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DIPPING 
 
 Not the only 
 
 O F 
 
 BAPTIZING. 
 
 And fuppofing it were, yet a ftrid Adherence 
 to it not obligatory on us. 
 
 S^^ 
 
 Scriptural and Primitive Manner ^3 
 
 In Christ Jesus, neither Circumcifion availeth any 
 fhing^ nor Vncircumcifion^ hut a new Creature* Galat. 
 vi. 15. 
 
 yyOf^€.A.c<<^^>-/\> i/ ' y oK^qoocL — 
 
 L O N D O N I, 
 
 Printed and Sold by J. Waugh, at the Turk's Head in 
 Lombard-Street* M DCC LI. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 H E Subjedl of the enjuing 'Treatife is, 
 in it felf of fo little Moment^ that it 
 may feem needful to apologize for offer- 
 ing it to public View. But no one 
 knows any Thing of the Hijlory of Re- 
 ligion^ that hath not feen^ with 
 Aflonifhment^ the power of that Name to make little 
 Things become great ; to give Trifles afolemn Air \ and 
 to exalt Circumftances and Modes into Objects ^ not of 
 Men^s grave Attention only^ but^ of their warmefi Paf- 
 fions and ZcaL 
 
 Even under the Chriftian Difpenfation^ that rational^ 
 fublime and fpiritual Scheme of JVorfhip^ the Minds ofit'*s 
 Profeffors have with great violence been agitated^ and 
 fierce Controverfies have arofe upon the moft frivolous 
 Points — Whether the Sacramental Supper is to be eaten 
 with leavened, or with unleavened Bread ? — Whe- 
 ther Eailer is to be kept pre cifely on the fourteenth Day 
 after the firft vernal Moon : Or., not till the Sunday 
 following ? — Whether the Holy Ghoft proceeded from 
 the Father and the Son : Or ^ from the Father by the 
 Son ? — Whether the Chrifiian Laity were tocrofs them- 
 felves with two Fingers only : Or, whether, like the Cler- 
 gy, they might not ufe three* ? — Furious and dire Contro- 
 
 verfies 
 
 * The Church, through the vaft Empire oiRuJ/ta, was greatly 
 rent and inflamed, even to Tortures and Death itfelf, in the reign 
 of Czar Theodore, by this infignificant Difpute. Vid. Prefent 
 State of Ruffia — — Vol. I. Page Z38. Voltaire fays, a vio- 
 lent Sedition was raifed by it in Jftracan, Life oi Charles XIL 
 page 21. 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 verjtes^ to the terrible ConvuIfiGn of Kingdoms and Staies% 
 and to the infinite Reproach of the Chrillian BoBrine 
 and Namey have been kindled up in the Churchy upon 
 fuch trifling Debates, 
 
 Of much the fame Moment is the V 6ml here difcujjed y 
 VIZ, whether Baptifm is to be adminifteredby Dipping the 
 Body under Water \ Or, i^y Sprinkling or Pouring on, 
 
 I'here are fome worthy and good Perfons — {extremely 
 Jlrange to confider I) who lay Jo great ftrefs upon this tri- 
 vial Circumftance in Religion, as to allow none to he 
 baptized Chriftians but thofe who have been dipt — l^o 
 Ireak d?^ chrillian Fellowfliip, and renounce Commu- 
 nion as Saints, with Men of the mofi fhiyiing Piety, if 
 they have not been thus baptized — And even to think 
 themfehcs obliged to be unwearied in raifmg Doubts and 
 Anxieties in the Breafts of Such, concerning the Validity 
 and Truth of their Baptifm. 
 
 Many pious, but weak Minds have been greatly dif- 
 turbed, not to fay diftrefled, with Scruples on this Head. 
 When they hear it confidently affirmed — That Baptifm 
 evermore, and conftantly, implies Dipping — That no 
 Perfon ever was, or can be, baptized, who has not been 
 dipt — And confequently, that themfelves are as really un- 
 baptized, as Pagans or Turks — ItfMs them with con- 
 cern. They doubt whether they are not wanting in Obe- 
 dience /^ an exprefs Command and Inflitution ofQn r i s t . 
 
 Effe^ually to remove every Scruple of this kind, to 
 fhew, that there is no Occafion of putting this Yoke up- 
 on the Neck of the Difciples, and to vindicate Ch r is- 
 TiANiTY from the unworthy Imputation of laying fo 
 great a Strefs uponfo merely circumftantial ^/^i external 
 a Thing, is the Deftgn of the enfuing Treat ife. How far 
 itfhall be effedual to anfwer this Purpofe — is humbly left 
 to the Favour of Heaven -, and to the calm and impartial 
 Judgment of thofe into whofe Hands it may happen tofalL 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 Is Chriftian-Baptifm to be adminijlered on-- 
 LY by Immerfion, or Dipping the Body 
 under Water? or^ may it not also, by 
 Sprinkling, or Pouring Water on it? 
 
 H E following Tradt is intend- 
 ed to prove, 
 
 First, That Bipping the 
 Body under Water, was not 
 the only antient and fcriptural 
 way of Baptizing, And 
 
 Secondly, That, if it was, yet a ftrid ad- 
 herence to it, is not obligatory upon us : but 
 that this Circumftance may, very lawfully and 
 properly, be now exchanged for that of Sprink- 
 ling or Pouring, 
 
 B SECT 
 
^ ' Dipping^ not the only Jcriptural 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 IT IS, Firfty to be fhewn — That Dipping the 
 Body under Water, was not the oitly antient 
 and fcriptural way of Baptizing. To which pur- 
 pofe, the three following Things are premifed j 
 in which all are agreed. 
 
 I. That Baptifm (i. e. Water- Baptifm) is but 
 an emblematical^ or figurative Thing. 
 
 II. That the general nature or defign of this 
 Emblem or Figure^ is — by the application of Wa- 
 ter, to fignify or betoken a Perfon to be holy or 
 clean ; appropriated to, and fit for the divine 
 Service. And, 
 
 ^ III. That Baptifm was really a divine\n?t\tv\t\on ; 
 and, by the exprefs command of God, pradifed 
 as a religious Rite in his Church ; both Xongbefore^ 
 and at the time o^ John*s and Christ's appear- 
 ing, and beginning to baptize. 
 
 This lafi Propofttion is nor, perhaps, fo care- 
 Fully attended to, as it ought. We are. wont to 
 confider Baptifm^ as a purely Chrifiian Inftitution ; 
 and to trace it to no higher Origin than Jesus 
 Christ, or John the Baptifl, But this is cer- 
 tainly wrong. Baptifm was, unquedionably, a 
 divine Inftitution ; pradifed as a religious and facred 
 Ceremony, in the Church of God, Ages before. 
 There were cPtcKpom Ba-ZlKTuoi diverfe kinds ofBaptifms^ 
 the Apoftle exprefsly fays*, in which the fVor- 
 Jhip of God fioody under the Jeiviflj Difpenfation. 
 
 Neither 
 
 » Heb. ix, 10. 
 
arid primitive mannet^ of Baptizing. 3 
 
 Neither John^ nor our Saviour^ did properly in- 
 ftttute this Ritef: but only took this antient, 
 ilanding, religious Inftitution^ and applied it to 
 a particular Purpofe^ in their Miffion : namely. By 
 the application of Water ^ to betoken to certain Per- 
 fonsy that they fl^ouldbe accepted of God, as holy 
 and pure ; fit for his Service ^ and for a place in that 
 Churchy or Kingdom of the Mes si ah^ which was 
 then going to befet up *. 
 
 They made no alteration in it's general 'Na- 
 ture or Dejign, Baptifm, under the New Tefta- 
 ment, has the very fame general Meaning, Pur- 
 pofe or Intent, with Baptifm under the Old: 
 And is but an application of Water tofignify 
 or betoken a perfon to be holy, or confecrated to 
 the fervice of God. It is a ceremonial^ and but 
 a ceremonial, Wafhing in both. 
 
 Now, forafmuch as neither Christ, nor John 
 the Baptift, did properly inJiituiCy h\M only borrow- 
 ed or continued this before-inftituted Ceremony ; 
 and forafmuch, as it has the very fame general 
 meaning and defign under the Chriflian Scheme of 
 Worfliip, as it had under the Jewifh ; it follows, 
 that to look back to the Manner of it's admi- 
 niftration under the Oldlejlamenty will be of 
 great ufe to dired: us, as to the Manner of it's 
 adminiftration under the New, 
 
 What, then, was the Manner, in which 
 Baptifm was wont to be adminiftered 5 that is to 
 
 B 2 fay. 
 
 -f- It is a great Truth {fays Grotius) what the moft learned 
 Broughton notes, 'That Chriji infiituted no nei/j Rites, Vid. 
 Traft concernfng Communicating, &c. 
 
 * Our Lord took (fays Dr. Lightfoot) into^his Hands Bap- 
 tifm, fuch as he found it : adding only this, that he exalted 
 it to a nobler Purpofe, and to a larger Ufe. Hot; Heb-. Matt. 
 iii. 6. 
 
4 Dipping, not the only fcriptural 
 
 fay, in which Water was wont to he applied^ by 
 God's exprefs Command, to Perfons or 'Things,, 
 , io betoken them holy, and confecrated to his Service ; 
 at that Time^ and in that Church, in which both 
 John and Jesus Christ were born, and brought 
 up? Was it ONLY by Dipping wholly under 
 Water? Or, was it not also by Sprinkling, or 
 Pouring it on ? I reply — Undoubtedly by both. 
 
 That it was Ibmetimes by Dipping, there is 
 no difpute. And that it was alfo, ron:ietimes, by 
 Sprinklings or Pouring on, the Cafe is equally 
 clear. Amongft a multitude, I fhall mention 
 but the following Texts. 
 
 Levit. xiv. When a Leper, who had been 
 put out from the Camp of Ifrael (the then En- 
 clofure, or Church of God) as being unclean or 
 unholy, was again to be taken in, and received 
 to the Communion of Saints, (i. e. of the Ifraelites^ 
 the holy People) and to a free accefs to God •, 
 hy what Ceremony was it done? Sprinkling 
 Water on him, was one of the principal Rites by 
 ■which he was thus received. Verfe 7. And He, 
 the Prieft, J}:all Sprinkle upon him, that is to he 
 cleanfed from the Leprofy, and Jhall pronounce htm 
 clean. By the fame Rite alfo, of Sprinkling, 
 the infe5led Houfe was to be purified, i.e. declared 
 iholy or clean, Verfes5i, 52. 
 
 Note, It ought carefully to be remembered, 
 that the Law is exprefsly faid to be a Shadow or 
 Exemplar of the Christian Difpenfation ; and 
 the then Scheme of Worfhip, was intended to 
 be a facred Figure or Type of the prefe?it *. 
 
 Numb. viii. When the Levites wtrt to be 
 feparated from the reft of the Tribes, and con- 
 fecrated a holy Priefihood to God ('a Figure of 
 
 ChrylianSy 
 
 • Heb. viii. 5. ix. 9. x. i. Vid. Peine in Loc. 
 
4ind primitive manner of Baptizing. 5 
 
 Cbrijiians^ who, at their Baptifm, are feparated 
 from the reft of the World, and are confecrated 
 a holy Priejihood^ to off eriip fpiritual Sacrifices •\.) 
 How was it done ? Verfes 6, 7. Take the Levites, 
 from among the Children of Ifrael^ and cleanfe them : 
 And thus Jhalt thou do unto them^ to cleanfe them. 
 Sprinkle Water of purifying upon them. 
 
 Numb. xix. 11. If a Man had touched a 
 dead Body ^ and was thereby htcomt unclean y unfit 
 to approach God, and to ftand before him in 
 his Sandluary ; by what Rite was he to be declar- 
 ed clean^ and readmitted to the divine Prefence ? 
 The Water of feparation was to he Sprinkled up- 
 on him, and upon his Tent, and upon his Veffels. 
 
