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 Cassels, Samuel Jones. 
 
 Lectures on paedobaptism 
 
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 • \vv\ y7 
 
LECTURES 
 
 <^amJu^ 
 
 PiEDOBAPTISM. 
 
 S. J. CASSELS, A. M., 
 
 Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Washington, Ga. 
 
 ' StitTer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdon 
 of God." — Lulte xviii. IG. 
 
 NEW-YORK — LEAVITT, LORD & CO, 
 
 BOSTON— CROCKER «fc BREWSTER. 
 
 West & Trow, Printers. 
 
 1834. 
 
^^>.VA\VV^ 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1834, by 
 S. J. Cassels, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the 
 Southern District of New- York. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface..; 5 
 
 Lecture I. 
 Present state of the subject 13 
 
 II. 
 
 Methods of removing the above evils 29 
 
 III. 
 
 Difficulties in the mode of proof by which Paedobaptism is estab- 
 lished, considered 45 
 
 IV. 
 
 A discourse on the objects, means, and results of early education 61 
 
 V. 
 
 Several introductory topics discussed 63 
 
 VI. 
 
 The divine conduct towards children determined, in a high degree, 
 
 by the character and conduct of the parents 105 
 
 VII. 
 
 The identity of the church 133 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The four covenants. 
 
 157 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 IX. 
 The four covenants— their seals 189 
 
 X. 
 
 Similarity between circumcision and baptism 219 
 
 XI. 
 
 The question discussed, whether servants should be baptized as 
 children? and whether children should, in virtue of their 
 baptism, be admitted to the Lord's Supper? 245 
 
 XII. 
 
 The reception of children into membership in the church with 
 
 their parents greatly promotive of piety ? 265 
 
 XIII. 
 New Testament evidence considered 285 
 
 XIV. 
 A carefttl examination of the Acts of the Apostles 315 
 
 XV. 
 
 Historical evidence 331 
 
 XVI. 
 Objections answered 345 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In presenting the following pages to my Christian 
 brethren, it may not be amiss to state, very briefly, 
 the circumstances which have produced them. 
 These circumstances are the following. In discharg. 
 ing the pastoral duties which devolved upon me, 
 hi connection with that congregation, over which I 
 have the pleasure still to preside, it became necessary 
 for me both to administer and enforce the ordinance 
 of Infant Baptism. As an evangelist, or rather, I 
 may say, as a teacher, I had but little to do with this 
 religious rite. But on becoming a pastor, it became 
 a prominent part of my ministerial work. No sooner 
 had I turned my attention to the subject, than I per- 
 ceived the gross abuses connected with this institu- 
 tion, among the people who had so affectionately 
 made me their spiritual instructor. These abuses 
 lay with great weight upon my conscience. They 
 haunted me perpetually. I could not think of pro- 
 ceeding to rear a divine superstructure, while one of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 tlie very pillars of that buildino^ was radically de- 
 fective. This led to inquiry, to prayer — and, as I 
 still inquired and prayed, greater and more numerous 
 evils still appeared. I saw other churches in the 
 same condition with my own. I heard other minis- 
 ters complain, and found, to my astonishment, that 
 the evils, at least in our southern Zion, were not only 
 general, but nearly universal. I inquired into the 
 causes of these abuses. This naturally led me to 
 search for a remedy. More light I perceived 
 was evidently the only means of cure. I attempted 
 at first to instruct but my own flock ; iind this in the 
 most private way. But, as the evils were common, 
 and the very privacy of my instruction the means of 
 its defeat, I resolved on something more extended 
 and more public. This conviction produced the de- 
 termination to diffuse light on this subject in some 
 way. 1 saw the need of some publication adapted 
 to the exigences of the case. And although I had 
 read several treatises on the subject, and many of 
 them very excellent ; yet, I could but conclude, that 
 there was some circumstantial defect in them all, 
 which would prevent their certain and immediate 
 utility, to the extent required. Not satisfied with my 
 
own opinion in this particular, I conversed with a 
 very judicious and pious Christian minister, on the 
 subject. His sentiments coincided precisely with my 
 own. We both agreed that something was needed to 
 render the ordinance of infant baptism better under- 
 stood among our churches. In communicating, too, 
 some of the views which I had taken of the subject, 
 to an attorney, who is also an elder in our church, 
 and a man of general esteem both for piety and 
 talents, he persuaded me unhesitatingly to give those 
 views to the public. Still, my youth presented to the 
 acceptance of his advice a barrier, which seemed, at 
 first, insurmountable. On reflection, however, I sup- 
 posed, that if the fathers had oTnitted, in any degree, 
 the discharge of a duty, it would be but the sponta- 
 neous promptings of filial piety, for the sons to 
 attempt its performance. Nor could I bring myself 
 to suppose, that a humble though honest effort to 
 benefit the dear church of which I am a member, 
 and a minister, would return with vituperations and 
 censures upon my head. These views induced me 
 to write ; and they now lead me to publish, with 
 much trembling, to be sure, the following Lectures 
 on infant baptism. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 Another obstruction to the present work, which 
 had no small weight upon my mind, was, the contro- 
 versy in which this subject is apt to be involved. 
 Taught by the word of God to love a Christian, any 
 where and every where ; accustomed to pour, without 
 restraint, the warmest feelings of my heart upon 
 brethren, who differ from me in sentiment on the 
 peculiarities of our respective creeds ; and being 
 peculiarly intimate with many of the members and 
 ministers of that denomination, with whose opinions 
 I must necessarily come into collision, in the present 
 treatises ; I could but hesitate to make public, senti- 
 ments, which, though as dear to me as my life, might 
 yet seem to injure and abuse a large and respectable 
 number of the followers of Christ. But the love of 
 truth, of the church, and of the Redeemer, has over- 
 come this obstacle. Still, however, if these Lectures 
 wound, let it be remembered, that they were not 
 written to wound, but to heal. No personal contro- 
 versy has produced them. They are the offspring 
 of cool deliberation, and genuine love ; and they are 
 immediately designed to remedy the abuses now 
 existing in the Presbyterian church on the subject 
 of which they treat. 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 To my ministerial brethren I would simply say, 
 could not some definite term be fixed upon, within 
 which the members of our churches should be obliged 
 to baptize their children. The time for the adminis- 
 tration of circumcision among the Jews being fixed, 
 that rite never could be denied from that very fact. 
 Whereas, the precise period for the baptism of a 
 child being, from a very early period in the church, 
 indefinite, its postponement, and even its denial^ 
 must almost necessarily have been the result. Pro- 
 bably this was the cause of the evil at first : loill not 
 a remedy y judiciously applied at this 2}oint, be its 
 most efficient cure ? I do not suggest the appoint- 
 ment of a day, but of a period, more or less extended. 
 In this case, the subject would be defined, the obliga- 
 tion would assume visibility, and slumbering con- 
 sciences would be awakened by the barrier presented 
 to their criminal procrastinations. But I leave this 
 hint with the wise and the good of our church. 
 
 I shall simply add, that as the work has cost me 
 much of labor, of anxiety, and of prayer ; and as in 
 it I have sincerely aimed at the good of the church, 
 I hope that it will be kindly received by the dear 
 Christian brethren into whose hands it may fall ; and 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 I also hope that it will be carefully read, and re- 
 read, by those for whose special benefit it is de- 
 signed. Though a httle more voluminous than 
 could be desired, yet let it be remembered, that no- 
 thing great or good can be acquired without patient 
 toil and diligent research. Let parents, especially, 
 remember, that it embraces a subject intimately con- 
 nected with the salvation of their dear offspring. 
 And that God may bless and sanctify this feeble 
 tribute of a creature's affection for His great name, 
 to the good of his church, and the promotion of the 
 happiness of his children, is the sincere and ardent 
 prayer of the author. 
 
 Washington, Geo., April 8, 1834. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 On page 13, fourth line, for "question" read insiilutwn. 
 p. 16, twenty-fourth line, after " who" insert hate. 
 p. 20, twenty-seventh line, for " course" read cause. 
 p. 31, twentieth line, for " absolute" read obsolete. 
 p. 65, seventh line, after "of" insert but. 
 p. 67, first line, for " the" read their. 
 p. 63, seventeenth line, for " the" read their. 
 p. 69, thirteenth line, read said God to Abraham. 
 p. 134, thirtieth hne, for " as" read a. 
 p. 138, fourteenth line, for " secretly" read securely. 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 PRESENT STATE OF THE SUBJECT. 
 
 In contemplating the subject of Pfedobaptism, its pre- 
 sent state deserves particular attention. Without a cor- 
 rect knowledge of this, it is impossible either to know or 
 remedy those abuses into which this question has fallen. 
 
 1. My first remark here is, that this ordinance is re- 
 garded by an unbelieving world generally, but as the mere 
 badge of denominational distinction. It should be deeply 
 regretted by all, that the men of this world so little regard 
 the kingdom of Christ, either in its doctrines or duties, its 
 institutions or its hopes. But however lamentable, yet is 
 it true, that many in most of the secular professions of life, 
 are very much disposed to regard the whole subject of re- 
 ligion, as filling a sphere appropriate to itself, and distant 
 from that in which they are called to move. Thus regarding 
 men, but as the mere subjects of civil administration, they 
 have, for the most part, overlooked the religious obligations, 
 both of themselves and of others. That men of this de- 
 scription should fail to attach importance to a Christian 
 ordinance, is altogether to be expected; and, that they 
 
 should, falling in with their own prejudices or those of 
 
 2 
 
14 PRESENT STATE 
 
 Others, jest at times with what they regard but as the 
 mean scrupulosities of professing Christians, is but natural 
 and common. 
 
 Besides, the particular institution which, it is my de- 
 sign, in the present treatises, to vindicate, must, from its 
 very nature, be peculiarly obnoxious to the neglect and 
 opposition of such men. It is based upon the religions 
 connection between the parent and the child, and between 
 them both and God. Of course, as worldly men are not 
 in the habit of looking upon these religious connections 
 themselves, so they cannot judge favorably of those insti- 
 tutions and duties which arise immediately out of such 
 connections ; or, in other words, as men in a state of unbe- 
 lief, neglect their own souls, it cannot be expected that they 
 will care very deeply for the salvation of their children. 
 And many, too, of this very class of persons, even when 
 converted, bring along with them to the very altar of God, 
 the most inveterate prejudices against that institution which 
 as immediately rests upon the religious connection between 
 them and their children, as their own professions rest upon 
 the religious connections between themselves and God. 
 Though this may be regarded more as the result of habit, 
 as a relic of previous unbelief, than as the effect of impiety, 
 yet is it not only to be lamented, but sedulously guarded 
 against by those who are the regular guardians of the truth 
 and purity of the church. 
 
 2. A second remark I offer is, that Predobaptism is, at 
 present, virulently opposed by a large and respectable sect 
 of Protestant Christians. It is unpleasant for me, in the 
 defence of truth, to pass from principles to men ; but I feel 
 that justice to my subject requires it. From the determi- 
 
OF THE SUBJECT 15 
 
 nation with which this controversy has been carried on by 
 the sect just alluded to, one cannot but come to the con- 
 clusion, that they regard Paedobaptism either as an offen- 
 sive heresy, or as the relic of superstition. And as I, for 
 one, am unwilling to impute their virulence either to defi- 
 ciency in evangelical piety, or a want of charity, I take 
 the more favorable construction mentioned above. Still, 
 however, I must ask, is it consistent either with piety or 
 charity, to regard as a dangerous heresy or a relic of super- 
 stition, an institution, which by far the majority of profess- 
 ing evangelical Christians view not only as plainly revealed 
 in the word of God, but as one of the fundamental princi- 
 ples of a Christian society 1 Surely, if the peculiar tenets 
 of this denomination urge them on to such conclusions, 
 yet, both modesty and piety should restrain from embra- 
 cing them, or certainly from embracing them to the exclu- 
 sion of Christian brethren from the table of the Lord. For, 
 taking it for granted, that Anabaptists and Paedobaptists 
 are equally pious, equally capable of searching for and 
 ascertaining the truth, and equally desirous of knowing it ; 
 then, certainly, the one have as much right to exclude from 
 the communion as the other. In fact, a candid mind must 
 admit that, since substance is more than shadow, Pasdo- 
 baptists have the better right of the two. They believe 
 that the baptism of a parent does, in evert/ case, according 
 to the Scriptures, imply the baptism of his child ; and, 
 that whenever parents exclude their offspring from this 
 ordinance, they do, m a very high sense, violate the cove- 
 nant of God. According, therefore, to this faith. Baptists 
 themselves are not properly introduced into the church, — 
 or, in other words, have made but a partial profession of 
 
16 PRESENT STATE 
 
 religion. While, therefore, according to the view of our 
 Baptist brethren, we violate the institution in the mode; 
 according to ours, thiy viohite it in the stibjects. Now, 
 certainly, since the subjects of l);ii)tism are more important 
 than the mode of its administration, there is greater reason 
 that Paidobaptists should exclude their Baptist brethren 
 from the table of the Lord, than tliut our Baptist friends 
 should exclude us. 
 
 However beneficial this secession of a large denomina- 
 tion of Christians from the faith of the Fathers, may have 
 been, to exhibit the spirituality of this institution : yet, it 
 must be a matter of sincere regret, to all who contemplate 
 aright its nature and design. It is always right to combat 
 and remove, if possible, the abuses of a Christian institu- 
 tion ; but to destroy the institution itself, when it stands 
 upon the revealed will of God to man, can never subserve 
 the cause of piety and truth. The present state of things 
 in this respect, is like that of Israel, when Benjamin stood 
 up against the eleven tribes. We are not only weakened 
 ourselves, but the truth of tlic Gospel has fallen into con- 
 tempt in the eyes of strangers. 
 
 ;3. A third remark 1 make on this part of the subject 
 is, that PcBdobaptism has not always been judiciously 
 explained by those who attempted its vindication. It does 
 not become me, I know, to rail against tliose whom it is 
 my pride to venerate as wiser and better than myself 
 Still, if I might venture the assertion, I would say, that 
 there has been, and now is, error in the method of explain- 
 insf and enforcing this ordinance. This error is three-fold. 
 Enough importance has not been attached to the institution 
 itself The reader or hearer evidently perceives that his 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 17 
 
 instructor approaches the subject with reluctance; and, 
 probably too, he is assured, that it is not of great value, and 
 that in order to maintain peace, he had better not meddle 
 with it often. Out of this error, there grows another, 
 which lies in not making this subject so prominent a 
 theme of investigation as many others far less important to 
 Christian practice. How meagre and vague do the most 
 metaphysical dissertations on some of the more retired and 
 abstruse points of theology look, when compared with the 
 results of those labored researches by which common prac- 
 tical truth stands out with a prominence to be seen and 
 understood by all ! The man who busies himself amidst 
 the mysticisms of abstract philosophy, may gain reputation 
 for mind ; and this too often from those who do not even 
 understand him. But he who, applying the same energies 
 and wielding the same robust intellect, unfolds practical 
 principles, as he deserves as much praise for mind, so he 
 deserves infinitely more for the services rendered his fellow 
 men. The one resembles a man expending a vast fortune 
 in constructing air-balloons ; the other resembles him, who 
 applies a fortune equally great, in constructing comfortable 
 dwelling-houses for the poor. Now it surely arises neither 
 from the fact, that this subject does not need investigation, 
 nor from the fact that there are not those adequate to such 
 a task, that it has not been placed before the world in a 
 more plain and tangible form. The unimportance with 
 which even its advocates teach it, seems to be the only 
 adequate cause. But, is it thus unimportant? Most 
 certainly not : whether we regard either the frequency 
 with which the Paedobaptist is assailed by those who differ 
 
 from him ; the constancy with which he must comply with 
 
 2* 
 
18 PRESKXT STATE 
 
 its precept, or the real intliicnce of the institution itself 
 upon society and upon tlie souls of men. This is an 
 ordinance which lies at the very threshhold of the Christian 
 temple. It lies at the very commencement of the divine 
 life. It is important, and ought to be well understood. 
 The other mistake is, that, as it is held up before an 
 audience, it is not always fairly exhibited, — a weak ar- 
 gument is sometimes relied on when a stronger was just 
 at hand : and its spiritual signification and importance are 
 not sufficiently insisted upon and explained. Often it 
 happens, that the very weakness of the defence has injured 
 the cause, and sent its adversaries away in triumph. And 
 this, too, not unfrequently arises from the fact, that the 
 spiritual teacher himself has not investigated the subject as 
 thoroughly as he should have done ! 
 
 4. Another fact observable in the present state of this 
 institution is, that compliance with it is not regarded, in 
 many cases, as essential or even important to membership. 
 There are, within the writer's own knowledge, members 
 of church sessions, who have not baptized their children ; 
 there are a still larger number of lay members, who have 
 never complied with this ordinance : and so far as his 
 knowledge extends, the sentiment is even common, that 
 parental membership does not involve the baptism of their 
 children. Now, how it is possible for those who stand in the 
 very door of the kingdom of Christ, and who hold the keys 
 of that kingdom, to admit members on a principle so loose 
 and so contrary to that exhibited in the Scriptures, is 
 difficult to be accounted for, but from the awful dereliction 
 of duty on this subject so lamentably prevalent. The 
 baptism of children is really, to an alarming extent, regarded 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 19 
 
 as a mere loose appendage to our church. Thus, besides 
 the confusion introduced in this way among us, the 
 ordinance itself is vitally suffering, and among those, too, 
 who should be its friends. 
 
 5. Another feature in the existing state of things is, 
 that even those who comply with this institution externally, 
 seem to have by no means adequate views of its scriptural 
 obligation and importance. They comply more from 
 education, or habit, or consistency, or from some undefined 
 expectation of advantage to be derived from it, than from 
 any clear and scriptural view of its nature and design. 
 Now, that such persons cannot possibly, with intelligence 
 and accuracy, defend the institution when assailed in their 
 presence, instruct their children in its meaning and 
 obligations, and discharge the various duties growing out 
 of it, is evident. In the hands of such persons the ordi- 
 nance must invariably suffer ; and its abuses will thus 
 become additional argument in the hands of opposers. 
 That such is really the condition of things, to a lamentable 
 extent, is obvious to any who have paid the subject the 
 least attention. Parents really seem not to know what is 
 implied in that solemn act by which they consecrate their 
 offspring to God. 
 
 6. As the result of the above evils, it is not to be won- 
 dered at, that children, very frequently, renounce their 
 early baptism. As they have never been instructed in its 
 nature, and have derived no perceptible advantage from 
 its administration, it is impossible that they should pay it 
 that regard which the ordinance demands. And, though 
 the more yielding and docile may confirm by their own 
 persona! act, that v.'ork of piety which was executed for 
 
20 PRESENT STATE 
 
 them when young, yet, they do so probably more from 
 respect to their parents, than from a conviction of duty. 
 The most will be disposed to shake off the fetters by which 
 they have thus been bound, and the necessity of which 
 they so little perceive. Amidst the temptations to crime, 
 and the fascinations to vanity, which surround them, they 
 feel themselves bound by nothing but the licentiousness of 
 their nature. The recollection of Christian obligation 
 never once enters the mind. And they would even mock 
 at him who should dare to tell them that the vows of early 
 consecration were upon them. Were not the obligations 
 of Paidobaptism regarded during a state of impenitence as a 
 mere nullity ; but yet, as capable of revival upon repent- 
 ance, probably many more than now reject their baptismal 
 vows, would be found to lay them aside : for, one of the 
 most disagreeable situations in which a mind can be 
 placed, is to be for ever haunted with the obligation of 
 duty, without possessing a spirit for its discharge. Nor 
 does the evil above alluded to, stop here. The young 
 whose minds have been uninstructed in the nature and 
 design of their baptism, are not only apt to renounce it by 
 a course of ungodliness ; but, if subsequently converted, 
 are e.vceedingly likely to renounce it by Christian profes- 
 sion. Hence the fact which frequently occurs of the 
 children of Psedobaptists becoming Baptists. This occur- 
 rence, though much regretted by parents wherever it 
 exists, always results from an adequate course in the edu- 
 cation of children. How is it possible, for a child who 
 does not at all understand, either the authority, the nature, 
 or the advantages, of his early consecration to God, either 
 to value that consecration, or to confirm it by his own per- 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 21 
 
 sonal act? The fault in every such case is the parent's, 
 though the misfortune is the child's. 
 
 7. The misunderstanding and neglect connected with 
 the ordinance of Infant Baptism, have also introduced 
 great laxity of government into families. The importance 
 of domestic training and discipline, has probably never re- 
 ceived sufficient attention from men generally. They con- 
 template the church and the state — they dwell with enthu- 
 siasm upon any thing connected with these larger estab- 
 lishments ; but overlook, in a great measure, those simple 
 elements in the family, which subsequently develope them- 
 selves in the larger societies of men. The government of 
 families has been regarded too much as a kind of " sanc- 
 tum sanctorum," Holy of Holies ; into which none but its 
 o\vn high priest might properly enter. The civil law, 
 from its very nature, can but throw its protection around 
 these embryo kingdoms. It can hold its head accountable 
 a5 a citizen, and compel him to discharge his duties as 
 such. It can also regulate the descent and distribution of 
 property. But farther it cannot go. It is the very pro- 
 vince of religion to enter this sacred temple and adjust its 
 minutest concerns. It is her high privilege to define and 
 regulate all its relationships and obligations, and thus 
 sweetening the very fountain of human existence, to make 
 that existence the richest blessing. If then religion, 
 preceding in her very nature, as she does by her obliga- 
 tions, all external civil establishments, alone dares to sit as 
 empress upon the family throne, and to rule its inmates by 
 her wise and benevolent sceptre ; who does not see, that 
 every thing having the remotest tendency to weaken her 
 dominion, poisons the very springs of life, and introduces 
 
•J"J PRESENT STATE 
 
 incij)ient anarcliy and confusion among tlie societies of 
 men? The very parent of the cliurch, and the firmest 
 friend of the state, she prepares her family subjects botli 
 for the one and the other. By maintaining a most inva- 
 riably just government, she prepares the inmate of the 
 family either to rule well himself, or to submit with prompt- 
 ness to a superior administration. The family is the very 
 school and nursery of both church and state. Here 
 those intellects receive their birth, and those principles 
 their direction, which afterwards determine the destinies 
 of men. Here lie encradlcd, the renowned statesman, the 
 eloquent orator, the profound sage, the able theologian, 
 the chanting bard, the burning seraph and the wailing 
 fiend. Thus the family is not only the fountain of all 
 human societies, and its simple elements the sturdy princi- 
 ples of mighty governments, but it is the very source from 
 which are peopled the worlds of happiness and woe. This 
 being the fact, it is not only easy to see, that the Supreme 
 Legislator must have guarded this institution in a peculiar 
 degree, but that every attempt, either direct or indirect, to 
 throw down or weaken the bulwark he has thus placed 
 around it, is as dangerous to human society, as it is offen- 
 sive to God. Now, that infant consecration is the great 
 visible and defined rampart that God has thrown around 
 the family, is evident from its very nature. Those obliga- 
 tions which grow out of the relationships existing between 
 parent and child, are latent and often overlooked. But in 
 the ordinance of infant baptism, they are recognized and 
 embodied in a visible form. The parent acknowledges 
 before God, that he perceives them, and that he feels the 
 duties which they originate. The ordinance of infant 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 23 
 
 dedication being thus the embodying and recognition of 
 more unperceived obligations, becomes in efficiency what 
 the obligations themselves are. In fact, it is but those 
 obligations collected in a set form and exhibited before the 
 mind. Now, that the undermining or shaking of the ordi- 
 nance of infant membership, is but the undermining and 
 shaking of the obligations existing between parents and 
 children is plain, since, as has been shown, the one is in 
 form what the other is in principle. They stand in the 
 very same relation to each other, that the public ordinances 
 of religion do to its more latent obligations. Now, he must 
 be a novice in understanding as well as in observation, 
 who does not at once perceive, that the man who destroys 
 the external ordinances of religion, destroys likewise its 
 internal principles. They stand or fall together. Just so 
 he who destroys the family ordinance of Psedobaptism — 
 that sacred bulwark which a wise God has thrown around 
 the early elements of society, does at the same time injure 
 and corrupt the religion of the family. 
 
 That the prevailing abuses of this ordinance should 
 have injured family discipline and piety, and thus have 
 perverted the very elements o.f society, is as natural as it 
 is lamentable. These injurious effects are first to be 
 noticed in the families of believing parents themselves. 
 As their notions on the subject under discussion have been 
 loose, so they have misunderstood the spirituality of their 
 relationship to their children, and have selected as the end 
 of early education, objects perfectly foreign to the design 
 of God. Thus, mistaking the very design of juvenile 
 training, they have erred in every other particular ; and 
 
24 rUESEN'T STATE 
 
 have often made their offspring prominent in any thing 
 but virtue and holiness. This fundamental error naturally 
 renders family order exceedingly irregular and lax. 
 Children, whom it is the purpose of God according to this 
 institution, to have trained up in his fear, are neglected, 
 unrestrained, uninstructed, and often become the most 
 giant-like of sinners. They know religion but to hate it ; 
 and recognize its institutions but to trample them under 
 foot. That this is lamentably the state of things now in 
 the world, I appeal to the observation of every one, — and 
 that it is worse in those sections of country where the 
 ordinance of infant baptism is but little understood or 
 violently opposed, I also appeal to the consciences of any 
 who have observed. 
 
 Now, this being the state of family government among 
 the pious themselves, the state of things becomes worse 
 among the impenitent and unbelieving. From whatever 
 cause it arises, it is nevertheless true, that men of the 
 world always suppose, that there should be a certain grada- 
 tion between the pious and the wicked. Some too seem 
 to observe this gradation with the exactest scrupulosity. 
 They mark and accurately define the ground which lies 
 between Christian obligation and natural licentiousness. 
 They are extremely exact not to be too pious — not to ap- 
 proach too nigh the church. And, as this is true of indi- 
 viduals, so it is likewise true of families. Wherever, 
 therefore, there is great laxity of domestic government 
 among the pious, there will exist still greater latitudinarian- 
 ism on this point amongst the ungodly. And this is inva- 
 riably the fact. The church must ever form the manners 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 25 
 
 of the world. Wherever, then, the state of morals is defi- 
 cient in a church, either in individuals or families, the 
 state of things must be deplorably bad out of the church. 
 
 8. Great irregularity in the church is likewise an evil 
 connected with the existing state of the institution of 
 Paedobaptism, and immediately growing out of it. God 
 certainly has made the family, not only the introductory 
 institution into the state, but into the church also. The 
 family stands in the same relation to the church, that the 
 church itself bears to Heaven. Man is a moral being, 
 whose principles and character are in a very great degree 
 the result of habit. It is easy for him to yield to his 
 previously formed habits ; it is difficult to resist them. 
 Now, although the transfer of man from a state of unbelief 
 to one of faith, involves in it a change in his habits to a 
 certain extent ; yet does it by no means change at all 
 many of them, nor does it always eradicate others. 
 Habits become in a certain sense parts of our physical 
 nature. As, therefore, in conversion, there is no change 
 of our physical natures, save as to their tendencies and 
 uses ; so the change in our habits are not always as tho- 
 rough as is imagined. Some of them fall into alliance 
 with the new principle which is superinduced in the soul 
 by grace, others, again, fall under the standard of the old 
 man, and often become his most chosen champions. This 
 then being the very nature of man, it is easy to perceive 
 that unless the family society be applied to its appropriate 
 ends — the training of men for more elevated spheres — 
 its members must be but illy fitted to act their parts in 
 those higher responsibilities to which they are called. The 
 offspring of such households never can be prepared for the 
 
20 PRESENT STATE 
 
 faithful and proper discharge of the superior and more 
 solomn duties of the cliurch. In the first place, they must be 
 but novices in information. Having never learned, how can 
 they know ? Having never been faithfully indoctrinated 
 in the truths of Revelation, how can they possibly under- 
 stand those truths ? In the second place, their vicious 
 practices will have a vast advantage over their virtuous 
 principles. The latter have but recently been introduced 
 into the soul — the former have long been its inmates. The 
 one are measurably weak, the other have become inveterate 
 by age. Thus the spiritual warfare is commenced with a 
 great disadvantage. Sin has so intrenched itself in its 
 almost impregnable fortresses, that though the soul is by 
 special contract given to holiness, yet is the possession of 
 the territory enjoyed by the superinduced principle, rather 
 future and certain, tlian immediate and complete. The 
 soul thus resembles the countries given to ancient Israel, 
 but still held in possession by their enemies, whose inhabi- 
 tants were numerous, and whose cities were walled up to 
 heaven — though given to Israel by Divine promise, yet, 
 under the dominion of inveterate foes in point of fact. 
 Men under such circumstances never can be regular, holy, 
 and useful Christians, in any great degree. They are 
 saved but as by fire ? Another evil to the church growing 
 out of neglected family discipline is, that such members 
 make, often, neither good rulers nor subjects. Having 
 never been properly instructed in the nature and mode of 
 moral government, it is impossible for them tu administer 
 it aright. And having never been properly under its con- 
 trol, it is not very likely they will be the most tractable 
 under its influence. Thus, they are not only likely to in- 
 
OF THE SUBJECT. 27 
 
 troduce the same evils into their own families when parents, 
 but to introduce them likewise into the kingdom of Jesus 
 Christ, when they become members of that kingdom. 
 That those evils do now very greatly exist in the church, 
 is evident. Very great irregularity and insubordination, 
 lamentably characterize the churches of the present day. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 METHODS OF REMOVING THE ABOVE EVILS. 
 
 If what has been stated above, be any thing like a 
 correct representation of the present state of things in 
 reference to the institution under discussion, surely it must 
 be most desirable to have these evils removed. The fol- 
 low^ing lecture will therefore be devoted to a brief specifi- 
 cation of some of the modes by which, it is hoped, this 
 ordinance may be vindicated from its present abuses, and 
 be made to hold that prominence in the church which its 
 value demands, and its gracious author intended. 
 
 1. My first, remark is, that more real importance must 
 be attached to the ordinance itself. Men are prone to 
 extremes. Because the types and ceremonies of the an- 
 cient Jews measurably retired at the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity ; and really seem in the discussions of the New Tes- 
 tament to be placed even below their real though former 
 value ; and because the Romish hierarchy have introduced 
 many false symbols into the Christian church ; and proba- 
 bly because men in all ages have been inclined to super- 
 stition on these several accounts, many at the present 
 
 day seem to place but the slightest value upon external 
 3* 
 
30 METHODS OF REMOVING 
 
 forms. But does not the very fact, I would ask, that God 
 has always connected external symbols with his worship, 
 and that men have been prone to multiply them, demon- 
 strably show, that their necessity is deeply inlaid in the 
 very nature of things. Why is it, too, that the present 
 state of things exerts such an engrossing influence over 
 men, if it be not, that " temporal things are things that are 
 seen." The very tangibility of worldly avocations gain 
 them attention, and give them importance. And the very 
 same principle obtains in matters of religion. What 
 makes symbols useless and vague, and even ridiculous, is 
 their not being of divine appointment. I appeal to any 
 man, if the solemn stillness of a Christian sabbath where 
 it is properly observed, or the evangelical celebration of the 
 Lord's supper, or the proper administration of Christian 
 baptism, does not strike his soul in tones of eloquence to 
 which no human tongue in mere description is adequate. 
 In all such cases the senses assist the mind, and the im- 
 pression of the truth becomes irresistible. It is true, that 
 it is the ultimate influence of truth upon the heart and 
 conscience that is of real and abstract value; but, then, if 
 the visibility of its form be the best method of reaching the 
 heart and conscience, the external symbol which affords 
 that visibility is likewise of proportional importance. The 
 implanting of truth in the mind, is the end of religious in- 
 struction ; but in order to this, visible types become, though 
 not the only, yet an important yneans. 
 
 The importance of imagery in divine worship being 
 thus sanctioned by God himself in every age of the church, 
 as well as deeply founded in the very nature of man, the 
 only question as to the importance of any external ordi» 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 31 
 
 nance whatever, is, whether it be of divine appointment. 
 This being proved, the value of the ordinance is at once 
 established, nor can any debates whatever as to the non- 
 essentiality of the ordinance to salvation at all interfere 
 with its importance to the ends for which it was appointed. 
 That there may be salvation without the administration of 
 a certain gospel ordinance is evident ; but, that that same 
 gospel ordinance may, in a certain connection of causes 
 and events, be essential under given circumstances to the 
 salvation of the soul, is likewise evident. Now, with most 
 of those to whom I am addressing these pages, it is admit- 
 ted to be a revealed duty, that a believing parent should 
 baptize his offspring. The divine obligation to observe 
 this ordinance is admitted ; and yet, compliance with it is 
 regarded as merely optional, as of but little value. And it 
 is this very conduct on the part of many Paedobaptists that 
 has gained them the unenviable title of "blind guides to 
 the blind." It is this very inconsistency that has started 
 the surmise in some, and the unblushing charge in others, 
 that they are holding to an absolute and superstitious rite, 
 the authority of which they cannot establish, and the bene- 
 fits of which they cannot appreciate. 
 
 But to undervalue and neglect the ordinance of infant 
 baptism, is not only to sin against God, but against the 
 rights of our children. Have they, according to the gra- 
 cious purpose of God, a right to church membership? 
 Have they a right to the united prayers and efforts of a 
 praying community in their behalf? Have they a gracious 
 and natural right to a most pious religious training 1 Have 
 they offered to ihem through their parents all the benefits 
 of the new and everlastincr covenant ? Is God willing, in 
 
,32 METHODS OF REMOVING 
 
 this method, to become in a peculiar sense their God and 
 Father? Do our children enjoy all these advantages, both 
 by natural and divine right? If so, how sacrilegious, how 
 awfully sinful, the conduct by which all these advantages 
 become a mere nullity, or, I had better say, a curse ! Oh 
 if I had power to awaken a church to a deep concern for 
 an ordinance of God, almost become obsolete by neglect; 
 if I could arouse in parents a proper interest on this sub- 
 ject, I would roll jny voice from one border of Zion to an- 
 other, — I would call upon the fathers, now as grey with 
 wisdom as with age, and our pioneers in the ways of 
 righteousness and duty, — I would call upon the sturdy 
 watchman on Zion's walls, — I would call upon those who 
 are appointed the guardians of the purity and truth of the 
 church, and I would call upon parents by whose neglect 
 the dear lambs of the flock have held too long, unequal 
 contests with the wolves and the bears that prowl around 
 the Saviour's fold, — I would call upon all, to awake to 
 the importance of this neglected institution. 
 
 2. A second method to remove the evils in question is, 
 that the wise and good of our church should bestow more 
 time and talent in the clear and scriptural elucidation of 
 this ordinance. Much has been written, and well written, 
 we are aware, in its defence; but still, we think ourselves 
 supported by fact in the statement, that the subject has 
 not received from divines that profound attention, and that 
 deep research, which its great importance and existing 
 state loudly demand. The principles of the institution 
 need to be more thoroughly examined, its duties more 
 clearly unfolded, and the scriptural facts which assert its 
 divine authority, more closely and strikingly arranged. 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 33 
 
 Nor need any suppose that the subject has been exhausted. 
 Like most other revealed principles, it will admit of indefi- 
 nite explication. I am one of those who, so far from be- 
 lieving that the present fund of information on hand, ex- 
 cludes future discovery and progress, firmly believe, that 
 this very fact but invites to greater improvements and en- 
 sures success. Nature, Providence, and Revelation, the 
 three great volumes in which God has revealed himself to 
 man, partaking much of that mysteriousness which invests 
 the divine nature ; while they contain much that is plain, 
 and much that has been discovered, contain likewise much 
 that is obscure and not understood. The truths of revela- 
 tion resemble infinite lines projected from the throne of 
 God, and terminated at the earth. Now, although such 
 lines might appear simple and plain in their earthly termi- 
 nations, yet, as they should be pursued into the divine 
 mind itself, they would become infinitely grand and mys- 
 terious. Thus the truth which a lisping child may under? 
 stand in its terrestrial disclosures, the burning seraph may 
 in vain attempt to comprehend in its divine origination. 
 Yet as it is right for that child to grasp those plainer points, 
 so it is right for that more exalted intelligence to contem- 
 plate and examine its more hidden principle. Now, the 
 ordinance of infant membership must have as its fixed ba- 
 sis, certain established principles — certain reasons, either 
 in the nature of things or their connection, upon which it 
 rests. God is an infinitely intelligent being : he never acts 
 but from the wisest and best of motives. And even many 
 of those things in his conduct which appear to us to be but 
 arbitrary, are the results of the most permanent and im- 
 portant principles. This then being the case with this 
 
34 METHODS OF REMOVING 
 
 institution, as with all others, the tracing and defining of 
 these princij)Ies, and deducing thence the appropriate 
 practical results, must he a field of investigation on this 
 subject, as interesting as it would be valuable. Besides, 
 the revealed obligation of this ordinance standing, in a 
 great degree, on the connection between the Jewish polity 
 and the Christian church ; the Old and the New Testa- 
 ments, to ascertain and exhibit those grand and leading 
 principles which pervade each of these systems; and espe- 
 cially to show, that that upon which this institution rests, 
 is one of them; must furnish, from the very nature of the 
 subject, scope for the acutest intellect, and advantage suffi- 
 cient for the most aspiring mind. The collection, too, of 
 all the revealed facts that support this institution, and their 
 clear and proper arrangement, furnish likewise a large and 
 interesting field of inquiry. 
 
 Nor let it be objected to here, that such procedure is 
 more apt to establish a particular theory, than to ascertain 
 truth. The method by which most of the splendid errors 
 that now obtain, gained their existence was, the renuncia- 
 tion o^ fundamental principles in the investigation of truth 
 But, if on the contrary, these be always adhered to, and be 
 but the test of more remote discoveries, then the boldest 
 attempts of intellect in the unfolding of that which is dark 
 and mysterious, will always be safe and profitable. This 
 has been the method by which all true philosophers have 
 guided their inquiries, and this is the mode of investiga- 
 tion pursued by all sound and truly able divines. This is 
 the very course that nature herself points out — and it is 
 the only one by which we may aspire and yet be safe. 
 Nor let it be objected, that this subject is so invested 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 35 
 
 with religious controversy, that it is not only unpleasant of 
 investigation, but that such investigation is likely to lead 
 to deleterious consequences. What doctrine or duty, I 
 would ask, in these days, is not associated with disputes ? 
 If, therefore, we must not investigate for fear of debate 
 and contradiction, then must we renounce altogether our 
 efforts after the discovery of truth. Besides, controversy 
 itself when fairly conducted but elicits the truth. It is 
 like the efforts of gold-diggers after the pure metal. All 
 that those who oppose us can require, is, but courtesy and 
 candor — and surely no mind incapable of either, is fit to 
 enter upon this or any other field of investigation. Let, 
 then, those minds, which have been less usefully employed 
 in researches after truth elsewhere, be turned with all 
 their energies to this more important, because more practi- 
 cal field of inquiry. Let the subject be more ably, more 
 thoroughly handled, and let it be placed before our 
 churches in a more visible and tangible form. 
 
 3. A third method of removing the evils in question, 
 is, that our church judicatories be more strict in enforcing 
 compliance with this part of our excellent Confession of 
 Faith. This embraces four particulars. 
 
 First, That the supervision and general control of 
 higher judicatories be more decided and distinct on this 
 part of our Discipline. Our church iscertainly oneof the 
 best representative governments on earth. In its very 
 construction it is equally guarded against both tyranny 
 and licentiousness — it enjoys uniformity yet freedom. 
 Still in the hands of its administrators it may be supposed 
 capable of suffering from either of these sources. Now 
 that under existing circumstances it is more liable to suf- 
 
30 METHODS OF REMOVING 
 
 fer from the latter than from the former evil is evident. 
 We not only live under a free civil government — but this 
 is enipliatically an age of free discussion. Every one, too, 
 is anxious to enter the list and rear his trophy. The 
 extent also of our territory is very great — our numbers 
 large and our manners and customs different. Now that 
 under these circumstances we are more apt to .split than 
 combine — to introduce error rather than to be too strict in 
 the enforcement of truth, is perfectly manifest. This being 
 the case, and our higher judicatories being expressly 
 formed to prevent these evils, and to maintain the "unity" 
 of the whole church, it certainly is obligatory on them to 
 be very cautious and accurate in their supervision, the 
 more so, because silence in them at the introduction of 
 error, either in practice or doctrine, will be regarded as 
 sanction of those errors, by our very highest ecclesiastical 
 courts. 
 
 On the subject under debate, our Confession of Faith, 
 which is the standard of our highest courts as well as of 
 ordinary membership, is very explicit and excellent. In 
 chap, x.xviii, sec. iv, it employs these words : " Not only 
 those who do actually profess faith in, and obedience 
 unto Christ, but also the infants of one or both believing 
 parents are to be baptized." In the answer to the 166th 
 question of the larger catechism, it thus exhibits the senti- 
 ments of our church. " Baptism is not to be administered 
 to any that are out of the visible church, and so strangers 
 from the covenant of promise, till they profess their faith in 
 Christ, and obedience to him : but infants descending from 
 parents, either both or but one of thern, professing faith iV 
 Christ, and obedience to him, arc in that I'csjiect within the^ 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 37 
 
 covenant, and are to he baptized." In chap, vii of the Di- 
 rectory for Worship, the mode of baptizing the child is 
 particularly delineated. Among other things, it is there 
 specially taught, that " Baptism is not to be unnecessarily 
 delayed;" that "It is usually to be administered in the 
 church," though, under extraordinary circumstances, it 
 may "be expedient to administer it in private houses." 
 The minister, too, is there enjoined to explain to his audi- 
 ence its authority, nature, and benefits, as well as to en- 
 force upon the parents its appropriate duties. In chap, 
 ix, and i, of the same Directory, it is clearly stated, that 
 " children born within the pale of the visible church, and 
 dedicated to God in baptism, are under the inspection and 
 government of the church, and are to be taught to read and 
 repeat the Catechism, the Apostle's Creed, and the Lord's 
 Prayer. They are to be taught to pray, to abhor sin, to 
 fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. And when 
 they come to years of discretion, if they be free from scan- 
 dal, appear sober and steady, and to have sufficient know- 
 ledge to discern the Lord's body, they ought to be informed 
 it is their duty and their privilege to come to the Lord's 
 supper." 
 
 Now, certainly, the charge of obscurity on this subject 
 cannot be brought against this venerable standard of doc- 
 trine and discipline. What is necessary is, that its teach- 
 ings be heard and complied with. And if the question be 
 asked, how are the high judicatories to extend their super- 
 vision and control over this ordinance ? my reply is, in the 
 same way that they extend them over any other branches 
 
 of our discipline. Let them only make it a matter of suffi- 
 
 4 
 
38 METHODS OF TIEMOVING 
 
 cient importance, and the mode of its accomplishment will 
 be easy cnou<ih. 
 
 A s^fcoiid particular embraced in the preceding article 
 is, that more ])ains be taken to instruct candidates for the 
 ministry in the nature and authority of this ordinance, pre- 
 viously to their being ordained bishops or evangelists. Our 
 church has always held and maintained, in her theory at 
 least, the great importance of eminent ministerial qualifi- 
 cation. The importance of this must be obvious to all. 
 But still, in many cases, young men have been thrust into 
 the ministry, but with very little furniture for their great 
 and arduous work. In all such cases, their views of this 
 ordinance, which forms the subject of these treatises, as 
 well as of other gospel truths and ordinances, must of 
 course be superficial. Nor will the evil stop with them. 
 They will introduce great irregularity, and often great 
 errors into the churches over which they preside. But 
 even in the most elaborate preparations for the gospel 
 ministry amongst us, it is to be feared, that this institution 
 is not sufficiently made a matter of study. I would not 
 have it raised to an improper prominence in a theological 
 course. But I do contend, that it should hold its own 
 appropriate importance. This importance, it is my firmest 
 conviction, is generally denied it. 
 
 Thirdly, there should also be more pains taken in the 
 ordaining of elders. The eldership in our church is an 
 important auxiliary to the ministry. They are, I think, in 
 the view of our Confession of Faith, as well as of the word 
 of God, every thing that ministers are, with the exception 
 of preaching and the administration of the ordinances. 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 39 
 
 Certainly, then, they ought to be, not only pious and zeal- 
 ous men, but orthodox and intelligent. If they should 
 not go regularly through a theological course in one of 
 our seminaries, they at least should study closely and accu- 
 rately the word of God, the Confession of Faith, and the 
 various doctrines, duties, and practices, common to Pres- 
 byterianism. In fact, these are the very men from whom 
 we are to expect the greatest advantage, or to derive the 
 greatest harm. They are not, like the minister of a par- 
 ticular congregation, one, but many. They are, too, the 
 representatives of the people ; they mix more in their socie- 
 ty, and are less chargeable with "priestcraft," than minis- 
 ters are. It is, too, through that lower judicatory, in which 
 they are generally more numerous than the ministers, 
 that persons are introduced into our church. They thus, 
 in a very significant sense, keep "the keys" of the Presby- 
 terian church, — admit or reject whom they may. Now 
 under such circumstances, it is of essential importance, 
 that they be good theologians, as well as pious and active 
 Christians. And we hesitate not to say, that that church 
 which has elected, and that minister who has ordained an 
 elder, unacquainted with the doctrines and forms of our 
 church, has abused that church, and perverted the very 
 nature of the eldership, as well as deeply afflicted them- 
 selves. 
 
 But fourthly, more accuracy should be observed in the 
 admission of private members. The very hurried and 
 irregular mode of introducing members into our churches, 
 which now exists to a very great extent, is an evil which 
 cannot be too much deprecated. Our church system is 
 very organic. It contemplates a regular training previous 
 
40 METHODS OF REMOVING '' 
 
 to the admission of members. When, therefore, we venture 
 on new territory, and take those into our bosom who have 
 never enjoyed such regular training, it becomes us to be 
 exceedingly cautious. There often may exist, along with 
 an apparent but spurious conversion, the most ya^a/ errors ; 
 and there often may exist along with real conversions, 
 most mischievous errors. If, then, persons, under such cir- 
 cumstances, be introduced into the church, and from 
 possessing some brilliant qualities, should be made officers 
 in the church, the evil becomes almost incurable. Instead 
 of introducing in such a case a helper into our Christian 
 community, we have introduced but a viper, to distress and 
 annoy us. It is in this way, that our church in most new 
 countries, resembles Jacob's herds, or Joseph's coat, — it 
 has many colors, both in doctrine and practice. And pro- 
 bably, if the truth were ascertained, on no doctrine and 
 duty are we more irregular, than on those in question. So 
 great is the evil now, that many members, and many eld- 
 ers, (and for shame I say it,) many ministers too, seem to 
 doubt, whether, according to our discipline, the baptism of 
 the parent necessarily involves the baptism of his child, — 
 and whether it be not consistent enough with Presbyteri- 
 anism, to fill the church with pfudo-unbaptizing members ! 
 The only remedy to such an evil, is for church sessions to 
 keep the keys better. 
 
 4. Another mode of remedying the abuses of the ordi- 
 nance of paedobaptism is, for it to be more frequently and 
 more forcibly exhibited from the pulpit. The pulpit is an 
 admirable means of inculcating divine truth. Men as a 
 multitude are not too much given to reading. They espe- 
 cially will read nothing, or very little, that conflicts with 
 
THE ABOVE EVILS. 41 
 
 their prejudices and prepossessions. This being the case, 
 their prejudices, and prepossessions and ignorance are to 
 be assailed from the sacred desk. What would become of 
 the Gospel if it were not preached ? And what would be- 
 come of any doctrine or ordinance of the Gospel, if ex- 
 cluded from the pulpit 1 Not, therefore, to introduce the 
 subject of Infant Baptism into the desk, is but to preach 
 the Gospel partially ; or rather, it is but to surrender a 
 Gospel ordinance of infinite value, to the false delicacy of 
 a man-pleasing spirit ; and thereby to yield the victory to 
 the adversary without even an effort to obtain it. No 
 sectary by feeling or practice, I am farthest possible from 
 urging the indiscriminate and injudicious introduction of 
 this or any other subject into the pulpit. The whole 
 Gospel is ta be preached discreetly ; and certainly this 
 institution also. I do insist, however, upon the more fre- 
 quent and lucid discussion of this topic in the presence of 
 our ordinary audiences. And, I insist upon it, on account 
 of its intrinsic value, its neglected state, and its frequently 
 occurring practical obligations. Our people will not com- 
 ply with an ordinance, the nature and benefits of which 
 they do not perceive : nor can they be expected to perceive 
 the advantages and obligations of an institution, in which 
 they have never been properly instructed. Nor let it be 
 objected against this course, that our assemblies are mixed, 
 and therefore, it would be unpleasant to discuss such a 
 subject. If we wait until our audiences are all harmonious, 
 then shall we be compelled to relinquish very much, if not 
 all, of Gospel truth. Only let us discuss the subject in a 
 proper manner and with a proper spirit, and then leave the 
 
 result with God. If it be asked, how often should this 
 
 4* 
 
42 METHODS OF REMOVING 
 
 discussion be introduced before an audience, my answer 
 is, just so often as to keep them well informed on the 
 subject. This will require greater frequency in some 
 churches, less frequency in others. 
 
 5. Another important method of removing these evils, 
 is, frequently and carefully to instruct baptized children. In 
 our Directory for Worship, as above quoted, it is particu- 
 cularly stated, that " children born within the pale of the 
 visible church, and dedicated to God in baptism, are under 
 the inspection and government of the church, and are to 
 be taught to read and repeat the Catechism, the Apostle's 
 Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. They are to be taught to 
 pray, to abhor sin, to fear God, and to obey the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. And when they come to years of discretion, if 
 they be free from scandal, appear sober and steady, and 
 to have sufficient knowledge to discern the Lord's body, 
 they ought to be informed it is their duty and their pri- 
 vilege to come to the Lord's Supper, 
 
 A large portion of the above duties must of course de- 
 volve upon the parent. It is through the double relation- 
 ship in which he stands to God and his child to him, that 
 his offspring is admitted to baptism. His child, too, is 
 immediately under his control, and almost ever in his 
 presence. He has also promised in the baptism of his off- 
 spring, to be faithful to his moral and religious training. 
 For a parent after all this, to neglect his child — not re- 
 peatedly to inform him of his baptism and his duty — is 
 most wicked and injurious. Nor can we ever expect, in 
 a solitary case, the ends of infant baptism to be attained, 
 where the appropriate means are neglected. Parents who 
 neglect their baptized offspring, are guilty of the complex. 
 
THE ABOA'E EVILS. 43 
 
 and multiplied offence, of insulting God, wronging the 
 child, injuring the church, and prostituting an ordinance 
 of the gospel. 
 
 But there is, according, both to the nature of the insti- 
 tution and our book of discipline, a supervision which the 
 church in her officers and members is to extend over a 
 baptized child. This supervision should extend both to 
 the parent and the child. The church is bound to see 
 that the parent be faithful to his vows in this matter — that, 
 after baptizing his offspring, he raise him as becometh a 
 Christian child, and not as a young heathen. The child, 
 too, should also be addressed, prayed with, catechised, 
 and urged onward in the Christian course. Nor do those 
 officers of churches, who neglect such duties to the lambs 
 of the flock, comply either with the word of God, or our 
 discipline. And I solemnly fear, that the blood of many a 
 baptized child will eventually be found in the skirts of those 
 who are its appointed and necessary spiritual guardians. 
 
 These constitute a summary of those methods, which 
 it seems to me, of very high importance, to be observed, in 
 order to redeem our church from error, an ordinance of 
 God from disrepute and disgrace, and the souls of our 
 children from eternal ruin. And I cannot close this lec- 
 ture, without most solemnly calling upon the whole church, 
 to awake to her duty. The cause of truth requires it, the 
 interests of our church requires it, and the salvation of our 
 households require it. And it is greatly to be feared, that 
 if something be not done, and soon done, the confusion 
 which now belongs to this institution, will be increased a 
 hundred fold, and the proper remedy be infinitely harder 
 to be found. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES IN THE MODE OF PROOF BY WHICH P^DO- 
 BAPTISM IS ESTABLISHED, CONSIDERED. 
 
 I HAVE already suggested, that the subject of Psedo- 
 baptism has not been, probably, jis clearly elucidated as its 
 importance demands, and as the subject itself will admit. 
 Still, however, enough has been written to establish, in the 
 minds of the candid, the divine authority and beneficial 
 tendency of this institution, were there not counteracting 
 obstacles in the mode of proof, by which its obligation is 
 attempted to be confirmed. That these difficulties do 
 really exist, will be admitted by all who have paid the sub- 
 ject the least attention. It is exceedingly difficult so to 
 collect, arrange and exhibit the arguments in favor of this 
 ordinance, as to remove all doubt from the mind of the 
 common hearer or reader ; especially when that mind has 
 received a previous bias against the ordinance itself In 
 treating of these difficulties, it is my design, first, to show 
 that tlieir existence does not, in the least, destroy either the 
 proof itself, or the institution which that proof goes to es- 
 tablish : and then, secondly, I shall attempt to point out 
 what those difficulties are. 
 
40 
 
 DIFFICLLTIES IN THE 
 
 1 . The existence of difficulties in the mode of proof by 
 which tlic ordinance of infant baptism is established, does 
 not destroy eitlier tlie proof itself, or the institution which 
 that proof goes to support. It is a very common sentiment 
 in the minds of many, that that which is not expressly re- 
 vtftlid ill t/ic Tiibh' in so vumy words, is not a part of di- 
 vine revelation, and therefore false. This sentiment has 
 prevailed on no subject more than in respect to the insti- 
 tution in question. Now, to say nothing concerning the 
 difficulty of establishing what is revealed truth, even ac- 
 cording to this principle itself, arising from the literal and 
 tropical meaning of scriptural words, and other circum- 
 stances ; the principle itself is contrary to ttco established 
 facts. The first of these is, that God may be said, justly 
 enougli, to reveal to us any truth whatever, when he has 
 placed that truth within the reach of the faculties he has 
 given us. It would contradict the very nature of man for 
 God to have revealed to him, with perfect clearness, all 
 truth at once. Existence, under such circumstances, 
 would have become a dull monotony, and his possession of 
 the most exalted faculties, a source of the acutest suffer- 
 ings. The very nature of man, then, clearly proves, that 
 truths, which it was God's intention for him to know, were 
 revealed to his mind with different degrees of perspicuity. 
 Some were placed nearer to him, others more remote, and 
 others again still further in the distance. Some he saw 
 w ith entire accuracy, others were more obscured, and oth- 
 ers again, for a time, covered with apparently impenetra- 
 ble gloom. All who have in the least observed the deal- 
 ings of God u ith men, know that this is, in point of fact, 
 the mode in which he has revealed himself to our species. 
 
5IODE OF PROOF. 47 
 
 It is true in Nature, in Providence, and in Revelation. 
 Although, with regard to the first, " the works of God were 
 finished from the foundation of the world," yet, how gra- 
 dually progressive has been the knowledge which men 
 have acquired of those works ? The boundary of man's 
 knowledge at first, did not extend much beyond the spot of 
 ground on which he stood. But now, how very extensive 
 the horizon which encircles the brow of human science? 
 As to Divine Providence, how mystical and dark were its 
 traces in the eyes of mortals at first ? But now, how angel- 
 eyed is the faith which, piercing the curtaining darkness 
 that surrounds the throne, contemplates with delight the 
 smiling countenance of Him who sits thereon ? The same 
 is also true in reference to divine revelation. That the 
 writings of the Holy Scriptures were given to man at dif- 
 ferent periods, and that a principle, but obscurely recog- 
 nized at an earlier period, was in a remote one more clearly 
 unfolded, none will deny. And even now that revelation 
 has been completed nearly eighteen centuries, is there a gra- 
 dual disclosure of its contents progressively going on under 
 the eye and according to the will of Him who is its all-wise 
 1 author. The revelation of God's will to man did not cease 
 when the mere wording of that revelation ended. And he 
 who is now zealous, yet humble and cautious in the expo- 
 sition of that wonderful monument of divine wisdom and 
 mercy to man, is but filling up the list of prophets and 
 apostles, and following in the line of those who shall con- 
 stitute pillars in the kingdom of God above. This gradual 
 development of himself to man, constitutes one of the 
 most glorious principles in the divine administration. It 
 necessarily arises out of the very nature of God, and of his 
 
48 DIFFICULTTES IN THE 
 
 creature, man. Nor can it ever cease. And even in 
 eternity must there ever exist those distinctions in the 
 moral world, which comport so well with those in the natu- 
 ral world here ; there will be light, twilight, and darkness ; 
 that which is clear, that which is uncertain, and that which 
 is mysterious. This, too, is the principle, according to 
 which human faculties are developed, and human enterpri- 
 ses accomplished, even in this world. The attainment of 
 knowledge, how gradual, — the performance of labor, how 
 progressive ! See the mother, as she teaclies her child to 
 use its limbs in the necessary exercise of walking. She 
 first teaches it to take but a few steps : she then increases 
 the number; and so gradually makes her little pupil an 
 adept in the art of walking. It is in the same way the 
 great God teaches his offspring to exert their faculties in 
 prying into his counsel and will. Now, that that which 
 God has put within the reach of our faculties to ascertain, 
 is a part of those things which " are revealed and belong 
 to us and our children," and that He has revealed to us 
 most of our knowledge just in this way, is evident. If so, 
 why may not the institution in question be revealed ac- 
 cording to this method? Why may not sufficient evidence 
 of its divine authority be afforded, and yet that evidence 
 placed, not out of our power, but just beyond the limit of 
 the most manifest perspicuity ? It is so in many other 
 things equally important; then why not so as to this? 
 
 But the principle, that men only stand accountable for 
 a doctrine, when such doctrine is exhibited to them icith 
 perfect perspicuity , proves infnitely too much. The Jew, 
 in the life-time of Christ, never supposed that even he had 
 enough of clear and manifest evidence of the Messiahship 
 
MODE OF PROOF. 49 
 
 of the Saviour. In the midst of all he saw, he still called 
 for a "sign;" he wished different kind of evidence, and 
 desired it in greater quantity. But was that Jew, there- 
 fore, exempt from the woes denounced against that nation ? 
 The infidel too, at the present day, supposes that gospel 
 truth is not clearly enough revealed to his perceptions : he 
 too asks for miracles, — for greater evidence. But is he in- 
 nocent while he renounces revelation, because, as he sup- 
 poses, not made more clear and obvious? The heathen 
 world too, may, upon this principle, be justified in all their 
 idolaries and abominations. They enjoy, comparatively, 
 but the shadows of that truth in whose broad blaze we live. 
 But are they innocent ? The sinner, too, who has blunted 
 all his moral convictions and impressions of the truth, will 
 probably also urge, in extenuation of his unbelief, that he 
 needs more light. The truth is, we are accountable, not 
 only for what is manifestly revealed, but for what is put 
 within the reach of our abilities. 
 
 The second fact which contradicts the sentiment above 
 is, that truths clearly enough revealed in themselves, yet 
 may not be equally plain to all men. Many circumstances 
 will produce this result. Difference in intellectual facul- 
 ties will produce it. In order to understand many of the 
 revealed truths of the Bible, it requires intellects of the 
 first order. Now, certainly, those whose natural capaci- 
 ties are not so good, cannot be said to have those truths 
 revealed to them as clearly and forcibly as they are to the 
 more talented. Again, difference in intellectual and moral 
 culture, will produce different degrees of accuracy of per- 
 ception in relation lo the truth ; and, therefore, it cannot be 
 said to stand forth with equal clearness to both classes,— 
 
50 DIFFICULTIES IN THE 
 
 the refined and the rude, the pious and the wicked. The 
 language, and the manners and customs of different na- 
 tions, will necessarily render the capabilities and facilities 
 of understanding clearly revealed truths, different in differ- 
 ent countries. Thus, to the ancient Jew, and probably 
 to the Asiatic now, the language of Scripture, its mode 
 of instruction, and the figures it employs, would all be more 
 familiar, and consctinently more plain, than to us. Varia- 
 tions too, in point of time, also produce differences in 
 ability to comprehend aright what has been clearly reveal- 
 ed in the written word. Thus, to the ancients who saw 
 the persons, witnessed the miracles, and heard the instruc- 
 tions of the Saviour, of Apostles and Prophets, many things 
 would be more clear than to us now adays. On the con- 
 trary, many things now appear more satisfactory and evi- 
 dent to us, than tliey possibly could have appeared to them. 
 Besides, the errors and prejudices heaped upon divine truth 
 though clearly enough revealed at first, constitute a mist 
 and darkness through which the mind may not be able, or 
 able only with great difficulty, to perceive the truth. All 
 these circumstances taken together, show very clearly, that 
 even where divine truth is in itself plainly revealed, yet it 
 is not revealed with equal clearness to all men. And this 
 must be the case, no matter in what nation or age the 
 revelation was given. 
 
 Now if the two facts illustrated above be considered, 
 viz. that God really reveals his truth to man, when he puts 
 it in the reach of his abilities to ascertain it ; and also, 
 that from circumstances which invariably e.vist, even truth, 
 that is clearly revealed, is not revealed with equal perspi- 
 cuity to all men; if these facts, I say, be considered, the 
 
MODE OF PROOF. §1 
 
 fallacy of the above sentiment will at once appear. It is 
 not therefore triie, that ichat is not clearly revealed in so 
 many words, is therefore not a truth of Revelation, and 
 consequently false. Now, in proving this, we have also 
 established, as was proposed, that the existence of difficul- 
 ties in the mode of proof by which the ordinance of infant 
 baptism is established, does not destroy either the proof 
 itself, or the institution which that proof goes to support. 
 And the reason is manifest ; because the proof may be 
 quite sufficient, though we may not clearly perceive it. 
 
