Part ii
. ch. iv.) says that Pope John XXII. [1316–33] ordered Christians to add to their prayers those words with which the angel Gabriel saluted the Virgin Mary.
AVOIDANCE. Avoidance is where there is a want of a lawful incumbent on a benefice, during which vacancy the Church is _quasi riduata_, and the possessions belonging to it are in abeyance. There are many ways by which avoidance may happen; by death; by cession, or acceptance of a benefice incompatible; by resignation; by consecration; for when a clerk is promoted to a bishopric, all his other preferments are void the instant he is consecrated, and the right of presentation belongs to the Crown, unless he has a dispensation from the Crown to hold them in _commendam_: by deprivation, either first by sentence declaratory in the ecclesiastical court for fit and sufficient causes allowed by the common law, such as attainder of treason or felony, or conviction of other infamous crimes in the king’s courts; for heresy, infidelity, gross immorality, and the like; or secondly, in pursuance of divers penal statutes, which declare the benefice void, for some nonfeasance or neglect, or else some malfeasance or crime; as for simony; for maintaining any doctrine in derogation of the king’s supremacy, or of the Thirty-nine Articles, or _of the Book of Common Prayer_: for neglecting after institution to read the liturgy and articles in the church, or make the declarations against Popery, or take the abjuration oath; _for using any other form of prayer than the liturgy of the Church of England_: or for absenting himself sixty days in one year from a benefice belonging to a Popish patron, to which the clerk was presented by either of the universities; in all which, and similar cases, the benefice is _ipso facto_ void, without any formal sentence of deprivation. No person can take any dignity or benefice in Ireland until he has resigned all his preferments in England; and by such resignation the king is deprived of the presentation.—_Stephens on the Laws relating to the Clergy_, p. 91.
AZYMITES. A name given to the Latins, by those of the Greek Church, because they consecrate the holy eucharist in unleavened bread (έν άζυμοις). The more ancient custom was to consecrate a portion of the oblations of the faithful, and therefore of course in leavened bread. The wafer, or unleavened bread, is still retained in the Church of Rome, although the catechism of the Council of Trent admits that the eucharist may also be consecrated in common bread. In the Church of England unleavened bread was prescribed by Queen Elizabeth’s injunctions, and was generally used throughout her reign. At Westminster, it was retained until 1642, nor has it since been forbidden; but the use of leavened bread is now universal, as in the primitive Church.
BACHELOR. In the universities of the Church, bachelors are persons who have attained to the baccalaureate, or taken the first degree in arts, divinity, law, or physic. This degree in some universities has no existence, in some the _Candidatus_ answers to it. It was first introduced in the thirteenth century, by Pope Gregory IX., though it is still unknown in Italy. Bachelors of Arts are not admitted to that degree at Oxford and Dublin till after having studied four years at those universities. At Cambridge, the regular period of matriculation is in the October term; and an undergraduate who proceeds regularly will be admitted to his B. A. in three years from the following January. Bachelors of Divinity, before they can acquire that degree either at Oxford or Cambridge, must be of fourteen years’ standing in the university. Bachelors of Laws, to acquire the degree in Oxford or Cambridge, must have previously studied the law six years. Bachelors of Canon Law are admitted after two years’ study, and sustaining an act according to the forms. Bachelors of Medicine must have studied two years in medicine, after having been four years M. A. in the university, and must have passed an examination; after which they are invested with the fur in order to be licensed. Bachelors of Music in the English and Irish universities must have studied music for a certain number of years, and are admitted to the degree after the composition and performance of a musical exercise. Anciently the grade of Bachelor, at least in arts, was hardly considered as a degree, but merely a step towards the Doctorate or Mastership. In fact, Bachelors in any faculty, as such, have no voice in the university convocations or senates. Bachelors in Divinity have, because they must necessarily have been Masters of Art previously. But Bachelors of Law and Medicine have no votes, unless they happen to be Masters of Arts also. In the French, as in the Scotch universities, the degree of Bachelor of Arts was taken while the student was still in _statu pupillari_, and in fact corresponded very much to the Sophisters in our universities, the A. M. in these places practically correspond to our degree of A. B.
BAMPTON LECTURES. A course of eight sermons preached annually at the university of Oxford, set on foot by the Reverend John Bampton, canon of Salisbury. According to the directions in his will, they are to be preached upon any of the following subjects:—To confirm and establish the Christian faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics; upon the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures; upon the authority of the writings of the primitive fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive Church; upon the Divinity of our LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST; upon the Divinity of the HOLY GHOST; upon the articles of the Christian faith, as comprehended in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. For the support of this lecture he bequeathed his lands and estates to the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university of Oxford for ever, upon trust that the vice-chancellor, for the time being, take and receive all the rents and profits thereof; and, after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions made, to pay all the remainder to the endowment of these divinity lecture sermons. He also directs in his will, that no person shall be qualified to preach these lectures, unless he have taken the degree of Master of Arts, at least, in one of the two universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and that the same person shall never preach the same sermon twice. A number of excellent sermons preached at this lecture are now before the public.
BAND. This part of the clerical dress, which is too well known to need description, is the only remaining relic of the ancient _amice_. (See _Amice_.) When the beard was worn, and when ruffs came in, this ancient part of clerical dress fell into disuse, but it was generally resumed after the Restoration. The band is not, however, an exclusively clerical vestment, being part of the full dress of the bar and of the universities, and of other bodies in which a more ancient habit is retained, as in some schools of old foundation. Formerly it was worn by graduates, and even under-graduates, at the universities; nor was the custom altogether extinct within memory. It is still worn by the scholars at Winchester, &c., and was anciently worn with the surplice by lay vicars, singing men, and sometimes by parish clerks.
BANGORIAN CONTROVERSY. This was a celebrated controversy within the Church of England in the reign of George I., and received its name from Hoadly, who, although bishop of Bangor, was little else than a Socinian heretic. Hoadly published “A Preservative against the Principles and Practice of the Nonjurors,” and soon after, a sermon, which the king had ordered to be printed, entitled, “The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ.” This discourse is a very confused production; nor, except in the bitterness of its spirit, is it easy, amidst the author’s “periods of a mile,” to discover his precise aim. To the perplexed arguments of Bishop Hoadly, Dr. Snape and Dr. Sherlock wrote replies; and a committee of convocation passed a censure upon the discourse. An order from government arrested the proceedings of the convocation. Snape and Sherlock were removed from their office of chaplains to the king; and the convocation has never yet been again permitted to assemble for the transaction of business. But the exertion of power on the part of the government was unable to silence those who were determined, at any sacrifice, to maintain GOD’S truth. This controversy continued to employ the press for many years, until those who held Low Church views were entirely silenced by the force of argument. Of the works produced by the Bangorian Controversy, perhaps the most important is _Law’s Letters to Hoadly_, which were reprinted in “_The Scholar Armed_,” and have since been republished. _Law’s Letters_ have never been answered, and may indeed be regarded as unanswerable.
BANNER. In the chapels of orders of knighthood, as in St. George’s chapel, Windsor, the chapel of the order of the Garter; in Henry VII.’s chapel, at Westminster, the chapel of the order of the Bath; and in St. Patrick’s cathedral, the chapel of the order of St. Patrick; the banner of each knight, i. e. a little square flag bearing his arms, is suspended, at his installation, over his appropriate stall. The installation of a knight is a _religious ceremony_; hence the propriety of this act. The same decorations formerly existed in the chapel of Holyrood House, the chapel of the order of the Thistle.
Also it is not uncommon to see banners taken in battle suspended over the tombs of victorious generals. This is a beautiful way of expressing thankfulness to GOD for that victory which he alone can give; and it were much to be wished that a spirit of pride and vain-glory should never mingle with the religious feeling.
