but to send a Bason from the Chariot to the Water where should Men have Basons in Chariots I am sorry Mr. Baxter in his Paraphrase hath prov'd so inconstant to himself after he had heated us against Plunging in his Infant Church-membership and Baptism and tells us A Man might stride over the River Enon and no Conveniency was there to plunge and that this way of Plunging is a breach of the 6th and 7th Commandment and he told Mr. Tombs he believ'd when he cool'd his Legs he warm'd his Heart sometimes when he plung'd the Maids in Bendly When Christ wash'd Peter's Feet he is said to wash him He in a fit of intemperate Zeal cries out as our Plungers do Lord not my Feet only but my Hands and my Head plunge Head and Ears all over Christ says there was no need to wash the whole If as Mr. Baxter says on Rom. 6.4 after others buried with him in Baptism was washing the Body all over for my part they have given up the Cause as to the Form of Baptism and were I of their Mind I must be of the Anabaptists practice as it should be about the Form tho not Subject For had the Apostle indeed given us only an Historical Account it would not have followed because they were plunged we must be so but if he according to these Pedobaptists unreasonable and untrue grant give us a symbolical Account I know not who dares alter or change the Form Plunging must be from Heaven and any other way of Washing or Baptizing from Men. I know some that cannot contradict this among my Brethren will be angry for my plainness but I cannot help it I am Jacob the plain Man more than Esau the cunning one Thus hath Mr. Pool the Dutch Annotations Diodati Mr. Perkins and Mr. Baxter at last so far betray'd the Cause to talk of our cold Climate is a cold Plea I deny that the Form of Baptism signifies any thing of Christ's Burial or Resurrection but only the washing away of Sin or sprinkling of the Blood of Christ my reason I have given in another Book and therefore shall not do it now The Church of England hath betrayed the Cause by their Fonts foolish Questions to the Sponsors as if the Child Wilt thou be Baptized in this Faith c. and saying in their Prayers Nothing doubting but that he favourably alloweth this charitable Work of ours in bringing these Infants to his holy Baptism observe favourably alloweth Yes he commands it a charitable Work of ours when it is of Divine Appointment and in the Catechism the Childish one That Repentance and Faith are requir'd in them who are to be so Baptiz'd Then ask why they baptize Infants the Answer is Because Infants promise them by their Sureties I know some of that Communion are sick of this Answer as well they may For Mr. Danvers and Mr. Tombs and others who with us justly scoff at this Answer say truly Prove the Vnlawfulness of God-fathers and God-mothers and they have given up the Cause If any say where is your Scripture-warrant Acts 2.39 Be baptized the Promise is to you and to your Children and to as many as are afar off as many as the Lord your God shall call Which is a Confirmation of the privilege they should have in the Christian Church into which he brought them which they had in the Jewish Church out of which he took them For the Promise or Covenant was unto them and to their Children and to as many of the Gentiles as should be Proselyted and Converted If they say the Promise was of extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghost I say that was not performed to them theirs and all God call'd This is a plainer Text then they have for taking Women to the Lord's Table and as plain as that Divine Institution which is enough for the Change of the Sabbath to the first day of the Week Psal 118.24 This is the Day the Lord hath made I pray the Anabaptist not to slite this Consideration Did God ever send such Rogues as John of Leyden St. Matthias and David George to be Reformers As they brought their Restitution from the Devil which was to be instead of the Bible Can you believe they brought your Plunging c. adult Persons only from God What unheard of madness was it in Mr. Danvers to question the Story of the besieging of Munster and the wicked pranks there play'd I would not care so much if the Anabaptist did only neglect baptizing their Infants but there is worse in the thing their leaving no visible way for their Children's Salvation if they die Infants they are sent to herd with the Children of Jews and Pagans and if God save them it is in an uncovenanted way and it may be that is not at all for without are Dogs and such as God judgeth Children are within or without the Church there is no middle They were within once who turn'd them out Yet I doubt not their Children any more than ours The omission of Circumcision in Moses was like to be the Father's Death but not the Child's Damnation I have been longer on this than I intended But the Portsmouth Harangue hath put me into a Heat I could say much of the Publisher