Of Regeneration and Baptism, Sermons · Sermon 2 · Chapter 6

Of Regeneration and Baptism · Sermons · Sermon 2 · Chapter 6

p. 33CHAP. VI.

AND as to the firſt;Quaere 1. Of Baptiſme from the Hebrews. our Saviour by all conſents inſtituted two Sacraments, that is, Baptiſme, and the p. 34Supper of the Lord; By one we are brought unto Chriſt, by the other kept to him (declaratorily;) By one we live, by the other we are kept alive: Now as touching the latter probable conjectures have been already made of its Original and how our Saviour took it up, Not inſtituting and framing it whole a new, but raiſing it out of and(1)(1)See Godwins Antiq. Heb. l: 3. c. 2. out of P. Fagius in praecept. Heb. Biſhop Lakes Sermon on Exod. 1….16. And many others ſay the ſameExod 1:16 graffing it (as 'twere) upon the ſtock of another rite of his Nation in uſe and practiſe long before; That uſe or cuſtome was of a Grace cup ((2)(2)Cos hillel, or poculum laudis: Chriſtian Synag. l: 1. c. 6. ſect: 3. parag. 4. diat. 4 Poculum benedictionis they called it) uſually ſerved in after meat, which our Saviour (it appears out of the holy Story) refuſed not to(3)(3)See Purchaſe Pilg…im. l. 2. cap. c. p. 121. out of Scaliger. partake of, and out of This made, or conſecrated it Into his Sacrament of the remembrance of his Death, (whence 'tis called Poculum benedictionis, 1 Cor. 10.16. even after conſecration, by the old ſecular name it had before it came to be Religious:) Now ſith our Saviour (very likely) did derive and compoſe his confirming and ſtrengthning Sacrament (to declare Chriſtian Communion) out of the bones and as it were praexiſtent materials of what was (Hebrew at leaſt, though not Religious) in uſe before, What hinders but that his beginning or initiating Sacrament (whereby we enter Chriſtian Communion) may intitle it ſelf to a like Original and derivation, And, by adding to that Baptiſmall waſhing was in uſe for helping to initiate Hebrew Proſelytes before, the grace of the holy Ghoſt, He might So make that Baptiſm for remiſſion of ſins, and matriculation into his Church, which, if for its proper work and end it hath Regeneration thitherward, That (as you have heard before) was no leſſe believed to be the effect (as from a partial cauſe) of former Proſelyte Baptiſme.

I do not ſay Theſe things were ſo, for now I ſpeak only conjecturally, and by way of probleme, (This ſpeak I, not the Lord) Nor doth the ſuppoſition they were ſo, imply or infer Chriſts new-born Baptiſme to be the ſame with that in uſe before, that is, the ſame and no more. But, the ſame, And more, what hinders but it may be? the Same heightned to a farther degree of Honour and Power, ſc. by Chriſts conſecration? Hebrew Baptiſm (in a word) p. 35Now by Chriſt(1)(1)We may rightly tearm Chriſt his Baptiſme (in Jordan) Baptiſma Baptiſmatis, the Chriſtening of Baptiſme, ſays Doctor Featly, in his Spiritual Betheſda, pag. 208. Chriſtened? and that with as great likelihood as a Complement may be made a Divine myſtery, a grace Cup raiſed to an holy Sacrament, and that Myſtery, that Sacrament advanced yet higher, and to the very higheſt of honour and ſome veneration, ſanctified and ſet upon our holy Communion Table. Nay, for this reaſon I take it more likely, becauſe That was before but a meer(2)(2)I ſpeak this according to what is abroad and moſt commonly received. R. C (or M. Rich: Cudworth) of Cambridge, hath not long ſince taken very commendable, and ſucceſſeful pains in a new Diſcovery, and to prove this Sacrament religious by parentage; to wit, that it was founded in a Sacrificial Feaſt, (A conceit altogether New, and wholly different from all before.) If his well compacted reaſons will hold water, as we uſe to ſay, and be ſo cloſe wrought and well laid that they will ſtand out, and endure the touch of time (as they are very like, foundations he has fair, ſpecious and large, and of much greater depth then moſt opinions, ſet aſide Tradition, and received) they then prove that we feaſt in our Communion, from the like participation of what was ſacrificed, left, and eaten by the people of Iſrael, and whereby they maintained (as ſome Gentiles alſo) a Communion both among themſelvs and with their God: To eat together what was ſacrificed to Him did unite and combine them as well among themſelvs as with Him, and ſo we by Eating and drinking communicate with our God and with one another. The opinion I leave to it ſelf; the diſquiſition is howſoever of much both ſagacity, ingenuity, pleaſure and uſe. May it promiſe of the Authour what was wont to be ſung in the Temple every Sabbath, The righteous ſhall flouriſh like a Palm, and ſpread like a Cedar: Such as he planted in Gods houſe, ſhall flouriſh in his Courts, and bring forth MORE fruit in their Age, Pſa. 92. The moſt and generally retain thoſe grounds I go upon.Ps 92 civil buſineſs, and ſo needed a farther tranſlation even of the whole kind, (a very Metamorphoſis) to make it religious, whereas Here needed no ſuch thing; no tranſire à genere ad genus, or to raiſe from prophane to holy, becauſe all was ſub eodem genere under the ſame head of Religious before: A Rite of Religion? yea, a rite of Regeneration, yea, a Rite of Baptiſmal Regeneration, and in ſome ſenſe (believed) Sacramental too; to wit, as far forth as any thing among Gods own people Then was Such, As queſtionleſs ſome things were, Circumciſion for inſtance, and this as far forth as Circumciſion, being that in Sacramental work did bear a joint half part with it.

Neither doth this derogate from the honour of this Sacrament (in mine opinion) but rather adde thereto, nor detract from it but rather give eſteem, Nor make it infamous as Iewiſh, if the pedigree ſhould ſettle and hold thence, but rather adde to its commends, as coming from the ſtock of Abraham, the houſe of Iſrael: Other things boaſt of that extraction, the other Sacrament, for inſtance, glories of an Hebrew Original, this is left Chriſtian enough p. 36that even this determination leaves it in the higheſt, ſafeſt way Chriſtian, by(1)(1)If any ſhall object that I ſeem to make the bleſſed Sacrament of our Lords body and blood, a Jewiſh ceremony, ſc. by deriving it from their Cup of bleſſing, I anſwer, No: For as a kinde of initiatory purification was uſed by the Jews, &c. to make Proſelytes, yet it was no more a Sacrament to them then Circumciſion was to the Turks and Saracens; Thus neither was the breaking of the bread Sacramental to the Jew; but then it became a Sacrament, when Chriſt ſaid of it, This is my Body, &c. Godwins Heb. Antiqu: l. 3. c. 7. Chriſt the Authour, Neither is it any Sacrament to Us but by His Divine appointment, HIS allowed, beſtowed, inſtituting, conſtituting grace creating, advancing, ſetting it where it is, and whatever it can in Religion and to Us, That only ſo to do erecting and enabling it. This tranſlates and metamorphoſes the whole kind, and to advantage of honour and preferment enough, though it come of Iewiſh parents, that Jeſus appointed it who was the ſon of Mary, and by us believed the Son of God; whoſe work and authority could doe it(2)(2)Herein agree both Romaniſts and Calviniſts. Siquis dixerit Sacramenta novae legis non eſſe omnia à Jeſu Chriſto Domino noſtra inſtituta Anathema ſit: Concil. Tridentin. Seſſ. 7. cap. 1: Authorem Sacramentorum eſſe ſolum Chriſtum, Vid. Bellarmin. de ſacram: in genere, lib. 1. c. 23. An inſtitutio ſacramentorum ſit ſolùm à Deo, Vid: Aquin. part. 3. Quaeſt 64. artic 2. Illud quoque ſcire nos oportet, quod non eccleſia, ſed ipſo Domino inſtituente ſacramentis utimur. Lancelot. Inſtitut: Jur. Canon. lib: 2. tit. 3. The Author and Inſtitutor of all Sacraments is not any man, but God alone. Confeſſ. Helvet. poſter. cap. 19. To acknowledge Chriſts Inſtitution the ground of bo…h ſacraments, I ſuppoſe no Chriſtian man will refuſe, Hooke. Eccleſ. Polit. lib. 5: ſect. 51. pag. 321. They derive their value from thence. Raynolds Medit. on the Lords Supper, chap. 14. Quis eſt Author Sacramentorum? Solus Deus. Bucan. commun. loc. 47. ſect. 3. Quis Author ſive cauſa inſtituens Baptiſmi? Deus Pater, Filius, & Sp. Sanctus. Id. loc: 46. ſect: 4. Sacramenta ſunt Ceremoniae à Deo mandatae populo ipſius, Piſcator: loc. 23. Aphor. 1. Baptiſmus eſt ceremonia à filio Dei inſtituta, &c. Ʋrſin. explic. Catechet. Quaeſt. 69. ſect. 1. and ſee Quaeſt. 66. ſect. 1. Ergo auctor ſacramentorum quis eſt niſi Dominus Jeſus? de coelo iſta Sacramenta venerunt. Ambroſ. de Sacrament. lib. 4. cap. 4. For the whole four, (that are or have been, or have been reputed) See their inſtitution in ſo many diſtinct places of Scripture. Gen: 17. Exod. 19. Matth. 28. Mark 14. and together, 1 Cor. 41. Theſe (ſome of them) no man did or can inſtitute but the Lord and God himſelf Chriſt Jeſus. Confeſſ. Bohem. ca: 11. Chriſtus igitur Baptiſmi Solus eſt Author. P. Ram. de Relig. Chriſtiana, l. 4. c. 5.Exod 19Matt 28Mark 14 alone by the efficacious power of his word even regenerating Baptiſme, and of an old, decayed Dead Ceremony raiſing and reviving it to a Sacrament of Life. The whole ingraffed Church of Gentiliſme, as now it ſtands, was at firſt ſet upon or rather ſet into that ſtock whereon Iudaiſme formerly flouriſhed, Rom. 11. to bring forth fruit unto God, and may not rather the leſſe then little branch of a Rite or Ceremony.