Banners were formerly a part of the accustomed ornaments of the altar, and were suspended over it, “that in the church the triumph of CHRIST may evermore be held in mind, by which we also hope to triumph over our enemy.”—_Durandus._
BANNS OF MARRIAGE. “Bann” comes from a barbarous Latin word which signifies to put out an edict or proclamation. “_Matrimonial banns_” are such proclamations as are solemnly made in the church, or in some other lawful congregation of men, in order to the solemnization of matrimony.
Before any can be canonically married, except by a licence from the bishop’s court, banns are directed to be published in the church; and this proclamation should be made on _three_ several solemn days, in all the churches of that place where the parties, willing to contract marriage, dwell. This rule is principally to be observed when the said parties are of different parishes; for the care of the Church to prevent clandestine marriages is as old as Christianity itself: and the design of the Church is, to be satisfied whether there be any “just cause or impediment,” why the persons so asked “should not be joined together in holy matrimony.”
The following are the regulations under which the Church of England now acts on this subject:—
No minister shall be obliged to publish the banns of matrimony between any persons whatsoever, unless they shall, seven days at least before the time required for the first publication, deliver or cause to be delivered to him a notice in writing of their true Christian and surnames, and of the houses of their respective abodes within such parish, chapelry, or extra-parochial place, where the banns are to be published, and of the time during which they have inhabited or lodged in such houses respectively. (26 George II. c. 33, s. 2.) And all banns of matrimony shall be published in the parish church, or in some public chapel wherein banns of matrimony have been usually published, (i. e. before the 25th of March, 1754,) of the parish or chapelry wherein the persons to be married shall dwell. (26 George II. c. 33, s. 1.) And where the persons to be married shall dwell in divers parishes or chapelries, the banns shall be published in the church or chapel belonging to such parish or chapelry wherein each of the said persons shall dwell. And where both or either of the persons to be married shall dwell in any extra-parochial place, (having no church or chapel wherein banns have been usually published,) then the banns shall be published in the parish church or chapel belonging to some parish or chapelry adjoining to such extra-parochial place. And the said banns shall be published upon three Sundays preceding the solemnization of marriage during the time of morning service, or of the evening service, if there be no morning service in such church or chapel on any of those Sundays, _immediately after the second lesson_. (26 George II. c. 33, s. 1.)
While the marriage is contracting, the minister shall inquire of the people by three public banns, concerning the freedom of the parties from all lawful impediments. And if any minister shall do otherwise, he shall be suspended for three years.
Rubric. And the curate shall say after the accustomed manner:—“I publish the banns of marriage between M. of ——, and N. of ——. If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first (second, or third) time of asking.”
And in case the parents or guardians, or one of them, of either of the parties, who shall be under the age of twenty-one years, shall openly and publicly declare, or cause to be declared, in the church or chapel where the banns shall be so published, at the time of such publication, his dissent to such marriage, such publication of banns shall be void. (26 George II. c. 3, s. 3.)
Rubric. And where the parties dwell in divers parishes, the curate of one parish shall not solemnize marriage between them, without a certificate of the banns being thrice asked, from the curate of the other parish.
Formerly the rubric enjoined that the banns should be published after the Nicene Creed; but the lamentable deficiency of publicity of which this arrangement was the cause, and the delay hence arising in consequence of some parishes being without any morning service on some Sundays, induced the legislature to make the provisions above cited. (26 George II. c. 33, s. 1.)
It is to be feared that much laxity prevails among parties to whom the inquiries as to parochial limits are intrusted; and that recent enactments have rather augmented than reformed such laxity. The constitutions and canons of 1603 guard cautiously against clandestine marriages. Canon 62 is as follows:—
_Ministers not to marry any persons without banns or licence._—No minister, upon pain of suspension _per triennium ipso facto_, shall celebrate matrimony between any persons, without a faculty or licence granted by some of the persons in these our constitutions expressed, except the banns of matrimony have been first published three several Sundays, or holidays, in the time of Divine service, in the parish churches and chapels where the said parties dwell, according to the Book of Common Prayer. Neither shall any minister, upon the like pain, under any pretence whatsoever, join any persons so licensed in marriage at any unseasonable times, but only between the hours of eight and twelve in the forenoon; nor in any private place, but either in the said churches or chapels where one of them dwelleth, and likewise in time of Divine service; nor when banns are thrice asked, and no licence in that respect necessary, before the parents or governors of the parties to be married, being under the age of twenty and one years, shall either personally, or by sufficient testimony, signify to them their consents given to the said marriage.
Canon 63. _Ministers of exempt churches not to marry without banns or license._—Every minister, who shall hereafter celebrate marriage between any persons contrary to our said constitutions, or any part of them, under colour of any peculiar liberty or privilege claimed to appertain to certain churches and chapels, shall be suspended _per triennium_ by the ordinary of the place where the offence shall be committed. And if any such minister shall afterwards remove from the place where he hath committed that fault, before he be suspended, as is aforesaid, then shall the bishop of the diocese, or ordinary of the place where he remaineth, upon certificate under the hand and seal of the other ordinary, from whose jurisdiction he removed, execute that censure upon him.
See also canon 70. By the statute 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 85, sec. 1, it is enacted, that where, by any law or canon in force before the passing of this act, it is provided that any “marriage may be solemnized after publication of banns, such marriage may be solemnized, in like manner, _on production of the registrar’s certificate as hereinafter provided_:” so that marriages may now be solemnized in the Church of England, without banns or licence, on production of the superintendent registrar’s certificate.
BAPTISM. (Βάπτειν, to wash.) Baptism is one of the two sacraments, which, according to the Catechism, “are generally necessary to salvation.” Our blessed SAVIOUR says that “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John iii. 3); and in explanation of his meaning he adds, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of GOD” (ver. 5). Upon this the Church remarks: “Beloved, ye hear in this Gospel the express words of our SAVIOUR CHRIST, that, except a man be born of water and of the SPIRIT, he cannot enter into the kingdom of GOD: whereby ye may perceive the great necessity of this sacrament where it may be had. Likewise immediately before his ascension into heaven, as we read in the last chapter of St. Mark’s Gospel, he gave command to his disciples, saying, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.’ Which also showeth unto us the great benefit we reap thereby. For which cause, St. Peter the apostle, when, upon his first preaching of this gospel, many were pricked at the heart, and said unto him and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ replied and said unto them, ‘Repent, and be _baptized_ every one of you for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the HOLY GHOST.’ The same apostle testifieth in another place, ‘even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards GOD, by the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST.’”—_Office of Adult Baptism._ The Church also states in the Catechism, that a sacrament, as baptism is, hath two parts, the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace: that the outward visible sign or form in baptism is water, wherein the person is baptized in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST; and that the inward and spiritual grace, which through the means of baptism we receive, is a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness; for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath, we are hereby, i. e. by baptism, made children of grace. Therefore the Church, as soon as ever a child is baptized, directs the minister to say, “Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this child is _regenerate_ and grafted into the body of CHRIST’S Church, let us give thanks unto Almighty GOD for these benefits, and with one accord make our prayers unto him, that this child may lead the rest of his life according to this beginning.” The Church here first declares that grace has been given, even the grace of regeneration, and then implies that the grace, if not used, may be lost. On this subject more will be said in the article on _Regeneration_. See also _Infant Baptism_.
