Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	covenant_n	new_a	testament_n	4,131	5	9.2871	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B23662	The controversie about infants church-membership and baptism, epitomized in two treatises the first, shewing the certainty of the salvation of all dying infants, against the doctrine of the Pædo-baptists, who deny salvation to all infants that die unbaptized, either directly, or by the natural consequence of their arguments : the second, being a plain confutation of Mr. J.B. his second book of more than 60 queries, about infants church-membership and baptism, by a proportionable number of antiqueries : being an essay towards a more Christian accomodation between the Pædo-baptists, and the baptized believers, published for that happy end / by Thomas Grantham.	Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692.; Grantham, Thomas, 1634-1692. Querist examined.	1680 (1680)	Wing G1529	50,899	65

make my work too bulkie to set down his Queries at large yet I shall endeavour partly by what I shall present of his Queries and partly by the purport of my Anti-queries to give a true understanding of the import of all his Demands And first we shall take notice of his Preparatory Questions which he grounds upon the silence of the Scriptures in the case of Infant-Baptism The first is this J. B. 1. Is not the Scripture more sparing in such cases as these 1. In speaking of those to whom it speaks not as concerning the Heathen and concerning Infants c. T. G. 1. When Mr. Baxter and you from him have born the World in hand that you would offer plain Scripture proof for Infant Church-Membership and Baptism Is it not a strange way to make this good by telling us the Scripture is more silent in these Cases than in others Or is not one plain proof in any Case enough to forbid any to say the Scripture is more silent in that than other Cases seeing more silent must import not speaking at all or else very darkly And indeed Mr. Baxter does elsewhere grant That many Papists and Prelatists who are all for Infant Baptism have maintained that it is not determined in Scripture And how then shall he being inferiour to so many bring any plain Scripture for it 2. Is not the Scripture plain enough Gen. 3. 15. that the Covenant of God's Grace and Mercy to Sinners concerns all Mankind as they are fallen in Adam And how then can it be silent concerning Infants in any thing needful to their Salvation seeing Christ now by the Grace of God hath tasted Death for every Man Heb. 2. 9. J. B. 2. In lesser points of Faith 3. In points not then questioned 4. Does not the New Testament speak more sparingly of that which is more fully discovered in the Old And is not this the very case here c. T. G. 1. Who that is truly wise would query this Is any Persons Church-Membership and Baptism to be reckoned among the lesser points of Faith Or is it not of very great moment rather for us rightly to understand who ought to be incorporated into the Church of Christ which is his Body If there was no question in the Scripture-Times about your Infant Church-Membership and Baptism was it not because there was none then that held with your Opinion in that Case And whether it be not Anti-evangelical to make the Age of any Person the rule of his admission to the Christian-Church-Membership and Baptism whiles in the Law the Eighth Day was a time prefixed But is not the time of the New Birth at what Age soever the time of Incorporating Persons into the Christian Church Seeing it is expresly said If any Man be in Christ he is a new Creature 2 Cor. 5. 16 17. And whether Pedo-Baptists must not grant this seeing they are forced to say of the Infants which they sprinkle This Child is Regenerate and Born again though they can never prove this J. B. 2. Will the difficulty of a Point that is not so clear as we would have it prove that it is not a truth The Apostle Peter tells us many things in Paul s Epistles are hard to be understood are they not Truths for all this c. T. G. Whether it be not idle in you to compare Church-Membership and Baptism with the hard things in Paul's Epistles seeing what is needful to meer Church-Membership and Baptism are easie things even that which every Babe in Christ should know and which three thousand learned in one Day by one Sermon Acts 2. 