be thought to have had any interest in it and much less to have been especially intended as the Sacrament thereof And indeed as there are no footsteps in that Antiquity which is truly primitive of any such Unction of sick persons in order to their spiritual welfare As there is mention moreover in it of another kind of treatment and particularly of the Elders of the Church giving unto those Dionys Alex. apud Euseb Eccl. Hist li. 6. c. 44. item Conc. Nic. can 13. that were under penance the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood as their last and necessary Viaticum So I see not what necessity there is of any such Sacrament as Extreme Vnction to confer upon sick persons the remission of sins or other such like graces as they may stand in need of There being place even in them for the Absolution of the Church and the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood In fine so far is that Vnction of which St. James speaks from being any standing Sacrament of our Religion that it may seem to have been only an Appendage of that extraordinary gift of healing (g) 1 Cor. 12.9 which was sometime deposited in the Church and which therefore was to cease when that and other such like operations vanished As appears in part from its being joyned in St. Mark (h) Mark 6.13 with the casting out of Devils but more from our Saviours ranking the laying on of hands upon the sick which was but another way of administring it with (i) Mark 16.17 18. the same casting out of Devils speaking new tongues and the taking up of Serpents For if these be to be look'd upon as extraordinary gifts there is equal reason to believe the anointing or laying on of hands upon the sick to have been of the same order Sure I am Tertullian (k) Tert. ad Scapnlam cap. 4. doth not only rank the gift of healing even in his time with the casting out of Devils but makes mention of one Proculus a Christian administring this supposed Sacrament to Severus the Emperor yea curing him by the Oyl of it From Extreme Vnction therefore pass we to that which they call the Sacrament of Orders and which is not only affirm'd by the Trent Council to be a true (l) Sess 13. Can. 3. and proper Sacrament but as certainly to confer (m) Ib. cap. 3. grace as the most undoubted Sacraments do It is not my purpose nor was it ever the purpose of the Church of England to detract in the least from the force of that which they entitle the Sacrament of Orders But that it hath not the nature of a true and proper Sacrament will appear in the first place from it s not having by the Institution of Christ any external sign to which the grace thereof may be supposed to be annexed For if it had it must have been the external sign or ceremony of breathing on the persons to be ordain'd This being the only one which our Saviour (n) Joh. 20.22 made use of when he conferr'd the power of Order upon his Apostles But so far were the Apostles or the succeeding Church from making use of that that we find them on the contrary to have made use of Imposition of Hands yea to have entitled the grace of Orders (o) 1 Tim. 4.14 2 Tim. 1.6 in a more especial manner to it Whether it were that they took their pattern therein from the known usage of the Jews and which we find our Saviour himself to have followed in other instances or which I rather think that they were directed to it by that spirit of God which guided them in all their actions and to whose guidance and instruction our Saviour had left them after his being taken from them Sure I am there are no footsteps of that external sign in the first Institution of it as there was in the Institution of Baptism and the Lord's Supper of their proper ones nor any appearance from Scripture of any after command of Christ concerning it But because the external sign of Ordination though none of our Saviours Institution yet is confessed by our selves to have had a legitimate one Therefore enquire we in the second place whether after the manner of other Sacraments it be a means of Grace or as the Romanists love to speak have the power of conferring it A thing which seems to them sufficiently evident not only from that form of words (p) Joh. 20.22 wherewith by the prescript of Christ it hath been always attended even receive ye the Holy Ghost but from St. Paul's willing Timothy in one place (q) 1 Tim. 4.14 not to neglect that gift or grace which was given with it and in another (r) 2 Tim. 1.6 to stir up that gift or Grace of God which was in him by the laying on of his hands And thus much I willingly yield to the force of the foremention'd Texts that the Holy Ghost ever was and still is conferr'd upon those men who are rightly ordain'd by the Governours of the Church But in what measure and to what purposes is the thing in question between us and particularly whether it is conferr'd as to its sanctifying and saving Graces which I have shewn elsewhere (Å¿) Supra Part 3. to be the proper graces of a Sacrament Now what is there in any or all the foremention'd Texts to evince that which they call the Sacrament of Orders to confer such graces upon the person Ordain'd If we enquire as to the first of them (t) Joh. 20.22 even that Text which makes Orders to exhibit the Holy Ghost the utmost that can be inferr'd from thence is such an exhibition of it as may be requisite for the party ordain'd to remit or retain sins as for which (u) Joh. 20.23 and which alone it is professed to be bestow'd But so sure the person ordain'd may be qualifi'd to do without the sanctifying graces of God's Spirit even in the opinion of the Tridentine Fathers