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Les diagrammes suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 TREATISE oir BAPTISM, ▲fl APPOINTED BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND PRACTISED BT THE APOSTLES AND FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. COMTAININQ $'' f \ REPLY, TO MR. elder's letters ON INFANT BAPTIS M. AITD A SOLEBKSr APPEAL, IN FAVOR OF A SPIRITUAL CHURCH, By EDMUND A. CRAWLEY, A. M. HALIFAX, N. S. I'UINTED BV JAMES SPIKE— GRANVILLE STRFET. 1835. m m m m m '*' .''vl Ki b . I i TO THE MINISTERS AND MEMHEUS OF BAPTIST CUUU(HE8, IN NOVA-SCOTIA, NE'.V-yRUNSWICK AND ELSEWHERE. Dear Brf.thiien', A,^;n\n such of you ns compose the clmrchos of our donominatioii ill tlirsc Provinces, so much Christian union has hfip^'ily prevailed, that no otlier consideration than tliis need be sought for in order to justify the dedication of the following pa^'^s primarily to you. You will, I doubt not, rcceivs with kindness the humble labours of one, who in sustaining tha principles which distinguish you from other Christians, leel» assured that he is eni;aged in the cause of the Redeemer. But there are other grounds, which, it appears to me render it peculiarly proper that this treatise should be expressly presented to you, and which it may be not amiss to mention. Naturally averse to public controversy,! have been induced to undertake this labour mainly because I have been particular- ly requested to do so by several of the churches ; so far, there- fore, these pages may be regarded as clothed with your expre^ authority. Besides, the " series of letters" to which a rcpljr is hero ofTc-ed, is addressed personally to you ; which circum- stance seems especially to demand the sanction of your name to the present treatise. And when, too, we remember how ex" coedingly rare is a change of principle on the part of thopo professing our distinguishing sentiments, and that the presj-nt instance of it is therefore likely to produce some surprise and inquiry on the part both of Baptists and Pedobaptists, it seems right that a publication, intended, and, I hope, in some degree calculated, to confirm belief, and controvert error, should ap- pear under the patronage of those churches, which, if scriptural j'.tfi- r m i'l' '1 , i;..t Rli.f"; i ■. : \ ■i'a IT in their sent PEDICATIO.V. ofthe ordinancfi oCLnptis ments respect at least, as " the pill m, mnv I)C rrparcl- pillar and rrround ot tl le ed, in this truth." To (he above considerations I cannot refrain from ad ^>vo the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, whatever the r sen U- and whose loved society has oftentimes cheered n/y pas aJe th ough th.s vale of rears ; still. I am compelled to look to he ol the Cross-to the complete establishment ofthe reicn of M ss.ah ; and to the churches which profess those pr fiples Character which many, very many of them exhibit; by the zeal «ud success of their ministers in publishing ■. t e Go el o Salvation ; " by the seal which God has set upon tle!r ab ns m her t,,,ff .,„,,^„.^ Holy Spirittoi^egener t CO an humble labourer in the same portion of our Lord's vineyard «h„ ??''^°" '"«•/««'■ brethren, if, i„ my endeavour to tell you «elf and wlule. m conclusion, I earnestly crave your prayers on pamed with God's blessing, but that in all things I maybe ««ade an .. able minister ofthe New Testament,'' pern t'n e to subscribe myself, * Vour faithful serrant, and brother in christian hope and labours E A. CllAWLEV. OJV BAPTISM. I: i PART FIRST. CHAPTER I. THE NF.U' TESTAMENT THE OM.Y FROrEU CflDE TO IT3 PECULIAR ORDINANCES. Tt would be easy to settle the controversy lespccting In rit IJaptism, if men woiiid agree to let the New Tesianicn la (icridf lor who, tliat had never heard of the custom of bap- tizing infants, and should contine his inquiries to (he writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, would ever think of introdu- cing such a practice > On this account it is, that much resort has been had to the Old Testament, and to Ecclesiastical His- tory, in order to prop a cause, that has been felt to be untena- ble in any other way. Now, this appears to us inconsistent with the dictates of common sense. It is an admitted principle of Protestants that the Bible is the only rule of faith and prac- tice ; ought they not equally to admit the principle that the New Testament is the only rule of Christian ordinances ? Baptism is not a Jewish, but a Christian rite ; about which, Jesus Christ and his Apostles are much more proper instructors than Moses and the Prophets. Most people feel, at once, that there is much reason in this, and setting to work to find infant baptism in the New Testament, are astonished to see that it is not there, or can only be made out by a strained construction of a few passages which in fact do not relate to it at all. But why do they so naturally resort to the ^ew Testament in the first instance .' Is it not because it is a principle of com- rnon sense to look for information respecting a ceremony pcai- liar to any institution, in the laws immediately relating to that lu.^utution and not elsewhere.' Now, Baptism is an ordinanco B m ■y>t tii ^•/' . s_wf.. Sjhjrrt^ of Dipli^m. Part I poculiai- to C'liriiitinnify, nii!l in the ,\c\v Tc-'tniiiont tlirr-r,,ro whirh is tiic cod J of Christian laws, must wo look lor uli need- ful infornuilion rcspcctinjr its distiriguiiiliiiig ritcn This case is clearly distinci from lliusc principles of jnornl truth nhichhave ahvavij belonged to roii^ion un'lor every dis- pensation, bucli as, Ic ve to (iod ; salvi.tion hy faith ; or the moral duty of a Sabbath, a day of rc:,t, which must contiii.K! a type ol Heaven until Heaven he won ; tbctu principles aro perpetual ; thry nnver can c!ian;,'o. Jliit there is no such per- petual moral duty in tho npplicaUoii ofaii outward <:ercniony to infants. It may be right under one economy, and v, ron-r under another. It may serve the purpose of n mixed di»peiK=;;:lmn like that of tho Jews, while it may be in pnnciplo oi-nosed to the spiritual nature of the Kmgdoi.. of Ciiri;^t ; and for tiiis reason wo ara bound to wit!iiK,!d our iiand iVcm sucli a ceremony un- less the law of our IJcnvonly Master clearly enjoins it. Taking the principle w^e have now stated to be correct, we shall not feel ourvclves bound to pursue ti;c course ivlr. Eider has adopted, but .«hall go at once to tiie Now Testament as'the fountain head of inlbrmntion concerning baptism. Attlse same time, we havenodisinclniation to examine the argument whicii rests on tho supposed identity of the Jewish and Clirictian churches. To this subjoct we shall give our altenlion after having hrst sought liglit at what we deem tlie only saiisfactory source. Many minds we apprehend will at oncc'perccivc the correctness of tlii^ method, and will feci that to I:crp them back f:om examining the pr.ges of tho New Tcslamrnt until they shall have first sought, among Jewish riic?, aigum.-nts for C.liristian ordinances, is r.ot only to weary them witii a most unnecessary and tedious delay, but is also unfair to the subject in as much as it first weakens the mind witii perplexed" and woarisome inquiries before it admita it to feed on the true sources of information. In order to facilitate investigation we propose to collect together in the course of these pagns nil the passaoys in the New Tcstanient from which it is possible to obtain any light on the two main points of inquiry. What sort of persons were'^l-aptized ; and. In what manner were they baptized; or, in otiior woids,' U ho are the proper anbjccU of this ordinance; and. In wiiat mc.dc ought it to be ndininislercd. The next chapter shall be devoted to the evide.icn respecting chiefly tho subj.-cts of bap- tism as the rite wa.s performed previous to Our Saviour's re- surrection, together with a few brief remarks on that evidence as wc proceed. i%*='iil:»i^v. ^??S^ ^:t^. ^ C'utp. II] Subjects oj Biipiism. CHAPTER II. BAPTISM PREVIOT-S TO THF. COMMISSION OF THE SAVIOUR TO THE AroSTLCS TO TEACH All. NATIONS. A3 the ordinance of hnptism first appears in connection with the iiiinistry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of our I.ordJegiis Ciirist, such scriptures arc first presented as relate to Ilia mission, so far as tlioy seem to bear on tins ordinaace. '* First, The divine mission of John and the design ofil. Mark i. I, — '■ The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, " file Son of God, (John i. (J,) Tliere was a man sent from •' God, whose name was John. (3Iiirk i. 2,) As it is written " in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, " whicli shall rnrpARr, thy way before thee. (INIatt. iii. 3,) " For tills is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, say- " iiig. The voice ot one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye " liio way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Luke i. 16,) " And many of the chiidrea of Israel shall he turn to run " LORD THEIR con ; (ver. 17,) and he shall go before him in " the spirit and power ofKlias, to turn the hearts of the fathers '• to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; " to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke iii. " l,'J,i Now— the word of the Lord came unto John, the son " of Zacharius, in the wilderness. (John i. 33,) He that '• sent me to baptize with water." In the above passages, we see, that the way of the Lord, that IS, the approach ofChristianity, or the Kingdom of Christ, v,-as prepared by a change in men's feelings as respects religion, by " turning the hearts of the disobedient tothe wisdom of the just" — here we see the commencement of a Kingdom which was to be spiritual — also, we see that John was " sent" of God "to baptize," that his mission and practice in this respect were of Divine origin. * For the collections and difiposilion of th«»e pawages the writer ii largely inJebtcil to " the Scripture Guide to B«pi'»-ni,"' while at the lama time hi* own examinalio.i of the quotations enables hira io vouch for ih«ir «ccur«cy. m \f'/ .J V * 1 ' 1 ' ''i I .''1 "J ! L.^ liitoHiMiiiiiaiaai a Suijciti uf U'plitin [Purl 1 Sccondhj, J"hn'»py,;uhln^-tl„,,„.f,nl,jerlnf,t, " ^'^"■l'''■ '' .*~"" '" "'°'"' 'J">'« ^amc John tl.o n,-„„,.t .'■•eacl..n^ ,„ .he w.l.lerness of Juda-a, and suvmp „',• "v k o, the kingdom of Heaven .s at hand. aij'n" 1 A, J baptism of repentanco for the remission of sins f \ct8 , " ttr^ft^s ' " '."1"'T of repentance to all the pi^p^;. NraU (Acts xix. I,) Saying unto the people, That thev •• fi';:r af,',L,i:s,'"'" "'■"" '"°""' "- '"" '■- "'»• Thirdly, John's Baptizing, Mark 1. 5,-" And there went out unto him all th-- land '■hmivT.;/» '^'^ of Jerusalem, and were all haptized u' him IN THE RIVER OF JOUDAN, CONFESSING THEIR SIVS (the same in Matt. iii. 6.) (Matt. iii. 7, to lx>,) Bu w £ he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to hi" baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vLTs who '• thmlf r« ' ^•'^'■*.^?,'-.«' '■■""« 'neet for repentance : 9. And " father ;°T '"'^'" >'°''"^'^*^«' We have Abraham to o" >• " [o r^L uff^ ""'° ^°1' ''>^' ^°^ '« "^l^'e o<*'hese stones " ix/iri ■''/ ^''^ ""*' ^•^--^ham. 10. And now also the axe 19 laid unto the root of the trees : therefore every t ee into me tire. 11. I indeed baptize you with water untn repentance : but he that cometh after me is mighUe than whose shoes I am not worth v to " hpnr • i.I i n u ' ;; you with the Holy Ghost a^ij '°M IT.' " 'I ^tJtrT^ in his hand, and he will throughly puree his fl^r: « t ; gather 1.^ wheat into the garner^^:tTwi rbur^^up S chaff with unquenchable fire. ^Luke vii. 30,) b"? he " Fh.ZT" ""f Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." -e'«i»&t for Ch^ril'l-r P«^'«g" .^« f '^^ the progress of that preparation exhlLi ^''"'''^ ''^':^ ''^•''*"^ '° repent and believe. °The exhortation was not ineffectual, for they were baptized in Jo r! we're'bfSel " t'. """ '^''" ^PP^"' '- charal^ter of «?/ who were baptized. 1 here is no mention of infants here, nor can we suppose they were included, as the description '" co„?es smg their sins" appears to apply to all who' were baptized. Chap. Ill] Subjects of Baptism. But, while the penitent were received and baptized, the impeni- tent were rejected. " O generation of viperi, who bath warovd you to f!ee from the wrath to come." M Fourthly, Christ baptizing by his disciples, in Judeta. John iii. 22, — " After these things came Jesus and his diaci- " pies into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, " aid baptized. '26. And they came unto John, and said unto "him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom " thou bearest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all men " come to him. 27. John answered and said, A man can re- " ceive nothing, except it be given him from Heaven. 30. He ' must increase, but I mml decrease." (Chap. iv. I,) " When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had " heard that Jesus mauh and baptized more disciples thart " John. 2. (though Jesua himself baptized not but his disci- " pics.) 3. He left Judaea, anJ departed again into Galilee." Here it appears that the ordinance as practised by John the Baptist was the same as that performed by the Saviour through his disciples ; for, the same language is used to describe both ; the disciples of John seem to recognize the practice of the Saviour as the same thing that John had practised ; and the expression "made and baptized — di.ocipler:," shews that the persons baptized were such as received the instructions of the Saviour ; they were not infants therefore. Nor is it probable, that the Saviour would come behind John in requiring repent- ance and faith, especially as it is said of him equally with John that he preached repentance. (Matt. iv. 17,) " From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." .„!v '->'j M CHAPTER III. THE COMMISSION OP OUR f.oRD TO HIS APOSTLES TO TEACH AXD BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. The foregoing are all the passages that shew the so.t of persons baptized previous to the resurrection of ihe Saviour. After that event, and just previous to his ascension, the ordi- nance is again brought prominently forward in his commission to the Apostles to "go and teach all nations." Thai commis- sion is as follows : F' M ^^m^imw^fmm I 10 Subjects of Baptismt [Pari t. Matt, xxviii. 16. — " Then the eloven disciples w«nt " away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appoint- ' ' ed them. 18. And Je.sus came and spake unto them, saying, " All power is given unto ine in heaven and in earth. 19. Go "ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the " name^ of the >'a.her, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost. " 20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I havo " Commanded you : and, lo, I am with you always even unto •• the end of the world." Mark xvi. 15.—" And he said unto them, Go ye into " all the world, » I preach the Gospel to every creature. 16. He that beheveth and is baptized shall be saved ; but •• he that beiieveth not shall be damned. 19. So then, after " the Lord had spoken -jnlo them, he was received up into " Jieaven, anC sat ^n the right hanii of God." On this passage we offer the following remarks : — 1 . Tho Apostles of our Saviour, had now for a considerable time been engaged in preaching the Gospel and baptizing converts.— Both from their own practice, therefore, as well as that of John the Baptist, they were by this time perfectly familiar with the ordinance. They had seen it administered to those who con- feated their sins; who became disciples; and who, as we shall hereafter more particularly shew, were baptized by the plung- ing of the body in v.ater; " they were baptized in the river of Jordan confessing their sins." It must be quite apparent thej that when our Saviour addressed them with the words " Go ye and teach all nations baptizing them, &c." the apostles must have understood him to mean, that they were to go and do, throughout the world, what they had now been doing in Juda;a! What then, let us ask, had been the nature of their ministry? What had they been doing.? They, like John the Baptist, had been preaching repentance and faith in the Gospel, and bap- tizing those who became disciples to this teaching. This then is what they must have understood their duty to be under tho present commission. 2. The only additions to their duty that we can discern ar^the extension of their ministry to all nations, and, perhaps, the express mention of the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. As yet their ministry had been confined to Judaja; but the Saviour, knowing that all power was given unto him •' in heaven and earth," that "the heathen were his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth his possession," now lO express terms extends the blessings of the Gospel — Ihe sam€ blessings which Judaja had already largely enjoyed, to the thdp. i//.] Subjeett of Baptism. 11 Utmost bounds of the earth; — " Go ye," says he, *' into all the world, and preach the Gospel," and, lest they should still con- fine their labours to the Jews scattered abroad, he adds the words " to every creature." " Go and teuch all nations," (panta ta ethne,) that is, all the Gentiles; this glorious extensi- on of his mercy however the apostles were late to perceive. 3. As the Saviour had preached, distinctly and constantly! of " the Father," of himself " the Son," and of the Holy Ghost " the comforter," we cannot suppose there was any thing substantially new in the direction here given, to baptize ia the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; it was no more than a direction to use a form consistent with doctrine of which they already knew much ; although, doubtless, these truths gradually unfolded themselves with greater clearness to the minds of the apostles after the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost began more largely to exercise his office of bring- ing all things to their remembrance. It should be remembered however, that, even John baptized those who knew the Fa- ther; and who were desired to believe on him who should come a^er, that is the Son; and in the Holy Ghost, with or in whom the Son should baptize. 4, The foregoing considerations render it quite immateri- al whether we call John's baptism Christian baptism or not; it was the sarre as Christ himself practised by his apostles, (a fact of which Mr. Elder takes no manner of notice ;) and what they practised was plainly what he now enjoins them to continue to practise throughout the world. What right have we to say that they now added the baptism of infants to the baptism of penitent believers ; the passage does not say so. And if we should allow from Acts xix 1. the case of the Ephesians, (the meaning of which however is doubted,) that «hey re-baptized John's disciples, it gives no proof that they re-baptized their own, nor does it afford the least proofthat they altered the ordi- nance from what it had been before, viz. the immersion of be- lievers in water on their repentance and faith. But moreover the language of the commission expressly forbids 3uch a con- struction of this passage. First, — It is impossible to read it without pei reiving that the Apostles were first to teach, then to baptize, and further to continue to instruct in all that Christ had commanded. The word teach (matheteusate) which first occurs in the passage signifies, as all allow, to make disciples or scholars. Who doea not see the absurdity of applying this word to infants ? There is no authority, except that of Mr. Elder, for sivinv the uord ;i:- ' "^im u 1 ^ »« Subjects of Baptitm. [Part I. the sense of To make a proselyte ; poietai proathdon is the expression used in Matt. 23. 15. in that sense. A disciple or scholar IS of course one who learns ; his character must de- pend on the nature of the doctrine he is taught. In this case that doctrine is the Gospel ; this requires repentance and (aith in Its disciples ; and in the sense therefore in which our Sa- viour used this word, itmeans one who learns the Gospel, one who by faith is made a scholar in the school of Christ "Go preach the Gospel" he says " to every creature." he that be- lieveth and is baptized shall be saved-his disciples are " the «aved, of such the Lord afterwards added to the church daily Ihey were those who in obedience to the apostolic direction had sajed theqiselves, by faith, " from an untoward genera- te cond/y— The language inMarkxvi. evidently contains an account of precisely the same commission as that in Mat- thew. It IS the language of a different witness recording the Ilr'll? Ifr^^*""""- • '^ ™"ft therefore betaken as explanatory of Matthew's meaning. What that meaning is. it leaves no room to doubt. What Matthew calls " teaching all nations." Mark describes by the words " Go preach the Gospel to every creature.-' while the words of Mark " he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, " are explanatory of these words of Mat- thew, "baptizing them in the name of the Father. &c " plainly those are intended who on hearing the Gospel preached should u ?r A?".*'^ "'""•'^ ""^'^^ ^^^"^ disciples and scholars in the school of Christ, and entitle them to baptism. Thirdly,— The direction in Matthew to continue instructi- on teaching them to observe all things," shews that the eye of the Saviour IS still directed to those who should become his disciples by faith, to those capable of learning. The pnssase then m every point of view excludes the idea of infant baptism CHAPTEH IV. IJfSTANCES OF BAPTISM RECORDED IN THE ACTS, ALLUSIONS iTf JOHX iii. &c. All the instance- of baptism which follow the Commission °' Q"*" — iviour. wili bo found cO harmonize perfectly with the • Sto more on thii subjact in Chipier VII. Chap, /r.] Subjects of Baptism. prAceding testimony and the remarks which havs been offered upon it. To those instances we now refer our readers. 1. Baptism at tue Feast of Pentecost. Acts ii. 37. — " Now when they heard this, they were ' pricked in thfiir heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest ' of the apostles, Men mid brethren, what shall we do ? ' 38. Then Peter said unto them. Repent, and be baptized ' every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remis- ' sion of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, ' 39. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and ' to all that are alar off, even as many as the Lord our God ' shall call. 40. And with many other words did he testifj ' and exhort, saying. Save youisj'lvns from (his untoward gen- ' eration. 41. Then they that gladly received his word wero ' baptized : and the same day there were adued vnlo Ihcin ' about three thousand souls. 42. And they continued stead- ' fastly in the ajjostlcs' doctrine and fellowship, and in break- ' ing of bread, and in prayers. 43. And fear came upon eyer/ ' soul : and many wonders an' signs were done by the Apos- ' ties. 44. And all that believed were together, and had ail ' things common. 45. And sold their possessions and goods ' and parted them to all men as every man had need. 46. And ' they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and ' breaking bread from house to house, did eat llibir meit with ' gladness and singleness of heart. 47. Praising God, and ' having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to ' the Church daily such as should be saved." It is almost needless to call the nttc tion of our readers to the prominent features of this parisafe as it bears on the present question. It is apnn'"cnt that the persons baj'tized are represent- ed as first visited with deep compunction; ase.\cited to earnest enquiry; and as gladly receiving the word. IVo others ara mentioned; no servants or dependants of the believers; no in- fants; and, finally, the description closes with representing tha daily additions to the church to consijt of such ns should ba saved, or more literall}' " the saved " In what sense could this be said of baptized infants ? How mrny of them prove themselves by their subsenucnt lives to be among the lost ! — Seo more on this passage part icularly ns respects the cxprea- fiion " to you and to your children," in Chapter Vll. 2. Philip baptizing at Samaria. Acts viii. 5. — " Then Philio went down to the city ofSa- it.- I. f n .W':-- Subjects of Baptism. [Pm-t I maria, and preached Christ unto them. 6. And the neonla "ZLT '""'■'^ gave heed unto those things which ffi! spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he d d 8 A d there was great joy in that city. 12. But vhen they believed Ph I p preachmgthe things concerning the Kingdom of God '• a"nd tr"''"' '^^"^ ^''''^^' '^^^ -- baptifedTbo^tltl; •.II ^° <:?"""cnt need be made on this passage frnther than t<» wJ^ •' whe^tll^v';' r^TK^ ''l'^ for'baptLirthls S e. a wTrcsIoM . h^.h^ ^^'"'^ ^ that they were baptized; and to the thTTinlJi^ T" ■"'^7«'"«n-" Is it not inconceivable. Jive oZtTi '""■'' ^''^''^^^ ^'^°' ^''^ ^^'^'■^d historian would fcave omitted to say, men, women and children : * 3. Tlie baptism of the Elhiopian eunuch. :: ^;^'pfz pr-ir&.::T- :r -S :: J^ ?:;r ;r. T;nLf „ - -s £ - •• .h^l ^"fvered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ [a the Son of God 38. And he commanded the chariot to stand PI- """"f'^^y ^^«"' do^vn both into the wL er both Ph.i.p and the eunuch ; and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water the Soirit nf H.^ T S' ^, cnu,,t away Philip, and the eunuch saw h^ no mo e -^'d he went on his way rejoicing." ' *"" No comment can make this passage plainer than it i» The eunuch is first instructed, aarecablv to the SnvJnl' lhKs,on. and when he declare's IH fS/^^n ChHst i bant!?."!: for..h,ch purpose, they both descend "ntofo'water^^^ni' out or tlie watoi. It is impossible to read these words without frehug assured that some abundant use ofwnter, like hntW or Pinngmg must have induced them thus to descend i to it^ ll ought not to be overlooked, in reading this nassa^P hi? Pkt d.s.mctly makes cordial faith requisi e trb^^K™""! if fil'S behevest with all thine heait thou mayest." ^ ^"^™' '^^^'''* 4. The baptism of Paul, also of Cornelius and his friends. ^_TWa8o of Paul will be distinctly remembered as of on. • S«e note A at ih« end. if f < •f • I €hap. IV.] Subjectt of Baptism. m first instructed by a heavenly vision and afterwards by Ananias. That of Corneiiug is found 'in Acts x. 1, " There was a cer- " tain mnii in C aaarea called Cornelius. 2. Jl devout man, and " one that feared God with all his hoiiso." To him Peter went, beinrr divinely instructed by a vision to go, and preach- ed tlie word of Gad, v.hen the narration proceeds. (44 v.) " While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on " all them which hoard fho Avord. 45. And they of the cir- " cunicision which btilievcd were astonished, as many as cams " with Peter, bpcause that on the Gentiles also was poured " the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46. For ihey heard them speak " with tongues, and magiiiiy God. Tiieu answered Peter, " 47. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be bap- " tized, which have recrived the Holy Ghost as well as we ? " 40. And ho commanded them to be baptized in the name of " the Lord." Here as in tiio ether cases the commission of the Savtotir is strictly fnlfillod. They are taught and then baptized. From the baptism of households, some endeavour to argue infant bnp« tism. Here is a household that believed — will they from thi« argue infant faith ? 5. The Baptism of Households. The following cases of baptism, being those of households, «re constantly referred to as containing evidence of infant bap- tism. Let the reader examine them with care ; and then judge whether there is any thing stated in any of them thai should lead us to believe that infants were baptized in oppo* •ition to the clear ter.n3 of the Saviour's commission. First, The Baptism of Lijdia and her household. Paul and Silas being sent to IMacedonia, to preach th« Gospel, arrived at Philippi a chief city of that country, where their labours and success are described as ♦bllows : Acts xvi. 13. — " And on the sabbath we went out of the " city by a river side, where prayer v>as wont to be made ; " ard we sat down, and ppake unto the women which re. 'irted " ihilher. 14. And a certain woman n;.ined Lydia, a seller o( " purple, of the rify of Thyatira, which worshipped God, " heard us ; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended " unto the things which were spoken of Paul 15. And when " she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, sayin;;, " If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come lata " Diy house and abide there. And she constrninca im." '■'"■ i^M U ^'-i^i m^: * 16 Subjeds of Baptism. [P-// /. :•' .tr-iS-ei-r f,i '"'"■"' "°'" '/M 'a'^aL' ":c' bahly consisted of sorvanls empl.>ved in I,or bu.sint-s but wl,° therherfam. y co.,tainod chiidr.n.and servants, or not we can notBupposG titat the apostles would ba-.ti7f. in n .„ • stent witb thp f^.»,^:.r.i **"""« oa,Jtize in a manner incon- »«ieni Willi tne teims of the comimss on ; " Go ve tni\ tB«^k ■II nations, bantizin«t ; spake with tongues and prophesied ; being " about twelve" " men." Fifthly, Allusions to Baptism. Gal. iii. 26.—" For ye are all the children of God by " faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been " baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." Here being " the children of God by faith," is synony- mous with having " put on Christ" by baptism, whick never could be said unless baptism was always, at least to all human appearance, accompanied by faith. In this mstance, then, dis- tinct allusion is made to baptism as practised in accordance with the Saviour's commission to teach, or make disciples, by faith, and then baptize ; and it may further be remarked that as the churches in Galatia must, if pedobaptist principles be true, have had very many infant members, whose baptism was of course in such case unaccompanied by faith ; it cannot be supposed that the apostle would thus allude to faith as a uni- versal concomitant of baptism ; or that he would address the Galatians as all being the children of God by faith, when on those principles, very many of them would be the children of (iod only by baptism, and not by faith. The quotations now made contain all the passages where baptism is mentioned, from which any information is to be ga- thered respecting the present inquiry ; there remain however several other cases of allusion to the ordinance, although not always by its usual name baptism, which may require some notice. — They are r.s follows : John iii. 5. — " Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say un«o " thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he " cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." Ephesians v. 25.—" Christ also loved the church, and " gave himself for it ; 26. That he might sanctify and cleanse " it by the washing of water by the word." Titus iii. 5. — " Not by works of righteousness which we " have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by " the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy " Ghost." 1 Peter iii. 21 .— " The like figure whereunto even baptism " doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of " the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) •' bv the resurrertinn nf Tocna Chriot >< t V.' ■ I" '-. , • ■'.'■;'■ so Subjiett of Baptitm. [Pan I Thes« passages can only be pressed into the nervice of infant baptism by those who hold the dangerous and unscriptur- al doctrine of infant regeneration. Such persons say, that if no man enters the kingdom of heaven but by being born of water- If Christ sanctifies his church by the washing of water • and infants dying m infancy are saved ; then, they must be born of water too ; they must be baptized. This was doubtless tho erroneous interpretation of scripture which first prepared the way for infant baptism : its distinct and conclusive refutation 18 contained in the last of the above cited passages—" Baptism .Pn.rT "T "' iVho^v triumphant a troof of baptismal re- generation this would have been, had not the apostle, unlucki- ly for the believers in it. gone on to say. what affords a proof thl fi l/h rT'^S^"! m" the other side '« not the putting Iway the filth of the flesh," not the external ordinance, the ou'ward a«gn. but the inward grace which it signified ; that is to say trie answer of a good conscience towards God . " This is the key that unlocks the difficulty in every other case ; and it shews us beyond a question, that baptism is put in the several other instances above cited, eitherybr the spiritual thino which as a •ign, It represented; or, in connection xcilh the spiritual grace because the one always accompanied the other in the practice ol the first churches, making allowance however for the mis- takes of judgment to which those who are called upon to de- cide on christian character must always be liable. CHAPTER r, ACTS six. 1. &c. John's BAPTISM— ITS connection with thb KINGDOM OF CHRIST. Critics have differed on the question, whether the persons mentioned in the passage cited from Acts xix. 1. &c. were baptized by Paul. The question depends on a nice construc- tion of Greek particles, wi^h which it is needless to trouble a common reader. If the words in verse 5, «« When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus," refer to these disciples at Ephesus, then, it is apparent, tha* they were baptized a second time ; but if they refer to those whom John baptized, then, it is equally apparent, that this account contains no mention of a second baptism. It is immaterial, However, to the present inquiry to decide this oue«tion irtfa* \ '^^: Chap. r.] Subject$ of BapHtm. 91 apostles, by virtue oftlie Saviour's commission haptixed again all Jnlin's diseiples who briioved in Chrisit, still as we hav« already shown (page 10,) liaptism itself is the same thin^r; unless the words ot' the comntission produced a change in th« ordinance, the nposties m-ist necessarily have interpreted th* Saviour's meaning by their own previous practice, and that of John. But wc have already seen that those words pro- duced no change, either in respect of the persons to be baptized, or the act ofbaptism. As it would therefore be altogether irre- lative to the subject of the present treatise, nnd wearisome to the reader, to undertake a lengthened discussion of the charac- ter of John's baptif^m, and whether it ought to be considered as Christian baptism or not, we shall merely offer one or two suggestions which may serve to place the subject in ita proper light. John's ministry was connected with the bep:inning of thtt Gospel of Jesus Christ, for so INI ark in the first of the abovtt cited passages expressly asserts, (iVlark i. 1.) It was sureljr tiifn a Christian, not a Jewish ordinance. Again, he was sent of G')d to baptize, (John i. 33.) He prepared Ifie teay of the liOid. (Matt. iii. 3.) He desired the people to believe on Christ. ^Acts xix. 4.) P.Ioreover, we learn that in the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven, that is, the speci.iJ reign of Christ had begun ; for our Saviour himself, speaking of hia kingdom, says, " From the days of John the Baptist until now, tha ki'igdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent TAKE IT by force ;" (Matt. xi. 12.) And again, even mor« plainly if possible, he says, " The Law and the Prophets wera until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man [that is every sincere disciple,] pbesseth into it." (Luke xvi. 16.) These passages are so strong and conclusiva that they compel us to interpret in harmony with them aoj others that might seem at first sight to be opposed. For instance, the phrase" the kingdom of heaven is at hand," must impl* 4 actual commencement ; and that expression of our Saviot in reference to John the Baptist " he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than ho" must contain e comparison be- tween the " extraordinary prophetic endowments of John" and the graces or virtues of spiritual religion. " Among ihoac bom of woman there teas not a f!;re ate r prophet than John the Baptist," (Luke vii. 28.) Nevertheless, the Saviour seems to say, " re- gard not too much the honors of a prophet, but prize more high- ly still the ornament of piety. He that is least in the kingdom y V.' • Si' ■;■'■ ■''A ■ * 'I I , »■ 22 Subjects of Baptism. [Purl t of heaven is greater than John, ao far as h,» prophetic dirn.tr Pielj', than tor his great name as a prophe:." John^Th!^'" ''°r''^""!*°"'' ^« """' necessarily repnrd k.njdom nrT'^ '"'^ '''•'''''"'' " a servant in Chrlf, St kLx" II r "•""'" °^ '^^ ^^""''^ dispensation. hatkmg.lom, which was a« a grain of mustard seed at fir- 1 into a tree at the feast of Pentecost, when the •■ three thou- .nnd • and (he .'five thousand," the daily addition ''of such a.^honld be saved." and the " muhitudos" of bel.evers " bo^h "ITorr'l'''. '' ^r '.''"'" """totheSrch." and and .uch also was that which the Saviour afterwards extendod to all na .ons ; the only difference in the ordinance altcMhe "nv^Intb ::";• '° '^'^ "' '''' '"•Ses of the New Testamen affi^S p ;;!^9iZ:rs;^nr::^:^-'K;^^^*ti:i lirnrr/^^ih^z'; cUst:''.^ -™^ ^^ '^^ ^^''-' -"- •^• fanf^'Jl^lT^T^i'^'.^! ^•^"'*"«'^' *>'*» J"hndid not baptize in- inn f'Jh. f Elder's letter V.) it follows, that the church be- baptized either by Christ, or afterwards by his apo.tles; and that whlh ^''"■•';h ^^^"/"^"ed to grow without infant baptism, a fact which all Its subsequent history in the New Testament con- firms; consequently, ,f the disciples baptized by John were in- not „i-"r5?H f ^l '^' ^r''"^' «*"'' "^'^ circumstance can- not afford the slightest evide^ice for infant bap'Jsm, inasmuch as the aposttes taught and baptized, i« like manner as John the Baptist, and they, under their divine master, had been prey.ously wont to do making allowance only for he expre's mention ofthe Sacred Three at bnptism, and^he clearer and more evangelical character of their instructions. In conclusion, one or two thoughis on Acts xrx 1 &c iT.oL fT '•'' *^'■"'''■ T"" additional light on this subject'. If ^.ose Ephes.an disciples were really baptized again by Paul may not thoir extreme i^nornnrr have made it uccessar "- beanvHorrh''/'" rr '""'■^''' '''^ '^'^ " whether th.re be any Holy Ghost. FIms seems a grievous amount of ignor- ance in the disciplas of John the Baptist, for ho ,nadc the doc- Chap ri] Subjidt of Buptittn. 23 trine of the Holy Ghost a prominent feature in his teaching ; I indeed" said ha " baptise jou with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I — he shall bap- tize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." But, again, they were ignorant it would seem of the duty of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, for Paul proceeds in the second verse to in- form them as of a truth which they did not know, that John taught the people to believe " in him that should come after him"— that is on Jesus Christ. Some idea of the duty of re- pentance seems to have been the amount of their knowledge. May not the question well be raised, Whether any class of christians in the present day would consider a man duly bap- tized who should be ignorant at the time of his baptism, of the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, and the duty of faith in Christ ? Is there not also just room to question whether these dis- ciples, sincothey were thus ignorant of the truths John taught, and resided at Ephcsus so far away from Judsea, had not been baptized by some of John's disciples, and not by John himself. And, in that case, (even if a baptism by John's disciples would have been valid.) whether this circu.Tistance does not confirm and explain the fact of their great ignorance ? The apostolic commission was to make disciples and baptize. These Ephesi- an converts were disciples to the doctrine of repentance, but can scarcely be called disciples to Christianity. '^^^ CHAPTER Vt. eSNERAI. REVIEW OF THE FOREGOING SCRIPTURAL TESTIMO.VT] BELiEVER3 ONLY BAPTIZED ; HIGHLY IMPROBABLE THAT INFANTS WOULD BE OMITTED ; THE COMMISSION ; EX- AMPLE OF THE SAVIOUR ; THE CHURCH SPIRITUAL. Having in the preceding Cha,>ters brought to view all tho passages in the New Testament where baptism is mentioned or alluded to, which cast any light on the question. Who are the proper subjects of this ordinance, we cannot refrain from expressing our earnest hope that the reader has carefully ex- amined them. They are thus selected from the sacred volume not for the purpose of witiiholding him from further research but to lead him to it. We hope he has read them with candour, and with vruver. not on'v >>i o'"- r.«~s»- u..* ;„ *u_ -»*• • i', I 24 Subjects of Baptism. [Pari t. bible. He has here, so far as we have been abb to discover, the whole of the evidence, contained in the New Testament, that touches on tlie proper subjects of baptism, in tlie way either of example, precept, or allusion. He cannot but per- ceive that this testimony is neither obscure nor scanty. Tlitse passages are God's witnesses for his hi)lv ordinance of baptism arrayed beTore us, and in view ol this army, we would solemnly ■sk our readers, What is the answer you hear from their lips.' Whatever it be, it is the New Testament ianguai^e concerning its own ordinance, it is the statement of the Holy Ghost, of Christ, and of God. The following review of the evidence may possibly as.sist inquiry. I. The above cited cases, amountinc; to eighteen, contain, »n the best of our knowledge, cverxj exar,\plc of baptism, and every precept or allusion where tlie ordinance is mentioned from which •ny lighc can be gathered as to its proper subjects ; and in every on« of these, religioua cijfecHons—no far as men could judge o' them, such as instruction received with the heart, repent- ance or faith, are shewn to have Iteen always connected with the ordinance; alwrttit made necessary to it bi/ precept, accompanifing it in the example given, orrejeredto, as thus connected, inltie allii- $iona. In making this examination, every one must, we think, have been struck with the multitude of tiiese instnnces. Tho ■acred writers have heencareful lo shew, that the subjects of bap- tism, the persons to whom this ordinance was administered, wero first made the subjects ofvarious mental and moral influences. They heard the word preaclicd ; they were e.xhortcd to repent, (Matt. iii. 1. Sec ) ; the baptism preached to them was called tho baptism ol' repentance, (Liike iii. 3.) ; they were required to believe on him that should come — that is Jesus (Jhrist, (Acta xix. 4.) ; they confessed thei. sins, (Matt. iii. .'3.) ; they were made disciples, (John iv. I.) ; they were pricked to ilic heort ; they enquired " what shall we do to be saved;"' they " gladly receioed the word ;" th*iy continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, (Acts ii. 37. Ike) ; The Samarilana "gave heed" to the thin' ^^^^"^^^ ^"^^"""S everr/caseoUUeper. formance of the ordinance, or of allusion to it ; the commiss . on ofthe Saviour furnishes direct proof that it .W,/.K j tu- i.. >,V.l. A "Hi * ^4 'V;',vi ll 28 Subjects of Baptism. must plainly be to tho followini>'. :i- :y:A- -T^PT' Chap, ri] Subjedi of Baptism. 29 tliom ns a nation, and of tlieir duties in consequence ; and u'licli, too, siiijulu distinirtiisli them from the surrounding nati- ons, flow diiTorent from this is the church of Christ •" this, accordiiiiT to tht; divir.e plan is to he wholly spiritual, "God Ecekcth buch to worr-hip iiiui as worship in spirit and in truth." A!l tho members cf this c-'.mrch, are to be taught of the Lord from the lea.-t to the greatest, (Heb. viii. 6.) ; So il had been erprcs^!;! fontcld, (Jor. xxxi. 31 , 31.) This chnrcii ns we learn also from the last cited passages was to he cstal'lished on i. " new" and " be tter covenant," than that of old, consisting of an express promise on the |)art of the AIniishty, "to put" his " law in tiu-ir inward nnrts and write it in their hearts ;" a promise alt.urrtlier diilcrcnt from that on which the Jewish pii\ih■ ■ t'-^4 Hi Subjects of Baptism. [Prn-l I. m^r ** ''""^^ '" ^^'"''^ bohalf that ancient prorr.se of th7l T7n:^' S'ven ; these became the people Til/ resemblance. This the apostle Paul has disfinclly shLwn _ I r, I u^^ '^'■"^'' " '^"°«' ye therefore that they which r: Ro?' v' ,t .^T' T ^'^ '=''''^'^" of Abraham ''Sraio M-fh!?' M ' *^°'" *''^ Pi-omise, that he should be the hei^ hf the word, was not to Abraham, orto his seed, through the aw but through the righteousness of faith ;" andaga.n(ch p ; :J T^^y '''''"='' "•■*= "'« children of the flesh these a, . notthecIuldrenofGod: but the children of the promise a e fcmmted for the seed." That is. the seed, or otfspriSsTf Abra! ham who should mherit the spiritual promises of G,S^ wefe „o It^ Hrl^'TM""''^^^'^'"^'^^'"' '^"^ those, wh; ve ere e rded as h,s children, because of their posscs.i,... lil^e flitk rt ialr fulfinr' '''" ''^ -'"-"bered, that'the promise ir:£! rtial , fulfilled as we have seen, so wonderfully on the dav of Pentecost and fulfilled sfll, wherever a soul is converted^ to S3.) But th 3 shall be the covenant that I will make with the tnS r.r^-'"*^' '^' ^'''^■" ^^'^^--^ t'^-» i« thaTnat on tnr^^Lr^' Evidently those, and those only, in whose Are horn « •' " Tu" ' ^''° gladly receive the word ; who fcre born again ; who become as little children. Of such only T aV^u 7P^'-^«f '"st'uments employed were ahl^ to dis- «a^h'nf'l ^' t1 "'^u'" '^'' "'^"^^^'' '" 't« first formation; of Bach only ought churches now to be formed. f.^r.7^%"''^^^''' made by pedobaptists when they argue infant taptism from the r.te of circumcision, consists .„ ov^erlooking akinrit"'Tn/ 'T'^^' character of the Jewish church, a f takmg.t, not only as a type, but as a pnllcrn ofChistian churcl^s. As we have seen, God has no J a people .,r nl io„ as he had of old. but, they were then actualh, a'nat.on now they are so only fsuralivch,. Then, hi.s people were 'sealed w.th c, cumc.s.on ; so are they now, but it is the circumcision ofwh.chtha wasatype, the circumcision which is "made o\t% 'j;tA .'•^"'•.^--iftV" '^""'"S "'^'"'^ ''"Jy "f the sins of the flesh (Colos.n. 11.) Chri.s!inns now becomi, as did the Jews members oi this nation or people ot God, as rluhh.n; but t.je Jews were so actually and by descent. Christians ar^ ao 6nly figuratively, and by faith. The character of .he Jew- ish dispensation therefore required the admission of infants ; that of the Chrisfan require., the admissioii only of those who "V :T-f' -.4,;: C'/iap 17. SubjecU oj Baptifo^. 91 shall humble themselves as a little child, (Matt, xviii 4)- and oi.sequcntly, it there be any resemblnnce between circumci- sion and baptism, it consists solely in this, that as all who were Abraham's offs|»nnc by descent were entitled to be circumcised and thereby admitted to all the privileges of the Jewish nation; so ail who by juUh are made " the children of faithful Abra- ham. • are thereby entitled to be baptized, and accordingly admitted to all the rights of membership in the church of Christ In a word the dominion, of the Messiah was to consist of a spiritual kingdom ; this was the divine purpose ; and in con- tonnity with this purpose, we now have seen the first christian churches to have been formed. Those only were baptized who gave evidence of possessing faith in Christ. But the practice ol intant baptism is entirely inconsistent with this divine pur- p<)se. 1' aith IS the qualification for membership in the church of Christ ; but intants cannot believe, infants are not saved by faith ; It they die in infancy, they are saved, doubtless, by the death of Christ, but surely not by faith in his death. JVor is there any means of securing that they shall believe ; baptized infant. notwithstanding all the care of sponsors and parents often grow up without faith, and without holiness, loving " the world " and " the things of the world," rather than religion. Is not this almost universally the case ? What then must necessarilw be ihc consequence of admitting infants to baptism ? A xcorld' /.V church ; if such a solecism in language may be admitted. L nless conversion to God should become a much more frequent occurrence than it has ever y.;t been, these worldly members ot the church must necessarily soon outnumber the spiritual members, and then, where are we to look for the characteristic* of that kingdom, which, as the Saviour so solemnly declares no man shall enter unless he be born of water and of the spirit? As this subject will however necessarily come to be more par- ticularly considered in our examination of Mr. ElderV argu- ments for the sameness of the Jewish and christian churches; w« shall dismiss it for the present, with the earnest hope and pray- er, that all, who shall have perused the evidence now collected from the Acw Testament, may be brought to see how distinct- ly It exhibits THE BAPTISM OF PEMTEXT BELIEVERS AS THE ONLV CHRISTIAN- KAPTisM, aud how incumbent therefore it is on every one WHO would - ohoy God rather than man," seriously to in- quire whctiier he huH obeyed the command of his Saviour in an ordinance sanctioned by his own example ; by the practice of his apostles, and by the wliole testimony furnished by that book which IS emphatically called the New Teataraent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ^:''M 1« ''■•VI, * v.