HISTORICAL VINDICATIONS:
A DISCOURSE
ON THE
PROVINCE AND USES OF BAPTIST HISTORY,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE BACKUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
AT NEWTON, MASS., JUNE 23, 1857.
REPEATED BEFORE THE AMERICAN BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY,
AT NEW YORK, MAY 14, 1859.
WI T H
APPENDIXES,
CONTAINING
HISTORICAL NOTES AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH.
B Y
SEWALL S. CUTTING,
PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER.
BOSTON:
GOULD AND LINCOLNN,
59 WASHINGTON STREET.
NEW YORK: SHELDON AND COMPANY.
CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD.
1859.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 185,9, by
GOULD AND LINCOLN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
ELECTROTYPED BY W. F. DRAPER, ANDOVER, MASS.
Printed By R. M. Edwards.




TO THE
VENERABLE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
IN THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE, R. I.,
IS RESPECTFULLY
D E D I C A T E D.








P R E F A C E.
THIS Discourse is placed in form for preservation at the request of the bodies before whom it
was delivered. Prepared for delivery at the Anniversary of the Newton Theological Institution,
it is printed as spoken at that time. The historical importance of some of the subjects discussed
in the Notes, will justify, it is believed, the extended space which they occupy. The Confessions of 1643 and of 1689 are inserted, because,
though absolutely essential to the knowledge of
Baptist doctrinal history, they are to most readers now inaccessible. The pages here given to
the pfiblic are partial fruits of studies pursued
through many years by the writer, and he will




VI               PREFACE.
be abundantly compensated if they shall become
the occasion to others of kindred researches, and
kindred pleasure and profit.  He believes that
studies in our denominational history will increase our reverence for those who have gone
before us, and contribute, by the blessing of God,
to restore somewhat of their superior efficiency
in promoting the kingdom of our Lord, and the
salvation of men.
S. S. C.
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER,
SEPTEMBER 24, 1859.




CONTENTS.
PAGE
DISCOURSE,........ 11
APPENDIX I.
NOTES.
A. -THE ALLEGED SELF-BAPTISM OF JOHN SMITH,..         57
B. -THE HISTORICAL BAPTISM OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE,.      61
C. -CREED-STATEMENTS IN THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION,             85
D. — " BAPTISTS,".... 107
APPENDIX  II.
CONFESSIONS AND DISCIPLINE.
I.- THE CONFESSION OP THE SEVEN CHURCHES, 1643,.... 113
II. - THE CONFESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF 1689, CALLED IN AMERICA
THE PHILADELPHIA CONFESSION,.                      128
Remark to the Reader,.. 129
I.- Of the Holy Scriptures,.......     133
II.- Of God and of the Holy Trinity,.... 136
III - Of God's Decrees,.......... 138




VIII                      CONTENTS.
PAGE
IV. -Of Creation,........,.. 139
V. - Of Divine Providence,.                              140
VI. -Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment
thereof,........ 142
VII. - Of God's Covenant,........ 143
VIII.- Of Christ the Mediator,........ 144
IX. - Of Free Will,.... 147
X.- Of Effectual Calling,.                                147
XI. - Of Justification,......          149
XII. - Of Adoption,......... 150
XIII. - Of Sanctification,......... 151
XIV. -Of Saving Faith,. 152
XV.- Of Repentance unto Life and Salvation,.          153
XVI. -Of Good Works,.                    154
XVII. - Of Perseverance of the Saints,...                155
XVIII.- Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation,...          157
XIX.- Of the Law of God,....               158
XX. - Of the Gospel, and of the Extent of the Grace thereof,. 160
XXI. - Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience,.    161
XXII. - Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day,..        162
XXIII. -Of Lawful Oaths and Vows,.                          164
XXIV. - Of the Civil Magistrate,..165
XXV. - Of Marriage,.. 166
XXVI. - Of the Church,....                                   166
XXVII. -Of the Communion of Saints,...                170
XXVIII. -Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper,....        171
XXIX. - Of Baptism,...171
XXX. - Of the Lord's Supper,.... 172
XXXI. -Of the State of Man after Death, and of the Resurrection
of the Dead,.... 178
XXXII. -Of the Last Judgment,...                      174
XXXIII. — An Appendix Concerning Baptism,.            175
XXXIV. -Of the Singing of Psalms, etc.,... 189
XXXV. - Of Laying on of Hands,.... 189




CONTENTS.                                 IX
PAGE
III. -THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DECLARATION OF FAITH,.. 191
I. - Of the Scriptures,.....                191
II. -Of the True God,........ 191
III. - Of the Fall of Man,..... 192
IV.- Of the Way of Salvation,..... 192
V. -Of Justification,..                                     193
VI.- Of the Freeness of Salvation,... - 193
VII.- Of Grace in Regeneration....                            193
VIII. - Of Repentance and Faith,..... 194
IX. - Of God's Purpose of Grace,......                  191
X. - Of Sanctification,.195
XI.- Of the Perseverance of Saints,.               195
XII. —Of the Harmony of the Law and the Gospel,.... 195
XIII.-Of a Gospel Church,......... 196
XIV.- Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper,...          196
XV.- Of the Christian Sabbath,.                               197
XVI. -Of Civil Government,                                      197
XVII.- Of the Righteous and the Wicked,.                        197
XVIII.- Of the World to Come,.                                   198
IV. — DISCIPLINE ADOPTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION,. 199
Concerning a True and Orderly Gospel Church,.                  201
Concerning Ministers, etc.,.                  202
Of Ruling Elders,... 204
Of Deacons,..205
Of the Admission of Church Members,.                           205
Of the Duties of Church Members,.. 211
Of the Manifold Duties of Christians, especially to the Household of
Faith,. 213
Of Church Censures,..... 214
Of the Communion of Churches,. 221








THE
PROVINCE AND USES OF BAPTIST HISTORY.
I WAS not uninfluenced by personal considerations in
accepting the invitation which has brought me to your
presence to-day.  I came to meet old friends, whose
grasp always repays a long journey, needing no pledge
of welcome save that which is furnished in recollections
of former intimacies, and of labors in a common and
blessed service.  This hill, whose winding ascent is
shaded by venerable elms, —the beautiful panorama
which delights the eye from its summit,- are not more
familiar than the faces which assemble here on these
sacred occasions. They differ in this, that while the
former abide with the constancy of nature, knowing no
change save that of increasing beauty, the latter reveal
the touches of time and care, each year reminding us,
by their absence, of some whom we shall not greet
again, and whom we in our turn shall successively follow. I may too early attune your thoughts to sadness;
but these allusions force to my mind and to yours the
name of one whose recent departure, in the very vigor
of his days, we all have mourned as the loss of a brother.
It is not my province to utter his eulogy; and yet, the




12             PROVINCE AND USES
part which I have to perform in the exercises of this
anniversary, permits and invites a brief reference to his
virtues. He was my friend. When he came to the
pastorship of the ancient church in Providence, I was
the pastor of a rural church in this state, at no great
distance from him, and was honored with his confidence.
From that time I knew him well. I never knew integrity more perfect than his. Prudent and reserved,
when he spoke his words were the exact transcript of
his thoughts. Of ripe judgment, he was a sagacious
and wise counsellor. With wonderful faith in right
and in God, he looked for the triumph of truth and
righteousness with a confidence as unquestioning as that
of the astronomer looking for the calculated phenomena
of the planets. Perhaps it required somewhat of intimacy to know his emotional nature, —the depth, the
unchangeableness of his love, which, as a pervading,
characterizing sentiment, embraced his friends, — his
work as a pastor, - and the cause of Christ, whether as
a whole or in its special departments of education or
missions, whether as connected with his own denomination, or with that true church catholic which embraces
the faithful of every clime and name. He was a rarely
developed Christian man, whom, to human seeming,
the church on earth could not afford to lose. We feel
the pang of his absence here to-day, and before we pass
to other themes we pay this brief tribute to the memory
of JAMES N. GRANGER.
I had another reason for obeying the summons which
called me hither. It was my privilege to bear a part
in the formation of this Historical Society; anterior,




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            13
indeed, to the formation, I bore a part in the public and
private discussions which led to that event. There were
those among us who felt that materials for our denominational history were dropping away beyond recovery,
for the lack of some repository in which they might be
gathered,- that we were in danger of losing the historic spirit, for the lack of something to remind us of
the names and deeds of our fathers- those true men
who, in this and other lands, labored and suffered for
our faith. It was our wish to link the living generation with those who in all preceding times have been
the representatives of our ideas of the Christian economy, and with those who shall come after us in the
same evangelical succession. We believed the purpose
a worthy one - one which would minister to faith, and
hope, and charity, and which would grow in the interest and regard of the thoughtful and cultivated in our
ministry and our churches. I am still impressed by
similar convictions, and these gave the weight of authority to your wishes.
In occupying your attention for an hour, I shall restrict myself to topics closely related to the purposes
of this society. I propose to offer some remarks on the
Province and Uses of Baptist ITistory; and if I dwell
somewhat disproportionately on a single branch of the
former of these topics, it will be from my desire to
direct your attention to questions relating to the rise
of our denomination which seem to me to have been
studied less than they deserve.
By Baptist History, I mean history with the restriction implied by that epithet, taken in its ordinary sense.
2




14              PROVINCE AND USES
In that sense the epithet is modern, belonging wholly
to the period of the Reformation and the times succeeding. There are those who regard it as the chief and
distinguishing province of Baptist history to trace the
stream of our sentiments from their primal fountain in
the churches of the apostles, down through successions
of organized communities, to the Baptists of modern
times. I have little confidence in the results of any
attempts of that kind which have met my notice, and I
attach little value to inquiries pursued for the predetermined purpose of such a demonstration. The past
opens tier testimonies not to those who approach her
in the spirit of dictation, and to serve the ends of sect
or party, but to those who come in a docile temper to
accept her lessons, whatever they may be. It is a more
legitimate task to search for the good seed of the kingdom, wheresoever or howsoever scattered in the lapse of
ages, - whether manifesting itself in individual minds
distinguished by faith and genius, in sects struggling to
restore the primitive economy, and hunted and destroyed
as heretics, or mingled with the mass of evangelical
germs which never perished in the great apostasy; and
to note how that seed, when the Reformation came to
the church like vernal suns and airs to the teeming,
waiting earth, started into rank and even unhealthy
growth. This is preliminary to Baptist history. It explains how and why there came to be a Baptist denomination, and hence a history with that epithet. In that
sense it is within the province of Baptist history, but it
is not that history itself. American history falls back
upon English, and English in its turn upon Continen



OF BAPTIST HISTORY.              15
tal, and this again upon Roman, Grecian and Asiatic;
but when, -in the forces and events of these anterior
periods, American history has accounted for its existence and character, its province becomes peculiar and
restricted. It is so with Baptist history. It falls back
upon the anterior periods with which it is linked, and
of which it is the offspring; but, having in this way
accounted for its rise, and explained its character, it
becomes distinct and substantive, and belongs exclusively to modern times.
It by no means follows, from the distinction which I
have named, that this preliminary chapter is in ally
sense unimportant.  I should be misconceived, were it
supposed that I am aiming at that inference. It is, on
the contrary, with the closing section of that chapter
that I am now for some little time, and as a leading
topic, to occupy your attention.  I shrink from  no
scrutiny in regard to the principles or the facts which
gave rise to the Baptist denomination.  I am not unfamiliar with the facile and stereotyped reproaches
which are cast upon our pedigree. It is easy for anly
sectary of the nineteenth century, judging of his own
communion as he sees it now, and of other communions
as they were, or as they were represented by their enemies to be, two or three centuries ago, to institute offensive comparisons. He may make the Episcopal Church
odious, by presenting to the modern sense the revolting
scenes of Smithfield, or the more refined atrocities of
tile period of the Corporation and Test Acts; or the
Church of Holland odious, by reminding the world that
when the reformed of that country were yet in their




16              PROVINCE AND USES
deadly struggles with the human fiend of Spain, they
were reproaching the great Prince of Orange because
he would not let loose the fury of persecution against
the Anabaptists; but he has in this process only revealed the unloveliness of his own temper, and engaged
in a game at which any number can play. It should
rather be our interest to cast the veil over common ilfirmities, aand to look, in that memorable period of the
world's commotion, for those better moral forces which,
under God, have given us the bloom and beauty of our
later Protestant unity. In order to detect these forces,
we must learn to go beyond abnormal developments —
beyond the abuse of power in church and state, on the
one hand, and beyond the excesses of ignorant fanaticism on the other, to that great mass of Christian
PEOPLE, as distinguished from priests and rulers, from
zealots and madmen, who made little figure in the public affairs which form history, but whose faith and piety
constituted in fact the leaven of the world. Those who
can trace their spiritual pedigree to such a source, have
no occasion to blush for their origin.
I think that the people of the period of the Reformation, and of the ages immediately anterior, will rise in
our estimation, in proportion as we know them more
intimately.- Luther sprung from the people, and addressed himself to them. The Reformation embraced
doctrines as well as morals, - doctrines relating to the
profoundest questions of spiritual life, — and yet the
people felt and appreciated the discussions, and were
swayed by them as the harvest is swayed by the summer
wind. The " guilds of Rhetoric" which flourished in




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.                    17
the cities of the Netherlands, and contributed so largely
to the religious reformation  and the political revolt,
furnish a striking illustration of the intelligence and
cultivation of Dutch mechanics of that period. " They
ridiculed, with their farces and satires," says Motley,
"the vices of the clergy.   They dramatized tyranny
for public execration."  Princes could neither seduce
them  by asking to be admitted as members, nor break
them  down by power or menace.   Earlier than this,
in England, the brilliant period of Edward  III. was
crowned with the rise of Wickliffe.  In the minds of
most men, Wickliffe stands out solitary, amid general
gloom,-oone star on the broad face of surrounding
night.  Such a view of him  is a grand historical mistake.  Wickliffe rose on a movement which embraced
a large portion of the English people, and was himself
but the representative of that movement.  Old Henry
De, Knyghton, contemporary and antagonist of the great
reformer, declares that the adherents of Wickliffe were
so held in honor, and multiplied, that of every two men
met in the way, one or the other might be supposed to
belong to the sect.2  Wickliffe translated the Bible for
a people whose conscious wants required  it.   Frag1 Dutch Republic, Vol. I. p. 89. No unfavorable opinion can be formed
as to the culture of a nation, whose weavers, smiths, gardeners, and
traders, found the favorite amusement of their holidays in composing and
enacting( tragedies or farces, reciting their own verses, or in personifying moral and xsthetic sentiments, by ingeniously arranged groups, or
gorgeous habiliments. - Ib.
2 Secta illa in maxime honore illis diebhus habebatur et in tantum multiplicata fiit, qnlod vix duos videres in via, quin alter eorum discipulus
Wyclefi fuerit. Quoted in Gieseler's Eccl. Hist., Vol. III. p. 147.
2*




18                PROVINCE AND USES
mentary portions —the work of pious priests, who had
sought in this good way to feed the flock of God-had
created an appetite for more of that heavenly food.
His resistance to the pretensions of monks and friars,
was a resistance which he echoed from  classes extending downward to the very humblest of the people.
This is strikingly illustrated in that curious old poem
belonging to this time, the Creed of Piers Ploughmain. An humble and earnest inquirer is represented
as going, in pursuit of religious instruction, from one
order of friars to another, but failing utterly in the
search. They are skilled in the art of abusing each
other, but not in the divine art of directing the penitent
to the way of life.   He has parted from  the last of
the orders, "wepynge for sorowe," when he meets all
humble ploughman, who inquires the cause of his
grief.
"I can fynden no man,"
the wanderer replies,
"That fulli byleveth,
To techen me the heyghe weie,
And therefore I wepe;
For I have fonded the freres
Of the foure ordres:
And al myn hope was on helm,
And myn herte also;
But thei ben fulli faithles,
And the fend suletl."




OF BAPTIST IIISTORY.             19
Mark, then, how the peasant suddenly interrupts the
lamentation:
"A! brother, * *
Beware of tho foles;
For Christ seyde hymself,'Of swiche I you warne.' "-L. 908.
The peasant then proceeds with a terrible picture of
their pride, their covetousness, and their inability to
teach; and in the end, in answer to the inquirer, explains the simple creed of a Christian man.  Such a
poem —a poem designed to aid the cause in which
Wickliffe was laboring —is altogether inexplicable,
except upon the supposition of an amount of religious
knowledge among the people of England of that time,
far beyond that which is ordinarily attributed to them.
If it be asked how they had acquired it, the answer
may be found, undoubtedly, in the better character of
many of the secular clergy, of some one of whom
Chaucer has given the immortal portrait:
"Christes love, and his apostles twelve
He taught; and ferst he folwed it himselve!"
English history is full of intimations of the perpetual
restlessness of the English people, under papal domination, and of the presence of a deeper religious life than
it was the purpose of the papal hierarchy to originate
or to supply.  Nor were the life and progress of the
English people manifested in religious directions only.
Even then, in the popular poem known as the "Vision"




20               PROVINCE AND USES
of the Ploughman, the poet, as if already recognizing a
political axiom destined to triumph in the constitution
of his country, writes of a king:
"Might of the communes
Made hym to regne." —L. 225.
I may refer to another illustration of the growth of
religious life among the English people, preparing them
for the Reformation, which seems to me to have been
singularly overlooked.  It is safe to assume that tile
language of any nation expresses, at any given stage
of its history, the aggregate intellectual life of the
nation.  Its speech is the product, the sign, and the
measure of its thought.  If, then, we apply this test to
the time when Chaucer wrote for the aristocracy, and
the authors of Piers Ploughman for the people, and
from that period leap forward to the time of Tyndale
and Cranmer, we behold at once the indications of
great progress.  There have been feeble intervening
princes; there have been the devastating wars of the
Roses; there have been, on the part of the alternately
ascendent factions, the most shameless compliances with
ecclesiastical demands; the nobles have devoured each
other, until not thirty peers are found to sit in parliament; the obsequious legislature has passed the act
de hceretico combuernido, that the realm may be purified
by fire from the heresies of Wickliffe; and literature
has drawn on the cowl, and retired to the gloom and
the superstitions of the cloister; —but whoso judges
the condition of the English people from these chief




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            21
and most familiar phenomena of history, has done great
injustice to a period of popular progress -progress, of
which, apart from other proofs, we have an incontestable
sign in the growth of the English tongue. The English
tongue had become ripe for the expression of religious
ideas, because the people, by the- growth of their religious life, had religious ideas to express. The language of the Reformation'was not now superimposed;
it came from within.  Artisans, and peasants even,
when summoned before priests and magistrates, used
the terminology of theological science with the conscious facility of men whose objective knowledge was
grounded in a profound subjective experience. When
the Reformation of England is attributed to the lust of
a brutal king, or even when better men, like Tyndale
and Cranmer, and the gentle Josiah of the British
throne, are regarded as essential ministers of its induction and progress, the grand forces of the period are
overlooked. These forces were in the people, who were
now, by the discipline of Providence, prepared for that
great event; and kings, prelates, and scholars, were but
the unconscious ministers of their will. Henry and
Edward, Tyndale and Cranmer, were incidents; the
Reformation, with or without them, was a necessity.
The lust of Henry might be the occasion and instrument of its precipitation; the event itself lay in the
destinies of the world, and the fulness of the time had
come.
Contemplate, then, the Reformation as a great popular movement- a movement for which the people,
whether on the continent or in England, had become




22              PROVINCE AND USES
ripe. Let it not be accounted a strange thing that its
progress was marked by many events to be regretted.
It was a divine work, but wrought through human
agency, and bore, as was inevitable, the marks of
human infirmity.  It had been the aim of the spiritual
tyranny which ruled. over Europe, to suppress all freedom of thought and discussion; and the design seemed
well-nigh accomplished.  Babylon, as in her pride she
surveyed the subject peoples of Christendom, sung exultingly, " I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow."
Suddenly her plagues came. The nations, awaking to
the consciousness of their strength, broke the withes
by which they had been bound, and cast them beneath
their feet. Freedom of thought was the distinction and
tile triumph of Protestantism. It is no marvel that, in
the delirium of new-found liberty, excesses of opinion
and conduct were exhibited, which contemporary conservatism  and reiction, and the cooler judgment of
modern times, have alike condemned. If the excesses,
under the circumstances of the case, had been less
violent or less blamable, the Reformation would have
beenl anomalous in human history.
Some of the chief excesses of the period of the
Reformation were manifested, under various forms, by
individuals and communities who were distinguished
by the name of Anabaptists.  It is undeniable that
fanatics, under this name, became the reproach of Protestantism, and the terror of civil society. But, on the
other hand, it is not less certain that better people,
against whom no crimes against Protestantism or the
state could be alleged, were compelled by their enemies




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.             23
to share the title and the reproach; and historians have
not always been sufficiently careful to discriminate
between these distinct classes. The student of human
nature, who observes its workings under the powerful
influence of religious controversy, will not be surprised
that hard names were made a substitute for arguments;
but the student of history may well wonder that historical justice has been so tardy and so reluctant.
There were but few crimes charged against the Anabaptists of the Reformation, which were not charged
against dissenters in England, under the reigns of the
last Stuarts. In their case, however, history has been.
more ready to vindicate the wronged from unjust aspersions, and already the slanders of that day are refuted
forever. There is a similar work to be done for the
Anabaptists, —the work of distinguishing between those
Christian people whose simple and earnest practical
piety adorned the Reformation, and those fanatics and
madmen whose delusions and misdeeds dishonored it,
and of giving the former their true place among the
world's worthies.
There have not been wanting, in our times, writers
who have thought it their mission, in utter disregard
of historical facts, to connect the Baptists of this day
with the madmen of Miinster; and, with an equal misconception of the truth of history, some among ourselves have sought to escape from that disgraceful
genealogy, by denying any historical connection whatever with any body of that name in the period of the
Reformation. To them, our English Baptist ancestors,
like Melchizedec, were without father, without mother,




24              PROVINCE AND USES
without pedigree, - genuine autochthones, sprung from
English soil, with no relations on the face of the earth.
The fabled origin of the Athenians was not more certainly a mistake. The rise of the Baptist denomination
in England - in part, undoubtedly, indigenous, the
result of principles recognized as belonging logically to
the Reformation- was occasioned, likewise, by intercourse with the Anabaptists of the Continent, of the
better class to which I have referred. Sometimes these
people came to England, driven thither by persecution,
and became, by their testimony and their blood, the
apostles of their faith. Sometimes English Christians,
driven from their own country by priestly intolerance,
became, on the Continent, the docile pupils of Anabaptists there, and then, returning to England, embodied
their doctrinal progress in corresponding ecclesiastical
organizations.  Suffer me to detain you for a few
moments with indications of the historical proofs of
these statements.
It is impossible to determine at how early a period, in
the progress of the Reformation, Anabaptists, under
that name, made their appearance in England.  Nor is
the solution of this problem necessary to our present
purpose.  Henry had been warned against them, by
advices from the Continent, and had taken such decisive
measures as he knew too well how to take, to prevent
the spread, in his kingdom, of the dangerous heresy.
He had been so far unsuccessful, however, that, according to the testimony of Burnet, there were many, in
the reign of Edward VI., in several parts of England.
Having stated that they were generally Germans, who




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.             25
had been compelled, by revolutions in their own country, to seek homes abroad, he says: "Upon Luther's
first preaching in Germany, there arose many, who,
building on some of his principles, carried things much
further than he did.  The chief foundation he laid
down was, that the Scripture was to be the only rule of
Christians." Oh this foundation, he proceeds to state,
many rejected certain received religious opinions, as
without warrant; of those so rejected, infant baptism
being one.  " They held that to be no baptism," says
Burnet, " and so were rebaptized; but from this, which
was the most taken notice of, as being a visible thing,
they carried all the general name of Anabaptists." " Of
these," he adds, "'there were two sorts most remarkable."  One sort, according to his description, "only
thought that baptism ought not to be given but to those
of an age capable of instruction, and who did earnestly
desire it. This opinion "- I am still quoting his words
— " they grounded on the silence of the New Testament about the baptism of children; they observed that
our Saviour, commanding the apostles to baptize, did
join teaching with it: and they said the great decay
of Christianity flowed from this way of making children Christians before they understood what they did.
These," he says, " were called the gentle, or moderate
Anabaptists." This representation makes these Christians different from Protestants generally, by their views
of baptism, and the composition of the Christian Church,
and in so far, I need not say, they answer to the faith
and practice of the Baptists of later times.  "But
others," he proceeds, "who carried that name [of Ana3




26                 PROVINCE AND USES
baptists], denied almost all the principles of the Christian doctrine, and were men of fierce and barbarous
tempers. * * These," he adds, " being joined under the
common name of Anabaptists, with the other, brought
them  also under an ill character."'
Having given to his readers this distinction, - a distinction required by that truth of history which Bishop
Burnet reverenced, -he proceeds to state that, at the
period in question, these people were disseminating
their errors in England, and making proselytes, and
that fresh measures were taken for removing this danger. He says, however, that he knows of no severities
used against the moderate or gentle kind, -that these
were met by the more legitimate argument of books, to
which they wrote replies.2 We should be glad to give
entire credit to his information on this point. Unfortunately, however, under'the description of the " fierce
and barbarous," he sets down the name of the sufferer,
Joan of Kent, with whose death stern history sadly
connects the name of Cranmer.   Authorities are not
agreed as to the character of that unhappy woman, -
some making her an example of consistent and zealous
piety, and giving her a rank among the martyrs. Un1 The testimony from Burnet here cited may be found in his History
of the Reformation, Vol. II. p. 176. His recognition of the distinction
between different sorts of Anabaptists, coincides strikingly with that of
Lord Brooke, in his Treatise on Episcopacy. This nobleman was a collmander in the Parliamentary Army, and fell at Litchfield, in 1643. The
tolerant sentiments of his treatise were praised by Milton, in his Speech
for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing. See Supplement to Neal's History
of the Puritans, Vol. II. p. 365.
2 Hist. Ref., Vol. II. p. 179.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.              27
doubtedly she hesitated to accept the common faith in
regard to the mystery of Christ's human nature. The
papist imagines that he honors the Lord by attributing
sinlessness to the nature of the virgin mother of whom
he took his flesh, and Joan, as I suppose, imagined that
she honored him by denying that he took flesh of that
mother at all, and requiring a higher mi'racle as thetrue solution of the incarnation. Her error was the
natural rebound from  the Romish Mariolatry.  But
this error by no means justifies the historian in ranking
her with the fanatical Anabaptists.  It is not to be
denied that her doubts on these questions were shared
by a large portion - we know not how large - of those
who were called " the gentle." On the Continent, as
well as in England, this was charged against them as a
distinctive Anabaptist heresy, and in their examinations
before priests and magistrates was generally made a
chief point. Whether it justifies the inference of their
denial of the Divinity of Christ, is another question,
not to be answered without discrimination.  In the
examination of Claes de Praet, at Glient, in 1556, the
priest alleged, "Your people do not believe that Christ
is God and man." —" I believe," answered the martyr,
"that Christ is truly God and man."'  Another of the
martyrs, in his confession of faith, written subsequently
to his examination, and giving an account of that transaction, affirms his belief in the Divinity of Christ, in
terms unquestionable for their orthodoxy.2  Pieters and
1 Baptist Martyrology, Hanserd Knollys Society's ed., Vol. II. p. 88.
2 Ib., p. 256.




28               PROVINCE AND USES
Terwoort - Flemish Anabaptists who had sought a refuge in England, the sufferers in that sad tragedy of the
year 1575, which stains the reign of Elizabeth — declared, "We believe that Jesus Christ is true God and
man."1  All these persons, however, decline to concede
that Christ took his flesh of the virgin. That, say they,
is not revealed.  "We ought rather," urge the last
named of these martyrs, "to mark and appropriate the
fruits of the incarnation and sufferings of Christ, than
pertly to dispute of the derivation of his flesh; which,"
they add, "we nevertheless confess, so far as Scripture
hath testified thereon, being satisfied with what you
desire, that he is come in the flesh." Then they ex
claim, with touching pathos, "Would that the people
were also content with that, and not urge us to confess
that Christ derived his flesh from the' substance of the
Virgin Mary,' which we can neither comprehend nor
believe; since the word'substance' is not to be found
in the holy Scripture." 2 We certainly could not defend,
indiscriminately, the soundness of Anabaptist views on
the question of the Divinity of Christ; but the testimonies are ample and incontestable, that their questionings about the mystery of his birth did not necessarily
involve the denial of his Divinity.
This incidental point, however, is perhaps a digression. We have found Anabaptists in England, distinguished from the " fierce and barbarous," as " moderate
and gentle." We have found them propagating their
1 Broadmnead Records, Hanserd Knollys Society's ed., Hist Int., p. lxvii.
2 Letter of the martyrs to John Fox, ib., Appendix, p. 505.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            29
doctrines and making proselytes. Whatever questions
may arise as to the previous existence of persons of
similar faith in England, from the time of Wickliffe
down, it is certain that the seeds of Baptist faith now
scattered germinated in English soil, and became ineradicable. There are numerous incidental proofs of
their activity and increase during the reign of Elizabeth.  Bishop Jewel ranks them among the "' pests"
that sprang up, like mushrooms, " in the Marian night,"
and we may add, that not only sermons and books, but
prisons and flames also, were witnesses of the prevailing
zeal to pluck them up during the Elizabethan day.
Whitgift declared that Puritanism would draw in Anabaptism, and he was right. "In the summer time,"
says Underhill, " they met in the fields. Seated on a
bank, they read, and listened to exhortations, from the
word of God, by some of their number. In the winter
they assembled in a house, at the early hour of five;
the day was passed in prayer and Scripture exposition.
They dined together, then collected money to pay for
their food, carrying the surplus to any of their brethren
who were in bonds for the testimony of a good conscience." 1
We have thus the proofs of a connection in England
between the moderate Anabaptists of the Continent and
our English progenitors. We are now to see that Puritan exiles from England, dwelling amid such Anabaptists on the Continent, imbibed their views, and returned
to establish Baptist churches in their own land.
I BJroadmead Records, Hist. Int., pp. 1., lxxi.
3*




30               PROVINCE AND USES
The limits within which I am necessarily confined do
not permit me to enter at length on the perplexing
question of the Continental Anabaptists. The analysis
already cited indicates the classes under which, with all
their multiform  varieties, they naturally fall.  This
general allusion, however, is hardly sufficient for our
present purposes, and I may be pardoned, therefore, for
recalling that question to your consideration, in order
to determine more specifically the character of the people with whom the English exiles came in contact.
The world has heard so much of frantic proceedings on
the Continent, which dishonored the name of Anabaptists, that the name has come to be very generally
regarded as applicable to madmen only, and the error
can be corrected in no other way than by perpetual
iteration.
The rejection of infant baptism, at the period of the
Reformation, did not manifest itself as a mere vulgar
error. It was so natural a development of the principles of the Reformation, that it could not but suggest
itself to the learned, and, at the same time, was so
startling a development as to cause the conservative
and the timid to hesitate before committing themselves
to such a result.  Melancethon acknowledged this as
"a weak point."  "The questions concerning baptism
affected me, and, in my opinion," said he, " not without
good reason."'  It is melancholy to reflect that the
same gentle name is associated in the proceedings of
1 Hague's Hist. Discourse, pp. 65, 67, 173. The authorities referred to
by Dr. Hague, are, Neander, in a conversation and in a letter, and Planck's
listor'y of Protestant Theooogy, Vol. II. p. 47.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.                       31
the Diet of Homburg, with the sentiment, "that the
Anabaptists may and ought to be restrained by the
sword."' Zwingle, too, bitterly as he afterwards persecuted the Anabaptists, was at first agitated  by their
questions, and inclined to their views.2   The same was
true  of  Oecolampadius.3    It was  no  easy  thing  to
reconcile the involuntary rite with the obligations of a
personal and voluntary profession, resulting logically
from  the  doctrine  of justification  by faith.   Men  of
learning  and  ability, friends and  coadjutors of these
reformers, gave up the attempt in despair, and committed themselves to their principles, whithersoever
they might lead.
It was such men with whom the Anabaptists had
their origin at Zurich.  Mantz and Grebel, Hetzer and
Hubmeyer, were all able and  learned men.4    Mantz,
in opposition to Zwingle's " indiscriminate church con1 Baptist Martyrology, Vol. I. p. 164.
2 Ib., pp. 66, 71.
3 1b.
4 "The question of poedobaptism began to be agitated in Switzerland
in 1523 or 1524. Among its earliest opponents were Balthasar Hubmcver,
Conrad Grebel, Felix Mantz, and Louis Hetzer, - all men of learning and
ability."-Baptist Martyrology, Vol. I. p. 6. In the ample and elaborate
editorial'additions and notes contained in the Hanserd Knollys Society's
editions of these volumes, will be found biographical sketches, which
remove the heavy weight of reproach under which party spirit has for
long buried some of these reformers. Hubmeyer was a brilliant scholar
and preacher, and though there is reason to believe he partially recanted
under torture, he reaffirmed his faith, and died a martyr. The monstrous
and incredible charges against Hetzer seem to have been a later invention,
to remove the ignominy of his condemnation.  " No one," wrote an eyewitness, "has with so much charity, so courageously, or so gloriously
laid down his life for Anabaptism, as Hetzer. He was like one who spake
with God and died."  See Vol. I. pp. 4-ll, 12-16, 61-75, 97-101.




32               PROVINCE AND USES
stitution," allied to the state, and upheld and promoted
by its power, demanded a church composed of spiritual persons only, introduced into it by a voluntary
baptism. He was reproached, in reply, as " wishing a
church free from sin," and his followers as exalting
themselves in point of holiness above their neighbors.
He denied the right of the magistrate to interfere in
matters of religion, and this was stigmatized as contempt by the civil authority. His career was short.
The magistrates issued their edicts against the Anabaptists, and persecution was commenced. Nevertheless,
"in fields and in woods, as occasion offered, with the
Hebrew  and Greek Scriptures il his hand, he ex
pounded the word of God to the people who flocked
to hear him." Seized and imprisoned, tried and condemned, he died serenely, as became a Christian martyr.
His death was by drowning. Zwingle, his old friend,
the companion of his earlier studies, who, in the sacred
relations of friend and fellow-student, had known his
doubts on baptism, and had himself felt their force, is
reported by Brandt to have pronounced his sentence in
the four words, scarcely less impious than unfeeling,
" Qui iterumn mergit, mergatur."' Erasmus, startled by
these transactions in Zurich, in a letter to his friends in
East Friesland, exhorting them  to abide in the Ark,
paid incidentally his tribute to the character of the
sufferers: "a people," said he, " against whom there is
very little to be said, and concerning whom we are
assured there are many who have been reformed from
1 Brandt's Hist. Ref., fol. ed., Vol. 1. p. 57.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            33
the worst to the best lives; and though perhaps they
may foolishly err in certain opinions, yet have they
never- stormed towns nor churches, nor entered into
any combinations against the authority of the magistrate, nor driven anybody from his government or
estate." 1
Contemporary with this movement in Switzerland, a
similar people appear in the Netherlands.  I cannot
here pursue the history of their sufferings. It is among
the most melancholy recitals of a period of horrors.
Conceding the abuse of their principles by multiform
sects who sprung from even the better class of them,
~ad the extravagance and madness of others, between
whom and these Christians there was never either connection or sympathy, it is sufficient for the present
purpose to say that exemplary and suffering people,
known by this name, transmitted their faith and their
virtues to descendants in the Low Countries, with whom,
three-fourths of a century later, our English progenitors
came in contact.  And yet I ought not to pass in utter
silence over that great intervening period. The history
of English liberty links itself indissolubly with the rise
of the Dutch Republic. The impulses of that movement were felt across the channel, quickening the
preparations for the Commonwealth and the English
and American Revolutions. The history of that period
indicates an honorable connection of the Anabaptists
with the cause of the great Prince of Orange. When
gloom rested heavily on his affairs; when his plans
1 Quoted in Brandt, Vol. I. p. 58.




3 L             PROVINCE AND USES
demanded pecuniary supplies, for which lie appealed to
the rich and the great with little success; when nobles
and gentlemen, once foremost in his support, were now
wavering and inactive, — we behold in his presence humble Anabaptist pastors, who, at the risk of their lives,
had brought to his camp the contributions of their
brethren. " They prayed him to take in good part that
small present [of over a thousand guilders], declaring
that they esteemed his favor greater than the gift, and
that they never desired to be repaid."  When the
prince asked them what return he could make, they
replied, "Nothing but his protection, in case God
bestowed upon him the government of these provinces."-" That," said the prince, "would he show
to all men, especially to them that were exiles and
refugees as well as he."' Nobly did he fulfil that
pledge.  Once and again he was importuned to prosecute the Anabaptists, and once and again he repelled
the proposition. His testimony is conclusive as to their
loyalty, their industry, and their Virtue,- reminding us,
by the terms in which it was given, of that of the
Dutch ambassador Van Beuning, as furnished, at a
later period, in his conversation on Toleration in
the Netherlands, with the French warrior Turenne.
" Why," said he, " should they not be tolerated? They
are very good and quiet people. They do not aspire to
dignities; an ambitious man never meets them in his
way; they never oppose us by any competition and canvassing. * * We do not fear the rebellion of a sect that
1 Brandt's Hist. Ref., Vol. I. p. 295. Motley's Dutch Republic, Vol. II.
p. 250.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.              35
teaches, among other things, that one ought never to
bear arms. * * We raise troops with their money,
which do us more service than they would by listing
themselves.  They edify us by their simplicity; they
apply themselves to arts and trades, without lavishing
away their estates by luxury and debauchery. * *
These people think themselves as much bound by their
promise to speak the truth, as if they took an oath." 1
We may well repeat his question, " Why should they
not be tolerated?" It is a mournful reflection, that
those who were urging William to persecute these
quiet people, were themselves, at the very time, hunted
by the sanguinary bigot who sat upon the Spanish
throne, and were pleading, in their own behalf, the
rights of conscience.
Among those whom William was asked to persecute,
and of whose industry and thrift he is the witness, were
the Anabaptists of Middelburg. In this very city occurred the first intercourse of the English exiles with
the Dutch Anabaptists, of which we have knowledge.
Here Robert Browne, with his followers, towards the
close of the sixteenth century, found a refuge from
persecutions at home.  Their views of the spiritual
character of the church rendered them peculiarly susceptible to the influence of the Anabaptists, who formed
at Middelburg " a flourishing community," and whose
views "' the greater part" of the exiles adopted.2 We
cannot suppose, however, that this occurrence at Middelburg was singular, even thus early in the history of
1 Bayle. Art. Anabaptists, note.
2 Broadmead Records, Hist. Int., p. xxxv.




86              PROVINCE AND USES
the exiles. For only a few years later (1597), John
Payne, addressing, from Harlaem, his brethren who
frequent the Royal Exchange [of London], warns them
to avoid " the new English Anabaptists."  " I wish you
beware," he says, " of the dangerous opinions of such
English Anabaptists, bred here, as whose parsons, in part,
with more store of their letters, doth creep and spread
among you, in city and country."' Perhaps it was this
" creeping and spreading" of opinions in England
which gave rise to the mission of Mr. Richard Blount,
who is said to have been sent to Holland to receive
baptism, and who, on his return, baptized Mr. Samuel
Blacklock, -the two then baptizing the rest of the company, fifty-two in number.2 Certain it is, that ten years
later than the warning missive of Mr. John Payne, a
schism among the Brownists of Amsterdam, kindred to
that of Middelburg, resulted in the formation of an
English Baptist Church in that city. This church, gathered by Mr. John Smyth, and after his death under the
ministry of Mr. Thomas Ilelwisse, was composed of that
noble company of exiles, who, doubting their right to
enjoy their asylum  in Holland while their brethren
were hunted and oppressed at home, resolved to return
to their own country, " to challenge " —the words are
their own -" to challenge king and state to their faces,
and not give way to them -no, not a foot." They did
return, proclaiming, in their Confession of Faith, "that
the magistrate is not to meddle with religion, or matters of conscience, nor compel men to this or that form
1 Broadmead Records, list. Int., p. lxxiii.
2 Neal's History of the Puritans. Supplement. Vol. II. p. 361.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.              37
of religion, because Christ is the King and Lawgiver
of the church and conscience." It was this return to
the dangers of persecution, and this proclamation of
the rights of conscience, to which the pilgrim pastor,
John Robinson, replied, in a publication which places
him, in regard to the question of religious liberty, in
unfavorable contrast with his Baptist brethren.l  Of
the active correspondence of those who composed this
church of the exiles with the Dutch Anabaptists of
Amsterdam, interesting evidences have been discovered
within a few years, tending, among other things, to lift
from John Smyth, that man " of able gifts," the reproach of self-baptism, under which he had lain for more
than two centuries, —" se ipsos baptizare," meaning
only, it is contended, that it was lawful for the company
of Christians to which he belonged, converted to Scriptural views of baptism in their exiled condition, to
institute baptism among themselves, instead of receiving
it from  their Dutch brethren.  The Dutch denied
this, and John Smyth, on whom the reproach of se>lfbaptism abides, was convinced by their arguments, and
acknowledged that he was mistaken.2
The return of this church from  Holland, in 1611,
may be accepted as the date of the permanent establishment of distinct Baptist churches in England.
Arrived at this period, we cannot but pause to notice
the character of the elements now combined for the
complete development of our denominational faith.
1 See Mr. Robinson's " Religious Communion," etc. Works, Doctrinal
Tract and Book Society's ed. Vol. III. p. 277.
2 See Appendix I., A.
4




38              PROVINCE AND USES
We have seen the unquestionable proofs of the intercourse of our English progenitors with the Dutch Anabaptists, and of the powerful influence of that intercourse in moulding their views of the Christian Church.
The Baptist denomination of to-day is, however, by no
means the simple development of Dutch Anabaptism.
Our ecclesiastical relations to.that people are analogous
to our political relations to the Dutch Republic. It is
impossible to read the history of that republic without
observing the identity of the principles there at work,
with those which, at a later day, triumphed permanently
under Cromwell, William and Mary, and Washington.
And yet those principles did not so triumph on the
Continent. The Dutch seemed to be wanting in the
power of bringing those principles within the grasp of
their consciousness, and in that sturdy practicalness of
the English mind, which is never content until a principle becomes an embodied fact, adjusted to its relations
to other principles and to other facts. The growth of
our constitutional liberties could not have been what it
was without the prior existence and influence of the
Dutch Republic; nor could these liberties have become
what they are without the more potent conditions of
English thought and life.  The dependence and the independence of the English Baptists were not different.
When the exiled Brownists of Middelburg and Amsterdam, holding the doctrine of a church composed of
spiritual persons, came in contact with the Dutch Anabaptists, they found a people in advance of themselves
in the development of that principle, by the logical and
Scriptural exclusion of infants from baptism, and they




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.             39
at once followed the new light.  But in the further
development of that principle, they parted from the
Dutch where the Dutch parted from Christ and his
apostles. They repelled the curious speculations of
the Continental Anabaptists, in regard to the mode
of the incarnation, and affirmed the lawfulness to
Christian men of holding civil offices, and exercising
the functions of civil magistrates. The mode of baptism, unsettled and various on the Continent, became
with them the fixed mode of immersion, — with the
greater facility, perhaps, because dipping had been
preserved to about that time in the Church of England,' but especially for the reason that a voluntary
profession of personal faith must be in exact accordance with the statutes of the great Lawgiver himself.
The English mind thus dropped off at once the leading
eccentricities of the Continent; and as we trace the
history of the English Baptists, we find, within a very
brief time, that they have brought their new position
into harmony, theologically and socially, with the great
mass of reformed Christendom, while at the same time
they have preserved the integrity and consistency of
their principles. At the first, sympathizing with the
Remonstrants, and therefore followers of Arminius,
they became not long afterwards, in common withl all
Protestants, divided on the theological questions involved in that great controversy, constituting permanently two bodies, known as the General and the
Particular Baptists. The church of the latter, consti1 See Appendix I., B.