themselves It being their opinion (w) Sess 7. can 12. as well as ours (x) Art of Rel. 26. that the personal qualifications of the Minister do neither add to nor detract from the force of the Sacraments they dispense But as therefore no such sanctifying graces can be suppos'd to be design'd though we make the Text to import such an exhibition of the Holy Ghost as is requisite for the remitting or retaining of sins so much less if nothing more were meant by Receive ye the Holy Ghost than receive ye Authority from him so to do Which that there was not is at least probable from his referring them to another time (y) Act. 1.4 c. for the other powers of the Holy Ghost yea bidding them not to expect them till after his ascension (z) Joh. 16.7 into Heaven For that supposeth them to have been as yet without those powers of the Holy Ghost and consequently that Christ meant
as a means whereby we receive the same and as a pledge to assure us thereof Question How many parts are there in a Sacrament Answer Two the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace Question What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism Answer Water wherein the person is baptized In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Question What is the inward and spiritual grace Answer A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath we are hereby made the children of grace Question What is required of persons to be baptized Answer Repentance whereby they forsake sin and Faith whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament Question Why then are Infants baptized when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them Answer Because they promise them both by their Sureties which promise when they come to age themselves are bound to perform Question Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained Answer For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ and of the benefits which we receive thereby Question What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper Answer Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received Question What is the inward part or thing signified Answer The body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper Question What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby Answer The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ as our bodies are by the bread and wine Question What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper Answer To examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new life have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his death and be in charity with all men OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM In Pursuance of an EXPLICATION OF THE CATECHISM OF THE Church of England BY GABRIEL TOWERSON D.D. and Rector of Welwynne in Hartfordshire Imprimatur Ex Aedib Lamb. Apr. 10. 1686. Jo. Battely RRmo P. ac D no D no Wilhelmo Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domesticis LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII TO THE Right Reverend FATHER in GOD FRANCIS Lord Bishop of ELY AND LORD ALMONER TO His Majesty My Lord YOUR Lordship 's favourable acceptance of my Discourse of the Sacraments in General with the desire I have if it may be to put an end to the whole hath prompted me to make the more hast to present your Lordship and the World with this of Baptism in particular Two things there are in it which I thought my self most concern'd to clear and which therefore I have employ'd all requisite diligence on the Doctrine of Original Sin and Infant-Baptism The former being in my opinion the foundation of Christianity the latter of our interest in it For if there be no such thing as Original Sin I do not see but some persons heretofore might and may here after live with such exactness as not at all to stand in need of a Saviour And I see as little if Infant-Baptism be null what interest any of us can have in him according to the ordinary dispensation of the Gospel who have for the most part been baptized in our Infancy or at least have been baptized by those that were Throughout the whole Treatise I have endeavour'd to retrive the antient notion of Baptism to shew what advantages are annexed to it and what duties it either involves or obligeth to To either of which if I have given any light or strength I shall hope I have done some small service to the Church and which your Lordship in particular will take in good part from Your Lordship's Most Obliged Most Obedient and Most humble Servant GABRIEL TOWERSON Wellwyne Aug. 23. 1686. THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART Of the Rite of Baptism among the Heathen and the Jews THe Heathen themselves not without the knowledge of another World and of the insufficiency of natural Religion to bring them to the happiness thereof Occasion taken by them from thence to enquire after other ways of obtaining it and by the Devil to suggest the mysteries of their respective Deities as the only proper means of compassing it Those mysteries every where initiated into by the Rite of Baptism partly through Men's consciousness of their past sins and which they judged it but meet they should be some way purged from and partly through the policy of the Devil who thereby thought to procure the greater veneration to them That as it was a Rite which was in use among God's own people so naturally apt to represent to Mens minds their passing from a sinful to a holy Estate Of what Service the Heathens use of this Rite is toward the commendation of the Christians Baptism and a transition