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
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
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
Mr. Walker in his modest Plea for Infant-Baptism yet none had handled it in such a Scriptural Way by Testimonies from Holy Writ which manner of treating this Christian and comfortable Doctrine might be most effectual on the Minds of such as opposed this Truth because the Antipaedobaptists will not admit any Proof but from the direct Words of Holy Scripture or an Exposition so plain that may be equal to a literal sense And this way I have endeavoured to prove this momentous Subject and for this Reason some thought it might be successful on those of that Party that have teachable Minds and this Consideration the Conscience and real desire of doing good was the strongest Motive to expose it to the Public And truly if it may be instrumental to the convincing any that are not too far gone by Interest or Humour it will be a greater satisfaction than the Eulogies of the wisest Men and I shall think my Labour sufficiently compensated If any admire this Subject is methodized and worded so like the way of Preaching it is because I believed it would have the stronger Impression on the people it was preached to if it were printed as they heard it and I had rather be subservient to my People's Good than comply with the capricious Humour of the nicest Critick An Account of the Conference with Mr. M. C. upon the Subject of Infant-Baptism and the Occasion of it AFter this I hope useful Introduction I come to perform the Obligation of my Promise which was to give a Relation of a Conference publicly held with an Antipaedobaptist of no small Fame on the Subject and of the Occasion and this I will endeavour to do with all imaginable Sincerity and take all possible Care not to commit any voluntary Error or wilful Mistake In the Month of October 1686. I was collated to a Living by my reverend Diocesan After a Year I received Information that an Antipaedobaptist had perverted one of my Parish But I hope without a reproachful Reflection I may say of some that pervert tru Doctrin what the Holy Jesus said of the glozing Pharisees Wo unto you Scribes and Pharisees Hypocrites St. Matth. XXIII 15. for you compass Sea and Land to make one Proselyte and when he is made you make him two-fold more the Child of Hell than before The first Intelligence I had as I remember was from my Parishioner's Neighbour of whom he held a considerable Farm the Gentleman was firm to the Church of England and though he is no Loquacious Talkativ Person yet I have heard him give good Reason for his Principles From the Account he gave I found him in Christian Charity concerned for his Tenant whereupon he desired me to discourse his Tenant and because he thought he would be unwilling to give me a Meeting he told me the next time he came he would send for me to discours him to make a Tryal if I could reduce him to the Church Accordingly he did and I readily went where I treated him with all the Civility he could look for and discoursed what I thought proper and I spoke with all the kindness and plainness was possible that what 〈◊〉 said might have an Influence on him But I was disappointed in my hopes for I found â—im weak and which is usually the unhappy â—ate of such obstinate so that though I â—poke plainly yet he either did not understand me or would not be convinced by what I offered So true is the Observation of the wise Lord Bacon â—ertinaciae Hominum nullum Remedium posuit Deus The Lord Bacon That God hath appointed no Remedy for the Obstinacy of Men And if he have appointed none it will be in vain to endeavour to find any All I could get was an importunate Request I would permit him to bring one to dispute with me I was much against it at first because usually such Designs come to no good nor seldom have their desired end but are attended with noise and clamour and generally there is a greater Contestation for Victory than Truth and a Man's Reputation is more consulted than their Satisfaction on whose Account the Meeting is appointed The Answer he gave was He was no Scholar and so not able to discourse with a Man of Learning as he supposed me to be I replied whatever my Stock of Learning was I would make no use of it with him because I charitably intended his Good but this instead of satisfying engaged him to renew his Importunity there might be a public Disputation which he pretended would be much to his Satisfaction but I believe it was but a pretence For on the Account of some after-Circumstances I have reason to conjecture that his Importunity for such a Meeting was not so much to be convinced as from a Confidence that the Advocate he pitch'd on for he was in Vogue with his Party for his Disputatious Faculty and as I have heard hath often travelled many Miles to dispute with a Clergy man would so far baffle me it would give a Reputation to his Cause and confirm him in his Principles But because he could not prevail for a Consent his Neighbour joined desiring I would comply Upon which out of respect to him I condescended but on this Condition there might be but a few at the hearing of our Discours and if he would name how many he would bring I would endeavour to equal his Number or be content with fewer For I told him I believed three or four judicious Persons of a side might better understand the Reason and Truth