longer Here I might very justly lay down my Pen and at present say no more the Authority of the Church I mean not of England only but all or most Christian Churches in the Western and Northern parts of the World now using the Sprinkling or Pouring Water upon Infants at the time of their Baptism instead of Dipping of them is methinks sufficient Satisfaction to me and ought to be so to any indifferent or unprejudic'd Christian until the contrary is made appear viz. That there is an essential necessity in the very Nature of the Sacrament of Baptism that Immerging or Plunging be the only Mode of Administration Yet on second Thoughts when I consider I am not disputing against an Adversary as to whom I ought to take all reasonable advantage in the way of Argument but that I am writing to a Parishioner and a Friend and am endeavouring to satisfie one under my Charge in some Scruples of Conscience which is a Duty incumbent upon my Office upon this Consideration Neighbour I shall be free'r with you than otherwise I had need to have been and so will give you some Reasons why I think Dipping not essentially necessary in the Administration of Baptism And 1st For that I look upon it there 's a vast difference to be made betwixt a legal washing and a sacramental one John indeed in his Baptism doth seem to conform to the Jewish Mode of Immerging and this Symbol might truly better comport with the then present Circumstances of those his Disciples who were polluted with an outward and as it were visible Stain as well as an inward one either of * Being grown very corrupt by their Superstititious Traditions Judaism or Heathenism but now thank God the case is far otherwise the very name of a Jew or an Heathen being among us in the Country a strange thing the Subjects of Baptism generally speaking are now the Off-spring of Christian Parents and to it there is a promisory Right or Title included in the Grace of this Covenant Acts 2.39 The promise is to you and your Children in whom there remains no legal or outward Impurity But now to come to the point in question why should not a little Water as well as a great deal represent the inward washing of the Spirit to Infants at their Baptism who are after a sort clean before as being of the stock of Believers So the Apostles Else were your children unclean but now are they holy For instance herein by way of Simile Was I to sign you a Bond would not the impress of a little Wax the bigness of my finger's-end make the Condition of the Bond as good and as sure unto you to all intents and purposes as if it had been stamp't with a Seal ten times as big Now in the reason of the thing Why should not a little Water be as good a Seal of the Covenant of Baptism as a greater quantity and why is not the inward washing of the Spirit as virtually represented in a small quantity of Water as well as Christ's Body and Blood in a little quantity of Bread and Wine The excess herein was the Fault of the Corinthians and justly condemned by the Apostle but I never understood 't was a Crime to eat or drink sparingly at the Lord's Table for that the food there is sacramental and the strengthening and refreshing of our Souls by the Body and Blood of Christ is to be lookt at and not the strengthening of our Bodies by the Bread and Wine should any think otherwise I must stop their Mouths with St. Paul's Question 1 Cor. 11.22 Have you not houses to eat and drink in or despise you the Church of God c. So in the other Sacrament we are not so much to look at the outward Circumstances of it viz. how much or how little Water is necessary towards its due Administration as to consider the Design and End of it and not the outward washing of the Body of the Person baptiz'd the putting away the filth of the Flesh as St. Peter speaks which might require more or less Water for its Purification according to the Stature Age or Uncleanness of the Person to be wash'd For the use of Water in this Sacrament is symbolical and representative of the inward washing of the Spirit at the time of Administration Church Cat. It is an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace given unto us and ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof and so a little Water doth as virtually represent the Operation of the Spirit in the new Birth as well as a little Bread and Wine doth represent unto us in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper the Operation of the same Spirit in exhibiting to us spiritually the Body and Blood of Christ in order to strengthen and confirm in us the new Birth that we may thereby be enabled to walk in newness of Life 2dly To this add * Vpon this very account the Anabaptists in Holland do only pour Water upon or dip the Head The reasonableness of this Custom being alter'd from Dipping to Sprinkling even necessity herein compelling for in our cold and Northern Climates shou'd all the Children and those are the most who want baptizing now be dip't well truly they might be said in a literal sense to be buried with Christ in their Baptism the washing 〈◊〉 of Regeneration might be the cause of sending them to their Graves But God loves and delights in Mercy more than in Sacrifice and therefore that Commission which