Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

Remarks respecting the unhappy fate of Capt. Cook.

Q. What is the misery of that estate into which men fell ?

133

A. All mankind by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and the pains of hell forever.

Q: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

A. God having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the state of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Res deemer.

[ocr errors]

Q. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Q. Who is the Redeemer of God's Elect?

A. The only Redeemer of God's Elect, is the Lord Jesus Christ, who be ing, &c.'

On these harmonious and edifying questions and answers, it is needless to make any remarks, for however gloomy their doctrine is, they, with sufficient clearness, speak their own meaning.

To this doctrine, Archbishop Laud was a zealous opponent, which made him so obnoxious to its advocates.- "What Archbishop Laud alimmed at, was, "to keep out the high predestinarian notions from disturbing the peace of the Church. He saw clearly enough, and the example of the United Provinces was striking, that if the preachers were suffered to indulge the fashionable humour of lecturing upon the sublapsarian and supralapsarian schemes; upon the irrespective decrees of the Almighty; upon the absolute, unconditional election of some, and the absolute reprobation of others, with all the points neces sarily connected with such gloomy and mysterious topics, Puritanism and Antinomianism would break in with a full tide." [Orthodox Church. Mag.]

FOR THE CHURCHMAN'S MAGAZINE.

REMARKS

RESPECTING THE UNHAPPY FATE OF CAPT. COOK,

They grieved him with their hill-altars; and provoked him to displeasure with their images. Psalm xxviii. verse 59.

[ocr errors]

O the illustrious navigator, Capt. Cook, I cordially lament that these

yet am compelled to say, in

I

his death I see the finger of God; and that his shocking death, and his no less shocking dismemberment, seem to have been the wages of his suffering himself to receive an idolatrous name, and admission into an idolatrous religion.In a former number, I presumed to publish some strictures upon Mr. Pope's notion, of its being a matter of indifference, whether we worship JEHOVAH, Jove or Lord; and from this subject was naturally led to enquire, whether, in modern times, any instances of vindictive punishment for idolatrous apostacy are on historic record; and immediately that of Capt. Cook presented itself as an instance full in point.

[ocr errors]

'Mavor's Voyages, vol. 7. Capt. Cook's third voyage.

"Soon after

"the Resolution had got into her station, one of the priests of Owhyhee, named Koah, arrived. Being conducted into the cabin, he approached Capt. "Cook with great veneration, and threw over his shoulders a piece of red cloth, "which he had brought along with him. Then stepping a few paces back, he "made an offering of a small pig, which he held in his hand, whilst he pronounced a discourse that lasted for a considerable time."

This carries on the very face of it, every appearance of an initiatory ceremony -and in several instances bears a distant resemblance to the Jewish rite of circumcision, and the baptism of Christians.-The children of Jews as well as Christians at those times antiently received some additional honorary robes or garments. At this day the Greek Church practices the giving a white garment to every child or person at baptism, the priest pronouncing this form of

134

66

Remarks respecting the unhappy fate of Capt. Cook.

words" Receive this white robe, as the garment of thy regeneration, and "keep it spotless, 'till the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and verily thou shalt enter with him into the glory of the Father."-Hist. Gr. Ch. In the colour of the Christian garment, and that of the idolatrous swathe, may clearly be distinguished the character of the different sytems the one a system of blood, and the other of love and good will to men,

[ocr errors]

It is uncertain whether the offering of a pig to Capt. Cook, was meant to him as a deity, or to be for a feast on the occasion, as all covenants of a reli gious nature among idolators were wont, time immemorial, to be ratified by killing and eating some animal which they esteemed sacred to their gods. The hog was sacred to a great many gods of the idolatrous world, hence arose the necessity of such repeated and positive commands given by the true God to his Church of Israel, not to eat, nay, not to touch that desecrated animal. "When this ceremony was over (adds the historian) Koah dined with Capt "Cook ;-and in the evening, we landed at the beach, and were received by "four men, who carried wands tipped with dog's hair, and marched before us, pronouncing with a loud voice a short sentence, in which we could only distinguish the word ORONO. The crowd which had been collected on the "shore, retired at our approach, and not a person was to be seen, except a "few lying prostrate on the ground, near the huts of the adjoining village." It appears that among these idolators the name of Capt. Cook was abolish ed, and the name of Orono substituted in its stead. From the prostrations which their priests after giving him this name, commanded the populace to make whenever he was among them, it is certain that it denoted something divine. Orono and the Greek word for heavens, almost tempt one to hazard a conjecture, that they thought the Navigator was the God of the heavens ; and in this conjecture, they gave as good tokens of skill in discovering divini ties, as the people of one of the cities of highly polished Greece, who called Barnabas, Jupiter, and Paul, Mercury. But by the by, we may observe howBarnabas and Paul avoided all divine honours-whilst our circumnavigator, accepted of them, without offering a single admonition " to quit those vanities, and worship only the living God."