 II. I now proceed to show what are some of the diffi- 
 culties alluded to above. 
 
 1. These difficulties exist, in the first place, in the 
 quantity of proof necessary in order to produce unshaken 
 confidence in the mind, as to the validity of the ordinance 
 of infant baptism. Where the several arguments that sup- 
 port a cause are each of them sufficient and independent, 
 the quantity of such evidence but strengthens the convic- 
 tion which each argument by itself begets. But, where 
 there is a large amount of evidence, all going to establish 
 the same fact, yet no particular part of that evidence de- 
 monstrating that fact by itself, there the quantity of evi- 
 dence often becomes an inconvenience to those, who are 
 obliged to resort to such evidence for proof The reasons 
 why this is so, are these. In the first place, it is more diffi- 
 cult to collect and arrange the amount of testimony so as 
 to produce conviction. The evidence is abundant, but 
 scattered — it is sufficient, but not combined. In order, 
 therefore, to collect and carefully arrange such evidence, 
 it requires much of judgment and attention. Another 
 reason is, that it is more difficult to produce conviction in 
 
52 DIFFICULTIES IN THE 
 
 the minds of the common people by such a quantity of 
 evidence so widely scattered, because it fatigues their at- 
 tention and renders them restless. Not accustomed to 
 think very closely on any one subject, and such close think- 
 ing being therefore very disagreeable, no common hearer 
 may be expected to give a candid and patient attention to 
 so long a train of argumentation. Another reason is, 
 that the mind naturally seems to fix itself more upon one 
 point in an argument, than to take a comprehensive view 
 of a whole field of evidence. The process in the one case 
 is simple, in the other more complex and enlarged. 
 Probably most of the common people, who are the abettors 
 of any one cause whatever, however abundant the proof by 
 which that cause may be substantiated, yet leave the 
 whole territory of argument, with the exception of one 
 solitary fortress. In this they entrench tliemselves and 
 feel perfectly secure. And if their favorite stix>ng-hold 
 should be successfully assailed by their superior antago- 
 nist, instead of yielding it and taking more advantageous 
 positions, they will even support themselves by prejudice 
 where argument may fail them. All who are accustomed 
 to debate with the multitude, know, that this is very much 
 the case. This, too, is natural as well as common : for 
 the mind, seizing hold of one distinct point becomes more 
 settled upon it, and more familiarized to it. Hence it 
 becomes a weapon more easily wielded, and with which 
 the mind is more pleased than any other. Now, this being 
 man's nature as well as practice, where a cause is to be 
 supported, not by a solitary argument, but by a whole 
 field of proof, conviction is not so easily produced. 
 
 Now, that the proof substantiating the ordinance in 
 
4 MODE OF PROOF. 53 
 
 question is, in a great measure of the character above des- 
 cribed, is evident to all, who have paid the subject any 
 proper attention. The amount of evidence is not small 
 and direct, but abundant and indirect. Hence in the 
 wielding of such testimony the supporter of Paedobaptism 
 must necessarily labor under great inconvenience, espe- 
 cially with common hearers. 
 
 2. Not only the quantity, but the quality of the evi- 
 dence, by which Paedobaptism is established, furnishes 
 also an additional impediment in the way of producing the 
 most satisfactory conviction. This evidence as above 
 suggested is rather circumstantial as a whole, than direct. 
 It is drawn not so much from any one plain and unques- 
 tionable text, as it is from the general scope and analogy 
 of the Scriptures. But, is there any good reason, I would 
 ask, why such evidence when strong should not beget in 
 the mind the most perfect satisfaction 1 To this I would 
 reply in the negative ; and for the two following reasons. 
 
 First, from the very nature of the case. By the cir- 
 cumstances of an event is meant its antecedents, and con- 
 sequents, as well as its accompaniments. Now, if there 
 be any sure connection between any of these and any 
 one definite event whatever, as there must of course be ; 
 and if we ascertain certainly the existence of any of these 
 circumstances themselves, then are we perfectly ascer- 
 tained of the existence of that particular event, although 
 there be no direct and positive proof of its having occur- 
 red. All that is necessary in order to beget in such a 
 case the firmest faith, is to establish the certainty of the 
 existence of the circumstances, and their sure connection 
 
 with the event in question. If these two things be clearly 
 
 5* 
 
54 DIFFICULTIES IN THE 
 
 Bhown, then no positive proof whatever can warrant 
 stronger confidence. Circumstances become in such a 
 case natural witnesses to the truth. And as nature when 
 she is properly understood has but one voice, so that voice 
 when properly uttered never can fail to beget belief. 
 Hence it is frequently remarked, and often by the com- 
 mon people, "circumstances cant lie." A living witness 
 may be bribed to tell a lie, but when we ascertain the exist- 
 ence of certain things naturally and really connected with 
 a particular event, we are obliged to believe in the exist- 
 ence of that event, unless there be stronger direct testi- 
 mony to disprove its existence. 
 
 My second reason is, that men always do, in point of 
 fact, put great confidence in circumstantial evidence. It 
 is always rated along with living testimony, and often pre- 
 ferred to it ; from the simple reason that men can much 
 sooner deceive than nature. It is relied on in common 
 life, in civil courts, in philosophy, and ought to be relied on 
 in matters of religion. IIovv often, when a report origi- 
 nates in a community of any importance either as to cha- 
 racter or property, are all the circumstances traced and 
 exauiincd, and confided in? How often in civil courts 
 does this sort of evidence decide the most important cases. 
 And from what other sort of evidence is it, that most phi- 
 losophical principles have been established 1 Before the 
 globe was actually circumnavigated, the rotundity of the 
 eartli was settled from the three circumstances, that her 
 shadow in a lunar eclipse was round ; the mast of a ship 
 at sea was the first part seen ; and the polar star arose 
 when one went north. The planets are believed to be in- 
 habited by beings very similar to man, simply from the 
 
MODE OF PROOF. 55 
 
 circumstances of similarity between them and our earth. 
 And SO firm is this belief in the philosophic world, that he 
 would be regarded as rude and vulgar, who should require, 
 previous to belief, either a plain view of the fact in some 
 great telescope not yet invented ; or who should probably 
 prefer, that one of their inhabitants should make us a 
 visit to establish such truth. If then, circumstances are 
 thus universally relied upon as evidence, and often evi- 
 dence of the first order, is it reasonable, I would ask, to 
 exclude their testimony from the departments of religion ? 
 Unquestionably not. And even those, who often urge the 
 tenuity of the ground held by Paedobaptists, upon the prin- 
 ciple of its being but circumstantial evidence, yet, as often 
 stand upon the same ground of argument as the antago- 
 nists whom they thus injudiciously assail. 
 
 3. Another set of difficulties, not immediately in the 
 mode of proof by which Paedobaptism is established, but 
 connected with it, is to be found in the present circumstan- 
 ces of the debate on this subject. 
 
 The first of this sort which I will here mention is, the 
 evil practices now existing in churches and families, that 
 have grown out of the abuses into which this ordinance 
 has fallen. It is always difficult to convince a man of the 
 truth, who has either in his mind a strong determination 
 not to obey it, or in his life an invincible habit that is con- 
 trary to it. In all such cases, the heart is apt to control 
 the head ; and the sinner who is unwilling to obey the 
 light, is apt to close his eyes against its reception. Now, 
 in contemplating the state of families and churches, in 
 respect to this institution, we find it most deplorably bad. 
 The discipline of the church has been relaxed ; the proper 
 
56 DIFFICULTIES IN THE 
 
 Christian government of the family has never existed, — 
 and children have even grown up in the church, and yet 
 never baptized at all ! When, therefore, under circum- 
 stances of this sort, you attempt to " restore the old waste 
 places," and " repair the breaches," you are met with 
 insurmountable obstacles almost at every step. You have 
 literally to prize up the whole Christian community, and 
 put under it its proper foundations. You have to pull 
 down whole churches and families, in order to construct 
 them upon altogether different principles. And what is 
 worst of all, you have to perform all this while men remain 
 free agents in your hands, and as much embedded in their 
 old habits of negligence and ignorance, as an old building 
 is in the ruins of many generations. Any one who has 
 attempted to change the manners and customs of a people, 
 long used to such manners and customs, knows with what 
 powerful resistance truth and duty always meet under such 
 circumstances. When, therefore, a church ordinance has 
 long been abused and neglected, as that of infant baptism 
 has been, it is one of the most difficult things imaginable, 
 even to convince the people of its abuses, and of the pro- 
 priety and obligation of fulfilling their duty in this respect. 
 But, however hard of execution, it is something that must 
 be accomplished. A cancer never called louder for the 
 knife of the surgeon, than do the abuses of this ordinance 
 in our churches, for the immediate and eflicient eflbrts of 
 the pious and the influential for tlieir speedy removal. 
 
 Another circumstance closely connected with the prece- 
 ding is, the influence of early prejudice. Prejudice is alwavs 
 a great barrier to the reception of the truth. But when 
 contracted in early life, and grown inveterate by a^e, it 
 
MODE OF PROOF. 57 
 
 becomes ordinarily so incorrigible, that no common weap- 
 ons of assault are capable of its subjugation. And for my 
 own part, I have never witnessed more stubborn prejudices 
 of any sort, than those which now exist in many minds 
 towards the ordinance under discussion. This sort of pre- 
 judice is blind and deaf, and rash and unyielding. It 
 concedes nothing, but claims every thing. It is full 
 of bigotry and self-confidence. It also possesses a kind 
 of horror peculiar to itself, — one would think that its pos- 
 sessor were shocked at the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
 when the simple idea of baptizing his child according to 
 the requirement of God had passed across his mind. Pre- 
 judices of this very sort, in reference to this ordinance, 
 exist not only among those who openly oppose it, but to the 
 author's certain knowledge, even within the bounds of the 
 Presbyterian church!! " Tempora mutantur et nos mu- 
 tamur." Now, that persons whose whole souls are thus 
 steeped in the bitterest of all prejudices, can never hear 
 and decide candidly and fairly on this subject, is evident. 
 No matter, therefore, how strong and irresistible are the 
 arguments that establish the right of infants to baptism, yet 
 they never can believe them. And why ? Because they 
 have a prejudice against the ordinance itself. A prejudice 
 is the only reason, a prejudice their only argument. Now 
 although such persons are greatly to be pitied, yet they are 
 by no means to be excused. God accepts a pi-ejudice in 
 no case as an excuse for sin. It is always an aggravation 
 of an offence. 
 
 Another difficulty with which Paedobaptists have to 
 contend is, the ground upon which their opponents have 
 placed the dispute. This ground is, the furnishing of 
 
58 DIFFICVLTIES IN THE 
 
 plain and explicit scriptural authority for the ordinance of 
 infant baptism. Nor are they satisfied with any texts 
 whatever, that according to tlie interpretation Piedobap- 
 tists put upon them, would he plain and crplicit scriptural 
 avthoritij. They cavil at the texts thus furnished, and 
 then triumphantly ask for more. Now, whether the mo- 
 tive for this course of conduct be to impose upon the more 
 ignorant multitude by the semblance of truth, or an un- 
 willingness to enter upon deeper examination of the sub- 
 ject; or from a disposition to be uncandid in argument, — 
 from whatever source it arises, it is nevertheless very 
 generally pursued : so much so, that almost the first ques- 
 tion asked on the subject by those who have been raised 
 under such teachings, when conversed with is, " whether 
 you have any express undeniable scriptural warrant for 
 infant baptism?" And if they are answered in the nega- 
 tive, which, according to the meaning put upon their words 
 by themselves, probably will be the answer given, they 
 immediately exult as if the victory were won ; and the long 
 debate which has agitated the church, were settled by a 
 solitary question and answer. Hence too it is very com- 
 mon for a bold denial of infant baptism to be more power- 
 ful in argument, than the most elaborate collection and 
 arrangement of all the evidence which proves it to be an 
 institution of God, solemnly binding upon all professing 
 Christians. Upon such a ground as this, any thing may 
 be proved or denied. The principle of such debate is 
 utterly false, and consequently its conclusions too. What 
 would be thought, for instance, of the man, who after the 
 rotundity of the earth and its annual revolution around the 
 sun had been fairly demonstrated before his eyes upon 
 
MODE OF PROOF. 59 
 
 the very best mathematical principles, should yet turn upon 
 his instructor and say, give me a visible and self-evident 
 proof of these facts; and who, too, should actually refuse 
 his assent, because such a visible and self-evident proof 
 could not be furnished. Would the incapability of his 
 teacher to furnish the kind of evidence required, or his 
 own incredulity either, affect the truths themselves 1 Un- 
 questionably not : all that such a circumstance could prove 
 would be, that such a man were not only irrational in the 
 demand, but grossly ignorant of the very first principles of 
 philosophy. So, too, when a hearer, turning away from 
 all that accumulation of evidence by which this ordinance 
 is established, triumphantly and haughtily asks for a plain 
 and self-evident proof on the subject ; plain too and self- 
 evident but in his view of those terms, — when he thus de- 
 mands one certain text in defiance of a large amount of a 
 different kind of evidence; what does it prove, but his own 
 ignorance of the very fundamental principles of all kinds 
 of logic ? For, who does not know that, as we become 
 acquainted with a man's character not so much from any 
 one act as from his whole deportment, so we ascertain 
 gospel truth, not so much from any one statement, as from 
 a general and comparative view of the whole Bible. Ab- 
 stract texts in the Scriptures, like abstract actions in a 
 man's life, may mean nothing by themselves, or something 
 perfectly different from the design of the author. So that 
 an isolated proof-text — the kind of evidence such persons 
 demand — is in no case equivalent in point of validity to 
 that kind of evidence which arises from the very nature of 
 revelation, and which is founded upon its general scope, as 
 well as upon a large number of parallel passages fairly in- 
 
GO DIFFICULTIES IN THE MODE OF PROOF. 
 
 terpreted, — the kind of evidence which such persons usu- 
 ally reject with disdain. 
 
 Tiie proper method of procedure, therefore, on the 
 part of Pscdobaptists, when .such a ground of debate is de- 
 manded by their adversaries is, to assault the ground itself, 
 show its fallacy, — and that they who would require it are 
 but begging the question. 
 
 Such are some of the difficulties with which he who 
 would raise a gospel ordinance from its low condition, has 
 to contend. It is however delightful to reflect, that neither 
 the ordinance itself, nor the proof by which it is supported, 
 can, in themselves, be materially affected by these obsta- 
 cles, — that far above the fogs of human ignorance and 
 prejudice, immortal truth still ever shines with the same 
 unsullied countenance. 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, MEANS, AND RESULTS OF 
 EARLY EDUCATION. 
 
 In contemplating the world around us, we behold 
 nothing more connected with the good order of society, the 
 happiness of man here, and the salvation of the soul here- 
 after, than the proper organization and management of 
 families. And, yet, there is probably no institution con- 
 ducted by men generally with less reference either to the 
 obligation of the divine law, or the sound principles of 
 practical wisdom. The very commonness of the institu- 
 tion seems to have divested it of importance, and to have 
 rendered it less a subject of minute examination, than 
 almost any other establishment whatever. Thus, whilst 
 there are established systems on all the various branches 
 of philosophy, as well as on almost all the other relations 
 of life, this institution chiefly seems to be the prominent 
 subject of neglect. Here system is optional, and principle 
 wavering and unsteady. Neither the objects, the means, 
 nor the ends of juvenile training seem to be well under- 
 stood by men generally. The various families of which 
 society is thus formed, resemble a large number of ships 
 
62 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 at sea, which have lost both the points of the compass and 
 the polar star. All sail, and each in his own direction. 
 Some make one guess for the pole, others a different one, 
 while the most sail but at the wildest random. Just so as 
 to families : the very polar star of early education seems to 
 have been lost, as well as the proper principles of conduct- 
 ing juvenile training to its appropriate ends. Children 
 are numerous, and so are their teachers, yet there is no 
 settled point towards which education is generally direct- 
 ed; and there are no well-defined systems of means, by 
 which that point could be reached, even were it perceived. 
 Our academies and colleges, and our sabbath schools, 
 it is true, furnish systems of education considerably adjust- 
 ed and regulated. But, then, these are foreign to the fa- 
 mily, and as they never can destroy parental obligation, 
 so they never can supplant domestic training. Many 
 parents seem to suppose, that if their children are sent to 
 a good academy or college, and enjoy also, with these in- 
 tellectual advantages, the privilege of moral and religious 
 instruction, either in sabbath schools or churches, all the 
 objects of juvenile education will be ])erfectly attained. 
 But, how often is it, that the instructions of the pulpit and 
 sabbath school are perverted and abused by the impiety 
 and maladministration of family government? And how 
 often do all the literary and scientific refinements of the 
 academy and college, become but the mere decorations of 
 vice, through those false principles implanted in the hearts 
 of the young, under the very eyes of parents, before they 
 entered those schools of philosophy ! How often do pa- 
 rents receive as the result of twenty years anxiety, and 
 expense, and hope, instead of the accomplished gentleman, 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 63 
 
 the acute scholar, or the useful Christian, the trifling 
 coxcomb, the shallow sophist, or the refined profligate? 
 Thus, instead of the education of a young man becoming, 
 as it always ought to become, the means of his own promo- 
 tion and happiness, of joy to his parents, and of lasting 
 benefit to society, it is often converted into a sword, with 
 which a ruined youth pierces both his own and his parents' 
 hearts ! These results are lamentably common ; nor can 
 they possibly exist but with an adequate cause. This 
 cause will be found on examination, almost invariably, in 
 the mode of family government. It is this, which as it 
 has the earliest, so it has the most controlling and the most 
 lasting influence upon the human mind. In order, there- 
 fore, to prevent profligacy in youth and degradation in 
 manhood, we must not only begin with children, but with 
 children in the family. This is the very source of public 
 disorder and confusion ; and it is here we must apply the 
 remedy. 
 
 In the following discourse on the training of the young, 
 it will be my design to present and illustrate the three fol- 
 lowing propositions : First, that the grand end of the great 
 God in the appointment of juvenile education is, the pro- 
 motion of his own glory in the salvation of men. 
 
 Secondly, I shall attempt to show that He has appoint- 
 ed the necessary and appropriate means for the securing 
 of this end : and. 
 
 Thirdly, that when these means are diligently and 
 properly employed, such end does invariably follow, as an 
 appropriate result. 
 
 First. I am to show that the grand end of the great 
 
64 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 God in the appointment of juvenile education is, the pro- 
 motion of liis own glory in the salvation of men. 
 
 1. The first argument by which it is proposed to esta- 
 blish this proposition, is to be found in the proper contem- 
 plation of the physical circumstances of human genera- 
 tion. 
 
 That the physical world is made in subserviency to the 
 moral, cannot be denied ; since, the moral is of much 
 greater value, and seems always to be the end sought in the 
 administration of physical nature. Whenever, therefore, 
 we contemplate any one feature whatever of the natural 
 world, we are to contemplate it in reference to its moral 
 tendencies and results ; since, it is in these moral tenden- 
 cies and results that w'e are to look for the proper reason, 
 both of the existence and character of that particular phy- 
 sical feature. 
 
 Now, although in contemplating the whole of existence, 
 there is what may be called a universal gradation of 
 things, yet, when we contemplate the several species of 
 beings which constitute together the whole of existence, 
 there are two modes of existence distinctly to he observed, — 
 these modes arc, the fixed and the successive. Of these the 
 fixed may be regarded as the original one, the successive 
 as the secondary. Thus, the mode of the divine existence, 
 is fixed, — the same is true as to angels, — and we are in- 
 formed in the Scriptures, that this shall be the kind of 
 existence which saints from the earth shall hereafter enjoy 
 throughout all eternity, for there "they neither marry nor 
 are given in marriage." On the contrary, the existence 
 of man on the earth, as well as of all the various tribes of 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 65 
 
 animals and vegetables around him, is successive; genera- 
 tion succeeds to generation. This being neither the ori- 
 ginal mode of existence, nor that towards which even man 
 himself is tending, the question naturally arises, " whence 
 the difference ? why this apparent deviation from an origi- 
 nal principle?" To this question many answers might be 
 given; though, as we hope to show, it will admit of one 
 which is either plausible or satisfactory. 
 
 In the first place, it might be urged by some, that, as 
 all the existences around man are successive, so, according 
 to analogy, it was proper that his should be established 
 upon the same basis. But to this it is enough to reply, 
 that instead of supposing the mode of man's existence con- 
 formed to that of animals and plants around him, we are 
 compelled, from his superiority over them, to believe, that 
 their mode of existence was founded upon his. But, again, 
 as most of them were designed to subserve the purposes of 
 human life, and as human life was successive, so, in order 
 to reach that end, it was necessary that they should be 
 successive too. It might again be replied to the above 
 question, that, since God desires the happiness of man here 
 below, and since the exercise of his social affections in the 
 family conduces very greatly to that end, therefore, to pro- 
 mote the happiness of man on earth, the mode of his 
 existence was rendered successive. The objection to this 
 answer is, that as a solution of the above question, it falls 
 almost infinitely short. It assigns but the attainment of a 
 temporal advantage, as the motive which influenced the 
 divine mind in the establishment of one of the most im- 
 portant institutions in his government, as connected with 
 
 the human species. Besides, it may be asked, that al- 
 
 6* 
 
66 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 tliough tlie exercise of what may be termed man' s family 
 affections., is connected witli very higli emotions of plea- 
 sure, yet, why the existence of these affections themselves? 
 They certainly are but the adjustment of human nature to 
 the relations and duties of a family. It w as to make man 
 a family being that they were bestowed upon him. But 
 why was it necessary to render him a family being, but 
 for the attainment of some nobler object not in the family 
 itself, but to which the family relations wonderfully con- 
 duced. 
 
 Again, it might be urged as an answer to the above 
 question, that as God always selects not only the wisest but 
 the simplest mode of effectuating his purposes, and as he 
 had designed to create a multitude of beings connected 
 with the human race ; and as successive generation is the 
 simplest method by which that object could be attained, 
 therefore, the divine mind established the mode of human 
 existence on earth by succession of generations. Now, 
 giving to this solution all it demands, still it may be asked, 
 why did God determine to create such a multitude of hu- 
 man creatures, unless it were to promote his own glory in 
 their happmess ? The ultimate end for the creation of any 
 or all intelligent beings whatever, must be, the promotion 
 of the divine glory in their most perfect enjoyment of Him- 
 self forever. This being the ultimate end of the creation 
 of such existences, the 7node of their existence certainly 
 must be selected with direct reference to this end. The 
 reason therefore for the creation of a large multitude of 
 immortal beings of the human race, was, their ultimate 
 happiness in the enjoyment of God. The fact, therefore, 
 that the existence of such creatures is successive, clearly 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 67 
 
 proves, that succession in the generation is intimately con- 
 nected with the attainment of that final and everlasting 
 happiness. Whilst, then, God has strictly observed sim- 
 plicity in the production of all the human race, he has ob- 
 served the same simplicity in the mode by which he de- 
 signs the attainment of those ultimate ends for which they 
 were created. 
 
 The question then still recurs, what was the prime ob- 
 ject of the successive mode of human existence ? To this 
 question we give the following as the appropriate and only 
 satisfactory answer : that through the process of early edu- 
 cation, immortal man might he raised to the perfect and 
 everlasting enjoyment of God in heaven. Now, besides 
 the proof of this above stated, that God must have selected 
 this as the grand end of man's creation, and consequently 
 have appointed such mode of existence as would conduce 
 to such end ; besides this, I say, we see the most abundant 
 evidence of this in the very structure of the family. Here 
 are strength and weakness, experience and inexperience ; 
 knowledge and ignorance, associated together. Now why 
 such a combination, unless it be to subserve the purposes of 
 juvenile instruction? Why is the parent strong and know- 
 ing, and his child helpless and unknowing, but that the 
 latter might repose upon the strength and be illumined 
 from the intelligence of the former? The very structure 
 of the family then points out juvenile education as its im- 
 mediate and appropriate object. Nor does it leave us in 
 ignorance as to the character of that education. Being 
 an institution of God, physically and wisely adapted to 
 educational purposes, the character of such education must 
 of course comport with the nature of its author, — that is 
 
68 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 it imist be decidalbj religious. However various the ob- 
 jects in themselves to which the young mind is directed, 
 yet the pure features of piety are to characterize the whole. 
 Pure and seraphic religion then, is the great subject mat- 
 ter of juvenile instruction, as is clearly to be seen, in the 
 very physical circumstances of human generation. 
 
 2. A second argument to prove that God designs, as 
 the appropriate object of juvenile instruction, his own glory 
 in the salvation of man is, that this end and this alone is 
 suited to the whole character of his administration. The 
 grand object ever before the divine mind in the creation 
 and upholding and management of all things, is invariably 
 the same, — to give such disclosures of himself that not 
 only he himself may be infinitely pleased with his own glo- 
 rious perfections, but that all his intelligent creatures may 
 also be so enraptured with such displays of divine good- 
 ness and glory, as to seek all the enjoyment in their crea- 
 tor, and to ascribe to him all possible praise and worship. 
 This is the grand principle which animates the divine bo- 
 som, while it purposes the creation of an angel or a worm, 
 a world or an atom. If then this be the grand object be- 
 fore the divine mind in all his works, we certainly are to 
 expect that he has not forsaken it, in the organization of 
 families with their various relations. 
 
 3. Another reason to support the above proposition is, 
 that this is the roost important end supposable in the case. 
 That divine wisdom will, under any given circumstances 
 whatever, select the worthiest ends as objects of accom- 
 plishment, all will admit who believe in the existence of a 
 God at all. Now, that the salvation of the soul is the most 
 valuable object which it is possible to accomplish in the 
 
OF EAULY EDUCATION. 69 
 
 early training of the human species, is certain. Of what 
 avail are all the distinctions of state, the honors of philo- 
 sophy, the pageantry of wealth, and the jollities of mirth, 
 compared with the "pearl of great price?" However, 
 therefore, men may dispute and mistake, as to what ought 
 to be the proper object of early training, divine wisdom 
 speaks but one language on this subject, — it is the lan- 
 guage of nature, it is the language of God. This language 
 is, that the salvation of the soul, as it is the worthiest, so it 
 is the only becoming end of the education of an immortal 
 mind. 
 
 4. The word of God is also explicit on this subject. 
 Said the God of Abraham, "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 judg- 
 ment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which 
 he hath spoken of him." (Gen. xviii, 19.) How very dis- 
 tinctly do these words declare the divine approbation of 
 strict and pious family government ! And how large were 
 the blessings which God thus seemed to couple with the 
 pious regulations of that venerable patriarch's household. 
 In 1 Sam. 3 : 13, 14, we have the displeasure of God 
 very strikingly expressed against the family of Eli for the 
 maladministration of that aged priest in his own house. 
 " For I have told him," saith God, " that I will judge his 
 house forever, 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 sacri- 
 fice nor offering for ever." Says the wise man, " With- 
 hold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him 
 
70 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with 
 the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell." Prov. 23 : 
 13, 14. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, C : 4, the Apostle 
 exhorts parents thus, " And, ye fathers, provoke not your 
 children to wrath ; but bring them up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord." In fact, tlie obligation of the 
 fifth commandment, as well as the various other precepts 
 in the Scriptures, inculcating filial duty, seems to be pre- 
 dicated upon the principle, that parents will command their 
 children nothing but what is consistent with the divine law. 
 
 It is therefore evident, that the grand object of the 
 divine mind, in the appointment of juvenile instruction is, 
 the glory of his oicn great name in the salvation of his 
 creatures. 
 
 Secondly, God has appointed the means necessary for 
 the securing of this end. 
 
 1. The first argument to establish this part of the sub- 
 ject is, that the selection of the end before proved shows 
 clearly, that the proper means have been appointed. 
 God always acts intelligently. He not only chooses the 
 wisest ends, but invariably ordains the most appropriate 
 means for the accomplishment of such ends. To suppose, 
 therefore, that God has appointed as the legitimate .object 
 of juvenile education, the salvation of his creature man, 
 and yet, that he has ordained no means for the attainment 
 of such object in such educational course, is to suppose, 
 that God acts in this particular inconsistently with him- 
 self, and with all his other operations. 
 
 2. The pupil he has furnished for this educational 
 training is not only capable of religion, but has all those 
 flexibilities of temper and heart, necessary to render the 
 
OP EARLY EDUCATION, 71 
 
 successful inculcation of divine truth easy and pleasant. 
 The child in his very nature is a religious being — is evi- 
 dently formed for moral government. He has a soul 
 which is not only rational and immortal, but capable of 
 glowing and burning with divine love beside the very 
 archangel himself Nor is there in the child, either that 
 stubbornness of disposition, or that sturdiness of habit, 
 which we very often meet with in adult years. His mind 
 and heart are like his body, soft and tender. We admit 
 that he is depraved ; but then his depravity is but in its 
 incipient state. It has not gathered around it all that 
 moral deformity, and incorrigibleness with which it is 
 often invested in after years. True, this depravity will 
 yield even in infancy and childhood, as in manhood, to 
 nothing short of divine grace. Still, however, as God has 
 invariably connected that grace with the proper use of the 
 means which he has appointed as the channels through 
 which he bestows it ; and as the facilities for obtaining in 
 the child an early and proper use of those means are ex- 
 tremely great ; so the very pliableness of early nature, 
 seems to offer the greatest hope of salvation, as the result 
 of proper and early religious training. Parents often com- 
 plain of evil tempers, and self-willed inclinations in their 
 children. But, then, those complaints are seldom, if ever, 
 made until both by training and example, they have 
 cherished in their children the very evils of which they 
 complain. They fret and sour the feelings of the young 
 lion and then complain that he growls. " Can one walk 
 on live coals and not be burned ?" Nothing is more evi- 
 dent than the fact, that we need a system of infantile edu- 
 cation extending much farther back than any which now 
 
72 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 obtains amongst us. Infantile metaphysics deserves infi- 
 nitely more to be made a subject of profound study than it 
 ever has been. Most mothers seem to know infinitely more 
 about the cradle and the nursery, than about the nature 
 and operations of that immortal gem — the soul — which 
 gives their true excellency to each. 
 
 3, God has given to the parent all that control over his 
 child and interest in him, which constitutes one of the 
 greatest possible advantages for religious training. Al- 
 though in some ancient states children were regarded as 
 the property of the government, yet this was not only un- 
 just, but, it was contrary to the most permanent and regu- 
 lar laws of nature herself For if there be any principle 
 at all which will give the right of property, that principle 
 certainly must exist in the parent's claims to his own off- 
 spring. We are not to understand, however, from this, 
 that the right of the parent to his child is the same as his 
 right to any common subject of property. His right, is 
 but the right of affection, of management and training. 
 This right, however, he has both by the decision of nature 
 and the law of God, as well as by the consent of most 
 governments. Along too with this right of control, there 
 are implanted in the very natures of parents and children 
 reciprocal affections, which, as they are the strongest and 
 most agreeable ligaments of families, so they offer the 
 greatest and most delightful facilities for the communica- 
 tion of religious instruction to the young. 
 
 4. God has also offered the strongest inducements 
 possible to faithful parental training. He has made it 
 again and again in his Word the subject of express and 
 solemn command. He has represented distinctly, both 
 
OP EARLY EDUCATION. 73 
 
 in his Word and in his Providence, that the after charac- 
 ter and condition of the child, both here and hereafter, 
 depend very much upon early education. He has ap- 
 pointed in the ordinance of infant consecration a cove- 
 nant, in which he both exacts an oath of fidelity from the 
 parent, and promises his grace and blessing upon such 
 fidelity. He has held out the greatest inducements, in the 
 succors and comforts, which well-raised and pious chil- 
 dren bring to their parents in after life ; as well as the 
 glory which they will throw around them in the kingdom 
 of Heaven above. And He has also revealed and pre- 
 sented that anguish of spirit, which ensues to parents in 
 this life upon perceiving the profligacy and ruin of badly 
 raised families ; as well as that awful gloom which shall 
 forever settle upon such children in the world of woe. 
 Thus has God held out every possible motive to parental 
 faithfulness in the training of their offspring. 
 
 5. God has also furnished all necessary means and 
 helps in the conveyance of religious instruction to the 
 minds of children. He has given his holy Sabbath — 
 whose sacred rest, recurring every seventh day, can never 
 fail, when properly observed, to exhibit the most delightful 
 emblem of what, by innocence, man once was, and of 
 what by grace, he may again become. Along with the 
 Sabbath, he has associated his sanctuary and its privileges 
 — where our children, as well as ourselves, may hear the 
 words of salvation. He has given his Holy Word, whose 
 exhibitions of truth and grace, lively descriptions and 
 tender appeals, cannot fail to have the most powerful effi- 
 cacy in assimilating to itself, all those who read it with 
 docility, and prayer, and constancy. He has given his 
 
74 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 ministers, who visit our families, as messengers from the 
 rery court of Heaven. In the communion he has lifted 
 up the blood-stained cross, upon which even an infant's 
 eye may look and weep. He has given us the ordinance 
 of Baptism, by which our children are introduced into his 
 church when young, and where they are to be trained up 
 as olive plants in the house of the Lord. He has opened 
 to us the avenues of Sabbath school instruction. And He 
 has multiplied in our families books of the most interesting 
 and religious character. 
 
 Thus has Almighty God established in the family the 
 very best school for religious instruction to be found on 
 earth. The church itself, though it covers a larger field 
 and is invested with apparently greater grandeur, and has 
 more numerous ordinances, yet never can be so organic 
 and efficient as the family, considered as a religious school. 
 Her connections are more protracted, her supervision is 
 more general and diffuse, and her weapons are wielded 
 over a greater distance. From her very nature then, the 
 church is less organic and efficient than the family. 
 Hence in those places where the church has allied to her 
 interests the smaller, though more united organizations of 
 family governments, she rises to the very acme of spirit- 
 uality and usefulness in this world. And on the contrary 
 where family administrations are loose and insubordi- 
 nate, the church sinks to the very lowest point of spiritual 
 depression. The church contemplated thus in connec- 
 tion with the families of which she is composed, resembles 
 the state of European kingdoms during the existence of 
 baronies. The prince was powerful when supported by 
 his barons, he was nothing without their co-operation. 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 75 
 
 Just SO. now, that church which is made up of families 
 under the best regulations, is the most powerful church. 
 And that which consists of families under loose and irre- 
 ligious discipline must necessarily be feeble and ineffi- 
 cient. But, 
 
 Thirdly, When the means above specified are properly 
 employed by the heads of families, the appropriate results 
 will invariably be attained. Before entering upon the 
 proof of this part of our subject, I wish to expose a preju- 
 dice connected with it the most unwarrantable and dan- 
 gerous of almost any ever entertained by man. Tins pre- 
 jtidice is, that that religion, icJiich is the result of family 
 education, is to be regarded toith suspicion as spurious, 
 since it is more apt to he the result of training or habit 
 than of grace. That this sentiment is lamentably com- 
 mon among a certain class of persons in our country, and 
 that it has gained great hold on some who ought to be 
 better informed is certain. I call this sentiment a preju- 
 dice — it is such, since it has its foundation neither in 
 reason nor revelation. All religion is the result of teach- 
 ing. What is the ministry but a system of instruction ? 
 What is the Bible but the volume of God's teachings to 
 man ? And what is the great office of the Spirit, but to 
 " convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of 
 judgment?" If, then, all true religion is the result of 
 teaching, as sanctified to the heart by the Spirit, are we 
 to discard the effects of that sort of teaching, which, as 
 we have shown, is the most efficient and controlling? 
 Surely, such a sentiment, while it was designed to strike 
 at the very heart of one of the most valuable ordinances of 
 the Gospel, strikes also at the very vitals of religion her- 
 
70 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 self. And whose religion, we ask, is to be the most highly 
 appreciated ; the religion of him, who has ever been from 
 early life under the influence of Gospel instruction and 
 discipline; or of him, who from long habits of ignorance 
 and vice, is apparently but just converted to God ? And 
 which, pray, of the two, is most likely to bring scandal 
 upon the church, the man, whose whole life has been under 
 a sanctifying process ; or the man, whose whole life, with 
 the exception of but a few moments, has been habituated 
 to crime ? The tendency, too, of such a prejudice as this, 
 while it opens to the young all the doors of licentiousness, 
 and offers to parents not a solitary motive for the main- 
 tenance of family religion ; perverts the very nature of the 
 religion of Jesus itself. True piety is thus regarded more 
 as the result of animal excitement, of nervous trepidations, 
 of imaginary reveries, and in some cases, even of appari- 
 tions and visions, than as the proper effect of truth upon 
 the heart and conscience. Such a prejudice, too, has 
 particularly had a most pernicious tendency upon the 
 numerous slaves of this country. In many sections, to the 
 writer's certain knowledge, there are a great many ser- 
 vants who have not the least confidence in the steady and 
 uniform piety of their owners, since they have been taught 
 to regard that as piety, which is perfectly different in its 
 character. 
 
 But I proceed to demonstrate, that where the appropri- 
 ate means of family instruction are wisely employed, their 
 legitimate ends will ensue. If there be a failure, it must 
 occur either in the parents or instructors of the child, in the 
 means employed, or in God. In the case under conside- 
 ration, the parents are supposed to be faithful. The fail- 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 77 
 
 ure, therefore, must either be in the means, or in God who 
 has appointed them. 
 
 This failure cannot be in the means. The fact that 
 these means have been selected and appointed by God 
 himself, demonstrably shows that they cannot, if properly 
 employed, be inefficient in any case whatever. For ray- 
 self, I abhor the sentiment, tliat God has appointed any 
 system of means that are to constitute but in the general, 
 the channels through which grace is to be received, whilst 
 the particular and proper use in any case whatever may be 
 attended with defeat. The grand reason why any perish 
 is, because they do not in point of fact properly employ 
 the means of salvation put in their hands. If then, God 
 does invariably bestow his grace upon those who, in the 
 commanded sense, employ the means put into their hands, 
 and if God has really appointed means for the successful 
 religious training of the young, then certainly, the com- 
 manded use of those means must be connected with the 
 blessings of his grace. I know, there is a sentiment 
 entertained by many, and akin to the one just now exposed, 
 which is opposed to what is here affirmed. This senti- 
 ment is, that you may expect almost any thing as the result 
 of early training but grace. It is urged, that you may 
 make children industrious, and intelligent, and even moral, 
 but pious you never can render them by any religious 
 training whatever. We do not hold to the sentiment, that 
 that efficiency which subdues the heart and converts the 
 soul, is to be found in any means whatever ; still, however, 
 we do affirm, that it is invariably connected with the 
 proper use of appointed means. But whence the senti- 
 ment above ? Does it arise either from any proper views 
 
78 A DISrOUKSK ON TITF. OnJF.CTS, ETC., 
 
 of natural laws, or from Divine Sovereignty? It- cannot 
 arise from the former, for all nature teaches us, that meows 
 are connected with ends; and though in this case the ends 
 to be accomplished are of grace, yet let it also be remem- 
 bered, that the means are likewise of grace. The same 
 grace which selected the results, ordained for their accom- 
 plishment the appropriate instruments. And why, let it 
 be asked, do we suppose that God acts more variably in 
 the moral than in the natural world ? Is not the former of 
 more importance? and are not stability and uniformity 
 there as much required as in the physical world? And 
 upon what does the regularity of natural laws depend, but 
 upon the same thing upon which moral principles operate, 
 the cowiscl of the Most High ? The same Being who cre- 
 ated the world, has given a promise; and the same hand 
 that, " without variableness or the shadow of a turn," di- 
 rects the one, manages the other. God in nature, then, 
 can just as soon fail, as God in grace. In fact, the very 
 uniformity w ith which all nature proceeds, but causes us to 
 believe more firmly, that He who ever acts in consistence 
 with himself, " as lie feeds the ravens and clothes the 
 lilies of the field," will ever "give to him that asks, and 
 open to him that knocks." The only reason why men 
 trust God more in nature than in grace is, through their own 
 unfaithfulness and unbelief As we have often failed in a 
 divine promise, not in God but in ourselves, there is a dis- 
 position in our hearts to charge upon God instabdity in the 
 administration of his moral kingdom, which charge too is 
 but poorly atoned for by resolving the whole mystery into 
 divine sovereignty. Thus, he who raises upon us every 
 morning the glorious sun, and sends his showers over our 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 79 
 
 fields with so grand a regularity, is nevertheless regarded 
 as fickle and uncertain, when besought to lift upon us the 
 Sun of Righteousness, and to shed upon our souls the dews 
 of his grace ! Besides, if the sentiment above be true, 
 then as ministers might we expect to inculcate successfully 
 upon our hearers any thing save religion. The truth is, 
 that all such parents as make the above declaration, teach 
 their children any thing but religion. They school their 
 minds most carefully, and clothe and feed their bodies 
 most tenderly, and then wonder that their neglected souls 
 are not converted ! 
 
 Nor can there be a failure in God in the proper educa- 
 tional course of a child. The above remarks will prove, 
 we hope, that if God has given the promise of his grace in 
 the training of the young, that that promise cannot possibly 
 fail. Has then God given assurance of his blessing in the 
 religious training of children ? To this we answer in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 First. Because the family is an institution peculiarly of 
 his own creation, and an institution, too, which has, as has 
 been shown, the religious training of the young in order 
 to salvation, as its peculiar design. Now, nothing could 
 be more absurd than to suppose that God, after he had 
 appointed family religion as a grand means of salvation, 
 should withhold his grace from such institution. This 
 «vould be setting the providence of God directly against his 
 purpose. The very structure, therefore, of the family, de- 
 monstrates that God designs to bestow his grace in its pro- 
 per administration. 
 
 Secondly. The fact that parents are commanded to 
 "train up their children in his nurture and admonition," 
 
80 A DISCOURSE ON THE OBJECTS, ETC., 
 
 proves that they have his promise of assistance in the dis- 
 charge of that duty. It is a feature in all the commands 
 of God to man, that they carry along with them a promise 
 of divine aid to all who will comply with them. This 
 assistance is proffered in reference both to the performance 
 of duty, and to its results. When, therefore, God com- 
 mands parents to bring up their offspring for his service 
 and glory, he pledges to them in the very command, both 
 grace to perform the duty on their part, and grace to the 
 children whom they thus strive to educate in his fear. 
 
 Thirdly. But God not only gives this assurance indi- 
 rectly and by implication, — he positively offers to enter into 
 covenant with parents in behalf of their children, and thus 
 to crown their efforts with certain and abundant success. 
 The mode in which he extended his mercy to Abraham, 
 is precisely the mode in which he offers it to his believing 
 saints at present. He promises to be a God to every be- 
 liever and also to his seed. While faith is the principle 
 and the only principle which introduces into his kingdom, 
 yet that faith respects now, as it did in Abraham and all 
 the ancient church, not only the head of a family, but its 
 subordinate members. Now, in embracing this covenant 
 of God for our children, we have the oath of God himself, 
 that his grace shall not fail our offspring. Thus shall be 
 fulfilled abundantly upon us the declaration of the prophet, 
 "I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon 
 thy offspring." Is. 44: 3. 
 
 If, therefore, the results of religious training be not 
 attained, it can arise from no deficiency either in the 
 means appointed or in God who has appointed them. 
 Fidelity, therefore, in the parent necessarily supposes the 
 
OF EARLY EDUCATION. 81 
 
 accomplishment of the grand and divine object of juvenile 
 instruction — viz. the salvation of the soul. 
 
 Before leaving this lecture, I can but remark, how 
 deeply stained will the skirts of many parents be found 
 hereafter with the blood of their own offspring ! Oh, what 
 wailing and lamentation will there be at the judgment- 
 seat, when thoughtless and wicked parents shall meet 
 those children, whom they have murdered through neglect 
 and carelessness ! And, the children of how many of 
 those, who here call themselves Christians, will point to 
 their own parents as the instruments and means of their 
 unutterable anguish ! And, how many a poor unfortunate 
 child, too, will there lift up its eyes in despair, through the 
 abuses and misrepresentations thrown around the ordi- 
 nance of infant baptism. Not that this ordinance itself in 
 its form alone is essential to salvation ; but, that lying as it 
 does at the very foundation of family government and reli- 
 gious education, its denial and abuses, will and must in- 
 troduce into families such a state of things as will invari- 
 ably lead to the loss of more or less innnortal souls ! Oh, 
 that I could reach the hearts of Christian brethren of all 
 denominations on this subject; not as a sectary, but as a 
 friend to themselves and their families, as well as to the 
 kingdom of Jesus Christ. Far below the range of preju- 
 dice and error, in those deep regions of the soul, where 
 the pure love of truth and holiness dwell — there — there 
 would I try to enkindle a becoming interest for an institU' 
 tion, as glorious in the sigh tof God, as it is in its very 
 nature, conducive to human salvation. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY TOPICS DISCUSSED 
 
 The object of the following lecture, is to insist upon 
 several considerations in support of Paedobaptism, and as 
 introductory to that more connected chain of argument by 
 which it is designed to advocate and defend this ordi- 
 nance. 
 
 1. The first remark which I here make is, that child- 
 ren evidently have a right to membership in the church of 
 Jesus Christ, in view of that obligation which rests upon 
 all men to accept that covenant of mercy, into which the 
 great God is pleased to enter with us as sinners, in the 
 name of a Redeemer. That there was such a covenant 
 entered into between the Father and Son, in order to save 
 our guilty race, is not only certain from many express texts 
 of Scripture, (see Gen. 3: 15. Ps. 2: also 110. Isaiah 53: 
 10—12. Zech. 13: 7. John 10: 18.) but from the whole of 
 God's providential dealings with man in this world. The 
 existence of such covenant constitutes the great basis 
 upon which the whole church, with all its ordinances and 
 blessings, stands. Now, the very existence and procla- 
 mation of such a covenant devolves, upon the whole human 
 
84 SEVERAL INTRODITTORY 
 
 race, the very strongest obligation to accept its proffered 
 provisions. Not to accept these, would be but to laugh at 
 the wisdom, and trample upon the goodness, of the ever- 
 blessed Trinity. It would be, to set at defiance the au- 
 thority of God, and to involve the soul in the most awful 
 guilt. The duty, then, to accept at once such offered grace, 
 rests with binding force upon all mankind. Nor can there 
 possibly be salvation but through this medium. All who 
 are delivered, are delivered through the express provisions 
 of this covenant. But, from that peculiar mode of exist- 
 ence which divine wisdom has assigned to man, some of 
 those, to whom the offers of mercy through such covenant 
 are necessary, cannot accept them, since they cannot even 
 understand them. Yet even these are to be saved through 
 this medium alone. They must be connected with that 
 covenant or be lost. But, how is it possible for them to be 
 connected in any ordinary way with such covenant, but 
 through their parents ; who, as they are their natural guardi- 
 ans and agents in every thing else, must be also in this. 
 Is it more likely that God, who always acts wisely and with 
 special design to the promotion of piety among his crea- 
 tures, should make the mode of connection between child- 
 ren and this covenant arbitrary, unrevealed, and no way 
 conducive to piety on earth; or, that he should establish 
 such mode of connection through their parents, as the most 
 natural and the wisest ? Between these alternatives, 
 there surely never could be, in the mind of an infinitely 
 intelligent Being, a moment's hesitation. When God pur- 
 posed the salvation of men through a Redeemer, did he 
 effect the atonement of human guilt in some remote part 
 of his kingdom, or on earth ? And why on earth but to 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED 85 
 
 secure the very ends of that atonement by the exhibition 
 of his son upon the cross in sight of men ? Does God then 
 design the salvation of children ? What medium of effect- 
 ing this purpose is so natural, and so conducive to the 
 prevalence of piety on earth, as its accomplishment imme- 
 diately through their parents? And if this be so, how 
 natural is it that God, who gives a seal to parents to signify 
 their connection with that chain of everlasting love which 
 has been let down into this world through the cross, should 
 also extend the same seal to their infant seed, as signifi- 
 cant of their connection also with the same thing. 
 
 But some may say, why extend such seal to children, 
 seeing they cannot understand it? But to such let it be 
 replied, that the very fact that they can understand, 
 neither the seal nor the salvation offered, is the very rea- 
 son why it should be extended to them. Surely, none 
 will say, that salvation should not be extended to them, 
 simply upon the ground that they cannot appreciate its na- 
 ture or value. If, then, it be important that mercy, through 
 a Saviour, should be extended even to infants, is it not of 
 infinite importance, both to the church and to parents, 
 that God should give sufficient evidence of this fact. And 
 what greater evidence could be given, than the willingness 
 of the Most High to enter into a covenant of mercy through 
 their parents, with even little children? In order to put 
 this matter clearly before the mind, — suppose that all men, 
 without exception, had accepted the salvation offered ; 
 would parents in this case have accepted it for themselves 
 alone, or for their children also 1 Most certainly, in this 
 State of things, the act of the parent would have reached 
 to the child ; and though incapable of moral action, yet 
 
86 SEVERAL INTRODUCTOnr 
 
 would the cliild have been contemplated by the divine 
 mind, througli his parent, as the heir of his mercy. -Again, 
 suppose all men had rejected that salvation : is it likely 
 that divine mercy, foreseeing the future and certain per- 
 sonal and actual rebellion of the child himself, would have 
 overleaped the wickedness and unbelief of the parent to 
 pluck his offspring from hell ? What is the difference then, 
 whilst a part accept and a part refuse such mercy ? Why 
 in this case alone, should all children occupy a great com- 
 inon ground, while their parents stand in as different as- 
 pects to God's covenant, as darkness from light? 
 
 But take another illustration. Here is an island visited 
 by some tremendous plague. Sickness and death reign 
 among all its inhabitants. But just in this state of things, 
 a great and well furnished ship is sent to their rescue. 
 The offer is extended to all, to come on board and be 
 saved. But, a large number of the inhabitants of this 
 island are children. These, it is evident, can neither un- 
 derstand the offers made, or their danger; nor can they 
 accept the assistance proffered. What then is to be done ? 
 Is the offer made to them? Most certainly, since it is 
 made to all. But how is it made to them? Certainly 
 through their parents. And how is it expected for them 
 to accept it? Certainly through their parents. Now, 
 what would be thought of parents in such a case, who 
 should reason as many do now adays as to the ordinance 
 under discussion ? Who should say, when such offers of 
 mercy were made, '" our children are small ; they cannot 
 understand the need of such aid ; they are incapable of 
 accepting such safety, — nor is there any need that they 
 should, seeing they are but children. Innocent t"«ings. 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 87 
 
 they are iu no danger !" But see others of a different un- 
 derstanding betake themselves and all their families into the 
 vessel. See them bear all their helpless babes on board ; 
 and see the great ship hoist her sails and take her flight ! 
 How wretched the condition of all left, whether parents or 
 children ! How inexpressibly happy the state of those 
 who, understanding the proclamation of assistance precise- 
 ly as it was intended, had gone with all their households 
 on board ! The very fact, therefore, that God, in the cre- 
 ation of man, brings him into being in an infantile state, 
 and the fact that salvation through the cross is offered to 
 all men, as well as the fact that all, infants not excepted, 
 stand in perishing need of that salvation, demonstrably 
 shows that it is offered, not alone to individuals as such, 
 but to the families of men that constitute the whole human 
 race. In this view of the subject it is, that the Scriptures 
 declare that " the generation of the upright shall be bless- 
 ed ;" that his children shall grow up " like olive plants 
 around his table," and that they seldom or never " beg 
 bread." While on the contrary the prophet prays that 
 God would " pour out his fury upon the heathen, and upon 
 the families that call not upon his name." The same sen- 
 timent is expressed in the second commandment of the 
 Decalogue, where the Lord declares himself to be " a jeal- 
 ous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the child- 
 ren, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate 
 him, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love 
 him and keep his commandments." 
 
 2. A second remark 1 offer in support of Psedobaptism 
 is, that according to the common sentiment of mankind, 
 children are always born to the circumstances and condi- 
 
88 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 tion of their parents. By circumstances and condition 
 here, we mean all those peculiarities of property, honor, 
 morality, religion, learning, politics, 6lc., which constitute 
 the external state of men, and which breed the various 
 classifications that exist in the world. Society in every 
 country, as well as in Asia, has its caate; and although 
 this caste in our country may not be regarded with such 
 scrupulosity as in India, yet does it as really exist. Our 
 remark above, therefore is, that all children born within 
 the prescribed limits of any of the several classifications of 
 society do, whilst under age particularly, belong to the pe- 
 culiar class in which they were born. The children of 
 European parents are recognized as Europeans ; the child- 
 ren of Americans as Americans. The children of the 
 free are free born ; the children of slaves are recognized 
 as slaves. The children of the rich are born to wealth; 
 the descendants of the poor to poverty. The children of 
 Heathen or Jewish parents are born to the religion of their 
 ancestors ; those of Christians inherit, at least externally, 
 Christianity as their patrimony. Now it is not said, that 
 children born in any one form of society, may not pass 
 over afterwards to another. Those governments that hold 
 this sentiment, are justly enough regarded as more or less 
 tyrannical. But the farthest that either law or public sen- 
 timent can properly go, in assimilating these classes, is to 
 permit and promote transitions from one to the other. 
 The distinctions themselves must forever exist. Now, if 
 in all such cases, children are born to the condition of their 
 parents, shall we be regarded as irrational, because we 
 insist upon it, that the same is true in another and a far 
 more important division of mankind ? When we claim 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 89 
 
 the right of the children of believers to membership in that 
 kingdom of faith which Christ has set up on earth, in vir- 
 tue of the piety of their parents ; and when we exclude 
 from such membership the offspring of the ungodly, simply 
 on the ground of iinhelief in their parents, — are we doing 
 any thing else than what all men are perpetually doing 
 every day ? When we claim the advantages of a parent's 
 fortune for his child, are we doing well ? but, when we 
 claim also the advantages of his piety, are we doing ill ? 
 Will men admit the propriety of a principle in every thing 
 else, save where its application is of most value? Surely 
 reason never can assent to such a deviation from a princi- 
 ple so deeply founded in our nature, and whose exercise 
 is not only natural, but greatly beneficial, when not abused. 
 We insist upon it, therefore, that co-membership with his 
 pious parent in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, is the privi- 
 lege of the child of such parent ; and that he who would 
 deprive him of it, as he takes away that which profits him 
 nothing, so he destroys the legacy of an immortal soul, 
 for which nothing can compensate. He who divests the 
 poor orphan of the small estate purchased by parental toil, 
 and imbued with parental tears, commits an offence for 
 which posterity will execrate his memory. But he who 
 divests an infant immortal of a possession purchased by the 
 blood and groans of his Saviour, and left him as an evidence 
 of his Redeemer's kindness, filches from him treasures 
 compared with which estates are trash. Surely men for- 
 get the sanctity of the ground upon which they tread. We 
 are, here, not trampling upon worms, whose memory shall 
 perish with them, but upon souls, which if lost through our 
 error, will rise in the judgment against us. 
 
90 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 But one grand reason why men are so loth to grant to 
 believers their peculiar privileges in this respect is, that 
 they see not properly the difference between religion and 
 irreligion, and consequently do not justly enough appre- 
 ciate the distinction between a believing and an unbeliev- 
 ing family. But surely nothing can be more in contrast 
 than holiness and unholiness, faith and infidelity ; and 
 nothing more different than the family of a pious man and 
 that of a wicked one. In the one is erected the family 
 altar where burns the morning and evening sacrifice. The 
 word of God there unfolds daily to the minds of all, its 
 treasures both of wisdom and of grace. Holiness to God 
 is written on every article of furniture and dress, as well 
 as on the forehead of each inmate of the house. God's 
 covenant of peace embraces the whole happy circle. 
 Angels visit there on errands of mercy and kindness. 
 The blood of the all-atoning sacrifice has been sprinkled 
 upon the posts of the door. And the flag of redeeming 
 love ever floats over the abode where the good man dwells. 
 Not so with the household of the sinner. Here the head 
 of the family is an enemy of God — no altar is reared — no 
 victim burns. There is no just recognition of divine 
 authority in any of the family concerns — no proper vene- 
 ration of the Sabbath or sanctuary — no prayer, no praise. 
 No blood of salvation stains the lintel of the door, while 
 the flag of rebellion, proudly contemptuous of divine grace, 
 is wantonly unfurled to the breezes of heaven. Who 
 does not see, that under such circumstances, as the heads 
 of the family tliemselves sustain an opposite relation to 
 God ; as their whole families must be contemplated differ- 
 ently by him who " tries the reins and the hearts," so the 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 91 
 
 children of each must stand in an opposite and vastly dif. 
 ferent relation to God and his covenant. Who does not 
 see the propriety of admitting to membership in the church 
 the one set, and of excluding the other ? 
 
 The above representation is perfectly sustained through- 
 out the Scriptures. In the 25th chapter of Matthew's Gos- 
 pel where the Saviour depicts the scene of a future judg- 
 ment, he represents the Judge as separating the vast com- 
 pany then before him, " as the shepherd divideth his sheep 
 from the goats." "And he shall set," says he, "the sheep 
 on his right hand and the goats on the left." Here the 
 pious are called sheep and the wicked goats. The same 
 comparison is held out in John 10: 16 ; where the union 
 between the Jewish and Gentile church is exhibited under 
 the figure of collecting scattered and wandering sheep into 
 their proper fold. " And other sheep I have," says the 
 Saviour, " which are not of this fold : them also I must 
 bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be 
 one fold and one shepherd." The two large classes of 
 men, believers and unbelievers, then, are exhibited in the 
 Word of God, as standing in such contrast (o each other, 
 as sheep do to goats. Now, have we in this comparison 
 any thing that will lead us to conclude that the children of 
 the one sustain a different relation to God, from that sus- 
 tained by the children of the other ? — In Isaiah 40: 11, 
 speaking of Christ, the prophet says, " He shall feed his 
 flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs with his 
 arms, and carry them in his bosom." This prophecy 
 seems to have had its fulfillment w'hen Christ received little 
 children and said to his disciples, " Suffer little children 
 and forbid them not to come unto me ; for of such is the 
 
92 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 kingdom of Heaven," Matt. 19: 14. And also when in 
 addressing Peter, in John 21: 15, he says to him, " Simon 
 son of Jonas lovest thou me more than these?" Peter 
 saith unto him, " yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." 
 Then Christ charges him, as an evidence of his love, to 
 " feed his lambs." In the two other instances associated 
 with this, lie charges Peter to ** feed his sheep." Now, 
 taking all this together into view, it seems evident, that 
 the Scriptures definitely teach, that not only the sheep are 
 to be folded and fed, but that the lambs likewise are to 
 receive the same attention. This fold is the church — his 
 sheep are believers, both Jews and Gentiles — and his lambs 
 are the children of believers. As, therefore, believers are 
 to be received into membership in Christ's church, so are 
 their children likewise : and they who would keep them 
 out, act not like that great but tender Shepherd, who took 
 them in his arms, and who said, " suffer little children to 
 come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven ;" 
 and who almost witli his last words charged the chiefest of 
 the twelve Apostles, to " feed his lambs." 
 
 3. Another remark I here make is, that the fact that 
 God enters into covenant with children, through their 
 parents, is the most conclusive evidence of infant salvation 
 with which God has furnished us. It is with some reluctance 
 that I enter upon this subject, both from its extreme deli- 
 cacy, as well as from that kind of nervous sensibility which 
 many exhibit whenever such a subject is broached. With 
 mere prejudice and sensibility on this subject, however, I 
 have nothing to do but to attempt their removal. God 
 does not commission his servants to ^j/ea^c men, but to 
 save them. Let it, however, be distinctly remembred that 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 93 
 
 it is not my object to prove the destruction of children — I 
 am only trying to put their salvation on the surest footing 
 possible. 
 
 From whatever causes it may arise, yet is it true that 
 the belief in the salvation of persons dying in infancy is 
 almost as prevalent as the belief of Christianity itself. 
 Against the belief we have nothing to complain — our ob- 
 jections are directed against the grounds upon which it is 
 held. As it now exists it is rather a matter of prejudice 
 than of correct faith. The grounds upon which this senti- 
 ment is generally advocated are these — 
 
 First, The absolute innocence of the child. Of course 
 if this can be proved, all dying while thus absolutely inno- 
 cent, are necessarily saved, without even any thanks to 
 divine grace. They go to heaven by right, and not 
 through the free mercy of God. But we apprehend the 
 proof of such absolute innocence on the part of man when 
 first born, never can be adduced either from revelation, 
 reason, or from fact. 
 
 Revelation furnishes no proof of such state of inno- 
 cence in man. " In the day thou eatest thereof," said 
 God to Adam before the fall, *' thou shalt die." Now 
 whatever glosses may be thrown over this threatening of 
 the Divine Law, two things are evident, viz. that all 
 Adam's posterity without an exception were involved in it; 
 and that in consequence of their being involved in it, 
 human nature has in no stage of its existence, save by 
 divine grace, possessed that moral excellence, divine image, 
 supernatural influence, or whatever else it may be called, 
 which our great Progenitors by transgression lost. This 
 divine excellence was then forever lost from the whole 
 
94 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 human race, save as it might be restored by Christ — and, 
 whoever advocates a doctrine different from this, can be- 
 lieve neither in the totality of the fall, nor in the comjjlete- 
 ness of mediatorial restoration. 
 
 Nor is infantile sanctity capable of proof from fact. On 
 this point all are agreed, that as far back as we can trace 
 moral action, it is stained with corruption. Beyond, then, 
 the ultimate research of our minds on the subject, there 
 must exist in man a spring of corruption, or an adaptcd- 
 ncss to sin, or a liability to moral contagion, or, call it 
 what we may, something, which as it is the source of after 
 transgression and guilt, so it can but be displeasing in the 
 sight of God. 
 
 Nor can the innocence of the infant be substantiated 
 by reason. All reason attests, that springing from degen- 
 erate parents, a child can never be clean. Besides, if 
 clean and dying while such, all reason equally declares, 
 that, as it needs no washing in a Saviour's blood, so it 
 never can handle the harp of redeeming love. But all, 
 we are informed in the Apocalypse, who stood around the 
 throne from this world, had "washed their robes and made 
 them white in the blood of the Lamb." Hence, according 
 to this opinion, there is a road to Heaven from this world, 
 as unrevealed, as it is irrational and remote from a Sa- 
 viour's cross. 
 
 Whoever, therefore, advocates the salvation of infants, 
 upon their innocence, certainly predicates such salvation 
 upon very precarious ground. 
 
 Secondly. A second ground upon which infant solva- 
 tion is maintained, is the non-actuality of their guilt. 
 Persons of this class believe in the depravity of human na- 
 
tOHCS DISCUSSEI). ft^ 
 
 ture, but yet suppose that that depravity, when not actually 
 expressed, does not subject to punishment. Now, such 
 persons either must believe in the necessity of infantile re- 
 generation in order to admittance into eternal life, or they 
 do not. If they do, then they admit a reason of final con- 
 demnation to exist in the child, which needs to be remo- 
 ved by divine grace before it can be saved : or if they do 
 not, then they must believe there is a passage to Heaven 
 from this world, other than by the cross of Christ. 
 
