as a means whereby we receive the same and as a pledge to assure us thereof Question How many parts are there in a Sacrament Answer Two the outward visible sign and the inward spiritual grace Question What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism Answer Water wherein the person is baptized In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Question What is the inward and spiritual grace Answer A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness for being by nature born in sin and the children of wrath we are hereby made the children of grace Question What is required of persons to be baptized Answer Repentance whereby they forsake sin and Faith whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament Question Why then are Infants baptized when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them Answer Because they promise them both by their Sureties which promise when they come to age themselves are bound to perform Question Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained Answer For the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ and of the benefits which we receive thereby Question What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper Answer Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received Question What is the inward part or thing signified Answer The body and blood of Christ which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper Question What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby Answer The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the body and blood of Christ as our bodies are by the bread and wine Question What is required of them who come to the Lord's Supper Answer To examine themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new life have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his death and be in charity with all men OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM In Pursuance of an EXPLICATION OF THE CATECHISM OF THE Church of England BY GABRIEL TOWERSON D.D. and Rector of Welwynne in Hartfordshire Imprimatur Ex Aedib Lamb. Apr. 10. 1686. Jo. Battely RRmo P. ac D no D no Wilhelmo Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domesticis LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII TO THE Right Reverend FATHER in GOD FRANCIS Lord Bishop of ELY AND LORD ALMONER TO His Majesty My Lord YOUR Lordship 's favourable acceptance of my Discourse of the Sacraments in General with the desire I have if it may be to put an end to the whole hath prompted me to make the more hast to present your Lordship and the World with this of Baptism in particular Two things there are in it which I thought my self most concern'd to clear and which therefore I have employ'd all requisite diligence on the Doctrine of Original Sin and Infant-Baptism The former being in my opinion the foundation of Christianity the latter of our interest in it For if there be no such thing as Original Sin I do not see but some persons heretofore might and may here after live with such exactness as not at all to stand in need of a Saviour And I see as little if Infant-Baptism be null what interest any of us can have in him according to the ordinary dispensation of the Gospel who have for the most part been baptized in our Infancy or at least have been baptized by those that were Throughout the whole Treatise I have endeavour'd to retrive the antient notion of Baptism to shew what advantages are annexed to it and what duties it either involves or obligeth to To either of which if I have given any light or strength I shall hope I have done some small service to the Church and which your Lordship in particular will take in good part from Your Lordship's Most Obliged Most Obedient and Most humble Servant GABRIEL TOWERSON Wellwyne Aug. 23. 1686. THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART Of the Rite of Baptism among the Heathen and the Jews THe Heathen themselves not without the knowledge of another World and of the insufficiency of natural Religion to bring them to the happiness thereof Occasion taken by them from thence to enquire after other ways of obtaining it and by the Devil to suggest the mysteries of their respective Deities as the only proper means of compassing it Those mysteries every where initiated into by the Rite of Baptism partly through Men's consciousness of their past sins and which they judged it but meet they should be some way purged from and partly through the policy of the Devil who thereby thought to procure the greater veneration to them That as it was a Rite which was in use among God's own people so naturally apt to represent to Mens minds their passing from a sinful to a holy Estate Of what Service the Heathens use of this Rite is toward the commendation of the Christians Baptism and a transition from thence to the use of it among the Jews Which is not only prov'd at large out of the Jewish Writings and several particulars of that Baptism remark'd but that usage farther confirm'd by several concurring proofs such as is in particular the no appearance there is otherwise of any initiation of the Jewish Women the Baptizing of the whole Nation in the Cloud and in the Sea and a remarkable allusion to it in our Saviour's Discourse to Nicodemus The silence of the Old Testament concerning that Rite shewn to be of no force because though it take notice of the first Jews being under the Cloud and passing through the Red Sea yet it takes no notice at all of their being Baptized in them or of their Eating and Drinking that spiritual Repast whereof S. Paul speaketh The Baptism of Christians copied by our Saviour from that of the Jews and may therefore where it appears not that he hath made an alteration receive an elucidation from it pag. 1. The Contents of the Second Part. Of the Baptism of the Christians and the Institution of it THe Institution of the Christian Baptism more antient than the Command for it in S. Matthew 28.19 though not as to the generality of the World nor it may be as to the like explicit Profession of the Trinity As is made appear from Christ or his Disciples baptizing in Judea not long after his own Baptism by S. John Enquiry thereupon made whether it were not yet more antient yea as antient as Christ's execution of his Prophetical Office Which is rendred probable from our Saviours making Disciples before and the equal reason there appears to have been for his making them after the same manner with those of Judea From Christ's representing to Nicodemus the necessity of being born again of water and the spirit which is shewn at large to be meant of a true and proper Baptism As
them of those inward and spiritual Graces which those sacred Offices were intended to procure or convey Which how great a commendation it is of our Vnion to that Body and consequently of that Baptism by which it was made will need no other proof than the Scripture's assuring us that Christ is the Saviour (h) Eph. 5.23 of that Body and the promises it makes to those Prayers (i) Matt. 18.19 20. that are made by it and to that Eucharist (k) Matt. 26.26 c. which is administred in it The purport of those promises being no other than the granting what is asked by it and particularly all those benefits which Christ's Body and Blood were intended for the procuring of And if these be as no doubt they are the consequences of our union to the Church by Baptism yea so far as I have elsewhere (l) Expl. the Creed Art of The forgiveness sins shewn that they are not ordinarily to be attained out of it That very Union may not improperly be stil'd one of its inward and spiritual Graces because leading to those that are most strictly such and indeed the only ordinary means of obtaining them PART VIII Of the Profession that is made by the Baptized person The Contents The things signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized brought under consideration and shewn from several former discourses which are also pointed to to be an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and particularly of the Trinity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws Our resolution of acting agreeably to the Laws of Christianity more particularly consider'd and the Profession thereof shewn by several Arguments to be the intendment of the Christian Baptism What the measure of that conformity is which we profess to pay to the Laws of Christianity and what are the consequences of the Violation of that Profession HAving thus consider'd the things signified by Baptism on the part of God and Christ best known by the name of its inward and spiritual Graces It remains that I give the like account of the things signified by it on the part of the baptiz'd or the things the baptized person maketh Profession of by it Which as was before observ'd are an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws That something is signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized as well as on the part of God and Christ is evident from what was before said * Of the Sacrament in general Part 2. concerning the nature of a Sacrament in the general and Baptism's †Ibid. relating as well to something to be perform'd by the baptiz'd as to those divine Graces or priviledges which we expect from the other That the things before mentioned are the things thus signified by it hath also been elsewhere * Expl. of the Apostles Creed declar'd and so that it would not be difficult for a diligent Reader to satisfie himself from thence But because what I have said concerning them lies dispersedly in my former Discourses and would therefore require more pains than I ought to impose upon my Reader to find it out and apply it to the present Argument I will here though very briefly consider them anew and if not which would be too tedious repeat all that I have said concerning them yet point him as I go to the