kind of swearing he speaks, of that doubtless which the ancients supposed to be allowed them by their law, viz, to swear on ordinary occasions to some true and proper thing, by the name of God or something else. But Christ teaches them that in their common conversation they should neither swear, adjure, nor solemnly vow, in reference to any thing however true or worthy in itself. This view of His meaning is confirmed by what follows: "Neither by heaven, &c." From these examples it is manifest that Christ does not refer here to the formal or ceremonial oath. For what Hebrew ever thought of swearing in this formal manner, by heaven or earth, or any other creature? Who on the contrary was not daily accustomed to profane swearing by such things? It is this therefore that Christ forbids. This is the tenor of His whole discourse upon this point-"Let your communication be yea, &c." That is, if you would say yea, say simply yea, if nay, say simply nay. He speaks therefore of what should characterize their ordinary conversation, and not concerning the formal oath. And because this is not involved here, we add nothing further concerning it, having discussed it sufficiently in our Refutation of the Anabaptists, and there shown what is permitted to the Christian, and what pertains to godly piety. Christ therefore introduces nothing new into the law of His Father, but simply restores the ancient precept which had been made of no effect by human traditions. He forbids His followers to swear at all in the sense in which the ancients and pharisees allowed it; but He does not prohibit the taking of an oath according to the scriptures, for the glory of God, or the true advantage of others.

Quod ultra est, a malo est.-That is of the evil one, Satan. For in proportion as any one cultivates and loves the truth, will he become more like God. God is immutable, holy, infallible, pure, wherefore Christ calls Him the truth. By this interpretation of the law, Christ shows that we are evil, and that we are all sinners; for in God there can be no evil. So when he said above, "Whoso looketh on a woman, &c.," shows that evil is concealed in his heart. Wherever we perceive heat, we know the fire is not far off, and immediately apprehend a conflagra. tion. But if the secret passions of others break forth into sinful acts, suffer not yours to do so. Flatter not yourself with selfcomplacent notions of your moral strength, but stand in the fear of God, watch and pray, that you fall not through temptation. There is, I confess, a difference between the passion and the act. The one sins in deed, the other only in feeling; but meanwhile this is a spark in the heart which upon occasion may break out

into a flame. The teaching of Christ therefore amounts to this, that we candidly acknowledge our diseases, deplore them, and seek their remedy, and never indulge too strong a sense of security. Mendacity is the beginning of all sins. By falsehoods the serpent seduced our first parents. If therefore truth is planted and preached, and spread throughout the earth, justice, right. eousness and every virtue will flourish. The preacher therefore who has this light of truth, in his heart, hand and mouth, sets it up in the midst of the Church. Then the wicked and ungodly, convicted in their consciences, are put to shame, when they hear the truth so constantly proclaimed by the preacher, and iniquity denounced. This will occur whenever the minister is faithful in discharging his duty, seeking neither his glory nor temporal gain, but desirous only of promoting the glory of God, and the good of men.-And what I say of the preacher of the gospel, may also apply to the civil judge. Truth is august, and full of majesty and awe even for the wicked. Where faith flourishes in the heart, there the fervor of true charity also burns, and there will be a strong desire to promote truth, justice and righteousness. Truth assists the judgment (for it is light), so that it immediately and easily detects falsehood in others, especially if the whole life has studied nothing but truth and justice. Zeal for the truth always discovers with ease the true merits of a cause. For where God illumines, how can there be darkness? If truth is every where restored, justice will soon be restored, and directly every virtue will most beautifully and delightfully flourish.

Praebe ei et alteram.-This is a hyperbole, for Christ always adduces the most perfect examples. It has reference again to the internal man. We should bear injuries with patience, and be prepared indeed to bear even greater ones than those inflicted. The disciple of Christ must prepare himself, as long as he lives on earth, to endure with a noble and unruffled mind any evils that may befall him. For the world is prone to heap injuries upon the pious. Christ therefore admonishes us to imitate the Divine mind in this respect, although we may be unable fully to reach so perfect an example. This precept may aid us in our effort at self-knowledge, and the suppression of a revengeful spirit.

Diliges proximum, odio autem habebis inimicum.—This, so far as the letter is concerned, is found in the books of Moses concerning the extermination of the Canaanites and other gentile nations. As if Christ should say: "Thus indeed it was permitted by them of old times." But if we contemplate the