our Saviour gave in order to the health of our Souls we cannot without manifest prejudice to the gracious intention of the Lawgiver suppose he wou'd have so executed as to indanger the health of our Bodies Upon this very Account also we read that the Sanhedrim of the Jews was petitioned that Dipping in their Female Purgations might be taken away For what Cause For that the Women of Galilee by reason of the Cold they then got became barren Did the Galileans pity their menstruous Women and shall not Christ have compassion of his poor Babes to whom when on Earth he made such kind Promises gave such tender Embraces and his Divine Blessing and was so angry they should be kept from him In fine I shou'd never condemn any Person for desiring to have his Child dip'd but shou'd he stand upon it as of the Essence of the Sacrament sine quâ non that I think would argue his hankering too much after the legal and Judaical Washings his putting too much stress on the outward Element of Water which is but the visible Sing and his slighting the thing signified viz. the inward invisible Grace the secret Washing and Purification made by the Spirit at the time of Administration I shall conclude this Point with the Judgment of an Ancient Father when consulted upon this very account his words are these That Immersion
in Baptism is now generally disused in these parts of the World and Sprinkling succeeds in its room because the tender Bodies of most Infants the only Persons now to be baptized could not be put under water in these cold Northern Climates without apparent prejudice to their Health if not their Lives And therefore in this as in other cases God requires Mercy rather than Sacrifice especially considering that the main Ends of Baptism are attained this way and the mystical Effects thereof as virtually represented by Sprinkling 〈◊〉 Dipping And to this Mode of Baptizing the Prophet Ezekiel chap. 36. ver 25 26. seems prophetically to refer when he saith Then will I sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your Filthiness and a new Heart will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you Now what has been said upon this Head will I hope satisfie you Neighbour and all other Persons that are not wilfully prejudic'd against Reason and Truth and as for such who are resolved to dissent and wrangle on whatever is said or whatever is proved I shall advise 'em to consult St. Paul for an Answer that may be more satisfactory namely If any man seems to be contentious we have no such custom neither the Churches of God 1 Cor. 11.16 And now Neighbour having gone through the Particulars I was to speak to and having also fairly answered some of the main Objections our Adversaries the Anabaptists chiefly insist on I shall only leave the whole matter before you in order as it is written with some useful Inferences and so conclude In the Introductory Part of my Letter I gave you to understand that there is such a thing as Men call an Erroneous Conscience and that there is a Zeal sometimes which is not according to Knowledge and hence I infer what a prudent and sober-minded Christian ought to do when he had some Scruples upon him before he left the Communion of the Church he was in he ought first from Scripture and Reason to examine into the Validity of the Scruples that seem to dissuade him from his former Profession and when he has done the best he can herein if his Scruples still grow upon him before he quits his old way he shou'd then by all due ways and means examine into the Truth and Safety of the new way proposed unto him instead of the old one else it may so happen that his Change may be for the worse and this no wise Man wou'd make Now in the making this Examination I put you in this way for finding out whether your old Profession or the new proposed one was the better I advised you to consult the holy Scriptures the Standard of Truth and thereby try your old Religion and your pretended new one and see which of them is purer in Doctrine Discipline and Worship and if upon a Fair hearing of the Cause the old one should prove the better it would then be clear you ought not in prudence to change and till this is done you are to keep to your old way And For the more orderly trying this Cause our Adversaries being Complainants and accusing our Church of false Doctrines it lies upon them to prove what those Doctrines are and what be those unlawful Terms of Communion she requires that are not justifiable by the Word of God and till then we are to keep our Ground and to act only as Defendants in the Cause no Man being by Law bound to accuse himself And he that voluntarily espouses a Quarrel against the Religion he has been brought up in without knowing first why and wherefore acts the part of a weak not to say a contentious Christian and 't is a true Maxim He that accuses another of dishonesty ought to look to himself in the first place Therefore in dealing with our Adversaries who are so free of their obloquies I took this Method pursuant to the proverbial Saying now mentioned and so inquired what pretence they have for the Truth for if they are in the wrong there 's no colour for your joyning with them what ever there may be for your leaving