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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43469	Some plain letters in the defence of infant baptism and of the mode of baptizing (now generally used in the Church of England), which may serve, for a confutation of a small treatise entituled The reason why not infant-sprinkling, but believers-baptism ought to be approved, &c.	Hewerdine, Thomas, 1659 or 60-1738?	1699 (1699)	Wing H1630; ESTC R5896	62,852	138

every ways alter'd for the better but what is all this to any ones privilege of entering into it Nay but certainly as Children were admitted into the Church before that Reformation so are they to be admitted still unless it be a part of the Reformation to exclude them And thus upon the whole matter 't is very plain that unless our Blessed Saviour has FORBIDDEN Infants to be admitted into his Church they are still to be admitted whether he has COMMANDED their Admission or no. And here I might fix the Controversie and justifie their Admission till you can prove that our Lord has Forbidden it which I dare venture to say you will never be able to do Nay but our Lord has not only not forbidden their Admission into the Church but he has expresly Taught and Commanded it For First That Children ought to be admitted into his Church he has expresly taught in that Celebrated Text Suffer little Children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven Which Text was spoken by way of Reprimand to his Disciples who wou'd have kept Children from him and therefore when he reprov'd them and said Suffer little Children to come unto me he must needs mean such Children as they wou'd have kept from him but these were such as were brought unto him and such as he took up in his Arms and were therefore little Children in a literal Sense The words indeed are Suffer little Children to come unto me and therefore say some let them stay then till they can come But if this was our Saviour's meaning might not his Disciples very readily have answered Lord we have not hinder'd any such from coming that cou'd come all that we have done was only to Rebuke those that brought their Children And thus if Children might not be brought to Christ but if they were to be kept back till they themselves cou'd come to him I cannot see what the Disciples had here done for our Lord to be displeased at and yet the Text says positively That he was much displeased and said suffer little Children to come unto me Mark 10.14 And therefore unless we have no more Grace or Wit than to say that he was displeas'd at nothing we must allow that the Children whom he wou'd have suffer'd to come to him were such as his Disciples would have kept from him and these were such as were brought unto him and such as he took up in his Arms. But perhaps you 'll say What then is the meaning of the words TO COME UNTO ME Suffer little Children to come unto me Sir I find an Answer made to this by Mr. Walker viz. That to come unto Christ signifies to become a Disciple of Christ for so when our Saviour saith Come unto me all ye that Labour his meaning is become Disciples to me Mat. 11.28 And again when it is said Behold Jesus Baptizeth and all Men come to him The meaning is that they all become his Disciples John 3.26 And again Ye will not come to me said our Lord That is ye will not become my Disciples John 5.4 The same excellent Author has observ'd from Dr. Hammond that we may read the word Proselyte in the very Original Text Mat. 19.14 For there the Original words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which turn'd into English do even Compose and make up the word Proselyte and so in St. Matthew I say the Original words are Suffer little Children 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to be Proselytes to me or to be my Disciples For to be a Proselyte and to be a Disciple is the same thing As when our Lord said to the Scribes and Pharisees that they had Compass'd Sea and Land to make one Proselyte the meaning is that they had compass'd Sea and Land to make one Disciple And thus has our Lord very plainly taught us that little Children must be suffer'd to become his Disciples yea and he farther adds that they are not to be forbidden and then gives such a Reason for it as may put the matter beyond all Dispute For of such is the Kingdom of God That is little Children are not to be forbidden becoming his Disciples because of such even of such as were brought unto him is the Kingdom of God both the Kingdom of Grace which is the Church Militant here on Earth and the Kingdom of Glory which is the Church Triumphant in Heaven And thus we have a plain Scripture Text wherein our Blessed Lord has very clearly taught us that little Children are to be suffer'd and not to be forbidden being admitted into his Church And this is according to that ancient Prophecy foretelling the Conversion of the Gentiles to Christianity Thus saith the Lord God I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the