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CIRCUMCISION

AND

. t

BAPTISM.

=SJU^'

BY THE REV. J. DAVI8,
Charlottetown, p. B. I.

CHARLOTTETOWN :

PRINTJKD inOR THK AUTHOR.

1867, ^ J^ V

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Price, 10 cents, or 76 cents for ten copies.

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rai-J'ATOIIV XOTT(n-].

T.A-r ;iiiiniii!i llic -iilijiM'i (if ( lii-i-Mi;!!! linpiivni \\:i> <li-ciH-.c(l in >(>-
V('r;il (li-<'oiir-.('<. (lc!i\ crcil in I'nion < Inipcl. M. I'l'lcr*- ii'mid. 'I'lm
.1J('\-. ( icci'ui- Snilici'lnnd pre -en! rd ili" r.-MJolcipli^t \ lew ii'Tf. and
llif nnilioi' of I lii- I rad liic Uapli-l \i('\v. 'I'lii- piiMication ronlaiiis
till' -nli-lanrc (if (inc of I III' di -I'lMn'-c- llicn drliNcrcd in -npporl of
r>ap!i-l scnliniiMit-. The piopn-iiion-- licfc coniltatcil \\ci'<' niain-
laincd I»y .Mr. S.. in one <»r lii- di-c(.nr<<'>. df'li\crcd a- aliuxc My
Iraci \< noi inicndid a- a reply l<i lliat di^conr.-c : a- I diil not liear
it. and a^ ii i- noi lieiorc nie. \\\\\ as Mi'. S." > propo-.ition-. Ivindly
li;vni-lied lo nie liy iiini-cil'. really <l,(lrli the outline of an aru'imn'iit
ill rcuard loihe N/'//y( (7n of hajiii-ni. I here take occa-ion to >i't my
views on 1 his p;ii 1 (d iIk- hapli-nial con I ro\ cr-y oNcr auain-i hi- \ iew s :
re;jardin;.r tho-e \ iew s. lio\ve\cr. a< held l)\ him in eonnnoii with
olhei'-. raiher than as Ijeinii' peculiar lo 1 Mu-ell'.

it i- not lor pai'ly's sake that I put I'oi'iii my ti'act. bm for the <ak(^
of what -eeni- lo me to he impoi'iant truth, ami truth sadi) trodden
under foot . 'To an\' who can >lie\\ me. that I ha\ c here ini>iaken the
mind of the Spi;ii . I vjinji lie deeply ihanklnl. \'et if any attempt he
made in tin- line. I nui-t he refuted hy aru'unteiil. not hy a--ump-
tion — coidVonted hy 1 )i\ine authority, not hy human. Mere do'inia-
(ism. ini-u-iained liy appeal>"io the law and the testimony. ■" will
ohlain from nu' no atieniioii : nor. I would add. an\' thiuu'thr.t may
))e eoUaieral only, or irrelevant, or. least of ail. that may savour of
oireu-iN'e per-onalily.

It mi;iht have l)een well it' my tract had aitjieared liefore Mr. Su-
Iherland Innl left u<. I can say with truth, however, that ! ha\<' not
intentionally delated its i>«ue until lii- depa.rture. AVliy shiudd 1
lia\'e done so? since lie has certainly lett heliind him Li'entleinen <iiiile
Jis capable as him^ell" of impii!j;nin'.i' my a run met it. should tlie\ di'cni
itliliiiiLf to do so. r,ut tliere: 1 would iieiihei- invite hostilit\-. nor
deprecate il. In any ea>e. may (.od Din'fAh Tiii: ukjiitI

1 jus! add. that, while I may u-ellie terms. Vn(U)hfi/:/(siii. inlant
hdjilisiii, Sic. I do iKtt mean to admit, that infant baptism i< any liaj)-
tism at all. I employ such phraseology for con-NCifKMH'e sake, and
Jiol hy way of ('oiices>iou. .\< I'aiil. in wi'itiiii:' to the (iaiatians,
speaks of pretended ijods. which yet. he says. •• hy nature are no
^•ods;"" and (»!' " another ii'o>pel. which."* he ad(N. '" is not another.'"
but is in triith no u'ospel ; so. as an advocate of the " one hapti-m"
of the New 'restameiit. w hen I refer to other ba})ti-ms. I yet do not
recou'iii/e them as baptisms at all. 'l'lie_\' are. in my \iew. u<uriiin^'
baptisms, fal-e bai)tisins: ha\iiiu- a bapti-mal name, but the name
only, without the e<-ential charactci'. .As (hri-tians I e,-1eem ami
love many who pi'aelise such baptisms: but for their practice it -elf I
liave no respect. It iu^■olve<. a- I think, mischievous error, sore
<'vil ; and the s(joiier bc»tli ehiireli and world are freed from it, the
better. J. D.

Chadottctoicn^ P. E. /., Jahj^ 18G7.

b -^ K /I

w^ -

CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM.

-ooJaO^o

THE QUESTION STATED.

Does the covenant of God with Abraham, *' the covenant of
circumcision," as Stephen styk'S it, supply any authority for the
practice of infant baptism ? Tlie advocates of that practice ge-
nerally, though not universally, reply here in the affirmative.
The advocates of believers' baptism, on the other hand, reply
here in the negative. It is my purpose, in these pages, to
maintain this negative. And my position is this, —

That the Ahrahamic covenant funiifihcs no iv arrant for the
practice of infant haptinni.

PAUL ON CIRCUMCISION AND EAPTISM.

There is one passage in the New Testament, upon which Vse-
dobaptists lay great stress, which brings circumcision and bap-
tism together. It occurs Col. ii. 10 — 12. Let us attend, first
of all, to its teachings.

HOW DOES IT HEAD ?

*' And ye are complete in him, who is the head of all princi-
pality and power : in whom also ye are circumcised ivith the cir-
cumcision made without hands, in pidfuig off the hody of the sins
of the flesh hy the circumcision, of Christ." Here I pause. Here
indeed is circumcision. But

WHAT KIND OF CIKCUMCISION ?

It is a spiritual circumcision, and not a carnal one. It is
made " without hands,'^ and not with them. It consists in ^^ put-
tiny off the hody of the sins of the flesh,'" and not in cutting off any
portion of the human fleshly person. And this is " the circum-
cision of Christ," and not of Moses. And yet we find a circum-
cision resembling this both in Moses and the prophets. Thus
we read, Deut. xxx. 6. " And the Lord thy God will circumcise
thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live."
And thus again, Jer. iv. 4. " Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
and take away the foreskins of your hearty ye men of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem." Paul gives us the same thought,
Rom. ii. 28, 29. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly;

CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM.

»>

noitlior is that circumcision, winch is outward in the flesh. But
he is a Jew, who is one inwdrdli/ ; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the sjiirlf, and not in tlie letter; whose praise is not of
men, but of (hxiy In this way we arrive, first, at tlie typical
nieaninir of tlie Jewisli circumcision. It did not terminate in it-
self, but pointed ultimately at the circumcision and sanctification
of the heart. An<l then we are taught what is meant by " the
circumcision of Christ." It is no mere outward rite. It is not,
as some Pi4Bdoba]»tists seem to maintain, another name for bap-
tism. It is simply the work of the Spirit, in applyinir the work
of (/lirist to the hearts of men, so as to ^ circumcise their hearts,"
and make an effecitual se])aration between them and their sins.
And this is " the circumcision of Christ."

THE BAPTISMAL nURIAL.

The apostle, havinix brought out the thought indicated as above, ,
proceeds to another. " Buried with him," — that is Christ. — " in
baptism: wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." The
Colossians are taught here, th; t baptism is at once a death, a
burial, and a resurrection. Like circumcision, it is an outward
rite. But, like circumcision again, it is a deeply significant rite.
It exhibits the inward and spiritual communion of believers with
their Lord in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. Or, as
we have the thought more at large, Ilom. vi o, 4. " Know ye not,
that so many of you as were baptized into Jesus Christ were bap-
tized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by bap-
tism 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 life." Such is evidently the meaning of the apostle in the latter
part of this passage from the Colossians ; and the passage tran-
scribed from the one epistle, that to the Bomans, is a striking
commentary upon the terms here employed in the other.

CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM UNITED.

In the verse following this passage the apostle seems in his ar-
gument to join the two rites together, both that of the old dispen-
sation, and that of the new; alluding to them, however, rather
than naming them: — " And you, being dead in your sins, and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with
Christ, having forgiven you all trespasses." " Dead," buried,
" quickened," — all of which are typified in baptism. " Uncir-
cumci^ed in the flesh ;" but then forgiven in Christ, and the
power of sin broken while its guilt is taken away ; and so made
to experience " the circumcision of Christ."

4 CTiiciiMcisiox AM) nArTis"\r.

BAPTISM NOT SlJUSTITUTEl) TOR rilULMCISIOX.

Wlioroforo, if my intcrprctntioii licro ])0 correct, it itim}^ siifcly
bo iiit'crroil, that the Ifoly Spirit in thi.s jjImco by no means instructs
U8 in the existence of such u rehition l)et\veon circumciHion and
baptism as tliat for which many of our Pt\!(lol)aptist Iriemls con-
tend. Rather, as in some otiier phiccs, tlie apostle, in liis zeal
for tlie inward eslahlisliment and iirowth of tliosc to whom he
wrote, is concerned iiere to accumulate! considerations from (;very
quart(!r, in ordc* to wean them from earth, and lift them to heav-
en — to wean them from the fleshly, and build them up in the spir-
itual — and especially to Avithhold them from settling down in
mere rites, whether of the old covenant, or of the new. To which
end ho would load them into such an alliance -with Christ, and
ac(juaintance and onc^ness with him, as Closes and the pro|»hets
first, and then the apostles, cvei'morc contemplated, and apart
from which one of the ^rrand and ultimate purposes both of the
Old Testament and of the New, in the deliverance of the children
of God from the power of indwelling sin, must still fall short of
its realization.

A COROLLAllY.

But now, while infant })aptism, as the ritual successor of the
Mosaic circumcision, cannot be found in this ])assage from the Co-
lossians, neither is it to be so found in any other place in the New
Testament. In which case, so far as the New Testament is con-
concorned, the chosen foundation of very many of those who, as
Protestants, maintain infant baptism, slides from beneath their
feet. Neither Christ nor his a'postles teach, that Christian bap-
tism is intended to take the place of the ancient circumcision; or,
as Dr. Dwight broadly puts it, that " circumcision was the same
ordinance with baptism." If it be so, the evidence remains yet
to be adduced.

THE APPEAL TO THE OLD TESTAMENT.

But if the New Testament is really silent here, may we not fall
back upon the Old Testament, and find something there which
shall make up for the silence of the New? It is evident, as
stated above, that many think so. I might, indeed, on good and
sufficient grounds, demur to an appeal of this kind. But for
once I consent to turn to Moses, and hear him on this question, —
Does the Abrahamic covenant, as exhibited by him, furnish any
sort of basis for the practice of infant baptism under the Gospel
dispensation ? And so I proceed to the exan^ination of certain
argumei^s put forward among us of late by way of establishing
an affirmative reply to this question.

i > ii; ii i ii »<i ii «^

ciiiruMnsiox and uaitism.

((

:iiu

A FUNDAMKNTAL riJOl'OSITIOX.

T. Tims, it is l;ii(l dinvn hero as Ji fiunlainontal proposition,
Tliat tlic Old and New Tcstanionts are cc^iially authoritative."

G 11 A X T !•; I) : W 1 1 AT THEN?

Siip|)oso, now, T iirant tlils ])roposition. T would yot ask,
WluMice do tlio writers of the Old Ti'staniont derive their au-
thority? Is it not from our irlorious liord himself? It is " the
testimony of Jesus," — ahont .lesus, and izivcn by Jesus, — which
"is the spirit of jtruphecy :" llev. xix. lO. — of pro))heey in all its
comjtass of meaninir. alike inider all the disjxuisations of nierey
towards men. It were easy here to cite proofs, and supply illus-
trations. Tint is it necessary to amplify in this case? Have I
not here the eonimoTi verdict of evan^irelical interpreters ? I eon-
tent myself wilh a few refiM'enees. Will th(> reader, then, be
pleased to turn to the fol](jwin,ii' ]>assau'es r — lleb. i. 1, 2. John i.
17. l.uko ix, oO, .')!. Do not these passages give to that voice
irom heaven a peculiftr and solemn em])hasis, — " This is my be-
loved Son, in whom 1 am well ])leased; hear ye him ?" Matt,
xvii 5. Surely we cannot err. in obedience to that voice, in as-
siji'iiiiitr a su]tremacy to the ]iosition and teachings of our liord ;
taking heed to him rather than to any other, iiisjiirrd Ihotujh lie
'iiKiij he : taking heed indeed to them likewise; yet doing so in
deference to him, and for his sake. Nor can we err, farther, in
thinkiniic that lie, "the Lord from heaven," can do what lie will
in his own kingdom : — can not only nnike laws, but repeal them,
and give us new ones instead of the old. And if, finally, lie him-
self hath exalted tln^ New Testament above the Old, we do not
disjjarage the Old Testament, as is charged upon us by some of
the advocates of infant ba])tism, when we put it where himself has
put it, and regard the glory of the one as utterly eclipsed amid
the brighter glories of the other."'

THE Ar.OVE APrLTED.

But now is it asked, What has all this to do with the baptismal
question ? I answer, " iMueh every way." Our Paedobaptist
friends can find no direct precept for their rite in the New Testa-
ment. But they think they perceive something to their purpose
in the Old. They therefore go about to shew, that the Old Tes-
tament is invested with an authority entitling it to some sort of
right to dictate New Testament ordinances. On the other hand
we, as Baptists, deny that the Old Testament is possessed of any
such authority. The Old Testament dispensation, we maintain,

* See here 2 Cor. iii.

cincuMcrsioN and raptism.

wns siu'h as Clirist liiinsolf iiiado it for Old Tostamont timojs, and
Old TcstaiiuMit purposes. And when that saiiK! Christ hccomes
incarnato, atul sots up liis New Tostanieiit dispensation, ho does
then what ho plcasos with his own 01<1 TostanHMit institutions.
y//.s they arc, and in his hands ; and so \ui does with them what
he pleases.

CIRCUMCrSIOX AEOr-ISTIKD.

And this one tiling, among others, h(> Jnis done. Tie has ut-
terly iiholishrd circiiiufisloH. The record in roLranl to this is ijiven
Acts XV. 1,2;^ — 20, We there read, that '' eertain men, who
went down from Jiidea to Antioch, taught the brethren, Kxeept
ye be cireumcised after the manner of Moseys, ye eannot be saved."
Tiien, when this matter had been considered, in a eouneil lield in
Jerusalem, under the imm<Mliate presidency and L^uidaiice of the
Holy Sj>irit, — the oidy church council ever so held, or so sanc-
tioned, — the conclusion which was reacluMl was embodied in a
decree; in whi(di decree '' the apostles, and Elders, and brethren,"
and the Holy Spirit united. Its enactins: portion is iriven in these
words : — '' It seemed good to the Holy S[)irit, and to us, to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, — That
ye abstain from meats offin'ed to idols, and from blood, and fVitm
things strangli^d, and from forni(;ati(jn : from which if ye keep
keep yourselves, yo shall do well." Paul, in his e])istle to the
Galatians, tells us tohi/ circumcision was thus abolished. His
words are these, as given ch. v. 3 — 6. •' I testify ... to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justi-
fied by the law : ye are fallen from grace. For we, tlnvnigh the
Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus
Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision ;
but faith which worketh by love."