40             PROVINCE AND USES
tuted in London in the year 1633, by a secession from
the Independent Church gathered by the Rev. Mr.
Jacob, may be regarded as fixing the epoch of our
own distinct denominational life, and as closing, therefore, the preliminary chapter of our denominational
history.
We have seen, in the inquiries thus far pursued, that
the Reformation was the work, not wholly or chiefly
of princes, divines, or scholars, but of peoples of various
nations, whose intellectual and religious life had attained a development which demanded freedom from
the restraints of the apostate hierarchy, and required
ecclesiastical institutions in nearer accordance with
the word of God. I think we have seen, likewise,
that an ecclesiastical ancestry, found among those who
had reached such a development, may be wanting in
princely or priestly patronage, as were the primitive
founders of the Christian Church, and yet not be
wanting in true worth and honor.
I have consumed, according, indeed, to my intimation at the outset, so large a portion of my time on
the views now presented, that I am obliged to hasten
over my remaining topics with very summary statements.
Having thus accounted for its own rise, it belongs
further to Baptist history to define, by a thorough analysis and exposition, the matured faith of the founders
of the denomination, and to exhibit their true relations
to other branches of the one Christian family. What
was the position which our progenitors, by these malifold developments, and through these long struggles,




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            41
had attained, at the period which we have named as the
epoch of our distinct and recognized denominational
origin?  What ideas did they represent?  What mission did they undertake? How far were those ideas
and that mission the common distinctions of Protestantism, and how far peculiar to themselves? Happily,
the materials for solving questions like these are abundantly supplied in our formularies and our literature.
The rapid increase of Baptists from 1633 to 1643,
had brought upon the rising sect the bitter reproaches of
an age bitter with religious controversy. Charged with
being Pelagians, Socinians, Arminians, Soul-sleepers,
and the like, and ridiculed as ignorant and fanatical,
seven churches of London, in the latter year, issued
their Confession of Faith, the first published by the
Particular Baptists, and the type of all which have
since followed.' Preceding the Westminster Confession,
it is not less sound in the fundamentals of Christianity,
as may be seen by comparing it with the work of the
Westminster Assembly. It is remarkable for clearness,
breadth, and acuteness, the production of cultivated
minds, and an effectual answer to the reproaches which
occasioned its issue.  Among the names appended to it
we observe those of Benj. Cox and Hanserd Knollys,
distinguished as scholars and preachers; Samuel Richardson, a voluminous and able writer; and William
Kiffin, who stood honored in the presence of kings.
From this Confession, and from contemporary controversial works, the productions of men of learning and
1 See Appendix I., C.
4*




42              PROVINCE AND USES
ability, it is clear that the founders of the denomination
demanded only a consistent and completed Reformation,.
- the restoration of evangelical faith and of apostolic
order. They accepted the principles of the Reformation, with the design of carrying them out, and parted
conmpanly with their brethren only when their brethren
declined to follow those principles to their results. It
is sometimes said that Baptists are not Protestants. I
think it more just to say that they are Protestants by
eminence, - protesting against, not Rome only, but
against everything of Rome which Anglicans, Lutherans, or Calvinists, retained in their ecclesiastical
structure, their scientific theology, or their religious
life. They accepted the apostolic as the model church;
and, with a total irreverence of popes, councils, and
fathers, leaped the chasm  of sixteen centuries, and
planted  themselves on the immovable rock of the
Divine Word.  In that Word they found simple and
intelligible statements, - that apostles and evangelists
went everywhere preaching the gospel, addressing to
the consciences and hearts of intelligent and responsible men and women, the claims of the divine law, and
the necessity of faith in Christ; that those who accepted Christ by a personal faith, professed him before
the world by a voluntary baptism; and that Christian
churches were communities of men and women so collverted and so baptized. These statements gave to them
the law of their ecclesiastical polity. They protested,
thlerefore, against the attempt, by a mechanical process,
to make Christians of unconscious infants, as impos'ible in itself, and as filling the church, which ought to be




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.             43
holy and separate from the world, with unconverted
persons; and against all ecclesiastical authority, existing or traditional, which enjoined or tolerated such a
process. Since justification was by personal faith, since
baptism was a voluntary act, since religious service
could be accepted only as it was free, -they protested
against all coercion in religion, whether themselves or
others were the objects at which it was aimed. The
baptism of infants, state churches, and persecution for
religious opinions, they regarded as utterly irreconcilable with New Testament Christianity, and as retained
from the apostate church, — the Babylonish garments
and wedges of gold, destined to be the weakness and
discomfiture of the Christian Israel. Alas! it was this
radical demand, this demand for a reformed Reformation, which arrayed against them  the timid and the
conservative, and that larger class who had not stated
fully to their own minds the principles for which they
were contending, and who remind us of Milton's lion,
in process of creation, half formed, uprearing his noble
head, shaking his brinded mane, pawing to get free,
but fast bound to earth by parts yet unfinished.
Having thus explained the origin, and the distinctive
character and mission of the denomination, it is, finally,
the province of Baptist history to trace the progress of
our principles, both in our owi denominational growth,
and in the influence of these principles on other commullions, and on the civilization of modern times.
Planting himself at the period of the Confession of the
Seven Chulrches, the Baptist historian, as he looks down
the line of comilg years, beholds struggles which mighit




44               PROVINCE AND USES
appall the stoutest heart, and, at the same time, triumphs, which, had they been uttered in prophecy,
would have been scarcely less wonderful than those
ancient ones in which the seers of the captivity proclaimed the return to Zion.  Their scanty numbers,
increased, sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly, for a
hundred years, he sees then, under the impulse of a
second Reformation, embodying more fully their ideas
of a spiritual church, augmented by ratios which, at the
end of a second century, give us adherents embracing
millions, and an honorable rank among the forces of
Protestant Christendom.  The rapid spread of Baptist
sentiments during the period of the English Commonwealth; the maturing, strengthening, consolidating process of the succeeding period of persecution; the ministry and the dreams of Bunyan; the General Assembly
of 1689, representing more than one hundred congregations, met to celebrate their release from oppression,
by organizing missionary labors, and providing for the
education of their ministry; the embodying of the distinctive sentiments of the Baptists on liberty of conscience in a civil state on this side of the Atlantic; the
great names which adorn our history, in the departments of literature, in civil station, in commerce, and
in works of evangelical charity, - these are events and
themes which arrest the attention of the historian, and
invite and repay his labors. If their influence on other
communions, and on society at large, is sought; it is seen
in what they have done to raise the views of evangelical
Christians generally, in regard to the spiritual character
of the Christian Church; in the desuetude of infant




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            45
baptism; in the growth of that tree of liberty which
they planted on the shores of the Naragansett, until
a whole nation reposes under its shadow; and in the
great questions of the church, and of church and state,
which, in our own time, they have excited on the Continent of Europe, which even now are agitating synods,
consistories and cabinets, in France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, and which are manifestly destined
to become the occasions of new triumphs.  With
enough of human infirmity and sin in our history to
make us humble, there has been, by the blessing of the
Divine Master whom we serve, enough of honorable
success to inspire our hearts with higher hopes, and to
encourage steadfastness and zeal in our future labors.
With these brief references to the last topics adduced, we must pass from the consideration of the
Province of Baptist History, to a few remarks on its
Uses.  I regret that my limits will not permit the
ampler consideration of this theme which I had designed.
I think that at the end of two hundred years we
may fairly be summoned to show, by its practical workings, the superiority of the church-system which it is
our mission to embody and illustrate.  The friends of
hereditary and of national churches- Lutheran, Calvinistic, and Anglican-have from the beginning objected to the theory of churches composed of spiritual
members only, that in this world of universal frailty
it was visionary and impracticable. Even at the dawn
of the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland, Zwingle
made this a distinct point with the Anabaptist Re



46              PROVINCE AND USES
formers; and within the last year, the shrill voice of
the Swiss Presbyterian has been echoed from the banks
of the Ohio, by the learned and evangelical bishop who
presides over the diocese of Kentucky. The latter, contending as earnestly as we for justification by faith, and
regeneration by the Holy Spirit, would nevertheless
make churches national, - bringing children within the
church in order to their conversion under its means of
grace, and leaving the separation of the tares from the
wheat to the harvest-day of the world.  If your theory
is the correct one, he argues, your churches, composed
of those only who have been spiritually enlightened and
renewed, and have made profession of personal faith in
voluntary baptism, ought to be more distinguished than
others by the practical fruits of Christian piety, by the
graces of love and union and Christian zeal.  He
demands, with propriety and force, have the facts
answered to the theory?  Has "the life of God in the
soul of man" been better developed and illustrated
with you than with those whose theory admits a more
comprehensive and indiscriminate membership? I cannot deny the justice of the appeal; nor can I answer it
without a familiar acquaintance with our history. I do
not shrink from the historical scrutiny to which it invites. Marred our history is. by backslidings, which
remind us of our full share in human frailty; but when
I contemplate our beginnings,'the reproaches and persecutions through which we passed, the disadvantages
of many kinds under which we have since labored, and
then review our growth, with its beneficent results to
the church catholic and to mankind, I cannot but




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            47
admire the testimonials which it furnishes in praise of
the glory of His grace who has made us a separate and
peculiar people.  Our church-system has its adequate
vindication in our history.
I think, in the second place, that the study of our
history will aid us in the settlement of practical questions, relating to polity, and to agencies and methods
of evangelization.  We have been from the first a
practical people, and as exigencies have arisen, they
have been met by courses of policy determined by men
who bowed with reverence to the authority of the
Divine Word, who prayed much, and were earnest in
their work.  The recorded experience of such men
opens a mine of practical wisdom which we cannot
afford to neglect.  Take, for illustration, the single
question of an educated ministry. I do not say that
nothing on that subject is to be learned beyond what
our fathers have taught us, but I think it safe to say
that we shall go into error when we stray from the path
which they opened. Their views and plans were conformed equally to the spirit and procedure of primitive
Christianity, and to their own condition and necessities.
They neither repelled from the ministry, for the lack of
intellectual culture, good men who, in their "' aptness
to teach," furnished evidence of a divine call to the
sacred office, nor did they fail either to recognize the
advantages to the ministry of liberal learning, or to
provide the best means in their power for securing
those advantages. A considerable number of the early
ministers of the Baptist churches, such as Cox, Knollys,
Tombes, and Jessey, were graduates of the English




48               PROVINCE AND USES
-universities, and some of them ranked high among the
learned men of a learned age. Many of their controversial works were written with masterly ability. Vavason Powell's examination of the Prayer Book was not
less keen and effective than it was sententious and
logical, and De Laune's Plea for the Non-conformists
honors the verdict of Defoe, who ranked him among the
first of thinkers and scholars.  Recall our progress.
The first Particular Baptist church was organized, as
we have seen, in 1633. In ten years seven churches in
London united in a Confession. In the period of the
Commonwealth they had increased so rapidly that it
becomes impossible to trace their growth or to estimate
their numbers. Hunted and oppressed during the succeeding reigns of Charles and James, their men of
learning and influence fined and imprisoned, they had
nevertheless increased in numbers, and so consolidated
their organizations, that more than one hundred congregations' were represented in the General Assembly
of 1689. It was impossible for a people, mainly of the
middle and humbler classes, so persecuted and impoverished, and shut out from the endowed schools and
universities, to provide a learned ministry for the demands of such a growth. And yet the desirableness of
learning to the ministry seems never even then to have
been forgotten. Mr. Tombes, so early as 1650, had
three young men under his personal instruction, two of
whom subsequently rendered eminent service in our
1 All the Particular Baptist churches of the kingdom were not represented in this Assembly.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.            49
churches. It is stated further, that in those days of
common peril and suffering, this only practicable method
was followed by Baptist and Pedobaptist pastors, without distinction of sentiment, on the part of the pupils,
as to the points at issue between them. In 1675, letters
were sent by the Baptist ministers of London to the
churches throughout England and Wales, inviting their
brethren to a meeting, in the month of May following,
to take measures " for the providing an orderly standing
ministry in the church, who might give themselves to
reading and study, and so become able ministers of the
New Testament." Dyke and Kiffin were among the
signers of this call. Whether the meeting was held,
or what was the result, we do not know. In 1686, the
venerable Terrill, of the Broadmead church, whose pastor, a man "of great learning,"' died in prison, for the
testimony of Jesus, and who, himself a man of very considerable acquirements, appreciated the value of learning to a minister of Christ, had left by his will the
provision which subsequently became the foundation of
the Baptist College at Bristol. As soon as the heavy
weight of persecution was removed by the glorious Revolution of 1688, the General Assembly, already alluded
to, met in London, and took vigorous measures for the
education of the ministry of our churches. The benefactions of Hollis to Harvard College and to the Philadelphia Association; the early efforts of that Association, prompted by these benefactions, to secure an
educated ministry; the Education Society at Charles1 Broadmead Records, p. 493.
5




50              PROVINCE AND USES
ton, which a hundred years ago supported Samuel
Stillman in his studies;' the call for an educated ministry which succeeded the astonishing growth of our
denomination about the middle of the last century,
and led to the establishment of Brown University,these are links in an unbroken chain, connecting this
honored theological institution, whose anniversary we
now celebrate, devoted to the highest professional learning of our times, with the humbler labors in the same
cause of Terrill and Knollys, Dyke and Tombes. We
perfect their work; we do not depart from their principles. They demanded grace before learning, and then
learning to the utmost practicable extent. This principle pervades our history with the uniformity of a law.
We have never had a ministry universally learned.
Besides that this has been forbidden by our rapid
growth, we may doubt whether, in any conceivable
stage of human progress, such a ministry will be found
in accordance with the divine plan. No church-system
can be a divine one which is not adapted to universality,
and none can be adapted to universality which is not
exclusive of castes, high or low —which does not welcome alike to its fellowship the cultivated and the
rustic, and furnish to all their suitable aids to edification, and their fitting spheres of service for Christ. As
matter of fact, he calls to his ministry men of all ranks,
all conditions, all grades of culture not below " aptness
to teach." He did it in the first age, and has done it
since in all the active ages of his church. We may
1 Benedict's History of the Baptists, ed. 1813, Vol. II. p. 136.




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.              51
infer that he always will do it. Our system requires us
to welcome to the service all whom he calls, and then to
raise all to the highest possible intellectual efficiency,
by the highest culture practicable for each. With the
advance of popular intelligence, "aptness to teach,"
which is but relative, must require higher preparations
for the duties of the sacred office, and the aggregate
culture of the ministry must rise in proportion. Always for them to whom the completest education is
possible, the completest education is a duty; for, in
learning, sanctified, in earnest, and practical, lies the
greatest human power. I understand this to have been
the theory of our fathers, the earliest and the best of
them, and the theory of our whole history. I believe
there can be no better. It seems to me to reconcile
views at present conflicting among us, by opening wide
the door for all true laborers, while at the same time,
wherever practicable, it demands the most thorough
preparatory and life-long discipline.
And as on the subject of ministerial education, so on
various others, our history is replete with discussions
and experiences, in which we may find lamps for our
own paths, which will neither grow dim nor mislead
us.
Finally, the study of our history will evoke and sustain a true denominational spirit, and so minister effectively to the progress and triumph of our distinctive
principles. The great truths of Christianity - those
which pertain to our salvation, and so lie at tile basis
of Christian character and Christian brotherhood -we
hold in common with other branches of the one house



52              PROVINCE AND USES
hold of faith. In urging an awakened denominational
spirit, I shall not, I trust, be suspected of a wish to
violate the charity of this comprehensive and sacred
relationship. What I ask is that we may understand
ourselves, and perform in the spirit of Christianity our
distinctive mission. As it was the maintenance and
spread of certain principles which justified the original
formation of Baptist churches, so, if their continuance
is to be justified, it must be on similar grounds. Our
fathers formed churches not to supplement the gospel
of the Reformation, but to give it free scope and power,
- to rescue it from perversions and additions, and to
embody it in institutions of Divine appointment, and
therefore of greater efficiency in the world's regeneration. The principles for which they contended were
the unshared authority of the Word of God, the personal character of faith and a religious profession, and
the inviolability of the rights of conscience. They demanded that Christ alone be King in Zion, reigning.
over voluntary subjects, by laws of his own ordination.
The Christian world more nearly accords with us now
on all these questions than it did two hundred years
ago; especially is this true in this country and in
Great Britain, the more immediate sphere of our influence. The practices of our brethren around us have
burst the restraints of their.written formularies, and
some of them have but to state their positions to their
own consciousness, and they are Baptists at once. It is
a striking fact, that at the very time when the desuetude of infant baptism in evangelical churches is arresting attention and challenging inquiry, the work of




OF BAPTIST HISTORY.                   53
Litton,' one of the most elaborate and scientific works
on the church which have appeared in our language for
two centuries, takes fundamental grounds which, by a
logical and by a well-nigh admitted necessity, make the
church Baptist. We have gained much, but not all.
In Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, our controversies
of one and two centuries ago are renewed to-day. The
field of religious liberty with us is won; but even here
tradition has not given place to the complete supremacy
of Scripture, nor is the spiritual character of the primitive churches fully restored.  We have a great work
still before us. We may increase our numbers, while
we fulfil but imperfectly this distinctive mission. We
may stand on an equal footing with our brethren in the
matters of'wealth, culture, and social position -in the
learning of our ministry, and in the luxury and elegance of our appointments for worship, and yet may
fail to bear our proper part in that great purpose which
justified and demanded our denominational origin, and
which has illustrated and adorned our denominational
history. It was the aim of our progenitors to restore
the order of apostolic churches, and so to bring back
the power of primitive Christianity.  " I believe and
1 The Church of Christ, in its Idea, Attributes, and Ministry: with a
Particular Reference to the Controversy on the Sabject between Romanists and Protestants. By Edward Arthur Litton, M. A., Perpetual Curate
of Stockton Heath, Cheshire, and late Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford.
Philadelphia, 1856.
Mr. Litton's work coincides in important particulars with the work of
the Rev. John S. Stone, D. D., on the True CQomprehension of the Church,
printed several years ago, for his own congregation, —that of Christ
Church, Brooklyn. It is to be regretted that portions of Mr. Litton's
work are oinittel il tlhe American edition.




54      PROVINCE AND USES OF BAPTIST ITITTORY.
know," said Hubmeyer,'"that Cllristendom  will not
receive its rising aright, till baptism and the Lord's
Supper are restored to their original purity."' In that
faith, seeking a perfected reformation, our fathers labored. Whether preaching to little congregations ill
England, gathered privately to avoid the interruptions
of officials and the penalties of the law, or itinerating
among the new settlements of this country, and planting the seeds of the gospel with the first opening of the
soil to cultivation, everywhere they understood, with
remarkable distinctness, the character of their work,
and felt its high inspiration. We shall catch their
spirit by studying their deeds. We shall then imitate
their zeal, and renew their successes. We shall gain,
not a mere party triumph, which is unworthy of Christian men, but the increase of that moral power in the
church, which, under the blessing of God, will the
sooner achieve the world's regeneration.  Let our
names and our memory perish, if only Christ reigns
in an obedient and sanctified church. And he nmust so
reign; for, in the glorious words of the same martyr,
" DIVINE TRUTH IS IMMORTAL; IT MAY, PERHAPS, FOR
LONG, BE BOUND, SCOURGED, CROWNED, CRUCIFIED, AND
FOR A SEASON BE ENTOMBED IN THE GRAVE; —BUT ON
THE THIRD DAY IT SHALL RISE AGAIN VICTORIOUS, AND
RULE AND TRIUMPH FOREVER." 3
Baptist Martyrology, Vol. I. p. 72.
2 See Appendix I. D.
3 Quoted by E. B. Underhill, Esq., Christian Review, 1852, p. 48.




APPENDIX I.
NOTES.
A. THE ALLEGED SELF-BAPTISM OF JOHN SMYTH.
B. THE HISTORICAL BAPTISM OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.
C. CREED-STATEMENTS IN THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION.
D. " BAPTISTS."








A.
THE ALLEGED SELF-BAPTISM OF JOHN SMYTH.
THE charge of self-baptism is sustained by the testimony of the Pilgrim pastor, John Robinson, in his work
on "Religious Communion," etc. The following is his
language:
"Lastly, If the church be gathered by baptism, then
will Mr. Helwisse's church appear to all men to be built
upon the sand, considering the baptism it had and hath;
which was, as I have heard from themselves, on this manner: Mr. Smyth, Mr. Helwisse, and the rest, having utterly dissolved and disclaimed their former church state,
and ministry, came together to erect a new church by
baptism; unto which they also ascribed so great virtue,
as that they would not so much as pray together before
they had it. And, after some straining of courtesy who
should begin, and that of John Baptist (Matt. iii. 14) misalleged, Mr. Smyth baptized first himself, and next Mr.
Helwisse, and so the rest, making their particular confessions."- -Works, vol. iii. p. 168.
This language is, certainly, not ambiguous: "Mr. Smyth
baptized first himself, and next Mr. Helwisse, and so the
rest." In reference to the source of his information, he
says, " as I have heard from themselves."




58                     NOTES.
The biographers of Mr. Smyth, and the Baptist Historians, Crosby and Ivimey, have been entirely skeptical in
regard to this alleged self-baptism. It has been argued
that the charge has proceeded from enemies only, and
that, if there had been any truth in it, some intimation
of the propriety of such an act would have been found
somewhere in the writings of Mr. Smyth, or in those
of his friends. Speculations of this sort, however, are
hardly a reply to the express testimony of Mr. Robinson.
Was Mr. Robinson mistaken?  He was not an eye-witness, - he was a resident of Amsterdam for a brief time
only, and then went to Leyden, - he "heard" the manner of establishing the new church narrated.  Did he
understand correctly what he heard? Or, did he misinterpret instituting baptism among themselves, by supposing it to mean self-baptism? The controversy seems to
be narrowed down to this single question. No inference
can be drawn from the silence of Mr. Smyth after Mr.
Robinson's book was written; — Mr. Smyth was already
dead, and Mr. Helwisse, if still alive, was in England.
It is not certain, however, that Mr. II. was still living.
On the supposition that Mr. Robinson misinterpreted what
he had heard, the circumstances of the case render it easy
enough to suppose the statement might pass to history
uncontradicted.
Recent testimony, referred to in the foregoing discourse,
reaches the point in question. Edward Bean Underhill,
Esq., an English Baptist, whose historic researches render
him authority, in a letter to the Rev. David Benedict,
D. D., dated London, Oct. 13, 1849, and published in the
New York Recorder of Nov. 21, writes as follows:
" In a visit I lately paid to Amsterdam, I found sonle
more interesting manuscripts relative to the church of




APPENDIX.                  59
which John Smyth was pastor, with the original Confessions of Faith, published by him and his'Company.' I
was also able to discover and elucidate the name of SeBaptist, given to John Smyth, and so often used as a name
of reproach. As these documents are now being copied
for me, I am not able to send you the particulars, but the
general facts are as follows:
"On Smyth and his people becoming Baptists, the
question arose how they were to commence the practice
of the rite, and by whom it should be administered. The
Dutch Baptists, or Mennonites, held at the time the opinion, that baptism should be administered only by a minister or elder in office. As Smyth did not agree, in several
matters, with the Dutch, they were unwilling to resort
to them for baptism, and became of the opinion that it
might be originated among themselves; they were therefore called Se-Baptists - persons baptizing themselves;not that each one dipped or baptized himself, but among
them they commenced the practice. After this, Smyth
and several more came to be of the same opinion, on this
and other points, with the Dutch, and applied to be admitted to communion with them.  The Dutch received
them, but at the same time required a recantation of
their error. A fac-simile of this document I possess. The
heading is in Latin, purporting that the persons whose
names are subscribed renounce the sentiment that they
may se ipsos baptizare, — baptize themselves, —as contrary to the order of Christ.  It thus appears that the
equivocal phrase, "se ipsos baptizare," became the foundation of the charge that Smyth baptized himself. But,
from the controversy which arose, it is evident that the
meaning of the words is as I have stated it. Among the
names which follow is the autograph of John Smyth and




60                      NOTES.
his wife Mary. A few remained of the first opinion,
among whom was Thomas Helwisse. I have seen a MS.
letter of his, in which this subject is taken up and argued
with the Dutch pastors to whom this letter is addressed,
and he also treats of the succession of the ministry in
reference to the same subject, in a printed work still
extant. A copy of this letter I hope soon to possess.
I may, therefore, confidently affirm, that the charge of
baptizing himself, is, with respect to Smyth, a calumny;
but arose from the circumstance referred to. In no other
way can we account for the silence with respect to it,
observed by himself in his writings, and in those of his
friends."




THE HISTORICAL BAPTISM OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.
THEi Latin origin of Christianity in England would
lead very naturally to the use of Saxonized forms of the
Greek-Latin baptizo, at least occasionally, during the Anglo-Saxon period. That they were so used, is certain.
Bosworth, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, has " Baedzere,
baezere, es; m. baezera, an; m. A baptizer, baptist, R." -
the "R." referring to the Rushworth, or Northumbrian
Gloss or version of the Four Gospels, written in the tenth
century. The use of these transferred forms seems, however, to have been very limited. The common words
were, fullian, fulwian, fulltht, fulwiht, fulwere, etc., all
translations into the vernacular of the original words
denoting the Christian rite. They occur, in numberless
instances, in Anglo-Saxon literature, and do not disappear
from the language until the incoming of the Norman
French element, with which came in our present terms
denoting baptism, has fully constituted the English language. For a time, the Saxon terms for baptism were
used interchangeably with those of the Norman French;
but, in the full development of the language, the latter
gained the permanent place, and the former faded utterly
away. A few notes of this process may be of interest to
the reader:
6




62                      NOTES.
The Anglo-Saxon language and literature were at their
zenith at the period of Alfred the Great, who died 901.
The language, however, remained Anglo-Saxon, until the
Norman Conquest, which occurred in 1066, had begun
to impress its permanent marks on the life of the people.
Then commenced the changes which ultimately ripened
into the language which we now speak. Sir Frederic
Madden, in his Preface to Layamon's Brut, denotes these
changes thus:
Semi-Saxon, from A. D. 1100, to A. D. 1230.
Early English,   "  1230,  "  1330.
Middle English,  "  1330,  "  1500
Later English,   "  1500,  "  1600.
We shall trace the words, used by our forefathers to
express the rite of baptism, from Anglo-Saxon times,
down through these successive periods.
ANGLO-SAXON.
The word used in the Anglo-Saxon Version of the
New Testament —a version belonging to the eighth century-was usually fullian.  In one instance baptism
was denoted by a word denoting washing, and in one
instance Baptistam occurs in translating the name and,
title of John the Baptist.' As this version was translated
from the Latin, it is by no means singular that such a
Latin form should have been brought into it. That no
more were brought in, shows how much such forms were
strangers to the people for whom the version was designed.
I Gotch's Critical Examination in Appendix to Bible Question, pp. 200,
201.




APPENDIX.                  63
Mr. Gotch refers, likewise, to Anglo-Saxon Gospels, found
in the Bodleian Library, and in the Public Library at
Cambridge, in which the words dyppan and depan, to
dip, are used in two or three instances, to translate baptizare. These translations were not usual, but they indicate, beyond question, the act by which the Christian rite
was in those days performed. The word which was commonly used by the Anglo-Saxons, fullian, denoted not
only drenching, but the process of cleansing accomplished
by it, and we may suppose, therefore, was chosen as expressing their notion not only of the visible act of baptism, but also of the spiritual effects accomplished by it.
This view is confirmed by one of the extracts from the
Vision of Piers Ploughman, to be presently given.
A specimen of-Anglo-Saxon of the tenth century, in
which the word denoting baptism occurs, is accessible
to readers generally, in Chambers' Cyclopcedia of English Literature.l The author was Alfric, Archbishop of
Canterbury, who died in the beginning of the eleventh
century.
"' Haethen cild bith ge-fullod, ac hit ne braet na his him
with-utan, dheah dhe hit beo with-innan awend. Hit
bith ge-broht synfull dhurh Adames forgaegednysse to
tham fant fate. Ac hit bith athwogen fram eallum synnum withinnan, dheah dhe hit with-utan his haw ne
awende. Eac swylce tha halige fant waeter, dhe is gehaten lifes wyl-spring, is ge-lic on hiwe odhrum waeterum,
and is under dheod brosnunge; ac dhaes halgan gastes
niht ge-nealaecth tham brosnigendiclum waetere dhulrh
sacerda bletsunge, and hit maeg sythan lichaman and
sawle athwean fram eallum synnum, dhurh gastlice mihte."
1 Vol. I. p. 3.




64                     NOTES.
The degeneracy of Anglo-Saxon in this passage is not
less noticeable than the degeneracy of its theology. The
passage serves, however, the present purpose, by illustrating the use of the term denoting baptism. Reduced to
English, the passage is as follows:
"A heathen child is christened (baptized, ge-fullod),
yet he altereth not his shape without, though he be within
changed. He is brought sinful through Adam's disobedience to the font-vessel. But he is washed from all
sins inwardly, though he outwardly change not his shape.
Even so the holy font-water, which is called life's fountain,
is like in shape to other waters, and is subject to corruption; but the Holy Ghost's might comes to the corruptible
water through the priest's blessing, and it may afterwards
wash body and soul from all sin, through ghostly might."
SEMI-SAXON.
The Norman Conquest had now occurred, and changes
induced by that event had begun to take place. Layamon's Brut, a metrical Chronicle of Britain, belonging
to the close of the twelfth or the beginning of the thirteenth century, will furnish the necessary illustrations. Sir
Frederic Madden, from whose edition I quote, says: "The
language of Layamon belongs to that transition period in
which the ground-work of Anglo-Saxon phraseology and
grammar still existed, although gradually yielding to the
influence of the popular forms of speech." 1 The popular
forms of speech, there is reason to believe, were somewhat
in advance of Layamon's style; that is, more of the Norman and accompanying elements had been introduced
I Preface, p. xxviii.




APPENDIX.                      65
into the spoken language of the mingled Saxon and Norman people, than the style of Layamon would seem to
indicate. Layamon seems almost to avoid Norman words,
when certainly it is impossible to suppose that they hnd
not become common.  I do not find that he ever used the
words baptize, baptism, etc., though it cannot be doubted
that they had already begun to find a place in ordinary
language. The rite of baptism is frequently mentioned,
but, so far as I have discovered, always with the Saxon
terms. The following extracts, accompanied with translations, will show  the state of the language, as indicated
by his writings:
and the feire Austin,
the fulluht broute hider in.
And the fair Austin, who brought baptism in hither.1
and thus heo wuneden here
an hundred and fif yere
that neuere corn here cristindon
i cud i thissen londe.
no belle i-rungen,
no masse isunge
na chirche ther nes ihaleyed
no child ther nes ifuleyed.
And thus they dwelt here an hundred and five years,
so that never Christendom came here to be known in the
land, nor bell rung, nor church was there hallowed, nor
mass sung, nor child was there baptized.2
Austin wede wide
yeond Englene-londe
1 Vol. I. p. 2.               2 Vol. ITT. p. 180.
6*




66                          NOTES.
he fullehtede kingges
and heore here-dringes;
he fullehtede eorles;
he fullehtede beornes;
he fullehtede Englisce men;
he fullehtede Sexisce men,
and sette an godes honde
al that was on londe.
Tha wes he ful blithe-mod
that folc he hafde iblessid.
Austin proceeded wide over England; he baptized kings
and their chieftans; he baptized earls; he baptized barons;
he baptized Englishmen; he baptized Saxish men, and set
in God's hand all that was in the land. Then was he of
full blithe mood, that he had rendered the folk joyful.'
EARLY ENGLISH.
We come now to the word baptize, used in an early
English poem, the production of Robert of Gloucester,
whose period is fixed at about 1280.  His work is a Metrical History of England, and has been commonly held
as the oldest extant work which may properly be regarded
as in the English language. This writer uses the word
baptize as one entirely- familiar, though he uses fulled
likewise.
Costantyfi ne corn nower in batail non
That he nadde thorg the crois the maistri of fon,
So that he hym vnderstood of the beste won
And of Seynt Siluestre the pope hym let baptize anon,
And he was (as yt is ywrite) pur mesel tho,
An he bi com in hys baptizing hol of ys wo,
Seynt Siluestre was pope tho, and the first that ther com
Of alle popes that deide with oute martirdom,
1 Vol. III. p.. 190, 191.




APPENDIX.                          67
For ther was non by fore him that he martired nas,
Of the luther emperoures, for eche hethene was
A chirche of Seynt Ion the baptist Constantyn let rere
And clepude yt Costantiniane, for he was ybaptized there.1
The following is from Robert Manning (Robert de
Brunne), another of the Rhyming Chroniclers, who flourished at the close of the reign of Edward I., and throughout the reign of Edward II. Edward I. died in 1307, and
Edward II in 1327.
Certes Saladyn, said the kyng Richere,
To make partie ageyn myn yit ha thou gode powere,
And for the pes to seke has thou no mystere,
Ther tille to mak me meke, my herte to yit in wehere.
Tho has power inouh, whereto askes thou pes?
And my wille wille not bouh, to grant that thou ches.
If thou the lond wille yeld, thereof is to speke,
And sithen if thou wild thy lay forsak and breke,
And take our bapteme of funte, as childre ying,
I sall gyue the a reame, and do the coroun kyng.2
MIDDLE ENGLISH.
The Vision of Piers Ploughman leads us along another
step in the growth of our language. This poem belongs
to the latter part of the fourteenth century - probably to
the year 1362.  It is "peculiarly a national work.  It is
the most remarkable monument of the public spirit of our
forefathers in the middle, or, as they are often termed, dark
ages. It is a pure specimen of the English language at
a period when it had sustained few of the corruptions
which have disfigured it since we have had writers of'Grammars.' * * * * It is, moreover, the finest example
1 Hearne's Ed., 1724, p. 86. See likewise Glossary, fulled.
2 R. of Brunne, Hearne's Ed. p. 193.




68                          NOTES.
left of the kind of versification which was purely English,
inasmuch as it had been the only one in use among our
Anglo-Saxon progenitors, in common with the other people of the North."' The great popularity which it attained continued for near a century, and was afterwards
renewed at the period of the Reformation. It was still
a popular poem in the days of Spenser, Shakspeare, and
Ben Jonson. In this poem baptism and the old Saxon
fulling are used interchangeably, as the one or the other
occurs to the writer's mind, or sounds the more agreeably
in his verse.
Trojanus was a trewe knyght,
And took nevere Cristendom,
And he is saaf, so seith the book
And his soule in hevene.
For ther is fullyinge of font,
And fullynge in blood shedyng,
And thorugh fir is fullyng,
And that is ferme bileve. - [L. 7998.
In the following passage, baptism is compared to the
literal process of fulling:
Al was hethynesse some time
Engelond and Walis,
Til Gregory garte clerkes
To go here and preche;
Austyn at Caunterbury
Cristnede the kyng,
And thorugh miracles, as men now rede,
Al that marche he tornede
To Crist and to cristendom,
And cros to honoure;
And follede folk faste,
And the feith taughte,
1 Wright's Ed., 1856, Introd. pp. xxvii., xxviii.




APPENDIX.                          69
Moore thorugh miracles
Than thorugh much prechyng
As wel thorugh hise werkes
As with hise holy wordes,
And seid hem what fullynge
And feith was to mene.
Clooth that cometh fro the wevying
Is noght comly to were
Til it be fulled under foot
Or in fullying stokkes,
Wasshen wel with water,
And with taseles cracched,
Y-touked and y-teynted,
And under taillours hande;
Right so it fareth by a barn,
That born is of a wombe,
Til it be cristned in Cristes name,
And confermed of the bisshope,
It is hethene as to hevene-ward
And help-lees to the soule. - [L. 10541.
In the next quotation, the word baptism is used:
Fendes and fyndekynes
Bifore me shal stande
And be at my biddyng
Wher so evere me liketh;
And to be merciable to man
Thanne my kynde asketh.
For we be the bretheren of blood,
But noght in baptisme alle.
Ac alle that beth myne hole bretheren,
In blood and in baptisme,
Shul noght be dampned to the deeth,
That is withouten ende. - [L. 12839.
In the following, fullynge and baptisme are used interchangeably:
The Jewes that were gentil men,
Jhesus thei despised,
Booth his loore and his lawe;




70             NOTES.
Now are thei lowe cherles.
As wide as the world is,
Noon of hem ther wonyeth
But under tribut and taillage,
As tikes and cherles;
And tho that bicome cristene
Bi counseil of the baptisme
Aren frankeleyns, free men,
Thorugh fullynge that thei toke,
And gentil men with Jhesu;
For Jhesu was y-fulled,
And upon Calvary on cros
Y-crowned kyng of Jewes. - [L. 13041.
Chaucer wrote a little later, and in language with much
larger admixtures of foreign elements. In his Persones
Tale, he says:
"And now, sith I hau delared you what thing is penance, now ye shal understand, that there ben thi-ee actions
of penance.  The first is, that a man be baptised after that
he hath sinned. Seynt Augustine sayth:'But he be penitent for his old sinful lif, he may not beginne the newe
clene lif; for certes, if he be baptised without penitence
of his old gilt, he receiveth the marke of baptisme, but
not the grace, ne the remission of his sinnes, til he hau
veray repentance.' Another defaute is, that men don
dedly sinne after that they hau received baptisme.  The
thridde defaute is, that men fall in venial sinnes after hir
baptisme, fro day to day.'Thereof,' sayth Seynt Augustine,' that penance of good and humble folk is the penance
of every day."' 1
Gower belonged to the same period, and thus writes:
For all his hole hirte he laide
Upon Constance; and saide he shulde,
1 Tyrwhitt's Ed., 1822, Vol. IV. p. 6.




APPENDIX.                    71
For love of hire, if that she wolde
Baptisme take, and Christes faith
Beleve.l
We have now reached the period when already that
series of translations of the Holy Scriptures, which ultimately ripened into our present received version, had commenced..Fullynge, as we have seen, is still used, but the
tendency of the language is to its rapid and final displacement. Fragmentary translations, belonging to the first
half of the fourteenth century, types and precursors of
Wickliffe's, are preserved in the British Museum. Examples of these are given in the Historical Account of English
Versions, which accompanies Bagster's English Hexapla.2
John i. 19-28. —And this is the testimoninge of Ion
whan the Iues of ierulm sent prestes and dekenes vnto
Ion baptist for to ask him what ertow. * * * Thes thinges
ben done in bethaine beyond iordan ther Ion bcaptised.
Wickliffe, the date of whose version is 1380, used baptize, sometimes, however, substituting as its synonym,
wash. Thus:
Matt. iii. 5. - Thanne ierusalem wente out to hym, and
all iudee, and all the cuntre aboute iordan; thei weren
waischen of him in iordan, knowlechiden hir synnes. 11.
I waisch you in water unto penaunce, but he that schal corn
after me, is stronger than I, whos schoon I am not worthi
to bere, he schal baptize you in the holi goost and fier.
The period of what is termed "Middle English," is the
period of transition from fullynge to baptism. When we
reach the later period of the Reformation, and the Tyndale, Cranmer, and Genevan versions, the present usage has
become unalterably fixed.
1 Gower, Con. A. b. iii.    2 p. 8.




172                       NOTES.
What, then, was the act which was denoted to the English people by these terms fullynge and baptism?  In
other words, what was the mode of baptism practised by
the English people from Anglo-Saxon times down to the
period of the Reformation? An article in the London
Baptist.Magazine for February 1850, prepared with manifest care, by a scholar of recognized reputation, answers
very fully this question.
EARLY MODE OF BAPTISM IN ENGLAND.
BY THE REV. F. BOSWORTH, M. A.
The venerable Bede describes Paulinus as baptizing in the Glen,
Swale, and Trent. - That this must have been performed by immersion, is evident from the practice of the Romish Church at the time,
and from the subsequent practice of the Anglo-Saxons. Gregory,
the very Pope who sent Paulinus, thus speaks of the ordinance:
"But we, since we immerse (mergimus) three times, point out the
sacrament of the three days' burial."
Bede, although in his works he seldom refers to the mode of baptism, gives sufficient evidence -of the practice of his church at the
time he lived. In his Commentary on John, he finds a striking
resemblance between the account of the pool of Bethesda and the
rite of baptism (Works, v. 581). So, also, when treating on John
xiii. 1-11, he speaks of a man as being altogether washed in baptism (Works, v. 710).  Furthermore, he runs a parallel between
baptism and Naaman's washing in Jordan (Works, viii. 388). Fortysix years after Bede's death, the following canon was passed by
Pope Clement: "If any bishop or presbyter shall baptize by any
other than trine immersion (immersionem), let him be deposed."
Some few years afterwards, Pope Zacharias, speaking of baptism,
refers to an English Synod, in which it was strongly commanded
that whoever should be immersed (mersus) without the invocation




APPENDIX.                       7T
of the Trinity, should not be regarded as having enjoyed the sacrament of regeneration (Zach. Papa, in Syn. de Conc., dis. 4).
The writings of Alcuin, born at York, A. D. 735, and educated
there by Bishop Egbert, abound in references to the mode of baptism. In his sixty-ninth epistle, he says: "Trine immersion (demersio) resembles the three days' burial."  His Expositio de Baptisterio, Ep. 70, contains the following language: " And so, in the
name of the Holy Trinity he is baptized by trine immersion" (submersione). In his work, De Divinis Officiis, he is still more explicit:
" Then the priest baptizes him by trine immersion (mersione) only."
Indeed, in his epistle to Odwin he relates the whole process of
immersion, and its attendant rites.
At the commencement of the ninth century (A. D. 816), a canon
was passed at the Synod of Celichyth, to the following effect:
"Let also priests know that when they administer holy baptism
they pour not holy water on the heads of infants, but always immerse them in the font." With these notices, the Saxon writings
themselves agree; for though, in the laws of Alured and Ina, the
Council between Alured and Godrum, and very many other Saxon
documents, the word used for baptism refers rather to its supposed
effects, than to the mode, yet, in two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of
the Gospels, the word dyppan (our English dip) is, according to
Lye, used four times for baptism. Well does Lingard, in his work
on the Anglo-Saxon Church, say: " The regular manner of administerirg it (baptism) was by immersion."
During the Norman rule, the same method of observing the ordinance in question obtained. A Council, held in London A. ID.
1200, passed the following regulation: " If a boy is baptized by a
layman, the rites preceding and following immersion (immersionem)
must be performed by a priest."  A similar article was adopted in
1217, by the diocese of Sarum. In 1222, a Council at Oxford
ordered that the rites following immersion (immersionem), not preceding, should be performed by a priest. The Provincial Constitutions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, passed 1236, contain the
same reference to immersion as the mode of baptism. In the Constitutions of the Bishop of Wigom, 1240, we find written: "We
order that in every church there be a baptismal font, of proper
7




74                         NOTES.
size and depth (profunditatis), and that trine immersion (immersio)
be always practised." So also, in the Constitutions of Archbishop
Peckham, 1279, the same language is used. The Synodus Exoniensis, 1257, calls baptism submersio. Furthermore, in the Constitutions of Woodlake, Bishop of Winton, 1308, and in a provincial
Scotch Council, held in the reign of Alexander II., precisely the
same term (immersio) is employed.
Lyndwood, who lived in the sixteenth century, in his Provincial
Constitutions, ed. 1679, p. 242, composed by order of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, explains a canon of Archbishop Edmund, in the
reign of Henry III., as requiring baptisteries that would admit the
dipping of the candidate (sic quod baptizandus possit in eNo mergi).
A drawing still exists in the Cotton MSS. of the British Museum,
describing the baptism of the Earl of Warwick, in the reign of
Richard II. (1381), in which the mode is evidently by immersion.1
Prince Arthur, eldest son of Henry VII., was thus baptized. An
old manuscript descriptive of the ceremony says: " Incontinent
after the prince was put into the font."  So, also, was Mayant,
afterwards Queen of Scotland -" as soon as she was put into the
font," says the account of an eye-witness. The Princess Elizabeth
and Edward VI. were also immersed.
Robinson's great work, the History of Baptism, abounds
in testimony establishing the conclusion of Professor Bosworth. He refers to fonts, and to constitutions, canons,
and other historical records, all going to show that from
the earliest times to the period of the Reformation, that
which our ancestors called "fullynge" and "baptism," was
dipping, -  this being the hereditary practice, with exceptions in the case of weak or sick children. He says:
"In  this country  (England), ordinary  baptism  was
always understood to mean immersion, till after the RefI This work is a pictorial history of the Earl of Warwick, from the cradle to the grave. It is executed in a very spirited manner, and is well
worth seeing. It will be found marked Julius, E. 4.




APPENDIX.                    75
ormation, and though the private pouring on infants in
danger of death was called baptism, yet it was accounted
so only by courtesy. Pope Stephen had said,'If it were
a case of necessity, and if it were performed in the name
of the Trinity, pouring should be held valid.' "1
"In brief, it may with great truth be affirmed, that during the whole establishment of the Catholic religion in
England, that is, from the close of the sixth to the middle
of the sixteenth century, a period of nearly a thousand
years, baptism was administered by immersion, except in
cases of necessity; the first converts were catechised in
person, and baptized in rivers; the last, were infants, catechized by proxy, and dipped in fonts." 2
"The introduction of sprinkling instead of dipping, in
ordinary cases, into this island, seems to have been effected
by such English, or, more strictly speaking, Scotch exiles,
as were disciples of Calvin at Geneva, during the Marian
persecution. In the fourth year of the reign of Queen
Mary, the year fifteen hundred and fifty-six, they published
at Geneva a book entitled:'The Form  of Prayers and
lMinistration of the Sacraments, etc., used in the English
Congregation at Geneva: approved, by the famous and
godly learned man, John Calvyn.  Imprinted at Geneva
by John Crispin.' In the order of baptism are the following words:'N. I baptize thee in the name of the Father,
and of the Sonne, and of the Holy Ghoste. And as he
speaketh these woords, he taketh water in his hand, and
layeth it upon the childes forehead, which done he giveth
thanckes as followeth."' 3
William Wall, author of the History of Infant Baptism,
was a Church of England Clergyman of the period of
Queen Anne. He was a man of admitted learning and
1 Quarto ed. Lond. 1790, p. 441.    2 P. 445.    3 P. 436.




76                      NOTES.
of remarkable candor. He would even go out of his way
to correct an error, though the error made for his side.
Thus, some had argued from a remark in Wickliffe's writings, that that reformer held dipping and sprinkling indifferent. Wall denies that that was Wickliffe's meaning.
He only testified that the "church had ordained" that
in case of necessity any faithful person might baptize,
and that in such case dipping or affusion availed equally
to salvation. " Such words do not suppose any other way
than dipping used ordinarily," says Wall. Even so late
a writer as Sharon Turner,' perverts this testimony of
Wickliffe- probably following without examination some
writer less careful or less candid than Wall.
What, then, on the point under review, is the testimony
of WVall?
"England, which is one of the coldest (countries), was
one of the latest that admitted this alteration of the ordinary way" (that is, from dipping to affusion).2
He cites Erasmus, who, speaking of England in the
time of Henry VIII., says of the baptism of infants, "in
England they are dipped" (lnerguntur apud Anglos).3
lie further cites Erasmus, who, in his Colloquy, writing
in England, in the time of Henry VIII., says, "We dip
children all over into cold water, in a stone font." 4
"In that king's reign (Henry VIII.) the general custom was to dip infants. And it so continued for two
reigns more" (Edward VI., and Mary).
The Zurich Letters contain a paper, written by the
English Bishop Horn, and addressed to Henry Bullinger,
of Switzerland, which is conclusive as to the mode of baptism at the period to which it refers. The paper is enti1 Middle Ages, Vol. V. p. 183.     3 Ib.
2 Oxford Ed. 1844, Vol. II. p. 392.  4 p. 392.




APPENDIX.                     77
tied: "Tihe order of Administration of Common Prayer
and the Sacraments in the Church of England in the time
of Edward VI."
"The Ministration of Baptism" is set forth in the following terms:
" If there are any infants to be baptized, they are brought
on each Sunday, when the most people are come together
to the morning or evening prayers.  The minister reads
an exhortation to the people, in which he teaches them
what is the condition of those who are not born again in
Christ, and what the sacrament of regeneration signifies.
He adds with the church a prayer for the infants, rehearses,
the gospel from the tenth chapter of Mark, upon which
he makes a brief exhortation, followed by a general giving
of thanks. The godfathers and godmothers then approach,
and demand the sacrament in the name of the infants.
The minister examines them concerning their faith, and
afterwards dips the infant in the water, saying,'I baptize
thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost.' He then makes the sign of the cross
upon the child's forehead; after which the Lord's Prayer
and a general thanksgiving is repeated by all.  These
infants are brought to the bishop to be confirmed, as soon
as they are old enough to repeat and make answer to the
catechism in their mother-tongue.
"Then follows the ministration of baptism in private
houses, by women, in time of necessity, which is only
ministered by the woman baptizing the infant who is like
to die, with calling upon the name of God, and baptizing
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."'
1 The Zurich Letters (Second Series), Comprising the Correspondence of
Several English Bishops and others with some of the lHelvetianl Reformers,
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Parker Society, 1845, p. 356.
7*




78                           NOTES.
No known Service Book of the English Church gave
authority to substitute something else for dipping, down
to  the  period  of the  Reformation.   The  lManuale ad
l/sum Sarum, printed in 1530 (21 of Henry VIII.),
directs dipping. Simpson, in his elegant work on Bap —
tismal -Fonts,] says:  "Not one of the rituals which we
have examined (he is alluding to those preceding the
Prayer Book of Edward VI.) contains any permission to
use pouring or sprinkling when the child is brought to the
church."2  Dipping was the law and the custom, affusion
being exceptional.
1 A Series of Ancient Baptismal Fonts, Chronologically Arranged, Drawn
by F. Simpson, Jr., and Engraved by R. Roberts, London: Septimus
Prowett, 1828, fol.
This superb volume, dedicated by permission to the Marchioness of
Exeter, contains engravings of a large number of Fonts, commencing
with the Norman era, and extending down to, the period of the Reformation. Connected with each engraving is a full explanation, giving the
period to which each Font belonged, with its materials, dimensions, etc.
The dimensions are the important consideration in this connection, showing their capacity for immersion. For example, the Font in the Lincoln
Cathedral, a Font belonging to the Norman era, is two feet eight inches
in diameter, in the inside, and one foot one inch in depth. To the Norman succeeded the Early English Style, the style of the thirteenth century, and here we have the Font of All Saints, Leicester, two feet one inch
in diameter, and one foot one inch in depth. The fourteenth century was
the period.of the Decorated Style, and belonging to this style is the Font
of Nosely, Leicestershire, two feet in diameter, and one foot three inches
deep. The last Font given in the work is that of St. Mary's, Beverly,
Yorkshire, a very splendid one, bearing the date of 1530, in the Perpendicular Style of that period, three feet two inches in diameter, and one
foot two inches in depth. The sizes of the whole series range from one
foot seven inches in diameter and ten inches in depth, to that of St.
Mary's, above named, which is the largest -the more usual size being a
little over two feet in diameter, and a little over one foot in depth;'ill
being, however, of sufficient capacity for the immersion of infants, and
intended for that purpose.
2 Preface, p. xv.




