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No.  45. 


THE 

SCRIPTURE    GUIDE 

TO 

BAPTISM: 

CONTAINING 

A    FAITHFUL    CITATION    OF    ALL    THE    PASSAGES    OP 

THE    NEW    TESTAMENT    WHICH    RELATE 

TO    THIS    ORDINANCE, 

WITH 

EXPLANATORY  OBSERVATIONS  ; 

AXD    ATTBXDEB    BY 

NUMEROUS    EXTRACTS   F R O ill  fej?.* I N d'n ^    -VVRJITHns;  ; 


mi^itfi  nn  ^pptnp,% ;  i :  > ; 


BY    R.    PENGLI^L.T> 


FROM  THE  NINTH  LONDON  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  IMPROVED  BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


Thpse  were  more  noble  than  those  in  Thessalonica,  in  that  they  received  the  word 
with  all  readiness  of  mind,  and  searched  the  sckiptures  daily,  whether  those 
things  were  so.— Acts  xvii.  11. 

Whatever  pretends  to  exceed  the  direction  of  the  Word  may  safely  be  rejected  ; 
caunot  safely  be  admitted.— Dr.  Owen. 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE 

BAPTIST   GENERAL.   TRACT   SOCIETY, 

AT  THEIR  DEPOSITORY,  No.  21,  SOUTH  FOURTH  STREET. 

18  3  7. 


THENEW  YOH 


INTRODUCTION. 


I  DO  not  know  that  I  can  better  introduce  the  following  pamphlet  to 
the  reader  than  by  stating  the  origin  of  it ;  its  reference  to  my  own  case 
and  circumstances,  he  will  kindly  excuse. 

From  my  earliest  childhood,  I  was  taught  to  say,  that,  "  in  my  bap- 
tism,— I  was  made  a  member  of  Christ,  a  child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."*  My  instructers  would  readily  admit,  and 
in  effect  taught,  the  following  sentiments,  lately  given  to  the  world  by 
different  writers : — 

One  affirms — "  With  the  water  of  our  baptism,  the  grace  of  regene- 
ration, the  seed  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  principle  of  a  higher  existence  is 
committed  to  the  soul ;  it  grows  with  us  as  an  innate  impression  of  our 

being As  long  as  the  believer  trusts  to  his  baptism  as  the  source  of 

spiritual  life,  all  is  well."f 

Another  adds — "  On  a  topic  so  interesting,  I  might  have  well  enlarged. 
I  might  have  told  you  that  only  by  baptism  we  are  admitted  into  Christ's 
flock  on  earth ;  by  baptism  we  are  adopted  into  his  covenant,  incorpo- 
rated into  his  church. . .  .that  in  baptism  all  our  sins  are  pardoned,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  bestowed."^:  And  another — "  Baptism  brings  its  pri- 
vileges along  with  it — is  a  seal  of  the  ic;p^ei:ra'n'; — flo<j's  noV  lofee  iis  etd' 
through  the  indisposition  of  the  receiver^^<) '      \,",'       '•'   ",    /  '>'■>*> 

These  sentiments,  as  far  as  I  receive'd  them,  were*  very  gratifying* '  I* 
seem  to  have  been  put,  by  the  kindness  of'  r^^  p*arei\to  an'd  ."feponsors, 
into  a  situation  of  unspeakable  advantages,^ an-l^  alcove  ^ all,  »il^^  heaven 
was  secured,  and  I  had  nothing  to  fear  in  li^e  or  deatji.  '  ,  , ' ,  , 
.  Being,  however,  afterward  brought  un^jler  ji;  fjiit^ifiil  .tfjin)? iJry,  J  ob-' 
served  a  most  ASTOifisHiNo  difference  lHj?(fefe'3ii't'i6'.6faie\piei^4;s  bf  the 
pulpit  and  the  sentiments  I  had  been  taught  in  childhood,  as  given  above. 
Here  I  was  taught  '  that  all  mankind  were  by  nature  sinners,  depraved, 
and  guilty, — that  unless  they  be  brought  to  repent  of  sin,  to  believe  in 
Christ,  to  seek  and  Jind  mercy  from  God  through  the  Saviour,  they  must 
inevitably  perish !' — As  to  what  was  done  for  me  in  infancy,  I  was 
assured  it  profited  me  nothing.  My  excellent  minister  would  not  hesi- 
tate to  appeal  to  his  congregation,  in  the  inquiries  which  recently  ap- 
peared in  a  public  paper : — 

^'  Is  not  the  sponsorial  part  of  the  baptismal  service  a  fragment  of 
popery,  without  the  shadow  of  a  foundation  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  1 

"  Aje  not  thousands*  of  children,  who  show  no  signs  whatever  of  spi- 
ritual regeneration,  taught  to  repeat  a  deliberate  falsehood,  from 
week  to  week,  when,  according  to  the  instructions  of  their  catechism, 
they  declare  that  at  baptism  they  were  made  '  members  of  Christ,  child- 
ren of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  V 

<'  Are  not  multitudes  of  young  people  brought  to  the  rite  of  confirma- 

♦  See  the  Church  of  England  Catechism,  and  Baptism  of  Infanta. 

t  Mr.  W.  Harness,  minister  of  St.  Pancras'  chapel,  London,  in  a  sermon  oa 
Baptiavml  Regeneration,  pp.  135.  138. 

t  W.  B.  Knicjhi,  Perpetual  Curate  of  IVJaream,  and  Examining  Chaplain  to  th« 
4<ord  Bishop  of  Llandatf,  In  a  Letter  on  Baptism,  p.  26, 

8  In  Adam  Clark's  Commentary,  at  the  end  of  Mark. 

61  3 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

tiofi,  merely  that  they  may  renew  the  solemn  farce  which  was  performed 
by  their  sponsors  at  baptism ;  and  that  they  might  take  a  vow  which 
they  never  intended  to  fulfil  ]"* 

What  these  questions  implied,  and  the  preceding  remarks  expressed, 
appeared  to  me  awfully  serious;  and  the  coNTUAniETT  of  sentiment 
which  prevailed,  and  which  the  foregoing  quotations  exhibit,  was  ex- 
ceedingly perplexing.  My  highest  and  best  interest  for  time  and  eternity 
was  here  involved.  On  the  one  hand,  I  was  told  that  by  my  baptism 
"  all  was  well,"  and  on  the  other,  that  the  ordinance,  as  observed  upon 
me,  was  a  "  solemn  farce  !" 

What  should  I  do  in  this  case  ?  Why  this,  I  resolved,  I  would  do : 
I  would  take  a  New  Testament,  and  go  through  it,  and  mark  down  and 
distinguish  in  the  margin,  all  those  passages  which  related  to  baptis7n  ,■ 
and  when  I  had  done  so,  I  would  read  them  all  over  in  succession,  as 
one  chapter,  with  care  and  attention ;  and  as  I  knew  this  blessed  book 
was  the  only  original  and  divine  authority  on  the  subject,  here,  I  in- 
fered,  I  should  learn  correctly  what  this  ordinance  did  fur  children — 
what  was  the  office  of  sponsors — and  how  the  ordinance  sealed  to  me 
the  blessing  of  the  covenant. 

To  my  surprise,  the  New  Testament  was  entirely  silent  upon 
ALL  these  points  !  I  could  not  find  a  single  passage  relating  to  the  bap- 
.tigirupf  ijifajit^ — por^  one  ^relating  to  sponsors — nor  one  about  baptism 
Wingfn^  m^,  jfnto'.tlTp  foveijam/,;  or  sealing  to  me  its  blessings  !  Every 
. passage* I 'cotjld  firftl,  vi'esqrjptp'e;  of  the  persons  baptized,  either  by  John 
or  the^discjple^  q^  .Qhrist,  represented  them  as  persons  grown  up,  in- 
striictedj^hd  Ufili ei^i\ig'fii,e\ gospel  ,•  nor  could  I  find  any  passage  relative 
to  X\\Qti'br\n^ihg  fh'ej.v'  chUdren  with  them,  or  at  any  period  to  be  bap- 
//cfV- .' J' ;*o Wtl? •  alsG>,' -that  all  the  commands  and  instructions  given 
reapei^tiij^gihra^'tis^nieJ'itij-Qly  related  to  its  administration  to  believers,  and 
not  dne'inciud<!^d  ihe  lluf^  bf  parents  in  securing,  by  this  all-important 
ordinance,  the  spiritual  and  eternal  well-being  of  their  children  ! 

Now,  when  I  considered  the  unbounded  benefits  said  to  be  consequent 
upon  children's  baptism,  and  the  solemn  manner  in  which  I  was  required 
to  repeat  these  statements  in  early  life,  as  if  they  were  the  plainest  sub- 
jects in  Scripture,  the  reader  may  judge  of  my  surprise  in  finding  them 
entirely  destitute  of  that  sacred  authority ! 

In  the  end,  I  was  brought  to  believe  that  the  institution  was  altered — 
that  it  was  not  noiu  observed,  where  I  was  early  instructed,  as  originally 
appointed  of  Christ.  Yet  to  alter  Christ's  institutions  appeared  to  me 
a  VERT  presuming  act:  it  was  derogatory  to  the  authority  of  Christ, 
and  a  reflection  on  his  wisdom ;  and  as  I  remembered  how  God  mani- 
fested his  displeasure  against  any  alteration  of  what  he  had  appointed, 
under  the  Old  Testament,  so  I  inferred  he  must  be  equally  displeased 
with  any  alteration  of  the  New  Testament  ordinances.  A  passage  I 
met  with  in  Matthew  Henry's  Exposition,  respecting  the  conduct 
and  awful  fate  of  Aaron's  sons  in  taking  common  fire,  instead  of  fire 
from  the  altar,  to  burn  incense,  I  deemed  very  impressive,  and  quite 
appropriate  to  this  subject : — 

*  In  "  The  Record,"  (a  paper  in  llie  Church  of  England  interest.)  for  Novem- 
ber  30,  IS^S,  heailed,  '  Questions  fur  the  Consideration  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Authorities  of  the  llealm.'    See  also  Mr.  Hyatt,  cited  at  p.  63. 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

"Not  being  holy  fire,  it  is  called  strange  Jire ;  and,  though  not 
expressly  forbidden,  it  was  crime  enough  that  God  '  commanded  it  not  J 
For,  (as  Bishop  Hall  well  observes  here,)  '  It  is  a  dangerous  thing,  in 
the  service  of  God,  to  decline  from  his  own  institutions ;  we  have  to  do 
with  a  God  who  is  wise  to  prescribe  his  own  worship,  just  to  require 
what  he  has  prescribed,  and  powehfui.  to  revenge  what  he  has  not 
prescribed.'  Now  that  the  laws  concerning  sacrifices  were  newly  made, 
lest  any  should  be  tempted  to  think  lightly  of  them,  because  they  de- 
scended to  many  circumstances  which  seemed  very  minute,  these  that 
were  the  Jirst  transgressors  were  thus  punished  for  a  warning  to 
others,  and  to  show  how  jealous  God  is  in  the  matters  of  his  worship. 
Being  a  holy  God  and  sovereign  Lord,  he  must  always  be  worshipped 
exactly  according  to  his  own  appointment ;  and  if  any  jest  with  him,  it 
is  at  their  peril." — On  Lev.  x. 

My  mind  was  considerably  exercised  upon  this  subject.  *  Not  willing- 
ly,' I  was  constrained  to  say,  '  would  I  jest  with  Christ's  ordinances,  or 
would  I  support  any  alteration  of  his  institution.  If  I  knew  his  will,  I 
would  observe  and  keep  it ;  for  the  time  is  coming  when  I  must  stand  at 
his  bar  to  give  an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  ,-  and  if  I  was 
one  of  those  \\\io  altered  his  ordinances,  or  countenanced  such  a  daring 
presumption,  I  should  have  cause  to  anticipate  his  divine  displeasure.' 
With  these  impressions  I  came  to  the  determination,  that,  at  any  risk, 
what  the  Scriptures  taught  on  baptism  I  would  endeavour  to  receive  and 
hold, — that  as  Christ  was  to  be  my  •>n1.Y'j^'P'>{:  tft  itie,' b;5*^  ^t)'h#  , 
should  be  my  onlt  Guide  upon  this  si^^j^ct."  H.j^",<}bmn:f£in(l  to  ii^>.t$\ 
disciple  is,  "  follow  me  ;"  and  to  enable  hini  to  'do  so  he  adc?ed,'**'Se'arfcI\ 
the  Scriptures,  for  they  are  they  that  testify  'of;  {nefV 'JRere'J^s&w  the 
path  of  duty  plainly  marked  out  by  the  footstepfe  ofl  iry"!  SaVivur,  and 
instructions  of  his  word;  and  his  unbounded  love 'and  his  infinite  dig- 
nity rendered  obedience  to  him  unspeakably  soJemn  ai))i  dvlightfiil.^'* 

I  resolved,  also,  to  read  whatever  authors  I  coji.d /neb};  wi-th  upon*  this 
subject,  and  though  I  was  soon  brought  to  decide,  and  acted  upon  that 
decision,  guided,  I  hope,  by  the  word  of  God  ;  yet  for  several  years  there 
was  not  an  author  that  fell  in  my  way,  whether  treating  of  the  subjects 
of  baptism,  or  the  mode  of  it,  or  the  spiritual  intention  of  the  ordi- 
nance, but  I  felt  disposed  to  examine  his  arguments.  Nothing  surprised 
me  more  than  the  strange  diversity  and  opposition  of  sentiment  which 
I  observed  between  different  very  eminent  writers.  What  one  labored 
to  establish,  another  as  zealously  exploded ;  and  I  am  thoroughly  con- 
vinced that  the  only  wat  for  an  inquiring  mind  to  obtain  solid  satis- 
faction upon  the  subgect  is  to  lay  aside  all  preconceived  sentiments  and 
prejudices,  and  to  come,  with  a  teachable  spirit,  to  the  fountain-head  of 
information, — to  take  the  New  Testament  and  to  go  through  it,  allow- 
ing one  passage  to  assist  in  the  understanding  of  another,  and  here,  on 
Heaven's  authority,  to  form  his  opinions,  and  to  come  to  a  decision. 

But  those  portions  of  Scripture  which  relate  to  this  ordinance  are  in- 
terspersed throughout  almost  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament,  and  for 
the  use  of  an  iNauiRER  upon  this  subject,  a  Tract,  containing  a  com- 
PLKTE  Collection  of  all  those  passages,  appeared  to  me  exceedingly 
desirable.  Being  called,  by  the  grace  of  Christ,  to  the  all-important 
work  of  the  ministry  in  the  body  of  Christians,  with  which,  from  con- 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

Bcientious  principles,  upon  giving  up  my  early  views  in  favor  of  infant 
baptism,  I  became  united,  I  felt  the  want  of  such  a  pamphlet  when 
referring  inquirers  to  the  divine  and  infallible  source  of  information. 
Not  finding  such  a  work  in  existence,  I  resolved  to  prepare  it.  My  first 
effort  was  well  received  ;  and  I  afterwards  enlarged  it,  by  subjoining  to 
each  section  of  Scripture  a  few  explanatory  observations,  and  supported 
the  sense  I  had  given  by  extracts  from  the  works  of  eminent  ptedobap- 
tist  writers.  This  work  is  now  before  the  reader,  and  the  following  i» 
its  arrangement. 

PLAN  AND  CONTENTS. 
The  various  portions  of  Scripture  relating  to  baptism,  I  have  here 

arranged  as  Three  Chapters. 

Chap.  I.  The  several  passages  in  the  Four  Gospels,  divided  into  VII 
sections,  as  they  occur ;  page  9  to  27. 

Chap.  II.  The  several  passages  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  divided 
into  IX  sections,  as  so  many  successive  instances  of  baptizing ;  p.  27  to  44, 
Chap.  III.  The  several  passages  in  the  Epistles,  divided  into  III  sec- 
tions, as  they  have  special  allusions ;  p.  45  to  52. 

To  these  Scriptures  and  their  illustration,!  have  subjoined  an  APPEN- 
DIX, containing  a  biiief  Examination,  I.  Of  the  common  Reasons 
and  Argurnen^s  \iy  wh\c|;i,^hp  ^aptism  of  Infants  is  urged  and  defended, 
vi^.tft  JO*.  'II*.  Of  litie/EyidfRCe  in  favor  of  Immersion  as  the  Mode, 
•  J. .7 1  fo.  SO.;  III.VOJ*  the  S)&?sign  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  in 
the  appointment .q^,th\s  pjdinance,  p.  80  to  81.  And,  finally,  offering  a 
few  generjil  0/)Ufci.JjD3tar/i  Observations  upon  the  subject,  p.  81  to  86. 


ir'amf  .riot  cprisfflQVisr  jhatjl  have  written  a  single  sentence,  but  as  the 
dictate*  of 'sincrt-e' cfcmvicfihJn ;  and,  I  hope,  not  one  inconsistent  with 
Christian  candor.  I  love  my  brethren  in  the  faith,  notwithstanding 
upon  this  particular  subject  they  may  differ  from  me ;  and  though  I  have 
seen  no  small  portion  of  sarcastic  wit  brought  into  the  controversy,  I 
have  not  once  borrowed  from  that  treasury  ;  my  cause  wanted  not  that 
auxiliary, 

I  take  this  opportunity  af  expressing  the  satisfaction  I  have  felt  in 
the  kind  recommendations  which  numerous  ministers  have  given  to 
this  little  work,  not  only  in  Britain,  but  in  India,  and  especially  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  where  it  has  gone  through  several  large 
editions.  But,  most  of  all,  my  gratitude  is  due  to  the  Author  of  all 
goodness,  for  the  testimonies  I  have  received  that  "  the  publication  has 
been  eminently  useful  to  many  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  in  freeing 
their  minds  from  the  mists  of  error,  engendered  by  the  doctrines  and 
commandments  of  men,  and  leading  them  into  scriptural  views  of  this 
important  institution  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  (New  Baptist  Mis- 
ceflany,  for  1828,  p.  109.)  I  hope  the  alterations  and  additions  made 
in  the  present  edition  will  render  it  still  more  acceptable  and  u*eful. 

Newcastle  icpon  Tyne,  Jan.  1,  1836. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Passages  in  the  Four  Gospels. 

PAOB 

Sect.  1.  The  Mission,  Preaching,  and  Baptizing  of  John  the 

Baptist,  _-._..  9 

Of  the  Mode  of  John's  Baptism,   -         -         -  12 

2.  The  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  four  Evan- 
gelists,      -------  16 

Christ  Baptizing,  by  his  Diseiples,  in  Judea,  18 

4.  John's  last  Baptizing  in  ^non,       -         -         -  20 

5.  References  of  Jesus  Christ  to  John,  his  Baptism 

and  success,       -         -  .    ,t  ,     ,-  „    ,  -  ,     ,^-  ,  ,    ,  2,1 

6.  Christ  represents  his  SuflfGrings  under  t^e  ^gart  ,df  ." 

"  a  Baptism,"  ^-  ^'  ' '  >    '^'  '•'        i     • .  ^1  '  \  !  ?,2 

7.  The  Commission  which  our  Lord  ^^7^  his  Apostles 

about  the  Time  of  his  A^xJc'nsi^ii'lipto  Heaven, 
containing  the  formal  IiistitaiiOii  o^  Christian 
Baptism,  -         -  '     ■^'•''.r']     .V    ;'•-,  ,       23 

Conclusion  of  the  Four  Gbsp.eis,'^^  .'V  .* .-.  * '!  '7       26 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

Sect.  1.  The  Baptism  at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost,  -  27 

2.  Philip  Baptizing  at  Samaria,  -         -  -  29 

3.  The  Baptism  of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  -  31 
Of  the  Mode  of  the  Eunuch's  Baptism,  -  31 

4.  The  Baptism  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  -  -  33 

5.  The  Baptism  of  Cornelius  and  his  Friends,  34 

6.  The  Baptism  of  Lydia  and  her  Household,  -  36 

7.  The  Baptism  of  the  Philippian  Jailer  and  House- 

hold,    39 

8.  Paul  Baptizing  at  Corinth,              -         -         -  40 
Reflection  on  the  Baptism  of  Households,      -  42 

9.  Certain  Disciples  at  Ephesus  baptized,           -  43 
Conclusion  of  the  Acts,                 -        -        -  44 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Epistles. 

PAOB 

Sect.  1 .  Passages  which  contain  an  express  Allusion  to  the 

Mode  and  Spiritual  Desig-n  of  Baptism,  45 

2.  Occasional  mention  of  Baptism,  -         .  48 

3.  Baptism  illustrated  by  Events  recorded  in  the  Old 

Testament,         -._.,..  49 

Conclusion  of  the  New  Testament,        -        -  51 


Appendix,  Part  I. 

On  the  Grounds  of  infant  Baptism,  its  Rise  and 
supposed  Benefits,     -----  52 

Appendix,  Part  II. 
On  the  Scriptural  Mode  of  Baptism.      -        -  71 

.'*',  \/    '•   '^fT^Jxmpf  Part  III. 

'On  tiie  SpirVtud' bfesfgn  of  Baptism,     -  -          80 

.'Cfncl^ddiijg- Obsfirvations,      -        -        -  -          81 

O^jecfihftfirtore'iMusive  Believers'  Baptism,  81 

'  'Rea^jl^Vis 'fbr  f he  Baptism  of  Believers  only,  85 

/  finai.  ACl*di-s«s9  io  the  Reader,          -        -  -          85 

Appendix,  Part  IV. 

Note  on   1  Cor.  vii.  14.      Prepared  by  John  L 
Dagg, 87 


SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO  BAPTISM, 

&C.  &C. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PASSAGES  IN  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 
§  I.  The  Mission,  Preaching,  and  Baptizing  of  John  the  Baptist. 

The  first  place  of  Scripture,  where  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  found,  is  in  the 
account  given  of  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  the  forerunner  of  Christ.  The 
surname  of  "  Baptist"  was  most  probably  given  him  because  he  was  "sent  to 
baptize"  by  Divine  authority,  and  was  the  first  so  authorized  and  employed.  As  all 
the  four  evangelists  have  given  some  account  of  John,  I  shall  unite  the  testimony 
of  the  four,  and  present  it'to  the  reader  in  a  continued  relation. 

Mark  i.  1.  The  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God.     John  i.  6,  7. 

There  was  a  man  sent  from  God,  whose  name  ivas  John  : 
the  same  came  to  bear  witness, 'of  the ^Li^ht,4ha.t  Jtll  t/htn 
through  him  might  believe.  Matt.Mii -  3. '  For  tlas  is.lre  that 
was  spoken  of  by  the  prophet  Esai^^s-,  sayii^g,  TJie  voice 
of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  prepa^"e  yj^ihe  w4y  of  the 
Lord,  make  his  paths  straight.       ,     ,    , '  ]]     '\'  \[^  '^ 

Luke  i.  16,  17.  And  many  c^  th^.^cbildit^n^^Nf  Xsrael 
shall  he  turn  to  the  Lord  their  God^;  And  lie  ohall  go  before 
him  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of 
the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wis- 
dom of  the  just;  to  make  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the 
Lord.  iii.  1,  2.  Now — the  word  of  God  came  unto  John, 
the  son  of  Zacharias,  in  the  wilderness. 

Matt.  iii.  1.  Li  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist, 
preaching  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea  ;  Luke  iii.  3.  And  he 
came  into  all  the  country  about  Jordan,  preaching  the  bap- 
tism of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins ;  Matt.  iii. 
2.  And  saying,  repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
at  hand. 

Acts  xiii.  24.  John  preached  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance to  all  the  people  of  Israel ;  xix.  4,  saying  unto  the 
people,  that  they  should  believe  on  him  which  should  come 
after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  .Tesus. 

John  i.  19  to  31.     And  this  is  the  record  of  John,  when 
the  Jews  sent   priests   and  Levites  to  ask  him,  Who  art 
57 


10  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [5S 

thou  ?  He  confessed,  I  am  not  the  Christ.  I  am  the  voice 
of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Make  straight  the  way  of 
the  Lord.  And  they  asked  him.  Why  baptizest  thou,  if 
thou  be  not  that  Christ?  John  answered,  I  baptize  with 
water:  but  there  standeth  one  among  you — who,  coming 
after  me,  is  preferred  before  me.  That  he  should  be 
manifest  to  Israel,  therefore  am  I  come  baptizing  with  water. 
33.     [For  God]  sent  me  to  baptize  with  water. 

Matt.  iii.  5.  Then  went  out  to  him  Jerusalem  and  all 
Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan,  6.  And 
were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins. 

Mark  i.  4.  John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness,  and 
preach  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins  ; 
5.  And  there  went  out  unto  him  all  the  land  of  Judea  and 
they  of  Jerusalem,  and  were  all  baptized  of  him  in  the  river 
of  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins. 

Luke  iii.  12.  Then  came  also  publicans  to  be  baptized, 
and  said  unto  him.  Master,  what  shall  we  do  ?  13.  And 
he  said  unto  them,  Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is 
'iip.pbjntfed'.you.'-    :    •  ^«  • .; 

«' j  Miifu.  iii.;  7.  \feitt  wh^jh".  he  saw  many  of  the  Pharisees 
and  Saddiice«^.comc.to  his  baptism,  he  said  unto  them,  O 
generatibii  of  yipers,  syho  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the 
wrath' to  'cotiiet  '8.  Bring  forth,  therefore,  fruits  meet  for 
repeji/t'arnee :  .9i"A'n(J  vthmk  not  to  say  within  yourselves. 
We  ha-ve  Abraham 'to  our  father:  fori  say  unto  you,  that 
God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abra- 
ham. 11.  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water  unto  repent- 
ance ;  but  he  that  cometh  after  me  is  mightier  than  I, 
whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  bear  :  he  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  tire :  12.  Whose  fan 
is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and 
gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner  ;  but  he  will  burn  up  the 
chaflf  with  unquenchable  tire. 


Christian  Readkr  :  There  are  THREE  INQUIRIES,  in  relation 
to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  upon  which,  I  shall  imagine,  you  are 
desirous  of  obtaining  satisfaction  of  mind,  purely  deduced  from  the 
Scriptures  ;  namely, — - 

I.  Who  are  proper  subjects  oi  Christian  baptism,  according  to  the 
authority  of  Christ,  and  the  practice  of  his  harbinger  and  apostles  1 

II.  By  what  mode  should  the  ordinance  be  administered,  according  to 
the  same  authority  and  practice  ] 


591  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO   BAPTISM.  11 

III.  What  is  the  spiritual  design  of  baptism,  and  in  whom  is  that 
design  realized  1 

These  three  inquiries  will  be  kept  constantly  in  view  in  the  following 
pages.  In  the  foregoing  section  of  Scriptures  you  have  a  full  account 
of  John  the  Baptist,  with  reference  to  his  practice,  in  which  you  may 
notice, — 

1.  His  mission  was  divine.  He  was  "  sent  from  God."  He  was 
raised  up  by  the  special  purpose  and  power  of  God,  and  employed  in  a 
work  entirely  his  own;  succeeding  to  no  one  who  had  gone  before  him, 
and  followed  by  no  one  in  the  same  office.  His  instructions  for  his 
work  he  obtained  by  Divine  revelation  : — "  The  word  of  God  came 
unto  John,"  and  thus  his  entire  work  was  of  God's  immediate  appoint- 
ment, 

%  The  great  object  of  his  ministry  ivas  to  "prepare  the  way  of  the 
Lord;"  i.  e.  of  Christ,  who  was  immediately  to  follow  him,  according 
to  the  prediction  of  the  prophets;  Isa.  xl.  3.  Mai.  iii.  1.  This  great 
design  John  was  to  accomplish,  1.  By  proclaiming  repentance — 
impressing  on  the  minds  of  his  hearers  their  guilt  before  God  ;  the 
necessity  of  being  sensible  of  it,  and  confessing  it ;  and  thus,  with  con- 
trition of  heart,  "  to  turn  to  the  Lord  their  God."  2.  By  announc- 
ing the  immediate  approach  of  the  long-promised  Messiah  ;  assuring 
the  Jews  that  his  "kingdom  was  at  hand;"  and,  3.  By  seriously 
charging  and  exhorting  them  to  "  Believe  on  him  who  should  come 
after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus."  By  these  labors,  attended  with 
the  blessing  of  heaven,  he  was  "  to  make  ready  a  people  prepared  for 
the  Lord."  And  this  was  happily  accomplished,  inasmuch  as  the  first 
disciples  of  Christ  were  previously  disciples  of  John.  John  i.  35 — 47. 
It  does  not  appear,  therefore,  that  the  design  of  John's  mission  could 
be  realized  in  any  but  in  adult  persons,  or  persons  come  to  the  years 
of  understanding ;  none  else  could  repent  of  sin ;  none  else  could 
embrace  the  glad  tidings  of  the  coming  Saviour,  and  thereby  be  "  a 
people  prepared"  for  the  service  of  Christ;  who,  within  one  year,  was 
to  follow  John,  and  receive  the  people  so  prepared. 

