abominate also the Christian education of their children so as in this respect the unbeleevinge husband or wife and the children also though themselves for the present unbeleevers by reason of the willingnes of the one to cohabite and the subjection of the other to Christian education may in that sence be said to be sanctified or made holy being as it were deputed to it and in the way of preparation for it so as the unbeleeving parent the childrē of that mixt birth may be called as Tertullian sayes Candidati timoris and as afterward by others Candidati fidei Probationers or compettitors for feare and faith the words following vers 16. seemes to favour such an interpretation For vvhat knovvest thou O vvife vvhether thou shalt save thy husband or hovv knovvest thou O man vvhether thou shalt save thy vvife there being already wrought a good pleasure or willingnes to abide and cohabite on the unbeleevers part husband or wife and the children in that respect being subjected to Christian education and to the beholding of holy examples true cōversion and faith which brings them into estate of salvation may be in time accomplisht in them to which they seeme in some sort destin'd by the providence of God in such a yoake-fellow or such parents So sanctification is predicated of those who are destined or prepared to such an end so God sayes of the Medes and Persians Esay 13.3 I have commanded my sanctified ones that is such as I have prepared for so Calvin upon that place sayes that sometimes sanctification is referred to regeneration which is peculiar to the elect of God sometimes it signifies to prepare or destine to a certain end so those unbeleeving parents by their willingnes to abide with beleevers their children in regard of the opportunity of a holy education seeme to be as it were destined or prepared for regeneration and for that state which accompanies salvation and in that respect as in a large sence may be called sanctified or holy Which consideration if it may give them a greater accesse to ordinances proper for them or stirre up others to lay out themselves in a more peculiar and particular manner for their conversion I shall not hinder it but on the contrary thinke that such providences speake much and that as they give grounds of hope and so of endeavour so there may be much of duty towards them in regard of the opportunity that families and churches that parents masters ministers have to doe good to such who though strictly they may not be called church members no more then strictly sanctified that is regenerated by the holy Spirit yet so farre as in the respects before mentioned they may be tearmed sanctified that is by a providence destin'd as it were and prepared for God so farre the church within whose pole they seeme by a providence to live and to be cast ought to have a more especiall eye after them and care of them by vertue at least of that generall injunction As you have opportunity doe good to all men especially to the houshold of faith under the shadow of which these are come But whether you take either of these sences or both for they may both stand in severall respects and regarding the text with a different aspect you will surely find nothing to ingraft Baptisme upon For whether the children are sanctified to the beleeving parents use as all other things are not unholy in themselves which to the unbeleever are not or whether in the second sence they are sanctified that is as it were destined for holynes of which by vertue of a great providence in respect of their education they are made Candidati that is probationers or competitors as when men stand for a place or office and as the Catechumini of old were called yet can they by no meanes in either of these respects be qualified for or made the subject of Baptisme which presupposeth as hath formerly bene shewed another kind of holynes proper to and inherent in the party namely regeneration and nevvnes of life not such an one as is competible to an unbeleever either parents or children It was but necessary to speake something to this place which beares amongst many the weight of so great a building as infant Baptisme though if I could find here such a holynes for infants as wee all wish to ours namely justifying faith regeneration yet I should no more judge it meete to baptize them then to preach to them or to administer the Lords supper to them they being as capable of the word as baptisme and of one mysterious ceremony as well as another which hath bene a reason I doubt not why many formerly and many at this day doe administer the Lords supper to infants by vertue of a parallell ordinance to Baptisme Nor doe I know the reason why the one should be refused where the other is deem'd a due But enough I hope for this which truely the contests of others rather then any scruple which hath fallen upon my spirit from these words hath made me say so much of CHAP. XV. In which the authority of the Fathers and the practise of antiquity touching the subject of Baptisme is considered THe authority of the Fathers and the practise of ancient times is to many a great argument for the Baptizing of infants to me that looke upon such argumentations as not of the first magnitude collaterall and such as may truely and as often be brought for the patronising of errors as truth they are of no great consideration yet to satisfy others more then my self there must be something spoken to this head In which I shall consider especially these two things first whether by the witnesse of story Infant Baptisme have injoyed a quiet and peaceable possession in the church from the Apostles times downeward till of late it was interrupted by some few evill spirits in the times of Luther as some men would give us to beleeve Secondly upon what grounds those Fathers which are alleadged for the chief patrons of Infants Baptisme went for if they have erred in the reason of the foundation it will be easilyer beleeved that they did also in the building We will consider first of this latter I will give you their grounds either as I have reade them my self or as I find them quoted by Bellarmine Tom. 3. lib. cap. 8. whose quotatiōs I shall take for truth till I find the contrary for here hee hath to doe with the Anabaptists enemies in this point alike common to him with most of those that are tearmed Protestants First hee quotes the testimony Dionisij Areop qui lib. Eccles Hier. c. ult part ult ab Apostolis traditum affirmat ut infantes baptizentur Iusti five quicunque est auctor earum quaest qu. 56. parvulos baptizatos salvari alios non item That infants baptized are saved others not Orig. lib. 5. in cap. 6. ad Rom. Ecclesia inquit ab Apostolis traditionem
