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Show An "Evangelist" Heretic. A SORRY exhibition of modern Christianity was that of Rev. Dr. S. MacArthur at New York on Sunday last. His views of baptism an ordinance that originated with tb Sen of God is a personal matter for- him, but his' attempt to follow Ingersoll in denouncing God as a tyrant is blasphemous. blasphe-mous. The views of his congregation on the subject were doubtlessly ascertained ascer-tained beforehand, for the dispatch gives the information that they applauded ap-plauded the sensational preacher. We quote from the dispatch giving the sensational part of Rev. MacAr-thur's MacAr-thur's discourse. He said: "Baptism never saved a human soul. The doctrine of baptismal regeneration regenera-tion is both unreasonable and unscrip-tural. unscrip-tural. The superstitions that have gathered about the infant baptism form one of the saddest chapters in church history. Thousands through all the ages have believed that a child dying without being baptized was eternally eter-nally lost. "This doctrine is heathenish, pure and ,simple. The idea that God would forever an Innocent babe because some one had not put a few drops of water on its head and face makes God a tyrant ty-rant and a monster and a demon. Rather than believe in such a God I will be an avowed infidel. "This doctrine of baptismal regeneration regenera-tion makes the minister of religion a worker of magic, a fakir, a performer of miracles. Such teaching is a violation viola-tion of all sound reason and true scriptural scrip-tural teaching." The ministerial association of New York should take up his case, Investigate Inves-tigate and assign him his pia-.-e with modern infidelity. The Rev. MacArthur says the scriptures scrip-tures do not teach that baptism was established as a sacrament, to regenerate regener-ate the soul. Whether it was instituted insti-tuted before the Resurrection, when Jesus Christ received from St. John the figurative baptism, or after '-he Resurrection, Resur-rection, is an open question, but Rev. MacArthur cannot deny that our Lord, in commissioning his apostles, said to thera: "Teach ye all nations, baptiz- j ing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost;" also when asked what was necessary for salvation he answered: "Unless a man be born again of water and of the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Again, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned." "Those plain texts, we hope, are not eliminated from the preacher's bible. On the principle of private interpretation, interpreta-tion, he is entitled to his own opinion, but for his coarse utterances and blasphemous blas-phemous reference to God, whose infinite in-finite love and mercy are manifest, he should at once give up the ministry and openly avow his infidelity. His sensational discourse on last Sunday could not be surpassed by Payne or Ingersoll. |