 There are many who seem to hold a modification of 
 the above sentiment. They believe both in the criminal 
 depravity of human nature, and also in the absolute neces- 
 sity of regenerating grace in order to salvation ; yet seem 
 to suppose, that the regeneration of an infant, dying while 
 such, is a matter not of gratuity but of debt, — that the 
 divine nature is such, that God cannot, consistently with 
 himself, send a depraved soul to hell, when such soul has 
 not actually showed the malignity of its nature against 
 him. This sentiment, in the first place, is contrary to the 
 whole tenor of Scripture, which makes salvation in every 
 case a matter of infinitely free and sovereign grace. If 
 the child has in him a criminal cause of condemnation, 
 certainly the removal of that evil must be through infinite 
 mercy alone. Besides, the very circumstances of the child 
 declare it to be worthy of punishment. It is born depra- 
 ved — in a wicked world — surrounded by temptation — with 
 a weak and mortal body, subject to the acutest pains, and 
 to death itself Now, certainly it could not well be pun- 
 ished at so early an age, and in a probationary state, more 
 than it is punished, in point of fact. If then the child be 
 justly subject to these afflictions, where is the man who 
 
96 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 has boldness enough to look so far into divine counsel, as 
 to declare his final condemnation unjust 1 
 
 Thirdly. Another principle upon wliich infant salvation 
 is argued is, several intimations of it that are given in the 
 holy Scriptures. Some of the more prominent of these we 
 shall now notice. The first is found in 2 Sam. 12: 23, 
 where David remarks after the death of his first child by 
 Bathsheba, " I shall go to him, but he shall not return to 
 me." Now, all that this would seem to mean is, that Da- 
 vid by death would be introduced into that eternal world 
 into which the soul of his child had gone. Probably even 
 less than this was meant ; viz. that though it was certain 
 that he himself should ultimately die, yet there was no 
 hope at all that the child should again be restored to life. 
 But, even supposing that this passage really does mean, 
 that David should meet his child in Heaven, yet let it be 
 remembered that that child was an Israelite, and within 
 the covenant of God. Another passage is to be found in 
 Luke 18: IC, as well as in the parallel passages in Mat- 
 thew and Mark. Here the Saviour expresses himself 
 thus, " suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid 
 them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." There are 
 at least three constructions put upon this passage. Some 
 suppose, (and they are generally those who deny infant 
 baptism,) that the Saviour designed to say, " of adults of a 
 child-like temper is the kingdom of God." This certainly, 
 according to this interpretation, has nothing to do with 
 infant salvation. My own opinion, as well as that of Pae- 
 dobaptists generally is, that he meant to say, that that 
 church which he was about to set up on earth, which was 
 his kingdom, would admit children into its membership. 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 97 
 
 This will be considered elsewhere. The other interpreta- 
 tion, and that which supports infant salvation from it, is, 
 that the Saviour designed to say, that children indiscrimi- 
 nately are the heirs of eternal life. Without contending 
 here for what is the proper meaning of this text, I would 
 only say, that that passage which admits of three interpre- 
 tations, only one of which supporting infant salvation, cer- 
 tainly cannot establish that point satisfactorily. Another 
 set of passages in support of this doctrine, are adduced 
 from the 18th chapter of Matthew's Gospel, where the 
 Saviour is said to place a child in the midst of his disci- 
 ples and say, " Except ye be converted and become as 
 little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as 
 this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of 
 heaven. And whoso receiveth one such little child in my 
 name, receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these 
 little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that 
 a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
 drowned in the depth of the sea." 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." And again, " Even 
 so it is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, 
 that one of these little ones should perish." To a careless 
 reader, these texts might appear very conclusive ; but, on 
 closely examining the passage, it evidently has no con- 
 nection whatever with the salvation of children. First, 
 the object of these passages shows that they have no such 
 meaning. The disciples had been disputing by the way, 
 
 who should be greatest in that kingdom which their Mas- 
 
 9 
 
VO SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 ter was about to set up in the world. The Saviour seemed 
 not to notice them at first ; but when tl»ey had come to the 
 house, he took a little child and set him before them, as an 
 example of humility. lie then declares to them, that in- 
 stead of disputing about dignities in his kingdom, they 
 should see to it, that they entered it, which they could not 
 do but with the spirit and humility of a child. He then 
 goes on to describe a proper citizen of his kingdom. 
 What, therefore, he here says, was applied not to the little 
 child himself, but to the disciple who had the humility of 
 that child. It was in this way, viz. by example, that the 
 Saviour was in the habit of instructing both his disciples 
 and the multitude. Again, the words themselves show, 
 that what is here said was not designed to be understood 
 of little children, but of real though humble believers. In 
 verses 12, 13, the little one here described is represented 
 to have gone astray ; and in the Gth verse he is said to be 
 a believer. In the 5th, too, he is said to be capable of 
 being received in the name of the Lord. Now certainly 
 no one will suppose that these descriptions refer to an in- 
 fant child. And, thirdly, what is here said of this "little 
 one," is repeatedly said of believers in the Scriptures. 
 Thus in Matt. 10: 40, the Saviour says in reference to his 
 disciples, " He that receiveth you receiveth me ; and he 
 that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." In Matt. 
 .5: 19, the Saviour says, " But, whosoever shall do and 
 teach" these commandments, " the same shall be called 
 great in the kingdom of heaven." In Heb. 1: 14, Paul 
 asks the following question as to the angels, — by which 
 question, too, he evidently intended a very strong aflirma- 
 tion, — " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 99 
 
 minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" In 
 John 10: 27, 28, Christ declares, " My sheep hear my 
 voice, and I know them, and they follow me : and I give 
 unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither 
 shall any pluck them out of my hand." It is but reason- 
 able, therefore, to conclude, that what is generally said of 
 believers throughout the New Testament, is to be under- 
 stood in reference to them here. 
 
 If any shall ask, why I apply what is here said to the 
 believer, but what is said in the 18th of Luke to the child, 
 my answer is, that I could not do otherwise; since in the 
 former case, Christ was speaking of a disciple, in the latter 
 case, of a child. 
 
 But let us now look at the certain assurance which the 
 covenant of infant consecration gives to a believing parent, 
 of the salvation of his child, dying whilst an infant. Nor 
 are we about to establish the position, that the mere rite 
 of infant baptism, apart from that grace which is connect- 
 ed with it, is essential to salvation. Probably many parents 
 so misunderstand this ordinance, and so abuse it, as to 
 render it rather a curse than a blessing. But contemplate 
 the ordinance itself as a divine institution, and see what 
 glorious blessings are connected with it. 
 
 The confidence alluded to above is based, first, on the 
 espousal which, in its proper performance, God, as a cove- 
 nant-keeping God, makes of the child of the believer. 
 The very object for which God extends this covenant to 
 children is, to espouse them as his own. They become, 
 in a very high and peculiar sense, the Lord's property. 
 Thus the descendants of believing Abraham, became pe- 
 culiarly the inheritance of the great Jehovah. A child 
 
100 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 thus dedicated to God by a parent's active faith, becomes 
 as truly God's, as the adult does who dedicates himself. 
 Now, if God has thus stooped down to infancy, and es- 
 pouses our little children to himself, where can there exist 
 the least doubt as to the salvation of such children? 
 
 Again, this confidence of the salvation of such child is 
 based upon the cocprcss promise of God himself In Gen. 
 17, where we have the whole covenant of Pajdomember- 
 ship detailed, and in verses 7, 8, 9, God declares, that he 
 will be a God, not only to the believer himself, but to his 
 seed or children also : and, that this covenant was design- 
 ed to extend to the youngest of his children, we have the 
 clearest evidence, because its seal was to be applied to 
 them as early as eight days old. In favor, therefore, of the 
 salvation of the infants of God's own people, who dedicate 
 to their Father in heaven the offspring he has given them, 
 we have both the covenant and the oath of God. That 
 these are sufficient to inspire the utmost confidence, none 
 can deny. 
 
 Now, if after what has been said, there are those who 
 still believe that all children stand on a footing equally sure 
 of eternal life ; who believe that the Scriptures are suffi- 
 ciently clear on this subject, apart from the covenant of 
 PiEdomembership ; and who are willing to hold to such evi- 
 dence, as sufficiently complete ; if there be those, I say, 
 who are willing to rest on a weaker basis, in so important 
 a case, where a stronger one is evidently offered, all that I 
 can say is, I feel tenderly for them, though I cannot and 
 will not complain. I would only urge them to pay the 
 subject a little more attention. In coming to a conclusion, 
 therefore, on this point, I would finally observe that, al- 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 101 
 
 though it is not to be denied but that both from Scripture 
 and from the nature of God, there may be evidence enough 
 of the salvation of any child whatever, dying whilst such, 
 to give to us both comfort and hope, yet, that the ordinance 
 of Paedomembership does certainly give the most satisfac- 
 tory evidence on that subject which is furnished us in the 
 word of God, Nor can we conceive it possible, for any one 
 to have any adequate idea of the nature and advantages of 
 this ordinance, who does not hold this sentiment. They 
 who abjure this institution, may place all children upon the 
 same footing, but they who advocate it, must perceive a 
 difference in the moral relations which baptized and un- 
 baptized children sustain to God. 
 
 IV. A fourth observation we here make is, that since 
 out of two forms in which the church has already existed, 
 children were admitted as members ; and since in that 
 form in which it will hereafter exist they must, from the 
 very nature of the case, be constituted such, it is but ra- 
 tional to suppose, that they are admissible to the same privi- 
 leges in that one which now exists. The four forms allu- 
 ded to above are, the patriarchal, the national, the gospel, 
 and the millenial. 
 
 First. Children were admitted to membership in the 
 patriarchal form of church government. That they were 
 admitted to membership in the church in Abraham's family, 
 as well as in the family of his successors to the days of Mo- 
 ses, all will admit. But they were members of the patriar- 
 chal church even before this. True, the express words of the 
 covenant were not revealed, nor its seal given ; still, how- 
 ever, the covenant existed in its principle and in point of 
 fact. The moral law existed before given to Moses in form 
 
102 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY 
 
 on Mount Sinai ; the atonement virtually existed before the 
 death of Ciirist on the cross. And so with the covenant of 
 membership in the church. The church was first consti- 
 tuted in the family of Adam ; afterwards it descended 
 through a long line of patriarchs, down to the days of 
 Abraham. In this patriarchal church, the father was the 
 priest or minister, and his family constituted the members. 
 Each child, therefore, born in a patriarchal family, was 
 born in the patriarchal church, and therefore entitled to 
 membership by birth. 
 
 Secondly. Children were admitted to membership in 
 the national form of church government. The Jewish 
 polity was both ecclesiastical and national. The nation- 
 ality of their polity was but erected as a defence around its 
 ecclesiastical institutions. In those days o( obscure vision 
 and many wars, as well as of almost universal idolatry, the 
 pure religion could not have been maintained but by strong 
 national defence. On this account, God left not his church 
 to contend unequally with surrounding superstition ; but 
 selected a particular nation, — located them in a select and 
 almost impregnable section of country, — gave them not 
 only moral but martial laws, — and constituted amongst 
 them the abode of his Holy Zion. All this nation were 
 members of his church ; and his covenant of mercy extend- 
 ed to children as well as to adults. 
 
 Thirdly. In the millenial form of church government, 
 children will be recognized as members. Precisely what 
 will be the state of things in the millenium, we cannot tell ; 
 but, that the earth shall be full of the knowledge and glory 
 of God, is evident from Scripture. Children, therefore, in 
 that period, will cither be regenerated immediately when 
 
TOPICS DISCUSSED. 103 
 
 born, or not long thereafter. If this be so, of course they 
 will be universally received into membership in the mille- 
 nial church. Nor by their own act. The certainty of 
 their conversion being universally established, there can 
 exist then no objection to their baptism upon the faith of 
 their parents. In fact, all, then, will be born within the 
 church, and entitled to her privileges. 
 
 Fourthly. Now, reasoning from analogy, — from con- 
 sistency in the divine government, — we must admit that the 
 children of believing parents are now born in the gospel 
 church, and are entitled to its blessings. If they have 
 been members in the patriarchal, the national, and if they 
 will be in the millenial, who dares exclude them from the 
 gospel church at present ? What are we " that we should 
 withstand God 1" 
 
 A fifth and final remark I have here to make is, that as 
 entrance upon the intimate educational course of an im- 
 mortal soul, is a work of no ordinary solemnity, it is but 
 proper that God should exact an oath of fidelity from every 
 one who enters upon such work. When men now^-a-days 
 enter upon any very solemn and important trust, they are 
 required to take an oath of office. Thus kings, and pre- 
 sidents, and governors, and legislators, and all civil magis- 
 trates, take an oath. Oaths are also administered to those 
 who hold high educational departments. Thus the presi- 
 dents of colleges, generally, and the rectors of some schools, 
 are required to enter into a solemn covenant of fidelity. 
 No minister or officer in the church, too, is ordained with- 
 out binding himself by a solemn covenant. Marriages 
 involve the same principle. The same was true with an- 
 cient Israel. Not only had they a covenant imposed upon 
 
104 SEVERAL INTRODUCTORY TOPICS DISCUSSED. 
 
 them as a nation, and as individuals, but as officers, both 
 in the state and church. When, too, a solitary person 
 makes a profession of religion, God imposes upon him 
 covenanting vows. If, then, the parental office be one of 
 equal solemnity and importance to any named above, we 
 certainly may expect, that that God who has constituted 
 such office, and who sees its supreme importance, would 
 not leave it unguarded by a solemn oath of fidelity on the 
 part of the parent. To suppose so, is either to undervalue 
 the importance of the office, or to impeach the w'isdom of 
 God. Certainly, each stands upon a basis too strong for 
 successful assault. He, therefore, who either refuses him- 
 self to take such oath, or who urges others to refuse, 
 thrusts into one of the most solemn offices of the great 
 God, an unsworn, and therefore, in all probability, a faith- 
 less incumbent. 
 
LECTURE yi. 
 
 THE DIVINE CONDUCT TOWARDS CHILDREN DETERMINED 
 IN A HIGH DEGREE BY THE CHARACTER AND CONDUCT 
 OF THE PARENTS. 
 
 It is the design of the following Lecture, to establish 
 the proposition, that the dealings of God with children, are 
 in a very high degree determined hy the character and con- 
 duct of their parents, and the relation sticJi paretits bear to 
 Him. In doing so, I shall frst advance a few reasons 
 why this is the case, and then shall attempt to establish 
 the fact by testimony, both from Revelation and Divine 
 Providence. 
 
 First. I am to give a few reasons why the divine con- 
 duct towards children is in a great measure determined by 
 that of the parents, as well as the relation such parents 
 sustain to God. 
 
 1. The first reason which I advance in explanation of 
 the Divine conduct in this particular, is derived from that 
 scheme of mediation which characterizes the whole physi- 
 cal and moral world. The universe, of which we consti- 
 tute a part, is not made up of a vast number of discon- 
 nected existences. Connection and harmony are stamped 
 
IOC THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 upon all the works of God. Each particular being enjoys 
 not an entirel}- separate and distinct existence, but an exis- 
 tence intimately , and in many cases essentially connected 
 with others. This being the plan of created existence, 
 while each being in its proper state and sphere conduces 
 to the happiness of the rest, every one out of its proper 
 sphere, and changing its proper character, becomes a source 
 of disturbance to those with which it is thus connected. 
 This is true with regard to that grand system of worlds 
 which God has created and established. Amidst the vast 
 number of sparkling luminaries above and around us, we 
 are apt to conclude, that were our small globe stricken 
 from the list of worlds, it would never be missed. But the 
 probability is, that the destruction of one solitary globe, 
 might, in the course of time, according to the present order 
 of things, be connected with the dissolution of the whole 
 universe of nature. Such, no doubt, is the relation of the 
 celestial bodies, that not one can go astray without spread- 
 ing confusion among the rest. The above principle is also 
 true in relation to the several parts of which our globe is 
 composed. In order to the safe preservation of our earth, 
 there are ten thousand different, yet connected things, 
 which must exist and operate in the exactest order and 
 proportions. Amidst the apparent confusion and irregu- 
 larity around us, we are apt to conceive, that, with a few 
 more obvious exceptions, the affairs of our earth are carried 
 on much at random. But, so far from this being the case, 
 a very slight deviation from those exact laws, according to 
 which our world is managed, would either destroy its exis- 
 tence, or render it unfit to be the abode of its present in- 
 habitants. Thus philosophers conclude that from its ear- 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 107 
 
 liest existence, and amidst all the changes to which our 
 globe is subject, yet not a particle of matter has been anni- 
 hilated. The loss even of an atom so small, might be at- 
 tended ultimately with dangerous consequences. We see 
 the above truth also illustrated in those immediate elements 
 around us, air, earth, heat, water. An improper prepon- 
 derance of any one of the above elements, would inevitably 
 be attended with greater or less danger to our lives. In 
 such a case, we would either be drowned with a flood, con- 
 sumed by fire, destroyed by thirst, or suffocated by an 
 irrespirable atmosphere. What fatal consequences often 
 result to men from a little protraction of heat, or the stag- 
 nation of an adjacent pond? What dreadful diseases often 
 have their birth in causes so apparently small and insigni- 
 ficant ? We see this principle also illustrated in the politi- 
 cal and social world. A disorderly part of a great empire 
 throws the whole into confusion — the ill-conduct of a 
 solitary man, alarms and excites the nation. In a neigh- 
 borhood or town one disorderly and mischievous family 
 afflicts the whole social fraternity. In the religious world 
 one man often causes thousands to stumble, thus fulfilling 
 the Scripture where it declares "one sinner destroys much 
 good." 
 
 The empire of the great God, therefore, both natural 
 and moral, is so constructed, that any irregularity, ill-con- 
 duct, or misfortune in any one part of it, will, in every 
 case, more or less affect the rest. It is not a vast collec- 
 tion of disconnected materials, but the union of an infinite 
 number of parts, all constituting one grand and beautiful 
 whole. It thus resembles the links of a great chain, each 
 connected with the rest and conducing to the preservation 
 
108 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 of the whole; or the several pieces wliich compose a large 
 and important machine — where the destruction and irre- 
 gularity of a part would prevent the proper movements and 
 results of the entire machine itself. 
 
 We are to observe, too, in this construction of the 
 universe, that the parts immediately adjacent to the dis- 
 orderly member, are always the first and generally the 
 greatest sufferers. Thus, when a house" takes fire in a 
 city, those immediately in the neighborhood are likely to 
 sustain the earliest and the greatest injury. Thus, too, 
 when a plague breaks out among a people, those in imme- 
 diate proximity to it are most in danger. This is but in 
 consistence with the grand and general law itself. As 
 such evils always spread through the connection existing 
 between the one in which it exists, and those with which 
 it is associated, so, of course, those nearest such evils 
 must be the first sufferers ; and must constitute the medium 
 through which such evils are transmitted to others. 
 
 That the parent, therefore, should be constituted both 
 physically and morally the mediator between his child and 
 God, is perfectly consistent with the great plan, according 
 to ichich the whole universe is governed. 
 
 2. Another reason which may be assigned as expla- 
 natory of the divine conduct in this respect, is drawn from 
 the very great probability, that the character of the parent 
 will, in the regular order of things, be that of his child. 
 
 The chief objection against the doctrine now under dis- 
 cussion is, that it is unjust for God to punish a child for 
 the sin of his parent. Such an inference, however, as this 
 can by no means be drawn from the principle we are 
 attempting to illustrate. God does in no case devolve the 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 109 
 
 immediate guilt of a progenitor upon his offspring, and yet, 
 
 probably in every case, the effects of such guilt do fall 
 
 upon such offspring in a greater or less degree. Sin can 
 
 under no circumstances transmit itself, yet is it its very 
 
 nature always to beget its like. The man who murders 
 
 his fellow man, transfers not the crime of murder to the 
 
 victim of his hate, though its results have probably been 
 
 instrumental in sinking his soul to hell. The one is 
 
 worthy of perdition, for his crime ; the other is, in point 
 
 of fact, weltering amidst its flames through the conse- 
 
 quences of that crime. Just so, the polluted nature of a 
 
 father begets a polluted child — the ungodly conduct of 
 
 that father still more deeply stains the nature of that child : — 
 
 thus, the connection between the parent and such child, 
 
 though it did not transfer the parent's guilt to his offspring ; 
 
 yet it brought down upon him the most dreadful results ; 
 
 instrumentally involving him in crime, and preparing him 
 
 for woe. And such we assert to be the fact in the case of 
 
 every sinful and unbelieving parent, unless such evils are 
 
 prevented by interposing grace. 
 
 First. The nature of the child is derived instrumentally 
 
 from the parent. As to the precise mode according to 
 
 which the body and the soul of the infant is produced, I 
 
 say nothing, — but that man is instrumentally the author 
 
 of the existence of his like-man — is too obvious to be 
 
 denied. The nature, therefore, of the child is derived 
 
 from his parent ; and so much is this so, that children often 
 
 bear the strongest possible resemblance to their progenitors 
 
 both in body and in mind. The peculiar features of the 
 
 body, as well as the peculiar properties of the soul, seem 
 
 in their formation to have respected those of the parents as 
 10 
 
110 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 their model. Now, if the parents themselves be corrupt, 
 if their natures be impure, their children will also be dis- 
 tinguished with the same natural corruption. 
 
 Secondly. The fostering circumstances of the child are 
 determined in a great degree by the parent. Along with 
 his existence, the child derives from his parents, all those 
 associations and influences which go to constitute his 
 character. Country, associates, instructors, customs, 
 manners, language, sentiments, and every thing around 
 him, are brought into contact with him through his 
 parents. The immediate circumstances ofhonie are in a 
 still higher sense determined by his parents. Family dis- 
 cipline, domestic economy, the character of servants, and 
 of visitors and inmates generally, are all the result, in a 
 great measure, of parental choice. 
 
 Now, as the child derives, instrumentally , his parti- 
 cular nature from his parents; and as he also obtains 
 through them all those circumstances which go to develop 
 that nature and form its character ; it is perfectly evident, 
 that the character of the parent will become in a very high 
 degree the character of his child. That God, therefore, 
 should treat the child of the sinner, whom he sees growing 
 up into the very image of parental impiety, in one way ; 
 and that he should treat the offspring of the believer, whom 
 he likewise sees growing up into the religious character of 
 his parents in another way, is both right and wise. 
 
 JJ. A third reason, which may be given, why God should 
 make a difference in his conduct towards the offspring of 
 the pious and of the wicked is, that such difference tends 
 greatly to the promotion of piety amongst men. 
 
 That God will, under all circumstances, select those 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. Ill 
 
 methods of administering his government which have the 
 greatest tendency to promote its great end — the advance- 
 ment of his glory among his creatures — none will doubt, 
 who have any correct ideas of the character of the Supreme 
 Being. Now, that the directing of the divine conduct to- 
 wards children, in a great measure, by that of their parents 
 towards him, has a very powerful influence in the spread of 
 piety, is certain, from the three following considerations. 
 First. It gives a most striking exhibition of the evil 
 of sin in the view of God. — Probably there is no delusion 
 more common and more fatal than that which conceives 
 sin to be a trifle. It is exceedingly difficult so to spread 
 its enormity before the mind as to produce a proper con- 
 viction of its turpitude. Men will overlook and forget it ; 
 and they will conceive that God regards it as they do. 
 Now, that as long as such a delusion prevails, " iniquity 
 will abound," is most evident. Those passions and pro- 
 pensities, the indulgence of which men love, and the evil 
 of which indulgence they do not properly see, will under 
 these circumstances bid defiance to all restraint. Virtue 
 would be sacrificed ; sin would triumph, and the world 
 deluged in woe. In order, therefore, to prevent the exist- 
 ence of such awful evils, God frequently gives to men, 
 even in this world, such evidences of his hatred to sin and 
 of his determination to punish it, as destroys the fallacies 
 of unbelief and fills them with awful apprehensions. If, 
 then, it be true, that the sins of parents often involve their 
 children in the same calamities with themselves, how 
 natural must be the conclusion, that sin is an awful evil, 
 and that they who trifle with it, must expect to be undone ? 
 Whilst men thus perceive not only the sinner himself 
 
112 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 perishing for his guilt, but the destruction of others too, 
 hastened by the same guilt, how must their fears be exci- 
 ted in view of so tremendous an evil? In order, there- 
 fore, to prevent the greater prevalence of sin and ruin 
 amongst men, it is proper, that God should, in his over- 
 ruling providence, devolve the effects and co?iseqvences of 
 parental ungodliness upon their families as well as upon 
 themselves. 
 
 Secondly. Through such procedure on the part of the 
 Supreme Legislator, there is offered to parents themselves 
 the greatest possible inducement against a course of 
 impiety. If the consequences of men's sins terminated 
 with themselves, they would be much greater sinners than 
 they are. Multitudes who seem neither to venerate the 
 Divine character, nor to value their own happiness, are 
 nevertheless shocked at the idea of being the instruments 
 of misery to others. This feeling of sympathy for others, 
 exists in none stronger than in parents. "Whilst contem- 
 plating the legitimate results of their sins upon their 
 families — Avhile dwelling upon the tears and distresses of 
 a tender wife, and the ruin and degradation of afflicted 
 children, where is the husband or father, who feels him- 
 self not under the most powerful restraints against profli- 
 gacy and crime. Thus the poor degraded drunkard, 
 when he has lost all sense of shame, so far as he is him- 
 self concerned, will often weep as he looks upon the 
 children around him, whom he has injured and probably 
 ruined by his revelings. If, then, the word of God 
 warrants men to believe, that in a course of impenitence, 
 of unbelief, and of open crime, they are not only destroy- 
 ing themselves, but also pulling down destruction upon their 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 113 
 
 households, how much greater would be their guilt in 
 their own view, and how much greater the necessity of 
 immediate reformation ? 
 
 Thirdly. As the blessings of piety are offered not 
 only to parents as individuals, but are likewise extended 
 to their children through them, the motive to a life of holi- 
 ness becomes almost irresistibly great. Here, too, as in 
 the case above, many, who seem willing to live destitute 
 of the pleasures and blessings of religion, themselves, yet 
 seem to feel a kind of sympathetic anxiety, that their 
 families should not be deprived of those enjoyments which 
 a life of holiness yields. And even in instances, where 
 there is a concern felt by parents for their own spiritual 
 welfare, the fact, that their acceptance of salvation would 
 not only bless them, but their offspring also, renders the 
 offers of salvation much more influential and important. 
 When the parent perceives that the conversion of his own 
 soul to God will, by the divine blessing, open in his family 
 a fountain of happiness which would not only enrich by its 
 streams his own life, but the lives of his remotest poste- 
 rity possibly, how tremendous is the motive which pleads 
 with his heart, to seek such conversion with all his ability. 
 
 For God, therefore, to constitute in matters of piety, as 
 in every thing else, parents as the mediators between Him 
 and their children, and thus to regulate, so to speak, his 
 deportment towards their children, as they conduct them- 
 selves towards him, has the very strongest tendency pos- 
 sible to increase the fear and glory of God amongst his 
 creatures. 
 
 Secondly. I now proceed to establish, both from 
 
 Revelation and Divine Providence, the proposition that the 
 10* 
 
114 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 dealings of God with children arc in a very high degree de- 
 termined by the character and conduct of the parents, and 
 the relation such parents bear to Him. 
 
 1 . In demonstrating the above fact, we refer, in the 
 first place, to the case of our great first parent, Adam. 
 That the world is now in a condition different from that 
 in which it was originally created is clear, both from rea- 
 son and Revelation. None probably will deny this fact — 
 and that the present degraded and sinful condition of man- 
 kind is to be ascribed, as to its original source, to the 
 transgression of the early progenitors of the human race, 
 is plainly taught in the Scriptures. The threatening pre- 
 vious to that first sin was, " In the day thou eatest thereof 
 thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2: 17. The apostle Paul, 
 in Romans 5: 15, declares that " through the offence of 
 one many are dead." Again, in verse 17, of the same 
 chapter, he employs the following language : " By one 
 man's offence, death reigned by one." Also in the 19th 
 verse he says, " By one man's disobedience many were 
 made sinners." Now it is evident from the whole tenor 
 of these quotations, as well as from their express declara- 
 tions, that what was threatened upon Adam, in case of 
 transgression has, through the medium of that transgres- 
 sion, fallen upon his posterity. It is certain that he sinned ; 
 it is equally certain that his ruin has become that of the 
 human race, as descending from him. Now, it matters 
 not whether we account for the transmission of such ruin 
 upon moral or physical principles, as to the great truths 
 involved in this subject. In either case Adam was the 
 federal head and representative of his posterity ; and his 
 conduct in that respect affected the whole of his natural 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 115 
 
 descendants. Suppose, then, we account for this upon 
 what may be termed physical principles. As all nature is 
 but subservient to the moral government of God over his 
 creatures, these physical causes, or instruments by which 
 depravity is supposed to be propagated, must also be sub- 
 servient to that government ; and must therefore operate 
 but in perfect conformity to the nature and character of 
 such moral administration. If, therefore, the propagation 
 of depravity be inferred from human circumstances, still the 
 appointment and arrangement of those circumstances must 
 have the reasons of their existence, character, and connec- 
 tions with men, entirely in the moral world. But if, on the 
 other hand, we account for the transmission of moral evil 
 upon moral principles, still none will deny that the physi- 
 cal circumstances of man are the medium through which 
 these moral principles may be said to operate. As there- 
 fore the supposition that Adam was the federal head of the 
 human race, and that depravity is propagated by moral 
 laic, supposes no miracle — no deviation from the regular 
 order of things, — so the supposition that the propagation 
 of depravity is to be attributed to the physical condition of 
 man, also embraces in it certain moral reasons as the ulti- 
 mate cause, both of the allotment of such condition to 
 man, and of the propagation of depravity thereby. Proba- 
 bly few modes of reasoning have more conduced to the 
 injury and perversion of the truth, than that which em- 
 braces in it the separation of the moral from the physical 
 world. This is the old ground of controversy between in- 
 fidels and believers, and between errorists of all descrip- 
 tions and the advocates of sound doctrines. In the natu- 
 ral world men seem to believe that v^hatever can be traced 
 
116 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 to physical causes, however mysterious those causes, yet 
 must not only be true, but right. But in the moral world, 
 where results are ascribed to causes the precise nature of 
 which they do not understand, and the mode of whose ope- 
 ration is concealed, here they are staggered, and are rather 
 disposed to doubt than believe. 
 
 If, therefore, it be true, upon what principles soever it 
 be accounted for, that the fall of Adam has involved also 
 the ruin of his posterity, then is it also true that God's con- 
 duct towards that posterity has been in a very high degree 
 determined by the conduct of their great ancestor. It is 
 not asserted that men are not themselves sinners — but that 
 the whole character of their natures and circumstances 
 have been changed through the transgression of Adam, as 
 its instrumental cause ; and that God consequently regards 
 them differently from the manner in which we may sup- 
 pose he would have regarded them, had not their great 
 progenitor have sinned. 
 
 2. Another proof of our doctrine we deduce from the 
 history of the pious Noah and the antediluvian world. 
 
 What we wish here to establish is, that the destruction 
 of those multitudes of young children which must have ex- 
 isted in the world before the flood, was the result of pa- 
 rental impiety, and that the salvation of the descendants 
 of Noah was the effect of that patriarch's holiness of life. 
 Now, with regard to the children thus destroyed, it is evi- 
 dent that many of them had formed no moral character at 
 all themselves ; and also that many others could not have 
 been so very great actual sinners, from the want of suffi. 
 cient age : on the contrary, the character and conduct of 
 their parents are thug exhibited — " And God saw that the 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 117 
 
 wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every 
 imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil 
 continually." Again the divine displeasure towards such 
 corruption is thus strikingly expressed — " And it repented 
 the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it 
 grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will de- 
 stroy man whom I have created, from the face of the 
 earth ; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and 
 the fowls of the air ; for it repenteth me that I have made 
 them." Gen. 6: 5 — 7. Here the wickedness of those then 
 adults, and very many of them parents, is assigned as the 
 reason why God would destroy, not only these abandoned 
 sinners themselves, but their families and their children. 
 
 With regard to Noah's children, we have nothing 
 definitely expressed as to their moral character. The 
 Bible does not ascribe their salvation to their own piety, 
 but to the piety of their parent. The character given of 
 this good man is contained in this brief passage : " Noah 
 was a just man and perfect in his generation ; and Noah 
 walked with God," verse 9, In verse 18, after God had 
 informed him of his determination to destroy the ungodly 
 world around him, he thus speaks : " But with thee will I 
 establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, 
 thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' loives, with 
 thee." It is evident, therefore, that the favor shown to his 
 family was the immediate result, through grace, of the 
 piety of this patriarch himself. Here, then, we see a large 
 number of children perishing beneath a flood, as the result 
 of parental wickedness; and, on the other hand, we see a 
 family of children saved through the influence of parental 
 piety. 
 
118 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC, 
 
 3. Another evidence of the truth in liand is to be found 
 in ihe history of Abraham. The calling of this patriarch 
 from idolatry, implies in it the leaving of the rest of man- 
 kind to their idolatries. Now, that the calling of Abraham 
 away from idols, and the forming with him of a covenant 
 of mercy, embraced not only himself, but his posterity also, 
 tlie inspired history of many centuries abundantly attests. 
 And, on the contrary, that the forsaking of the rest of the 
 world to their idolatrous inventions and all its miseries, like- 
 wise embraced not only the nations of that particular age, 
 but their descendants also, the whole after history of those 
 nations most lamentably proclaims. Here, too, is another 
 instance of God's making, so to speak, the conduct and 
 cliaracter of the parent the criterion of his treatment to- 
 wards the cliild. 
 
 4. Lot's preservation and the destruction of the inhabi- 
 tants of the cities of the plain, furnish another instance of 
 the above principle. True, that in this case some even of 
 the children of this good man perished in the general ruin ; 
 still, however, the blessing of deliverance was offered also 
 to them ; and it was only in consequence of its disdainful 
 rejection that they perished with the rest. The manner 
 in which the angels addressed Lot is as follows : " Hast 
 thou here any besides ? Sons-in-law, and thy sons, and 
 thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring 
 them out of this place, for we will destroy this place, 
 because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of 
 the Lord ; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it." Then 
 the historian states that, in pursuance to this direction, 
 " Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which mar- 
 ried his daughters, and said, — Up, get ye out of this place, 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 119 
 
 for the Lord will destroy it. But he seemed as one that 
 mocked unto his sons-in-law." Then said the angels to 
 Lot, " Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters, which 
 are here ; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the 
 city." Now, it is certain from this narration that both 
 the offer of salvation to Lot's sons-in-law, as well as the 
 rescue of that part of the family he had with him, were 
 predicated upon his character and the relation they sus- 
 tained to him. On the contrary, the destruction of the 
 children and babes of Sodom occurred through parental 
 ungodliness. This, too, is a striking illustration of our 
 principle. 
 
 5. In the account given us by Moses of the rebellion of 
 Korah and his company, we have also an exhibition of the 
 same truth. From some reasons of jealousy, Korah, who 
 was of the seed of Levi, and first cousin to Moses, excited 
 a very large revolt against the leader of Israel. Two hun- 
 dred and fifty princes were associated with him, particu- 
 larly Dathan and Abiram, the descendants of Reuben. 
 In order to suppress this rebellion, Moses directed them 
 all, as well as Aaron, to offer incense in censers before the 
 Lord, declaring that " whom the Lord should choose, he 
 should be holy." It seems that from obstinacy the leaders 
 of this faction, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, would, not 
 leave their tents. The Lord then commanded Moses to 
 withdraw the congregation from the tents of those wicked 
 men. No sooner had this been done, and Moses addressed 
 the people, than the " earth opened her mouth ancT swal- 
 lowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that ap- 
 pertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They and all 
 that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and 
 
120 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 the earth closed upon them ; and they perished from 
 among the congregation." Num. 16: 32, 33. From com- 
 paring Exod. 6: 24, with Num. 26: 11, it will appear 
 that the children of Korah, being probably settled among 
 the congregation, were not destroyed with their father. 
 But that the wives and children of Dathan and Abiram 
 were destroyed with them is evident from the 27th verse 
 of this Ifith chapter of Numbers. Here it is said that 
 " Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door 
 of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their 
 little children.'^ Immediately after it is said, as above 
 quoted, that the earth opened her mouth and consumed 
 them all. Thus terribly did the wickedness of these men 
 bury, not only themselves, but their families also along 
 with them, in the most awful ruin ; this ruin too, let it be 
 remembered, was the effect of miraculous power. 
 
 6. Another instance of the above truth, as marked by 
 the pen of inspiration, is to be found in the history and de- 
 struction of Achan. In reference to him it is said, "And 
 Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of 
 Zerah, and the silver and the garment, and the wedge of 
 gold, and his sons and his daughters, and his oxen and his 
 asses, and his sheep and his tent, and all that he had ; and 
 they brought them to the valley of Achor. And Joshua 
 said, Why hast thou troubled us ? The Lord shall trouble 
 thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and 
 burned them with fire after they had stoned them with 
 stones." Joshua 7: 24, 25. Now, whatever may be said 
 of the adult years of his sons and daughters, and their 
 compliance with their father's crime, yet is it evident that 
 the object of such awful punishment was to impress most 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 121 
 
 deeply upon the minds of the Israelites, the dreadful evil of 
 violating the covenant and laws of God. Nor can it be 
 shown that his sons and daughters were adult, or that they 
 did comply with their father's transgression. Nor can it 
 be proved, that the destruction of the smallest children, in 
 a case of this sort, is at all inconsistent with the conduct 
 and character of God^ as exhibited in the Scriptures. 
 
 7. The universal destruction of the children of those 
 nations whom the Israelites, under the express command 
 of God, subdued, is another proof of our doctrine. That 
 such children were invariably put to death, is asserted 
 again and again. See Num. 21: 24 — 35, also 31: 17. In 
 this last, Moses directs the Israelites who had gone to the 
 war, expressly, to " kill every male among the little ones." 
 See also, in addition to the above references, Joshua 6: 21. 
 8: 20—28. 10: 28—40. 11: 11—23 In the 20th verse 
 of this last chapter, it is specially said, " For it was of the 
 Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against 
 Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and 
 that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy 
 them, as the Lord commanded Moses " This war, then, 
 against the inhabitants of Canaan, was carried on by di- 
 vine authority and command, — its precise character, too, 
 was also of divine injunction, — the historian, also, is par- 
 ticular in relating the entire destruction of the nations, in 
 the destruction of even sucking babes. Here, then, we 
 see large multitudes of smaZ/ children destroyed along with 
 their parents, through parental icickedness. 
 
 8. Another instance will be found in the history of the 
 pious king David. In that covenant into which God en- 
 tered with David, special reference is made to his descend- 
 
 11 
 
122 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 ants. "And when thy days," says God to this good king, 
 "be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will 
 set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy 
 bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. I will be his 
 father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I 
 will chasten him with the rod of men, and with tlie stripes 
 of the children of men. But my mercy shall not depart 
 away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away 
 before thee, and thine house and thy kingdom shiiU be es- 
 tablished forever before thee ; thy throne shall be establish- 
 ed forever." 2 Sam. 7: 12 — IG. In the subsefjuent history 
 of the Hebrews, we find repeated allusions to this promise 
 of God to David, in reference to his seed and kingdom. 
 
 9. The denunciations of God against the two kings of 
 Israel, Jeroboam and Ahab, extended not only to them, but 
 to their children likewise. Of the former it was declared 
 as follows, 1 Kings 14: 11, " Him that dieth of Jeroboam 
 in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth in the 
 field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the Lord hath spo- 
 ken it." Of the latter it was pronounced, 1 Kings 21: 22, 
 " Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away 
 thy posterity ; and will make thine house like the house of 
 Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha 
 the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast 
 provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin." In each 
 case, subsequent history attests the accurate fulfillment of 
 these predictions. Here, then, the sacred Scriptures exhi- 
 bit two kings as plunging their families into ruin along 
 with themselves, even to the third and fourth generations. 
 
 10. Another similar instance will be found in the de- 
 struction of those who were instrumental in having Daniel 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 123 
 
 put into the lion's den. Of them it is said, Dan. 6: 24, 
 ''And the king commanded, and they brought those men 
 which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the 
 den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and 
 the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their 
 bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the 
 den." Now, although this may be said to be the act of a 
 heathen king, yet was it but the just visitation of punish- 
 ment upon the enemies of Daniel ; and for this very pur- 
 pose it is evidently introduced into the sacred writings. 
 That the sacred writer approved the conduct of Darius in 
 this respect, the most careless reader may discover. 
 
 11. The woes which Christ denounced against those 
 cities where he had done most of his mighty works, were 
 also denounced against the children as well as against the 
 adult inhabitants. "Woe unto thee," says he, "Chora- 
 zin ; woe unto thee Bethsaida ; for if the mighty works 
 which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and 
 Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth 
 and ashes. And thou Capernaum, which art exalted 
 to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell." See Matt, 11: 
 21—24. 
 
 12. In Christ's predictions as to the destruction of Je- 
 rusalem, children are embraced. It is said, " And when 
 he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it, 
 saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy 
 day, the things which belong unto thy peace ! But now 
 they are hid from thine eyes. For the days will come 
 upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, 
 and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 
 and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children 
 
124 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone 
 upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy 
 visitation." Luke 19: 41—44. In chapter 23: 28, 29, the 
 same thought is exhibited under a difibrent form. Christ 
 there, addressing that weeping company of females who 
 were following him to crucifixion, said, "Daughters of Je- 
 rusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for 
 your children. For behold the days are coming, in the 
 which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the 
 wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck." 
 That all these evils fell upon the Jews at the destruction 
 of their metropolis, and afterwards, history abundantly 
 attests. Nor have they recovered from them even to this 
 day ; but still in that nation is God punishing the rebellion 
 of their forefathers. 
 
 13. The prayer of the Jews, when desiring from Pilate 
 the permission to crucify Christ, included in it their chil- 
 dren. " His blood," exclaimed the enraged multitude, " be 
 on us and on our children." Matt. 28: 25. Now, no one 
 will justify such an imprecation ; still, however, does it 
 show how inseparable in the eyes of men are the circum- 
 stances and condition of children from those of their pa- 
 rents. 
 
 14. When even Christ forsook a country or people, he 
 forsook both young and old. See Matt. 8: 34. 13: 58. John 
 7: 1, and in connection with these, Acts 13: 51. When- 
 ever a city received the gospel, it was received for the 
 young as well as for the adult; and whenever they reject- 
 ed it, they discarded its blessings, not only from themselves 
 but also from their children. 
 
 15. Those judgments which Christ predicted as evils 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 125 
 
 that would befall all nations, referred also to children. 
 " For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against 
 kingdom ; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and 
 earthquakes, in divers places." Matt. 24: 7. 
 
 16. In that destruction which is spoken of in the Re- 
 velations, as connected with the progress and triumph of 
 divine truth, children are included. " And I saw," says 
 John, " an angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a 
 loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
 heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the sup- 
 per of the great God ; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, 
 and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and 
 the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the 
 flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." 
 
 17. Another form in which this truth is exhibited in 
 the Scriptures, is to be found in the second command- 
 ment of the decalogue. In that command it is expressly 
 said, " For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting 
 the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third 
 and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing 
 mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my 
 commandments." Ex. 20: 5, 6. Let it be remembered, 
 that this is a part of that moral code, which contains in it- 
 self the summary of all obedience to the law of God, so far 
 as man is concerned ; and, that, as such, its obligation is 
 both universal and perpetual; let this be remembered, we 
 say, and how solemn is this declaration of Jehovah ! He 
 here distinctly recognizes it as the prerogative of his throne, 
 and the mode of his administration, to " visit the iniquity 
 of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth ge- 
 
 neration." 
 
 11* 
 
126 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 18. In tliose blessings and curses, which the children 
 of Israel were to pronounce in so solemn a manner on en- 
 tering Canaan, standing the one part on Mount Gerizim, 
 and the other on Mount Ebal, children were also included. 
 In chapter 28th of Deut. and verses 3, 4, it is said, 
 " Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou 
 be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, 
 and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the 
 increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep." On the 
 contrary, it is said in verses 17, 18, " Cursed shall be thy 
 basket and thy store; cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, 
 and the fruit of thy land," &,c. 
 
 19. The promises of God to his people usually em- 
 brace their children. The instances of these to be found 
 in the Scriptures are so very numerous, that it will be im- 
 possible either to select or refer to them all. In Gen. 17: 
 7, we find the following promise addressed to Abraham ; 
 " And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, 
 and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an ever- 
 lasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed 
 after thee." In Deut. 4: 40, Moses thus speaks : " Thou 
 shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments 
 which I command thee this day, that it may go well with 
 thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou may- 
 est prolong thy days upon the earth which the Lord thy 
 God giveth thee for ever." In John 5: 25, it is said of the 
 righteous, " Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be 
 great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth." The 
 Psalmist, speaking of the good man, says, " He is ever 
 merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed." Ps. 37: 26. 
 In Prov. 11: 21, the wise man declares, "Though hand 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 127 
 
 join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished ; hut the 
 seed of the righteous shall be delivered." In Isaiah 40: 3, 
 it is said, " For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
 and floods upon the dry ground ; / ivill pour my spirit 
 upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring." Let 
 it be remembered that this last is a prediction relative to 
 the kingdom of Christ under the gospel. In the 65th 
 chapter and 23d verse are these words : " They shall not 
 labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the 
 seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring icith 
 them." This remarkably significant passage is also a pre- 
 diction concerning the gospel church. In Jer. 32:39, the 
 prophet thus speaks : " And I will give thee one heart and 
 one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of 
 them and of their children after them." In addition to 
 the above passages which I have quoted, let the reader 
 consult also the following : Deut. 5: 29. 12: 25, 28. 
 2 Chron. 30: 9. Ps. 25: 13. 112: 2. 128: 3. Is. 43: 5. 49: 
 25. 59:21. 61:9. 65:23. 
 
 20. The threatenings of God against the wicked usually 
 extend to their offspring also. Speaking of the wicked, Job 
 says, "If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; 
 and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread." Job 
 27: 14. In Psalm 137: 8, 9, the Psalmist thus expresses 
 himself, " Oh daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed ; 
 happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served 
 us. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little 
 ones against the stones." In Is. 13: 16, are the following 
 words, which were spoken in reference to the Jews : 
 " Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before 
 their eyes; and their houses shall be spoiled." Jeremiah 
 
128 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 making prayer to God, thus expresses himself, " There- 
 fore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out 
 their blood by the force of the sword." Jer. 18: 21. In 
 Jer. 32: 18, the prophet also addresses God in prayer thus : 
 *' Thou showest loving kindness unto thousands, and re- 
 compenseth the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of 
 their childnn after them." In Ezekiel 9: 5, 6, God is re- 
 presented as saying to certain men who prefigured the 
 destroyers of Jerusalem, " Go ye after him," (the man with 
 the ink-horn,) " through the city and smite ; let not your 
 eyes spare, neither have ye pity ; slay utterly old and 
 young, both maids and little children and women." Speak- 
 ing of Israel, the prophet Hosea says in the name of God, 
 " Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave 
 them, that there shall not be a man left." Hosea 9: 12. In 
 Nahum 3: 10, are the following words, " Yet was she car- 
 ried away ; she went into captivity ; her young children 
 also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets." 
 See also Job 31: 8. Ps. 79: C. Prov. 17: 13. Jer. 22: 28—30. 
 36: 31. Lam. 4: 10. 
 
 That God then regulates his treatment of children in a 
 very high degree by the conduct of their parents towards 
 him, is a doctrine plainly and abundantly taught through- 
 out the Scriptures. 
 
 To all this amount of evidence, however, there may be 
 adduced a few passages which would seem at first to teach 
 an opposite doctrine. These passages are the following. 
 In Deut. 24: 16, Moses declares, " The fathers shall not 
 be put to death for the children, neither shall the children 
 be put to death for the fathers, every man shall be put to 
 death for his own sin." In 2 Chron. 2o: 3, 4, are the follow- 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 129 
 
 ing words, " Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was 
 established to him, that he (Amaziah) slew his servants 
 that had killed the king his father. But he slew not their 
 children, but did as it is written in the law in the book of 
 Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying, the fathers 
 shall not die for the children, neither shall the children die 
 for the fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin." In 
 Ezekiel 18: 2 — 4, the prophet thus speaks, " What mean 
 ye," says the Lord to his people, " that ye use this proverb 
 concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have 
 eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge ! 
 As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion 
 any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold all souls 
 are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the 
 son is mine : the soul that sinneth it shall die." 
 
 In reference to the two first of these passages, it is 
 evident that they respected more the civil law than reli- 
 gious obligation. And Moses here instructed the Israel- 
 ites, particularly their judges, that when a father was 
 condemned for crime against their institutions, that the 
 son should not be put to death also. The texts in Chroni- 
 cles only show that Amaziah complied with this injunc- 
 tion of Moses. In reference to the latter passage, it seems 
 to have been proclaimed originally among the Jews, in or- 
 der to remove an imputation they had cast upon God. 
 This imputation was that the identical cri^nes of the fathers 
 had been charged to the children's accounts, and were 
 punished in them. This is what they meant by saying, 
 "the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's 
 teeth are set on edge." Now, God declares to them, that 
 it was not in consideration of the personal guilt of their 
 
130 THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 
 
 fathers tliat he punislicd tlicin ; but in view of their own 
 sins. It was not true that tlie fatliers alone were guiUy 
 and they innocent : hut it was true, that they had patterned 
 after tlie impiety of their fatliers, and were justly enough 
 involved in their condemnation. 
 
 These latter passages are therefore to be regarded as 
 explanations of the principle confirmed by the others — 
 they are limitations of the former truth — they are excep- 
 tions to a very general rule. The Jews either had per- 
 verted, or were in danger of perverting, the doctrine sup- 
 ported above ; and these were addressed to them to dis- 
 abuse their minds of erroneous impressions. In fact, their 
 misconceptions had risen so high in the days of Ezekiel, 
 that, according to the balance of that 18th chapter, it 
 seems, that they supposed the child of a good man could 
 not do evil, and that the offspring of the wicked must in- 
 evitably perish, whatever might be his conduct. The very 
 existence, however, I would observe, of these limitations 
 and explanations shows that the general principle which 
 they were designed to limit and explain, had a previous 
 existence. 
 
 Having dwelt so long on the evidence drawn from Reve- 
 lation in support of this doctrine, I can but barely allude 
 to that deduced from Divine Providence. I will here only 
 state, that in all the afllictions and enjoyments of life, in 
 its riches and poverty, its honor and degradation, its civil 
 and religious circumstances, and every thing almost con- 
 nected with man in tliis life, children are daily the par- 
 takers of a common lot along with their parents. 
 
 From the above reasoning, two inferences may justly be 
 made. 
 
THE DIVINE CONDUCT, ETC. 131 
 
 1. First, that it is perfectly consistent with the nature 
 of God, and the whole character of his government, to 
 make a difference between the children of believers and 
 unbelievers, of saints and of sinners. It is what he has uni- 
 formly and invariably done. Why should not the same 
 thing exist at present? Even before the days of Abraham 
 this principle existed. The covenant formed with that 
 patriarch was but a recognition and embodying of that 
 principle. And the same truth must hold good as long as 
 there is difference on earth between believers and unbe- 
 lievers ; sin and holiness. It is founded on the very na- 
 ture of things ; it can only cease when that nature shall 
 he changed. 
 
 2. A second inference is, that it is proper and wise, 
 that God should designate this difference between the 
 children of believers and unbelievers by some appropriate 
 symbol or religious rite. If this difference really exists, 
 it ought to be known and felt : now, nothing certainly 
 answers so well this designation, as the application to the 
 children of believers of a religious ceremony of some sort. 
 It is in this way the distinction between the pious and the 
 wicked is exhibited, and in a good measure maintained ; 
 and it is in this way alone the difference between their 
 offspring can be properly recognized. 
 
LECTURE yu. 
 
 THE IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 The word church is translated from the Greek fxK>fi<Tiri. 
 This latter term was used by the Greeks to denote any 
 collection of persons whatever, separated from a promis- 
 cuous multitude. A few examples of this we have even 
 in the New Testament. Consult the Greek of Acts 19: 
 32, 39, 41. The almost universal meaning, however, 
 of this term in the Testament is a religious assembly. 
 There is, too, peculiar beauty and force in this appropria- 
 tion of the word. According to its derivation, it means 
 an assembly called out from the multitude of men for 
 special purposes. Now, what collection of persons is, in 
 so high a sense, called out from among the rest of man- 
 kind, and set apart to such solemn employment and duties, 
 as the church of Christ ? The English term church is, I 
 think, invariably used in this way, except where it is em- 
 ployed to designate the building in which a religious as- 
 sembly ordinarily meet for divine worship. 
 
 By the term church, then, in its more extended appli- 
 cation, is meant, that kingdom tehich Christ has set up in 
 
 this tborld. It is in reference to the church, considered 
 12 
 
134 THE TDENTITY 
 
 as a kingdom, that it is so repeatedly called in the New 
 Testament "the kingdom of God" and " the kingdom of 
 heaven," in order to distinguish it from mere civil govern- 
 ments. 
 
 The church of Christ may be considered either as visi. 
 hie or invisible. " By the invisible church, we mean the 
 whole body of sincere believers of every age and nation, 
 that have been, are, or shall be, gathered into one, under 
 Christ, the glorious Head thereof." By the visible church 
 is meant, the body of those who profess the true religion, 
 together icith their children." It is the identity of the 
 latter we are about to consider in the present lecture. 
 
 By the identity of the visible church, we mean that " it 
 is one in all ages and throughout the world." Variety in 
 institutions, differences in administrations, and even oppo- 
 sition in some of her doctrines, do, by no means, destroy 
 this identity ; and still, amidst successive declensions and 
 reformations, lapse of time and change of officers, the 
 church of the Redeemer, as to her essence, retains the 
 same continuous and harmonious existence. In order to 
 render our meaning more perspicuous, we will introduce a 
 few illustrations. Thus, the identity of human existence 
 is preserved amidst all the changes to which human life is 
 subject. The infont, the child, the youth, the man, the 
 father, is nevertheless the same identical person. The 
 river, too, which has been flowing for ages, and which has 
 perpetually changed its waters, is nevertheless called the 
 same river, as it is supplied from the same fountain, flows 
 in the same channel, and maintains the same direction. 
 As natural day, likewise, though it has its early tints, its 
 twiliglit, its sun-rising, its meridian splendor, its decline 
 
OF THE CnURCH. 135 
 
 and end ; and though it may have been overcast at inter- 
 vals with clouds, and subject to many vicissitudes ; yet is 
 it but one and the same day. So with the church : though 
 it has existed from ages, and been subject to many vicis- 
 situdes and changes, depressions and exaltations, yet it has 
 uniformly maintained the same essential existence. 
 
 1. The first argument in support of this position is^ 
 that the mediation of Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the 
 Church, has uniformly been the same. 
 
 That purpose of grace for man, as lost and undone, 
 which God had concealed in his own mind from all eter- 
 nity, was first announced to our world in the curse, which 
 Jehovah pronounced upon the serpent, the betrayer and 
 destroyer of the human race. " And I will put enmity," 
 said God, addressing the serpent, " between thee and 
 the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall 
 bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Gen. 3: 
 15. In this prediction is embraced the fact, that God 
 would set up in the woman's seed, or in Christ, a kingdom 
 in opposition to that of Satan, and which should ultimately 
 triumph over the dominions of darkness. Isaiah, in his 
 prophecy, chapter 9: 6, 7, uses the following language in 
 reference to the same offspring of the woman and his 
 kingdom : " For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is 
 given ; and the government shall he upon his shoulder : 
 and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the 
 mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, 
 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall 
 be no end upon the throne of David, and upon his king- 
 dom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with 
 justice, from henceforth, even for ever." In Daniel 7: 14, 
 
136 THE IDENTITY 
 
 the Spirit employs the following words, as descriptive of 
 the same kingdom: " And there was given him (Christ) 
 dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
 tions, and languages should serve him : his dominion is an 
 everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his 
 kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." In Phil. 2: 
 9, 11, the Apostle thus speaks of the same kingdom: 
 " Wherefore God hatli also highly exalted him, and given 
 him a name which is above every name : that at the name 
 of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
 things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every 
 tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
 glory of God the Father." In Hebrews 2: 8, 9, we find 
 the following language as applied to the same subject : 
 " But now we see not all things put under him ; but we 
 see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for 
 the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that 
 he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." 
 In 1 Cor. 15: 24 — 28, the Apostle tlms describes the final 
 perfection and accomplishment of this mediatorial king- 
 dom : '' Then cometh the end, when he (Christ) shall have 
 delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father : when 
 he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and all 
 power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies 
 under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
 death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But 
 when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest 
 that he is excepted which did put all things under him. 
 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then also 
 shall the Son himself be subject unto him that put all 
 things under him, that God may be all in all." The same 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 137 
 
 kingdom, as to its results, is beautifully spoken of in Rev. 
 14: 1 — 3. — " And I looked," says John, "and lo, a Lamb 
 stood on mount Sion, and with him a hundred and forty 
 and four thousand, having his Father's name written in 
 their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the 
 voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder : 
 and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps : 
 and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, 
 and before the four beasts and the elders : and no man 
 could learn that song, but the hundred and forty and four 
 thousand which were redeemed from the earth." 
 
 According, therefore, to the Scriptures, Jesus Christ 
 did, in point of fact, undertake a mediatorial kingdom in 
 reference to men in this world ; which kingdom was coeval 
 with the apostacy, and shall only be resigned when all of 
 God's elected people shall be received safely into heaven. 
 This kingdom, then, is one as to its existence, and uniform 
 as to its administration. It is the dominion of one and 
 the same sovereign, over the same subjects, and for the 
 same grand purposes. 
 
 Now if the mediatorial kingdom of Christ in heaven be 
 one, the church, which is but the administration of that 
 kingdom on earth, is likewise one. 
 
 2. A second argument, by which we prove the unity 
 of the church, is, that the same reasons that exist why 
 Christ should have a church on earth at all, have uniformly 
 and always existed from the very fall of man. These rea- 
 sons are numerous and various ; some of them we will 
 specify. 
 
 First. The first reason why a church on earth was 
 needed, was, to give a display of divine glory and grace. 
 
 TO* 
 
138 THE IDENTITT 
 
 It is the very nature of God to exhibit before his creatures 
 and to his own infinite and most holy contemplation, that 
 boundless excellence which dwells in himself All the 
 creation around is but a display of the perfections of 
 God. It is in this way that he fills all space with exist- 
 ence, and beauty, and order, and happiness ; and that he 
 collects around his own throne the loud songs of all his 
 works. But in order to display himself thus, the Creator 
 selects the very best means, and proceeds upon the rery 
 strictest rules of order. Thus his vast creation is not one 
 boundless chaos of confusion, but a most stupendous sys- 
 tem of harmony and regularity. The light with which our 
 globe is blessed, is not scattered confusedly amidst sur- 
 rounding masses of opaque matter ; but secretly collected 
 into or around one vast central globe, administering to us 
 with the most perfect order. So in the moral world. The 
 dispensations of divine grace and mercy to man, instead 
 of being scattered confusedly over the world, have been 
 chiefly concentrated in one point — the church. It is in 
 the church that the angel of mercy stands diflusing a 
 heavenly brightness through all her various branches. It 
 is here that God displays the infinite riches of his grace to 
 man. 
 
 The language of Scripture on this subject is most beau- 
 tiful and expressive. Comparing the church to a virgin, the 
 Psalmist exclaims, " Thou art fairer than the children of 
 men ; grace is poured into thy lips : therefore God hath 
 blessed thee for ever." And again, " The king's daughter 
 is all glorious within : her clothing is of wrought gold." 
 Psalm 45: 2, 13. Similar to this is the language employed 
 by St. John in Rev. 21: 2, as descriptive of the church : 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 139 
 
 " And I John," says he, " saw the holy city. New Jerusa- 
 lem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
 bride adorned for her husband." Isaiah addressing the 
 church says, " Arise, shine : for thy light is come, and the 
 glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Isa. 60: 1. Speak- 
 ing of that display of the grace and wisdom of God which 
 the church shall afford to angels, the Apostle Paul thus ex- 
 presses himself; " To the intent that now unto the princi- 
 palities and powers in heavenly places, might be known 
 by the church the manifold wisdom of God ; according 
 to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord." Eph. 3: 10, 11. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that one great end for the in- 
 stitution of a church on earth is, thereby to make a display 
 of divine glory and grace. Now this end has uniformly 
 existed from the apostacy of man. The fall of man open- 
 ed the way for such a display of divine perfection ; and 
 the church was selected from the beginning as the proper 
 channel through which to make such display. 
 
 Secondly. Another reason for the institution of a 
 church on earth is, to constitute the proper organ for the 
 reception of divine truth, and the best means for its main- 
 tenance and defence. 
 
 Ignorant as man must have been originally, of that 
 great plan of mercy which God had devised for his salva- 
 tion, he was also ignorant of all those truths and institu- 
 tions connected with that plan. In order, therefore, 
 to his salvation, both the plan, together with its various 
 parts, must be revealed to him. And as to the mode of 
 this revelation, it must be either to each one of the human 
 
140 THE IDENTITV 
 
 family separately ; or to a set number acting as a kind of 
 delegation for the rest. The former method must have 
 been not only complex, but confused ; as then every man 
 would have his own revelation. It is, too, contrary to the 
 common order of nature, and the uses even of hu- 
 man society. A set number of men, therefore, must act 
 in this matter for the rest. But since men generally 
 were averse to the reception of such revealed truths, and 
 were renouncing perpetually the true worship of God, it 
 became necessary that God himself should select, and call 
 out to that office, those whom he pleased. Those thus 
 called out and selected by God to be the medium of the 
 communication of his truth to men were his church. 
 
