Dean Stanley, of Westminster, one of the first scholars of the Church of England, wrote:
"For the first thirteen centuries the almost universal practice of baptism was that of which we read in the New Testament, and which is the very meaning of the word 'baptize,'—that those who were baptized were plunged, submerged, immersed into the water. That practice is still, as we have seen, continued in Eastern churches. In the Western church it still lingers among Roman Catholics in the solitary instance of the Cathedral of Milan; among Protestants in the numerous sects of the Baptists. It lasted long into the Middle Ages.... But since the beginning of the seventeenth century, the practice has become exceedingly rare. With the few exceptions just mentioned, the whole of the Western churches have now substituted for the ancient bath the ceremony of letting fall a few drops of water on the face. The reason of the change is obvious. The practice of immersion, though peculiarly suitable to the Southern and Eastern countries for which it was designed, was not found seasonable in the countries of the North and West. Not by any decree of council or parliament, but by the general sentiment of Christian liberty, this remarkable change was effected. Beginning in the thirteenth century, it has gradually driven the ancient catholic usage out of the whole of Europe."—"Christian Institutions," pp. 21, 22.
The facts are undeniable, and emphasize the importance of reformation and return in practice to the plain instructions of the Word of God. As the record shows, it was not the spirit of the New Testament church that made this change in the divine ordinance; rather it is the spirit of the church of the "falling away," against which the Lord warns all believers, "because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
The Path He Trod
Our Saviour bowed beneath the wave,
And meekly sought a watery grave;
Come, see the sacred path He trod—
A path well pleasing to our God.
His voice we hear, His footsteps trace.
And hither come to seek His face,
To do His will, to feel His love,
And join our songs with those above.
SYMBOLS OF MEDO-PERSIA AND GRECIA
"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia." Dan. 8:20, 21.