A BRIEF DEFENCE OF Infant-Baptism WITH AN APPENDIX Wherein is shewed that it is not necessary that Baptism should be administred by Dipping By JOHN OLLYFFE Rector of Almer in the County of Dorset LONDON Printed for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard and are to be sold by John Woolfryes Bookseller in Blandford MDCXCIV TO THE READER THE following Treatise is the Substance of some Discourses which I delivered in my Parish-Church for the Establishment of my Hearers in the present Truth which I now publish partly for their sakes to put them in remembrance thereof and that they may have something still by them to oppose to the restless and importunate Insinuations of those that are of the other Perswasion And partly in hopes that it may be of some Vse to others that either need or desire Settlement or Information herein If it shall fall into the Hands of any of those of the other way I only desire this of them that they will endeavour to read it with as little Prejudice as they can For I can assure them that I have no mind either to deceive or to be deceived But as I have learned and am perswaded of the Truth as it is in Jesus so do I desire to speak and preach and live If any shall think that this had been a Province fitter for others to have undertaken I shall readily join with them in the same Opinion But yet I shall add this that I have some Reasons to incline me to do as I have done And I doubt not but to find Excuse at least among all those that are truly candid and sincere Lovers of Truth If thou receivest Reader any Benefit thereby give God the Praise and pray for me JOHN OLLYFFE A Brief Defence of Infant-Baptism THAT I may proceed with all imaginable Plainness in this Matter I shall first set down what I have to say by way of Argument for it which I shall endeavour to clear up and confirm and then I shall afterwards endeavour to remove the Objections that are most commonly made and most usually rais'd against it To begin with the first That which I have to say by way of Argument in the Defence of Infant-Baptism is this viz. They that are to be owned and received by us as the Children of God and his Peculiar and Covenant-People and Members of the Church of Christ to whom the promised Blessings of the Covenant do belong ought to be baptized But there are some young Children or Infants who are to be received and owned by us as the Children of God and his Peculiar and Covenant-People and Members of the Church of Christ to whom the promised Blessings of the Covenant do belong Therefore there are some young Children or Infants who ought to be baptized For the clearing and confirming of this Argument two things are to be made out and confirmed I. That there are some young Children or Infants who are to be owned and received by us as the Children of God and his Peculiar and Covenant-People and Members of the Church of Christ to whom the promised Blessings of the Covenant do belong II. That being to be so owned and received by us they are therefore to be baptized I. That there are some young Children or Infants who are to be owned and received by us as the Children of God and his Peculiar and Covenant-People and Members of the Church of Christ to whom the promised Blessings of the Covenant do belong For there are some young Children or Infants that have been so received and reckoned and declared by God himself for his peculiar and Covenant-People and Children and Members of his Church and this their Church-Membership and Relation to him as his peculiar Covenant-People and Children hath never been abolish'd or taken away by him but is still continued and rather confirmed to some young Children or Infants still therefore there are some young Children or Infants that are likewise still to be owned and received by us for such 1. I say that some young Children or Infants have been owned and received and declared by God for his Children and Members of his Church and have been reckoned and taken by him into the Number of his peculiar Covenant-People By the Church of God I mean that Body and Number of Persons which God hath chosen and called and set apart in a separate manner from the rest of the World to be brought nearer to himself in Relation and learning the true Religion in order to the partaking of those spiritual and eternal Blessings by Christ which he hath promised in the Covenant of Grace And they that are of the Number of or do belong to this Body or Society of Persons I call the Members of the Church as being Parts or Members of this Body And these being such as God is pleased to take into a nearer and more appropriate Relation to himself than he doth others are therefore also called his Children or Covenant-People and he is their Father and Head So that to be a Child of God and Member of his Church and of the Number of his peculiar Covenant-People is all one that is doth denote one and the same Person Now I say that some young Children or Infants have been of the Number of those that have been thus chosen and taken by God into this near Relation to himself as his Covenant-People and Children so that he hath had a peculiar and separate Respect to them as well as to their Parents and other adult Persons in another and distinguishing manner from what he hath had to the other People of the World and this his Respect to them he hath openly declared and testified that others in like manner might accordingly own and receive them Such hath been the Grace and Goodness of God to choose and take the Infants of such as he hath called into a near Covenant-Relation to himself that they might partake also of the Blessings of the same Covenant It is to be observed from the Beginning that the Seed of those who have been God's Covenant-People have been likewise owned and taken by God into Covenant with him and so have continued in that State till by their own Wickedness and Apostacy they have fallen from it and so have been discovenanted or rejected by God And the whole Current and Harmony of Scripture sheweth that ever since there was a visible Church on Earth Propositions concerning the Subject of Baptism c. by a Synod at Boston p. 12. the Children thereof have by the Lord 's Appointment been a Part thereof Eve the Mother of all Living hath a Promise made Gen. 3.15 not only of Christ the Head-seed but through him also of a Church-seed to proceed from her in a continued lineal Succession which should continually be at visible Enmity with and stand at a Distance and be separated from the Seed of the Serpent Under that Promise made to Eve and her Seed the Children of Adam