In which derivation of ſome things from ancient time, rather then framing or creating all anew ſeems done ſomewhat like that which(3)(3)Vid. Bed. Hiſt. Eccleſiaſt. Anglorum, l. 1. c 30. Gregory the great after counſelled here in England, at firſt Plantation of the Goſpel, Baptiſme with other Myſteries; Who willed p. 37the Pagan Temples not to be deſtroyed, if fair, but converted, and the feaſts not to be aboliſhed but transferred; The former, that people might be gently led along, and by their wils, to worſhip where they had uſed, & verum Deum cognoſcens & adorans, ad loca quae conſuevit familiariûs concurrat, as his Order hath; The other, that by like reaſon men may be brought on by degrees, aſcending by ſtairs what they could not at once, and by retaining ſomewhat of that they(1)(1)Libet autem hoc loco veterum patrum ad, mirari prudentiam, qui principio naſcentis religionis, cum Gentiles patrios ritus retinendi nimio plus amantes erant, ut facilius eos ab inanibus umbris & rancida ſuperſtitione, ad novam legem veritatis & gratiae transferrent, praeter alios ritus hunc etiam candidi Calcei retinuerunt. Joſeph. Vicecomes, de antiqu. Baptiſmi ritibus, l. 5. c. 18. loved and had, they might the more eaſily, willingly, ſmoothly and peaceably, but ful as ſurely be brought on to what(2)(2)Qui ſincera intentione extraneos à Chriſtiana Religione ad fidem cupiunt rectam perducere blandimentis non aſperitatibus debent ſtudere, Ne quorum mentem reddita ad planum Ratio poterat revocare, pellat procul adverſitas. Nam quicunque aliter agunt & eos ſub hoc velamine à conſueta ritus ſui volunt cultura ſuſpendere, ſuas illi magis quam Dei cauſas probantur attendere, Gregor. Epiſtol. l 11. Ep. 15. ad Epiſcop. Neopolitanum. And therefore he blames the reſtraint there laid upon the Jews, from keeping their Feaſts. Decret. 1. Diſt 45. c. 3: they had not. For, (let rigid men opine what they will, their Opinion will never have work in order to the change of Things) Duris mentibus (and very ſure, ſuch churliſh and untractable diſpoſitions all ſavage, untaught, barbarous, whether Nations or unconverted Men have) ſimul omnia abſcindere impoſſibile eſſe non dubium eſt; quia is qui ſummum locum aſcendere nititur gradibus vel paſſibus non autem ſaltibus elevatur, (as the Learned Hiſtorian goes on to give the reaſon with the fact) and he inſtances in(3)(3)Ac ſimilem plane gubernationis DEI Opt. Max. modum obſervare licet in rebus multis in lege noſtra, quia non licèt ſubito & momento quaſi tranſire à contrario uno ad alterum; & per conſequens, ſecundum Naturam hominis fieri non poteſt, ut momento relinquat id, cui longo temporis ſpatio eſt aſſuetus. Cùm itaque miſit DEUS Moſem Doctorem noſtrum p.m. ut nos faceret Regale ſacerdotium, Gentem ſanctam primo in cognitione DEI Opt. Max. ſicut dicitur; Oſtenſum eſt tibi ut ſcires, &c. Item Scito ergo hodie, & revocato ad cor tuum, &c. Deut. 4.85. & 39. Deinde in cultu DEI, ſicut dicitur; & ad colendum cum toto corde veſtro, &c. Item, & ſervietis Domino DEO veſtro, &c. Deut: 11.13. &c. Et uſitata tum in mundo conſuetudo erat, cui omnes aſſueti, & cultus univerſalis, in quo omnes erant educati, ut variae animalium ſpecies in Templis illis, in quibus Imagines illae collocabantur, offerrentur, coram illis procumberetur, & adoleretur; certi inſuper quidam eſſent cultores ſequeſtrati quaſi ad cultum illum deſtinati, qui in Templis illis in honorem Solis, Lunae, reliquarumque ſtellarum extructis; exercebatur, ſicuti oſtendimus: ideò noluit ſapientia & providentia DEI, quae in omnibus ejus creaturis lucet, mandare, ut cultus illi omnes derelinquantur aut aboleantur. Hujus enim rei cor humanum, quod perpetuò ad id inclinat, cui & aſſuetum, naturaliter non fuiſſet capax; ac proptereà perinde fuiſſet, acſi hoc noſtro tempore Propheta aliquis veniret, qui nos ad cultum DEI vocare veſſet, ac diceret; DEUS praecipit vobis, ne oretis, ne jejunetis, ne quaeratis ſalutem ejus in d… ſanguitia, ſed ut cultus veſter totus conſiſtat in cogitatione, non in opere. Propter hanc itaque cauſam retinuit DEUS adhuc cultus, eoſque à rebus, creatus & phantaſmatis, quae nullam veritatem habent, ad Nomen ſuum venerandum tranſtulit & praecepit nobis, ut illas exhibeamus Ipſi. Thence Temples, Altars, Sacrifices, Incenſe, Prieſts by the Law. Conſilium autem in hac divina ſapientia fuit, ut memoria Idololatriae deleatur, & fundamentum illud magnum de Exiſtentia & Unitate DEI in gente noſtra confirmetur, nec tamen animi Hominum propter cultuum illorum abolitionem, quibus aſſueti erant, obſtupeſcerent, vel alios cultus ſcirent. Moſes Maiemonid. in More Nevoch. lib. 3. cap. 32. de praeceptorum ra ione, pag 432. As the people were not brought through the Philiſtims countrey, which was the nearer way, but through the Deſart, which was the better way, as there it follows, Vide Aquin: ſecunda ſecundae, Quaeſt. 10. Artic: 11. Ideoque omnipotens & patiens creator, (ſays Walaf…idus Strabo, on the ſame argument, of Altars and Temples from the Heathen) factu…ae ſuae volens undecunque conſulere, (quia propter fragilitatem omnes con uetudines pariter tolli non poſſe ſciebat) permiſit & juſſit quaedam ſibi obedienter à piis exhiberi, quae daemonibus damnabiliter ab impiis ſolvebantur, as Temples and Sacrifices. And other worſhippers as forwardly and tractably borrowed mutually of them, de rebus Eccleſiaſt c. cap. 2.Deut 4:85Deut 4:39 JEHOVA p. 38(Our great LORD GOD of Iſrael) who took thoſe very rites (he ſays) and ſacrifices he found in Egypt, and ſanctified them, being ſuperſtitious before, for his own peoples ſervice, in his own Land, by his own Law, to bee uſed in the moſt holy Service of Himſelf, and in his own city & temple of Ieruſalem. Their former prophaneneſs held no antipathy to keep out his more powerful ſanctification, ruſhing in by force, nor their ill uſe or worſe Maſters could lay any bar againſt his claim or poſſibility of acceptance of what he choſe, but that he might have, retain, uſe and be worſhipped by that, which, before he laid his holy hand upon it, had been prophaned to the worſt even Aegyptian Idolatry. The like might Chriſt doe after in this matter of Baptiſme, ſooner giving form then making matter, rather taking what he found for his purpoſe at his own Ieruſalem, then fetching from Arabia, or elſewhere, and placing it there, or Creating it whole anew; Nor was it ſo much as a Feaſt or a Temple, a little farther to conſecrate a religious rite, for Him was Maſter of all Religion and had power ſo to doe.