APOSTOLIC TEACHING APPLIED.

Oh ! how much there is here ! First, in regard to circumcision.
And then, more remotely, in what may well be applied to the
question of infant baptism. As to circumcision, it lay at the root
of the old ceremonial law. It involved every one who received
it in an obligation to observe the whole of that law. It thus, as
observed after the Grospel had come, struck at the work of Christ;
who came to fulfil that law, and then to set it aside, and instead
of it to give us the " law of faith." And therefore it must be
abolished, that it might not stand in the way of the Grospel, with
its freedom, its purity, and its love. It must be abolished — this
rite of circumcision, and the whole ceremonial law with it ; that

nncuMcrsioN A\n rapttsm. 7

thuH mon miiilit not be toniptod to trust iti tliat law. and in tliia
way to " fall from «rraco," and aliandon the irroat Gosptd prin-
ciple which alone ean save their souls, and so after all perish in
tlieir sins. And in this way, passing; now to the matter of })ap-
tisni, we obtain a ^dimpse, and soniethinLT more, of one weiirhty
reason wdiy, as we JJaptists maintain, unconscious babes are not
now to be l)roufrht into any such relationship with the church of
(i(m1 as that into which they were introduced in amdent days. The
o'.d law was a carnal liw. Men were broufriit under it liy cere-
monial (d)servances. ]iut the new law, " the law of faith," is a
spirittial law. Tender it none has a riLdit to a ])la(*c in thc^ chur(di
of <}od, unh>ss he is a partak'er of that spiritual i:'race, th(> <iraee
of faith. This, of course, excludes infant mendjcrship from the
chur-h, and every thinir that uiahes any approach to such nu>m-
bcrship. It takes away circumcision, and ]»rovi(les no su))stitute
for circunu-ision. All who clin^ to circumcision, or plead for
.somctliinir instead of. it under tlu' CJosjxd, do in effect, whether
they are aware of it or not, l'o })ack to tin; old law, and desire to
inc(M'))t)rate some of its ])rinci])les, at least, into the new Christian
dispensation. J>ut Christ will not have this. There is dan<:"er in
it. Jict any church beixin with a carnal principle — a princi])le
that goes to ('onfound the church with the world, and God only
Icnows whither tliey may drift — how far they may get away from
the grace of the Gospel — nor how justly they may expose them-
selves to rebukes sucli as Paul addvesseil to those ancient Gala-
tian professors. Oh I when will (Miristians in these later days
come to see these things ; and so be led at last to abandon the
carnal rite of infant baptism, with all its principles and tendencies?

AXOTIIEll FUNDAMI'NTAL PROrOSITION.

IT. But now here is another fundamental proposition; namely,
" That the church of God is one in all ages."

THE TRUE STATE OF THE CASE.

No doubt there is truth in this proposition. In certain respects
there Itas existed a oneness in. tiio church from its beginning until
now; and there will be a oneness for ever. It is not necessary,
however, that I should stay to illustrate this statement. I pro-
ceed rather to observe, that highly important diiferences are yet to
be traced between the church under Abraham and Moses, and the
church under Christ. One of these appears in respect to their
menilicrship. Every child of Abraham, in the line of Isaac and
Jacob, when duly circumcised, coin-crtcd or uncoitccrtcd, was re-
garded as a member of the Jewish church, and was entitled, as
•such, to all the ordinances of that church. But is this, or any

CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM.

tliino' like this, I would ask, tlie constitution of the Christian

church? How reads the commission ? " He that helievetJi, and
is baptized shall be saved." Mark xvi. 16. And were not the
apostolic churches addressed as " saints and faithful brethren in
Christ," or in terms of the like import ? as in Col. i. 2. llom. i.
7. 1 Cor. i, 2. 2 Cor. i. 1, &c. And as to ordinances, the ancient
church and the later diftcr in this respect, — that while our Chris-
tian ordinances relate immediatcily to spiritual objects, and facts,
and truths, and expectations, the Mosaic ordinances were, in the
first instance, simply outward and carnal in their aspects. Where-
fore the apostle Paul describes all of them as "' carnnl ordinances."
Heb. ix. 10. Whatever in thom was s])iritual looked forward to
the future, and was but shadowy and typical. All these, more-
over, were only temporary, and could be no other. " Imposed"
only " until the time of reformation," when Christ sliould come,
their great antitype and substance, they were '"• ready to vanish
away." Ileb. ix. 10. viii. lo. From tlie whole of wliich it is nui-
nifest, that the church, in all respects, has not been one in all au'os.
It has passed out of one form into another. Tlie ])atriarchal lias
passed into the Mosaic. That, again, has passed into the Clu'is-
tian. While this too shall be changed at last into the church of
the resurrection, sinless, perfect, and eternal.

INFANT BAPTISM FINDS HERE NO SITrrOPvT.

Now if these things are so, then it is easy to see, that there is
nothing in the assumed oneness of the cliurch in every age that
can aid the argument in favour of infant bai)tism. On the con-
trary, in the dirterenc(\s to which I have pointed, as existing be-
tween the earlier church and the latter, there is every thing to
make that argument of no effect. Which statement is abundantly
corroborated by the language of Jeremiah, as quoted by Paul,
in speaking of the old and vanishing covenant, and the new and
abiding one. Jer. xxxi. 31 — 34. Ileb. viii. — 13. PiSpocially we
have here these words : — " I will put my laws into their mind, ar.d
write them in their hearts. . , . And they shall not tench every man
his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ;
for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.' JVI — not
all men, as is liere often understood ; but all who have an interest
in the new and better covenant. " All shall Inioiv me, from the
least to the greatest." When terms like these can fitly be applied
to unconscious babes, then, but not before, they may be regarded
as entitled to the privileges of the new covenant. Until then, no
argument derived from the oneness of the church of God in every
age, as pleaded by Pfisdobaptists, can establish the claim of infants
to the ordinances or the blessings of the new covenant.

CTTirUMCTSION AND BAPTIS^f.
AX ATIGUMENT FROM TIIH PIIHCEDING rUOrOSITIONS.

TTT. It is fartlior nuiint.iiiUMl, by way of buildliiu' upon the basis
lai'l ill tlie nbovo propositions, that " tho covenant with Abraham
embraced chiefly spiritual mercies, and extended to the (J entile
church of all a^'es."

CONFUSION OF THOUGHT.

Tliere seems to be a;reat confusion of thought here — a confusion
which pervades the views of all who plead for infant ))aptism upon
the basis of the Abraliamic covenant. In order to dissipate that
confusion, I will endeavour to place this covenant in its true
Scriptural liirht. Its relation to the ])aptismal (piostion, or rather,
the abseiice of any such relation, will then be apparent.

WHAT WAS THK AIHIAHAMIC COVENANT ?

By a covenant, then, wo are to understand irenernllv an en-
gnirement. God's covenant with Abraham was, his eii2'n_irenient
to "bless him, and make him a blessing." Or, to give it more
particularly, it runs thus : — "• I will make of thee a great nation ;
and 1 will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt l)e
a })lossiug. . . . An<l in thee shall all families of the earth l)e bles-
sed — liook now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able
to number them. . . . So shall thy seed })e — As for me, Ix'hold my
covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. . . .
And T will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy
seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant,
to be a Clod unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will
give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land Avherein thou
art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting posses-
sion ; and I will be their God. . . . Sarah thy wife shall bear thee
a son . . . ; and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will esta-
blish my covenant with him, for an everlasting covenant, and with
his seed after him." Gen. xii. 2, '<]. xv. o. xvii -1, 7, H, I'J. Such
is the substance of this famous covenant with Abraham, We are
told, moreover, that when God gave this covenant to his servant,
es])ecially when he said to him, '• So shall thy seed })e, . . . he be-
lieved in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.''
Gen. XV. o, G. IJy way of coiniiMuiug this covenant to Abraham,
there was given to him the ordinance of circumcision ; and so it
came to be called " the covenant of circunicision." Acts vii. 8.
And ]\iul adds, that the patriarch " received the sign of circum-
cision, a seal of the righteousness which he had yet being
uucircumcised." liom, iv. 11.

