i':'K ':''•; jtj: > :|:[s !;.' : .. !; J. :■•;- |f;| - j;g:;;j^ : :f !',- ' ![^^,;;.:;;;-Vi!:::! 1 ■:i : vi^S:? ■• •' £i»« WWmi : £:&::-^-:;£- ] }m:Wy mu '« r ' ■ ' - , ' ' ^ : i}^-y--''H^'^h'^' r .^p' ;■■ . yi'^i^i'^^-irv-rin;":;:;:--'':- i\ ;-;;. ; .,■ ■ ' :. ■ ■'■:. ::■:■!,;,: . i-;^:v;:; : ! *' : ' ' : • , " , ::..'■:■ ■:■'■ ::=l,- • ::'Ji;. ■ ; •■-•:»■'..■■"';:■ !#&$' *•■<#..-'/:'£;' ; ; » ;; ' ^M?fl^^:; ISfc:;^!'^-^-:!;;;:;- -. ''* :'- ' ' • ■'■•■•■,■:' : ' ■ '::.; -: ...,:■-:- r1.^; : - =:i;^:!:>^^ s --^:^^;!:^"!- : :!^!::::.:;!:l;^::^: ::i M.WM^fi\M^:^B^B ": J<" ;• •,;::■.,■..-:.... V-'r •■■.';■'; i ' ':Ct "' , • :■'■■■•:,, ■...•■: ; l: ■ .- .-; ; whoConfcientioufly maintain Infant-Baptifm. And fuppofmg you, Worthy SIR, by your Commu- nion, to maintain Paedo-Baptifm, I took courage and boldnefs, to write unto your felf, for to know your Grounds from Scripture* on which you fatisfy your Confcience in that Point. The main Reafon, which fatisfies me againft Paedo-Baptifm, is, becaufe I can find no where in Scripture, either in exprefs Terms,, or by any na- tural or neceflary Confequence, that it is the Will of God, that Believers Infants are to be Baptized in their Infancy : I cannot find any Precept to Bap- tize them, nor fo much that ever John the Baptiflv or Chrift, or his Difciples (that appears) did Baptize any of them. ' I know [? 1 I know indeed, what Dr. Hammond, Dr. Light* foot, and the Athenian Society prefume (as to an Inftitution) from a Cuftom among the Jews, of their Baptizing the Infants of Profelytes, as if Chrift out of Condefcenfion to the Jews, to win them, did include Infants in his Precept of Bap- tizing all Nations, Children being a part of them. But 1 cannot find in Holy Writ any fuch Cuftom recorded, or that it had a Divine Inftitution. And if thofe Writings from whence they would prove, that there was fuch a Cuftom in our Saviour's time amongft them, were of undoubted Authority, yet I cannot fee any reafon to conclude, that Chrift would inftitute Infant-Baptifm to gratify Infidel Jews j who were but the leaft part of all Nations, (if intended there by Nations.) As Johns Baptifm was from Heaven, and was fo fingular a thing, that the Jews, Job. i. 25. wondring at it, asked him, Why baptizejl thou then, if &c. So the Baptifm Chrift inftituted, was not from any Jewifh Tra- dition, or Rudiment of the Jewifh World, but from Heaven, and differing from any Jewifh Baptifm. That John Baptift, and our Lord firft made Difci- ples, and then Baptized thofe Difciples, I think is plain from Joh.4.1. But I cannot find, that they alfo Baptized the Children of thofe Difciples, as if they had been the Children of New Profe- lytes. As our Lord did thus among the Jews, by his Apoftles, fo he did by them among the Nations ; and I can no where in Scripture find,that Believing Gentiles were counted and called Profelytes, be- caufe Chriftians, and that their Children were Bap* tized for that reafon. The Do&or doubtlefs can B 2 certify certify me, jwjjether or no it was a Cuftom among the Jews and other Nations, for great Matters to initiate their Difciples by Baptifm ; and if fo, there would.be more probability, that Chrift inftituted Baptifm from that Cuftom, if from any, and that as they did not Baptize the Children of thofe Dif- ciples too, until themfelves became Difciples, fo the Children of the Difciples of Chrift, the great Prophet of God, and our Mafter, are not to be Baptized, until themfelves alfo become Difciples. Go ye j and teach all Nations, is explained, Mar. 16.15. Go ye into all the World, and preach the G oj pel to every Creature; and thus it is by feveral of the Fathers underftood. And by Baptizing them, viz. all Na- tions, there is no neceflity to underftand it of Bap- tizing all Perfons abfolutely, for we have the words [all Nations'] in other Texts of Scripture, where they do not mean all Perfons abfolutely, but of a capable Condition, as Adorate eum omnes gentes •, & Pfallitate Deo omnes Nationes, &c. And if Baptifm was the way of Difcipling Perfons, as fome would have it, then the Apoftles needed not have firft required