as a creation. Not so the principles embodied therein. The Gospel,
like all other creations, was organized out of materials already
in existence--eternal principles adapted to the needs of man and
the purposes of Deity. The Supreme Intelligence, recognizing these
principles as ennobling and exalting in their tendency, created a
plan embodying them as the most effectual means for man's uplift and
promotion. That plan, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the divinely
appointed doorway into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Footnotes
1. Acts 2:38.
2. Phil. 2:12.
3. Mark 16:15, 6.
4. D. & C. 58:43.
5. 2 Nephi 9:25.
6. Alma 29:5.
7. Hamlet, Act. 3, Scene 3.
8. D. & C. 93:29.
ARTICLE THIRTY-TWO.
The Second Birth.
The Edict of the King.--"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God."
"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the Kingdom of God." [1]
So said the King of that Kingdom, the only one empowered to prescribe
conditions upon which men may become his subjects, or his fellow
citizens in the Eternal Commonwealth. Nicodemus, to whom Jesus spoke
those words, was a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, and, as some suppose,
a member of the Sanhedrin, or supreme Jewish council. Favorably
inclined toward the unpopular Nazarene, yet too politic to be seen
associating with him openly, this man sought him out by night, avowing
a belief that he was "a teacher come from God." In response to this
confession of faith, Jesus taught Nicodemus the doctrine of baptism.
A Subject of Controversy.--The meaning of the language in which the
teaching was conveyed, though perfectly plain to Christians anciently,
has been a matter of uncertainty to their successors all down the
centuries. From the days of the early Greek fathers of the Christian
Church, to the days of St. Augustine, the great theologian of the
Western or Roman Catholic division of that Church; from his time to
the time of Luther and Calvin, and thence on into the present age, men
have disputed over the mystical Second Birth, declared by the World's
Redeemer to be the portal of admittance into his Kingdom.
Over the general meaning of the phrase, "Born of Water and of the
Spirit," there may have been no serious contention. In all or most of
the Christian denominations, it means baptism, the ordinance whereby a
person is initiated into the Church. But the meaning of baptism, the
significance, form, purpose and effects of the ordinance, and whether
or not it is necessary to salvation--these questions have furnished
the backbone of the controversy; questions easily answered, problems
readily solved, if the Holy Spirit be taken for a guide, and there be
no wresting of the scriptures.
The Savior's Example.--The words of Jesus to Nicodemus ought to set at
rest the question of necessity. But as a clincher we have the Savior's
declaration regarding his own baptism. Jesus came from Galilee to
Jordan to be baptized by John. The Baptist, deeming himself unworthy
of that high honor, demurred, saying: "I have need to be baptized of
thee, and comest thou to me?" Jesus, answering, said: "Suffer it to be
so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he
suffered him." [2]
Now, if it was becoming in the Son of God to be baptized, it is
becoming in all who follow in his footsteps and hope to be with him
hereafter. They must be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized
with--the baptism of water and of the Spirit, received by him at the
river Jordan nearly two thousand years ago.
King and Subject. There are those who contend that the baptism of Jesus
was all-sufficient; that it answered for the whole human race, thereby
obviating the necessity of baptism in general. To all such I put this
question Can you conceive of a kingdom in which the king is required
to obey the laws ordained for its government, while the subjects are
not required to obey them? Far more likely, is it not, that the king,
rather than the subject, would be exempt from such obedience? But
the laws of Christ's Kingdom are just and impartial. They bear with
equal pressure upon all. The Son doeth nothing but what he hath seen
the Father do, [3] nor does he require from men an obedience that he
himself is not willing to render. "Follow Me," is the watchword of his
mission.
"To Fulfil All Righteousness."--True, baptism is "for the remission
of sins," [4] and in the Savior there was no sin to remit. Why, then,
was he baptized? John saw this point, when Jesus presented himself for
baptism; and that, no doubt, was one reason why he demurred to the
request. We cannot impute sin to the Sinless, but we are in duty bound
to accept and obey his instruction. He did not say: Thus it becometh Me
to fulfill all righteousness. He put it in the plural, thus giving it
general application.