Grotius (_Annot. ad_ Matt. iii. 6) is of opinion, that the rite of baptism had its original from the time of the deluge; immediately after which he thinks it was instituted, in memory of the world having been purged by water. Some learned men think (_W. Schickard, de Jur. Reg._ cap. 5) it was added to circumcision, soon after the Samaritan schism, as a mark of distinction to the orthodox Jews. Spencer, who is fond of deriving the rites of the Jewish religion from the ceremonies of the Pagan, lays it down as a probable supposition, that the Jews received the baptism of proselytes from the neighbouring nations, who were wont to prepare candidates for the more sacred functions of their religion by a solemn ablution; that, by this affinity of sacred rites, they might draw the Gentiles to embrace their religion, and the proselytes (in gaining of whom they were extremely diligent, Matt. xxiii. 15) might the more easily comply with the transition from Gentilism to Judaism. In confirmation of this opinion, he observes, first, that there is no Divine precept for the baptism of proselytes, God having enjoined only the rite of circumcision, (Exod. xii. 48,) for the admission of strangers into the Jewish religion; secondly, that, among foreign nations, the Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others, it was customary that those who were to be initiated into their mysteries or sacred rites, should be first purified by dipping their whole body in water. Grotius, on Matt. xxvi. 27, adds, as a further confirmation of his opinion, that the “cup of blessing” likewise, added to the Paschal supper, seems plainly to have been derived from a Pagan original: for the Greeks, at their feasts, had one cup, called ποτήριον ἀγαθοῦ δαίμονος, the cup of the good demon or god, which they drank at the conclusion of their entertainment, when the table was removed. Since, then, a rite of Gentile original was added to one of the Jewish sacraments, viz. the Passover, there can be no absurdity in supposing, that baptism, which was added to the other sacrament, namely, circumcision, might be derived from the same source. In the last place, he observes, that Christ, in the institution of his sacraments, paid a peculiar regard to those rites which were borrowed from the Gentiles; for, rejecting circumcision and the Paschal supper, he adopted into his religion baptism and the sacred cup; thus preparing the way for the conversion and reception of the Gentiles into his Church.
It is to be observed, under this head of Jewish baptism, that the proselyte was not to be baptized till the wound of circumcision was perfectly healed; that then the ceremony was performed by plunging him into some large, natural receptacle of water; and that baptism was never after repeated in the same person, or in any of his posterity, who derived their legal purity from the baptism of their ancestor.—_Selden, de Jur. Nat. et Gent._ lib. ii. cap. 1.
In the primitive Christian Church, (_Tertull. de Baptismo_,) the office of baptizing was vested principally in the bishops and priests, or pastors of the respective parishes; but, with the consent of the bishop, it was allowed to the deacons, and in cases of necessity even to laymen, to baptize; but never, under any necessity whatever, was it permitted to women to perform this office. Nor was it enough that baptism was conferred by a person called to the ministry, unless he was also orthodox in the faith. This became matter of great excitement in the Church; and hence arose the famous controversy between Cyprian and Stephen, bishop of Rome, concerning the rebaptizing those who had been baptized by heretics, Cyprian asserting that they ought to be rebaptized, and Stephen maintaining the contrary opinion.
The persons baptized were either infants or adults. To prove that infants were admitted to the sacrament of baptism, we need only use this argument. None were admitted to the eucharist till they had received baptism: but in the primitive Church children received the sacrament of the LORD’S supper, as appears from what Cyprian relates concerning a sucking child, who so violently refused to taste the sacramental wine, that the deacon was obliged forcibly to open her lips and pour it down her throat. Origen writes, that children are baptized, “for the purging away of the natural filth and original impurity inherent in them.” We might add the testimonies of Irenæus and Cyprian; but it will be sufficient to mention the determination of an African synod, held A. D. 254, at which were present sixty-six bishops. The occasion of it was this. A certain bishop, called Fidus, had some scruples concerning the time of baptizing infants, whether it ought to be done on the second or third day after their birth, or not before the eighth day, as was observed with respect to circumcision under the Jewish dispensation. His scruples were proposed to this synod, who unanimously decreed, that the baptism of children was not to be deferred so long, but that the grace of God, or baptism, should be given to all, and most especially unto infants.—_Justin Martyr, Second Apology_; _De Lapsis_, § 20; _In Lucam_, Hom. xiv. _Apud Cyprian_. Epist. lix. § 2–4. _Tertull. de Baptismo_, c. 19.
As for the _time_, or season, at which baptism was usually administered, we find it to have been restrained to the two solemn festivals of the year, Easter and Whitsuntide: at Easter, in memory of Christ’s death and resurrection, correspondent to which are the two parts of the Christian life, represented and shadowed out in baptism, _dying_ unto sin, and _rising_ again unto newness of life; and at Whitsuntide, in memory of the Holy Ghost’s being shed upon the apostles, the same, in some measure, being represented and conveyed in baptism. It is to be observed, that these stated returns of the time of baptism related only to persons in health: in other cases, such as sickness, or any pressing necessity, the time of baptism was regulated by occasion and opportunity.
The _place_ of baptism was at first unlimited; being some pond or lake, some spring or river, but always as near as possible to the place of public worship. Afterwards they had their _baptisteries_, or (as we call them) _fonts_, built at first near the church, then in the church-porch, and at last in the church itself. There were many in those days who were desirous to be baptized in the river Jordan, out of reverence to the place where our Saviour himself had been baptized.
The person to be baptized, if an adult, was first examined by the bishop, or officiating priest, who put some questions to him; as, first, whether he abjured the devil and all his works; secondly, whether he gave a firm assent to all the articles of the Christian faith: to both which he answered in the affirmative. Concerning these baptismal questions, Dionysius Alexandrinus, in his letter to Xistus, bishop of Rome, speaks of a certain scrupulous person in his church, who, being present at baptism, was exceedingly troubled, when he heard the questions and answers of those who were baptized. If the person to be baptized was an infant, these interrogatories were answered by his sponsores, or godfathers. Whether the use of _sponsores_ was as old as the apostles’ days, is uncertain: perhaps it was not, since Justin Martyr, speaking of the method and form of baptism, says not a word of them.—_Tertull. de Coron. Milit. Cyprian, Epist._ vii. § 5. _Justin Martyr, Apolog._ 2. _Apud Euseb._ lib. vii. c. 9; _Apolog._ 2.
After the questions and answers, followed _exorcism_, the manner and end of which was this. The minister laid his hands on the person’s head, and breathed in his face, implying thereby the driving away, or expelling, of the devil from him, and preparing him for baptism, by which the good and holy Spirit was to be conferred upon him.
After exorcism, followed _baptism_ itself: and first the minister, by prayer, consecrated the water for that use. Tertullian says, “any waters may be applied to that use; but then God must be first invocated, and then the Holy Ghost presently comes down from heaven, and moves upon them, and sanctifies them.” The water being consecrated, the person was baptized “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;” by which “dedication of him to the blessed Trinity, the person” (says Clemens Alexandrinus) “is delivered from the corrupt trinity, the devil, the world, and the flesh.”—_Tertull. de Baptismo. Justin Martyr, Apolog._ 2.
