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