40 41. Then they which gladly received his Word were Baptized and the SAME DAY was added unto them about three thousand Souls And whether the whole carriage of this place do not shew your Vanity in putting your Church-Membership before Baptism sith here as well as else-where this Church-Membership evidently follows Baptism And whether you do not here also plainly enough tell us that your case is very difficult and hard to be understood and indeed you may rightly place it among things unintelligible For as one of your Way going to a Dispute 't is said to hear Infant baptism proved by Scripture told his Companion He was going to hear a Miracle J. B. 3. If never so clear Evidence be produced will not Truth still be dark to them that are uncapable of discerning it And is not this the case of many Godly that are but Children in knowledg T. G. Whether this be not an excellent way to query Men out of their Wits And if that which hath never so clear Evidence may still be dark to the Godly c. How can you blame Men for not seeing that for which you can bring no clear Evidence But for all this whether every weak if a Godly Man may not as easily understand the Mind of God about Church-Membership and Baptism as to know that Jesus is his Saviour unless your 100 or rather 500 Queries have blinded his Eyes And what one Point hath been pestered with such a cloud of Questions as you have invented about this And whether you and Mr. Baxter cannot invent as many more and so make good the Proverb Plura potest interrogare asinus quam respondere Aristoteles J. B. 4. When the case is so difficult that we cannot attain to clearness and certainty must not we follow the most probable way c. T. G. Whether you are not upon a dangerous Point to suggest that the case of Church-Membership and Baptism is to be judged of by Probabilities and not Certainties And if you will needs have our way of Baptism to be more difficult than yours who can know it Seeing there is thus much said by a learned Man of the Church of England against your Way viz. That there is Dr. Ba●low neither Precept nor President for Infant-Baptism in Scripture That there is nothing in Dr. Hammond or Mr. Baxter 's Discourses about Infant-Baptism that looks like an Argument And whether it will not be hard for any Body to say more for Pedo-baptism and against our way of Baptizing Believers than they have done And yet whether it be not safe for us to see you offer more than your Probabilities before we part with our Baptizing Believers for your sprinkling of Infants J. B. 5. And is it not a spirit of Rashness and Headiness that runs Men presently upon NEW untried Ways upon every doubting about the Old c. T. G. Whether the way of Baptizing Persons upon personal profession of Faith by Immersion be not the old way of Baptizing and granted to be so by the Learned of your own Church for example Ludovicus Vives Grotius and Diodate And then whether you are not the rash and heady who run so eagerly after the new mode of Infant-sprinkling And are not thousands involved in your new Way before they do or can try it And on the contrary whether any can rationally be

* The Law entered that Sin might abound but where Sin abounded Grace did much more abound That as Sin hath reigned unto Death even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord. You can no more exclude any from the Justification of Life as having abounded towards them by Christ than you can exclude them from the Condemnation which abounded towards all Men by the First Adam For tell me How many came under Condemnation by the Sin of Adam Is there any or any Infant that can plead Impunity Why even so saith the Apostle the Free-gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life And may we not now safely conclude that had Mankind never been guilty of any other Sin but that I say upon a supposition that Adam and his Posterity had from the time of the Promise Gen. 3. 15. lived holily and done no Iniquity would you not conclude with me that none should have perished in Hellish Torments And if you grant this then we must either find some Man SO concern'd in the Covenant of Grace AS that if he sinned against it his Posterity is condemned with him Eternally as all Adam's Posterity were exposed to Condemnation for his Sin Or else we must hold that no Infant shall die eternally for Adam's nor for any other Persons iniquity If you name any Man thus concern'd in the Covenant of Grace you can name none so apt for the purpose as Adam seeing we were all in him when that Covenant was made with him and there is no doubt but that he sinned after the Covenant was made Gen. 3. 15. Yet where do we find any Sin which he afterward committed imputed to any part of his Posterity And seeing we cannot prove an Universal Resurrection from 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. unless Mankind be equally concern'd in the Death of Christ We must necessarily believe whole Mankind to be interessed in him and as they are interessed in Christ they are saved of the Lord and in him they are as clearly interessed in God's Mercy as they were Objects of his Wrath by the first Man So being justified from the guilt of Adam's Transgression who shall lay any thing to the charge of poor Infants that may justly cast them into Hell Fire sure 't is but meet Men should be able plainly to Convict them before they thus Condemn them Yea you that hold the Eternal Damnation of Infants ought you not to bring substantial Proof for so dreadful a Doctrine And when you have done your worst that way you have only destroyed your own certainty of Comfort concerning your dying