of them Repentance and Faith, as previ- ous Difpofitions and Qualifications for Baptifm, but rather have Exhorted them to be Baptized, in order to their being taught Faith and Repentance, -with other things commanded by Chrift to his A- poftjes. But as it plainly appears from other Scrip- tures, that our Saviour here excludes from being Baptized, thofe Perfons of all Nations, that are nor yet qualify'd for it, /. e. Not yet become Difciples, or Repenting Believers, tho' capable of Faith and Repentance ; fo it does not appear to me, that In- [ S ] Infants Difciples are here included,tho' neither qua- lify'd nor capable, as Difciples fhould be. Thus when, Col. 2. the Apoftle tells Gentile Be- lievers, that they were compleat in Chrift, feeing they were Circumcifed in him by his Circumcifion, and Buried and Rifen with him in Baptifm, &c. Some will from hence affert, that * Perhap , he raeant Circumcifion came in the room of \l^Tc™£ Baptifm, * and confequently that cifion - Infants are to be Baptized, as before they were to be Circumcifed, which I can no ways fee : Nor was ever any fuch thing pleaded by the Apoftlcs, againft the Chriftian Jews, that were Zealous for Circumcifion. John, and Chrift by his Apoftle, ad- miniftred Baptifm among the Jews, while Circum- cifion was ftill a Duty to the Jews and their Chil- dren. I grant, that it may be proved from hence, that Circumcifion was a Figure of the Circumcifi- on made without Hands, in the putting off the Body of the Sins of the Flefh, but not that Circum- cifion figured Baptifm : Which if it could be proved from hence, yet there does not necefiarily follow a neceffityof obferving this Circumftance of Age, any more than many other Circumftances of the Type,- as^hat of the eighth day, of the male [ex only, &c. But the Analogy will hold thus more pro- perly : As Infants in the latter were Circumcifed, io fpiritual Infants or Babes in Chrift, that are be- come like one of thefe little Ones, fhall be Bapti- zed. Therefore that Argument from the Circum- ftance of Age, being but a meer Conjecture, proves nothing. The E-.fJ The Argument which is taken from the Action of Chrift's bleffing Infants, does not prove to me, that it is the Will of God, that Infants are to be Baptized, but rather the contrary, in as much as we cannot learn, but that Chrill difmiffed them without Baptifm. As for that faying of Chrift, Except a man be born *gdin>&c. it does no more infer a neceffity of In- fant's Baptifm, than that other of his, Except ye eat ihefltjh of the Son of Man, &c. does infer a neceffity of their partaking at the Lord's Table. The Gofpel fpeaks to Perfons of Years and Difcretion, and it is they whom it ties to Baptifm for their Salvation, and the Baptifm which faves them, is the anfwer of a good Confcience towards God in their Obedi-, ence to the Gofpel-requirings, which Infants-are uncapable to difcharge. And for the Salvation of In- fants, God is able ftill to beftow faving Mercies upon Infants now immediately, as he did before the Inftitution, either of Circumcifion or Baptifm. Even as it is in the cafe of Faith, He that btlieveth not, /ball be damned: Now, becaufe Children are no more able to give affent to the Gofpel, than to dif- fent therefrom, fhall we from thence infer their Damnation ? And if the want of Faith does not Damn them till they are capable of Faith, then miach more the want of Baptifm will not Damn them, till then, and may therefore be rationally deferred till then. As to the Promife of the Holy Ghoft to the Jews and their Children, I cannot underftand it, but Conditionally, viz. To them, if they fhould Re- pent and be Baptized, (according to Peter\ Exhor- tation [7] tation to them,) and alfo to their Sons and Daugh- ters, of the fame Capacity to receive the Holy Spirit's Effefts on their Natural Faculties, upon their Repentance and Obedience of Faith: For, as the word [Children'] in Scripture, does not al- ways mean Infants, elfe it would follow, that there were no Adult Perfons in all I/rael ; folfee no neceffity to take it here of Infants. As for the Holinefs of the Children of