And we may be the better perſwaded of this derivation (rather then Creation, which uſually paſſes) if we conſider the ſimilitude and reſemblance is between theſe we here take liberty to call the Primitive and Derivative, Original and Abſtract; or the ſame in one Religion, and the ſame in another, for the ſame end; for there was the ſame Name common to both, the ſame Rite uſed in both, the ſame End propoſed of both, and the like Miniſtration as to the Manner, and Perſons admitted or admittable. The Name was, p. 39(and is) Baptiſme; the Rite, Waſhing or Purification by water; the End, a New Birth, to be thereby Born again or admitted to a new Religion, (queſtioned once whether Circumciſion, the old Partner ſhould not be alſo retained among Chriſtians for the ſame purpoſe? Acts 1….) and for the miniſtration both as to the Manner and the Perſons, Things may not be thought they could have been more like, then (as 'tis deſcribed by them) theſe were, the old Baptiſm in days of old, and our New at firſt, as it was when it was freſh and New. For, (to forbear inlarging on the firſt things, as touched at before, and confine to the laſt) as to the Manner of old Baptiſme, this we make no doubt to affirm it was it ſelf, that is, Baptiſme; the(1)(1)So M. Purchaſe in his Pilgrim. l. 2. c. 2 out of Pet. Ricius de coeleſti Agricult. l. 3. & ad praecept. 113. whole body covered in water, and ſome(2)(2)Foemina in aquis collocabatur collo tenus à foeminis, Selden, p. 146. placed in it up to the chin.(3)(3)Has ciſternas adeò & profundas & aqua plenas eſſe oportet, ut cum deſcenderint in eas aqua ad collum eorum pertingat.— Quid multis? Illis circa corpus univerſum nè tantum quidem relinquere licet indetectum, quantum pilus aut filum pateſcat. Synag. Judaic. cap. 2. pa. 98, 99. And thereof another not leſſe learned: Matronae Judaeorum, poſt puerperium, priuſquam viris ſe conjungunt, in ciſternis, fontibus & lavibus foreign, ac totas ita ſeſe, ut ne ullam quidem partem corporis immundam aut immunem aquae habeant, immergere conſueverunt. Dan. Heinſius, in Ariſtarch. Sacro, pa. 743. Buxtorftus gives us the like of another waſhing, for purification of women poſt puerperium, which was ſo exact, a Ring muſt not be left on the finger, a bracelet on the arm, or chain on the neck, &c. If the Lavatory had any mud at the bottome or other filth, a fair clean ſtone muſt be choſen to tread upon, that water might miſſe no part at all; tandem aliquando coguntur ſubtus aquas ſe totas emergere, &c. And the like exactneſs was (as I believe, in all, ſo) ſure in this initiatory purification. Corpus etiam integrum abluendum (ſaith our(4)(4)Selden, pa. 144. Yet not neceſſarily was the party naked, for ſo waters paſſed through the clothes, nec inter eas & cutem corporis quid obſtruens Baptiſmum intercedat, it was enough. But that neceſſary: Id in omnigenis Baptiſmis accuratiùs obſervandum volunt, nè aliter ipſe Baptiſmi actus indè irritus redderetur. Id de Synedriis Ebraeorum antiqu. l. 1. c. 3. pa. 26. Nay, if but the tip of the finger remained dry, all the reſt was unprofitable. The capacity of the veſſel or place wherein, was not to be ſo little as of 450 Gallons. Id. ib. Authour, from Maiemonides) & cavendum ne corporis particulae ulli maneret quid quod ejuſdem ablutionem impediret, Nothing muſt interpoſe to hinder the water from any part, as ſcurf, ſcab, ſpittle, gore-bloud, looſe skin, p. 40&c. or if it did, all was as good as nothing. Now view the Chriſtian ſide. The word(1)(1)Matth. 3.11. Chap: 28, 19. Mark 1, 9. Chap: 16.16. Luke 3.21. Chap: 7.30. Jo: 3.22, 23. Chap: 4.1, 2. & Chap: 10.40. Acts 1.5. Cha: 2.38:41. Chap: 8:12, 13. &c Chap. 9.18. Rom: 6.3. 1 Cor. 1.13, 14, 15, 16. Gal. 3.27, &c. Dominus N. ordinavit (Baptiſmum) fieri per immerſionem in aquam, & non per aſperſionem, ut ex Matth. 28. ubi verbum Baptizantes in nomen Patris, &c. in textu Graeco idem eſt ac immergentes ac infundentes in aquam, Joan. Baptiſta Caſalius de veter. Chriſtianorum ritibus, cap. 19. pa. 141.Matt 3:11Mark 1:9Luke 3:21Acts 1:51 Cor 1:131 Cor 1:141 Cor 1:151 Cor 1:16Gal 3:27Matt 28 uſed by Chriſt, his Apoſtles the Phariſees, All in the New Teſtament was, both the ſame was uſed when all this was required, and of the ſame impor… to BAPTIZE and BAPTISME, ſignifying(2)(2)Neque enim de manuum vel pedum lotione, aut alterius cujuſque membri ſed de totius corporis immerſione, ſcimus foreign adhiberi, Montacut. Apparat. 7. Sect. 25. For proof conſult the Dictionaries, foreign: mergo, immergo: item, tingo: foreign, immergo, abluo, baptizo, Paſor. Lexic. vocab. Novi Teſtam. pa. 131. foreign, mergo, immergo, tingo, intingo, madefacio, lavo. Suidas, foreign, mergo ſeu immergo: item ſubmergo, ſeu obruo aqua, Scapul. Lexic. But above all, Stephanus; foreign, mergo, immergo, &c. item tingo, (quod fit immergendo) inficere, imbuere. foreign, tinctus, infectus, ſc. colore aliquo: foreign, bis tinctus, ut foreign. qua utitur & Plinius li. 9. cap. 3. foreign, mergo ſeu immergo: (ut quae tingendi aut abluendi gratia aquae immergimus.) Item mergo, id eſt, ſubmergo, obruo aqua: & foreign, id eſt, mergor, ſubmergor. Ut autem Latini aliquem aqua obrutum dicunt, ſignificantes ſubmerſum; itidemque vino obrutum, pro benè appotum & ad aebrietatem uſque, nec non obrutum aliquem negotiis, praeterea aere alieno; ſic & Graecos ſuo foreign metaphoricè uſos eſſe comperio, foreign & foreign: merſio, lotio, ablutio, id eſt, ipſe mergendi, item lavandi ſeu abluendi actu…. Stephanus Lexic. Tom. 1. The Native ſignification of the word is to dip into water, or plunge under water, ſays M. Leigh in Critic: Sac: p. 111. Or look abroad. That ſo much water as may denominate ablution, is neceſſary for Baptiſme, and that the word requires it, is proved at large by Gregor: de Valenc. Tom: 4. Diſput: 4. quaeſt: 1. punct: 2. Merſatione autem non perfuſione agi ſolitum hunc ritum indicat & vocis proprietas, & loca ad eum ritum delecta, Jo: 3. Acts 3. & alluſiones multae Apoſtolorum (true enough) quae ad aſperſionem referri non poſſunt, Rom. 6.3, 4. Col. 2.12. ſays Grotius ad Evan. Matth. 3.6. foreign is intingor, as Apoc. 19.13. It is taken from the Dyers Vate, and is a dying or giving a freſh colour, and not a bare waſhing onelyonly, whence our baptiſme, Leigh Critic. Sac. Plus eſt hoc loco (Mar. 7.4.) foreign quam foreign: quod illud videatur de corpore univerſo, iſtud de man…bus duntaxat intelligendum: even granted by Beza in Annot. Major. ad Mar. 7.4. And therefore among the Hebrews, the great waſhers (confiding in water) had their name from hence of Hemero-baptiſts. Among them were their foreign & foreign, that is for waſhing their hands, but Theſe immergebant aquis, & ita totum corpus, à vertice ad talos inundabant. Montacut Apparat. 7. ſect. 78. VVhen Peters feet were waſhed (obſerved by the Learned Caſaubon) and mention added of his hands and his head, as diſtinct parts, another word was uſed, of foreign, Joan 13.5, 6, 8, 9, &c. but the rite of Baptiſme was, ut in aquas immergerentur: Not: in Mat. 3.6. As when holy things are laid on the table, foreign. Liturg, S. Petri. pa. 14. ſet forth by Lindanus: the like whereto is in St. Chriſoſtomes Directory (ſo he stiles it) in Biblioth. pat. Gr. Lat. tom. 2. pa. 60. If this were not enough Scaliger has more. Hic fuit baptizandi ritus, ut in aquas immergerentur: quod vel ipſa vox foreign declarat ſatis: quae ut non ſignificat foreign, quod eſt fundum petere, ita profecto non eſt foreign: Differunt autem haec tria, foreign. Unde intelligimus, non eſſe abs re quod jampridem nonnulli diſputarunt, de toto corpore immergendo in ceremonia Baptiſmi: Vocem enim foreign urgebant. Sed horum ſententia meritò eſt jampridem exploſa: quum non in eo poſita ſit myſterii hujus vis & foreign. Scaliger: not: in Mat. 3.6. The interpretations, or inſinuations of the Civil Law may be very authentick this way. There: — Baphei, aliâs, Baphees, id eſt tinctores pannorum. foreign enim Graece, Latinè tingere. Inde Bapheus, Baphees; id eſt, tinctor & lavator, ut hic & infr. gloſs. ad Cod. 11. tit. 7. de murilegulis. L. 2. Baphii, Baphia, taberna eſt tinctoria, foreign. Vel Baphia (ait Briſſonius) ſunt officinae infectorum, qui veſtibus purpura & cocco tingendis operam dabant. — Hujuſmodi multa Baphia & in orientis & occidentis partibus Imperatores habebant, quae ſub diſpoſitione comitum ſacrarum largitionum in notitia imperii Romani ponuntur. Jo. Calvin; Lexic. Jurid. pa. 110. Item, Baptiſma vel Baptiſmus, graece foreign, latinè immerſio. ibid. & paulo poſt, Baptiſterium: Lavacrum, &c. Coeterum bapto verbum Graecum, tingo ſignificat. Baphia, loca ubi lanae tinguntur. Servius appellat Dibaphum, purpura bis tincta, &c. in vocab. baptiſterium. Item: Serico baptae, ſerici tinctores. foreign enim ſignificat tingo: inde baptae apud Juvenalem dicti, quod faciem fuco illinêrunt. — Cujus (ſerici) tinctores Baphii: Id. in vocab. ſerico baptae pa. 443. Erant in republica Rom. per provincias imperii certa loca deſtinata pannis tingendis, ubi Baphia erant, Id eſt officinae tinctorum, & illis procuratores praepoſiti, veluti procurator Baphii Tarentini, Calabriae: procurator Baphii Salonitani, Dalmatiae: procurator Baphii Ciſſenſis, Venetiae & Hiſtriae, procurator Baphii Syracuſani, Siciliae, &c. In libro qui Notitia provinciarum utriuſque imperii in ſcribitur. P. Gregor. Tholoſan. Syntagm. Juris univerſi: lib. 18. cap. 26. ſec. 5. foreign. having on a veſture dipt in blood. Apoc. 19. Nor is all this againſt that form, or but with it and for it, according to order whereof moſt Engliſh Diſciples have been admitted to place in that School, where now they ſtudie, profeſs, and act Chriſtians. The rubrick for publick baptiſme in the Liturgy directed thus: The Miniſter ſhall take the child in his hands and ask the name; and naming the child ſhal dip it in the water, ſo it be diſcreetly and warily done, ſaying [N. I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghoſt] And only if the child be weak it ſhall ſuffice to powre water upon it ſaying the foreſaid words. The rubrick for privat baptiſme, the lawfull Miniſter ſhall dip it in water, or powre water upon it ſaying theſe words, [N. I baptize thee, &c. after which as ſuppoſing ſo done, (there was a fault of diſobedience to powers if it were not ſo done) the queſtion is asked in the authorized Catechiſme of that book, What is the outward viſible ſigne or form in Baptiſme? It was taught to be anſwered; [Water, wherein the perſon baptized is dipped or ſprinkled with it] In the name of the father, and of the ſon and of the holy ghoſt.Acts 3Rom 6:3Rom 6:4Col 2:12Matt 3:6Rev 19:13Mark 7:4John 13:5John 13:6John 13:8John 13:9Rev 19 Merſion or Ablution; and this whether we regard inſtitution, execution, order, performance, Rule or practiſe, whether in Goſpel or Epiſtle. Chriſt the beſt inſtance and ſafeſt pattern, p. 41p. 42patern, ſanctified this Ordinance by is Example in the(1)(1)Sciendum autem primo ſimpliciter in fluviis, vel fontibus baptizatos credentes; ipſe enim Dominus noſter J. Chr. ut in nobis idem conſecraret lavacrum, in Jordane baptizatus eſt à Johanne; & ſicut alibi legitur, Erat Joannes baptizans in Aenon juxta Salim quia aqua multa erant ibi: Et Philippus Evangeliſta baptizavit Eunuchum in fonte quem reperit in via. Walafrid: Strabo de rebus eccleſiaſtic. cap. 26. Tremuit ille (Joannes) Quî mirum! quid (inquam) mirum, ſi tremit homo, nec audet attingere ſanctum Dei verticem, caput adorandum angelis, reverendum poteſtatibus, tremendum principatibus. Bernard. Serm. 1. in Epiphan.