Of Baptism, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. In which is layd downe the relative and perſonall qualifications by which infants are uſually intituled to Baptiſme, by our most conſiderable Proteſtant Divines.
BY what hath bene ſaid, wee have fully ſhewed the nature of Baptiſme, what is the proper and adequate ſubject of this ordinance, namely a beleever, one qualified by the uſe of faith and reaſon, for the confirmation & ſealing up to him by this great ordinance, his ingrafting into Chriſt and union with him by faith; ſecondly as an immediate fruit thereof, his juſtificatiō, of which we largely ſpoke, and alſo his adoption, by being conſecrated to the Father, Sonne and holy Ghoſt, and baptized in their names. Thirdly his ſanctificatiō, conſiſting in the death of ſinne, & the life of holynes, & as a fruit of that, and which cannot be ſeparated from it, his glorification, Rom. 6.8. Novv if vvee be dead vvith Chriſt, vvee beleeve vvee ſhall alſo live vvith him: To which on the other ſide, the party baptized puts his ſeale, and makes his ſponſion, to be to God and Chriſt in all thoſe relations.
But now becauſe it hath for a long time, and almoſt generally obtained, that children ſhould be baptized, wee muſt conſider how they can pretend to theſe qualifications, what right they have, or by what title they hold it.
The right which the world gives them to it, is a right imputative, a right derivative from Father to Sonne, a right of ſucceſſion, a birthright, this is that which they call a foederall holynes. Nor doe children onelyonly clayme by this derivative imputative title, but alſo thoſe who are adopted by Chriſtian parents, for as by adoption in Chriſt wee are rendred the children of God; ſo by the adoption of Chriſtian parents, ſuch are to be accounted for their children, as ſome argue. Ger. p. 582. Alſo thoſe who by lawfull meanes, as juſt warre, bargaine, gifte, fall into the hands and governement of beleevers, and whom Chriſtians will anſwer for, that they ſhall for the future be inſtructed in the Chriſtian faith, and this appeares by divine inſtitution, they ſay from the parallell of circumciſion, ſince not onelyonly Abrahams children, but his ſervants, & thoſe bought with his money, were circumciſed, Gen. 17.12. And hee that is eight dayes old, ſhall be circumciſed among you, every man-child in your generations, hee that is borne in the houſe, or bought vvith money of any ſtranger vvhichwhich is not of thy ſeede. This alſo ſome illuſtrate, & apply more particularly from that place Acts 2.39. For the promiſe is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afarre of, even as many as the Lord our God ſhall call; where they ſay Peter witneſſeth that the divine promiſe belongs to thoſe, which by reaſon of their birth are farre of; but by the wonderfull providēce of God, are called to that ordinance by lawfull meanes, ſuch as theſe before named, and Chamier, the great protectour of our religion againſt Bellarmine (not to trouble you with what the Papiſts ſay) affirmes, that if our ſervants vvere truely ſervants, ſuch as Abrahams vvere, they then drevv a right from their maſters for Baptiſme; for vve read, ſayes he, that Abraham circumciſed all his ſervants, but ſuch ſervants as for the moſt part vve have novv a dayes; becauſe indeed they are free men, hee thinkes ſhould not be ſo handled; in the ſame capacity hee thinkes to be alſo ſuch as by the right of vvarre are ſubjected to Princes, for ſuch kind of ſubjects alſo remaine free; which if it be true, and that that exception onelyonly lyes againſt their Baptiſme, with all the great things it ſeals and conveighes to us, I ſhould much bewayle the loſſe of ſlavery to the Chriſtian world, ſince one good man by that tenure might have made a hundred and a hundred infidels, by being ſubjected to one man, might have bene Chriſtians in a moment. Thus you ſee how farre they make the covenant extend, & indeed the parallell of circumciſion, carryes it ſtrongly, and for one as well as another; you ſee therefore that which qualifies for infant Baptiſme, is ſome good and pertinent relation to a beleever; but if you aſke me now what denominates this beleever, and qualifies him for communicating this Chriſtian qualification. Chamier ſayeth, vvee allovv not all infants to be baptized, but thoſe onelyonly of beleevers, that is of baptized perſons; So that as the Baptiſme in the parent qualifyes for baptiſme in the infant, Tom. 4. p. 270. Not to inlarge in this, the charity of the world is very great, and if Mr. Davenport mistooke not in his complaint in his writing to the Claſſis of Amſterdam, hee ſaith that there was required of him an unlimited baptizing of all infants, which were preſented in the church, of what nation or ſect ſoever, although that either of the parents were Chriſtians, were not otherwayes manifeſt, then by anſwering, Yea, at the reading of the liturgie of Baptiſme publikely, or by nodding their head, or ſome other geſture, they ſeemed to be willing; Booke of complaints 1.2.