In performing the ceremony of baptism, the usual custom was to immerse and dip the whole body. Thus St. Barnabas, describing a baptized person, says, “We go down into the water full of sin and filth, but we ascend bearing fruit in our hearts.” And that all occasions of scandal and immodesty might be prevented in so sacred an action, the men and women were baptized in distinct apartments; the women having deaconesses to undress and dress them. Then followed the unction, by which (says St. Cyril) was signified, that they were now cut off from the wild olive, and were ingrafted into Christ, the true olive-tree; or else to show, that they were now to be champions for the gospel, and were anointed thereto, as the old Athletæ were against their solemn games. With this anointing was joined the sign of the cross, made upon the forehead of the person baptized; which being done, he had a white garment given him, to denote his being washed from the defilements of sin, or in allusion to the words of the apostle, “as many as are baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” From this custom the feast of Pentecost, which was one of the annual seasons of baptism, came to be called Whitsunday, i. e. Whitesunday. This garment was afterwards laid up in the church, that it might be an evidence against such persons as violated or denied that faith which they had owned in baptism. Of this we have a remarkable instance under the Arian persecution in Africa. Elpidophorus, a citizen of Carthage, had lived a long time in the communion of the Church, but, apostatizing afterwards to the Arians, became a most bitter and implacable persecutor of the orthodox. Among several whom he sentenced to the rack, was one Miritas, a venerable old deacon, who, being ready to be put upon the rack, pulled out the white garment with which Elpidophorus had been clothed at his baptism, and, with tears in his eyes, thus addressed him before all the people. “These, Elpidophorus, thou minister of error, these are the garments that shall accuse thee, when thou shalt appear before the majesty of the Great Judge; these are they which girt thee, when thou camest pure out of the holy font; and these are they which shall bitterly pursue thee, when thou shalt be cast into the place of flames; because thou hast clothed thyself with cursing as with a garment, and hast cast off the sacred obligation of thy baptism.”—_Epist. Cathol._ § 9. _Cave’s Primitive Christianity_, p. i. c. 10. _Epiph. Hæres._ 79. _Ambrose de Sacr._ lib. i. c. 21. Gal. iii. 27. _Victor. Utic. de Persecut. Vandal._ lib. iii.
But though immersion was the usual practice, yet sprinkling was in some cases allowed, as in clinic baptism, or the baptism of such persons as lay sick in bed. It is true, this kind of baptism was not esteemed so perfect and effectual as that by immersion or dipping; for which reason, in some Churches, none were advanced to the order of the priesthood, who had been so baptized; an instance of which we have in Novatian, whose ordination was opposed by all the clergy upon that account; though afterward, at the entreaties of the bishop, they consented to it. Notwithstanding which general opinion, Cyprian, in a set discourse on this subject, declares that he thought this baptism to be as perfect and valid as that performed more solemnly by immersion.—_Epist. Cornel. ad Fabium Antioch. apud Euseb._ lib. vi. cap. 43. Epist. lxxvi. § 9. _Apolog._ 2.
When baptism was performed, the person baptized, according to Justin Martyr, “was received into the number of the faithful, who then sent up their public prayers to God, for all men, for themselves, and for those who had been baptized.”
As the Church granted baptism to all persons duly qualified to receive it, so there were some whom she debarred from the benefits of this holy rite. The author of the _Apostolical Constitutions_ mentions several. _Bingham, Orig. Eccles._ b. xi. cap. 5, § 6, &c. _Const. Apost._ lib. viii. cap. 32. Such were panders, or procurers; whores; makers of images or idols; actors and stage-players; gladiators, charioteers, and gamesters; magicians, enchanters, astrologers, diviners, and wandering beggars. Concerning stage-players, the Church seems to have considered them in the very same light as the ancient heathens themselves did: for Tertullian (_Tertull. de Spectac._ cap. 22) observes that they who professed those arts were branded with infamy, degraded, and denied many privileges, driven from the court, from pleading, from the order of knighthood, and all other honours in the Roman city and commonwealth. It has been a question, whether the _military life_ disqualified a man for baptism: but the contrary appears from the _Constitutions_, lib. viii. cap. 32, which admit _soldiers_ to the baptism of the Church, on the same terms that St. John Baptist admitted them to his; namely, that they should do violence to no man, accuse no one falsely, and be content with their wages, Luke iii. 14. The state of _concubinage_ is another case which has been matter of doubt. The rule in the _Constitutions_, lib. viii. c. 32, concerning the matter is this: a concubine, that is, a slave to an infidel, if she keep herself only to him, may be received to baptism; but, if she commit fornication with others, she shall be rejected. The Council of Toledo (_Conc. Tolet._ 1, can. 17) distinguishes between a man’s having a wife and a concubine at the same time, and keeping a concubine only: the latter case it considers as no disqualification for the sacraments, and only insists that a man be content to be joined to one woman only, whether wife or concubine, as he pleases.
Though baptism was esteemed by the Church as a Divine and heavenly institution, yet there wanted not sects, in the earliest ages, who either rejected it in whole or in part, or greatly corrupted it. The Ascodrutæ wholly rejected it, because they would admit of no external or corporeal symbols whatever. The Archontics, who imagined that the world was not created by the supreme God, but by certain ἄρχοντες, or powers, the chief of whom they called Sabaoth, rejected this whole rite, as a foreign institution, given by Sabaoth, the God of the Jews, whom they distinguished from the supreme God. The Seleucians and Hermians rejected baptism by water, on pretence that it was not the baptism instituted by Christ; because St. John Baptist, comparing his own baptism with that of Christ, says, “I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire,” Matt. iii. 11. They thought that the souls of men consisted of fire and spirit, and therefore that a baptism by fire was more suitable to their nature. Another sect which rejected water-baptism, were the Manichees, who looked upon it as of no efficacy towards salvation: but whether they admitted any other kind of baptism, we are not told. The Paulicians, a branch of this heresy, maintained that the word of the gospel is baptism, because our Lord said, “I am the living water.”—_Bingham Orig. Eccles._ b. x. cap. 2, § 1. _Epiph. Hæres._ 40. _Theod. Hær. Fab._ l. i. cap. 11. _August. de Hæres._ cap. 59. _Philastr. de Hæres. Prædestinat. Hæres._ 40. _Euthym. Panoplia_, Par. ii. tit. 21.
Though the ancient Church considered baptism as indispensably necessary to salvation, it was always with this restriction, provided it could be had: in extraordinary cases, wherein baptism could not be had, though men were desirous of it, they made several exceptions in behalf of other things, which in such circumstances were thought sufficient to supply the want of it. (_Bingham_, § 19, 20.) The chief of these excepted cases was martyrdom, which usually goes by the name of second baptism, or baptism in men’s own blood, in the writings of the ancients. (_Cyprian_. Ep. lxiii. _ad Julian_.) This baptism, they suppose, our Lord spoke of, when he said, “I have another baptism to be baptized with,” alluding to his own future martyrdom on the cross. In the _Acts of the Martyrdom of Perpetua_, there is mention of one Saturus, a catechumen, who, being thrown to a leopard, was, by the first bite of the wild beast, so bathed in blood, that the people, in derision of the Christian doctrine of martyrdom, cried out _salvum lotum, salvum lotum_, baptized and saved, baptized and saved. (_Bingham_, § 24.) But these exceptions and allowances were with respect to adult persons only, who could make some compensation, by acts of faith and repentance, for the want of the external ceremony of baptism. But, as to infants who died without baptism, the case was thought more difficult, because they were destitute both of “the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace of baptism.” Upon which account they who spoke the most favourably of their case, would only venture to assign them a middle state, neither in heaven nor hell.—_Greg. Naz._ Orat. 40. _Sever. Catena in Johan._ iii.
For the rest, the rite of baptism was esteemed as the most universal absolution and grand indulgence of the ministry of the Church; as conveying a general pardon of sin to every true member of Christ; and as the key of the sacraments, that opens the gate of the kingdom of heaven. _Bingham_, b. xix, c. i. § 9.
Baptism is defined by the Church of Rome (_Alet’s Ritual_) to be “a sacrament, instituted by our SAVIOUR, to wash away original sin, and all those we may have committed; to communicate to mankind the spiritual regeneration, and the grace of CHRIST JESUS; and to unite them to him, as the living members to the head.”
