my main Argument and then with this Preface and what is in the Book I shall have delivered what not only my self but others of far greater Judgment if they do not flatter me think necessary to be said on the Subject according to the Method I have handled it in and the Topicks I have proved it by What I said next was when I had occasion to preach on that former Text and quoted 1 Cor. VII 14. I thus delivered my self Give me leave now to say something in defence of Infant-Baptism being willing to seize on any Opportunity that inviteth me to speak thereof For being there is a Sect of Men called Antipaedobaptists that have set up a Meeting in this Parish to seduce Men from the Ancient Truth I think it my Duty out of kindness to your Souls Health to preserve you in the true and Catholic because Christian Doctrin of Baptizing Infants that you may by defending your Orthodox Principle of the Church of England be able to Answer some of their weak though they imagine them strong Arguments If then that be true which I do not in the least doubt having no reason for it that the Learned Rabbins among the Jews acquaint us with who best understood their Usages That one Reason of Circumcision was to teach the derivation of God's Covenant to the Seed of the Faithful This place of St. Paul's will hint us a seemingly unanswerable Argument for Infant-Baptism which with an allowable confidence and without too much conceitedness of my self for I have laboured to mortifie such Inclinations I may challenge the most Learned Antipaedobaptist in this Country or possibly in the Kingdom to give any tolerable Answer to or to offer any Sens of this Text different from what I shall now deliver as its true meaning provided it be according to the Testimony of Holy Writ the Connexion of Sacred Scripture the Analogy of sound Faith and the clear Dictates of right Reason I call this Doctrine an Ancient Practise because I do not in any measure Question but it was used in that Age of Christianity next to the Holy Apostles which is as soon as we could expect it to be used because in the Holy Apostle's time there was no one Nation brought over to the Christian Faith but because of the swift propagation of the Christian Doctrin we may reasonably suppose there was such a Conversion by the end of the first Century or Hundred years after the Holy Apostles death Viri Apostolici and the Fathers of that Century were called Apostolic Men and if you will not allow such a Tradition to be Apostolic I know not what Tradition can claim that Ancient and Honourable Name And now I will give you the plain Sens of that place of St. Paul's above-mentioned such as may confirm what I have before offered as its meaning in a Conference on this Subject For the unbelieving Husband is sanctified by the Wife and the unbelieving Wife is sanctified by the Husband i. e. the Paganish Husband is sanctified by the Wife that is a Christian I mean her Foederal or Covenant Holiness is imputed to the Husband that the Children begotten and born after such a Marriage may be Holy or Partakers of a Foederal or Covenant Holiness For a Personal Holiness cannot be conveyed as some Men of ill Principles particularly the Antinomians think for they believ the Personal Holiness of God and Christ may be transmitted and therefore they declare a Man may be Godded with God and Christed with Christ And so the Paganish Wife is sanctified by the believing Husband That no other sense can be the proper meaning of this Text I appeal to the Context which is the best way to have a right understanding of Holy Scripture or any other Book or Author as will appear by two verses preceding If any Brother hath a Wife that believeth not and she be pleased to dwell with him let him not put her away and the Woman which hath an Husband that believeth not if he be pleased to dwell with her let her not leave him And then the Holy Apostle as an encouragement for Co-habitation and a Reason why the Husband should not Divorce the Wife or the Wife forsake the Husband adds the following Words for the unbelieving Husband is sanctified by the Wife and the unbelieving Wife is sanctified by the Husband which being so great a Priviledg should be a Motive to dwell together and not by separation to forfeit so considerable an Advantage and when there is so plain Sense in Holy Scripture for the Baptizing Infants it is unreasonable in the Antipaedobaptists to demand a positiv Precept of Holy Scripture in express Words and therefore having so much Reason on our side grounded on the plain sense of Holy Scripture Why may not we with as much Reason retort on them and demand a positiv Prohibition in express terms And ask whether they can shew any Text in the whole Sacred Book of God that saith Infants shall not be Baptized Having therefore so much Reason for our Principles we may rationally presume we have the Holy Scriptures seeing they never contradict Reason though they may in some things transcend Reason but I shall need say no more from this Text having spoken so fully to it in the Book to which I referr my Readers I know but one Objection An Obj. I shall need to take notice of here seeing I have answered so many in the Book and in particular This and therefore shall be the shorter in the Account I now give and what I say shall not be the same with that in the Book and this I am the more willing to because I know some of the Antipaedobaptists think it may have some force in it against our Principle though few of them know how to manage it and I confess it hath been started to me by one that knew not how to use it and this they think the stronger because drawn from our acknowledged Principles I mean from one of our authorized Books and so they take it to be like the Logicians Argumentum ad Hominem as strong as a Dilemma and so hope to gore us with our own Horns and expect we should say as the Apostate Emperor of the Christians in his Age when he was overcome by the Christians â—ropriis 〈…〉 with Arguments drawn out of his own Quiver We are wounded with the Arrows feathered from our own Shafts The Objection is drawn from an Answer to a Question in our Church Catechism To that Question What is required of Persons to be Baptized the Answer is Repentance whereby they forsake Sin and Faith whereby they stedfastly believe the Promises of God made to them in that Sacrament To which I Answer the Repentance here spoken of consists in forsaking Sin which is the same with that Abrenunciation they make at their Baptism by their Com-promisers and Undertakers by whom and by certain Conditions promised by their Sponsors and Sureties