 But it was not only necessary that this truth should be 
 received, it must likewise be preserved for the benefit of 
 future generations. For this purpose, too, a special body 
 of men was necessary, since nothing is more evident, than 
 that if divine truths were not committed to a particular 
 society of men for preservation, they would inevitably 
 perish from the earth. Amidst all the efforts ever made 
 on this subject by the most zealous advocates of the truth, 
 darkness still in a very high degree covers the earth. 
 How deplorably dreadful, then, would be the condition of 
 the world, were the maintenance and diffusion of gospel light 
 and grace not intrusted to communities whose special busi- 
 ness it is to attend to this very matter. In order, therefore, to 
 maintain and defend the truths revealed to man, it was 
 essentially necessary that a particular society should be 
 constituted and preserved on earth to attend to this very 
 business. But who should this society be, unless it be 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 141 
 
 the church of God? The church of God, then, has been, 
 from the earliest ages, both the receptacle of divine truth, 
 and the medium of its preservation. 
 
 Thirdly. Another reason for a church on earth which 
 has ever existed, is, to constitute the grand instrument of 
 men's salvation. We doubt not at all but that there are 
 many who have never heard of the visible church, who, 
 nevertheless will be saved ; and, we believe, that there are 
 many within the pale of the visible church, who shall 
 finally be cast into outer darkness. Still, however, is it 
 true, that the visible church is the ordinary medium 
 through which God reaches, converts, and saves men. The 
 apostle Paul has very forcibly expressed this truth in the 
 following text, 1 Cor. 1: 21 — " For after that," says he, 
 "in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not 
 God ; it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to 
 save them that believed." Again he expresses the same 
 sentiment thus, Rom. 10: 13 — 15 : "For whosoever shall 
 call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, 
 shall they call on him in whom they have not believed ? and 
 how shall they believe in him of whom they have not 
 heard ? And how shall they hear without a preacher ? 
 And how shall they preach except they be sent?" 
 
 The mode by which the church effects the salvation 
 of men is twofold. In the first place, by presenting to 
 their minds that knowledge of God which is eternal life. 
 Thus the Saviour commissioned the apostles to " go and 
 teach all nations ' — to " go and preach the gospel to every 
 creature." When the gospel is thus presented to the 
 minds of men by the church and her ministers, and ap- 
 plied by the Holy Ghost to their consciences, then it is in 
 
11'2 THE IDENTITY 
 
 the language of the Apostle, that the " sinner is convinced 
 and judged, and thus are the secrets of his heart made 
 manifest ; and so falling down on his face, he worships 
 God, and reports that God is in his church of a truth." 
 The other method is by receiving converts into her bosom, 
 as into a nursery, where they are disciplined and trained 
 up for heaven. The language of the Apostle on this subject 
 is clear and forcible. — " And he gave some apostles ; 
 and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pas- 
 tors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the 
 work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of 
 Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of 
 the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man ; 
 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 
 Eph. 4: 11—13. 
 
 This object, too, to be accomplished by the church, 
 viz. the effectuation of the salvation of men, is one that 
 must, from its very nature, have been coeval with the fall. 
 
 All the reasons, therefore, for the maintaining of a 
 church on earth at all, existing uniformly from the first 
 annunciation of salvation to man, the church itself must 
 likewise have existed during the same space. To suppose, 
 therefore, that the church has not uniformly existed from 
 the apostacy, is to suppose, either that the reasons for the 
 existence of a church as above specified, did not exist, or 
 that they existed without the corresponding existence of the 
 church. But we have shown that the reasons for a church 
 have uniformly and always existed. According, therefore, 
 to the supposition, these reasons for the existence of a 
 church have existed without the church. — That is, the 
 purpose of God in the salvation of man absolutely de- 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 143 
 
 manded a church when no such church was furnished. This 
 conclusion not only sets the providence of God against his 
 purpose, but confuses and thwarts the great plan of redemp- 
 tion itself The supposition, therefore, that the church has 
 not always existed since the fall of man, is false: the con- 
 trary, therefore, must be true, that the church has, from the 
 apostacy of man, had one uniform and continuous existence. 
 3. The visible church has, in point of fact, always ex- 
 isted from the family of Adam to the present day. By 
 the visible church, let it be remembered, is meant a peo- 
 ple professing the true religion and entering into covenant 
 with God. This church was first set up in the family of 
 Adam. To him was first announced the interposition of 
 a Saviour ; and in his family it was that the prefigurative 
 victim first began to smoke. As his solitary family con- 
 stituted the whole of the human species then in existence, 
 of course, in common with that family, he enjoyed all of 
 revealed truth that had then been made known to man. 
 That he embraced this truth, and thus entered into cove- 
 nant with God, is evident from this; that the first accounts 
 we have of his household afterwards is in the offering of 
 sacrifice. That Abel professed the true religion is not 
 only evident from his history in Genesis, but from what 
 the apostle says of him in Heb. 11:9. " By faith," says 
 he, " Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice 
 than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was 
 righteous, God testifying of his gifts : and by it, he being 
 dead, yet speaketh." From what is said of Seth and 
 Enos, we may infer that they were eminently pious. Of 
 Enoch it is said, " And Enoch walked with God after he 
 begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and 
 
144 THE IDENTITY 
 
 daughters." Gen. 5: 21. Certainly by his walking tcith 
 God, we are to understand botli, tliat he professed tlie true 
 religion, and that he sustained a covenant relation to God. 
 When men had become, too, exceedingly degenerate, the 
 family of Noah not only profes.sed, but maintained the true 
 religion. Of Noah it is said, " Noah was a just man, 
 and perfect in his generations ; and Noah walked with 
 God." In consequence of his remarkable piety he was 
 saved when the whole world beside was drowned. From 
 Noah the visible church passed in a regular line of patri- 
 archs to Abraham. True, no mention is made of the par- 
 ticular character of these patriarchs. But as we find re- 
 ligion in its purity in the family of Noah, and discover it 
 again at the very commencement of the history of Abra- 
 ham ; it is evident that it had been retained in some 
 way through the whole. It is true Joshua speaks of these 
 patriarchs as the worshippers of false gods. Still, however, 
 idolatry in this early age partook but very little of that 
 grossness to which it was subsequently carried in the 
 world. These very corruptions of the true religion, how- 
 ever, were the very reasons why God commanded Abrani 
 to "get from his country, and from his kindred, and from 
 his father's house, to a land whicli he would show him." 
 That Abraham professed the true religion, and stood in 
 the relation of covenant to God, none can deny who will 
 read his history. The same may be said of all the de- 
 scendants of that patriarch down to the time of Moses. 
 At this time a more regular or der of things was introdu- 
 ced. The law of God was given to his church from Sinai. 
 All those ordinances and institutions were now appointed, 
 which tended to ''^ promotion of piety among the Jews. 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 145 
 
 From the patriarchal form, the church now became na- 
 tional — a regular priesthood was appointed — a tabernacle 
 for divine worship was erected, and a religious service or- 
 dained. In order to render the whole more solemn, the 
 book in which the laws and institutions of this national 
 church were written was sprinkled with blood ; as well as 
 all the people, then solemnly as a whole nation entering into 
 covenant with God. That this national and visible church 
 existed continuously, though under varieties of circum- 
 stances, down to the time of Christ, the Scriptures both of 
 the Old and New Testaments abundantly attest. This 
 church became at times exceedingly corrupt, it is true. 
 Such, too, was its state at the advent of the Messias. Still, 
 however, it was the visible church of Jesus Christ ; and 
 still it had amid it much of alloy, something of pure gold. 
 Still it had a pure seed, though that seed was small. Such 
 were Zachariah, and Simeon, and Elisabeth, and Mary 
 the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, and many others who 
 lived at the advent of the Redeemer. That the church 
 has existed from Christ to the present day, though under 
 great depressions at times, is a matter of history ; and 
 none, probably, will be disposed to deny it. Thus evident 
 is it that from Adam to the present day, God has maintain- 
 ed on earth a visible kingdom, which is his church, and 
 the " body of Him that filleth all in all." 
 
 4. The principal changes that have at different times 
 taken place in connection with true religion, have taken 
 place in the visible church. 
 
 Of these changes there are two classes, which deserve 
 
 particular attention. The one, are those in which new 
 
 institutions and doctrines have been introduced ; the 
 13 
 
146 THE IDENTITY 
 
 Other, are those in which doctrines and institutions already 
 existing, have been rescued from the abuses thrown upon 
 them, through the declension of vital religion and the pro- 
 fanity of men. 
 
 First. We shall consider those changes which have 
 taken place by the introduction of new doctrines and insti- 
 tutions. The church commenced, as we have already 
 stated, in the family of Adam. To this patriarch were 
 revealed the advent of a future Saviour, the fundamental 
 principles of the moral law, and some of the modes of de- 
 vout worship ; together with the institution of a Sabbath 
 and of typical sacrifice. Subsequently to the days of 
 Adam, the doctrines and institutions of the true religion, 
 were given chiefly through the instrumentality of three 
 different persons — Abraham, Moses, and Christ. To 
 Abraham was given in set form the covenant of member- 
 ship in the kingdom of Christ, together with its affixed 
 seal : to Moses was given the moral law in set form, 
 together with the proper form and service of the national 
 Jewish church. In Christ the great sacrifice for sin was 
 offered, the gospel was exhibited more clearly ; and the 
 proper form and service of the Christian church was ap- 
 pointed. As to the assistance rendered the church by 
 prophets, apostles, and others, they did little else than 
 predict, explain, enforce, and spread the doctrines and 
 institutions introduced by others. 
 
 Now, with regard to the doctrines and institutions in- 
 troduced by the three persons named above, we assert, 
 that they constituted but improvements in the same iden- 
 tical church. 
 
 This is true, in the first place, in reference to the 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 147 
 
 form and seal of church-membership given to Abraham. 
 Abraham was a regular member of the patriarchal church. 
 He worshipped God according to the truth ; and therefore 
 sustained a covenant-relationship to Him. Now, the intro- 
 duction of a set form of membership, together with its ac- 
 companying seal, was but the more solemn exhibition and 
 confirmation of a principle which had existed in the 
 church from the days of Adam. The patriarchs had uni- 
 formly been members of the visible church together with 
 their children. When, therefore, God introduced into the 
 church by Abraham, a regular form of membership, and a 
 visible seal of such membership ; the introduction of such 
 form and seal, was but an improvement in the visible 
 church then existing. 
 
 Again. The improvements effected by Moses were 
 also improvements in the visible church as previously exist- 
 ing. Moses was a regular member of that church ; and 
 so were all the Israelites over whom he presided ; they 
 had all been introduced into it during infancy. The 
 moral law which was given him, was but the more clear 
 and visible exhibition of principles previously existing in 
 the church. The covenant into which the people solemnly 
 entered with God, was but a more public and united ex- 
 pression of what, as families and individuals, they had all 
 already done. The appointment of a tabernacle, was but 
 the selection of one common place, where the Israelites, 
 whose tents had previously been their separate places of 
 worship, might assemble for the worship of God. The 
 ordaining of a regular priesthood, was but the enlarge- 
 ment of a custom existing in the church from the first ; 
 according to which, every father was the priest of his own 
 
143 THE IDENTITV 
 
 house. The specification of a tabernacle-service, was 
 but the continuation oftlie family-service, long existing 
 anionir the patriarchs. And so with regard to the rest. 
 The form oftlie church, it is true, was changed from the 
 patriarchal to the national ; but this, however, did by no 
 means affect its essential existence. The change effected 
 here, was but such a change as is effected in the existence 
 of a human being, when from childhood it advances to 
 youth. The church had previously been but in child- 
 hood ; it now reached its youth. 
 
 Lastly. The doctrines and institutions introduced by 
 Christ were but improvements in the church; which church 
 itself had previously existed from the days of Adam. The 
 visible church was now national in its form : it existed 
 among the Jews. As a whole, it was very corrupt. Still, 
 however, many of its members were very pious. It was in 
 this church, just at the time when some of its members 
 too were expecting and waiting for his advent, that the 
 Saviour was born. He was raised amidst its institutions ; 
 he conformed to its laws and service ; and was in every 
 respect a regular member of that church. In his public 
 ministry he quoted its Scriptures, he enforced its doctrines 
 and duties, and urged obedience to its presiding officers. 
 See Matt. 8: 4. 23: 1 — 3. In his most evangelical dis- 
 courses he but illustrated and explained the sentiments of 
 the Jewish Scriptures; and almost on all occasions sup- 
 ported his argument by appropriate allusions to them. 
 The doctrine of faith, which he so much enforced, was 
 a doctrine that had existed in the church from the days of 
 Adam. When he instituted the Lord's Supper, he was 
 not only then sitting around the table of the Paschal Sup- 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 149 
 
 per, but evidently appropriated, with a very little change, 
 a Jewish institution to the service of that particular form 
 of the church which he was about to set up. When he 
 selected faith as the ground of membership, he only ren- 
 dered prominent what had existed from the first. Faith 
 was always supposed in the professor of the true religion. 
 The patriarchal church consisted of believing families ; and 
 the Jewish was but a nation of believers. When he com- 
 missioned his apostles to " go and teach all nations," it 
 was but in fulfillment of very many prophecies in the 
 Jewish Scriptures.- And when he commanded them to 
 baptize, he but appropriated from the ceremonies of the 
 ancient church one particular rite to the exclusion of 
 many others. Washings or baptisms of various kinds had 
 always existed in the Jewish church. 
 
 Thus, entirely throughout, were the improvements 
 effected by Christ, improvements in a church, which, un- 
 der two different forms, viz. the patriarchal and the 
 national, had ever existed from the family of the great 
 progenitor of the human race. We have already shown, 
 that the improvements effected by Abraham and Moses 
 were improvements in the same church. All the changes, 
 then, so far as the introduction of new doctrines and insti- 
 tutions is concerned, that have ever taken place in con- 
 nection with the true religion, have taken place in the 
 visible church of the Redeemer. 
 
 Secondly. The other class of changes, to which refer- 
 ence was made, consists of those in which doctrines and 
 institutions, already existing, have been rescued from the 
 abuses thrown upon them, through the declension of vital 
 13* 
 
150 THE IDENTITY 
 
 religion and tlie profanity of men. At this class of im- 
 provements we can only glance. The first rescue of the 
 true religion from corruption, was effected by God himself, 
 when he destroyed the world of mankind by a flood, ex- 
 cepting only Noah and his family. The ne.xt reformation 
 was effected by Abraham, when God so peculiarly selected 
 him and his posterity to be the depo.^itories of his grace. 
 Moses was the next great reformer of the church. The 
 Israelites, it seems, when in Egypt, had followed several 
 customs, contrary to sound faith ; and had probably neg- 
 lected, in a good degree, some of the institutions of religion 
 then existing. These abuses, Moses, under the command 
 of God, corrected. Samuel may also be regarded, measu- 
 rably, as a reformer in Israel ; also David, and Solomon, 
 Josiah, and Nehemiah. Christ and his apostles may also 
 be considered in the same light. They were instrumental 
 in restoring the truths of religion to their pristine splendor. 
 Most of the Fathers may be regarded as reformers in their 
 day. And in later times, when the vis^ible church had 
 become exceedingly corrupt, the great God raised up Lu- 
 ther and Melancthon, Calvin and Zuinglius, Knox, and 
 others, to repair the breaches, and raise up the walls of his 
 Zion. Thus in every age, as the church has declined 
 and sunk, has God raised her up. The same being who 
 has promised to conduct each separate believer to final 
 rest, and to uphold and assist him whenever he may fall, 
 upholds and conducts his glorious church through all her 
 pilgrimages. As she faints, he upholds her, — as she is 
 opposed, he defends her, — as her lamps flicker, he pours 
 in fresh oil ; and as her day demands, he measures to her 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 151 
 
 Strength. Nor will he forsake her, until all he has spoken 
 concerning her shall be accomplished, and she shall be- 
 come "the bride, the Lamb's wife," in heaven. 
 
 5. Another argument to establish the identity of the 
 visible church, is to be found in those prophecies relative 
 to the triumph of religion under the gospel, which were 
 spoken by ancient prophets, for the consolation of the pious 
 Jews. A kw of these prophecies we will here repeat. 
 " And it shall come to pass," says Isaiah 2: 2, 3, " in the 
 last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
 established in the top of the mountains, and shall be ex- 
 alted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. 
 And many people shall go and say, come ye and let us go 
 up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of 
 Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk 
 in his paths : for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and 
 the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." In Isaiah 40: 1 — 5, 
 are these words, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith 
 your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry 
 unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniqui- 
 ty is pardoned ; for she hath received of the Lord's hands 
 double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the 
 wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight 
 in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall 
 be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; 
 and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough 
 places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed ; 
 and all flesh shall see it together ; for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it." In the 60th chapter of the same 
 prophecy, from the 1st to the 4th verse, the prophet thus 
 speaks, " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory 
 
152 THE IDENTITY 
 
 of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness 
 shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people ; but 
 the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen 
 upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and 
 kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes 
 round about and see, all they gather themselves together, 
 they come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, and tliy 
 daughters shall be nursed at thy side." 
 
 Now, when it is recollected that God revealed such 
 glorious truths as these to his ancient people, in order to 
 console them, in the midst of the declensions of vital reli- 
 gion around them, it is impossible not to admit the identity 
 of the church of Christ. The prophet saw that church 
 around him in a languishing and dejected state; but by 
 the eye of faith and the spirit of prophecy, he saw that 
 aame church revive and shine, and spread throughout the 
 earth. He saw Jerusalem, then in affliction as to fact, 
 wave her banners upon the tops of the highest mountains. 
 He saw all nations flowing like waters towards Zion. He 
 saw the nations, under the hallowing influence of piety, 
 convert their " spears into pruning hooks, and their swords 
 into ploughshares." Thus animated by the final triumph 
 of a cause, then under great depression, he seizes his harp 
 from the willows, and raises the song of joy, amidst many 
 apparent discouragements. It surely must have been the 
 triumph of the same church, in which these holy men were 
 raised, and in which they prophesied, that filled them with 
 such exultation. 
 
 6. If the identity of the church be not preserved, then 
 is there stricken from the church of the Redeemer, some 
 of her njost exalted worthies. Patriarchs and prophets, 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 153 
 
 and the great and the good, of every description, who pre- 
 ceded the advent of the Messiah, under these circumstan- 
 ces, belong to a different order of things altogether. Thus 
 would there be swept at once away from the broad galaxy 
 of Zion, some of her most brilliant luminaries. The ster- 
 ling rectitude of the ancient Fathers is no longer an ex- 
 ample. The sweet accents of the great singer of Israel 
 no longer fall upon our ears, or roll in poetic eloquence 
 through our souls. No longer are we overwhelmed by the 
 sublime conceptions of Isaiah, or melted by the tender pa- 
 thos of Jeremiah. All, all are removed away from us. 
 They cease to be our brothers and teachers. A great 
 gulf is sunk between us, and we cannot pass. 
 
 7. The identity of the church is also established by 
 direct testimony from the Scriptures, 
 
 In Gal. 3: 28, are these words, " There is neither Jew 
 nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither 
 male nor female ; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." In 
 Rom. 3: 29, 30, the Apostle thus speaks, " 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 who shall jus- 
 tify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision 
 through faith." In the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews, the Apostle discourses at length on the 
 power of faith, as exhibited in the illustrious worthies of 
 the Old Testament church. In the close of that chapter 
 he thus remarks, "And the.se all having obtained a good 
 report through faith, received not the promise, (i. e. the 
 fulfillment of the promise,) God having provided some bet- 
 ter thing for us, that they without us should not be made 
 perfect." Heb. 11: 39, 40. Here, the Apostle speaks of 
 
154 THE IDENTITY 
 
 the Gospel cliurch as being but tlie completiou of the Old 
 Testament cliurch. If, then, it be but the completion of 
 it, certainly they are but different parts of the same church 
 of the lledeeiner. In Eph. 3: 20 — 22, the Apostle thus 
 speaks, "And are built (i. e. Gentiles,) upon the founda- 
 tion of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
 being the chief corner stone ; in whom all the building 
 fitly framed together, groweth unto a holy temple in the 
 Lord. In whom ye also are builded together for an habi- 
 tation of God, through the Spirit." Here the whole church 
 is compared to a building, of which Jesus Christ is the 
 foundation; aad all believers, of every age and nation, are 
 but different parts. In John 10: 14 — 16, the Saviour em- 
 ploys the following language, " I am the good shepherd, 
 and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Fa- 
 ther knoweth me, even so know I the Father : and I lay 
 down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which 
 are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they shall 
 hear my voice ; and there shall be one fold and one shep- 
 herd." Here the Saviour compares the Jewish church to 
 a fold ; himself to a shepherd ; the believing Jews to sheep 
 already in the fold; and the Gentiles to distant and scat- 
 tered sheep, whom it was his intention to collect and bring 
 into the existing fold ; and then, says he, there shall be 
 '"one fold and one shepherd." In perfect conformity to 
 this, the Apostle Paul, in Rom. 15: 27, speaking of the 
 Jews, says, " For if the Gentiles have been made partakers 
 of their (the Jews') spiritual things, their duty is also to 
 minister unto them in carnal things." Again, in Rom. 
 11: 16 — 24, are these words, "For if the first fruit be 
 holy, the lump is also holy ; and if the root be holy, so are 
 
OF THE CHURCH. 155 
 
 the branches. 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. Thou 
 wilt say, then, the branches were broken off that I 
 might be graffed in. Well ; because of unbelief they were 
 broken off; and thou standest by faith. Be not high 
 minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural 
 branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold, 
 therefore, the goodness and severity of God : on them which 
 fell severity, but towards thee goodness ; if thou continue 
 in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And 
 they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graff- 
 ed in ; for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou 
 wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and 
 wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how 
 much more shall these which be the natural branches, be 
 graffed into their own olive tree ?" 
 
 In these texts the Jewish church is compared to a tame 
 olive tree, of which the church itself was the stock, and 
 the members of that church the branches. Through wn- 
 belief these branches are represented as being broken off; 
 while the Gentiles, like branches from a toild olive tree, are 
 graffed into the old stock by faith. The Apostle also de- 
 clares that God will in due time replace the natural 
 branches, by graffing them again upon their own stock. 
 Now, whether we understand by the root or stock, (as it 
 might be rendered,) in the above verses, either the Jewish 
 church previous to Christ, or that church as completed by 
 Christ ; one thing is evident, that the figure represents the 
 
156 THE IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 very closest union betwen the Jewisli church and the 
 gospel. 
 
 All these general texts, together with many more, 
 abundantly prove the identity of the visible church. No 
 language could more clearly represent this truth, than the 
 language of the Scripture itself 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 The word covenant is very frequently employed in the 
 Scriptures, and with niany different meanings. It some- 
 times means but a divine appointment. Thus the Prophet 
 Jeremiah speaks of God's covenant with the day and 
 night, (Jer. 33 : 20,) by which he means only the di- 
 vine determination that day and night shall succeed each 
 other to the end of time, as declared in Gen. 8: 22. 
 The term covenant is also used to express simply a pro- 
 mise. Thus Godgave toPhinehasthe sonof Eleazar "the 
 covenant of an everlasting priesthood." Num. 25: 13, 
 The meaning of this evidently is, that God gave to Phine- 
 has and his posterity the promise, that they should fill the 
 priesthood to a very remote period. The moral law written 
 on the two tables of stone is also called "the words of the 
 covenant," which God made with Israel. By a covenant 
 is also meant in the Scriptures a contract formed between 
 two equal parties; see Gen. 26: 28 — 31. 31: 43 — 53. 
 In this sense the word is ordinarily understood amongst 
 mankind. But there is another sense, in which the word 
 
 covenant is to be taken as employed in the Scriptures, 
 
 14 
 
158 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 both more important, more complex, and more frequent, 
 than any of the preceding. It is when the word is employ- 
 ed to designate a covenant-transaction between God and 
 man. As, whatever God proposes to man he is bound to 
 accede to ; such covenants as these wear the aspect and 
 force of law. Yet, as God is pleased to elevate his crea- 
 ture man, and stipulate with him, these covenants have 
 also the aspect and the nature of promises. Thus, a cove- 
 nant between God and man may be regarded as a propo- 
 sal on the part of God, whose stipulations are obligatory, 
 and whose acceptance is rewardable. Besides these, the 
 Scriptures also speak of a covenant-transaction between 
 the persons of the ever-blessed Trinity, in order to effect 
 the salvation of men. By this we are to understand, but 
 a harmonious consent, among the persons of the Godhead, 
 to fulfill those several offices, in the plan of redemp- 
 tion, so commonly ascribed to each in the word of God. 
 
 Having thus explained the various uses of the term 
 covenant, as employed in the Holy Scriptures, I now pro- 
 pose to show, 
 
 I. That there are four covenants spoken of in the 
 Bible, far more general and important than any others; 
 and of which most others may be said to be but branches. 
 
 1. The first of these, to which I here allude, is, what 
 is usually termed, the covenant of works. 
 
 That that transaction, which took place between God 
 and man, in his early probation, was a covenant, is evident 
 from several considerations. 
 
 First. From the specification of a particular command 
 to be the trial of his obedience. The specification of a 
 particular command, or the ordaining of a particular rite, 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 159 
 
 does not, in every case, imply a covenant. But, in this 
 case, it does. Although under the moral law of God, yet 
 did Adam's whole obligation to that law, in a certain 
 sense, and for a time, seem to be concentrated in this one 
 precept. This was made the test of his obedience. For, 
 why else should God prohibit the use of a particular tree I 
 There was nothing morally wrong in partaking of the 
 fruit of this tree, separate from its prohibition. Its pro- 
 hibited specification, too, must certainly have been in- 
 tended for one of two things : either as a religious cere- 
 mony to assist his piety, or as a trial of his obedience. 
 If it had been designed for the former purpose, then its 
 prohibition would have rendered it useless. Rites de- 
 signed for the promotion of piety, are to be used ; and it is 
 by such use that they are rendered beneficial. Thus the 
 Sabbath, as given to man in Paradise, was designed for 
 his use. The specification, then, of a prohibited tree 
 could not have been intended as a religious ceremony. 
 It must, therefore, have been appointed the test of man's 
 obedience. Now, if it were the test of man's obedience, 
 then, certainly, man was placed, so long as it remained 
 such test of his obedience, upon a state of special trial. 
 But he could only have been put upon such a state of spe- 
 cial trial through the means of a covenant. For the 
 placing of man upon so distinct a state of probation, 
 certainly implied in it, that his compliance with the 
 divine will therein, would afford him blessings which pre- 
 viously he had not enjoyed. 
 
 Secondly. The limitation of man's state of trial, im- 
 plied in it a covenant. The limitation of such state, we 
 infer from the nature of the thing prohibited. This was 
 
160 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 a tree, a single tree, in Paradise. Now, it seems manifest, 
 that, as the luiman species should increase, and should, 
 therefore, leave Paradise, and spread abroad upon other 
 portions of the earth, that special tree in Paradise could 
 neither operate as a relijrious rite, or a test of obedience, 
 or in any other specially religious way. Being remote 
 from it, it could neither assist the piety, nor try the obe- 
 dience of men. It would, too, be in danger of being 
 confounded with other trees, and so entirely lost. The 
 trial of man must, therefore, have been designed to be 
 but temporary. But if it were but temporary, it must have 
 had special objects in view; and these objects, too, must 
 have been of special advantage to man : since, to suppose 
 any thing different, is contrary both to the divine charac- 
 ter, and the mode of his administration. But if his proba- 
 tion involved in it special advantages, which, but for that 
 probation, man would not enjoy ; then was the appointment, 
 by which he was placed upon such state of special and 
 limited trial, a covenant. 
 
 Thirdly. The words in which the tree of the knowledge 
 of good and evil was prohibited, prove that such prohibi- 
 tion involved in it the nature of a covenant. The words are 
 these — " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil, thou shalt not eat of it ; for in the day that thou eatcst 
 thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2 : 17. Now, if the 
 sentiments embraced in these words be spread out fully, 
 they will be something of this kind. Addressing Adam, 
 God says, ' Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, 
 thou shalt not eat ; if thou refrain from eating thereof, 
 thou shalt live; bat in the day thou eatest of it thou shalt 
 die.' Now, certainly, as the death spoken of here im- 
 
THE FOUK COVENANTS. 161 
 
 plied a loss of benefits then enjoyed by Adam ; so the life 
 alluded to, must likewise have included in it privileges, then 
 not in his possession. Now, whether these privileges 
 referred to the confirmation of himself and posterity in 
 a state of holiness, or to his reception into heaven ; or, 
 which is more probable, to both, it makes no difference, 
 as to the truth we are proving. In either case, this 
 transaction between God and Adam was a covenant. 
 
 Fourthly. As this transaction between God and man 
 in Paradise, in which man was lost, is similar to that be- 
 tween the Father and Son, through which he is redeem- 
 ed ; and as this latter is usually represented in the Scrip- 
 tures as a covenant, the former also must have been a 
 covenant. 
 
 Fifthly. The seal of this transaction, which was the 
 tree of life, proves it to have been a covenant. This it 
 does in two ways. First, by its being a seal of that trans- 
 action. If any one will take the pains to examine, he 
 will discover, that the use which God generally makes of 
 seals in the Scriptures, is, to confirm his promises. The 
 fact, therefore, that there was a seal connected with this 
 prohibition, shows that there was a promise also associa- 
 ted with it. But, if there was a promise associated with 
 it, it was a covenant. For what constitutes a covenant 
 between God and man, is but a divine proposal or com- 
 mand connected with a promise. Again, the name given 
 to this seal — The Tree of Life — proves this transaction 
 to have been a covenant. Why was this seal called The 
 Tree of Life, if not to establish the fact, that man's re- 
 fraining from eating of " the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil," would be the means of his obtaining a 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 life superior to wliat lie tlion enjoyed. This representa- 
 tion, too, of tlie subject is confirmed by the figurative use 
 of this tree in the Apocalypse — "To him that over- 
 cometh," saith Christ, "will I give to cat of the tree of 
 life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." Rev. 
 2: 7. And, again, "Blessed are they that do his com- 
 mandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life." 
 Rev. 22 : 14. According to these texts, that blessedness 
 which man lost by his transgression, is represented as 
 still being in reserve for the righteous, through the media- 
 tion of Christ, and is shadowed forth under the idea of the 
 Tree of Life. The blessings originally designated there- 
 fore, by that tree, must have borne an analogy to those 
 blessings which the believer shall enjoy in heaven. 
 
 It is, therefore, evident, beyond all doubt, that the 
 transaction between God and Adam in Paradise, was, in all 
 respects, a covenant. 
 
 This covenant, I would observe, was a general one ; 
 that is, it was a covenant in which Adam stood as the 
 head and representative of the whole human family, with- 
 out exception. 
 
 It is not my design to enter into the various disputes 
 connected with federal representation, and the introduc- 
 tion and propagation of depravity amongst mankind. It 
 will be sufiicient to my purpose to establish two points; 
 first, that the depravity of man has been effected through 
 the transgression of Adam ; and, secondly, that had Adam 
 not sinned, his posterity, as well as himself, would have 
 been confirmed in a state of holiness and happiness. 
 
 First, then, we assert that mankind have been render- 
 ed depraved through the fall of Adam. 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 163 
 
 This is established, in the first place, by fact. From 
 flie fall, until now, men have uniformly and universally 
 been depraved. It is said of Seth, that " Adam lived a 
 hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own like- 
 ness, after his image." Gen. 5: 3. This Scripture evi- 
 dently was designed to teach us that the descendants of 
 Adam, like himself after his sin, were depraved and sin- 
 ful. That they were born not in the image which Adam 
 had before his fall ; but in that which he possessed after- 
 wards. Now if men have uniformly and universally been 
 depraved since the fall ; and if Adam was perfectly holy 
 before the fall ; then certainly human depravity originated 
 in the fall of man. 
 
 But this is also proved from plain texts of Scripture. 
 In Rom. 5: 12, are these words, " By one man sin enter- 
 ed into the world, and death by sin." Again, in verse 15, 
 it is said, " Through the offence of one many are dead." 
 In the 16th verse the same sentiment is thus exhibited : 
 " For the judgment was by one (offence) to condemna- 
 tion." In the 17th it is repeated thus, " By one man's 
 offence death reigned by one." Again, in the 18th, it is 
 expressed thus, " By the offence of one, judgment came 
 upon all men to condemnation ;" and in the 19th thus, 
 " By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." 
 Now, certaiiily, a sentiment so often, so clearly, and so 
 variously repeated, cannot be well misunderstood. 
 
 We hope, therefore, that the fact is sufficiently proved, 
 that mankind have been rendered depraved through the 
 fall of Adam. 
 
 Secondly. We now proceed to establish the proposi- 
 tion, that had Adam not sinned, his posterity, as well as 
 
lO-i THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 liimself, would have been confirmed in a state of holinesa 
 and happiness. 
 
 In reference to this, I observe, in the first place, that 
 God can, without infringing in the least upon their free- 
 agency, confirm in a state of holiness and happiness any 
 of his intelligent creatures whatever. lie actually has 
 thus confirmed vast multitudes of angels and saints now in 
 heaven. He has also promised to sustain all believers in 
 the world of blessedness for ever. 
 
 The perseverance of the saints on earth is likewise 
 effected through the same interposition of divine grace. 
 Now, certainly, none will pretend that the free-agency of ei- 
 ther the angels and saints in heaven, or of believers on the 
 earth, is at all affected by such intervention of God's good- 
 ness. It is, therefore, perfectly within the lawful exercise 
 of divine sovereignty, for God to have upheld all the pos- 
 terity of Adam in original rectitude. 
 
 I again remark on this subject, that God did, in the 
 covenant made with Adam, thus promise to uphold and 
 sustain his posterity in a state of holiness and happiness. 
 
 The stipulations in that covenant, as we have shown, 
 were in their very nature temporary. The probability 
 therefore is, that it was designed that Adam, before the 
 birth of a single child, should have been either confirmed 
 in a state of felicity, or fixed in a state of wretchedness. 
 Besides, if it was designed that Adam's posterity should 
 have undergone a special and temporary j^robation as well 
 as himself, before they were each of them separately con- 
 firmed in holiness ; this special probation must have taken 
 place either in reference to the " tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil then in Paradise;" or in reference to some 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 165 
 
 Other specified thing. Now it evidently could not have 
 taken place in reference to the tree of knowledge then in 
 Paradise ; for as we have shown, when men were scatter- 
 ed over the earth, it would of course cease to be a test of 
 their obedience. And if we suppose the specification of 
 something else, this would only involve the world in end- 
 less confusion. Every man, then, would require a speci- 
 fied test of his obedience. Or, if we suppose compliance 
 to the moral law to be made a general test of human con- 
 duct, this would but destroy all idea of God's entering 
 into probation with men upon terms of a covenant ; and of 
 his placing man upon trial in any other way, we have no 
 evidence whatever. Suppose, too, that some should fall 
 and others stand, what a world of confusion such a state of 
 things would constitute. But, besides all these difficulties, 
 there is still another. Men now come into the world in a 
 weak and imbecile state. What test of obedience would 
 be proper, with which to constitute a probation in such a 
 case ? Such test could only be known by children as 
 taught them by parents. And what if the parents them- 
 selves had sinned just after the birth of children? The 
 supposition, therefore, that Adam's obedience, and conse- 
 quently his confirmation in holiness and happiness, would 
 not have embraced his posterity, is involved in inextrica- 
 ble difficulty. The covenant with Adam must, therefore, 
 have embraced his posterity as to its promises of special 
 grace. 
 
 Again, as the curse consequent upon Adam's sin has 
 reached all his posterity without exception, it certainly 
 must be true, that had he not sinned, the blessing would 
 have reached all his posterity without exception. To sup- 
 
1G6 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 pose otherwise, is but to suppose, that that solemn cove- 
 nant, entered into between God and man in Paradise, was 
 a mere faice : in trutli, it is but to cast scandal upon the 
 character of (jod. What a partial and unjust covenant 
 that must have been, in which God designed the threaten- 
 ing to include the whole human race, but the promised 
 grace to have embraced but Adam himself! 
 
 This would but represent the disposition of God to be 
 more disposed to wrath than to mercy. The fact, there- 
 fore, that the dreadful results of the fall of Adam have ex- 
 tended to all, proves beyond reasonable doubt, that the 
 beneficial consequences of his obedience would likewise 
 have extended to all, had he been obedient. 
 
 And again. As Christ sustains the same relation to 
 his elect that Adam sustained to his posterity, and as the 
 fulfilling of all righteousness by the former secured the sal- 
 vation of his elect ; so perfect obedience in the latter must 
 likewise have confirmed his posterity in a state of felicity. 
 This is plainly to be inferred from what the Apostle says 
 in Rom. 5: 19, " For as by one man's disobedience many 
 were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many 
 be made righteous" Here it is affirmed, that through the 
 Bin of one, viz. Adam, many of his posterity were made 
 sinners ; and that through the obedience of one, viz. 
 Christ, many of his elect shall be made righteous ; cer- 
 tainly the inference is inevitable, that had Adam not have 
 sinned, his posterity would, in consequence of his obedi- 
 ence, have been confirmed in a state of felicity. 
 
 We hope, therefore, that it has been satisfactorily 
 proved, that had Adam been obedient in his state of trial, 
 all his posterity would have shared in the advantages of 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 167 
 
 his obedience ; just as through his disobedience and fall 
 they have all been involved in the consequences of his 
 ruin. 
 
 Thus has it been shown, that the transaction between 
 God and man in Eden was a most gracious covenant ; and 
 that it was a covenant, which embraced in its stipulations 
 and consequences the whole human race without excep- 
 tion. 
 
 1. A second general covenant which we specify, is 
 that constituted between the Father and Son for the sal- 
 vation of man. That there was a most harmonious agree- 
 ment between the persons of the ever blessed Trinity, in 
 reference to the redemption of man, the Scriptures abun- 
 dantly demonstrate. With regard to this agreement or 
 counsel, I would observe, 
 
 First. That it is usually represented in the form of a 
 contract. In this contract, the Father is represented aa 
 sending, sealing, anointing, and upholding the Son. Thus 
 in John 17: " Christ uses the following words in his prayer, 
 " that the world may know that thou hast sent me." In 
 Is. 42: 1, the Father is represented as speaking thus of 
 the Son, " Behold my servant who7n I uphold." In John 
 6: 27, Christ uses these words, " Labor not for the meat 
 which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto 
 everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you ; 
 for him hath God the Father sealed." Again, in Isa. 
 Gl: 1, Christ is introduced as speaking thus : *' The spirit 
 of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anoint' 
 cd me to preach good tidings to the meek." In other 
 texts of Scripture the Father is represented as intrusting 
 to his Son a kingdom. Thus in Ps. 2: 6, he is represent- 
 
1G3 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 ed as saying, " Yet have I set my king upon my lioly hill 
 of Zion." Tiie king here alluded to is evidently Christ, 
 as is clear from Acts 4: 25, 20. Again, in Ps. 89: 3, 4, 
 where David is repeating God's promise to him, he repre- 
 sents God as speaking thus : " I have made a covenant 
 with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 
 thy seed tcill I establish for ever, and build up thy throne 
 to all generations." That this covenant or promise refers 
 to Christ, of whom David was a type, is evident from Acts 
 2: 30. This whole transaction is beautifully and clearly 
 related by the prophet Isaiah, 53: 10 — 12 : " Yet it pleas- 
 ed the Lord to bruise him, (Christ,) he hath put him to 
 grief. When thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, 
 he (Christ) shall see his seed ; he shall prolong his days, 
 and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 
 He shall see tlie travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : 
 by the knowledge of iiim shall my righteous Servant justify 
 many ; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I 
 divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide 
 the spoil with the strong ; because he hath poured out his 
 soul unto death : and he was numbered with the trans- 
 gressors : and he bare the sin of many, and made interces- 
 sion for the transgressors." In this passage are contained 
 the following particulars. 
 
 1. The Father was willing that the Son should be put 
 to shame. In this way we arc to understand these 
 phrases : " [t pleased the Lord (or Father) to bruise liim ; 
 He (the Father) hath put him (Christ) to shame." 
 
 2. Christ undertakes such luniiiliation and sufferings 
 of his own accord. This is expressed in the following 
 words : " He (Christ) hath poured out his soul unto 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 169 
 
 death." " And he bare the sin of many ; and made inter- 
 cession for the transgressors." 
 
 3. That the voluntary obedience of the Son was most 
 meritorious. Thus it is said, "When thou shalt make 
 his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed." " By 
 the knowledge of Him shall my righteous servant justify 
 many; for he shall bear their iniquities;" and '^there- 
 fore will I divide him a portion with the great." 
 
 4. That there should be a reward given to Christ for 
 his humiliation and death. This is- expressed in such 
 passages as these, " He shall see his seed. He shall pro- 
 long his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper 
 in his hand." " He shall see of the travail of his soul and 
 shall be satisfied." " By the knowledge of Him shall my 
 righteous servant justify many." 
 
 That transaction between the Father and Son, which 
 refers to human salvation, is, therefore, justly enough 
 styled a covenant. 
 
 Secondly. This covenant is usually represented as 
 having existed in eternity, or before the foundation of the 
 world. In Prov. 8: 22, 23, the wise man, speaking of Christ 
 under the personification of Wisdom, thus expresses him- 
 self, " The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his 
 way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlast- 
 ing, from the beginning, or ever the earth was." Again, 
 the Evangelist John, in chapter 1: 1, seems to reiterate 
 the same sentiment, when he says, " In the beginning \va.B 
 the Word." The Apostle Peter speaking of Christ, says, 
 " Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of 
 the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." 
 
 1 Peter 1: 20. The Apostle Paul, in Eph. 1: 3, 4, thus 
 15 
 
170 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 expresses himself, " Blessed be the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual 
 blessings in heavenly places in Christ ; according as he 
 hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, 
 that we should be holy and without blame before him in 
 love." Now, certainly, if it can be said, that believers 
 were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, 
 that covenant of mercy, through which they were thus 
 chosen, must also have existed from eternity. 
 
 Thirdly. The Jast remark which I shall make as to 
 this agreement or covenant, formed between the Father 
 and Son, is that it is general in its character. 
 
 It is not our design here to dispute as to the extent of 
 the atonement made by Christ; but, simply to show, that 
 vast multitudes have been benefited by his mediation. 
 This truth was embraced in the very first annunciation 
 of a Saviour to man. Says God, addressing the serpent, 
 " And I will put enmity between thee and the woman ; 
 and between thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy 
 head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen, 3: 15. In this 
 verse there is predicted a conquest which Christ should 
 effect over Satan. But how was this conquest to be ac- 
 complished, but by the Redeemer's effecting the salvation 
 of many souls, and thus bruising the old serpent under 
 him ? The same truth was also declared afterwards to 
 Abraham in the following words : " in thee shall all the fa- 
 milies of the earth be blessed." In this promise was fore- 
 told the fact, that the Redeemer should descend through 
 the lineage of Abraham ; and that the blessings of salva- 
 tion would extend to great multitudes of men. The ex- 
 tent of the blessings of redemption is thus exhibited in the 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 171 
 
 2d Psalm, verse 8th, " Ask of me, and I shall give thee 
 the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
 of the earth for thy possession." In these words, the 
 Father is represented as offering to the Son vast numbers 
 of the human race, as the purchase of his blood ; and 
 which should be given him through his own intercession, 
 and the prayers of his people. Now, in John 17: 9 — 20, 
 we find the Saviour actually making supplication for these 
 very persons whom the Father thus offers to him for an 
 inheritance. His words are, " I pray for them ; I pray 
 not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me ; 
 for they are thine. Neither pray I for them alone ; but 
 for them also which shall believe on me through their 
 word." Again, in Isa. 53: 11, it is said, " He shall see of 
 the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied : by his know- 
 ledge shall my righteous Servant justify many ; for He 
 shall bear their iniquities." In Rev. 7: 9, John says, 
 " After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no 
 man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peo- 
 ple, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the 
 Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." 
 This vast concourse are represented in verse 14 as hav- 
 ing come "out of great tribulation, and as having washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb." They were those, therefore, who had been pur- 
 chased by a Saviour's sufferings and death. Besides, too, 
 the fact just proven, all men, even those who finally 
 perish, receive very great benefit through the mediation of 
 the Redeemer. Life and all its comforts, together with 
 the offers of salvation, are all derived from this source. 
 This covenant is, therefore, a general covenant; in one 
 
172 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 sense, it extends to all mankind, in its highest benefits to 
 a vast multitude, who, through divine grace, shall all 
 finally be saved in heaven'. 
 
 3. A third general covenant exhibited in the Scriptures, 
 is that made with Noah. The words in which this cove- 
 nant was formed are as follows : " 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, 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 covenant 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." Gen. 9:8 — 11. 'J'hat this transaction is a cove- 
 nant, and that it is general in its character, are so plainly 
 expressed in the words themselves, as to exclude all doubt. 
 
 4. The fourth general covenant is that formed with 
 Abraham. 
 
 This covenant was expressed in tlie following words, 
 " And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the 
 Lord appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, I am the 
 Almighty God ; w alk before me and be thou perfect. And 
 I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will 
 multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face, 
 and God talked with him, saying. As for me, behold my 
 covenant is with 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. And I will make thee 
 exceeding fruitful ; and I will make nations of thee ; and 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 173 
 
 kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish mj 
 covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee, in 
 their generations, for an everlasting covenant ; to be a 
 God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will 
 give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein 
 thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an ever- 
 lasting possession ; and I will be their God." Gen. 17: 1 — 8. 
 
 That this transaction was a covenant, none will deny. 
 It not only has in it all that is essential to a covenant, but 
 is called such by God himself We proceed, therefore, 
 to show, that this was a general covenant, extending not 
 only to the natural descendants of Abraham, hut to all be- 
 lievers down to the end of time. 
 
 1. It is impossible to conceive of man's entering into 
 a covenant relationship with God, as a son, a servant, or a 
 believer, upon any other principles than those stipulated 
 in this covenant. This will appear evident from analyzing 
 the several parts of the covenant itself There is embraced 
 in it. 
 
 First. The renunciation of the world on the part of 
 Abraham. This is not only exhibited in the whole trans- 
 action, and confirmed by the fact, but it is definitely ex- 
 pressed in the very first verse of this covenant. "I am 
 the Almighty God," saith Jehovah, " walk before me and 
 be thou perfect." Now, it is impossible that Abraham 
 should either " walk before God, or be perfect," without 
 an entire renunciation of the world. 
 
 Secondly. This transaction embraced in it the most 
 genuine repentance for sin, and the most evangelical faith. 
 The repentance or humiliation of the patriarch, is express- 
 ed in the following language, "And Abraham fell on hia 
 15* 
 
174 THE FOUn COVENANTS. 
 
 face ; and God talked with liiin." Certainly nothing could 
 more strikingly exhibit the most genuine humility, than 
 this act, or rather posture of Abraham. Such was liis 
 sense of unworthincss, that lie did not dare to look up be- 
 lore God. But in entering into this covenant, Abraham 
 also exercised evangelical faith. As " without faith it is 
 impossible topIea.se God," the very transaction itself, which 
 was one of inexpressible grace, shows that tlie i)atriarch 
 received tliis covenant in the exercise of faith. Now, there 
 is no faith acceptable to God, but what is evangelical. 
 Besides, Abraham proved his faith by his works; for im- 
 mediately as God left him, it is said, "And Abraham took 
 Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and 
 all that were bought with money, every male among the 
 men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of 
 their foreskin, in the self -same day, as God had said unto 
 him." Gen. 17: 23. Certainly faith which produces such 
 prompt and willing obedience, must be evangelical. Again, 
 the person with whom Abraham here entered into cove- 
 nant, was no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost 
 all divines are agreed, that the Saviour, who manifested 
 himself to the disciples after his resurrection, for the con- 
 firmation of their faith, did al.so, very frequently, and for 
 the same purpose, appear to the patriarchs and prophets, 
 before his actual incarnation. That it was Christ who 
 thus addressed Abraham, is evident from this, that the 
 same person who in this chapter is represented as the Lord, 
 in the next chapter is represented as visiting Abraham's 
 tent in the plains of Mamre, accompanied by two angels. 
 In the 17th chapter, the one in which the covenant is ex- 
 pressed, it is said, " And when Abraham was ninety years 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 175 
 
 old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, I 
 am the Almighty God,'' &lc. In chapter 18, which im- 
 mediately succeeds in its narration the circumcision of 
 Abraham's family, it is said, ^' And the Lord appeared 
 to him, in the plains of Mamre ; and he sat in his tent door 
 in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and look- 
 ed, and lo, three men stood by him." That one of these 
 three men, as they are here called, was Christ, is evident 
 from the succeeding history. For, when the two angels 
 went on to Sodom to destroy the cities of the plain, it is 
 distinctly stated, that " Abraham stood yet before the 
 Lord ;" who was the third person spoken of Gen. 18: 22. 
 Here, then, the Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself to 
 Abraham, both as " the Almighty God," and as a "man." 
 Thus Christ says, in John 8: 56, " Abraham rejoiced to 
 see my day ; and he saw it and was glad." 
 
 Thirdly. In taking upon him this covenant, Abraham 
 promised obedience. The command addressed to him 
 was, " walk before me and be thou perfect." Certainly 
 no language can express more genuine and more univer- 
 sal obedience than this. Now that Abraham, in reply to 
 such command, promised such obedience, is evident. In 
 the first place, he had no right to refuse, — he could not 
 refuse without gross insult to God. And in the second 
 place, he actually did consent to the whole covenant, which 
 he showed in the prompt application of its seal to himself 
 and his family. Now, if he consented to the whole cove- 
 nant, he also consented to be obedient to God, which was 
 a part of that covenant. 
 
 Fourthly. This covenant likewise embraced in it the 
 promise of God, to take Abraham and all his, into a pecu- 
 
176 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 liarly near relationship to himself, and to supply them with 
 all needed spiritual and temporal blessings. Tiiis promise 
 is expressed in such terms as these, " Behold my covenant 
 is with thee;" "and I will establish my covenant bcticeen me 
 and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for 
 an' everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee and thy 
 seed after thee." " And I ivill give unto thee, and to thy seed 
 after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land 
 of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I toill be 
 their God." 
 
 Now, if God was pleased to constitute such a peculiar 
 covenant as this, with Abraham and his descendants, cer- 
 tainly they sustained a relation to God which was peculiar. 
 In such expressions as these, " and I will be their God," 
 and, " to be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee," are 
 embraced all temporal and spiritual blessings. What 
 more could a creature desire, than for the great Jehovah 
 to say, " and I will be thy God?" This one promise era- 
 braces in it every thing. Now, in order the more to con- 
 firm the faith of Abraham in this covenant, God also pro- 
 mises a visible good, — the land on which he then lay. It 
 was but natural that this should be subjoined to the cove- 
 nant. Every view of that land would but remind the pa- 
 triarch of the covenant and its provisions. It would have 
 the same effect upon him, that Joseph's allusions to his 
 bones was calculated to have upon the Israelites when in 
 captivity. But this land was not only promi.sed as a kind 
 of pledge of the covenant, it was likewise designed to ex- 
 hibit the temporal and spiritual blessings of the covenant 
 
 It was designed to shadow forth all necessary temporal 
 blessings. It was itself a temporal blessing ; and offering 
 
THE FOUR COVI5XANTS. 177 
 
 to the Israelites a home, it seemed to exhibit the fact, that 
 all other necessary temporal good, God would afford them. 
 That he who had promised them a home, would also fur- 
 nish that home for them. How cheering was this promise 
 to the Israelites when in Egypt ! How consoling to them, 
 amidst the fatigues and distresses of the wilderness ! And 
 how comforting to them, when actually in possession of 
 Canaan. How consolatory was it, to the poor man espe- 
 cially, while he remembered, in the very lot of land around 
 him, the promise of God, to supply all his other necessary 
 wants ! And how must every pious husbandman, as he 
 cultivated the soil, — soil given him by God himself, as a 
 kind of confirmation of his covenant, — have planted in 
 hope ! 
 
 But this promise of Canaan, as annexed to God's cove- 
 nant with Abraham, also shadowed forth that heavenly 
 country, of which it was both the type and the seal, to 
 every believing Jew. Of this we have the evidence in the 
 Scriptures themselves. Speaking of Abraham and the 
 pious Jewish Fathers, the Apostle Paul says, "For they 
 that say such things, declare plainly that they seek a coun- 
 try. And, truly, if they had been mindful of that country 
 from whence they came out, they might have had oppor- 
 tunity to have returned : but, now, they desire a better 
 coiintry, that is a heavenly : wherefore God is not ashamed 
 to he called their God; for he hath prepared for them a 
 city." Heb. 11: 14 — 16. Again, speaking of Abraham in 
 particular, the Apostle says, verses 9, 10, "By faith he 
 (Abraham) sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange 
 country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the 
 heirs with him of the same promise : for he looked for a 
 
178 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is 
 God." Tlic same doctrine is also expressed in the 3d 
 chapter of this Epistle, 18th and 19th verses, as connect- 
 ed with the 1st and 2d verses of tlie 4th chapter. " And 
 to whom," says the Apostle, " swarc he, that they should 
 not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So 
 we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. 
 Let us, therefore, fear, lest a promise being left us of en- 
 tering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short 
 of it. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as un- 
 to them ; but the word preached did not profit them, not 
 being mi.xed with faith in them that heard it." From these 
 quotations, as well as from the current testimony of the 
 whole of the word of God, the promise of Canaan, as an- 
 ne.xed to this covenant made with Abraham, was but a 
 sensible exhibition of that country in heaven which was 
 offered to the pious Hebrews. Hence, almost all the im- 
 agery under which heaven, as a country, is represented 
 in the Scriptures, is borrowed from the land of Canaan. 
 It is called " Jerusalem," " Mount Zion," the " city of the 
 living God," &/C. &c. 
 
 Thus have we shown, that this covenant embraced in 
 it, on the part of Abraham, the renunciation of the world ; 
 genuine repentance for sin, and faith in a Messias ; the 
 promise of obedience ; together with the promise, on the 
 part of God, to take tlie patriarch and his descendants into 
 a peculiarly near relationship to himself; and to supply 
 them with all necessary temporal and spiritual blessings. 
 
 That the exposition thus given of the above covenant, 
 was such as the Israelites apprehended it to be, is certain 
 from their own history. In Lev. 2C: 3, 12, God thus ad- 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 179 
 
 dresses Israel, " If ye walk in my statutes and keep mj 
 commandments and do them, I will walk among you, and 
 will be your God, and ye shall be my people." In Deut. 
 29:9 — 15, where the children of Israel are represented as 
 entering into covenant with God, we find these words, 
 " Ye stand this day," says Moses, " all of you before the 
 Lord your God ; your captains of your tribes, your elders, 
 and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little 
 ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, 
 from the hewer of thy wood to the drawer of thy water : 
 that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy 
 God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh 
 with thee this day ; that he may establish thee to-day for 
 a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a 
 God ; as he hath said unto thee ; and as he hath sworn 
 unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Nei- 
 ther with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 
 but with him that standeth here with us, this day, before 
 the Lord our God ; and also with him that is not here 
 with us this day." Again, in chapter 26: 17, 18, Moses 
 thus speaks to Israel, " Thou hast avouched the Lord this 
 day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep 
 his statutes and his commandments, and his judgments, 
 and to hearken unto his voice : and the Lord hath avouch- 
 ed thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath pro- 
 mised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his command- 
 ments." In Is. 44: 12, 21, 22, the Lord thus addresses 
 Israel through the prophet, " Yet now, hear O Jacob, my 
 servant, and Israel whom I have chosen : Thus saith the 
 Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, 
 which will help thee : Fear not, O Jacob my servant ; and 
 
180 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 thou, Jeshurun, whom I liave chosen. Remember these, 
 O Jacob and Israel ; for thou art my servant: I have form- 
 ed thee : thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shall not be 
 forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy 
 transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins : return unto me, 
 for I have redeemed thee." The subsequent history, there- 
 fore, of the Hebrews proves that they regarded themselves, 
 in virtue of the covenant of God with them, to be a pecu- 
 liar people : it also abundantly shows, too, that they were 
 thus regarded by God himself. 
 
 Now, it is absolutely certain, that whoever enters into 
 covenant tcith God, at any time, must take upon him this 
 very covenant formed with Abraham ; since it is impossible 
 for him to enter into covenant with God upon any other 
 stipulatio7is whatever. God may not, it is true, literally 
 promise him, as he did Abraham, and his descendants, the 
 land of Canaan ; still, however, he promises him mcdntc- 
 nance in this life, and rest in the life ichich is to come. 
 
 2. My second remark on this subject is, that there was 
 great propriety in the exact form of this covenant being 
 given to Abraham. 
 
 Before the days of this patriarch, the church existed 
 in an unembodied state. The pious, it was true, did 
 enter into covenant with God. Still, however, the proper 
 form of the covenant thus embraced, was not defined ; its 
 subjects, duties, and hopes, were not definitely expressed. 
 When, therefore, the world generally had renounced the 
 true religion, and idolatry was about to be expensively set 
 up; it was most merciful on the part of God, as well as 
 most wise, to select his church, and to separate it from the 
 wicked world around. Now it was impossible for this separa- 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 1^ 
 
 tion to be made with the institutions then existing ; since 
 these were also held by the world generally. The Sabbath, 
 sacrifice, and some of the precepts of the moral law, were 
 then observed by multitudes. In order, therefore, to sepa- 
 rate his people from the world around, God expressed 
 the form of membership in his church, in set tvords, and 
 sealed it with a peculiar sign. As Abraham was, there- 
 fore, the first to whom this formal covenant was made 
 known, it was proper that the terms upon which he was 
 admitted to membership should be, with little or no vari- 
 ation, the terms upon which all others should also be 
 admitted to membership in the church. To suppose 
 any thing to the contrary, is to suppose a change in God — 
 is to suppose, that he now either requires more or less 
 obedience than in ancient times : or, that he offers more 
 or less grace. 
 
 3. The Apostle Paul, speaking of the new covenant, 
 represents it as being in substance precisely what the 
 Abrahamic covenant was. He expresses himself thus, 
 quoting from Jer. 31: 31 — 34, "Behold the days come, 
 saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with 
 the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah ; not 
 according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in 
 the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out 
 of the land of Egypt ; because they continued not in my 
 covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord, for 
 this is the covenant that I will make with the house of 
 Israel after those days, saith the Lord ; I will pat my laws 
 into their mind, and write them in their hearts : and I 
 will he to them a God, and they shall he to me a people ; 
 
 and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and 
 
 16 
 
182 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 every man liis brother, saying, know the Lord : for all 
 shall know me from the least to the greatest. For I will 
 be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and 
 their iniquities will I remember no more." Ileb. 8: 8 — r2. 
 
 That this covenant, which the Apostle here calls new, 
 is but a repetition of the Abrahamic covenant in different 
 words, is evident from the texts themselves. The sub- 
 stance of the whole is, " And I will be to them a God, 
 and they shall be to me a people." IIow very similar 
 is this to the words in the Abraliamic covenant : " And I 
 will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy 
 seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting 
 covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after 
 thee." And, again ; " and I will be their God." This 
 covenant, then, which the Apostle calls new, is but the 
 same with that given to Abraham ; and he calls it new, 
 simply, because God determined to fulfil its promises more 
 abundantly. It was only new, because, through the gos- 
 pel, it was more clearly perceived, and accompanied with 
 more of divine influence. 
 
 4. As the covenant made with Abraham referred not 
 only to his natural descendants, but to Christ also; and 
 as all who believe are said to be in Christ, there is reason 
 to believe that the same covenant which referred to Christ, 
 should also refer to believers who are in Christ. The 
 only reason why such covenant should refer to Christ at 
 all, is, for the benefit of the church, or of believers. 
 Whatever reason there was, therefore, that the Abrahamic 
 covenant should extend to Christ, there was the same 
 reason for its extending to his church ; that is, to believers. 
 This, too, is the view of the apostle, when he says, " And 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 183 
 
 if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs 
 according to the pro?nise." Gal. 3: 29. 
 
 5. That the covenant made with Abraham, embraced 
 in it all believers down to the end of time, is the plain 
 language of Scripture. In Rom. 15: 8, the Apostle thus 
 speaks, " Now, I say, that Jesus Christ was a minister of 
 the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the pro- 
 mises made unto the fathers." By Christ being here 
 called " the minister of circumcision," certainly can never 
 mean, that in Christ that covenant, of which circumcision 
 was a seal, had its termination or accomplishment. The 
 word minister will not bear such a meaning. To minis- 
 ter means to serve, to advance, to promote, &c. If the 
 Apostle, therefore, designed to say, that in Christ the 
 Abrahamic covenant had its fulfilment, how could he pos- 
 sibly say that Christ was the minister of circumcision, or 
 rather of the blessings promised and sealed by circumci- 
 sion. On another subject he expresses himself thus, 
 " Christ is the end of the law for righteousness." As- 
 suredly, then, if he designed to say that that covenant of 
 which circumcision was the seal, had its accomplishment 
 in Christ, he would have said as above : " Now Jesus 
 Christ is the end of circumcision." But, instead of this, 
 he calls him a "minister of the circumcision." Besides, 
 he could, in no manner, mean that the covenant, of which 
 circumcision was the seal, had its final accomplishment in 
 the person of Christ ; since he has declared as above, " If 
 ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs 
 according to the promise." 
 
 In Phil. 3: 3, the Apostle speaks thus, " Yea, we are 
 the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and 
 
184 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the 
 flesh." The Apostle certainly meant hy this, that a fit 
 subject for the covenant of circumcision was one " who 
 worshipped God in the spirit, and rejoiced in Christ Jesus, 
 and had no confidence in the flesh ;" that is, one who was 
 born again, who had evangelical faith, and had renounced 
 the world. Now we have already shown, that the Abra- 
 hamic covenant embraced in it all these requisitions. The 
 Apostle also designed to state, that Gentiles who had these 
 »lualifications, were also actual participants of the cove- 
 nant made with Abraham, and of which circumcision was 
 the seal. Or, we may thus state his meaning, ' We who 
 believe, though Gentiles, are, in reality, what our oppo- 
 nents, the Jews, are but in name ; icc arc the true circum- 
 cision.' 
 