[ocr errors]

"Before I proceed (continues our historian) to relate the adoration that was I paid to Capt. Cook, and the peculiar ceremonies, with which he was received on this fatal island, it will be necessary to describe a moraï or burial place, "situated at the south side of the beach of Kakooa.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

"It was a square solid pile of stones, about forty yards long, twenty broad, "and fourteen in height. The top was flat and well paved, and surrounded by a wooden rail, on which were fixed the sculls of the captives sacrificed "on the death of their chiefs. In the centre of the area, stood a ruinous old building of wood, connected with the rail on each side by a stone wall, which "divided the whole space into two parts. On the side next the country, were "five poles, upwards of twenty feet high, supporting an irregular kind of scaffolding; on the opposite side, towards the sea, stood two small houses, "with a covered communication."

"We were conducted by Koah to the top of this pile, by an easy ascent. "At the entrance we saw two large wooden images, with features violently “distorted, and a long piece of carved wood, of a conical form, inverted, "rising from the top of their heads; the rest was without form, and wrapped "round with red cloth. We were here met by a tall young man, with a long "beard, who presented Capt. Cook to the images and after chanting a kind of hymn, in which he was joined by Koah, they led us to that end of the "morai, where the five poles were fixed. At the foot of them were twelve images ranged in a semicircular form, and before the middle figure stood a high stand a table, on which lay a putrid hog, and under it pieces of sugar"cune, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, plantains, and sweet potatoes. Koah, hav ing placed the Captain under this stand, took down the hog, and held it to"ward him; and after having a second time addressed him in a long speech, "pronounced with much vehemence and rapidity, he let it fall on the ground, "and led him to the scaffolding, which they began to climb together, not "without great risk of falling. At this time we saw, coming in solemn pro❝cession, at the entrance of the top of the morai, ten men carrying a live hog, ← and a large piece of red cloth,-Being advanced a few paces, they stopped,

[ocr errors]
[blocks in formation]

and prostrated themselves; and Kaireekeea, the young man abovementioned, went to them, and received the cloth, carried it to Koah, who wrapped it round the Captain, and afterwards offered him the hog, which was brought by Kaireekeea with the same ceremony."

Whilst Capt. Cook was aloft, in this awkward situation, swathed round with red cloth, and with difficulty keeping his hold amongst the pieces of - Totten scaffolding, Kaireekeea and Koah began their office, chanting sometimes in concert, and sometimes alternately. This lasted a considerable time at length Koah let the hog drop, when he and the Captain descended together. He then led him to the images before mentioned, and having said something to each in a sneering tone, and snapped his fingers at them as he passed, he brought him to that in the centre, which, from its being covered with red cloth, appeared to be in greater estimation than the rest. Before * this figure he prostrated himself, and kissed it; desiring Capt. Cook to do *the same, who suffered himself to be directed by Koah throughout the whole of this ceremony?” in

"We were now led back into the other division of the morai, where there was a space ten or twelve feet square, sunk about three feet below the level of the area. Into this we descended, and Capt. Cook was seated between "two wooden idols, Koah supporting one of his arms, whilst I was desired "to support the other. At this time arrived a second procession of natives, "carrying a baked hog, and a pudding, some bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and "other vegetables, which were presented as before.”

"When this offering was concluded, the natives sat down, fronting us, and "began to cut up the baked hog, to peel the vegetables, and break the cocoa"nuts; whilst others were employed in brewing the ava, which is done by "chewing it in the same manner as at the Friendly Islands. Kaireekeea then "took part of the kernel of a cocoa-nut, which he chewed and wrapped it in a "piece of cloth, rubbed with it the Captain's face, head, hands, arms and "shoulders. The ava was then handed round, and, after we had tasted it, "Koah and Pareea began to pull the flesh of the hog in pieces, and to put it into our mouths. Capt. Cook was served by Koah."