APPENDIX.                   79
In the Prayer Books of Edward VI., the exceptional
affusion was first put in the rubric. In the first of these
Prayer Books three dippings were commanded; in the
second, one dipping.  And in both it was then added:
"And if the childe be weake, it shall suffice to pour water
upon it." "This," says Simpson, "was the first instance
of pouring being allowed in public baptism." Treating
then of private baptism, the Prayer Book prescribes the
ceremony of baptizing infants in danger of death, still
again preferring dipping, but allowing pouring if necessity
requires. And then, as the final process, if the child lives,
this private baptism is to be subjected to a public scrutiny. The priest is to inquire into the circumstances of
the baptism, and if he is satisfied that the requisite forms
were observed, then he is to ratify the baptism; but if he
is not satisfied, then he is commanded himself to baptize
the child, and the command is TO DIP, with no option of
pouring.
Thus stood King Edward's Prayer Books. The exceptional substitute, pouring, was now in the. rubric. Two
circumstances contributed to exalt this exceptional substitute into an unintended general practice.  "It being
allowed," says Wall, "to weak children (though strong
enough to be brought to church) to be baptized by afflsion, many fond ladies and gentlewomen first, and then by
degrees the common people, would obtain the favor of
the priest, to have their children pass for weak children, too
tender to endure dipping in the water."1 Another more
marked occasion of the change was the influence of Calvin.  In this opinion W~all agrees with other writers.
Calvin's influence with the exiles who resided in Geneva
during the MIarian persecutions, was immense. His Ser1 Vol. II. p. 400.




80                      NOTES.
vice Book was the first in the world to appoint sprinkling
to the exclusion of other modes. The exiles, more or less
of them, returned to England, converts to sprinkling. The
views thus imported, falling in with the wishes of parental
fondness, began to spread, and, as Wall testifies, the custom, hitherto dipping, began to alter in Elizabeth's reign.
"In all probability," says Simpson, " dipping was fiom this
time (the time of the rubrical change) by degrees abandoned; but many years elapsed ere it was so entirely."
"Dipping," says WVall, "must have been pretty ordinary
during the former half of King James's reign." Mr. Blake,
writing on this subject in 1645, says: "I have been an
eye-witness of many infants dipped, and know it to have
been the constant practice of many ministers in their
places for many years together." 1
This reduction of the mode of baptism from dipping to
affusion, did not take place without remonstrance. During
all the process of reduction, there was a party in the
church which steadily opposed the innovation. It was
a part of the innovation to substitute the novel "basin"
for the "font" of "immemorial usage," and to place the
former near the chancel, whereas the font had always
stood at the door of the church, to symbolize, by that circumstance, the baptized child's admission into the Church
of Christ. The basin was for affusion -- the font for immersion. On this point there is an instructive passage in
Simpson's Fonts. He says:
" From the time of the Reformation to the days of
puritanic fury in the reign of Charles I., there was a
strong propensity to remove or neglect the Font, and use
a'basin instead. This was checked so long as it was possible; thus in 1565 it was directed,'That the fonte be not
1 p. 403.




APPENDIX.                   81
removed, nor the curate do baptize in the parishe churches
in any basons, nor in any other forme than is alreadie
prescribed.' In 1570 it was directed:'Curabunt ((Editui) ut in singulis ecclesiis sit sacer fons, non pelvis, in
quo baptismus ministretur, isque ut decenter et munde
conservetur.' Again, the eighty-first canon of 1603 says:'According to a former constitution, too much neglected
in many places, we appoint that there shall be a Font of
stone in every church and chapel, where baptism is to be
ministered, the same to be set in the ancient usuall places.
In which onely Font the minister shall baptize publicly.'
Among the inquiries directed to be made by the churchwardens, one is, whether the Font has been removed from
its accustomed place, and whether they use a basin or
other vessel."'
iHaving occasion, in an editorial article in the NeYw York
Recorder of May 8, 1850, to refer to the former usage of
the Church of England, in respect to the mode of baptism, I maintained the same positions with those here
stated, and generally upon the same authorities.  I received very soon afterwards, from a learned Episcopalian,
of eminent standing in his church, a letter referring to
the article, in which he says:
"It is able and true. Some little modifications and
additions would, to my mind, have made it more perfect.
The writer, unfortunately, had not the use of the words'office' and'rubric,' but only'canon' and'liturgy.' The
history of the'Rubrics' of the Baptismal'Offices' of
all Christendom, eastern and western, would greatly
strengthen his argument. He cannot too severely censure
the influence of the returned Geneva Puritans in underming the doctrine and practice of the Church of England.
1 Preface, pp. xvi., xvii.




82                     NOTES.
He might have added (and I think from Wall), that not
only was the' Rubric' in the Genevan' Office' for baptism
the first in the world which directed (instead of permitting) sprinkling, but that the church of Calvin was the
first in the world which ever witnessed the use of the
basin. He might also have gone further, and proved, that
just dipping the tips of the fingers in water (in the excepted cases) instead of pouring it freely, had the same
origin.
" England (and WVales especially), where the hold of the
ancient British and Asiatic rite had never been much relaxed, clung with much greater tenacity to the immersion
of infants, than any other part of Christendom subject to
Rome, except Bohemia, Moravia, etc., and Milan, where
the great name of Ambrose in many things has successfully resisted the encroachments of Rome, but in nothing
more than this, that all infants are there still immersed in
fonts, some of which are larger than the interesting specimens to which your writer refers, and are rather in the
shape of baths than fonts. The Rev. Dr. -- once gave
me a most interesting account of an immersion of some
eight or ten infants, in this manner, and in such a baptismal font, in one of the principal churches of Milan, but
not in the cathedral.
"I suppose you know that there is not a well-read
Episcopal minister in America that does not cheerfully
admit all these facts. * * * The true issue between profoundly learned men is only between adult and infant
immersion.
"The simple fact is, that the Church of England, with




APPENDIX.                    83
extreme reluctance, has consented to regard pouring as
VALID, though very irregular baptism."'
The testimony embraced in this extended note may
be fittingly closed with a passage from the Mercersburgh
Review for May 1850. It is from the pen of that accomplished scholar, the Rev. John W. Nevin, D. D., of the
German Reformed Church:
"Several of the earlier Protestant church services call
for dipping. In the first English Reformed Liturgy, a.
1547, a trine immersion of the child is-prescribed, cases
of infirmity only excepted; and it was not till the beginning of the seventeenth century that sprinkling gained
the upper hand for reasons of convenience and health.
Gradually the usage of the Protestant Church settled down
upon the same practice which had already begun to prevail in the Church of Rome, with the exception only of
the Anabaptists." 2    *    *       *      * 
Admitting always the tolerated exceptional affusion in
the cases of weak or sick children, no historical proposition
is better sustained than that dipping was the baptism of
the English people from the very introduction of Christianity down to the period of the Reformation. The occasiobs, the progress, and the consummation of the reduction
firom dipping to affusion, which then took place, are not
less indubitable. In the earlier years of the seventeenth
century, when all but they had veered away from the
hereditary mode of the English nation, little companies
of persecuted Christians, then taking organized form as
churches, alone stood fast.  With their retention of the
hereditary mode they cast away all traditional accompa1 This letter may be found at greater length in the New York Recorder
of June 5, 1850.
2 p. 238.




84                     NOTES.
niments and perversions, and planting themselves on the
strong foundatiof of Apostolic Christianity, they practised
believers' baptism. Strong in their conviction that with
them baptism was restored to its original form and significance, they denied the name to that which, in their
belief, was not the thing, and called themselves by distinction, " baptized Christians "- "BAPTISTS."




C.
CREED-STATEMENTS IN THE BAPTIST DENOMINATION.
AN interesting and a very profitable inquiry might be
instituted in regard to the question of Confessions, or
Articles of Faith, in the Baptist denomination.  The
unshared supremacy of the Word of God, held universally and with so much tenacity by us from the beginning,
has undoubtedly, by a mistaken logic, led some individual
churches, and the churches of some particular localities,
to dispense with creed-statements altogether. Facts.like
these, however, have sometimes led to general inferences
in regard to Articles of Faith in the Baptist denomination
which are unauthorized by our history. I think we were
the earliest of the dissenting bodies of England in the
issuing of Confessions; and from the first, our Confessions
have been not only significant of our doctrinal unity, but
a condition of acceptance in our fellowship. The separation from us, in this country, of the Old School Baptists
on the one hand, and of the Free Will Baptists on the
other, and the falling away of the Campbellites, or Reformers, are conspicuous signs of established and authoritative doctrines in our communion; and signs as real may
be found, likewise, in the doctrinal examinations at every
ordination, at every church-recognition, and even at the
reception in our churches of candidates for baptism. We
8




86                     NOTES.
shall see that this doctrinal unity has been a declared
unity, and that the declarations have had a reflex authoritative influence.
Passing by the Confession of 1611, which belongs to the
Arminian branch of the Baptist family, the Confession of
the Seven Churches, issued in 1643, presents itself as the
first authorized creed-statement of the Particular Baptists
of England. Older than the Westminster Confession, and
therefore independent of it, it is interesting, as showing
how thoroughly the earliest Baptist fathers preserved the
orthodox historical theology of all ages, and how readily
they brought it into relations with the restored primitive
polity of their churches. The Seven Churches of London,
however, are not to be supposed as comprising the whole
of the Particular Baptist denomination of that time.
There were certainly several churches besides these, and
their increase at a period immediately succeeding was very
rapid. Among these churches the Confession of 1643 seems
to have been generally recognized, until it was superseded
by the more elaborate Confession which generally, though
erroneously, bears the date of 1689.  This Confession,
entitled "A Confession of their Faith, set forth by the
Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians,
baptized upon Profession of their Faith, in London and
the Country," was in fact issued in the year 1677. The
"General Assembly" of 1689, composed of ministers and
messengers of more than one hundred churches, gave it
by their sanction such an increase of weight and authority,
that it has been, not unnaturally perhaps, regarded as their
work, and called by their name. It is altogether more
elaborate, and more logical in form and structure, than its
predecessor of 1643. It became at once the acknowledged
formulary of the denomination.




APPENDIX.                   8?7
Before remarking upon its character, we may advert for
a moment to the dates of other Confessions to which this
is nearly related. The Westminster Assembly had closed
its labors in 1647, giving to the world the Presbyterian
Confession. The doctrinal views of John Robinson, who
was "terrible to the Arminians," had crossed the Atlantic
with his disciples, the Congregational founders of New
England, and in 1648 delegates of the New England
churches, assembled at Cambridge, framed a Confession,
which, in its doctrinal articles, followed the Westminster.
In the year 1658 the elders and messengers of the Congregational churches in England issued the Savoy Confession. Goodwin and Owen, their great leaders, were members of this assembly, and of the committee appointed to
draw up the formulary. Agreeing with the Presbyterians
on the great questions of theology, the assembly instructed
their committee to keep close to Westminster on doctrinal
points, engrafting the Congregational polity upon the historical Calvinism which they shared with their brethren
of that Confession.  In 1680, a Confession to a greater
extent original, though modelled after that of Westminster
and Savoy, was set forth by a Massachusetts Synod, assembled at Boston; and twenty-eight years later, this platform of doctrines was adopted by the Synod met at Saybrook, to draw up a Confession for the Congregational
churches of Connecticut.
The real date, therefore, of the Baptist Confession -1677
-places it next in order after the Savoy. With that Confession it is most nearly allied. By reference to the preliminary address to the reader, it will be seen that this
Confession is the declared successor of that of 1643,
" divers " of those who framed the first taking part in the
setting forth of the second. Issued in a time of persecu



88                     NOTES.
tion, it breathes the spirit of Christian manliness and of
Christian meekness; the production of a period of religous controversy, it is a beautiful illustration of comprehensive Christian charity.  Its framers declare that in
"substance and matter" it is the same with the Confession of 1643, - in " method and. manner" it varies, and for
reasons which they proceed to assign. Not only for the
purpose of a clearer exposition to others, but also for the
better instructing of the members of their own communion, they deem it necessary to express themselves "more
fully and distinctly." Approving the method and comprehension of the Westminster Confession, reproduced in the
Savoy - observing that the latter follows the former not
in sense only, but for the most part in terms, they in like
manner follow the example of their Congregational brethren, "in making use of the very same words with them
both, in those articles (which are very many) wherein our
faith and doctrine is the same with theirs." "And this
we did," they proceed to say, "the more abundantly to
manifest our consent with both, in all the fundamental
articles of the Christian Religion, as also with many
others, whose orthodox Confessions have been published
to the world, on behalf of the Protestants in divers nations and cities." In regard to those points respecting
which they differ, they express themselves "with candor
and plainness," suppressing nothing whatever, and yet, as
they trust, with becoming "modesty and humility." The
names subscribed to the recommendation, "in the name
and behalf of the whole assembly," embrace the great
lights of our churches in those days.
We are now to consider the extent to which this Confession became the authorized exposition of the faith of
our churches on this side of the Atlantic.




APPENDIX.                     89
In the first place, however, it must be premised that the
Baptist denomination in America had its early growth
from  two principal centres, - one in Massachusetts and
Rhode Island, the other in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys,
— and that between the Baptists of New England and
those of the other colonies named, very little intercourse
was then maintained. The numbers of their churches were
probably, at the commencement of the Great Awakening,
1741, about alike in these two sections, -not far from
twenty in each.l
To what extent Confessions of Faith were declared or
received by the early churches of New England, I have
not the means of knowing.  Backus states2 that Mr.
Clarke, the first Baptist pastor of Newport, and the chief
founder of the colony on Rhode Island, "left a Confession
of his faith in writing, from whence an extract was inserted
in the records of his church," and a similar document,
written by Obadiah Holmes, his fellow-sufferer for Jesus'
sake, and successor in the pastoral office, is likewise preserved. It is certain that controversies sprung up among
them, involving the questions of Arminianism  and Calvinism, as well as those of the "Six Principles" and the
"Seventh Day," and that these controversies were continually tending to the permanent divisions by which the
different branches of the Baptist family came ultimately
to be distinguished.  "Most of the old Baptists," says
Backus, speaking particularly of those of Massachusetts
prior to 1741, "were not clear in the doctrines of grace." 3
1 The number that were Calvinistic in doctrine in New England was considerably smaller. In 1729 there were but three such. — See Benedict, ed.
1813, Vol. I. p. 508.
2 Backus Hist., Vol. I. pp. 255-260.
3 Abridged History, chap. xi.
8*




90                        NOTES.
The same was undoubtedly true in Rhode Island.' The
very dawn of that great movement in New England, from
which Baptist churches sprung so rapidly, connects itself
incidentally with the Confession of 1689.  The young
and saintly Comer, pastor at Newport, had both held a
correspondence for several years with ministers in New
Jersey, and had visited them in 1731, travelling as far as
Philadelphia, and returning delighted with " the faith and
order of those churches." 2 Retiring from Newport, in part
because "some could not bear his preaching the doctrines
of grace," he became the founder of the Rehoboth Church,
and died before he had completed his thirtieth year.
There can be no question, I think, either of his influence
in the doctrinal revival in New England, or of the previous
influence upon his own faith and zeal, of his correspondence with the churches of the Philadelphia Association.
"' The pastor of the Baptist Church in Boston," says
Backus, "was dark in doctrine, and opposed the revival
of religion there in 1740."3  This doctrinal darkness became the occasion of a secession from  the First Church,
and of the formation of the Second Baptist Church in
Boston, in the year 1742. The documents which relate to
this event are deeply interesting. Among the founders of
this church was John Proctor, schoolmaster, a man of some
estate, who, in conveying the site on which the house of
worship of this church was built, made the title of the
church conditional on its continued adcherence to the Confession of 1689.4 This church grew rapidly. Its doctrinal
1 Backus History, Vol. II. p. 121.  2 Ib.
3 Abridged History, chap. xi.
4 See title-deed of the land on which the Baldwin Place Baptist Church
now stands. It bears date July 1745, and may be found in the Suffolk
Records. I am indebted for the following extract to a communication in
the Itahthman eand Reflector of Novcmber 4, 1858:




APPENDIX.                          91
position was ill harmony with that of the Separates in the
Congregational churches, and these in great numbers beeoming Baptists, the denomination in New  England soon
assumed a distinctive Calvinistic character. Its first Association of Churches, formed at Warren, R. I. twenty-five
years later, with the advice and cooperation of the Philadelphia Association, declared as its doctrinal basis the Confession of 1689.1 Thus, incontestably, this Confession links
"For the uses, interest and purposes herein mentioned, expressed and
Declared, and to no other use, benefit or purpose whatever.
" That is to say, to the Public use, benefit and behoof of that Church or
Society whereof the said Ephraim Bound, Ephraim Bosworth and myself
do now stand related as members, and of which said Church or Society
the said Ephraim -Bound is the present Ordained Pastor or Elder, for so
long time as the said Church shall hold to, and walk in the faith which
they now profess, and are agreeable in principle and practice to their Confession of faith heretofore put forth by the Baptized Churches in England,
entitled'A Confession of faith put forth by the Elders and Brethren of
many Congregations of Christians Baptized upon Confession of their faith
in London and the country.' But in case they apostatize and decline from
the said principles of faith and practice, or in case of annihilation, then
the said Land and House and premises herein granted, revert and remain
to the only proper use, benefit and behoof of the next and right heirs of
me the said John Proctor, their heirs and assigns forever.
" Saving, however, that upon or in case of the Churches declining from
her faith, principles and practice, as contained and held forth in the Confession of faith aforesaid, if it shall please God our Saviour that there
should remain three or four brethren faithful to the principles, practice
and Confession of faith before mentioned, that they shall have, hold and
enjoy the said land, meeting-house and premises, and their successors, forever, for the like uses, and under the same limitations, as above particularly mentioned."
1 The following is from the " Original Platform " of the Warren Association. See Minutes, 18357:
" 7. The faith and order of this Association are expressed in a confession put forth by upwards of a hundred congregations (in Great Britain)
in the year 1689, and adopted by the Association of Philadelphia in 1742.
Some of the principles in said confession are -The imputation of Adam's
sin to his posterity - The inability of man to recover himself - Effectual




92                          NOTES.
itself with the first real progress of the Baptists in New
England. Prior to 1741, few in numbers, divided on doctrinal questions, and weak in influence, they enter then
upon their course of remarkable development, raising aloft
this venerable formulary as the acknowledged exposition
and embodiment of their views of Divine truth. That
acknowledgment abides to this day in the platform of
the Warren Association, and its influence remains in the
faith of all the Baptist Associations of New England.
The other principal centre from which the Baptist denomination in America proceeded, was, as has been stated,
in Pennsylvania and the Jerseys. The Philadelphia Association, embracing the churches of this region, was formed
in 1707. The eldest of these churches was gathered in
1687, by Elias Keach, son of the celebrated  Benjamin
Keach, who was one of the signers of the Confession of
1689.  Mr. Keach returned to England in 1692, and became an influential minister there.  He was the author of
an abridgment of the Confession,l which abridgment was
early in use in this country, and was referred to as authority.2   The date at which  the Confession of 1689  was
calling by sovereign grace - Justification by imputed righteousness - hnmersion for baptism, and that on profession of faith and repentance —
Congregational churches, and their independency - Reception into them
upon evidence of sound conversion, etc."
1 "A short Confession of Faith, containing the Substance of all the
Fundamental Articles in the larger Confession, put forth by the Baptized
Churches owning personal Election and final Perseverance. Subscribed
by about thirty Persons, in behalf of the whole Church assembled at
Tallow Chandlers Hall, upon Dowgate Hill, under the pastoral Care of
Elias Keach."
This is the title, as given in an advertisement which I find at the end of
the Fifth Edition of the Confession of 1689, printed at London, 1720.
2 Minutes of the Philadelphia Association, from A. D. 1707 to A. D. 1897.
Published by the American Baptist Publication Society, 1851. See the
account given of the settlement of a difficulty at Middletown in 1712. 1




APPENDIX.                       93
formally adopted by the Philadelphia Association, I am
unable to determine.  The common impression that this
adoption occurred in 1742, is manifestly a mistake. The
following extracts from the minutes will indicate its earlier
adoption, and the extent and character of its authority:
1724. "In the year 1724, a query, concerning the fourth
commandment, whether changed, altered, or diminished.
" We refer to the Confession of Faith, set forth by the
elders and brethren, met in London, 1689, and owned by
us, chap. 22, sects. 7 and 8."
1727. "In answer to a query from  the Great Valley,
viz.: How far the liberty of marriage may be between a
member and one that is not a member? Answered, by
referring to our Confession of Faith, chapter 26th, in our
last edition." l
1729. "Query from  the church at Philadelphia: Suppose a gifted brother, who is esteemed an orderly minister
by or among those that are against the laying on of hands
in any respect, should happen to come among our churches;
whether we may allow such a one to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, or no?
"Answered in the negative; because it is contrary to
the rule of God's word.  See Acts xiii. 2, 3, xiv. 23, compared with Titus i. 5, 1 Tim. iv. 14,- from which prescribed rules we dare not swerve. We also refer to the
Confession of Faith, chap. 27, sect. 9."
would suggest the inquiry, whether Keach's abridgment cannot be found
in extensive use at the present time, in the older churches in New England, and more generally in the Southern States.
1 Of the original edition, the twenty-fifth chapter is the one which treats
"Of Marriage," and the numbering was not changed till 1742. The Minutes were revised in 1749, and "in our last edition" was doubtless added
to explain the change in the reference from the twenty-fifth to the twentysixth chapter.




94                     NOTES.
1742. "A motion was made in the Association for reprinting the Confession of Faith, set forth by the elders
of baptized Congregations, met in London, A. D. 1689,
with a short treatise of Church Discipline to be annexed
to the Confession of Faith. Agreed that the thing was
needful, and likely to be very useful; and in order to carry
it on, it is ordered to send it to the several churches belonging to this Association, to make a trial of what sums
of money can be raised, and to send an account to Mr.
Jenkin Jones, to the intent, that when the several collections are completed, if it be found sufficient to defray the
charges of the work, that then it shall go on; if not, then
to drop it for this year; and if it be carried on, that then
an addition of two articles be therein inserted; that is to
say, Concerning Singing of Psalms in the Worship of
God, and Laying on of Hands upon Baptized Believers.
Ordered, also, that the said Mr. Jones and Benj. Griffith
do prepare a short Treatise of Discipline, to be annexed
to the said Confession of Faith."
1743. "Tue~day, the house met according to appointment, at eight o'clock A. M., to consider further the affair
begun yesterday, touching the differences at Montgomery.
After some time spent in debate thereon, brother Joseph
Eaton stood up, and freely, to our apprehension, recanted,
renounced and condemned all expressions which he heretofore had used, whereby his brethren at Montgomery, or
any persons elsewhere, were made to believe that he departed from the literal sense and meaning of that fundamental article in our Confession of Faith, concerning the
eternal generation and Sonship of Jesus Christ our Lord;
he acknowledged with grief his misconduct therein, whether
by word or deed. We desire that all our churches would
take notice thereof, and have a tender regard for him in




APPENDIX.                  95
his weak and aged years, and in particular, of that great
truth upon which the Christian religion depends; without
which it must not only totter, but fall to the ground;
which he confesses he was sometimes doubtful of. Our
brother Butler gave his acknowledgment, written in his
own hand, in the following words:'I freely confess that
I have given too much cause for others to judge that I
contradicted our Confession of Faith, concerning the
eternal generation of the Son of God, in some expressions
contained in my paper, which I now with freedom condemn, and am sorry for my so doing, and for every other
misconduct that I have been guilty of, from first, to last,
touching the said article or any other matter.'
""We had a copy of Discipline designed to be annexed
to our Confession of Faith, by an order of a former Association, read and considered at this meeting, and approved
by the whole house."
1752. In answer to a query from the church in Kingwood, the Association having referred to our ruin in
Adam and our recovery in Christ, by the Sovereign election and grace of God, adds: "Upon which fundamental
doctrines of Christianity, next to the belief of an eternal
God, our faith must rest; and we adopt, and would that
all the churches belonging to the Baptist Association, be
well grounded in accordance to our Confession of Faith,
and Catechism, and cannot allow that any are true members of our churches who deny the said principles, be their
conversation outward what it will."
1761. The Association, writing to the Board of Particular Baptist Ministers, London, say: "Our numbers in
these parts multiply; for when we had the pleasure of
writing to you in 1734, there were but nine churches in




96                      NOTES.
our Association, yet now there are twenty-eight, all owning the Confession of Faith put forth in London in 1689."
It is not necessary to multiply these citations. The
cordial reception, and the authoritative character of the
creed-statements embraced in the Confession, are beyond
question. From a period a little later than this to the
end of the century, nearly every year a chapter of the
Confession was made the subject of a Pastoral Address to
the churches.  This venerable formulary never indeed
usurped the place of the Word of God; but distinctly,
cordially, and always, it was a declaration to the world of
the doctrines which the Association regarded as taught in
the Bible.
By reference to the extract from the Minutes of 1742,
above given, it will be seen that the action of the Association was not an adoption of the Confession, but only a
"reprinting," and that that which made it from that period specially a Plhiladelphia Confession, was the insertion
of two new articles, and provision for the elaborate treatise
on Discipline, the work of the Rev. Benjamin Griffith,'
which was formally adopted in 1743. The new articles
inserted were written, many years before, by the Rev.
Abel Morgan, a native of Wales, born in 1637, who had
been a minister of the gospel in his own country, and
who had translated the whole Confession into the Welsh
language.
I have not the materials at hand for tracing, so particularly as I could desire, the course of doctrinal history
in the churches of other sections which sprung more or
less directly'from the Philadelphia Association. The New
York Association, formed in 1791, was distinctly an off1 Mr. Griffith acknowledges the aid derived from the writings of the
Rev. Elias Keach, the Rev. Abel Morgan, and Drs. Goodwin, and Owen.




APPENDIX.                   97
shoot from the Philadelphia, and the inheritor of its doctrines; and the Hudson River Association, next in descent,
was accustomed to publish annually, on its title-page,
a summary of its faith, in harmony with the venerable
formulary of 1689.
In Virginia the Baptists had a double origin, — partly
from zealous Separates from New England, who bore with
them to the South the spirit of the Great Awakening, and
pa.rtly from sources in connection with the Philadelphia
Association. They were accordingly known as Separate
Baptists, and Regular Baptists, each having a distinct
organization.  The Regular Baptists seem to have been
the more intelligent and better organized, - the Separates
the more zealous, perhaps, and more efficient. Attempts
at union between these bodies were for some time unsuccessful, the chief obstacle being the rigid adherence of the
Regulars to the Philadelphia Confession. Some particulars of the history of their attempts at union are found
in Semple's History of the Virginia Baptists (1810), and
in the original edition (1813) of Benedict's History of the
Baptists, -the latter following chiefly the accounts given
in the former.
The General Association of the Separate Baptists had
become so large in 1783, that it was deemed advisable to
dissolve it, and form distinct Associations, with a General
Committee to be composed of delegates from the several
district Associations, this committee to meet annually
"to consider matters that may be for the good of the
whole society." This action having been taken, the doctrinal unity of these brethren was guarded as follows:
"A motion was made by John Williams: That as they
were now about to divide into sections, they ought to
9




98                     NOTES.
adopt some Confession of Faith, by way of affording a
standard of principles to subsequent times.
"They then agreed to adopt the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, upon the following explanations:
"'To prevent its usurping a tyrannical power over the
consciences of any: we do not mean that every person
is to be bound to the strict observance of everything
therein contained, nor do we mean to make it in any respect superior or equal to the Scriptures, in matters of
faith and practice; although we think it the best human
composition of the kind now extant, yet it shall be liable
to alterations, whenever the General Committee, in behalf
of the Associations, shall think fit.' ""
What may have been the effect upon the Regulars, of
this action of the Separate brethren, which seems to have
been spontaneous among themselves and in view of their
own purposes, I have not the means of knowing. It is
certain, however, that the union of the two bodies soon
followed. In 1786 the Ketocton, or Regular Baptist Association, which had adopted the Philadelphia Confession at
its origin,2 sent delegates to the General Committee, who
were received on equal terms by that body. This event
gave rise to the following recommendation:
"It is recommended to the different Associations to
appoint delegates to attend the next General Committee,
for the purpose of forming a union with the Regular
Baptists." 3
In August 1787 the General Committee met again, delegates being present from the Regular, and from all the
Separate Associations. The following is Dr. Semple's
account of the proceedings:
1 Semple, p. 68.   2 Benedict, ed. 1813, Vol. II. p. 35.
s Semple, p. 73.




APPENDIX.                   99
"Agreeably to appointment, the subject of the union of
Regular and Separate Baptists was taken up, and a happy
and effectual reconciliation was accomplished.
"The objections on the part of the Separates related
chiefly to matters of trivial importance, and had been for
some time removed, as to being a bar to communion. On
the other hand, the Regulars complained that the Separates were not sufficiently explicit in their principles, having never published or sanctioned any Confession of Faith,
and that they kept within their communion many who
were professed Armninians, etc. To these things it was
answered by the Separates, that a large majority of them
believed as much in their Confession of Faith as they did
themselves, although they did not entirely approve of
the practice of religious societies binding themselves too
strictly by Confessions of Faith, seeing there was danger
of their finally usurping too high a place; that if there
were some among them who leaned too much towards the
Arminian system, they were generally ruen of exemplary
piety and great usefulness in the Redeemer's kingdom,
and they conceived it better to bear with some diversity
of opinion in doctrines, than to break with men whose
Christian deportment rendered them amiable in the estimation of all true lovers of genuine godliness. Indeed,
that some of them had now become fathers in the gospel,
who, previous to the bias which their minds had received,
had borne the brunt and heat of persecution, whose labors
and sufferings God had blessed, and still blessed, to the
great advancement of his cause. To exclude such as
these from the communion, would be like tearing the
limbs from the body.
"These and such like arguments were agitated both in




100                     NOTES.
public and private, so that all minds were much mollified
before the final and successful attempt for union.
"The terms of the union were entered on the Minutes
in the following words, viz:
"'The committee appointed to consider the terms of
union with our Regular brethren, reported, That they
conceive the manner in which the Regular Baptist Confession has been received by a former Association, is the
ground-work for such union.' I
The manner in which the Separates had adopted the
Philadelphia Confession, at their last General Association,
in 1783, has already been stated on a previous page of
this note,2 and should be referred to in this connection, in
order to a full understanding of the present action.
Dr. Semple's narrative proceeds:
"After considerable debate as to the propriety of having any Confession of Faith at all, the report of the committee was received, with the following explanation:
"'To prevent the Confession of Faith from usurping
a tyrannical power over the conscience of any, we do not
mean that every person is bound to the strict observance
of everything therein contained; yet that it holds forth
the essential truths of the gospel, and that the doctrine
of salvation by Christ, and fiee, unmerited grace alone,
ought to be believed by every Christian, and maintained
by every minister of the gospel. Upon these terms we
are united, and desire hereafter that the names Regular
and Separate be buried in oblivion; and that from henceforth we shall be known by the name of the United Baptist Churches of Christ in Virginia.' "3
This union was satisfactory to the Philadelphia Asso-' Semple, pp. 74, 75.  2 See ante, p. 98  3 Semple, p. 75.




APPENDIX.                      101
ciation, which expressed its pleasure by vote, and entered
the "plan of union" upon its records.'  The doctrinal
agreement of the Regulars and Separates was always
nearer than the use of the word "Arminian" in the discussions would seem to imply. Those of the Separates
who were regarded as "tending to Arminianism," would
probably have accepted cordially the doctrinal theology
of Andrew Fuller, as distinguished from that of Dr. Gill.2
The Charleston Association- the oldest of Baptist Associations in the United States, excepting the Philadelphia
-- was formed in 1751. Its oldest -church, the venerable
first church in Charleston, was organized about 1683. The
Rev. William Screven, the first pastor, in "An Ornament
for Church Members," printed after his death, said: "And
now for a close of all (my dear brethren and sisters, whonl
God hath made me, poor unworthy me, an instrument of
gathering and settling in the faith and order of the gospel), my request is, that you, as speedily as possible, supply yourselves with an able and faithful minister. Be sure
you take care that the person be orthodox in faith, and of
blameless life, and does own the Confession of Faith put
forth by our brethren in London in 1689." 3  Mr. Screven
died in 1713.
"In 1767 the Association, having previously called the
serious attention of' the churches to the subject, formally
adopted the Confession of Faith published by the London Assembly of 1689. This had been previously held by
the churches in their individual capacities, particularly
1 Minutes, 1787, pp. 227, 233.
2 See accounts of a discussion of the question, " Is salvation by Christ
made possible for every individual of the human race?" given in Semple,
p. 60, and in Benedict, Vol. II. pp. 56, 57.
3 Benedict's Hist., Vol. II. p. 123.
9*




102                     NOTES.
that of Charleston, from the beginning of the eighteenth
century. The church at Ashley River adopted it March
18, 1737. Messrs. Hart and Pelot were appointed to draw
up a system of Discipline agreeable to Scripture, to be
used by the churches. This they brought forward in 1772,
and Rev. Morgan Edwards and Mr. David Williams were
requested to assist the compilers in revising it. In 1773
it was examined by the Association, and adopted. That
and the Confession of Faith were printed  under the
inspection of Mr. Hart."l
The doctrinal differences of the Regulars and Separates
of the Atlantic States reproduced themselves in the migrations to the Mississippi Valley. The Regulars carried
with them and renewed the Confession, while the Separates hesitated, as their brethren had done in Virginia, or
refused altogether.  The Holston  Association, first in
Tennessee, organized in 1786, adopted the Philadelphia
Confession. The Tennessee, formed from the Holston in
1802, did not adopt the Confession, but professed to hold
its substance and spirit, with some modifications of some
of the articles which it contains. II1 West Tennessee, the
Associations adopted an "Abstract of Principles," in the
form of creed-statements, very brief indeed, but, by the
use of general expressions, furnishing a basis of harmony
for those who construe orthodoxy with Gill, and for those
who construe orthodoxy with Fuller. The Elkham Association, in Kentucky, formed ill 1785, adopted the Philadelphia Confession, while the South Kentucky, or Separate
Association, formed in the same year, had no Confession.
Attempts to unite the Regulars and the Separates of these
1 Benedict's HIist., p. 136. See also pp. 143 and 149, where are accounts
of measures for reprinting the Confession, etc., in 1793 and 1810. I have
no later authorities.




APPENDIX.                     103
Associations, as their brethren of the Atlantic  States
had become united, were made without success. "The
Separates were afraid of being bound and hampered by
Articles and Confessions, and the Regulars were unwilling
to unite with them, without something of the kind."  In
1801 the union was effected by mutual concessions, the
fruit, it is said, of brotherly kindness and charity induced
by the Great Revival of that period, and of the discovery
that their doctrinal differences were less than they had
supposed.  The basis of union was a brief series of creedstatements, imperfect, certainly, in form, but undoubtedly
intended to set forth the substance of orthodoxy. This
union effected, the appellation "Separate Baptists," which
had distinguished a portion of the Baptist family for half
a century, passed finally away.'
It is manifest, from  the testimony adduced in this note,
that the Baptist denomination, with very rare exception'al
instances, has been from the first accustomed to the utterance of its doctrinal convictions in the form of Confessions
or Articles of Faith, and that these have exerted a powerful reflex influence. Even the Separates of Virginia, by
their own spontaneous act, adopted conditionally the Philadelphia Confession, and their successors in the Mississippi Valley, when uniting with the Regulars, did not
hesitate to set forth creed-statements of briefer form. I
am not particularly informed in regard to later usages
of the Baptists of the South and South West. My limited information coincides with what might be supposed
the natural results of the causes here narrated. I think
1 See Benedict's History of the Baptists, ed. 1813, Vol. II. pp. 216, 217,
225, 237, 238, 239, 243. See also an interesting and valuable article onl the
Baptists of the Mississippi Valley, written by the late Rev. John M. Peck,
D. D., and published in the Choristiait Beviewv of October 1852.




104                       NOTES.
the Philadelphia Confession entire, Mr. Keach's, and perhaps other abridgments of it, preserving its language and
spirit, and briefer creed-statements, like those already referred to, will be found variously intermixed.  Of these
last I have a recent illustration, in the "Abstract of Principles" I set forth by the Carey Baptist Association, Alabama, at its formation in 1855, which preserves almost the
exact words of the "Abstract of Principles" set forth by
the Associations of West Tennessee at an early period in
their history.2  Few things are more tenacious of life than
creed-statements in religion.
In Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the states lying northwest
of them, we may, in like manner, look for institutions and
habits kindred to those of the eastern sections from which
the first Baptist settlers proceeded, - sometimes modified
by later and influential intermixtures from other sections.
Where the eastern Baptist element was from  Virginia,
ordination will be by a Presbytery; where it was fiom New
England, it will be by a Council. In reference to Confessions, the same rule will undoubtedly prevail.  The
East reproduces itself in the West.  Whoever will accunmulate facts bearing upon this point, will make a most
important contribution to our doctrinal history.
This sketch would be imperfect without a reference to
the Declaration of Faith, known at the present time as
the New Hampshire Confession, which was issued a quarter of a century since by the Baptist Convention of that
state. The work of the Rev. John Newton Brown, D. D.,
1 For which I am indebted to the politeness of the Hon. Jabez L. M.
Curry, Member of Congress from Alabama.
2 The same is true of the " Articles of Faith" of the Coosa River Association, for the Minutes of which I am indebted likewise to the Hon. Mr.
Curry.




APPENDIX.                  105
it was written by him when a pastor in New I-Iampshire,
with a view to pending controversies with the Free Will
Baptists, who there are numerous. It has been sometimes
criticized as aiming at the difficult task of preserving the
stern orthodoxy of the fathers of the denomination, while
at the same time it softens the terms in which that orthodoxy is expressed, in order to remove the objections of
neighboring opponents.l Published in the Encyclopedia
of Religious Knowledge, of which its author was editor,
it has been circulated in many editions of that work, —
published too by booksellers, in small pamphlet form, convenient for distribution in churches, it has been still more
widely diffused, — and in churches of late origin it haLs
been extensively adopted in the Northern and Western
States.
In Appendix II. will be found at length the Confessions
to which reference has been made in this work. The
Confession of 1643 is reprinted from the Appendix to the
Second Volume of Choules' edition of Neal's History of
the Puritans, corrected, however, by collation with the
Hanserd Knollys Society's copy in their volume of Confessions. The Confession of 1689, corrected in the same
manner, is reprinted from the Pittsburg edition of 1831,
in the form known in this country as the Philadelphia
Confession, except that the two articles added by that
body, on Laying on of Hands and on Singing, are inserted
separately at the end. The Confession has been compared
with the London (fifth) edition of 1720, for a copy of
which I am indebted to the Rev. Winm. R. Williams, D. D.,
LL. D., of New York. The New Hampshire Declaration
of Faith is reprinted from the edition of the American
1 See Christian Review for April 18)9.




106                       NOTES.
Baptist Publication Society, revised by the author himself,
and including two new articles, one on Repentance and
Faith, and the other on Sanctification.
The Confessions here given are not to be understood as
all which have been issued by churches, or other bodies,
connected with the Baptist denomination. There were
other Confessions issued in England' in the period between 1643 and 1689; and in this country Confessions
have been published by Associations, churches and individuals in the denomination, variously modified, indeed,
but preserving a substantial unity. Those which are here
given, have had a historical character as acknowledged
forimularies. The laxity in respect to the ministerial office,
indicated in the Confession of 1643, it will be observed,
disappears in the Confession of 1689. On the question of
laying on of hands, there has never been unanimous consent in the denomination, and the article on that subject
in the Philadelphia Confession would be accepted now by
a very limited number of our people.
1 Some of these Confessions may be found in a volume issued by the
Hanserd Knollys Society, under the title, "Confessions of Faith, and
other Public Documents, illustrative of the History of the Baptist Churches
of England in the seventeenth century. Edited by Edward Bean Underhill." London, 1854.




D.
"BAPTISTS."
THE name " Baptists" is both a protest against the misnomer "Anabaptists," aud a euphemism' for "Baptized."
It was very natural that those who believed in the validity
of infant baptism, should regard as "anabaptists" those
who renounced that baptism, and were baptized again on
personal profession of their faith. It was equally natural,
too, that these last should repel the epithet as in nowise
significant of their belief and practice. As matter of fact,
we find the epithet so applied and so repelled. This was
true on the Continent, and true in Great Britain. "On
account of your baptism of infants," said the martyr Jan
Gerrits, "you cause us to be called Anabaptists, though we
baptize once, not twice, nor allow baptism more than once,
and that according to the truth, and agreeably to the command and practice of the apostles."' "It is commanded,
and will be found throughout the New Testament," said
another martyr, Hans Schlaffer, answering under torture,
"that men should first teach the Word of God, and they
alone that hear, understand, believe and receive it, should
be baptized. This is the true Christian baptism, and no
rebaptism."2  "Commonly, but most falsely, called Ana1 Baptist Martyrology, Vol. II. p. 386.  2 Ib., Vol. I. p. 50.




108                       NOTES.
baptists,"' say our English progenitors, in their Persecution for Religion Judged and Condemned, published in
1615.  " Unjustly called Ana-baptists," 2 say they in their
address to the king, 1620.  Whatever their baptism might
be to others, to them it was no ana-baptism. They did not
rebaptize, they simply baptized; they were not Anabaptists, but only Baptists.  Distinguished by the restoration
of the rite to its primitive form and significance, they very
naturally took the name of the rite as their true and lawful designation.  They called themselves first "the Baptized," and then "the Baptists."  In 1654 "the Baptized
churches in this nation" (England) issued their Humble
Representation and Vindication.3   " By John Sturgion,
one of the Baptized People," 4 was the form of authorship
on the title-page of Sturgion's Plea for Toleration, 1661.
"Of the persuasion commonly called the baptized," 5 says
the royal license to the Rev. Mr. Hardcastle, the Broadmead pastor, 1671-2.  "Brother Gifford, pastor of the
other baptized congregation," say the Broadmead Records, of the sister church in Bristol, and its minister.
In this country, the title "Baptized congregations," or
"Baptized churches," was preserved in the Minutes of the
Philadelphia Association,6 long after the name "Baptists"
had come into common use. Indeed, that title is preserved
occasionally, though very rarely, in the present generation,
by persons who desire to be specially precise. The title
1 Tracts on Liberty of Conscience, Hans. Knollys Society's ed., p. 101.
2 Ib., 231.
3 Confessions of Faith, etc., p. 327.
4 Tracts on Lib. of Conscience, p. 311.  5 Records, p. 217.
6 The Philadelphia Association has been called, though I cannot say how
frequently, or how generally, the Association of " Baptized Congregational
Churches." I remember the fact distinctly, but am unable to recall the
reference.




APPENDIX.                   109'"Baptists," so far as I can judge, is of uncertain date. I
find it first in the Broadmead Records. "At that juncture
of time (1640) the providence of God brought to this city
one lIMr. Canne,. a baptized man; it was that Mr. Canne
that made notes and references upon the Bible." * * * *
" a baptized man by them called an Anabaptist, which was
to some a sufficient cause of prejudice; because the truth
of believers' baptism had been for a long time buried; yea,
for a long time by popish inventions, and their sprinkling
brought in the room thereof."  "This godly, honorable
woman, perceiving that Mr. Canne was a baptist." * *'
Here we have the protest against Anabaptist, the descriptive title -Baptized, and the euphemism Baptist, all within
narrow space. Mr. Terrill, who made these records, became a member of the Broadmead Church in 1658. The
exact date of the use of these words by him cannot, perhaps, be determined. "Once a member amongst the Baptists," appears on the title of a book or pamphlet published
in 1655,2 which is my earliest trace of the name. It is
here, however, without any appearance of novelty. From
a pamphlet entitled "Behold a Cry," etc., published in
1662, Crosby3 quotes these words: "On the third day
of the month called August, 1662, when the prisoners in
Newgate,' called Baptists, were in their chamber, seeking
the Lord." * * * The name occurs likewise in the titles
of works published by Rev. Daniel Dyke, in 1674 and
1675.4 The Rev. Andrew Gifford's license from Charles
R., in 1672, says: "of the persuasion commonly called
_Baptists." 5 MIr. Henry Morris, writing in 1675, used the
title -Baptist frequently, in speaking of the churches in
1 Records, pp. 18, 19, 21.          4 lb., Vol. I. p. 359.
2 lb., p. 55.                       5 lb., Vol. III. p. 154.
3 History of the Baptists, Vol. II. p. 178.
10




110                     NOTES.
~Wales.' In 1696 and 1701, "ministers of the Baptist
denomination" sent congratulatory addresses to William
111.2  William ~Wall, writing a little later, says: "As they
disown the name of Anabaptists, or Rebaptizers, so I have
nowhere given it to them; as, on the contrary, I do not
give them the name of Baptists, nor of the Baptized people: for that is to cast a reproach upon their adversaries,
as concluding that they are not so."3 He calls them antipcedo-baptists. The common use of the word in this country must have followed close upon the common use of it
in England.  "Our Anabaptists," says Cotton Mather,
"when somewhat of exasperation was begun, formed a
church at Boston on May 28, 1665, besides one which they
had before at Swanzey. Now they declared our infant
baptism to be a mere nullity, and they arrogate unto themselves the title of Baptists, as if none were baptized but
themselves." 4 The earliest use of this title in the Philadelphia Minutes appears under the date 1712. "Bcaptized
congregations," "Baptized churches," are then the usual
forms; but in 1749, when the Rev. Benjamin Griffith, by
direction of the Association, prepared his Association Book,
he describes it as "-containing a brief account of the beginning and progress of the churches holding and practising
adult baptism, and COMMONLY CALLED BAPTISTS."
1 Broadmead Records, p. 511.      2 Quoted in Crosby.
3 I quote from Crosby without having Wall at hand.
4 Eccles. Hist., Book VII.




