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A85959
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A mirrour for Anabaptists in three rational discourses that may put the blush upon them, viz. 1. Pædobaptism defended and justified. 2. Anabaptism plainly confuted. 3. Some valid and suasory reasons to draw them from the errour of their way, to re-embrace the truth which they have deserted, and to return to the church of God from which they have departed. / By Thomas Gery ...
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Gery, Thomas, d. 1670?
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1660
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Wing G619A; Thomason E1892_3; ESTC R232259
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17,498
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discipled or taught and so put into a capacity and susceptibility of the Sacrament of Baptism and all in that Nation have a title unto it whereof Infants are a considerable Party whose Incapacity of teaching doth not make them uncapable of Baptism because while they remain Infants they are not included among those that are to be taught For our Saviour did not send his Disciples to teach Infants but men of years And therefore the teaching pre-required as antecedent to Baptism is necessarily required only of men of years that be docible and not of Infants that are indocible So that we acknowledge a necessity of a praevious precedaneous teaching before Baptism of docible persons but not of Infants because they are capable of Baptism though not of teaching I know that protervious and peevish Spirits are able and apt enough to cavil at any truth be it never so clear and so its probable will cavil at the interpretation of this place of Scripture But the indifferent Reader may discern it to be both can did and consonant to other Texts for no where in Scripture is there any exception against this general Command of battizing all Nations that embrace the Gospel amongst which Infants are a considerable party as was said before And therefore where the Gospel is preached and embraced there Infants of that Nation are to be baptized by vertue of that command For a general Command in Scripture to perform any duty appertaines to all persons of what condition soever unless in the same Scripture some exception be added whereas in this case there is no any A Second Argument may be thâ— testimony of the ancient Fathers oâ— the Church who affirm it to be aâ— Apostolick Tradition and so of the same authority and credibility with other Apostolick Traditions such as these The Apostles Creed Thâ— change of the Sabbath from the laâ—â— day of the week to the first anâ— what Books of Scripture are Canonâ—cal and what Apocryphal Whicâ— Assertions being received by thâ— Church as Apostolick Traditionâ— are and ever have been acknowledâ—ed and embraced as undoubtâ—â— Truths though they be not in tâ—minis word for word expressed iâ— Scripture And so in like manner hath Infant-Baptism as leaning upon the same ground with them so that the Anabaptists may as well question the truth of the Apostles Creed anâ— the sanctification of the first day of the week for the Sabbath and the Canon of Scripture as the lawfulness of Infant-Baptism in that they 〈◊〉 lean upon one and the same foundation i. e. Apostolick Tradition which was ever held by the Churches of God to be of authentical authority next unto Scripture it self For though the Reformed Churches disclaim Popish Humane Traditions as mens Inventions yet these Apostolick Traditions they receive and reverence as unquestionable Truths Now that the ancientest Fathers as Dionysius Areopagita Justin Martyr Origen St. Augustine with many others have witnessed Paedo-Baptism to have been accounted and received as a Tradition Apostolical neither can nor is denied by the Learnedest Anabaptists But yet they will not give credence to their testimony hereof which how void of Charity it is to censure such renowned Doctors as reporters of an untruth especially in matters of Religion I leave it to be considered of by all persons of understanding Arg. 3 A Third Argument may be the constant practice of Infant-Baptism by all Christian Churches from the very next age after the Apostles to this present age This was witnessed by Dionysius who lived in the Apostles time and Ignatius and Justin Martyr and Iraeneus and Origen This is proved at large by many learned men who of late have written of this Subject and therefore I will supersede the labour of rehearsing the particular proofs thereof especially considering that the most learned of the Adversaries of this truth do not deny this but yet condemn it as an errour and a very pernicious abuse needful to be taken away out of the Church of God as is to be seen in Mr. Tombes his Antipedo-Baptism in the 3d Part and Section the 98 about the middle of the Section which is a presumptuous censure unfit for any particular man to pass against the Church Now this practice of Paedo-Baptism by the Universal Church of Christ in all ages and places is an Argument irrefragable and unanswerable to prove the lawfulness of it For the Church is the ground and pillar of truth so saith the Apostle 1 Tim. 3.16 Particular Churches may erre both in judgment and practise but the Universal Church cannot erre in any important point of Faith such as this is because of Christs promise to it both of protection and direction in several Texts as Mat. 28.20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alway even to the end of the world which could not be meant only of the Apostles as who could not live to the end of the world but of necessity of the whole Catholick Church And John 14.16 I will pray the Father and he shall send you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth And again John 16.13 He promiseth his Disciples again to send them the Spirit of truth which should guide them into all truth Seeing therefore the Universal Church for many ages and those next succeeding the Apostles have allowed and practised Infant-Baptism no intelligent godly Christian may oppose it without manifest contempt of the sentence and judgment of the Catholick Church which whose will not hear is to be accounted as a heathen man and a publican Mat. 18.17 If some particular Churches only had practised it the Legality of it might have been questioned but seeing all Churches for many ages did practile it the legality of it is thereby made unquestionable A Fourth Argument may be the Circumcision of Infants in the time of the Jewish Church Arg. 4 For if Baptism be the Sacrament now under the Gospel that succeeds the Jewish Circumcision which is abolished then by the rule of analogy and proportion and parity that is betwixt them to whom Circumcision belonged under the Law to those Baptism belongs under the Gospel But Baptism is the Sacrament now under the Gospel that succeeds and comes in place of the Jewish Circumcision Which is most apparent from Col. 2.11 12. Where the Apostle proves that the Collossians were circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ being buried with him in Baptism that is because they were baptized in or into his name for else the Apostles argumentation were inconsequent if Baptism did not come in place of Circumcision for in affirming they were circumcised because they were baptized he declares Baptisme to come in room of Circumcision Hence therefore it followes that as Infants were to be circumcised in the time of the Law so Infants are to be baptized under the