"When this last ceremony was finished, we quitted the moraithe men ❝with wands conducted us to the boats, repeating the same words as before. "The people again retired, and the few that remained, prostrated themselves as we passed along the shore. We immediately went on board, &c."

[ocr errors]

During the rest of the time we remained in the bay, whenever Capt. "Cook came on shore he was attended by one of these priests, who went be"fore him, giving notice that the Orono had landed, and ordering the people "to prostrate themselves."

In a subsequent number, Strictures on this flagrant instance of apparent apostacy to idolatry will be presented to the public, to shew that it is a matter of the highest possible concern, that JEHOVAH be our God, and that we worship HIM, and нIм only.

S.

SACRED CRITICISM.

CTS chap. xix. verse 2.-We have not so much as heard, whether there be

A any Holy Ghost.

By the Holy Ghost here, is undoubtedly meant the gifts of the Spirit, in prophecy, tongues, &c. as in verse 6-The Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. These gifts under the Law had ceased some time before, but were now renewed under the Gospel ;-which was an evident proof that Christ was come, as Joel (ch. ii. ver. 28, &c.) had predicted, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit ;”—and as recorded Acts, chap. ii. verse 4.And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. But according to our translation of the text now under review, these

136

A succinct history of baptism.

twelve Disciples of John the Baptist are represented as saying-We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. Can this imply that they had never heard of the Holy Ghost? Or did they intend to say, that they had not heard of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, of which their Master had given them intimations ?This indeed seems to be the meaning of their words, but not well expressed.-The Cambridge manuscript reads lambanosi tines, that is, "We have not so much as heard that any persons do receive the Holy Spirit." This is a just interpretation; but the authority for that reading is not sufficient. In our English version, St. John, chap. vii. verse 39-the same sort of phrase is justly translated-The Holy Ghost was not yet given. If our translators had kept to that manner of rendering in the case before us, they would have made the sense as clear and intelligible.-We have not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost be yet given...

Genesis, chap. iv. verse 1.-I have gotten a man from the Lord. In the Lutheran bible, this passage is rendered-Ich have den mann den herrn; I hate gotten the man the Jehovah. The Syriac and several other versions have the same rendering.Eve, supposed that she had borne the Jehovah, the bruiser of the serpent's head, who, she believed, would become man by being born of her, and therefore said kenithi aish ath Jehovah; that is, I have gotten ‘a MAN the JEHOVAH.

IT

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

A SUCCINCT HISTORY OF BAPTISM,

AS CELEBRATED BY THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.

CHAP. 4th-Of the Subjects of Baptism.

T is certain, that none but living persons, adults or infants, were ever reckoned subjects of Baptism in the primitive Church;--and the ancients had no such custom as the moderns, of giving baptism to churches, bells, ships, &c. The earliest notice we have of this perversion of baptism, is in the capitulars of Charles the Great (about the year 806) where it is mentioned only to be censured. Afterwards it found its way into the Roman offices, and became one of the centum gravamina, or hundred grievances of the German nation, drawn up in the diet of the empire held at Nuremberg, A. D. 1518.

66

In Africa we meet with a custom a little more antient, though no less superstitious, viz. that of baptizing the dead. This sort of baptism was administered to some who had neglected to receive baptism in their life time. This was an error of the Montonists, and stands condemned by the third council of Carthage. The Marcionite manner of baptizing the dead is thus described by St. Chrysostom. "When any catechuman was dead, they hid a living man "under the bed of the deceased; then coming to the dead man, they asked him if he desired to receive baptism; upon which, the other answered for him, that he would be baptized in his stead; and so they baptized the living "for the dead. And for this practice they pleaded the Apostles' authority; Why are we then baptized for the dead ?" 1 Cor. xv. 29.—But if this were allowed, in vain had God threatened those who die unbaptized.—Some think that the Corinthians were the first contrivers of this sort of baptism, and appeal to the authority of Epiphanius. But that author says only, that there was an uncertain tradition concerning some schismatics in Asia, in the Apostle's time, who practised the custom of baptizing for the dead, lest in the resurrection they should be punished for want of baptism. And the same tradition asserted that the Apostle hence took occasion to say, "If the dead rise not, why are we baptized for the dead?-But Epiphanius rejects this opinion-Some think that the expression, baptizing for the dead, refers to another custom, of baptizing over the monuments of matyrs, who died for the faith, in hopes of a future resurrection,-But that custom was subsequent to the time of the Apostles, and therefore could not be alluded to by St. Paul or his cotemporaries.