you light on a Matter that displeases but ponder why you are displeased If your Sentiments in Religion are charged to be against Evidence of Reason and Testimony of Holy Writ you ought to be offended because you entertained such high Thoughts of your Abilities but if you will not assume or take so much Confidence proceed and consider if the Author hath or hath not good cause to oppose you whatever the Result be on a due Trial you will have no Cause to be troubled at your labour in the Inquisition or Search For if there be no cause to oppose your Sentiments you may think you have ground to continue them If the Author hath ground for what he writes you may with Satisfaction alter them It is probable a word may be too jocose or too sharp but let not such Expressions cause the Argument to be cursorily or hastily read but weighed without the lett of Passion or byass of Interest to hinder that Conviction the Author aims at I declare with sincerity I bear not any Bitterness towards any nor was I under an emotion or heat of Mind when I studied or preached on this Subject The Author knows how hard it is to remove a prejudice and withal believes it no easie thing to change Sentiments how impertinent soever born and bred with us For such Reasons as these I cannot express Indignation against my Adversaries but truly pity them because they subdue not that intemperate Zeal by which they appear for Novel Opinions against Primitive Canons and Ecclesiastic Establishments I have endeavoured to express my self as moderately as I could not designing to provoke a Passion but work a Conviction I have treated my Adversaries with respect designing only to reduce them from Error to Truth not to boast of Victory or proclaim a Triumph If you have other thoughts of him than he declares he importunately entreats you if you meet with any thing may seemingly raise a Passion esteem it a slip of his Pen and consider rather the reason is offered than the Dress it appears in I will now acquaint you with the Reason engaged me in this Controversie You may believe me who know my own Mind best it was a charitable Design on such deluded Persons as have sincere Intentions for what is true but through the smallness of their Understanding have such narrow Capacities as not to attain the knowledge of Truth and a Zeal to promote Christian Doctrine His Adversaries may entertain what thoughts they think fit his natural Temper is not waspish nor contentious neither is he displeased with any because he doth not think as he doth He knows not of any Quarrel he hath with any on the Account of Religion He neither affecteth Differences nor is maintained thereby He hath possibly more Esteem than he deserves but if not what he is satisfied with as much as may preserve him from being tempted to envy others and the unworthy Arts of purchasing Credit by lessening his Neighbour And as he publishes not this for popular Applause so is he at no loss for what he opposes but it is the Interest of Religion and a Love for Truth have engaged him in this business for he apprehends them greatly endanger'd by Error Many Persons have not time to enquire into the Causes of Matters of Moment nor are they without great Importunity engaged therein But believe as such act for whom they have an Admiration and though they know not the Reason of things they oft outvy those they follow That the Truth of Religion be discovered tends much to the quiet of the World and the welfare of Mankind Men cannot but believe it necessary Religion should be clearly understood and certainly such Men's Travels deserv Praise who endeavour to make persons know its Principles that their practice may be directed I can with sincerity own I have used my Endeavours to set this Controversie in as clear a Light as the Revelation of Holy Scripture and the Dictates of Reason could discover which are the best Instructors of our Mind in the knowledge of Truth and the best Directors how to lead our Lives accordingly But I may wish for Success on this charitable Design rather than expect it if there be Truth in the excellent * Vide Lord Bacon 's Letter to Mr. Matthews p. 69. cited by the Author of the Friendly Debate p. 176. Part 4th Lord Bacon's Observation That there is little dry Light in the World but it is all moist being infused and steeped in Affection Blood and Humours The Reason of Men is made to stoop to Interest and they judge according to the Current of their Inclinations I can make the same Declaration the Excellent †Vide Dr. Sherlock 's Preface to his Case of Allegiance due to Sovereign Powers stated and resolved according to Scripture and Reason and the Principles of the Church of England Dean of St. Paul's doth and with the same sincerity I doubt not he doth That one occasion of publishing his Book is That it is extorted from me by the rude Clamors and unchristian Censures of some and the earnest Importunity of others For an Antipaedobaptist told me I dare not publish my Conference with Mr. M. C. for if I did he would so expose me I should not dare to look him in the Face I have for once accepted his bold Challenge to evidence the fierceness he delivered himself with did not put me in a fright and that their Coryphaeus in that Country where I am concerned may have an Opportunity of shewing his Art And as for Importunity though it be a trite Apology for the Publication of a Book yet I had more than was usual so much that I was tired therewith Whereupon from a distrust of my self I shewed my Argument to several Persons eminent for their Learning among the Clergy even some of the highest Station Some said I was bound in Conscience out of Obligation to the Catholick Church in general and to the Church of England in particular to print it which I would not be so conceited as to believe said on Account of the Argument but from this Consideration The Defence of a Fundamental Truth is a Publick Service Infant-Baptism being not only an Article of the Church of England's Faith as she declares in these words * Vide Articles agreed upon by the Arch-Bishops and Bishops and the whole Clergy of both Provinces Printed 1562. Art 27. The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church as most agreeable with the Institution of Christ but likewise is and hath been a Doctrin of the Catholic Church in all Ages as the excellent Mr. †Vide Mr. Walker 's modest Plea for Infant-Baptism Printed at Cambridge 1677. Walker hath made appear Others would persuade me to it from a likely prospect of Success it might have on the advers Party because they said tho others had done it in a rational way and in particular
