SYNOPSIS OF AUTHORITIES ON THE SUBJECT OF BAPTISM AND BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. I. JOSEPHUS. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, the celebrated Jewish historian, was born A. D. 37, i. e. about seven years after the Crucifixion of our Lord. The works of Josephus, in the original Greek, have been often printed. A convenient and accurate edition has been published in Germany by Richter, 6 vols small 8vo, Lips., 1827. They have been often translated into English. I. By Sir Roger L'Estrange, folio, London, 1702. II. By Whiston, fol. London, 1702. and, III. By Dr Charles Clarke, folio, London, 1785. Josephus is briefly introduced in this place, because, as Dupin* observes, his works have a relation to the Old Testament, and he mentions the Jewish rite of Circumcision. In his Antiquities of the Jews he takes notice of JOHN THE BAPTIST and BAPTISM. In Dr Charles Clarke's translation of Josephus into English, In his History of Ecclesiastical Writers, which has been translated into English by Dr Wotton. This highly esteemed work will be often quoted in the SYNOPSIS. page 22 in the edition of his works, folio, London, 1785, is the following : God also commanded that the posterity of Abraham should be circumcised at the age of eight days, both for the purpose of distinguishing them from other races of people, and for other reasons, that will be explained in the progress of this work. The original Greek of this passage is as follows, taken from Book I, c. x, § 5, of the "Antiquities of the Jews." Προσέταξε δὲ, βουλόμενος τὸ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ γένος μένειν τοῖς ἄλλοις μὴ συμφυρόμενον, περιτέμνεσθαι τὰ αἰδοῖα, καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ μετὰ τὸ γεννηθῆναι. Τὴν αἰτίαν δὲ τῆς περιτομῆς ἡμῶν ἐν ἄλλοις δηλώσω. In this work of Josephus there appears no other mention of Circumcision. Nor is there any allusion to it in the Index to the work, except this passage; but the same author speaks also of Baptism, and the observations which he makes on it are important, because they are the earliest notices of this subject, besides those found in the Scriptures, which occur in any ancient writer. They are found in Book xviii, Chapter 6. 2, of his Antiquities. Τισὶ δὲ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐδόκει, ὀλωλέναι τὸν Ἡρώδου στρατὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ μάλα δικαίως τιννυμένου κατὰ ποινὴν Ἰωάννου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Βαπτίστου. Κτείνει γὰρ τοῦτον Ηρώδης, ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους κελεύοντα, ἀρετὴν ἐπασκοῦντας, καὶ τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐσεβείᾳ χρωμένους, βαπτισμῷ συνίεναι· οὕτω γὰρ τὴν βάπτισιν ἀποδεκτὴν αὐτῷ φανεῖσθαι, μὴ ἐπὶ τινῶν ἁμαρτάδων παραιτήσει χρωμένων, ἀλλ ̓ ἐφ ̓ ἁγνείᾳ τοῦ σώματος, ἅτε δὴ καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς δικαιοσύνῃ προεκκεκαθαρμένης.... &c, The English of this passage is as follows: But it seemed to some of the Jews, that the army |