 In Col. 2: 11, are these words, " In whom (Christ) 
 also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made with- 
 out hands, in putting off" the body of the sins of the flesh 
 by the circumcision of Christ." In these words, the 
 Colossian believers are said to enjoy, through their union 
 with Christ, all the benefits of the covenant of circumci- 
 »ion. Certainly, this could not be so, unless that cove- 
 nant extended its blessings to them as believers. 
 
 In Rom. 4: 11, 12, the Apostle thus speaks: " And 
 he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of 
 the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being un- 
 circumcised ; 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 not only the father of 
 circumcision to them who arc of the circutncision, (or to the 
 Jews,) but to those also who walk in the steps of that faith 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 185 
 
 of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircum- 
 cised," (or to Gentile believers.) The object of the Apos- 
 tle in these verses is, to prove, that a believing Gentile 
 has all the advantages of a believing Jew. In order to 
 illustrate this principle, he speaks of Abraham as being 
 accepted of God, through faith, previous to, and, therefore, 
 without the virtue of, circumcision. From this he infers, 
 that the believing Gentile, who has never been circum- 
 cised, yet can be accepted of God through faith, even as 
 Abraham was. He, therefore, concludes that, as the na- 
 tural Jew was a son of Abraham by circumcision, so the 
 believing Gentile was a son of Abraham, in a still higher 
 sense, by faith, of which circumcision was only the sign. 
 According, therefore, to this reasoning, the believing 
 Gentile was just as much, in a spiritual sense, the son of 
 Abraham, as the believing Jew ; and just as much enti- 
 tled to the promised blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. 
 Of course, this could not be, unless both the covenant and 
 its provisions still existed. In fact, the ^very subject of 
 debate between the Apostle and the believing Jews, was 
 about the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, the Jews 
 supposing either that they were entitled to all those 
 blessings, or that, in their participation, they should have 
 the pre-eminence ; while the Apostle contended that one 
 had no better right than the other. That the Jews, who 
 believed, should embrace the sentiment above stated, was 
 but natural ; for the Apostle himself speaks of the introduc- 
 tion of Gentiles into the Jewish church as a very great 
 mystery. His words are, " Which in other ages was not 
 made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed 
 
 unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit : tTiat 
 16* 
 
186 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 the Gentiirs should he fillotr heirs, and of the same body, 
 and partakers of his promises in Christ by the gospel.' 
 Eph. 3: 5, 6. If, then, the believing Jew admitted the 
 believing Gentile to be " a fellow heir" with him of the 
 blessings of the Gospel, but by special revelation, how ab- 
 surd is it for that Gentile, who has been admitted to such 
 privileges but by special grace, to attempt in his turn to 
 deny the Jew his right in what seemed but his natural 
 place? 
 
 In Rom. 4: 16, 17, are these words, " Therefore it 
 (heirship in the kingdom of Christ) is of faith : that it 
 miglit be by grace ; to the end the promise might be sure to 
 all the seed ; not to that only which is of the law, (or Jews,) 
 but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, (or Gen- 
 tiles,) irho is the father of us all: as it is written, I have 
 made thee a father of many nations." In these verses the 
 Apostle positively asserts, that the blessings proffered in 
 the Abrahamic covenant were to be received and enjoyed 
 but by faith ; and that, consequently, hclicving Gentiles 
 tcere as much entitled to them as believing Jews. The ques- 
 tion therefore, in the days of the Apostle, was not, whether 
 this covenant existed, or whether the blessings of the gos- 
 pel were the same as the blessings of this covenant. These 
 points were not at all disputed. The debate then was, as 
 stated above, whether Gentiles had equal rights with the 
 Jews to the blessings of the covenant. 
 
 In Gal. 3: 7, the Apostle thus speaks, " Know ye, there- 
 fore, that they which are of faith, the same are the chil- 
 dren of Abraham ?" These words are too plain to need 
 comment. 
 
 In the same chapter, verse 17, are these words, "And 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. 187 
 
 this I say, that the law which was four hundred and thirty 
 years after, cannot disannul the covenant that was confirm- 
 ed before of God in Christ, that it should make the pro- 
 mise of none effect." The Apostle here seems to express 
 this idea, that the receiving of the law from Sinai was not 
 the completion of the covenant with Abraham ; but that 
 that covenant looked forward immediately to the gospel 
 and its blessings. 
 
 In verses 13, 14, are these words, " Christ hath re- 
 deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse 
 for us ; (for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth 
 on a tree ;) that the blessing of Abraham might come on the 
 Gentiles, through Jesus Christ ; that we might receive the 
 promise of the Spirit through faith." In these words it is 
 plainly stated, that those spiritual blessings enjoyed by 
 Abraham and all the pious Jews, had been likewise be- 
 stowed upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. But these 
 blessings were promised to Abraham, and enjoyed by him 
 in the way of covenant. It was in this way, also, that all 
 the pious Jews contemplated them. Certainly, then, the 
 covenant and all its blessings were bestowed upon the 
 Gentiles by Jesus Christ ; and if upon them, upon all be- 
 lievers to the end of time. 
 
 Thus have we shown, in establishing the perpetuity of 
 the Abrahamic covenant — First. That the principles of 
 that covenant are such, that if man enters into covenant 
 with God at all, he must do so according to this covenant. 
 
 Secondly. That there was much wisdom and propriety 
 in God's revealing to Abraham first, the form and seal of 
 this covenant ; since he was the first introduced into the 
 church in its more embodied state. 
 
188 THE FOUR COVENANTS. 
 
 Thirdly. Tliat tlie Scriptures do positively declare, that 
 the covenant into which believers enter with God now, is 
 the same as that into which they entered with him in the 
 former dispensation. 
 
 Fourthly. That since the covenant of Abraham refer- 
 red to Christ, and all believers are in Christ, that covenant 
 must also em])race all believers likewise. 
 
 Fifthly. We have also adduced many plain and satisfac- 
 tory texts of Scripture, to prove that the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant includes in it every believer, whether Jew or Gentile, 
 to the end of time. 
 
 Now, if such be the extent of this covenant, the pro- 
 priety of terming it a general covenant is at once apparent. 
 
 Thus have we shown, that the covenant of works ; of 
 redemption; that made with Noah; and that of Abra- 
 ham ; are all of them general covenants — far more so than 
 any others to found in the Word of God. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 THE FOUR COVENANTS THEIR SEALS. 
 
 It is of essential importance, both to the demands of 
 justice and the peace of communities, that all bargains, 
 trades, agreements, &c. among men, should be clearly 
 defined and satisfactorily confirmed between the parties 
 thus trading or agreeing. The necessity of this lies in 
 the very nature of things. The human mind is not only 
 incapable of always remembering the various stipulations 
 of trade, but the human heart is treacherous, and much 
 disposed to lay upon old contracts new and different con- 
 structions. And besides this, man being a corporeal as 
 well as an intellectual creature, needs something to ad- 
 dress his senses as well as his mind. From these con- 
 siderations, has sprung the practice of defining and con- 
 firming contracts, by signs, ceremonies, witnesses, notes, 
 bonds and other legal instruments. We are assured in the 
 Scriptures, that this practice arose at a very early period ; 
 it probably was coeval with trade itself Nor would it be 
 confined to contracts between men among themselves. 
 It would also extend to those covenants, promises, &c. 
 which God should make with men. For as God always 
 
190 THE FOUn COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 addresses liimsclf to liis creatures, in a way wliicli they 
 can understand, lie wonid not only use the language of 
 tlieir words, but likewise that of their actions. 
 
 With the exception of those transactions which took 
 place between God and our first parents in Eden, (which 
 we omit for the present,) the first instance recorded of the 
 confirmation of an agreement, or rather promise, occurred 
 in reference to Cain. After the denunciations made by 
 God himself against this first murderer, in a mutinous or 
 despondent spirit, he seemed to extend the threatening to 
 the destruction of his life : " And it shall come to pass," 
 says he, " that every one that findeth me shall slay me." 
 In order to remove these apprehensions, God declares to 
 him, " Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance 
 shall be taken on him seven-fold." And in order to con- 
 firm the confidence of Cain in this declaration, it is 
 said, " And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any 
 finding him should kill him." Gen. 4: 14, 14. Dr. Shuck- 
 ford renders it thus, " And God gave or appointed a sign 
 or toke7i (to assure him) that no one should kill him." 
 Whether this sign or mark were attached to the person of 
 Cain, or something foreign to himself, the design of it cer- 
 tainly was to produce in his mind reliance upon the 
 divine word. It was, therefore, a token of God's cove- 
 nant with Cain. 
 
 The second instance of such a practice mentioned in 
 the Scriptures, is also of divine appointment. This is to 
 be found in Gen. 9: 13, where God addresses Noah thus, 
 " I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a 
 token of a covenant between me and the earth." 
 
 We find the next sign of an agreement or promise 
 
THE FOUR. COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 191 
 
 mentioned in chapter 15: 9 — 18. After God had given to 
 Abram promise of the land of Canaan, Abram addresses 
 God thus, " Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it 1" 
 To this God replies thus, " Take me a heifer of three 
 years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of 
 three years old, and a turtle dove and a young pigeon." 
 After Abram had taken and arranged them, and when it 
 was dark, it is said, "Behold a smoking furnace, and a 
 burning lamp, passed between the pieces." And, "In 
 the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, 
 saying, unto thy seed have I given this land, from the 
 river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates." 
 These animals and birds, together with the accompanying 
 ceremonies, were appointed by God, as a token of his 
 promise to give Abraham and his posterity the land of 
 Canaan. 
 
 The next sign or seal mentioned is in the 17th chapter, 
 where circumcision was constituted the token of the Abra- 
 hamic covenant. 
 
 In Gen. 21: 27 — 31, is the next instance recorded of 
 these confirmatory evidences of agreement. It is there 
 said, " And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them 
 unto Abimelech ; and both of them made a covenant. 
 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by them- 
 selves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what mean 
 these seven ewe lambs, which thou hast set by themselves? 
 And he said, for these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of 
 my hand, that they may be a ivitncss unto me that I have 
 digged this well. Wherefore he called that place Beer- 
 Sheba ; because there they stvare both of them." In this 
 case, oaths, together with an exchange of animals, as kind 
 
192 THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 of hostages, were the signs or testimonials of the league 
 formed between Abraliam and Abimelech. 
 
 The next instance of confirmation is annexed to the 
 blessing which God pronounced upon Abraham, when he 
 was called to offer up his son Isaac. It is expressed thus 
 in the form of an oath. " By myself have I sworn, saith 
 the Lord ; for because thou hast done this thing, and ha.st 
 not withheld thy son, thine only son ; that in blessing I 
 will bless thee," &.c. Gen. 2± 16, 17. 
 
 The next instance of this sort is mentioned in chapter 
 23: 16 — 18. It is thus expressed, " And Abraham heark- 
 ened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron thr. 
 silver which he had named in the audience of the sons of 
 Ilcth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with 
 the merchant. And the field of Ephron, which was in 
 Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the 
 cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the 
 field, that were in all the borders round about, were made 
 sure unto Abraham for a possession in the j^resence of the 
 children of Ueth, before all that went in at the gate of his 
 city." In this case living witnesses were employed to 
 confirm the trade. 
 
 The next instance is where Eliezer, Abraham's stew- 
 ard, was sent to seek a wife for Isaac. The words in 
 which this transaction is related, are as follow : " And 
 Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that 
 ruled over all that he had. Put, I pray thee, thy liand un- 
 der my thigh ; and I will make thee swear by the Lord, 
 the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou 
 shah not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the 
 Canaaniles among whom I dwell : but thou shah go unto 
 
THE FOtiR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 193 
 
 my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my 
 son Isaac." chap. 24: 2 — 4. An oath, with the addi- 
 tional ceremony of putting the hand under the thigh, was 
 the confirmation of this agreement. 
 
 When Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, he also con- 
 firmed the trade by an oath chap. 25: 33. The cove- 
 nant or agreement between Isaac and Abimelech was also 
 ratified by mutual stvearing. chap. 26: 31. 
 
 In Gen. 28: 20 — 22, is recorded a transaction some- 
 what different from the preceding, but confirmed also by 
 a sign. The transaction alluded to is the vow of Jacob, 
 the morning after the night he spent in the fields of 
 Padan-Aram. The words are these, " And Jacob vowed 
 a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me 
 in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and 
 raiment to put on ; so that I come again to my father's 
 house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God ; and tins 
 stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house : 
 and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 
 tenth unto thee." The pillar which Jacob thus set up 
 became the token of his vow. 
 
 Another instance of agreements confirmed by sensible 
 things and ceremonies, is recorded in chap. 31: 44 — 55. 
 In these verses are specified the stipulations of the cove- 
 nant which was made between Jacob and Laban his father- 
 in-law. The sign or evidence of this league was a heap 
 of stones. It is said, " And Jacob took a stone and set it 
 up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, gather 
 stones ; and they took stones and made a heap ; and they 
 did eat there upon the heap." " And Laban said, this 
 
 17 
 
194 THE FOUR COVENANTS. — THEIR SEALS. 
 
 heap is a witness hetireen me and thee this dai/." " And 
 Jacob .sware by the fear of his father Isaac." 
 
 Another instarice of confirmed agreements is to be 
 found in chap. 38: 18, where Tamar is represented as 
 asking of Judah, her father-in-law, the following pledges: 
 viz, his "signet, bracelets, and staff." This is the 
 first instance of a signet any where .spoken of; though it 
 is highly probable they were quite common in those days. 
 These were, probably, used then, as they have been since, 
 to make an impression upon wax, or on some soft substance, 
 by which the owner's consent or sanction is given to any 
 particular deed. 
 
 The last instance which we shall adduce on this sub- 
 ject, is to be found in Gen. 41: 41, 42 — "And Pharaoh 
 said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all the land of 
 Egypt. And Pharaoh took oft' his ring from his hand, 
 and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in ves- 
 tures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck." 
 By placing his ring upon the hand of Joseph, Pharaoh 
 thus delegated to him his entire authority. 
 
 From these several instances, all taken from the old- 
 est book in the world, it will appear evident, that the 
 practice of accompanying bargains, trades, covenants and 
 promises, with certain signs and ceremonies, in order to 
 render them more explicit and binding, has existed from 
 tlie very earliest ages. The probability is, tliat no trade 
 or agreement, of any importance whatever, was ever un- 
 accompanied by them. This was a matter of absolute 
 necessity ; for, where one party subsequently disagreed 
 with the original terms, or was dishonest in their obsery- 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 195 
 
 ance, the only recourse of the other was, to the signs, 
 oaths, witnesses, or evidences, by which the agreement 
 had been at first confirmed. 
 
 It is also to be observed, that whenever God should 
 enter into covenant with man, or should make to him 
 some important promise, the very customs of the country, 
 which may be regarded but as the mute language of soci- 
 ety, would render it necessary that such covenants or 
 promises should have their proper authentication. If 
 they were not thus authenticated and confirmed, the 
 mere ordinary trades and bargains of common life would 
 have better evidence than they. And, again ; since 
 writing was not invented during the earliest periods of 
 society ; and, since there was no plain and legible revela- 
 tion of the divine will to man, such signs and ceremonies 
 accompanying the covenants and promises of God, were 
 rendered even more necessary than at a remote period. 
 In perfect conformity to these observations, we find it to 
 be true, in point of fact, that the first 'signs given in attes- 
 tation of agreements and promises, were given by God 
 himself 
 
 II. Having made these remarks, as to the nature and 
 use of signs, seals,^ and the various evidences of trade 
 employed in early ages, I now proceed to specify the seals 
 of the four covenants, spoken of in the last lecture. 
 
 I. The first of these was the covenant of works. Of 
 this covenant, we assert, that the tree of life was the seal. 
 
 1. Our first remark here is, that some seal was abso- 
 lutely necessary, as an accompaniment of this covenant. 
 Though innocent, yet uian was corporeal. His senses 
 were a powerful medium through which to impress his 
 
196 THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 mind. The esnses of our fir.st parents, too, were more 
 likely to be strongly impressed than those of any of their 
 posterity. They had just been created. The world 
 around them was new — every thing wore a glowing and 
 captivating aspect. Under these circumstances, the vari- 
 ous objects 6f sensation must have exerted a powerful in- 
 fluence over them. That God, therefore, in controllinij 
 and instructing man, should have selected his senses as a 
 means of thus controlling and instructing him, was not 
 only natural, but necessary. If he had left his senses 
 unguarded, and hence permitted temj)tation to assail him, 
 especially to assail him through this channel, his fall 
 must have been inevitable. The fact, then, that mere 
 sensation must have exerted so powerful an iniluenee over 
 our first parents, proves, that God must have addressed 
 them through this medium. Again, that special state of 
 trial in which man was placed, rendered this even more 
 necessary. This arises, in the first place, from the great 
 importance of the covenant into which man entered in 
 his prolxition. Upon his obedience in this covenant, was 
 suspended not only his own life, but the lives of all his 
 posterity. No situation could possibly be more solemn 
 than that of Adam diuing his state of trial. Now, it is 
 not to be supposed, that, under such solemn circumstan- 
 ces, God should not employ his senses in order to uphold 
 his obedience. The very importance, therefore, of the 
 covenant made with Adam proves, that God must have 
 used, in so solemn a transaction, some sensible sign, in 
 order to inipress obedience upon man, and to awaken in 
 him a proper desire after the blessings promised. And, in 
 the second place, as tlie test of his obedience, or the 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 197 
 
 thing forbidden was a sensible object, it was also necessa- 
 ry that the blessings promised should be exhibited by a 
 sensible object. If this had not been the case, then man 
 would have been placed under such circumstances, that 
 the temptation to disobey would have been stronger than 
 the allurements to obedience. The forbidden tree would 
 perpetually be spreading out its enchantments to his 
 senses, while from no other quarter would there be a 
 counteracting influence. Under these circumstances, his 
 liability to fall would have been exceeding strong, from 
 the very situation in which he was placed. We must 
 suppose, therefore, that there was in Eden some sensible 
 object, designed to counteract the enticements of the 
 prohibited tree ; and, certainly, no one could better have 
 suited this purpose, than another tree equally fair and 
 inviting. But this could be no other than the tree of 
 life. 
 
 2. Another remark I here make is, that the tree of 
 life was a very fit and natural seal of the covenant of 
 works. Adam was now in a most delightful garden. 
 His occupation was to till the ground, and to subsist by 
 its abundant and easy productions. Trees of rich and 
 various fruits were all around him. A tree was, therefore, 
 one of the most obvious objects in the garden. It would, 
 therefore, seem to suggest itself for a sign or witness on 
 any special occasion. Besides, being ever near him, it 
 would best exhibit the terms of the covenant of probation 
 — its " still small voice" would be continually addressing 
 him. Another reason of fitness in this tree was, that as 
 man was sustained as to his corporeal life by the fruits of 
 the garden, so a rich fruit tree would be a most excellent 
 17* 
 
198 Tim FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 and natural type of spiritual life. Now, that God would 
 select an object, as the seal of this covenant, that bore 
 some rc^enibhince to the blessings promised, in prefer- 
 ence to one wliicii had no such resemblance, is certain. 
 Again, as stated above, there was much fitness in consti- 
 tuting the tree of life, or some tree, a seal of this cove- 
 nant, since the thing forbidden was a tree. In every 
 view of it, therefore, the tree of life was a fit and natural 
 seal to the covenant of works. 
 
 3. The specification of this tree proves it to have been 
 a seal of the covenant. " And out of the ground made 
 the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the 
 sight, and good for food : the tree of life also in the midst 
 of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil." Gen. 2: 9. Now in this description of the trees in 
 Paradise, Moses specifies two in particular, " the tree of 
 life" and " the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." 
 Why should he exhibit these so prominently, unless there 
 were special reasons for his doing so ? As to the latter, 
 the reason for its being made thus prominent is evident. 
 It was concerning it, he informs us, the Lord said to 
 Adam, " But of the tree of the knowledge of good and 
 evil thou shalt not eat of it." verse 17. But why should 
 the " tree of life" be also specified ? The only possible 
 answer is, that it was a sign of evidence of that life which 
 God had promised to Adam in case of obedience. Espe- 
 cially is this clear when it is remembered, that its specifi- 
 cation is mentioned along with that of the prohibited tree. 
 The very specification, therefore, of this tree proves it to 
 be a seal of the covenant made with Adam. 
 
 4. Its name also proves the same thing. This tree 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 199 
 
 was called the " tree of life." Now, although in these 
 days most names are arbitrary, yet it was not so in the 
 earliest stages of society. In these early periods, there- 
 was always some peculiar quality or incident that deter- 
 mined the name of an object. The fact, therefore, that 
 this tree bore the name it did, proves, that either there must 
 have been in it some particular property affording life, or 
 that it was the pledge and evidence of life, which God had 
 promised to man. Of this, too, the evidence is certain : 
 because it is said in verse 22 of the 3d chapter, " Lest he 
 put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and 
 eat, and live for ever." This tree, then, was not only as- 
 sociated in some way with life, but with eternal life. Now 
 it is certain, that although its fruit might in a natural way 
 sustain corporeal life ; yet neither it, nor any part of the 
 tree, could have the property of yielding eternal life. The 
 eternal life therefore, alluded to in the appellation of this 
 tree, was the eternal life promised in case of Adam's obe- 
 dience. But if this be so, the tree of life was a seal of that 
 promise, i. e. of the covenant. 
 
 5. Not only the name, but the history of this tree 
 proves it to have been such seal. In Gen. 2: 9, it is said, 
 that the " tree of life was in the midst of the garden." 
 In 3: 3, it is said, " the tree of the knowledge of 
 good and evil was also in the midst of the garden." 
 These two trees, in all probability, were near each other. 
 And as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was 
 that to which was appended the threatening of death, so 
 the tree of life must also have been that with which was 
 connected the promise of life. Thus, though near to- 
 gether, did they stand in opposition against each other. 
 
200 THE FOUR COVENANTS. — THEIR SEAL6. 
 
 Again in cliap. 3: 22 — 24, are these words, " And the 
 Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to 
 know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand, 
 and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever, 
 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden 
 of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 
 So he drove out the man : and he placed at the east of 
 the garden of Eden, cherubims and a flaming sword, 
 which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of 
 life." The meaning of these words is evidently the fol- 
 lowing : God, foreseeing that man, after his fall, would 
 seek that life in a tree which he could only find in the 
 promised Saviour, drove him from the garden, and pre- 
 vented him altogether from ever returning to it so long as 
 there was danger of his falling into this mistake. At the 
 fall the tree of life ceased to be a pledge of the covenant — 
 it was no longer a sacrament — it could, therefore, have 
 been of no benefit to man to partake of its fruit, in the 
 vain hope of obtaining a life which he had forfeited, and 
 which could only be found in Christ. Besides, it would 
 have been sacrilege for him to have partaken of this tree 
 after his fall. He was to eat of it only while obedient — 
 after transgression, it too, became a forbidden tree. Again, 
 in Rev. 2: 7. 22: 2 — 14, the Apostle, using figurative 
 language, represents the tree of life as growing in the 
 midst of (he celestial paradise, or heaven. By this we are 
 to understand, that those blessings which were originally 
 sealed by the tree of life in Eden, but were lost by our 
 first parents, have been recovered for man through a 
 Saviour, and are now reserved for him in heaven. The 
 tree of life blooms now, not in the terrestrial, but in the 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 201 
 
 celestial paradise ; and it offers life, not as the result of 
 personal obedience, but as the purchase of a Saviour's 
 death. The history of this tree, then, as contained in the 
 Scriptures, does most certainly demonstrate that it was 
 the seal of the covenant of works. 
 
 From these several considerations it is evident, that 
 the tree of life could have no proper meaning or use at all, 
 unless it were employed for the purpose above specified. 
 
 II. The second covenant was that of redemption, made 
 between the Father and the Son. Of this covenant we 
 assert, that sacrifice was originally the seal. 
 
 1. Our first argument is, that it was absolutely neces- 
 sary, that the announcement of this covenant to man 
 should be accompanied with some confirming proof So 
 far as the Persons themselves covenanting are concerned, 
 of course no witness or evidence oi" any kind could be 
 needed. A simple agreement or determination, on the 
 part of the Father and the Son, would have been sufficient 
 confirmation of this transaction. But when this transac- 
 tion, which took place between the Father and Son in 
 eternity, was proclaimed to man in time, it was essential 
 that so?ne sensible and defined sign or evidence should have 
 attended its disclosure. A mere appeal to his understand- 
 ing, by words, could never have produced such firmness of 
 confidence in his mind, as if those words had been ac- 
 companied by some sensible object. The peculiar situa- 
 tion of man after the fall, would render this even more 
 necessary. He was now guilty. His sins weighed 
 heavily upon his soul. His dejection under these circum- 
 stances must have been inexpressibly great. Certainly 
 he needed something more than tvords to disperse his 
 
2(KX THE FOUR COVENANTS. — THEIR SEALS. 
 
 gloom and give him confidence in a Saviour. Besides, as 
 the words in which a deliverer was made known to him, 
 must have been obscure, his situation absolutely demanded 
 some sign by which his faith might be directed to the 
 promised Seed. These words were the following, " And 
 the Lord God said unto the serpent, becau.se thou hast 
 done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every 
 beast of the field : upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust 
 shah thou eat all the days of thy life ; and I will j)ut 
 enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
 and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt 
 bruise his heel." Gen. 3: 14, 15. Now, when we consider 
 the obscurity of these words, arising from the language 
 itself, from Adam's entire ignorance of the deliverer 
 promised, and their being addressed to the serpent ; when 
 we consider this obscurity, I say, we must admit, that, 
 besides this verbal declaration, God did give to our first 
 parents some signijicant sign, both as its explanation and 
 seal. 
 
 This will appear the more evident, when wc remember 
 tliut the only solace our progenitors had, as a compensation 
 for the loss of paradise and of innocence, was in this obscure 
 promise, and that faith in it, or rather in the object of it, 
 was essential to their salvation. Certainly, as God was 
 offering to man deliverance from impending ruin, he would 
 make that deliverance at least so plain that he could per- 
 ceive and embrace it ; and, as we can hardly say this 
 was done in any words addressed to our first parents, of 
 which we have any knowledge, we are bound to believe 
 it was done by the institution of sacrifice, as a sign and 
 seal of the promise of a Saviour. I say, we are bound to 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 203 
 
 believe that such instruction and confidence were afforded 
 man by the institution of sacrifice, because there was no 
 other sign given of which we have any knowledge. Nor 
 will it refute this to say, that sacrifice was given to man as 
 a type, and not as a seal. The object of a type is instruc- 
 tion ; but the object of that instruction is the production 
 of confidence in that which the type represents, so that if 
 we consider sacrifice as a type, still it was a seal ; since its 
 design was to fix the faith of man in the promise of a Sa- 
 viour. On this subject, Augustin, as quoted by Calvin, 
 observes, " If the sacraments had not some similitude to 
 those things ofichich they are sacraments, they tcould be no 
 sacraments at all." vol. iii. p. 411. The very fact, there- 
 fore, that there is to the eye of faith a likeness between 
 an animal burning on an altar, and Christ dying on the 
 cross, shows that the former would be a fit seal or evidence 
 of the latter. 
 
 2. The second argument I employ on this subject is, 
 that sacrifices, having their origin with the first promise of 
 the Messias, must have been designed originally as a proof 
 or seal of his coming and death. That sacrifices origina- 
 ted with the first promise of a Saviour, and therefore in the 
 family of Adam, is evident from several considerations. 
 
 First. If they did not originate at that time, then would 
 our first parents have had no sensible sign, at all, to assist 
 them in their religious devotions and hopes. The garden 
 of Eden no longer bloomed around them. The two trees 
 in that garden, especially, had ceased for ever to admonish 
 and instruct. The Sabbath was the only institution to re- 
 mind them of religion, and to strengthen their confidence 
 in God. Under these circumstances, it was almost im- 
 
204 Tin: FOUR tovr.N.VNTS. — Tui:m seals. 
 
 possible that any thing like pure reliirion could have been 
 maintained, even in the family of the first j)atriarch of man- 
 kind. Adam and his companion, therefore, absolutely 
 needed some sensible religious institufiun ; and as we know 
 of none but sacrifice which he could with propriety be sup- 
 posed to have enjoyed, sacrifice was such institution. 
 
 Secondly. An institution of this sort was absolutely ne- 
 cessary to propagate the true ri'ligion in tiio.se early limes. 
 This religion, as we have seen, embraced in it the promise 
 of a Saviour. Now if this religion, together with such 
 promised deliverance, were designed to have been trans- 
 niitted by tiicrc tcords, it is absolutely certain that it could 
 not have been long maintained. The promise of a Sa- 
 viour, especially, would soon have been forgotten, through 
 that self-righteous spirit which has existed in man ever 
 since the fall. Opposed in heart to salvation through the 
 righteousness of another, man would soon have rejected 
 and forgotten mediatorial deliverance, hail not such deli- 
 verance been impressed upon them by some definite and 
 appropriate sign. If it was designed, therefore, to trans- 
 mit the promise of a Saviour in early times, such promise 
 must have been accompanied with its proper and confirma- 
 tory seal. 
 
 Thirdly. The evidence afforded by the Scriptures 
 themselves on this subject, is perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 Directly after the annunciation of a Saviour, it is said, 
 " unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make 
 coats of skins, and clothed them." Gen. 3: 21. This trans- 
 action took place in paradise; ioT \i\s subsequently h^iifS, 
 that God drove them out of that place. That the skin-S 
 here spoken of were the skins of animals, none will deny ; 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 205 
 
 and that these animals were offered in sacrifice, is certain, 
 from several reasons. The first is, that it was at this time 
 not allowed to man to eat animals of any kind. Gen. 1: 
 •29, 30, compared with 9: 3. Now, it is certain, that if 
 animals were really slain, but yet were prohibited from 
 being eaten, the object for slaying them was of a religious 
 nature. But the only object of such a nature, that could 
 have existed in Eden, was the confirmation of the faith of 
 man in the promise of a Saviour. The text, therefore, 
 above quoted, certainly declares, that religious sacrifices 
 had their origin in the garden of Eden. Again, we re- 
 member, that it was customary, in offering sacrifice, to flay 
 the animal ; and for the priest who officiated to take the 
 skin to himself; the evidence on this subject becomes even 
 clearer. In Lev. 7: 8, are these words, " And the priest 
 that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the priest, shall 
 have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering which he hath 
 offered." Now, in reference to the sacrifices offered in 
 Eden, Adam was the priest, the skin therefore fell to him 
 by right. Hence the propriety of his using them for clo- 
 thing. The very fact, too, that it is said, "the Lord God 
 made coats of skins and clothed them," seems to declare 
 that God then appointed sacrifices ; for we certainly cannot 
 understand that God actually and literally either " made 
 coats, or clothed" our first parents. Here God is said to do, 
 what he permitted or appointed to be done. The meaning 
 seems to be, that God, by appointing sacrifices, thus or- 
 dained the method through which our progenitors were 
 clothed. 
 
 Again, we find directly afterwards, Cain and Abel 
 
 bringing offerings to the Lord. Now, it is certain that 
 
 18 
 
206 THE FOUR COVENANTS. — THEIH SEALS. 
 
 man didjiot institute such offerings. It would have been 
 presumption in the highest degree, for him to have done 
 80 ; nor would God have accepted such sacrifices. God, 
 therefore, was the author of this institution. He had, too, 
 appointed it before the days of Cain and Abel, — that is, 
 he gave it to Adam. But what time was so proper for him 
 to have given such an institution to our first parents, as 
 •^vhen they were just about to leave Eden, had just received 
 the promise of a Saviour, and were thus suspended be- 
 tween hope and despair ? It is, therefore, evident beyond 
 all doubt, that the institution of sacrifice originated with 
 the first promise of a Saviour, and that it was given to 
 Adam just at that precise period. 
 
 Now, if this be so ; and if, as we have shown in the 
 first part of this Lecture, such signs were, in those early 
 ages, always given for confirmation or evidence ; then it 
 follows irresistibly, that sacrifice was given to Adam as a 
 seal or pledge, on the part of God, of a coming and promised 
 Messiah ; i. e. of the covenant of redemption. 
 
 3. Our third argument on this subject is, that the in- 
 stitution of sacrifice was appropriate as a seal for the cove- 
 nant of redemption. 
 
 In order to understand this fully, it will be necessary 
 for us to glance at the early history of this institution. As 
 to those offered in the garden of Eden, it is evident that 
 they were animals ; for it is said that God clothed our first 
 parents with their skins. The next notice of sacrifice is 
 mentioned in Gen. 4: 3, 4, where it is stated, that " Cain 
 brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord. 
 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and 
 of the fat thereof" One of these offerings was bloody, 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS, 207 
 
 the other was dry. The result was also different, God 
 respected the one, the other he refused. Now, although 
 the spirit of Cain seems to have been different from that of 
 Abel, yet it appears to me, that the divine indifference to 
 the offering of Cain, referred not only to the spirit which 
 prompted this act, but to the character of the offering it- 
 self. It was probably his impiety which caused him to 
 have selected such a sacrifice. Instead, therefore, of its 
 being acceptable to God, it met but with his abhorrence. 
 
 The next instance of sacrificial offerings is in Gen. 8: 
 20, " 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 sweet 
 savor," &c. The victims here offered were clean beasts, 
 both quadrupeds and fowls, and the mode of offering was 
 by burning. As this was the same institution as that given 
 to Adam, it is therefore evident that holocausts, or burnt- 
 offerings, was the original mode of sacrifice. 
 
 The whole form of sacrificing is particularized in chap. 
 22: 9, 10, "And they came to the place which God had 
 told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid 
 the wood in order ; and bound Isaac his son, and laid him 
 on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth 
 his hand, and took the knife to slay his so7i." 
 
 It is also evident, that besides prayer and thanksgiving, 
 (see Gen. 12: 8. 13: 4,) which were usually performed 
 around the altar on which the victim was sacrificed, that 
 feasts were likewise celebrated, and libations poured out. 
 In chap. 31: 54, it is said, " Then Jacob offered sacrifice 
 upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and 
 they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount." 
 
208 THE FOLK COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 Again, in cliap. 35: 14, it is stated, " And Jacob set up a 
 pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar 
 of stone ; and he poured a drink-offering thereon, and lie 
 poured oil thereon." The drink-oft'ering here alluded to, 
 was probably wine. See chap. 14: 18. In Ex. 18: 12, 
 are these word.s, " And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took 
 a burnt-offering and sacriff,ces for God; and Aaron came, 
 and all the elders of Israel, to cat bread with Moses' fa- 
 ther-in-law before God." 
 
 From these sketches, it seems evident, that the burning 
 of animals was the original mode of sacrifcc, — that ani- 
 mals offered were select, — that icorship of various kinds 
 were performed during the burning of the victim, — that li- 
 bations, and probahly fruits, were also connected with the 
 burnt-offerings , — and that feasts tccre celebrated, or bread 
 eaten, at the same time. It is also likely, that although 
 the victim sacrificed may not have been eaten, yet that the 
 flesh of other animals was eaten, and also that wine was 
 drunk during these services. 
 
 Having thus considered tiie usages in reference to sa- 
 crifice in early times, we now proceed to show its appro- 
 priateness to be a confirmation of the covenant of redemp- 
 tion. Its appropriateness consisted, in the first place, in 
 the fact, that animals were offered. By the offering up of 
 an animcd, was exhiljiled both the incarnation and substi- 
 tution of Christ. Again, it was appropriate, because this 
 animal was select. This denoted the holiness and suffi- 
 ciency of the great Sacrifice. It was also appropriate, be- 
 cause it was brought alive to the altar, and there slain. 
 This exhibited the willingness of the Saviour to die, and 
 the fact tliat his death was to be one of violence. The 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 20^ 
 
 flesh and blood of the victim also portrayed and prefigured 
 the flesh and blood of the great Substitute ; and the fire 
 which consumed the animal, was but an apt emblem of 
 divine wrath, which fell upon the Redeemer in the room 
 of sinners. From these observations, it is evident that 
 nothing could more significantly impress upon the mind of 
 man formerly the atonement of Christ, than the institution 
 of sacrifice. Its very adaptedness to the purpose, then, 
 declares that sacrifice was a seal of the covenant of re- 
 demption. 
 
 4. Another argument we adduce on this subject is, that 
 in Rev. 13: 8, Christ is there called the " Lamb slain from 
 the foundation of the world." It very frequently happens 
 in the Scriptures, that the spiritual signification of a sign 
 is designated by the sign itself, and the contrary. Thus 
 it is said of the paschal lamb, " It is the Lord's Pass- 
 over ;" Ex. 12: 11; of the rock from which the waters 
 issued in the desert, "that rock was Christ." 1 Cor. 10: 4. 
 And thus the Saviour says of the elements in the supper, 
 "this is my body," and " this is my blood." Matt. 26: 26, 
 28. Now, by Christ being called the " Lamb slain from 
 the foundation of the world," we surely must understand 
 that he was symbolically thus slain. The sign, therefore, 
 by which his actual death was thus prefigured, was k proof 
 ox pledge of that death. It was a preceding confirmation 
 of it. The victim by which the Saviour's death was thus 
 prefigured and confirmed, and which in this Scripture is 
 figuratively represented as Christ himself, was a seal oj 
 GocCs promise as to that event ; i. e. it was a seal of the, 
 covenant of redemption. 
 
 5. The faith which Abel exercised upon the great pro- 
 
 18* 
 
210 THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 pitiatory sacrifice, through the offerings which lie made to 
 God, is likewise an evidence of this truth. " By faith/' 
 says the Apostle, " Abel offered unto God a more excel- 
 lent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that 
 he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." Ileb. 11: 4. 
 The institution of sacrifice unquestionably was, to this pa- 
 triarch, a confirmation or seal of the promise made to 
 Adam as to a coming Saviour. He saw in the victims he 
 sacrificed, the fulfillment of that promise, — the future De- 
 liverer pouring out his soul in death for his sins. He saw 
 in them the proof of a covenant of mercy. His faith, 
 therefore, embraced that covenant, and he was accounted 
 righteous before God. 
 
 Thus evident is it, that the institution of sacrifice was 
 a seal of that covenant of grace entered into between the 
 Father and Son, for the salvation of man. It was the 
 proof or evidence of the existence of such a covenant, and 
 the confirmation of those promises ivhich related to a future 
 Saviour. Against all this there is one objection, viz. that 
 no covenant of redemption is spoken of in God's inter- 
 course with Adam ; nor is the institution of sacrifice called 
 a seal or token of any covenant, or agreement, or promise 
 whatever. The answer to this is simply the following : 
 that as God must always employ the language and customs 
 of men in the communication of his will to them, and as 
 neither covenants nor seals of any sort existed at this time, 
 so we could not possibly expect that God should speak 
 either of covenants or seals, in his transactions with Adam. 
 It is not the object of revelation to make for us vocabula- 
 ries, dictionaries, or grammars. Its great design is, by the 
 use of such language, modes of speech, and customs as 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 211 
 
 exist among men, to communicate to them, in an intelligi- 
 ble form, that truth which is connected with their duty 
 and happiness. As, therefore, trade had not commenced 
 whilst Adam was yet in Eden, and consequently the prac- 
 tice of confirming contracts by sensible signs had not as 
 yet begun, it would have been strange and unnatural that 
 God should have spoken of covenatits and tokens, when 
 Adam could not have understood, without an interpreta- 
 tion, what his divine Teacher meant. As, therefore, God 
 is said to have brought all the animals and fowls to Adam 
 to see what he would name them, so we may say of the 
 covenants and seals that originated, or were revealed, in 
 Eden, that God showed men actions, and then whatever 
 men should call them, were the names thereof. And from 
 what we have already shown, it is unquestionably true, 
 that by whatever other names men may please to call the 
 tree of life and the institution of sacrifice, yet were they 
 the seals, severally, of the covenants of works and of re- 
 demption. 
 
 III. and IV. Of the covenant formed with Noah, the 
 rainbow was the seal ; and of that formed with Abraham, 
 circumcision was the seal. The truth in these cases is so 
 clearly revealed as to admit of no doubt, and therefore to 
 require no proof. I would simply remark, that both in 
 these instances, as well as in the two preceding, the seals 
 of these covenants seem by no means to have been arbi- 
 trarily constituted, but to have been selected with special 
 reference to propriety of signification. 
 
 III. The third observation which we make in reference 
 to these covenants and seals is, that seals must be attached 
 to the covenants as long as they themselves exist ; and 
 
'2\'2 THE FOUR COVENANTS. TIIEIU SEALS. 
 
 that if not changed by divine authority, the same seals 
 originally attached to them must be attached to them still. 
 
 1. The first remark which I here make is, that the 
 very same reasons which first affixed seals to these cove- 
 nants, would continue them until the covenants themselves 
 should cease. Whether it was designed to confirm, de- 
 fine, or illustrate these covenants, or to impress their 
 substance upon the human mind, by these seals, in either 
 case, or in all, it would be necessary that they should be 
 perpetuated. For these objects would not only be impor- 
 tant the first moment that these covenants existed ; but as 
 long as they should e.xist. Mere length of time could 
 never diminish their importance in the least. 
 
 2. A second remark I make is, that the seals would 
 be just as necessary to the remote&t generations of men as 
 to the earliest. Though these remote generations enjoy 
 more historical light, yet are they creatures of sense. 
 They need something to impress their senses. And, it 
 may be, that were not sensible signs granted them, even 
 the plain revelations they enjoy might become so insipid 
 as but to increase their guilt. Besides, there are in every 
 age persons who cannot read — who are but little interested 
 in ordinary modes of instruction — to such persons, sensi- 
 ble signs accompanying the offers of salvation would be of 
 vital importance. 
 
 3. Another remark I make is, that for the seal not to 
 accompany the covenant, proves, beyond all doubt, that 
 the covenant itself does not exist. The seal is the confir- 
 mation and proof of the covenant. If, therefore, the seal 
 be withdrawn, the covenant also must have ceased. If 
 the edict of a sovereign were passing through the realm, 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 213 
 
 but should happen by some means to be divested of the 
 royal stamp or seal, of what possible value would the 
 mere writing subsequently be 1 And, if the name of a 
 certain debtor had been, in some way, erased from the 
 note or bond he had given his creditor, of what possible 
 advantage would the mere unauthenticated note or bond 
 be afterwards ? Just so, if these covenants should, at any 
 time previously to their final accomplishment, be deprived 
 of their seals, they would immediately be null and void. 
 The seals, therefore, must be perpetuated in order to 
 prove the existence and nature of the covenants to which 
 they are attached. 
 
 As to the seal of the covenant of works, it vanished 
 with the covenant itself. The fall of man destroyed them 
 both. Thus have we seen, that after the transgression, 
 our first parents were debarred access to the tree of life. 
 It had then ceased to be a sacramental pledge. 
 
 That the seal of the covenant with Noah still exists, 
 we often have pleasing evidence in the expanded bow upon 
 the clouds. We also have the promise of God that it shall 
 be perpetuated to the end of time. In reference, there- 
 fore, to two of the four general covenants treated of, there 
 can be no debate as to the fact, that the seal lasted or will 
 last to the termination of the covenant. Now, surely, there 
 is no peculiar reason, in either of these cases, which can 
 render them different from the two remaining covenants 
 still to be noticed. I therefore proceed to show, that the 
 covenant of redemption and that of Abraham, still have 
 among us their appropriate seals. 
 
 1. The covenant of redemption still has its seal. 
 
 First, The covenant itself still exists — of this fact none 
 
'214 THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 will doubt. It had a seal originally. This fact has been, 
 we hope, clearly proven. Now, if the covenant still 
 exist, and if it has once had a seal, it must inevitably have 
 a seal still. Otherwise it is but null and void. 
 
 Secondly. There is in the church now, in point of 
 fact, an ordinance of divine appointment, which, in itself, 
 is an appropriate seal, which bears a striking analogy to 
 the original seal ; and which was instituted at the very 
 instant the other seal was removed. This ordinance is 
 the Lord's Supper. That this institution is of divine ap- 
 pointment, none will deny who believe the Scriptures. 
 That it is an appropriate seal of the covenant of redemp- 
 tion is also evident. Christ at its institution settled this 
 fact for ever. " Take eat," said he, alluding to the bread, 
 " tliis is my body broken for sin :" and again of the wine 
 he said, " this is my blood." Now, certainly, the Saviour 
 never would have selected as a seal of that covenant, in 
 compliance with whose stipulations he was put to shame 
 and death, a sign which was inappropriate. It is also 
 Qbvious to any one, that bread broken is an apt similitude 
 of Christ's broken body ; and that wine poured out bears 
 a strong resemblance to his shed blood. It is also evi- 
 dent, that both the qualities of the bread and the wine, as 
 well as the fact, that they are participated in by the pro- 
 fessing church, are beautifully significant of the spiritual 
 things intended by this ordinance. This institution is 
 then an appropriate seal of the covenant of redemption — 
 the sum and substance of which is Christ's dying for 
 sinners. 
 
 This ordinance also bears a striking resemblance to 
 the original seal. The original seal consisted chiefly of 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 'ilo 
 
 two parts, flesh and blood. This also has two parts, bread 
 and wine ; and, besides, as we have shown, both bread 
 and wine were very early associated with burnt-ofierings. 
 The supper, therefore, while it bears a striking resem- 
 blance in its elements to the victim originally offered, may 
 also be regarded but as the secondary part of the sacrifice 
 itself The resemblance, then, between the present ordi- 
 nance and the original seal is close and intimate. 
 
 But this ordinance was instituted at the very moment 
 of time that the other seal was removed. Its origin is 
 thus described, " And the disciples did as Jesus ap- 
 pointed them : and they made ready the passover. Now 
 when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 
 And as they icere eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, 
 and brake it, and gave it to the disciples ; and said, Take 
 eat, this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave 
 thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; 
 for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed 
 for many for the remission of sins." Matt. 26: 20, 21 ; 
 26 — 28. That the Lord's Supper, then, had its origin at 
 the very table upon which the Passover was celebrated ; 
 and that the elements employed in the celebration of the 
 Passover, with the exception of the Iamb, were the very ele- 
 ments with which the supper was first kept ; is a plain 
 matter of fact. The only question which can arise here 
 is, whether the Passover was a sacrifice — and, therefore, 
 the original seal of the covenant. In answer to this, I will 
 quote the words of Moses himself, at the institution of the 
 Passover — " And it shall come to pass," says he, " when 
 your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this 
 service 1 that ye shall say. It is the sacrifice of the 
 
21G THE FOUR COVENAXTS. THEIR SEALS. 
 
 Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the chil- 
 dren of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and 
 delivered our houses." Ex. 12: 2G, 27. Again, what is 
 said of the paschal lamb in Ex. 12: 46, "Neither shall ye 
 break a bone thereof," in John 19: 8G, is applied to Christ. 
 And again, in 1 Cor. 5: 7, the Apostle uses these words, 
 " For even Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us." 
 The Passover, then, although it had some things peculiar 
 to itself, was nevertheless a sacrifice. It was but one 
 mode of this institution. The very instant, therefore, 
 that the former seal was removed, was the Lord's Supper 
 instituted. All these things taken together, therefore, 
 demonstrate beyond all rational doubt, that the supper now, 
 is what sacrifice originally was — a seal of the covenant of 
 redemption. 
 
 2. I observe also, that the covenant made with Abra- 
 ham, i. e. the covenant of Christian profession, also ha.« 
 Its seal at the present time. 
 
 First. The covenant, as we have shown, still exists. 
 It once had a seal. Of course its very existence now 
 proves that it must still have a seal. 
 
 Secondly. There is in the church at present an ordi- 
 nance, which is unquestionably of divine appointment, 
 which is in itself an appropriate seal, which bears an 
 affinity to the original seal ; and which was introduced 
 about the time the other seal was withdrawn. This ordi- 
 nance is Baptism. That it is of divine appointment none 
 will deny. It is also an appropriate seal. It expresses 
 the purity of those who enter into covenant with God, i. e. 
 it designates the " renewing of the Holy Ghost." It also 
 bears an affinity to the original seal. In proof of this. I 
 
THE FOUR COVENANTS. THEIR SEALS. 217 
 
 will here only mention two reasons : first, that as circum- 
 cision rendered the Jews a peculiar people ; so baptism 
 renders the professing church now-a-days a peculiar 'peo- 
 ple. The other reason is, that the Apostle Paul represents 
 them in Col. 2: 11, 12, as having precisely the same im- 
 port. His words are, " In whom 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, wherein ye also are risen 
 with him, through the faith of the operation of God, who 
 hath raised him from the dead." Baptism was also insti- 
 tuted about the time that circumcision was withdrawn. 
 All these circumstances abundantly prove, that baptism is 
 now, what circumcision was formerly, a seal of the Abra. 
 hamic covenant, or of the covenant of Christian profession. 
 
 The above arguments have, we hope, conclusively 
 settled two important points, viz. 
 
 First. That the Lord's Supper and the Institution of 
 Sacrifice are the same ordinance, i. e, seals of the same 
 great covenant. 
 
 Secondly. That Baptism and Circumcision are also the 
 same ordinance, i. e. the seals of the very same general 
 covenant. 
 
 19 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 SIMILARITY BETWEEN CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 
 
 Although the identity of these institutions has already 
 been established, on a ground too strong, as we believe, 
 for successful opposition, yet it will throw additional light 
 on the subject, to trace out, minutely, the similarity be- 
 tween them. 
 
 I. The first point of likeness between them to be noti- 
 ced is, that they are both of divine appointment. In re- 
 ference to the former, it is said, " And God said unto 
 Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou 
 and thy seed after thee, in their generations. This is my 
 covenant which ye shall keep, between me and you, and 
 thy seed after thee : Every man child among you shall be 
 circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your 
 foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt 
 me and you. And he that is eight days old, shall be cir- 
 cumcised among you, every man child in your generations, 
 he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any 
 stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy 
 house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs 
 
220 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 be circumcised : and my covenant shall be in your flesh 
 for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised 
 man child, whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, 
 that soul shall be cut off" from his people ; he hath broken 
 my covenant." Gen. 17: 9 — 14. In reference to the lat- 
 ter, it is thus said, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, 
 saying ; All power is given unto me in heaven and in 
 earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things what- 
 soever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you al- 
 ways, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28: 18 — 20. 
 The first remark I make, in reference to the origin of 
 these two institutions, as above exhibited, is, that they were 
 both given by the Lord Jesus Christ. As it respects the 
 latter, baptism, the evidence is indubitable, for it is ex- 
 pressly said, " And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- 
 ing," &-C. And as it regards the former, circumcision, 
 the testimony is also complete. In Gen. 17: 1, it is said, 
 "The Lord appeared to Abram and said," &lc. In 
 chap. 18: I, 2, it is said, " And the Lord appeared unto 
 him ;" " and lo, three men stood by him," &.c. From the 
 subsequent history^ it is certain that the one of these three, 
 whom Abraham addressed as " My Lord," and to whom 
 he made special prayer for Sodom, after the other two had 
 left him, was the Lord Jesus Christ. It is also evident, 
 that the person spoken of in this 18th chapter, is the same 
 Divine Person who addressed Abraham in the 17th, and 
 who appointed circumcision as a seal of his covenant. 
 These two institutions or seals were, then, evidently given 
 by Christ. 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 221 
 
 I would also observe, that they both embrace the same 
 leading truths. 
 
 1. The introductory preface in each is similar. In the 
 one, the Saviour says, "I am God Almighty;" in the 
 other, " All power is given to me in heaven and in earth." 
 
 2. Those to whom the seals were to be applied, were 
 to be instructed, and to render obedience. In the one it 
 is said, "Walk before me and be thou perfect;" and 
 '•' Thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou and thy 
 seed after thee in their generations." In the other it is 
 said, " Teach all nations ;" and, " Teaching them to ob- 
 serve whatsoever I have commanded you." 
 
 3. In each case, the blessings designated by the seals 
 were to be spread. In the one it is said, " And thou shalt 
 be a father of many nations;" and, "He that is born in 
 thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must 
 needs be circumcised." In the other, it is commanded, 
 "Go, teach all nations; baptizing them," &c. 
 
 4. The divine promise is equally annexed to each. In 
 the one it is said, " And I will be their God." In the 
 other, " And lo, I am with you always." 
 
 5. Again, perpetuity is predicated of each. Of the 
 one it is said, " And I will establish my covenant between 
 me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, 
 for an everlasting covenant." Of the other, " And lo, I 
 am with you always, even unto the end of the world." 
 
 6. Lastly. The rejection of the terms, in either case, is 
 
 connected with divine displeasure. Of the one it is said, 
 
 " And the uncircumcised man child shall be cut off from 
 
 his people ; he hath broken my covenant." Of the other, 
 
 " He that believeth not shall be damned." 
 19* 
 
222 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 II. These signs are also alike in their being but dif- 
 ferent seals of the same covenant. This truth has already 
 been proven at length. I would only here observe, that 
 there is a fitness, in the nature of things, for the two ordi- 
 nances that have so long and so harmoniously coexisted 
 in the church — Sacrifice and Circumcision ; or the Supper 
 and Baptism. In considering the nature and import of 
 them, it will be discovered, that circumcision or baptism 
 refers immediately to the work and agency of the Spirit; 
 and that sacrifice or the supper, alludes immediately to the 
 work of Christ, or to the atonement. The one holds 
 forth the proj)itiatory ofl^ering ; the other exhibits the appli- 
 cation of that offering to the heart and conscience. When 
 the one had been abused by mankind generally, the other 
 was instituted as a kind of hedge about it ; — to designate 
 that peculiar people — the professing church — whose pri- 
 vilege it chiefly was, to feast around that altar, upon 
 which the great sacrifice was smoking. If, too, in addi- 
 tion to this, we shall regard the Sabbath as the result 
 more immediately of the Father's command, (for it was 
 instituted before the fall of man,) then have we, in the 
 very ordinances of the church, the exhibition of the ever 
 blessed Trinity, both in their personalities and offices ; as 
 they are exhibited, without a figure, in the Scriptures. 
 It is, too, very possible, that these three ordinances, as 
 they formerly existed, had considerable influence in im- 
 pressing the doctrine of the Trinity upon the minds of 
 ancient believers. 
 
 III. A third point of similarity between circumcision 
 and baptism, consists in the fact, that they are both intro- 
 ductory into the church of Christ. Precisely how far 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 223 
 
 either of them introduced into the church, will be treated 
 of elsewhere. We now speak of the general fact. That 
 circumcision introduced into the Jewish community is 
 evident ; that baptism also introduces into the society of 
 Christians will not be doubted. The only question of de- 
 bate here is, whether the Jetoish community was the pro- 
 fessing church ! Although this subject has been, in some 
 degree, considered in treating of the identity of the 
 church; yet, as it is of importance, we will here give it a 
 more close investigation. Before doing this, however, it 
 will be necessary to premise two things : 
 
 First. That the nationality of the Jewish religion does 
 by no means prove, that that people were not the profess- 
 ing church. The precise /brm of church government, can 
 never be considered as essential to the existence of the 
 church. The criteria by which to test the existence of a 
 church are never to be looked for in its peculiar form of 
 administration. This form may be faulty ; and it may 
 even be dangerous ; yet, until it destroys the truth and 
 piety of those who have adopted it, are they to be con- 
 sidered as the professing church. The mode of church 
 government at present is greatly varied. In some coun- 
 tries it is national ; in others it is not : Among some de- 
 nominations it is very arbitrary, among others loose and 
 democratical. But certainly he would be regarded as 
 presumptuous, who should attempt to prove, either, that 
 the national church of England or Scotland ; or that any 
 of the several orthodox denominations of the United States, 
 were not the professing church. If it were asked whether 
 the Jewish church were not the nation — and whether the 
 nation were not the church ?— we should answer, unhesi- 
 
224 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 tatingly, in the affirmative. But if it should be said, that 
 since the nation was the church, therefore, there could 
 have been no church among the Jews ; from this we 
 should dissent just as readily. This unchurching of the 
 JciPish people no more arises from the nationality of their 
 church government, than the unchurching of any one 
 Christian denomination, now-a-days, arises from its not 
 being national. If, then, we regard in England and Scot- 
 land, both churchmen and dissenters as equally belonging 
 to the church ; so must we regard, from the same reasons, 
 both Jews and Christians as equally belonging to the 
 church. We can just as well conceive of a nation's con- 
 senting to form a church ; or rather of a church grooving 
 up into a nation ; as we can conceive of a select number 
 of persons all consenting to be governed by the same 
 ecclesiastical discipline. The nationality, then, of the form 
 of the Jewish church government, has nothing to do with 
 the question — Was the Jewish community the church? 
 
 Secondly. I would also observe, that the fact that all 
 the members of any one church are not the subjects of 
 grace; or that there are a very large number who are not, 
 does by no means prove that that religious community in 
 which this is the case, is not the professing church. How- 
 ever desirable, yet it is probably something which has 
 never or seldom been attained, that all the members of a 
 church should be truly pious. The tares grow among the 
 wheat, and the chaff is mixed with the true grain every 
 where. If, then, there should be false professors in a church, 
 it is but what is to be expected ; and it can by no means be 
 true, that wherever this is the case, the church in which 
 these false professors are found, must necessarily be 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 225 
 
 spurious. According to this criterion of the existence of 
 the church, it would be entirely destroyed. Whenever, 
 therefore, it is said, that there were many impenitent sin* 
 ners among the Jews, we admit the fact : but, still we 
 deny the consequence, that because this was the fact, 
 therefore, the Jewish people were not the professing 
 church. There are many churches now which have very 
 many false members — must we therefore deny them church 
 existence ? If so, " Tekel" would be written not upon 
 one, but upon all our denominations. The fact, therefore, 
 that all the Jews were not pious, or even that very many 
 of them were very wicked; can, by no means, unchurch 
 them as a religious community. 
 
 I now proceed to consider the direct evidence to 
 support the proposition, that the Jewish people were the 
 professing church in their day. " By the visible church," 
 says a late writer,* " is meant the body of those who 
 profess the true religion, together with their children. It 
 is that body which is called out of the world, and united 
 under the authority of Christ, the Head, for the purpose 
 of maintaining gospel truth and order, and promoting the 
 knowledge, purity, comfort, and edification of all the 
 members." Now, if this definition be admitted, which, 
 we think, must be, it will be very easy to show that the 
 Jewish community was the professing, or visible church. 
 
 1. The Jews were a people called out from heathen- 
 ism, and kept ever afterwards most strictly guarded against 
 intercourse with idolaters. In Gen. 12: 1, it is said, 
 " Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy 
 
 ♦ Dr. Miller, 
 
226 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's 
 house, unto a land that I will show thee." Joshua, alluding 
 to the ancestors of the Hebrews, speaks of " the gods 
 which they served." It is, therefore, evident that God, 
 seeing that the whole world was about to become a second 
 time corrupt, in order to preserve his church, called Abra- 
 ham away from surrounding wickedness, in order to make 
 him, and his posterity, the depositories of his truth. 
 The design, therefore, of the call of Abraham, and of his 
 posterity, to the enjoyment of peculiar privileges, was to 
 preserve the church by separating it from heathenism. 
 This object is more fully stated in the subsequent history 
 of this people. An instance of this sort we have in Deut. 
 7: 2 — 6, " And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them 
 (the heathen) before thee, thou shalt smite them, and ut- 
 terly destroy them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them;" 
 " neither shalt thou make marriages with them." " But 
 thus shall ye deal with them ; ye shall destroy their altars, 
 and break down their images, and cut down their groves, 
 and burn their graven images withjire. For thou art a 
 holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God 
 hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above 
 all people that are upon the face of the earth." Now, 
 certainly, no people could possibly be more completely 
 separated from an idolatrous and ungodly world, than that 
 people, to whom the language above was addressed. 
 
 2. The Jews were a people most solemnly in covenant 
 with God. I shall not now repeat the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant which was obligatory upon them all. I will but allude 
 to two other occasions, when the whole nation of the Jews 
 took upon tliem the covenant of God, in a manner as 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 227 
 
 solemn as we can well conceive. The first of these is found 
 in Ex. 24: 6—8, " And Moses 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 will we do, and be obedient. And Moses 
 took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Be- 
 hold the blood of the covenant lohich the Lord hath made 
 vnth you concerning all these words." The other instance 
 is to be found in Deut. 29: 9 — 15. " Ye stand this 
 day," says Moses to Israel, " all of you, before the Lord 
 your God ; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and 
 your officers, with all the men of Israel ; your little ones, 
 your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the 
 hewer of thy wood to the drawer of thy water : That thou 
 shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and 
 into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh tvith thee 
 this day ; that he may establish thee to-day for a people 
 unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God ; as he 
 hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, 
 to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. Neither with you 
 only do I make this covenant, and this oath ; but with him 
 that standcth here tvith us, this day^ before the Lord our 
 God ; and also tvith him that is not here with us this day." 
 As to the extent of these sacred vows, in Deut. 26: 
 16 — 18, we have distinct information. Addressing Israel, 
 Moses thus speaks, " This day the Lord thy God halh 
 commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments : thou 
 shalt therefore keep and do them ivith all thy heart and 
 with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to 
 be thy God, and to loalk in his ways, and to keep his sta- 
 
228 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 tutcs, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to 
 hearken unto his voice ; and tlie Lord hath avouched thee 
 this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, 
 and that thou shouldest keep alt his commandments." 
 
 3. The Jewish people had a most exact ecclesiastical 
 polity. To them were delivered the oracles of eternal 
 truth. They had their high priest, their priests and their 
 Levites. They had their tabernacle, or temple, and 
 their altars. The various services of their religion were, 
 too, most accurately defined by Jehovah himself. Their 
 intercourse among themselves, and their conduct towards 
 foreigners and strangers, were both the subjects of positive 
 precepts. Among the Jews, religion pervaded every thing. 
 It was diffused through their ordinary laws. It was ac- 
 knowledged by their kings, and judges and warriors. It 
 was the theme of the historians ; it filled the numbers of 
 their poets, and furnished all the materials of their sages. 
 There was no rank in life, no condition in society, that 
 was not .penetrated by this hallowing principle. Thus 
 Moses could in truth say of Israel, " For what nation is 
 so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord 
 our God is in all things that we call uj)on him for ? And 
 what nation is so great, that hath statutes and judgments 
 so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this 
 day." Deut. 4: 7, 8. 
 