* >yr \'- • I 32 Subjtcii of Baplisin. IPart 1. CHAPTER Vir. Ma. elder's inferences for infant BAI'TISM IN LETTER Vi. PARTICULARLV nXA?IINi;u. To many of our readers, ue tr-ist, enowali hag now hern oaiu, to shew, beyond question, tin- ian-.nin.r,. n |,i,.l, ,|jp y^^^^ Jestament speaks concernin^r its oun o.dinaiu-e. Error how- ever, ami tho prejudices ofearlv education, are tenr.Hons of I.e.r hoHl on t!.e mind, and a reference to the .New Tcslamrnt lor dcciMon oJ the present question is so reasonable, and tho evidence u affords so stron;r, tln.t pedobaptists, in their strua. gles to escape (rom this formidable arrav of facts, are wont °o take refuge in several passages in the Xew Tcstmnent, from which, notwithstanding the vast amount of positive evidence to the contrary, they still think they can i.fn- infant baptism Amongst these we find Mr. Elder, and as a particular reply to his several remarks on this head may be satisfactory to iomn we shall proceed to consider the several i„Jn-n>ccs he makes in the order in which they appear in his Letter VI. It ought however to be expressly unde-.stond, that (he labour we here undertake, is, on every principle of i„.t rea- Boning, wholly unnecessary. An vn.rnilaLh' inf.'ence m. Javour of infant baptism is not pretended to be found intlie .Xew lestament ; the utmost that is claimed is a prohabiiicy. 'Uut that ^yh.ch mijjht have been probable under other ciicnmstancos IS no longer so under those which attend tho present Mibject Uaptism in every instance is seen to be administered" to bel hevers. The terms of the Saviour's commission renmred it to be so administered; the spiritual nature of the Christian church fhZTr ! xv'"V /''"'. /','-«'-"''^'/''.'/ tlH-n can weigh against these /«d5. U ith these before me what n-M have I to say- Frobably infants were baptized amoniist the households which believed ; probably the Saviour m K.ceivit,. and lav 'no his hands on httle children intended to point them out as lit sub- jects for baptism." Unnecessary, however, as in the examination of Mr. l.lder s inferences ; inasmuch as inferences eaii never wei^h against proof, are no longer just inferences, uiien made in the ' adduced by Mr, Elder, purtieularlv c;;amine,l a"'I -.r„.„.i . Chap. VII] Subjects of Baptism. 33 especially as many of them, even in the absence of all positive proof to the contrary, would bo found too weak to support even tiie sli;ililest iirobabilily iu favour of that in proof of wliich ihfj •ro advanced. The first passage from which ]\Ir. Elder attempts to de- duce intiint baptism is our Lord's commi.-ision to his aposfleSj (.Matt, x.wiii. ir),'iO.) " Goyetherefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." In face of the evident bearing of this pHs- sagc, as fully shewn ai»ove, (see page ^^H ) I\Ir. Elder injeri from it that our Saviour intended to include infants in the com- mission from two considerations. 1. The Commission itself. — He says (page 28,) " the plain literal meaning of the words, would load us to conclude that children of every age were included in them. There is no nation under heaven that is not coinposed of parents and children." Because the word nation then includes every soul in the nation, they are all to be baptized ! Then not onljr the children of believers, but children under any circum- stances, with or without the consent of their parents — all persons, indeed, to whom the rite can possibly be adminis- tered, without any regard to their feelings or motives, ought to be baptized, for all are equally parts of that which is expressed in the comprehensive term " all nations !" InfantH are in fact usually baptized by force ; their cries and strugglea BulHciently attest this. We are at a loss to see, then, why all persons agreeably to this interpretation of our Lord's commis- sion, should not be baptized, provided only that they are equal- ly with infants placed in the power of the ministers of Christ. All prisoners, then ; all ideots and slaves ; all who are bound to o\, V, or influenced by worldly motives to conform, must bo baptized, because the command is to baptize all nations. Miser- able struggling this indeed to support a tottering cause — and how pointedly opposed to ail the instances of baptism in the New Testament ! We arc happy to know that many pndobaptists are as far as we from desiring to accompany Mr. Elder in such an interpretation as the present, and, on the contrary, contend that the children of believers iand as many say of such believers as give proof of possessing vital religion), are the only proper Subjects of infant baptism. 2. Jtwisk ProsehjiiHm. — Mr. Elder's second inference de- rived from this passage, he obtains by help of what he terms the Jewish method of proselyting. In Exodus xii, 48, lU. he reminds us, is contained udirectioD. that "when a HtraniTcr should aoiouru H S4 Subjects of Baptism. [Part I. wuh therh.MrPnrtf tsrael. nnd would "keepfh#» passoyertothe Lord that "all h.s males" should be circumcised ; and hen.-e hr f»y,rs, that, in the rxprcssion go and " tench all nations bap- ti/mn them, the Saviour would mean, and the apostles would understand, mtants to be included, because they were familiar with the above scripture and the usage thereupon. We are h. httle surprised that Mr. E. does not discover somewhat more timidity m treading on this ground, when we remember the point oJ view in which the Saviour himself has placed the usage of proselyting as then practised ; and as no reference is made in our Saviour s words to what the usage oxicrhl to be, it was th« custom as it then stood, which alone was likely to affect the minds of the Apostles in their interpretation of his words ' W oe unto you," says he, " Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites' for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he IS made, ye make him two fold more the child of hell than yourselves." (iMatt. x.xiii. 15.) Branded thus with the execra- tion of the Saviour, was this usage of the Jews likely to receive Encouragement from him, or to make a very favourable impres- sion on the mind ofhis apostles ? And what, after all is this but saying what has been said again and again, in every variety of form, and refuted as often, that, because the Jews circum- cised infants, therefore the apostles baptised infants. Th6 children of strangers among the Jews were circumcised not because the infants were prosehjlcs, which would be well high as absurd as to call them disciples ; but because the covenant of God with the Jewish nation required all its members to bo circumcised. What resemblance is discovered in this, to a law which required the founders of the spiritual Israel to " teach" or make disciples and baptize .' No other resemblance surely than we have already stated (page 31), namely, that as all the natural descendants of Abraham, together with such strangers as joined them were entitled to be circumcised ; so, all the spiritual de- scendants, all became the children of Abraham by faith, whe- ther Jews or strangers, whether "babe3»or " strong men it) Christ" are entitled to be baptized. Besides, mathefeusaie, the word translated " teach" in the commission, does not mean mahe proselytes— hut make disciples or learners.— Mr. Elder might deceive a common reader by leading him to suppose that when the Saviour used the word matheteusate, " teach," his hearers would observe the same allu- sion to proselyting, that the word proselyte itself would have. «ut this IS altogether a delusion. In the above quoted pnssagtj from Matt, xxiii. 15, the words translated " to make a proselyte" are potcai prosdyton. And this is the form of expression which /.i. M Chap, ril] Subject$ of Baptiam. the Saviour would probably have employed if he intended anv allusion to Jowish prosolytism. Proselyte was a word whioh from the customs of the Jew» had obtained a fixed signification and that as we have seen, not one at all accordant with th« fpirit of Christianity. (Matt xxiii. 15.) A disciple on th« contrary, means a learner, from the latin. dUco, to learn The character of the learner.as we have ahcwn above, paau 12 will depend on the nature of the doctrine he learns : ,n the present case, that doctrine is Christianity ; to learn Christianity is to repent of sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgive, ness and salvation. In the mouth of the Saviour, therefore {mathdeusate), teach or make disciples must mean what we see it actually to have been on the day of Pentecost, that is, b-ing men by tnstrnctton to repentance andfaitli in the Gospel— nothing but this 13 Christian teaching ; this and this only ia to make Chris- tian disciples. We have already shewn (page 10.) that this is what the apos- t es necessarily understood from the words in conserjuence of their own previous occupation in making disciples and baptizing m Judea, amongst whom. Mr. Elder appears to admit, there w-cre no infants ; and which office the Saviour now extends to ail nations. 3. Of such is the kingdom of heaven.— Mr. Elder's third supposed mferencein favour of infant baptism is found in page 30 He conceives, that because our Saviour says concerning l.ttle children, " ofsuch is the kingdom of 'Jod," " some light"' IS thrown on the command contained in the commission ; that IS, that this circumstance furnishes inferential proof of infant baptism. Mr. Elder does not seem to suppose, as some pedobaptista have done, that, because the children were broughtto the Savi- our he ofcourse baptized them. He has felt, we apprehend, the violence this would do to the history, inasmuch as it does not leave us in ignoranoe of what the Saviour did, but proceeds to te t us; namely, that he " took them up in his arms, put his handsupon them and blessed them," (Mark X. 16.) Mr Elder's argument appears to be two fold ; first, that bv the words, such IS the kingdom, n> to r(..n|iarf a tf xt «iih the cotilext, in order to see u lirtinr it tnny not rrccive li"hl iVoin it. \Vf nsk Mr. l-.ldcr to apjdy this nil" to the case l)rft)rf um; nnd to say, uh(Mlicr liie w a> though they had never sinned, for all their sins are washed away in the " blood of the l.anib." What else docs 31 r. ICIdcr suppose our Saviour to moan by being " converted," and becoming " as little child- ren," or by that yet holder fi^'urc bring " horn again"- be- coming as little children again Ironi the very womb, if he dijos not mean what has now been stated? And is it not \c\y strange that with these last quoted passages to help Mr. Kider in his interpretation, he yet should aflirin that " it would be subver- sive of all just rules for understanding any writer to say (hat our Lord meant not these identical chilnren, but good men who in some respects resemble cisiidren," when 'ic declared that of such is tiiekingdonof iicaven? Have (lie just rules, then, of in- terpretation, changed together with Mr. Eldor's cLang« of I'V.' ■ ■r ^'r 1 ■pi'. • .'4l 1 ■ 1 1 \"' 38 Subjects of Baptism. [Part 1. principles. He was not always ignorant of the importance of l.e context to the interpretation o<\ text, for in his former Ja-kson '• In^ ' """f^' "'^j'""'" «'g""'^"^" he tells Mr. of I e.ven " H '7' °" "'«. ^■«';d«. ark and Luke, and also that .n Matt. xvii. T I vZ'-i'" . \"'^^''''' '""'■" P''*''" ""»" the present 'Mr Kder does not rcbnl his lurmer opinions, he contints himself rnsSi:^?^"* '^- '' '' ^— ^« ^^^« the^tott^f SecouJ/7._A sufficient answer to Mr. Elder's second argu- ment on th,s passage, ,s ,„ fact contained in m hat is writVen above II. mistakes the interpretation of the passage; and in reply o both h.s arguments founded on it. let .t'be re'member 3 that his inference .1 ti-.e proves nothing. Even if the Saviour did mean on this occasion to say, that of such li„le children as tho ethey brought to h.m, the kingdom of God, whether on earth or in heaven, visible or invisible, was composed ; it would by no means follow, that therefore they ought to be baptized inas.nuch as we have no just warrant for nSing or appHmg th^ ordinance ot baptism, which is a .Xe^v Testameut ZiulZ otherwise or to any other persons, than the New Testamenl pa tern w.ll justify. If .here we see it used o.l,j in the cale of volunta>y, conscious, intelligent, accountable beings, brings who were taught repented, and believed, and there is no pre- cept or rniaroulable mterencc in proof of any other use. we I ave no authority to employ it in any other way. One word more and we have done with this point for tho prcsen. The passage itself furnishes an argument directly ojainst he practice which Mr. Elder labours to prove from it It is. in tew wo rds, as foUows-lfthe children who were brought hold *,h. [" f " I""T °^"""'*" ""'^'""^ «•"» «e'm.n scholar* confewtdly hod iheh,«(ie,t r.nk.and .ecordmKly by a reference to Kuinoel, . pe.lob.p- l!mm'. ,"*"""" ,*"""""^' °" '*'* ^'''"^" '" ^J^'hew. we liml .he tollowiog .amtnem or parapl.ra.e-'.V. know. >hat men ,ndued »vah ,l,o»e di*po,.uon«T IZ.aI .u ^ T' * 'V"«'^""'' "« •^^''*- 3- ['"« P-^'^ge T O uaVO, ')>!'] ••^Ni 40 Subjects of Baptism. [Part 1. accordingly, ny Joel, and had, accordingly, " shed forth that which they then saw and heard ;" and Ci)nclndes with asserting that " God had made that same Jesus, whom" says he, " ye with wicked hands, Iinve erucifud both Lord and Christ." This address was not ineliec- tual ; Peter's hearers arc pricked in their hearts, and cry out in their anguish, " men and brctiiren what shall we do .'" Peter urges them with this advice, " Rcpei:t, and be baptized ever?/ one o/'i/oH," " for the remission of sins and yo iihall re- ceive," says he, " the gift of the Holy Ghost," the' same fore- told by Joel which had just excited their amazement ; and lest thoy should suppose the jiromise of Joel was already wholly ful- filled in the persons of liie apostles and otlur disciples, Peter presses on them its ample scope ; assuring them that it was not thus confined ; " the promise," says he, ' is imtoyoiC' who hear me ; but more than this, it is unto "your children" also, your ofTspring, who, on the conditions of repentance and baptism, should likewise obtain spiritual gilts ; " your daughters" in the words of Joel " shall prophesy and you. . oung men see visiona," * Jaba'n Archaology, 365. Chap. vijr\ Subjects of Baptism. 41 JJut yet more ; seeing a vast multitude before him, "outof every nation under heaven," who might in their distress be ready to couclude, that this promise, although not confined to the disciple* who had already received the Holy Ghost, might nevertheless be limited to Judea. the apostle completes the glad climax of hope and promise, by assuring them, that it extended its blessings abroad through the earth ; "to all," he cries, " who areafaroff, even as many as the J^rd our God shall call." The man who sees infant baptism here must be indued with a new species of sight ! if it could be supposed that it ever could come into the minds of Peter's hearers, that because their infants were circumcised in compliance with the Mosaic ritual, therefore, they as infauts could be among the sons and dnugiitcrs, who, according to Joel's prediction, should see visions and prophecy ; that they could " repent ;" "speak with, tongues ;" aiul exercise other mi- raculous gifts ; then, indeed, we may admit, that the parents of those children might possibly expect them to be baptized albO • and so, bring the apostles to the necessity of stating as Mr. Elder supposes, that none but adults were to be the subjects of our Lord's kingdom, but surely not otherwise. As well might we suppose that infainls were some of those persons spoken of iit the 41 verse, " who gladly received the apostle's woid and were' baptized," when there were aidded unto the about three thou- sand souls.* Sccondlij. — Let lis now, in like manner, proceed to e.tamme the third chapter of Acts. Peter and John having healed a poor beggar, lame from his youth, ns he sat for alms at the gate of the temple called beautiful, a great crowd is collected around the apostles and the healed cripple, in Solomon's porch ; " all the people ran together unto them greatly wondering." Peter as before, seizes the occasion. He renounces any claim to the performance of this act of hetfling "by their own power or ho- • That this is «he interpretation prefered by learned pedobapfists, will appear from the following extractn : —Dr. Whitby. "These Words Will not prove a riftht of infants to receive baptism, the promise here bfcing that only of the Holy Ghost, mentioned verws Hi, 17, 18, nnd go relating only to the times of the miraculous effusion of the Holy (iiiust) and ^ho»e pertonswho by ajje were capable of these extraor- dinary gifts." Jlnnotations on the place. Dn. DoooRioac. " The prnmise »i to you and to your children. Oonsidering that the gift of tlie Spirit had been mentioned just be- fore, it seems most nalutal to intcipret this as a refi?rciiee to th:»t passage in Joel, wliith hail been so largely racited above, (ver. 11, H sc(| ) where (Jod promises the eftnsion of the Spirit on their lont (tad their davahtcn ,^' Vnm. Ezvof. J\'afe or, t!'-!* m ■> ',»■ ' ■■■•■!s\ m £ m .' .'1 I'- 1 ;!•> 4i line Sfl. Holy Subjects of Baptism. [Part I. The Piince of Life" alone had done it. one and the Just," to whom they had prcferrod " a dcror," whom they had " d Th. inur- , I'll' "i«t'i"ed," hctravcd, "and killed," hul whom God had raised (rom tiie dead— "his name. throu"h faith in his name" had restored the poor cripple to " this^perfect soundness." The apostle then, mingling tenderness with re- proof, admits their ignorance, and that of their rulers, and informs them, that the sufTeringg of Christ were in fulfilment of ancient prophecy. He exhorts them to repentance and conver- sion, hringing full to view, and urging as a powerful motive, the blotting out of their sins, recorded, as it were, in God's book at the second coming of Christ, at " the times of refres'iing " and of the restitution of all things, "which," he says, " God has foretold by the mouths of ail his holy prophets." He then repeats that Moses, Samuel, and all tho prophets had s^)oken of these days • reminds them, that they were the "children of the prophets '' that 13, as Jews, peculiarly interested in the promises of God to their fathers, of which he especially quotes that to Abraham " and m thy seed shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed •'' and concludes with the touching assurance, that though tha whole earth waa eqanUy interested in the promise, yet first to them, nevertheless, God had sent his son to bless, in " 'tiTrninn- aAvay"sayshe " every one ofyou from your iniquitits." There IS nothing here to induce the idea in the minds of the people that their infants were to be baptized. The prominent thoughts are, repentance ; conversion ; a blotting out of recorded "^ins which otherwise would condemn them at the second coming of Christ ; a blessing of which the Gentiles, "all the ends of the earth," uVio did not use circumcision, were to be partakers equally with the Jews ; but especially a blessing which was to hefirst fulfilled to them, on repentance, and conversion by turning away cvenj one of them from their iniquities. These are the prominent thoughts, these tho things . eld forth. Are they such as wore at all calculated to induce tbe people to think that their infants were to be baptized ; or even that the blessings promised were such as could be predicated concerning them .' could infi'its be possibly included in the expression " turnintr away every one ofyou from his iniquities r" This is a blessing promised to those who had previously pursued iniquitous coui^ ses ; to such as had killed the Prince of Life. Whatever sin- ful propensities infants have, they are never spoken of, in the word of God, as those, who need to be turned away for their iaiqiiitics. 6. A sixth int>r; it ,s plain that there was an im|,ressi.,.r at (hat i.ne o.x.st.np of the unlorfunate state of bastardy or it would nut hnve had a distmct.ve name. That law itself would sMon^ly increase an unfavorable impression; until the Uufh ^cmralunl hey were regarded as unclean, and were forhiddrn'to asseml Lie with the congregation of Israel. Paul's reference to the same tning in the following passage in Ileb. xii. 8, " Hut if vc be without chastisement, whereof all are pa.takers, then are >e ia*/«.-rfs and not sons," still marks the reignincr impression among the Jews respecting the unclean nature Jf baLlard the same impression would exist in Corinth and other churrhrs' in al Iw inch were many Jews who would introduce much of tli^.r own leelms in relation to these matters ; all which considera- tions cast light on the passage before us, as shewing to what «ort o eeling .he apostle appeals when he says, " dse were your children unclean, but now are they holy " JJe b,in.rs i( as a thiufr known and admitted by those whom he addro-.se^' in order to add strength to his preceding argument " It^hid never come into their minds that their children were Uhoiil.naie- .'. 11.^.7 ot God bastards; begotten m wedlock bidden .; Ills holy law ' and to this circumstance therefore the apostJo appf '•!•*, nhy this scruple about marriage," says he •' von never, for a moment, thought of your children being uncle.n n( fheir being born in a state disapproved of by Gud, why then' suppose that state itself unlawful. .y '"en, «ut now contrast this view of the matter with I\Ir Elder's plo^s. Ills words are as follows: " It is as if the apostle had Baid, where two are united in wcdicck, a christian and a hea- then the better part shall give d 'liomination to both. Tiiev shall both he considered as christians, as far as the children nre ron-eni-d, so that the children are relativelv holy as if .'U,, parents were christians, and are in eonsmuenco entitled fo a plnro u. the church of Gud." There never was a more in.„al conclu.,ion. R l.dn-el;, holy, ofcon-so, both paront nm! rhihl are to he considered. But we ask iMr. Khier, and we n^k pvorv man who can r.ason, niul will reason fairly, relnlive- U' to what arc th-y hdy.= Il^lati^.•lv to a chnirh sfsiP a 6no would think so ; and yet, how can this be, when, a word or two below, he asserts "this perfectly suits the tenor of the apostle s disjourse, which was to persuade believers not to se- parate from their unbelieving: partners." This is truly to " make white, black," and " to put bitter for sweet." So to t. II a believiniT wiR that her unbelieving husband wag (lio'r'iat' tn,,) made holy us far as their children arc concerned, wns an answer to her, whose only inquiry addressed to the apostle was, whether he was (/*aot«,v/«,-,) made holy, as far as she was concerned ; that is whether the marriage bond was lawful ! We have here, as in a multitude of cases, to complain that Mr. hlder seem.s entirely to have forgotten that arguments from ins mouth cannot come with the grace they might from one who never appeared as a combatant on the side he now opposes. It became him, in vindicating his professed change of belief, not to have been satisfied with merely making such a statement as might suflice one /rs< entering the lists of controversy on this subject ; but to remember that he is combating his own publish- ed arguments, and to have shewn, therefore, wherein he lias been brought to see that those arguments are deficient. This he seldom It ever, does :_" It has been said," he informs us in Ills last publication, ' that the holiness of children means le-iti- niacy. " JJi.t, surely," he exclaims, " there was no law in Co- rinth a heathen city, that made it necessary for the parents to be Christians in order that their children should be le litimate." ±lad he then forgotten that there was a different view of legiti- niacy than that which was created merely by hiunan laws ; a legitimacy that dt-pcnded on the law oj God? Had he never sor„ this view in Dr. Chapin's letters from which he quotes ? or had he forgotten, that, in his former treatise on baptism, he had written as follows, " if marriage was unlawful among chris- Hans ; or if di lerence of religion dissolved it, then, your livine together would be unlawful and your childre^ would be unclean :;;J'Z;'Sl!;:!"::^:^^'^/'«''^. -beingbegotten in a state "" ~" "■ "■'= •=""'-4iv.-scu or mHiiL iiiujui ;'■■ i^pago 13. 1 «"4 ^^ ■I" :^'*- . 4 i 48 Subjeclt of Bapti$m. [Part J To this hia former clear statement of the meaning of the passage in question, INIr. Elder, in his recent letters, lias not merely neglected to make a sufficient answer, but he has made no answer at all. Yet lie once felt its accuracy and lorce. How docs he now shew the rea3i>ning on which his former interpre- tation rested, to b« incorrect ? This he does nut condesceud to inform us. Birt wo cannot ^uit this passaire, without noticing one other absurdity in Mr. KlderV ptatement, which he once saw ns plainly as we do, but which nev°'-''ieloss, ho now adopts, without 11 word to explain its seemini; in^ .fistencies. The believing and unbelieving partners "shall both"' as he explains the passage, " be considered as christians, so far as the children are concern- ed, so that the children are relatively holy as if both parents were christians ; and are in consequence entitled to a place in the church of God." In his former treatise (page 14) address- ing his opponent Mr. Jackson, he writes thas. ' ' If," says ho, " we admit your exposition, that the holiness of the children con- •iats in being dedicated to God, it must follow that the unbe- lieving |taren( i» dedicated to God also ; for to be sanctified and to be rtmdehoUj is the iaine thinsr." Thus he admits, as no ono can deny, that the holiness of both parent and child are of the same kind J now, according to his present statement, children in consequence of this relative holiness are entitled to . place in the church of God ; then the unbelieving parent must be equally entitled to such a place — a heathen parent without re- pentance, without faith, entitled (o a place in the church of God ! entitled therefore to baptism — to the Lords supper ! to every privilege of the church ! It is impossible to escape ihh absurd concTusrion, on Mr. Elder's mode of reasoning. He once saw its absurdity ; and he owed it, therefore, to the deno-^ mination of christians he has deserted, and to the public, to shew in what way he coald adopt his present professed views, this absurdity notwithstanding ! and yet at the close of his remarks, on this head, we find him, as in several other places, affecting to e.xult at the consideration, that those who oppose infant baptism " will always find this a hard text to be under- stood." They will indeed, if the Lord should favor them with no bettor interpreter than Mr, Elder. 9. We advance now to Mr Elder's next inference in sup- port of infant baptism. It is that, so often repeated, and as often exploded, derived from the baptism oj households. Seve- ral households are mentioned as having been baptized, and off these some supporters of infant baptism seize, with avidity, as alTordinir. thev think, an'linman :. .■«'■■, '■»•■• •• ..'••♦ i A' J I .. ^■V.' ♦y «' ■3 52 Subjects of Bapliam Part I. of diTino grace to record tlieir baptism as that of the adults who in so many instances are mentioiied ?" It certainly would ; but they are no/ mentioned ; therefore, ue inter that they were not hapti/ed. This ought to be Mr. Elder's conclu- sion on his own mode of reasoning ; and yet he gravely talks oftlicse passages being calculated to n^ialead, if infant baptism be not true. Who can they mi.slead liut those who cnoose to argue facts from silence .' To such persons, these or any other passages may of courre be the foundation for any system which human ingenuity ujp.y invent. On the sub;, ct ofl.ydiaand her household we must call on the h'story to testify to a few further particulars, although ]Mr Elder s«ems to dread so much submitting the case to a rigid cross examination. We hope at least his lears will be controllable so long as the New Testament alone is the wit- ness To suggest that Lydia might be " a travelling merch- ant," he thinks would be too much like the conduct of an un- principled attorney ; but what are we to say, if the history, not only suggests, but states as much ? Was Lydia a merchant? The New Testament replies, she was " a seller of purple." Was she travelling ? The same witness answers she was " cf the city of Thyatira," and now in Philippi, some hundred miles at least away from home. It is quite right, too, to sup- pose that she had a husband, though no mention i.s made of him in the passage, because that would support JVIr. Elder* system ; but we must not, on any account argue from the silence of the history on this point, that she had none, because that would support the contrary system ! And although from her language in verse 15, " If ye have judged me faithfui-- conie into mi/ house," we may infer she had no adult servants, yet it would bo (|uite improper to argue from this that she had no adult husband, however similar her language may be to that of one who acknowledged no superior authority in her house ! Did 3Ir. Elder preface his remarks or. this case with the caution about unprincipled attornios because he tcarcd the effect of a rigid examination on the gloss ho was about to otrer ? Another point which INIr. Elder has entirely overlooked is this. When wo are informed that Lydia " was baptized and her household," and of the Jailer that he " was baptized, he and all his straightway," it surely is too improbiible a thing to suppose that in each of Jliese cases there were but one or two young infants without any other parent, anv older children, or any tfervantto take care of Ihem ; but, then, if there mujit have been in these cases either other parents, or servants, or older Chap. VII. ] Subjicls of Baplism. cliilJren, or all of these, they, equally with the young in- fants, were parts of the housrholtl ; and is it not quite na right to presume that they were tiie housf-'hohls, of which the sacred historian speaks as being baptized, as that the young infants were ? IIow does jMr. Elder get over this diflicully r And does he imagine that such adult persons in the Jailer's house were baptized merely because they were his, without respect to their own faith ? If not, why then think that any infants were so baptized. And if he does think they were bap- tized on the faith of another, let him plainly avow it. We hope there are few pcdobaptists who will follow him in so des- perate a conclusion Many of them struggle a good deal un- der the burthen of the practice of sponsors promising repentr ance and faith for iutants ; we know not what they would do with such a practice on behalf »f adults. We know however, what the scripture says, " So then every one of us shall give account of liiui.ielf to God." Of the case of Stnphanas, we have shewn in page 17, thnt it is far more probal)le that those, who, in the same epistle, and that the first to their church, (I Cor. xv. If-,) are spoken of as having been baptized, and also as having addicted them- selves to the ministry ofthe saints, were adults, than that they were infunts ; and what the history makes probable, in this in- stance is rendered certain as in other cases also, by the New Testament description of the ordinance, and the nature and cons'itulion ofthe christian church.* • Dr. Whitby.—" And when she, [F-yilia ] and those of her lioustholii, wer inslrutted in the ihristiaii frtitli, in the natui e of baptism required by it, she was baptized and her honsphnk)." I'liruphnsc on the place. I.iMBoncH. " An und'jubted arE;nmcnt, therefore, cannot be drawn from this infitance, by wlilcli it may be (!oiiioti<:lrat'*<). (hat infants were baptized by the apnstlps. !i mijjbt be, that all in her house were of a mature ape ; who, a« in the excrci-'e cf a ri^ht un- dersiandiiig, they bplicved, so Ihry were able to make a public pro- fession of that faith, when tnev ri»crivrd ba|>ti«nn." Comment, in Inc. l';rd. Ex. V. 11 p. 359. ASSEMBLY or Divines. " Of th* city of Thi'ntira— A c\ty o( A«ia -here (Uvell Lydia, that devout s;'rvant of Clod" — " Jind entered info the house of Lydia : (ioublless to cnniirm thpmin the faith wliich they had prtached to ihent —Lydia and IIF-RS liraring of their mi- raculous doliveraiirf, couM not Dnt be ro»»/o)/i f/ and cnnifirnied in ■ 1'inot. m Acts \vi. 14, 1<>. Sor-p. Gnidf, p. 25. ttip trnth." Dn. DoDDniDGE.— -•' Thnu rhalt bf saved, and'thine house. 'I he rtieaning cannot be, tbat the clernal salvation of his farmlv could be jreured by hit Jnith , but thai— ii tbpv also theinsoHrs brjievpd, (bpv iihoiilu hp entitled to ths.'=.3rx!G soiritu.il zml evf^ilaKlin!/ bipssif^trf :'u\ Jyr >' i 34 Subjects of Baplism. [Part 1. 10. Children addressed.— We do rejoice most heartily and congratulate our readers, that we have at length waded thtoogh these supposed inferences of Mr. Elder, in favour of infant baptism, as far as the last. This is of precisely the same character as the other.s. Mr. Elder infers that the apos- tles baptized mlants hi-cause they address and instruct childrea in .heir Lp.stles to the churches, (Eph. vi. 1,3,-Col i.i '>(») And to the obvious answer that these childien may have beJier- ed and been baptized we have the following very modest and ogioal assertion, - Jt is perfcclly Jntile," Mr. Elder decides. tosHv h.s," (page.-IG.) -Ihe^e ep:s.le« were no doubt read ";f»'"l^''/^. assemblies oi the churches and of course addressed to all the children o» church members without discrimination." , ,. l/ct us however »»;>;>o,w, for the sake of augument, that fcc7^fi»o^ children only were baptized. Would not the lannuace of I'aul .11 the places quoted have been perfectly proper to ad- Vlress to surh persons > " Children obey vour' Parents in the Lord It so why ,s it perfectly futile to suppose that such was the case ? Hut supposing that some children in their assemblies as no (loubt was the case, had not been baptized, what reason have wc «^!.'nJ"Tfi"'' "'*'*^'' P«»J.'"'g'»< thera.her add. as it is probable (bat Wiany o( .em. umlc. this terrible alarru. might have attended the maxtcr of the family mio the dungeon. ,. ., „ ^'""»- ^•«/">s. Note on the p'aci MATTH..V Hcnav.-o The v,.ite of .ejnicins, wi.h tha'l ol it. in God, sed to be ra mn was hcaid in the jailer's house- He rcjoic.l UluiHn, mthall.hu hmsc : there wa.« none in his house that rHut ba,.i.zed, amisoinadea jarinlhecercn.onv, but t/u,, wne tinani. vt,ms m embracing the gospel, which added much to ihc ji^y." n ■ •„ Ejojjos. in he. Strip. Guide, p. 26. .o.l .i\V"! '1 '"*"" r-M>'-essne. " LuUe co.nmn.d* the ,,iou3 zeal ol il.e jader, because he dedicated his whole house to the Lo.d! in wb.ch also the grace of God illustriously appeared, because it sud- denly bioujjht the whole family to a pious consent" Comment, in loc. Scrip (;.,ide, p 26. Dn Hammond, though a Pedobspl.^l |,j,„.eir. Ih.nks the inlrr- encftol l.:d..b.,|,nMs unrcsouuhlc, .hit because Paul n.enlion* the ...p..».n»t 6..epbanaVsbuusel.old, be n.ur.t b,ve bapl./ed n.l.nts tor w.lhuu be ast verse, wh,ch as.su es us thev weie no. u.... ,U It. "..I, I not he (airly inleiredlrom the ICib verse. Th^'se are lii^ w.Hds : " ,l„nk it unreasonable that the apostle's l.a.e mention of b«|. iziiig bis hoi.sd.old. should be thought competent to ronclnile Ihiit inlantN were bapilzed by hMD." «» * cm lo , oni mile ]Vn,k>, Vol. I. p. 4M4. Pmd. Exam. Vol. II. ,,. 3.%S. Scrip. G. p, 2,S. (O' All the above arc pedobnplist aulhoiilics. Chaj). rUI] Subjects of Baptism. 55 to imagine that in such casp the apostle wniild diacriminafe between believing and unbelieving children ofchurch members ? >\ouldithurt the unbelieving children to hear such exhorta- tions ? Can we conceive it probable that he would say, " Ye children that have been baptized, obey your Parents'?" this would seem to imply that those who were not baptized were released from this obligation. In these epistles moreover, he addresses his admonitions to other classes of persons as we'll as children— to wives— to husbands— to porvants. But in their assemblies there doubtless were oftentimes unbelieving ser- vai-ts, or wives, or husbands, in whoso hearing the epistles would be read, and to whom therefore, as well as to believers, they might appear to be addressed " without discrimination. '' IMiist we infer from these circumstances that those unbelievinff partners or servants were baptized ? That such persona did enter their assemblies appears from 1 Cor. xiv 23. Mr. Elder has professed in times past to be a baptist minis- ter, and has either himself addressed, or has heard other minis- feis (if this denomination, address children, baptized and unbap- ti/.ed indiscriminately, on the ground of their duties ; would a bystander have been justified in inferring from this that all the children in the assembly were baptized ? Yet this is what Mr. Elder now iufers from the apostle doing the same thing. CHAPTER Vlir. Fallacy of mr. kt-per's ARr.uMEXT for tite samenf.ss op TttB cnunniF.s ; the cuRistiAV church not FOL'.xnEo on the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT ; ITS TRUE FOUNDATION ; PARTICULAR ARGUMENTS CONSIUERtD. Driven from every post on the ground of the New Testa- ment on which they thought to establish themselves, the advo- cates o( infant baptism at length take refuge amidst the ceremo- nies ot a darker dispensation, n . the forlorn hope of an expiring cause. I- rom the Jewish ordinance of circumcision they think they can derive proof of infant baptism. Here it is that i>lr. Klder takes his foremost, and, as he appears to think, his strongest position ; and he .seems to insinuate while he does so, that l>aptists arc unwilling to follow him thither ; (see letters, pnge ,). This insinuation is entirely groundless ; the princi- 'Mi ■» ■ " ■» .' -ir'' ,,'t V I" I;. !■:■•>■/ ^^ nl u. on wiiirli ,1 i: ..<.* «,. «i i-;-,.: ij.-iur wo 01 inc iliCVv i Ci" 56 Subjects of Baptism. [Part 1. tament, we have already stated in our first cliapter ; to that principle it may be as well to recur iu thid place by a few addi- tional ren)ari;s. Uiptistn, a^ an ordinHncc ofdivine appointment, is, as we supp (SO every one must allow, peculiarly cliristian ; and what- ever resemblancoa may be traced between Jewish and christian ceremonies, still, nothing is plainer, than that sacrifices arc not Christ, ceremonial bathing* re not regeneration or the renew- ing nftlie Ifoly (ihost, the passover is not the Lord's supper, and circumcision is not baptism. We have therefore felt it to be our duty and our wisdom first t*) seek in the paces of thd ew lc-3lamont an answer to the enijuiry, what is baptism ? This wc have done, and we now ask, 't the testimony on this subject as there contained, obscure and scanty ? No, there are many witnesses, and they speak out plainly ; they tell us bap- tism is the bathing in water of penitent believers, of conscious moral agents. — But do these witnesses never mention infants as being also baptized? iVo never. — And do they mention instan- ces of baptism in which tiie baptized believers must, necessarily or by tljo highest probability, have had infants, the baptism of whom would surely in some one or other of these cases, have been named if it really took place ? Yes, there are many such cases, as the baptism at the feast of Pentecost, at Samaria, at Corinth, and at Kphesus, and yet no baptism of infants is men- tioned in aiiy of these. — And is any thing said by these wit- nesses concerning the spiritual nature of the church of Christ that makes it apparent that infants would not be baptized "i Yes, th<3 church ol Christ is represented as composed of those who Rre taught of the Lord, and have his law written in their hearts, and baiitism is alluded to as significant of an inward purifying work in the heart, and therefore not to be used except when this work actually appears to have taken place.— Here then the question is decided ; to go to other sources of information is a needless labour ; and if any one searching at other sources, should bring hack what may appear to be evidence of infant bap- tism, we are entitled at once to reject it as spurious ' tradictory of the New Testament the only proper jut ordinances. Still, while thus entitled to reject all other, pretended, proof of infant baptism, we repel as unjust and entirely without foun- dation the insinuation that we arc afraid of e.xamining other ground. On the contrary, we avow ourselves perfectly ready to meet Mr. KIder, or any other advocate lor infant baptism, on any ground thoy choose to tread. The Old 'I'rstnment especially we have PXaniiUo'd a-raijl njul urr.nin nf.-r,.r-llv ncoii-r^.l ],,„.„„^,- because con- I dee of its own I Chap. VlJf] Subjecls of Baptism. 57 tliat it can contain no contradiction of the New, and have always rotiirned from the examination with an increased conviction that ii fiiriiidhes not a shadow of evidence in support of infant ban- ti»m. But we proceed now to consider the testimony in its Idvour, which Mr. Elder informs us he has discovered there. I. The argument which he labours to maintain in his second and third letters is as HjIIows, namely, that the Jewisli and Ch.istian churches, are one and the same; that infants were members of tlie former and are consequently members of the lat- ter also; and that, tlicreforo, as they were ciycuuiciscd under tlie Jewish dispensation, they ought to be baplizti! under the christi- an. Tills is the whole substance of his statement; and we feel as tlniigh our readers must anticipate lis, when wo say of it, that not only are the premises on which this argument rests untrue, and tiic conclufly circumcised. Well, is this a proof that all or any infanfs must now be baptized ? Are circumcision and baptism the sanie orvlinance ? The excision of the flesh in the bloody ritu oi cir- cumcision, we apprehend, will appear to most persons very dif- ferent from bathing the body in water. The only thing" that this argument if correct, could possibly prove, is that infants 6;ight still to be circumcised, reduced to its pimplest form, it would stand as follows : Ciiildren being members of the Jewish church were cir- cumcised ; But ciiildren are members of the ("Christian church, because it is one and the same as the Jewish ; therefore, Ciiildren ought now to bn riRcu.'xirisF.n. " No, no," cries Mr. Elder. " I did not mean to come to that conclusion ; for circiimcisul in tho last part of (ho syl- logism read l)aptized." Nay, but, iMr. Elder, we rauiiot read your amendment, for the rules of just reasoning will not allow us. Infants by your argument ought to be ciicumci.sed, do you mean loaay this } Tlteie is no possilile escape from (his conclusion, but by asscitiug circumcision and baptism to be the same thing. Besidos, the same ar<,'iuii''nt would prove cxprresly that foni.alo iulauts oivht "••/ '■? '■•■■• >-^.^i'. — ". i« i i •> 'MM ■r 58 Subjfctt of Baptism. [Part I. The Jewish and Christian churches are one and the same, and infants having Ween members of the one arc therefore members of the other ; but female infants were not admitted to any initi- atory rite under the Jewish dispensation; therefore, they ought not to be admitted to baptism, which is the initiatory rite under the Christian dispensation. Does Mr. Elder admit this con- clusion also ? In like manner may we prove that one's servants and de- pendants as well as children ought to be baptized, or rather to be circumcised. For tho law of circumcision required that all " born in the house," and " bought with money must needs be circumcised;" and " when a stranger vvfould sojourn" with Israel " and would keep 'he passover to the Lord," the law commanded " Let all his males be circumcised." Here was no waiting to know whether they had faith or not ; no inquiry whether they gladly received the word, or possessed any reli- gious character, the law was peremptory, it must be obeyed. Thus, then, these slaves, and dependants, and children, older or younger, with or without spiritual religion, were admitted as members of tho Jewish nation and as such were circumci- sed. But says Mr. Elder, as the Je-vish nation and the Chris- tian church are one and the same thing, therefore slaves and dependants, and children of every age, with or without faith and spiritual religion ought now to be admitted as members of the Christian church, and as such to be (circumcised, or as Mr. Elder will have it) baptized. Did the apo.stles proceed thus in their ministry ? Do missionaries to the heathen now act thus ? What sort of churches would they now raise in Burmah, India, or Africa, if such were the principle on which they proceeded ? The stronger and the wealthier would soon rule the day. Mammon would be found the most effici- ent instrument in building up churches of this sort. Gain ovtr to your opinion some Rajah, or other great man with a numer- ous retinue of dependants ; let him, with the arbitrary rule of an eastern despot, command their baptism, and with the hand laid on thu head in token of submission, or the body prostrate on the ground, they will, no doubt, without further inquiry ad- mire the new religion and praciice its ordinances. Alas (or the poor church of Christ ! this was in fact the principle that eventually governed those that miscalled themselves her friends: they shook hands with the world; they baptized infants to cur- ry favour with their mothers ; they truckled to power, to wealth, and worldly honor, and still bearing in their front flic /(«nif of the church of Christ, they ended in a mass of corruption and death ! Chap. Subjects of Bapiitm. 59 \ 2. We have felt it nece«sary thus to expose the hollow- ncs9 of Mr. Elder's argument, based on the sameness of the churches, because it is so constructed as to produce the im- pression on the mind of a careless reader, or one willingly prejudiced, that all this display of reasoning is making out the thing in question, whereas it leaves that as much in want of proof as ever. Concede the sameness of the churches, and it }et remains to be proved, that baptism, under the new econo- my, is a rito intended tor children; this is the great and import- ant point in dispute, and of this Mr Elder has as yet ofTfrfd us no proof at all. He thinks, however, that he supplies it, by the lame assertion, that baptism has coine instead of cir- cumcision, while the whole of his proof to sustain this asserti- on consists of two bold statements, without a single text of scrip- ture to support them. " I only mention," he tells us, (\ib^*> 'Jl,) " two reasons for believing that baptism has come instead of circumcision." " 1. Thoy are of the same import, they are emblematical of regeneration They both indicate that we are depraved, and need to be r Tl.is would depend on the laws of the respective systems; and this not being made out, for Mr. Elder makes not a single reference to the IVew Testament which only can decide whether baptism has come instead of circumcijBion, ourlnst resort, in search of any thing having the shape of proof in Mr. Elder's letters, is to the injercnces, that infants were in fact baptized, contained in his sixth letter. That is, indeed, the only one of his letters concerning the subjects of baptism that deserves examination, or has any appearance of reason ; and ifiat we have already shewn to be utterly fallacious. We shall however, offer a few words on Mr. Elder's two statement* respecting baptism having como instead of circumcision. First. — As to the first , we reply, that the signification of cir- cumcision i.s, wc think, no where slated in the Old Tcstameiit, and in the IS'ew, the very passages, which cast light on its sig- nification, shut out the possibility of baptism, as an ordinance admiiiistercd to infants, having come in lieu of circumcision. #1 .1^ '' .>* .'• -J '■V^^ f >:,' I'M '4 I 60 Subjects oj Baptism [Pari I. We cite for inslancc Colos. ii. 11, " In whom, also, ye are circiitncised with the circumcision made witliout hatids, in pufliii^; off the body of the sins of the Jksli, by the circumcision ol Christ," tliat is hy christian circumcision. Now this makes conclusively against'Mr. Elder, for it shews that there was a ChriilKin circumcision that came in lieu of Je.vish circumcisi- on ; hut christian circumcision the apostle describes as " put- ting oirthe body of the ains of the flesh;" that is, bf iiig regc- ncrated or changed in principles and affection- ; and (his can only be said of believers. It is called Christian circumcision as cnutrasted with Jewish, because thai was emblcn)atical only, this is real, that consisted in an outward sign of what ovdu'to be, this consists in a spiritual principle, which has an (ictuul exiflence. The same thing will appear from Horn. ii. 28, '29. