Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
22
We will now examine the seven rungs on the
Heavenly Ladder one by one.
The first Sacrament is Baptism.
The Council of Trent anathematizes all who deny
that Baptism is necessary to Salvation.
No true Mystic would dream of denying this necessity.
But we DO maintain that the validity of the Ordinance
entirely depends on an intelligent faith on the part of
the recipient.
The Lord, in His commission to the Apostles,
associates Teaching with Baptism, and limits the
administration of the Sacraments to those who were
Taught. The Apostles baptized none but believers.
If the Ordinance is not connected with a moral and
spiritual change, then it is only a meaningless cere-
mony. As a matter of fact and experience, the vast
majority of the baptized never undergo the momentous
change called Rkgeneration ; they remain practically
unregenerate. Millions of Baptized infants grow up to
Manhood with no profit whatever from their Baptism.
It is stated by the Church that the performance of
this Ceremony confers " a special mark upon the Soul,
whereby Christians are discerned from non-Christians."
Can this claim be substantiated ? Can it be truth-
fully asserted that all the unconscious infants to whom
this Sacrament is administered are, in any respect,
different from pagan babies? Has empty formalism
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