in the least trusting to my self but earnestly begging the Aid of Heaven that the God of Truth would enable me to maintain what was true And this I the rather did because I believed this one of the Doctrins of Faith once delivered to the Saints St. Jude vers 2. St. Jude exhorts Christians earnestly to contend for When the Day was come I waited till about ten or eleven of the Clock before my Antagonist appeared about which hour he came and knock'd at door which when I opened I saw him and a great Crowd I let in as many as my room I intended for our Dispute would hold for so many crowded in There were some scores After I let him in he walked somewhat briskly and with a sort of Smile as if I were to be led in Triumph as the Roman Victors dealt with their conquered Slaves at the end of my Hall attacks me with a Challenge to dispute in the Church I told him there seemed some Vanity in the Request as if he designed Noise more than Argument Whereupon I desired him to look into my Parlor which I told him was large enough for as many as were fit to hear us Beside I told him to dispute in the Church might be accounted a Riot and I asked him if he would secure me from the damage I might sustain by undergoing the Penalty assigned for the Transgression of the Laws Whereto he answered he thought the Act for Liberty of Conscience was my Security To which I replyed though I had the use of my Church for Preaching as he his Meeting-place to Hold-forth in yet I did not believe the Law allowed the Church to be a place for Disputation nor was it fit it should because it was improper where the Holy Gospel of Peace was Preached there Contention or Controversie should be managed However if he would go to my Reverend Diocesan and request his leave upon License from him I would comply After which he walked into my Parlour to enter into Discourse I told him being so many were gathered together we should act with good Intentions designing the People's satisfaction that they might be convinced which of us had Truth on his side being our Principles were diametrically opposite and directly contrary not consulting our Credit as if we contended for Victory more than Truth and being we of the Church of England had the Laws on our side for what we professed and as we thought Truth in Possession he ought by strong Reasons to shew our Title was not Good before he attempted to dis-seize us of the Truth we hoped we justly possessed But before we begun I desired one thing which I thought was reasonable because for the Good of the Auditors and that was I had a License from my Lord Bishop to teach School and on that Account I had an Usher that did write a fair and swift hand and desired he might write the Argumentative part of our Discourse and such Collateral Proofs we urged to strengthen our Arguments and after our Conference was done the Writing might be viewed by such as heard us and they have Liberty to judge which had spoken most Truth and that he might be sure he should not be imposed on I told him the Man that wrote what he spoke should read it and ask him if it were his Words and his Sens or if he could read Written-hand he should read it himself which I had not said but he moved me by asking an impertinent Question before but he answered he would have nothing writ on either side That Proposal being denied I had another to make which was as reasonable viz. That I might propose two or three Cases that should include the greatest part of what was necessary for solving the Doubts and answering the Objections against Infant-Baptism and if he would allow any of his Party to understand the Principles of Antipaedobaptism better than himself I would appeal to him whether they did not or if he thought I imposed too much by such a Proposal for I had resolved before his coming to treat him with civility I would allow him the Liberty I desired to take provided the Questions he should ask were as proper as mine for I am of the Poet's Mind Damus petimusque vicissim The Answer I had was He should not ask me a Question nor should I ask him one upon which I replyed That his coming was to wrangle â—ot dispute and I was sorry the People were so disappointed however I was willing they should hear what he had to say on which I desired him to begin but I perceived which he ought not to have done for a Reason I have hinted he expected I should begin whereupon I did But before I give an Account of what was said I will give you the three Cases propounded for a resolution of The Antipaedobaptists Object An Obj. Baptism is only to be administred to the Adult and those of years of Discretion For the making out of which in Answer to what is objected it is desired these things appear If Children are to be Baptized answ 1 then it seems necessary there should be an express place of Holy Scripture to enjoyn it though the former part of the Proposition be allowed yet the Consequence follows not and therefore is desired to be proved If a Party be admitted into Covenant answ 2 then it seemeth needful the Party should understand the Articles of the Covenant he is admitted to but in some Cases this is as inconsequent as the former and therefore it is desired that the Consequence of this Hypothetic or Conditional Proposition be evinced or made out to be universally true in all Cases and in all Times answ 3 If there was an express place of Holy Scripture for the Circumcising of Children under the Law then it seems reasonable there should be an express place of Holy Scripture for Baptizing Children under the Blessed Gospel and this likewise is desired to be made evident and because according to the Logicians Rule Affirmanti incumbit probatio The Proof lies on his side that Asserts and the Antipaedobaptists do affirm these things it is desired they make proof or else they have no Reason to expect we should entertain a Belief of them And now being I was engaged to begin I will give as true an Account as I can of what I offered and he answered I told him I thought it as reasonable Children should be admitted into Covenant under the Holy Gospel as under the Law there being nothing more in the Holy Gospel-Covenant to debar them an admission thereto than there was in that under the Law besides it adds strength to the Argument if we consider that the Covenant made with Abraham and the Holy Gospel Covenant are for substance one and the same as St. Paul tells us expressly Gal. iii. 8. and as we have made appear in the Book Vid. p. 97 98. of this Book and certainly the Holy Apostle
