"The keeping of the seventh day of the week, as the Lord enjoins, is said to be a Judaistic regard for mere form; and whenever it is shown that nothing but immersion is baptism, they will say that to put so much stress upon mere form savors of superstition.
We notice, however, that those who thus deprecate form in connection with Sabbath observance and baptism, are very zealous sticklers for Sunday observance, and for sprinkling in place of baptism.
The natural conclusion is that they have no objection to forms, so long as those forms are of their own choosing.
Not only is this conclusion just, but it may also be shown that those who thus insist that the form is of no consequence, are indeed most superstitious in their observance of certain forms that are not commanded, and that they regard a mere ceremony much as the heathen regards a charm or an amulet.
That this is true of the entire Catholic world, needs no proof.
---It is only necessary to remind the reader of the “relics” which is claimed are possessed of such wonderful healing and of the sign of the cross and the Ave Marias which alone are said to ward off all evil spirits.
An instance of this superstitious trust in a mere form recently came to our notice in Oakland. A laborer was caught in the shaft of a mill, and was fatally injured. He was carried to the hospital in an unconscious condition, from which he never recovered. A priest was summoned, who administered the “sacrament” of extreme unction to the unconscious man, who died soon after.
If that “sacrament” had not been administered, all Catholics would have entertained at least a doubt as to that man’s future; but having received it, the priest can assure them that he is sure of Heaven!"
E.J. Waggoner
