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INFANT 
 BAPTISM SCRIPTURAL, 
 
 ESPECIALLY AS VIEWED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SCRIPTURE 
 DOCTRINE OF GENERAL REDEMPTION : 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 
 
 REMARKS CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OF THAT HOLY ORDINANCE 
 
 IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 WILLIAM J. ^^HREWSBURY, 
 
 •WESLEYAN MINISTER. 
 
 'Behold! all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of 
 the son is mine ;" Ezekiel xviii. 4. 
 
 ' Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified iri due time ;" 1 Tim. ii. 6. 
 
 LONDON : 
 J.MASON; WHITTAKER & Co.; 
 
 AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 
 1841- 
 
W. H. BLACKBUKN, PKINTEK, BRADFORD. 
 
TO 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN FAMILIES 
 
 ATTENDING 
 
 THE WESLEYAN-METHODIST MINISTRY, 
 
 IN 
 
 THE BRADFORD EAST CIRCUIT, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING WORK 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, 
 • BY 
 
 THEIR CHRISTIAN PASTOR, 
 
 W. J. SHREWSBURY. 
 
 CaiPEL-HotJSE, 
 Eastbeook, July 1st, 1841. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Many books have been written on the subject brought 
 under discussion in the following Treatise ; but the Author 
 has not met with any exactly suited to the circumstances 
 of the people of his charge. And having been requested 
 by several of them to draw up a scriptural and compen- 
 dious account of Christian Baptism, for their instruction, 
 guidance, and comfort, he has cheerfully consented ; and 
 leaves with them this fruit of his labours, accompanied 
 with unceasing prayer for their stability, in all holiness, 
 righteousness, and truth. 
 
 W. J. S. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM SCRIPTUKAL. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 GENEUAL AND INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATlbNS 1 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE POINTS OF DISCUSSION STATED 7 
 
 • CHAP. III. 
 
 INFANTS OUGHT TO BE BAPTIZED, BECAUSE THEY HAVE 
 
 BEEN REDEEMED BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 12 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 INFANTS WERE DEDICATED TO GOD's SERVICE BEFORE THE 
 
 C03IING OF CHRIST 81 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM IS SANCTIONED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 107 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 REMARKS CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 BAPTISM IN Christ's holy church. 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 OF BAPTISM ITSELF 187 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 OF THE ADMINISTRATORS OF BAPTISM ; AND OF THE TIME 
 
 AND PLACE OF ADMINISTRATION 198 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 OF THE MODE OF ADMINISTRATION 204 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 CONCLLDING OBSERVATIONS 231 
 
PART I. 
 INFANT BAPTISM SCRIPTURi^L. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAI, AND INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 In a Treatise of a somewhat controversial nature, pro- 
 fessedly based on the Holy Scriptures, it is of the highest 
 importance, both to the writer and his readers, that they 
 seek in the first place to be thoroughly em bued with that 
 Christian love towards all saints which is every where 
 commanded in the pure word of God. To promote an 
 object so desirable, and so essential to our salvation, there 
 are two portions of the inspired volume that should be 
 constantly kept in view ; the one is St. Paul's beautiful 
 description of Charity, in 1 Cor. xiii, and the other his 
 exhortations to Christian moderation, in Romans, xiv. 
 Influenced by the spirit enjoined in those scriptures* 
 controversy, when a duty, m.ay be entered on without 
 contention, and maintained without asperity. Plain 
 things, bearing hard on an opponent's views or prac- 
 tice, may be advanced, without the slightest feeling of 
 unkindness towards him ; and may be received by him 
 as merely the expression of earnest conviction, and zeal 
 for the truth, without enkindling anger or ill will in his 
 breast. Were religious controversies, when unavoidable, 
 thus managed ; and were they to cease to be religious 
 
2 IXTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 disputes, the world would have no great occasion to scoff 
 at our differences of opinion, for they would see that the 
 bond of our union lay deep in " the hidden man of the 
 heart," 1 Pet. 3, 4 ; and that we were, for all holy, prac- 
 tical, and saving purposes, really " made perfect in one ;" 
 .Tohn, XV ii. 23. 
 
 As a means of promoting this blessed spiritual union, 
 let it be here remarked that even where the differences of 
 the Christian world are the gi'eatest, and, in some respects, 
 very important too ; still, in all those who "hold the 
 Head," Col. ii. 19, those differences do but relate to the 
 circumstantials, and not to the essentials of Christianity. 
 To apply this observation to the case of the Baptists and 
 other Christian Churches. We differ in regard to Bap- 
 tism; but still, what are we ? Not enemies : — the world 
 and sin are our mutual foes ; but " all we are brethren," 
 Malt, xxiii. 8. We have not two Christs, but one only 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in whom we believe ; nor 
 t-wo Holy Spirits, but one only Divine and Eternal Spirit 
 bv whom we are sanctified ; nor two Fathers, but "one 
 God and Father of al), who is above all, and through all, 
 and in us all," Ephes. iv. 6 ; nor have we two Bibles, but 
 one onlv blessed book of pure inspiration, to which as by 
 common consent we appeal, and all of us so heartily, that 
 cur very differences make us set a higher value on the 
 undivided and unchangeable authority of the written word 
 of God. With so many points of agreement, and most 
 unhesitating concord on these grand, and glorious, and 
 divine, and saving truths, we may be well content occa- 
 sionally to meet together under the shadow of the cross, 
 — the hallowed spot where all estrangement of heart melts 
 away, — and there pour out with one heart and voice the 
 
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 3 
 
 united jDrayer, "Grace be with all them that love our 
 LordJesus Christ in sincerity," Ephes. vi. 24. 
 
 Considering however the relative position of the Chris- 
 tian Churches in this neighbourhood, much as we may 
 desire to cultivate a fraternal union, a sort of occasional 
 collision can scarcely be avoided. A knowledge of this 
 beforehand should make all parties doubly watchful over 
 their own hearts, and always prayerful for a Christian 
 temper, lest at any time their common enemy should 
 gain an advantage over them. In this part of the king- 
 dom Baptist opinions have been widely disseminated. 
 Not a few members of the Wesleyan Methodist Societies 
 are the descendants of pious Baptists ; and in the course 
 of pastoral visitation it has been ascertained that several 
 adult members had never been baptized. In one case it 
 was discovered that a worthy man, nearly seventy years 
 of age, and who had been for a length of time a Class 
 Leader, had never received that ordinance. It became 
 necessary therefore at once to contend against so great an 
 irregularity, and to eradicate so glaring an evil as that of 
 counting individuals as members of a Christian commu- 
 nity, who had never been scripturally introduced, by its 
 only initiatory rite, into the Christian Church. To re- 
 medy the evil, the following course has been adopted, as 
 most catholic, and at the same time best suited to the 
 circumstances in which such members were placed. In 
 every instance the parties concerned were left to choose 
 for themselves both the mode and place of baptism ; the 
 only thing insisted on was that obedience to the com- 
 mand of Christ in regard to the ordinance itself should 
 no longer be delayed. Some preferred to receive Baptism 
 in the Established Church ; the greater part consented 
 b2 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 to be baptized by tbeir own Ministers, and their children 
 with them ; and one pious woman was immersed by the 
 Baptist Minister of the place, who baptized her for us, 
 along with several candidates for membership in his own 
 church. Her motive was a godly one. Being of Bap- 
 tist origin, she was several years ago awakened to a sense 
 of her guilt in the Baptist Chapel, yet without joining 
 the people amongst whom her parents were found ; and 
 though she had subsequently received her spiritual good 
 in connection with the Methodists, she felt a strong desire 
 to be baptized in the chapel where God had first brought 
 her to repentance. And let it be recorded to the honour 
 of the Rev. Mr. Foster, the Baptist Minister of Farsley, 
 that when made acquainted with the whole matter, he 
 consented to gratify her pious wishes in the most courte- 
 ous, kind, and Christian manner. But her adult daughter 
 she brought to receive Baptism in the Wesleyan Chapel 
 at the hands of one of the Wesleyan Ministers ; and the 
 mother and her daughter went on their way rejoicing* 
 for both modes of administration were crowned with the 
 blessing of God. 
 
 Now though the evil complained of has thus been 
 brought to an end in a quiet manner, without noise and 
 observation, yet it has unavoidably led to discussions 
 between the members of the Christian Churches who 
 differ on several points relating to Baptism. Moreover, 
 it is found necessary to use extreme vigilance to prevent 
 unbaptized adults in future from becoming members of 
 the Wesleyan Society ; in order to which the question is 
 often distinctly put to new candidates as to the fact of 
 their Baptism ; especially if family connections render it 
 doubtful; and this needful inquiry, which can by no 
 
INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS, 5 
 
 means be clisi)ense(i with, keeps up a kind of secret agita- 
 tion, and produces a tendency to collision. And co- 
 operating with these unpleasant circumstances, and to be 
 dreaded asbeingof far more injurious consequences, we are 
 concerned to add, that the Wesley ans, who wish to be a quite 
 and unoffending people, sometimes meet with religious 
 professors who are more zealous for opinions concerning 
 Baptism than for personal holiness. Now, as Methodists, 
 their religious training has been almost exclusively di- 
 rected to a consideration of the nature and importance of 
 experimental and practical religion ; hence expert and 
 wordy controvertists, skilled in a particular branch of 
 theological tactics, have an advantage over them, and 
 occasionally produce perplexity of mind, and even trouble 
 the conscience of the simple in heart, who desire in all 
 things to know and do the will of God. It must be 
 obvious then to every one that at such a time, and in such 
 circumstances, the Wesleyan Ministers have a providen- 
 tial call to teach their societies and congregations what 
 they believe to be the sense of the Holy Scriptures in 
 regard to Christian Baptism. No man may impugn their 
 motives, or accuse them of stirring up strife, because on 
 such an occasion they use with moderation their Christian 
 liberty, and faithfully and conscientiously perform their 
 Christian duty. Unwilling to spend much time in the pul- 
 pit about matters of secondary interest, where " repentance 
 toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," 
 Acts, XX. 21, have need to be preached every Sabbath- 
 day ; and yet unwilling also to leave their flock without 
 counsel and consolation connected with these minor topics^ 
 after having once for all delivered a Discourse on Bap- 
 tism, it has been deemed expedient to employ the press, 
 b3 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 and thus embody what is necessary to be known in a 
 permanent form, for their lasting edification. But it is 
 earnestly desired that this little Treatise may be used 
 only as a shield, never as a sword; it must be faithfully 
 borne in mind that an und'erstood pledge exists between 
 us, that we will not «^^ac^ our brethren, but merely 
 stand on the defensive, and be content with maintaining 
 our ground, without pushing at them for victory. " So 
 shall we find favour and good imderstanding in the sight 
 of God and man," Prov. iii. 4. 
 
^> 'CK^'. 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE POINTS OF DISCUSSION STATED. 'S" 
 
 It will be a blessed era for the Christian Church when 
 all Christians shall consider how nearly' they agree al- 
 ready, and resolve to come as much nearer as possible, 
 rather than how much they differ, and what is the best 
 mode of keeping entirely' apart from one another. Let us 
 see how this remark may be brought to bear on the sub- 
 ject about to come under review. Now in regard to 
 Baptism, our Baptist brethren and we are agreed as to 
 the importance of Baptism itself — the indispensable neces- 
 sity of its being administered in the name of the Holy 
 Trinity — the necessity also of employing water as the 
 only element sanctioned by divine authority in its admin- 
 istration — and the insufficiency of the outward ordinance 
 to effect salvation, unless the Holy Ghost be given. And 
 to these articles of peace, proclaimed as it were on neutral 
 ground, may be added the following admission, namely, 
 that ive fully agi'ee with them in the opinion that unbap- 
 tized adults ought to manifest personal repentance and 
 faith before they are admitted to Baptism \ — only let 
 them allow us to guard this admission by putting our own 
 sense on the term unbaptized, according to the current 
 phraseology of the Churches which practise Infant Bap- 
 tism. Now let us rejoice to know that we are so far one 
 in judgment, and that it is our common aim to establish 
 these all-important truths connected with Baptism, since 
 
8 POINTS OF AGREEMENT. 
 
 these truths are so essential to vital godliness, and the 
 maintenance of Christ's holy religion on the earth. 
 
 If we come to examine the subject yet more accurately, 
 it will he found that we and our Baptist brethren may 
 draw considerably nearer each other still. It has gene- 
 rally been stated that we are for Infant and they for Adult 
 Baptism ; and thus the chasm between us has appeared 
 wider than necessary, or than the truth will justify. For 
 there is solid reason to conclude from the piety prevalent 
 in the Baptist Churches, and even from the known prin- 
 ciples on which they so strenuously insist with regard to 
 Baptism, that the Ministers of those Churches would not 
 refuse to baptize youths, and even children of tender 
 T/ears, (/" they gave evidence of a sincere faith in Christ, 
 and early devotedness to the service of God. Such young 
 persons for instance as are mentioned in that excellent 
 little book, " Janeway's Tokens for Children," they pro- 
 bably would not refuse to admit by immersion into the 
 outward and visible Church of Christ. We have never 
 heard that the Baptist Churches have fixed any particular 
 age or period of life, jnior to the attainment of which no 
 one can be associated with them in Christian fellowship ; 
 hut only that they insist that those whom they receive 
 should give evidence of personal faith in Christ, and 
 then be baptized according to the mode which they ac- 
 count to be the only true outward baptism. Now this is 
 a very material point, and considerably reduces the con- 
 troversy within narrower limits ; for strictly speaking it is 
 not a matter of dispute relating to Infants and Adults, 
 but to Infants and very young children, before they are 
 of a sufficient age personally to distinguish between good 
 and evil, and children who having reached that age may 
 
POINTS OF DIFFERENCE. 9 
 
 evince gracious dispositions, and be strongly inclined to 
 the fear and love of God. Our Baptist brethren are of 
 opinion that until they in this sense at least come of age, 
 and personally choose Chnot for their Saviour; — or, 
 until that period of life arrives when such choice is made 
 in riper years, no one ought to be baptized, and thereby 
 admitted as a member of a Christian Church : on the 
 contrary we are of opinion that Infants have a right of 
 admission into Christ's Church from their very earliest 
 infancy, and that in consequence of that admission, they 
 are hound by special obligation, from the time they can 
 distinguish between good and evil, to choose knowledge 
 and the fear of the Lord ; and in this opinion we have 
 the general concurrence of Christian Churches in ahnost 
 all ages of the world. 
 
 This is the topic then on which we are principally at 
 issue. There is a minor subject on which we also differ, 
 namely, as to the mode of baptizing, which will be sub- 
 sequently explained. For the present we confine ourselves 
 to the chief subject of controversy. We assume the 
 pleasing task of advocating the cause of very little children 
 and infants, and maintain with earnestness on their behalf, 
 their right and title to an admission into Christ's Church, 
 because we believe it to be their birthright, yea, their 
 sacred birthright, of which therefore no man may escheat 
 them ; because it hath been secured unto them by God 
 himself, according to the revelation of his own will, which 
 he hath made known to mankind in the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 There are three Scripture Facts which establish our 
 •position ; — at least they appear to us to be Facts: — and 
 if we can really prove them to be Facts, and not mere 
 notions or theories, then is our position in our judgment 
 
10 TACTS TO BE ELUCIDATED. 
 
 invulnerable, securingto us the joyful assurance that every 
 attempt to call the Church Universal off from the prin- 
 ciples and practice of Infant Baptism, must prove a general 
 failure. We shall dispose of them in the following order. 
 
 First Fact : — Infants are redeemed by Jesus Christ ; 
 therefore in virtue of an actually existing relation between 
 Christ and them from their birth, which relation is gra- 
 cious, and founded in grace, they have a right to be dedi- 
 cated to God in the initiatory ordinance of Baptism, and 
 to be received as members of his visible Church on earth. 
 
 Second Fact : — Infants were dedicated to God (ox four 
 thousand years, from the creation of the world, to the 
 coming of Christ ; — therefore we conclude that Infants 
 have a right to a similar privilege under the Christian 
 Dispensation, according to the entire scope and tenor of 
 God's covenant with mankind. 
 
 Third Fact : — Infant Baptism is sanctioned by the 
 principles, incidental occurrences, and spirit of the New 
 Testament records, viewed in their connection with the 
 preceding revelations of God's will, as made known in 
 the Old Testament ; — therefore a right to Baptism is 
 secured to Infants in perpetuity in the Gospel of God 
 our Saviour. 
 
 We have thus brought into the foreground, and exhi- 
 bited at one view, the strength of our cause ; that, before, 
 we enter into detail, it may be seen, examined, and re- 
 flected on, and the force of it duly considered ; and as 
 much as may be apart from prejudices and prepossessions 
 of mind, which often hinder men from discovering and 
 receiving the truth of God. No reasoning can stand- 
 against Facts ; therefore, as we have now put the matter, 
 the only questionable or debateable ground is, whether 
 
FACTS TO BE ELUCIDATED, 11 
 
 what we have assumed to be Facts be so in reality, or 
 nothing more than doctrinal opinions, and as such enti- 
 tled to respect, because associate. d with a large portion of 
 divine truth, but not worthy of being received as authority, 
 from which there lies no appeal. It becomes then our 
 duty to shew by what process we arrive at the conclusion 
 that the three propositions just laid down may be truly 
 called Scriptm'al Facts ; which, that we may do with the 
 greater distinctness, we shall treat of them one by one in 
 three separate Chapters. 
 
12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 INFANTS OUGHT TO BE BAPTIZED, BECAUSE THEY 
 HAVE BEEN REDEEMED BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 Redemption lies at the foundation of all human hope 
 and happiness, both of this life and of that which is to 
 come. Now the arguments which go to prove the im- 
 portant fact of the redemption of all Infants are these 
 three : — 
 
 First, The very terms and tenor of the Covenant of 
 Redemption : 
 
 Secondly, The express declarations of God's holy word 
 concerning the e.xtent of human redemption ; and 
 
 Thirdly, The consequences flowing from Redemption 
 and which evidently affect all mankind. 
 
 Of these in order. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 That Infants are redeemed is evident from the terms 
 and tenor of the Covenant of Redemption. 
 
 The relation in which man stands to God is of a very , 
 peculiar and sacred kind, the like to whicli doth not 
 appear to subsist between God Almighty and any other 
 creatures which he hath made. In consequence of his 
 fall, through disobedience to the divine law, from that 
 state of holiness and haj^piness in which God originally 
 created him, as is related by Moses in the third chapter 
 of Genesis, he became obnoxious to the divine displeasure. 
 
THE REDEMPTION COVENANT. 13 
 
 and exposed to the danger of everlasting death. But 
 God in his infinite mercy had compassion on him, and 
 provided a method for his preservation in being for a 
 season, and for his ultimate pardon, recovery, and eternal 
 salvation, in and through his only begotten Son, Jesus 
 Christ, who should appear in due time, and be offered up 
 as " the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the 
 world;" John, i. 29. By virtue of this intended sacrifice 
 and atonement, God entered into a new engagement with 
 man, which engagement partook of the nature of a cove- 
 nant, and because of its being based on the redemption 
 of Christ, it is called the covenant of redemption. For 
 without redemption it could have had no place, since the 
 j)arties concerned were at variance ; for what sinner could 
 approach unto the holy Lord God and live ? Wherefore 
 there was a Mediator needed, and one was found in the 
 person of the Son of God, who alone was and is able to 
 perfect the great work of reconciling guilty man to God. 
 So saith the Apostle, in words that are quite as applicable 
 to the first sinners as to us : — " God was in Christ, recon- 
 ciling the world unto himself, not imputing their tres- 
 passes unto them ;" 2 Cor. v. 19. He did not so impute 
 their trespasses to them as to shut them out of all hope 
 of his mercy, but even then, through that same Christ who 
 died upon the cross for sin, he proffered them reconcilia- 
 tion through faith in his name. So early was Jesus 
 manifested, although with less glory than to us, as the 
 Mediator of the Covenant ; and when " the Lord God 
 made coats of skins, and clothed them," Gen. iii. 21, he 
 taught them how to " make a covenant with him by 
 sacrifice," Psalm 1. 5 ; and this knowledge, essential to 
 salvation, they transmitted to their posterity, as appears 
 
14 god's covenant perpetual. 
 
 from the offerings they early brought to the altar of the 
 Lord ; Gen. iv. 3, 4. And although God afterwards 
 made a covenant with Noah, with Abraham, and with 
 Israel by the hand of Moses, yet those successive cove- 
 nants of the bow, and of circumcision, and of the law, 
 were not made separate from this his original covenant 
 with mankind in Christ, but in connection with it, and 
 as portions of it, and with tbe design of bringing forth 
 before the children of men clearer and clearer manifesta- 
 tions of the manifold benefits and blessings of that his 
 eternal covenant, which should never pass away. And 
 therefore St. Paul calls the promises given to Abraham 
 a " confirming of God's covenant in Christ," as of a thing 
 which already existed, and which the law could not dis- 
 annul, nor any subsequent dispensation under the law 
 cause to cease to be; Gal. iii. 17. 
 
 In the prophetic ages the same truth was clearly re- 
 vealed. To this doctrine David gave witness when he 
 spake in his " last words" of "an everlasting covenant, 
 ordered in all things and sure, which was all his salvation 
 and all his desire ;" 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. In like manner 
 Jehovah spake thus by his servant Isaiah concerning 
 Christ the Lord : " I will give thee for a covenant of the 
 people," that is, for Israel, and "for a light of the Gen- 
 tiles ;" Isaiah, xlii. 6 ; which words good old Simeon 
 turned into a song, when he held the Redeemer of the 
 Covenant in bis arms, saying, — " Lord, now lettest thou 
 thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word," — 
 by Isaiah — " for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 
 which thou hast prepared before the face of all people ;" 
 and then, almost literally quoting the Prophet, he adds, — 
 " a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy 
 
god's covenant perpetual. 15 
 
 people Israel ;" Luke, ii. 29—32. — Malachi likewise 
 speaks thus, — " Behold, I will send my messenger, and 
 he shall prepare the way before me : and the Lord whom 
 ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the mes- 
 senger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, saith the 
 Lord of Hosts;" Mai. iii. L To the same effect, and 
 explanatory of Malachi, Zechariah, the father of John 
 the Baptist, spake, when he was filled with the Holy 
 Ghost, and prophesied, saying, — " Blessed be the Lord 
 God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his peo- 
 ple, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the 
 house of his servant David ; As he spake by the mouth 
 of his holy prophets, which have been since the world 
 began : That we should be saved from our enemies, and 
 from the hand of all that hate us : To perform the mercy 
 promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy cove- 
 nant ; The oath which he sware to oi\r father Abraham," 
 &c. ; Luke i. 68 — 73. — And because the death of Christ 
 was necessary to his redemption and mediation, he esta- 
 blished a perpetual sign thereof in the Lord's Supper, and 
 designated the cup containing the wine, " the cup of the 
 new testament" or covenant, Luke xxii. 20. For the 
 same reason St. Paul styles Jesus " the Mediator of the 
 new covenant ;" Heb. xii. 24 ; and concludes that same 
 Epistle with the following prayer, " Now the God of 
 peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, 
 that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of 
 the everlasting covenant, make you perfect," &c., Heb. 
 xiii.20, 21 . — These Scriptures maysuffice to show the real 
 existence of a covenant between God and man ; that it 
 has subsisted in all ages, and is entirely of mercy, and 
 that it is founded on the redemption of the only Saviour, 
 c2 
 
16 god's covenant universal. 
 
 Jesus Christ the Lord. Our old Divines some genera- 
 tions back were wont to speak of the covenant of works,- 
 and of the covenant of grace ; but it doth not appear 
 from scripture that there ever hath been more than one 
 kind of Covenant, for that to a Covenant sacrifice essen- 
 tialhj belongs. God indeed gave to man law in the 
 beginning, and required obedience as the sole condition 
 of his continued happiness, so that he was placed under 
 the law of works, but not under a covenant of works, 
 according to the proper scriptural notion of a Covenant, 
 for nothing of that kind was knowTi, till after the trans- 
 gression, when God established with man his divine and 
 eternal covenant of grace. 
 
 Now the grand characteristic of this one divine and 
 eternal covenant of God with man is its universality ; 
 for it comprehended the whole human family, and of 
 course all infants ; and it established a new and gracious 
 relation between God and all mankind, as it is written, 
 " The Lord is good to all ; and his tender mercies are over 
 all his works;" Psalm cxlv. 9. And because this was 
 the character of the covenant, therefore the terms and 
 tenor of the covenant were couched in language fully 
 expressive of this its leading feature ; so that the renewal 
 of that covenant in various forms, age after age, was bnt a 
 further development of its tmiversal benignity towards - 
 the children of men. To set the whole in a clear light, we 
 may classify our remarks under the following divisional 
 arrangement of this section. We may notice first. The 
 time when the covenant of grace was revealed : Secondly, 
 The type with whom the eternal Mediator of the Cove- 
 nant, as the Antitype, corresponded : Thirdly, The suc- 
 cessive manifestations of grace in which it was renewed : 
 
ORIGIN or THE COVENAKT. 17 
 
 and Fourthly, The actual appearing of Jesus Christ for 
 the redemption of mankind. 
 
 First, The era of the Covenant. Now as to the time 
 when God originally revealed his covenant of redemption 
 to men, there exists neither doubt nor difficulty, if we 
 receive the testimony God himself has given. For without 
 going back to the ages of eternity, concerning which God 
 has revealed nothing relative to this subject, it is sufficient 
 for us to know that it was first announced to man in the 
 glorious primeval promise, — " And I will put enmity be- 
 tween thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her 
 seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
 heel ;" Gen. iii. 15. To whom was that Promise given ? 
 To the sinful pair in the garden of Eden. Now that pro- 
 mise was made before they had posterity born, as we 
 conclude from the fact, that the man and his wife were 
 the only persons driven out of the garden. Gen. iii. 22 — 
 24. Moreover, the words immediately following the pro- 
 mise imply as much ; — " Unto the woman he said, I will 
 greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ;" Gen. 
 iii. 16 ; especially when coupled with the words with which 
 the next chapter begins, " And Adam knew Eve his wife, 
 and she conceived," &c.. Gen. iv. 1. The Facts of the 
 case therefore with regard to^Adam and his posterity, 
 according to the inspired historian, stand thus. Man sin- 
 ned before any posterity were born. Yet we know, from 
 revelation and experience, that his sin hath affected all 
 mankind, both temporally and spiritually, so that in refer- 
 ence to that original transgression it is said, " all have 
 sinned;" Rom v. 12. But as none of mankind were yet 
 bom, they could have no otherwise sinned than as being 
 
 seminally contained in him their progenitor. But then 
 c3 
 
18 THE COVENANT REPRIEVE. 
 
 they were equally, and in the same sense, contained in 
 him ivhen the promise was given, and he was brought 
 into a covenant relation to God, by and through the Re- 
 deemer ; so that they were brought into the same relation 
 also. Consequently they were not bom into the world 
 under the old Adamic law of Eden, which was only suited 
 to the condition of a perfect and an upright creature, but 
 under the gracious economy of mercy, which was thence- 
 forwards substituted for it, and is suited to the fallen and 
 miserable condition of a guilty world. In what respects 
 soever the Progenitor was bene6ted, in the same respects 
 his race were benefited also, but no further. The sen- 
 tence of death was passed upon his body, yet he was 
 spared for a season ; and they also are mortal, yet, when 
 bom, reprieved for so many days or yeai's as it pleaseth 
 the Lord of all to assign them. In regard to him it was 
 ordained that for that offence he should never die eternally, 
 provided he repented thereof, and of his sinfulness, and 
 became an obedient believer in the woman's promised 
 seed, and sought for mercy through that future sacrifice 
 for sin, according to the conditions of the covenant of 
 peace : and in regard to mankind it was also ordained 
 that they should not be in any wise affected by that 
 sin in eternity, provided they also repented of their na- 
 tural sinfulness, as did David, saying, — " Behold, I was 
 shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother conceive 
 me;" Psalm li. 5 ; and became penitent likewise for their 
 actual and personal transgressions, and sought by faith 
 for " redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgive- 
 ness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ;" Ephes. 
 i. 7. The performance, however, of these personal acts 
 of repentance and faith, should depend on a capability of 
 
CHRIST THE RESTORER OF MAN. 19 
 
 performing them ; otherwise, as in the case of Infants 
 and Idiots, mercy should be extended towards them with- 
 out that performance, in consequence of their relation to 
 Jesus Christ the covenant Saviour of mankind ; — accord- 
 ing to the general rule of equity in the divine government 
 implied in that inquiry — " Shall not the judge of all the 
 earth do right ?" Gen. xviii. 25. Thus we see that as 
 mankind fell in Adam, so in Adam they were partially 
 restored, they being as much in him when the promise 
 of life was given, as they were when the sentence of death 
 was passed, in consequence of his partaking of the fruit 
 of that tree, concerning which God had said,"Ye shall not 
 eat of it, neither shall, ye touch it, lest ye die ;" Gen.iii. 5. 
 But, notwithstanding this gracious and equitable cor- 
 respondence between the Fall and the Restoration of 
 Man, there was one vast difference between the Fall and 
 the Redemption of mankind, which must be most care- 
 fully observed. All men not only fell in Adam, but also 
 by him ; whereas though they were restored in him, and 
 together with him, in the same hour when the era of grace 
 began, yet they were not restored by him, either in whole 
 or in part, but solely by Christ, without whom not one 
 soul could be saved, but through whom all souls might 
 be saved. Therefore when Adam was restored, he was 
 not constituted a second time the Head and Representa- 
 tive of the human race, though he of course remained 
 their natural Father; but Jesus Christ himself became 
 the federal Head and Representative of mankind, for 
 which reason he is called " the last Adam," and " the 
 second man, the Lord from heaven ;" 1 Cor. xv. 45, 47. 
 And indeed he may be justly called "the seeonrfman," 
 not only because of his being our second Head, but also 
 
20 CHRIST OUR REPRESENTATIVE. 
 
 because of his earhj engagement to become such, he may 
 be regarded as the second man in point of time ; for 
 though he were not incarnate till many ages had passed 
 away, and the world was fully prepared for his appearing, 
 yet he was the seed promised before man's posterity had 
 been either begotten or born. And he is also " the last 
 Adam ;" since, though he succeeded in his representative 
 character to another, none other shall ever succeed to him, 
 for " Christ who came in the flesh, is over all, God blessed 
 for ever ;" Rom. ix. 5. 
 
 We see, therefore, that our common progenitor lost his 
 representative glory entirely by the Fall ; nor, however 
 penitent and believing he might become, was he after- 
 wards constituted, even in a subordinate sense, the Head 
 of the believing portion of mankind ; that honour was 
 reserved for one of a later age, that is, faithful Abraham, 
 who is denominated, under Christ, " the father of all them 
 that believe, so that they, whether Jews or Gentiles, are 
 reckoned as his seed;" Rom. iv. 10 — 25; and Gal. iii. 
 5 — 29. But as to the original offender, hence forwards, 
 in his new state of probation, he stood or fell alone : if he 
 further sinned, that sin would not affect his posterity, as 
 his original sin had done ; and, if he were believing and 
 obedient, his faith and obedience would not contribute to 
 their advantage, in the same sense that his original obe- 
 dience would have done, however serviceable it might be 
 to them as an example, in stimulating them to the like 
 acts, necessary for them as sinners in order to their per- 
 sonal salvation. Therefore when mankind were thus 
 restored in Adam hy Christ, man being now only the 
 Progenitor, but not the Representative, of his race, it 
 follows that he could only communicate to them, in the 
 
CHRIST THE ONLY SAVIOUR. 21 
 
 way of ordinary generation, that which was properly his 
 own, and not that which was another's; a sinful man 
 could only beget a sinful race, and a mortal man a 
 mortal race. Hence the universality of the principle of 
 degeneracy in human nature, as stated hy our blessed 
 Lord, — "That which is bom of the flesh is flesh ;" John 
 iii. 6. The holiest parents cannot beget a godly seed; 
 they can but transmit their nature, not their grace, that 
 cometh in every instance immediately from God. To 
 this purpose it is written, " And Adam lived an hundred 
 and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, 
 after his image ; and called his name Seth ;" Gen. v. 3. 
 Seth was a pious man, and with him began a pious line; 
 for which reason, perhaps, the remark is made rather con- 
 cerning him than the earlier sons of Adam, to teach us 
 tliat though Adam was a true worshipper of God, and 
 had instructed his family in the true religion, as may be 
 inferred from Gen. iv. 3, 4, yet he did not convey godli- 
 ness to Seth, or to any of his seed ; but that for any, and 
 for every, degree of grace, they were as absolutely depen- 
 dent on the promised Redeemer, by whom restoration and 
 salvation came, as Adam himself had been from the 
 awful moment of his fall. 
 
 Now, according to these views of divine truth, which, 
 we apprehend, harmonize with that entire body or system 
 of revealed religion signified by the phrase " the analogy 
 of faith," Rom. xii. 6 — the correspondence which one 
 doctrine bears to another, or of fact to prophecy, — all 
 men, and so all infants from their birth, are to be con- 
 sidered, in regard to their moral condition, in a twofold 
 relation. First, as the natural descendants of Adam, 
 and consequently as sinners, and because sinners, justly 
 
22 INFANTS FALLEN, YET REDEEMED. 
 
 subjected to pain and death, the former of which they all 
 more or less suffer, and the latter of which comes upon 
 many thousands of them while yet in infancy. Some are 
 but just born to die, and know no other resting place than 
 the grave. The light of the sun created by God, and 
 the swaddling-clothes prepared by a mother's care, are 
 alike made in vain for them ; and they want not a cradle 
 but a tomb. They are mortal, because they are " by na- 
 ture" sinners; and as such they have forfeited every bles- 
 sing, and have no more right to Baptism than they have to 
 a continuance of that life which God in his holy justice so 
 soon taketh away. But then. Secondly, — and this is the 
 everlasting source of consolation, — they are no less cer- 
 tainly related to the second Adam, by virtue of the Cove- 
 nant of Redemption, than to the first by natural descent; 
 and therefore it is that as redeemed creatures, they have 
 a right through Christ, as to the kingdom of heaven, if 
 they die in infancy, so, while yet in infancy, to an admis- 
 sion into his Church by Baptism, in order that they may 
 thenceforwards be put into the most advantageous circum- 
 stances for securing a share in the spiritual blessings of 
 his kingdom on earth, should their lives be spared, and 
 of being brought ultimately to his kingdom of glory. 
 To reject them is to admit the one relation, and deny 
 the other ; it is to punish them as fallen creatures, and 
 yet exclude them from the benefits of Christ's redemp- 
 tion, which is to separate what God hath conjoined, and 
 is quite contrary to God's dispensation of grace to usward 
 in Christ Jesus our Lord. To receive them by Baptism 
 is to act according to that grace, and according to the 
 true nature and fitness of things, since the very act of 
 Baptism recognizes publicly both relations at (»nce, just 
 
DYING INFANTS SAVED, 23 
 
 as those relations actually exist, the water denoting the 
 sinfulness of the child, and also the cleansing efficacy of 
 the Holy Spirit's grace, which is to be bestowed through 
 Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of men. 
 
 O blessed and consoling reflection for every suflfering 
 daughter of Eve, who may be destined to many labours 
 and sorrows connected with the pains and peril of child- 
 bearing ! Well may the mother "remember no more 
 the anguish for joy that a man is bora into the world;" 
 John xvi. 21 ; for so soon as she looks upon her new-born 
 offspring she may say, "This is my Redeemer's child ;" 
 and the father may rejoice to know that it is entitled to 
 the covenant sign, because it is redeemed by the blood of 
 the covenant, and ransomed by him who is the Saviour 
 of all generations of mankind. And in the knowledge of 
 so divine a truth, those parents who are deprived by death 
 of their children in infancy, have the- strongest possible 
 assurance that they "sleep in Jesus," so that instead of ^ 
 " sorrowing as those who have no hope," they may com- 
 fort themselves with the thought, that by taking them 
 from the earth so early, God hath made their everlasting 
 salvation sure. 
 
 To confirm the whole series of sacred truths which have 
 been exhibited in the preceding pages, we shall here 
 quote entire a passage in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, as it stands in the Bible, only putting in italics the 
 emphatic words, which most directly have a bearing on 
 the subject. "Wherefore," saith the Apostle, " as by 
 one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; 
 and so death passed iipon all men, for that all have 
 sinned : For until the law sin was in the world ; but sin is 
 not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death 
 
24 ADAil AND CHRIST CONTRASTED. 
 
 reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had 
 not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, 
 who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as 
 the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the 
 offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of 
 God, and the gift by grace, which is bg one man, Jesus 
 Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was 
 by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the judgment was 
 by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many 
 offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence 
 death reigned by one ; much more they which receive 
 abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall 
 reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the 
 offence o/" owe judgment came upon all men to condem- 
 nation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift 
 came upon all men unto justijication of life. For as — by 
 one man's disobedience — many — icere made sinners, — 
 so— by the obedience — of one — shall many^—be made 
 righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offence 
 might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much 
 more abound ; That as sin hath reigned unto death, even 
 so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal 
 life by Jesus Christ our Lord ;" Rom. v. 12 — 21. 
 
 Now throughout this portion of Holy Writ there is a 
 continual contrast exhibited between the one man, Adam, 
 and the one man, Christ; the offence, the sin of one ; 
 and the obedience, the righteousness of the other ; the 
 judgment, the condemnation, the death, resulting from 
 the transgression of Adam ; and the righteousness, the 
 justification, the life, resulting from the obedience of 
 Christ: the many, the all men that were brought into 
 condemnation by one ; and the many, the all men, that 
 
Christ's pre-eminent glory. 25 
 
 were brought to possess the justification of life through 
 the other man, Christ Jesus : and finally, the contrast is 
 most strongly marked by comparing the fatal consequences 
 flowing from one sin, with the much mightier consequences 
 flowing from redemption, which leads to the remission of 
 many oflfences, yea, of offences without number, whereby 
 the grace of God is so highly exalted in and through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. Moreover, in two other respects, 
 the glorious work of redemption is magnified. For first 
 the Apostle shews that the punishment of sin is limited 
 in its duration, in regard to those who do not " receive 
 the grace of God in vain," for though even in regard to 
 them, sin still reigns unto death, that is, temporal death, 
 yet there is placed in direct opposition thereto, not life 
 merely, but eternal life, as the gift of God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. And secondly, a special clause in fa- 
 vour of Infants is interwoven with the- argument, for to 
 Infants do those words appear to belong, when the Apostle 
 mentions " them that had not sinned after the similitude 
 of Adam's transgression," that is, personally and volun- 
 tarily ; and therefore — though because of their sinful 
 descent, and consequent sinfulness of nature — sin reigned 
 over them also unto death from Adam to Moses, as from 
 Moses to the present day, yet, in their case, where sin 
 abounded grace did much more abound, in the bestow- 
 ment of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus 
 as in all things Christ hath the pre-eminence, so in par- 
 ticular in this his representative character. " And so it is 
 written. The first man Adam was mad'e a living soul ; the 
 last Adam was made a quickening spirit" — a quickening 
 spirit to those who lay under sentence of death. How- 
 beit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which 
 
26 Christ's redemption uxtversal. 
 
 is natural ; and aften\-arcl that which is spiritual. The 
 first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the 
 Lord from heaven ;" 1 Cor. xv. 45 — 47. Now as Christ 
 assumed the representative character in the verv- garden 
 of Eden itself, where the original sin was committed, and 
 as he must in all things have the pre-eminence, so it is 
 evident that when the representative Headship passed 
 from Adam to Christ, it was not shorn of its glory by 
 being limited in its influence and design, but still had its 
 original character of universality. This most conspicu- 
 ously appears in the or ?y?Ha//) /-omese, and in the time 
 and manner of giving it, when God at the first promul- 
 gated his gracious covenant of redemption on behalf of all 
 mankind. And as a conclusion to the whole subject, on 
 which we have dwelt at so much length, we may cite the 
 words of David in the eighth Psalm, for they belong to the 
 second man, and yet contain a beautiful allusion to the ori- 
 ginal glory of the first Adam. " For thou hast made him a 
 little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with 
 glor}- and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion 
 over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things 
 under his feet : All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts 
 of the field : The fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea, 
 and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas;" 
 Psalm viii. 5 — 8. Now these words are expresslv ap- 
 plied to Christ by St. Paul, Heb. ii. 7, 8, and they belong 
 to Christ in his human nature, as the Saviour and Re- 
 deemer of mankind. And shall the sovereignty of his 
 manhood, inseparably connected as it is with his essen- 
 tially divine and eternal Godhead, be less than universal, 
 as to the special object for u-Jiich it u-as assumed. Re- 
 demption P Shall his dominion be over all the fishes of 
 
adam's typical character. 27 
 
 the sea, the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the 
 field, and yet his redemption, for the sake of which he 
 became man, and without which, as man, he would have 
 bad no dominion over them at all, be restricted to a part 
 of mankind. Assuredly not: for in the very scriptm-e 
 in which St. Paul applies the above words of David, he 
 adds, immediately after the quotation, " But we see Jesus, 
 who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffer- 
 ing of death, crowned with glory and honour ; that he by 
 the grace of God should taste death for every man;" 
 Heb. ii. 9. So then the covenant grace promised. Gen. 
 iii. 15, was fulfilled when Christ the Covenant Head died 
 upon the cross for the redemption of all mankind. There- 
 fore the divine chorus with which David begins and ends 
 his psalm belongs to all ages : — " O Lord, our Lord, how 
 excellent is thy name in all the earth ;" Psalm viii. 1 — 9. 
 — Thus far of the era of the Covenant in proof of its 
 universality. 
 
 2. The Type of the Covenant. This topic may be 
 treated with brevity, as it has been already in substance 
 anticipated. Yet there is a particular phrase in the Text 
 before quoted from the Romans, which, as confirmatory 
 of the great Scripture Fact of General Redemption, de- 
 serves distinct consideration. It is this, — " Nevertheless 
 death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that 
 had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgres- 
 sion, who is the figure" — literally, " who is the type of 
 him that was to come." Now there cannot possibly be 
 any doubt as to the persons spoken of in these words. 
 The relative, " who," is so closely connected with the per- 
 son, Adam, mentioned just before, as to preclude mistake. 
 
 As to the other expression, " him that was to come," it 
 D 2 
 
28 ADAM THE TYPE OF CHRIST. 
 
 belonged to Christ, and to none else, which scarcely needs 
 proving, for it was a common appellation amongst the 
 Jews for the ^Messiah : see Matt. xi. 3. And it is here 
 peculiarly appropriate, shewing as it were from the very 
 time of Adam's transgression, all the hopes of mankind 
 were thrown forwards on futurity, in expectation of that 
 great Deliverer who had been promised from the begin- 
 ning, and whose atonement was at once so certain and so 
 valuable, that its benefits were enjoyed before it was 
 actually made, so that virtually he was regarded as " the 
 Lamb slain from the foundation of the world ;" Rev. xiii. 
 8. ^Moreover, in the whole passage there are but two 
 individuals spoken of by way of eminence, and the one 
 continually contrasted with the other, as has been before 
 shewn, namely, Adam and Christ, and so of consequence, 
 if in this passage "who" refers to Adam, the other ex- 
 pression, " him that was to come," must belong solely to 
 Christ Jesus. The case then stands thus. Adam is here 
 declared by an inspired writer to be the type of Christ. 
 Now then the question occurs. In what respect is Adam 
 the type of Christ P For it must be observed that the 
 verb is in the present tense. All other tv'pes have passed 
 away with the abrogation of the Jewish ritual and the 
 ceremonial law, but this continueth in its correspondence 
 the one to the other, even under the Christian Dispensa- . 
 tion, and will so continue till the end of time, when the 
 first man will be raised and appear before the judgment 
 seat with all his family as their natural head, and Christ 
 will sit upon his throne as the sole and universal Judge. 
 In what respect then, we ask again, is Adam the type of 
 Christ ? Not in obedience, for he was disobedient ; not 
 in righteousness, for he was guilty ; not in procuring life. 
 
ADAM THE TYPE OF CHRIST. 29 
 
 for death came by him ; not at all in personal excellence, 
 moral worth, or virtuous acts, for in all these respects he 
 was the very reverse of Christ, and so could be no type 
 of him. There is but one thing in which this figurative 
 or typical character will at all apply, and that is, in iini- 
 versality ; — here, and here only, is the correspondence 
 between the first and second Adam fairly borne out ; and 
 hence the propriety of the parallel drawii by the Apostle 
 betwen the miseries, and ruin, and death, brought upon 
 us by the former, and the righteousness, grace, and life, 
 procured for us by the latter. But this universality com- 
 prehends the redemption of all Infants, and yields unde- 
 niable evidence that they are Christ's property from their 
 birth, not only because he hath created them, but also 
 because he hath purchased them with his precious blood. 
 Thus type and antitype perfectly agree j that presignified 
 a certain fact, and this shews the fact to have been really 
 brought to pass, and to be now in perpetual existence, 
 exactly has it had been presignified ; so that though 
 Adam were not counted a Prophet, he himself stood in 
 the place of prophecy, and became a type or figure of 
 " the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world ;" 
 John i. 29. 
 
 3, The successive manifestations of the grace of God to 
 the children of men next claim our attention, in all of 
 which the prominent facts of Redemption, and of a Co- 
 venant, and of universality as belonging thereto, will 
 uniformly appear. For the sake of distinctness and 
 arrangement we may take up the two most remarkable 
 periods which have distinguished the history of mankind : 
 the times of Noah and Abraham, which latter period 
 
 continued until Christ. 
 
 d3 
 
30 THE COVENANT MADE 
 
 The earliest covenant which God made with man after 
 the deluge, when Noah and his family had come out of 
 the ark, is thus recorded hy Moses. "And God spake 
 unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying. And I, 
 behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your 
 seed after you ; And with every living creature that is 
 with you, of the fowl, and of the cattle, and of every beast 
 of the earth with you ; from all that go out of the ark, to 
 every beast of the earth. And I will establish my cove- 
 nant with you ; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more 
 by the waters of a flood ; neither shall there any more be 
 a flood to destroy the earth. And God said. This is the 
 token of the covenant which I make between me and you 
 and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual 
 generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall 
 be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 
 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the 
 earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud ; And I will 
 remember my covenant, which is between me and you 
 and every living creature of all flesh ; and the waters shall 
 no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the 
 bow shall be in the cloud ; and I will look upon it, that 
 I may remember the everlasting covenant between God 
 and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 
 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the cove- 
 nant, which I have established between me and all flesh 
 that is upon the earth ;" Gen. ix. 8 — 17. 
 
 Now concerning this Noahic covenant much might 
 be written were it alone the subject of discussion ; but as 
 it is merely introduced in connection with a chain of 
 truths, and as subservient to a general design, two ob- 
 servations may suffice. In the first place, it is clear, that 
 
TflTH NOAH, UNIVERSAL. f'' ' 31 
 
 this covenant was a part, and a continuation, of the original 
 covenant of Redemption, Jbr it was founded on it, and 
 is therefore by no means to be regarded as a manifestation 
 of the divine goodness ivliolly new in principle, notwith- 
 standing the extraordinary events in which it originated. 
 Hence it was preceded by sacrifices similar to those which 
 had been appointed from the beginning, so that neither 
 was that "covenant made without blood ;" see Gen. viii. 
 20 — 22. " And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord ; 
 and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, 
 and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord 
 smelled a siveet savour ; and the Lord said in his heart, 
 I will not again curse the ground any more for man's 
 sake," &c. Here was a most solemn, devout, and re- 
 ligious transaction, which could in no wise be acceptably 
 entered upon without faith in the promised seed, which 
 faith connects the whole Noahic covenant with the great 
 work of redemption. Now Noah, St. Paul assures us, 
 was, " an heir of the righteousness which is by faith ;" 
 Heb. xi. 7. INIoreover this covenant was manifestly 
 gracious, and full of promise, and looked forward to the 
 remotest ages of time with benignity ; so that from its 
 gracious character we may be convinced of its sure as- 
 sociation with redemption, for it is only in Christ that 
 God sheweth grace to the children of men. And to 
 mark still more clearly the connection of this covenant 
 with the first and former promises of divine mercy, im- 
 mediately after the acceptance of Noah's sacrifice, there 
 followed a renewal of the divine blessing, in which was 
 embodied the very language of God's primeval promise 
 to man in a state of rectitude, and also a reference to the 
 change in his condition. " And God blessed Noah and 
 
32 noah's covenant 
 
 his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and 
 replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread 
 of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon 
 every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the 
 earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand 
 are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall 
 be meat for you ; even as the green herb have I given 
 you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is 
 the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood 
 of your lives will I require ; at the hand of every beast 
 will I requii'e it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of 
 every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso 
 sheddeth man's blood, b}' man shall his blood be shed : 
 for in the. image of God made he man. And you, be ye 
 fruitful, and multiply ; bring forth abundantly in the 
 earth, and multiply thei'ein :" Gen. ix. 1 — 7. Then, 
 after the establishing of the covenant with Noah, there was 
 vouchsafed unto him the Spirit of Prophecy, whereby he 
 was enabled to foretel in few words a continuous chain of 
 events relating to his posterity, which should begin to be 
 accomplished at no remote period, and run on in fulfil- 
 ment, under various aspects, and different degrees of 
 modification, to the latest ages of the world ; Gen. ix. 
 24 — 27. It is impossible to take this brief, yet compre- 
 hensive view of the entire transaction, and not feel con- 
 vinced that the covenant of the bow with Noah was but a 
 further development of the everlasting convenant of re- 
 demption in Christ, for which reason it must be reckoned ' 
 a continuation and a portion of it, suited to the peculiar 
 providential condition of mankind, just then emerging 
 from the desolating storms of divine vengeance against the 
 ungodly, to witness that even in wrath, God, for the Re- 
 
CONNECTED WITH REDEMPTION. 33 
 
 deemer's sake, remembereih mercy. Wherefore in the 
 Apocalyptic Vision of that Redeemer with which John 
 was favoured in Patmos, in allusion to this ancient event, 
 which gathered all its grace and glory from redemption, 
 Christ was seen encircled with a splendid bow, — his me- 
 diatorial throne placed as it were beneath the centre of its 
 vast arch in the heavens. " And immediately," saith the 
 Apostle, " I was in the spirit ; and behold a throne was 
 set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he 
 that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, 
 and there was a rainbow rotitid about the throne, in 
 sight like unto an emerald;" Rev. iv. 2, 3. la like 
 manner, many ages before, Ezekiel beheld a similar 
 vision ; for John in the Apocalypse is the best expositor 
 of Ezekiel and Daniel, so that the three books should be 
 read together, and diligently compared for mutual illus- 
 tration. Ezekiel beheld a throne, and one sat upon it whose 
 "likeness was as the appearance oj" a man;" and, after 
 describing his personal glory, he adds, there was also 
 "as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in 
 the day of rain, so M'as the appearance of the brightness 
 round about the throne." " This," says he, " was the 
 appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord;" 
 Ezek. i 26 — 28. Let these Scriptures be all brought 
 together, and examined as a whole, and it will be evident, 
 not only that Noah's covenant was founded in grace, and 
 therefore took its origin in Redemption, but also, that this 
 was distinctly perceived and most fully understood to 
 be the case by the Church in all ages, as ivell by the 
 Prophets as by the Apostles. If any thing more be 
 wanting to confirai this deeply interesting and important 
 truth, it may be found in the beautiful language of the 
 
34 koah's covenakt of 
 
 Prophet Isaiah, who brings together in one consolidated 
 promise the covenant blessings of far distant dispensations 
 of grace. Thus saith the Lord, to the apparently neglected 
 Gentiles, now called to be his people in the latter days by 
 the gospel : " For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; 
 but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I 
 hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with everlasting 
 kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy 
 Redeemer. For this is as the tcatcrs of Noah unto me: 
 for as I have sivorn that the craters of Koah should no 
 more go over the earth ; so have I su-orn that I icould 
 not be wroth tvith thee, nor rebuke thee. For the 
 mountains shaW depart, and the hills be removed; but 
 my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the 
 covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee ^ Isaiah liv. 7 — 10. 
 