 4. The institutions and truths delivered to the Jews 
 were instrumental, under the Divine Spirit, of effecting the 
 most illustrious saints on the records of the church. Where 
 shall we find such faith as that of Abraham ? Where such 
 uncompromising integrity as that of Joseph 1 Where lived 
 a holier or meeker statesman than Moses 1 Where has 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 229 
 
 piety been found more fervent, more heavenly, and more 
 sweet, than that of David ? Who ever rolled from his 
 tongue such burning numbers of the loftiest piety as 
 Isaiah 1 Where have ever lived such kings, such judges, 
 such heroes, such sages, such poets ; — such priests, such 
 prophets, and, I may also add, such apostles and ministers, 
 as among this wonderful people the Jews? Truly, instead 
 of disputing whether they were in the church or not, we 
 are compelled to give them the loftiest place. Ours are 
 the humblest seats ; theirs the most exalted. We have 
 fallen into their goodly heritage ; they were the original 
 proprietors. Nor can it ever be regarded as an act of piety, 
 to the " Seed of Abraham" and the " Son of David," to un- 
 church that long line of patriarchs, and kings, and pro- 
 phets, through whom Christ himself came. 
 
 5. The New Testament Scriptures every where recog- 
 nize this fact. In Rom. 2: 28 — 29, it is said, " For he is 
 not a Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circum- 
 cision 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." Again in chap. 9: 4, 5, the 
 Apostle uses these words, " Who are Israelites ; to whom 
 pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, 
 and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the 
 promises ; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concern- 
 ing the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed 
 for ever." And lest any should suppose the Apostle 
 designed to say, that all the Jews were necessarily the sub- 
 jects of grace, he goes on to state, " For they are not all 
 
 Israel which are of Israel. Neither because they are the 
 20 
 
"230 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 seed of Abraham are they all children" — 6, 7. Again in 
 chap. 11: 1, 2, the Apostle thus speaks, "I say then, hath 
 God cast away his people ? God forbid. For I also am an 
 Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 
 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." 
 In Eph. 2: 14, are these words, " For he is our peace who 
 hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle 
 wall of partition between us." In this text, that separation 
 between the Jews and Gentiles, which had existed for ages, 
 is represented as having been broken down by Christ ; the 
 consequence of which was, the Gentiles were admitted into 
 the Jeioish church and privileges. The question, therefore, 
 whether the Jews were in the church, is but equivalent to 
 this, whether we ourselves are in the church ? 
 
 Now, if the identity of the Jewish and Christian church 
 be sufficiently proven, and if circumcision and baptism are 
 respectively introductory into each, then is the similarity 
 between these two ordinances themselves, clearly estab- 
 lished. 
 
 IV. These ordinances are also alike in the fact, that 
 they were neither designed to be exclusively confined to 
 any one nation. That baptism was not, it will be admit- 
 ted ; for the command is, " Go teach all nations, baptizing 
 them," &c. Nor was circumcision confined alone to the 
 Jews. We find among the Jewish laws express provision 
 for the introduction of foreigners and strangers into their 
 religious community. In Ex. 12: 48, 49, are these words, 
 "And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will 
 keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circum- 
 cised, and then let him come near and Icecp it : and he shall 
 he as one that is horn in the land ; for no uncircumcised 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 231 
 
 person shall eat thereof. One law shall he to Mm that is 
 home-bom, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among 
 you." According to this provision, we find that persons 
 were very frequently introduced into the Jewish church, 
 during their whole history. Thus Moses urged Hobab 
 in the wilderness, to incorporate himself with Israel. 
 Thus Rahab, and all her father's house, became identified 
 with the Jews. The Gibeonites were also admitted to 
 membership. Ruth, the Moabitess, not only became in- 
 corporated with Israel, but was one through whom, ac- 
 cording to the flesh, Christ came. In the days of John 
 Hyrcanus, all the Idumeans, or Edomites, received cir- 
 cumcision, and submitted to the Jewish religion and go- 
 vernment. In the days of Christ, there were many prose- 
 lytes to this system among the Jews. The Saviour also 
 accused the Pharisees of compassing sea and land to make 
 even one proselyte to their creed. Besides, in the Jewish 
 temple there was a special part designated the court of the 
 Gentiles, both spacious and commodious, where persons 
 from all nations might worship. 
 
 The only difference, then, as to the design of these 
 two ordinances, in this particular, is, that under the Chris- 
 tian dispensation we are commanded to " Go and teach 
 all nations ;" but among the Jews, converts to their reli- 
 gion, generally, came to them. In the one case, it is com- 
 manded not to reject applicants for membership from 
 among the Gentiles ; in the other, it is ordained, that such 
 memberships should be positively sought. Still, however, 
 both ordinances were designed to be accessible to persons 
 from all nations. In this particular also, then, is there a 
 similarity between circumcision and baptism. 
 
232 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 V. These ordinances are also similar in requiring the 
 profession of faith, previously to their being administered. 
 That the administration of baptism required the profession 
 of faith, is evident. " Go ye," says the Saviour, " into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He 
 that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved." Mark IG: 
 15, 16. In accordance with this, we find Philip declaring 
 to the eunuch, that if he believed with all his heart he 
 might be baptized ; and upon his replying, " I believe that 
 Jesus Christ is the Son of God," he was baptized. Acts 
 8: 3. So, also, when the jailor asked Paul and Silas, 
 "What must I do to be saved?" the reply was, "Believe 
 on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy 
 house." Chap. IC: 30, 31. But the profession of faith was 
 also required in the administration of circumcision. 
 
 1 . This is definitely expressed in the covenant itself, 
 of which circumcision was the seal. In Gen. 17: 9, God 
 is represented as speaking to Abraham, previously to the 
 appointment of the seal, in the following manner : " TJiou 
 shalt keep my covenant, therefore, thou and thy seed after 
 thee, in their generations." Then in the 11th verse he 
 says, "And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; 
 and it shall be a token of the covenant bettcixt me and yon." 
 According, therefore, to these words, the covenant of God 
 with Abraham, as expressed in the previous part of the 
 chapter, was to be kej)t, that is, to be known, accepted, and 
 trusted in, previously to the use and application of the 
 sign. This also follows from the very nature of covenants 
 and seals. The seal can in no case be properly applied, 
 unless the covenant be understood and accepted. Ac- 
 cording, therefore, to the very covenant which God made 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 233 
 
 with Abraham, and through him with his posterity, the 
 administration of circumcision always supposed the 'previ- 
 ous acceptance of that covenant of which it was the seal ; 
 that is, it always required the profession of faith. If it be 
 asked, however, whether all of the Jews who were circum- 
 cised, or who administered circumcision to their children, 
 were truly believers, I should reply in the negative. But 
 to this I would subjoin, that multitudes, who have been 
 lawfully baptized, have never given proper evidence of 
 evangelical belief: so that, if Jewish unbelievers shall de- 
 stroy the evangelical nature of circumcision. Christian un- 
 believers will also destroy the evangelical character of 
 baptism. 
 
 2. The whole Jewish nation to whom circumcision 
 was applied, professed faith. At the foot of Mount Sinai, 
 in the plains of the Jordan, and in the borders of Canaan, 
 they entered into the most solemn covenant with God. In 
 Josh. 24: 16 — 18, after Joshua had delivered to all Israel, 
 collected at Shechem, his farewell address, that nation are 
 represented as replying thus, " And the people answered 
 and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to 
 serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he it is that 
 brought us up, and our fathers, out of the land of Egypt, 
 from the house of bondage, and which did those great 
 signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein 
 we went, and among all the people through whom we 
 passed : and the Lord drave out before us all the people, 
 even the Amorites which dwelt in the land ; therefore, will 
 we also serve the Lord, for he is our God." In the days 
 of Josiah also, the Jews entered into public covenant with 
 
 God, or made a public profession of their faith. " And 
 20* 
 
234 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the 
 Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his command- 
 ments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their 
 heart, and all then: soul, to perform the words of this cove- 
 nant that were written in this book. And all the people 
 stood to the covenant.'' 2 Kings 23: 3. If, then, it be ob- 
 jected against the requisition of faith in the Jews, in order 
 to circumcision, that this ordinance was of general appli- 
 cation to them as a nation ; our reply is, that the profession 
 of their faith was as general as the administration of this 
 rite. 
 
 3. The rejection of this nation was in consequence of 
 their unbelief In 2 Kings 17: 14, 15, 18, are these 
 words, " Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but har- 
 dened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that 
 did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected 
 their statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fa- 
 thers, and his testimonies which he testified against them. 
 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and re- 
 moved them out of his sight." Also in Rom. 11: 20, the 
 Apostle, speaking of the rejection of the Jews, says, "Be- 
 cause of unbelief they were broken off." Now, if the un- 
 belief of the Jewish people was the reason of their disin- 
 heritance, certainly, that covenant whicli God had made 
 with them, which was the covenant of circumcision, re- 
 quired the profession and the exercise of faith in all those 
 who were properly admitted to its blessings. 
 
 4. This truth is also evident, from the admission of 
 strangers and foreigners to the rite of circumcision. Be- 
 fore such admission, it was always necessary that they 
 should adopt the creed of the Jews ; or, in other words, that 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 235 
 
 they should believe in the God of Israel, and consent to oh' 
 serve his laws and commandments. " If any person," says 
 Calvin, vol. iii. p. 371, "connected himself with the Isra- 
 elites in religious communion, it was necessary for him to 
 he taught the covenant of the Lord, and instructed in the 
 law, before he received circumcision." This opinion is not 
 only supported by the very nature of the case, but by the 
 plain language of Scripture. In Ex. 12: 48, are the fol- 
 lowing words, " And when a stranger shall sojourn with 
 thee, and wilt Iceep the passover of the Lord, let all his 
 males be circumcised, and then let him come near and 
 keep it." Now, according to this text, a desire to keep the 
 Lord's passover is represented as preceding circumcision, 
 although circumcision was necessary in order to such 
 celebration. But such desire involved in it the exercise 
 and profession of faith. For how is it possible for one to 
 have a desire to keep a feast of the Lord, without faith 
 either in the Lord or in the feast itself? Again, such 
 strangers were required to be circumcised. Now, as we 
 have already shown, circumcision could in no case be 
 properly administered, but with a knowledge of that cove- 
 nant of which it was the seal, and with a consent to its 
 terms. This is also confirmed by the fact, that in the days 
 of the apostles, Timothy, who was the son of a Greek and 
 a Jewess, could not be circumcised when an infant, be- 
 cause his father was an unbeliever in the Jewish religion. 
 See Acts 16: 1—3. 
 
 5. This is plainly and positively asserted by the 
 Apostle Paul. " And he (Abraham) received the sign of 
 circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith 
 which he had yet being uncircumcised ; that he might he 
 
23G SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 the father of all them that believe, though they he not cir- 
 cumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also ; 
 and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the 
 circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that 
 faith of our father Abraham, ichich he had being yet un- 
 circumciscd." Rom. 4: 11, 12. Here the two following 
 truths are clearly asserted. 
 
 First. That Abraham was in the exercise of faith 
 when he received circumcision. 
 
 Secondly. That none of his descendants who did not 
 receive circumcision in faith, were spiritucdly his children. 
 
 From all these considerations it is evident, that faith 
 is no more connected with baptism than with circum- 
 cision. None but those who were by profession believers 
 could possibly be circumcised. If, then, it be objected to 
 the baptism of infants, that they are incapable of exercis- 
 ing faith, which is necessary to its administration ; we 
 reply, that the objection, as urged against the circumcision 
 of children in the Jewish church, is just as appropriate as 
 it is when brought against the membership of children in 
 the Christian church. If children now are incapable of 
 exercising or professing faith ; children among the Jews 
 were equally incapable of these acts. Yet, faith was just 
 as necessary to the proper administration of circumcision, 
 as it is to the proper administration of baptism. 
 
 There are two things, in reference to their first ap- 
 pointment, the proper consideration of which, is of great 
 importance in comparing the two ordinances now under 
 consideration. The first of these is, that circumcision 
 was given to a father to be entailed upon his posterity ; 
 and but gradually to embrace within it persons of other 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 237 
 
 nations. While, on the contrary, baptism was given to 
 apostles, whose duty it was to preach the gospel and its 
 ordinances. The other consideration is, that circumci- 
 sion, though accessible by the heathen around, yet was 
 not specially commanded to be preached to them ; while, 
 on the contrary, the apostles were enjoined to "go into 
 all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." 
 Now, if we except from these institutions the two circum- 
 stances above, their perfect harmony, both as to their 
 nature and design, will be manifest at once. The one 
 seal was more confined ; the other more extended. But 
 if we argue, that because circumcision was in a measure 
 confined, therefore, it was not a spiritual ordinance ; from 
 the very same ground we may argue, that the gospel among 
 the Jews was not spiritual because it was confined. The 
 fact is, that both circumcision and baptism are the seals of 
 the church: — they can, therefore, extend no farther than 
 the professing church extends. As that church embraced 
 the whole Jewish nation formerly, together with different 
 persons, and even communities from the Gentile world, in- 
 corporated with that nation, circumcision embraced that 
 whole nation. And, at the present, as the church em- 
 braces various denominations of professing Christians, in 
 different countries, baptism likewise extends to all these 
 various denominations. Both institutions adhere to the 
 church — can go no farther, can stop no nigher. 
 
 VI. These two ordinances are also alike in their sig- 
 nification. 
 
 1. They both imply the depravity and corruption of 
 human nature. Baptism implies this. The very element 
 used in the administration of baptism teaches clearly, that 
 
238 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 the subject to whom the rite is applied, needs an inward 
 cleansing. This is also included in what Peter says, 
 " The like figure whereunto baptism doth also now save 
 us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh." 1 Pet. 3: 21. 
 This latter clause evidently implies, that there is filth of 
 heart to be removed from man ; the removal of which is 
 signified by baptism. Circumcision also signified the pol- 
 lution of human nature. Throughout the Scriptures, the 
 phrase to be circumcised, is the same as to be holy or sanc- 
 tified ; and the words tincircumcised and uncircumcision 
 convey the same meaning as the words impure and un- 
 clcanness. Thus Moses, excusing himself from his mis- 
 sion to Pharaoh, says, " How then shall Pharaoh hear me, 
 who am a man of uncircumciscd lips ?" Ex. 6: 12. In 
 order to understand this phrase, it is only necessary to 
 refer to Isaiah 6: 5, where the same sentiment is expressed 
 by the Prophet thus, " Then said I, woe is me, for I am un- 
 done, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell 
 among a people of unclean lips." What Moses, then, 
 meant by uncircumciscd lips, is precisely the same that 
 Isaiah meant by unclean lips. In Jer. 6: 10, and Acts 
 7: 51, the word uncircumciscd is applied to the cars of the 
 Jews, denoting an unwillingness in them to hear the 
 words of the Lord. In Is. 52: 1, the Prophet thus speaks, 
 "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion ; put on 
 thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city ; for 
 henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncir- 
 cumciscd and the unclean. By the uncircumciscd here is 
 evidently meant the unclean. In Col. 2: 13, are these 
 words, " And you being dead in your sins and the uncir- 
 cumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 239 
 
 him, having forgiven you all trespasses." In this passage 
 it is evidently designed to be taught, that what was in- 
 cluded in the uncircumcision of the jlesh was a death in 
 sins. Again, the state of uncircumcision is thus repre- 
 sented by the Apostle, " Wherefore, remember, that ye 
 being in time past Gentiles iji the flesh, loho are called un- 
 circumcision, by that which is called the circumcision in 
 the flesh made by hands ; that at that time 2oe were icithout 
 Christ, being aliens froju the commonwealth of Israel, and 
 strangers from the covenants of proinise, having no hope 
 and without God in the ivorld." Eph. 2: 11, 12. From 
 these passages it is evident, that circumcision, like bap- 
 tism, implies i7npurity in the heart, from which man needs 
 to be purged. 
 
 2. These ordinances do likewise imply each of them 
 the pardon of sin. Said Peter to the convicted sinners on 
 the day of Pentecost, " Repent and be baptized every one 
 of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of 
 sins." Acts 2: 38. And the Apostle Paul, speaking of 
 Abraham, says, " And he received the sign of circumci- 
 sion, a seal of the righteousness of the faith ivhich he had 
 yet being uncircumcised." Rom. 4: 2. In each of these 
 cases the religious ordinance is regarded as an evidence 
 furnished by God himself, that he, to whom it was applied, 
 should be considered as absolved from impending guilt and 
 inisery. 
 
 3. These seals likewise signify the regeneration of 
 those to whom they are applied. In Tit. 3: 5, are these 
 words in allusion to baptism, " But according to his mercy 
 he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the re- 
 newing of the Holy Ghost." Again, in John 3: 5, the 
 
240 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 Saviour thus speaks, " Except a man hr horn of water and 
 of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 According, therefore, to these texts, baptism is unques- 
 tionably expressive of regeneration. So also is circum- 
 cision. In Deut. 10: 16, are these words, "Circumcise, 
 therefore, the foreskin of your hearts, and be no more 
 stiff-necked." Again, in chap. 30: 6, the same senti- 
 ment is expressed in the form of a promise, " And the 
 Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of 
 thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, that thou maycst live." In order to un- 
 derstand this language, it will only be necessary for us to 
 refer to the prophecy of Ezekiel, where the very same 
 sentiment is to be found, and expressed, as it is here, in 
 the form both of command and promise. In chap. 18: 31, 
 God thus speaks by that Prophet, "Cast away from you all 
 your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and 
 make you a new heart and a new spirit ; for why will ye 
 die, O house of Israel ?" In chap. 11: 19, 20, God thus 
 addresses the same people, " And I will take the stony heart 
 out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh ; that 
 they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances 
 and do them." When the Israelites were commanded, 
 therefore, by Moses, to " circumcise their heart," — they 
 were commanded to " make them a ncio heart." And when 
 God promised to " circumcise their heart and the heart of 
 their seed;" he promised "to give them a heart of flesh" 
 that they might keep his statutes. Nor are these solitary 
 passages, in which circumcision is represented, as the 
 sign of regeneration. In Lev. 26: 41, 42, God thus 
 speaks, " If then their uncirctimciscd hearts be humbled, 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 241 
 
 and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity ; 
 then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also 
 my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abra- 
 ham will I remember ; and I will remember the land." 
 Said Stephen to the Jews, in his day, " Ye stiff-necked and 
 uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the 
 Holy Ghost." Acts 7: 51. Again, in Rom. 2: 28, 29, the 
 Apostle thus speaks, " Neither is that circumcision which 
 is outward in the flesh ; but circumcision is that of tlie 
 heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is 
 not of men but of God." That that circumcision, there- 
 fore, which was in the flesh, was a sign of the regenera- 
 tion of the heart, is the common sentiment of the Scrip- 
 tures. 
 
 4. Each of these ordinances denotes union with Christ. 
 Their meaning in this respect is beautifully expressed by 
 the Apostle in the following language, " In ivhom also ye 
 are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, 
 in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the cir- 
 cumcision of Christ : buried ivith him in baptism, wherein 
 also ye are risen icith him through the faith of the operation 
 of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Col. 2: 11, 12. 
 In these texts, circumcision and baptism are not only ex- 
 hibited as having one and the same office; but each is rep- 
 resented, as uniting the soul to Christ. 
 
 5. They are each of them expressive of the mortifica- 
 tion of the flesh and of obedience to the commands of God. 
 " Know ye not," says the Apostle, " that so many of us as 
 were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his 
 death 1 Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism in- 
 to death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 
 
 21 
 
242 SIMILARITY BETWEEN 
 
 the glory of the Father, even so we al<:o sJiotild irnik in new- 
 ness of life." Rom. 6:3, 4. Again, in Rom. 2: 25 — 27, are 
 these words, " For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep 
 the laic; but, if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circum- 
 cision is made uncircumcision. Therefore, if the uncir- 
 cumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his 
 uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ? And shall 
 not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, 
 judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost trans- 
 gross the law?" In Phil. 3: 3, the Apostle thus describes 
 the true circumcision, " For we are the circumcision, which 
 worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jcsiis, and 
 have no confidence in the flesh." It is thus evident, that 
 both baptism and circumcision involve in them a strict 
 adherence to the laws and commands of God. In fact, 
 neither could possibly have any meaning at all without this. 
 Why should God designate his people by any particular 
 badge whatever, if it be not, that they should be a " pecu- 
 liar people, zealous of good %corlcs ?" 
 
 Thus have we shown the perfect similarity, in every 
 important point, between circumcision and baptism. Now, 
 from what has been thus proven, the conclusion follows 
 irresistibly, that they are both the seals of the same great 
 covenant, and that the one has come into the place of the 
 other. It is impossible to reconcile their jjcifect harmony 
 on any otlier hypothesis. 
 
 I shall conclude this lecture, in the following language 
 of Calvin, (vol. iii. p. 352:) "Nor let it be objected, that 
 the Lord commanded not his covenant to be confirmed by 
 any other symbol than that of circumcision, which has long 
 ago been abolished. For it is easy to reply, that, during 
 
CIRCUMCISION AND BAPTISM. 243 
 
 the time of the Old Testament, he appointed circumcision 
 for the confirmation of his covenant ; but that since the 
 abrogation of circumcision, there always exists the same 
 reason for confirming it, which loe have in common with 
 the Jews. It is necessary, therefore, to be careful in oh- 
 serving, what we have in common with them, and what they 
 had different from us. The covenant is common; the rea- 
 son for confirming it is common. Only the mode of con- 
 firmation is different ; for to them it was confirmed by cir- 
 cumcision, which among us has been succeeded by baptism." 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 THE QUESTION DISCUSSED, WHETHER SERVANTS 
 SHOULD BE BAPTIZED AS CHILDREN? AND, WHE- 
 THER CHILDREN SHOULD, IN VIRTUE OF THEIR 
 BAPTISM, BE ADMITTED TO THE LORD's SUPPER? 
 
 I, Should servants be baptized as children 1 
 It would seem, at first, but a rational conclusion, that 
 since baptism has succeeded into the place and office of 
 circumcision, therefore, all servants, owned as property, 
 should be admitted to this ordinance, upon the professed 
 faith of their masters. Yet, however, in contemplating 
 the state and history of the Christian church, we find that 
 such has not, in point of fact, been the practice of the 
 church ; and that there are many obstacles in the way of 
 such practice. The reasonableness of the inference above 
 alluded to, and the impropriety of baptizing servants own- 
 ed as property, have each appeared so obvious, and yet so 
 contradictory, that many persons have been much confused 
 in their views, in reference to the succession of one of 
 
 these ordinances into the place of the other ; and, conse- 
 21* 
 
246 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 quently, of the obligation of infant baptism. A few 
 thoughts, therefore, on this subject, may not be amiss. 
 
 The writer is aware that the subject is not divested, 
 by any means, of either obscurity or doubt. There are 
 many brethren, whose views are entirely scriptural, as to 
 the connection between circumcision and baptism, who 
 yet are not perfectly agreed on this point. Some advocate 
 the right of servants to baptism ; others deny it. Some 
 few practise it ; the majority, by far, do not. 
 
 1. The first remark which I would offer on this sub- 
 ject is, that whether we advocate the right of servants to 
 baptism, or deny that right, the obligation of Pcedobaptism 
 is, in neither case, affected by tlie opinion we embrace. 
 
 The admission of this right does not destroy the validi- 
 ty of infant baptism. In this case, even 7nore than that 
 for which we contend is granted. For, if it be argued that 
 the succession of baptism to circumcision does necessarily 
 imply the obligation to baptize servants, as well as chil- 
 dren, then, certainly, if the similarity of the two ordinances 
 befairhjjirovcn, children are undoubtedly admissible to bap- 
 tism. The only value in such an argument as this, as de- 
 signed to oppose the institution of Pa;dobaptism, is to array 
 the difficidtics of the succession of baptism to circumcision, 
 as an obstacle against the succession itself But the proof 
 to substantiate such succession is one thing; the difficulties 
 involved in the conclusion are another. If this proof be 
 clear and satisfactory, the obstacles in the way of applying 
 the result, can never destroy the result itself Besides, 
 the impropriety of applying a principle, thus clearly pro- 
 ven, may exist in the state of slavery around us; not in the 
 ordinance of Christ. This ordinance might be suited to 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 247 
 
 ■^certain mode of servitude, quite different to that which 
 now exists. If such be at all the fact, neither the divine 
 institution itself is to be rejected, nor are we to blame for 
 not applying it, under circumstances inconsistent with 
 both its nature and design. 
 
 But if, on the contrary, we take the opposite side, and 
 suppose that the succession of baptism to circumcision does 
 not involve the baptism of servants, as well as children, all 
 that is required in such a case is, to give satisfactory rea- 
 sons for making the difference. Thus, whatever side of 
 this question we adopt, in neither case is the subject un- 
 der discussion affected by the result. 
 
 2. My second remark is, that instead of advocating 
 exclusively, either the one or the other, of the above opin- 
 ions, I shall simply give a few of the more obvious argu- 
 ments in favor of each, leaving it entirely with those 
 wiser than myself to decide the matter; or, with the judg- 
 ment of each to come to his own conclusion. 
 
 Against the succession of baptism to circumcision in- 
 volving, necessarily, the baptism of servants, it may be 
 urged, — 
 
 First. That the relation between master and slave, is 
 neither an original nor a necessary one. It existed, it is 
 true, in the early periods of society ; still, however, was it 
 rather incidental to that society, than essential to its exist- 
 ence. On the contrary, the relationship between parent 
 and child is both original and necessary. It commenced 
 with the existence, and must necessarily be continued to 
 the end of human society. That God, therefore, should 
 enact a law, permanent in reference to the one, and but 
 
248 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 temporary in respect to the other, can involve in it 
 nothing either absurd or inconsistent. 
 
 Secondly. It may also be argued against the admis- 
 sion of servants to baptism, that such admission would 
 amount to a positive enactment, on the part of God, in fa- 
 vor of slavery. It would be making provision for that, 
 which, on all hands, is regarded as an evil ; and as an evil, 
 which the spirit of the gospel will ultimately remove. 
 
 Thirdly. It may also be urged, in favor of this senti- 
 ment, that it was more the ceremonial exactness of the 
 Jewish institutions, than the nature of the case, or the 
 spirit of the law of God, that commanded the circum- 
 cision of servants along with children. 
 
 According to the Jewish law, all familiar intercourse 
 with the uncircumcised heathen around, was strictly for- 
 bidden. Leagues and treaties were not to be made with 
 them. No matrimonial connections were to be formed. 
 And so strict was this latter regulation, that in the days 
 of Ezra, very many husbands and wives were absolutely 
 separated on this account ; and this too, occurred when 
 they had children who were the results of such marriages. 
 Nor was it allowed the Jews to eat at the same table with 
 the uncircumcised. Even so late as the days of the Apos- 
 tles, we find the greatest particularity on this point. In 
 Acts 11: 2, 3, it is said, " And when Peter was come up to 
 Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended 
 with him, saying, thou wentest in to men imcirctimcised, and 
 didst eat with them." Again, in Gal. 2: 11, 12, are these 
 words, " But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood 
 him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 249 
 
 that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; 
 but when they were come, he tcithdrew and separated himself, 
 fearing them which tcere of the circumcision.^' Now, as 
 the provisions consumed in a family must necessarily be 
 much in the hands of servants; and as, from the very na- 
 ture of the case, there must be much familiarity between 
 domestic slaves and their, owners ; so, there was a ceremO' 
 nial necessity for the circumcision of ancient Hebrew ser- 
 vants. Such necessity, however, does by no means exist 
 under the Christian dispensation. A difference, therefore, 
 in the application of the seal, may be regarded but as na- 
 tural and proper. 
 
 Fourthly. It may also be urged against the baptism of 
 servants upon the faith of their masters, that their circum- 
 cision, though universally practised among the Jews, was, 
 nevertheless, but a secondary appendage to that church. 
 In the 17th of Genesis, where we have the Abrahamic 
 covenant expressed, we discover not the remotest allu- 
 sion to servants in that covenant itsdf Nor is there an 
 allusion to them in the earliest annunciation of its seal. 
 The application of the seal to them is noticed last ; and 
 seems evidently appended to what had gone before. Nor 
 is this true alone in reference to the first introduction of this 
 institution. The very same prominence is given to the 
 children of the Jews above their servants throughout the 
 Old Testament Scriptures. At the institution of the Pass- 
 over, the same fact is to be observed. In Ex. 12: 24 — 27, 
 are these words, " And ye shall observe this thing (the 
 Passover) for an ordinance ?o thee and to thy sons for ever. 
 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land 
 which the Lord will give you, according as he has pro^ 
 
250 A QUESTION niSnjSSED. 
 
 iiiised, that ye shall keep tliis service. And it shall come 
 to pass, wiicii your vhildrcn shall say unto you, what mean 
 ye by this service, that ve shall say, it is the sacrifice of the 
 Lord's Passover, who passed over the house of the children 
 of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and de- 
 livered our houses." Again, in the AMA and 44th verses, 
 God thus speaks, " There shall no stranger eat thereof, 
 (of the Passover.) But, every man's servant, that is bought 
 for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he 
 eat thereof" Here, too, the admittance of servants to the 
 Passover is mentioned as something secondary to the ad- 
 mission of children. It may also be added, that, in almost 
 all the threatenings and promises, addressed to this people, 
 children are generally e.xpressly included to the omission of 
 servants. As an instance of this, let the reader consult the 
 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. 
 
 As, therefore, the admission of servants owned as pro- 
 perty, among the Jews, to the membership of their religious 
 community, was itself but secondary and subordinate to 
 the admission of children, a difference, in the application 
 of the New Testament seal, may be thence inferred as 
 proper and becoming. 
 
 Fifthly. The inexpediency of baptizing servants may 
 also be urged as a reason against the application of the seal 
 of the covenant to them. Here, it is unnecessary to par- 
 ticularize. It is well known, that slaves are frequently not 
 under the supervision of their masters; they are frequently 
 sold into other hands. The law prohibits them from being 
 taught to read ; and, what is not the least, multitudes of 
 them arc already in Baptist churches. 
 
 From these several reasons, and others which it is not 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 251 
 
 necessary to name, it may be urged, that it is not only in- 
 expedient, but contrary to the design of the Abrahamic 
 covenant to baptize the servants of professing Christians 
 along with their children. Nor can the method adopted by 
 most Paedobaptist churches in the case, be regarded as a 
 gross violation of the spirit of that covenant. This method 
 is, to admit the children of professing servants to Christian 
 baptism, upon the faith of their parents. I vk'ould only 
 suggest, that, probably, it would be an improvement upon 
 this system, to associate the masters with the colored pa- 
 rents. The grand object of the institution evidently is, to 
 have all the young under the supervision of God's own 
 people, trained up in his covenant and for his glory. 
 
 But against this view of the subject it may be urged ; 
 
 First. That as the Abrahamic covenant and its seal 
 were both extended to servants owned as property among 
 the Jews, the conclusion is inevitable, that the existence of 
 that covenant is itself evidence that it is to be extended to 
 slaves. There is nothing which prohibits the baptism of 
 slaves. The very silence, therefore, of the New Testament 
 may be regarded as argument in its favor. The privileges, 
 too, of the Christian dispensation, being even greater than 
 those enjoyed by the Jews, this very fact may be regarded 
 as even positive testimony in favor of extending baptism to 
 servants. 
 
 Secondly. It may also be urged, that, though the rela- 
 tion between master and servant is not essential to the ex- 
 istence of society, yet, the relation itself is always substan- 
 tially the same. It implies the same dependence on the 
 part of the servant ; the same authority on the part of the 
 
252 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 master. It originates the same ties ; it devolves the same 
 obligations. As, therefore, the relation itself is ukntical, 
 wherever it exists, it must devolve the same duties and yield 
 the same privileges. So that, if it ever has been obliga- 
 tory, on a believing master, to devote his servants to God, 
 the same obligcition still exists. 
 
 Thirdly. It also may be urged in favor of baptizing 
 servants, that it meets the original design of the institu- 
 tion. That design seems evidently to be, to bring all sub- 
 ject to the control of the religious head of a family, under 
 moral and religious intluence ; to secure their Christian 
 education, and to establish them in habits of virtue and 
 piety. Now it is evident, that it is the master, mainly, 
 who is responsible for the religious instruction of his slaves. 
 Entirely at his di^^posal, they may be admitted to Christian 
 privileges, or withheld from them just at his pleasure. 
 Under these circumstances, it must evidently subserve the 
 cause of true piety and human salvation, to make the mas- 
 ter feel his responsibility. 
 
 Fourthly. It may also be urged, in support of this side 
 of the subject, that such practice would make the relation 
 between master and servant both more pleasant and more 
 useful, because more Christian. It would sanctify the tie 
 which binds the slave to his owner ; and, preventing it 
 from becoming the means of ill usage, would render it a 
 bond of fraternal aQection. By elevating the character, 
 too, of the slave, it would render him more docile, obedi- 
 ent, and affectionate. On the one hand, it would slacken 
 the rigor of the master's government ; and on the other, 
 elevate and ennoble his authority in sight of his servant. 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 253 
 
 Thus, shedding a hallowing influence on both the master 
 and his servant, it would make the relationship existing 
 between them a source of real happiness to both. 
 
 Fifthly. It may also be urged, that no past neglect on 
 this subject, no difficulties with which it is invested, can 
 possibly present any lawful obstructions in the way of the 
 application of this ordinance to its proper subjects. All 
 that we need to know is, \yhat is duty — what God com- 
 mands. If he commands us to baptize and consecrate to 
 his service our servants as well as our children, then it is 
 our duty to obey, regardless of consequences. Past neg- 
 lect on this subject is our sin: it can be, therefore, no 
 apology for our future disobedience. 
 
 Such are a few of the thoughts, which, without pursu- 
 ing them, I have cast out, in order to bring the matter 
 fairly before the minds of our fathers and brethren. This 
 particular part of the subject, no doubt, needs more atten- 
 tion than has been bestowed upon it. The salvation of 
 his servants is a matter which must, and does lie near the 
 heart of every believing master. And if their admission 
 to Christian baptism be scriptural, and would be benefi- 
 cial, then should its practice be adopted without delay. 
 
 I now pass to the other question, so intimately con- 
 nected with this, and so immediately resulting from the 
 conclusions of the last Lecture. 
 
 II. Ought children, in virtue of their baptism, to be ad- 
 mitted to the Communion Table 1 
 
 This is a question about which there have been, and 
 
 still are, many different opinions. If baptism has come 
 
 into the place of circumcision, and if it be regarded as the 
 
 door into the church, then the conclusion seems to be 
 22 
 
254 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 inevitable, that baptized chihircn sliould be admitted to the 
 Supper, as regular members of the church. This conclu- 
 sion is regarded by many as so gross and unscriptural, that 
 they suppose it quite enough to destroy the premises from 
 which it originates — on the contrary, multitudes regard 
 this result as the very excellence of the institution, and 
 glory in the full introduction of their children by baptism 
 into all the privileges of the Christian church. These 
 opinions are each of them extremes. There is a middle 
 ground to be taken, both more safe and scriptural. This 
 middle ground is, that baptized children arc not, in the 
 fullest acceptation of the term, members of the church, and 
 that, therefore, they should not, in consequence of their bap- 
 tism alone, be admitted to the Supper. 
 
 1. This will appear evident, in the first place, from a 
 proper consideration of the similarity between circumci- 
 sion and baptism. Although circumcision among the 
 Jews preceded admission to the Passover, and other Jew- 
 ish festivals, yet it was by no means the exclusive qualifi- 
 cation. Although none might partake of the Passover, or 
 enjoy the other privileges of membership, unless circum- 
 cised, yet not all who were circumcised were admitted. 
 There were four things essential to a proper participation 
 of the Passover, besides circumcision. 
 
 First. The possession of corporeal strength and ability. 
 It would be impossible for a babe, at eight days old, to 
 partake of tlie Passover. At this tender age neither meat 
 nor bread would be adapted to its taste, or its digestive 
 faculties. Before it could, therefore, be admitted to this 
 feast, certain time must necessarily be aflbrded it. Proba- 
 bly, too, at almost every celebration of this institution, par- 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 255 
 
 ticularly when it occurred at Shiloh or Jerusalem, many 
 were deterred from observing it, through the same reason. 
 A sick man, like a child, could not celebrate this ordi- 
 nance, for the want of bodily ability. 
 
 Secondly. There was also intellectual fitness necessary 
 to the proper observance of this institution. If we con- 
 template it simply in the light of other sacrifices, then was 
 it a seal and pledge of a promised Saviour. If we, together 
 with this, associate with it its own peculiar properties, then 
 did it commemorate the deliverance of the children of Is- 
 rael from the death of the first-born, as well as from Egyp- 
 tian bondage. In either case, it had a special significa- 
 tion, which needed to be understood, previously to a parti- 
 cipation in its benefits. Nor could any be said pro- 
 perly to keep the Passover who did not thus understand 
 its design. Accordingly, we not only find that the insti- 
 tution is clearly and definitely explained to the Jews them- 
 selves, but they were also required to teach their children 
 its nature. In Ex. 12: 25 — 27, are these words, " And 
 it shall come to pass when ye be come to the land which 
 the Lord will give you, according as he has promised, that 
 ye shall keep this service, (the Passover.) And it shall 
 come to pass, iclien your children shall say unto you, What 
 mean ye hy this service ? that ye shall say ; It is the 
 sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the 
 houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, ichen he smote 
 the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.'' It is evident, 
 therefore, that a proper celebration of the Passover al- 
 ways involved in it an understanding of its nature and 
 design. I would here, too, take the occasion to remark, 
 that there was a difference between circumcision and the 
 
256 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 Passover in this respect : that one of them involved the 
 act of the parent, the other that of the child. In circum- 
 cision, all that was necessary to its legal administration 
 was, a proper understanding of its nature and obligations 
 by the parent. But in the celebration of the Passover, as 
 it was the child who was called upon to act, it was abso- 
 lutely necessary that he should have the recpiisite know- 
 ledge. In addition, therefore, to the time taken for cor- 
 poreal qualification, there would necessarily be other time 
 consumed for the attainment of mental preparation for 
 this feast. 
 
 Thirdly. There was also moral qualification necessary 
 to the proper participation of the Passover and of other Jew- 
 ish feasts. The moral qualification here alluded to referred 
 to two things ; first, to a jjrofcssion of the Jewish religion, 
 and secondly, to external propriety of conduct. For all 
 the grosser crimes, the Jews were not only excommuni- 
 cated from their church, but absolutely put to death. And 
 whenever there was an unlawful marriage formed with the 
 surrounding heathen, the party was cut off from Israel. 
 If then a member of the Jewish church had become open- 
 ly wicked, in the view of their law, he forfeited, either for 
 a time or for ever, the privileges of membership. 
 
 Fourthly. There was also, in addition to these, ceremo- 
 nial qiiaJiJication for the Passover. In the second cele- 
 bration of this ordinance, which took place in the wilder- 
 ness, there were certain persons who had touched a dead 
 body ; and being, therefore, ceremonially unclean, could not 
 keep the Passover at its proper time. See Num. 9: — 11. 
 
 Besides circumcision, therefore, the Jewish laws re- 
 quired at least four other essential qualif cations for 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED, 257 
 
 the proper participation of the Passover and other festi- 
 vals. 
 
 We are liable to mistake on this subject, from making 
 a comparison between the first institution of this ordinance 
 and its subsequent observance among the Jews. This or- 
 dinance arose under the patriarchial form of church go- 
 vernment ; it was continued under the 7iational. At first, 
 the animal was slain in the family, and hy the family 
 priest; afterwards, it was slain by the properly authorized 
 ministers of the Jewish religion, and at the place where 
 God had recorded his name ; that is, either in the taberna- 
 cle or temple. Consequently, when the Passover was cele- 
 brated, the nation generally met at Jerusalem. This would 
 necessarily offer many inconveniences to the attendance of 
 children. It is also likely, that it would lead to the ap- 
 pointment of some particular age, at which children should 
 be brought to the Passover. This age, the Rabbins affirm, 
 was appointed, and was at twelve years. This would ne- 
 cessarily arise out of the very nature of things. It is not 
 likely, that a poor Jew, living at a considerable distance 
 from Jerusalem, would take his child to that city to cele- 
 brate this feast, before he could perform the journey him- 
 self. And as a general rule, it is not probable, that chil- 
 dren could do this before the twelve years specified by the 
 Rabbins, 
 
 I would also observe, that mere circumcision, of itself, 
 did not entitle to membership among the Jews. A Gentile 
 who should have himself circumcised without any correct 
 knowledge of the true religion, and without any submission 
 to the terms of the covenant, of which circumcision was 
 22* 
 
258 A QUESTION DISCUSSED 
 
 the external seal, could certainly be in no proper sense a 
 member of the Jewish community. So, also, a child, cir- 
 cumcised when young by his parents, although under ob- 
 ligation to observe the covenant, yet could he not be pro- 
 perly said to have consented to that covenant, or, in other 
 words, to have become a member of the Jewish church, 
 until he should signify such consent in some becoming 
 way. This might be simply by his offering sacrifice, or 
 coming to the Passover, or conforming in some way to the 
 regulations of that church. His circumcision- was his pa- 
 rents' act. There must, therefore, be something involving 
 his act, to testify his assent to his parents' dedication of 
 him, and his voluntary entrance into covenant with God. 
 
 Now it is evident, that baptism sustains the very same 
 relation to the Supper, that circumcision sustained to the 
 Passover. It introduces into membership, and admits to 
 the entire privileges of the church, precisely upon the same 
 grounds. But we have already seen, that circumcision 
 was but o)ie of fvc qualifications for the complete partici- 
 pation in the privileges of the Jewish church. The very 
 same is true as to baptism ; it is but one oifve qualifications, 
 for the perfect enjoyment of all the advantages of church 
 membership. Probably it will not be amiss to specify these 
 same particulars in reference to the Christian, as we have 
 done in reference to the Jewish ordinance. 
 
 First. An infant now that is baptized still needs bodily 
 strength before it can partake of the sacrament. 
 
 Secondly. It also needs intellectual ability to under- 
 stand the nature of this ordinance before it partakes. A 
 participation of the supper (not like the reception of bap- 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 259 
 
 tism) is the act of the child. This child, therefore, must 
 understand the nature and design of this institution, or it 
 cannot possibly celebrate it aright. 
 
 Thirdly. The child who is admitted to the Christian 
 Passover, must also have moral fitness of character. Among 
 the Jews this moral fitness of character consisted, as we 
 have seen, in a profession of religion, and external pro- 
 priety of deportment. Nor is the standard much higher 
 amongst us. We require the evidences of regeneration. 
 But a profession of love to God, and a willingness to be his 
 servant, when genuine, are certainly the very best tests of 
 an inward change of heart, that any church could possibly 
 require. We may, it is true, from longer experience and 
 brighter light, be more careful and even more skilful in 
 discriminating and weighing the evidences of pious cha- 
 racter. Still, however, after all, the fundamental principles 
 upon which a Jew was admitted to the privileges of his 
 church, are precisely the same with those upon which the 
 Christian must be admitted to the rights of the Christian 
 church. 
 
 Fourthly. We too require a ceremonial qualification for 
 admission to the Supper. That is, we require that all who 
 commune with us, be regular members oi regular churches. 
 It is not enough that they be baptized ; it is not enough 
 that they have both corporeal and mental ability for com- 
 pliance with the ordinance ; it is not enough that they be 
 truly pious ; — they must also be in perfect conformity to 
 the usages and forms of the church, or they are legally and 
 properly excluded from the table. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that in keeping back our bap- 
 tized children from a full participation in all the privileges 
 
2G0 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 of complete church membership, until they assume the 
 voivs of Christian profession, ice are pursuing a principle, 
 existing in the very nature of thi7igs, and as ancient as 
 the church itself. 
 
 2. The propriety of this course is also perceptible, in 
 relation to the various confessions, creeds, and rules that 
 have been drawn up as the standards of particular churches. 
 
 These confessions, creeds, &c. arose from the very 
 nature of things. The interpretations put upon Scripture 
 not only may be, but have actually been both very nume- 
 rous and contradictory. From the most literal to the most 
 extravagantly fanciful renderings, men have attempted to 
 expound the Word of God. Those, therefore, who would 
 hold and defend the truth, were under the necessity of 
 agreeing upon the meaning of the Holy Scriptures, and of 
 arranging their sentiments in a set form. Nor could they 
 possibly, with any kind of consistence, admit to their fel- 
 lowship any who essentially differed from them in point 
 either of doctrine or practice. The introduction of stand- 
 ards of faith and practice into different churches, neces- 
 sarily produced church covenants. These church cove- 
 nants, too, must, in every case, be subscribed, in order to 
 membership. None could possibly be regarded as mem- 
 bers, who had not assented personally to such engage- 
 ments. 
 
 These church covenants now exist among nearly every 
 denomination. It would be impossible to maintain de- 
 nominational distinction without them. Nor are they at 
 all at variance with the spirit and nature of either the 
 Jewish church or the Word of God. Consent to a certain 
 faith, and the adoption of a certain mode of worship, has 
 
A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 261 
 
 always been enjoined upon the professors of the true reli- 
 gion in every age of the world. It is true, that both the 
 faith to be believed, and the form of worship to be prac- 
 tised, may have been in ancient times more generally ex- 
 pressed than they are now. Still, however, it was essen- 
 tial that they should have been expressed in some way. 
 No one can possibly, with the least propriety, enter either 
 the general church, or any particular church, without 
 knowing the doctrines and duties of that church. A man 
 may just as well be said to trade with propriety, who 
 knows nothing about the conditions of a bargain, as to 
 enter a church with propriety, when he understands nei- 
 ther its sentiments nor its customs. In every case, then, of 
 admission into church fellowship, it is necessary that there 
 be an express engagement between the clmrch and the 
 party introduced. This being the case, it is evident that 
 mere baptism can, in no case, introduce into full member- 
 ship in any Christian community whatever. This leads 
 me to observe, 
 
 3. That baptism is to be regarded more as a qualijicar 
 tion for church membership, and as an evidence or badge 
 of it, than as constituting the thing itself. If it precede 
 the assumption of the Christian covenant, it may be re- 
 garded but as a qualification for membership ; if it succeed 
 it, it may be looked upon as an evidence or confirmation 
 of the assumption of that covenant, and of God's fidelity in 
 that covenant. In the case of children, as well as of ex- 
 communicated members, it may be regarded as preceding 
 the covenant engagement, and therefore as a qualification 
 for membership. In cases where persons in adult years 
 are first introduced into the church, its administration may 
 
2G2 A QUESTION DISCUSSED. 
 
 either precede the taking of the covenant, or it may follow. 
 In the one case, it may be considered as quahfying for ad- 
 mission into the church ; in the other, as being a seal or 
 confirmation of such admission ; or, probably, we had 
 better say, that, viewed as administered to us, baptism be- 
 comes a qualification for membership ; but contemplated 
 as someiMmg proceeding from and appointed by God, it is 
 a seal of our covenant relationship to him. 
 
 In order to illustrate these views, suppose a certain 
 number of men to be associated for certain definite pur- 
 poses, and to be regulated by a certain, a fixed constitution. 
 Suppose, also, tliat it was necessary, in order to introduc- 
 tion into that association, to have, first, personal fitness ; 
 secondly, to take a solemn oath on the tlircshhold ; and, 
 thirdly, to sign the constitution. Now it is certain, that so 
 far as mere]^membership goes, the signing of the constitu- 
 tion, as it is the last, so it is the most important step in the 
 series. Personal fitness could not constitute membership, 
 nor could this, allied with the taking of the oath, consti- 
 tute it. If a person, after having been judged worthy of 
 admittance into such society, and after having actually 
 taken the admission oath, should, nevertlicless, refuse to 
 sign the constitution, he could by no means be considered 
 as a member. And if, too, such person should afterwards 
 change his mind, and be willing to subscribe the consti- 
 tution ; in this case, it would by no means be necessary 
 either to inquire into his personal fitness, or to administer 
 the oath a second time. And, on the contrary, if we sup- 
 pose such person to have signed the constitution ; and yet 
 that no inquiry had been made into his personal fitness, 
 nor had the admission oath been administered ; in such a 
 
A QUEISTION DISCUSSED. 263 
 
 case his memhersMp would already have been constituted j 
 although the mode of its accomplishment was irregular. 
 The essential part of membership, in this as in every other 
 case, must therefore be pei'sonal suhmission to the rules and 
 laws by which the community is governed, in ichich the mem- 
 hcrship is constituted. Now, in order to apply this illus- 
 tration, I would say, that this personal fitness represents, 
 in adults, the profession of faith ; in children, the profession 
 of believing parents. That the oath represents baptism, 
 and that the signing of the constitution represents the as- 
 sumption of the Christian covenant. Now, it is evident 
 here, as in the other case, that neither personal piety 
 alone, nor personal piety associated with baptism, consti- 
 tutes membership in the church. On the other hand, a 
 public assumption of the covenant alone, renders him who 
 thus submits to it, a member of the church, though irregu- 
 larly introduced. The essence of church memhersMp, there- 
 fore, is the taking of the covenant. 
 
 In order still to render this subject more clear, sup- 
 pose that a member of the Baptist church has, for miscon- 
 duct, been excommunicated. In his excommunicated 
 state, he is unquestionably out of the church. But sup- 
 pose such a person subsequently to reform, and to apply 
 again for admission into the church, what course would be 
 pursued ? Baptism would certainly not be re-administer- 
 ed in such a case. All that could be necessary, would be 
 the re-assumption of the covenant. In this case, certainly, 
 baptism alone could not be regarded as the door of ad- 
 mission into the church, since the person really baptized 
 was, nevertheless, out of the church, and, when re-admit- 
 
0G4 A QUESTION DISCrSSED. 
 
 ted into cluirch fcllowsliip, was not baptized a second 
 time. 
 
 From all these considerations it is evident, that bap- 
 tism alone does not constitute membership in the church 
 of Christ. 
 
 To keep back our children who have been baptized 
 in infancy, therefore, from the privileges of full member- 
 ship in the church, until they subscribe the church cove- 
 nant in their own persons, is perfectly consistent with the 
 ordinance itself and with the Word of God. 
 
 Our practice in this particular, also, has in it two great 
 advantages — it secures the pious training of the young, 
 and, at the same time, excludes the wicked from the 
 church : it both supports the religion of the family, and 
 maintains the purity of the professing community of God's 
 people. 
 
 I would also add, that from the views of the subject 
 above, baptized persons, who yet have never j^crsonally 
 taken the covenant upon them, as they are not members 
 of the church themselves; so they cannot claim the privi- 
 lege of baptism for their children. 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 
 THE RECEPTION OF CHILDREN INTO MEMBERSHIP 
 IN THE CHURCH WITH THEIR PARENTS, GREAT- 
 LY PROMOTIVE OF PIETY. 
 
 The grand object of the church is, so to display the 
 glory and grace of God amongst men, as to effect the great- 
 est possible good. The church constitutes an intermedi- 
 ate kingdom between the world and heaven. Either the 
 complete identification of it with the one or the other of 
 these, or its perfect separation from them, would destroy 
 its existence. If identified with heaven, or amalgamated 
 with the world, the present character of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom on earth would of course be obliterated. Or, if 
 it were entirely severed from its Head, or disconnected 
 with a world of sinners, it would also cease to exist in its 
 present form. The character of the church, thus very 
 much resembles that of the Redeemer. If the Saviour 
 should cease to be either God or man, his mediatorial office 
 would at once be destroyed. So, if the church renounces 
 either her heavenly or her earthly character, at once does 
 
 she cease to be an intermediate kingdom between this 
 23 
 
2GG RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 world and the next. The utility of the church must, there- 
 fore, depend upon a proper maintenance of her intercourse 
 with God, and her connection with the world. If the 
 channel through which divine grace flow.s into her bosom 
 be intercepted, she perishes; and if the streams through 
 which that grace is diffused over an ungodly world, be cut 
 off, she likewise dies. All efforts, therefore, to promote the 
 best interests of the church, must have a direct reference 
 to her connection, on the one hand, with God, and on the 
 other, with the world. If, erring on the one side, we at- 
 tempt to render her but a human institution, by dissolving 
 her true relationship with her Divine Head, we destroy her, 
 and convert her members into infidels. And if, on the 
 other side, we attempt to render her perfectly i.solated in 
 the world, we effect the very same end, and render her in- 
 mates but the frenzied bigots of the grossest delusions. 
 Hence fanaticism and infidelity, though perfectly opposite 
 in their nature, have, nevertheless, been each of them, the 
 inveterate enemies of all true religion. 
 
 The special medium of intercourse between the church 
 and sinners, for which we now contend, is that by which 
 the children of believing parents, in virtue of their connec- 
 tion with their parents, are received, in a certain .^ense, 
 into membership in the church, and are thus brought un- 
 der its supervision and care. This connection between 
 the kingdom of Christ, and those for whom its blessings 
 were designed, we assert to be both wise and gracious. 
 
 I. Our first remark on this part of the subject is, that 
 such connection wiili the children of believing parents can 
 do the church no possible harm. There are but two ways 
 in which it can be conceived as injuring the church, either 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 267 
 
 by prostituting an ordinance of the gospel; or, by introdu- 
 cing unregenerated persons into Christian communion. 
 Now, if it injure the church in the former way, it must be, 
 either through the impiety with which baptism is received, 
 or, through the subsequent impenitence and wickedness of 
 the party baptized. But, it cannot be injurious through 
 any impiety in its reception ; because, it is administered 
 by a regular minister of the gospel, in a regular Christian 
 society, to a regular member of the church, and with pro- 
 per explanation of its nature and duties. Certainly, in 
 such a case, baptism is no more liable to abuse, than any 
 other ordinance or truth of the gospel would be under simi- 
 lar circumstances. Nor can this ordinance be prostituted, 
 by any subsequent impenitence and wickedness in the par- 
 ty baptized. The obligations of Christian duty which rest 
 upon the most abandoned of men, can certainly never be 
 regarded as vilified and abused themselves, through the 
 ungodliness of him upon whom they rest. The obligations 
 themselves must ever remain pure and spotless, however 
 corrupt and vile the sinner may render himself in crime. 
 And, besides, there are many cases of adult baptisms, in 
 which the party baptized becomes abandoned and profli- 
 gate. If, then, the falling of baptized persons into sin, 
 must necessarily disgrace and prostitute the ordinance it- 
 self, then must we cease to baptize altogether. Nor is 
 there greater probability that, out of a number of children 
 properly baptized and educated, more will become impeni- 
 tent and profligate, than from a number of baptized adults 
 equally great. Both reason and experience teach, that the 
 probability in the one case, is no greater than in the 
 other. 
 
^GS RECEPTION OK CHILDREN 
 
 Nor can the baptism of the children of believers in- 
 jure the church, by introducing into her bosom unregene- 
 rated persons. We liave already shown, that baptized 
 children are members of the church, but in tutelage; that 
 is, they may be considered either as passive members, 
 through their parents, or as standing on the vestibule of 
 the Christian temple, and quaJiJied, in this particular, 
 for personal and complete membership, whenever they may 
 please to enter into covenant with God and his church. 
 Without a profession oi personal religion, they can gain no 
 admittance into the full privileges of church membership. 
 Thus do they sustain a relationship to the church, of infi- 
 nite importance to them, and which can, in no case, do the 
 professing body of believers the least harm. 
 
 II. A second remark I would make is, that the prac- 
 tice of baptizing the children of God's people, is of essen- 
 tial service to the interests of religion. 
 
 1. It is a sensible and positive proof of two of the pro- 
 minent doctrines of revelation, — the depravity of infants, 
 and their need of grace. It is the natural tendency of 
 things in this world, for men to deny and disbelieve the 
 moral corruption of human nature altogether; and, espe- 
 cially, to maintain the spotless innocence of new-born in- 
 fants. That such errors as these would undermine the 
 very foundation of the gospel, is certain. The denial of 
 human depravity necessarily terminates in the denial of 
 divine mediation ; and the denial of the depravity of in- 
 fants, is but the first step to the maintenance of adult inno- 
 cence. The history of the church, too, bears ample testi- 
 mony to tlie fact, that all such abatenients of total human 
 corruption, has finally terminated in the most dangerous 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 269 
 
 heresies. Now, in the baptism of infants, the sinfulness 
 of their natures, and their need of divine grace, are stri- 
 kingly exhibited, and put beyond the power of contradic- 
 tion. 
 
 2. This practice also impresses on the minds of all, the 
 great importance of the salvation of children. From mis- 
 taken views of the innocence of children, or from their 
 inferiority in society, there is a very great tendency to 
 neglect their souls altogether. Thus both the minister and 
 his people are apt, in contemplating the larger forms of 
 human existence around them, to overlook those smaller 
 ones, every where diffused through their families and 
 churches. We preach for adults — we pray for adults j but 
 forget the children. We spend our lives, for the most 
 part, in attempting to straighten the old and sturdy oaks 
 of the forest, while we bestow but little attention upon the 
 saplings and twigs by their side. But wherever the duty 
 of baptizing children has been well understood, and uni- 
 formly practised, there their salvation has always been a 
 matter of corresponding interest and effort. 
 
 3. The administration of this ordinance to infants, also 
 strengthens the faith and increases the fidelity of parents. 
 The salvation of his child, is that which should burden a 
 parent's heart much more than any thing besides. His 
 relationship to his child, his affection for him, his influence 
 over him, all, should make him seek this object above 
 every other. Now, in the baptism of his child, such pa- 
 rent has his duty defined, his work laid out before him, 
 and the offer of divine help for its execution afforded. The 
 parent may be regarded as properly enough entering into 
 
 the following soliloquy : ' If my child were not depraved, 
 
 23* 
 
270 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 why baptize him? If he needed not regeneration, why 
 apply to him its sign ? If grace were not offered him, 
 why am I commanded to bring him to a gospel ordinance? 
 And if God will not bless my efforts, why enter into cove- 
 nant with me in behalf of my offspring?' Surely, no pa- 
 rent can possibly attend to this important duty, without 
 feeling, in his own soul, his faith confirmed and liis desires 
 elevated. 
 
 4. Again. The baptism of the young, promotes the 
 interests of the church, by securing for them a proper 
 religious training. It secures this training in two ways : 
 first, by the propinquity of baptized children to the 
 church ; and secondly, by the obligations this ordinance 
 imposes. This end is effected by the propinquity of such 
 children to the professing church. We have already 
 shown, that they stand on the very threshhold of the spirit- 
 ual temple. They occupy a kind of nursery, in the very 
 porch of the Christian community. This being the case, 
 they are neither foreigners nor strangers; but the very 
 seed and offspring of the kingdom of Christ. Their situa- 
 tion yields to them the very best advantages they could 
 possibly have, for the attainment of Christian knowledge. 
 They are like young Samuel, whom his mother dedicated 
 to the Lord, and had raised in the very tabernacle itself. 
 All the doctrines and hopes of religion, its institutions and 
 blessings, are all theirs by birthright. Over them piety 
 sheds her constant and hallowed influence. Faith, with 
 all her witnesses for the truth, is continually pleading with 
 their hearts. The voice of the Redeemer, saying, " Suf- 
 fer little children to come unto me and forbid them not, 
 for of such is the kingdom of heaven," is continually rolling 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 271 
 
 on their ears. For them, Hope is planting on the fair 
 canopy of heaven an immortal star ; and Charity, love- 
 liest of the graces, is lightening in their tender counte- 
 nances, the smiles of eternal joy, and spreading before 
 them all the attractions of a life of holiness and peace. 
 Thus circumstanced, how^ almost inevitable is the surren- 
 der of their youthful hearts to God. 
 
 But this practice also secures the religious training of 
 the young, by the obligations it imposes. Obedience to 
 divine commands is absolutely enjoined upon both those 
 who administer and those who receive this ordinance. 
 " This is my covenant," said God to Abraham, "which 
 ye shall keep." And said Christ to his apostles, "teach 
 them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you." 
 There is an obligation, therefore, imposed upon the 
 church, as well as upon the parent, to inculcate upon the 
 young disciple the lessons of Christianity. There is also 
 an obligation resting upon the child to receive and prac- 
 tise such instructions. Now it is evident, that, under 
 such circumstances as these, the religious training of the 
 child would be as effectually secured, as in the nature of 
 things it could be in this life. 
 
 5. This practice also elevates the standard of piety in a 
 church. This it does in at least three ways. First, by 
 promoting the religion of the family. It awakens a deeper 
 interest in the bosom of parents about the salvation of 
 their offspring. It causes them to expect more, to under- 
 take more. The consequence of this will be greater 
 attainments of personal piety among parents themselves — 
 more prayerfulness — more self-denial — more frequent fast- 
 ings, and greater uniformity and consistency of deport- 
 
272 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 ment. And as he, who is most busy at home is most apt 
 to be industrious abroad, so the domestic labors and piety 
 of the parent, will but prepare him for entering into more 
 extensive fields of usefulness and duty. But this end is 
 also attained, by uniting and harmonizing tlie entire efforts 
 of the whole church, in promoting the salvation of her 
 children. From this field of enterprise no believer in 
 Paedobaptism can feel himself excused : — the obligation is 
 an universal one, the duty is common. The necessary 
 consequence of this will be, the originating of all those 
 schemes and plans, by which the minds of children may 
 be reached and well indoctrinated in the truths of the 
 gospel. Parents will teach at home — the Pastor and 
 Elders will visit and catechise — Infant and Sabbath 
 Schools will be gotten up and supported — ordinary 
 schools and academics will be established on Christian 
 principles — and every possible instrument wielded, in 
 order to secure an object so grand and so obligatory. 
 Now, in the carrying forward of such a work as this, con- 
 sists the very vitality of religion in a church. A stagnant 
 religion can have no existence. Piety is active and be- 
 nevolent in her very nature. The more, therefore, that a 
 church is usefully employed, the more vigorous will be the 
 exercises of grace among her members. Nor will the good 
 work terminate with the immediate children of the church. 
 Christians would become, under such circumstances, 
 " nursing fathers and mothers" to the offspring of unbe- 
 lieving parents. They would be ready to feel for wretch- 
 edness, wherever it existed ; and thus to diffuse their 
 prayers, their sympathies, and their alms, over the whole 
 world. The other way in which this practice would ac- 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 273 
 
 complish the end contemplated is, by furnishing candi- 
 dates for admission into the church with the most eminent 
 qualifications. Being born and raised in the very nursery 
 of piety, and enjoying the very best opportunities for the 
 improvement of the mind, and the cultivation of the heart, 
 the children of the church would not only be early intro- 
 duced into full membership, but would come in with ad- 
 vantages for a pious life, which no others could possibly 
 enjoy. 
 