a Be- liever, fpoken of i Corq. 14. (whatever that Holi- nefs be) it does no more neceffarily prove, that In- fants of Believers are for that reafon to be Bapti- zed, than the Holinefs of the Unbelieving Parent there fpoken of, will prove, that fuch an Infidel is for that reafon to be Baptized,. For, that Holi- nefs of the Children, is derived to them from their Believing Parent, as it is to the Unbelieving Pa- rent, and not from the Gift of the Holy Ghoft. And whereas for an Apoftolical Precedent, there i& one pretended from Baptizing of Stepbtnas's Houfhold ? it is but a bare Conjefture, firti, that there were little Babes in the Family, zwdfccondly, that they were Baptized. It is faid of the Ruler ac Capernaum, that He believed, and all his Houfe, but it does not thence follow, that there were Infants in his Houfe, and that they believed as well as he. One feems ju(t as probable as the other. Now, Good S I R, feeing T can find no Certain- ty or Demonltration, and I may fay, no Proba- bility, in thefe Arguments, that are ufually brought from Scripture for Infant-Baptifm ; if you can pro- duce any Arguments that carry more Weight and Demon- [8] Demonftration in them, for that which you be- lieve to be the Truth, and againft that which you believe to be an Errour, and I (at prefent) a Truth, I do earneftly and humbly entreat you, for my Soul's fake, and as you are in Chriftian Duty and Confcience bound to God, to be fo Good as to im- part them to me, for to fave my Soul from fuch an Errour. And as your fo doing may make much, not only for my Spiritual, but alfo for my Temporal Benefit, fo you will thereby greatly Oblige, fyvtrend SIR, London, Feb."^ Your very Humble, 2$. 1696. 5 And Affe&ionate Servant, c.c Pray Sir, will you be pleafed to favour me with fome Lines, and to dire£t your Letter for me, to be left with Mr. at the — in St. Paufs Church-yard, and there I will call for it, Three Weeks hence, and pay for it. VaU. To the Reverend John Wallis, D.D. andTrofeJfor qf Geometry in the Univer- Jity of Oxford. THE [9] A N ANSWER To the Fore-going LETTER. S I R y Oxford, Feb. 28. 169I I Received laft Night, from I know not whom," a Letter (concerning Infant-Baptifm) Dated Feb. 25. and Signed CC Whether this be a true Name, or but a feigned one, I am not cer- tain. But guels it to be the latter ; becaufe I do not remember that I have ever heard of any Man of that Name. And, as I do not know from whom ; fo, neither do I know, how qualify'd : Whether with a modeft Defire to be informed ; or a captious Humour to quarel or cavil at a received Truth , as being pre- poirefTed with a Prejudice to the contrary. C If [JO] If the latter ; I might anfwer as the Apoftle doth in a like Cafe ; If any man lift to be Contentious, m have no [itch cuftome, nor the Churches of God. And the Scripture feems to me to be written in fuch a iiile, not as to gratify the nicely Captious, but to give a reafonable Satisfaction to fuch as are mo- deftly willing to be taught. If any man will do his Will, he f J all know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God. And, The meek he will teach his way. And I do not find that Chrift thought fit to comply with thofe who would be curioufly inquifitive for a Sign from Heaven (when and in what manner they pleafed) to confirm his DoCtrine : Or, with the Rich Glutton, who would have one fent from the Dead to warn his Brethren : But would take his own time, and his own way, to fatisfy thofe who were wil- ling to be taught. And, in Matters of Fa£t, we mult content our felves with a Moral Certainty, though we have not always a Mathematical Demon- ftration. And if, then, any doubt remain, as to Matter of FaCt, we muft content our felves with fuch reafonable Satisfaction , as God thinks fit to give us, what is moft likely to be true. But. I am willing to underltand the Writer in the other Senfe; as content (without cavilling) with a reafonable Satisfaction. And then, as to this Queftion, concerning Matter of Fad ; Whether Chrilt and his Apoftles, or the Church in their time, did Baptize Infants: 'Tis clear, on the one hand, that