 Now as it is thus demonstrated that Noah's covenant 
 was founded on the covenant of redemption, which is 
 called by Isaiah, as just quoted, — "the covenant of peace," 
 — so that covenant of Noah had in it the grand character- 
 istic of the redemption covenant — universality. How 
 plainly is this implied in the following words : — " And 
 God spake unto Noah, and to his sons, saying, — And I, 
 behold, I establish ray covenant with you, and ivith your 
 seed after you,'" Gen. ix. 8, 9, — that is, with all mankind, 
 all of whom are Noah's seed, seeing that none beside his 
 family, — " that is, eight souls were saved," 1 Pet. iii. 20, 
 from perishing in the waters of the flood. And so far 
 was God from limiting this branch of his redemption 
 covenant to a portion of mankind, that it pleased him 
 rather to include within some share of its benefits, so far 
 as their natures rendered them capable oi partaking thereof. 
 
MERCY UNIVERSAL. 35 
 
 even tlie brute creation. And it is manifest that all man- 
 kind are benefited by that covenant, for by virtue of it 
 the earth continuelh to this day, and " seed time and 
 harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and 
 day and night do not cease ;" Gen. viii. 22. Wherefore, 
 seeing all the blessings of the covenant, both temporal 
 and ?>\)mi\idX, flow from one source, — redemption; (for 
 as to spiritual blessings, that is too evident to be denied ; 
 and as to temporal blessings, that is too plain to be doubted, 
 because they are expressly enumerated as covenant 
 blessings ;) and seeing also that the covenant cannot be 
 at variance with itself, in temporal things, uiiiversal, 
 and in spiritual things, exclusive, it necessarily follows 
 that it embraces within its range of mercy every human 
 soul, which, however, it could not do, if Jesus, "by the 
 grace of God had not tasted death for every man ;" 
 Heb. ii. 9. And this brings us to the same point again. 
 All Infants are the "children of the covenant," and were 
 included in this branch of it made with Noah, equally 
 with their fathers, because both they and their fathers 
 are the redeemed of the Lord. Even the visible token 
 of the bow implied the universality of the covenant, for 
 its beautiful arch, built in the skies, seems to embrace the 
 whole earth, when it extends itself in the open firmament 
 of heaven. Nor is its appearance confined to one age, or 
 to one country, but it is beheld in every country, and in 
 every age, and is witnessed by all generations of mankind : 
 nor are infants considered unfit subjects to smile beneath 
 its radiancy, or incapable of being preserved and benefited 
 by it, because their infant mind perceives not the beauty 
 of its colours, nor understands the nature and significancy 
 of its splendid and gracious sign. What then ? The 
 
36 THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT 
 
 God of mercy bas always loved Infants, and admitted 
 them through Christ the Redeemer to a share of the 
 rights, privileges, and blessings of whatever covenant he 
 hath made with the children of men. 
 
 The next Covenant Era brings us to the days of the 
 Patriarch Abraham, when circumcision was appointed as 
 a new rite to be observed by him and his descendants in 
 their future generations. On the law of circumcision we 
 shall not dwell at present, as it will come under review in 
 a subsequent portion of this Treatise. Suffice it to remark 
 here, that, notwithstanding the peculiarities of the Abra- 
 hamic Covenant, according to God's puqjose of raising 
 up one nation above all others to be his chosen people, 
 still there was nothing in it contrary to the character of 
 universality belonging to the original covenant of re- 
 demption, and developed in the dispensation of grace to 
 Noah, of which the covenant made with Abraham was an 
 enlargement, securing to him and a particular branch of 
 his family certain peculiar privileges, yet without di- 
 minishing any thing from the common right and privilege 
 of all mankind to those blessings which had been promised 
 them from the beginning, by the mercy of God. On the 
 contrary, along with the peculiar privileges granted to 
 Israel there was guaranteed to all nations their redemp- 
 tion, as well as IsraeVs, by Christ, the Saviour of the 
 world. For he who said to Abraham, " In Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called," Gen. xxi. 12, said also to him, when 
 he offered np Isaac on the altar, " And in thy seed shall 
 all the nations of the earth be blessed ;" Gen. xxii. 18. 
 Yea, and at the very time circumcision was established, 
 there was a change made in the Patriarch's name, which 
 denoted that the Jewish election was not the reprobation 
 
OF MERCY UNIVERSAL. 37 
 
 of the world, but a continuation of the great purpose of 
 God in Christ to reconcile the world unto himself; even 
 as one individual may sometimes be chosen in a family to 
 hold for a season the title-deeds of an inheritance, as a 
 better means of preserving them in security for all the 
 rest, than any other which can be devised. This certainly 
 confers on such an one an honour and a pre-eminence, but 
 does not deprice them of any right or blessing. So God 
 said to Abram, " As for me, behold my covenant is u-ith 
 thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither 
 shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name 
 shall be Abraham ; for a father of many nations have 
 I made thee;" Gen. xvii. 4, 5. And thus it is evi- 
 dent, notwithstanding the apparent exclusiveness'of the 
 Jewish Covenant, it did in reality look beyond its own 
 nan'ow limits to gospel times, when the Messiah should 
 appear to be the Saviour of the world. • 
 
 Moreover, there is one fact deeply interesting to man- 
 kind, that is commonly overlooked, or at least superficially 
 noticed, although it is distinctly and repeatedly mentioned 
 in the Mosaic records. It is this. A large portion of 
 the Gentiles were incorporated with the Jews, and this 
 Gentile union was wrought vp with the whole frame- 
 work of the Jewish economy, so that every part of the 
 Jewish system, and the whole of the Jewish history, pro- 
 claimed that God was not the God of the Jews only, but 
 also of the Gentiles, while a precedence, a priority of 
 privileges was secured to the Jews, until the coming of 
 Christ, when that also was to be done away. From the 
 commencement, the Abrahamic Covenant took in all 
 Abraham's ])osterity, as well Ishmael as Isaac ; and all 
 his household, as well his Gentile servants, as God's own 
 
 £ 
 
38 GENTILES INCORPORATED 'WITH ISRAEL. 
 
 chosen seed by Sarah. And indeed the former were 
 lar more numerous than the latter; for they were many, 
 amounting to some hundreds at least, see Gen. xiv. 14, 
 whereas Isaac was but one, as though it were intimated 
 i'rom the beginning that " more should be the children of 
 the desolate than the children of the manied wife," as 
 was afterwards foretold ; Isaiah liv. 1. And when Moses, 
 who himself had found long refuge with the Gentile Jethro, 
 and had married his daughter, by whom he had a son, 
 whose name, Gcrshom, denoted his Gentile origin, 
 although his fother was none other than the famous Legis- 
 lator of Israel : — when he, JMoses, numbered Israel in the 
 wilderness, was it not found that Ephraim and oVlanasseh 
 were two of the most numerous tribes who should inherit 
 the promised land ? Ephraim in particular afterwards 
 became so powerful, that when a separation of the Tribes 
 took place, it was regarded as the head of the kingdom of 
 Israel. But who was Ephraim ? And who was Manasseh ? 
 Were they not Joseph's sons by a Gentile Princess, and 
 their descendants consequently as much of Gentile as of 
 Jewish origin P And did not Ruth the ]Moabitess give 
 birth to the stock from whence David, and consequentlv 
 Christ himself proceeded ? Ruth iv. 18 — 22 ; ^latt. i. 5. 
 Thus the covenant of circumcision all along had a benign 
 aspect towards the world : and while God enjoined it 
 upon the Jews, he did not /or^^/f/ its observance by the 
 Gentiles ; on the contrary it was most manifestly bis will 
 that whosoever of them chose should attend to the letter 
 of the law throughout every period of that economy, and 
 thereby become entirely one with his people Israel. And 
 in the mean time the promises and prophecies that were 
 delivered, so long as that economy continued, all looked 
 
ELECTION WITHOUT REPROBATION. 39 
 
 forward to the period when its peculiarity should be 
 abolished ; and the covenant of God in gospel times be 
 still more fully revealed as established in and with Christ 
 for all mankind. Thus it appears that every develop- 
 ment of God's covenant relation to his creatures, hath 
 been but a branch of, and a continuation of, the oriyinal 
 universal covenant of redemption, and so its main feature 
 or characteristic, uni,versaHty , may be traced throughout 
 the whole, notwithstanding certain peculiarities of a limited 
 kind that belonged to some ages of the world. God 
 having elected all mankind in Christ to a salvable state, 
 and to a sufficiency of means and motives, and helps to 
 salvation, was pleased, of his own sovereignty, subse- 
 quently to elect one portion of the human family to special 
 honour and privileges; and certain individuals of that 
 one family, to separate and special holiness and useful- 
 ness, and thus there hath been " an election of grace," 
 Rom. xi. 5, within the universal election of grace, 
 John iii. 16, 17, and 1 John ii. 1, 2; but then this elec- 
 tion draws no reprobation after it : for neither was there 
 an original passing by, or a leaving out of the covenant, 
 one soul of man; nor o. subsequent disfranchisement of 
 any individual, and much less of large portions of the 
 human family in the mass : for God is of one mind, and 
 who can turn him, and he " willeth all men to be saved, 
 and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Here then 
 the foundation of the covenant standeth sure, and all the 
 parts of it are consistent, perfect, and entire ; what it was 
 in the beginning, it is now ; and so having never lost its 
 character of universality, all Infants are born under it, 
 and therefore have a r/^A^ both toils sign and its blessings ; 
 
 not by nature, for they are in that respect " the children 
 E 2 
 
40 
 
 A COVENANT RELATES TO FAMILIES. 
 
 of wrath," Eplies. ii. 3, but by <^race, seeing it is "not of 
 him thatwilleih, nor of him that rmmeth, but of God that 
 sheweth mercy;" Rom. ix. 16. 
 
 In confinnation of the truths already stated, there is 
 one collateral truth worthy of distinct and special atten- 
 tion. It is this. In the Holy Scriptures, God is never 
 represented as having made a covenant ivith an indivi- 
 dual ivithout including his posterity also: — he has never 
 entered into a covenant relation ivith an individual, as an 
 individual, for , and ivith himself alone, to the exclusion 
 of others in all share of its henejits, and7nuch less to the 
 exclusion of his own hmisehold. So true is this obser- 
 vation, that if any privilege be granted to the head of a 
 family, though it he of a partial and limited nature, the 
 same grant is secured to his posterity along ivithhim, and 
 remaineth with them after him, unless it be subsequently 
 forfeited by their own personal transgressions. Thus, for 
 instance, the reward bestowed on Phinehas, for his exem- 
 plary fidelity and zeal for the divine glory ,was expressed in 
 the following terms : — Behold, I give unto him my cove- 
 nant of peace ; and he shall have it, and his seed after 
 him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood ; 
 because he was zealous for his God, and made an atone- 
 ment for the children of Israel ; Numb. xxv. 12, 13. It 
 seems, therefore, that in whatever light we view covenant 
 transactions, they have a special bearing on the family 
 relation, and are not at all made to depend on the age 
 of the members of the family; so that the conveyance of 
 a right and privilege to a father contains within it the 
 conveyance of the same right and privilege to his son, so 
 soon as the relation exists ; that is, from his birth, and 
 irrespective of what his future character or conduct may 
 
"^7 
 
 god's covenant permanent. 41 
 
 be. If be persists in sin, God may take tbe privilege 
 away; but until then it remains as with the father so with 
 tbe son also ; for " tbe mercy of the Lord is from ever- 
 lasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and bis 
 righteousness unto children's children ; to such as keep 
 bis covenant, and to those that remember bis command- 
 ments to do them ;" Psalm ciii. 17, 18. Now if these 
 observations be scriptural and just, supposing the doctrine 
 of general redemption be rejected, and the doctrine of 
 Calvinistic election and partial redemption be received 
 in its stead, even then, according to those restricted views 
 of redemption, tbe adoption of the bead of a family as 
 God's redeemed servant, implies the covenant relation of 
 God to his seed also ; so that whatever may be said of 
 other children generally, his children most surely have a 
 right in infancy to be admitted into tbe outward church 
 of Christ. Wherefore, our Baptist Brethren, in refusing 
 to baptize their own Infants, when they believe them- 
 selves to be in a state of grace, do by their own principles 
 and practice curtail tbe blessings of God's covenant which 
 they believe to be made personally with them as God's 
 elect ; and by such refusal they act an unnatural part 
 towards their own offspring, yor they put them otit of that 
 covenant, in which God of bis infinite mercy bath ab'eady 
 included them. So that when they have narrowed the 
 merciful provisions of redemption to a few people, amongst 
 the number of which they hope to be found, they next 
 narrow the privileges of redemption still more, and by 
 excluding their own offspring, treat them in spiritual 
 things, as if they were " bastards, and not sons.'' Surely 
 this cannot be according to bis will who bath said 
 
 " Behold, all souls are mine : as tbe soul of the father, 
 e3 
 
42 CHRIST AN UNIVERSAL SAVIOUR. 
 
 SO also the soul of the son is mhie," Ezek. xviii. 4, and 
 who " keepeth mercy for thousands" of generations j 
 Exod. xxxiv. 7. If a limited covenant, as to Phinehas, 
 comprehended families, as such, how much more the 
 covenant of redemption which embraces all mankind ? 
 For another illustration, see 2 Chron. vii. 17, 18. 
 
 4. Thus we are conducted to that great event, the 
 coming of Jesus Christ into our world, " God manifest 
 in the flesh," 1 Tim. iii. 16, for the salvation of sinners. 
 Now the fact of his incarnation, includeth within itself 
 the fact of the universality of human redemption, ac- 
 cording to the revelation concerning it which God hath 
 given us in his holy word. For if this were the com- 
 pletion of that original covenant of promise, which had 
 been renewed in various ages, it must of necessity have 
 the same benign character of universality which that 
 had ; the consistency and uniformity of the divine go- 
 vernment, in all its great principles, requiring that the 
 actual ratification of the covenant should not be less com- 
 prehensive in its benefits than its antecedent promises. 
 
 It seems scarcely possible to avoid admitting the uni- 
 versal redemption of mankind, as a certain consequence 
 resulting from the assumption of human nature by our 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; and especially when we associate 
 the fact of his humanity with the scriptural views that 
 have already been exhibited concerning his headship 
 of the human I'ace, as the second Adam, the Lord from 
 Heaven. The nature which he took upon him was the 
 common nature of man. It was not the nature of one 
 nation more than of another nation, or of one family more 
 than another family, or of one individual more than 
 another individual ; for most assuredly it had no regard 
 
CHRIST ESTABLISHED NOT CASTE. 43 
 
 to either caste or colour, or age or clime, for Christ is 
 every mans brother, and the name Jesus belongs to the 
 universal family of man. My Saviour is your Saviour, 
 and your Saviour mine, all the world over ; unless he be 
 rejected when made known, and his salvation voluntarily 
 neglected, desjjised, or forsaken. What ! Shall we in 
 this age of boasted liberality, abhor from our souls, as 
 repugnant to all ideas of justice and benevolence, the 
 maintenance of caste amongst men in their social inter- 
 course, and profess to rejoice in the power of the Gospel 
 as its great antagonist and abolisher, both in the Eastern 
 and Western portions of our empire, and yet at the same 
 time impute eternal caste to Almighty God, and to Jesus 
 Christ, the Author, and end, and glory of that very 
 gospel ? W^ere we to entertain such unworthy notions of 
 God, our liberalism vjoiild reproach oiir Christianity ; 
 and our zeal for righteous principles in the earth would 
 tacitly imply that there was unrighteousness in heaven. 
 Not so. " God hath made of one blood," saith the Apostle, 
 "all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," 
 Acts xvii. 26, wherefore, when Jesus Christ became a 
 " partaker o( flesh and blood," Heb. ii. 14, he also 
 was " made of that one blood," that all nations of men 
 through him might be saved. Considering therefore the 
 common origin of our nature and of his spotless humanity, 
 it is not more certain that there is a common brotherhood 
 between man and man, than that the same relation for 
 redemption purposes exists between Christ and the whole 
 of the human race. 
 
 It was necessary indeed for the tracing of his lineal 
 descent, and for various other holy and benevolent purjjoses, 
 that he should proceed from one family, and be of " the 
 
44 CHRIST THE SON OF MAN. 
 
 seed of Abraham," Heb. ii. 16; but yet here it is to be 
 specially noted, that neither did he himself, nor any of his. 
 inspired Apostles on his behalf, assign to him the dis- 
 tinctive appellation of a, or the. Son of Abraham, but 
 uniformly that appellation which contains in it univer- 
 sality — " the Sou of Man." This is the more remark- 
 able, if we observe the readiness of our Divine Redeemer 
 to give that honourable appellation occasionally to others, 
 with which his own designation stands contrasted^ 
 Thus for example to Zaccheus. " And Jesus said unto 
 him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch 
 as he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man is 
 come to seek and to save that Avhich was lost ;' 
 Luke xix. 9, 10. Jesus Christ is called the Son of Man 
 about seventy times in the New Testament ; the appella- 
 tion being first recorded in Matt. viii. 20, and continued 
 thenceforwards throughout the subsequent periods of his 
 life ; and it is now perpetuated in heaven itself. Rev. i, 13, 
 and shall be acknowledged as his just designation in the 
 midst of his glory at the judgment day; Matt. xxv. 31. 
 Now the suitableness of this name, as belonging to his 
 humanity, and to every period of his life and mediatorial 
 reign, results from the universality of his redemption ; 
 he hath a common name because he is the common Re- 
 deemer, so that man, as man, and not as a Jew dis- 
 tinguished from a Gentile, or because of any other dis- 
 tinction, but simply as a sinner, hath an interest in his 
 redeeming grace and mercy, and may obtain pardon and 
 eternal life through him. 
 
 In further illustration of this appellation of our Lord's 
 humanity, it may be remarked, that it is almost certain 
 the very phrase he employed when speaking of himself 
 
CHRIST THE SON OF ADAM. A5 
 
 was, "Son of Adam," for so "son of man" reads in 
 every Text of the Old Testament where it occurs, two 
 passages only excepted. It is found ninety-three times 
 in the Prophet Ezeldel alone, and there it is in every 
 instance, literally " Son oi Adam ;" as also in the follow- 
 ing scriptures. Numb, xxiii. 19, Job xxv. 6 and xxxv. 8, 
 Psalm viii, 4, (quoted and applied to Christ by Saint 
 Paul,) Heb. ii. 6, Psalm Ixxx. 17 and cxlvi. 3, Isaiah 
 li. 12 and Ivi. 2, Jer. xlix. 18, 3.3, 1. 40, and 
 li. 43. The only exceptions are Psalm cxliv. 3, and 
 Dan. vii. 13, where instead of Adam, or Man, Enosh 
 is used, which howeveris equally extensive, and signifies a 
 human being, one of mankind. Now it was peculiarly 
 appropriate in our blessed Lord, in his great humiliation, 
 to style himself the son of Adam ; — first, because he 
 thereby traces his pedigree, after the flesh, beyond the 
 Jewish line to the original stock from which all mankind 
 have proceeded; Luke iii. 23 — 38; secondly, because of 
 his common relation to every family, tribe, nation, kindred 
 and tongue under heaven ; Rev. v. 9 ; and thirdly, because 
 he became, in the place of the first Adam, the Head and 
 representative of mankind, as before shown : and thus 
 the entire analogy of faith, the concurrent agreement of 
 the doctrines of the gospel, and every collateral idea as 
 gathered from particular phrases and expressions, do all 
 conduct us to this same glorious truth, the universal re- 
 demption of mankind by Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 Therefore his birth was ushered in, not with a national 
 but with an universal song ; and in the hearing of Jewish 
 Shepherds the ivorld's Anthem was sung by Angels, 
 saying, — " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
 peace, good -will toward men;" Luke ii. 14; for llaere 
 
46 ALL INFANTS ARE REDEEMED. 
 
 was brought that day " good tidings of great joy, which 
 should be to all people;" Lake ii. 10. " Good-will" 
 then to Infants through the babe in Bethlehem bom, 
 as to every man through the son of man, and let all the 
 Church say, Amen ; and let all her ministers bring them 
 to Jesus, and dedicate them to him by a solemn baptismal 
 service in the sanctuary of the Lord. For the terms and 
 tenor of the Covenant of Redemption do plainly shew 
 that they have been redeemed by his precious blood. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Infants are Redeemed, as is evident from the express 
 declarations of God's holy word concerning the 
 extent of human redemption. 
 
 It may, perhaps, appear to some persons at first view 
 almost superfluous to lay so much stress on the doctrinal 
 fact of General Redemption, in a treatise on Infant Bap- 
 tism ; but a closer consideration of each subject will con- 
 vince us of the inseparable relation subsisting between 
 them, and will serve to show us that the right of an 
 Infant to Baptism, does not spring from the circumstance 
 of his being born of Christian Parents, as too many 
 have supposed, because it seldom happens that any but 
 the children of Christians actually are thus dedicated to 
 God. The original ground of the sacred right to Bap- 
 tism lying in Redemption, every poor Hindoo, or African, 
 or Indian Infant, is as much entitled to that privilege 
 as Infants born in Christendom : and were a Missionary 
 in his travels to find such Infant forsaken of its Parents, 
 and to be inclined from the compassion that glowed in his 
 heart to take it to his house and home, it would be as 
 
CHRIST THE REDEEMER OF MAN. 47 
 
 much his duty to baptize that chikl as he would one of 
 liis own offspring, if he intended it to remain a part of his 
 own household. The reason why heathen Infants are not 
 generally baptized, is not because they have no right to 
 if, as the Lord's redeemed ones ; but because parental 
 authority interposes, in connexion tvith national heathen 
 and idolatrous customs and ivorship, which circum- 
 stances render it unfiting that a chikl, under such a 
 certain future training hi sin should be formally introduced 
 into the Church of Christ. But when the Parents turn 
 to the Lord Christ, or even one of them only, then the 
 original right of the Children becomes recognizable in 
 that public religious ordinance, and the children, along 
 with the Parentor Parents, become ''■ clean ;" 1 Cor. vii. 14. 
 Nor is it any trifling matter for them to be made so far 
 clean or holy, as to be saved from all the outward pollu- 
 tions and abominations of heathenism, of which few 
 persons have an adequate idea who do not know heathen- 
 isin in the detail. Indeed a pious Calvinist Baptist, well 
 known to the Author, who was intimate with him, as a 
 man of great Christian worth and excellence, once had 
 the candour to acknowledge when pressed with the argu- 
 ment, that if he believed the doctrine of general Redemp- 
 tion, he should be forced to yield up his opinions about 
 Baptism, and own that Infant Baptism was lawful and 
 right in the Christian Church. This topic therefore will 
 be further discussed, yet with brevity, in the remaining 
 sections of this chapter. And the two leading truths 
 elucidated in the present section are these : — First, The 
 Universal Redemption of mankind by Christ is no where 
 denied in the Holy Scriptures ; — and secondly, In many 
 places that doctrine is expressly affirmed. 
 
48 Christ's redemption not limited. 
 
 The negative view of the subject first claims attention. 
 The general redemption of mankind is not denied in 
 God's holy word. It is no where either said or intimated 
 that Jesus Christ did not die for all men; or that he did die 
 only for a few, or a portion of the human race, whether 
 many or few. Indeed the word few is never once used in 
 the inspired volume in connection with redemption : the 
 only terms employed are "many," and "«//," where many 
 hath the same signification as all, mankind at large being 
 intended, even " the multitudes" of Adam's posterity, as 
 may be seen in Rom. v. 12 — 19. The notion of partial 
 redemption is radically Jewish. Not that the sentiment 
 was found in the law of Moses, but it took its rise from 
 the proud carnal hearts of the Jews, who interpreted 
 God's special favour to Israel, which Moses and David 
 celebrated so justly in strains of devoutest gratitude, as 
 God's exclusive favour for Israel, as though because he 
 were the God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 he xcere the God of none beside. And thus God's good- 
 ness to them, over and above his goodness to mankind, 
 they perverted to support them in the vain fancy of their 
 being the peculiar favorites of heaven, irrespective of 
 their conduct, merely because they were Jews. So, mis- 
 understanding the true and ancient scriptural doctrine of 
 election — an election to special privileges — they con- 
 cocted an election scheme of their own, whose character- 
 istic was, not superabundance of mercy towards some 
 for the sake of all ; — but the limitation of mercy to 
 some to the exclusion of all besides. And never were 
 the Jews more confident of this election than at the very 
 time God was about to place them under a sentence of 
 reprobation for more than eighteen hundred years, under 
 
Christ's redemption universal. 49 
 
 which sentence they lie to this day; — a large view of 
 which is given in Rom. ix., x., xi. Now this Jjgment 
 the Apostle stoecps away in one single inquiry : — " Is 
 he the God of the Jews only ? Is he not also of the 
 Gentiles? Yes of the Gentiles also; seeing it is one 
 God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and 
 uncircumcision through faith ;" Rom. iii. 29, 30. And 
 yet, strange as it may seem, this carnal Jewish notion 
 has found its resting place in the Christian Church, in the 
 doctrine of limited redemption, and consequent election 
 of a favored few to inherit eternal life. Thus the old ex- 
 clusivism of the Jews pretends to spring forth anew from 
 the cross of the Saviour : howbeit Paul knew nothing 
 of it ; for he might well " glory in the cross," as for other 
 reasons, so also for this, that " unto him was the grace 
 given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ, to cause all men to see what is the fel- 
 lowship of the mystery of making the Gentiles to be 
 fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his 
 promise in Christ by the gospel;" Ephes. iii. 4 — 11. 
 And with this great purpose agrees the prophecy of 
 Christ, " And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will 
 draw all men unto me;" John xii. 32. But if we search 
 the Scriptures throughout from one end to the other, for 
 a clear declaration to the effect that any nation, or any 
 individuals, are not redeemed by Christ, the search will 
 be made in vain. Every thing advanced in support of 
 such a doctrine is mere inference drawn from a certain pre- 
 conceived scheme of election, with which redemption must, 
 by a bungling kind of argumentation, be made to har- 
 monize; and the whole is intended to account, in a short 
 way, for the present actual condition of a majority of man- 
 
50 Christ's redemption universal. 
 
 kind, who are yet in their sins, and exposed to the danger 
 of eternal perdition. But as to divine testimony, lihaih 
 not a single Text to rest upon, and therefore seeks by a 
 curious process of reasoning to convert all into a part, iu 
 those texts which are clean contrary to it. 
 
 For when we come to inquii'e into the express testi- 
 mony of God's holy word on this point, we find that it is 
 in perfect accordance with the whole body of revealed 
 truth from one end of the Bible to the other. For has it 
 not been already shown that the original promise was a 
 Covenant of Redemption, made with Christ on behalf of 
 all mankind ? And that every successive renewal of that 
 Covenant bore testimony to the same universal pui-pose 
 and ])romise of divine grace ? To all which let the remark 
 now be added, that the ivhole law itself is one consoli- 
 dated testimomj to the same glorious fact ? For what 
 is the law as to its moral precepts and sanctions ? Is it 
 not an eternal law ? This will scarcely be doubted by 
 any Christian, seeing every part of the moral law is in- 
 corporated with the Gospel of Christ, and has as much 
 authority in enjoining obedience upon us as it had upon 
 Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here then we meet 
 and concur in opinion, (a few extravagant speculatists 
 excepted,) that the law is universal in its claims, and 
 allows of no exemption from its authority. Such a 
 belief has the approval of divine inspiration in the follow- 
 ing words of Saint Paul : — " Now we know that what 
 things soever the law saith,it saith to them who are imder 
 the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the 
 world may become guilty before God ;" Rom. iii. 19. 
 But now let it be faithfully borne in mind, that the law 
 was not given "without shedding of blood," for other- 
 
JjAW and redemption universal. 51 
 
 wise God would have been a consuming fire to Israel. For 
 Moses caused sacrifices to be offered up, and " took half 
 of the blood, and put it in basons ; and half of the blood 
 he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the 
 covenant, and read in the audience of the people : and 
 they said. All that the Lord hath said we will do, and be 
 obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it 
 on the people, and said. Behold the blood of the covenant 
 which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these 
 words ;" Exod. xxiv. 6 — 8. Now the redemption was 
 as universal as the law. This is so clear in regard to 
 those to whom the law was first given that Saint Paul 
 pointedly mentions the fact, when he is referring to this 
 important transaction. " Wherefore," saith he, "neither 
 the first testament," or covenant, " was dedicated without 
 blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all 
 the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves 
 and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, 
 and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying. 
 This is the blood of the testament which God hath en- 
 joined unto you ;" Heb. ix. 18 — 20. Observe, the 
 sprinkling of the blood was as universal as the precept of 
 the law. Wherefore, if the law then promulgated to 
 Israel was intended to reach to all mankind, the sacrifices 
 offered under that law typified redemption for all man- 
 kind also, to be accomplished in due time by the Son of 
 God; otherwise there would have been an incongruity 
 and contradiction between the several parts of that ancient 
 and holy economy, a universal law associated with a 
 partial redemption, which can in no wise be admitted as 
 consistent with the harmony and perfection of the works 
 
 of God, or as consistent with the testimony of Saint 
 f2 
 
52 MOSES TEACHES GENERAL REDEMPTION. 
 
 Paul in the Scripture now cited from the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 What need have we then of any further witness from 
 Moses to the doctrine of the general redemption of man- 
 kind ? For every commandment of the law points out 
 to every man the necessity thereof, seeing the " law was 
 our schoolmaster to bring its to Christ;" Gal. iii. 24; and 
 every sacrifice under the law shadowed forth the sacrifice 
 of that Christ to whom the severity of the law was to 
 drive us, that is to say, " the Lamb of God, which taketh 
 away the sin of the world ;" John i. 29. Wherefore though 
 no7ie but Israelites looked on the serpent lifted up by 
 Moses in the wilderness, that was a sign of the lifting up 
 of the Son of Man on the cross, " that ivhosoever be- 
 lieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life ;" 
 John iii. 13, 14. An imiversal remedy for Israel was 
 figurative of the universal redemption of mankind. Accord- 
 ing, therefore, to the New Testament interpretation of both 
 the moral and sacrificial law of Moses, that law has not 
 merely detached proofs of the general redemption of 
 Christ, but is 07ie uniform proof thereof from be:ginning 
 to end, so that even when exhibiting the illustrious doc- 
 trine of Israel's election, to be unto God " a holy nation," 
 and " a peculiar treasure above all people," Exod. xix. 
 5, 6, there runs parallel with it, full evidence that that 
 election was a part of an universal scheme to provide a 
 Saviour who should be for salvation unto the ends of the 
 earth. 
 
 As to the Prophets, they all bear testimony to the 
 same divine truth. As a specimen we only refer to two 
 or three passages. In the second Psalm the Father makes 
 a universal promise to the Son, and the Son of God issues 
 
THE PROPHETS TEACH GENERAL REDEMPTION. 53 
 
 a universal command to mankind ; both are founded on 
 Universal Redemption, which made his claim just, and his 
 authority binding. No less comprehensive is the seventy- 
 second Psalm : the whole earth is redeemed by Christ, 
 and therefore "let the whole earth be filled with his 
 glory." With what plainness does Isaiah speak of this 
 subject in his beautiful prophetic narrative, if the phrase 
 may be allowed. " All we like sheep have gone astray ; 
 we have turned ever}' one to his own way ; and the Lord 
 hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ;" Isaiah liii. 6. 
 Here glance again at Gen. iii. 15, as interpreted by Paul, 
 Rom. V. 12 — 19, and then look through the fifty-third of 
 Isaiah, that out of the writings of these three witnesses, 
 Moses, Isaiah, and Paul, this divine doctrine according 
 to godliness may be established. 
 
 A few additional Texts only from the New Testament 
 writers shall be added on this subject, so deeply important 
 to offending and guilty man. Amongst the choicest 
 portions of Holy Writ we have these divine sayings. 
 " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
 gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life;" John iii. 16. "And 
 if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for 
 our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of 
 the ivhole ivorld;" 1 John ii. 1, 2. These two Scriptures 
 read and examined together, mutually illustrate each other. 
 Saint John fixes his own sense of the term " world,' ^ 
 and shews that he doth not mean an elect world, or the 
 world of believers, because he expressly distinguishes the 
 world from such believers ; of them he speaks first, and then 
 
 adds, " and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
 f3 
 
54 THE GOSPEL TEACHES GENERAL REDEMPTION. 
 
 rvhole world!" Not satisfied with the mere tenn world, 
 as contradistinguished from believers, he throws in an 
 additional word, — " the u-hole world, — the entire world 
 without the exception of one soul, — man, woman, 
 or infant of days. Could any language positively 
 affiiin general redemption more strongly than it is here 
 affirmed ? So likewise when be saith in his gospel, or 
 rather records the words of Christ, — "For God so loved 
 the world," he means not the world of believers, but the 
 world of unbelievers, as is plain from the fact that God 
 did not give his Son because they believed, but in order 
 that they might believe ; and because the world of sin- 
 ners teas guilty, God sent not his Son into the world to 
 condemn the world," for that guilt, " but that the world 
 through him might be saved," from their justly merited 
 condemnation; John iii. 17, Thus God was in Christ, 
 reconciling the world unto himself, 2 Cor. v. 19, when 
 Christ Jesus gave himself a ransom for all to be testified 
 in due time ;" 1 Tim. ii. 6, And on this doctrine is 
 founded the universal command " Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the gospel to every creature. He that be- 
 lieveth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that be- 
 lieveth not shall be damned ;" Mark xvi. 1-5, 16. Thus 
 Christ is seen to be that Prophet like unto Moses whom 
 the Lord our God should raise up amongst his brethren, 
 whose laws, like those of the Jewish Legislator, being in- 
 vested with the character of universality, unto him should 
 all men hearken ; but whosoever would not hearken unto 
 him should be cut off from his people, and for ever ex- 
 cluded from the salvation of God. 
 
INFANTS ARE REDEEMED. 55 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Infants are Redeemed, as is evident from certain conse- 
 quences flowing from Redemption, in tvhich they and 
 all mankind are interested. 
 
 The consequences flowing from Redemption in which 
 all mankind are interested may be summed up mider the 
 several heads of existence, providence, law, conscience, 
 and a future resurrection of the dead, in order to our 
 appearing before the judgment seat of Christ, to receive 
 the final sentence of life or death at his hands. Now, if 
 these results, which really do affect all mankind, can be 
 fairly traced to redemption, and are as much the fruits of 
 it, as the special blessings of pardon and eternal life, 
 which are only gi'anted in riper years to true and obedient 
 believers, who are in a peculiar spiritual sense God's elect, 
 then it is impossible not to concede that the doctrine we 
 have sought to maintain concerning the general redemp- 
 tion of mankind is a fact no longer to be doubted or 
 denied. 
 
 Existence itself then is the fruit of redemption : we 
 are born, we live, because we are redeemed ; each fact is 
 alike certain, for they stand in the relation of cause and 
 effect the one to the other. The iew remarks to be made 
 on this head may be very properly joined to the preced- 
 ing observations concerning the time when the redemption 
 covenant was originally made with man ; see page 17. 
 These two portions of the Treatise will mutually illustrate 
 and confirm the common truth to which they both lead as 
 their centre. So clearly was the existence of mankind 
 understood by our first Parents to flow from redemption, 
 that in acknowledgment thereof, when man had received 
 
56 EXISTENCE THE FRUIT OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 the promise of a Deliverer, he called his wife's name ao 
 longer Woman, as at the first, because of her relation to 
 man, see Gen. ii. 23, but JS'i'e, which signifies L^y*^, because 
 of her relation to posterity. In which very ancient fact 
 we seem to have the origin of the custom of giving " a 
 new name," Rev. ii. 17, which afterwards obtained in 
 token of any special blessing or benefit conferred, see 
 Gen. xvii. 5 and xxxii. 28. And this new designation of 
 the woman, by so significant a name, is the more expres- 
 sive, following as it does in the sacred records the an- 
 nouncement to man of his mortality. " In the sweat of 
 thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the 
 ground : for out of it was thou taken ; for dust thou art, 
 and 2into dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his 
 wife's name. Eve, or Life ; because she was the mother 
 of all living ;" Gen. iii. 19, 20. And she was properly 
 called Life, since through her seed "justification unto 
 life, came upon all men;" Rom. v. 18. For life being 
 forfeited by the first pair, they were not entitled to one 
 moment's prolongation of their natural existence, apart 
 from the redeeming mercy of their God ; and of course 
 they could not be entitled to the right or privilege of be- 
 coming the propagators of life, in a natural sense, by pro- 
 ducing posterity to muUi])ly in the earth. The original 
 blessing was couched in these words : — " Be fruitful and 
 multiply, and replenish the earth ;" Gen. i. 28; but that 
 entailed blessing, with every other favor, was forfeited by 
 transgression, so that God could not allow them to " be 
 fruitful," nor even to continue in being, and at the same 
 time uphold the truth and dignity of his law, which had 
 declared, " In the dag that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt 
 surely die," Gen. ii. 17, unless redemption had inter- 
 
EXISTENCE THE FRUIT OF REDEMPTION. 57 
 
 vened, in order that a reprieve might be granted, a pro- 
 bationary condition of a new kind established, and a day 
 of grace and sah'ation vouchsafed to sinful and guilty 
 man. Wherefore existence itself became, yVom that day 
 forwards, to every one of ivoman horn, the fruit of re- 
 demption ; an appointed effect resulting in the course of 
 ordinary generation from a gracious cause. 
 
 With good reason therefore hath the Prophet Isaiah 
 connected oiir birth tvith the birth of Christ. For when 
 he had announced him as coming into our woi'ld, saying, 
 " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," amongst 
 other lofty titles, he styles him " The everlasting Father," 
 he being the unchangeable source of existence to all the 
 fallen children of men ; Isaiah xix. 6. Or, as some prefer 
 to read the clause, " The Father of Eternity," which is 
 substantially the same, and equally true. For in his holy 
 person and divine work of human redemption, he most 
 literally answers to this glorious designation. For if be 
 had not been " a child bom," neither should we have 
 been born; if he had not been announced as the seed of 
 the woman, and so stayed the sentence of death, the law 
 would have been executed, and the first sinners would have 
 perished, and in them their unborn posterity, and so eter- 
 nity, which is the chief glory of man's existence, would 
 have never been known by us: but redemption, by giving 
 to us a being, secured to us, notwithstanding our liability 
 to temporal death, an eternity of being, and thus the 
 Redeemer became " the Father of Eternity" to all man- 
 kind. And in this relation he stands to every Infant 
 brought forth into our world of sin, and sorrow, and death ; 
 for though it should live but a day, an hour, yea, only a 
 moment, yet having existed throiigh Christ, a whole 
 
58 EXISTENCE THE FRUIT OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 immortalily of blessedness is secure unlo it by Christ, 
 and he proves himself to such a babe of a few fleeting 
 seconds here, the Father of an eternity of glory and joy 
 in his own kingdom, where sin, and pain, and death, can 
 never be known. 
 
 As confirmatory of this consolatory truth, we may com- 
 pare a few other Scriptures, bearing directly upon it. 
 " But thou art he," saith the Psalmist, " that took me 
 out of the womb : thou didst make me hope when I was 
 upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from 
 the womb ; thou art my God from my mothers 's belly ;" 
 Psalm xxii. 9, 10. And again, "By thee have I been 
 holden up from the womb : thou art he that took me out 
 of my mother's bowels : my jiraise shall be continually 
 of thee ;" Psalm Ixxi. 6. And again : — " For thou hast 
 possessed my reins ; thou hast covered me in my mother's 
 womb, I will praise thee; fori am fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made : marvellous are thy works ; and that my soul 
 knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, 
 when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the 
 lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my sub- 
 stance, yet being unperfect ; and in thy book all my mem- 
 bers were written, which in continuance were fashioned, 
 when as yet there was none of them. How precious also 
 are thy thoughts unto me, O God ! how great is the sum 
 of them ;" Psalm cxxxix. 13 — 17. Yet it must be re- 
 membered that this same Psalmist, notwithstanding his 
 devout adoration of the divine goodness towards him even 
 before his actual birth, in another place deeply expressed 
 his penitence because of his original sinfulness : — 
 "Behold," saith he, "I was shapen in iniquity; and 
 in sin did mv mother conceive me ;" Psalm li. 5. Where- 
 
PROVIDENCE CONNECTED "WITH REDEMPTION. 59 
 
 fore these and similar Scriptures can only be reconciled 
 by the twofold doctrines which lay at the foundation of 
 all true godliness ; namely, the fall of man in Adam, and 
 the redemption of man by Christ, so that God hath a 
 gracious regard even to the unformed substance of the 
 human frame, though conceived in sin, because of the 
 redemption thereof by him, who, without sin, was bom of 
 a woman to pardon and save mankind. Nor must the 
 expression of such sentiments be restricted to the holy 
 Psalmist ; for, on the grounds before stated, God is called 
 by Moses " the God of the spirits of all flesh ;" 
 Numb. xvi. 22. And the Apostle Paul taught a similar 
 doctrine, even to the ignorant heathen, when he sanctioned 
 and ajjplied to them the quotation of one of their own 
 Poets, as containing a portion of divine truth," — For we 
 are also his offspring ;" Acts xvii. 28. Existence, then, 
 is the first, and most immediate consequence, of redemp- 
 tion, by which we are brought into a capability of receiv- 
 ing and obtaining those blessings which as sinners we 
 need to make us holy and happy on earth, and exalt us 
 after this life to the everlasting joys of heaven. 
 
 Providential goodness next opens to our view. As 
 soon as we are bom we are cast upon the care of God, ac- 
 cording to the declaration of the Psalmist already cited, — 
 " By thee have I been holden up from the womb ; 
 Psalm Ixxi. 6. Nor is this care restricted to one period 
 of human life only, but it extends to every moment of 
 our earthly being, as it is written, "In him we live, and 
 move, and have our being ;" Acts xvii. 28. Nor is it 
 confined to one class of individuals merely ; for though 
 the righteous are the objects of God's peculiar care, so 
 that " he giveth his angels charge over them, to keep 
 
60 PROVIDENCE CONNECTED WITH REDEMPTION. 
 
 them in all their ways," Psalm xci. 11, yet the rest of 
 mankind share also with them ten thousand hlessings of 
 his Providence ; " for he maheth his sun to rise on the 
 evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
 the unjust;" Matt. v. 45. But temporal blessings of 
 every kind, no less than the rich, spiritual, and saving 
 blessings of the gospel, are the fruit of redemption, which 
 is evident, as from other Scriptures, so in particular from 
 these words in the Lord's prayer, — " Give us this day 
 our daily bread : and forgive us our debts, as we forgive 
 our debtors;" Matt. vi. 11, 12. Here we are taught to 
 pray unto our universal Father in Heaven both for our 
 daily sustenance and for pardon. But then the throne to 
 which we come for both hlessings is the same " throne 
 of grace" and the communication thereof in each 
 instance is an act of grace : for God only heareth and 
 answereth prayer in and through Christ, and consequently 
 both blessings in and through Christ's redemption are 
 granted to the sons of men. All this was in a manner 
 made visible to the outward senses of men when our Lord 
 Jesus Christ was on earth, for he both healed diseases 
 and forgave iniquities, thus doing good both to (he bodies 
 and souls of men. Nor did he withhold the former 
 blessing, even from the unthankful who applied to him, 
 as in the case of the lepers, ten of whom were cleansed, 
 but one only, and he a Samaritan, returned back, and gave 
 God thanks for his mercy; Luke xvii. 12 — 18. So in 
 the wilderness, the same hands fed the multitudes with 
 bread that were afterwards stretched out on the cross to 
 procure pardon and salvation for a guilty world ; Christ 
 thns shelving in his own life and acts that good of 
 every kind came from a Redeemer, nnd for the sake of 
 
PROVIDENCE AND REDEMPTION UNIVERSAL, 61 
 
 the Redeemer alone, to the fallen children of men. And 
 his prophecies concerning the final destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem were so expressed as to imply that those great events 
 would he brought to pass by his supreme direction, and 
 would be the execution of a part of that judicial power 
 given to him as the Son of Man; Matt. xxiv. 29 — 35. 
 
 What then is the whole scheme of God's providential 
 care and rule of mankind, ordering and directing all things 
 according to his own sovereign will and pleasure ? Is it 
 a scheme altogether distinct from redemjJtion, and having 
 no relation to the cross, and to him that was crucified ? Or, 
 is it God cai'rying out and applying the high and eternal 
 principles and purposes of redemption in the government 
 of mankind ? If so, then if Providence be universal. 
 Redemption is universal ; as " God was in Christ re- 
 conciling the world," so God is in Christ governing the 
 world according to his plan of reconciliation, as it is 
 written, — " and the government shall he upon his 
 shoulder ;" Isaiah ix. 6. " All power," said Jesus, " is 
 given unto me in heaven and in earth;" Matt, xxviii. 18 
 Even the opposition of the wicked to the throne of God 
 makes this clear, for it is interpreted as opposition to the 
 government of the Son of God ; Psalm ii. So then, 
 Jesus is " over all, God blessed for ever ;" Rom. ix. 5 ; 
 and whether he "make the sun to rule by day," or " the 
 moon and stars to rule by night;" whether "he smite 
 Egypt in their first-born," or " bring out Israel with a 
 strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm;" whether he 
 " deliver his people from their enemies," or " giveth food 
 to all flesh," — each separate act of Providence, and all 
 unitedly, result from the same great work of his redeem- 
 ing "mercy, which endureth for ever;" Psalm cxxxvi. 
 
62 LAW THE FRUTT OF REDEMPTION. 
 
 It is God in Christ who pardoneth all them that truly 
 repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel ; it is God 
 in Christ also who " appointeth to men the bounds of 
 their habitations," Acts xvii. 26, and who giveth " fruit- 
 ful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness,'' 
 Acts xiv. 17, so that all our blessings are not only divine, 
 but the fruit of a divine Saviour's love ; and in the same 
 light we shall interpret, as well our afflictions and crosses, 
 as our comforts and enjoyments, if we have Aiith in the 
 name of the only-begotten Son of God. Thus " the 
 Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his 
 kingdom ruleth over all;" Psalm ciii. 19. Yea, man's 
 mortality interru])teth not his sway, for he is " Lord both 
 of the dead and living," Rom. xiv. 9, and " hath the keys 
 of hell and of death;" Rev. xi. 18; and in the course of 
 his government, he calls away Adults or Infants, at such 
 age, and by such instrumentality, as it seemeth good to 
 him, either directly to appoint or to permit to be em- 
 ployed, for their removal from the land of the living. 
 " Thou tumest man to destruction ; and sayest, Return 
 ye children of men ;" Psalm xc. 2. Providence then in 
 all its parts and bearings being inseparable from Redemp- 
 tion, if the former be general, so is the latter; both 
 equally extending to all the nations, families, and indivi- 
 duals of mankind. 
 
 As further consequences flowing from general redemp- 
 tion, may be mentioned the universal existence of law, 
 and conscience, and the general bestowment of the Holy 
 Spirit, which God giveth sufficiently for saving purposes 
 to all men, though not to all men equally, nor equally in 
 all ages of the world. " For the grace of God that brino^eth 
 salvation lialh appeared to all men," Titus ii, 11, both 
 
god's dispensations universal. 63 
 
 under the Jewish and Christian Dispensations ; and it 
 always taught in substance the same lessons to the world, 
 the necessity of forsaking sin, and turning to God, and 
 looking for a Saviour; Titus ii. 12, 13. As to the Jews, 
 God's wonders towards them in Egypt, in the wilderness, 
 in Canaan, in Babylon, and in Canaan again, ivere 
 wrouglit in (he sight of the whole earth, so that the light 
 of revelation with which they were especially favoured, 
 was continually casting its reflected light into the darkness 
 of the heathen nations. Their history was wrought up 
 with the history of all the great monarchies of the world ; 
 nor, fi'om the calling of Abraham to Christ, was there a 
 single generation of mankind that was not more or less en- 
 lightened, and benefited, and taught salvation, by God's 
 word and works as made known to the Jewish Nation. 
 As to the Christian Dispensation, we have the express 
 words of Christ for our guidance : — " And this gospel of 
 the kingdom shall be preached in all the ivorld for a 
 witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come," 
 Matt, xxiv, 14, meaning the end of the Jewish polity. 
 How literally this prophecy was fulfilled, see the Acts of 
 the Apostles, and the testimony of Saint Paul, who thus 
 speaketh in reference to the word of God amongst the 
 Gentiles ; — " But I say, Have they not heard P Yes, 
 verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words 
 unto the ends of the world;" Rom. x. 18. Thus "the 
 gi'ace of God which bringeth salvation appeared anew 
 unto all men" after Christ came ; and an attentive ex- 
 amination of this fact will help to explain the apparent 
 mystery of such multitudes of nations sitting in heathen 
 darkness to the present day. God has judicially punished 
 
 them for their unfaithfulness to that knowledge of his 
 G 2 
 
64 
 
 LAW TJXITERSALLT GIVEN*. 
 
 gospel with which they were favored, on the same prin- 
 ciple that hath led him to punish Israel with eighteen 
 hundred years rejection for their sin and unbelief. Yet 
 now, as heretofore, he hath so ordered his govenmient, 
 that Christendom, as Judea, hath ever and anon shot fresh 
 rays of light into the darkness of heathenism, which light 
 has abundantly increased in our own time and age. And 
 even at the worst of times, when " darkness hath covered 
 the earth, and gross darkness the people," Isaiah Ix. 2, 
 we may still trace the imiversal existence of laws and 
 conscience, and the besto\vment of some measure of the 
 Holy Spirit ; for otherwise, mankind in the midst of their 
 superstitions, would have been incapable of " seeking the 
 Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him ;" 
 Acts xvii, 27. 
 