 6. This practice also renders the preaching of the 
 gospel more efficient. One of the greatest evils with 
 which the ministry has to contend is, the encountering of 
 that opposition which arises from the ignorance, stupidity, 
 prejudices, errors, and profligacy, which result from the 
 neglect of domestic training. To enlighten a mind long 
 enshrouded in the grossest ignorance, to awaken a con- 
 science long seared in stupidity and sin, to bend a will 
 long accustomed to its own control, to purify affections 
 polluted with the grossest indulgences, to unfetter a soul 
 manacled and chained in impiety, thus to transform the 
 very image of Satan into that of Christ, is a work as dis- 
 couraging as it is difficult. The filling of the house of 
 God with such hearers as these, is but to render preaching 
 a most hopeless task. It is like sending for the physician 
 when the patient is in the very agony of death. It is to 
 expect reformation, when the principle to be reformed is 
 itself almost entirely annihilated by a course of abandoned 
 profligacy. It is but to tempt God, and require miracles. 
 In this case, the ministry becomes almost an insupportable 
 burden, and is likely to be attended with little or no suc- 
 cess. On the contrary, where parents have been faithful 
 
2T4 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 in the discharge of their duty, and uhere, by his early 
 baptism, the youth has been phiced under the inspection 
 and control of the church, the work of j)ulj)it instruction 
 becomes both easy and pleasant. In such cases, the con- 
 science is tender, the heart impressible, and the disposi- 
 tion tractable. Long accustomed to venerate his spiritual 
 teacher, the young man esteems him as a father and loves 
 him as a friend. He values his counsels and receives his 
 instructions. His place in the church is agreeable and 
 easy ; and every thing connected with religion has, to the 
 view of his mind, a lovely aspect, and exerts upon him a 
 softening influence. The triumphs of the gospel, under 
 such circumstances, must always be great and glorious. 
 The work of saving men is much more than half accom- 
 plished in the family. Thus, while the pulpit upholds and 
 sustains the piety of the family, in its turn the latter up- 
 holds and sustains that of the pulpit. 
 
 7. Another advantage which this practice renders the 
 church is, that it offers the greatest possible inducement 
 to unbelievers to embrace religion. The command to them 
 is like that to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the 
 ark." The same covenant that embraces the parent, is 
 also extended to the children ; the same seal by which 
 grace is offered and confirmed to him, is likewise applied 
 to his offspring. When, therefore, an ungodly father sees, 
 on the one hand, the great injury he is rendering his fami- 
 ly, through his impenitence and unbelief; and on the other, 
 the great advantage he may be to them by becoming truly 
 pious ; iiovv irresistible are the reasons that thus operate 
 upon his mind? And how powerful must be those ap- 
 peals, from the sacred desk, to such parents, which repre- 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 275 
 
 sent them as placed in the fearful alternatives, of either 
 bearing their children along with them to hell ; or lifting 
 them up by their faith to the abodes of blessedness ! What 
 parent's heart can be steeled to such entreaties and mo- 
 tives as these ? 
 
 III. A third remark I offer is, that a strict adherence 
 to the principles of Paedobaptism would afford the most 
 powerful means now in existence for the conversion of the 
 world. 
 
 This is a day of wonderful enterprise. The benevo- 
 lent and evangelical societies, that decorate the church and 
 are blessing the world, are very numerous. " Many are 
 running to and fro, and knowledge is increased." But 
 amidst all these efforts there is still a great deficiency. This 
 deficiency consists in not bringing into the service of reli- 
 gion, as it should be, the connection hetioeen parent and 
 child. It is the immediate influence of this very connec- 
 tion that is determining the fate of generation after gene- 
 ration. It is this, that leaves heathen to succeed heathen, 
 Mahometans to fill the places of Mahometans; and which 
 causes one race of sinners to succeed another with awful 
 exactness and ct. linty. All the efforts of the gospel, too, 
 as now exerted — our churches and ministers, our benevo- 
 lent associations and missionaries — arc hut attempting to 
 counteract the evils which one generation devolves upon 
 another : and it is a lamentable fact, that the solitary and 
 pernicious influence of parents upon children is, at present, 
 withstanding, and has for ages withstood, the whole moral 
 force of the gospel ! All the efforts which the church of 
 Christ is now making for the salvation of man, are inade- 
 quate to prevent the fatal effects of this one agent of Satan, 
 
2TG RECEPTION OF CHII.DUF.N 
 
 Tlie reason of this is obvious. The child is formed by the 
 parent. The influence which the latter exerts over his off- 
 spring, is greater than that u hich any other person can exert 
 over him ; or probably than the influence of all the world be- 
 side. This being the case, whoever wields the connection 
 between parents and children, determines the destinies of 
 man. Ifthis connection is sanctified by grace, and directed 
 by piety, the whole tvorld is saved. If it be entirely in tlic 
 hands of error and under the supreme control ol sin, the 
 inhale world is lost, irrecoverably lost, ivithout the sovereign 
 intervention of divine grace. The contest, therefore, be- 
 tween Christ and Satan, as to supremacy in this world, is 
 but a contest in reference to the wielding of parental in- 
 flucnce. Whoever secures this point, according to the 
 present state of things, is master. Tliis is the powerful 
 engine which decides the controver.sy and gains the vic- 
 tory. In attempting, therefore, to evangelize the world, 
 the whole moral force of the church should be directed to 
 the securing of this point. Without its possession the 
 work never can be accomplished — with it, it is already 
 done. 
 
 The securing to the interests of the church of parental 
 influence, being, therefore, the great desideratum in the 
 evangelization of the world, the question necessarily arises, 
 as to the best mode of gaining this object. Now, it is 
 evident, that this never can be done, without first gaining 
 an entire possession of that parental influence which exists 
 icithin the professing church. Without ac(]iiiring this, we 
 raise up rebels in our own bosom that will subsequently 
 harass and afflict us. In marching on to conquest, we 
 have enemies behind us unsubdued, who will soon make 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, 277 
 
 an assault upon our rear. It is also evident, that this 
 never can be done by attempting to control the influence 
 which ungodly parents out of the church, exert upon their 
 children. As long as such parents remain ungodly, and 
 control, as they must, the whole educational course of their 
 children, it will be impossible for the church to secure to 
 its interests that parental influence. An evil tree will 
 bring forth evil fruit ; and the influence which an unbe- 
 lieving or heathen parent exerts over his offspring, must 
 necessarily be pernicious. Nor is it at all possible for 
 Christians so to supplant the parental claims of an ungodly 
 world, as to have the management and raising of their 
 children. The only course, therefore, to be pursued is, 
 for the church, in the first place, fully to occupy her own 
 territory ; and then, secondly, to make all the conquests she 
 possibly can. She must first take into her hands that 
 parental influence which exists in her own bounds ; and 
 then she must make such accessions to her number as she 
 can. She must first exact a pledge of faithful training 
 from all her own members ; and as she receives others into 
 her bosom, she must require the same. In this way, and 
 in this way alone, can she hope to get into her possession 
 that mighti/ lever which determines the destinies of men. 
 
 Now, it is obvious, in contemplating the efforts of the 
 present day for the salvation of men, that they are rather 
 secondary than primari/. We direct our attention too ex- 
 clusively to the adiilt transgressors of God's holy law, to 
 the neglect of children. We exert ourselves in attempting 
 / to transfer from the wilds of sin to the garden of the Lord, 
 the sturdier trees, while we disregard too much those 
 
 germs and sprouts in which the hope of success princi- 
 
 24 
 
278 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 pally consists. Nor is it cnougli to reply to this, that we 
 have our day, our Sabbath, and our infant schools. These, 
 it is true, exert a powerful and a salutary influence; but 
 still they do not reach the evil. We need an engine still, 
 of a different kind. IVc tniist control the connection be- 
 tween the parent and the child. No matter what other 
 means we employ, the work never can be secured without 
 this. A teacher is not a parent, nor does the child regard 
 him as such. The teacher, too, is but occasionally with the 
 child, the parent is constantly with him. The teacher 
 commences his operations at a later, and terminates them 
 at an earlier age, than the parent. Nor can his influence 
 ever be so great. If then the church would proceed 
 wisely and efllciently In the great work in which she is 
 engaged, she must manage, at least in her own bounds, 
 the connection between parent and child. As no other 
 human being can possibly take the place of a natural 
 parent, so no other means can possibly supplant this. Now 
 we assert, without the fear of contradiction, that the best 
 possible mode of getting into her hands this powerful in- 
 strument, is, for her to exact a solemn pledge from all of 
 her members, to be faithful in the religious training of their 
 offspring. She must baptize her children, or this object 
 never, no, never can be' attained. We may just as well 
 suppose, that the church could flourish and triumph in an 
 invisible state — that is, without ministers, or officers, or 
 members, as to hope for the accomplishment of this object, 
 without the baptism of our children. We may with as 
 much propriety suppose, that the cause of temperance 
 would succeed without any visible organization, as that 
 parental influence, existing within the church, shall have its 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 279 
 
 proper character and produce its proper residts, loithoiit 
 the obligation of this oi'dinance. No, nothing but an insti- 
 tution of this kind meets the exigency of the case. And 
 take such an institution away, and there is nothing which 
 can supply the deficiency. 
 
 In order to support these sentiments, I will add to 
 what has already been said, but three additional considera- 
 tions. 
 
 1. That wherever associations have been formed for 
 the acquisition of any particular objects, designed for 
 the advantage of mankind generally, it has always been 
 regarded as an important matter, to associate with such 
 institutions the influence of parents over their children, 
 in the accomplishment of such objects. We observe this 
 in the first place, in national governments. Just in propor- 
 tion to the influence which the civil establishment of any 
 country exerts upon children through their parents, will 
 be the stability of such establishment. Associated with 
 any state whatever, the connection between parents and 
 children would give to government both strength and 
 permanency ; but disconnected from its interests, and the 
 very same instrument would produce a total subversion of 
 any political fabric in existence. It is to that patriotic in- 
 fluence which American citizens, as parents, exert upon 
 their children, that we are to look for the perpetuity of our 
 free institutions. And, if we were to suppose it possible 
 for all the parents in our great republic to educate their 
 children amidst sentiments of royalty and despotism, our 
 government would be perfectly changed in the very next 
 generation. It was through this very instrument, that an- 
 cient Greece and Rome arose to such renown. It was 
 
•280 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 almost entirely the influence of fathers and mothers, that 
 produced those veteran soldiers in each country, that were 
 invincible by any force then known. Lycurgus, the La- 
 ceda?monian legislator, was particularly careful to control 
 this influence to the advantage of the state. And, we he- 
 sitate not to say, that that government which neglects this 
 solitary point, however perfect in every thing besides, can 
 never be of any long continuance. Again, we see this 
 fact also exhibited, in all efforts for the promotion of edu- 
 cation. Children are the property, in a certain sense, of 
 their parents. Without parental consent, therefore, no 
 school can exist; our colleges and academies, our Sabbath 
 and day schools, all depend for their very existence upon 
 this very thing. Every plan, therefore, for the promotion 
 of education, must have special regard to the connection 
 between parent and child. Hence, we see those acade- 
 mies and Sabbath schools, that have parents and teachers 
 closely associated together, almost always flourishing ; 
 while others, in which this is not the case, invariably de- 
 cline. In the great temperance reform, which has re- 
 cently commenced, we have also a practical exhibition of 
 the same truth. Without associating with temperance so- 
 cieties the influence of parents over their children, what 
 would such societies soon become? In those institutions, 
 a special pledge is exacted from parents to train their 
 children up in sentiments of sobriety. It is in this way 
 we hope to remove the evils of intemperance, and to trans- 
 mit to posterity all the blessings of this salutary reforma- 
 tion. 
 
 Now, we surely could not expect, that in a case infi- 
 nitely liigher than those alluded to, either God should pre- 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 281 
 
 scribe, or man select, a course less wise in its construc- 
 tion, than that which characterizes mere human institu- 
 tions. The very nature of the case, therefore, requires, 
 that the influence of parents over children should be entire- 
 ly, and in the highest degree, allied with the interests of 
 religion. Now, that such alliance can be attained in its 
 highest degree, but by the ordinance of infant baptism, is 
 so evident, as to need no proof He who denies it, denies 
 the very possibility of binding the consciences of men, — 
 denies the utility of all means for the accomplishment of 
 any end whatever. 
 
 2. A second argument I would urge in support of these 
 sentiments, is, that from all we know of the divine admi- 
 nistration, God does, in point of fact, employ the connec- 
 tion between parents and children, as the great medium 
 through which to diffuse the blessings of his grace. From 
 Adam to Moses, the principal means of religious instruc- 
 tion was by tradition. It was in this way that all the in- 
 stitutions of religion then existing, were transmitted; and 
 even from the time that revelation was committed to wri- 
 ting, to the present, one grand and essential mode of its 
 diffusion has consisted in the instructions furnished chil- 
 dren by their parents. Among the Jews, children were 
 taken particularly under the care of the church. It was 
 from among them, that the places of deceased and pious 
 ancestors were filled They stood in covenant relation to 
 God ; and their parents were under most solemn obliga- 
 tions to train them up in his fear. Every thing, too, as we 
 shall soon see, in the New Testament, favors the very 
 same grand feature in the divine government. We see 
 
 this, too, exhibited before our eyes daily, in God's provi- 
 24* 
 
282 RECEPTION OF CHILDREN 
 
 dcntial dealings with his church. Who arc to fill our 
 places, as ^Ministers and Christians, when we are gone ''. 
 Is it not our children ? Arc not the most of those who 
 are admitted to church ordinances among us, our own off- 
 spring. Now, certainly, if God will thus emi)loy parental 
 influence for the promotion of his cause at all, he will do 
 it in the greatest degree of which the case is susceptible. 
 That is, he will exact a special pledge from all the mem- 
 bers of his kingdom on earth, to train up their children in 
 his fear. And he will invest this pledge with all the so- 
 lemnity possible. That this was done in infant circum- 
 cision, was certain ; that it is also effected in infant bap- 
 tism, is equally certain. 
 
 3. A third remark I here make is, that infant baptism, 
 wherever it has been well understood, and regularly prac- 
 tised, has invariably accomplished the ends above alluded 
 to. In order to establish this proposition, it will be neces- 
 sary to produce facts. The Presbyterians of Scotland, it 
 is well known, are Psedobaptists. Of them it is said by a 
 recent historian, " The Scotch have been a very intelli- 
 gent and pious people. They have adhered remarkably 
 to the great doctrines of the Reformation. The Sabbath 
 they have rigidly observed. To catechetical instruction 
 they have attended more strictly than any part of the Chris- 
 tian church." Of the Independent Church, organized by 
 Mr. Robinson, and settled for a time at Leyden, in Hol- 
 land, it is said that they were, " in discipline, rigid ; in 
 practice, very exemplary." It is also said of them, that 
 " the magistrates declared from the seat of justice, after 
 they had resided in Leyden twelve years, ' These English 
 have now lived among us these twelve years, and yet we 
 
INTO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP. 283 
 
 have never had one suit or action com6 against them.' " 
 They, too, tccre Ptsdobcqjtists. Of the first settlers of New 
 England it is said, " They were abundant in preaching, 
 prayer, catechising, and visiting from house to house ; and 
 such was the fidelity, and such the excellent character 
 of the emigrants, that religion exceedingly flourished, 
 and intemperance, profaneness. Sabbath-breaking, and 
 other gross immoralities, were for a long time unknown in 
 the communhy." Of the present Independent churches 
 of New England, it is said by the same author, " Cate- 
 chetical instruction has been thoroughly pursued. Sab- 
 bath school and Bible classes are in powerful operation ; 
 and in no part of the Christian church have the doctrines 
 of the gospel been so well understood by the great mass 
 of her ordinary members." 
 
 That the influence which these sentiments exert at 
 present, upon families, upon schools, upon churches and 
 communities, is most powerfully beneficial and hallowing, 
 is a matter of fact before our eyes None can deny it. 
 Those churches in our own denomination which best un- 
 derstand and practice this doctrine, are decidedly the most 
 systematic, the most pious and flourishing. And I would 
 also add, that those families in which this subject is most 
 attended to, are generally the most intelligent and devout. 
 
 It is also true, that the greatest friends to general edu- 
 cation in our country, have been Paedobaptists. The most 
 prompt and unwearied, also, in the cause of Sunday schools, 
 and all enterprises that are designed to benefit the young, 
 are of the same creed. The originator of this wonderful 
 scheme was himself a Pasdobaptist. 
 
 What reformations have been effected in communities 
 
284 RECEPTION OF CUILDREN, ETC. 
 
 through tliis medium ! What numerous conversions have 
 taken place under the influence of tliese sentiments ! What 
 great luminaries have been raised up in the church in this 
 way ! How much domestic and church instruction has 
 thus been accomplished ! IIow much benevolent and 
 missionary labor efiected ! Even Judson, in all probability, 
 had never been an Indian missionary, but for the influence 
 of these same sentiments ! Who can see all this, and 
 doubt the divine origin of this ordinance? 
 
LECTURE XIII. 
 
 .VEW TESTAMENT EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 
 
 I. The first remark I here make is, that the New 
 Testament did, by no means, introduce a state of things 
 entirely original. The changes it effected consisted chief- 
 ly in two particulars — the reformation of the abuses con- 
 nected with a church already existing, and the completion 
 of that church itself When the Saviour commenced his 
 ministry, he found at the head of the Jewish church a 
 great many false teachers. Their influence was great, 
 and their sentiments pernicious. Through their instru- 
 mentality, the truth had been perverted, prophecy was 
 darkened, and the institutions of the ancient dispensation 
 covered with rubbish. It was, therefore, necessary, that 
 this Divine Teacher should commence immediately the 
 work of reform. In all his instructions, and particularly 
 in his sermon on the mount, we have abundant evidences 
 of his labors in this respect. He censures these false in- 
 structors themselves, he exhibits the corruptions they had 
 heaped upon the cause of God, he overcomes their argu- 
 ments, and portrays the hypocrisy and inconsistency of 
 
280 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 their lives. His labors, in this respect, much resembled 
 that of tiie Reformers in a later age, whose province it was 
 to rescue the truth of God from the abuses of the Romish 
 hierarchy. Now it is very easy for persons in the present 
 day to suppose that the corruptions of the prevailing sects 
 in the time of Christ, were defects in the original Jewish 
 church ; and that while the Saviour was attempting to 
 reform principles already existing, he was aiming to insti- 
 tute a state of things perfectly opposite to that which existed 
 in the days of the patriarchs and prophets. But, certain- 
 ly, it must be evident to the most casual observer, that one 
 great object of the Saviour's ministry was to bring things 
 back to their original state. It was not the design of our 
 Reformers to institute a state of things essentially different 
 from what e.\isted in the primitive Christian church : it 
 was their aim to bring back that very state of things, if 
 IX)ssible. We are not to suppose, therefore, that because 
 Christ opposed the Scribes and Pharisees, he also opposed 
 the Jewish church ; or, that because he censured the ble- 
 mishes and absurdities of the religious sects around him, he 
 also designed to condemn the principles and practices that 
 existed in the times of Moses and David. 
 
 The other part of the Saviour's mission consisted in the 
 completion of a system of things already commenced. The 
 foundation of the church was already laid ; it needed a 
 superstructure. The gospel had already been preached ; 
 it needed only brighter disclosures. Prophecy had long 
 foretold the advent and death of the Messias; it was ne- 
 cessary that he should come, and that he should actually 
 die for the sins of men. Very many, too, of the institutions 
 of religion had already been given ; these needed in part 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 287 
 
 a new modeling — needed to be adapted to the universal 
 spread of the gospel. 
 
 But whether we look at the work of Christ as the reforma- 
 tion of a co7-rupt church, or the completion of an unfinish. 
 cd church, in either case, the state of things introduced by 
 him, bears the strongest affinity possible to that which ex- 
 isted among the Jews. On this subject. Dr. Miller, in his 
 Essay on the Eldership, thus remarks, " It is impossible 
 fully to understand either the spirit, the facts, or the no- 
 menclature of the New Testament, without going back to 
 the Old. The Christian religion is founded upon that of 
 the Jews; or rather, is the completion of it. The latter 
 was the infancy and adolescence of that body, of which the 
 former is the manhood." Bishop Burnet, as quoted by the 
 same author, thus remarks, " Any that will impartially read 
 the New Testament, will find that when the forms of govern- 
 ment or worship are treated of, it is not done with such 
 architectural exactness, as was necessary if a new thing 
 had been instituted, which we find practised by Moses. 
 But the apostles rather speak as those who give rules for 
 the ordering and directing of what was already in being." 
 And a greater than ehher has said, " I came not to destroy 
 the law or the prophets, but to fulfill." 
 
 Now if the New Testament be but the completion of the 
 Old, and if there be, as there must, certain fundamental 
 principles running through both, it is of the utmost impor- 
 tance to truth and piety, carefully and accurately to ascer- 
 tain what these principles are. Without this we shall be 
 liable either to receive as permanent what has passed away, 
 or to reject as false what still remains : — thus, " while we 
 pull up the tares we shall root up the wheat also." If there 
 
288 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 be those, tlien, wlio either reject the Old Testament alto- 
 gether, or reject it so far as to deny that many of its essen- 
 tial principles arc to be found in the New ; it is absolutely 
 impossible for such persons to arrive at truth. They may 
 suppose that the easier way to discriminate between the 
 Old and New Testaments, is to deny their connection ; still, 
 however, commencing with such a premise, their conclu- 
 sions must inevitably be false ; and all the efforts they 
 make to uphold themselves will but conduct them farther 
 into absurdity. 
 
 II. My second remark is, that it is not necessary to 
 find in the New Testament, the apccijic command that 
 infants should be baptized, or the definite fact that they 
 were baptized, in order to prove from the New Testament, 
 that they both were, and are to be, baptized. On this sub- 
 ject I employ three arguments. 
 
 1. The first of these is, that since pa?domembership 
 had long been a law in the church, the fact that it is not 
 repealed in the New Testament, is itself sufficient evidence 
 of its present existence. I have already shown that there 
 is but one church of Christ on earth. Now, the institu- 
 tions, laws, &.C. of this church have been formed and col- 
 lected in the same way, as laws and institutions originate 
 in human governments. No government has been com- 
 pleted at once. In all of them improvement is gradual, 
 and perfection distant. In the midst, however, of these 
 successive steps towards their consummation, it is a prin- 
 ciple universally acknowledged, that a law tchich has been 
 made is in force, until repealed by the same authority/ that 
 enacted it, or by its equal. Take, for example, the govern- 
 ment of England. The statutes of that kingdom have 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED, 289 
 
 been instituted at different times. Some originated under 
 Henry VIII., others under James I., and others under the 
 Georges. They have been collected through successive 
 administrations. Now it is perfectly evident, that a law, 
 originating in the time of Henry VIII., if it be not subse- 
 quently repealed, is still a law of that realm. This lav. 
 may not have been mentioned in the time of James I.; it 
 may have been but incidentally alluded to in the times of 
 the Georges; still is it a law in full force. The same may 
 be said of our country ; of any country. The statute laws of 
 any nation consist in the collection of those laws that have 
 been enacted at different times and under different adminis- 
 trations. A law which is made by one Congress, does 
 not necessarily become obsolete upon the assembling of 
 another. This latter may have the authority to abrogate 
 It; but, unless they do actually annul it, it still remains a 
 law of the government in full force. 
 
 Now the church has as really passed through different 
 admmistrations, as any human government whatever. It 
 existed, first, in an unembodied state. It was afterwards 
 concentrated in the family of Abraham and the patriarchs. 
 It was then organized with great regularity and precision 
 under Moses. It was improved by all the prophets ; and 
 It now enjoys its richest glory under the dispensation of the 
 gospel. The excellency, however, of the present dispen- 
 sation, IS not constituted exclusively from the instructions 
 of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament ; hut 
 from a collection of all the instructions , laws and promi- 
 ses, that have ever beeti given to this church. The book of 
 Genesis is just as much a book of the church, as the book 
 
 of Matthew's gospel And as he who separates the New 
 25 
 
tJ90 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 Testament from the Old, eclipses the splendor of the Old : 
 so he that takes away the Old from the New eclipses that 
 of the New. They are but the different records of differ- 
 ent administrations in the same church. Certain then it 
 IS, that a law found m the book of Genesis, is just as obli- 
 gatory, as a law found in the gospel of Matthew, unless the 
 law in Genesis be afterwards repealed. If then an ordi- 
 nance for the membership of children, be distinctly exhi- 
 bited in the book of Genesis, and be also sanctioned by all 
 »he Scriptures down to the time of Christ; in fact, be ever 
 rtcognizcd in the very person of the Saviour himself; and 
 if this ordinance be no where repealed in the writings of 
 the New Testament, it is evident that such ordinance still 
 exists m the church. The specific repeal, then, of the or- 
 dinance of pa^domembership, being no where found in the 
 New Testament Scriptures, the membership of children 
 follows as a matter of course. Nor will it suffice here to 
 say, that, since the New Testament distinctly teaches that 
 circumcision, the ancient form by which children were in- 
 troduced into the church, is abrogated, therefore the uitro- 
 duction of children is also repealed. If this conclusion 
 vvere correct, it would exclude adulis as well as children ; 
 for cnxumcision was the initiatory rite in the one case, as 
 well as in the other. But if, on the contrary, both adults 
 and children were admitted into the Jewish church by 
 circumcision, and if adults are introduced into the Chris- 
 tian church by baptism, and the New Testament does not 
 prohibit children from being introduced in the same way, 
 It is perfectly plain that the very silence of the New Testa- 
 ment is proof of their right to membership. 
 
 2. Another argument in favor of this position, is taken 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED 291 
 
 liom what is termed proselyte baptism. That Gentiles 
 were frequently introduced into the Jewish church, is cer- 
 tain : that they were circumcised when thus introduced, is 
 also certain ; nor is it much less evident that they were 
 also baptized. The fact, that they were generally regard- 
 ed by the Jews as unclean, would render this absolutely 
 necessary. We know that with regard to the Jews them- 
 selves, when ceremonially polluted, they always went 
 through certain watery ablutions before entering the tem- 
 ple, or commg to the Passover. It would, therefore, be not 
 only natural, but essential, to purify Gentiles in the same 
 way This, too, would always be done on their first intro- 
 duction into the Jewish community, and would be extend, 
 ed to the ichoJe family icithout distinction. In confirmation 
 of this, Knapp observes, " The Talmud and its interpre- 
 ter s relate, that the proselytes, as well circumcised as uncir- 
 cumcised, xcere initiated by baptism into the worship of the 
 one true God, and that it was a symbol of purif cation from 
 sin, and of the renunciation of heathenism ; and that they 
 tcere then considered as born again." Besides the autho- 
 rity upon which this declaration rests, it also has much 
 additional evidence, from the two following considerations, 
 
 First. That it is by no means likely that the Talmu- 
 dists should borrow the rite of baptism from the Christian 
 church It IS much more evident that the Christian church 
 received this ordinance from the Jews themselves. 
 
 Secondly. This fact accounts for many things in the 
 New Testament, rather mysterious without it. Upon the 
 supposition that proselyte baptism was an ordinance well 
 known to the Jews, we perceive how it was this people so 
 well understood this rite, as performed bv John, We also 
 
292 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 see why it was. tliat m its introduction into tlie Christian 
 church, no explanation accompanied it, — why it was that 
 women were baptized without any particular specification , 
 and how it was that Christ said to Nicodemus, " Except a 
 man be born of w aier and of the spirit, he cannot enter 
 into the kingdom of God.'' And probably, too, it was in 
 this way, that the baptism of Gentiles, without their cir- 
 cumcision, was more easily understood by the apostles and 
 early teachers of Christianity. 
 
 If, then, baptism existed in the church long before the 
 lime of Christ, and if in such baptisms both males and fe- 
 males, adults and children, participated, it is evident, be- 
 yond all controversy, that the Saviour's command to bap- 
 tize the nations, unaccompanied as it is by any explana- 
 tion, must have designed the baptism of children, as well 
 as that of their parents. Proselyte baptism rcas adminis- 
 tered by families ; Christian baptism must also have been 
 administered by families. 
 
 3. A third argument in support of this position is, that 
 if, on account of the inex2}licitncss of the New Testament 
 on the subject of infant baptism, we reject this institution ; 
 on the very same ground must we also reject a first-day 
 Sabbath. That the institution of the Sabbath is of paral- 
 lel importance with that of baptism, will be denied by none 
 who understand us nature and design. The Sabbath was 
 first appointed in Eden, before the fall of man. It was 
 subsequently incorporated into the very centre of the moral 
 law, and engraved by the finger of God upon a table of 
 stone. Like the other moral precepts, it was laid up in 
 the ark of the covenant, and placed in the '• Holv of Ho- 
 lies." From its earliest origin, it has been an essential 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 293 
 
 support to the very existence of religion. So buried in the 
 world as man is, unless there were a special day set apart 
 for the worship of God, and sustained by divine authority, 
 the services of the sanctuary would soon be deserted, and 
 the chants and sports of bacchanalians, would soon sue 
 ceed the solemn celebrations of the Creator's praise. 
 
 If, then, the Sabbath be an institution of at least equal 
 importance with baptism, a change in the one is as impor- 
 tant as a change in the other. Now, that the evidence in 
 the New Testament to substantiate a change in the Sab- 
 bath, is as slender as that which establishes the right of 
 infants to baptism, is absolutely certain. If, then, infant 
 baptism be denied, on the very same groiind a first-day 
 Sabbath must also be denied. Many who object to infant 
 baptism, have perceived the force of this conclusion, and 
 some of them have even gone so far as to deny the Sab- 
 bath altogether, as an institution of the gospel ! A princi- 
 pie which leads to a result so subversive of Christianity 
 itself, and so injurious to all religion, we hesitate not to 
 affirm, cannot be from God. 
 
 The man, therefore, who predicates the baptism of 
 infants upon the very silence of the New Testament, places 
 it upon a foundation which cannot be shaken. This si- 
 lence, let it be remembered, too, is not a silence as to the 
 ordinance of baptism itself, it refers to \\\q particular spe- 
 cification of infants, as subjects for this ordinance. Now 
 we hesitate not to say, that the particidar specification of 
 women, in the general command to baptize, was just as 
 necessary to their introduction into the Christian church, 
 as the particular specification of children was, in order to 
 
 their admission to the rite of baptism. In fact, even more 
 
 25* 
 
•294 ^EW■ TESTAMENT 
 
 SO ; for among the Jews, children were really accessible to 
 the sign of the covenant, while women were not. 
 
 III. A third remark I make is, that there are many 
 passages in the New Testament, a fair interpretation of 
 which, will furnish sufficient evidence for the baptism O'f 
 children. 
 
 1. The first passages we shall examine are to be found 
 m Matt. 28; 18—20, and Mark IG: 15, 10. The former 
 reads thus, " And Jesus came and spake unto them, say- 
 ing, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth 
 Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them m 
 the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
 have commanded you ; and lo, I am with you always, even 
 unto the end of the world." The latter reads thus, " And 
 he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is 
 baptized, shall be saved ; but he that believeth not, shall 
 be damned.' 
 
 These two texts are parallel and similar : they are but 
 the two different modes in which the evangelists Matthew 
 and Mark narrate the same fact. It is also to be observ- 
 ed, that it was at the annunciation of these texts, that 
 baptism was made a regular ordinance in the Christian 
 church. In order to understand these passages distinctly, 
 I would observe, that the command in Mark, "Go ye into 
 all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," is 
 of the same import with the following, in Matthew, " Go 
 ye, therefore, and teach all nations." The meaning of 
 each is the same — they are a general and binding commis- 
 sion, given to all the rninisters of the gospel, cxtraordi- 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 295 
 
 nary and ordinary, to publish the gospel over the whole 
 earth. 
 
 Again, the passage in Mark, " He that believeth and 
 is baptized, shall be saved," is the same as that in Mat- 
 thew, " baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." That is, some of those 
 to whom the gospel is sent, are to be baptized, others are 
 not. Now the question at issue is, to tohom is baptism to 
 be administered ? 
 
 On one point all are agreed — that, according to Mat- 
 thew, those adults who receive the instructions given are 
 to be baptized ; or that, according to Mark, those adults 
 who believe the gospel preached, are to be baptized. 
 Here there is no controversy. But are the children of 
 those adults who receive the instructions given, or who be- 
 lieve the gospel preached, to be baptized also ? To this 
 we answer in the affirmative, for the following reasons. 
 
 First, Because a very natural and unforced interpre- 
 tation of this commission would embrace the children of 
 such parents. The terms, "all nations," and "all the 
 world," will include such children. 
 
 Such general appellations as these sometimes enibrace 
 women and children, and sometimes they do not : the cir- 
 cumstances of the case must always determine it. Thus, 
 if it were said, that ' Europe was at war,' women and 
 children would of course be excluded, because it is men 
 who carry on war. But if it were said, that ' Europe had 
 been visited by the great plague,' women and children 
 would, of course, be embraced ; since the ravages of that 
 disease would know no difference in society If it were 
 said that ' the United States had made a certain law,' 
 
'296 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 women and children would of course be excluded, because 
 men usually legislate. But should it be said, that ' the 
 United States had been afflicted by a famine,' women and 
 children would, of course, be included, since they are as 
 liable to the evils of such a judgment as men. 
 
 Now there are four things predicated of the " all na- 
 tions," or " all the world," in these texts They are to 
 be taught, or preached to — they are to believe — they are 
 to be baptized — and they are to be saved. Now, two of 
 these can be affirmed of infants, and two cannot. They 
 cannot be taught, nor can they believe ; but they are ca- 
 pable of both infant baptism, and of salvation. There are 
 natural barriers in the one case ; there are none in the 
 other. Now if this commission means, that those who 
 are capable of being taught, are to be taught ; that those 
 who can exercise faith, should be required to believe ; 
 does it not also mean, that those who can be lawfully 
 baptized, are to be baptized; and that those who arc Jit 
 subjects for salvation, shall be saved ? Now, that the in- 
 fants of believers could be introduced into the Christian 
 church by baptism, just as the offspring of Jewish parents 
 were by circumcision, is evident ; and that they are among 
 the saved, is generally allowed. This first commission, 
 then, of the Saviour to his disciples to spread the gospel 
 over the earth, does very naturally embrace the children 
 of the pious as fit subjects for baptism 
 
 Secondly. Although the words "teach" and ''believe," 
 in these texts precede the words "baptizing" or "bap- 
 tized;" yet does this fact not prove, but that, in the prac 
 tice, in some instances at least, baptism may be performed 
 first, and then teachmg and faith may follow. In John 3: 5, 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 297 
 
 It IS said, " Except a man be born of water and of the 
 Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Here the 
 water is put first. But according to the opinions of those 
 whose sentiments I am opposing, the Spirit must first be 
 given. Now, by parity of reasoning, we may suppose, 
 that water, in the case of infants, may first be administered, 
 and then the teaching and faith may follow. 
 
 Besides, even supposing as we do, that the Saviour de- 
 signed to teach his disciples to baptize children, a different 
 mode of expression from that employed in these texts, 
 would have been extremely circumlocuitous and awk- 
 ward. It would have been somewhat in the following 
 form, ' Go ye. therefore, and teach all nations ; baptizing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost ; infants, however, you may baptize be- 
 fore teaching, as they are incapable of receiving instruc- 
 tion.' Certainly such a mode of expression has no paral- 
 lel in the Word of God. 
 
 And, again; if the Saviour designed to teach them, 
 that the children of believing parents were to be baptized, 
 and if they understood him thus, such an appendix to the 
 commission would have been absurd ; for the apostles well 
 knew, that infants were alike incapable of either instruc- 
 tion or faith. So that all this can mean, as applied to in- 
 fants, is, that whe7i they are capable of faith, it should be 
 required ; and when they are capable of instruction, it 
 should be communicated. But it is no more necessary that 
 they should be taught, and that they should believe, in 
 order to infant baptism, than that they should be taught 
 and should believe, in order to salvation. 
 
 Thirdly The apostles must necessarily have under- 
 
•^98 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 Stood the command to baptize, as applicable to the chil- 
 dren of professing believers. They were Jews, and had 
 long been accustomed to the introduction of children into 
 the church. They had been accustomed to this not only 
 by the rite of circumcision, but of baptism also. The 
 children of believing Gentiles had long been introduced 
 into the church by the same ordinance, which was then 
 enjoined upon them. Nor were they strangers to the 
 requisition of faith m order to church membership. Cir- 
 cumcision, as well as proselyte baptism, had always re- 
 quired this qualification in order to its proper administra- 
 tion. " 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." To suppose, therefore, that the 
 apostles could have understood this commission, so as to 
 exclude the children of believers from baptism is the 
 height of absurdity. And to suppose that the Saviour 
 designed them to understand it thus, is equally irrational. 
 
 Suppose that the command had run thus, ' Go. teach all 
 nations, circumcising them,' (Sec. — what meaning must 
 the apostles have attached to such a commission ? Cer- 
 tainly, that they were to circumcise believing adults, and 
 also their children. Suppose that the command had been 
 thus expressed, ' Go teach all nations, proselyting them,' 
 &LC. — what construction would the apostles have also put 
 upon these words ? Certainly, that they were to receive 
 into membership, by both circumcision and baptism, all 
 who should receive the gospel : and that they should ad- 
 minister the same rite to their children What, then, is the 
 difference, when he commands them to preach the gospel 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 299 
 
 and baptize ? Unquestionably, under these circumstances, 
 they must have understood him as before to mean, that 
 they were to baptize believers and their seed. They could 
 not have possibly understood him differently. No Jew 
 could have understood him to mean any thing else. Nor 
 can we, but by a thoughtless disregard of all the rules of 
 just interpretation. 
 
 Now, if it were absolutely impossible, that any among 
 the Jews could have understood the Saviour differently, 
 from what we here maintain, then, certainly, it was the 
 design of the Redeemer, in these texts, to include the 
 children of believers in the command which he gave his 
 apostles, to disciple the nations. The fact, therefore, that 
 these passages run as they do, is altogether in favor of 
 infant baptism ; and against the sentiments of those who 
 deny it. 
 
 From what has been said it is evident, that the baptism 
 of the children of believers is clearly inculcated, in the 
 very first introduction of this ordinance into the Christian 
 church. And the requisition, of ^particular specification, 
 of such children, as fit subjects for baptism, in this com- 
 mission, in order to their admission to such rite, is not 
 only unfair, but irrcdioncd. Women are not specified ; and 
 yet we find the apostles baptizing them in their subse- 
 quent ministry. Nor are any distinct classes of men speci- 
 fied ; and yet we find that all classes were admissible to 
 this ordinance. And the supposition, that the requisition 
 of faith excludes them, is a mere cavil. Because, we 
 have already shown that faith was required, in both infant 
 circumcision, and in infant proselyte baptism, But, then, 
 it is the faith of the parent, when such ordinances are 
 
300 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 administered to children. Besides, if the want of faith in 
 a child excludes from baptism, then it also excludes from 
 salvation. 
 
 2. A second set of passaccs which we shall consider, 
 are the following : Matt. 19: 13—15. Mark, 10; 13— lb, 
 and Luke, 18: 15—17. 
 
 In Matthew the circumstance is thus related, '• Then 
 were there brought unto him little children, that he should 
 put his hands on them and pray ; and the disciples rebuked 
 them. But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid 
 them not, to come unto me : for of such is the kingdom of 
 heaven. And he laid his hands on them and departed 
 thence." In Mark it is thus expressed, " 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." Luke states it thus, " And they brought 
 unto him also infants, that he would touch them : but 
 when his disciples saw it they rebuked them. But Jesus 
 called them unto him, and said. Suffer 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, shall in 
 no wise enter therein." 
 
 With regard to the practical inference drawn from the 
 incident above alluded to, and mentioned by Mark and 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 301 
 
 Luke, it is evident that it was made for the special benefit 
 of those around the Saviour when this circumstance occur- 
 red ; especially was it designed for the benefit of the dis- 
 ciples who kept the children back. This being but a kind 
 of appendix, has but little to do with the explanation of the 
 passage itself However, if it be insisted upon as a key 
 to unfold the meaning of the phrases with which it is con- 
 nected, it will still subserve our purpose ; for it declares, 
 that there is as much fitness for the kingdom of God in a 
 little child, as there is in a converted adult. 
 
 It is evident that the children here spoken of were 
 babes, for they are called both " little children" and " in- 
 fants." 
 
 Nor is it less obvious, that by the phrase " kingdom of 
 Heaven or of God," here, is meant the Christian church. 
 This phrase very generally signifies the church in the gos- 
 pels; and the circumstances of the present case seem to 
 confine its signification to this particular. The disciples, 
 and probably the believing Jews generally, entertained 
 very erroneous opinions as to the nature of the mission of 
 Christ. They even associated with it, an earthly sove- 
 reignty. The Saviour, therefore, embraced every opportu- 
 nity of removing these errors, and of establishing them in 
 the knowledge of the truth. The incident in these texts 
 offered a fit opportunity for the communication of such 
 knowledge. " Whosoever," says he, " shall not receive the 
 kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter 
 therein." Now it seems evident that the kingdom of God, 
 here, means the church, or that kingdom the Saviour was 
 about to set up on earth. And if that phrase, in this case, 
 
 means the Christian church, it also does in the other in- 
 26 
 
302 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 Stance where the Redeemer says, "of such is the kingdom 
 of God." 
 
 I would also remark that the Saviour received these 
 children with great promptness. Just so soon as he per- 
 ceived that the disciples had hindered them from approach- 
 ing him, it is said, he " was much displeased," and ex- 
 claimed, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and 
 forbid them not ;" and then taking them to his bosom, he 
 blessed them. 
 
 The argument contained in these passages, however, 
 chiefly consists in the following phraseology, "for of such 
 is the kingdom of Heaven." What did the Saviour mean 
 by this expression ? Our opponents would say he meant, 
 that "of persons, who, in their tempers and dispositions, 
 resemble little children — ' of such was the kingdom of 
 heaven.' " But, this interpretation evidently makes non- 
 sense. Children are brought to Christ — the disciples for- 
 bid their admission — the Saviour, perceiving it, exclaims 
 " suffer them to come ;" ' for of adults of childlike tempers 
 and dispositions is the kingdom of God !' It is evident, 
 that this interpretation cannot be the meaning of the pas- 
 sage, for it destroys its sense. What other meaning, then, 
 can be assigned ? Certainly none at all, unless we sup- 
 pose that the Redeemer designed to express a meetness in 
 children for that kingdom which he was about to set up on 
 earth. The word smcA evidently refers to "little children" 
 — the phrase "kingdom of Heaven" certainly seems to be 
 confined in this place to the Christian church ; and the 
 whole expression was designed to contain a reason why 
 children should be brought to Christ. Put all these things 
 together, and it Ls certain that this passage was designed 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 303 
 
 to express the admissibility of infants to church member- 
 ship, or, which is the same thing, to baptism. Nor is it 
 any objection to this conclusion to say, these children were 
 not brought to Christ for baptism. This no one will as- 
 sert. We are only inquiring into the meaning of the Sa- 
 viour's language. And, certainly, if words convey any 
 meaning, these imply the fitness of the children of believ- 
 ers for baptism. 
 
 3. A third passage is the following, in Acts, 2: 38, 39. 
 " Then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized, every 
 one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission 
 of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
 For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to 
 all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God 
 shall call." 
 
 In order to understand this passage, it will be neces- 
 sary, in the first place, to inquire what is meant here by 
 the word promise. In Gal. chap. 3, we have this sub- 
 ject clearly explained. In verses 13, 14, are these words, 
 •' Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being 
 made a curse for us : that the blessings of Abraham might 
 come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ; that we might 
 receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Again, 
 in verses 16, 17, it is said, " Now to Abraham and his seed 
 were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as of 
 many, but as of one : and to thy seed, which is Christ. 
 And this I say, that the covenant that was confirmed be- 
 fore of God in Christ, the law which was four hundred and 
 thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the 
 promise of none effect." In verse 22, it is said, " But the 
 Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise 
 
304 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 by faith of Jesus Christ, might he given to them that be- 
 lieve." And again, in verse 29, are these words, " And if 
 ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs ac- 
 cording to the promise." In Heb. 11: 39, it is said, " And 
 these all having obtained a good report through faitli, re- 
 ceived not the promise." 
 
 From all these passages, it is evident that the wor'd 
 promise, as spoken of by Peter, meant those assurances given 
 to Abraham, that through the Mcssiali a great abundance 
 of grace should be extended to his postetity ; and which was 
 to be received by them ifi the exercise of faith. This is 
 beautifully expressed by the prophet in the following lan- 
 guage, " For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, 
 and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour out my Spirit 
 upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring." 
 Is. 44: 3. 
 
 By the woi^ promise is meant, then, \\\osg gospel bless- 
 ings which were preached to the multitudes on the day of 
 Pentecost, and which had previously been proclaimed to 
 Abraham. This is also confirmed by what the same 
 Apostle says in the next chapter, and in the same way, 
 " Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant 
 which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, 
 And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be 
 blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son 
 Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of 
 you from his iniquities." Acts 3: 25, 2G. 
 
 . But the principal question in debate here is, to whom 
 were these blessings offered? "For the promise," says 
 the Apostle, " is to you and your children ; and to all that 
 are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 305 
 
 It is evident, in the first place, that these blessings 
 were offered to the adult Jews then listening to the Apos- 
 tle, and living in Jerusalem. 
 
 It is also evident, that they were designed to be ex- 
 tended to the Gentiles, for this is what is meant by the 
 expression, " all that are afar off." 
 
 But, in addition to these, it is said that the promise is 
 to certain "children." Now, it is evident that this must 
 embrace one of two things, either adult or younger children. 
 But it could not, with the least propriety, be referred to 
 adult children ; because, adult children were then compo- 
 nent parts of the audience addressed. The term children, 
 here, then, must refer to younger children, at that time un- 
 der age, and fit subjects for membership in the Christian 
 church by baptism. 
 
 It also confirms this view of the subject, to remember, 
 that allusion is here made to Abraham, the father of cir- 
 cumcision. The Jews, then addressed, had always been 
 in the habit of circumcising their children. They placed 
 even an excessive reliance upon that ordinance. They 
 associated with it every divine blessing. When, there- 
 fore, the Apostle exhorted them, under conviction for sin, 
 to " repent and be baptized," and urged as a motive, " for 
 the promise is to you and your children ;" it was utterly 
 impossible for a Jew not to have understood the Apostle, 
 as directing him to baptize his children as well as himself, 
 in expectation of the same grace for his offspring that 
 was extended to him. To conceive differently, is to sup- 
 pose that Peter designedly misled his countrymen on that 
 solemn occasion. I say designedly ; for, as a Jew, address- 
 ing Jews, his language must inevitably have done so, un- 
 26* 
 
306 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 less he intended the admission of their children also to 
 membership with their parents. 
 
 4. A fourth set of passages will be found in Acts IG: 
 14, 15, 31 — 34. 1 Cor. 1: IC. The first of these passages 
 reads thus, " 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 upon the things which were spoken of Paul. 
 And when she was baptized, and her household, she be- 
 sought us, saying. If ye have judged me to be faithful to 
 the Lord, come into my house and abide there : and she 
 constrained us." The second is expressed thus, " And 
 they, (Paul and Silas addressing the jailer in the prison at 
 Philippi,) said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 sh^lt 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, straight- 
 way. And when he had brought them into his house, he 
 set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with 
 all his house." The last passage reads thus, " And I bap- 
 tized also the household of Stephanas." 
 
 With regard to the first of these cases, it seems evident 
 that the family of Lydia was baptized upon the profession 
 of her faith. It is said, and when she was baptized and her 
 household. She was first baptized, and then her family. 
 Certainly more could not be said of any Pa.>dobaptist what- 
 ever. She was, also, the principal person in her house. 
 In addressing the Apostles, she associates no other with 
 her. " If," says she, " ye have judged me to be faithful to 
 the Lord, come into mi/ house and abide there." Observe, 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 307 
 
 now, the circumstances. She had a family of some sort; 
 she was baptized before them ; speaks in her own name ; 
 holds the entire prominence in the whole transaction ; they 
 were all baptized. Certainly, if these circumstances prove 
 any thing, it is that Lydia, after believing and being bap- 
 tized herself, gave to God her family in the same ordi- 
 nance by which she herself had been sealed as a Christian 
 believer. 
 
 Nor is it an objection to this conclusion to say, that there 
 is no satisfactory evidence that she had a family of small 
 children. It matters not whether they were infants, or 
 older children. In either case, if they were not really 
 adults, it would have been her duty to have baptized them. 
 Nor is the circumstance related in the last verse of 
 this chapter, any thing contrary to this conclusion. It is 
 there said, " And they went out of the prison, and entered 
 into the house of Lydia : and when they had seen the 
 brethren, they comforted them and departed." From the 
 prison the Apostles went to Lydia's. This was natural, 
 for their lodgings had been there before they were put into 
 the prison. They had been tarrying there, too, "many 
 days," and no doubt had received many accessions to the 
 church in the city. By the word " brethren," here, then, 
 we are not, by any means, to understand the " household" 
 of Lydia, but the church at Philippi. 
 
 In reference to the jailer, it is manifest, from the man- 
 ner in which Paul first addressed him, that his family were 
 baptized upon the profession of his faith. It was night ; 
 the jailer, under strong convictions of sin, had fallen at the 
 feet of the Apostles, exclaiming, " Sirs, what must I do to 
 be saved ?" Immediately the Apostle replies, " Believe in 
 
308 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy 
 house." Now nothing is more clear than that, in this di- 
 rection, the religious state of the jailer's family was sus- 
 pended upon faith in him. ' If thou believe,thou shalt be 
 saved, and thy house also.' 
 
 This interpretation is also strengthened by the follow- 
 ing phraseologies : " and was baptized, he and all his 
 straightway :" " and rejoiced, believing in God with all his 
 house." The word " house," as used in the Scriptures, in 
 the sense in which it is here, almost invariably means 
 children. And it is evident, that, in this case, it signifies 
 children under age, — for they are represented as living in 
 the jailer's family, and as being entirely under his control. 
 
 The jailer, too, is represented as the chief actor in the 
 whole affair. He said, " Sirs, what must / do to be 
 saved?" "And he took them;" and he "washed their 
 stripes ;" and " he was baptized," and all his; " he brought 
 them into his house ;" " he set meat before them ;" he, 
 "believing with all his house." "And they spake the 
 word of the Lord unto him, and to all that were in his 
 house." Throughout the whole, the jailer is chiefly to be 
 seen. 
 
 It seems, therefore, evident, that the children of the 
 jailer were baptized upon the profession of his faith. Nor 
 IS it an objection to this to say, that the word was preached 
 to him and to all in his family. This was a matter of 
 course. It is not to be expected that any Picdobaptist 
 would have neglected the instruction of the children. Nor 
 is it likely that the jailer had more than one or two chil- 
 dren incapable of receiving instruction. 
 
 As to the case of Stephanas, it is objected that children 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 309 
 
 could not have been baptized in that instance ; because 
 it is said in 1 Cor. 16: 15, " they had addicted them- 
 selves to the ministry of the saints." This, however, in- 
 stead of being any evidence against Paedobaptism, is but 
 a proof that Stephanas understood its nature well himself; 
 and that he had resolved to raise up his family according 
 to its requisitions. The pronoun "they," as well as 
 ministering to the saints, can certainly be referred to any 
 family whatever. A family ordinarily consists o^ father, 
 mother, larger and smaller children. Now, certainly, it 
 would have been perfectly proper for Paul to have thrown 
 such a household, or any household, into the plural number ; 
 and that they may have engaged in works of charity, is 
 certain. Besides, the Apostle says, " I baptized also the 
 household of Stephanas." It is clear, from the very phra- 
 seology, that Stephanas had children, and that those chil- 
 dren, still living in his family, were under age. If this be 
 so, of course they were baptized upon the faith of their 
 parent or parents. 
 
 5. Another example from the New Testament, which 
 will require a special consideration, is the following, 1 Cor. 
 7: 14—" For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the 
 wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; 
 ehe were your children unclean, hut now are they holy." 
 
 That the words " sanctified," " unclean," and "holy," as 
 used in this passage, refers to moral properties , and not to 
 either natural or civil, is so certain as to require no proof 
 They are borrowed from the Jewish Scriptures, in which 
 they invariably have that meaning. The Apostle was a 
 minister of Christ, and the persons he was addressing 
 were a Christian church. What had the Apostles, in this 
 
310 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 case, to do with political matters ? Besides, the question 
 under debate involved the moral aspect of marriage in re- 
 lation to the church. To suppose, therefore, that the words 
 above alluded to, have a civil and not a wora/ signification, 
 IS to destroy their meaning altogether. 
 
 The circumstances under which these words were 
 spoken, were as follows. It was customary among the 
 Jews, to interdict marriages between Jews and heathen. 
 Such alliances were always attended with the abscision 
 of the Jewish part of the marriage compact from the privi- 
 leges of his church, except in cases in which the heathen 
 party became a member of the Jewish community. In all 
 such cases, the children of such unequal marriages were 
 also regarded as unclean, and were debarred the rite of 
 circumcision, and other privileges belonging to the Jews. 
 Hence we find in Acts, ]6: 1 — 3, that Timothy had not 
 been introduced into the Jewish church at all, because 
 " kis father was a Greek." And thus also in Ezra 10: 
 we find that, after the Jews had married heathen wives, 
 and e?en had children by those wives, both their wives 
 and the children born of them were repudiated, to a very 
 large number. Now at the church at Corinth, it is like- 
 ly, there were Jews, as well as Gentiles, in the church. 
 These Jews would, of course, desire to have matters regu- 
 lated according to the ancient customs of their church. 
 And as there were among the Corinthian Christians, many 
 of these unequal alliances, the advice of a Jew, of course, 
 would be, that they should all be broken off; and that both 
 the unbelieving part of the marriage compact, together 
 with the offspring of such marriages, should be repudia- 
 ted. This immediately excited controversy about this 
 
EVIDENCE CONSIDERED. 311 
 
 matter : the consequence of which was, an appeal to the 
 judgment of the Apostle. The chapter from which this 
 text is taken contains the Apostle's advice in reply. 
 
 The substance of this advice is as follows : — ' That 
 there should be, if possible, no such separations of persons 
 already married — That if the believer had already sepa- 
 rated, he should remain unmarried, and should also seek 
 to be reconciled to the other part of the marriage compact 
 — That in cases, in which the unbelieving husband or wife 
 would not live with his partner, and the matter was irre- 
 concilable, such partner might seek another marriage.' 
 And, in order to induce compliance with his injunctions, 
 the Apostle employs the language in the passage under 
 consideration. " For the unbelieving husband is sanctified 
 by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the 
 husband : else were your children unclean, but now are 
 they holy." To which he also subjoins, as an additional 
 motive, " For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou 
 shalt save thy husband ? Or, how knowest thou, O man, 
 whether thou shalt save thy wife ?" 
 
 This language employed as a motive was two-fold. In 
 the first place, the salutary influence which the piety of 
 the believer would have upon the unbeliever; and, secondly, 
 the condition in which it placed the children of such mar- 
 riages. In reference to the former, it is said, " For the 
 unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the 
 unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband." The 
 meaning of this is evident : — It is, that instead of the cor- 
 rupting influence of the unbeliever, so polluting the be- 
 liever, as to separate him from the church and its privi- 
 leges ; the piety of the believer exerted a sanctifying influ- 
 
312 NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 ence upon the unbeliever ; and might even be made the 
 means of his conversion. Hence the Apostle exclaims, 
 " For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save 
 thy husband? Or, how knowest thou, O man, whether 
 thou shalt save thy wife ?'' 
 
 But the piety of the believer also affected the condi- 
 tion of the children of such marriages — " else, were your 
 children unclean, but note are they holy." The word else 
 refers to the previous fact, that such unequal connections 
 would not abscind the privileges of the believing party in 
 the marriage compact. ' If the privileges,' argues the Apos- 
 tle, ' of the believer were denied him, in consequence of his 
 having an unbelieving partner, then his children, (as was 
 always the case among the Jews,) would be unclean : but 
 since his privileges, as a member of the church, were not 
 to be denied him on this account, his children were holy.' 
 
 In order to understand this passage clearly, we must 
 have recurrence to the customs of tlie Jews in such cases. 
 Now, it is evident, that, according to the Jewish laws, an 
 unclean child would be rejected from circumcision. It is 
 also evident that a holy child, that is, one who was the 
 offspring of the members of their church, would always be 
 required to be circumcised. 
 
 We are obliged, therefore, to come to the conclusion, 
 that the Apostle meant, by the word " unclean," as applied 
 to these children, — inadmissible by baptism to the Chris- 
 tian community — and that he designed to represent them 
 by the term " holy," as admissible to such community, by 
 the same ordinance. Certain it is, that no Jew could 
 have understood him differently ; and as the sentiments of 
 the Jews were diffused throughout all those early Chris- 
 
EVIDENCES CONSIDERED. 313 
 
 tian churches, it is equally certain, that no Gentile believel^ 
 could have understood him differently. 
 
 Now, in conclusion, let us sum up the New Testament 
 evidence already separately exhibited in this lecture. We 
 have seen that without an express prohibition of the chil- 
 dren of believers from membership in the church, such 
 membership follows as a matter of course. That the in- 
 troduction of either circumcision, or baptism, or both, into 
 the Christian church, as the seal of membership, would 
 have embraced children, since they had both been applied 
 to children for a long time previously. That the denial of 
 infant baptism must be followed by the denial of a first- 
 day Sabbath. That in Christ's commission to his apos- 
 tles to baptize, he evidently included the children of be- 
 lievers. That before his crucifixion the Saviour took little 
 children in his arms and declared, " Of such is the king- 
 dom of God." That in the very first Christian sermon 
 preached to the Jews, Peter declared, " the promise is to 
 you and your children." That the Apostle Paul said to the 
 convicted jailer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved, and thy house. That Lydia and Stephanas 
 had their households baptized. And that the Apostle de- 
 clares the children of unbelievers to be " unclean;" but 
 that the children of believers are " holy." Let all this 
 amount of evidence be spread before the mind ; and if it 
 produce not the conviction, that the children of helievers 
 are to he baptized, we tremble for many other Christian 
 doctrines and institutions. To complain of the want of 
 light amidst such rich displays of it, is but to cavil at the 
 truth, and to venture upon the displeasure of God. Nor 
 
 can we expect the divine blessing in such a case. The 
 
 27 
 
314 NEW TESTAMENT EVIDENCES CONSIDERED. 
 
 frown of the Almighty will rest upon us, and our children. 
 We are trampling upon the very birthright of our own off- 
 spring. We are entailing poverty of soul upon our de- 
 scendants. We are alienating their affections from God, 
 and preparing them for a course of profligacy here, and the 
 awards of impenitence hereafter. And all this we are 
 doing by the perpetual rejection of light, and the pamper- 
 ing of prejudice. Ah me, I solemnly fear, that many a 
 poor child, lost through parental incredulity and folly, will 
 rise up in the judgment as a witness against their own 
 parents ! Oh that we were wise, that we would consider 
 this ; and avert from our houses the righteous judgments of 
 God! 
 
LECTURE XIV. 
 
 A CAREFUL EXAMINATION OF THE ACTS OF THE 
 APOSTLES. 
 
 I. Mi' first remark here is, that, as Christianity was ori- 
 ginally propagated by Jews, and at first chiefly among the 
 Jews ; and as the Christian system, instead of being en- 
 tirely an original one, was, in a great measure, the off- 
 spring of the Jewish church ; so we are not only to expect 
 that the Jews, when converted to Christianity, should un- 
 derstand its doctrines and institutions as Jews, but that 
 they should even comply icith many of the peculiarities of 
 Judaism, properly so called. 
 
 1. This would naturally arise from the very nature of 
 the case. Raised, from their earliest life, amidst the doc- 
 trines and habits of that system, it could not be expected 
 that they should renounce them at once. Their customs 
 and manners, their peculiar phraseologies, their concep- 
 tions of things, their whole character, would still remain 
 essentially Jewish. Nor would they cease at once to com- 
 ply with the forms of worship, and the various ceremonies 
 of the former dispensation, They would still visit the 
 
;J1G EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 synagogue, venerate the temple, circumcise their children, 
 and offer sacrifices. 
 
 Innovations in ancient usages are always gradual in 
 their development. When a nation, no\v-a-days, renounces 
 idolatry, we are not to expect a total eradication of all the 
 vestiges of superstition at once. This would be unreason- 
 able. Their language, and dress, and customs, and whole 
 character, would still be tinctured with the religion of their 
 ancestors. Even when a solitary individual, from a long 
 course of error and sin, is converted to God, many of his 
 old habits still remain, as relics of past impiety. This is 
 human nature, and it is invariably so. 
 
 2. This would also be peculiarly the state of things 
 among the Jews, since the Christian church not only bore 
 a strong analogy to their own ecclesiastical polity, but was 
 its predicted completion. That divine standard of doc- 
 trine, which they acknowledged, was also the text-book 
 of Christians. The Saviour of the Christian church was 
 their own promised Messiah. The abundant affusions of 
 the Holy Ghost, which was realized at the first preaching 
 of the gospel, was but the fulfillment of their own prophe- 
 cies. And as to the converted Gentiles, they were but in- 
 troduced, by the gospel, into those privileges which the 
 children of Abraham peculiarly regarded as their birth- 
 right. Under these circumstances, it is by no means pro- 
 bable, that the conversion of a Jew to Christianity would 
 be immediately succeeded by the entire renunciation of 
 Judaism. 
 
