Mr. Hume's Fourth and Last Speech, on the Third Proposition.
GENTLEMEN MODERATORS -- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
We have now arisen for the purpose of closing the discussion on the third proposition, which has involved matters of deep and vital interest, not only to this audience, but also to the world of mankind at large. It is admitted, upon all hands, that the race of men have become involved in sin and condemnation; that such is their condition in consequence of the same, that they are by no means qualified for the enjoyment of a pure, celestial world; that they must be delivered from condemnation, and realize the pardon of their sins, or they can never enjoy that kingdom prepared for the righteous. And now, with regard to the medium by or through which this is accomplished, there appears to be great diversity of opinion, as has been manifest during the present discussion. It is evident that we are not both right in our views upon this very important subject. It would be wisdom on the part of the audience to examine this subject very carefully, and endeavor to arrive at the truth upon the same; for sure it is, that without a correct knowledge of the glorious medium through which sins are pardoned, and we enabled to receive our personal or individual interest therein, we can never be happy, either in this life or that which is to come. You have now heard this subject discussed at some length, and the different views entertained by Elder Franklin and ourself. You have had exhibited in your hearing, perhaps the most pertinent arguments and scripture proofs that each party has been able to introduce in support of his favorite theory. We are not now allowed to introduce any new argument; consequently you have now before you all the testimony and arguments upon which you have to make up your decision. It is for you now to settle the matter in your own minds, whether the pardon of sins flows to the rebellious through the merits and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, or through water baptism, as has been contended for by Mr. Franklin. We are perfectly willing, on our part, to acknowledge that we have heard nothing from the learned gentleman that has tended in the least to convince us that baptism is in order to the forgiveness of sins. Indeed, we have been somewhat disappointed on the present occasion, for we had supposed that we should hear something, either by way of argument or scripture proof, that would at least have some appearance of the doctrine maintained by the gentleman, but we have not heard it; and as such, we are compelled to believe that there cannot be either sound arguments or scripture proof introduced to sustain such a theory.
We told you this morning, in our first speech, that the gentleman would not find one text in the Bible to sustain his proposition. You have found this to be true to the very letter. Truly, he has referred us to a few passages of scripture, in which the doctrine of forgiveness of sins is taught; but in which of those passages do you find that baptism is in order to the remission of past sins? We now say, fearlessly, that such doctrine is not taught in a single text introduced by our friend; and we say further, it is not taught in all the volume of God, and as such cannot possibly be true, and therefore should not be believed by the people; for we should receive nothing as true on the subject of the Christian religion, but what is clearly taught in God's word; for that is a perfect rule, both for our faith and practice, and the truth is so clearly taught in that good book, that we do not have to prove our position by inference, but by plain, positive declarations, which cannot be misunderstood.
Men are seldom convicted in criminal prosecution by circumstantial or inferential testimony. Such a course would be highly prejudicial to the best interests of our race. But when the testimony is positive, and the court or jury fails to convict, then there is room to suspect that there is some dishonesty on the part of those who have jurisdiction over the case. Well, this is equally true with regard to the great question before us. We would act wisely in requiring pointed testimony in a matter that involves our eternal destiny. Has our friend produced this positive testimony? We say he has not. All his testimony has been inferential, and some of that very farfetched; while we have shown you by plain, pointed scripture testimony, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. We inquired of the gentleman, what sins were left to be pardoned by or through baptism. But he did not think proper to answer the question -- perhaps because he could not answer it without showing that all did not mean all, and that would not correspond with his doctrine upon other points. But every honest mind in this house is compelled to acknowledge, that if the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin, then Mr. Franklin is wrong in his views about baptism in order to the forgiveness of sins. We have shown you that our friend has no proof for his theory in the second of Acts, which was his stronghold on this proposition; for it is as clear as the sun at noonday, that the word "for" in that text simply means because of. All the circumstances that surround the case prove this position; for those individuals were pricked in the heart, and so pungent was their conviction, that they were made to cry out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Now, the very fact of their crying out, and making the solemn inquiry, "What shall we do?" is enough to convince us that there was divine life in the soul by which they were led to a discovery of their condition as sinners, and