The early practice in regard to baptism corre sponds with the general character of the gospel that it should embrace the world and be freely offered to all men.
5. Baptism for the Dead. Paul (1 Cor. xv :29) uses this phrase. Few passages have un dergone more numerous and arbitrary emenda tions than this text. \Ve shall examine, first : (1) A Particular Application of Baptism. Those interpretations which take it to be sonic particular application of baptism.
From the wording of the sentence the most simple impression certainly is that Paul speaks of a baptism which a living man receives in the place of a dead one. This interpretation is particularly adopted by those expounders with whom gram matical construction is of paramount importance, and the first thing to be considered.
Many expounders have written in support of this opinion. But all we can infer from their statements is that baptism by substitution had taken place among the NIarcionites, and perhaps also among the Corinthians and other smaller sects towards the end of the fourth century, a period when the confused views of the church as to the relations of the external to the spiritual might easily have favored that erroneous custom; but that it existed between that period and the time when Paul wrote the above passage is wholly unsubstantiated.
The idea, then, that such a superstitious custom existed in the Corinthian community is devoid of all historical evidence. In the words of Paul we discover no opinion of his own concerning the justice or injustice of the rite; it is merely brought in as an argunzentum cx conccsso (argu ment from concession) in favor of the object which he pursues through the whole chapter (Comp. t Cor. ii:5). However much may he ob jected against this interpretation, it is by far more reasonable than the explanations given by other critics. The Corinthian community was certainly of a mixed character, consisting of individuals of various views, ways of thinking, and different stages of education; so that there might still have existed a small number among them capable of such absurdities. We are not sufficiently ac
quainted with all the particulars of the case to maintain the contrary, while the simple gram matical sense of the passage is decidedly in favor of the proposed interpretation.
(2) Baptism Over Graves. ( r) Origen, Luther, Chemnitz, and Joh. Gernard interpret the words as relating to baptism over the graves of the mem hers of the a favorite rendezvous of the early Christians. Luther says that, in order to strengthen their faith in the resurrection. the Christians baptized over the tombs of the dead. But the custom alluded to dates from a much later period.
(2) Epiphanius mentions also a view, according to which royol is not to be translated by dead, but mortally whose baptism was ex pedited by sprinkling water upon them an their deathbed, instead of immersing way; the rite is known under the name of bat tzsmu.t fraud/is. But few of the modern theologians advocate this view.
131 The interpretations which suppose that the church speaks of general church baptism. To these belongs the oldest opinion we know of, given in Tertullian, who renders the Greek word for in the sense of on account nf, and the dead by dead bodies, they themselves, the baptized, as dead perse ens.
6. Immersion Not Essential To Baptism. The vast majority of the Christian church does t hold that immersion is the only valid baptism. The Greek word it is conceded is some times used both by sacred and profane writers to denote immersion. But the best lexicographers igree that this is not the only meaning of the word. parrot, the verbal adjective of is the word from which jearrIN is derived. ft means to wet thoroutrhly, and not necessarily to immerse. Among the lexicographers, ancient and modern, who give a wider meaning than immerse to the word may be mentioned Stephanus, Scapula, Passer, Suidas, Hedericus, Conlon, Parkhurst, Ainsworth, Schlcusner, Wahl, and Robinson. The great of the commentators teach that the mole of baptism is not a thing essential.