--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - George C. Lorimer collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 1 number: 8 published: 1898-06 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'George C. Lorimer, "The Presentation of the Baptist Churches," *Improvement Era* 1, no. 8 (June 1898): 556–561.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera18unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera18unse start_page: 556 end_page: 561 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1898-06) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera18unse publication_year: 1898 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1898, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Presentation of the Baptist Churches 556 IMPROVEMENT ERA. One other distinctive characteristic of Congregationalism must be noted. This is the intensity of its belief in the "Holy Catholic Church" the world over, and its disposition to recog- nize the existing unity in Christ of true believers of whatever name. If Congregationalism is not, as some claim for it, "the solvent of the sects," its distinguishing and constituent princi- ples are the ones which, it is believed, will prevail when at the last, the prayer of our Lord shall have come to pass "that they all may be one." THE PRESENTATION OF THE BAPTIST CHURCHES. BY REV. GEO. C. LORIMER, D. D. , OF BOSTON. Greatness is not to be determined by bulk or by num- bers, but rather by aim and achievement. It is not, therefore, likely that the merit and meaning, or the place and power of a religious body in the world, can be adequately determined by its size and girth. The Baptists cannot ad- vance a claim for recognition, grounded in the immensity of their fraternity. Their hosts are neither huge nor over- whelming. At the most, their regular enrolled army, the wide world over, is only something more than 4,000,000 strong, with a possible 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 of sympathetic followers. If, then, they have not justified their existence by things at- tempted and attained, and if what they represent is not intrinsically precious to the race, they have no sufficient reason for being here to-day, nor indeed for being anywhere. They must, therefore, be judged, if judged at all, by the richness and fertility of their possessions, and not by the extent of their borders. That the Baptists are among the oldest of the non- liturgical and non-prelatical branches of Christ's Church, and more than likely are in reality the oldest, is generally con- ceded and grows more certain with the progress of scholarly RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 557 investigation. It is, however, to be admitted that their origin is obscure. The beginnings of some of the post- Reformation denominations are easily determined and are marked by national upheavals and crises; but this is not the case with the Baptists, and seems to indicate that they belong to the pre-Reformation period and are identical with the anti-ecclesiastical thought, feeling and aspiration which steadily flowed through the middle ages as the gulf stream penetrates and courses through the Atlantic. The Baptists from the beginning and through all the centuries have stood for individuality in the religious life; for the enlargement and the emancipation of the individual, for the rights and responsibilities of the individual, and for the autonomy and authority of the individual. To them there are two great factors in religion, the Creator and the creature; the former comprehending all that is supernatural, the latter including all that is natural; the first being absolutely sovereign and supreme over the second, but the second in its individuality being supreme over self as far as every other fellow-creature is concerned. They believe that Christianity, like the Sabbath, was made for man, not man for Christianity; made not, of course, for him to ignore, pervert or destroy, but for him to respect, pre- serve and honor; and not made to efface his personality, enslave his reason, circumscribe his intelligence and subvert his conscience, but for the development of all the faculties and resources of his being and for the deliverance of his soul from spiritual slavery of every kind. The Baptists believe that man's supreme allegiance, so far as earthly powers are concerned, is not to the church, but to himself, to his own reason, and conscience, to his own dignity and destiny. As all societies, whether secular or spiritual, are but aggregations of beings like himself, how can the aggregates, taken together, be more important or more sacred than the units of which they are composed? The Baptists admit that there is a place for churches in the Christian economy; but they insist that they are not for the suppression of the individual, but for his unfolding and perfection. Organized and visible churches are means to an 558 IMPROVEMENT ERA. end; they are not themselves the end. They are temporal, but man is eternal; hence they shall at last decay and dis- appear, whether gorgeous ecclesiastical monarchies or modest democracies—but man is immortal. This is the Baptist idea, and he is persuaded that it is the idea of the New Testament. God was incarnate, not in humanity at large, but exclusively in the man, Jesus, to teach that in com- ing to dwell in his children by the Holy Ghost, he does not abide in them as a whole without taking up his abode in each separate child. "Ye are the temples of the Holy Ghost" was affirmed of every Christian as well as of a numerous communion. And it is written that "Christ is the head of every man" as well as being "the head of his body, the church." So, likewise, "every man must render an account of himself to God," and to emphasize more fully the place of individuality in religion, it is written that Jesus "tasted death for every creature." It was belief in these scripture representations that led the Anabaptists to teach in the sixteenth century that every Christian has in himself a divine guide whom he must follow at any cost. These sturdy men were more than satisfied to sacrifice and suffer for man, that the individual, instead of be- coming unconscious in God, might become fully conscious of the perfection of God in the individual. This is very apparent in their loyalty to the Holy Script- ures as the supreme authority in personal faith and moral conduct. They are people of one book, one that is "quite sufficiently called," as Hein has it, "The Book." Nature, they concede, has manifold disclosures of the infinite, and they are far from being indifferent to its teachings, whether em- bodied in science or in the unvarying and harmonious opera- tion of its laws. They recognize reason also as related to be- lief and practice; not, however, as in itself, an original revela- tion, but as the subject and interpreter of all revelations, whether they proceed from without or are due to the illumi- nating ministrations of the Comforter within. But for all the important purposes of religious thought and life, the Bible is their ultimate guide, as, in addition to its own messages, it furnishes a criterion by which the mes- RELIGIOUS FAITHS. . 