particular places from whence they may be fetch'd That Abrenunciation of sin is one of the things signified by Baptism is not only evident from the manner of administring it in the Primitive times and which together with the form of their Abrenunciation and our own are set down in my account of the Preliminary questions and answers of the Catechism but also from the general tenour of that Religion which Baptism is an initiation into That requiring the renouncing of all sin and wickedness and therefore supposing the baptized person to do so when he takes that Religion upon him For which cause as an express Abrenunciation was heretofore requir'd and continues so to be to this very day So it was signified as by other Rites and particularly by the baptized persons putting off his cloaths in order to his Baptism as putting off together with them the Old Man and his deeds so by the Rite of Baptism it self He who submits to that implying thereby his looking upon sin as a Moral impurity and which therefore for the future he would not have any thing to do with The second thing signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized is his present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity more especially of the Doctrine of the Trinity As is evident from that Baptism's being commanded by our Saviour to be made in or into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost For to be baptiz'd into the name of those persons importing the owning of those persons as our Masters (a) Expl. of the Creed Art I believe in the Holy Ghost and our selves as the Disciples of them To be so baptized moreover importing the owning of those persons as alike (b) Ibid. Masters of us and consequently because the Father cannot be own'd in any lower relation as partakers of the same divine Nature and Authority Lastly to be so baptiz'd importing the owning of them in particular by a belief of the Christian Doctrine that being the most signal instance of that Discipleship we receive by it The belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and of the Trinity in particular must be look'd upon as signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized and those baptized ones consequently as making profession of that belief by it For which cause as the rule of Faith or the Creed (c) Introd concerning Catechising c. was given to those to learn who were willing to be initiated into Christianity so they were particularly interrogated (d) Expl. of the Prel Quest and Answers as to their belief of the Articles thereof and then and not till then baptiz'd into it and the priviledges thereof The third and last thing signified on the part of the baptized is a resolution for the time to come to continue in the belief of Christianity and act agreeably to its Laws Both which will receive a sufficient confirmation from S. Peter's affirming Baptism to be the Answer or stipulation of a good conscience toward God and from what I have elsewhere (e) Ibid. said concerning it For as it is evident from thence that Baptism signifies on the part of the baptized a stipulation or promise of somewhat to be done by him So it will not be difficult to inferr from thence that it signifies also a stipulation or promise to continue in that belief of Christianity into which he
washing away their guilt or washing away the pollution of them we shall still find it to be the immediate issue of an inward and spiritual Grace It being the blood of Jesus Christ as the Scriptures (q) Explic. of the Creed in the word Dead every where declare that washeth us from sin in the former sense and the sanctifying Graces of God's spirit (r) Expl. of the Creed in the words I believe in the Holy Ghost which purifie us from it in the other If therefore the Sacrament of Baptism may be said so to wash and purifie it must be as it is an Instrument whereby it conveys to us those graces to which that purification doth belong But so the same Scriptures do yet more expresly declare as to that other Sacrament of our Religion even the Supper of the Lord St. Paul telling us (Å¿) 1 Cor. 10.16 of the bread of it that it is the Communion or Communication of Christ's body as of the Cup that goes along with it that it is the Communion of his blood For what other can we well understand by that expression of his than that they are an instrument whereby God conveys and we accordingly come to partake of that body and blood of Christ which is signified by them This only would be added for the clearer Explication of it that when were present the Sacrament as an instrument whereby God conveys to us that grace which is signified by it we do not mean thereby that it is a natural one or such as contains that grace in it as a Vessel doth liquor or a cause its effect but rather as the Judicious Hookes (t) Eccl. Pol. li. 5. sect 57. speaks as a moral instrument thereof That is to say as such a one to the use whereof God hath made a promise of his grace and which accordingly he will accompany with the exhibition of the other I deny not indeed but there are who are otherwise perswaded and who accordingly either attribute a greater efficacy to a Sacrament or deny even that which we have attributed to it Of the former sort are they who not contented to affirm that a Sacrament is an instrument whereby God conveys grace to the worthy receiver of it do moreover represent it under the notion of a Physical one yea of such a Physical one as contains grace in it as a cause doth its effect and accordingly contributes by its own internal force to the producing of it as well as to the possessing us thereof Even as a Chezil for so they (u) Hist of Counc of Trent li. 2. explain themselves contributes to the formation of a Statue or as a Hatchet to that Bed (w) Aquin. sum Part. 3. Qu. 62. Art 1. which is shaped by it But as it appears by Aquinas (x) Ibid. who was it may be the first framer of it that that conceit had its original from the fear of making a Sacrament to be nothing but a bare sign of grace contrary to the opinion of the Holy Fathers so nothing more therefore can be necessary toward the overthrowing of it than to shew the groundlesness of that fear which the doctrine before deliver'd will sufficiently evince For if it be but a moral instrument whereby God conveys his own graces it is certainly more than a sign yea it may in some sense be said to be a cause as well as the instrument thereof For as they who attribute to a Sacrament the efficacy of a cause make it to be no farther a cause of grace than that it produceth in the Soul a disposition (y) Hist of Counc of Trent li. 2. to receive it by which means it is not so much the cause of grace as of our receiving it so such a kind of causality will be found to belong to it though we make a Sacrament to be no other than a means whereby we attain it Because it is so far forth by the force of a Sacrament that grace comes to be in us that without that we cannot ordinarily hope to attain it nor fear to fail of it where the other is duly receiv'd The only difference as to this particular between the one and the other opinion is that whereas the former makes a Sacrament to dispose us to the reception of Grace as well as to convey it The latter supposeth that disposition already produc'd and consequently leaves no place for the former operation In that respect yet more agreeably to the Doctrine of the Scriptures because not only pre-requiring certain qualifications (z) Act. 8.36 37. 1 Cor. 11.20 of those that are to receive it but assuring them that if they come so qualifi'd they shall not fail * Mark 16.16 Act. 2.38 of that grace which the Sacrament was intended to convey These and the like assertions as they suppose the Soul to be before dispos'd so leaving no place for any other causality in a Sacrament than its serving to us as a means of conveying that grace which we are so disposed to receive And indeed as it doth not appear by any thing that Schoolman hath alledg'd that the Antients ever attributed any other causality to a Sacrament for though St. Augustine as he is quoted by him affirms the power of God to work by a Sacrament yet he doth not affirm it to do so as by a Physical instrument As it appears farther even from that Schoolman that St. Bernard was of opinion that Grace is no otherwise conveyed by a Sacrament than a Canonry in his time was by a Book or a Bishoprick by Ring so there is no defect in the Instances of that Father supposing a Book or a Ring to have been as much a means of conveying of those preferments as we affirm a Sacrament to be of the divine Grace For in that case the delivery of a Ring or a Book would not only have been a sign whereby the delivery of those preferments was declar'd as Aquinas argues in the place before but a ceremony by which they were actually made over and without which they could not have been Canonically invested in them I conclude therefore that if a Sacrament be an instrument of Grace it is a moral one and such as contributes no farther toward our partaking of it than as it is a means to which God hath annex'd the promise of it and which accordingly he will not fail where the receiver is rightly dispos'd to accompany with the exhibition of the other But because there are some who are so far from owning a Sacrament to be a physical instrument of grace that they will not so much as allow it to be a moral one And because such a conceit may tend as much to the depretiating of a Sacrament as the other seems to tend to the overvaluing of it Therefore consider we in the next place the pretensions of those that entertain it and the strength or rather weakness of those pretensions There are who have