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : Hut he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not ofmen, but of God." This clearly shews that infants ought not to be baptized, for it shews that a new ground of church membership is now sought, namely inward instead of outward circumcision, and this, it is impossible for any one to eay, wlittiicr infants have or not. That the apostle did not think of them as posscssmg it, is evident, for how can the words " whose praise is not of men, but of God," apply to infants ? Moreover, it may be observed, that if circumcision was sij;- nificantof " a putting off the body of the sins of the flesh," it must have hccn prospective, for no proof of regeneration was required of (hose who were circumcised ; they were circumci- sed, as they were, old or young, regenerated or unrcgencra- ted. But is baptism spoken of any where in the INcw Testa- ment as an ordinance which, in its emblematical signification, is prospective ? Does it not always mean something that is ciojjc, not something to be done ? Is it not emblematical of regenera- tion effected in the heart, and not a renewal which we need, which is yet to he? When Peter says " the like figure whcre- unto even baptism doth also now save us," he n)cans, as he afterwards explains, that the outward ordinance only saves uj«, inasiniioh as it is significant of the " answer of a good oou- fcienco towards God ;" jusf in the same wny that one might say to a murderer pardoned i>y the King, pointing to the groat seiil thnt confirmed the pardon, That seal has saved yon ; l.Mif (Tie .seal ^was not significant of any thing yet to come, hut of tliHt already granted, namely the pardon. So baptism, in (he passage before us, is significant ot spiritual cleansing nlready Chap, nil] Sithjecls of Baptism. 61 ohfainrd, a Hpiiifiinl cloansing whi'-h in llie same verse the ap'istle deRcril)PS as " fho answer of a good conscicMire to- wards God ;" liaptism Ilioii is not proppociive ofll'e pi>t,H ccri- gricMice l)ut accompanios it as its sign or token. In like inun- lii-r, when tlic apostle Paul, in the pass:i<;c alr« ady (juoted (Colos. ii. II,) iiad desoihed chripliiui circiimcision'as a pot- ting oil* the body of the sins of the flesh, that is, as rt-genera- ti'>n, in the next verse !io proiecds to describe the same thing, In ihc words, "buried with Christ in baptism, wherein iilso ye are risen with him through tb.e faith of the op In short, Mr Elder, for ought we can see, has nothing left for it, but roundly to assert that circumcision and b.iptisi.i arc absolutely one and the same thing. They may l(T- '. \'] •■•'»,j I" • . r-)' ■ ■> I ■'■I 64 SubJLcis of li tptimn. [Part I. pointed hy him. This, now, wi»d tlio Mosaic; or Jewiah dis- peiisalioii, coiisi. tiiig of a lutllou peculi.uly caiicci and l>lcs.s(d «t (ii)il, aiiii):i;i wlioin true religion, duiiUicss, was greatly iustcrcd, liut wliiuh htill must iioi hu coat'oundcd witli truo rc- liglJII ilHclf. This dispensation niorrovcr wns not to list, but to 1)0 suc- cocdod by a now and inoro {.'Idrioin d;s|)Pns:ilion, a spiritual njition, of whicii the .lewi-ili nation was /(y.>i(«/, and to the rise oi'which, it contrdmlcd, by preserving the knowled;je and wor- eliip ol'thc fnu; (ind, as well as furnishing tlie stock I'rom which the II'Mleoinor was to arise. 'I'iio new dispensntiitn was predicted by Jeremiah xxxi. 31, fic. (bulurc rofurred to, sec pa^.- 'l'^,^ as fou-idcd on a cove- nant or promise on t!ie part ofCiod, to raise up a spiritual Is- rai>l by writing.; tho hnv in their liearts. The manner in which this was fultilled on the day of I'entecost and afterwards, we liave already seen. A congregation or church was collected together of those who gladly received the word ; the kingdom of (Jod was preached ,and every sincere disciple i>rcssed into it ; of this si)iritual church or nation, tlie baptism of believers and tlie sujjper of the Lord are the only two rites discoverable in the New Testament. This is the new state of things ; the new dispensation under which wc now live, and the blessed effect of which ia seen whenever a soul is truly converted to God. That the statement here mailc is accordant witli known facts all our readers, we should think, must admit; but now, can any one fail to gee hoA* great a mistake it is to call these sever- al dispensations, or churches if you will, one and the same, because religion — the love, and inward S|)iritual worship of God in the heart, which they were intended to foster — is neces- sarily always the same ; and thou to sup[)ose that because a certain ceremony was observed in one, therefore, it must bo observed in the other.'' Parental discipline with the rod was ii part of (he family economy, but it was not necessarily transfer- red to the Jewish dispensation, so as to give the priest a right to discipline all children ; circumcision of male children was a part of tlio Jewish system, but this is not necessarily transfer- red to the Ciiristian charch ; all born in Israel were necessa- rily moinbcrs of the nation and entitled to its piivilegcs, be- cause that dispensation consisted in a nation chosen and sepa- rated from all other nations, for the wor.ship of the true God, but it by no means follows that infant children, or any persons wi'Inut faith, are therefore to be regarded as members of the sji'ivi'uu' nation, the Chiistian chu.ci). They in fact cannot bo Chap. VIII] Stihjecli of Baptism. 65 ■o, because tho onfy thing that can determine now who is a rneiiibu' of spiritual Israel, is the possession of faith in Christ. 2. The »:onfusion of thought which Mr. Elder discovers in the whaio structuro of his argument, may probably have been occasioned by a want of discrimination as to the meaning of the word church. This word is sometimes used in Scripture to signify. 1. The xchok company of the redeemed whether on earth or in Heaven, an in the following passage, " Christ ioved tho church, and gave him- 'f for it ; That he might preseni it unto himself a glorious church," (Kph. v. 25, 27. j This is what is sometimes called, the invinble church '; be- cause in this sense, the members of it are not regarded ns visi- bly assembled, or organized in one congregation for the wor- ship of God. Even when used in this .sense, however, the ex- pression, generally, in some degree takes its shape from tho peculiarities of the Christian church. Hut 2. It more fro- (Juently signifies a parlicvlnr company of believers, in a certain family, or town. Cor. xvi. If), is an in.stance of the former, " Aquila and Priscilla salute you with the church that is in their house." 2 Thes. i. I, is a specimen of the lattter, " Paul- unto the church of tho Thessalonians," that is tho rluin-li in the city of Thessalonica. This is what is meant by the i':,!')/e church, because it is seen assembled or organized for worship, and with this aMreea the nineteenth article°of Ile- ligion in the Book of Common Prayer; " The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which tho pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly ad- ministered according to Christ's ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same." 3. Anothei use of the word church seems to designate all such chinrhes as last mentioned, collectively, as in this in.Htance, 1 Cor. xii. 23, '• And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, Sic." 4. And lastly tha word is used in its original and proper signi- fication, which is an assembly or congregation. Common readers of the Bible are not aware that the same word ecclesia whicli is translated church in all the cases named, is used to designate any public assembly ; it is employed for instance to describe that at Ephesus in which tlie riot occurred, that tho town clerk so adroitly quelled. And in this latter s^nseofa cr>nsres;ation. whether of believers or unbelievers, or both, we find the word church or assembly (ecclesia,) used in Acts vii. 38, in reference to the congregation of the Jewish people or nation ; " This is he who was with the church [that is the con- ... .. .,„^, ,,..5,-^ dii\i -.Tiui uUi laiacis ; wuO ki gregation.] .h; '.•\y i' * . ■••Hi i cry SuhjtcU of Baptism. [Pari 1. received the lively oracles to give unto us. " In the same sens© the word eccUaia is continually used in the Septuagint. From tills examination, it may be questioned whether it is strictly proper to speak of the Jewish nation as o church, inasmuch as the word has now acquired a special modiTication from the pe- culiar character of the Christian dispensation : at any rate, when the word is thus used, the mind ought always to discri- minate between this application ofittoawhole nation, com- posed of good and bad, believers and iinbelievers, and that use whicli confines it 'o " a congregation of faithful men." It may al&o be observed that the expressions, the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of God, borrowed from Daniel vii. 9 to 28, evidently referred to an entire new state of things un- der tho Messiah's government ; when empL u to represent his kingdom on earth, they bear a nearer analogy to the third sense of the word church, stated above, than to any othr the church being the whole company of christian disciples, and tho kingdom of heaven meaning the blessings which throuro, under the Jewish dispensation, afiords no argument for tho baptism ot infants under the Christian. Wc shall now, in the third place, shew from scripture, that tho Jewish and Christian churches cannot be the same, becnuso tho Jewish church by its constitution, consisted of a nation which were the children of Abraham, really, that is 61/ diKCi'ut, while the Christian church consists of a nation who are tho children of Abraham spiritually, that is 67 fa-th, because they possess like faith iii im]. And herein Mr El- dor's erroneous view of the Abrahamic covenant will come lo be considered. To make this matter intcllipil)]e, wc first inquire from the Old Testament what that is which is commonly called the Abrahamic covenant. On a careful examination of the history, the following will be found to be a correct statement God, in the first place, called Abraham from his native country to make him the progenitor of a nation, of which intention he gave him repeated assurances on several distinct occasions r thin cove- nant was afterwards further developed under Moses; it belong- ed peculiarly to the Jews as a nation, and was the foundation on which that dispensation rested. On several of the occasions, however, when God appeared to Abraham, he also intimated that the whole world should d'^rive a blessing from this promiso of making Abraham " a great nation," which we now perceive to mean, that the truth would bo preserved in the Jewish nati- on, the descendants ot Abraham, and the Messiah be born among them : this is the dawning of the promise of a Sa.inur first made in Genesis iii. ]'), afterwards more fully developed in many of the |)ropiiecies, all which together constitute the foundation of the hopes of all the rcdernicd whether Jewish or f'liristian, hut which !tas tio relation to any ouiirord dispmsa- tion. Here then, are tvvn distiiut pnnnises respecting two diit- ttnct Jl(/(/<<•^^, the one relaiiiii^ to the Jews as a nation, which 13 confinnod by ihc seal of ciicumcisiun : the other relating to Chip, vni] Suhj.cts of Daplism. 69 all redeemed soiils of every age without refjnrd to any church constitiilion, to vvliioh the seal o( circumcision is not annexed. Witli respect to tlio first of these promises however, (hat rela- ting'; to tlu! Jews, it IS to l)e added, that we now wee from the fmtlier information which the JSew Tesiamfnt yives, that tiio Jo.vish nation, as the natnral descendants of vVliraliiim, wore a type or siiadow of the Christian CImrch — the spin/ua/ children ol Abraham, because, aa snch tin y are spoke n of thronyhout the oVew 'J'eatament ; and ul«o, that the fnlfihnent of that typo wa:» tiic suliject of other promises of Cod eoiineeted with tho promise liial tiie Mi'ssiah shoiiiii come, of wliicii tiie most per- epicuons and remarl*atioi> rested. Willi this general explanation, ', o proceed to adduce sever- al passar;ertin wiiicii the two distinct subjects of God's promisea ti> Abraham will B])pcar in their sej)arntc character, they are ns follows : Genesis xii. 2. " And I will make ofthcc a great nafion, " and I will bless thee, and make thy name preat ; and thou " shalt he a blessing; ; 3 and in thoc siialj all tho fami- " lies of the earth be blessed." This was the Jirnl call to Ahrnhnm, and here the two pro- mises are distinctly marked, the one relating to the Jew.s, J niU mtike tlice a grnil iiiition . the other to the Messiah, thou shall he a blessing;, In ihcv shnti nil ilic J'umiliin aj the earth be bhssed. The next case in its literal construction, relates solely to tho Jews as a nation. Genesis xv. 5. " And he brought him forth abroad, and " said, look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou bo " able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed " be." ti V. " And he believed in the Loho ; and he counted " it to him for righteousness." To this promise is added that of the land of Canaan " t<» inherit it," which was confirmed by " the sipn of a smokii.g furnace, and a burninjr lamp liiat passed between," the piecci of the r.acrifico wliich Abraham wrs commanded to ofTeron tba occasion. Then appears a renewal of the promise of a numer- ous po^terifv, and of the land of Canaan, that is to say, th« pi .mise which belouficd lifcralhj to the Jews exclusively,' and to the (•hrislian church onlv inasmuch as believers, tho sn'irita- :-d t \ .'♦< ' V] u ..] !•', I . t ■l\ —M. g^l u^ti^il iW ^Wi ' n l> '1 r>i %! i^7i' iiiii iiutiun it 14* I ?o Subjects of Baptism. [Part I. found in Gen. xvii. 4. " As for me, behold my covenant is " with tliee, and thou shall be a father of many nations. " 6 V. And I will make tliee exceeding fruitful, and 1 will make " nations of thee, and Kings shall come out of thee. 7 v. And " 1 will establish my covenant between ire and thee and thy " seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covc- " nant, to be a Gud unto tliee and to thy seed after thee. — " 8 V And 1 will give unto thee and thy seed after thee, the " liind wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for " an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God." The passage goes on to command circumcision, " Every mnn child among you slia" be circumcised." It ordains the ordinance as a seal of the pron -e now made, " It shall be a token of the covenant betwi.xt me and you ;" it proceeds to give particular directions of the time and manner of it ; and concUulos with declaring the covenant broken on the part of every one not circumcised, " that soul shall be cut off from his people ; he hath broken my covenant." In this passage, then, it will be observed, 1. That the whole promise respect* the Jews as a nation. The words respecting the Messiah quo- ted above from Gen. xii. 2, 3, " And thou slialt be a blessing - and in thre sliall all families of the earth be blessed," and which arc rc[)eated in Gen. xxii. 18, are here uholly omilted. '1. That ih.T covenant of circumcision is given, therefore, as a confirmation of national blessings to the Jews, as the literal descendants of Abraham, and not as a confirmation of the pro- mise of the INIessiah. 3. That the promise, " I will be their Jji )d and thoy shall be my people," evidently, as their subse- quent history shows, respected ihc distinction they obtained a9 a nation, of which, spiritual advantages were only an occasi- onal result inasmuch as being thus distinguished, the truth was E.pserved among them, and many would doubtless believe and e saved. 4 That the expressions, " an everlasting cove- nant," and " an everlasting p;)sseg3ion," in vs. 7 and 8, must pliiinly be interpreted in like manner with the expression in v. l.T, " And my covenant [that is circumcision] shall be in your flt!sh for an cL^ec/as/iiirj- covenant; " in the same manner with the common expression " the cverlaslin^ bills ;" and that in Ex- odij-^ XL. 1.3, where of Aaron and his family, it is said, "their anointing siu"'' be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations, ai.d in many other instances ; that is, when tho wf 'il is used as an eiiithet with soinc subject known to be limit- ed, its owti nuaiiina must lie limited by that subject : Priests anointed to tlie.ir olHce should continue, ns long as the Jewish tlisoensalion lustci! i the nioun* uiiis reiiiain firmlv rooted aa Chap. VHI] Subjects of Baptism. 11 loner as ihe world lasts ; Circumcision should be a mark in the flesh, appointed of God to Inst until tho actual circumcisi- on sliould be succeeded by the spiritual; and so, Canaan should bo a possession of the Jewish nation, and the covenant that secured it to them should continue, until all these figures should be absorbed in that which they typified, namely the future spiritual nation whose circumcision should be that of the heart, and whose portion is God. This is the only reasonable inter- pretation of' this passage, and it 's that to which we are plainly direcud by the language of the New Testament, especially tho following instances, Rom. ii. 28, 29, " For he is not a' Jew who is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh : But he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of tho heart, and not in the letter ; whos© praise is not of men but of God." So, also Gal. iii. 7, " Know yo therefore that they which are of faith, the same arc the chil- dren of Abraham;" which passages, and many moretiiat might be collected to the same efiect, shew, that the literal promise to Abraham which constituted the Jewish dispensation, inving been literally fulfilled, it noic receives a spiritual fulfil- ment, which is the basis of the Christian church. From what is here shewn, it appears, then, that the Abra- hamic covenant, so far from proving the Jewish and Christian churches to be one and the same, on the contrary shews them to be necessarily and entirely distinct in all points that can pos- sibly respect tho subject in question — the church membership of infants; for it is clear, that the promise which belonged pe- culiarly to Israel, and which was confinned by circumcision, can have no poss'ble reference to the Christian church, except as a type; but when we ask, to whom did the type relate; who arc the persons that the Jewish church typified ? we g;> to tho New Testament for the answer, and there we learn, that they are those who possess like faith with faithful Mrnham ; these then at;: not infinlH ! Infants were members of the Jewish na- tion by birth or descent, not circumcision, for i iiiy males were circumcised. The sort of infants who are mcml)e!s of the Christian church are believers who possess hum!)le teachable dispositions like young children. As to the mcmbcr.«hip of in- fants in the invisible church, the matter remains as it always was— God only, can tell who they are ; whicli of them will die and go to heaven ; which of them will live to disbelieve and be lost. IJut, further, the Christian church is not based merely on a fnlfihiieiit of that of which the Jowisli nation was a ty|)e. As j;;i2;;;il or oociiing Up Oi tiid ** .1 -A] M ' 9 f r word in tiie \ow Testament, we prefer to cite tlie passago as it stands in TIehrews viii. The apostle is guarding his He- brew l)rethrcn from apostasy, to do which he had held up to their view the vast sujxjrioiity of Clirist, the High Priest of his people, over the Jewish prit.sts, wliich he now further shews by contrasting tijo new covenant ol which Christ is minister and mediator, and on whiclj the Christian church rests, with tiio old covenants on which the Jewish dispensation was establish- ed; hid language is as follows : Hebrew viii. G. " But now hath he obtained a more nx- " cellent ministry, [than the Jewish Priests,] by how much " also he is the mediator of a nETTF.R cove.vant, which was " established upon nr.TTCiu pro.misi:;. 7. For if that first cove- " nnnl had been tsuiitless, tlicn should no place have been " sought for the second. 8. For finding fault with them, ha " saith, [and then comes the passage from Jeremiah,] Behold, " tho days como, sailh the Lord, when I will make a new " covenant with the house of Israel and with I lie house of Ju- " dah : 9, jNot according to the covenant that I made witb *' their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to " lead them out of the land of Egypt ; because they continued " not in my covenant, and 1 regarded them not, saith the " Lord. 10. For this is the covenant that I will make with " the house of Israel atler those days, saith the Lord; I will *' PUT -MY LAWS INTO TMEIH MIND, AND WHITE TIIEM IN THEIR " HEARTS : and 1 will be to them a God, and they shall be to " mo a people : 11. And they shall not teach every man hia *' neighbour, and every man his brother, saying. Know the " Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the " greatest, lii. For I will be merciful to their unrighleous- " ne.ss, ond their sins and their iniquities will 1 remember no " more, [then continues the apostle] 13. In that he saith, " A NEW covenant he hath made the first old. Now that which '■ decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Nov.', nothing can possibly be plainer than this language, it shews, beyond all question, that there was a radical differema between the covenants on which the Jewish and Christina churchsfi rested, and &lso in what thut ditrerenee consists, the Chap. VIII.] Subjects of Baptism. 73 former wag a promise of a nation which should be blessed as f'lcli, the latter is a promise of a body of believers, a new Israel whosljnuld be blessed by having the law written in their hearts. It is true the covenant to which the apostle directly alludes is that made at Sinai, but that, as we have before said, consisted in a further developement, an opening up of that made with Abraiiam respecting his literal descendants ; they were to be numerous, were to possess the land of Canaan, God was to bo their God, and they his people ; accordingly the command concerning circitmcision is ngain enforced under IVIoscs, as well as the miral law embodied, and many other precepts ad- ded, such as God was of course entitled to give to Israel aa their God. The covenant at Sinai then, which is now d-mo away, or rather fulfilled, in the blessings of the Christian dispen- sation, was in every essential respect the same as that made with Abraham in Genesis xvii. But, let it be granted, that there remains a connection be- tween the Abrahamic covenant and the Christian church, the only point of connecticm that is, or can be, contended for, is as wo liave already repeatedly shewn, tiiat the Jewish niilion was to be a tjipe, not a pattern, of the Christian church ; this ad- mitted, the question is yet to be answered, Who arc tlie mem- bers of the Ciiristian chur';h ? To this question the pass-ago in Hebrews contains a most distinct and conclusive reply — they are those in wliom is fulfilled the promise of the new cov- enant, who have the law written in their hearts ; who arc made " new creatures" by faith in Christ. Is not this the glory of tho Christian church .' Is it not plainly this which is the ground of the exulting language of the apostle in Heb. viii? And if then, believers on/(/ are members of this newly consti- tuted church, believers on/j/ ought to be baptized. A lew additional remarks by way of explaining or summing up what has been said, shall close thia branch of our present inquiry. 1. When we thus contrast the new wi'h the old covenant, let it be remembered, however, that we do not say, that they are not both covenants of grace. It no where appears in h'S K'tters that Mr. Elder has a distinct idea of the proper moan- ing of this expression. A covenant of grace is neither more nor less than a gracious covenant ; a covenant or promise of God, which, in the e.vcrciso of iiis grace, that is of his free good will, he is pleased to make, irrespective of any lawful claim on man's part. In this respect the covenant of God with Abrah:irn, was indeed a covenant of grace, as well aa that on I -1, f.'.f.>; I- ■ .■' '•HI ■,'••• ; '1! •■■■'.i.-i it !„ .1 •• »'! I 74 Subjects of Baptism. [Pari L which the Christian church rests. But this is not the ordinary use of the exjiression. It is usually applied only to the cove- nant, or promise on which the church of Christ is founded, be- cause the grace of that covenant is so superlatively greater and more excellent than that of the Al)rahamic or Mosaic covenant. In this sense of the expression, a covenant of grace, the direct testimony of the Epistle to the Hebrews, as we have now seen proves, conclusively, that the old and new covenants are not one and the same, they are not both the covenant of grace. 2. To avoid confusion let our readers not forget what has been already explained, that Jehovah made tioo distinct cove- nants with Abraham, the one literally respected Messiah and his kingdom, " In thee and in thy seed shall all the families ot the earth be blessed." This however was not confirmed by the •eal, circumcision, but by a higher security the oath of Jeho- vah, as is expressly said in Heb. vi, 13, 14. The other pro- mise literally respected the temporal blessings to be enjoyed by the Jews, and such spiritual blessings only as those tem- poral advantages should bring to those among them, who should believe with the heart ; this was confirmed by an outward to- ken or seal, namely, circumcision, while the things promised, in that is to say, the numerous progeny of Abraham, and their possession of the distinguished favors of God as a nation, were, as time eventually developed, types, but not patterns, of the spiritual Israel, the Christian church, and her heavenly pri- vileges. 3. If any one should ask why, cj the promise respecting Israel, the type of the Christian church, was confirmed by cir- cumcision as a seal, some ordinance corresponding to this should not be observed now, the following plain answers may be given, in accordance with the preceding scriptures. First, That it ought not to be observed now, because it is not com- manded in the New Testament. Secondly, it ought not to be observed, because circumcision was a seal of the covenant with Abraham, and a seal is no longer of any use so soon as the promise which it confirmed is fulfilled. But the spiritual thing typified by Israel is now fulfilled by its accomplishment in the Christian dispensation, and all types and shadows are vanished. Thirdly, that so far as circumcision was a symbol of spiritual things, this is fulfilled by the Christian circumcisi- on, that is to say regeneration, " the putting off" the body of the sins of the flesh." Fourthly, The new covenant requires no outward token as a seal of God's faithfulness, that believers will not doubt, and thcij only are interested in tlie new cove- nant ; btsides they possess an inward confirnjation that it is 1 Chap. VIII] Subjects of Baplism. 7S fulfilled in them, far stronger than any outward seal, namely that of the " Holy Ghost," by whom " they are sealed unto the day of Redemption," the Holy Ghost having created within them a hearty love of God and of his law. Fifllthj, To use baptism, or any other ordinance to infants, to any but believers, in lieu of circumcision, is not only not commanded, and there- fore wrong, but It id inconsistent with the spiritual nature of the new covenant, that, consisting, as we have seen, of the pro- mise "1 will put my laws into their minds, and write it in their hearts," and " all shall know me frojn the least to the greatest." 4. The description in Heb. viii. of the persons who un- der the new covenant were to be the people of God, comports exactly with those who every where in the New Testament are represented as having formed the first churches ; but as human agents, nevertheless, are necessarily employed in the formation of churches, of course the reception of proper subjects for bap- tism must depend on their judgment directed by the scriptures; hence the proper requisite for baptism must be said to be a cre- dible profession of faith in Christ ; the circumstances attending that profession, or the known previous change of character, are the proofs which must determine whether such profession may be believed or not. More on this subject will appear in the sequel. The sum of the whole matter is as follows ; that the Jew- ish and Christian churches are not the same, but other and different, although it is true that some were saved in the Jew- ish church in the same manner as they are now, that is by faith ; that the only reason why infants, as such, were mem- bers of the Jewish church was, that, that church by its constitu- tion consisted of a whole nation, but that they arenot therefore members of the Christian church as respects any of its rites ; that this circumstance, however, deprives them of no spiritual privileges, on the contrary the superior motives of the Christi- an religion must lead to increased diligence and prayer for their instruction and salvation, on which subject more will be said hereafter ; and lastly, that to baptize infants is to con- found together the spiritual nature of the Christian church with the temporal character of the Jewish, and to prostitute an or- dinance of Christ to a use not commanded or oven alluded to in the NewTeEtamciit, to a uso therefore which is forbidden and must bu displeasing in the sight of God. Hnppy the diiy for the Christian church when she shall ho no longer influenced by Judaizing doctrine, but taking th« New Testament as her ,4 - "■> t % * •' I.. ■U l' '! i:.?,M ( V^j 7G Subjects oj Baptism [Part I. t piikle chall adhere to the pure and spiritual model which ia there set tbitli.* • That Mr. ElJer's notion of the Bamoness of the Jewish and Chli^tia^ churches, in the sense tor which he contend?, is not agiee- ablcMo tlie sentinipnis ol Pedobaptist writers of good authority, will ajuiear fioni the following extracts : — Rev. IticHAHD Watson, the late talented Secretary of (he Weslcyaii fJoiifprence.— Uiiiverrial Rolemption, paf^e 35. " As ihe etitiancc into the Jewish chuich ivas by natural birth, and the en- trance into the Christian church, properly so called, is by faith and a :i|)iiiliial birth, these terms, aliliou^h many became Christians by nioie profession, and enjo3ed vauous privileges in consecpience of Ihcir people or nation bcinp; cho?en to receive the gospel, have \f,e- rcrally respect, in the New Testament, to bodies of tiue believers, as such. They are not therefore, to be interpreted. RCfording to the scheme of Dr. Taylor of Norwich, by the constitution of the Jewish, but by the constitution of the Christian church." Again, " it is to be remembered, that a great religious revolution, so to speak, had occurred in the age of the Apostles; with the full import of ■ hich we cannot, without calling in the aid of a little rellectiori, be ade- quately impresstsd. This was no other than the abrogation of the Cuurch-State of the Jews, which had continued for so many ages. " And again page 86. " There was then a nbw elbction of a nkw PEOPLE of God, to be composed o( Jews, not by virtue of their na- tural DEscB.NT, but through their faith in Christ, and of Gentiles of all nations, also believing, and put, as believeri, on an equal ground with the believing Jews." Rev. T. H. Horne, Introduction iii. page 253. " This relative or imputed holiness of the Jews as a covenant people, separated and consecrated to Ihe worship of the true God, was perpetual (in oi her words it was to continue until the imtitution of Ihe Gospel dispensa- tion ;) altiiouuh the Jews were often extremely corrupt m their man- nersi. as the riumerous denunciatioBS of the prophets sufficiently indi- cate." Again, ii. page 660. " The Galatian churches, not long af- ter their members had been converted to the faith of the Gospel, were persuaded by some Judaising teachers that it was absolute. y necessary they fhnuld be cireumciscd and observe the entire law of Moses : hence great dissentions arose among the Galatian Christians. These circumstances led Saint Paul to write his Epistle to them ; Ihe riesign of which was, to prove the Jewish ceremonial law to be no louger obligatory ; to convince them of Ihe 7norat and spiritual nature of the Gospel, and thus to restore mutual Jioort will among them." Qu. if hapti.sm had come in lieu of circumcision could the apostle possibly have failed to say so in the Epistle to the Galatians .' Dr. Emmons, " There is no evidence in the New Testament that bcl evcrs .ire now in the covenant of circumcision ; but clear evi- dence to the contrary." Chapin's Letters 81. Vcnkma. " From the difference between Ihe former and pre- f!-nt .-eo.nnn^ij'ei tt *V!ll rjearly appear; that the genius of the New Chap. VIII] Subjecia oj Bapiiam. 77 m CHAPTER IX. TARTICUI-AR REMARKS O.N MR. EI.OEu's LETTERS II. III. AND VIII, I. If llie preceding Ch.nptcr has bron understood, a muU litudo of minor errors with which 3Ir. Elder's pages abound hardly require a paiticniar exposure; to sonin persons however a more special nutico of them may be satislactory, and w» therefore devote the present chapter to that purpose. In letter 11. page 8, appears: 1. The inference thnt " the covenant made with Abra- ham is (he covenant of grace," because otherwise the Je>\ish " church might take him [.Jehovah] for their God," " and yet go to In II al Inst.'' Was there then no way of salvation but by the covenant with Abraiiam f What dues i\Ir. Elder supposo the condition either of infants or adults (o have been before ever the coveniint of circumcision was heard of .' Does ha suppose, that all who lived before that covenant was made, were lost i Does he not know that "God is no respecter of persons ; but in every milioti he that worketh righteousness is accepted with him ?" The preceding chapter we trust has shewn that the covenant with Abraham respected, primarily, tho consliiution of //le Jewish dispensalion, and not the means of sal- vation. It was always true that " the just shall live by hia laith." So the promise in Jeremiah xxxi. expounded in Heb. viii. respects the formation of the Christian church, tho meana of salvation being still the same, that is, faith in a crucified deenier. 2. Mr. Elder infers " that the Abrahamic covenant was the covenant of grace, from the fact that circumcision, the to- ken of that covenant, was a sign and seal of spiritual and eter^ nal blessings," and in connection with this he quotes Rom. iv. II, " He (Abruhum) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being un- circumcised ;" and he thinks it incongruous that " a spiritual Testament is abhorrent from an external covenant ; wherefore it an- swers only to the spiritual part of the old economy." PkcJ. Exam. Vol. ii. p. 204, 245. Dr. Owen. " Regeneration is expressly required in the Rospel, to give a right and privilege (o an entrance into ine church of Christ. Neither the church nor its privileges [being] continued as of ol , by carnal aeneratiou." On Heb. vj;. Il, Serin. Guide 88. van. (■■ ■ •' ■11 .••fl 78 Subjects of Bitplism. [Fart I. ■cal" should be " affixed to a temporal covenant." What a mere play on words is tiiiti, and bow entirely it loses sight of the spirit and meaning of scripture ! What has already been set forth in the preceeding chapter has we trust made it plain, that in consideration of /ji« failli, God made the covenant with Abraham, that he should Iiave a numerous posterity, and that thiiy sliouid inherit Canaan, and the token of circumcision was added to confirm that covenant. It was then a seal wliich res- pected spiritual things as regards Abraham, because it con- firmed the fact of iiis faith, which was the ground of the pro- mi.'9e; and it was continued to all his male descendants on tho same ground; for, whenever repeated, it was a token that on acconnt of Abraham's faith, God hud made this promise. But then, what was the promise itself ? Primarily that the Israel- ites should possess Canaan, spiritual blessings being involved onlij as (t consequence. The quotation from Romans is most un- hajipily chosen ; circumcision was a seal, it informs us, of tho righteousness of the failli which Abraham had before he was circumcised. Who does not see that this could never again b© Buivl with relation to any other man. }1 is descendants were alt to be circumcised at eight days old. With respect to the Jew- ish church having always believed circumcision to have a •piritual import, we remark that if IMr. Elder means any other ■ piritunl import than such as is now explained, he has answer- ed himself in the latter part of this head. The only proof ho gives of his assertion is tlicir notion (Acts xv. 1.) that except christians were circumcised al\er the manner of Moses, theif conld not be saved," and with regard to this as he imfornia us himself " theij icere mistaken." 3. The Abrahamic covenant the covenant of grace, he- cause it constituted Abraham the father of all ui.i.ii.\t:iis. But let it be remembered that if wo baptize infants, we make him the f*ather of those conce.aing yfhom fallk cannot be predicated. Besides, we have already shewn, that the thing promised in th» Abrahamic covenant was a fijpc of the Cliristian church, this i» the only connection between them. As to faith being required, and salvation promised, under the Abrahamic covenant, we re- peat, that faith was required in order to salration, but not as a test of memben^hip in the Jewish nation ; ir Oie Christian church it isthe.e!ievers, and al! tlierefoie, who have any right to membership there, have salvation secured to them. " He that believeth hath everlasting life.'' 4. Thi same thing aroued from tht promises. — With re- Chap. VIII] Subjects of Baptism. 79 A-rcnce to these, we ansver with the general remark, that the object of both Jewish and Christian dispensations being, as be- fore shewn to ioster religion, both are possessed of fhe same promises of a merely religious nature. The promise of Messiah as a t5aviour, made to Abraham, is now fulfilled to the Christi- ^"i rr'? ; , P'omise of a resurrection of the dead, ofeter- nal life to believers, and many more, are made equally f o both, and all the promises named by Mr. Elder under this head are ofthis character; none of them shew a continuance of the gov- enant of circumcision otherwise than as the things promised in hnt covenant were types of spiritual things ; but the thinir liiprficd by Israel as a nation we have already shewn to be 6* /.n.r5,n Christ, those who have the law written in their heartg. In several of the promises quoted, however, Mr l.ldtr plainly confounds the promise of the Messiah with the covenant of circumcision, the error of which wc have fully shewn in the preceding chapter, the two promises being per- fectly distinct. s 1 ^» .u ^'' 11^^'^ "^"^ advance to Mr. Elder's Letter III He here collects several arguments in support of the sameness of offertd":' °" "'' following brief remarks are now h.yJ' ^"^^"'•'^ "/ '''« "^'t'e '»•« in Rom. xi. Because th*, believing Gentiles arc represented as being crafted into the ohve tree. Mr. Elder infers that the churchefafe.hetaml H^ fails o perceive that the 66/.enV Jews only are intended a. as hrln h '^'. "• '° T^'^^ *''" ^'•"'"""g ^^J^" P'«^«. unbelievers, as branches, being broken off; (see vs. 4, 6, 17. 28 ^ These bcltevmg Jews are called " a remnant according to the elecli- on of grace ;- " the first fruit." which in v. 16. is said to be Holy ,n like manner as " the lump," that is the whole masi Jr!!Z K T". "1*'°"' i"''-" ^''-''^^y converted to God by faith. tTiaJrpnH '^'L'"- ,^"'"«^^. J^^t any one answer whkh is bttism I'^T?"^" ""' ^''' ^'■"'.' ""' •'•^ '^"'P holy-faith or „n? T ; ''" ?"^^''" '""'' °* '^""'■se be faith, faith onli, ; and what reason IS there, then, to suppose, that when ■ ' L S a rhr'"!" "^ 1? '^l "'""'>" of grace." became, through invAA. '^" ■^''''i^' '"'ants would be baptized, or that orLi.t "''"""'"''' °f '^^ -^^^'^^^ dispensation, circumcision or any other, came with them ? The circumcision of infants Has but a ceremony of the Jewish dispensation, it did not fee w'^ or regenerate their souls. They entered the imper- herin r *^''^P«"«''^''«" .by virtue of their birth, and were ered Z eij.'^""'.'^'^^^ ^^hile infants ; the believing Jews en- tered the Christian, the mnfp tlieChri.stmnehurch was, from the first, composed ofbuch Acts ii i; )" ^ ' °' '"""' P^^P^'-'J' «''c saved, (svzomcn.u,, PI 1 '^; F""' /^'■'""'"'*- One word is a sufficient answer to ^Ir. t^lder s glos.;. w.th relation to these. All promisca to literal Israel are now fullilled to spiritual Israel, tho latter hav.n.r come m place of the former ; but spintuul Israel consists of Doiicvcrs. .r '/'' ^"7'''' /^ ^"'' ""'^ ^'"■'' '" '""" ''"■ character of n citizen 01^ Aunx n>",rr both .< 8^ Suhjecls cf EapUsm. [PnH t. brother is a mardorer." But such bitterness of heart, although it doubtless was hateful in God's sight, and would exclude from heaven, and would draw down the rebuke of good mm, yet, did not exclude from fellowahip in the Jewish common- wealth, unless it extended to acts of violence. 6. Tht same employment in both. We answer as ber^.e, it ought to be. But Christ "has obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better cov- enant, established on better promises." So that what ought to have been under the Jewish dispensation, but what that " law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh," God now effects by the power of faith in Christ, He " writes the law in the hearts" of the new, the spiritual Israel, and " puts it in their inward parts." 7. When end how did the apostles leave the Jewish chnrch, and enter into the Christian ? Answer — When they believed in Christ, they manifested, that they we'^ the true children of Abraham in the higher, that is, the spiritual sense. Hence they with other similar disciples of Jesus formed the Christian church ; thus fulfilling that of which the Jewish nation was a type, as Christ fulfilled all the shadows of the Jewish ritual; all which types and shadows vanished when the antitype appeared. 8. The prophecies shi:w that the Jewish church was no' to be destroyed anil a new one formed. Answer — So many of the J<^w- ish people as believed in Christ were certainly not to be des- troifed, but, as we have seen, were to be resolved into spiritu- al Israel, the Christian church ; but surely all the types and shadows, all ceremonies peculiar to that ir.iperfect dispensation waxed old and vanished away, and mubl have been undersuod to cease by the very force of the requisition mud^ for members ofthe ncwstate ofthings, "Except a man be born again," "God seeketh such to worship him as worship in spirit and in truth." The only passage of scripture which Mr. Elder can find, as he informs us, (page 18,) as giving any countenance at "V, to the idea ofthe Jewish and Christian chi;rches being dist. ."t and separate bodies, is Eph. ii. 15, " Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances ; for to make in himself of twain one new man." Which, he proceeds to tell us, does not spea'i ofthe Christian as another but as a new church. Well, thie pa^isago does cer- tainly very delinitely indeed speak of tho Cliristian as a new church, and new, in what respect we would ask ? Because it is now to practice Jewish rites under a new name ? To u^a baptism in casos where circumcision was forme^'lv used ? If 4 Chap. JX] Subjects of Baptxtm. 83 this the essence of its newness ? Or does it not consist rather in that which the passage from which he quotes brings to view, namely, that both Jews and Gentiles were reconciled to God in one body by the cross, v. 16 ; tnat through him both have ac- cess to God by one Spirit unto the Father, v. 18 ; that the church formed now of both Jews and Gentiles is a spiritual church resting on Jesus Christ as " the chief corner stone," y. 20 ; being " a holy temple in the Lord," v. 21 ; builded to- gether for an habitation of God through the spirit," v. 22 ? The passage proves demonstrably the spiritual character of the Christian church, and the utter inconsistency of Mr. Elder's endeavour to graft Jewish ceremonies upon it. The conclusion of the whole matter, then, is, that in irll matt^r'^ which respect rites and ceremonies, in their whole fabric and organization, the Jewish congregation and the Chris- tian church are essentially different, and tTiat it is utterly falla- cious to attempt to argue from one to the other in support of any ceremony, baptism, or any other, which the New Testament does not exprossly enjoin ; sliil more to argue thus in favour otsuch a ceremony as infant baptism, utterly opposed as it is -al descent or birth. Christians are members of the church only by spiritual birth. Proving infants therefore, to have been members of the Jewish nation, docs not prove them to be members of the Christian church. And even if it did, it cannot be right to administer baptism to them unless the New Testament shews it to be an ordinance intend- ed for them. The te.xt quoted goes far to prove the contrary, rhoy were baptized both men and women." Children are omitted, \/,iich hardly would have happened if they were ia fact baptutJ. • .'•( .^r.. ■■•'.■"■1.1 ■ '■ 'i >v 1 84 Subjects of Baptism. [Part I Pafs 44. § 3. The objection made by Baptists, that if baptism comes instead of circumcision, infanta should be bap- tized on the eighth day after their birth, is a jnst objection a- paitist JMr. Elder's argument of the sameness of the churches, because the only sameness between them that could avail Mr Elder, would be a sameness in ceremonies. If the ceremonies are the same then, every thing must be continued that is not ex- pressly altered. Page H. 5- 4. Under this head INIr. Elder at length comes boldly out to acknowledge his real sentiments. Baptists argue th^t if infiuit baptism if; deduced from circumcision, then the baptism of all the members of a household, servants and slaves as well as children will follow. IVIr. Elder is afraid to answer to this, " no it will not, hecnuse f'lilk as a requisite to baptism is clearly stated in the New Testament." inasmuch as this would e.xcludo infants ; ho therofoie fearlessly adopts the hazardous conclusion, that, Hf. sees ' no f.vil that would result from IT.' This is a height ofo.vtrava^ancc in order to support afavorite thooiy unequalled, we apprehend, in the history of the Protes- tant church. Those who do not hold to evmigelicul sentiments, with whom rcliffion has degenerated into a form, are indeed easihj satisfied with the qualifications ol those whom they bap- tize, or receive to rommunion; yet all professedly require faith and repentance. Butlicrc is !Mr. Elder, in the ninctc- nth cen- tury, making a more desperate plunge than the coldest forma- list. On this iijround we arc happy to know that he will have not a few of his prdobaptist brethren at war with liim. The numerous Conjiregationalists and Presbyterians of America, and the I'ldcpcMdniifs in England, ribhor such a principle; and indeed the fuiniularics and stnndard.s, if not the practice of eve- ry Proteahint church, we believe, require repcntan.oe and faith in order to the baptism of adults ; they are distinctly stated as prc-reqtiisifps in tlio Catechism of the Church of England. — Does not even the Romish church professedly make the samo demand ? If Mr. Elder does not mean to come to this result, then he ought distinctly to have explained himself. In the latter part of his observations on tliis head, he alludes to a West India planter having his slaves inslrurted in the principles of Christianity and baptized. What does he mean by instruct- ed ? Does lie mean so taught, as to become possessed of re- pentance and fnith, as to be made " new creatures," by faith in Christ ? Such does not ajiprartoho his meaning; and any other id utterly inconsistent with tlio njiture of the Christian re- ligion, and witli both the practice and tho professed Btaadarda ot the church uuiversul. Chap. IX.] Subjects of Baptism. 65 Pape 4i. ^ 5 The remark about po -i^ive precepts, haa already received an answer in our lirsl chapter. Wo have in- deed, repeatedJy shewn that there is in fact, no sych conliu-i- ance of the principles of the Jewish dispensation, as to render R positive command for the baptism o.'iiiiuiits uunercsr .ry. Even if our Lord had direc'ed his 'Msciples to ^o in'.o all tlie world and maJ:e dtsciplcs to such a system as chrisliiinity, which can mean nolhinnrch and scrip- tures ; we say he fitlfiHid them, in I::m.