3.  His  ministry  was  to  be  followed  by  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance  of  baptism.  His  commission  from  heaven  included  this  ordi- 
nance. Baptism,  as  a  divine  institution,  was  unknown  in  the  church 
of  God  previous  to  the  mission  of  John.  But  he  informed  his  hearers, 
that  the  same  God  who  sent  him  to  prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,  "  sent 
him  to  baptize  with  water,"  John  i.  33,  and  this  too  was  preparatory 
to  the  ministry  of  Christ,  as  it  was  fitted  and  intended  to  teach  the  guilt 
of  sin,  and  the  penitent  sinner's  purification  in  the  way  which  the 
gospel  of  Christ  should  bring  more  fully  to  light.  Of  that  blessed  work 
of  purification  baptism  was  an  appropriate  and  impressive  bmblem. 
In  accordance  with  these  remarks,*  we  have  the  excellent 


*  In  this  work  I  shall  introduce  numerous  extracts  from  the  writings  of  eminent 
PiEdobaptisl  authors,  who,thouch  they  practised  differently  from  what  is  contended 
for  in  these  pages  ;  yet,  some  upon  one  part  of  our  inquiry,  and  some  upon  others, 
have  fully  s^ranled  and  allowed  the  Divine  authority  of  what  I  shall  endeavour  to 
point  out  as  having  that  authority,  to  the  attention  of  the  reader.    As,  however,  I 


12  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [60 

Matthew  Hen^ry.  "  Baptism  with  water  made  way  for  the  mani- 
festing of  Christ,  as  it  supposed  our  corruption  and  filthiness,  and  signi- 
fied our  cleansing  by  him,  who  is  the  Fountain  opened"  Of  John's 
express  commission  from  heaven  for  baptizing,  Mr.  Henry  adds,  "  See 
what  sure  grounds  John  went  upon  in  his  ministry  and  baptism.  He 
did  not  run  without  sending ;  God  sent  him  to  baptize.  He  had  a 
warrant  from  heaven  for  what  he  did. . .  God  gave  him  both  his  mission 
and  his  message ;  both  his  credentials  and  instructions."  Expos,  on 
John  i.  6—14,  and  29—36. 

4.  The  persons  John  baptized  had  received  his  ministry,  and  were 
professed  penitents.  One  particular  circumstance  is  expressly  asserted 
by  Matthew,  and  repeated  again  by  Mark,  descriptive  of  the  persons 
whom  John  baptized,  and  by  the  latter  it  is  asserted  of  "  all"  of  them ; 
namely,  that  they  confessed  their  sins.  He  had  preached  repent- 
ance— exhorted  to  repentance — and  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees 
demanded  the  "  fruits  of  repentance ;"  while  he  peremptorily  rejected 
every  plea  they  might  urge,  particularly  that,  in  which  they  generally 
gloried,  that  they  were  the  children  of  Abraham  ;  and  hence  in  accord- 
ance with  that  repentance  which  John  \h.\\s preached  and  demanded, 
"  they  were  all  baptized  of  him,  confessing  their  sins."  Thus  his  bap- 
tism is  expressly  called  by  Mark  i.  4,  by  Luke  iii.  3,  and  twice  by 
Paul,  Acts  xiii.  24,  and  xix.  4,  "  the  baptism  of  repentance."  This  being 
admitted,  it  will  follow,  that  the  persons,  yea  all  the  persons,  whom 
John  baptized,  were  those  who  had  received  and  believed  his 
MINISTRY  ;  and,  as  the  "  fruit"  of  their  conviction,  they  openly  pro- 
fessed repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  in  the  approaching  Saviour. 
Thus, 

Mr.  Erskine.  "John's  baptism  was  termed  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance, and  baptism  to  repenta7ice  ,-  because  he  required  of  all,  whom  he 
admitted  to  baptism,  a  profession  of  repentance,  and  exhorted  them  to 
such  a  conduct  as  would  demonstrate  their  repentance  genuine."  In 
Booth's  Pasdobap.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  241.  Ed.  2. 

Mr.  Scott.  "  It  does  not  appear  that  any  but  adults  were  baptized 
by  John  . . .  adult  Jews,  professing  repentance  and  a  disposition  to  become 
the  Messiah's  subjects,  were  the  only  persons  whom  John  admitted  to 
baptism."     Commefit.  on  Matt.  iii.  5,  6. 

Mr.  Burkitt.  "  John's  baptism  was  the  baptism  of  repentance,  of 
which  infants  were  incapable."     Expos.  Notes  on  Matt.  xix.  13 — 15. 


OF  THE  MODE  OF  JOHN'S  BAPTISM. 

My  reader  will,  no  doubt,  be  aware  that  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is 
administered  THREE  different  ways,  in  diflerent  countries,  and  by 
different  bodies  of  Christians;  namely,  by  dipping — pouring — and 

shall  make  my  work  as  brief  aa  possible,  these  extracts  must  necessarily  be  short, 
but  care  shall  be  taken  to  give  the  real  meanins;  of  every  writer  in  the  passages 
cited.  Their  brevity  can  form  no  objection  ;  or  the  same  objection  might  be  mad© 
against  passages  cited  by  the  apostles  in  the  New  Testament, 


61]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  13 

SPRINKLING.  He  will  also  be  aware,  that  in  whatever  way  the  water 
be  employed,  it  cannot  take  away  sin.  No  spiritual  benefit  can  be  con- 
veyed by  any  one  mode  more  than  by  another ;  but,  notwithstanding 
this,  it  is  a  serious  and  interesting  question,  which  of  these  has  divine 
AUTHORiTT  1  How  did  the  harbinger  of  Christ,  having  God's  com- 
jnand  upon  the  subject,  administer  the  ordinance  1  By  which  of 
these  modes  was  Jesus  baptized  ?  and  his  disciples  by  his  sanction  1 
There  can  be  but  one  mode  that  has  this  divine  authority  ;  a  devi- 
ation from  this,  is  a  deviation  from  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  can  be 
nothing  better  than  a  mere  human  invention.  What  is  that  one 
authorized  mode  ]  Will  the  Scriptures  afford  an  inquiring  mind  satis- 
faction on  this  subject  1  No  doubt ;  they  were  intended  for  that  pur- 
pose, on  this  as  well  as  on  every  other  subject,  in  which  our  obedience 
to  God  is  required. 

Turn  then  your  eye,  reader,  from  the  diversified  and  often  varying 
practices  of  men,  to  that  unerring  and  unchangeable  source  of  informa- 
tion, which,  in  these  pages,  we  propose  to  examine.  Two  inquiries 
here  suggest  themselves  : — 

I.  What  does  the  word  in  the  original  language,  employed  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  express  this  ordinance,  signify  1  Does  it  express  the 
action  of  dipping,  pouring,  or  sprinkVcng  ? 

ir.  What  mode  do  the  circumstances  attending  the  ordinance  most 
evidently  favor  1 

I.  To  express  the  action  by  which  this  ordinance  is  to  be  adminis- 
tered, the  word  so  chosen  is  Ba.;TT/^a ;  which  our  translators  have  not 
rendered  into  English  by  a  verb  of  our  own  language  expressive  of  the 
same  action,  but  adopted  the  original  Greek  word,  which  with  us  is  to 
baptize.  To  obtain  therefore  the  se7ise  of  this  word,  we  will  turn  to  a 
Lexicon,  where  the  word  in  question  is  explained.*  The  following  is 
from  the  excellent  Greek  and  English  Lexicon  of  Dn.  John  Jones, 
which  gives  the  plain  sense  of  words  without  refining  or  accommo- 
dating : — 

"  BaTTTO),  I  dip  ; — /  dye,  stain. 

Bun-ri^ai,  I  plunge  ,-  I  plunge  in  water,  dip,  baptize  ;  bury,  over- 
whelm. 

B^Trrt^cjuau,  I  am  plunged ;  plunge  myself  in  sorrow  ;  ubmit  to, 
suffer. 

BuTrritrjuA,  immersion,  baptism ,-  plunging  in  affliction.*^ 

To  the  unlearned  reader  it  may  be  proper  to  observe,  that  the  first 
of  these  words  is  the  theme  or  root  of  the  three  following,  and  gives 
the  primary  idea  of  all ;  the  first  sense  of  which  is  to  dip.  The 
second  is  the  word  chosen  by  inspiration,  to  express  the  action  by 
which  the  ordinance  is  administered,  to  baptize,  i.  e.  to  plunge.     The 

*  We  mi^hthere  call  to  our  assistance  lexicographers  and  other  learned  writers 
out  of  number;  but  I  may  with  confidence  affirm,  that  in  citing  one,  we  cite  every 
competent  authority  on  the  subject ;  for.  in  the  proper  and  primary  sense  of  the 
word  baptize,  learned  men  of  all  classes  and  countries  are  agreed,  as  I  shall  show 
iu  the  Appendix. 

VOL.  II. — 6  B 


14  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [62 

third  is  the  same,  in  the  passive  form,  used  by  our  Lord  respecting  his 
sufferings,  in  Matt.  xx.  22,  23,  and  Luke  xii.  50.  The  last  is  the 
Scripture  name  of  the  ordinance,  baptism  ,-  the  first  sense  of  which  is 
immersion. 

According  to  this  authority,  to  baptize,  is,  to  plunge,  to  plunge  in 
water,  to  dip  ,-  and  then,  figuratively,  to  plunge  or  overwhelni,  as  in 
sorrow,  suffering,  or  afil^iction  ;  and  also,  that  baptism  is  immersion. 
I  refer  my  reader  to  the  Appendix,  at  the  end  of  this  pamphlet,  (Part 
II.)  for  a  confirmation  of  the  sense  here  given  ;  and  requesting  him 
to  associate  tiiis  sense  with  the  words  baptize  and  baptism,  when  they 
occur  in  future  sections  of  Scripture,  in  order  to  observe  whether  that 
sense  harmonizes  with  other  statements  connected  with  the  ordinance, 
we  pass  on  to  notice 

II.  What  mode  do  the  circumstances  attending  the  ordinance,  as 
now  administered  by  John,  most  evidently  favor] 

I.  We  should  notice  the  place  where  John  administered  this  ordi- 
nance. It  was  "  the  river  Jordan."  If,  in  reference  to  the  people  of 
Jerusalem,  a  situation  where  water  might  l>e  easily  obtained  for  sprink- 
ling or  pouring  was  what  John  required,  we  read  of  our  Lord  at  this 
place,  directing  the  man  that  was  born  blind  to  go  and  "  wash  in  the  pool 
of  Siloam  ;"  so  we  read  of  the  "  pool  called  Bethesda,"  and  "  the  brook 
Cedron  ;"  all  in  or  near  Jerusalem,  (and  we  read  of  others  in  the  Old 
Testament)  ;  and,  without  doubt,  at  some  of  them  the  penitent  Jews 
of  that  city  and  neighborhood  might  have  received  the  ordinance,  if 
such  were  the  mode  by  which  John  administered  it;  and  it  cannot  rea- 
sonably be  imagined  he  would  have  required  those  persons  to  go  the 
distance  of  several  miles  for  the  convenience  of  the  river  Jordan:  more 
reasonable  to  suppose  he  would  have  baptized  in  every  town  and  village 
where  his  ministry  had  its  intended  effect ;  and,  especially,  at  or  near  the 
metropolis.  This  strongly  favors  the  opinion,  that  immersion  was 
his  mode.     Thus, 

Mb.  Towi:nsox.  "  For  what  need  vi^ould  there  have  been  of  the 
Baptist's  resorting  to  great  confluxes  of  water, — were  it  not  that  the 
baptism — wrs  to  be  performed  by  an  immersion  1  A  very  little  water, 
as  we  know  it  doth  with  us,  sufficing  for  an  effusion  or  sprinkling." 
In  Booth's  Pxdobap.  Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  209.  Ed.  2. 

2.  It  is  moreover  affirmed,  that  not  only  was  the  river  Jordan 
chosen  by  John  for  his  baptism,  but  Matthew  states,  the  people  "  were 
baptized  of  him  IN  Jordan,"  and  Mark  adds,  "IN  the  hivkr  of 
Jordan."  The  idea  of  going  into  the  water  of  a  river  for  the  pur- 
pose of  baptizing  in  it,  by  sprinkhng  on  the  face,  or  pouring  on  the  head, 
is  too  absurd  to  be  entertained. 

3.  John  also  states  himself,  "I  indeed  baptize  you  (iv  CJati,)  that  is, 
"  isr  water  ;"  not"  with  water,"  as  it  is  rendered  in  the  English  author 
rized  version.  The  passage  was  translated  in  water,  in  some  of  the 
early  versions  of  the  New  Testament  into  our  language.  It  is  in  water 
in  the  Vulgate,  Syriac,  Arabic,  and  Ethiopic  versions  ;  it  is  so  rendered 
by  Montanus,  and  recently,  in  our  own  country,  by  that  pre-eminent 
scholar,  G.  Campbell,  (Principal  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,)  whose 


63]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  15 

judicious  and,  in  ray  opinion,  unanswerable  note  upon  the  place  I  will 
lay  before  my  reader. 

Mr.  C ampb  kll.  "  So  inconsistent  are  the  interpreters  last  mentioned 
[i.  e.  certain  Protestant]  that  none  of  them  have  scrupled  to  render  tv 
TOO  Jc^(f3iv»,  in  Jordan,-  though  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that,  if 
there  be  any  incongruity  in  the  expression  in  water,  this,  in  Jordan,  must 
be  equally  incongruous.  But  they  have  seen  that  the  preposition  in 
could  not  be  avoided  there,  without  adopting  a  circumlocution — which 
would  have  made  this  deviation  from  the  text  too  glaring.  The  word 
^xTTTt^'jv,  both  in  sacred  authors  and  in  classical,  signifies  to  dip,  to 
plunge,  to  immerse,  and  was  rendered  by  Tertullian,  the  oldest  of  the 
Latin  fathers,  tingere  ;  the  term  used  for  deying  cloth,  which  was  by 
immersion.  It  is  always  construed  suitably  to  this  meaning  ;  thus  it  is, 
a  vS'j.Ti,  iv  Tu  JcgS-JiViu^'  (that  ia,  in  wafer,  in  the  Jordan.)  "  But  I 
should  not  lay  much  stress  on  the  preposition  &,  which,  answering  to 
the  Hebrew  (bath),  may  denote  with,  as  well  as  in,  did  not  the 
WHOLE  PHRASEOLOSY,  in  regard  to  this  ceremony,  concur  in  evinc- 
ing THE  SAME  THING.  Accordingly,  the  baptized  are  said  to  arise, 
emerge,  or  ascend,  ver.  16,  and  Acts  viii.  39,  from  or  out  of  the  water. 
When,  therefore,  the  Greek  word  [baptizo]  is  adopted,  rather  than 
translated  into  modern  languages,  the  mode  of  construction  ought  to  be 
preserved  so  far  as  may  conduce  to  suggest  its  original  import."  Let 
the  reader  seriously  consider  what  follows.  "  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
we  have  so  much  evidence  that  even  good  and  learned  men  allow  their 
judgments  to  be  warped  by  the  sentiments  and  curftoms  of  the  sect 
which   they  prefer.     The   true  partisan,  of  whatever  denoraination, 

ALWAYS   INCLINES  TO  CORRECT  THE  DICTION   OF   THE  SPIRIT    BY  THAT 

OF  THE  PARTY."     Four  Gospels,  Note  oji  Matt.  iii.  11. 

Tertullian,  who  lived  within  a  century  after  the  apostle  John,  men- 
tions expressly  the  people  (quos  Joannes  in  Jordane  tinxit)  "whom 
John  dipped  in  Jordan."     In  Stennetfs  Answer  to  Russen,  p.  144. 

Would  it  not  be  absurd  to  render  the  passage  "John  baptized  luith 
the  Jordan  1"  and  if,  of  necessity,  it  must  be  "  in  the  Jordan,"  then  it 
undeniably  follows,  it  must  be  "  in  water ;"  and  baptism  in  water  or 
m  a  river,  wherever  so  observed  throughout  the  world,  is  baptism  by 
immersion.  But  I  hope  to  satisfy  any  candid  inquirer  on  this  subject 
in  the  Appendix. 

Mr.  Hervky,  when  contending  that  r/  signifies  in,  adds,  "I  can 
prove  it  to  have  been  in  peaceable  possession  of  this  signification  for 
more  than  two  thousand  years'^  '*  Every  one  knows,"  he  observes  in 
another  place,  that  with  "  is  not  the  native,  obvious,  and  literal  mean- 
ing;  rather  a  meaning  swayed,  influenced,  moulded  by  the  preceding  or 
following  word."     Letters  to  Mr.  Wesley,  l.ci.  X.  and  II. 

LiGHTFooT  AND  Adam  Clakke.  "That  the  baptism  of  John 
was  by  plunging  the  body  (after  the  same  manner  as  the  washing 
unclean  persons — was)  seems  to  a])pcar  from  those  things  which 
are  related  of  him  ;  namely,  that  he  baptized  in  Jordan,  that  he  bap- 
tized in  Enon,  Ijccause  there  was  much  water  thtre^^  S^c.  In  A.  Clarke's 
Commentary,  at  the  en<l  of  Mark, 


16  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [64 

Inference.  If,  then,  I  am  a  sincere  inquirer  after  the  will  of  God, 
and  disposed  to  gather  that  will  from  what  God  has  been  pleased  to 
reveal  in  his  word  for  that  purpose,  I  am  constrained,  from  the  foregoing 
Scriptures,  to  draw  the  following  inference,  namely,  'that  John  baptized 
none  but  those  who  gave  him  satisfactory  evidence  of  being  conscious 
of  their  sin  and  guilt  before  God,  and  whom  he  exhorted  to  repent  and 
to  believe  in  Jesus ;  and  as  to  the  Mode,  that  he  immersed  them  in 
water,  in  the  Jordan.^ 


§  II.  The  Baptism  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  the  four  Evangelists. 

Our  Lord's  baptism  we  next  find  immediately  following  the  foregoing  account  of 
Joiin.  This  place  attaches  to  it  infinite  interest,  by  the  infinite  dignity  of  the 
Person  baptized. 

Matt.  iii.  13.  Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  Jor- 
dan unto  John  to  be  baptized  of  him.  14.  But  John  for- 
bade him,  saying,  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee,  and 
comest  thou  to  me?  15.  And  Jesus  answering,  said  unto 
him,  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now  :  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness.  Then  he  suffered  him.  Mark  i.  9. 
[Thus]  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  was 
baptized  of  John  in  Jordan. 

Matt.  iii.  16.  And  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went 
up  straightway  out  of  the  water.  Mark  i.  10.  And — 
coming  up  out  of  the  water,  Luke  iii.  21.  and  praying,  the 
heaven  was  opened,  22,  And  the  Holy  Ghost  descended 
in  a  bodily  shape  like  a  dove  upon  him,  and  a  voice 
came  from  heaven,  which  said,  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son  ; 
in  thee  I  am  well  pleased.  23.  And  Jesus  himself  began 
to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age. 

John  i.  32.  And  John  bare  record,  saying,  I  saw  the 
Spirit  descending  from  heaven  like  a  dove,  and  it  abode 
upon  him.  29.  36.  And  looking  upon  Jesus  as  he  walked, 
he  saith.  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world  !  34.  And  I  saw,  and  bare  record  that 
this  is  the  Son  of  God.  28.  These  things  were  done  in 
Bethabara,  where  John  was  baptizing. 


What,  my  pious  reader,  shall  we  say  of  the  Persott  baptized  in  this 
case !  What  an  honor  is  hereby  attached  to  the  ordinance,  and  con- 
sequently to  all  that  duly  follow  the  example  of  the  Redeemer  in  it! 

Let  the  man  who  slights  and  contemns  this  sacred  institution,  calling 
it  "an  useless,  unmeaning  ceremony,  incapable  of  washing  away  sin, 
or  of  effecting  any  good,"  let  him  read  these  verses,  and  view  the  un- 


65]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  17 

maculate  Sox  of  God,  who  had  "  no  sin"  to  wash  away,  proceeding 
from  Galilee  down  to  Jordan  "to  be  baptized."  Let  him  see  the  "Wis- 
dom of  God"  entering  the  streams,  and  bowing  beneath  them, 

"  The  emblem  of  his  fuiure  grave  !" 

This,  we  should  suppose,  would  induce  a  different  sentiment  of  the 
ordinance,  and  silence  every  objection  to  the  practice  of  it.  And  if  a 
sight  of  CHRIST  in  Jordan  had  not  that  effect,  let  him  hear  and  see 
the  approbation  of  the  FATHER  and  SPIRIT  testified  on  this  very 
occasion,  and  immediately  upon  his  submission  to  this  sacred  rite. 
Never  was  an  ordinance  so  honored  !  Here  is  a  dignity  given  to  it 
infinitely  exceeding  any  of  the  rites  of  the  Old  Testament.  Each  Per- 
son of  the  sacred  TRINITY  is  specially  present,  and  each  Ditine 
Person  gives  it  the  testimony  of  his  approbation !  The  blessed  Re- 
DEEMEit  submits  to  be  baptized;  the  Father,  at  the  instant  of  his 
rising  from  the  water,  calls  him  his  beloved  Sou,  in  vihose  conduct  he 
was  well  pleased ,•  and  the  Divine  Spirit,  at  the  same  instant,  de- 
scended upon  him  in  a  visible  form  !  0,  to  have  witnessed  this  scene, 
how  overwhelming !  Nothing,  since  the  commencement  of  time,  has 
equalled  in  sublimity  and  glory  this  wonderful  event. 

Four  things  are  to  be  noticed  in  this  place.  1.  The  Reason  why 
Christ  would  be  baptized  ;  upon  which,  hear  the  celebrated  and  excellent 

WiTsius.  "  Our  Lord  would  be  baptized,  that  he  might  conciliate 
authority  to  the  baptism  of  John — that  by  his  own  example,  he  might 
commend  and  sanctify  our  baptism — that  men  might  not  be  loath  to 
come  to  the  baptism  of  the  Lord,  seeing  the  Lord  was  not  backward 
to  come  to  the  baptism  of  a  sertrmt — that,  by  his  baptism,  he  might 
represent  the  future  condition  both  of  himself  and  his  followers  ;  first 
humble,  then  glorious  ,-  now  mean  and  low,  then  glorious  and  exalted  ; 
ihat  represented  by  immersion,  this  by  emersion — and,  finally,  to 
declare  by  his  voluntary  submission  to  baptism,  that  he  would  not  delay 
the  delivering  up  of  himself  to  be  immersed  in  the  torrents  of  hell,  yet 
with  a  certain  faith  and  hope  of  emerging." — In  Fasd.  Exam.  Vol,  1. 
page  147. 

2.  The  Time  chosen  for  fulfilling  the  promi?e  of  pouring  forth  the 
Spirit  upon  Christ.     This  is  noticed  and  improved  by  the  pious 

DoDBRiDPE.  "Jesus  had  no  sin  to  wash  away,  yet  he  was  bap- 
tized ;  and  God  owned  that  ordinance  so  far  as  to  make  it  the  season 
of  pouring  forth  the  Spirit  upon  him.  And  where  can  we  expect  this 
sacred  effusion,  but  in  a  conscientious  and  humble  attendance  upon 
divine  appointments  ?"     Faryt.  Expos.     Improv.  of  the  place. 

3.  The  Langucrrc  of  Christ,  in  answer  to  John;  which  is  thus 
explained  by  an  esteemed  commentator ; 

Mu.  Scott.  Thus  it  becometh  us,  Sfc.  "  We  never  find  that  Jesus 
spake  of  himself  in  the  plural  number  ;  and  it  must  therefore  be  allowed 
he  meant  John  also,  and  all  the  servants  of  God.  in  a  subordinate 
sense.  It  became  Christ,  as  our  surety  and  our  example,  perfectly  to 
fuljil  all  righteousness ;  it  becomes  us  to  walk  in  all  the  command- 
ments and  ordinances  of  God,  without  exception,  and  to  attend  on 
6*  b3 


18  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [[66 

eveiy  divine  institution — as  long  as  it  continues  in  force.  Thus  far 
Christ's  example  is  oulioatory."    Commentary  m  Matt.  iii.  13 — 15. 

4.  The  Circumstance  immediately  following  his  baptism,  namely, 
his  "  comiiig  up  OUT  OF  the  water,"  which  evidently  implies  that  he 
went  down  into  it,  (as  is  expressly  said  of  Philip  and  the  eunuch.  Acts 
viii,  38 ;)  a  circumstance  required  in  no  mode  of  baptism  but  immer- 
sion, and  hence  we  infer  that  Jesus  was  buried  or  immersed  in  the 
water.  To  this  mode  of  baptism  our  blessed  Saviour  plainly  alludes 
when  referring  to  his  overwhelming  sufferings,  in  Luke  xii.  50,  which 
we  shall  come  to  presently. 

Campbell's  Translation.  "Jesus,  being  baptized,  no  sooner  rose 
out  of  the  water  than  heaven  was  opened  to  him."  Four  Gospeky 
Matt,  iii,  16. 

Doddridge's.  "  And  after  Jesus  was  baptized  as  soon  as  he  ascended 
out  of  the  water,  behold,  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him.''    In  loco. 

Mackxioht.  Jesus  *'  submitted  to  be  baptized,  that  is,  buried  under 
the  water  by  John,  and  to  be  raised  out  of  it  again,  as  an  emblem  of  his 
future  death  and  resurrection."  ApostoL  Epis.  Note  on  Rom.  vi.  4. 

Bishop  Taylor.  "  The  custom  of  the  ancient  churches  was  not 
sprinkling,  but  immersion ;  in  pursuance  of  the  sense  of  the  word  in 
the  commandment  and  the  example  of  our  blessed  Saviour."  In  Paed. 
Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  199. 

I  never,  my  reader,  can  think  of  the  baptism  of  this  glorious  and 
divine  Person — the  Son  of  God — the  Lord  from  heaven — the  righteous 
Judge  of  the  last  day — the  Author  of  our  salvation,  and  the  Giver  of 
eternal  life,  but  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  interest.  We  observe  him 
here  proceeding  on  his  long  journey,  (for  Nazareth  was  three  days* 
journey  from  Jerusalem,  and  not  less  from  Bethabara,)  the  object  of 
which  is,  "to  be  baptized,"  We  observe  him  admitting  of  no  argu- 
ment against  his  submission  to  that  rite^,  and  we  ought  never  to  forget 
how  he  associated  his  people,  his  followers,  with  himself,  "  thus  it  be- 
cometh  us  !"  the  servant  as  well  as  the  Lord,  the  members  as  well  as 
the  Head,  "to  fulfil  all"  practical  "righteousness;"  all  that  God  en- 
joins and  i-eijuires.  How  strong  is  the  obligation  to  realize  what  the 
Saviour  hero  intended  !  Who  will  not  concur  in  the  pious  decision  of 
Mr.  PolhillI  "the  pattern  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  is  more  to  me 
than  all  the  human  wisdom  in  the  world."  Nor  can  any  one  deny  me 
the  following 

Inference.  The  Baptism  of  Jesus,  as  an  Example,  is  fulfilled  in  the 
baptism  of  a  Believer  by  Immersion,  and  in  no  other  case. 


§  III.   Christ  Baptizing,  by  his  Disciples,  in  Judea. 

This  is  the  only  mention  of  oiir  Lord's  baptizing,  or  of  the  disciples  by  his 
authority  and  direction,  dnrin;?  iiis  corporeal  presence  with  them;  and,  conse- 
quently, it  claims  our  very  serious  attention. 

John  iii.  22.     After  these  things    came  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  into  the  land  of  Judea ;  and  there  he  tarried  with 


67]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  19 

them  and  baptized.  26.  And  they  came  unto  John,  and 
said  unto  him,  Rabbi,  he  that  was  with  thee  beyond  Jor- 
dan, to  whom  thou  barest  witness,  behold,  the  same  bap- 
tizeth,  and  all  men  come  to  him.  27.  John  answered  and 
said,  A  man  can  receive  nothing,  except  it  be  given  him 
from  heaven.  30.  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease. 
Chap.  iv.  1.  When,  therefore,  the  Lord  knew  how  the 
Pharisees  had  heard  that  Jesus  made  and  baptized  more 
disciples  than  John,  2.  (Though  Jesus  himself  baptized 
not,  but  his  disciples,)  3.  He  left  Judea,  and  departed  again 
into  Galilee. — x.  40.  And  [he]  went  away  again  beyond 
Jordan,  into  the  place  where  John  at  first  baptized  ; — 42. 
And  many  believed  on  him  there. 


The  import  of  this  passage  is  simply  this,  "  Jesus  went  into  the  land 
of  Judea  and  baptized  certain  disciples, — many  hearing  of  him,  and 
remembering  what  John  had  preached  concerning  him,  flocked  to  him, 
— and  soon  it  was  generally  known  and  said,  as  the  happy  fruit  of  his 
labors,  '  That  Jesus  made  and  baptized  more  disciples  thayi  John ,-' 
upon  which  the  Saviour  departed,  and  went  into  Galilee.  He  again, 
however,  visited  this  interesting  place,  and  many  more  believed  on  him 
there." 

The  only  thing  to  be  noticed  here,  and  it  is  certainly  of  some  im- 
portance as  to  our  first  inqxiiry,  is  this,  that  Christ  made  disciples 
before  he  baptized  them.  He  did  not  begin  by  baptizing,  and  afterwards 
instructing ;  but  he  fiist  taught  them  his  gospel,  and  they  believing 
and  embracing  his  word,  are  thereby  "made  his  disciples;"  and  hence 
they  are  said  to  "  come  to  him,"  to  conform  to  his  commandments,  and 
then,  secondly,  he  baptized  them.  As  this  is  all  the  Evangelists  have 
recorded  respecting  Christ  baptizing,  through  the  whole  of  his  ministry, 
this  is,  consequently,  all  in  which  the  Practice  of  Christ  is  given  for 
the  guide  of  his  people.  What  we  are  to  understand  by  "  disciples," 
or  "  making  disciples,"  is  thus  described  by 

Mr.  Owex.  "  By  the  disciples  of  Christ,  I  intend  them,  and  them 
only,  who  profess  faith  in  his  person  and  doctrine,  &c.  This  is  the 
method  of  the  gospel,  that  first  men,  by  the  preaching  of  it,  be  made 
DISCIPLES,  or  be  brought  unto  faith  in  Christ,  and  then  to  be  taught 
to  do  and  observe  whatever  he  commands."  In  Paed.  Exam.  Vol.  II. 
p.  275,  and  287. 

Mn.  Baxter.    "  A  disciple  and  a  Christian  are  all  one."  Ibid.  p.  288. 