APPENDIX II.
CONFESSIONS.
I. THE CONFESSION OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, 1643.
II. THE CONFESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF 1689, CALLED IN AMERICA
THE PHILADELPHIA CONFESSION.
III. THE NEW HA3MPSHIRE DECLARATION OF FAITH.
IV. DISCIPLINE ADOPTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.








A CONFESSION OF FAITIf
Of Seven Congregations or Churches of Christ in London, which are
commonly, but unjustly, called Anabaptists; published for the Vindication of the Truth and Information of the Ignorant: likewise for
the taking off of those Aspersions which are frequently, both in
Pulpit and Print, unjustly cast upon them. Printed at London,
Anno 1646.  (Second edition.)
I. TIIE Lord our God is but one God, whose subsistence is in himself; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself;
who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto; who is in himself most holy, every way infinite, in
greatness, wisdom, power, love; merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth: who giveth being, moving,
and preservation to all creatures.1
II. In this divine and infinite Being there is the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Spirit; each having the whole Divine essence, yet the
essence undivided; all infinite without any beginning, therefore but
one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties.2
III. God hath decreed in himself, before the world was, concerning all things, whether necessary, accidental, or voluntary, with all
the circumstances of them, to work, dispose, and bring about all
things according to the counsel of his own will, to his glory (yet
without being the author of sin, or having fellowship with any there1 1 Cor. viii. 6; Isa. xliv. 6, and xlvi. odus xxxiv. 6, 7; Acts xvii. 28; Rom.
9; Exodus iii. 14; 1 Tim. vi. 16; Isaiah xi. 36.
xliii. 15; Psalm cxlvii. 5; Deut. xxxii.   2 1 Cor. i. 3; John i. 1, and xv. 26;
3; Job xxxvi. 5; Jeremiah x. 12; FEx- Exod. iii. 14; 1 Cor. viii. 6.
10*




114                        CONFESSIONS.
in): in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, unchangeableness, power, and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree; and
God hath, before the foundation of the world, foreordained some
men to eternal life, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of
his grace: leaving the rest in their sin, to their just condemnation,
to the praise of his justice.'
IV. In the beginning God made all things very good: created
man after his own image, filled with all meet perfection of nature,
and free from all sin; but long he abode not in this honor, Satan
using the subtlety of the serpent to seduce first Eve, then by her
seducing Adam, who, without any compulsion, in eating the forbidden fruit, transgressed the command of God, and fell, whereby death
came upon all his posterity: who now are conceived in sin, and by
nature the children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects -of
death, and other miseries in this world and forever, unless the Lord
Jesus Christ set them fiee.2
V. God, in his infinite power and wisdom, doth dispose all things
to the end for which they were created; that neither good nor evil
befalls any by chance, or without his providence; and that whatsoever befalls the elect is by his appointment, for his glory, and their
good.3
VI. All the elect, being loved of God with an everlasting love,
are redeemed, quickened, and saved, not by themselves, nor their
own works, lest any man should boast, but only and wholly by God,
of his free grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ, who is made unto
us by God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
and all in all, that he that rejoiceth might rejoice in the Lord.4
VII. And this is life eternal, that we might know him the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. And on the con1 Isa. xlvi. 10; Eph. i. 11; Rom. xi. 33; 29; 2 Cor. xi. 3; 1 Tim. ii. 14; Gal. iii.
Psalm xxviii. 15, cxv. 3, cxxxv. 6, and  22; Rom. v. 12, vi. 22, and xviii. 19; Eph.
cxliv.; I Sam. x. 9, 26; Prov. xvi 4, 33, ii. 3.
and xxi. 6; Exod. xxi. 13; Isa. xlv. 7;   3 Job xxxviii. 11; Isa. xlvi. 10, 11;
Matt xvi. 28, 30; Col. i. 16, 17; Numb. Eccl. iii. 14; Matt. x. 29,30; Exod. xxi.
xxiii. 19, 20; Rom. iii. 4; Jer. x. 10, 13; Prov. xvi. 33; Rom. viii. 28.
xiv. 22; Eph. i. 4, 5; Jude 4, 6.    4 Jer. xxiii. 6, and xxxi. 3; Eph. i 3,
2 Gen. i. 1, and iii. 1, 4, 5; Col. i. 16;  7, and ii 4, 9; 1 Thess. v. 9; Acts xiii 33;
Isa. xlv. 12; 1 Cor. xv. 45, 46; Eccl. vii.  2 Cor.v. 21; Jer. ix. 23, 24; 1 Cor. i. 3),31.




APPENDIX.                         1 15
trary, the Lord will render vengeance, in flaming fire, to them that
know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.l
VIII. The rule of this knowledge, faith, and obedience concerning the worship of' God, in which is contained the whole duty of
man, is (not men's laws or unwritten traditions, but) only the Word
of God contained in the Holy Scriptures: in which is plainly recorded whatsoever is needful for us to know, believe, and practise;
which are the only rule of holiness and obedience for all saints, at
all times, in all places, to be observed.2
IX. The Lord Jesus Christ, of whom Moses and the prophets
wrote, the apostles preached, he is the Son of God, the brightness
of his glory, etc., by whom he made the world; who upholdeth and
governeth all things that he hath made; who also, when the fulness
of time was come, was made of a woman, of the tribe of Judah, of
the seed of Abraham and David; to wit, of the Virgin Mary, the
Holy Spirit coming down upon her, the power of the Most High
overshadowing her; and he was also tempted as we are, yet without
sin.3
X. Jesus Christ is made the mediator of the new and everlasting
covenant of grace between God and man, ever to be perfectly and
fully the prophet, priest, and king of the Church of God for evermore.4
XI. Unto this office he was appointed by God from everlasting;
and in respect of his manhood, from the womb called, separated,
and anointed most fully and abundantly with all gifts necessary,
God having without measure poured out his Spirit upon him.5
XII. Concerning his mediatorship, the Scripture holds forth
Christ's call to his office; for none takes this honor upon him but lie
that is called of God, as was Aaron, it being an action of God,
whereby a special promise being made, he ordains his son to this
1 John vi. 36; and xvii. 3; Heb. v. 9; iv. 15, and vii. 14; Gal. iv. 4; Rev. v. 5;
1 Thess. i. 8.                    Rom. i. 3, and ix. 10; Matt. i. 16; Luke
2 Col. ii. 23; Mat. xv. 9, 6; John v. iii. 23, 26; Isa liii. 3-5.
39; 2 Tim. iii 15 —17; Isa. viii. 20; Gal.   4 1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. ix. 15; John xiv.
i. 8, 9; Acts iii. 22, 23.        6; Isa. ix. 6, 7.
3 Gen. iii. 15; xxii. 18, and xlix. 9,   5 Prov. viii. 23; Isa. xi. 2-5, xli. 6,
10; Dan. vii. 13, and ix 24-26; Prov. xlix. 15, and lxi. 1, 2; Luke iv. 17, 22;
viii. 23; John i. 1-3; lheb. i. 8, ii. 16, John i. 14, 16, and iii. 34.




116                       CONFESSIONS.
office; which promise is, that Christ should be made a sacrifice for
sin; that he should see his seed, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand; all of mere free and absolute grace towards God's elect, and without any condition foreseen
in them to procure it.1
XIII. This office to be mediator, that is, to be prophet, priest, and
king of the Church of God, is so proper to Christ, that neither in
whole, nor any part thereof, can it be transferred from him to any
other.2
XIV. This office to which Christ is called is threefold - as a
prophet, priest, and king: this number and order of offices is necessary, for in respect of our ignorance, we stand in need of his
prophetical office; and in respect of our great alienation from God,
we need his priestly office to reconcile us; and in respect of our
averseness and utter inability to return to God, we need his kingly
office, to convince, subdue, draw, uphold, and preserve us to his
heavenly kingdom.3
XV. Concerning the prophecy of Christ, it is that whereby he
hath revealed the will of God, whatsoever is needful for his servants
to know and obey; and therefore he is called not only a prophet
and doctor, and the apostle of our profession, and the angel of the
covenant, but also the very wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge, who forever continueth revealing the same truth of the gospel to his people.4
XVI. That he might be a prophet every way complete, it was
necessary he should be God, and also that he should be man: for
unless he had been God, he could never have perfectly understood
the will of God; and unless he had been man, he could not suitably have unfolded it in his own person to men.5
That Jesus Christ is God, is wonderful clearly expressed in the
I Heb. v. 4-6; Isa. liii. 10, 11; John  Psalm cx. 3; Cant. i. 3; John vi. 44;
iii. 16; Rom viii. 32.             Phil. iv. 13; 2 Tim. iv. 18.
2 1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. vii. 14; Daniel   4 John i 18, xii. 49, 50, and xv., and
vii. 14; Acts iv. 12; Luke i. 33; John  xvii. 8;:Matt. xxiii. 10; Deut. xviii. 15;
xiv. 6.                            Heb. iii. 1; 1 Cor. i. 24; Col. ii. 3; Alal.
3 Deut. viii. 15; Acts iii. 22, 23, xxvi.  iii. 1.
18; Heb. iii. 3, and iv. 14, 15; Psalm ii.   5 John i. 18; Acts iii. 22; Deut. xviii.
6; 2 Cor. v. 20; Col. i. 21; John xvi. 8; 15; Heb. i. 1.




APPENDIX.                           117
Scriptures. He is called the mighty God.1 The Word was God.2
Christ, who is God over all.3  God manifested in the flesh.4  The
same is very God.5 Hle is the first.6 He gives being to all things,
and without him  was nothing made.7  He forgiveth sins.8  He is
before Abraham.9 He was, and is, and ever will be the same.'~
He is always with his to the end of the world." Which could not
be said of Jesus Christ, if he were not God. And to the Son he
saith, Thy throne, 0 God, is forever and ever.l2
Also, Christ is not only perfectly God, but perfect man, made of
a woman.13 Made of the seed of David.l4 Coming out of the loins
of David.15 Of Jesse and Judah.l6 In that the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part with them.'7
He took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham'8  So that we are bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.l9  So
that he that sanctifieth, and they that are sanctified, are all of one.!~
XVII. Concerning his priesthood, Christ, having sanctified himself, hath appeared once to put away sin by that one offering of himself a sacrifice for sin, by which he hath fully finished and suffered
all things God required for the salvation of his elect, and removed
all rites and shadows, etc., and is now entered within the veil into
the holy of holies, which is the presence of Gods  Also, he makes
his people a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifice acceptable to God through him.  Neither doth the Father
accept, or Christ offer to the Father, any other worship or worshippers.2'
XVIII. This priesthood was not legal or temporary, but according
to the order of Melchisedeck, and is stable and perfect, not for a
time, but forever, which is suitable to Jesus Christ, as to him  that
ever liveth. Christ was the priest, sacrifice, and altar; he was a
priest according to both natures; he was a sacrisce according to his
1 Isa. ix. 6.                     14 Rom. i. 3.
2 John i. 1.                      15 Acts ii. 30.
3 Rom. ix. 5.                      16 Acts xiii. 23.
4 1 Tim. iii. 16.                 17 Ileb. ii. 14.
51 John v. 20.                    18 Heb. ii. 16.
6 Pev. i. 8.                     19 Eph. v. 30.
7 John i. 2.                      20 Heb. ii. 11. See Acts iii. 22; Deut.
8 Matt. ix. 6.                   xviii. 15. Heb. i. 1.
9 John viii. 58.                   21 John xvii. 19; Heb. v. 7-10, 12;
10 Hob. xiii. 8.                  Rom. v. 19; Eph. v. 2; Col. i 20; Eph.
11 Matt. xxviii. 20.              ii. 14-16; Rom. viii. 31; Heb. viii. 1,
12 Heb. i. 8; John i. 18.         and ix. 24; 1 Peter ii. 5; John iv. 23,
13 Gal. iv. 4.                    24.




118                        CONFESSIONS.
human nature; whence in Scripture it is attributed to his body, to lis
blood; yet the effectualness of this sacrifice did depend upon his
Divine nature; therefore it is called the blood of God.  He was
the altar according to his Divine nature, it belonging to the altar to
sanctify that which is offered upon it, and so it ought to be of greater
dignity than the sacrifice itself.1
XIX. Concerning his kingly office, Christ being risen from the
dead, and ascended into heaven, and having all power in heaven
and earth, he doth spiritually govern his Church, and doth exercise
his power over all, angels and men, good and bad, to the preservation and salvation of the elect, and to the overruling and destruction of his enemies. By this kingly power he applieth the benefits,
virtue, and fruits of his prophecy and priesthood to his elect, subduing their sins, preserving and strengthening them  in all their conflicts against Satan, the world, and the flesh, keeping their hearts in
faith and filial fear by his Spirit; by this his mighty power he ruleth
the vessels of wrath, using, limiting, and restraining them, as it seems
good to his infinite wisdom.2
XX. This his kingly power shall be more fully manifested when
he shall come in glory to reign among his saints, when he shall put
down all rule and authority under his feet, that the glory of the Father may be perfectly manifested in his Son, and the glory of the
Father and the Son in all his members.3
XXI. Jesus Christ by his death did purchase salvation for the
elect that God gave unto him; these only have interest in him, and
fellowship with him, for whom he makes intercession to his Father in
the behalf of, and to them alone doth God by his Spirit apply this
redemption unto; as also the free gift of eternal life is given to them,
and none else.4
I Heb. v. 6, vii. 16, etc., ix. 13, 14, i. 27; Heb. i. 14; Job. i. 8; Eph. iv. 17,
x. 10, and xiii. 10, 12, 15; 1 Pet. i. 18, 18; 2 Pet. ii.; John xvi. 15.
19; Col. i. 20, 22; Acts xx. 28; Matt.    31 Cor. xv. 24, 28; Heb. ix. 28; 1
xxiii. 17; John xvii. 19.          Thess. iv 15-17; 2 Thess. i. 9, 10; John
2 1 Cor. xv. 4; 1 Pet. iii. 21, 22; Matt.  xii. 21, 26.
xxviii 18, 19, 20; Luke xxiv. 51; Acts   4 Eph. i. 14; Heb. v. 9, and vii. 25;
i. 1, and v. 830, 31; John v. 26. 27, xix.  Matt. i. 21; John xvii. 6; 1 Cor. ii. 12;
36 and xvi. 15; Rom. i. 21, v. 6-8, xiv.  Rom. viii. 29, 30; 1 John v. 12; John
9, 17; and xvii. 18; Gal. v. 22, 23; Mark  xv. 13, and iii. 16.




APPENDIX.                         119
XXII. Faith is the gift of God, wrought in the hearts of the elect
by the Spirit of God; by which faith they come to know and believe
the truth of the Scriptures, and the excellency of them above all
other writings, and all things in the world, as they hold forth the
glory of God in his attributes, the excellency of Christ in his nature
and offices, and of the power and fulness of the Spirit in its workings and operations; and so are enabled to cast their souls upon this
truth thus believed.1
XXIII. All those that have this precious faith wrought in them
by the Spirit can never finally nor totally fall away, seeing the gifts
of God are without repentance; so that he still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and  ll the graces of
the Spirit, unto immortality; and though many storms and floods
arise, and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take
them off that foundation and rock, which by faith they are fastened
upon; notwithstanding, through unbelief, and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of this light and love be clouded and overwhelmed for a time; yet God is still the same, and they shall be
sure to be kept by the power of God unto salvation, where they
shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraven upon
the palms of his hands, and their names having been written in the
Book of Life from all eternity.2
XXIV. Faith is ordinarily begotten by the preaching of the Gospel, or Word of Christ, without respect to any power or agency in
the creature; but it being wholly passive, and dead in trespasses
and sins, doth believe and is converted by no less power than that
which raised Christ from the dead.3
XXV. The preaching of the Gospel to the conversion of sinners
is absolutely free; no way requiring, as absolutely necessary, anly
qualifications, preparations, or terrors of the law, or preceding ministry of the law, but only and alone the naked soul, a sinner and
ungodly, to receive Christ crucified, dead, and buried, and risen
1 Eph. ii. 8; John iv. 10, vi. 29, 63, x. 28, 29; 1 Pet i. 4-6; Isa. xlix. 13-16.
and xvii. 17; Phil. i. 29; Gal. v. 22;   3 Rom. x.17; 1 Cor. i. 28; Rom i 16,
Heb. iv. 11, 12.                  iii. 12, and ix. 16; Ezek. xvi. 16; Eph.
2 Matt. vii. 24, 25; John xiii. 10, and  i. 19; Col. ii. 12.




120                       CONFESSIONS.
again; who is madd a prince and a saviour for such sinners as
through the Gospel shall be brought to believe on him.l
XXVI. The same power that converts to faith in Christ carrieth
on the soul through all duties, temptations, conflicts, sufferings; andwhatsoever a believer is, he is by grace, and is carried on in all obedience and temptations by the same.2
XXVII. All believers are by Christ united to God; by which
union God is one with them, and they are one with him; and that
all believers are the sons of God, and joint heirs with Christ, to
whom belong all the promises of this life, and that which is to come.3
XXVIII. Those that have union with Christ are justified from all
their sins by the. blood of Christ, which justification is a gracious and
full acquittance of a guilty sinner from all sin, by God, through the
satisfaction that Christ hath made by his death for all their sins, and
this applied (in the manifestation of it) through faith.4
XXIX. All believers are a holy and sanctified people, and that
sanctification is a spiritual grace of the new covenant, and an effect
of the love of God manifested in the soul, whereby the believer
presseth after a heavenly and evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ, as head and king in his new covenant, hath
prescribed to them.5
XXX. All believers, through the knowledge of that justification
of life given by the Father, and brought forth by the blood of Christ,
have, as their great privilege of that new covenant, peace with God,
and reconciliation, whereby they that were afar off are made nigh
by that blood, and have peace passing all understanding; yea, joy
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received
the atonement.6
XXXI. All believers, in the time of this life, are in a continual
warfare and combat against sin, self, the world, and the devil; and
1 John i. 12, and iii. 14, 15; Isa. iv. 1;   4 1 John i. 7; Heb. x. 14, and ix. 26;
John vii. 37; 1 Tim. i. 15; Rom. iv. 5, 2 Cor. v. 19; Rom. iii. 23, 25, 30, and v.
aid v. 8; Acts v. 30, I1, and ii. 36; 1  1; Acts xiii. 38, 39.
Cor. i. 22, 24.                     51 Cor. xi; 1 Pet. ii. 9; Eph. i. 4; 1
2 1 Pet. i. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 10; 2 Cor. xii. 9; John iv. 16; Matt. xxviii. 20.
Phil.ii. 12,13; John xv. 5; Gal. ii. 19,20.   6 2 Cor. v. 19; Rom. v. 9, 10; Isaiah
3 1 Thess. i. 1; John xvii. 21; xx. 17; xxvi. 12, and liv. 10; Eph. ii. 13, 14, and
ieb. ii. 11; 1John iv. 16; Gal. ii. 19, 20. iv. 7; Rom. v. 10, 11.




APPENDIX.                          t21
are liable to all manner of afflictions, tribulations, and persecutions,
being predestinated and appointed thereunto; and whatsoever the
saints possess or enjoy of God spiritually, is by faith; and outward
and temporal things are lawfully enjoyed by a civil right by them
who have no faith.'
XXXII. The only strength by which the saints are enabled to
encounter with all oppositions and trials is only by Jesus Christ, who
is the captain of their salvation, being made perfect through sufferings; who hath engaged his faithfulness and strength to assist
them in all their afflictions, and to uphold them in all their temptations, and to preserve them by his power to his everlasting kingdom.2
XXXIII. Jesus Christ hath here on earth a spiritual kingdom,
which is his Church, whom he hath purchased and redeemed to himself as a peculiar inheritance; which Church is a company of visible saints, called and separated from the world by the Word and
Spirit of God, to the visible profession of the faith of the Gospel,
being baptized into that faith, and joined to the Lord, and each to
other, by mutual agreement, in the practical enjoyment of the ordinances commanded by Christ, their head and king.3
XXXIV. To this Church he hath made his promises, and given
the signs of his covenant, presence, acceptation, love, blessing, and
protection. Here are the fountains and springs of his heavenly
graces flowing forth to refresh and strengthen them.4
XXXV. And all his servants of all estates are to acknowledge
him to be their prophet, priest, and king; and called thither to be enrolled among his household servants, to present their bodies and souls,
and to bring their gifts [that] God hath given them, to be under his
heavenly conduct and government, to lead their lives in this walled
1 Rom. vii. 23, 24; and viii. 29; Eph. Acts xix. 8, 9, and xxvi. 18; 2 Cor.
vi. 10, 11, etc.; Heb. ii. 9, 10; 2 Tim. iii. vi. 17; Rev. xviii. 4; Acts ii. 37, 42,
12; 1 Thess. iii. 3; Gal. ii. 19, 20; 2 Cor. ix. 26, and x. 37; Rom. x. 10; 1 Peter
v. 7; Deut. ii. 5.                ii. 5.
2 John xv. 5, and xvi. 33; Phil. iv. 11;   4 Matt. xxviii. 18, etc.; 1 Cor. iii. 21,
Heb. ii. 9, 10; 2 Tim. iv. 18.    and xi. 24; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Rom. ix. 4, 5;
3 Matt. xi. 11; xviii. 19, 20; 2 Thess. Psalm cxxxiii. 3; Rom. iii. 7, 10; Ezek.
i. 15; 1 Cor. i. 2; Eph. i. 1; Rom. i. 7. xlvii. 2.
11




122                       CONFESSIONS.
sheepfold and watered garden, to have communion here with his
saints, that they may be assured that they are made meet to be partakers of their inheritance in the kingdom of God; and to supply
each other's wants, inward and outward (and although each person
hath a propriety in his own estate, yet they are to supply each other's wants, according as their necessities shall require, that the name
of Jesus Christ may not be blasphemed through the necessity of any
in the Church); and also being come, they are here by himself to be
bestowed in their several order, due place, peculiar use, being fitly
compact and knit together, according to the effectual working of
every part, to the'edifying of itself in love.l
XXXVI. Being thus joined, every Church hath power given
them from Christ, for their well-being, to choose among themselves
meet persons for elders and deacons, being qualified according to the
Word, as those which Christ hath appointed in his Testament for the
feeding, governing, serving, and building up of his Church; and that
none have any power to impose on them either these or any other.2
XXXVII. That the ministers lawfully called, as aforesaid, ought
to continue in their calling and place, according to God's ordinance,
and carefully to feed the flock of God committed to them, not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.3
XXXVIII. The ministers of Christ ought to have whatsoever
they shall need, supplied freely by the Church, that, according to
Christ's ordinances, they that preach the Gospel should live of the
Gospel by the law of Christ.4
XXXIX. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, given
by Christ, to be dispensed upon persons professing faith, or that are
made disciples; who, upon profession of faith, ought to be baptized,
and after to partake of the Lord's Supper.5
1 Acts ii. 41, 44, 45, 47; Isaiah iv. 3;  xii. 8, 28; Ileb. xiii. 7; 17; 1 Pet. v. 1-3;
1 Cor. xii. 6, 7, etc.; Ezek. xx. 37, 40;  and iv. 15.
Cant. iv. 12; Eph. ii. 19; Romans xii.   3 Heb. v. 4; John x. 3, 4; Acts xx.
4-6; Col. i. 12, and ii. 5, 6, 19; Acts  28, 29; Rom. xii. 7, 8; Heb. xiii. 7, 17;
ii. 44, 45, iv. 34, 35, v. 4, and xix. 32;  1 Pet. v. 1-3.
Luke xiv. 26; 1 Timothy vi. 1; Eph.   4 1 Cor. ix. 7, 14; Gal. vi. 8; Phil. iv.
iv. 16.                            15,16; 2 Cor. x. 4; 1 Tim. i. 9; Ps. cx. 3.
2 Acts i. 23, 26, vi. 3, and xv. 22, 25.   5 Matt. xxviii. 18,19; John iv. 1; Ma rk
Rom. xii. 7, 8; 1 Tim. iii. 2, 6, 7, 8; 1 Cor. xvi. 15,16; Acts ii. 37, 35, and viii. 36-33.




APPENDIX.                           123
XL. That the way and manner of the dispensing this ordinance
is dipping or plunging the body under water; it being a sign, must
answer the things signified, which is, that interest the saints have in
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; and that, as certainly
as the body is buried under water, and risen again, so certainly shall
the bodies of the saints be raised by the power of Christ, in the day
of the resurrection, to reign with Christ.l
The word baptizo signifies to dip or plunge (yet so as convenient
garments be both upon the administrator and subject with all modesty).
XLI. The person designed by Christ to dispense baptism, the
Scripture holds forth to be a disciple; it being nowhere tied to a particular Church officer, or person extraordinarily sent, the commission enjoining the administration being given to them as considered
disciples, being men able to preach the Gospel.2
XLII. Christ hath likewise given power to his Church to receive
in and cast out any member that deserves it; and this power is
given to every congregation, and not to one particular person, either
member or officer, but in relation to the whole body, in reference to
their faith and fellowship.3
XLIII. And every particular member of each Church, how excellent, great, or learned soever, is subject to this censure and judgment; and that the Church ought not, without great care and tenderness, and due advice, but by the rule of faith, to proceed against
her members.4
XLIV. Christ, for the keeping of this Church in holy and orderly
communion, placeth some special men over the Church, who, by
their office, are to govern, oversee, visit, watch; so, likewise, for the
better keeping thereof, in all places by the members, he hath given
authority, and laid duty upon all to watch over one another.5
1 Matt. iii. 6, 16; Mark i. 5, verse 9   3 Rom. xvi. 2; Matt. xviii. 17; 1 Cor.
reads [into Jordan] in Greek; John iii. v. 4,11,13, xii. 6, and ii. 3; 2 Cor. ii. 6,7.
23; Acts viii. 38; Rev. ii. 5, and vii. 14;   4 Matt. xviii. 16, and xvii. 18; Acts xi.
Heb. x. 22; Rom. vi. 3-6; 1 Cor. xv. ii. 3; 1 Tim. v. 19, etc.; Col. iv. 17; Acts
28, 29.                            xv. 1-3.
2 Isa. viii. 16; Eph. iii. 7; Matt. xxviii.   5 Acts xx. 27, 28; Heb. xiii. 17, 24;
19; John iv. 2; Acts x. 7, and xi. 20. Matt. xxiv. 45; 1 Thess. v. 2, 14; Jude iii.
1 Cor. xi. 24, and x. 16, 17.     20; Heb. x. 34, 35, and xii. 15.




124                       CONFESSIONS.
XLV. Also, such to whom God hath given gifts in the Church
may and ought to prophecy, according to the proportion of faith,
and so to teach publicly the Word of God, for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of the Church.'
XLVI. Thus, being rightly gathered, and continuing in the obedience of the Gospel of Christ, none are to separate for faults and
corruptions (for as long as the Church consists of men subject to
failings, there will be difference in the true constituted Church), until they have in due order and tenderness sought redress thereof.2
XLVII. And although the particular congregations be distinct,
and several bodies, every one as a compact and knit city within
itself, yet are they all to walk by one rule of truth: so also they (by
all means convenient) are to have the counsel and help one of another, if necessity require it, as members of one body, in the common faith, under Christ, their head.3
XLVIII. A civil magistracy is an ordinance of God, set up by
him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that
do well: and that in all lawful things commanded by them, subjection ought to be given by us in the Lord, not only for wrath but for
conscience' sake; and that we are to make supplications and prayers
for kings, and all that are in authority, that under them we may live
a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.4
The supreme magistracy of this kingdom we acknowledge to be the
king and parliament (now established) freely chosen by the kingdom, and that we are to maintain and defend all civil laws and civil
officers made by them, which are for the good of the commonwealth.
And we acknowledge with thankfulness, that God hath made this
present king and parliament honorable in throwing down the prelatical hierarchy, because of their tyranny and oppression over us, under which this kingdom long groaned, for which we are ever engaged
to bless God, and honor them for the same. And concerning the
worship of God: there is but one lawgiver, which is able to save
and destroy,5 which is Jesus Christ, who hath given laws and rules
1 1 Cor. xiv. 3, etc.; Rom. xii. 6; 1 Pet. Ps. cxxii. 3; Eph. ii. 12, 19; Rev. xxi.;
iv. 10,11; 1 Cor. xii. 7; 1 Thess. v. 19, etc. 1 Tim. iii. 15, vi. 13, 14; 1 Cor. iv. 17;
2 Rev. ii. and iii.; Acts xv. 12; 1 Cor. Acts xv. 2,3; Cant. viii. 8,9; 2 Cor. viii.
i. 10; Heb. x. 25; Jude 19; Rev. ii. 20, 1, 4, 13,14.
21, 27; Acts xv. 1, 2; Rom. xiv. 1, and   4 Rom. xiii. 1, 2, etc.; 1 Pet. ii. 13,14;
xv. 1-3.                          1 Tim. ii. 1-8.
3 1 Cor. iv. 17, xiv. 33, 86, and xvi. 1.   5 James iv. 12.




APPENDIX.                          125
sufficient in his word for his worship; and for any to make more,
were to charge Christ with want of wisdom, or faithfulness, or both,
in not making laws enough, or not good enough, for his house:
surely it is our wisdom, duty, and privilege, to observe Christ's laws
only.' So it is the magistrates' duty to tender the liberty of men's
consciences2 (which is the tenderest thing unto all conscientious men,
and most dear unto them, and without which all other liberties will
not be worth the naming, much less enjoying), and to protect all
under them from all wrong, injury, oppression, and molestation; so
it is our duty not to be wanting in nothing which is for their honor
and comfort, and whatsoever is for the well-being of the commonwealth wherein we live, it is our duty to do; and we believe it to be
our express duty, especially in matters of religion, to be fully persuaded in our minds of the lawfulness of what we do, as knowing
whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And as we cannot do anything
contrary to our understandings and consciences, so neither can we
forbear the doing of that which our understandings and consciences
bind us to do. And if the magistrates should require us to do otherwise, we are to yield our persons in a passive way to their power, as
the saints of old have done.3 And thrice happy shall he be that
shall lose his life for witnessing (though but for the least tittle) of the
truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.4
XLIX. But in case we find not the magistrate to favor us herein,
yet we dare not suspend our practice, because we believe we ought
to go on in obedience to Christ, in professing the faith which was once
delivered to the saints, which faith is declared in the holy Scriptures, and this our confession of faith a part of them, and that we
are to witness to the truth of the Old and New Testaments unto the
death, if necessity require, in the midst of all trials and afflictions, as
his saints of old have done; not accounting our goods, lands, wives,
children, fathers, mothers, brethren, sisters, yea, and our own lives,
dear unto us, so we may finish our course with joy; remembering,
always, that we ought to obey God rather than men, who will, when
we have finished our course, and kept the faith, give us the crown
of righteousness; to whom we must give an account of all our actions, and no man being able to discharge us of the same.5
L. It is lawful for a Christian to be a magistrate or civil officer;
1 Psalm ii. 6, 9,10,12.         Dan. iii. 16, 17, and vi, 7, 10, 22, 23; 1
2 Eccl. viii. 8.    3 James v. 4. Tim. vi. 13-15; Rom. xii. 1, 8; 1 Cor.
41 Peter v.; Ga]. v.            xiv. 37; Rev. ii. 20; 2 Tim. iv. 6-8;
5 Acts ii. 40, 41, iv. 19, v. 28, 29, and  Rom. xiv. 10, 12; 2 Cor, v. 10; Psalm
xx. 23; 1 Thess. iii. 3; Phil. i. 28, 29; xlix. 7, and 1. 22.
11*




126                      CONFESSIONS.
and also it is lawful to take an oath, so it be in truth, and in judg.
ment, and in righteousness, for confirmation of truth, and ending of
all strife; and that by rash and vain oaths the Lord is provoked,
and this land mourns.1
LI. We are to give unto all men whatsoever is their due, as their
place, age, and estate, require; and that we defraud no man of anything, but to do unto all men as we would they should do unto us.2
LII. There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and unjust, and every one shall give an account of himself to God,
that every one may receive the things done in his body, according
to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.3
THE CONCLUSION.
Thus we desire to give unto Christ that which is his; and unto all
lawful authority that which is their due; and to owe nothing to any
man but love; to live quietly and peaceably, as it becometh saints,
endeavoring in all things to keep a good conscience, and to do unto
every man (of what judgment soever) as we would they should do
unto us, that as our practice is, so it may prove us to be a conscionable, quiet, and harmless people (no ways dangerous or troublesome
to human society), and to labor and work with our hands, that we
may not be chargeable to any, but to give to him that needeth, both
friends and enemies, accounting it more excellent to give than to
receive. Also, we confess that we know but in part, and that we
are ignorant of many things which we desire and seek to know; and
if any shall do us that friendly part, to show us from the Word of
God that we see not, we shall have cause to be thankful to God and
them; but if any man shall impose upon us anything that we see
not to be commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ, we should in his
strength rather embrace all reproaches and tortures of men, to be
stripped of all outward comforts, and, if it,were possible, to die a
1 Acts. viii. 38, and x. 1, 2, 35, 44; xxii. 21; Titus iii.; 1 Peter ii. 15, 17, and
Romans xvi. 23; Deut. vi. 13; Romans v. 5; Eph. v. 21, 23, and vi. 1) 9; Titus
i. 9; 2 Cor. x. 11; Jer. iv. 2; Hebrews iii. 1-3.
vi. 16.                          3 Acts xxiv. 15; 2 Cor. v. 10; Rom.
2 1 Thess. iv. 6; Rom. xiii. 5-7; MIatt. xiv. 12.




APPENDIX.                      127
thousand deaths, rather than to do anything against the least tittle
of the truth of God, or against the light of our own consciences.
And if any shall call what we have said heresy, then do we with the
apostle acknowledge that, after the way they call heresy, worship
we the God of our fathers, disclaiming all heresies, rightly so called,
because they are against Christ, and to be steadfast and immovable,
always abounding in obedience to Christ, as knowing our labor shall
not be in vain in the Lord.1
Arise, 0 God, plead thine own cause; remember how the foolish
man blasphemeth thee daily. Oh, let not the oppressed returned
ashamed, but let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.
1 Psalm lxxiv. 21, 22.




II.
A CONFESSION OF FAITH,
Put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many congregations of Christians (baptized upon profession of their faith), in London and the
country.  With an Appendix concerning Baptism.
WE, the Ministers and Messengers of, and concerned for, upwards of
one hundred baptized congregations in England and Wales (denying Arminianism), being met together in London, from the third of the seventh
month to the eleventh of the same, 1689, to consider of some things that
might be for the glory of God, and the good of these congregations; have
thought meet (for the satisfaction of all other Christians that differ from
us in the point of baptism) to recommend to their perusal the CONFESSION OF OUR FAITH, printed for and sold by John Harris, at the Harrow
in the Poultry, which Confession we own, as containing the doctrine of
our faith and practice; and do desire that the members of our churches
respectively do furnish themselves therewith.
HANSERD KNOLLYS,               DANIEL FINCH,
WILLIAM KIFFIN,                JOHN BALL,
JOHN HARRIS,                   EDMOND WHITE,
WILLIAM COLLINS,               WILLIAM PRITCHARD,
HERCULES COLLINS,             PAUL FRUIN,
ROBERT STEED,                  RICHARD RING,
LEONARD HARRISON,              JOHN TOMPKINS,
GEORGE BARRET,                 TOBY WILLES,
ISAAC LAMB,                    JOHN CARTER,
RICHARD ADAMS,                JAMES WEBB,
BENJAMIN KEACH,                RICHARD SUTTON,
ANDREW GIFFORD,                ROBERT KNIGHT,
THOMAS VAUX,                   EDWARD PRICE,
THOMAS WINNEL,                 WILLIAM PHIPPS,
JAMES HITT,                    WILLIAM HAWKINS,
RICHARD TIDMARSH,              SAMUEL EWER,
WILLIAM FACEY,                 EDWARD MAN,
SAMUEL BUTTAL,                CHARLES ARCHER.
CHRISTOPHIER PRICE,
In the name and behalf of the whole assembly.




APPENDIX.                        129
TO THE JUDICIOUS AND IMPARTIAL READER.
COURTEOUS READER:
It is now many years since divers of us (with other sober Christians
then living, and walking in the way of the Lord, that we profess) did
conceive ourselves to be under a necessity of publishing a Confession of
our Faith, for the information and satisfaction of those that did not thoroughly understand what our principles were, or had entertained prejudices
against our profession, by reason of the strange representation of them,
by some men of note who had taken very wrong measures, and accordingly led others into misapprehensions of us, and them: And this was
first put forth about the year 1643, in the name of seven congregations
then gathered in London; since which time, divers impressions thereof
have been dispersed abroad, and our end proposed, in good measure
answered, inasmuch as many (and some of those men eminent both for
piety and learning) were thereby satisfied, that we were no way guilty of
those heterodoxies, and fundamental errors, which had too frequently
been charged upon us without ground, or occasion given upon our part.
And forasmuch, as that Confession is not now commonly to be had, and
also that many others have since embraced the same truth which is owned
therein, it was judged necessary by us to join together in giving a testimony to the world, of our firm adhering to those wholesome principles,
by the publication of this which is now in your hand.
And forasmuch as our method and manner of expressing our sentiments, in this, doth vary from the former (although the substance of the
matter is the same) we shall freely impart to you the reason and occasion
thereof. One thing that greatly prevailed with us to undertake this work
was (not only to give a full account of ourselves to those Christians that
differ from us about the subject of baptism, but also) the profit that might
from thence arise, unto those that have any account of our labors, in their
instruction and establishment in the great truths of the gospel; in the
clear understanding and steady belief of which, our comfortable walking
with God, and fruitfulness before him, in all our ways, is most nearly concerned. And therefore we did conclude it necessary to express ourselves
the more fully and distinctly; and also to fix on such a method as might
be most comprehensive of those things which we designed to explain our
sense and belief of; and finding no defect in this regard in that fixed on by
the Assembly, and after them by those of the Congregational way, we did
readily conclude it best to retain the same order in our present Confession;
and also when we observed that those last mentioned, did in their Confes



130                      CONFESSIONS.
sion (for reasons which seemed of weight both to themselves and others)
choose not only to express their mind in words concurrent with the
former in sense, concerning all those articles wherein they were agreed,
but also for the most part without any variation of the terms, we did in
like manner conclude it best to follow their example, in making use of the
very same words with them both, in those articles (which are very many)
wherein our faith and doctrine is the same with theirs; and this we did
the more abundantly to manifest our consent with both, in all the fundamental articles of the Christian religion, as also with many others, whose
orthodox confessions have been published to the world, on the behalf of
the Protestants in divers nations and cities; and also to convince all that
we have no itch to clog religion with new words, but do readily acquiesce
in that form of sound words which hath been in consent with the Holy
Scriptures, used by others before us; hereby declaring before God, angels
and men, our hearty agreement with them in that wholesome Protestant
doctrine which with so clear evidence of Scriptures they have asserted.
Some things, indeed, are in some places added, some terms omitted, and
some few changed; but these alterations are of that nature, as that we
need not doubt any charge or suspicion of unsoundness in the faith from
any of our brethren upon the account of them.
In those things wherein we differ from others, we have expressed ourselves with all candor and plainness, that none might entertain jealousy
of aught secretly lodged in our breasts, that we would not the world should
be acquainted with; yet we hope we have also observed those rules of
modesty and humility as will render our freedom in this respect inoffensive, even to those whose sentiments are different from ours.
We have also taken care to affix texts of Scripture in the margin, for the
confirmation of each article in our Confession; in which work we have
studiously endeavored to select such as are most clear and pertinent for
the proof of what is asserted by us; and our earnest desire is, that all into
whose hands this may come, would follow that (never enough commended)
example of the noble Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily that they
might find out whether the things preached to them were so or not.
There is one thing more which we sincerely profess and earnestly desire
credence in, viz., that contention is most remote from our design in all
that we have done in this matter; and we hope the liberty of an ingenuous
unfolding our principles and opening our hearts unto our brethren, with
the Scripture grounds on which our faith and practice leans, will by none
of them be either denied to us, or taken ill from us. Our whole design is
accomplished if we may obtain that justice, as to be measured in our principles and practice, and the judgment of both by others, according to what
we have now published; which the Lord (whose eyes are as a flame of fire)




APPENDIX.                         131
knoweth to be the doctrine, which with our hearts we most firmly believe,
and sincerely endeavor to conform our lives to. And, oh, that other contentions being laid asleep, the only care and contention of all, upon wholn
the name of our blessed Redeemer is called, might for the future be, to
walk humbly with their God, and in the exercise of all love and meekness
towards each other, to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, each one
endeavoring to have his conversation such as becometh the gospel; and
also suitable to his place and capacity, vigorously to promote in others
the practice of true religion, and undefiled in the sight of God our Father.
And that in this backsliding day, we might not spend our breath in fruitless complaints of the evils of others, but may every one begin at home,
to reform in the first place our own hearts and ways, and then to quicken
all, that we may have influence upon, to the same work; that if the will
of God were so, none might deceive themselves by resting in, and trusting
to, a form of godliness without the power of it, and inward experience of
the efficacy of those truths that are professed by them.
And verily there is one spring and cause of the decay of religion in our
day, which we cannot but touch upon, and earnestly urge a redress of, and
that is the neglect of the worship of God in families, by those to whom
the charge and conduct of them is committed. May not the gross ignorance and instability of many, with the profaneness of others, be justly
charged upon their parents and masters, who have not trained them up in
the way wherein they ought to walk when they were young; but have
neglected those frequent and solemn commands which the Lord hath laid
upon them, so to catechise and instruct them, that their tender years might
be seasoned with the knowledge of the truth of God, as revealed in the
Scriptures; and also by their own omission of prayer, and other duties of
religion in their families, together with the ill example of their loose conversation, have inured them first to a neglect, and then contempt of all
piety and religion? We know this will not excuse the blindness or wickedness of any; but certainly it will fall heavy upon those that have been
thus the occasion thereof; they indeed die in their sins, but will not their
blood be required of those under whose care they were, who yet permitted
them to go 6n without warning, yea, led them into the paths of destrnction? And will not the diligence of Christians, with respect to the discharge of these duties, in ages past, rise up in judgment against,, and condemn many of those who would be esteemed such now?
We shall conclude with our earnest prayer, that the God of all grace
will pour out those measures of his Holy Spirit upon us, that the profession
of truth may be accompanied with the sound belief and diligent practice
of it by us, that his name may in all things be glorified through Jesus
Christ our Lord. AMlEN.




132                        CONFESSIONS.
CONTENTS.
Chapter                            Chapter
1. Of the Holy Scriptures,        20. Of the Gospel, and of the extent of
2. Of God and of the Holy Trinity.     the Grace thereof.
3. Of God's Decrees.              21. Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty
4. Of Creation.                         of Conscience.
5. Of Divine Providence.          22. Of Religious Worship, and the Sab6. Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of   bath Day.
the Punishment thereof.       23. Of Lawful Oaths and Vows.
7. Of God's Covenant.             24. Of the Civil Magistrate.
8. Of Christ the Mediator.        25. Of Marriage.
9. Of Free-Will.                  26. Of the Church.
10. Of Effectual Calling.          27. Of the Communion of Saints.
11. Of Justification.              28. Of Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
12. Of Adoption.                   29. Of Baptism.
13. Of Sanctification.             30. Of the Lord's Supper.
14. Of Saving Faith.               31. Of the State of Man after Death, and
15. Of Repentance unto Life and Sal-     of the Resurrection of the Dead.
vation.                       32. Of the Last Judgment.
16. Of Good Works.                 33. An Appendix concerning Baptism.
17. Of Perseverance of the Saints.    34. Of Singing Psalms in Public Wor18. Of the Assurance of Grace and        ship.
Salvation.                    35. Of Laying on of Hands.
19. Of the Law of God.




CONFESSION OF FAITH.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
1. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible 1 rule of all saving knowledge, faith and obedience; although
the 2 light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do
so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave
men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge
of God and his will, which is necessary unto salvation. 3 Therefore
it pleased the Lord at sundry times, and in divers manners, to
reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and
afterward, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth,
and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church,
against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and
of the world, to commit the same wholly unto 4writing; which
maketh the holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways
of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.
2. Under the name of holy Scripture, or the word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament,
which are these:
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
1 2 Tim. iii. 15,16,17, Isa. viii. 20; Luke 3 Hebrews i. 1.
xvi. 29, 31; Ephesians ii. 20.  4 Proverbs xxii. 19-21; Rom. xv. 4; 2
R Hom. i. 19, 20, 21, ii. 14, 15; Psalm    Peter i. 19, 20.
xix. 1, 2, 3.
12




134                     CONFESSIONS.
Ecclesiastes, The Song of Songs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts of the Apostles, Paul's
Epistles to the Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, the Epistle to
the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, the first and second Epistles of
Peter, the first, second and third Epistles of John, the Epistle of
Jude, the Revelation. All which are given by the 1 inspiration of
God, to be the rule of faith and life.
3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of 2 divine
inspiration, are no part of the canon (or rule) of the Scripture,
and therefore are of no authority to the church of God, nor to be
any otherwise approved, or made use of than other human writings.
4. The authority of the holy Scriptures, for which it ought to be
believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church,
but wholly upon 3 God (who is Truth itself), the author thereof;
therefore it is to be received, because it is the word of God.
5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the
church of God, to an high and reverent esteem of the holy Scriptures;'and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the
scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, and many other
incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the word of
God; yet, notwithstanding our 4 full persuasion, and assurance of
the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward
1 2 Tim. iii. 16.              16; 2 Thessalonians ii. 13; 1 John v. 9.
2 Luke xxiv. 27, 44; Rom. iii. 2.  4 John xvi. 13, 14; 1 Cor. 2, 10,11,12; 1
3 2 Peter i. 19, 20, 21; 2 Timothy iii.    John ii. 2, 20, 27.