^e!f ana in his sjiii'-uul church. TVc desire io fnUil them, Ijut net literally to praclicB their ceremonies, cither in whole or in nait. Mr. E.Jcr hero repeats the never ending story sbout the necessity of recurrence to the Old Tcstameiil t" yancti<^n the Sabbath, and cites the case of tiiosc who, not d.iing so, hive been led to consider it not binding, as will us iUosi; who find- ing no positive precept for keeping the first day ol'th" veek oi the Christian Sabbath, .still keep tlie seventh. Had Mr. El- der though formerly a Bai ist minister himself, never heard the answers to his objection ? lie pa^srs thcni without re- mark as though thny never had been made. With regard to the last mentioned case, we reply that a law of Christ iiiay be as well set forth by e.xar.iple as l)y precept; and the a.s>-endJling of the Christians for worship on the first day of the week, and its consecration by the title of the Lord s day, are both exhi- bited in the JVew Testament, and are a •'^cient warrant for the practice. And as to the former case we answer, as we have already stated in the first chapter of this treatise, that the eoasocration of a seventh portion of time to God la f^ r.xoral ■'^^^l K" n • ' "'•Jl :'' '.CI Ml w I te Subjech of BaplUm [Part I duty ofp^rp^^uo/ obligation. It existed before the Mosaic law; it is there iituorporated in the decalogue as resting on the sam* foundation as every other moral precept ; and from its own na- ture a:i symbolical of a heavenly rest, it must of coureb con- tinue until that heaven of which it is a type, shall be possessed by tin; Mhole company of the redeemed. The particular day appears to have been a matter of secondary moment, resting on the same footing with other ceremonial observances, and it therefore departed with the rest of the Mosaic shadows, whea Christ llie Lord of the Sabbath appeared. The oW measure of time commenced from the day that the phijsicul world was com- |)lete ; the luiv measure, from the day when Christ's spiritual vcrk was perfected, by his resurrection from the dead. P«2-c46. ^6. Mr. Elder's statement about God's right to require unregenerntc persons to repent and believe is whol- ly irrelevant ; he knew tint the Baptists as a denomination have never ceased to contend for the right of the Almighty to require obedience from all his creatures. Under this bead wo arc sorry to see a gross perversion of «cripture. ft respects the following words of Mark xvi. 15, 16, ■" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not f.hall be damned," which are evident- ly the account by Mark, a different witness, of the same commis- sion of the Saviour to his apostles, which is recorded in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Whether Mr. Elder regards this as a different commission from that stated in Matt, xxviii he does not clearly inform us. The direction in Mark, he tells us, however, was pcctiliar to the apostles, and respects only persons come to years cj under- standing. Tiiat it respects om.y such persons, is indeed plain enough, and is doubtless the reason of this desperate struggle to evade its force. But it is impossible to make it appear that that this nassage is pfcif'tar to the apostles, without shewing that the commission in Matt, xxviii. is also confined to them. And if this be Mr. Eider's sentiment, then he must suppose that there is no existing commission for baptism at all. Both Matthew and Mark represent the words, which they respectively relate, us addressed to the eleren, which is the o?i/j/ ex[>rr.«sionthat might incline one, at first, to suppose that the direction was intended for the apostles only. This however is controverted by tht fact that others besides the apostle.s (/iii actually baptize, with tlio divine sanction ; Philip was not an apostle, bu' he bnpti/.od the eunuch inthe\^-ildernes9, and multitudes of men and ncDicn at Samaria. Chap. IX.] Subjectt of Baplxin^. 87 So, in the Corinthian church, Paul although the in«lniment of the conversion of that chnrch, baptized hut tew. The only thing mentioned in Mark which is not found in Matthew, of any consequence to the present inquiry, respects the signs that should follow those that believe ; but what it more common, than to find one of the Evangelists relating a circumstance belonging to the same transaction which another omits? We know it lo be an historical fact, that the signs, hcr« spoken of, followed the ministration of the apostles, whether they acted under the commission in Mark or Matthew, which shews that the prediction of our Saviour respecting it belonged to both. Mr. Elder's mode of reasoning on this passage, if correct, would prove that faith was not necessary now to sal- vation ; for our Saviour says, he that bclievetli not shall be damned, and goes on to add, that such and such signs should follow them that believe ; but because such signs do not now occur, Mr. Elder argues that this passage was confined to the apostles ; then we have no right now to say on the authority of this passage, that he that believeth not shall be damned. And if in reply to this Mr. Elder should allege, that so much as is applicable to the present times must continue in force, the ob- vious answer is, how, then, can we know that the whole is not in force, except that thu providence of God has caused th« miraculous signs of faith to cease. This was the only part of the passage that related solely to that age ; all the rest applies to us, and must therefore be taken as explanatory of the pas- sage in Matt, xxviii. We venture to say that such is the first impression of every one who reads the two passages together, if unpossessed with any previous prejudice. Matthew tells us indeed that Jesus met the eleven in a mountain of Galilee ; ]\Iark, that he appeared to them when they sat at meat ; but there is no discrepancy here, the probability is that they re- mained in the mountain sufficiently long to make food necessa- ry, and perhaps indeed the mountain was inhabited, it is not called a desert mountain. And if we should admit the possibi- lity of the words being spoken by the Saviour at different limes awl places, still the su6jtc< of them is so manifestly the s.tme, that it is using violence to scripture to give them the interpre- tation for which Mr. Elder contends. At the close nfthe para- graph, however, he admits " that we justly infer" from this passage " that it is our duty as Christians, to send the gospol to the destitute." This is in efi'ect to admit that all that can now apply does apply, which is the same thing as to allow all that we claim from the passage. It is therefore a test of fitness for the ordinance of baptism, and proves that those only who bslieve ought to be baptized. ■■4: :•'•:.; ■■ 1. •■•'■ » ■ 1 ' I' 88 Subjects of Baptism. [Pari L It Is true that this passage plainly respects adults only, and pc(lr)i)iip?ist3 urge, that as tho Saviour ia speaking of adults and not ofinfati's, it afftJids no proof that infants were not bap- tizfd. rjut how can it be supposed, that if our Saviour intend- ed baptism to be adininistcrcd to infants as well as believers, hft would fail to say s >, on such an occasion as this in iVIark, wiien, otherwise, tho wordn lie used would necossjr.iily lead Ins hearers to suppose tliat Ijclievers were t!i3 only subjects of bap- ti<(m, esnoci.slly whon, as is ai'mitf ul by 3Ir. Eider, John tho Bajiiist and tho apostles had {deviously not baptized iafaats ? • CHAPTER X. TRUF «;T\Tr.->IEVT OT Ttf^TOlIC AL F.VIDEXCF. COXCERMNG INFANT BAI-TIS.M ; INFANT CO.MMrsiOV ; PEDOBAPTIST EVIDENCE AGAINST INFANT DATTISM. I. There is no prin-iplc more important to tho welfare of tho church nf Ciiri-it, tlian tiiat liio liible is the only rnle uf CSristian taith a:id practice. For this principle tlic Reformers oftiio si iternth reriturv earnestly contended, as the only ono tbat cou! I preserve tiiu churcli frotn the endless inventions of men. F, ailiiviiir oily a limited ap;>lica*iop. Even i'Tr. Scott, lh)ii »h not ^f neiiilly re^^'ded we believe as the be?t critic in the world, ami who wa« as likfly peih.ips as any one to give the pascage a turn in favour of [i.vlobaptist vie^v^. has the foliowinj^ commentary t)ii the passage in ^Iark, " these words ceitainly contain an ex- pres.* coniini-isiori to preach his salvation and kingdom to all nation* oflhfle.i:!h, and to men of every description and character as far a« th-y we:<> nblc : and they anp'.;/ a zommand to (he *amt effect, »(* 4tU their tuccesijii in llu aaciod .ntDislry." Chap. X.] Subjects oj Baptiim. 89 U.is principle .s not a needless caution, Error had l.egun and was already prolific even in the apostles' time. This appears iromthefiratpar of John's gospel, intended, plainly, to op- pose those who distorted the true doctrine concerning Christ as well as from many oth.r parts of the New Testament ; to Ihe ^/evalency of error, Jude expressly testifies in verse 4 of ...s Lp.stle, ' For' says he " there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemna- tion, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into laseivi- ousness and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Lhrist. Even Dr Wail, the celebrated advocate for infant bap- tism, admits that the conceit of Trine Immersion, andthecrr!-- mony of giving the baptized person milk and honey after he came out of the water, were " constantly used by the most ancient Christians," (vol. i. 09.) ^^nd from Moshcim also a pedobaptist, in his account of the first century, that is the first hundred years after the birth of Jesus Chri.sf , we learn that there were false teachers, '■ who acquired credit and strength by degrees : and even from the first dawn of the gcs- pel, laid, imperceptibly, the foundations of those sects whoso animosities and disputes produced, afterwards, such trouble and perplexity in the Christian church," (Eccles. Hist vol i page I.3'2.*) And in his account of the second century he iii- lorms us that the " venerable simplicity [of the Christi'an sys- tem,] was not of long duration, its beauty was gradually effa- ced by the laborious efforts of human learning, and the dark ■iubtilties of imagmary science," (vol. i. page 183) To which century (the second) he attributes the introduction of " pious frauds, (page 197,) the new modelling of discipline according to hat used in the heathen mysteries," (page 19^,) and thS addition of " many unnecessary rites and ceramonies " " the Hitroduction of which was extremely offensive to wise and eo„d men, ( page 200.) From that time forward the historv abounds with the most sickening accounts of the increasing corruptions of the church, the impositions of the clergy, and the introduc- tion of various Jewish and Heathen ceremonies, for the pur- pose of increasing their numbers by a compromise with existine prejudices. (See Mosheim, vol. i. padres 19' 198 ^>0I •>0'> JOt, 205, 212, 266, 269, 365, and maify other'places.) ' This testimony which no oncdispules, shews the extreme ignorance 01 lie ecclesiastical history which Mr, Elder betrays, when he tells us (Lette r vii. page 37,) that, " great changes in large • We (juotc from Maclaine's translation, Londun Edit. 1825. .■i -1 ! ir ^;*.«! ' 'HI I 'J i .1 'I 90 Subjects of Baptism, [Part I buJios of men, selJoin or never taUe place suddenly ; it is l>y slow degrees generally, that large bodies change their priiici- ples or practices, especially in things pertaining to religion " Ills assertion is contrary to known facts ; even in the apostles tune were sown the seeds of the most frightful changes ; and \vc see, therefore, the absolute necessity of an exclusive resort to tho scriptures, as the only standard of what is right in Chris- tian doctiHio and practice ; and also how to account for the early rise of tho practice of infant baptism. In resorting indeed to the evidence afforded by ecclesiasti- cal history, we are too apt to forget, that tho (jospcis the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles, the whole of the Sow Testament in fact, are fiisiorical records of tho first ago of the church — the onlij records which can be fully relied on as coin- ing from an nucorrupted source ; and that, if infant baptism was practiced in that age, it is the most improbable thing im- aginable that no instance of it should be there noticed, especi- ally when wo remember that it is quite in accordance with tho usage of the sacred writers, to mention children in those cases in which they are really concerned.* Every passage however in the New Testament that respects the present inquiry, we have now diligently searched, and have seen, that no such in- stance and no allusion to such custom any where occurs : In coming, then, to the examination of later records, we have a right to feel like those who have already obtained a satisfacto- ry answer to their inquiry; for, if now any notice of this prac- tice shall appear, tho presumption is, that it must bo a mere human invention, one of those numerous innovations of which Mosheim speaks, arising either trom a Jewish or a Heathen source, and which so soon as the apostles hod sunk to rest, if not before, began to corrupt the purity of the church. One of the earliest errors in doctrine, and one which seem- ed to creep in unnoticed, was that which confounded together inward spiritual religion and its outicard rites, so as to give a sort of sai'irtg' influence to the latter ; thus many, at the pre- sent day, hold baptismal regeneration, notv/ithstanding that express passage from I. Peter iii. 21, " The like figure where- unto even baptism doth also now save us {not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God.)" It is easy to see, this error once established, how naturally infant baptism would follow. In this way too arose c/(»if baptism, that is, the baptism of the sick in bed, by alFusion, instead of immersion, the ancient and scriptural usage, • See Note at the eud. Chap. X.] Subjects of Baptism. 91 under tiie idea that baptism was essential to salvation, and mnsf therefore to be perlornicd in some way, however contrary to its oiigiual iastitution. r.o unquestionable proof however, of infants being bap- tized rcours until the middle of the third centurv, in liie time of Cyprian; for the testimony of Tortullian, at the latter end of the second or i>cgitming of the third century, aithougti often mentioned as such, cannot strictly be regarded as evidence of that practice, but only of an approach lowants it. He reasons a^rainst the baptism of i/okmo- diiUlrcn, (parvvlos.) Now, JNlr. IJijbinson in his history ot baptism has clearly shewn, that utfatitiilm, a stronger diminutive than parvuius, is constantly used by the writers ol that day to designate young people in wliatcver stage of minority, (chapters xix. and xxi. see also Wall, chap, xviii.;) Besides, the language of Tertullian inti- n.\tc3 tiiat he is nut writing of infants that cannot speak, for he mcutionsas an argument of those who desired baptism forthesc parvvli, the passage " give to every one that aslnth thee ;" to which he replies by showmg that it had relation to a difltr- eiif subject. It thus appears probable that theabsurdity of giv- iii;^; !),i|)tir,m to an unconscious babe, who could not even f/sA for It, had not as yet entered any man's head, this was a corrup- tion of rather later date. Tertullian then, aflbrds us no evi- dence of the existence of infant baptism. But even if it be ad- mitted that it i-i infant baptism which he opposes, yet it ought to be distinctly borne in mind, that his observation goes ex- ; rrssly to prove that the practice of baptizing very young per- sons, was only Ix^^inuinp; to be introduced or contended for ; inv [{'the apostles and Jifsl churches had practiced infant bap- tisin, it would by that time have become the universal custom. and it criiinot be believed that Tertullian who was a rigid ob- server of the customary forms, would have resisted it. Tertullian then at the end of the second or beginning of ilie third century, is a direct in.=tance of one opposing the in- troduction of the new practice of giving baptism to young chil- dren, and thus it has been regarded by iho p^doljaptist compi- lers of the chronological tables appended to INIoslieim's Eccle- sia=!tioal history, who among the remarkable events of the second century, place tiie custom ol iiiiant baptism and the uao of sponsors. Some persons hope to invalidate this testimony of Tertulli.nn by alloi^ins that he was a heretic, but this is quite unfair, for thongli lie did aftcrwurds join the IMonfanists, yet, at the time he wrote his book f), nfi{.hs,„:\ in which (he hIi'ovo tc-timnny i^ ■-'^ntained, he w;i.- a niruibcr ol the ^n culUd, oitiio- :^5 :• '.: ' » ;i '4 I . r '11 ■K- <=•-.; ;•*. • n ; : ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // :/. 1= I I.I 11.25 :^ k£ 12.0 I» i 1.4 I. 1.6 ^. VQ A y^ "-y (P/f Photographic Sciences Corporation A 4^ ^> V ,v ;\ \ \^ 33 WIST MAIN STHtT WEBSriR.N.Y. MSSO (716) •73-4S03 \ ^^ <5* 1 3 99 Subjects of Baptism. [Part I dox ciiurch, and wrote this book expressly against Quintilla ^ JMontanist." (See Robinson's Hist, of Baptism, 106,170.) Mr. Pond, t as Mr. Elder informs us, cites Tertullian as admitting tiiat iniant baptism was to be allowed in cases of ne- cessity. If it be so, it is a proof of what we have already named, the early error concerning baptismal regeneration ; for, unless there was danger to the child's soul in case of its dying unbaptized, what ncceasiiy for its baptism could exist ? But the truth is, the words attributed to Tertullian and enclos- eo III brackets in the following sentence, quid cnim neccssc est, \si noH tarn iiecesse] sponsores eliam periculo itigcri, "for why should the sponsors [except in cases of necessity] be exposed to danger," are by good judges deemed spurious. Wall, though he allerwards contends for retaining them, omits them from his quotation, and indeed they would be inconsistent with the whole strain of Tcitullian's remarks ; for we cannot believe, that if he deemed baptism so necessary, he would expose the soul of the infant to danger by delay, or those of unmarried and w idowed persons, to whom also he advises delay : a sudden sickness might, at that rate, carry them to perdition for the want of baptism f Mr. Pond, it seems also, argues the great prevalence of infant baptism, from the following expression in Tertullian, Quid feslhiat innocens Ktas ad remissionem peccatonnn? " Why • As Mr. Elder hints about an earlier intimation of the practice of infant baptism by Hertms, who, he pretends, was contemporary With Paul, we here give the following quotation to shew what degree ofciedil 18 to be given to this insinuation, (Mosheim, vol i. p 113 ) " The work which is entitled. The Shepheid of Hcrmas, because the angel who bears the principal part in it is represented in the form and habit of a Shepherd, was composed in the xecond century by Hermes, who was brother to Pius, bishop of Rome. This whimsical and visionary writer has taken the liberty to invent several dialogues or conversations between God and the Angels, in order to insinuaf" iti a more easy and agreeable manner, the precepts which he thought uselul and salutary, into ihe minds of his readers. But indeed, the discourse which he puts into the mouths of those celestial beings, is more insipid and senseless than what we commonly hear among the meanest of the multiiudf." t As this is the first time Mr. Pond's name appears on our pages, and Mr. Elder (Letters, page 66.) insinuates that his book was never answeied, we beg to inform the public, and remind Mr. Eider, that Dr. Cliapin's able letters on the subject of intant baptism, were subse- quent to Pond-.s treatiee, as appears ci page 18 ol the Strictures on Mr. Moore's reply, and are (herefore in tact an answer to Pond though not personally addiessedto him. Chap. X.] Subjedit of Baptism. of J3 does [or should J that innocent age hasten to (the si^n ofl for g.veness o( s.ns ?'' But ti.o idiL of.he la.fn u "h" si- ha trans at.on as we have put between the brackets and the cir- cumstances ot the present case require it. If nthnt bap.'sm was practised by the apostles, if the infants, doubtless prenT numerous of the " three thousand." and of' the '• iveC^ sand, and of '■ t^he multitudes" of believers, both men and women, menfoned m the Acts, at Jerusalem 'and at Samana and elsewhere, who jo.ned the church about the same tm e' were baptized as well as their parenls-.f, m a word, . lad .r.. r T '^"■y fi'-^t the practice of the churches, resting on the Abrahamic covenant, and the custom of the Je^s there- upon, as pedobapt.sts allege, it .s a thing loo improbable to be behoved, that Tertullian, at this time a member of the orU.o! dox church, would endeavour to shake the practice : in fac hi angunge ,s not at all that of a man makmg such an attempt In the other cases m which he recommends delay, those of u- marr.ed and w.dowed persons, there was room for counsel 1 1 hese latter were adults, in their instance some time, from the very nature and necessity ofthe ca.e. must always have been taken to ascertam whether they were believers. The amonn" ot time employed for th.s purpose, was a thing that wo^d " course vary with c.rcnmstances, and accordinoly Tertull.an endeavours to shew the particular reason why Paul was ap ti.ed so speedily, and remarks that in the case of the Fu- nuch baptized by Philip, there was in fact, no haste, he hav- n.g been at the temple at Jerusalem to worship, and ha .nl previously been lostrncted by Philip; as well as that tins u.? stance was peculiar inasmuch as Philip was divinely directed i i«; J « * '"= ''^""^S^ *'''°'" Tertullian in Robinson's llist. of Uaptism, page 170.) The testimony supposed by 31 r. Elder (page .38) to be dc- med (rom Ongen. who flourished in the thi/d ccntuJy, is also loo unsatisfactory to ground any confidence upon it. It is ac- knowledged by all parties that no mention of infant baptism is con- tamed in any ot Ongen 's works that have come down to us in the ZT , . ^'"'^ passages cited as a proof are contained IIm'" !^"''..'"'*"^ of which, «// admit to be spurious, and whether thosc.that are not wholhj false, do not contain marly in- terpolations, IS a matter which, to say the least of it, is exceed- ing y questionable. The onUi evidence oflered by Mr. Elder that they are not so, is the opinion of Mr. Pond a pcdobaptist against this we oppose the following contradictory testimony. ' _ Du Pm, also n pcdohapHsf, —Those latin works we have are translated by Rufinus and oMns with so mm I, libertu, that ■M^ ■'■.1 '.'.1 V •'i- A' '. ■•' \' .'•■'■"ji'l si 4.. twa wjm^mmtm^^^m^ 94 Subjccls of Baptism. [Pari 1. »'- t » '- it is a dinicult matter to discover what is Origcn's own, from what has been loisled in hy interpreters." And a little alter he adds " St. Hierom'a [Jerome's] versions are not more e.\- act." (Hist. Ecclcs. writ. cent. iii. p. 100. Bootli's Pcdo- baptism e.xuininod, p. 99.) Iliitlius, a jiLdohaptiHl, when speaking of Origcn's remains in general, has the lollowing remark : " they are very imper- fect and iiiucii abused, or else changed aixl deformed ' / abomi- nable, translations." (Critici Sacri l. ii. c. xiii. Pcdobap. c\aui. '2 vi>l. p. 100.) ViKvuii, a pidobaplisi, Iiaving produced a passage from Origcn's lloiiiiliLS upon tht; Romans in favour of infant baptism, adds : " Uut concerning (Irigen we say the le«s, because the things tliat might be quoted are not c.vtant in the Greek." — (I'hes. 'i'hcol. do Pedobap. Pars li. Thcs, viii. p. '133. Pcdo- bap. K.\ani. vol. ii. p. 98.) IJr. Chiipin, a l)aptist. whose honesty is unimperchcd, in- forms us, •' I have read Wall, Moshcim, Du Pin, (ji.lc and others, iiitd find ample proofs that the translations of the writ- ings of (.,)iigcn are challenged as too corrn|)t to furnish any ground of reliance." — (Strictures on IMooic's reply to his let- ters ')2.) Here are three pedobaptists and one baptist, men of learn- ing and celebrity, opposed to J\Ir. Elder's single pedobaptist witness, I'ond, on the point of the doubtful character of testi- mony iVom Origen as regards the present subject ; to which v.c may add that as the original (ireek of Origen contains /lomen- 11)11 ol inlant baptism, and the pretended translations confess- edly an a!>undance of instances where it is mentioned, this cir- cumstance al'uio should induce us to sus|)ect the accuracy of any translafii)n where mention of it occurs, for it is hardly to be believed iliat it would appear sj often in those of Origcn's works wbicli are said to have been tran.'^luted, and never oitcc in those which have come down to us in the original (Jreek. Wo aild a word here on the testimony of Augustine and Po- Ingius, for the latter, though not mentioiicd by Mr.Kldcr, is often relied on by p<;(i')baptists 'J'hrse persons lived in the latter part (iflhc lunrlli, and the l)ejzinniiig of t.ie tilth centiiry, and as at tliat period errors and iiiiiovfitions in faith and piaclict! grievous- ly abounded, their testimony would be unw<)rtliy of notice, were it not addiieed ns an toliiiission, bv iniii ol "ri at loarninT. liint tln'V iHviT iiiid luind ul the most irii|iioii^ bercth's deiivmi; bajitism to iii,',iii!s. A laicliil t xainiiu'itioii ot the history <•( tli'it t!;iii'. and oIIIh! warm eonlru\ i i -e .■; bflsicen .Aiigiistnie au'l i'elaym-!, will satislacioi ,i\ <\\q\\ 'h.i! i\mi: is no such a.«- I I Chap. X.] i Sithjects of Baptism. 95 scrtinn made. Augustine was engnr to establish infant hn•^- tism as being in Iiis view an important argnmcnt for orifjina! sin, Aviiich he supposed to be washed away in baptism! And he pivrs It as his opinion that " the custom was doubtless deliverctl by our Lord and his apostles," but quotes no authority for this, ;\Vall i. 'i83.) and is just as confident, aswc shew hereafter, in tavor of infant communion. Pelagius ii\ repudiating the charges against him, denies tiiat he ever heard even of any impious lioretic to say that children could be saved without Christ. • Tiiat this is his meanin"- j)r. Chnpin has clearly shewn in his Strictures p. 37 : Indeed it is impossil)le to suppose iho con- trary, for if he was a man of such universal knowledge as ia alleged, he must have heard of the opposition made by Tertul- lian against infant baptism in his book de. bnplismn, as well as of the fact that the INIanichees denied the external ordinance of baptism altogether. His opponents in the heat of violent con- lioversy, as is too often the case, laboured to graft on his words and senlimonts more than he meant; in this case, to represent him as denying the necessity of the redemption of Christ, and this tliercforc it must be which he is eager to deny. It ought also to be remembered that the words of Pelagius have not come down to us in any other shape than as quoted by Augustine, his vehement opponent, which must necessarily lessen in some degree the confidence with which we receive them. We return then to the time of Cyprian, in the middle of l\ic third century, as aflbrding the first evidence of the practice of infant baptisni. Cyprian was bishop of Carthage, in which city a council of 6G bishops assembled in the year 253, and in answer to a question addressed to them by Fidus, a country bishop, who doubted whether it was right to baptize infants un- til they were eight day.s old, decided that they might be bap- tized earlier. Now, the very fact of it being still a question, two hundred and fifty three years afler the birth of Christ, at what age infants ought to be baptized, implies that the custom, if not then first introduced, must have been very recent, or cer- tainly the time of performing the ordinance'would have born settled; the absurd and childish sort of reasoning, too, introdu- ced into the letter that embodies that decision, must prevent any candid and sensible christian from regarding these 66 bishops as the wisest interpreters of the law of Ciuist. Noth- ing appears, in Ecclesiastical history, to induce the belief that even under the authority ofthis council of Carthago, the prac- tice of infant baptism obtained generally in the Christian world, until a considerable time after. From a great anijunt of evi- dence which dhews this, we select the followin:': ".f1 f V ••'l ■■■' *i • • ■ .1 , r ,. I ^lii%. Vi\ •Ml >:;Ui :1 ^aS^^. 96 Subjects of Baptism. [Part I. -. • . • ■/' I > Gregory Xazicnzen, who flourished in the fourth century advises the ba,,t...n or.nfauts to be deferred until they "houfd be three years old " or thereabouts, when they are cYpab^eo hoar and answer some of the holy words. "-(Wall, vd 1 It.) It IS plain then, that the practice was not general and I deed the style ofthe whole quotation which Wall g.ves she^. that .niant baptism was by no means a settled matter. ' Some one .s supposed to answer the following question " What sT! you to those that are yet infants, and are\ot in capac tyt ^ n/.e tncm too .? To which Gregory replies, " Yes bv all mean.s ,/„„, ^a«,.,, ,„„i., •, re^,,i^Ue.'^ And shortly after he gvesh.sadv.ee .n ordinary cases where there is «o danger to defer baphsn, until three years as quoted above. Who can'be I.eve that the question would have been either aske. or answer" ed lu the fourth century, if it had been a settled praclice n^om the very b.st ? 400 years is a long time to settle cisJom, Let any man look back from this tnno^a the history ofou^own country, and ask h.mself what he would think if people were now quest.o.i.ng whether it was a settled practice of the S- hsh or Presbytenan churches to baptize iSfants > Would ife be eve it possible that the custom could possibly have ex Ited »" those churches undisturbed for 400 years ? In fact i'Llm possible to read Ecclesiastical history with care, and an un' le'.'rred '"'h^k "'"^°".: *=^'"'"g '"^ the conclusion ^t wh LS even" learned pedobapt.sts have arrired. that infant baptism creoHn not altogether without opposition, but for the most paTt quie it together with he multitude of innovations that so rap?dlv 2' formed the Christian church. It ought also to be borne n mind" when any object that the resistence%eems small in propoJ^ o^ to he greatness of the innovation, that the spirit of the tme^ unhappily prompted to great compromise with hea hen Tnd Jewish ceremonies as we have already seen, and also that th« change was not ol so strikmg a sort as was likely to call for vi^ origmal practice, not as a chan(rc of it. It bvnomenn, tl fore, resembled the change wh?ch Baptists n'o^ labour t'o take" ihlt fl,M ?T !" r'"^""^ ""'"' '^^"" '^^Pti^'n of a coremonv hat flattered the feelings of human nature, soothed the X/ rLn '""'?'"• ""'^ °"^^^ ^«'^''°"«' -"d harmon zed with" the ea ly and ruinous error which gcivo a saving efficae,HoZ!ns -the basis on which the Romish church so^soon raided tie stupendous fabric of her errors. "® To what is here adduced from (;regory Naz.cnzen, we ^'■■^t^^^^m^^ Chap. X.] Subjects of Baptism. we 1 97 may add that after the most diligent endeavour on the part of Dr. VVall to make it appear that he (GrBgory) was born be- fore his father s baptism, he at last gives the matter up in despair ; and certainly if Gregory himself may be the best judge of the matter, the passages given from his poem concern- Hig his own life mako it plain enough that he was not born un- til after tiiat event ; Wall admits that he was not baplitsd in xnfancy, which he acknowledges to have been the case also as respects Gregory's sister Gorgonia, and brother Caesarius, so thPt here is a whole family and that the family of a celebrated and orthodox bishop, Gregory, bishop of Nazianzum, who in the fourth century after Christ, were not baptized in infancy, although their parents were Christians. Many writers adduce numerous other cases of like sort, but as we have not had time lo examine them we shall let this specimen suffice. The naxt proof wc bring is Basil, archbishop of Cjesarea also of the fourth century. In one of his Lent sermons, he uses the following language : " Whit time for baptism, HO proper as Easter .' For this the church lifts up her voice, and calls from far her sons that those whom she once brought forth, she may now brin.T forth again ; and feed with Hubstantial food, them whom she hath hitherto fed with the milk of the first elements of religion. To you the a-jostle says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you— Why do you delay ? Why do you deliberate ? What do you wait for ? Instructed in the doctrii? of Christ from your infancy, are you not yet acquainted with it ? Will you continue your trials to old .r-^ > Last year you deferred it till (his ; do you now intend to pui -ffyour baptism till the next ?" " Thut these were the children of professors, and not of pagans, cannot be doubted. They are said to be those, whom the chnrch once brought forth, and fed with food, and had in- structed from their infancy, [they being the children of church members.] And that these children were to be baptized on the ground of their own profession and desire, is evident from the whole Lent service. They were scrutinized, or examined, from time to time, during seven days. They were directed to pray, to observe their orders, and to profess their faith in the creed of the church. But how could all this happen, if profe»- sors then baptized all their infants ?— (Chapin 103.) " If there were none," says Dr. Chapin, (Strictures 61.) " who opposed infant baptism from the fourth to the eleventh century, how shall we account for the repeated decrees of coun- rils during this period, against such opposers ? One article of the council of Mela, held in the fifth century, ia in the fol- M ' n' ^.X 'M * 1 ,^ •, j£*Jp ";• 93 Subjects oj Baptism. [Part 1. \ ' i lowing words : ' Also it is the pleasure of the bishops to or- der, that whosoever denieth that infants newly born of their mothers are to be baptized ; or sailh that baptism is adminis- tered for the remission of their own sins, but not on account of original sin, derived from Adam, and to be expiated by tho laver of regeneration, be (anathema) cursed !' The first part of this decree clearly supposes that some denied that infants newly born were to be baptized. And the latter, that others, as the Pelagians, denied that baptism could wash away origi- nal sin. Again, in the sixth century, by the council of Lerida, in the archbishoprick of Tarragona, it was decreed, ' that such as had fallen into the prevarication oianahaptism, ifthey should return to the church, should be received as the council of Nice had enacted.' Indeed the first ecclesiastical canon in Europe for the baptism of babes, I believe was passed in the year 514, by a council composed of a few Spanish bishops, ' who met at Girona in Catalonia, and framed and subscribed ten rules of discipline.* The fourth is ' an agreement to baptize cate- chumens only at Easter and Pentecost, except in cses of sick- ness.' In the fifth, they agreed, ' in case infants were ill, and would not suck their mother's milk, ifthey were offered, to baptize them, even though it were the day they were born.' This agreement was binding only on such as assented to it. " But Charlemagne carried the subject still further, and in A. D. 789, passed a law to compel his subjects, on pain of death, to be baptized themselves ! And ' by heavy fines obliged them to baptize their children within the year of their birth.' " The following evidence is conclusive on this point. " Cardinal Hosius, 'preiident oJ the council of Trent. — * If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and cheerfulness, which a man of any sect shows in suffering, then the opinion and persuasion of no sect can be truer or surer, than that of the Anabaptists ; since there have been none, for these twelve hundred years past, that have been more grievous- ly punished, or that have more cheerfully and steadfastly un- dergone, and even offered themselves to, the most cruel sorts of punishment, than these people. Nor is this heresy a modern thing ; It existed in the time of Austin.' "— (Judson, p. 61.) The cardinal probably alludes, among others, to the Waldenses, many of whom denied infant baptism and had suffered severe persecutions. " The history of catechumens also furnishes strong proof against the antiquity of infant baptism. Catechumens were the lowest order of christians in the primitive church. They had some title to the common name of christians, beiag a degree Ckap. X.] Subjects of Baplitm. 99 above pagans, and not hereticka, though not consumnjaled by baptism. Among this class none were admitted, who had been washed in the sacred laver. But Mr. Buck and the Cyclope- dia tell us that, ' The children of ancient believing parents were admitted catechumens, as soon as they were capable of in- struction. But ;>t what age those of heathen parents might be admitted is not so clear.' (See Buck's Theol. Diet ) After these children of believers had passed through several stages of instruction, and had a competency of knowledge and faith, they were scrutinized, or examined in tho strictest manner, and then with various ceremonies they were admitted to baptism on the ground of their faith and confession. But if believing pa- rents did in the primitive church, baptize all their children in mfancy, why did they send them to the school of the catechu- mens to receive that education, which was to qualify them for that ordinance ?'" (Chapin, Strictures 65.) And why did tho practice respecting catechumens disappear, but because it was succeeded by infant baptism ? II. The above testimony is sufficient to shew that infant baptism did not begin with the apostles, and that its introduc- tion was not altogether, as some have alleged, silent and unre- sisted ; and while it is admitted that in the middle of the third ceniury it began to make its appearance, we would call the at- tention of those who pause at this circumstance, as though it atfords any reasonable argument for the practice, not only to the early introduction into the Christian church of a multitude of errors both in doctrine and practice, but particularly to the fact that if infant baptism, was an ea'-ly practice — infant commu- niun was equally so. " Chillingworth says, « Saint Augustine I am sure held the communicating of infants, as much apostolic tradition, as the baptizing of them. — The eucharist's necessity for infants — was taught by the consent of the eminent fathers of some ages with- out any opposition from any of their contemporaries, and was delivered by them, not as doctors, but as witnesses ; not as their opinion, but as apostolic tradition.' " " Says St. Austin, ' T^o one who professes himself a chris- tian of the catholic faith, denies or doubts that children, with- out receiving the grace of regeneration in Christ, and without rating his flesh, and drinking his blood, [t. e. without baptism and the Lord's supper] have not life in them, and therefore are liable to everlasting punishment.' And again, ' The chris- tians of Africa do well call baptism itself one's salvation ; and tiie sacramuut of Christ's body, one's life. From whence AS. « V. ■ • 1 ••< '■>» ' i f' V-,ii .• if I * .\ ■ ■* ' .i h < < II i 100 Subjects of Baptism. [Part 1. is this, but, as I suppose, from that ancient and apostolical tra- dition, hy which the churches of Christ do naturally hold, that without baptism, and partaking of the Lord's table, none can come either to the kingdom of God, or to salvation, and eter- nal life ?'" «« This is. without doubt, clear evidence that St. Austin was satisfied that infant communion was as necessar/ and as much apostolic as infant baptism." Dr. Mosheim on this subject, in his account of the second century says, " It appears by many and undoubted testimonies that this holy rite [the Lord's supper] was looked upon as essen- tial to salvation ; and whon this is duly considered, we shall be less disposed to censure, as erroneous, the opinion of thosu who have affirmdd that the Lord's supper was administered to infants during this century " In his account of the third cen- .ury, he says, " It was considered in all [the churches] as of the highest importance, and as essential to salvation ; for which reason it was even thought proper to administer it to in- fanta."— Yo\. i. 2i0, 291. " Dr. John Edwards says, ' Infant communicating was a catholic doctrine. Herein all the fathers agreed. They, mis- understanding and misapplying Christ's words, John vi. 53, held that the sacrament of the Lord's supper was to be admin- istered to infants and children, and that it was necessary for their salvation ; accordingly they made them partakers of that ordinance. Venema says, ' in the ancient church, these two sacraments, in respect of /Ac subjects, were never separated the one from the other.' " " Buddoeug. ' It is manifest, that in the ancient church, it was usual to give the eucharist to infants, which custom a- rose about the third century.' " " The history of the church, written by an impartial hand, says, • In the time of Cyprian (^254) it was usual for children and sucking infants to receive the sacrament. And therefore when a little sucking girl refused to taste the sacramental wine, thedeacon violently forced it down her throat.'" p. 112. (Chap Strict, p. 65, 66.) ^' History, then " traces both these ceremonies to one com- mon origin, namely necessity ; and supports both by the same process of argument" so that it " is impossible to invalidate the hisforical arguments for infant communion without ruining to the same extent the arguments in favour of infant baptism." To this it may be added, that it is impossible " to argue against infant communion even /romscn/j/wrc, without confu- ting all the favourite arguments in favor of infant baptism, is >lf^ -^Vt V-.? *.i 'B *^ 'H Chap. X.] Suhjecis of BaptUm. JQI it said that infants onght not to partake of the Lord's supper because they cannot manifest any evidence of repentance' faith and abihty to discern the Lord's body, the prerequisites for this ordinance?— are they not equally incapable of mnnifcst- ing taith and repentance, which arc just as much demanded for baptism as they are for communion ? Do the scriptures teach us to administer the eucharist to none but the visibly penitent and at the same time direct us to baptize some penilch. and j.ome who are manifestly impenilcnt ? Nor can iuf-nt baptism be supported without furnishing arguments for their right to communion. Wil) you say that the law of circumcision, cove- nant relation, membership in the ciuirch, the benediction of Christ, the holiness of children, the law of kindness, and their superior privileges under (he gospel, nil go to prove that all minors and servants of believers ought to be baptized, and yet deny that these same arguments aflord any proof that any one of them ought to commune r The Jewish church admitted all her members to communion ; but Pedobaptist churches ad- mit only about half her members to the tabic of the Lord. How- then can they, on their mode of reasoning, say that the gospel church has enlarired the privileges of her children above what they enjoyed under the former dispensation .' And how can they consistently talk of open communion, while they refuse to communicate with perhaps more than half their omi regular members?" " Let it bo proved how their exclusion from the tableof the Lord will not in any measure sink the gospel church below the Jewish church, and this argument will be ju.st as good to prove that their exclusion from baptism will not diminish their religious privileges. " If any one question the truth that little children were admitted to the passover, I would refer him to JLxodus xii. 3, 4. They shall take to them every man a lamb accordimr to tha house of their fathers, a lamb for a house And if the house- hold be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls - every man according to his eating, shall make your count for the lamb.' " (Chapin.) ^_ On this passage Mr. Scott has the following comment— . ii^very person m each household, including women and child- ren ate this first passover.— The women and children were not lui^ecd commanded to go up to the tabernacle— but when they did they joined in this sacred feast." ' Says Witsius, also, " In those companies" (that partake of the passover) " men and women sat down together, old men and young, whole and sick, masters and servants, in fine 4S. ■, '• ' •■■■•, yv y it •.•» lie 104 Subjects of Baptism. [Part L i. •..V t '1 • • * I every Jew tliat could eat a morsel of flesh, not excluding ovon young cktldreu." (See Q^con. Feed, L. 4, Cliap. 'Jtli. ^ 14.) Mr Elder thinks ho destroys this argument by a reference to Luke ii 41, 42, whcrn it la naid th&t our Saviour went with his parents to the Fassuver at twelve years of age, but this is tar trom being conclusive, for they may for ought that appears, have also taken him nt an earlier age, or if the custom then was otherwise, it cannot contradict the evidence derived from Kxodus xii. 3, 4. At the origin of the passovcr all whose phy- sical ability enaMed them, however youthful, appear to have partaken of it. So think INlr. Scott and Witsius, as we have seen, both of whom arc pcdobaplist witnesses. III. That the view ol historical evidence concerning in- fant baptism, given in the first part of this chapter, is not the misrepresontalion of prejudice, but the true picture of the case which truth and candour rot|uire, must surely be admitted if learned and candid pcdobapti.sts themselves have arrived at this conclusion. It is easy to understand how the judgments of not a few might be warped by attachment to system and party ; if any therefore come to a conclusion concerning the testimony alTordcd by Ecclesiastical history, opposed to their own sys- tem, this can only be attributed to the force of truth. The first witness of this sort whom we adduce is Augustus .Xctindtr, the present learned, and as it is said, pious Profes- sor of Thcrlogy in the Tniversity of Berlin, perhaps the most celebrated Seminary at the present day in Germany. And in referring to modern testimony, it should be borne in mind, that the facilities for research, and the means of accuracy, are of course constantly increasing through the combined labours of learned men, which circumstance, where there is equal talent and industry, must stamp a high value on the opinion of mo- dern students in matters of history or criticism. It may be well to introduce Prof. Neander's opinion with the following extract from a notice of him by Piof. Edw. Robinson of Ando- ver, also a pedobaptist, taken from the Biblical Repository, No. ix. p. fiO. " Eiuliied with great sagacity and a memory of prodigious power, and trained to habits of iron diligence, he has studied, to a greater extent and with larger resiihs than any man now living, all the works of the fathers and other ancient writers, as also all the writings of the middle ages, which have any bearing upon either the external or internal history of the christian rehgion. He has entered into their very spirit, and made himself master of all their .stores. These are points on which there is uo question among the scholars of (icrmany, of rhftp. X.] Stthjeclf of Bfiplism. lOS liny sect or name. What Nenn.ler nffirms upon any subject connected with such studies, comes with the weight oUhe hi«h- est authority ; because it is understood and known to bo fh. result of minute personal inveHt.patiou, united with entire cau- dour and a perfect love of truth." Xennder's testimony is full and conclusive as respects both No'xlr 271 ) '"''"'''"• '^ ''* " *'""o«'"> ("»l>- Kep. .ian ''["'■^^P'^'^V'''*'^ "'"'?'■"''"" of the two symbols of chris- tian fellowship bap.ism and liio Lord's supper, the anpoint- w.thoufcT ""'""'f i""^ '° '^^ maintained and tranlillit.ed without change ; and the peculiar shaping of the christian life cmndT?""/ ""l'^ '*'" 'i""""^ """"""S the heathen Christians, could not extend its transforming influence to them. We there- fore recur in this respect to what has been already said above. w ihTh'"'. i"'*""""! P".'"* ^^^ "'« entrance into fellowship v.th Christ, along with which consequently was included the being incorporated into Christ's spiritual body,_the being re- coived into the fellowship of the redeemed, into the church of 1 1 rist Baptism, therefore, in accordance with its characte- blnti, n h *". '"'" '"'" ^^' ''•"' o'-iginally in the formula of baptism this alone was made prominent. The mode of immer- swn in baptism which was practised among the Jews, passed over conseqiunlly to the heathen Christians also. This form was doubtless best adapted to express that which Christ intend- ed to express by this symbol.-the merging of the whole man into a new spirit and life. Paul however takes occasion to em- ploy also what was accidental in the form of the symbol. -the twofold action of submersion and emersion, to which Christ in the institution of the symbol assuredly had uo regard. As Paul found in this an allusion both to Christ as dead and to Christ as risen, to both the negative and positive aspect of the christi- an 'r'" ^°''°r"S ^^"^^ ^ dying to all ungodliness, and in fellowship with him a rising again to anew and divin; life.-!I he therefore made use here of what was accidental in the re- ce.ved form of baptism, in order thus allegorically to illustrate ^hTirf °te* ''^- ^^f"''"' '» '^« connexion w.th the wtiole substance ol Christianity. with ri?'^ ."T ''^P•V^'? signified an entrance into fellowship with Christ. It readily followed from the nature of the case, that a profession of faith in Jesus as the Redeemer should be made ''"the candidate at the time ; and in the latter part of the apos- ic age, there are traces which point to the existence of such 'USiOIU* >'i: •. , Kl - b ' " i J* ■,."•'1 .'..u ■'I tol ^ •] lim^^^^r^ 101 Suhjeds of Baplisih. [Part I. I-: •\ '4 - I. • V. " Since baptism was thua immediately connected with a conscious and voluntary accession to the christian fellowship, and faith and baptism were J-vays united, it is highly probable that baptism took place only in those cases where both could meet together, and that the custom of infant baptism was not. practised in this age. From the examples of the baptism of whole families, we can by no means infer the existence of in- fant baptism. One passage shews the incorrectness of such an inference; for it thence appears, that the whole family of Step- hanas, who all received baptism from Paul, was composed of adult members. Not only would the lateness of the tin.c when the first distinct mention of infant baptism occurs, and the long continued opposition which was made to it, lead us to infer it» non-apostolic ori.