10 CinCUMCISIOX AND BArTISM.

Tin: COVENANT TWOFOLD.

Now tliis covenant was twofold. It was partly spiritual, and
pjirtly temporal. Tiio spiritual related chiefly to Clirist ; in whom,
indeed, all the promises m;ido to Abraham were comprehended.
Here, too, wrapped up in (.^hrist, we find Abraham's spiritual
seed — the whole family of believers. Hence says Paul, Gal. iii.
10. " Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not. And to tio'ds, as of many; but as of one, And to
thy sKEi), which is Christ." And airain, the same apostle says,
Iiom iv. 18. that the patriarch "■ ajxainst hope believed in hope,
that he might become the father of many nations ; according to
that which was s])oken, So shall thy seed bo," Thus it was, as
Paul goes on to tell us, that Abraham believed, and that his faith
" was imputed to him for righteousness." And so it was too, as
we are also instructed by the same apostle, that he became " the
father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised ;
that righteousness might be imputed to them also : and the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but
who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
wliieh he had being yet uncircumcised." Uom. iv, 122, 11, 12,
Dr. Cramp'^' remarks here, that " the covenant thus made with
Abraham embraced believers, and none but believers. It was the
declaration of God's purpose to establish a church in the world,
in the salvation of which he would ' shew forth his jiraise.' This
purpose was gradually developed, and has been in full operation
ever since the accomplishment of the redemi)tion by our Jjord and
Saviour. All that believe enter into covenant with God, and are
blessed accordingly. Till they believe, they have no part nor lot
in the matter. ' They that are of fail h are blessed with faithful
Abraham.'" Gal. iii. 9.

THE COVENANT IN ITS TEMPOEAL ASPECT.

As to the temporal in this covenant, this was' for the sake of
the sjuritual. Here God constituted Abraham the head of his
race in the line of Isaac and Jacob. Here too he promised
Canaan to his servant; which promise he fulfilled when he gave
that land to his posterity in the line of Isaac and Jacob, and con-
tinued its possession to them until Christ came. Circumcision
was given to him as the sign or token of this covenant. It was
a Jewish ordinance, appointed only to be abolished with the dis-
pensation to which it belonged. Thus the providence of God
wrouirht in harmony with his love ; and Christ filled his throne of
old, as now, though hidden behind the shadow of ancient dispen-
* 111 his Catcc/iism of Christian Baptism.

BAPTISM AXD CIRCUMCISIOX.

il, and
whom,
iGTulod.
pivitu.-d
jral. iii.
made.
And to
lo snys,
1 hope,
(linui; to
tvas, as
lis faith
too, as
le '• tlie
noised ;
e fatlier
dy. but
n'ah;im,
11, 1:2,
de with
was the
; world,
' Tiiis
)oration
)rd and
md are
nor lot
faithful

sake of
of his
•omised
ic gave
nd con-
mcision
It was
the dis-
of God
irone of
dispen-

sations, rulino- in his church, and for his church, " to tlio praise
of the glory of his grace."

xo surroRT for infant baptism here.

But now what has all this to do with baptism ? What support
can be derived hence for infant bajitism: None, I answer, none ;
and proceed to justify my negation. Especially do I pr()pose to
shew, that there is nothing in the Jewish rite of circumcision
which supplies a foundation, or was ever intended to do so, for
the Christian rite of baptism.

THE TRUE PLACE OF CIRCUMCISION.

1. Clrcioncision hcJo)t(/s to llic temporal part of tJie Ahrahainic
covenant, and not to tJtc sfn'rlliKd.

It was probably, froai its bi.'ginning, a Jewish distinction, though
some other nations seem to have derived it from the Jews. To
them, however, it meant what it could mean to none beside. It
set them npart as the seed of Abraham. It signified to them the
fulfilment of the temporal promises made to Abraham. It was
also intended to remind them of tlu ir obligations to moral ]iurity
— that they should not only be circumcised in the flesh, but in
heart and spirit likewise. 15ut it did not secure to them the en-
joyment of any spiritual blessing. I do not forget here what is
said about circumcision as " a seal of the righteousness of the
faith" of Abraham. ^' ^> it doubtless was to that illustrious pa-
triarch. It was a perH(/.. , ttestation of the favour of (iod to him.
It was " a seal" and an assurance of the descent of the promised
Saviour through him, in the line of Isaac — of that Saviour through
whom he was made righteous, or justified, lint that iras all. It
is nowhere described as '' a seal of the righteousness of the faith"
of any besides Abraham : not even of the faith of Isaac and Ja-
cob. ]Much less of that of any others. Such it could not be.
Multitudes of circumcised Jews had no faith that could justify
them — no rio'hteousness to be attested to them. It is a son. of
Abraham, a partaker of circumcision, whom his great ancestor
beholds from heaven, across the awful impassable gulf, " lifting
up his eyes in hell being in torment " Luke xvi. '23. And alas!
how many of his brethren, it may well be apprehended, have fal-
len into the like misery! Circumcision did not save them. It
was never intended to save them, It conveyed to them no spiri-
tual blessing, since no such blessing was necessarily involved in
it. To Abraham himself it was no more than '' a seal of the right-
eousness of the faith which lie had yet being ^n/circumcised." And
that righteousness flowed to him, not through his circumcision,
but through his faith. Thus clearly circumcision is seen to be

ciiicinrcrsiox and BArTrs:>r.

wholly unfitted to constitute the foundation of any Christian ovdi-
nance. Or if any per?jist in so roirarding it, it can only he (lie
foundation of an ordinance wliich, like the ancient rife itself, nei-
tlier implies nor insures tlu! possession of any s])iritn;il n'ood —
wliich a man may receive, an<l after all ]ierish, And as circum-
cision is vnjil. to become the basis of a Christian rite, so neither
for any such purpose has it been appointed. If it has been so
appointed, \Yhcrc, I ask, is the Scri[)tnre wliich distinctly savs so?
Until that is adduced, argument in this matter might well come
to an end.

rmCUMCISIOX EXTTHELY ErtADIC/VTED.

■ 2. I observe, Ihat vy Jiml the i-'ilc of rirctiiifision crprr.^sJ/f sft
aside, so far ns (he Gri, files ari- coiicrriied, hj/ JS'eic Te.-'faiiieiif dc-
clai'dliOHs : ii'lhUe ils rerj/ itr'niefle is carefidlij reninrcd J'nun Ike
Viidsl of /he ChrisfifDi disj>eiiHalie)n.

