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as their name indicates. The phrase "Two Seed" is understood to indicate their belief that there are two seeds

-one of evil and one of good. This doctrine is generally accredited to Elder Daniel Parker, a native of Virginia, who was ordained in Tennessee in 1806, and labored in that State till 1817, in Illinois till 1836, and then in Texas, where he died. He published in 1826 a pamphlet which set forth the two-seed doctrine, and in 1829 another, entitled "Second Dose of the Doctrine of Two Seeds." The following explanation of the doctrine has been given by a writer who had access to the pamphlets and other writings relating to it:

"The essence of good is God; the essence of evil is the devil. Good angels are emanations from or particles of God; evil angels are particles of the devil. When God created Adam and Eve they were endowed with an emanation from himself, or particles of God were included in their constitution. They were wholly good. Satan, however, infused into them particles of his essence, by which they were corrupted. In the beginning God had appointed that Eve should bring forth only a certain number of offspring; the same provision applied to each of her daughters. But when the particles of evil essence had been infused by Satan, the conception of Eve and of her daughters was increased. They were now required to bear the original number, who were styled the seed of God, and an additional number, who were called the seed of the serpent.

"The seed of God constituted a part of the body of Christ. For them the atonement was absolute; they would all be saved. The seed of the serpent did not partake of the benefits of the atonement, and would all be lost. All the manifestations of good or evil in men are but dis

plays of the essence that has been infused into them. The Christian warfare is a conflict between these essences.

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Not all the associations accept the peculiar title given above. Some call themselves simply "Regular," others, "Regular Predestinarian," and still others, "Regular TwoSeed Predestinarian Primitive Baptists." Their articles of faith also vary in phraseology. One set is quite brief, having only ten articles; another is more extended and embraces twelve articles. The latter declares that God is the Creator of all things and governs all things in righteousness; that man was created holy, but by sin fell into a depraved state, from which he is utterly unable to extricate himself; that God's elect were chosen in Christ before the world began, and appointed to faith and obedience in love" by the Spirit of God because of the "righteousness, life, death, resurrection, and ascension" of Christ; that God's elect will in due time be effectually called and regenerated, the righteousness of God being imputed to them; that they will never finally fall away; that good works are the fruits of faith and grace in the heart and follow after regeneration; that ministers should receive "legal authority" through the imposition of the hands of a presbytery acting for a gospel church, and should be subject to the discipline of the church; that the "eternal work of the Holy Spirit" is manifested externally as well as internally, in experimental religion and the call to the ministry, and the true church should distinguish itself from all "false sects," and have no fellowship with them; that the church is a spiritual kingdom which men in a state of nature cannot see, and it should therefore receive as members only those who have hope in Christ and

an experimental knowledge of salvation; that the ceremony of feet-washing ought to be observed, and that the joys of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked will be endless.

Two-Seed Predestinarian Baptists differ from Primitive Baptists concerning the doctrine of Predestination. The former hold, according to the statements of one of their prominent elders, that God predestined all his children to eternal life, and the devil and all his spiritual children to the eternal kingdom of darkness; that he foreordained all events whatever, from the creation to the consummation of all things, not suffering, in his infinite wisdom and perfect knowledge, anything to occur to change his plans. The Primitive Baptists hold, as explained by the same authority, that while God predestined some to eternal life, his predestination did not extend absolutely to all things, for this doctrine would, they insist, blasphemously impute to the Almighty the existence of evil, and do away with sin and human accountability. Some of the Old TwoSeed Baptists claim Peter Waldo, John Calvin, Wyclif, Knox, and Bunyan as "elders" who held the true faith as to the two seeds, and say that Arminius was the great corrupter of sound doctrine on this subject.

Many of the Two-Seed Baptists are strongly opposed to a paid ministry. They hold that the calling of the ministry is "to comfort Zion, feed the flock, and contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." They are antinomians, and do not believe that the help of a minister is needed by the Saviour to reach and save sinners. He is a full and complete Saviour and carries on the work of salvation without the help of men. "Modern insti

tutions," such as Sunday-schools, theological seminaries, Bible and missionary societies, are regarded with marked disfavor, as among the Primitive Baptists.

There are 50 associations, with 473 organizations, 397 church edifices, valued at $172,230, and 12,851 communicants. Though the communicants are scattered over twenty-four States, they are most numerous in Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The average seating capacity of the edifices is 339, and the average value $434. There are 75 halls, etc., with a seating capacity of 5285.

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The following table gives a summary of all Baptist bodies. The returns in one or two cases are somewhat fuller than those of the census.

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