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TO WHICH IS ANNEXE]) HIS FOUR REASOxNS FOR BAPTISING INFANTS By RICHARD COTTON. '* Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason Of the hopt that i» in you, with meekness and fear. — Peter. " l^t your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how to answer every man."- -Paul. " A serpent by the way, an adder in the path that biteth the horse heel, sq that his rider shall fall backward. "--Gen. CHARLOTTETOWN : Printed by James D, Haszard, Print - to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty 1846. 1 !■; i* I i mmmauB'smimi^l^mm -K II INTPODIJCTION. In pi(,'$"iitiiiy luy Reasons to the public, 1 believe tliat, wuhouv ^uile, I have unbosomed the sentiments of my heart, and [ believe that they are in accordance with the Divine mind as recorded in the Bible. 1 never should have divulged my views on tlie subject by this means, did I not think that " the signs of the times" demanded them, and that it would be sinful in me to retain them. They are written in a plain and undisguised manii(>v, and not with a design ta offend any one, though pro- I)ab]y .some will be offended, because such is the natural con- •sequence of the development of truth. I have been told that '^ the Fcdo-baptists had no Scripture to stand on;'' that " the Baptists had;'' that ''1 should yet be a Haptisl,^' and in order that such might be the case, the Baptists have reasoned with me— presented such passages of Scripture to me, as they thought bore directly on the point ; furni.shed me with arguments adduced by the ablest writers of the day on the subject : among their great champions were the Rev'ds. A. (Jrawford, Wm. Jackson, and a recent work by C. Tupper. which was warmly recommended by the Association. In these works I found some good grain, but of chaff, more abundantly ; a great deal for the head, and the support of a conjectural fabric, but little for the heart ; the Scriptures in some places glossed over with the opinions of men ; other passages wrongly con- strued ; and sometimes the traditions of men substituted for the word of God. Upon the whole, I am led to believe that such «ectaiian works have done more harm to the cause of God than good. " How vain arc all such .shades ; how false and yet how fair." Without something more substantial,— viz. hohne.^s of heart — we never shall see the Lord. \ b ^n (^ !V IN'TRODLCTION. r„„„| ,„ ,„v Wlk. Book, anTlT". .lo„c. I hope .hat tlu.o. „,n • fo - ...t I h.ve oo„™..o..ed a„J eo„„le«d 0,Co ;::: -e „f .. uo. .h. ...... ^ ,.^ ,„ ..e^A^. 1 n„ VUi-ili from a wratbiul Anao. iviiu%^u„ .,, ,..,„oa .,.o,„i.a.k o„ f '-"■■-«?-;;-;;!,'■ %;:ea ::::;:,!:t:n;:,i;ui:^n";:.wi...^e,eo™o,a„d«>.. ",rtl> con ,1,0 ir-oll.ors tremble .. .l..i.e Ol-peava co. .eaae. iVo,„ lumsolf-ftom s.,.de. ,as. ,n.^ .»^ -^e ^^ ,0 .les.,s, a„,l .l,ro„gl. lum toheu von. »'■'>- „„,, „Uh dmno .Mom. -ana Ac .eader w, 1 1. f , _^^^ may we at last moot in Ucarai, i» .h liu>e> Amenantl Amen. Cnion RoaJ, tict. 53, WW- ■mam 'riiiRTV Reasons roit noi slbmitting to Immersion AS BEING THE CHRISTIAN MODK OV BaPTISM. I. 1 love the Bible and profess to adhere to its pre* cepts in preference to every other book ; believing it contains the whole will of God, and that it is admi- rably adapted to guide me through all the chequered scenes of life to the haven of Lternal repose, and that at the last day all my actions will be tested by it, whether they are good or bad. II. I was baptized with water when an infant and in favour with God : and I can see no more necessity for a re-baptism with the same material, now at the age of maturity, when I am by repentance and faith re-united to Christ my living head, thr i the Baptists can see for not re-immersing a member of their cliurch who may have backslidden so far as to embrace infidel principles, when restored to the church again. In fact: to inforce the re-baptism of water as a type, in consequence of a real restoration by faith to God, is to enforce it not only twice or thrice, but as often ns we go astray and return again, probably, times innumerable ; then we must every day be baptized with, or in water, and some days several times in the day. a 3 TUHATISK OX IJAPTISM. III. i never saw a sinner when under conviction, nor u i)er.son on liis death-bed, lament that he was not immersed in water ; and I think if it was of such vast importance as the Baptists wish to make it : the H^ly Spirit that convinces of sin would also im- press the mind with its necessity. IV. The Baptists tell me thr.t immersion in water was the onlv melhod for initiating members into the visible church in the primitive days of cliristianity : if so. what scriptural account have we of any church l>ein£? based on such principles ? Were the Roman, the Corinthian, the Galatian, the Epiiesian, the Phi- lipian or the Collossian Churches based on such an iivi)othesis as tliis ? They were all baptized in Christ, in Christ's death, were any of them immer- sed in water ? From what book, or what chapter, or wliat verse can it be proved ? V. 