All this, in effect, has been proved above. TTeve, h.oM'cner, I
woidd cite three passages, in addition to some heretofore pre-
sented, as bearing up(Ui these matters. In two of these we are
instructed in the mind of the Spirit as to the influence of all mere
outward distinctions upon our eternal cU'stinies. Jlen; is one,
from Col. iii. 11. " When;," — that is, in Christ, — " tlicro is nei-
ther Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, ]>arb;n-i:'.n,
Scyth'an, bond nor free : but Christ is all, and in jtll "' Ilci-e is
the other, from Gal. iii. 20—21). " Ve are all the chil<lren ;)f God
by faith in Christ Jesus, For as many of you as have Ik'CU bap-
tized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor
Greek ; i j is neither bond nor fr(U' : there is neitlier nmie nor
female ; for ye are all ime in (,'hrist Jesus. And if ye be ( "hrist"s,
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
And let it bo observed, that while we have here both ciremmci.-^ion
and baptism, togetluu' with a reference to A))raham"s seed, yet
the interest which any have in Christ is traced, not to baj)tism,
not to circumcision, not to descent from A]jr;diam ; but simi)]y to
faith: — " For ye are all the children of (Jod by fuiili in Christ
Jesus — And if ije he ('hrisl's, tiii'X are ye Abraliam's seed, and
heirs according to the promise." Oh ! how little the Woi'd tluis
makes, in regard to spiritual interests, of all outwai'd rites, and
earthly relation.ships ! Cnder the Gospel they are lufthing — yea,
worse than nothing, when they come to be regarded as thouglj
they conveyed any spiritual benelit. John the Baptist, in the
other passage Avhich I now come to quote, is full to the point here.
We read, in Luke iii. 7, S. that "he said to the multitude tliat
came forth to be baptised of him, generation of vipers ! who

CinCOICTSTON AND DArTIS^I.

hatli warned you to flee from tliLMvrutli to come? IJrliiL' forth
thoroforc fruits wortliy of rcpciitanoo. And l)oii'in not to say
williin yoursolvos, Wc have Abraliam to our fatlier ; for I say
unto you. That <iod is abh^ of tlu:\sc stones to raise up chiMrou
unto Ahi'.iham/' TIius does Jolui instruct us in the true cha-
racter of New TestanuMit baptism. It is not the baptism of rcda-
tioiiidiip, but " tlie baptism of rej)cntanco." Aye, and of faith
too : as we have it in the words of Paul, Acts xix. 4. "'' John verily
baptized with the baptism of I'cpentance ; saying unto the peojile,
that they should helievc on llim who shouhl come after him ; that
is, on Christ Jesus." And this, I beg to say, and this only, is
New Testament. baptism : since there is not to be fcmnd in the
New Testament a sinirle instance in which baptism was adminis-
tered without a previous profession of rei)entance and faith.

DIFFKHENCE IJKTWKF.X ClilCUMCISION AND DAPTISM.

So then the difference between circumcision and baptism, and
the entire absence of all relationship between them, — certaiidy of
such relationship as is pleaded for by the advocates of infant bap-
tism, — comes out here in tlie stronn'cst light. The one was for
unconscious babes, and for them of one sex only; while the other
is for men and women, regarded as the subjects of repentance and
faith. Tlie one liad its riglit place amid carnal ceremonies, ap-
pointed but for a time, and dt>stincd to be superseded by the better
things of tlie Gospel. The other, although ceremonial in its na-
ture, is directly associated wdth s})iritual character, and spiritual
purposes; while, as interwoven with the Gospel dispensation, it
is destined to continue as long as tliat dispensation itself shall en-
dure. And it' these things are so, then have I not a riglit to ask,
what becomes of the reasoning which would make the ancient
circumcision a foundation for Christian baptism ?

ANOTHKK ARGUMENT FROM THE ABRAIIAMIC COVENANT.

TV. I come now to a farther proposition, embracing several
other points in regard to the Abrahamic covenant. This propo-
sition affirms. That " that covenant acknoAvledged the connection
between parent and child ; asserted the transmission of a spiritual
blessino; from the former to the latter; and declared that the si<iii
and seal of the covenant should be given to children."

CONNECTION BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD UNDER THE LAW.

I ask here, What kind of a connection or relation was it that
the law of circumcision recognized as existing between parent and
child? Was it much more, if anything more, than the carnal
relation? Every son of Abraham according to the flesh was en-

CIIJCUMC'TSIOX AXD ILVrTISM.

titled to civcuniclsion; and after tliat to all the other ordinances
of the Jewish church. IJiit was there any thinir heyond this?
Here were outward henelits conveyed ; hut cert.iiidy no inward,
no spirittial ones. If a J(MV attained to these, it must he hy sonie-
thinir better than (circumcision, or any outward rite. So J*aul ex-
pr{!ssly lays it down, when he says, in laiiiruaixe already cited, that
Abraham became " the father of circumcision to tliem wh.o are not
of liic circHiiicisioit i^hli/ ; but who also walk in Ibc sft-fts of tJiat fnilh
of our father Abraham, which //'' hail i/ef hcutf/ i()ir!rci()n<'isc(iy
And wl.at have we Kzek. xviii. 1 — 1? " The word of the Lord
came unto me aixaiii, ^:ayinir. What mean ye, that ye use this pro-
verb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten
sour irrapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live,
saith the liord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use
this proverb in Israel. IJehold, all souls are' mine, .[s /he soul
of tlii', f((lli('i\ so also llio soul of /he. so)i is mine. The soul Ijifi/ sin-
nc/h, IT shall die." There was the principle, even under the old
disjiensation, in regard to spiritual and personal religion, and the
final destinies of men. Let us see now, at the close of the chapter
from which I here quote, how this principle is applied, vv. 30 — o2.
" Therefore, I will judge you, house of Israel, everi/ one according
to ]ils mni/s, saith the Lord God. lle])ent, and turn yourselves
from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have
transgressed; and make you a new heart, and a new spirit: for
why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in
the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore turn
yourselves, and live ye." Even the law of circumcision thus gave
no sanction to the theory of relative religion, as though it might
be regarded as a substitute for personal. That is, mere relation-
ship, though it might entitle an individual to certain outward reli-
gious advantages, could go no farther. If a man were saved, it
must be by his oion repentance, and his own faith. The repentance
and faith of others could not avail for him instead of his owni.

THE DESCENT OF SriRITUAL BLESSINGS FROM PARENT TO CHILD
UNDER THE ABRAIIAMIC COVENANT : WHERE IS IT ASSERTED ?

The proposition now before us affirms, " that the Abrahamic
covenant asserted the transmission of a spiritual blessing from
parent to child." I beg to ask. Where in all the Bible do we
meet with a statement like this ? I know, indeed, what Paul says,
Rom. iii. 1, 2. "What advantajre then hath the Jew? or what
profit is there of circumcision ? Much every way : chiefly, that
unto them were committed the oracles of God." Nor do I forget

CIPtCUMCISION AND BArTTS:\r.

-1)2.

that strikinir sunnunrv, Roiii ix. 1, .'>. "Who arc Israelites : to
whom pertain the adoption, and tiie gh)rv, and the eoveniints, and
the p;iving of tlie hiw, and tlie service of God, and tiie promises;
whose are the fathers, and of wliom as concerning the flesh ( 'Iirist.
came, who is over all, ^jod hlesscnl for ever. Ainen." l)Ut how
are we to understand these passages? The ;i|)ostle shall interj»ret
for himself, as in Rom. ii. 2o. " luv circumcision verily protiteth,
if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy cir-
cumcision is made uncircumcision." Stephen too shall furnish
us with a terrific comment upon the words of l^lul, in his denun-
ciiition of the Sanhedrim that put him to death, Acts vii. 1)1 — r>,'3.
" Ye stiif necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears! ye do
always resist the Holy Spirit. xVs your fathers did, so do yc.
"Which of the pro])hets have not youi- fathers persecuted ? and they
have slain them who shewed before of the coming of the Just ( )ne ;
of whom ye have been now the betrayers and nnu'derers. Who
have received the law l)y the disposition of angels, and have not
kept it." And the wlude may instruct us in the precise value,
when "weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, nf that " trans-
mission of spiritual blessing" which the proposition before us af-
firms. AVhich very transmission the apostle Paul esteemed of so
little worth, that, in his famous ]iassage in Phil. iii. 4 — S. he puts
his pure Jewish d(^scent, together with his circumcision, ani;)ng
the "• all things" which he counted " but loss," — yea, " dung," —
"for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord."
And lastly, this same apostle brings out a similar contrast, in that
other famous passage. Gal. vi. 12 — 14. "As many as desire to
make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised."
Ana wherefore? They " desire to have j/oh circumcised, that
they may glory in your flesh. ]5ut God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world
is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

CIRCUMCISION AS A SIGN AND SEAL.