^in ; but it is also in itself not probable, that Paul, who was so urgent in making faith alone the foundation and fundamental condition of every thing christian, and who op- posed himself so emphatically to every kind of opus operatum — that Paul should have introduced or permitted a custom, which might so easily have been the occasion of transferring to the right of baptism the illusion of a justification through ex- ternal things, sarkila, against which, in its application to cir- cumcision, the same apostle had ever so vehemently contended. The reasoning of Paul to the Corinthians seems also to imply, that the children of Christians were not yet incorporated into the church by baptism ; but at the same time, this passage speaks of a sanctifying influence from the intercourse and fel- lowship existing between parents and children ; through which influence the children of christian parents are distinguished from the children of parents not Christian, and in consequence of which they may in a certain sense be termed /la^ia, holy, in distinction from the akatharla, unholy, profane. Here now we find the idea, out of which infant baptism must and did after- wards de /elope itself, and through which it is to be justified in the spirit of Paul ; although on the grounds above mentioned, it is not probable that he himself, under the relations in which he stood, actually introduced the custom." Professor Neander, is a pedobaptist of the Lutheran church and in some way or other, he must therefore hold to pedobap- tism, which we here see he Joes, by supposing it to be the sub- sequent developement of an iilen suggested by scripturr This is truly a slender hold, and in direct contradiction to his senti- ments first quoted, namely, that in the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, " the appointment of Christ was to bo mauitained and transmitted wilhont chauf^e." Who can believe it possibla that sucii a man as JNcander, would fail to produce Chap. X] Subjects of Baptism. 10$ « stronger support for his own practice tlian this, if a stronger were to be found either in history or the scriptures ? To this testimony we add the following :— " Bishop Bur- Jif"^: ' ^r^^V^ "° express precept or rule given in the New Testament for baptism of infants.' » Exp»s. of Articles Art. xxvii. .u . '.' h^'^"^^: ' ^' cannot be proved by the sacred Scriptures, that inf^t baptism was instituted by Christ, or begun by the first christians after the apostles.' " Peed. Exam v. ii. p. 4. ''^^f-(:^^^*-^vs, (a learned divine o^ Geneva, and Profes- sor of Divinity. ) ' The baptism of iniants in the two first cen- turiea after Christ «a8 altogether unknown ; but in the third ^nd foivth was allowed by some few. In the fifth and follow- ing ages It was generally received.— The custom of baptizing yifaats did not begin befc.e the third age afte^ Christ was born In the former ages no trace of it appears— and it was introduc- ed without the command of Christ. ' '* Jn Peed. ^xam. v. ii. p. 76. " Salmasius and Suicerus. • In the two first centuries no one was baptized, except, being instructed in the faith, and acquainted with the doctrine of Christ, he was able to profess himself a believer ; because of those words. He that bclieveih and ts baptized.'" Ul Supra. w ii" '^'^^^T'us, '(whom Dr. Fell, bishop of Oxford, and Dr. Wall, granted to be a man of great learning.)' • In the Acts ol the Apostles, we read that both men and tcomen iiyere baptized— without any mention being made of infants. From the apos- tohcage, therefore, to the time of Tenullian, the matter con- tinued doubtful. And there were some who on occasion of our JLord s saying. Suffer little children to come urito me, (though he gave no order to baptize them) did baptize even new-born infants ; and as it they were transacting some secular bargain with God Almighty, brought sponsors and bondsmen to be bound for them, that when they were grown up, they should not depart from the christian faith.'" In Dr. WaWs Hist of Inf. Bap. V. ii. p. 14, & Peed. Exam. v. ii. p. 78. Mr. Baxter, though zealous for the cause of Pedobap- tism allows, «' That, in the days of Tertullian, Nazianzen. T^j ^''^'"' '"®" ^^^ liberty to be baptized, or to bring their children, when and at what age they pleased ; and none were forced to go against their consciences therein." And in ano- ther place he makes this acknowledgement, " Yet again I will confess that the words of Tertullian and Nazianzen, shew that It was long before all were agreed of the very time, or of the necessity of baptizing infants before any use of reason, in case they were like to live to maturity." (VVa'i, v ii 'M i 77) N ^■J.'^ i.'i ». 1 ■ ' n .| ::% m:i^ 106 Subjects of Baptism. [PaH I. k ' '. < * Such 19 the evidence ofPedobaptists themselves against their own practice. In opposition to these Mr. Elder has ad- duced a list of Pedobapiists of the contrury opinion. Our rea- ders we conceive must fur the moat part anticipate our repljr. In the first place we say that the manner iu which they are cited is sufficient to invalidate their testimony, for he not only gives no references to the pages of the authors quoted, but not even the page of Pond from whom he tells us he takes them. Secondly, — It is surely not extraordinary that pedobap- tist authors may be accumulated in favour of pedobaptist prin- ciples, it would be strange if they could not, but what does such testimony weigh against such as we have now adduced, the concessions of learned pedobaptists themselves, which truth and candour have wrung from them ag'atnst iheir own piactice ? Thirdly, — They prove altogether too much, for Augustine, as we shew hereafter, is as good a witness for infant communion as infant baptism, and Mr. Elder makes Calvin say " there is no writer so ancient, that doth not certainly refer the begin- ning thereof [of infant baptism] to the age of the apostles;" and some man ot the name of Brown, for we are not told who he is, is adduced as saying " None can without the most af- fronted imposition, allege that infant baptism was not common- ly allowed in the primitive ages of Christianity." Let our rea- ders answer what could possibly induce such men as the learn- ed Professor Neander, Bishop Burnet, Luther, Curcellaeus, Rigaltius, the pious Richard Baxter, and the others we have named, all pedobaptists , to be guilty of the " affronted imposi- tion," of making the statements we have quoted ? Who can believe that they whose prejudices must all have been in favour of the opposite opinion, and who had equal opportunity with others to ascertain the fact, could possibly have made the state- ments we have cited, if they had not found that the usually quoted proofs of the early practice of infant baptism all cium- ble under the pressure of a thorough examination ? From the investigation now made, it plainly appears that what Mr. Elder says (page 41,) about the early and general prevalence of infant baptism is mere vaporing. An early prac- tice comparatively we admit it to have been; but one which had not even partially begun until at least two hundred years had opened the sluice gates of corruption, through which entered not merely infant baptism but infant communion also, and a count- less multitude of other errors. 1. " also being l)aptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, " &(.c. (Acts viii. 38.) And ho [the Ethiopian eunuch] com- " mandcd the chariot to stand still : and they went down both " INTO the water, both Philip and the eunuch ; and he bapti- " zed him. 39. And when they were come ur out of the water, " the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, he." It is impossible to read the above passages, without feel- ing assured that the ceremony which was performed in the river Jordan; to perform which the parties interested went down into the water; and after which, they are represented as coming up out of the water, could be nothing less than bathing or immer- sing the whole person. They surely did not thus descend into the water for the purpose merely of sprinkling or moistening a part of the person with a few drops of water ! Some pedobap- tists indeed have laboured to shew that agreeably to the Greek idiom, in Jordan might mean at Jordan, and that going doicn into the water, and coming up out of the water, might mean ap- proaching to, and coming away from the edge of the water. — But the common sense of the unprejudiced reader will inform him that it is hardly to be believed that the translators of the English version ot the Bible, who were aWpedobaptists, would have rendered these passages in a manner so unfavourable to their own system, if the idiom of the language, from which they were translating, did not imperiously demand it. Besides, if the fact is known to be, as we shall shew hereafter by the most incontestable evidence, that the practice of the first ages was to immerse, it is impossible to read the above history with- out feeling assured that the action named was a going down into, and a coming up out of, the water, and that, for the pur- pose of immersion. This conviction receives strength from the following passage : John iii. 23. " John also was baptizing in .SJnon, near to " Salim, BECAUSE there was JiucH WATER there: and they came, *' and were baptized." Here the quantity of water in Mnon is mentioned as the reason of John's baptizing there. But, how small a quontity would be sufficient to baptize a great multitude by sprinkling, or moistening, or even pouring, let the reader judge. Secondly, The use of the tvord baptize in other cases. Matt. iii. II. "I indeed baptize you with water unto re- " pentance : but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, " whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize you " with the Holy Ghost, &ndxvith fire. 12. Whose fan is in his Mode oj Bapilsm. 109 " liand, and lie will tlironglily purge liin floor, and gather hi* " wheat into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff with " unquenchable fire." Here, it will not be denied, that rlie Greek preposition en, rendered by our translators rrilh, in the expressions " with water," " with the Holy Ghost" and " with fire" is the same as occurs in the passages in Matt. iii. 5, and Mark i. r,, which the same translators have there rendered ' iu Jordan" and "in the river of Jordan." It ought therefore to be translated iu and not wtih, in the above passages also. It was impossible to say, the people were baptized toillt the River ; truth and candour prevailed to prevent the translators rend^-ring the lormer pas- sage, " o/ Jordan ;" to have translated the present passage " at water," " at fire," " at the Holy Ghos'," would be as absurd as to say with Jordan ; wherefore, someone expression ought to be adopted in this case that will make sense with the word baptize in all these places. The only word that can thus harmonize the passages is the English preposition in, which properly answers to the Greek en * That this is the correct translation may be seen, even by the unlfarned reader, by considering the force of the passage now before us. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is the abundant oulpour- ing of spiritual gifts both external and inward, ordinary and • " Vknema. « It is without controversy, that baptism, in (he primitive ctiiirrb, was administered by immersion into water, and not by ipnnkl.ng, seeinp; John is said to have baptized IN Jordan and where there was mucA ii'rtfer."' ' .. Aj,^"L ^"'"- *^'^"'- '• ^ '^^- ^'^'^- ^*«»»- ^ '• P- S'S- Mr. Hervet, when commending that en sign iftes in. adds, ' I can prove it to have been in peaceable possession of (his signification for more than two thousand ytan. Every one knows,' he observes in another place, « that with is not the native, obvious, and literal meaoing ; rather a meaning swayed, influenced, moulded bv the preceding or following word.' " Letters to Mr. Wesley, Let. ii. &. x In four of the first versions o.-'the Bible into English, we find l?f.?n 7k'*^' ""'^r'""^ "'""">' ''"vvater; but the expression not suiting the prevailing custom, it was afterwards rendered toif A trrt/ « •' 1 ■\\4 w r« I ^ 1 • ■ t 110 Mode oj Baptism. [Part II. extraordinary, which commenced on the day of Pentecost, and so gloriously distinguished the first age of the church. Now the copious bestowment of these gitls, by the abundance and glory of which, the Christian dispensation was so much more higiily honored than the Jewish, is well expressed by the idea of a complete bathing or immersion of the whole person, but iu no other way; on the contrary an idea the reverse of this, an idea of a very spare and scanty gift would be communicated by the words sprinkle or moisten. How would it sound to say "he will spvinlde or muisteti you with the Holy Ghost and witii fire .'" INIoreover, the passage in Acts ii. 2, where the first bes- towment oftiiese spiritual gitts is described, represents the dis- ciples as literally immersed in the rushing mighty wind which was the outward symbol of the inward grace then given, for it " tilled all the house where they were sitting." It matters not in wl)at manner this wind entered, or whether we say it was poured upon them or not, the result was that they were immer- sed in it, and when this event took place they were in that con- dition both of soul and body, which John foretold when he said of Christ, " ho shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." The fact then concurs with what we naturally suppose the meaning of the word baptize must be, when it is used to designate the bo.fltowment of abundant spiritual gifts. Some indeed mav think that this idea is sufiiciently expressed by the word pouring ; but would it be so unless a complete immersion were the conse- quence ? If we say that God will pour blessings on any one the id a intended is that such an one shall be covered or sur- rounded with blessings, not merely toucheo with them. Again, the expression in the above quotation, " he shall baptize you with fire," leads to the same result. It has by some been thought that baptized with fire, in this passage, re- fers to the tongues of fire which rested on the heads of the dis- ciples on the day of Pentecost, and in this case, the idea of baptizing, is fulfilled by the rushing mighty wind in which the disciples became immersed, but not by the fire, according to a figure called Zeugma very common in both the Greek and Hebrew scriptures, in which a verb, as baptize in the present case, is used in connection with two subjects, only one of which can rt;!nfe to tlie action of the verb. An instance of this is found in Job iv. 10. " The roaring of tiie lion, and the voice of tlio fierce lion, and the teeth of the VDung lions arc broken ; " it is evident tlie action of breaking can only refer to the last subject in the sentence, the teeth of tiio young lion, and not to the t'.vo former, the roaring or the voice. Thia was the inter- Chap. /.] Mode of Baplism. Ill prctation once adopted by the author of these pnges, but a more minute examination of the passages in which the above expres- sion occurs, has led him, as it must, wo believe, every care- ful reader of the scriptures, to a diOerent result. The expres- sion " baptize with fire" occurs only in Malt. iii. 11. and l.uke iii. 16. and in both of these tlie context both before and after connects with it the punishment of the wicked. Mark who in ■peaking of the baptism of the Holy Ghost omits Ihc words " and with fire," omits also in the same connection to mention the punishment of the wicked. These considerations compel us to think that baptism with the Holy Ghosf refers to the abun- dant bestowment of spiritual gifts, by which those who obtained them, were plunged or immersed, as it were, in tliese divine gifts; and that baptism v/ith fire refers to the punishment of tiio wicked, who would be immersed or overwhelmed in fire. It is evident that the idea thus explained car, oily be fully expresscU by rendering baptize, by the wovd immerse or plunge, or some word of like meaning, and uilh, by t'le word in. " I indeed immerse you in water he shall immerse you in the Holy Ghost and in fire." The same idea evidently belongs to tho word baptize in the following passages: Matt. XX. 22. *' But Jesus answered and said, Ye know " not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall " drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am bapti- " zed with ? (Luke xii. 50.) But I have a baptism to be bap- " tized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished !" This is a figurative use of the word like the last, but the idea IS equally that of plunging or immersion. The Saviour here speaks of his sufferings, which he represents under the image of a baptism, but where is the propriety of such an image if baptism does not signify immersion plunging or something of that sort? The Saviour was not sprinkled, or moistened, or washed in sufferings, but plunged in them as in a sea.* Thh'dhj, JlUuaiom io the mode, oj baptism. 1. Cor. X. 1. " Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye 'I should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the " cloud, and all passed through the sea ; 2. And were bap- " tized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." ., * ■' ?"• DoDDHiDQK thus paraphrases the place : ' Are voa ftble to drink of the bitter cup of which I am now about to drink" so deep, and to be baptized with the baptism, and plunged into that sfft of snfterings with which I »im ihortly to be baptized, and, m it were, overwhelmed for a time i' - Paraphraie on Matt. xx. 22. oee alsQ hig Paraohrase np Liik^ s.'' *" - I H .1, ;•; ' ■ v 4n J' 11^^^^ 11^ Mode of Baplitm. iPart II. n I..' 9 i.^- .» t« it, « V. i In this passage and its context the apostle is tracing a re- semblance between the condilion of the Israelites in the wil(ier- nese and that of Christians, in order to introduce his warning to the converts at Corinth, not to resemble ancient Israel in their unbelief. As Christians in baptism " suboiit themsejvea ■rowedly to Christ, so the Israelites" submitted themselves to the special authority and guidance of Muses, of which their passage of the Red Sea, as a sort of figurative baptism, was a pledge. Obviously the apostle is not intending to trace a lite- ral resemblance between baptism and the passage of the Red 8ea, ail that can be sought for in accordance with the rules of just criticism, is so much resemblance as to justify the allusi- on. That resemblance is well pointed out by the follnwiog^ pedobaptist commentators. " VViTsius expounds the place to this efTecf. ' How were the Israelites baptized in the cloud and in the sea, seeing they were neither immersed in the sea, nor wetted by the cloud ? It is to be considered, that the apostle here used the term ' bap- tism' in a figurative'seiiSR ; — yet there is some agreement to the external sign. The sea is water, and a cloud diners but little from water. The cloud hung over their heads, and the sei surrounded them on each side ; and so the water in regard to those that are baptized.' " Oecon. Feed. Lib. iv. chap. x. ^ 1 1 . " Dr. Whitby. ' They were covered with the aea on both tides, Ex. xiv. 22, so that both the cloud and the sea had some resemblancft to our being covered with water in baptism.— Their going into the aea resembled the ancient rite of going in- to the water ; and their coming out of it, their rising up out of the water.' " In Peed. Exam. vol. i. p. 187, 188. " Mr. Gataker. ' As in the Christian rite, when persons •re baptized, they are overwhelmed, and, as it were, buried in water — and again, when they emerge, they rise as out of a sepulchre — so the Israelites might seem when passing through the waters of the sea that were higher than their heads, to be overwhelmed, and, as it were, buried, and again to emerge and arise when they escaped to the opposite shore.' " Ut Supra. To these we add, as tending to remove a common objection, the following quotation from Prof Stuart, of Andover, (a pe- dobaptist,) " The suggestion has sometimes been made, that the Israelites were sprinkled by the cloud and by the sea, and this was the baptism which Paul meant to designate. But the cloud on this occasion was not a cloud of rain, nor do we find any intimation that the waters of the Red Sea sprinkled the children of Israel at this tiaie." — Biblical Rep. No. x. p. 336. m^^^^M Chap. I.] Mode of Baplism. 113 "A '^;V."'- 20 "The long suffering of God waited in the days of Noab, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few. that 13 eight souls, were saved by water. 21. The like fie' • ure whereunto even baptism doth also now Bave us. (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God) by the resurrection of Jesus The latter part of this verse has already been commrntpJ on, (see page 20 of this treatise.) The resemblance traced between baptism and the saving of Noah and his family by tho Hood, IS like the last instance merely figurative. No/.h and his jamHy were saved by water as an instrument in the liand of Uod. Lhrislians are saved by baptism ns a sign of (he band or power of God e.xerted on their hearts. JVot that the ontward sign really saves but is significant of the good conscience to- wards God, which the Holy Spirit creates within. In addition to the above might be quoted such passnge.'s as Eph. V. 26. that he might cleanse it with the vanhiugof wnter; Titus iii. 5, by the icas/iuig of regeneration ; Heb. x. 22, l.av- |"S our bodies washed witii pure water ; but as wnshiug IS an effect of immersion, it is plain that all these passages m;iy ref»ir to that mode as well as any other. " Besides the Greek word employed in these passages is the word which rather de- signates bathino;, washing of the person or body, than a partial washing, as of the hands, or feet, or face."— (Ripley, 102.) ^^ Rom. vi. 3. " Know ye not, that so many of us as were " baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into hi% death ? 4. II Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death : *' that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory '' of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of '\ ''^®-. ^- ^^'^ '^^^^ ^"^^^ been planted together in the likeness I' of riis death, we shall be also in the likeness of /us rcsurrec- " tion. (Colos. ii. 11.) In whom also ye are circumcised with " the circumcision made without hands, in putting offthe body II of (ho sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ : 12. " Buried with him in baptism, wherein abo ye are risen with " him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raia- *' ed him from the dead." We shall not enter into any lengthened exposition of these passages. Almost all critics cf any celebrity have admitted that 111 both of them liiere is an evident allusion to the original mode of baptism by immersing or burying the body in water, buch Will be the natural impression, too, of most readers of plain understanding, h mav ho aailaCat^tr^,;. u^„,^„^, iv.. . w^-. » ,- , ,f "I t t i.'V 4 , ' ;'■'" V'« 1 V. . 114 Mode of Baptism. [Part II purpose of evolving the whole meaning of these pasflagea, to give the following paraphasett and comracnta, taken from a re- cent learned treatise on baptism.* Rom. vi. " Do ye not know that ao many of us as have been baptized into an acknowledge- ment of Jesus Chrift, were baptized into an acknowledgement of his death, or have by our baptism engaged to dio unto sin, as he died fbr sin ? By baptism, then, which acknowledges hia death, we have been buried, as he was buried ; that as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, po we also having been raised up from our burial, should lead a new life." " Col. ii. ' By whom ye have been circumcised with an internal circumcision, namely, the laying aside of carnal propensities, by the circumcision which Christ enjoins, having, as an indication of this, been buried inbaptisai as he was buried ; wherein also [in which rite] ye have through faith in the power of God, or through belief of the power of God, who raised him from the dead, been raised up as he was raised up.' This passage and the similar one in the Epistle to the Romans, very beautifully harmonize, and unite in shewing an internal death to sin experienced by believers, and an outward emblematical burial which indicates their faith in the power of God, as manifested in the resurrection of Christ from the dead." That Professor Ripley's paraphrase of these passages con- curs with most pedobaptist critics of celebrity will appear from the following quotations: "Dr. Wall. (Vicar of Shoreham, in Kent, and author of that famous work, 'the History of Infant Baptism,' for which he received the thanks of the whole clergy in convoca- tion.) ' As to the manner of baptism then generally used, the texts produced by every one that speaks of these matters, John iii. 23, Mark i. 5, Acts viii. 38, are undeniable proofs that the baptized person went ordinarily into the water, and -some- times the Baptist too. We should not know from these ac- counts whether the whole body of the baptized was put under water, head and all, were it not for two later proofs, which seem to me to put it OUT OF QUESTIOX. One, That Si. Paul does twice, in an allusive way of speaking, call baptism a BURIAL. The other, The custom of the christians in the near succeeding times, which being more largely and particu- larly delivered in books, is known to have been generally or ordinarily, a TOTAL IMMERSION.' " Defence oj the Hist, of Inf. Bap. p. 131. Christian Baptism by Professor Ripley, of Newton. I^'i Ch np. Mode oj BaptisM. IIA vii. p. 179. were, the per- Archbishop Tillotso??. ' Ancientlj, those who were bapdzed were immersed and buried Id the water, to represent their death to sin ; and then did rise up out the water, to sie- nify their enteranco upon a new life. And to these customs th« apostle alludes, Rom. vi. 2 6.'" ^ ,,. , fVor/.$, Tol. 1. Scrm. "Archbishop Secker. ' Burning, as it son baptized in the water, and raising him out apain, without QUESTION, was anciently the more usual method : on acrount ol which, St. Paul speaks of baptism as representing both the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and what is grounded on them— our being dead and buried to sin, and our rising a- gain to walk in newness of life.'" Led. on Cat. L. xxxv " Dr. Sam. Claru-e. ' TVe are buried ivith Christ by bap- tism, 8fc. In the primitive times the manner of baptizing was by immersion, or dipping the whole body into the water. And this manner of doing it was a verv significant emblem of tho dying and rising again, referred to by St. Paul in the above mentioned similitude.' " Expos, of Church Catechism, p. 294, ed. 6. "Dr. Wem.s. ' St. Paul here alludes to immersion, or dipping the whole body under water in baptism ; which he in- timates did typify the death and burial (of the person baptized) to sm, and his rising up out of the water did typify his resur- rection to newness of life.'" Illust. Bib. on Horn. vi. 4. Dr. Doddridge (in whose words we have Mr. Joh.v Wesley, and Mu. George VVhitefielp ; the former in a JVb/e, and the latter in a Scnnon, on the verse.) 'Buried with him in baptism. It seems the part of candour to confess, that there is an allusion to the manner of baptii;ing by immersion.'" Fam. Expos. Note on the place. " Assembly of Divines. ' // we have been planted toge- ther : By this elegant similitude the apostle represents to ua, lliat, as a plant that is set in the earth lieth as dead and im- moveable for a time, but after springs up and flourishes, so (.linst's body lay dead for a while in the grave, but sprung up nnd flourished in his resurrection ; and we also, when we are I'Mptized, are buried, as it were, in water for a time, but after are raised up to newness of life.' " ^nnot. in loc. " Dr. JMackmght. ' Planted to'^ether in the likeness of his death. The burying of Christ, and of believers first in the water of baptism, and afterwards in the earth, is fitly enough compared to the planting of seeds in the earth, because the elTect in both cases, is a reviviscence to a state of greater per- fection.'" .Yp/e on Rom. vi. 5. '«[* i; -^1 116 Mode of Baptism. [Purt 11 i: ■.» - .» 1 I- ' '■»■■ V.-' I "Dr. TowEnsON, fpeaking of Plunging the party baptiz- ed,' addtf, it is ' A significution which St. Paul will not sufier those to forget, who have been acquainted with his Kpistlea. For, with reference to that manner of baptizing, we find him affirming, (Rom vi. 4.) that ve are ' buried wUh Christ 6y baptism,' Sfc. And again, (ver. 5 )that, ' if we hare been plant- ed together in the likeness of his death, tee shall be also in the likeness of hit resurrcelion.' " Of the Sacra, of Bap. Part lii. p. 51. " Such, too, was the conviction of I. ther, in view ofthi» passage, who after speaking of baptism as a symbol of death and resurrection, says, ' On this account I could wish that such as are to be baptized, should be completely immersed into wa- ter, according to the meaning of the word, and the signification of the ordinance ; not because I think it necessary, but because it would be beautiful to have a full and perfect sign of so per- fect and full a thing ; as also toithotU doubt it was institnttd by Christ.' See his work entitled Capiivitas Babylonica, in the collection Omni. Oper. M. Luther. Tom. ii. p. 76. cd. 1551." These passages taken from the Scripture Guide, and com- pared also with Booth's Pedob. Exam, render perfectly conclu- sive the evidence derived from those that preceed them, as to the mode of baptism. It was difficult, if not impossible, to be- lieve that the circumstances of going down into and coming up out of the water, of seeking a place for baptism where abund- ance of water was found as nt^non.or the figurative representa- tion of Christ's suficrings as a baptism could have occurred unless the word baptize meant immerse or something akin to this; but if there were any doubt remaining from the previous examination, the last quoted passages have entirely removed it : they shew the external ordinance to be in its form a burial in water and a rising from it, designed to be symbolical of the spiritual change, the death unto sin, and the rising to newness of life, which those who arc baptized ought to possess. CHAPTER II. Ar.LEOEP IMPROBABILITIES CONSIDERED. Against the evidence now produced it is common to allege certain cases of baptism in the scriptures, the circumstances at- tending which, as pedohaptists think, render it improbable that immersion was the method employed in those cases. It would 1^ ',». Chap. 11] Mode of BTptiam. in be sufficient to reply to this objection thnt trnprohabililifB will not weigh agninvt the scriptural evidencr ajrcndy produced ; that which mny appear improbable, may neverllioless be very possible, it may be only our ignorance whi.h makes it ap|i»-ar improbable. It might at first a|>p»nr iuiprohuhle thnt the' Jail- er nt Philippi should be bnptizfd by immersinn in or near the prison which he kept. Still, if we know that the Saviour has appointed the mode of iiniimrHion as fvas immersed, only because wc were unacquainted with this custom. We do not, however, wish to erode {he objection, and shall therefore proceed to examine such of these cases ol alleged improbability as occur in Mr. Elder's Letter IX. page 72, &.c 'J'he first ia the baptism of the 3000 on the dny oj Pentecost.— Of this instance Mr. Elder is bold enough to assert as lollows: " It is impossible" he informs us " for any person to point out any probable way by which it could he administered by im- mersion. The place twenty miles distant from Jordan or JEnon or any other place that is known that would be suitable for im- mersion : the number baptized 3000 : the time only a part of the day after the preaching ; all unpremeditated so that there could have been no place provided before hand. The candi- dates also unprovided with any change of clothes : the number authorised to administer baptism no more as we have reason tg think than the twelve apostles." There is an e.xtravagance in this representation, which, the writer of these pages is constrained to sny, he is grieved to see. Strongly indisposed by nature, if he knows himself, to sus- Eect others of insincerity, he fully anticipated something in Mr. Oder's apology for his change of principle, which should give evidence of a mind yielding obedience, however unwillingly, to some new and specious form of the argument for infant bap- tism, which, although erroneous, had assumed to him the ap- pearance of truth. A mind ever open to inquiry and convicti- on is sometimes exposed to hesitation about many subjects ; but in such cade, if that w.iich was at first hesitation, becomes at last a settled change of opinion or belief, one expects, of course, to see the new? form of argumen! clearly stated as " We must also remember" he continues in his former letters " that the Jews were in constant practice of immersing themselves on religious accounts, and therefore would have many conveni- inccs for llint purpose in so large a city as Jerusalem ;" and yet Mr. KIdur can now find it in his conscience to assert, that Jerusalom was " twenty miles distant from any place that is known that would be suitable for immersion !" The 7iext ob- jection is the irreal mullilude of converts. " The number bap- tized 3000," e.xclalms Mr. Elder, and for the purpose of plop- ping this objection he informs us (page 73) liiat there is " no reason from scripture to conclude that any but the twelve apos- tles" baptized " on the day of Pentecost." How wild an as- sertion is this ! Surely there is no reason from scripture to concliido the contrary ; that none but the apostles baptized ; this is no where stated in the New Testament. Why should we nuf suppose that the seventy disciples, whom the Saviour had Kent out to preach, also administered the ordinance of baptism ? 'i'hey went out two and two, and is it not highly probable that they baptized. those who believed through their preaching ? We have in fact full as much evidence that theif baptized as that the apostles did. These disciples, or many of them, were, doubtless, among the one hundred and twenty assembled on the present occasion, and these may therefore have a.ssisted in the baptism ; besides, if the aid of others was needed, it surely 19 «<>t unlikely that an extraordinary appointment would be made to meet the exigencies of this extraordinary occasion. — But the /('ill. IS too short in ."Mr. Elder's opinion, " only a part ot'tbc day alter tiie prenching !" Now, let us call in the aid ota hltlt! calculation and see what becomes of this objection The s«vprity disciples and twelve apostles make eighty two ad- ministrators ; the 3000 divided among these make little more Chap. 11] Mode of Baptism. lit than Ihtrtyfive to each ; now, Mr. Elder himsplf, in his former publication, informs us of a Mr. Merill, of Sedgwick, who bap- tized 66 persons in 40 minutes, and it is commonl)- known amon But then, in page 73, it is added, " there is not the smallest inti- mation that they ever went from the spot to be baptized." Js Mr. Elder then, so ignorant of the language of narration, as not to know thatevery minute particular is seldom if ever men- tioned in any history, and that this is especially the character of scripture narrative ? A considerable quantity of water would be required to sprinkle 3000 persons, yet no mention is made of its being brought ! Who does not know, that when any princioal fd.cl is mentioned, thnmiiwl ic ^iton I'^o *^ >■- I' 'i u 120 J\lode of Baptism. [Part II. 1.^ i-^- the 8ubordinaf«s and less important matters that relate to it ? What then becomes of Mr. Eider's loud declamation, and of the bold assertion (page 72,) " that it ia utterly impossible for any person to point out any probable way by which [baptism on thid occasion] could Imve been administered by immersion ?" It is a pity that such a statement ever appeared, or that such arguments were ever used to sustain it. Childish objections like these may be tolerated in those who have always been un- der the prejudices incident to a particular system ; but they are objections whi .i only need to be e.xposed in order to appear ridiculous ; and when u man has himself exposed their absur- dity, as IMr. Elder has done in his former letters, it wounds his reputation to see hirn reviving all the stale trifling which ho had himself laid to rest. As the customs of the East and the frequent use of the bath may not be generally known, we subjoin the following testimony on this point. P/o/'. Ja/uj, of Vienna, Biblical ArchfEology translated by Upham. § 180. " The bath was always verv agreeable to the inhabitants of the East." It " is frequently used by Eastern ladies, and may be reckoned among their prin- cipal recreations." " It was one of the civil laws of the He- brews that the bath .should be used. The object of the law without doubt was to secure a proper degree of cleanliness among them. Lev. 14: 2. lo: 1—8. 17: 1.5, IG. 22: 6. Num. 19:6. We may, therefore, consider it as p)o6a6/e, that pu6- Hc baths, soon after the enactment of this law were created in Palestine, of a construction similar to that of those, which are to freqiicnlhj seen at tke present day in the East." Rees' Cyclopcedia, Article Baths. " The people of the East were ever accustomed to bathing, and have continued the habit to the present time ; their methods being perfectly con- formable to those of the Greeks and Romans." Amongst a number of ancient baths there described we select the following account of the baths of Caracalla. " The room in which the bath was placed, was thirty one feet in length, by fifteen feet three inches wide ; the bason was of masonry, with a border of large stones extending eighteen inches from the edge of the hollow. The cavity between the sides was twelve feet wide by fifteen long. It was descended to in front by seven or eight steps extending the width of the bath ; four above the brink, and three or four went to the bottom of the bason : and the whole was lighted by a small opening at the top." The same. Article Bathing. " Among the Turks, bath- ing forms a i)art of diet and luxury ; and in every town and even village there is a public bath, for those who liav« not Chap. II.) Mode of Baptism. !^1 Th. T, -T^ of private baths attached to their houses."- The description of one of these baths, from Baron de Tott shews them to be both " sweating and ordinary baths uniteS '' Again, Baths similar to that above described, though differ- T"L'"n«™T 'TT'^'t^ '" *" '^^ P""^'?'^! towns if Egv p . The necessity of cleanliness in the eastern climates, where •^rspiration is so copious, has rendered baths indispensiblc." '•It has been suggested that there might have been tanks " .ays Mr Elder. Why does he not avow^the known fact of ,ho frequent large cisterns or pools in Jerusalem? The followine references will shew that it was no questionable matter. Kuinoel, on John v. 2. " There were formerly many fhfrl ^P"'"Ji"'^ ^l Jerusalem, and at this day they are fend there see Pococke Th. 2. p^ 16." Jb. " JosephJs mentions also a pool situa ed to the North of the temple, and at this day fhe pool Bethesda, although dried up. is shewn to the JNorth of the temple, continguous to the court of the temple and the gate of Stephen, sufficient arguments however arc wantl ing to prove that this pool is the same mentioned in John v '2 " Home's Introdticlwn, vol. iii. p. 41. Speaking ot Siloam, lie says, The pool or rather the two pools of the same name are quite close to the spring. They are still used for washin-r linen as formerly. =* Robitison'a Greek and English Lexicon, from Wahl. \r- icle biloam. " Its waters were anciently conducted into two large reservoirs or pools, of which the upper (Is. 7 : 3.) or kina 's pool (Neh. 2: 14.) and which Josephui calls the poilof Solo- mon (B. J. V 4. 2.) probably watered the King's gardens, which were in the vicinity. (Neh. 3: IS.'J while the /oTm- (Is — : 9.) was probably designed for theuseof the inhabitants." The following extracts, promiscuously taken from Josepbus will shew how constantly attentive to provide water, and bathina places, the Jews appear to have been. Antiq. B xv ciii 3 He IS giving an account of the drowning of Aristo'bulus at Je- richo by Herod ; " And as they stood by the fish ponds [colmn- bclhras], of ^chich there toere large ones about the house they went to coo! themselves [by bathing] because it was 'in th« midst of a hot day. At first they were only spectators of Herod's servants and acquaintance as they were swiramin^wyc Nay, J\Ir. Elder himself in his former letters on baptism makes the following quotation from Bishop Patrick, (Com. on v' ^c't^I^'^ " There are so many washings prescril)ed (in the L.aw of Moses) that it is reasonable to believe that there were not only at Jerusalem, and in all other cities ; but in every village, several bathing places, contrived for their legal purifi- cations, that men might without much labour, be able to fulfil these precepts." These references are abundantly sufficient to shew that Jerusalem must have been extensively supplied with baths — ^athing, in tact, is so constantly enjoined in the Mosaic law that It IS impossible to believe but that so rich and ancient a city ' at the period to which we now refer, would be provided with conveniences of every description that could facilitate a com- pliance with the religious rites of the people ; and constant and tree as must have been the resort to these, there is no reason to suppose that any obstacle would have been made to the use of them for baptism on the present occasion. Besides, among JUUU persons, though many of them were strangers at Jerusa- lem, It IS most hkcly there were not a few, who either posses- sed private baths themselves, or who had friends who ownud them, where baptism might be performed without difficulty — When all these considerations are regarded, it is quite unneces- sary to suppose, that a resort was made on this occasion for the purpose of baptism, to the brazen sea or any sacred place — Ihe most probable resort was perhaps to public and private baths. Indeed the pool of Bothesda is supposed by commenta- tors to have been a public bath. And from the account in John y. -. It must have been a very large one. It was surrounded It appears by five porticoes in which " lay a multitude of mpo- tent folk J and to those the use of the pool appears to have Chap. II] Mode of Baptism. 1S3 been free, for the d.fficulty of the lame man. healed (here by the Saviour, was not that he had no money to pay for being ad^ muted, but no maa to ■' put [him] into the pool." It maVbe ?rom7 Vi """'^ cotyMni t^ansiat e'd pool, is derfveS 2Trh ' ' *""'"■ ^"^ '' analogous to the Latin piscina, hath ..V „" ?^" *" '"'"" " ^'^*«'" '"g«' than an oHinary hath, suca a pool as one vu^ht stvim n». It ig plain from (he account of Bethesda that there is no reason to^uppose that any sacredness attached to it that would prevent the iVeest pos sible use of ,t. In fact, baptism though piactised by Christiins must have borne so near a resemblance to the ceremonial bathJ ings of the Jews, that we cannot suppose (hey would have shrunk from the ordmance as a profanation • ceremonial hath.ng w.th them was so frequent that people must have been resorting to the hath every day. and almost every hour The next case, on which Mr. Elder comments, is that in Acts VI. 4 where It is recorded that 5000 at Jerusalem believ- j-d and here he tells us "all the difficulties in the way nf baptism by immersion would have to be accounted for again and a?am \Vhy so .' we ask. having been once explamed and shewn to be only imaginav,) difficulties, is not that a sufficient explanation for every similar case. To us, it appears , that the difficulties, instead of being increased, are lessened by ibis great increase of the church at Jerusalem There were 3000 the first day and now 5000. besides the daily additions, mentioned Acts II. 47 so that, in a few days, there were upwards of 8000 members of tha church; .fso great a body of people could con- trive no way of immersion, in a city abounding doubtless with p.iblicand private baths of ample size, it is an extraordinary circumstance ! ■' Again Mr. Elder tells us, that there is nothing in the ac counts of the baptisms of individuals or families, "that would load us to suppose, that these baptisms were performed by im- mi-r.ion, except the case of the Ethiopian eunuch." How weak 13 this sort of remark ! Who docs not see, that if the cir- o.urnstances attending each specific baptism are such as to cast no Ivrht on the mode in which it was performed, then these cases make ncdiierjor or against immersion, and leave us to gather I tic meaning of the word from those cases in which the evidence ti clear ? Notwithstanding this obvious principle, Mr. Elder goes on o cite the baptism of Paul, and because it is not mculioned that lie went out of the room where he was, he informs us that "the natural inference is that ho was baptized by sprinkling or pour- ^■■■o . -uu woui.i iiui water, wc ask, be needed for this i r r t. Mode of Baptism. [Part U and yet tlicrc is no mention of any being brought. Is not the expression " He arose and was baptized, '^ as proper to express the action of a man who then immediately went forth to a suit- able place for baptism as any other ? If the words were to be read " he arose and was sprinkled," we apprehend Mr. Elder would have no difficulty in informing us, according to the prin- ciple already alluded to in speaking of the baptism of the .SOOO at Jerusalem, that the bringing of water being a subordinate and unimportant fact in the narration, was left by the historian to be supplied by the minds of his readers : And why, then, we ask, if the words be read, " and he arose and was immersed," may not the mind supply the subordinate and unimportant fact of his going to a place where immersion could be performed ? It really requires no common stock of patience to be under the necossily of gravely replying to such childish triffing as this. Did Mr. Elder never perceive that this sort of objection is child- ish trifling ? Did it appear to him a manly way of sustaining his change of principles, to rake together every quibble that Ihe most ingenious fancy can devise, instead of taking his ground on such grave and plausible arguments only as are en- titled to an answer ? The next case of alleged improbability is that of the Jailer and his household at Philippi (Acts xvi. 25—34.) We reply in the words of Prof. Ripley, (p. 99.) " A careful examinati- on of the sacred writer's account, suggests no improbability as to this instance of baptism. The following appears to have been the order of events. Paul and Silas were thrust into the inner prison ; an earthquake occurred ; the jailor sprang in and fell down before Paul and Silas ; he brought them out ; tliey speak to him and to all that were in his hotise, (Acts xvi. y. 32) ; he then washed their stripes : baptism was next per- formed ; afler which he brought thera t«/o his house (Acts xvi. V. 34.) After instruction, then, had been gi\ en in ihe house, baptism was performed ; and afler baptism, the company re- turned to the house. Did they not leave the house, in order that baptism might be administered .' And why did the ad- ministration of baptism require them to leave the house ?" It is impossible to conceive of any reason why they should do so, except for the purpose of immersion in some bath or pool. In his iormer letters (page 34,\ Mr. Elder gives us the following quotation from Mr. Judson's sermon preached at Calcutta. " This case can present no difficulty to the minds of any of you, my brethren, who may have been within the yard of the prison in this city, or are acquainted with the fact that prison yards in the East, as well as the yards and gardcnsof private houses. Chap. U] Mode of Baptism. 