When a child is to be baptized in that Church, the persons who bring it wait for the priest at the door of the Church, who comes thither in his surplice and purple stole, attended by his clerks. He begins with questioning the godfathers, whether they promise, in the child’s name, to live and die in the true Catholic and Apostolic faith, and what name they would give the child. Then follows an exhortation to the sponsors; after which the priest, calling the child by its name, asks it as follows: “What dost thou demand of the Church?” The godfather answers, “Eternal life.” The priest goes on; “If you are desirous of obtaining eternal life, keep God’s commandments, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” &c. After which he breathes three times in the child’s face, saying, “Come out of this child, thou evil spirit, and make room for the Holy Ghost.” This said, he makes the sign of the cross on the child’s forehead and breast, saying, “Receive the sign of the cross on thy forehead, and in thy heart.” Then, taking off his cap, he repeats a short prayer, and, laying his hand gently on the child’s head, repeats a second prayer: which ended, he blesses some salt, and, putting a little of it into the child’s mouth, pronounces these words: “Receive the salt of wisdom.” All this is performed at the church door.
The priest, with the godfathers and godmothers, coming into the church, and advancing towards the font, repeat the Apostles’ Creed and the _Lord’s_ Prayer. Being come to the font, the priest exorcises the evil spirit again, and, taking a little of his own spittle, with the thumb of his right hand, rubs it on the child’s ears and nostrils, repeating, as he touches the right ear, the same word (Ephatha, “be thou opened”) which our Saviour made use of to the man born deaf and dumb. Lastly, they pull off its swaddling-clothes, or strip it below the shoulders, during which the priest prepares the oils, &c.
The sponsors then hold the child directly over the font, observing to turn it due east and west; whereupon the priest asks the child, “whether he renounces the devil and all his works,” and, the godfather having answered in the affirmative, the priest anoints the child between the shoulders in the form of a cross. Then, taking some of the consecrated water, he pours part of it thrice on the child’s head, at each perfusion calling on one of the persons of the holy Trinity. The priest concludes the ceremony of baptism with an exhortation.
It is to be observed, that, in the naming the child, all profane names, such as those of the heathens and their gods, are never admitted; and that a priest is authorized to change the name of a child (though it be a Scripture name) who has been baptized by a Protestant minister. Benserade, we are told, had like to have had his Christian name, which was Isaac, changed, when the bishop confirmed him, had he not prevented it by a jest: for, when they would have changed his name, and given him another, he asked them, “What they gave him into the bargain;” which so pleased the bishop, that he permitted him to retain his former name.
The Romish Church allows midwives, in cases of danger, to baptize a child before it is come entirely out of its mother’s womb: where it is to be observed, that some part of the body of the child must appear before it can be baptized, and that it is baptized on the part which first appears: if it be the head it is not necessary to rebaptize the child; but if only a foot or hand appears, it is necessary to repeat baptism. A still-born child, thus baptized, may be buried in consecrated ground. A monster, or creature that has not the human form, must not be baptized: if it be doubtful whether it be a human creature or not, it is baptized conditionally thus, “If thou art a man, I baptize thee,” &c.
The Greek Church differs from the Romish, as to the rite of baptism, chiefly, in performing it by immersion, or plunging the infant all over in the water, which the relations of the child take care to have warmed, and throw into it a collection of the most odoriferous flowers.—_Rycaut’s State of the Greek Church._
The Church of England (Article xxvii.) defines baptism to be, “not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened; but it is also a sign of regeneration, or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism rightly are grafted into the Church: the promises of the forgiveness of sin, of our adoption to be the sons of God, by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed, faith is confirmed, and grace increased, by virtue of prayer to God.” It is added, “that the baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.”
In the rubrics of her liturgy, (see Office for Ministration of Public Baptism,) the Church prescribes, that baptism be administered only on Sundays and holy days, except in cases of necessity. She requires sponsors for infants; for every male child two godfathers and one godmother; and for every female two godmothers and one godfather. We find this provision made by a constitution of Edmond, archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236; and in a synod held at Worcester, A. D. 1240. By the 29th canon of our Church, no parent is to be admitted to answer as godfather to his own child.—_Bp. Gibson’s Codex_, vol. i. p. 439.
The form of administering baptism is too well known to require a particular account to be given of it. We shall only observe some of the more material differences between the form, as it stood in the first liturgy of King Edward, and that in our Common Prayer Book at present. First, in that of King Edward, we meet with a form of exorcism, founded upon the like practice of the primitive Church, which our reformers left out, when they took a review of the liturgy in the 5th and 6th of that king. It is as follows.
“_Then let the priest, looking upon the children, say;_
“I command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that thou come out, and depart from these infants, whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath vouchsafed to call to his holy baptism, to be made members of his body, and of his holy congregation. Therefore, thou cursed spirit, remember thy sentence, remember thy judgment, remember the day to be at hand, wherein thou shalt burn in fire everlasting, prepared for thee and thy angels. And presume not hereafter to exercise any tyranny towards these infants, whom Christ hath bought with his precious blood, and by this his holy baptism calleth to be of his flock.”
The form of consecrating the water did not make a part of the office in King Edward’s liturgy, as it does in the present, because the water in the font was changed and consecrated but once a month. The form likewise itself was something different from that we now use, and was introduced with a short prayer, that “Jesus Christ, upon whom (when he was baptized) the Holy Ghost came down in the likeness of a dove, would send down the same Holy Spirit, to sanctify the fountain of baptism; which prayer was afterwards left out, at the second review.
By King Edward’s First Book, the minister is to “dip the child in the water thrice; first dipping the right side; secondly the left; the third time dipping the face toward the font.” This trine immersion was a very ancient practice in the Christian Church, and used in honour of the Holy Trinity: though some later writers say, it was done to represent the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, together with his three days’ continuance in the grave. Afterwards, the Arians making an ill use of it, by persuading the people that it was used to denote that the three persons in the Trinity were three distinct substances, the orthodox left it off, and used only one single immersion.—_Tertull. adv. Prax._ c. 26. _Greg. Nyss. de Bapt. Christi. Cyril, Catech. Mystag._
By the first Common Prayer of King Edward, after the child was baptized, the godfathers and godmothers were to lay their hands upon it, and the minister was to put on him the white vestment commonly called the Chrysome, and to say: “Take this white vesture, as a token of the innocency which, by God’s grace, in this holy sacrament of baptism, is given unto thee; and for a sign, whereby thou art admonished, so long as thou livest, to give thyself to innocence of living, that, after this transitory life, thou mayest be partaker of the life everlasting. Amen.” As soon as he had pronounced these words, he was to anoint the infant on the head, saying, “Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath regenerated thee by water and the Holy Ghost, and hath given unto thee remission of all thy sins; vouchsafe to anoint thee with the unction of his Holy Spirit, and bring thee to the inheritance of everlasting life. Amen.” This was manifestly done in imitation of the practice of the primitive Church.
The custom of sprinkling children, instead of dipping them in the font, which at first was allowed in case of the weakness or sickness of the infant, has so far prevailed, that immersion is at length almost excluded. What principally tended to confirm the practice of affusion or sprinkling, was, that several of our English divines, flying into Germany and Switzerland, during the bloody reign of Queen Mary, and returning home when Queen Elizabeth came to the crown, brought back with them a great zeal for the Protestant Churches beyond sea where they had been sheltered and received; and, having observed that at Geneva (_Calvin, Instit._ lib. iv. c. 15) and some other places baptism was administered by sprinkling, they thought they could not do the Church of England a greater piece of service than by introducing a practice dictated by so great an oracle as Calvin. This, together with the coldness of our northern climate, was what contributed to banish entirely the practice of dipping infants in the font.
Lay-baptism we find to have been permitted by both the Common Prayer Books of King Edward, and that of Queen Elizabeth, when an infant is in immediate danger of death, and a lawful minister cannot be had. This was founded upon the mistaken notion of the impossibility of salvation without the sacrament of baptism; but afterwards, when they came to have clearer notions of the sacraments, it was unanimously resolved in a convocation, held in the year 1575, that even private baptism, in a case of necessity, was only to be administered by a lawful minister.—_Bp. Gibson’s Codex_, tit. xviii. vol. i. ch. 9, p. 446.
