Read more
Excerpt from A Discourse Delivered at the Ordination of the Rev. George Edward Ellis: As Pastor of the Harvard Church, in Charlestown, March 11, 1840
Jects, as expressed in other parts of his writings. Now, judglng from these considerations, We can have no hesitation, I think, in pronouncing that he is here speaking not absolutely, but relatively. He would not denounce or depreciate the ritual, but he would eulo gize and extol the spiritual functions of his apostleship. He would not disparage baptlsm, but he would magnify the preaching of the word. He would give to each of these offices its place, recognize in each its use, and ascribe to each its importance. It is apparent, more over, from his own statement in the verses immediately preceding the text, that he had not neglected the administration of this ordinance, since he mentions the names of several whom he had personally baptized; but it is no less evident that be regarded preaching as his appropriate and paramount vocation. He himself, we know, was baptized after his miraculous conver sion and there can be no doubt, I think, from the statements and allusions scattered through the book of Acts and his Epistles, that all who were converted by'his preaching, were admitted to the privileges of disapleship by this initiatory rite of our religion, al though Paul did not baptize them with his own hands, (as Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) bu't employed others to perform this ministerial office for Christ sent this eminent and gifted Apostle, this chosen vessel, as he is called, not so much to bap tize, as to preach the Gospel.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
