wife who
is the mother of his children and whom he probably married at the request
of the first, who was childless, in order that he might raise seed unto
himself? It is not easy, on Christian grounds, to decide such a problem as
this; nor is it very Christian to put a ban upon any woman who, in
accordance with their religion and their country's laws, has formed this
sacred alliance with a man and has lived with him for years. Nor can it be
right to brand with illegitimacy the children born of such a wedlock.

I would not allow such persons, received into the Christian Church, to
become officers of the Church. But I cannot see why there may not be an
humble place in the Church of God for such and their families.

(_b_) _Should the baptism of a person, in any case, immediately follow his
confession of Christ?_

This question does not pertain to those who live in Christian communities
and within the circle of Christian light and influence. It refers mainly,
if not exclusively, to those who accept Christ under the influence of
Christian teaching at heathen festivals and who may live far away from
Christian communities. In North India, some of those who have accepted
Christ under these circumstances have received immediate baptism and have
been sent back to their villages professing Christians. At first sight
this seems unwarranted and unwise. Men who have received and made an open
confession of Christ under these circumstances have not likely received a
sufficient knowledge of our faith, or attained an adequate familiarity
with its truths; nor have they been grounded in its principles and life,
sufficiently to warrant us in the hope and assurance that they will
continue this life in their heathen homes and do honour to our cause and
the name of Christ which they have professed. And yet who are we to decide
adversely upon the application of such a man who may find, or think he
finds, in that public occasion the only opportunity of making an open
confession of Christ? And what right have we to conclude that he will not
stand firm to his pledge and promise if we are convinced that it is made
in all sincerity and earnestness, and if we are convinced that the man has
really accepted Christ as his Saviour? Or, more properly, what ground have
we to believe that the Holy Spirit cannot carry on to perfection the work
thus begun by Him in the heart of such a man? And was not this method of
immediate baptism that of the Apostolic C