 Finally, When 'the IJraelites were called 
 out from among the idolatrous Egyptians \ and 
 were faniflified and fet apart as a holy People or 
 Church to God ; they were all baptised, the 
 Apoftle fays *, hy the Cloud, and by the Sea, ^v th 
 vsipgAjj, )^ iv Til Ba^affjfi ; i.e. by the Cloud ^^m/?^ 
 down Water on them, and by the Sea Sprinkling 
 them with it's Surges, as they pafled through. 
 And when they were, in the moft folemn man- 
 ner, entered into covenant with Jehovah at 
 Sinai, and formed into a Church; by what foken 
 or Rite did Mofes, the Mediator, initiate or ad- 
 mit them ? When Mofes had fpoken every precept 
 to all the People, according to the Law -, and they 
 had publickly confented and promifed to obey ; 
 He took the Blood of facrificed Beads, and Water, 
 and Sprinkled both the Book and all the People %- 
 
 Hence, then, it is indifputable ; that Sprink- 
 ling, or Pouring on Water, was one of the 
 
 principal 
 
 f I Pet. ii. 5. 
 
 * 1 Cor.-x.. 2. See more concerning this Text, p. 11. 
 
 X Jieb, ix. 19. 
 
6 Dipphig^ not the only fcriptural 
 
 principal Ways in which it was applied, by God*s 
 exprcls Command, to betoken Perfons to be holy : 
 Or, that it was a religious Ceremony^ by which 
 Men were taken from a State of Dijlance^ into a 
 State of Ne arm fs or accefs to Almighty God, in 
 the very Church,wherein John and Jesus Ch rist 
 were brought up, and from which they bor- 
 rowed this religious Rite of Baptizing — For it 
 is carefully to be obferved that this is but a bor- 
 rowed Rite, 
 
 But, perhaps, it will be replied — '« That 
 *' none of the Inftances, now mentioned, of ap» 
 -*' plying Water for Purification, were really Bap- 
 *' tiding ; for the true and the only Import of that 
 *' word is Plunging or Dipping^* — If this, indeed, 
 can be proved, all that has been alleged muft be 
 owned of little Weight. But if the contrary be 
 clearly fhewn ; if it can be evidently demon- 
 ilrated that the Word BocTrJi^a, to baptize^ is fre- 
 quently (and even generally) ufed in Scripture, 
 where the a(^ of Pouring or Sprinklings not Dip- 
 pingy is intended ; and that the above-mention'd 
 applications of Water, under the Jewifh Law^ 
 are exprefsly called Baptisms, — the Point will 
 be then fully cleared ; and, there remains no far- 
 ther room for doubt, as to this matter. But both 
 thefe, I apprehend, are very evidently to be 
 Ihewn — To begin with the latter. 
 
 I. The above-mentioned applications of Water, 
 under the JewifJoLaw^ are, in Scripture, account- 
 ed and adlually called Baptifms. For, Heb. ix. lo. 
 it is faid the Jewifh DKpGnhtion flood in meats ^ and 
 drinks^ ^??i Diverse Baptisms, Siaipopotg ^^.ttIkt- 
 fjLoii. All, who underftand the Original^ know, 
 that the words do and muft mean diverfe sorts of 
 Baptifms^ or Baptifms of different Species or kinds. 
 
 It 
 
end prmitive manner of Baptizing. 7 
 It is not faid 'ttokKoi^ many^ nor 'Tromhoa various^ 
 but J'txfpo^oti diverfey or differing Sorts, The only 
 place, in the new Teftament, where the word 
 (cT/aipopf^) is ufed, befides this, is Rom. xii. 6. 
 Where, by J'jocfpopa, x'^^^<^l^^<^ differing^ or diverfe 
 Gifts^ is indifputably meant feveral differing kinds 
 cf Gifts ; as the words following demonftrate, viz. 
 Prophecy y Teachings Rulings &c. The Word 
 BocTrlidi^-ot Baptifins, in the one Place, like the 
 Word %af/<7-/ua1a GiftSy in the other, is ufed as a 
 Genus, or general Term, under which are com- 
 prehended feveral Species or Kinds-, and, when 
 here joined with S'tottpo^oi diverfe, muft neceiTarily 
 fignify feveral different Manners, or Modes, of ap- 
 plying Water, for ceremonial Purification, un- 
 der the Jewifh Law. Some of thefe were by 
 Dipping, fome by Sprinkling or Pouring, Should, 
 then, a Perfon now fay — That there is no Bap- 
 tifm hut by Dipping, — he would mod plainly and 
 undeniably contradidV the Apqftle -, For he would 
 hereby affirm, that there is but one kind of Bap- 
 tifm •, whereas the Apoflle declares there are more 
 kinds than one *. 
 
 As, in the forecited Paflage, Rom, xii. 6. by 
 calling i\it feveral Powers in theChriftian Church, 
 viz. Prophecy, Ruling, Teaching, S'ici<popctx^{>t<^i^^'^- 
 differing Gifts, the Apoille does, undoubtedly, 
 
 pronounce 
 
 * Concerning the Senfe of the Word S'ia.(po^(^ di'verfiy 
 fee alfo lVi/do?n vii. i o. S'toc^po^A^ (pvieov Diverfities, or di- 
 njerfe Sorts ^ of Plants. Dan, vii. 19. 9«f/<?v Xiatpo^ov TOifoi 
 meLV 6jif/oy a Beaft of a Kind or Species different from all 
 other Beaits. So the Word <Pia.(po§aTi^<^ is twice ufed, in this 
 fameEpiftle. Heb.'i. 4.. and viii. 6. in both which Places, it 
 fignifies of a 'very different kind. A Name, of a very diffe- 
 rent kind : and a Minijlry, of a very different kind froni 
 their*s. 
 
8 ' Dippingy not the only fcriptural 
 
 pronounce each to be a Gift ; fo, by calling the 
 fever al Wayso^ Jewifh Purification, viz. Sprinklings 
 Pourings Dippings <^toc^c^ot bocttIktixoi differing Bap- 
 tifmss he does, as certainly and undoubtedly, pro- 
 nounce each to be a Baplifm. Yea, that the 
 Apoftle has, in thisPIace,a more particular regard 
 to the 7^ze;?/7j Sprinklings, than Dippings, 
 feems highly probable (to fay the lead) from his 
 exprefs mention of the Sprinklings, Verfe 
 13. as fome of the principal of thofe legal 
 Purifications, or differing Baptifms^ concerning 
 which he had fpoken. Verfe 10. For if the Blood 
 cf Bulls and of Goats ^ and the afhes of a Heifer y 
 (with which the Water of Purification was made) 
 Sprinkling the unclean^ fantiifieth to the Purify- 
 ing of the Flefh •, How much niore^ &c. 
 
 If any fhall imagin that the Bapiizing of Cups^ 
 Pots^ Tables^ human Bodies^ &c. is meant by thefe 
 diverfe Baptifms : The Reply is obvious. Thefe^ 
 if they mull: be all Dipt, in order to their being 
 baptized, can with no Truth or Propriety be cal- 
 led diverfe or differing kinds of Baptifms •, for they 
 are then hm one and the fame Baptifm of differ- 
 ring Things, 
 
 Here, then, is full Proof that the Scripture 
 ufes the word B^alicr/ao?, Baptifm, in fo general 
 and large a Senfe, as evidently to comprehend 
 Sprinkling, if not chiefly to intend it. Sprinkling 
 then, in the Judgment of an infpired writer^ is 
 an authentic and divinely inftituted 7nanner of 
 Baptizing. I proceed, 
 
 2. To (hew, that the word ^cfTflt^co, to baptize, 
 is frequently ufed, in Scripture, where the adt of 
 Pouring or Sprinkling, not Dipping, is intended: And, 
 that a Perfon is laid to he baptized^ when not his 
 
 whok 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizifig. 9 
 
 whole Body was plunged under IVaUr^ but when 
 Water was applied only to a Part. 
 
 Luke xi. 38. The P bar ifee, who invited our 
 Lord to dine with him, marvelled that he had 
 mt firfl been b a p t ize d before Dinner^ on » tt^cotov 
 iCd'Tfji^n. Did he expe6l that our Lord fhould 
 have plunoed bis whole Body under Water before 
 Dinner ? Undoubtedly not. But what his expec- 
 taions were, may be learnt from thofe of his Bro-^ 
 tber-Pharifees^ in the very fame Cafe, as to the Difci- 
 ples ; They found Fault with them for eating with de- 
 filed^ that is to fay ^ with unwashen Hands *. 
 + So Grotius explains it — 'ECaTfli^n baptized', that 
 is, fays he, €v;44o ra^x^^f^?, bad not firfl wafhed 
 his Hands, And " Dr, Pocock obferves, and 
 " quotes Beza as faying, that Ba7rJ/^sc8-aj, to be 
 *' baptized {Luke xi. 38.) means the fame as "km^oct 
 ** and x^e"*'^'!^^ io wafh^ and to wafh the Hands. 
 •' And fince that wafhing the Hands might be 
 *' done, either by putting them into the Wa« 
 *' ter, or by pouring Water on them ; here is 
 *' a Word ufed, iCctTrlj^Hy which comprehends 
 *' both the one and the other of thefe Ways t'\ 
 Mark vii. 3, 4. The Pharifees^ and all the Jews^ 
 when they come from the Market^ iolv //« Cix-^Krcovlon ex* 
 cept they (3r^ b a p t ize d, eat not. Did they think 
 themfelves obliged, on every fuch Occafion, to 
 be Dipt wholly wider IVater ? Abfurd to ima- 
 gine ! For it is faid, not only the Pharifees^ but 
 
 C ALL 
 
 * Mark vii. 2. 
 
 f Note, Aaro7t and his Sons, even when they went into the 
 Tabernacley and officiated in the moft folemn manner, to offer 
 up the Burnt- offering upon the altar unto God ; are direded 
 {Exodus XXX. 1 8 — 2 1.) to nvaj^ their Hands and their Fget at 
 the Laver^ Verfe 19 — (not to bathe the whole Body) And 
 again, Verfe z\. So fiall they nuajh their Hands and their 
 Feety that they die not. 
 
 J Dr. Wall's Defence, ^r, page iii^ 
 
lo Dippings not the only Jcrtptural 
 
 ALL the Jews — If the Pharifaic Severity might, 
 poiTibly, fubjedl thofe very precife Perfons to fuch 
 a total Immerfiofiy at all Times, even in the depth 
 of Winter, whenever they came from Markets it 
 can never be imagined, that all the Jews <^\di 
 the fame. Br, Pocock proves, from Maimonides 
 and the whole Body of the Rabbins^ that the 
 Jews had no fuch cuftom \\. Some, indeed, to 
 weaken this Teftimony of the Rabbins^ have al- 
 leged the many whimfical and (illy notions with 
 which their Writings abound : but this is, cer- 
 tainly, it ielf extremely weak. The enquiry is 
 zho\M2L national cujiom^ a common, familiar, well 
 known Fa5i. Were their Heads fo (trangely 
 turned that they could not tranfmit to us a cre- 
 dible Account what their natmial Ufage was as to 
 wajhing the Hands? Should 3.Papift^ or Mahometan 
 be called into a Court of Judicature to give Tef- 
 timony to aF^y public, indifferent Fa^ •, would 
 not any Perfon draw upon himfelf the fmiles of 
 the Court, who (hould attempt to fet afide their 
 Evidence^ by alleging their abfurd notions and 
 Ipeculatlons in Religion ? 
 
 Others aware of the Force of this Text, en- 
 deavour to evade it by a different Rendering, viz. 
 And what they buy in the Market^ unlefs it be wajhed^ 
 dipt, they eat not.-\ But this will, by no means, 
 hvip off the difficulty. They might, indeed, 
 thus baptize^ or dip, the Flejh and Herbs they 
 brought from the Market; but did they alfo 
 dip their Corn, Honev^ Meal^ Salty Oyl, Milk^ 
 &c ? ' 
 
 Other-s objedf,— That, not to fuppofe the 
 Evangelift here to mean a total Immerfion^ by 
 
 |] Vid. Wall, Ibid. 
 
