fellow apostles, prayed for the newly-baptized that they might receive the Holy Ghost, and laid their hands upon them ; and they received the Holy Ghost. In ch. 19, St. Paul finds about twelve men at Ephesus who had received John's baptism ; these are ' baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus,' and St. Paul himself lays his hands upon them and the Holy Ghost comes upon them. We may note in passing that ' there is nothing in the narrative to lead us to suppose that he followed at Ephesus a course which he did not follov/ else- where' (Chase, Confirmation, p. 32). With these passages we may take He 6'*- (see above, 1), where the ' teaching ... of the laying on of hands ' is added to that of ' baptisms ' as part of the ' founda- tion.' Even if it does not refer exclusively to the baptismal imposition of hands after immersion, it at least includes it.
The meaning of this laying on of hands will be considered in § 8 below. Here we must notice the other passages of the NT which speak of the gift of the Holy Ghost. But two preliminary remarks must be made, (a) It would save much confusion of thought if it were remembered that in Christian antiquity ' baptism ' is constantly used to comprehend the whole rite, immersion, and also laying on of hands, and other similar actions. It would therefore be well if we more often used the word ' immersion ' (including in it all possible varieties of usage, total or partial immersion or attusion) when we are speaking of the action at the font, rather than the technical name ' baptism.' We are apt to put ancient references to baptism into a Avrong perspective because w'e are accustomed to the long-continued separation "of the two parts of the rite in the West. — (6) In studying Acts we shall do well to remember that St. Luke does not attempt in his narrative to give all the details of the historical actions which he records. As W. M. Ramsay truly observes, an author like St. Luke ' seizes the critical events, concentrates the reader's attention on them by giving them fuller treat- ment, touches more lightly and briefly on the less important events, omits entirely a mass of unim- portant details' [St. Paid, London, 1895, p. 3).
In numerous passages of the NT the gift of the Spirit is explicitly connected with baptism (in its fullest sense), as in Ac 2^8 8'5-" gnf. lo^'i- ««• (before baptism) 19«, 1 Co 6I' 121^, Tit 3f, He 61-* lO^s (^yhich appears to refer to the repudiation of the baptismal confession and covenant ; see Westcott, Com. in loc. ; cf. V.22'-), and in the passages which refer to « sealing,' 2 Co 1-"-, Eph P^f- A^ (see above, 1) ; also in the Gospels, Mt 3", Mk l^, Lk 3i«, Jn P^ S^, see above, 2 (c). The close connexion between the gift of the Spirit and baptism is seen also in the fact that our Lord calls the Descent at Pentecost a baptism (Ac 1'; cf. IP®), although in the case of those on whom the Holy Ghost then came there was no immersion.
To these passages we may add several where a definite historical bestowal of the spirit is men- tioned: Ro 55 (dodivTOi), 8'-« (iXd^ere), 1 Co 2^= (iXd^ofiev), 2 Co 5® [oovs), 11* {ovk iXd^ere, speaking of a ' ditterent Spirit ' in contrast to the Holy Ghost), Gal 3^ (Ad/3ere ; cf. v.^ ' having begun in the Spirit,' and v.^ where the present participle marks the continuance of the gift of the Spirit), 4® {i^aw4(rTeL\ev), 1 Th 4'''- (iKaXeae, the definite call, connected with rbv didovra, 'whoever giveth' the Spirit : some MSS have the aorist ddura ; G. iSIilligan, Com. in loc, takes the present part, as meaning ' the Giver of the Spirit '), 2 Th 2^* (el'Xero), 1 Jn 3^ i^duKev ; cf. 4'^, where the perfect SedusKev denotes the permanent effects of the gift ; Brooke, ICC on 3^). These aorists* point to a definite
• The RV has often been criticized as having too slavishly followed the Greek aorist in a way that does not suit the
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event, and, taken witla the passages in the preceding paragrapli, would seem to refer to the Christian initiation.
In the other records of baptisms the imposition of hands is not mentioned, and in some the gift of the Holy Ghost is not alluded' to. It would be unsafe (see above), especially in view of He 6'-, to infer that the laying on of hands was not practised except in the cases where it is explicitly referred to. But the case of Cornelius must be specially considered. Here the Holy Ghost was given before baptism and without any outward sign such as the laying on of the Apostle's hands. Yet St. Peter does not judge that, even after such a signal mark of God's favour, it is unnecessary for Cornelius and his household to be baptized in the usual manner. From this we may with Chase {Confirmation, p. 28) see on the one hand that it is wrong to under- value the sacraments, and on the other that God is not tied down to them, but may give His grace without the interposition of outward ordinances. He is not bound, if we are. The same thing was seen at Pentecost, when the Spirit was given with- out the outward act of immersion having preceded.