—Tanta ſeſe benigniſſimus dignatione ſubjecit (Chriſtus) ut illud ſacratiſſimum caput, tremendum poteſtatibus, Angelis venerandum ad ſuſcipiendum Baptiſmum ſervuli ſui manibus inclinaret. Maxim. Taurinenſis. Homil. hyemal. 8. in feſt. Epiphan. Horret Joannes, & acclive ſibi eſſe ſacrum Chriſti. caput non patitur. Cyprian: de Baptiſmo Chriſti. River of Jordan, the known greateſt of all the Countrey; whether all the(2)(2)Johannes Baptiſta & Apoſtoli conveniebant ad ripam Jordanis, volentes, baptizare, quos faciebant deſcendere, & totum corpus in flumen immergere. Joan. Bapt. Caſalius. de veteribus Chriſtianorum ritibus. pa. 141. They were baptized, that is, plunged in water, for a ſacred ſigne. J. Deodate in his Annotat. on Matth. 3.6.Matt 3:6 people came from Jeruſalem, Judea, and all the coaſts round about, who were Baptized in Jordan likewiſe confeſſing their ſins. Save once in Aenon, near unto Sabim, and that becauſe 33Intellige non rivos multos, ſed ſimpliciter aquae copiam: tantam ſcilicet in qua facilè corpus humanum merſaretur, quo tum more Baptiſmus peragebatur. H. Grot. in annotat. ad loc.much water there, John elſe did not uſually Baptize any where; and, if Expoſitors be not miſtaken,(4)(4)Bethabara: John 1.28. Which is as much as domus tranſitus. Videtur nomen inditum ex hiſtoria quae eſt Judic. 3.16, 17. ubi vox Trajectus bis apparet. Grot. ad loc. That this was the place, and the myſtery thereof, ſc. that as the waters gave way here to Jeſus Nave to let him into Canaan, ſo here the heavens ſhould open into which Jeſus of Nazareth and his followers were to enter, See Dr. Jackſon, in Johns Anſwer to Chriſts Queſtion: part. 2. memb. 2. ſe. 65. There remained a long time the ſtamp of a Divine Character upon it: it was known by no leſs then this, a power to work miracles; For Lepers thither reſorted and were cured, as Baronius has from Gregory of Towrs. In Bedes times there ſtood a Croſs, Crux lignea uſque ad collum alta, quae aliquoties aquâ tranſendente abſconditur: and a Church hard by: where it is believed our Saviour left his clothes. Baron. Annal. in anno Chr. 31: num. 19. See the travels of the Patriarchs, pag. 429. of Bethabara. Eſt hodiè Bethſoro (Beth-zur others call it) vicus in tribu Judae, euntibus ab Heliae Chebron in vigeſimo lapide. Juxta quem fons ad radices montis ebulliens, ab eadem in qua gignitur ſorbetur humo. In hoc eſt Eunuchus à Philippo baptizatus. Bed. Expoſit. in Act. Apoſt. cap. 8. tom. 2. fol. 154. Quae (actio baptizandi) conſtat immerſione (mora ſub aqua) & emerſione corporis ex aqua, ſaltem aſperſione. Bucan. loc. 47. ſec. 18.John 1:28Judg 3:16Judg 3:17 near or at the very place where Iſrael paſſed before by miracle; there needed no leſſe to make the depth fordable. Philip and the Eunuch rode together till they came in their way to (5) water, and there they went (6) down into the water, and came up out of the water: which Circumſtance p. 43noted and expreſſion uſed of our Saviour before, Matthew 3.16. When he was baptized, he went up out of the water. (Remember God-fathers were at firſt called ſuſceptores, and ſome of their office queſtionleſs in that other periphraſis of(1)(1)Utrum in Baptiſmo requiratur aliquis qui baptizatum levet de ſacro fonte? Aquin. part. 3. queſt. 66. Art. 7. vid. etiam artic. 8. & Supplementum 3 iae partis, Quaeſt. 56. Artic. 3. & Durand. Rational. Divinorum, lib. 6. cap. 82. ſec. 38. Levantes de ſacro fonte) Whereunto(2)(2)Qui enim Baptizantur & aquis immerguntur Chriſtum mortuum & ſepultum repraſentant allegoricè, idque ut tropologica ſimilitudine ſignificent, ſicut Chriſtus mortuus eſt vitae temporali, ita ſe mori peccato (ait Chryſoſtomus) per Baptiſmum, quo peccata merguntur & ſepeliuntur. Cornel. à Lapide in Rom. 6.4:Rom 6:4 St Pauls ſpeech of aluſion muſt needs have reſpect in divers places; eſpecially Rom. 6.4. and Coloſſ. 2.12. We have in our ordinary Bibles an Illumination from which there cannot be apoſtacy with any hopes of return, Heb. 6.4. The Fathers and thoſe of beſt judgment underſtand there by Baptiſme, the terms having bin uſed promiſcouſly: Now that the Syriac gives, Atqui non poſſunt illi qui ſemel ad Baptiſmum deſcenderunt renovari, &c. as rendred by Tremellius, and his reaſon with clearneſs explains all, Nam immergebantur aquis. Add hereto that firſt name of the Baptiſterium (3)(3)Vid. Socrat. Hiſtor. Eccleſiaſt. lib. 7. cap. 17: & Juſtin Martyr. Queſtion. & Reſponſ. ad Orthod. 137. Piſcina Lavacrum. Suidas. St Cyprian was ſeriouſly asked, whether any other Baptiſme were Catholick, which the Church would allow, then by Merſion? He anſwers affirmatively; but they were the ſick who might be ſo priviledged; and of them, aſperſio, aquae inſtar ſalutaris Lavacri obtinet, 'twas as good as what was done at Church though but ſprinkling. Ep. 77. par. 2. tom. 1. p. 121.foreign, ſc. locus ubi natare poſſumus, (as among other interpretations, Scapula gives this one) a waſhing pool, and(4)(4)Lavacrum, God. de operibus publicis. L. 18. pro Balneo. J. Calvin. in Lexic. Jurid. pa. 510. The word interpreted Stupha in Gloſſ. ad God, de Epiſcopali audient: L. Judices. A nobis ita locus appellatur, in quo quis lavari commodè poteſt: ſayes Spiegel. alledged there. Et Briſſonius, Lavare veteribus ſignificat corpus aqua in balneo abluere. vid. Heb. 10.22, 23.Heb 10:22Heb 10:23 Lavacrum a bath; that antient p. 44(5)(5)Sciant etiam presbyteri quando ſacrum Baptiſma miniſtrant, ut non infundant à quam. ſanctam ſuper capita infantium, ſed ſemper mergantur in Lavacro, ſicut exemplum praebuit per ſemet ipſum Dei filius omni credenti, quando eſſet ter merſus in undis Jordanis. Synod. apud Celicyth ſub Kenulpho: apud Spelman. Concil. tom. 1. pa. 331.Canon of our anceſtor-Mercians, with the reaſon thereof, that Water ſhould not be powred on any ones head, but he be merged, becauſe Chriſt had been ſo in Jordan; and the practice of our firſt Grandfather Chriſtians, upon whoſe ſeparation from Paganiſme by this rite, (which we may preſume to be underſtandingly, not formally miniſtred at firſt) we read ſtill of their attendance at Rivers: As in Yorkſhire, Vir Dei Paulinus, that man of God found imployment(1)(1)Tantus autem fertur tunc fuiſſe fervor fidei ac deſiderium lavacri ſalutaris genti Nord-Humbrorum, ut quodam tempore Paulinus veniens cum Rege & Regina in villam regiam, quae vocatur Adregin, triginta ſex diebus ibidem cum eis catechizandi & baptizandi officio deditus moraretur, quibus diebus cunctis à manè uſque ad veſperam nil aliud ageret, quàm confluentem eò de cunctis viculis ac locis plebem Chriſti verbo ſalutis inſtruere, atque in ſtructam in fluvio Gleni, qui proximus erat, lavacro remiſſionis abluere. Bed. Eccleſiaſt. Hiſtor. Gentis Anglorum. lib. 2. cap. 14. for 36 days together from morning to evening in baptizing the Countrey people that came in from all parts (after the King and his Family had led the way) in the River of Gleni; In(2)(2)Bed. cap. eodem. another Province and not far from York, (3)(3)To ſo many Mr. Fox computed them in his Martyrolog. lib. 2. pa. 119.ten thouſand in a day in the River of Swale, ſome tradition whereof remaineth among the neighbour inhabitants to this day, as I learned of them; In(4)(4)De hujus fide provinciae narravit mihi presbyter & abbas quidam vir vera ciſſimus de Monaſterio Peartan vocabulo Beda, retuliſſe ſibi quendam ſeniorum, baptizatum ſe fuiſſe the media à Paulino Epiſcopo praeſente Rege Edvino, & multam populi turbam in fluvio Trehenta juxta civitatem quae lingua Anglorum Tiovulfingaceſtir vocatur. Beda. lib. eod. cap. 16. fol. 82. Nottingham-ſhire the King being preſent, many in the River of Trent, not far from(5)(5)That, as now, to be the place called as but now, by Bede, is conjectur'd by Mr. Camden in Nottinghamſhire, pa. 549. Here, in token of thankfulneſs for ſo great a favour even to the Miniſter, he had beſtowed upon him mu…h land; ſome of it after converted to the 3 parks, which his ſucceſſors kept till the days of our late troubles, within the laſt ſeptenary. Southwell; venerable Bede who gives the Relation, had it from one he knew and truſted much, who had it from one of the proſelites that then came over. Laſtly, take in the avouched uſe of the(6)(6)Orientales toti in aquam mergebantur. Urſim. explicat. Catechet. quaeſt. 69. ſec. 1. Of old they were wont in hot. Countreys to dip the party to be baptized (all naked) in to the water, and ſo he was waſhed all over. Mayer on the Church-Catechiſme pa. 525. From ſervice performed by occaſion of ſuch Baptiſme of women, Phoebe. (Rom. 16.1.) is thought by many to have been ſtiled Miniſtra. Eſpecially ſee Hu. Grot. in Evangel. Matth. cap. 3. ver. 6.Rom 16:1Matt 3:6 Eaſterlings to have miniſtred no other way; thoſe of Arabia to know our (to baptize) by the word Amada foreign, which imports to ſtand, from their ſtanding in the Rivers, (which the ſon of Azalkefat hath left us in p. 45the very tranſlation of the Goſpels;) Even88That Baptiſme is merging, and ſo uſed by the antients, averred by him, Inſtitut. lib. 4. cap. 15. ſec. 9. As much (or as much as comes thereto) by Bellarmine, lib. 1. de Bapt. cap. 1. tom. 3. Calvin, and Bellarmine (the more is the wonder) in this agreeing; Beſides(1)(1)Aquin. Summ. part. 3. Quaeſt. 66. art. 7. Aquinas his Tutius eſt per modum immerſionis baptizare, repeated, and the practice of the Church to be made good by the beſt Records, ſc. that (as(2)(2)Part 3. Domin. 1. Advent. pa. 18. Cunradius Dietericus grants it was, though he do not think it fit it ſhould have been) till the time of Conſtantinus (3)(3)Vid. Hiſtor. Magdeburg: Centur. 8. cap. 6. de Ceremoniis. ſec. De ritibus circa Baptiſmum.Copronymus about the year 740. (who from a ſhamefull diſgrace to this Sacrament, got that name) yet,77So the learned Commentator on Sir Tho. Ridleys View of the Laws, pa. 176. till then, men uſed to goe into the water and there ſtand, Veſtibus exuti, nudi, &c. Lay I ſay theſe things together and compare, and face does not more fully and proportionally anſwer face in water, nor any thing its like, then the manner of waſhing proſelytes and our Saviours Sacrament inſtituted, with the practice in pureſt times, do picture, expreſs, lead, follow, ſet forth, exemplifie, and in all things correſpond, comply with and reſemble one the other; of which many other things might be alledged, and more then very many, but that I am willing to borrow incautelous forbearance from the Apoſtles,(4)(4)2 Corinth. 11.12.2 Cor 11:12 amputare occaſionem eorum qui volunt occaſionem: It was both and all but Sacred Sacerdotall waſhing, and for the manner alike on both ſides of the Covenant.