as to his Members and Proselytes of his Kingdom and that for this Cause he kindly treated them thus as if on purpose because he foresaw how little Regard would be had to them in this latter Age of the Church And thus again Luke 9.48 He took a Child and set him by him and said unto them Whosoever shall receive this this individual Child in my Name receiveth me But how can little Children be received in Christ's Name if they belong not visibly to him and to his Church If they must be received in Christ's Name so that whosoever receiveth them may be said to receive Christ they must be spiritually related to Christ as those are that are of his Body the Church And this receiving them into the Church must needs be the most proper way of receiving them in Christ's Name as those that are spiritually related to him By all this that hath been said we may plainly see the like Continuance of God's gracious Respect to little ones as ever without the least Abatement or Alteration thereof so that being once chosen and called and esteemed by God as his Children and peculiar People as well as any of the Adult are and so being reckoned therefore as Members of his Church and as having a share in the Covenant as others we must conclude from these continued Indications of his Favour and Kindness to them that they stand in the same Relation to him still and accordingly we are so to own and receive them II. I now proceed to that which was in the second Place proposed for the strengthning of our Argument viz. that Infants or little Children being to be owned and reckoned by us as the Children of God and Members of the Church of Christ to whom the promised Blessings of the Covenant belong they are therefore to be baptized The Rightfulness and Reasonableness of which Consequence I shall now endeavour to make out 1. From the Nature and Ends of Baptism which is appointed by Christ to be the Ordinance of Initiation into the visible Church to be the Badg and Character of the Children of God and of the Members of the Church of Christ and for a solemn Dedication and Engagement of them to the Service of God and for the sealing of the promised Blessings to them Now God having shewn such Respect to little Children as to choose and call them out from the rest of the World and to take them into his own Family and to reckon them amongst his People together with others that are adult may we not reasonably infer that when there is a visible Badg or Ceremony appointed by God by which others that are called by him should be known and distinguish'd from the other People of the World and have the Promises of the Covenant confirmed to them that little Children partaking of the same Favour and Respect with them should have the same visible Badg or Character likewise put upon them that is put upon the rest of his People that they may be visibly owned and received as his in like manner with them and so there may be Care taken about their Education in the true Religion and in the Knowledg and Service of that God to whom they are so solemnly dedicated Baptism being a Mark or Rite appointed by God to this purpose surely it is highly reasonable that Infants should be baptized as well as others seeing they are chosen and called to this Dignity and Privilege of being the Sons of God and Members of his Church and Partakers of the Blessings of the Covenant as well as others are Our Saviour appointed that all his Disciples should be baptized in his Name and thereby solemnly dedicated and engaged to his Service Mat. 28. Go disciple all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father c. Now to be Disciples or Children of God or of the Church of Christ are all Terms that are equivalent in Signification or do mutually infer one another And therefore by the foregoing Discourse Children will come into the Number And when our Saviour hath appointed little Children to be brought unto him and to be received in his Name Matth. 19.13 14. How can we otherwise conclude but they ought to be baptized when Baptism is a sacred Rite appointed by him for such a solemn receiving of those that do belong to him And how can we better express our selves than in the Words of the Office of Baptism that seeing our Saviour hath shewn such Affection to them as to imbrace them in his Arms and to lay his Hands upon them and bless them doubt ye not therefore but earnestly believe that he favourably allows this charitable Work of ours in bringing Infants to his holy Baptism And if when they are brought to us to this End we should refuse to receive them we might well look for his Displeasure and Censure as those were rebuked and blamed by him then that would have kept them from him The Apostle argues with the Jews to bring them to be baptized that the Promise or Covenant did belong to them and to their Children and so also to the Gentiles that were then afar off when they should be called and so consequently to their Children Acts 2.38 39. Repent