tyrs 350.
Worship of Virgin Mary developed 431.
Worship in unknown tongue 600.
Papal supremacy 606.
Worship of images and relics imposed 788.
Baptism of bells 965.
Obligatory celibacy of priests 1000.
Infallibility of church 1076.
Sale of indulgences 1190.
Transubstantiation officially decreed 1215.
Auricular confession officially imposed 1215.
Cup kept from laity officially sanctioned 1415.
Purgatory officially recognized 1430.
Romish tradition put on level with Scripture 1540.
Immaculate conception proclaimed 1864.
Papal infallibility proclaimed 1870.

These dogmas are without Scriptural authority. They are only the
traditions of men, and is it any wonder that the pure light of the gospel
of the Son of God was dimmed when such blasphemous doctrines were
substituted? Besides these, in the papacy originated many other erroneous
superstitious doctrines that have been handed down and perpetuated through
Protestantism. One of the most general is that of

Infant Baptism.

This ceremony is wholly without Scriptural foundation. We have previously
shown the true object and mode of baptism, and who are proper candidates.
We asked a mother recently, whose babe had just been "christened," as she
termed it, by a Methodist preacher, "What benefit has your child derived
from this ceremony?" Her answer was like this: "None at all, but I had it
done because others do it." And so it is with many other traditions and
customs of men. Many a parent has their babe "christened" merely because
it is a custom, or the preacher has said so, never searching the Word of
God to know the reason why. Had she searched the Word of the Lord to know
something of this doctrine she never would have found the object of her
search. As we look upon the "christening" of an infant we are reminded
more of heathendom than of the kingdom of grace.

The word "christen" we have not been able to find in the Bible. Nowhere
since the ordinance of baptism was instituted have we a commandment to
baptize infants, and nowhere in all the evangelistic work of the apostles
is there an instance of infant baptism recorded. If it is as important as
some