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into the fire. That he baptized them with water Chapter Verfe to repentance; but a mightier was coming, who would baptize them with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. (I cannot discover that Jesus ever baptized at all; and what is meant by baptizing with fire, I know not; unless it be the inquifitorial method practifed by the catholics upon the Jews at their Auto de Fe's.) He adds-' Whose fan is iii. ' in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his ' floor, and gather his wheat into the garner : ' but he will burn up the chaff with unquench*able fire. Mark's record of John, is nearly the same, but the exceptionable part of baptizing with fire, is omitted: it says simply- And he

shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.' Luke's account of this matter is more copious; he tells us the time when John began to teach and baptize, ch. iii. v. I. 'Now in the fifteenth year of ' the reign of Tiberius Cæfar, Pontius Pilate be

ing governor of Judea, and Herod being te'trarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip te 'trarch of Ituria and of the region of Trachoni'tis; and Lyfanias the tetrarch of Abilene ; 'Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests; the word of God came unto John the son of 'Zacharias in the wilderness. And he came ' into all the country about Jordan, preaching 'the baptifm of repentance for the remiffion of Here is some additional matter

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fins,' &c.

which we have neither in Matthew or Mark,

the

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Chapter Verse the people, publicans, and foldiers, ask him questions which he answers: they being doubtful if he was the Christ or not; he fets them right in that matter-faying-' I indeed baptize you ' with water: but one mightier than I cometh,' ' &c.-he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, St. John gives us new And this is the record of

' and with fire,' &c.

matter ch. i. V. 19.

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John (the Baptift) when the Jews fent priests ' and Levites from Jerufalem, to ask him, Who art thou? He confefsed, and denied not, but confefsed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him-What then? Art thou Elias? and he

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'faith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? and 'he answered, No. Then faid they unto him 'Who art thou?" John, after some other interrogatories, answers-' I baptize with water: but 'there standeth one among you, whom ye know

not; he it is who coming after me is preferred • before me,' &c. He says nothing of baptizing, with the Holy Ghost or with fire: nor doth it appear that they discovered or even made any enquiry about Jesus at that time; but the next day John pointed him out to the people. We return now to Matthew, and proceed with

his account of the baptifm of Jesus by John. 13 'Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John for'bad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, ' and comest thou to me? And Jesus anfwering,

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iii.

15 16

'faid unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus Chapter Versa ' it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then ' he fuffered him. And Jesus, when he was bap'tized, went up straightway out of the water : ' and lo, the Heavens were opened unto him, ' and he saw the spirit of God defcending like a

dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice ' from Heaven, saying, This is my beloved son, ' in whom I am well pleased.' Mark and Luke's account are, in substance, the fame: John is more explicit, ch. i. v. 29. 'The next day John ' feeth Jesus coming unto him, and faith, Be'hold the lamb of God which taketh away the ' fin of the world: this is he of whom I said, ' after me cometh a man which is preferred be'fore me; for he was before me and I knew 'him not; but that he should be made manifest ' to Ifrael; therefore I am come baptizing with 'water. And John bare record, saying, I faw 'the spirit defcending from Heaven, like a dove, ' and it abode upon him: and I knew him not :

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but he that sent me to baptize with water, the ' same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the 'Spirit defcending and remaining on him, the fame ' is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And 'I saw and bare record that this is the Son of 'God.' If John was so well informed, and fo clear and explicit in his account of the matter as he here seems to be: how happened he, very foon after, to make the following enquiry of Jefus

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Chapter Verse fus-Art thou he that should come, or do we 'look for another?" Matt. ch. xi. v. 2, 3*. We will now revert to Matthew's account of what followed the baptifm.-' Then was Jesus ' led up of the spirit into the wilderness, to be

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tempted of the devil.' After fasting there forty days and forty nights, Satan endeavours, with various temptations, to seduce him: he takeś him up into an exceeding high mountain, and ' sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, ' and the glory of them and faith unto him9 All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt to "fall down and worship me. Then faith Jesus unto him-Get thee hence, Satan: for it is ' written; Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and miniftered unto him.' This must have been a very ignorant devil: if there was any efficacy in baptifin, he chose an improper time; and how he attained the power of taking the Son of God up to a pinnacle of the temple, &c. I cannot conceive. From facred history we learn, that he fometimes threw the unfortunate fons of men

upon the ground, &c. but we never hear of his Chapter Veife taking them up into the air. - Mark fays-' And

immediately (after the baptifm) the spirit driv• eth him into the wilderness: and he was there ' in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan,

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and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.' Luke says much the fame as Matthew relative to the fafting and temptations, but has this remarkable conclufion-And when the devil had ended all the

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temptation, he departed from him (Jefus) for a feafon.' What Luke means by departing from him for a feafon, I know not. We hear of no more attacks made by the devil upon Jesus, unless that may be construed as fuch, which was made in the perfon of St. Peter. Vide Matthew, ch. xvi. v. 22, 23. John says not a word of the wilderness, temptations, or the forty days spent in it. On the contrary, he proceeds to the election of two disciples upon the day following his baptifm; two others upon the following day; the marriage in Cana upon the third day; and so proceeds regularly with the history of Jesus. We will now go on with St. Matthew's account. Now when Jesus had heard that John iv.

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was cast into prifon, he departed into Galilee.' (Luke, who seems most conversant with John's history, tells us that he was cast into prifon for having reproached Herod the tetrarch with several enormities, particularly that of keeping Herodias,

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