 As to Law; — there is no nation, family, or individual, 
 " without law to God ;" 1 Cor. ix. 21. It caimot be ; for 
 the relation of Creator and creature, which is the basis 
 of all other relations, doth of necessity imply law. God 
 could not create an independent creature; nor could a 
 creature cause himself to be independent, for then he would 
 cease to be a creature and would become a God. "Where- 
 fore deiDendence being a necessary consequence of the 
 relation, and inseparable from it, obedience to the law of 
 the Creator, as a practical acknowledgment of that de- 
 pendence, becomes a unirersal duty. But seeing God is 
 an absolutely perfect Being, — perfect in all his attributes 
 and government, it follows as absolutely certain, that, 
 whatever kind of law he might choose to give to any of his 
 creatures, whether the inferior law of nature, or the higher 
 law of revelation, it would be, from the very moment the 
 relation existed, a law suited to their actual condition. 
 
LAW PROCEEDS FROM THE REDEEMER. 65 
 
 Now no law is suited to fallen man but a mediatorial 
 laiv ; wherefore, God in Christ, since the Fall, hath 
 been the Fountain of laiv to the ivhole tvorld. This is 
 clear enough as to the moral law, for Saint Paul affirms 
 that "it was ordainetl by angels in the hand of a medi- 
 ator," Gal. iii. 19, for which reason the terrible thunders 
 and lightnings of Sinai were not 2:)ermitted to slay so 
 much as one of the guilty multitudes who stood trembling 
 with dismay at the foot of the mountain. As to the law 
 of nature, so called, that is also associated with the equit- 
 able principles of the gospel, and will form a part of the 
 rule of procedure in the last day, Rom. ii. 11 — 16; and 
 God himself " hath showed," or revealed it, unto the 
 heathen ; Rom. i. 19. Indeed it must be so. For if 
 Law be a "good, coming down from the Father of lights, 
 with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," 
 James i. 17, then, he cannot vary most essentially and 
 completely the principles of his government, by some- 
 times bestowing a good without Christ, and at other times 
 with hira ; but, as an absolutely unchangeable being, he 
 must bestow all good in him and through him, at all 
 times, that " in all things he may have the pre-emi- 
 nence," and universal glory and dominion be ascribed 
 unto him for ever. 
 
 As Law, so Conscience, is common to all mankind. 
 It is no more needful to define what conscience is than 
 to define what light is ; it is easier understood than de- 
 scribed. Every man knows that he has a conscience ; it 
 is a part of his nature, so that it is impossible, how much 
 soever he may desire it, utterly to efface the conviction 
 thereof from his mind. And his conscience, as a judge, 
 
 applies to him personally that law of God under which he 
 g3 
 
66 CONSCIENCE UNIVERSAL. 
 
 lives. The judicial iDroceedings of all governments, even 
 of heathen nations, are founded on it, as Saint Paul's 
 words imply, when they " implead or defend one another;" 
 Rom. ii, 15. And our own admirable method of trial by 
 jury most fully establishes it, when, the law of the case 
 having been made known, as well as the facts, everyjury- 
 man is expected to bring in an honest and just verdict, 
 according to the dictates of his conscience, to which alone 
 he is amenable under God for that verdict whatever it 
 may be. And the general approbation of the decision of 
 our impartial juries, as guided by our most venerable and 
 upright judges, than whom no nation was ever favored 
 with abler or more honest guardians of their liberties, 
 shews the existence of conscience in the individuals com- 
 posing the masses of society, and renders it impossible 
 for us to avoid the conviction that conscience is a uni- 
 versal principle in man. 
 
 Now the universal existence of Law and Conscience 
 implies the universal bestowment of the Holy Spirit also. 
 For though every man be under law to God as his 
 Creator, and though conscience be a part of the moral 
 constitution of the nature of man, so that he would not 
 be man without it, still it is to be specially observed that 
 the law under which he is now placed, and which con- 
 science in its actings recognizes, is both a divine and a 
 (/radons work, and is derived from the Holy Spirit, 
 whose light and influences are given, in various degrees, 
 to enlighten, warn, and admonish, the children of men. 
 For the moral govemment under which God hath placed 
 the world being a Mediatorial Government, and the law, 
 whether of nature amongst the heathen, or of written re- 
 velation amongst the Jews and Christians, being the 
 
THE spirit's grace UNIVERSAL. 67 
 
 result of that divine appointment, it must, in each case, 
 and in every instance, he traced to one and the same 
 divine source, agreeably to the expression of Saint Paul, 
 who declares concerning the heathen, that they " shew 
 the work of the law ivritten in their hearts ;" the Apostle 
 herein alluding to that well-known fact concerning the 
 law of Moses, its having been written by the finger of 
 God. So that that portion of " the truth," which the 
 heathen " held in unrighteousness," came as surely from 
 God as the Scriptures, the word of truth : for so the same 
 Apostle testifies, " Because that which may be known of 
 God is manifest in them ; for God hath shewed it tmto 
 them;" Rom. i. 18, 19, Now God revealeth truth by 
 his Holy Spirit ; wherefore his Holy Spirit was, and still 
 is given imto them. And although they have not such 
 accurate views of good and evil as we have, some distinc- 
 tion between good and evil they perceive ; for even the 
 revenge of a New Zealander, mixed up as it is with the 
 most cruel and ferocious passions, proceeds on the as- 
 sumjition that a wrong has been done him, which ought 
 not to have been done ; and that such wrong having been 
 inflicted, it may and ought to be avenged and punished. 
 And because of the power of conscience, and the sense of 
 guilt, death is an object of universal dread; for the world 
 feels itself guilty before God. Wherefore the world is 
 every where ripe for the gospel, even as the world every 
 where needeth it, so that Missionaries to the heathen 
 cannot do better than in their very first discourse to 
 preach Jesus and the resurrection, even as Paul did at 
 Athens, and make Christ crucified their chief theme unto 
 the ends of the earth. " The sting of death," saith the 
 Apostle, " is sin ; and the strength of sin" in its con- 
 
68 THE DREAD Of DEATH UXIVERSAL. 
 
 demning power " is the lair," 1 Cor. xv. 66, wherefore 
 that dread of death common to mankind proceedeth from 
 an midefinable consciousness of guilt, and an apprehen- 
 sion of the darkness of the grave, bevond which no light 
 can be seen. Yet herein we mav obsene the exact 
 wisdom, justice, and goodness of God, in that though 
 Infants, on account of the original sinfulness of their 
 nature, are subject to death, thev not having committed 
 actual sin, knew nothing of the dread of dying, and thus, 
 through Jesus the Redeemer, " the sting of death" is evi- 
 dently taken away from them, as though in the midst of 
 their mortal conflicts the Gospel mildly proclaimed to 
 those who behold their unconscious struggles with the 
 last enemy — " There is no condemnation to them," for 
 " they are in Christ Jesus j" Rom. viii. 1. The fear of 
 death begins in mankind at the age when children begin 
 to discern between good and evil ; but as to Infants they 
 never know what death is till they find themselves in his 
 presence who is " the Resurrection and the life," to live 
 for evermore. But the personal transgressors of the law 
 whether of nature or revelation, are imiversally considered 
 as " guilty before God," Rom. iii. 19, which guilt could 
 not be justly imputed to them, if, at the same time, they 
 are "without strength," as well as " ungodly," Rom. v. 6, 
 all supernatural help was denied them, and their hearts 
 were left from first to last unvisited by the Holy Spirit of 
 God. 
 
 Indeed the notion that some men are left entirely with- 
 out gracious visitations from the Spirit of God involves 
 this contradiction, that the several Persons of the Holy 
 and blessed Trinity are not agreed in their divine coun- 
 sels and work. For whereas it is undeniable that all 
 
THE HOLY TRINITY ONE GOD. 69 
 
 men are related to the Father, who is the source of cre- 
 ation ; and to the Son of God, by virtue of his having 
 taken upon him the nature of man ; to the Holy Spirit 
 they bear no relation at all, if that notion he true ; for 
 then he hath no more to do with or for them than if they 
 had no being. Now such an opinion goes directly to the 
 subverting of that grand fundamental Scriptural verity, 
 the Unity of the Godhead ; for that doctrine assures us 
 that in essence, counsel, and work, God the Father, God 
 the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are one for evermore. 
 Moreover, such a notion destroys the harmony and per- 
 fection of the Holy Spirit's oivii work as connected with 
 human redemption. For whereas he, by his overshadow- 
 ing power, created of the substance of the woman the 
 human nature of our Lord, whose birth was announced 
 as containing " good tidings of great joy to all people," 
 Luke ii. 10, and also after our Lord's crucifixion and 
 death, quickened his mortal body, for he was " raised by 
 the Spirit of Holiness from the dead," Rom. i. 4, and viii. 
 1 1 , who also raised him up to be an universal Judge, 
 "the Lord both of the dead and living;" Rom. xiv. 9; 
 his personal agency in the work of man's redemption and 
 salvation would be contradictory : — for, in its external 
 aspect, so far as it relates to the j>erson and official acts of 
 the Redeemer, it tvould have the character of univer- 
 sality ; but, in actual benejits bestowed, notwithstand- 
 ing the declaration at his birth, it ivould be partial and 
 limited. Wherefore we cannot but conclude, that, though 
 that abundant gift of the Holy Spirit, called in the 
 Scripture " the pouring out " of the Spirit, is only 
 granted in connection with the preaching of the gospel 
 of Christ, still the gift of that same Spirit has never been 
 
70 THE RESURRECTION UNIVERSAL. 
 
 entirely withheld from any age, or nation, or individual 
 whatsoever, from the foundation of the world to the 
 present day. See Psalm Ixviii. 18, and Gen. vi. 3, Psalm 
 xcv. 7 — 11, Isaiah Ixiii. 10, Heh. iii., iv.. Acts vii. 51, 
 Rom i. 18 — 32, John i. 9, and John iii. 19. 
 
 In concluding our review of the consequences flowing 
 from the Redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, besides Existence, Providence, Law, Conscience, 
 and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we may add the universal 
 resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment of all 
 mankind at the last day. On this portion of our con- 
 nected argimient we need not enlarge ; for on the fact of 
 the general resurrection of the dead, all Christians are 
 agreed. The words of holy scripture on this head are very 
 explicit. " Marvel not at this," saith Christ, " for the 
 hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves 
 shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have 
 done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they thai 
 have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation ;" 
 John V. 28, 29. So Daniel, " And inany of them that 
 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever- 
 lasting life, and some to everlasting shame and con- 
 tempt ;" Dan. xii. 2. And the use of the word " many" 
 in this Text, as in Rom. v. 19, shews that in reference to 
 mankind it is equivalent to the word " all," and that it 
 doth not denote a portion, or a large part of the human 
 race, but all without exception, considered collectively as 
 the many, or the multitudes, because of the vastness of 
 the number of the family of man, when all generations 
 are brought together in the mass, as composing what 
 Saint John calls "the whole world ;" 1 John ii. 2. Saint 
 Paul also writes thus: — "We must all appear before 
 
THE RESURRECTION A FRUIT OF REBEMPTION. 71 
 
 the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one may receive 
 the things done in his body, according to that he hath 
 done, whether it be good or bad ;" 2 Cor. v. 10. There 
 shall then be " a resurrection of the dead, both of the 
 just and unjust;" Acts. xxiv. 15. 
 
 But while this doctrine is generally admitted, it hath 
 not been by all Christians observed with sufficient dis- 
 tinctness, how certainly the resurrection, not of the right- 
 eous only, but of all mankind, is a consequence of re- 
 demption, from which fact alone the nniversal redemp- 
 tion of mankind is demonstrated beyond all contradic- 
 tion. The Old and New Testament alike concur in 
 support of this truth. What said Paul to the Athenians ? 
 " And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now 
 commandeth all men every where to repent ;" because 
 he hath appointed a day, in the which he ivill judge the 
 ivorld in righteousness by that man whom he hath or- 
 dained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, 
 in that he hath raised him from the dead;" Acts xvii. 
 30, 31. Thus saith the Messiah in the Prophet, " I will 
 ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem 
 them from death : O death, I will be thy plagues ; O 
 grave, I will be thy destruction;" Hosea xiii. 14. Now 
 these words are quoted or referred to by Saint Paul, 1 
 Cor. XV. 55, throughout which chapter he speaks of the 
 resurrection as being general, in consequence of Christ's 
 resurrection, and dwells on the contrast between the 
 first and second Adam, as in his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans. Wherefore if any man were unredeemed, his body 
 would not be raised ; but as all will be raised, there- 
 fore redemption by Christ Jesus hath extended unto 
 all mankind. 
 
72 THE JUDGMENT UNIVERSAL. 
 
 Nor is it less certain that all will be judged ; the 
 office of judge, and the administration of judgment being 
 founded on redemption also. " For as the Father hath 
 • life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life 
 in himself: and hath given him authority to execute 
 judgment also, because he is the Son of Man ;" John v. 
 26, 27. Wherefore having been lifted up on the cross, 
 as the Son of Man, for the world's redemption, he hath 
 been appointed to judge the world he hath redeemed; 
 Acts xvii. 31. And thus as in the beginning, when there 
 was but one pair, his sentence as Judge, though not at 
 that time a final one, was associated with his covenant 
 engagement to become the Redeemer ; so his final sen- 
 tence on all their posterity in the last day, will be the 
 concluding act of that covenant engagement, and result- 
 ing from it:" and then shall the wicked go away into 
 everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eter- 
 nal;" Matt. XXV. 46. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 The divine Truths established in the foregoing Sections 
 specially applied to the case of Infants. 
 
 We have now arrived at the conclusion of our extended 
 remarks concerning the imiversality of man's redemption 
 by the Son of man Jesus Christ our Lord. We have 
 gone into this subject at length, for the more efTectually 
 securing the position we endeavour to establish with re- 
 gard to man's infant race. For if God chose, as a mere 
 sovereign, to leave any portion of the human family with- 
 out redemption, why might he not leave some infants 
 
GOD IS GRACIOUS TO ALL INFANTS. /3 
 
 without redemption also ? What security have we that 
 he hath not clone so ? But if Jesus Christ did indeed 
 " hv the grace of God taste death for every man," Heb. 
 ii. 9, then, so sure as he tasted the death, God liad a 
 favor towards, and is actually gracious to, every man 
 coming into the world. And although, according to his 
 sovereign wisdom and foreknowledge, he in ancient times 
 made his choice, and ])referred one rather than another, 
 even before the children were born, or had done good or 
 evil, that the purpose of God according to election might 
 stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, as it is 
 written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated j" 
 Rom. ix. 11 — 13; yet that loving and hating, re/a/erf 
 not to Eternity, hut to tim% : — the loved being chosen 
 to special privileges and blessings, and the hated having 
 inferior and secondary blessings : — but still both the loved 
 and the hated had their blessings, and, in each case, the 
 blessings all proceeded from the same source. Redemption, 
 in which great work of Christ they were equally interested. 
 For when God said to Abraham, "And in thy seed shall 
 all the families of the earth be blessed," he meant what he 
 said, and never intended that Abraham's own grandson 
 Esau should be shut out of redemption, as a poor ex- 
 cluded reprobate, in the very next generation. Whatever 
 o( special privilege he lost, he forfeited by his own care- 
 less indifference ; and had not his father Isaac so much 
 as himself to blame for it. But our good Baptist 
 Brethren make Esaus of all their children ; ihey know 
 nothing of the wholesome doctrine of election, even after 
 their children are horn, much less before their birth ; 
 but while infants, they treat them all in the lump as 
 if they tvere nncovenanted reprobates, and leave it fov 
 
74 INFANTS ARE IN GOD's COVENANT. 
 
 time and chance to discover who amongst them may be 
 gathered up as the elect children of God. We think it 
 better to regard all our children as God's elect, and to 
 pray on the day of their baptism, '•' that they may ever 
 remain in that number, and to believe assuredly that it 
 will be so, unless they afterwards " sell their birth-right 
 for a mess of pottage," or, in other words, renoitnce 
 Clivist for the world, after they have been dedicated to 
 bis service. 
 
 The redemption of Christ being a Covenant-act, Infants 
 who are redeemed by him are sacredly related to him as 
 their Covenant Head. Baptism does not put them into 
 that relation, but is only a visible and outward recog- 
 nition of it; wherefore to refuse them Baptism is to 
 refuse to recognise God's own act; and, as though God 
 had really done nothing for them already in the way 
 of spiritual benefit, to wait and see if he have an}* favor 
 towards them, and if he will be gracious unto them in 
 future years. But we maintain that they are the Lord's, 
 even as we are the Lord's, at least so far as redemption is 
 concerned ; and that with them, as with us, the " ever- 
 lasting covenant is ordered in all things and sure ;" 
 2 Sam. xxiii. 5, Psalm Ixxxix. 28, 29, &c. So long as 
 thev are in a state of unsinning infancy, Christ is their 
 Saviour ; every promise which is Yea and Amen in 
 Christ is their promise," though they be incapable of 
 ])ersonal faith, because they are not guilty of actual un- 
 belief ; and the heaven where Christ is, is the heaven 
 where they, dying in infancy, most assuredly go. Whi- 
 ther sliould the lambs of the flock be gathered, but in 
 the divine Shepherd's heavenly fold ?* Every benefit 
 flowing to them from redemjnion is necessarily and un- 
 
INFANTS SAVED BY CHRIST. 75 
 
 avoidably an eternal benefit ; for nothing cuts a re- 
 deemed creature off from the everlasting mercy of God 
 in Christ Jesus, but wilful, personal, and actual trans- 
 gressions. Let us trace in order as before described the 
 saving benefits of redeeming love towards their immortal 
 souls. 
 
 They owe their being to the redeeming love of Christ, 
 and through it they are also from the earliest moment of 
 existence the creatures of his providential care. And 
 though, dying in infancy, they never understood the law 
 of that gracious economy under which they are bom, be 
 it of nature, as in heathen countries, or of revelation, as 
 in Christendom ; nor the power of conscience in accusing 
 or excusing according to their personal deeds ; nor the 
 operations of the Holy Spirit, so as to understand what 
 they are ; — yet they are not incapable, whether with or 
 without the ordinance of baptism, of experiencing the 
 regenerating and sanctifying influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, which are requisite for salvation, even where 
 actual sin hath not been committed, to make pardon 
 needed. Dying in infancy, through the merits of the 
 Redeemer, they are " born again of the Spirit," and so 
 made meet for the kingdom of heaven ; John iii. 7. Nor 
 is this impossible, though the mode may to us be incon- 
 ceivable. For as an infant is sinful by nature before it 
 hath any consciousness of sin ; so it may be sanctified by 
 (he Holy Spirit, before it hath any consciousness of holi- 
 ness. Indeed no one can say at how early a period of 
 the soul's existence divine influence may be communi- 
 cated from the Spirit of the living God. "As thou 
 knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the 
 
 bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child ; 
 h2 
 
76 INFANTS CAPABLE OF GRACE. 
 
 even so thou knowest not the works of God who malveth 
 all ;" Eccles. xi. 5. It is certam that John, the forerun- 
 ner of our Lord, was "filled with the Holy Ghost, even 
 from his mother's womb :" Luke i. 15, Thus he was 
 spiritually baptized, not merely in infancy, but before 
 his birth ; so abundantly was the Holy Ghost given unto 
 him. And what is still more remarkable, his mother 
 under the plenary inspiration of the Holy Ghost, at- 
 tributed Joy to him : — " For lo," said she to Mary, " as 
 soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, 
 the babe leaped in my ivomb for joy ;" Luke i. 41 — 44. 
 Who can explain this fact ? And yet who can doubt it ? 
 So also the Lord said unto Jeremiah, — "Before thou 
 earnest forth out of the woinb I sanctified thee, and I 
 ordained thee a prophet unto the nations ;" Jer. i. 5. 
 See also the case of Samuel, the child of a mournful 
 mother's prayer's ; 1 Sam. i. 27, 28. And as the great and 
 good God is thus divinely gracious to the soul of an infant, 
 from the earliest period of its becoming " a living soul," 
 so the same grace may work along with Divine Provi- 
 dence in producing extraordinary beauty even in the 
 formation of the body, as a token of his special observ- 
 ance of all that can befal an infant in his infant days. At 
 once the mind will here recollect the aU'ecting history 
 of Moses who was " exceeding fair," — literally, " fair to 
 God," Acts vii. 20, whose very countenance indicated 
 something more than ordinary to his oppressed parents, 
 who saw from his birth that he was " a proper child," — 
 a child of extraordinary comeliness and beauty: Heb. xi. 
 23, and whose loveliness touched the heart of Pharaoh's 
 daughter so deeply when "she saw the child; and behold, 
 the babe wept," Exod, ii. 6, that she took him, and had 
 
SUFFERING AND DYING INFANTS SAVED. // 
 
 him nourished and brought up for her own son. Had 
 Pharaoh's daughter more of compassion for a weeping 
 infant than oin- Jesus ? Would she adopt the outcast 
 infant of a slave for her own son, and will he vniver- 
 sally refuse infants an admission into his house, which 
 is the Church of the living God ? Surely their tears, 
 the fruit and punishment of sin, never personally com- 
 mitted by them, he will graciously accept instead of peni- 
 tential tears, which they are incapable of shedding ; and 
 he will graciously interpret their cries and convulsive sobs 
 when life quivers and is departing, as prayers or expres- 
 sions indicating the need of mercy. As when a rare 
 musician is tuning up his instrument, various harsh and 
 discordant sounds are heard, which, when the instrument 
 is well-tuned, give place to sounds of the sweetest melody ; 
 so the piercing shiieks and cries of infants under their 
 sufTerings, sometimes almost to the last moment of life, 
 are but the afflictive means employed by the Divine 
 Spirit of tuning up their souls for the sweet melody of 
 heaven, so that the last sigh or groan on earth shall be 
 instantly followed by the joyous hallelujahs of eternity. 
 For of all Infants it may be said — ''Blessed are the dead 
 who die in the Lord," Rev. xiv. 13, for if they have no 
 works to follow them, neither have they any sins to accuse 
 them, but a Saviour ready to receive them to his kingdom 
 and glory, for which they have been prepared by the 
 regenerating grace of the Spirit of God. 
 
 It may be said that the instances mentioned of John, 
 and Jeremiah, and Samuel, and Moses, relate to extra- 
 ordinary characters, and are not therefore of general 
 application. True, not to the same extent; but then 
 
 to some extent they will admit of general application. 
 h3 
 
78 INFANTS EARLY SUBJECTS OF GRACE. 
 
 Moses' communion with God, for instance, in manhood, 
 was very extraordinary, and so in its fullest extent not of 
 general application, for his election went heyond the ordi- 
 nary election of even God's faithful servants ; but then 
 to some extent it is of general application, and exhibits 
 a beautiful view of the common privilege of holy fellow- 
 ship with God, which all God's serv^ants in various degrees 
 enjoy. So what was peculiar and special in these chosen 
 babes is but an illustration of the grace and good-will to 
 all infimts born into our world of him who hath " or- 
 dained that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings he 
 will perfect praise ;" Psalm, viii. 2. And these histories 
 are recorded, as for other reasons in general, sci for this 
 reason in particular, to encourage mothers, or parents, to 
 fen'ent prayer for their offspring, even before thev are 
 brought forth ; and to be very watchful and observant of 
 gi"acious providences towards their little ones, from the 
 hour that they are bom. But does it not manifestly appear 
 an inconsistent thing to pray for an infant before it is born, 
 and then when it is born, instead of imitating good Hannah, 
 and " lending the child to the Lord as long as he lives," 
 1 Sam. i. 27 — to say. Stop awhile, Lord, till he becomes 
 a man, and then if he chooses to serve thee he may, and 
 I shall be glad ? Shall a woman have compassion on the 
 sou of her womb, and nourish him with the milk of her 
 breasts, which God in his good providence hath provided 
 for the sustenance of the child's life, and yet believe that 
 Christ hath no compassion for the soul of her child, or 
 a compassion which hath not made any provision for its 
 spiritual benefit, as an infant, in his Church ? The 
 simple truth lies here, — The cases adduced of the rare 
 examples of Moses, &c,, are Facts; — and one Fact is as 
 
INFANTS SHALL BE RAISED AND JUDGED. 79 
 
 good as a million to vpset a Theory ; —and those Facts 
 do most clearly overthrow the Theory against Infant 
 Baptism, drawn from the incapability of Infants to 
 understand the nature, or perform the conditions of 
 that ordinance : — for it is plain from those examples that 
 divine grace can precede the exercise of the human 
 understanding, so that the objection is mere talk, sound 
 without substance, and is utterly futile and vain, " Thou," 
 Lord, " preventest them with the blessings of goodness;" 
 Psalm xxi. 3. For a further elucidation of this fact, 
 see some of the preceding and following pages. 
 
 As to the resurrection of the dead, and the universal 
 judgment of mankind, infants, no less than adults, are 
 interested in those great scripture doctrines, and are per- 
 sonally concerned in all the events to which they refer. 
 " And I saw," saith Saint John, " a gi'eat white throne, 
 and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and 
 the heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for 
 them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
 before God ; and the books were opened : and another 
 book was opened, which is the book of life ; and the dead 
 were judged out of those things which were written in the 
 books, according to their works ;" Rev. xx. 11, 12. They 
 who have died in infancy shall stand with all mankind 
 before the judgment seat of Christ, and be also judged, 
 not indeed for actions, since they never performed any 
 for which they are accountable; but yet a judgment will 
 be requisite for them, equally with others, in order that 
 their moral state a7id character may be made known, 
 that so they may be recognized as righteous, and with 
 all who are on the right hand of the judge, hear the 
 sentence, — " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
 
80 CHRIST ALL IN ALL IN INFANTS* SALVATION. 
 
 kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the 
 workl;" Matt. xxv. 34. And thus the whole glory of 
 their salvation will he ascribed to the Redeemer ; for it 
 will be seen that the obtaining of that salvation has not 
 been owinp; to natural descent from virtuous parents, nor 
 to any natural goodness and innocency of their o«ii, nor 
 to certain peculiar circumstances arising from the nation 
 or country where they were bom ; but that indepen- 
 dently of all these considerations they have been saved 
 through the blood of the cross, which brought them to 
 glory, though they never knew or heard thereof, till, 
 through its precious merits they passed within the veil, to 
 behold " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
 world ;" Rev. xiii, 8. We therefore "joy in God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ," over our departed infants, know- 
 ing that they " have received the atonement;" Rom. v. 
 11. And we further '"joy in God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ" over every infant born into the world as a 
 subject of the atonement; and know that it is our duty, 
 and rejoice that it is our privilege to present our Infants 
 to Christ in Baptism, as their Redeemer and our Re- 
 deemer, knowing that he who hath already purchased 
 salvation for them by the shedding of his precious blood, 
 hath, along with that redemption, procured for them a 
 right and title, through him, to be received into his visi- 
 ble church, and thereby constituted its members from 
 their infant days. Baptism then is not a natural privi- 
 lege derivable from parents, but a gracious privilege 
 derived from Christ, the common hope of fathers and 
 sons for all generations. It is perpetuated through the 
 instrumentality of parents, as is existence and every 
 blessing ; but " Christ is all and in all ;" Col. iii 11. 
 
IXFANTS ANCIENTLY DEDICATED TO GOD. 81 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INFANTS WERE DEDICATED TO GOD's SERVICE BEFORE 
 THE COMING OF CHRIST. 
 
 Infants were dedicated to God (or four thousand years, 
 from the creation of the world to the coming of Christ ; 
 therefore we conclude that infants have a right to a simi- 
 lar privilege under the Christian Dispensation, according 
 to the entire scope and tenor of Cioii's Covenant with 
 mankind : — this is the second Fact proposed for exami- 
 nation. A considerable portion of what has been stated 
 in the preceding chapter has so close a connection with 
 the purport of our present argument, tlrat it would be an 
 unnecessary multiplication of words to pursue the subject 
 at length. An occasional reference may be made to 
 what has been already advanced, the rest must be kept in 
 mind. Now the ages which passed away before the 
 Messiah was born, may be divided into two periods of 
 nearly equal length ; reckoning two thousand years from 
 the creation to the hundredth year of Abraham's life, 
 vvhen circumcision was established ; and a second two 
 thousand years from that time to the birth of Christ. 
 This is sufficiently accurate as a general statement, for 
 the sake of arrangement, although according to the chro- 
 nological dates in the margin of our Bibles, rather more 
 than two thousand and one hundred years belong to the 
 Abi-ahamic period. Each period will be treated of in a 
 separate section. 
 
82 
 
 EARLY INFANT DEDICATION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 From the Creation to Abraham's receiving the Law of 
 Circumcision. 
 Concerning this period it must be acknowledged that 
 we can only adduce inferential proof in favour of the 
 fact sought to he ascertained. But this need not excite 
 surprize, considering the extreme brevity of the sacred 
 history in regard to those times. The three first chapters 
 of Genesis are a narrative of the creation of the world 
 and man, and of his fall, and I'estoration to a new pro- 
 bation under the covenant of grace. There remain but 
 fourteen chapters, namely from the fourth to the seven- 
 teenth of Genesis for the history of nigh two thousand 
 years. And the greater portions of those chapters are oc- 
 cupied in an account of the Deluge, the dispersion of 
 mankind, and the earlier part of the personal and family 
 history of the patriarch Abraham. A few other facts are 
 mentioned in an incidental manner; and from some of 
 them we glean the remarks now about to be offered for 
 consideration. But we do not profess to have any thing 
 explicit to produce in the way of command, relative to 
 this subject, during that period ; nor was it needful, since 
 the Holy Ghost in due time would make known the divine 
 will when he should cause an inspired record of the law 
 of circumcision to be written and preserved, which, as a 
 part and continuation of God's gracious purposes of 
 mercy previously revealed, should indicate ivhathad been 
 the known will of God, by those who had lived in the still 
 earlier ages of the world. In this respect the law of infant 
 dedication to God, and the law of sacrifices, stand pre- 
 cisely in the same position, for we have no command with 
 
INFANTS INTERESTED IN PROMISES. 83 
 
 regard to either preserved in the Scriptures till the days 
 of Abram; at which time, on the very first occasion when 
 God promised Abram posterity, the previously existiny 
 law of sacrifices was renewed in the way of positive in- 
 junction. "And, behold, the word of the Lord came 
 unto Abram, saying. This shall not be thine heir; b^it 
 he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall 
 be thine heir. And he said unto him. Take me an heifer 
 of three years old," &c. See the entire passage ; Gen. xv. 
 1 — 21. And having read the chapter attentively, then 
 weigh the following brief remarks. First : — The person 
 who appeared to Abram is not oidy called " the Lord," or 
 Jehovah, and " the Lord God," but also " the word of the 
 Lord," verses 1, 4, by whom both Jewish and Christian 
 commentators understand Christ, styled also " the word," 
 by Saint John, i. 1, &c. Here we have it clearly revealed 
 as a fact that Christ the Redeemer is deeply interested in 
 man's posterity, so much so, that from his foreknowledge 
 ariseth a yraeious purpose concerning a child yet to be 
 born ; from whence it is fair to infer that he must be 
 gracious to such child when it actually is born. For if 
 an unbegotten child can yet be regarded by him as a child 
 of promise, must it not of necessity have an interest in 
 the promise from its very birth, and so be entitled to 
 some outward expression or acknowledgment thereof, in 
 the way of dedication to him in and by whom the promise 
 was made ? Nor was this an exempt case, for it related 
 to heirship, and so extended to many yenerations ; — an 
 heirship by birth, as distinguished from, and in opposi- 
 tion to, an heirship by adult adoption, verse 3, and, as to 
 its spiritual benefits and signification, virtually including 
 all nations and families of the earth, as well the Gen- 
 
84 INFANT CONSECRATION AIDS PARENTAL FAITH. 
 
 tiles as the Jews. For though of necessity the peculiar 
 privilege of being the Messiah's progenitors was restricted 
 to one branch of the patriarchal family, in the way of 
 lineal descent, yet the circumstance of its being an heir- 
 ship by birth, so that in each succeeding generation each 
 child ivas heir as soon as born, even before it received 
 the sign and seal of circumcision, establishes the princi- 
 ple of the gracious relation and rights of Infants in all 
 ages of the world. Secondly : — This also was a covenant 
 transaction, 18, and so was more than a mere personal 
 matter between Abram and his God ; for as before shewn 
 every covenant which God hath made with man taketh 
 in his posterity equally ivith himself at the very time it 
 is established. In this instance it is remarkable that the 
 name of Abram himself is not inserted at all in the cove- 
 nant promise, but his seed only. " In the same day the 
 Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, " Unto thy 
 seed have I given this land," &c., &c. ; v. 18. Thirdly : 
 — This covenant relating as well to Abram's seed as to 
 Abram himself was most deeply solemn and interesting, 
 because associated with Abram's personal justification 
 before God ; for when the Lord said unto him, " So shall 
 thy seed be," he believed in the Lord, and he counted it 
 to him for righteousness ; v. 5, 6, and Rom. iv. 3 — 5. 
 Wherefore justification, and so all experimental and prac- 
 tical religion, are ivrought up with the recognition of 
 our children's covenant relation to God ; for this forms 
 a constituent part and element of right, true, and saving 
 faith; excepting where invincible prejudices bias the 
 understandhig, when God may graciously accept the 
 heads of families in his Son, notwithstanding they own 
 not their children's relation to God. But had Abram 
 
INFANTS ANCIENTLY DEDICATED TO GOD. 85 
 
 been like them, God would not have accepted Abiani. 
 Fourthly : — As the law of sacrifices, now for the first time 
 written in the Scriptures, justifies the supposition and 
 belief that such law had been ])reviously made known, 
 though not expressly recorded, because sacrifices bad 
 been offered up from the beginning ; so the promise con- 
 cerning Isaac, and the subsequent law of circumcision, 
 justify the supposition that Infants had been regarded 
 from the beginning as belonging to the Lord, and the 
 dedication of them to his service as a duty, because we 
 have distinct intimations of a religious acknoicledgment 
 connected with their birth and name. Moreover it is to 
 be steadily borne in mind, that while we have a series of 
 inferential proofs of this class in favor of the fact of an 
 early dedication to God, there are no draivbacks from 
 the imperfect evidence we thus collect by any opposing 
 kind of deductions, which would weaken the ground on 
 which we stand, when looking back to the principles and 
 practice of the remotest ages of our world. 
 
 Now the general covenant of redemption having been 
 made with our first parents in Paradise, and accompanied 
 with so many indications of restoring mercy towards them, 
 insomuch that poor fallen Adam is designated in the holy 
 gospel — " the son of God," Lulve iii 38 ; and their pos- 
 terity having been included in its benefits, and expressly 
 mentioned in the first promise, it might be reasonably ex- 
 pected that, from the earliest being of their children, they 
 would in some manner acknowledge so undeserved a favor 
 from the Lord. No method of dohig this could be more 
 simple than the practice of giving to the child some sig- 
 injicant and religioiis name. This would be the most 
 natural way for man to exercise his powers, and express 
 
86 EARLY PRACTICE OF COMMEMORATIVE NAMES. 
 
 bis hopes ; and would well accord mth bis circumstances, 
 and tbe previous babits acquired in tbe employment of 
 his understanding. He had known for instance that tbe 
 Lord God bad given appropriate names to every part of 
 tbe creation which he bad made. Gen. i. 5, 8, 10, and 
 especially that he bad given to human kind tbe general 
 name of man : " for be called their name Adam, in the day 
 when they were created;" Gen. v. 2. In bis innocent 
 state, as a token of his sovereignty over tbe inferior 
 creatures, and as an evidence of the perfection of his un- 
 derstanding, be bad been allowed, or rather directed, him- 
 self to give names to tbe different animals ; which names 
 are generally supposed to have been indicative of their 
 several natures; Gen. ii. 19, 20. In particular it he- 
 longed to him to designate bis own co-partner in tbe joys 
 of Paradise. " And Adam said. This is now bone of my 
 hones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, 
 because she was taken out of man;" Gen. ii. 23. In 
 that nj-me there was a religious signijication ; it was 
 commemorative both of her origin, and of her near, and 
 dear, and eternal relation to him. Now, that practice of 
 a religious commemoration, signified by an appropriate 
 name, was continued after tbe fall. And what is still more 
 remarkable, when viewed in connection with Gen. xv., 
 already commented on, tbe first instance of the kind after 
 tbe fall is closely associated with sacrifice. For so we 
 read : — "And Adam called his wife's name Eve — or Life 
 — because she was tbe mother of all living. And then 
 follows : — unto Adam also and to his wife did tbe Ijord God 
 make coats of skins, and clothed them ;" Gen. iii. 20, 21- 
 These original garments are generally supposed to have 
 been the skins of animals slain bv divine direction for 
 
THE FIRST INFANTS BORN DEDICATED TO GOD. 87 
 
 sacrifice ; by which circumstance we are taught that for 
 our very clothing, and every other benefit of a gracious 
 Providence, we are indebted to the great work of redemp- 
 tion, the source of life and salvation 
 
 Now from this outline of man's earliest history, we may 
 infer two things as highly probable, and against which 
 there lie no counter-probabilities. First, That when a 
 child should be born unto him, he would at some suita- 
 ble time give unto it a commemorative name ; and 
 secondly. That it would be done religiously, and contain 
 some reference to his circumstances, and so be indirectly 
 at least associated with sacrifice and redemption. And 
 certainly such religious and commemorative act would 
 virtually imply the fact of Infant Dedication to God 
 in his Church, although we have no account of any ex- 
 press ordinance or institution observed on such an occa- 
 sion. For our first parents were at that time the church, 
 and the only church; wherefore the act of dedicating 
 their Infants to God was as much a church act as a 
 family act; Adam was both father and priest, as was 
 Abraham afterwards, nor could he separate the official 
 from the natural relation in the performance of a re. 
 ligious duty. So that the first member of God's church* 
 after the original pair, was an infant ; for it would have 
 been strange indeed if the very first act of the first 
 priest, after the birth of his^rs^ child, should have been 
 one of reprobation, casting away his own offspring, 
 after he had believingly recognized the mother as " the 
 mother of all living." That would have been in fact 
 the rejection of all his subsequent posterity, that is of all 
 mankind ; and so the church must have begun and ended 
 
 with the first pair, unless it had pleased God afterward* 
 I 2 
 
88 THE FIRST INFANTS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 to gather in here and there one out of the mass to preserve 
 its existence for future yeai's. But this would have created 
 a wide distinction of mankind into two classes from the 
 very beginning, heathens and such as were not heathen, 
 similar to that which afterwards obtained between Jews 
 and Gentiles; whereas we meet with no traces' of such dis- 
 tinction, and are certain that it existed not, for then had 
 the calling of Abraham, and the election of his posterity 
 to be God's peculiar people been unnecessary, seeing such 
 a peculiar people wei"e already in being, distinct from the 
 rest of mankind.* But until Abram's time the only dis- 
 tinctions known related to characters, not to two classes, 
 as of God's appointment ; all men had erpial religious 
 rights and jmvileges to engage in the worship of God. 
 Thus Cain, the first-born of mankind, drew near to the 
 altar, as well as his younger brother ; Gen. iv. 4. This 
 shows that they were both in the visible church from in- 
 fancy; for had this not been the case the character and tem- 
 per of the elder ivonld have forbidden his introduction 
 into it in riper years ; and he should have been expostu- 
 lated with as a heathen, fur presuming to bring any offering, 
 prior to his initiation into the church. But instead of this, 
 God recognized his right to approach the altar, though he 
 refused to accept his offering; and remonstrated with him 
 for his error and sin, and taught him to amend. 
 
 It will be instructive to notice the import of the names 
 of Adam's sons, three of his immediate descendants being 
 mentioned in the sacred history. The earliest fact re- 
 
 * The word "Gentiles," in Gen. x. b, simply signifies nations; and is so 
 rendered in the last clause of that same verse, and in several other places in the 
 same chapter. For the salve of acciu'acy it should never be translated Gentiles, 
 in any copies of the Scripture, until after the calling of Abraham, when the dis- 
 tinction began to be maintained in tlie world. 
 
IMPORT OF Cain's name. 89 
 
 corded concerning man after his expulsion from Eden is, 
 the birth of his first-born son. "And Adam knew Eve 
 his wife ; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I 
 have gotten a man from the Lord ;" Gen. iv. 1. It is not 
 a little remarkable that in the first family the mother 
 named the sons, see the Hebrew Text of Gen. iv 1 — 25, 
 although, from subsequent history, that honor and duty 
 evidently belonged to the father; comjjare Gen. xxi. 3, 
 Luke i. 62, and Matt. i. 2L It may be this incident is 
 recorded to inspire us with hope concerning the salvation 
 of both our progenitors. Adam's faith was conspicuous 
 in calling his wife's name. Eve ; her faith and piety in the 
 names she imposed on lier sons. And hereby we see that 
 notwithstanding their unhappy fall, they were not " un- 
 equally yoked," 2 Cor. vi. 14, but still "heirs together 
 of the grace of life," 1 Pet. iii. 7, and therefore " she 
 was saved in childbearing," they " continuing in faith and 
 charity and holiness with sobriety;" 1 Tim. ii. 13 — 15. 
 She called his name Cain, or Gain, because she had 
 gained him from the Lord. She received him as the 
 Lord's gift, and, grateful for her mercies, she would not 
 have her child nameless, or merely give it a name, as one 
 might do to a horse or beast, for the sake of calling it 
 something, without any reference to religion or its ordi- 
 nances ; but as an act of faith, and in the spirit of devo- 
 tion she said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." 
 'Nowii from the Lord, he belonged to that Lord the 
 Redeemer from whom she had received him ; although 
 he afterwards became a personal apostate from the cove- 
 nant of grace, when he refused to hearken to that gracious 
 God, who still waited to shew him mercy, and keep him 
 
 back from impending destruction ;" Gen. iv. 4 — 8. 
 I 3 
 
90 IMPORT OF ABEL AND SETH's NAMES, 
 
 The next son of om- first parents was called Abel, or 
 Hebel, that is, vanity. This is the word so often repeated 
 in Eccles. i. 2. " Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher," 
 "vanity of vanities; all is vanity." It occurs again in 
 Psalm xxxix. 5, "verily every man at his best state is 
 altogether vanity." It is probable that his parents called 
 him Abel, because they had had by the time of his birth 
 increased proofs of the bitter effects of the fall, both in 
 themselves and in their posterity. 
 
 Their third son, of whom any particular record is pre- 
 served, was called Seth. Now the force, and beauty, and 
 as one might say, the high prophetic import of this name, 
 does not strike an ordinary reader of the Holy Scriptures. 
 ]3ut only let it be observed that this name is taken from 
 the very words of the great original promise of redemp- 
 tion; Gen. iii. 15; or rather that it is an embodying of 
 the promise itself in a name, and every one must be de- 
 lightfully impressed with the faith and piety it exemplifies. 
 The variation of phraseology in our authorized version pre- 
 vents this from being perceived, or even thought of, how- 
 ever necessary that variation may be to make good English 
 of the translation. But this proper noun, Seth, is derived 
 from the same root as the verb " put," iw the promise; 
 and is also the same verb employed by his mother in assign- 
 ing the reason for his name, and is rendered in our transla- 
 tion, " appointed." But if we bring the passages together, 
 according to then" corresjiondence in the original text, we 
 shall at once see the relation of the one to the othei-. 
 "And the Lord God said, I will put" — ox set — "enmity 
 between thee and the womnn, and between thy seed and 
 her seed;" Gen. iii. 15. "And she bare a son, and 
 called his name Seth, or Set ; for God, said she, hath 
 
seth's name taken from the first promise. 91 
 
 appointed" — hath set — " me another seed instead of Abel, 
 whom Cain slew; Gen. iv. 25. It is difficult to retain 
 the word in our version, so as to make the allusion clear, 
 without marring the sense; but that allusion evidently 
 existed in the mind of Eve, and is contained in the text. 
 It seems as if the whole ol that solemn declaration. Gen. 
 iii. 15, had been deeply pondered in her heart; her allu- 
 sion to it implies that she discerned the enmity of the 
 wicked one, as it had been working in her first-boni when 
 he slew his brother, notwithstanding her early hopes and 
 ])rayers and grateful acknowledgments at his birth ; and 
 yet it intimates her believing determination, after all the 
 calamities she had witnessed, to cling to the promissory 
 part of that declaration, and look for that other seed who 
 should bruise the serpent's head. Therefore she called 
 his name Set, or Seth. And in fact here began a godly 
 line, which was perpetuated for several generations. 
 Gen. v., and from this very line sprang ultimately the 
 Christ, the Saviour of the world; Luke iii. 38. And it 
 is not a little gratifying to find that we have this very 
 ancient word, — as old almost as the foundations of the 
 world, — transferred with sea reel >j any alteration to our 
 own language, and continuing to our own time, and used 
 very nearly ia the same sense as in the beginning : our 
 verb set, bearing amongst other meanings the significa- 
 tion of put, planted, determined, fixed, appointed ; 
 hence our version of the original word as before quoted 
 in Gen. iii. 15, and iv. 25. Thus amongst the first gene- 
 rations of man, the name of every child tvas inseparably 
 intencoven tvith religious truth; so that at a time when 
 revelation was limited, and the means of instruction were 
 few, every child was constituted from his birth, as it 
 
92 infants' names prophetic, and 
 
 were, " a preacher of righteousness," by the import of 
 his name, as it taught some weighty lesson of humilia- 
 tion, or faith, or godliness, to the solitary families that 
 were multiplying in the earth. And the impartalion of 
 the name being not a common, hut m religious act; it 
 was in substance the same as afterwards prevailed in cir- 
 cumcision, and as is now perpetuated in Baptism, and 
 included in its performance the reception of Infants 
 into the then existing church of God. 
 
 It is unnecessary to pursue these remarks any further, 
 or the religious import of every name recorded in Gen. v. 
 might be pointed out, and of several succeeding names. 
 But there is one fact too remarkable to be omitted. Many 
 ancient names were not only religious, and sacredly given 
 in connection with divine ordinances, but also prophetic, 
 and so were ordained by divine inspiration ; so that in 
 future years, the name was found to be the germ of pro- 
 phecies, extending to amazingly remote events and far 
 distant generations. It is only necessary here to refer to 
 the names of Noah's sons, as expanded in the prophecies • 
 Gen. ix. 25 — 27 ; and of Jacob's sons, each of whose 
 name forms the basis of a beautiful jjrophecy, when the 
 venerable patriarch blessed them on his dying bed ;" 
 Gen. xlix. Yea, there was one illustrious prophetic name 
 given on earth, which shall endure to eternity itself, and 
 be invested with a glory that shall never fade away. And 
 the angel said unto Joseph — "she shall bring forth a son, 
 and thou shall call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his 
 people from their sins;" Matt. i. 21. This was Noah's 
 "Lord God of Shem," and Jacob's " Shiloh;" and 
 David's " Lord God of Israel," of whom it is said, "And 
 blessed be his glorious name for ever ; and let the whole 
 
 i 
 
SOMETIMES GIVEN BY DIVINE DIRECTION. 93 
 
 earth be filled with bis glory;" Psalm Ixxii. 19. Now 
 every one must admit that prophetic names could only be 
 given by the spirit of prophecy. And it is moreover evi- 
 dent that in every case they Avere given not to adults, 
 (although a few instances occur in which they received 
 a new name,) but to children, either before, or at, or 
 soon after they were born. How much soever incidental 
 and comparatively trifling matters, of a personal nature, 
 and mixed up with family differences, may sometimes 
 appear to have given occasion to the name, as in the case 
 of most of Jacob's sons, that does not set aside the reality 
 of divine suggestion and superintendence, with a view to 
 further enlargement in future prophecies, but only UKikes 
 the divine guidance more remarkable, shewing how easily 
 God can educe the accomplishment of his purposes out 
 of existing circumstances, without minutely ordaining 
 circumstances themselves, in order to the fulfilment of 
 his will. But all this has a direct bearing on the subject 
 in hand, God's ancient regard to our infant race. Would 
 he have caused infants to be invested ivith a prophetic 
 ■name, if infants in those days were not members of his 
 patriarchial or antediluvian church? We believe not; 
 no more than he would have inspired an adult heathen 
 of later times with the spirit of prophecy. Such special 
 instances of divine favor therefore have a benign aspect 
 towards all infants, and may wail induce the inquiry. If 
 God hath shown such care and mindfulness of little ones, 
 as on some occasions to assign them a name in his great 
 condescension, can it be right for Christian ministers to 
 disown them, and refuse them a name in baptism ? If 
 an infant could be formerly in effect a prophet in the 
 church by virtue of his name, are infants now to be 
 
©4 INFANTS MEMBERS OF GOD's ANCIENT CHURCH. 
 
 reckoned incapable of being even members of the church, 
 and unfit tor a place in it ? What have they done ? 
 Wherein have ihey offended, that they are to be so un- 
 ceremoniously cut off from their ancient, sacred, and 
 highly valuable privileges ? God chose at sundry times, 
 and in divers manners, to manifest his grace to the child- 
 ren of men. But in whatever manner he made known his 
 graciousness, was he ever wont suddenly to ivithdraw 
 his kindness, without fault committed by those who 
 were the subjects of it P Is this the manner of the Lord 
 God ? Doth he govern by caprice ? Hath he no fixed 
 principles of government ? Is he all for infants at one 
 time, and all against them at another ? Gathering them 
 into his church in the mass in one age, and shutting them 
 out in the mass in a succeeding age ? O let not man 
 charge God foolishly; for he is in regard to infants, as to 
 the world at large, " the same yesterday, and to-day, and 
 for ever;" Heb. xiii. 8. This will be made apparent as 
 we proceed to consider the next great period of somewhat 
 more than two thousand years. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 From Abraham to Christ. 
 