we cannot be certain* that they did not, (there being no intimation to that purpofe -J and it is much more reafonable ta think they did j and to praCtife accordingly. C" ] I fhall parallel this with another Queftion of like Nature. Whether Women did then,and ought now, to partake of the other Sacrament. If it be objected; that Chrift at firft did celebrate it with Men only, (the Twelve Apoftles;) and the Apoftle directs, Let a Man (not Woman or Child) examine himfelf (not herfelf) and fo let him (not her) eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup. Nor do we any where, in Scripture, find any ex- prefs mention of Women receiving it. Yet I am fatisfy'd , notwithftanding this Ob- jeftion, (and fo, I hope, are you) that they did then, and ought now to receive it. Becaufe there is no intimation of the contrary ; and there feems to be the fame reafon for the Women, as for the Men, and the like benefit to each ; And Women were Baptized (though not formerly Circumcifed;) and did (as we have rcafbn to prefume, though I do not remember that it is exprefly faid fo) eat of the Paf$'Over (notwithftanding it be exprefly faid Exod. 12. 48. No Vncircumcifed Perfon [ball eat thereof;) The words Houfe and Houjhold being reafonably fuppofed to include Women andChildren alfo ; and that the whole Family is to be reputed as a Circumcifed Family , wherein all the Males are Circumcifed. And, the Pra&ice of the Church, ( which is a great PrefumptionJ hath been always confonant, to admit Women, as well as Men, to the Lord's Table. And, in many other cafes, particular Circum- ftances may be prefumed to be fupplied (from the Reafonablenefs of the thing, and parallel Cafes,) though not diftinftly exprefled in the Hiftory of the C2 Fad; Fa& ; as may be amply fhewed, if that were ne- ceffary. Now (to apply this to the prefent Cafe,) we are firft to confider, what Baptifm is. It is a fblemn Rite, appointed by Chrift, for the folemn Ad- miflion or Incorporation, of the Perfon Baptized, into the Chriftian Church ; (as Circumcifion was, into that of thzjetvs;) and, a Confecration or Dedication of the Perfon Baptized, to the Service or Worfhip of the Father, Son, and Holy-Ghoft. And confcquently, thofe who have right to be fo admitted, and fo dedicated, have right to the fo- lemn Rite of fuch Admiffion, and Dedication. Next we are to confider, that the Children of Chriftians now, have as well a right to be reputed Members of the Christian Church, as the Children of Jews, of the Jewifh Church ; and confequently to be folemnly received into it : that is, into God's vifible Church, both of them ; and both a like Ob- ligation to be offered or dedicated to the Service of the True God. And it is not reafbnably to be fuppofed, that God would fo often, and fo emphatically make Pro- mifes to the Righteous, and their feed, if there was not fomewhat of peculiar Preference intend- ed them, beyond thofe of the Wicked, or thofe that are out of God's Vifible Church. For if no more be intended, than fuch a Con- ditional Promife, If they repent and believe ; this is equally true of the Children of the raoft Profligate ; and of Heathens, as of Jews or Chriftians. How grear that is, I will not now difpute ; but what Preference did then belong to the Jews, I think is now common to Chriftians. Other- [*3l Ocherwife, Chrift's Coming would render the Condition of Children, worfe than before. And particularly, thofe very Children, who in the Jewifh Church were Members of the vifible Church of God, muft have ceafed to be fo, when the Chriftian Church took place. Contrary to what Chriffc feems to intimate, in that of, Suffer little Children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 'fitch is the KJngdom of Heaven. Which intimates a Capacity in Children of an In- tereft in Heaven hereafter,and in the vifible Church here ; (efpecially if by KJngdom of Heaven, be here meant, the Gofpel Church.) As likewife to that of, Elfe mre your Children unclean j but now are they holy. Which implies a cer- tain Holinefs, as to the Children of One, though not of both, Believing Parents ; which they