So for the perſons on whom it was to paſs: which on Iſrael ſide was even to Minor's offered by their parents or the Countrey; and the moſt(5)(5)The Churches through Greece, Aſia, Syria, Aegypt, &c. Ruteni Muſcovitae, Aethiopis, all receive it, ſays judicious Caſſander; and all, whoſe uſe is known to us, extra fines Latinos, keep preciſely to the 8th day. Except (perhaps) the Abiſſines, who ſtay not the females ſo long, but haſten them (according to the time prefixed for the mothers purification frō a male by the Law) on the 40 day: ſo croſſing Levi both in male and female. Teſtimonia veterum ſcriptorum pro paedo… baptiſmo. pa. 693. general received practice of Gentile believers hath been ſince to ſuffer little children to come unto Chriſt, and not forbid them, as of whom is (in right) the Kingdom of God. For, as to the former, I finde, p. 46(6)(6)Ut gentiles Majores ad hunc modum, ex animi ſui ſententia proſelyti fieban, ita minores (maſculi ante annum decimum tertium, praeter unicum diem, Faeminae ante duodecimum & diem in ſuper expletum) ex ſententia ſive patris ſive fori cui ſuberant, in Judaiſmum pariter cooptati: Atque actus tàm forenſis quàm paternus aſſenſum eorum tùm in Circumciſione & Baptiſmo, tùm in ſacrificio offerendo, quod ſequebatur, ſupplebat; nempe quia in commodum ejus res ceſſit. Selden, de Jure Nat. & Gent. p. 146. As much obſerved and allowed by him ſince. Non magis Circumciſionem, quàm baptiſmum parvulis tum debitam praeſtitamque volunt (Magiſtri) ut ex mox dicendis de proſelytis manifeſtum fit de Synedriis veterum Ebraeorum, lib. 1. cap. 3. pa. 28. and he alledgeth ſundry authorities of remote and very dark inquiry, but beſt account; as from Maimonides, Miſna Babilon: Miſna Hieroſolymit. &c. Plain, full, home. By their own teſtimony, this as common as of any other, lately obſerved by Mr. Lightfoot: In the Talmud in Cetuboth perek. 1. they have theſe words. Rab. Hona ſaith, A little one they baptize by the appointment of the Conſiſtory, foreign Whereupon the Hebrew gloſs: If he have not a father, and his mother bring him to be proſelyted, they baptize him, becauſe there is no proſelyte without Circumciſion and Baptifme.—The Text proceedeth. What do we learn hence? That he hath benefit by it, and they priviledg a man even though he know it not. It is a tradition, that they priviledg a perſon though he know it not; but they do not diſpriviledg a perſon without his knowledge. (Very good!) And thus do they anſwer that objection now on foot againſt Infants baptiſme, ſc. that it is not fit they ſhould be baptized, becauſe they have no underſtanding: They make it a non-ſequitur, for ſay they, A priviledge may be put upon a perſon though himſelf know it not: Harmony of the Evangeliſts, part. 2. pa. 75.thoſe that would be proſelytes to the Synagogue (being under years of conſent, the male a day under thirteen, the female a day above twelve the parents of the child, or the Countrey would offer any other, and this conſent of theirs interpreted to ſupply the conſent of him that otherwiſe could not, becauſe it tended to the good and benefit of the receiver, quia in commodum ejus (baptizati) res ceſſit, ſays their Law, as otherwiſe perhaps it ſhould not: Much as in11Ʋpon conſideration of all our books I finde this diverſity, that a Parſon or Vicar, for the benefit of his Church and of his ſucceſſor, is in ſome caſes eſteemed to have a fee ſimple qualified: but to do any thing to the prejudice of his ſucceſſors, in many caſes the Law eſteemeth him to have in effect but an Eſtate for life.] Cook on Littleton, fol. 341. & Eccleſia fungitur vice minoris: meliorem poteſt facere conditionem ſuam, deteriorem nequaquam. Briton. fol. 143: cited there. Bracton has it more fully, lib. 2. de acquirendo rerum dominio: cap. 5. ſe. 5. fol. 12. agreeable to the opinions of moſt Civilians, though ſome contradict. Vid. Gloſſ. Alimentarius: ad leg. Cum hi, quibus. in Digeſt. 2. de tranſactionibus. ſect. Eam tranſactionem. our Law, a man or Corporation may be a legall actor to benefit, and the act valid enough, as it would not have been if it had tended to prejudice; and not only a man, p. 47but a child by(2)(2)Et notandum, quod cùm donator minori dederit curatorem, & curator nomine minoris fuerit in ſeyſina, ſi donator poſtea quacunque ratione ſe poſuerit in ſeyſinam, & inde obierit ſeyſitus, nunquam propter hoc mutabitur ſtatus minoris, quin retineat contra quoſcunque. Recipere enim poterat per tutoris authoritatem, & conſentire donationi ſibi factae: conſentire autem donationi ad ſe (or rather, à ſe) faciendae, vel admittendi iterum donatorem ad ſeyſmam non poteſt, alicujus authoritate: meliorem enim ſuam conditionem facere poteſt deteriorem nequaquam, Bracton, de acquir rerum dom. 2.5. ſec. 8. fol. 14. The ſubſtance whereof has Fleta, lib. 3. cap. 3. de donationibus, ſec. 17. In aliquibus caſibus jus noſtrum minoribus tantùm favet, ut ne quidem cum authoritate tutorum, judicii periculum ſubire eos patiatur, ſed placitum uſque in plenam eorum aetatem ſiſtat. Cowell. Inſtitut. Jur Anglic. lib. 1. cap. 21. ſec. 5. ours, and(3)(3)Minoribus enim aetas in damnis ſubvenire, non rebus proſperè geſtis obeſſe conſuevit. Cod. de procuratoribus. L. Non èo minùs, as the gloſs in Gratian: Sententia lata contra ipſum (minorem) nulla eſt: ſi tamen lata fuerit pro ipſo, tenet. gloſſ. Pupillis. Cauſ. 15. Queſt. 3. c. 3. And generally by the Civil Law a childe might act to his own benefit, but not, if (poſſibly) to prejudice, without farther conſent. Auctoritas tutoris in quibuſdam cauſis neceſſaria pupillis eſt, in quibuſdam non neceſſaria. Ut ecce, ſi quid dari ſibi ſtipulentur, non eſt neceſſaria tutoris auctoritas, quod ſi aliis promittant pupilli, neceſſaria eſt tutoris auctoritas. (As they may take bond alone, but not give, by Inſtitut. 3. tit. 20. de in utilibus ſtipulationibus. ſec. Pupillus) Namque placuit meliorem conditionem licere eis facere, etiam ſine tutoris auctoritate: deteriorem verò non aliter quam cum tutoris auctoritate. Inſtitut. 1. tit. 21. de auctorit: tutorum. See the gloſs on which text: & ad Cod. lib. 5. tit. 59. de auctoritate praeſtand: L. Neque tutoris, & ad Cod. lib. 8. tit. 38. de contrahend. & commutand. L. 7. Neque tutoris; as Marcianus of old: Pupillus quantum ad acquirendum non eget tutoris auctoritate: alienare verò nullam rem poteſt niſi praeſente tutore auctore: & ne quidem poſſeſſionem, &c. Digeſt. 41. tit. 1. L. 11. Ex diverſo autem ſi pupillus paciſcatur, ne quod debeat à ſe peteretur, ratum habetur pactum conventum. Lib. 2. tit. 14. de pactis, L. Contra juris civilis. Pupillus tantùm hoc caſu naturaliter obligatur in quo factus eſt locupletior, gloſſ. ad, Dig. de condictione indebiti. L. Quod pupillus, & vid. L. Naturaliter: in eodem tit. & L. Cum illud aut illud: tit. Quando dies legat: & gloſſ. ad tit. de Novationibus, L. Cui bonis. Item L. Ait praetor: ſec. 1. tit. de negotiis geſtis. & gloſſ. Continentur, ad L. Si Servus, tit. de aedilicio edicto. Yet farther, as that which is rich caſts worth about it, ſo they that are but near to Minors ſpeed the better. Sed in proximis infantiae propter utilitatem eorum, benignior juris interpretatio facta eſt. Inſtitut. 3. de in utilibus ſtipulationibus. ſec. ſed quod diximus. other Laws may do, where it cannot ſuffer, and(4)(4)A minor of twenty, if he ſell and buy with the price thereof a thing of better value, is yet inabled both to retain his purchaſe, and recover his ſale, (only paying back the money) and this in favour of his minority: ſays the grave author of Doct. & Student. Dial. 1. cap. 21. ['Tis known and granted by all, that Infants may buy and keep: but if an Infant ſell his land he may enter againſt his own feoffment, and if he be put out, he ſhall have aſſiſe of Novel Diſſeiſin when he cometh to his full age.] Natura brevium, fol. 132. in the Writ De ingreſſu dum fuerit infra aetatem.] If the husband and the wife purchaſe land joyntly the wife being within age, and the husband and the wife ſelleth all the land, the husband dieth, the wife ſhall recover the whole by this Writ.] fol. 133. receive and hold in hand ſtrong p. 48enough, what yet it hath not power, if it would, to part with, by wiſe and very conſcionable proviſion. So there, to bring one to Iſrael and to be ſub alis Majeſtatis divinae (as their word was) tended to benefit and great advantage of the Receiver, and therefore that which paſſed on children, or was conveyed to children, unleſs there followed(1)(1)Si verò minor, ſimul ac aetatem compleverat Judaiſmo renunciaſſet, nec eam omnino poſtquam major erat fuiſſet amplexus, Ita dein evanuit quicquid per initiamenta, &c.—ut in Gentilis planè conditionem rediret. Selden, ubi ſupra. Ʋpon ſcore of like reaſon whereto, and for ſuch after tryal, may have been taken up in the Chriſtian Church that examination, which did ſift the conſtancy, or rather conſiſtency, of thoſe had been taken in young, to their preſumed grounds: that if they wavered, they might be known and diſcharged; or if they remained conſtant they might, by impoſition of hands receive what the commoner name of that Ceremony did import, of their faith (at leaſt a ſigne of) CONFIRMATION. Vaſquez has from Eraſmus (in the preface to his paraphraiſe on the Goſpels) a word of moſt wholſome, grave, and prudent advice: that thoſe who were baptized young, when they begin to write Man ſhould be examined, An ratum habeant id quod in Catechiſmo ipſorum nomine promiſſum fuit? quod ſi ratum non habeant, ab eccleſiae juriſdictione liberos manere. in 3. part. Thom. diſput. 154. tom. 2. cap. 1. ſec. 2. If they did then ſtand to what their ſureties had preſumed for them? if not, they ſhould be diſcarded. Moſt neceſſary! and of unimaginable benefit! ſuch a ſcrutiny would ſhake off thouſands of rotten hypocrites, and purge the Church of many ſuch infidel-believers (or profeſſers) upon whoſe dirty faces a little holy water was spinkled when they knew not what it was, but they no more minde the true ſanctification appertaining, then the Turks or Saracens (who ſhall riſe up in judgment againſt their waſhed filthineſs) or then thoſe of whom St Peter, It is happened to them according to the true proverb, The Dog to his vomit, and the waſhed Swine to wallow again in the mire. Such diſcipline of awak'd reaſon is that the world groans for! That men would become Chriſtians! O, that the truth of faith, and POWER of true Chriſtian belief might be ſeen in the hearts and lives of thoſe that knowingly put the neck in Chriſt's yoke! after-revocation, was counted valid and firm enough, it could come to no leſs: And even in like manner in the Chriſtian Church, whoſe wiſdom and charity hath been all along ſo free and provident as to offer to baptiſme, and to receive and eſteem for baptized, to all purpoſes and conſtructions, thoſe who were ſo far from(2)(2)Nec ſentiunt, nec conſentiunt. Decretal. Gregor. 3. tit. 42. cap. 3. At this age they are levelled with mad men by our Law. Furioſus autem ſtipulati non poteſt, nec aliquod negotinm gerere, quia neſcit nec intelligit quid agit. Eodem modo nec infans, nec qui infanti proximus eſt, qui multùm à furioſo non diſtat, niſi hoc fiat ad commodum ſuum, & cum tutoris authoritate. Fleta lib. 2. cap. 56. de actione debiti. Obſervable, that by the Civil Law, in that was called ADOPTION of Infants no ſuch particular expreſs conſent was needed: In Adrogation, which was another way of aſſuming into the Family (thoſe that were ſui juris and before the Magiſtrate) was required both Rogatio & mutua Interrogatio, as Gains fully, in Digeſt. de adoption. & emancipat. L. 2. But for thoſe were only adopted, no ſuch thing. Celſus 28. libro Digeſtorum. In adoptionibus eorum duntaxat qui ſuae poteſtatis ſunt voluntas exploratur (as were the Adrogati before; the gloſs there ſays ſo; and the notes on the gloſs, Adoptio pro adrogatione) ſin autem à patre dantur in adoptionem, in his utriuſque arbitrium ſpectandum eſt, vel conſentiendo vel non contradicendo. tit. eodem. L. 5. And further obſervable, that the word taken up by Chriſtians to expreſs their conceits in this like caſe is Adoption all along, not Adrogation, of thoſe are aſſumed to the houſhold of faith. Etiam infantem in adoptionem dare poſſumus: So Modeſtinus coming home fully, tit. eod. L. 42. conſenting, that they have p. 49no preſent(3)(3)Quicquid autem tutor agit pupilli nomine quo ejus conditio efficitur melior, pupillo prodeſt etiam ignoranti: applyed to this very caſe of Paedobaptiſme, and as the ground thereof by judicious Caſſander, pa. 752. ſence at all, nor after memory of what others charity doth then even powre upon them for their eternall good; for the thing here no leſs tends to open benefit of the ſimply patient: And this, I ſay, hath been ſo all along, and from the firſt dawning of the fallible Church, ſo far off as in(1)(1)He lived about 1400 years of thoſe 1600 and odd we compute from Chriſts death, as may be ſeen in Helvicuſ's Chronology, in the year 204. with whom compare St Jerome, de viris illuſtribus, tom. 1. pa. 106. and Magdeburg, Centur. 3. cap. 3. & 7. Before him was Irenaeus: Omnes venit per ſemetipſum ſalvare (Chriſtus) 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, &c. lib. 2. adverſus haereſ. cap. 39. Before both, Dionyſius Areopagita. Nihil igitur, ut reor, indignum eſt, ſi ad divinum inſtitutum puer adducitur, ſanctum habens praeceptorem, qui illi divinarum rerum habitum tradat, malorumque ſervet immunem. Tradit autem puero ſancta myſteria Pontifex, ut nutriatur in ipſis, &c. Et viſum eſt noſtris ducibus admittere infantes hoc modo: alledged by the Centuriſts, Centur. 4. cap. 4. col. 236. de ritibus circa baptiſmum. And yet a ſtep higher, Clemens Romanus: Baptizate quoque puerulos veſtros, & educate eos in diſciplina & praeceptis Dei. Sinite enim, inquit, parvulos venire ad me & nolite eos prohibere: As from the Apoſtles themſelves, in Conſtitut. Apoſtolicarum, lib. 6. cap. 15. Origens days, he(2)(2)Secundum eccleſiae obſervantiam etiam parvulis Baptiſmus datur. Origen. Homil. 8. in Levit. tom. 1. pa. 158: and for the ſame ſo alledged by Illiricus, in Magdeburg. Centur. 3. cap. 6. ſec. de ritibus circa baptiſmum. Pro hoc etiam (namely for the ſins of infants which they bring into the world) & eccleſia ab Apoſtolis traditionem ſuſcepit, etiam parvulis baptiſmum dare. Sciebant enim illi quibus myſteriorum ſecreta commiſſa ſunt divinorum, quia eſſent in omnibus genuinae ſordes peccati. quae per aquam & ſpiritum ablui deberent, propter quas etiam corpus ipſum corpus peccati nominatur. Origen. lib. 5. in Epiſt. ad Roman. cap. 6. pa. 543. and ſo underſtood by Polydor. Virgil. de inventor. rerum. lib. 4. cap. 4. and by Spangenburg, Margarit. Theol. fol. 59. St Auſtin has let the ſame drop from his pen many times ſince: and enough others may be ſeen in Gregory de Valencia, Tom. 4. diſputat 4. queſt. 3. punct, 1. Poſtremo. But beſt together has G. Caſſander repreſented the tendries of antiquity in this point; in his, Teſtimonia veterum ſcriptorum qui intra trecentos circiter annos à temporibus Apoſtolorum floruerunt, &c. for this opinion: pa. 668 of his works printed at Paris, 1616. The inforcement of which collection in inference very remarkable is this; Cum hi omnes, quorum teſtimonia produximus, continuata ab Apoſtolis ſerie, diverſis temporibus & locis eccleſiarum Chriſti rectores & doctores fuerunt, non dubium eſt hanc ſententiam, à ſingulis tanquam uno ore pronunciatam, communem eſſe doctrinam totius eccleſiae, quam eccleſia ab Apoſtolis acceptam ad poſteros tranſmiſit: pa. 691. In farther probability whereof he ſhewes the prevalence of this opinion and uſe to extend it ſelf to remoteſt Nations, both from us and themſelves, as the Churches through Greece, Aſia, Syria, Egipt, Aethiopia, India, Muſcovia (what is far and wide if this be not?) who were not all like to joyn in a corruption of what firſt delivered: or to receive with ſuch one conſent what had any other firſt delivery. Who truſts not the faith of the world! much more the Chriſtian world! ſuch a one were worthy to be baniſhed out of both worlds. acknowledged and imbraced it for a Tradition Apoſtolicall then, allow it but any reaſonable time to grow up to deſert of that reputation, and we ſhall ſoon pinch hard upon St John in his baniſhment, yea upon St Peter and St Paul in their travels; Truth is, generally I believe it hath been received through Chriſtendom in its largeſt diffuſions whether to time or place, p. 50though the moſt general rules are forced to admit of ſome derogatory exceptions.