A MIRROUR FOR Anabaptists In three Rational DISCOURSES That may put the Blush upon them viz. 1. Paedobaptism Defended and Justified 2. Anabaptism plainly Confuted 3. Some valid and suasory Reasons to draw them from the Errour of their way to re-embrace the Truth which they have deserted and to return to the Church of God from which they have departed By THOMAS GERY B.D. and Rector of Barwell in Leicestershire Prov. 23.23 Buy the truth and sell it not London Printed for Nath. Webb at the Kings-head and W. Grantham at the Bear in St Pauls Church-yard near the little North-door 1660. A PREFACE HAving perused some of the late Elaborate and Learned Writings and Disputes of our Modern Orthodox Divines about Infant-Baptism in Justification thereof as also the voluminous tedious and sophistical Cavils and exceptions against the Writings and Assertions of the aforesaid Authors by one M. Tombes an Anti-paedo-baptist and a very able Scholar yet no Anabaptist as being no Separatist from the Church of England I find them all set forth dressed and adorned with so much Art and Eloquence as transcends the capacity of the Vulgar people so that some of them are like Painted Glasse-Windows that are beautified with Pictures of divers colours which while they please the sight do hinder the Light Now because the vulgar illiterate people do stand in need to have the truth of this Point of Faith about Infant-Baptism to be held forth and cleared up unto their apprehensions as who are mainly concerned therein I did apprehend that it would be both a charitable and an acceptable work to tender unto them some plain and short explication of this Point and justification of 〈◊〉 And therefore have here endeavoured to epitomize and abbreviate the more large discussions hereof before mentioned and to lay the truth open with such brevity perspicuity plainness as that it may be obvious to the eye of every rational and intelligent person that is not muffled with prejudice and may neither cost much mony to buy nor much labour to read If any shall deem this a frivolous and needless work after so many learned dissertions and discussions thereof my Apology and excuse is this That in my communication and conference with some of the Disciples and Followers of Anabaptists these ensuing Arguments have prevailed to give them a sight of their errours and to renounce them And therefore in hope that they may work upon some more of them also to this purpose through his help who worketh many times by weak means that his own power may shine forth with greater lustre I have been induced to make them thus publick If they prevail not to reduce any more Anabaptists from the errour of their way yet they may happily prevent their seducing of others I presume not herein to add any thing to the Learned disceptations and discourses before mentioned but only to abbreviate modifie and accommodate them to vulgar capacity and apprehensions If hereby I shall convince but one misbelieving person of their errour about this Point or confirm but one in the right belief of it I shall not repent me of my labour though hereby I expect to incur the displeasure and censure of many To the AUTHOR My Reverend and Worthy Brother in the Ministry of the Gospel I Have to my best ability perused this learned and laborious Piece of yours wherein you have set before the face of all gainsayers in a short and plain but pithy manner all that is or needs to be collected from other accurate Assertors of the contrary to what the Anabaptists of this age alledg for their opinions without reason and destitute of all proof down from the Apostles times and Primitive Churches Your eludication of that 19 Chap. of the Acts v. 1.2 3 4 5. is most convincing and your Arguments concerning precedence of Faith not necessary in Infants and the other both before and after that Section are irrefragable But Alas Sir we find when all is done to these men and other opposers of those manifest Truths held out and maintained by ancient and the most Learned of our Modern Fathers and defenders of that clear truth which you shew the world in this your Glass and wherein many holy Martyrs have lived and died yet etiamsi nihil habeant contra nobiscum tamen non sentiunt not because they do not sufficiently understand but by reason of a resolved on perversity in the will And God knows this is a common misery incident to men and this hath been and is a knot full of perplexities which is made up in that Conclusion Ultimus actus intellectûs est Voluntas which if it were absolutely true then we might to good purpose still labour in rectifying that Faculty of understanding and so the will must follow But we find and feel it otherwise for we all do many sins which even the Soul of our understanding our Conscience checks us for and which we know ought not to be done No wonder then if these men so abundantly convinced will yet persist in errour and the evident reason of their wilful stubbornness herein is the same which is discovered in all Schismaticks namely pride accompanied with Faction and Singularity Your great and lasting Comfort is to have so strenuously conflicted with these unreasonable and absurd Disputers and done enough and more than satisfies all impartial Readers of your Book In the only way remaining and which you resolve to take I shall cordially joyn with you in commending these arrogant and for the most part ignorant men to Gods Mercy and the Word and Power of his Grace Remaining Sir as you have obliged me Leicester May 20. 1659. Your Faithful Friend and Fellow Servant in Christ Jesu THO. PESTELL A Mirrour for Anabaptists The first Point that I am to begin with is the Arguments justifying Paedobaptism THE first Ground and Argument for Paedo-baptism Arg. 1 that I shall lay down is the general Commandment that our Saviour Christ gave to his Apostles Mat. 28.19 Go teach all Nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost All the exception against this is that Teaching being first enjoyned makes Infants uncapable of Baptism because they are uncapable of Teaching To this it is answered that the teaching there enjoyned was the publication and preaching of the Gospel to all Nations in the first place before the Sacrament of Baptism was to be administred unto them which is most apparent from St. Mark his expression of the same Commission and Precept Mark 16.15 Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature That which St. Matthew phraseth teach or Disciple St. Mark expounds to be the preaching of the Gospel And this was necessary to be done in the first place and accordingly was done before ever any Nation received Baptism So that when the Gospel is preached to any Nation and that Nation doth receive and entertain it then is that Nation