Of the meaning of the word "baptism," Luther
wrote:
"Baptism is a Greek word; in Latin it can be translated
immersion, as when we plunge something into water that it may
be completely covered with water."--_Opera Lutheri, De Sac.
Bap. 1, p. 319 (Baptist Encyclopedia, art. "Baptism")._
Calvin, after arguing that the form is an indifferent matter, says:
"The very word 'baptize,' however, signifies to immerse; and it
is certain that immersion was observed by the ancient
church."--_"Institutes," lib. 4, cap. 15 (Baptist Encyclopedia,
art. "Baptism")._
Of the practice in primitive times, Neander, the church historian, says:
"In respect to the manner of baptizing, in conformity with the
original institution and the original import of the symbol, it
was generally administered by immersion."--_"History of the
Christian Church," Torrey's translation (London edition), Vol.
I, p. 429._
The perversion of the ordinance into sprinkling, and that in infancy,
takes away the divinely ordained object-lesson; and in the case of the
infant must of necessity substitute mere ceremonialism for experience,
for the child of unaccountable years can have had no experience of
believing and repenting, which are the necessary conditions to fulfil
the meaning of baptism.
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