first Religious Rite after Baptism and because of all the Five best deserving the name of a Sacrament A Rite which as our Church receives and enjoyns so the more sober sort of Protestants allow to have been an Institution of the Apostles and such as is of signal use to those who were baptiz'd in their Infancy by that examination which is to precede it and those solemn Prayers that do attend it But as the thing it self doth not appear to me to have been instituted by Christ which even by the Doctrine of the Trent Council (t) Ibid. is made a Character of a Sacrament so there is yet less appearance of its having any outward sign to which the blessings thereof may be supposed to have been annex'd which is of the very Essence of a Sacrament That which was at first administred by a bare Imposition of hands and afterwards by the addition of the Chrism coming at length to be perform'd by the sole ceremony of Unction as the practice of the Greek and Latine Church declares Of which variation what account can be given but that the Church it self did at first look upon the Rites of Confirmation as arbitrary and consequently not of the same nature with the signs of Baptism and the Lord's Supper For whatever additions or variations came afterwards to be made in these the Water of the one and the Bread and Wine in the other were ever preserved in them The next supposed Sacrament is that of Penance or rather because the form thereof is by themselves (u) Conc. Trid. Sess 14. c. 13. made to consist in Ego absolvo te c. the Sacrament of Absolution An Institution which we willingly acknowledge to be an Institution of Christ and which our Church moreover confesseth (w) Hom. of Com. Pray and Sacr. to have the promise of the forgiveness of sins But differs from a Sacrament in this that it hath not that promise annexed and tyed to the usual visible sign thereof even Imposition of hands For for the use of any such visible sign in it we find no Command and much less any declaration from Christ that it should not be available unless it were convey'd by it or made to depend upon the usage of it But it may be much more may be said for that which they call the Sacrament of Extreme Vnction because affirmed by the Council of Trent (x) Sess 14. can 1. to have been instituted by our Lord and published to the World by St. James And I no way doubt that when our Saviour sent forth his Disciples by two and two (y) Mark 6.7 c. he gave them power to anoint sick persons as well as to cast out unclean Spirits and it may be too commanded them for that time to make use of that particular ceremony toward the healing of them I as little doubt for the mention that is made of it in St. James (z) James 5.14 that the same ceremony of Unction was continued in the Church and perhaps prescrib'd by other Apostles as well as by him to the Governours of the Church But it doth not appear to me to have been intended by Christ for perpetual use and much less for those purposes for which it is alledged For if it were intended by Christ for perpetual use how came the same Christ to promise to those that believe that if they only laid hands * Mark 16.18 on the sick they should recover How came he to give his Apostles power to cure diseases by the use of that only ceremony as in the case of Publius †Act. 28.8 by taking infirm people by the hand * Act. 3.5 yea by their bare (a) Act. 9.34 word This being to give encouragement to the neglect of his own Commands if the ceremony of Unction were to be look'd upon as such Though granting that Ceremony to have been intended for perpetual use what appearance is there of its having been intended for the purposes of a Sacrament yea to procure in an especial manner the forgiveness of sins For all that St. Mark says concerning the Apostles anointing with Oyl is that they thereby healed (b) Mark 6.13 those they did so anoint Yea it is if not the only yet the principal thing St. James assures to those whom he enjoyn'd the use of it As it appears by his ushering it in as an application to be made to sick persons his promising that that Prayer which went along with it should save the sick and procure God's raising of them in fine by his exhorting men to confess their faults one to another that they might be healed For these things shew plainly that if the healing of sick persons was not the only thing intended yet it was at least the principal one But so the Church it self appears to have understood this ceremony as is evident among other things from that Prayer which did accompany it That as Cassander (c) Consult de Artic. Rel. c. ubi de Unctione infirm agit informs us being I anoint thee with the holy Oyl in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost imploring the mercy of that one Lord and our God that all the griefs and incommodities of thy body being driven away there may be recovered in thee vertue or strength and health that so being cured by the operation of this mysterie and this Vnction of the Sacred Oyl and our prayer through the vertue of the Sacred Trinity thou mayest deserve to receive thy antient yea more robust health through our Lord. Which though it do not so directly oppose the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Greeks because design'd against Corporal (d) See Ricdut Pres State of the Greek Church c. 12. as well as Spiritual evils yet doth perfectly overthrow the Extreme Vnction of the Papists as which is so far from designing the recovery of the sick person that it is not allow'd to be administred to any who seem not perfectly desperate One only passage there is in St. James which may seem to give this Ceremony of anointing a higher and a far better design even his affirming that that prayer which did accompany it should procure for the sick person also that if he had committed sins (e) James 5.15 they should be forgiven him But beside that St. James doth not attribute that forgiveness to the ceremony of Unction but to the prayer that attended or followed it The design of the Elders visitation of the Sick being no doubt to procure as well their Spiritual as Corporal health it is not unreasonable to think that that very Prayer which they made over them did not only aim at God's accompanying the former ceremony with the blessing for which it was intended but extend farther to the imploring for them all those spiritual blessings which they wanted and particularly perfect remission and forgiveness Which if it did as is but reasonable to believe that Oyl cannot
which how useful soever they may be and are so esteemed by our selves yet will not be found to be any more than such I alledge as to the former of these the no precept there appears concerning it which is one of those things which induce a necessity to Salvation And I alledge too which is another the no appearance there is of any tendency in it to procure some blessings for which no other means are appointed For the Eucharist having for its end the confirming and strengthning of our Graces which is all that Confirmation as now in use professeth to intend neither can there be any necessity of the means to oblige us to the use of the latter or endanger our Salvation by the omission of it In fine I alledge what is with me of no small moment the no mention there is in Justin Martyr * Apol. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. of it even where he takes notice of their bringing the New Baptized person to the Assembly of the Faithful and to a Communion with them in their Prayers and Eucharist For though that Father doth not obscurely intimate that they had a particular regard in their Prayers to the welfare of the new Baptized person as well as to the more general welfare of the other Yet he takes no notice at all of any Imposition of hands upon him or any other ceremony that may be supposed to be analogous to it Which in all probability he would have done especially when he mention'd the Kiss of Peace as well as both the other Sacraments if either the Church had then us'd the Sacrament of Confirmation or he look'd upon it as a Sacrament of the same general necessity with the other Which things I have said not in the least to detract from the use of Confirmation for I think this very passage of Justin Martyr doth sufficiently warrant the more material part of it even prayer over the new Baptized person but to shew that the Church did not then look upon it as a Sacrament or at least not as such a one as was generally necessary for Salvation as our Catechism hath taught us to speak But it may be much more may be said for Absolution than Confirmation and so no doubt there may if we consider Absolution as comprehending within the compass of it the whole power of the Priest in remitting sins For comprehending within it in that sense the Administration of Baptism and the Lord's Supper because the most effectual means the Church hath for absolving offenders from their guilt so far as those Sacraments or the Priests Administration of them is necessary to Salvation which no doubt they generally are so far also his Absolution must be look'd upon as such But so to consider Absolution is to make it the same with Baptism and the Lord's Supper and not as it is here propos'd a distinct Sacrament from them If therefore we will speak pertinently either to our own Catechism or the present Controversie we must consider Absolution as abstracting from those Sacraments which if we do we shall find it to consist either in declaring the word of reconciliation to Offenders or praying to God for their Pardon or pronouncing them absolved from their guilt or loosing them from the Censures of the Church If we consider Absolution in the first of these senses to wit as importing the declaration of the word of reconciliation to Offenders so we shall not stick to affirm that it is generally necessary to Salvation but then we must say withall that it is no Sacrament nor esteemed by the Papists themselves to be so If we consider it in the second sense to wit as denoting the Priest's praying for the Pardon of Offenders and in which form as Bishop Vsher (t) Answ to