saith he of your crucifying the Lord of Life which must needs include or suppose a precedent Faith in him repent for Remission of this and other Sins which shall then be forgiven to you and be baptized for the sealing of this Remission and ye shall partake of the Gift of the Holy Ghost likewise for the farther sanctifying of you and the enabling you to perform what ye are called unto For you are God's Covenant-People to whom the Promise is made and to your Children likewise and believing Gentiles when they shall be called into the Church and their Children also And then they shall partake of your Privileges so that as you are baptized for the Sealing and Confirmation of them so shall your Children too This Argument to them both with respect to themselves and little ones must needs be of great Force Repentance must go before in them that had thus grievously sinned before they could partake of the Benefits of the Covenant or have them sealed to them in Baptism but upon their Repentance and Faith the Covenant is confirmed to them and to their Children likewise and so by Baptism might be sealed to them and to their Children also 2. The Justice and Reasonableness of the Baptism of Infants upon the Grounds aforesaid may appear from the Analogy of the Administration of Circumcision to little Infants among the Jews which was the first Token of the Covenant that God appointed upon the very same Ground and Consideration as may be seen Gen. 17.7 I will establish my Covenant between me and thee and thy Seed after thee in their Generations for an everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy Seed after thee And ver 9. Thou shalt keep my Covenant therefore
descended from nothing else than Apostolical Tradition And such was the case of Infant-Baptism And this Custom and Practice is still continued in the Churches of Christ Vid. Dr. Walker's Plea for Infant Baptism c. 27. though of several Denominations unto this Day All the Protestant Confessions of Helvetia Bohemia Belgia Auspurg Saxony Wittenberg Sweveland France and Piedmont do universally give their Testimony to it And Histories give us the same Account of the Practice of it among the Russians Muscovites the Christians of St. Thomas in India those in Syria Cyprus Mesopotamia Babylon Palestine amongst the Cofti in Egypt the Abassins in Africa the Armenians in Turky the Maronites inhabiting Aleppo Damascus Tripoly of Syria Cyprus and Mount Libanus And many of these Churches are at vast Distance one from another and therefore can have but very little Intercourse or Communication one with another And as for the Abassine and Indian Churches they seem in all Probability to be Original Plantations and not to have derived their Faith and Practice from any other Churches and yet all retain and continue the Practice of baptizing Infants These things one would think should be enough to sway with all modest Persons And they would learn not to prefer the new upstart Opinions of those who because of the Smalness of their Number are fain to call themselves the little Flock before the universal consentient Practice of all the Churches of Christ besides in the World An humble Person should far more highly esteem of Godly Antiquity and the Universal Church than of such late and novel Singularity Objections against Infant-Baptism answered HAving thus with all possible convenient Brevity endeavoured to clear up and confirm the Doctrine and Practice of Infant-Baptism I shall now consider the Objections that use commonly to be raised against it and shall endeavour to give them a satisfactory Answer Object 1. That Infants are not capable of the Ends of Baptism that it doth them no Good but they are as well without it as with it because there is no Benefit that they can receive thereby Answ The contrary to this is most true For 1. They are capable of Baptism as it is an outward Badg or Mark of their Relation to God as his Children and peculiar People and of God's gracious Respect to them and owning them for such and so as it is a visible Rite of their Admission into the visible Church of Christ This is one of the Ends of Baptism and Infants are capable of this because for this End it may be administred to those that are meerly passive and do not understand any thing of the Matter As Infants are capable of Civil Adoption and of being entred into any Family Tribe College or other Society by such a Rite as shall be appointed for that end And thus Infants in the Jewish Church were baptized to this end together with their proselyted Parents as we have seen before and we do not find that ever any of the Prophets or our Saviour or the Apostles did find fault upon the Account of Infants Incapacity or otherwise therefore we may conclude that they were capable of Baptism and that their Baptism was likewise well approved of And so by God's own Appointment and Institution Infants were circumcised to the aforesaid Ends and Purposes And how are they uncapable then of Baptism to the same Ends to which they were capable of Circumcision 2. Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a Sign or Note or Seal on God's or Christ's Part to assure us of his gracious Favour to us and to consign over to us the Benefits of the Covenant of Grace Thus Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a Mark or Seal of the Remission or doing away that original Guilt and Obligation to Death which they derived from the first Adam and of their being brought into a new State of Regeneration and Life by Christ Jesus And so as it is a Seal of the Promise and Gift of the Spirit for the sanctifying and renewing them hereafter though for the present they understand nothing of it For it is sufficient also for this that they be meerly passive in the Administration As Baptism is to the Adult a Sign or Seal of the Remission or washing away of that original Guilt which they have from Adam and also of that which they have contracted by their own actual Sin so may Baptism be a Sign or Seal of the washing away of the original Guilt to Infants derived from Adam though they have no Guilt at all of any actual Sin of their own to be remitted or wash'd away And yet as Baptism is a Sign or Seal of the new Covenant for the Remission of all Sin to Believers not only of what is past but also of what is to come when they come to repent of it and to perform the Terms of the Gospel required to such Remission so may Baptism be to Infants a Sign or Seal of the Remission of all the actual Sin that shall ever be committed by them upon their future performing of the same Terms And so as Baptism is to the Adult a Sign or Seal of their being brought into a new Regenerate State and of having a Right to Life by virtue of their Adoption their Sin being done away by the Blood of Christ so may it likewise be to Infants a Sign and Seal of God's gracious Favour in giving them a Right to the Heavenly Inheritance As Infants by virtue of any Civil Adoption may be Heirs to a Temporal Estate and are capable of any Acts of Favour from Man and to be instated in any Privileges Case of Infant-Baptism p. 34. before they come to understand what they are As suppose the King should send for a Traitor's Child out of the Cradle and in the Presence of several Persons assembled for that purpose should say You know the Blood of this Child is attainted by his Father's Treason and by Law he hath forfeited all Right to his Ancestors Estate and Titles and is quite undone though he be not sensible of his wretched Condition But I will pardon this Infant freely and here I restore him to all his forfeited Rights I justify him freely and declare my self reconciled unto him and moreover do adopt him into my Royal Family and do settle part of my Dominions upon him and as a confirmatory Sign of this my Respect unto him I do order and command before you all that he be washed with pure Water to signify that he is cleansed from his original Attainder and Corruption of Blood and that I am perfectly reconciled unto him Who would say that this were an insignificant or useless Sign because the Child did not understand the meaning of it Or who could say that the Child who was capable of the thing signified viz. the removing the Attainder and being vested in a Right and Title to a noble Inheritance should be uncapable of the washing with Water for a Sign
hereof especially considering that a bit of Flesh was appointed and ordered by God to be cut off by Circumcision when the Child was but eight Days old to the same Intent and Purpose though he understood as little of the meaning of that as Infants do of the meaning of Baptism now for this end 3. Infants are capable of Baptism as it is a Mark or Sign on our part of their Dedication to God and to the Service of Jesus Christ and of their entrance into and coming under a Covenant-Engagement to be the Lord 's for the future even whilst they are under the Age of Consent to concur hereto by any Act of their own As Infants are capable of being entred into a School or College and of wearing a Badg belonging to it in order to future Instruction and Learning though at present they understand nothing of it And as it is usual by Wills and Contracts to bring Infants under an Obligation to perform certain Conditions when they come to Age. This is plain from the Covenant-Engagement that the Seed of Abraham was brought under as well as Abraham himself and received the Sign of Circumcision to confirm this at eight Days old For that Rite laid an Obligation upon them to observe all the Laws of Moses though the Rite was administred to them in their Infancy by the Act of their Parents long enough before they themselves came to Age of Consent Gal. 5.3 For I testify to every Man that is circumcised that he is a Debtor to do the whole Law Circumcision though primarily the Rite of the Abrahamical Covenant yet being incorporated into the Political Law of Moses also and so was withal an obligatory Rite to the Observance thereof Thus also in like manner Deut. 29.11 The little ones are likewise said to enter into the Covenant with the Lord and into his Oath as well as all the Men of Israel And it hath been ever reckoned that the Parents may lay an Obligation on the Children as Esth 9.27 The Jews ordained and took upon them and upon their Seed and upon all such as joined themselves unto them so as it should not fail that they would keep the Feasts of Purim And thus Hanna dedicated Samuel to the Service of the Lord from the time of his weaning 1 Sam. 1.28 And Samson was a Nazarite from the Womb Judg. 13.15 And the Covenant was made between David and Jonathan both for themselves and their Seed 1 Sam. 20.42 And the Covenant that Joshua and the Men of Israel made with the Gibeonites obliged all their Posterity And thus as hath been said all the Jewish Infants were consecrated and devoted to God by the Rite of Circumcision For Children are look'd upon as Parts of their Parents and what their Parents do for themselves or them especially when they are in their Infant-state and under the Age of Consent themselves is reasonably esteemed as laying an Obligation upon them as if it were done by them when the thing it self is just and reasonable and may be beneficial to them For though we cannot lay a Burden upon others without their own Consent yet we may procure a Favour for them and oblige them to the Performance of certain Conditions for their future Participation thereof when it is for their Benefit to be so obliged Indeed if they will they may afterwards renounce the Obligation but then they