would not have, if neither of the Parents were Believers. Which feems to me fo clear an Evidence, of Tome relative Holinefs, or Intereft in the vifible Church, or Dedication to the Service of God ; as is not eafy to be avoided. And that flight Evafion, as if it were meant as to Bafardyj is fo weak, as (with me) bears no weight at all. For, though both Parents were Hea^ then, the Child would not be a Baftard. And it is to be confidered, that, in all Religions, the Children are reputed as of the fame Religion with the Parents (while under their Care) till they do by fome aft of their own manifeft the contrary. The Child of a Jew is reputed a Jew; of aChriftian, a Chriftian ; of a Heathen, a Heathen \ of a Papift, a Papift ; and fo of others. Now [ If] Now what belongs to a Church, as a Church, doth equally belong to the Jewifh and Chriilian Church, and needs no new Institution : And con- fequently, that of having their Children in the vifible Church-Communion with themfelves ; and the Bleffing appertaining to that vifible Commu- nion ; as that of, / will be a God of thee, and of thy Seed : And this Bleffing of Abraham, is come upon the Gentiles alfo. And though it is true, that this doth not prefent- ly intitle them to Heaven ( unlefi their Life be an- fwerable, as neither did that of being the Seed of Abraham,) yet it is to be reputed a real Advan- tage, as putting thtm into a fairer ProfpeQ. of Heaven, and in a greater Probability of obtaining faving Grace, than if out of the Church. And this Advantage of the "Jew above the Gentiles which they then had ; the Apoitle tells us, is much every way : (Yet not fo, but that a Believer, though not a Jew, might be faved by Faith ; and an Unbe- liever, though a Jew, would be damned without it.) And what Advantage was then to the Jews, (as God's vifible Church,) is now common to the Gen- tiles alfo. So that the Right of Believers Children, to be within the Church, is not a new Inftitution, (as if we fhould now look for a diftinft Inftitution of Infant -Baptifm, befide that of Baptifm ;) but as old as Adam, for ought I know ; But the folemn Rite of Admiflion into this Church, (to which the Child hath a Right to be admitted) is a new Institution ; then by Circumcifion, appointed to Abraham; and now, by Baptifm, uponanewlnftitution, appoint- ed by Chrift. By [ IT] By being Believers Children, they have Jus ad rem; and by being Baptized, they have Jus in re; whatever be the friviledge of being within the Pale and Promife of the vifible Church. And fo long as, by our fault, we debar them from Baptifm ; *\ e do, fo much as in us lyeth, debar them of that Advantage, whatever it be. Nor is it only a Friviledge of the Children (to be thus early admitted into the vifible Church, with the Benefits thereto appertaining, and thus dedicated to the Service and Worfhip of God ;) but a Duty of Parents, and other Superiors, thus to dedicate them, and (fo far as in them lyeth) give them up to God. And we need not doubt, but that the Parent hath a natural Right over the Child of fo doing. And we do not know how foon the Effect of fuch Dedication (upon God's acceptance) may operate. Samfon, before he was born, was devoted by Ma- noah, to be a iVazarite. And Samuel was, by his Mother, vowed before he was born, and after pre- sented while an Infant, to the fpecial Service of God : Jeremy is laid to be fancl 'ified from his mothers womb; and Paul likewife *, and John the Baptijly while yet unborn *, and Timothy , from a Child. And we have no reafon to doubt, but many Children very early, and even before their Birth, may have the habits of Grace infufed into them, by which they are faved, though dying before the Years of Difcretion. My meaning is, That God may, by his Grace, fo pre-difpofe the Soul, to an aptnefs for Good; as (by our natural Corruption) we are fuppofed to be Habitually inclined to Evil, though not yet in a Capacity to aft: either. For For as the habits of Corruption, which we call Original Sin, by Propagation; fo may the habits of Grace, by Infufion, be inherent in the Soul, long before (for want of the ufe of Reafon) we are in Capacity to aft either ; as is alfo the rational Fa- culty, before we are in a Capacity to aft Reafon. And we may have Incouragement to expeft, or hope for, fuch Work from God on the Heart of a Child, from our early devoting him to God's Ser- vice. And the proper way, by Chrift appointed, for thus devoting, or offering up perfons to God, is Baptifm, into the Name, and to the Service of the Father, Son and Holy Ghoft. 