Infants for I am persuaded you are not so unwise to think whatever you make others believe that your Infants are therefore saved because of your pretended Church-Membership and Baptism seeing 't is too evident that many attain to that Estate and yet are unlikely to be saved SECT V. J. B. pag. 13. To assert the Salvation of all that die in Infancy seems to imply that God's destroying the Old World and Sodom c. were eminent Acts of God's Mercy rather than of Justice c. help me over this Difficulty Answ Although it is not unjust for God to take Infants out of the World yet his Justice in destroying the Old World and Sodom lay not against the Infants as I proved in the Section next before but in Justice he punished those wicked Parents in putting a period to their Posterity Did not God in the days of Noah destroy all Beasts and Fowls almost yet who so weak to think he was offended with them was the Lord angry with the Beasts of the Field God was just in taking away David's Child 2 Sam 12. 14 yet who so rash to say That God did this in point of Justice against the Child Or that God was angry with the Child much less that the Child was damned David was far from any such opinion for though that Child was conceived and born in Sin and Iniquity as much as well could be and doubtless had the imputation of Original Sin as much as any yet David nothing feared that Child's damnation but rather intimates his confidence of its Salvation when he said I shall go to it For had it gone to Hell Torments he would not have comforted himself with thoughts of going to it I cannot make your speech to agree with the Justice of God where you say That Infants perish not purely for another's Sin but for their own contracted For though I can hear Men talk big words against Infants as if they were little better than Devils yet I never saw any proof that any Infant had any Sin of its own for which you would here make them perish or at least some of them The Scripture saith Sin is the transgression of a Law and tells us also that where no Law is there is NO TRANSGRESSION You must therefore either shew some Law to be given to Infants or else you cannot make them guilty of any Sin of their own And though I have not seen Mr. Baxter's Book to which you refer me yet I do not deny Original Sin for I know it is come upon all Adam's Posterity and Death passeth upon them for that all have sinned in him Howbeit I do believe that all Infants are as clearly justified from the condemning power of Sin in respect of Damnation as any Saint whatsoever which I think I have also proved from John 1. 29. and other places And seeing you now grant that none shall perish purely for another's Sin it remains for you to shew what Sin excepting Adam's is come upon any Infant to render him subject to Damnation You talk of their Contracting Sin of their own but I am to learn how this can be truly said of them that neither Act nor consent to Sin at all and surely such Scriptureless Notions are fitter to be exploded than embraced And though you seem to have some Charity for those and their Seed that only come up to the Covenant of Grace made with Adam and Noah though they never heard the Gospel whilst you say you do not rank them with Infidels Yet this is but a slender kindness you do not say they shall be saved And you are positive in this That Infants are not saved by the Covenant of Grace if they neither be Believers nor the Seed of such Page 17. How this Doctrine will stand with the justice of a Gracious God I cannot conceive when I consider that God hath neither given to Infants a capacity to believe nor any liberty to chuse whether they will be the Seed of Believers or Unbelievers Will you yet say the most High will be more harsh in the Acts of Justice than the Rules will bear which he hath given to Men Deut. 22. 25 26 It is not the part of a wise Legislator saith a learned Man of the Church of England to recede from his own Laws much less to destroy them by acting contrary

to them It must be a fault then in you thus to represent the God of Justice Is the Covenant of Grace set upon such a tickle point as that the greatest part of Infants cannot possibly have any benefit by it So you teach who affirm they cannot be saved by the Covenant of Grace unless they be Believers or the Seed of such Why call you a Covenant made on such terms a Covenant of Grace to Infants Sure impossible Terms in a Covenant are not very gracious You would condemn this in Men you would not accept such terms of Man especially when the non-observance of such Terms took away the benefit of the Covenant yet thus you make many believe that God deals with the greatest part of Infants But I shall return to your former Instances of God's Justice against Infants as you would have it to wit the destruction of the Old World and Sodom SECT VI. The taking away by Death the Infants in the Old World and Sodom is neither an instance of Justice nor Mercy in the main to Infants any more than