from thence to the use of it among the Jews Which is not only prov'd at large out of the Jewish Writings and several particulars of that Baptism remark'd but that usage farther confirm'd by several concurring proofs such as is in particular the no appearance there is otherwise of any initiation of the Jewish Women the Baptizing of the whole Nation in the Cloud and in the Sea and a remarkable allusion to it in our Saviour's Discourse to Nicodemus The silence of the Old Testament concerning that Rite shewn to be of no force because though it take notice of the first Jews being under the Cloud and passing through the Red Sea yet it takes no notice at all of their being Baptized in them or of their Eating and Drinking that spiritual Repast whereof S. Paul speaketh The Baptism of Christians copied by our Saviour from that of the Jews and may therefore where it appears not that he hath made an alteration receive an elucidation from it pag. 1. The Contents of the Second Part. Of the Baptism of the Christians and the Institution of it THe Institution of the Christian Baptism more antient than the Command for it in S. Matthew 28.19 though not as to the generality of the World nor it may be as to the like explicit Profession of the Trinity As is made appear from Christ or his Disciples baptizing in Judea not long after his own Baptism by S. John Enquiry thereupon made whether it were not yet more antient yea as antient as Christ's execution of his Prophetical Office Which is rendred probable from our Saviours making Disciples before and the equal reason there appears to have been for his making them after the same manner with those of Judea From Christ's representing to Nicodemus the necessity of being born again of water and the spirit which is shewn at large to be meant of a true and proper Baptism As
But so that Christianity it self taught as well as was affirmed by this its adversary to do is not only evident from what hath been elsewhere said (i) Expl. of the Creed Art The forgiveness of sins concerning its tendering forgiveness of sins indefinitely and particularly in the laver of Baptism but from the quality of those criminals whom it invited to forgiveness by it For thus we find it to have done those Jews (k) Acts 2.38 whom it before charg'd (l) Acts 2.23 with the murther of our Lord and him in particular (m) Acts 22.16 who elsewhere (n) 1 Tim. 1.13 confesseth himself to have been a blasphemer a persecuter and injurious yea was intent upon that execrable employment at the time he was first invited to forgiveness But therefore as I cannot either conceive or allow of any other abatement in this forgiveness than that which is to be made upon account of the sin against the Holy Ghost and which what it is hath been elsewhere (o) Expl. of the Creed Art The forgiveness c. declar'd So I shall need only to take notice of the reference it hath to that Original Sin which is the unhappy parent of all the rest Not that there can be any great doubt as to the pardon of that where it appears that the most heinous actual sins are pardoned but because Baptism hath been thought by our Church (p) See the Office of Bapt. and the Catechism to have a more peculiar reference to it and because if it can be prov'd to have such a reference to its forgiveness it will be of signal use to shew the necessity of baptizing Infants in whom that sin doth alike predominate Now though it be hard to find any one Text of Scripture where that forgiveness whereof we speak is expresly attributed to Baptism Yet will it not be difficult to deduce it from that (q) Eph. 2.1 c. which I have before shewn to entreat of our becoming the children of wrath by nature as well as by the wickedness of our conversations For opposing to the corruption or rather deadness which accrues by both the quickning we have together with Christ and which quickning he elsewhere (r) Col. 2.12 as expresly affirms to be accomplished in us by Baptism Affirming moreover that quickning to bring salvation (Å¿) Eph. 2 5-8 and peace (t) Eph. 2 14-17 and reconciliation (u) Eph. 2.16 for so he discourseth of it in the following Verses of that Chapter he must consequently make that quickning and the means of it to tend to the forgiveness of both and particularly of natural corruption Because as that quickning is by him oppos'd to both so it must in this particular be look'd upon as more peculiarly opposed to the latter because that is more peculiarly affirm'd to make Men the Children of wrath and vengeance Such evidence there is of the outward visible sign of Baptism being a means fitted by God to convey that forgiveness whereof we speak And we shall need no other proof than that of its being also a pledge to assure the baptized person of it For since God cannot be suppos'd to fit any thing for an end which he doth not on his part intend to accomplish by it He who knows himself to partake of that which is fitted by God to convey forgiveness of sin may know alike and be assur'd as to the part of God of his receiving that forgiveness as well as the outward means of its conveyance For which cause in my Discourse of its other inward and spiritual Graces I shall take notice only of that outward and visible sign as a means fitted by God to convey them because its being also a pledge may be easily deduced from it PART VI. Of Mortification of sin and Regeneration by Baptism The Contents Of the relation of the sign of Baptism to such inward and spiritual Graces as tend to free us from the pollution of sin or introduce the contrary purity And that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby they are convey'd This evidenced as to the former even our death unto sin which is also explain'd from such Texts of Scripture as make mention of our being baptiz'd into it and buried by Baptism in it or from such as describe us as cleansed by the washing of it The like evidenc'd from the same Scripture concerning the latter even our new birth unto righteousness As that again farther clear'd as to this particular by the consentient Doctrine and practice of the Church by the opinion the Jews had of that Baptism which was a Type and exemplar of ours and the expressions of the Heathen concerning it The Doctrine of the Church more largely insisted upon and exemplified from Justin Martyr Tertullian and S. Cyprian I Have considered the sign of Baptism hitherto in its relation to Forgiveness that Grace which tends to free men from their guilt and is for that purpose convey'd by Baptism to us I come now to consider it in its relation to those which either tend to free them from the pollution of sin best known by the name of a Death unto it or to introduce the contrary righteousness and is call'd a new birth unto it Where again I shall shew in each of them that as the outward work of Baptism hath the relation of a sign unto them so it hath equally the relation of a means fitted by God to convey them and where it is duly receiv'd doth not fail to introduce them To begin as is but meet with that which hath the name of a Death unto sin because sin must be first subdu'd before the contrary quality can be introduc'd Where first I will enquire what we are to understand by it and then what evidence there is of the sign of Baptism's being fitted to convey it For the better understanding the former whereof we are to know that as Men by the corruption of their nature are inclined unto sin and yet more by the irregularity of their conversations so those inclinations are to the persons in whom they are as a principle of life to a living Creature and accordingly do both dispose them to act sutably thereto and make them brisk and vigorous in it Now as it cannot well be expected that where such inclinations prevail Men should pursue those things which piety and vertue prompt them to so it was the business of Philosophy first and afterwards of Religion if not wholly to destroy those inclinations yet at least to subdue them in such sort that they should be in a manner dead and the persons in whom they were so far forth dead also They neither finding in themselves the like inclinations to actual sin nor hurried on by them when they did How little able Philosophy was to contribute to so blessed an effect is not my business to shew nor indeed will there be any need of it after what I have
elsewhere * Expl. of the Crced Art I believe in the Holy Ghost said concerning the necessity of the divine Grace in order to it But as Christianity doth every where pretend to the doing of it and which is more both represents that effect under the name of a death unto sin and compares Men's thus dying with that natural death which our Saviour underwent so it may the more reasonably pretend to the producing of it because it also pretends to furnish Men with the power of his Grace to which such an effect cannot be suppos'd to be disproportionate The only thing in question as to our present concernment is whether as the outward work of Baptism hath undoubtedly the relation of a sign unto it so it hath also the relation of a means fitted by God for the conveying of it and what evidence there is of that relation Now there are two sorts of Texts which bear witness to this relation as well as to its having that more confessed relation of a sign Whereof the former entreat of this Grace under the title of a death unto sin the latter of a cleansing from it Of the former sort I reckon that well known place to the Romans where S. Paul doth not only suppose all true Christians †Rom. 6.2 to be dead to sin and accordingly argue from it the unfitness of their living any longer therein but affirm all that are baptized into Jesus Christ * Rom. 6.3 to be baptized into that death yea to be buried by Baptism (a) Rom. 6.4 into it to be planted together (b) Rom. 6.5 by that means in the likeness of Christs death and to have their old Man (c) Rom. 6.6 or the body of sin crucified with him For shall we say that S. Paul meant no more by all this than that the design of Baptism and the several parts of it was to represent to us the necessity of our dying and being buried as to sin and that accordingly all that are baptized into Christ make profession of their resolution so to do but not that they are indeed buried by Baptism as to that particular But beside that we are not lightly to depart from the propriety of the Scripture phrase which must be acknowledg'd rather to favour a real death than the bare signification of it That Apostle doth moreover affirm those whom he before describ'd as dead to be freed (d) Rom. 7.18 from sin yea so far (e) Rom. 7.18 as to have passed over into another service even that of righteousness and to have obeyed from the heart (f) Rom. 7.17 that form of Doctrine into which they had been delivered Which suppos'd as it may because the direct affirmation of S. Paul will make that death whereof we speak to be a death in reality as well as in figure and accordingly because Men are affirmed to be baptized into it shew that Baptism to be a means of conveying it as well as a representation of it Agreeable hereto or rather yet more express is that of the same Apostle to the Colossians (g) Col. 2.11 though varying