of an Argument than a Multitude For I had for many Years been of the same Mind with the ingenious Mr. Matthew Clifford who hated Crowd and Noise A little after I had notice my Parishioner would bring his Man on December the thirteenth 1687. And because I would be just to my Word I acquainted to the best of my Knowledge only two Persons viz. my Parishioner's Neighbour and his Father But he on the other side dealt unfairly with me for contrary to his Promise he sent his Man to Church the Sunday before the Day to acquaint my People when Sermon was done there was to be a Dispute between Mr. M. C. and My self Some time before which I addressed my self to a Consideration of the Doctrine of Baptism and the Holy Gospel Covenant and what Persons are to be admitted thereto and to enjoy the Privileges by receiving the Sign thereof I had only by me one Book on the Subject that treated of the Nature of the Covenant and whether Persons that were not capable of understanding the Articles thereof could by the external sign be admitted to the Privileges But I had a belief he would not or cared not to manage the Controversy from that Principle and thereupon I laid the Book aside and for some time consulted the Holy Scriptures and addressed my self by importunate and sincere Prayers to the Throne of Grace for the Divine Assistance not
circumcised becometh a Debtor to keep the whole Law which the Jewish Children were as uncapable of keeping as Christian Children are of the Holy Gospel and so the Objection lieth as strong against Circumcising as Baptizing Children And it is reasonable according to the Laws of Men too For it is well known to all Lawyers that it is a common thing to admit a Child to an Estate by Guardians and Tutors under several Conditions which the Child cannot undertake the Performance of till he come to that Age wherein he can exercise his Reason And is it not full as reasonable to admit Children on certain Terms to an Holy Gospel Estate as to a secular one on Conditions they are uncapable of executing And thus we have the Laws of Heaven and Men too against our Adversaries Nay we have three strong Weapons to defend the Truth if we know but how to wield and manage them 1. The Holy Scripture which is the Sword of the Spirit 2. Reason which I may call the Sword of Nature 3. The Law which I may name the Military Sword And being thus secured with spiritual natural and material Armour we may be so courageous as not to fear the most violent Attempts that shall be made against us and may believ according to an Holy Scripture Phrase very proper to our Case that against Truth and us too while we hold the Truth and stick to sound Principles no Weapon formed shall prosper or have its intended effect and when I had delivered these three Accounts from the Pulpit in defence of Infant-Baptism I was thinking that if I could make the Sense of this last Text viz. St. Matth. XXVIII 19. Go teach all Nations baptizing them I say if I could prove those Words to be not only not for the Antipaedobaptists but against them and for us I did believe I should say all was sufficient to prove its Lawfulness from Holy Scripture And meditating one Morning I employed my Thoughts to give the Words such a Sens and to justifie it when I had done And in order thereto I did humbly and fervently implore the Divine Assistance and God who is never wanting to help them who with Humility and Faith address themselves to him suggested this Account of the Text to my Mind that I have offered in the following Papers which when I had composed I penn'd down because I was not willing to forget what my Thoughts had delivered as the proper meaning of the Text according to my Judgment and I made use of no Book but the Greek Testament to satisfie my self in the Account the Original giveth of Acts II. 39. which with 1 Cor. VII 14. I made use of as collateral Proofs to confirm the Sens given For I did believ the comparing of one Place of Holy Scripture with another one of the best ways of coming to its tru Meaning which when I had drawn out it made about two Sheets of Paper which was all at first I did design to print But the Occasion of enlarging it was this A Neighbour-Clergy-man with whom I discoursed about the Sens given of St. Mat. XXVIII 19. and the Confirmation I brought from those two other Places of Holy Scripture beforementioned acquainted me he had a Book of an ingenious Antipaedobaptist that did seem to invalidate any Proof for Infant-Baptism from those two Texts which I desired to read and he lent me When I came home I did without prejudice peruse what he had wrote and at the first sight I was somewhat surprized but on consideration and retiring into my self I did find his Arguments against the Sens I offered were but weak as I hope will appear to any impartial Reader by the Answer I have given After I had done this I resolved to use all Means I could think of or remember to establish the Sens I had given of the Text and accordingly read over some useful Treatises upon the Subject and because as Pliny somewhere saith Ingenuum est profiteri per quos profeceris Plinius An ingenious thing it is to own by whom we have profited I will give an Account to whom I am obliged and more particularly I stand engaged to the reverend Dr. Hammond in his Resolution of Six Queries one whereof is about Infant-Baptism the other is the Excellent Author of the Case of Infant-Baptism Which was one