of vain Stories if I saw fit Is he indeed such a learned Man and were they such mean Men as he falsly represents Verbum sat Sapienti I hope we shall soon see Mr. Chandler's true sober Account of the whole If any tell false Stories of other Mens blunders and hide their own true ones it is worse than bad The Anabaptists whom I call not so in Contempt but only for distinction If we call them Baptists we do amiss as if we were not for Baptism our selves I say they have torn the Covenant of Grace all in pieces to cast their Children out When Mr. Flavel told Mr. Cary Moses and the rest could not be saved by any Covenant but that of Grace he talk'd Apothecary as our Devonshire phrase is They were under A Covenant of Works tho not The Covenant of Works A and The were learned Distinctions here He is a good ingenious well temper'd Man I know him well but am sorry he was so â—ll imployed When shall I have done I could run out here in infinitum but I will soon stop my running Pen whether it will or no. Those that call them Hereticks do them wrong as well as that Pedobaptist that compar'd them to Witches who renounce their Baptism in compacting with the Devil Yet I must grant Infant-Baptism fell with the Bible by those reforming Devils before-mention'd who receiv'd the due Reward of their Murders Whoredoms Blasphemies and whom all sober pious Anabaptists detest Would all other Controversies in Religion were as easily decided as may Infant-Baptism be prov'd They tell us in some old Bibles they read John the Dipper they never read John the Plunger the difference is great as I have elsewhere prov'd To all
sound Protestants who own Justification by Faith only not without Faith nor by Faith and Works MR. Hoskish in his Discourse of the Imputation of Sin on Christ says roundly and plainly the Truth I plead for is defended by Mr. Baxter and Dr. Sherlock blessed Company Mr. Alsop's Antisozzo is the best and most accurate Anti-Baxterian Book I ever saw all sound no more need be said Baxterianism I think is spiced Popery but Crispianism is spiced Rantism Mr. Hoskith told me That in the second Part of Mr. Troughton's Lutherus Redivivus were things not common on that Subject Now Mr. T. is dead and Mr. Lobb too and Mr. Alsop will proceed no further to speak as favourably as I can I wish some great Man among you may appear if occasion be Man is justified not by the Works of the Law says St. Paul Mr. Clark's late noise by Works and Works of the Law is nothing St. Paul speaks of the Moral Law Rom. 7.19 By which came the Knowledg of Sin by which every Mouth was stop'd v. 13 14 15. I abhor all that deny the Integrity of Baxterians Melancthon was not much better if as sound read his Loci Communes Not by that Law is Man justifyed that said Thou shalt not Covet not by that Law That he that doth them shall live in them by these Man could not be justifyed These were Moral Laws sure not Ceremonial not Pharasaical not external Acts only these do not all this The sufferings of Christ are subjectively infinite as of one that is God as Sin by our Divines is often said to be objectively Infinite as committed against an infinite Being by his Stripes are we healed Beware you seek not to be the Death of Christ's death by making it void or not of Effect for its main Ends and Purposes Some you know of late besides Sherlock deny Adam Enoch Noah Abraham and others to be saved by Faith in Christ or to know much of him tho Christ says Abraham saw his day and was glad and Paul says Abel offer'd a Sacrifice by Faith but one place with me well improv'd is of great use Enoch Prophesied so Jude saith Enoch the seventh from Adam Prophesied of these things behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Vengeance And we know Paul tells us this Lord is Christ who so cometh 1. He that knew the greater things of Christ must the lesser he knew him to be a judg of the World and therefore the Saviour of it 2. He could not Prophesy to others but what he knew and they might and did understand Luke 24.27 Many things were written of Christ in Moses the Psalms and Prophets Think highly of the work of Conversion Mr. Baxter was sound here so are most of his Followers not all Paul compares the Power of converting Souls to God to the power of raising Christ Had all been done by common Providence and Man's great Care he need not have compar'd this Work of changing the Will and converting a Sinner to the mighty Power which rais'd Christ from the Dead Beware of loosing things and still retaining words some will keep the word Repentance but condemn the thing others the word Faith but mean somewhat else And you find these Mens Notions duelling together part then for pities sake Tho I know the one is but as a sore Finger to the other Crispianism which is as the withering of the whole Arm. Carry it civilly towards sober Baxterians most in this City preach well and Discourse so and are not so