1 am loth to charge it, as a juft Judgment of God, for fuch negleft ; when we fee the unbap- tized Children, of Faulty Parents, prove lewd and debauch'd Perfons ; though we have reafon to fear, it may be an Effeft of not devoting them to God by Baptifm, and a negleft of fuitable Education. For as we find Corruption doth, fo (through God's Bleffing) Grace may begin to aft very early ; And if we may do ir, certainly we ought to do it. And as Perfons, when they be come to Age, ought themfelves, to give up themfelves, and (as it were,) enter into a Tacred Covenant with God ; (and renew it, from time to time;) fo may the Parents fand ought to do it, fo far as in them lyethj give up their Children to God, and ingage them in fuch a Covenant with him. We know, amongft our felves, a Child by his Guardians, or his Parents, may be put into the PofTeflion of an Eftate, and engaged to the Homage and Fealty thereunto appertaining, before himielf do underftand what is done. And [ 17] And In fuch a Covenant we find the lfraelites to enter (Deut. 29. 10. &c.) in the Name of them- felves, their Wives, and their little ones, and even of thofe then prefent, and thofe not prefent at that Day. And of a like Tenour we fuppofe to be thofe mentioned of Jojbua.Afa.Jehojada^ofiah^ThdiX. God fhould be a God to them, and they a People to him. Which is the fame, for Subftance, which a Perfon of Age makes for himfelf, and the Parent for the Child in Baptifm. And if Children be thus capable, or their Parents for them, of entering thus into Covenant with God ; why not of receiving the Seal of fuch Co- venant ? And why not that of Baptifm now, as well as of Circumcifion before ? For the Child is paflive in both. And, if Capable, you admit it to be a Duty. For your Exception is, that it is to be underftood of Perfons in a capable Condition. Now, that Infants are capable of being admitted Members of God's Vifible Church ; and capable of being dedicated to God's Service, I think is no Queftion ; which are the Bufinefs of Baptilm. I know it is obje&ed, that it isfaid Matth.2S.1g. Go teach all Nations, Baptizing them &c. and there- fore they are fir it to be Taught fwhich Children cannot be^ before thsy are Baptized. And others ("who put a greater force upon the word w&*t\larn) chofe rather to render it, Go make Difciples all Na- tions, baptizing them & r c. and therefore ("fay they,) they are to be jmade Difciples (by Faith and Pve- pentancej before they are Baptized. D Now [18] Now I can well enough admit, that M*9,mt>Vre may there be rendered by make Difc/ples fand per- haps better than Teach ;) But their Inference from thence, is a great Miftake. For, Go make Difciples by Faith and Repentance ; will not be good Senfe. For Faith and Repentance are to be Works of the Perfons Baptized, not of the Baptizer. And 'tis prepofterous to think Faith and Repent- ance intended in the word Matheteufate, For Chrift is here fpeaking to his Jpoflles ; inftru&ing them, what They are to do in Planting a Chriftian Church. (Not what each refpefrive Chriftian is to do in a Church thus planted : For that is to come-in after, amongft the things that are to be taught.) And the words lie plainly thus ; Go> Difciple all Nations, (that is, Gather Difciples of all Nations, or indifferently of any Nation, Jews or Gentiles, all the World over J Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoji ; Teaching them to obferve all things whaifbever 1 have commanded you. Or thus, fthofe who are here called Difciples, being after called Chrijiians ; The Difcipks were called Chrijiians firjl in Antioch, Att. 1 1. 