It remains to be observed, that, by a provincial constitution, made in the year 1236, (26th of Hen. III.,) neither the water, nor the vessel containing it, which have been made use of in private baptism, are afterwards to be applied to common uses: but, out of reverence to the sacrament, the water is to be poured into the fire, or else carried into the church and put into the font; and the vessel to be burnt, or else appropriated to some use in the church. But no provision is made for the disposition of the water used in the font at church. In the Greek Church, particular care is taken that it be not thrown into the street like common water, but poured into a hollow place under the altar, (called θαλασσίδιον or χωνεῖον,) where it is soaked into the earth, or finds a passage.—_Broughton. Bp. Gibson’s Codex_, tit. xviii. c. 2, vol. i. p. 435. _Dr. Smith’s Account of the Gr. Church._
BAPTISM, ADULT. “It was thought convenient, that some prayers and thanksgivings, fitted to special occasions, should be added; particularly an office for the baptism of such as are of riper years; which, although not so necessary when the former book was compiled, yet by the growth of anabaptism, through the licentiousness of the late times crept in amongst us, is now become necessary, and may be always useful for the baptizing of natives in our plantations, and others converted to the faith.”—_Preface to the Book of Common Prayer._
_Rubric._ “When any such persons of riper years are to be baptized, timely notice shall be given to the bishop, or whom he shall appoint for that purpose, a week before at the least, by the parents or some other discreet persons; that so due care may be taken for their examination, whether they be sufficiently instructed in the principles of the Christian religion; and that they may be exhorted to prepare themselves with prayers and fasting for the receiving of this holy sacrament. And if they shall be found fit, then the godfathers and godmothers (the people being assembled upon the Sunday or holy day appointed) shall be ready to present them at the font, immediately after the second lesson, either at morning or evening prayer, as the curate in his discretion shall think fit. And it is expedient that every person thus baptized should be confirmed by the bishop, so soon after his baptism as conveniently may be; that so he may be admitted to the holy communion.”
BAPTISM, INFANT. _Article 27._ “The baptism of young children is in anywise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of CHRIST.”
_Rubric._ “The curates of every parish shall often admonish the people, that they defer not the baptism of their children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other holy day falling between; unless upon a great and reasonable cause, to be approved by the curate.”
The practice of infant baptism seems to be a necessary consequence of the doctrine of original sin and of the grace of baptism. If it be only by union with CHRIST that the children of Adam can be saved; and if, as the apostle teaches, in baptism “we put on CHRIST,” then it was natural for parents to ask for permission to bring their little ones to CHRIST, that they might be partakers of the free grace that is offered to all; but though offered to all, to be applied individually. It may be because it is so necessary a consequence of the doctrine of original sin, that the rite of infant baptism is not enjoined in Scripture. But though there is no command in Scripture to baptize infants, and although for the practice we must plead the tradition of the Church Universal, still we may find a warrant in Scripture in favour of the traditional practice. We find it generally stated that the apostles baptized whole households, and CHRIST our SAVIOUR commanded them to baptize all nations, of which infants form a considerable part. And in giving this injunction, we may presume that he intended to _in_clude infants, from the very fact of his not _ex_cluding them. For he was addressing Jews; and when the Jews converted a heathen to faith in the GOD of Israel, they were accustomed to baptize the convert, _together with all the infants of his family_. And, consequently, when our LORD commanded _Jews_, i.e. _men accustomed to this practice_, to baptize nations, the fact that he did not positively _repel_ infants, _implied_ an injunction to _baptize_ them; and when the HOLY SPIRIT records that the apostles, in obedience to that injunction, baptized whole households, the argument gains increased force. This is probably what St. Paul means, when, in the seventh chapter of the First Corinthians, verse 14, he speaks of the children of believers as being holy: they are so far holy, that they may be brought to the sacrament of baptism. From the apostles has come down the practice of baptizing _infants_, the Church requiring security, through certain _sponsors_, that the children shall be brought up to lead a godly and a Christian life. And by the early Christians the practice was considered sufficiently sanctioned by the passage from St. Mark, which is read in our baptismal office, in which we are told, that the LORD JESUS CHRIST, having rebuked those that would have kept the children from him, took them up in his arms and blessed them. He blessed them, and his blessing must have conveyed grace to their souls; therefore, of grace, children may be partakers. They may receive spiritual life, though it may be long before that life develope itself; and that life they may lose by sinning.
BAPTISM, LAY. We shall briefly state the history of lay baptism in our Church both before and after the Reformation. In the “Laws Ecclesiastical” of Edmund, king of England, A. D. 945, it is stated:—“Women, when their time of child-bearing is near at hand, shall have water ready, for baptizing the child in case of necessity.”
In the national synod under Otho, 1237, it is directed: “For cases of necessity, the priests on Sundays shall frequently instruct their parishioners in the form of baptism.” To which it is added, in the Constitutions of Archbishop Peckham, in 1279, “Which form shall be thus: I crysten thee in the name of the FADER, and of the SONE, and of the HOLY GOSTE.”
In the Constitutions of the same archbishop, in 1281, it is ruled that infants baptized by laymen or women (in imminent danger of death) shall not be baptized again; and the priest shall afterwards supply the rest.
By the rubrics of the second and of the fifth of Edward VI. it was ordered thus: “The pastors and curates shall often admonish the people, that without great cause and necessity they baptize not children at home in their houses; and when great need shall compel them so to do, that then they minister it in this fashion:—First, let them that be present call upon GOD for his grace, and say the LORD’S Prayer, if the time will suffer; and then one of them shall name the child and dip him in the water, or pour water upon him, saying these words, I baptize thee in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.”
In the manuscript copy of the Articles made in convocation in the year 1575, the twelfth is, “Item, where some ambiguity and doubt hath arisen among divers, by what persons private baptism is to be administered; forasmuch as by the Book of Common Prayer allowed by the statute, the bishop of the diocese is authorized to expound and resolve all such doubts as shall arise, concerning the manner how to understand and to execute the things contained in the said book; it is now, by the said archbishop and bishops, expounded and resolved, and every of them doth expound and resolve, that the said private baptism, in case of necessity, is only to be ministered by a lawful minister or deacon called to be present for that purpose, and by none other; and that every bishop in his diocese shall take order that this exposition of the said doubt shall be published in writing, before the first day of May next coming, in every parish church of his diocese in this province; and thereby all other persons shall be inhibited to intermeddle with the ministering of baptism privately, being no part of their vocation.” This article was not published in the printed copy; but whether on the same account that the fifteenth article was left out, (namely, because disapproved by the Crown,) does not certainly appear. However, the ambiguity remained till the conference at Hampton Court, in which the king said, that if baptism was termed private, because any but a lawful minister might baptize, he utterly disliked it, and the point was then debated; which debate ended in an order to the bishops to explain it, so as to restrain it to a lawful minister. Accordingly, in the Book of Common Prayer, which was set forth the same year, the alterations were printed in the rubric thus:—“And also they shall warn them, that without great cause they procure not their children to be baptized at home in their houses. And when great need shall compel them so to do, then baptism shall be administered on this fashion: First, let the lawful minister and them that be present call upon GOD for his grace, and say the LORD’S Prayer, if the time will suffer; and then the child being named by some one that is present, the said minister shall dip it in the water, or pour water upon it.” And other expressions, in other parts of the service, which seemed before to admit of lay baptism, were so turned, as expressly to exclude it.
BAPTISM, PRIVATE. _Rubric._ “The curates of every parish shall often warn the people, that without great cause and necessity, they procure not their children to be baptized at home in their houses.”
