Park, London ; and the General 

 Baptists of the New Connexion nave a college at Nottingham, for the 

 education of young men for the Baptist ministry. They have funds 

 and associations for aged ministers, for widows, and for the edu 

 of the children of their ministers. Besides these, their pecuniary 

 exertions for the support of home and foreign missions are v-i 

 siderable. The English Baptists are among the foremost who sent 

 Missionaries abroad to teach the doctrines of Christianity. For the 

 advancement of this obj-rt, they hnve numerous agent* in distant 

 countries ; in addition to which, they employ a great number in visiting 

 the rural districts at home. 



(An ffaloriral Slttfh of tlie Baftitt Denomination ; Mosheiin's 

 Ecrlrtiiulirat History, vol. iv.) 



BAR is a term applied, in a court of justice, to an inclosure made 

 with a partition of timber, three or four feet high, with the view of 

 preventing the persons engaged in the business of the court from being 

 incommoded by the crowd. It has been supposed to be from the 

 circumstances of the counsel standing there to plead, that those 

 lawyers who have been called to the bar, or admitted to plead, are 

 termed larrittrrt, and that the Ixidy collei lively is denominated the bar ; 

 but these term* are more probably to l.e traced to the arrangements 

 in the inns of court. [BARRISTER and IKHS or COURT.] Prisoners 