the gaining the Gentile World to his New Dispensation and to be professors of his Sacred Institutions and obedient Subjects to his excellent Laws And this did more suitably answer his Advent or Coming into the World who came to be an Universal Saviour for all Mankind For Moses was but a Legislator to the Israelites and Joshua a Saviour to the Jews only and yet on that account called Jesus because he delivered that People from their Enemies and entred them into Canaan But he that was to be an Universal Redeemer and so the true Jesus in the most extensive signification of the word thought fit to appoint such a Sacrament of Admission into his Kingdom as might work upon and prevail with the whole World even all Mankind Now from what hath been said and from a custom among the Jews concerning Proselytes of Justice which all learned Men know to be so and Men of Sense among the Antipaedobaptists acknowledge that after such a Proselyte was Baptiz'd and Circumcis'd and had thereby a Right to eat of the Passover his Child born after such an Admission into the Covenant had a Right to Circumcision at Eight days old as well as a natural-born Jew it may appear that denying Baptism to Infants now is an Hindrance to the Propagation of the Holy Gospel both as to Jews and Pagans As to the Jew because he might say to an Antipaedobaptist offering Arguments to perswade him to become a Christian He would not be of his Religion because after he was in Covenant and had received the Sign of the Covenant his Child was not in Covenant and so had no Right to the Sign which he had in his Way by virtue of his Faith and so consequently the Benefit and Privilege less in ours than in his Way And so the Pagan might say to an Antipaedobaptist perswading him to embrace Christianity I will rather be a Jew than a Christian because as soon as I own and profess their Faith my Child after such a Declaration is in Covenant as well as my self and hath a Right to the Sign So that by this account it plainly appears that the denying Infants Baptism is an Hindrance to the Progress of the Holy Gospel from Evidence of Reason From whence it may seem rationally to follow That he who holds any Principle that derogates from and diminishes the Honour of Christianity and impedes the Propagation of the Religion of our dear Redeemer hath no true and proper Right to the Honourable Name and Title of a Christian which is the natural and pernicious consequence of Antipaedobaptistic Tenets So that how General soever the Commission the Holy Jesus gave to his Blessed Disciples for converting the Heathen Nations was the sence must be plainly this which if I can secure by two other Texts of Holy Scripture confirm by Allusion to Jewish Customs and by the Coherence establish by the Authority of the Ancient Primitive Fathers and answer the strongest Objections of our Adversaries I shall say all that can be thought necessary by Men of Reason in defence of Infant-Baptism Go teach all Nations Baptizing them i.e. When you have sufficiently instructed the Pagan World in and convinced them of the Excellency of my Holy Gospel and thereby perswaded them to embrace my Divine Religion my Spiritual Worship and then after a publick Profession they have declared themselves my Disciples and Followers ascertain them that they are admitted into my Covenant of Grace and receive them into and give them a possession of my Covenant by the Sign and Seal of Baptism and then assure them that their Children shall have the same Right to my Covenant that the natural-born Children of Jews have and the Children of the Proselytes of Righteousness or Justice had after their Parents were converted to the Jewish Religion The Naturalists have learn'd by diligent enquiry That if a Pearl have a foulness and happen to fall into the Womb of a Dove 1 Pet. ij 2. Albertus lib. de Gemmis Vid. Mr. Carpenter's Anabaptist washt and washt and shrunk in the washing p. 15 16. and continue some time there the Dove will return it fair and clear So Doctrines should be proved in the Womb of the Holy Spirit the true Holy Scripture-Dove which Womb is the sincere Word of Truth the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and if the Doctrine be true Pearl the Holy Spirit will speedily deliver it for such and cleanse it from any Foulness or Impurity it hath contracted in this naughty World This Interpretation is suitable to the Nature of Baptism because it was appointed for all that need it and all should have Baptism that stand in need of Baptismal-Grace and all stand in need of Baptismal-Grace that would be cleansed from Original Pollution and all stand in need of being cleansed from Original Defilement that are Polluted therewith Aequè certa sunt ac evidentia quae ex sacris literis evidenter ac certe deducuntur atque ea quae in illis expressè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i.e. ad verbum in terminis habentur Ex veronil nisi verum Principia fides vel quae ex iis deducuntur sunt in Scriptura Omnis divina Revelatio est in Scriptura vel directe vel per necessariam inevitabilem consequentiam It is a true Maxim That Matters are alike sure and clear which are assuredly and evidently drawn from Holy Writ as the Matters which are read there in their own proper terms and phrases Or the same Observation may be thus worded Consequences are as true as the Principles they are drawn from if truly and properly deduced The ground of this is as certain as Truth it self From Truth proceeds nothing but what is so if drawn by a right Consequence And another Ground may be because the Consequence so drawn is in a manner as true as the Principle and Truth so drawn is the same with that from whence the Deduction springs and rises Upon this account we observe That the Doctrines of Faith and what is deducible therefrom is contained in Holy Writ And again Every Doctrine that is the Discovery and Birth of Heaven is either expresly or by a needfull and unavoidable Conclusion in Holy Writ And on this account we declare That he who believes a Truth believes all the Deductions that can properly be drawn therefrom CHAP. IV. An Exposition of St. Matth. xxviij 19. Whereby the Sence delivered is further cleared IF Christian Children from the Sence I have delivered of this Text be not as capable of Baptism as the Jewish Children of Circumcision Upon what account arises the Distinction Not from the Nature of Abraham's Covenant for that as to the material part was the same with ours made over to us by the Holy Jesus Nor from the manner of Conveyance for Circumcision did signifie the same thing under the former Dispensation as Baptism under the latter And hereupon seeing the two Covenants were for the Nature of them alike and