must renounce and quit the Benefit too which if it be considerable there is no wise Man that is in his Wits will ever do but will stand to the Obligation under which he is brought for his own Advantage and will esteem it a great Advantage that he was brought under it And now is all this no Benefit They shall be saved without it they will say But what then Is there nothing to be ever esteemed a Benefit but Salvation it self alone Is all this that hath been said of Infant-Baptism no Benefit Is it no Benefit to be enrolled thereby into the Number of God's peculiar People to have the Mark and Badg of his Children and to be reckoned amongst those that he hath called to a Covenant-relation to himself Is it no Benefit to partake of the Rite of visible Admission into the Church of Christ Is this no Privilege no Benefit If the contrary would be a great Evil to be cast out as common and unclean amongst the rest of the World is it not then a Benefit to have the Badg and Mark of an holy Separation to God as the People of his Adoption and Grace Is it no Benefit to partake of the Mark and Seal of the Blessings and Promises of God of the Removal of the Guilt and Death which they were liable to by Adam and of the Promise of the Spirit for their Regeneration and Sanctification whose Assistance therefore to that end they may comfortably hope for and expect from God as they have need of it whether there be any present Operation or Work of the Spirit upon them or no And is it no a Benefit to them that they have a Seal and Assurance of the Forgiveness of all their actual Sins also afterwards upon their Repentance and Return to God As Baptism is a Benefit to grown Persons as it is a Sign and Pledg both of present and future Blessings so it is also in the same manner to Infants as being a Seal both of all those Blessings which they have need of or do partake of at present and also of those which they have or may have need of afterwards So that suppose they may be saved without it yet this is a Mark or Seal of their Salvation if they die in their Infant-state and of all the Blessings and Privileges that belong to them now or are to belong to them afterwards if they live according to the Terms of the Gospel just in the same manner as it is to grown Persons So that if upon these Accounts it is a Benefit to grown Persons it is upon the same Account also a Benefit to Infants that is it is a Benefit both to one and the other as far as a Sign or Seal or Pledg can be a Benefit And lastly Is it not a Benefit to partake of that Ordinance that is a Mark or Note of their early Consecration and Devotedness to God and to the Service of Christ whereby they are brought betimes into a Covenant-Engagement to be his For that this is so hath been proved and accordingly God so looks upon them and thereupon there is to be all Care taken about their Christian Education that they may be instructed and brought up in the Knowledg of those things which belong to the People and Children of God And this will be useful to them as an Argument to prevail with them to live to God betimes as they grow up because of the Oath and Covenant that they are so early entred into and engaged in This Consideration indeed doth not affect them immediately whilst they are in
Gen. 12.3 and elsewhere But yet this Promise which the Apostle deduceth from these Words must likewise be contained in this Covenant and so those Words must be also a Part of it though spoken at another time Because Circumcision that was the Token of this Covenant was a Seal to Abraham of this Promise Rom. 4.11 And he received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had being yet uncircumcised Which must be founded on the Promise so that that Promise likewise belongs to this Covenant and therefore is sealed by it And this Covenant as delivered to Abraham the Apostle tells us also was confirmed in Christ Gal. 3.17 and therefore can be no other than the Gospel or New Covenant Yea and the Promise of divine Assistance for fulfilling the Conditions of the Covenant was contained also in the same Covenant with Abraham For so we find it was understood by the Church formerly Mic. 7.19 20. He will subdue our Iniquities and thou wilt cast their Sins into the Depth of the Sea Thou wilt perform the Truth unto Jacob and the Mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn to our Fathers from the Days of old Which must needs have Respect to God's Oath and Covenant with Abraham And so also the Apostle reckons that God's sending his Son Christ to bless them and to turn them from their Iniquities was a great Instance of the Accomplishment of the Covenant that God made with Abraham Acts 3.25 26. For the great Design of God in this Covenant at first as appears by the first Call that was given him Gen. 12.1 was to separate him and his Family and Seed from the rest of the Nations which were fallen into the vilest Idolatry and to preserve Religion and the Worship of the true God in his Family And the Promise of the Messiah in whom the Covenant is founded had this Design in it Luke 1.72 73 74 75. The Oath that he sware to our Father Abraham that he would grant unto us that we being delivered out of the Hands of our Enemies might serve him without Fear in Holiness and Righteousness before him all the Days of our Life So that the Covenant with Abraham was a Church-Covenant and contained in it all the Terms and Design that belonged to such a Covenant and was made with all the Family of Abraham in which his Infant-seed was also comprehended and were to partake of the Promises and Privileges that appertained to it It belonged to all his Family in the external Dispensation of it and none were excluded from the Benefits of it that did not exclude themselves by their own actual