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CHAPTER XXVI.
ORIGIN OF BAPTISM BY WATER, FIRE, BLOOD, AND THE HOLY GHOST
BAPTISM, in some of its various forms, is a very ancient rite, and was
extensively practiced in several oriental countries. It was administered
in a great variety of forms, and with the use of different elements.
Water was the most common, but fire and air, wind, spirit or ghost were
also used; and both the living and the dead were made the subjects of
its solemn and imposing ceremonies.
We will notice each of these modes of baptism separately—appropriating a
brief space to each.
I. BAPTISM BY WATER
"Baptism by water," says Mr. Higgins, "is a very old rite, being
practiced by the followers of Zoroaster, by the Romans, the Egyptians,
and other nations." It was also in vogue among the ancient Hindoos at a
still earlier date. Their mode of administering it was to dip the
candidate for immersion three times in the watery element, in the same
manner as is now practiced by some of the Christian sects, during the
performance of which the hierophant would ejaculate the following prayer
and ceremony: "O Lord, this man is impure, like the mud of this stream!
But do thou cleanse and deliver his soul from sin as the water cleanses
his body." They believed that water possessed the virtue of purifying
both soul and body—the latter from filth and the former from sin. The
ancient Mexicans,
p. 193
[paragraph continues] Persians, Hindoos and Jews were in the habit of
baptizing their infants soon after they were born. And the water used
for this purpose was called "the water of regeneration." Paul speaks of
being "saved by the washing of regeneration." (See Titus iii. 5.) Those
who touched these infants before they were baptize were deemed impure.
And as this was unavoidable on the part of the mothers, they were
required, as in the cases of the mothers of Chrishna and Christ, to
present themselves on the eighth day after accouchement to the priest in
the temple to be purified. The Romans chose the eighth day for girls and
the ninth for boys. The child was usually named (christened) at the time
it was baptized. And in India, the name, or God's name, or some other
mark, was engraven or written on the forehead. This custom is several
times recognized in the Christian bible, both in the old and in the New
Testament. (See Ezek. ix 4; Rev. xiv. 9; xix. 20, etc.) John speaks of a
mark being made on the forehead. (See Rev. xiii. 16.) Also of the name
of God being written on the forehead. (Rev. iii. 12.)
THE DOVE DESCENDING AT BAPTISM
At this stage of our inquiry it may be stated that several of the
ancient religious orders had the legend of a dove or pigeon descending
at baptism—a counterpart to the evangelical story of "the Spirit of God
descending in bodily shape like a dove," and alighting on the head of
Jesus Christ while being baptized by John in Jordan. (See Luke iii. 22.)
It will be observed here that the spirit, or soul, of God descended not
only in the manner, but in "bodily shape like a dove." This accords with
the tradition anciently prevalent among the Hindoos, Mexicans, Greeks,
Romans and Persians, or Babylonians, that all souls, or spirits,
possessed, or were capable of assuming, the form
p. 194
of a dove. Hence, it is reported of Polycarp, Semiramis, Cæsar and
others, that at death their souls, or spirits, were seen to leave the
body in "bodily shape like a dove" and ascend to heaven. "The Divine
Love, or Eros," says Mr. Higgins, "was supposed by the oriental heathen
to descend often in the form of a dove to bless the candidate for
baptism." These traditions, doubtless, gave rise to the story of the
dove descending at Christ's baptism—that is God in the shape of a dove,
for that is clearly the meaning of the text. We are also informed by our
author just quoted, that a dove stood for and represented, among the
orientalists, the third person of the Trinity, as it does in the gospel
story of Christ—he being the second member of the Christian Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost. It was considered "the regenerator, or
regenerating spirit," and persons being baptized were said to be "born
again" into the spirit or the spirit into them; that is, the dove into
or upon them.
What a master-key is furnished by these oriental religions for solving
the mysteries of the Christian bible! How much more lucid than Divine
Revelation—so-called!