Baptism Not Done Away.--Christ's baptism, whether for original sin--the
sin of the world, which he had assumed--or purely as an example, did
not do away with baptism, any more than his endurance of the pangs of
Adam's race [5] obviated human suffering. Men and women still suffer,
notwithstanding that infinite atonement. All must be baptized for the
remission of their own sins, notwithstanding the baptism of "the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world." [6]
Exempt From Baptism.--Little children, too young to have sinned, and
therefore without need of repentance, are exempt from baptism, and it
is a sin to baptize them, involving as it does the vain use of a sacred
ordinance. [7] Redeemed by the blood of Christ from the foundation
of the world, their innocence and purity are typical of the saved
condition of men and women, who must become like them before entering
into the Kingdom of Heaven. As children advance in years, however, they
become account-able, and must then yield obedience to the requirements
of the Gospel. [8] Eight years is the recognized age of accountability
in the Church of Christ. [9]
Redeemed Without Law.--There is another class mentioned in sacred
writ, for whom, in the language of the Book of Mormon, "baptism
availeth nothing." The "heathen nations," who "died without law,"
are to be "redeemed without law," and shall "have part in the first
resurrection." [10] These, however, are not heirs celestial. Theirs is
"the glory of the terrestrial" in the great Kingdom of the Future.
Vicarious Ministrations.--So necessary is baptism, on the part of all
capable of intelligent obedience, that the Gospel makes provision
for the vicarious baptism of those who pass away without undergoing
this ordinance for themselves. Work of this character, when divinely
authorized, is acceptable to the Lord; a fact that should occasion
little wonder in Christian minds, when it is remembered that the whole
fabric of Christianity rests upon the vicarious work wrought by Jesus
Christ for the redemption of a world powerless to redeem itself. Men
cannot answer by proxy for the deeds done in the body, but there
have always been sacred ceremonies that one person might perform for
another. Baptism is among them. [11]
For the Remission of Sins.--Baptism is the divinely instituted process
whereby sins are remitted. All men have sinned, and in order to bring
them back into God's pure presence, where nothing sinful can come, it
is necessary that they be first cleansed from sin. Water baptism is the
beginning of the cleansing process.
Means and Accessories.--Water, in and of itself, cannot wash away sin;
but obedience, typified by the water, can and does, when the ordinance
is lawfully and properly administered. [12] The case of Naaman the
Syrian, cleansed of leprosy by dipping seven times in the river Jordan,
is often cited as an illustration. [13] It was not the water that cured
Naaman, but his obedience to the Prophet who had told him to dip seven
times in that particular stream. Had he dipped in any other stream,
or any other number of times but just seven, his disease would still
have clung to him. But he did as he had been directed, and his faith,
manifested by his obedience, worked the cure, bringing down the power
of God for that purpose. The water was only the medium through which
the power operated. Likewise, when Christ anointed the eyes of the
blind man with clay, causing him to see, it was faith that wrought the
miracle, not the clay, which was only an accessory. It is the same with
consecrated oil, as used in the healing ordinance of the Church. [14]
Effect of Baptism.--Baptism cleanses and illumines the soul, and it is
by water and by Spirit that the cleansing and illumination come. They
are indispensable in the process. The sick can be healed without the
use of consecrated oil, or even without the laying on of hands. But no
sinner can be baptized--cleansed and illumined--without the water and
the Spirit.
Children in Christ.--The effect of baptism is to make men and women
childlike--not in ignorance, nor in weakness, but in innocence and
humility. "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." By baptism, following
faith and repentance and administered by divine authority, the soul is
"born again," and is typical, in its infant-like purity, of the soul
raised to immortality. By baptism we are as effectually freed from sin,
as by death, burial and resurrection, the mortal is changed to immortal
and ushered into a new existence. Hence, baptism is termed "the washing
of regeneration." Regeneration means "new birth."
Early Christian Views.--The earliest Christians did not doubt the
necessity of baptism. On the contrary, they strongly insisted upon it,
as indispensable to a saved condition. During the Patristic age--that
of the post-apostolic Fathers--the conviction that no soul could be
saved without baptism was so firm that it led to pedobaptism--the
baptism of infants--and to other innovations upon the primitive faith.