produced this anxious solicitude of heart which is manifested in the inquiry, "What shall we do?" -- to which inquiry Peter gave a very correct answer -- just such an answer as every gospel minister in his senses would give under the same circumstances; and yet he did not tell them that they must be baptized in order to reach the name or blood of Christ, or their sins could not be pardoned. No; Peter knew better. He understood the plan of salvation more perfectly, and so did those pierced in the heart, which is clearly manifested in what followed. Hence we are told, that they that gladly received his word, were baptized. Now, we told you in a former speech, that this gladness could not have proceeded from any other cause than that of a knowledge of pardoned sins. Every true saint in this audience and in the world, knows well that there is not much gladness or rejoicing while laboring under the bitter pangs of the new birth; and they also know that when the pardon of their sins was revealed or manifested to them, there was great rejoicing indeed, and such gladness of soul that they had never before witnessed or realized; and, consequently, when those persons were thus made to rejoice, they were baptized, and not before; and so it should be yet. None should be baptized but such as have been made to rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, under a feeling sense of their sins being forgiven, and their pardon sealed in heaven. We have shown you that all the evidence introduced by the gentleman was by inference, and that it was not only unsafe, but even dangerous to predicate our faith upon a subject so vastly important upon such inferential testimony, and the more especially when we have such a host of pointed testimony to the contrary. Now, all must admit that it is much safer to rely upon pointed and positive testimony than upon circumstantial or inferential testimony. Well, we have shown you in so many words, tht the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. Has my friend shown you the text that said baptism cleanseth us from all sin? He has not. We have shown you that Jesus has, with his own blood, purged our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Has the gentleman shown you a text that said our consciences were purged from dead works by baptism? You know very well he has not. We have shown you that Jesus, by his own blood, entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Has the gentleman shown you the text that says Jesus entered into the holy place by baptism, having obtained eternal redemption for us? No; he has not. Well, we have shown you, in plain words, that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Has our friend even attempted to show the text that says, without baptism, there is no remission? or has he attempted a reply to this text, or either of the above-named passages? No, my audience; you know full well that he has done neither. Well, ask yourselves the question, Why has he not? Your answer must be surely, because he cannot, and as such ought to be sufficiently honest to acknowledge that he is wrong, and ask forgiveness at the hands of this people. We told the gentleman that he should be saluted with the thunder of our artillery until the close of this discussion, and we intend to make our words good.
We have shown you that the gentleman did not believe the doctrine of the proposition himself; for he has attempted to prove that baptism is in order to the forgiveness of past sins, and then tells us that forgiveness is in the name of Jesus Christ! And then, lo, and behold! he affirms that there is no forgiveness, but through the blood of Christ! Now, did any man ever hear such a bundle of contradictions as is here presented? We told you, that if remission came through the water, then it came in no other way. But we have proven, both by the Bible and Mr. Franklin, that forgiveness of sins comes through the blood of Christ, and this is just what we believe, and what we are contending for. But this is not the doctrine set forth in the gentleman's proposition; hence you see, my friends, he has surrendered the whole ground.
But you doubtless remember that our friend argued that we must be baptized into the kingdom, church, or body of Christ, for in this body was the blood of Christ, and through this blood we must be pardoned. Well, you no doubt remember, that we showed you, by the language of the Apostle to his brethren in Corinth, how and by what, saints were baptized into the body of Christ. Hence the language of the Apostle -- "For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, bond or free;" evidently showing that none, no matter what their condition in life might be, could come into the body of Christ only such as were baptized into the body by the spirit. We told you that this text, alone, forever set aside and destroyed all the arguments introduced by Mr. Franklin, and we suppose he thought the same, or surely he would have made some reply to this important text, but his silence on the subject has led us to believe that he well knew he could make no satisfactory reply, and as such, he had better pass it by in perfect silence, as he has done many other passages during this discussion. Truly the battle is waxing very warm now; and we guess the gentleman has not only heard the thunder, but felt the effects, in every nerve of his mortal system, of the deadly discharge of our bright shining artillery, that is continually bursting upon him at every point. Well, we can assure the gentleman that the thunder of our gospel cannon, charged with the eternal truth of God's holy word, will be heard sounding louder and louder, until the final Amen of this discussion.