 "I Dr. Gale's Reflexions, l^c. page 167. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 1 1 
 
 Cdm\tleov]»ty is to make him guilty of an infipid 
 Tautology. For after having faid, Verfe 3. The 
 Pharifees^ and all the Jews^ except they wajh their 
 Hands oft^ eat not. He would not immediately 
 have added, Verfe 4. And when they come fr om the 
 Market^ except they wojh they eat tz^/— had not this 
 Jatter wafhing been fomething different from the 
 former. Bur, why not ? Is it not quite proper 
 to fay — The Phanjees and all the Jews^ except they 
 wajh their Hands oft (-TrvyiJ.n fedulo, crebro, faepif- 
 fime, fo the Syriac. Cafaub. Vulg. Erafm. Arab. 
 i. e. frequently and carefully) eat not. And (particu- 
 larly, one occafion, in which they are wont thus 
 carefully to wafh, is) when they come from the Mar- 
 ket \ for then, except they wafh they eat not. 
 
 In the fame Mark vii. 4. we read of the 
 Wafhing (Gr. Ba7rlicr//»f the Baptisms) of Cups^ 
 and Pots^ and KAiuwy of Beds, Did they wafh 
 their Couches and Beds by putting them wholly un- 
 der Water ? No ; this Word BocjIktiahs Baptifms^ 
 fays Dr. Lightfoot *, does not always fignify Dip- 
 ping or putting under Water ; but fometimes 
 wafhing only, or even Sprinkling. 
 
 I Cor. X. I, 2. The Apoftle fays — All our 
 Fathers were under the Cloudy andall pajfed through the 
 Sea, and were all baptized into Moks, iCctTrTt- 
 ffAvjo £v TM vE^fXM iy iv Tw BocXet(Tffit by the Cloud and by 
 the Sea. But how were they baptized in, or by, 
 the Cloudy and by the Sea ? By being immerfed 
 intOy or totally overwhelmed with them } Mofi 
 certainly, not. The Egyptians were thus baptized : 
 The Ifraelites were not. For it is faid, Exod. xiv. 
 21, 22. The Lord caufed the Sea to go backy by a 
 pong Eaft Windy all that Nighty and made the Sea 
 
 C 2 DRY 
 
 * Vid. Foil. Syn. in Loc 
 
1 2 Dipping, not the only [criptural 
 
 DRY Land; and the Waters were divided; 
 And the children of Ifrael went into the m'ldft of the 
 Sea, upon the dk^ Ground ; and the Waters were 
 a IVall unto them on their right Hand, and on their 
 left. Note, though they might podibly be faid to 
 be covered or overwhelmed by the Cloud \ yet fo 
 were they not, nor could they be, by the Sea. 
 The Sea, it is undeniable, never overwhelmed, or 
 covered, thenn at all : Yet behold 1 they are ex- 
 prefsly faid to he baptized in, or hy, the Sea, as 
 v,/ell as by the Cloud. Their being baptized, then, 
 by the Sea, muft fignify fomething elfe befides 
 being inmerfed into, or covered or overwhelmed 
 with it. What, then, does it mean ? Or How 
 were they baptized by it ? — As God fent a ftrong 
 Eaft-Wtnd to drive back and divide the Waters -, 
 the fame Inftrument was, no doubt, employed 
 to continue them in this State. Now by the 
 mighty Agitation into which the Waters were 
 caft, by this violent Repulfion-, and the ftrong 
 Wind at the fame Time furioufly blowing ; it is 
 eafy to conceive the faffing Ifraelites , muft be 
 Sprinkled with the Spray of the toffing Waves, 
 and thus were baptized by it. 
 
 Here, then, is another inconteftableinftance 
 of a Scripture- Baptifm without Immerfion. The 
 Ifraelites are exprefsly faid to be baptized in, or by, 
 the Sea, as well as by the Cloud -, yet no one will 
 prefume to fay they were buried ov overwhelmed in 
 it. 
 
 In further Confirmation of this Senfe of the 
 Word, CocTfl^^eo to baptize, I beg leave to afk — 
 What is the real Nature or Befign of Chriftian 
 Bapiifm ? It is unqueftionably but an emblematical^ 
 or figurative Thing. But what is the Water, in 
 t his religious Rite, defigned to figure pr reprefent^ 
 
 Undoubt- 
 
and primitive manner of BaptiztJig. 13 
 
 Undoubtedly the Holy-Ghost *. This is fre- 
 quently, in Scripture, ipoken of and promifed, 
 under the Emblem of iVater f : And is repre- 
 fented as the great Inftrument of purifying^ re- 
 Jrejhing and Jirengthening the Soul, as Water is of 
 the Body. Accordingly, John fays, I indeed 
 baptize you with Water ♦, but He^ Chrift, Jhall 
 baptize you with the Holy- Ghost — Except a Per^ 
 fin is born ^/ W a t e r, and of the Spirit — Re- 
 pent, and be baptized, every one of you, and ye 
 [hall receive the gift of the Holy- Ghost — Can 
 any forbid Water, that thefe fhould not be baptized^ 
 who have received the ]rioLY -Ghost } The Wash- 
 ing (?/ Regeneration and the renewing of the Holy- 
 Ghost It is, therefore, carefully to be ob- 
 
 ferved, that the Water, which in Chrijtian 
 Baptifm is applied to the Body, being intended 
 as an Emblem of the Holy-Spirit, which is 
 promifcd to the Soul, to fanofify and cleanfe it ; 
 it will throw great Light on the prefent Subje(5t 
 to take notice in what Manner this Spirit 
 is reprefented, in Scripture, as communicated or 
 given to us. Are we, generally, reprefented as 
 immerfed into, or overwhelmed with the Spirit: 
 Or elfe, as having it poured down upon us ? 
 Undoubtedly by the latter. 
 
 By one Spirit we are all baptized into one 
 Body — And , He fhall ^hVTiz^you with the Hol y- 
 Ghost and with Fire, How was this done ? The 
 Scripture itfeli informs us — viz. By the Holy- 
 Ghost defcending, and Sitting on them, in 
 
 the 
 
 * %zt Luh iii. 16. John iii. 5. A^s i. 5. ii. 38. x. 47. 
 1 Cor. xii. 13. Tii^ iii. 5. 
 
 t Ifai, xliv. 3. ^z^^.xxxvi. z^, 27. J6lni\. 10, 14, 
 Johnv'n, 38, 39. 
 
14 Dippings not the only fcriptural 
 
 the form of cloven Tongues of Fire *. Note, They 
 were not overwhelmed^ or covered^ with the Firey 
 when they were baptized with it •, but it only fell 
 upon, and refiedon them. And fee how St. Peter 
 remarks upon this FoM, namely, their being 
 baptized with the Holy-Ghost, and k^srejiingon 
 them in the form of Fire! Verfes i6, 17, 18. 
 This is that, which was fpoken by the Prophet Joel, 
 and itfhall come to pafs in the laft Bays, faith God, 
 I will POUR OUT of my Spirit upon all Flefh — 
 And o}^ my Servants, and oi^ my Hand- maids I will 
 POUR out, in thoje Bays, of my Spirit. Ob- 
 ferve, Th is is that which was fpoken — i. e. By 
 this FaB, of our Baptifm with the Spirit, is that 
 
 Prophecy, I will pour out, fulfilled So A5ls 
 
 X. 44, 45. And xi. 15, 16. When Peter, and 
 the Jews which were with him, faw the Holy- 
 Ghost iTTi'TrzCriy '^£}iKiX^Oil iTTt TOCiSWy FALL ON", 
 
 and POURED out upon the Gentiles-, then re- 
 membered I, fays he, the word of the Lord, how that 
 he faid, John indeed baptized with fVater -, but 
 ye fhall be baptized with the Holy-Ghost. 
 Hence, then, it is moft evident, that this Pour- 
 ing OUT of /^^ Spirit, wh'rch Peter faw, was 
 /to Baptism with the Spirit of which Christ 
 fpake ', and of which Baptifm with Water was an 
 intended Emblem or Sign. 
 
 See alfo, how the Apoftle Paul, Tit.m. 5, 6. 
 joins the Sign, and the Thing ftgnified -, and illu- 
 Itrates the one, by the other. The wafhing of Re- 
 generation (i. e. the baptifmal Water, the Sign) 
 and the renewing of the HolyGhofl, (the Thing ftg- 
 nified by it, not, with which we are overwhelmed, 
 nor into which we are dipt, but; which he hath 
 
 Shed 
 * A^s ii. 3. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, i ^ 
 
 Sh E D £<t fX^j' POURED OUT UPON US ahundantly — 
 So then, the Manner in which we all, by o?ie Spi- 
 rit, are BAP TiZET> into one Body, is by having 
 that Spirit /hed down, or poured out upon 
 us ', and of the imparting to us ibis Sp i ri t, the 
 baptifmal Water is the appointed Emblem, Repre- 
 fentation or Sign. Let it hence, then, be now 
 fairly and impartially judged — In what manner 
 this Water is mofl fignijicantly applied — If Bap- 
 tifm, by Immerfion^ be allowed to be more figni- 
 ficative of a Death unto Sin, as is ufually urged 
 from Colofs, ii. 1 2 -, Sprinkling or Pouring on, furely, 
 is much more fignificative of the promife of the 
 Holy-Spirit, and of it's cleanfing, fupport- 
 ing, and quickening Influences ; which is the 
 principal Thing intended to be reprefentedy and 
 Jhewed forth^ in this Ceremony. 
 
 I beg leave farther to obferve — In the Chriftian 
 Scheme, every true Difciple is reprefented as be- 
 ing confecrated a King, and a Prieft ; a royal 
 priefthoodto God *, when admitted into the Chri- 
 ftian Church. Now the divinely-appointed Rite 
 of Confecration to thefe Offices, was Un^fion^ or 
 Pouring on them the facred Oyl. But the 
 Baptism ofChriftians, is their Inauguration in- 
 to thefe Offices ; and the Holy-Ghost, repre- 
 fented by the baptifmal Water, is exprefsly called 
 the Un^ion or Anointing f , by w^hich we are con- 
 fecrated to them. Now Baptifm by Affufion, is 
 -a fignificant and lively Emblem of this UnEiion 
 or Confecration \ whereas, in the mode of Immer- 
 fion, this part of the allufion is entirely loft. 
 
 Ag A IN. Was not the baptifmal Water defign- 
 ed to fignify and reprefent, that purging from an 
 
 evil 
 
 * I Vet. ii. 9, Kev. v. lO. 
 f I John ii. 20, 27. 
 
1 6 Dtpphjg^ not the only fcriptural 
 
 evil Confcience \ that chanfing or Purification ; which 
 we obtain by the Blood of Christ ? But, are 
 we ever fpoken of in Scripture as overwhelmed 
 with^ or dipt into, that Blood of the Son of God ? 
 Is it not, on the contrary, always reprefented as 
 fprinkled upon us ? 
 
 Final l y ,The Circumflances or State of thofe 
 in the Ark*^ isfaid to bt a Figure, or Refemblance, 
 of Chriftian Baptifm ; but they were not dipt into 
 the Water and taken up again ; as it is contended 
 baptized Perfons ought to be 5 but only had Wa- 
 ter poured down upon them. 
 
 From thefe Obfervations on the Senfe of the 
 Word, Bit7r7/^w to baptize, in the New Teftamenti 
 We proceed to it's Ufe in the greek Verfion of the 
 old, and in the Apocrypha, And here it is found 
 but in the/<?//r following places. 
 