The proposition before us fjirther states, in regard to this Abra-
hamic covenant, that it " declared that the sign and seal of the
covenant should be given to children." This statement of course
refers to circumcision. It may sutliee here to point to explana-
tions already given.* I only add, that, while, in Gen. xvii. 10,
11. we find circumcision described as a si(/n or fokoi both to Abra-
ham and his posterity, we may yet search the Scriptures in vain to
find a passage in which it is (^escribed as a seal to any besides the
great patriarch himself.

* See p. 11.

16 CTllCUMCTSION AND iiArTis:\r.

It tliiis .appears, that nfrain wc have hero iiiistalvon view!», and
untenable (.'onchisionH. The ALralianiic; covenant was not, in "er-
tain inipurtant points, what the ]»r(»))osition now before ns re))rc-
sents it as havin<i: )>een; and the ar^nnients for infant l)aptisni as
here suggested should hocui tlKM'cfnre to be wholly invalidated.

PARENTS AND rillLDllFX liKDlOHT IXTU THE CIIUllCII TOGETHER.

V. It is farther laid down, in regard to cireunicision, that "■ this
sign and seal of spirltnal Idessings was given to children by Di-
vine authority four hundred years before Closes, and continued
through all ages down till the apostles. Parents and children
were brought into the visible church."

rAIJL ON THE DATE OF THE A33RAHAMrC COYENANT.

This proposition refers to the rhifc of the Abrahaniic covenant.
There is a passage in Paul, (lal. iii. 17. which deals with this very
topic. Thus it reads : — " And this I say, that the covenant which
was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four
hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should
make the promise of none elfect."' '"' 'J'hc covenant ! '' — what cove-
nant have we here? — and in what special aspect is it presented?
It may, indeed, be styled, as Stephen styles it, " the covenant of
circumcision" — the covenant with which circumcision came after-
vKii'ih to be associated, in the manner heretofore stated.* But
in what aspect is this covenant here regarded ? In the aspect in
which it was given to Abraham " while yet iu uncircumcision ;"
for it was years before he was circumcised that God gave to him
the promise of "^/ic seed ; wdiich," says Paul, " is Christ." And
it is this promise, rather than " the covenant of circumcision,"
that was " confirmed ... of God in Christ." This promise, this
covenant, does indeed extend to the Gentile church. It is our
glory and our boast that it is so. But there is no circumcision
here, and no hint of it. Here " Christ is all!" — Christ, and not
circumcision. No! nor baptism either, So that any reference to
the date of the covenant which was four hundred and thirty years
before the giving of the law, enfeebles the argument for infimt
baptism rather than strengthens it ; if it be not entirely fatal to it.

PARENTS AND CHILDREN,

" Parents and children were brought into the visible church.''
It was so once. It ought to be so uow. Thus do Pasdobaptists
argue. And then it is inferred, that Baptists inflict a great injury
upon their children, in refusing to conform to this constitution.
It is even said, that as uncircumcised children were cut off from

* See p. 9.

CrilCUMCISION AND RAPTISM.

tlic Israolitish people, so the children of Bjiptists are cut oflf from
covenant nicrcieb. I ask, therefore, what is meant by an insinu-
ation like this r Does the rite of infant baptism confer regene-
rating grace? By no means! says the author of the propositions
considered in these pugts, while many of his Paedobaptist brethren
here concur with him, ^\ oil, then, I would further ask, adapting
to my present purpose some (|uce'tions once asked by Paul, as cited
above, — " What advantage then hatli the [Pajdobaptist] ? or
what profit is there of [infimt baptism]?" If New Testament
precedent in relation to the ordinances were here considered, it
ought at least to confer a right to the Lord's Supper ; since in that
book we uniformly find baptism and the J ord's Supper iu imme-
diate association. The Greek Church, after its fashion, follows
this precedent, while giving both baptism and the communion to
unconscious infants. But Paedobaptist churches nearer home
withhold the Lord's Supper from multitudes whom they baptize ;
while JBaptists, after the manner cf tlie New Testament, always
unite the two ordinances. But now, if baptized infants are neither
regenerated by their baptism, nor admitted through their baptism
to the Lord's Supper, wdiat does (Jieir baptism do for them more
than the v^ovz-baptism of our little ones? Does it entitle them to
any earnest practical care for their salvation, which the children of
Baptists may not, and do not receive? Does it place within their
reach any evangelical promises which the children of Baptists may
not claim as theirs also ? If not, from what covenant mercies are
these unhappy children cut off', to which the children of Pjedobap-
tists have access? Still is it said, " There is great virtue in
obeying the commands of God?" Doubtless it is so; and that,
it may cheerfully be conceded, whether we can perceive the rea-
son of those commands, or not. As we have it, Ps. xix. 11. " In
keeping of them there is great reward." But then, it may fairly
be added, that that virtue must be exceedingly subtle and impal-
pable, — oh ! who shall search it out ? — which is as much within the
reach of those who disobey the commands of God art of those who
keep them. And yet, if infant baptism be a command of God, we
have still to learn what anti-Psedobaptists lose by their disobedience
to that command — a disobedience remarkable alike for its depth of
principle, and its incurable obstinacy. We Baptists think we have
seen the blessing of God, in many ways, upon ourselves, our breth-
ren, and our fathers; and many others have seen it too, and have
cheerfully owned it. And yet, if our Paedobaptist brethren are
right, we have been living for ages in disobedience, and are noto-
riously and incorrigibly disobedient down to this day. Strange
obedience theirs, which brings with it no special blessing. And)

18 CIRCUMCISION AND IJAVTISM.

on our part, a fHsobo<1ionoo as strange, wliicli In-iiiirs witli It no ap-
preciable penalty. When Moses, in the case; of his seeond son,
had failed in his obedience to the law of eircunicision, — as the re-
cord is given us Ex. iv. 24 — 2(5. — he was severely chastised for
his neglect. How is it, iv we too, as anti-l'jodobaptists, are guilty
as he was, that our neglect entails upon us no marks of the l>ivine
displeasure ?

INFANT BAPTISM IN THE NEW TESTAMENT !

VI. It was afllirnied, under the proposition last considered, that
" through all ages, down till the apostles, ])arents and children
were brought into the visible church." It is farther maintained,
under a sixth proposition, that " the apostles followed this JJivine
order in admitting, persons to the church of Christ."

WIIKRE IS THE RECORD OF THIS ?

But where is this on record ? Are we referred here to the
household baptisms of the New Testament? Is it argued, that
surely there were infants in these househokb? ; and that these, as
a portion of them, must have participated in the household bap-
tism ? I have only to repeat here, what has so often been said
before. We have four cases of household baptism in the Gospel
history. There is the household of iiydia, composed of "• brethren,"
whom Paul and Silas *' comforted" before they left l?hilii)pi.
There is the household of the Philippian jailor — a " believing"
and a "rejoicing" household. There is the household of Crispus
at Corinth, whose members, with many of the Corinthians besides,
"heard, believed, and were baptized." And there is the house-
hold of Stephanas, who " addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints." Acts xvi. 15, 32 — 34, 40. xviii. 8. 1 Cor. i. IG. xvi. 15.
There mir/ht have been infants in some of these households. But
certainly they were not among the baptized ; since such members
of them as were baptized are so described as to shew that they
were believing adults ; in which character alone they were admitted
to the holy baptismal rite. Thus there is nothing in these house-
hold baptisms to sustain the conclusions which our Paidobaptist
friends would fain derive from them.

" CORROBOIIATIVE EVIDENCE."

VII. The attempt to find infant baptism in the New Testament
is aided by a reference to certain passages which are supposed to
supply " corroborative evidence" looking in that direction.

CHILDREN BROUGHT TO CHRIST.