corrupt as their Master I heard only one preach at random He knew not what was become of Noah Sampson Solomon Ecclesiastes was not his Confessions Sampson died with Revenge in his Heart Did God ever work a Miracle to answer a Prayer of Revenge He consider'd them as Philistines as the Churches Enemies more than his and the loss of his Eyes more as a wrong to the Church than to him who was the Pillar of it at that time under God We can better tell what is become of these then what will become of him Other Baxterians loath'd this I mean the Conscientious ones that believe their common Doctrine not the Politick ones that believe with us but dare not say it because these Men have gotten the Ascendant in this City and can Ruin or Advance many Ministers at their Pleasure There attempts against me I care not for for I am glad we have their help against Crispianism I wish their Doctrine end not in Arminianism at last some are gone others going more would had not Mr. Williams's Restrictions and refining of his Master's Doctrine hindred As for Dr. Crisp we are often told of him That we understand him not Nor he himself say I. In what inextricable Perplexities did he involve himself then saying one thing then another It is often observ'd that they that are zealots for wild unusual Notions fancy they see them every time they take up their Bible and every where who could imagine Dr. Crisp should see in Heb. 11.1 That when Men be Believers they know they were the Children of God and lov'd with a complacential Love in a state of Impenitency or in short there see Justification before Faith Keep clear in this matter we are justified by Faith not without only not with Works Let that place be much in your Minds Rom. 3.21.22 But now the Righteousness of God without the Law is manifested being manifested by the Law and the Prophets Even the Righteousness of God which is by Faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is 〈◊〉 difference It is call'd the Righteousness of God as God or Christ is the subject of it not efficient Where is our Righteousness that we are Subjects of call'd God's Righteousness because he is the Efficient In this sense my Repentance Love Faith may be call'd God's Repentance Faith Love This is call'd the Righteousness of Faith as by Faith it is made ours not in the Effects only for so God's attributes are ours but by Imputation That Abraham's Righteousness was the Righteousness of Faith and that that Righteousness of Faith was the Righteousness of Faith in Christ and that as Abraham was justified so are we Rom. 4.11 12 13 14. Paul and Mr. Alsop have excellently prov'd Circumcision was a Seal of that Righteousness and that he should be the Father of many Nations an unanswerable place for Infant-Baptism by the way Heb. 11.9 There was the Exemplar and Copy the Archetype and Ectype the promis'd Land was a strange Land to one that look'd for a Heavenly one so Mr. A. against Sherlock I could even Zabarellize that excellent Book He observes My Hand relieves me when it receives an Alms the Cup refresheth me when the Wine in it doth so so Faith justifies as it applies Christ thus he after others and I after him and some of you if you please after me Keep clear I pray you in the matter of
before they go on 2. Let me know one way or other my Accusers and for what a Posse Comitatus is rais'd against me by Men baptized into Crisp Is it because I cry of his Book as the Prophet There is Death in the Pot Call it not Sirs a savoury Book What Savour but that of Death can it send Or is it that I have cautioned you against a Jack as dangerous and more ignorant Let these Men please themselves they do not much disturb me and I doubt not some will think I am now with Domitian meanly imployed Paul no doubt was a dull Legal Preacher to him for whose sake Mattocks are brought to erase the Foundation of the Ministerial Function He is for a while honour'd by them as a King but is he not what is said of the King of Spain Rex Asinorum I doubt not but in a little time these little Animals will rise up in Rebellion against their little Man and he shall be the Rogue Drunkard These are Men of crazy Intellectuals tho said to be some of Christ's best sound Members One reply'd They have been well fluxt to be sound Are they more like Epicurus his Swine or Christ's Sheep O sad Case that when some Ministers were followed they could not take a Cup without trouble Now is a time of Liberty Have not some made their Antinomianism a Cloak for Deism or Atheism To say There is nothing in Religion worth suffering for cost One dear in the City who after in terror of Mind did stare with drops of Sweat at his Fingers-ends and so rav'd till he cut his Throat and died Simon Thorvy as Baker in his Chronicle and others tells us boasted that by his Wit he should make void any Law of Christ God so afflicted him with a fit of Sickness that his Animal Spirits were so