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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57955	A vindication of the baptized churches from the calumnies of Mr. Michael Harrison, of Potters Pury in Northampton-shire. Being an answer to his two books, intituled, Infant baptism God's ordinance. By William Russel, M.D. A lover of primitive Christianity.	Russel, William, d. 1702.	1697 (1697)	Wing R2360A; ESTC R218555	79,105	138

A VINDICATION OF THE Baptized Churches From the Calumnies of Mr. MICHAEL HARRISON Of Potters-Pury in Northampton-shire Being an Answer to his two Books Intituled Infant Baptism God's Ordinance By WILLIAM RVSSEL M.D. A Lover of Primitive Christianity None of old were wont to be Baptized but in a grown Age and such as desired it Ludovic Viv. de Civit. Dei lib. 1. Cap. 27. Baptizing of Children was not in use in Paul's time Erassmus on the Romans There 〈…〉 such thing as Sprinkling used in Baptism in the Apo●●●●…s time nor many Ages after them Mr. Mede on Titus 3.5 The Baptism of Infants hath not been practised in England for about sixty Years Infant Rantism being introduced in the room thereof Why therefore should Mr. Harrison revive an Abdicated Controversie and force his Discourse upon us about a Non-entity For having laid aside the Commandment of God ye hold the Tradition of men making the Word of God of none effect Mark 7.8 13. LONDON Printed for the Author in the Year 1697. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER Christian Reader OUr real Purpose and Design in presenting this small Epistle to thy View and serious Consideration is to satisfie all who patiently wait for the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ and all who have perused that scandalous Pamphlet set forth by Mr. Michael Harrison of Potters Pury But especially to the satisfying of all poor Souls who may be dissatisfyed inhabiting in and about Stony Stratford Yardly Gubbin Potters Pury Pauls-Pury and elsewhere and also to clear our selves from all those uncharitable Reflections and scandalous Aspersions which Mr. Harrison hath ungratefully given forth against us who are falsly called Anabaptists Therefore seeing the Cause of God lye at stake and his Holy Truth defamed can do no less than endeavour to clear our selves and Vindicate our Lord and Master's Cause owned by Us and held forth in Holy Writ That we are no Disturbers of the Publick Peace but endeavour to live in Love and to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace is very well known to some of you And that we are not either envious or troublesome in Matters of Religion wherein we are obliged to excel in Love and Virtue which may evidently appear in our Carriage towards Mr. Harrison when first he came into these parts who more ready to Vindicate him and to stop the Mouths of them that reproachfully defamed him than we have been But Mr. Harrison Ahab like 1 Kings 18.17 retorteth on us as though we were the Troublers of Israel when he at the same time is setting up his Posts by God's Posts and Contemning our Lord and Saviour's own Ordinance and Appointment and instead thereof sets up Will-worship and Humane Tradition as the Common-Prayer-Book declares they doubt not but that God favourably allows this Charitable Work of theirs in bringing Infants to Holy Baptism Do but Observe the Words and how plainly they are laid down then any Unprejudiced Man may see how Mr. Harrison Contradicts the Church of which he was a Minister so many Years But what is that and many more of his sayings but to darken Counsel by Words without Knowledge Job 38.2 But he hath Confidence enough when he thinks to prove Infants Baptism to be God's Ordinance in a Book of a Groat whenas his Predecessors with all their Study and Pains could not do it with all their great Volumes But Christian Reader that thou mayest be informed of those Ignorant or Wilful Abuses Mr. Harrison throws upon us and how he Contradicts himself like Mr. Baxter whose Arguments are his Proof and his Reflections his Arrows which he shoots furiously at his despised Neighbours beyond the Rule of Christianity yea of Civility But that thou mayest know whether Mr. Harrison's Heart and Tougue goes together consider these following Particulars First That he asserts from the Pulpit and the Press in his Printed Book that our Way of Baptizing over Head in Water is not lawful but a heinons sin and after this Book was printed and published Mr. Harrison confessed and declared in the presence of many he did believe and allow our way of Baptizing to be lawful and warrantable by the Word of God Secondly Mr. Harrison declared in his own House in Potters-Pury in the presence of us and many others That God's Decree was before his Foreknowledge Herein we hope his Fallacy will plainly appear to the World as it doth in many more of his Assertions which you may see viz. when he saith That God hath from all Eternity decreed a particular number of Mankind to be unavoidably damned and leaveth them without any Means of Mercy or Hopes of Recovery And further he adds That Christ never dyed for them But these things being so Erroneous in the Eyes of most Christian People he would fain cover his Opinion with applause viz. That Christ dyed not for all alike contrary to his former Assertions Thirdly Mr. Harrison hath greatly defamed the Works of Mr. Henry Danvers in his last Book and since that same Book was Published Mr. Harrison hath declared publickly that he had never seen any Book of Mr. Danvers's Writings which is admirable that he which pretends so much Honesty and Civility should abuse a Man of so much Wisdom Larning Honesty Sobriety and Holy Conversation though now deceased and yet to confess he knew him not nor his Writings all which shews his Prejudice against the Truth And many more things he hath unjustly charged against us but not being willing to burthen the Impartial Reader nor tire your Patience with Mr. Harrison's Book which is so full of Contradiction to his own Confession at other times and therefore we shall not particularize that which is so full of Errors but shall commit the following Treatise to your Perusal So Christian Readers Desiring your Christian Consideration and wishing God may be pleased to give you a Discerning Spirit to discern between Truth and Error and to weigh all things herein by the Word of Truth so wishing all good Success to your Holy Progress and that ye may go on in Holiness and be Happy here and Eternally hereafter is the Desire of us who are and desire to remain Servants to all in the Bond of the Gospel George Boulton John Brittain jun. William Wright THE AUTHOR TO THE READER Courteous Reader IT is my unhappy Lot at this time to be engaged with Mr. Michael Harrison in this Controversie Not spontaneously but by the Importunity of others The Cause I am engaged in is good not only as it is Causa Dei but also as it is in the just Defence of his people from those invidious Calumnies he hath thrown upon them All Men esteem a Defensive War lawful because it 's to preserve themselves in their own just Rights Mr. Harrison hath dealt by the Baptists as the French King hath by the Potentates and People of Europe entered into a War against them who did him no Injury but lived in Peace and

