Light Broke Forth in Wales Expelling Darkness, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
In anſwer to what Mr. Owen hath ſaid in his firſt Chapter.
SIR,
AS to what you ſay about the Tree of Life, and Tree of Knowledg, that they were Seals of the two Covenants, viz. of the Covenant of Works, and of the Covenant of Grace, or free Promiſe of God, it is far fetch'd and very doubtful, and as little to the Purpoſe for which you mention them; therefore I ſhall paſs that by.
2dly. As touching Circumciſion being a dark Shadow of the Old Covenant under the Old Diſpenſation, it may be granted; but that it was the Seal of the Covenant of Grace (which you affirm elſewhere in your Book) I do deny, it being only a Seal of Abraham's Faith, even of that Faith he had, being yet Uncircumciſed, and alſo that he ſhould be the Father of all that ſhould believe.
3dly. You ſay well that thoſe dark Shadows, viz. Circumciſion, &c. are aboliſhed; the Subſtance being come, that Yoke of Bondage is taken away: which proves Circumciſion did not appertain to the Covenant of Grace, as the Seal of it, in common to all Believers; for the breaking off of a Seal cancels the Covenant to which it was prefixed, as all Men know: So that nothing can be more clear than this, that Circumciſion, if it was a Seal of any Covenant, (as you conceive it was) it was a Seal of the Covenant of Works, which neither our Fathers nor we were able to bear, in regard it obliged all that were circumciſed to keep perfectly the whole Law, Gal. 5. 3.
4thly. You ſay, Chriſt hath ordained in the Goſpel a light and eaſy Burden, viz. Baptiſm, and the Lord's Supper. Theſe two are the only. Sacraments, you ſay, of the Goſpel. This is granted and owned, herein we do not differ.
5thly. You ſay, Baptiſm ſignifieth our Spiritual Birth, the Lord's Supper our Spiritual Growth and Nouriſhment. This we grant alſo, and therefore we ſay Baptiſm cannot belong to Infants, becauſe they are not in an ordinary way capable of Regeneration (tho we deny not that thoſe elect Infants that die, are renewed quoad illorum naturas, but we know not which they are; if we did, yet we ought not to baptize them, becauſe we have no Precept or Precedent ſo to do: we might therefore as well and by as good Authority, give them the Lord's Supper as B…ptiſm, which the antient Fathers, when firſt Pedo-baptiſm was, by Human Authority, introduced into the Church (you know) did for near four hundred Years, till the latter end of the Sixth Century.)
6thly. You ſay, Baptiſm, according to the Signification of the Word, is Waſhing; and therefore the Apoſtle ſaith, ſaved us by the waſhing of Regeneration, Tit. 3. 5. foreign is rendered, in Heb. 9. 10. in divers Baptiſms, thoſe were not only by dipping under Water, but by ſprinkling Water on thoſe baptized, as the Apoſtle teacheth Heb. 9. 19. he took the Blood of the Calves, and of Goats, with Water, and ſprinkled the Book and all the People. That which the Apoſtle (you ſay) called Baptiſm in Ver. 10. is in this Verſe called the Sprinkling of Water, &c.
Anſw. 1. I anſwer, tho the Word foreign, in a remote Senſe, doth take in Waſhing… yet I challenge you and all that know (or pretend to know) the Greek Tongue, whether in every place in the New Teſtament where the Word is mentioned, or any Derivative from it, (as it refers to Chriſt's Ordinance of Baptiſm) it doth not directly and properly ſignify Immerſion, and accordingly rendred by Beza in his Tranſlation.
2dly. You greatly wrong that Text, Heb. 9. 19. where the Apoſtle ſpeaks of ſprinkling the Blood of Calves, and of Goats with Water, &c. by ſaying he refers to Ver. 10. where the Apoſtle ſpeaks of Divers Waſhings; and in thus doing, you do not only abuſe the Sacred Text, but you wrong your own Soul and Conſcience, and the People alſo. Sir, do you find the Greek Word foreign (which is in ver. 10.) in ver. 19. where ſprinkling is mentioned? or is it not in ver. 13, 19. as alſo 1 Pet. 1. 2. foreign? We may modeſtly affirm that no Greek Author, whether Heatheniſh or Chriſtian, has ever put Baptizing for Sprinkling, or uſed thoſe Words promiſcuouſly; for as in theſe Scriptures you have cited, Heb. 9. 13, 19, 21. 'tis always tranſlated Sprinkling, ſo there is not one place in Scripture wherein the Word foreign is rendred Baptiſm, nor is there one Scripture where foreign is rendred Sprinkling. And therefore, tho ſometimes the Greek Word doth ſignify in a remote Senſe, Waſhing, yet 'tis primarily ſuch a waſhing as is by dipping or plunging, as I ſaid before: And thus Mr. Wilſon, in his Dictionary, renders foreign a foreign, tingo, &c. to dip or plunge into the Water; and ſignifies, ſaith he, primarily ſuch a waſhing as is uſed in Bucks, where Linen is plunged or dipped; tho in a remote Senſe, he hints, it ſignifies other kind of waſhing; but it does not ſo in the Holy Scripture where the Word is uſed, as referring to Chriſt's Ordinance of Baptizing.