There is Mark x. 13 — 16. We need scarcely cite the familiar
and beautiful record. But now, what have we here ? We hear

CIUC^UMCISION AND HArTISM.

the words of Clirist, — " SuflVv {]\v. little cliildrcn to como unto mo."
Wo iiiMik wliiit tollowiMl upon these words. The little oikjs wero
brou^dit to the Siiviour. And wh:it did he do with them ? i)id
he l)!i})tize them ? Surely it" he had done .so, the evuuf^elist would
liavo told UH so. ]Jut what did the Saviour do? "He took" the
little ones " up in his amis, jnit his hands upon them, and
blessed them." That was all. Jt is elear that he did nof bnptizo
them. Has any painter of this touchiiiir story presumed to turn it
into a story of ba))tism ? The theologians argue about it as though
it were such a story. IJut no painter, no matter what his views
on the bajjtisnial ({ucstion, has ever thought lit, I believe, to put
the tluiologieal assunq)tion uj)on his canvass. No ! infant baptism
finds no support iierc. For let us look now at ver. lo. in the nar-
rative of Mark. " Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not re-
ceive the kingdom of (jod as a little child, he shall not enter
therein." Our Lord says nothing, and does nothing that can bo
construed into a sanction for infant baptism. But, as he never
lost an opportunity for sowing the seeds of heavenly truth, he does
take occasion here to inculcate an important spiritual lesson; which
lesson relates rather to the faith of adults than to the baptism of un-
conscious babes. And thus this charming incident in the life of our
Jjor.d, so far as it suggests any thing at all on the subject of baptism,
supports our views as Baptists rather than militates against them.

THE CASE OF ZACCHEUS.

But now there is Luke xix. 9. " This day is salvation come to
this house," — that is, the house of Zaccheus, — " forasmuch as ho
also is a son of Abraham," But how this should testify on behalf
of infant baptism is to me utterly inconceivable. To be sure wo
have " Abraham" here, and " a son of Abraham," and " salvation
come to the house" of this "son of Abraham." And these expres-
sions doubtless suggest to minds duly prepossessed certain ideas
of the Abraliamic covenant, and of the claims of the children of tho
covenant to its signs and seals, and of the participation of the
" house" of this " son of Abraham" in the spiritual heritage of their
fjither. Yet, after all, what should we really seem to have here ?
" Salvation is come to this house." And was it not so? and had
not the whole house a lively interest in the blessed, and mighty,
and manifest change which had occurred in the case of the head
of that house ? And was not this man fitly styled " a son of Abra-
ham," not in the flesh only, but much more in the spirit? the one
having beheld with gladness the day of Christ while yet afar olF;
and the other seeing the day of that Christ as at length arrived,
and having joyfully welcomed him, not to his house only, but also

20 ciRCiDirrsiON and BArTis:^.

to his heart. Whlcli simplo Scriptural ('X])lan!itions would soom
to briuf]^ out tho h'adin;^ thou^^hts iuvolviMl iu our JiOrd's words
hero, without any supposition of rocoudito n't'crencos to tlie doc-
trino of infant baptism, or of believers' baptism, or of any baptism
at all, unless it were the bapti.sm of the Holy Spirit.

TETKH'S rKNTKC'OSTAL SEllMOX.

Still there is the exhortation addressed to the three thousand on
the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. .'58 — 10, " lie ba})ti/('d, every one
of you," says Peter. And tiien he subjoins this encourairement,
— " For the promise is unto you, and i/oar c/nldrcn,'' Surely that
is decisive on the side of infant baptism. ]}ut let ns look a little
farther, takin*:; in the e(mnection of these words: — " Kepent, and
be baptized, every one of you, in the name of J(!sus Christ,, for the
remission of sins ; and ye shall receive tlu^ f^ift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is unto you, and your children, and to all that are
afar off, even as many as the Lord our God sJudl call.'''' J)o not
these words speak for themselves ? The " children" here are evi-
dently such as are capable of being " called" — repentant, beli(!vin,ir,
fitted to receive spiritual gifts. Alas! for the autliority of infant
baptism, if it is to be deduced from a passage like this !

HOLY CHILDREN.

Finally, here, the passage, 1 Cor. vii. 14. is adduced as a wit-
ness on behalf of infant baptism. Thus it reads : — " The unbe-
lieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife
is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean ; but
now are they holy." The passage is a difficult one. The key to
it lies in the meaning to be assigned in it to the word " holy." The
word is used in different senses. Thus Moses speaks of the Isra-
elitish nation as " a holy nation." They were set apart for holy
uses — to uphold the worship of the One Holy God in the midst of
an idolatrous and unholy world. Thus as a nation they were " holy"
in the absence of personal holiness ; though, meanwhile, there were
among them many truly pious and holy individuals. In the pas-
sage before us the idea of holiness seems to be associated with that
of legitimacy. The Corinthian believers had conceived the notion,
that it was unlawful for Christian people to maintain the married
relation with idolatrous partners. They seemed to think, as Dr.
Cramp remarks,* " that marriage was dissolved when either of the
parties embraced Christianity. Change of religion severed the
marriage tie. This," proceeds the doctor, " was denied by the
apostle Paul; and he directed the parties to live together, encou-

♦ In his Catechism of Chnstian Baptism.

ciRcmicisroN and BAmsM.

racrinj^ tlio holioving ono to liopo tlio best from tlio exorcise of re-
ligious influences. A hohj marriage, — so he argued, — being a.
marriage contracted inalawfid manner, tlie issue of such marriage
is Ao/y; that is, hnvful. IJut if the change of religion in one of tlie
parties rendered tlie marriage ujdawful, then the children of suck
marriage would be unholy — unlawful, 'unclean,' illegitimate."
Now, if the passage before us be thus correctly interpreted, then
there is in it no r(*ferencc to baptism, and no authority for infant
baptism. And indeed nothing can be more ])recarious than the
attempt so often made, — and in the case of infant baptism so no-
toriously made, — to build up conclusions for which there can bo
found no clear, direct, Scriptural authority, upon obscure and
uncertain premises.

INFANT BAPTISM NOT FGIIIUDDEN.

VTIT. In the absence of direct proof as to the practice of infant
baptism in New Testament times, it is pleaded, "Where in the
New Testament is infant baptism forbidden ?"

A DKSI'EUATK QUESTION.

Surely we have here a desperate and fatal question. What sort
of a cause must that be which is driven to a plea like this ? Why,
of all the nmnnnerics of Home, how many arc directly forbidden
in Scripture ? If, moreover, to make any thing unlawful which is
set up for a religious observance, it must be distinctly prohibited
in the Word of (j!od, the " world itself could not contain the books
that should be written ;" and the IJible nmst have been made as
huge and unreadable as the Sti-.tutos at Large. And farther, if a
plea like this were accepted as valid, there remains no reason why
we, as Protestants, should persist in our prolonged and painful
struggle against Kome ; but there is every reason rather why we
should cease from our anti-Papal warfare, and return to that Holy,
Apostolic, Catholic Church whose pale our fathers ought never to.
have abandoned.

I bring my argument to a close with a few tiiactical hintsv
And first, I would say to my readers, Jiarare of false views^ and
improprrfeeUiifjs in regard to the ordinance of baptism. Let no
man trust to his baptism. Nowhere in the New Testament is
there any saving power associated with baptism. Nay, what says
Paul, 1 Cor. i. 17 ? " Christ sent me, not to baptize, but to preach
the Grospel." And again, Horn. i. 16. he describes the " Gospel
of Christ,^' — not baptism, or any other outward ordinance, as " the
power of God unto salvation." So, in 1 John i. 7, we are told,
that it is *' the blood of Jesus Christ," and not baptismal water.

... . '-^^.■.....ui.'.