We will quote again from Higgins: "Among all nations, from the very
earliest period, water has been used as a species of religious
sacrament. Because, as it dripped from the clouds, it was observed to
have the power of reviving drooping nature and creating anew, or
regenerating the whole vegetable kingdom in spring, it was hence chosen
as an emblem of spiritual regeneration and a medium of baptism. Water
was the element by means of which everything was born again through the
agency of the Eros, Dove, or Divine Love." And, hence, the ceremony of
dipping or plunging (or, as it is modernly termed, baptizing) came into
vogue for the remission of sins and "the regeneration into a new and
more holy life."
p. 195
Some streams were supposed to have more efficacy in these respects than
others. Hence, nearly all religious nations had their "Holy Rivers,"
"Holy Water," "Sacred Pools," etc. The Hindoos resorted to the "Holy
Ganges," the Egyptians to the "Holy Nile," the Chaldeans and Persians to
the "Holy Euphrates," the Greeks to their "Holy Lustral Water," the
Italians to the river Po, and the Jews and Christians to their holy
river Jordan. If Jordan was not called "holy," it was undoubtedly
considered so, else why did Elisha order Naaman to wash seven times in
that stream instead of Damascus, which was much nearer and more
accessible? And why was Christ baptized in Jordan? "And all the land of
Judea, and they of Jerusalem, were baptized in Jordan, confessing their
sins." (Matt. iii. vi.) Why, as several streams were handier to a large
portion of the candidates, simply because Jordan was considered to be
"more holy." And Christians had their sacred pool of Bethesda, as the
Hindoos had their Sahar.
The rite of baptism was at first generally practiced in caves—as were
also other religious rites; and as these caves were often difficult of
access, and their mouths, doors or gates narrow and difficult to enter,
they fully exemplify Christ's declaration, "Straight is the gate and
narrow is the way that leadeth unto life." (Matt. vii. 14.) And when he
declared, "Except a Man be born of water and of spirit he cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven" (John iii. 5) he was only seconding the
exhortation of the priests to enter these subterranean vaults and be
baptized after the oriental and Jewish custom. Thus originated baptism
by water in the form of dipping, or immersion.
BAPTISM BY SPRINKLING
Owing to the scarcity of water in some countries, and its entire absence
in others, and the fatal effects sometimes resulting from the practice
of baptizing infants and invalids
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by immersion, a new mode of baptism eventually sprung up, now known as
"sprinkling," in which sometimes water and sometimes blood was used.
Virgil, Ovid and Cicero all speak of its prevalence amongst the ancient
Romans or Latins. We are informed that the ancient Jews practiced it
upon their women while in a state of nudity, the ceremony being
administered by three rabbis, or priests. But the custom finally gave
way to one more consonant with decorum. Blood, being considered "the
life thereof" of man, was deemed more efficacious than water, and hence
was often used in lieu of that element. The Greeks kept a "holy vessel"
for this purpose, known as the Facina. The Romans used a brush, which
may now be seen engraven upon some of their ancient coins and sculptured
on their ancient temples. The Hindoos and Persians used a branch of
laurel or some other shrub for sprinkling the repentant candidate,
whether water or blood was used.
In some countries the rite was practiced as a talisman against evil
spirits. The Mexicans never approached their altars without sprinkling
them with blood drawn from their own bodies, as the Jews sprinkled the
walls and door-posts of their temples with blood under the requisition
of the Levitical code. This mode of fancied purification by sprinkling
either with water or blood we find recognized and apparently sanctioned,
in the Christian bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. Ezekiel
says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you." (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) Peter
uses the phrase, "The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter
i. 2.) And Paul makes use of the expression, "The blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel" (Heb. xii. 24), which we
regard as an indirect sanction of the senseless heathen idea of
effecting spiritual purification by drops of blood. (See Potter's
Antiquities and Herbert's Travels.)
p. 197
BAPTISM BY FIRE
Baptism by fire was a form or mode of application which seems to have
been introduced from the belief that it was productive of a higher
degree of purification. There were several ways of using fire in the
baptismal rite. In some cases the candidate for immortality ran through
blazing streams of fire—a custom which was called "the baptism of fire."