Our  LoKD,  however,  may  be  heard  for  himself,  as  to  what  is  intended 
by  his  disciples :  "  Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross,  and  come 
after  me,  cannot  be  my  disciple."  Luke  xiv.  27.  Whatever,  there- 
fore, may  be  said  in  favor  of  infant  baptism,  it  cannot  be  said,  that 
either  Christ's  Example  or  Practice  affords  it  any  support;  and  we 
shall  presently  come  to  his  Command  on  the  subject.  But,  in  passing 
from  noticing  the  Practice  of  Jesus,  let  me  cite  the  words  of  one  of  the 


20  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [68 

most  eminent  Psedobaptist  Commentators  on  the  Bible  England  has 
ever  witnessed : — - 

Mr.  Scott.    "  The  baptism  of  Jesus  was,  doubtless,  of  adults  alone." 
Commentari/y  on  John  iii.  22 — 24. 


4  IV.  John's  last  Baptizing,  in  JEnon. 

The  next  passage  we  find  on  our  subject,  ia  contained  in  few  wordi.    It  is,  how- 
ever, of  powerful  import  relative  to  the  Modh. 

John  iii.  23.  And  John  also  was  baptizing  in  ^non, 
near  to  Salim,  because  there  was  much  water  there ;  and 
they  came  and  were  baptized. 


Of  the  Persons  here  alluded  to,  as  baptized  by  the  Harbinger  of  the 
Redeemer,  nothing  is  said  descriptive  of  them,  except  that  "  they  came" 
to  John,  as  the  penitent  Jews  had  before  done  at  Jordan,  and,  like  them, 
"  were  baptized  ;"  which  fairly  implies,  that  it  was  their  own  voluntary 
act  thus  to  seek  this  holy  rite;  and  if  so,  they  must  have  been  pre- 
viously instructed. 

But,  ill  reference  to  our  inquiry  on  the  Mode  of  baptism,  this  passage 
is  of  great  weight.  We  have  here  the  Reason  assigned,  on  account 
of  which  John  chose  the  place  where  we  now  find  him  pursuing  the 
object  in  which  he  is  divinely  employed.  He  is  baptizing  in  ^non, 
"  because  there  was  MUCH  WATER  there."  No  candid  Christian,  I 
think,  can  object  to  the  following 

Inference.  If  John  chose  a  place  for  the  purpose  of  baptizing,  on 
account  of  one  circumstance,  necessary  for  that  ordinance,  namely, 
"  because  there  was  much  water  there,"  then  his  Mode  of  baptism  re- 
quired much  water :  But  much  water  is  not  necessary  for  any  Mode 
of  baptism  but  Immersion,  and  hence,  without  doubt,  that  was  his 
practice.  The  same  inference  was  drawn,  with  as  little  doubt,  by  the 
illustrious  Pawlobaptists  following  : — 

Calvin.  "  From  these  words,  John  iii.  23,  it  may  be  inferred,  that 
baptism  was  administered,  by  John  and  Christ,  by  plunging  the  whole 
body  under  water."     In  I'scd.  Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  194. 

WiiiTBT.  "  Ot/  C^jlta  TroW'j.  XV  iKU\  Because  there  was  much  tvater 
there,  in  which  their  whole  bodies  might  be  dipped  ;  for  in  this  manner 
o/i/y  was  the  Jewish  baptism  performed,  by  a  descent  into  the  water, 
Acts  viii.  38,  and  an  ascent  out  of  it,  ver.  39,  and  a  burial  in  it.  Rom. 
vi.  3,  4.  Colos.  ii.  12."  Annot.  on  the  place.  See  Lightfoot  and  A. 
Clarke,  at  p.  16. 

My  reader  scarcely  need  be  told,  that  those  who  practise  sprinkling 
never  go  to  rivers,  or  places  of  much  water,  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nance ;  anil,  if  they  should  do  so,  the  great  qtiantitif  of  the  water 
could  not  be  assigned  as  the  reason  for  choosing  such  places;  because, 
in  their  Mode,  a  very  small  qiuintity  only  is  required.     Not  much 


69]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  21 

candor  is  necessary  to  admit  the  truth  so  plainly  conveyed  as  in  this 


§  V.  References  of  Jesus  Christ  to  John,  his  Baptism,  and  Success. 

As  ihe  passage  in  the  preceding  section  contains  the  last  record  of  John's  bap- 
tizing, it  appears  proper  to  follow  it  by  the  testimony  Jesus  bore  to  his  Harbinger 
and  his  labors. 

Luke  vii.  24.  And  when  the  messengers  of  John  were 
departed,  he  began  to  speak  unto  the  people  concerning 
John.  What  went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  for  to  see  ? 
26.  A  prophet?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  and  more  than  a 
prophet.  Matt.  xi.  10.  For  this  is  he  of  whom  it  is  writ- 
ten, Behold,  I  send  my  messenger  before  thy  face,  which 
shall  prepare  thy  way  before  thee.  1 1 .  Verily  I  say  unto  you. 
Among  them  that  are  born  of  women,  there  hath  not  arisen 
a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  John  v.  35.  He  was  a 
burning  and  a  shining  light. 

Mark  xi.  29.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
I  will  also  ask  you  one  question.  30.  The  baptism  of 
John,  was  it  from  heaven,  or  of  men?  answer  me.  31. 
And  they  reasoned  with  themselves,  saying.  If  we  shall 
say.  From  heaven  ;  he  will  say,  Why  then  did  ye  not  be- 
lieve him  ?  32.  But  if  we  shall  say,  Of  men  :  (all  the  peo- 
ple will  stone  us  :  Luke  xx.  6,)  they  feared  the  people  ; 
for  all  men  counted  John,  that  he  was  a  prophet  indeed. 
33.  And  they  answered  and  said  unto  Jesus,  We  cannot  tell. 

Luke  vii.  29.  And  all  the  people  that  heard  him,  and 
the  publicans,  justified  God,  being  baptized  with  the  bap- 
tism of  John.  30.  But  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers  rejected 
the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves,  being  not  baptized 
of  him. 


Here  observe,  1.  The  Redeemer,  in  the  first  of  these  passages,  gives 
John  a  pre-eminence  above  all  the  servants  of  God,  of  the  former  dis- 
pensation ;  not  excepting  Abraham,  Moses,  or  Isaiah.  His  revelations 
were  more  signal ;  his  preaching  of  more  vital  importance,  and  his  suc- 
cess greater.     Thus  was  he  more  than  a  prophet. 

*  The  answer  that  some  have  made  that  the  words,  "  much  water,"  should  be 
"  many  waters,"  and  refer  to  7na7i!/  shallmo  streams,  is  sufficiently  answered  by 
the  learned  Psedobaplist  ExfX)3itor,  who  thus  rentiers  and  explains  the  passage: — 

Doddridge.  "John  was  also  at  that  time  baptizing  at  ^non;  and  he  parti- 
cularly chose  that  place,  because  there  was  a  great  qudntity  of  water  there,  which 
made  it  very  convenient  for  his  purpose."    "  Nothing,  surely,  can  be  more  evident, 


than  that  [_v6ara  iroXAa]  mantj  waters,  signifies  a  large  quantity  of  mater,  it  beinji 
sometimes  used  for  the  Euphrates.  Jer.  li.  13.  (Sentiuiguit.)  To  which,  I  suppose, 
there  may  be  an  allusion,  Rev.  xvii.  1.    Compare  Ezek.  xliii.  2,  and  Rev.  i.  15;  xiv. 


z;  XIX.  6;  whore  the  voire  of  many  waters  does  plainly  signify  the  roaring  of  a 
high  sea."    Fam.  Erpos.  Paraph.,  and  Note  on  the  Place. 


22  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [70 

2.  From  the  question  which  the  Redeemer  proposed  to  the  Jews, 
Whether  the  baptism  of  John  was  from  heaven  or  of  men  1  in  order  to 
convict  them  of  their  guilt  in  treating  John's  labors  as  they  had  done ; 
it  will  evidently  follow,  that  it  was  "  From  heaven."  Had  John's  bap- 
tism been  borrowed  from  Jewish  proselyte  baptism,  it  would  have  been 
of  men,  (for  that  is  unknown  in  the  word  of  God,)  and  then  the  ques- 
tion might  have  been  answered  without  hesitation,  and  tim  design  of 
our  Lord,  in  that  case,  could  not  have  been  realized. 

3.  The  common  people,  who  heard  John's  ministry,  (the  Saviour 
adds,)  "justified  God,"  i,  e.  approved  of  the  Divine  conduct  in  John's 
ministry  and  baptism  ;  and  this  they  evinced  in  "  being  baptized  with 
the  baptism  of  John ;"  while  classes  of  higher  religious  repute,  "  the 
Pharisees  and  lawyers,"  in  contempt  of  this  messenger  of  God,  and  his 
message  too,  "  rejected  the  counsel  of  God  against  themselves,  being  not 
baptized  of  him,.^'  Here  our  Lord  plainly  indicates  that  the  ordinance 
of  Baptism  was  a  part  of  "  the  counsel  of  God,"  i.  e.  his  mind  and  will ; 
and,  as  far  as  this  rite  is  contemned,  so  far  the  counsel  of  God  is 
"  rejected  ;"  and  it  is,  emphatically,  "  against  themselves"  who  thus 
oppose  what  God  enjoins. 

Inference.  If  John,  who  was  hut  a  man,  is  to  be  so  highly  regarded, 
and  his  baptism  considered  "the  counsel  of  God  ;"  so  that  neglect  of  it 
thus  meets  the  marked  disapprobation  of  our  Kedeemer  ; — how  much 
more  may  the  Divine  indignation  he  expected  on  them  who  slight  this 
sacred  ordinance  in  that  still  more  interesting  form,  in  which  we  shall 
presently  find  it, — enjoined  by  Hi:m,  whose  name  is  written  "  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  !"  Surely  I  may  add,  "If  they  escaped  not 
who  refused  him  that  spake  on  earth,  much  more  shall  not  we  escape, 
if  we  turn  away  from  Him  that  speaketh  from  heaven  /"  Heb.  xii.  25. 


§  VI,    Christ  represents  his  Sufferings  under  the  Figure  of  "  a 
Baptis7n," 

Matt.  XX.  22.  But  Jesus  answered  and  said,  Ye  know 
not  what  ye  ask.  Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I 
shall  drink  of,  and  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I 
am  baptized  with  ?  They  say  unto  him.  We  are  able. 
23.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Ye  shall  drink  indeed  of  my 
cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
with  :  but  to  sit  on  my  rii^ht  hand,  and  on  my  left,  is  not 
mine  to  g"ive,  but  it  shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom  it  is 
prepared  of  my  Father. 

Luke  xii.  50.  But  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with  ; 
and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  ! 


Our  Lord,  in  these  affecting  and  impressive  passages,  is  referring  to 
the  greatness  of  his  approaching  sufferings, — and,  by  a  metaphor,  he 
calls  them  "  a  Baptism.^'     An  interesting  question  from  hence  arises 


71]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  23 

in  reference  to  our  second  inquiry,  Does  sprinkling  a  little  water  on 
the  face,  or  being  totally  immersed  and  overwhelmed  in  a  large  quan- 
tity, most  appropriately  exhibit  an  image  of  the  severity  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  Christ  1  The  following  extracts  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  contain 
my  reader's  opinion  c — 

DoDnRiDGE  thus  paraphrases  the  places  :  "  Are  you  able  to  drink 
of  the  bitter  cup  of  which  I  am  now  about  to  drink  so  deep,  and  to  be 
baptized  with  the  baptism,  and  plunged  into  that  sea  of  sufferings  with 
which  I  am  shortly  to  be  baptized,  and,  as  it  were,  overwhelmed  for  a 
time  I"  "  I  have,  indeed,  a  most  dreadful  baptism  to  be  baptized  with ; 
and  I  know  that  I  shall  be  shortly  bathed,  as  it  were,  in  blood,  and 
plunged  in  the  most  overwhelming  distress."  Fam.  Expos,  on  the 
places. 

WiTsius.  "  Immersion  into  the  water,  is  to  be  considered  by  us,  as 
exhibiting  that  dreadful  abyss  of  Divine  justice,  in  which  Christ,  for 
our  sins,  was  for  a  time,  as  it  were,  absorbed  ;  as  in  David,  his  type,  he 
complains,  Psalm  Ixix.  2,  I  am  come  into  deep  waters,  where  the 
Jioods  overjlow  me."     CEcon.  of  the  Cov.  L.  IV.  C.  xvi.  §  26. 

Mr.  James  Hervkt  expresses  himself,  on  this  subject,  with  great 
energy.  "He  longed,  (beneficent,  blessed  BEING  !)  he  longed  for  the 
fatal  hour.  He  severely  rebuked  one  of  his  disciples  who  would  have 
dissuaded  him  from  going  as  a  volunteer  to  the  cross.  He  was  even 
straitened,  under  a  kind  of  holy  uneasiness,  till  the  dreadful  work  was 
accomplished ;  till  he  was  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  his  sufferings, 
bathed  in  blood,  and  plunged  in  death !"  Tlieron  and  Aspasio,  Vol. 
II.  Let.  7. 

"  Sir  H.  Trelawnet,  under  whose  impressive  ministry,"  says  the 
late  amiable  Mr.  Dore,  of  London,  "  my  first  religious  feelings  were 
invigorated,  referring  to  those  words  of  our  Lord,  exclaimed  to  this 
effect:  'Here,  I  must  acknowledge,  our  Baptist  brethren  have  the 
advantage :  for  our  Redeemer's  sufferings  must  not  be  compared  to  a 
few  drops  of  water  sprinkled  on  the  face,  for  he  w  as  plunged  into  dis- 
tress, and  his  soul  was  environed  with  sorrows.'  "  Sermons  on  Bap- 
tism, by  J.  Dore,  p.  39. 

Inference.  If  our  Lord  intended  the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  exhibit 
an  image  of  the  overwhelming  sorrotvt  of  his  soul,  in  the  garden  and 
on  the  cross,  his  intention  is  frustrated  by  the  change  of  immersion  into 
sprinkling !  And  if  this  be  admitted,  (and  it  cannot  be  denied,)  what 
devout  Christian  can  think  of  this  change  but  with  deep  regret ! 


§  Vn.  THE  COMMISSION 

Which  our  Lord  gave  his  Apostles  about  the  time  of  his  Ascension  into 
Heaven,  containing  the  formal  Institution  of  Christian  Baptism. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Baptism,  as  a  New  Testament  ordinance,  was  insti- 
tutHd  of  God,  and  enjoined  uyMn  John  as  the  herald  and  precursor  of  Christ.  It  is 
evident,  also,  that  John  administered  it  upon  an  a«<iniited  or  profp««pd  acknow- 
ledgment of  fiiith  "  in  him  who  teas  to  come  afior  him."  Acts  xix.  4.  But 
after  our  Redeemer  had  come,  and  finished  his  work,  an  alteration  was  ncces- 
flary  in  this  particular  circumstance.    None  on  earth,  but  Jesus,  cwuld  make  thai 


24  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [72 

alteration ;  and  he,  as  Head  antl  Lord  of  the  church,  now  does  it ;  requiring  it  to 
be  administered  from  this  hour,  "  In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."  This  I  consider  as  a  renewed  institution  of  the  same 
sacred  rite,  altered  only  in  its  reference  to  the  coming  of  Christ  lo  set  up  his  king- 
dom. And,  what  adds  greatly  to  the  solemnity  of  it  in  thi.s  renewed  form,  our 
Lord  delayed  its  institution  till  his  last  mmnejits  om  earth,  and  then  united  it  with 
his  final  parting  and  solemn  charge,  given  by  Matthew  and  Mark  in  the  verses 
following. 

Matt,  xxviii.  16.  Then  the  eleven  disciples  went  away 
into  Galilee,  into  a  mountain  where  Jesus  had  appointed 
them.  18.  And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying, 
All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  19. 
Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost :  20.  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  have  commanded  you :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.     Amen. 

Mark  xvi.  15.  And  he  said  unto  them.  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  16. 
He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  but  lie 
that  believelh  not,  shall  be  damned.  19.  So  then,  after 
the  Lord  had  spoken  unto  them,  he  was  received  up  into 
heaven,  and  sat  on  the  right  hand  of  God. 


How  solemn  and  interesting  was  this  occasion !  The  Redeemer  had 
undergone  the  baptism  of  his  sufferings,  last  described — he  had  been 
bathed  in  blood  in  the  garden  ! — he  had  sunk  into  death  on  the  cross, 
under  floods  of  wrath,  due  to  mankind  !  But  now  he  is  risen  triumph- 
ant, and  is  about  to  ascend  to  his  glory. 

He  had  appointed  his  disciples  to  meet  him  on  a  mountain  of  Galilee, 
where  he  was  to  give  them  his  last  most  solemn  and  important  charge, 
contained  in  the  verses  above.  The  interesting  hour  is  come  ;  we  may 
be  sure  the  disciples  are  eager  to  catch  every  word  from  their  ascending 
Tjord,  and  that  he  would  give  them  his  directions  in  the  plainest  lan- 
guage possible. 

He  begins  by  encouraging  their  sorrowful  minds,  with  a  view  of  his 
supreme  power  in  heaven  and  earth — in  heaven,  to  give  them  the  Holy 
Spirit;  to  employ  the  angels  in  their  behalf ;  and,  finally,  to  bestow  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  upon  them.  So  he  had  all  power  in  earth,  to 
gather  his  church  out  of  all  nations  ;  to  subdue  or  restrain  his  enemies ; 
and  to  reign  over  and  dwell  with  his  people  as  Lord  and  King  of  Zion. 
Hence  the  Saviour  gives  them  the  "  Commissiox"  for  preaching  and 
baptizing,  which  you,  ray  reader,  cannot  too  attentively  consider.  If 
you  conceive  there  is  any  obscurity  in  the  one  Evangelist,  the  other 
will  explain  him ;  and  this  explanation  you  will,  no  doubt,  esteem  pre- 
ferable to  ten  thousand  criticisms.  By  uniting  the  words  of  both, 
they  may  be  thus  disposed:  "Go  ye,  therefore,  into  all  the  luorld / 
"  teach  all  nations,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  enery  creature  ;  him  that 


73]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  25 

"  believefh  baptize,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
*'the  Holy  Ghost,  and  he  shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not 
"  shall  be  damned" 

Our  great  Legislator,  who  only  has  right  to  enact  laws  for  his  church, 
to  whom  we  must  submit,  and  who  will  have  nothing  taken  away  from, 
or  added  to  his  word,  Rev.  xxii.  19,  has  here  described  to  his  apostles 
the  person  to  whom  they  are  to  administer  this  his  ordinance,  namely, 
the  BELIEVER ;  the  person  who  shall  cordially  believe  the  gospel  which 
they  shall  preach.  And  if  we  allow  him  to  have  expressed  his  mind 
clearly  and  fully,  he  restricts  the  ordinance  to  the  believer  alone.  He 
has  given  no  direction  to  admit  any  other  to  it ;  and  who  will  dare  to 
speak  where  He  is  silent  1  Who  shall  enlarge  or  extend  the  limits  He 
has  prescribed  1  or,  who  will  dare  to  go  beyond,  or  attempt  to  remove, 
the  boundaries  He  has  fixed  and  established  ]  Surely  the  mind  of  a 
true  disciple  recoils  at  the  thought !  Let  us  now  hear  the  remarks  of 
some  eminent  Paedobaptist  writers  on  these  passages : — 

Mr.  Arc  HI  B  ALB  Hall,  Predecessor  of  Mr.  Waugh,  of  London. 
"  How  grand  and  awful  is  that  weighty  preface  to  the  institution  of 
Christian  baptism  !  Matt,  xxviii.  18,  19.  Who  is  that  daring,  inso- 
lent worm,  that  will  presume  to  dispute  the  authority,  or  change  the  ordi- 
nances of  HIM  who  is  given  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church  1 
The  solemnity  of  this  ordinance  is  complete  ;  and  all  the  purposes  of 
its  institution  are  secured  by  the  authority  and  blessing  of  Christ.  His 
laws  are  not  subject  to  any  of  those  imperfections  which  are  attendants 
of  the  best  contrived  systems  among  men,  and  frequently  need  expla- 
nations, amendments,  and  corrections.  It  is  most  dangerous  and  pre- 
sumptuous to  add  any  ceremony,  or  to  join  any  service,  on  any  pre- 
tence, unto  Heaven's  appointment."*  Gospel  Worship,  Vol.  I.  p. 
325,  326. 

Saurix.  "  In  the  primitive  church,  instruction  preceded  baptism  ; 
agreeable  to  the  order  of  Jesus  Christ,  Go,  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them,''  &c.     In  Paed.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  274. 

Mr.  Baxter  has  a  very  forcible  passage  on  the  same  place.  "  Go, 
disciple  me  all  nations,  baptizing  them.     As  for  those  who  say  they 

*  Mr.  Simeon,  of  Cambridge,  has  given  us  a  skeleton  of  a  sprmon  on  this  Com- 
mission of  Christ,  in  which  he  proposed  lo  consider,  "I.  The  authority  he  claimed, 
n.  The  commission  he  gave  to  his  Apostles.  1.  They  were /o /eo'/j  all  nations. 
I.  They  were  lo  baptize  their  cmiverts  in  the  name  of  the  sacred  Three."  Then, 
he  adils,  "But  though  they  first  tauirht  adults,  and  then  baptized  them,  thby 
REVERSED  thts  order  with  respect  to  infants." 

On  readin?  this  Inst  sentence,  the  inquirer  with  surprise  misht  ask,  \Mio  re- 
versed this  order?  The  answer  here  is,  the  Apostles.  Reversed  what  order?  The 
answer  is,  the  order  of  Jesus  Christ;  \first,  to  teach,  and  serond,  lo  b.-\puze.'  Awful 
ihought !  that  mortal  worms  shouhl  presume  to  alter  the  institutions  of  the  Lord  of 
Glory  ;  yea,  to  reverse  the  order  He  ordains  i 

Here  is  a  candid  confession  that  the  order  of  Jesus  Christ  is  "  reversed,  with  re. 
^pect  to  infants."    A  fact,  alas  !  too  plain  to  be  denied. 

With  respect  to  the  Apostles,  however,  the  charge  is  not  true.  They  never  re. 
versed  any  order  or  appointment  of  Christ.  He  enjoined  upon  them,  in  his  last 
^•ords,  to  '-teach  men  to  observe  whatsoever  he  had  commanded  them;"  and  any 
adding  or  taking  away,  u>  say  nothing  of  reversing,  he  solemnly  prohibited.  Rev. 
xxii.  15,  19.  The  order  of  Christ  is  reversed,  but  it  was  not  till  the  Apostles  and 
primitive  Disciples  were  long  in  the  dust;  as  I  shall  show  in  the  Appendix. 
VOL.  II. — 7  C 


26  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [74 

are  discipled  by  baptizing,  and  not  before  baptizing,  they  speak  not  the 
sense  of  the  text ;  nor  that  which  is  true  or  rational ;  else,  why  should 
one  be  baptized  more  than  another  ? — This  is  not  like  some  occasional 
historical  mention  of  baptism ;  but  it  is  the  very  commission  of  Christ 
to  his  apostles,  for  preaching  and  baptizing ;  and  purposely  expresseth 
their  several  works  in  their  several  places  and  order.  Their  first  task 
is,  by  teaching,  to  make  disciples,  which  are,  by  Mark,  called  believers. 
The  second  work  is,  to  baptize  them,  Vvhereto  is  annexed  the  promise 
of  their  salvation.  The  third  work  is,  to  teach  them  all  other  things 
which  are  afterwards  to  be  learned  in  the  school  of  Christ.  [Observe 
what  follows.]  To  contemn  this  order,  is  to  renounce  all  rules  of  order ; 
for  where  can  we  expect  to  find  it,  if  not  here  ?  I  profess,  my  conscience 
is  fully  satisfied  from  this  text,  that  it  is  one  sort  of  faith,  even  saving, 
that  MUST  GO  BEFORE  BAi'TisJi ;  and  the  profession  whereof,  the  minis- 
ter must  expect."  In  Pied.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  270.  See  also  other 
authors  below.* 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 

The  last  Scriptures  we  cited,  close  the  information  which  the  Four 
Gospels  afford  us  on  the  subject  of  Baptism.  Before  we  pass  to  i\\e 
subsequent  books,  I  beg  to  remind  the  reader,  that  we  have  had  before 
us  the  practice  of  John;  and  the  Example,  Practice,  and  Command  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  yet,  we  have  not  met  with  a  single  passage 
or  word,  which  can  fairly  be  interpreted  as  indicating  that  any  persons 
should  receive  this  ordinance,  or  are  proper  subjects  for  it,  but  those 
who  have  been  first  taught  the  gospel,  and  who  profess  to  believe  it. 

But  I  am  most  anxious  to  impress  on  the  attention  of  an  inquirer 
the  words  of  Jesus  in  the  Commission,  which  we  have  just  read.  Re- 
member, reader,  that  this  Jesus  is  to  be  our  Judge  at  the  last  great  and 
awful  day ;  and  that  He  will  not  judge  us  according  to  the  opinions  or 
practices  of  men,  but  according  to  his  own  word.  Upon  this  command 
of  our  Saviour,  I  would,  therefore,  beg  briefly  to  add,  and  leave  to  the 
reader's  deliberate  meditations  : — 

\.  That  we  have  here  the  enactment  of  the  Divine  Law,  in  refer- 
ence to  Baptism :  and  this  Law  we  find  dehvered  in  language  the  most 
solemn,  and  in  circumstances  the  most  interesting  and  affecting. 

*  Jerome,  the  most  learned  of  all  the  Latin  Fathers.  "They_;?rs/  teach  all  the 
nations;  then  ichen  they  are  taught,  they  I  aptize  them  with  water;  for  it  cannot 
he  tiiat  the  body  should  receive  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  unless  the  soul  has  be- 
fore received  the  true  faith."    In  Gale's  R<Jle<tions  on  Wall,  p.  319. 

Poole's  Continuator.s  :  "  Go  ye,  therefore,  cnid  teach  all  ?wtions.  The  Greek 
is,  make  disn'ples  all  nations;  but  that  must  be  first  liy  preaching  and  instructing 
them ;  and  Mark  expounds  it.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
everi/  creature;  that  is,  to  every  reasonable  creature  capable  of  hearing  and  re- 
ceivmg  it.  I  cannot  be  of  their  mind  who  think  that  persons  may  be  baptized 
before  they  be  taught:  we  want  precedents  of  any  such  baptisms  in  Scripture." 
Annot.  in  loc. 

Calvin.  "Because  Christ  requires  teaching  before  baptizing,  and  will  hava 
believers  only  admitted  to  baptism,  baptism  does  not  seem  to  be  rightly  adminis- 
tered, except  faith  precede."    /w  Pad.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  272. 


75]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  27 

2.  That  this  Law  of  Jesus  is  not  like  human  laws,  which  admit  of 
alterations  or  amendments.  None  but  Jesus  has  authority  to  alter : 
and,  coming  from  the  Fountain  of  heavenly  Wisdom,  who  will  presume 
to  improve  upon  his  appointment  1   And 

3.  This  Law  is  as  delightful  to  the  mind  of  a  Christian,  os  it  is  so- 
lemn. The  words,  "  baptizing  them  iiito  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit,"  imply  a  public  recognition  of  the  glorious  change 
•which  has  taken  place  in  the  spiritual  circumstances  of  true  converts,  in 
their  having  passed  from  the  family  of  sin  and  Satan,  into  the  family 
of  the  Tki-une  God  !  A  change,  not  of  the  ordinance,  but  of  the 
power  and  grace  of  God. 

We  now  pass  on  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Here  we  have  an  his- 
torical relation  of  the  labors  of  the  Apostles,  for  above  thirty  years  after 
the  ascension  of  Christ ;  and  here  we  shall  find  the  baptism  of  many 
thousands  of  persons.  If  we  have  misunderstood  the  will  of  Christ  on 
this  subject,  the  Apostles  sukelt  did  xot,  and  their  obedience  to 
his  command  will  correct  our  error ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  have 
rightly  interpreted  his  will,  their  obedience  will  confirm  our  opinion. 


CHAPTER   IL 

THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

"The  penman  of  this  Scripture,"  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  in  their  argument  to 
it,  assures  us,  "  was  Luire  the  Evangelist,  (as  appears  from  the  first  words  of  it,)  for 
the  most  part  an  eye-witness  to  the  things  he  records,  bein»  constanily  a  fellow- 
laborer  with  Paul.  His  purpose,"  they  add,  "in  writing  this  narrative  was,  as  he 
intimates  in  his  first  preface,  that  the  Church  might  have  the  certain  knowledi^e  of 
Christ,  his  gospel,  ami  kingdom  ;  that  our  faith  might  not  be  built  on  the  uncertain 
reports  of  pretenders  to  truth."  Hence,  admitting  the  writer  to  be  a  faithful  and 
pious  historian,  and  writing  purposely  for  the  direction  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
all  following  ages ;  and,  above  all,  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  we  may 
safely  rely,  not  only  on  the  accuracy  of  the  accounts,  but  on  the  fulness  and  suf- 
ficiency of  the  information  to  answer  the  professed  purpose. 

We  have  here,  on  infliUible  record,  NINE  INSTANCES  of  the  administration 
of  baptism,  which  we  will  examine  in  their  own  order. 

§  L   The  Baptism  at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost. 

On  this  memorable  occasion,  which  was  but  ten  days  from  the  ascension  of 
Christ,  when  the  Apostles  and  Disciples  were  together  at  Jerusalem,  it  pleased 
God  to  accotn[)lish  the  promise  of  sending  them  the  Holy  Ghost.  By  his  miracu- 
lous power  they  were  enabled  to  sppak  in  dilferent  languages  to  the  multitude 
then  assembled  at  Jerusalem  from  different  nations :  so  that  every  one  heard,  in 
his  oicn  tongue,  the  irowJerfnl  xcorks  of  God.  Peter  delivers  to  the  multitude  an 
impressive  discourse,  in  which  he  charged  the  Jews  with  having  crucified  the  Lord 
of  glory;  but  added,  that  God  had  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  exalted  him  to 
his  right  hand,  as  the  only  Lord  and  Christ.  Upon  this  follow  the  verses  relating 
to  the  ordinance,  and  descriptive  of  the  subjects  of  it. 