the Jesuits Chall p. 125. c. observes Absolution was antiently wont to be made so it will be found to have a respect to that Community over which he presides or to particular persons in it In the former of these regards it is no doubt as necessary to Salvation as it is for the Priest to celebrate or the people to joyn with him in the publick worship of God of which such prayers as those are a necessary part But as there is no presumption of that Offices being a Sacrament so it is not the Absolution our Adversaries intend That which they profess to advance being the Absolution of particular persons after a confession made by them of their particular offences And yet even here too they make a distinction because professing to restrain that Confession and Absolution to such sins only as are mortal But who taught them to distinguish in this affair between Mortal and Venial Or what is there in those words of Christ which convey the power of remitting sins which can be thought to restrain it to the former What have they to ground the general necessity of such a Confession upon but especially as to that form of Absolution whereof we speak For in praying for the pardon of Offenders the Priest is not to be considered as a Judge but as a person appointed to mediate between God and his People and whom that charity which belongs to him as such will oblige him to look upon as penitent if he knows them not to be otherwise especially if they beg his prayers for their own particular pardon And indeed neither is this the Absolution the Papists contend for nay they declare (u) Conc. Trid. Sess 14. cap. 3. those very Prayers which go along with their own not to be of the Essence of it Which will oblige us to pass on to A third sort of Absolution even pronouncing offending persons to be loosed from their offences A thing which though of signal use and comfort to men of afflicted minds and which no doubt such persons ought to seek when they cannot otherwise satisfie themselves yet cannot be look'd upon as generally necessary to Salvation Partly because none but desponding persons can be supposed to stand in need of it and partly because such an Absolution as that supposeth men to be already loosed from their offences and consequently not to want any thing but the sense thereof Which though it may be an infelicity yet is no sin in it self nor can prove so to him in whom it is unless it do otherwise take him off from the due performance of his duty Though even in that case such an Absolution will be necessary rather to prevent future offences than to procure the forgiveness of former ones And I shall only add that I conceive that form of Absolution to be such which occurrs in our Visitation of the Sick Partly because it is ordered by our Church to be applied to men of troubled minds and partly because it prompts the Priest to beg of God the forgiveness of the sick persons offences before it allows him to say I absolve thee from all thy sins That supposing the forgiveness of
cleansed by the washing of it The like evidenc'd from the same Scripture concerning the latter even our new birth unto righteousness As that again farther clear'd as to this particular by the consentient Doctrine and practice of the Church by the opinion the Jews had of that Baptism which was a Type and exemplar of ours and the expressions of the Heathen concerning it The Doctrine of the Church more largely insisted upon and exemplified from Justin Martyr Tertullian and S. Cyprian p. 77 The Contents of the Seventh Part. Of our Union to the Church by Baptism OF the relation of the sign of Baptism to our Vnion to the Church and that relation shewn to be no less than that of a means whereby that Vnion is made This evidenc'd in the first place from the declarations of the Scripture more particularly from its affirming all Christians to be baptiz'd into that Body as those who were first baptiz'd after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles to have been thereby added to their company and made partakers with the rest in the Apostles Doctrine and fellowship in breaking of Bread and in Prayers The like evidence of the same Union to the Church by Baptism from the declarations of the Church it self and the consequences of that Vnion shewn to be such as to make that also to be accounted one of the inward and spiritual Graces of that Baptism by which it is made p. 85 The Contents of the Eighth Part. Of the Profession that is made by the Baptized Person THE things signified by Baptism on the part of the baptized brought under consideration and shewn from several former discourses which are also pointed to to be an Abrenunciation of sin a present belief of the Doctrine of Christianity and particularly of the Trinity and a resolution for the time to come to continue in that belief and act agreeably to its Laws Our resolution of acting agreeably to the Laws of Christianity more particularly consider'd and the Profession thereof shewn by several Arguments to be the intendment of the Christian Baptism What the measure of that conformity is which we profess to pay to the Laws of Christianity and what are the consequences of the Violation of that Profession p. 89 The Contents of the Ninth Part. Of the right Administration of Baptism AFter a short account of the Foundation of the Baptismal relation and reference made to those places from which a larger one may be fetch'd Enquiry is made touching the right Administration of Baptism as therein again First Whether Baptism ought expresly to be made in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it Thirdly to what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred Fourthly Whether it may be repeated The two first of these spoken to here and first Whether Baptism ought to be expresly administred in the form propos'd Which is not only shewn to be under obligation from the express words of the Institution but answer made to those Texts which seem to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus only The Baptism of Schismaticks and Hereticks more largely shewn to be valid unless where they baptize into a counterfeit Faith and the several objections against it answer'd p. 95 The Contents of the Tenth Part. Of the Baptism of those of riper Years TO what and what kind of persons Baptism ought to be administred Which as to those of riper years is shewn to be unto all that come duly qualified for it What those qualifications are upon that account enquir'd into and Repentance and Faith shewn from the Scripture as well as from our own Catechism to be they That Repentance and Faith more particularly considered the definitions given of them by our Church explain'd and established The former whereof is effected by shewing what Repentance doth presuppose what it imports and to what it doth naturally dispose us The latter by shewing what those promises are which by the Catechism are made the object of our Faith or Belief what that Belief of them doth presuppose what is meant by a stedfast Belief of them and what evidence there is of that being the Faith or Belief requir'd to the receiving of Baptism p. 103 The Contents of the Eleventh Part. Of the Baptism of Infants WHat ground Infant-Baptism hath in Scripture and particularly in what it suggests concerning Christ's commanding his Disciples to suffer little Children to come unto him S. Paul's giving the Children of the faithful the title of Holy and the Circumcision of Infants The concurrence of Antiquity therein with the Doctrine of the Scripture and that concurrence fartherstrengthned by the Pelagians so freely admitting of what was urg'd against them from thence A brief account of that remission and regeneration which Infants acquire by Baptism and a more large consideration of the Objections that are made against it More particularly of what is urg'd against the Regeneration of Infants in Baptism or their ability to answer what is prerequir'd to it on the part of persons to be baptiz'd or is to be performed by them in the reception of it Where the Regeneration of Infants is more largely considered and what is promis'd for them by others shewn to be both reasonable and sufficient p. 111 The Contents of the Twelfth Part. Whether Baptism may be repeated WHat the true state of the present question is and that it is not founded in any suppos'd illegitimateness of the former Baptism but upon supposition of the baptized persons either not having before had or forfeited the regeneration of it or fallen off from that Religion to which it doth belong Whereupon enquiry is made whether if such persons repent and return they ought to be baptiz'd anew or received into the Church without What there is to perswade the repeating of Baptism and what the Church hath alledg'd against it The Churches arguments from Eph. 4.4 and John 13.10 proposed but wav'd The Churches opinion more firmly established in the no direction there is in Scripture for re-baptization in those cases but rather the contrary and in the no necessity there is of it The Arguments for rebaptization answer'd p. 131 ERRATA In the Text. PAg. 22. l. 1. after do add not p. 47. l. 46. after of add that p. 81. l. 3. corruption p. 109. l. 32. for boyl r. boglt In the Margent Pag. 3. l. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibid. l. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 23. l. 44. for Sacramentum r. incrementa p. 83. l. pmult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OF THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM PART I. Of the Rite of Baptism among the HEATHEN and the JEWS The Contents The Heathen themselves not without the knowledge of another World and of the insufficiency of natural Religion to bring them to the happiness thereof Occasion taken by them from thence to enquire after other ways of obtaining it and by the
