ual sense; while they meet and break bread together on the anniversary of the Last Supper, they do so in commemoration of the event, and attach no religious or mysterious significance to the act. "The true communion of the body and blood of Christ is," they say, "to read and meditate upon His Word; all else is vanity."
Of baptism they declare: "We understand, not the earthly water, but the spiritual cleansing of our souls from sin in faith, and the destruction of the old Adam within us, with all his works."
Of confession: "We hold by Paul; confess your sins one to another, and pray for one another; any thing further we do not allow."
Regarding prayers for the dead, they are silent.
These statements are taken from confessions of faith, drawn up, not for their own use, but for their justification with the government, and may be liable to suspicion in some particulars, but they are corroborated by what can be ascertained of their practices. The conclusion of their profession is thoroughly Protestant in its character. "Besides the Holy Sacraments, we accept the Word of God and inward faith as our guides. We do not consider ourselves as not sinful, nor as holy, but work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, in the hope of attaining it solely, and alone, through belief in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and the fulfilment of the commands of the Lord; we have no power of ourselves to effect this, but obtain it only through living faith in our Intercessor and Redeemer, Jesus Christ."[1]
The origin of these rationalistic sects is obscure. Kullmann was burned at Moscow, in 1689, for teaching the philosophy of his master, Jacob Boehm; Procopius
- ↑ Haxthausen, vol. i., p. 284.