And that you may ſee this further cleare in the authority of a learned man, who ſpeakes not onelyonly his owne judgement, but the judgement of other orthodoxe with him; VValleus a reverend Profeſſor of Leyden, in his treatiſe De Baptiſ. infant. p. 494. ſaith thus: Quaeritur ergo de infantibus eorum quorum parentes ſunt impij, etſi nomine Chriſtiani, &c. It is demaunded concerning the children of them, whoſe parents are wicked, although Chriſtians in name, or whoſe parents are excommunicated, or whoſe parents are hereticks, or Idolaters, as the infants of Papiſts, Anabaptiſts, &c. By way of anſwer hee allowes all ſuch children to be baptized; VVe thinke (ſaith he) that Baptiſme is not to be denyed to thoſe, qui ex ſtirpe ſunt Chriſtiana, which are of a Chriſtian ſtock, and which without an interruption of a publike Apoſtaſy from the faith, may referre their kindred to the faithfull, ſuch as in Chriſtian commonwealthes are thoſe procreated of Chriſtian and baptized parents; onelyonly he would not have them baptized againſt their parents conſent, becauſe they be their goods and poſſeſſion, and hee would have their parēts, or thoſe which offer them to baptiſme, anſwer that they will bring them up in the Chriſtian profeſſion; vvhichwhich if they doe, vve judge, ſayes he, that all infants, vvhichwhich come from a Chriſtian ſtock, ſhould be baptized, if they be offered to baptiſme, according to the order of the Church, although their next parents ſhould labour vvith unholines of life, or hereſy, or the crime of idolatry. And this hee goes on to proove ſtrenuouſly (as well he may) from the manifeſt & perpetuall practiſe of the whole Church of Iſrael, in the adminiſtration of circumciſion, which as in a maine proportion it helpes to the baptizing of infants, ſo it will help alſo to ſeverall ſuch conſequences as thoſe are; from this opinion ſo ſtated of the learned, and orthodoxe, you may ſee that it is no ſuch great honour to be able to intitle infants to baptiſme, which is common to you with unholy perſons, with excommunicate, and with Idolaters: And ſecondly that it is an effect of great charity, to intitle the children of ſuch a parentage to regeneration, and the Holy Ghoſt: For to proceed;
Though now in the derivative title for the chayne of Baptiſme, they all agree, that what ever title the child hath, comes by vertue of the fathers covenant, yet the immediate qualification is inherent in the infant; for they affirme that Chriſtian infants have repentance, faith and regeneration: The Lutherans are ſo much of this opinion, if you will beleeve Bellarmine Tom. 2. p. 294. f. that they beleeve that infants, vvhilſt they are baptized, uſe reaſon, heare the vvord of God, beleeve, love, vvhichwhich as hee affirmes, vvas publikely determined in the Synode of VVittenbergh An. 1536. Which as hee ſaith doth ſo openly repugne to the truth, as it doth injury to humane ſence; for how is it credible (ſaith he) that an infant, which cryes, and reſiſts what he can when hee is waſhed, or ſprinkled, ſhould underſtand what he doeth.
The Calviniſts and more orthodoxe Divines receive it generally and aſſuredly, that infants bring to baptiſme, as their immediate qualification, regeneration, faith, repentance, &c. though not actuall, or by way of declaration to others; they argue thus, If infants naturally are ſome way capable of Adams ſinne, & ſo of unbeleefe, diſobedience, & tranſgreſſion, then Chriſtian infants ſupernaturally and by grace, are ſomeway capable of Chriſts righteouſnes, and ſo of faith, obedience, and ſanctification; but the forner is true, therefore the latter: The conſequence they proove hence, that elſe they would not ſee the kingdome of God, Iohn 3.5.6. Ieſus anſvvered and ſayd unto him, Verily, verily I ſay unto thee, except a man be borne of vvater and of the ſpirit, hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God; that vvhichwhich is borne of the fleſh is fleſh, and that vvhichwhich is borne of the ſpirit is ſpirit; but Chriſtian infants dying in infancy, ſhall ſee the kingdome of God, and not be damned; therefore they are borne againe of the ſpirit, and ſo muſt needs in ſome meaſure have repentance, faith and holynes.