 We commence the second era of two thousand years 
 with that eventful period of Abram's life which is recorded 
 in the seventeenth chapter of Genesis. The whole chap- 
 ter is full of interest, containing as it does a particular 
 account of the covenant of circumcision, when the venera- 
 ble patriarch was ninety years old and nine, and before 
 Isaac was born ; at which time also both Abram and 
 
CIRCUMCISION CONNECTED WITH REDEMPTION, 95 
 
 Sarai's names were changed, the one to Abraham, and the 
 other to Sarah, in commemoration of the distinguished 
 favor God had shewn to his chosen servant and handmaid, 
 and their posterity. Concerning this memorable trans- 
 action the following topics, on which we shall not enlarge, 
 are worthy of deep and serious attention, 
 
 1. The basis or foundation of this covenant with Abra- 
 ham. It was not based on works, but on the Covenant of 
 Redemption; and was, on God's part, a fresh manifest- 
 ation of his gi"ace towards his favored servant whom he 
 had chosen. This is too plain to need much proving. 
 For Abram, as all mankind, was by nature a sinner; and 
 although he had now been of a long time in a state of 
 friendship with God, yet he was only reconciled to God 
 by Christ, and he received all the communications of the 
 divine goodness through that same Redeemer. Now, 
 concurrent with this high transaction, there was granted 
 unto Abram a reneived sense of the divine favor; for that 
 Abraham was previously justified there can be no doubt, 
 since he was actuated by an obedient faith from the be- 
 ginning; " by faith Abraham, when he was called to go 
 out into a place which he should after receive for an in- 
 heritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither 
 he went;" Heb. xi. 8. Thus that "just man lived by. 
 faith," nor did he ever "draw back" from it; Heb. x. 38. 
 Nevertheless, circumcision was wrought up with his own 
 personal experience of the favor of God ; for the same 
 promises which God made him at the beginning were 
 confirmed thereby. He who said to him at the first, " In 
 thee shall all families of the earth be blessed," Gen. xii. 3, 
 and afterwards, " So shall thy seed be," Gen. xv. 5, now 
 appeared to him again, and said, " I am the Almighty 
 
96 CIRCUMCISION SECURES INFANTS' PRIVILEGES. 
 
 God; walk before me and be thou perfect ;" Gen. xvii. 1. 
 Now God never reveals himself as gracious, either to a 
 penitent sinner when he first believeth, or to the holiest 
 believer after he is justified, but only in Christ Jesus ; nor 
 doth he ever make a gracious promise, but only in and 
 through the Saviour ; 2 Cor. i. 20 ; so that whereas both 
 divine manifestations and divine promises went along with 
 the law of circumcision, that law must of necessity have 
 been founded on redemption, and must be reckoned a part 
 and continuation of God's merciful purpose to save man- 
 kind by his Son. It was therefore a gracious law, and a 
 gracious dispensation, and intended to prepare the way for, 
 and be the part of a flan of ushering in the still more 
 abundant grace of the gospel of God our Saviour. And 
 indeed he who afterwards became incarnate, was himself 
 the very ])erson who now appeared to Abraham, as the 
 Almighty God, and who " went up from Abraliam, when 
 he left off talking with him ;" Gen. xvii. 22. The cove- 
 nant maker on this occasion was none other than Christ 
 the Lord ; how certain then is the fact that it was based 
 on his redemption. 
 
 2. The principles unalterably established by the law 
 of circumcision are next to be regarded. It hath unequi- 
 vocally decided these two important facts : —First, That 
 Infants have a personal interest in the covenant of God ; 
 and secondly, that an inability to perform the conditions 
 of the covenant is no bar to their right to its initiatory 
 oi'xlinance and consequent blessings. 
 
 Infants have most assuredly a personal interest in the 
 covenant of God. For the promissory part of it belongs 
 to them, inasmuch as the promise was to Abraliam and 
 his seed ; and the legal part of it belongs to them also. 
 
INFANTS ARE INTERESTED IN GOD's COVENANT. 97 
 
 inasmuch as the law ran thus, "And he that is eight days 
 old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in 
 your generations;" Gen. xvii. 12. So then Isaac at eight 
 days old had as real and as large a share in the promise 
 as Abraham at a hundred years. And so important was 
 this part of the condition of the covenant engagement, 
 that Abraham's own faith would not have been accepted, 
 had it not equally embraced his posterity with himself, so 
 that both he and they, in the same ordinance, and ex- 
 actly in the sams manner, and loithout respect to age, 
 were dedicated to the service of the true and living God. 
 Abraham, as the first of circumcised men, was precisely 
 in the same relative position as the first baptized men, at 
 the opening of the Gospel Dispensation ; or in any new 
 region when the gospel is newly introduced amongst a 
 people. Of course, in the very nature of things, a^ the 
 introduction of the ordinance, the earliest subjects must 
 of necessity be adults ; but from that admitted fact, which 
 no one ever denied, to infer that therefore it must after- 
 wards be restricted to adults, is contrary to all reason 
 and scripture. It much better agrees with scripture 
 analogy to conclude, that as adult circumcision prepared 
 the way for infant circumcision ; so Adult Baptism pre- 
 pared the way for Infant Baptism ; that after the intro- 
 duction of the ordinance, infant dedication to God should 
 be the standing law thereof for all future generations. 
 That infants really are interested in the covenant of God 
 is then the first Fact clearly decided by the law relating 
 to circumcision. 
 
 The Second Fact settled with equal clearness, and by 
 divine authority, is. The inability of infants to perform 
 the conditions of the covenant is no bar to thsir right to 
 
98 INFANT HELPLESSNESS HINDERS NOT GRACE. 
 
 its initiatory ordinance and consequent blessings. — 
 Much of the baptismal controversy hinges here. Our 
 Baptist brethren are accustomed to lay much stress upon 
 it. They argue thus. It is written, " He that believeth 
 and is baptized shall be saved :" faith is necessary to 
 baptism, and must precede it ; but infants are incapable 
 of believing, and therefore are not fit subjects for bap- 
 tism, — To this argument of theirs it is commonly replied, 
 — and the answer is unquestionably sound, just, and con- 
 vincing, — if that argument bear correctly against infant 
 baptism, z7 bears equally against infant salvation. For 
 faith is surely as much necessary for salvation as it is to 
 qualify for baptism. If therefore the want of personal 
 faith, or rather, the want of a natural ability to exercise 
 personal faith, unfits them for baptism, it doth also unfit 
 them for salvation ; especially as it is added, " but he 
 that believeth not shall be damned ;" Mark xvi. 16. Now 
 this is a fair, solid, manly answer. It so commends itself 
 to every man's understanding ; has so much common 
 sense in it ; and at the same time is taken so directly 
 from the very terms and phraseology of the text from 
 whence our brethren draw their objection, that it is not 
 easy to gi'apple with it. Accordingly our Baptist bre- 
 thren are accustomed to deal with it as the Pharisees of 
 old dealt with the heavy burdens they laid on other men's 
 shoulders ; they never touch it with one of their fingers, — 
 they give it the go-by, — they slip over the matter without 
 scarcely noticing it, and sally forth anew with this same 
 old futile objection, as though it bad never been answered 
 at all. This is unfair. Let them deal honestly with us, 
 and tell us plainly whether as Christian men they do not 
 feel a blessed hope that their own departed ofTspring, to 
 
infants' privileges secured by ancient law. 99 
 
 whom baptism was refused because they were not, in their 
 sense of the term, believers, are, notwithstanding their 
 want of personal faith, safe in the kingdom of God. 
 Every good man and woman amongst the Baptists will 
 answer. Yea. — Then leave that text in Mark's gospel 
 alone ; for what sense is there in urging it against us any 
 longer ? Why make a plaything of this portion of holy 
 writ, bringing it forwards with mighty zeal to support 
 one vieiv of a case, and immediately, when in all fair- 
 ness, your own argument is brought to bear on a parallel 
 vieto of the case, dropping it altogether as if it were too 
 hot to hold ? 
 
 But to this old objection, so strenuously maintained, 
 it may be yet further replied, that the law of circiim- 
 cision had its conditions as well as the gospel of Christ. 
 Saint Paul speaks of circumcision as being " the sign and 
 seal of the righteousness of faith," ^om. iv. 11, of which 
 hereafter. So then, Abraham believed first, and after- 
 wards was circumcised; even as they to whom the gospel 
 came in the earliest age first believed and then were bap- 
 tised. Moreover, a condition was implied in the words 
 which preceded circumcision : *•' I am the Almighty God, 
 walk before me, and be thou perfect." But Isaac could 
 neither understand that condition, nor yet be capable of 
 exercising faith, when only eight days old ; and yet he 
 was circumcised at that age by the express command o * 
 God. This matter therefore is settled by divine autho- 
 rity, — settled for ever, — and utterly annihilates the 
 objection, because though urged by good and holy men, 
 it is absolutely antiscriptural in its character. A new 
 objection, it is true, may be started, by saying, we have 
 no command for infant baptism. But that is altogether 
 k2 
 
100 COXNECTION OF DISPENSATIONS. 
 
 another thing, and does not touch the frinciple for which 
 Ave now contend. If God hath accepted one infant in a 
 conditional covenant, he may accept another ; it matters 
 not which the covenant is, whether Jewish or Christian : 
 the 'principle is the same in both. Now God did accept 
 not one infant only, but millions ; not one generation 
 only, but many generations, for more than two thousand 
 years. Therefore the principle, that God can and will 
 gi'aciously accept infants as parties to a covenant, their 
 inability to perform its conditions notwithstanding, is as 
 firmly established, as it would have been if the entire 
 ceremonial of circumcision had been designed to remain 
 to the end of time. 
 
 3. There is but one point more to be elucidated, with 
 regard to the law of circumcision, and that is, its intimate 
 connection with the preceding era of two thousand years, 
 and with the subsequent era that commenced with the 
 Christian Dispensation. The Abrahamic and prophetic 
 age fonned as it were the connecting link between the two 
 remoter eras, and unites them together, so that in passing 
 from the one to the other, we behold one uniform reve- 
 lation of the goodness and grace of God to the dying 
 children of men, in the person, and govenmient, and re- 
 demption of Jesus Christ his Son. 
 
 Now, whereas we have shewn that the covenant of cir- 
 cumcision was founded on redemption, it is clear that it 
 introduced no new principles, hut only developed more 
 distinctly such as had been less perfectly understood by 
 mankind before. Infant dedication to God did not begin 
 with Abraham, any more than God's covenant with man 
 began with Abraham ; but the Abrahamic covenant took 
 up the principle which had been established as we have 
 
CIRCUMCISION TERMINATED IN BAPTISM. 101 
 
 seen from the beginning, and by formal law confirmed 
 what had been practised from the earliest increase in the 
 first family of man. The only thing new in the appoint- 
 ment was the outward rite, as that also afterwards gave 
 place to baptism. Isaac was indeed the first circumcised 
 infant, but not the first infant consecrated to God, or 
 accepted by him ; for circumcision was superadded to 
 former observances, not that it might be a means of abo- 
 lishing, but of confirming, antecedent obligations, and 
 privileges, and blessings. And associated with that de- 
 sign was the intention of God to make it introductory to 
 the saci-ed and lasting privileges that should remain for 
 the world in the Christian Chm'ch unto the end of time. 
 For the ancient and long-continued law of circumcision 
 is most intimately connected with Christianity in the 
 following particulars : — in its sameness of origin ; in its 
 essential character ; in its holy conditions ; in its spiritual 
 import ; and in its evangelical termination. Of each of 
 these in order. 
 
 1. Christianity has its name from Christ, the Redeemer; 
 and is that perfect system of divine truth and morals which 
 he and his inspired Apostles taught ; the whole glory and 
 eflJcacy of which are derived from the great work of human 
 redemption : circumcision is based on redemption also : 
 see foregoing remarks. 
 
 2. Circumcision was a covenant ti'ansaction : Christi- 
 anity is God's covenant with man ; and both covenants 
 were sealed with blood ; the first with the blood of animal 
 sacrifices, the second with the blood of Jesus, the Son of 
 God. 
 
 3. Each covenant had its conditions, of which faith 
 
 ivas the chief condition under both dispensations. For 
 K 3 
 
102 ABRAHAMTC AND CHRISTIAN COVENANTS ONE. 
 
 which reason Ahraham, with whom the former covenant 
 was made, is so eminently commended for his faith above 
 all other virtues, and hath been constituted, in subordi- 
 nation to Christ, the Father of all believers. And to shew 
 in the most explicit manner the essential oneness of the 
 two dispensations, Saint Paul expressly states that this 
 honor was conferred on him, not in reference to Jewish 
 believers only, but to Gentile believers also : to signify 
 which seems to have been one reason, amongst others, 
 why his name was changed from Abram to Abraham. — 
 "And the scripture," saith the Apostle, " foreseeing that 
 God would justify the heathen through faith, preached 
 before the gospel unto Abraham, saying. In thee shall all 
 nations be blessed. So then, they ivhich be of faith are 
 blessed with faithful or believing Abraham. — Christ hath 
 redeemed us from the curse of the law, that the blessing 
 of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus 
 Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit 
 through faith! — And if ye be Christ's, then are ye 
 Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. — 
 Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of pro- 
 mise;" Gal. iii.6 — 29, and iv. 28. — How clearly do these 
 scriptures prove, that the condition of each covenant, 
 and the covenant itself, tvere substantially the same ! 
 
 In like mannei", when writing to the Romans, the 
 Apostle saith : — " Cometh this blessedness," (of forgive- 
 ness) " then upon the circumcision only, or upon the 
 uncircumcision also ? for we say that faith was reckoned 
 unto Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reck- 
 oned P When he was in circumcision, or in uncircum- 
 cision ? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 
 And he received the sigti of circumcision, a seal of the 
 
HARMONY OF DIVINE COVENANTS. 103 
 
 righteousness of the faith which he had yet heiiig uncir- 
 cumcisecl ; that he might be the father of all them that 
 believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness 
 might be imputed to them also : and the father of cir- 
 cumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, 
 but who also walk in the steps of that faith oi our father 
 Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised ;" Rom. 
 iv. 9 — 12. Now how exactly does this tally with "He 
 that believeth and is baptised shall be saved ;" only putting 
 baptism in the place of circumcision ? The dispensations 
 then were substantially one, and the condition iiniformly 
 the same. 
 
 Now, on this undeniable fact, we build an argument. 
 The faith being precisely the same in regard to its object, 
 Christ ; in regard to its foundation, the covenant promise 
 of God ; and in regard to its end. Salvation ; — it can 
 never be that there should be an intended discrepancy, 
 in the midst of such delightful harmony and agreement, 
 as to the subjects capable of being benefited and inter- 
 ested in these high transactions ; — Abraham's faith 
 taking in his posterity , and ours excluding our offspring, 
 from distinct covenant relation to God. For though 
 Abraham were justified as a believer, before he received 
 circumcision, yet when that was added as a sign and seal 
 of the righteousness of his then existing faith, to ivhat 
 did that faith refer but a believing circumcising of his 
 posterity also, and of Isaac when he was born, which was 
 on Abraham's part but a continued putting forth of the 
 same faith, without the exercise of ■which, in that way, 
 with regard to his infant child, he would have ceased to be 
 a believer. But now if we refuse, after our own baptism, 
 to bring our Isaacs in the same ordinance to God, as our 
 
104 IDENTITY OP AB RAHAMIC AND CHRISTIAN FAITH. 
 
 and their covenant God in Christ, — we may have faith, 
 — and it may be to us saving faith, and not obstruct per- 
 sonal justification, supposing we entertain Baptist scruples, 
 — yet after all, in one material, though we would not say 
 to such persons absolutely essential, point, it is not the 
 faith of Abraham : the identity of faith, for which St. 
 Paul so powerfully argues, in one important particular, 
 is utterly lost : nay, more, the whole order of its exer- 
 cise is completely reversed. For his faith required a 
 distinct recognition of his posterity as the children of the 
 covenant ; but our faith requires a complete religious 
 disownment of our children in this respect, till the time 
 comes when they shall choose for themselves whether they 
 will or will not come into a covenant relation with God. 
 When therefore we include, as in Christian charity we are 
 bound to do, our sincerely -loved Baptist brethren, in the 
 general testimony of Saint Paul, that " Abraham is the 
 father of tis all," we cannot help feeling that some modi- 
 fication of the noble sentiment is requisite tvith regard 
 to them ; and our imagination would almost fancy, that 
 if the venerable patriarch were deputed to visit Christian 
 Churches, he would give our Baptist brethren very stern 
 rebukes; and remembering his Isaac, would /iarfZ/y ac- 
 knowledge them as his right, true, and legitimate spiritual 
 seed, were it not that their own personal faith and many 
 Christian excellencies and virtues, induced the conviction, 
 that for themselves, they truly are worthy of being counted 
 the elect children of God. 
 
 4. As to the spiritual import of circumcision, that is 
 well expressed by Moses in the following words : — "And 
 the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the 
 heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all 
 
CIRCtTMCISION TERMINATES EVANGELICALLY. 105 
 
 thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live ;" 
 Deut. XXX. 6. Now these words form also a part of the 
 gospel of Christ : Mark xii. 30. 31. 
 
 5. Finally : circumcision had an evangelical termina- 
 tion. For that it was intended gradually to pass away 
 into Christian Baptism is fairly implied in the association 
 of one with the other, and the spiritual import of both, as 
 mentioned by Saint Paul. "In whom," saith he, (that 
 is, in Christ) " ye are circumcised with the circumcision 
 made without hands, in putting ofi' the body of the sins 
 of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ ; Buried with 
 him in ba])tism, wherein also ye are risen with him 
 through the faith of the operation of God, who hath 
 raised him from the dead;" Col. ii. 11, 12, And the 
 same reflection arises from the consideration that both 
 ordinances were initiatory ; each under the dispensation 
 to which it was assigned ; wherefore they who had been 
 circumcised under the old dispensation were required, on 
 believing in Christ, /o be baptized also ; but the Gentiles 
 who believed in Christ were baptized without circum- 
 cision ; which double view of the subject satisfactorily 
 proves that circumcision was to yield unto, and tdti- 
 mately be exchanged for, the later ordinance of baptism. 
 Moreover, that this was the real purpose of God may be 
 concluded from the reference which every thing ceremonial 
 and ritual under the law had to something that should be 
 more permanent under the gospel. But circumcision, as 
 an ordinance, lias nothing corresponding to it, and is 
 not, in that respect, so much as the shadow of good things 
 to come, if baptism answer not thereto. And yet Saint 
 Peter supposes this, when, in the way of analogy, he saith, 
 " The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now 
 
106 GENTILES GRAFTED ON THE JEWISH STOCK. 
 
 save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but 
 the answer of a good conscience toward God ;" 1 Pet. iv. 
 21. Here it is strongly intimated that baptism as an 
 ordinance doth succeed to circumcision under the law. 
 And the like truth is intimated by Saint Paul in that 
 beautiful metaphor he employs, when he represents the 
 Gentiles as " cut out of the olive tree which is wild by 
 nature, and grafted contrary to nature into a good olive 
 tree;" Rom. xi, 24. Now baptism is the outward ordi- 
 nance, by which, on believing in Christ, the Gentiles 
 " were grafted among'' the Jews ; Rom. xi. 17. But if 
 baptism succeed not to circumcision, we are rather planted 
 ourselves a new and distinct stock, wholly separate from 
 that which was ancient, instead of being grafted on and 
 springing out of it, as the Apostle affirms we are. If 
 however baptism be the evangelical termination of circum- 
 cision, then all the religious rights and frivileges of the 
 one ordinance are transferred to the other, so that infant 
 baptism succeeds to infant circumcision. Allowing the 
 premises, it is impossible to avoid this conclusion. Of 
 this deduction our Baptist brethren are fully sensible. 
 Aware of the consequence, they allow not the correctness 
 of the views or statement from whence it is drawn. Here 
 comes in the warping influence of prejudice, in favor of. 
 their notions about exclusive adult baptism ; but for such 
 a bias of mind, the truth would appear clear as the light 
 of day. Perceiving the drift of the argument, they allow 
 not the premises ; and so they make circumcision to end 
 in just nothing ; and pass on to defend their opinions 
 from an appeal to the J^ew Testament alone ; the ex- 
 amination of which will form the subject of our next 
 chapter. 
 
107 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 INFANT BAPTISM IS SANCTIONED IN THE NEW 
 TESTAMENT, 
 
 We are now come to that portion of the sacred canon 
 which is most generally appealed to hy those who consci- 
 entiously oppose Infant Baptism. They conceive that the 
 New Testament contains decisive evidence of the correct- 
 ness of their views and conduct. We are of a contrary 
 opinion. We, therefore, proceed to elucidate our third 
 Fact, which has heen already stated in the following terms : 
 " Infant Baptism is sanctioned hy the principles, inci- 
 dental occurrences, and spirit, of the New Testament 
 records, viewed in their connection with the preceding 
 revelations of God's will, as made known in the Old Tes- 
 tament, on which comprehensive and scriptural ground 
 we believe a right to baptism is secured to infants in per- 
 petuity in the Gospel of God our Saviour." To do justice 
 to this important branch of our common Christianity, it 
 will he necessary to subdivide into a few distinct sections 
 the general topic to be discussed and enlarged upon 
 throughout this chapter. 
 
 SECTION I, 
 
 Further remarks on circumcision; and the objection 
 taken from the ivant of command to baptize infants, 
 examined. 
 We begin with a few further remarks, illustrative of 
 
108 THE ARGUMENT EENEWED. 
 
 the observations madein the conclusion of the last chapter. 
 It is of gi'eat importance to hold our Baptist brethren to 
 this point. Their desire to shrink from it must only make 
 us the more strenuous in our efforts to maintain it. For it 
 is not with us a matter of " doubtful disputation," as the 
 Apostle speaks, Rom. xiv. 1, — and so to be conceded for 
 the sake of peace, and from an ardent wish to promote 
 unity and concord ; but regarding it as a portion of divine 
 truth, and as interwoven with the entire system of divine 
 truth, we cannot yield an inch of ground in this friendly 
 strife, although we can cordially embrace our sometimes 
 warm opponents in our loving hearts. We return then 
 to the contest. 
 
 Aware of the strength of the argument in favor of In- 
 fant dedication to God in a religious ordinance that may 
 be drawn from circumcision, our Baptist brethren endea- 
 vour to set it aside, by stating that that ordinance and its 
 concomitants hclomjed entirely to the Jewish dispensation, 
 and is therefore to be classed amongst the ritual ceremo- 
 nies of that era which has long since ])assed away. It is 
 certainly very convenient to dispose of the matter in this 
 wholesale way ; but in doing so we entirely lose sight of 
 the connection subsisting between the law and the gospel, 
 Moses and Christ ; or rather, the continued and unbroken 
 connection between the several successive and enlarging 
 dispensations o/yrace which were granted to mankind, till, 
 in the fulness of time, the final and complete manifestation 
 of God's love and mercy appeared iu the gift of Jesus 
 Christ his Son. To treat the subject in this summary 
 method, is to represent Christianity as an entirely new 
 revelation of God's will and purposes, and as a scheme 
 disjointed, separated, and wholly unconnected with any 
 
CHRIST LIKE UNTO MOSES. 109 
 
 thing that had gone before. Accordaig to this notion, 
 the Gospel is made to contain quite neiv principles; 
 whereas it appears to us that, from first to last, there is 
 nothing new in principle in the divine economy, but 
 only a gradual enlargement of one perfect plan of saving 
 mankind, which had been determined on by God from 
 the beginning of the world. Nay more ; it is to teach 
 that the Gospel brings forth not merely nevj principles' 
 but directly opposite principles, to those which are con- 
 tained in the Old Testament. For the difference between 
 infant circumcision and exclusive adult baptism is so 
 great, that they can only be set in complete opposition 
 the one to the other, which indeed ajipears to be admitted 
 by our Baptist brethren ; and thus Christ and Moses are 
 at variance, and Judaism and Christianity have two 
 conflicting legislators, and cannot have been under the 
 guidance of one and the same Spirit of holiness and 
 truth. And yet God had said unto his ancient servant 
 Moses, in reference to the Messiah : — " I will raise them 
 up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee," 
 Deut. xviii. 18. But Jesus is not like unto Moses, he is 
 unlike him, and sends his ministers to undo what Moses 
 had commanded to be done, if Moses received infants 
 into the church of God, and we are altogether to reject 
 them. Wherefore then did Peter, when filled with the 
 Holy Ghost, with so much energy quote this very scrip- 
 ture. Acts iii. 19 — 26, and inform the Jews at the same 
 time that they were " the children of the prophets and of 
 the covenant which God had made with their fathers," 
 if the grand principle of that covenant was then " decay- 
 ing and waxing old, and ready to vanish away ?" Heb. 
 viii. 13. Butif we allow that rituals may change, wi7Ao«/ 
 
110 CHRIST Abraham's seed. 
 
 changing the principles they were appointed for a season 
 to serve, then do we perceive an appropriateness in the 
 Apostle's quotation, and a correspondence between Moses 
 and Christ in all things ; he is " like' unto him, while 
 superior to him also, as the Lord of all. And for this 
 reason Moses and Elias came and rendered homage unto 
 him on the mount of transfiguration, for that the system 
 of divine truth is essentially one in all ages. 
 
 Now that these sentiments are thoroughly in accord- 
 ance with God's holy word, and are justly applied to the 
 matter of infant baptism, may be shewn from a variety 
 of considerations. Such, for instance, as the interesting 
 fact witnessed by all the inspired writers, that Jesus Christ 
 was made, as concerning the flesh, of " the seed of Abra- 
 ham ;" Heb. ii. 16. Now, it can scarcely be credited, 
 by an unbiassed mind, that he who was Abraham's seed, 
 and yet Abraham's God, came into the world to annihi- 
 late Abraham's covenant, in that main feature of it which 
 he had himself established by express law, and required 
 its observance in future generations. He might alter the 
 si(/n, the seal, if he chose so to do in his infinite wisdom, 
 and exchange circumcision for baptism ; but who can 
 believe that he would make so essential an alteration in 
 the covenant itself, that in fact it should be altogether 
 ' a new one, and scarcely bear any relation to the former. 
 Whereibre then was he made oi " Abraham's seed," if he 
 w'ould not ratify Ahva.ha.m's covenant, but repudiate it P 
 Why did he not spring from the slock of the Gentiles, 
 that he might more effectually set up a new church econ- 
 omy and order, in opposition to that old legal economy 
 of former times ; — the one taking in infants as members, 
 the other refusing them any place or privilege within its 
 
PAUL AND MOSES HARMONIZE. Ill 
 
 borders ? Yet, even then, though the apparently natural 
 inconsistency, to speak after the manner of men, would 
 have been avoided, of descending from Abraham, with 
 the intention oi extirpating the very root of Abrahamic 
 blessings, in regard to the least offending of mankind, 
 still it would not have prevented (he obvious and 
 appalling fact from being observed by all men, that 
 with regard to himself as the God of Abraham, there 
 had been a complete turn about of mind, in respect to 
 the thoughts of his heart, and his purposes towards our 
 infant race. JVoio if Christ can change thus as to 
 infants, ivho can trust in him tvith any certainty or 
 comfort for his own personal salvation P 
 
 But the indissoluble oneness of the Jewish and Chris- 
 tian dispensations, in all things essentially spiritual and 
 holy, is nowhere more strikingly exhibited than in that 
 very portion of God's word which demonstrates the tem- 
 porary nature of all that was merely ceremonial ; we 
 mean Saint Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews. In that 
 Epistle Moses furnishes the phraseology to Paul, by 
 whose spiritual exposition and application of the things 
 recorded concerning the Jewish Church, we gain the 
 richest thoughts and conceptions of whatever relates to 
 the priesthood of Christ, and all the glorious privileges 
 of faith and holiness belonging to the Christian Dispen- 
 sation. But had Paul served Moses and his economy as 
 our Baptist brethren have served Abraham and his cove- 
 nant, he would have had nothing to do with him, but 
 would have refused him the honor of recognizing his law 
 as containing even " a shadow of good things to come ;" 
 Heb. X. 1. For Abraham's circumcising of Isaac is not 
 
 allowed by the Baptists to be so much as the shadow of 
 l2 
 
112 BAPTIST OPINIONS MAR LAW AND GOSPEL. 
 
 spiritual blessings to our children ; it was a somelhing 
 by itself, that passed away with the end of the Mosaic 
 economy, and had no reference to any thing similar that 
 was to succeed under the Gospel of Christ, Now, such 
 a declaration has this further difficulty in it, that, accord- 
 ing to this view, the law of circumcision was an anomaly, 
 an irregularity, one might almost say an excrescence, 
 and a blemish, even in the law of Moses itself. For 
 whereas every thing else, whether ablutions, offerings, 
 sacrifices, tabernacle, temple, altar, priests, &c. had an 
 ulterior reference to something better yet to come in a 
 subsequent age, this institution had no such reference, 
 but was incorporated with a general typical sj'Stem loithout 
 having any correspondence or agreement ivith that sys- 
 tem ; and moved along with it to the end thereof, and 
 then died away without having any counterpart to it in 
 the latter ages of the world. And this anomaly will be 
 rendered still more anomalous, by reflecting on the cor- 
 respondence instituted, and from the beginning designed, 
 between the Jewish Feast of the Passover, and the Chris- 
 tian Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. For then it will 
 appear that one Christian ordinance had a standing 
 type, previously existing for ages, so that when Christ 
 came to be the true paschal lamb, the paschal ordinance 
 was gradually, and in the end permanently, substituted 
 for the Christian feast ; while the initiatory Christian 
 ordinance of Baptism had nothing under the law tvhich 
 pre-signifed it, and to which it hath succeeded ; and 
 thus the Christian Sacraments themselves are. in this 
 respect as much at variance, as to their origin, as the 
 ritual of circumcision is itself at variance with the spirit 
 and object of the Mosaic economy.— All these conse- 
 
baptists' OBJECTIONS STATED. 113 
 
 quences do naturally aud unavoidably result from an 
 effort to sweep away at a stroke the moral bearing of the 
 argument in favor of Infant Baptism drawn from the 
 divinely appointed law of circumcision, first given to 
 Abraham, and afterwards continued to his posterity. 
 
 But we are here met by our Baptist brethren with a 
 remark, which they conceive to be an argument, and 
 which they often bring forward, as containing much of 
 the strength of their cause. We will put the argument 
 in shape, as nearly after their own manner of represent- 
 ing it as possible. — Abraham, say they, was commanded 
 to circumcise his posterity; but we are not commanded 
 to baptize infants. Moreover, the Apostles were com- 
 manded Jirsl to teach, and then baptize all nations ; 
 which of course implies that only those should be bap- 
 tized who had been previously taught, and become 
 believers in Christ, of both which infants ai'e incapable. 
 And, in following out these instructions, we have recorded 
 in the New Testament, many instances of adult baptism, 
 but none of the baptism of infants. These things, uni- 
 tedly considered, render it evident, that none but adults, 
 or at least believers, at whatever age they may become 
 such, are fit subjects to be received by baptism into the 
 Christian Church. — Now this impartial statement, as we 
 take it to be, of our brethren's reasons for opposing In- 
 fant Baptism, and adhering to their own sentiments, 
 embraces three particulars ; — the want of command — 
 the Apostolic commission — and the practice of the Apos- 
 tles, as ascertained from the examples written in the 
 New Testament. The second branch of this argument, 
 founded on our Lord's commission to the Apostles in 
 
 Mark xvi. 15, 16, has been anticipated, and has been 
 l3 
 
114 THE ABSENCE OF A COMMAND 
 
 sufficiently noticed in a fonuer page, to which the reader 
 is referred to prevent repetition. The other branches of it 
 will he, we trust, satisfactorily answered in the succeeding 
 sections of this chapter. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 The absence of a divine command to baptize Infants 
 considered. 
 
 It is admitted that touching the baptism of infants we 
 have not received an express commandment from the 
 Lord. It is not indeed said in so many words, Let in- 
 fants be baptized. But neither is it written. Refuse them 
 baptism ; for there is nothing formally stated on either 
 side of the question. Looking at the subject therefore 
 abstractedly, and apart from all collateral considerations, 
 the utmost that can be allowed with regard to this objec- 
 tion is, that it is at best but a negative argument, and so 
 it cannot be by any means, standing alone, admitted as 
 conclusive. For that kind of argument, more than any 
 other, requires to be managed with discretion and sobriety 
 of mind ; for to it may be very properly opposed a coun- 
 ter negation, of equal force and weight, by means of 
 which a reflecting mind will be brought into a state of 
 equilibrium, and look for something additional to conduct 
 it to a satisfactoiy decision, as to the real path of Chris- 
 tian duty. Thus, if it be affirmed ever so strenuously, 
 God hath not commanded the baptism of infants, it may 
 with equal firmness be maintained, neither hath God 
 forbidden the baptism of infants. If therefore our Bap- 
 tist brethren choose to say, "We will not bring our infants 
 
TO BAPTIZE INFANTS CONSIDERED. 115 
 
 to be baptized till God shall enjoin it ; we, on the other 
 hand, may reply. But we will bring our infants, and 2)re- 
 sent them to Christ in this his holy ordinance, till he 
 shall prohibit it. Thus far, in mere abstract reasoning 
 from the want of a positive command, question is opposed 
 to question, and opinion to opinion, so that nothing can 
 be decided on either side, as to which party acts in the 
 most consistent and scriptural manner. 
 
 Now the impossibility of arriving at the truth at all, 
 on this narrow and limited mode of argumentation, must 
 convince us that, for that very reason, it is not legitimate. 
 It is first laying down a position of a very doubtful cha-. 
 racter, and then judging of a controverted subject accord- 
 ing to its agreement or disagreement with that position, 
 rather than by making a faithful appeal to the sense and 
 bearing of Holy Scripture, from thence to gather the 
 mind and will of God. Thus in the case now under 
 review. The position assumed on the one side is, that 
 what is not expressly commanded ought not to be done ; 
 and on the other side, that what is not expressly prohi- 
 bited may be done : whereas there are many things in- 
 cluded in the spirit and tenor of the divine commands 
 and prohibitions, and in the scriptures of truth in general, 
 according to the comprehensiveness of their import, which 
 are not mentioned in a particular or positive manner. 
 We are not then to judge of Christianity, either as to its 
 principles, privileges, or duties, by piece meal, looking at 
 this or that particular thing by itself ; but, as becometh 
 those who have " with them the Urim and Thummim of 
 the Holy One ;" Deut. xxxiii. 8 ; "an unction, whereby 
 they know all things;" 1 John ii. 20 ; we are to take a 
 comprehensive view of the whole, and from thence to 
 
116 GOOD PRINCIPLES UNCHANGEABLE. 
 
 collect, where it is not verbally declared, what is the pure 
 and jjerfect will of God. Christianity hath its consti- 
 tution, as tvell as its laws ; and a good acquaintance 
 with the former is often requisite to a sound and correct 
 understanding of the latter. And from many concurring 
 sources of evidence it appears that the following axiom, 
 which hath been already in part illustrated, is agreeable 
 to the genius and constitution of Christianity, namely. 
 That a principle once recognized in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures as good and acceptable to God, must be for ever 
 good and acceptable to him. For though rites and 
 ceremonies may change, principles never alter ; good 
 principles, like the good God, are the same " yesterday, 
 to-day, and for ever j" Heb. xiii. 8. Now, one of those 
 good principles is the dedication of infants to God in a 
 holy and religious ordinance ; wherefore that principle 
 changelh not, but remaineth the same for all ages. 
 
 Now, by the help of a conclusion so sound and just, so 
 safe and scriptural, if INIoses and all the prophets wrote 
 and spoke of " things concerning" Christ, and if Abraham 
 himself rejoiced to see his day, and was glad," Luke xxiv. 
 27, John viii. 56, without having his rapturous joy dimin- 
 ished by the suspicion that in Messiah's day the cove- 
 nant promise would fail his seed, — we may easily arrive 
 at a knowledge of the truth. For, when we come to con- 
 nect the argument, which we have represented as being 
 evenly balanced, 7cith the entire subject, scope, and range 
 of Divine Revelation, in God's gracious economy for 
 the redemption and salvation of mankind, then we can 
 satisfactorily account for the absence of a divine com- 
 mand on this particular point, and easily gather a know- 
 ledge of God's will with regard to us, as the heads of 
 
VARIOUS FACTS FAVOR INFANT BAPTISM. 117 
 
 families, and our infaut offspring whom he bath graciously 
 given unto us. So far this general answer must suffice. 
 Increasing light will break in upon our mind as we pro- 
 ceed ; from whence it will appear, that though of necessity 
 the earliest Ministers baptized adults in the beginning, 
 and so it is in no wise remarkable that to them the indi- 
 vidual instances of baptism specified in the New Testa- 
 ment should especially refer; — yet the conclusion that 
 none but they were in that age baptized doth not at all 
 follow as a consequence from that unquestioned fact; but 
 on the contrary, certain other facts, collateral with 
 it, and arising out of it, or fairly connected ivith it, 
 do undeniably prove, and satisfactorily establish, the 
 opinion, that Infant Baptism, as following in the train 
 of Adult Baptism, is sanctioned by the whole tenor of 
 the New Testament writings, and by the spirit and ex- 
 amples which are recorded in its sacred 2)ages. A few of 
 these collateral facts will be elucidated in the sections 
 following : — and the result of the examination will be 
 that our Baptist brethren set fact against fact, as we 
 have shewn already they make dispensation war against 
 dispensation; whereas they who hold Infant Baptism, 
 harmonize fact with fact, as well as dispensation with 
 dispensation ; and by " comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual," 1 Cor. ii. 13, bring forth one uniform and 
 consistent view of God's grace and mercy towards our 
 fallen and redeemed world. Our Baptist brethren ex- 
 hibit only one half of the bow of the covenant as it 
 arose in a former age, and stretched forward in all its 
 brilliancy till it reached the Christian era, when, all at 
 once, the opposite extremity of it became shrouded with 
 a gloom that at least partially dimmed its beautiful lustre. 
 
118 CHRISTIANITY THE PERFECTION' 
 
 — some of its milder rays were gone ; — but we exhibit 
 the same bow, as a perfect arch, stretching from Eden 
 to the end of time, still bright with rays of undiminished 
 glory, and as much now as formerly the token of the 
 covenant, no less to the infant of an hour than to the 
 hoary head of him who has seen a century of years, or 
 lived down to the fourth generation. Our facts may pos- 
 sibly lead us into topics before touched upon, yet with 
 new modes of illustration, and drawn from other Scrip- 
 tures, giving thereby confirmation and solidity to the 
 whole theme. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Christianity is the perfection of Divine Revelation. 
 
 It is a fact too obvious to be denied, that Christianity was 
 not intend to destroy, but to perfect, v,ha.t was excellent in 
 any preceding dispensation of grace to man. It might go 
 far beyond in graciousness, but could not be less benign 
 and merciful. It is in this very point that the gospel excels 
 the law, as is most beautifully and convincingly set forth 
 by Saint Paul, in his second ejiistle to the Corinthians. 
 " But if the ministration of death," saith he " written 
 and engraven in stones, was glorious^ so that the children 
 of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of ISIoses 
 for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be 
 done away : How shall not the ministration of the spirit 
 be rather glorious ? For if the ministration of condemna- 
 tion be glory, much more doth the ministration of righte- 
 ousness exceed in glor*'. For even that which was made 
 glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the 
 
OF DIVINE REVELATION 119 
 
 glory that excelleth. For if that which was done away 
 was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glo- 
 rious." 2 Cor. iii. 7 — 11. Now, as in the beginning, 
 infants were included in that original covenant of grace 
 which God made with man in Eden, Gen. iii. 15, and 
 u-ere never shut out of it afterwards, but embraced 
 therein, till the calling of Abraham, when they were, by 
 an express clause, equally assured of their interest in it 
 with Abraham himself, and so were recognized as "chil- 
 dren of the covenant" so long as the law lasted, shall we 
 suppose that soon as Christ came, who was himself the 
 Mediator of that very covenant in which they had all 
 along had a part, they were disinherited f^ Yea, dis- 
 inherited by his coming, and in consequence of his 
 coming, since, if he had not then appeared, iheiv ancient 
 rights and privileges would have been perpetuated to 
 still remoter generations ? Must we believe, that, as 
 soon as he was a babe in Bethlehem, all other babes 
 ceased to stand in the relation which had hitherto sub- 
 sisted between them and God'' That, as soon as he 
 became by birth entitled to an acknowledged membership 
 in the church, he closed the doors of the church against 
 all afterwards born of women, during the tender years of 
 infancy ? Or, at least, that then began a new era in the 
 providential and gracious economy of God, which, in 
 the course of one or two generations, when the Jewish 
 dispersion was accomplished, should lead to such a result ? 
 Ai*e we then so overwhelmed with the mass of evidence 
 against Infant Baptism as to be compelled to believe, that, 
 when angels sung the heavenly anthem in the skies, mid- 
 way between heaven and earth, that the song might 
 reverberate through both worlds at once — " Glory to God 
 
120 GRACE ABOrXDS TO IXFAXTS. 
 
 in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," 
 Luke ii. 14, there icas a withdrawal of " good tcill" 
 from infants, the least gnilty of the human race, who 
 had never voluntarily offended, or " shmed after the 
 similitude of Adam's transgression." Rom. v. 14. Jfliy 
 then did not the angels sing an intelligible song ? Did 
 they mean to deceive the icorld P Is this one of the 
 methods in which grace doth "much more abound" than 
 sin ? Rom. v. 20. And yet, they who hold such opi- 
 nions are inclined, on some occasions, to make rather 
 large boastings of what they call the doctrines of grace, 
 free grace, as though they pre-eminently, and above all 
 others, and especially above Arminians, had a knowledge 
 of the grace of God ! ! ! Tell us then. Is this grace 
 also ? Surely nothing but an absolute declaration, an- 
 nouncing the future deprivation of infants of their long 
 accustomed gracious rights, should induce us to believe 
 that so strange and unaccountable a contradiction to 
 the great designs of God in sending his Son Jesus Christ 
 could have existence, in connection with his manifestation 
 amongst the sons of men, as " the only begotten of the 
 Father, /■«// of grace and truth," John i. 14. But how 
 "full of grace," if infants were rejected ? For then there 
 would have been room for more grace than was in him, 
 since it took them not in, and so he was not full. And 
 how "full of truth," if the promise " In thee shall all 
 families of the earth be blessed," Gen. xii. 3, was limited 
 by him to adults who are but a part of families ' Let 
 him that can, ci'ive a plain answer to these queries. 
 
 Moreover, the opinion held by our Baptist brethren 
 seems to be point blank against this scripture: — " For 
 God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the 
 
CHRIST CONDEMNS NOT INFANTS. 121 
 
 work], but that the world through him might be saved ;" 
 John iii. 17. For, according to their opinion, — aUhotigh 
 Ihey do not say it in so many ivords, and would probably 
 shrink from the assertion ; and will, it may be, censure us 
 for bringing against them what they will deem a false 
 accusation; yet it is neither false accusation nor railing, 
 but sober truth, stated with honest simplicity ; — accord- 
 ing to their opinion, the naked and unvarnished fact is 
 undeniable, that God did send his Son virtually to con- 
 demn poor helpless infants, as unfit subjects for mem- 
 bership in his future Church. And, in this respect, he 
 condemned them in the mass, without any exception or 
 distinction ; not for that " they loved darkness rather than 
 light, because their deeds were evil ;" John iii. 19 ; for 
 they had not as yet committed one evil deed ; nor yet for 
 any assignable reason whatever, such as that infants after 
 the introduction of Christianity ivere- in any different 
 moral condition by nature, than infants tvho ivere born 
 before Christ came, but merely because God would have 
 it so to be? Was there ever such a sweeping sentence of 
 excommunication as this, pronounced against mankind, 
 in the very ivorst days of Papal Rome P And is this 
 Protestantism ? Is this Christianity ? Thank God it is 
 not Wesleyan Methodism; for our eyes never beheld any 
 such decree of reprobation from the visible church regis- 
 tered against infants in the book of God, nor any state- 
 ments from whence such a dogma might be inferred. We 
 are certain it is not found in these words of inimitable 
 tenderness which proceeded from the lips of the Son of 
 God : — " Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
 forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of God ;" 
 Mark x. 14. Were it so, the Apostle, in the scripture 
 
 M 
 
122 THE GOSPEL EXCEEDS THE LAW 
 
 before quoted from the Corinthians, ought in all honesty 
 to have stated the fact in the most distinct and explicit 
 manner. While pourtraying the general superiority of 
 the gospel over the law, and extolling the excellency of 
 the Christian scheme, he ought to have paused, and 
 made the faithful concession, that in one point the laio 
 excelled in glory ; and that it was not in a small matter, 
 but in a point that actually affected every human being 
 coming into the world; — that while the gospel was more 
 glorious for adults, the law had the greater glory for 
 infants. Seeing, according to the opinions of those who 
 are for Adult Baptism only, this is really and undeniably 
 fact. Saint Paul should have admitted it, and not gone on 
 to mislead his readers and the Christian Church of all 
 ages, by affirming as an ^/wicersa/ proposition, that which 
 is not universal, but only partial and limited. Why 
 did the Apostle put the matter in the very strongest light ? 
 Was it necessary that he should rob the law of its just 
 glory in order that he might the more artificially exalt 
 the gospel? — But now, for argument's sake, suppose the 
 Apostle had made the admission which the tenets of 
 those who ojipose Infant Baptism require that he should 
 have made, what an aivkward predicament the Apostle 
 would have been, in ! For, in working out the conces- 
 sion, he would have found it extremely difficult to manage 
 his own phraseology, as contained in those singular ex- 
 pressions,—" the ministration of condemnation," and "the 
 ministration of righteousness;" 2 Cor. iii.9. For, in 
 opposition to th.at very striking and impressive phrase- 
 ology, he would have had to shew, that " the ministration 
 of condemnation," did not, in one sense, condemn at all, 
 but l)iat, by virtue of its association with sacrifice, it 
 
IN GRACE TO INFANTS. 123 
 
 allowed, on behalf of infants, an enrolment amongst the 
 living in Jerusalem, in consequence of " the justification 
 unto life which came upon all men ;" Kom. v. 18 ; while, 
 on the contrary, " the ministration of righteousness," 
 under the immediate administration of him by whom that 
 justification unto life came upon all men, kneiv nothing 
 of righteousness, or justification at all with regard to 
 infants, but clean condemned them altogether ; and thus, 
 in regard to infants, the gospel and the law would actually 
 interchange places, vvhile the most absolute terms, as 
 descriptive of each economy, would be still retained, in 
 opposition to justice and the truth of facts! ! He who 
 perceives these consequences, and still holds fast tenets 
 leading to them, exposes liimself to the danger of being 
 tempted to question the insjjiration of the sacred writings 
 in general, and of Saint Paul, in this portion of those 
 writings, in particular. But on the other hand, a com- 
 prehensive and consistent view of the entire economy of 
 God's grace, and a conviction that in the brightest mani- 
 festations of his love in the gift of Christ, there could not 
 possibly be any withdrawment of his ancient favor to our 
 infant race, must lead the soul to exult in the Apostle's 
 divine testimony, and in the assurance that i« this respect 
 also, the evanescent glory of the law had no glory when 
 compared with the permanent glory that reniaineth to 
 the end of time in the gospel of God our Saviour, We 
 may easily conceive of the enlargement of infants' pri- 
 vileges ; so that whereas under the law every male child 
 only was formally dedicated to God, females being 
 accepted, at what time an outward oflfering was presented, 
 without the same formality, and yet, not without a humi- 
 liating reference to the inferiority of the sex ;" Lev. xii. 
 ' M 2 
 
124 IXFAXTS' PRIVIIEGES PERPETUATED. 
 
 this token of subjection, after the Son of God " had been 
 made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4, should be swept away, 
 so that under the gospel dispensation there should be 
 " neither male nor female," but all should be " one in 
 Christ Jesus; " Gal. iii. 28. Herein again " the ministra- 
 tion of righteousness doth exceed in glorv. ' 
 
 Looking then at the entire system of Christianity, — 
 at its connection with the former dispensations of mercy, 
 and at its superiority over them, — we see no need of a 
 positive command for Infant Baptism, because the prin- 
 ciple of infant dedication to God naturally passed from 
 the Jewish to the Christian Church : but we do feel a 
 con\iction that if the principle were to have been abo- 
 lished, and the gracious practice abrogated, there icould 
 have been great need of a positi re prohibition ; and 
 moreover, some degree of light would have been required, 
 as to the reason thereof, to enable mankind to have some 
 faint conception of the cause of so mysterious and per- 
 plexing an anomaly in the redemption of the world by 
 the incarnation and death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. Forasmuch as it pleased God very plainly to 
 declare that sacrifices and burnt offerings were to cease, 
 it was necessary that he should have declared that infants' 
 privileges were to cease also, if they had been amongst 
 the things that were to pass away ; but it was not neces- 
 sary specifically to enact their continuance, any more 
 than it was to renew the fourth commandment : both 
 are confirmed by the general testimony of Christ: — 
 " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the 
 prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil ;" 
 Matt. v. 17. 
 
THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, JE-VTS. 125 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Thejirst Christians were Jeivs. 
 