Acts  ii.  37.  Now  when  they  heard  this,  they  were 
pricked  in  their  heart,  and  said  unto  Peter,  and  to  the  rest 
of  the  Apostles,  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ? 
38.  Then  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent  and  be  baptized 


28  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE   TO  BAPTISM.  [7Q 

every  one  of  you  in  tlie  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins  ;  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost:  39.  For  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your 
children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the 
Lord  our  God  shall  call. 

41.  'J'hen  they  that  gladly  received  his  word,  were  bap- 
tized ;  and  the  same  day  there  were  added  U7ito  them  about 
three  thousand  souls.  42.  And  they  continued  steadfastly 
in  the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking 
of  bread,  and  in  prayers  ;  47.  Praising  God,  and  having 
favor  with  all  the  people.  And  the  Lord  added  to  the 
church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved. 


Here  we  must  observe  how  the  apostle  Peter  obeys  his  Lord's  direc- 
tion in  the  Commission.  He  begins  by  preaching,  and  never  men- 
tions a  word  about  baptism,  till  he  evidently  found  some  of  his  hearers 
answering  the  character,  "  he  that  believeth."  Hence,  the  persons  who 
were  baptized  are  thus  described, — 1.  Their  hearts  were  deeply  pene- 
trated by  the  truth  they  heard,  so  that  they  cried,  What  shall  we  do  ? 
2.  They  are  exhorted  to  repent  of  their  sins.  3.  They  at  length 
"  GLADLY  RECEIVED  THE  w^oiiD,"  and  thcrcon  were  baptized,  and  added 
to  the  church.  4.  They  afterward  continued  steadfast  in  the  doctrine 
of  the  gospel,  and  in  the  practice  of  its  duties.  Not  a  word  of  this 
will  apply  to  infants. 

There  is,  however,  one  clause  in  the  39th  verse  of  the  above  scrip- 
tures, "  The  promise  is  to  you,  and  to  your  children,"  which  is  com- 
monly urged  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  ;  as  if  the  apostle  alluded  to 
some  promise,  on  the  ground  of  which,  infant  children  were  deemed 
proper  subjects  of  Christian  baptism.  To  answer  which,  let  the  three 
following  things  be  considered  : — 

1.  The  promise,  to  which  the  apostle  alludes,  hns  no  relation  to  /)?- 
fant  children,  it  being  the  promise  of  the  gift  of  t!io  Holy  Ghost,  joined 
with  its  eflects,  of  which  infants  are  incapable.  My  reader  will  observe 
that  the  people,  on  this  occasion,  were  astonished  at  the  effects  produced 
by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  The  apostle  assures  them,  verses  16 — 18, 
that  it  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Joel ;  which  prophecy  is 
thus  expressed,  chap.  ii.  28 :  "  /  ivill  pour  out  mi/  Spirit  upon  all 
flesh  :  and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy,"  &c.  The 
apostle  having  delivered  an  impressive  discourse,  observing  his  hearers 
deeply  affected  and  amazed  at  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  in  order  to  turn 
their  amazement  into  hope  and  joy,  refei-s  them  a  second  time  to  this 
promise,  and  to  their  own  interest  in  it,  in  the  following  words,  ver. 
38,  39,  "  Repent,  &c.  and  you  [yourselves]  shall  receive  the  gift  of 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  FOR  [by  this  I  assure  you  of  it]  the  promise  is  to 
you  and  to  your  children."  Now,  as  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  with  his 
miraculous  powers,  is  the  object  of  the  promise,  and,  as  infant  cliildren 
are  incapable,  of  that  gift,  children  in  infancy  cannot  be  intended.. 
Thus, 


77]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO   BAPTISM.  29 

WHrrBT,  "  These  words  wUl  not  prove  a  right  of  infants  to 
receive  baptism ;  the  promise  here  being  that  only  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
mentioned  in  verses  16,  17,  18,  and  so  relating  only  to  the  times  of 
the  nAraculous  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  those  persons  who, 
by  age,  were  capable  of  these  extraordinary  gifts."  Annot.  on  the 
place. 

Doddridge.  *'  TAe  promise  is  to  you  and  to  your  children. 
Considering  that  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  had  been  mentioned  just  before, 
it  seems  most  natural  to  interpret  this  as  a  reference  to  that  passage  in 
Joel,  which  had  been  so  largely  recited  above,  ver.  17,  &c.  where 
God  promises  the  elTusion  of  the  Spirit,  07i  their  sons  and  their 
daughters"     F^m.  Expos.    Note  on  the  place. 

3.  The  word,  in  the  original,  ratv^,  rendered  children,  signifies  pos- 
terity,-  and  does  not  necessarily  imply  infancy. 

Hammond.  "  If  any  have  made  use  of  that  very  unconcludent 
argument  [referring  to  this  passage,  Acts  ii.  39,]  I  have  nothing  to  say 
in  defence  of  them. — The  word  children  there,  is  really  the  posterity  of 
the  Jews,  and  not  peculiarly  their  infant  children."  Works,  Vol.  I. 
p.  490. 

LiMBoncH,  a  learned  divine  of  Amsterdam.  "By  tvivu.  the  apos- 
tle understands,  not  infants,  but  posterity  ;  in  which  signification  the 
word  occurs  in  many  places  of  the  New  Testament ;  see,  among  others, 
John  viii.  39.  [If  ye  were  Abraharri's  childuex,  ye  would  do  the 
works  of  Abraham.]  Whence  it  appears,  that  the  argument  which  is 
very  commonly  taken  from  this  passage,  for  the  baptism  of  infants,  is 
of  s^o  FORCE,  and  good  for  nothing."     Comment,  in  loc. 

3.  The  words  of  the  apostle  immediately  following,  explain  his  own 
meaning  in  the  most  decisive  terms :  '•  The  promise  is  to  you,  and  to 
your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  oft',  even  to  as  many  as  the 
Lord  our  God  shall  call," — '  to  as  many  of  you  and  your  children, 
and  the  Gentiles  afar  off,  as  God  should  call  by  his  word  and  Spirit  to 
this  great  privilege,' 

Matthew  Henry.  "  To  this  general,  the  following  Umitation  must 
refer,  even  as  many  of  them,  as  many  particular  persons  in  each  nation, 
as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call  effectually  into  the  fellowship  of  Jesus 
Christ."     Expos,  of  the  place. 

Inference.  From  the  whole,  it  appears  most  evident,  that  none 
were,  in  this  case,  encouraged  to  hope  for  Christian  baptism,  but  such 
■as  gave  evidence  of  being  called  effectually  by  grace  ;  and  none  were, 
IN  FACT,  baptized,  but  such  as  "  gladly  received  the  word.''  So  far,  the 
word  of  God  is  our  plain  guide. 


§  n.  Philip  baptizing  at  Samaria. 

Acts  viii.  5.  Then  Philip  went  down  to  the  city  of  Sa- 
maria, and  preached  Christ  unto  them.  6.  And  the  people 
with  one  accord  gave  heed  unto  those  things  which  Philip 


30  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE   TO  BAPTISM.  [79 

spake,  hearing,  and    seeing  the  miracles  which    he    did. 
8.  And  there  was  great  joy  in  the  city. 

12.  But  when  they  believed  Philip  preaching  the  things 
concerning  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  tliey  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women.  13.  Then 
Simon  himself  believed  also  ;  and  when  he  was  baptized, 
he  continued  with  Philip,  and  wondered,  beholding  the 
miracles  and  signs  which  were  done. 


In  this  instance,  as  in  the  former,  the  commission  of  Christ  is  lite- 
rally fulfilled.  Philip  began  his  work  by  preaching  Christ  to  them  ; 
and  when  they  had  heard  the  doctrines  and  saw  the  miracles,  they  wero 
filled  with  joy.  Not  a  word  about  baptizing,  till  some  of  the  peoplft 
"  believed'^  the  things  concerning  Jesus  Christ ;  then  "  they  were  hap 
tized,  both  men  and  women." 

Now,  if  it  were  the  will  of  Christ  that  infants  should  be  baptized, 
and  it  were  true  that  the  Apostles,  (like  Psedobaptist  Missionaries 
among  the  Heathen,* )  were  accustomed  to  baptize  children  together 
with  the  parents;  then,  \i  any  of  those  "men  and  women"  at  Samaria 
had  children,  (which  surely  is  highly  probable,)  Philip  must  have  bap- 
tized them :  but,  had  he  baptized  men,  women,  and  children,  is  it  to  be 
imagined  that  the  inspired  historian,  writing,  (as  he  says,)  "  of  all  that 
Jesus  began  to  do  and  to  teach,"  and  "  having  had  perfect  understand- 
ing of  a//  things  from  the  very  first;"  and  his  avowed  design  being  that 
his  reader  "might  know  the  certainty  of  things;"  is  it  to  he  imagined 
that  he  tuoiihl particularize  thetux),  out  of  the  three  descriptions  of  the 
baptized,  and  omit  the  third?  This  I  conceive  impossible;  and  there- 
fore draw  this 

Inference.  When  the  Evangelist  states,  "  they  were  baptized,  both 
men  and  women,"  had  infants  also  been  baptized,  he  must  have  added, 
to  have  completed  the  record  of  the  circumstance,  "  and  children  ;"  but 
not  making  that  nalural  and  necessary  addition,  I  infer,  that  men  and 
women  only  were  baptized  ;  and  that  no  infants  received  the  ordinance 
with  them  ;  therefore,  that  the  practice  at  that  time  did  not  exist. 

*  In  ihe  accnunis  we  aroofipn  receiving  from  Psedobaptist  Missionaries  among 
the  hf^allien,  our  brethren  nainrally  inform  i)S  of  the  children,  as  well  as  ihe  adults, 
Ihcy  baptize.  For  example,  in  the  ^- Missiirnari/ Register^' for  the  year  1821,  at 
page  19,  a  Report  from  South  Africa,  stales—"  During  the  year  1819,  20  adults  and 
21  children  were  baptized  "  At  pnsp  293,  a  Missionary  in  Western  Africa,  states 
— "  September  3d,  Sunday— I  preached,  &c.  and  then  baptized  23  adults  and  3  in- 
fants." Patre  294,  Nov.  29ih,— "On  the  first  Sunday  of  this  month  I  baptized  34 
adults  and  llieir  children;  48  in  all." 

Rev.  C.  Mault  writes  from  A'af^erroil,  East  Indies,  in  March,  1826:  "Last  month 
I  baptized ')  adults  and  4  children."  Rev.  C.  Bartf  writes  from  Hnahine,  South- 
Sea  Islands,  June  5,  1S25,  "30  were  added  to  the  church  durinsr  our  visit,  and  a 
nuiTiber  baptized.  Among  those  baptized  were  16  infants." — Missionary  Chroni- 
cle, for  Novonber,  1826. 

Are  not  such  accounts  quite  nalural  where  infant  baptism  prevails  ?  And  why 
IB  there  a  perfect  silence  throughout  the  history  of  apostolical  labors  on  ihiB  sul)- 
ject  1    Their  practice  surely  was  not  the  same. 


79]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO   BAPTISM.  31 

§  III.   The  Baptism  of  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch. 

The  eunuch  described  in  this  chapter  was  a  person  of  hi^h  authority  in  the 
kingdom  of  Ethiopia,  but  it  would  seem  a  proselyte  to  the  Jewish  religion.  He  is 
here  returning  from  Jerusalem.  Philip  is  directed  to  meet  him  in  his  way.  He 
found  the  eunuch  reading,  as  he  proceeded  in  his  chariot,  the  prophet  Tsaiah,  chap, 
liii.  7.  "  He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter,"  &c.  He  is  desirous  that  Philip 
should  explain  to  him.  Whether  the  prophet,  in  that  place,  spalce  of  himself  or  of 
some  oiher?  and  he  took  him  up  into  his  chariot  for  that  purpose  :  upon  which  the 
Evangelist  adds: 

Acts  viii.  35.  Then  Philip  opened  his  mouth  and  be- 
gan at  the  same  scripture,  and  preached  unto  him  Jesus. 
36.  And  as  they  went  on  their  way,  they  came  unto  a  cer- 
tain water  :  and  the  eunuch  said.  See,  here  is  water  ;  what 
doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  37.  And  Philip  said.  If 
thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou  mayest.  And  he 
answered,  and  said,  1  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son 
of  God.  38.  And  he  commanded  the  chariot  to  stand 
still ;  and  they  went  down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip 
and  the  eunuch  ;  and  he  baptized  him.  39.  And  when 
they  were  come  up  out  of  the  water,  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  caught  away  Philip,  and  the  eunuch  saw  him  no 
more  :   and  he  went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 


My  reader  will  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  Commission  of  his 
Redeemer,  alter  perusing  these  verses.  We  have  here  a  plain  example 
of  the  practice  of  the  apostlee:,  before  they  admitted  a  person  to  bap- 
tism. Philip  might  have  deemed  the  Eunuch,  after  having  heard  the 
gospel,  a  proper  subject  for  baptism,  by  being  directed  from  heaven  to 
teach  him, — he  might  have  inferred  it  also,  from  his  sincere  request  of 
it ;  yet  he  does  not,  he  dares  not,  baptize  him,  until  he  openly  profess 
to  "  believe  xcith  all  his  heart  ,•"  remembering,  no  doubt,  that  Christ 
had  appointed  the  ordinance  for  such,  and  for  such  only.  Nothing  can 
demonstrate  more  clearly  than  this,  that  a  declaration  of  faits  was 

IXDISPEXSABLT   REQ,UIRED  PREVIOUS  TO   BAPTISM.* 


OF  THE  MODE  OF  THE  EUNUCH'S  BAPTISM. 

We  have,  in  this  case,  the  circumstances  attending  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism  more  minutely  described  than  in  any  other  instance  re- 
corded in  the  New  Testament.  The  reader  is  requested  to  observe  the 
following  things : — 

*  Those  who  contend,  that  servants  and  children  were  all  baptized  in  those 
days,  with,  and  on  account  of,  their  masters  and  parents,  would  find  it  difficult  to 
support  their  hyp<Jthesi3  in  this  case.  It  is  the  greatest  absurdity  to  supiwae  thai 
Philip  would  admit  the  eunuch's  servants  to  baptism,  without  any  profession,  or 
even  instruction,  when  he  would  object  to  the  pious  master,  after  he  requested  it, 
unless  he  was  able  to  give  a  frank  and  open  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  But  he 
baptized  none  but  the  eunuch  ;  and,  therefore,  we  may  safely  conclude,  the  apos- 
tles had  "  no  such  custom,  neither  the  churches  of  God." 


32  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO   BAPTISM.  [80 

1.  If  sprinkliyig  or  pouring  were  the  mode  of  baptism  ordained  by 
Christ,  and  practised  by  the  apostles,  we  are  assured,  by  the  best  autho- 
rity, that  travellers  through  those  deserts  "  never  omitted"  to  furnish 
themselves  with  vessels  of  water  for  their  journeys ;  that  this  provision 
was  "absolutely  necessary;"  and,  if  so,  the  eunuch  had  all  that  was 
required  for  the  ordinance,  without  ivuiting  till  they  came  to  a  place  of 
water.  See  Doddridge,  as  presently  cited,  and  Shaw's  Travels,  as 
referred  to  by  him. 

2.  We  are  here,  however,  informed,  verse  36,  that  they  proceeded 
on  their  journey  till  "they  came"  (rr/,  ad)  "unto  a  certain  water." 
And  it  appears  that  it  was  the  sight  of  this  place  of  water,  that  sug- 
gested to  the  eunuch  his  immediate  submission  to  the  ordinance. 
"See,  here  is  water;  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized?"  How 
unmeaning  would  this  be  if  he  had  the  requisite  water  before  ! 

3.  If  we  admit  that  the  eunuch  was  not  previously  provided  with 
water,  noiu  when  they  were  "come  to  a  water,"  it  would  have  been 
easy,  and  natural  to  be  expected,  for  one  of  the  attendants  to  have  con- 
veyed to  him  as  much  water  as  was  required,  without  his,  or  Philip's, 
proceeding  farther.  But,  though  "  he  commanded  the  chariot  to  stand 
still,"  no  command  is  given  upon  this  point, — of  bringing  water  to 
him.     But, 

4.  Leaving  the  chariot,  verse  38,  "  they  went  down  INTO  the 
water ;"  («;?  to  vJa>^,  in  aquam.)  Here  the  reader  will  remark.  It  was 
not  sufficient  to  come  to  the  water,  (which  we  are  often  told  is  all  that 
the  original  means,)  for  this  they  had  done  before ;  but  here  is  a  second 
circumstance, — after  they  had  come  to  it,  they  went  down  into  it. 

5.  The  inspired  historian  also  adds,  that  it  was  not  the  eunuch  alone 
that  went  into  the  water,  but  "  they  went  down  both  ;"  and  this  is 
repeated  again,  as  if  to  make  quibbling  or  doubting  on  this  subject  im- 
possible, "  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch."  Such  was  the  mode  of  bap- 
tism, as  now  established  by  the  Son  of  God,  that  it  could  not,  in  this 
case,  be  administered  unless  Philip  attended  the  eunuch  into  the  water. 
And 

6.  While  in  this  situation,  both  of  them  in  the  water  and  surrounded 
therewith,  "  he  baptized  him ;"  that  is,  if  the  word  be  translated,  "  he 
immersed  him,"  in  the  name  of  the  Tri-une  Jehovah.  For  this  solemn 
act,  the  circumstances  before  noticed  were  necessary,  but  for  any  other 
mode  they  would  be  absurd. 

7.  The  sacred  rite  being  performed,  it  is  lastly  added,  "  when  they 
were  come  up,  {tx.  tou  CJ-mc)  OUT  OF  the  water,"  they  were  parted 
asunder ;  probably  to  meet  no  more  till  they  should  enter  the  presence 
of  Him  to  whom  they  now  rendered  this  act  of  prompt  and  cheerful 
obedience. 

It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  how  the  mode  of  this  sacred  ordinance 
could  be  more  minutely  described.  That  we  have  here  an  example  of 
Immersion,  is  allowed  by  the  learned  and  candid  of  all  denominations. 

Mr.  Towerson.  "  For  what  need  would  there  have  been  of — Philip 
and  the  eunuch  going  down  INTO  this  [water]  were  it  not  that  the 
baptism — was  to  be  performed  by  immersion,  a  very  little  water,  as  wo 


81]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO    BAPTISM.  33 

know  it  doth  with  us,  sufficing  for  an  effusion  or  sprinkhng."  In  Psed. 
Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  209. 

Calvix,  in  his  Comment  on  this  place,  observes,  "  Here  we  per- 
ceive how  baptism  was  administered  among  the  ancients,  for  they 
immersed  the  whole  body  in  water."     Rid.  p.  194. 

DoDBRinGE.  "  Tkei/  both  went  down  to  the  loater.  Consider- 
ing how  frequently  bathing  was  used  in  these  hot  countries,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  that  baptism  was  generally  administered  by  immersion, 
though  I  see  no  proof  that  it  was  essential  to  the  institution.  It  would 
be  very  unnatural  to  suppose,  that  they  went  down  to  the  water  merely 
that  Philip  might  take  up  a  little  water  in  his  hand  to  pour  on  the  eu- 
nuch. A  person  of  his  dignity  had,  no  doubt,  many  vessels  in  his  bag- 
gage, on  such  a  journey  through  a  desert  country  ;  a  precaution  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  travellers  in  those  parts,  and  never  omi^tted  by  them. 
— See  Shaw's  Travels,  Preface,  p.  4."  Fam.  Expos.  Note  in  loc. 
See  numerous  other  authors  in  Booth's  Peed.  Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  191 
to  224. 

Inference.  If  I  find  one  sufficient  proof  of  the  mode  of  baptism  in 
the  days  of  the  apostles,  whatever  that  mode  may  be,  I  infer  that  I  have 
ascertained  what  was  their  invariable  practice.  Because  it  cannot  be 
imagined  that  the  apostles  (having  probably  witnessed,  and  certainly 
knowing  well,  the  mode  by  which  the  Lord  Jesus  was  baptized,  and 
having  all  received  the  same  i77structio7is  from  their  Lord  and  Master,) 
could  be  divided  either  in  sentiment  or  practice.  And  if  immersion  be 
proved  in  one  case,  and  from  thence  it  be  granted  that  Jesus  was  thus 
baptized,  and  that  He  coivimanded  the  ordinance  thus  to  be  adminis- 
tered, would  not  the  amiable  and  pious  Doddridge,  who  grants  above, 
"  baptism  was  generally  administered  by  immersion,"  allow  me  to  infer, 
(from  the  authority  of  Christ's  example  and  command.)  that  this  mode 
is  "essential  to  the  institution  1"'  Here  I  have  an  instance  of  immer- 
sion, and  from  this  I  am  authorized  to  conclude,  and  I  do  it  with  the 
utmost  confidence  and  satisfaction  of  mind,  that  immersiox  was  what 
Christ  ordained,  and  his  obedient  apostles  and  disciples  i>'^yAHiA- 
BLY  PRACTISED  ;  and,  consequently,  any  departure  from  this  practice,  \:i 
a  departure  from  the  revealed  will  of  Christ ,-  and  such  an  act  can  be 
viewed  in  no  other  light  than  an  act  of  rebellion  against  his  Divine 
Authority. 


§  IV.  The  Baptism  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 

Saul,  while  breathing  out  ihroaleninjis  against  the  disciples  of  Christ,  is  me!, 
in  his  career  of  persecution,  by  the  Lord  himself,  at  whose  exceeilimic  j-'lory  he 
falls  prostrate  on  the  ground.  Ananias,  a  devout  disciple,  is  directed  of  God  to  go 
to  him,  and  teach  him  wliat  he  is  to  do;  and  for  his  encouragement  in  visitinii  the 
persecutor,  he  is  informed  that  Saul  was  prai/ifig,  and  that  God  had  made  him  a 
chosen  vessel  to  himself 

Acts  ix.  17.  And  Ananias  went  his  way,  and  entered 
into  the  house  ;  and  putting  his  hands  on  him,  said,  Bro- 
ther Saul,  the  Lord,  eveii  Jesvis  that  appeared  unto  thee  in 


34  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO   BAPTISM.  [82 

the  way  as  thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me,  that  thou  mightest 
receive  thy  sight,  and  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Chap.  xxii.  14.  And  he  said,  The  God  of  our  fathers 
had  chosen  thee,  that  thou  shouldst  know  his  will,  and  see 
that  Just  One,  and  shouldst  hear  the  voice  of  his  mouth. 
15.  For  thou  shalt  be  his  witness  unto  all  men  of  what 
thou  hast  seen  and  heard.  16.  And  now  why  tarriest  thou? 
arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  Chap.  ix.  18.  And  immediately 
there  fell  from  his  eyes  as  it  had  been  scales  ;  and  he  re- 
ceived sight  forthwith,  and  arose,  and  was  baptized. 


The  promptitude  of  Ananias  in  baptizing  Saul,  *  who  also  is  called 
Paul,'  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the  message  from  his  Saviour,  and  the 
restoration  of  his  sight,  shows  how  strictly  this  ordinance  was  observed 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles;  and,  consequently,  how  it  should  be  olv 
served  to  the  end  of  time.  Paul  is  exhorted  to  arise,  and  be  baptized, 
and  wash  away  his  sijis,  <^c.  He  was  to  arise,  and  yield  obedience  to 
the  command  of  Christ,  in  baptism,  and,  at  the  same  time  that  his  body 
received  the  washing  of  water,  he  was  to  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
that  his  soul  might  be  washed  and  purified  by  being,  through  faith, 
bathed  in  the  "  fountain  opened  for  sin."  This  spiritual  purification, 
immersion  in  water  would  strikingly  represent.     Thus  the  pious  poet, 

CowpER.— "  Thpre  is  a  fountain  fiU'd  with  blood, 
Drawn  from  Immanupl's  veins: 
And  sinners  phnig\i  beneath  that  flood, 
Lose  all  ihoir  guilty  stains." 

In  this  instance,  we  have  the  spiniTUAx,  desigk  of  the  ordinance 
very  plainly  referred  to.  "  The  meaning  is  not,"  says  an  excellent 
writer,  "  as  if  remission  of  sins  were  obtained  by  baptism  ;  but  that,  by 
means  of  the  ordinance,  they  might  be  led  to  the  suiferings,  death,  and 
bloodshed  of  Christ  represented  in  it." 

All  our  three  inquiries  are  answered  in  the  baptism  of  this  illustrious 
man.  1.  Respecting  the  Person  to  be  baptized, — Paul  was  a  believer  in 
Christ.  2.  To  the  Mode, — he  himself  refers  when  speaking  of  his 
baptism,  and  that  of  others,  comparing  it  to  a  burial ;  "  Therefore  we 
are  buried  with  him  by  baptism."  Rom.  vi.  4.  And,  3.  The  Spi- 
ritual Design  is  to  represent  a  washing  away  of  sin,  obtained  in 
"  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord." 


§  V.   The  Baptism  of  Cornelius  and  ?iis  Friends. 

The  next  instance  records  the  baptism  of  the  first  Gentiles  received  into  tha 
Christian  Church.  Cornelius  was  "  a  devout  man,  and  ono  that  feared  God,  with 
all  his  house."  He  is  directed  fmm  Heaven  to  send  for  Peter  the  apostle;  and 
against  his  coming,  he  called  together  his  kinsmen  and  near  friends.  The  apoetl« 
having  taught  them  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  concludes  bv  repeating 
what  Christ  had  commissiened  his  aposiles  to  do  as  their  first  and  chief  work,  an3 


83]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  35 

the  testimony  of  the  prophets  concerning  him,  in  the  two  first  verses  below;  after 
which  we  have  the  ordinance  in  question. 

Acts  X.  42.  And  he  commanded  us  to  preach  unto  the 
people,  and  to  testify  that  it  is  he  which  was  ordained  of 
God  to  be  the  Judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  43.  To 
him  gave  all  the  prophets  witness,  that,  through  his  name, 
whosoever  believeth  in  him,  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins. 

44.  While  Peter  yet  spake  these  words,  the  Holy  Ghost 
fell  on  all  them  which  heard  the  word.  45.  And  they  of 
the  circumcision  which  believed,  were  astonished,  as  many 
as  came  with  Peter,  because  that  on  the  Gentiles  also  was 
poured  out  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  46.  For  they 
heard  them  speak  with  tongues,  and  magnify  God.  Then 
answered  Peter,  47.  Can  any  man  forbid  water,  that  these 
should  not  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?  48.  And  he  commanded  them  to 
be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Then  prayed  they 
him  to  tarry  certain  days. 


The  order  of  the  commission  is  here  also  observed.  Peter  began  by 
preaching ,-  and  never  a  word  of  baptism  is  found,  till  the  people  had 
heard  the  gospel,  and  had  given  certain  evidences  of  their  conversion. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  Peter  pleads  for  their  baptism ;  and,  what 
should  be  particularly  observed,  he  pleads  for  it  upon  the  ground  of 
their  being,  most  evidently,  true  believers,  and  as  having  received  the 
Holy  Ghost.  His  language,  in  verse  47,  implies  that,  if  they  did  not 
appear  to  be  regenerate  persons,  any  one  might  object  to  their  baptism ; 
but,  as  they  had  given  evidences  that  could  not  be  disputed,  he  infers, 
no  one  could  deny  the  propriety  of  their  being  baptized.  Hence,  they 
wore  converts  to  the  faith  of  Christ.     Accordingly, 

Mr.  Holland  had  infallible  authority  for  his  observation.  "  In  the 
first  plantation  of  Christianity  among  the  Gentiles,  such  only  as  were 
of  full  age,  after  they  were  instructed  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion,  were  admitted  to  baptism."  In  WaWs  Hist.  Inf.  Bap.  Vol.  II. 
c.  ii.  §  14. 

As  to  the  manner  by  which  these  persons  were  baptized,  nothing  is 
said  of  it,  by  the  sacred  historian,  beyond  the  simple  fact.  It  has  been 
suggested,  however,  that  Peter,  by  the  words,  "  Can  any  man  forbid 
water,"  intimates  that  he  required  a  little  water  to  be  brought  to  him, 
in  a  cup  or  basin,  for  the  purpose  of  sprinkling  ;*  but  the  apostle  neither 

*  If  this  suggestion  were  a  fact,  it  is  highly  improbable  that  Peter,  receiving  a 
cup  of  water,  wouhl  command  others  to  ba|)lizp,  as  he  might  himself  administer  in 
the  same  lime  that  he  was  jiiviag  the  instructions  toothers;  and  I  should  certainly 
think  he  would  prefer  doing  so  on  so  iiiterpsiing  an  occasion,  when  the  first  fruits 
of  llie  Gentile  world  were  to  be  received  into  the  church.  Instead  of  this,  hw 
assigns  that  office  to  some  other  pei-son.    To  mo,  the  idea  of  any  man  (servant  or 


36  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [84 

Speaks  of  little  nor  much  water,  nor  about  bringing  it,  but  simply  of 
water,  and,  no  doubt,  he  intended  as  much  as  the  ordinance  required. 
It  is  most  improper  to  form  conjectures  upon  inconclusive  statements 
of  Scripture,  against  that  which,  by  other  Scriptures,  is  evidently  con- 
firmed and  established.  When  persons  are  said  to  be  baptized,  we  are 
bound  to  infer  that  they  were  baptized  according  to  the  Pattern  and 
Authority  of  Christ.  This,  I  conclude,  was  the  case  in  this,  and  in 
every  other  instance. 


§  VI.  The  Baptism  of  Lydia  and  her  Household. 

