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A53334 A brief defence of infant-baptism with an appendix, wherein is shewed that it is not necessary that baptism should be administred by dipping / by John Ollyffe ... Ollyffe, John, 1647-1717. 1694 (1694) Wing O287; ESTC R32212 67,029 72

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descended from nothing else than Apostolical Tradition And such was the case of Infant-Baptism And this Custom and Practice is still continued in the Churches of Christ Vid. Dr. Walker's Plea for Infant Baptism c. 27. though of several Denominations unto this Day All the Protestant Confessions of Helvetia Bohemia Belgia Auspurg Saxony Wittenberg Sweveland France and Piedmont do universally give their Testimony to it And Histories give us the same Account of the Practice of it among the Russians Muscovites the Christians of St. Thomas in India those in Syria Cyprus Mesopotamia Babylon Palestine amongst the Cofti in Egypt the Abassins in Africa the Armenians in Turky the Maronites inhabiting Aleppo Damascus Tripoly of Syria Cyprus and Mount Libanus And many of these Churches are at vast Distance one from another and therefore can have but very little Intercourse or Communication one with another And as for the Abassine and Indian Churches they seem in all Probability to be Original Plantations and not to have derived their Faith and Practice from any other Churches and yet all retain and continue the Practice of baptizing Infants These things one would think should be enough to sway with all modest Persons And they would learn not to prefer the new upstart Opinions of those who because of the Smalness of their Number are fain to call themselves the little Flock before the universal consentient Practice of all the Churches of Christ besides in the World An humble Person should far more highly esteem of Godly Antiquity and the Universal Church than of such late and novel Singularity Objections against Infant-Baptism answered HAving thus with all possible convenient Brevity endeavoured to clear up and confirm the Doctrine and Practice of Infant-Baptism I shall now consider the Objections that use commonly to be raised against it and shall endeavour to give them a satisfactory Answer Object 1. That Infants are not capable of the Ends of Baptism that it doth them no Good but they are as well without it as with it because there is no Benefit that they can receive thereby Answ The contrary to this is most true For 1. They are capable of Baptism as it is an outward Badg or Mark of their Relation to God as his Children and peculiar People and of God's gracious Respect to them and owning them for such and so as it is a visible Rite of their Admission into the visible Church of Christ This is one of the Ends of Baptism and Infants are capable of this because for this End it may be administred to those that are meerly passive and do not understand any thing of the Matter As Infants are capable of Civil Adoption and of being entred into any Family Tribe College or other Society by such a Rite as shall be appointed for that end And thus Infants in the Jewish Church were baptized to this end together with their proselyted Parents as we have seen before and we do not find that ever any of the Prophets or our Saviour or the Apostles did find fault upon the Account of Infants Incapacity or otherwise therefore we may conclude that they were capable of Baptism and that their Baptism was likewise well approved of And so by God's own Appointment and Institution Infants were circumcised to the aforesaid Ends and Purposes And how are they uncapable then of Baptism to the same Ends to which they were capable of Circumcision 2. Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a Sign or Note or Seal on God's or Christ's Part to assure us of his gracious Favour to us and to consign over to us the Benefits of the Covenant of Grace Thus Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a Mark or Seal of the Remission or doing away that original Guilt and Obligation to Death which they derived from the first Adam and of their being brought into a new State of Regeneration and Life by Christ Jesus And so as it is a Seal of the Promise and Gift of the Spirit for the sanctifying and renewing them hereafter though for the present they understand nothing of it For it is sufficient also for this that they be meerly passive in the Administration As Baptism is to the Adult a Sign or Seal of the Remission or washing away of that original Guilt which they have from Adam and also of that which they have contracted by their own actual Sin so may Baptism be a Sign or Seal of the washing away of the original Guilt to Infants derived from Adam though they have no Guilt at all of any actual Sin of their own to be remitted or wash'd away And yet as Baptism is a Sign or Seal of the new Covenant for the Remission of all Sin to Believers not only of what is past but also of what is to come when they come to repent of it and to perform the Terms of the Gospel required to such Remission so may Baptism be to Infants a Sign or Seal of the Remission of all the actual Sin that shall ever be committed by them upon their future performing of the same Terms And so as Baptism is to the Adult a Sign or Seal of their being brought into a new Regenerate State and of having a Right to Life by virtue of their Adoption their Sin being done away by the Blood of Christ so may it likewise be to Infants a Sign and Seal of God's gracious Favour in giving them a Right to the Heavenly Inheritance As Infants by virtue of any Civil Adoption may be Heirs to a Temporal Estate and are capable of any Acts of Favour from Man and to be instated in any Privileges Case of Infant-Baptism p. 34. before they come to understand what they are As suppose the King should send for a Traitor's Child out of the Cradle and in the Presence of several Persons assembled for that purpose should say You know the Blood of this Child is attainted by his Father's Treason and by Law he hath forfeited all Right to his Ancestors Estate and Titles and is quite undone though he be not sensible of his wretched Condition But I will pardon this Infant freely and here I restore him to all his forfeited Rights I justify him freely and declare my self reconciled unto him and moreover do adopt him into my Royal Family and do settle part of my Dominions upon him and as a confirmatory Sign of this my Respect unto him I do order and command before you all that he be washed with pure Water to signify that he is cleansed from his original Attainder and Corruption of Blood and that I am perfectly reconciled unto him Who would say that this were an insignificant or useless Sign because the Child did not understand the meaning of it Or who could say that the Child who was capable of the thing signified viz. the removing the Attainder and being vested in a Right and Title to a noble Inheritance should be uncapable of the washing with Water for a Sign