'j'heir misinterpretation of scripture, applying suc!i passages as have a direct reference to spiritual baMism, to water ; and thus destroying iheir spiritual import, such as 1st— Mark 16, 16.— Rom. 6 4.-- Kph. 4, 5.-Gal. 3, 27.-Col. 2, 12.-Peter 3 2 . -list Cor. 12, 13 ; 2d, other passages which allude to the same object, so far as we can judge from tre context, are likewise dragged over, and screived in lo substantiate a system of conjecture such as Acts 2, j>3«41;-_3d metamorphosing some of the simple narrations of scripture to God's command, such as Acts. 8. 3 S— 10, 4T. TREATISE ON BAPTISM. vr. As Air ns I can judge from tfio many furgc and learned volumes written in favour of immersion, and the verbal arguments adduced by its abettors, tiie Baptists base their immersion oninference. mere con- jecture or thinking, for they iiave ne^er yet given from the bible, a single instance of any one having been immersed in water, nor any command for it. VI!. The Baptists think that John administered baptie?m by immersion,-^Christ was baptized with water, thev say immersed, we are to follow Christ : therefore, be immersed, plunged, dipped in water as they say he was; now for various reasons,! think diflerently. Among the most prominent are, 1st. The learnedy when i:ot influenced by prejudice or party zeal, both among the Baptists and Pedobaptists inform us that the word Baptism can be applied with as equal pro- priety, or superior authority to ablution and sprink- ling, as to immersion. 2d, John lived under the old dispensation — Jiis baptism loas not Christian Bap- tism, Acts 19, 4,— but typified the Christian Bap- tism : if so then it could not be by immersion, but by pouring or sprinkling, for we frequently read of the Holy Spirit being applied in the form of the latter, but not a solitary instance of the former. 3d, for a believer in Christ, whose conscience has been sprinkled by his all cleansing blood to submit to immersion in water because they think John did — constitutes a complete paradox — going backwards and not forwards ; ai.d when the ablest writer that ever wrote in favour of immersion, can adduce no stronger proof than " it appears to me'' — " it must he so''—'' I think so," &c. &c. &c., I think it as well to have nothing to do with it. Tuf.-VTisr. ON n.v prit^M. VIII. Ainon.' th>- ma»v ll.ousands that were baptized o.i .he dav Sf I'enticost, and afterwards m the Chr.slm.. dsoenLtn,tl>erei^only one solitary instance ». recorded ir. l.o New Testament of a person gmng r;«o".-o«(e,-, and that U the Et no,»an Lu- I K..f whpther he was immersed or not, nono ""f '■ ^^ it tl" baptist, think so ! ! However ZJylo'dot into the .oater an,l co,ne up out of the water without being dipped m it . IX. Their flvins ffom one subterfuge to another to obtain son^ething to substantiate their system, and nelers andingo^n the same base, is another .nstanee of the weakness of their cause : hence, .f we go w.tl, them to the bible they cannot P-- ^he'r doctr ne without equivocation ; then there is reference to Gmft Zd Hebrew by the whole of thein, the most d iterate us to love each other. X. Inconsoquenceofthese words '^wo are buried with h.m in baptisin mto dea h, J^"'"; ?'/'i„ ,fce ;,y ;»r£. "Si/:-. ?£.,■;- TREATISE ON BAPTISM. 9 some by embalming, some deposit in vaults, some inter, some hang up the body until the flesh decays. It is true the scriptures speak of the '^burial of an ass'/' Would the Baptists wish me to be so buried ? Or do they wish me to be buried alive " in the Hferential. XHI. I am extremely sorry to say that I have witli grief — particularly after a revival among the Pedo- baptists — witnessed a proselyting, sectarian, self- conceited disposition, manifested by the Baptists ; Scripture-coined, viz., — '' believe and be baptised ;" largvi volumes written — others censured and con- demned for want of Scripture to stand on — consi- dered dishonest for keeping back part of the truth ; " preaching only a part of the Gospel;" '' prejudiced," "idolaters," ''destitute of judgment ;" unrighteously 10 TREATISE ON BAPTIS^E. denominated " fools,*' " illiterate;" thus arrogating to themselves all positive Scriptural-honesty — holy in- tegrity impartially learned and christian meri." And when all is summed up, as F have before said, the Baptist cannot find one solitary unequivocal passage whereon to rest his foot ; if he has obtained a proselyte or two at the expence of another's loss, is he any belter afterwards than before ? — a Believer before — no more afterwards ! — a Christian before ; no more afterwards 11 — happy in a Saviour's par- doning love before ; no more afterwards !!! What then has he gained by all this ado ? His own con- cession answers