wasted that after his Recovery he was forced to learn to read Letters again like a Child Some say there is no need of much Wit to be profane but this is not always true we see Give one another good Counsel yet be sober more ways than one study that famous Book of Mr. Perkins Dedicated to some of you viz. To all ignorant Persons in the Kingdom of England You see what it is by the poor Draper for Men not to move within their own Sphere or for you to interfere with other Mens Work You could not meddle with the substrate matter or Doctrine of the Book you revile no more than your Lord and Master This Christ-Exalter is like Pilate a Christ-Crucifier who said What I have Written I have Written and so what he hath said he hath said without giving any reason to any that fairly and privately desire it Is this your Gamaliel at whose Feet you sit and hear Impudence and Folly pass for Sense and Demonstration If ever I am printed as a Lunatick by these Men more as twice already I intend to print the ingenious Lampoon mention'd in my Apology about the Draper's Birth and Life who now refuse to sheâ— it to any Man And for these Libellers let them remember the old Romans hanged Men that could not give a satisfactory Account for not payment of Debts and a piece of their Bodies were given to their Creditors let not Men talk of suffering for their Consciences who suffer for their God-pieces None of these trouble themselves with the Learning of Antichrist's Doctors as Mr. Vnworthy Branch phraseth it The old Antinomians as Thomas Taylor in that valuable Book Regula vitae describes them pretended to act as if the Golden Age say I were return'd again Sponte sua sine lege fidem rectumque colebat but soon were Ranters as if Subjectum Pelion Ossae scandalous Men on a sudden come to have Peace not of God's sending no doubt their building on their sandy Foundation will fall to the Ground in the day of Trial their Lamps without Oil will soon go out For Men who are in the chase of worldly Pleasures to cry not indeed Lord Lord but Christ Christ will have a woful repulse I know you not you workers of Iniquity These Men perpetually declaim against the Baxterians and damn them to boot O horrid Censoriousness and Wickedness and yet at the same time corrupt the Doctrine of Justification much more than they in denying the presence of Faith as well as instrumentality in Justification as Crisp doth in plain words Reader it is worth thy Consideration to remember that Arminius himself owned Calvin's Doctrine of Justification as he tells the World in his just Man's Defence and I knew a great Arminian defending this Doctrine against an accurate Baxterian opposing it That for my part I cannot forbear thinking and saying that Arminian sound here was less Corrupt tho he denied Predestination irresistible Grace in Conversion and Perseverance than the Baxterian sound in all these Points but corrupt in this one of Justification which toucheth the very heart of Religion and true Christianity However we three managed our Controversy not in the London but Christian way and Manner without Bitterness or Uncharitableness But my Work is now with the Crispians and about their making Repentance no Duty but Sin One of the most ingenious favourers of Dr. Crisp told me lately He knew not what to say to the three Pages I censure about David and shaking his Head said I know not what to say for the Doctor there And I hope every Man of sense must grant me this that if Repentance be a necessary indispensable Duty without which no Man can be saved Dr. Crisp is one of the foulest Hereticks that ever appear'd in the World worse much worse say I again and again than Socinus If Repentance or having Sin a burden be legal and abominable and Faith only a perswasion we are Justified Rantism comes next Mr. Williams that Man of a sounder Heart than Head is so well pleas'd with the Congregational Declaration against Antinomianism that he hath lately writen his End to Discord wherein he like a Christian and Gentleman that is to say like Mr. Williams tells them he is sorry he or others suspected them guilty of Antinomianism and that they have now purg'd themselves of any such Charge and tells them had they done this sooner many late Books against them and Controversies had been prevented And therefore now no doctrinal Controversies between Presbyterian and Congregational Brethren remain to justify any further Division This is his Opinion I am sure he owns always and to all Men as he hath done in print that the giving of the first Grace is not Conditional and where that is given there is promis'd Perseverance Now let such Men talk what they will of Conditions they must be sound in sense whether in Phrase or no they are hedged in they cannot help it Mr. Lob and he met together some Months since and as I hear were agreed to write one against another no more Mr. Lob put him on this last Work and no doubt had