It was seen that infants could not believe in Christ, nor repent of
sins that they had not committed; but it was held that the Church, or
those who stood sponsor for the little ones, could believe for them,
and they were baptized for original sin, the sin of Adam, which they
were supposed to have inherited. Peter's words in promising the Holy
Ghost, "For the promise is unto you and to your children." [15] were
construed to sustain infant baptism. It was even assumed that the
Savior authorized it in saying, "Suffer little children to come unto
me."
Pedobaptism.--Holders of such views have never explained why infant
baptism did not become prevalent until two or three centuries after
Christ; and why such eminent Christians of the fourth century as
Gregory of Nazianzum, the son of a bishop; Basil the Great of
Cappadocia; Chrysostom of Antioch, and Augustine of Numida--whose
mothers were pious Christians--were not baptized until they were over
thirty years of age, Paul's affirmation that "children are holy," [16]
and the Savior's declaration, "Of such is the kingdom of God," [17]
are a sufficient answer to the assumption that children under the age
of accountability have need to be baptized. Those who introduced the
practice of baptizing infants for original sin, over-looked or were
blind to the fact that Christ atoned for original guilt, and that men
are accountable for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
Other Innovations.--One innovation led to another. Martyrs who had
shed their blood in defense of the Church, or for its sake, but had
never confessed Christ nor been baptized--what of them? For their
benefit another doctrine was introduced. They were held to have been
baptized in their own blood. Finally, out of deference to the claims
of a far more numerous class--worthy men and women, many of whom
had lived and died before the Christian Church was founded, while
others, though living contemporaneously with it, were never reached
by its missionaries--the idea gradually obtained that baptism was not
essential to salvation. All this might have been obviated, and the
Church spared much ridicule and skepticism, the result of its rambling
inconsistencies, had it kept the key to the situation--Baptism for the
Dead.
Gradual Growth of a Heresy.--The idea that baptism is non-essential did
not become fixed and popular until many centuries after the Apostles
"fell asleep." Saint Augustine, who figured in the latter part of
the fourth and in the first half of the fifth century after Christ,
and who advanced the notion that water baptism was "the outward sign
of an inward grace," held, nevertheless, that no soul could be saved
without it--not even infants; though their condemnation, resulting from
non-baptism, would be of the mildest character. Augustine's concept of
baptism, with some modifications, is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic
Church and of the orthodox Protestant churches at the present time.
Luther held baptism to be essential to salvation; Calvin and Zwingli
did not; and there, in the sixteenth century, it appears, began the
schism of opinion concerning it that divides Christendom today.
Footnotes
1. John 3:3, 5.
2. Matt. 3:13.
3. John 5:19.
4. Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38.
5. 2 Nephi 9:21, 22.
6. John 1:29.
7. Moroni 8:8-10, 19, 22.
8. Moses 6:55.
9. D. & C. 68:25-27.
10. Mosiah 3:11; Moroni 8:22; D. & C. 45:54; Ib. 76:72.
11. I Cor. 15:29.
12. Moses 6:60.
13. 2 Kings 5:1-14.
14. James 5:14, 15.
15. Acts 2:29.
16. 1 Cor. 7:14.
17. Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16.
ARTICLE THIRTY-THREE.
Meaning And Mode Of Baptism.
The Lesser Suggests the Greater.--When Jesus told Nicodemus that man
must be born of Water and of the Spirit, he virtually declared the
meaning of baptism and prescribed the mode of its administration. It
was to prepare the way before a greater principle, that Christ taught
and exemplified the principle of baptism. He compared it to birth, the
entry into mortal life; and this pointed to resurrection, the entry
into immortal glory.
Men's minds, therefore, should be ready to receive something suggestive
of birth and resurrection, in the ceremony authorized by the Son of
God as the means of admission into his Kingdom. This suggestion is
fully realized in the true form of the baptismal ordinance, namely,
immersion--going down into the water and coming up out of the water, in
the similitude of burial and resurrection, of birth into a higher life.