Againe they ſay, that if wee cannot object Gods worke in nature, but doe beleeve that our infants are reaſonable creatures, and are borne not bruit beaſts, but men, though actually they can manifeſt no reaſon nor underſtanding more then beaſts; then neither can we juſtly object Gods worke in grace, but are to beleeve that our infants are ſanctified creatures, and are borne beleevers, not infidels, though outwardly they can manifeſt no faith or ſanctification to us; Ainſworth pag. 49.50. whom I quote, as being by all acknowledged a learned man, & in this opinion wherein hee concurres as wee ſhall ſee with the ſtreame of our Divines, not to be ſuſpected.
The like to this ſaith Walleus de Bapt. Infant. p. 493. Infants are to be reckoned amongſt beleevers, becauſe the ſeede or ſpirit of faith is in them, vvhichwhich ſome call a habit, others an inclination; from vvhence by degrees, through the hearing of the vvord, actuall faith is formed, ſometimes ſooner, ſometimes later. This in the next pag. 494. hee prooves, Becauſe elſe they vvould not be ſaved, Rom. 8.9. If any have not the ſpirit of God, he is none of his. And Iohn 3.5. No uncleane thing ſhall enter into the kingdome of heaven; but infants by nature are uncleane, & are purged by the blood of Chriſt, the kingdome of heaven belongs to them, & they pleaſe God, &c.
This is layd for a ground amongſt the Calviniſts concerning Baptiſme: That Baptiſme is onelyonly a ſigne and ſeale of regeneration already wrought; Oecolamp. de verb. Dom. cap. 3. Aqua myſtica in Baptiſmo non regenerat, nec efficit filios Dei, ſed declarat; the myſticall vvater in Baptiſme doth not regenerate, nor make men ſonnes of God, but declares.
So Zwinglius, Baptiſmus non aliter Eccleſiae Chriſti ſignum eſt quam exercitus aliquis ſignatur, non quod ſignum hoc conjungit Eccleſiae, ſed qui jam conjunctus eſt, publicam teſſeram accipit. Baptiſme is the ſigne of the Church, as the enſigne of an army, it doth not joyne you to the Church, but it declares you joyned.
So Beza, Nihil obſignatur, niſi quod jam habetur; nothing is ſeald, but vvhat is there already; of this opinion is Calvin fully, as it were eaſy to quote him, ſaving that in anſwering the Anabaptiſts, he ſayth; This objection is anſvvered in a vvord, by ſaying that children are baptized into faith and repentance to come; actuall he meanes (for he addes according to the firſt opinion quoted) of vvhichwhich though vvee ſee not the appearance, nevertheleſſe the ſeede is planted there by the ſecret operation of the holy Spirit; ſo as hee would have faith and repentance there in the habit, that God may not ſeale to a blanck, nor give a lying ſigne: The like ſaith Pemble, a late and able Divine, That vvhichwhich is ſignified in our baptiſme, is our juſtification by the blood of Chriſt, and our ſanctification by the Spirit of Chriſt; Baptiſme is the ſeale of both unto us, and infants may be partakers of both, being vvaſht from the guilt of ſinne by the blood of Chriſt, in vvhom they are reconciled to God, and actually juſtified before him, and alſo purified in part from the uncleanneſſe of ſinne, by the infuſion of grace from the Holy Ghoſt; vvhat then ſhould hinder, vvhy thoſe infants ſhould not be vvaſhed vvith the vvater of the Sacrament. So alſo Davenant in his comment upon the 2. chapt. of the Coloſſians to quote no more, where conflicting with the Anabaptiſts, he ſaith, As for infants becauſe they are not ſinners by their ovvne act, but by an hereditary habit, they have the mortification of ſinne, and faith, not putting forth it ſelf, but included in an habituall principle of grace: Novv that the Spirit of Chriſt can and doth ordinarily vvorke in them an habituall principle of grace, no vviſe man vvill deny. From all thoſe teſtimonies wee may obſerve, that the cleare reaſon of the thing inforces men to allow as neceſſary to Baptiſme in generall, the qualification of regeneration, faith, &c. how this now will fit infants Baptiſme, wee ſhall conſider hereafter; for the preſent wee joyne iſſue with them in theſe three things.
Firſt that a perſonall holynes, not derivative, or imputed onelyonly, muſt be the ground of Sacraments.
2 That this holynes muſt be regeneration.
3 That the habits of faith and repentance, are to be eſteemed ſuch, I proove not theſe things, becauſe they are cleare in themſelves, and taken for graunted by thoſe already quoted, onelyonly in theſe things wee joyne with them, and ſo farre agree together.