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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	child_n	heaven_n	see_v	2,046	5	3.5372	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85311	The answer of Giles Firmin, to the vain and unprofitable question put to him, and charged upon him by Mr. Grantham, in his book, entituled, The infants advocate : viz. whether the greatest part of dying infants shall be damned? : Which advocate, while he shuts all infants out of the visible church, and denies them baptism, opens heaven to all dying infants, justifying those of his party, who admit them all as he doth, into Heaven without regeneration.	Firmin, Giles, 1614-1697.; Grantham, Thomas, d. 1664. Infants advocate.	1689 (1689)	Wing F954A; ESTC S122452	14,558	22

THE ANSWER OF Giles Firmin TO THE Vain and Unprofitable Question put to him and Charged upon him by Mr. GRANTHAM In his Book Entituled The INFANTS ADVOCATE VIZ. Whether the greatest Part of Dying Infants shall be Damned Which Advocate while he shuts all Infants out of the Visible Church and denies them Baptism opens Heaven to all Dying Infants justifying those of his Party who admit them all as he doth into Heaven without Regeneration The Preface may be very Useful for the Children of Godly Parents Quo loco illud praefandum esse videtur Miserecordiam nostram erga parnulos jam defunctos nihil eis prodesse contra nihil eisdem obesse sententiae nostrae severitatem multum autem nobis obesse si ob inutilem Misericordiam erga defunctos pertinaciter aliquid contra Scripturas aut Ecclesiam defendamus Id circo non affectum quendam humanum quo plerique moveri solent sed Scripturae Conciliorum Patrum Sententiam consulere debemus Bellar. Praef. To. 4. p. 145. a. 2 Ephes 3. And were by Nature Children of Wrath even as others 3 Joh. 3.5 Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 12 Heb. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see God. LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel over-against the Poultrey-Compter MDCLXXXIX THE ANSWER OF Giles Firmin TO THE Vain and Unprofitable Question put to him and Charged upon him by Mr. GRANTHAM In his Book Entituled The INFANTS ADVOCATE VIZ. Whether the greatest Part of Dying Infants shall be Damned Which Advocate while he shuts all Infants out of the Visible Church and denies them Baptism opens Heaven to all Dying Infants justifying those of his Party who admit them all as he doth into Heaven without Regeneration The Preface may be very Useful for the Children of Godly Parents Quo loco illud praefandum esse videtur Miserecordiam nostram erga parnulos jam defunctos nihil eis prodesse contra nihil eisdem obesse sententiae nostrae severitatem multum autem nobis obesse si ob inutilem Misericordiam erga defunctos pertinaciter aliquid contra Scripturas aut Ecclesiam defendamus Id circo non affectum quendam humanum quo plerique moveri solent sed Scripturae Conciliorum Patrum Sententiam consulere debemus Bellar. Praef. To. 4. p. 145. a. 2 Ephes 3. And were by Nature Children of Wrath even as others 3 Joh. 3.5 Except a Man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. 12 Heb. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see God. LONDON Printed in the Year 1689. THE ANSWER TO HIS PREFACE THE Preface is more considerable than his whole Book there being something in it which concerns our Practice In it he justifies himself in his scoffing at me for the experience I have found of the benefit of Abraham's and my Baptismal Covenant when an Infant Let the Reader take it shortly thus The Covenant I mention is as I said that Covenant which God made with our Father Abraham and his Seed 17 Gen. 7. which Covenant holds * I gave him six Scriptures to prove it but he not one on the contrary still with Believers and their Seed and shall hold so long as there are Believers in Christ Abraham's Seed 3 Gal. 29. upon Earth unless the Anabaptists can shew us where God hath expresly Repealed that Covenant as he hath done other Covenants To which I have spoken † See Scripture Wor. p. 8 9 10. 17 Prov. 16. My Father then being a Son as my Mother a Daughter of Abraham this Covenant ran down to his Seed He could plead this Covenant for us and when I came to Understanding I did plead it for my self Here was a Price in my Hand and I resolved to improve it Besides this Covenant I read other Promises made to the Seed of Godly Parents as 20 Exod. 6. 30 Deut. 6. 112 Psal 2. 