Canon 69. “If any minister being duly, without any manner of collusion, informed of the weakness and danger of death of any infant unbaptized in his parish, and thereupon desired to go or come to the place where the said infant remaineth, to baptize the same, shall either wilfully refuse so to do, or of purpose or of gross negligence shall so defer the time, as when he might conveniently have resorted to the place, and have baptized the said infant, it dieth through such his default unbaptized, the said minister shall be suspended for three months, and before his restitution shall acknowledge his fault, and promise before his ordinary that he will not wittingly incur the like again. Provided, that where there is a curate, or a substitute, this constitution shall not extend to the parson or vicar himself, but to the curate or substitute present.”
_Rubric._ “The child being named by some one that is present, the minister shall pour water upon it.
“And let them not doubt, but that the child so baptized is lawfully and sufficiently baptized, and ought not to be baptized again. Yet, nevertheless, if the child which is after this sort baptized do afterward live, it is expedient that it be brought into the church, to the intent that the congregation may be certified of the true form of baptism privately before administered to such child.”
BAPTISM, PUBLIC. At first baptism was administered publicly, as occasion served, by rivers; afterwards the baptistery was built, at the entrance of the church or very near it, which had a large basin in it, that held the persons to be baptized, and they went down by steps into it. Afterwards, when immersion came to be disused, fonts were set up at the entrance of churches.
By the “Laws Ecclesiastical” of King Edmund, it is directed that there shall be a font of stone, or other competent material, in every church; which shall be decently covered and kept, and not converted to other uses.
And by canon 81, There shall be a font of stone in every church and chapel where baptism is to be administered; the same to be set in the ancient usual places: in which only font the minister shall baptize publicly.
The rubric directs that the people are to be admonished, that it is most convenient that baptism shall not be administered but upon Sundays and other holy days, when the most number of people come together; as well for that the congregation there present may testify the receiving of them that be newly baptized into the number of Christ’s Church, as also because in the baptism of infants, every man present may be put in remembrance of his own profession made to GOD in his baptism. Nevertheless, if necessity so require, children may be baptized upon any other day.
And by canon 68, No minister shall refuse or delay to christen any child according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer, that is brought to the church to him upon Sundays and holy days to be christened (convenient warning being given him thereof before). And if he shall refuse so to do, he shall be suspended by the bishop of the diocese from his ministry by the space of three months.
The rubric also directs, that when there are children to be baptized, the parents shall give knowledge thereof over-night, or in the morning before the beginning of morning prayer, to the curate.
The rubric further directs, that there shall be for every male child to be baptized two godfathers and one godmother; and for every female, one godfather and two godmothers.
By the 29th canon it is related, that no parent shall be urged to be present, nor admitted to answer as godfather for his own child: nor any godfather or godmother shall be suffered to make any other answer or speech, than by the Book of Common Prayer is prescribed in that behalf. Neither shall any persons be admitted godfather or godmother to any child at christening or confirmation, before the said person so undertaking hath received the holy communion.
According to the rubric, the godfathers and godmothers, and the people with the children, must be ready at the font, either immediately after the last lesson at morning prayer, or else immediately after the last lesson at evening prayer, as the curate by his discretion shall appoint.
The rubric appoints that the priest coming to the font, which is then to be filled with pure water, shall perform the office of public baptism.
It may be here observed, that the questions in the office of the 2 Edward VI., “Dost thou renounce?” and so on, were put to the child, and not to the godfathers and godmothers, which (with all due submission) seems more applicable to the end of the institution; besides that it is not consistent (as it seems) with the propriety of language, to say to three persons collectively, “Dost _thou_ in the name of this child do this or that?”
By a constitution of Archbishop Peckham, the ministers are to take care not to permit wanton names, which being pronounced do sound to lasciviousness, to be given to children baptized, especially of the female sex; and if otherwise it be done, the same shall be changed by the bishop at confirmation; which being so changed at confirmation (Lord Coke says) shall be deemed the lawful name, though this appears to be no longer the case. In the ancient offices of Confirmation, the bishop pronounced the name of the child; and if the bishop did not approve of the name, or the person to be confirmed, or his friends, desired it to be altered, it might be done by the bishop’s then pronouncing a new name; but by the form of the present liturgy, the bishop doth not pronounce the name of the person to be confirmed, and therefore cannot alter it.
The rubric goes on to direct, The priest, taking the child into his hands, shall say to the godfathers and godmothers, “Name this child:” and then naming it after them, (if they shall certify him that the child may well endure it,) he shall dip it in the water discreetly and warily, saying, “_N._ I baptize thee in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.” But if they certify that the child is weak, it shall suffice to pour water upon it.
Here we may observe that the dipping by the office of the 2 Edward VI. was not all over; but they first dipped the right side, then the left, then the face towards the font.
The rubric directs that the minister shall sign the child with the sign of the cross. And to take away all scruple concerning the same, the true explication thereof, and the just reasons for retaining of this ceremony, are set forth in the thirtieth canon. The substance of which canon is this, that the first Christians gloried in the cross of CHRIST; that the Scripture sets forth our whole redemption under the name of the cross; that the sign of the cross was used by the first Christians in all their actions, and especially in the baptizing of their children; that the abuse of it by the Church of Rome does not take away the lawful use of it; that the same has been approved by the reformed divines, with sufficient cautions nevertheless against superstition in the use of it; that it is no part of the substance of this sacrament, and that the infant baptized is by virtue of baptism, before it be signed with the sign of the cross, received into the congregation of CHRIST’S flock as a perfect member thereof, and not by any power ascribed to the sign of the cross; and therefore, that the same, being purged from all Popish superstition and error, and reduced to its primary institution, upon those rules of doctrine concerning things indifferent which are consonant to the word of GOD and to the judgments of all the ancient fathers, ought to be retained in the Church, considering that things of themselves indifferent do, in some sort, alter their natures when they become enjoined or prohibited by lawful authority.
The following is Dr. Comber’s analysis of our baptismal office:—The first part of the office, or the preparation before baptism, concerns either the child or the sureties. As to the child, we first inquire if it want baptism; secondly, show the necessity of it in an exhortation; thirdly, we pray it may be fitted for it in the two collects. First, the priest asks if this child have been already baptized, because St. Paul saith, “there is but one baptism” (Ephes. iv. 5); and as we are born, so we are born again, but once. Secondly, the minister begins the exhortation, showing, 1. what reason there is to baptize this child, namely, because of its being born in original sin, (Psalm li. 5,) and by consequence liable to condemnation (Rom. v. 12); the only way to free it from which is baptizing it with water and the HOLY GHOST. (John iii. 5.) And, 2. beseeching all present, upon this account, to pray to GOD, that, while he baptizes this child with water, GOD will give it his Holy Spirit, so as to make it a lively member of CHRIST’S Church, whereby it may have a title to “remission of sins.” Thirdly, the two collects follow, made by the priest and all the people for the child: the first collect commemorates how GOD did typify this salvation, which he now gives by baptism, in saving Noah and all his by water (1 Pet. iii. 21); and by carrying the Israelites safe through the Red Sea. (1 Cor. x. 2.) And it declares also how CHRIST himself, by being baptized, sanctified water for remission of sin: and upon these grounds we pray that GOD will by his Spirit cleanse and sanctify this child, that he may be delivered from his wrath, saved in the ark of his Church, and so filled with grace as to live holily here, and happily hereafter. The second collect, after owning GOD’S power to help this child, and to raise him from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, doth petition him to grant it may receive remission and regeneration, pleading with GOD to grant this request, by his promise to give to them that ask, that so this infant may be spiritually cleansed by GOD’S grace in its baptism, and come at last to his eternal kingdom, through CHRIST our LORD. Amen.