Thus have we Paedobaptiſme upon both ſides of the double teſtament. Doubt may be, and upon the matter, hath, of the bridg or means of conveyance from one to the other: Whether by vertue of any command of our(1)(1)As Mat. 28.19. to Baptize all Nations, of which children are a part. Matth. 19 14. & Mark. 10.13, &c. Suffer little children to come unto me without any reſtraint So Clements Rom. expounded but now.Matt 28:19Matt 19:14Mark 10:13 Lord himſelf in ſcriptis directly given? or by equity of example found after in the(2)(2)As in baptizing whole houſholds, Act. 16.15. 1 Corinth. 1.15. & Act. 16, 33.Acts 16:151 Cor 1:15Acts 16:33 practice of his ſervant Apoſtles? or by derivation and neceſſary conſequence from other truths laid down upon other occaſions? (as, the parents being within the Covenant, their childrens (thereby) at leaſt parentall holineſs(3)(3)Both Circumciſion was neceſſary to ſanctifie into the Law, ſays Mr. Selden, and alſo baptiſme; that is, to them who were admitted, to all; but not, as Circumciſion, Baptiſme to their children after them, quos univerſos foreign in ſanctitate, ob parentum ſcilicet ſanctitatem, natos docere ſolent, De ſynedriis veter. Heb. lib. 1. cap. 3. pa. 23. faederal ſanctification, native title to the ſeal, as the circumciſed had the eight day(4)(4)Geneſ. 17. ver. 12. Or, the grace of God being univerſall, to all ſorts; Or, Chriſt ſhed his blood for all, young as well as old; Or, all have originall ſin, calling for this neceſſary purgation (as but now Origen.) Or, no other plain ordinary way to ſalvation, by that barr Chriſt hath laid a croſs, except a man be born of water, and of the holy ghoſt, he may not enter the Kingdom of God, John 3.3. Or, laſtly, God would have all men to be ſaved, and come to the participation of holineſs and happineſs; which was pitched on in the conference between Arch-biſhop Lawd, and Mr. Fiſher, ſec. 15.Gen 17:12John 3:3 under the Law, &c.) which three have been the opinions of thoſe p. 51that become the Doctrin even of this Circumſtance of a Rite (for it is no more) in the ſacred Text, and would have none bottomed elſewhere: Or, whether (no warrant ſuppoſed any way written) as to ſuch an appendant or but appurtenant of a Rite (the Right it ſelf having firſt paſſed by clear command) that which ſo belongs thereto, and is but of the manner, may not be conveyed ſafe and ſure enough from hand to hand by ſucceſſive and continued practice, and the Church be intruſted to give along with ſecurity ſo ſmall a thing, ſcarce a thing, to avoid multiplying commands; which hath been uſed to be called Eccleſiaſticall(1)(1)Conſuetud o matris eccleſiae in Baptizandis parvulis nequaquam ſpernenda; nec omnino credenda niſi eſſet Apoſtolica traditio. Auguſtin. de Geneſ ad lit. 10. cap. 23. & ſee lib. 4. de Bapt. contra Donatiſtas, cap. 24. ſo Baronius, ad an. Chr. 53. num. 20. Bellarmin. lib. 1. de bapt. cap. 8. & Lindanus, in Liturg. D. Petri. cap. 1. pa. 60. with ſundry other that go his way. Tradition, and is laid hold on by divers, and ſome(2)(2)Melancthon. in loc. commun. tit. de baptiſm. puerorum, and a treatiſe of Paedobaptiſme Printed laſt year, 1645. licenſed by Ch. Herle, Preſident of the Aſſembly of Divines at Weſtminſter, p. 7. and many other. Proteſtants in the buſineſs? But of this controverſie, which I cannot be ignorant to have been on foot a long time, and yet to be, proſecuted with zeal enough, and too much bitterneſſe, by thoſe have intereſſed themſelves, I leave the abettors to their ſeveral opinions and diſputations; let them ſit and vote as they pleaſe, for the bridg or manner of conveyance, I interpoſe no farther then I have cauſe for the both ſides: that there it was, and here it is, it had being before the Goſpell, and hath had ever ſince the Goſpel (though they that rely on ſimple tradition may perchance hope to gain hereby not a little advantage on their ſide; for if it were ſo indeed that infants were, upon what grounds or maximes ſoever, baptized into the Law, and this ſo uſual that nothing more, this known, rendred it the leſs(3)(3)The patterns from whence moſt, if not all, the Cuſtoms in the Church were taken, was, the Cuſtom of Iſrael in the old Teſtament. And this may be one ſpecial reaſon, why the providence of God did not take ſo much care for the writing of every cuſtom and ordinance for the Government of the Church in the new Teſtament, becauſe the precedent from whence they were taken being at hand, if any alteration did creep in, it might eaſily be amended by reducing it to the pattern. The ſame Treatiſe, pa. 8. baptizing whole houſholds inſtanced in, for one thing p. 9. needfull to give or require expreſs order for every days practice, or to waft over by cumberſome p. 52ſtrength of precept what the force of cuſtom would fairly and gently but ſurely enough carry on along with it, eſpecially for a circumſtance, when the main was ſecured by Command, And withall there might be Rules and received Orders then on foot, to carry on the buſineſs with light, ſtrength, ſecurity and evidence enough, ſince loſt Grant I ſay, the thing done, a glance, or but intimation, or but covert ſuppoſition might give as much evidence as might reaſonably be expected in ſuch a buſineſs from ſo ſmall a Volumn as the new Teſtament is, where we have but a very ſhort draught of all the ſure Theologie in the world: As here in England what a ſmall account have we of infant-baptiſme for about 500 years agoe as to doctrin or practice, which yet queſtionleſs was, and how much leſs will be a thouſand years hereafter, when time ſhall have eat out the prints that are now legible in many things, that ſetteth her teeth into every thing? Things unuſual claim their notice, ſtrange come upon the Record, dark, doubtfull, uncertain, of hard belief, uſe to take up room of vindication into clear and open light, elſe books muſt multiply in infinitum; and as to our particular of what paſſed under Chriſt, we more then gueſs that all was not written of him, by that ſuppoſition we know who uſed, that if foreign, all that was, ſhould, the world could not contain the books that ſhould be written. Jo. 21.25.) But of theſe I ſay, I interpoſe no further then I have cauſe, the fact on both ſides, and the ſimilitude of their and our initiating rite thereby; even thoſe that could not conſent were admitted, before, ſince, under our Saviour, to the Synagogue, and the uſe of Chriſtians hath been (we know in part) from the beginning, to take into the Ark Noah and all his Family, not the youngeſt left out to periſh in the water, but ſaved by the water, as is St Peters ſaying, and mine in his ſence: 1 Pet. 3.21.