26 .) Make Chrijiians of all Nations^ Baptizing them and Teaching them . And, (if we would lay ftrefs upon the order of the Words, Baptizing is to go before Teaching.) The word m*9»t€vW« (make Difciples) is here a Verb Imperative, or Preceptive ; and b**t/£*>t*< J)- JitjKciTu (Baptizing and Teaching) are Participles, Exegetical or Declarative, how that Precept is to be difcharged. And [ 19 1 . And it is in a like Form as this, (if the Founder of a Free-School fhould thus give Inftru&ions to him that he makes School-Mafter J Make Latinijls ofanyParijh in London,; 4ib'/ig them into the School y and there teaching them the Latin Tongue. Or, in the Lan- guage of the Univerfity (to the Governours there) Make Scholars, or Learned Men, of any County in England, admitting them into the Vmverfity, or a College, and teaching them what is to be there learned. Or, in the Language of the City fto the Gover- nours, fuppofe, of the Merchants Company) Make Merchants of any Country ; taking apprentices ; and teaching them the Trade. f For m*8mtw*, a Difciple, fig- nifies the fame as a Scholar, a Learner^ an Appren- tice.) Would any Man now think, that the Boy mull: firfl: be a Latinift, before he may be taken into the School ? Or, the Academick muft be a Philofopher, or Learned Man, before he may be admitted in the Univerfity ? Or, the Citizen a skilful Merchant, before he may be bound Apprentice ? No; but the quite contrary. So here, he is to be entered a Scholar in Chrift's School, in order to be farther initrufted in the Chriftian Religion, according to the capacity wherein he is. But, whether one do put himfelf an Apprentice ("if a Man, and at his own DifpofaU or be put an Apprentice by his Parents or Guardians fat whofe Difpofal he isj if a Child, is all one, as to learning a Trade ; And it is all one, whether (be- fore he be thus put an Apprentice^ he have fome little Skill in the Trade, or none at all. And fo here ; whether he be of fuch Years (if not the D 2 Child [io] Child of a Chriftian, or have been before negleft- ed) as to have been taught fomewhat of Chrifti- anity ; or yet an Infant,and to know nothing of it. And whether (as in the former cafe) he offer him- felf to Baptifm; or (as in the latter) he be ten- dered to it by his Parents ; he is to be Baptized, and to be Inftruiled, each according to the capacity wherein he is. But why it fliould be negle&ed, when it may be had fooner, I fee no reafon ; at leaft if it be allow- ed to be a thing defirable, and advantageous. Now this, for the mod part, was the cafe of the Apoftles, when they converted Jews or Heathens to the Christian Faith. It was not to be expefred, that Men at Age, and at their own Difpofal, and brought up in another Religion, would be willing to declare themfelves Chriffians, and be Baptized as fuch, before they knew fomewhat of it ; (And therefore I would not lay fo much ftrefs upon the Order of Words, as if a Perfon Unbaptized might not be taught, if capable cf it ) But when they were fo perfwaded as to them- felves, they did (with themfelves) bring in thofe who were under their Power. As Lydia, and all her Houfhold ; the Jaylor, and all his ; the Hou- fhold of Stephanas, Cornelius, and all his ; and the like, I fuppofe, of others. And to this purpofe I underftand that of Jtt. 2, Repent, and be Baptized every one of you, whether Jews or Gentiles, (this being a mixture of many Nations) for the Yemiffion of fins, — For the promt fe is to you, and to your Children, (as well as to^- hra.ham } and his Children,) and to as many as our Lord [« ] Lord/ball call, (and to their Children ; for this I fuppofe to be underftood.) For, though I know that Children doth not al- ways fignify Infants ; yet, if no more were meant of their Children , than of all the World befide, there was no occafion of Naming Children^ but the Senfe had been as full without it. Now it cannot reafonably be fuppofed, but that there were Children in fome of thofe Houfes ; (at leaft it is more likely that there were in fome, than that there were none in any of them ;) and there- fore that Children were then Baptized, as well as others ; efpeciaily when there is no Intimation to the