8. In considering such evidences of pagan ceremonial and superstitious rites taking the place of the simple procedure incident to genuine worship characteristic of the Church in the days of its integrity, who can question the solemn and awful fact of actual apostasy?--(See Note 2, end of chapter.) But more important yet, more significant still than mere additions to the ritualistic ceremonial, are the perversions and changes introduced into the most sacred and essential ordinances of Christ's Church. As it is common with ecclesiastical authorities to consider the most essential ordinances of the gospel originally established by Christ and maintained by His apostles, as comprising baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper, we shall examine into these alone as examples of the unauthorized alterations now under consideration. In this restriction of our illustrative examples we do not admit that baptism and the sacrament named were the only ordinances characterizing the Church; indeed, there is abundant proof to the contrary. Thus, the authoritative imposition of hands for the bestowal of the Holy Ghost in the case of baptized believers was equally essential with baptism itself,--(See Acts 8:5-8, 12, 14-17; also 19:1-7; see also 2:38; Matt. 3:11; and Mark 1:8.) and was assuredly regarded as a vital ordinance from the first.--(See Matt. 3:11.) Furthermore, ordination in the priesthood, whereby men were commissioned by divine authority was indispensable to the maintenance of an organized Church. The examples selected, however, will be sufficient for the purposes of our present inquiry. **The Ordinance of Baptism Changed**. 9. First, then, as to baptism,--in what did the ordinance originally consist, as to purpose and mode of administration, and what changes did it undergo in the course of progressive apostasy through which the Church passed? That baptism is essential to salvation calls for no demonstration here; this has been generally held by the Christian Church in both ancient and modern times.--(For a concise treatment of this subject, see the author's "Articles of Faith," Lecture 6:8-29.) The purpose of baptism was and is the obtaining of a remission of sins; compliance with the requirement has been from the first the sole means of securing admission to the Church of Christ.--(See Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3; also Acts 2:38; I Peter 3:21; and Acts 22:16. Compare II Nephi 31:17.)