BAP 



eleven feet in circumference, and of proportionable depth, 

 with tlie twelve apoftk-s rcprcfented in fcparate niches. Af- 

 ter having kept its place about 500 years, it was ordered to 

 be removed, and another nuich inferior put in its place. In 

 the church of Bridekirk, near Cockermouth in Cumber- 

 land, there is a Lirgc open vefTcl of greenilh ftone, which 

 antiquaries pronounce to be a Danifh font. The chief cha- 

 raders on this baptifmal font (fee Gibfon's Camden's Brit, 

 vol. ii. p. IC07.) are Runic, but fonie are purely Saxon. 

 This is fuppofed to be the oldeft font yet remaining in this 

 kingdom, being of the ninth century, when the Danes firll 

 received the Catholic religion. Whether the font be Danifla 

 or Saxon, the baptifm which it exhibits is that of the Ca- 

 tholics oppofed to that of the old Pelagian Britons. 



There were feveral fonts and altars in each baptiftery, 

 becaufe then they baptized at once, all of whom received 

 the eucharift immediately alter. 



The right of having fonts was confined to paridies alone j 

 and if any monafteries wxre found with baptifmal fonts, it 

 was becaufe -they had baptifmal churches in another place : 

 though the bilhops fometimes granted them to monks, up- 

 on condition that they would have a fecular prieft along 

 with them to take care of the people ; but they afterwards 

 foand means to throw off. the prielt, and make themfelves 

 mailers of the church, and attach it, with its baptifmal 

 fonts, to their own monaftery. For » copious account of 

 baptifteries and fonts, illnllrated by figures, fee Robert- 

 fon's Hiftory of Baptifm, p. 56 — 131. 



Baptistery is alfo uftd for a baptifmal or parochial 

 church. 



Baptistery is alfo ufed, by the yfrmenians, for the 

 feaft of Epiphany, when the anniverfary of ChrilVs bap- 

 tifm is celebrated. 



Baptistery is alfo ufed for a church-book, wherein the 

 prayers and ceremonies of baptifm were particularly defcribed. 

 Some take the bajit'iflenum to have contained the order of 

 all the facraments, except the eucharilt. 



BAPTISTS, in Ecckfiajlkal Hipry, from /S^ffl.^w, / 

 Baptize, a denomination of Chriftians, diftinguilhed from 

 other Chriftians by their particular opinions refpefting the 

 mode and the fiibjefts of baptifm. 



Inttead of adminiftering the ordinance by fprinkling or 

 pouring water, they maintain that it ought to be admini- 

 ilered only by immerfion. Such, they infift, is the mean- 

 ing of the word iS;<;-1i^D ; fo that p command to baptize is 

 a command to immerfe. Thus it was underftood by thofe 

 who firft adminiftered it. John the Baptift, and the apoftles 

 of Chrift, adminiftered it in Jordan and other rivers and 

 places where there was much water. Both the admiiiiilra- 

 tors and the fubjefts are defcribed as going down into, and 

 coming up again out of the water. And the baptized are 

 faid to be buried in baptifm, and to be raifed again ; which 

 language could not, they fay, be properly adopted on fup- 

 pofition of the ordinance's being adminiftered in any other 

 manner than by immerfion. Thus alfo, they affirm, it was 

 in general adminiftered in the primitive church. Thus it is 

 now adminiftered in the Ruffian and Greek church ; and 

 thus it is, at this day, directed to be adminiftered in the 

 church of England, to all who are thought capable of 

 fubmitting to it in this manner. With regard to the fub- 

 iefts of baptifm, the baptifts fay, that this ordinance ought 

 not to be adminiftered to children or infants at all, nor to 

 grown up perfons in general, but to adults only of a cer- 

 tain charaSer and defcription. Our Saviour's commiffion 

 to his apoftles, by which Chriftian baptifm was inftituted, is 

 to go and teach all nations, baptizing them : that is, fay 

 they, not to baptize all they meet with ; but firft to inftrud 



BAR 



them— to teach all nations, or to preach the gofpel to every 

 creature— and whoever receives it, him to baptize in the 

 name of the Father, and of the Sou, and of the Holy 

 Ghoft. To fach perfons, and to f.;ch only, baptifm ap. 

