قراءة كتاب From Bondage to Liberty in Religion: A Spiritual Autobiography
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From Bondage to Liberty in Religion: A Spiritual Autobiography
explanations about "close baptism" instead of "close communion"; and to illustrate this point, he referred to the fact that two persons had just presented themselves for church membership, and had been accepted, subject to baptism, concerning whose conversion and sincere Christian character, there was just as sure confidence as there was of any that had been baptized that morning; yet these two could not partake of the Lord's Supper because they had not yet been baptized.
Just at this point there suddenly darted into my mind, almost with the force of a "clap of thunder from a clear sky," the question, "Where is the scriptural authority for this?" I had heard it perhaps a hundred times. I was as familiar with it as I was with the alphabet, but for the first time in life the thought came to me with the suddenness of lightning, "Where is the scriptural authority for it?" I could not remember that I had ever heard a single passage of scripture quoted in its support, or defense. (The reader must keep in mind that up to this time, and for several years thereafter, to me, the Bible was infallible, inerrant, and the sole and final authority in all matters pertaining to religion and the church.) The shock was so great, and my mental agitation so intense, that it threw me into a fever. I went home sick.
During the following week I read the New Testament thru in special search for some passage to support the doctrine that baptism, in any form, was a necessary prerequisite to a proper participation in the Lord's Supper. And I did not find it. In fact I did not find any direct evidence in the Gospel record that any of the twelve to whom Jesus first administered this supper were ever baptized at all! and if they were,—which is only an inference, or a reading into the record, not what actually is there, but what somebody thinks ought to be there,—it was not Christian baptism, but the baptism of John, which, according to the teachings of the Baptist Church, was an entirely different thing in meaning and purpose, tho the same in form.
John's baptism, according to the teachings of my church, was a "baptism unto repentance," in preparation for the appearance of Christ; while Christian baptism, "in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost" was not instituted until after the descent of the Holy Ghost, according to the promise of Jesus, on the Day of Pentecost. Then for the first time, and not until then, did Christian baptism in the name of the Trinity, have any existence or meaning. It was therefore quite clear to me, that this institution that we call the Lord's Supper, being instituted, and first administered to persons who, so far as we have any specific knowledge, were not baptized at all; and who in the very nature of the case could not have been baptized under that formula commonly known as Christian baptism; therefore, whatever meaning may be attached to the Lord's Supper, it has absolutely no connection with, or relation to any kind, or form of baptism whatsoever.
It is one of my misfortunes that I have never had sense enough to "keep my counsel to myself." I have always had a habit of "thinking out loud." And when I thus began to express myself, my position in the Baptist Church began to grow "shaky," not to say precarious. Yet, I still held rigidly to the doctrine that immersion alone was baptism, and that with all its defects, the Baptist Church was the most scriptural and orthodox in its doctrines and practices of any church in existence.
The upshot of this whole matter was, that I was soon cited before my "church conference" to answer a charge of heresy, in holding to the doctrine of "open communion." I appeared and wanted to make a defense of my position before the church. I was vain and silly enough at that time to think if I could only make my argument before the church I would be able to convert a majority of the members to my views, and thus save myself and "reform" the church. But this I was not permitted to do. I was told I might answer either "guilty" or "not guilty," and no more. I refused to answer either way, unless I was further permitted to explain my answer. This was denied me. Whereupon, a motion was made to "withdraw fellowship from Brother Ashley"; and without debate or further ceremony, the motion was put, four persons voting Aye, and three, No, altho about forty members were present. And thus I went out of the Baptist Church, whereby my education for the ministry became automatically "finished," and all hope of my ministerial career blasted.
Strange as it may seem there was a sort of personal satisfaction in this. I had not entered the ministry as a pure matter of choice. While I did not shrink from it, but rather took it up joyously, it was because I felt it to be a duty divinely imposed upon me, and therefore an honor of which I was proud; and because it was the means thru which I might gratify my personal desire to be of some real use to God and humanity, in saving souls from the eternal burning.
But now I felt that I had fulfilled my part as far as I possibly could, and was denied the privilege of going further by the action of the church; and that thereafter the church, and not I, was responsible for any failure on my part to go on with the work of warning sinners to "flee from the wrath to come." I was a little like Jonah fleeing to Tarshish. I was rather secretly glad I had gotten away, and shifted the responsibility somewhere else.
But these impressions did not last long. My fundamental theology had not changed. The Bible was still an infallible divine revelation. Humanity was still lost, totally depraved, abiding under the "wrath of God"; hell was a reality towards which all humanity was bound; and the only means of escape was to "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ" according to the prescribed formula. The burden of my personal responsibility soon returned. I could not escape it. True, I was out of the church—the Baptist Church; but it seemed quite evident that God was using other agencies, outside the Baptist Church, for the salvation of souls, and seemed to be doing it quite successfully. If God could so use the Methodist Church for this purpose, why might not I? What did baptism amount to anyway? I was never taught that it was necessary to salvation. And if not, why make such a fuss about it? If a person was already saved, and it was only "an outward sign of an inward grace," what difference could it make how it was administered, who administered it, or whether it was administered at all?
These were some of the questions that ran thru my mind. I also began to note that there were at least a few places in the New Testament that might be fairly interpreted to imply that baptism was, at least, not always by immersion.
For example, the baptism of so many thousands on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, where the supply of water was very limited, and this all under the control of the enemies of the new religion. The immersion of so many, in so short a time and under such circumstances and conditions was next to a physical impossibility, while easily probable if done by sprinkling.
By these processes of reasoning, in the course of some two years, I found a congenial home in the Methodist Church, at first with some trepidation, but soon afterwards with perfect satisfaction. While this change in church relations involved quite a radical change in matters of ecclesiastical organization and polity, it must be kept in mind that it did not involve any material change in matters of fundamental theology. But let it be noted here that during all this time I was striving for some degree of religious liberty; and in passing from the Baptist to the Methodist Church, I was at least making some progress towards it, however small it might be. To shorten my story, in a few months I found myself a "circuit rider" in the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South—(I was born and reared in the "pine hills" of Mississippi).
It is not necessary to go into any lengthy details