a little from the other as to the manner of expression For having affirmed them through Christ to have put off the body of the sins of the flesh by a circumcision not made with hands and consequently by a spiritual one he yet adds lest any should fancy that spiritual Circumcision to accrue to them without some ceremonial one in the Circumcision of Christ even that Baptism which conformably to the circumcision of the Jews he had appointed for their entrance into his Religion by and wherein he accordingly affirms as he did in the former place that they were not only buried with him but had risen together with him by the faith of the operation of God who raised him from the dead From whence as it is clear that the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh which is but another expression for a death unto them is though accomplished by a spiritual Grace yet by such a one as is conveyed to us by Baptism so it becomes yet more clear by what he adds concerning Men's rising with him in the same Baptism even to a life contrary to what they had before deposited through the faith of the operation of God For as we cannot conceive of that rising with Christ as other than a real one because there would not otherwise have needed such a faith as that to bring it about So neither therefore but think the like of that death which it presupposeth and consequently that that Baptism to which it is annex'd is a means of conveying it as well as a representation of it But so we may be yet more convinc'd by such Texts of Scripture as speak of this death unto sin under the notion of a cleansing from it Of which nature is that so often alledged one (h) Eph. 5.26 27. concerning Christ's sanctifying and cleansing his Church with the washing of water by the word For as it appears from what is afterwards subjoyn'd as the end of that cleansing even that the Church might not have any spot or wrinkle but that it should be holy and without blemish As it appears I say from thence that the Apostle speaks in the verse before concerning a cleansing from the filth of sin which is but another expression for the putting off the body of sin or a death unto it So it appears in like manner from S. Paul's attributing that cleansing to the washing of water that the outward sign of Baptism is by the appointment and provision of God a means of conveying that spiritual Grace by which that cleansing is more immediately effected and that death unto sin procur'd From that death unto sin therefore pass we to our new birth unto righteousness that other inward and spiritual Grace of Baptism and the complement of the former A Grace of whose conveyance by Baptism we can much less doubt if we consider the language of the Scripture concerning it or the Doctrine as well as practice of the Church The opinion the Jews had of that which seems to have been its type and exemplar or the expressions even of the Heathen concerning it For what less can the Scripture be thought to mean when it affirms us to be born of the water (i) Joh. 3.5 of it as well as of the spirit yea so as to be as truly spirit (k) Joh. 3.6 as that which is born of the flesh is flesh What less can it be thought to mean when it entitles it the laver of (l) Tit. 3.5 Regeneration and which is more affirms us to be saved by it as well as by the renewing of the Holy Ghost What less when it requires us to look upon our selves as alive (m) Rom. 6.11 unto God by it as well as buried (n) Rom. 6.4 by it into the former death or as the same Apostle elsewhere expresseth it as
which how useful soever they may be and are so esteemed by our selves yet will not be found to be any more than such I alledge as to the former of these the no precept there appears concerning it which is one of those things which induce a necessity to Salvation And I alledge too which is another the no appearance there is of any tendency in it to procure some blessings for which no other means are appointed For the Eucharist having for its end the confirming and strengthning of our Graces which is all that Confirmation as now in use professeth to intend neither can there be any necessity of the means to oblige us to the use of the latter or endanger our Salvation by the omission of it In fine I alledge what is with me of no small moment the no mention there is in Justin Martyr * Apol. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. of it even where he takes notice of their bringing the New Baptized person to the Assembly of the Faithful and to a Communion with them in their Prayers and Eucharist For though that Father doth not obscurely intimate that they had a particular regard in their Prayers to the welfare of the new Baptized person as well as to the more general welfare of the other Yet he takes no notice at all of any Imposition of hands upon him or any other ceremony that may be supposed to be analogous to it Which in all probability he would have done especially when he mention'd the Kiss of Peace as well as both the other Sacraments if either the Church had then us'd the Sacrament of Confirmation or he look'd upon it as a Sacrament of the same general necessity with the other Which things I have said not in the least to detract from the use of Confirmation for I think this very passage of Justin Martyr doth sufficiently warrant the more material part of it even prayer over the new Baptized person but to shew that the Church did not then look upon it as a Sacrament or at least not as such a one as was generally necessary for Salvation as our Catechism hath taught us to speak But it may be much more