Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	baptize_v	dip_v	sprinkle_v	3,693	5	10.9320	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30860	The late travels of S. Giacomo Baratti, an Italian gentleman, into the remote countries of the Abissins, or of Ethiopia interior wherein you shall find an exact account of the laws, government, religion, discipline, customs, &c. of the Christian people that do inhabit there with many observations which some may improve to the advantage and increase of Trade with them : together with a confirmation of this relation drawn from the writings of Damianus de Goes and Jo. Scaliger, who agree with the author in many particulars / translated by G.D.	Baratti, Giacomo.; G. D.; Góis, Damião de, 1502-1574.; Scaliger, Joseph Juste, 1540-1609.	1670 (1670)	Wing B677; ESTC R11736	63,785	282

Eunuch of Queen Candaces was Baptised by pure water so do they dip or sprinkle with the same element free from mixture all that are baptised they either dip or sprinkle them that is left to the pleasure and choice of the Minister as he sees convenient or as the condition of the child requires he accordingly deals with it And when the child is but besprinkled with water he is lookt upon as well baptized as if he had been washed in the main Ocean over head and ears for they think not that the quantity of water does bring any advantage to the soul nor that an entire washing is essential to the Sacrament of baptism but rather so much only as may suffice to signifie the inward washing and clensing of the mind from all filthy inclination Their circumcision as we have said they will not leave but they do not esteem themselves for it nor do they dis-esteem other Christians for wanting it for they are sensible that the ceremony doth not render them more acceptable to Almighty God nor doth it give them a pre-eminence above others It were to be wished that Christians over all the world were of their disposition they would not then curse and damn their brethren for trifles nor send them to hell because they do not jump with them into the same opinions and follow the same frivolous customs invented by themselves A Christian condescention becomes us we should not rack and send to the flames men of the same profession because only they do not joyn with us in indifferent performances but my design is not to shew the unjustice of the Court of Inquisition nor the cruelty of our Prelates against the dissenting persons that are scattered all over Italy and Spain but to declare the practice of the Aethioplan Church and their moderation They have not that uncharitable opinion of unbaptized Infants as we have they do not judge them in hell or any other place out of Paradise because they have not had the happiness to receive the Seal of the Covenant but they name them half Christians here and think that heaven is prepared for them as well as for the rest of mankind hereafter because that they are born of Christian Parents sanctified from the womb and in the womb by drawing some nourishment from the Sacrament of the Eucharist when their Mothers do receive it the least part of that being sufficient to sanctifie them They often make use of Confession not as we do but in a manner that commends their moderation their wisdom and modesty The persons that are to confess do meet the Priest at certain days in the Church before prayers do begin where they privately confess unto him in general all those sins of which they are guilty they name them not unless they be heavy upon their consciences then they consult him about the remedies proper to satisfie themselves and about the means to avoid such miscarriages for the future I could never learn that they were tyed to this by any other Law but that which is derived from their own necessity and good they are not tyed to particularize their crimes unless they see it convenient for their comfort and reformation The Priest assists them in this occasion assures them of the mercy of God of the pardon of their sins if they continue in that repentant sorrow and if it can produce the amendment of their lives He prayes for them and then sends them away with a blessing The woman that is near the time of her travel is wont to seek this comfort from her Ghostly Father The man that is to undertake some long or perillous journey unloads and discharges his conscience thus to render himself more ready to undergo the hazard Those that march out with the armies take with them some word of exhortation and comfort from their Priests they esteem this custom necessary to them for the maintenance of Christian Religion and stir up from time to time mens drowsie and sottish spirits in the duties of Religion By this means also the Priests do creep into the favour of every one and become necessary in their Generation We are naturally prone to contempt and sloathfulness in devotion this practice is most proper to remove and rid us of those vices Their confessions are more modest more beneficial and Christian-like than ours are The Priest doth not by any power granted unto him pretend to absolve them but he shews them the gracious promises of God in his word and tells them how pleased he is at repentance what hopes there are of his mercy he also warns them to forbear from ill company and other temptations that do endanger our estate after confession they receive the Eucharist They acknowledge the Old and New Testament without any addition to them 46 of the old 35 of the new are the number of the books unto these they think it not lawful to make any addition but they observe many other things that are not contained in these books Their Menda and Abetil directs them in the manner of Discipline and Order that is to be observed in those Countryes besides they obey the constitutions and degrees of their Abuna and his Clergy who commonly assemble once in two years at the Imperial Court to consult about the publick business and give such orders as may prevent the mischiefs that the Mahumetans and Gentiles do daily plot against them for their Priests and Religious men do labour to incroach upon the simplicity of the Abyssins and to abuse their good nature by making it a means to increase the Professors of their Religion they disguise themselves into Merchants and other necessary persons that they might have the liberty to convey with less difficultie their venemous Doctrines to the sillypeople whom they Court with all manner of civility To prevent therefore their designs and to give order to all the contingencies that do happen in a large Empire very often This great assembly meets in the presence of their Emperour to consult about the preservation of themselves and of Religion the Abuna sits in the Chair unless when the Emperour appears amongst them himself then the Abuna sits at his feet and a Throne is erected a purpose for the Neguz the Clergy Bishops and other persons called from all the Kingdoms are round about in a Ring in several ranks when any is to speak he riseth from his place and goes forth into the middle and after an humble obeisance to the Abuna or Emperour he declares his judgment the plurality of voices determines the business in hand The affirmative part do lift up their fore-finger and profess at the same time their consent and if the plurality be on their side above two or three persons their judgment is good and lawful otherwise the business is debated untill that number be found in either side Their decrees are confirmed by the Emperour and his Privy Counsel and nothing is lawful without his consent He is