 pears to have been adminiftered by the apoftles, and the im- 

 mediate difciples of Chrift. They are defcribed as repent- 

 ing of their fins, as believing in Chrift, and as having gladly 

 received the word. Without thefe qualifications, Peter 

 acquaints thofe who were converted by his fermon, that he 

 could not have admitted them to baptifm. Pliilip holds the 

 fame language in his difconrfe with the eunuch. And Paul 

 treats Lydia, the iailor, and others, in the fame manner. 

 Without thefe qualifications, Chriftians in general think it 

 wrong to admit perfons to the Lord's fuppcr , and, for the 

 fame reafons, without thefe qualifications, at Icaft a pro- 

 feffion of them, the Baptifts think it wrong to admit any to 

 baptifm. Wherefore they withhold it, not only from the 

 impenitently vicious and profane, and from infidels who 

 have no faith, but alfo from infants and children, who have 

 no knowledge, and who are incapable of every adion civil 

 and religious. They farther infift, that all pofitive inftitu- 

 tions depend entirely upon the will and declaration of the 

 inftitiitor ; and that therefore reafoning by analogy from 

 previous abrogated rites is to be rejcdted, and the exprefs 

 commands of Chrift refpeding the mode and fubjeds of 

 baptifm or.ght to be our only rule. 



The Baptifts in England form one of the three denomina- 

 tions of Proteftant diiVenteis. They feparate from the efta- 

 bliftiment for the fame reafons as their brethren of the other 

 denominations do, with whom they are 'jnited ; and from 

 additional motives derived from their particular tenets re- 

 fpeding baptifm. The conflitution of their churches, and 

 their modes of worftiip, are congregational or independent : 

 in the exercifes of which they are protedcd, in common 

 with other diflenters, by the ad of toleration. Before this 

 ad, they were liable to pains and penalties as non-con- 

 formifts, and often for their pecuhar fentiments as baptifts. 

 A pi'oclamation was iftued out againft them, and fome of 

 them were burnt in Smithfield in 1538. They bore a con- 

 fiderable ftiare in the perfecutions of the 17th and of the 

 preceding centuries ; and, as it ftiould fcem, in thofe of 

 iome centuries before ; for there were feveral among the 

 I^oUards and the followers of Wickliff, who difapproved of 

 infant baptifm. There were many of this perfuafion among 

 the Proteftants and reformers abroad. In Holland, Ger- 

 many, and the North, they went by the names of Aka- 

 baptists ai'.d Mennonites ; and in Piedmont and the 

 South, they were found among the Albigenses and 

 Walijenses. See the Hiftories of the Reformation, and 

 the above articles in thii Didionary-. 



The Baptills fubfift under two denominations, tiz. the 

 Particular or Calviniftical, and the General or Armitiian. 

 The fonner is by far the moil numerous. Some of both 

 denominations allow of mixed communion, others difallowr 

 it ; and fome of them obferve the feventh day ot the week 

 as the fabbath, apprehending the law that enjoined it not 

 to have been repealed by Chrift or his apoftles. But a 

 difference of opinion refpeding thefe and other matters is 

 not peculiar to the Baptifts ; it is common to all Chriftians, 

 and to all bodies of men who think and judge for them- 

 felves. See P/edobaptists, under which article an ac- 

 count will be given of the principal arguments in favour of 

 infant baptifm. 



BAR, in ^'IrchiteBure, a long flender piece of wood or 

 iron, ufed to keep things clofe and fall together. 



In this fenfe, wc fpeak of bars of windows, of doors, and 

 the like. 



Eak« 