nothing! Reason answers no- thing ! so then there is a solemn nothing perform- ed 11! See Is. '26, 18— St. Paul laboured, " not as one that beateth the air." XIV. In all their polemical works that I have se6n on the subject of Baptism, I never saw much written in favour of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; it's water, water, loater ; immersion in water; ''in the liqcAd grave,'' &^c. ." I " be ye all of one mind and of one judgment." — But I do not see the Baptists, as a body or church, adhere to these plain imperative duties more tena- ciously than others do. There are likewise many other plain precepts enjoined on us by all the autho- I'ity of Deity, through the New Testament too, that might as well never have been translated from the original Greek, for all the practical effect that such have upon many of the most approved and accre- dited members of the Baptist Church. I will notice a few only : — "After this manner therefore, pray ye, Our Father which art in heaven," &c ; Mat. 6, 9. '' Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss ;'- 1 Thess. 5, 26. " If I then your Lord and Master have washed your ket, ye ought also to wash one ano- ther's feet;" John 13, 4. "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things, that ye abstain from meat offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled," &c.; Acts, 15, 28, 29. Now, who ever heard the Baptists pray in accordance with Christ's given mode ? Or who would undertake to prove it to be their uniform practice to wash one another's feet, or to greet the brethren with a holy kiss ? Or who can attest that they conscientiously abstain from things strangled ? &c. If one talks with them on the impropriety of " paying tithes of mint, anise and cummin;" and omitting the w^eightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy and faith, — ''of strain- ing at gnats and swallowing camels ; and of the great sin of annoying other christian societies— getting people out of their beds by night to coax them to be dipped in water ; of haunting Pedo- baptists whilst going to, at, and from the house of prayer ; assailing sober people on the high road, and in private houses ; of getting carriages to carry them to the tuater, and attendants to wait on 1-2 TREATISE ON BAPTISM. them until they get into the water to he made thorous:h christians— thus '' compassing sea and land lo make a proselyte/' their equivocations, pre- varications and conjectural sectarian traditions, obvi- ously demonstrate that they know better what to leave undone, what to do, and how to do it, than God the Father. God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, in His infinite wisdom, could possibly direct. XVI. The Baptists are very urgent to get believers ini- mersed in water on the ground of its being their imperative duty to obey "whatsoever God has commanded them." They also urge the pre-emi- nency of their baptism by immersion, in the aposto- lic commission, Matt. 28, 19, " Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; but unless I put on a pair of Baptist Spectacles, I can- not see a word of " immersion in water" in the com- mission ; neither do I see the least sign of a com- mand to that effect in any other part of the Bible. XVH. I never knew a person soundly converted to God among the Pedobaptists, but had lost his way, hiis spiritual eye dimmed, the lively, happy enjoyments that he experienced when first converted gone, and his poor soul in misery and darkeness, ere he commenced to speculate on the barren regions of fancJ, or submit to such a low, futile, irrational, and unscriptural means of obtaining favour with his God. XVHI. The burden it imposes. The apostles considered circumcision " a burthen which neither they nor their fathers could bear." But in comparison with TREATISE ON BAPTISM. 13 immersion in cold water it is light. In the circum- cision of a child it was easily accomplished, there was no danger either of its health or life, but not so in all cases with immersion ; in the Torrid Zone to obtain water is frequently very difficult, holes have sometimes to be dug many feet in the sand, &.c. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions holes have to be dug through ice, and then the poor deceived, shivering, affrighted creature is dipped in to satisfy him who cannot shew, from either scripture or reason, not- withstanding all his inflated bravado, why he did so. Christian modesty and probably the health and life (and not the sins) of the immersed are likevyise taken away. I wonder in the great day of reckoning, when the immersed, probably the murdered, comes to meet the immerser at the bar of God, whether lie will be heard singing his hackneyed song against the Pedobaptists^ "who hath required this at your hand?' XIX. I wish to be honest, and to pay a proper regard to the rights of the religious Society from which, under