the taking away thousands of Infants daily by death throughout the World For when ever they die they are taken away from the evil to come and so it is always a Mercy and so it was a Mercy to the Infants of the Old World and the Innocents in Sodom But when ever they are taken away we know it is for Sin even that of Adam and sometimes their death is hastened for the Sin of the Parents as in the case of David's Child before mentioned as well as the Old World c. and thus their being taken away is always a Judgment And the Judgment lieth much in this that Mens Posterity is hereby either quite cut off or greatly weakened and thus the Old World and Sodom were punished in that they were deprived of all Succession And though it be true as you urge That if these Infants in the Old World and Sodom had lived to Age many of them might have been Damned for wickedness Yet to ballance that it is as true that a far greater Multitude in a few Generations both of Infants and others which might have proceeded from them might have been saved so that though we have no ground to doubt of the Salvation of the dying Infants in the Old World and Sodom yet we may see a most just Judgment of the Lord executed in both Of the same consideration is your Instance of Countries and Cities Destroyed and Depopulated by Tyrannical Princes Pag. 14. For what it the French King as you write should destroy all the Infants of the Pagans with the Adult it neither follows that here is not a Judgment from God in all this neither yet that God hath no Mercy for those Infants But pray consider whilst we all condemn such a Tyrant as should so barbarously Murther so many Innocents we may by no means say or think that a Gracious God will now when the Tyrant hath murthered them take and cast them into Hell-fire for he is a God that delights in Mercy But here you cry out Had the World your Light and Knowledg they ought not to be sorry for the spoiling of their Countries but rejoyce that all their little Ones are saved But this is a non-sequiter For no Man may do Evil that Good may come and let us not murmur against God who when Men have done their worst he knows how to prevent that which might be far worse than the worst they can do to Infants And though I may be satisfied that my dead Child or Friend is gone to Heaven yet I may lawfully be sorry for his Death SECT VII J. B. Pag. 15. And what shall we make of Ephes 2. 3. ver 12. And were by Nature Children of Wrath even as others That at that time you were without Christ without Hope If there be no ground to doubt the Salvation of their Infants is there not some hope Answ I grant that all Adam's Posterity with himself were Children of Wrath and take that Wrath in as large a sence as you please it hurts not my Cause at all seeing it is evident that Christ abolished that Wrath and Death and brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel which he preached to whole Adam Gen. 3. 15. and then took whole Adam into his Grace and Favour so that till they or any of them become the Serpents seed they stand in a state of Favour and Grace which shall deliver them from Wrath and Death And it is most certain no Infant is the Serpent's seed it being out of his power to beget them to be his Off-spring seeing they are out of the reach of his Temptations during Infancy Howbeit this place Ephes 2. is best interpreted of the Adult or grown Persons For those of whom it is said They were without Hope c. it is said they were dead in Trespasses and Sins and walked according to the course of this World according to the Prince of the power of the Air which now worketh in the hearts of the Children of Disobedience such as had their Conversation in the lusts of their Flesh fulfilling the desires of the Flesh and of the Mind and SO were by Nature the Children of Wrath. But what is all this to the innocent Babes of the Gentiles they were not thus the Children of Wrath No nor out of the Covenant of Grace as made with Adam having never abused the Grace of that Covenant so that here was Hope or ground of Hope concerning the dying Infants of the Gentiles whether their Parents understood it or not but no hope concerning themselves considered in their wicked Courses Neither could the Hope of these Gentiles when they believed concerning their Infants stand upon the same grounds on which their own Hopes was founded seeing these were saved through Faith and built up an Habitation of God through the Spirit Only this is very true They now understood the riches of God's Grace to Mankind and that God had pity for them when they were dead in Trespasses and Sins and therefore they could not rationally doubt of his good will towards their dying Infants for still his unwillingness to destroy the actual Sinner is argument enough that he will never destroy the innocent Child eternally What hope there is of all Infants entering into Heaven however it may be hid from the Pagans is evident enough from our Saviours Speech Except ye be converted and become as little Children ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Now suppose I take the Infant of a Jew or Pagan for my pattern and labour that my Conversion may answer to such a president in point of Innocency Humility and Simplicity will not this as well accord with the intent of our Saviour's Words as if I took the Child of a Christian for my pattern Certes it would and indeed our Saviour here speaks as much for our comfort concerning all little Childrens