 Another Fact we shall do well thoroughly to consider 
 is, that the first Christians were of Jewish origin ; for it 
 has an intimate relation to the subject of which we are 
 treating, and to the foregoing observations on the compa- 
 rative glory of the gospel and the law. As Christ "was 
 made of the seed of David according to the flesh ;" Rom. 
 i. 3 ; so his personal ministry was confined within the 
 limits of Judea. " I am not sent," said he, " but mito 
 the lost sheep of the house of Israel ;" Matt. xv. 24. 
 " Jesus Christ," saith Saint Paul, " was a minister of the 
 circumcision for the truth of God;" but he adds the gra- 
 cious design thereof in the words immediately following, 
 — "to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: 
 and that the Gentiles m\^\i glorify God for his mercy ; 
 as it is written. For this cause I will confess to thee among 
 the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he 
 saith. Rejoice, ye Gentiles, tcith his people. And again. 
 Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles ; and laud him, all ye 
 people ;" Rom. xv. 8 — 1 1 . Now " the promises made unto 
 the fathers," as before shewn (see especially the remarks 
 on Galatiaus iii., in a former page,) belonged to their 
 children also ; and these promises St. Paul assures us 
 in this passage Jesus Christ did not take away, but " con- 
 firm." He confirmed them in their entire scope, and 
 range, and fullest extent, without in the least mutilating, 
 or abridging, or altering, them. For if not one jot or 
 tittle of the law could fail, so neither could one jot 
 
 or tittle of the promises fail ; for that were contrary to 
 M 3 
 
126 THT JEWS AND GENTILES ON 
 
 another scripture which saiih " For all the promises of 
 God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of 
 God by us ;" 2 Cor. i, 20. And again, " Jesus Christ 
 the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever;" Heb. 
 xiii, 8. — Now, as Jesus Christ was the God of Abraham, 
 and accepted in the 'promise Abraham's seed, if he accept 
 not our infants under the Christian dispensation, he is 
 not the same to-day that he ivas yesterday ; he was one 
 God to the Jews, and is another God to the Gentiles, 
 which is altogether contrary to the Apostle's testimony, 
 in the above-cited scripture from his Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans. For after that he had said, " Jesus Christ was 
 the minister of the circumcision," &c. he adds, " And 
 that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy ;" — 
 and he quotes from Esaias, who saith, " There shall be a 
 root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the 
 Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust ;"Rom. xv. 12. 
 Now, from all this it appears, that, in ivhatever manner 
 " the promises were confirmed to the fathers," in the 
 same manner they were regarded as being confirmed to 
 the Gentiles, now called to be with them equally, and in 
 all respects, partakers of his mercy. Wherefore, the 
 seed of the Gentiles, as well as the seed of Abraham, 
 were to be gathered into the Church of Christ. And 
 hence their rejoicing was to be mutual, as the causes of 
 it were perfectly concurring : — " Rejoice, ye Gentiles, 
 ivith his people: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles ; and 
 laud him, all ye people." But, if the children of the 
 Gentiles were to be shut out, and the adult race only to 
 be taken into the church, there could have been no har- 
 mony in the praise, no common fellowship in the rejoicing, 
 but a cause of envy and discontent introduced on the one 
 
EQUAL FOOTING IN THE GOSPEL. 127 
 
 hand, and of vain glory and pride on the other. And yet 
 it is certain, there is nothing the Apostle more earnestly 
 labours to maintain than this, namely, "That the Gentiles 
 were to he felloiv-heirs—vfithoni any mark of inferiority, 
 or alteration in the terms of the original title deed — 
 "and of the same body," — not of a new body, wholly 
 different in its constitution and privileges ;— " and parta- 
 kers" — joint partakers " of his promise in Christ, — the 
 same ancient promise, now finally established " in Christ 
 by the gospel ;" Ephes. iii. 6. See the whole of his Epis- 
 tles to the Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians. 
 But this could not possibly have been accomplished with- 
 out an extension of the same privileges to the posterity of 
 the believing Gentiles which had been granted to the 
 posterity of Abraham in former ages and generations. 
 So then we conclude, that the changing of the rite of 
 circumcision to baptism, was never intended to lessen 
 the privileges of the Gentiles ; but that they and theirs, 
 without circumcision, were to become on equal terms, 
 " fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of 
 God ;" Ephes. iii. 19. 
 
 In further elucidation of the same series of gospel 
 truths, let us reflect for a moment on the constitution of 
 the first Christian Church at Jerusalem. They were all 
 Jews or Jewish proselytes ; and on them the Spirit was 
 poured out from on high, while Peter and the rest of the 
 Apostles were preaching on the day of Pentecost. Three 
 thousand were converted at one time, which was a literal 
 fulfilment of that ancient promise, to be hereafter still 
 more illustriously accomplished, — " A little one shall 
 become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation;" 
 Isaiah Ix. 22. At first their awakened souls were in deep 
 
128 THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE 
 
 distress; but subsequently tbeir "joy in God through 
 our Jjord Jesus Christ was great, when they had received 
 the atonement;" Rom. v. 11. For "continuing daily 
 with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from 
 house to house, they did eat their meat with gladness and 
 singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with 
 all the people ;" Acts ii, 46, 47. 
 
 But now, ponder over one thought. If no essential 
 change as to principles were to take place between the 
 constitution of the Jewish and Christian Churches, the 
 entire silence of the Apostles in regard to such matters is 
 easily accounted for; they need not command what was 
 understood to be already commanded: but if so vast 
 and essential a change, as the refusal of Infant Baptism 
 supposeth, was to be the future law of the Church of 
 Christ, rtojc was the proper time and season for announc- 
 ing it, that the whole matter might be understood and 
 acknowledged from the beginning. This would have 
 been the more necessary as the first Christians were Jews, 
 whose religious training icould give their mind, accord- 
 ing to the opinions of Baptists, a completely icrong bias 
 as to baptism. Were the Apostles ignorant of the mat- 
 ter ? If they knew it, why did they not publish it ? 
 Did they crt/o/e their converts into the reception and 
 profession of Christianity, concealing from them at the 
 same time an unpalatable doctrine, that icould have 
 overwhelmed them with amazement ? For our Baptist 
 brethren, in their zeal, represent us as being in very 
 grievous error, insomuch that no small portion of their 
 ministerial and religious elTorts are expended about this 
 one theme. Baptism, — as though the millennium could 
 never arrive unless they made Baptists of us all ; (and 
 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH WERE JEWS. 129 
 
 yet if they were to succeed, according to their sentiments, 
 the millennium, instead of contimiing a thousand years, 
 could not last a day, for multitudes of young heathens 
 would still keep pouring into our world, now filled with 
 fruitful parents ;) wherefore, if the matter be of so much 
 consequence as they judge it to be, it were but reasonable 
 that some little portion of Apostolic teaching should 
 have been employed to correct the established errors of 
 these Jirst converts in the day of their conversion to 
 God. If the Apostles had been right, sound, staunch 
 Baptist Preachers, they ought in all sincerity and honesty 
 to have made some sucli announcement as the following. 
 " Ye men of Israel, hear this important declaration, and 
 1)6 this known unto you, all ye men of Judea : a new 
 era has begun, from this the day of your espousals to 
 Christ as his chosen, and your religious condition is 
 wholly different from any thing you, or your fathers here- 
 tofore have known. It doth not so much relate to your- 
 selves as your families. All your children that have been 
 heretofore born and circumcised are children of the cove- 
 nant, by virtue of the sign and seal of circumcision in 
 their flesh. But all your children that may hereafter be 
 born, now thatyou have been baptized in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, shall, in consequence of your becoming Chris- 
 tian believers, be shut out of God's covenant. Know 
 therefore, that your future infants shall not belong to 
 either the Jewish or Christian Churches ; but be cast out 
 into the world, pure, naked Gentiles or heathens, till they 
 shall come to years of maturity, when they must choose 
 for themselves, as persons having no covenant obliga- 
 tions binding on them, whether or not they will volun- 
 tarily become the disciples of that Saviour in whom you 
 
130 THE PENTECOSTAL BAPTISM 
 
 believe for salvation !" — We say again, that some such 
 announcement was absolutely necessary to lay the axe at 
 the root of Infant Baptism, and prevent so pernicious an 
 error from springing up, as it were insensibly, and esta- 
 blishing itself firmly under the very shadow of the cross, 
 considering the gradual manner in which Christianity 
 spread from Jerusalem and Judea throughout the Gentile 
 world. 
 
 But now, who can conceive what an extraordinary effect 
 such a strange doctrine as this would have produced on 
 three thousand fathers of Jewish families ! And that at 
 the very time when their spiritual enjoyments were of 
 the purest and most perfect kind, and consequently they 
 would have valued whatever of church 'privileges had 
 belonged to them and their households more intensely 
 than ever, and would have clung to them with a most 
 irrepressible ardour ! How would such news have damped 
 their holy joy ! What a gloom would it have spread over 
 their countenances ! This gospel would have hardly 
 seemed gospel to them ! And instead of "praising God" 
 continually, what aery would have gone up to heaven; 
 O that our Ishmaels might live before thee ! And what . 
 efforts would they not have made to get the dire decree 
 if possible revoked on behalf of their future generations ! 
 For by such a decree, or act of disinheriting, would their 
 unborn children be punished, not only without any sin 
 of their own, or any sin of their fathers ; but actually 
 the children would be punished, and the fathers along 
 with them, /br obedience to God, who had commanded 
 them by Peter to repent and be baptized in the name 
 of Jesus Christ ! — What a farrago of inconsistencies 
 have we here ! We see now what the refusal of fnfant 
 
FAVORS INFANT BAPTISM. 131 
 
 Baptism comes to. It equally, however unintentionally, 
 dishonors the Holy Ghost and the Son of God. For 
 according to this most uncomfortable, mifatherlike notion, 
 it makes the cessation of infant privileges to begin with 
 the birth of Christ, and to be completed on the day of 
 Pentecost ! ! 
 
 And was it indeed to establish such a doctrine that the 
 Spirit was poured out from on high on that illustrious 
 day P Was the Apostle Peter divinely led to select for 
 his text, on that most memorable occasion, the wonderful 
 prophecy of Joel, which foretold amongst other things 
 this blessed truth, — " yowx sons and your daughters shall 
 prophesy," that in the course of his sermon he might 
 prove sons and dattghters tvere about to be cut offin 
 the lump, as though the prophet's words contained more 
 of irony than gracious truth to cheer the hearts of the 
 sons of men ? Can we catch even a glimpse of such a 
 doctrine from any part of Peter's exposition, or from anv 
 shade of expression that fell from his lips, now touched 
 with hallowed fire ? Nay, verily not ; but, as it were, 
 for ever to prevent its successful establishment on the 
 ground of divine authority, whatever errors good men 
 might fall into on this subject from partial views of divine 
 truth, he cried aloud in the audience of all the people 
 immediately after he had exhorted them to personal 
 repentance and to baptism, saying, *' For the promise 
 is unto you, and to ypur children, and to all that are 
 afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call ;" 
 Acts ii. 39. — Now, how would Jews, thus circumstanced, 
 and wholly ignorant of what is now called the Baptist 
 controversy, understand that clause, — " you, and your 
 children P" Here is no limitation of age ; most assuredly 
 
132 THE PROMISE UNIVERSAL. 
 
 therefore, as Jews, they would take the words in their 
 largest sense, as comprehending every soul in their fami- 
 lies, as well the suckling as the child of sufficient age to 
 discern hetween good and evil. And if " the promise' 
 belonged unto them, so also did the sign and seal thereof; 
 which was an encouragement to them to receive Christian 
 Baptism, and an additional source of gladness in that 
 happy day, when, by the might of the Spirit of the 
 Lord, their hearts were turned to a true faith in Christ, 
 and the reception of salvation through his name. But, 
 with the same breath, the Apostle adds, — " and to all 
 that are afar ojf ;" which expression, "afar off," parti- 
 cularly denotes the Gentile nations ; for thus the Apos- 
 tle writes to the Gentile believers at Ephesus, — "But 
 now in Christ Jesus ye who sometitjies were far off are 
 made nigh by the blood of Christ;" Ephes. ii. 13. "To 
 all" of them, according to Peter, the same promise 
 belongs, and in the same sense as to the Jeivs : (for 
 there were not two gospels, but one gospel containing 
 " glad tidings of great joy for all people ;) and lest there 
 should be any doubt, as to the extent of his meaning, he 
 concludes with that comprehensive and emphatic clause, 
 " even as many as the Lord our God shall call ;" which 
 takes in all ages and nations of mankind : — Europe, Asia, 
 Africa, and America, and all the islands of the seas ; — 
 Jews and Gentiles to the very ends of the earth, and to 
 the end of time. Now, a covenant promise, — and that 
 is the precise character of every promise of the gospel, — 
 cannot be dissociated from the sign and seal of the 
 covenant; whosoever hath the one, is, by that very 
 circumstance, assuredly entitled to the other. Where- 
 fore if on the day of Pentecost " the promise" were equally 
 
COLLATERAL PROOF OF INFANT BAPTISM. 133 
 
 confirmed to the Jews and to their cliildren ; and to 
 the Gentiles to the iilinost bounds of the earth, and to 
 their children ; — then, the children of each, whether of 
 Jews or Gentiles, are equally entitled to be received by 
 that initiatory ordinance, which Christ hath ordained ai 
 " the sign and seal" of that promise, into the visibly 
 church of the one only true and living God. 
 
 As a branch of the argument in favor of Infant 
 Baptism, di'awn from the fact that the first Christian 
 Church was composed of Jews, and from the history of 
 its origin and establishment, we may adduce the contro- 
 versies which subsequently arose between many of the 
 Jewish and Gentile believers, concerning the extension 
 of the law of circumcision to all the Gentile Christians. 
 This was a most critical subject, the relative position of 
 the several contending parties considered; and one which 
 required the united counsels and deliberation of the 
 Apostles to settle : see Acts xv. The providence of God 
 took care beforehand to prepare the way for its settlement, 
 by the jn'evious conversion of Cornelius; and, in an 
 eminent manner, he guided his apostles by the inspira- 
 tion of the Holy Ghost to bring the debates to a sober, 
 catholic, and safe practical decision. But, in all these 
 debates, there is no reference to infants by either party ; 
 the contention was simply about the Gentiles, whom cer- 
 tain Jewish zealots would have to be circumcised, and keep 
 the law of Moses. Now, had it been the case, that at 
 the very time the Apostles declared the Gentiles to be 
 free from the yoke of circumcision, they also refused 
 baptism to the children of the believing Gentiles, what 
 an air of triumph would the Jewish brethren have 
 assumed over their Gentile brethren ? With what a 
 
 N 
 
134 THE PENTECOSTAL PROMISE 
 
 powerful argument would they have been furnished in 
 favor of their judaizing schemes? "Our children are 
 of the church, your's are not." And who could have 
 gainsayed or resisted it? Not all the authority of the 
 Apostles could have put down the influence of such an 
 astounding appeal to matter of fact. But, forasmuch as 
 we hear of no such glorying of the Jews over the Gen- 
 tiles, nor of the least allusion to any occasion for it, nor 
 meet in all the New Testament writings with any refer- 
 ence to a sort of half-caste race, for whose souls some 
 apostolic and pastoral care must have been required, since 
 thev must have been very numerous even in the course 
 of that generation, we can only conclude that such cir- 
 cumstances had no being, and such a race no existence, 
 because the Church of Christ in receiving the parents, 
 received their children also, and welcomed the sons with 
 the fathers within her pale, that they might together share 
 in her free and eternal blessings. 
 
 Here then we have evidence sufficient in favour of 
 Infant Baptism. Seeinq it is secured to ns by the rich 
 Pentecostal Promise ; — by the Law and the Gospel, in 
 their fulness of purity, spirituality, power, and mercy 
 conjoined: — by Joel and by Peter, and by the Lord, 
 the Spirit, what need have we to inquire for what is 
 called a positive command ^ If the practice were not 
 right, it must have needs been forbidden ; but the prin- 
 ciple having been long established, nothing more was 
 requisite to incorporate it with Christianity, as a part 
 and parcel of its constitution, than to legalize it by 
 a promise ; which hath been done in the most full and 
 effectual manner by the Spirit of the Lord : see here and 
 compare together again Acts ii. 37, 39, and Rom. xv. 4, 
 
LEGALIZES INFANT BAPTISM. 135 
 
 13. And whoever seeks to undo what God hath done, 
 however well meant his endeavours, and however pure 
 his intentions may be, will find himself pretty much in 
 the predicament of Balaam when he said, " Behold, I 
 have received commandment to bless ; and he hath 
 blessed ; and I cannot reverse it :" Numb, xxiii. 20. 
 God hath commanded all his ministers to bless infants 
 in his name, and blessed they shall he ; for in promising 
 blessing to them, Christ hath virtually said, "In these 
 ordinances of my church let all the families of the earth 
 be blessed." Who then, or what is he, who would sink 
 Christianity in respect to infants, not only below Judaism, 
 but even below Mohammedanism, or heathenism ? Even 
 pagans are fond of tabooing their children, or imprinting 
 on their forehead some mark of veneration for their idols ; 
 and a Turk looks upon his child as a young disciple of 
 Mahomet ; and the Jew has ever circumcised his chil- 
 dren according to the law ; must Christians be the only 
 race who cast away their offspring P Or shall they, 
 tis becomes the professors of the now only pure religion, 
 which excels in universal benevolence, come forward, and 
 give their infants, in the holy ordinance of Baptism, to 
 Jesus Christ, whom they rejoice to acknowledge as their 
 Lord, and their God ? 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 The Christian Religion is a Family Religion. 
 
 Interwoven with the fact treated of in the preceding 
 
 section, and yet so distinct from it as to merit special 
 
 elucidation, we meet with another fact, concerning the 
 x2 
 
136 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 
 
 family character of the religion of Christ. The Chris- 
 tian religion is pre-eminently calculated to promote the 
 kdvantage of families, and is designed to secure and 
 transmit a permanency of family benefits. That it often 
 fails of accomplishing this great end, through the unfaith- 
 fulness of man, and the perverseness of human nature, 
 is admitted ; but that admission in no wise weakens the 
 fact that such is in reality the true constitution of the 
 Christian economy, and the gracious design of God in 
 its establishment in the earth. A remnant only of Israel 
 of old were saved, although God " had formed that people 
 for himself, that they might shew forth his praise :" Isa. 
 xliii. 21. Let us see how this truly noble and convincing 
 evidence of the divine origin of the Christian religion 
 may be established from the testimony of the word of 
 God. It is a continued class of evidence, that goes 
 hand in hand with Infant Baptism, but is sadly be- 
 clouded, or rather one might say, wholly lost, or thrown 
 away, by those who adhere to the tenets of the Baptist 
 persuasion. 
 
 First of all, then, let it be observed that ancient pro- 
 mises expressly declare that this should be characteristic 
 of Messiah's reign. "And in thee" said God to Abram, 
 " shall all families of the earth be blessed :" Gen. xii. 
 3. The same promise was renewed to Jacob ; — " and in 
 thee and in thy seed shall a// ^Aeyami/tVs of the earth 
 be blessed :" Gen. xxviii. 14. And these promises were 
 rather universal than national, and belonged more to the 
 times of the gospel than to the patriarchal and prophetic 
 ages. For so Saint Paul interprets them. " Now to 
 Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He 
 saith not, and to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, and 
 
IS DESIGNED FOR FAMILIES. 137 
 
 to thy seed, lohich is Christ:" Gal. iii. 16. Wherelbre 
 Jesus Christ came into the world to be the Saviour and 
 blesser of families ; and the promises established in 
 and with him, are family promises, and not helon(jing 
 to the parents only ; which midoubted fact leads us to 
 repeat the remark before made, and which otir Baptist 
 brethren can neither answer nor set aside, — no man can 
 refute it — namely, that the covenant promise cannot be 
 dissociated from the sign and seal of the covenant; so 
 that whosoever hath the one is by that very circum- 
 stance assuredly entitled to the other. 
 
 Moses hath settled the same point beyond all contro- 
 versy in the fifth commandment of the law. " Honour 
 thy father and thy mother ; that thy days may be long 
 upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee :" 
 Exod. XX. 12. But the commandment supposeth that 
 children, to ivhom it is delivered, are already members 
 of that church in ivhich it is published, and thereby 
 both brought under the jurisdiction of the law, and heirs 
 of the promise made to those who obey it. And whereas 
 Saint Paul hath both quoted the cominandment, and 
 commented on it, he hath satisfied us that this holy pre- 
 cept, and its promises, stand on precisely the same 
 footing in the Christian as in the Jewish church. His 
 words are these. " Children obey your parents in the 
 Lord : for this is right. Honour thy father and mother, 
 which is the first commandment with promise ; that it 
 may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the 
 earth :" Ephes. vi. 1, 3. Here the particular expression 
 "in the Lord," that is in the Lord Jesus, (clearly so, 
 see V. 5, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 32, and chap. 
 
 vi. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,) makes it a church precept, and 
 n3 
 
138 THE FIFTH COMMANrMENT, 
 
 consequently binding on children as members of the 
 church. Now how could children have become meinbera 
 of the church if the Apostles never baptized children ? 
 This inquiry is tvorth a few thoughts, if our Baptist 
 brethren would but take time and look at it, and not pass 
 it by in a huff. The inquiry is the more forcible, as the 
 Apostle is distinctly treating of relative duties, as asso- 
 ciated tvith, and illustrative of, church-membership 
 and order. Thus of marriage in the preceding chapter 
 he says, — " This is a great mystery ; but / speak con- 
 cerning Christ and the Church. And indeed we cannot 
 perceive how a Baptist parent can, on Christian grounds, 
 require obedience from his children at all, because he 
 and they are not in the same spiritual relation to God. 
 Were he, for example, to quote to his child the words of 
 the Apostle, the child might reply — " Father, I am not 
 yet in the Lord ; wait till I have been baptized, and 
 then I will submit as a Christian child ought to do, to 
 your authority." And the child would unquestionably 
 have the best of the argument ; reason would lie altoge- 
 ther on his side, however much the light of the gospel, 
 as known in a Christian land, might cause his conscience 
 to condemn him for acts of disobedience to parental 
 authority. But if the father would proceed merely 
 rationally, and according to the true genius and bearing 
 of his own principles, he would have to deal with divine 
 revelation as avowed infidels do, and go back to the laws 
 of nature, and natural obligations, ^c, availing him- 
 self however, as infidels also avail themselves, of the 
 splendor of the light of revealed truth, to expound and 
 interpret the laws of natural religion, with a clearness 
 and correctness far surpassing the knowledge of the most 
 
IMPLIES INFANT BAPTISM. 139 
 
 favored of heathen nations. Let not our hrethren wax 
 warm, and be angry with us, and say we put them on a 
 level with infidels : by no means ; we are not doing it, 
 but only shewing that, in this one particular, they 
 themselves do it for themselves ; which we cannot help ; 
 if they will do it they must, and abide by the conse- 
 quences. By keeping their children back from Christian 
 baptism, they put them beyond the pale of Christian 
 authority ; nor do we see how, on strict Baptist prin- 
 ciples, any portion of either law or gospel can be justly 
 applied to their posterity, excepting only such general 
 passages as Rom. ii. 14, 15, which are applicable to all 
 mankind. But in one thing we do rf.joice, yea, and will 
 rejoice, that our Baptis t brethren are not in reality infi- 
 dels, — we disclaim such imputation, — nay verily^ they 
 are Christians, and the genuine children of God; and 
 their churches are Christian churches ;' and we further 
 rejoice in the knowledge, that their piety is better than 
 their principles, and that though they will not, like us, 
 sprinkle their children with the water of baptism, they 
 will, as sincerely and as fervently as we, pray that their 
 souls ,may be sprinkled with Jesus' precious blood, and 
 renewed by the power of the divine and eternal Spirit of 
 God. Happy inconsistency ! They are, it seems, after 
 all, Pedo-Baptists also, in every thing save only the 
 water ; they are anxious to secure for their children the 
 seal of the covenant of grace, (else were they not Chris- 
 tians,) only they will not allow them the sign ; which 
 error, because of the integrity of their hearts, God in 
 numberless instances forgives, and his blessing doth go 
 down to their righteous posterity for many generations. 
 The Lord bless them more and more ; only we cannot 
 
140 _ PARENTS AND CHILDREN 
 
 help wishing that they better understood their Christian 
 duty. 
 
 If we go back to the origin of mankind, it will be 
 found that the first promise was most emphatically a 
 family promise. " And God blessed them, and God 
 said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish 
 the earth, and subdue it ; and have dominion over the 
 fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and every 
 living thing that moveth upon the earth :" Gen. 1. 28. 
 In substance the same blessing was renewed to the one 
 pair, in the family relation, when the promise of a 
 Saviour was given : Gen. iii. 15, only with this humili- 
 ating addition, befitting their altered circumstances by 
 the fall ; — " Unto the woman he said, I will greatly 
 multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sorrow thou 
 shalt bring forth children :" Gen. iii. 16. Hundreds of 
 years afterwards the very same promise was renewed to 
 Noah, the second father of the human race : Gen. ix. 7. 
 The Psalmist plainly refers thereto, in psalm the eighth, 
 and to the interest which even " babes and sucklings" 
 have therein. And Saint Paul by applying it spiritually 
 to Christ, Heb. ii. 6, 9, appropriates the ivhole range 
 of these family promises, and all others of a similar 
 nature, with the family blessings entailed therein, to. 
 Christianity and the Christian age. It is indeed won- 
 derful to observe, throughout the scriptures, what notice 
 God takes of mankind as distributed into families, 
 and how he engages to bless them in that relation, espe- 
 cially when the head of the household is upright and 
 godly. See Psalm cxxvii and cxxviii. He stiles himself 
 "the God of all the families of Israel ;" Jer. xxxi. 1 ; 
 and he varies his goodness according to their need, and 
 
ASSOCIATED IN THE DIVINE PROMISES. 141 
 
 every change in their condition. " Leave thy fatherless 
 children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy widows 
 trust in me :" Jer. xlix. 11. "A father of the fatherless, 
 and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habita- 
 tion :" Psalm Ixviii. 5. iN'ow who would restrict these 
 blessed promises to the Jewish age? Are they not the 
 common inheritance of the Christian church also ? But 
 how is it that the fatherless and widow are classed toge- 
 ther in these gracious words, if the widow only is allowed 
 to belong to the church, but the fatherless child — it may 
 be a babe, an infant at the breast, is, nominally at least, 
 ajjpointed to be kept out of the church, and so what Saint 
 Paul calls all such, a " stranger from the covenants of 
 promise ?" Ephes. ii. 12. How comes it to pass then 
 that the child's name, equally with the mother's, is 
 actually enrolled in the same promise ; and that the 
 dying father is exhorted by Jeremiah to leave him, equally 
 with the widow, to the faithful care of a covenant keep- 
 ing God P Surely the tender and hallowed association 
 teacheth us that infants too are of his fold, and most 
 tenderly cared for by the Great Shepherd ; as it is writ- 
 ten; — "He shall gather the lambs vfith. h\s arm, and 
 carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that 
 are with young:" Isaiah xl. 11. This last clause may be 
 added for the peculiar comfort of those Christian widows 
 who sustain the loss of the husband before the infant 
 child is born ; so gracious is God to families throughout 
 the afflictions of this changing and mortal life. In perfect 
 accordance therefore with the spirit, intent, and perpe- 
 tuity of these, and such like promises, too numerous to be 
 quoted, for they abound in every part of the book of 
 God, Christ came to be the blesser of families, and to 
 
142 CHILDREN WITH THEIR PARENTS 
 
 make his religion, from the very outset of the Christian 
 life, a family religion, that he might be the common 
 hope of the fathers and the children, according to that 
 devout prayer, " Let thy work appear unto thy servants, 
 and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty 
 of the Lord our God be upon us ; and establish thou the 
 work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our hands 
 establish thou it :" Psalm xc. 16, 17, 
 
 In confonnity to the sentiments now advanced, it is 
 to be observed, that under the gospel of Christ, the 
 original sacredness and holiness of the divine institution 
 of marriage is carried out to the fullest perfection. See 
 that extraordinary passage in Saint Paul's epistle to the 
 Ephesians, which is too long to cite here entire, and which 
 sets this matter in a strong and clear light: Ephes. v. 20, 
 33. Turn to your bibles and read it, before you proceed, 
 however often you may have read it on former occasions. 
 To secure the desirable result of family godliness, it was 
 also enjoined that Christian believers should marry "only 
 in the Lord :" 1 Cor. vii. 39. And again, " Be ye not 
 unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fel- 
 lowship hath righteousness with unrighteousnesss ? and 
 what communion hath light with darkness ? And what 
 concord hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath he 
 that believeth with an infidel ? 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15. And 
 obedience to these holy commands is necessarily implied 
 in that special family promise, — " Notwithstanding she 
 shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith, 
 and charity, and holiness with sobriety:" 1 Tim. ii. 15. 
 But now as the prophet enquireth, " wherefore one P" 
 Wherefore, as in the beginning he made one godly pair, 
 hath he restorecV by his law, and especially by Christ, 
 
BLESSED IN CHRIST FROM INFANCY. 143 
 
 the marriage institution lo all its original purity and 
 spirituality ? He answereth, " That he might seek a 
 godly seed;" Mai. ii. 15; "a seed that should be 
 accounted to the Lord for a generation :" Psalm xxiL 30. 
 Not that the generation should be accounted the Lord's 
 at an odd end of their life, but from their birth ; — " a 
 godly seed" throughout all their growth from infancy to 
 youth and manhood ; that like as the woman is " saved 
 in childbearing," the child born, in gratitude for that 
 salvation, as well as for other reasons, might " as long as 
 he liveth be lent to the Lord :" 1 Sam. i. 28. If then 
 Christianity truly perfects the social condition of man- 
 kind, and is the restorer of the breaches sin hath made 
 in social happiness, she must be a mighty benefactress 
 to infants, and transmit her whole economy, both insti- 
 tutions and benefits to them. 
 
 In the first age of the Christian Church, there was an 
 irregularity, attended with many difficulties, of not un- 
 frequent occurrence, and yet not easily admitting of 
 remedy, on account of the stringent law of Christ with 
 regard to marriage, whereby separation was prohibited, 
 save only for the cause of fornication, or adultery : IVIatt. 
 V. 32, and xix. 3 — 9. The case of some in the Corin- 
 thian church will illustrate this point, where only one of 
 the parties united in marriage was a Christian, probably 
 because the husband or the wife had been converted after 
 their marriage union. Now, though the Apostle, in 
 writing to that same church, positively forbade the un- 
 married from forming and entering into such a union, 
 and condemned it in the strongest language as titterhj 
 antichristian; 2 Cor. vi. 14 to vii. 1; yet, where the 
 union of opposite parties actually existed, the believer 
 
144 INFANTS IN THE CHURCH RELATIVELY HOLY. 
 
 was not required or allowed to put away the heathen hus- 
 band or wife because of unbelief : 1 Cor. vii. 13. And 
 so benign is Christianity in its influence on the family 
 relation, that even in such a case, it considers the children 
 entitled to privileges and benefits in consequence of their 
 relation to a believing parent. " For," saith the Apostle 
 " the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and 
 the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband ; else 
 were your children unclean; but notv are they holy :" 
 1 Cor. vii. 14. The Apostle doth not mean morally holy, 
 for that would be contrary to Psalm li. 5, and John iii. 6, 
 and many other scriptures; but he means "holy" in a 
 relative sense, by being brought into the church of 
 Christ, and so separated from thepollutions of heathenism, 
 that, having been in baptism, in this sense, " sanctified and 
 cleansed with the washing of water by the word," Ephes.v. 
 26, they might in future life, as those who were already 
 novitiates, " be brought up in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord :" Ephes. v. 4. And this interpretation of 
 the Apostle's words, very much corresponds with what he 
 testified concerning Israel also, before their final rejection 
 had taken place ; " for if the first fruit be holy, the lump 
 is also holy; and li the root be holy, so are the branches:" 
 Rom. xi. 16. He had no notion of leaving the church 
 nothing but stumps, or bare roots, with all the branches 
 lopped off as soon as they ice re born ; that was no more 
 suited to the gospel with which he was entrusted, than to 
 the law of Moses. And the maimer in which these two 
 scriptures, Rom. xi, 16, and 1 Cor. vii. 14, mutually 
 explain one another, conjoined with the difficulty ivhich 
 our Baptist brethren find of' making any sense of them 
 at all, comes in aid of what hath been before stated con- 
 
GENTILES ENGRAFTED ON THE JEWISH CHURCH. 145 
 
 cerning baptism as an ordinance designed by God to 
 succeed unto, and come in the place of, the ancient rile of 
 circumcision. Under each dispensation the children were 
 relatively holy and clean ; which is one meaning of the 
 word "sanctified/' both in the Old and New Testament 
 writings. 
 
 Moreover if we hold that Infant Baptism is unscrip- 
 tural, then is the beautiful illustration and argument of 
 the Apostle in the eleventh chapter of Romans, despoiled 
 throughout of all its vigour and beauty. For he repre- 
 sents the Gentiles as being grafted on the stock of the 
 ancient Jewish Church, of which Christ himself was the 
 root ; Isa. xi. 10, Rev. xxii. 16 ; for the express purpose 
 of having all its privileges and benefits conveyed through 
 that church to them. But, according to Baptist notions, 
 they are scarcely engrafted, before the transmission of 
 privilege fails, even in the very next generation. Alas ! 
 what value was there in this engrafting that the Apostle 
 should so greatly extol it, unless provision had been made 
 for a succession of engrafting s of adults from generation 
 to generation ? Whei'efore hath he spoken of that one 
 act as though there were a natural perpetuity in it, that 
 should extend to the end of time, even until Israel were 
 grafted in again, unless personal sinfulness and unbelief 
 should occasion a cutting off ? Can any language be 
 more explicit than the words of the x^postle in v. 17, 18, 
 " And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, 
 being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and 
 with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive 
 tree ; boast not against the branches. But if thou boast 
 thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." Here the 
 words "in among them," and those other words " with 
 
146 CHRISTIAN CHUUCH PRIVILEGES 
 
 them partakest/' imply a perfect community of rights 
 and privileges, the natural branches having no rights or 
 privileges whatsoever that were not equally shared and 
 enjoyed by the engrafted branches. But how does this 
 agree with the rejection of infants from the Christian 
 Church when they had all along been regarded as mem- 
 bers of the Jewish Church ? Then were the Gentiles 
 not graffed " in among" the Jewish believers, but shot 
 up by themselves from altogether a new stock ; neither 
 were they " partakers with them of the root and fatness 
 of the olive tree," but, separate from them, they sprung 
 up from a stem never planted till the days of the Apos- 
 tles ! Then were the constitution of the two churches as 
 opposite as light and darkness, the one embracing infants, 
 and the other casting them away ; so that in every city 
 where the Christian Church was composed partly of Jew- 
 ish and partly of Gentile believers, there must have been 
 a perpetual occasion of collision between them on this 
 very ground, instead of a motive for union, and for for- 
 bearance and kindness on the part of the Gentiles, as the 
 Apostle here argueth ! Yea, by maintaining such views, 
 the Gentile believers, would have put to shame the Apostle 
 of the Gentiles, at the very tiine he was magnifying 
 his office, to ensure unto them their full share of all. 
 the blessings of the gospel. For he thus states his de- 
 sign, " I magnify mine office, if by any means I may 
 provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and 
 might save some of them ;" Rom. xi. 13, 14. But what 
 sort €){ emulation would it have excited in the breast of 
 the Jews to have been told that Christianity, in its ordi- 
 nances and privileges, only belonged to adults, and was a 
 divine system in which infants had no concern ? That 
 
DERIVED FROM THE JEWISH CHURCH. 147 
 
 the children of Gentile Christians had no more " part or 
 lot in the matter," than the old heathen themselves had 
 in the peculiar immunities of the Israel of God ? Would 
 such a doctrine have excited emulation in the Jews to 
 embrace Christianity, as Paul desired, that they might be 
 saved ? Or, would it have fortified them in their attach- 
 ment to Judaism, and their fatal unbelief, whereby they 
 rejected Christ and his gospel ? And shall we Gentiles, 
 who are now saved, in tliese modem times, maintain 
 tenets that would have put to shame our own Apostle, by 
 whom the unsearchable riches of Christ were so exten- 
 sively made known to the Gentile world ? Ought we not 
 to own the wisdom and goodness of God, and to set a 
 high value on this providential and gracious engrafting 
 as for many other reasons, so also specially for this one 
 reason, that our divine Lord himself, who was Jesse's 
 root, Isaiah xi. 10, was, as to his human nature, " a rod 
 of Jesse's stem, and a branch that grew out of his roots ?" 
 Isaiah xi. 1. And so whatever church privileges he had, 
 they were transmitted to him, as to every other Jew, in 
 the way of natural inheritance : wherefore when we 
 Gentiles were " grafted in among" the Jewish believers, he, 
 they, and we, tvere all exactly alike as to our privileges^ 
 and the perpetuity thereof became, if not better secured, 
 yet rendered more illustrious and exalted, in the Chris- 
 tian, than in the Jewish Church of old. " In all things," 
 saith the Apostle, " it behoved him to be made like unto 
 his brethren ;" Heb. ii. 17. But that saying hath a 
 restriction in it, if Baptist opinions be the truth. For 
 then he was made like unto his Jewish brethren, by be- 
 coming a member of the Church of God in his infancy ; 
 
 but not like his Gentile brethren, if they have no right 
 o 2 
 
148 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 
 
 to membership till the age of infancy has passed away. 
 But if indeed baptism in infancy succeed to circumcision, 
 then does the universal affirmation vnlversaUy apply, Si^ 
 well to the Gentiles as the Jews, and toe are all one in 
 Christ Jesus. And this is the true statement contained in 
 the holy gospel, in which the church at large is regarded as 
 but one family, Ephes, iii. 15, concerning whom St. Paul 
 saith, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in 
 Christ Jesus ;" Gal. iii. 26. 
 
 Now all these series of truths bring us to one and the 
 same conclusion, namely, that the Christian religion is 
 eminently a family religion. Its institutions, ordinances, 
 services, ministrations, laws, promises, privileges, and 
 blessings, have all an immediate bearing on the social and 
 domestic happiness of mankind ; and though calculated 
 to bless individual man, they have a special adaptation to 
 his relative state, primarily as the member of a family, 
 and secondarily as the member of a community, of a na- 
 tion, of the world. In this respect it is in no wise inferior 
 to the patriarchal or the Jewish religion. Each dispen- 
 sation partook of the same general character; which 
 indeed well accords with the natural order of things, since, 
 agreeably to the arrangement of divine providence, nations 
 and empires are but communities of families; so that to 
 establish religion in families is the most effectual way to 
 spread it throughout the world. By this means, every 
 one is set to work within his own sphere ; and every one 
 has a sphere to work in. And the ivork being based on 
 the relation, the duty begins as sooti as the relation 
 begins ; and Christianity recognizes both as soon as the 
 child is born. 
 
 If then the Christian religion be so constituted by God's 
 
A FAMILY RELIGION. 149 
 
 grace and mercy as to be a family religion, it cannot be 
 that when a child is brought forth, and becomes a member 
 of the family, it should be refused the outward and visible 
 sign of the initiatory ordinance of baptism, as a token 
 and earnest of its right to, and interest in, all those pro- 
 mised family blessings which are given in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord. Is Christianity the mother of family bless- 
 ings, and shall not new-bom babes suck of the breasts of 
 her consolation ? Hath she no tender mercies for them ? 
 Are they to be looked upon as " strangers from the cove- 
 nants of promise;" Ephes. ii. 12; for many years to 
 come ; and by their own parents, in Disposition to such 
 designed benefits, be virtually constituted heathens ? Or 
 at best be but a mongrel race, the unbaptized posterity 
 of a baptized ancestry, for whom no suitable designation 
 can be found ? Be merely named John, Thomas, or 
 what not, and yet never have a Christian name, which 
 no one can give, even by a religious act or service, apart 
 from Christ's holy ordinance of baptism P Nor have « 
 they any more right in manhood to the courtesy of being 
 called Christians than the Turks of Constantinople, or the 
 Hindoos or Chinese of the East. And though they may 
 even be trained up to prayer, and an attendance on the 
 outward worship of God, in the use of which means, God, 
 graciously overlooking the errors of the parents, in this 
 particular, and accepting and blessing their conscientious 
 and pious endeavours to benefit their children, may com- 
 municate light and a degree of salvation, yet are they, 
 after all, in reality, in a heathen state, and do but 
 ivorship as enlightened heathens; so far as it regards 
 their visible relation to God and his church. And, on 
 
 the part of the parents, what is all this but the fruit of 
 o3 
 
150 THE APOSTLES 
 
 unbelief. They consider it donhtful what their children 
 may prove to be, and will wait till their own conduct 
 evidences their personal fitness for a reception into the 
 Church of Christ, instead of presenting their infants in 
 faith to God, and humbly claiming in the very ordinance 
 itself, his grace to convert, renew, and save their souls. 
 Surely if the religion of Christ be so benign to families, 
 this one act must be most anti-Christian ; and prayers 
 for a child, while we refuse it baptism, are but a pious 
 contradiction between the affections and the desires of a 
 holy heart, and the erring conceptions of a but partially 
 enlightened understanding. When our Christian and 
 beloved Baptist brethren, with so much commendable 
 zeal, establish family worship, as though like some of 
 old, they fain would have a church in their house, they 
 do first of all, with extraordinary care, build up a trail 
 of partifio7i, behind which their little Gentiles may 
 worship as Gentiles, until baptism lifts them over it, (if 
 ever they be baptized,) and admits them to the same 
 privilege of saying equally with their parents, " Our 
 Father which art in heaven." Alas ! family worship is 
 imperfect in its very first principles, where so much as 
 one child is left unbaptized, as though it had no special 
 share and interest in the covenant which God hath made 
 in Christ, saying, "In thee shall all the families of the 
 earth be blessed." 
 
 SECTIOX VI. 
 
 The Apostles baptized households. 
 Since the holy religion of Jesus Christ is a divine 
 institution for the benefit and salvation of families, it was 
 
BAPTIZED HOUSEHOLDS. 151 
 
 to be expected that its ministers should be anxious to 
 convey its blessings to the entire households of those who 
 received them in the Lord, or who embraced the message 
 of reconciliation which they brought in his name. It 
 would have hardly comported with the character of the 
 gospel they were sent to proclaim, and would have been 
 repugnant to the best feelings of their hearts, to have 
 introduced the elder branches of the household into the 
 Church of Christ, and to have left the younger as out- 
 casts, for whom as yet no spiritual provision was made. 
 For they must have remembered the words of the Lord 
 .Jesus, how that he said unto them in the beginning, "And 
 when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house 
 be worthy, let your peace come upon it ;" Matt. x. 12, 13. 
 The salutation of course would be given to the master of 
 the house, as the head of the household ; but the peace 
 would come upon all the members of it, without the 
 exception of an individual, unless any chose to except 
 themselves. In that case, " a man's foes would be they 
 of his own household ;" Mat-t. x. 36 ; but the variance 
 would be between the adults of a family, and not affect 
 the infants or children; much less would Christianity 
 create a wall of separation in a united family that agreed 
 to receive the servants of the Lord, by jjrohibiting the 
 infants from that ordinance which introduces them into 
 the church, that they might share in its blessings and 
 peace. The Apostles therefore acted according to the 
 spirit of their earliest instructions, when in the course of 
 their enlarged ministrations, they without hesitancy or 
 doubt baptized entire households. 
 
 Of the broad fact itself there is no doubt between us 
 and our Baptist brethren. But they maintain that we 
 
152 lydia's household baptized. 
 
 have no clear example of Infant Baptism, for that in their 
 opinion there were no infants in the families whose recep- 
 tion of the gospel is recorded; or if there were, the 
 phraseology in one instance is such as to imply that they 
 were not baptized. It is needful therefore to examine the 
 scriptures refeiTed to, which may be easily done, as there 
 are but thi'ee passages bearing on the subject. 
 
 The first case is that of Lydia, whose brief history is 
 thus recorded. " And a certain woman named Lydia, a 
 seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped 
 God, heard us : whose heart the Lord opened, that she 
 attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 
 And when she was baptized, and her household, she 
 besought us saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful 
 to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And 
 she constrained us;" Acts xvi. 14, 15. — Here we have a 
 beautiful exemplification of the instructions before quoted, 
 " enquii'e who in the city is worthy," and one could almost 
 imagine from Lydia's remark, " If ye have judged me to 
 be faithful," she had gained some intimation of that 
 rule, and employed it as her great argument to persuade 
 Paul and Silas to " enter her house, and abide there." 
 Be that as it may, she gave one evidence of her worthi- 
 ness, or faithfulness, in that when she was baptized, " her 
 household" were baptized ; — it seems with her, at the 
 same time, and on the same occasion. Now of what " her 
 household" consisted, — whether of domestics only, or of 
 domestics and children, — we have no means of ascertain- 
 ing; nor of the number of either, or of both classes, 
 comprehended in the general term. Only considering 
 her occupation, her respectability, and her ability to 
 entertain and support these sei-vants of the Lord, one 
 
THE jailer's household BAPTIZED, 153 
 
 might conclude that it were far more probable than not, 
 that in such an establishment there were some children, 
 either of her own, or of her servants ; and if so, then, 
 that they were baptized also, because it is said without 
 distinction, whether of age or sex, that they who consti- 
 tuted "her household" were baptized, when she embraced 
 the gospel. If however this probability be not accepted 
 as proof, in favor of Infant Baptism, it ought at least to 
 neutralise our opposition to it, as being a matter up to 
 this point, undetermined by scripture example, on which 
 head we may hope to obtain further light as we proceed 
 to examine the matter. Let this case then for the present 
 lie over by mutual consent; save only that we who hold 
 Infant Baptism must maintain that the probability, col- 
 lected from the entire circumstances connected with it, is 
 in favor of our opinion. 
 
 The second case occurs in the same chapter, in the won- 
 derful awakening and conversion of the Philippian jailer. 
 In deep distress for sin, he brought Paul and Silas out 
 of prison, " and said. Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? 
 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto 
 him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. 
 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed 
 their stripes ; and was baptized, he and all his, straightwa3\ 
 And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat 
 before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his 
 house ;" Acts xvi. 30 — 34, Now here also it is not clear, 
 so as to make the matter certain and indisputable, whether 
 or not there were children ; or if children, any who were 
 infants or very young. The only fact put beyond doubt 
 is, that none of the family were exempted from baptism. 
 
154 INFANTS PROBABLY BAPTIZED 
 
 But in this case, as in the fonner, probability comes in 
 to favor the Christian doctrine, as we may call it, of Infant 
 Baptism. For though children be not directly men- 
 tioned, any more than the wife of the jailer, yet the 
 expressions "he and all his" must .naturally apply to both 
 wife and children, and would certainly be understood to 
 mean them exclusively, or chiefly, if the narration were 
 miconnected with baptism, and the disputes to which it 
 has given rise. Since then it is pretty nearly certain that 
 there were children, it is further highly probable that 
 some of them were very young; because the jailer himself 
 was in the vigour of life, and not advanced in age. This 
 fact we collect from the office which he held, as "keeper 
 of the prison.'' It was one of great responsibility and 
 trust, there being subordinate officers under him, for the 
 prison was very large, divided into many compartments, 
 and the prisoners were many in number. For when the 
 earthquake shook the prison, " immediately all the doors 
 were opened," — implying they were many, — " and every 
 one's bands were loosed :" Acts xvi. 26. — A place of so 
 gi'eat responsibility, and requiring vigilant inspection, 
 would not be committed to a man past active service by an 
 increase of years. The magistrates knew the fidelity and 
 vigour of their officer, when they " charged him to keep 
 Paul and Silas safely :" and he acted according to his 
 known character, when he " thrust them into the inner 
 prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks ;" v. 23, 24. 
 Moreover, when he was suddenly awoke by the earthquake 
 at the midnight hour, he was all agility and activity, for 
 starting from " his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, 
 he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, 
 supposing that the prisoners had been fled." Every ex- 
 
IN THE jailer's HOUSEHOLD. 155 
 
 pression here denotes the vigorous officer, the active man 
 in the prime of life. Hence the necessity of Paul's crying 
 out with so much promptitufle, " Do thyself no harm, for 
 we are all here ;" v. 28. Even then, in the midst of the 
 awakenings of his guilty conscience, his official vigilance 
 and activity did not forsake him : — " Then he called for 
 a light, and sprang in, and came trembling," &c. v. 29. 
 And his further activity is stated in v. 33, — " And he 
 took them the same hour of the night, and ivashed their 
 stripes," &c. Now all these observations when put to- 
 gether can scarcely fail to induce a conviction that the 
 jailer was not a man himself advanced in years; from 
 which circumstance we infer as highly probable that some 
 of his children who were baptized with him were very 
 young. The particular part of the sacred text which our 
 Baptist brethren appeal to with so much confidence is 
 contained in v. 34; " and he rejoiced believing in God 
 with all his house ;" from whence they infer that those 
 who constituted his house were of age to understand and 
 believe the word of salvation. The phrase however may 
 mean no more than this, that they who were capable of 
 believing in his family, did believe and rejoice as Avell as 
 he ; but without in the least intending to intimate, either 
 that there were no infants, or young children, or that such 
 little ones were excluded from baptism, and from all share 
 in the blessings which came that night upon the converted 
 jailer's family. It would surely have been rather puzzling 
 to the Apostle to have ascertained, when he was going on 
 with the baptism of the family, at which child to stop ; 
 nor could it have failed to damp the jailer's rejoicing, 
 converted himself as by miracle from heathenism to Chris- 
 tianity, to have seen a fragment of the family, two or 
 
156 STEPHANUS' HOUSEHOLD BAPTIZED. 
 
 three of the little ones compelled to remain in heathen- 
 ism still, and kept out of the pale of the church, while he, 
 so great an offender, was made a partaker of the inercy 
 of the Lord. Now to get rid of such an enbarrassing 
 difficulty, our Baptist brethren wish us to receive, not the 
 common-sense interpretation of v. 34, given above, but 
 one that squares with their notions, and to suppose that 
 " all" the jailer's " house" consisted of adults, in opposi- 
 tion to the strong internal probability of the history, which, 
 as before expounded, leads to the contrary conclusion. 
 If however this probability will not be admitted by our 
 opponents — though we do not consent to give it up — we 
 are willing that for the present it should lie over, and the 
 duty of Infant Baptism be viewed as yet undecided by 
 Apostolic example. 
 
 The third case is that mentioned by Saint Paul, in a 
 casual way, in his Epistle to the Corinthians,. "And I 
 baptized also the household of Stephanas;" 1 Cor. i. 16. 
 Of them the Apostle writes again in the end of his 
 epistle, — "Ye know," says he, "the house," (or household, 
 the same word being indifferently rendered either way,) 
 " of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia ; 
 and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of 
 the saints ;" 1 Cor. xvi. 15. Now here we have no posi- 
 tive information as to the number or age of the persons 
 who composed the house or household of Stephanas. 
 But yet one cannot help remarking that as this is the 
 third case of household baptisms mentioned in the New 
 Testament, it must have been very surprising if no infant 
 or young child was found in any one of them. And if 
 but one such little one was found in but one one of the 
 cases recorded, that child was as mvch a member of the 
 
SCRIPTURE MEANING OF HOUSEHOLD. 157 
 
 household as the father himself, so that the record of 
 household baptisms virtually includes Infant Baptism, 
 though infants he not mentioned hy name. Taking the 
 lowest view of these three miited examples, we cannot 
 hut maintain that they afford a strong prohahility, sup- 
 ])0sing the}' do not amomit to decisive evidence, in favor 
 of Infant Baptism. 
 