22 CIRCTOICISION 7\ND liAPTISM.

that *' clcansotli from all sin." And yet airain, in Acts viii. 23.
what says J*cter to Simon i\ran;ns, a baptized man? — "I per-
ceive that thou art in tlie call of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity!" Oli ! what an emphasi."' all this gives to our Lord's
great announcement, " Ye must be born again ! " John iii. 7.
Let no man lose sight of these lessons. He docs so at his ever-
lasting peril.

And let no man plume himself upon his clear, Scriptural views
of baptism. A man, in a certain sectarian, polemical sense, may
be a very good Baptist, and a very poor Christian. No man can
bo saved as a controversialist. Paul, Col. i. 27. speaks of " Christ
ill' the saints — not Christ without them— -nor Christ as a party-
badge, or a party-cry, as at one time among the Cor..ithians, 1
Ep. i. 12. — " Christ in you," he says, " the hope of glory." John
the Baptist tells those who came to It is baptism of " the baptism of
the Holy Spirit," and of Ilim who should administer that baptism;
and thus turns his hearers over from himself to his Lord, and from
all outward baptisms to "the baptism of the Holy Spirit." Let
the advocate of believers' baptism remember these things. Vain
is the clear intellect, vain the vigorous maintenance of liiblc truth
on any point, without the inward, vital ex))erience of that truth,
Let each one, therefore, be concerned, first of all, to become ac-
quainted Avith a " Christ in"" him — to receive a spiritual baptism
from the hands of Christ. Then let baptism in water follow upon
this — be found in its own place — dv) its own work — and bring
with it its own benefits. Let baptism be all this, and do all this ;
hit no more. Thus, and thus only, Avill Scriptural views of baptism
be sanctified to him who holds them. Apart from this, the clearer
the view, the hotter the zeal, the fiercer the contention on the bap-
tisnml dogma, or on any other Bible dogma, the greater the guilt
here, and the deeper the condemnation hereafter.

2. Next, I would adopt Paul's warning, ]*hil. iii. 2. " Jhirare of
the concision /" So the apostle styles the Judaizing teachers, the
first troublers of the first churches. They claimed to be "the
circumcision." Nay, says Paul, they are " the ro?icision," not
"the crrcM/Ncision."* They cut of their brethren; they divide
the church into parties ; and introduce into it snarlings, and
every evil work. Wherefore "beware of dogs; beware of evil
workers; beware oi the concision.'" The epistle to the Galatians
amply justifies the epithets which the apostle here applies to these
men; as maybe seen by a reference to Gal. iii, 1 — .'>, iv. 10, 16,
17. V. 15 — 17. vi. 12, 13. With his eye upon such men, and such

* Kata^ovmc, not v^witome.

CmCUMCISION AND BArTIS3I.

things as thcso, -well niia'ht tlio apostle warn his beloved Philip-
pians to " beware of tlu! concision."'

But now, have v:r no " concision ?" — no followers of these an-
cient Judaizing teachers, Avith their victims among the Galatians?
Is it too much to say, that the leaven of this ancient " concision"
is to be found in all P^edobaptist communities ? Among these,
as among those, there is a going back to Closes for their rite.
Many a ceremony beside is also imitated from Moses. Meanwhile,
and more deeply to be deplored, many have "fallen from grace,"
and lost the doctrine of salvation by grace, while leaning to the law
of works. And as to the " works of the flesh," including the dis-
position to " bite, and devour," and persecute, are there not Pa3-
dobaptist communities in which such things notoriously exist? I
ao not say, that all PaBdobantist bodies lie open to these charges
in their full force. ]5ut I do sr.y, that the carnal principle of infant
baptism bears in its bosom the germs of all these things: and that
the history of Pajdobaptist bodies supplies many a sad illustration
of the development of those germs in all their poisonous potency.
Of course I ])oint here, first of all, and chiefly to llome.'^' iVnd
while Home continues such as she is, and while infant baptism
abides at the heart and centre of her system, I surely have a right
-, y to say, giving a new point to the old apostolic warning, " Beware

of dogs ; beware of evil workers ; beware of the concision ! "
3. Lastly, I turn to the passage in the epistle to the Philippians,
which follows immediately upon this warning, cli. iii. 3. and com-
mend it to the deep and serious regard of all who bear the Baptist
name. Thus it rea'ls : — " For w are ihc. circvmckion ; who wor-
ship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh." Here, once more, " the circumcision of
Christ" comes before us — that spiritual circumcision of which the
fleshly circumcision was l)ut a type. This circumcision, moreover,
comes out in contrast with " the concision" denounced in the pre-
ceding verse. It is as if the apostle had said, " While they who
claim to be of the circumcision usurp a name to which they have
no right, we would put in our claim to that name, as inter])reted
into a spirit' al and Christian sense. Wa who worship God in the
Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh, — WE are the circumcision, and not these usurpers," Here,
now, is a circumcision against which, as l^aptists, we would by no
means protest. On the contrary, we would even dare to place
ourselves, though with all humility, by the side of Paul, with his

* See liere an excellent little book, issued ])v the American Baptist
Publication Society, entitled, '' Infant Baptism a Part and Pillar ot
Popery. By JouN Gill, D. D."

24:

CIRCUMCISION AND BAFTISM.

Philippian brethren, and aver that we too, in the spiritual sense —
we too are the circumcision. We profess to have been " born
again" — to have been " circumcised with the circumcision made
without hands." It is upon the soundness of this our profession
that we found our claim to the baptismal rite, and to a place in
the church of Christ. And so we claim to be " the circumcision.'*
Here, therefore, I would make my appeal to the consciences
and hearts of my fellow-Baptists. Let us see to it, brethren, I
would say, that, by the grace of God, we " walk wortliy of the vo-
cation wherewith we are called." So shall we best vindicate our
profession. We shall bring true honour to the great name in
which we have been baptized. We shall win the confidence of
the saints. We shall command the respect of the ungodly. We
shall stand out in acknowledged contrast with the " dogs," the
" evil-workers," the " concision" of the apostolic age, and of all
succeeding ages. Wo shall be a " people prepared for the
Lord;" among whom he will deign to dwell, and by Avhom he will
graciously work. We shall hurl ruin upon Babylon, and all Ba-
bylonish structures. Yea, we shall usher in the glories of the
millennial jubilee. In which glories we shall bear no inconspi-
cuous part ; while yet v/e take no praise to ourselves, but ascribe
all to Him to whom alone all praise belongs.

FINIS.

■ ;

; V

• ■■:;,

iJ*.

Ztatel^ published i by the same Author:
^ ' I^nce 11,00.

THE PATEIARCH OF WESTERN NQVA SCOTIA.
LIFE AND TIMES " OF THE LATE REV.
HARRIS HARDING, YARMOUTH, N. S.
Compiled by the Rev. JOHN DAVIS, of Chak-

LOTTETOWN, P. E. I. • WiTH AN INTRODUCTION, BY

J. W. NUTTING, Esq., op Halifax. Followed
by an Appendix, and a Selection ol' Letters.

Sold by Mrs. Bremner, Charlottetown ; S. Selden,
Halifax; Rev. W. G. GoucHEit, Yarmouth; and
Rev. J. Spencer, St. John.

commendations;

" The Baptists of Nova Scotia ar^ much indebted to Mr.
Pavis for the publication of hi» aceeptabW voliune . It is not only
well ' got up' e3cternally. but in a ivterar^' po5nt of view is irorthy
of high commendation for the clettme»s and force of its style.
The religious reader, especially of theiiuiulsterial class, cannot
but be instructed and edified by the peifiisal." Rev. Dr. Cramp.

" Mr. Davis has, with a faithfiil hand, given just promi-
nence to the revival feature in the life of Mr. Harding Not

a few, I am assuredf will be glad to ^ee the memoir so happilj'
introduced by the aged brother who is known to have alwaj-s
felt an ardent attachment to the excellent pioneers in the raising
of our churches in this country.*' siev, Dr. Cuawley.