Covenant of Grace less beneficial and extensive than the Covenant of Works and so consequently doth not allow as great Benefits Priviledges and Immunities to the Covenant of Grace which he doth to the Covenant of Works all which are the dangerous Consequences of Antipedobaptism as I hope I have sufficiently proved and convincingly made out and in the evincing or proving this Argument I have plainly shewed that we have the proper meaning of three Texts of Holy Scripture which I think to any Man of sense is as clear a Proof and as powerful an Evidence to engage our belief to the truth of any Doctrin propounded to us as if we had brought the positive and express Words of Holy Scripture which is as strong a conviction as any Man can with the least shew of reason desire So that if the true sense of the Holy Jesus's Commission to his Blessed Disciples be duly considered and that no other meaning can tolerably be put upon them being backt with the Authority of two other places of Holy Scripture and a threefold Cord is not easily broken no Antipedobaptist that is a Man of sense will hereafter press for a positive and direct place of Holy Writ because he hath no reason to expect a Tautology in Sacred Scripture to please an Humour or serve an Interest and because he will thereby weaken his Cause and then have great reason to be ashamed of if not repent for the Injury he doth his Principles and he will see the vanity of demanding express words for a confutation when he hath plain sense against him for the Holy Scriptures are to be expounded and interpreted by their Sense and not by their Sound by their Spiritual Meaning and not by the bare Words Syllables and Letters for they are best understood by their proper Design and Purport or a true Relation to their Coherence and Connexion with what preceeds and follows after And now give me leave to offer one thing that will confirm the sense of the Texts I have delivered and will also further shew how unreasonable and absurd weak and trifling the Antipedobaptists are for being so peremptory and positive in demanding an express place of Holy Scripture for the baptizing of Infants and this I will endeavour to evince from Customs among the Jews well known to all learned Men. Three things were required by the Jews to make a Male Proselyte of Righteousness Circumcision a kind of Purfication by Water which was an Allusion to Baptism and Oblation which was commonly two Turtles or Pidgeons To a Female Purification by Water and Oblation Now because the Jews since their Dispersion have neither Altar nor Sacrifice they say For the Male Circumcision and Purification by Water are sufficient For the Female Only Purification by Water In David's time they tell us many Thousands were added to the Church without Circumcision by Purification only Hence we may observe that a kind of Admission by Water into the Church was long in use among the Jews tho' it were not Sacramental till the Blessed Jesus's Institution therefore it may seem to be used by them because they looked for it as a Sacrament at the coming of the Messiah as is evident by their coming to St. John the Baptist not so much scrupling his Baptism as his Authority by what Power he baptized St. John i. 25. And they asked him and said unto him Why baptizest thou then if thou be not that Christ nor Elias nor that Prophet By which three different words they meant the Messiah because he was well known to the Jews by those Terms or Phrases to be foresignified so that had he owned himself for such they would not have doubted his Commission but Christ being plainly proved the Messiah he was Lord of the Sacrament as well as of the Sabbath and so had a sufficient Power to institute a New Sacrament and so substituted Baptism in the room of Circumcision which whosoever believes not to be as extensive as the other is so irrational as to make the holy Jesus not so merciful a Legislator as Moses which shews the unreasonableness and absurdity of demanding an express Text of holy Scripture for Infant Baptism which was the Truth to be cleared and I hope is sufficiently made apparent and manifest CHAP. XI Some general Observations upon the Sense and Expositions delivered LET me now offer some general Observations upon the Sense and Expositions of those Texts I have brought for the Proof hereof and I will begin with the Observation of Chemnitius in his Plea he makes against the Antipedobaptists of Germany * Ego sane qui simplicitatem amo etiamsi nec intelligam nec explicare possim quomodo Infantes qui Baptizantur credant judico tamen suffitire firmissima illa testimonia explicata Infantes esse Abaptizandos neque enim ab illis propterea discedendum etsi non possim vel intelligere velexplicare quomedo credant Infames Chemnit Exam. Conc. Trid. part 2. Tit. de Baptismo ad Canon 13. I do so truly love Simplicity and Truth that altho' I cannot tell how Children who are baptized believe yet I judge the Testimonies from Holy Scripture above-named most strong Evidences and a sufficient Proof for this Christian Practice neither ought Christians to depart from this Truth tho' I cannot understand or explain how Children believe In some things we should take St. Paul's Advice And become Fools that we may be wise 1 Cor. iij. 18. Obedience being more acceptable than burnt Offerings 1 Sam. xv 22. And we should offer up our Understandings to divine Revelation where there is clear Reason to submit to it Faith is the wisest and most well-pleasing Service we can offer to God Nescire ea quae docere non vult Magister maximus erudita est inscitia not to know those things our great Master would have us ignorant of is if I may so speak without a Solecism a learned Ignorance But prais'd be Heaven I have yet met with no Arguments of the Adversaries so strong as to need such an Apology or Plea We find not any Accusation laid to the Charge of Christianity by the Jewish or Pagan World upon this Account which certainly would have been done by some of the Enemies of our holy Religion if the Jewish Believer had not enjoyed the same Immunities when Christian that he did before Or if the first Planters of Christianity had preached the same Doctrin the Antipedobaptists do now how would the Enemies of our holy Religion have declamed against us and declared the Doctrin they preached was not the same Covenant God offered to the Father of the Faithful and the People of Israel because that included Father and Son as to the Covenant and the Sign that conveyed the Benefits of the Covenant An Obj. Now because the Antipedobaptists call upon us for an Example of any baptized in a gathered Church without Faith and that herein the holy Scripture is silent Answ To which I