 EccLus. xxxiv. 26. The Perfon ^\\o was pu- 
 rified after the touch of a dead Body, is called 
 Cci7rji(^oim'^, one baptized. Now the Ceremony of 
 his Purification confided cbiefiy, if not entirely, in 
 Sprinkling Water upon him , See Numb. xix. 
 18. And a clean Perfon Jhall take Hyjfop and dip it 
 in the Water, ^;?^ Sprinkle it upon the Tent, and 
 upon him that touched a Bone, &c. And this Wa- 
 ter which was to be fprinkled, is emphatically 
 and exprefsly called the Water of Separation, and 
 a Purification for Sin, Verfe 9. There is mention 
 indeed Verfe 19. of wafdng his Cloaths and bathing 
 himfelf in Water. But this may, pofTibly, be un- 
 der (food not of the jprinkled, but of /Z?^ Sprink- 
 ler ; who, it is plain from Verfe 21. contracted 
 a defilement from his fprinkling, and even touching 
 the water of Separation ; But as for the Perfon 
 fprinkled^ from Verfe 12. it feems to follow that 
 
 the 
 
 * I P(t. iii. 21. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 17 
 
 the mere Sprinkling the Water on him, the third 
 and the feventhT>2Lys,^ was all requifite to his clean/- 
 iftg. But fuppofing that he was alfo obliged to 
 i^athe his Flejh •, it is mod evident that this Bathing 
 was not that Application of Water in which the Cc* 
 remony of hisCleanfing chiefly conjifted^ nor on which 
 his Purification is made to depend, but //^^Sprink- 
 ling // upon him. This fully appears from Verfes 
 13, 20. where the Perfon, who had negle^ed thk 
 ceremonial Purification, is threatened to be cutoff. 
 For what ? For not having kathed his Body ? No^ 
 thing like it. No, but in each diftindl threaten- 
 ing, his Guilt is exprefsly made to confift, in his 
 NOT having the water of Furification Sprinkled 
 upon him. And the Apoftle^ it is obfervable, fpeak- 
 ing of this very fame Purification^ makes the effica- 
 cy of the Ceremony to confift entirely in the 
 Sprinkling ; without the lead mention oAthe 
 Bathing, For if the Blood of Bulls and of Goats , and 
 the Afhes of a Heifer^ (with which this Water of 
 Purification was made) S p r i n k l i n g /^^ unclean^ 
 fanEiifieth to the purifying of the Flefh^ how much 
 more^ &c *. But the Perfon thus purified is here 
 called BA7f\7^oiJ.iv^ ONE baptized. 
 
 In Judith xiu 7. It is faid — She went out^ in the 
 Nighty into the Valley of Bethulia andwafhed ;^ iCa.^- 
 li(iro and WAS BAPTIZED, /«^ Fountain of Water ^ 
 by the Camp. Did fhe dip her whole Body in this 
 Fountain of Water .? Yes, fome earneftly con- 
 tend. But utterly without Reafon, and againft 
 all Probability. For as there appears to have 
 been but this/«^/^ Fountain in the valley of Bethu- 
 lia ; at, clofe by, or around which {iin. 7«^ ^w>«f 
 Verfe 3.) an Army of above two hundred thoufand 
 Soldiers lay incamped, it is the height of abfurdi- 
 D Vf 
 
 * Heh. jx. 1 3, 
 
i8 Dippings not the only fcriptural 
 ty to iQiagine that Judith^ in the Night, could 
 with any Convenience or Modefty unclothe her 
 felf and plunge her whole Body therein : Or, if 
 Ihe could ; that the Soldiers would have fuffered 
 it ; in a Country, where IFater was both fo much 
 needed and fo fcarce ; and fo prodigious an Ar- 
 my, v/ith it's infinite Multitude of Attendants and 
 Cattle, were to be continually fupplied from it. 
 When therefore it is faid, fhe iCa.7f\i^iro zv m moL- 
 ^iy-CoKi) tTTt T«? ^i)yi]i la vS'dLJ'^ * wns baptized in the 
 Camp^ at the Fountain of Water ^ (this is the exadl 
 rendering) it may be left to any one to judge — 
 Whether, fhe was totally immerfed, or had the Wa- 
 ter applied only to a Part of her Body, This, then, 
 muft be accounted another very clear and incon- 
 tef table Inftance^ where a Perfon is faid to be hap- 
 ttzed^ without being overwhelmed, 
 
 Isaiah xxi. 4. It is faid, n Avo[jLia [jle Cocrlt^c-i 
 Iniquity baptizes me. This Paffage is confefTedlyan 
 Error of the feventy. But it feems to allude to a 
 Form of fpeaking exceeding common in theScrip- 
 tures, where God is reprefented as Pouring out 
 his Fury or Wrath, upon Tranfgreflbrs. Sojer. 
 xiv. 16. I will POUR their Wickednefs upon them, 
 and Rev. xvi. 2. The Vengeance Heaven 
 executes upon Kingdoms and Nations is repre- 
 fented as POURED OUT from a Vial^ or Cup, Now, 
 the penal eflefls of Sin being thus ufually repre- 
 fented as poured out upon Men ; it is a beautiful and 
 eafy Figure to fpeak of Iniquity as pouring 
 them out. 
 
 The only remaining Paflage is, 2 Kings v. 14. 
 ^hen went he^ (Naaman) down and dipt himfelf 
 iCoiTrliffcno wafhed or baptized himfelf) y^i;^;2 timesy 
 
 in 
 
 * Note, It is not a? 'Trviym which might be rendered in 
 I he Fountain \ hut vjt t^ 7r)]yv]i at the Fountain, 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 19 
 in Jordan, according to the faying of the man of God. 
 This is the only Place, in the whole Bible^ where 
 CA'7f\i{co is rendered to dip ; nor is it all necejfary, 
 that it htfo rendered here. Naawan, it is plain, 
 expeded that the Prophet (hould have come and 
 flj'oke his Hand over the Place, and recove- 
 red the Leper See Verfe 11. Jnftead of this, 
 he bids him — Go^ and wafh f« Jordan Seven 
 Times. Verfe 10. ^hen went he down (\. e. ei- 
 ther from his Chariot, or from Samaria to the 
 River Jordan) and BCcfTrlKrocTo wafhed feven Times, 
 according to the Saying — It is now enquired — Whcr 
 ther he plunged himfelf all over feven times ? Or, 
 whether he only fprinkled or poured Water feven 
 Times upon the leprous Place ? — Thereis not hing 
 in the Exprejfwn,(by which the Command is given,) 
 AKc-a/ wajhy to determine it ; for this may be alike 
 underftood either of a totals or a partial^ wafti- 
 ing ; but there is a remarkable Circumfiance which 
 feems to give it flrongly for the latter : Which is 
 this. The Prophet, in commanding him to 
 wajh Seven Times, alludes, no doubt, to the 
 Manner of cleanfing the Leper appointed by the 
 Jewifh Law. Now there were two ways of ap- 
 plying Water to the Leper^s Body, injoined by 
 that Law •, both alike commanded, and necefifary 
 to his Cleanfing, viz. Bathings and Sprinkling : 
 The former. Bathings to be ufed but once ; the 
 latter. Sprinklings to be done Seven Times. See 
 Levit. xiv. 7, 8. When, therefore, the Prophet 
 bids him — JVaJb Seven Times, it is much more 
 natural to underftand it of Sprinkling, or Pouring 
 Water, Seven TiMESuponthe leprous Part (over 
 which he expefled the Prophet fhould have 
 firoked his Hand) than of Dipping his whole Body 
 Seven Times -, of which kind of wafhing ihtvQ 
 P 2 '^ 
 
20 Dippings not the only fcriptural 
 
 )s not the leaft Footftep nor Shadow in the Law-^ 
 So the blind Man is commanded, JgIm ix. 7, 
 Go wafij in the Fool of Siloam. When not his 
 *whole Body^ doubtlefs, but only his Eyes^ he* 
 Jmeared with Clay^ were to be waftied. 
 
 Thus have we confidered the Scripture Senfe 
 of the word ^fl;-7i{« to baptize ; and have, it is 
 prefumed, fully proved it to be ufed when the 
 Ad of Pourings or Sprinklings not Dipping is in- 
 tended — Amongft a Multitude of Authorities 
 which might be produced from other JVriters^ 
 in confirmation of the fame, I fhall only beg 
 ieave to mention one from Origen *. He is 
 Ipeaking of John\ Baptifm ; and confidering 
 him as the Elias^ he fays — " How came you 
 >' to think that Elias when he (hould come would 
 *' baptize^ who did not, in y^-^^^'s time, baptize 
 " the Wood upon the Altar, but orders the Priefts 
 " to do that \ not only once, but fays do it a 
 *« fecondTime,and they did it the fecond Time — 
 *' He therefore who did not himfelf^^p/zz^thenj 
 " but affigned the Work toothers, £s?<:." — Now 
 the A5i which Origen here calls Baptizing^ and 
 which Elias ordered the Priefts to perform, was 
 not Dipping the Wood into Water, but Pour- 
 iNG Water on it. See i Kings xviii. 33. Fill four 
 Barrels of Water ^ and pour it — on the Wood. 
 
 The Force of the Word Ca.if\i{a having been 
 thus carefully examined, it may, in the opinion 
 of fome, at leaft, throw fome Light on this En- 
 quiry, to obferve — That as Water-Baptifm is 
 conteffedly but 2. figurative Thing ; fo the Scrip- 
 tures frequently fpeak of God's giving or in> 
 parting to us thofe very fpiritual Blejfings^ which 
 the Water in chriftian Baptifm was defigned to 
 
 re- 
 * Comment, in Joan. p. ii6. D. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing. 21 
 
 reprejent as given or imparted, under the Figure 
 of Sprinkling or Pouring, Thus, when 
 JD^i;/^ prays — Purge me with Hjfop * (alluding 
 to the Rite of Sprinkling wiih HyJJop) end Ijhall 
 he clean. He means the very fame Tbing^ v\z. 
 Pardon, or Juftification, which is fignifieJ by the 
 haptifmal Water^ correfponding to which are the 
 v^ords oi Ananias^ yf^i xxii. 16. Artfe^ and he 
 haptized^ and wajh away thy Sins. When Ezekiel -f 
 fpeaks of God's gathering the Jews from a- 
 mong the Heathen, purging them from their 
 Urtcleannefs, and forming them into a Church, 
 or peculiar People under his Protedion (the very 
 Things which are intended to be represented by 
 Chriftian Baptifm) what Figure does he ufe? Iwill 
 Sprinkle clean Water upon them^ and they Jhall 
 he clean. So when Ijaiah defcribes the Bleflings 
 of the Messiah's Kingdom,, or of the Chrifiian 
 Bifpenfation (when the Bleffmg of Abraham, even 
 the Promife of the Spirit, was to come upon the 
 Nations %) he does it under the fame Figure — He 
 ffjall Sprinkle many Nations \\, And , / will 
 POUR Water upon him that is thirfty^ and floods 
 upon the dry Ground \ I will pour my Spirit 
 upon thy Seed, and my Bleffing upon thine Offspring §. 
 Now from thefe, and other like Paflages, it may 
 be fairly argued thus — Forafmuch as the Water 
 in Chriftian Baptifm applied to the Body, is con- 
 fefledly but an emblematical ox figurative Thing, 
 and was intended to reprefent \omt fpiritual Blef- 
 fing to be imparted to the Soul ; and forafmuch 
 as this fpiritual Bleffmg^ which is intended to be 
 reprefented by it, is in the^/^Teftament often fpo- 
 ken of, as to be given when the new fhould take 
 
 place, 
 
 *P/al. li. 7. f EzeLxxxvu 25. J G«/. iii. 14. j| I/ai, 
 lii. 15, i xliv. 3. 
 
22 Dippings not the only fcripiural . 
 
 place, under the Emblem of Water fprinkled or 
 poured out \ it follows, that if the Word QcLiriZa 
 to baptize will at all admit of this Senfe, then it is 
 perfe(5lly agreeable to the Analogy of Scripture to 
 adminiftcr the baptifmal Water by Sprinkling or 
 Pouring. 
 