God, I am indebted for all the spiritual benefits that 1 enjoy. How then shall I act, when I see men recklessly breaking the royal Law of Love, as ex- pressed in the New Testament — Matt. 22, 3— " thou shah love thy neighbour as thyself," — med- dling with other christian societies ; zealously stealing by their wheedling, plausible, thinking arguments, new-born babes. I see in the New Testament — Rom. 13, 9 — " thou shalt not steal ;" and with pain of mind, read John 10, 10 — " the tiiief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." Can I treat them with a hearty cordial reception as Chris- tian brethren in the ministry, or with timidity and fear, lest they will " beguile the unstable, and lead them out of the way ? " There was a time when I b * 1 * 11 TREATISE ON BAPTISM. delighted in the society of the Baptists, and consider- ed them in possession of that disinterested love which "envieth not;" '' that seeketh not her own." But being repeatedly disappointed and insulted with their church-robbings v^nd water-dippings, I shrink with aversion, disgust, and horror from the very name of the " watery element—'' the liquid grave, in which they take such unbounded delight 11! XX. Their dissimulations, when endeavouring to secure the good will and assistance of the Pedo-baptists,— they would fain persuade us, that they lay but very little if any stress on Immersion. They seem to view it as of too small importance, to employ their time, tongues, eyes, or ears about ; they bay their only object is to save the souls of men ; they would hardly turn over a straw to make converts to their peculiar sentiments; in some cases they express themselves as quite tired and sick of the subject ; that they wish to hear no more about it ; but this is only when they are opposed and puzzled : get them into private conversation, or where their argu- ments will tell without rebuke, and one would suppose that Pedo-baptists were without a scriptu- ral idea in defence of their measures, and that to descend into the water was absolutely essential to their finally ascending into the Kingdom of God— they will soon drop one of their sectarian proselyting books and reason by the day and night too with the ill-informed, to induce him to enter their church through the door called " the watery grave: XXI. Making void their supposed command of God, if their conscience does not enforce it. Thus they say, ic j)q y,gt do if'-—" It's as in to do it, if you do not ligh TREATISK ON BAPTISM. 15 onsider- ;e which n." But ed with I shrink the very ! gravBy^ lit to secure iptists, — but very seem to loy their say their ey would 3 to their ' express I subject ; but this zled : get heir argu- me would a scriptu- nd that to sential to of God— )roselyting o with the eir church xve." of God, if s they say, yoxt, do not -I feel it your duty ;" thus substituting their consci- ence for their guide, or rule of conduct, in lieu of the inspired volume. If it is a command, it is plainly laid down, and imperatively enjoined, and there is no going to heaven without adhering to it. Mat. v, i7-lS; 1 John, ii, 4. XXII. Their non-satisfaction with our version of the Bi- ble, when they say, -'That every thing requisite to prove their doctrines arc in it." If so, why not re- main satisfied with it ? Why make such strife and division to get another Baptist Bible at such an enormous expence ? XXIII. Their want of charity. They will professedly give the right hand of christian fellowship to certain Pedo-baptists,— sit at the Lord's Table with them — |)teach in their pulpits, and apparently sit with de- light to hear some of the Pedo-baptists preach — and jet not admit, that very preacher, or any other of the Pedo-baptists at the Lord's Table with them, although his moral character is unimpeachable, simply be- cause he cannot conscientiously " lay aside the com- mandments of God" — •' hold the traditions of men," and submit to a thinking command, in being dipped in the " liquid grave.'' XXIV. 1 think it quito probable, that as the happy millen- nial day approximates, when we shall " see eye to eye," as God would have us see, these external shades that occasion such discussion and dissention among Christians, will be reflected on with grief, and we shall be found " provoking each other to love and good works." The Lord in mercy hasten the time. I ""^^^^HWW' w TREATISE OX BAPTISM. XXV. Their attempts to disjoin tliat, that God has put together, viz : the Cfiurch in the old and the new Dispensations, and the Word of God, as found in the Old and the New Testaments. In conversing with tlie Baptists on ihe oneness of the cliurch in tlie old and the new dispensations — although the glory of the former was dim when compfired with the glory of the latter— and in speaking of the Prophe- tic expressions and symbols made use of by them to represent the glory of the Christian Churchy and ])articularly such as have reference to the Holy Ghost, its mode of administration as expressed in Is. 52, 15, " So shall he sp 'inkle many nations ;" Ez. 26, 25. "then will I sprinkle de^n water upon you;" Ps. 72, 6, " he shall come down like rain," " as showers Xh^i water the earth ;" Hos. 10, 12, "till he rain righteousness upon you ;" Ps. 110,3, " thou hast the dew of thy youth ;" Hos. 14, 5, " I will be as the dew to Israel;" Mic. 5, 7, "as a dew from the Lord," " as showers upon the grass ;" Prov. 1, 23, " I will pour out my spirit ;" Is. 44, 3, " 1 will pour water upon him that is athirst ;" Joel 2, 28,. '- 1 will pour out my spirit ;" Is. 23, 15, " till the spirit be poured on us." — They will redden in the face, and soon speak in contempt of the Jewisli Church, — '• that it is done cavay," &c., and the Old Testament as though we had nothing to do with it either, it is the " ±\eiv Testament;' nothing but the New Testament that they build their all upon. Now the New Testament commands us to read the dd, see John 5, 39, 2 Peter, 1, 19-21. " The Be- i-eans ivere mor^ noble than the Thessalonians, because they searched the Scriptures," Acts 17. And I never read or heard of any oiher Scriptures but these found in the Old Testament, unless \t be TREATISE ON BAPTISM. n has put the new ■Qund in nversing liurch in )ugh the with the Piophe- them to chy and le Holy ed in Is. is;" Ez. on you;" w," "as 12, "till 3, " thou I will be ew from Prov. 1, , " 1 will )el 2, 28,. " till the en in the e Jewisli \ the Old io with it g but the all upon. » read the ' The Be- sa)onians, Acts 17. Scriptures iless it be the Scriptures of Mahommed, or Mormon, or some others of the same cast. The New Testament is truly good, very good, but it is not complete in it- self, it is based on the Old Testament, hence it re- fers us to the old to substantiate its sacred trutlis. The Christian Church is good, truly good, but we should never forget that it is based on that churcli that is too much disgraced by many, viz : the Jewish Church. But why should the Baptists attempt to disjoin the Bible and the Church ? Answer — " their craft is in danger ;" they know that if tliese remain as God has wisely left tliem, their wliole fabric of water is on rejection of ciiildren,. and tumbles in atoms around their ears in an instant. XXVI. Their inconsiaiencies. The learned profess to adhere to the idea that the most illiterate imbibe, when they read these passages that they ihink re- late to immersion in water, though they had previ- ously put him to look through their spectacles at prepositions, Baptizoes, &c. ; and yet they build mucii on Hebrew, Greek, and History ; establish Colleges, and expend property to disseminate useful learning, which is certainly an inconsistency. If ignorance is the best interpreter of Scripture, and the mother of devotion, surely the more ignorance the better. Then why not tiie most learned submit his jndgment, on these tilings, to the igiiorant rustic who follows the plough ? XXVII. Where the water-immersers do not go, Ineversec the Bible readers and the prayerful students trouble themselves much about going into the water as a duty enjoined on them by God, particularly if their b3 * TUK-insE ON BAPTISM. I souls arc happy in the Lord. It is only where the Tnimersers go, and spiriiuaUty of mind is at a low- ebb, that such is the case, and yet they say that the Neiv Testament alohe teaches them. Tliose who have a mind to belie e such assertions may, but it will never be me. xxvin. Because Christ " came up out of the water." Tlie Baptists tell us that " we are to be immersed in water" " to follow Christ in every thing." Then why do not they do it ? Why not go up into the Mount and fast forty days and forty nights ? Christ did. Why not go to Jerusalem (or elsewhere) and offer the requisite offerings enjoined by the Levitical law r Christ did, and said " thus it behoveth us to fulfil all righteousness." Why do not they go up into the mount and pray, sometimes all night? Christ did. And why do not the wealthy Baptists give then- property to the poor, and wander about penniless, houseless, and friendless, being " despised and re- jected of men?" Christ did. And then, after wan- dering to and fro, if they base their immersion on the prepositions into and out of, and dare to en force the absolute necessity of being dipped under water because Christ " came u[> out of the water," and the Eunuch " went down into the water," why do not ihey return in^o the place, orwater, where they had been immersed, and dwell there? see John 10,40. And if they follow Christ in every thing, why do no-t they get literally crucified because Christ wasr Surely there is more plain scripture for crucifixion on the cross than for immersion in water 1 The Baptists can never expect me, or any other rationally thoughtful person, to submit to their commands, unless they practice what they profess, viz : " To *;cllow Clirist in every thing 1 1 1" TIIKATISR ON BAPTISM. 