will give a full Answer and for which I shall in great part Vid. Mr. Ellis's Treat called Pastor and Clerk Or a Debate real concerning Inant Baptism p. 182 195. be obliged to the Judicious Mr. Ellis 1. I am not obliged to make any return 2. This is a perillous Method of arguing to Religion 3. That it doth not further their Cause 1. I am not obliged to make any return For we may well continue the Custom seeing we have so strong Reasons from holy Writ for it and seeing we have so long enjoyed and used it by so many Instances from the Primitive times as may be proved so that we have Prescription to plead and that Lawyers tells us in some Cases is a good Bar against all other Titles It is upon these Accounts your duty that contradict it to declare any one Instance or Proof that these Reasons and this continued Custom of all times since the holy Apostolick Age should not be continued which I am satisfied they will not be able to perform if they should be so couragious as to undertake it and therefore it will be in vain to make any attempt that way 2. This method of demanding positive Words from Holy Writ for all that Men are to believe or do is extream hazardous to Religion where there is sufficient reason without such an Authority to engage our Faith 1. As to Doctrin it would censure the Method of arguing used by our Blessed Saviour and his Holy Disciples and so make way for a falling from the Truth and giving entrance to the most pernicious Heresies and therefore he that believes such a Doctrin can be no good Christian and possibly for this Reason several have gone from one Sect to another till they came to be of no Religion at all and looking for what is not to be had in Holy Writ nor should be expected from any sort of arguing they have thereupon cast off all 2. As to customary Practices what a door of entrance would there be for strange Doctrins and stranger Practices there is no Command for or Instance of a Woman partaking in the Holy Communion we read not of the baptizing of the Holy Disciples no Command or Instance of one that is not a Clergyman may not have more Wives than one whereupon I have read of one in Essex that married more than one at a time and as it was supposed for that Reason 3. It doth not further their Cause because where there is a good Reason for us to believe or do we are not to stop or stay our belief or defer acting till we have an Instance from Holy Scripture What Command or foreknown Instance had the Holy Apostle of the Circumcision to admit the Centurion of the Italian Band and his Family to Baptism seeing they were not circumcised only that he collected it that because he had a Title to the Covenant by the miraculous Gift of the Holy Ghost he had right to the Sign that conveyed the Priviledge of the Covenant The Commission the Holy Jesus gave to his Blessed Disciples at his leaving the World in relation to the persons is in the Masculine Gender and the Account of St. Peter's baptizing his first Converts was in the same Gender Why then did St. Philip admit to baptism Women as well as Men Acts viij 12 And why do the Antipedobaptists as well as we admit Women to the Communion when there is neither Command nor Rule to enjoyn it To conclude all I shall need to say by way of Exposition upon these three Texts As the Obligatory Power of the Ceremonies and Rites among the Jews was abolished because they did not agree with the ingenuous temper of the Christian Institution so more principally was it taken away as being disagreeable to the Notion of its being an Universal Society for it would have impeded the Propagation of the Religion of the B. Jesus had it been burdened with the Ceremonies and Rites of the Jews which were grown hateful as well as nauseous to the Heathenish part of Mankind and to name no other Instance he was upon this account engaged to alter the Sacrament for Admission into his Church or the Sign of the Old Covenant Circumcision I mean whereby the People of Israel excepting some few Nations as the ancient Egyptians Ethiopians Ishmaclites and Colchians were differenced from the rest of Mankind They were I say Vid. Case of Infant-Baptism pag. 20. grown nauseous and hateful to the World for the use thereof as it is insinuated by several of the Poets as Martial Horace Petronius and Juvenal Is any man called being circumcised let him not become uncircumcised i. e. 1 Cor. vij 18. Let him not use means to attract the Praeputium or Foreskin which the Jewish People were frequently wont to do to shun reproach and to deliver themselves from Persecution in Paganish Kingdoms And upn this account it would have been a great hindrance to the propagation of the New Dispensation should the Heathen World have been admitted to the New Covenant by that way no Sacred Ceremony could be more unacceptable to Mankind in general and hereupon the Wisdom of our Merciful Redeemer as well as New Legislator is to be commended in altering the old antiquated Sign into a more gentle pleasant way of admission by Water which was as of a more universal use so of a more general signification because the Heathen World as well as the People of Israel used it For Heathenism was little else but the Jewish Religion abused by the Prince of Darkness and Father of Lies as Christianity was little more than pure Natural Reason exalted and improved by the King of Light and Purity CHAP. XII A Defence of the Expositions delivered from Jewish Customs AND now that I may engage you to the belief of the sense I have given of these three Texts of Holy Scripture I declare the Account I have offered is according to Jewish Custom and the sense of things well known among them which is the only true and proper way of coming to their right meaning and without such an Exposition or Allusion it is impossible to understand several Phrases and Places in the New Testament Dr. Hammond's Case of Infant-Baptism in his Resolution of six Queries And this may appear from an excellent Account given by the Reverend Dr. Hammond in eight Particulars which I will only mention but not enlarge upon referring you to the Account he gives and then add one memorable Instance to confirm this way of expounding H. Scripture 1. In the calling and receiving Disciples 2. In the Donation of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven 3. In the Blessed Sacrament of the Lord's H. Supper 4. In Imposition of Hands 5. In the Title of Apostles 6. In the Name and Office of Bishops 7. In the Title of Deacons 8. In the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Church in both Notions of it for the People and the Rulers thereof or Church-Representative