We now affirm, that there has not been one single passage of Scripture introduced by Mr. Franklin to prove the doctrine of baptism in order to the forgiveness of sins. We have proven positively that sins are pardoned through the blood of Christ, and that without blood, there is no forgiveness. We have proved this point, both by the Bible and Elder Franklin, and as such, it will not surely be gainsaid. But notwithstanding all this, my friend continued to urge to the very last, that without baptism there could be no salvation. We have showed you, however, how very contrary this doctrine is to the written or revealed word of God; and we have also shown you how very repugnant this doctrine was to the feeling of every lady and gentleman in the audience, in whose heart there remains a single drop of the "milk of human kindness." Surely such a system is enough to excite the hatred and indignation of all the race of mankind. Yes, truly, the soul revolts at the very idea of all unbaptized persons having to dwell in everlasting burnings, because they have not been baptized. We showed you in our last speech the lawful God-dishonoring, soul-destroying tendency of such an accursed heresy -- a doctrine that surely dishonors the God of the Bible, and should be hated of all men. Our very soul within us is made to mourn at the thought, that there are, in this enlightened age, learned and eloquent men, who are not ashamed thus to impeach the character of Almighty God, and insult the good sense of intelligent people. What! that all who die without being immersed, are sent down to the regions of darkness and despair! O! tell it not in Gath; publish it not in the streets of Mt. Vernon, that we have a great and wise man here, from the Queen City of the West, who stands up boldly in the presence of this intelligent audience, and affirms that all who die unbaptized, sink down to hell! And they must be baptized by immersion, too! Have all who are not immersed, gone, world without end?
You have not surely forgotten, my audience, the argument we used in a former speech, that the great God in his providence had so arranged his creatures, that far the largest portion of them were so situated, that they had never heard the sound of the glorious gospel -- of the Son of God. They never saw or read the Holy Scriptures, or written word of the Lord; and if they now had the Bible, they could neither read or understand its holy doctrine or commandments. Multiplied thousands of such are dying every year, -- and strange to tell, they must all be damned for not doing what they never knew they ought to do -- for not submitting to an ordinance which they never heard of in all their lives! It does seem to us that no man in his sober senses can believe or teach a system so derogatory to the character of a holy God, and so prejudicial to the dearest interests of a vast portion of the human race. Now we have heard much said during this discussion about Christian benevolence on the part of Mr. Franklin; but we hope that God will ever save us from such benevolence as this. We have also called your attention to the fact, that if our friend's theory be true, then all who died before the coming of Christ and the organization of his kingdom, are forever gone. We called upon the gentleman to inform us how those ancient servants of the Most High God were saved; but the question was too simple, we suppose, to merit an answer from our learned opponent, or otherwise he was unable to answer it. Perhaps the latter was true; if so, he is excuseable; but we still maintain, that if the gentleman's theory be true, all those who died before the ordinance of baptism was instituted, are forever lost! And why? We answer, for the want of some means by which sins could be pardoned; for, if baptism is in order to the remission of sins, and as such, there could be no forgiveness of sins - at least, until the days of John the Baptist; consequently, all who died before his day are now in the regions of keen despair. But this is not all. No; the thunder of heaven's artillery is reechoing louder and louder, and its effects felt plainer and plainer, and soon, very soon, will the destruction of such a system of delusion become visible to all present. Just then think of the poor dying man who is led to repentance, and to realize faith in the Son of God. He greatly desires to be baptized in the name of Jesus; but God has so awfully afflicted him, that it is utterly impossible for him now to be immersed. And notwithstanding all his sore repentance, his faith in Christ, his desire to be baptized, down to hell he must go, for not doing what his God had put completely out of his power to do! What think you, my friends, of such a system as this? Can you love it much? Surely you cannot.
But let us go a little further, and behold that honest, humble, good man, who has been taught all his life to believe that sprinkling was the proper mode of baptism. He acts from the very best judgment he has, and can believe nothing else. He is now brought down to the bed of death; he still continues steadfast in his former faith. He dies and sinks down to eternal pain, simply because he did not let some other man keep his conscience for him, and do what they were pleased to direct; while the man who has indulged all his lifetime in crime and debauchery, until he can enjoy it no more, comes forward and says, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I want to be immersed." He is immersed, and in a few days he dies, and is admitted into the presence of the Savior. Here you have the good man in torment, and the wicked man in heaven. Such, my friends, is the system advocated by Mr. Franklin.
And now, in conclusion, to wind the whole matter up, upon his theory, we may say, Farewell to all who died before the coming of Christ! Farewell to all the multiplied millions of heathen, who have not the gospel and its ordinances! Farewell to all the pious pseudobaptists who have lived and died strong in the faith of their ancestors! Farewell to all infants! Farewell to all idiots! And, in a word, farewell to all, in every age, and in every country, who have not, or may hereafter not be baptized! Dear friends, can you believe it? We know you cannot. O blessed Jesus! is this the doctrine taught in thy holy word? No! verily it is not. But all who have been redeemed and pardoned by thy precious blood, in every land, of every grade, of every age, and of all classes, shall be finally brought into the enjoyment of that rich inheritance, which is "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." There "the wicked shall cease from troubling, and the weary will be at rest." May God grant that we may all be among that happy number.
