Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n
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A25662
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The antidote proved a counterfeit, or, Error detected and believers baptism vindicated containing an answer to a nameless author's book entituled An antidote to prevent the prevalency of anabaptism / by Hercules Collins.
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Collins, Hercules, d. 1702.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing A3498; ESTC R26646
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22,680
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25
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book page 35. 36. where Children were brought to Christ to be touched from whence some infer they were Baptized But I need not wonder you are so unfair with me when you are so with the very Word of God when God saith Acts 16.34 That the Jaylor believed in God with all his House you positively say here we read of none but the Jaylor which did believe and yet notwithstanding say you his whole Family was Baptized I hope Sir you believe there is a Judg. Mr. Charnock speaking of an Habit tells us It is an inward Frame enabling one to Act readily and easily as when an Artificer hath the habit of a Trade the new Creature consists in gracious qualities and habits which beautify and dispose the Soul to act righteously and holily Hence habits are as Seeds which make the Earth capable to bring forth good Fruit but what good Fruit hath an Infant with all his habitual grace This habit saith he is exprest by a fountain of Living Water springing up to Eternal Life Page 75. Some say indeed that Regeneration is conferred in Baptism upon the Elect and exerts it self afterwards in Conversion but how so active a principle as a Spiritual Life should lie dead or a sleep so long even many years which intervene between Baptism and Conversion is not easily Conceivable Where these habits are there is a Spirit of Love of Grace whereby as their understandings are possest with a knowledg of the Excellencies of his ways so their wills are seasoned by the power of this Habit And further as Christ had a Body prepared him to do the work of a Mediator so the Soul hath a habit prepared to do the work of the new Creature as the corrupt Nature is the habit of sin so the new Nature is the habit of Grace God doth not only call us to Believe Love Obey but brings in the Grace of Faith and Love and Obedience this habit receives various Denominations either from the Subject or Object 't is subjectively in the Essence of the Soul but as it shows it self in the Understanding 't is called the knowledg of God as 't is in the Will 't is a choice of God as in the Affection 't is a motion to God and from the Object it is diversified as it closes with Christ Dying 't is Faith as it rejoyces in Christ Living it is Love as it lies at the Feet of Christ it is Humility as it observes the Will of Christ it is Obedience as it submits to Christ afflicting it is patience as it regards Christ offended it is grief yet all ariseth from one habit but where doth any of these things appear in the Infants habitual Faith he tells you further where the habit of true Grace is there is a ready disposition to every good work because Seminally in every renewed person And saith he as 't is ready in respect of disposition so it is in the activity of motion yea 't is naturally active according to its divine Nature moreover 't is voluntarily active where these habits are there is a kind of natural necessity of motion from life and habit yea 't is fervently active the nobler the Being of any thing is the greater degree of activity it is attended with yea 't is unboundedly active also powerfully active easily active and pleasantly active the entire inclinations of the Soul stands right to good actions Mr. Charnock 2 vol. page 85. to 94. Now let all those Characters of Habitual Grace be put together and â—hen consider whether any of these things can affect little Infants I hope by this time you have enough of Infants Habitual Faith I will only add this further page 94. There is in this habit an orderly motion and activity and a permanent activity a Spring of perpetual motion even unto everlasting Life how then can all the infant Seed of Believers have this Habitual Faith when so many of them make their Parents Hearts to ake This is like Mr. Marshall's Notion in his Sermon before the Parliament God doth Seal the Infant presently and puts their name into the Deed and that God accepts of such a Seal on their parts as they are able to give in their Infant age expecting a further Ratification when they come to riper years and that in the mean time affords them the favour of being in Covenant with him and that the surety of the New Covenant is pleased to be their surety yet saith when grown men they may refuse to stand to this Covenant and nullity all Oh amazing How inconsistent is this with perseverance Take this Arâ—ument for a close of your second Query and Answer it Those Children of Believers which Die in an Vnregenerate State either never had the Habits of Grace or else if they had them they have lost them But there is no losing Habits of Grace Ergo they never had them If you say they had them and have lost them that is against your own principle about perseverance If you say they never had them then you contradict your own â—ook which assert That all the Infants of Believers have it and therefore you Baptize them get out of this Prison as well as you can FOR your third Query What if I allow all Believers are wholly passive in â—â—generation and can â—o more â—egenerate thâ—mselves than a 〈…〉 â—hat is all 〈…〉 Faith Is this a concluding Argument Surely no Pray Sir go to School and learn better Logick for this is no Argument in Barbara There is no more say you in Children to hinder Grace than in the Adult Ergo they believe what think you Sir is this good Arguing Christ can raise of stones Children unto Abraham Ergo stones believe or Stones are wholly passive and have nothing to hinder Regeneration Ergo Stones are Regenerated When you bring better Topicks and Mediums to prove your Argument by more may be said to it but you may think I have said too much to discover your Ignorance of Divine things already Here we may give a hint to your fifth Query Whether Children may not have the Golden Oyl of God's Free Grace as well as Adult persons Answer What little Infants have or what they may have lieth not within our Sphere secret things belong unto God Revealed things unto us but the question is how this Gentleman will prove that infants have this grace which qualifieth them for Baptism my neighbour is capable of being King of Vtopia Ergo he is king of Vtopia doth this Conclude the Scripture saith Men and Women ought to believe who are capable of knowing good and evil therefore infants do believe who know neither good nor evil Your 4th 7th 8th Queries look one way and we do assert infants may be fit for the Kingdom of God as our Lord hath said and yet not qualified for Gospel Ordinances Can it be shewed that ever our Lord Instituted Gospel Ordinances for Infants Could it be made appear that Infants have Repentance Faith and