of Christ I answer that if you will hope of them you neede dispaire of none especially where the sound of the Gospel is and it is but stretching the line of your hope and charity a little farther and you may baptize all Secondly it is not a hope you must goe upon for the giving of ordinances holy seales but a judgement Paul called the saints positvely faithfull and elect and said it vvas meete for him to judge and thinke so of them all and when we come to admit members if they give but onely ground of hopes wee let them stay for their owne profit and the discharge of our duty till they can give us ground of a judgement Thirdly the Apostle sayes positively they are holy and therefore what ever holynes it is it is no longer the subject of your hopes but your judgement yee ought to judge them so to assure your selves they are so If therefore by a generall consent the infusion of holy habits depends upon election we must consider upon what election depends before wee can make up a judgement for the infusion of habits if that depends upon the holynes of the parents you say some thing but surely every honest heart will graunt that as holy parents themselves are both loved elected for Christs sake so God loves and elects their infant children not for their sakes but both them and their children for Christ alone and to make God consider as the object of childrens election the faith of their parents is worse then the opinion of the Arminians who make faith workes foreseene the object of every particular mans electiō so as if election must precede the infusion of holy habites which must qualify for infant baptisme experience shewes ordinarily by the rules which Christ hath left us to judge by the fruites and effects that the children of godly parents proove not ever holy and that the election of God for the child depends not upon the holynes or faith of the parent but upon his owne free grace in Christ Then the judgement will seeme to rise up very coldly and lamely for the Baptisme of infants of holy parēts which must as themselves confesse be first qualified with the infusion of holy habits But secondly I would know of these men why for the making good of their infant Baptisme they should determine God ordinarily to an extraordinary way of working converting which is the infusion of gratious habits in that age for faith in the ordinary way comes by hearing but this way of being borne Christians that is charged and qualified with holy habits is not by hearing but by an immediate revelation and in a way so extraordinary and strange to us that though we find cause to assent that it is sometimes done yet how it is done is a mighty mistery altogether unknowne to us And if you object that though this may be extraordinarie to men of age yet it is a way of converting ordinary to children who are not capable of the other way Answ I am sure that all men of age were children once and wee find by the effect it is not ordinary to such for wee find them so farre from being borne againe though borne of Christian parents and baptized that a great part of their life is often spēt in an unregenerate estate and their conversion prooves very visible evident to themselves and others so as it appeares not to be the ordinary way of conversion but at the best the extraordinary and particular way to such infants as fall under election and come not to that use of reason and understanding by which they might receive faith by hearing now certainly an extraordinary way of working must never proove to be the ground or qualification of an ordinary administration But then thirdly I would aske why this holines that is this faith and conversion in infants being wrought if it be at all in a hidden secret and invisible way we should seale it and confirme it to them and conveigh also more of the same by a sensible intelligible ordinance That it is so wee are forc't to reason our selves into it because no uncleane thing shall enter into the kingdome of heaven and therefore how it can be cleansed and sanctified though wee know it not yet wee suppose it is if it be saved Now it seemes strange that that faith which we know not how to goe about to worke or to beginne yet we know how to seale and how to confirme we use to say thinges are preserved and nourisht as they are made the way supposed to convert is immediately from God the way used to seale and confirme this is mediate by an ordinance the way of conversion is invisible mysticall secret the way to seale it is evident visible and teaching for the Sacraments conveigh to us more concionis after the manner of a sermon Now the understanding cannot be moved but by understanding nor the eye but by seeing nor the eare but by hearing to say therefore that faith is sealed or faith is increased by an outward teaching ordināce which shall neither stryke our sence nor our understanding is very hard to receive a man must have his understanding his eares paved to heare such a saying and must of necessity have accustomed himself to disgest many incongruites and contradictions before hee can beare so notable and visible an one Fourthly I would aske what needeth this leaping over hedges what needs all this host why cannot this child supposed to be elected and converted in a secret invisible way for without that you will not pretend to baptize him rest quietly in that state in the armes of God who onely can and onely hath administred unto him till hee shall come in a due season and to his best advantage to have that sealed to him which shall be discovered to be in him how long doe those who are of age and are qualified for them stay often without Sacraments because they would misse nothing of the order either for want of a church state or a lawfull minister Wee all know assuredly our children have reason because the rationall soule is the forme of a man I would we could be as assured of their grace and wee all pretend so much love to them as to improove this principle and instruct them timely in things for their good for the use of this life and a better and yet we should account him a fond father that would lye lowing in his childrens eares and loose his sweete words before the time of the use of reason come I beseech you cōsider whether it be not the same thing If therefore we could be assured that all childrē had that grace so timously infused which wee can scarce hope for yet how much better were it for the ordinance sake which seemes otherwayes to be profaned as much as if you should preach a sermon to a child and for my childs sake to stay till hee understand