People and they shall bring thy Sons in their Arms and thy Daughters shall be carryed upon their shoulders Isa 49.22 And this is no more than what our Lord himself did fortell when he so plainly intimated that there should be Lambs in his Flock as well as Sheep John 21.15 But Sir if you wou'd see more and larger Proof of this matter you may consult Mr. Baxter's Book called Plain Scripture-proof of Infants Church-Membership and Baptism wherein he has proved that Children ought to be admitted into Christ's Church by no fewer than Six and twenty distinct Arguments Well But then the next Question is How are they to be admitted I Answer by Baptism for ordinarily there is no other way of Admission as I shall prove by and by But here I will take notice of an Objection that I find has been often started upon this occasion If little Children are to be admitted into Christ's Church and if there be no other way of admitting them but by Baptism Why then did not our Lord Baptize those Children that were brought unto him I answer Because our Lord never Baptized any with Water But then it may be ask'd again Why did he not Command his Disciples to Baptize them I Answer again Because his Hour was not yet come for he never that we read of Commanded his Disciples to Baptize any or any to be Baptized by them till after his Death and Resurrection But Sir Give me leave briefly to remind you of what I have observ'd in my first Letter concerning the outward and the inward part of Baptism for I therein shewed you that the Ministers of Christ do but Baptize with Water which is the outward part of that Sacrament 'T is Christ himself who Baptizeth with the Holy Ghost or with the Spirit which is the inward part And here I will farther observe that our Lord has not so ty'd up himself to the use of outward means but he can if he pleases and will for just and wise Reasons perform the inward part without them For thus should an Infidel or a Jew be Converted to Christianity and earnestly desire Baptism and should

be receiv'd and therefore as their Children were to receive it as well as themselves it follows that their Children as well as themselves were to be Baptiz'd that they might receive it And so says the Apostle Be baptiz'd every one of you and ye shall receive c. But here perhaps you may be ready to ask whether Baptism be necessary to our Receiving the Holy Ghost or whether none else do receive it but they who are Baptiz'd To which I answer that Baptism is as necessary to our receiving the Holy Ghost as a diligent Hand is necessary to make one Rich. The Diligent hand maketh Rich says Solomon And therefore as Riches do sometimes indeed by God's over-ruling Providence fall to the share even of the Lazy and the Slothful So by God's extraordinary Mercy is the Holy Ghost sometimes indeed given even to the Vnbaptiz'd But what then shall a Man hope to be Rich without Diligence because the Lazy are sometimes so In like manner shall any one hope for the Spirit without Baptism because the Unbaptiz'd do sometimes receive it It would not be wisely argued should a Man thus dispute Solomon tells us indeed that a Diligent hand maketh Rich well and it may be so but let them be ty'd up to his Rule that will for my part I shall hold my self excus'd hoping that Riches may be had in an easier way even as I sometimes see the Slothful have them And yet just such is his Argument who thus disputes 'T is the Apostles rule indeed Be baptiz'd and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost well and it may be so but let them be ty'd up to his Rule that will for my part I shall hold my self excus'd hoping for the Holy Spirit without any such Condition even as I sometimes see that the Unbaptized receive it But still further 'T is objected on the other hand that if the promise of the Holy Ghost was so annext to Baptism methinks we should see more and better Fruits of it in those that are Baptiz'd To which I answer That tho' it be very true that a diligent Hand maketh Rich yet it is not every diligent Man that becomes Rich for want of a good Use and wise Improvement of what his diligent hand acquires and gives him a just Title to So tho' Baptism has the promise of the Holy Ghost made to it yet the Baptiz'd do not all bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit for want of a good Use of that Spiritual grace and Influence which their Baptism acquires and gives them a Right and Title to But tho' the Diligent do not all become Rich for the aforesaid Reason yet Diligence is still to be Exhorted to as a great and necessary means of becoming Rich and so tho' the Baptized do not all bring forth the fruits of the Spirit for the like Reason aforesaid yet Baptism is still to be Exhorted to as a great and necessary means of receiving the Spirit Be baptized says St. Peter and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit And this indeed seems to have been the great and standing Argument of this Apostle