A Scripture Catechism, Chapter 16
Chap. 16. Of Children, with reſpect to holy things.
Q. DID ever God make a Covenant with Parents and their children, ſo as that the children being yet Infants were involved and intereſted in the covenant with their parents?
A. Gen. 17.7, 8. And I will eſtabliſh my Covenant between me and thee, and thy ſeed after thee, in their generations, for an everlaſting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy ſeed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy ſeed after thee, the land wherein thou art a ſtranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlaſting poſſeſſion, and I will be their God.
Q. Did God ever ordaine any ſeales of his Covenant, and that the children ſo in Covenant, whilſt Infants, ſhould be ſealed with the ſeale of the Covenant?
A. Gen. 17.10, 11, 12. This is my Covenant which ye ſhall keep between me and you, and thy ſeed after thee: every man-child among you ſhall be circumciſed. And ye ſhall circumciſe the fleſh of your foreskin; and it ſhall be a token of the Covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is 8 dayes old ſhall be circumciſed among you, every man-child in your generations, &c.
Q. Is there by Chriſt's appointment any other new ſeale now to be adminiſtred in place of the old? And is Baptiſme now to be adminiſtred in the room of circumciſion?
A. Gal. 5.2. Behold I Paul ſay unto you, that if ye be circumciſed Chriſt ſhall profit you nothing. Mat. 28.19. Goe ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt. Col. 2.11, 12. In whom alſo ye are circumciſed with the circumciſion made without hands, in putting off the body of the ſinnes of the fleſh by the circumciſion of Chriſt; Buried with him in Baptiſme, wherein alſo you are riſen with him through the faith of the operation of God.
Q. Are any now to be admitted to any ſeale of the Covenant, who were formerly excluded?
A. Act. 8.12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdome of God, and the name of Jeſus Chriſt, they were baptized, both men and women.
Q. Hath Chriſt any where excluded Infants under the Goſpell, either from the Covenant, or the ſigns and ſeales of it? or hath our Lord expreſſed good will and Affections to them, declaring his will to have little ones brought to him?
A. Mat. 19.13, 14, 15. Then there were brought unto him little children, that he ſhould put his hands on them, and pray; and the diſciples rebuked them. But Jeſus ſaid, ſuffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of ſuch is the Kingdome of heaven. And he layd his hands on them, and departed thence. Mar. 10.16. And he took them up in his armes, put his hands upon them, and bleſſed them.
Q. Are believing Gentiles concerned in the Covenant and promiſes made to the Patriarks, Abraham, Iſaack, and Jacob, and David?
A. Gal. 3.7, 8, 9, 13, 14. Know ye therefore, that they which are of Faith, the ſame are the children of Abraham. And the Scripture foreſeeing that God would juſtify the heathen through faith, preached before the Goſpel unto Abraham, ſaying, In thee ſhall all nations be bleſſed. So then, they which be of faith are bleſſed with faithfull Abraham. Chriſt hath redeemed us from the curſe of the Law, &c. that the bleſſing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jeſus Chriſt: that we might receive the promiſe of the ſpirit through Faith.
Q. Doe Believers, Jewes and Gentiles, make up one Church, and one body, whereof Chriſt is Saviour and head?
A. Eph. 2.13, 14. But now in Chriſt Jeſus ye who ſometimes were farre off, are made nigh by the blood of Chriſt. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken downe the middle wall of partition between us. chap. 4.4. There is one body, and one ſpirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
Q. Are believing Gentiles ingrafted into the ſame olive, out of which the unbelieving Jewes were cut off?
A. Rom. 11.17, 18, 24. And if ſome of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree wert grafted in amongſt them, and with them partakeſt of the root and fatneſſe of the Olive tree, Boaſt not againſt the branches — For if thou wert cut out of the Olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good Olive tree: how much more ſhall theſe, which be the naturall branches, be grafted into their own Olive tree?
Q. Were Infants with their Parents ever ſo much as figuratively baptized?
A. 1 Cor. 10.1, 2.—All our Fathers were under the cloud, and all paſſed thorow the Sea, And were all baptized unto Moſes in the cloud, and in the Sea, compared with Exod. 10.24.—Let your little ones alſo goe with you. Num. 14.31. But your little ones which ye ſaid ſhould be a prey, them will I bring in, &c.
Q. Did God enter into a Covenant not only with grown men and women, but with little ones alſo?
A. Deut. 29.10, 11, 12. Ye ſtand this day all of you before the Lord your God your captaines of your tribes, your Elders, and your officers, with all the men of Iſraell, your little ones, your wives, &c. That thou ſhouldeſt enter into Covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day.
Q. May we lawfully ingage children with us in holy duties?
A. Joel. 2.16. Gather the people, ſanctify the congregation, aſſemble the Elders, gather the children, and thoſe that ſuck the breſts, &c.
Q. May we teach or inſtruct children in the meaning of holy ordinances, or Inſtitutions?
A. Exod. 12.26, 27. When your children ſhall ſay unto you, what mean you by this ſervice? ye ſhall ſay, It is the ſacrifice of the Lord's Paſſeover, who paſſed over the houſes of the children of Iſrael in Egypt. &c. Joſh. 4.6, 7. That when your children aske their Fathers in time to come, ſaying, what mean you by theſe ſtones? Then ye ſhall anſwer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the Arke of the Covenant of the Lord, when it paſſed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.
Q. Did our Lord Chriſt ever make uſe of any ſignificant rite, or ceremony, to, or upon children, and accompany the ſame with Prayer?
A: Mark. 10.13, 16. And they brought young children to him, that he ſhould touch them, and his diſciples rebuked thoſe that brought them: And he took them up in his Armes, put his hands upon them, and bleſſed them.
Q. Were ever any children dedicated, or conſecrated unto God from the womb?
A. 1 Sam. 1.27, 28. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him: Therefore alſo have I lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth, he ſhall be lent to the Lord. Chap. 3.1. And the child Samuel miniſtred unto the Lord before Eli. Judg. 13.5. For lo, thou ſhalt conceive, and bear a Son, and no raſour ſhall come on his head, for the child ſhall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb.
Q. Did the Holy Ghoſt ever ſanctify any child from the womb? or did ever any Infant receive the Holy Ghoſt?
A. Luk. 1.15. For he ſhall be great in the ſight of the Lord—and he ſhall be filled with the Holy Ghoſt, even from his Mothers womb.