[ocr errors]

St. John Chryostom says, (Tim. iii. p. 514,) { After recitation of the sacramental and solemn words, and the venerable rules of the doctrines brought from heaven, we add this at the end, when we are about to baptize, we command him to say, I believe in the resurrection of bodies, and we are baptized

A succinct history of Baptism:

137 in or on this faith. For, after professing this with the other articles, we are put into the fountain of those sacred waters. St. Paul, therefore, reminding them of this, (viz. this custom of professing before baptism, with other arti cles, this of the resurrection of the dead) said, why also art thou baptized for the dead, that is, the dead bodies-For on this, thou art baptized, believing the resurrection of the dead body, that it remains no longer dead, and thou indeed by words believest the resurrection of the dead. Then the priest, as in picture or representation, demonstrates to thee, by what he doeth, the things that thou hast believed, and professed by words; when thou believest without a sign, he allows thee a sign, viz.-in putting into, and taking out of the water, which is the sign of descending into the state of the dead, and ascending from thence."

[ocr errors]

Theophylact (about the year 1000) on this subject taught thus-"They that are to be baptized do all profess the symbol of the faith, in which, after others, this is set down, I believe in the resurrection of bodies; the Apostle therefore saith, that they who believe there is a resurrection of dead bodies, have been baptized in, or on these hopes, if they be deceived (that is, if there be no resurrection) what shall they do? And indeed, why are men at all baptized for the resurrection, that is, on the hope, faith, or expectation of a resurrection, if the dead are not raised "See Dr. Hammond on 1 Cor. xv. 29.

Clemens Romanus, who lived in the time of the Apostles, though he does not directly mention infant baptism, yet says, "Infants are affected by the sin of Adam; and we know that baptism is intended to purge them from that contagion.

Hermes Pastor lived about the same time (mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans) and has several passages to shew the general necessity of water, that is baptism, to salvation.

Justin Martyr, who lived in the second century, speaks plainly of infant baptism, as used from the times of the Apostles. Justin wrote his second apology about the year 148, in which he says, "there were Christians then living, some seventy-five years old, who had been made disciples to Christ, from their infancy," and therefore must have been baptized in the first age, whilst some of the Apostles were living-In his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, he speaks of "Adam's progeny as liable to death and the deception of the serpent, by reason of Adam's sin."-Now, if all mankind be born with original sin, infunts as well as others, have need of regeneration or baptism, to free them from it. In another place, he makes baptism parallel to circumcision ;-"We have not (says he) received that carnal circumcision, but the spiritual circumcision which Enoch, and those like him observed; and we have received it by baptism through the mercy of God, because we were sinners; and it is incumbent on all persons to receive it the same way."Now, if baptism answers to circumcision, and succeeds in its room, and be necessary to be received; then, as infants were to be admitted to circumcision, so they were to be admitted to bap tism, as the divinely appointed mean of cleansing them from original sin.

The author of the recognitions (about the year 200) gives these reasons for the necessity of Baptism:

1st. That it is fulfilling the will and pleasure of God.

2d. The man who is regenerated by water, and born again of God, is thereby freed from the weakness of his first nativity, which came to him by man and so made capable of salvation, which he could not otherwise obtain.

And though this author does not expressly mention infant baptism, his reasons are such as shew he means to comprehend the infantile part of our species. Iranæus, Bishop of Lyons, born about the year 97, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of St. John, about the year 176 wrote his book against -heresies, in which are three things relating to this matter, which appear very evident, allowing him to be a competent witness of the Church's doctrine and practice upon this point during the second century.

1st. That the Church then believed the doctrine of original siu. 2d. That the ordinary means of purging away this sin, was baptism. 3d. That children as well as others, were then actually baptized to obtain remission of sins, and apply the redemption of Christ to them

Tertullian, who lived in the latter end of the second century, and the be ginning of the third, though he had some singular notions about this matter,

« ZurückWeiter »