APPENDIX.                         135
work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in
our hearts.
6. The whole council of God concerning all things 1 necessary
for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly
set down, or necessarily contained in the holy Scripture; unto
which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.
Nevertheless we acknowledge the 2 inward illumination of the
Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of
such things as are revealed in the word, and that there are some
circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government
of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are
to be 3 ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be
observed.
7. All things in Scripture are not alike 4 plain in themselves, nor
alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be
known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so 5 clearly propounded, and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not
only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means,
may attain to a sufficient understanding of them.
8. The Old Testament in 6 Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old) and the New Testament in
Greek (which at the time of writing it was most generally known
to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore 7 authentical; so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to
appeal unto them.8 But because these original tongues are not
known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest
in the Scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of God to read 9
and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar
language of every nation, unto which they 0 come, that the word of
1 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16, 17; Gal. i. 8, 9.  6 Rom. iii. 2.
2 John vi. 45; 1 Cor. ii. 9-12.        7 Isaiah viii. 20.
3 1 Cor. xi. 13, 14, xiv. 26, 40.      8 Acts xv. 15.
4 2 Peter iii. 16.                     9 John v. 39.
5 Psalm xix. 7, cxix. 130.            10 1 Cor. xiv. 6, 9, 11,12, 24, 28.




136                       CONFESS'IONS.
God dwelling 1 plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
may have hope.
9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the 2 Scripture itself. And therefore, when there is a question about the true
and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold but one), it
must be searched by other places, that speak more clearly.
10. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are
to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient
writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined,
and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the holy
Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which 3 Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved.
CHAPTER II.
OF GOD AND OF THE HOLY TRINITY.
1. The Lord our God is but 4 one only living and true God;
whose 5 subsistence is in and of himself, 6 infinite in being and perfection, whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; 7 a most pure Spirit, 8 invisible, without body, parts, or passions,
who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto, who is 9 immutable, 10 immense, 11 eternal, incomprehensible,l2 almighty, every way infinite, 13 most holy, most wise, most
free, most absolute, 14 working all things according to the counsel of
his own immutable and most righteous will, 15 for his own glory, most
loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and
truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, 16 the rewarder of
them that diligently seek him, and withal most just,17 and terrible in
I Col. iii. 16.                       9 Mal. iii. 6.
2 2 Peter i. 20, 21; Acts xv. 15, 16.  10 1 Kings viii. 27; Jer. xxiii. 23.
8 Matt. xxii. 29, 31; Eph. ii. 20; Acts    11 Psalm xc. 2.
xxviii. 23.                       12 Gen. xvii. 1.
4 1 Cor. viii. 46; Dent. vi. 4.       13 Isa. vi. 3.
5 Jer. x. 10; Isa. xlviii. 12.        14 Psalm cxv. 3; Isa. xlvi. 10.
6 Exodus iii. 14.                    15 Prov. xvi. 4; Rom. xi. 36.
7 John iv. 24.                       16 Exodus xxxiv. 6, 7; Heb. xi. 6.
8 1 Tim. i. 17; Deut. iv. 15, 16.    17 Neh. ix. 32, 33.




APPENDIX.                         137
his judgments, - hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the 2
guilty.
2. God having all3 life,4 glory,5 goodness, blessedness, in and
of himself, is alone in, and unto himself all sufficient, not 6 standing
in need of any creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory
from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and
upon them, he is the alone fountain of all being,7 of whom, through
whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign 8
dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them,
whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight9 all things are open and
manifest, his knowledge is 10 infinite, infallible, and independent upon
the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain; he is
most hply in all his counsels," all his works, and in all his commands; to him is due 12from angels and men, whatsoever worship,
service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and
whatever he is further pleased to require of them.
3. In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, 13
the Father, the Word (or Son), and Holy Spirit, of one substance,
power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, 14 yet the
essence undivided; the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding, the Son is 15 eternally begotten of the Father, the Holy
Spirit 16 proceeding from the Father and the Son, all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in
nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar, relative
properties and personal relations, which doctrine of the Trinity is
the foundation of all our communion with God, and our comfortable
dependence on him.
1 Psalm v. 5, 6.                  10 Ezek. xi. 5; Acts xv. 18.
2 Exodus xxxiv. 7; Nahum i. 2, 3.  11 Psalm cxlv, 17.
3 John v. 26.                     12 Rev. v. 12-14.
4 Psalm cxlviii. 14.              13 1 John v. 7; Matt. xxviii. 19; 2 Cor.
5 Psalm cxix. 68.                     xiii. 14.
6 Job xxii. 2, 3.                 14 Exodus iii. 14; John xiv. 11; 1 Cor.
7 Rom. xi. 34-36.                     viii. 6.
8 Daniel iv. 25, and v. 34, 35.   15 John i. 14,18.
9 Heb. iv. 13.                    16 John xv. 26; Gal. iv. 6.
12*




138                       CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER III.
OF GOD S DECREES.
1. God hath 1 decreed in himself from all eternity, by the most
wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all
things whatsoever come to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither
the author of sin, 2 nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or
contingency of second causes taken away, but rather 3 established,
in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and
faithlfulness 4 in accomplishing his decree.
2. Although God knoweth whatsoever may, or can come to pass
upon all 5 supposed conditions: yet hath he not decreed any thing 6
because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass
upon such conditions.
3. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, 7 some
men and angels are predestinated or foreordained to eternal life,
through Jesus Christ, to the 8 praise of his glorious grace; others
being left to act in their sin to their 9just condemnation, to the
praise of his glorious justice.
4. These angels and men thus predestinated, and foreordained,
are particularly, and unchangeably designed; and their 10 number so
certain, and definite, that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
5. Those of mankind 11 that are predestinated to life, God, before
the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and
immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his
will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere
free grace and love; 12 without any other thing in the creature as a
condition or cause moving him thereunto.
1 Isa. xlvi. 10; Eph. i. 11; Heb. vi. 17;  7 1 Tim. v. 21; Matt. xxv. 41.
Rom. ix. 15, 18.               8 Eph. i. 5, 6.
2 James i. 15, 17; 1 John i. 5.    9 Rom. ix. 22, 23; Jude 4.
3 Acts iv. 27, 28; John xix. 11.  10 2 Tim. ii. 19; John xiii. 18.
4 Numbers xxiii. 19; Ephesians i. 3-5.  11 Eph. i. 4, 9, 11; Rom. viii. 30; 2 Tim.
5 Acts xv. 18.                       i. 9; 1 Thess. v. 9.
6 Rom. ix. 11, 13, 16, 18.        12 Rtom. xix. 13, 16; Eph. i. 6, 12.




APPENDIX.                          139
6. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath by the
eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained 1 all the
means thereunto, wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in
Adam,2 are redeemed by Christ, are effectually 3 called unto faith
in Christ, by his Spirit, working in due season, are justified, adopted,
sanctified, and kept by his power through faith 4 unto salvation;
neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect 5 only.
7. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be
handled with special prudence and care; that men attending the
will of God revealed in his word, and yielding obedience thereunto,
may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, be assured of
their 6 eternal election; so shall this doctrine afford matter 7 of
praise, reverence, and admiration of God, and 8of humility, diligence, and abundant 9 consolation, to all that sincerely obey the
gospel.
CHAPTER IV.
OF CREATION.
1. In the beginning it pleased God the Father,10 Son and Holy
Spirit, for the manifestation of the glory of 11 his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things
therein, 12 whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and
all very good.
2. After God had made all other creatures, he created 3man,
male and female, with 14 reasonable and immortal souls, rendering
them fit unto that life to God, for which they were created, being 5
made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true
holiness, having the law of God 16 written in their hearts, and power
1 1 Peter i. 2; 2 Thess. ii. 13.   9 Luke x. 20.
2 1 Thess. v. 9, 10.              10 John i. 2, 3; Heb. i. 2; Job xxvi. 13.
3 Romans viii. 30; 2 Thess. ii. 13.  11 Rom. i. 20.
4 1 Peter i. 5.                   12 Col. i. 16; Gen. ii. 1, 2.
5 John x. 26; xvii. 9; vi. 64.    13 Geil. i. 27.
6 1 Thess. i. 4, 5; 2 Peter i. 10.  14 Gen. ii. 7.
7 Eph. i. 6; Rom. xi. 33.         15 Eccl. vii. 29; Gen. i. 26.
8 Rom. xi. 5, 6.                  16 Rom. ii. 14,15.




140                       CONFESSIONS.
to fulfil it; and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left
to the liberty of their own will, which was 1 subject to change.
3. Besides the law written in their hearts, they received 2 a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; which,
whilst they kept, they were happy in their communion with God,
and had dominion 3 over the creatures.
CHAPTER V.
OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
1. GOD, the good Creator of all things, in his infinite power and
wisdom, doth 4uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures
and things, from the greatest even to the 5 least, by his most wise
and holy providence, to the end for the which they were created, according unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his 6 own will; to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness and mercy.
2. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God,
the first cause, all things come to pass 7 immutably and infallibly; so
that there is not any thing befalls any 8 by chance, or without his
providence; yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out
according to the nature of second causes, either 9 necessarily, freely,
or contingently.
3. God, in his ordinary providence, 10 maketh use of means; yet is
free 11 to work without, 12 above, and 13 against them at his pleasure.
4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that his
determinate counsel 14 extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all
other sinful actions both of angels and men; and that not by a
1 Gen. iii. 6.                     8 Prov. xvi. 33.
2 Gen. vi. 17, iii. 8-10.          9 Gen. viii. 22.
3 Gen. i. 26, 28.                 10 Acts xxvii. 31, 44; Isa. lv. 10, 11.
4 Heb. i. 3; Job xxxviii. 11; Isa. xlvi. 11 Hosea i. 7.
10, 11; Psalm cxxxv. 6.        12 Rom iv. 19-21.
5 Matt. x. 29-31.                 13 Daniel iii. 27.
6 Eph. i. 11.                     14 Rom. xi. 32-34; 2 Sam. xxiv. 1; 1
7 Acts ii. 23.                       Chron. xxi. 1.




APPENDIX.                         141
bare permission, which also he most wisely and powerfully 1 boundeth, and otherwise ordereth, and governeth, in a manifold dispensation to his most holy 2 ends: yet so as the sinfulness of their acts
proceedeth only from the creatures, and not from God; who being
most holy and righteous, neither is, nor can be, the author or3
approver of sin.
5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God, doth oftentimes
leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the
corruptions of their own heart, to chastise them for their former
sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption
and deceitfulness of their hearts, 4 that they may be humbled; and
to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their
support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all
future occasions of sin, and for other just and holy ends.
So that whatsoever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment,
for his glory,5 and their good.
6. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous judge, for former sin doth 6blind and harden; from them he
not only withholdeth his 7 grace, whereby they might have been
enlightened in their understanding, and wrought upon in their
hearts, but sometimes also withdraweth 8 the gifts which they had,
and exposeth them to such 9 objects as their corruptions make occasion of sin; and withall,l~ gives them over to their own lusts, the
temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, whereby it comes
to pass that they 11 harden themselves, even under those means which
God useth for the softening of others.
7. As the providence of God doth in general reach to all creatures, so after a more special manner it taketh care of his 12 church,
and disposeth of all things to the good thereof.
1 2 Kings xix. 28; Psalm lxxvi. 10.  8 Matt. xiii. 12.
2 Gen. i. 20; Isa. x. 6, 7, 12.    9 Deut. ii. 30; 2 Kings viii. 12, 13.
3 Psalm 1. 21; 1 John ii. 16.     10 Psalm  lxxxi. 11,'12; 2 Thess. ii.
4 2 Chron. xxxii, 25, 26, 31; Samuel  10-12.
xxiv. 1; 2 Cor. xii. 7-9.      11 Exodus viii. 15, 32; Isa. vi. 9, 10; 1
5 Rom. viii. 28.                     Peter ii. 7, 8.
6 Rom. i. 24, 26, 28, xi. 7, 8.   12 Tim. iv. 10; Amos ix. 8, 9; Isaiah
7 Deut. xxix. 4.                     lxiii. 3-5.




142                       CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE FALL OF MAN, OF SIN, AND OF THE PUNISHMENT
THEREOF.
1. Although God created man upright, and perfect, and gave him
a righteous law, which had been unto life had he kept it,1 and threatened death upon the breach thereof; yet he did not long abide in
this honor; 2 Satan using the subtlety of the serpent to seduce Eve,
then by her seducing Adam, who, without any compulsion, did wilfully transgress the law of their creation, and the command given
unto them, in eating the forbidden fruit, which God was pleased,
according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed
to order it to his own glory.
2. Our first parents by this sin, fell from their 3 original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them, whereby death
came upon all; I all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled,6 in
all the faculties and parts of soul and body.
3. They being the root,6 and, by God's appointment, standing in
the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed,
and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity, descending
from them by ordinary generation, being now7 conceived in sin,
and by nature childrens of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects9
of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal,
unless the Lord Jesus 10 set them free.
4. From this original corruption, whereby we are11 utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined
to all evil, do 12 proceed all actual transgressions.
5. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth l remain in
those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ par1 Gen. ii. 16,17.                  7 Psalm li. 5; Job xiv. 4.
2 Gen. iii. 12, x. 13; 2 Cor. i. 1-3.  8 Eph. ii. 3.
3 Rom. iii. 23.                    9 Rom. vi. 20, v. 12.
4 Rom. v. 12, etc.                10 Heb. ii. 14; 1 Thes. i. 10.
5 Titus i. 15; Gen. vi. 5; Jere. xvii. 9; 11 Rom. viii. 7; Col. i. 21.
Rom. iii. 10-19.               12 James i. 14, 15; Matt. xv. 19.
6 lPom. v. 12-19; 1 Corinthians xv. 21, 13 Rom. vii. 18, 23; Eccl. vii. 20; 1 John
22, 45, 49.                       i. 8.




APPENDIX.                         143
doned, and mortified, yet both itself, and the first motions thereof,
are truly and properly 1 sin.
CHAPTER VII.
OF GOD'S COVENANT.
1. The distance between God and the creature is so great, that
although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their
Creator, yet they could never have attained the reward of life, but
by some 2 voluntary condescension on God's part, which he hath
been pleased to express, by way of covenant.
2. Moreover, man having brought himself 3 under the curse of
the law by his fall, it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace,
wherein he freely offereth unto sinners 4 life and salvation by Jesus
Christ, requiring of them faith in him, that they may be saved;
and 5 promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto eternal
life, his Holy Spirit, to make them willing, and able to believe.
3. This covenant is revealed in the gospel, first of all to Adam, in
the promise of salvation by the 6 seed of the woman, and afterwards
by farther steps, until the full 7 discovery thereof was completed in
the New Testament; and it is founded in that 8 eternal covenant
transaction, that was between the Father and the Son about the
redemption of the elect; and it is alone by the grace of this covenant, that all of the posterity of fallen Adam that ever were 9 saved
did obtain life and blessed immortality; man being now utterly
uncapable of acceptance with God upon those terms on which Adam
stood in his state of innocence.
1 Romans vii. 24, 25; Galatians v. 17.   5 Ezek. xxxiv. 26, 27; John vi. 44, 45;
2 Luke xvii. 10; Job xxxv. 7, 8.x. 3.
6 Gen. iii. 15.
3 Gen. ii. 17; Gal. iii. 10; Rom. iii. 7 Heb. i. 1.
20, 21.                       8 2 Tim. i. 9; Titus i. 2.
4 Rom. viii. 3; Mark xvi. 15, 16; John  9 Heb. ii. 6, 13; Romans iv. 1, 2, etc.;
iii. 16.                          Acts iv. 12; John viii. 56.




144                      CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER VIII.
OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR.
1. It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain
the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, according to the covenant
made between them  both,1 to be the Mediator between God and
man; the 2 prophet, 3 priest, and 4 king, head and Saviour of his
church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world; unto whom
he did from all eternity 5 give a people to be his seed, and to be
by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
2. The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being
very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one
substance and equal with him; who made the world, who upholdeth
and governeth all things he hath made; did when the fulness of time
was come, take upon him 6 man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, 7 yet without sin; being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the Holy
Spirit coming down upon her, and the power of the Most High
overshadowing her,8 and so was made of a woman, of the tribe of
Judah, of the seed of Abraham and David, according to the Scriptures; so that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition,
or confusion; which person is very God and very man, yet one 9
Christ, the only Mediator between God and man.
3. The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the divine,
in the person of the Son, was sanctified and anointed 10 with the
Holy Spirit, above measure; having in him 11 all the treasures of
Wisdom and knowledge; in whom it pleased the Father 12 that all
fulness should dwell; to the end that, being 13 holy, harmless, unde1 Isa. xlii. 1; 1 Peter xix. 20.  7 Rom. viii. 3; Heb. ii. 14, 16, 17, and
2 Acts iii. 22.                    iv. 15.
3 Heb. v. 5, 6.                  8 Luke i. 27, 31, 35.
4 Psalm ii. 6; Luke i. 33; Eph. i. 23;  9 Rom. ix. 5; 1 Tim. ii. 5. -
Heb. i. 2; Acts. xvii. 31.   10 Psalm xlv. 7; Acts x. 38; John iii. 34.
5 Isaiah liii. 10; John xvii. 6; Romans 11 Col. ii. 3.
viii. 30.                    12 Col. i. 19.
6 John i. 1, 14; Gal. iv. 4.    13 Heb. vii. 26.




APPENDIX.                          145
filed, and full 1 of grace and truth, he might be thoroughly furnished
to execute the office of a mediator and 2 surety; which office he
took riot upon himself, but was thereunto 3 called by his Father,
who also put 4 all power and judgment in his hand, and gave him
commandment to execute the same.
4. This office the Lord Jesus did most 5 willingly undertake,
which that he might discharge he was made under the law,6 and did
perfectly fulfil it, and underwent the 7 punishment due to us, which
we should have borne and suffered, being made s sin and a curse for
us; enduring most grievous sorrows 9 in his soul, and most painful
sufferings in his body; was crucified, and died, and remained in the
state of the dead, yet saw no 10 corruption; on the 11 third day he
arose from  the dead, with the same 12 body in which he suffered;
with which he also 13 ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the
right hand of his Father,l4 making intercession; and shall 1 return to
judge men and angels, at the end of the world.
5. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself, which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God,16
hath fully satisfied the justice of God, procured reconciliation, and
purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven,'l
for all those whom the Father hath given unto him.
6. Although the price of redemption was not actually paid by
Christ till after his incarnation,18 yet the virtue, efficacy and benefit
thereof, was communicated to the elect in all ages successively, from
the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and
sacrifices, wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the seed of
the woman, which should bruise the serpent's head,'9 and the Lamb
1 John i. 14.                      10 Acts xiii. 37.
2 lHeb. vii. 22.                  11 1 Cor. xv. 8, 4.
3 Heb. v. 5.                      12 John xx. 25, 27.
4 John v. 22, 27; Matt. xxviii. 18; Acts  13 Mark xvi. 19; Acts i. 9-11.
ii. 36.                        14 Rom. viii. 34; Heb. ix. 24.
5 Psalm xl. 7, 8; Heb. x. 5-11; John  15 Acts x. 42; Rom. xiv. 9, 10; Acts
x. 18.                            i. 10.
6 Gal. iv. 4; Matt. iii. 15.       16 leb. ix. 14, x. 14; Romans iii. 25,26.
7 Gal. iii. 13; Isa. liii. 6; 1 Peter iii. 18. 17 John xvii. 2; Heb. ix. 15.
8 2 Cor. v. 21.                   18 1 Cor. iv. 10; Heb. iv. 2; 1 Peter i.
9 Matt. xxvi. 37, 38; Luke xxii. 44;  10, 11.
Matt. xxvii. 46.               19 Rev. xiii. 8.
13




146                       CONFESSIONS.
slain from the foundation of the world; 1 being the same yesterday,
and to-day, and for ever.
7. Christ, in the work of mediation acteth according to both natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to itself; yet by
reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person 2 denominated by the other nature.
8. To all those for whom Christ hath obtained eternal redemption, he doth certainly and effectually3 apply, and communicate the
same, making intercession for them, uniting them to himself by his
Spirit,4 revealing unto them, in and by the word, the mystery of
salvation, persuading them to believe and obey,5 governing their
hearts by his word and spirit, and 6 overcoming all their enemies by
his almighty power and wisdom, in such manner and ways as are
most consonant to his wonderful and7 unsearchable dispensation;
and all of free and absolute grace, without any condition foreseen
in them, to procure it.
9. This office of mediator between God and man is proper 8 only
to Christ, who is the prophet, priest, and king of the Church of
God, and may not be, either in whole, or any part thereof, transferred from him to any other.
10. This number and order of offices is necessary; for in respect
of our9 ignorance we stand in need of his prophetical office, and
in respect of our alienation from God 10 and imperfection of the best
of our services, we need his priestly office to reconcile us, and present us acceptable unto God, and in respect of our averseness and
utter inability to return to God, and for our rescue, and security
from our spiritual adversaries, we need his kingly office,'l to convince,
subdue, draw, uphold, deliver, and preserve us to his heavenly
kingdom.
1 Heb. xiii. 8.                   6 Psalm cx. 1; 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26.
2 John iii. 13; Acts xx. 28.      7 John iii. 8; Eph. i. 8.
3 John vi. 37, x. 15, 16, and xvii. 9;  8 1 Tim. ii. 5.
Rom. v. 10.                    9 John i. 18.
4 John xvii. 6; Ephesians i. 9; 1 John  10 Col. i. 21; Gal. v. 17.
v. 20.                        11 John xvi. 8; Psalm cx. 3; Luke i.
5 Rom. viii. 9, 14.                  74, 75.




APPENDIX.                          147
CHAPTER IX.
OF FREE WILL.
1. God hath indued the will of man with that natural liberty and
power of acting upon choice, that it is 1 neither forced, nor by any
necessity of nature determined to do good or evil.
2. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to
will and to do, that 2 which was good, and well pleasing to God, but
yet 3 was mutable, so that he might fall from it.
3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost 4 all ability
of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good,5 and dead in sin,
is not able, by his own strength, to 6 convert himself, or to prepare
himself thereunto.
4. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state
of grace?, he freeth him from his natural bondage unlder sin, and by
his grace alone enables him 8 freely to will, and do that which is
spiritually good; yet so as that, by reason of his 9 remaining corruptions, he doth not perfectly, nor only will that which is good, but
doth also will that which is evil.
5. The will of man is made 10 perfectly and immutably free to God
alone in the state of glory only.
CHAPTER X.
OF EFFECTUAL CALLING.
1. Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in
his appointed and accepted time,"1 effectually to call by his word
1 Matthew xvii. 12; James i. 14; Dent.  7 Col. i. 13; John viii. 36.
xxx. 19.                        S Phil. ii. 13.
2 Eccl. vii. 29.                   9 Rom. vii. 15, 18. 19, 21, 23.
8 Gen. iii. 6.                    10o Eph. iv. 13.
4 Rom. v. 6, and viii. 7.         11 Romans viii. 30, and xi. 7; Epheb Eplh. ii. 1, 5.                    sians i. 10, 11; 2 Thessalonians iii.
6 Titus iii. 3, 4, 5; John vi. 44.    13, 14.




148                        CONFESSIONS.
and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by
nature, to grace of salvation I by Jesus Christ, enlightening their
minds, spiritually and savingly, to2 understand the things of God,
taking away their 3 heart of stone and giving unto them a heart of
flesh, renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining
them 4 to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus
Christ; yet so, as they come 5 most freely, being made willing by'his
grace.
2. This effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone,6
not from anything at all foreseen in man, nor from any power or
agency in the creature, co-working with his special grace,7 the
creature being wholly passive therein, being dead in sins and tres-.
passes, until, being quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit, he
is thereby enabled to answer this call, and to embrace the grace
offered and conveyed in it, and that by no less 8 power than that
which raised up Christ from the dead.
3. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are 9 regenerated and saved by
Christ through the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and'0 how
he pleaseth; so also are all other elect persons, who are incapable
of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word.
4. Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the word,l' and may have some common operations of the
Spirit, yet, not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither
will, nor can truly 12 come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved;
much less can men that receive not the Christian religion 13 be saved,
be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light
of nature, and the law of that religion they do profess.
1 Eph. ii. 1-6.                    8 Eph. i. 19, 20.
2 Acts xxvi. 18; Eph. i. 17, 18.   9 John iii. 3, 5, 6.
3 Ezekiel xxxvi. 26.              10 John iii. 8.
4 Deut. xxx. 6; Ezek. xxxvi. 27; Eph. 11 Matt. xxii. 14, and xiii. 20, 21; Heb.
i. 19.                            vi. 4, 5.
5 Psalm cx. 3; Cant. i. 4.        12 John vi. 44, 45, 65; 1 John ii. 24,
6 2 Tim. i. 9; Eph. ii. 8.           25.
7 1 Cor. ii. 14; Eph. ii. 5; John v. 25.  13 Acts iv. 12; John iv. 22, and xvii. 3.




APPENDIX.                          149
CHAPTER XI.
OF JUSTIFICATION.
1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely 1 justifieth,
not by infusing righteousness into them, but by 2 pardoning their
sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as 3 righteous;
not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's
sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any
other4 evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness, but
by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole righteousness, they 5 receiving, and resting on him, and his righteousness
by faith; which faith they have not of themselves: it is the gift of
God.
2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the 6 alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in
the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving
graces, and is no dead faith,7 but worketh by love.
3. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the
debt of all those that are justified; and did by the sacrifice of himself, in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty
due unto them, make a proper, real and full satisfaction 8 to God's
justice in their behalf; yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father
for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead,
and both 9 freely, not for any thing in them, their justification is only
of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might
be 10 glorified in the justification of sinners.
4. God did from all eternity decree to "justify all the elect, and
1 Rom. iii. 24, viii. 80.          7 Gal. v. 6; James ii. 17, 22, 26.
2 Rom. iv. 5-8; Eph. i. 7          8 Heb. x. 14; 1 Peter i. 18, 19; Isa. liii.
31 Corinthians i. 30, 31; Romans v.   5, 6.
17 —19.                         9 Rom. viii. 32; 2 Cor. v. 21.
4 PIhil. iii. 8, 9; Eph. ii. 8-10.  10 Rom. iii. 26; Eph. i. 6, 7, ii. 7.
5.Tohn i. 12; Rom. v. 17.         11 Galatians iii. 8; 1 Peter i. 2; 1 Tim.
6 Rom. iii. 28.                       ii. 6.
13*




150                       CONFESSIONS.
Christ did in the fulness of time die for their sins, and 1 rise again
for their justification; nevertheless they are not justified personally
until the Holy Spirit doth in due time 2 actually apply Christ unto
them.
5. God doth continue to 3 forgive the sins of those that are justified; and although they can never fall from the state of 4 justification, yet they may by their sins fall under God's 5 fatherly displeasure; and in that condition, they have not usually the light of his
countenance restored unto them, until they 6 humble themselves,
confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.
6. The justification of believers under the Old Testament, was in
all these respects 7 one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament.
CHAPTER XII.
OF ADOPTION.
1. All those that are justified, God vouchsafed in and for the sake
of his only Son, Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace 8 of
adoption; by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy
the liberties and 9 privileges of children of God; have his 10 name
put upon them, 11 receive the spirit of adoption,l2 have access to
the throne of grace with boldness; are enabled to cry Abba,
Father; are 13 pitied, 14 protected, 15 provided for, and 16 chastened
1 Rom. iv. 25.                     9 John i. 12; Rom. viii. 17.
2 Col. i. 21, 22; Titus iii. 4-7.  10 2 Corinthians vi. 18; Revelation
3 Matt. vi. 12; 1 John i. 7, 9.       iii. 12.
4 John x. 28.                      11 Rom. viii. 15.
5 Psalm lxxxix. 31-33.            12 Gal. iv. 6; Eph. ii. 18.
6 Psalm xxxii. 5, 51; Matthew      13 Psalm ciii. 13.
xxvi. 75.                      14 Prov. xiv. 26.
7 Gal. iii. 9; Rom. iv. 22-24.    15 1 Peter v. 7.
8 Eph. i. 5; Gal iv. 4, 5.         16 lteb. xii. 6.




APPENDIX.                           151
by him, as a father; yet never 1 cast off, but sealed, 2 to the day
of redemption, and inherit the promises, 3 as heirs of everlasting
salvation.
CHAPTER XIII.
OF SANCTIFICATION.
1. They who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, through
the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection; are also 4 further sanctified, really and personally, through the same virtue, 5 by his word
and Spirit dwelling in them;6 the dominion of the whole body of
sin is destroyed,?7 and the several lusts thereof are more and more
weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened, and8
strengthened in all saving graces, to the 9 practice of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
2. This sanctification is 10 throughout, in the whole man, yet imperfect 11 in this life; there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every part, whence ariseth a 12 continual and irreconcilable
war; the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the
flesh.
3. In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time
may much'3 prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength,
from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ,14 the regenerate part doth overcome; and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the
fear of God, 15 pressing after an heavenly life, in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ, as head and king, in his word
hath prescribed to them.
1 Isaiah liv. 8, 9; Lamentations iii. 31.  8 Col. i. 11.
2 Eph. iv. 30.                      9 2 Cor. vii. 1; Heb. xii. 14.
3 -eb. i. 14, vi. 12.              10 1 Thess. v. 23.
4 Acts xx. 32; Rom. vi. 5, 6.      11 Irom. vii. 18, 23.
5 John xvii. 17; Eph. iii. 16-19; 1  12 Gal. v. 17; 1 l'et. ii. 11.
Thess. v. 21 —23.               13 Rorn. vii. 23.
6 Rom. vi. 14.                     14 Pon. vi. 14.
7 Gal. v. 24.                      Jo Epli. iv. 5, II; 2 Cor. iii. 18, vii. 1.




152                        CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER XIV.
OF SAVING FAITH.
1. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe
to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ 1 in
their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the 2 word;
by which also, and by the administration of Baptism, and the Lord's
Supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased3
and strengthened.
2. By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true 4 whatsoever is
revealed in the word, for the authority of God himself; and also
apprehendeth an excellency therein 5 above all other writings, and
all things in the world; as it bears forth the glory of God in his
attributes, the excellency of Christ in his nature and offices, and
the power and fulness of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations; and so is enabled to c cast his soul upon the truth thus believed; and also acteth differently upon that which each particular
passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the 7 commands,
trembling at the 8 threatenings, and embracing the 9 promises of God,
for this life and that which is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith, have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving,
and resting upon 10 him alone, for justification, sanctification, and
eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.
3. This faith, although it be different in degrees, and may be
weak,  or strong, yet it is in the least degree of it, different in the
kind or nature of it (as is all other saving grace) from  the faith "2
and common grace of temporary believers; and therefore, though it
may be many times assailed and weakened, yet it gets 13 the victory,
growing up in many to the attainment of a full 14 assurance through
Christ, who is both the author 15 and finisher of our faith.
1 2 Cor. iv. 13; Eph. ii. 8.       9 Heb. xi. 13.
2 Rom. x. 14, 17.                  10 John i. 12; Acts xvi. 31; Gal. ii. 20;
3 Lllke xvii. 5; 1 Peter ii. 2; Acts xx. 32.  Acts xv. 11.
4 Acts xxiv. 14.                   11 Heb.v.13,14; Mat. vi. 30; Io. i;-. 19,20.
5 Psalm xix. 7-10, cxix. 72.      12 2 Peter i. 1.
6 2 Tim. i. 12.                    13 Eph.'vi. 16; 1 John v. 4, 5.
7 John xv. 14.                     14 Ileb. vi. 11, 12; Col. ii. 2.
8 Isa. lxvi. 2.                    15 Heb. xii. 2.




APPENDIX.                        153
CHAPTER XV.
OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE AND SALVATION.
1. Such of the elect as are converted at riper years, having 1
sometime lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers
lusts and pleasures, God, in their effectual calling, giveth them repentance unto life.
2. Whereas there is none that doth good, and sinneth 2 not, and
the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of their
corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall
into greater sins and provocations, God hath in the covenant of
grace mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling, 3 be
renewed through repentance unto salvation.
3. This saving repentance is an 4 evangelical grace, whereby a
person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold
evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it, with
godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency; 5 praying for
pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor by supplies of the Spirit, to 6 walk before God unto all well pleasing in all
things.
4. As repentance is to be continued through the whole course of
our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions
thereof; so it is every man's duty to repent of his 7 particular known
sins, particularly.
5. Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in
the covenant of grace, for the preservation of believers unto salvation, that although there is no sin so small but it deserves 8 damnation, yet there is no sin so great that it shall bring damnation on
them that 9 repent; which makes the constant preaching of repentance necessary.
1 Titus iii. 2-5.                6 Psalm cxix. 6, 128.
2 Eccl. vii. 20.                 7 Luke xix. 8; 1'l'im. i. 13, 15.
3 Luke xxii. 31, 32.             8 Rom. vi. 23.
4 Zech. xii. 10; Acts xi. 18.     9 Isa. i. 16-18, lv. 7.
6 Ezek. xxxvi. 31; 2 Cor. vii. 11.




154                       CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER XVI.
OF GOOD WORKS.
1. Good works are only such as God hath 1 commanded in his
holy word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal,2 or upon any pretence of good
intentions.
2. These good works done in obedience to God's commandments,
are the fruits and evidences 3 of a true and lively faith; and by
them believers manifest their 4 assurance, edify their 5 brethren, adorn
the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and
glorify 6 God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus 7
thereunto, that having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the
end 8 eternal life.
3. Their ability to do good works, is not at all of themselves, but
wholly from the Spirit 9 of Christ; and that they may be enabled
thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is
necessary an 10 actual influence of the same Holy Spirit to wcrk in
them to will and to do of his good pleasure; yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any
duty, unless upon a special motion of the Spirit, but they ought to
be diligent in 1 stirring up the grace of God that is in them.
4. They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height
which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that 12 they fall short of
much which in duty they are bound to do.
5. We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal
life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is
between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that
1 Micah vi. 8; Heb. xiii. 21.      7 Eph. ii. 10.
2 Matt. xv. 9; Isa. xix. 13.       8 Rom. vi. 22.
3 James ii. 18, 22.                9 John xv. 4, 6.
4 Psalm cxvi. 12, 13; 1 John ii. 3, 5; 2  10 2 Cor. iii. 5; Phil. ii 13.
Peter i. 5-11.                 11 Phil. ii. 12; Heb. vi. 11, 12; IEaiah
5 Matt. v. 16.                       lxiv. 7.
6 1 Tim. vi. 1; 1 Peter ii. 15; Phil. i. 11. 12 Job ix. 2, 3; Gal. v. 17; Luke xvii. 10.




APPENDIX.                         155
is between us and God, whom by them we can neither profit nor satisfy, for the debt of our 1 former sins, but when we have done all we
can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and
because as they are good, they proceed from'his 2 Spirit, and as they
are wrought by us, they are defiled,3 and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's
judgment.
6. Yet, notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted
through Christ, their good works also are accepted in 4 him; not as
though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable
in God's sight, but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased
to accept and reward that which is 5 sincere, although accompanied
with many weaknesses and imperfections.
7. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of
them they may be things.which God commands, and of good use
both to themselves and6 others; yet because they proceed not from
a heart purified by7 faith, nor are done in a right manner according
to the 8 word, nor to a right end, the 9 glory of God, they are therefore sinful, and cannot please God, nor make a man meet to receive
grace froml0 God; and yet their neglect of them is more sinful,
and 1 displeasing to God.
CHAPTER XVII.
OF PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.
1. Those whom God hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually
called and sanctified by his Spirit, and given the precious faith of
his elect unto, can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of
I Rom. iii. 20; Eph. ii. 8, 9; Rom. iv. 6.  7 Gen. iv. 5; Heb. xi. iv. 6.
2 Gal. v. 22, 23.                 8 1 Cor. xiii. 1.
3 Isa. lxiv. 6; Psalm cxliii. 2.  9 Matt. vi. 2, 5.
4 Eph. i. 6; 1 Peter ii. 5.       10 Amos v. 21, 22; Rom. ix. 16; Titus
5 3Matt. xxv. 21, 23; Heb. vi. 10.   iii. 5.
6 2 Kings x. 30; 1 Kings xxi. 27, 29.   11 Job xxi. 14, 15; Matt. xxv. 41-43.




156                       CONFESSIONS.
grace,1 beut shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved, seeing the gifts and callings of God are without repentance (whence he still begets and nourisheth in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality); and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them,
yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and
rock which by faith they are fastened upon: notwithstanding,
through unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the sensible sight of
the light and love of God may for a time be clouded and obscured
from 2 them, yet it is still the same,3 and they shall be sure to be kept
by the power of God unto salvation, where they shall enjoy their
purchased possession, they being engraven upon the palm of his
hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from
all eternity.
2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own
free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of 4 election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon
the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ 5 and union
with him, the 6 oath of God, the abiding of his Spirit, and the 7 seed
of God within them, and the nature of the 8 covenant of grace;
from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
3. And though they may, through the temptation of Satan, and
of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and
the neglect-of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous 9
sins, and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur 10 God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and'
comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences
wounded,l2 hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments 13 upon themselves, yet they shall renew their 14 repentance,
and be preserved, through faith in Jesus Christ, to the end.
1 John x. 28, 29; Phil. i. 6; 2 Tim. ii.  7 1 John iii. 9.
19; 1 John ii. 19.                 8 Jer. xxxii. 40.
2 Psalm lxxxix. 31: 32; 1 Corinthians  9 Matt. xxvi. 70, 72, 74.
xi. 32.                           10 Isa. lxiv. 5, 9; Ephesians iv. 30.
Mal. iii. 6.                        11 Psalm Ii. 10, 12.
4 Rom. viii. 30, ix. 11, 16.         12 Psalm xxxii. 3, 4.
5 Rom. v. 9, 10; John xiv. 19.       13 2 Sam. xii. 14.
6 Heb. vi. 17, 18.                   14 Luke xxii. 32, v. 61, 62.




APPENDIX.                         157
CHAPTER XVIII.
OF THE ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION.
1. Although temporary believers and other unregenerate men,
may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumrptions of being in the favor of God, and [in a] state of salvation,'
which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the
Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all
good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured,' that
they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God which hope shall never make them 3 ashamed.
2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon 4 a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of
faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ,5 revealed in
the gospel; and also upon the inward 6 evidence of those graces of
the Spirit unto which promises are made, and on the testimony of
the 7 Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the
children of God; and, as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both s
humble and holy.
3. This infallible assurance doth not so belona to the essence of
faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many
difficulties, before he be 9 partaker of it; yet being enabled by the
Spirit, to know the things which are freely given him of God, he
may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of means 10
attain thereunto; and therefore it is the duty of every one to give
all diligence to make their calling and election sure, that thereby his
heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love
and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the
duties of obedience, the proper 1 fruits of this assurance; so far is
it 12 from inclining men to looseness.
1 Job viii. 13, 14; Matt. vii. 22, 23.  8 1 John iii. 1-3.
2 1 John ii. 3; iii. 14, 18, 19, 21, 24, v. 13.  9 Isa. 1. 10; Psalms lxxxviii., lxxvii.
3 Rom. v. 2, 5.                      1-12.
4 Heb. vi. 11, 19.                10 1 John iv. 13; Heb. vi. 11, 12.
s5 Heb. vi. 17, 18.               11 Romans v. 1, 2, 5, xiv. 17; Psalm
6 2 Peter i. 4, 5, 10, 11.            cxix. 32.
7 Rom. viii. 15, 16.              12 Rom. vi. 1, 2; Titus ii. 11, 12,14.
14




15 8                      CONFESSIONS.
4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation dlivers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as 1 by negligence in
preserving of it, by 2 falling into some special sin, which woundeth
the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit, by some sudden or 3 vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the 4 light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness, and
to have no light; yet they are never destitute of the 5 seed of God,
and life 6 of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation
of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be 7 revived, and by
the which in the mean time they are 8 preserved from utter despair.
CHAPTER XIX.
OF THE LAW OF GOD.
1. God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience,9 written in
his heart, and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree
of knowledge of good and evil; by which he bound him, and all his
posterity, to personal, entire, exact and perpetual 10 obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and 1 threatened death upon the breach
of it, and indued him with power and ability to keep it.
2. The same law that was first written in the heart of man,l2 continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall, and was
delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in 13 ten commandments, and
written in two tables, the four first containing our duty towards
God, and the other six our duty to man.
3. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to
give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship,14 prefiguring Christ, his graces,
1 Cant. v. 2, 3, 6.                   8 Lam. iii. 26-31.
2 Psalm li. 8, 12, 14.                9 Gen. i. 17; Eccl. vii. 29.
3 Psalm cxvi. 11; lxxvii. 7, 8, xxxi. 22.    10 Rom. x. 5.
4 Psalm xxx. 7.                      11 Gal. iii 10, 12.
5 1 John iii. 9.                     12 Rom. ii. 14, 15.
6 Luke xxii. 32.                     13 Deut. x. 4.
7 Psalm xlii. 5, 11.                 14 Heb. x. 1; Col. ii. 17.




APPENDIX.                          159
actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions 1 of moral duties, all which ceremonial laws being appointed
only to the time of reformation, are by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, and only lawgiver, who was furnished with power from  the
Father for that end,2 abrogated and taken away.
4. To them, also, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired
together with the state of that people, not obliging any now by virtue of that institution; their general 3 equity only being of moral
use.
5. The moral law doth forever bind all,4 as well justified persons
as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the
matter contained in it, but also in respect of the 5 authority of God
the Creator who gave it; neither doth Christ in the gospel any way
dissolve,6 but much strengthen this obligation.
6. Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant
of works,7 to be thereby justified or condemned, yet it is of great
use to them as well as to others, in that, as a rule of life, informing
them of the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to
walk accordingly; 8 discovering also the sinful pollutions of their natures, hearts and lives, so as examining themselves thereby, they may
come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred against, sin,
together with a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ, and
the perfection of his obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate, to restrain their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the
threatenings of it serve to show what even their sins deserve, and
what afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed
from  the curse and unallayed rigor thereof.  The promises of it
likewise show them God's approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though not as
due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's doing
good, and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth to the
one, and deterreth from  the other, is no evidence of his being 9
under the law, and not under grace.
11 Cor. v. 7.                     6 Matt. v. 17-19; Rom. iii. 31.
2 Col. ii. 14, 16, 17; Eph. ii. 14, 16.  7 Rom. vi. 14; Gal. ii. 16; Rom. viii. 1,
3 1 Cor ix. 8-10.                     x. 4.
4 RIom. xiii. 8-10; James ii. 8, 10-12.  s Rom. iii. 20, vii. 7, etc.
5 James ii. 10, 11.               9 Rom. vi. 12-14; 1 Peter iii. 8-13.




160                     CONFESSIONS.
7. Neither are the forementioned uses of the law'contrary to
the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it, the Spirit of
Christ subduing 2 and enabling the will of man to do that freely and
cheerfully, which the will of God revealed in the law requireth to
be done.
CHAPTER XX.
OF THlE GOSPEL, AND OF THE EXTENT OF THE GRACE THEREOF.
1. The covenant of works being broken by sin, and made unprofitable unto life, God was pleased to give forth the promise of Christ,3
the seed of the woman, as the means of calling the elect, and begetting in them faith and repentance; in this promise, the 4 gospel, as
to the substance of it, was revealed, and [is] therein effectual, for
the conversion and salvation of sinners.
2. This promise of Christ, and salvation by him, is revealed only
by' the word of God; neither do the works of creation, or providence, with the light of nature,6 make discovery of Christ, or of
grace by him, so much as in a general or obscure way; much less
that men destitute of the revelation of him by the promise or gospel,7 should be enabled thereby to attain saving faith or repentance.
3. The revelation of the gospel unto sinners, made in divers
times, and by sundry parts, with the addition of promises and precepts, for the obedience required therein, as to the nations and persons to whom it is granted, is merely of the 8 sovereign will and
good pleasure of God, not being annexed by virtue of any promise,
to the due improvement of men's natural abilities, by virtue of common light received without it, which none ever did 9 make, or can
so do: and therefore in all ages the preaching of the gospel hath
been granted unto persons and nations, as to the extent or straightening of it, in great variety, according to the counsel of the will of
God.
1 Gal. iii. 21.            6 Rom. x. 14, 15, 17.
2 Ezek. xxxvi. 27.         7 Proverbs xxix. 18; Isaiah xxv.
3 Gen. iii 15.                7, Ix. 2, 3.
4 Rev. xiii. 8.            8 Psalm cxlvii. 20; Acts xvi. 7.
5 Rom. i. 17.              9 Rom. i. 18, etc.




APPENDIX.                          161
4. Although the gospel be the only outward means of revealing
Christ and saving grace, and is as such abundantly sufficient thereunto, yet that men who are born in trespasses may be born again,
quickened or regenerated, there is moreover necessary, an effectual
insuperable 1 work of the Holy Spirit upon the whole soul, for the
producing in them  a new  spiritual life, without which no other
means will effect 2 their conversion unto God.
CHAPTER XXI.
OF CHRISTIAN LIBERTY, AND LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.
1. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under
the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and 3 curse of the law, and in their
being delivered from this present evil 4 world, bondage to 5 Satan,
and dominion 6 of sin, from the 7 evil of afflictions, the fear and
sting 8 of death, the victory of the grave, and 9 everlasting damnation; as also in their 10 free access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of a slavish fear,l' but a childlike love and willing mind.
All which were common also to believers under the law 12 for the
substance of them; but under the New Testament the liberty of
Christians is further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of the
ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected, and in
greater boldness of access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the 13 free Spirit of God, than believers under the law
did ordinarily partake of.
2. God alone is 14 Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free
1 Psalm cx. 3; 1 Cor. ii. 14; Eph. i.  8 1 Cor. xv. 54-57.
19, 20.                        9 2 Thess. i. 10.
2 John vi 44; 2 Cor. iv. 4, 6.    10 Rom. viii. 15.
3 Gal. iii. 13.                   11 Luke i. 74, 75; 1 John iv. 18.
4 Gal. i. 4.                      12 Gal. iii. 9,14.
5 Acts xxvi. 18.                  13 John vii. 38, 39; Hebrews x. 196 Rom. viii. 3.                      21.
7 Romn. viii. 28.                 14 Jamnes iv. 12; Rom. xiv. 4.
14*




162                      CONFESSIONS.
from the doctrines and commandments of men l which are in anything contrary to his word, or not contained in it. So that to believe such doctrines, or obey such commands out of conscience,2
is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an 3 implicit faith, and absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty
of conscience, and reason also.
3. They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, do practise any
sin, or cherish any sinful lust, as they do thereby pervert the main
design of the grace of the gospel 4 to their own destruction, so they
wholly destroy 5 the end of Christian liberty; which is that, being
delivered out of the hands of all our enemies, we might serve the
Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the
days of our life.
CHAPTER XXII.
OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP AND THE SABBATH-DAY.
1. The light of nature shows that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good, and doth good unto
all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted
in, and served, with all the heart, and all the soul,6 and with all the
might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is 7
instituted bybhimself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that
he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices
of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or 8 any other way, not prescribed in the holy Scriptures.
2. Religious worship is to be given to God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, and to him 9 alone; not to angels, saints, or any other 10
creatures; and since the fall, not without a 1 mediator, nor in the
mediation of any other but 12 Christ alone.
1 Acts iv. 19, v. 29; 1 Cor. vii. 23; Matt.  7 Deut. xii. 32.
xv. 9.                         8 Ex. xx. iv. 5, 6.
2 Col. ii. 20, 22, 23.             9 AMatt. iv. 9, 10; John vi. 23; Matt.
3 1 Cor. iii 5; 2 Cor. i. 24.         xxviii. 19.
4 Rom. vi 1.2.                    10 Rom. i. 25; Col. ii 18; Rev. xix. 10.
5 Gal. v. 13; 2 Peter ii. 18-21.  11 Jolin xiv. 6.
6 Jer. x. 7; iMark xii. 33.       12 1 Tim. ii. 5.