unbaptized since it is not my part here to proove that infant Baptisme as well as many other unwarrantable practises crept not in betimes but to shew by story what was the most usuall and authenticke practise of the administration of this ordinance or what was the opinion and judgement of the most antient and learned men about it The next authority I shall bring is of Nazianzen another Greeke Father a man of great esteeme authority he plainly councells that Baptisme should be differred Donec pueri de fide sua aliquid possint respondere till children should be able to ansvver something of their faith and therefore councells to deferre Baptisme at least till the third yeare of their age Wherein although hee made hast not being altogether perhaps free from the superstition of the daunger of dying without Baptisme which crept in betimes yet overcome by the truth and the reason of the ordinance hee judged it fit to deferre it till such time as they were capable of having manifesting actuall faith This famous authority of a man so great and learned Bellarmine answers onely thus That other Fathers vvere of another minde and that the commodity is very little but the daunger to wit according to his opinion of the necessity of Baptisme to salvation is very great The next and last authority I shall bring shall be that of Tertulliā who flourished about 203. yeares after Christ the most famous of the Latin Fathers of him Hierom in an epistle of the Christian writers affirmes that nothing vvas more learned or acute a man of that authority with the famous and antient Cyprian that hee called him his master and as Hierome affirmes of him hee never past a day vvithout the reading of Tertullian This Tertullian in a treatise that hee hath of Baptisme towards the end hath these expressions first in the generall Baptismum non temerè credendum esse sciant quorum officium est That Baptisme is not slightly or rashly to be committed to any let them knovv vvhose duty it concernes To give to every one that asketh belongs to almes rather consider this Give not that vvhich is holy to dogs nor cast your pearles to svvyne And lay hands suddainly on no man least you partake of their sinnes then hee apologizeth why the Eunuch Paul were so soone baptized then goes on Itaque pro cujusque personae conditione ac dispositione etiam aetate cunctatio baptismi utilior est praecipue tamen circaparvulos Therefore in regard of the condition and disposition of each person the differring of Baptisme is more proffitable especially for young children for vvhat necessity is it sayth hee for the vvitnesses to expose themselves to daunger c. It is true the Lord saith do not forbid them to come to me let them come therefore vvhen they grovvolder vvhen they learne vvhen they are taught vvhy they come Fiant Christiani quum Christum nosse potuerint Let them be made Christians vvhen they can knovv Christ Then he tells them They deale more vvarily in secular things that divine thinges are given vvhere they vvould not betrust earthly And lastly concludes that they vvho understand the vveight of Baptisme vvill rather feare the attaining then the differring of it adding that Fides integra secura est de salute An intier faith is secure of salvation Thus the excellent antient Tertullian Nor can that stand to any purpose which some who are loath to have so great and antient an authority against them in the point of infāt Baptisme alleage that parhaps Tertullian speakes here of the Baptisme onely of those infants whose parents were unbeleevers because hee speakes of the daunger of the witnesses or suerties for where the parents are Christians there the witnesses seeme not to be exposed to that daunger To which I answer that the witnesses were not freed from daūger though the parents were Christians for though the parents may help with the witnesses to the education of the child yet they cannot secure themselves nor others that they shall stand to that covenant which is made for them Besides the reason of his assertiō against infant Baptisme runnes upon principles common to all infants of what ever parents they be borne for hee would have none come till they be capable of learning being taught why they come hee would have none declar'd Christians by that ceremony till they can know Christ and concludes that hee would not have divine mysteries be trusted with infants whom wee would judge it improper uncomely to be trust with earthly and secular affaires I shall content my self with what hath bene said already to this head having neither the desire nor the commodity to make a large and generall search besides that a few of the most authentique most antient writers after the Scriptures ought to be of more authority then many hundreds if there could so many be found of latter times it being my undertaking to proove that most antiently beginning with Christ and the Apostles times the subjects of Baptisme were persons professing faith and repentance not infants and that the most authentique and primitive Fathers were of this minde and judgement We have done therefore with this head wherein if the most authentique antient authority be ours and the rest necessitated to their opiniōs by false premises and principles by no meanes to be received or allowed and which also as rationally produce other cōsequences which in these times men are loath to admit of no men I hope will blame us for our present beleefe concerning the subject of Baptisme nor object hereafter as an argumēt against us the authority of the fathers CHAP. XVI In which is handled whether Baptisme be to be repeated but more especially whether such as were baptized in infancy should be accounted baptized or are to have that ordinance administred to them HAving givē the due bounds to the ordinance of Baptisme in respect of the subject of it and sayd what I judged cōvenient to that purpose there is a very considerable question yet remaining and which cannot be left out in this discourse and that is If infants ought not to be baptized whether such as were baptized in infācy should be baptized againe Wherein first will come to be considered whether Baptisme be to be repeated or no I answer there have bene some of that opinion as Mercion and his followers who had their first second and third baptisme Also a religion called the Hemerobaptistae that is the every day baptizers that avowed because wee sinned every day therefore wee should be every day baptized and practised accordingly Secondly according to the received opinion that I conceave it is not to be repeated First because the covenant of grace is but once made and struck with every man this is the seale of the Covenant it is the Sacrament of regeneration initiation and incorporation but these things are not capable of being reïterated therefore the seale and