 If however our Baptist brethren will not even make 
 us the concession of a probability in our favor, lest it 
 should give their established scheme a shaking, but will 
 still insist upon it that we have no clear examj^le of Infant 
 Baptism in the New Testament, then we must meet them 
 with a counter affirmation, and firmly keep this ground, 
 that we have no clear example against it. Thus far then 
 the line of argument adopted in a former page, as to 
 ])ositive command or prohibition, is applicable to positive 
 example; and therefore, we must call in other collateral 
 considerations to our aid, to enable us to understand what 
 was in reality the practice of the Apostles, and conse- 
 quently what is the duty of the Christian church in this 
 matter at the present day. 
 
 Now the first of these collateral considerations is, the 
 ordinary acceptation of the word house or household in 
 Jewish phraseology, as the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment were of the Jewish nation, and were accustomed 
 to transfer and accommodate the language of their ancient 
 religion and customs to the great religious concerns and 
 events of their own times. By employing this perfectly 
 just, reasonable, and scriptural mode of proceeding, in 
 examining the import of the phrase now under discus- 
 sion, we shall adopt a safe method of coming to a correct 
 decision on the subject. There is a passage in Saint 
 
158 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE 
 
 Paul's epistle to the Hebrews which fully supports these 
 views. " And Moses verily was faithful in all his house 
 as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were 
 to be spoken after ; but Christ as a son over his own 
 house; tvhose house are we, if we hold fast the confi- 
 dence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end ;'' 
 Heb. iii. 5, 6. Now in each of these verses, the word 
 " house," or " household," signifies the entire family of 
 God's worshippers, with all that related to their spiritual 
 concerns and government. The exact meaning of the 
 word is the same in each instance, the application of it 
 only being varied ; in the former it signified the Jewish, 
 in the latter the Christian church. Even so, in what- 
 ever sense the word house or household is used in the 
 Old Testament, when employed as a domestic term, in 
 connection with families and family religion, in the 
 same sense it is to be undertood in the New Testament 
 when employed in a like manner. Now we have this 
 very word three times in the seventeenth chapter of 
 Genesis. " He that is bom in thy house," household, or 
 family, " and he that is bought with thy money, must 
 needs be circumcised," &c. v. 13, and so again v. 23, 27. 
 It included therefore as well the small as the great of 
 Abraham's familv, and Isaac afterwards when he was born. 
 And this is its usual acceptation when families are spoken 
 of in the Old Testament; wherefore we conclude that 
 this is its acceptation also when employed by the Jewish 
 wTiters in the New Testament, and that consequently 
 when a house or household are said to have been baptized, 
 all belonging to the family are included, whether infants, 
 children, or individuals of riper years. It is then of very 
 little importance to know or to inquire whether or not 
 
MASTER OF A HOUSEHOLD. 159 
 
 there were infants in the particular instances specified of 
 Lydia, the Jailer, and Stephanas : for since the apostolic 
 I^ractice of baptizing households is siifficiently estab- 
 lished, and since that word is now shewn to have included 
 all who were of the family, we may be assured that even 
 though there were no infants in any one of those three 
 families, yet in whatever other families they were found, 
 they would not be excluded, but comprehended as a 
 part of the household, in the ordinance of baptism, at 
 what time soever the parents) embraced the gospel of 
 salvation. 
 
 Connected with these observations on the application 
 of the term house or household in the Old and New 
 Testament, we have to notice the peculiar duties and 
 responsibility of the master of the household, or the head 
 of the family, as it is uniformly set forth in the Holy 
 Scriptures. Of Abraham it is said, " For I know him 
 that he will command his children and his household 
 after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to 
 do justice and judgment : that the Lord may bring upon 
 Abraham that which he hath spoken;" Gen. xviii. 19. 
 Moses' omission of the divine command in regard to the 
 circumcision of one of his sons, from whatever cause it 
 may have resulted, had nearly cost him his life ; Exod. 
 iv. 20 — 26. " As for me and my house," said Joshua, 
 " we will serve the Lord ;" Josh. xxiv. 15. But what 
 terrible calamities befel the family of Eli, because of the 
 want of the maintenance of paternal authority ! A 
 severer sentence was never pronounced against man than 
 that which youthful Samuel was charged to deliver to the 
 venerable priest, whose personal integrity was nevertheless 
 
 unimpeachable. "And the Lord said to Samuel, behold 
 p2 
 
160 CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY OF 
 
 I will do a thing in Israel at whicli both the ears of every 
 one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will per- 
 form against Eli all things which I have spoken con- 
 cerning his house ; when I begin, I will also make an 
 end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for 
 ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ; because his sons 
 made themselves vile and he restrained them not. And 
 therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the 
 iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice 
 nor offering for ever;" 1 Sam. iii. 11 — 14. Conscious 
 of his responsibility, David resolved, " I will behave 
 myself wisely in a perfect way. I will walk within my 
 house with a perfect heart;" and sensible of his own in- 
 sufficiency, he cried out for divine aid, saying, " O when 
 wilt thou come unto me ?" Psalm ci. 2. Now the same 
 responsibility went down with the moral law, and in par- 
 ticular with the fifth commandment of it, to the heads of 
 families, under the Christian dispensation, and is to quite 
 the same extent, a part of the gospel of Christ. Of this 
 we may be assured, as from the enforcement of domestic 
 duties on the several branches of a family in general, so 
 from one widely extended fact in particular, even the 
 constitution of the church of Christ itself, which is 
 described as a household, and the ministers of it as being 
 both servants to God therein and rulers of the family, and 
 so immediately accountable for their rule to him ; Matt, 
 xxiv. 45, and Rev. ii. 1, 14, 20, &c. It is impossible 
 for more coiivincing and irresistible evidence to be pro- 
 duced of the spiritual relation subsisting between the 
 head of a household and his family, when he embraces 
 Christianity, than these scriptures afford, in which domes- 
 tic government is made a pattern and exemplar of 
 
THE HEAD OF A FAMILY. 161 
 
 ministerial ffovernmeni in the church of God. Hence 
 
 the propriety of St. Paul's account of the qualifications 
 
 of a bishop ; he must be "one that ruleth well his own 
 
 house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 
 
 for if a man know not how to rule bis own house, how 
 
 shall he take care of the church of God ?" 1 Tim. iii. 4, 5. 
 
 Now the carrying out of the great principle of domestic 
 
 govejinnent in its application to religious matters, for 
 
 the sake of ivhich it ions chiefly established by God, — 
 
 see again that remarkable passage concerning Abraham, 
 
 Gen. xviii. 19, — necessarily involves the consequence of 
 
 the dedication of the ivhole family to God, so far at 
 
 least as to bring them at once within the church, that all its 
 
 means and appliances may be employed with the greater 
 
 effect for their instruction, conversion, and salvation. 
 
 Had not this been the case, what gi'oss irregularities would 
 
 have filled the church of Christ ? What a monstrous 
 
 thing would it have been for instance, for a man to have 
 
 been a Christian Bishop, and his children still unbaptized 
 
 heathens ? For him to have been required to " rule 
 
 them well," which of course means well in a Christian 
 
 sense, and aocording to the principles of the gospel, and 
 
 that from the first dawn of reason, and yet not allotved 
 
 to baptize them ! To rule them as the church directed, 
 
 and yet not suffered to bring them within the pale of the 
 
 church ! Surely such an enormous evil would have never 
 
 been tolerated by any of the Apostles ; they and all 
 
 Christians understood it to be a matter of course that 
 
 fathers and sons should be under one laiv, as members 
 
 together of the same church, and each, on exactly the 
 
 same grounds, accountable to God for the right and holy 
 
 discharge of relative duties. If the children in future 
 p 3 
 
162 INFANTS COMPREHENDED IN 
 
 life became wicked and apostates, that would be their own 
 sin; but if the father had not brought them into the 
 church, and under its supervision and control, that would 
 have been his neglect, and he would have been guilty 
 before God. We see therefore how natural it was for 
 households to be baptized together; the head of the house- 
 hold desiring it on behalf of his children, and requiring 
 it on the part of those who were under his jurisdiction 
 and government, as an essential branch of his own per- 
 sonal duty to God; after which family worship could be 
 consistently set up, and family religion consistently 
 maintained. 
 
 The comprehensive design of the gospel of Christ is 
 another collateral consideration tending to establish the 
 Christian doctrine and practice of Infant Baptism. In 
 this respect, more than in any thing else, it was distin- 
 guished from the law. The Jewish religion was national, 
 the Christian religion was designed to be universal. Go 
 ye into all the world, said Christ to his Apostles, " and 
 preach the gospel to every creature. He that believelh 
 and is baptized shall be saved;" he being in the first 
 instance, as before explained, an adult ; " but he,' the 
 adult, " that believeth not shall be damned :" Mark xvi. 
 15, 16. And again, " go ye therefore and teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 By the apostolic commission, therefore, we see that the 
 gospel was sent specially to " every creature," and col- 
 lectively to " all nations," No language co id d possibly 
 more fully declare that it was a universal blessing pre- 
 pared and designed for universal man. Were infants then 
 to have no share in its benefits, because they were infants, 
 
Christ's universal religion. 163 
 
 and could not yet understand the preaching thereof ? That 
 of which they were capable, an induction into the visible 
 church by baptism, was that to be withheld, because they 
 were not capable of obeying a spiritual precept P If even 
 a national religion could not be kept up and perpetuated 
 without infant initiation into the ancient church, which 
 was its main stay, how could a universal religion be main- 
 tained and propagated so as to become universal without 
 it ? It is in vain to say, by a more abundant outpouring 
 of the Holy Spirit, if his influences remained only with 
 a portion of the adult population, and they lived to in- 
 crease new generations of heathens, with whom the whole 
 work must begin de novo, instead of beingpeipetuated after 
 a divinely appointed order, by the means of families, com- 
 munities, and nations, till the earth itself "shall be full 
 of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea;" 
 Isaiah xi. 9. When therefore the considerations now 
 brought under review shall be added to the facts recorded 
 concerning the baptism of households, scarce a doubt 
 can remain that the Baptism of Infants is a true apostolic 
 practice, for which reason it has been observed by almost 
 all ages, in almost all churches, and in every part of the 
 world, till the sect denominated Baptists came forth, tvith 
 their novel opinions, in comparaiivehj modern times. 
 
 Very fair and sufficient reasons may be assigned why 
 w-e have not more examples of ftmrily or household bap- 
 tisms, and a more explicit reference to Infant Baptism in 
 the New Testament. In the first place baptism, as a 
 christian ordinance is no where treated of at any length in 
 the gospels or epistles, but is mentioned rather in an 
 incidental way, along with some occurrence of great 
 moment connected with it. See for instar.ee the three 
 
164 REXATIVE POSITION OF 
 
 examples before quoted, of Lydia, the Jailer, and Stepha- 
 nas. Probably nothing at all would have been written 
 concerning the baptism of the household of Stephanas 
 if the contentions at Corinth had not brought it out in 
 this casual manner. Of some churches, whose origin is 
 mentioned, we have not one word written concerning 
 their baptism, as the churches of Galilee, Acts ix. 31 
 of Lydda and Saron, Acts ix. 35, and of Phenice, Cy- 
 pras and Antioch, Acts xi, 19 — 21 ; and yet we cannot 
 doubt but that the several members really were baptized 
 in tlie name of the Lord. Seeing therefore that this was 
 a matter about which the early churches needed not any 
 special direction, why should any one be surprised that 
 it is not treated of in a more explicit way ? And then, 
 secondly, it must be borne in mind that in the Apostolic 
 times there was a peculiarity in the relative condition and 
 constitution of the churches ; some were composed of 
 believing Jews, some of Gentiles, and some of a mixture 
 of both Jews and Gentiles. According to this observable 
 difference as to their origin and nation, it is not impro- 
 bable there was some diversity of practice. The Jewish 
 believers probably preferred in many instances, even after 
 their own personal baptism, to continue the ancient 
 method o( dedicating their offspring to God by circum- 
 cision, which, from deference to their educational and 
 national prejudices might be allowed them, although they 
 w^ere not permitted on any account to impose circumcision 
 on the Gentiles. The spiritual allusion which Saint Paul 
 makes to both ordinances, seems to imply that for a 
 season, in some instances at least, both were acknow- 
 ledged and recognized as the ordinances of God in the 
 Christian church. "And3-e are complete in him," saith 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 165 
 
 he to the Colossians, "which is the head of all principality 
 and power ; in whom also ye are circumcised with the 
 circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body 
 of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ ; 
 buried with him in baptism," &c. Col, ii. 10 — 12. A 
 mystical virtue is here attributed to both ordinances, as 
 intended to be exhibited by the circumcision and baptism 
 of Christ, and effectually secured by his death, burial, 
 and resurrection from the dead. A similar allusion to 
 each ordinance is met with in the first Epistle of Peter : 
 " The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now 
 save us, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but 
 the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ ;" 2 Peter iii. 21. Nay, not 
 only was there a yielding thus for to the prejudices of the 
 Jews, but on one occasion in order that he "might become 
 all things to all men," 1 Cor. ix. 22, in' matters not sin- 
 ful. Saint Paul thought it expedient to superadd circum- 
 cision even to Christian Baptism. For though Timo- 
 theus was a " disciple," and " believed," and so of course 
 had been baptized, and very probably in infancy, seeing 
 he was the third generation of believers, 2 Tim. i. 5, yet 
 when Paul " would have him to go forth with him," as 
 his helper in the ministry, which was a remarkable occa- 
 sion, as affording a striking example for the ministerial 
 guidance of others, "he took him and circumcised him, 
 because of the Jews which were in those quarters ; for 
 they knew all that his father was a Greek;" Acts, xvi. 1 — 
 3. Viewing him asbut aGentile, had he not received cir- 
 cumcision, those brethren would not have attended his 
 ministry, or Paul's, because of his associate ; and so 
 both would have lost many opportunities of doing good. 
 
166 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS IN 
 
 and of saving the souls of men. And what rendered this 
 case peculiarly remarkable and instructive was, that at 
 that very time they were setting out on their travels 
 through the churches, for the purpose of " delivering 
 them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the 
 Apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem ; Acts xvi. 
 4, whereby the Gentiles were declared completely and 
 for ever free from the yoke of the Jewish law. Thus 
 delightfully did Paul and Timotheus blend a mild and 
 gentle spirit and demeanour, in yielding personally to the 
 utmost, unto the invincible prejudices of their Jewish 
 brethren, with the most unbending firmness in maintain- 
 ing the just rights and privileges and freedom of the 
 Gentile believers. 
 
 Now from all these observations it appears that it was 
 not the will of God that baptism should be established 
 as a directly opposing rite to circumcision, but that 
 it should supersede it gradually, in a noiseless way, and 
 without controversy, as the shadows of the law should 
 more and more disappear before the increasing sj^lendour 
 of the Christian day. But this very arrangement of 
 divine providence goes also to shew the relative position 
 of the one ordinance to the other, and of course con- 
 firms the Christian doctrine, that in the one as in the 
 other, infants should be, after the first gen'eration, the 
 proper subjects of the ordinance, and thus the coiTespon- 
 dence between them be preserved to the end of time. In 
 such circumstances it would have been unsuitable to the 
 genius and spirit of Christianity, to have positively enjoin- 
 ed that uniformly infants should be dedicated to God in 
 baptism. It was sufficient that it required — l,That all 
 awakened persons who sought to be Christians, should be 
 
FAVOR OF INFANT BAPTISM. 167 
 
 baiJtized : 2. That in every case it was ready to receive 
 and baptize entire households ; while, 3, It allowed a 
 liberty to Jewish Christians still to prefer circumcision 
 for their children if they chose. But then those children 
 could only be regarded as members of the Jewish church, 
 until baptism had been superadded at a subsequent 
 period ; even as Paul when he met with some of John's 
 disciples, added Christian baptism to the baptism of 
 John ; Acts xix. 1 — 6. And indeed to lead to this gradual 
 establisment of the Christian ordinance of baptism seems 
 to have been one chief design of God in appointing John 
 to connect the administration of baptism with his power- 
 ful preaching of repentance and faith in Christ whose 
 forerunner he was ; that thus by a sort of intermediate 
 stage he might introduce this holy ordinance in his day, 
 with the intent of its becoming, on higher grounds, the 
 standing initiatory ordinance for the Christian church in 
 all future generations. These suggestions, gathered rather 
 from the general range of sacred history, than from any 
 particular text alone, will both explain the reason of 
 John's baptism being confined to adults ; for they who 
 received his baptism were Jews, and had been already 
 circumcised in infancy, that intermediate dispensation 
 not being opened when they were bom ; and may algo 
 serve to shew that, looking at the relative positions of 
 persons and things, and of the apparent intention of 
 God, we cannot rationally expect for more to have been 
 said distinctly bearing on the subject of Infant Baptism 
 in the New Testament. The Apostles did baptize house- 
 holds ; and two of the instances if not all three, were the 
 households of Gentile believers, where no Jewish preju- 
 dices stood in the way of the free and natural course of 
 
168 CHRIST A LOVER OF INFANTS. 
 
 the gospel, wljicli was designed to save families as such, 
 and bring them all at once into a common spiritual rela- 
 tion, as members of the church of the livinsr God. 
 
 SECTION VIT. 
 
 Jesus Christ is the Lover and Saviour of Infants 
 and little children. 
 
 \S hen we reflect on the manner and circumstances of 
 our divine Saviour's incarnation, there is something 
 in the whole history which indicates a favor to be 
 shewn to our infant race, from the commencement of 
 the Christian age. No one would sus])ect the withdraw- 
 ment of favor. John, his forerunner, was sanctified 
 from the womb ; his aged father, who had been chastened 
 with dumbness for his unbelief, had his speech restored 
 soon after his child's birth ; for on the day of his circum- 
 cision the father was filled with the Holy Ghost and 
 prophesied. In the beginning of the world, God mani- 
 fested his goodness to man as an adult; in the beginning 
 of the Christian era he manifested his goodness to and 
 in the infant Saviour. JNIoreover, the first Adam was 
 formed from the dust of the ground, a perfect man at 
 once, when the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the 
 breath of life and he became a living soul ; but the second 
 man, the Lord from heaven, having been conceived by the 
 Holy Ghost, " was made of a woman," and brought forth 
 as a helpless babe, and " wrapped in swaddling clothes, and 
 laid in a manger." The first man was created with all 
 his faculties in their prime and vigour, as soon as he 
 existed ; the second, as he grew up from infancy to 
 
JESUS NAMED IN INFANCY. 169 
 
 niauhood, "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor 
 with God and man ;" Luke ii. 52. Tims he sanctified 
 the several stages of human life, and rendered every pe- 
 riod of it a Jit season for consecration to the holy ser- 
 vice of the Lord. No sooner was he born than the name 
 Jesus was given unto him, and that by divine direction, 
 made known by tlie ministration of an angel, as though 
 it were then signified to the world that God watches 
 over the birth of inGmts, and that " their angels do always 
 behold the face of our Father which is in heaven ;" Matt, 
 xviii. 10. The impartation of his name ivas specially 
 connected ivith his initiation into the church, as a mem- 
 ber of it ; although his infant humanity could not 
 understand the nature of the holy ordinance, or its 
 conditions, or its obligations. "And when eight days 
 wei'e accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his 
 name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel 
 before he was conceived in the womb ;" Luke ii. 21. 
 After this, when somewhat more than a month old, ac- 
 cording to the direction of the law. Lev. xii. 3, 4, he was 
 presented to the Lord in the Temple at Jerusalem ; Luke 
 ii. 22 — 24. At which time good old Simeon took him 
 in his arms, and while embracing the child the venerable 
 man sung his own dying anthem, saying, — " liord, now 
 lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy 
 word; for mine eyes have seen lliy salvation, which thou 
 hast prepared before the face of all people ; a light to 
 lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of ihv people Israel ; " 
 Luke ii. 28 — 32. Afterwards the wise men of the east 
 rendered homage unto him. For " when they were come 
 into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his 
 mother, 'and fell down and n-orshipped him; and when 
 
170 INFANTS CAPABLE OF MARTYRDOM. 
 
 they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him 
 gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh;" Matt. ii. 11. 
 This was certainly quite contrary both to Baptist princi- 
 ples and to Popish practice ; for, according to the latter, 
 they ought to have worshipped the virgin, of whom in 
 this way they took no notice ; — well may the priests wish 
 to keep the bible out of the hands of the common peo- 
 jjle; — and, according to the former, the child could not 
 understand one word of what was said, or the nature of 
 the gifts presented, and so he was an unjit subject for 
 receiving either civil or religious homage. We mean 
 nothing ofTensive by such a classification ; it is merely 
 accidental in this one particular ; for Popery is such a 
 complete system of error, that the very best of men as 
 soon as ever they stray into eiTor on any j^oint, are, by 
 that very circumstance, thrown into a sort of neigh- 
 bourly alliance with Popery, from which we heartily 
 wish our good Baptist brethren to be wholly freed. 
 Moreover, as soon as the wise men returned, Herod in 
 his wrath " sent forth, and slew all the children that were 
 in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two 
 years old and under, according to the time which he had 
 diligently enquired of the wise men ;" Matt. ii. 16. Thus 
 the first martyrs of the Christian era were infants, most 
 of whom had been first circumcised, and accepted of God 
 as members of his church on earth, and then had a short 
 passage made for them by Herod's sword up to the para- 
 dise of God. Nor, though unconscious of the martyrdom, 
 can we doubt but that God will in the day of eternity 
 crown them with a martyr's reward. 
 
 Here then ive have a rich series of events relating to 
 infancij, connected with the birth of Jesus, the Son of 
 
JESUS AN EXAMPLE OF INFANT DEBICATION. 171 
 
 God. And now we may ask. In all this was not Jesus 
 an exemplar to mankind ? Hath not the principle of 
 an infant dedication to God, in an initiatory rite, for the 
 sake of being a member of the church of God from in- 
 fancy, been sanctioned in his person P "Am I a Jew ?" 
 said the haughty Gentile Pilate taChrist in his manhood ; 
 and when we read Christ's circumcision in his infancy 
 rejecting an initiatory ordinance in the gospel for infants, 
 shall we virtually say to the infant Christ, what practical 
 lesson is thy infancy to teach me, "Am I a Jeio ?' 
 Alas! for that "mingle-mangle" kind of spirituality, to 
 adopt good old Bishop Latimer's phrase, which spiritual- 
 izes away the holy example of Christ in infancy, through 
 a sincere but spurious zeal for the purity of the church 
 of God, by recognizing none as nominal members of it, 
 till in adult age, they give evidence of regeneration of 
 heart ! In infancy Jesus was presented in the temple ; 
 but would the presentation in the temple have been 
 thought sufficient, or would it have been accepted tvithout 
 the covenant sign and seal of circumcision P Did not 
 that precede Simeon's prayer and blessing, to admonish 
 us that naming a child along with prayer, is not to be 
 substituted for God's own method and order of Jirst 
 initiating into the church, and then presenting supplica- 
 tions to his throne on behalf of our children ? If " grace 
 and truth came by Jesus Christ," even as " the law by 
 Moses," John i. 17, the one corresponding in extent to 
 the other, may we not recognize in the circumcision of 
 Jesus Christ, the establishment of " grace and truth" for 
 infants in all future ages, when the rites and ceremonies 
 of the law should have passed away ? If God accepted 
 
 the infant Jesus, will he not for Jesus' sake, accept our 
 q2 
 
172 Christ's WHOLE life from iNFiNCT 
 
 infants in a dedicatory ordinance also P Why should our 
 babes be denied the privilege of a religious act answer- 
 ing to that which was performed on the babe born in 
 Bethlehem ? And if in ancient days, some of the 
 richest effusions of the Spirit on men of hoary hairs 
 have been granted in connection with the dedication of 
 infants to God, (see Luke i. 59 — 80, and ii. 22 — 38,) 
 why may not our elders, our Simeons and Annas, receive 
 a similar blessing on baptismal occasions, when three 
 generations at once are numbered amongst the worship- 
 pers of the Lord God of Israel, who "hath been our 
 dwelling-place in all generations ?" Psalm xc. \. If we 
 deny the right, privilege, duty, and obligation of Infant 
 Baptism, we render the circumcision of Christ in infancy, 
 so far as example is concerned, a mere nuUitij ; for it 
 taught nothing to the Jews, with whom that ordinance 
 had been long established; and it teaches nothing to us 
 Gentiles, for then have we no ordinance resembling it 
 imder the gospel dispensation. By denying Infant Bap- 
 tism we partially deny Christ as our example, and make 
 his infancy go for nothing — a tiseless period of his life — 
 his example only beginning with his personal discernment 
 of good and evil, and so in fact, we have no record of 
 him as an example, till he was twelve years of age ! ! 
 Thus more than a third part of his whole life is made 
 to pass away, icithout his being practically of any 
 service as an example to mankind ! But how does this 
 agree with the announcement of " glad tidings" at his 
 very birth P Ought not the angels rather to have been 
 sent forth with the announcement when he was an adult ? 
 And should not their song have been reserved till the 
 man Jesus was baptized in Jordan •* Why make so muck 
 
TO DEATH OUR EXAMPLE. 173 
 
 ado about an infant? Why fill up so large a portion 
 of the Gospels with an account of his infancy ? And all 
 this, without putting in a caveat somewhere, in some 
 odd sentence or two, against the misapplication of this 
 history in favor of infants at any future period? 
 These are hard questions, however our Baptist brethren 
 may dispose of them. But if we conceive, as truly we 
 are hound to conceive, his holy and blessed life to have 
 been,yro?K his very birth to the cross, as much an ex- 
 emplification of Christian principles and duties, as of 
 exact obedience to the spirit and letter of the law, since 
 the law and Christianity in his person were inseparably 
 represented, then do we see in his infancy, circumcision, 
 and presentation in the temple, a series of acts that looked 
 equally to the future with the past, and read in them 
 an evangelical establishment of the duty of Infant 
 Baptism, when his gospel should be .published to all 
 nations. 
 
 Some further intimations of the will of God in this 
 matter may be gathered from the peculiar tenderness and 
 compassion of Jesus Christ towards infants, in the course 
 of his ministrations. 
 
 The first instance on record of Christ's putting forth 
 
 his divine power in raising the dead is that written in 
 
 Matt. ix. 18 — 26. This miracle was wrought on behalf 
 
 of a child, called by the father his " little daughter," 
 
 Mark v. 23, and said by Luke to be " about twelve years 
 
 of age ;" Luke viii. 42. So rare a miracle as restoring 
 
 life to the dead was not wholly unknown in the world, 
 
 for the Holy Scriptures mention two such cases mider 
 
 the Mosaic economy, one wrought by the prophet Elijah, 
 
 1 Kings xix. 1 7 — 24, and the other by his successor, 
 q3 
 
174 PARENTAL FAITH ACCEPTED 
 
 the prophet Elishah ; 2 Kings iv. 32 — 37. The sacred 
 naiTative in each case is deeply interesting. And to 
 those instances St. Paul is supposed to allude when be 
 says, " women receiv-ed their dead raised to life again ;" 
 Heh. xi. 35. In each case it was not an adult but a 
 child tliat was restored; and probably the Evangelists 
 were directed to preserve the record of Jairus' daughter, 
 for this, amongst other reasons, that we might conti'ast 
 the divine and inherent power of Christ, when he said 
 to the damsel, " Talitha, cumi, — Damsel, arise !" Mark 
 V. 41, with the merely intercessory power of Elijah and 
 Elishah, whereby their personal inability was acknow- 
 ledged to do this, or any other work, without the com- 
 municated aid of God, who himself wrought the 
 miracle in answer to their prayer. However this may be, 
 we are certain that Christ raised a young person to life, 
 and that he so wrought this miracle as at once to honor 
 the parental relation, and teach the great importance of 
 parental faith, as a conneclinj medium between Christ 
 and the child on whose behalf his gracious help ivas 
 implored. " As soon as Jesus heard the word that was 
 spoken, saying, Thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou 
 the master any further ? he saith unto the ruler of the syn- 
 agogue. Be not afraid, only believe;" Mark v. 35, 36. 
 This is more strongly expressed by the next Evangelist : 
 " But when Jesus beard it, he answered him, saying. 
 Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole;" 
 Luke viii. 50. Now besides the condescension and good- 
 ness of Christ towards young children, involved in this 
 tender narration, the whole case goes to prove that where 
 there is on the part of a child a natural inability to per- 
 form the ordiuarv coadition on which the bestowment of 
 
IN INFANT DEDICATION. 175 
 
 the divine blessing depends, God is graciously pleased to 
 accept for the time the personal faith of the parents, 
 without the personal faith of the child, and in honour of 
 parental faith to communicate his heavenly benediction to 
 their offspring. Even so in regard to baptism. As soon 
 as any one hath become a believer in Christ, it is his 
 duty to bring his children in the same ordinance to Christ 
 as a believer : and God can and will accept them who 
 are as yet incapable of believing for themselves, and com- 
 municate more or less of his quickening grace to their 
 infant souls, though they be by nature "dead in tres- 
 passes and sins." We cannot precisely understand how 
 one person's faith should benefit another individual, but 
 both scripture and experience demonstrate that thus it is 
 in the order and appointment of God. See for further 
 illustration those remarkable passages, John xi. 26 — 40, 
 and Mark ix. 22 — 24. Infant Baptism is acceptable to 
 Christ the Saviour of children, because it is a ivork of 
 faith; the putting-off system is the fruit of unbelief. 
 
 Children were the partakers of Christ's bounty, as well 
 as the subjects of his life-restoring power. When he fed 
 the multitudes in the desert place, "they that had eaten," 
 sailh the Evangelist, " were about five thousand men, be- 
 side women ««rf children;" Matt. xiv. 13 — 21. Nay, 
 according to another Evangelist, who is thought to be 
 wTiting of this same miracle, it was a lad who furnished 
 the food from which all the guests were fed. " Andrew 
 said to Simon Peter his brother. There is a lad here," — 
 literally, " a little boy," — " which hath five barley loaves 
 and two small fishes," — the loaves probably being pro- 
 portionately small, about one person's meal together; 
 " but what are they among so many ? And Jesus said. 
 
176 CHRIST CARES FOR THE BODIES 
 
 Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in 
 the place. So the men sat down, in numher about Jive 
 thousand'," John vi. 10 ; just the number of men men- 
 tioned in Matt. xiv. 21, Mark vi. 44, and Luke ix. 14. 
 It is a curious circumstance that only INIatthew observes 
 that " children" were present; yet they are included in 
 the tenn "multitudes," just as they are in the baptismal 
 term " households," and they were equally fed by the 
 Master of the Feast ; and what is remarkable, as before 
 observed, a little boy had in his basket the whole pro\i- 
 sion that was multiplied for so great a multitude. — 
 Now in receiving that humble and scanty fare from a 
 child, and in feeding the children along with the adults, 
 as they all sat down on the gi'een grass together, the chil- 
 dren no doubt by their mothers' side, or in their anns, 
 our Lord Jesus Christ manifested his love towards children 
 and his mindfulness of them. And although it is written, 
 " every creature of God is good, and nothing to be re- 
 fused if it he received ivith thanksgiving ;" 1 Tim. iv. 4 j 
 yet when Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and blessed 
 God, and distributed the bread, he did not refuse it the 
 little children, or stay to inquire whether some of them 
 were not too young to -understand the condition of say- 
 ing grace before meat; for he knew that they Heec?e</ 
 food without grace, even as our infants need salvation 
 without faith, and therefore they were welcome to it ; — 
 " and they did all eat and were filled," as well the chil- 
 dren as the men and women, by the bounty of the great 
 Lord of all. So again INIatthew observes on a similar 
 occasion, when many were fed with seven loaves, and a 
 few small fishes, " and they did all eat, and were filled ; 
 and they that did eat were four thousand men, beside 
 
AND SOULS OF INFANTS. 177 
 
 women and children ;" Matt. xv. 32 — 38. And would 
 he thus care for the bodies of children, and make no provi- 
 sion for their souls ? Would he feed them in a desert, and 
 starve them out of his church ? Work a miracle for their 
 perishing nature, and be himself the means, through the in- 
 troduction of a new system, of stopping the ordinary chan- 
 nel in which his earliest grace had been accustomed to flow 
 towards them in their tenderest years from time imme- 
 morial ? What force is there then in Christ's own mode 
 of reasoning from the less to the greater ; " Is not the 
 life vaoxe than meat F and the body than raiment?" 
 Matt. vi. 25. Carry out the argument, and inquire, Is 
 not the soul more than the body P and spiritual blessings 
 more than food in the desert ? Will Christ then say and 
 unsay ? Do and undo ? Will he contradict himself? — 
 He that chuses to believe a system which fairly implies 
 such a conduct, let him believe it ! We'are assured that 
 he who fed children in the wilderness with bread, will not 
 refuse the baptismal water of the sanctuary for their souls. 
 So that viewing divine truth in a divine light, and observ- 
 ing with joyous delight that providence itself, where not 
 obstructed by the sin of man, is but the hand-maid of 
 grace, we see in the simple nourishment which the new- 
 born babe draws from the mother's breasts, a token of 
 that merciful provision which is made for them from their 
 birth in the church of Christ, " which is the mother of 
 us all ;" Gal. iv. 26. And Saint Peter is right in draw- 
 ing forth for us spiritual instruction from our infant race, 
 when he saith — " as new-born babes, desire ye the sin- 
 cere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby;" 1 
 Pet. ii. 2. But no man has any right to receive spiritual 
 instruction from infants, who will not allow spiritual good 
 
178 Peter's infant children 
 
 in baptism to be imparted to them ; let them confine 
 their studies to adult human nature, and to youth, which 
 are the only periods of Ufe with which they have properly 
 any concern. 
 
 As a farther evidence of our gracious Saviour's love to 
 children, we refer to the entire text, too long to quote 
 here at large. Matt, xviii. 1 — 14, and its immediate 
 connexion in the preceding chapter; INIatt. xvii. 22 — 27. 
 Let it not be too much trouble to open the bible, and 
 read, or at least, refer to the whole. Our Lord was now 
 in Galilee, and abode in the house of Simon Peter, who 
 was manied, and probably had children, as we may in- 
 fer from Matt. xix. 29. For it was he who said, "Behold, 
 we have forsaken all and followed thee ;" and to him our 
 Lord replied, " every one that hath forsaken houses," &c. or 
 "wife, or children," &c. which Peter did, comparatively, 
 when he accompanied our Lord in his painful journeys 
 throughout Judea and Galilee. But whenever Christ 
 returned to Capernaum, he honored Peter by being his 
 guest, and no doubt conducting family devotion under 
 his roof. Now this circumstance alone of Christ's dwel- 
 ling with Peter intimates his love and grace for families ; 
 and we are inclined to believe that he would really bless 
 Peter's children, even in infancy, notwithstanding their 
 inability to make a profession of faith in him, as Peter 
 did when he said, "thou art tlie Christ, the Son of the 
 living God ;*' Matt. xvi. 16. And the probability is, 
 that the " little child" he called unto him, and " set in 
 the midst of the twelve,'' Matt, xviii. 2, was Peter's own 
 child, whom Jesus had called often to his arms before ; 
 and then he made that little child a monitor to the entire 
 college of Apostles ! As the whole of this edifying 
 
BLESSED BY JESUS CHRIST. 179 
 
 scene and discourse took place at " Capernaum," and 
 " in the bouse," Mark ix, 33, namely, of Peter, so the 
 child was very young, for Jesus " took him in his arms," 
 Mark ix. 36, and it should seem from Matthew that 
 other children of the family were present also, hence the 
 remark of Christ, "but whoso shall offend one of these 
 little ones which believe in me," &c. Matt, xviii. 6. So 
 again, " Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
 ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do 
 always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven;" 
 V. 10. And again, "Even so it is not the will of your 
 Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones 
 should perish ;" v. 14. The most natural interpretation 
 of this entire scripture seems to arise from beholding our 
 Lord and all the twelve in Peter's house, surrounded with 
 Peter's family, and the youngest child in his arms, Christ 
 teaching, from such an example, humility of mind to 
 the future ministers of his holy gospel. Those children 
 were all members of the existing church, and might 
 therefore be consistently set forth as instructers to the 
 founders of the Christian church ; and they remembering 
 such a lesson and such a scene, would surely never conceive 
 it to be their apostolical duty to exclude children of any 
 age from the church, after they had seen them so greatly 
 honoured and blessed, and so distinctly acknowledged by 
 their Lord. On reading the whole passage, and com- 
 paring one Evangelist with another, we can scarcely fail 
 to be convinced of the truth and importance of a for- 
 mer section, in which it is noade to appear that the 
 religion of Christ is eminently a family relief ion, and de- 
 signed specially to bless mankind in that relation of life. 
 On another occasion " little children" were brought 
 
180 I.VFAKTS BLESSED BY JESUS. 
 
 unto our Lord, " that he should jnit his hands on them, 
 and pray;" Matt. xix. 13—15. Luke calls them "in- 
 fants;" Luke xviii. 15. No doubt they were of different 
 ages, some infants and some little children ; and brought 
 for different 23ui-jDoses, some to be healed by him, "that 
 he would touch them," Luke xviii. 15, and others to 
 receive his blessing, " that he should put his hands on 
 them, and pray;" Matt. xix. 13 — 15. The fullest 
 account of this transaction we have in the Evangelist 
 Mark. "And they brought young children to him, that 
 he should touch them ; and his disciples rebuked those 
 that brought them. But when Jesus saw it he was much 
 displeased, and said unto them. Suffer the little children 
 to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of such is 
 the kingdom of God, Verily I say unto you. Whosoever 
 shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he 
 shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his 
 arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them ;" 
 Mark ix. 13 — 16. Now from this scripture, so full of 
 inimitable tenderness, we learn that infants and young 
 children ought to be brought to Christ before they can 
 believe in him ; for even before that age arrives he will re- 
 ceive them, and they can receive his blessing. What 
 though these infants were incapable of touching the hem 
 of his garment, accompanied by an act of faith, that 
 virtue mijiht "o out of him, and heal them all r* Still he 
 could touch them, though they knew him not ; and not 
 only did he do this, but " he took them up in bis arms, 
 and blessed them." And if they could not pray to him, 
 he could pray for them, and impart his divine benediction. 
 And when the disciples rebuked the parents, Christ was 
 '' much displeased" with the twelve, and welcomed the 
 
INFANTS MEMBERS OF GOD's KINGDOM. 181 
 
 little ones to his embrace, and repeated in substance the 
 lesson he had so recently given them at Capernaum, in 
 the house of Peter. It is marvellous that the ministers 
 of Jesus Christ, after reading this scripture, should refuse 
 baptism to infants and young children, at what time soever 
 they may be desired in that holy ordinance to present 
 them unto God ! Would Jesus touch them, take them 
 in his arms, pray for them and bless them, and yet ordain 
 that his church should effectually bar its doors against 
 them, and not allow them admission within its privileged 
 walls ? Is Christ against Christ ? Is his ordinance at 
 variance ivith his acts P And how then can it be said, 
 " Of such is the kingdom of God ?" On Baptist prin- 
 ciples, what do those words mean ? "The kingdom of 
 God" is a scripture phrase exchisiveJy belonging to the 
 Christian Dispensation, which began with the personal 
 ministry of Christ, Mark i. 14, 15, and' was established 
 on the day of Pentecost. The subjects of this his 
 kingdom were of two classes : First, As many adults as 
 believed on him, who were denominated his disciples ; 
 and Secondly, All infants of the then existing chiirch 
 of God ; hence the declaration in this text. Now, foras- 
 much as this phrase was to remain in the Gospels, and 
 be the perjjetual denomination of the Christian Church 
 in all ages ; and this declaration is here made in regard 
 to infants and young children, without any limitation or 
 qualification, as that — " of such is the kingdom of God" 
 for the present, for a short time longer, till it is fully 
 set up, &c. or without any intimation that the kingdom 
 was shortly to undergo a complete revolution, and only 
 have persons past the age of infancy as its members ; 
 what conclusion can we draw from the whole text but 
 
 R 
 
182 INTAXTS' PRIVILEGES PERPETUAL. 
 
 this, that " the kingdom was one which could not be 
 moved," and so the privileges of infants were amongst the 
 " things that could not be shaken, but should remain ?" 
 Heb. xii. 27, 28. Christ, by recognizing infants as 
 members of his own church, on that occasion, hath 
 virtually recognized our infants as members of his church 
 also, when our children, like those Jewish children, by 
 the existing law of the dispensation under which they 
 are born, have been dedicated to the holy service of God. 
 There is one scripture more in the holy Gospels indi- 
 cative of our Lord's gracious regard for the young, which 
 may be biiefly examined, as to its beai-ing on the general 
 topic now under discussion. "And when the chief pinests 
 and scribes," saith the Evangelist, " saw the wonderful 
 things that he did, and the children cr}'ing in the temple 
 and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore 
 displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these 
 say ? And Jesus saith imto them, Yea ; have ye never 
 read. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast 
 perfected praise ?" Matt. xxi. 15, 16. It appears to 
 have been customary for the Jewish youths to attend their 
 solemn religious festivals at the early age of twelve years ; 
 Luke ii. 42. These young choristers therefore, who were 
 chanting in the temple a portion of one of the paschal 
 psalms, which belonged to the approaching passover feast, 
 saying, " Hosaima to the Son of David," were no doubt 
 of that age and upwards. But in expressing his approval 
 of their divine employment, in reply to the "chief priests 
 and scribes," who were offended at this foi-ward zeal of 
 the young, our Lord most appropriately quotes another 
 scripture, which goes back to a still earlier period of life, 
 And states it to have been God's ordination to perfect 
 
INFANTS DESIGNED FOR PRAISE. 183 
 
 praise from the mouths of even " habes and sucklings." 
 If we collate the text in Matthew with Psalm viii. 2, a 
 slight verbal variation will appear, but not the least con- 
 tradiction. In David the text reads, " thou hast ordained 
 strength;" in Matthew, "thou hast perfected praise," 
 which is the Septuagint version of Psalm viii. 2. But 
 " the strength" in David, means the hearty acclamations 
 oj" praise in the Evangelist; hence St. Luke's observa- 
 tion that "the whole multitude of the disciples began to 
 rejoice and praise God with a loud voice" — with their 
 whole strength both of heart and voice — "for all the mighty 
 works that they had seen ;" Luke xix, 37. As to the 
 different words " ordained" and "perfected," the proper 
 radical import of each is jn-etty nearly the same. It is 
 metaphorical, and is taken from the care of builders to 
 lay a good foundation ivhen they are about to erect a 
 superstructure ; or to adjtist and Jit togetlier the parts of 
 a building. Hence the marginal reading in our bibles of 
 Psalm viii. 2, gives the text literally as it is, — " thou hast 
 founded strength ;" which notion beautifully agrees with 
 a verse in that very paschal psalm, from whence the 
 multitudes and the youths quoted their loud hosannas, in 
 which the church is compared to a building, and Messiah 
 to the foundation, — " The stone Which the builders re- 
 fused is become the head stone of the comer ;" Psalm 
 cxviii. 22 ; and which words our Lord, in discourse with 
 the same objectors on the following day, applied to him- 
 self in the Temple ; Matt. xxi. 42, Here then we per- 
 ceive the order, scope, and beauty of the Psalmist's 
 prediction, in Psalm viii. 2, when applied to the songs 
 of the Jewish youths in the Temple. God, by the 
 ordinances of his sanctuary, and especially by the early 
 ■ r2 
 
184 INFANTS IN BAPTISM 
 
 initiatory ordinance that constituted " babes and suck- 
 lings" in infancy members of his church, laid a founda- 
 tion for their future piety and praises, which, when 
 they, as recognized members of his church, tendered 
 him in his sanctuary, were so far from meriting rebuke, 
 that they ought to have been devoutly rejoiced in, as the 
 accomplishment of his gracious designs concerning them, 
 from their very earliest infant days. And whereas Psalm 
 the eighth, and Psalm the hundred and eighteenth, from 
 whence these quotations are taken, belong almost exclu- 
 sively to the Messiah, and his times, we have in these 
 citations of the Evangelist, an irrefragable proof that 
 the same principle pervades the Christian, equally with 
 the Jewish church. For if the prophecy concerning the 
 rejected corner stone belongs to the Christian era, (and 
 who can deny that ?) so does the prophecy concerning 
 " babes and sucklings" also ; and the foundation of 
 their Christian praises is to be laid in their baptismal 
 dedication to God. Surely we have law, and gospel 
 enougli too, to establish the practice of Infant Baptism 
 in this scripture ; for " babes and sucklings" are here 
 enrolled in the great Christian charter ; and God, who 
 willeth their praises, denieth them not water, but requireth 
 their early introduction* into his church, for there it is 
 that praise is to be tendered unto him : — as it is written, 
 " I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst 
 of the church will I sing praise unto thee." Praise will 
 always accompany the ordinance of Infant Baptism on 
 the part of truly Christian parents, and a devout congre- 
 gation ; and the purity and fervour of the praise will be 
 in proportion to the believing recognition of the great 
 principle on which this whole Treatise rests, that baptism 
 
PREPARING FOR CHRIST'S PRAISE. 185 
 
 IS a redemption privilege, and that infants Irave a right 
 unto it, because they have been redeemed by the sufferings 
 and death of Jesus Christ our Lord. Wherefore the last 
 words of the last paschal psalm may form an appropriate 
 conclusion to a public baptismal service : — " O give 
 thanks unto the Lord, for he is good : for his mercy endur- 
 eth for ever;" Psalm cxviii. 29. Seeing then that infants 
 are redeemed, we wonder not at the love which Jesus when 
 on earth bore towards them; nor that the writings of 
 the Evangelists contain so much information concerning 
 Christ's own infancy, and so many evidences, during his 
 ministry, of grace and good-will towards infants and 
 children of every age. 
 
 Finally : It is now an almost universally admitted 
 truth that all who die in infancy do " sleejj in Jesus," 
 their souls being received to heaven through his merits, 
 and their bodies resting in the grave till the morning of 
 the resurrection, when, after a new manner, and in a more 
 exalted sense than was ever known on earth, " out of the 
 mouth of those who were babes and sucklings he will 
 perfect praise." What joyous hosannas will they then 
 sing to the Son 'of David ! While envious and unbe- 
 lieving scribes and priests are dumb with terror, they shall 
 bear part in the chorus of patriarchs, prophets, and apos- 
 tles, and martyrs, and all the redeemed of the Lord, 
 saying, " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where 
 is thy victory ?" 1 Cor. xv. 55. — And shall they be 
 found worthy a throne in heaven, and be refused the 
 sacramental water on earth ? Shall angels be their 
 " ministering spirits," and Christian ministers refuse to 
 admit them to become a part of their ministerial charge ? 
 
 Are heaven and earth to be thus divided ? Hath Christ 
 Ji3 
 
186 INFANTS TAKEN TO GLORY. 
 
 one mind towards departing infants, and another mind 
 towards living infants ? Saith he to his angelic hosts, 
 " Bear up the lambs of my flock in their expiring mo- 
 ments to my heavenly pastures ;" and saith he at the 
 same time to the under shepherds on earth," Shut them 
 out of my fold till they come of age to seek admission ?" 
 Nay, surely not. Christ is one, and hath but one pur- 
 pose, which is thus expressed by Saint Paul, — "who will 
 have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge 
 of the truth ;" 1 Tim. ii. 6. And in order to this, he 
 hath appointed in his church the means most likely to 
 lead to salvation, of which the ordinance of baptism, as a 
 standing ordinance for infants, is the earliest; and with it 
 begins all the series of gracious means which God hath 
 ordained to be observed for the securing of the salvation 
 of mankind. 
 
PART II. 
 
 REMARKS CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
 BAPTISM IN CHRIST'S HOLY CHURCH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF BAPTISM ITSELF, 
 
 Having disposed of the main points at issue, relative 
 to the proper subjects of Baptism, and endeavoured to 
 prove that it is a Christian ordinance to which infants are 
 entitled, we now come to matters of a secondary interest, 
 of which kind of topics the mode of administering bap- 
 tism has given rise to the greater number of controversies. 
 Before, however, we enter immediately on that contro- 
 versy, it may help to promote sober views and correct 
 practice in the Christian Church, if we examine the 
 nature of this divine institution itself, and make a few 
 enquiries concerning the administrators thereof, and the 
 time and place of administration. The nature of the 
 ordinance will be briefly stated in this chapter. 
 
 Baptism is the most solemn and entire dedication of a 
 redeemed sinner to God, in the performance of which 
 service it is requisite that water be employed, and that 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, or of each person of the 
 Holy Trinity, be pronounced, at the time of its adminis- 
 tration. This definition, we apprehend, takes in every 
 
188 THE NATURE OF BAPTISM. 
 
 thing that can be considered essential to the holy and 
 Christian ordinance of baptism. 
 
 Baptism then is an institution appointed for man as a 
 fallen, and yet redeemed, creature. It is designed for none 
 else, nor for him viewed in any other relation and cha- 
 racter. It belongs not to holy angels, who are always 
 pure ; nor to the fallen angels, who " kept not their first 
 estate," for they cannot be made pure, but are " reserved 
 in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment 
 of the great day ;" Jude 6, To man it is not only an 
 initiatory rite, but a restorative ordinance also^ and is 
 therefore most intimately connected with the great restor- 
 ative economy of mercy in and by our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 This point has been much insisted on in the former part 
 of this Treatise ; and from it we have already adduced 
 scriptural arguments in favor of the universal right of 
 infants to a participation of its benefits, inasmuch as the 
 remedy for our moral disease is as extensive as the disease 
 itself. Wherefore in the presentation of infants in bap- 
 tism, the two facts chiefly to be borne in mind are, their 
 original and native sinfulness, and the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ towards them, that so humiliation and faith, 
 penitence and confidence, may be felt and exercised by 
 those who present them, and outwardly expressed by him 
 who administereth the ordinance. And in the case of 
 adult baptism, they who are baptized are required to be 
 in a state of heart in which these views and feelings shall 
 be predominant. Thus Peter, on the day of Pentecost, 
 said to his awakened enquirers, — " Repent, and be bap- 
 tized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christybr 
 the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost;" Acts ii, 38. In this exhortation, 
 
BAPTISM IS AN INITIATORY ORDINANCE. 189 
 
 faith is as fully implied as repentance is expressed and 
 enjoined; for without faith, pardon and the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit could not be obtained. 
 