words that our Adversaries may see I deal fairly with them He argues from the Coherence and Sense of the 15 16 17 and 33. Verses of Acts 2. and recites Vers 38. And that by you and your Children are meant the same which are mentioned Vers 17. under the term of Sons and Daughters answ To all which I answer This cannot be the Sense so as to exclude Infants from Baptism if they have a Right unto the Covenant which the Holy Scripture seems plainly to assert and hath been sufficiently convincingly and undeniably proved by Learned Men which may supersede any Attempt of mine to evince it or make it plain and evident because it was Repentance and Baptism gave a Title to the Promise and till they did Repent and Believe i. e. Embrace the Holy Gospel they had no Right to the Promise for it is said Repent and be Baptized and you shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost But they were to be in Covenant by Repentance or Faith before they enjoyed the Priviledges of the Holy Gospel and until then were in the same Case with them afar off who were not in Covenant and so had no right unto the Promise until they did Repent or Believe But here it may be further objected by the Antipedobaptists An Obj. that the gentile Converts of Cornelius's Family had this Gift of the Holy Ghost antecedent unto Baptism so that that was not necessary unto the Gift Act. 10.44 For it is said While Peter spake these words the Holy Ghost fell upon all them which heard the word i. e. that believed and upon their hearing St. Peter was convinced of the Truth of his Blessed Doctrin and thereupon embraced the Faith of the Holy Jesus and became Christians So that the same Qualification that fitted them for the reception of the Holy Ghost capacitated them for Baptism as appears three Verses after Act. 10.47 Can any forbid Water that these should not be Baptized that have received the Holy Ghost as well as we answ To which I answer Supposing the Promise to relate to the Gift of the Holy Ghost it neither excludes the necessity of Baptism nor Children from coming or being brought to receive the benefit of that Holy Ordinance Vid. ch 8 9. pag. 43. 51. according to the rational and true Exposition we have already given of that Text in this Book to which I refer my Readers But here An Obj. like the monstrous Hydra another Objection springs up and arises It 's true saith the Antipedobaptist tho' we own by the Promise the Gift of the Holy Ghost yet we do not believe that Gift excludes from Baptism but we deny Baptism unto those that are not qualified as those first Converts were i. e. endued with the Gifts and Graces of Repentance and Faith answ This I acknowledge true in those Subjects that are capable of acting those Graces but not necessary in those that have a natural as well as moral incapacity to act those Graces as the Case with Children is because they are in Covenant as hath been already declared and proved And being Baptism is not the Covenant but the Seal of the Covenant he that is in Covenant hath a right to the Seal that ensures the Benefits and Priviledges of the Covenant by the same Rule and Reason as he that is the true Heir unto an Estate hath a Right and Title unto the Instruments that convey that Estate Moreover add to this Children have one of these Graces tho' not the other and if one be sufficient the other is not necessary I mean Faith which in some and a true Sense they may be said to have otherwise the Blessed Jesus would not have cautioned Persons against offending little Ones that believe in him Mat. 18. by whom he meant small Children as I hope we have made sufficiently to appear Vid. ch 7. p. 42 43. And that this was a true Faith we may be assured not only because it was spoke by Truth it self who would not therefore impose upon Mankind but also because Christ is the proper Object of Faith and him the Text expresly tells us they believed in and for Repentance it is not indispensably necessary which I shall thus endeavour to prove I may say of Hatred as is usually said of Love Ignoti nulla Cupido for that which is unknown we have no Desire or Affection So of Hatred the odiousness and deformity of that I am wholly ignorant of I cannot properly be said to hate Now before Hatred there usually preceeds Grief and Sorrow and I cannot be said truly to lament or mourn for a Thing if I understand not any loss or damage I thereby sustain Now to apply this to our present Case there may be a Sin pardoned in some Cases and in some Persons without Repentance as that word imports Grief and Sorrow Detestation and Hatred Dereliction and Forsaking by all this I mean Original Sin of which Infants are guilty as well as the Adult Person by the imputation and transmission of the Protoplast's or first Adam's Guilt Now Children by reason of their Infantile capacity are not allowed the ability of exercising these Passions and cannot be said to be afflicted and grieved to detest and hate to abandon and forsake that which was not their own proper and voluntary Act. So that upon this Account Repentance is not necessary for their state and condition because of their Incapacity to act the proper parts of Repentance and because they lye not under such a Personal Guilt as may be said in a more especial manner to be proper and peculiar to the exercise of some parts of Repentance But for Faith so far as it is necessary that Children in some sense may be said to have it as they have the Benefits of their Parents Faith derived to them But that Faith and Repentance are not always and in all Cases indispensably necessary unto Baptism may appear plainly from the Instance of the Holy Jesus who was Nullius Poenitentiae Debitor in him was no Guilt and so consequently no necessity of Repenting there was was no necessity of Faith in him For of Faith he was the Author and Finisher as the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews acquaints us Heb. 12.2 and yet he submitted to St. John's Baptism which was in order to Repentance and therefore called the Baptism of Repentance and hereupon it is that Faith and Repentance are not always absolutely and indispensably needful to the being baptized And this may sufficiently solve an Objection lately made to me against Infant Baptism An Obj. by an Antipedobaptist from our excellent Church Catechism who promised me upon conviction to return to our Church which Promise he is obliged in Conscience to perform if he give not a Rational Answer to what I have said and shall offer for the solution of this seeming Difficulty What is required of Persons to be baptized Repentance whereby they forsake