APPENDIX.                          1 o o
3. Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of natural
worship, is by God required of I all men.  But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the 2 name of the Son, by the help 3 of
the Spirit, according to 4his will; with understanding, reverence,
humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with
others, in a 5 known tongue.
4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men
living,6 or that shall live hereafter; but not 7 for the dead, nor for
those of whom it may be known that they have sinned 8 the sin unto
death.
5. The 9 reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and 10 hearing the
word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs; singing with grace in our hearts to 11 the.
Lord; as also the administration 12 of baptism, and 13 the Lord's Supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in
obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly
fear; moreover, solemn humiliation,'4 with fastings, and thanksgivings,
upon 15 special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious
manner.
6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is
now, under the gospel, tied unto, or made more acceptable by anly
place in which it is 16 performed, or towards which it is directed; but
God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in 17
private families 18 daily, and 19 in secret, each one by himself, so more
solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly, nor wilfully to be 20 neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calleth thereunto.
7. As it is of the law of nature, that in general a proportion of
time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so
1 Psalm xcv. 1-71, xv. 2.         11 Col. iii. 16; Eph. v. 19.
2 John xiv. 13, 14.               12 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.
3 Rom. viii. 26.                  13 1 Cor. xi. 26.
4 1 John v. 14.                   14 Esther iv. 16; Joel ii. 12.
5 1 Cor. xiv. 16, 17.             15 Ex. xv. 1, etc.; Psalm cvii.
6 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; Sam. vii. 29.  16 John iv. 21; Mal. i. 11; 1 Tim. ii. 8.
7 2 Sam. xii. 21-23.              17 Acts x. 2.
8 1 John v. 16.                   18 Matt. vi. 11; Psalm lv. 17.
9 1 Tim iv. 13.                   19 Matt. vi. 6.
10 2 Tim. iv. 2; Luke viii. 18.    20 Heb- x. 25; Acts ii. 42.




164                      CONFESSIONS.
by his word, in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in
seven for a 1 Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world, to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day
of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into
the first day of the week,2 which is called the Lord's day; and is to
be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath; the
observation of the last day of the week being abolished.
8. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after
a due preparation of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs
aforehand, do not only observe an holy 3 rest all the day, from their
own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employment and
recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the public and
private exercises of his worship, and in the duties 4 of necessity
and mercy.
CHAPTER XXIII.
OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS.
1. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship 5 wherein the person swearing in truth, righteousness, and judgment, solemnly calleth
God to witness what he sweareth,6 and to judge him according to
the truth or falseness thereof.
2. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear,
and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name,
or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful and to be 7 abhorred;
yet as in matter of weight and moment, for confirmation of truth,8
and ending all strife, an oath is warranted by the word of God; so
a lawful oath being imposed,9 by lawful authority, in such matters
ought to be taken.
1 Exodus xx. 8.                  5 Exodus xx. 7; Deut. x. 20; Jer. iv. 2.
2 1 Corinthians xvi. 1, 2; Acts xx. 7; 6 2 Chron. vi 22, 23.
Rev. i. 10.                  7 Matt. v. 3 —37; James v. 12.
3 Isa. Iviii. 13; Neh. xiii. 15-23.  8 Heb. vi. 16; Cor. i. 23.
4 lMatt. xii. 1-13.              9 Neh. xiii. 25.




APPENDIX.                       1 5
3. Whosoever taketh an oath, warranted by the word of God,
ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and
therein to avouch nothing but what he knoweth to be truth; for
that by rash, false, and vain oaths, the I Lord is provoked, and for
them this land mourns.
4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and 2 common sense of the
words, without equivocation or mental reservation.
5. A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God
alone,3 is to be made and performed with all religious care and faithfulness; but popish monastical vows,4 of perpetual single life, professed 5 poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees
of higher perfection, that they are superstitious,6 and sinful snares,
in which no Christian may entangle himself.
CHAPTER XXIV.
OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE.
1. God, the supreme Lord, and king of all the world, hath ordained civil 7 magistrates to be under him over the people, for his
own glory, and the public good; and to this end hath armed them with
the power of the sword, for defence and encouragement of them
that do good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.
2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a
magistrate, when called thereunto; in the management whereof, as
they ought especially to maintain 8justice, and peace, according to
the wholesome laws of each kingdom and commonwealth; so for
that end they may lawfully now under the New Testament 9 wage
war upon just and necessary occasions.
3. Civil magistrates being set up by God, for the ends aforesaid,
subjection in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be
yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath 10 but for conscience'
1 Lev. xix. 12; Jer. xxiii, 10.  6 Matt. xix. 11.
2 Psalm xxiv. 4.                7 Rom. xiii. 1-4.
3 Psalm lxxvi. 11; Gen. xxviii. 20-22.  8 2 Sam. xxiii. 3; Psalm lxxxii. 3, 4.
4 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9.             9 Luke iii. 14.
6 Eph. iv. 28.                 10 iRom. xiii. 5, 6, 7; 1 Peter ii. 17.




166                       CONFESSIONS.
sake; and we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings,
and all that are in authority,' that under them we may live a quiet
and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.
CHAPTER XXV.
OF MARRIAGE.
1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; 2 neither
is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor fobr any
woman to have more than one husband at the same time.
2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help 3 of husband and
wife,4 for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and for 5
preventing of uncleanness.
3. It is lawful for 6 all sorts of people to marry, who are able with
judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians 7 to
marry [only] in the Lord; and therefore such as profess the true
religion should not marry with infidels,8 or idolaters; neither should
such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are
wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresy.
4. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity 9
or affinity forbidden in the word; nor can such incestuous marriage
ever be made lawful, by any law of man or consent of parties ]0 so
as those persons may live together as man and wife.
CHAPTER XXVI.
OF THE CHURCH.
1. The catholic or universal church, which (with respect to the
internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisi1 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.                   6 Heb. xiii. 4; 1 Tim. iv. 3.
2 Gen. ii. 24; Mal. ii. 15; Matt. xix. 5, 6.  7 1 (or. vii. 39.
3 Gen. ii. 18.                       8 Neh. xiii. 25-27.
4 ("en. i. 28.                       9 Lev. xviii.
5 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9.                  10 Matt. vi. 18; 1 Cor. v. 1.




APPENDIX.                          167
ble, consists of the whole 1 number of the elect, that have been, are,
or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is
the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
2. All persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the
gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not
destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation,2 are and may be called visible
saints; 3 and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.
3. The purest churches under heaven are subject4 to mixture
and error; and some have so degenerated as to become 5 no churches
of Christ, but synagogues of Satan; nevertheless Christ always hath
had, and ever shall have, a kingdom  in this world, to the end
thereof, of such as believe in him, and make professions of his name.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church, in whom, by
the appointment of the Father,7 all power for the calling, institution,
order, or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and
sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be
head thereof, but is 8 [no other] than Antichrist, that man of sin, and
son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ,
and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming.
5. In the execution of'this power wherewith he is so entrusted,
the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself, through the
ministry of his word, by his Spirit,9 those that are given unto him
by his Father, that they may walk before him in all the 10 ways of
obedience, which he prescribeth to them in his word. Those thus
called, he commandeth to walk together in particular societies, or"'
churches, for their mutual edification, and the due performance of
that public worship which he requireth of them in the world.
1 Heb. xii. 23; Col. i. 18; Eph. i. 20, 22,  6 Matt. xvi. 18; Psalm lxxii. 17, cii. 28;
23, v. 23, 27, 32.                 Rev. xii. 17.
2 1 Cor. i. 2; Acts xi. 26.        7 Col. i. 18; Matt. xxviii. 18-20; Eph.
3 Rom. i. 7; Eph. i. 20-22.           iv. 21, 22.
4 1 Cor. xv.;.Rev. ii., iii.      8 2 Thess. ii. 2-9.
5 Revelation xviii. 2; 2 Thessalonians  9 John x. 16, xii. 32.
ii. 11, 12.                    10 Matt. xxviii. 20.
11 Matt. xviii. 15-20.




168                       CONFESSIONS.
6. The members of these churches are 1 saints by calling, visibly
manifesting and evidencing (in and by their profession and walking)
their obedience unto that call of Christ; and do willingly consent to
walk together according to the appointment of Christ, giving up
themselves to the Lord and one to another, by the will of God,2 in
professed subjection to the ordinances of the gospel.
7. To each of these churches thus gathered according to his mind,
declared in his word, he hath given all that 3 power and authority,
which is any way needful for their carrying on that order in worship
and discipline, which he hath instituted for them to observe, with
commands and rules, for the due and right exerting and executing
of that power.
8. A particular church gathered, and completely organized, according to the mind of Christ, consists of officers and members: and
the officers appointed by Christ to be chosen and set apart by the
church (so called and gathered) for the peculiar administration of
ordinances, and execution of power, or duty, which he entrusts them
with, or calls them to, to be continued to the end of the world, are 4
bishops or elders, and deacons.
9. The way appointed by Christ for the calling of any person, fitted and gifted by the Holy Spirit, unto the office of bishop, or elder,
in the church, is that he be chosen thereunto by the common 5 suffrage
of the church itself; and solemnly set apart by fasting and prayer,
with imposition of hands of the 6 eldership of the church, if there
be any before constituted therein: and of a deacon 7 that he be
chosen by the like suffrage, and set apart by prayer, and the like imposition of hands.
10. The work of pastors being constantly to attend the service of
Christ, in his churches, in the ministry of the word, and prayers
with watching for their souls, as they that must give an account to
him; it is incumbent on the churches to whom they minister, not
only to give them all due respect,9 but also to communicate to them
1 Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2.            5 Acts xiv. 23. See the original.
2 Acts ii. 41, 42, v. 13, 14; 2 Cor. ix. 13.  6 1 Tim. iv. 14.
3 Matt. xviii. 17, 18; 1 Cor. v. 4, 5, 13;  7 Acts vi. 3, 5, 6.
2 Cor. ii. 6-8.                   8 Acts vi. 4; Heb. xiii. 17.
4 Acts xx. 17, v. 28; Phil. i. 1.    9 1 Tim. v. 17, 18; Gal. vi. 6, 7.




170                       CONFESSIONS.
cerned, or any one church, in their peace, union, and edification; or
any member or members of any church are injured, in or by any
proceedings in censures not agreeable to truth and order; it is according to the mind of Christ, that many churches holding communion together, do by their messengers meet to consider 1 and give their
advice in or about that matter in difference, to be reported to all the
churches concerned; howbeit these messengers assembled, are not
entrusted with any church power, properly so called; or with any
jurisdiction over the churches themselves, to exercise any censures
either over any churches, or persons; or 2 to impose their determination on the churches or officers.
CHAPTER XXVII.
OF THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
1. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ, their head, by his
Spirit and faith, although they are not made thereby one person
with him, have 3 fellowship in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection,-and glory; and being united to one another in love, they 4 have
communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the
performance of such duties, public and private, in an orderly way,5
as to conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward
man.
2. Saints by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship
and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other
spiritual services,6 as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in 7 outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities; which communion according to the rule of the
gospel, though especially to be exercised by them, in the relations
wherein they stand, whether in 8 families or 9 churches, yet as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended to all the household of faith,
1 Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22, 23, 25.   5 1 Thess. v. 11, 14; Rom. 1. 12; 1 John
2 2 Cor. i. 24; i. John iv. 1.       iii. 17, 18; Gal. vi. 10.
3 1 John i. 3; John i. 16; Phil. iii. 10; 6 Heb. x. 24, 25, iii. 12, 13.
Rom. vi. 5, 6.                 7 Acts xii. 29, 30.
4 Eph. iv. 15, 16; 1 Corinthians xii. 7, 8 Eph. vi. 4.
iii. 21-23.                    9 1 Cor. xii. 14-27.




APPENDIX.                        171
even all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus; nevertheless their communion one with another as saints,
doth not take away, or 1 infringe the title or propriety which each
man hath in his goods and possessions.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
OF BAPTISM AND THIE LORD'S SUPPER.
I. Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive
and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only
lawgiver, to be continued in his church 2 to the end of the world.
2. These holy appointments are to be administered by those only
who are qualified, and thereunto called'according3 to the commission of Christ.
CHAPTER XXIX.
OF BAPTISM.
1. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by
Jesus Christ, to'be unto the party baptized a sign of his fellowship
with him in his death 4 and resurrection; of his being engrafted into
him; of 5 remission of sins; and of his 6 giving up unto God, through
Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.
2. Those who do actually profess 7 repentance towards God, faith
in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects
of this ordinance.
3. The outward element to be used in this ordinance 8 is water,
wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
4. Immersion, or dipping of the person 9 in water, is necessary to
the due administration of this ordinance.
1 Acts v. 4; Eph. iv. 28.           5 Mark i. 4; Acts xxvi. 16.
2 yMatt. xxviii. 19, 20; 1 Cor. xi. 26.  6 Rom. vi. 2, 4.
3 Matt. xxviii. 19; 1 Cor. iv. 1.'  7 Mark xvi. 16; Acts viii. 36, 37.
4 Rom vi. 3 —5; Col. ii. 12; Galatians    8s Iatt. xxviii. 19, 20; Acts viii. 38.
iii. 27.                        9 Matt. iii. 16; John iii. 23.




172                      CONFESSIONS.
CHAPTER XXX.
OF THE LORD'S SUPPER.
1. The Supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same
night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his churches unto
the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance, and showing
forth the sacrifice of himself in his death,' confirmation of the faith
of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment
and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties
which they owe unto him; 2 and to be a bond and pledge of their
communion with him, and with each other.
2. In this ordinance Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor
any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin, of the quick or
dead, but only a memorial of that 3 one offering up of himself, by
himself, upon the cross, once for all; and a spiritual oblation of all4
possible praise unto God for the same. So that the popish sacrifice
of the mass as (they call it) is most abominable, injurious to Christ's
own only sacrifice, the alone propitiation for all the sins of the
elect.
3. The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to pray and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby
to set them apart from a common to an holy use, and to take and
break the bread; to take the cup,5 and (they communicating also
themselves) to give both to the communicants.
4. The denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements,
the lifting them up or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving them for any pretended religious use,6 are all contrary to the
nature of this ordinance, and to the institution of Christ.
5. The outward elements in this ordinance, duly set apart to the
uses ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that
truly, although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called
by the name of the things they represent, to wit, the 7 body and
1 1 Cor. xv. 23-26.               5 1 Cor. 11, 23-26, etc.
2 1 Cor. x. 16, 17. 21.           6 Matt. xxvi. 26-28, xv. 9; Exodus xx.
3 Heb. ix. 25, 26, 28.               4, 5.
4 1 Cor. xi. 24; Matt. xxvi. 26, 27.  7 1 Cor. xi. 27.




APPENDIX.                         173
blood of Christ, albeit in substance and nature, they still remain
truly and only 1 bread and wine, as they were before.
6. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of
bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood (commonly called transubstantiation), by consecration of a priest, or by
any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture 2 alone, but even to
common sense and reason, overthroweth the 3 nature of the ordinance, and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions,
yea, of gross idolatries.
7. Worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible elements
in this ordinance, do then also inwardly, by faith really and indeed,
yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed
upon Christ crucified 4 and all the benefits of his death; the body
and blood of Christ being then not corporally, or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the
elements themselves are to their outward senses.
8. All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy
communion 5 with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table,
and cannot, without great sin against him, while they remain such,
partake of these holy mysteries,6 or be admitted thereunto: yea,
whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves.
CHAPTER XXXI.
OF THE STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, AND OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
1. The bodies of men after death return to dust, 7 and see corruption; but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately 8 return to God who gave them: the
souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are
1 1 Cor. xi. 26, v 28                5 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.
2 Acts iii. 21; Luke xxiv. 6, v. 39.  6 1 Cor. xi. 29; Matt. vii. 6.
3 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.                 7 Gen. iii. 19; Acts xiii. 36.
4 1 Cor. x. 16, xi. 23-26.           8 Eccl. xii. 7.
1,*




174                        CONFESSIONS.
received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the
face of God, in light 1 and glory, waiting for the full redemption of
their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where
they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to 2 the judlment of the great day; besides these two places, for souls separated
from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none.
2. At the last day, such of the saints as are found alive shall not
sleep, but be 3 changed; and all the dead shall be raised up with the
self-same bodies, and 4 none other; although with different 5 qualities,
which shall be united again to their souls for ever.
3. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be
raised to dishonor; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honor,(
and be made conformable to his own glorious body.
CHAPTER XXXII.
OF THE LAST JUDGMENT.
1. God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world
in righteousness, by 7Jesus Christ; to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father; in which day not only the 8 apostate
angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon
the earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, 9 to give an account of their thoughts, words and deeds, and to receive according
to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.
2. The end of God's appointing this day, is for the manifestation
of the glory of his mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; 10 and
of his justice, in the eternal damnation of the reprobate, who are
wicked and disobedient; for then shall the righteous go into ever1 Luke xxiii. 43; 2 Cor. v. 1, 6, 8; Phil.  6 Acts xxiv. 15; John v. 28, 29; Phil.
i. 23; Heb. xii. 23.              iii. 21.
2 Jude vi. 7; 1 Peter iii. 19; Luke xvi.  7 Acts xvii. 31; John v. 22, 27.
23, 24.                         8 1 Cor. vi. 3; Jude 6.
31 Corinthians xv. 51, 52; 1 Thessa-  9 2 Cor. v. 10; Eccl. xii. 14; Matt. xii.
lonians iv. 17.                   36; Rom. xiv. 10, 12; Matt. xxv.
4 Job xix. 26, 27.                   32, etc.
5 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43.              10o Rom. ix. 22, 23.




APPENDIX.                       175
lasting life, and receive that fulness of joy and glory, with everlasting reward, in the presence 1 of the Lord; but the wicked who
know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast
into eternal torments, and 2 punished with everlasting destruction,
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
3. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there
shall be a day of judgment, both 3 to deter all men from sin, and for
the greater 4 consolation of the godly irr their adversity, so will he
have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal
security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what
hour the 5 Lord will come, and may ever be prepared to say, 6 Come
Lord Jesus, come quickly. AMEN.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
AN APPENDIX CONCERNING BAPTISM.
Whosoever reads and impartially considers what we have in
our foregoing confession declared, may readily perceive that we do
not only concentre with all other true Christians on the word of
God (revealed in the Scriptures of truth), as the foundation and
rule of our faith and worship; but that we have also industriously
endeavored to manifest, that in the fundamental articles of Christianity we mind the same things, and have therefore expressed our
belief in the same words that have on the like occasion been spoken
by other societies of Christians before us.
This we have done, that those who are desirous to know the principles of religion which we hold and practise may take an estimate
from ourselves (who jointly concur in this work), and may not be
misguided, either by undue reports, or by the ignorance or errors of
particular persons, who, going under the same name with ourselves,
may give an occasion of scandalizing the truth we profess.
1 Matthew xxv. 21, 34; 2 Timothy  3 2 Cor. v. 10, 11.
iv. 8.                      4 2 Thess. i. 3, 6, 7.
2 Matt. xxv. 46; Mark ix. 48; 2 Thess. i. 5 Ma; k xiii. 35-37; Luke xiii. 35, 36.
7-10.                       6 Rev. xxii. 20.




17 6                  CONFESSIONS.
And although we do differ from our brethren who are pwdobaptists, in the subject and administration of baptism, and such other
circumstances as have a necessary dependence on our observance
of that ordinance, and do frequent our own assemblies for our mutual edification, and discharge of those duties and services which we
owe unto God, and in his fear, to each other; yet we would not be
from hence misconstrued, as if the discharge of our own consciences
herein did any ways disoblige, or alienate our affections or conversations from any others that fear the Lord; but that we may and
do, as we have opportunity, participate of the labors of those whom
God hath endued with abilities above ourselves, and qualified anti
called to the ministry of the word, earnestly desiring to approve
ourselves to be such as follow after peace with holiness; and therefore we always keep that blessed Irenicum, or healing word of the
apostle before our eyes: If in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God
shall reveal even this unto you; nevertheless, whereto we have already
attained, let us walk by the sanme rule, let us mind the same thing.1
Let it not therefore be judged of us (because much hath been
written on this subject, and yet we continue this our practice different from others) that it is out of obstinacy, but rather, as the truth
is, that we do herein, according to the best of our understandings,
worship God out of a pure mind, yielding obedience to his precept,
in that method which we take to be most agreeable to the Scriptures
of truth and primitive practice.
It would not become us to give any such intimation as should
carry a semblance that what we do in the service of God is with a
doubting conscience, or with any such temper of mind, that we do
thus for the present with a reservation that we will do otherwise
hereafter upon more mature deliberation; nor have we any cause
so to do, being fully persuaded that what we do is agreeable to the
will of God. Yet we do heartily propose this, that if any of the
servants of our Lord Jesus shall, in the spirit of meekness, attempt
to convince us of any mistake, either in judgment or practice, we
shall diligently ponder his arguments, and account him our chiefest friend that shall be an instrument to convert us fromn aiiny error
1 Phil. iii. 15, 16.




APPENDIX.                       17 7
that is in our ways, for we cannot wittingly do any thing against the
truth, but all things for the truth.
And therefore we have endeavored seriously to consider what
hath been already offered for our satisfaction in this point; and are
loth to say more, lest we should be esteemed desirous of renewed
contests thereabout; yet, forasmuch as it may justly be expected
that we show some reason why we cannot acquiesce in what hath
been urged against us, we shall, with as much brevity as may consist with plainness, endeavor to satisfy the expectation of those that
shall peruse what we now publish in this matter also.
1. As to those Christians who consent with us, that repentance
from dead works and faith towards God and our Lord Jesus Christ,
is required in persons to be baptized; and do therefore supply the
defect of the infant (being incapable of making confession of either)
by others, who do undertake these things for it. Although we do find
by church history that this hath been a very ancient practice, yet
considering that the same Scripture 1 which does caution us against
censuring our brother, with whom we shall all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ, does also instruct us, that every one of us
shall give an account of himself to God, and whatsoever is not of
faith is sin; therefore we cannot for our own parts be persuaded in
our own minds to build such a practice as this upon an unwritten
tradition; but do rather choose, in all points of faith and worship,
to have recourse to the holy Scriptures for the information of our
judgment and regulation of our practice; being well assured that a
conscientious attending thereto is the best way to prevent and rectify our defects and errors.2 And if any such case happen to be
debated between Christians, which is not plainly determinable by
the Scriptures, we think it safest to leave such things undecided,
until the second coming of our Lord Jesus; as they did in the
church of old, until there should arise a priest with Urim amid Thummim, that might certainly inform them of the mind of God thereabout.3
2. As for those our Christian brethren, who do ground their arguments for infants' baptism  upon a presumed fbederal holiness or
1 Rom. xiv. 4, 10, 12, 23.    2 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.   3 Ezra ii. 62, 63.




178                     CONFESSIONS.
church membership, we conceive they are deficient in this - that,
albeit this covenant holiness and membership should be as is supposed, in reference unto the infants of believers, yet no command
for infant baptism does immediately and directly result from such a
quality or relation.
All instituted worship receives its sanction firom the precept, and
is to be thereby governed in all the necessary circumstances thereof.
So it was in the covenant that God made with Abraham and his
seed, the sign whereof was appropriated only to the male, notwith-.
standing that the female seed, as well as the male, were comprehended in the covenant, and part of the church of God; neither
was this sign to be affixed to any male infant till he was eight (lays
old, albeit he was within the covenant from the first moment of his
life; nor could the danger of death, or any other supposed necessity,
warrant the circumcising of him before the set time, nor was there
any cause for it; the commination of being cut off from his people
being only upon the neglect or contempt of the precept.
Righteous Lot was nearly related to Abraham in the flesh, and
contemporary with him, when this covenant was made; yet, inasmuch as he did not descend from his loins, nor was of his household
family (although he was of the same household of faith with Abraham), yet neither Lot himself nor any of his posterity (because of
their descent from him) were signed with the signature of this covenant that was made with Abraham and his seed.
This may suffice to show that where there was both an express
covenant and a sign thereof, such a covenant as did separate the
persons with whom it was made and all their offspring from all the
rest of the world, as a people holy unto the Lord, and did constitute
them the visible church of God (though not comprehensive of all
the faithful in the world), yet the sign of this covenant was not
affixed to all the persons that were within this covenant, nor to any
of them, till the prefixed season; nor to other faithfill servants of
God that were not of descent from Abraham.  And, consequent'y,
that it depends purely upon the will of the lawgiver to determine
what shall be the sign of his covenant, unto whom, at what season,
and upon what terms it shall be affixed.
If our brethren do suppose baptism to be the seal of the covenant




APrrENDI.                          179
which God makes with every believer (of which the Scriptures are
altogether silent), it is not our concern to contend with them herein;
yet we conceive the seal of that covenant is the indwelling of the
Spirit of Christ in the particular and individual persons in whom he
resides, and nothing else.  Neither do they or we suppose that baptism is in any such manner substituted in the place of circumcision,
as to have the same (and no other) latitude, extent, or terms than
circumcision had. For that was suited only for the male children:
baptism is an ordinance suited for every believer, whether male or
female. That extended to all the males that were born in Abraham's house, or bought with his money, equally with the males that
proceeded from his own loins; but baptism is not so far extended in
any true Christian church that we know of, as to be administered to
all the poor infidel servants that the members thereof purchase for
their service, and introduce into their families, nor to the children
born of them in their house.
But we conceive the same parity of reasoning may hold for the
ordinance of baptism as for that of circumcision,1 viz., one law for
the stranger as for the home-born. If any desire to be admitted to
all the ordinances and privileges of God's house, the door is open;
upon the same terms that any one person was ever admitted to all or
any of those privileges that belong to the Christian church, may all
persons of right challenge the like admission.
As for that text of Scripture,2 He received circumcision, a seal of
righteousness of the faith, which he had yet being uncircumcised; we
conceive, if the apostle's scope in that place be duly attended to, it
will appear that no argument can be taken from thence to enforce
infant baptism. And forasmuch as we find a full and fair account
of those words given by the learned Dr. Lightfoot (a man not to be
suspected of partiality in this controversy), in his Hor. Hehrai. on
the 1 Cor. vii. 19, p. 42, 43, we shall transcribe his words at large,
without any comment of our own upon them.
Circumcisio nihil est ratione habit,   Circumcision is nothing, if we respect
temporis, jam enim evanuerat, adim-  the time, for now it was without use,
pleto praecipu6 ejus fine ob quem  that end of it being especially fulfilled
1 Exodus xii. 49.               2 Rtom. iv. 11.




180                           CONFESSIONS.
fuerat instituta; istum  finem exhibet  for which it had been instituted: this
apostolus in verbis istis, Rom. iv. 11.  end the apostle declares in these words,
appa-y?5a,rs  8cKaLooa'v7Sl'T7s c7rtr-  Rom. iv. 11, oq'patyia, etc. But I fear
7reWoS'riS  v &KpoBuvrTCa  At vereor  that by most translations they are not
ne i plerisque versionibus non satis  sufficiently suited to the end of circumaptentur, ad finem  circumcisionis, et  cision and the scope of the apostle,
scopum  apostoli, dum  ab iis interseri-  whilst something of their own is by
tur aliquid de suo.                    them inserted.
And after the doctor hath represented divers versions of the
words, agreeing, for the most part, in sense with that which we have
in our bibles, he thus proceeds:
Alime in eundem sensum, ac si circum-    Other versions are to the same purcisio daretur Abrahamo in sigillum   pose; as if circumcision was given to
julstitive istius, quam  ille habuit, dum   Abraham for a seal of that righteousadhuc foret praeputiatus; quod non  ness which he had, being yet uncircumnegabimus aliqualiter verum  esse, at  cised, which we will not deny to be in
credimus circumcisionem  long6 alih  some sense true; but we believe that
plrecipu6 respexisse.                  circumcision had chiefly a far different
respect.
Liceat mihi verba sic reddere: et    Give me leave thus to render the
signum accepit circumcisionis, sigillum   words: And he received the sign of
justitiae fidei, quae futura in praeputio;  circumcision, a seal of the righteousquae futura dico, non quee fuerat. Non  ness of faith, which was to be in the
quae fuerat Abrahamo adhuc preeputia-  uncircumcision. Which was to be (I
to, sed quae futura semini ejus praepu-  say), not which had been; not that
tiato, id est, gentilibus, fidem  olim   which Abraham had whilst he was yet
Abrahami imitaturis.                   uncircumcised, but which his uncircumcised seed should have; that is, the
Gentiles, who in time to come should
imitate the faith of Abraham.
Nunc adverte bene qul occasione in-    Now, consider well on what occasion
stituta Abrahamo circumcisio, ponens  circumcision was instituted unto Abratibi ante oculos historiam ejus. Gen.  ham, setting before thine eyes the hisxvii.                                 tory thereof. Gen. xvii.
Fit primh ei haec promissio, Multa-    This promise is first made unto him,
tarum  gentium eris tu pater (quonam   Thou shalt be the father of many nations
sensu explicat apostolus, isto capite) et  (in what sense the apostle explaineth
subinde subjungitur duplex sigillum rei  in that chapter), and then there is subcorroborandee; immutatio scilicet nom-  joined a double seal for the confirmaimis Abrami in Abrahamum; et institu-  tion of the thing, to wit, the change of
tio circumcisionis: ver. 4. Ecce mihi  the name Abram into Abraham, and
tecum est feadus, eris tu pater multarum   the institution of circumcision, ver. 4,
gentium. Quare vocatum  est nomen  Behold, as for me, my covenant is wzith
ejus Abrahamus! In sigillationem hu-  thee, and thou shalt be the father of many
jus promissionis. Tu pater eris mul-  nations. Wherefore was his name called
tarum gentium. Et quare instituta ei  Abraham? For the sealing of his promcircumcisio? In sigillationem ejusdem  ise. Thou shalt be the father of many




APPENDIX.                             181
promissionis. Tu pater eris multarum   nations. And wherefore was circumgentium. Ita ut hic sit sensus apostoli,  cision instituted to him? For the sealinstitutioni circumcisionis congruentis-  ing of the same promise. Thou shalt be
simus; accepit signum circumcisionis,  thefather of many nations. So that this
sigillum justitiae fidci, quam olim erat  is the sense of the apostle, most agreeincircumcisio (vel iGentiles) habitura et  able to the iustitution of circumcision;
adeptura.                            lie received the sign of' circumncision, a
seal of the righteousness of faith, which
in time to come the ulciicullncisioni (or
the Gentiles) should have and obtain.
Duplex semen erat Abrahamo, natu-    Abrahlam had a twofold seed, naturale, Judxorum; et ftidele, gentilium   ral, of the Jews; and, faithful, of the
credentium: signatur naturale signo  believing Gentiles; his natural seed
circumcisionis, prim6 quidem  in sui  was signed with the sign of circumdistinctionem, ab omnibus aliis genti-  cision, first, indeed, for the distinguishbus, dum eae non adhuc forent semen  ing of them from  all other nations,
Abrahami; at praecipue in memoriam   whilst they as yet were not the seed of
justificationis gentium per fidem, cum   Abraham, but especially for the metandem forent ejus semen. Cessatura  morial of the justification of the Gelnergo merito, erat circumcisio, cum  tiles by faith, when at length they
introducerentur  Gentiles ad fidem,  should become his seed.  Therefore,
quippe quod tune finem suum ultimum   circumcision was of right to cease when
ac praecipuum  obtinuerat, et perinde  the Gentiles were brought into the
) r.epLTO/jUx ovarv.                 faith, forasmuch as then it had obtained
its last and chief end, and thenceforth
circumcision is nothing.
Thus far he, which we earnestly desire may be seriously weighed,
for we plead not his authority, but the evidence of truth in his
words.
3. Of whatsoever nature the holiness of the children mentioned 1
be, yet they who do conclude that all such children (whether infants,
or of riper years) have from hence an immediate right to baptism,
do, as we conceive, put more into the conclusion than will be found
in the.premises.
For although we do not determine positively concerning the apostles' scope in the holiness here mentioned, so as to say, it is this or
that, and no other thing; yet it is evident, that the apostle does by it
determine not only the lawfulness, but the expedience also of a believer's cohabition with an unbeliever in the state of marriage.
And we do think that, although the apostle's asserting of the unbelieving yoke-fellow to be sanctified by the believer should carry
1 1 Cor. vii. 12.
16




182                     CONFESSIONS.
in it somewhat more than is in the bare marriage of two infidels,
because although the marriage covenant have a divine sanction so
as to make the wedlock of two unbelievers a lawful action, and
their conjunction and cohabition in that respect undefiled, yet there
might be no ground to suppose from thence, that both or either of
their persons are thereby sanctified; and the apostle urges the cohabition of a believer with an infidel in the state of wedlock from
this ground, that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife;"nevertheless, here you have the influence of a believer's
faith ascending from an inferior to a superior relation; from the
wife to the husband, who is her head, before it can descend to their
offspring. And, therefore, we say, whatever be the nature or extent
of the holiness here intended, we conceive it cannot convey to the
children an immediate right to baptism; because it would then be of
another nature, and of a larger extent, than the root and original
from whence it is derived.  For it is clear, from the apostle's argument, that holiness cannot be derived to the child from the sanctity
of one parent only; if either father or mother be (in the sense intended by the apostle) unholy or unclean, so will the child be also;
therefore, for the production of a holy seed, it is necessary that
both the parents be sanctified. And this the apostle positively asserts in the first place to be done by the believing parent although
the other be an unbeliever, and then, consequentially, from thence
argues, the holiness of their children. Hence, it follows, that as the
children have no other holiness than what they derive from their
parents, so neither can they have any right by this holiness to any
spiritual privilege, but such as both their parents did also partake
of; and therefore, if the unbelieving parent (though sanctified by the
believing parent) have not thereby a right to baptism, neither can
we conceive that there is any such privilege derived to the children
by their birth-holiness.
Besides, if it had been the usual practice in the apostles' days for
the father or mother, that did believe, to bring all their children
with them to be baptized, then the holiness of the believing Corinthians' children would not at all have been in question when this
epistle was written; but might have been argued from their passing
under that ordinance, which represented their new birth, although




APPENDIX.                       183
they had derived no holiness from their parents by their first birth;
and would have lain as an exception against the apostle's inference,
else were your children unclean, etc. But of the sanctification of all
the children of every believer by this ordinance, or any other way
than what is before mentioned, the Scripture is altogether silent.
This may be also added, that if this birth-holiness do qualifv all
the children of every believer for the ordinance of baptism, why
not for all other ordinances? for the Lord's supper, as was practiced for a long time together? for if recourse be had to what the
Scriptures speak generally of this subject, it will be found that the
same qualities which do entitle any person to baptism, do also for
the participation of all the ordinances and privileges of the house
of God that are common to all believers.
Whosoever can and does interrogate his good conscience towards
God, when he is baptized (as every one must do that makes it to
himself a sign of salvation), is capable of doing the same thing in
every other act of worship that he performs.
4. The arguments and inferences that are usually brought for or
against infant baptism, from those few instances which the Scriptures
afford us of whole families being baptized, are only conjectural, and
therefore cannot of themselves be conclusive on either hand; yet in
regard most that treat on this subject of infant baptism do (as they
conceive) improve these instances to the advantage of their argument, we think it meet (in like manner, as in the cases before mentioned, so in this) to show the invalidity of such inferences.
Cornelius worshipped God with all his house. The jailor and Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed God with each of
their houses. The household of Stephanus addicted themselves to
the ministry of the saints: so that thus far worshipping and believing runs parallel with baptism. And if Lydia had been a married
person when she believed, it is probable her husband would also
have been named by the apostle, as in like cases, inasmuch as lie
would have been not only a part, but the head of that baptized
household.
Who can assign any probable reason why the apostle should make
mention of four or five households being baptized and no more? or




184                     CONFESSIONS.
why he does so often vary in the method of his salutations,  sometimes mentioning only particular persons of great note, other times
such and the church in their house? the saints that were with them,
and them belonging to Narcissus, who were in the Lord; thus saluting either whole families, or part of families, or only particular persons in families, considered as they were in the Lord. For if it had
been a usual practice to baptize all children with their parents, there
were then many thousands of the Jews which believed, and a great
number of the Gentiles, in most of the principal cities in the world,
and among so many thousands, it is more than probable there would
have been some thousands of households baptized; why then should
the apostle in this respect signalize one family of the Jews and three
or four of the Gentiles, as particular instances in a case that was
common? Whoever supposes that we do wilfully debar our children
from the benefit of any promise or privilege that of right belongs to
the children of believing parents, they do entertain over-severe
thoughts of us. To be without natural affections is one of the characters of the worst of persons in the worst of times. We do freely
confess ourselves guilty before the Lord, in that we have not with
more circumspection and diligence trained up those that relate to us
in the fear of the Lord; and do humbly and earnestly pray, that
omissions herein may be remitted, and that they may not redound
to the prejudice of ourselves or any of ours; but with respect to
that duty that is incumbent on us, we acknowledge ourselves obliged
by the precepts of God to bring up our children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord, to teach them his fear, both by instruction
and example; and should we set light by this precept, it would demonstrate that we are more vile than the unnatural heathen, that like
not to retain God in their knowledge; our baptism might then be
justly accounted as no baptism to us.
There are many special promises that do encourage us, as well as
precepts that do oblige us to the close pursuit of our duty herein;
that God whom we serve, being jealous of his worship, threatens the
visiting of the father's transgression upon the children, to the third
and fourth generation of them that hate him; yet does more abunI Rom. i. 6.




APPENDIX.                       18<
dantly extend his mercy, even to thousands (respecting the offspring
and succeeding generations) of them that love him and keep his
commands.
When our Lord rebuked his disciples for prohibiting the access
of little children that were brought to him that he might pray over
them, lay his hands upon them, and bless them, [he] does declare,
that of such is the kingdom of God. And the apostle Peter, in
answer to their inquiry that desired to know what they must do
to be saved, does not only instruct them in the necessary duty of
repentance and baptism, but does also thereto encourage them, by
that promise which had reference both to them and their children.
If our Lord Jesus in the fore-mentioned place, do not respect the
qualities of children (as elsewhere) as to their meekness, humility,
and sincerity, and the like, but intend also, that those very persons,
and such like, appertain to the kingdom of God; and if the apostle
Peter, in mentioning the aforesaid promise, do respect not only the
present and succeeding generations of those Jews that heard him
(in which sense the same phrase doth occur in Scripture), but also
the immediate offspring of his auditors; whether the promise relate
to the gift of the Holy Spirit, or of eternal life, or any grace, or
privilege tending to the obtaining thereof; it is neither our concern,
nor our interest, to confine the mercies and promises of God to a
more narrow or less compass than he is pleased graciously to offer
and intend them; nor to have a light esteem of them; but are
obliged in duty to God, and affection to our children, to plead earnestly with God, and use our utmost endeavors, that both ourselves
and our offspring may be partakers of his mercies and gracious
promises. Yet we cannot, from either of these texts, collect a sufficient warrant for us to baptize our children before they are instructed in the principles of the Christian religion.
For, as to the instance in little children, it seems, by the disciples
forbid(ling them, that they were brought upon some other account,
not so frequent as baptism must be supposed to have been, if from
the beginning believers' children had been admitted thereto; and
no account is given whether their parents were baptized believers
or not.  And as to the instance of the apostle, if the following
words and practice may be taklen as an interpretation of the scope
16*




186                      CONFESSIONS.
of that promise, we cannot conceive it does refer to infant baptism,
because the text does presently subjoin, then they that gladly received
the word were baptized.
That there were some believing children of believing parents in
the apostles' days is evident from the Scriptures, even such as were
then in their father's family, and under their parents' tuition and
education; to whom the apostle, in several of his epistles to the
churches, giveth commands to obey their parents in the Lord; and
does allure their tender years to hearken to this precept, by reminding them that it is the first command with promise.
And it is recorded by him for the praise of Timothy, and encouragement of parents, betimes to instruct, and children early to attend
to godly instruction, that, &7rb lpE'povs from a child he had known the
holy Scriptures.
The apostle John rejoiced greatly when he found the children of
the elect lady walking in the truth; and the children of her elect
sister join with the apostle in his salutation.
But that this was not generally so, that all the children of believers were accounted for believers (as they would have been if they
had been all baptized), may be collected from the character which
the apostle gives of persons fit to be chosen to eldership in the
church, which was not common to all believers; among others, this
is expressly one, viz., if there be any having believing or faithful
children, not accused of riot, or unruly; and we may, from the
apostle's writings on the same subject, collect the reason of this
qualification, viz., that in case the person designed for this office,
to teach and rule in the house of God, had children capable of it,
there might be first a proof of his ability, industry, and success in
this work in his own family, and private capacity, before he was ordained to the exercise of this authority in the church in a public
capacity, as a bishop in the house of God.
These things we have mentioned, as having a direct reference
unto the controversy between our brethren and us; other things
that are more abstruse and prolix, which are frequently introduced
into this controversy, but do not necessarily concern it, we have purposely avoided, that the distance between us and our brethren may
not be by us made more wide; for it is our duty and concern, so far




APPENDIX.                      1.87
as is possible for us (retaining a good conscience towards God) to
seek a more entire agreement and reconciliation with them.
We are not insensible, that as to the order of God's house, and
entire communion therein, there are some things wherein we (as
well as others) are not at a full accord among ourselves; as, for instance, the known principle and state of the consciences of divers
of us, that have agreed in this confession is such, that we cannot
hold church communion with any other than baptized believers, and
churches constituted of such; yet some others of us have a greater
liberty and freedom in our spirits that way; and therefore we have
purposely omitted the mention of things of that nature, that we
might concur in giving this evidence of our agreement, both among
ourselves, and with other good Christians, in those important articles
of the Christian religion, mainly insisted on by us; and this, notwithstanding we all esteem it our chief concern, both among ourselves and all others that in every place call upon the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours, and love him in
sincerity, to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace; and in order thereunto, to exercise all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.
And we are persuaded, if the same method were introduced into
frequent practice between us and our Christian friends, who agree
with us in all the fundamental articles of the Christian faith (though
they do not so in the subject and administration of baptism), it
would soon beget a better understanding and brotherly affection
between us.
In the beginning of the Christian church, when the doctrine of
the baptism of Christ was not universally understood, yet those that
knew only the baptism of John were the disciples of the Lord Jesus,
and Apollos, an eminent minister of the gospel of Jesus.
In the beginning of the reformation of the Christian church, and
recovery from that Egyptian darkness wherein our forefathers for
many generations were held in bondage, upon recourse had to the
Scriptures of truth, different apprehensions were conceived, which
are to this time continued, concerning the practice of this ordinance.
Let not our zeal herein be misinterpreted; that God whom we
serve is jealous of his worship. By his gracious providence the law




188                     CONFESSIONS.
thereof is continued amongst us; and we are forewarned, by what
happened in the church of the Jews, that it is necessary for every
generation, and that frequently in every generation, to consult the
divine oracle, compare our worship with the rule, and take heed to
what doctrines we receive and practise.
If the ten commandments exhibited in the popish idolatrous service-books had been received as the entire law of God, because
they agree in number with his ten commands, and also in the substance of nine of them, the second commandment, forbidding idolatry, had been utterly lost.
If Ezra and Nehemiah had not made a diligent search into the
particular parts of God's law and his worship, the feast of tabernacles (which for many centuries of years had not been duly observed
according to the institution, though it was retained in the general
notion) would not have been kept in due order.
So may it be now as to many things relating to the service of
God, which do retain the names proper to them in their first institution, but yet through inadvertency (where there is no sinister design) may vary in their circumstances, from their first institution.
And if by means of any ancient defection, or of that general corruption of the service of God and interruption of his true worship
and persecution of his servants by the anti-christian bishop of
Rome, for many generations, those who do consult the word of
God cannot yet arrive at a full and mutual satisfaction among themselves, what was the practice of the primitive Christian church, in
some points relating to the worship of God; yet inasmuch as these
things are not of the essence of Christianity, but that we agree in
the fundamental doctrines thereof, we do apprehend there is sufficient ground to lay aside all bitterness and prejudice, and in the
spirit of love and meekness to embrace and own each other therein,
leaving each other at liberty to perform such other services, wherein
we cannot concur, apart unto God, according to the best of our
understanding.




APPENDIX.                       189
AD DITIONS
TO THEB
CONFESSION OF 1689, BY THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.
The following are the articles added by the Philadelphia
Association, Sept. 15, 1742.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
OF THE SINGING OF PSALMS, ETC.
We believe that 1 singing the praises of God is a holy ordinance of
Christ, and not a part of natural religion, or a moral duty only; but
that it is brought under divine institution, it being enjoined on the
churches of Christ to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; and
that the whole church in their public assemblies (as well as private
Christians) ought to 2 sing God's praises according to the best light
they have received. Moreover, it was practised in the great representative church, by 3 our Lord Jesus Christ with his disciples, after
he had instituted and celebrated the sacred ordinance of his holy
supper, as a commemorative token of redeeming love.
CHAPTER XXXV.
OF LAYING ON OF HANDS.
1. We believe that 4 laying on of hands, with prayer, upon baptized believers, as such, is an ordinance of Christ, and ought to be
submitted unto by all such persons that are admitted to partake of
the Lord's Supper, and that the end of this ordinance is not for the
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, but for 5 a farther reception of the
1 Acts xvi. 25; Eph. v. 19; Col. iii. 16.  4 Heb. v. 12, vi. 1, 2; Acts viii. 17, 18,
2 Heb. ii. 12; James v. 13.       xix. 6.
3 Matt. xxvi. 30; Mark xiv. 26.  5 Eph. i. 13, 14.