baptized ones to set before them in the next place the consequences of the violation of their profession Whereof the first that I shall assign is that so far as they depart from that Profession of theirs so far forth they sin against that very Baptism of theirs which was intended for their recovery from sin and against that saving Religion into which it admits them That Baptism which enjoyns upon them the making profession of a good Conscience enjoyning consequently the answering that profession by a sutable piety as without which that Profession would be but an hypocritical one From whence as it will follow that there will be little reason to believe that they shall enjoy the benefits of Baptism who answer not the Profeson of it So much less if we consider what that was that made their Profession to be of any avail at the first even the presumption it gave that the person that made it would as occasion offer'd it self give sutable demonstrations of it For if that presumption were the thing which made the Profession of a good Conscience to be of any avail at the first Those demonstrations failing those benefits must be suppos'd to fail which were collated upon the presumption of them But from thence it will follow Thirdly that they who answer not their former profession can much less promise to themselves farther spiritual blessings here or an interest in the other World They who could not be admitted to the first priviledges of Baptism but upon a presumption of their future piety being much less likely to be admitted to the participation of others after that presumption appeareth to be null It will follow Lastly that they who answer not the Profession of Baptism by a piety sutable to it must consequently fail altogether of the benefits thereof if that Christianity into which it entred them had not provided them of a remedy against the violations of their Profession Which though it will not make the case of those violators desperate yet will shew it to be so dangerous as to oblige all who have a care of their Salvation to prevent what they may such violations of it or endeavour to repair them afterwards by a speedy and severe repentance and a more fixed and setled piety Lest as it may some time happen they be cut off before they can make use of the remedy propos'd or by reason of their former violations have not the grace given them to do it PART IX Of the right Administration of Baptism The Contents After a short account of the Foundation of the Baptismal relation and reference made to those places from which a larger one may be fetch'd Enquiry is made touching the right Administration of Baptism as therein again First Whether Baptism ought expresly to be made in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it Thirdly to what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred Fourthly Whether it may be repeated The two first of these spoken to here and first Whether Baptism ought to be expresly administred in the form propos'd Which is not only shewn to be under obligation from the express words of the Institution but answer made to those Texts which seem to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus only The Baptism of Schismaticks and Hereticks more largely shewn to be valid unless where they baptize into a counterfeit Faith and the several objections against it answer'd I Have hitherto entreated of the outward visible sign of Baptism of its inward and spiritual Grace or the things signified by it and the farther relation that outward sign beareth to them It folllows that I entreat of the foundation of that relation the Fourth thing propos'd to be consider'd Now as the Foundation of that relation hath been shewn * Expl. of the Sacrament in general Part 2. to be no other than the Institution of Christ as that again not so much as deliver'd by him as appli'd to that water in which it is subjected So I have in the same discourse said †Ibid. Part 2 3. so much concerning the Institution of this and the application of that Institution to the outward visible sign thereof that I shall need to say the less here It may suffice briefly to observe from thence that what the Minister hath prepar'd the water of Baptism by a declaration of the end of its Institution and by imploring the Holy Spirit on it Christ who hath promised to be with him in that ministration of his gives it the relation of the Sacrament of Baptism and consequently makes it apt to convey the several graces thereof to those who are to partake of it Which will leave little more for us to consider as to the Sacrament of Baptism than the right Administration of it or what may without any violence be reduced to it Now there are Four things which are especially to be enquir'd in order to the clearing of that which is now before us I. Whether Baptism ought expresly to be administer'd in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost II. Whether Schismaticks and Hereticks are valid Administratours of it III. To what and what kind of persons it ought to be administred IV. Whether it may be repeated I. The ground of the first of these even whether Baptism ought expresly to be administred in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is not any the least doubt of those being the express words of the Institution or of their not admitting consider'd in themselves of any variation from it but the accounts we have from the Scripture of the administration of that Sacrament either by the hands or at the command of the Apostles and other such inspired men Those seeming to intimate it to be enough to baptize in the name of the Lord Jesus as comprehending within it an acknowledgement of the other two persons and indeed of all other the substantial Articles of his Faith in whose name we are so baptiz'd For thus when those Jews to whom S. Peter Preach'd on the day of Pentecost were wrought upon so far as to ask what they ought to do in order to their Salvation S. Peter's answer was †Acts 2.38 that they should be baptiz'd in the name of the Lord Jesus Which accordingly we may believe to have been done by those that gladly receiv'd the word because it is afterwards (a) Acts 2.41 said of them that they were baptiz'd that is as one would think in that and that only name which had been prescrib'd Thus again it is said (b) Acts 8.16 of those who had been baptiz'd by Philip at Samaria that they were baptiz'd in the name of the Lord Jesus without any the least hint of their being baptized in any other name As in like manner (c) Acts 10.47 that S. Peter
if the Minister doth according to the Institution of Christ there is no doubt the Spirit of God will follow of course whether he who administers Baptism partake of that Spirit or no. Otherwise a sinful Minister would be as invalid an Administrator of Baptism as the most Schismatical or Heretical one But it may be there is more of weight in Schismaticks and Hereticks being out of the Church and as such in no condition either of enjoying in themselves those priviledges that belong to it or being instrumental toward the procuring of them for others And so no doubt there would if they were fully and perfectly out of the Church nor retain'd in any measure to it But how first if Schismaticks and Hereticks were fully and perfectly out of the Church could S. Cyprian (e) Ad Quintum Ep. 70. himself allow the receiving of such without a new Baptism who had after their Baptism in the Church fallen into Schism or Heresie These as they were no less Schismaticks and Hereticks than those that were baptiz'd by Hereticks and consequently alike out of the Church So being if to be receiv'd again to be receiv'd after the same manner that is to say by a new Baptism Neither will it avail to say as that Father (f) Ibid. pleads for himself that those who have been baptiz'd in the Church are to be look'd upon as wandring sheep and as such when they return to be receiv'd into the Fold whereas the other are wholly aliens and profane For if Schismaticks and Hereticks be fully and perfectly out of the Church those also what ever they before were must cease to be look'd upon as Sheep and consequently if admitted be admitted as aliens and profane as well as those who were baptiz'd out of the Church And indeed as it appears by the same Father (g) Ad Quintum Ep. 71. that those who oppos'd him and the Bishops that took part with him argued the validity of the Baptism of Hereticks from the Churches receiving those without a new one who had fallen after her Baptism into Schism or Heresie So if we will allow the Baptism of the latter we must allow the Baptism of the former or find out some other reason to overthrow it For if the rightly baptized Schismatick or Heretick were a Sheep though a wandring one notwithstanding his Schism or Heresie The Schismatick or Heretick whom that wandring Sheep ran after might as well be a Pastor though a wandring one too and consequently be in a condition following the order of the Institution to bring new Sheep to the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls That which I suppose occasion'd that Father's mistake for so I hope I may now have leave to call it because the Church of God hath generally done so since but that I say which occasion'd S. Cyprian's mistake was his not distinguishing between being fully and perfectly out of the Church which I should think none but Apostates can be if they also are and being only partly and imperfectly so as Schismaticks and Hereticks are For as Schismaticks and Hereticks must be suppos'd to retain so far to the Church as they do not separate from it in Communion or belief So it is but a just piece of charity to think that Christ who knows men's infirmities and prejudices will not invalidate such acts of theirs as are purely charitable ones and wherein moreover they consent with the Church of God whatever they may do as to other things and with his his own blessed Institution