It was his usual way to Argue from the Inward part of this Sacrament to the Outward For When the Holy Ghost fell upon Cornelius and them that were with him Can any Man forbid Water said our Apostle that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Ghost as well as we Act. 10.47 So here in this Text The promise of the Holy Ghost says he is to you and to your Children and therefore be Baptized every one of you that you may receive it But Sir Here is one Difficulty more to be Encounter'd still for here it is that our Adversaries have started an Objection to which they Boastingly say that we can give them no Answer but truly Sir the Reason is because they will receive no Answer and we cannot help that And therefore to deal fairly both with you and them you shall first hear their Objection in its full force and then our Answer and you shall Judge between us Their Objection is this That Children are not capable of Receiving the Holy Ghost and that therefore 't is all folly to Baptize them upon that account And farther St. Peter's saying to that great Assembly Act. 2.38 Be baptized every one of you and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost makes it very plain that he Exhorted none to be Baptized but such as were capable of receiving the Holy Ghost but of this the little Children were not Capable and therefore were not to be Baptized This Sir is their mighty Objection and I am pretty Confident they will acknowledge that I have not minc'd the matter but have set it before you with all its strength And now then to give a satisfactory Answer to it I shall make it my business to prove to you that even Infants and Children are capable of receiving the Holy Ghost and this I shall endeavour to do with all the plainness and brevity and closeness that I can And therefore First we hear it very often from our Adversaries in a Challenging and Triumphant way that if we could but shew in all the New Testament any one Infant to have been Baptized they would no longer dispute that Case with us But Sir we can shew them an Infant in the Old Testament yea and an Infant in the New Testament too that receiv'd the Holy Ghost And why then will they dispute this any longer We know that it is the Holy Ghost that Sanctifies us and yet we read in the Old Testament that the Prophet Jeremy was Sanctified even before he came out of the Womb Jer. 1.5 And if we will take an Angel's word for it we are assur'd in the New Testament that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his Mother's Womb Luke 1.15 And here I will add what I before observ'd of the little Children who were brought unto Christ and whom he took up in his Arms viz. That he blessed them with Spiritual Blessings and therefore 't is evident that even these little Children did then receive the Holy Spirit for we must mean nothing else by receiving the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit but receiving the Graces and Blessings of the Holy Spirit Secondly The Holy Job has most truly taught us That a Clean thing is not to be brought out of an Vnclean Job 14.4 No but all are conceived and born in Sin as well as he who said Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me Psal 51.5 But then if all our Children are so conceived and born and cannot be brought clean out of an unclean thing I am ready to tremble at the thought what would become of them if they were not capable of some Spiritual Cleansing certainly Dear Sir they are or else 't is most certain that no unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of God Again Our

Lord has told us That that which is born of the Flesh is Flesh sinful Flesh of sinful Flesh John 3.6 and there he also teaches us that what is only so born cannot see the Kingdom of God for says he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 except one be born again that is born again of Water and of the Spirit he cannot see the Kingdom of God And this therefore would be another hard saying for our Children if they were not capable of being born again of the Spirit And further If Children are Holy they must be made so by the Holy Ghost For it is that Holy Spirit which Sanctifies or makes Holy and therefore must the Children needs be so Sanctified who are said to be Holy 1 Cor. 7.14 And indeed unless they are so tho' their Angels may behold the Face of God yet how shall they themselves ever come to see that Blessed Sight Since we are expresly told that without Holiness no one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Original word and signifies no one be it who it will Man or Child Without Holiness no one shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 Thirdly Dr. Fuller has observed That the great cause of Men's mistakes in this matter is this They make the Body the Standard of the Soul and are apt to think that the Soul grows bigger as the Body does even as if our Souls were very little things when we are Infants in comparison of what they are when we