may be said for Absolution than Confirmation and so no doubt there may if we consider Absolution as comprehending within the compass of it the whole power of the Priest in remitting sins For comprehending within it in that sense the Administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper because the most effectual means the Church hath for absolving offenders from their guilt so far as those Sacraments or the Priests Administration of them is necessary to Salvation which no doubt they generally are so far also his Absolution must be look'd upon as such But so to consider Absolution is to make it the same with Baptism and the Lord's Supper and not as it is here propos'd a distinct Sacrament from them If therefore we will speak pertinently either to our own Catechism or the present Controversie we must consider Absolution as abstracting from those Sacraments which if we do we shall find it to consist either in declaring the word of reconciliation to Offenders or praying to God for their Pardon or pronouncing them absolved from their guilt or loosing them from the Censures of the Church If we consider Absolution in the first of these senses to wit as importing the declaration of the word of reconciliation to Offenders so we shall not stick to affirm that it is generally necessary to Salvation but then we must say withall that it is no Sacrament nor esteemed by the Papists themselves to be so If we consider it in the second sense to wit as denoting the Priest's praying for the Pardon of Offenders and in which form as Bishop Vsher (t) Answ to the Jesuits Chall p. 125. c. observes Absolution was antiently wont to be made so it will be found to have a respect to that Community over which he presides or to particular persons in it In the former of these regards it is no doubt as necessary to Salvation as it is for the Priest to celebrate or the people to joyn with him in the publick worship of God of which such prayers as those are a necessary part But as there is no presumption of that Offices being a Sacrament so it is not the Absolution our Adversaries intend That which they profess to advance being the Absolution of particular persons after a confession made by them of their particular offences And yet even here too they make a distinction because professing to restrain that Confession and Absolution to such sins only as are mortal But who taught them to distinguish in this affair between Mortal and Venial Or what is there in those words of Christ which convey the power of remitting sins which can be thought to restrain it to the former What have they to ground the general necessity of such a Confession upon but especially as to that form of Absolution whereof we speak For in praying for the pardon of Offenders the Priest is not to be considered as a Judge but as a person appointed to mediate between God and his People and whom that charity which belongs to him as such will oblige him to look upon as penitent if he knows them not to be otherwise especially if they beg his prayers for their own particular pardon And indeed neither is this the Absolution the Papists contend for nay they declare (u) Conc. Trid. Sess 14. cap. 3. those very Prayers which go along with their own not to be of the Essence of it Which will oblige us to pass on to A third sort of Absolution even pronouncing offending persons to be loosed from their offences A thing which though of signal use and comfort to men of afflicted minds and which no doubt such persons ought to seek when they cannot otherwise satisfie themselves yet cannot be look'd upon as generally necessary to Salvation Partly because none but desponding persons can be supposed to stand in need of it and partly because such an Absolution as that supposeth men to be already loosed from their offences and consequently not to want any thing but the sense thereof Which though it may be an infelicity yet is no sin in it self nor can prove so to him in whom it is unless it do otherwise take him off from the due performance of his duty Though even in that case such an Absolution will be necessary rather to prevent future offences than to procure the forgiveness of former ones And I shall only add that I conceive that form of Absolution to be such which occurrs in our Visitation of the Sick Partly because it is ordered by our Church to be applied to men of troubled minds and partly because it prompts the Priest to beg of God the forgiveness of the sick persons offences before it allows him to say I absolve thee from all thy sins That supposing the forgiveness of
For to the former S. Peter made answer among other things that they should be baptiz'd * Acts 2.38 for the remission of sins Which shews what Baptism was intended for and what therefore if they were duly qualified they might certainly expect from it To the latter Ananias that he should arise and be baptized †Acts 22 16. and wash away his sins Which effect as it cannot be thought-to referr to any thing but the preceding Baptism and therefore neither but make that Baptism the proper means of accomplishing it So can much less be thought to exclude or rather not principally to intend the washing away the guilt of them Partly because as was before observ'd that is the most usual sense of washing away sins and partly because most agreeable to the disconsolate condition Paul was then in as well as to the foregoing declaration of S. Peter II. To the Doctrine of the Scripture subjoyn we the consentient Doctrine and belief of the Church as which though it cannot add to the Authority of the other yet will no