of those cases the Reverend Lord Bishop of London did out of a pious and excellent Design engage his City Clergy to state and resolve for the satisfaction of Dissenters and to reduce them to the Church of England As for Dr. Hammond I have used his words in a manner and for the other I have in most if not in all places altered his words and taken his sens that I might adapt it to my own style that the Work might look the more alike and seemingly appear all of a piece Something I have borrowed from Mr. Ellis in his Book called Pastor and Clerk or a Debate real concerning Infant Baptism As to the Authorities I have used to confirm the sens delivered I have not taken things on Trust but perused and examined good Editions of the Original Authors and have been careful neither to mis-report their words nor misrepresent their sens and having made this Ingenuous Acknowledgment I cannot be accused of Plagiarism because I give my Authors all the Reputation they can desire by owning what I have taken And now I hope I may without any conceitedness say I have used all the proper Methods for reducing Gainsayers into the Paths of Truth and Peace For besides three Rational Arguments for Infant-Baptism I have endeavoured to prove it from that place of Holy Scripture the Adversaries think against it and to engage the belief of the most avers and pre-possessed I have offered all the proper methods of Conviction 1. I have given a clear Exposition to confirm the meaning 2. I have much enlarged that Exposition 3. I have proved the Sens by the Coherence 4. I have confirmed the meaning by the Original for in some places of Holy Scripture no Translation cometh up exactly to the Original for in every Language there are some peculiar Idioms that cannot well be translated into another Tongue 5. I have strengthened the Sens by two other places of Holy Scripture for the Holy Spirit by comparing one place with another doth best interpret his meaning 6. I have given some general Observations to establish the Sens of the three Texts delivered 7. I have defended the Exposition given by an Allusion to Jewish Customs without which Account it is impossible to come to an understanding of some places of Holy Scripture in the New Testament 8. I have confirmed what I have offered as the sens of the three places of Holy Scripture from the Authority of some of the Ancient Fathers who living nearest the times of the Holy Apostles may reasonably be presumed best to know the sens of their Writings and I could have produced more in
only a distinction in the manner of Conveyance why should any barr lie against the Admission of Children now more than formerly Is Baptism an higher spiritualized Rite than Circumcision That is not possible because Circumcision is an Evangelic Institution I mean an Institution of that Doctrine which was to Abraham delivered of old And if the Spirituality of outward Ordinances is to be drawn from the design of their Appointment then Circumcision was as much spiritualized as Baptism because it truly seals the same Covenant and assures the same Grace and was a Rite of Admission for the same spiritual stock of the Father of the Faithfull as Baptism is among us Hereupon if Circumcision as a Sacrament was the same formerly that Baptism is now it must be consequent That Infants now are as capable of the One provided there is no Precept de novo or a new to exclude them as formerly they were of the Other If it were not absurd that Children then were allowed to be Members of the Church why should it be so under the Holy Gospel If the Almighty allowed them under the former Dispensation to be imbodied into the Church without a Precept to forbid them there is reason they should be allowed the same favour now Nay if Children were made Members of the Church when the Admission was more harsh how irrational is it not to allow them an Entrance now when the way of Admission is more suitable to the Tenderness of an Infant Surely if Jewish Children were Circumcised by blood made with hands Christian Children without a Prohibition of Holy Scripture should be allowed the Spiritual Circumcision which is Baptism Whom the Lord hath admitted an Heir to the Glory above and given an Interest in his Church below no Man should dare to hinder his Title that seals the Inheritance and offers the Privilege But yet so impertinent and censorious have some Antipaedobaptists been Vid. Case of Infant-Baptism p. 30. as to say Children are as unfit for Baptism as the Off-spring of Brutes and that it is as nugacious and triffing to Invocate our Heavenly Father for the Descent of his Divine Spirit as to beseech him to enlighten a Stock or a Stone So that upon this Hypothesis or Supposition That Children are not fit to be Baptized the Antipaedobaptists generally affirm That admitting Children to it is a reproach to the Sacrament a very Nothing an uncommanded Duty and thereupon in contempt term it Baby-Baptism as I have heard some of them phrase it though in truth the strongest Arguments I have heard from them or met with in their Books may more properly be called a Baby than a Manly Defence of their mistaken Principles Not remembring at the same time that Circumcising Children was no Reproach to the Sacrament of Admission into the Jewish Church but had a proper sence and signification so that the Antipaedobaptists might as well say there was Baby-Circumcision and Baby-Baptism under the Mosaic