190                       CONFESSIONS.
Holy Spirit of promise, or for the addition of the graces of the
Spirit, and the influences thereof; to confirm, strengthen, and comfort them in Christ Jesus; it being ratified and established by the 1
extraordinary gifts of the Spirit in the primitive times, to abide in
the church, as meeting together on the first day of the week was, 2
that being the day of worship, or Christian Sabbath, under the gospel; and as preaching the word was, 3and as baptism  was,4 and
prayer was,5 and singing psalms, etc., was,6 so this laying on of
hands was,7 for as the whole gospel was confirmed by 8 signs and
wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost in general,
so was every ordinance in like manner confirmed in particular.
1 Acts viii. 7, xix. 6.                 5 Acts iv. 31.
2 Acts ii. 1.                           6 Acts xvi. 25 26.
3 Acts x. 44.                           7 Acts viii xix.
4 Matt. iii. 16.                        8 Heb. ii. 3, 4.
NOTE. -The Discipline adopted by the Philadelphia Association, to accompany this Confession of Faith, will be found on page 199.




III.
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DECLARATION OF FAITH.
I. OF THE SCRIPTURES.
We believe that the holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction; 1 that it has
God for its author, salvation for its end,2 and  truth without any
mixture of error for its matter;3 that it reveals the principles by
which God will judge us,4 and therefore is, and shall remain to the
end of the world, the true centre of Christian union,5 and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions
should be tried.6
II. OF THE TRUE GOD.
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God,
an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the Maker
and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth;7 inexpressibly glorious
in holiness,8 and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; 9
that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Fa1 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17; 2 Peter i. 21; 2  -6; Phil. ii. 1, 2; 1 Cor. i. 10; 1 Peter
Sam. xxiii. 2; Acts i. 16, iii. 21; John  iv. 11.
x. 35; Luke xvi. 29-31; Psalm cxix.   6 1 John iv. 1; Isa. viii. 20; 1 Thess. v.
111; Rom. iii. 1, 2.                  21; 2 Cor. xiii. 5; Acts xvii. 11; 1 John
2 2 Tim. iii. 15; 1 Peter i. 10-12; Acts  iv. 6; Jude 3; Eph. vi. 17; Psalm cxix.
xi. 14; Rom. i. 16; Mark xvi. 16; John  59, 60; Phil. i. 9-11.
v. 38, 39.                             7 John iv. 24; Psalm cxlvii. 5, lxxxiii.
3 Prov. xxx. 5, 6; John xvii. 17; Rev. 18; Heb. iii. 4; Rom. i. 20; Jer. x. 10.
xxii. 18, 19; Rom. iii. 4.              8 Ex. xv. 11; Isa. vi. 3; 1 Peter i. 15,
4 Rom. ii. 12; John xii. 47. 48; 1 Cor. 16; Rev. iv. 6-8.
iv. 3. 4; Luke x. 10-16, xii. 47, 48.  9 Mark xii. 30; Rev. iv. 11; Matt. x.
5 Philippians iii. 16; Ephesians iv. 3  37; Jer. ii. 12, 13.




192                         CONFESSIONS.
ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;1 equal in every divine perfection,2and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great
work of redemption.3
III. OF THE FALL OF MAN.
We believe that man was created in holiness, under the law of
his Maker;4 but by voluntary transgression fell from that holy and
happy state;5in consequence of which all mankind are now  sinners,6 not by constraint but choice;7 being by nature utterly void of
that holiness required by the law of God; positively inclined to
evil; and therefore under just condemnation to eternal ruin,8 without defence or excuse.9
IV. OF THE WAY OF SALVATION.
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace;l0
through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God;1 who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon him our nature, yet
without sin;12 honored the divine law by his personal obedience,l3 and
by his death made a full atonement for our sins; 14 that having risen
from the dead, he is now enthroned in heaven;15 and uniting in his
wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections,
he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an
all-sufficient Saviour.l6
1 Mat. xxviii. 19; John xv. 26; 1 Cor.   9 Ezek. xviii. 19, 20; Rom. i. 20; Rom.
xii. 4-6; 1 John v. 7.                iii. 19; Gal. iii. 22.
2 John x. 30; John v. 17; xiv. 23,   10 Eph. ii. 5; Matt. xviii. 11; 1 John
xvii. 5, 10; Acts v. 3, 4; 1 Cor. ii. 10,  iv. 10; 1 Cor. iii. 5-7; Acts xv. 11.
11; Phil. ii. 5, 6.                     11 John iii. 16; John i. 1-14; Heb.
3 Eph. ii. 18; 2 Cor. xiii. 14; Rev. i. 4,  iv. 14, xii. 24.
5. Compare ii. 7.                       12 Phil. ii. 6, 7; Heb. ii. 9, ii. 14; 2
4 Gen. i. 27; Gen. i. 31; Eccl. vii. 29;  Cor. v. 21.
Acts xv. 26; Gen. ii. 16.               13 Isa. xlii. 21; Phil. ii. 8; Gal. iv. 4,
5 Gen. iii. 6-24; Rom. v. 12.       5; Rom. iii. 21.
6 Rom. v. 19; John iii. 6; Psalm ii. 5;   14 Isa. liii. 4, 5; Matt. xx. 28; Rom.
Rom. v. 15-19; viii. 7.              iv. 25, iii. 21-26; 1 John iv. 10, ii. 2; 1
7 Isa. liii. 6; Gen. vi. 12; Rom. iii. 9  Cor. xv. 1-3; Heb. ix. 13-15.
-18.                                    15 Heb. i. 8; Heb. i 3, viii. 1; Col. iii.
8 Eph. ii. 1-3; Rom. i. 18: Rom. i.  1-4.
32, ii. 1-16; Galatians iii. 10; Matthew    16 Heb. vii. 25; Col. ii. 9; Heb. ii. 18;
xx. 15.                        -      Heb. vii. 26; Psalm lxxxix. 19; Ps. xlv.




APPENDIX.                         193
V. OF JUSTIFICATION.
We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ' secures
to such as believe in him, is justification;2 that justification includes
the pardon of sin,3 and the promise of eternal life on principles of
righteousness;4 that it is bestowed, not in consideration of any works
of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the
Redeemer's blood;5 by virtue of which faith his perfect righteousness is freely imputed to us of God;6 that it brings us into a state of
most blessed peace and favor with God, and secures every other
blessing needful for time and eternity.7
VI. OF THE FREENESS OF SALVATION.
We believe that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by
the gospel;8 that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by
a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith;9 and that nothing prevents
the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth, but his own determined
depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel;l~0which rejection
involves him in an aggravated condemnation."
VII. OF GRACE IN REGENERATION.
We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be regenerated,
or born again;12 that regeneration consists in giving a holy disposition to the mind; 13 that it is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine
1 John i. 16; Eph. iii. 8.         8 Isaiah Iv. 1; Rev. xxii. 17; Luke
2 Acts xiii. 39; Isa. iii. 11, 12; Rom. xiv. 17.
viii. 1.                             9 Rom. xvi. 26; Mark i. 15; Rom. i.
3 Rom. v. 9; Zech. xiii. 1; Matt. ix.  15-17.
6; Acts x. 43.                       10 John v. 40; Matt. xxiii. 37; Romn.
4 Rom. v. 17; Titus iii. 5, 6; 1 Peter  ix. 32; Prov. i. 24; Acts xiii. 46.
iii. 7; 1 John ii. 25; Rom. v. 21.   11 John iii. 19; Matt. xi. 20; Luke
5 Rom. iv. 4, 5, v. 21, vi. 23; Phil. iii. xix. 27; 2 Thess. i. 8.
7-9.                                 12 John iii. 3, iii. 6, 7; 1 Cor. i. 14;
6 Rorn. v. 19; Rorn. iii. 24-26; iv. 23  Rev. viii. 7-9, xxi. 27.
-25; 1 John ii. 12.                  13 2 Cor. v. 17; Ezek. xxxvi. 26;
7 Rom. v. 1, 2, v. 3, v. 11; 1 Cor. i. 30, Deut. xxx. 6; Rom. ii. 28, 29, v. 5; 1
81; Matt. vi. 33; 1 Tim. iv. 8.    John iv. 7.
17




194                           CONFESSIONS.
truth,' so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel;2 and
that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance,
and faith, and newness of life.3
VIII. OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH.
We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also
inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the regenerating Spirit
of God;4 whereby, being deeply convinced of our guilt, danger, and
helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ,5 we turn to God
with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy;6
at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our
Prophet, Priest, and King, and relying on him alone as the only and
all-sufficient Saviour. 7
IX. OF GOD'S PURPOSE OF GRACE.
We believe that election is the eternal purpose of God, according
to which he graciously regenerates, sanctifies, and saves sinners;8
that being perfectly-consistent with the free agency of man, it comprehends all the means in connection with the end;  that it is a most
glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being infinitely free,
wise, holy, and unchangeable; 10 that it utterly excludes boasting, and
promotes humility, love, prayer, praise, trust in God, and active imitation of his free mercy; lthat it encourages the use of means in
the highest degree; 12that it may be ascertained by its effects in all
1 John iii. 8, i. 13; James i. 16-18; 1    8 2 Tim. i. 8, 9; Eph. i. 3-14; 1 Peter
Cor. i. 30; Phil. ii. 13.            i. 1, 2; Rom. xi. 5, 6; John xv. 16; 1
2 1 Peter i. 22-25; 1 John v. 1; Eph.  John iv. 19; Hosea xii. 9.
iv. 20-24; Col. iii. 9-11.              9 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14; Acts xiii. 48;
3 Eph. v. 9; Rom. viii. 9; Gal. v. 16-  John x. 16; Matt. xx. 16; Acts xv. 14.
23; Eph. iii. 14-21; Matt. iii. 8-10, vii.   10 Exodus xxxiii. 18, 19; Matt. xx. 15;
20; 1 John v. 4, 18.                  Eph. i. 11; Rom. ix. 23, 24; Jer. xxxi.
4 Mark i. 15; Acts xi. 18; Eph. ii. 8;  3; Rom. xi. 28, 29; James i. 17, 18; 2
1 John v. 1.                          Tim. i. 9; Rom. xi. 32-36.
5 John xvi. 8; Acts ii. 37, 38, xvi.   11 1 Cor. iv. 7, i. 26-31; Rom. iii. 27,
30, 31.                               iv, 16; Col. iii. 12; 1 Cor. iii. 5-7, xv.
G Luke xviii. 13, xv. 18-21; Jas. iv.7-  10; 1 Peter v. 10; Acts i. 24; 1 Thess. ii.
10; 2 Cor. vii. 11; Rom. x. 12,13; Ps. ii.  13; 1 Peter ii. 9; Luke xviii. 7; John
7 Rom. x. 9-11; Acts iii. 22, 23; Heb.  xv. 16; Eph. i. 16; 1 Thess. ii. 12.
iv. 14; Psalm ii. 6; Heb. i. 8; viii. 25;   12 2 Tim. ii. 10; 1 Cor. ix. 22; Rom.
2 Tim. 1, 12.                         viii. 28-30; John vi. 37-40; 2 ret. i. 10.




APPENDIX.                             195
who truly believe the gospel;l that it is the foundation of Christian
assurance; 2 and that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves demands
and deserves the utmost diligence.3
X. OF SANCTIFICATION
5We believe that sanctification is the process by which, according
to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness;4 that it is
a progressive work;5 that it is begun in regeneration;6 and that it is
carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of'
the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of
the appointed means -  especially, the word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer.7
XI. OF THE  PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS.
nWe believe that such only are real believers as endure unto the
end;8 that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark
which distinguishes them from superficial professors;9 that a special
providence watches over their welfare;'1 and they are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation-.
XII. OF THE HARMONY OF THE LAW  AND THE GOSPEL.
We believe that the law of God is the eternal and unchangeable
rule of his moral government; 12 that it is holy, just, and good; 13 and
1 Thess. i. 4-10.                      John viii. 31; 1 John ii. 27, 28; iii.
2 Rom. viii. 28-30; Isa. xlii. 16;  9, v. 18.
Rom. xi. 29.                            9 1 John ii. 19; John xiii. 18; Mat3 2 Peter i. 10, 11; Phil. iii. 12; Heb.  thew xiii. 20, 21; John vi. 66-69; Job
vi. 11.                               xvii. 9.
4 1 Thess. iv. 3; 1 Thess. v. 23; 2 Cor.   10 Romans viii. 28; Matthew vi. 30
vii. 1; xiii. 9; Epis. i. 4.          -33: Jer. xxxii. 40; Psalm  cxxi. 3;
5 Prov. iv. 18; 2 Cor. iii. 18; Heb. vi.  xci. 11, 12.
1; 2 Peter i. 5-8; Phil. iii. 12-16.    11 Phil. i. 6. ii. 12, 13; Jude 24, 25;
6 John ii 29; Rom. viii. 5; John iii.  Heb. i. 14; 2 Kings vi. 16; Heb. xiii. 5;
6; Phil. i. 9-11; Eph. i. 13, 14.     1 John iv. 4.
7 Phil. ii. 12, 13; Eph. iv. 11, 12; 1    12 Rom. iii. 31; Matt. v. 17; Luke
Peter ii. 2; 2 Peter iii. 18; 2 Cor. xiii.  xvi. 17; Rom. iii. 20, iv. 15.
5; Luke xi. 35, ix. 23; Matt. xxvi. 41;   13 Rom. vii. 12, vii. 7, 14, 22; Gal. iii.
Eph. vi. 18; iv. 30.                  21; Psalm cxix.




196                          CONFESSIONS.
that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfil
its precepts, arises entirely from their love of sin:' to deliver them
from  which, and to restore them  through a mediator to unfeigned
obedience to the holy law, is one great end of the gospel, and of
the means of grace connected with the establishment of the visible
church.2
XIII. OF A GOSPEL CHURCH.
We believe that a visible church of Christ is a congregation of
baptized believers,3 associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; 4 observing the ordinances of Christ;5 governed
by his laws;6 and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested
in them by his word;7 that its only scriptural officers are bishops or
pastors, and deacons,8 whose qualifications, claims, and duties are
defined in the epistles to Timothy and Titus.
XIV. OF BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER.
We believe that Christian baptism  is the immersion in water of a
believer,9 into the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; 10
to show forth, in a solemn and beautiful emblem, our faith in the
crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, with its effect, in our death to
sin and resurrection to a new  life;" that it is pre-requisite to the
privileges of a church relation; and to the Lord's Supper,l2 in which
I Rom. viii. 7, 8; Josh. xxiv. 19; Jer.  Thessalonians iv. 2; 2 John 6; Gal.
xiii. 23; John vi. 44, v. 44.          vi. 2. All the Epistles.
2 Rom. viii. 2, 4, x. 4; 1 Tim. i. 5;    7 Eph. iv. 7; 1 Cor. xiv. 12; Phil. i.
Heb. viii. 10; Jude 20, 21; Heb. xii. 14;  27; 1 Cor. xii., xiv.
Matt. xvi. 17, 18; 1 Cor. xii. 28.       8 Phil. i. 1; Acts xiv. 23, xv. 22; 1
3 1 Cor. i. 1-13; Matt. xviii. 17; Acts  Tim. iii.; Titus i.
v. 11, viii. 1, xi. 31; 1 Cor. iv. 17, xiv.    9 Acts viii. 36-39; Matt. iii. 5, 6;
28; 3 John 9; 1 Tim. iii. 5.           John iii. 22, 23, iv. i. 2; Matt. xxviii.
4 Acts ii. 41, 42; 2 Cor. viii. 5; Acts  19; Mark xvi. 16; Acts ii. 38, viii. 12,
ii. 47; 1 Cor. v. 12, 43.              xvi 32-31, xviii. 8.
5 1 Cor. xi. 2; 2 Thess. iii. 6; Rom.    10 Matt. xxviii. 19; Acts x. 47, 48;
xvi. 17 —20; 1 Cor. xi. 23; Matt. xviii.  Gal. iii. 27. 28.
15-20; 1 Cor. v., vi.; 2 Cor. ii. 7; 1 Cor.   11 Rom. vi. 4; Col. ii. 12; 1 Peter iii.
iv. 17.                                20, 21; Acts xxii. 16.
6 Matthew xxviii. 20: John xiv. 15,   12 Acts ii. 41, 42; MaItt. xxviii. 19, 20.
xv. 12; 1 John iv. 21; John xiv. 21; 1  Acts and Epist'es.




APPENDIX.                           197
the members of the church by the sacred use of bread and wine,
are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ;l preceded
always by solemn self-examination.2
XV. OF THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH.
We believe that the first day of the week is the Lord's day, or
Christian Sabbath;3 and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes,4
by abstaining from all secular labor and sinful recreations;5 by the
devout observance of all the means of grace, both private 6 and public;7 and by preparation for that rest that remaineth for the people
of God.8
XVI. OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for
the interests and good order of human society;9 and that magistrates
are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed; 10 except
only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ,1' who is
the only Lord of the conscience, and the Prince of the kings of the
earth.12
XVII. OF THE RIGIITEOUS AND THE WICKED.
We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between
the righteous and the wicked; 13 that such only as through faith are
1 1 Cor. xi. 26; Matt. xxvi. 26-29;   8 Heb. iv 3-11.
Mark xiv. 22-25; Luke xxii. 14-20.   9 Rom. xiii. 1-7; Deut. xvi. 18; 2
2 1 Corinthians xi. 28; 1 Corinthians  Sam. xxiii. 3; Exodus xviii. 23; Jer.
v. 1. 8; x. 3-32; xi. 17-32; John vi.  xxx. 21.
26-71.                               10 Matt. xxii. 21; Titus iii. 1; 1 Peter
3 Acts xx. 7; Gen. ii. 3; Col. ii. 16,17;  ii. 13; 1 Tim. ii. 1-8.
Mark ii. 27; John xx. 19; 1 Cor. xvi. 1,2.   11 Acts v. 29; Matt. x. 28; Dan. iii.
4 Ex. xx. 8; Rev. i. 10; Ps cxvii. 24. 15-18; vi. 7-10; Acts iv. 18-20.
5 Isa. lviii. 13, 14, lvi. 2-8.    12 Matt. xxiii. 10; Rom. xiv. 4; Rev.
6 Ps. cxviii. 15.                xix. 16; Ps. lxxii 11; Ps. ii.; Rom. xi v.
7 Heb. x. 24, 25; Acts xi. 26; Acts  9-13.
xiii. 44; Lev. xix. 30; Ex. xlvi. 3; Luke   13 Mal. iii. 18; Prov. xii. 26; Isa. v.
iv. 16; Acts xvii. 2, 3; Psalm xxvi. 8;  20; Gen. xviii. 23; Jer. xv. 19; Acts x.
lxcxvii. 3.                        34, 35; oqm. vi. 16.
17 +




193                            CONFESSIONS.
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spilit
of our God, are truly righteous in his esteem; I while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked, and under
the curse;2 and this distinction holds among men both in and after
death.3
XVIII. OF THE WORLD TO COME.
We  believe that the end of this world is approaching;4 that at the
last day, Christ will descend from  heaven,5 and raise the dead froln
the grave to final retribution; 6 that a solemn separation will then
take place;7 that the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment,
and the righteous to endless joy;8 and  that this judgment will fix
forever the final state of men in heaven or hell, on principles of
riyghteousness.9
1Rom. i. 17; Rom. vii. 6; 1 John ii.    6 Acts xxiv. 15; 1 Cor. xv. 12-59;
29, iii. 7; Rom. vi. 18, 22; 1 Cor. xi. 32;  Luke xiv. 14; Dan. xii. 2; John v. 28,
Prov. xi. 31; 1 Peter iv. 17, 18.       29, vi. 40; xi. 25, 26; 2 Tim. i. 10; At ts
2 1 John v. 19; Gal. iii. 10; John iii. 36;  x. 42.
Isa. ivii. 21; Ps. x. 4; Isa. lv. 6, 7.   7 Matt. xiii. 49, xiii. 37-43; xxiv. 30,
3 Prov. xiv. 32; Luke xvi. 25; John   31; xxv. 31-33.
viii. 21-24; Prov. x. 24; Luke xii. 4.5;    8 Matt. xxv. 35 —41; Rev. xxii. 11;
ix. 23-26; John xii. 25, 26; Eccl. iii. 17;  1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Mark ix. 43-48; 2 l'et.
Matt. vii. 13, 14.                      ii. 9; Jude.7; Phi. iii. 19; Rom. vi. 22;
4 1 Peteriv. 7; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31; Heb.  2 Cor. v. 10, 11; John iv. 36; 2 Cot. iv.
i. 10-12; Matt. xxiv. 35; 1 John ii. 17;  18.
MIatt. xxviii. 20; xiii. 39, 40; 2 Peter    9 Rom. iii. 5,6; 2 Thess. i. 6-12; Heb.
iii. 3-13.                              vi. 1, 2; 1 Cor. iv. 5; Acts xvii. 31;
5 Acts i. 11; Rev. i. 7; Heb. ix. 28;  Rom. ii. 2-16; Rev. xx. 11, 12; 1 Jolhn
Acts iii. 21; 1 Thes. iv. 13-18, v. 1-11.  ii. 28; iv. 17; 2 Peter iii. 11, 12.




I V.
DISCIPLINE ADOPTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION.
TO ALL THOSE INTO WHOSE HANDS THE FOREGOING CONFESSION OF
FAITH,1 UNTO WHICH THE FOLLOWING ABSTRACT CONCERNING OUR
DISCIPLINE IS NOW ANNEXED, SHALL COME.
OUR last Association, met at Philadelphia, September 25, 1742, taking
into consideration the general interest of the gospel, and especially the
interest of the churches they were related unto and did then represent,
judging it expedient to reprint the Confession of Faith put forth by the
Elders and Brethren of upwards of one hundred Congregations baptized
upon profession of faith in England and Wales, met in London, September 3, 1689, with the additions concerning Imposition of Hands, and singing of Psalms in the worship of God.
The Association likewise thought it proper to annex an abstract, or
brief treatise concerning our Discipline; but not having, for some reasons,
fixed upon any particular piece extant, they left it to Mr. Jenkin Jones
and myself to prepare a short Narrative, in the most compendious manner
we could; but Mr. Jones, by reason of his other avocations, not being
able to prepare anything in due time, requested me to take it upon myself,
which, after we had consulted on some particulars (though many other
things at this juncture requiring my time and employing my thou(hts, I
could wish some other person had undertaken), I accepted, that I might
prevent any disappointment, and have endeavored to perform as my small
1 See page 190.




200                  CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
leisure would permit. And we having a small tract published by Elias
Keach, and having also found a manuscript left by my brother Abel Morgan, deceased, which he intended, had he longer lived, to have revised
and put in print for the benefit of our churches; I have transcribed some
things out of said manuscript, and some other things out of Mr. Keach,
some things without variation; besides which I have in some cases consulted Dr. Owen and Dr. Goodwin, and in some things I have followed the
agreement that our Association came to some years ago, especially concerning the admission and dismission of members. I have endeavored to
include the most material things in discipline (though very briefly) in the
few following pages; and I desire the reader may be pleased to take the
pains to peruse the Scriptures referred to in every particular, that the
grounds of our practice may be better understood.
That this impartial account of our principles and practice may be accompanied with the blessing of God, to be beneficial unto men, is the hearty
prayer of your well-wisher, and servant, in all gospel service,
BENJAMIN GRIFFITH.




APPENDIX.                         201
TREATISE.
CONCERNING A TRUE AND ORDERLY GOSPEL CHURCH.
Before there can by any orderly discipline among a Christian assembly, they must be orderly constituted into a church state, according to the institution of Christ in the gospel.
1. A visible Gospel Church is made by gathering divers select persons into Jesus Christ, in a spiritual body, and relation to him as
their political head,' himself being the great Shepherd that first
seeks them, and prepares them by the work of renewing grace, for
such spiritual building.
2. Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, ordereth the everlasting gospel to be preached, and accompanying it with his holy
Spirit, blesseth it to the turning of men from darkness to light,
working faith and love in them.2
3. When sinners are thus wrought upon effectually, to such a
suitable number, as may be an essential church, i. e., so many as
may act properly and orderly as a church,3 that then it will be
proper for them, by their mutual consent, to propose to be constituted a church, or that others seeing the expediency thereof may
encourage the same.4
4. For the accomplishment of so glorious a work, it is necessary
that a day of fasting and prayer be appointed by and among such
believers, and that such procure such neighboring helps as they can,
especially of the ministry.5
5. The persons being first orderly baptized, according to the command of Christ,6 and being all satisfied of the graces and qualifications of each other, and being willing in the fear of God to take the
laws of Christ upon them, and do by one mutual consent give up
1 Ezek. xxxiv. 11; 2 Thess. ii. 1.  4 Acts xi.
2 Eph. ii. 17; Acts xxvi. 18.     5 Acts viii. 14; 1 Thess. iii. 2.
3 Matt. xvii. 15-17.              6 Matt. xxviii. 19.




202                 CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
themselves to the Lord, and to one another in the Lord,l solemnly
submitting to the government of Christ in his church, and being
united, they are to be declared a Gospel Church of Jesus Christ. 2
6. A number of believers thus united under Christ their mystical
head, are become a church essential; and as such is the first and
proper subject of the keys, and have power and privilege to govern
themselves, and to choose out their own ministerial officers.3
CONCERNING MINISTERS, ETC.
1. A church thus constituted, is not yet completed while wantino
such ministerial helps as Christ hath appointed for its growth and
well-being, and wanting elders and deacons to officiate among them.
Men, they must be, that are qualified for the work; their qualifications are plainly and fully set down in holy Scripture,4 all which
must be found in them, in some good degree, and it is the duty of
the church to try the persons by the rule of the Word.
Objection. But what shall a church do, in case they can have
none among them fit to bear office according to the rule of the
Word?
Answer. (1.) That to expect to have officers perfect in the highest degrees of those qualifications, were to expect apostolical and
extraordinary ceased gifts in ordinary time. (2.) If none among
the members of a church be found fit in some measure for the ministry, a neighboring church may and ought, if possible, to supply
them.5  (3.) Let such as they have, if they have any that seem
hopeful, to be awhile upon trial; and the person that the Lord shall
choose, will flourish in some good measure with Aaron's rod amlong
the rods of the tribes.
2. A church being destitute of ministerial helps, may, after mature
and often deliberate consultation, and serious prayers to God, pitch
upon some person or persons in particular, giving him or them a solemn invitation to the work of the ministry, upon trial; and if such
1 2 Cor. viii. 5.                    3 Acts xiv. 23, vi. 3.
2 rhil. ii. 2-4; Rom. xv. 7, xii. 1; Acts  4 1 Tim. iii. 1-7; Titus iv. 5-10.
ii. 41, 42.                       5 Cant. viii. 8.




APPENDIX.                        203
accept of the church's call, let such be upon trial, to see if such fear
God, make godliness their business, and be addicted to the work of
the ministry, seeking to further the interest of Christ and the edification of his people in sound and wholesome doctrine; and to see
if any vices or immorality appear in their advances.' Read the
qualifications.2 And in case a church should call a person to be
their minister who is a member of some sister church, and he accept
their call to be their minister, he must in the first place give himself
a member with the church so calling him, that so they may choose
him among themselves.3
3. After having taken all due care to choose one for the work of
the ministry, they are, by and with the unanimous consent or suffrage of the church, to proceed to his ordination; which is a solemn
setting apart of such a person for the sacred function, in this wise,
by setting apart a day of fasting and prayer,4 the whole church being present, he is to have the hands of the presbytery of that
church, or of neighboring elders called and authorized by that
church, whereof such a person is a member, solemnly laid upon
him; 5 and thus such a person is to be recommended into the work of
the Lord, and to take particular care of the flock of whom he is
thus chosen.6
4. The minister being thus put upon his work, proceeds (1.) to
preach the word of God unto them, thereby to feed the flock, and
therein ought to be faithful and laborious, studying to show himself
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth,7 as he is a steward of God in the mysteries of the gospel, 8
and therefore ought to be a man of good understanding and experience, being sound in the faith, not a novice, or a double-minded,
unstable man, nor such as is light-spirited or of a shallow understanding, but one that is learned in the mysteries of the kingdom,
because he is to feed the people with knowledge and understanding.9 He must be faithful in declaring the whole council of God.lo
1 1 Cor. xvi. Phil. ii. 20, 21.          6 Acts xx. 28.
2 1 Tim. 3.                             7 2 Tim. ii. 15.
3 Acts vi. 3.                           81 Cor. iv. 1, 2.
4 Acts xiii. 2, 3.                      9 Jer. iii. 15.
5 1 Tim. v. 22; Titus i. 5; Acts xiv. 23;  10 Acts xx. 20.
1 Tim. iv. 14.




204                 CIIUPRCH DISCIPLINE.
IIe is to instruct them in all practical godliness, laying before
them their manifold duties, and to urge them upon their consciences.' (2.) He must watch over them, as one that must give an account to God.2 Such must have an eye upon every member to see
how they behave in the house of God, where the presence of the
Lord is more eminently, and where also the angels do always
attend; and also their behaviour in the families they belong to, and
their conversation abroad; according to their capacities, they are
not to sleep under their charge.  (3.) He is to visit his flock to
know their state, in order to minister suitable doctrinal relief unto
them, and that he may know what disorders there may be among
them, that the unruly may be reproved.3 (4.) He is to administer
all the ordinances of Christ, amongst them: as Baptism, and the
Lord's Supper, and herein he must be careful to follow the primitive pattern, thereby to hold forth the great end, wherefore they
were ordained. (5.) He must be instant with God, in his prayers
for and with them, as opportunity may serve. (6.) He must show
them a good example in all respects, in conversation, sobriety, charity, faith, and purity,4 behaving himself impartial unto all, not preferring the rich before the poor, nor lording it over God's heritage,
nor assume greater power than God hath given him.5
OF RULING ELDERS.
Ruling elders are such persons as are endued with gifts to assist
the pastor or teacher in the government of the church; it was as a
statute in Israel.6 The works of teaching and ruling belong both
to the pastor; but in case he be unable, or the work of ruling too
great for him, God bath provided such for his assistance, and they
are called ruling elders,7 helps,8 governments, or he that ruleth.
They are qualified for, and called unto, one part of the work; and
experience teacheth us the use and benefit of such rulers in the
1 Titus ii. 1-15; 1 Tim. iv. 6.  5 Jas. ii. 4; 1 Tim. v. 21; 1 Pet. v. 3, 5.
2 Ileb. xiii. 17.                6 Exod. xviii.; Deut. i. 9-13.
8 Proverbs xxvii. 23; 1 Thessalonians   7 1 Tim. v. 17.
v. 14, 15.                   8 1 Cor. xii. 28.
4 1 Tim. iv. 12.                 9 Rom. xii. 8.




APPENDIX.                        205
church, in easing the pastor or teacher, and keeping up the honor
of the ministry.  Their qualifications are such as are requisite to
rule, as knowledge, judgment, prudence, etc.; and as to the manner of their ordination it is like ordination unto other offices in the
church, with fasting and prayer, with imposition of hands.  Their
office only relateth to rule and order, in the church of God, and
doth not include teaching;. yet if the church findeth they have gifts
and abilities to be useful in teaching, they may be put upon trial,
and if approved, they may be called and solemnly set apart by ordination, it being wholly a distinct office from the former, which was
only to rule well, and not to labor in word and doctrine.
OF DEACONS.
Deacons are men called forth by the church, to serve in the outward concerns thereof; whose office is to serve tables.' They are
to be intrusted with the stock of the church, out of which stock they
are to assist the poor members of the church, and to provide bread
and wine for the Lord's table, and also to have regard to the minister's table; and moreover they should see that all the members of
the church do contribute towards the proper uses of the church, that
*therefrom all necessary occasions may be supplied, as God hath
given them, they to the poor, so that none be neglected,2 by the
faithful discharge of which office they shall purchase to themselves
a good degree and great boldness in the faith.3 The qualifications
of these officers are laid down.4
OF THE ADMISSION OF CHURCH MEMBERS.
The Lord Jesus Christ hath committed the use and power of the
keys, in matters of government, to every visible congregational
church, to be used, according to the rules and directions that he hath
given in his word, in his name, and to his glory. The keys are the
power of Christ, which he hath given to every particular congregation, to open and shut itself by; and to do all things in order to the
1 Acts vi. 2-7.                3 1 Tim. iii. 13.
2 1 Cor. xxvi. 2.              4 1 Tim. iii. 8-13; Acts vi. 2-8.
18




206                  CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
great things proposed, viz., his glory and his people's spiritual benefit, in peace and purity.l
By virtue of the charter and the power aforesaid, which Christ
hath given to his church, his spiritual corporation, they are enabled
to receive members in, and to exclude unworthy members as occasion may require, as may appear by divers examples.2
In this case, a church hath to do, either with non-members, or
those that are members of other churches; as to non-members proposing for admission into the church, the pastor, teacher, and elders
of the church are to be acquainted therewith, and the body of the
church also, in order that they may know the intent of such person or persons. A convenient meeting is necessary. When the
church is come together, and the person proposing being present,
after prayer to God for direction, the minister or pastor of the
church is to put several questions to the person proposing. (1.) Concerning the ground and reason of his hope,3 wherein is to be inquired, what experience he hath of the manifold graces of the holy
Spirit, working in him repentance from dead works,4 and faith towards our Lord Jesus ChriSt, in whom alone is salvation hoped for; 5
for without there be some good grounds, in the judgment of charity,
that such a one is a new creature, the door of admission is not to be
opened, for that would be abusing the privileges of the house of
God. Therefore all due and regular care is to be taken.6
Secondly.  What competency of knowledge, in the principal doctrines of faith and order, such hath acquired; 7 or whether such person be well instructed in the knowledge of God, in his glorious attributes, in the doctrine of the Trinity, or one God in three persons;
the person, natures, and offices of Christ; the nature of the law;
of original sin; of the pollution of man, by reason of sin, and lost
and undone estate thereby, and of his being a child of wrath by nature; of the nature of the redemption wrought by Christ, his sufficiency to satisfy divine justice; of the reconciliation of sinners to
1 Tsa. ix. 7, xxii.; Rev. iii. 7; Heb.  3 1 Peter iii. 15.
iii. 6; Eph. ii. 19-22; Matt. xvi. 19;  4 Acts ii. 38; Heb. vi. 2.
John xx. 23.                         5 Acts xx. 21; Philemon 5.
2 Rom. xiv. 1; Acts ii. 41; 1 Cor. x.  6 Psalm lxv. 16; Acts ix. 27.
4, 5; Matt. xviii. 18; 2 Thess. ii. 6, 14.  1 Tim. ii. 4-6.




APPENDIX.                        207
God, by the death of his Son; of our sins being imputed to Christ,
and his righteousness imputed to us for justification, being received
by faith alone; of the resurrection of Christ's body, and his ascension into heaven, and of his coming thence the second time, to judge
the quick and the dead; and of the resurrection of the dead bodies
of men; and of the eternal judgment; and of such proposing person's resolution to persevere in the profession of these truths unto
the end.  Such things are needful to be inquired into, by reason
that too many in our day do build their conversion upon their convictions, and some general notions of the Christian religion, when
indeed they are utter strangers unto, and very ignorant of the great
mysteries of the gospel. Yet great care is to be taken that the
weak be not discouraged, for the smoking flax is not to be quenched,
nor the bruised reed to be broken, but such ignorant persons are to
be taught by gentle instructions, and means ought to be used for
their furtherance in the knowledge of divine truths,l and where
there are the beginnings of true and saving grace in the heart, such
will, with a spiritual appetite, receive the sincere milk of the word,
that they may grow thereby,2 and a church ought to be careful not
to reject those, whom they judge to have the least degree of the
work of saving grace wrought in them.3
Thirdly. Inquiry must be made whether such a person's life and
conversation is answerable to such a profession, that he be likely to
adorn the gospel with a holy conversation.4 This regular carefulness is an indispensable duty of all regular churches, to use in the
admission of members; and though all due care be used, yet some
unsound. and rotten professors will creep in unawares, and have
crept into the purest churches,5 and the fallibility of churches in this
matter, is not to be urged, as an argument or ground to neglect the
duty incumbent on the churches, according to the rule of the word.
And after such examination, the question is to be put to the
church, whether they are all satisfied with the party's confession and
conversation; and if the answer be in the affirmative, then the pas1'Matt. xxviii. 19.         4 Titus ii. 11-15, iii. 8.
2 1 Peter ii. 2.             5 Jude 4; 1 John ii. 1): Acts v., xx. 29,
3 Rom. xiv. 1.                   30; Gal. ii. 4.




208                  CtIURCH DISCIPLINE.
tor or minister is to proceed to ask the party proposing if he be
willingly resolved, as God shall give ability, to walk in a professed
subjection to the commands and institutions of Christ revealed in
the gospel, and to give himself a member of that church in particular,l and to continue in the communion, faith, and order thereof, according to the gospel rules and directions; and after the person is
baptized according to the institution and command of Christ, and
come under the imposition of the hands of the elders of the churchl,
according to the practice of the apostles,2 the pastor, minister, or
elders, as presiding in the acts of the church's power, do receive
such a one into the communion and fellowship of that church in
particular. But if the church is not satisfied with the person's confession or conversation, it is proper, if the objections be of any
weight, to defer the party's admission until a more ample satisfaction
can be given, that all, if possible, may receive such with freedom in
love, and so to discharge all gospel duties towards him, as may promote his edification in the faith, and his increase in grace.'
And concerning those that are members of sister churches, their
admission is either transient or occasional admission; or when any
person is dismissed wholly from one church, and transmitted or recommended to another church of the same faith, order, and practice.
(1.) Such as are and continue members of other regular churches,
may, where they are well known, be admitted into transient communion, without a letter of' recommendation from the church they
belong unto: but from those a church hath no knowledge of, a testimonial letter is necessary, that a church may not be imposed on by
any loose or disorderly persons. (2.) Those whose residence is removed, or place of abode is more convenient to be with another
congregation than that of which they are members, are, upon
their request made to the church whereof such are members, to be
dismissed, and to have a letter from that church they are members
of, subscribed by the officers and members, and directed to tfle
church that the person is dismissed unto; whereby the party is discharged from his or her original relation of particular membership
1 Iomans xii. 1, xv. 7-9; 2 Corinthi-  2 Acts viii. 14-17; Heb. vi. 2.
ans viii. 5.                      3 2 Cor. i. 24; x. 8.




APPENDIX.                        209
to that church, and is transferred to the constant communion, watch,
and care of the other church: such persons are to be received upon
their proposal, according to the credentials they bring; except the
church they apply unto have a special reason to defer or refuse.
As it appears to have been the practice of believers, in the primitive times, to give themselves members of particular churches,' it
appears also that in the apostles' days, there were many distinct and
distant particular churches,2 which churches are several corporations
of men professing repentance from dead works, and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ, and incorporated by mutual consent, as before
mentioned, whose end is to glorify God by obedience to his revealed
will, and to their own edification in the faith, and the good of others,
so it is the duty of believers to give themselves in particular membership, in such a particular church as shall appear by the word of
God to be orthodox in the fundamental articles of the Christian religion, and to practise according to the mind of Christ declared in
the New Testament, in all gospel institutions and worship.
From which considerations, it appears the reasonable duty of every believer to give himself a member to such an orderly church as
is most conveniently situated, that is, meeting nighest the place of
his or her residence, for which there are these apparent reasons.
(1.) For men to give themselves members of a distant church, when
another of the same faith and gospel order is nigher, is for such a
person to put himself under a necessity of neglecting the ordinary
appointed meetings of that church, whereof he is a member, and
whereof the particular charge is given,3 that he might attend
and wait in the use of God's appointed means, for his edification by
the ministry of that church. (2.) Such puts himself under a wilful
necessity to neglect his duty of care over, and constant communion
with his fellow-members, and wilfully deprives himself of their care
over him, advice, Christian conversing, and brotherly loving instructions and counsels, that by the blessing of God might increase his
knowledge, grace, and comfort. (3.) Such cannot be assistant to
the church in discipline, contribution, and the like duties, nor cannot
1 Acts ii. 41, v. 13, 14.                     3 Heb. x. 25.
2 1 Cor. i. 2; Gal. i. 2; 1 Cor. xvi. 1; Phil. i. 1.
18*




210                 CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
be taken care of, and be assisted, without much unnecessary trouble,
by the church, in case of need. (4.) Such a practice tends directly
to the confusion of churches, and all church order, and suits well
with the humor of noisy, lifeless, loose, or covetous, niggardly persons. (5.) It is a way that the church cannot find what useful talents such persons have, to the benefit of the body of the church.
(6.) It is casting great contempt upon the nearer church, in her
ministry and order, and the like.
And here it is further to be considered, that as it is expedient for
persons to give themselves members of such regular churches, with
which they may keep the most intimate fellowship and communion
in all the parts of religious worship; so it is highly reasonable that
they, that are members of such regular churches, where the word is
purely preached, the ordinances of the gospel duly administered,
and gospel discipline is impartially practised, should continue their
membership with such church; although there be weakness, imperfection, and frailty, in the particular practical acts thereof; which,
while the affairs of the church are managed by men, even their holy
things will have iniquity as of old.' It is therefore unreasonable to
dismiss any member from a church that is near to any one's residence
to a church more remote, upon disgust taken at the management of
some particular case, wherewith such is not well pleased, and for
such cause, demands dismission; and it is unreasonable also to grant
a dismission to such a member, who should demand a dismission in a
peremptory manner, without giving a reason for such a demand; in
either of which cases such a dismission is not to be granted. (1.) Because by so doing, the greatest confusion would be introduced; for
one member would thus be dismissed to one distant church, and another to another distant church, and the other churches doing the
like, it can end in nothing less than the confusion of every church.
(2.) The same liberty that members have, pastors, ministers, ruling
elders, and deacons have also, whereby any church may dismiss her
members until she is unable to maintain worship and communi(on;
for those that reside near, are become members of a remote body,
and so unconcerned; and those that are members live remote, and
1 Exod11s xxv iii. 38.




APPENDIX.                         211
so under an impossibility to occupy their place. (3.) This, in the
tendency of it, is to remove the balance of churches, which is to
consist of such members as can, with the utmost conveniency, meet
together in one place, for both worship and government.l (4.) This
hath a tendency to alter the constitution of particular churches,
from being congregatiorial corporations, into the national or universal
notion of the church; which universal church we believe to be the
mystical body of Jesus Christ, which as such is not the seat of instituted worship and ordinances. Also, it is not reasonable to dismiss
to the world at large, nor to dismiss a member to a church, with
which the church dismissing cannot hold communion.
OF THE DUTIES OF CHURCH MEMBERS.
The members of churches owe all their duties in a way of obedience to the will of God revealed in his word; and their duties are
to be performed in love to our Lord Jesus Christ,2 who is the great
Prophet, Priest, and King of his church, which he hath purchased
with his own blood, unto whom all power in heaven and earth is
given, and is therefore our Lord and Lawgiver,5 who alone is head
of his church,6 his person is to be honored, and all his commands are
to be observed,7 all worship is to be ascribed unto him, as God blessed
forever; 8all church members, therefore, are under the strictest obligations to do and observe whatsoever Christ enjoineth on them, as
mutual duties towards one another.
The officers of the church, whom Christ hath appointed, are to be
respected. (1.) The deacons of the church, though they officiate
but in the outward concerns of the church, as in the section about
deacons is noted, if they are faithful, do purchase unto themselves a
good degree, are therefore to be respected.   (2.) Ruling elders
also are to be respected, seeing they are fitted of God, and called
by the church to go before the church, or to preside in acts of gov1 1 Cor. xi. 20, xiv. 33.         5 Isa. xxxiii. 22.
2 John xiv. 15.                   6 Eph. i. 22.
3 Acts xx. 28; Rev. i. 5; 2 Cor.  7 Heb. i. 2; John v. ~3.
v. 15.                         8 Rom. ix. 4.
4 Matt. xxviii. 18.               9 1 Tim. iii. 13.




212                  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.
ernment and rule.1  (3.) Ministers, who are the stewards of the
mysteries of the gospel, are in an eminent manner to be regarded
as being the ambassadors of peace,2 though they are not to hunt
for it, as the pharisees of old.3 The duties of church members towards their elders, teachers, ministers, and pastors, may be included
in their (1.) praying for them, that God would open a door of utterance unto them, to unfold the mysteries.4 (2.) To obey them in
the Lord, in whatsoever they admonish them, according to the word
of God.5 (3.) In following their example and footsteps, as far as
warranted by the word.6 (4.) In standing by them in all their
trials and afflictions, and in defending them in all good causes, as far
as in them lies; those of Asia are blamed 7 for turning away, or not
standing by the apostle.  (5.) In not exposing their persons for
their infirmities, as far as may be, considering the prosperity of the
gospel much depends on their good report.8 (6.) In contributing
towards their maintenance, that they may attend wholly on teaching and give themselves to the ministry of the word, and to prayer,9
the reason thereof is evident by a threefold law. (1.) The law of
nature, from whence the apostle argues.l~0 (2.) The Levitical law."
(3.) The gospel enjoineth and requireth the same."l Let these above
cited places of Scripture be considered with many others of like importance, and the nature and tendency of the work of the ministry
be well weighed, and it will be clear that it is a duty required of
God himself; and that not in a way of alms, as to the poor, which is
another standing ordinance of Christ, but it is to be performed in
love to Christ, and obedience to his laws, in order to support and
carry the interest of the gospel. Yet this is not to be given to any
one that may pretend to be a minister, or thrust himself upon a
church, or to such as run without a mission for filthy lucre's sake;
but churches ought to take a special care who to call forth to the
work of the ministry, according to the rule of instruction given by
1 1 Tim. v. 17.                          7 2 Tim. i. 15.
2 2 Cor. v. 20.                          8 Acts xxiii 5.
3 Matt. xxiii. 5-7.                      9 Acts vi. 4.
4 Eph. vi. 18-20.                        10 1 Cor. ix. 7-11.
5 Heb. xiii. 17-22.                      11 1 Cor. ix. 13.
6 1 Cor. iv. 16, xi. 1; Phil. iii. 17; Heb. xiii. 7.    12 Gal. vi. 6; 1 Cor. ix. 14.