Unbelief and Disobedience to the Terms of it And Circumcision was a Seal of it to all with whom it was made as the visible Church of God and to the Infant-seed of Abraham as Parts or Members thereof For Sacraments or Signs are not appointed to the Church Invisible for who shall judg then to whom they are to be administred but to the Church as Visible Thus having cleared up the Nature of the Abrahamical Covenant which God made with him and his Seed even in their Infant-state I shall now go forward and shall observe how God hath shewn the same gracious Respects to Infants in the Progress of his Dispensations towards the Jewish People And thus we find afterwards that the whole Body of the Jewish People in Jacob's Line amongst whom Children also were contained are collectively stiled by God himself his Son Exod. 4.22 23. Say unto Pharaoh Thus saith the Lord Israel is my Son even my First-born And I say unto thee Let my Son go that he may serve me Thus God speaks of them before they were formed into a Political Commonwealth only because he had chosen and called them out of the Nations to be a peculiar People to himself And in this Appellation their little ones were comprehended as appears because they were of the Number of those that were to go also For Pharaoh would have let the Men of Israel go but not their little ones Exod. 10.10 But we will go saith Moses with our Young and with our Old ver 9. So that the whole Body of Israel including little ones also was God's Son for God had chosen and called all the Seed of Israel to be his Covenant-People And therefore thus also Moses afterwards enters and engages all into Covenant with God one as well as another taking in the little ones likewise Deut. 29.10 11 12 13. Ye stand this Day all of you before the Lord your God your Captains of your Tribes your Elders and your Officers with all the Men of Israel your little ones your Wives and the Stranger that is in thy Camp from the Hewer of thy Wood to the Drawer of thy Water that thou shouldst enter into Covenant with the Lord thy God and into his Oath which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this Day that he may establish thee to Day for a People unto himself and that he may be unto thee a God as he hath said unto thee and as he hath sworn unto thy Fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob. So that this was but the renewing of the Abrahamical Covenant with the People as appears by the latter Clause of it running in the same Terms for the Accomplishment of the Promise and Oath made to Abraham and his Seed Deut. 3â— â— And in the next Chapter the Grace signified by Circumcision is there promised to Parents and Children to enable them to perform the Terms of it And it being promised to both it imports that the Covenant which Circumcision sealed belongs to both For the Lord thy God will circumcise thine Heart and the Heart of thy Seed And after this again even when the People were fallen off also to the Worship of other Gods yet retaining still the Acknowledgment of the God of Israel though they joined others with him God challengeth and owns their Children for his Ezek. 16.20 21. Thou hast taken thy Sons and thy Daughters whom thou hast born unto me and these hast thou sacrificed thou hast slain my Children and delivered them to cause them to pass through the Fire Now it was upon this Account viz. by virtue of God's choosing and calling the Seed of Abraham and separating them from the rest of the World to the Knowledg and Worship of the true God that they were stiled his peculiar People and Children and not upon a mere Political Account or upon the Account of other carnal and temporal Respects For in this manner we find Moses speaking to them Deut 14.1 2. Ye are the Children of the Lord your God and therefore are not to follow or comport with the Customs and Practices of the Heathen For thou art an holy People unto the Lord thy God and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar People to himself above all the Nations that are upon the Earth And so chap. 7.6 For thou art an
holy People unto the Lord thy God the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special People unto himself above all the People that are upon the Face of the Earth Which are the Appellations that are likewise given to the Members of the Christian Church in the New-Testament-Times by the Apostle 1 Pet. 2.9 Ye are a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an holy Nation a peculiar People that ye should shew forth the Praises of him who hath called you out of Darkness into his marvellous Light which in time past were not a People but are now the People of God So that these Titles being given to the Jews import their like Covenent-relation to God in a Church-sense as they here belong to Christians in the same Sense Now the whole Body of the People of the Jews being called by God into this holy Covenant-relation to himself are stiled by the Prophet Israel his called Isa 48.12 And as thus he chose and called them so he chose their Seed after them Deut. 4.37 The great Design of this Election and Call of God being to preserve pure Religion among them which was extinguish'd in the rest of the World and therefore he took and adopted their Seed likewise to be as a Nursery to the Vineyard of the Church And therefore as the Psalmist saith Psal 78.5 He established a Testimony in Jacob and appointed a Law in Israel which he commanded our Fathers that they should make known unto their Children that the Generation to come might know them even the Children which should be born who should arise and declare them to their Children According to Deut. 4.9 and chap. 6.7 the great Care and Design of God being to raise up an holy People to himself among the Nations to preserve the