3dly. You ſay, Water-Baptiſm, i. e. the Waſhing of the Fleſh, ſignifies the Waſhing of the Spirit, and therefore the Apoſtle Peter ſaith, Even Baptiſm doth now ſave us, not the putting away the Filth of the Fleſh, but the anſwer of a good Conſcience towards God, by the Reſurrection of Chriſt.
Anſw. I anſwer, you confound Regeneration with Baptiſm; the waſhing of Regeneration is not the waſhing of Baptiſm: Baptiſm regenerates no Perſon. But you ſeem to follow the antient erroneous Fathers who concluded no Perſon could be ſaved unleſs baptized, abuſing that Text Joh. 3. 5. Unleſs a Man be born again of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; taking Water there for Baptiſm. In like ſort they abuſed that Text John 6. 53. Except ye eat the Fleſh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, ye have no Life in you; and from thence they gave Infants the Lord's Supper alſo.
But ſuppoſe that Baptiſm doth ſignify, or is a figure of the waſhing of Regeneration, yet ſprinkling is no form of waſhing; but all know dipping is, and the ſafeſt way of waſhing.
2dly. You mention Fier… Baptiſm, or the Baptiſm of the Holy Ghoſt, and Fire, Mat. 3. 11. This Scripture, you ſay, was fulfilled when the Holy Ghoſt came upon the Diſciples in the appearance of Fiery Tongues, Acts 2. 3. This Baptiſm was not (ſay you) by plunging in Fire, but by ſprinkling or pouring of Fire (you mean the Holy Spirit) upon them, which ſate upon each of them; which is a Fiery waſhing which purifieth the Soul, &c.
I anſwer, Tho the Baptiſm of the Spirit was by pouring forth of the Spirit, yet they were overwhelmed, or immerſed with it; like as Duſt may be poured upon a dead Corps, until it is covered all over, or quite buried therein: So the Baptiſm of the Holy Ghoſt, at the Day of Pentecoſt, ſignifies the miraculous Effuſion of the Holy Ghoſt. The Greek Word foreign, ſaith the Learned Caſaubon, is to dip, pl…ge, &c. in which ſenſe, ſaith he, the Apoſtles might be truly ſaid to have been baptized, for the Houſe in which this was done was filled with the Holy Ghoſt; ſo that the Apoſtles might ſeem to have been plunged into it as in a large Fiſh-Pond. Sir, 'tis not the ſprink ing of the Spirit that is the Baptiſm of the Spirit, for they had doubtleſs ſome ſprinklings of the Spirit before they were baptized with it. Moreover, Oecumenius on Acts 2. ſaith, A Wind filled the whole Houſe that it ſeemed like a Fiſh-pond, becauſe 'twas promiſed to the Apoſtles that they ſhould be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Thus you may ſee, that this no ways helps you to make Sprinkling, or Rantizing, Baptiſm.
3dly. You mention the Baptiſm of Blood, or Sufferings: I will repeat your Words,— Baptiſm of Blood; of this Baptiſm doth Chriſt ask the Children of Zebedee, Are you able to drink of the Cup that I drink of, and to be baptized with the Baptiſm that I am baptized with? Mat. 20. 22. This Cup and this Baptiſm are the ſame, viz. the Sufferings of Chriſt, of which his Diſciples were to be Partakers.
You intimate that Baptiſm is a Witneſs of our Spiritual Reſurrection, and of our Reſurrection at the laſt Day; you mention 1 Cor. 15. 29, &c.
Anſw. Therefore, ſay I, it muſt be ſo adminiſtred, as it may repreſent our Riſing again: Firſt, from a Death in Sin to a Life in Grace: And, Secondly, from the Dead, or out of our Graves in the Earth, at the laſt Day: But Sprinkling do…h not this, cannot do this. In ſprinkling a little Water on the Face, there is no reſemblance or repreſentation of riſing up out of the Grave of Sin, or from the Dead, nor out of the Grave a… the laſt Day; the Baptiſm of Sufferings ſignifies great Afflictions, and from the Literal Signification of foreign, great Afflictions or Troubles are taken for, and figurately called Baptiſm, as Voſſius ſhews: Not every light Affliction is the Baptiſm of Afflictions; but like that of David, Pſal. 32. 6. He drew me out of deep Waters. Hence great Afflictions are called Waves, Thy Waves and thy Billows are gone over me, Pſal. 42. 7. See Pool's Annotations on Mat. 20. 22. To be baptized is, ſaith he, to be dipped in water, Metaphorically to be plunged in Afflictions. So that neither of theſe Metaphorical Baptiſms will do you any Service, to juſtify your Tradition of ſprinkling, or pouring a little Water, but contrariwiſe quite overthrows your pretended Baptiſm. As to what you ſay, in the next place, of your three manner of ways of the Adminiſtration of Baptiſm in your firſt Chapter, it doth not concern our preſent Purpoſe; 'tis true, John the Baptiſt baptized into him that was to come, ſo in that reſpect it differ'd from the Adminiſtration of it after the Death and Reſurrection of our bleſſed Lord: and no doubt from the Commiſſion it appears Baptiſm was to be adminiſtred to the end of the World into the Name of the Father, Son, and holy Spirit, and no other ways.