contrary. And in fuch Cafes, where there is a filence in matter of Fad ; it is reafonable to think, it was fo, as was moll likely to be ; efpeciaily when no- thing appears to the contrary, and great Preemp- tions of it. I know there is fometime mention of Faith, in order to being Baptized ; but it is of grown Perfons. Nor is it always meant of faving Faith, and a cordial Converfion ; but a Profeffion of Faith, or a profeiTed willingnefs to be Baptized,and declaring themfelves Christians. For 'tis faid, Simon himfe If believed alfo, and was baptized : Which cannot be meant of faving Faith, and a real Converfion ; for we find him afterward, in the gall of bitter nefs, and bond of iniquity. And when fo many Thoufands were Baptized in one Day, we cannot think they were all iingly Examined, lb as to give (at leaft a probable) Evi- dence of faving Grace : But, their willingnefs to be [ « ] be Baptized, was a fufficient Evidence of their declaring themfelves Chriftians, or profeffing Chri- stianity. And when all Jerufalem, and all Judea, and all the region about Jordan (that is, great Multitudes from all thofe Parts,) went out to Jofrn Baptifi, and were baptized of him, confeffing their fins ; it cannot be fuppofed that fuch Multitudes were all fingly Examined, and made particular Confeflions of their Sins ; But, the Verbal Expreffions of many, with the filent Confent of the reft, and the concurrent Actings of all, was an evident Declaration of their common Sentiments, And it can hardly be thought, that they did not (many of them) bring Children with them ; fince we know they had then an Opinion, that Chil- dren were capable of Benefit from the Benediction of Prophets, and Perfons extraordinary ; as ap- pears by their bringing of little Children to Chrift, (fuch as to be taken up in Arms.) for him to lay his hands on them and blefs them. Now if each of thefe Confiderations be not, fingly, convidtive : Yet fo many together, of which each is highly probable, and when as nothing ((b much as probable) doth appear to the contrary : It feems to mefo great an Evidence (in Matter of Faft,) that Children were then Baptized ; that I do not at all doubt, but that we are rather to think, that Infants were then Baptized, than that they were not. To which we may add, the continual concur- rence of the Churches Practice, for near Sixteen Hundred [ m I Hundred Years ; which, in Matter of Fa£t, is a great Evidence. ' For I do not know, that in any Age of the Church, it was ever fo much as questioned, or at all doubted, (but that the Children of Chnftians might be lawfully Baptized,) till that about ico Years fince (in our Grandfathers time) the Ana- baptifts in Germany did (amongft many other ex- travagant Notions) begin to cavil at it. When as, in all the former Ages of the Church, nearer to the Apoftles time, I do not know that any Hiftory doth mention, that it was ever queftioned. Whereas, a thing of fuch Daily Practice, if at any time, in any part of the Christian Church, it had received any considerable Oppofinon ; it could not be, but that fome Hiftory would have taken notice of it. And, in fuch a Cafe, a conftant Silence is, to me, a fufficient Evidence, that it hath been a conftant Practice (even from the Apoftles time) without any Oppofition. And, iffo, no doubt, but by them alfo. And I do not know of any thing alleged, with any fhew of Evidence, why we fhould think the contrary. If any (who were not the Children of Chrifti- ans, but converted fromHeathenifm) have defer'd their Baptifm too long ; I think they were faulty in fo doing. But if any will obftinately think, that Paul and Peter had not, each of them, Two Hands, and on each Hand Five Fingers, becaufe it is no where in Scripture (that I know of) faid that they had fo : And, that therefore, we are rather to think think they had not, than that they had ; I cannot help it, Thcfe are my Thoughts, haftily drawn up ; and Ipray God they may (through hisBleffing) be ef- fectual to your Satisfaction. Yours, v '.A John Wallis. For Mr. C— - to be left with Mr. at the ~ in St. Paul'* Church-yard, till it ic called for.