true Religion in the World and it being of great Import to this to have Children and little ones well educated and brought up in the Belief and Owning and Worship of the true God he therefore ordered them a visible Admission or Partnership and Membership in his Church that they might be also owned and received as his People and Children that their Parents and Guardians might be obliged to take the more Care of their Education for the promoting the great End of the Covenant Thus the Adoption and the Promises as the Apostle tells us Rom. 9.4 pertained to all Israel amongst whom the young Children also were included they being all God's Chosen and Called and so continued till they were rejected and cut off through their own actual Apostacy and Rebellion against God and then they were discovenanted both they and the Children of those that were guilty of this Apostacy But for others that continue still in a profess'd Adhesion to God and persist in the Profession of the true Religion this their Church-state and Covenant-relation to God as his peculiar People is continued still both to them and their Seed and was never taken off from either unto this Day Which is the second thing I am now to come to shew 2. I say that this Adoption of the Infants or young Children of his Covenant-People into this near Relation to himself as the Children of God and so their Partnership or Membership in the visible Church of God was never abolish'd or taken away by God but is still continued and rather confirmed For how indeed can it be imagined or supposed that now in the Gospel-Administration which is an Administration wherein there is a greater Extensiveness and Enlargement of God's gracious Respect to the World in respect of spiritual Privileges and Mercies than there was before that his Goodness and gracious Respect should be more restrained in reference to Infants and young Children than it was formerly For the Infants of Jews and Proselytes formerly were taken into the Number of God's Covenant-People and Children and had the Seal of the Covenant applied to them for the Confirmation thereof And if this Privilege and Benefit should be now taken away their Condition after Christ would be worse than before and they should be Losers by the World 's becoming Christian This one would think none should ever imagine Neither when we speak thus do we complain against God but against them who would exclude whom the Lord hath not excluded For we do not find that ever God hath repented of any Grace or Favour that he hath shewed to the little ones of his Covenant-People in respect of their being to be reckoned of his Church But in those Prophecies which we find in the Old Testament concerning the future Discoveries and Declarations of his Favour we find that there was the same Grace and Kindness foretold and intended to be shewn to the Children as to the Parents So that in this manner the Church should be propagated from Parents to Children and so the true Religion preserved in this way as the most proper means for it Thus in that Prophecy which hath relation to the Calling of the Jews in Gospel-times as appears by the Apostle's quoting some part of it to that purpose Rom. 11.26 viz. Isa 59.20 As for me this is my Covenant saith the Lord My Spirit that is upon thee and my Words which I have put in thy Mouth shall not depart out of thy Mouth nor out of the Mouth of thy Seed nor out of the Mouth of thy Seeds Seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever And so in like manner it is a Prophecy of Gospel times Isa 44.3 I will pour Water upon him that is thirsty and Floods upon the dry Ground I will pour my Spirit upon thy Seed and my Blessing upon thy Offspring And they shall spring up as among the Grass as Willows by the Water-Courses And Ezek. 47.22 The Tenour and Intendment of God's Favour to little ones is always the same as it ever was in reference to their being of his Church and People nor is there the least Indication of any Design of the Dissolution or Alteration thereof For first for clearing of this Matter let us consider that when God first shewed this Respect to Abraham and his Infant-seed to take them near to himself as his peculiar People God's Election and Call of them to this peculiar Covenant-relation to himself as his Children and People and so his giving them a Partnership or Membership in the Abrahamical Church was not with Respect merely to their Proceeding by natural Generation from Abraham but from Abraham as a Believer and Worshipper of the true God there being a fair Prospect upon this Account that Abraham would take care to train them up and educate them in the true Religion Whereas the Children of Heathens where there was no such Prospect had no such regard shewn them by God This seems to be much upon God's Heart as we may express it in his treating with Abraham and giving of him those great Promises Gen. 18.19 For I know him that he will command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall
our Actions and for the Information of our Minds in the Knowledg of those Truths which lie latent in Scripture and are often delivered to us only by secret Insinuations and are to be deduc'd thence by just and rational Conclusion And how would a great part of the Scripture else in many Respects be wholly useless to us And I conclude therefore that there is no Necessity for the Proof of Infant-Baptism that there should be a plain and express Command for it in Scripture but it is sufficient if it may be justly and reasonably inferred by Force of Argument by the diligent Application of our Minds to the Consideration of those Grounds upon which it may be warranted and built And if there be sufficient Ground for it it ought to be received though the Reasons for it should lie deeper than they do and could not be discovered without a more narrow and accurate sifting into the Matter And it is in vain to pretend that in doing thus we reject a Divine Command for humane Consequences For what Divine Command do we reject that of baptizing profess'd Believers But do we reject that Command because we hold that Infants may be baptized as well as they or is this only an uncertain and humane Consequence The Act of Reasoning indeed is ours in deducing the Conclusion from such Principles But if the Premises from which the Conclusion is drawn be certain and divine then so is the Conclusion which is drawn from them if the Deduction be duly and regularly made For the Conclusion always follows the Premises and is of the same Nature with them as being virtually contained in them though the bringing of it to light is by Means of our Reasoning 2. Therefore I answer and argue thus That for which there is a sufficient Warrant without an express Command may and ought to be reeceived without an express Command but for the Baptism of Infants there is a sufficient Warrant without an express Command therefore it may and ought to be received without it If the Anabaptists deny that there is or can be any such sufficient Warrant for Infant-Baptism without an express Command as no doubt they will do we must come to the Proof of it If we cannot make this good then I acknowledg we must produce an express Command or else we must give up the Cause But if we can then there is an End of the Objection So that our Business is to come to the Trial whether we can or cannot and so the Objection however is at an end And this I think is a sufficient Answer to it And so refer the Vindication to what is before argued 3. But yet that I may answer a little more directly I shall add this further that in the Grounds which I have laid for Infant-Baptism there is that which is equivalent to a Command Because it is reasonable thence to conclude that it is the Mind and Will of God that we should make use of it and that howsoever it be made known to us is our Rule which we are to walk by For how can we conclude otherwise when God hath been pleased to appoint a discriminating Badg and Character for his People and Children whom he hath chosen and called into a near Covenant-relation to himself from the rest of the World and hath appointed Baptism for that purpose now and for such other Ends as little Children for the main are capable of as well as grown Persons how can we otherwise conclude I say but that it is the Mind and Will of God that it should be administred to them as well as others when it is in the Nature and Ends of it accommodated to their Use and Benefit as well as grown Persons and when a former Ordinance which was for the same Ends was expresly commanded to be administred to them And when we consider that this had been the Practice before in the Jewish Church to receive the Infants of Proselytes also by Baptism as we are informed by the most authentick Records of that People and the doing of this in the Christian Church is no where forbidden how can we conclude but that it was the Mind and Will of God that it should be continued still though he gave no express Command for it there being no need of an express Command for the doing of that which used commonly to be done but for the doing of that which had not been done before viz. the proselyting of all Natious to the Faith of Christ as already come without giving any Order about their Children because there was no Alteration made about them as the Subjects of Baptism from what had been commonly observed before And what is all this but a virtual Command though it be not express'd in so many Words or how could the Apostles then or we now otherwise understand it And we now much less considering that it was the universal Practice of the Christian Church next and immediately after the Apostles which we cannot conceive how it should come to pass unless it had had its Original before And considering the Premises if the Anabaptists will prove that it is not the Mind and Will of God that Infants now should be baptized it is not enough for them to alledg that we have no express Command for it but they must-either produce an express Prohibition of it which they do not pretend to do or else that which is equivalent to a Prohibition by shewing the Absurdity or Incongruity of it in the Nature of the thing to the Use of Infants as unfit or uncapable Subjects of it And then indeed we should conclude as well as they that it is contrary to the Mind and Will of God to have it administred to them As we hold the baptizing of Bells or other inanimate things amongst the Papists or should hold the Baptism of Dogs or any other brute Creatures to be so because though the Baptism of such Creatures be not expressy forbidden yet it is altogether incongruous in respect of the Nature and Ends of Baptism to have it administred to such And therefore the baptizing of them is an Abuse of Baptism and a gross Superstition But when Baptism is so ordered and constituted by God in the Nature and Ends of it as that Infants are capable Subjects of it and when there are such other just Grounds laid for the Application of it to them and no Prohibition or Caveat put in to warn us about it we cannot but hold rather that it is the Mind and Will of God that it should be applied and administred to them And this I take to be equivalent to an express Command I shall only add this further that it may be said That there is a general Command which may likewise extend to Infants even in the general Commission Matth. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Go disciple all Nations baptizing them For Infants are a Part of the Nations And if Infants may be made Disciples as that