So the parallell ſtands fair, and our baptiſme comes from Iſrael, becauſe in ſo many regards like theirs; as primitive and derivative, originall and extract, as was ſaid before, type and antitype, the ſame and the ſame: that Jeruſalem from the Eaſt which giving us one, had the other, being the likeſt to afford both mother and daughter.

p. 53Which admitted, as I ſee not but it may, there is neither impoſſibility, improbality, nor (of weight) inconveniency, Thereon would follow two other things to be yet ſuper-induced by way of Corollary, ſc. 1. That it is not ſo credible as commonly believed, nor gold ſo good as Currant through Chriſtendome, that our Meſſias, or his anteambulo John Baptiſt, at the ſooneſt, was the very firſt that ever introduced this rite of Religious Baptiſme into the Church or into the world; There was no ſuch thing before, Theſe Maſter builders not only raiſed it up to that hight (of value it juſtly has, and uſe it ſerves for) but laid the firſt corner ſtone thereof, as is with confidence enough delivered, by(1)(1)Johannes Baptiſta. ſic dictus quòd Deus per ipſius miniſterium Sacramentum Baptiſmi inſtituerit, primuſque baptizaverit. Expoſit. Cathol. in Matth. 3.1.Matt 3:1 Marlorate, (2)(2)Tom. 1. de ſacramentis, cap. 4. pa. 100.Maldonate, (3)(3)Centur. 1. lib. 1. cap. 4. de baptiſmo. & lib. 6. ſect. de ritibus baptiſmi.Illiricus, (4)(4)Homil. 25. in Luc. de baptiſm.Brencius, (5)(5)De rerum inventoribus, cap. 4. de primo baptiſmatis uſu, &c. & Gloſſ. ordinar. nov. in Matth. 3.1.Matt 3:1Polyd. Virgil, and diverſe others both Hiſtorians, Treatiſers, Commonplacers, Schoolmen, and both Fathers and their children of every generation, who drive on with one conſent (the more is the pity) the ſame miſtaken way: But is it ſo? No; it is not ſo: There was a rite, of Baptiſme, in Religion, for regeneration, I ſtep one foot farther, and for renovation, inſtitution, initiation into new faith and profeſſion, before(6)(6)Matth. 2 1. Luc 2.4.Matt 2:1Luke 2:4 Jeſus (the ſon of a Virgin) was born in Bethlehem in the land of Judea in the days of Herod the King, or his elder ſervant and next Herald practiſed (to make way for his Maſter, to come)(7)(7)John 4.23.John 4:23 in Aenon, or any where elſe: and for this there is proof enough, full, home, pregnant, plentifull, though not Scripture-proof (and yet ſuch as Scripture contradicts not neither) as good as the world uſes to afford in like caſe. Far be it, I ſhould be overlaviſh to grant the adjective of Chriſtian regeneration, Chriſtian Baptiſme; That, ſuch and Ours (by which alone we hope, ſo far as Sacraments may, admiſſion into the new Jeruſalem) began I believe with the New Teſtament, and has the form authoritatively ordered from him that could alone, and did, our higheſt Prophet, and Saviour▪ and Redeemer, Matth. 28.19. Thus, or to this, baptize not till now, or then. But for Baptiſme (or religious waſhing, at large, for the words are the ſame) a Rite, Seal, Means, Ordinance (believed) of ingraffing to a new Faith or Religion, not without regeneration p. 54intercedent (though not ours) This was both in the(1)(1)Certè ludis Apollinariis & Eleuſiniis tinguntur, idque ſe in regenerationem & impunitatem perjuriorum ſuorum agere praeſumunt. Tertullian. lib. de baptiſmo. c. 5. world before and in the Church, Our Saviour did but transfer not bring up, diſpoſe not create, order, appoint, metamorphoſe and ſanctifie(2)(2)Verum quidem eſt, Chriſtum & Apoſtolos expreſſim, quaedam alia docuiſſe ac imperaſſe in quibus fundamentatotius religionis Chriſtianae collocantur, horumque nonnulla (verbi gratiâ, baptiſmi ſacramentum) ex anterioribus Judaiſmi moribus ſumta ac in ipſis retenta ſic Chriſtianiſmi ſuum formaſſe ac novaſſe, ut novatum inde Inſtitutum divinum planè acceſſiſſe inde ſit dicendum. Sed ejuſmodi, &c. Selden, de Synedriis vet. Heb. lib. 1. cap. 13. pa. 492. a new, not raiſe to beeing, that which both had been and had been holy before, making it to us(3)(3)Tit. 3. ver. 5.Titus 3:5 the Laver of regeneration and gate of ſpiritual (a degree of eternall) life; as breaking of bread was before it became a pledg of Chriſtian Communion, and as the(4)(4)To conceive there was no Rainbow before the Flood, becauſe God choſe out this as a token of the Covenant, is, to conclude the exiſtence of things from their ſignalities—with equall reaſon we may infer, there was no water before the inſtitution of baptiſme, nor bread and wine before the Euchariſt. So the moſt exquiſitly learned and judious Dr. Brown, in his Pſeudodoxia Epidemica, book 7. chap. 4. The argument whereof is to prove, That the Bow was before the flood. rainbow had a being in nature, before God appointed it to be ſignificative to the world, by judgment of good(5)(5)vid. Scharp. Symphon. Epoch. 2. Queſt. 9. pa. 66. & Bellarmin, de Sacramentis, lib. 1. cap. 17. Philoſophers-Divines, Geneſ. 9. and thereby a kinde of(6)(6)Ne diluvium alterum formidaret (Noachus) intueri Iridem, atque huic fidere Sacramento juſſus fuit, Pet. Cunaeus, de repub. Heb. lib 3. c. 2. & vid. Luther. de captivitate Babilon. cap. de bapt. & Calvin. Inſtitut. lib 4. c. 14. ſec. 18. Sacrament to give ſenſible pledge and aſſurance of what it is there ſet for. In ſhort, Baptiſme(7)(7)See more hereof in Grotius upon Matt. 3.6.Matt 3:6 was before, our Maſter brought in ours, it had a being, He made it our Sacrament, waſhing was in uſe, he new waſhed and ſanctified it, and made Baptiſme (taking in his own name) to be Chriſtianing, which God grant it may be to all the welcome and willing partakers thereof whereſoever; the gate of heavenly life here, and of heaven it ſelf in the Heaven of heavens hereafter. Amen, Amen.

Secondly, Hence may be made a diſcovery of the gates of new and old Sion of equall wideneſs, the dore of the Synagogue as broad as the Churches, and either wide enough to let in (Sacramentally) both ſexes; I mean by a ſolution of the great doubt, hitherto ſo much toſſed, but to or toward ſatisfaction ſo little determined of rationally and reſolved, ſc. How (8)(8)Hac ratione Judaeorum liberi per faederis circumciſionis obſervationem Judaei fiunt: (ſc. the males) Quod ſi Judaea filiolam pepererit, nativitas ejus tam parvi aeſtimatur, ut in libris eorum de ea nihil ferè ſcriptum invenire mihi licuerit: (except this little) Quod puellulae quaedam juvenculae, quando filiola nata ſex hebdomadarum eſt, circum cunas, in quibus, linteolis pulcherrimis cincturiſque argenteis ornatis, ea poſita cubat, ſe collocent, eamque cum cunis aliquoties elevent in altum, eique tum demum nomen imponant; & quod ea quae ad caput infantis a ſtat, ſuſceptrix ejus ſit: quae, rebus iſtis peractis, cum puellis aliis convivium paratum agitans, & edat & bibat, & ita tempus aliquod hilaris laetaque cum eiſdem tranſmittat. Ridiculous! yet this is all; from Buxtorfius, in Synagog. Jud. cap 2. de nativitate & circumciſione Judaeorum, pa. 96.Judg 2women were taken into the old of Moſes, or Jehovah's Covenant? Macherae petrinae eundem heic fuiſſe uſum p. 55quem & in maribus praeputandis, die ſcilicet octavo, juxta praeceptum Abrahae datum, Nemo ſanus puto affirmabit; imprimis de Iſraeliticis foemellis, DEI popularibus, JEHOVAE peculio, quarum vel circumciſionem, vel exciſionem, vel conciſionem nullibi commemorat ſacra (1)(1)For the inſtances we read of, were Abraham, Iſaac, Iſhmael, Hamor, Sichem, Gerſhom, Jeſus Nazareus, John Baptiſt, Paul, Timothie, &c. all Males. The Law, Every Manchild among you ſhall be circumciſed, Geneſ. 17.10. Act. 7.8. He that is 8 days old among you ſhall be circumciſed, every male in your generations. ver. 12 of Gen. 17. The uncircumciſed male ſhall be cut off from his people, ver. 14. according to which Rule, In this will we conſent, if ye will be as we, every male circumciſed. chap. 34.15. propoſed again, ver. 22. Nor is memoriall of any order or inſtance to the contrary or different, in thoſe we imbrace for ſacred oracles.Gen 17:10Acts 7:8Gen 17pagina, vel in lege vel exemplo; ſi res ipſa forſan (2)(2)For the Rule was of males only, who had by nature the foreskin of the fleſh to be cut off, the females wanting it were not to keep this rite, though they were as well as men within the Covenant of Grace in Chriſt, ſays Mr. Ainſworth on Gen. 17.12. Epiphanius propoſed the queſtion, if circumciſion were needfull to ſalvation, How were Rebecca, Leah, Rachel, &c. ſaved, foreign, who were not capable of what paſſed on Abraham? in Haereſ. 30. cap. 30. pa. 160. Though yet call to mind what had plentifull atteſtation of the women of many Nations, as to more then capacity hereof, before, in the margent of chap. 3.Gen 17:12poſſibilis: That they were admitted, yea circumciſed, as ſome have been apt to think, in their(3)(3)Moreover, the woman is comprehended under the man, as her head, ſo ſtiled, 1. Cor. 11.3. Mr. Ainſworth in the ſame place. In majoribus cenſebantur, ex circumciſis enim parentibus naſcebantur: circumciſis etiam maritis nuptae fuerunt. Scharp, Symphon. Prophet. & Apoſt. Epoch. 3. Quaeſt. 9. pa. 91.1 Cor 11:3 males, of not much leſs abſurdity; conſidering they were one half of whole mankinde: That they were admitted without ceremony, as ſtrange: or that they were not admitted at all. It remaineth therefore, if neither by their own circumciſion, nor in their males, nor but by ſome rite, nor by any other, by BAPTISME which paſſed p. 56on men, which might paſs on(1)(1)Call to minde, to increaſe probability hereof, the plain teſtimony of William of Paris alledged before: Intrant (mulieres) in pactum Abrahae per quaedam Baptiſmata & traditiones quae in corpore legis non inveniuntur. Women are entred into the Covenant with Abraham by WASHING and other unwritten traditions: Remembring, that the Texts before would ſcarce make good any baptiſme of Proſelytes, for the order by the words was only for waſhing of Garments in Sinai, which they interpreted of waſhing the perſon. Mr. Selden who gave us the teſtimony, had ſaid before, Proſelytae autem Baptiſmo duntaxat & oblatione initiabantur: though men were circumciſed, no more paſſed on women but baptiſme, and neceſſity of offering. de jure nat. & gentium. lib. 2. cap. 2. pa. 142. And H. Grotius, ſince: Sed & foeminas extraneas Judaeis nubentes aiunt (Hebraei) ablutas, idque olim factum Sarae & Rebeccae. annot. ad Matth. 36. pa. 41. Marrying, that is, as they were initiated into the Hebrew Religion, without which a ſtranger might not conceive from the Holy ſeed. Waſhing not ſo much a rite of Matrimony, as of converſion accompanying. women, which was fit to paſs on them, which nothing hindreth the likelyhood it might paſs on all, and moſt likely on women, who had many ſuch ſpecial conſecrations appointed by the Law, nothing is this way inconvenient, nothing abſurd, nothing improbable; Modeſty is taken care of, all fitted in to wonderfull conſent of Things: and above all, the Church ſucceeds the Church, the New Teſtament the Old, and while with us both(2)(2)So ruled by the text. When the Samaritans had faith in Philip declaring the things of the Kingdom of God, &c. they were baptized both men and women, Act. 8.12.Acts 8:12 men and women continue to be baptized, of which 'tis certain men's ſucceed what was under the Law, it will remain a ſtrong viſible, reall, laſting argument of weight, that both came together, and that our baptiſme of women (of which we have no ſpeciall command) comes from the Hebrews, and theirs went before ours. Greedy endeavours had been before to compoſe things to ſimilitude and likeneſs; whence (at hand) the Lords Supper was made to piece out the Paſſeover, to us; and our Baptiſme, Circumciſion, (which yet could be put in part, ſith one half was never circumciſed) I leave all to think how much fitter it will be, to compare not only Baptiſme with Baptiſme, but that which doth now paſs on both ſexes with that which both heretofore might, and the likelyer did for what ſince followes: and upon terms of how much diſadvantage ſhould we be willing to take up but a likelyhood that the women of Iſrael were entred by water, which is after followed by ſuch another known piece of the ſame, as (the firſt admitted) will put all believers in a livery, men, women, of now, and heretofore, all into the ſame ceremonious p. 57dreſs of Sacrament like themſelves, the ſons and daughters of faithfull Abraham.

