3. Christ. The Son of God possesses all divine perfections,
which is proven from his titles : true God, great God, mighty (oid, ( rod over all, etc. ; his attributes : eternal, unchangeable, omniscient, etc., and from his works, lie is the only incarna- tion of the Divine Being.
4. The Until Spirit.— He has the attributes of God ascribed to him in the Scriptures ; is the sanctifier of the souls of men, and is the third person in the Godhead.
5. Creition. — God created the world and all it contains for his own glory, and the enjoyment of his creatures; and the angels, to glorify and obey him.
C. Marts Primitive State, and his Fall.— Out first parents were created in the image of God, holy, and upright, and free; but, by yielding to temptation, fell from that state, and all their posterity with them, they then being in Adam's loins ; ami the whole human family became exposed to temporal and eternal death.
1. The Atonemen'. — As sin cannot, be pardoned without a sacrifice, ami the blond of beasts could never actually wash away sin, Christ gave himself a sacrlfi-e for the sins of the world, and thus mad'' salvation possible for all men. Through the redemption of Christ man is placed on n second state of trial; this second state so far differing from the first, that non- men are naturally inclined to transgress the commands of God, and will not regain the image of God in holiness but through the atonement by the operation of the Holy Spirit. All who die short of the aire of accountability are rendered sure of eternal life. Through the provisions of the atonement all are abilitated to repent of their sins and yield to God; the Gospel call is to all, the Spirit enlightens all, and men are agents capable of choo-ing or refusing.
S. Ucarncration is an instantaneous renovation of the soul by the Spirit of God, whereby the p nit nt sinner, belli ving in and giving up all for < 'brist, receives new life, and becomes a child of (oid. This change is preceded by true conviction, repentance of and penitent sorrow for sin; it is called in Scrip- ture being born again, born of the Spirit, passing from death unto life. The soul is then justified with God.
0. SanctifiC'ition is a setting apart the soul and body for holy service, an entire consecration of all our ransomed pow- ers to God; believers arc to strive for this with all diligence.
10. I'erseee hi nee. — As the regenerate are placed in a state of trial during life, their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain ; it is, however, their duty and privilege to be steadfast in the truth, to grow in grace, persevere in holiness, and make their election sure.
11. Immediately after death nun enter Into a state of hap- piness or misery, according to their character. At some fu- ture period, known only to God, there will be a resurrection both of the righteous and the wicked, when there will he a general jiuhniient, when all will lie judged according to the deeds done in the body; the righteous be admitted into eter- nal happiness, and the wicked assigned to eternal misery.
12. The Church.— A Christian church is an assembly of persons who believe in Christ, and worship the true God agreeably to his word. In a more general sense, it signifies the whole body of real Christians throughout the. world. The church being the body of Christ, none but. the regenerate, wdio obey the Gospel, are its real memb rs. Believers are re-
ceived into a particular church on their giving evidence of faith, covenanting to walk according to the Christian rule, and being baptized.
13. Bajjtism.— Baptism is an immersion of the candidate in water, in the name of the lather, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; the only proper candidate being one who gives evidence of a change of heart.
14. Communion.— Communion is a solemn partaking of bread and wine, in commemoration of the death and suffer- ings of Christ. — American Christian Record.
The denomination has a printing establishment at Dover, N. H. ; two colleges — Bates, at Lewiston, Me., with 48 students, and Hillsdale, Mich., with COO stu- dents ; two theological institutions — one at New Hamp- ton, N. H., with 16 students, the other at Hillsdale, Mich., with 21 students (1SG7). In 1866 the following statistics were reported: Yearly meetings, 31; quar- terly meetings, 117; ordained preachers, 1076; licensed preachers, 161 ; churches, 1264 ; total membership, 56,258. The Foreign Missionary Society has a mis- sion at Orissa, India (receipts for 1866, $12,166) ; they have also a Home Miss. Society and an Education So- ciety. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia they have about 4000 members, and a journal, the Religious In- telligencer, published at St. John's, N. B. See Stewart, History of Free-vnll Baptists, Dover, 1862, vol. i, from 1780 to 1*830 ; (Winebrenner) History of Denominations in the United States ; Belcher, Religious Denominations ; Cox, The Baptists (in the Encyclopedia Metropolitana) ; Schem, Ecclesiastical Year-book for 1859 ; Free-trill Baptist Register.
BAPTISTS, GERMAN, a denomination of Ameri- can Baptists who are commonly called Dunkers, while they call themselves Brethren. They originated at Schwarzenau, in Germany, in 1708, but were driven by persecution to America between 1719 and 1729. They purposely neglect any record of their proceed- ings, and are opposed to statistics, which they believe to savor of pride. They originally settled in Pennsyl- vania, but are now most numerous in Ohio. In 1790, a party of Universalists, led by one John Dam, sepa- rated from the Dunkers, since which time there has been no connection between them. The seceders are to be found in Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. The whole denomination has been believed to hold Uni- versalist views, but they have always protested against the charge. With the Mennonites, they appeal to the Confessions of Faith published in Holland two centu- ries ago. They practise trine immersion, with laying '' on of hands while the person is in the water. They lay their candidate forward in the water instead of | backward, as the regular Baptists do. Their officers are bishops (or ministers), elders, teachers, and dea- cons (or visiting brethren). They also have deacon- esses— aged women, who are allowed to exercise their gifts statedly. Bishops arc chosen firm the teachers, after they have been fully tried and found faithful It is their duty to travel from one congregation to an- other, to preach, to officiate at marriages and funerals, to set in order whatever may be wanting, to be pres- ent at love-feasts and communions, when a bishop is to be ordained, when teachers or deacons are chosen or elected, and when any officer is to be excommuni- cated. An elder is the first or eldest chosen teacher in a congregation where there is no bishop. It is his duty to appoint meetings, to assist in excommunica- tion, to exhort and preach, to baptize, to travel occa- sionally, and, where no bishop is present, to perform all the duties of the latter. Teachers are chosen by vote. It is their duty to exhort and preach at any of their stated meetings, and, when so requested by a bishop or elder, to perform the ceremonies of matrimo- ny and of baptism. It is the duty of deacons to keep a constant oversight of poor widows and their chil- dren, and give them such aid from time to time as may be necessary ; to visit all the families in the congre- gation at least once a year, and exhort, comfort, and edify them, as well as to reconcile all offences and misunderstandings that may occur from time to