Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/259

 BAP

ftand it of the baptifm of tears, and permance, and prayers, which the living undergo for the dead; and thus allege it as a ppoof of the belief of purgatory in St. Paul's days. — [i Bellar- min, 1. i. de Purgat. * Salmer. T. 14. Comm; Difp. 24. 8 Menocb. Annot. ad Bellarm. 1. c.J

Others underftand it otherwife : the curious may confult Heinf Exerc. ad Nov. Tcftam. 1. 7. c. 13. Vid. A£t. Erud. Lipf. 1687. p. 304. TVendel. inProdr. Biblioth. Bibhc. p. 229, feq. Spanbeim. Exercit. de Baptifm. propt. Mort. in Opp. T. 3. p. 57 8.

UypotbctisalBAPTisM, that formerly admimftred in certain doubt- ful cafes, with this formula ; If tbou art baptized, I do not re- baptize ; if thou art not, I baptize tbee in the name of the Father ; &c. Vid. Peckh. ConfHt. Lamb. ap. Johnf. Ecclef. Law, an. 1200. §- 3- Idem, an. i28r. §. 3.

This fort of baptifm? enjoined by fome antient conftitutions of the Englifh church, is now fallen into difufe.

Solemn Baptism, that conferred at Hated feafons ; fuch, In the antient church, were the Pafcbal baptifm? and that at TVhitfun- tide. This is fometimes alfo called general baptifm. Du Cange, GIofT. Lat. T. 1. p. 467.

Baptism in defire, Baptifmus hi •veto, or Votum haptifni? is a fer- vent defire, or even a refolution, to receive baptifm. Cajetan aflerts, that fuch a defire in a parent, together with fomewhat of a benediction, or oblation of the infant to God, joined with an invocation of the Holy Trinity, may fupply the want of actual baptifm to an infant in the mothers womb. But this is refuted by feveral, particularly Alphonfus de Caftro. Adverf. Hasref. 1. 3. Ha?r. 9. Did. de Trev. p. 853.

To lofe ones Baptism, Baptifman perdere? is to forfeit the grace conferred by that facrament.

Baptism of the Grofs, Baptifmus crucis, as practifed among the Armenians, is defcribed by Willebrand Abhouldenborg, in his Itinerary. Du Cange, GloiT. Lat. T. 1. p. 468.

Lay Baptism feems to have been allowed in the rubric of the Englifh liturgy, till the time of King James I. Though there were great drfputes among the bifhops at the Hampton-court conference, whether the words of the liturgy imported fuch al- lowance or not. The bifhop of Worcefter allowed them to be doubtful ; but that the contrary practice of the church, which cenfured women for conferring baptifm, fhewed, that the com- pilers of the book did not intend them as a permifTion : they liad indeed propounded them ambiguoufly, becaufe otherwife, perhaps, the book would not have pafled the parliament. The archbifhop of Canterbury infifted, that the adminiftration of private baptifm by women and laymen, was not allowed in the practice of the church, but, on the contrary, inquired of, and cenfured by the bifhops in their vifitations. He even added, that the words of the liturgy do not infer any fuch meaning. To which king James excepted ; urging, and preffing the words of the book, that they could not but intend a permiffion of women, and private perfons, to baptize. The bifhop of London anfwered, that the authors of the li- turgy intended not, by ambiguous terms, to deceive any; but really meant a permifTion of private perfons to baptize, in cafe of neceflity, of which their own letters were witnefles ; fome parts of which he then read ; affirming withal, that it was a- greeable to the practice of the antient church ; and, to that purpofe, urging the text of A£is ii. with the teftimonies of Ter- tullian and St. Ambrofe, exprefs to the purpofe. He was an- fwered by king James, but defended by the bifhop of Win- chefver, who fhewed, that, to deny private perfons to baptize in cafe of neceflity, is to run counter to all antiquity. The ifTue was a confutation, whether, into the rubric of private baptifn, which Reaves it indifferently for laymen or clerks to baptize, the words curate? or lazvful minificr, might not be inferted ? which was not fo much ffuck at by the bifhops. Bart, Account of Hampt. Court Confer, ap. Phcenix. T. 1. p. 146, feq. At prefent, the Englifh divines condemn it as invalid ; and the bifhop of Sarum was fevercly handled by fome of them, for af- ferting, that faith in the Trinity gives every man a right to baptize. Collins? Difc. of Freethink. p. 72, feq.

Baptism is alfo applied, abufivcly, to certain ceremonies ufed in giving names to things inanimate.

The antients knew nothing of the cuftorn of giving baptifm to inanimate things, as bells, fhips, and the like, by a fupcrfti- tious confecration of them. The firft notice we have of this, is in the Capitulars of Charles the Great, where it is only men-

. tioned to be cenfured: but, afterwards, it crept into the Ro- man offices by degrees. Baronius carries its antiquity no higher than the year 968, when the great bell of the church of Lateran was chriftened by pope John III. At laft it grew to that fuperfUtioTis height, as to be thought proper to be com- plained of, in the Centum gravamina of the German nation, drawn up in the public diet of the empire, held at Norirn- berg,flw:ff 1518 ; where (after having defcribed the ceremony of baptizing a bell, with god-fathers, who make refponfes as in baptifm? and give it a name, and cloath it with a new gar- ment, as chriftians were ufed to be cloathed, and all this, to make it capable of driving away tempefts and devils) they conclude agatnft it, as not only a fuperftitious practice, but contrary to the ehriftian religion, and a mere feduclion of the iimple people. Bingh. Orig. Ecclef. 1. 8. c. 7. §. 15. & 1. 1 1. c. 4. §. 2.