I deny not indeed but that to be even so out of the Church as Schismaticks and Hereticks are is a very dangerous thing and doth without a special mercy of God make them liable to Damnation But as I do not therefore think that we ought to look upon it as a desperate one So there may be so much of honest simplicity of mind even in them and a readiness to embrace the truth whensoever they are convinced of it that Christ who laid down his life for the worst of men may so far at least consider them as to give his blessing to those acts of theirs which are both charitable in themselves and manag'd with a just consent to his own institution and the practice too of that Church from which in other things they have departed And this answer with a little variation will furnish one to that objection which represents Schismaticks and Hereticks as sinners before God and whom therefore we cannot suppose God will hear for the person to be baptiz'd For though I grant that such persons are sinners before God yea that whatever they do by way of separation from the Church is to be look'd upon as of the same nature and consequently that their very baptizing also may be Yet as I do not think that every thing that is sinfully done is therefore invalid for so for ought I know many true Church-mens good actions also might be So Christ may hear even such persons when they act agreeably to his own Institution both for the regard he bears to that and for that honest simplicity and good meaning which is if not in them that administer Baptism yet in those that joyn with them and whose Minister I have before said (h) Expl. of the Sacram. in gen Part 3 the Consecratour to be in that affair One only Objection remains on the part of Hereticks and that is their depraving that Faith into which Baptism is requir'd to be made and consequently thereto as is suppos'd baptizing into a false and counterfeit one And I no way doubt that if Hereticks baptize into a false and counterfeit Faith their Baptism is null because contrary to that Institution which gives validity to all Upon which account we must look upon the Baptism of those persons as null who have baptiz'd in any other form than in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Of which sort was that of the Hereticks spoken of by Irenaeus (i) Adv. Haeres li. 1. c. 18. who instead of baptizing according to the form of the institution did baptize their Disciples into the name of the unknown Father of all things into truth the Mother of all things into him that descended into Jesus for the union and redemption and communion of powers To which others it seems added certain Hebrew names the better to amuse those that were initiated by them The like may reasonably enough be thought of the Baptism of many other of the Antient Hereticks although we have not it may be so certain grounds from Antiquity for their depraving the very form of Baptism For being as appears from their tenents Christians in name rather than in reality and beside that advancing such uncouth and monstrous ones it is not easie to think they should have such a regard to Christ or his Institution as to keep to that form which he prescrib'd Which suppos'd there is not the least difficulty in giving an account of
posterity of Abraham and after which I do not see what doubt can be well made of the other Partly upon the account of the Analogy there is between Circumcision and Baptism and partly upon account of the Children of Christian Parents having as good a right to the blessings exhibited in them as the Children of those who were of the posterity of Abraham For supposing as was before (o) Expl. of the Sacram. in general Part 4. shewn and may hereafter (p) Answ to the object against Infant-Baptism be farther clear'd that Circumcision relates to the same spiritual blessings with Baptism and particularly to the righteousness of Faith And supposing farther that the Children of Christian Parents have as good a right to those blessings and that righteousness as the Children of those that were of the posterity of Abraham By the same reason that the Children of these were intitled to that Circumcision which was intended to exhibit those blessings and that righteousness among them the Children of the other shall be admitted to that Baptism which was intended to exhibit them among us Those Children which have an equal right to the blessings exhibited having an equal right to those means which were intended for the exhibition of them Now that the Children of Christian Parents have as good a right to the former blessings and righteousness as the Children of the Posterity of Abraham will appear from those Parents of theirs being equally the Children (q) Rom. 4.11 of Abraham with those that were of his posterity For being equally his Children they must consequently be suppos'd to give their Children as good a right to the former blessings and the means that was intended to exhibit them among us as the posterity of Abraham did their Children to the like blessings and that means which among them was intended for the exhibition of them II. The Baptism of Infants being thus made out from the Scripture and by such passages thereof also as cannot be easily avoided Pass we on to enquire what countenance it hath from Antiquity as which if it be any thing considerable will the more firmly establish it Where the first that I shall take notice of is a passage of Justin Martyr I do not mean what is commonly quoted out of his Questions and Answers ad Orthodoxos (r) Quaest 56. it being questionable enough (ſ) Vid. Coci Censur quorund Script in Script Just Martyr whether that Book were his or at least as we now have it but what may be found in his second Apology (t) Pag. 62. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and concerning which there is not any the least controversie in the Church In which Apology speaking of the excellency of the Christian Law above that of any humane ones in setting bounds to the carnal desires of men he hath these words And there are many men and women of sixty and seventy years of Age who having from their Childhood been discipled unto Christ have all their time continued uncorrupt or Virgins And I boast that I can shew such among all sorts of men For why should we also speak of that innumerable multitude of men who have chang'd from intemperance and so have learnt these things For Christ called not the just or temperate to repentance but the ungodly and intemperate and unjust Which words to an unbiast Reader cannot well signifie less than Childrens being then baptiz'd into Christianity That Father not only making mention of certain persons who had from their childhood been discipled unto Christ which we know from our Saviour (u) Matt. 28.19 to have been effected by Baptism and continu'd too all their time uncorrupt or Virgins which yet is a competent proof of their being baptiz'd when Children but opposing them to such persons as had chang'd from intemperance and rather learnt that purity afterward than been discipled into it at the very first That opposition of his making it yet more evident that he meant such persons as were discipled to Christ from their very childhood and before they were in a capacity of learning him and his doctrine by instruction To this of Justin Martyr subjoyn we another of Irenaeus which is yet more clear for the Baptism of Infants For Christ saith that Father (w) Omnes enim venit per semetipsum salvare Omnes inquam qui per eum renascuntur in Deum infantes parvulos pueros juvenes seniores Ideo per omnem venit aetatem infantibus infans factus sanctificans infantes in parvulis parvulus sanctificans hanc ipsam habentes aetatem Adv. haeres li. 2. c. 39. came to save all persons by himself All I say who by him are born again to God Infants and little ones and Children and Young Men and Old Therefore he came in every Age and was made an Infant to Infants sanctifying Infants and a little one among little ones sanctifying those of that age c. Where we have him not only affirming Christ to have come to save Infants as well as others yea to have been made an Infant himself to sanctifie them which shews them in his opinion to have had a general right to the blessings of Christianity but speaking of several of them as born again unto God by Christ which is as much as to say baptiz'd That as it is the way by which all are to be so born even by the Doctrine of (x) Joh. 3.5 our Saviour so the way too by which the Antients apprehended it to be effected For thus where Justin Martyr intreats of the Baptism of those of his time he tells us (y) Apolog. 2. p. 93.4 that they who were to partake of it were brought by the Christians to a place where water was and there regenerated after that manner of regeneration wherewith they themselves had been And to the same purpose also this very Irenaeus (z) Adv. haeres li. 1. c. 18. because not only attributing the same regeneration to it but representing it as the Doctrine of the Gnosticks as to that Baptism which they set up against our Saviour's that it was necessary for those who had received perfect knowledge to be so regenerated into that vertue or power which is above all things Which passage with the former one makes it yet more manifest that Irenaeus meant by such Infants as were born again by Christ unto God such as had been regenerated by Baptism and consequently that the Baptism of such was no stranger in his days I think I shall not need to insist upon the days of Tertullian because what the practice of that time was is evident from his disputing against Infant Baptism or at least advising to delay it There being no place for such a dispute or advice if the thing it self had not been then in use and in use too as he himself intimates in obedience to that precept of our Saviour which enjoyn'd the suffering little Children to come unto
words Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who createst the Fruit of the Vine Which said he first of all tasted of it himself and then reach'd it out to all that sate with him Presently after he took a Loaf of Bread and holding it with both his hands consecrated it in these words Blessed be thou O Lord our God who bringest Food out of the Earth Which said he brake it and after he had eaten a piece of it himself gave the like to each that sate with him Thus that Learned Man informs us that the Father of the Family did at their sitting down at their more solemn Feasts As after the Feast was over that he or some other person to whom he committed it taking a second time a Cup full of Wine into both his hands prayed Let us bless him who hath fed us of his own and by whose goodness we live Passing on from thence to other Blessings and Prayers and particularly to bless God for the Food which he had afforded to them all and for all the Benefits bestow'd either on their Fathers or themselves and to pray unto him in like manner for the state of their Nation for the restoring of Jerusalem for the coming of Elias and the Messiah and particularly for their Domesticks and Kindred After which the same person began as before Blessed be thou O Lord our God King of the World who createst the Fruit of the Vine and thereupon again drank a little of the Wine himself and then gave it in order to his Guests Now as it is easie to guess by the likeness there is between our Sacrament and this Usance that our Sacrament or rather the Author thereof took his Pattern from thence if that Usance be ancienter than the Sacrament it self So there is just ground to believe it was both from what we find in St. Luke's account of Christ's celebration of the Passover and this Sacrament and from the manner wherewith this Sacrament was celebrated in the first Ages of Christianity For St. Luke in his account of the former Solemnities takes notice of our Saviour's taking a Cup giving thanks over it and distributing it among his Disciples (d) Luke 22.17 18. with this farther Remark that he said he would not drink any more of the fruit of the vine the particular title here us'd until the kingdom of God should come And the Ancients in their mention of the celebration of the Lord's Supper speak of the Symbols thereof as alike intended for memorials of their thankfulness to God for the Blessings of this World as well as for the Blessing of their Redemption For thus Justin Martyr first affirms the Bread of the Eucharist to have been given by our Saviour to us (e) Dial. cum Tryph. pag. 260. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we might at the same time give thanks to God for having made the World with all things in it for the sake of Man and for delivering us from the evil in which we sometime were by him whom he made passible for us As Irenaeus (f) Adv. haeres lib. 4. c. 32. Sed suis discipulis dans consilium primitias deo offerre ex suis creaturis non quasi indigenti sed ut ipsi nec infructuosi nec ingrati sint eum qui ex creatura panis est accepit gratias egit dicens Hoc est corpus meum Et calicem similiter qui est ex ea creatura quae est secundum nos suum sanguinem confessus est novi Testamenti novam docuit oblationem quam Ecclesia ab Apostolis accipiens in universo mundo offert deo ei qui alimenta nobis praestat primitias suorum munerum in novo Testamento in like manner that Christ giving his Disciples counsel to offer to God the First-fruits of his Creatures not as to one that wanted them but that they themselves might not be ungrateful or unfruitful he took Bread and gave thanks saying This is my Body And the Cup in like manner which is of that Creature which is according to us he confessed to be his Blood and taught a new oblation of the New Testament Which Oblation the Church receiving from the Apostles offers in all the World to God even to him who gives us Food the First-fruits of his Gifts in the New Testament Agreeable hereto is that of Origen though not so clearly express'd as the former passages were For these Reasons saith he (g) Contr. Cels lib. 8. p. 399. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let Celsus who knows not God pay the testimonies of his thanks to Devils even for the Benefits of this World But we being desirous to please the maker of the Vniverse eat even those Loaves which are offered with Thanksgiving and Prayer over the things bestow'd upon us being now made by Prayer a certain Holy Body and one which sanctifies those who use it with a good intention Plainly intimating by the opposition he there makes between Celsus's paying the testimonies of his thanks to Devils for the Benefits of this World and our eating of the Eucharistical Bread with respect to the maker of the Vniverse that the Christians of old ate of it with regard to the Creation of the World and the Benefits thereof as well as with respect to the redemption of it by the Body of his Son Now from whence I pray considering the no intimation there is of any such thing in the Institution of Christ or Saint Paul's rehearsal of it from whence I say that regard to the Creation of the World and the Benefits thereof but from those Thanksgivings which from old descended to them from the Jews together with the Institution of Christ And which being so will prove the Usance before remembred not to have been the Usance of the latter Jews only but of those who were as old as our Saviour's time and that Passover which he celebrated among them Add hereunto what is apparent from the Ancient Liturgies of the Church the Prayers of the Eucharist descending to such Intercessions for all sorts of men as the Prayers of the Jews over their Eucharist appear to have done For these are a yet farther proof of the Antiquity of that Jewish Service and that our Saviour copied his own Institution by it What use these Observations may be of will be more fit to declare elsewhere neither shall I therefore at this time set my self to the investigation of it At present I desire only it may be remembred that in this Exemplar of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper both the one and the other Element thereof were consecrated with Thanksgivings and the Bread of it though consecrated in the mass or lump was yet carefully broken off from it in order to a distribution of it That as the Cup as well as the Bread had a place in that Eucharist so it was alike distributed among the Communicants yea distributed at the end as well as at
cannot any other way convey Christ's Body and Blood to us than by prompting us by the representation it makes to us of the offering of that Body and Blood upon the Cross for us to meditate upon it and rely upon it for our Salvation and by prompting God who hath annex'd that Body and Blood to the due use of the Sacrament to confer that Body and Blood upon us In fine it appears from the premisses and from a passage or two (e) For as the benefit is great if with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that Holy Sacrament for then we spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ c. And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks to God the Father c. for the Redemption of the World by the death and passion of our Saviour c. in our Church's exhortation to the Communion that we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament when we are thereby prompted to reflect with a penitent and thankful heart upon the offering Christ made of that Body and Blood of his upon the Cross for us and to rely upon it for our Salvation Which several assertions what foundation they have in the Scripture is in the next place to be enquir'd and the Doctrine of our Church therein established by it In order whereunto we are to know that the Body and Blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper as well as out of it are in the opinion of the Scripture not corporal but spiritual food and as such therefore to be look'd upon and owned by us For St. Paul affirming of the Antient Jews that they receiv'd in their Eucharist of Manna and Water of the Rock the same spiritual Meat (f) 1 Cor. 10.3 4. and drink which we also do and which he afterwards (g) 1 Cor. 4. declares to be Christ must consequently suppose what there is of Christ in our Eucharist to be of the same spiritual nature and because the Body and Blood of Christ is that which we receive by it that that also is Spiritual Meat and Drink and as such to be look'd upon and owned by us Now as if the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist are Spiritual Meat and Spiritual Drink they must consequently be communicated rather to the Soul than to the Body as which alone is qualified to taste of them and be nourished by them So they must be communicated to the Soul by such ways and means as are proper to possess the Soul of them and receiv'd by the same Soul by such act or acts thereof as are proper to apprehend them Which things being granted it will not be difficult to make answer what kind of Mean the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is how it conveys to us the Body and Blood of Christ and how we receive them by it For if the things which this Sacrament professeth to convey be Spiritual Meat and Drink such as are proper for the nourishment of the Soul and accordingly communicated to it Then must this Sacrament so far forth be a Spiritual Mean also as which alone can make way for such Spiritual nourishment to enter into the Soul If again the things which this Sacrament conveys must be conveyed to the Soul by such ways as are proper to possess the Soul of them Then must this Sacrament convey them to it either by prompting the Soul to reflect as the Institution requires upon that Body and Blood of Christ which it was intended to represent or by prompting God who hath annex'd that Body and Blood to the due use of it to confer that