 These observations concerning the nature of Christian 
 baptism may serve to convince us that there is nothing 
 really argumentative in the remark which is sometimes 
 made relative to infants, that if they have a right to bap- 
 tism, they have a right to the Lord's supper also, and 
 ought to be brought to the Lord's table. At a proper 
 age unquestionably they ought ; nor, as a general rule, 
 could the Jewish custom, of attending the passover from 
 twelve years of age, be improved, sanctioned as it was by 
 the example of our Lord. But it doth not follow that 
 infants ought to be communicants. They who urge such 
 a consequence upon us do not remember the essential 
 difference, as to the nature of the two Christian sacra- 
 ments. Baptism is an initiatory ordinance, and so to 
 be performed but once, on which ground rebaptizing by 
 immersion those who have been previously baptized by 
 sprinkling in infancy, is a grievous offence and insult 
 against the laws and usages of almost the whole Christian 
 church, and is nothing less than an act of conscientious 
 hostility and open war against all denominations who 
 are not of the Baptist persuasion, however holy and useful 
 they may be. But the sacrament of the Lord's supper 
 is a confirmative ordinance, and so is to be often re- 
 peated. So saith the Apostle, " As often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death 
 till he come ;" 1 Cor. xi. 26. Wherefore to confound 
 together in one view things that essentially differ, is no 
 better than beating the air. An infant may have a right 
 to an initiatory ordinance, that " the child may be trained 
 
190 BAPTISM AN ENTIRE DEDICATION 
 
 up ill the way he should go ;" Prov, xxii. 6 ; namely, 
 the way of Christian faith and obedience; but his right 
 to the second ordinance must depend, in part at least, on 
 his going in that way, for he may be rejected, if in future 
 he depart from it, in opposition to his training and duty. 
 Wherefore baptism being the gate of the kingdom, so far 
 as the outward churcb is concerned, that gate stands open 
 for every redeemed sinner as soon as he is born, in con- 
 sequence of the redemption accomplished for him before 
 he was born by Christ Jesus; through whose redemption 
 tlie salvation of every man is possible, and the salvation 
 of every dying infant absolutely secured even without 
 baptism, as is the case with all infants who die in heathen 
 countries, and with all infants in Christendom where by 
 accident or neglect this privilege hath not been secured 
 unto them. For though they have a right to the ordi- 
 nance, the omission of it doth in nowise endanger their 
 salvation, althougli their parents or guardians, unless it 
 be accidental or unavoidable, are not to be accounted 
 innocent in the sight of God. 
 
 Moreover, in the definition of the nature of this Chris- 
 tian ordinance before given, it was stated that " Baptism 
 is the entire dedication of a redeemed sinner to God," 
 which word entire is specially to be observed, for it ex- 
 presses no more than the truth. O that this consideration 
 were duly weighed, and this truth deeply felt in every 
 heart. It is the consecration of the tvhole man to God's 
 service for evermore : not of this or that member, this 
 or that faculty, this or that portion of life ; but of the 
 whole body, soul, and spirit, from that day. forwards and 
 for ever. It is not possible therefore for any subsequent 
 personal engagements, whether they be sacramental or 
 
OF THE WHOLE BEING TO GOD. 191 
 
 covenantal, to go beyond those which are ah'eady binding 
 on such as have been presented in baptism to God. " 
 Lord," said David, " truly I am thy servant ; I am thy 
 servant, and the son of thine handmaid ;" Psahn cxvi. 
 16 ; and the same devout acknowledgment must every 
 one make who hath been by her that bare him presented 
 to the service of the Lord, for his gracious acceptance and 
 blessing, in his holy house of prayer. 
 
 It is then a most serious mistake into which many 
 persons fall, who decline taking upon them, as they sup- 
 pose, a religious profession, by refusing to join themselves 
 in Christian fellowship "with any particular body of Chris- 
 tians, or by refusing to become regular communicants at 
 the table of the Lord. They even speak, on some occa- 
 sions, as though they were influenced by a conscientious 
 fear of doing wrong; that is, they will actually be guilty 
 of sin under the pretence of a fear of sinning. " We are 
 resolved," say they, " never to make a profession of reli- 
 gion, till we can fully carry out that profession ;" and 
 they flatter themselves that certain defects, or omissions, 
 or even delinquencies, are pardonable, and comparatively 
 blameless, while they are not what they call strict reli- 
 gious professors. Yea, it may be they conceive them- 
 selves to be in some respects a great deal better than some 
 such professors are. But what do they mean by all this 
 vague and vain talking, whereby they stifle the voice of 
 conscience, grieve the Holy Spirit, and lull their souls 
 into the sleep of a fatal canial security ? Do they mean 
 to become apostates P Do they intend to renounce their 
 baptismal obligations P Or to deny them P From a 
 conscientious dread of professing to be religious, will 
 they profess to be irreligious P Do they not know that 
 
192 RESPONSIBILITIES OF BAPTISM. 
 
 in thus " halting hetween two opinions," 1 Kings xviii. 
 21, they nrlually cast the fear of God behind their back, 
 and turn against Christ after he hath redeemed them, and 
 they have been presented to him ? The most solemn 
 covenant ever made with God cannot contain any thing 
 in depth and fulness of meaning more sacred than the 
 baptismal ordinance, in which the name of a sinful child 
 of man is given hhn in connection with the name of each 
 person of the Holy Trinity, on which occasion the entire 
 body and soul of him who is baptized is consecrated to 
 God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, 
 as his redeemed property, to be sanctified for his holy 
 sei^vice for evennore. Wherefore every baptized person 
 who sins against the gospel of Christ is a thousand-fold 
 greater sinner than the ignorant heathen. For all his 
 sins have in them the nature of infidelity and apostacy, 
 so that he is daily a covenant breaker, however thought- 
 lessly he may live, or, forgetful of so serious a iact, how- 
 ever vainly he may imagine that he is not bound as yet 
 by any religious profession to become altogether religious 
 and godly. Bound he is to obey the whole gospel, and 
 no man can set him free from his religious obligations. 
 Infidelity itself cannot release him. As no one bom and 
 living within this realm, can procure for himself free-: 
 dom to break the laws of the land, and commit treason 
 with impunity, by a mere bold declaration that he has 
 renounced his allegiance to the sovereign, so no one born 
 in Christendom, and brought up within the pale of the 
 church, can release himself from the obligations of Chris- 
 tianity, not even though he boldly join the infidel throng, 
 and occupy the scomer's chair. Let this great and weighty 
 truth be brought to bear upon the consciences of men. 
 
WATER NECESSARY IN BAPTISM. 193 
 
 who really have any conscience left, and it will completely 
 " sweep away the refuge of lies under which they have 
 hid themselves ;" Isaiah xxviii. 17. It must constrain 
 them, if they will but yield to that which is right, to 
 come out from the ungodly, and to act worthy of the 
 eternal obligations to godliness and holiness which have 
 been so long time resting upon them without being re- 
 flected on, or regarded. And this is an argument that 
 Christian parents should constantly keep before the eyes 
 of their children, and may be repeated to them whenever 
 they have witnessed Infant Baptism in the sanctuary, so 
 that their offspring may be reminded whose they are, and 
 what the Lord their God requireth of them, to fear the 
 Lord their God, and to keep his commandments, and his 
 statutes, and his judgments, for their good always. 
 
 Thus far have we dwelt on the spiritual character of 
 this holy ordinance. But in addition thereto, and yet 
 significative of the same thing, there must be the employ- 
 ment of water, " as an outward and visible sign of the 
 inward and spiritual grace." It is evident that water was 
 used in every instance of baptism recorded in the New 
 Testament, whether during John's baptism, or the suc- 
 ceeding Christian baptism, that was introduced and 
 established in the church by the Apostles of our Saviour. 
 Hence arose the phraseology of St. Paul ; " the wash- 
 ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost ;" 
 Titus iii. 5. And the Apostle's own experience agreed 
 thereto ; for Ananias said to him at the time of his con- 
 version. " Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy 
 sins, calling on the name of the Lord;" Acts xxii. 16. 
 So our Lord himself, in his conversation with Nicode- 
 nius, conjoins a being " born o{ water and of the Spirit;" 
 s 
 
194 SPIRITUAL BAPTISM AND 
 
 John iii. 5. The water alone is useless without the 
 Spirit. But however deep our conviction of that truth 
 may he, it will not justify any one in neglecting the out- 
 ward ordinance, since it is in the use, and not in the 
 neglect of outward ordinances, that his blessing is to be 
 sought, and his spirit received, according to the follow- 
 ing promise, — " Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and 
 worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy 
 ways;" Isaiah Ixiv. 5. Nor can it be doubted that in 
 very many instances the Holy Spirit is actually given to 
 the infants of truly pious parents, when in faith and prayer, 
 they, at the baptismal font, dedicate their offspring to God 
 who hath redeemed them, as may be reasonably con- 
 cluded from the frequent remark of such indinduals in 
 riper years, that they cannot recollect the period of life 
 in which they felt not divine influence, so early did the 
 Spirit of God begin his gracious work upon their minds. 
 ■ It is therefore an error of considerable magnitude, into 
 which some persons of unquestionable piety have fallen, 
 to suppose that the baptism of the Spirit alone is to be 
 sought, which, if any one have received, the baptism of 
 water may be dispensed with as a merely carnal ordinance. 
 This appears to be a radical defect in the esteemed 
 Society of Friends, to the constitution of whose body, 
 (it can hardly be called an ecclesiastical constitution, 
 for there can be no church where there are no sacraments,) 
 the words of Christ may be considered as appropriate, 
 " Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least com- 
 mandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called 
 the least in the kingdom of heaven ;" Matt. v. 19. 
 According to their views and impressions, their salvation 
 may not be endangered, yet doubtless their glory in the 
 heavenly world will be lessened thereby ; and their sys- 
 
WATER BAPTISM AGREE, 195 
 
 tern itself must ultimately fail for want of God's appointed 
 means to secure his permanent blessing. Occasionally 
 an individual has been met with in these parts in the 
 Wesleyan Society, who, without knowing it, has reasoned 
 on their principles. Having been brought to repentance, 
 and experiencing more or less of the power of divine 
 grace in their hearts, they have concluded that having 
 the thing signified already in possession, the sign denoting 
 it was for them unnecessary. But the case of Cornelius, 
 when fairly looked at, has generally convinced them 
 of their mistake. Cornelius had long feared God, and 
 wrought righteousness, and was accepted of him. His 
 prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before 
 God ; and he was specially instructed by an angel to send 
 for Peter, who should tell him words whereby he and all 
 his house should be saved. On Peter's preaching the 
 gospel to as many as were present, the Holy Ghost fell on 
 them as on the Apostles at the beginning, insomuch that 
 they of the circumcision who accompanied Peter were 
 astonished when they heard the Gentiles also speak with 
 other tongues, and magnify God. Then Peter '' remember- 
 ed the vjord of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed 
 baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost ;" Acts xi. 16. Here then was a clear and 
 distinct acknowledgment that the spiritual baptism was be- 
 stowed, accompanied by miraculous gifts also, and that 
 the gift was in fulfilment of the divine promise. How then 
 did the Apostle act ? Did he say, Seeing these Gentile 
 believers have received the baptism of the Spirit, what need 
 have they of water ? In no wise ; Lut in direct oposition to 
 such a refined and m^'Stical spirituality, which makes 
 nugatory an ordinance of divine appointment, he at once 
 inquired, Can any man forbid water, that these should 
 
196 BAPTISM MUST BE ADMINISTERED 
 
 not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost 
 as well as ive P And he commanded them to be bap- 
 tized in the name of the Lord ;" Acts x. 47, 48. A 
 more decisive example of the importance of duly obsen-- 
 ing the outward ordinance, even after the fullest attesta- 
 tion of the dinne favor and acceptance, could not be 
 desired. The Ethiopian eunuch and Saul of Tarsus 
 were saved in the use of the ordinance. Acts viii. 39, and 
 ix. 18, and Cornelius and his friends before baptism. Acts 
 X. 11; but however diversly the Lord, the Spirit, may 
 choose to act, or in whatever manner he may be sent 
 forth from the Father, we are taught this one unalterable 
 lesson in regard to Christian baptism, namely, that 
 " what God hath put together, no man mav put asunder." 
 The water used was figurative of inward cleansing, whether 
 sought or obtained, axiA corresponded in its mystical import 
 to the ablutions under the law, as saith the Psalmist, — 
 "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, 
 and I shall be whiter than snow;" Psalm li. 7. No bap- 
 tism then can be complete unless the outward element of 
 water be employed ; but in what particular manner, whe- 
 ther by sprinkling, pouring, or dipping, is of comparatively 
 little moment, since the mode of administration is not 
 essential to its right and due performance. 
 
 As it is requisite that water be used in baptism, so is it 
 also necessary that the name of the Lord Jesus, or of each 
 person of the Holy Trinity be pronounced, at the time of 
 its administration. The fonner method seems to have been 
 customary when the Jews and Jewish proselytes were bap- 
 tized. For they being already believers in the doctrine of 
 the Holy Trinity, and acquainted with the scripture revela- 
 tion of God as Jehovah Elohim, it was only needful to add 
 to their general faith, a distinct acknowledgment of their 
 
IN THE NAME OF THE TRINITY. 197 
 
 faith in Christ as the true Messiah, foretold by the Pro- 
 phets, through whom alone the world could be reconciled 
 unto God. Hence Peter commanded the penitent Jews on 
 the day of Pentecost to be " baptized in the name of Jesus 
 Christ;" Acts ii. 38. And the believing Samaritans were 
 " baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus ;" Acts viii. 16. 
 "And Cornelius and his friends were baptized in the 
 name of the Lord ;" Acts x. 48. The original com- 
 mand however in regard to all nations, the Gentile nations 
 who should be turned from their idolatries and polytheism 
 to the one true and living God, by the power of the 
 gospel, ran thus, — " Go ye therefore and teach all 
 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
 of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 From that command the mode now universally adopted 
 appears to be derived. And yet, in truth, in baptizing in 
 the name of Jesus, everything expressed in the command 
 is fully implied ; for it comprehends faith in his divinity, 
 and in the efl5cacy of his death and redemption, which 
 no one can hold without sound views of the essential 
 union and eternal relation subsisting between and in the 
 persons of the Godhead, and of their distinct offices in 
 the great work of saving and recovering man to the favor 
 and image of God. However, the form contained in the 
 words of the Evangelist Matthew was probably intended to 
 be, as it actually has become, the permanent form, for the 
 Christian church, when the Jewish system and peculiarities 
 should give place to the lasting institutions of the gospel 
 of Christ. In this respect, therefore, we may conclude that 
 no further change will henceforwards take place, even to 
 the latest ages of the world ; this is the " one baptism" 
 
 that is to remain till time shall be no more. 
 s3 
 
198 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE ADMINISTRATORS OF BAPTISM; AND OF THE 
 TIME AND PLACE OF ADMINISTRATIOK. 
 
 The topics mentioned in this chapter are amongst the 
 circumstantials of Baptism, and do not enter immedi- 
 ately into its nature, or affect the validity of the ordinance 
 itself. Concerning the administrators of this ordinance 
 however, as a general rule, it seems to he fitting and 
 decent in itself, and also scriptural, because in accord- 
 ance with what we learn of Christian order in holy writ, 
 that the ministers ef God's holy word should be chosen 
 for this service. If any other Christian person be em- 
 ployed, it should only be on the ground of necessity, 
 when the services of a Christian minister cannot be 
 obtained. In the days of his ministration on earth, 
 Jesus himself, as an example to his ministers, took little 
 children in his arms and blessed them ; and ministers, 
 as his representatives, are in this respect to imitate 
 him. Throughout John's life, he baptized his awakened 
 hearers, as it is written in the gospel, "John did baptize in 
 the wildeniess," as well as "preach the baptism of repen- 
 tance for the remission of sins ;" Mark i. 4. John also 
 had the high and singular honor of baptizing our Lord 
 in Jordan, on which occasion Jesus said, "Thus it be- 
 cometh us to fulfil all righteousness;" Matt. iii. 15. 
 Wherefore as he was fulfilling all righteousness in sub- 
 mitting to baptism, so it was a part of that fulfilment of 
 
BAPTISM BELONGS TO MINISTERS. 199 
 
 righteousness that he received it from the hands of God's 
 appointed messenger. With this agrees the command of 
 Christ given to 'his Apostles after his resurrection ; 
 " Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them," 
 &c. Matt, xxviii. 19; the same persons who taught the 
 iiations were to baptize them. And accordingly the 
 Apostles, or some 'of their fellow-helpers, appear in 
 ordinary cases to have baptized those who believed, as 
 we may read in the Acts of the Apostles. Nor are the 
 words of Saint Paul, " For Christ sent me not to baptize, 
 but to preach the gospel," 1 Cor. i. 17, to be interpreted 
 as intimating a contrary practice. What the Apostle 
 here maintains is that preaching the gospel was a much 
 higher and greater work than baptizing, and constituted 
 the principal part of his apostolic calling, which was un- 
 doubtedly true. Moreover his words to the Corinthians 
 had an especial reference to the state and condition of the 
 church at Corinth. The Apostle knew their character, 
 and had either a natural or a supernatural insight into 
 the moral constitution of that church, and therefore acted 
 with extreme caution in reference to the future, and 
 assigns his reason for that caution : — " I thank God," 
 saith he, " that I baptized none of you at Corinth, but 
 Crispus and Gains, and the household of Stephanus, 
 lest any" — that is any of you Corinthians — " should 
 say that I had baptized in my own name ;" 1 Cor. i. 
 14 — 16. But though Paul himself baptized not at 
 Corinth, where he continued " a year and six months," 
 and converted "much people," Acts xviii. 10, 11, yet he 
 had from the beginning the help of Aquila, Acts xviii. 2, 
 and soon after of Silas and Timotheus, Acts xviii. 5, so 
 that most probably they baptized the converts, for it was 
 
200 BAPTISM AN ORDIKAKCE 
 
 not until about the time of their arrival that Paul began 
 to see the fruit of his laboui*. Now this brings us to 
 the same point again, that to baptize is a dut\' properly 
 belonging to the ministerial office, the presentation being 
 made by the parents much after the manner that the 
 parents of our Lord presented him to Simeon in the 
 temple. • 
 
 In regard to time and place, -ne have no commandment 
 from the Lord. Christianity seems here to allow a lati- 
 tude not granted under the law. Circumcision was to be 
 observed on the eighth day after the biith, but the nature 
 of that rite rendered its performance unsuitable to a con- 
 gregation, so that it was attended to within the family, 
 and under the parental roof. This was probably the case 
 in regai'd to many of the early baptisms, especially when 
 whole households were baptized at once : see, for instance, 
 the account of Lydia and the Philippian jailer. Acts x\-i. 
 15, 33, and the history of Cornelius, Acts x. Indeed, at 
 first the Jews would not have tolerated Christian baptism 
 in their synagogues, and the Christians had not public 
 churches erected, so that of necessity many of the bap- 
 tisms must have taken place in private dwellings. At 
 what time the practice became common, as amongst us 
 now, of baptizing in the house of God, it may be difficult to. 
 ascertain. But probably as circumcision gradually fell 
 into disuse, and the law in its ritual services disappeared, 
 a sort of general desire gained strength on the part of 
 Christian mothers and parents to imitate the examj^le of 
 the mother of our Lord, by presenting their offspring to 
 Christ in this holy ordinance, 07i the earliest occasion 
 that offered when they were able to go up to the house of 
 the Lord. And from some such general impression may 
 
BELONGING TO THE SANCTUARY. 201 
 
 have resulted the customary and fitting practice of con- 
 tributing somewhat on such an occasion by way of thank 
 offering to the Lord. Or, if such ancient legal observances 
 be not the origin of our present established customs, we 
 may at least piously and devoutly refer to them, and have 
 our spirit refreshed thereby, when we bring a gift to him 
 who saveth in childbearing, and accepts the dedication of 
 our infant offspring at our hands. Nor is the excellent 
 religious feeling of many Christian women, who are un- 
 willing to visit any where, after the birth of a child, till 
 they have been up to the house of the Lord, and given 
 up their infant to Christ in baptism, to be despised : on 
 the contrary, the principle ought to be honoured and 
 cherished, for it is quite in character with the direction 
 to" seek Jlrst the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 
 ness ;" Matt. vi. 33 ; the services of the sanctuary being 
 preferred before friendly congratulations, or at least de- 
 voutly associated with them. And it is certain there is 
 much that is deeply interesting to a Christian congi'ega- 
 tion, and to the holy angels in that assembly, when an 
 infant is received from the mother's arms, and by the 
 minister solemnly baptized, at which time ministerial, 
 parental, and congregational prayers, are blended in one 
 united supplication for the child's pardon, regeneration, 
 holiness, and salvation. Nor is it decent and fitting that 
 this part of Christian worship should be performed in a 
 corner, or at the close of the service, when such as are 
 too soon wearied of devotion are for hurrying away ; but 
 rather it should be believingly attended to without hurry, 
 and yet concisely, without tedious formality, at such a 
 period of the public service, and before sermon, as will 
 ensure the attention of all who may be in the house 
 of prayer. On such occasions, adults may well reflect on 
 
202 THE SACREDNESS OF 
 
 their own infant days, and on the responsibility of tlieir 
 life, according to the number of years that have fled away, 
 and the gracious opportunities that have been enjoyed ; 
 and children may have enforced on them the great com- 
 mand, " Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy 
 youth ;" Eccles. xii. I. 
 
 But there is one thing that should be deeply pondered 
 and well understood by Christian parents, when they are 
 bringing a child for baptism in the house of the Lord. 
 Were it thoroughly weighed it would prepare them for 
 what of future trials may await them, and cause them to 
 be duly impressed with the importance of that universal 
 prayer, " Thy will be done on earth, as it is heaven." 
 It is this. The dedication of an infant to Christ in bap- 
 tism is so entire, that in its spiritual import it is to be 
 considered as similar to the act of Abraham in offering 
 up Isaac on the altar ; for it is a solemn and absolute 
 surrender of the child back to him from whom the parents 
 have received it, to be at his entire and unreserved dis- 
 posal. When therefore his will is ascertained in the 
 course of future providences, the parents have nothing to 
 do but abide by their own voluntary surrender and conse- 
 cration of their child to him. " I have lent my Samuel 
 to the Lord," said Hannah, " as long as he liveth ;" 1 • 
 Sam. i. 28. If God be pleased to take away the child 
 by death, they have put it out of their own power to say 
 any thing more than, " the will of the Lord be done ;" 
 or if in riper years he call the child for missionary service, 
 however difficult or dangerous the enterprize may be, the 
 parents are not at liberty to interfere ; but remembering 
 the day of his baptismal vows, he must go, accompanied 
 with their blessings and their prayers : or if a business be 
 chosen for him, or a situation in life, it must be with an 
 
INFANT DEDICATION. 203 
 
 eye to his and their baptismal obligations, the primary 
 object being, not wealth, but freedom from temptation to 
 sin, and the most favorable circumstances for carrying 
 out his baptismal obligations in practical obedience to all 
 the commands of God. No mother after giving a child 
 to Christ in baptism can resume the gift ; she is bound 
 by her own act and deed to leave her infant to his sove- 
 reign and gracious disposal in all things. As Pharaoh's 
 daughter said to the mother of Moses — " Take this child 
 and nurse it for me ;" Exod, ii. 9 ; so the Christian 
 mother must receive her child back from the minister's 
 aiTns after baptism, and nurse it for the Lord, to be at 
 his beck and call any day, and for any place, and she 
 must count it a greater honor to have borne a child for 
 Christ's holy service, than if many crowns had been 
 appointed him, with all the splendors of an imperial 
 throne. Whoever doth not endeavour, on the day of her 
 infant's baptism, to come up to this high yet blessed 
 standard of Christian duty, is but frail and imperfect in 
 her services, even though she maybe sincere in hex general 
 desire of knowing, embracing, and doing the holy will of 
 God. Were the spirit of this divine ordinance more 
 deeply felt and entered into by parents themselves, the 
 blessing of God would more abundantly rest upon the 
 head and heart of their offspring, and their seed would be 
 more generally accounted to the Lord for a generation ; 
 Psalm xxii. 30. These few observations may suffice for 
 a guidance, as to what is most valuable in practice, in 
 regard to the time and place of baptism, and the adminis- 
 trator at whose hands it should be received. Our next 
 topic may require a somewhat more extended discussion. 
 
204 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE MODE OF ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 There is nothing more humiliating, in the practical 
 working of Christianity, than the trivial nature of many 
 of those differences which divide the Christian world, 
 and the eagerness with which they are controverted, as 
 though on them mainly the salvation of the soul de- 
 pended. Some of those differences do not in any wise 
 affect Christian doctrine, nor scarcely come within the 
 range of even Christian discipline, but only refer to the 
 viode of performing a certain branch of duty, and so 
 belong to nothing more than what may be called the 
 rituals of Christianity. Whether men should pray 
 with or without a form ; how many orders of Christian 
 ministers should be maintained, and whether that main- 
 tenance should be voluntary or secured by law; what 
 power they should exercise, and what vestments they 
 should wear, or whether they should minister without 
 any distinguishing vest, which may be fitting and comely 
 as an insignia of office ; hoiv the Lord's supper should 
 be received, whether sitting or kneeling ; and hoio bap- 
 tism should be administered, whether by sprinkling, pour- 
 ing, or immersion, have all been topics of many a weary 
 controversy, in which good men have consumed their 
 time, and expended their energies, to the neglect of 
 higher and holier duties while the world of sinners around 
 
MODE OF BAPTISM NOT IMPORTANT. 205 
 
 them have been perishing in their sins. Now with regard 
 to the mode of baptism, to us it seems of so little conse- 
 quence, that we have scarcely a preference of one method 
 above another, excepting that, as a matter of convenience, 
 and health, and as suitable to all seasons of the year in 
 this climate, we think sprinkling, without being less 
 efBcacious, is much more simple and easy of adoption. 
 Nevertheless, if any adult, ivho had not been baptized in 
 any ivay in infancy, should earnestly desire immersion ; 
 or any Christian parents should request immersion on 
 behalf of their infants, probably few Christian ministers 
 would be so strenuous for the more general practice of 
 sprinkling, as to refuse compliance with their wishes. 
 Rebaptiziny , under the notion that sprinkling is no bap- 
 tism, is altogether another thing. Against such a practice, 
 every Christian who holds not Baptist sentiments, is 
 bound to protest as an infringement upon the Christian 
 liberty, and a reflection upon the ministerial acts of others. 
 It contains within it the very spirit of what are now called 
 Puseyite, or High-Church principles ; for it is of little 
 consequence by what route we come to the point of ex- 
 clusivism, whether by the road of apostolical succession, 
 or the less tolerant path of what is called believers' bap- 
 tism. In the one case the validity of the Christian 
 ministry, in the other case the validity of the Christian 
 profession itself, is denied. The requiring of persons who 
 have been sprinkled in infancy to be plunged, as a con- 
 dition of their admission into Baptist churches, is an act 
 of open hostility against the whole Christian world ; and 
 though not intended to be understood in so offensive a 
 light, is nothing less than a declarative nullification of the 
 Christian profession of the members of all the churches 
 
i>0(i BAPTIST PRINCIPLES OFFEND 
 
 of Christendom, the Baptists only excepted. Viewed in 
 its real character, and not according to the charitable 
 interpretations of pious Baptists, who leap over the wall 
 of exclusiveness which their system builds up and sup- 
 ports, tve know of no assumptions so monstrous as those 
 ichich legitimately JJo7v from their principles, or of any 
 conclusions so contrary to true Christian philanthropy. 
 
 In a former pai't of this work we have seen that those 
 principles require an universal excommunication of 
 infants, or, what amounts to the same thing, a shutting 
 of them out of the church of Christ. And now we see 
 that if no baptism is legitimate but baptism by immersion, 
 the whole body of professing Christians, without regard 
 to persons or communities, are of necessity unchurched 
 and unchristianized, and have all to begin anew, and 
 be inducted by a proper and lawful baptism into the church 
 of Jesus Christ. We apprehend it is on this ground that 
 strict Baptists refuse to partake of the Lord's supper 
 with any who are not of their own persuasion, because, 
 however estimable their character, they do not consider 
 them as behig Christians. This is maldng the most of a 
 sliibboleth certainly, but still not more than the principles 
 of the denomination require. So that the head and the 
 heart of the many worthy and noble-minded men found 
 amongst our Baptist brethren must ever be at variance, 
 when they extend the right hand of fellowship towards us, 
 and own us as Christian brethren, and commune with us 
 as Christian churches ; while the poor narrow-souled 
 bigots amongst them, (and they are not a few,) who know 
 very little of the religion of Christ, beyond the baptism 
 of water, and a set of confused notions about election, will 
 be the only individuals who can claim the merit of down- 
 
AGAINST CHRISTIAN CHARITY. 207 
 
 right, thorough consistency. Now all this condemnatory 
 uncharitableness against us arises in part from making 
 the mode of administering a Christian ordinance of more 
 importance than it really is ; from which evil we who hold 
 Infant Baptism are free, since we can unhesitatingly own 
 our Baptist brethren as fellow-Christians, without doubt 
 or scruple, while it costs them an effort to do it in some 
 circumstances, and some of them will not do it at all. 
 
 Indeed the Christian world might justly and reasonably 
 complain, if grounds of contention were sought for, of the 
 denominational appellation, Baptists; for there is an uncha- 
 ritableness in the very name when applied to one section 
 of the Christian church only, as it contains an unwarrant- 
 able reflection on all othfr churches, as though baptism 
 were not rightly understood or observed by them . ]Vh ereas 
 all Christians are Baptists of course ; and the latter 
 term ought not to be assumed in a distinctive and invi- 
 dious way by any one church, so as to convey an idea of 
 its pre-eminent observance of the sacred ordinance of bap- 
 tism ordained by our Lord. However, it is but just to 
 acquit our Ba])tist friends, both of England and America, 
 of any intentional unkindness towards us, especially as 
 they have taken a mighty stride in the way of improve- 
 ment in this matter within the last few years. Our 
 Baptist bretHVen, ever to be honored and beloved for their 
 missionary labours and success, have lately become revo- 
 lutionists, and have, on a certain subject, attacked the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, and the American 
 Bible Society, sword in hand ; but instead of harming 
 those noble societies, they have hewed to pieces some of 
 their own former controversial opinions in a most unmer- 
 ciful manner. Time was when much discussion was 
 t2 
 
208 BAPTISTS AFRAID OF THE 
 
 wasted upon the meaning of the Greek words, bapto and 
 baptizo, from whence our English word baptize is derived, 
 with scarcely any change of orthography, and our Baptist 
 brethren strenuously maintained that those words signified 
 to dip, immerse, or plunge, and they endeavoured to re- 
 strict the words to some such signification, and for that 
 reason they considered the denomination Baptists to be 
 strictly proper for them, because in baptizing, they, and 
 they only, acted according to the proper import of these 
 words. But now they have given all this up at a stroke, 
 not only in England and America, but in the East Indies 
 also, by refusing to transfer their own favorite vjord 
 baptize, from which their very denominational name is 
 derived, into foreign languages, and insisting on trans- 
 lating it into some word in those languages which sliall 
 be an exposition of it, according to their views, and so 
 made to mean unequivocally to dip or plunge. Much as 
 we lament their zeal on this point, which has actually 
 induced them on this ground alone to separate from the 
 Bible Society of both countries, (another proof of the 
 evil arising from overmuch zeal for modes and forms,) 
 yet we cannot but perceive that they have overshot the 
 mark, and by an unwillingness to naturalize the word, 
 according to the equitable proposal of the Bible Society; 
 leaving the interpretation to the different Christian 
 churches, as with us, they have betrayed a latent doid)t 
 that the word alone is hardly trustworthy, and so instead 
 of endeavouring to monopolize it, as formerly, they 
 judge it will be a more effectual method to transform it by 
 recasting it in a mould of their own. It is allowable then 
 for the advocates of Pedo-baptism to rejoice in the lucky 
 escape of the two foreigners, bapto and baptizo, from the 
 
ORIGIN OF THEIR NAME. 209 
 
 long captivity in which our Baptist brethren endeavoured 
 to retain them ; those brethren at last have either gene- 
 rously given them their liberty, or else in the heat of 
 controversy they have forgotten to watch them so nar- 
 rowly as beforetime, one can hardly say whether : however 
 it is certain the Baptists dare not trust them any longer, 
 so that they are now free to travel all through Christen- 
 dom, and to make alliances in future with sprinklers 
 equally with immersers all the world over. Charity and 
 consistency only require one thing more of our brethren, 
 namely, that they give up their own distinctive appella- 
 tion, and instead of calling themselves Baptists, translate 
 their denominational name into Immersers. We appre- 
 hend something of this kind must be done in the East, 
 or else the native Christian ministers, as they acquire 
 knowledge of the history of the European churches from 
 whence their missionaries came, and an ability also to 
 compare their native translations with the Greek text, 
 will want to know tvhy their European brethren kept the 
 word Baptists for themselves, and yet were afraid to ven- 
 ture the committal of baptizo into their hands ? It is 
 hard for contenders about modes and forms to be at all 
 times consistent ; yea, it is impossible in Christianity, 
 for Christianity will not be trammelled with them. Every 
 extreme contains within itself the germ of its own de- 
 struction. 
 
 But though we consider the mode of baptizing to be 
 of comparatively little moment, yet for the satisfaction 
 of Christian persons it may be useful to refer to the word 
 of God on this subject also. And first we will put down 
 in order, a list of all the texts in which baptism is spoken 
 of in the New Testament, and so arrange them that the 
 T .3 
 
210 THE CHARACTER OF 
 
 parallel passages may be compared iu the several Evan- 
 gelists. They are these : — INIatt. iii. chapter throughout 
 Marki. 1—11; Luke iii. 1—23, &c. ; John i. 6— 36 
 Matt. xi. 2—19 ; Luke vii. 18—35 : Matt. xiv. 1 — 12 
 Mark vi. 14—29; Luke ix. 7—9 : Matt. xvi. 13, 14 
 Mark viii. 27, 28; Lukeix. 18, 19 : Matt. xvii. 10—13 
 Markix. 11, 13: Luke i. 16, 17; Matt. xx. 20—23 
 Mark x. 35—40 : Luke xii. 49, 50 : Matt. xxi. 23—27 
 Mark xi. 27—33 ; Luke xx. 1—8 : Malt, xxviii. 18— 
 20; Mark xvi. 15, 16: John iii. 22—36; iv. 1—3; 
 v. 33— 36; X. 39—42; Acts i. 4, 5, 21,22; ii. 37— 
 41; viii. 12— 16, and viii. 35—39; ix. 15—18; Acts 
 X. 37—48; xi. 15—18; xiii. 23, 24; xvi. 14, 15, and 
 xvi. 25 — 34; xviii. 8, 25; xix. 1— 7; xxii. 16; Rom. 
 vi. 3— 5; 1 Cor. i. 13—17; x. 1, 2 ; xii. 13; xv. 29 ; 
 Gal. iii. 26—29 ; Ephes. iv. 5 ; Col. ii. 12 ; Heb. vi. 2 ; 
 1 Pet. iii. 21. — Let the lover of God's word read over 
 these scriptures, one by one, it cannot be a vain or un- 
 profitable employment. A gi-eat portion of them relate 
 to John's baptism, which was a temporary dispensation, 
 as John himself taught, when he said of Christ, "He 
 must increase, but I must decrease ;" John iii. 30. With 
 him the law terminated, " for all the prophets and the 
 law prophesied until John ;" INIatt. xi. 13 ; and with his 
 ministry the gospel era began, so St. Mark expressly 
 testifies, — " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of God : As it is written in the prophets. Behold 
 I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare 
 thy way before thee ;" INIark i. 1,2. Hence the state- 
 ment of Peter just before the day of Pentecost : — 
 " Wherefore of these men which have companied with 
 us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out 
 
John's baptism. 211 
 
 amongst us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto 
 the same day that he was taken up from us, must one be 
 ordained to be a witness with us of his resuiTeciion ;" 
 Acts i. 21, 22. But when the Spirit was poured out 
 from on high, then John's dispensation entirely ceased. 
 Hence it was not necessary for Cornelius to be inducted 
 into the Christian church, through the intermediate dis- 
 pensation of John, now passed, away, and therefore he 
 was at once " baptized in the name of the Lord ;" Acts 
 X. 48. But it was necessary that John's disciples should 
 be again baptized into the higher dispensation of the 
 gospel, and therefore those imperfect believers whom Paul 
 found at Ephesus, who had already received " John's 
 baptism," were " baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus;" 
 Acts xix. 1 — 7. Now one may perceive much of the 
 divine wisdom and goodness in thus interposing a tempo- 
 rary middle dispensation between Moses and Christ, that 
 so Christ might in all respects become " the end of the 
 law for righteousness to every one that believeth ;" Rom. 
 X. 4. Ablutions and washings of various kinds had been 
 common under the law, all of which denoted the necessity 
 of a moral and spiritual cleansing. It was not consistent 
 with the nature of Christianity that those ablutions should 
 remain, after the system of sacrifices, &c. with which- 
 they were associated should have ])assed away ; but it 
 was consistent and fitting that one ordinance derivable 
 from them should be gradually introduced and perma- 
 nently remain, and the way for this was prepared, by 
 appointing John, in connection with his powerful minis- 
 try, to be the baptizer of those who repented of their sins. 
 And thus the ministry and the baptism of John tenni- 
 nated in the Christian ministry and in Christian baptism. 
 
212 THE MODE OF 
 
 as we have both preserved unto us at the present day. 
 Christianity alloweth not a multitude of washings, but 
 one " washing of regeneration" only is commanded, as 
 the peipetual sign of that spiritual cleansing required for 
 the soul of man. 
 
 In regard to the subjects of John's baptism, they were 
 in all probability adults only ; for being but temporary, 
 and in that sense imperfect, his own disciples would need 
 baptizing again on entering the Christian church, when 
 the Christian economy should be complete. Nor does it 
 appear that John ba])tized women ; the honor of abolish- 
 ing the last vestige of inferiority in the bestowment of 
 religious privileges was reserved for Christianity, where 
 there is " neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor 
 female ; but all are one in Christ Jesus ;" Gal. iii. 28. 
 Lydia is the first female whose baptism is recorded in 
 the New Testament : although we cannot by any means 
 from that circumstance infer that no females received 
 Christian baptism before her. No doubt the mother of 
 Timotheus, who was a believer, had been baptized ; Acts 
 xvi. 1; and those " widows" mentioned Acts vi. 1, and 
 others who were of the early churches. Still there is 
 something gratifying in the fact that the first female of 
 •whose baptism we have a particular account icas a Gen-' 
 tile worshipper of the God of Israel, as though in her 
 case one of the chief glories of Christianity should be 
 made distinctly to appear. 
 
 But our main concern at present, is with the mode of 
 John's baptism; for Christian baptism succeedhig to his 
 temporary ordinance, it were but reasonable to suppose 
 that in the beginning the mode of administration would 
 be nearly the same. It is reasonable to form such a con- 
 
John's baptism considered. 213 
 
 elusion. First, Because Jesus Christ himself received 
 John's baptism ; and Secondly, Because some at least of 
 Christ's Apostles were John's disciples before they became 
 the followers of the Lord. This was the case with An- 
 drew, Simon Peter's brother ; John i. 35 — 42 ; and by 
 Peter Christian baptism was introduced on the day of 
 Pentecost ; Acts ii. 38. The primary question then is. 
 How did John baptize ? Our Baptist brethren will think 
 such a question altogether unnecessary. To their minds 
 it is clear to a demonstration that John immersed his 
 disciples in the water ; and they will wonder how any 
 one can doubt it. But let us take time to consider, and 
 calmly examine the scriptures to which they so confi- 
 dently appeal. We think the result will be a conviction 
 that, even \{ certainty, as to the mode of John's baptism, 
 cannot be obtained, still the probabilities are far greater 
 in favor of effusion, or pouring water on, than o( im- 
 mersion, or putting under water. 
 
 We begin with the baptism of our Lord in the river 
 Jordan. The deeply interesting account is recorded by 
 all the Evangelists. We shall only quote Matthew at 
 length. " Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan 
 unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad 
 him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and 
 comest thou to me ? And Jesus answering said unto 
 him. Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to 
 fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And 
 Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of 
 the water ; and, lo, the heavens were opened imto him, 
 and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and 
 lighting upon him : And, lo, a voice from heaven saying. 
 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ;" 
 
214 JESUS CHRIST NOT 
 
 Matt. iii. 13 — 17. We have the same account abbre- 
 viated in Mark i. 9 — 11. Luke mentions three addi- 
 tional circumstances : first, that Jesus was " praying" at 
 the time of baptism, with a hallowed fervor we may be 
 assured peculiar to himself. Thus Christ, as his Apos- 
 tles, Acts ii. 1, received the Holy Ghost in answer to 
 prayer. And, secondly, that he was not baptized alone, 
 but along with ^nany others : " Now when all the people 
 were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also, being 
 baptized, and praying," &c. Luke iii. 21, 22. Hence 
 those pictures of this scene, which commonly represent 
 our Lord as standing alone in the water, are far enough 
 from the truth. Thirdly, Christ was now " about thirty 
 years of age;" Luke iii. 23. John, the Evangelist, men- 
 tions a few other particulars, and informs us also at what 
 part of the Jordan the baptism took place : " These things 
 were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was 
 baptizing ;" John i. 28. But in collating together all the 
 facts relating to this great event, there are but two that 
 will yield our Baptist brethren any sort of mere inferential 
 proof that Christ was baptized by immersion. They are 
 these : first, he was baptized in a river ; and secondly, 
 the particular expression, " when he was baptized, he 
 went up straightway out of the water ;" or, as in Mark, 
 "And straightway coming up out of the water;" — 
 which they think indicates of course, that he went previ- 
 ously under the ivater. We think not. Let the follow- 
 ing plain remarks be duly considered. First, the English 
 words, " went up straightway (or immediately) out of 
 the water," do by no means imply clearly that Jesus had 
 been plunged under the water, because they may with 
 equal propriety apply to the act of ascending the banks 
 
BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION. 215 
 
 of the Jordaiij after the administration was over. An 
 exact following of the Greek text would lead to that 
 interpretation, rather than to the sense so tenaciously 
 adhered to by our brethren of the Ba])tist persuasion. 
 " And Jesus, having been baptized, went vp, straight- 
 way," &c. ; or, " And Jesus, being baptized," &c. This 
 latter is Mr. Wesley's translation, who makes a very 
 frequent use of the aoristic form of the Greek verb. 
 Thus the going up out of the water was not a part of 
 the baptism, but a distinct act, after, immediately, or 
 straightway after the ordinance had been administered; 
 and so, of course, in no wise belongs to the administra- 
 tion. And in truth, the same thing is plainly enough to 
 be gathered from our authorized version. Let us read it 
 again. " And Jesus, when be toas baptized, went up 
 straightway ," &c. Obsen'e, not while he was baptizing, 
 went up, &c. ; but " when he was baptized," the ordi- 
 nance being ended, " went up," &c. Indeed the word 
 " straightway" alone fixes the sense ; for that is never 
 used in scripture, or in common conversation even, to 
 denote a continuation of an event or circumstance, but 
 always to signify a something immediate! g consequent. 
 Now if immediately consequent, the coming up out of 
 the water cannot have been a part of the baptism itself, 
 but as much distinct from it as was the act of praying 
 mentioned by St. Luke. — Secondly, The Greek verb 
 anabaino, rendered " went up," never signifies to emerge 
 from under ivater, nor has it indeed any reference to 
 water at all. It simply means to ascend, or go up in any 
 manner, as into a mountain; Matt. v. 1, xiv. 23: a 
 house top; Luke v. 19 : to the temple, which stood on 
 an eminence ; Luke xviii. 10 : to climb a tree; Luke 
 
216 POURING, NOT IMMERSION 
 
 xix. 4 : to go up stairs into an upper room; Acts i. 13 : 
 to ascend a chariot; x\cts viii, 31 : ascend to heaven; 
 Acts ii. 34, &c. &c. The word therefore has nothing in it 
 apjDtopriate to the act of emerging from under the water, 
 but is strictly proper, and the most natural word that 
 could be used, for coming up the banks of the Jordan 
 when baptism had been received. The Baptist interpre- 
 tation of the text, therefore, seems to be founded on an 
 entire misapprehension of the text itself. 
 
 In addition to the above observations, it may be far- 
 ther remarked. Thirdly, That the ordinary way of em- 
 ploying water amongst the Jews as a means, or as an 
 emblem of purification, was not by dipping into, but by 
 pouring on. So " Elisha the son of Shaphat poured 
 water on the hands of Elijah ;" 2 Kings iii. 11. In like 
 manner by laving, or plentifully sprinkling from the water 
 in the bason, our Lord washed his disciples' feet ;" John 
 xiii. 5. So the anointing oil was poured on the head of 
 the High Priest ; Lev. viii. 12, and xxi. 10. And because 
 the water in sprinkling was not usedsparingly — to sprinkle 
 in the scriptures is of the same general import as to pour, 
 and is considered as equivalent to ivashing: — "Then will 
 I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ;'' 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 25. " Having our hearts sprinkled from 
 an evil conscience, and our bodies icashed with pure 
 water ;" Heb. x. 22. The general mode then adopted 
 by the Jews in their ceremonial and religious cleansings, 
 was pouring or sprinkling. The only exception was that 
 of the leper, who was required in private to divest himself 
 of all his gamients, and bathe his flesh in water, for which 
 sufficient physical reasons may be assigned, without hav- 
 ing recourse to any other. But plunging the body under 
 
COMMON AMONGST THE JEWS. 217 
 
 water with garments on, was a practice utterly unknown; 
 and had it been common or appointed, the priests would 
 have wanted an entire set of garments for that very pur- 
 pose, besides those which are mentioned under the law. 
 Wherefore seeing such a method had never been hereto- 
 fore known, ivhat reason have we to think that John 
 introduced it P Where could he have obtained sufficient 
 changes of raiment for the numbers whom he bap- 
 tized in the wilderness of Judea ? Would there not 
 have been some reference to their robing and unrobing ? 
 At least in the account that is given of Christ's baptism ? 
 Or, can we suppose that he would have baptized the people 
 in their own garments, and left them to travel home in 
 that state all the miles from Bethabara to Jerusalem 
 or Galilee ? Considering therefore tvho and tvhat John 
 was, and the nature and design of his dispensation, it is 
 far more probable that ancient modes would be adopted 
 than new ones invented, so that the probability is that 
 pouring, and not immersion, was the mode of baptism 
 adopted by John. 
 
 The fourth reason which may be assigned for this 
 opinion is a very just and satisfactory one : namely, that 
 John's baptism was typical of the gift of the Holy Spirit, 
 and his whole ministry and dispensation were designed 
 to prepare the way for that blessing. Now whenever the 
 prophets spake of gospel days, their choice phrase for 
 describing the bestowment of the Spirit, in reference to 
 the abundance thereof, is, pouring out. See Prov. i. 23; 
 Isaiah xxxii. 15; xliv. 3; xlv. 8; Exek. xxxix. 29; 
 Zech. xii. 10; Mai. iii. 10; Joel ii. 28, 29; and Acts 
 ii. 17, 18. These two last-cited texts especially have 
 given rise to the current phraseology of the Christian 
 
218 POURING Oy, IN BAPTISM 
 
 church, in which believers of all denominations are accus- 
 tomed to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 
 And with this gift baptism was to be most intimately 
 associated, both as a means and a sign, as our Lord's 
 words imply, "bom of water and of the Spirit." And 
 hence John's baptism so emphatically looked towards that 
 event: "I indeed baptize you 7cith wafer unto repen- 
 tance ; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, 
 whose shoes I am not worthy to bear : he shall baptize 
 you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ;" Matt. iii. 1 1 . 
 Now the pouring of water upon the head or face is a 
 much more natural and appropriate emblem of the 
 coming down of the Holy Spirit upon a person, as upon 
 our Lord and his Apostles, than the plunging of the body 
 under water, and therefore we think it to be a far like- 
 lier method employed by John and the Apostles, than the 
 practice of baptism by immersion. 
 
 On the whole then, when we take into united consi- 
 deration all the above-mentioned remarks, we apprehend 
 the facts of the case to have been nearly as follows. On 
 some one memorable day of John's ministry, when his 
 word had been attended with uncommon power, so that 
 " all the people," — perhaps the mass of the congregation, 
 as though it were the harbinger of Pentecost, — were moved 
 to repentance, and " about to be baptized," Jesus, who 
 was " made in all things like unto his brethren," though 
 " without sin," joined the penitent throng, as became 
 " the friend of sinners ;" Luke iii. 21 ; and they all mov- 
 ing on together towaixls the river, on reaching it, loosed 
 off their sandals, and girded up their flowing garments : 
 and standing on, or within, its margin, and leaning reve- 
 rently forwards, John passed along and baptized the mul- 
 
CORRESPONDS WITH PENTECOST. 219 
 
 titudes by pouring water from the river upon their heads. 
 Immediately after this sacred baptism, Jesus went up out 
 of the water, or ascended the banks of Jordan, and bowed 
 himself down to pray ; not for himself alone, but for those 
 penitent multitudes also, and while " praying" in the 
 midst of them, " the heaven was opened," Luke iii. 21, 
 as an emblem of his effectual intercession, by which they 
 should all through him gain free admission to the throne 
 of God, " and the Holy Ghost descended and rested upon 
 him," Luke iii. 22, singling him out from all the mul- 
 titudes as the chosen and anointed Son of God. So 
 that whatever knowledge John had of Christ before, it 
 was now abundantly confirmed ; " and he saw and bare 
 record that he was the Son of God;" John i. 26 — 34. 
 Our Lord's baptism in the Jordan, therefore, does not 
 afford one particle of evidence in favor of baptism by 
 immersion ; and if he were not immersed, neither were 
 any of John's disciples, since our Lord was baptized by 
 John according to his usual method, and not after a pecu- 
 liar manner, for the sake of distinguishing Christ from 
 the rest of the people. For he was not distinguished from 
 them by a difference in the outward administration ; but 
 by the extraordinary and divine attestation of the Father, 
 and the visible descent of the Holy Ghost, which " like 
 a dove abode upon him ;" Luke iii. 22. 
 