The  three  following  instances,  as  they  relate  to  " /loi/se/ioMs,"  are  commonly 
urged  in  favor  of  infant  baptism;  and,  indeed,  as  being  the  principal  support  of 
that  practice  in  the  New  Testament.  The  reader  will,  therefore,  the  more  parti- 
cularly examine  the  Scriptures  below  in  reference  to  the  persons  that  constituted 
ihese  households,  and  if  he  find  recorded  the  baptism  of  one  infant,  or  any  thing 
in  the  text  which  evidently  indicates  it,  he  will  consider  the  jxiint  as  settled  for 
ever  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  ;  but  if  the  text  does  not  contain  such  an  indication 
of  infants,  but  describes  the  baptized  households  as  consisting  of  persons  arrived 
at  the  years  of  understanding,  and  so  capable  oi  hearing  and  believing  the  gos- 
pel,—a^nA  especially  if  what  is  recorded  implies  that  they  actually  did  /icar  and 
believe,  then  it  must  be  granted  that  adult  and  believers'  baptism  receives  all  the 
support  these  instances  afford.     The  first  is  of  Lydia  and  her  household. 

Paul,  whose  baptism  we  have  just  considered,  is  now  become  an  apostle  ol 
Christ.  He,  with  Silas,  (and  with  them,  probablv,  Luke,  the  writer  of  this  history,) 
are  commissioned  from  heaven  to  proceed  to  Macedonia,  and  to  Philippi,  a  chief 
city  of  it,  to  preach  the  gospel.  Having  arrived,  they  began  their  worlt  in  the  fol- 
lowing way,  and  with  the  following  success  :— 

Acts  xvi.  13.  And  on  the  Sabbath  we  went  out  of  the 
city  by  a  river  side,  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made  ; 
and  we  sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women  which  re- 
sorted thither.  14.  And  a  certain  woman  named  Lydia, 
a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira,  which  worship- 
ped God,  heard  us  :  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  that 
she  attended  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  of  Paul. 
15.  And  when  slie  was  baptized,  and  her  household,  she 
besought  ws,  saying.  If  ye  have  judged  me  to  be  faithful  to 
the  Lord,  come  into  my  house  and  abide  there.  And  she 
constrained  us. 

40.  And  they  [that  is,  Paul  and  Silas,  who  afterward 
had  been  imprisoned  at  Philippi]  went  out  of  the  prison, 
and  entered  into  the  house  o/*  Lydia;  and  when  they  had 
seen  the  brethren,  they  comforted  them,  and  departed. 


Lydia  herself,  it  is  evident,  had  a  right  to  be  baptized,  according  to 
the  order  of  Jesus  Christ,  being  a  Belikveu.     But  of  what  does  it 

vxaxler)  forbidding  a  cup  of  loaier  to  be  brought,  for  the  use  of  the  master  of  the 
house,  at  this  interesting  time,  is  most  absurd,  and  never  could  have  entered  the 
aposilH's  mind.  The  meaning,  I  think,  certainly  is,  "  Can  any  man  forbid  the  use 
tf  xnater  for  the  baptism  of  those  persons  to  whom  God  has  given,  whai  is  inf.' 
nitely  more  important,  the'  baptisin  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?" 


85]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  37 

appear,  from  the  text,  did  her  household  consist  1  of  children,  or  grown 
persons  1  Before  we  answer  this  question,  we  observe,  there  are  Four 
things  which  a  Paedobaptist  must  admit  and  take  for  granted,  before  he 
can  urge  this  place  in  his  favor ;  but  if  he  can  prove  none  of  them,  his 
argument  (to  use  the  learned  Limborch's  phrase)  "  is  good  for  nothing,'* 

1.  That  Lydia  had,  at  this  time,  or  lately,  a  husband. 

2.  That  she  had  children,  and  children  then  in  infancy. 

3.  That  these  children  were  with  her  at  Philippi. 

4.  That  such  children  were  actually  baptized. 

The  whole  of  these  admissions  I  strongly  question  ;  for, 

The  1st  is  improhahle ;  for,  had  she  a  husband,  she  was  not  likely 
to  be  thus  engaged  in  business :  and  especially  as  no  mention  is  made 
of  him,  though  the  apostles  were  repeatedly  at  her  house. 

The  2d  is  uncertain ,-  because  there  are  thousands  of  households 
where  there  are  no  infant  children. 

The  3d  is  incredible ,-  for  if,  as  the  text  indicates,  Lydia  was  come 
from  Thyatira  (a  journey,  including  both  sea  and  land,  of  probably  not 
less  than  300  miles)  o.x  business,  it  is  not  to  be  believed  she  would 
bring  young  children  with  her,  if  she  had  any. 

The  4th  is  inconclusive ,-  because  the  word  household  or  house  is 
used  in  Scripture  when  the  whole  of  the  family  is  not  included,  but  the 
principal  part  only.     See  1  Sam.  i.  21,  22. 

The  argument,  therefore,  for  infant  baptism,  grounded  upon  the  bap- 
tism of  Lydia's  household,  is  extremely  weak,  as  there  is  no  evidence 
SHE  HAD  EITHER  HUSBAND  07*  CHILDREN :  and  Certainly,  before  any 
such  custom  can  from  this  case  be  supported,  as  an  ordinance  of  the 
New  Testament,  it  ought  to  be  undeniably  proved,  from  the  text, 
that  she  had  infant  children,  and  that  they  were  actually  baptized. 

Should  it  be  replied,  in  favor  of  infant  baptism,  that  Lydia  at  this 
time  was  probably  a  resident  at  Philippi,  although  originally  from  Thy- 
atira, and  that  consequently  her  infant  children  must  be  with  her, — 
this  I  would  answer,  by  asking,  Must  not  then  her  husband  be  with 
her]  But  this  evidently  was  not  the  case,  for  this  reason, — If  Lydia 
had  a  husband  with  her,  he  surely  must  be  one  of  the  "household" — 
if  he  was  one  included  in  this  household,  he  must  have  been  baptized, 
because  the  household  was, — if  he  was  baptized  and  joined  in  the 
same  union  with  Paul  and  Silas  as  Lydia,  would  she  say,  "  Come  into 
MT  house!"  or  would  Luke  say,  "they  entered  into  the  house  of  Lydia" 
supposing  there  was  a  believing  husband  at  the  head  of  the  family  1 
Impossible.  The  language  employed  by  the  inspired  historian  evidently 
implies,  'a  single  female  at  the  head  of  a  family,  and  at  the 
head  of  a  business.'  And  the  fair  conclusion  is,  that  her  household 
were  her  servants  ;  or,  if  her  children,  that  her  husband  was  deceased, 
and  her  children  so  far  advanced  in  life  as  to  join  in  her  journey,  her 
business,  and  her  worship ;  and  thus  they  would  be  capable  of  instruction, 
faith,  and  baptism,  as  Christ  commanded  ;  and  as  in  elTect  plainly  stated 
of  the  household  in  the  next  section. 

But,  more  satisfactory  to  the  pious  reader  than  ten  thousand  sur- 
mises, the  question  of  the  persons  of  Lydia's  household  may  be  an- 

VOL.  II. — 8  P 


38  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  f86 

swered,  with  the  greatest  probability,  from  the  last  verse  above  cited. 
Paul  and  Silas,  being  delivered  from  prison,  and  quitting  the  jailer^s 
house  and  family^  according  to  his  own  request,  ver.  34,  36,  they  "  en- 
tered into  the  house  of  Lydia,"  (for  my  reader  will  remember,  this  was 
the  only  other  Christian  house  in  the  city,  and  in  this  family  the  only 
other  persons  baptized ;)  and  here,  undoubtedly,  they  would  meet  with 
her  '  household'  which  they  had  baptized  :  having  entered,  we  read, 
"when  they  had  seen  the  buethuen,  they  co3ifouted  them,  and 
departed."  If  then  Lydia's  household  be  denominated  "  brethren,"  and 
were  capable  of  being  "  comforted"  by  the  word,  they  must  have  been 

BELIEVEUS  IX  CuillST. 

Mr.  Whitby  seems  to  consider  this  unquestionable.  "And  when 
she,  and  those  of  her  household,  were  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith, 
in  the  nature  of  baptism  required  by  it,  she  was  baptized  and  her  house- 
hold."   Paraphrase  on  the  place. 

LiMBORC'H.  "An  undoubted  argument,  therefore,  caimot  be  drawn 
from  this  instance,  by  which  it  may  be  demonstrated,  that  infants  were 
baptized  by  the  apostles.  It  might  be,  that  all  in  her  house  were  of 
a  mature  age ;  who,  as  in  the  exercise  of  a  right  understanding  they 
believed,  so  they  were  able  to  make  a  public  profession  of  that  faith 
when  they  received  baptism."  Comment,  in  loco.  In  Psedobap.  Ex. 
Vol.  II.  p.  359. 

Mr.  T.  Lawsox,  referring  to  this  argument,  says,  "  Families  may  be 
without  children  ;  they  may  be  grown  up,  &c.  So  it  is  a  wild  infer- 
ence to  ground  infant  baptism  upon."     Baptismalogia,  p.  92. 

Assembly  of  Divines.  "  Of  the  city  of  Thyatira — a  city  of 
Asia — here  dwelt  Lydia,  that  devout  servant  of  God." — "  Atid  entered 
into  the  house  of  Lydia:  doubtless  to  confirm  them  in  the  faith  which 
they  had  preached  to  them — Lydia  and  HERS  hearing  of  their  miracu- 
lous deliverance,  could  not  but  be  comforted  and  confirmed  in  the  truth." 
Annot.  on  Acts  xvi.  14.  40. 

The  place  at  which  Lydia  was  taught  and  baptized  must  have  been 
remarkabl}^  convenient  for  immersion.  The  people  were  "  by  a  river 
side,"  ver.  13,  and  at  a  place  frequented  by  the  Jews  for  religious  puri- 
fication, by  washing  in  the  water.     Thus 

Mr.  Doddridge.  "  On  the  Sabbath  day  we  went  out  of  the  city  to 
the  side  of  the  river  Strymon,  where,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Jews,  there  was  an  oratory,  or  a  place  of  public  prayer." — "  It  is  certain 
that  the  Jews  had  a  custom  of  building  their  oratories  or  proseuchas,  or 
places  of  public  prayer,  by  the  sea  side,  or  near  rivers,  for  the  sake  of 
purification."     Fam.  Expos,  on  the  place. 

Joheph  Johx  Gurxey.  "  Although  the  baptism  practised  by  John, 
and  by  the  apostles,  did  not,  in  all  its  circumstances,  resemble  those 
Jewish  washings  to  which  I  have  now  adverted ;  yet  it  was  precisely 
similar  to  them  in  that  main  particular  of  imjiersion  in  water."  Ob- 
serv.  on  the  Pecul.  of  Friends,  p.  61. 

Inference.  If  the  Divine  word  which  records  the  baptism  of  Lydia 
and  her  household,  and  subsequently  refers  to  them,  is  to  be  my  only 


87]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  39 

guide  upon  the  inquiries  before  us,  I  must  infer,  *  that  they  were  all 
believers  in  Jesus,  and  were  baptized  as  their  Saviour  was.' 


§  VII.   The  Baptism  of  the  Philippian  Jailer  and  Household. 

Paul  and  Silas,  having  been  cast  into  prison  at  Philippi,  are  delivered  from 
their  confinement  at  midnight,  by  the  miraculous  interposition  of  God.  An  earth- 
quake shook  the  foundations  of  the  prison,  the  doors  of  it  were  opened,  and  the 
prisoners'  bands  loosed.  The  jailer,  suspecting  the  escape  of  the  prisoners,  drew 
nis  sword  to  destroy  himself,  but  which  Paul  prevented,  by  assuring  him  the  pris- 
oners were  all  there.    Then  follow  his  conversion  and  baptism  :— 

Acts  xvi.  29.  Then  he  called  for  a  light,  and  sprang"  in, 
and  came  tremblhig,  and  fell  down  before  Paul  and  Silas. 
30.  And  brought  them  out,  and  said,  Sirs,  what  must  I  do 
to  be  saved?  31.  And  they  said.  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house. 
32.  And  they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
to  all  that  were  in  his  house.  33.  And  he  took  them  the 
same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes;  and  was 
baptized,  he  and  all  his,  straightway.  34.  And  when  he 
had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  set  meat  before  them, 
and  rejoiced,  believing  in  God  with  all  his  house. 


Here  observe,  1.  The  jailer,  bringing  Paul  and  Silas  out  of  the 
prison,  being  persuaded  that  they  were  the  servants  of  the  true  God, 
and  were  now  delivered  by  his  power  from  their  unjust  and  cruel  pun- 
ishment ;  and  deeply  convinced,  at  the  same  time,  of  his  own  guilt  and 
danger,  urges  them  to  tell  him  iclLat  he  should  do  to  be  saved?  To  this, 
greatest  of  questions,  he  received  a  direct  answer.  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house.  It  is  probable, 
many,  if  not  all  the  jailer's  family,  alarmed  at  this  awful  event,  ran  to 
his  assistance,  as  his  life,  they  would  consider,  imminently  in  danger, 
both  by  the  prisoners  in  order  to  escape,  and  especially  by  the  law,  if 
any  had  fled.  Hence  Paul  indirectly  spake  to  the  whole.  Believe,  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved,  yea,  and  thy  house  too,  in  the  same  way. 

Doddridge.  "  Thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thine  house.  The 
meaning  cannot  be  that  the  eternal  salvation  of  his  family  could  be 
secured  by  his  faith  ;  but  that — if  they  also  themselves  believed,  they 
should  be  entitled  to  the  same  spiritual  and  everlasting  blessings  with 
himself;  which  Paul  might  the  rather  add,  as  it  is  probable  that  many 
of  them,  under  this  terrible  alarm,  might  have  attended  the  master  of 
the  family  into  the  dungeon."     Fam.  Expos.     Note  on  the  place. 

2.  We  may  next  learn,  from  the  text,  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner, 
of  what  the  jailer's  household  consisted  ;  that  they  were  not  infants,  or 
persons  so  young  as  to  be  incapable  of  being  taught  the  gospel,  and  of 
believing  it;  for  thus  we  read,  ver.  32,  "  They  spake  urttohim  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  axd  to  ALL  tii.vt  weue  is  his  house."      This  house- 


40  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO  BAPTISM.  [88 

hold  is  instructed,  instructed  all,  and  then  baptized.  Infants,  there- 
fore, cannot  here  be  included. 

3.  Luke  further  describes  the  jailer  and  his  household,  and  shows 
thereby  how  the  Lord's  commission  was  still  strictly  obeyed.  Paul  and 
Silas  first  preached  the  gospel  to  the  whole  house,  as  observed  above  ; 
and  now  we  read,  verse  34,  the  jailer  ^^  rejoiced,  believinr  in  God, 
WITH  ALL  HIS  HousK."  Then  it  follows,  he  had  no  infant  children, 
or  those  words  cannot  include  them  ;  for  of  this  faith  they  would  be 
incapable. 

Matthkw  Hexrt.  "The  voice  of  rejoicing,  with  that  of  salva- 
tion, was  heard  in  the  jailer's  house, — He  rejoiced,  believing  in  God, 
with  oil  his  house :  there  was  none  in  his  house  that  refused  to  be 
baptized,  and  so  made  ajar  in  the  ceremony,  but  they  were  unanimous 
in  embracing  the  gospel,  which  added  much  to  the  joy."  Expos,  on 
the  place. 

Calvin  is  still  more  expressive.  "  Luke  commends  the  pious  zeal  of 
the  jailer,  because  he  dedicated  his  whole  house  to  the  Lord  ;  in  which, 
also,  the  grace  of  God  illustriously  appeared,  because  it  suddenly  brought 
the  WHOLE  FAMILY  to  a  pious  consent."     Comment,  in  loco. 

Inference.  As  the  same  pre-requisites  to  baptism  are  here  specified, 
in  relation  to  the  jailer's  family,  as  to  himself,  viz.  1st,  that  theivordof 
the  Lord  was  spoken  to  them  as  to  him ,-  and,  2d,  that  he  and  they 
equally  believed  in  God,  I  must,  on  inspired  authority,  conclude,  that 
we  have  here  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  plain  example  of  a  believ- 
ing HOUSEHOLD  BAPTIZED,  the  whole  being  EauALLx  disciples  of 
Christ ;  and  as  to  the  mode,  that  it  was  what  the  Lord  sanctioned  by  his 
example  and  command,  and  nothing  different  therefrom.* 


§  VIIL  Paul  baptizing  at  Corinth. 

The  next  Instance  is  the  baptism  of  several  persons  at  Corinth,  where  we  now 
find  the  same  apostle  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost  fnrtho  spread  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom.  Here,  tliougli  many  opposed  themselves  a/i'l  h/u^phemed,  yet  he  zeal- 
ously persevered,  and  liis  labors  were  crowned  with  success;  for  thus  we  read: — 

Acts  xviii.  4.     And  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every 
sabbath,  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks.     5.  And 

*  Some,  in  opposing  the  practice  of  immersion,  have  imagined  great  difficulties 
in  this  case.  They  cannot  conceive  where  the  jailer  could  find  a  suitable  place, 
and  especially  in  the  night,  to  receive  llie  ordinance  in  this  form.  It  is  not  for  us, 
at  this  distance  of  time,  to  state  the  plwe,  as  the  sacred  historian  has  nc)t  done  so. 
The  Scriptures  affirm  that  "  he  and  his  were  baptized :"  what  do  these  words 
mean  1  We  reply  (from  the  sense  of  the  word,  and  from  the  other  scriptures) 
"  they  were  immersed  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Then  it  falls  to  the  part 
of  our  opponents  to  prove  that  they  were  not  baptized  in  this  way.    These  irmir- 

gined  difficulties  ha.\e  not  a  particle  of  weight  upon  that  mind  that  admits  that 
HRiST's  AUTHORITY  was  Paul's  Only  guide. 

It  may  not  be  improper,  however,  to  remind  the  reader  how  exceedingly  com- 
mon the  practice  of  cold  bathing  was,  and  still  is,  in  the  East.    That  frequent 
bathing  was  usual  amonii  the  Grecians,  Romans,  and  now  is  in  Turkey,  in  which 
country  this  city  Philippl  stood,  is  testified  by 
Lord  Bacon,    "  It  ia  strange  that  the  use  of  bathing,  as  a  part  of  diet,  is  left. 


89]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  41 

when  Silas  and  TLmotheus  were  come  from  Macedonia, 
Paal  was  pressed  in  the  Spirit,  and  testified  to  the  Jews 
tJiat  Jesus  was  Clarist.  B.  And  Crispus,  the  chief  ruler  of 
the  synagogue,  believed  on  the  Lord  with  all  his  house; 
and  many  of  tfee  Corinthians  heaiing,  believed,  and  were 
baptized. 

A  church  bang  formed  in  this  place,  Paul  afterwards  writes  them 
two  epistles.  In  the  first  of  these,  he  laments  the  unhappy  divisions 
that  prevailed  amongst  them,  in  contending  for  different  ministers,  as  if 
they  had  so  many  Saviours,  and  had  been  baptized  in  their  separate 
jjames.     Upon  which  he  reasons.:— 

1  Cor.  i.  13.  Is  Christ  divided?  was  Paul  crucified  for 
you?  or  were  ye  baptized  in  the  name  of  Paul?  14.  I 
thank  God  thai  I  baptized  none  of  you,  but  Crispus  and 
Gaius.  15.  Lest  any  should  say  that  J  had  baptized  in 
mine  own  name.  16.  And  I  baptized  also  the  household 
of  Stephanas  :  besides,  I  know  not  whether  I  baptized  any 
other.  17.  For  Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize,  but  to 
preach  the  gospel. 

Chap.  xvi.  15.  'Ye  know  the  house  of  Stephanas,  that 
it  is  the  first  fruits  of  Achaia,  and  that  they  have  addicted 
thenjselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  saints. 


Paul  at  Corinth,  as  at  all  other  places,  begins  his  work  by  "  testify- 
ing" to  the  people  "tlie  things  concerning  Jesus  Christ,"  and  by  teach- 
ing, not  by  baptizing,  he  makes  disciples  to  Christ.  He  continued  his 
labors  at  Corinth  a  year  and  six  ajoHths,  in  which  time,  "  many  hear- 
ing" his  preaching,  "  believed,  and  were  baptized."  He  himself  bap- 
tized but  few,  namely,  Crispus,  Gaius,  and  the  household  of  Stephanas, 
and  in  this  he  afterwards  rejoiced,  as  none  of  them,  in  their  angry  con- 
tentions, and  excessive  |)artiality,  could  say,  "  they  were  for  Paul ;  for, 
Paul  baptized  th,em,  and  that  in  his  own  name ;"  for,  he  adds,  the  first 
and  chief  work  for  which  Christ  sent  him,  was,  "  not  to  baptize,  but  to 
preach  the  gospel.'"* 

it  is  aot  said,  the  household  of  Crispus  were  baptized,  though,  had  it 
been  so,  it  is  certain  they  were  proper  subjects  of  the  ordinance, 
agreeably  to  the  words  of  the  institution  ;  for,  he  "  believed  on  the  Lord, 
WITH  AtL  HIS  HOUSE."  Their  baplism,  if  obedient  to  Christ,  was  a 
matter  of  course. 

With  the  Romans  and  Grecians  it  wa.9  as  usual  as  eating  or  sleeping  ;  and  so  it  is 
amongst  the  Turks  at  this  day."     hi  StennelVs  Answer  to  Addington,  p.  34. 

GR0TIT7.S,  (the  most  learned  and  best  informed  man  in  Eurojie  in  his  time)  held 
it  as  highly  probable,  from  the  practice  of  the  country,  that  the  jail  at  Philippi 
was  provided  with  ba).he,  which  would  admit  of  the  ordinance  in  this  form  without 
delay. 

8»  d2 


42  S'CklPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [^90 

The  persons  who  composed  "  the  house  of  Stephanas,"  (the  last 
household  said  to  be  baptized.)  are  not  described  where  their  baptism  is 
recorded  ;  and  had  nothing,  in  any  other  place,  been  said  of  them,  this 
would  have  been  the  only  house  left  in  such  uncertainty;  but,  as  if  it 
were  the  design  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  leave  no  room  for  dispute,  as  to 
the  proper  persons  to  receive  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  we  find  this  fa- 
mily also  described  at  the  end  of  this  epistle,  as  cited  above :  they  were 
the  "  first  fruits"  of  the  word  of  God  in  Achaia,  and  "  they  addicted 
themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  saints."  They  exerted  themselves  in 
acts  of  zeal  and  charity,  in  reference  to  their  fellow,  but  poorer,  or  more 
afflicted  disciples ;  and  hence,  (we  scarcely  need  add)  could  not  be  in- 
fant children. 

Doddridge.  "  They  have  set  themselves,  SfC.  This  seems  to  imply, 
that  it  was  the  generous  care  of  the  whole  family  to  assist  their  fellow 
Christians;  so  that  there  was  not  a  member  of  it  which  did  not  do  its 
part."     Fam.  Expos.     Note  on  the  place. 

Guise.  "  It  therefore  seems  that  the  family  of  Stephanas  were  all 
adult  believers,  and  so  were  baptized  on  their  own  personal  profession 
of  faith  in  Christ."     On  the  place. 

Hamimond.  "  I  think  it  unreasonable  that  the  apostle's  bare  mention 
of  baptizing  his  [Stephanas']  household,  should  be  thought  competent 
to  conclude  that  infant's  were  baptized  by  him ;  when  it  is  uncertain 
whether  there  were  any  such  at  all  in  his  house."  Works,  Vol.  I. 
p.  492.     In  Psed.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  358. 

Mac  KNIGHT.  "The  family  of  Stephanas  seem  all  to  have  been 
adults  when  they  were  baptized,  for  they  are  said,  chap.  xvi.  15,  to  have 
devoted  themselves  to  the  viinistry  of  the  saints.^'  Apos.  Epis.  Note 
on  1  Cor.  i.  16. 


REFLECTION  ON  THE  BAPTISM  OF  HOUSEHOLDS. 

We  have  now  found  the  record  of  Three  Households  baptized  by  the 
apostle  Paul,  or  Silas,  his  companion  ;  Lydia^s,  the  Jailer's,  and  Ste- 
phanas'. If  it  were  tlie  constant  practice  of  the  apostles  to  baptize  children 
with  their  parents,  (as  our  Ptedobaptist  friends  maintain,)  we  should 
reasonably  have  expected,  and,  no  doubt,  should  have  found,  in  various 
places  of  scripture,  after  naming  the  baptism  of  believers,  the  words 
added,  'and  their  children,' or  'and  their  little  ones;'  as  families  of 
young  children  are  expressed  in  the  Old  Testament.  And  I  infer  that 
this  must  have  been  a  tact  in  maxt  instances,  because  we  find  in  this 
book  MANY  THOUSANDS  of  adults  believing,  and  being  baptized,  or 
added  to  the  Lord.  See  Acts  ii.  41,  iv.  4,  v.  14,  &c.  Would  it,  then, 
be  probable  that  tlo-ee  families  only  would  be  specified  as  families, 
while  hundreds,  or,  it  may  be,  thousands  of  other  families,  are  not  re- 
ferred to  in  the  most  distant  way  ?  This,  I  conceive,  next  to  impossi- 
ble ;  and,  therefore,  infer  that  the  baptism  of  families  was  compara- 
tively of  rare  occurrence. 

But  in  these  three  cases  we  have  not  the  words  '  and  their  little  ones  ;* 


01]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  48 

nor  yet  '  and  their  children  ;'  (and  this  expression  might  be  used  with- 
out necessarily  implying  infants,)  but  the  term  "  house"  or  "  household" 
is  used,  which  conveys  no  idea  as  to  the  age  of  the  persons  intended, 
nor  whether  they  were  the  children  or  the  servants  of  the  heads  of  the 
families ;  and,  therefore,  had  nothing  been  said  descriptive  of  them,  it 
would  have  been  exceedingly  inconclusive  to  have  inferred  a  prece- 
dent FOR  iNFAXT  BAPTISM  from  the  use  of  the  word  household;  be- 
cause there  are  thousands,  yea,  millions  of  families  that  have  no  infant 
children.  The  writer  of  this  pamphlet  has  baptized  households ;  and, 
among  others,  a  "  Lydia  and  her  household,"  and  yet  never  baptized  a 
child.  From  the  word  "  household,"  therefore,  to  infer  the  baptism  of 
infants,  is  completely  begging  the  question.  But,  as  my  reader  has 
seen,  there  is  something  said  of  these  three  households,  which  describes 
the  constituents  of  them:  from  this  it  is  demoxstuably  certain, 
that  the  jailer's  and  Stephanas'  were  professedly  believers  in  Christ, 
and  that  which  is  said  of  them  is  of  infants  impossible.  And  as  to 
Lydia' s,  if  "the  brethren"  Paul  and  Silas  "comforted"  in  her  house 
were  her  household,  (and  there  were  no  other  Christians  in  the  city  but 
the  family  they  had  just  quitted,)  there  is  no  more  uncertainty  respect- 
ing them.  Thus  while  households  out  of  number  are  referred  to  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  nothing  is  added  by  which  we  could  learn  of  what  they 
consisted,  it  has  pleased  God  to  give  such  information  of  the  baptized 
households,  as  to  lead  the  reader  to  infer,  that  they  all  were  (as  the  same 
apostle  testifies  of  the  church,  of  which  Stephanas  and  his  household 
were  members,)  "called  of  God  to  the  fellowship  of  his  Son  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord."     1  Cor.  i.  9. 

The  celebrated  Paedobaptist  writers  I  have  cited,  candidly  allow  that 
the  Scriptures,  regarding  these  households,  teach  nothing  further  upon 
our  inquiries  than  what  I  have  endeavoured  to  make  plain  to  the  reader. 
To  his  own  judgment  I  cheerfully  leave  his  decision. 


§  IX.  Certain  Disciples  at  Ephesus  Baptized. 

This  is  the  ninth  and  last  place,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  relative  to  our 
present  inquiries.  Tlie  question  whether  the  persons  here  referred  to,  were  bap- 
tized twice,  first  witli  John's  baptism,  and  now  Christ's,  does  not  affect  the  object 
of  our  examination. 

Acts  xix.  1.  Paul,  having  past  through  the  upper  coasts, 
came  to  Ephesus;  and  finding  certain  disciples,  2.  He  said 
unto  them,  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  be- 
lieved ?  And  they  said  unto  him,  We  have  not  so  much  as 
heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost.  3.  And  he  said 
unto  them,  Unto  what  then  were  ye  baptized?  And  they 
said,  Unto  John's  baptism.  4.  Then  said  Paul,  John 
verily  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying 
unto  the  people,  That  they  should  believe  on  him  which 
should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus.  5.  When 
they  heard  this,  they  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 


44  SCRIPTVRE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [92 

Lord  Jesns.  6.  And  when  Paul  had  laid  his  hands  upon 
them,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them  ;  and  they  spake  with 
tongues,  and  prophesied.  7.  And  all  the  men  were  about 
twelve. 


That  in  these  persons  we  have  an  example  of  adult  baptism  is  clear ; 
For,  1 .  They  are  called  "  disciples." — 2.  They  "  believed." — 3.  They 
"received  the  Holy  Ghost." — 4.  They  "spake  with  tongues  and  pro- 
phesied;" and  were  in  number  twelve  mex.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
add  another  word  respecting  them. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  ACTS. 

We  have  now,  Christian  reader,  passed  through  all  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  and  examined  all  the  instances  of  the  administration  of  this 
ordinance  recorded  in  this  sacred  history,  and  to  this  place,  we  can  con- 
fidently assert,  That  we  have  no  where  found  a  single  place  or  passage, 
that  describes,  records,  or  implies  the  baptism  of  any  infants.  The 
reader  will  not  suppose  this  a  hasty  conclusion,  when  he  hears  the  fol- 
lowing Paedobaptists : — 

Goodwin.  "Baptism  supposes  regeixeration  sure  in  itself  first.  Sa- 
craments are  never  administered  to  begin,  or  imrk  grace.  Read  ALL 
the  Acts,  still  it  is  said,  they  believed,  and  loere  baptized.^''  Works, 
VoL  L  P.  L  p.  200. 