The Proper Form.--That immersion was the form of the ordinance
introduced by John the Baptist, submitted to by the Savior, and
perpetuated by his Apostles, is a plain and reasonable inference from
the teachings of the New Testament. Jesus, when about to be baptized,
must have gone down into the water; for after baptism, he "went up
straightway out of the water." [1] When Philip baptized the Eunuch,
"they went down both into the water." [2] John baptized "in Aenon,
near to Salim, because there was much water there" [3]--another proof
presumptive of immersion, the only mode requiring "much water" for its
performance.
If this had not been the proper form, Paul would not have compared
baptism to burial and resurrection; [4] nor would he have recognized
as baptism the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea. [5]
Note also his words to the Corinthians relative to vicarious baptism
and in support of resurrection, a doctrine that some of them denied:
"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead
rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" [6] In
other words, why use the symbol of the resurrection, if there be no
resurrection--if the symbol does not symbolize?
Additional Evidence.--In addition to what the Bible tells, we have
the statements of archaeologists and historians, to the effect that
baptism, in the first ages of Christianity, was a dipping or submersion
in water. This, in fact, as philologists testify, is the meaning of the
Greek word from which the English word "baptism" is derived. Ancient
baptisteries and other monumental remains in Asia, Africa and Europe,
show that immersion was the act of baptism. The Christian churches of
the Orient--Greek, Russian, Armenian, Nestorian, Coptic and others,
have always practiced immersion and allow nothing else for baptism.
The Western churches preserved this form for thirteen centuries, and
then gradually introduced pouring or sprinkling--ceremonies in no way
symbolical of birth and resurrection, and therefore not in harmony with
the divine purpose for which baptism was instituted.
Clinic Baptism.--Baptisms by pouring or sprinkling were exceptional
in the early ages of the Christian Church. They were called clinic
baptisms, because administered as a rule to the sick, who could not
be taken from their beds to be immersed; but they were rare, and were
regarded only as quasi-baptisms. [7]
Immersion Made Optional.--Baptism by immersion was practiced regularly
in the Roman Catholic Church until the year 1311, when the Council of
Ravenna authorized a change, leaving it optional with the officiating
minister to baptize either by immersion or by sprinkling. Even infants
were baptized by immersion until about the end of the thirteenth
century when sprinkling came into common use.
Luther and Calvin.--Luther favored immersion and sought, against the
tendency of the times, to restore it; but Calvin, while admitting
that the word "baptism" means immersion, and that this was certainly
the practice of the ancient Church, held that the mode was of no
consequence. A Greater than Calvin, however, had decreed otherwise, and
had set the example that all were to follow.
Modern Methods.--Pouring is the present practice in the Roman Catholic
Church; sprinkling in the Church of England and in the Methodist
Church. A choice of modes is permitted by the Presbyterians, though
sprinkling is the regular form. The Baptists as their name implies, are
strong advocates of immersion. The Quakers repudiate baptism altogether.
The Authorized Practice.--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has but one form of baptism--the one authorized by the Savior
and practiced by his Apostles, namely, baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins. [8] The Church derives its knowledge of this sacred
ordinance, not mainly from the Bible, nor from the Book of Mormon, nor
from any other record. It came by direct revelation to Joseph the Seer,
restoring that which was lost. Brushing aside the dust and cobwebs of
tradition concealing the precious jewel of truth, he brought back the
knowledge of the "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" of the ancients. [9]
Baptism and Resurrection.--Baptism was made universal, and became the
doorway to the Church of Christ, the Kingdom of God on earth, because
it represents resurrection, which is likewise universal and without
which no man can enter into the Celestial Kingdom. Christ, the great
Exemplar of baptism, was the first to rise from the dead. It was
fitting, therefore, that he should undergo the ordinance symbolizing
the mighty fact for which he stands--redemption from the grave and
eternal life beyond.