the Church for suppose for Argument sake the way you have been in is not good yet if the new way you are invited to be worse 't is madness to change so that be the Title naught that in possession by the Courtesie of all Laws is to be look't upon the best and ought to be so esteem'd until a better is prov'd In examining then into the Goodness and Truth of their Cause in Matter of Religion I took this Method 1st I gave the Character of those Persons who were the first Broachers of this Sect of the Anabaptists and this Neighbour is a very material thing to be considered For suppose I had a journey to take of great Consequence and being a Stranger to the way some Persons come and do very officiously offer themselves to be my Guide pretending they understand the Road very well and are making to the same place well surely in this case before I give my self up to their Guidance and Conduct I shou'd know who they are enquire into their character whether they are boni legales Homines honest and true Men and shou'd I find them otherwise it wou'd be very madness to take them for Guides let them pretend never so fairly For thus has many an honest Man been choust out of his Money and sometimes his Life too by the fair Speeches of Thieves and Robbers In this Case he that values his own safety shou'd with all speed rid himself of their Company and while he may without hazard bid them adieu Now To bring this matter home I have let you know what the first Setters up of this Sect were when and where it was they cry'd up their stupendous Doctrine Repent and be re-baptized or else you are damn'd what horrid Exploits they play'd what Barbarous Acts they were guilty of how they sack'd and plundred all before them filling all the places wherever they came with Blood and Confusion at Leyden Munster Amsterdam Utrecht and other places Now this is matter of Fact and cannot be denied and pray what think you of these new Guides Is it safe to follow them Did Christ and his Apostles ever take these methods to plant the Doctrines of the Christian Religion And shou'd it be alledged that the present Leaders of the Anabaptists are other sort of Men I answer Where there are the same Principles there wants nothing but Power and Opportunity to produce the same Effects And this brought me 2ly To consider what Doctrines they taught They held that Christ was not the true God to this let them take St. John's answer 1 John 2.22 Who is a lyar but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ He is Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son They taught also that we are to be saved by our own Merits and Sufferings and that there
Uncleanness upon them namely Judaism or Heathenism I agree farther that this Custom was probably in use in hot Countries some time after Christ and his Apostles where the same might be done without endangering the Health of the baptized and I shew'd you also that our Church is not against this use when it may be done with fafety as appears by her Rubrick of Baptism But then to urge that this Mode of dipping is Essential in the very nature of the Sacrament that I deny'd and put it to the Anabaptists to prove it if they could and did say and do say still that a little Water in Baptism by sprinkling or pouring the same upon the Person baptized doth as virtually and sacramentally exhibit the Seal of the Covenant as the greatest quantity whatsoever even as I shew'd you by the like parity of Reason that a little Bread and Wine the least Sup as well as the biggest Draught in the other Sacrament doth sufficiently represent the Body and Blood of Christ to every worthy Communicant and hereupon did urge farther that for any Person to insist upon Dipping as essential to the Sacrament of Baptism it seem'd to me to be a leaning too much to the Judaical Washings and putting too much stress upon the outward Sign the Element of Water and a slighting the thing signified the inward washing and invisible operations of the Spirit I shew'd you what was the Judgment of an ancient Father of the Church when consulted on this occasion and what was and is the Practice of all or most Christian Churches in the Western and Northern parts of the World and now in the close I shall refer the whole matter of this Letter to your serious and Christian Consideration with this Caution only 2 Tim. 2.14 that you bear always in mind in the perusal of it St. Paul's Advice to Timothy Of these things put them in remembrance charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers To conclude Thus Neighbour you see upon due enquiry made there 's really nothing in the new way we have been speaking of to invite you to it unless Principles of Sedition Heresie and Schism can be any due Motives herein No the Apostle St. Paul positively affirms that they who upon this account cause Divisions in the Church of God are such as love not our Lord Jesus Christ but that by their good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple Rom. 16.18 Pray then be not led away with an outward shew of pretended Sanctity and Holiness for such a Vizard the false Teachers were to put on 'T is our Saviour's own Affirmation that there should arise false Christs and false Prophets who should