Religiously that there is a great penalty put upon every one that is seen to suffer any water to go out of his mouth that day untill the evening he is forced to pay to the poor and towards the reparations of their Church a large summe of money and to suffer an imprisonment six days during which time he hath scarce enough of water allowed unto him to drink Thus they punish excess or want of abstinence by want of necessaries a good way to make a man sober They give the Sacrament not only to men grown up in years but also to Babes and Children for they do imagine that seeing Christ and his Apostles do esteem them holy of the body of the Church and commands them to be admitted into the Communion of Christians that therefore it is lawful to grant unto them the priviledges of Christian people as if they had an actual faith as those that are more aged have They are ignorant of those great disputes that have lately allarm'd Europe and are not acquainted with theniceties that have put us together by the ears about the Eucharist They know nothing of Transubstantiation the words of the Consecration they understand without any interpretation that they declare unto us the use and benefits that we are to receive by this Sacrament in the Christian Church They do not trouble their heads whether personally or virtually whether corporally or spiritually Christ is present in his Ordinance They hope for salvation without the knowledge of these curiosities and I think they will attain unto it before us that are carryed by these disputes of the Schools to deadly animosities against our brethren we had been in Europe very happy if the liberty of believing in this particular had been left to every one of us but the Devil cannot fish but in troubled waters and turbulent men have raised these disputes for their own interest but could never bring any benefit to the publick by them but ruine and destruction If like the Abyssin Church we had not troubled our selves about trifles we had spared the bloud of many Christian Nations and might be more ready to oppose the Turk that daily incroaches upon us In the celebration of the Sacrament they use no ceremonies nor insignificant gestures at the Consecration but as Chirst commanded so they practice the Bread is of the ordinary bread that they use in those Kingdoms they take of the better sort for this use and lay it in a large plate of Gold or Earth of a blew colour and the Wine is of the juice of the Grape squeezed out of it on purpose They place both very handsomely upon a Table or Altar at the end of the Church and after the Consecration the Priest followed by some Attendants goes to the several Separations where he delivers both kinds to them and they receive them with the greatest expressions of humility and thankfulness imaginable after all is done they sing a Hymn in the Church and the Priest gives them leave to depart with a blessing They baptize both Male and Female the Male on the tenth day the Female on the eighth This Sacrament they often do reiterate but not out of necessity but out of a custom that hath continued many hundred years derived as some do conceive from the practice of the Jews that thought the bodily washing able to contribute to the salvation of the soul These people therefore that were zealous Professors of that Religion do yet retain many of their customs although they do not believe those things that occasioned them at first for that reason they circumcise they often wash and to render their washing more beneficial the Priest on the day of Epiphany repeats over to the persons sprinkled the words of Baptism I baptize thee in the Name of the Father c. All of them do declare that they retain this custom not out of the belief of its necessity but only because it hath continued so long time amongst them for so many hundred years they know not how to reform it But I think that they have no mind to reform or leave it because it flatters the interest of both Priest and people for on that day the Princes officers do make a Feast and give gifts in the name of their Emperour to several persons they rejoyce and suffer none to do any servile work This custom is strengthned by a Law very ancient that whosoever is then baptized should be free from some small impositions that are laid upon them by the Prince Their former Kings have thus interessed the people in the obedience to their pious commands so that although they see how the performance is insignificant and useless nevertheless they do as Religiously observe this custom as if upon it did depend their eternal salvation when the Children are baptized they give the Bread of the Sacrament softned in some Liquor to them Their Religion in general is a mixture of the Jewish and Christian for they observe many of the Ordinances of the Law of Moses that were meerly ceremonial only because their fore-fathers did so This people hath always had a great Veneration for that which is derived unto them by inheritance and in which they were first educated so that they dare not venture to alter what was recommended unto them by their Ancestors practice they wisely fore-see the disorders that change would bring amongst them especially when the customs and ceremonies observed are in themselves indifferent If any be polluted according to the Law of Moses they forbid him to enter the Church until twenty four hours be past and then he must cleanse himself with water For their Churches they have a great Veneration insomuch that in them they neither spit nor suffer any unclean creature to enter when they do go in they take off their shooes the reason that they do alledge is this because Moses was commanded to appear before the bush with naked feet their Temples being as holy as that place on which he did tread they think themselves obliged to follow the same Religious practice They will not also suffer any to walk up and down in their Churches nor to discourse of their private business nor to laugh so highly do they reverence them our people in Italy do profess as much outward respect but they bear less to the Houses of prayer for it is ordinary amongst us to make the great Churches a Rendezvous of Lovers instead of praying to a Saint many whisper their devotions to their Mistresses that are at their sides and they do return answers accordingly thus they cheat the world that fancies them at their prayers and they profane the holy places with unhallowed and lascivious actions The Abyssins do shew unto such an excellent example of piety and and devotion They are no l●ss Religious in the other observances of Religion the water in Baptism it is true they do not sanctifie by exorcisms nor do they mingle any other ingredient but as the