 It further (Irengthens this Argument to ob- 
 f^rve — That thefe very fpiritual Bleffings, of which 
 the baptifmal Water was the appointed Emblem or 
 Figure^ are in the New Teftament alfo fpoken of 
 as a^mlly imparted to us under the Figure of 
 Sprinkling or Pouring. Thus, we are faid to have 
 eur Hearts Sprinkled from an evil Confcience ^ 
 or a confcioufnefs of Guilt. To be come to the 
 Blood of Sprinkling f. To be chofen through 
 San^ifcation of the Spirit, and Sprinkling of 
 the Blood of Jesus %. And to have an Un5iion, 
 or Anointings from the Holy One H, poured on us — 
 Now what, i afk, is meant by all thefe emble- 
 matical and figurative Expreflions ? Is it not 
 Remiffton, Juflificntion, or the Holy-Spirit : the very 
 Things which the Water ^ in this chriftian Cere- 
 mony, was intended to be an Emblem of ? 
 
 Bu T it is objeded — J ohn was baptizing in Mnon 
 BECAUSE there was much Water there \. Does 
 not this very clearly and certainly imply that he 
 baptized the Multitudes by Dipping? I apprehend, 
 not at all. For there were other necefjdry and 
 important Ufes for ** 'ttokkx vJ'ctlcc many Waters be- 
 fides Dipping the Multitudes ; other weighty and 
 juft Caufes why John fhould chufe this well-wa^ 
 tered and fruitful Country for the fcene of his Mi- 
 niftrations ; and not that defert and barren Region, 
 
 where 
 
 * Heh, X. 22. t xii. 24. t ^ ^^^' 1- 2. || i John ii. 
 20, 27. § John iii. 23. ** croA^a \j$^o\(L ma>iy Ri^w 
 lets, a well-watered Country. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizifig. 23 
 
 where he before fojourned -, that dry and thirfiy 
 Land (as the Pfabiift * calls it) where no Water is. 
 Let it be confidered — How valuable and fcarce 
 Water was in thofe Parts— How hot the Climate 
 —How numerous the crouds which flocked to 
 John's Baptifm — From how dijiant Parts they 
 came — How long they tarried to hear his Do6lrine 
 and Inttrudions ; for the mere a(5l of Baptizing 
 was the leaft part of John^s Miflion and of the 
 People's End in flocking to him — Let thefe be 
 confidered, and there will appear fundry good 
 Reafons for his chufing this well watered SLudfruii^ 
 ful Country hr tht place of his Preaching, with-. 
 out any regard had to the convenience of Dip- 
 ping, That THIS therefore was the Reafon of his 
 making this Choice, does by no means appear. 
 So 2 Chron. xxxii. 4. They flopped all the Foun- 
 tains and Brooks — Saying, why jhould the Kings of 
 Aflyria come and find muchWater? For what ? 
 Why, to drink and refrefli their Army, 
 
 And here it cannot be improper to 2Sk — If 
 thefe multitudes were all dipt 5 How was it done ? 
 Were thty naked? This Modefty forbids. Had 
 they all Change of Raiment, to undrefs, and 
 put on dry Apparel, when they came out of 
 the Water ? This the Vafl:nefs of the Multi- 
 tudes, the Opennefs of the Country, and the 
 great Diftance whence they came, will not eafily 
 admit. And that they flood in their wet Gar- 
 ments, and hearkened to John's Dodtrine ; or 
 travelled in them many Miles to their Homes, 
 feems equally improbable. I pretend to no Cer- 
 tainty that John did not dip at all. But, as he 
 had feen, by the exprefs Appointment of God, 
 Water applied both Ways to the human Body, 
 
 for 
 
 * P/aL Ixiii. i. 
 
24 Dipping y not the only fcriptiiral 
 
 forceremoiiial Purification, viz. by Sprinkling zn& 
 Dipping ; and boib ibefeare by the Spirit, which 
 fen^ him to baptize^ adlually called Baptifms^ it is 
 poflible, he might ule both ways of Adminiftra- 
 tion, according as the circumitances of Time, 
 Place, and Perfons required *. 
 
 So 
 
 * It feems an Obfervation of fome Weight in this De- 
 bate — — 1 hat as Water was ufed b/ di'vine Appointment 
 Uiider the Jeixjijh La^ in a figurative and facramental Man- 
 ner, or as an Emblem of moral Purity ; and the Chrijiian 
 Cere?nony of Baptizing is, undoubtedly, adopted from this 
 Uf :ge under the Laiv ; fo the only Way, in which one Perfon 
 (the Priejl) was ever direfted or known to ufe it upon a no- 
 THER, for xhh fymbolical ox facramental Purpofe, was by 
 Sprinkling or Pouring it on, never by Dipping him into it. 
 
 There were di'ver/e Baptifms under the Lanju: Heh. ix. to. 
 Thefe Baptifms were generally performed by the Priefl ; 
 but the Prieji amongft the 'various Rites he is direfted to ufe, 
 to fan5iify and cleanfe a Perfon, and recei've him into the 
 Church, is never oncedireded to dip or plunge him in Water, 
 but only to fpr inkle or pour it upon him. 
 
 The Prieil's Plunging a Perfon, in order to his Separa- 
 tion oxCleanfing, is a Ceremony oxixi^firange^ and abfolutely 
 unheard of through all the facred Records. Perfons were, in- 
 deed, on fome Gccafions, directed to plunge or bathe them- 
 fel'ves ; But that one Man Ihould take another, and plunge 
 him under Water, is a Thing utterly uncoimnanded^ unprece- 
 dented, and unkno'wn, throughout the whole Conftitution 
 and Hiiiory of the Je^^ifh Church. It may, therefore, ftrong- 
 Jy be prefumed, not to have been the Praftice either oijohn 
 or of Jefus Chrifi when the Chrifiian was fct up. 
 
 For John being of the prieftly Race ; and beginning his 
 tniniftrations agreeable to their Law, at thirty years old j and 
 ufing, like them, an Amplication of Water to the Body as 
 an Emblem oi moral Purity ; it is left to any impartial judg- 
 ment Whether he is, moft rationally, fuppofed to have 
 
 plunged Men under Water ( a Thing unprattifed amongit 
 them) Or, whether he only fprinkled or poured Water on 
 them, (a Rite di<vinely initituted, and every Day familiarly 
 pradifed in that Church.) 
 
and primitive manner (f Baptizing, 2 5 
 
 So, that the Jaylor -f* and his whole Family ; who 
 were all taught, converted and baptized about Mid- 
 night without any previous Thought of, or Prepara- 
 tion for this Ceremony ; had it done by Bipfing — 
 As, likewife,- that Saul afterwards St. Paul^ having 
 neither eaten nor drank % foi* ^<^^^^ Days before •, and 
 being greatly enfeebled^ by the mighty Shock which 
 he received from the Vif.on in the Way, as well as 
 by the great Remorfe with which he reviewed, and 
 repented of, his Crimes ; and it being now alfo 
 in the Depth of V/inter § ; as the learned have fjp- 
 pofed -, that, in this weakly 2.^^ feeble State, I fay, he 
 arcfe and was baptized^ by being totally put under 
 PVater. — And finally, that the three thoufand * alfo, . 
 who were converted at "Jerufalem^ and baptized in 
 one Day^ were all overwhelmed — feem.s, to fay the 
 Jeaft, to have fcarce an Air of Probability. 
 
 Nor will the Circumftance of Philip and the 
 Eunuch going down {en) unto ff the Water •, and 
 coming up (ex) from it **, with any certainty 
 prove, that he there dipt him. For as waters run 
 in the Valleys^ they might go down from the Chariot 
 ^'f to, or muo^ the Rivulet (for Geographers find 
 
 E but 
 
 If it be faid But that Queftion of the yenvs — 
 
 ** Why baptizefi thou^ if thou art not that Prophet /"' imph'es 
 there was fomething ne^jo and unprecedented in John^z Baptifm. 
 The anfwer is obvious, i. That it could not be his mere ujing 
 the ceremony o'i Baptizing which occafioned this enquiry, becaufe 
 it was, confefTedly, a Ceremony jJerfeftly well-known and familiar 
 amongft them. But, 2. It was his ufing this Ceremony upon 
 the Ijraelites or Je^joljh 'Nation ; who looked upon themfelves 
 as a Peop/e already holy, and in Covenant with GOD; and 
 therefore not to need this Ceremony of cleanfing or feparation, 
 under which the Gentiles were wont to pafs, when received into 
 the Church. 
 
 f Ads xvi. 33. X ix. 9, 1 8. § About the 25th of 
 January. * A£ls\\,\\. ff viii. 38. 39. 
 
 ** Note, The greek Particles e.q and 2>c are thus rendered 
 Wito, and fromy the one fe'veral hundred, the other above a. 
 hundred times in the new Teftament. 
 
26 J5#%, 'not the only fcripfUral 
 
 but little ftr earns there) and Philip baptize, by Pouring 
 Water on hinT; and from thence go up to the Chariot 
 again, in the moft perfect' Confidence with this ac- 
 count of the Matter. 
 
 So, when the People o[Judea are faid to be 
 baptized of John n tw lofcTafJi in the River Jordan : 
 And, that Jesus, when baptized, came up out of 
 ctTTo TMvS'ccl^ FROM the Water •, It will by no means 
 hence follow, that they were totally plunged un^tv it. 
 For, it being the cuftom of thofe Countries to 
 wear Sandals only on their naked Feet *, and the wafli- 
 ingthefe being, amongft them, a v^xy familiar and 
 delightful Thing *, the going down into the Water, 
 to have it poured upon their Heads, is quite na- 
 tural and likely. So that the arguments drawn 
 hence alfo in Favour of Over-whelming will in no 
 wife conclude *. 
 
 But the chief Argument for Immerfion is taken 
 from Rom. vi. 4. and Cclof ii. J2. Where it is 
 faid that we are buried with Christ hy Baptifm into 
 Death \ and buried with him by Baptifm. 
 
 Now, here, let it be confjdercd. i. That the 
 weight of the Argument reds entirely upon the 
 Suppofition, that the Apoftle in thefe Pafjages al- 
 ludes to the Mode of chrillian Baptifm •, which 
 
 can 
 
 * Note, The laying any Weight en it's being faid — ^jjere hap- 
 
 fix.ed IN yordan - Ihews extreme ignorance of the OriginaL 
 
 For, I. The Word [si'] here tranflaied [/V/] is in no lefs than a 
 hundred and fifty places of the new Teilament (a learned Gentle- 
 man halh obferved) rendered [w///^]. And had it thus been 
 
 rendered here hnpti%ed with yordan meaning, with 
 
 the Water of that Ri^cer \ it would have been a Form of Speak- 
 ing, neither more fignrati've nor improper, than is familiar 
 both in Scripture and in common Life. But, to lay no Strefs 
 on this. 
 