be so artful in their counterfeit shews of Piety as to go near imposing upon the very Favourites of Heaven the Elect or chosen of God Mat. 24.24 25. Take therefore our Lord's Advice herein If they shall say unto thee he is in the desart go not forth behold he is in the secret chamber believe it not For when the Root is unsound the Branches must be so likewise A corrupt Tree may bring forth Fruit fair to the eye but not really good Where the Doctrines of any Sect are against God's Word as 't is plain the Anabaptists are they are none of Christ's let them pretend what they will Hear what our Lord bids us do in this case Judge not according to the appearance but judge righteous judgment And as there is nothing in the new way things rightly considered to invite you to it so you have heard there is nothing in the old way the good old Religion you have been baptized and brought up in to dissuade you from it All the Objections our Adversaries have yet made are vanish'd and fled as Chaff before the Wind. Truth is great and will prevail If you are therefore a Lover of God and of Christ of Truth and of your own Soul hold fast to your former Profession without wavering and our Lord Jesus Christ give you a right Understanding in all things Which is the sincere and hearty Prayer of Your loving Friend and Minister Hatfield Jan. 19. 1699 1700. William Eratt POSTSCRIPT I Am told Neighbour by several that you seem concern'd for that you hear I 'm angry at you Now to be free with you and that you may have no more occasion to listen to Hear-say I tell you frankly I am in some measure really so but that I may not be misunderstood in this you must give me leave herein to express my own Meaning and this is but common Justice every Man being suppos'd the best Interpreter of his own words In order then that you or any other Person may the better understand my Meaning when I say I am angry at you I shall consider the matter two ways with regard to an unjust or a just Anger and the Word bears these two senses in the common Usage of it and so 't is also taken in Holy Writ To these I shall speak a little severally 1. As to unjust Anger taken in a strict sense it imports properly speaking not so much an Evil as a groundless and hasty Passion The former of these our Saviour condemns when he tells us Matt. 5.22 We must not be angry with our Brother without a cause of the latter I take the elder Son in the Gospel to be guilty for though his Anger with regard to his prodigal Brother might not be altogether groundless yet was it too rash and hasty The Thoughts of his Brother having wasted his Father's Goods in riotous living gave cause of just Resentment but then the consideration of his being reform'd of his becoming a new Man of his being return'd home in his Person but not in his Vices which moved the tenderness of a Father to pardon should also if it had been well considered have prevail'd with the Brother too not to have been angry the greater Good shou'd have out-ballanced the lesser Evil and so the occasion of the Father's Mirth shou'd have stirr'd up Joy in the Brother also and not a fretting Passion being grounded upon this solid Reason For this thy Brother was dead and is alive again Luke 15.28 32. was lost and is found I am alas too much Man to clear my self of having been never guilty of both these two foolish Passions a Groundless and Hasty Anger and to take up the words of holy Job Should I justifie my self herein my own mouth would condemn me Job 9.20 No far be that Presumption from me but I must freely with the Apostle own my self of like Passions with other men Acts 14.15 Now as to the latter instance of an hasty Passion I wish I might with the elder Brother be blam'd and condemn'd by all good Men shou'd I be angry when I ought to rejoyce if my straying Brother who was lost should be found and return home
through Christ with a thankful Remembrance of his Death and to be in charity with all men So that whether we respect the Conditions qualifying a worthy Communicant or the end of his receiving that Duty cannot be expected from babes but from those who are Proficients are grown up in the Knowledge and Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ And this I hope you will take as a sufficient Answer to this Objection and we may therefore go on Having then shewn both from matter of Fact and matter of Right that Infants ought to be baptized let us make forward to the second branch of the first Exception against the baptizing of Children namely Repentance the Scripture saying Repent and be baptized This I hope will not take us up much time so pray Neighbour let us to it Obj. Thus then object our Adversaries and argue upon it Repentance ought to precede Baptism but Infants cannot repent and therefore should not be baptized I answer There are two kinds of Sins generally speaking Original and Actual As to the first I say the Obedience of the second Adam is as extensive as the Prevarication of the first Adam and that there are no other means revealed unto us to wash off this stain in Infants but Baptism and so most reasonable and necessary that they should as you have heard before be Partakers of this Sacrament but of actual Sins they being not guilty