I acknowledge the whole, as to any ſucceſſion, whether of womens baptiſme or mens, to be altogether new, and utterly different from all or the moſt that have written or ſpoken on the Argument before me, whether fathers or their poſterity, whoſe opinions and confident determinations have ſtill went on upon this ſuppoſition with conceſſion as undoubted, that our Baptiſme for admiſſion doth ſucceed among the Hebrews, what? not a Baptiſme (which hath not been thought of) but their firſt and great commanded ceremony of entring into Abrahams Family and the viſible Church by Circumciſion; and that this is the gate to let into Chriſtian Communion, as that did (and in ſucceſſion to it) into the Jewiſh Synagogue, for which I could(1)(1)Pro Baptiſmo Judaei circumciſione utebantur. Iſidor. Peluſiot. libr. 1. Epiſt. 125. pa. 39. Baptiſmus eſt vicarius circumciſionis Durand. rational. divin. lib. 6. cap. 8. ſect. 13. And ſee St. Auguſtine in Epiſt. 108. tom. 2. Bernard Epiſt. 77. ad Hugonem de ſancto Victore. Aquin. par. 3. quaeſt. 70. Decret. de conſecrat. diſt. 4. ca. Quòd autem. Decretal. Gregor. lib. 3. tit. 42. cap. 3. Lancelot; Inſtitut. juris Canon. lib. 2. tit. 3. Feu-ardent. in Iren. lib. 4. cap. 30. Cornel. à Lap. in Geneſ. 17.10. Urſin Catechiſm. part. 2. quaeſt. 4. Biſhop Hall, Epiſt. 4. Decad. 5. And yet Decades more might be added.Gen 17:10 cite of books, and in them dictates, enough: But I refer my ſelf to(2)(2)Caeterùm ſcimus quoſdam quod ſemel imbiberunt, nolle deponere, nec propoſitùm fuum facilè mutare, ſed ſalvo inter collegas pacis & concordiae vinculo, quaedam propria, quae apud ſe ſemel ſunt uſurpata, retinere: Quâ in re nee nos vím cuique facimus aut legem damus, cùm habeat in eccleſiae adminiſtratione voluntatis ſuae arbitrium liberum unuſquiſque praepoſitus, rationem actus ſui Domino redditurus, Cyprian. Epiſt. 72. indifferent judgment, whether this be not a more probable origination and ſucceſſion, it ſelf to it ſelf, rather then to circumciſion, another thing,(3)(3)Ceremonia haec neque nova planè fuit (When John began, Matth. 3.) & vocatione gentium praeluſit: ſc. in the Hebrews waſhing of their proſelytes, Grotius, ad Mat. 3.6.Matt 3Matt 3:6 Baptiſme to Baptiſme for the ſame end of regeneration believed by both, then Baptiſme to what is meerly heterogeneous and of another nature (eſpecially ſith this was always fit to have paſſed on women to let them in with the other Sexe, as ſtill 'tis known with us it doth, the other nor did, nor well could) and I am perſwaded as 'tis to me clear, ſo it will be to others, at leaſt very probable, after they ſhall with a new and free judgment have digeſted theſe conſiderations. The rather for that 'tis obſervable the grouth of the Church p. 58to have been all along, both at beginning and ever ſince, moſt ſucceſsfull among the gentiles, and they, 'tis like (in love of their own, would rather chuſe to take up or continue that, for what end ſoever, which could fairly derive it ſelf by inheritance from their own, and which had wont to paſs on their Anceſtor-proſelytes, then what muſt graff it ſelf, were it but for ſucceſſion, upon what had paſſed upon their envious, and 'tis well if not envied adverſaries: As, how(1)(1)Cum legiſlator à Deo inſtitutus fuiſſet (Moſes) ac legem accuratè ſervare deberet, ipſe primùm hanc violabat: filios videlicet cum praeputio in Aegiptum ſecum ducens, illudque mandatum abolens, quo ſolo Hebraei à Barbaris dirimebantur. Iſidor, Peluſiot, lib. 1. Epiſt. 125. pa. 38. Jewiſh circumciſion hath been counted all along and in all expoſitions, is well enough known; in ſo much that the Nation ſeems properly enough deſcribed by it, and deciphered, Galat. 2.7. & Epheſ. 2.11. even by(2)(2)In his Commentaries on the places, and ſee Act. 10.45. cap. 11.2. Tit. 1.10. Coloſſ. 4.11.Acts 10:45Titus 1:10Col 4:11 Calvins interpretation of thoſe places.

(3)(3)In his Moſes & Aaron. Book 3. cap. 2. And as much obſerved by Mr. Lightfoot in his Elias Redivivus, who has it from Aben Ezra in Geneſ. 35.2. that the waſhing of the Sichemits then and there, was their introduction into Jacobs Religion, pa. 11. and from Rambam, the ſame of the thouſand forraign labourers that came in to aſſiſt the building of the Temple: and from Solomon Jarchi on Exod. 24. That Baptiſme was a rite of induction, &c.Gen 35:2Exod 24Dr. Godwin went ſo far to acknowledge a kind of initiatory purification by water uſed by the Jews of old, without which no proſelyte was admitted to the Church: (though he diſclaim it to be ſacramentall) and that my premiſes: Polydore (4)(4)Lib. 4. cap. 4.Virgil (who had been likeſt to have lighted upon it in prevention, writing purpoſely de rerum inventoribus, or how things took their beginning) taking it in hand, derives it from Moſes and the Synagogue, which was my concluſion, Ego vero dixerim, ſaith he, Moſen primitus rationem baptizandi oſtendiſſe, quippe qui baptizavit ſed in aqua ſolum, id eſt, in nube & mari: Quod, teſte Gregorio Nazianz: & baptiſmi Johannis & Chriſti exemplar fuiſſe conſtat, quando iſta omnia à Deo proficiſcebantur. Of which ſort the(5)(5)Prophetavit quidem lex in Exodo baptiſmatis gratiam per nubem & mare. Ambroſ. in Luc. cap. 7. Tertium quoque teſtimonium eſt, ſicut te Apoſtolus docuit, Quoniam patres noſtri omnes ſub nube fuerunt, & omnes mare tranſierunt & omnes in Moyſe baptizati ſunt in nube & in mari, &c. 1 Corinth. 10.2. & Exod. 15.10. Advertis quod in illo Hebraeorum tranſitu jam tunc ſacri baptiſmatis figura praeceſſerit, in quo Aegiptius periit & Hebraeus evaſit, Id. in lib. de initiandis. cap. 3. The like has Cyprian, in Epiſt. 76. ad Magnum, pa. 122. obſerving farther from 1 Corinth. 10.6. That theſe were examples to us, foreign, is the word (and again ver. 11.) types and figures. See more in Ambroſe, de ſacramentis, lib. 1. cap. 6. lib. 2. cap. 1. & 3. in Pſalm. 38. tom. 2. pa. 350. Cyprian, ad verſus Judaeos, lib. 1. cap. 12. Cyril. Alexand. de adorat. in ſpiritu. lib. 9. tom. 1. pa. 112. & contra Julian. lib. 7. tom. 6. pa. 249. Gregor. Nyſſen. de Baptiſmo Chriſti. tom. 3. pa. 373, 374, &c. Auguſtin. in Pſalm. 77. & in tractar. in 3. Johan. tom. 11. Symbolum baptiſmi erat labrum in tabernaculo, Cyrill. Hieroſol. Catech. 3. Let Tertullian give the cloſe: Quot Igitur patrocinia naturae, quot privilegia gratiae, quot ſolemnia diſciplinae, figurae, praeſtructiones, precationes, religionem aquae ordinaverunt? Primò quidem quum populos de Aegipto expeditus, &c. and ſo he goes on to the waters of Mara, thoſe out of the rock, &c. lib. de Baptiſmo, cap. 11.Luke 71 Cor 10:2Exod 15:101 Cor 10:6Ps 38Ps 77 Fathers p. 59have much, and(1)(1)Baptiſme was prefigured in the red Sea and in Jordan. Walafrid. Strabo. de rebus eccleſiaſt. cap. 26. In the ſprinkling before the entrance into the Temple. Alphonſ. Salmeron. com. 2. tract. 17. In the purifying of Aaron and his ſons, Exod. 29. and many other both places and things of the Old Teſtament, P. G. Tholoſan. Syntagm. lib. 2. cap. 4. ſect. ſect. from the Rabbines, In 3. things the Deluge, the red Sea, and Jordan. Durand. Rational. divin. lib. 6. cap. 83. ſect. 1. approved by Jo. Calvin, in his Lexicon in the word Baptiſma, pa. 110. Sacramenta Chriſtiana primum in lege Naturae adumbrata, & praenunciata: — Particularly Baptiſme, Bellarmin, lib. 3. de poenit. cap. 3. And ſee hereof Alchwin. de divinis officiis, cap. 18. Dr. Mayer on the hard places of Scripture. tom. 2. pa. 215: from Oecumenius, in 1 Corinth. 10. & Pet. Ramus, de religione Chriſtiana, lib. 4. cap. 6, &c. Though after all, I acknowledge, that when theſe things were obſerved and digeſted, I found Mr. Selden conjecturing with me and deriving, in his excellent Commentaries on Eutychius, lately by him ſet forth: Atque ſicut Baptiſmus Chriſtianorum Ebraicum Baptiſmum, quo tum parentes ipſorum turn proſelyti Iudaiſmo initiabantur, haud parum imitabatur, &c. unde nec novus viſus eſt hic ritus, cum fide Chriſtiana imbutis adhibebatur; and as the Lords Supper drew from the Paſſeovers, ſo the Ordination of Presbyters he there ſpeaks of; whence our Ordination, Num. 10. pa. 24.Exod 291 Cor 10Num 10 others: But premiſes and concluſion neither of them, I think, laid together, or ſcarce any other; I modeſtly propoſe, let the learned judge.

And this the firſt probable diſcovery, upon former grounds, of the originall of our Baptiſme, with what would follow thereon: the ſecond followeth.