are taught of God have the answer of a good Conscience professedly they would have a Right to the Ordinance of Baptism but this Logick will never pass the Schools My Child shall be heir to my Inheritannce ergo he is capable of understanding the signing and sealing of it at eight days old had you said he had been capable of understanding the sealing this Estate over unto him at One and Twenty it had carried more of Truth and Reason in it Why are Children denyed the Lords supper if fit for baptism what are Children believers and kept from the Lord's Table do we ever read it was denied to a true Believer what are Children New Creatures Regenerated Born again and deny them the Elements of Bread and Wine Oh! hard Father of Infants Men as wise as your self gave Infants the Eucharist for several hundred years from some of your own Topicks and will you deny it them all your long harangue about Infants being capable of one Ordinance and not of another is but wind will you say in the Ordinance of the Lord's Supper there must be inherent Grace and also Grace exercised but a state of Grace tho not exercised say you is sufficient for Baptism But how doth this Gentleman know Infants are in a state of Grace to qualifie them for Baptism the word doth not help him here and if he conclude so from Charity then there is the same reason to have the same Charity for Children of Unbelievers and more too some times because the Believers Child often falls from a pretended Covenant State Faith Inherent Holiness New Birth Regeneration when the Unbelievers Child abides in all Truly But how comes this Gentleman so bold as to Assert and Print That Actual Grace is not necessary to Baptism Did not Philip call for Actual Grace of the Eunuch before Baptism If thou Believest thou mayest How then can Persons be wholly Passive in Baptism Did the Eunuch go down into the Water and come up out of the Water Did Christ go almost Forty Miles to be Baptised and did it as an Act of Righteousness and yet wholly Passive If you can shew me another Bible where Christ since hath said Persons need not Actual Faith and are wholly Passive in Baptism I may change my mind Whereas he doth Magnify the Lord's Supper so much above Baptism I do Assert what ever is Sealed to a Believer in one Ordinance is Sealed to him in another nay there is more particular words of Incouragement added unto Baptism than to the other 'T is true 't is all comprehended in this This is my Body broken for you and my Blood shed for the Remission of your Sins but for Baptism in Acts 2. you have the promise of Remission of Sins and gift of the Holy Ghost In Acts 22. 't is said to Wash away Sins Symbolically Mark 16. Salvation is annexed unto Faith and Baptism the Lord's Supper was never so Dignified as Baptism by the Procession of the Holy Ghost and it is a Symbol of Regeneration and Justification Rom. 6. Do I see my Sins Pardoned my Person Justified God Reconciled my Person Sanctified Heaven assured at the Lord's Supper I behold the same in Baptism there I see my Sins Buried in his Grave as in the other Nailed to his Cross here I behold my Soul Washed in his Blood Justified by his Righteousness Saved by his Death and is not this a Marriage Feast And ought I not to have the Wedding Garment now as at the Table of the Lord BUT this Gentleman tells me I have Written several strange Positions I am not ashamed the World should see them You must know one of the first Arguments of the Church of Rome for Infants Baptism is That it Washt away Origional Sin Now because I say in opposition to that we know a better way to Wash away Original Sin namely The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness This is one of my strange Positions But pray which is most strange this or the applying all those Texts which speak of Regenerated Men and Women unto little Infants and what they speak of the necessity of Faith in them to apply it unto Babes who neither know Good nor Evil. 2dly ANOTHER strange Position is because I say That as Circumcision was the Door into the Jewish Church which was National so Baptism is the Door into the Gospel Church which is Congregational Now this being true in his own Opinion why should it be a strange Position Why Because I will not allow it came in the room of Circumcision Cannot I make two Doors to my House but one must be a Type of another Or rather Cannot I pull down my Old House and Build a New but my Door of my First House must be a Type of the Door of my last The Door of God's Gospel-House is larger than the Door of his Legal House that Door was only large enough for the Jews and few poor Proselyted Gentiles but the Gospel Door entertains all commers Jews Gentiles Barbarians Sythians So that the First Door could not be an Exemplar or Type of the Last Then only Males were Circumcised now Males and Females Believing may be Baptised therefore Circumcision could not be the shadow of Baptism the Subjects that enter the Door are not the same one are Ignorant Infants the other Persons of Understanding Under the Law the Subjects were wholly Passive but now Church Members must be Active in the Operations and Acts of Repentance and Faith not only those called Conformists but the Non-Conformists also have lost the Door and the Subject that should enter the Door for here are they wholly Passive when they should be Active so that the very Essence of the Ordinance is lost here is neither right Form nor right Subject and what are they that enter not in by the Door but climb up and come in some other way into the House READER consider whether this saying of mine be so strange as his which he hath put in two Mercuries shewing I was not the Author of his Book which I would not have been for the World He tells the People I was never guilty in Writing nor Preaching of any such Extensive Evangelical Truths Is not this a piece of Arrogance with a witness How hath he exposed his Profession and Name to the World besides he knows not what my Preaching is nor hath Read I suppose a third of what is written so that he speaks in the dark And whereas he saith I never was guilty of Writing or Preaching such things I hope I never shall Again Is not that a strange Position of his page 25. Because I say John Baptist required Matt. 3. of the Pharises and Sadduces Repentance from dead Works in order to qualifie them for Baptism and Gospel Church Membership every Tree saith the Text that brings not forth good Fruit is hewen down and cast into the Fire HE from hence concludes and tells the World that my judgment is That little Infants because