doubt conferr much to the clearing of its sense and of that Doctrine which we have deduced from it Now what evidence there is of such a consent will need no other proof than the Doctrine of her Creed * Creed in the Communion-serv and the use she made of the simple Baptism of Infants to establish against the Pelagians the being of that Original Sin they call'd in question For how otherwise could the Church call upon Men to declare that they believ'd one Baptism for the remission of sins Yea though she thought it otherwise necessary to inculcate Baptism as well as remission and the single administration of it as well as either For beside that both the one and the other might have been declar'd by themselves as well as in the tenour wherein they are now exhibited Had it not been a thing otherwise certain that remission of sins was an effect of Baptism to have subjoyn'd it to Baptism as it is now would have been a means to render it uncertain and consequently all the hopes of a Christian together with it Again if there had been any the least doubt in the Church concerning this relation of Baptism I mean as a means to convey remission of sins to the Baptized party How could she have made use of the simple Baptism (a) Voss Hist Velag li. 2. Part. 2. Antithes 4. of Infants to establish against the Pelagians the being of that Original sin which they call'd in question For that Argument of hers proceeding upon the supposition of remission of sins by Baptism as that again upon the supposition of something to be remitted in the party baptized which in Infants could be no other than that Original Sin which she asserted If Baptism had not been certainly intended for the remission of sins that argument of hers had been of no force yea rather weakned than any way strengthened that Original Sin which she maintain'd Especially when it was a like certain and accordingly reply'd by the Pelagians (b) Voss ibid. Thes 4. that Baptism had other uses and for which it might be suppos'd to have been conferr'd upon Infants though they had nothing at all of sinful in them III. But beside the suffrage of the Church of God which both publish'd this Doctrine in her Creed and argued others from it It is farther to be observ'd that those who were none of the soundest members of it nor indeed as yet perfect ones confirm'd it by their opinions and practices as they also did in some measure who yet separated from it in this affair Witness for the former their deferring their Baptism to their death beds Whether as the Fathers (c) Tertul. de Poenitent c. 8. sometime charg'd them that they might sin so much the more securely in the mean time or as I rather think for the most part because they were not well assur'd of the like efficacious means for the forgiveness of them For which soever of these two were the occasion of that delay manifest it is even from thence that they had a high opinion of the forgiveness of sin by Baptism but much more from the hazard they ran of going out of the World without it and the contrariety of that their delay to the practice of the first Christians (d) Acts 2.41 as well as to the sentiments (e) Cod. Eccl. Vniv can 57. of their own times concerning it It being not to be thought that Men of ordinary prudence would run upon so great an irregularity as well as danger unless they also believ'd that if they hapned to obtain Baptism they should obtain together with it so plentiful a forgiveness as would make ample amends for the other And though we cannot so reasonably expect the like evidence from Hereticks and much less from those whose business was in a great measure to depretiate the value of Baptism as it is certain the Pelagians was Yet as even they as was before (f) Expl. of Bapt. Part 4. observ'd allow'd the Baptizing of Infants into the same rule of Faith with those of riper years and consequently into remission of sins So they denyed not as to Men of riper years (g) Voss Hist Pelag. li. 2. Part. 2. Thes 4. that Baptism was efficacious toward it and that as they were baptiz'd into the belief of remission of sins so they receiv'd that remission by it IV. In fine so notorious as well as prevalent was the Doctrine of forgiveness of sin by Baptism that the adversaries of the Church and of Christianity took occasion from thence to calumniate them for it and made that Doctrine of theirs one of their greatest crimes Of which to omit others we have a remarkable proof in Julian (h) Orat. cui tit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 53. who makes Constantius or rather Christianity in him thus to bespeak the World Whosoever is a corrupter of Women or a Murtherer or impure or abominable let him come with confidence For having wash'd him with this water I will make him presently clean And though he be afterward guilty of the like crimes yet I will take care to cleanse him from them if he will but smite his breast and knock his head The former part whereof is a manifest allusion to Baptism and its effects the latter to the penitential discipline of the Church And it ought the rather to be taken notice of because as it bears witness to that forgiveness of sin by Baptism which hath been hitherto our design to advance so it will contribute in part toward the proving what comes next in order even That the outward visible sign of Baptism hath that relation whereof we speak to the forgiveness of all sins whatsoever and particularly of Original Sin There being little doubt as to the formerof these if as Christianity is there made to speak adultery and murther were wash'd away by the waters of it