Mr.  T.  BosTOTf.  "  There  is  no  example  of  baptism  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures,  where  any  were  baptized  but  such  as  appeared  to  have  a 
saving  interest  in  Clxrist."      Works,  p.  384. 

LiMBORCH.  "  There  is  no  instance  can  be  produced,  from  which  it 
may  indisputably  be  inferred  that  any  child  was  baptized  by  the  apos- 
tles."    Complete  Syst.  Div,  B.  V.  Ch.  xxii.  §  H. 

Mr.  Baxter.  (The  appeal  he  makes  to  Mr.  Blake,  in  this  place, 
might  be  made,  with  all  confidence,  to  every  Paedobaptist.)  "  I  con- 
clude, that  all  examples  of  baptism  in  Scripture  do  mention  only  the 
administration  of  it  to  the  professors  of  saving  faith ;  and  the  precepts 
give  us  no  other  direction.  Ann  I  provoke  Mr.  Blake,  as  far  as  is 
seemly  for  me  to  do,  to  name  ONE  precept  or  example  for  baptizing 
any  other,  and  make  it  good  if  he  can."  Disptit.  of  Right  to  Sacram. 
p.  156.     In  Pxd.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  29. 


93]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  45 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   EPISTLES. 

We  now  proceed,  lastly,  to  examine  those  passages  in  the  Apostolical 
Epistles  which  refer  to  this  ordinance. 

§  I.  Passages  which  contain  an  express  Allusion  to  the  Mode,  and  the 
Spiritual  Design  of  Baptism. 

Rom.  vi.  3.  Know  ye  not,  that  so  many  of  us  as  were 
baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death  ? 
4.  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into 
death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in 
newness  of  life.  5.  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together 
in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness 
of  his  resurrection. 

Colos.  ii.  12.  Buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  also 
ye  are  risen  with  hhn  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of 
God,  who  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead. 


The  object  of  the  apostle  Paul  in  these  places,  and  their  connection, 
is  to  show  the  churches  to  which  he  is  writing,  the  necessity  of  a  holy 
walk  and  conversation.  To  this  end  he  puts  them  in  mind  of  their 
baptism,  the  profession  they  made  in  it,  and  the  obligation  they  took 
upon  themselves  to  live  according  to  those  truths  symbolically  taiiahtbv 
and  in  the  ordinance.  *  Know  ye  not^  says  he  to  the  Romans,  '  that  so 
many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,'  into  a  profession  of 
his  religion,  '  we7'e  baptized  into  his  death,'  into  a  reliance  upon,  and 
conformity  to  his  death,  the  great  design  of  which  was  to  take  away 
sin;  and,  consequently,  as  our  Lord  died,  and  was  buried  on  account 
of  it,  so  should  we  die  and  be  buried  to  the  love  and  practice  of  it. 
Then  follows  this  plain  and  striking  allusion  to  the  particular  act  by 
which  the  rite  in  question  is  administered,  in  verse  4,  which,  with  the 
same  allusion  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  reads  to  this  eftect : — 

*  Therefore  (that  is,  to  express  this  very  design)  we  are  BURIED 

*  BY  and  IX  BAPTISM,  with  Christ  our  Lord;  and  as  He  was  raised 

*  UP  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  are  we  at  our  baptism, 

*  WHEREIN  we  likewise  are  raised  up  to  walk  thenceforth  in  new- 
'  ness  of  life ;  and  this  is  not  of  ourselves,  but  through  the  faith  of 
'  the  operation  of  God,  who  thus  raised  up  his  Son  from  the  sepulchre 

*  to  live  and  reign  for  ever.' 

In  these  places  the  apostle  does  twice  describe  baptism  as  effecting  a 
burial  and  a  resurrection,  and  as  such  to  be  a  continued  representation 
of  the  burial  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  our  Pattern  and  Lord  ;  and  this 
is  realized  only  in  immersion. 


46  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [94 

By  these  plain  allusions  to  the  Mode  of  the  ordinance,  the  sense  of 
the  word  "  baptize,"  is  most  plainly  exhibited  and  confirmed  ;  and  the 
necessity  of  "  going  down  into,  and  coming  up  out  of  the  water" — of 
"baptizing  IN  thk  Jordan,"  and  where  "there  was  much  watkh  ;" 
(which  phrases  we  found  in  connexion  with  baptism,)  is  here  evidently 
explained.  Psedobaptist  divines,  of  the  greatest  celebrity  for  learning 
and  information,  have  frankly  allowed  what  we  have  above  asserted. 
We  have  no  difficulty  but  in  making  such  a  selection  as  would  be  most 
highly  esteemed  by  the  reader.  The  following  are,  perhaps,  the  most 
unexceptionable  that  could  be  produced. 

Mn.  Wall,  ViciM-  of  Shoreham,  in  Kent,  and  author  of  that  famous 
work,  '  The.  History  of  Infant  Baptism,'  for  luhich  he  received  the 
thanks  of  the  whole  clergy  in  convocation.  "  As  to  the  manner  of 
baptism  then  generally  used,  the  texts  produced  by  every  one  that 
speaks  of  these  matters,  John  iii.  23,  Mark  i.  5,  Acts  viii.  38,  are  un- 
deniable proofs  that  the  baptized  person  went  ordinarily  into  the  water, 
and  sometimes  the  Baptist  loo.  We  should  not  know  from  these  ac- 
counts whether  the  whole  body  of  tlie  baptized  was  put  under  water, 
head  and  all,  were  it  not  for  two  later  proofs,  which  seem  to  me  to  put 
IT  OUT  OF  auESTioN :  One,  that  St.  Paul  does  twice,  in  an  allusive 
way  of  speaking,  call  baptism  a  BURIAL  ;  the  other,  the  custom  of  the 
Christians,  in  the  near  succeeding  times,  which,  being  more  largely  and 
particularly  delivered  in  books,  is  known  to  have  been  generally,  or 
ordinarily,  a  total  immersion."  Defence  of  the  History  of  Infant 
Baptism,  p.  131. 

Archkishop  Tillotson.  "Anciently,  those  who  w^ere  baptized, 
were  immersed  and  buried  in  the  water,  to  represent  their  death  to 
sin ;  and  then  did  rise  up  out  of  the  water,  to  signify  their  entrance 
upon  a  new  life.  And  to  these  customs  the  apostle  alludes,  Rom.  vi. 
i—^r     Worm,  Vol.  I.  Scrnt.  vii.  p.  179. 

Archbishop  Secker.  "  Burying,  as  it  were,  the  person  baptized 
m  the  water,  and  raising  him  out  again,  without  auESTioN,  was 
anciently  the  more  usual  method ;  on  account  of  which  Saint  Paul 
speaks  of  baptism  as  representing  both  the  death,  burial,  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  what  is  grounded  on  them, — our  being  dead  and 
buried  to  sin,  and  our  rising  again  to  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Led. 
on  Catechism,  L.  xxxv. 

Mr.  Sam.  Clarke.  "  We  are  buried  with  Christ  by  baptism,  &c. 
In  the  primitive  times  the  manner  of  baptizing  was  by  immersion,  or 
dipping  the  whole  body  into  the  water.  And  this  manner  of  doing  it 
was  a  very  significant  emblem  of  the  dying  and  rising  again,  referred  to 
by  St.  Paul,  in  the  above-mentioned  similitude."  Expos,  of  the  Church 
Catechism,  p.  294,  ed.  6. 

Mr.  Wells.  "  St.  Paul  here  alludes  to  immersion,  or  dipping  the 
whole  body  under  water  in  baptism ;  which,  he  intimates,  did  typify 
the  death  and  burial  (of  the  person  baptized)  to  sin,  and  his  rising  up 
out  of  the  water  did  typify  his  resurrection  to  newness  of  life."  lllusl. 
Bib.  on  Rom.  vi,  4. 

Mb.  Nicholson,  Bishop  of  Gloucester.     "  In  the  grave  with  Christ 


95]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  47 

we  went  not ;  for  our  bodies  were  not,  could  not  be  buried  with  his ; 
but  i7i  baptism,  by  a  kind  of  analogy  or  resemblance,  while  our  bodies 
are  under  the  water,  we  may  be  said  to  be  buried  with  him."  Expos, 
of  the  Church  Catechism,  p.  174. 

Mr.  Doddridge.  "  Buried  with  him  in  baptism.  It  seems  the 
part  of  candor  to  confess,  that  here  is  an  allusion  to  the  manner  of 
baptizing  by  immersion."     Fam.  Expos.  Note  on  the  place. 

Mr.  George  Whitefield.  "  It  is  certain  that  in  the  words  of  our 
text,  Rora.  vi.  3,  4,  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  manner  of  baptism,  which 
was  by  immersion,  which  is  what  our  own  church  allows,"  &c.  Eighteen 
Sermoiis,  p.  297. 

Mr.  John  Wesley.  '' Buried  with  him — alluding  to  the  ancient 
inanner  of  baptizing  by  immersion."     Note  on  Rom.  vi.  4. 

Mr.  Whitby,  author  of  a  Commentary  on  the  Neiv  Testament,  and 
more  than  forty  other  learned  works.  "  It  being  so  expressly  declared 
here,  Rom.vi.  4,  and  Col.  ii.  13,  that  we  are  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism, 
by  being  buried  under  water ;  and  the  argument  to  oblige  us  to  a  conform- 
ity to  his  death,  by  dying  to  sin,  being  taken  hence;  and  this  immersion 
being  religiously  observed  by  all  Christians  for  THIRTEEN 
CENTURIES,  and  approved  by  our  Church,  and  the  change  of  it  into 
sprinkhng,  even  without  any  allowance  from  the  author  of  this  institu- 
tion, or  any  license  from  and  council  of  the  church,  being  that  which 
the  Romanist  still  urges  to  justify  his  refusal  of  the  cup  to  the  laity;  it 
were  to  be  wished  that  this  custom  might  be  again  of  general  use,  and 
aspersion  only  permitted,  as  of  old,  in  case  of  the  Clinici,  or  in  present 
danger  of  death."     Note  on  Rom.  vi.  4. 


The  apostle  uses  the  figure  of  Planting,  as  well  as  of  Burying,  in 
allusion  to  baptism,  verse  5.  ''  If  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrec- 
tion." This  also  is  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  same  Mode  of  ad- 
ministering it.  The  circumstance  in  nature,  from  which  the  figure  is 
borrowed,  is  the  same  as  that  employed  by  our  Lord,  John  xii.  24. 
"  Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone, 
but  if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  The  seed  to  be  planted 
must  be  buried  in  the  soil ;  so  the  Christian  in  baptism  is  '  planted  in 
the  likeness  of  the  death,  that  he  may  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  the 
resurrection  of  his  Lord.' 

Mr.  Macknight.  "  Planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death. 
The  burying  of  Christ,  and  of  believers,  first  in  the  water  of  baptism, 
and  afterwards  in  the  earth,  is  fitly  enough  compared  to  the  planting  of 
seeds  in  the  earth,  because  the  effect,  in  both  cases,  is  a  reviviscence  to 
a  state  of  greater  perfection."     Note  on  Rom.  vi.  5. 

Assembly  of  Divines.  "  If  we  have  been  planted  together,  Sex:. 
By  this  elegant  similitude  the  apostle  represents  to  us,  that,  as  a  plan 
that  is  set  in  the  earth  lieth  as  dead  and  immoveable  for  a  time,  but  after 
springs  up  and  flourishes,  so  Christ's  body  lay  dead  for  a  while  in  the 


48  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO  BAPTISM.  [96 

grave,  but  sprung  up  and  flourished  in  his  resurrection ;  and  we  also, 
when  we  are  baptized,  are  buried,  as  it  were,  in  the  water  for  a  time, 
but  after  are  raised  up  to  newness  of  life."     Annot.  in  loco. 


Inference,  With  certainty  I  may  gather  from  the  Scriptures  at  the 
head  of  this  section,  That  the  outward  form  of  baptism  in  the  apostolic 
age  was  a  burial  in  watku.  It  is  made  infinitely  interesting  to  the 
heart  of  a  Christian  by  that  which  it  was  intended  to  represent,  viz.  the 
death,  burial,  and  resurrection  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  here  too  I  may 
infer  the  infinite  and  irresistible  obligation  the  baptized  person  is  under 
to  devote  his  life  to  that  Lord  to  whose  death  and  resurrection  he  is  thus 
emblematically  conformed  in  the  baptismal  rite :  and  I  see  also  in  these 
verses,  by  what  principle  and  power  this  is  all  to  be  realized,  "  through 
faith,  which  is  of  the  operation  of  God."  In  none  destitute  of  that 
living  principle  can  this  intention  of  the  ordinance  be  fulfilled.  If 
sprinkling  were  the  mode,  and  infants  the  subjects,  these  passages  never 
could  have  been  written.  To  the  baptism  of  believers  alone,  and  that 
administered  by  immersion,  will  these  passages  apply. 


§  II.  Occasional  Mention  of  Baptism. 

Eph.  iv.  5.  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism. 

1  Cor.  xii.  13.  For  by  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into 
one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  tve  be 
bond  or  free ;  and  have  been  all  made  to  drink  into  one 
Spirit. 

Gal.  iii.  27.  For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized 
into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ. 

1  Cor.  XV.  29.  Else  what  shall  they  do  which  are  bap- 
tized for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all?  Why  are 
they  then  baptized  for  the  dead  ? 


To  the  Epliesians  and  Corinthians  the  apostle  is  recommending 
peace  and  unity ;  that  they  should  be  all  of  one  heart  and  mind,  so  that 
there  be  no  schism  in  the  body,  as  all  were  one  in  Christ.  To  urge 
which,  he  puts  them  in  mind  of  what  they  had  been  uniformly  taught, 
that  there  was  but  "  One  JiORi),  one  Faith,  one  Baptism  ;"  and  that 
"all  were  baptized  into  one  bodt,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles."  We 
should  here  observe,  (what  we  have  so  frequently  noticed  before,)  that 
the  apostle  places  faiih  befoue  baptism,  as  Christ  the  great  Lawgiver 
had  done.  He  that  believeth,  and  is  baptized.  "  One  faith,  one  bap- 
tism." If  this  passage  were  to  be  expressed  according  to  the  general 
practice  of  the  present  day,  the  order  both  of  Christ  and  the  apostle 
must  be  "  reversed.''     See  Simeon,  at  p.  28. 


97]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  49 

In  the  above  verse  to  the  Galatians,  the  apostle  is  thought  to  be 
alluding  to  the  change  of  garments  which  must  necessarily  take  place 
after  the  administration  of  the  ordinance  ;  to  which  may  allude  the 
expressions,  "  putting  off  the  old  man  with  his  deeds,"  and  "  putting  on 
the  new  man,"  Eph.  iv.  22,  24  ;  Col.  iii.  9,  10  ;  and  especially,  as  here, 
"putting  on  Christ,"  as  "the  Lord  our  righteousness." 

Adam  Clarke.  "  When  he  [the  person  baptized]  came  up 
out  of  the  water,  he  seemed  to  have  a  resurrection  to  life.  He  was 
therefore  supposed  to  throw  off  his  old  Gentile  state,  as  he  threw  off 
his  clothes,  and  to  assume  a  new  character,  as  the  baptized  generally 
put  on  new  or  fresh  garments."      Comment,  on  Rom.  vi.  4. 

The  last  verse  cited  above,  1  Cor.  xv.  29,  has  obtained  many  inter- 
pretations, as  the  meaning  of  the  apostle  in  the  words,  "  for  the  dead," 
is  not  certain. 

John  Edwards.  "  Some  of  the  fathers  hold  that  the  apostle's 
argument  in  the  text  is  of  this  sort :  If  there  should  be  no  resurrection 
of  the  dead  hereafter,  why  is  baptism  so  significant  a  symbol  of  our 
dying  and  rising  again,  and  also  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ. 
The  immersion  into  the  water  was  thought  to  signify  the  death  of 
Christ,  and  their  coming  out  denotes  his  rising  again,  and  did  no  less 
represent  their  own  future  resurrection."  In  &iennett's  Answer  to 
Aiddington,  p.  105. 

Mac  KNIGHT.  "Christ's  baptism  was — an  emblem  of  his  future 
death  and  resurrection.  In  like  manner,  the  baptism  of  believers  is  em- 
blematical of  their  own  death,  burial,  and  resurrection."  Apost.  Epis. 
Note  on  Rom.  vi.  4. 

Inference.  If  faith  prkceded  baptism  in  the  apostles'  days,  and  the 
persons  who  received  that  ordinance  had  imbibed  the  influence  of  that 
oxE  Spirit,  and  had  pnt  on  Christ  as  the  robe  of  righteousness,  the 
spiritual  adorning  of  their  souls,  hoping  for  their  part  in  the  first  resur- 
rection at  His  appearing  and  glory,  it  is  most  manifest,  that  none  but  a 
genuine  convert  to  Christ  could  thus  be  baptized,  or  enjoy  such  high 
and  delightful  privileges. 


§  III.  Baptism  illustrated  by  Events  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament. 

These  are  the  last  passages  we  find  in  the  New  Testament  which  relate  to 
^e  subject  of  our  examination. 

1  Cor.  X.  1.  Moreover,  brethren,  I  would  not  that  ye 
should  be  ignorant,  how  that  all  our  fathers  were  under  the 
cloud,  and  all  passed  through  the  sea  ;  2.  And  were  all 
baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea. 

1  Pet.  iii.  20.  The  long  suffering  of  God  waited  in  the 

days  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  a  preparing,  wherein  few, 

that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved  by  water.     31.  The  like 

figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now  save  us  (not 

VOL.  II. — 9  E 


50  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO   BAPTISM.  [98 

the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of 
a  good  conscience  towards  God,)  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ. 


The  better  to  understand  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  first  passage  above, 
the  reader  would  do  well  to  peruse  the  account,  in  the  Old  Testament, 
in  Exod.  xiv.,  to  which  he  refers.  In  verse  22,  we  are  told,  that  the 
Israelites  "  went  into  the  tnidst  of  the  Red  Sea  upon  dry  ground,'^  that 
the  water  divided,  opening  a  passage  for  them,  and  forming  "a  loall 
unto  them  an  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left."  We  also  learn,  that 
"the  cloud"  which  had  conducted  them,  now  removed  its  situation; 
stood  between  the  two  armies,  and  overspread-  and  concealed  the  Israel- 
ites from  their  enemies;  that  it  was  bright,  and  ^^ gave  light"  io  the 
former,  while  it  was  "  darkiiess'^  toward  the  latter.  It  does  not  appear 
that  any  water  actually  touched  the  Israelites  in  aiiy  sense  whatever; 
and  hence,  the  word  "  baptized"  must  be  used  hy  the  apostle  in  s  figura- 
tive sense ,-  and  if  it  has  a  reference  to  the  mode,  we  have  only  to  ask, 
Does  the  situation  of  the  Jews,  "  ix  the  cloud,  and  in  the  sea,"  best 
agree  to  sprinkling  with  water,  or  a  total  burial  in  it  ?  Paedobaptists  of 
the  highest  celebrity  will  answer  : — 

"  WiTsius  (says  Mr.  Booth)  expounds  the  place  to  this  effect.  '  How 
were  the  Israelites  baptized  in  the  cloud,  and  in  the  sea,  seeing  they 
were  neither  immersed  in  the  sea,  nor  wetted  by  the  cloud  ?  It  is  to  be 
considered,  that  the  apostle  here  uses  the  term  '  baptism,'  in  a  figura- 
tive sense,  yet  there  is  some  agreement  to  the  external  sign.  The  sea 
is  water,  and  a  cloud  differs  but  little  from  water.  The  cloud  hung 
over  their  heads,  and  the  sea  surrounded  them  on  each  side  ;  and  so  the 
water  in  regard  to  those  that  are  baptized.'  "  In  Fsed.  Exam.  Vol.  I. 
p.  185. 

Whitby.  "They  were  covered  with  the  sea  on  both  sides,  Exod. 
xiv.  22;  so  that  both  the  cloud  and  the  sea  had  some  resemblance  to 
our  being  covered  with  water  in  baptism.  Their  going  into  the  sea 
resembled  the  ancient  rite  of  going  into  the  water  ;  and  their  coming  out 
of  it,  their  rising  up  out  of  the  water."     Ibid.  p.  187. 

By  the  apostle  Peter,  in  the  passage  cited,  we  are  taught  that  as 
Noah  and  his  family  "  we7-e  saved  by  ivater,"  so  baptism,  the  antitype 
of  the  water  of  the  deluge,  "now  saves"  the  believer;  not  by  a  wash- 
ing of  his  person,  or  a  ceremonial  purification,  which  cannot  take  away 
gin  ;  but  the  water  being  a  "  like  figure"  in  both  cases,  that  is,EXHiBiT- 
I3VG  Christ  and  his  merits,  the  believer  is  saved  by  the  sacred 
KEALiTT  signified.  In  this  case,  baptism  is  "  The  answer  of  a  good 
conscience  toward  God :"  both  the  answer  given  to  inquiry  at  baptism, 
and  the  subsequent  testimony  of  the  mind  to  God,  are  conscienfiouSy 
being  in  accordance  with  a  sincere  and  heartfelt  faith  in  the  merits  of 
the  dying  and  rising  Saviour. 

OwKx.  "  I  deny  not  but  that  there  is  a  great  analogy  between  sal- 
vation by  the  ark,  and  that  by  baptism,  inasmuch  as  the  one  did  repre" 


99]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  51 

sent,  and  the  other  doth  exhibit  Christ  himself."  On  Hebrews,  Vol.  IV. 
p.  138.  Williams's  Abr. 

Mackxight.  "  This  answer  of  a  good  conscience  being  made  to 
God,  is  an  inward  answer,  and  means  the  baptized  person's  sincere 
persuasion  of  the  things  which,  by  submitting  to  baptism,  he  professes 
to  believe ;  namely,  that  Jesus — arose  from  the  dead,  and  that  at  the 
last  day  he  will  raise  all  from  the  dead  to  eternal  life,  who  sincerely 
obey  him."     Apost.  Epist.     Note  in  loc. 

Inference.  If  the  exercise  of  "  a  good  conscience"  is  associated  with 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  in  none  but  a  believer  in  Christ  can  this 
union  be  realized. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  NEV7  TESTAMENT. 

Havix (J  now,  my  reader,  completed  the  chief  design  of  this  pamphlet 
In  transcribing,  and  laying  before  you  every  passage  of  this  sacred 
volume  that  relates  to  the  subject  of  our  inquiry,  and  contains  any  in- 
formation, whether  on  the  subjects,  mode,  or  spiritual  design  of  bap- 
tism, I  have,  I  humbly  hope,  fulfilled  the  title  I  have  assumed,  in  pre- 
senting you  with  •'  THE  SCRIPTURE  GtiiDE  TO  BAPTISM."  Our  Divinc 
Master  commanded  us  to  "search  tiie  Scriptures,"  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  it  would  meet  with  His  gracious  approbation  if  this  plan  were 
adopted,  in  reference  to  any  subject  pertaining  to  His  cause  or  kingdom. 
"  To  the  word  and  to  the  testimony,"  is  an  inspired  maxim  in  theology, 
and  one  from  which  no  Protestant  will  dissent.  "  Ye  do  err,"  said  our 
Redeemer,  "not  knowing  the  Scriptures." 

Vl^'e  ought,  therefore,  now  to  be  able  to  answer  the  three  inquiries 
proposed  at  the  beginning : — 

I.  Who  are  proper  subjects  of  Christian  baptism,  according  to  the 
authority  of  Christ,  and  the  practice  of  his  apostles  1 

Answer.  We  have  met  with  the  baptism  of  many  thousands  of 
persons,  ai>d  the  ordinance  administered  on  many  different  occasions ; 
but  we  have  no  where  found,  through  all  this  sacred  book,  any  one  per- 
son  baptized  (Christ  excepted)  that  we  have  the  slightest  reason  to 
suppose  was  not  first  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and 
had  professed  to  beliete  ;  but  this  is  either  expressly  testified,  or  so 
implied  of  all,  as  to  leave  no  just  ground  of  dispute. 

II.  By  what  mode  should  the  ordinance  be  administered  1 

Answer.  W^e  have  no  where  met  with  a  single  verse,  word,  or  cir- 
cumstance, which  indicates  the  application  of  water,  by  pouring  or 
sprinkling ;  but  wherever  any  thing  is  found  descriptive  of  this  ordi- 
nance, immersion  (as  the  word  baptism  undeniably  signifies)  is 
plainly  implied  in  circumstances,  and  confirmed  by  allusions. 

III.  What  is  its  spiritual  design,  and  in  whom  is  it  realized  ? 
Ansiuer.     The  passages  that  kav^  been  feefore  -us  plainly  indicate, 


52  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [100 

that  it  was  the  Divine  intention  that  this  ordinance  should  exhibit  and 
teach  the  important  change  produced  by  the  efficacy  of  grace  on  a  sin- 
ner, namely,  his  purification /row  sin,  and  buiiial  as  to  the  love 
and  practice  of  it;  his  kesukiiection  to  a  new  and  religious  life;  the 
UNION  and  fellowship  into  which  the  Christian  enters  with  the  Tri- 
une God  ;  and  his  rising  from  the  dead,  through  his  risen  Lord,  at  his 
coming. 

Here  my  pages  might  close  :  but  when  the  subject  of  baptism  was 
first  brought  under  my  own  examination,  and  I  had  read  with  care  these 
portions  of  Scripture  ;  being  taught  from  early  childhood  to  consider  in- 
fant baptism  of  Divine  authority,  I  felt  anxious  to  propose  a  few  auES- 
TioNs  to  those  competent  to  answer  me  :  and  I  conceived  the  generality 
of  inquirers  on  the  subject  would  feel  a  similar  solicitude.  On  these 
questions  I  have  obtained  satisfaction  to  my  own  mind ;  and  being  de- 
sirous the  reader,  if  disposed  to  propose  the  same  questions,  should 
enjoy  the  same  satisfaction,  I  shall  employ  an  appendix  to  the  fore- 
going pages,  in  expressing  those  questions,  and  giving  such  answers  as 
to  me  appeared  conclusive  and  satisfactory.  Whether  the  reader  may 
consider  them  so  or  not,  I  leave  to  his  own  judgment  and  conscience, 
and  to  the  influence  of  that  Spirit,  whose  office  it  is  to  "  guide  into  all 
truth." 

I  shall  support  the  answers  by  citations  from  eminent  Paedobaptist 
writers,  as  I  have  done  my  foregoing  observations ;  and  sometimes  give 
such  extracts  alone,  as  the  best  and  most  conclusive  repTies. 


A.PPENDIX,  PART  I. 


On  the  Grounds  of  Infant  Baptism,  its  Rise,  and  sup- 
posed Benefits. 

1.  Question.  Although  in  the  passages  of  Scripture 
you  have  cited,  I  have  not  found  an  express  authority, 
either  by  command  or  example,  for  tlie  baptism  of  infants, 
yet  will  Paedobaptist  divines  allow  that  no  such  authority 
is  to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament  ? 

A72swer.  Bishop  Burnet.  "There  is  no  express  precept  or  rule 
given  in  the  New  Testament  for  baptism  of  infants."  Expos,  of  the 
Articles,  Art.  xxvii. 

Mr.  S.  Palmer.  "There  is  nothing  in  the  words  of  institution,  nor 
in  any  after  accounts  of  the  administration  of  this  rite,  respecting  the 
baptism  of  infants  :  there  is  not  a  single  precept  for,  nor  example  of,  this 
practice  through  the  whole  New  Testament."  Aninver  to  Priestley  on 
the  Lord*s  Supper,  p.  7. 

Luther,     "  Jt  cannot  be  proved  by  the  sacred  Scripture,  that  infant 


101]  SCRIPTUEE   ©UIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  53 

baptism  was  instituted  by  Christ,  or  begun  by  tke  first  Christians  after 
the  apostles."  {In  Psed.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  4=.)  See  also  Good-wiit, 
Bosxox,  LiMB-oacH,  aud  Baxtkr,  at  page  44  of  this  pamphlet. 

2.  What  then  are  we  to  make  of  those  words  of  our 
Saviour,  and  his  subsequent  conduct?  Mark  x.  14,  16. 
"Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid 
them  not ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  he 
took  them  up  in  his  arms,  put  his  hands  upon  them,  and 
blessed  them." 

Answer.  If,  when  our  co»descending  Saviour  took  these  children  in 
his  arms,  it  had  been  added  "and  he  baptized  them,"  instead  of  the 
words  "and  blessed  them,"  then  this  passage  with  propriety  might  be 
adduced,  and,  indeed,  would  have  decided  the  subject;  but  as  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  recorded  the  circumstance,  it  no  more  refers  to  infant  baptism, 
than  to  infant  communion,  or  infant  circumcision. — It  is  certain  Christ 
did  not  baptize  these  children,  for  he  never  baptized  at  all,  John  iv.  2  ; 
and  if  liis  disciples,  who  baptized  for  him  and  by  his  authority,  had 
been  commanded  by  their  Lord  to  baptize  infants,  it  is  certain  they 
would  not  have  "  rebuked"  the  parents  or  frieniis  of  these  children  for 
bringing  them. 

But  this  passage,  by  fair  mference,  and  implication,  contains  an  ar- 
gument against  infant  baptism.  Here  you  observe  parents  bringing 
their  children  to  J^sus  to  crave  his  blessing  upon  them ;  or,  at  least, 
that  he  would  "  pray,"  Matt,  xix.  13,  that  the  blessing  of  heaven  might 
attend  them. 