 2. The Word [fu] is more than a hundred Times in the new 
 Teftament rendered [at'] and iv tco h^j^ctvyi may moll juftly be 
 rendered at the Ri'ver yordan-. And fo, the whole ftrength 
 of the Argument, from John''s> baptizing in yordan, evaporatfB 
 at once. 
 
c?td primitive majtner of Baptizing* 27 
 
 can with no Certainty be proved. For, 2. The 
 Apoftle in l^oih Places may be juftly underftood as 
 fpeaking, not concerning the external and ceremo- 
 nial Part of chriftian Baptifm, but concerning the 
 internal znd moral Part •, not concerning the Appli- 
 cation of Water, which has no Power to kill, or 
 deftroy, the Body of Sin -, but concerning the rege- 
 nerating Influences of the Spirit -, by which Spirit 
 the Scriptures often fpeak of Chriflians as baptized ; 
 and by the Influences of which Spirit, (or in 
 Confequence of their Baptifm by which) alone it is, 
 that they are faid to be dead *. Bead with Chrifi +. 
 Dead to Sin %. Now as this Spirit only has power 
 to kill, or deft roy, the old Man, (to ufe the Apoftle's 
 Phrafe) and to make us dead with Chrifi^ and dead 
 to Sin ; And as we are very frequently reprefented 
 as baptized with this Spirit •, It is perfectly natu- 
 ral to underftand the Apoftle as fpeaking of thefe 
 internal 2iud moralxu^utucts of the Spirit, when 
 he tells Chriftians — that they were buried with 
 Christ by Baptifm into Death, &c. And it is 
 further obfervable — -That we are, in this Dif-r 
 courfe of the Apoftle, as much faid to be crucified 
 and circumcifed by, or with, Christ, as we are to 
 be buried with him : And Baptifm is as exprefsly 
 ftiled the Circumcijion of Chrifi^ or the Chriftian Cir- 
 cumcifion, as a Burial with Chrift. Why, then, 
 muft we not in adminiftering this Ceremony, feek 
 for fome vifible allufion to the one, %% well as to the 
 other ? 
 
 The Apoftle, it is manifeft, is here all along 
 talking m figurative Terms ; fuch zs planted, crucifi- 
 ed, dead, buried, rifmg^ walking, reigning — his mere 
 ule of the Word buried, then, fecms a much too 
 feeble bottom to reft an Argument upon. It may 
 be faid, there is as much neceflity of finding fome- 
 thing, in the chriftian Worfhip, anfwering to the 
 E 2 other 
 
 * CoUf iik 5. f ii. 20. } Rom. vi. xi. 
 
" 28 Dipping, not the only fcriptural 
 
 other figurative exprefiions, as to this Tingle one of 
 being buried: And that Perfons baptized fhould be 
 ftgned with the Crofs, to fignify, that their old Man 
 is crucified •, as that they fliould be put under Water 
 to fignify their being buried with Chrijl *. 
 
 But 3. Were it abfolutely certain^ which it by 
 no means is, that the Apoftle doth here alkide to 
 the Mode of chriftian Bapiifm *, All that will follow 
 is — That hmnerfion was the mofi usual, but not 
 that it was the only iV^y of adminiftering this Rite ; 
 and this at Colofs and at Rome only, and the war- 
 mer regions ot the World : But not that it was the 
 
 mojl 
 
 * I beg leave here to fubjoin the Note of a very learned and 
 ingenious writer on this PalTage — — •Colof. ii. 11. Buried "with 
 
 Jnm in Bapiifm The Apoilie frequently fpeaks of Chfifdans 
 
 £S being very clofely united to Chrift, as members of his Body, and 
 parts ^his Perfon. Eph, i. 23. v. 30. Confequently, whatever 
 W3S done to Chyifi, was, as it were, at the fame Time done to them. 
 When He was crucified, his Mernhers were crucified, Gal. ii. 20. 
 When Christ '■jjus quickened \ They were quickeiied together ^vjith 
 Bim, Eph. ii. 5, Becaufe He It'ves, theyfhall liqje alfo. John 
 xiv. 19. When Christ ^was raifed ; they ^ujete ratfed, 
 Eph, ii. 6. And when He afcended and fat dovjn in Hea<veny 
 they fat down nvith him there, ibid. Now, in iYitfame Senfe, it 
 is true, that Chrifiians were buried with Chrifi (i. e. when 
 Christ was buried, they, as Members and Barts of him, were 
 buried with him) iv ico CdLnf\i(T[J.a\l either in Baprifm, oxby means 
 of Bapiifm. If we chufe the former Rendering, the Meaning 
 
 muit be That at the Time of our being bapti-zed, we were 
 
 united to Chrifi \ and confequently then looked upon as having 
 hcQT\ buried with him. If we prefer the latter Rendering, viz. 
 By means of Bapiifm {which feems bell, becaufe in the parallel 
 Place, Rom, vi. 4. the Apoille ufes S'ta) then the Senfe will 
 be — It is by means of Bapiifm ths^t we are united to Christ, 
 and fo mull be confidered as having been buried, when he was 
 buried. Which ever Rendering we take, we may be allowed to 
 fay, by Analogy, the fame Things of our being crucified, quic' 
 kened and rifen with Christ; all which alfo happened by 
 means of our Bapiifm, and at the Time of our being baptised. 
 
 As then, there can be no Reference to a Mode of Bapiifm, in 
 our being crucified and quickened by Baptifm : So, there is no 
 Reafon to fuppofe any Reference to a Mode of Baptifm, (Dip- 
 ping) when we arc faid to be buried *with Chrift by Baptifm* 
 
andprimithe manner of Baptizing, 29 
 
 vwfi ufmU much lefs the only Way^ in all other 
 the mod northern and coldefi Climates of the Earth. 
 But, if it was not the only Way •, not only there^ 
 but throughout the whole chriftian World •, no argu- 
 ment can hence be drawn, that Baptifm muft al- 
 ways be adminiftered in this Manner » 
 
 Finally, fhould it be granted, that thefe two 
 Texts {Rom. vi. 4. and Colof. ii. 12.) favour the mode 
 of Dipping : It muft certainly be alfo allowed, that 
 the fever al Texts ^ above cited, do equally favour 
 Sprinklings or Pourings in Baptifm. So that the 
 matter may admit of an eafy Compromife, by fup- 
 pofing — That as this chrijiian Ceremony undoubtedly 
 had it's Origin, and was JDorrowed, from iht jewifi 
 Law j and as Perions and Things wtvo purified ^ or 
 fet apart, under that Law^ fometimes by Dippings 
 andTometimes by Sprinkling-, So the Apoftles per- 
 formed this ceremonial Purification in the chriftian 
 Church, fometimes in oite Form, and fometimes in 
 the other ; as the Circumftances of Time, Place, 
 Perfons — required. 
 
 Let us now briefly review, and fum up the 
 evidence upon the Point in Debate — That the word 
 BccTrli^co to baptize does not necelTarily, nor conftant- 
 ly, fignify to dip s but is very frequendy, if not 
 generally, ufed in facred Writ in a more large and 
 excenfive Senfe ; and fignifiesan application of Wa- 
 ter by Sprinkling or Pourings has been evidently 
 (hewn •, and the whole learned World, (an Anti- 
 pgedobaptift or two, perhaps, excepted) readily ac- 
 knowlege * — We have alfo feen — That there were, 
 under the Jewifi) Law, Different Ways of ap- 
 plying Water for ceremonial Purification^ which are 
 exprefsly called Different Baptifmsi Dippings 
 therefore, in the Scripture Judgment, is not the 
 
 ONLY 
 
 * See a Cloud of Witneffes from Lexicographers, Dirinesj 
 Graroinarians —in W a l k^ s.'s DoSlrim of Bapti/ms* 
 
30 Dippings not the only fcriptural 
 
 ONLY way of Baptizing — That our Lord is faid 
 not to have been baptized before Dinner; and that 
 all the Jews when they came from Market eat nor, 
 except they are baptized \ when not a Plunging the 
 whole Body is meant, but only wajhing the Hands— 
 That the Apoftle adually fays, the JewiJJj Fathers 
 were ^//baptized in the Sea ; when the Fa6t 
 is inconteftable that they were not overwhelmed, or 
 covered, with the Sea -, but only fprinkled with it's 
 Spray — That John fays of Christ that he /j^«/J 
 BAPTIZE the Difeiples with the YIoly-Guost and 
 with Fire; which Baptizing them was perform- 
 ed, not by their being overwhelmed, or immerfed, m 
 the Holy Ghofl: and in Fire ; but by it's ht'mgpour- 
 ed outy and Refiing on them — In the greek verfion 
 of the Apocrypha we have feen a Perfon ftiled, 
 Taa.ifli^ouiv^y one baptized ; when the principal Part, 
 if not the whole Ceremony, of his cleanling, confid- 
 ed in Jprinkling Water on him — That Judith is faid 
 to have baptized her [elf \ when the Circumftances of 
 the Story will, by no means, fuffer us to imagine, 
 that the dipped her felf wholly, but only wajhed her 
 felf in Part — That in Origen, the Priells at Elijah'' s 
 command are faid to baptize the Wood upon the Al- 
 tar, when they only poured Water on it — We have 
 feen farther : That from feveral Circumflances at- 
 tending thofe who were baptized ; viz. the vaft 
 Multitudes of both Sexes, baptized by John in the 
 open Country, far diftant from their Habitations ; 
 Pauly under extreme Weaknefs and after feveral 
 days Fafting ; the Jaylor and his Family, at mid- 
 night, and in their own Houfe, immediately up- 
 on their fudden converfion ; and the feveral 'Thou- 
 fands in one Day, by the Apoftles at Jerufakm ; it 
 feems highly improbable that they were all totally 
 plunged — Finally, That viewing the matter with the 
 Eye o{ impartial Reason, pouring Water on the 
 Body, as effedtually, and fully anfwers all the mo^ 
 
 ral 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing. 3 1 
 
 ral Ends of Baptifm, as Dipping into it ; Yea, is 
 much more fignificative of one principal Thing in- 
 tended to be reprefented or fignified by this cbri- 
 Jiian Rite^ namely, the Giving us /^^Holy Spirit, 
 thuUn5iion from above y which is poured downu^on 
 us 
 
 These Things being confidered, it feems not 
 a little ftrange, that fome, who profefs to think 
 freely in Religion, lay fo great a ftrefs upon Bap- 
 tifm by Dipping only — That they make it to enter 
 into the very Essence of chrifiian Baptifm — That 
 they think it juftifiable to break off from the Church- 
 es of their Fellow-Chriftians partly on this account — 
 And can, without a fmile, hear the few Brethren of 
 that way fpeaking of themfelves as the only Bap- 
 tized Christians; and looking upon the 
 whole chrifiian Worlds befides themfelves, as to the 
 matter of chrifiian Baptifm^ as being much upon a 
 level with Hottentots and Pagans, 
 
 But fuch confider not, with due attention, the 
 confequences of their Opinion ; nor obferve, how 
 this Precifenefs 2^% to ritual Matters naturally genders 
 Strifcy and minifters Occafion to endlefs, contemp- 
 tible, and foolifh Debates. For if Overwhelming the 
 Perfon be of the EssExNCE of chrifiian Baptifm^ hence 
 obvioufly fprings a Doubt — What if the Perfon, 
 when laying beneath the Water, fhould lift up a 
 Handy fo as to be not quite covered with the Ele- 
 ment *, Is the Perfon, neverthelefs, truly baptized? Or ^ 
 fuppofe in the great Hurry which fuch an Opera- 
 tion may occafion, both the Hands, or even the ArmSj 
 fhould be fo incautiouQy extended as not to be over- 
 ^whelmed', I afk, \^ that Baptifm good ? Or again. If 
 through the Bulk of //^^ baptized, and the Weakneis 
 of the Baptizer, fome part even of the Face or Head 
 fhould be uncovered \ What is to be pronounced 
 concerning /«f/^ a Baptifm ? Is it valid, or not ?— — 
 Suppofe the Perfon whofe Hands, or part of whofq 
 
