IN February, 1916, there appeared the "First Interim Report of a Sub-Committee appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York's Committee and by Representatives of the English Free Churches' Commissions, in connection with the proposed World Conference on Faith and Order." This Report is a document of first-rate importance. It is signed by five members of the Church of England-three bishops, one clergyman, and one layman-and by five members of the Free Churches, whose names and positions give peculiar weight to their utterances. In the course of the Report it is stated that all the members of the Sub-Committee are agreed "that our Lord ordained, in addition to the preaching of His Gospel, the Sacraments of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper, as not only declaratory symbols, but also effective channels of His grace and gifts for the salvation and sanctification of men ; and that these Sacraments being essentially social ordinances were intended to affirm the obligation of corporate fellowship as well as individual confession of Him." It is further stated that, "as regards the Sacraments-the conditions, objective and subjective, in their ministration and reception on which their validity depends," there are differences of opinion "which require further study and discussion."

The further "discussion" to which reference is here made is perhaps most helpfully promoted when members of different Christian Churches meet together, in friendly fashion, on perfectly equal terms, for days of quiet prayer and conference; and not a little important work has been done along these lines since the Report was issued. "Further study" suggests the careful reexamination of the questions at issue by individual scholars, and the publication of a series of essays upon them, each written from a different point of view and expressing its author's belief in positive and, as far as possible, uncontroversial terms. One reason for the publication of this essay upon Holy Baptism is that there may be available for consideration and criticism a fresh presentation of the subject, based directly upon the teaching of Holy Scripture, and in general harmony with the views of at any rate

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one school of thought within the Church of England. The hope is that some small contribution may thus be made towards the promotion of that Reunion of Christendom, which, through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, has now become the object of so much thought and prayer.

A second reason arises from the condition of things within the Church of England itself. Our Lord ordained two Sacraments of the Gospel, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Neither in any recorded words of His nor in any official formulary of the Church is there a hint that one of these is to be placed in a position of greater importance than the other. Yet, through the operation of various causes, it has resulted that the Lord's Supper is thought a great deal more about than Baptism. One cause is unavoidable. Baptism takes place but once in a man's life; he receives the Lord's Supper many times. That which he does constantly in mature life he naturally thinks more about than that which is done to him once in his infancy. The other chief cause is to some extent avoidable, and therefore those who permit it to operate cannot be exonerated from all blame. The introductory rubric to the Baptism Service for Infants distinctly says "that it is most convenient that Baptism should not be administered but upon Sundays and other Holy Days, when the most number of people come together." These are precisely the occasions when it is now generally found to be most inconvenient (in the modern sense of the word) to administer Baptism, and the Sacrament is therefore very commonly relegated to week-days or quiet intervals on Sundays. The result is, that there are many in our so-called Christian England who are almost ignorant of the ceremonies of Baptism. What matters more is, that there are many regular Churchpeople in all ranks of society who have only very vague ideas, if they have any ideas at all, about the inner meaning of Baptism. The following chapters are an attempt to explain that meaning in simple and untechnical language. Their object is, first of all, to enable Churchpeople to understand for themselves what was done for them when they were baptized; and, secondly, to enable them to pass that knowledge on to the numerous thoughtful and inquiring men and women who unfortunately do not usually take any part in the public worship of God.