Sin and Faith whereby they stedfastly believe the Promises of God made unto them in that Sacrament answ That is for answer hereunto Those that are baptized when adult are indispensably obliged thereunto and Infants when they come to years of discretion and thus our Church Catechism expounds her sense which Promise or Graces Children when they come unto Age are bound to perform It is a good Rule in the Civil Law Nemo tenetur ad Impossibile No Man is obliged unto the performance of that which is impossible to be done by any human power And then we cannot believe that he who is the God of Reason as well as Truth will oblige his Creature to a Duty which he is not able to perform by any Powers he hath created him with and suppose God should infuse into a Child an extraordinary and miraculous measure of Grace as well as Reason as he did into our blessed Saviour and St. John the Baptist who were sanctified from or in the Womb yet we read not tho' they had so great a proportion of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that during the state of their infancy they magnified God and spake with Tongues antecedent to the use of Speech the manifestation of which Miraculous Power and the discovery of which Divine Gift the Jews at the Feast of Pentecost Acts 2.4 8 11. 10.46 and the first Gentile Converts shewed But to return Tho' these Graces are not needful to all in all circumstances for where there is not a capacity to act them there can be no obligation to their exercise yet that the Children of Believers have a right to the Covenant as soon as born and so have a right to the Seal that conveys the Title and are obliged to its Use if they will enjoy the Priviledges of the Covenant I hope hath been made appear beyond contradiction yet they are needful for some that are admitted unto that Holy Ordinance and this Distinction ought to be well understood and weighed If Baptism be allowed to those who have not the proper Qualifications then those Qualifications are not absolutely needful unto the Undertakers of that Holy Ordinance Faith is sometimes needful when Repentance is not so sometimes Faith and Repentance conjoyned and otherwise sometimes Acts 8.37 When St. Philip admitted the Ethiopian Eunuch to Baptism he only enjoyned Faith 2.41 38. not Repentance St. Peter when he made three thousand Converts at his first Sermon enjoyned Repentance only In short It is as the condition is or the needs of the Party require In Infants the matter is plain as to Repentance the non-performance whereof cannot hinder their being baptized because they having committed no sin are not obliged unto the Duty and yet this is as needful for being baptized as Faith So that this evidences they are not absolutely needful not to all not to Children but only accidentally so and if they may be baptized if they want one why not if they want the other is a Mystery that will not nay I am inclined to believe cannot be discovered by those that because they think the contrary are engaged to make the Revelation Besides I add Actual Faith is needful not to the undertaking but to the subsequent Products of that Holy Ordinance because the first Planters of Christianity admitted some tho' adult to Baptism who had no Faith but were only formal Professors and of this sort were Simon Magus Alexander the Coppersmith Demas and Diotrephes and Judas if baptized and also the Gnostic Hereticks For the Effect is from the Searcher of Hearts who knows our secret thoughts but the External Ordinance may be performed and undertaken by those who know not such Secrets And this is a clear Proof that that Faith which is needful to the product of the Holy Ordinance is not needful to its undertaking and if formal Professors may be partakers of it much more Children if to such as actually impede or hinder the product much rather to them that do not so If it be objected by the Antipedobaptists An Obj. The Church cannot tell but that those that say they have Faith may have it but she certainly knows Children have not I answer answ The Church cannot tell but Hypocrites stop the Product and oppose the Grace of Baptism but she can tell Children do not nor can make hindrance or opposition there is a possibility one may partake of the Grace but the second cannot stop its effects Moreover Children have Faith because they believe in the Holy Jesus St. Matth. 18.6 St. Mark 9.42 as we are told in Sacred Scripture in express words recorded by two Evangelists if one be not enough And that this is a satisfactory and sufficient Proof the Holy Scriptures do assure us when they tell us St. Joh. 8.17 that the Testimony of two Men is true and this witness and evidence it appears we have for the truth of this Doctrin that Children have Faith and that this their Faith was true sound and such as God will accept we may with good reason believe because he that is truth and will not therefore deceive us doth seem so to assure us Vid. pag. 89. as we have already made appear in this Chapter Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me and therefore fit for his Blessing which is Divine The exercise of our understanding is no more necessary to make us fit for Grace than for Reason but we have seeds of Reason congenite and innate antecedent to the exercise of our understandings otherwise there would be no distinction between a Rational Creature and a Brute when first produced into being and brought to light Sparks and Seeds then of Reason there may be to use the words of the great African Father Per Infantis animan non ubi ratio nulla erat sed ubi adhuc sopita erat St. Aug. Ep 23. ad Bonifac. The Soul of an Infant hath Reason but as yet not capable of use like Fire raked together in the Embers So likewise there is a possibility of Grace being infused by the Divine Spirit as is clear in the fore-quoted Instance of the blessed Jesus and his Praecursor or Fore-runner St. John the Baptist who were sanctified in or from the Womb. Or else they may be said to believe by the Faith of those that present them unto the Holy Ordinance in the Sacred Place Fide gestantium Idem ibidem For to this I may add the Child hath the Faith of the Parent imputed to it and that the Faith of the Parent is imputable to the Child and available for great purposes is apparent because we read in the Holy Gospel That the Blessed Jesus makes the Faith of the Parent necessary unto the Healing of the Child From whence I argue thus That if the Faith of the Parent may be imputed for the recovering of the Bodily Diseases why may not the same be imputed for the curing the Distempers