become Men Which is a very gross mistake indeed for our Souls are not capable of any such growth but as to that are the very same when first infused into our Bodies that they are ever after the same in our Infancy that they are in our Old Age and therefore why our Souls which as to their Substance are the same in every period of our Life why they should at any time be incapable of receiving the Holy Ghost or of being Sanctified thereby Let them give you a Reason who can find out a Reason to give for I can find none But some there are who will not yet believe the Spirit of Sanctification to be in Infants no not in Baptized Infants because they can see no Sign or Expression of it To which I farther Answer with the admir'd Bishop Taylor That it is no good Argument to say Here is no Seed in the bowels of the Earth because there is nothing green upon the face of it Nor is it a good Argument to say That an Heir so long as he is a Child is no Heir because so long as he is a Child he differeth nothing from a Servant or we see no sign of his being Heir and Lord of all as the Apostle speaks Nay and further When a Branch is Engrafted into the good Olive-Tree it receives from it a kind of new Life and Nourishment tho' we do not immediately see any fruits of its doing so Even so when Infants are grafted into Christ by Baptism and made Members of that True Vine as he calls himself John 15.1 they are thereby made Partakers of a new Spiritual Life and Nourishment tho' we do not presently see the good fruits of their being so Again Christ's Body is his Church and the Soul of that Body is the Holy Spirit and when Infants are Baptized and Incorporated into that Body they are thereby put under the Communications and Influences of the Spirit as every the least Part or Cubit added to our Statures is thereby put under the Influences of our Souls For thus Baptism says Dr. Sherlock is our Regeneration or New Birth the Beginnings of a New Life because it Incorporates us into Christ's Mystical Body which puts us under the Influences and Communications of his Life and Spirit as when a Branch is Engrafted into a Stock it receives nourishment and life from it Discourse concerning the Nature of Vnity c. p. 24. And says Dr. Scott another of your justly Admired Authors It is by his Blessed Spirit that Christ hath promised to be with us to the end of the World Mat. 28.20 And Christ himself hath assur'd us that upon his Ascension into Heaven He would pray his Father and he should give us another Comforter meaning this Holy Ghost that he might abide with us for ever Joh. 14.16 And accordingly the Holy Ghost is vitally united to the Church of Christ even as Souls are united to their Bodies For as there is one Body or Church so there is one Spirit which animates that Body Eph. 4.4 So that when by Baptism we are once Incorporated into this Body we are Entituled to and do at least de Jure participate of the vital Influence of the Holy Ghost who is the Soul of it Christian Life Part 2. Vol. 2. Chap. 7. p. 76 77. Indeed we know not how every particle of Flesh that grows to our Bodies is immediately enliven'd by our Souls and yet so it is And just so tho' we know not how every Member that 's added to the Body of Christ is quickned by that Holy Spirit which as the Soul of that Body Communicates all its Spiritual Life to it And Lastly That the Holy Spirit may be where we see no signs or expressions of it is plainly taught by our Saviour himself The wind bloweth where it lifteth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3.8 And so is every Infant that is born of the Spirit The Spirit comes upon it though thou canst not tell how nor whence And all this I hope is very sufficient Proof that even Infants and Children are capable of receiving the Holy Spirit and then according to St. Peter's Argument who can forbid Water that they should not be Baptized who can receive the Holy Ghost as well as we Act. 10 47. And in short Our Adversaries great Objection is this when St. Peter said Be baptized every one of you and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost he plainly taught that none are to be Baptized but such as are capable of receiving the Holy Ghost But of this say they little Children are not capable and therefore are not to be Baptized To which I will now Answer That when St. Peter said Be Baptized every one of you and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost he plainly taught that all are to be Baptized who are capable of receiving the Holy Ghost But of this I have now prov'd little Children to be capable and therefore they are to be Baptized And thus I am perswaded that the Baptism of Children is most certainly taught by St. Peter in this very Text Repent and be Baptized every one of you for the Remission of Sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the Promise is to you and to your Children The plain sense of which Text is this The promise of the Holy Ghost is to you and to your