Now  let  me  ask.  If  baptism  would  have  brought  these  children  into 
the  covenant  of  grace,  or  into  Christ's  church,  or  secured  to  them  any 
spiritual  benefit,  would  the  Lord  Jesus  have  concealed  that  circumstance 
from  these  parents,  and  from  his  disciples  1  Would  he  *  take  them  in 
his  arms  and  bless  them,'  and  give  them  back  to  the  parents  tvithout  bap- 
tism, and  without  a  word  upon  that  ordinance  ?  Was  it  ever  known 
that  any  spiritual  benefit  was  sought  from  him  and  he  bestowed  it  not "? 
Here  the  spiritual  good  of  these  children  was  sought  at  his  hands,  and 
if  baptism  was  the  key,  the  seal,  the  door  to  all  the  spiritual  blessings 
-of  the  covenant  of  grace,  (as  Psedobaptists  often  describe  it,)  would  the 
Lord  Jesus  refuse  it, — or  send  them  ?iway  without  it  ]  This  is  impos- 
sible ;  and,  therefore,  I  infer  that  infant  baptism  is  no  part  of  the  will 
of  Christ,  that  it  can  communicate  no  good,  and  ought  not  to  be  ob- 
served. Some  of  the  most  learned  Paedobaptists  are  aware  that  this 
passage  serves  not  their  cause^ 

Poole's  Coxtinuators.  "  We  must  take  heed  we  do  not  found 
infant  baptism  upon  the  example  of  Christ  in  this  text ;  for  it  is  certain 
that  he  did  not  baptize  these  children.  Mark  only  saith,  He  took  them 
up  in  his  arms,  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and  blessed  them/*  Annot.  on 
the  place,  in  Matt.  xix.  14. 

Bishop  TAXLon.  "  From  the  action  of  Cbrist';s  blessing  infants,  to 
9*  E? 


64  SCIUPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  C^^^ 

infer  they  are  to  be  baptized,  proves  nothing  so  much,  as  that  there  is  a 
want  of  better  arguments ;  for  the  conclusion  would  with  more  proba- 
biUty  be  derived  thus : — Christ  blessed  infants,  and  so  dismissed  them, 
but  baptized  them  not ;  therefore,  infants  are  not  to  be  baptized.** — 
Liberty  of  Prophecy,  p.  230. 

3.  If  the  New  Testament  does  not  afford  an  authority 
for  infant  baptism,  upon  what  grounds  do  Paedobaptist 
divines  practise  and  defend  it  ? 

Answer.  Mr.  Edav.  Williams,  (one  of  its  most  zealous  advocates,) 
affirms,  "  The  champions  [for  it]  are  by  no  means  agreed  upon  this 
question.  On  what  is  the  right  of  infants  to  baptism  founded!"* 

Their  grounds  are  various  and  contradictory.  The  early  fathers  who 
practised  it,  urged  the  virtue  of  the  ordinance  in  taking  away  sin,  and 
securing  eternal  life ;  adding,  the  certain  ruin  of  those  that  neglected 
it.j- — The  church  of  Rome  holds,  "  If  any  one  shall  say  that  baptism 
is — not  necessary  to  salvation,  let  him  be  accursed.":j: — The  Greek 
chufch,  by  Cyril,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  affirms,  "We  believe 
that  baptism  is  a  sacrament  appointed  by  the  Lord,  which  except  a 
person  receive  he  has  no  communion  with  Christ."§ — The  Lutheran 
church,  and  the  church  of  England,  hold  both  the  ordinances  "  as 
generally  necessary  to  salvation."  'J'he  former,  agreeing  with  Calvin 
and  Melancthon,  '  own  a  sort  of  faith  in  infants,'  affijrding  them  a 
right;  while  the  English  church  hesitates  not  to  baptize  them,  "  Because 
they  (the  infants)  promise  by  their  sureties"  repentance  and  faith, 
**  which  promise,  when  they  come  to  age,  themselves  are  bound  to 
perform."|i 

Many  learned  writers,  as  well  as  churches,  have  expressed  their  views 
upon  this  inquiry.  Mr.  Wall,  Mr.  Hammond,  and  many  others,  hold 
that  the  practice  of  '  Judish  proselyte  baptism'  is  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  rite,  and  as  infants  received  the  former,  so  they  should  the 
latter:  but  Mr.  Owen,  Mr.  Jennings,  and  others,  have  proved  that  no 
such  practice  existed  among  the  Jews  to  afford  such  a  pattern  till  gene- 
rations after  Christ.^ — Sir  N.  KnatchbuU  assumes  circumcision  as  the 
proper  foundation. — Beza,  and  after  him  Mr.  Doddridge  and  others,  con- 
sidered the  holiness  of  the  children  of  believers,  as  making  them  proper 
subjects.** — Mr.  Matt.  Henry  and  Mr.  Dwight  contended  that  *  the 
profession  of  faith  made  by  the  parents'  to  be  their  children's  right.-|-f- — 
Mr.  H.  F.  Burder  affirms,  "  The  identical  principle  which  pervades  and 
unites  the  whole  of  the  argument — is  that  infants  are  to  be  baptized 
SOLELY  on  the  ground  of  connexion  with  their  parents  "  and  this  he 
explains, — "  It  is  a  connexion  in  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  covenant  of 
redemption,  the  everlasting  covenant,  embracing  all  that  man  can  desire, 

*  Notes  on  Mordce's  Social  Reliirion,  p.  68.— t  See  OriirRn,  Cyprian,  and  Am- 
brose in  Mr.  Wall's  Hist,  of  Infant  Bap.  Vol.  I.  chap.  6.  13.  14.-t  Calpchism  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  Part.  11.  p.  \M.—%  Confess.  Christ.  Fidei,  cap.  xvi.— |I  See  Church 
CatPchisni,  and  P^dobap.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  491,  et  seq.— IT  Mr.  Judson's  Serm.  oa 
Christian  Baptism,  pp.  62,  63.—**  See  Beza  and  Doddridge  on  1  Cor.  vii.  14.— 
tt  Treatise  on  Baptism,  p.  76,  and  Dwight's  Theology  on  the  subject. 


103]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  55 

or  all  that  Jehovah  can  impart."* — An  anonymous  writer  affirms  that 
"  children  by  baptism  are  actually  brought  into  the  covenant  of  grace  " 
This  is  denied  by  another,  who  replies  that  the  "  children  of  believers 
are  really  and  truly  in  the  covenant  of  grace  before  their  baptism."-j- 

4.  Some  of  the  grounds  assumed  by  those  churches  and 
eminent  men,  appear  to  have  weight.  Does  not  the  *'  ho- 
liness" referred  to,  existing  in  the  children  of  believers, 
and  founded  on  1  Cor.  vii.  14,  afford  the  ground  required? 
"  For  the  unbelieving  Kusband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife, 
and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  by  the  husband  ;  else 
were  your  children  unclean,  but  now  they  are  holy.*'  If 
holy,,  they  are  surely  proper  subjects  of  baptism. 

Answer,  So  many  good  men  have  thought :  but  holiness  is  no 
where  required  in  God's  word  as  a  pre-requisite  to  baptism.  And  is 
there  not  an  absurdity  in  the  thought  that  baptism,  which  is  the  out- 
ward sign  of  washing  away  sin,  Acts  xxii.  16,  should  be  administered 
to  infants,  because  they  are  holy  ? 

But  what  is  the  holiness  intended  in  the  above  passage  1  The  apos- 
tle says,  it  results  from  an  uxbelievek  being  sanctified.  Now  this 
sanctitication  cannot  be  spiritual ,-  for  that  is  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  upon  the  mind  and  heart,  and  in  which  an  unbeliever  has  no 
share  or  part.  Acts  viii.  21.  If  attention  be  paid  to  the  subject  upon 
which  the  apostle  is  speaking,  his  meaning  can  readily  be  perceived.  He 
is  advising  the  Corinthians  upon  the  question,  '  Whether,  if  a  husband 
or  wife  who  is  converted  to  Christ,  has  an  unbelieving  partner,  either 
Jew  or  idolater,  the  believer  should  separate  from  the  connexion  ;^  as 
in  Ezra  x.  1 — 14.  The  apostle  advises,  '  If  the  unbelieving  partner  be 
pleased  to  dwell  with  the  believer,  the  believer  should  not  cause  the 
separation.'  Then  follows  the  passage  before  us,  "  For  the  unbelieving 
husband  is  sanctified  by  the  wife  ;"  or,  as  Doddridge  renders  it,  "  is 
sanctified  to  the  wife,"  dec. 

Now,  in  wliat  sense  can  any  thing,  or  person,  be  sanctified,  in  which 
there  is  no  moral  or  spiritual  holiness  communicated,  and  the  sancti- 
fication  is  not  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ]  The  Scriptures  afford  the 
reply  :  The  temple,  the  altar,  the  offerings,  the  official  garments,  &c., 
under  the  law,  were  expressly  said  to  be  sanctified,  when  they  were 
appointed  by  God's  law,  and  set  apart  to  certain  specified  purposes. 
Apply  this  to  the  subject  before  us.  Marriage  is  an  appointment  of 
God ;  and  when  a  man  or  woman  enters  into  that  contract,  he  or  she, 
by  God's  law,  is  set  apart,  or  sanctified,  to  stand  in  the  relation  of  hus- 
band or  wife;  and  hence  the  union  is  lawful,  becoming,  and  pleasing  to 
God,  and  shall  continue  to  be  so,  though  one  of  the  parties  shall  be 
converted  and  the  other  be  an  unbeliever.^: 


*  Sermon  of  the  Rishl  of  Tnfanis  to  Baptism,  pp.  7,  25;  cited  by  Mr.  I.  Bin  in 
Strictures  on  ditto,  p.  18.— t  In  Paedobap.  Exam,  as  tipfore. 

$  Mr.  Gill,  on  the  verse  in  question,  cites  a  numl)er  of  passages  from  Jewish 
writings,  in  which  the  word  sanctified,  in  the  phraseology  of  common  use,  is  used 
for  legally  espoused.    If  iliis  reading  were  adopted  in  this  passage,  it  would  not 


56  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [104 

Taking  this,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  the  sense  of  the  passage,  the 
inference  which  the  apostle  draws  from  this  sanctification,  or  legal 
appointment  and  constitution  by  Divine  law,  is  natural,  "  else  were  your 
children  unclean,  but  now  are  they  holy."  i.  e.  If  the  marriage  union  was 
not  according  to  the  law  of  God,  your  children  would  be  the  fruit  of  un- 
cleanness ;  but  now,  the  union  being  in  harmony  with  God's  will,  they 
are  "  holy  ;"  they  are  free  from  illegitimate  impurity.  So  some  of  the 
greatest  and  best  Paedobaptist  writers  understand  the  apostle.  Thus 
among  a  multitude  of  others : — 

Mr.  T.  Williams,  of  London.  "  The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified by  the  (believing)  wife,  &c.,  so  that  the  connexion  is  perfectly 
lawful,  and  the  children  are  legitimate,  or  in  a  ceremonial  sense,  holy.''^ 
Cottage  Bible,  on  the  place. 

Melancthojt,  the  Reformer.  "  The  connexion  of  the  argument 
is  this,  '  If  the  use  of  marriage  should  not  please  God,  your  children 
would  he  bastards,  and  so  unclean  ,•  but  your  children  are  not  bastards, 
therefore  the  use  of  marriage  pleaseth  God.*  How  bastards  were  un- 
clean in  a  peculiar  manner  the  law  shows,  Deut.  xxiii."  la  Psedobap. 
Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  375. 

■SuAREs  AND  Vas<iues.  "The  children  are  called  holy,  in  a  civil 
sense  :  that  is,  legitimate,  and  not  spurious.  As  if  Paul  had  said,  *  If 
your  marriage  were  unlawful,  your  children  would  be  illegitimate.  But 
the  former  is  not  a  fact ;  therefore  not  the  latter.'  "   Ibid.  p.  373. 

Cam>;ro.  "  The  holiness  of  which  the  apostle  speaks  is  not  opposed  to 
that  impurity  which  by  nature  property  agrees  to  all  on  account  of  Adam's 
offence,  but  to  the  impurity  of  which  believing  wives  were  apprehensive 
from  their  cohabiting  with  unbelieving  husbands."     Ibid.  p.  372. 

Inference.  If  the  holiness  which  is  merely  legitimacy  of  birth,  is 
no  title  to  baptism,  then  tihe  passage  we  have  considered  favors  not  the 
baptism  of  infants. 

5.  From  this  interpretation,  it  would  appear  that  the 
children  of  believers  are  no  better,  or  more  /?o/y  by  nature, 
than  the  children  of  unbelievei's.  Is  this  in  accordance 
\vith  the  Scriptures  ? 

Answer.  Most  unquestionably  so.  Thus  Psalm  li.  5,  <'  Behold, 
•(saith  the  son  of  pious  Jesse,)  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did 
my  mother  conceive  me."  Eph.  ii.  3,  "  We  (says  the  apostle  Paul, 
for  himself  and  all  the  primitive  Christians,)  were  i»r  xature  the 
<;hildren  of  wrath,  even  as  others."  Romans  v.  12,  "  Wherefore,  as 
hy  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin  ;  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned."  Chap.  iii.  9,  10, 
**■  What  then,  are  we  better  tSian  they  1     No,  in  no  wise  :  for  we  have 

only  convey  good  sense,  hut  make  the  reasonin<;  of  tlie  apostle  evident.  If  the 
word  hoi  1/  must  be  taken  in  a^spiritual  sense,  and  infant  baptism  inferred  from  it, 
the  word  sa7iitified,  being  evidently  hereof  a  kindred  meaning,  would  unquestion- 
ably afford  equal  ground  for  the  baptism  of  the  unbelieving  parent !  Nor  siiould 
it  be  forgotten,  that  the  word  children  in  this  place,  as  in  Acts  ii.  39,  signifies 
posterity  of  any  age. 


1053  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  57 

before  proved  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  that  they  are  all  under  sin  ;  as 
it  is  written,  there  is  none  righteous,  no  not  one."  And  our  Saviour 
adds,  "  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit.     Ye  must  be  born  again."     John  iii.  6,  7. 

Church  of  EjfGLAJf  d.  "  Original  sin  is  the  fault  and  corruption  of 
the  nature  of  every  man ;  and  therefore  in  every  person  born  into  thi^i 
w-orld  it  deserveth  God's  wrath."     Articles,  Art.  ix. 

Mr.  DoRRiNGTois^.  "  Although  the  parents  be  admitted  into  the 
new  covenant,  the  children  born  of  them  are  not  born  within  that  cove- 
nant, but  are,  as  all  others,  born  in  a  state  of  rebellion  and  misery."* 
Vindlcat.  of  the  Cliurch,  p.  44. 

Mr.  Adam  Clarke.  "  All  are  born  with  a  sinful  nature, — there  has 
never  been  one  instance  of  an  immaculate  human  soul  since  the  fall  of 
Adam.  Through  his  transgression  all  come  into  the  world  with  the 
seeds  of  death  and  corruption  in  their  own  nature ;  all  are  sinful — all 
are  mortal — and  must  die."     On  Rom.  v.  12,  13. 

Mr.  Doddridge,  "  As  we  all  proceed  from  a  corrupt  original,  we 
do  not  more  evidently  bear  the  image  of  the  earthly  Adam  in  the  in- 
firmities of  a  mortal  body,  than  in  the  degeneracy  of  a  corrupted  mind." 
Farn.  Expos.  Improv.  on  John  iii.  1 — 10. 

6.  But  God  was  pleased  to  promise  to  Abraham  to  be 
"  a  God  to  him  and  to  his  seed."  Gen.  xvii.  7.  Now 
believers  in  Christ  are  Abraham's  spiritual  seed ;  must  not 
they,  therefore,  and  their  seed,  be  included  in  that  promise, 
and  possess  the  same  spiritual  benefits  ? 

Answer.  The  statement  introducing  this  question  is  an  important 
truth,  that  God  promised  to  be  'a  God  to  Abraham  and  to  his  seed ;' 
and  so  it  is  true  that  believers  in  Christ  are  Abraham's  spiritual  seed, 
and  also  that  the  God  of  Abraham  is  equally  their  God  :  but  it  would 
be  not  only  not  true,  but  an  alarming  and  dangerous  error,  to  assert 
that  the  children  of  believers  are,  on  that  account,  also  the  spiritual 
seed  of  Abraham,  and  enjoy  the  same  benefits.  The  children  of  believers 
must  themselves  become  believers,  must  possess  the  same  faith  with 
their  parents,  and  be  Christ's  genuine  disciples,  in  order  to  be  included 
in  that  promise  and  blessedness. 

Hear  the  apostle  Paul,  Gal.  iii.  6,  7,  "  Abraham  believed  God,"  i.  c. 
in  reference  to  the  coming  Messiah,  "  and  it  was  accounted  to  him  for 
righteousness.  Know  ye,  therefore,  that  they  which  are  of  faith,  the 
same  are  the  children  of  Abraham :"  ver.  29,  "  and  if  ye  are  Christ's, 
then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  according  to  the  promise."  And 
ver.  9,  "  So  then  they  which  be  op  faith  are  blessed  with  faithful 
Abraham." 

No  doctrine  can  be  more  dangerous,  (because  calculated  to  be  fatally 
lelusive,)  than  this,  '  That  because  persons  are  bom  of  pious  parents 
they  are  therefore  under  gome  peculiar  spiritual  and  advantageous  dis- 


•  ♦  See  Appendix,  Pan  IV. 


58  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [106 

tinction,  on  account  of  which  they  are  entitled  to  sacred  privileges,  and 
do  not  need  equally  with  others  the  same  converting  grace  and  mercy, 
and  the  same  atoning  sacrifice.'  John  the  Baptist  applied  the  axe  to 
the  root  of  this  tree,  at  the  dawn  of  this  dispensation.  "  Think  not 
to  say  within  yourselves,  We  have  Abraham  to  our  Father."  Ye  are 
a  "  generation  of  vipers  !  Who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come  ?"  So  our  Redeemer,  when  the  Jews  uttered  their  usual  vaunt, 
"  We  be  Abraham's  seed,"  repHed,  "  I  know  that  ye  are  Abraham's 
seed.  If  God  were  your  Father,  ye  would  love  me.  Ye  are  of  your 
father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye  will  do."  John  viii.  33, 
37,  43,  44.     Such  is  Christ's  testimony  of  the  carnal  circumcision  ! 

If,  then,  Abraham's  own  descendants  were  not  his  spiritual  seed,  while 
destitute  of  faith  and  love,  surely  none  can  contend  that  the  unbeliev- 
ing descendants  of  believing  Gentiles  can  be  that  spiritual  seed. 

Mn.  Edw.  Williams  exposes  this  error  in  strong  terms,  in  his 
Notes  on  Morrice's  Social  Beligion.  "  Our  author  takes  considerable 
pains  to  maintain  a  favorite  point,  which  I  shall  pronounce  a  very  pre- 
carious hypothesis.  It  is  that  of  hereditary  grace,  if  I  may  so  express 
the  notion, — that  all  the  children  of  the  godly  are  absolutely  interested 
in  all  new  covenant  blessings. . . .  But  that  interpretation  of  the  Abra- 
hamic  promise,  Gen.  xvii.  7,  which  Mr.  M.  and  some  others  have 
adopted,  and  which  considers  the  words  in  their  undistinguished  appli- 
cation,   is    REPLETE    WITH    VERT     ABSURD     CONSEaUENCES.       Jchovah, 

surely,  was  not  the  God  of  Abraham  and  of  his  unbelieving  descen- 
dants in  the  same  respects.  . . .  The  New  Testament  saints  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  the  Abrahamic  covenant  than  the  Old  Testament 
believers  who  lived  prior  to  Abraham."     Notes,  p.  312 — 317. 

Matt,  Henry.  "  Grace  doth  not  run  in  the  blood,  nor  are  saving 
benefits  inseparably  annexed  to  external  church  privileges ;  though  it 
is  common  for  people  thus  to  stretch  the  meaning  of  God's  promise  to 
bolster  themselves  up  in  a  vain  hope.  . . .  The  children  of  the  flesh,  as 
such,  by  virtue  of  their  relationship  to  Abraham — are  not  therefore  thie 
children  of  God."     Expos,  on  Rom.  ix.  6 — 13. 

7.  But  did  not  circumcision  bring  those  that  received  it 
into  the  covenant  of  grace  ? 

Answer.  No  :  in  no  case  whatever.  The  covenant  of  grace  (as 
Mr.  Border  expresses  it,  cited  at  p.  54,)  is  '  the  covenant  of  redemption, 
the  everlasting  covenant.'  Nothing  can  bring  into  that  covenant  but 
the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  existed  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  and  righteous  Abel  enjoyed  its  blessings.  It  has  been  an  ever- 
flowing  river,  communicating  its  saving  streams  to  the  church  of  God 
THHouGH  ALL  AGES,  and  ALL  DISPENSATIONS.  Enoch,  Noah,  and,  no 
doubt,  thousands  of  others,  though  uncircumcised,  enjoyed  the  blessed- 
ness of  this  covenant  before  Abraham  was  born.  Circumcision,  there- 
fore, is  no  part  of  the  '  covenant  of  grace ;'  and  that  it  did  not  bring 
Abraham  into  it  is  undeniably  clear,  for  he  enjoyed  it  and  all  its  blessed- 
ness many  years  before  circumcision  was  instituted  ;  when  he  was,  says 
the  apostle,  "  not  in  circumcision,  but  in  uncircumcision."  Rom.  iv.  10. 


107]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO    BAPTISM.  59 

\nd  that  this  rite  did  not  bring  children  into  the  covenant  of  grace  is 
equally  evident,  from  the  addresses  of  all  the  holy  prophets  and  apos- 
des,  and  of  Christ  himself,  to  those  who  had  thus  received  that  rite,  and 
i!vho  are  addressed  a.s  persons  entirely  destitute  of  the  grace  of  God,  and 
being  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath  even  as  others.  See,  among 
innumerable  passages,  Isa.  i.  2 — 15,  John  viii.  42 — 44,  Eph.  ii.  3,  Acts 
vii.  51,  52. 

8.  In  what  sense,  then,  is  circumcision  '  a  seal  of  the 
covenant,'  if  it  had  not  this  efficacy  ? 

Answer.  Common  as  it  is  to  denominate  circumcision  a  seal  of  the 
covenant,  it  is  no  where  so  denominated  in  the  word  of  God.  In  one 
place,  Rom.  iv.  1 1,  it  is  called  a  seal  of  righteousness  ,•  but  except  the 
whole  verse  be  cited,  the  sense  of  the  apostle  is  entirely  lost.  The 
words  are  these :  "  And  he  (that  is,  Abraham)  received  the  sign  of 
circumcision,  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the  faith  which  he  had  yet 
being  uncircumcised."  In  no  other  place  is  circumcision  called  a  seal ; 
and  let  my  reader  try,  after  carefully  looking  at  the  whole  passage,  to 
make  this  applicable  to  infants,  or  to  infant  circumcision  or  baptism,  or 
to  unbelievers  in  any  case,  if  he  can.     He  will  remark, 

1.  Circumcision  is  here  spoken  of,  not  in  reference  to  its  general 
administration  to  the  Jewish  nation,  but  to  Abraham  in  particular. 
2.  It  is  spoken  of,  not  as  it  might  be  received  by  a  person  destitute  of  vital 
piety,  for  it  is  called  "  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith,  &c."  3.  It 
is  not  spoken  of  as  sealing  what  was  in  future  to  be  bestowed  or  en- 
joyed, but  of  a  blessing  lojig  before  possessed — "  of  the  faith  which  he 
had,  yet  being  uncircumcised." 

I  appeal  to  the  serious  judgment  of  the  reader,  what  a  perversion  of 
the  sense  of  God's  word  it  must  be,  to  call  circumcision,  from  this 
passage,  '  a  seal  of  the  covenant,'  or,  '  a  seal  of  righteousness,'  thereby 
referring  to  the  national  administration  of  that  rite  to  the  Jews,  and  as 
sealing  to  them  the  blessings  of  salvation,  when  the  apostle  so  guar- 
dedly expresses  himself  as  sealing  only  what  a  true  ano  lia'ino  faith 
had  previously  obtained  !  This  passage  can  a:  ply  to  none  but  to  Abra- 
ham, and  those  of  his  posterity,  who,  like  their  progenitor,  possessed  a 
converting  and  saving  faith. 

Venema.  "  Circumcision  was  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  faith, 
as  the  apostle  affirms ;  but  this  only  in  respect  of  such  Israelites  as  were 
believers."     In  Psedobap.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  268. 

9.  Why,  then,  was  circumcision  administered  to  infants 
at  all? 

Answer.  It  pleased  God  to  enter  into  z.  particular  covenant  with 
Abraham,  which  he  had  not  done  with  the  other  patriarchs,  though 
they  equally  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  the  covenant  of  grace ;  in  which 
particular  covenant,  described  in  Gen.  xvii.  1 — 14,  the  Almighty  prom- 
ised to  Abraham,  "  I  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly  —  make  thee 
"  exceeding  fruitful ;  and  I  will  make  nations  of  thee,  and  kings  shall 
"come  out  of  thee. — And  I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after 


60  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [108 

«*thee,  the  land  wherein  thou  art  a  stranger,  all  the  land  of  Canaan,  for 
"  an  everlasting  possession ;  and  I  will  be  their  God." 

My  reader  need  not  be  told,  that  an  kauthlt  kixgdom  is  here 
promised  to  Abraham  and  his  seed.  He  was  to  multiply  into  a  nation, 
*r  nations,  and  kings  were  to  arise  amongst  them  ;  the  land  of  Canaan 
was  to  be  their  country,  and  their  perpetual  residence.  In  it  they  were 
to  dwell  from  generation  to  generation,  and  to  continue  a  separate  people 
from  all  other  nations,  until  the  special  promised  seed,  that  is 
Christ,  should  appear,  in  whom,  as  afterwards  declared.  Gen.  xxii. 
17, 19,  "  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  blessed." 

To  this  covenant  it  pleased  God  to  append  the  institution  of  circum- 
cision. Thus  it  is  given.  Gen.  xvii.  9 — 23 : — "  Thou  shalt  keep  my 
"  covenant,  therefore  ;  thou,  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their  generations. 
"  This  is  my  covenant  which  ye  shall  keep, — Every  man  child  amongst 
"  you  shall  be  circumcised ;  he  that  is  eight  days  old,  he  that  is  born 
"  in  thy  house,  or  bought  with  money  of  any  stranger,  must  needs  be 
"  circumcised  ;  and  my  covenant  shall  be  in  your  flesh  for  an  everlast- 
"  ing  covenant.  And  Abraham  took  Ishmael  his  son,  and  all  that  vv'ere 
"  bom  in  his  house,  and  all  that  were  bought  with  money,  every  male 
"  among  the  men  of  Abraham's  house,  and  circumcised  the  flesh  of 
*'  their  foreskin  in  the  self-same  day,  as  God  had  said  unto  him." 

My  reader  will  here  perceive  how  the  rite  of  circumcision  pertained 
to  Abraham's  household.  Every  7nale  from  eight  days  old,  and  every 
servant, or  picrchasedslave,  of  any  age,  willing  or  unwilling,  must  submit 
to  this  rite  ;  and  if  he  refused,  "  that  soul  (it  is  added,)  v.  14,  shall  be  cut 
off  from  his  people."  Can  this  rite,  thus  indispensably  administered  to 
all  the  males  of  a  house,  because  the  master  received  it,  be  to  them  the 
seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace  1  This,  I  think,  no  enhghtened  Christian 
can  for  a  moment  imagine. 

The  Divine  intention  in  making  this  ordinance  a  national  rite,  and 
requiring  it  to  be  so  strictly  observed  upon  all  the  male  offspring  of 
Abraham,  and  to  those  who  were  incorporated  among  them,  appears 
evidently  to  be,  their  separation  as  a  people  from  the  kest 
OF  THE  w^oRLD,  that  in  them,  in  after  ages,  God  might  accomplish 
his  wise  and  gracious  purposes ,-  first,  in  the  coming  of  the  promised 
Seed,  the  Saviour  of  sinners ;  and  beyond  that  event,  in  what  the 
prophets  have  foretold  of  Israel,  to  be  fulfilled  at  a  period  yet  to  come. 
For  these  designs,  God  was  pleased  to  separate  the  Jews,  by  this  indel- 
ible sign  upon  their  persons  :  and  as  it  was  to  be  a  national  distinction, 
it  must  necessarily  be  a  national  rite,  and  in  ctlecting  this  separation 
the  Divine  wisdom  appears  in  applying  it  in  early  infancy. 

WiTSius.  "  The  descendants  of  Abraham  were  separated  by  cir- 
cumcision from  other  nations,  and  renounced  their  friendship;  as  appears 
from  the  open  declaration  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  Gen.  xxxiv.  14, 15.  A 
circumcised  person,  say  the  Jews,  '  has  withdrawn  himself  from  the 
whole  body  of  the  nations.'  And,  indeed,  circumcision  was  a  great 
part,  and  as  it  were  the  fouxdatiox  of  the  middle  wall  of 
partition."     Econ.  of  the  Cov.  Book  iv.  ch.  8.  §  20. 


109]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  61 

Mr.  Erskine.  "  V/hen  God  promised  the  land  of  Canaan  to  Abra- 
ham and  his  seed,  circumcision  was  instituted  for  this,  among  other 
purposes,  to  show  that  descent  from  Abraham  was  the  foundation  of  his 
posterity's  right  to  those  blessings."      Theolog.  Dissert,  p.  9. 

10.  In  what  sense  then  are  we  to  consider  the  Abra- 
hamic  covenant  as  continued  into  the  gospel  dispensation, 
and  enjoyed  by  Christians  ? 

Answer.  My  reader,  by  comparing  Gen.  xv.  5,  6,  18,  and  chap, 
xvii.  1 — 14,  will  observe  that  the  covenant  (or  rather  covenants)  made 
with  Abraham  were  two-folh.  1.  Spiritual  and  internal,  pertaining 
to  Abraham's  acceptance  with  God,  and  salvation,  as  a  believer  in  the 
coming  Messiah ;  and  which  was  ail  realized  in  Abraham's  believing 
posterity,  as  we  have  already  shown.  2.  Worldly  and  external,  pertain- 
ing to  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  with  which  were  to  be  united  the  services  of 
the  temple,  a  worldly  sanctuary,  a  material  altar,  carnal  sacrifices,  and 
a  changing  priesthood  ;  and  the  whole  of  this  was  intended  as  "  a  sha- 
dow of  good  things  to  come."     See  Heb.  vii.  23,  ix.  1 — 10,  and  x.  1. 