20 Prov. 7.43 Isa 3. c. The Spirit of God did not inspire these Penmen to write these Promises to fill up Paper that we should only read them and not make use of them let Children of such Parents look to this These Promises this Covenant I believed I highly prized I begg'd the fulfilling of them many Years being willing ‖ Nos volumus sed ille facit ut velimus August to have Abraham's God to be my God as he was His and my Father's God and I willing to be His as Abraham and my Father were And since he had promised Blessings several times but did not specifie what Blessings I chose my Blessings to wit All Spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus 1 Ephes 3. without which I esteemed nothing to be a Blessing Non Entitie being a state far better than all other Blessings without them And whereas I was for several Years troubled about Legal Preparations and Qualifications of Promises * As 11 Matth. 28.61 Isa 1.19 Luke 10. c. which I do not wonder tho' Mr. Grantham and his Sect are never troubled about being Active not Passive in their own Begetting † Regeneration and Conversion differ I found in this Covenant and these Promises a great help Here God offered yea Covenanted to be my God would I take him for my God and give up my self to him this I found my Heart willing to do And whereas upon this Covenant-Interest my Parents did dedicate me to God in my Baptism when I came to understand my Baptismal-Covenant what was contained in it I blessed that God who was aforehand with me I owned my Dedication and for many Years followed God that he would please to fulfil his part of the Covenant and in the strength thereof I would endeavour to fulfil mine And in these Covenants have I found Relief under many yea many many Temptations This is the Sum of what I wrote Plea from page 63. to page 72. To this Mr. Presump p. 6. Grantham answers It would make a well Man slck to see what work he makes of it for after all his shifting from Post to Pillar he only gets Stomach to reject the Councel of God against himself 7 Luke 30. If this be not scoffing let the Reader judge and that not only a scoffing at my Experience but at that Duty which is incumbent upon all Baptized Children under Abraham and their Baptismal Covenant But in this he justifies himself The next thing you charge me with Is eating of Blood contrary to the Decrees of the Apostles and Elders 15 Acts. I say with B. Austin Tho' the Ceremonial Law be dead yet it is fit it should have a comely Burial And having been buried so many hundred Years that I may profess my Faith in these Truths viz. That the Blood which makes the Atonement for my Soul is shed 17 Levit. 10.11 with 1 Col. 20. 2 Ephes 13.14 Secondly That Christ hath broken down the Partition-Wall in which Wall Blood was one Stone between Jew and Gentile 2

Faith and Repentance more then all other Graces I cannot tell You tell me pag. 25. Infants have no Object of Faith propounded to them therefore they cannot have Faith seminally Answ Nor is there an Object of Love propounded to them God is the Object of our Faith and Love so is Christ 14 Joh. 1. But God is not propounded an Object of Faith and Love to Infants therefore Infants are saved without any Seminal Faith in or Love to God as much as to say without any Grace at all I shall add but this If there be no Seeds of Repentance and Faith in Christ in the Regeneration of Infants then the Righteousness the Sacrifice Blood of Christ with all the benefits of the Covenant of Grace are imputed and applyed to persons where are only the Seeds of the Graces of the Covenant of Works which no Man shall make me believe That the Lord doth Regenerate Infants saved I doubt not but how he doth it neither Man nor Angel can tell But you tell your Reader p. 24. I vainly pretend to know it I had been a vain Man indeed had I pretended to it But Mr. Grantham if you be a Man of Truth name the page as I I do always when I charge you in my Book where your Reader may find what you tell him of me I can name the page 74 where I have spoken the contrary as expresly as a Man can speak You tell your Reader p. 31. of some old Professors that have been Teachers of others and yet have not learned Civility or Honesty in treating those who differ from them in Opinion Who is more guilty of this then Mr. Grantham how many Falshoods have you charged me with in this Pamphlet I resolve to meddle no more with Anabaptists for your sake not because I find any strength in you but for your charging such things upon me which I never spake or have expresly spoken the contrary Because I used this Argument for the necessity of Childrens Regeneration All the Members of the Kingdom of Heaven are holy But Infants are Members