Dispensation both being used to Children among that People Obj. The main Argument they offer against it is drawn from Childrens unfitness for some Purposes of that Ordinance which can be performed by none but such as are Adult who have the use of Reason to know the terms of the Covenant they are admitted to and to exercise the Graces proper for that Ordinance and to confirm those Graces by such an Exercise but Children cannot undertake these things and therefore should not be allowed the use of that Ordinance whose design is so much disappointed in the Application thereof Answ But this Argument or Objection how pleasing soever at first sight is not good 1. Because it is deceitfull in its Consequence and therefore the Conclusion will not hold 2. Because it is a reflection upon some of the former Dispensations of the Wiseft Being 1. Because it is deceitfull in its Consequence and therefore the Conclusion will not hold and that for a Reason I find urged by a Learned Man in his Excellent Tract called The Case of Infant-Baptism which is so strong that if well understood would fully answer if not for ever silence this Objection His Reason is this Because this way of arguing takes away the difference between a strict Institution which is appointed to answer one or more Purposes and particularly for persons of one kind and an Institution of Latitude which is appointed for several Purposes and for different kinds of Persons differently qualified for those several Purposes Of the first kind was the Institution of Fringes which could only be worn properly by those that were Adult because they alone were fit to perform the design of their appointment viz. To look upon them and remember the Commandments of the Lord And these you may suppose were those Phylacteries the Pharisees did wear and because they were Ostentatious Men affected to make them broader than others which Hypocrisie and Dissimulation our Blessed Saviour the Holy Jesus did severely reprove in them and tartly upbraid them for and with And of the other kind is the Sacred Institution of Matrimony which was Instituted by Heaven for several Purposes and for those that are differently qualified and fitted for those several Purposes inasmuch as Persons that are not fit for some Purposes may yet lawfully enter into that State of Life because they are fitted for other ends thereof All the Purposes for which it was Instituted cannot be performed but by such as are past the Age allowed by all for the begetting Infants yet such as have out-grown those years are not wholly unfit for that State Nor is their Matrimony of no force or an Impeachment of the Sacred Institution of Matrimony because they are only fitted for one Purpose for which Matrimony was Instituted and that is the last End for which our Excellent Church tells us Marriage was Ordained viz. the mutual society help and comfort the one ought to have of the other in prosperity and adversity This one Instance declares how deceitfull our Adversaries Argument is against the admitting Children to Baptism because of their unfitness for some Purposes for which it was Instituted they should first offer a Proof for what they would have allowed but have no reason to expect viz. That it was a Sacred Appointment of the former kind which I term a strict Institution and then their way of arguing would hold But this I am well satisfied they can never do because that Ordinance came in the place of Circumcision which was a Sacred Appointment of the second kind and because the Blessed Jesus underwent Baptism in whom there was more unfitness than there could be in Children The Baptist in truth used the Baptism of Repentance and thereupon assured the World of the Pardon of Sins and on that account knowing our dear Saviour stood in no necessity thereof was not willing to admit him to it St. Matth. iij. 14. But John forbad him saying I have need to be baptized of thee and comest thou to me But our Blessed
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
they cannot do that they ought to confess and declare we have Truth on our side and that they are in an error which though Men out of love to their Reputation or a mistaken Interest they are unwilling to come to yet I am certain it is their Duty to do it CHAP. XVIII An Account whence Infant-Baptism results AND now the business may be determined in this one Enquiry Whether the baptizing of Infants do appear to be a divine Institution and holy Apostolic usage And if it do we have all we can desire in the Case but if it do not we are obliged and bound to disown the Method we have taken for the asserting our Principle or drawing from it what we would conclude thereupon and because the best Method for the solving of this doubt is the urging home what we have said laying the foundation upon a divine Institution and the usage of the holy Apostles Therefore give me leave to press it close upon the Consciences of such Men as love the Truth and value their Souls above all Worldly Considerations in six Particulars 1. Whether by the holy Jesus's laying the Institution of this blessed Sacrament in the Jews usage of baptizing Proselytes which hath been evidenced to appertain unto the Infant Children of such Proselytes 2. By his being so far from rejecting the Age of Children as an impediment of coming unto him i. e. unto their Proselytism that he affirms them to be the Pattern of those of whom his Kingdom