 But there is a clause in the Gospel of John the 
 Evangelist, which our Baptist brethren often quote with 
 much assurance, as indicating the correctness of their 
 views with regard to baptism, as sanctioned by John the 
 Baptist. We read, " And John also was baptizing in 
 Enon near to Salim, because there was much wafer there; 
 
 and they came and were baptized ;" John iii. 23. Now 
 u 2 
 
220 John's baptism administered 
 
 to a Baptist, the conclusion appears to be in-efragable, that 
 John immersed his followers, otherwise what need of the 
 remark that " there was much water there," for a very 
 little water would suffice for sprinkling, or pouring water 
 on them. It is enough to make us who diifer from our 
 brethren smile, when we observe the earnestness with 
 which they cling to their interpretation of this text. It 
 is instructive to reflect on the manner in which the under- 
 standing is often swayed by a certain set of opinions, 
 when the thinkings of the mind run in a certain train, so 
 that a casual remark shall appear to be equal to an argu- 
 ment amounting to demonstration. From this imperfec- 
 tion, common to humanity, no man, however great or 
 good, is at all times wholly free ; and some mixture of 
 it may be discovered in every Christian denomination. 
 A consciousness of this universal defect should promote 
 a universal disposition mutually to bear with, and serve 
 one another, and candidly examine the statements of 
 Christian opponents, from a sincere and simple desire, as 
 far as possible, to correct what errors of this kind may 
 arise from the natural failings of the human mind. 
 
 Now with regard to the import of this disputed clause 
 in the Evangelist, it may be said. First, That the inter- 
 pretation of our Baptist brethren, is mere inference-^— 
 arbitrary inference — and so concludes nothing in the 
 way of argument in favor of their opinions. For it is 
 not said John ivanted much tvater to enable him to ad- 
 minister baptism, but only in an incidental way it is 
 stated, that there happened to be much water in the place 
 where he was baptizing. That this incident is recorded 
 expressly to intimate the mode of John's baptism, is mere 
 gi'atuitous assumption. Secondly, The verse immediately 
 
IN COUNTRY DISTRICTS. 221 
 
 preceding shews that the mention of much water had no 
 reference to any mode of administration ; for there we 
 read, " After these things came Jesus and his disciples 
 into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, 
 and baptized;" v. 22. And the baptisms were not few ; 
 for some informed John, saying, " Rabbi, he that was 
 with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, 
 behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him;" 
 V. 26. And again, " When therefore the Lord knew 
 how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and bap- 
 tized more disciples than John, he. — though Jesus him- 
 self baptized not, hut his disciples, he left Judea, and 
 departed again into Galilee ;" John iv. 1 — 3. Now these 
 baptisms in Judea would have required much water, 
 equally with John's baptisms, had immersion been the 
 only mode, and yet there is no reference to such an inci- 
 dent; wherefore we judge, that the mention of it in the 
 account of John's baptism, v. 23, arose from some other 
 circumstance. — We observe then. Thirdly, That we have 
 a key to that particular circumstance in the peculiar cha- 
 racter of John's ministry, and the place of its exercise. 
 Our Lord published his doctrines chiefly in cities, towns, 
 and villages : "Let us go," said he, "into the next towns, 
 that I may preach there also ; for therefore came I forth. 
 And he preached in their synagogues, throughout all 
 Galilee ;" Mark i. 38, 39. In like manner he sent forth 
 first the twelve Apostles, and afterwards the seventy dis- 
 ciples, " into every city and place, whither he himself 
 would come;" Matt. x. and Luke x. 1. "And when he 
 had made an end of commanding the twelve, he departed 
 thence, to teach and to preach in their cities ;" Matt. 
 
 xi. 1. And his sermon on the mount was delivered nigh 
 u3 
 
222 THE MODE OF BAPTISM 
 
 to a city; Matt. v. 14. But John's ministry was short 
 in its duration, and was exercised in the agricultural 
 districts : — he was the voice of one crying in the wil- 
 derness ;" Matt. iii. 1 — 3; and the inhabitants' of the 
 cities went out to him. " Then went out to him Jeru- 
 salem, and all Judea, and all the region round about 
 Jordan;" Matt. iii. 5. And during the period of his 
 ministry there was a time of excessive drought, as is 
 evident from his food, " his meat was locusts and wild 
 honey;" John iii. 4; for locusts never swarm but in very 
 dry, hot weatlier, and then they consume the remaining 
 vegetation which the scorching sun has spared : compare 
 Joel i. 4, 10—12, 18—20, &c. In such a season of 
 scarcity and drought, to secure large congregations in the 
 wilderness, he wisely chose places where there was " much 
 water," for at such a spot a vast concourse might be cer- 
 tainly calculated upon, both at the fords of the Jordan, and 
 at "^non, near to Salira," to which latter place he re- 
 paired, " before he was cast into prison ;" John iii. 23,24. 
 John's ministry then being exercised in the wilderness, 
 or agricultural districts, (for that is the import of the 
 term wilderness in the Gospels,) where " much water" 
 was needed for the flocks and herds, any spot containing 
 it would be greatly resorted to in a time of drought, and- 
 thither John was directed to labour and preach the baptism 
 of repentance for the remission of sins. The mention ofsuch 
 an incident well agrees with the time and circumstances of 
 John's history, and naturally coiToborates the truth of the 
 sacred records, and may be regarded as one of those coinci- 
 dencies so beautifully made subservient to a similar purpose 
 by Dr. Paley, in his illustrations of the Acts of the Apostles 
 and Epistles of St. Paul; but it contains not a particle 
 
NOT ENJOINED. 223 
 
 of evidence to favor the opinion that John went there 
 that he might find water enough to dip as many as were 
 converted from sin by his powerful and efficacious minis- 
 trations. The theory is not in the text, but the text is 
 pressed into a subserviency to the theory. 
 
 Since then immersion does not appear to have been 
 John's mode of baptism, we do not think it was the mode 
 subsequently adopted by the Apostles of our Lord. It 
 is obvious that no particular mode was prescribed them, 
 when they received their final commission ; Matt, xxviii. 
 19 ; Mark xvi. 15, 16. They were only commanded to 
 baptize, but hoiv is not recorded. The word baptizo is 
 in itself indefinite, our Baptist brethren themselves being 
 judges; hence their refusal to naturalize the word in 
 their foreign, as hath been done in European, translations. 
 Instead thereof they prefer expounding it in the trans- 
 lation, so as to make the sense clear and determinate in 
 favor of their peculiar tenets, which is taking an unjustifia- 
 ble liberty with the word of God, and an imdue advantage 
 of the ignorance of the native mind. By so doing, they 
 must eventually injure their own cause, ybr that ancient 
 and sacred term will thereby be left in the hands of 
 Pedo-baptists, and ivill remain exclusively in their trans- 
 lations, vfhich., as knowledge spreads, will greatly facilitate 
 the views of those who maintain the opinions and practice 
 of Infant Baptism. In 1 Cor. x. 2, sprinkling from the 
 watery particles of the sea and of the cloud is distinctly 
 called a being "baptized." 
 
 As John baptized by pouring, we think the Apostles 
 also baptized in a similar manner. When the three 
 thousand were converted on the day of Pentecost, who 
 can suppose that the vast labour was undertaken of im- 
 
224 POURING WATER EMPLOYED 
 
 mersing such a multitude under water ? For they were 
 baptized that same day : Acts ii. 4 1. What confusion and 
 bustle must such an occunrence have occasioned ! Would 
 (here have been time for it? Supposing the labour to 
 have been equally divided between the twelve Apostles, 
 each Apostle must have dipped under water, two hun- 
 dred and fifty persons, an amazingly fatiguing service, 
 especially when added to the immense exertions of the 
 preceding parts of that day. Besides, to accomplish this 
 object they must have separated into different companies, 
 and resorted to different pools or streams of water, if they 
 could have found so many, or had the command of them ; 
 and even then, how could they have obtained three thou- 
 sand changes of raiment on such short notice ; or, if 
 plunged in their ordinary gannents, what a spectacle 
 would such a dripping multitude have exhibited in the 
 midst of Jerusalem ! In short, the difficulties are so 
 many, and the circumstances connected with the events 
 of that day, so unbending, that it seems altogether incre- 
 dible that the whole of the converts were baptized by 
 immersion. How much more rational is the belief that 
 they had water poured on their heads, even as in the case 
 of our Lord, who, with the multitudes, had thus been 
 baptized by John in Jordan ? How much more natur- 
 ally would this represent the descent of the Holy Ghost 
 upon them, as John in his baptism and ministry had 
 foretold, and the Apostles themselves had experienced 
 that very morning ; Acts ii. 1 — 4 ? How much more 
 appropriate this mode of baptizing to the language of 
 Peter's text: — "And it shall come to pass in the last 
 days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all 
 flesh ?" Actsii. 17. 
 
ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 225 
 
 And this being the mode then adopted, in conformity 
 to John's practice, it would become from that time the 
 customary method. So when " on the Gentiles there was 
 poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost," Peter said ''Can 
 any man forbid water, that these should not be bap- 
 tized," &c. Acts X. 46, 47 ; words which evidently refer 
 to water being then and there brought for their baptism, 
 and not to the conducting of the converts to water for the 
 sake of immersion. — As to the hackneyed topic of Philip 
 and the Eunuch's going down into the water," it is 
 wearisome to dwell upon it, because the just and solid 
 answer usually given is never noticed by our Baptist 
 brethren. They argue as though they could not have 
 gone " into the water," without going under it. More- 
 over they wholly pass unregarded the little word " both," 
 in the text, " and they went down both into the water," 
 Acts viii. 38, which makes it plain enough that iinmer- 
 sion is not intended, for certainly P/ij7/;> did not go under 
 water, and therefore the convert did not ; — for the clause 
 is to be understood in the same sense of each individual. 
 Besides, the act of baptizing was quite distinct from 
 this going into the water : and hence it is added, " and 
 he baptized him." And as soon as they were both 
 " come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught 
 away Philip," &c. There was no getting ready of a bath- 
 ing dress, &c. : the chariot stood still ; the convert and 
 Philip descended, and entered the margin of the stream 
 or pool, as the case may have been ; and having baptized 
 him, as we understand it, by pouring water on his head 
 or face, they came out of the water, when Philip was 
 borne away, and the eunuch ascended his chariot and 
 went on his way rejoicing. 
 
226 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM TYPICAL 
 
 There remains now but one figurative allusion to bap- 
 tism to be noticed, which is found in the writings of St. 
 Paul, and on which our brethren are accustomed to dwell, 
 as decidedly favoring their opinion concerning immersion. 
 " Know ye not," saith the Apostle, " that so many of us 
 as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his 
 death ? Therefore we are buried ivith him by baptism 
 into death," &c. Rom. vi. 3, 4. And again, " Buried 
 with him in baptism" &c. Col. ii 12. — They consider 
 that by immersion the body is buried under the water, 
 and thereby the emblematic correspondence is accom- 
 plished to the burial of Christ, and the emerging from 
 the waters to his subsequent resun'ection, as the Apostle 
 designed to intimate in that particular phraseology. — 
 But this notion of burying by a momentary immersion 
 is far too modem to agree with ancient customs. It may 
 perhaps be thought not a far-fetched metaphor, an over- 
 strained figure, to compare a covering over of the surface 
 of the body in immersion, to the covering over of a dead 
 body with earth in the gi'ave, as in our burials. But then 
 that is not the manner in which our Lord was interred. 
 He was laid in an elevated niche of a fine vaulted tomb, 
 hewn out of a solid rock, and a stone rolled to its mouth. 
 He was not covered over, but enclosed in his tomb ; so' 
 that the act of immersion bears no analogy to the act of 
 sepulture, as it was practised by the Jews, or the burial 
 of Christ in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea ; Matt, 
 xxvii, 57 — 60. Consequently as there was no literal 
 analogy between baptism and the burial of Christ ; the 
 word "buried," in Rom. vi. 4, and Col. ii. 12, must be 
 understood spiritually ; so that to give it a literal signi- 
 fication, for the sake of accommodating it to a particular 
 
OF DEADNESS TO THE WORLD. 227 
 
 mode of baptism, is to wrest the scripture from its true 
 and proper import, and thereby put upon it an incorrect 
 interpretation. In the inquiry, " Know ye not, that so 
 many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were bap- 
 tized into his death ?" the meaning of the Apostle seems 
 to be that, from our initiation into the church of Christ by 
 "baptism, we are bound by that very initiatory ordinance 
 itself to the full and entii'e practice of the whole religion 
 of Christ, for that we are baptized into nothing less than 
 his death, faith in his death, that we may enjoy all the 
 benefits of his atonement, and exhibit all that holiness 
 his mysterious sacrifice was intended to bring into our 
 hearts and lives. This is a view of baptism, and its cor- 
 respondent obligations, that is very strenuously urged in 
 this Treatise. When therefore, the Apostle adds " we 
 are buried with him by baptism into death :" he does not 
 intend to designate our literal baptism as a burial, but 
 the spiritual design and end of that baptism as a burial, 
 we becoming spiritually dead, Col. iii. 3, as Christ was 
 literally dead when laid in the grave. Any thing less 
 than this figurative or spiritual burial, shewing the Chris- 
 tian's entire deadness to the world, would fall below the 
 dignity and force of the Apostle's argument, which is 
 throughout the chapter to prove the high character, holy 
 state, and exalted privileges of the children of God. 
 And that we are correct in thus appropriating the term 
 " buried," to a spiritual signification, and not to a literal 
 act, as in baptizing, is evident from the other Jigurative 
 terms employed in the verses immediately following, such 
 as being "planted together in the likeness of his death," 
 v. 5, and having " our old man crucified with him," v. 6, 
 which no one thinks of interpreting otherwise than after 
 
228 CONCLUDING REMARKS ON 
 
 a spiritual manner, and therefore the being " buried with 
 hiui by baptism into death," must be interpreted in the 
 same manner also. The mistake then of our Baptist 
 brethren seems to lie just here, in supposing that the 
 phraseology of the Apostle contains aii allusion to their 
 mode of baptizing ; whereas we do not conceive that 
 there is an allusion to any mode of baptizing at all, but 
 only a pointing out of the great and spiritual purposes 
 baptism was designed to accomplish, by leading all be- 
 lievers to real holiness, deadness to the world, and a new, 
 spiritual, and heavenly life and conversation, through the 
 death and burial of Jesus Christ, and his resurrection 
 from the dead. If this great end be answered, it matters 
 very little how Baptism is administered ; — whether we be 
 sprinkled, or whether we have water poured on us, as 
 was the case with our Lord, and the first Christians : or 
 whether we be plunged, according to the practice of Bap- 
 tist churches. — The mode is of little moment, if the 
 end be only secured — real, inward holiness, manifesting 
 itself in all Christian virtues and graces, according to the 
 commandment of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 And now in drawing to the conclusion of our remarks 
 about the mode of baptism, we are willing, for peace sake, 
 to grant to our Baptist brethren the benefit of a bare 
 doubt, a mere chance , thai perhaps they may be right in 
 maintaining that immersion was the ancient method; 
 and we make that concession with a good grace, because 
 absolute certainty cannot be claimed on either side. But 
 we cannot go further than concede to them the mere 
 naked possibility that their views are correct, while all 
 the probabilities of the case, as we have drawn them out 
 from the Holy Scriptures, according to our judgment, are 
 
THE MODE OF BAPTISM. 229 
 
 decidedly in favor of pouring, of which sprinkling is an 
 abbreviated form. The essence of baptism, however, con- 
 sists not in the quantity, but in the use of water, as the 
 outward sign appointed and ordained of the Lord. — We 
 shall conclude then this chapter with a general summar)'- 
 of what has been advanced. First, It is possible that 
 baptism by immersion 7naf/ have been the original method 
 of baptizing by John the Baptist, and the Apostles. But, 
 Secondly, It is very probable that the mode in general 
 use was that of pouring water on the persons baptized. 
 Indeed it is nearly certain, considering the customs of 
 the East, that the Apostles and first ministers, never could 
 have baptized females by immersion. Nor is it likely 
 that children were thus baptized, especially as households 
 were baptized at once, and mostly at the beginning in 
 private houses, where the convenience of a bath, or some 
 large place for immersion was not always to be had. And, 
 Thirdly, Even if it were certain, that baptism was always 
 originally administered by immersion, it would not follow 
 that we are bound to carry out exactly the same method 
 now, and that unless we do, the baptism is to be deemed, 
 of course, as null and void. If such reasoning were legi- 
 timate and conclusive, the Lord's supper has long since 
 ceased to be observed, and that Christian sacrament is 
 no where kept in the Church of Christ ; for who now 
 reclines around a table as our Lord's disciples did, at the 
 last paschal feast ? And how many circumstances then 
 observed are now wanting in the celebration of that com- 
 memorative and sacred ordinance P It must needs be 
 therefore that the mode of administration does not affect 
 the ordinance itself; and consequently in whatever man- 
 ner any one has been baptized, whether by sprinkling. 
 
230 MODES UXIMPORTAN'T, 
 
 pouring, or immersion, he has been scrip turally bap- 
 tized. Henceforth no man has any right to judge him^ 
 or trouble his conscience about so trivial a matter as the 
 mode of his baptism, lest under the pretence, and perhaps 
 charitable intention, of securing, he should actually hinder 
 his salvation ; and by evil reasonings about things of even 
 less consequence than the paying of tithes of mint, anise, 
 and cimimin, he should call off his mind from the 
 weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith, 
 on the observance of which his everlasting salvation 
 depends. 
 
231 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 We may now collect together a few practical remarks, 
 of a somewhat desultory character, yet bearing on the 
 general subject of this Treatise, and growing out of cir- 
 cumstances peculiar to our own time and age^ which are 
 of too great importance to be deemed unworthy of attention. 
 
 And first of all it is necessary to teach the people that 
 the registration of births, as now required by law, is not 
 to be confounded with 'Christian baptism, or substituted 
 for it. There is reason to fear that unless Christian min- 
 isters take pains to communicate instruction on this point, 
 the new law will have that eifect in hundreds of instances, 
 especially in those parts of the kingdom where the ances- 
 tors of many families have been in the habit of neglecting 
 Infant Baptism. This is one of the immediate consequent 
 evils of the state separating itself from the church in its 
 civil acts, and undertaking improvements in legislation 
 without reference to religion. Marriages and births have 
 now no more necessary connexion with Christianity 
 amongst us than with Heathenism or Mohammedanism; 
 such changes are rather to be regarded as retrograde move- 
 ments in society than as advances in .civilization. It is 
 true nothing is more common in great and popular assem- 
 blies, when the cause of missions to the heathen is advo- 
 cated, than to hear the sentiment universally applauded' 
 x2 
 
232 
 
 REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS 
 
 that Christianity is to be the grand instrument of civilizing 
 barbarous tribes and nations ; and yet, strange inconsis- 
 tency ! multitudes who hold that to be a fundamental 
 axiom in regard to foreign operations are very anxious 
 to see Christianity dissevered from civilization at home. 
 What we really want is, a much greater amount of holy 
 and religious influence running through our whole interna- 
 tional system of government, — an increase of pure Christi- 
 anity, unmixed with party pride on the one hand, or party 
 jealousies on the other, — a right good leaven, if one may 
 say so, of Methodism, as to its genuine principles, — leaving 
 parties in their relative position of rank and office pretty 
 much as they now are, — and not a diminution of religious 
 influence, by setting the people free from the outward obser- 
 vance of religious ceremonies, and affording them a plea 
 for misunderstanding or neglecting Christian ordinances. 
 It might be thought very improbable that the people 
 would confound things so essentially distinct as the 
 registration of births, which is a civil act, and the ordi- 
 nance of baptism, which is a religious duty; but so it is 
 in fact, and thousands will be found in this nation, as the 
 children now born grow up to manhood, who have never 
 received Christian baptism, through the carelessness and 
 ignorance of their parents, who, when once their chil- 
 dren's names have been registered, will never give them- 
 selves any further trouble about the matter. We are apt 
 to take the mass of the people in this kingdom to be wiser 
 than they really are. But it is certain, that after all that 
 has been done for their benefit by schools, and the nu- 
 merous efTorts of various religious bodies of Christians, 
 there is a prodigious amount of ignorance amongst them, 
 even on the very elementary principles of Christianity. 
 
NOT CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. 233 
 
 It is very necessary therefore that instruction on the 
 nature and grounds of Infant Baptism should be occa- 
 sionally given in every Christian congregation, not con- 
 troversially, but practically, for the jDurpose of awakening 
 the people's attention to a subject which they have here- 
 tofore been accustomed to observe in too many instances 
 as a mere matter of course, and which they are now in 
 danger of omitting as a matter of no importance ; that so, 
 whatever becomes of the atheistical and avowedly infidel 
 portion of the nation, and of their descendants, those 
 who profess to be believers in Christ may not negligently 
 suffer their posterity nominally to revolt to a mere state 
 of heathenism. Were such an evil extensively to prevail, 
 and to be accelerated in a second and third generation, 
 the calamity would be gi'eat to our favored and happy 
 land. For even a nominal Christianity is vastly to be 
 preferred to a nominal Infidelity, since the former can- 
 not exist without something of the life and power of 
 Christianity remaining in some hearts, to revive its 
 influence, and bring to bear at set times on the national 
 conscience the admitted principles of the Christian 
 religion, fallen into disuse and abeyance ; while a nominal 
 Infidelity leaves you without any settled principles to 
 apply, and sends you to search for them when you want 
 their aid, and deprives you of an agency which God will 
 own and bless, for Infidelity never retains within its 
 precincts one agent whom God can own as the direct in- 
 strument of communicating good to a nation. Let there- 
 fore Christian ministers be awake to a sense of their 
 duty, under existing circumstances, which they cannot 
 control, and give to the Christian sacraments, and in 
 
 particular to baptism, a due proportion of attention in 
 x3 
 
234 CIRCUMCISION IS NOT 
 
 the course of their ministry, and not take too much for 
 granted, as to the knowledge of the people, or the safely 
 of leanng the duty of Infant Baptism to their own con- 
 sciences. Conscience is often dull and apt to slumber, 
 till aroused to a sense of duty by the faithful voice of living 
 ministers, who are to be both the guides, and the guardians 
 of the people, in what things soever pertain to their 
 salvation. 
 
 Another point of great moment, and which has been 
 much agitated at divers periods of the Christian church, 
 remains to be considered, which is usually called the 
 question of baptismal regeneration. Is baptism regenera- 
 tion ? Or, is the one necessarily connected with the 
 other, so as to be inseparable P It is really surprising to 
 consider what debates and arguments have been raised on 
 this subject, till the matter has been completely mystified, 
 so that the more one studies the controversy in human 
 writings, the more he becomes bewildered. But how read 
 we in the Holy Scriptures ? It is an excellent practice 
 to throw ourselves in every case of difficulty upon our 
 original Protestant principles, and appeal to the infallible 
 oracles, the pure and unalterable word of God. From 
 that word we may gather light that will dispel the mists 
 with which uninspired writers may have dimmed our- 
 understanding. First of all, we may take notice of that 
 ancient rite under the Jewish church, so often refeiTed to 
 in this Treatise, and to which baptism substantially cor- 
 responds in the Christian church. We may then pro- 
 pound a correspondent enquiry as to that rite, and ask, 
 was circumcision regeneration P Or, inseparably con- 
 nected with it ? And the answer is, assuredly not ; 
 neither the one nor the other; for the outward circumci- 
 
REGENERATION OF HEART. 236 
 
 sion was a different thing from the circumcision of the 
 heart, as is clear from that standing promise written for 
 the spiritual benefit of all those who were already of the 
 circumcision after the flesh, — " And the Lord thy God 
 will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to 
 love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all 
 thy soul, that thou mayest live ;" Dent. xxx. 6. For 
 want of that circumcision of the heart, most of those who 
 came out of Egypt by the hand of Moses died in the wil- 
 derness, so that the one did not necessarily involve the 
 other. And thus St. Paul testifies to the Romans : " For 
 he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that 
 circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : but he is a 
 Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of 
 the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise 
 is not of men, but of God;" Rom. ii. 28, 29, And again 
 to the Corinthians : " Circumcision is nothing" — that is, 
 being alone, — " and uncircumcision is nothing, but the 
 keeping of the commandments of God ;" 1 Cor. 7, 19. 
 
 Now these quotations will not be allowed as applicable 
 by our Baptist brethren, because they do not agree with 
 us in the opinion that circumcision and baptism have 
 any such correspondence as we believe to maintain ; and 
 thus they deprive themselves of one branch of solid argu- 
 ment whereby to promote spiritual Christianity. But all 
 who admit such a correspondence to be correct, have 
 here, in the application of those scriptures to the case of 
 the Christian ordinance, a full and decisive proof that 
 baptism is not regeneration, or the circumcision of the 
 heart ; and that to teach that it is, is a heresy calculated 
 to destroy experimental religion, and lead the people to 
 rest in a form of godliness without the power. 
 
236 BAPTISM IS NOT 
 
 In full accordance with these statements, we may next 
 adduce the words of our hlessed Lord to Nicodemus : — 
 " Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except 
 a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot 
 enter into the kingdom of God ;" John iii. 5. Here the 
 two things are not confounded, but kept perfectly distinct; 
 an order is preserved, the one being a means intended to 
 lead to the other, while it is supposed that the former 
 might exist alone, and then it would be utterly unavailing 
 to salvation. 
 
 A like view arises from a consideration of the examples 
 of baptism recorded in the New Testament, where it is 
 evident that baptism was distinct from the inward work 
 of regeneration, although in many cases very intimately- 
 connected with it, in the same way that all the means of 
 grace, though they be not grace of themselves, are in 
 many instances the channels of grace to those who use 
 and attend them. For first, of those who were baptized, 
 vitich more tvas required than baptism itself, even re- 
 pentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which are the immediate concomitants of regeneration, 
 and enter into its very nature, as our Lord explained to 
 Nicodemus in his discourse about regeneration, when he 
 said, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
 perish, but have everlasting life;" John iii. 16. And all 
 this was exemplified on the day of Pentecost, and in the 
 jailer, and divers others. " Now when they heard this 
 they icere pricked in their heart, and said imto Peter 
 and to the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what 
 shall we do P Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 
 be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 
 
REGENERATION OF HEART. 237 
 
 and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ;" Acts 
 ii. 37, 38. Now there can be no regeneration without a 
 special gift of the Holy Ghost, beyond, and in addition 
 to his convincing power, whereby the conscience is pricked, 
 and repentance produced, for it is a being " born of the 
 Spirit;" John iii. 6, 8; and is not the same thing with, but 
 consequent upon, baptism, provided also the baptized per- 
 sons have i\ie prerequisite and accompa7iying dispositions 
 of repentance and faith in Christ. And thus Paul said unto 
 the awakened and penitent jailer, " Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house ;" 
 Acts xvi. 30, 31. — Again, Cornelius and those who were 
 with him, as we have already seen, were regenerated be- 
 fore they were baptized, and the baptism out of reverence 
 to God's holy ordinance was superadded to their regene- 
 ration ; for thus " it became them to fulfil all righteous- 
 ness;" Matt. iii. 15. Now this example, with which 
 began the opening of the door of faith unto the Gentiles, 
 and that not by the Apostle of the Gentiles, but by a 
 minister of the circumcision, is a very decisive proof both 
 of the distinctness of regeneration from the ordinance of 
 baptism, and yet at the same time of the worth and im- 
 portance of the ordinance, although, being alone, and 
 without regeneration, it profiteth nothing. — In another 
 passage of holy writ, we have an entirely ojjposite example 
 recorded ; for whereas Cornelius was regenerated without 
 baptism, Simon Magus was baptized ivithout regenera- 
 tion, so that the spiritual grace did not accompany the 
 ordinance ; and Peter declared unto him that he " had 
 neither part nor lot in the matter, for that his heart was 
 not right in the sight of God ;" Acts viii. 21. But if the 
 doctrine or notion of baptismal regeneration be true. 
 
238 THE WASHING OF BAPTISM 
 
 Peter's awakening words were without point, and Simon 
 had no need to have been alarmed, or to have desired 
 Peter, saying, " Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none 
 of these things which ye have spoken come upon me ;" 
 Acts viii. 24. 
 
 The scripture which at first sight seems most to favor 
 the opinion entertained by divines who advocate baptismal 
 regeneration, and who are for the most part of the Church 
 of England, is found in the peculiar phraseology of Paul 
 to Titus, where the Apostle calls baptism, " the washing 
 of regeneration ;" Titus iii. 5. But that particular phrase 
 must not be taken up and descanted upon apart from the 
 scope and connection of the whole passage, of which it 
 forms but a limited portion of one clause only. The en- 
 tire text must be read together, — " But after that the 
 kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man ap- 
 peared, not by works of righteousness which we have 
 done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the 
 washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 
 Ghost ; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus 
 Christ our Saviour ; that being justified by his grace, we 
 should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal 
 life ;" Titus iii. 4 — 7. Now on these words of the Apos- 
 tle, the following remarks are deserving of attention- 
 First, He is writing of real, genuine Christians, as is man- 
 ifest from the entire text, and from such expressions as 
 the following in particular, — "he saved us" — "being 
 justified," &c. &c. Secondly, The Apostle is writing of 
 baptism instrumental ly and no further, and therefore 
 he puts it before the " renewing of the Holy Ghost,'' 
 which latter clause exactly marks the distinction between 
 baptism and regeneration, and of course affords the most 
 
A MEANS OF REGENERATION. 239 
 
 conclusive evidence that they are not one and the same. 
 Neither doth he call haplism directly regeneration, hut 
 only " the washing of regeneration," that is instrument- 
 ally, there heing the same connection between it and 
 regeneration as between the means and the end ; — a con- 
 ditional connection, in so far as those who were baptized 
 were capable of performing conditions, of which a renun- 
 ciation of their own righteousnes, in order to their being 
 saved by divine mercy, was one. And no doubt many of 
 those to whom the Apostle wrote actually did experience 
 a divine and inward change of heart at the very time of 
 baptism ; but that inward experience accompanying the 
 use of the means, doth certainly prove that baptism was 
 but a means, and not the end ; an appointed method of 
 obtaining regeneration, and not the blessing itself. Indeed 
 it is obvious that in the entire sentence, ." the washing of 
 regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost," the Apos- 
 tle had in view, and distinctly refers to, the parallel 
 phraseology of our Lord, as to the necessity of our being 
 born again of water and of the Spirit. And the most 
 dangerous and ruinous part of the system of those who 
 hold what is called baptismal regeneration is, that in truth 
 they do not hold regeneration at all, nor have they any 
 conception of its nature, though many of them be " mas- 
 ters in Israel ;" for with them the phrase is nothing more 
 than a mere circumlocution for simple baptism, the 
 ordhiance being with them nothing more than a dead 
 letter, unconnected with so much as an expectation of 
 receiving the Holy Spirit, in the present days, truly to 
 convert the soul to God. 
 
 On the whole then, it appears scriptural to conclude, 
 that, in the commencement of the Christian age, the 
 
240 BAPTISir A SACRED ORDINANCE. 
 
 greater pari of those adults who applied to the Apostles 
 and their helpers for haptism were truly awakened per- 
 sons ; and so being penitent for their sins, and publicly 
 professing faith in Christ, they commonly received in the 
 ordinance of baptism some special token of the divine 
 favor. In many instances they were at that time, and in 
 that service, regenerated, or born again ; and to encourage 
 the penitents to expect so great a blessing, and peiiDetuate 
 the remembrance of it afterwards, the baptismal water 
 came to be denominated " the washing of regeneration." 
 And even where regeneration had been previously wrought, 
 the administration of that divinely-appointed ordinance 
 became a means of confirming them in the grace of God, 
 and of strengthening the faith by which they were already 
 saved. Yet that the connection between the ordinance 
 and regeneration was conditional and not absolute, is 
 suflSciently plain, not only from the instance of Simon 
 Magus, but also from the principles and conduct of many 
 unstable souls, who fell into those divers eiTors and cor- 
 rupt practices, which the Apostles so earnestly opposed, 
 as existing even in their own times in the church of Christ. 
 But then because the ordinance might be used, and no 
 saving benefit acci'ue to him \^ho was baptized, it doth 
 not follow that therefore the ordinance is unnecessary.; 
 but only that we must be careful to use the means aright, 
 and then the blessing will assuredly follow, and we shall 
 receive " the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls :'' 
 1 Peter i. 9. 
 
 But what bearing, it may be said, has this on Infant 
 Baptism ? Are infants regenerate P And if not, of what 
 use is the ordinance in regard to them P To these inqui- 
 ries it is sufficient to reply, — That it is impossible to 
 
BAPTISM IS A REAL BLESSING. 241 
 
 ascertain in what way, or to what particular extent, they 
 may be benefited, either by baptism or prayer ; yet that 
 they are benejited, that spiritual good is often actually 
 communicated to them, of which they are of course un- 
 conscious, need not be questioned, because the ordinance 
 is specially connected with God's covenant of mercy in 
 Christ with the children of men, and because he hath 
 specially promised a blessing to the offspring of his jieople. 
 But then we have no authority to aflSx to that good the 
 distinct term of regeneration, which is a work wrought in 
 most persons who experience it, at a subsequent period of 
 life, although the seeds of grace, leading to regeneration, 
 may then be implanted in the soul. No man living, per- 
 haps, under the Christian dispensation, and in a land of 
 Christian privileges, was ever yet able to trace the begin- 
 ning of a work of grace to its remotest origin. What are 
 called our first religious impressions, may be but the 
 awakening of principles communicated to an infant mind 
 by the good Spirit of the Lord at divers times, as well 
 when the parents have been praying for their infants in 
 the closet, or in the family, as when they presented them 
 to God for baptism in his sanctuary. As the formation 
 of the human body in the womb is a mystery, so are the 
 operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul : we see some- 
 thing thereof as they are developed in human life, but the 
 origin of them who can tell ? But because the term 
 regenerate is objectionable when applied to ba]itized in- 
 fants, it doth not therefore follow. First, That it never is 
 true : for aught we can tell it may be so in some instances, 
 especially when infants are appointed to die in infancy. 
 For as they must be regenerate zw yacf, though iYvey knoiv 
 not that fact in this life, before they can enter heaven. 
 
242 PRAYER FOR REGENERATION 
 
 SO God may choose often to honor that ordinance, and 
 make its administration the time of communicating his 
 mercy and grace to their sinful souls. — Neither doth it 
 follow. Secondly, That if they be not regenerated in that 
 ordinance, they receive no benefit thereby ; for hy it they 
 are brought within the bonds of the covenant, and besides 
 their original right to hope for its mercy, arising from their 
 relation to Christ the Redeemer, they have from that day 
 forward a special right to plead for the fulfilment of all 
 the covenant promises, of which their baptism is both a 
 sign and seal to their souls. But forasmuch as it is im- 
 possible to apply the term regenerate indiscriminately to 
 infants with certainty, seeing whatever grounds we may 
 have for hope of general good bestowed, no one can know 
 its precise character, and the subsequent unholy lives of 
 baptized children often makes the correctness of the ap- 
 plication more than doubtful : and since it is impossible 
 so to define, guard, and limit its application, as not to 
 endanger the salvation of multitudes, by naturally causing 
 them to have a leaning towards the opinion that they are 
 safe because they were regenerated in infancy, while it is 
 evident they are yet in their sins, — surely no lover of souls 
 will choose to employ the expression in regard to infants, 
 but desire to see it entirely laid aside. What is doubt-- 
 fid should be doubtfully expressed, and not positively 
 affirmed, any more than stifily denied, in administering 
 that holy ordinance to infants. On such an occasion, a 
 believing prayer for their regeneration, is more appro- 
 priate than a declaration that they are regenerate, as a 
 necessary consequence of their formal and just reception 
 by baptism into the visible church of God. These views 
 of baptism, and of regeneration, both with regard to adults 
 
SUITABLE IN BAPTISM. 243 
 
 and infants, appear to have the sanction of the word of 
 God ; but we cannot go further without treading on dan- 
 gerous ground, and leading men away from Christ, and 
 salvation, and heaven. "Blessed are the pure in heart ;, 
 for they shall see God ;" Matt. v. 8. " Without holiness 
 no man shall see the Lord;" Heb. xii. 14. 
 
 In close connection both with the obligation of parents 
 to attend conscientiously to the early baptism of their 
 children, and of directing them to the right improvement 
 of the grace which they may have received in that ordi- 
 nance, and at other periods of childhood, is the duty of 
 instructing them in the nature and obligations of the 
 Lord's supper, and of bringing them, if they manifest 
 gracious dispositions, at an early age to the table of the 
 Lord. As a general rule, perhaps, the ancient practice of 
 the Jews, who brought their children at .the age of twelve 
 years to their feasts in the temple, may afford some guid- 
 ance. Hence we read that when our Saviour was "twelve 
 years old," Luke ii. 41, 42, he went up to Jerusalem with 
 his parents at the feast of the passover. Not that we are 
 bound to an exact observance of any particular age ; 
 much must depend on a variety of prudential considera- 
 tions. But as baptism introduces children into the church 
 of Christ, so a method of preparing them for an early and 
 a regular attendance on the Lord's supper, would afford 
 an opportunity of constantly reminding them of their ori- 
 ginal baptismal obligations, and of their personal conse- 
 quent duty, as they come to years of understanding and 
 discretion. To the want of parental attention to this 
 particular branch of domestic and religious training, more 
 than to any other cause, may be attributed the amazingly 
 
 extensive neglect of the holy sacrament in many religious 
 y 2 
 
244 SACRAMENTAl OBLIGATIONS 
 
 communities ; so that instead of an attendance thereon 
 being regarded as a general duty, equally with an attend- 
 ance on the public ministry of the word, it is thought to 
 be binding only on the stricter portion of the Christian 
 world, while the majority are at liberty to turn their backs 
 on that holy ordinance without sin. 
 
 To the same cause also, in part, may be attributed a 
 sort of superstitious notion of the extraordinaiy sanctity 
 of the sacrament, which mingles itself with the views and 
 feelings of many simple and pious people, amounting to 
 a kind of awe and dread at approaching the table of the 
 Lord, from a conviction of their unworthiness ; and so 
 from a really conscientious plea of unworthiness, they dis- 
 obey the plain command of Christ, who hath said in 
 express terms to every one of his disciples, " this do in 
 remembrance of me ;"Luke xxii. 19. Such an objection 
 amounts to no more than this, when stripped of its dis- 
 guise : " We will not obey Christ, because we are not 
 worthy to obey him ;" and it is marvellous how any one 
 who reads the bible can' be beguiled by so poor a device 
 of the devil into the neglect of an unquestionable duty. 
 Whatever little acquaintance such professors may have of 
 some parts of Christianity, it is idle to talk so much of 
 their conversion, and experience, and enjoyments, when 
 there is such an awful deficiency in practice. No one 
 ought to imagine that he is safe, and flatter himself that 
 he has peace with God, and is in a state of justification, 
 who omits one Christian duty. If the reason for depart- 
 ing from God's house on sacramental occasions, without 
 communicating, were valid, the same persons might say, 
 " We will not pray or read the scriptures, because we are 
 not wortl V to pray or read the scriptures ; we will not 
 
CONSEQUENT ON BAPTISM. 245 
 
 attend churcli or chapel, because we are not worthy to 
 enter the sanctuary ot" the Lord ;" and so the means of 
 grace might be altogether forsaken. This is nothing better 
 than a voluntary or an ignorant humility. It has sprung 
 up and gained strength in the mind, mainly, from the cir- 
 cumstance of most persons never having had a word spoken 
 to them in early life concerning the sacrament, so that 
 when they began to I'eel some religious desires, they had 
 every thing to learn concerning this ordinance, and but 
 few means of gaining religious instruction in regard to it ; 
 coupled with an observation of extensive neglect of the 
 ordinance prevailing in others, from similar reasonings 
 with those which have operated in their own minds. 
 
 If indeed so common an opinion, affecting so prejudic- 
 ally real practical Christianity, were traced to its remotest 
 origin, it would be needful to go back to many past gene- 
 rations. We should then find it germinating from the 
 Popery of former ages, in which the sacrament of the 
 Lord's supper was abused to superstitious purposes, and 
 the priests alone were allowed to taste of the sacred ele- 
 ments, while they propagated the monstrous absurdity of 
 transubstantiation to the credulous multitude, and taught 
 them to believe that lie with as much confidence as if it 
 were the truth of God. If that absurd dogma were really 
 truth, — if what that wicked priesthood affirm as fact were 
 fact — then would the Popish priests be the greatest can- 
 nibals under heaven. A poor New Zealander would be 
 satisfied with the leg or arm of a human being for one 
 meal, but those reverend men gulp down body after body, 
 legs, arms, bones, and blood, in the lump altogether ; they 
 are not little petty retail dealers in cannibalism, but dex- 
 terously perform the matter in a wholesale way : yea, and 
 t3 
 
246 THE YOUXG SHOULD 
 
 religiously too, whereas the poor savage does not affect 
 religion in the business, for v. itb him it is a mere matter 
 of taste or hunger ! ! ! O worthy race ! to be employed 
 in the work of converting barbarians of distant continents 
 and isles from ignorance and cruelty, when they can be 
 so religiously cruel themselves, or palm so gross a tenet 
 upon an ignorant and superstitious multitude at home. 
 Now, though England has shaken off Popery, blessed be 
 God ! and may that curse of nations never more recover 
 ground in this our free and happy land — yet the latent 
 influence of her superstitions is not extinct. The 
 leaven thereof which remaineth will always find prepared 
 for its operations the mind of the devoutly inclined, but 
 imperfectly instructed, portions of the Christian com- 
 munity ; and the practical result will be that many, who 
 ought to be regular communicants at the Lords table, 
 whom Christ himself would welcome there, will conscien- 
 tiously keep away from fear of " eating and drinking their 
 own condemnation." But it never strikes them that they 
 expose themselves to condemnation by neglecting the 
 plain command of their Lord and Saviour ; and thus a 
 partial view of truth, as to the importance of a Christian 
 ordinance, leads them into the practical error of shunning 
 its observance altogether. 
 
 Were the rising generation duly instructed at home in 
 the nature of the two Christian sacraments, baptism and 
 the Lord's supper, and of the connection and relation 
 they bear to each other, and conducted betimes to the 
 table of the Lord, when hopeful indications of piety ap- 
 pear, a great point would be secured towards a more 
 general attendance on the sacrament in this kingdom. 
 And even where parents might deem it unsuitable to the 
 
EARLY BECOME COMMUNICANTS. 247 
 
 moral conduct, or spiritual state of their children at pre- 
 sent to recommend or encourage them to be partakers of 
 the holy communion, still the instructions given would 
 not be lost; for besides the benefits that might result in 
 future years, when by divine mercy they are turaed to the 
 Lord, even now, explaining to them their duty as bap- 
 tized children, with the reason of their unfitness to be- 
 come communicants, because of their impenitence and 
 personal sinfulness, might be a blessed means in the hands 
 of the Holy Spirit of producing conviction and godly 
 sorrow that would terminate in faith and salvation. The 
 Protestant churches of the Continent have a decided ad- 
 vantage in their ecclesiastical government of the young 
 in this respect over the churches of Great Britain, 
 although episcopal confirmation in the Establishment 
 bears some resemblance to their practice. The Dutch 
 Reformed Church, for instance, has an occasional set ser- 
 vice at one of her public sacramental seasons, generally 
 at Easter, for the reception of young communicants to 
 the table of the Lord ; at which time, the parents, who 
 have long been accustomed to the duty, meet with their 
 children in the house of God ; and after suitable exhor- 
 tations to parents and children, in connection with the 
 sermon, they tarry together, and receive the memorials of 
 their Redeemer's death, in token of their common hope 
 in him wlio is their Saviour for all generations. The con- 
 sequence of such a moral and religious training is, that 
 amongst the Dutch population of South Africa, however 
 remote they may live from a place of worship, the families 
 will contrive to go unitedly to sacramental services, though 
 they lose two or three days in journeying, besides the 
 trouble and inconvenience of an absence from their busi- 
 
248 CHILDREN SHOULD BE 
 
 ness and their habitation. Whatever may be said as to 
 the mere formality of such semces in many instances, 
 where habit prevails rather than principle, and the danger 
 of men's resting in such an outward performance of a 
 Christian duty, without apprehending or feeling the ne- 
 cessity of the power of godliness, only goes to shew the 
 importance of explicitly insisting on the inward kingdom 
 of God, along ivith the use of outward means, but argues 
 nothing against the propriety and utility of endeavouring 
 to bring the rising generation amongst us to a juster sense 
 of the value of the sacrament as a means of grace, than 
 their fathers generally were sensible of; that so the form 
 of godliness in all its beauty, and the i)Ower in all its 
 saving efficacy, may be perpetuated, and more extensively 
 exemplified in the churches of Britain. 
 
 Let parents then who themselves know the Lord, fre- 
 quently inquire of a child, when of sufficient age : — 
 " Child, do you not think that it is a Christian duty to 
 partake of the Lord's supper ? Do you not wish to enjoy 
 so great a privilege ? Do you not know that you were 
 baptized in infancy, and that the vows of the Lord are 
 upon you ? Do you not consider that from those vows 
 you can never be released by any act of your parents, or 
 free yourselves ? Do you not reflect that now you are 
 old enough to take those vows upon yourself, and go up 
 to keep the feast as Christ did, Luke ii. 41, 42, in remem- 
 brance that " Christ our passover was sacrificed for us ?" 
 ] Cor. V. 7. — Such inquiries would lead a child to thought, 
 to consideration, to reflection, to the gaining of instruction, 
 and might be repeated on sacramental occasions, till the 
 heart is won for God. And should conversion unhappily 
 be delayed for many years, yet whenever that change is 
 
PREPARED FOR THE SACRAMENT. 249 
 
 experienced, this impression would be indelibly fixed in 
 the mind ; — " it is now my duty, as I had often been 
 taught in childhood, to be regidar and conscientious in 
 approaching at appointed seasons the table of the Lord." 
 If any children or youths, who have been baptized in 
 infancy, should chance to read the above inquiries, though 
 they may not have been put by their parents, let them 
 deeply and seriously reflect thereon. For they must not 
 run away from Christ, after they have been so solemnly 
 dedicated to him. It is their duty, now at once to resolve 
 that they will cleave to him, and abide in his service, in 
 his family, and at his table, to their lives' end. — As to 
 adults who have become heads of families, and, it may 
 be, brought their own children for baptism, tvhile they 
 themselves have lived np to the present period in total 
 neglect of the Lord's supper, and so have never practi- 
 cally fulfilled the duties consequent on their own baptism, 
 what must be said to them, or what can be expected of 
 them ? Careless parents and a Christless household ! 
 " Do ye thus requite the Lord," who hath permitted you 
 to be taken by baptism into a covenant relation with him- 
 self; "O foolish people and unwise;" Deut. xxxii. 6. 
 Do ye thus slight your mercies, and make «o account 
 of your religious privileges ? Has conscience no power 
 left ? It is time to awake to righteousness, or like father 
 and mother, like sons and daughters also ; for if this ordi- 
 nance be not kept in remembrance of Christ, both you 
 and the}^ notwithstanding your baptism, are in danger of 
 forgetting that you have a Christ to remember, and of 
 perishing with all those who neglect the great salvation 
 he hath purchased for them by his merits and death. 
 Let this principle then be well understood, and firmly 
 
250 CONTROVERSY MUST YIELD 
 
 fixed in the mind, and constantly felt in the heart, that if 
 baptism be the initiatory Christian ordinance, it is initi- 
 atory to a perfect and entire, and not to a defective 
 Christianity : so that baptized persons are not free to 
 live as they list, but bound with holy bonds to learn all 
 that Christ teaches, and to do all that Christ commands, 
 that so all the spiritual blessings of his grace may be se- 
 cured to them on earth, and the eternal glories and rewards 
 of his heavenly kingdom in the life to come. 
 
 Finally, It is our desire to conclude by inculcating the 
 principles of Christian moderation and peace with which 
 we began this little Treatise. It is hoped that the subject 
 discussed, and the manner of discussing it, will not prove 
 unprofitable to the Wesleyan Methodists of the Bradford 
 East Circuit, for whose benefit it is primarily designed, 
 nor be wholly useless to any other Christian man or wo- 
 man who may read these pages. If some of our Christian 
 brethren in various places differ from us on baptism, much 
 as we may regret what appears to us to be their error, and 
 deeply as we may lament its consequences in regard to 
 families and nations, so far as their acts and influence 
 extend, still we must remember that they are our brethren ; 
 we must love and esteem them for their personal piety, 
 admire and imitate their example in every thing practi- 
 cally excellent, unite with them in the performance of 
 good works, and promote both in their churches and in 
 our own societies, peace, order, quietness, good neighbour- 
 hood, and charity, to the utmost of our power. When 
 assailed, we may once for all explain and defend from the 
 word of God our opinions and practice in regard to bap- 
 tism ; but frequency of debate is injurious to personal 
 godliness, and true spiritual Christian fellowship with 
 
TO CHRISTIAN CHARITY. 251 
 
 Christ's whole church militant on earth. It is therefore 
 as much as possible to be avoided. If any man choose 
 to be contentious, and ever harping on baptism and elec- 
 tion, or what not, as though all I'eligion consisted in a 
 certain set of opinions, let him have the contention to 
 himself. If one cannot get out of his way, he may be 
 heard in silence, and when he is weary he will give over. 
 But ye, beloved, continue steadfastly in the things which 
 ye have heard and learned from those who have minis- 
 tered to you in word and doctrine, ever remembering 
 '• that the end of the commandment is charity out of a 
 pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeign- 
 ed ;" 1 Tim. i. 5. Without such faith and charity, bap- 
 tism, however administered, is utterly unprofitable and 
 vain. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED 
 
 BY WILLIAM J. SHREWSBURY. 
 
 1. SERMONS, preached on several occasions, in the Island 
 
 of Barbadoes. Octavo, 7s. 
 
 2. THE SCRIPTURAL CHARACTER OF THE WES- 
 
 LEYAN-METHODIST ECONOMY. 12mo. 4s. 
 
 3. INFANT BAPTISM SCRIPTURAL. 12mo. 3s. 
 
 4. MEMOIR OF Mrs. SHREWSBURY, &c. ; or the Family 
 
 Memorial. 18mo. Is. 
 
 5. REASONS FOR TEETOTALISM. Id. 
 
 6. ALCOHOL AGAINST THE BIBLE, AND THE BI- 
 
 BLE AGAINST ALCOHOL. 4d. 
 
 7. A CHECK TO ALCOHOL DRINKERS. 6d. 
 
 8. A PLAN OF WEEKLY INTERCESSION. Id. 
 
 9. A DISCOURSE AGAINST WORLDLY PLEASURES, 
 
 as Theatres, Races, Balls, &c. 6d.