The next part of the preparation concerns the godfathers or sureties, who are, 1. encouraged in the gospel and its application, with the thanksgiving; 2. instructed in the preface before the covenant; 3. engaged in the questions and answers. The Jews had sureties at circumcision, who promised for the child till it came to age (Isaiah viii. 2); and the primitive Christians had sponsors to engage for such as were baptized, and since children cannot make a covenant themselves, it is charity to appoint (as the laws of men do) others to do it for them till they be of age; and this gives security to the Church, the child shall not be an apostate; provides a monitor both for the child and its parents, to mind them of this vow, and keep the memory of this new birth, by giving the child new and spiritual relations of godfathers and godmothers. Now to these the priest next addresseth, 1. in _the Gospel_ (Mark x. 13–16); which shows how the Jews, believing that CHRIST’S blessing would be very beneficial to young children, brought them to him in their arms, and when the disciples checked them, CHRIST first declares that infants, and such as were like them, had the only right to the kingdom of heaven, and therefore they had good right to his love and his blessing, and to all means which might bring them to it, and accordingly he took them in his arms and blessed them. After this follows the _explication_, and applying this gospel to the sureties; for if they doubt, here they may see CHRIST’S love to infants, and their right to heaven and to this means, so that they may firmly believe he will pardon and sanctify this child, and grant it a title to his kingdom; and that he is well pleased with them, for bringing this child to his holy baptism; for he desires this infant, as well as we all, may come to know and believe in him. Wherefore, thirdly, here is _a thanksgiving_ to be offered up by all, beginning with praising GOD for calling us into his Church, where we may know him and obtain the grace to believe, it being very proper for us to bless GOD for our being Christians, when a new Christian is to be made; and then follows a prayer, that we who are Christians may grow in grace, and that this infant may receive the Spirit in order to its regeneration and salvation. After which form of devotion, fourthly, there is a _preface to the covenant_, wherein the godfathers and godmothers are put in mind, first, what hath been done already, namely, they have brought the child to CHRIST, and begged of him in the collects to accept it, and CHRIST hath showed them in the Gospel that the child is capable to receive, and he willing to give it, salvation and the means thereof, upon the conditions required of all Christians, that is, repentance, faith, and new obedience. Secondly, therefore, they are required to engage in the name of this child, till it come of age, that it shall perform these conditions required on its part, that it may have a title to that which CHRIST doth promise, and will certainly perform on his part. Fifthly, the engagement itself follows, which is very necessary, since baptism is a mutual covenant between GOD and man, and therefore, in the beginning of Christianity, (when the Church consisted chiefly of such as were converted from the Jews and Heathens, after they came to age,) the parties baptized answered these very same questions, and entered into these very engagements, for themselves; which infants (who need the benefits of baptism as much as any) not being able to do, the Church lends them the feet of others to bring them, and the tongues of others to promise for them; and the priest stands in GOD’S stead to take this security in his name; he “demands,” therefore, of the sureties, first, if they in the name and stead of this child will renounce all sinful compliances with the devil, the world, and the flesh, which tempt us to all kinds of sin, and so are GOD’S enemies, and ours also, in so high a measure, that unless we vow never to follow and be led by them, we cannot be received into league and friendship with GOD: to this they reply in the singular number, as if the child spake by them, “I renounce them all.” Secondly, as Philip asked the eunuch if he did believe before he baptized him, (Acts viii. 37,) so the priest asks if they believe all the articles of the Christian faith, into which religion they are now to be entered; and therefore they must engage to hold all the fundamental principles thereof, revealed in Scripture and comprised in the Apostles’ Creed; and they are to answer, “All this I stedfastly believe.” Thirdly, that it may appear to be their own free act to admit themselves into this holy religion, they are asked if they will be baptized into this faith, and they answer, “That is my desire;” for who would not desire to be a child of GOD, a member of CHRIST, and an heir of heaven? But since these benefits of baptism are promised only to them who live holily, fourthly, it is demanded if they will keep GOD’S holy will and commandments as long as they live, since they now take CHRIST for their Lord and Master, and list themselves under his banner, and receive his grace in this sacrament, to renew and strengthen them to keep this vow? Upon these accounts they promise “they will” keep GOD’S commandments. And now the covenant is made between GOD and this infant, he hath promised it pardon, grace, and glory, and is willing to adopt it for his own child: and this child, by its sureties, hath engaged to forsake all evil ways, to believe all truth, and to practise all kind of virtue.—_Dean Comber._
BAPTISM, REGISTRATION OF. When the minister has baptized the child he has a further duty to perform, in making an entry thereof in the parish register, which is a book in which formerly all christenings, marriages, and burials were recorded, and the use of which is enforced both by the canon law and by the statute.
The keeping of parochial registries of baptism, and also of burial, are, so far as regards the duties of clergymen in that respect, regulated by the statute 52 Geo. III. c. 146, whereby it is enacted that registers of public and private baptisms, marriages, and burials, solemnized according to the rites of our Church, shall be made and kept by the rector or other the officiating minister of every parish or chapelry, on books of parchment, or durable paper, to be provided by the king’s printer, at the expense of the parishes; and the particular form of the book, and of the manner of making the entries, are directed according to a form in the schedule to the act.
The register book is to be deemed the property of the parish; the custody of it is to be in the rector or other officiating minister, by whom it is to be kept in an iron chest provided by the parish, either in his own house, if he resides in the parish, or in the church, and the book is to be taken from the chest only for the purpose of making entries, being produced when necessary in evidence, or for some of the purposes mentioned in the act.
The act 6 & 7 W. IV., called the General Registration Act, provides that nothing therein contained shall affect the registration of baptisms or burials, as now by law established; so that whatever any parishioner, incumbent, or curate had respectively a right to insist upon, with regard to the regulation of baptisms, may be equally insisted upon by either party now. There are, however, enactments of 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 86, which are to be observed in addition to those of 52 Geo. III. c. 146.
If any child born in England, whose birth shall have been registered according to the provisions of 6 & 7 W. IV. c. 86, shall, within six calendar months after it has been so registered, have any name given to it in baptism, the parents or persons so procuring such name to be given may, within seven days afterwards, procure and deliver to the registrar a certificate according to a prescribed form, signed by the minister who shall have performed the rite of baptism, which certificate the minister is required to deliver immediately after the baptism, whenever it shall then be demanded, on payment of the fee of 1_s._, which he shall be entitled to receive for the same; and the registrar, or superintendant registrar, upon the receipt of that certificate, and upon payment of a fee of 1_s._, shall, without any erasure of the original entry, forthwith register that the child was baptized by such a name; and such registrar, or superintendant registrar, shall thereupon certify upon the certificate the additional entry so made, and forthwith send the certificate through the post to the registrar-general. Every rector, &c., and every registrar, &c., who shall have the keeping for the time being of any register book, shall, at all reasonable times, allow searches to be made, and shall give a copy certified under his hand of any entry or entries in the same, upon payment of a fee of 1_s._, for every search extending over a period of not more than one year, and 6_d._ additional for every half year, and 2_s._ 6_d._ for every single certificate.
BAPTISTERY. Properly a separate, or special, building for the administration of holy baptism. In this sense, a baptistery, originally intended and used for the purpose, does not occur in England; for that which is called the baptistery at Canterbury, and contains the font, was never so called, or so furnished, till the last century. The remains of an ancient baptistery chapel have lately been discovered in Ely cathedral; and the chapel is now in the course of restoration.
One of the most ancient baptisteries now existing is that of St. John Lateran at Rome, erected by Constantine. It is a detached building, and octagonal. In the centre is a large font of green basalt, into which the persons to be baptized descended by the four steps which still remain. It has two side chapels or exedræ. (See _Eustace, Classical Tour in Italy_.)
Detached baptisteries still exist in many cities in Italy: the most famous are those at Florence and Pisa. These served for the whole city; anciently no town churches but the cathedral church having fonts. (See _Bingham_,