10 3re the a low- hat the se who ly, but kvater." 3rsed in en why Mount •ist did. id offer ;al law ? to fulfil up into Christ ive their jnoiless. and re- :er wan- rsion on ► en force er water and the / do not Lhey had 1 10,40. ly do no-t ist was r ucifixion r I The rationally mmands, iz: (( To XXIX. A want of more information on the subject. Every one who knows mo, knows that my cranium is not in possession of too much intellect, neither are my wits overwhelmed with knowledge ; and as the Baptists lay claim to these in abundance, and loudly boast of History, Antiquity, Hebrew, Greek, and are known to raise their /ancief?, towering, consequential brows miles high above tlic Pedo-baptists, until entirely lost in the regions of etiier, and vaunt a great deal about " thus srith the Lord," ''whatsoever I have coni- inandedyou" and frequently in piteous or oontemp- tous ridicule, vociferates to the poor condemned Pe- do-baptists, ''who hath required thin at your hahdV Now as I desire to submit to be instructed by the inspired volume, and by it alone, I shall be truly thankful if the Baptist will for a moment condescend to come down froin his lofty aerial abode, put on his glasses, take his New Testament, sit down, and in sober mood answer the following queries with a " Thits saith the Lord." Were all the Apostles and primitive Churches Baptists ? If a part of them only were Baptists, what part were they that were dipped in water ? Was it the smallest or greatest in number? Where did these Baptists live ? Was it in Rome, or Corinth, or Galatia ? or where did they reside that we may find them ? Among all the churches, can you show me one that dipped the people in water for Christian baptism ? Was there one solitary individual Baptist to be found among the primitive Christians? What church did he belong to? What church did the Ethiopian Eu-^ nuch belong to ? Please show me from the New Testament. If there were Baptists and Pedo- baptists, did the Baptists reject the Pedo-baptista from the Lord's Table because they had not beeq )iO TREATISE ON BAPTISM. dipped ill water ? As tliere arc a variety of Bap- tists with us, each claiming superiority of wis- clom and infalhbiiity, was it so with them in the Apostolic age ? Were the Free and Sovereign Grace Bai)ti3ts, or the Calvinistic Baptists, or the ArmiiiiiUi Baptists, or the Free-will Ba|)tists, or the Christian, vulgarly called Campbellite Baptists, or the Mornionitc Baptists right ? Fleisc to show me from the '• thus saith the Lord'" who among them is right? As they all telL nie they are right. Did they love each other? did they covet each other's chapel, or had they any chapels at all? What kind of chapels were they ? what size ? Avhat apartments were in them? wliat kind of pulpits and pews had they ? had they Baptistries dug in them, or near them, with steps to descend into the water ? and in the perform- ance of the ceremony of immersion, how was it done? Was the candidate carried into the water, or did he walk in ? Hov deep did they go in the water ? was it to the ancles, or knees, or tlie middle, or neck? What kind of water was it in which they were dip- ped? was it warm, or cold, or clean, or dirty, or salt, or fresh, or stagnant, or running water ? please to show me from '• thus s.nth the Lord." Wiio dipped them ? was it the Minister, or Elder, or Deacon, or a private brother, or did they dip themselves? What was the mode practised ? did they dip forwards, or backwards, or sideways ? How often did they dip ? was it once, or twice, or thrice ? Were tiiey afFused when dipped, or did dipping alone answer ? Were 'dhey simply dipped, or were they washed by fric- tion as well as dipping ? Was there one 'only em- ployed to. dip, O'' where the candidate was strong and powerful, was a second dipper needed ? Were thay dipped in private, or public, or both ? W^as the mode invariably the same in all places, and for all persons, male and female, young and old, sickly or healthy, the delicate lady or the ruddy ploughman f TREATISE ON BAPTISM. 21 When was it done ? wlien first afiected under a ser- mon, or when they confessed faith in Jesus, or were they kept as catechumens and candidates e. month or so first? Was there an individual confession made by eacli in a church meeting, or in private, first, and who decided on the merits of tlie candidate ? Was it the minister, or the congregation, or both ? Was they clothed or naked when dipped? Were the men dressed in black, the women in white, with leads at the bottom of their frocks, or were they all dressed alike ? Did the Minister dress in a particular garb for the occasion ? Did he wear under garments and water-proof boots to keep out the water from his legs? Did they sing, and pray, and lecture on the occasion ? Please to answer these queries