125 are usually furnished with tanks, viz, cisterns ofwator n 7 " Mr. i^lders memory appears very treacherous, for he takes no notice of this striking fact in his recent publication. We come to the baptism of Cornelius (Acts x.) Nothinir new ,s alleged by Mr. Elder in this case. He reasons, as in the former cases, that because it is not mentioned that they went out of the house, therefore they did not go. We reply as be- fore It IS not mentioned that water was broucht for the purpose of sprinkling, may we not with equal leasotrinfer that therefore they were not sprinkled .? As the expression " Can any one forbid wafer," used in the case of Cornelius, is sometimes sup- posed to indicate the bringing of water, we beg fo remind the reader that the expression is evidently elliptical : the evi- dence in other cases must determine how the ellipsis is to be supplied. It is as easy certainly to fill it up by saying " Can anyone forbid water to be used, or the use nf water, for immersi- on, as to say " Can any one forbid water to be brought for sprinkling, ° •' >T S^! '^t''® '^'^ chapter with the following quotation from i>lr. ±.lder himself, (see his former letters p. 35 ) " The fact 13 that the objections that are brought against immersion from these cases arise from the supposition that the habits and man- ners of the East are similar to ours. But an acquaintance with the history of that country removes all thkse objections at ONCE. If there were cisterns of water in the prison yards and in the yards and gardens of private houses generally in the ±.ast there would be no difficulty in finding a suitable place for the immersion of the Jailer and his family, and all others mentioned in Scripture. In the case of the baptism of the Eunuch (Mr. Elder tells Mr. Jackson his opponent) you are at much pains to prove that the water in which he was baptized was not more tha.^ ankle deep. This attempt to set aside im- mersion, appears to me to display more zeal than good policy On this case I shall make a quotation from Dr. Wall. " That immersion was the practice of the primitive church is so plain and clear, by an infinite number of passages, that one cannot but PITY THE WEAK ENDEAVOURS of such pcdobaptists as would maintain the negative of it. It is a great want of prudence as WELL AS honesty to refuse to grant to an adversary what is certainly true, and may be proved so. It creates a jealousy of all the rest that one says.— Hist, of Inf. Bap. Part 2. p. 462 "* Whether this remark docs not now apply with even greater force to Mr. Elder himself, we leave our readers to judge. It iS page 296 of our JEldition, .** • *(1 '/■■' y^"-^ * f^. ri^'*i ' -' ^- v^^ l^G Mode oj Baptism. [Part 11. f-; rHAlTER III. 4 , ' • ■ \..f -iir ' I > ^ ME.VNl.NO OK THK WORD RArTIZO. rEPOBArtlST TESTIMONT IIESPECTI.NG IT. Having in the proceeding clinpter examined all tho cases ofbajitii^rn, in which, it is alleged that it is improbable that im- mersion was the method employed, we are now to turn our at- tention to tho meaning of the word bnpiizo : if this can be as- cnrlatned, and it be found to possess a single specific meaning, ivery one of course perceives that this must bet tho question loicver at rest. I. In a popular treatise like the present, it is not easy to put an e.xaminntion of this sort in a shape that will be very in- tclli'^ible or instructive. This difficulty has, however, been greatly lesaoued by some recent investigations on the philology ot ihis word by Mr. Stuart of Andover, and Air. Ripley of Newton, in Ma.ssachusetts, Professors of Biblical criticism, in the respective Theological Seminaries in those places. — These gentlemen iiave so thoroughly investigated the subject, ns to leave a,.j)arently nothing unsaid that relates to it. To any one capable of pursuing a learned investigation we recom- mend the perusal of their respective treatises, with the firm persuasion that if these fail to produce conviction, then satis- faction as to the meaning of the word baptizomusi be hopeless. In referring thus to Professor Stuart, whose reputation as a biblical critic is recognized in some of the first Univer- sities in Europe, the writer of these pages cannot deny himself tiie opportunity of a heartfelt though passing tribute of afibcfion and respect to his former tutor. He gratefully remembers the impartial kindness which as a baptist and a stranger at a pcdobaptist seminary, he received from Prof. Stuart, and all connected with the institution at Andover. It IS with a respectful deference mingled with aflection, there- fore, that lie receives the opinions of Prof. Stuart; but, at the same time he cannot i)ut feel that while, after the large conces- sions which the love of truth has drawn from Mr. S. there re- mained but very narrow ground of evidence that baptizo ever ilt|iiir(s from its radical meaning of immerse or plunge ; Mr. Itiplcy in his reply, has most efTectually removed that ground iiurrow as it was, and lias left hnplizo in the undisturbed pos- session of its original and proper .>;ignification. We shall now Chap. Ill] Mode of Bapli^m. 127 refer as briefly as clearness will admit, to these works, and present their results to the view of the reader. ]Mr. Stuart first pursues an extended inquiry through the pages of classical Greek, from which we take the following extracts : Biblical Reposiiorij, \o. x. p. ^298. " 1. Baplo and Bap- irzn, mean to dip, p/iin^r, or immn-f^c into any thing liquid. .'?// lexicographers and critics of any note are agreed in this. My proof of this p')sition, then, need not necessarily be pro- tracted ; but for the sake of ample confirmation, I must beg the reader's patience, while I lay before him as briefly as may be, the results of an investigation, which seems to have no room for doubt." He then produces instances from Homer, Pindar, Aristotle, Aristophanes, Heraclides Ponticus, Herodotus, Aratus, Xenophon, Plutarch. Lucian, Diodorus Siculus, Pla- to, Epictetus, Hippocrates, Strabo, Polybius, and Josephus. He then adds as follows : " It were easy to enlarge this list of testimonies to usage ; but the reader will not desire it. He may see many examples in Carson's recent publication on bap- tism, which I did not see until after this present dissertation was written." (On referring, accordingly, to Carson we find, besides many further quotations from some of the authors quot- ed by Mr. Stuart, the following additional Greek authors cited to the same point, Porphyry, Themistius, the Sibylline verses Heliod, and .liisop.) Mr. Stuart proceeds, " It is impossibl'i to doubt that the words bnpto and baptizo have, in the Greek cKissical writers, the sense of (/tp, plunge, immerge, sink, etc. But ih*r9 are variations from this usual and prevailing signifi- cation ; i. e. shades of meaning kindred to this (as happens iii respect to most words,) some literal and some figurative, which demand of course our special notice." Of these variations of meaning however only one belongs to bap.'zo, which the reader will understand is the word invariably used in scripture to des- cribe the ordinance in question. This meaning Mr. Stuart notices as follows : "5. The word baptize means to over- whelm, literally and figuratively in a varielv of forms." And in support of this usage Mr. Stuart quotes Aristotle, Evenus, Heliodorus, Clemens Alexandrinus. One instance of these will shew how slight the variation in these cases, if indeed there be any at all, from the first and primary meaning, immerse or plunge. " Aristotle, De Mirab. Ausc. speaks of a saying among the Phenicians, that there were certain places beyond t!ie pillars of Hercules, which when it is ebb tide, are not over- flowed, (me baptizesthai,) but at full tide are overflowed {kata- kluzesthai ,) which word is here used as an equivalent for 6fj;>- Uzeslhai." One might almost as well use the word inimeiH« as 1 fi I I • *7'' < . I- -• •>■• . • <\ 'i W' V.-' > . \ 1^8 Mode of Baptism. rp^ri U overflowed in this case ; that wliich is overflowed is immersed. Mr. Stuart then puraties his examination through the Septua- gint and Apocrypha. In tlje Septuagint, bufllzo occurs in the sense of to plnnixe and to ortnchflm, but never in any ^ther , in the Apocrypha, Mr. Stuart thinks there are two instances in which it has tlic sense of to wash, the only two in the wliole course of his examination il.us far. Whether those exceptions deserve to he considered us such, the reader must judge. The first is in Judith, c. \2, 7. which Mr. Stuart thus translates, " She went out hy night into the valley ofBethulia, and wash- ed herself, (ebaptizelo) in the camp at the fountain of water.'' Now with the evidence which we have already seen of the ahundant use of bathing in the East, and the universal use of baptizo in all other casis in the sense of immerse or ovenchelm, why should wc not give it the same sense here ? The only rea- son Prof. Stuart offers is that, it is not probable that Judith plunged into a fountain in the midst of the camp. But why is tiiis so improbable ? It \tas at night she bathed ; it might be in a retired part of the camp ; fountains often form natural basons ; and besides, it is not unlikely that there may have been, near the fountain, artificial conveniences for bathing, contrived^ after the Eastern manner, for the use of the camp. If in the classical use of the word there is no other meaning attached to it but to plunge or overwhelm, none in the Septuagint, and none but these two in the Apocrypha ; ought not one to feel bound to give the word a corresponding sense here, unless something in the circumstances of the case rendered it dot merely improbable but impossible 1 To us it appears both pos- sible and probable that she immersed herself according to the usual custom of the times. The next case is Sirach 31. 31. [English version, Eccle- siasticus, 34: 2.5.] which Prof Stuart thus renders, " baptizo- menos apo nccrou, he who is cleansed from a dead [carcase] and toucheth it again, what does he profit by his washing (to loutro autou) ?" And he refers to Lev. 11: 25. 28, 31, 39, 40. Num. 19. 18. etc. passages in which are contained the di- rections of the Mosaic law concerning the purifying of those who should touch a dead body, as illustrations of the meaning. I^et the reader refer to those places and judge for himself, whether they are such as decide the presJent question. The passage in Leviticus merely respects the washing of the clothes of him who became thus defiled, in which case, how6ver, the clothes doubtless were immersed ; the passsfge in Numbers where the purifying of the person himself is mentioned, in the Enfflish version stands thus ; "and whosoever toucheth • \i ■ ^m^m^.f;-f^w-Mp ,.«iSs.-=f^.^;';. .>^k£j=s Chap. HI] Mode of Baptism. f39 a dead body, or a bono of a man or a grtve, shall be unclean seven days, and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water and sprinkle it upon the tent and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that toncii- cd a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave : Aiwl the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third tliiv, and on the seventh day ; and on the seventh aiij he shall pm ify himself, and wash his clothes and bathe himself in wala; ntid shall be clean at even. " Now the only question here is how was this bathing performed ? What was the practice of the Jews ? When the law required a man to bathe himself was it nlways fulfilled by an entire immersion of the body in w!\nr? If such was the case, then the passage in Ecclesiasticus, wlicio a person so purified is said to be baplizomeuos must of coniso refer to such immersion, for in every other place in the wlif.lo circle of Greek literature its meaning is to plunge, to immerse, to overwhelm. Prof Ripley in his reply to Mr. Stuart, (jnfte 31, &.C ) has conclusively shewn by an extended investiiraiidn, that the Jewish method of bathing was to plunge the body in water, it meant in fact with them what it ordinarily means with us. Of the many proofs collected by him tothiseflect we con- tent ourselves with quoting the following, " Lightfoot, (."ays IMr. Ripley,) on IVIark 7: 4, produces from a Jewish writer a sentence which shews that pollution occasioned by the tmidi of the dead, was so great that the person ' must plunge liis whole body.' And when " the prophet (2 K. 5: 10 — It,) di- rected" Naaman, " go and loas/i," [bathe, the .sAmc word rec- hatz, which occurs in Numbers xi.x. 19.] " in Jordan seven times, what did Naaman understand the prophet as enjoin- ing in this direction ? Let the 14th verse speak, thert went he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan." Tiiis leaves no doubt as to what the Jews understood by washing oneself, it was a complete bathing of the body in water. Let the reader, then, bear in mind, that he has now before him, on the testimony of one of the first biblical critics of the present day, the whole evidence derived from every source, except the New Testament, of the meaning of the word hap- fizo. It doubtless occurs in hundreds of instances in Git.ek literature, and amongst tliem pU, there are but these two. last considered, about which there can be amomciiCx hesitation. And with respect to these two, on examination, we perceive, (hat there is no reason to Ijclieve that the word is here used in a sense at all removed from its original meaning of inimersc or plunge, which it possesses in all other instances. But in tlie New Testament there remain scvcrD.! casei 130 Mode of Baptism. [Part II. I » J * \ about which a question if also raised, these are as follows : Mark vii. 3. 4 " The riiariaee^ [returning] from the market eat not except they bapt:;.o [immerse] themselves, (^baptisonlai .)" Luke xi. 38. " Bui the Pharisee seeing him, wondered that he had not first baptizec [immersed] himself, {ebavtislhe) before dinner." Mark vii. 4. " The baptisms [immersions] {baptit- mous) of cups and pots and brazen vessels, an'I couches," {cli- non, is couches not tables.) IVIark vii. 8. " The washings, bap- tisms, [immersions] (bapfismois) of pots and cups." Hebrews ix. 10. " Only in meats, and drinks, and divers baptisms, [im- mersions] {baptismois.y^ In all these instances where either the verb baplizo, or tlie noun bapfismois, derived from it aa employed, the English version has given u-ash or tcashing as the translation ; but as, in all other places, consisting perhapt of hundreds of instances, without one single exception in the classics, the Septuagint, and the Apocrypha, baplizo means im- merse or overwhelnj ; we must first inquire, how the purify- ing ofthe Jews was performed, in order to ascertain whether a departure from the prevalent sense ofthe word can be allowed in these case.^. Such departure plainly ought not to be allow- ed in any of them, if ani/ ofthe jevf\<^^ ri* . of puri'ying were performed by immersion, for in such case the baplisms (trans- lated washings) in the cited cases, were of course immersions. These cases Mr. Stuart cites as proofs of baptizo having in scripture the sense of to wash, but he simply cites them ioi.. a them ; and if they become from market by dipping them."* In proof of this practice of dipping the hands Mr. Ripley quotes the following authorities, all pedobaptists. "RosENMUKLLER, in his notc on this passage, speaks of two modes of washing the hands, namely, immersion of the hands in water, and when one hand is washed by the other." "Kui.voEL, also speaking of the opinion entertained by some that a total ablution was performed in case of returnine Irom the market, says, « But an immersion of the hands, daily pcrJormed, would have abundantly sufficed for this end, that is lor purification from contact with the multitude.' " , ". From LiGHTFoox" Mr. Ripley tells us, he gathers, "the tollowing on Mark 7: 4. he says, ' The Jews used netilath yadtm the washing of hands,' and tebilalk yadim ' the pluna. ing of the hands.' And the word jji;json7t ascribed /o baptize ;" " ' But the Phariaeo seeing him wondered that he had not first immersed (ebaplislhe) jtliat is himself, or his hands} before dinner ;' By the pre- ceding part of the chapter it appears, that our Lord and his host huJ been exposed to a great mixture of company, and therelore ncudfd in the judgment of the Pharisee, the more formal and thorough sort of washing. On'his passage, too, Lightfoot ob- serves, ' there is Jieliliin yadim ' a washing of the hands,' and libUiinijadiin ' a dipping of the hands;' this clause we are upon refers to the latter. The Pharisee wonders, that Christ had not washed his hands ; nay that he had not dipped them ail over ui tiie water, when he was newly come, ex agoras, that is cr Ion ochlon epathroizomenon, ver. ii9. ' from the people that were gathered rhick together.' " In this passage therefore baplizo still has the sense o( dip, or immerse. To this, the objection is sometimes made, that though the word baplizo may in the above passages be used to signify a dipping of Ihc hands, yet it does not follow that it is ever n-^cd to signify a dipping or immersion of the whole person. But the ohi'iovs answer to this objection is, that the word is used to sig- \n\'y dipping or itnmcrsion, it matters not of what. In the two cases Mark vii. 3. 4. and Luke xi. 38. an immersion of the poison, cither in whole or in part, is ccrlainlji intended, if of the whole person, tiie word himself or thcmsdics is to be sup- plied : if of the hands, then the words the hands are to be sup- plied; for the Greek verb, though in the middle voice, may have c'ln object ni).OT it, as is evident from Mark vii. 3. wher*' is the expression iiipsonlai tas cheiras, in which case nipsontai " wash," though in the middle voice, governs the object /«s cheiras " the hands." When therefore the word baplizo is used in reference to the hands or any other object, it implies that the liat.dd, or that object, arc dipped or immersed — it im- plies in fact a total immersion of the thing dipped : So, when it is applied to a man, it of course implies his total immersion: and consequently when this word baplizo is used, =is it is by the Saviour in his commission to the apostles, in the wordw " bap' tizing them ; " and in all cases where the ordinance of baptism is mentioned in the New Testament to have been pcrlbnncd, as in Chap. lU] Mode oj Bajitiiin. 199 the case of Pliilip and the eunuch, where it is said "and he bap- lized kirn ;" the immersion in these instances must relate to the whole person ; we cannot in these ca.ses in-st-rf the words, fii'ior their hands, instcaJ ofthe pronouns tUim and hita ; tlus would be to alter the language of scripture, not to inlcrprcl il. 3. With reference to the romainincr cases in JMark vii. 4. and 8. and in Heb. ix. 10. we select the following extracts from Prot: Ripley's work. " That tho word rendered wa<^hikcs in these passages ought so far as philolofry is concerned, to he rendered immersions, would be a plain inference from the pre- ceding investigations." That is, tiio word bapli.-nnntia being found to mean immersion/i in every other case, it ought of course to be so rendered here also. l»ro>". Kipley then proceeds to shew that such translation is consistent u ith'thc Jewish custon)s. " In Lev. 1 1. 32." he observes, " it is directed, that any ves- sel upon wiiich (he dead body of an unclean animal had fallen, ' whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water,' in order to be cleansed. The only excepti- on was in respect to earthen vessels, which, being thus pollu- ted, were to be broken in pieces (v. 3.3.) JN'ow how credible it is, and how accordant with the language of Blurk, that the superstitious spirit of the Jews, in subsequent times, extended (he requisition to other cases besides that of pollution by the touch of the dead ; so that even on ordinary occasions, when they thought religion required the articles to be cleansed, the cleansing must be performed by immersing them in water." " The Jewish rules, which Dr. Gill quotes ir his commentary on Mark 7: 4." requ-re ' even beds to be cleansed by immer- sion, when thQy had become defiled. ' " '' And what should hinder us from employing the word im- mersions in lleh. 10:9 ? Injmcrsion.s were practised by the Jews in accordance with tJio Mosaic ritual ; and why may we not consider the apostle, when naming the immersions, as taking a paa t lor Uie whole, of the le^al purifications, and con- sequently OS not departing from tho specific original meaning ofthewordhc has employed ?" In anewor to Mr. Elder's gJosH, on p. 74. wc add, tJiat the sprinkling mentioned in v. tD. plainly refers to V. 13, and was ono oftlio carnal ordinances mentioned in v. 10. but surely not one of the immasions prac- tised under the J^wi^h law. These examinations, then, shew conclusively, (hat while the word hapllzQ in the vast majority of cases has certainly the sense of plnnfic, immerse, overwhelm, it mo %rhcre has ceitniiily any other sense ; and that those cases which may at first appear doubUul, having nothing in tJicm which makes it impossiblg for C, 194 Mode of Baptism. [Part II. k v * * \ tmmerston to express the sense of the passage, must be taken to bear the same signification, in conformity with the univer- sal usage. Perhaps the sense of no word in any languace is better ascertained than that oibapiizo. In addition to what has been said, we might refer our rea- ders to Lexicons and Encyclopaedias v/ithout end. They nil, ^ -ar as we have been able to ascertain give to baplizo and it» derivatives the primary meaning of immerse. We have at the present time referred to Hederick, Robinson's Wahl, Schleus- ncr, bcapula, and Schrevelius, who all give this testimony, as also Kees Cycloptedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the secondary sense, indeed, we find in the Lexicons the mean- ing ivash or cleanse attached to the word ; but the references rnade in support of this sense, never furnish any other case than those in Mark and Luke, which we have already consider- ed; and as the investigation made by Professor Stuart has now put the reader in possession of all the existing evidence for such a meaning ; he is capable of judging for himself whether those instances jus'ify a departure from the universal usage ol the Greek languiige in other cases. ■ II. Such an examination as the labours of Professors btuart and Ripley have made intelligible to almost every capa- city, would be sufficient to decide this subject were it not that many persons are more influenced by names than reason On pages 64 and 65 of his Letters, Mr. Elder has given us a list ol pedobaptist writers, to prove that the word does not ahoays mean tmmerse ! The good sense ofthe reader, however will of course enable him to perceive that it is not at all extraordina- rv. that a multitude of such authorities may always be gather- ed from the advocates of a party. Men are easy influenced by the prejudices of education, in favour of their own system Error, once formed, is speedily propagated ; men borrow notions from one another ; few carefully and thoroughly inves- tigate for themselves. A single pedobaptist witness of learning and candour, in proof of the meaning which we contend for as belonging exclusively to baptizo, will of course weigh against a host of names in opposition, for what should induce such a man to write against his own side, but the love of truth .' Such a witness is Dr. Georcrg Campbell, a minister of the Kirk of Scotland, and late Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen. JJr. Campbell was a man of extensive erudition, and to this day his writings, relating to the correct and critical study ofthe bible, are regarded and used as works of standard excellence and utility 1„ his notes on Matt. iii. 11. he remarks as fol- lows : " 1 he word 6ap/ucm both insacred writers, and in cles- Chap. III.] Mode of Baptism. 135 sical sigmfies'todip,' « to plunge,' to immerse, and was ren- dered by Tertullian, the oldest of the Latin Fathers, 'tingere' the term used for dying cloth which was by immersion. It is always construed suitably to this meaning. Thus it is en hudati [in the water,] en to Jordano [in the Jordan.] But I would not lay much stress on the preposition en which answering to the Hebrew beth, may denote tcith as well as in, did not the whole phraseology in regard to this ceremon> concur in evin- cing the same thing ; accordingly the baptized are said ' to a- 'rV •'••®"ii^''S®/' 'or ascend,' v. 16. apo tou hudulos , and Acts via. 39. ek tou hudatos, ' from out of the water.' Let it be observed further, that the words raino and ranlizo, used ia scripture for sprinkling, are never construed in this manner. 1 will sprinkle you with clear water says God," Ezek x.\xvi 25. or as It runs in the English translation, literallv from the Hebrew I will sprinkle clear water upon you," ' is m the feeptuagint, 'Rano epk' humas hudor and not as haptizo is al- ways construed, Rano humas en katharo hudati. See also Exod. xxix. 21. Lev. vi. 27. xvi. 14. Had baptizoheeti here employed in the sense of raino • I sprinkle' (which as far as I know. It NEVER IS, IN ANY USE SACRED OR CLASSICAL) the ex- pression would doubtless have been ' Ego men baptizo eph' humas hudor or apo tou hudatos, [I sprinkle upon you water or with water] agreeably to the examples leferred to." Let this extract serve for an answer to Mr. Elder's assertion on page 75 ^ 1 , about the Greek particles. Dr. Campbell 's name is ceFtain- ly sufficient to weigh against Mr. Elder's, and as he gives no authority for his assertion, it is his name only which supports it. In the same place Dr. Campbell makes the following re- mark: " It IS to be regretted that we have so much evidence that even good and learned men allow their judgments to be warped by the sentiments or customs of the sect which they prefer. The true partizan, of whatever denomination, always inclines to correct the diction of the spirit by that of the party' " This quotation, we think, from a pedobaptist speaking of pedo- baptists, IS a complete answer to the observations of Mr. Elder on page 66 of his Letters, about "the large number of learned able and pious men," whose faith he would have us follow If one man such as Dr. Campbell, on the same side with them, w compelled by truth to acknowledge that they are wrong in their sentiments respecting the meaning o{ baptizo. it must bo strong evideiioe that will convince us, nevertheless, that they are right. It matters not on what ground Dr. Campbell con- tinued to use sprinkling. It ig dear it was not on the ground Oi that beinor the mi>nnin i%.'^ f..r 'it' ■ ». • .1 Another trilnftss of learning, and some candour, is Dr. JVall Vicar of Shorelmin, the author of the history of infant baptism, for wliich ho received the thanks of the Convention of all the Chrgy of the Church of Kngland. This book is, we believe, tlio stan'i, (London Ed. 1819,) he writes as lollo\«^s: " To those who use Sprinkling instead o1' dijjpiny, or even of pourin«» water, (which last is enjoined by our chaich, even in the wcaltest child's case,) I would humbly r<^pr<>sent the considerattonof the duty of obedience which they owe, not only to the ruFes of the churCh to which they havfc promissed to conform, — but also and chiefly to our Saviour himself, whose word of command is bapihe. I wish they would study the notion and emphasis [the specitic force and meaning] of that word. We arr forced to some pai>>s in defence of our practice, against those who pretend that it docs necessarily and absolutely include dippiiip; in its siafnificatron. I think wa must not and cannot deny that it includes washing in its signi- fication. They will do well to consider whether they shall be able to justify before our Saviour that a drop, or a sprinkle or two of water can he so fairly understood, to be a washing of the person in this sense, as pouring water is." That Dr. Wall held strenuously to infant baptism we admit ; and in what manner he poured water on children in baptism, so as that they could be said to b6 wnsked, wc do not know ; but this much is plain, that he evidently concedes that th« primury meanmg of the word baptizo is dip, iinmerse, and that ho found it difficult, " he was forced to som« pains," to make it appear tiiat it meant any tbing else. He in fact ground- ed his opinion that it might mean wash, on those passages which we have already e.Yamined, and shewn to be inconclusive . Dr. Wall also helps us to the names of sererat pedobap- fisia, who evidently w re not quite easy under the common practice of sprinkling. In vol. ii. p. 301. he quotes Ih\ fVhi- Inhvv, Regius Professor at Cambridge, as saying, "Though in case of grown persons that are in health, I think dipping to be better, yet irt the case of infants and of sickly people, I think lyprinkliuK sufficient." Why should a pedobaptist pro- fessor of divinity, think dipping in antj case to bo bf>tt«r, if he did not know that the evidence was strong in favour of ibis mode Again. Dr. Wall tells us, (page last quoted,) that " Mr Chap. HI] Mode of Baptism. 137 \'!'^^ *f ir «° if""^ ■ '* ^^t^ "'" ''■" "« *«"" "« '^I^o (page 31 J,) that So «5 gives his opinion that « baptism ought still to be g.ven hy cbpputg ; so as that it is not Ujrd to%ive otherwise, un ess lor some necessary or creditable, and rca sonabie cause." ..^./„«,.. he says' also. ' does r^uch com- m nd c/,;,;mt^, but now that the oth^r is tho common custom would have nothing altered.' " Thus strangely men reason about the commands of their Saviour. These iarncd men laivjul mode, excep in certain cases, unless they found slronf' evidence for that opinion; that evidence must have been amone other things the manifest moaning of the word, and yet thet pass that by ,n compliance ivilh prevaUiug custom ! ^ J ^^r^^f^^ ^'^? ^'''"''3 concerning the celebrated Rishoo iZnTi 7t': ?"^^^'--^«»- Ron^crs, that "they do both of them plead hard that [effusion, pouring] ought not ^ be usf.i, but in cases of necessity, and that the ministers should in no other case disperise with the act of immersion." i^gain, " Mr. Hogcrs " he tells us " was for retrieving the use of dippin^r, as witnessed Dy antiquity, approved by Scripture, lequired by the Chuirh and SVMliOMCAL WITH THE THINGS SIGNIFIED IN DAl'TISM IJc also cites Dr. Towerson as having recited the arguments for immersion, and saying, " How to take off the force of these argurnents altogether I mean not to consider, partly because our [the Ji.piscopal] church seems to persuade such an immersion; and partly because 1 cannot but think tho forementioned arcu- ments to be so full offeree, as to evince the necessity there- OF where there 18 not some greater necessity to occasion an alteration of it." " Dr. Whitby says," continues Dr. Wall It were to be wished that this custom [of immersion] mint custom ; and abundance of others have so largely and induslri SK-. a lyii.-i i:7iUicrsiO}i Wua aa JL>i . iJuvu says, ' liiQ R ■M /llKlIv r\¥'r\trr\A 1 T-.-^ -. i*-'- 198 Mode of Baptism. [Part II. almost constant and univcrsnl custom of the primitive times,' that they have sutliciently intimated their inclinations to be for it now." Here, then, is the standard author of the Church of England on the subject of baptism, 'distinctly avowing his own wish, and calling in a host of learned men to sustain him in it, that im- mersion rii'jiitbe aeain used as the ordinary method of bnptipm. These genllemep might uu//i some pains satisfy their onsciences that pouring would answer : still wlic can believe but that they saw plainly that the evidence was with overpowering weight on the other side ; and one of them, Mr. Rogers, as wo see from Dr. Wall himself, distinctly declares that his reason for wish- ing a restoration of the primitive practice, was not only because it was " witnessed by antiquity, approved by scripture, and re- quired by the church, but because it was siimbolical of the (liiirhewn by producing many testimonies from the Greek and La- tin writers."— Pedobap. Ex. I. 1!)1. Calvin : " From the words, John iii. 23, it may be infer- red, that baptMm was administered by John and Christ, by pluncr. tng the whole body under water. Here we perceive how baptism was administered among the ancients ; for they immer- ted the whole body in water. Now, it is the prcvailintr practice UM •m JiisiilS'.v; Oiiij' iO SprSiiKIC iilG uOily Oi iiiu iicuii. I; f .■» ^.''■* I i ' :*?. ■ ■'•^ ' ■ i» ■ 144 Mode of Bapliitn. [Part II. Conf'^sinn of Helvetia : " Baptism was instittitfid by God ; and the first that baptized was John, who dipped Christ in tho water in Jordan." — Harmon, of Conf. p. 39.3. Bishop Taylor : " The custom of tho ancient churches was no< sprinkling, Uut immersion ; in pursuance ofthe senile of tho word [baptize,] in thj commandment, and the example ot our blessed Saviour. New this was of so sacred account in their esteem, that they did not account it lawful to receive him into the clergy, who had been only sprinkled in his baptism. In this case, therefore, the contrary custom, not only being a- gniiist an Ecclesiastical law, but against the anal.)gy and mys- terious signification of the sacrament, is not to be co.mpmed WITH ; unless in a case of necessity." — Duct. Dubit. B. iii. c. iv. R. XV. p. 644, 615. Dr. Priestley : " It is certain, that in very early times there is no particular mention made of any person being baptized by sprinkling only, or a paWia/ application of water to the body." — Hist. Corrup. vol. i p. 66, 67. Mr. Poole's continnators : " A great part of those who went out to hear John, were baptized, that is, dipped in Jordan. It is true, the first baptisms ofwhich we read in holy writ, wore by dippings of the persons baptized." Bishop Pearce : Speaking of the phrase, " baptized fortha dead," says, '•' It seems to be a metaphor taken from ihe cus- tom of those days in baptizing ; for the person baptized went down under the water and was (as it were) buried under it." — Note on 1 Cor. xv. 29. Bishop Burnet : " They [the primitive ministers of the Gos- pel,] led them down into the water, and with no other garments but what might cover nature, they at first laid them doicn in the water, as a man is laid in a grave, and then they said those words ; I baptize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Then they raised them up again, and clean gar- ments were put on them : from whence came the phrases, of being baptized into Christ's death ; of our being risen with Christ, and of our putting on the Lord Jesus Christ ; of putting ofTthe old man, and putting on the new." — Expos, .xxxix. Ar- ticles p. 374, 375. Assembly of Divines : " Were baptized. Washed by dip- ping in Jordan, as Mark vii. 4. Heb. ix. 10. Buried with him by baptism. See Col. ii. 12. In this phrase the apostle seemeth to alluue to tho ancient manner of baptism which was to dtp the parties baptized, and as it were bury them under tha water for a while, and then to draw them out of it. and lift thenat Chap. IV.] Mode of Baptism. 145 up, to represent the burial of our old man, and our resurrecti- on to newness of life. "— Annot. on Matt. iii. 6 . and Rom. vi. 4. Bossuet : " In fine we read not in the scripture that baptism was otherwise administered ; and we are able to make It appear, by the acts of Councils, and by the ancient Rituals, that for TuiRTEKN HUNDRED vEARs baptism was thus administer- ed throughout the whole church, as far as was possible "— . Stcnnet. p. 175, 176. Dr. Whithxj : " It being so expressly declared here [Rom. VI. 4.] and Colos. ii. 12. that we arc buried tfilh Chrisl in b'lp- tism, by Dcing buried under water ; and the argument to oblige us to a conformity to his death, by dying to sin, being taken hence; and this, immersion, being religiously observed in iii Christians for THIRTEEN CENTURIES, and approved by our church, and the change of it into sprinkling, even with- out any allowance from the author of this institution, or any licence from any council of the church, being that which the Romanist still urgcth to justify his refusal of the cup to the lailv ; it were to be wished, that this custom might be again oi gcnc/.ii use, and aspersion only permitted, as of old, in case of the clinici, or in present danger of death." — Note on Rom. vi. 4. Professor Sluart, of Andover, informs ua that "F. Brenner, a Roman Catholic writer, has recently published a learned work, which contains a copious history of usages in respect to the baptismal rite." He then quotes from Brenner as follows: " Thirteen hundred years was baptism generally and ordinarily performed by the immersion of a man under water ; and only in extraordinary cases, was sprinkling or affusion permitted. These latter methods of baptism were called in question, and even prohibited." Here, then, are Lutherans, Calrinists, Preshijterians, Epis- copalians, Con^egalionalists, Catholics, all giving the same testi- mony to this point; and ifthis be not deemed sufficient, the reader may find in Booth upwards of one himdnd and fjitj other in- stances of similar acknowledgement on the part o[ pedohaptists of learning and celebrity, either that baptizo means primarily or e\sc excliisirely immerse ; or that the original practice was immersion. Amongst these, wc just mention in addition to th« names already given, those of Buddaus, Dr. Bcntley, Bishop Reynolds, Vitringa, Bishop Patrick, Zauchius, Calmet, Turre- tin, Dr. Owen, Dr. Hammond, Lr Clerk, Dr. Doddridge, the English Review, Bishop Davenant, Dr. JVewton, Archbishop f.\^her, Mr. Stackhousc, Grolius, Dr. Care., Mr (ieo. IVhUflcld. Bishop atillingjleet, Mr. Locke, and Bishop .Yicolson, ail of m ■Ml 146 Mode of Bapl'ism. [Part 11 ' \ t.; .t' 1 ■ f ■» ■ vi^ ' 'M whom distinctly concede one or other of the above named pointa. It is unnecessary to offer any further reply to the charge made by Mr. Elder against Mr. Booth and Mr. Judson, for unfair quotations. The quotations themselves presented above, are a sufficient answer. The truth is, they quote pedobaptist authorities almost innumerable to prove, as we have done, that by the aeknowlcdgcmenl of pedobaptists of the highest character and learning, aged ii.ii their own side, it may be shewn that bap- tizo means primarily immerse ; and that immersion was the pri- viitive practice. What is unfair in this ? It is one of the beat understood rules of evidence, that the admission oi a purl ij is the highest proof We do not say that these persons found no pre- tence for remaining pedobaptists, neither does Mr. Booth or Mr. Judson ; but wc say to those who revile the Baptists as innovators, and the practice of immersion as monstrous, see what your own writers concede. It may be as well to add that for tlie accuracy of the quotations from JS'ennder as contained in the Biblical Repository, a pedobaptist work, from Dr. Camp- bell, of Abardsen, ixom. ir c.hbishop Leijihton, from l>fs. Wall, and Doddridge, and from Professor Stuart, of Andover ; we do ourselves vouch having carefully extracted them from their own works. Mr. Elder (page 61,) would have us believe, that " those pedobaptists who have conceded that baptize means in- variably to immerse, were men of sanguine mind." It is not usual however, lor such men to make admissions against them- selves, and we would begthe reader to refer to the admissions of JVa'l, Tillotson, Seeker, Taylor, Burnet, Campbell, Beza, Luther, Vitrtnga, Selden, Leighton, in pages 114, 115, 116, 134, 138, 139, 140, 144, and say, whether these are to be regarded as the authority of men whose heated blood had so blinded them, tiiat they could not see what made for their own side of the question. We say however, once for all, that it is such an examination as thai o«' Professors Ripley and Stuart which muat deeide the question. The weight of names cannot a/oHc decide it: but sure- ly such names as those we have adduced ought to stifle the cen- sures of Pedobaptists against Baptists, and to produce in theii miiids great fear lest they arc mistaken ia a practice in which thoir own highest authorities desert them. in. A f.ict .viiich confirms all this testimony in proof of (he oarjy au! long continued practice of immersion, istlio form- er universal prevalence of aaptistrios of am|ilo dimensions pre- pared cvidenMy for the immersion of th(^ whole j)erson, which for cciituvics wore attaciied to almost overy place of worship, and some of which remain to the present day' For a particulat Chap. IV.] Mode of Baptism. 147 many conluries immerl^l w .'"'^ cl.ns.ions were for - I,) bolwc, Wo.., sprinl^L "Tew, ;v^h ll ,""?" 'l'' and .1,0 Up„s„, 01 .he'^3000 „„^ ,1 e i,:, Po„' ^o .""l? !'• jriiVrtra'aTa":,:?:"::"''"-^- ^"' ^--s/aiL^ tc. rr iVvt ,;^"T;;u's^r"''''.^ ^'"^ ""^^ ■"^'•^ -- K,- ,„ 1 I 7i "*^^'^/"cm. J lius the practice commenced • ami -n.!' r ' ?' ^''"^ i'f^^t.ce was adopted altogether c-,n fn I 1 ''''",°* ''7'''".*^ ""''"'^^^ oi-immersion thtt Dr. Wall M ently as ^/,r ,y«.,o» why he shouM not be made a bishop thnt was not lawful .or any over whom water had been .ouLd V otn^e o;'u;:^,::^^^f%^,'^^'''-^"'^-'-i ^^ - a^'-n:' M > ail (lisp ites, but when we advert to tiie cross corruntionq i.ave already seen ' n e -.' fZl . " ''"' "''J'^^^' '^^ ^^« )«.. 1 V '^'-en, ipage J.>,) the Loid's supper be nir conqi I oied essential to salvation was administered tTinlan ^^ Z7- '" "n tells us. also, that " the solemn.. v «n,l 'Ti. Jr°V I'- nnportantmstitution was celebrated; were considembi;';;: 4' > '1 ■^■: 118 Mode of Baptism. [Part II. ui'r' w fi* '' '>;•■'■ ■ '■'. .. • ■| v^r creased ;" and speaking of baptism in this century, he informs us, '• that none were admitted to this solemn ordinance, until, by the menacing and formidable shouts and declamation of the exorcist they had been delivered from the dominion of the Prince of Darkness, and consecrated to the service of God." And in the very next century, it appears from the same historian, that " tlio bread and wine were held up to view before their distri- bution, that they might be seen by the people, and contempla- ted with a certain 'eligious respect ; and hence not long after, THE ADORATION OF THE SYMBOLS WAS C.N QUESTIONABLY DERIV- ED." What indifferent guides were the Fathers whom some almost deify ; and how precious the principle which makes tho lliblc Mie sole guide of our faith and our practice ! V. While sprinkling and affusion, however, as we have seen from the foregoing quotations, obtained but little footing in the churches for thirteen centuries, the introduction of either practice was of sfil! later date in England. Dr. Wall informs us, that " the offices or liturgies," " did all along," " enjoin dipping without any mention of pouring or sprinkling," until the second year of Edward VI. when the order was that the priest should dip the child in the water, with the addition how- ever, that if it were weak it would suffice " to pour water upon it." And thus the matter stands, at the present day, for if the reader will turn to the form for the administration of infant bap- tism contained in the book of Common Prayer, he will find the following direction : " If they [the sponsors] shall certify him [' the Priest'] that the child may well endure it, he shall dip it in the water discreetly and warily, saying, Stc." And in the form for adult baptism, is the following direction, " and then ['the Priest'] shall dip him in the water." It is added, " or pour water upon him," which words must evidently be of later origin than Edward V'l. VI. The reader has doubtless observed from the thorough examination made by Professors Stuakt and Ripi.ey, as well as by the numerous concessions of podobaptists, that there is no place to be found either in Scripture or classical Literature, in whicii there is even the slightest pretence to pause a moment on tiic question whether the word can have the sense oi' pour, sprinkle, moisten, or applij water. The case mentioned by Mr. Elder rt'lating to .\"eljuciiadnczzGr, respects the Greek word bnpto and not bnptizn, which latter only is -ised in the new Tes- tament to describe the ordinance of l)a[ilism ; and in this u.so ol' bapio, which is tho root from which buplizo is derived, tiic idea oJ immersion or dipping is stiii pcricciiy preserved. i>Ir .f,.\ Chap. IV.] Mode of Baptism. 149 Elder in his former letters (p. 41,) has completely answered himself on this point in his quotation from INIilton, " Yet a cold shuddering dew Dips me all o'er." Nehuchadnezzer, in Dan. iv. 30, and Comus, in the pas- sage quoted from Milton, are intended to be represented as so drenched in dew as to be (figuratively speaking) dipped in it. Who does not perceive that if the proper meaning of dipped in these cases be not preserved, the whole force and beaaty of the passaji^es is lost .' yil. Now, every one must feel jhat tlie word chosen bj the Saviour to describe his sacred ordinance, must mean some- thing certain, otherwise it would give no intimation of liis will in this respect. Whatever its meaning be, tiiat meaning must be definite and specific. If, then, the mode of applying water had no intentional relation to the spiritual grace represen'cd by the e.xtcrnal symbol, the sign in such case might be expressed by amj toord signifying in general to apphj water. But it is not pre- tended by learned pedobaptists themselves, that there is even a shadow of |)roof that baptizo is ever used in tiiis broad signifi- cation. The only meaning of the word besides immerse or over- whelm on which Prof. Stuart relics, is that oi'iiash To jnur and to sprinkle, are now abandoned by critics of any authority as significations of baptizo. But, if, now, for the sake of argument, it should be ad- mitted that the word baptizo means wash, then it ought to be so translated ; " leaslting them in the name of the Father, itc." " They came to John and were washed of him in Jordan ;" "I have need to be u-ai/ifd of thee and comcst thou to me," " and as many as believed were washed, &.c." But if this be the meaning of the word, why was it not so rendered by the Eng- lish translators of the Bible, and thus the matter set at rest, and why have the Dutch, the German, the Danish, as well as many other translations rendered it immerse .' Besides, if ifos/i be the signification ofbaptizo, this, too, has a specijic sense ; do our pedobaptist i)relhren think they fuU fil the Saviour's command in such case, by s|)rinkling a few drops of water, or only moisteniniy a small part of the surface of the body ; Maimonides the Jewish Kubbi, according to Light- foot, informs us, that " Wheresoever in the law, washing of the body or garments is mentioned, it means nothing else, tlian the washing of the whole body. For if any wash himself all over except the very top of his little finder, he is still in In, iii.cloan- ne»3. " When our Saviour therefore commanded a Jew to wash '♦I 150 M)dc of Baptism. [Pari II. .^t . .-T V • ' /' ' ,* . ?:;/ another, it must of course be understood to mean a com/j/efe wnsliing. This then would necessarily have been the ordinance of baptism, liuf tliis pcdobaptists in tliesc countries do not do ; therefore, according to tlieir own shewing, tiicy do not obey tl»c command of the Saviour. Baptiza, however, docs not mean ims/i but imjHcrse. This is its single, upecijic, ccrlaiii sense, and is therefore descriptive of that form or v.le which the Saviour intended his disciples to observe ; and while some object to our contending for a mere external rite ; let it not be forgotten that form is that which is essential to an c.iicrnal rile : it is itself a /ucm. Its form is that appointed by its founder ; and if this form be not observed, the rite itself is ultfrlij lost. What should we think of the Jews, if instead of circumcision, they had contented themselves witli a mere jyunclfire 1 In fine, let it be remembered, that our Saviour was immcr- xtil. ho commanded his apostles to imhursc ; they accordingly wvnt forth imvirrsiiifr all who believed ; and we beseech our rnilor, scrlouslv to consider with himself whether ho is not as miicli bound by obedience to his Saviour to be immersed in the name of the Fallicr, Son, and Holy Ghost, as to repent and hc- lii vc Ike Gospel. \Vc say not that his salvation depends on this, unless hn is wilfitlfii disobedient ; but will any real cluislian omit a known duty, commanded by his Saviour, and sanction- «m1 by his example, merely because it is not a duty on which his sari's salrulioii depends ? The salvation of the soul is not flloctcd by baptism, but by faith, but may not wilful disobedi- ence indicate a mind not yet reconciled to God ? A mind in vhich there is in fact no saving faith ? \'III. On summing up the evidence of the scriptural mode of baptism now produced, the following is found to be the result. 1. The circumstances under which baptism took place in many instances in scri|)ture, furnish the s/io)iO(.s/ probability that immersion was the method employed, and this is not ccm- Irudicled in any case. '2. The use of the word hapdze in other cases of whir' nu •iiilcanied reador may judge, shews that it must mean plunge, crericlii 1,1] . immerse, or something akin to this. ."! I'.nil, inspired by the Holy Ghost, alludes to tlio out- ward lorm ol" baptism us an imniersioa oi linriiil. which, as an out ward sign, rcpri'^cntLMl tho uiwaid grace, which baptized per- sons oiiglii previously to pcssess. \. Tlic most caiet'iil examination into the whole circle of ei.issiciil iiui-iv iiii-iaUin. , as wcii as hud liic .Scpiuagint. made Chap. IF] Mode of Baptism. 151 by learned Pedobaplish themselves, furnishes not a single in- stance of baphzo meaning any tiling but immerse or overwhelm. '^- J^*^' ^ single instance occurs either in the Apocrypha or New Testament, where the word can be shewn to have neces- sarily any other meaning than immerse. •3. Learned pedobaplish almost without number have ac- knowledged that immerse is the primary and proper mcanin<' of hapUzo, and many have admitted it to be its onlij meaning. " 7. That baplizo means immerse only and specit;cally, ap- pears by its being set in distinct contrast with other modes of applymg water. rt. The whole Greek church with all its branches, com- prising all the churches in the world that have never been un- derthe influence of the Pope, alway? has practis.ed and docs now practice immersion ; and regards this as the 'jnhj mean- ing of the Greek word baptizo, the Greek being its i.ative language. 