divine and absolute perfection, it will be found far more proper and agreeable to the Divine nature not to revenge an injury, even though you may be wronged and have it in your power to retaliate. Christ every where teaches us to suppress sinful affections, and places the impurity of them before our eyes. Thus he reiterates the words of the law: if the desires are impure, and any one seeks his own advantage, he violates the law. They who only regard the letter of the law are not just. Do you ask: will I then be righteous and holy if I act according to the spirit of the law? By no means. Christ treats us all as guilty according to his law, and shows that we are deservedly condemned. And however impossible it may be for us to keep the law perfectly, He does not therefore cease to prescribe a perfect law for us, even though we may not attain to its fulfilment. God is most perfect and holy, and therefore lays upon His people a most perfect and holy law, and requires of them the highest perfec. tion, even though they may not be capable of fully attaining thereto. He therefore constantly sets the most perfect examples before us, so that we may the better learn our imperfections and impurity. Whenever the spirit of God dwells in the heart, man rejoices and delights in the law.-Artizans, painters, sculptors do the same thing, always proposing the best examples to their pupils for their imitation, which they are nevertheless rarely if ever able to equal; but meanwhile they must study, and strive again and again. Thus Christ would lead us to a proper knowledge of ourselves, that we may know how unholy and impotent we are, and learn how far short we come of the Divine perfections, and never flatter ourselves with self-righteous conceits, never indulge our vanity, or suppose we are sufficiently holy, but ever live in the fear of God, watching, praying, and imploring help from the Lord. To effect this, obedience to a most perfect law is required of us, even though we should never succeed in perfectly keeping it. Hence come that grief and groaning, those tears and prayers, yea that despair of the pious on account of their own works and merits, their own righteousness. Thus we learn to trust to the divine mercy alone of Him who gave His Son to die for us. His righteousness is our righteousness, He perfectly fulfilled the law for us, He made satisfaction to the Father for us, and restored us again to His Father's favor. Thus Christ uses many words when He teaches us to forgive and love our fellowmen; few on the contrary, when he speaks of inflicting punishment, and this because we are naturally more prone to retaliation and revenge, than to compassion and love. Wherefore we may also learn here that our eyes should not be

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always directed to the mere letter of the law and its outer shell, but that we should rather consider its more perfect import. often happens that a person may be acquitted by the law, who nevertheless is not guiltless before God, since the divine laws are appointed for the maintenance of external intercourse and peace in ways of which the pious do not always avail themselves, even if they might do so, prefering rather to yield their rights to the advantage of others, than insist upon them for their own. They forgive therefore even though the law might allow them to demand redress, &c. They consider the difference between divine and human justice.

Diligete inimicos vestros, nam si eos dilexeritis.-Christ does not by any means forbid here our recompensing those who may do us good, but simply that doing so cannot be claimed as an evidence of having attained to perfection. If you do nothing more towards those who benefit you than the ungodly and unbelievers do, you are still very far from perfect righteousness, and the nature of your heavenly Father, who does good even to the wicked.

Let us now sum up what has been said, in concluding this chapter. In the perfection of the law which God prescribes for us we see our spiritual impotency, imperfection and impurity as in a glass. For we may learn how wicked, on the one hand, are all hypocritical pretences of keeping the law, whether we make them for vain glory, gain, or under the influence of other evil affections, and on the other how condemnable it is to neglect and despise the law. At the best we are miserable sinners, even when we act under the incitements of the Divine Spirit, and in the exercise of faith; for our best works are always defective. For even though we may strive in true faith, we can never meet the full demands of so perfect a law. Our righteousness must therefore remain defective, imperfect, and impure, until by faith we apprehend and appropriate the righteousness of Christ. Easton, Pa. J. H. A. B.

CHRISTIAN BAPTISM, AND THE BAPTISTIC QUESTION.

Translated from the German of Dr. Martensen.

II. INFANT BAPTISM.

We have the conception of Infant Baptism in the relation of Baptism to faith, which has been developed in the previous Section. If faith be the fruit of baptism, tlten every baptism, whether performed on adults or children, is, in its conception, an infant baptism. If now, it can be shown that this apprehension of the relation of baptism to faith has its ground in the Scripture, then it is also shown that infant baptism is founded in Scripture. To ask any other scripture proof than this is an unhistorical demand For it is of itself clear, that in that period when planting the church was the real mission, many things must needs have taken a different form, than in succeding times, when the church had taken firm root in the world, and when the kingdom of God has become nature. Thus baptism, although its sacramental essence, and its fundamental relation to faith, must ever be the same, must come forward in another form when the kingdom of God is to be extended through MISSIONS-where it is introduced into the public mind from without-than where it is to be spread through the medium of an already existing inhabitation; where it inhabits the public mind, and is to unfold from within outwardly its world-transforming powers.

Where the kingdom of God is planted through missions, baptism must appear principally as adult baptism, because the existence of a mother church is the fundamental condition of a really blessed use of infant baptism. Since now the Holy Scriptures are written most directly from the missionary standpoint, where it was the more immediate mission of the apostles to establish the mother church, without which the baptism of infants, which is inseparable from Christian nurture, would have been a meaningless work, it cannot be reasonably asked that positive commands to baptize infants should be found in the Scriptures; still less so, since it is not merely the letter but the spirit which is to bring us to a correct understanding and use of the Divine institutions. The silence of the Scriptures in regard to infant baptism can therefore by no means set it aside, unless we deny all force to the spirit of the Scriptures, and go by the rule that not only all is true which is in the Scripture, but that nothing is true but what is contained in the letter of the Scrip