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BAPTISMAL .Font {Cycl) is the mark of a' parochial cWcn;

Baptismal Vow, or Covenant? a profeffion of obedience to the laws ofChrift, which perfons, in the ancient church, made before baptifm. It was an indifpenfabie part of the obligation on catechumens, before they were admitted to the ceremony of regeneration. Bingh. Orig. Ecclef. 1. 1 1. c. 7. §, 6. It was made by turning to the Eaft, for what myitical reafons is not well agreed on. Idem, ibid. §.7.

Baptismal Prefents are in ufe in Germany, made by the fpon- fors to the infant, confuting of money, plite, or even fome- times fiefs of lands ; which, by the laws of the country, are to be kept for the child till of age, the parents having only the truft, not the right of difpofingof them. An anonymous author has publiflied a difcourfe exprefs on this occafion, entitled, Depecunia lufirica. Diet, de Trev. T. 1. p. 8 s- 4.

BAPTIST (Cycl.)— Some take thofe chriftians of St. John, fiill fubftfting in Aflyria, to be the feit, or followers, of John the Baptijl, or the defendants of thofe whom the prascurfor bap-* tized in Jordan. Fabric. Lux Evang. c. 5. §. 5. p. 119. The chriflians of St. John the Bapttft hold, that John was not conceived after the ordinary manner, but by a mere embrace of his parents. The fame aflert, that the mother of Chrift con- ceived by a draught of water, which, by command of God, fhe drank out of a certain fpring, that her virginity might re- main untouched.

BAPTISTERY, Bawlirrfio-, (Cycl.) in profane antiquity, a large bafon, or pool, belonging to the public baths, wherein per- fons might not only bam, hut fwim. This was alio galled K^u^gj^a, and, by the Latins, pifcina and na'et'io. Vid. Bu- ret, in Hi ft. Acad. Infcrip* T. i. p. 122. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. There were alfo baptifleria in fome private baths, as We nndj particularly thofe of Cicero and Pliny.

Baptistery, in ecclefiaftical writers, differs from font-? as the former, properly fpeaking, was the whole houfe, or building* in which the font ftood, and where all the ceremonies of bap- tifm were performed; whereas the font was only the fountain, or pool of water, wherein perfons were immerfed, or bap- tized:

The antient baptifleries were commonly called poV^ia, phoii- flcria? q. d. places of illumination ; an appellation fometimes given to baptifm. Or, they might have the name for another reafon, becaufe they were the places of an illumination, or inftruction, preceding baptifm : for here the catechumens fcem to have been trained up, and inirructed in the firft rudiments of the ehriftian faith. Some moderns have miftakenly placed the baptijlery? like our font, in the Narthex ? whereas the bap- tijleries were buildings without the walls of the church, as ap- pears from Eufebius, who calls the baptiflery the chief of the Excdrtc? as well as from other palfages of antient writers* Bingh. Orig. Ecclef. 1. S. c. 7. §. r.

In the time of Juftin Martyr, and Tcrtullian, we are not cer- tain, that the church had any baptifleries; but this is part: doubt, that the place of baptifm was not in the church, but fomewhere diftinct from it. After this manner bapt'ijleries con- tinued to the fixth age, as appears from what Durant obferves out of Gregory of Tours, that he fpeaks of bapt'ijleries ftill without the walls of the church ; though fome now began to be taken into the church porch. Bingh. 1. c. Thofe baptifleries were anciently very capacious ; becaufe, as Dr. Cave obferves, the ftatcd times of baptifm returning}; but feldom, there were uuially great multitudes to be baptized at the fame time. And then the manner of baptizing, by im- merfion, or dipping underwater, made it neceffary to have a large font Hkewife. In Venantius Foriunatus, it is called aula baptifmahs, the large hall of baptifm; which was indeed fo capacious, that we fometimes read of councils meeting and fitting therein. Idem, ibid. §. 2.

This hall, or chapel, was always kept fhut during Lent, ar.d the door fealcd up with the bifhop's feai, not to be opened till Maunday-Thurfday. Diet, de Trev. T. 1. p. 855. The baptijlery was always reputed a facred place : In the Ro- man order, we find the ceremonies ufed in the confecration of the baptifleries : they were to be built of a round figure, and diftinguifhed with the image of St John the Baptiit ; over the bafon, or font, was a figure of a dove in gold of filver, to re- prefent the Holy Ghofh

The name baptijlery is fometimes alfo given to a kind of cha- pel in a large church, which ferved for the fame office.

Baptistery is alfo ufed for a baptifmal or parochial church. Du Cange? GlofT. Lat. T. 1. p. 469.

Baptistery is alfo ufed, by the Armenians, for the feaft of Epiphany, when the anniverfary of ChrilFs bapthin is celebrat- ed. Du Cange, ibid. p. 470.

Baptistery is alfo ufed for a church-book, wherein the prayers and ceremonies of baptifm were particularly defcribed. Some take the baptifleriitm to have contained the order of all ths facraments, except the eucharift. Du Cange? ibid. p. 470. Johnf Ecclef. Law, an. 957. §. z\. BAR, (Cycl.) in architecture, a long {lender piece of wood of iron, ufed to keep things clofe and faft together. In this fenfe, we fpeak of bars of windows, of dbors, and the like. Daviler? Arch'it. p. 412. Bar, among printers, denotes a piece of iron with a wooden

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