9. All the versions of the scriptures ever made, wherein the word baptize when used in connection with the ordinance has been translated at all, have uniformly rendered it immerse. 10. History shews that the primitive Christians practised immersion alone ; that this custom prevailed for thirteen cetitii- ries with few exceptions ; and that the propriety of those was long doubted. 11. Baptistries for immersing the whole person wero for many centuries attached to almost every place of worship. 12. Dr. Wall, Dr. Whitby, Luther, and other eminent pedobaptists, have wished lor a restoration of the primitive prac- tiee, but yielded to the force of custom and effected no refor- mation. 13. The rubric ofthe Church of England to this day en- joins immersion, and admits pouring only in the case of sickness. 14. No other mode than immersion sets forth the meaiti)i'> ofthe ordinance, or fulfils the design ofthe Saviour's appoinT- meut ; This wc shall show more fully in the Third Purt of this treatise. c^v:^«^'.r' • PART THIRD. ht i ■r • V.'f id ii-.-.^i CHAPTER I. 1. DF.Sir.V OF BAPTISM. II. EVILS OF INFAXT BAPTISM. HI. MIS- CEI.I.ANF.OUS REMARKS. IV. BENEFITS OF BELIEVERS BAPTISM. V. OBJCCTIONS ANSWERED. VI. SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE. The (Lsin;i and uxe of baptism, as illustrated by many pas- sages of the S'ew Testament, will be found to shed no little light on both branches of the preceding inquiry ; and we proceed, therefore, to shew, from the word of God, what appears to have been the purpose of the heavenly founder of this ordinance in some of the principle features of its design, and benefits. I. Baptism is a rite appointed to ac company the frst open acJcnowledgemeiil of faith in Christ. That this is the scriptural view ot tiie ordinance, we gather from the /ad that in the JVujw Testament we always see it used in connection with the first public avowal made by the disciples of their Christian hope. — Such was the case under the ministry of John the Baptist, al- though, in this instance, the acknowledgement took the form of repentance rather than hope, on account, probably, of the still imperfect view which was as yet obtained of the Gospel sal- vation. " They were baptized in Jordan confessing their sins — such was the cas'^ under the immediate ministry of the Saviour himself; for the expression " Jesus made and baptized — disci- ples," shews that baptism stood in immediate connection with hrconiinga di^iciplc. The same appears from the baptism of the 3000on°the day of Pentecost, who immediately on "gladly re- re(i-(;t^ the word," were baptized, and indeed, from every other example of baptism recorded in Scripture: the same might be shewn also from a multitude of other [lassages. Now, it is evident that baptism administered to an infant cannot fulfil the design of the ordinance ns an avowal ofj'aith in Christ. Hence arose the C'hap. /.] Design of Baptism. t5h absurd practice used in some churches, of asking an unconsci- ous babe if it repents and believes, and getting a grown person to answer for it. 2. Baptisuj, then, being a rite accompanying the first open Avowal of christian faith and hope, becomes of course a sj>» of salvation. This is distinctly indicated in that passage in I. Pet. iii. 21, which has been already repeatedly alluded lo, "the like figure whereunto even baptism doth now save us, not tlie putting away the filth ot the flesh, but the answer of a good con- science towards God." The allusion is to Noah and his fami- ly ; as they were saved by the water of the flood, so Christiana are saved by the water of baptism ; with this diflx'rence, how- ever, that the flood actually saved the former, by bVarin» them up in the ark : while baptism only figitraiivety saves Christians, inasmuch as it is a sign of " the answer of a good conscience towards God," the inward grace in the heart ; this is the real, the positive effect of salvation, of which baptisrn is only the outward sign or symbol. The allusion here made to baptism by the apostle, is the figure'of speech called metonymy, where the sign is put fbr the thing signified. In both views now named, of a pvblic avoxeal of faith in Chrisi, and a sign of salvation, the Saviour adverts to the ordi- nance in his interview with Nicodemus, John iii. 5. •• Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of w.\ter and of tha spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." That our Saviour could not intend in this passage to allude to baptism ns possessing any saving efficacy in itself, is appa- rent from the passage in 1. Peter already alluded to, " not the >*ashing away the filth ofthe flesh" — from innumerable passages in the New Testament, which represent salvation as depertdant not " onworks," not on any external observance of ours', but on the h'ork of Christ alone, through faith in that work — from the general character ofthe instructions of the Saviour himself, which tended to draw away the confidence of his hearcis from mere outward religion, and to shew them the necessity of wor- shipping God as " a Spirit," " in spirit arid in truth"— and, indeed, from the whole current and tenor of tiie New Tesla- ment scriptures from beginning to end Tills is now acknow- ledged as a fundamental principle by all evangelical Protestants, without distinction of name or sect. This truth then being ad- mitted, we must of course seek, in the wotdsiorn of water, some sense that will comport with the natural ineamug ofthe words themselves, as well as with the nature of Christianity. We con- ceive tiiat wnat has aiieady btseii siiewu, from oiiier parts ofscrip- '*] 164 De$ign oj Baptisi^l. [Part III. "IT Uf.'!? • J'.- v.:t.' turo, concerning the tZesi'^fn of baptism, will sufficiently explain the Saviour's meaning in this passage. Baptism was the appoint- ed solemnity accompanying an open avowal of faith in Christ, and, HS such, stood as a sign or symbol of that salvation which ■II obtain through faith ; and none but those who possessed that change of heart which would render them willing " to con- fess Christ before men," — willing to make an open avowal of their faith in him, — could be real believers, could possess sal- vation. How appropriate, then, was the Saviour's address to the cowardly Nicodemus who crept to a concealed interview " by night." He knew, of course, that multitudes more manly and honest than he, had not feared to confess the Saviour open- ly, and to be baptized, in public testimony of their attachment; he believed that Christ was " a teacher come from God," and yet he shrunk away from a courageous avowal of his conviction ; Buch a temper unless quelled and overcome, would forever un- fit Nicodemus for an entrance into the kingdom of heaven, either in its spiritual blessings, or its external privileges ; and hence the Saviour, with great t'aithfulncss, set before him what he needed, in order to admission into that kingdom of God, foretold by Daniel, and for which this ruler of the Jews was, doubtless, like the rest of his countrymen, looking with intense anxiety ; " unless he were born of water and of the spirit," — unless he came to possess that pure heart which God's spirit creates, and which would prompt him with fortitude to avow pub- licly his faith by the appointed ordinance of baptism, the out- ward sign of that inward grace — he could never see or enter the expected kingdom of God, could never know inward peace of mind, nor obtain the joy which " passes understanding ;" could never be entitled to be received into communion with christian disciples. Here, then, the Saviour places together ike sign and the thing signijied, because the one was appointed as the authorised mode of avowing the possession of the other, and was in agreat measure a «i>,. the cieanl .mg .nfluence of the spirit on the heart ; and secondly, in res- pect to the mode of hnptism which is an immersion or burial ia the water ; and is therefore analogous to that spiritual chanaa of character obtained through faith in Christ, which os Prof. Weander expreaaes it. is a merging of the uhole man into a neu spirit and lije. The first of these points of resemblance between baptism as the outward sign, and the inward grace it signifies, is noti- ced in such passages as this, Acts xxii. 16. «' Arise and bo baptized and wash away thy sins." The second point of resemblance, above named, has al- ready been sufficiently adverted to, in discussing the import of Rom. VI. 3, 4. and Col. ii. 12. 4. From what is now said, it plainly follows, that infant baptism, and sprinkling or pouring, wholly divert the sacred or- dinance of baptism from its original design, and defeat the pur- pose of the Saviour. For first, sprinkling or pouring c/e../rnv» the resemblance which the Saviour intended between the outward sign and the thing signified: there is no resemblance between a little water sprinkled, and the merging ofiheuhcle man into a neic spirit and Ixje ; there is none to that complete purifying change which those undergo who are u'ashed and sanctified by the spirit. •' ^ Secondly baptism was intended as a solemn net whereby ivt.ristians should personally arow iheir faith in the Redeaner.— IX was consequently, rerer designed for infants. It cannot arply to their conddton. When administered to them, therefore, it is 'J ^' 1 ite Di'iign of BapiiiDl. [Pari 111. 'i''i M- "• I ,.v 1 .-Vv',;, I "^ '; .■'^ . , »■■ • X. ■ ,.'.V' • ^A It ought then, to be enough for a sincere christian to know that infant baptism is not found in the word of God, to induce him to abandon it. To practice it, is plainly to be guilty of " adding to the things" written in the book of Divine Revelation, and although pardouabic, as belore said, from ignorance or mis- take in those that thus practise, U cannot be right. While we say this, however, it requires very little discern- ment to perceive that we must not expect a specific divine war- rant tor every Irijling matter. To add a rite like infant baptism to the pure and simple model which Christ leA for bis church is surely a serious matter to do without warrant ; it is not a tri- fling matter. In ancient days they added milk and honey tq baptism ; then gave the Lord's Supper to infants, then, they held up the bread and wine to be surveyed, as Mosheim says, with a sort of religious respect ; then, — they adored them ! But say some, what warrant have you for females partak- ing of the Lord's supper. We reply, as much warrant as can possibly be necessary in such a case, first /Aepn'nci^/e that "all [believers] are one in Christ ;" that there is now no distinc- tion as under the Mosaic economy of male and female : Second- ly the known practice ; men and women were baptized, and men and women composed the church at Corinth, to whom with- out distinction the apostle Paul addresses instructions as to the proper mode of partaking of the ordinance. Besides, the words ol our Saviour, " this do as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me," addressed personally to the apostles alone, were evi- dently understood to extend to the disciples generally, and it will not be doubted that women were disciples, for Tabitha is expressly called a disciple in Acts ix. 36 ; and lastly, among many other considerations that might be named, women must evidently be included, in Acts ii. 44, 45, where it said that " All thai believed were together bkeaki.no bread Irom bouhe to house." II. While however we cannot argue for new rites from benefits which we imagine may result from them, we need no particular proof to know that what is contrary to scripture must be evil. We have not far to look for the evils, the fearfully dangerous consequences of infant baptism. 1. It has entirely su7);)/rin/efj and dcstroijed the ordinance which the Saviour appointed. Where infant baptism and sprink- ling 01 pouring are practised, in a little while all become, as they suppose, baptized in this way, and the scriptural ordinance is ut- terly lost sight of. Our Lord as we have seen, appointed this oidiutUiccfyj a apecinc purpose, it was to be iho first opea aud • . * . Chap. J.] Design oj Bapli$m. m solemn profession of faith in him ; and its form, tmmersion, by the copious and complete ablution this occasions, was intended to represent the abundance of the cleansing gifts of divine grace, and also the death to sin and new birth to righteousness of the believer. Now we put it to our pedobaptist friends to sav whether thta design of the Saviour is not, so (ar as their practice extends, completely frustrated und driven out of the church of Christ. And yet so strong is the argument for adhering to the de- sign of the Saviour, that we find many pedobapti.sts themselves in fact giving up the whole matter in dispute respecting immer- sion, in their admissions on this score. Let the reader refer for instance to Dr. Wall. In vol. iii. 350, he is forced to ac- knowledge that " The baptism of an infant cannot have all (ho solemnity which that of an adult person may have ;" and again " The immersion of the person in the posture of one that is buried and raised up again, is much more solemn, and ex- presses THE DESIGN of the sacrament, the m"°»ery of the spiri- tual washing, much better than pouring a small quantity of water on the face." And a little below he adds, " If it be done in the church, in or at the font, and the congregation do join in the prayers there used, it is much more solemn than in a bed- chamber, out of a bason, a tea cup, or a punch bowl." We cannot refrain, here, from again adverting to the sentiment of Professor Neander quoted above. " This form" says he [im- mersionj " was doubtless best adapted to express that which Christ i.vtended to express by this symbol, the merging ojf the whole man into a new spirit and life.'' Luther, too, as we have seen, expressly acknowledges of the form immersion, that without doubt it was instituted bij Christ. Our readers will remember how nearly like this are the sentiments also of Bar- row, Taylor, Whitby, and others already quoted, and to these very many other pedobaptists might be added on the same point; so that wo are constrained to enquire whether we can possibly be justified in omittitig that which Christ enjoined, and which expresses much belter his design in his own ordinanca, on any account, or reasoning, or pretence whatever ? Christ's appoint- ment and design we see by the admission of pedobaptists them- selves, is not adhered to in their practice, and in the Saviour's sense of the word, therefore, they are not baptized. 2. But, another and most disastrous consequence of in- fant baptism, has been the admission into the church of vast multitudes of persons without repentance, without faith, without any religious character. That " all men have not faith," is the teatimony ofths word of God, ali ecangeiuai Chiisiiuu* admit 158 Design of Baptitm. [Part III. K.-'i-s ,■'•''■ ^ I « • .1 •lie natural depravity of the hi'inan heart, which no external rile, baptism or any other, can wash away ; and all personn of every cinss, who have any observation, cannot but perceive thni, l)a[)tizermers retained infant baptism ; and accor- dingly in tliH Established Churches of England and Scotland, RK well as ill those of Denmark, Sweden, Prussia, Gene\a, and the other Swiss and German Protestant states, there soon began a rn^iid declension that reduced them almost to a level with those »f Ilomiish Governments ; nay, in many instances, below them ; so that now it is a gross absurdity to call any ot these churches ; they are not churches in the scriptural senso of the word ; they are tiatiov* among whom there may or not be, as it happens, a thin sprinkling of christians ; but it is seriously to be doubted whetiier there is to be found in any one of those Ftates in connection with what are called their Established Churrhrs, any onf. cocicty answerable to the description in the iiincteentli article of relipion in the Book of Common Prayer, " a cnnp-e^ntion of jnithful men." On the contrary, wherever Evangelical sentimt^nts become embraced, they are dtnoxmced .'1 Chap, r ] Design of Baptism. 159 by the mnjoriJy of these ,o. d.san/ churches ; and the profestori ot them deridea it not persecuted as enthusiasts. Th.8 we say is the self evident, unavoidable effect of hapti- Fh^Lh"^ I /""^ r.ndepcndant or ConsregationnI churches 'in Kngland and America, a., well as the Presbyterian churches .„ the latter country and adnut none to cmnuLion except thoie who repent and behe,,. JJut, except on Baptist princmles hoxr inconsistent ,s such practice ! Arl infant is baVized as '"I member of Christ '.church ; " but it is not admitted to the Lord'J »^i?V^r even xchen old enough voluntarihj to partake rf it ■ such havZ Ln"?^'""'^ '""''" ^'•^"P"'"'^ »8 a Christian untU an' ?a1th Tb 'T' ^''"' ^^ ^ives evidence of repemance llrhZ, A. ''°"u^">""^8'*"°""'^"''P^««byterian brethren «n Wiw.h one hand those whom they i„/,W«c..i with the other. Still we admit, this error is better than (he extrava- cance oMhe Po;,is/i sentiment retained in the Catechism in the IJook ot Common Prayer, in compliance with which thousands ol poor iKt chi dren are continually compelled to utter the .«omo-«/a/,e/.occ/. that in baptism '< they were m.oe membo.s of Christ children of God. and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. In such a state of things as is seen in many of the communities to which we have now alluded, no duty is louder and more imperious than that o( separation. 3 Another injurious effect of infant baptism is the dorrn- tion which It practises on the souls of men. They rely on their baptism when they ought to rely on Christ. Deep is [ho delu- sion to which the human mind is easily subjected ; " the heart .B deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked •" on'o •upply a man with such a prop as the benefits of hi., infant ban- tisrn. which m«de him, (oh awful error !) " a member ofChriit !nH " 1? ; and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven •"' and It will be found hard indeed to tear it from him. Sav not his IS an abuse and therefore no argument against the uso of tne practice. The practice is unsustai.ied by scripture, it is au invention of men. and therefore on its own head be dl its abuses i,:,k»^f'v ^°'"® '"•scellaneons remarks, for which there has mtnerto been no opportunity, may be added here. 1. Mr. Elder closes his very flimsy account of baptism snc- I*^.!!^ t"'''""'''''''"' ^y *=""'"? '^ ^^^ s^al of the new covenant and this he again asserts it to be, in page 78. We do not know oi any passage of scripture which ao represents it, and if there were, it would make against him ; a seal is confirmatorv of « -3-;fa« mrtud^ made, m like manner us circumcision to Abru- »» >:' IWT'K *> •» •ir. v t60 Design of Baptism. [Part III. ham confirmed the contract of which his faith was the condition. Baptism to be such a seal can only be administered to believers. 2. In pages 78 and 80, Mr. Elder is quite amazed at the strong proofthat sprinkling is the proper mode of baptism, which he thinks he derives from the circumstance, that blood and wa- ter were sprmkled of old under the Mosaic economy ; and that the Holy Ghost is often said to be poured out, and shed down npon us ; Mr. Elder adds sprinkled ; but we confess ourselves utterly at a loss to find any instance in the word of God where the Holy Ghost is said to be sprinkled on men. Ludicrous however as such notions are, we shall endeavour if possible to dismiss them with a grave reply. First, ns to blood and water being sprinkled : any one can perceive, that the nature of things made it impossible to use the blood of a victim in any other way, both on account of the smullncss of its quantity, and the loathsomeness of any object wholly dipped in blood. It was of necessity therefore sprink- led ; and being thus used, water was some times sprinkled to- gether with the blood, to indicate, apparently, the cleansing in- fluence of the blood of atonement on the heart and conscience of a believer. Sccondlij. Pouring in the caso of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the image which the nature of things unavoidably sug- gests. God is in Heaven above; we are on the earth beneath; the gifts of God, therefore, are said to come down, to he poured forth ; but though this is the image we naturally adopt when speaking of the bcstoioment of these gifts, we are by no means confined to that, when we would speak of our actual enjoyment of them ; hence though we say that the Holy Spirit is poured' on men, when we mean tc speak of the coming of the gift ; it is nevertheless perfectly in agreement with the usage of lan- guage to say, the r are surrounded by or immersed in the Holy Spirit, when speaking of their pos«ess(Oj» of the blessings. And still more proper is the expression when the mind is directed to the purifying influence ofthe spirit of God ; for in '-ke manner as we would bathe any cSject we desire thoroughly to cleanse, in abundance of water, so may one, purified by the spirit of God, he aptly said to be plunged in a flood, bathed in a foun- tain, Slc. and hence baptism being significant of a thorough puri- fying of the heart and soul of man, is itself a /j/unging or bathing ofthe person in abundance of water. Mr. Elder concludes his remarks on this head by inform- ing us, that from what lie has said, it appears evident that "pour- tug and sprinkling represents \i\9 thing signified by baptistw Chap. /.] jOesign of Baptism. 161 much belter than immersion, and consoquently that these are the most proper modes of baptism. When a man is making a despera.e push, his courage may be in proportion to his darini;' Mr. tlder is certamly courageous in bold assertions : we aro however a. little at a loss, here, to kno.v what has become of his profound submission to the learned. In page G6 he asks It we can have no confidence in such men as Calvin, Luther' Jieza, and a number more, in whom shall we have confidence' shall we say, as David did in his haste, " all men are liars ='' Alas ! how soon has Mr. Elder forgotten his own principle ' i^uther, Calvin, Beza, as we have seen, ail testifV to immer- sion as the most proper mode of baptism-for they" allow it to have been t>>e or,;ri„al mode ; and Cutlicr especially, besides many other Jcclares that, that mode oufr/ii to be obscn-cd mw (see pago l."i9) ; the learned Professor Ner ler, of tlie Uni- versity of J3erlin, giv, us his candid and a.sintcrcsted belief that immersion was the original mode, and " befit udaiilcd " (these are his very words,) to express what Christ intuudod to express by this symbol, (see page 103) ; and the learned Dr. Wall, as we have also seen, distinctly declares his conviction that " immersion" is" miuh more solemn,'' and " expresses the design of the sacrament" " much belter." These are all pedo- bnptists, learned men, some of them champions of their party • there may be adduced a host of others to support them • and yet, wonderful to relate, they all, all failed to discover that sprinkling or pouring expresses the meaning of the ordinance muck better— 13 tlio most proper mode of baptism. IV. Wo havft stated in the first part of this -l<''ptcr the scriptural design of baptism, as proved in the words i the New lestament, m wiiich we have confined ourselve. -j what ap- pears most essential ; there are however other obvious uses, consequent on what has already been shewn, which, therefore' ought to be regarded us a part oj the design. Some of tlicie may here be noted. 1. It is of great use & on unreserved and public pledge on the part oj a believer that he is " on the Lord's side.'^ There is a strong propensity in the human heart to shrink from trial and difhculfy ; to escape the burthen of " the cross," and it i^ vastly easier, men aro apt to think, to be christians privately and quietly, without observation, than openly to confess their muster, and challenge thereby the eye, and the opposition, and, perhaps, the persecution of others. IJut they mistake ; this covert hidden religion is oftentimes no better than that of Nico- dciuus , iht'l i^uusiiuiiiiy is not worth much, which is not ready 162 Design of Baptism. [Part III. ,^.. ' iy, .- H' k.' v.. . t« ■>. '■ ... / - f'* I '.*■•■/ .:-■■• " . ■ *l- * 'f: to Buffer, and endure shame and reproach lor Christ's sake ; "he that denieth me before men," says the Saviour, " shall be de- nied before the angels of God." How admirably is the ordi- nance of baptism calculated to teai up 'his coward disposition by the root. It is a first duty. It must be perfoi.ned. It con- sists of a public p'.edge of our hopes and our obligations, and while therefore it makes no allowance for the very weakest to plead their timidity, for the commiind is peremptory ; it affords, at the same time, strength in its very performance, for he who has once thus openly professed his hope and faith in Christ, has run the gauntlet with the world ; he cannot now be equally tempted to hide himself from observation, for the very act of baptism has made that impossible. Pedobaptism has robbed the ordinance of this advantage. 2. It makes a decisive boundary between the church and the world. Enemies will infest the church, who have " crept in unawares," notwiihstanding all the guards and caution that can be used : how much more, then, will she be exposed to such secret invasion, if she throws down her walls, de.stroys her ramparts, and obliterates her boundaries. Baptism forms one of these boundaries. It is in fact one of the strong "munitions" of Zion. The majority of men will pause before they make so o- pen a profession of christian faith and hope, as baptism requires, without possessing them, while it never would shock them, how- ever unworthy, to steal Mno6iert3-csen< and binding:; force, and yet will receive to the Lord's supper those whom it believes to be unbaptized ? There is not one. Say rot it is hard, it is uncharitable ; this is merely the argument nd invidiam ; it has no force ; obedience to Christ ought never to be regarded as a hardship ; and charity can not be tested in this way ; it is a feeling of the heart, which surely may exist, although our conformity to scriptural principles may be unplea- sant to otiiers ; we love other christians though we cannot ask them until baptized to approach the table of the Lord. But then, it is said otht . christians may conscienciously /At»A- themselves baptized when sprinkled in infancy. Perhaps they may ; but tkeir conscience is not oicr conscience ; " let every man be thoroughly persuaded in h's oivn mind." Bap- tists are concienciously bound to preserve in their churches that discipline which to them appears the discipline ordained of Christ. Tiiose pedobaptists do not seem to shew a very high veneration for tiie sacredncss of conscience who blame them for acting thus. Besides, it should be remembered, that all men arc not ronsricncious ; fliercare, perhaps, always some in baptiiit con- gregations wlio deal not faithfully with themselves — ' ' o allow themselves to be deterred from a candid e.vamination of their duly as rospects baptism, by various motiv s of shame, or fear, or interest ; there may be many of the same nort in pcdobaptist congregations ; and how, then, shall a baptist church or min- ister distinguish between those who are consciencious.and those who are not .■" And it they undertook to do so, how disorderly f\ Chap. /.] Disign of Baptism. 1G5 an appearance would it have, to apply one rule to one person and a different rule to another. We see then the neceLity of adhermg tothe rules of the Saviour ; they alone will gu de us "urch ^^ ""'^ '^^"^ '''°'"°'^ ••'" Prosperit/ of the It grieves baptists that pious pedobaptists will not be bap- tized as their bav.our was. and so become entitled to perfect fellowship with them m all the ordinances of God's house • and in all other matters of christian courtesy ; nd affection they re- joice to shew them the highest respect and regard. They are always ready, let Mr. Elder say what he may to the contrary to mee them in associations for prayer, to listen to the public ins ructions of their ministers, on all suitable occasions, either in baptist or pedobaptist pulpits ; to unite with them most cor- dially in every measure calculated to promote the " general in- terests of /lon ;'• such has been the experience of the writer on an extensive acquaintance with baptists, not onlv in this province but in England and America ; and that such is the case in //as community we confidently appeal to the public to attest : as individuals we make no difierence between any that ove the Lord Jesus Chris* in sincerity ; our hearts and our Hands are open to them always; only, in matters of church dis- cipline we cannot, we dare not, imitate Hie general laxity of principle and prnelice, but feel, that our impe.ious duty is to recognize, as members of Christ 'sr,s,6/e church, none but those who, having repented of their sins, and believed in Christ have thereupon been baptized ; that is, as we have fully shewn! been lid Ghost'"'' '"'''^"^'"^of the Father, the Son. and the 3; Another objection, sometimes made against baptism ot believers, is the difficulty of ascertaining who ra.lh, believe - and if we mistake, by supposing a man who is baptized to be a real believer when he is not so, and faith be an indispensable prerequisite for baptism, then, such person, on our principles It IS supposed, IS not baptized. But this inference is an entire mis ake. It receives a brief and complete answer by referrinff to the scriptures. W e there see baptism administered to f hosi who m the judgment of the apostles, and other admiyiistrators of the ordinance, at the time, were possessed of faith— gladly re- ceived the word,-repented of their sins ; and we «em- read there of those who afterwards went out from them because they were not of them— or who fell subsequently into sin • beinir baptized fl^rtinon their repentance and return. We net in con formity with this mode! VVo hanti7.fi fhri=a ■^.-K- -... .■ .. judgment are possessed of faith, * using all" mc'a'iis which God 'I' 166 Design of Bapliam. [Pari HI. I has put into the hands of fallible men, with all tenderness and charity, to obtain a right judgment. It is an important, solemn duty ; it demands watchfulness, prayer, and much christian love ; but surely, it is not, on that account, to be neglected ; it can never bo an argument against scriptural baptism, that it demands the exercise of much christian wisdom, and temper, in o.der to use it according to Christ's appointment — what step in tiie christian course does not demand the same ? 4. Again it is often stated as an objection against adult baptism, and this we perceive has been adopted by Mr. Elder, that it leaves infants in a worse condition under the Christian than they were under the Jewish dispensation. This too, rests on an entire mistake. As well might we argue, that we are 2:eneraUij in a worse situation than the Jews, because we have no longer anij oi the numerous rites and ceremonies of their law. riirist iias determined thai to be a better state of things, in •which only those possessed of spiritual religion shall be mem- bcr.s of liis visible church, with the simple rites of believer's bap- lisni and the LoriVs supper, nniiicumbered with any other ob- servances. But he has not only determined it to be better ; it is easy to see it is better. Rites and ceremonies are apt to steal away the heart from genuine religion ; and therefore none arc appointed in the christian church, but such as require the previous possession of genuine religion, and which arc too sim- ple to be perverted without destroying their very essence. Besides, the idea of infants being in a worse condition, of rourse, supposes, that there must be some bcncfd in infant bap- tism, but God only can confer a benefit on any external rite, which makes it necessary first to prove that he has appointed it, otherwise it must be contrary to his will. Probably these who reason in this manner are carried away by the vague idea that circumcision conferred some important spirilual benefit on children. But as we have already shewn in the first part of this treatise, it conferred none whatever on (hem, except that as members of Israel they enjoyed the com- mon public religious advantages. Circumcision conferred no personal religious advantage ; it did not save the soul of the infant : it did not destroy its original depravity ; it did not in- crease the obligations of the parents to instruct their children ; if it had conferred any of these privileges, what was the condi- tion of the poor females, for they were not circumcised, and were lell without any analogous rite ? So in like miinner wc say of infant baptism, it confers no per- •onal spiritual advantage on an ml'ant; it saves not its soul; it f '\ Chap. /.] De»ign of Baptism. 1C7 destroys not its original depravity ; it increases not the obligati- ons of parents; while on tho other hand, by banishing the rile of believer's baptism, it actiuiliy does deprive professing christians of a positive advantage ; for though baptism cannot save their souls, yet it is oftentimes unquestionably a means ot strength- enmg their faith and increasing their joy. Infant baptism, too, deprives the church of an important advantage, for the solemn nature of the ordinance preaches powerfully to the conscience, and, accordingly, baptists can speak with confidence of iimn- merable instances of conversion attributable to the eloquence of this ordinance. We say, then, that injanl baptism imposes no increased oblijrations on parents to instruct and pray for their children, nor does believer's baptism lessen the weight of any. On the contrary, a church, composed of really religious persons, as be- liever's baptism must require and imply, is far more likely to feel tlie weight of those obligations which demand the utmost attention to the youthful offspring of its members, tJmn caa porisibly be the case with one which makes iH/au/ baptism, and not faith and pi,ty, the test of membership. Most unjust, therefore, is the insinuation sometimes made agamst baptists, that they disregard the religious education of their children. Because they do not baptize them unless they repent and believe, people have blijidly inferred that they neg- ected them ; while the fact is, that their principles necessari- ly add weight to the responsibility of parents, by requiring first the possession of that principle of real piety without which no obligations are rightly regarded. In conclusion we would repeat, what has been observed before, that the condition of infants in relation to a future state IS uo,y what it has alxoays been. Although the scriptures re- veal the truth, which experience sadly confirms, of the deprav- ed natures they inherit, yet nothing is discovered in the word of God ot a future judgment, except that which is passed on the deeds done in the body ;" an infant cannot be said to per- form moral actions; there can, therefore, be no such future iu^-^ •;«•', ' . \h>it^. • VI. Havings already given on page 1-50 asuminary of the proofs of immersion being the only scriptural and proper mode of baptism ; we now give in like manner a condensed view of the evidence which shews infant baptism to be unscriplural and improper, and tiie immersion of professed believers to be the only baptism appointed by the Saviour. 1. There is no other baptism found in any part of the sa- cred scriptures but adult baptism : although, 2. The instances of baptism are numerous. John's bap- tism was that o(aduUs onhj. The Saviour himselfwas baptizec*! as an aduh. The apostles baptized none other. The 3000 on the day of Pentecost, and the 5000 soon aAer, were believers. The muUitudcs baptized at Samaria were men and women, and HO, in every other case mentioned in the Bible. 3. If infant baptism had been then practised, there must have been infants baptized on most of these occasions ; and it •o there is the highest improbability, that they would not be mentioned in some of them, but they are no where mentioned : 4. Not even when men and women are specifically named: and yet, 5. Children are almost invariably mentioned in scripture where they are really parties in any transaction. 6. The baptism of the Saviour who was himself not im- mersed as an infant, but as a voluntary agent, in the performance of a personal duty , inasmuch as ils sole benefit was, not for him- self, but for us, in the way of example, must be regarded as a striking and authoritative model of the ordinance he intended to appoint. 7. There is not in the Tiow Testament the most distant al- lusion to such a practice as infant baptism ; although the epis- tles advert to almost evei-y relation of life. 8. All the endeavours to infer infant baptism from cases in which it is alleged it probably was used, utterly fail under a thoroug'^ xamination. 9. Infant baptism cannot be proved from circumcision, or the supposed sameness of the churches ; circumcision being a Jewish, not a Christian rite ; and the Jewish and Christian churches not being in any respect the samo, either in their or- dinances or the qualification of their members. 10. Any other baptism than that of professed believers ia utterly inconsistent with the spiritual character of the church of Christ, as foretold in the Old Testament and stated in the New. 11. History shews injant baptism to have been an innova- tion together with infant communion, and a multitude of other errors, both in doctrine and practice. f,\ Chap. /.] Design of Baptism. 1«9 12. No proof appear, of infant baptism beinc universal until many centuries after the apostles »nivasal, h»-„'t ■ 7^^'^ u "'''"'° *° •'^''^^^ 'hat there always have been christians who practised believers' baptism only Z such iXtlTZ:'' ^^"^^"'^' VValdenses'^whose o?.fiin is" tS!,' nn«M ■ ^'"7 •^^'■"^'^ pedobaptiats who have had the host possible opportunities of examining ancient historical reco d. adnnl that infant baptism was not an apostolic practice ' .u. '^' K i*^ ''''"■ ''^''''"" ^*''*" *'•«' o* believers would ren- der our obedience to a command of Christ dependant on an u"- ZT/ L^^i r °1' ^"^''^^^ ^"'J' •" '"<'«"«3' can ever W certainly that he has been baptized ; and in many cases even the testimony of others to the fact is lost. Chr- '^ T^® '^««'g'« of baptism as a public avowal of faith in Christ and a sign of the copious gifts of tho Holy Ghost and ttai/ than the »nme»-sjc;?» jh tvatcr of professed belicvert. We know well how slow the mind is to quit a position cn- tieared to us by education, by hereditary attachment, by the opinions and wishes of our friends ; one, too, the preservation ot which 18 necessary in order to save us from contempt and reproach ; and strong as the evidence now produced in sud- port of scriptural baptism must by many, we doubt not, be felt to be there will be, nevertheless, we are aware, in many minds great vaciHation ; and the slightest grounds, almost, will be deemed sufficient to justify their continuance on the side of old attachments and prejudices. Perhaps some, impressed with the decisive tone of the con- cessions onearned pedobaptists themselves, will nevertheless conclude that, if so many learned and pious men have erred surely, the error must be a safe one. But alas ! shall this be the reasonmg of a christian ? Can any error be safely indulced in, because another fallible mortal has indulged in it ? Aeain 1 may be thought, that there must be sufficient grounds to justifr the practice of infant baptism, and the neglect of immersion inasmuch as tho very persons who mnde such distinct admissi- ons on both points continued nevertheless, to administer the rite to infants, and by sprinkling instead of immersion. Here we might still answer, we are not tried by the light that others Have but by tliat ice have ; what is the decision to which our minds must come upon iho cvidcnro before >.•?. ? T( I;: .^.•.-.-.../. Jn^- to thai evidence our Saviour requires us to walk " U .-' ' L- ,.V' k l^p^;^:'^ ■■'■{'■<'f\ VV-f l^^^;- i H" '>r ' 170 Design oj Baptism. IPurt III. But, moreover, let the con/rane/t/ of reasons assigned by these pedobaptist authorities for retaining their practice, ttstify the inexpediency of taking them as our guides. With respect to the practice of tmmersio;i, one, like Dr. Doddridge, evades the duty, by persuading himself it was proper enough tor trarm countries, but cannot be needful in these cold climates. Another, like Mr. Stackhouse, (see Booth i. 195,) thinks that concessi- on may be made to " the prevalence of custom and the orerfond- ness of parents.'' Dr. Wall, though evidently indignant at the degenerate basons which have usurped the place of the noble baptistry, must still contend that pouring is not wrong, because he thinks baptize may mean wash, though immerse, he acknow- ledges, is more proper ; while Dr. fVhitby avowed the popish character of the arguments used to retain sprinkling, and re- mained a beneficed clergyman of the church of England ! It is for the reader to determine whether he can conscienciously imitate their conduct.* Let it not be said that we deal unfairly with the pedobap- tists from whom we have quoted , we admit, that, on variou;* pretences they continued to neglect the practice of immersion — we admit, that in many instances, doubtless, these pretences seemed to them satisfactory grounds — does this lessen the force * That the grounds on which learned pedobaptista have adopted infant baptium are no lesa vatioun will appear from the following eitraci ; (Sciipture Guide, page 46.) " Dr. Wall, Mr. Sblden, and Dr. Hammond, auppoae christian baptism was borrowed from JetoiBh Proselyte baptism, which infants re- ceived. Sir Norton Kit atchbull rejects the proselyte plunging, and recurs to eireumcition. Vitringa and Venema object to circumcision as a ground for infant baptism, and suppose, with Witsius, thai rome infanta are m a relative state of grace. Bishop Pridkaux and Heidegoer contended, that infante have the faith and the covenant, though not of the covenantees. Mr. Baxter makes the /ai/A o/porenA« the condition of their children's church membership and salvation ; and Mr. Henry considers a profession of faith made by parents an infant *• title to baptism ; but Archtjishop Leighton opposes this, as ' neither clear from sctipture or sound reason.' Calvin, Melancthom, and generally the Lutheran churches, says (Bingham) oivn a sort of faith in infants. The church of England, and, of course, most of her divines, pioceed on the profession of faith made by the sureties, the godfathers and gedmothers. An anonymous author thought children, by bipiianr, • brought into the covenant of grace.' This, another opposes, and main- tains that they are* in the covenant of giace before their baptism ;' and the third opposes both the former, on the ground that many thus described, and baptized, grow up, and live and die the servants of Satan." " See extracts from the above-named writers, and many others, in which thev have iriven us the reasons and grounds of iheir piaelice, la Booth'* Pad Exam. V. II. p. 491-499." .f,\ w^ Chap. I.] Design oj Baptism. 171 of their concessions ? does it weaken the evidence to the truth tor which wo contend, derived, for instance, from such an admission as that of Liither, •' that mthout doubt the form immersion was tnslUuted by Christ himself ^ and again, "that dipping m baptism sifrnijidh death,'' wherefore " he would have those that are to be baptized, to be entirely immersed as the v-ord imports and the mystery sio:nif,cs ;'• (Booth i. 1G3) ; or / .'^ .f ^""- ^°^'''*' '''^' immersion " is exceeding mate r,a to the ordinance ;" (Booth i. 57) ; or that of Archbishop liUolson, that anciently those who were baptized were immers- ed and buried ,„ the water to nprcscnt their death to sin : or th^ ol M-Biirkdt, (Booth i. 15(J,) that the form immersion nau a mystical aigntjicatwn, representing the burial of our old man ; or that of Archbishop Ltighton, that the dippin'r in wa- ter represents our dying with Christ ; or that of BishopVaw/or. that the pouring or sprinkling being against the analogy and mysterious si^«(>«/.un of the sacrament is not to be complied tilth ; or, to name no more, that of X>,-. fVall, that immersion expresses the design of the sacrament much belter 7 We may be told that these learned pedobaptists retained their practice, and therefore were not of our way of thinking • that they found some method by which they settled the matter with their consciences. Possibly many of them did • but the question is, have they not, in the mean while, conceded o» a fact what must for ever nullify any argument against immersion! namely, that this form is «sstn/ia/ to the desfg-ji of the ordinance? After this, Dr Doddridge, revered as his name deservedly is, may t.;H us, it is too cold in this climate to use immersion • or Liilker, however worthy of the veneration of Protestants, may say It IS exceedingly unpleasant to overturn a general custom- cur answer with all deference to these and the many other dis- tinguished pedobaptists to v lom we have in these pages refer- red, and whose worth and character we still revere and love, must be, But Christ you acknowledge instituted this form • our fsaviour you admit designed it as a significant symbol of the spiritual grace it represents ; how dare we then destroti its siV- nijicancy ? jo When, too, we remember the weakness of the human mind, there is no difficulty, and no want of charity, in suggest- ing a multitude of other causes, besides those already hinted at, some, perhaps, even more censurable than those, which niiiy, almost unknown to the individuals themselves, have so operated ns to give to very weak excuses sufTicicnt strength to retain ihemin their acciiHlompH nmnJi/^c. Or,« «r .i:_ position G*cuud t!ie loss of the kind regard of his friends and Ml [A r 172 fl(;)/i/ lo Mr. Elder's charges. [Part JII. conneetioiin — he cannot bear to wound others, though this should be occasioned by his pursuit of the path of obedience : niiotlier fears he shnSl lose reputation : to a third, some com- fortable living, or rich benefice, or ecclesiastical dignity, blends with his natural disinclination for change : another, giv- ing R form of greater conscientiousness to his conduct, per- suades himself he will be more usejul in his present situation. But, dear reader, by whatever various motives those learned men who have in effect abandoned the principles, though not the practice, of infant baptism, or sprinkling, mny have been retained to their party, you, and wc, are going to be judged /or oumelvis. The evidence on which scriptural baptism rests is before us. It furnishes no slight surmise, no flimsy I'n/VjYnce ; it is full, and strong, and conclusive ; and in view of it, we beg. most afTectionately and solemnly to press on your consci- ence the duty of obedience to the command of your Saviour. Can you say before God that your sole reason for not being baptized is, that there is not satisfactory evidence that the biilh'uig oj helii'vera in water was the baptism of the scriptures ? Are you not conscious that the reproach of the cross, the fear of man, or some temporal loss or inconvenience, has weighed greatly in preventing your candid examination of the subject, in warping the evidence or the arguments, or in deterring you from the performance of the duty .' But how will this bear the scrutiny of the final judgment .' It is to that test a christian should bring all his conduct. Do you not now see convincing evidence of your duty ? If so, we would say to you in the language of scripture, " confer not," dear brother, " with flesh and blood," " why tarrieat thou" any longer, " arise and b« baptized." CHAPTER II. ?iR. elder's charges .vgai.nst the baptists, ungenerous AND UNTRUE. Wc should at once advance to the last thing pioposed in this treatise, a solemn appeal to all real christians to combine for the reformation of the church of Christ, and so take our leave of the reader ; but we do not feel ourselves justified in altogether passing by the unjust aspersions which Mr. JEJIder has cast on the denomination of christians whom he has deserted , lo vvhrch tuereibru we shaii now pay somv attemion. ^•■^ Chap. II] R,pl,j to Mr. Elder's charge. 