it for he hath written two Books already and not one Argument in either of them that concludes the thing in Question And to tell you my Thoughts upon it I am of Opinion if he should write a hundred Books it will be still the same for he hath run over nine Arguments twice to no purpose For there is nothing of the Point in question inferr'd in any of them And I know the Reason It is not simply for want of Parts and Learning but for want of Matter for that which is not cannot be proved to be but Infant-baptism is not an Ordinance of God and therefore it cannot be proved so to be And whereas he doth allow he cannot shew us a Command for it by abusing us for but demanding it of him I am sure his Attempt to prove that to be an Ordinance of God by Consequence only when he hath granted there is no express Command is too great a Task for him ever to perform And if he would take my Advice I would not have him so much as attempt it any more because it 's im●ossible to be done But why doth Mr. H. tell us Baptism is a Seal of the New Covenant If it be his Arguments are all out of doors for a Seal is not to be set to a Blank as it must be if applied to Infants Besides he is mistaken in the whole of his Position for Circumcision is only said to be a seal of the Righteousness of Faith to Abraham and not to the rest of his Posterity Rom. 4.9 Faith is reckoned to Abraham for Righteousness And in the 10th Verse he tells us it was before he was circumcised But in Ver. 11. he received the sign of Circumcision a seal of the Righteousness of the Faith which he had yet being uncircumcised that he might be the Father of all them that believe tho' they be not circumcised that Righteousness might be imputed unto them also This is the only Text that I find the Word is used in as applied to Circumcision and here it is restrained to Abraham only and not applied to any other Person whatsoever I do think therefore it was an unwary Expression of Mr. H. to make Circumcision a Seal of the Covenant of Grace under the Law to all circumcised Infants when it 's applied by Paul to Abraham only and not to any one of his Posterity Nor could it be because it was to him as a Seal of that Promise that he should be the Father of all Believers which could not be true of Individuals nor of any other but himself it being commanded to them for other Ends. As for his calling Baptism a Seal of the New Covenant I must say the same of it as of the other For 1. It is no where called so in all the Holy Scripture and therefore no metaphorical Use to be made of it 2. The Holy Scriptures do tell us 〈◊〉 other thing that is the Seal of the New and everlasting Covenant wherewith Believers are sealed under the Gospel and that is the Holy Spirit 2 Cor. 1.21 22. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts Ephes 1.13 After ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of Promise Ephes 4.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of Redemption The Learned Dr. Cox upon these words Rom. 4.11 saith It is Genitivus Speciei as when we read the City of Jerusalem for the City Jerusalem and the like For we read not saith he that any other Ordinance No not Baptism is so called in Scripture but in the New Testament the sealing of Believers is attributed to the Holy Ghost For it is not possible to conceive that Circumcision should be a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith c. to one that never had Faith And it is equally absurd to say that Circumcision was a Seal unto all its Subjects of the Righteousness of Faith which they had while uncircumcised as to affirm that it was the Seal of a paternal relation to all Believers unto every one that received it And I hope this Gentleman will allow me to say that it 's more absurd now under the Gospel wherein all the Children of the Covenant are to be taught of God and all of them to know God that any should affirm that Baptism is a Seal to Infants who have no Faith at all neither in Habit nor in Act espeeially seeing it 's no where called so in the Holy Scriptures If men ●●●ough the Lightness and Vanity of their Minds must needs play with metaphorical Expressions in Scripture yet I know not how they should have a liberty to impose words upon us as Mr. H. doth which are not at any time nor in any place so much as mentioned This is our Case Mr. H. will have Baptism called the Seal of the Covenant we will not allow it him because it 's no where so called in Scripture But suppose we should it would ruine his beloved Cause for then it could be administred to none but such who are true Believers But before Mr. H. goes any further he proposes this Question Who we are to understand by the Children in the Text viz. Acts. 2 39. His Answer is No doubt but they are the very same which in Gen. 17 are called Seed The Reason he gives for it is from the Etymology of the Greek word there used The Word saith he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used for little sucking Babes Matt. 21.18 and 1 Cor. 7.14 How he came to give us this sence of the Word so contrary to the Scope of the place I know not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular is rendred thus by a late famous Grecian A Child an Off-spring and in the plural a numerous Off-spring In the 2d Epistle of John Ver. 1. he uses the same Words as in Acts 2.39 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The elder unto the elect Lady and her Children Here it 's rendred Children as it is in Acts. 2.39 but not little sucking Babes For you have their Character given in Ver. 4. I rejoyced greatly that I found of thy Children walking in truth as we have received a commandment from the Father And he writes to her and them in the plural to look-to themselves and to 〈◊〉 false Teachers c. And in the last Verse 〈◊〉 saith The Children of thy Elect Sister greet thee Now these things can no ways agree with Mr. H's little sucking Babes And he hath every whit as much Reason to give this sence of the word here as in Acts 2.39 it being the same Word But let us examine his other two Texts In Matt. 21.18 Now in the morning as he returnned into the City he hungred This I am sure hath neither the word nor thing he intends But I suppose he intended the 15th Verse And when the chief Priests and