capacity to enter into Heaven as for any one of them As also when the Apostle exhorts us as touching Malice to be as Children does he not hereby justifie the whole in that state of Childhood to be devoid of that evil And why even of our selves do we not judge what is right Could any Man from the beginning to this Day bring the least charge against an Infant much less against one Infant more than another unless God by Miracle shews some special Power upon them no difference can be seen in them in point of Innocency SECT VIII J. B. But have you not forgotten that you told us you do not doubt but the Promises made to the Seed of the Righteous and the Promises of shewing Mercy to the Children of them that love God c. remain unrevoked Answ I have not forgotten that but do still believe that there are many more Blessings pertaining to the Seed of the Righteous according to the Texts by you alledged than to others And that they may be the better considered I will set that down in Words which you writ in Figures Psal 102. 28. The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their Seed shall be established before thee This had doubtless been the Portion of the Sons of God in the days of Noah had they not sinned with the rest of Mankind Psal 103. 17. But the Mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to them that fear him and his Righteousness to Childrens Children to them that keep his Covenant and remember his Commandments to do them Prov 20. 7. The Just walketh in his Integrity his Children are blessed after him Now what do these places prove Surely nothing less than that no Infants but the Infants of Believers shall be saved and if not how do these places suit your case They prove indeed that God will bless the Posterity of his faithful Servants if they keep his Covenant and remember to do his Commandments and I think David well expounds this place in Psal 37. 25. I have been Young and now am Old yet did I never see the Righteous forsaken nor their Seed begging their Bread And yet I grant though you prove it not that there are many other advantages even in Infancy attends the Seed of the Righteous they being a Seed of many Prayers and devoted to God from the Womb as far as their pious Parents has authority to do it which I have more fully set down in my Book of Primitive Christianity L. 2. P. 5 6. whiles God knows others are destitute of these Blessings being Crossed and Exorcis'd c. among the Papists and offered to Molech among the Jews and the like among the Heathens And yet for all this I can see no ground to think that the Righteous God will punish with Hell Torments those dying Infants for the wrong which their Parents have done them It being to me inconceivable how it can stand with his glorious Attributes either of Mercy or Justice both which must have effect upon these Infants His Justice hath effect upon them that is evident in their Death Sickness and Diseases and the like befalls our Infants now either his Mercy must have effect upon them in the next World or not at all and if not in that World how then shall that saying hold true His tender Mercies are over all his Works SECT IX J. B. You would not have the blessing of Abraham as it concerns Eternal Life to reach to the Infants of the Gentiles which believe not because Gal. 3. 14. it 's said to come upon the Gentiles by Faith Answ I told you that the Blessing in respect of Eternal Life was not peculiar to Abraham and his Seed but was made as well to Adam and his Seed and so common to Mankind and may well be called the Common Salvation being derived from Christ promised Gen. 3. 15. before Abraham was who is therefore the Saviour of all Men. Indeed Abraham and so all Believers have some things in special and which are peculiar to them as a People engaged in the duties of Religion * See and consider Rom. 3. 1 2. whilst the Unbeliever is under the sentence of Wrath because he neglects so great Salvation Heb. 2. 2 3 4. But all this injures not dying Infants who neglect not this Salvation and so forfeit not their right to that common Salvation obtained by Christ for Mankind In Gal. 3. 14. the Apostle speaks of the Promise of the Spirit which as it concerns the Church under the establishment of the second Covenant concerns not Infants it being understood of a greater measure of Wisdom and Power to walk in the Paths of Righteousness than was ordinary under the former Testament 2 Tim. 1. 6. Gal. 3. 2 3 5 7. Gal. 5. 