Symbolical of the Soul.--Baptism is twofold, corresponding to its
subject, the soul, which is both spiritual and temporal. The body
is represented by the water; the spirit by the Holy Ghost. Both
are essential in the process, since it is not the body alone, nor
the spirit alone, that is baptized, but body and spirit in one.
Consequently, baptism is administered in a temporal world, where body
and spirit can both be present, and where the watery element abounds.
A person can believe and repent in the spirit world, but cannot be
baptized there. This makes necessary baptism by proxy.
The Blood that Cleanseth.--In reality there are three factors in
baptism--the Spirit, the Water and the Blood. Only two of them are used
in the ceremony. But without the atoning blood of Christ, there could
be no baptism of a saving character. Hence it is written: "The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." [10]
Three in One.--The Water and the Spirit, representing earth and heaven,
are made effectual by the Blood. Man and God are thus reconciled,
Christ being the reconciler. There are three that bear record in
heaven--the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; and there are three
that bear witness on earth--the Spirit, the Water and the Blood. Each
group corresponds to the other; each three agree in one. Therefore,
when a soul is baptized, it must be by Water and by Spirit, made
effectual by Blood, and in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost.
A Divine Exegesis--The Lord explained this principle to Adam thus:
"Inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water and blood and the
spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so
ye must be born again into the Kingdom of Heaven, of water and of the
spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten;
that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of
eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even
immortal glory:
"For by the Water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are
justified, and by the Blood ye are sanctified." [11]
The Mediator.--Spirit, Water and Blood--the three elements of
baptism--were combined in the person of Jesus Christ, when baptized
by John in the Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink, his sacred
from dripping with the waters from which he had just emerged, he was
crowned with the Holy Ghost, descending upon him from above. Yet it was
necessary that his blood should be shed, in order that the Spirit might
come in full force unto his disciples. Not until the Mediator had hung
between heaven and earth, were the Apostles endued with power from on
High. Then it was that the Spirit of God moved with full effect upon
the waters of this world, coming, as in the first instance, that there
might be a creation, a new birth, a regeneration for the human race.
Immersion in the Spirit.--So much stress being laid upon immersion, and
upon the twofold character of baptism, one may be led to inquire: Why
is it not an immersion in the Spirit as well as in the Water? To which
I answer: Is it not so? When John the Baptist, proclaiming the Christ,
said, "I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost," [12] it was baptism in each instance, and baptism
signifies immersion. [13]
The Laying on of Hands.--The Holy Ghost is imparted by the laying on of
hands. [14] Possibly this ceremony was intended to typify the glorious
baptism that Earth will undergo when the Spirit is poured out upon
her from on High. The laying on of hands for the giving of the Holy
Ghost was an ordinance in the Christian Church for centuries. Cyprian
mentions it in the third century; Augustine in the fourth. Gradually,
however, it began to be neglected, until finally some of the sects
discarded it, while others, retaining the form, "denied the power
thereof."
The Fathers Understood.--The Greek fathers of the Church held correct
ideas concerning baptism. They termed it "initiation," from its
introductory character; "regeneration," from its being regarded as
a new birth; "the great circumcision," because it was held to have
superseded the circumcision of the Mosaic law; also "illumination" and
"the gift of the Lord." [15]
Censured for Truth's Sake.--The Greek Christians of the early
centuries, like the Saints of New Testament times, baptized for the
remission of sins. They have been censured by modern critics for
magnifying the importance of water baptism, and at the same time
insisting on the purely ethical or spiritual nature of the rite; for
confounding the sign with the thing signified, the action of the water
with the action of the Spirit, in the process of regeneration. But
they were not any more insistent upon these points than the Apostles
themselves.
Augustine's Theory.--St. Augustine is complimented by the same critics
for formulating the first strict scientific theory of the nature and
effects of baptism. He drew a sharp distinction between "the outward
sign"--water baptism--and the inward change of heart resulting from the
operation of the Holy Ghost. Yet even he is charged with laying too
much stress upon the value of "the outward sign," which he held to be
essential to salvation. Protestant theologians have been commended for
keeping the "sign" in due subordination to "the thing signified," for
justifying themselves by faith, and ignoring to a great extent outward
ordinances.