from the " thus saith the Lord.''' Querie again, — How did John's baptism typify Christ ? or how long was he baptising about the computed 2,000,000 people? How are we baptised with the Holy Ghost? How does baptism symbolize the crucifixion of Christ, or howwere the 8000 baptised on the day of Pentecost? Again, where is the precise ''thus saith the Lord'' for conducting meetings? Where is the Scripture for commencing the meeting with singing, then pray, then preach, ttc. ? How did the Apostles conduct iheir meetings ? Did they sing Watts's hymns ? What tunes, what choirs, what organs had they ? When was the Lord's Supper administered ? was it weekly, or monthly, or Sabbath days, or Thursday eve? or were females admitted to the table ? Please show me in the New Testament " thus saith the Lord," Again, where is the precise proof for Missionary Meetings? Had the Apostles any ? Did they go out for five shillings per day, and get their regular salary beside ? Did the Ministers wear black cloaks to preach in ? Were some rich, some poor, some high, some low, some showy in dress and equipage, '2-2 TREATISE ON DAPTILM Hi some hardly able to speak to the otiiers, ^c. ? Did the Apostles take a text, then sermonize according to the modern system ? Have they all the custonis and views of the Apostles handed down to them in unbroken succession ? and are our modern Baptists a real/ac simile of the Primitive Christians ? Some hundreds of similar interrogations may with propri- ety be proposed to the Baptists to show a '' thus saith the Lord" from the New Testament for their doings, which may be just and riglit in the sight of God, and the Lord kindly owns and seals their la- bours with his blessing. Tiie Baptists know very well that tiiey cannot give a command or a prece- dent from Scripture for the hundredth part of their doings, and yet they will tauntingly sneer at us for baptizing a child, and tell us •' they see no Scripture for sprinkling a babij:' Oh ! fie ! fie ! my Baptist friend ! Never do so again, until from your New Testament yon can show a " thus saith the Lord /" for your doings. Notwithstanding all thy taunting suc- cess, my heart siill warms towards thee, and in pity must surely retort lliis proverb, ''Fhijsician, heal thy- self," thou therefore which teachest another, teachest tiiou not thyself: thou that preachest amnn should not steal, dost thou steal ?" Paul. As the Baptists must admit that Christ blessed little ciiildren, and as they fault the Pedobaptists for baptizing infants ; thus dedicating tiiem to God ; do they show us abetter wav by tlieir example ? Did any onf ever see a Baptist minister bless a child ? And if they rllL are they conscious that they did it exacily as Ciirist did ? Did they take them in their arms, and use the same words as Christ did ? Or did they use any words at all ? Surely as they profess so much they certainly must expect that we will demand example as high as their profession at their hands ! ere we do as they request. TREATISE ON BAfTTSM. 23 Did XXX. We must all die, and stand at the Judgment-seat of Christ, anJ I very much fear that we shall not hear the soul- -transporting aplaudit, "well done good and faithful servant" for having been zea- lous to extend and establish water immersion, or water ablution, or water sprinkling, as duties posi- tively enjoined on us by God. It is quite probable that our scrutinizing, soul-searching, action-investigating Judge will seek for different fruit, will enquire for the numbc of souls converted to God by us; their spiritual edification and standing in his sight. lili (•2i) FOUR REASONS FOR BAPTISING INFANTS. I. I see no Scripture to forbid it, consequently on law broken. Then it cannot be wrong ! Can it be sinful? The New Testament meets * in in every shape and form; " Where there is no laW there is no trans- gression" Rom 4, 15. '"Sin is not imputed where there is no law"' Rom. 5, 13. Admitting the idea that all our actions are right or wrong, and the Baptism of a child cannot be proved to be sinful; Scripture and reason teach us it is right: it is well known that children had a place in the church from the days of Abraham to the coming of Christ, and received "the sign" accord- ingly though not capable of believing. Children of Three Vears old, entered into the house of the Lord and the children of the priests ate of the most holy things at this early age, see 2 Chron. 31, 10-19. — Children entered into a covenant with the Lord, Deut. 29, 10-13; Josh. 8, 31, 35. It is clear from these passages tiiat children of three years old were members of the Hebrew community both civil and religious, subject to the same purifications, and treat- ed on the ritual principles of their fathers : — Then who has repealed that law afterwards ? Only he who gave the law could repeal it ! Has he done so ? Did he exclude children from the gospel church ? No ! He says quite otherwise " Of such is the kingdom of heaven." Who then has excluded children from the church ? Not Christ '.