of those they have no occasion to repent So that the Exhortation of St. Peter Repent and be baptized does not at all concern Infants but adult Persons and this will be undeniable if we observe the occasion and purport of the Discourse preceding the same So it was that the Feast of Pentecost being come and vast numbers of People residing then at Jerusalem to keep the Feast both Jews and Proselites of divers Nations as Parthians Medes Elamites c. the Apostles being met there also and assembled together in one of the upper Rooms of the Temple as their daily custom was whilst they were performing divine Service Vid. Dr. Hammond on Acts 1.13 compared with cap. 2. ver 1. it pleased Almighty God at that time to pour down upon them the miraculous Gift of the Holy Ghost hereupon they began immediately to speak unto the People in their Master's Name and upon his Business in their several Tongues and Languages The Rumour of this brought a mighty Concourse to them at the Temple Now the People finding it even so as it was told them whilst Peter and the rest of the Apostles expounded unto them the Doctrines of the Christian Faith many of them were convicted in their Consciences at what they had seen and heard and therefore cried our of a sudden Men and Brethren What shall ue do Answer was made by Peter and the rest of the Apostles Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins And this plainly shews that Repentance here required before Baptism was of adult Persons whether Jews or Profelites for in this case they are all one that they shou'd be heartily sorry for all the actual Sins they had been guilty of resolve to become new Men and to believe in the Lord Jesus that so they might be qualified for Baptism the initiating Seal of the Covenant of Faith This is therefore the Apostolical Doctrine touching the baptizing of adult Persons they ought to repent and believe to qualifie them for receiving the Seal of the said Covenant And so far our Mother the Church doth agree with the Anabaptists if this is their Doctrine as may be seen in her Office of Baptism of those of riper Years Thus the Exhortation before it runs Save your selves from this untoward Generation for that Baptism doth now save not by the putting away the filth of the Flesh but the answer of a good Conscience And the Rubrick expresly requires That due care be taken for the Examination of such Persons as are to be so baptiz'd and that they prepare themselves with Prayers and Fasting for this holy Sacrament I need say no more on this Head and I hope this Point will give you no occasion to leave the Church Having then agreed thus well in this matter I shall be glad if we can close so well in the next Objection and that is as touching the Manner or Mode of Baptizing Second General Objection That Dipping not Sprinkling is the essential and necessary Mode of the Sacrament of Baptism Answer In Answer to this Objection I 'll not deny any thing herein that Scripture or Antiquity seems to favour as to the custom of Immerging or Plunging under Water Persons to be baptiz'd 'T is confess'd then the Jews in their proselyting or making Disciples by Baptism used I believe generally to put the Persons to be baptized all under Water being conformable to their legal Purgations Thus Maimonides speaking of their manner of baptizing If any Person saith he washes or dips himself all over but the tip of his little finger he is yet in his Uncleanness And if any one had much Hair on his head that was also to be washed else the Person was reckoned unclean Suppose farther that in conformity to the Jewish Custom the Mode of John's Baptism was after this manner too as seems to be inferred from his baptizing in Jordan and Enon Joh. 3.23 because there was much Water there and suppose farther that this Custom continued in the Church for some time after Christ and his Apostles in the hot Countries where Dipping of Children might be safe as to Cold and if it be so in these places pray ye who 's against it What! The Church of England That she is not for in her Rubrick about the Baptizing of Infants it is thus ordered That after the Naming of the Child the Minister if they shall certifie him the Child may well endure it shall dip it warily in the Water saying I baptize thee c. So that you see Neighbour you or any other Person might have your Child dipt at its Baptism openly at the Font in the Church if the same is desired here is therefore no Plea left for your separating from our Church upon this account unless Dipping in the River * A River in the Isle of Axholm in Lincolnshire famous for Dipping Torn by a Lay-man shall be lookt upon to answer better the end of Baptism than Dipping in the Font by a lawful Minister But they 'll tell you that Dipping is Essential to Baptism and therefore those that have not been dipt have not yet been duly baptized but this I deny and let them prove it if they can and till then in all reason you ought to stand to your former Baptism And I make this fair Offer Do but continue of our Communion till the Anabaptists shall be able from Scripture Antiquiquity or Reason to make appear that Dipping is essentially necessary to baptism sine quâ non and I shall desire your Conformity no