consists and though he be not affirmed in the holy Gospel to baptize such when indeed the blessed Jesus baptized not at all St. John iv 2. St. Mark x. 16. but his holy Disciples yet he took them in his Arms and laid his Hands upon them and blessed them which being the Rite customary in the holy Church for those that were qualified for Baptism and directly preparative to it they that were by the Christ allowed that cannot be esteemed by him less fit for Baptism than for that 3. By the express words of the holy Apostle that their Children are holy expounded by the coherence and connexion of the Text as we have already made evident and apparent by giving its proper sense and answering the strongest Objection against what we have offered as its true meaning so as to conclude from the reason of the holy Apostle's Discourse that it was the usage of the days Apostolic to admit the Infants of Christian Parents unto Baptism and so expounded by the Christian Authors of the earliest Centuries 4. By the Authorities of the ancient primitive Fathers that treated of this Doctrin without the least pretence of theirs who were best acquainted with their Customs that this was not an holy Apostolic usage and therefore continued in all the times of the ancient Church successively 5. By the Testimony of Councils when the obstinacy of false Teachers contradicted resisted and gain said it 6. At last enjoyned by the holy Church whence I believe with the other Accounts already given the needfulness of its usage and continuance ariseth and not from any other Grounds Now all I urge with due submission of my Self and the Cause unto the Opinion of unbyassed Persons any Man of Candor and Ingenuity that is freed from Passion Prejudice and Interest is this Whether these six Particulars being duly and seriously considered the Truth of all which is well known unto any learned Man it be not clear enough that admitting Infants to Baptism is a divine Institution and an holy Apostolic usage If it be not I would willingly understand what is more needful for satisfaction in a business of this Concern And whether by any other or more properly convincing Arguments the contrary can be proved to be an holy Apostolic custom or that they denied the Infants of Proselytes the holy Sacrament of Baptism CHAP. XIX An Appeal unto the Reason of Mankind AND now I have one Consideration to offer by way of Appeal unto all disinterested and unbyassed Persons to engage their Belief unto such a comfortable and christian Doctrin as well as so necessary and useful a Practice That whatsoever appointment or precept hath God the Father for its Author whether discovered by the Revelation of the holy Prophets or by the service of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ministring Spirits above that are sent forth into all the Parts of the World to Minister for them who shall be the Heirs of Salvation as the Author of the Epistle unto the Hebrews acquaints us or the Holy Jesus for its Institutor whether directly from himself Heb. 1.14 or mediately by his Successors the holy Apostles and those that succeeded them holy Apostolic Men is not of Infallible Obligation unto all to whom it was given and so each Institution of Christ unto all Christians and that the peculiar way of its Derivation unto us whether by the Inspired Discoveries of the Law or Holy Gospel or any different Method is but of an extrinsic Consideration to any such Divine Appointment or Command I say upon this Consideration I have I hope in the Judgment of all sober and rational Men for the full clearing of this Doubt and satisfying this Case of Conscience concerning Infant Baptism by proper and the most highly probable Arguments manifested That by appointing Baptism as a blessed Sacrament to be used amongst Christians the blessed Jesus and his immediate Followers did not deny Children the use of that comfortable and holy Ordinance but freely and willingly admitted them thereunto CHAP. XX. The Conclusion of the whole Matter AND now I have one Proposal to make by way of Importunate Request which I hope is reasonable for me to desire That none of the Antipedobaptists will look upon or account me as their Adversary because according unto the Duty of my Place and the Obligations of my Conscience I declare unto them what I verily believe to be true and have no different purpose or intention in the management of this Controversie but to bring Men to a Great Regard and Reverend Esteem for and an humble and dutiful Submission to the Holy Jesus's Ordination and Appointment Upon the whole Matter then and an impartial and serious Consideration of what hath been offered I cannot imagine what Plea except such as is conducted by Interest Humour or Covetousness any understanding Man can with the least probability use to throw off the concording Agreement of so many Testimonies and great Authorities for so necessary a Practice as well as comfortable a Doctrin And I shall with all Hearty Affection and Brotherly Love conclude and presume no farther than these Arguments and Testimonies will allow me to do surely not be so Censorious as the Antipedobaptists and Anabaptists are when they declare hainous Matters of us and affirm that we by Baptizing Infants Pollute the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant God forbid that we who heartily Pray in our Public Liturgy which all Clergymen are obliged and engaged unto the daily use