APPENDIX.                          213
inspiration of God, be they learned or unlearned as to human learning, be they rich or poor as to worldly wealth.
The liberality of the people, if they be able, should surmount
the necessity of the minister, so as that he may exercise those acts
of love and hospitality, as is required of such, that therein he may
be exemplary in good works, etc. Moreover, it is a duty on all those
that attend on their ministry, to assist herein,' and as people do sow,
so shall they reap.2  When people neglect their duty towards their
ministers, such ministers must of necessity neglect their studies, and
betake to other secular employments to support themselves and
families, or be worse than infidels; then such people must be great
spiritual losers in their edification.  Yet when and where a church
is not able to raise a comfortable maintenance for to support their
minister, there it is not only lawful, but the duty of such ministers
to labor with their hands; for to leave such a congregation destitute,
to languish without the ministry, would be very uncharitable, and
smell very much of filthy lucre; and to expect from a people more
than they are able, would be oppression or extortion.
OF THE MANIFOLD DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS, ESPECIALLY TO
THE HIOUSEHOLD OF FAITH.
Some of them are these. (1.) Love unfeigned and without dissimulation, for all their things ought to be done in love.3  (2.) To
labor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.4 (3.) Endeavor for the edification and spiritual benefit of the whole botly,
that they all may grow up to be a holy temple in and for the Lord.'
(4.) That they all watch over one another for good.6 (5.) That
they do pray with and for one another.7 (6.) That they neglect
not the assembling of themselves together, for the celebrating of
divine worship, and so promote one another's spiritual benefit.s
1 Gal. vi. 6.                     5 1 Cor. xiv. 12, 26; Eph. iv. 12, 29, ii.
2 Gal. vi. 7, 8, vide Corifession of Faith,  21, 22.
27, ~ 10.                      6 Phil. ii. 3, 4.
3 John xiii. 34, 35; Rom. xii. 9, 10; xiii. 7 James v. 16.
8-10.                          8 Heb. x. 25; Acts ii. 42.
4 Eph. iv. 3.




214                iCHURCH DISCIPLINE.
(7.) That they use all means to keep the house of God in due order
and cleanliness, walking inoffensive towards one another, and all
others, with conscientious diligence, and so unanimously to contend
for the faith and truth once delivered to the saints, in the purity
thereof, according to the holy Scripture.'
OF CHURCH CENSURES.
Having spoken of the gathering together of a particular gospel
church, and its officers, and the rules whereby we are to be guided
in choosing and ordaining of them, and of the admission of members, etc., it is meet to give a short view of a church's duties and
authority in respect of censures upon offenders.
First, of Admonition.
(1.) Admonition is a holy, tender, and wise endeavor, to convince
a brother that he hath offended in matter of fact, or else is fallen
into a way, wherein to continue is like to be prejudicial to the party
himself, or some others; where the matter, whatever it be, and
the sinfulness thereof, with the aggravating circumstances attending
it, is to be chargred on his conscience, in the sight of God, with due
application of the word of God, which concerns his condition;
thereby leading him to his duty and true reformation. (2.) Admonition is private by one or more of the brethren, or more public by
the whole church. (1.) When one brother trespasses against another, the offended brother is not to divulge the offence, but to go in
a gospel way to the offender, and to use his endeavor to reclaim his
brother; and if he repents, the offended brother ought to forgive
him.2  But if the offending brother will not hear, then the offended
brother ought to take two or three other brethren, and they such as
may be the most likely to gain upon the offender; but if this admonition also takes no effect, it is to be brought before the church.3
(2.) The church, when matters come thus before them, shall admonish and endeavor to reclaim the offender, in the spirit of mneekness;
1 Psalm xciii. 5; Zech. xiv. 21; 1 Cor.    2 Matt. xviii. 15; Luke xvii. 3.
xiv. 33, 40; xi. 2.              3 Iatt. xviii. 16, 17.




APPENDIX.                        215
and if the brother that offended continues obstinate and impenitent,
the church is directed to exclude him.L
(1.) From whence it follows, every church member has somewhat
to do in his place.2 (2.) In case of private offences, it is preposterous to publish them, or acquaint the church or the elders thereof
therewith, before the two lower degrees of admonition are duly accomplished, and the offender has neglected to hear.  (3.) That
when matters are thus regularly brought to the church, then the
private proceedings may cease. (4.) That when private offences are
brought to the church without such proper private procedure, that
the church may and ought to refuse it, as not coming according to
gospel rule aforesaid.3 (5.) But when those things that begin in
private are thus regularly brought into the church, they must be
received and adjudged according to the said rule.4 So that it may
and doth oftentimes fall out, that those things that begin with private
admonition, do end in public excommunication.
Secondly, of Suspension.
(1.) A suspension may be, when the church is informed that a
member hath acted amiss, either in matters of faith or practice, and
not having satisfactory proof whether the information is true or false,
and the case requiring time to inquire therein, it is expedient to suspend such a person from communion at the Lord's table, until the
elders of the church can make suitable inquiry; as might be signified
by the law in the case of leprosy.5
(2.) Suspension is rather to be looked upon to be, when a church
doth debar a member from communion for some irregularity that he
may be guilty of, which yet doth not amount so high as to be ripe
for the great sentence of excommunication; but that the person, for
such irregularity, ought to be debarred of the privilege of special
communion and exercise of office, in order to his humiliation.6 Such
is not to be accounted as an enemy, but to be exhorted as a brother
in union, though not in communion: but if such a one remain im1'Matt. xviii. 17,              4 Matt. xviii.
2 Heb. xii. 15.                 5 Lev. xiii., xiv.
3 Matt. xviii.                   6 2 Thess. iii. 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15.




216                 CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
penitent and incorrigible, the church, after due waiting for his reformation, is to proceed to excommunication; 1 for that would be a not
hearing the church in the highest degree.
Thirdly, of Excommunication.
Excommunication is a judicial act or censure of the church, upon
an offender,.by the authority of Jesus Christ, and by his direction,
delivered to his church by himself or his apostles, in the New Testament, which a gospel church ought to put in practice, when matters
of fact require, according to gospel rule; as first, when a member,
after all due admonition, continues obstinate, and will hear no reproof.2 Secondly, when a member hath committed a gross sin,
which is directly against the moral law, and being notorious and
scandalous, and proved beyond dispute,3 then a church is immediately to proceed unto censure, notwithstanding any present
signs of conviction or remorse, for the necessary vindication of the
glory of God, the vindication of the church, also, and their holy profession; and to manifest their just indignation and abhorrence
against such wickedness.4  Thirdly, when a member is found to be
erroneous, defective, or heretical in some fundamental point, or to
swerve from the right faith, in the principles of the Christian religion.5
The manner of proceeding unto this great and awful instituted
ordinance, is: the church being gathered together, the offender also
having notice to come to make his answer and defence (if he comes
not, he aggravates his offence by despising the authority of Christ
in his church), the bod(y of the church is to have knowledge of the
offender's crime fully, and the full proof thereof as of plain matter
of fact; and after mature deliberate consideration, and consulting
the rules of direction given in the word of God, whether the offender
be present or absent, the minister or elder puts the question to the
whole church, whether they judge the person guilty of such crime
now proved upon him, is worthy of the censure of the church for
1 Matt. xviii. 17.                       41 Cor. v. 1-13.
2 Matt. xviii. 17.                       5 1 Tim. i. 19, 20.
31 Cor. v. 4, 5; 1Tim. v. 24; 2 Cor. x. 6.




APPENDIX.                      217
the same e? to which the members in general give their judgment;
which, if it be in the affirmative, then the judgment of the members
in general being had, or the majority of them, the pastor, minister,
or elder, sums up the sentence of the church, opens the nature of
the crime, with the suitableness of the censure, according to gospel
rule; and having thus proceeded, a proper time is fixed to put the
sentence in execution, at which time the pastor, minister, or elder of
the church, as his place and duty requires, is to lay open the heinousness of such a sin, with all the aggravating circumstances thereof,
and showing what an abominable scandal such an offender is become to religion, what dishonor it is to God, etc., applying the partitular places of Scripture that are proper to the case, in order to
charge the offence home upon the conscience of the offender if present, that others also may fear; showing also the awful nature of this
great censure, and the main end thereof, for the salvation and not
the destruction of the soul, and with much solemnity in the whole
society, calling upon God for his gracious presence, and his blessing
upon this his sacred ordinance; that the great end thereof may be
obtained; still expressing the deep sense the church hath of the fall of
this brother, with the great humiliation of the church, and great sorsow for, and detestation of, the sin committed. The said pastor,
minister, or elder, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of the congregation, and by and with the consent and according to the judicial sentence of the church, cuts off, and secludes such
an offender by name, from the union and communion of the church,
because of his offences; so that such a person is not thenceforth to
be looked on, deemed or accounted as a brother or member of such
a church, until God shall restore him again by repentance.
Which exclusion carries in it the full sense of our Lord's words,'
Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican; or of the
apostle,2 to deliver such a one to Satan; which is an authoritative putting of such a person out of the communion of the church, the kingdom of heaven, into the world, the kingdom of Satan, the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience, in order to his being humbled and broken under a
1 Matt. xviii. 17.      2 1 Cor. v. 5.
19




218                 CHURCII DISCIPLINE.
sight and sense of his sins, which is meant by the destruction of the
flesh, and to the end that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord.
Amongst the many disorders which church members may be guilty
of, and for the obstinate continuance therein, a church may and
ought to use the power that Christ hath given to exclude them from
her communion, that is one, which is when a member doth seclude
himself, and that not in any regular way, but contrary to all rule
and order; for when a church member, by reason of some offence
he hath taken at the church, or some of the members thereof, and
hath not done his duty according to the rule of the word, or else is
a dying away in religion, by one means or another, as by the love
of the world, change of condition in marriage, or not having his expected preferment in the church, or the like, doth, as it were excommunicate himself, the church, according to their duty, ought to
use their endeavors to reclaim such; which endeavors, if they prove
fruitless, and the party obstinate, the church ought not to acquiesce in
his irregular departure from them, as if all their bonds of relation
and duty were over, and no more was to be done, seeing the party
has usurped the power of the keys to himself; the church, therefore,
must maintain the power that Christ hath committed unto it, though
it cannot hinder the inordinate and unruly passions of such a one,
if God leaves him to it. He will run away from the church, rending himself schismatically off; breaking through all order and covenant obligations, in opposition to brotherly endeavors to hinder him,
and to stay him in his place; the church is to proceed judicially to
turn the key upon such a sinful, disorderly departure; and publicly
declare, that as such a one by name hath been guilty of such a
thing, naming his disorders, he is no longer in their communion, nor
under their watch and care, etc., and that such a person is not to return to their communion until he hath given satisfaction to the
church.l Such a separation or departure, is very sinful, for these
and the like reasons.  (1.) Because the church is a corporation
privileged with laws and rules for admittance and dimittance,
which ought to be observed.2 (2.) Such a departure is rude and
1 rIom. xvi. 17.     2 Matt. xviii.; Rom. xii. 4, 5.




APPENDIX.                          219
indecent, therefore dishonorable.' (3.) Because, if members may
take this liberty, all the officers of the church, ministers, ruling elders, and deacons may take the same liberty, which would soon unchurch any church, or at least be destructive to its beauty, comfort,
and edification.2 (4.) All members do covenant the contrary,3 and
therefore it is a breach of covenant, which is a black character.4
(5.) It destroys totally the relation between elders and people,
which God hath ordained.5 (6.) It is a usurping of the keys, or
rather stealing of them.6 (7.) It is schism; if there is such a thing
in the world, it is of particular churches.7 (8.) It is high contempt
of Christ in the government of his church.8 (9.) It is to break the
staff of beauty [covenant] and of bands and brotherhood too.9
(10.) It argues either some great undiscovered guilt lying on the
party, or some by-ends in his first seeking admission into such a
church.  All which put together, it declares the great unity of a
congregational gospel church, and the sinfulness of such disorderly
persons in breaking off without a just cause: but if any church
becomes heretical in principles, or idolatrous in worship, or immoral
in life, it is lawful for persons, after they have discharged their
conscience and duty in reproving and bearing witness against such
gross defections, to depart.'0
Other disorders and causes of discords in churches are these, and
many of the like:
1. When members of churches, by their ignorance of the rules of
discipline and right government of the church of Christ do not act
according to their duty; particularly when that rule n is not observed; and that is, either (1.) When offended members instead of
going to the offender to tell him his fault, will be divulging it disorderly to others, whether members or non-members. (2.) When offended members instead of acting according to the said rule, do conceal the matter from  the offender and every body else, lest they
should be looked upon as contentious persons: and thereby they suf11 Cor. xiv. 40.              7 1 Cor. xi. 18, xii. 25,
2 Johil vi. 67.               8 Jude xviii. 19; 2 Peter ii 10, 11.
3 Isa. xliv. 65.              9 Zech. xi. 10, 14.
4 2 Tirr. iii. 3.            10 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.
5 Matt. ix. 36.              11 Matt. xviii. 15, 16.
6 Amos vi. 13.




220                 CHURCH DISCIPLINE.
fer sin upon their brother, and are become guilty of other men's
sins, and thereby they suffer the name of God, their holy profession,
and the church, to lie under a reproach by their neglect; either of
which ways is very sinful, as being contrary to the express rule
given by our Lord Jesus Christ; and such ought, as being thereby
become offenders themselves, to be in a gospel way dealt with.
2. When an elder of a church do know that some of the members are immoral and scandalous in life, or heretical in matters of
faith and judgment, and yet bear with them, or connive at them.
3. When members of churches take liberty to go to hear at
other places, when the church is assembled to worship God, which is
directly contrary to Hebrews 10: 25, and is no less than breaking
covenant with the church they belong unto, and may soon dissolve
and unchurch any particular church; for, by the same rule that one
member takes such liberty, another may, yea, all the members may,
until their assembling entirely cease. And, moreover, it is casting
great contempt on the ministry of such a church, and may cause
others to be disaffected to the doctrine taught in such, though sound
and orthodox. Yet no restraint ought to be laid on members going
to hear at other places, where sound doctrine is taught, at other times.
4. When members take liberty to go to hear men that are corrupt in doctrine, and so suck in some unsound notions of religion,
and endeavor to corrupt others with what they have imbibed themselves. And, alas! how many in our unhappy days are corrupted
with Arminianism, Socinianism, and what not? Such cause trouble
and great disorders.
5. Another disorder that may cause discord, is, when members
are received without the general and unanimous consent of the
church; or when any are admitted, with whose confession, or life
and conversation, the generality of the members are not satisfied:
or when elders and ministers, or leaders of the church, are remiss
and careless in reception of members.
6. When a church shall receive a charge against a member, it
being an offence given by one brother to another brother, before an
orderly procedure has been made by the offended brother, according to the rule.l
1 Matt. xviii.




APPENDIX.                       221
7. When judgment passes with partiality, or some are connived
at out of favor or affection, and others censured out of envy without
due conviction. Levi was not to know his father, mother, or children in judgment.'
8. When the charges of a church are not equally borne by the
members according to their several abilities, but some are burthened
when others do little or nothing.
9. When accusations are received against an elder contrary to
the rule, which requires two or three witnesses as to matter of fact.
10. When any member shall divulge to persons not of the congregation, nor concerned in those matters, what is done in the
church meetings: the church in this respect, as well as in others, is
to be a garden enclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.3 This
often occasions great grief and trouble, and therefore such disorderly persons should be detected. Is it not a shame to any to divulge the secrets of a family? But far greater shame do such persons expose themselves unto.
11. When days of prayer, fasting, or thanksgiving, or days of
discipline appointed by the church, are not carefully observed and
kept.
In all these, and many other things of like nature, the members
of particular churches ought to give all diligence to walk worthy of
their vocation, and according to the rule and direction of the word
of God, that disorders may be prevented, and that church communion may be maintained in peace and purity, to the edifying of the
body of the church of Christ in love.
OF THE COMMUNION OF CHURCHES.
Every particular congregational church incorporated by and according to the institution of Christ in the gospel, and duly organized
according to the pattern of the primitive churches, hath sufficient
power from Christ to call and ordain its own officers; so that no
man, or set of men, have authority to choose officers for them, or
impose any officer on them, without their previous knowledge and
1 Deut. xxxiii. 9.    21 Tim. v. 16.      3 Cant. iv. 12.
19*




222                  CHURCII DISCIPLINE.
voluntary consent.1 Deacons are to be chosen by the multitudes.
Elders were ordained in every church by election or suffrage of the
church; and every particular church, as such, assembled with her
proper elders, hath sufficient power to receive members.3 And in
the exercise of any acts of discipline, such a church being convened
with her own officers or elders in the name of Christ, may act according to gospel rule in any case, even to excommunicate such
members as are found to be obstinate in disorders, or heretical in
principles, after due admonition, or such as are guilty of gross and
scandalous immoralities in conversation, etc., independent on any
other church power superior to itself, or higher judicatory lodged in
any man or any set of men, by any institution of Christ: and therefore, the elders of a church, meeting in the absence of the members,
or convened with the elders of other churches, are not intrusted
with a power to act for a church in admission of members, ordination, or censures, etc., and it is the duty of such a church to admonish any of her members or officers, their teacher or pastor,4 and exclude any too, when their crimes require, according to the rule of
the gospel.
And such particular congregational churches, constituted and organized according to the mind of Christ revealed in the New Testament, are all equal in power and dignity, and we read of no disparity between them, or subordination among them, that should
make a difference between the acts of their mutual communion, so
as the acts of one church should be acts of authority, and the acts
of others should be acts of obedience or subjection, although they
may vastly differ in gifts, abilities, and usefulness.
Such particular distinct churches, agreeing in gospel doctrine and
practice, may and ought to maintain communion together in many
duties, which may tend to the mutual benefit and edification of the
whole: and thereby one church that hath plenty of gifts, may and
ought, if possible, to supply another that lacketh.5 They may have
mutual giving and receiving,6 and mutual translation, recommen(lation, or dismission of members from one church to another, as occaI Acts vi. 5.                    4 Col. iv. 17.
2 Acts xiv. 2.3.                 5 Cant. viii. 8.
3 Acts ii. 41; Rom xiv. 7.       6 Phil iv. 15.




APPENDIX.                      223
sion may require. It is to be noted that persons called to office are
not to be dismissed as officers, but as members; though another
church may call such to the same office again.
By virtue also of such communion, the members of one such
church may, where they are known, occasionally partake at the
Lord's table with a sister church. Yet, notwithstanding such comlmunion of churches, by voluntary consent and confederation, the
officers of one particular church may not act as officers in another
churc.h, in any act of government, without a particular call thereunto from the other church where they occasionally come.
It is expedient that particular churches constituted in the way and
manner, and for the ends declared in the former part of this narrative, when they are planted by the providence of God, so as they
may have opportunity and advantage so to do, should by their mutual agreement, appoint proper times and places, to meet by their
respective messengers or delegates, to consider of such things as may
be for the common benefit of all such churches, for their peace,
prosperity, and mutual edification, and what may be for the furtherance of the gospel, and the interest of Christ in the world.
And forasmuch as it falls out many times that particular churches
have to do with doubtful and difficult matters, or differences in point
of doctrine or administration, like the church of Antioch of old,
wherein either of the churches in general are concerned, or any one
church in their peace, union, or edification; or any member or members of a church are injured, in or by any proceeding in censures
not agreeable to gospel rule and order; it is according to the mind
of Christ, that many churches holding communion together, shotld
meet by their messengers and delegates to consider of and to give
advice in or about such matters in difference; and their sentiments
to be reported to all the churches concerned; and such messengers
and delegates convened in the name of Christ, by the voluntary
consent of the several churches in such mutual communion, may declare and determine of the mind of the Holy Ghost revealed in
Scripture, concerning things in difference; and may decree the
observation of things that are true and necessary, because revealed
and appointed in the Scripture. And the churches will do well to
receive, own, and observe such determinations, on the evidence and




224                    CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.
authority of the mind of the Holy Ghost in them.' Yet such delegates thus assembled, are not intrusted or armed with any coercive
power, or any superior jurisdiction over the churches concerned, so
as to impose their determinations on them or their officers, under the
penalty of excommunication, or the like.2
Acts xv. 29.
2 See the Confession, Chap. 26, ~ 14,15. See also Dr. OWEN, On the Nature of the
Gospel Church, Chap. 11; and Dr. GOODWIN, Vol. IV. Chap. 8, 9, 10, etc., Of the
Government of the Churches of Christ.
THE END.




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BIOGRAPHIES AND WORKS ON M1ISSIONS.
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The subject of this Memoir was, for a quarter of a century, at the head of one of the most celebrated female seminaries in the country. During that period she educated more than three thousand young ladies. She was a kindred spirit to Mary Lyon.                    (1 7)




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A- A work admirably adapted'to the Family, the Sabbath, and the week-day School Library.
ANALYTICAL CONCORDANCE TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; or, the Bible presented under Distinct and Classified Heads or Topics.  By
JOHN EADIE, D. D., LL D., Author of " Biblical Cyclopeedia," " Ecclesiastical Cyclopredia," " Dictionary of the Bible," etc. One volume, octavo, 840 pp. Cloth, $3.00; sheep,
$3.50; cloth, gilt, $4.00; half Turkey morocco, $4.00.
The olbject of this Concordance is to present the ScRIrPTUEs ENTIRE, under certain classified
and exhaustive heads. It differs from an ordinary Concordance, in that its arrangement depends
not on WORDS, but on SUBJECTS, and the verses are printed in full. Its plan does not bring it at
all into competition with such limited works as those of Gaston and Warden; for they select doctriinal topics pre-cipally, and do not profess to comprehend as this THE ENTIRE BIBLE. The work
also contains a Synoptical Table of Contents of the whole work, presenting in brief a system of
biblical antiquities and theology, with a very copious and accurate index.
The value of this work to ministers and Sabbath-school teachers can hardly be over-estimated;
and it needs only to be examined, to secure the approval and patronage of every Bible student.
CRUDEN'S CONDENSED CONCORDANCE. A Complete Concord.
antce to the Holy Scriptures. By ALEXANDER CRUDEN. Revised and Re-edited by the
Rev. DAVID KING, LL. B. Octavo, cloth backs, $1.25; sheep, $1.50.
The condensation of the quotations of Scripture, arranged under the most obvious heads, while
It dislinashes the bssdk of the work, great7.facilitates the finding of any required passage.
"We have in this edition of Cruden the best made better. That is, the present is better adapted
to the purposes of a Concordance, by the erasure of superfluous references, the omission of unne.
cessary explanations, and the contraction of quotations, &c. It is better as a manual, and is better
adapted by its price to the means of many who need and ought to possess such a work, than the
formner large and expensive edition." - Puritan Recorder.
A CO!MMENTARY ON THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ACTS
OF  THE  A POSTLES. By IlORAT'lO B. HACKETT, D. D., Prof. of Biblical Literature and Interpretation, in the Newton Theol. Inst.  [HA  new, revised, and enlarged
edition. Royal octavo, cloth, $2.25.
c   This most important and very popular work has been thoroughly revised; large portions
entirely re-written, with the addition of more than one hundred pages of new matter; the result of
the author's continued, laborious investigations and travels, since the publication of the first edition.
(22)




WORKS FOR BIBLE STUDENTS.
NOTES ON  THE  GOSPELS.  Designed for Teachers in Sabbath Schools and
Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction. By HENRY J. RIPLEY, Prof. in New.
ton Theol. Inst. With Map of Canaan. Cloth, embossed, $1.25.
NOTES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. With a beautiful Malp,
illustrating the Travels of the APOSTLE PAUL, with a track of his Voyage from Cesarea
to Rome. By Prof. HENRY J. RIPLEY, D. D. 12mo, cloth, embossed, 75 cts.
NOTES ON THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS.
Designed for Teachers in Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes, and as an aid to Family
Instruction. By 1ENRY J. RIPLEY. 12mo, cloth, embossed, 67 cts.
The above works by Prof. Ripley should be in the hands of every student of the Bible, especially
every Sabbath-school and Bible-class teacher. They are prepared with especial reference to this
class of persons, and contain a mass of just the kind of information wanted.
CMALCOM'S NEW BIBLE DICTIONARY of the most important Names,
Objects, and Terms, found in the Holy Scriptures; intended principally for Sabbath,
School Teachers and Bible Classes. By HOWARD MALCOM, D. D., late President of
Lewisburg College, Pa. 16mo, cloth, embossed, 60 cts.
st. The former Dictionary, of which more than one hundred thousand copses were sold, is made
the basis of the present work; yet so revised, enlarged, and improved, by the addition of' new
material, a greatly increased number of articles, new illustrations, etc., as to render it essentially a
NEW DICTIONARY.
THE  EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY, as exhibited in the writings of
its apologists, down to Augustine. By W. J. BOLTON, of Gonville and Caius College, Canlbridge 12mo, cloth, 80 cts.
HARMONY QUESTIONS ON THE FOUR GOSPELS, for the use of
Sabbath Schools. By Rev. S. B. SWAIM, D. D. VoL I. I18mo, cloth backs, 121 cts.
The plan differs from all others in this, that it is based upon a HARMONY of the gospels. Instead
of taking one of the gospels, - that of Matthew, for instance, - and going through with it, the author
takes from ALL Of the gospels those parts relating to the same event, and brings them together in
the same lesson.
SABBATH-SCHOOL  CLASS BOOK; comprising copious Exercises on the
Sacred Scriptures.  By E. LINCOLN. Revised and Improved by REV. JOSEPH BANVARD,
author of " Topical Question Book," etc. 18mo, 121 cts.
United testimony of Dr. Malcom, author of " Bible Dictionary," Dr. Stow, " Doctrinal Question
Book," Dr. Hague, " Guides to Conversations on New Testament":
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work is well adapted to the end designed, having avoided, in a great degree, the evils of extreme
redundance or conciseness."
LINCOLN'S  SCRIPTURE  QUESTIONS; with answers, giving, in the
language of Scripture, interesting portions of the History, Doctrines, and Duties, exhibited
in the Bible. 8} cts. per copy; $1.00 per dozen.
09- Where Bibles cannot be furnished to each scholar, this work will be found an admirable
substitute, as the text is furnished in connection with the questions.
THE SABBATH-SCHOOL HARMONY; containing appropriate Hymns
and Music f-or Silb'ttli Schools, Juvenile Singing Schools, and Family Devotion. By
NATHANlXEL D. GOULD. 12t cts.                                           (23)




VALUABLE WORKS.
MOTHERS OF THE WISE AND GOOD. By JABEZ BURNS, D. D.
16mo, cloth, 75 cts.; cloth, gilt, $1.25.
A sketch of the mothers of many of the most eminent men of the world, and showing how
much they were indebted to maternal influence for their greatness and excellence of character.
MY  MOTHER; or, Recollections of Maternal Influence. By a New England Clergyman. With a beautiful Frontispiece. 12mo, cloth, 75 cts.; cloth, gilt, $1.25.
A writer of wide celebrity says of the book: "It is one of those rare pictures painted from life
with the exquisite skill of one of the Old Boasters, which so seldom present themselves to the
amateur."
THE  EXCELLENT  WOMAN, as Described in the Book of Proverbs  With
an Introduction by Rev. W. B. SPRAGUE, D. D. Containing twenty-four splendid Illustrations. Third thousand. 12mo, cloth, $1.00; cloth, gilt, $1.75 i extra Turkey, $2.50.
L- This elegant volume is an appropriate and valuable " Gift Book " for the husband to present
the wife, or the child the mother.
THE  SIGNET  RING, AND ITS HEAVENLY MOTTO. From  the German. Illus.
trated. 16mo, cloth, gilt, 31 cts.
5- Seldom within so small a compass has such weighty teaching been presented with such
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THE  MARRIAGE  RING; or, How to Make Home Happy. From the writings
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W ORIES BY IDER. TVWEXEDIE_ ~
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Christian Disciples. By Rev. W. K. TWEEDIE, D. D. With an elegant illustrated titlepage. 16mo, cloth, 63 cts.; cloth, gilt, $1.00.
A  LAMP  TO   THE  PATH; or, the Bible in the Heart, the Home, and the
Market-place. With all elegant illustrated title-page. 16mo, cloth, 63 cts.; clo. gilt, $1.00.
SEED-TIME  AND   HARVEST; or, Sow Well and Reap Well. A Book for
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n&' The above interesting works, by Dr. Tweedie, are of uniform size and style, and well
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GATHERED  LILIES; or, Little Children in Heaven. By Rev. A. C. THOMPSON,
Author of "The Better Land."  18mo, flexible cloth, 25 cts.; flexible cloth, gilt, 31 cts.
and cloth, gilt, 42 cts.
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This little volume contains a choice collection of pieces, in verse and prose, on the death and
future happiness of young children.
SAFE  HOME; or, the Last Days and Happy Death of Fannie Kenyon. With an
Introduction by Prof. J. L. Lincoln, of Brown University. 18mo, flexible cloth cover,
25 cts.; gilt, 31 cts.
This is a delightful narrative of a remarkable little girl, and is recommended to the attention,
particularly, of Sabbath Schools.                                          (2 4)




WORKS OF HUGH MILLER.
TSHE  OLD  RED  SANDSTONE; or, New Walks in an Old Field. Illustrated
with Plates and Geological Sections.  NEW  EDITION, REVISED AND MUCH ENLARGED,
by the addition of new matter and new Illustrations, etc. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
This edition contains over one hundred pages of entirely new matter, from the pen of Hugh
Miller. It contains, also, several additional new plates and cuts, the old plates re-engraved and
improved, and an Appendix of new Notes.
" It is withal one of the most beautiful specimens of English composition to be found, conveying inbformation on a most difficult and profound science, in a style at once novel, pleasing, and
elegant." - DaR. S PRAG UE - Albany Spectatw.
TH'E FOOT-PRINTS OFE- THE CREATOR; or, the Asterolepis of Stromness, with numerous Illustrations. With a Memoir of the Author, by Louis AGASSIZ.
12mo, cloth, $1.00.
DR. BUCKLAND said he would give his left hand to possess such power of description as this man.
TESTIMONY   OF  THE  ROCKS; or, Geology in its Bearings on the two
Theologies, Natural and Revealed. "Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the
field." —Job. With numerous elegant Illustrations. One volume, royal 12mo, cloth,
$1.25.
This is the largest and most comprehensive Geological Work that the distinguished author has
yet published. It exhibits the profound learning, the felicitous style, and the scientific perception,
Which characterize his former works, while it embraces the latest results of geological discovery.
But the great charm of the book lies in those passages of glowing eloquence, in which, having
spread out his facts, the author proceeds to make deductions from them of the most striking and
exciting character. The work is profusely illustrated by engravings executed at Paris, in the highest
style of French art.
THE  CRUISE  OF THE  BETSEY; or, a Summer Ramble among the Fossiliferous Deposits of the Hebrides. With Rambles of a Geologist; or, Ten Thousand
Miles over the Fossiliferous Deposits of Scotland. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
Nothing need be said of it save that it possesses the same fascination for the reader that charac.
terizes the author's other works.
MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS; or, the Story of my Educa,
tion. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. With a full-length Portrait of the Author. 12mo, cloth,
$1.25.
This is a personal narrative, of a deeply interesting and instructive character, concerning one of
the most remarkable men of the age.
MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND AND ITS PEOPLE.
With a fine Engraving of the author. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
o. A very instructive book of travels, presenting the most perfectly life-like views of England
and its people to be found in any language.
oRB ThAe above six volumses are furnished in sets, printed and bound in uniform style: viz.,
HEUGH  MILLER'S'WORKS, SIX VOLUMES. Elegant embossed cloth, $7.00 
library sheep, $8.00; half calf, $12.00; antique, $12.00.
MikACAULAY   ON   SCOTLAND.  A  Critique, from  the "Witness." 16mo,
flexible cloth, 25 cts.                                                   (2 6)




IMPORTANT NEW WORKS.
CYCLOP~.DIA OF ANECDOTES OF LITERATURE AND
THE  FINE  ARTS. Containing a copious and choice Selection of Anecdotes
of the various forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engravings, Music,
Poetry, Painting, and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary Characters and
Artists of different Countries and Ages, &c. By KAZLITT ARnINE, A. M., author of
" Cyclopoedia of Moral and Religious Anecdotes."  With numerous Illustrations. 725 pp.
octavo. Cloth, $3.00; sheep, $3.50; cloth, gilt, $4.00; half calf, $4.00.
This is unquestionably the choicest collection of Anecdotes ever published. It contains three
thousand andlforty Anecdotes: and such is the wondejful variety, that it will be found anl almost
inexhaustible fund of interest for every class of readers. The elaborate classification and Indexes
must commend it especially to public speakers, to the various classes of literary and scientific sllen,
to artists, msechanics, and others, as a DICTIONARY for reference, in relation to facts on the numberless subjects and characters introduced. There are also more than one hundred and fij'ty fine
Illustrations.
THE  LIFE  OF JOHN  MILTON, Narrated in Connection with the POLITICAL,
ECCLESIASTICAL, and LITERARY HISTORY OF HIS TIME. By DAVID MAssON, M.A., Professor
of English Literature, University College, London. Vol. I., embracing the period from
1608 to 1639. With Portraits, and specimens of his handwriting at different periods.
Royal octavo, cloth, $0.00.
This important work will embrace three royal octavo volumes. By special arrangement with
Prof. Masson, the author, G. & L. are permitted to print from advance sheets furnished them, as
the authorized American publishers of this magnificent and eagerly looked for work. Volumes two
and three will follow in due time; but, as each volume covers a definite period of time, and also
embraces distinct topics of discussion or history, they will be published and sold independent of
each other, or furnished in sets when the three volumes are completed.
THE  GREYSON  LETTERS. Selections from the Correspondence of R. E. H.
GREYSON, Esq. Edited by HENRY ROGERS, author of "Eclipse of Faith."  12mo, cloth,
$1.25.
" Mr. Greyson and Mr. Rogers are one and tho same person. The whole work is from his pen,
and every letter is radiant with the genius of the author. It discusses a wide range of subjects, in
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entitles Mr. Rogers to rank with Sydney Smith and Charles Lamb as a wit and humorist, and with
Bishop Butler as a reasoner. Mr. Rogers' name will share with those of Butler and Pascal, in the
gratitude and veneration of posterity." - London Quarterly.
" A book not for one hour, but for all hours; not for one mood, but for every mood; to think
over, to dream over, to laugh over." - Boston Journal.
" The Letters are intellectual gems, radiant with beauty, happily intermingling the grave and
the gay. - Christian Observer.
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM.  By PETER BAYNE, M.
A., author of "The Christian Life, Social and Individual."  Arranged in two Series, or
Parts. 12mo, cloth, each, $1.25.
These volumes have been prepared by the author exclusively for his American publishers, and
are now published in uniform style. They include nineteen articles, viz.:
FIRST SERIES: - Thomas De Quincy. - Tennyson and his Teachers. -Mrs. Barrett Browning. - Recent Aspects of British Art. - John Ruskin. - Hugh Miller. —The Modern Novel;
Dickens, &c. - Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell.
SECOND SERIES: — Charles Kingsley. -- S. T. Coleridge.- I'. B. Macaulay. -- Alison..- Wellington. - Napoleon. - Plato. - Characteristics of Christian Civilization. - The Modern University.
~- The Pulpit and the Press. - Testimony of the Rocks: a Defence.
VISITS TO EUROPEAN CELEBRITIES. By the Rev. WILLIAM B.
SPRAGUE, D. D. 12mo, cloth, $1.00; cloth, gilt, $1.50.
A series of graphic and life-like Personal Sketches of many of the most distinguished men and
women of Europe, portrayed as the Author saw them in their own homes, and under the most
advantageous circumstances. Besides these " pen and ink " sketches, the work contains the novel
attraction of afac-sinszle of the stanature of each of the persons introduced.  (2 8)




CHAMBERS' WORKS.
CHAMBERS' CYCLOPAEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. A
Selection of the choicest productions of English Authors, from the earliest to the present
time. Connected by a Critical and Biographical History.  Forming two large imperial
octavo volumes of 700 pages each, double column letter press; with upwards of 300
elegant Illustrations. Edited by ROBERT CHAMBERS. Cloth, $5.00; sheep, $6.00; full
gilt, $7.50; half calf, $7.50; full calf, $10.00.
This work embraces about one thousand Authors, chronologically arranged, and classed as
poets, historians, dramatists, philosophers, metaphysicians, divines, etc., with choice selections
from their writings, connected by a Biographical, Hlistorical, and Critical Narrative; thus presenting a complete view of English Literature from the earliest to the present time. Let the reader
open where he will, he cannot fail to find matter for profit and delight. The selections are gems -
infinite riches in a little room; in the language of another, " A WIIOLE ENGLISH LIBRARY FUSED
DOWN INTO ONE CHEAP BOOK I"
sa  THE AMERICAN edition of this valuable work is enriched by the addition of fine steel and
mezzotint engravings of the heads of SsIAKSPEAaRE, ADDISON, BYRON-; a full-length portrait of
DR. JOisNsoN; and a beautiful scenic representation of OLIVEIt GOLDSMITH and DR. JOHNSON.
These important and elegant additions, together with superior paper and binding, and other
improvements, renlder the AMERICAN far superior to the English edition.
W. IH. PRESCOTT, THE IIIsTORTAN, says, "Readers cannot fail to profit largely by the labors
of the critic who has the talent and taste to separate what is really beautiful and worthy of their
study from what is superfluous."
"I concur in the foregoing opinion of Mr. Prescott." - EDWARD EVERETT.
"A popular work, indispensable to the library of a student of English literature." —DR. WAYLAND.
" We hail with peculiar pleasure the appearance of this work." — North American Review.
CHAMBERS' MISCELLANY OF USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING  KNOWLEDGE.  Edited by WILLIAM CIlAMBERS. With elegant Illustrative Engravings. Ten volumes. Cloth, $7.50; cloth, gilt, $10.00; library sheep, $10.00.
"It would be difficult to find any miscellany superior or even equal to it. It richly deserves the
epithets'useful and entertaining,' and I would recommend it very strongly, as extremely well
adapted to form parts of a library for the young, or of a social or circulating library in town or
country." - GEO.. EMEIRSON, Esq. - Chairman Boston School Book Committee.
CHAMBERS' HOM1 E  BOOK; or, Pocket Miscellany, containing a Choice
Selection of Interesting and Ilstsuctive Reading, for the Old and Young. Six volumes.
16mo, cloth, $3.00; library sheep, $4.00; half calf, $6.00.
This is considered fully equal. and in sonme respects superior, to either of the other works of the
Chambers in interest; containining a vast fund of valuable information. It is admirably adapted to
the School or Family Library, furnishing ample variety for every class of readers.
" The Chambers are confessedly the best caterers for popular and useful reading in the world."
-Willis' Iio-,e Journal.
" A very entertaining, instructive, and popular work."- 2-. Y. Commercial.
"We do not know how it is possible to publish so much good reading matter at such a low
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stuff so often found in the hands of our young people of both sexes." - Scientific Am4erican.
" Both an entertaining and instructive work, as it is certainly a very cheap one." - Puritan Reeorder.
"If any person wishes to read for amusement or profit, to kill time or improve it, get' Chambers' Home Book."' - Chicago Timles.
CHAMBERS' REPOSITORY OF INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUS.
ING   PAPERS.  With Illustrations. A New Series, containing Original Articles.
Two volumes. 16mo, cloth, $1.75.
W SAME WORK, two volumes in one, cloth, gilt back, $1.50.                   (29)




VALUABLE TEXT-BOOKS.
THE LECTURES OF SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON, BART., late
Professor of Logic and Metaphysics, University of Edinburgh; embracing the METAPHIYS1,
CAL and LOGICAL COURSES; with Notes, from Original Materials, and an Appendix, contailing the Author's Latest D)evelopment of his Ntew Logical Theory. Edited by Rev.
HENRY LONGUEVILLE MANSEL, B. 1)., rof. of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy in
Magdalen College, Oxford, and JuHN VEITCH, M. A., of Ediiburgh. Il two royal octavo
volumes, viz.,
I. METAPHYSICAL LECTURES (now ready). Royal octavo, cloth.
II. LOGICAL LECTURES (in preparation).
G. & L., by a special arrangement with the family of the late Sir William Hamilton, are
the Authorized American Publishers of this distinguished author's matchless LECTURES ON METAPHYSICS AND LOGic, and they are permitted to print the same from advance sheets furnished
them by the English publishers.
MENTAL  PHILOSOPHY; Including the Intellect, the Sensibilities, and the
Will. By JOSEPH HIAVEs, Prof. of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Amherst College.
Royal 12mo, cloth, embossed, $1.50.
It is believed this work will be found pre-eminently distinguished.
1. The COMPLETENESS with which it presents the whole subject. Text-books generally treat
of only one class of faculties; this work includes the whole. 2. It is strictly and thoroughly SciENTIFIC. 3. It presents a careful analysis of the mind, as a whole. 4. The history and literature
of each topic. 5. The latest results of the science. 6. The chaste, yet attractive style. 7. The
remarkable condensation of thought.
Prof. PAnK, of Andover, says: " It is DISTINGUISHED for its clearness of style, perspicuity of
method, candor of spirit, acumen and comlprchensiveness of thought."
The work, though so recently published, has met with most remarkable success; having bees
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sountry, and bids fair to take the place of every other work on the subject now before the publie.
THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES, so classified and arranged as to facilitate the expression of ideas, and assist in literary composition. New and Improved Edition. By PETER MARK ROGET, late Secretary of the Royal
Society. London, &c. Revised and edited, with a List of Foreign Words definIed in Eng.
lish, and other additions, by BARNAS SEARS, D. D., President of Brown University.  A
NEw AMERICAN Edition, with ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 12mo, cloth, $1.50.
This edition is based on the London edition, recently issued. The first American Edition have
Ing been prepared by Dr. Sears for strictly educationnalpurposes, those words and phrases properly
termed "vulgar," incorporated in the original work, were omitted. These expurgated portions have,
in the present edition, been restored, but by such an arrangement of the matter as not to inter.
fere with the educational purposes of the American editor. Besides this, it contains important
additions of words and phrases not in the English edition, making it in all respects smore full aoed
perfect than the author's edition. The work has already become one of standard authority, both
in this country and in Great Britain.
PALEY'S  NATURAL  THEOLOGY.  Illustrated by forty Plates, with
Selections from the Notes of Dr. Paxton, and Additional Notes, Original ansd Selected,
with a Vocabulalry of Scientific Terms. Edited by Jots, WARE. M. D. Improved edition,
with elegant newly engraved plates. 12mo, cloth, embossed, $1.25.
This work is very generally introduced into our best Schools and Colleges throughout the country. An entirely new and beautiful set of Illustrations has recently been procured, which, with
ether improvements, render it the best and most complete work of the kind extant.
(32)




VALUABLE WORKS.
THE LIMITS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT EXAMINED. By
LHENRY LONGUEVILLE MIANSEL, B. D., Prof. of Moral and Mletaphysical Philosophy, Mlagdalen College, Oxford, Editor of Sir William Ilamilton's Lectures, etc. etc. With the
CoPIous NOTES of the volume translated for the American Edition. 12nLo, cloth, $125.
s&- This is a masterly production, and may be safely said to be one of the most Important works
of the day.
FIRST  THINGS; or, The Development of Church Life. By BARON STOW, D. D.
16mlo, cloth, 75 cts.
HIEAVEN.  By JAMES WILLIAM  KIMBALL. With an elegant vignette title-page.
12mo, cloth, $1.00.
"The book is full of beautiful ideas, consoling hopes, and brilliant representations of human
destiny, all presented in a chaste, pleasing and very readable style." -1 N. Y. Chsroncle.
THE PROGRESS OF BAPTIST PRINCIPLES IN THE LAST
HUNDRED  YEARS. By T. F. CURTIS, Professor of Theology in the Lewisburg
University, Pa., and author of " Communion," &c. 12mo, cloth, $1.25.
Eminently worthy of the attention, not only of Baptists, but of all other denominations. In his
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ciples. It is confidently pronounced the best exhibition of Baptist views and principles extant.
THOUGHTS ON THE PRESENT COLLEGIATE SYSTEM in the
United States. By FRANCIS WAYLAND, D. D. 16mo, cloth, 50 cents.
SACRED  RHETORIC; or, Composition and Delivery of Sermons.  By H. J.
RIPLEY, D. D., Prof. in Newton Thcol. Inst. To which is added, DR. WARE'S HIINTS
ON EXTEMPORANEOUS PREACHING. Second thousand. 12mo, cloth, 75 cts.
THE PULPIT  OF THE  REVOLUTION; or, The Political Sermons of the
Era of 1776. With an Introduction, Biographical Sketches of the Preachers and Histori —.
cal Notes, etc. By JOHN WINGATE THORNTON, author of " The Landing at Cape Anne,"
etc. 12mo, cloth. In press.
THE EIGHTEEN CHRISTIAN CENTURIES. By the Rev. JAMES
WHITE, author of " Landmarks of the History of England."  12mo, cloth. In press.
THE PLURALITY OF NTVORLDS. A NEW EDITION. With a SUPPLEMENTARY DIALOGUE, in which the author's Reviewers are reviewed. 12mo, cloth, $1.00.
This masterly production, which has excited so much interest in this country and in Europe,
will now have an increased attraction in the addition orf the Suppieient, in which the author's
reviewers are triumphantly reviewed.
THE  CAMEL; His Organization, Habits, and Uses, considered with referentu to his
introduction into the United States. By GEORGE P. MARsH, late U. S. Minister at Constantinople. 12mo, cloth, 63 cts.
This book treats of a subject of great interest, especially at the present time. It furnishes a more
complete and reliable account of the Camel than any other in the language; indeed, it is believed
that there is no other. It is the result of long study, extensive research, and much personal observation, on the part of the author, and it has been prepared with special reference to the experiment
of domesticating the Camel in this country, now going on under the auspices of the United States
government. It is written in a style worthy of the distinguished author's reputation for great learn:
ing and fine scholarship.                                                 (3 6)




GOUJL   ANII LNUOLN,
59 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON,
Wrould call particular attention to the following valuable works described
in their Catalogue of Publications, viz.:
Hugh Miller's Works.
Bayne's Works.  Walker's Works.  Miall's Works.  Bungener's Work.
Annnal of Scientific Discovery. Knight's Knowledge is Power.
Krummacher's Suffering Saviour,
Banvard's American Histories. The Aimwell Stories.
2Tewcomb's Works. Tweedie's Works. Chambers's Works. Harris'Works.
Kitto's Cyclopuedia of Biblical Literature.
Mrs. Knight's Life of Montgomery.  Kitto's History of Palestine.
Whewell's Work. Wayland's Works. Agassiz's Works.
onn     r l Scien ce,
A.David A. We-_s.
Williams' Works. Gnyot's Works.
hompson's Better Land. Kimball's Heaven. Valuable Works on.   issions.
Haven's Mental Philosophy. Bucan h n's Modern Atheism.
Cruden's Condensed Concordance. Eadie's Analytical Concordance.
The Psalmist: a Collection of Eymns.
Valuable School Books. Works for Sabbath Schools.
Memoir of Amos Lawrence.
oetical Works of  ilton, C isowper, Scott. Charlegant  iniature Volumes.
Arvine's Cyclopadia of Anecdotes.
Ripley's Notes on Gospels, Acts, and Romans.
prague's European Celebrities.   arsh's Came l and the Lit.allig.
Roget's Thesaurus of English  Words.
Hackett's NGotes on Acts. M'Whorter's Yahveh Christ.
iebold and Stannius's Comparativene Eadies Anarcou's Geological Concoap, rdance. S.
Religioust: a iscellaneous Works.
W orks in the varioun, Cowepartments of Liter ature Science and Art.
Works in the various Departments of Literature, Science and Art.