M. de Humboldt, in his "Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of
America," informs us it prevailed in India, Chaldea and Syria, and
throughout eastern Asia. It appears to have been gotten up as a
substitute for sun-worship, as this luminary was believed to be
constituted of fire, though in reality there never was any such thing as
sun or solar worship. Christian writers represent the ancient Persians
as has having been addicted to solar worship. But Firdausi, Cudworth and
other authors declare that neither they nor any other nation ever
worshiped the sun, but merely an imaginary Deity supposed to reside in
the sun. Heathen nations have been charged with many things of which
they were not guilty; though it is true that in the spirit of Christ's
exhortation, "Whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it," some
of the candidates for the fiery ordeal voluntarily sacrificed their
lives in the operation, under the persuasion that it was necessary to
purify the soul, and would enable them to ascend to higher posts or
planes of enjoyment in the celestial world. And some of them were taught
that sins not expurgated by fire, or some other efficaciously renovating
process in this life, would be punished by fire in the life to come.
Here we will mention that there is a seeming recognition of this ancient
heathen rite in both departments of the Christian's bible. Isaiah says,
"When thou walkest through fire thou shalt not be burned." (lxiii. 2.)
And the Baptist John recognizes three modes of baptism: I indeed baptize
you
p. 198
with water, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with fire and
the Holy Ghost." (Matt, iii. 11.) And Paul teaches the necessity of
being purified by fire. (See 1 Cor. iii. 15.) So it is both a heathen
and a Christian idea.
BAPTISM BY THE HOLY GHOST
This fanciful ceremony is both a Christian and a heathen rite, and is
undoubtedly of heathen origin. The mode of applying it was to breathe
into or upon the seeker for divine favors. This was done by the priest,
who, it was believed, imparted the Spirit of God by the process. The
custom, Mr. Herbert informs us, was anciently quite common in oriental
countries, and was at a later date borrowed by Christ and his apostles
and incorporated into the Christian ceremonies. We find that Christ not
only sanctioned it but practiced it, as it is declared when he met his
disciples after his resurrection "he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." (John xx. 22.)
And the following language of Ezekiel is evidently a sanction of the
same heathen custom: "Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds,
O breath, and breathe upon these slam, that they may live." (xxxvii. 9.)
Let it be borne in mind here that breath, air, wind, spirit and ghost
were used as synonymous terms, according to Mr. Parkhurst (see Chap.
XXII.), and this breathing was supposed to impart spiritual life, being
nothing less than the Spirit of God, the same as that breathed into Adam
when "he became a living soul." (See Gen. ii. 7.) For a fuller
exposition see Chapter XXII.
BAPTISM OF OR FOR THE DEAD
It was customary among the Hindoos and other nations to postpone baptism
till near the supposed terminus of life,
p. 199
in order that the ablution might extinguish all the sins and misdeeds of
the subjects earthly probation. But it sometimes happened that men and
women were killed, or died unexpectedly, before the rite was
administered. And as it would not do for these unfortunate souls to be
deprived of the benefit of this soul-saving ordinance, the custom was
devised of baptizing the defunct body, or more commonly some living
person in its stead. The method of executing the latter expedient,
according to St. Chrysostom, was to place some living person under the
bed or couch on which the corpse was reclining, when the defunct was
asked if he would be baptized. The living man, responding for the dead,
answered in the affirmative. The corpse was then taken and dipped in a
vessel prepared for the purpose. This silly practice was in vogue among
the early Christians, and Paul seems to regard it as an important
custom. "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the
dead rise not at all." (1 Cor. xv. 9.)
The inference derivable from this text is, that Paul held that the labor
of baptizing the dead would be lost in the event of the falsification of
the doctrine of the resurrection, but otherwise it would be valid—which
evinces his faith in the senseless and superstitious practice. It will
be observed from the historical exposition of this chapter that all the
various ancient heathen modes and rites of baptism have been practiced
by Christians, and are sanctioned by their bible.
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