173 I. The first complaint of Mr. KIder which w« notice ig the treatment whicli he 9tate« he received on »ho ciiscovery of Ins change ot principlca. Thia complaint ia subject to anim- adversion on several grounds : J. \Vhon a man, and especially a minister, avows a change of tenets in religion, it rartly happens that no wuimth or excitement is created. This appears to be inseparable from the weakness ot human nature. It is not peculiar to any clasg ot men ; it la common to all. When the writer of ihe-e i.ncea therofore tirst learned that Mr. Elder had not only been drmived ot his office as a minister in the Baptist connection, which of course was unavoidable ; but thai it was recommended to the churches not to hear him preach ; he was ot opinion that there was too much severity in this proceeding, and regretted it ex- ceedingly . He does not now pretend t.) decide that milder mea- sures, in some respects, might not without inconsistency have been adopted ; but he is grieved to say that the perusal of the letters which are here reviewed, has forced upon him some pain- tul convictions with respect to Mr. Elder's behaviour. He is far very far he trusts from feeling hnidly towards others merely because they differ from him in their opinions ; but when he ob serves the sad want of candour often so Jlagranlhj apparent in Mr. Elder s letters, he cannot but suppose that many things of the same sort, in the course of the examination before the cbuncil who assisted in the dismission of Mr. Elder from his office must have prwluced a conviction on their minds, that there was more in this case to be censured, than a mere change of sentiment respectmgthe subjects or the mode of scriptural baptism. Instances of the want of candour alluded to, may he seen m pages 38.47 48 50. 117, 118, 119, 1^0, of this^reatise. In these cases Mr. Elder takes no notice whatever of arguments which he had himself previously used, and which therefore espe- cially demanded a reply from him ; on the contrary, he reasons as though he had never heard of such arguments ; and in more cases than one wholly passes by facts of essential importance although published in his own former defence of the principles he no«r opposes. We repeat here what we have formerly stated that in such a case an honest man, and one sincerely desirous of giving perfect satisfaction to the body of christians he was about to leave, was bound to shew, not so much what he could say for his new opmions, as what answer convinced him of the fa.lacyofhis old arguments. How does this consist with his taking no notice of them at all ? It should be remembered too. that a nerson ehr.ri»^in" h=5 sentiments from honest conviction, is not exposed to the'saiie •0 '11 % ■''■■I 1*7 '> ,i(. •if . V.-., 174 Rfpty to Mr. Elder's charges. [Part III. temptation to be uncandiil, as ono is who is immersed in all the prejudices of education and party ; and the same allowance i'or any want ui' fairness cannot with equal reason bo made for him. '2. \nothcr consideration which, wliile on this painful sub- ject, ought not to bp omitted, is IMr. Elder's greedy accumu- lation of almost evcrij notion, we will not say misrepresentation and misstaleincut, that has over appeared. As we have already Bhe\»n, all pednbaptist writers oi" note dilfrr ividely from oiio another as respects the iirounds on which tliey held their prac- tice, rojiardinfi; both the mode and subjects of baptism : the ciiiidour ol'all, too, with few exceptions, extorts repeated ct»?i- ccssions to the opposite side, but jNIr. Klder makes no conces- fliofis — abandons no ground, on \\hich can be established only a fhfiw of phui.sibility. .^ ow we must confess ourselves quite at a I'lss to uiulcrstand how a man who has studied and wrilltn on a subject, which comprizes such a multitude of distinct facts 2tii(l arguments, as does that of baptism, when he changes his opinion as to tiie grand result, shall bo brought to see evtry jiiiitictilar .irj.-jiimcnt and fact, numerous as those are, in a new lij^iit irtlltoiil tjciplion: and yet, what argument or fact is there, rt'htii.g to iofaiii baptism, wh ch was ever reluted or disproved, tliut .Mr. Kider has not adopted in his present letters ^ There Is ii.ii\lly one. Fornicil}' ho believed the church to be compo- Btd only of spiritual members, but he cannot see it now ; fuiin- erly the arguments relating to the supposed sameness of the Jewish and Christian churches could receive at his hands a dis- tinct refutation ; now he fathers thorn oju: and all ; once «//t!ie itjeriiiccs that infant baptism was practised were futile, now not one of them escapes his friendly grasp ; a short time ago his- tory informed him that there were plenty of pools and baths ai Jerusalem, now that page is obliterated ; once the testimony of pcdobaptists themselves to the primitive mode of baptism, and tlio practice of the churches for centuries, was an undeni- able fact, now his memory reluses to retain it. That some of these arguments or facts might seem under some perverting in- fluence to lose their foriiiei force, we can believe possible ; hut if our readers can concede the })ossibility of this couijilite and entire change of things, even to the commonest yi;tc/ ol his- tory, tliey certainly are endued with some rule lor scanning the human mind radically dili'crent from ours. 3. There is, however, a far worse departure from the principles of ba])tist churches discoverable in Mv. Elder's letters, than lint which respects the ordinance of baptism alone. I'his is no lettN than an abandonment of ri^i/ religion as the test oj Kl Chip. II.] Repli] to Mr. Elder's charf:;e3. llo membership m Christian churches. The baptist churches be- lieve, that where >vn/faifh exists, ii/«/ religion, the rehgion o/" tfie heart, exists likewise ; and uccoriiinaiy, they look for such ruits as may <,'ive credible proof that tiie faith professed is real before they administer baptism. Docs not Mr. Elder (page 11 ot his letters,) clearly abandon this principle ? He there tells lis that he sees no evil that would result from a West India planf^er having all his slaves baptized. He seems carefully fo avoid naming as a condilton, the previous possession by t',em ot vital faith : to have named this as a condition, indeed" w .uhl have been inconsistent with the strain of his arj^'ument' which was to make it appear that there it. no diflorence between adults and infants as respects baptism ; but if faith were u condition ot baptism, there )foH/(/ be a diOerence. Nay, does not JMr Elder hiinseil avow in elfect, that he admitted his abandonment of this principle at the time the council was held which recom- mended his dismission } He tells us (page 87,) " 1 had said to some of my brethren in private, that I considered any man tehn read the Ihbic and professed to believe it to be the word of Uod and who assisted in suijporlini; the Christian minislrij, aiid n-h'o irorslnppcd with a Christian congregation, to be a professin"- L tinstian and 1 had asked, where would be the impropri"! ety of such a man professing Christianity % trr/j/Zsm." How could any one in plainer terms abandon the principles on which fur churches are formed .' On such a sysfei.i as INlr. Elder has hero stated, there is scarcely an individual in any congre- gallon in Christendom but would be entitled to baptism. 'Hien spiritual religion is no longer to bo sought as the test of fitness l<.r membership in our churches. Our Methodist brethren speak not after this manner, they require, we believe, a hearty desire to seek God. The Presb>it:'rinHs in America and the In- dependants m En.'-land S|)eak not thus, they contend as earnest- ly as we for spiritual religion. The X,w Testament assuredly speaks not tlius, for it exhibits as the fit materials of christiai. churches, those who have the law written in tluir hearts. 'J'|,e Evangelical part of the Churches of EnglamUnd Scotland ^utiik not thus, for though they baptize infants who have nothing to do with faith, and therefore not with baptism, vet if an adult person were to be baptized, we apprehend that they would de- sire first to sec in him proofs of vital faith, and certain we are that among many of their pious members, the unholy charactor of those who are admitted to the supper of the Lord" is a matter of unceasing lamentation. Nay, the Com^regationalisls to which body Mr. Elder is now, we be!ieve, professedly joined .is« not this language ; throughout the United Statis, wher« their 176 Reply to Mr. Elder^s charges. [Pari III. I At. *»Vl' 'v^ m ■\ I -•J numbers arc greater, and possibly their discipline more fixed and ascertained, than in this country, with the exception of those of their churches which have become Unitarian or Soci- nian, they all unite in earnestly contending for the same prin- ciples respecting church members as arc held by the baptists ; and yet Mr. Eider very smoothly admits that he made this state- ment to some of his brethren in private, as if there were nothing in it, as if he did not know it to be a principle which they must necessarily regard as subversive of the churches, and destructive of true religion. We bear with a man who from the prejudices of education, or a confused view of truth, has never been brought to see this principle; but when a man who has been led into the broad sunshine of a doctrine that constitutes the glory and happiness of so many protestant communities, who has himself preached it 1 r years, now slides away from the prin- ciple, as if it were one that he never had been accustomed to hold, are we not compelled to look with apprehension upon him, as a man, whose relapse into darkness and error threatens to make him dangerous to the peace of our churches ? We cannot, we dare not sanction such a person as a public teacher. 4. As so serious a charge is made against the Baptist cliurches, the following fact ought not to be omitted. So lately as the auturnn of 1833, IMr. Elder prepared a journal of a mis- sionary tour which ho in company with another minister made to Cape Breton. In this journal, which may be found in the Socond No. of the Baptist Magazine, 'New Series,) are sever- al passages that indicate the most heu ty attachment to baptist sentiments. How is this to be reconciled with the advertise- ment to his present letters ? he there represents himself as fear- ing he was on the wrong side of the question, even bejore the rcptij appeared to his fo) mer letters, which reply was published in 1823. ten years before. 5. On page 57 of his letters, ^^r. Elder has preferred an allegation against the baptists as a denomination, which is not only very unfairly stated, but, if made a prominent topic at his examination before the council of ministers, to sav the least, was, under the circumstances, exceedingly injudicious : wc allude to the pccuniurif support of the ministnj. The reputation of a public teacher of religion is a delicate matter ; it is easily tarnished ; and when a charge of neglect in the mnintainance of the ministry, is alleged at the very time when a man is about changing sides, as one of the important grounds, on which he establishes his change of views, it is hardly in the nature of man to exclude suspicion that all ia not honest in the t7to» e. Chap. It] Reply to Mr. Elder's ckar- • 'he pie thi8 duty, and compla ^ed of their neglect/ ChrZ,L churches of every denoir- ,.«„ >"cir negiecis Christian what^dol'^h'/ni^^"" "'" '""'P'*'"" ^•''f''^' ^^''^'•^hes wit!, other. wnat does the dilTereiiee amount in > 1\T^.( ^,i; »» i ^\*' cnarit. ole ^5oclctJ> m the mother country : Preshvf rmnc J are to some extent indebted to (irpnf Vltf ^« ^••'"' ^:;^Xl^i:'-^tf^ .ne,ua.ity in t*-/support re^cefv^dt^h^ ,L Lte^oS^f .J^ jouunafons respectively, considering the means ot the r fl ck s> Let .he results of then- respective labours furnish Trep y 1 Men cajinot labour who aio not fed \nvv ,* ;= . "^P -^- every one of wh.ch is furnished with a public place of worZ and some have two ; amorest these fl.P.« ^.J^^T f 'T°'^'*" l>. isters. ..t to mention a largfn^tbTr ofTicVn td tr^acr ^1 there a.a 4^40 members, besides lar^e congreiations And M^hore now are the Con^rcgalionaU,ilo.,,uL m tZirovfnc^ that will compare with these ? '"la province Let it not be forgotten tnr tlin* „« i ■ • . province has exceeded tie "' ists inhelr"efl-"?' r " '" I',''' education- -witness the esteV jo n of H A ""■ P"^''*' tors ; th^^e r.eso,nc peculiar causes for this which -N r F L wel knew ; ought ho not to have avowed hem VVh.n^' ^ baptist ministers m this provi.co cumm.nccS the.r labou 1 17« Reply lo Mr. Elder's charges. {Part III. ;^ .+ ■<'■:; ^!* .«. I .,fw r- It It .' and worldliness ; aqd they fell into the common mistake that these therefore were inseparable ; and accordingly, on princi- ple devoted themselves to poverty, and discouraged the people from liberal contribution*. They perceived the error, however, and retracted : but the habit was formed, and was not at once to be changed. Now, is such a cause as this fairly charged on the principles ot believers' baptism ? Much more fair to charge it on the pedvbaptist sentiments, in connection with which the country was sunk into the moral and religious stupor, which aroused the zeal of our baptist preachers. One fact more. A man is most likely to judge of other cases from his own. Mr. Elder for ought we know, was not well sustained when a baptist minister. But, let it be remem- bered that people will not adequately sustain their minister un- less he is wholly devoted to their service. This we apprehend was n< ver the case with Mr. Elder ; we mention it not to his discredit, but we believe the fact to be, that losses previous to his engaging in the ministry, made it necessary for him to em- ploy much of his time in secular matters : under such circum- stances no people can be expected to feel their relation to their minister as they ought. It is idle to draw the distinction Mr. Elder makes between baptist churches and others, because only the baptized adults are bound to support the minister. The fact is notorious, that just the same union subsists between a faithful baptist minister and the congregation at large amo'.ig whom he labours, as exists in any other case. People know the value of religion suffici- ently to aid its support, though they will not always repent and believe. Mr. Elder would persuade his readers that baptist princi- ples indispose to christian efforts. Now, we do not believe, by any means, that the proportion of effort in the United States on the part of the Congregationalists so greatly exceeds that of the Baptists, as Mr. Elder pretends ; but if it be greater, he must know, and ought to have stated, that in the New England States, where the chief exertions are made for religious objects, the Baptists are far /ess numerous than the Congregationalists, and that throughout the whole country the persecutions they in their origin received, the uncompromising doctrines they preach- ed, and other causes, prevented the wealthier classes from often uniting with them , so that while their numbers are great, their means are by no means great in proportion. 1 he story of Carey and Ward, cf Judson and Boardman, of the devoted Baptist Missionaries in the West India Islands, and many like f' \ Chap. 11] Reply (, ^, Elder's charset. ,79 alirg^tioT^'^' '°'''" *° «''^"^« *his incorrect and ungenerous and high cha;acter''*^''' '°"'''='"'" of Dr. Chapm's sincerity lists ^h«f .v.^""' "^'*^" '*''®' occasion from tho opinion of ban- -ppelr t'/Zrr h" hf'* '■'''"'' '"^""^ bap'tisrwill d,S. I'P «r, lo make some highly injurious remarks, (p. 49 ) by alleging/.;' ot: tf^^^ M? mt'''''' f'""? ^•'--''- prevale'ncf of adult £:; ism w^ 1 'be he ^uroff' '° '' r l'^ because /. has finall/abandonld ^hese pHndpt:"^Yslt fh!; much the same as saying that he doe, n?t be ieve in adult ba^ tiam, 6ecai»sehedoednot ' Whir-h i./.ow„;„i ''■"«""" oap- vor,. p,r.„n who .o strongly rebuke, tho biplists ftr thei .1 aj ■ . iraj son ment, It cannot be (ho olTsnrinE of aunsrlnr word orr'n'" .".t"' ' ."°' ""« " i» "<> »l>lro found fnth, pittiJecr:^,;v:.;rs-i-Thre'i^^^ "t 'V'-. ■I,'. 180 '^ ■■♦•.■.ii; ^K;, .t ' Reply to Mr. Elder's charges. [Part III. while viewing in prospect their duties as conscientious heralds of salvation amidst the heathen, were led, from the same rea- ■on, without any intercourse together, to adopt almost simulta- neously the same views. Such instances might be multiplied almost wi'hout end. In this community are some whose si7icer%- tij will not be questioned, and who will not be charged as quite incapable of research, or of duly balancing evidence, who after careful examination, and reflection, in some instances protract- ed for years, Iiave felt themselves drawn by the force of truth to acquiesce in the scriptural duty of believers' baptism. Let IMr. Elder look, too, at the prodigious increase of the Baptist denomination in the United States, the largest there according to the Encyclopcedia Americana, numbering upwards of 6000 churchng, and he will perhaps not be so easily warped by tho fact of his own change — but 2. Adult baptism Mr. Elder tells us cannot be the result of superior light, because some who have embraced it have hold at the same time erroneous sentiments, (p. 50.) Did Mr. Elder think that this statement contained the force of argument, or was it merely i.itroduced in order to cast another shall of re- proach on those who, he complains, have "drummed him out." Uiiclly as he sometimes argues, this piece of reasoning is too gross to permit us to save his charily at the expense of his logic. How many men have held some important truths together with some destructive errors .' Were the truths therefore not the offspring of light ? Erasmus admitted many of the best tenets of Protestantism, and yet clung to the Church of Rome — are Protestant tenets therefore not true > Lvfhcr burst through the bars of error and bigotry which c nturies had rendered venerable, and poured on the world a flood of light, and yet held to consubstaniiation — did the truths he taught result neverihelcsg from light ni no uise superior to the darkness of Rornanisim.' Did Mr. Elder forget, U o, how ma7iypedobaptists besides Erasmus and Luther, have held and n-^pa^ited error .' will he therefore conclude that pedobaptiat sentiments ero wrong } 3. But ho goes yet further, and directly charges on the principles of adult baptism the production of error ; to prove which he cites the Mormonites, Winchester, Elias Smith, and Alexander Campbell. With these persons we have nothing now to do either in the way of defence or attack of the princi- ples held by them, but only as respects the use Mr. Elder makes of their case. Our reply is very simple and direct. If i\\9 errors of baptists must be attributed to baptist sentimerts, » V Chap. 11] Reply to Mr. Elder's char get. lei V\^t^[ '""«l the errors of p.dohaplists be attributed ? Mr Elder surely has forgotten the mournful page of Ecclesiasf .cal thS 7 '■'« -'^J^^^ °^ heresies. As helill have us be eve that mlant baptism was the practice of the first ages J LJ hjjn rohal were the McolaUans, the G,k,s^c, the Ce&an, the Ebiomes IheMarrtomtes, Ihe Ascetics, the Ophites the lab l- hans, the Mamchuans, the Pelagians, Ihe AriL //e must of course answer-P.do6ap/«/s. And looking to more modern t.mes, wc ask also, what are the Unitarians and SocinZs of t,sts > What were Priestley, and Belsham, and Lxudsey wefe they not pedobaptrsts / What are the UnUanans that^kt tins rjoment rend .n two the Congrcgationaiists oHhe United S a the denommat.on to which, we believe, Mr. Elder now belong -are they not perfo6«^/,5^. ? Aud on which side are those fn Ira^^ ^nASpmn and Itah,, and Jiustria; ,n Bavaria. BohZa ^^^H'^ngan, and rnany other countr.es; who bow to the PopeZd yorship saints and pray Jor rhe dead, and -for a pretene^e nake loj prayers,' and put forms instead oj foilh ? are they no all pedobapUsts And what are the ^noderiiveologisls of Germany who under the mask of Christianity, deny all .u.«c/<5. al S tualmfluenee; the inspual ion of the scriptures ■, and tl e diSy ofClrist; until they have reduced revelation to a level with private opinion; and who have filled the chairs of Luther and Melanchthon and the pulpits of Bucer, and Calvin, and Zuing- .us, and al the reformers, with their destructive h'eresies-afe hese not all pedobupt,sls ? Will Mr. Elder therefore charge iiffll^.r,;?''' r "''"■ ^^^^"^«i"'*^ sentiments ? it would not be difficult to shew ti.at some of them have indeed this origin Mr. Alexander Campbell is quoted by Mr. Elder (n 5^ ^ as a foremost instance of the "tendency of -the principles of adTilt baptism to set /A. person, [the mind] atlont ;" and the reason he gives for his alleged great errors ^i that.ha;ing been educa e3 a pedobaptist, he ''embraced the principles Jf adult bap'ism with great zeal." Does Mr. Elder Ll to'perceive that on th^ principle we must necessarily regard him as equally unsteady ? he was originally he tells us a pedobaptist ; he certainly em- braced the pimc.ples of adult baptism with zeal, for he publish- ed a series o etters in support of them, a good deal more con- clusive than those we now review. Is if not, then, surely "he part of charity in us to raise the note of warning in the eal-s of our pedobaptist friends who have now received him .' for on l'a%tur"";3'. ''"^ '^ "'^ ''"'^ ^^«^°" '° '-' '-' he may What answer would Mr. Elder mak« to the Romanisti if '.'<■ '. ^rl*'' 4:„ - 1 ■ / r' * 1 J 82 fle;)/y to Jtfr. Elder's char get. [Part III. they were to say to him, we peceive that you charge on baptist ■entiments the errors into which some baptists have run; we think your principle perfectly correct ; all was quiet iri the holy apostolical church till you Protestants appeared ; you have set, men's minds perfectly afloat; who ever heard of Socimans, Lfntlarmna, Umversalists, Jintitwmiuns , JVeologists, Supralap^ sariana and Subhpsarians, Hypercalvinists and Loio arminiant until Protestants appeared ? We think Mr. Elder must be speechleiB ; or else, avowing the gross injustice ol his present slander agamst the baptists he must say " True, these errors have followed Protestant principles, because the light of truth, like Ithuriel's spear, has detected and brought out a multitude ot errors which fostered in secret under the cloak of ignorance in which Satan once involved the world. " Free inquiry, which 18 essential to truth, will also be abused by error. In view of all the above concomitants of infant baptism it really becomrs laughable to find 3Ir. Elder gravely telling us nevertheless, (p. 56,) that " infant baptism tends to perpetuate Christianity." Infant baptism perpetuate Christianity ! let the dungeons of the inquisition, the rack, the flame, and the faggot —let the cold infidelity of the German Neologists— let the pride, the pomp, the arrogancy, of national religious establishments say what sort of Christianity infant baptism has perpetuated f 11 infant baptism is so necessary to the preservation of Christi- anity, how will Mr. Elder account for its preservation lor so long a time and in so great purity among the baptists of En.T. land and Wales ; among those ot the VValdenses who held to these sentiments ; as well as for the rapid increase of baptist churches in the United States ? III. But Mr. Elder is not content with reproaching bap- tist churches with the error" of men whose sentiments he know* they reprobate as strongly as h? ; he must also reproach thera with their misfortunes. He labours to turn their alleged want oflcarntng into an argument against them, and their sentiments. Baptists have repeatedly bnen bitterly persecuted ; the Waldenses were hunted down by pedobaptists with fire and sword ; John Hunyan, the author of the Pilgrim's Progress, au'l pastor of a bapust church in Bedford, was imprisoned by ppdobaptists ten years in Bedford Jail tor his faithfulness • Roper W illiams the first baptist in the United States, a learned and toleiited mini.sttr, was driven from Salem and forced to take reliige m what wag then the wilderness of Rehoboth, near I'roviflciioe, by tl . . . -. tlie [)e(lobaptist Congregationalists whom Mr Elder has now joined ; and numberless wore the martyr- Chap. II.] Htp\y to Mr. Elder's charges. ,03 iTt ^Jl^j" England and America, by •' stripe, and impriaon- Sf u I J ««"">-gings and mockings," and even bv death TpdoZtL''''w: '"'' '---"^'^•o endure at" he' ftt the t, uth in singular pureneas and beauty while ail iL IpfrP^^ arZTud I'^r^' "''''"'"« " ''>'" evfr/arl:; L r eh and proud easily become perpetuated in a religious eommuni i^n ."cJxtiysit' fi^-'-' -"f'—- -"= to revile di.,en.er" .7," 74^ °,\^,Jl"'=V?'''''."'«8» i> '»ke« poor m.„ from your door wiZu, bread -T^lf " ""''T,"'" 5«n,.,, and the.r Dr. Gill. Wh'at. though their leafn;d and 44, 4«. Seethe., confewion. of faiih in Jones' Church History. II. 42, 4S. ,.* ^ 184 Reply to Mr. Elder's charges. [Part III talented mon have not always turned their hand like Dr. Gill to commentaries on the scriptures, inform ; Ur. Gill is at least UUP commentator ; and though his system ho not wholly approved, ii was that, not of baptists hut oUhe limes ; his learn- ing was confessedly deep and laborious ; and the iniorination he accumulates is a treasure of knowledge. Jindrew Fuller's writings too, are in /oc^ a commentary on the scriptures ; and concerning their author, though a mtin possessed of no classi- cal learning whatever, a learned pedobaptist professor of'I'heo- logy declared not long since to the writer of these pages, that he was one of the pro foundesi Theoloiiiaria of this age. Besides, there is but just departed a Robert Hall, of whom Prof. Stuart of Andover, a pedobaptist, writes, as " that distinguished man among them, [the baptists] whose sun has recently gone down, although its beams illuminate the whole horizon." And of whose style the celebrated Dugald Stuart spoke, as " uniting all the excellencies of Addison and Johnson, without the de- fects of either :" and there is still living a John Foster, whose essays on " decision of character," and other subjects, ex- hibit as all allow, one of the deepest thinkers in the English language . and has there not been a Stennet, a Keach, a Faio- cett, a Booth, an Ecans, a Rijland, and a multitude of others, whose contributions have all served to enrich the stores of spiri- tual knowledge .' Let the baptists then be no longer reproach- ed for their occasional resort to pedobaptist commentators. The insinuation was contracted and ungenerous. The whole world is indebted to Baptists for some of the noblest in- stitutions and christian enterprises of the present day. Who, let us ask, first suggested the project of the British and Foreign Bible Society, sustained it with unwenrying zeal as one of it.'j Secretaries, and at length fell a sacrifice to his labours in its cause .' The committee of that Society themselves reply, " Joseph Hughes," a flrtp/isf minister. (See report for 1834.) Who, also, originated the London Religious Tract Society, and sustained it in like manner till his death — the answer is, The same individual. WhoJjrs ^ !.0 I.I Li |30 |2£ ■££ 1^ Mi. 1^ l£ US us |40 K& m L25 IIIIU ii.6 ^7^ O 7 Photographic Sdences Corporation s? a\ A ,v \\ rv n:^ o^ '^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. USSO (7J6) •72-4503 ^ ;Ar^^ s)^j-,»y? i^ -^a' tS^A lit Reply to Mr. Elder's eharget. [Part HI. mi' ^«. i. >i'--- to the humility, and piety, and zeal, of those who shall evince a holy and charitable solicitude for immortal souls, and whose faithfulness shall be sealed in the afTections of grateful and well iDBtructed flocks. It is not against baptists that the reproach of bigotry justly lies — Baptists are they who have opposed it and suffered for their opposition. It was the pedobaptist magistrates of Bedford who incarcerated Buryan ; the pedobaptist authorities of Gene- va who burned Servetus ; the pedobaptist courts of Massachu- setts who banished Roger Williams. At many a petty instance of intolerance within our otcn experience, we are accustomed to ■mile, and, in most cases, deem such things unworthy of no- lice ; but when charged with bigotry in a manner which im- plies that baptists are distinguished for this fault, by one, too, who is hailed as a champion for his new opinions ; we cannot refrain from calling on our readers to testify to a few facts suf- ficiently notorious : We ask them whether they never hear baptist sentiments spoken of as a " horrible delusion ;" and congregations of pedobaptisls warned against entering the walla of baptist places of worship ; whether sundry epithets of con- tempt are not in pretty frequent use. such as "deluded dippers;" "anabaptists;" "ignorant fanatics ;" "enthusiasts," &c. These things we know to be not of uncommon occurrence a- mong some ministers and leading persons of tha pedobaptist par- ty ; and while this is the case, we cannot but feel that it be- comes pcdobaptists to be silent on the score ofbigot^ij. And for what, we ask, are these reproaches lavished upon us ? For adhering to a practice which, as Luther, Calvin, Tillotson, Usher, Leighton, Burnet, Baxter, and a host of the most dis- tinguished pcdobaptists themselves admit, was the practice oj the primitive church — was that of Christ and his apostles; for daring to differ so far from the established usages of modern times, ad to be baptized in the same mode in which the Saviojir of the world himself was baptized : and which mode, to use the very words of I,ur, or cnvet- 0"9— or » drunkirJ, Stc. ; willi sucli a one no not to fat," is bis direction. He extends tliis cvtn to lliose wlio arc disorder- ly , ond rebel against ilie roHulatinns ofthc churches. " JVith' draw," says he, from every brother that walketh disorderly. There is a solemn passrge of scripture contained in 2. Tim. iii. 1 — .5, on which we bencech our religious readers seriously to ponder ; "this know y," says the apostle, " that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall he iovera of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphrmers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, fierce, dkspisers of thosf. tii.\t are GOOD, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of plext^ires more THAN LOVERS OF Goi) ; IIAVI.NG A FORM OF GoDLINESS HUT DE- NYI.VO THE POWER THEREOF : FROM SUCH TURN AWAY.". Can you, dear brethren, read this language, and fail to perceive, that thcue are plainly the perilous times of which the apostlo speaks ; when, even at the table of the meek and lowly Jesus, are permitted those who rvalixe every feature of that sad picture? Can any thing, then, be more authoritative on you than tho apostle's closing words, " from such turn away .'" Indeed, the Saviour himself clearly recognized this princi- ple in alluding to the proper manner of treating private injuries (see Matt, xviii. 1.5—18.) " Moreover if thy brother shall" tres- pass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, TELL IT UNTO THE CHURCH: but ifhe neglcct to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." A truly pious christian will readily feel that if private offences call for this discipline, much more does irreligious character or conduct demand the same. Shall a christian be thus careful to seek from his brother redress of a private injury, and shall ha be indifferent to those things which discover him to be either wanting or remiss in christian principle ? Shall he be con- cerned for his own temporal affairs, and have no solicitude for the .soul of his fellow being .' Nothing can be clearer than the law ot Christ, as declared in the above passage, that the church ought to regard and treat " as heathen men and Publicans" these who persist in wrong doing. But how ought heathen men and Publicans to be treated ; not with unkindness and scvcritv, certainly ; for the apostolic rule is "be courteous to all men;" ,^\i^^ ?^^b«f. 193 Jippeal to Chritlxann. {Part m . 1 ;^ .-' W» t;.\ -.x . • K,;;-s but 'n sach a manndr as shall not •.-ecofj^nitf them as chrialiant. We regret that we have not room to collect a multitudn of scriptures that point to the same duly, and establish it as firm- ly, and render it as obligatory, as any act of obedience which christians owe their Divine Master. Now, if ihe principles of Haptists — nay, the principles ofthe Bible, wore strictly adhered to, and none were baptized but thi)so who first gave credible proof of their genuine repentance and faith ; it is pvideni, that, although mistakes like that res- pecting Simon Magus might still occur, yet the churches could never be overrun with unworthy members. All that would be necessary in such cases would be occasional discipline, in com- pliance with the command ofthe Saviour in Matt. 18 ; but the neglect of these principles has suffered such multitudes of men without faith, and who even deride spiritual religion, to enter the churches, that in the present state of things to talk of dis- cipline is utterly nugatory. Let the pious people and ministers who in various parts of the world groan under the consequences of their connexion with church members, or their subjection to ecclesiastical superiors, •vowedly hostile to evangelical religion, bethink themselves of the subject and the duty of discipline Tith solemn prayer and a spirit of obedience ; let them, impressed with the necessity of making an effort at reform, resolve to commence it, in the mode pointed out by the Saviour ; and the very foremost offen- der with whom any one thus situated must expostulate, may be, the leading man of his congregation, his elder, his minister, or his bishop : and the disease stops not there, he looks further and finds, perhaps, nine-tenths, or more, of the whole church in a similar condition ; worldly in their lives, and opposed in their avowed opinions, to the vital truths ofthe Gospel : he ex- postulates with them all, himself, perhaps, a poor and despised individual — his success, unless a miracle of grace attend him, every one will anticipate — he is laughed at as a visionary ! And is he therefore to continue giving his countenance to those who by their principles and lives in effect deny the Lord Jesus Christ? No, we repeat our solemn conviction, that the duty of such a man is to come out from among them ; yes, though he should remain alone. Despised and obscure as he may be ; let him remember that the eye of God beholds him ; in His sight he is neither obscure nor despised ; and He expects from him faithfulness to the cause of truth, though the whole com- munify where be dwells— though the whole world — though s thousand worlds — were opposed. In the present acknowledged condition ofthe great majo- Chnp. Ill] •^ippeul to Chrxalians. 193 rity of I rotestant communities, tl.o on\y possible remedy ofcx- laling evils is for religious persons to separate from them, and to lorm distinct churches on the model of the scriplurcs Even Ilnokcr himself admits clearly this principle, " If whole com- munities,' gays he, " are [in such a condition that discipline cannot bo enforced] the apostolic rule is '« come out from a- mong them and be separate ;" and it may well be nuosiioned whether even in his day, the «/>;>/.c«/ionof the principle wa<( not as requisite as at liie present time. If it is really the desire of our renders to promote the in- terests of true religion we now earnestly press on them the diitr ol piithng this rule into practice. The only church which Je- sus Christ rccogni/es is that which consists of his sinreir dis- ciples, and wc entreat you, dear brethren, to consider whetlif r you can possibly bo juslified in continuing to walk indmreh fellowship with those who, amiable though they may be on ma- ny accounts, yet habitually dispise and trample on some ofthe most precious truths of the Gospel, and spurn those who „|,ry them. Can you bear the thought, that while .some who love the Saviour have " gone forth to him without the camp, bearinij his reproach," you who have witneB.scd their failhfnlness and their sacrifices shall remain behind, crouching under iho she|- terofthe God of this world— giving all your countenance and aid to those who love not evangelical religion— and refusing your help to tho.se, who, in your consciences you believe to bo the true " followers of the Lamb." A pure communion— ao far as is consistent with the infirmi- ty which still cleaves to man, even when tinder the influence of the Holy Ghost— is one of the objects which is absolutely essential to the advancement of the cause of God on Earth; without this Zion will never " arise and shine." IJut onother object equally essential is pure doctrine—" sound speech that cannot be condemned." With what uncompromising severit/ does the Saviour denounce the erroneous teaching of his day. " Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." " Iri vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the command- ments of men." And addressing his disciples, how solemnfy does he caution them against false teachers; *' beware" says he " of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees;" " beware of false propheti;" and he gives it as a characteristic of his people that they will not listen to such; " my sheep," says he, " hear my voice, but the voice of strangers win. they .NOT HEAR ;" and even the beloved disciple John, gentle as he was, possessing so much warm benevolence, so much of the lovely character of the divine master on whoso bosom he had X •^" £.* >U ' 194 Appeal to ChritUana. [Part m. *■ . ii'-,.' ii '.'■ "i sfe. »- » 1 > > ..' * '? A *. '^- t •t ^:t '■' •( w. 1. V k ol k 1 * M «» been accustonwd to recliire, can nevertheless give no quartet to those who oppose the truth; speaking of such a one, he says, "receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." The error to which he particularly alludes is a denial of the divinity of Christ ; but is it a less error to deny justification by faith alone ; the power of the Holy Ghost ; the necessity of re- generation, of that complete change of principle and life which constitutes a true conversion ; the joy and peace and assurance of pardon which are the fruits of the Spirit and the privilege of the Christian ? We must confess ourselves uttorly at a loss to understand how it is, that so many worthy, and apparently pious, people can so quietly sit, from year to year, under doc- trine which, as they th«inselve3 complain, i? not that of the Gospel of Christ ; how they can close their ears to the piercing cry from heaven respecting llw true disciples of the Saviour, " THE VOICE OF STRANGERS WILL THEY NOT HEAR." But how- ever this is to be accounted for, most solemnly assured we are, that their error cannot be justified ; and that, much as many of them oftentimes wish to see the growth of true religion around them ; much as they desire and pray foi the conversion of their friends and relatives ; nothing can be operating more di~ rectly and powerfully to oppose and defeat their own wishes and prayers, than the two evils we have named ; their con- nection with a communion the constitution of which is radically wrong, and where no scriptural discipline is, or can be, exerci- sed ; and their continued attendance on public teaching wher« any of the essential truths of Christianity are either neglected, or not insisted on with the earnestness, and the practical, and close application to the conscience,^ that none but a truly evangelical minister will comtnonly employ. There are no arbitrary enactments in the law of Christ ; that is, every thing which God has ordained is essential to ■onw important benefit which will result from it ; it is not mere- ly right, because He has commanded it ; but it is right, also, because of the good it is calculated to do. This is unquestion- able true with respect to the subject we now treat of. A pure or spiritual- communion is essential to many important blessingsw Without it, it cannot be expected and will rarely happen-, that the pulpit will preach plainly and powerfully the doctrines of Christ. The saying is as true now as in the days of Hosca, "there shall be, like people, like priest." Without it, there cannot be produced on the world that commanding religious in- fluence which Christianity is intended to exercise. Example is powerful, and so is combined example ; " a city which is set on a hill cannot bo hid." The influence of a consistent christiaa JM ly Chap. HI] J^ppeal to Christiana. 195 pL^f •' ' 7 "•''^'^ ^""^ *'>« maintenance of the cause of the IJrnn .T" '"/''" ""^^^ ^'" ''« »""<=»» "'monger. If " unron is ■ircngth ,n temporal things, .o is it in spintu.l. «ror.hn/ '^?' .<;hristendom present the aspect of a region S oHhe .arn'^'^fh "f ""^'^"8 and n.rdew. rather fZ iiiat ot the garden the beauteous "heritage." of the Lord wh.lo h.s name .s disgraced by the pretended vorship of mUl corri ijr 'T'''"' • ^?^ '^"^ ^^'^ «"g«' of coli^ptTid tr?nlf . ftrA'""''"'"'"'' ^^'^'^ heathens of India against t .e selfstyled Chnsfnns that ruled them with an iron rod. Lnd ex tssc^ "'wh^H '"'^^T^'T' '^''' "^""«^ '^''" «-" -o"-t r«f n^i I '^ ^" '■''''e'on been driven from so many lordlr cstab .shments and pale and persecuted, taken her refuge un^ yet lingered around the carcase she had deserted, as if life and motion might yet appear in full vigour in a bod^ in wh ch the v.tal spark was all but ext.net ? To all these interrogations we answer m the confidence of truth, the unhallowed Siance of christians with worldly, unconverted people in the holiest of aU connect.ons-the church of God-is the cause to a va' ex[e„ her ronr'' "''^'i ■ ^^l' ^'°" ^"' «"'^' ""'^ ^^e shall ,/„„?.!!" her continue sunk in the profanation of interdicted and unlaw- strcngZ""'""' ""'^ '^'' """'^ "'" *'°°''""' '° **« " «^°-'° «f her It is strange that so much shuddering is manifested at the perJormance of the duty we now urge as if instead of a duty it wero a crime when all we ask ie, that the real disciples of Christ should com;j/e/e that good work which the Reformation onlv com- menced. A loud cry of schism is often raised by the very com- mun.tics who. if separation from evil doctrine and practice be scuism, were long ago, as churches, convicted of this crime in their separation from the Romish body. And were not the Re- formei^-was not Luther-Calvin-Bucer—Zuinglius— Lati- mir-Ridiey--Hooper-Rogers-in fact, as heavily, and as reasonably, charged with schism, as those would be who at the present day should, with equal boldnesi and determination od- pose and separate from all who deny or neglect any of the Vital truths of Christianity ? ^ o / The truth is, however, Reformation was commenced lone before the days of Luther. For ceniuries before that period bad featan rioted in a community in which, while claimine the christian nnmr, all the lineaments of the Saviour were oblite- rated, and ou which were stamped the broadeBt features of Anii- I at', ■1 Apjieal to Chrislians. [Part /// r;', f;v,., ■■■- J -r-T^ r y: , chridt. It \9 not to Rome and hnr legates, her cardinals and popes, her bulls and inanifcatoes, that we must look for the followers or the precepts of Josus of Nazareth, those were their worst and bitterest enemies ; while, concealed in the fastnesses of the Alps, or obscurely scattered amidst the retired vallies of France and Bohemia, lay those, whose blood was continually sealing their ovyn faithfulness to Christ, and proclaiming the true character of their llomish Persecutors. Do you ask then where was the Church of Christ in the middle ages ? Let the various tribes ofihc Wuldeosos, baptist or pedobaptist, answer. Theywero themselves the Itiu church of Christ. They early and long stood aloof from the abominations of secularized and apostate Rouic ; and it is their good example, in this noble separation, which we now earnestly and afFcctionatcly press on our readers to imitate, by a similar separation from secularized and apos- tate Protestantism. We do not, now, so much urge baptism, however important wo deem obedience to this ordinance, but wc say, if you have any real regard to your Saviour, at least ccaso to have " lellowship" with the " unfruitful works of darkness" — uphold not the hands of those who do not love the Lord — .bid not " God speed" to those who, even as public feackers, perhaps, neglect and contemn many of the most essen- tial truths of the Gospel, and deride as enthusiasts those that love and obey them ; come out from among them, and of what- ever denomination of Christians you may count yourselves, and however small your numbers and feel>lcyour means, unite with all who are of like temper, for the istablishment of the only sort of community which Christ recognizes as a church, a company of spintnal xcor shippers. When the thought of so bold a etcp as separation enters your mind, it is at once accoinpanied, poosibly, with sad images of grieved or angry friends ; the shout and sneer of ridicule ; perhaps positive persecution : but do you hope in Christ, and yet fear such thii:gs as thes6 ? When those among whom you dwell raise the loud outcry of schism ! schism .' you are per- haps apprehensive, lest by separation you will commit sin, and wound Christ's body the church. But will you not give hoed rather to Christ's words than to man's. How can your withdrawing from an irreligious society be a wounding of the body of Christ ? His body, the church, is a society oi faithful meu : arc those faithful men who, not only do not possess, but even deny vital godliness f Schism is a division among rtul chrisliaus on needless grounds, and is certainly a sin : the se- paration, of which we speak, is the escape of christians from religious fellowship with those who neither acknowledge nor Chap, ni] Jppeal to Christiam. 197 practise the vital truths of God's word nnd is a paramount duty you pray for the increaHe of Chnat's kingdom ; you sigh for the convergion of your friends and relatives ; jou are buFthen- ed With countless difficulties and obstructions in your present course and cry for deliverance ; bat you take not ihe moan, which C.od has put into your hands. He has declared his church to bo the pillar and ground of the truth. Form such n church as the now Testament describes, and see whether fiod does not make ,t •' a pillnr and grouiid"-a strong foundation, on which he will proceed to uuild, unli! your hearts shall rejoice in beholding many a "lively stone," brought, by (he power of divine grace, to form a part of " this house of God '■ The spirit of grace and glory shall then rest upon you, and God will get to himself a glorious name. Wc say ♦o you repent and he baptized m the name of the Lord Jesus ; but we would if It were possible, cry to you with a yet louder voice, " Escano trom the world which lies in wickedness, escape for thv life stay not in all the plain !" ^ ^ "®' In conclusion we beg our readers to believe that while we have felt strongly and have endeavoured therefore stronclv to express our deep sense of the duty here urged, we have done so with the kindest possible feelings towards those who differ from us We arc not conscious of having " set down aught in inahce, bu are guided, we are assured, by a sincere desire to promote the advancement oftrue religion. We again repeat that towards many pedobaptists we entertain the sentiment of warm and hrmly rooted christian regard— towards all men we entertain the most perfect friendliness, and desire cheerfully to walk with them in all the amenities and courtesies of life— but in the Church of Christ, and in (he participation of its hoJvor- dmances. we dare hold fellowship with none but those whom in the exercise of the most christian and charitable judgment' we believe the Saviour has sealed as his sincere disciples THE END. y 1 1; ■ ?>.-|'i- NOTE A. e Jmprobabilily that if infants were baptized bj the apoilles >U 0. them would beomitied in erery case of baptism recorded in thii The roention o. mem woui.i oe omitted in erery case of baptism recorded in th« «ew Testament, becomes stronger when t..e usage o.' •cripture in other rascela considered. Wherever children ere known to have been interested H appears to be the invariable practice to mention them, see for instance Genesis xl.m. 8. "And Judah said unto Israel his father, send the iad Wiih nie, and we will arise and go ; that we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our Utile ones.'' Deuteronomy li. 34. •' And we look all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the man and the women and the .ittle one$, of every city we left none lo remain :" so also "!; u''';t ''■ I'tewise Joshua viii. 36. "There was not a word of all thai Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congre- gaiionof Israel, with the women and the little ones, and the el rangers ibat were conversant among them." J. Samuel xxii. 19. •• And Nob the ciiy of the pneels smo»e he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen and asses and sheep." 2 Chro- nicies XX. 13. '• And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little enes, their wives, and their children." Ezra x. 1. «• Now when Ez.a ha'* prayed, and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down Le.ore ihe house of God, there assembled unio him out of Israel a very great conRregaiion o( men and women and .1\jt6#.%mrtbeword •' «¥fr/f«i^/* add, " «w - f. ' . .|wi» ^m^^ (Kom. ^, li^^tc^iyp^ a catHwn^/' nsad ii^f-^lw^Ji Iw^'^W' read " wJM^." :. '^Ol^ firataodiaat fiw, for " JVowenwii," r^tld *' JWiai- -•4. ♦«5 *4in»sr>^^^9''^£'<"lf JVitfMiureiif" add " Buhof *^ "^f^^ •;^«',a«i««r." read •« «( »rX"ja«i*j«r," read "«fe*^ ia7» •* 11, for " luM," xead '? («»ije/'.. <' 154, " 30, for" «uMi/,"read "^flw/y." " 138. ^» 20, fbr " mwquolftdj" r€^d " AoTi sd.** (I i»r t—i ♦ ^ up* ««r» m 60oo. •* li%; JI|kWo^1a«^|i» *' coHscwnewMl^,''^ and J" c«fl«<:^ JikTMnu^t*^ »ad " c(m«cuiriilM0^^^ t65i «* ft«*ifer.^'»ii»pmoM«,'»^»ead««»ip«ni%.** . l«6i^ •« 31, fi»r4irtcs^^"reBd"iA«a«." • 170, •• 1ft, for ^'tonsaanciouitg;^^ read "cofwcwn/iotafe." •• 176, •» 40, for " iiiwnteiiwiice,?' read " maintenanctJ' . "182, " .13, «fbr«iH^ ^ttott worii WM dtoiplete. ^^ ^ • ■►« i^l r,,:r OtTS t 1?^ > 4i jread ••■^ I!." rata. ^••^^