25. Nor can you with any shew of Reason say that I make the Salvation of Infants run in a Fleshly Line when I derive it only from the Free-grace of God manifested in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World to take away the Sin of the World Nor do I consider Adam as in a state of Nature but as under a Covenant of Grace from whom the second Adam must in time proceed as touching the Flesh and therefore his Descent is reckoned from him Luke 3. 23. to the end In this second Adam the Repairer of Mankind do I place the Salvation of all Men and of the Infant Race I say seeing they never sinned against the second Covenant nor can any other sin them out of the Mercy of God their title to that Grace being not tide to Man's Will it follows that they shall not be hurt of the second Death Shew the contrary if you can To what you say about God s putting the Salvation of Infants out of his own Hand I say That though he put the Salvation of no Creature out of his own Hand according to my opinion yet when he stretcheth forth his Hand to Gain-sayers as Rom. 10. and gives them the Word of Life and they put it from them Acts 13. 46. then Men may truly be said to have a Prize in their Hand and to put it from them even the Salvation of their Souls And then I pray you consider that if their putting Salvation from them be equally or really a putting it from their Infants as that must be your opinion or else we differ not then I say according to your opinion God suffers Men to damn poor Infants whom he would save seeing according to your Doctrine had their Parents believed their Infants had been in the Covenant of Grace but now for their Fathers Sin for what you say of their own Sin contracted is but a Fable they are left by you in the Kingdom of the Devil and that among the Devil and his Angels for ever And here it is that I oppose you as greatly erring from the Truth and this Error was that which first brought in your Pedo-baptism as may be seen in

Church-Membership And yet I do not at all doubt that Infant-Baptism will remain without any ground at all SECT II. And this I shall demonstrate by shewing That all Infants are in a visible state of Salvation and so of the Vniversal Church of God and cannot be put out of that blessed state till by their voluntary departure from God by choosing sinful ways they destroy themselves And here we will make our entrance by a passage out of Mr. Baxter himself who saith All Mankind is brought by Christ under a Covenant of Grace which is not vain nor repealed by God But as their abuse of the Grace of the Covenant may cast them out For as a Covenant of intire Nature was made with all Mankind in innocent Adam Mr. Baxter's more Reasons pag. 8. 6. so a Covenant of Grace was made with all Mankind in lapsed Adam Gen. 3. 15. in the promised Seed and renewed again with all Mankind in Noah Now this Doctrine being no more than plain truth we shall apply it to the case in hand by shewing First That this Covenant of Grace was a visible Church-Covenant 2. That it was made with all Mankind and takes place in their Infancy 3. That it was never repealed by God 4. That no Infant did ever abuse the Grace of this Covenant And therefore no Infant was ever cast out of this Covenant And then fifthly They all stand visible Members of the Catholick Church by virtue of this Covenant however their Parents do abuse or neglect it and hence it will follow no dying Infant is Damned but are all in a visible state of Salvation 1. That this Covenant of Grace first expressed Gen. 3. 15. was either a Church-Covenant or else there was no Church-Covenant in the World that we read of from Adam to Noah this being indeed all the Covenant that is named during these Times besides that Covenant of Intire Nature made before the Fall And that Covenant of Nature being broken by Adam and in him by all his Posterity it being not a Covenant of Grace could not justifie the Offenders in the ●ight of God There must therefore be some supervening Act of Grace or Mercy from God else Adam even whole Mankind who were then in his Loins must have stood under Condemnation for ever seeing no Man could by any means redeem his Brother nor give to God a Ransom for him It is the received Doctrine of Christians that the Visible Church began in Adam and that his Family was the Church wherefore the whole World being then the Church and that Church-Covenant being made with the whole World that was to proceed from Adam and this Covenant yet remaining it follows against all contradiction that whole Mankind considered as they come into the World in all the several Ages of it are in a visible state of Salvation and so of the Catholick Church of God But whereas many did Apostatize from the Grace of God's Covenant by corrupting his way Gen. 6. 12. It was necessary that they should be ejected and therefore was the Covenant accommodated and appropriated to those who had not sinned themselves out of it but still the Innocent must not be ejected with the Nocent for it is he only that sinneth whose Name shall be blotted out of the Book which God hath written Gen. 32. 