 Face^ 
 
32 l^ipping^ not the only fcriptural 
 
 Face^ was ?iot quite overwhelmed^ fhould be defired 
 by the Adminiftrator to fubmit to ^ fecond Dipping, 
 becaufe thefirft being not total, he thinks not to 
 be Sufficient •, and either Himfelf, or feme at- 
 tending Friends, fhould (lead ily refufe; alleging, 
 the Detecl to be not material •, and that the Bap- 
 tifm was valid — Would there not hence arife a very 
 important Debate-^ perhaps, an aftual Separation^ or 
 Rent in that Church ? Some infifting, that the Per- 
 Ibn be received to full Communion, as a truly bap- 
 tized Brother : Others flrenuoufly oppofing, and re- 
 fufing Communion with him as not being baptized, 
 becaufe not totalxy overwhelmed. — How much 
 to the Edification and Honour of the chriftian 
 World would fuch a Conteft appear ! What matter 
 of Ridicule would it furnifli to Unbelievers I And how 
 naturally draw Contempt -, not upon Baptifin only, 
 as a folemn Trifle •, but upon Chriftianity it felf, as 
 minifleringOccafion to fuch frivolous Debates ! And 
 yet, really, to this IfTue, does the making Immer^ 
 Jion ESSENTIAL to chriflian Baptifm, naturally and 
 direflly tend. If it does not, in Fa5f, gender fuch 
 Debates •, it is becaufe thofe, who avow the Princi- 
 pie, do not follow it into all it*s Confequences^ nor 
 clofely adhere to it in every Emergence of this kind. 
 The Greek Chriftians, who dip their Infants, hold it 
 necejfary that every Part of the Child be dipped. 
 And fo the Jews of old held * " That if a Man 
 *' be baptized all over, faving the Tip of his little 
 *« Finger ; or if Clay, or any the like Thing, cleave 
 *< to the Flefh of Man, and keep it from the Wa- 
 « ter, it is U72clean ftill as it was, and the Baptizing 
 *' profiteth nothing." — 
 
 And, if wafmng the whole Body be of fuch Mo» 
 ment in chriftian Baptifm, as our Brethren repre- 
 fent; They ought, furely, to confider, that the 
 Dipping a clothed Body feems not a ftridly juft or 
 
 adequate 
 * See Ainfvcorth on Leijit. xv. ii* 
 
md primitive manner of Baptizing. 3^ 
 
 adequate Performance of it. The Bathings of the 
 Jewifli Law were, doubtlefs, of the naked Body, 
 And it is an inconteftable Fadthat in the primitive 
 Times, (thofe of Chryfojiom^ and the Ages afterj 
 Such as were baptized by Dippings were naked when 
 baptized * — 
 
 Nor ought it to be overlooked ; that, upon this 
 Scheme of our Brethren, there are two Parts of 
 the charader of an aMe Minifter of the New Tefta- 
 ment, which St. PW, in his Epidles both to 'Tmo- 
 thy and Titus^ entirely omits : Yea, which neither 
 Himfelf^ nor his beloved "Timothy^ feem to have pof- 
 fefled; viz^ Hardinefs of Confiitution^ and bodily 
 Strength. Without a good degree of thefe^ in a va- 
 riety of Cafes which mud frequently occur, it will 
 be rafh and highly criminal for a chriftian Mini- 
 fter to give this facred Rite of Religion to fome of 
 the m oft worthy and capable Subjedls : Inafmuch, 
 as he cannot do it without apparent Hazard, noc 
 only to his own Life, but to that alfo of the 
 baptized. 
 
 Befides, after all the ceremonial Zeal and FuljiU 
 ment of all Right eoufncfs^ which is pretended in this 
 Point 5 The Perfon dipt^ in Truth and real Fad, is 
 not haptizedby Him that undertakes to perform thac 
 Office on him ; but, in great Parr, if not principal- 
 ly, baptizes himfelf — 
 
 Such Matter of endlefs Doubts, and unprofitable 
 DIfputes, does a circuraflantial exadnefs as to their 
 mere rite of Religion gender — But, we have not fo 
 learned Christ. We proceed 
 
 F S E C Ti 
 
 * Vid. Walker's Doftrine of Baptifm?, Ch. xv. § 15. ^ojtus de 
 Baptis. Difp. i . T/;e/. 6. See alfo a fad accident which befell a 
 Company of Women in thefe Circumftances, in the grea: Churcii 
 QfConfiantimpie. Baiver'*s Hilt. Popes Vol. ii. 
 
34 Dipping^ not the only fcripturcil 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Should Immerfion be allowed to have been the 
 only antienty apoflolic and fcriptural Mode 
 oj Baptizing 5 yet a flri5l Adherence to it 
 ts not obligatory on us : But this Circumftance 
 may very lawfully and Jitly be exchanged^ for 
 that of Sprinkling or Pouring. 
 
 TO be fatisfied of this, we need but confider — 
 What is the true Spirit and Dejign of Chris- 
 tianity : which the Apoftle calls, a Law of Liber- 
 ty: James i. 25. That a great part of it's Intention 
 was, to take off Men's Regard from Things ritualy 
 and ceremonial. It is a Do^lrine according to Godlinefs ; 
 a fpiritual, exalted, heavenly Scheme of Worfliip ; 
 in which the Father feeks fuch to worfhip him^ as 
 will do it in Spirit and in Truth*. It exprefsly de- 
 clares that the Kingdom of God f, (or the State of 
 Religion unditr the M'Eisi au) is not Meat and Brink ; 
 i. e. ftands not in Things ceremonial and ritual ; 
 but in Righteoufnefs^ Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghojl 5 
 And, He that in these ferveth Christ, is accep- 
 table to God y and approved of Men. And, in Christ 
 Jesus, (or under the Chrijlian Difpenfation) neither 
 Circumcifwn availeth any Things nor UncircMnciJion^ but 
 a new Creature %, To imagine, therefore, thd,t our 
 Lord intended abfolutely and immutably ^ to bind 
 down his Followers, of all Nations^ and of all ^ges^ 
 to the Jewish Form of Baptizing •, luppofing it to 
 have been by Dipping only -, is quite repugnant to 
 that mildy that generous and free Spirit which his Re- 
 ligion every where breathes — And here it is natural 
 to obferve 
 
 I. That 
 
 * John IV, 23. f Pom. x\v. ly. J Galaf, vi. 15. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizi?2g. 35 
 
 1. That concerning a certain ceremonial^ emllema- 
 tied Wafliing, much like this of chriftian Baptifm, 
 our divine Lawgiver hath determined — " That the 
 " quantity of Water ^ or it's application to the whole 
 •^ Body is little to be regarded.** Peter '^ faith un- 
 to him^ Thou fhalt never wafh my Feet. Jesus an- 
 fwered hirn^ if I wafh thee not^ thou haft no Part with 
 me. Simon Peter faith unto hiwy Lord, not my 
 Feet only but my Hands and my Head. Jesus faith un- 
 to him^ he that is wafloed (in fuch an emblematical^ fi- 
 gurative wafhing, as I am now going to perform) 
 needeth not fave to wafh his Feet — The application of 
 Water to one Fart only, is as effeBual to hiscleanfing, 
 as if his whole Body was adually overwhelmed. 
 
 Note, ThtJVafhing^ concerning which our Lord 
 has left this Determination, was of the vQvy fame 
 Nature with Baptifm : i. e. It was an application of 
 Water to the Body, for a religious or moral End, 
 And this Determination, was, no doubt, left updn 
 Record, that it might be applied by us (as, in the 
 reafon of the Thing, it is mod juftly applicable) 
 under his fpiritual Difpenfation, to every like cere- 
 monial Walhing. And it evidently teaches us, that 
 in fuch ritual Purifications^ the quantity of Y^fattr and 
 the manner of it's Application, are Things of no 
 great Concernment •, upon which no important 
 Itrefs is to be laid in his Church. It is farther to be 
 obferved 
 
 2. That even under the Jewish, which was 
 confefTedly a weak and ceremonial Difpenfation, and 
 which laid infinitely more Weight upon ritual Ob- 
 Jervances than the Christian Religion does, a 
 
 Liberty was given to human Prudence to difpenfe with 
 fome of the moft exprefs and mo?ifolemn\n?diut\ov\Sy 
 in Cafes where only Mercy or great Convenience re- 
 quired it. 
 
 F 2 Thus 
 
 John xiil. 8, 9, 10. 
 
36 Dipping, not the only fcripturai 
 
 Thus the Rite of Circumcifton^ though injoined un- 
 der the awful Penalty to the negledler of being cut 
 cff^^ was yet, without Offence, laid qfide ior tht 
 fpace of fony Tecirs'f : And upon no other Ground 
 as far as appears, but becaufe the frequent and un- 
 certain Decampments, Marches and Wars of the 
 Jjraelites^ in their paliage through the Wildernefs, 
 rendered it inconvenient and trouhlefome io be obferved. 
 
 So, by an exprejs Command %, none but tbe Priejis 
 *i^cre to eat of the hallowed or Shew Bread: Yet Da- 
 vid and his Men, when no other Supply could 
 conveniently be had, violated this Injundtion : They 
 eat of that Bread^ which it was not la'wful for 
 them io eat ^ and are jufcified by Christ j|. 
 
 So alfo, the brazen Serpent^ which v/as fet up by 
 the Command of God ; honoured by many great 
 and miraculous Cures ; and defigned, probably to 
 be an inftrudtive Memorial to future Ages (which is 
 the very nature of a Rite or Sacrament in the Chri- 
 ftian Church j was yet, when abufed to Superflition, 
 broken down by Hezekiah and adually delfroyed §. 
 
 Nov/, if under the y^zcv}^, ceremonial and weak- 
 ly Difpenfation, fuch Liberty was indulged to hu- 
 man Prudence and Convenience, as to difpenfe udth 
 zvA fet afide it's ritual Injundions ; and this, when 
 they were injoined under fo awful -dnd fever c a Pe- 
 nalty -, how abfurd is it to imagine, that our di- 
 vine Lawgiver Jesus Christ has, under his infi- 
 nitely more free and fpiritual Difpenfation (under 
 which our State is as much freer than that of the 
 ^Jews^ as the ftate of Sons is than that of Servants ; 
 or of Friends^ than that of Slaves) tied us up to a Oridt 
 and invariable exaftnefs, as to merely ritual Ob- 
 fervances\ and that no confiderations of Decency, 
 Heaiih, Convenience, or Mercy, ought now to 
 
 fub- 
 
 * Gen. xvii. 14. \ Jojh.v. 5. J Levit. xxiv. 5; 9. 
 
 g Matt, TAU^, § Numb.-x,x\,^i 5, 2 Kings x^'ni, /^., 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 37 
 
 fubftitute the Form of Sprinkling the baptifmal Wa- 
 ter, inftead of a total Immcrficn into it ? But, farther, 
 
 3. Many Rites of undoubted apoJiolicdUkgt if 
 not Injundion, are now, without Blame, not only 
 ciUered^ but entirely laid afide. Which is a far grea- 
 ter Liberty^ than the mere Subftitution of Sprinkling 
 inftead of Dipping. 
 
 The Greeting one another with the holy Kifs^ was 
 unqueftionably an a'po hroLic Pra^ice, Set Rom, 
 xvi. 16. I Cor, xvi. 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 12. i T'heff. v. 
 26. I Pet. V. 14. In all which Places it is exprefsly 
 recommended^ if not injoined. aaa«A8? <piKT/)ij.oc\t cLdmoU^o- 
 fj.£Bct 'Tra.vaaixiVQi leov ivx^c)). Having finijhed our Prayers^ 
 we falute each other with a Kifs : Says Juftin Martyr *. 
 A like APOSTOLIC Pradice and Command was 
 ^he anointing the Sick with Oyl, in the Name of the 
 Lord. See Mark vi. 13. and Jam. v. 14. 
 