—Has his apostles ? No,' Peter says," that the promise of the Gospel is made to them !" Acts ii,39. St. Paul says "that the children of believers are holy," 1 Cor. vii. 14. Who then has excluded them ? Neither Christ nor his Apostles, nor any others possessing the same Is ^ TREATISE ON BAPTISM. *>r% \) spirit and principles 1 1 ! The Baptists may exclude them if they think proper by a law of their own ma- king ! without the least sanction of Holy writ ! ! ! But because they do! must I do so too; Must I follow the Baptists and reject children, or follow Christ and his apostles, and his ministers in succeeding ages, who recognize them ! ! ! II. Achild never sinned: consequently has no need of repentance. Christ having atoned for original sm ^he occasion of spiritual bondage and condemnation being the result of unbelief. A cnild never disbe- lieved, consequently has no need of faith, being already free, under no condemnation, no bondage, then it is innocent, a child of God, a resident of his kingdom, an heir of glory according to God s oivn acknowledgment ! Would the church then be justi- fiable in rejecting those whom Christ acknowledges ? T. she not at her peril bound to receive them on the same conditions with which they are recognized by God ? viz : without Repentance ! without Faith. Is there not as much, or more ground to reject a child its food, because it cannot work, as there is to reject it from the visible church because it cannot believe ? The scriptures say : " that if any would not work neither should he eat," 2 Thes. iii. 10. Now if we were to say to the Baptists, why feed your children, they do not work ; as they say to us, why baptize your children they do not believe ? as the case is an- alagous. They would soon answer, " that the com- mand is not given to children, but yet we must feed them or they will starve ! That the parents are to pro- vide for their children, and 'he that provideth not for 26 TREAT ISE ON BAPTISM. hisown, and especially those of his own hous;j; ',\^ hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel, 1 Tim. V. 8. Then if there is a legal, just reason m the latter case why not in the former ? It is a bad rule that will not work both ways! Pity toward* thee mv Baptist friend prevents me, or 1 wouia soon say , " he that dig^eth a pit shall fall therein and whoso breaketh a wall, a serpent shall bite him . ! Ec. X. 8. III. The New Testament informs us that we have fo it the authority of him who has redeemed them with the rest of the world, " forbid them not for of suoh s the kingdom of heaven." Now the ordinance of bapt^m by water is the only method that the church has of admitting a child ( who is already in the mystical church) within her visible pale,and she bases he^r authority on Acts x. 47 and other similar passages, likewise, see Reason I. " who then shall forbid w^ter that those shall not be baptized, which have" [been redeemed and acknowledged by Christ \ " as well as we ? IV. I might find fault, was I wicked enough with many things connected with church government, the bap- t sm of a child or af an adult among the rest ' But dare I find fault with modes and customs established hundreds of years ago by ^od ? and pra^^^^^ ticed in succeeding ages by h»f,^hurch, by the wise t and best of men! truly I should be a quibb er a divi- "onest indeed possessing .reprobate mmd^too many do ! and justly merit the P"«»«hment of Korah Dathanand Abiram, to attempt more wisdom han God, and rectify according to my selfish unscriptural y TREATISE ON BAPTISM. 27 se, he fidel,'" ison in a bad owards would in, and lim I !" ave fo m with )f suoh ance of church in the le bases similar jn shall , which Christ] ideas the practices of his church.— These are my rea- sons for not submitting to immersion in water as being the Christian baptism, and practising infant baptism; in a few crude, plain, candid, comprehensive expressions, originating entirely with myself, inde- pendent of the society to which I form an unworthy part, and for which I expect to incur the displeasure of my Baptist friends, and probably some of my own and other kindred societies, including my brethren in the ministry. But I believe such a work is called for by God, and to him I expect to render my ac- count. Can any one show me a better way ? not as he thinks, but as God thinks and speaks through his word -—Please to show me in plain scriptural terms without any conjecture, and ambiguity, and I will sjbmit with pleasure and delight to be immersed in water the instant it is done. But if not, and I enioy my Bible, my reason, and the love of God in my heart, I hope to be delivered from such watery shadows. Farewell. th many the bap- ng the customs nd prac- le wisest r, a divi- d as too jfKorah, ,om than icriptural r