32 33. And therefore neither the Method which God took with Noah in settling the Covenant of his Grace nor yet that Order which he observed with Abraham was exclusive of any Infant in the World as to the Grace of God in order to Eternal Life no more than the establishment of it by Christ in the Gospel in a far more excellent order for distinguishing the Precious from the Vile is in any wise exclusive of any dying Infant for of such is the Kingdom of God Nor can any Man shew either by Scripture or Reason that God will shut out all the dying Infants of wicked Men from Life and Salvation by Christ no nor so much as any one of them for we are sure that the Judgment of God is according to truth that the Judge of all the Earth will do right That the Condemned shall be judged according to the deeds done in the Body but alas as for poor Infants what have they done 2. That this Covenant was made with all Mankind is thus cleared because it was made with Adam without the least intimation of the exclusion of any part of his Posterity as they proceed from him to the end of the World neither hath God himself explained the Covenant of Grace to be Exclusive of any but for the cause of their own iniquity and this was evident first in the case of Cain who not being faithful in his offering was not accepted Yet God was pleased to shew him the cause Gen. 4. 7. If thou dost well shalt thou not be accepted It should seem God never rejected him till this time neither did he now delight to reject him but graciously expostulates with Cain to convince him of his evil and assures him of acceptation if he did well If then Cain had an interest in the Grace of God who can we suppose to be shut out till they with Cain shut themselves out of it Evident it is that the Covenant of Grace extended to those Rebels in the Old World because we read the long suffering of God waited on them and he gave them time of Repentance and sent a Preacher of Righteousness even the Righteousness of Faith among them Heb. 11. 7. 2 Pet. 2. 5. therefore it is said Christ went by his Spirit and preached to them 1 Pet. 3. though none of them believed his Word Now such Acts on God's part are great Evidences of his Graciousness towards Men and shews that he remembers his Covenant made in Christ with them even for them that rebel against him and so perish And then how shall we think that he should not be gracious to poor Infants who never rebelled against him 3. The Covenant of Grace was never repealed by God for if it be there is now no Covenant at all nor can it be repealed to one Man but it must be repealed to all Men. 'T is true Men may forfeit the Mercy held forth in that Covenant but the Covenant cannot be repealed for then there can be no certainty of any Mercy for Sinners Christ himself may as soon be made Null as this Covenant For what if some Apostatize or do not believe shall this make the Grace of God without effect God forbid When we continually see that Covenant of God's Grace displayed making overtures of kindness to Sinners even to the chief of Sinners what shall we say if any Infant be without a part in that Covenant Is he not then the chief of Sinners It is not then the Sin of Parents that can repeal the Covenant of Grace with respect to Infants 4. No Infants did ever abuse the Grace of the Covenant made with them in Adam

Gen. 3. 15. therefore no Infant was cast out of it Although it is most true that Original Sin is come upon Infants and Death by Sin yet this is as true that Original Sin was not committed against the Covenant of Grace and therefore Infants are not guilty of any Sin committed against the Covenant of Grace and consequently are not deprived of the benefit of it Otherwise if the Sin of Subsequent Parents should make void the Grace of the second Covenant to their Infants as the Sin of Adam made his Posterity guilty of the breach of the first Covenant we may then justly cry out Who then can be saved And therefore was our Saviour the Mediator of the New Testament for the Redemption of the Transgressions that were under the first Testament Heb. 9. 15. Wherefore seeing Infants stand acquitted from the Trespasses against the First Testament and having not sinned against the Grace of the Second Testament they cannot come into the Condemnation of Hellish Torments The Papists themselves as * Witness the Massacre in Ireland Cruel as they sometimes are to the Bodies of Infants yet are more merciful to their Souls than the Presbyterians For they say That Infants shall only suffer the punishment of Loss but not of Torment Whilst the other tells the World Infants of a Span long are yelling in the flames of Hell 5. That all dying Infants or Infants in general are to be accounted Members of the vast Body or Catholick Church of which Christ is the Saviour finally is evident because they are all in a visible state of Salvation And I think no Man will deny the Catholick Church to contain the whole number of the saved I have nothing more to do therefore but to prove all Infants are in a visible state of Salvation which I shall further clear by answering what is objected against their Salvation by Mr. J. B. my present Adversary who saith Page 9. SECT III. I gave you thanks before for some things before granted concerning Infants and I here promise more thanks if you will prove the same of all Infants Answer When I speak of the Right which Infants have to Life by Christ I intend it only of that Right derived to them by the first Edition of the Covenant of Grace Gen. 3. 