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Swartbmore Xecture.

fundamental conviction : Rebirth is open to all,Christ died for all men. Against Luther it ismaintained, a divine spark is kindled in the humansoul, and this spark has to be fanned into a flame. Acertain degree of " sanctification" is alreadypossible upon earth, even in works. This sanctifi-cation is a self-submersion into the will of God whereby man becomes free —all potent as an instru-ment of the divine will. Sin is selflove and meansfalling away from the divine spirit that movesthrough all things. The word of God is no letterwritten with pen on paper, but the Spirit (Logos)present in every man as the mystic Christ: " Christa condition in man." Without the sanction ofthis ever living authority the Scripture would bea dead letter.

2. This fundamental conviction is the sourceof the rejection of the Church as an institution" administering " salvation, and the rejection ofthe Sacraments as means to salvation. With theBaptists, Baptism is a " conscious act of faith," onthe part of the regenerate, and only adults arecapable of voluntary choice. The sensationalcharacter of the immersion and the pronounce-ment of the blessing following upon it have, it istrue, added not a few to the ranks of the Baptists ,especially among the coloured population of theUnited States , where there is a negro Baptistchurch numbering several million members. Butat bottom Baptism is for the Baptists merely asymbol of the achieved second birth. Adultbaptism had an enormous influence in breaking upthe church and the state as hierarchic institutions