559 sages from other sources may be judged. The Baptists have never formally acknowledged the binding obligation of creeds. Their confessions, from that of 1527 to the one of most recent date, that called the New Hampshire, including Smyth's, 161 1, and the London confession, 1646, were not promulgated to secure uniformity of belief nor as standards to which sub- scription is imperative; but rather as defenses and apologies forced from them by the abuse and calumnies of enemies, or as succinct and convenient expositions of their opinions. These symbols all have their value as religious literature, but they are not necessarily final statements of truth, nor are they endued with any coercive power. No documents of this kind are permitted by the Baptists to rival in authority the Sacred Writings, nor to fix by arbitrary rule what they are designed to communicate to each soul. The Bible is divine thought given to every man, and every man ought to give human thought to the Bible, and ecclesiastical bodies do their entire duty when they bring these two thoughts into immediate communion and commerce with each other. From this representation it can easily be seen how large a part individuality plays in our simple ecclesiastical system. Infants are not baptized, because that ordinance would mis- lead them as to their standing before God, would tend to diminish their sense of personal responsibility, and would finally establish an unconverted church in a corrupt world. If the Kingdom of Christ is really not radically different from the Kingdom of Satan, and is only visibly separate and dis- tinct by a few ceremonies, professions and the solemn invo- cation of holy names, of what particular use is it to society, and how can it hope to subdue its rival? To guard against this deplorable confusion, this deadly fellowship between light and darkness, the Baptists have adhered to their Bible that requires a heart difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not, with the appropriate outward expression of the change. Here, then, we have the ground, both in scripture and reason, for the baptism of believers only, and a baptism that shows reverence for the divine will in form and purpose as immersion manifestly does. But conscious individuality is 560 IMPROVEMENT ERA. necessary to all this, and is emphasized by it. Before a human being has come to realize self-hood with all that it im- plies, he cannot act of his own volition in these high matters; but when he is competent to do so there will be developed capabilities for further duties. These will find their sphere of action in the church; for its government being such as I have described, it opens a field for the exercise of every personal talent, attainment and grace. That the significance of the Baptists in history lies mainly in the direction I have indicated, is demonstrated beyond a doubt by their persistent advocacy of soul freedom, and by hearty and practical sympathy with almost every movement on behalf of civil liberty. The first amendment to the consti- tution of the United States was inspired by them, and in no other country can such a provision be found. It reads as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Baptists of former times evidently perceived the disastrous effect of enforced formalism. They were not opposed to communities of Christians, but they realized that their efficiency depended on the voluntary nature of the followship. In proportion as they became mere aggregations of human particles, having little in common, and held to- gether by external pressure, they necessarily impaired their own power and wrecked the society to whose well-being their compulsory membership was deemed indispensable. Independence is inseparable from the highest type of in- dividuality, and the individuality of the highest type is necessary to vital and vigorous organization. Here, then, we have explanation of the long struggle for religious liberty. Apart from the Divine Word, to whose teachings the entire movement is primarily due, it must be ascribed to that recognition of each man's personal dignity and worth as a creature made in the image of God which has been so dis- tinguishing a note of Baptist history. The practical profitableness of the root principle out of which the historical significance of the Baptists has grown, very frequently has been challenged, and is even now ad- mitted in some circles only with evident reluctance. Un- RELIGIOUS FAITHS. 561 questionably it has been abused, and like other precious things, may be made a source of incalculable mischief. We may, I believe, without hesitation, appeal to our own denomination for proofs of its expediency and excellency. These are furnished in the contributions made by its leaders and churches towards the evolution of mode i society, with its liberty and progress, its inventions and dircoveries, its re- forms and charities. Much has already been suggested on this point, and yet something more remains to be added. The Baptists have been conspicuous for their devotion to education, and today they have more money invested in property and endowments for educational interests than any other religious body in the land. They have consecrated in America to the cause of human enlightenment, over $32,000- 000, and have in the main given it unhampered by sectarian conditions. Manifestly, in this instance, individualism in re- ligion has wrought no ill to the community, but only good. The Baptists have been equally prominent in founding foreign missions to the heathens, and are everywhere ac- knowledged as the heroic leaders in an enterprise which means the salvation and unification of races in Christ. * * * But in addition, in the domain of letters they have given to the world a Foster and a William R. Williams; to the domain of heroism a long line, including Arnold of Brescia, a Havelock, and a Carey; to that of theology a Gill, a Haldane, and many others; and to that of philanthropy a John Harvard, who was a member of Samuel Stennett's congregation in London, and an Abraham Lincoln, who, though not himself a Baptist, was born of Baptist parents, and attributed all that he was to his Baptist mother. Nor should we forget the influence they have exerted on the devotional life of the people at large. They have taught us to sing "Blessed Be the Tie that Binds," "Did Christ o'er Sinners weep?" "Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned upon the Savior's Brow," "How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the Lord," "Mid Scenes of Confusion and Creature Complaints," "They are Gathering Homeward from Every Land," "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," "Savior, Thy Dying Love," "I Need Thee every Hour," "Lo, the Day of 4"