15. wherein they are equally concern'd and so have the same Right And I hope you will not say that any Infant did forfeit this gracious Right by abusing the Grace of the Covenant And then Mr. B. tells you the Covenant is not vain nor repealed by God nor they cast out of it My Proves are such as these Infants are either all Saved dying such or some of them are Damned But none of them are Damned therefore they are all Saved See more of this anon 2. Our Saviour saith It is not the Will of his Heavenly Father that one of those little ones should perish which is certainly as true of Infants as of any Persons in the World 3. Christ dying for all Infants and they do not sin themselves out of the benefit of his Death Shortly thus God will not Damn any no not one of these little ones Men and Devils cannot Damn them they cannot Damn themselves Ergo Christ's dying for them will save them all See the conclusion of this Treatise SECT IIII. J. B. Pag. 11. The overthrow of both these Generations in the Deluge is a strange Medium to prove the Salvation of all Infants c. Answer I do not say that God's destroying the Infants of those that were called his Sons Gen. 6. as well as the Infants of others was an Evidence of God's saving any of them But this I do say That it was an Evidence that they were all in one State or Predicament And how would you or any Body else prove so much as one Infant in all the Old World was saved eternally better than I shall prove the Salvation of them all And shall we suffer it to enter into our Hearts that they were all Damned When therefore we reade 2 Pet. 2. 5. That God brought the Flood upon the World of the ungodly And Jude ver 7. 't is said of those who suffered the Vengeance of Eternal Fire That they were given over to Fornication and went after strange Flesh may we not perceive some Light which may guide us to believe that God did not plead in such Wrath against the Infant-seed as he did against the Wicked themselves And though it is true God suffered the Infants to die with the wicked Parents yet that is no Argument of God's condemning them to Hell Torments For did not the same God suffer his Servant Sampson to die by the fall of the Theatre among the wicked Philistines And we see the Righteous often taken away by the same common Calamities which have befallen Nations and Cities Let us remember how tender the Lord was of the Infants in Nineveh and it may convince us he was tender to Infants in the Old World And he that made those little ones an Argument to justifie his sparing Nineveh against the murmuring of Jonah would certainly make that an Argument for us to believe That had his Judgments proceeded against that City according to the Prophesie of Jonah yet he would have distinguished between the Innocent and the Nocent in respect to their future State and Condition for it was not the Wickedness of the Infants which cried to Heaven but of the Adult When we consider how hardly Almighty God was drawn to inflict those Judgments upon Mens Bodies though grievous Sinners in the Old World in Sodom Gen. 18. and frequently where we reade of the Execution of his Judgments it may justly seem very strange that Men should think that God can be so easily provoked to damn Infants to Hell Torments for him I say to damn poor Infants in Eternal Fire who was so hardly drawn to Inflict on the Ninevites Children so much as a Temporal Judgment Nay he is unwilling to destroy the very Cattel for Man's Sin Jonah 4. which are only capable of Temporal Punishment And can it become us to think that God will send Millions or any poor dying Babes to Hell And pray what have they done thus highly to stir up his Wrath against them Shew the Cause if you can J. B. To the Text Rom. 5. The Free-gift abounded towards all Men to Justification of Life You answer This all must be restrained to all in Christ But by your favour There is none so out of Christ as they come into the World but God hath provided Mercy for them in Christ John 1. 29. so that here is no restraint of the Justification here spoken of till Men abuse the Mercy of God by sinning against their own Souls Nor can your restriction which I suppose would limit this Free-gift to the Elect only hold agreement with the scope of the place for seeing Mankind or all Men are Personated as well in the second as in the First Adam