 Now to our good Brethren, who declaim zea- 
 loufly jjpori — Fulfilling all Right eoufnefs — ^and who 
 afk — " By what Authority do you take upon you 
 *' to alter Christ's InJIitution -, and laying afide 
 <' the fcriptural and apoRolic Mode of Immtrfwnj 
 *« to fubftitute Sprinkling or Pouring in it's Room ?— '* 
 With great affurance we reply — " By the very 
 *' fame. Sirs, by which you alfo quite abolifh and 
 *' lay afide the Scriptural, apostolic, InJIitution 
 ** or Practice of fainting with the holy Kifs, and of 
 *' Anointing the Sick with Oyl in the Name of the 
 *' Lord." — Thefe we can prove, with ten times clear- 
 er Evidence, to have been either adually com- 
 manded, or pradtifed, by the Apoftles, than jy<?/^ can 
 Baptifm by Immerfion only. Now, if thek ^gnif cant 
 and holy Rites, unqueftionably once injoined, or 
 praiftifed, by the Apoftles, in conformity to the 
 common Ufage of their Countries and Times, are by 
 You wholly lay aftde -, becaufe they would feem odd 
 in this Country and Age where no fuch Cufioms ob- 
 tain j 
 
3^^ Dippings not the only fcriptural 
 
 tain ; we demand, Why Bathing the whole Body 
 (which was alfo among the Eaftern Nations and 
 warm Climates, where Chriftianicy wasfirfl: planted, 
 a very familiar and delightful Thing) Why, I fay, 
 may it not, in like manner be exchanged, for 
 Pouring Water on the Body : Seeing fuch total Im- 
 merfions are in this Country and Age, an unufual^ 
 a troublefome^ a fcarcely modeft and decent, and in 
 many Cafes a cruel and a very dangerous Thing r — 
 Efpecially, as the Form of Pouring is every whit as 
 Significative as that o{ Dipping can be — Let thofe, who 
 contend warmly for a circumftantial adherence to 
 Scripture Pradlice in one Rite, fay, how it is they 
 juftify the great Liberty they take quite to ahoUJlj 
 and change others*. 
 
 Again, Why do they not infift alfo, that un- 
 leavened Bread and but one Loaf, ought 
 conftantly to be ufed in the Sacred Rite of the Sup- 
 per P (To which, perhaps, may be added, The 
 mixing Water with Wine in the Sacramental Cup) 
 It is incomparably more certain that thefe only were 
 ufed by our Lord and his Apojiles^ in /Z?*;?/ Sacrament ; 
 than that they invariably pradifed Immerfion only^ 
 in the other. 
 
 It was unleavened Bread which our Lord took and 
 broke (for the Jews at that Time, by the exprefs 
 Command of God, were to have no other in their 
 Houfes'f) when He inftituted the Supper^ and faid — 
 Do This rn remembrance of me : And concerning 
 which, it is faid — Asoft as ye eat this Bread — 
 What Bread was that ? Bread that was unleavened. 
 Yea, and both thefe Circumftances, viz. The Bread 
 leing unleavened^ and the having but one Loaf^ are as 
 
 exprefsly 
 
 * Though a Kifs of 'Peace ^ and an Order of Deaconejfes, 
 were the Pradices of the Apojlolic Time ; Yet when the one 
 gave occafion to Raillery, and the other to Scandal, all the 
 World was, and ftill is, fatisfied with the Reafons of letting both 
 fall. Bifhop' Burnet on Art, xx. 
 
 f Exod, xiii. 7. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing. 39 
 
 exprefsly alluded to by the Apoftle^ and reprefented 
 as ftgnificative of fomething mordxn this Sacrament, 
 as Immerfwn is of being buried with Chrift^ in the 
 other. By the former, the unleavened Breads the 
 Chriftian Worfhippers are remembered, of the Pu- 
 rity and Sincerity with which they Ihould aflemble, 
 and celebrate this religious Rite. Therefore let us 
 keep the Feafi ; not with old heaven^ neither with the 
 heaven of Malice and Wickednefs^ but with the u n- 
 L E A VE NE D Bre A D ^/ Sincerity and Truth *. Behold 
 how emblematical 2iudi ftgnificative it is made ! And 
 by the latter, the one Loaf^ the Unit y ^ the Church 
 is, with great Beauty and Propriety, figuratively 
 fhewn forth, and the Communion in one Body^ into 
 which all Chriftians are received. For we being ma^ 
 7iy^ are one Bread, and one Body\ for we are all 
 partakers of that one Br e a d -f-. Or, as the paflage 
 ought to have been rendered, Becaufe there is one 
 Breads or Lcafukd in this facred Ceremony, we who 
 are many are one Body -, for we are all partakers of that 
 one Loaf %. 
 
 Le t fome Reafon be now (hewn — Why we are to 
 be tied down to a rigorous Conformity to the Cir- 
 cumftance of Dippings in one Sacrament ; but are 
 not to the Circumftance of unlea^Vened Breads and of 
 one Loaf^ in the other ? If we muft indeed fulfil all 
 Righteoufnefs (as is warmly urged on this Head) if we 
 muft obferve exadly a ll the Jnftitutions and Rites of 
 the apoftolic Church ; let us indeed, fulfilit. But 
 then let us be confifient and uniform in our Obedience: 
 Fulfilling the Righteoufnefs of fainting with the Holy 
 Kifs — of anointing the Sick with Oyl in the name of the 
 Lord — of unleavened Breads and one Loaf in the Sacra- 
 ment of the Supper •, as well as the Righteoufnefs of 
 Dipping the baptized. To conclude 
 
 4. From 
 
 * 1 Cor. V. 8. f I Cor. x. 17. 
 
40 DippiJig^ not the only fcrlptural 
 
 4. From our Lord's Decifion in a like Cafe, v\tl 
 ^he Sabbath was fnade for Man^ and not Man for the 
 Sabbath -, and i will have Mercy and not Sacrifice * — 
 It apears plainly to be his Will, not to tie up his 
 Followers to a rigid and fevere Exadnefs in Things 
 of a ritual and pofitive kind. 
 
 The Law injoining the Sabbatical Refi^ was one 
 of the Ten delivered, with infinite Porap, at Mount 
 Sinai — Is often fpoken of as an important part of the 
 Covenant which fubfifted betwixt God and his People— 
 Great Bkffmgs are promifed to it's religious Obfer- 
 yation ; and fevere Threatenings denounced upon 
 thofe who negled it — Yea, a Tranjgrejfor was once, 
 by the exprefs Command of God, fionedto Death for 
 it's violation, as a warning to future Ages — This is 
 a thcufand times more than can be ilud infupportof 
 t\\t ^Qvm Q^ Dipping in Baptifmi Yet behold! The 
 Uridlobfervance of this fabbatical Reft ^ even under the 
 Jewifh, ceremonial, weakly Difpenfidon, was violated 
 by the Apoftles, and difpenfed with by our Lord, 
 when Convenience or Compaffion to the Body required it. 
 Much more, then, may we conclude, that the 
 flri6t obfervance of Dipping, may be innocently neg- 
 le6ted, under the infinitely more exaked Difpen- 
 fation of Christ -, when either Decency, or Mercy ^ 
 or great Convenience forbids it's Ufe. 
 
 This Fa(5l, viz, the Difciples breaking the Sabba- 
 tical Refl, by plucking and rubbing Ears of Corn, 
 and cur Lord's reafoning thereon, happened, no 
 doubt, and was recorded with a view to the Intfruc- 
 tion of after-ages *, and was defigned as a Precedent,, 
 2l rule of Judgment and A6lion, by which we are 
 to be direded in every like Cafe, Our Divine Le- 
 gislator hath hereby taught us to reafon thus — 
 When thtflri^ Obfervance of a merely ritual Com- 
 mand will be attended with Danger and great In- 
 convenience to the Difciples, it may lawfully be 
 
 waved 
 
 * Miiti. xii. 7. ' Mark ii. 27. 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 4 1 
 
 waved — Or thus : Baptifm was made for Man ; an^ 
 not Man for Baptifm. If, therefore, through any 
 change of national Cuflom^ or of Climate^ the form 
 oi Dipping in Baptifm fhould become odd and unbe- 
 coming (as the Love Kifs would now be) hazardous 
 to the Health, or troublefome to the Difciples, it 
 might then innocently be waved *, and a Form lefs 
 burthenlbrne and difagreeable (do fubftituted in it's 
 Room. 
 
 And here I beg leave to afk — Whether a {ln6t 
 Adherence to Dipping the baptized^ would not, pro- 
 bably, be attended v^^ith as much Danger and Incon- 
 venience to the Bodies- of the Dtfciples now *, as a ftri£t 
 obfervance of the fahhatical Reft would have been to 
 the twtlv' Apoftles^ when going through the Field 
 of Corn ? In other Words — Whether it be not as 
 much Mercy to excufe fome at leaft {viz. new-born 
 Infants, weakly and unhealthful Perfons, and even 
 all others throughout the Winter Seafon, in thefe 
 northern and cold Climates) from htm^ totally plunged 
 in Bapttfm ; ar> it was to excufe the twelve from for- 
 bearing to pluck and rub the Corn on the Sabbath Day? 
 
 It enters into the nature of Things ritual and a>- 
 cumftantial^ to be mutable, tranfient and liable to 
 be changed. As they are often but an Adoption of 
 fome national Cuftom (which is apparently the Cafe 
 as to the Inftitution of Baptifm) or, an Accomo- 
 dation of <3 common Ufage to fome Purpofe in Religion: 
 So^ they are alterable in their Nature •, and are them- 
 felves in fome Meafure to be accommodated to pre- 
 vailing Cuflcms and Tafles -, to the feveral Countries^ 
 Climates^ and tempers of Mankind. This, I 
 apprehend, is the only Reafoning on which it is 
 poflible tojuftify our Difufe of the primitive^ apofiolic 
 Pradice of faluting with a Kifs of Love^ in our wor- 
 ihipping Aflemblies. The Cuftom of thofe antient 
 Times rendered fuch Salutations neither odd nor ridi- 
 G culous 
 
42 Dipping^ not the only Jcriptural 
 
 ctilous : Bat Ihould the pra6lice be introduced into 
 our prefent Churches, and Worfhip ; it needs not 
 be (aid — with how juft an offence ! 
 
 Nov/, if, for NO OTHER Reason than a change 
 ot national Cufiom^ we lay afide this undoubtedly 
 antient^ apostolic, religious Ceremony, the IQJs 
 of Charity \ Why iliould not a like change of na- 
 tional Cufiom^ with regard to Bathing the whole Body^ 
 be allowed to juftify it's Difufe in the Ceremony of 
 Baptifm? For a Woman^ in thin Apparel, before a 
 multitude of Spedators, to go into the Water, and 
 be taken into the Arms of him who officiates, and 
 be laid under the Water, is, in the prefent Nation 
 and Age, an equally indecent and disagreeable Sight, 
 as for Men, at the conclufion of public Prayers, to 
 liiluteone another with a 7v//} of Charity or Peace. 
 
 To conclude — If, after all that hath been faid, 
 any ftill think it their indifpenfible Duty to baptize 
 by Immerfiononly ; let them, by all means, thus bap- 
 tize ; But then, we befeech them to forbear all fe- 
 vere Cenfnresof thofe, who are not Dipt, Let them 
 not reprefent us as perfons unhaptized — withdraw 
 from our Churches — refufe Communion with us, at 
 the common Table of our Lor d, upon fo trifling a dif- 
 ference. This, fa rely, were to /^'^/^^^^//r our facred 
 Religion ; and too naturally brings not only chrif- 
 iian Baptijm, but Christianity it felf, into ma- 
 nifefl: Contempt. 
 
 Let us therefore, according to the apoftolic Pre- 
 cept — receive cfte another^ but not to doubtful Difput a- 
 tions. To maintain an Unity of Spirit^ by mutual 
 Forbearance, and to live together in perfed Cha- 
 rity^ is a Matter of infinitely more Importance, 
 than the ^antity of Water, or the Manner of it's 
 Application, with which a Pcrfon is baptized. For 
 the Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink^ but 
 Righteoufnefs^ and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghcfl. And 
 
 the 
 
and primitive manner of Baptizing, 43 
 
 the End of the Commandment is Charity ; out of 
 a pure Hearty and of a good Confcience^ and of Faith 
 unfeigned. 
 
 Now the God of Patience and Confolation grant 
 us to be like minded one towards another, 
 according to Chrifi Jefus, That we may with 
 one Mind, and one Mouth glorify God, even 
 the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifi. Amen. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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