 3. This we find to be true in point of fact. The early 
 Jewish Christians worshipped in the temple, assembled in 
 the synagogues, circumcised their children, celebrated the 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 317 
 
 various feasts, and observed the ceremonies of their ancient 
 system. Of this we have abundant evidence in the Acts 
 of the Apostles. In chap. 3: 1, it is said, " Now Peter 
 and John went up together into the temple, at the hour of 
 prayer, being the ninth hour." In chap. 10: 9 — 16, we 
 find that a special vision was given to Peter, to convince 
 him of his duty to preach to the Gentiles. And even to 
 this time, that Apostle could say, in the language of a Jew, 
 " Not so Lord, for I have never eaten any thing that is 
 common or unclean." Verse 14. In chap. 11: 2, 3, are 
 these words, " And when Peter was come to Jerusalem, 
 they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 
 saying. Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst 
 eat with them." In verse 19 it is said, "Now they which 
 were scattered abroad upon the persecution that rose about 
 Stephen, travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and An- 
 tioch, preaching the word to none, hut unto the Jews onlyP 
 In 13: 14, 15, it is said, " But when they departed from 
 Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the 
 synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. And after 
 the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the 
 synagogue sent unto them, saying, ye men and brethren, 
 if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.'' 
 The great dissension in the fifteenth chapter also exhibits 
 the same thing. The Christian Jews observed particu- 
 larly, 
 
 First — the Jewish as well as the Christian Sabbath 
 In 17: 2, are these words, "And Paul, as his manner was 
 went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with 
 them out of the Scriptures." Again, in 20: 7, it is said, 
 
 " And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples 
 
 27* 
 
31S EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them," 
 6i,c. These are but two instances out of many, to show- 
 that the converted Jews, as they celebrated the Lord's 
 day in honor of Christ, also observed the seventh day from 
 ancient custom. 
 
 Secondly. They also observed both the Passover and 
 the Supper. In chap. 30: C, 7, both of these feasts are 
 alluded to almost together — " And we sailed from Philippi 
 after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them at 
 Troas in five days, where we abode seven days." In the 
 very next verse it is said, " And upon the first day of the 
 week, tchcn the disciples came together to break bread, 
 Paul preached unto them, and continued his speech until 
 midnight." By the " days of tinleavcned bread," is meant 
 the Passover, and by " the breaking of bread," the Sup- 
 per. Many other evidences might be adduced if neces- 
 sary. 
 
 Thirdly. The Christian Jews also observed both cir- 
 cumcision and baptism. In chap. 21: 17 — 26, are these 
 words, " And when we were come to Jerusalem, the 
 brethren received us gladly. And the day following, Paul 
 went in with us unto James ; and all the elders were pre- 
 sent. And when he had saluted them, he declared parti- 
 cularly w^hat things God had wrought among the Gentiles 
 by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified 
 the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how 
 many thousand Jews there are which believe ; and they 
 arc all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, 
 that thou teachest all the Jews, which are among the Gen- 
 tiles, to forsake IMoses, saying, that they ought not to cir- 
 cumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 319 
 
 What is it, therefore ? The multitude must needs come to- 
 gether ; for they will hear that thou art come. Do there- 
 fore this, that we may say unto thee, We have four men 
 which have a vow on them ; them take, and purify thyself 
 with them, and be at charges with them, that they may 
 shave their heads ; and all may know that those things 
 whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing : 
 but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the 
 laic. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have 
 written and concluded, that they observe no such thing, 
 save only that they keep themselves from things offered to 
 idols, and from blood, and from strangled and from forni- 
 cation. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, puri- 
 fying himself with them, entered into the temple, to signify 
 the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that 
 an offering should be offered for every one of them." This 
 quotation furnishes evidence conclusive, that all the Jews, 
 the apostles not excepted, observed the rite of circumcision. 
 This rite, it is true, was not imposed upon the Gentiles by 
 the apostles ; still, however, among the Jews its observ- 
 ance was universal. That they observed baptism will not 
 be denied. 
 
 Thus is it manifest that the converts from Judaism to 
 Christianity, originally, were both Jews and Christians. 
 They adhered both to Moses and to Christ: they believed 
 both the law and the gospel. 
 
 2. My second remark is, that although, according to 
 the commission of Christ, the apostles and others must, 
 in every case, have introduced persons into the Christian 
 church by baptism, yet there are a great many instances 
 recorded in the Acts, in which there is no mention made 
 
320 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 of the baptism of persons thus received into Christian com- 
 munion. 
 
 The following are the instances of this kind. 
 
 Acts 2: 47. " And the Lord added to the church daily 
 such as should be saved." 
 
 4: 4. " Ilowbeit many of them which heard the word 
 believed ; and the number of the men was about five thou- 
 sand.' 
 
 5: 14. " And believers were the more added to the 
 Lord, multitudes both of men and women." 
 
 6: 7. •' And the word of God increased ; and the 
 number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly ; 
 and a great company of the priests were obedient to the 
 faith." 
 
 9: 31. " Then had the churches rest, throughout all 
 Judea and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified ; and 
 walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the 
 Holy Ghost, were multiplied." 
 
 9: 35. ""And all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw 
 him, (Eneas,) and turned to the Lord." 
 
 . 9: 4*2. " And it (Peter's raising Tabitha from the 
 dead) was known throughout all Joppa ; and many be- 
 lieved in the Lord." 
 
 11: 21. "And the hand of the Lord was with them, 
 and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord." 
 
 11: 24. " And much people was added unto the Lord." 
 
 12: 24. " But the word of God grew and multiplied." 
 
 13: 12. " Then the deputy, when he saw what was 
 done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the 
 Lord." 
 
 13: 43 " Now, when the congregation was broken up. 
 
ACTS OP TH£ APOSTLES. 321 
 
 many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul 
 and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to 
 continue in the grace of God." 
 
 13: 4S. "And as many as were ordained to eternal 
 life believed." 
 
 14: 1. " And it came to pass in Iconium, that they 
 went both together, into the synagogue of the Jews, and 
 so spake that a great multitude, both of Jews and Greeks, 
 believed." 
 
 16: 5. " And so were the churches established in the 
 faith, and increased in number daily." 
 
 IT: 4. " And some of them believed, and consorted 
 with Paul and Silas ; and of the devout Greeks a great 
 multitude, and of the chief women not a few." 
 
 17: 12. " Therefore many of them believed ; also of 
 honorable women which were Greeks, and of men not a 
 few." 
 
 IT: 34. " Howbeit, certain men clave unto him and 
 believed ; among which was Dionysius the Areopagite, 
 and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." 
 
 13: 8. " And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, 
 believed on the Lord with all his house." 
 
 19: IS. " And many that believed, came and confessed 
 and showed their deeds." 
 
 2S: 24. '* And some believed the things that were 
 spoken." 
 
 The following are the cases recorded in the Acts, in 
 which it is definitely stated that persons admitted to the 
 church icerc baptized. 
 
 Acts 2: 41. "Then they that gladly received his 
 
322 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 word were baptized, and tlie same day there were added 
 unto them about three thousand souls." 
 
 8: 12. " But when they believed Philip, preaching the 
 things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name ol 
 Jesus Christ, they were baptized both men and women." 
 
 8: 13. "Then Simon himself believed also; and when 
 he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, 
 beholding the miracles and signs which were doiT"e." 
 
 8: 3S. " And he commanded the chariot to stand still. 
 and they w^ent down both into the water, both Philip and 
 the eunuch ; and he baptized him." 
 
 9: 18. " And immediately there fell from his eyes as 
 it had been scales; and he received sight forthwith, and 
 arose and was baptized." 
 
 10: 48. " And he commanded them to be baptized in 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 16: 15. " And when she (Lydia) was baptized and her 
 household." 
 
 16: 33. " And he took them the same hour of the 
 night, and washed their stripes ; and was baptized, he 
 and all his straightway." 
 
 18: 8. " And many of the Corinthians hearing believed, 
 and were baptized." 
 
 19: 5. " When they heard this, they were baptized in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 According, therefore, to the Acts of the Apostles, 
 which embraces about thirty years of inspired ecclesiasti- 
 cal history, there are ten instances recorded of persons be- 
 ing admitted to the church by baptism ; and ticentij-one, in 
 which no mention is made of their being baptized 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 323 
 
 III. A third remark I make is, that wherever in the 
 Acts we find parents, as such, received into church mem- 
 bership, there it is either plainly intimated, or clearly ex- 
 pressed, that their children were baptized along with 
 them. 
 
 The following four are the only instances in the Acts, 
 in which persons admitted to the church are distinctly re- 
 cognized as parents : and in each of these cases, it cer- 
 tainly is, at least, as evident, that their children were bap- 
 tized ; as it is, that those admitted in the twenty-one cases, 
 above mentioned, were received into the church by 
 baptism. 
 
 Acts 10: 1, 2, 48. " There was a certain man in 
 Cesarea, called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called 
 the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God 
 with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, 
 and prayed to God always." " And he (Peter) com- 
 manded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." 
 Now, although others were baptized besides Cornelius, 
 yet, is it evident, that his family were also baptized with 
 himself If he " feared God with all his house," he cer- 
 tainly was baptized with all his house. 
 
 16: 15. " And when she (Lydia) 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." 
 
 16: 31, 33. " And they said, believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And 
 he took them the same hour of the night, and washed 
 their stripes; and was baptized, he aiid all Jiis straight- 
 tcay." 
 
324 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 18: 8. Compared with 1 Cor. 1: 14. " And Crispus, the 
 chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with 
 all his house." " I thank God that I baptized none of 
 you but Crisjms and Gaius." If the Apostle baptized 
 Crispus, " who believed on the Lord tvith all his house.'' it 
 is perfectly manifest that he also baptized his children 
 with him. 
 
 Probably, it may not be amiss to associate with these 
 one instance more, closely connected with them. 
 
 1 Cor. 1: 16. "And I baptized also the household of 
 Stephanas ; besides, I know not whether I baptized any 
 other." 
 
 I would subjoin as a criticism here, whether the word 
 "other" in this passage, does not agree with the word house- 
 hold understood. If we consider the verse by itself, it un- 
 questionably does according to the rules of syntax. Or, 
 if we consult their respective genders in the original, they 
 still agree. Nor does the context seem to offer any thing 
 against such construction. It reads thus, " I thank God 
 that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius ; and I 
 baptized also the household of Stephanas ; besides, / know 
 not whether I baptized any other." We have already 
 shown, that Paul did baptize the household of Crispus ; 
 and if so, it is but reasonable to suppose, that he baptized 
 also that of Gaius. And if these things be so, the word 
 other does, unquestionably, belong to household, under- 
 stood. Now, if this criticism be at all correct, it is evident 
 that it was the practice of the Apostle, just as regularly to 
 baptize children as their parents. 
 
 From the foregoing remarks and explanations, the fol- 
 lowing inferences are inevitable. 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 325 
 
 First. That instead of Christianity being something 
 entirely distinct from, and opposite to, the Jewish institu- 
 tions, even the apostles themselves, at least for thirty 
 years, not only received the essential parts of the Jewish 
 system, but also conformed to its transient peculiarities. 
 
 The connection between the Old and New Testa- 
 ments is contemplated by many, at the present day, with 
 very much indifference and vagueness. An attempt to 
 support New Testament doctrines, by Old Testament evi- 
 dence, is somewhat viewed as a mere begging of the ques- 
 tion. Thus, when attempting, in the vindication of Psedo- 
 baptism, to maintain the identity of signification between 
 the ordinance of baptism and circumcision, we resort to 
 the Old Testament for proof, it seems to be taken for 
 granted, that nothing but a consciousness of the scarcity 
 of argument, suggests such a course. It would be well for 
 persons of such sentiments as these, to read even the New 
 Testament with more care ; for they would certainly find 
 that the connection between the two Testaments, is like 
 that between soul and body, vital. The Old Testament 
 Scriptures are the foundation, the writings of the New the 
 superstructure. Now, as the removal of a foundation de- 
 stroys a building, so the separation of the Old from the 
 New Testament, mars and ruins the revelation of God to 
 man. And, certainly, if he that takes away from the 
 Scriptures but a small part, is liable to the divine displea- 
 sure, he that takes away half o^ those sacred revelations, 
 cannot be innocent. Any doctrine that will lead to a con- 
 elusion of this hind, cannot he from God. 
 
 Secondly. Since, for the first thirty years of the history 
 
 of the church, circumcision and baptism were both analo- 
 
 28 
 
326 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 gous and contemporaneous institutions in that church, and 
 since it is certain that infants were circumcised throughout 
 the whole Christian church, among the Jews, during that 
 period ; so we have the strongest circumstantial evidence 
 possible, that infants were also baptized throughout the 
 same time. 
 
 I say these institutions were analogous. Such the 
 most inconsiderate must allow them to have been. Cir- 
 cumcision, beyond all doubt, bore the same relation to the 
 Jewish church, that baptism sustained to the Christian. 
 
 These institutions, at the period to which I allude, were 
 also contemporaneous ; that is, the^ were both observed at 
 the same time. 
 
 Now, if these Christian Jews, understanding, as they 
 must, baptism as bearing the same relation to the Chris- 
 tian church that circumcision did to the Jewish; if they 
 circumcised their children as Jews, they certainly also bap. 
 tized them as Christians. To suppose any thing contra- 
 ry to this, is to violate every principle, both of human na- 
 ture and of reason. 
 
 Thirdly. As the omission to mention the baptism of 
 persons admitted into the church, in twenty-one cases in the 
 Acts, does not at all destroy the fact that such persons 
 were baptized; so the omission to mention the baptism of 
 infants, in promiscuous assemblies, does by no means de- 
 stroy the fact, that infants iccre, in reality, baptized in 
 such instances. 
 
 It is astonishing that men, in their extravagant demand 
 for positive evidence in support of infant baptism, should 
 fororet all the laws of human nature. We venture the as- 
 sertion, that, according to the nature of the case, the bap- 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 327 
 
 iism of infants could not, with propriety, hold a more con. 
 spicuous place than it does in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 Who could possibly be irrational enough to suppose, that 
 in the tioenty-onc cases alluded to above, the persons ad- 
 mitted to the church were not baptized, simply because 
 their baptism is not specified ? And who, I would ask, 
 can so forget all the laws of human nature, as to believe, 
 that because, in the reception of a promiscuous multitude 
 to church membership, children are not distinctly men- 
 tioned, therefore they were overlooked 1 
 
 Fourthly. The argument in the inspired history of the 
 church to support infant baptism, is not as Jive to many, 
 but as Jive to nothing ; since, of but Jive cases in which 
 parents, or heads of families, are recognized as such, they 
 all, more or less expressly, imply the baptism of their chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Here, I have associated as above, the instance from 
 Corinthians, with those in the Acts, and for the same 
 reason. 
 
 It is frequently urged, by those who neglect and op- 
 pose this institution, that it is not supported by sufficient 
 positive evidence But who can contemplate the fact be- 
 fore us, and ask still for such evidence ? What evidence 
 could be more satisfactory, than that which is exhibited in 
 the inference above? 
 
 It is sometimes said in opposition to our sentiments on 
 this subject, that it is not wonderful at all that there should 
 be many families in a large city or country, that had no 
 younger children at all. If this be not wonderful, it cer- 
 tainly is wonderful that out of Jive instances recorded in 
 inspired history, in which parents, as such, are represent- 
 
328 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 ed as being baptized, there sliould be, in every case, to 
 say the least, a very plain implication that their children 
 were baptized also, and yet Paedobaptism not be a doctrine 
 of the New Testament! 
 
 Fifthly. We also infer from the preceding, that as the 
 term to believe, used in reference to any one, according to 
 the testimony of the Acts, always implied his baptism, so 
 the phrase, to be baptized, employed in reference to a pa- 
 rent, always involved the baptism of his offspring. 
 
 We have seen that there are twenty-one instances in 
 the Acts, of admissions to the church, without a specifica- 
 tion of baptism. Now, how are we to ascertain that the 
 persons admitted on these occasions were baptized ? From 
 two facts. 
 
 First. That Christ commissioned his apostles to baptize 
 all whom they received into his kingdom. 
 
 Secondly. From the fact, that there are ten instances, 
 distinctly mentioned, in which it is evident that the apos- 
 tles did comply with the Saviour's command. 
 
 Again. There are several cases of baptisms mentioned 
 in the Acts, in which there is no particular allusion to the 
 baptism of children. How are we to prove that children 
 were baptized, if not in all, yet in nearly all of those instan- 
 ces ? Likewise from two facts. First — because baptism 
 and circumcision being one and the same ordinance, the 
 Saviour's commission to his apostles to baptize, necessarily 
 embraced children. Secondly — because, in /?j'e particular 
 instances, in which parents as such were baptized, there is 
 positive allusion to the baptism of their children. 
 
 The very same argument, therefore, that proves the 
 baptism of persons admitted to the church, without any 
 
ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 329 
 
 specification of their baptism, also proves the baptism of 
 children in all those cases, in which their admission to this 
 rite is not distinctly mentioned. 
 
 Lastly. A final inference from the above is, that of the 
 ten cases, in which the ordinance of baptism is distinctly 
 said to have been administered, its administration to chil- 
 dren is decidedly prominent. 
 
 Of these ten, there were three cases, in which there 
 were no children ; those of Simon Magus, the eunuch, and 
 of Paul ; of the remaining seven, there are two distinct in- 
 stances of their baptism, those of Lydia and the jailer. 
 There is also one of fair implication, that of Cornelius; 
 there is also another, that peculiarly favors it, the case of 
 the three thousand upon the day of Pentecost. As these 
 persons were baptized according to the direction of Peter, 
 and as that Apostle declared that the promise was to them 
 and their children ; it is evident, that their children were 
 baptized as well as themselves. And, to my own mind, 
 the three thousand spoken of as added to the church, em- 
 braced both adults and children. In the same way it is 
 said, Ex. 1: 5, "And all the souls that came out of the 
 loins of Jacob were seventy souls." In this latter case the 
 children were included ; and so, I think, in the former. 
 Nor is there a solitary case decidedly opposed to infant 
 baptism. The only one conceivable, is Acts 8: 12, where 
 it is said, "they were baptized both men and women." 
 But this does not imply that children were not baptized ; 
 no more than those cases in which it is said that per- 
 sons believed without specifying their baptism, imply that 
 such persons were not baptized. 
 
 Now who could expect the baptism of children to be 
 
 28* 
 
330 EXAMINATION OF THE ACTS, ETC. 
 
 more prominent in the ministry of the apostles than it is? 
 There are but two cases of the ten alluded to, in which it 
 is said that women were baptized. There are ttoo cases 
 equally distinct, of the baptism of children, together with 
 several others favoring it very strongly. Now let it be re- 
 membered, that men would naturally be spoken of first, 
 women second, and children thirdly ; and who does not see 
 that children hold in baptism, throughout the Acts, the 
 same proportional importance assigned them by nature? 
 
 The testimony of the Acts of the Apostles, then, in fa- 
 vor of Paedobaptism, is clear, consistent and sufficient. 
 
LECTURE XV. 
 
 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 1. My first remark on this part of the subject is, that 
 it is evident firom the history of the church, either from 
 incidental allusions or direct testimony, that infant baptism 
 was uniformly practised to nearly the middle of the 
 twelfth century. 
 
 As I can recur to no better authority, and to no one 
 more highly esteemed for the correctness of his theological 
 sentiments, I quote the following proof, from Dwight's 
 Theology ; Sermon civiii ; subject, Infant Baptism. 
 
 " Justin Martyr, born near the close of the first cen- 
 tury, observes, when speaking of those who were members 
 of the church, that ' a part of these were sixty or seventy 
 years, loho toere made disciples to Christ from their in- 
 fancy.' But there never was any other mode of making 
 disciples from infancy, except baptism. 
 
 " Irenaeus, born about the year 97, a disciple of Poly- 
 carp, who was a disciple of John, says, ' Christ came to 
 save all persons, who by him are horn again unto God; 
 infants and little ones, and children and youths, and elder 
 
332 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 persons.' By being bom again, Irena;us intends, being 
 baptized, as he himself elsewhere clearly shows. 
 
 " Clemens Alexandrinus, born about the middle of the 
 second century, says, ' If any man be a fisherman, let him 
 think of an apostle, and the children taken out of the 
 water.' Clemens is here giving direction concerning 
 images to be engraven on seal-rings. These engravings 
 were sometimes indecent, and sometimes idolatrous. Cle- 
 mens exhorts Christians to adopt such as are becoming 
 and useful ; and particularly exhorts fishermen to choose 
 the image of an apostle baptizing infants. This furnishes 
 a decisive proof, that in Clemens's view, the apostles bap- 
 tized infants ; and that this practice was, in his own time, 
 the general practice of the Christian church. 
 
 " Tertullian, born about the same time with Irenaeus, 
 says, * The delay of baptism is more useful, according to 
 every person's condition and disposition, and even their 
 age ; but especially with regard to little children.' The 
 reason which he urges for this delay is, that their faith 
 tffos not entire, or complete. As Tertullian is here directly 
 opposing the common opinion, it is obvious, that little 
 children were then commonly baptized. The reason why 
 Tertullian proposes this delay was, that he attributed to 
 baptism an importance not given to it by the Scriptures. 
 
 " Origen, born about the year 184, and a man of more 
 information than any of his time, says, ' Infants are bap- 
 tized for the remission of sins.' And again, ' The church 
 hcUh received the tradition from the apostles, that baptism 
 ought to be administered to infants.' 
 
 " Cyprian, who was contemporary with Origen, says, 
 ' That sixty-six bishops, being convened in a council at 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 333 
 
 Carthage, having the question referred to them, Whether 
 infants might he baptized before they ivere eight days old ; 
 decided unanimously, that no infant is to be prohibited from 
 the benefit of baptism, although but just born.' 
 
 " Gregory Nazianzen, born in the early part of the 
 fourth century, exhorts parents to offer their children to 
 God in baptism. 
 
 " Saint Augustin, born in the middle of the fourth 
 century, says, ' The whole church practises infant baptism ; 
 it was not instituted by councils, but teas always in use.' 
 He also says, that ' he did not remember ever to have read 
 of any person, tohetker Catholic or heretic, who maintained, 
 that baptism ought to be denied to infants' ' This,' he 
 says, ' the church has always maintained.' 
 
 " Pelagius, a coritemporary with Augustin, declares, 
 ' that he had never heard even any impious heretic, who 
 asserted that infants are not to be baptized.' Again, he 
 asks, ' Who can be so impious as to hinder the baptism of 
 infants V Pelagius is here a witness of high authority. 
 He was born in Britain, and travelled through France, 
 Italy, Africa Proper, and Egypt to Jerusalem. Had such 
 a practice existed in his time, it seems impossible that he 
 should not have heard of it. He was also an inquisitive 
 and learned man ; and must, therefore, have been well 
 informed concerning preceding periods. At the same 
 time, the doctrine of infant baptism was objected againgt 
 his own opinions by St. Augustin, in such a manner, that 
 Pelagius knew not how to answer the objection. Still 
 these are his own assertions. 
 
 " A person who employed himself extensively in ex- 
 amining this subject, gives the following result of all his 
 
334 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 inquiries. ' First. During tiie first four hundred years 
 from the formation of a Christian church, TcrtuUian only 
 urged the delay of infant baptism to infants, and that only 
 in some cases; and Gregory only delayed it, perhaps, to 
 his own children. But neither any society of men, nor 
 any individual, denied the lawfulness of baptizing infants. 
 
 " Secondly. In the next seven hundred years, there 
 was not a society, nor an individual, who ever pleaded for 
 this delay ; much less any who denied the right or the 
 duty of infant baptism. 
 
 "Thirdly. In the year 1120, one sect of the Walden- 
 ses declared against the baptism of infants, because they 
 supposed them incapable of salvation. But the main body 
 of that people rejected the opinion as heretical ; and the 
 sect which held it soon came to nothing. 
 
 " Fourthly. The next appearance of this opinion was 
 in the year 1522. 
 
 "Had the baptism of infants been ever discontinued by 
 the church ; or had it been introduced in any age, subse- 
 quent to that of the apostles, these things could not have 
 been; nor could the history of them be found." 
 
 It is thus evident that infant baptism was practised 
 universally among the early members of the Christian 
 church. It is true, that, through the influence of Popery, 
 this ordinance was much corrupted and abused in the 
 dark ages. Its nature was not understood, nor its design 
 properly appreciated. But this was also true in relation to 
 the Supper, and almost all the doctrines of Revelation. 
 But certainly the distinction between the abuse of an ordi- 
 nance and its invention, is very wide. 
 
 The manner in which this ordinance was first denied, 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 335 
 
 was through an effort, on the part of certain dissenters 
 from the Romish church, to separate from the truth of the 
 gospel what was spurious and false. Some of these dis- 
 senters classed infant baptism among the innovations in 
 religion made by the church at Rome. The Petrobru- 
 sians, one of the Waldensian sects, were the first who de- 
 nied infant baptism. This happened about the middle of 
 the twelfth century. I extract, from Marsh's Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History, the following description of the character of 
 that sect. " They were poor and ignorant, and needed 
 greatly the light of a future age. They gave a literal in- 
 terpretation to the whole of Christ's sermon on the mount ; 
 allowed no wars, nor suits at law, nor increase of wealth ; 
 nor oaths, nor self-defence against unjust proceedings." 
 All the other Waldenses, whose general character was the 
 same in other points with this one, held to infant baptism. 
 This one, however, soon disappeared. 
 
 II. My second remark on the evidence from church 
 history is, that all the greatest and best men, during the 
 Reformation, held to infant baptism. 
 
 Luther and Melancthon, Zuinglius and Calvin, Knox 
 and Cranmer ; Beza, Rogers, Ridley, and Latimer ; to- 
 gether with a host of others, all advocated infant baptism. 
 This evidence, too, will appear the stronger, when it is re- 
 membered, that the world, at that time, was in a state of 
 revolution ; that these men were of different nations ; of 
 different opinions, many of them, on other subjects ; and 
 that they subsequently headed different denominations of 
 Christians. From these very circumstances, they could 
 have had no motive in the reception of this ordinance, but 
 a firm conviction of its divine obligation. They were not, 
 
336 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 like us, bound down by party prejudices and interests. 
 They were just about to establish creeds and originate 
 sects. Hence it would have been easy for them to have 
 renounced and banished this institution, had they not per- 
 ceived its authority and utility. But, instead of this, there 
 is a most beautiful harmony on this point, among all the 
 Reformers. Nor should it be forgotten, that as they could 
 have been under no special prejudice, to have perverted 
 the truth in this case ; so, both from their location and 
 attainments, they, unquestionably, were able to have dis- 
 covered the fact, whether Pfcdobaptism were a Catholic 
 invention or not. The writings of the ancient Fathers 
 were familiar to them all — the history of the Romish 
 church was closely studied — the Word of God was inves- 
 tigated with great care ; — and yet it is the united testi- 
 mony of all those great and good men, many of whom 
 died in defence of the truth, that infant baptism is an or- 
 dinance of the gospel ; and that it has been in the Chris- 
 tian church from its origin. Now it is not a little surpris- 
 ing, that persons living in a much later age, and under 
 circumstances by no means as favorable for candor, and 
 with by no means the learning of these great men, should 
 attempt, upon the evidence of church history, to establish 
 a different sentiment ! 
 
 Those, at the time of the Reformation, that denied in- 
 fant baptism, were not only greatly ignorant, but extremely 
 fanatical. The following is a description of their charac- 
 ter, as given by Marsh. " Their chief tenets were, that 
 the office of magistracy is unnecessary ; that all distinc- 
 tions among men is contrary to the gospel ; that property 
 should be held in common ; and that a plurality of wives 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 337 
 
 is commendable. And in reference to baptism, they de 
 clared, that it was only to be administered to persons in 
 adult years, and to be performed by immersion." These 
 sectaries were called Anabaptists, from their practice of 
 re-baptizing, in adult years, persons who had been baptiz- 
 ed in infancy. Afterwards they rejected this appellation, 
 and arrogantly assumed that of Baptists; taking it for 
 granted, that none were baptized, but those of their own 
 party. 
 
 That a set of men of the above description arc not 
 qualified for the work of reformation, is perfectly plain. 
 The reformation of old abuses in religion requires talents, 
 information, consistent piety , and great prudence ; none of 
 which the Anabaptists of Germany seemed to possess. 
 That they should, therefore, have run into great excesses, 
 and should have renounced as much truth as error, was 
 but natural. 
 
 The peculiar sentiments of this fanatical sect, as it re- 
 gards baptism, passed from Holland into England, where 
 they were embraced by certain Independents of the church 
 of Mr. Brown. From the description of this latter sect, at 
 that time, they must have been well prepared to have re- 
 ceived the doctrines of the Anabaptists. Each was charac- 
 terized by great bigotry and latitudinarianism of sentiment. 
 From England the Baptists came over into America, in 
 both which countries they have risen to great respectabili- 
 ty for numbers, talents, and piety. They now rank on a 
 level with other denominations of Christians : and though 
 they have renounced all the grosser faults of the Anabap- 
 tists of Germany, still they hold with great tenacity to 
 
 their sentiments in reference to baptism. 
 •29 
 
338 nisTonicAL evidence. 
 
 III. A third remark I ofTer is, that all, or nearly all, 
 Christian denominations, however they may have differed 
 among themselves on other points, and in whatever coun- 
 try they may have lived, save the Baptists alone, have been 
 agreed as to the validity of infant baptism. 
 
 Now it is utterly inconceivable to my mind, that so 
 many different sects, and many of them the most enlight- 
 ened and pious on earth, could all be harmonious on this 
 point, did not the ordinance of P.'cdobaptism rest on a solid 
 foundation. Does it look more likely that all these deno- 
 minations are wrong, and that the Baptists alone are right? 
 Or does if seem more rational, that they are right, and the 
 seceding one is wrong? It is true, truth is not confined 
 to a multitude. Still, however, where a sentiment has 
 long been entertained by the majority of Christian church- 
 es, and has been advocated by a very large number of the 
 most devoted champions of the cross, it must and does ac- 
 quire great weiglit. Now this is the case with Ptedobap- 
 tism. Its way has been one of dignity and glory. The 
 worthiest names on the records of the .church, have been 
 its warmest advocates. It has always been prominent, 
 always appreciated. Certainly we could scarcely expect 
 this to have been the case, unless its origin be higher than 
 that of human authority. 
 
 The testimony from church history, then, in favor of 
 this ordinance, is both clear and certain. Scarcely any 
 doctrine of Revelation has more evidence from this source. 
 
 I shall conclude this Lecture by attempting to show, 
 that the denial of this institution, during the period of 
 church history, is much more probable, from the nature of 
 the case, than its invention. 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 339 
 
 My first reason for this is, because there is in the New 
 Testament no specification, at which children should be 
 baptized. It is true, as appears from the question propos- 
 ed to the council at Carthage, that the analogy of circum- 
 cision had generally been observed among the early Chris- 
 tians, and that accordingly infants were, at least in many 
 cases, baptized at eight days. Still, however, this was a 
 practice which could not be always observed. We find, 
 also, that that body of divines decided against it. In con- 
 sequence of the inexplicitness, therefore, of the Scriptures 
 on this point, as there would be found a few who would 
 baptize under eight days, so there would be found a mul- 
 titude who would transcend that limit. Nor would there 
 be any precise boundary, beyond which they might not 
 go, and yet receive this ordinance. In consequence of 
 this, the baptism of children would, in many cases, be so 
 delayed as even to originate the doubt whether they might, 
 with propriety, be baptized at all, as infants : and this 
 we find actually to have been the case, in some instances, 
 as recorded in sacred history. 
 
 2. A second reason for this is, the fact that at a very 
 early period in the church, baptism, which was the sign, 
 was taken for regeneration itself Sins, committed after 
 the administration of this rite, were consequently regarded 
 as almost unpardonable. The result of this sentiment 
 would naturally be the postponement of this ordinance, in 
 many cases, until within a few hours of death. This seems 
 to have been the error of Tertullian ; probably was also that 
 of Constantine the Great, and of the father of Gregory. 
 
 3. Another cause which would contribute towards, first, 
 the neglect, and afterwards the denial of this institution, 
 
340 
 
 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 was that, through ill health or the distance from a regular 
 minister, it would, in many cases, be inconvenient to have 
 this rite attended to within a proper time. Cases of this 
 sort must frequently have occurred ; and what was, at 
 tirst, the result of necessity, would finally be that of choice. 
 And thus the denial of the institution itself, would eventu- 
 ally be the consequence of such a course of conduct. 
 Scenes of this kind frequently occur in the present day. 
 The parent, probably, has really not had a convenient op- 
 portunity for baptizing his children for a long time. He 
 thus contracts a habit of neglecting this ordinance, until 
 ultimately he begins seriously to doubt whether baptism 
 1)0 of any benefit at all to children, and whether the scrip- 
 tural warrant for its administration be not obscure and un- 
 certain ! Thus, by venturing to the edge of the precipice, 
 h.ive many fallen to rise no more to the light of truth on 
 this subject. 
 
 4. Another cause of this would be, an unwillingness 
 to assume the obligations of Psedobaptism. Men in all 
 ages have been reluctant to undertake high responsibili- 
 ties, especially where there is no carnal allurement to en- 
 tice them to such a course. How difficult is it among us, 
 at the present time, to induce many persons, who seem to 
 have every required qualification for the church but a wil- 
 ling mind, to assume the profession of Christianity ? How 
 difticult to persuade ordinary church members, to fill 
 spheres, in which both their obligations and their useful- 
 ness would be promoted ? Men are loth to assume bur- 
 dens, while it is uncertain in their own minds that they 
 are able to bear them. Now all these considerations ap- 
 pertain, in a peculiar degree, to the subject of infant bap- 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 341 
 
 tisra. The obligations which this ordinance imposes are 
 high — its duties arduous and protracted. This being the 
 case, many would be disposed, first, to ponder the matter, 
 afterwards to neglect, and finally, to deny the ordinance 
 altogether, as of divine authority. It has always been 
 found easy for men to disprove, at least at the tribunals of 
 their own consciences, that which they did not wish to be 
 true. 
 
 5. Another reason for the denial of infant baptism was, 
 the awful perversion and abuse of this ordinance in the 
 Catholic church. Many weak and ignorant, though pious 
 Christians, discovering that this rite was regarded as es- 
 sential to salvation ; or that many baptized in infancy grew 
 up to be exceedingly corrupt ; or that the church itself had 
 been filled with the wicked through this means ; would, 
 of course, be disposed to deny the divine warrant for an 
 institution, which appeared so hurtful. Especially, was 
 this conclusion easy and natural, when this ordinance itself 
 was closely associated with many inventions evidently of 
 but human origin, and decidedly subversive of all piety. 
 Now this was precisely the state of things in the Romish 
 church, when the Petrobrusians first, and the Anabaptists 
 of Germany secondly, denied the divine authority of this 
 ordinance. Disgusted in their hearts, at the abuses con- 
 nected with the church, and unable properly to distinguish 
 and remove the cause of these evils, they honestly, proba- 
 bly, but ignorantly and unwisely, struck a death blow at 
 one of the essential parts of the Christian church. They 
 improperly supposed that it was infant membership that 
 produced all these abominations. They, therefore, at- 
 tempted, by its destruction, to put down the evils which 
 29* 
 
;J4"2 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 they erroneously supposed grew out of it. The very same 
 cause is also powerfully operating at the present day to the 
 injury of this institution. Not perceiving any special bene- 
 fit, which baptism has rendered many households, numbers 
 are disposed to reject it as a mere human invention. Such 
 persons, however, should remember that this is the very 
 ground that itifiddity has ocntpiedfor ages. The infidel 
 can see no more advantage in the Christian profession of 
 the Baptist, than the latter can discover in the baptism of 
 the children of Pfudobaptists. 
 
 G. Another cause of this, may be found in the disposi- 
 tion of the unlearned, to take the Scriptures literally. 
 Probably such a liability is to be found among all the plain 
 readers of the Word of God. Their very circumstances 
 would, in a great measure, subject them to this error. 
 When, too, they perceived that the learned doctors of the 
 church had only corrupted religion, and that they were 
 employing all their subtleties of argument to vindicate and 
 uphold these corruptions ; the common people would natu- 
 rally discard learning, and hold to an exactly literal expo- 
 sition of the Word of God. Whatever doctrines, therefore, 
 were taught in the Scriptures, but incidentally, or by im- 
 plication, would, of course, be denied ; and many things 
 would be assumed as true, which formed no part of the 
 Word of God properly understood. 
 
 7. Another cause which would lead to this result, 
 would be, the application of a rule to children, which is 
 only true of adults; viz. that faith must precede baptism. 
 This error would be easy ; and the abuses of religion every 
 where prevalent in the Christian church, would render it 
 almost inevitable. 
 
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 343 
 
 8. Another argument to show that the denial, and not 
 the invention of this rite, has taken place during the pe- 
 riod of sacred history, is, that it unquestionably existed as 
 early as the fourth century. Now, it is certain that there 
 was no Popery at this time ; nor was the church, by any 
 means, entirely corrupt. Much of life and activity she 
 then possessed. Especially was she vigilant of the doc- 
 trines and institutions of religion. From the very charac- 
 ter of the church in the third and fourth century, it is im- 
 possible that infant baptism could have been introduced at 
 that early period, as an innovation in the church. If, 
 then, it existed in these periods, and yet could not possi- 
 bly have been first introduced then, it must have existed 
 earlier ; that is, it must have come down from the apos- 
 tles. Nor is it any objection to this, to assert, that the 
 church in the fourth century was corrupt enough to have 
 introduced infant baptism ; sihce there is evidence, that 
 about that time she administered the communion to chil- 
 dren. This may be true, without implying the least cor- 
 ruption in the church. It is quite likely, that the Supper 
 was administered to baptized infants, in the days of the 
 apostles and ancient Christian Fathers, at a very early 
 age. Nor is it very certain, that this practice was aban- 
 doned until a later period, when creeds were formed, 
 and churches were more regularly constituted. Instead, 
 therefore, of the admission of children, who had been bap- 
 tized when infants, to the Supper, being an invention of a 
 corrupt church, in the fourth century ; it was but the relic., 
 probably, of apostolical usage. Subsequently, this matter 
 was properly enough changed, or, rather, hut better regu- 
 
344 HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 
 
 Jated. Our sentiments on this subject have already been 
 expressed. 
 
 9. Lastly. Infant baptism could not possibly have been 
 an innovation in the church, since there is no record of 
 any such innovation at all. It certainly existed at an 
 early period. It was in the church before the rise of the 
 Papal See. It is not, then, a Romish invention ; nor is 
 it the superstitious invention of a former period. The at- 
 taching of too high value to this ordinance, caused Ter- 
 tuUian to advise its delay, not its administration to allper- 
 sons indiscriminately. See, too, what an excitement the 
 heresies of the Doceta; and Ebeonites, of Arius and Pela- 
 gius, and the schism of the Donatists, as well as the con- 
 troversy about the time of Easter, produced in those early 
 centuries. They assembled councils, excited disputes, 
 caused separations, and agitated the whole church. Can 
 any one, then, in his senses, suppose that so important an 
 innovation as tliat of Paedobaptism, would have been pass- 
 ed over in silence? Impossible, utterly impossible! As 
 this ordinance, then, is not a Popish invention, nor an 
 innovation in the early Christian church, it did come down 
 from the time of the apostles. And as its denial, for the 
 above reasons, would be highly probable, it is its denial 
 that has been introduced. And, as this denial would be 
 more likely to take place among the pious poor, than 
 among any others, there caft be no doubt but that it origi- 
 nated, according to the testimony of historians, among, 
 first, the Petrobrusians, and afterwards, the Anabaptists of 
 Germany. 
 
LECTURE XVI. 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 I. My first remark here is, that objections invalidate 
 no doctrine or theory, if well established by evidence. 
 
 There are many persons, who so misconceive of all the 
 principles of just reasoning, as to suppose that the raising 
 of an objection against a doctrine, is at once its overthrow. 
 According to this rule, nothing could be sufficiently proven 
 to warrant belief: for there is scarcely a truth in the 
 moral or physical world, which may not give rise to many 
 objections. Atheists seem to suppose, that there are many 
 difficulties in the way of exercising faith in the existence 
 of a God. Infidels see hosts of doubts upon the face of 
 Revelation. And all the heretics that have ever lived, 
 have started very many objections to the peculiar doctrines 
 to which they have been severally opposed. Multitudes of 
 common people, too, are much startled at the demonstrated 
 principles of Philosophy. But are we to renounce any of 
 these fundamental truths, either of nature or revelation, 
 because ingenious, wicked, or ignorant men, raise objec- 
 tions against them ? Unquestionably not. We are to 
 spread before the mind of the sceptic the evidence by 
 
346 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 which our principles are supported ; and then, if he re- 
 fuse his belief, the consequences are his, not ours. 
 
 So in reference to the subject under debate — we arc 
 not to renounce any thing that has been fairly proven, sim- 
 ply because there arc objections in our minds against it. 
 Nor are we to do this, even if these objections are un- 
 answerable by ourselves. How many genuine believers in 
 revelation are unable to compete with the sophistries of 
 their more wily opponents ? How many are there, whose 
 only hope of salvation rests upon Christ; who, yet, are in- 
 capable of answering the objections to his divinity, as 
 urged by Unitarians ? But are the members of our 
 churches to renounce, through the mere cavils of infidels, 
 that creed which tliey have ever regarded as essential to 
 the very existence of genuine religion? In this way, we 
 should sacrifice every doctrine and duty of the Christian 
 system. What if there occur to the believing parent, 
 doubts as to many points connected with the baptism of 
 his children, and what, too, if these doubts are vigorously 
 upheld by advisers, who oppose this doctrine ; is he to sur- 
 render an ordinance of God well established by proof, to 
 the superficial objections of himself, or of others ? Most 
 certainly not. And, yet, nothing is more common now-a- 
 days, than for a mere surmise, to invalidate in the minds 
 of some the strongest evidences in support of this institu- 
 tion. Surely, men have not only forgotten both duty and 
 revelation, but reason too. 
 
 II. A second remark I offer is, that the objections, 
 which many raise against this ordinance, are refuted by 
 the very circumstances under which they are made. 
 
 1. Many raise objections against it in the first place, 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 347 
 
 who have no perception at all of the spiritual nature of the 
 connection between parent and child. This is generally 
 the case with an unbelieving world. They see no advan- 
 tage in this institution — and well they do not ; since they 
 have no just conception of the spiritual duties they owe to 
 their children. Whenever, therefore, an objection against 
 infant baptism proceeds from this source, it carries its 
 refutation on its very face. A blind man can see no need 
 of light ; a deaf man no need of sounds. 
 
 2. Others, again, object to this ordinance, who are per- 
 fectly ignorant of its nature and design. They have heard 
 of its being administered ; or they have seen a kw instan- 
 ces of its administration; or, if familiar with its external 
 part, they have never reflected upon its spiritual significa- 
 tion and benefits. Such persons as these, too, often raise 
 objections against this ordinance. But what are their ob- 
 jections worth ? Precisely nothing ; as they are founded 
 in a total misunderstanding of the ordinance itself 
 
 3. Others, again, raise objections against this rite, who 
 are completely under the dominion of the most inveterate 
 prejudices against it. They have always been under teach- 
 ings that have misrepresented, or ridiculed it. They have 
 heard it called a " human invention" — a "relic of Popery" 
 — the " prostitution of a gospel ordinance." The institu- 
 tion has been caricatured before them. They were dis- 
 gusted with it from childhood : and it is matter of as- 
 tonishment with them, how any of God's people can be so 
 deluded as to advocate such a rite. These, too, raise pow^ 
 erful objections against Paedobaptism. But of what force 
 are their objections 1 None at all ; since they result ex- 
 clusively from deep-rooted prejudice. It is impossible for 
 
348 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 such persons to pass a candid judgment on the subject. 
 Their minds are already pre-occupied. 
 
 4. Many object to this ordinance, also, who maintain no 
 family government at all. Their children are raised up to 
 have their own way. They are ungovernable and wick- 
 ed. They could not possibly be brought under the influ- 
 ence of a regular Christian training. They are more 
 self-important than their parents. But of what avail are 
 objections from this source ? How could that parent, who 
 has never yet learned to regulate the concerns of his own 
 family with discretion, who has never had his children in 
 subjection, how could he promise, before God, to discipline 
 arid govcim them a.s the gospel requires? How could he, 
 who is himself under the control of his own offspring, 
 take a vow to train that offspring in the " nurture and ad- 
 monition of the Lord ?" It is but to be expected, that such 
 parents should not appreciate the blessings of an ordi- 
 nance, which makes them the irligious and accountable 
 heads of their families. 
 
 5. Many, too, raise objections against this ordinance, 
 who maintain no family prayer, and, who have no just sense 
 whatever of family piety. Though, when making a per- 
 sonal profession of religion, they solemnly promised to ob- 
 serve all the duties of the gospel in the church, the family, 
 and the closet; yet, are they living habitually without a 
 family altar ! The Scriptures are not read, no social 
 prayer is made, nor are the songs of Zion sung around the 
 domestic fireside. Servants are never instructed, nor are 
 children catechised. The Sabbath is often violated, and 
 the sanctuary neglected ! And such persons raise objec- 
 tions to infant ba2)tism. No wonder, since the baptism of 
 
*^ If' 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. ^9 
 
 tfreir children would be not only a nullity, but perjury it- 
 self! How profane must it be regarded by God, for a pa- 
 rent solemnly to promise, in the reception of baptism for 
 his child, to 'pray tcith that child, when he retires the same 
 evening to rest, without bowing around the family altar ! 
 Such objections can have no weight whatever. Baptism, 
 probably, would be justly enough refused to such parents. 
 6. There are others, again, who raise objections against 
 this ordinance, who have treacherously and profanely abus- 
 ed it. They have had many of their children baptized : 
 but they have raised them as if they were heathen — they 
 have not instructed them with care — they have not govern- 
 ed them with discretion — they have permitted them to vio- 
 late the Sabbath, to neglect the house of God, and the read- 
 ing of the Scriptures. And because their children have 
 grown up in impiety, though baptized when young, they 
 have begun seriously to doubt the advantage, and conse- 
 quently the divine obligation, of infant baptism ! Such 
 persons had much better wonder why God has not smitten 
 them Avith his frown. They had much better doubt their 
 own personal religion. And, surely, it is but a poor reme- 
 dy, in such a case, to add to the sin of profaning an ordi- 
 nance of God, that of its denial ! The objections of this 
 class of persons, too, can have no weight Avhatever. 
 
 III. I now pass on to consider a few of the more pro- 
 minent objections to this ordinance. 
 
 1. The first that we shall consider is, its inutility. It 
 
 is alleged, that the administration of this ordinance to 
 
 infants cannot, in the nature of the case, do them any 
 
 good. Now, if by this objection it is intended only to 
 
 state, that the infants baptized are not acting parties in 
 30 
 
* 
 
 :350 oBJEcnoNs answered. 
 
 the administration of baptism, we, of course, will admit it. 
 The transaction takes place between the minister, on the 
 ''one hand, acting for God, and the parent, on the other, 
 acting for the child. Or if this objection means, that the 
 mere ceremony of applying water to a child in a congre- 
 gation, can render the child no service, we also consent. 
 It is evident, that mere water applied to the body, under 
 any circumstances, and in any quantity, can never cleanse 
 the pollution of the heart. But if this objection means, 
 that God cannot bestow upon a child, through the ordi- 
 nance of baptism, that grace which, but for the adminis- 
 tration of such ordinance, he might be pleased to with- 
 hold, — if this be the meaning, we entirely dissent. That 
 God can bless any of his creatures, none will deny. That 
 infants are capable of receiving his blessing, none will de- 
 ny. Christ did bless infants while here on earth ; and 
 John the Baptist was sanctified from the womb. Now, if 
 there is no insurmountable barrier between God's grace 
 and an infant, it is almost blasphemy to suppose, that God 
 may not bestow that blessing upon an infant, when admit- 
 ted to the seal of his covenant, which he might not bestow, 
 should such infant be whithheld from such seal. Or, in 
 other words, to suppose that God may not make the ordi- 
 nance of baptism a blessing to an infant, when he himself 
 has appointed such ordinance for their benefit, is nothing 
 else than to impeach the wisdom and integrity of God. 
 And surely, if God, after permitting children to be present- 
 ed to him in baptism, should withhold his blessing from 
 them, then we might cease to put confidence in any of his 
 ordinances and promises. What evidence have we that 
 the celebration of the Supper will be of any benefit to us. 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWEjgllD^V 351 
 
 but the promise of Christ? . And we have the same pro- 
 mise that baptism shall be blest to our children. Or, if 
 this objection mean, that the parent, in the administration 
 of baptism to his child, may not be made instrumental 
 thereby to the salvation of his offspring ; from this, too, we 
 entirely dissent. That God may bestow that blessing upon 
 the child of a believing parent, while in the exercise of 
 faith he dedicates such child to his service, which he might 
 withhold from the offspring of him who places no faith in 
 his covenant, is so manifest, that none but an infidel can 
 doubt it. To doubt it, is to suppose that the Deist and the 
 believer sustain the same relation to God. It is to sup- 
 pose, that the exercise of faith in God is of no service 
 whatever. Besides, in the baptism of his child, the parent 
 is brought to recognize the duties he owes him, and gives 
 a solemn promise to discharge those duties with fidelity. 
 Now, to suppose that a parent, who has given no such 
 pledge, will be as faithful as one who has, is to suppose 
 that promises and oaths have no binding force upon the 
 consciences of men. It is but to suppose, that persons out 
 of the church, and refusing to take the church covenant 
 upon them, will be as faithful as those who are regular 
 members of the Christian community. The supposition is 
 contrary to the very nature of things ; and on this subject 
 we are not unwilling to put the matter to the test of expe- 
 rience. Those parents who best understand the nature, 
 design, and duties, of Psedobaptism, invariably have the 
 best disciplined and the most pious children. 1 do not 
 mean by this, that there may not be some families among 
 those who deny this ordinance, equally pious with some 
 among those who maintain it ; but that, as a general thing, 
 
 V 
 
 -* 
 
352 |^,im|:OBJ£CTIO\S ANSWERED. 
 
 the children of the advocates of this institution are more 
 moral, orderly, and piotis, tlian^he children of those who 
 
 ♦ have renounced it. The facts on this Subject are so full 
 and complete, as to admit np doubt whatever. It has been 
 (^servedj^tiot only by tHte pious, but by the wicked them- 
 selves. ^ ^ 
 
 The objection, therefore, against ^e ordinance of in- 
 fant baptism, which is founded on its inutility, besides the 
 
 3t arrogant dictation with which it is tinctured, is gferfectly 
 futile and vain. 
 
 2. The incapability of faith on the part of the child, is 
 also urged, as an objection to this ordinance. It*tt as- 
 serted^ that faith is necessary to the ri&ht administration of ^ 
 baptism ; and that, since a child cannot be supposed to | 
 have faith, it can, with no sort of propriety, be baptized. 
 Now, to the proposition that faith is necessary to the pro- 
 per administration of this ordinance, I readily assent: hut 
 then it is faith in the contracting parties. These are, as 
 we have already mentioned, the minister on the part of 
 God, and the parent on the pajt of the child. Now, it is 
 evident, that faith both in the pastor who administers, and 
 the parent who receives, for hid child, this ordinance, is #f 
 essential importance. But beyond this, there is no essential 
 need of faith. jn the ordinance of baptism. These are the 
 parties contracting. The child, for the time being, is not 
 koown in the affair, but as the passive* subject of divine 
 
 !ih goodness. Still, however, so soon as tkt chjld can under- 
 stand, he is to be informed of this act, and should be re- 
 quired to e.xercise failh in it. But, if it be still said, that 
 professed faitJti^ in the subject baptized '\s essentml to ihe 
 administration of this ordinance, I would reply, that this is 
 
 • 
 
 1 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 353 
 
 true in relation to adults ; but in reference to infants, it is 
 not true, since they cannot exercise faith. And, if this 
 matter be still insisted on, we would say, that faith in in- 
 fants is no more necessary to baptism, than to salvation ; 
 and if they can be saved without the exercise of fafth, they 
 unquestionably can be baptized without it. Again, faith 
 is no more necessary to the right administration of bap- 
 tism, than it was to the right administration of circum- 
 cision. Without faith, Abraham would have been no fit 
 subject for circumcision ; but without faith in himself, 
 Isaac was circumcised. And thus, without faith, Lydia 
 could not have been baptized ; yet, without faith in them- 
 selves, her children were. Faith is required in the parties 
 acting, not in the infant for whom they are acting. 
 
 3. Another objection to the administration of baptism 
 to children is, that it is a profanation of a gospel ordinance ; 
 since there is as much probability that such children when 
 grown will be wicked, as that they will be pious. To this 
 objection I would first reply, that the premises are not 
 true. I deny the fact, that there is as much probability 
 that children baptized when young, and raised according 
 to the obligations of such baptism, are as liable, subse- 
 quently, to be wicked as pious — and I deny it upon the 
 veracity of God. God has promised to bestow his grace 
 upon every child properly dedicated and raised. To sup- 
 pose, therefore, that there is as much probability, that a 
 child properly baptized and raised will become impious as 
 holy, is but to make God a liar ! We may just as much 
 rely, therefore, upon the future conversion and obedience 
 of a child properly baptized and raised, as we may upon 
 
 the salvation of an adult who makes a credible profession 
 30* 
 
354 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. * 
 
 of religion. The salvation of each rests upon the sove- 
 reign promise of God, which h as mucli extended to the 
 child as to the adult, .^nd even with any becoming 
 fidelity on the part of parents baptizing their children, we 
 may sarcly calculate, that the majority of cases wili turn 
 out well.i SuQJi is found positively to be the fact in-those 
 places where this ordinance is understood with any good 
 degree of accurary. Now mof^ than this cannot well be 
 expected of a number of adults joining the chftfch, as they 
 often do, under the excitements of a revival. That revival 
 which turns out a majority of true conversions, among 
 those who profess a change of heart, must be very genuine. 
 In this remark, I am upheld by very many facts; and 
 some of them both recent and painful. 
 
 The probability, then, in the baptism of a child, as to 
 his future salvation, is at least as great as in the case of 
 an adult. And any one who thinks to the contrary, we 
 hesitate not to say, is fit neither to administer nor receive 
 the ordinance of Pjedobaptism. But to this I would re- 
 ply, in the second place, that if, for the fear of profaning 
 a gospel ordinance, we should refuse to administer baptism 
 to any, who may, by their subsequent conduct, cast off its 
 obligations, then could we administer it in no case what- 
 ever. No man who administers this rite, has the positive 
 assurance, that the subject to whom he applies it, will al- 
 ways observe its duties. How often those baptized when 
 adult fall again into the world, and renounce their baptis- 
 mal obligations altogether ? In all such cases the baptism 
 of such persons is, of course, prostituted : but then the 
 weight of condemnation falls in this case, as in that of 
 baptized infants, who when adult become profligate, upon 
 
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 355 
 
 him w^dKAo has throwns^ the obligations of his baptism. 
 This objection also proves entirely too much. It would 
 prevent the preaching of the gospel to sinners, lest it be 
 abused! It would prohibit the reading of the Scriptures, 
 lest their instructions be not heeded. In fact, if extended, it 
 would have prevented the death, of Christ and those offers 
 of mercy to sinners, which were predicated thereon. The 
 Redeemer foresaw that sinners would reject his grace — 
 that they would profane his mercy. But did this prevent 
 his interposing benevolence ? If, then, the prostitutions of 
 divine goodness by those to whom it is offered, interfere 
 not with that, grand scheme of mercy, by which pardon is 
 offered, on the part of God, to the guilty, certainly the pro- 
 bability, that a proper subject of a gospel ordinance should 
 abuse such ordinance in his after life, is no reason why it 
 should not be administered. This objection, therefore, 
 when properly canvassed, is of no weight whatever. It 
 proves too much, and thus proves nothing. 
 
 4. Another objection urged by many is, that the baptism 
 of an infant denies him the right of judgment as to this 
 ordinance. It forestalls, say they, his opinions, and ren- 
 ders him the blind dupe of the sentiments of ancestors 
 It is in this way, too, they allege, that error has been al- 
 ways propagated in the world. 
 
 In this case, the parent who renders such an excuse 
 for the neglect of the baptism of his child, either believes 
 in the obligation of Pcedobaptism, or he does not. If he 
 does not, then is he really unfit to baptize his child, and 
 disqualified to be a member of a Paedobaptist church. 
 His objection, in this case, must evidently arise from his 
 own views of this ordinance. But if, as is implied in the 
 
350 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 objection itself, the parent beliei(j|in the oblitration of tiiis 
 rite, then his apology for its omission is alt..:., ih, i absurd. 
 He believes that God commands him to baptize his child ; 
 and yet that the performance of this duty would be inju- 
 rious to the spiritual interests of such child ! Safety, ac- 
 cording to this position, lies not in obeying, but in diso- 
 beying divine precepts ! Again; if this objection be valid 
 in reference to this institution, it is also valid in every 
 other case. Suppose a father, who is himself a^pious man, 
 to be situated in the midst of infidels, reasoning according 
 to this sentiment, such lather would be ready to say, 
 " Since the consciences of men should ever be kept free 
 and unbiassed ; and since the inculcating of respect for 
 the Word of God must have a tendency to establish a be- 
 lief in the authority of Revelation ; therefore, I will never 
 inculcate such respect for the divine oracles ; nor will I at- 
 tempt in any way to give a preponderance to the judgment 
 of my child, in favor of that system of religion which I 
 myself regard to be true." Now what would be the issue 
 in such a case ? The depravity of the child's heart natu- 
 rally leads him to discard the obligations of Christianity ; 
 his associates infuse perpetually into his mind deistical 
 sentiments ; and his pious father, (if such a thing be con- 
 ceivable,) through a most tender regard for the integrity 
 of his child's conscience, never once teaches him that the 
 Word of God is the only foundation of a sinner's hope ! 
 How necessarili/, under such circumstances, would a child 
 become an infidel. The result would be inevitable; and 
 it would require but very little wisdom to foresee it. Apply 
 the case. Here is a father who regards Pa?dobaptism as a 
 divine ordinance. But lest he should harm the conscience 
 
« 4 
 
 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 
 
 of his offspring, and occupy beforehand what ought to be 
 
 fiJIed, but by the judgment of his child when grown ; he 
 
 * neglects the administration of such ordinance altogether. 
 
 , The disposition of his child leads him to contemn the ob- 
 ligations of religion in every form. Many with whom he 
 mingles denies the validity of this ordinance, and even 
 ridicule it in his presence ; and his pious father, instead 
 of advocating and maintaining the institution, has really 
 denied it by his own practice ! Whatrswill be the result ? 
 Why, certainly, that that child who might, through differ- 
 ent training, have grown up under the hallowing influence 
 of this ordinance, now contemns it, and probably along 
 with it discards religious obligations of every kind ? 
 The result is necessary. How is it possible for a child to 
 respect a gospel ordinance, when his own parent has 
 taught him to despise it ? Such parents as adopt the 
 above sentiment, therefore, instead of rendering their own 
 account more acceptable, and the consciences of their 
 children more free, do positively, by a breach of trust, 
 plunge themselves into greater guilt; while they fasten 
 
 *L upon their children the strongest and most pernicious of 
 fetters. The truth is, the minds of our children present 
 fields for us to cultivate ; and if we refuse such culture, 
 an enemy will inevitably undertake it. 
 
 There are some parents who subjoin to the above, that 
 
 it '<is a wish to keep their children in the Presbyterian 
 
 community, which makes them neglect their baptism. 
 
 Tliey allege, that if, when grown, their children should 
 
 ^ not be satisfied with their infant baptism, they would be 
 
 # under tlie necessity of joining the Baptist church ; as no 
 
QoS OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. ' 
 
 Paedobaptist would baptize them a second time. To this 
 I would reply, first — that if such parents would discharge 
 their duty faithfiilly, there would be but little danger of a 
 change of sentiment among their children. But to this I 
 would reply, secondly, that if their children be not Pado- 
 baptist when grown, they ought not to be received into a 
 Paedobaptist church ; so that they would be under the ne- 
 cessity, even in this case, to seek membership elsewhere. 
 
 5. Another objection urged by some is, that since 
 children are introduced into the church by their baptism, 
 and yet are not excluded when guilty even of the grossest 
 crimes; the present manner of observing this institution, 
 at least, cannot be maintained without the greatest incon- 
 sistency. 
 
 To this objection we will readily concede two points, 
 viz. the failure on the part of the church, at least, in many 
 places, to extend her control over her baptized children ; 
 and also over parents, as to the particular act by which 
 they surrendered their offspring to God. The church is 
 solemnly bound to see that parents do not grossly neglect 
 their duty to their baptized seed ; and she is also bound 
 to reprove and advise those who have been admitted to 
 her ordinance of Paedobaptism. A failure, however, in 
 these particulars, is an abuse of this ordinance ; it is not 
 .an objection to the institution itself. 
 
 But, in reference to the substance of this objection^ I 
 would observe ; that the exclusion of persons from the 
 church implies that they were previously members. ' Now 
 we have already shown, that children are not, in conse- 
 quence of their baptism, members of the churoh in the 
 
 m 
 
^^ 
 
 OBJECTIONS'ftNSWERED. 359 
 
 • ordinary acceptation of that phraseology. If, then, they 
 be not members of the church, in full and regular stand- 
 ing, their exclusion would be absurd. 
 
 We might proceed to specify many other objections, 
 but we deem it unnecessary. All of them originate in 
 some misconception or other of the ordinance itself. And 
 as the foregoing pages have been devoted almost entirely 
 to the elucidation of this ordinance, their careful perusal 
 will, we are persuaded, by the blessing of God, remove 
 from the minds of the candid and pious those scruples of 
 conscience by which they have been perplexed. That 
 such may be the result, is the most prayerful and sincere 
 desire of the writer. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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