f. And to change the form of baptism so
as to leave out its symbolism of Christ's death, burial, and
resurrection, is to break down another great visible monument and
testimony to Christ's essential work, and to destroy the ordinance of
baptism. Only the surrender of belief in the authority of Scripture, and
a consequent ignoring of the meaning of baptism can explain the proposal
to give us our requisition of immersion. The weakness of our
denomination in such cities as New York results from the acceptance of
the method of Scripture interpretation which I have been criticizing. We
are losing our faith in the Bible, and our determination to stand for
its teachings. We are introducing into our ministry men who either never
knew the Lord, or who have lost their faith in him and their love for
him. The unbelief in our seminary teaching is like a blinding mist which
is slowly settling down upon our churches, and is gradually abolishing,
not only all definite views of Christian doctrine, but also all
conviction of duty to "contend earnestly for the faith" of our fathers.
So we are giving up our polity, to please and to join other
denominations. If this were only a lapse in denominationalism, we might
call it a mere change in our ways of expressing faith. But it is a far
more radical evil. It is apostasy from Christ and revolt against his
government. It is refusal to rally to Christ's colors in the great
conflict with error and sin. We are ceasing to be evangelistic as well
as evangelical, and if this downward progress continues, we shall in due
time cease to exist. This is the fate of Unitarianism to-day. We
Baptists must reform, or die.

What is the effect of this method of interpretation upon missions? I
have just come from an extensive tour in mission fields. I have visited
missionaries of several denominations. I have found those missions most
successful which have held to the old gospel and to the polity of the
New Testament. But I have found a growing tendency to depend upon
education, rather than upon evangelism. What would Peter have said on
the day of Pentecost, if you had advised him not to incur the wrath of
the Jews by his preaching, but to establish schools, and to trust to the
gradual enlightenment of the Jewish nation by means of literature? He
might have replied that our Lord made it his first duty to "make
disciples," and only afterwards to "teach them to observe all things
which he had commanded." Christian