Body and Blood upon us These being the only ways by which that Spiritual repast can be communicated to that Soul for which it was intended In like manner if the things which this Sacrament conveys are to be receiv'd by such Act or Acts of the Soul as are proper to apprehend them Then if the Soul do receive the Body and Blood of Christ by means of the Sacrament it must do it by taking occasion from that Sacrament to reflect as the Institution requires upon that Body and Blood of Christ which it was designed to represent and particularly with Faith in that Body and Blood as which is of all other things most required to apply them to us And though it be true that the Church of Rome hath found out another sort of food and another sort of receiving it as shall be more fully declar'd when I come to the handling of it Yet as the Tridentine Fathers have been forced to confess that our Saviour requir'd this Sacrament to be taken (h) Sess 13. cap. 2. as the spiritual food of Souls by which they are nourished and strengthened So they have in like manner acknowledg'd that it ought to be spiritually taken (i) ib. cap. 8. as well as Sacramentally in order to our profiting by it But because our Catechism Question What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby Answer The strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ as our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine where it entreats of the faithful's receiving the Body and Blood of Christ proceeds to ask as is but reason what are the benefits we partake of by it and makes answer that they are the strengthening and refreshing of our Souls by the Body and Blood of Christ as our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine Therefore it will be but needful before we pass any farther to reflect upon those Benefits and accordingly enquire 1. What is meant by the strengthening and refreshing of the Soul 2. What Evidence there is of the Body and Blood of Christ being intended for it 3. How the Body and Blood of Christ effect it 1. Now as Strength and Refreshment are things which relate rather to the Body than the Soul and must therefore receive their Explication from thence So the former when applied to the Body signifies an ability for those operations for which it is intended as the latter a freedom from all heaviness and lumpishness And they are brought about especially by the Food which we receive and particularly by that Food which was made choice of for the present Sacrament Bread as the Scripture speaks (k) Psal 104.15 being that which strengthens the Heart and Wine that which chears (l) Judg. 9.13 and refresheth it By Analogy to which as the strength and refreshment of the Soul must signifie in like manner an ability for its proper operations and particularly for such as Christianity obligeth it to and a freedom from all trouble and disquiet So that which is said to strengthen and refresh it must consequently furnish it with such an ability and freedom and both enable it to do those things which God requireth of it and deliver it from those troubles and disquiets which its own guilt or any thing else might be apt to fill it with 2. This therefore being
those two Sacraments which he had before intreated of and which he affirms in the next words the guilt of that sin in Children to be loosed by concerning which the Scripture affirms that no one is free from it though his Life be but of a days continuance PART XI How the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ought to be receiv'd The Contents The receit of this Sacrament suppos'd by the present Question and that therefore first established against the Doctrine of those who make the supposed Sacrifice thereof to be of use to them who partake not Sacramentally of it Enquiry next made How we ought to prepare our selves for it how to demean our selves at the celebration of it and in what Posture to receive it The preparation taken notice of by our Catechism the Examination of our selves whether we truly repent us of our sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life c. and the both necessity and means of that Examination accordingly declar'd The examination of our Repentance more particularly insisted upon and that shewn to be most advantageously made by enquiring how we have gain'd upon those sins which we profess to repent of and particularly upon our most prevailing ones which how they are to be discover'd is therefore enquir'd into and the marks whereby they are to be known assigned and explain'd A transition from thence to the examination of the stedfastness of our Purposes to lead a new Life of our Faith in God through Christ our remembrance of his Death and Charity Where the necessity of that Examination is evinced and the means whereby we may come to know whether we have those Qualifications in us discover'd and declar'd How we ought to demean our selves at the celebration of this Sacrament in the next place enquir'd into and that shewn to be by intending that Service wherewith it is celebrated and suiting our Affections to the several parts of it The whole concluded with enquiring in what posture of Body this Sacrament ought to be receiv'd Where is shewn first that the Antients so far as we can judge by their Writings receiv'd in a posture of Adoration and particularly in the posture of standing Secondly that several of the Reformed Churches receive in that or the like posture and that those that do not do not condemn those that do Thirdly that there is nothing in the Example of Christ and his Disciples at the first Celebration of this Supper to oblige us to receive it sitting nor yet in what is alledg'd from the suitableness of that Posture to a Feast and consequently to the present one This as it is a Feast of a different nature from common ones and therefore not to receive Laws from them so the receit thereof intended to express the grateful resentment we have of the great Blessing of our Redemption and stir up other Men to the like resentment of it Neither of which can so advantageously be done as by receiving the Symbols of this Sacrament in such a posture of Body as shews the regard we have for him who is the Author of it VI. THE sixth and last Question proposed to be discoursed of Question What is requir'd of them who come to the Lord's Supper Answer To examin themselves whether they repent them truly of their former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new Life have a lively Faith in God's mercy through Christ with a thankful remembrance of his Death and be in charity with all men is How this Sacrament ought to be receiv'd Which Question I have proposed in those terms partly that it may come so much the nearer to the last Question of our own Catechism and partly because there is no one sort of Men that doth expresly deny that it ought to be receiv'd by all that are qualified for it as well as administred by those who are the proper Stewards of it For though the Socinians out of a belief of Baptism's being proper only to Jewish or Gentile Converts have thrown off that Sacrament altogether and which is more have represented the shewing forth of Christ's Death as the only design of this yet they have thought fit to retain the use of it as a thing enjoin'd by our Lord himself Though the Tridentine Fathers have also in a great measure transform'd this Sacrament into a thing of another nature and accordingly pointed out other ways for Men to receive benefit by it beside their communicating at it Yet they have declar'd an Anathema (a) Sess 13. Can. 9. against any one that shall deny all and singular the faithful People of Christ to be oblig'd when they come to years of discretion to communicate every year at least at Easter according to the Precept of holy Mother the Church Only because those Fathers seem to found even that single Communion upon the Precept of the Church or at least do not represent it as enjoin'd by any Divine Law And because though they elsewhere profess to wish that they who assist at their several Masses did also Sacramentally communicate at them for their receiving greater benefit by them (b) Sess 22. cap. 6. yet they represent even those where the Priest alone Communicates as common to them that do not I think it not amiss to premise something concerning the obligation of the Faithful to receive this Sacrament as well as to assist at the celebration of it and examine what those Fathers alledge for their loosing the Faithful from it That the Faithful are under an obligation of receiving this Sacrament as well as of assisting at the celebration of it is so evident from the words of the Institution that I know not how our Saviour could have more expresly enjoin'd it For Take Eat saith he concerning the Bread of it And Drink ye all of it saith the same Jesus concerning the Cup With this farther Reason as we learn from the Hoc est enim corpus meum and Hic est enim calix sanguinis mei in the Roman Missal because the one is his Body and the other as certainly the Cup of his Blood as that Missal expresseth it So that if a Command with so substantial a Reason annex'd may be concluded to be obligatory the receit of this Sacrament is And we can no more be freed from doing it than we can be freed from believing that it is Christ's Body and Blood that is tender'd to us or believing it than we may reject so signal a Blessing as that is which was either broken or shed for our Redemption For what is this but as the Author to the Hebrews speaks (c) Heb. 10.28 29. to despise not Moses's Law but one the transgression whereof is worthy of a sorer punishment yea to tread under foot the Son of God and count the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we are sanctified an unholy thing and as such contemptuously to reject it Neither will it avail to say as possibly it may be that they cannot be look'd upon as despisers