of the Kingdom of Heaven Ergo they are holy But they are not holy by Birth it is by Regeneration You tell me p. 13. Here I think you have given your Cause its Deaths-blow What is become of the Birth-Priviledge so much gloried in by Mr. Baxter and others Answ Do you think so Mr. Grantham I do not think I have given it the least wound Did Mr. Baxter or others of our Divines ever say Children are inherently holy by Birth You see I distinguish between Birth-holiness and Regeneration Did the Apostle when he tells the believing Corinthians 1 Cor. 7.14 That their Children were Saints mean they were inherently holy by Birth No sure he meant no more then as the Children under Abraham's Covenant were called holy 7 Deut. 6. and 14 Deut. 2. 9 Ezra 2. That Holiness gave them a Title to Church-Membership and the Seal of the Covenant then so it do now Only a word to the Reason why you and your Disciple deny Children can have any Seminal Faith or Regeneration because these come by the Word preached 10 Rom. 17. 1 Pet. 1.23 But Infants can neither understand it nor read it Thus you have tyed up the Holy One to one instrument But I pray are all that are born Deaf damned They can neither hear read nor understand the word Verily if God can Regenerate those who are born Deaf he can Infants without hearing or reading the Word So he did before in Circumcision where he pleased through the word of his Covenant I will be their God and so he doth now in Baptism when and where he pleaseth Sanctification and Salvation being given to Baptism as an Instrument in the hand of the Spirit 3 Tit. 5. 1 Pet. 3.21 5 Ephes 26. besides that controverted Text 3 Joh. 5. which the Anabaptists who put so much in Dipping may well understand of Baptism That you might make your Reader know what a pitiful Dispurant I am you tell him two faults I am guilty of in my Logick p. 10. My Argument was this They who are Regenerated have Faith and Repentance But all Infants saved are Regenerated Ergo they have Faith and Repentaece My first fault is this Your Major should have been universal say you And is it not universal It is not special for it is neither particular nor proper then it must be universal It is Axioma 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. Grantham then it must be universal For here praedicatum reciprocatur cum subjecto ita ut ex praedicato fieri possit subjectum As in this proposition Homo est animal rationale Animal rationale est Homo So here they that have the whole have the parts and they who have the parts have the whole A Proposition may be universal in the form of it tho' it be not true but this is both universal and true till you can prove your two Regenerations 2. The second fault is Ignoratio Elenchi Say you so Mr. Grantham What was the Question I pray Was it not whether Infants saved had Faith and Repentance Did I not stick to the question and conclude it affirmatively from your own Disciple's Doctrine and Concessions that they are the two parts of Regeneration but that they were Regenerated I proved Do you Mr. Grantham understand what Ignoratio Elenchi is You tell your Reader p. 12. speaking of me It is his manner to confound his Discourses with Diversities I challenge you Mr. Grantham or any of your Sect to shew me where once I have stated a Question that in my Discourse I depart from it to another thing diverse from it I did not so in this place For the Question was Whether Seeds do not go before Fruits Principles before Actions So God sow the Seeds of Grace infuse Divine Principles into Infants that are saved tho' they die before they come to act I mentioned Peter 1 Joh 3.9 but I did not argue thus Peter had a Seed therefore he could not fall totally and finally that had been another Question indeed but I said tho' Peter did fall yet there was a Seed in him I aimed only at the word Seed of which I was discoursing as a word being used in Scripture To my fourth Argument I used page 15. viz. If all dying Infants are justified and saved without Regeneration then there are millions in Heaven in whom the Spirit of God as the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity had nothing to do in their Salvation You give two Answers the first very absurd only I resolved to be short else I would have shewn it Your second is this All these dying Infants for whom Christ shed his precious Blood have sufficient assistance from the Spirit in the business of their Salvation But he shed for all The Major you prove thus They do not resist the Holy Ghost I answer The work of the Spirit in the business of their Salvation is