Now,  all  that  is  spiritual  and  internal  in  this  covenant,  and  as 
enjoyed  by  Israel  under  it,  is  what  is  called  'the  covenant  of  grace'  and 
is  continued  in  the  Christian  church  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  while  what  is 
worldly,  external,  and  typical,  is  fulfilled  and  done  away  in  the  coming 
of  Christ,  and  in  the  spiritual  privileges  of  his  church.  "We  have 
now,  as  Christians,  no  worldly  kingdom,  nor  have  we  a  temple,  altar, 
or  sacrifices,  as  the  Jews;  nor  are  we  required  to  be  separated  from  the 
nations  of  the  world,  so  as  to  be  one  distinct  nation  ;  and  hence  no 
carnal  distinction  is  necessary. — "  My  kingdom  (said  Christ)  is  not  of 
this  world."  John  xviii.  36.  It  is  not  worldly  in  its  nature,  seat,  form, 
government,  or  privileges ;  but  spiritual,  and,  as  such,  denominated 
"  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit ;"  and  consists  "  in  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Rom.  xiv.  17.  2  Cor.  iii.  7. 

Veistema.  "  Circumcision,  according  to  a  two-fold  covenant,  inter- 
nal and  external  which  then  existed,  had  likewise  a  two-fold  aspect, 
spiritual  and  carnal.  The  former  referred  to  the  internal  covenant 
of  grace ;  the  latter  to  a  legal,  typical,  and  external  covenant.  That 
was  concerned  in  '  sealing  the  righteousness  of  faith,'  as  the  apostle 
asserts:  this  in  the  external  prerogatives  of  Judaism,  and  in  conferring 
external  benefits.  That  was  peculiar  to  the  believing  Israelites ;  this 
was  common  to  the  whole  people."     In  Psed.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  243. 

11.  Is  there,  then,  nothing  typical  in  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision ? 

Answer.  In  replying  to  this  question,  it  is  my  happiness  to  be  able 
to  refer  my  reader  to  an  authority  which,  as  a  Christian,  he  will  esteem 
decisive  and  infallible.  Circumcision  was  a  type,  but  not  of  baptism, 
(a  figure,  a  type  of  a  figure!)  but  of  '  the  circumcision  of  the  heart'  and 
*  the  putting  off  the  sins  of  the  flesh.'  And  this  blessed  work  is 
accomplished,  not  on  babes  in  age,  but  '  babes  in  Christ  ,•'  born  from 
above,  and  children  of  God.     Hear  the  infallible  authority  to  which  I 

VOL.  II.— 10  F 


62  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [110 

refer,  Rom.  ii.  28,  29,  "  For  he  is  not  a  Jew,  (an  Israelite  indeed,)  which 
"is  one  outwardly,  neither  is  that  circumcision,  (in  God's  ultimate 
"  design,)  which  is  outward  in  the  flesh.  But  he  is  a  Jew  which  is  one 
"inwardly;  and  circumcision  is  that  of  the  heakt;  in  the  spirit 
"  and  not  in  the  letter,  whose  praise  is  not  o(  men  but  of  God."  Phil, 
iii.  3,  "  For  we  are  the  circumcision  which  worship  God  in  the  spirit, 
"  and  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  have  no  confidence  in  the  flesh." 
Col.  ii.  11,  "  Circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands, 
"  in  the  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh  by  the  circum- 
"cision  of  Christ.'' 

12.  According  to  this,  baptism  was  not  instituted  in  the 
ROOM  OF  CIRCUMCISION,  and  so  became  its  end  and  fulfil- 
ment. 

Answer.  It  is  certain  that  this  was  not  the  case.  1st.  Because 
when  the  apostles  and  elders  were  assembled  at  Jerusalem,  to  consider 
the  question,  Whether  those  wh.o  were  tamed  to  God  from  among  the, 
Gentiles  should  be  circumcised  '?  Acts  xv.,  not  a  word  was  said  about 
the  end  and  fulfilment  of  the  Jewish  rite  in  the  Christian :  and  had 
this  been  the  known  appointment  of  Christ,  this  must  have  been  the 
decision  of  the  subject.  2d.  Because  had  this  been  the  appointment  of 
the  Saviour,  it  would  have  been  an  aftront  to  his  authority  to  continue 
circutncision  for  another  day  after  he  had  substituted  baptism  in  its 
place ;  but  circumcision  v^as  observed,  even  by  the  apostle  Paul,  long 
after  Christ  had  instituted  the  New  Testament  rite.  See  Acts  xvi.  3. 
This  would  have  been  a  similar  impropriety  to  the  offering  of  'a  sacri- 
fice for  sin,'  according  to  the  law,  after  Christ  had  '  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  himself!'* 

13.  As  you  allow  that  circumcision  was  a  seal  in  re- 
ference to  Abraham  as  a  believer  ;  is  not  baptism  equally 
a  seal  under  the  New  Testament,  in  a  believer's  case  ? 

Answer.  If  it  be  so,  it  must  be  understood  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  the  apostle  expressed  it  in  the  case  of  the  patriarch  ;  and  then 
it  would  be  "  a  seal  of  the  righteousness  of  the  faith  which  the  believer 
had,  yet  being  unbaptized."  But  we  cannot  do  better  than  allow  the 
New  Testament  to  answer  our  inquiries ;  and  here  I  am  no  where 
taught  that  any  external  ordinance  is  a  seal  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 


*  The  aVsurdity  of  urcine  the  baptism  of  infants  from  the  iustitntion  of  circum- 
cision, vviU  appear  l)y  oV)S('rviiig,  1st,  That  male  children  wily  were  to  receive  that 
rite;  and  2(1.  That  men  servants  ami  slaves  w^ere  equally  commamied  to  be  cir- 
cumcised when  the  master  was,  and  that  upon  pain  of  being  cut  off,  or  put  to  death. 
If  that  Divine  command,  thorefore,  be  applied  as  descriptive  of  the  subjects  of 
baptism,  it  will  equally  require  the  baptism  of  servants  and  purchased  slaves,  will- 
ing or  unwilline,  as  well  as  of  infants  ;  and  it  would  restrict  the  Christian  ordinance 
to  the  male  sex  alone.  This  being  so  plainly  contrary  to  the  revealed  will  of 
Christ  on  baptism,  proves  the  fallacy  of  the  doctrine. 

In  the  word  of  God  I  see  no  connexion  or  resemblance  between  circumcision  anil 
t)aptiBm,  except  in  this,  that  they  were  both  initiartf  oriUnnnres  ;  the  one  into  the 
body  politic  of  Israel  of  old,  the  subjects  of  which  rite  are  all  the  male  inhabitants 
—the  other  into  the  bocly  cf  Christ,  which  is  his  church,  and  the  subjects  of  which 
are  all  believers  in  him.    To  this  the  apostle  seems  to  refer  in  Col.  ii.  11—13. 


Ill]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  63 

but  most  plainly  instructed,  (in  beautiful  harmony  with  the  spiritual 
nature  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,)  that  the  luork  of  the  Spirit  on  the 
heart  is  the  only  seal  of  that  covenant. 

2  Cor.  i.  22.  "  Who  hath  also  sealed  us,  and  given  the  earnest  of 
the  Spirit  in  our  hearts." 

Eph.  i.  13.     "  Ye  were  sealed  wdth  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise." 

Eph.  iv.  30.  "  Grieve  not  that  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  ye  are  sealed 
unto  the  day  of  redemption." 

Chahnock.  "  God  seals  no  more  than  he  promises.  He  promises 
only  to  faith,  and  therefore  only  seals  to  faith.  Covenant  graces,  there- 
fore, must  be  possessed  and  acted,  before  covenant  blessings  be  ratified 
to  us."      Works,  Vol.  II.  p.  781.  ed.  1. 

ViTRiJfGA.  "  The  sacraments  of  the  New  Covenant  are  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  seal  nothing  but  what  is  spiritual,  nor  to  be  of  any 
advantage,  except  in  regard  to  those  who  really  believe  in  Jesus  Christ." 
In  Pasd.  Exam.  Vol.  II.  p.  268. 

14.  How,  then,  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land to  be  understood,  by  which  we  are  taught,  that  a  child 
by  baptism  is  "  incorporated"  and  "  grafted  into  the  body 
of  Christ's  Church ;"  and  in  another  place,  '♦  made  a 
member  of  Christ,  a  child  of  God,  and  an  inheritor  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ?" 

Answer.  To  support  that  doctrine  by  any  thing  said  in  the  Scrip- 
tures of  this  ordinance,  (as  the  reader  of  the  preceding  pages  must  be 
aware,)  is  impossible  :  to  make  it  agree  with  the  analogy  of  faith  as 
taught  by  the  concurring  testimony  of  the  whole  of  Divine  revelation 
is  equally  impossible.  What  is  here  attributed  to  baptism,  the  Scrip- 
pires  ascribe  to  the  omnipotent  agency  of  the  Holt  Ghost  in  regene- 
ration, and  to  the  infinite  efficacy  of  the  Redeemer's  cross  in  securing 
eternal  life!!  See  2  Thes.  ii.  13.  1  Pet.  iii.  18.  Baptism,  then,  is 
here  said  to  do,  what  nothing  short  of  the  power  and  grace  of  God  is 
able  to  perform ;  and  that  children,  as  they  advance  in  life,  should  be 
taught  to  express  and  believe  such  a  doctrine,  and  to  consider  themselves 
in  the  possession  of  such  spiritual  advantages,  merely  by  having  re- 
ceived this  external  rite,  destitute  as  it  is  of  all  saving  efficacy,  is  inex- 
pressibly lamentable  and  dangerous  ;  because  it  might  prove,  as  it  is 
fitly  calculated  to  be,  fatal  to  their  souls ! 

Mn.  JoHX  Htatt,  (the  late  excellent  minister  of  the  Tabernacle, 
Lomlon.)  "If  the  church  of  Christ  is  his  body,  and  every  real  be- 
liever is  a  member  of  that  body,  how  important  the  question,  Are  we 
members  of  the  body  of  Christ?  Millions  have  been  taught  to  say, 
that  in  baptism  they  are  made  memljors  of  Christ,  who  have  given 
indubitable  proofs  that  they  uttered  falsehood  !  !  The  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ  are  united  to  him  as  a  head  ;  and  there  are  no  dead,  no 
unsanctified  meml)ers.  All  are  useful,  active,  and  obedient.  Ah  !  my 
hearers,  beware  of  deception — beware  of  substituting  the  name  for  the 
reality — tlie  form  of  godliness  for  the  power.  Surely,  licentious  cha- 
racters cannot  presume  that  they  arc  members  of  the  mystical  body  of 


64  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [^^2 

the  Son  of  God.  A  holy  head,  and  impure  members ;  a  pure  fountain, 
and  corrupt  streams ;  a  good  tree,  and  bad  fruit ; — these  are  anomalies. 
If  you  are  united  to  him,  you  are  of  one  spirit  with  him."  Sermons 
on  various  Subjects,  p.  363. 

15.  But  if  infants  are  not  to  be  received  into  the  Church 
by  baptism,  and  they  should  die  in  infancy,  is  not  their 
salvation  endangered  ? 

Answer.  By  no  means.  How  can  the  want  of  that  endanger  sal- 
vation which  God  hath  nowhere  enjoined  or  required  1  Did  not  our 
Lord  receive  unbaptizeo  children  into  his  arms,  when  on  earth,  and 
bless  them,  and  send  them  away  unbaptized ;  and  without  uttering  a 
word  about  baptism  1  See  question  2.  And  who  then  will  say  that 
baptism  is  necessary  that  He  should  receive  them  to  himself  in  heaven  ; 
especially  when  they  remember  his  gracious  declaration  in  reference  to 
these  unbaptized  children,  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven "?"  See 
Mark  x.  14,  and  Matt,  xviii.  10. 

Persons  dying  incapable  of  faith  in  Christ,  are  without  doubt  saved» 
not  by  wafer,  nor  by  the  work  of  man  ,•  but  by  the  blood  of  Christ, 
and  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit.  In  like  manner  persons  dying  in  faith, 
but  having  no  opportunity  of  being  baptized,  as  the  penitent  on  the 
cross,  are  saved  by  the  same  infinitely  efficacious,  and  the  only  suffi-- 
cient  means. 

If  we  do  for  our  children  what  God  hath  required,  we  shall  find  this 
quite  sufficient,  without  attempting  to  do  what  God  hath  7iot  required. 
And  should  it  please  God  to  remove  them  from  us  in  infancy,  it  is  bet- 
ter to  commit  their  souls  to  the  merits  of  Christ,  than  to  the  unautho- 
rized application  of  water  to  their  bodies.  The  former  we  are  sure  saves ; 
1  John  i.  7.  And  we  are  equally  sure  baptism  cannot  save  ;  Acts  viii. 
13,  23 ;  and  is  not  necessary  to  salvation,  Luke  xxiii.  43.  To  apply 
baptism  yor  salvation,  therefore,  is  making  a  false  saviour  of  the  ordi- 
nance, and  implies  a  criminal  unbelief  in  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ.  \ 

16.  Admitting  the  want  of  Scripture  authority  for  infant 
baptism,  on  what  other  authority  is  it  supposed  te  be  ori- 
ginally founded  ? 

Answer.  Some  have  urged  in  its  behalf  apostolical  tradition. 
Others,  a  council  of  bishops,  held  at  Carthage,  A.  D.  253.  Higher 
authority  it  has  not ;  and  neither  of  these  can  Protestants  admit. 

Mr.  Field.  "The  baptism  of  infants  is  therefore  named  a  tradition, 
because  it  is  not  expressly  delivered  in  Scripture  that  the  apostles  did 
baptize  infants  ;  nor  any  express  precept  there  found  that  they  should 
do  so."     On  the  Church,  375. 

Bishop  Prideaux.  "  Paedobaptism — rests  on  no  other  Divine  right 
than  Episcopacy."*  Fascicul.  Contro.  Loc.  iv.  §  iii.  p.  210. 


*  In  the  Edict  drawn  up  in  the  year  1547,  by  command  of  Charles  V.  Emperor 
of  Germany,  to  allay  disputes  between  the  Romanists  and  the  Reformers,  7Va- 
dUion  is  expressly  slated  as  the  ground  of  infant  baptism:  "  Habet  prseterea  Eccle- 


113]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE   TO  BAPTISM.  65 

17.  If  this  be  granted,  when  was  infant  baptism  sup- 
posed to  be  introduced  ? 

Answer.  There  is  no  certain  evidence  of  it  earlier  than  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century,  after  Christ.  At  that  period  it  was  practised 
in  Africa,  and  is  mentioned,  for  the  first  time,  by  Tertullian,  about  the 
year  204,  in  his  work  entitled  "  De  Baptismo,"  which  I  shall  cite  pre- 
sently. 

Curceli,;eus,  (a  learned  divine  of  Geneva,  and  professor  of  Divinity.) 
**  The  baptism  of  infants,  in  the  two  first  centuries  after  Christ,  was 
altogether  unknown  ;  but  in  the  third  and  fourth  was  allowed  by  some 
few.  In  the  fifth  and  following  ages  it  was  generally  received.  The 
custom  of  baptizing  infants  did  not  begin  before  the  third  age  after 
Christ  was  born.  In  the  former  ages,  no  trace  of  it  appears — and  it 
was  introduced  without  the  command  of  Christ."  In  Pasd.  Exam. 
Vol.  II.  p.  76. 

Salmasits  a>-d  SncEnus.  "  In  the  two  first  centuries  no  one 
was  baptized,  except  being  instructed  in  the  faith,  and  acquainted  with 
the  doctrine  of  Christ,  he  was  able  to  profess  himself  a  believer  ;  because 
of  those  words,  He  that  believeth,  and  is  bupiized."     Ut  supra. 

Venema.  ^'Tertullian  has  no  where  mentioned  paedobaptism  among 
the  traditions  or  customs  of  the  church,  that  were  publicly  received,  and 
usually  observed. — For  in  his  book,  De  Baptismo,  he  dissuades  from 
baptizing  infants,  and  proves  the  delay  of  it  to  a  more  mature  age  is  to 
be  preferred.  Nothing  can  be  affirmed  with  certainty,  concerning  the 
custom  of  the  church  before  Tertullian,  seeing  there  is  not  any  where, 
in  more  ancient  writers,  that  I  know  of,  undoubted  mention  of  infant 
baptism."     Ut  supra,  p.  74. 

The  passage  alluded  to,  containing  the  FIRST  MENTION  of  in- 
fant baptism,  is  the  following  : — 

Tertullian.  "  Pro  cujusque  personse  conditione  ac  dispositions, 
etiam  state,  cunctatio  baptismi  utilior  est,  precipue  tamen  circa  parvu- 
los.  Quid  cnim  necesse  est  sponsores  etiam  periculo  ingeri  ?  Quia  et 
ipsi  per  mortalitatem  destituere  promisiones  suas  possint,  et  proventu 
malffi  indolis  falli.  Ait  quidem  Dominus,  Nolite  illos  prohihere  ad  me 
venire.  Veniant  ergo  dum  adolescunt,  veniant  dum  discunt,  dum  quo  ve- 
niunt  decentur :  fiant  Christiani,  dum  Christum  nosse  potuerint.  Quid 
teetinat  innocens  JEtas  ad  remissionem  peccatorum  ]  Cautius  agetur  in 
sascularibus ;  ut  cui  substantia  terrena  non  creditur,  divina  credatur. 
Norint  petere  salutem,  ut  petenti  dedisse  videaris. ...  Si  qui  pondus 
intelligant  baptismi,  magis  timebant  consecutionem  quam  dilationem : 
fides  Integra  secura  est  de  salute."     De  Baptismo,  cap.  xviii. 

«»ifi  traditiones,  &c.  quas  qui  convellit,  is  ne^at  eandem  columnam  esse  et  firma- 
ifienlum  veritaiis.  Hujus  eeneris  sunt  Bantisimis  parvulorum  et  alia."  i.  e.  "The 
f'iiurch  moreovor  has  tracfilions  haiuird  down  to  ihcso  liyncs  from  Christ  and  the 
aposilos,  through  the  hands  of  the  hishops  :  which  whoever  would  overturn,  he 
must  deny  the  same  (viz.  the  Church)  to  Le  the  pillar  and  cround  of  truth.  Of  this 
fl'.rt  are  the  baptism  of  little  ones,  and  other  things."  In  Dr.  Ryland^s  Candid 
Slateinenl.  Notes,  p.  28. 

10*  F  2 


66  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [114 

TRANSLATION. 
"  The  delay  of  baptism  may  be  more  advantageous,  either  on  account 
of  the  condition,  disposition,  or  age  of  any  person,  especially  in  refer- 
ence to  little  children.  For  what  necessity  is  there  that  the  sponsors 
should  be  brought  into  danger  ?  because  either  they  themselves  may 
fail  of  the  promises  by  death,  or  be  deceived  by  the  growth  of  evil  dis' 
positions. — The  Lord,  indeed,  says.  Do  not  forbid  them  to  come  to  me. 
Let  them,  therefore,  come  when  they  are  grown  up ;  when  they  can 
understand  ;  when  they  are  taught  whither  they  are  to  come.  Let 
them  become  Christians  when  they  can  know  Christ.  "Why  should  this 
innocent  age  hasten  to  the  remission  of  sins  1  Men  act  more  cau- 
tiously in  worldly  things ;  so  that  Divine  things  are  here  intrusted  with 
whom  earthly  things  are  not.  Let  them  know  how  to  seek  salvation, 
that  you  may  appear  to  give  to  one  that  asketh. .  ..If  persons  understand 
the  importance  of  baptism  they  will  rather  fear  the  consequent  obliga- 
tion than  the  delay :  true  faith  alone  is  secure  of  salvation." 

Now  I  request  my  reader  to  observe — 1.  That  there  is  confessedly  no 
mention  of  infant  baptism  in  the  writings  of  any  of  the  Fathers,  before 
TertuUian,  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century ;  though  the  baptism 
of  believers  is  repeatedly  found,  in  various  authors  ;  some  of  which  I 
shall  cite  in  the  next  part  of  this  appendix.  2.  That  when  infant  bap- 
tism is  first  mentioned,  in  the  Christian  Father  above  quoted,  it  is  in  a 
passage  where  the  rite  is  referred  to,  not  as  of  something  of  universal 
practice  and  approbation  ;  but  where  it  is  opposed  and  reasoxed 
A&AixsT  as  something  unknown  in  the  age  of  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
and  destitute  of  their  authority,  for  with  him  their  authority  would  not 
have  been  questioned  for  a  moment ;  and  as  something  implying  daU' 
f^er  in  reference  to  sponsors,  and  absurdity  relative  to  children.    Thus, 

Regaltjus,  the  learned  annotator  upon  Cyprian.  "  In  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  we  read  that  both  men  and  women  were  baptized  when 
they  believed  the  gospel  preached  by  Philip,  but  not  a  word  of  infants. 
From  the  age  of  the  apostles  therefore,  up  to  the  time  of  TertuUian,  the 
matter  remained  in  ol>scurity,  [or  doubtful,  in  ambiguo  ;]  and  there  were 
some  who  from  that  saying  of  our  Lord,  Suffer  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  to  whom  the  Lord  nevertheless  did  not  command  water  to  be 
administered,  took  occasion  to  baptize  even  new-born  infants.  And  as 
if,  (seculare  aliquod  negotium  cum  Deo  transigeretur,)  they  transacted 
some  secular  business  with  God,  they  offered  sponsors  or  sureties  to 
Christ,  who  engaged  that  they  should  not  revolt  from  the  Christian 
faith  when  grown  up ;  which  indeed  displeased  TertuUian."  In  Sten- 
netCs  Answer  to  Russen,  pp.  69,  73,  and  in  Mr,  WaWs  Hist.  Vol.  II. 
chap.  3. 

18.  Tradition  from  the  apostles,  is  declared  by  the 
church  of  Rome  to  be  the  authority  for  infant  baptism  ;  is 
this  said  to  be  its  authority  where  the  practice  is  first  men- 
tioned ? 

Answer.     No  such  authority  is  ever  once  hinted  at. 

Yen  EM  A.     "  TertuUian  dissuades  from  baptizing  infants — which  he 


115]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE   TO    BAPTISM.  67 

certainly  would  not  ha^e  done,  if  it  had  been  a  tradition,  and  a  public 
custom  of  the  church,  seeing  he  was  verx  tejtacious  of  traditions ; 
nor,  had  it  been  a  tradition,  would  he  have  failed  to  mention  itl"  See 
after  next  question. 

19.  Do  Ve  find  any  other  innovation  introduced  into  the 
Church  of  Christ,  about  the  same  period  ? 

Answer.  Several.  We  never  read  of — 1.  The  consecration  of  the 
baptismal  water ;  2.  The  use  of  sponsors  ;  3.  The  imposition  of  hands 
at  baptism  ;  4,  The  use  of  material  unction  at  confirmation  ;  5.  Offer- 
ing prayers  and  oblations  for  the  dead,  &c. ;  we  never  read  of  any  of 
these  in  any  Christian  writer  before  TertuUian  ;  and  hence,  learned 
Psedobaptists  infer  that  they  were  introduced  about  that  time.  Thus, 
Mr.  Pierce,  speaking  of  the  third  of  these,  says,  that  TertuUian  is  "  the 
most  ancient  author  that  mentions  this  rite  ;"  and  adds,  "  We  make  no 
doubt  it  began  about  the  time  of  TertuUian."  Vindicution  of  Dissenters^ 
Pt.  III.  cb.  vii.  pp.  173,  175.  We  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  for 
the  very  same  reason,  respecting  the  baptism  of  infants.  The  celebrated 
aTid  learaed  divine  i  cited  in  the  former  question  seems  willing  to  admit 
this : — 

Venema.  *'I  conclude,  therefore,  that  psedobaptism  catikot  be 
plainly  proved  to  have  been  practised  before  the  time  of  TertuUian ; 
and  that  there  were  persons  in  his  age  who  desired  their  infants  might 
be  baptized,  especially  when  they  were  afraid  of  their  dying  without 
baptism;  which  opinion  TertuUian  opposed,  and,  by  so  doing,  inti- 
mates  THAT    PJEDOBAPTISM    BEGAN  TO  PREVAIL."        In  Psed.  Exttm, 

Vol.  II.  pp.  79,  80. 

20.  Did  the  first  Christian  Fathers,  who  supported  the 
baptism  of  infants,  suppose  that  some  spiritual  benefit  was 
communicated  to  them  by  that  ordinance  ? 

Answer.  They  did. — They  held  that  baptism  was  necessary  to  sal- 
vation ;  that  forgiveness  accompanied  it ;  that  infants  by  it  were  purged 
from  the  pollution  of  original  sin;  and  that  aU  persons  dying  without 
baptism  were  lost.     Thus, 

CrpRiAX,  A.  D.  253.  "As  far  as  lies  in  us,  no  soul,  if  possible,  is 
to  be  lost.  It  is  not  for  us  to  hinder  smy  person  from  baptism  and  the 
grace  of  God ;  whjch  rule,  as  it  holds  to  all,  so  we  think  it  more  espe- 
cially to  be  observed  in  reference  to  infants,  to  whom  our  help  and  the 
Divine  mercy  is  rather  to  be  granted  ;  because  by  their  weeping  and 
wailing  at  their  first  entrance  into  the  world,  they  do  intimate  nothing 
so  much  as  that  they  implore  compassion." 

Ambrose,  A.  D.  390.  "  For  no  person  comes  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  but  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism. — Infants  that  are  baptized  are 
reformed  b.K^k  again  from  wickedness  to  the  primitive  state  of  their 
nature." 

CiiRTSosTOM,  A.  D.  398.  "  The  grace  of  baptism  gives  cure  without 
pain,  and  fills  us  with  the  grace  of  the  Spirit,  Some  think  that  the 
heavenly  grace  consists  only  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins ,-  but  I  have 


68  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [113 

reckoned  up  tbx  advantages  of  it."  "  If  sudden  death  seize  us  before 
we  are  baptized,  though  we  have  a  thousand  good  quahties,  there  is  no- 
thing to  be  expected  but  hell."  See  the  original  of  these  passages  in 
Mr.  Wairs  Hist,  of  Inf.  Bap.  Vol.  I.  ch.  6,  13,  14  ;  and  II.  eh.  6. 

These  extracts,  which  I  might  have  increased  a  hundredfold,  are 
sufficient  to  prove  that  some  of  the  Fathers,  from  about  the  middle  of 
the  third  century,  considered  baptism  as  essentially  necessary  to  salva- 
tion ;  and  in  this  false  view  of  the  ordinance,  the  baptism  of  infants 
originated.     To  this  agree  the  following  learned  writers : — 

SuicERUS,  Professor  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  at  Zurich,  "This  opi- 
nion of  the  absolute  necessity  of  baptism  arose  from  a  wrong  under- 
standing of  our  Lord's  words,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit  he  cannct  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  In  Paed.  Exam. 
Vol.  II.  p.  129. 

Salmasius,  the  very  learned  historian  and  critic.  "An  opinion 
prevailed  that  no  one  could  be  saved  without  being  baptized ;  and  for 
that  reason  the  custom  arose  of  baptizing  infants."     Ibid.  p.  128. 

21.  But  if  a  profession  of  repentance  and  faith  was  al- 
ways required  before  baptism  in  the  apostolic  age,  how 
could  Christian  ministers,  or  churches,  so  early  as  the  days 
of  Tertullian,  admit  of  the  baptism  of  infants,  by  whom 
no  such  profession  could  be  made  ? 

Answer.  The  deficiency,  in  reference  to  infants,  was  ingeniously 
supplied  by  introducing  "  sponsors."  They  would  not  dispense  ivith 
the  profession,  but  they  would  admit  it  by  proxy.  Two  or  three  per- 
sons, and,  in  the  case  of  an  infant  of  high  rank,  from  twenty  to  an 
hundred,  were  admitted  as  "sureties,"  who  professed,  in  behalf  of  an 
infant,  to  repent,  renounce  the  devil  and  his  works,  and  to  believe  the 
doctrines  of  the  gospel.  These  sureties  are  first  mentioned  by  Tertul- 
lian, A.  D.  204,  in  the  passage  I  have  copied,  pp.  65,  66,  where  they  are 
called  "  sponsors,"  i.  e.  persons  who  answer,  and  make  themselves 
answerable  for  another. 

Here  is  religion  by  proxy  ;  real,  personal,  experimental  religion  !  a 
thing  unheard  of  before  since  the  world  began.  But  when  so  many 
strange  absurdities  were  introduced  into  the  church,  as  those  before 
mentioned,  p.  67,  we  need  not  be  much  surprised  at  this.  To  a  reader, 
however,  who  knows  by  his  own  experience,  and  by  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  every  part  of  the  Bible,  that  there  is  no  religion  but  that 
which  is  between  God  and  the  soul,  and  is  God's  gift,  and  in  which 
another  can  have  no  share  or  part,  it  is  grievous  to  reflect  seriously  on 
this  alarming  innovation. 

22.  But  do  modern  Paedobaptists  entertain  the  same 
view  as  the  ancients,  as  to  the  necessity  of  baptism  to 
salvation  ? 

Ayrswer.  The  MAJonirr  of  professed  Christians  have  ever  avowed, 
and  do  still  avow,  the  same  doctrine  I  The  church  of  Rome  has 
honored  those  who  dare  deny  it  with  an  "  anathema ;"  and  the  Greek 


117]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  69 

church,  though  not  so  ready  to  anathematize,  entertains  the  same 
opinion.  The  reformed  churches,  and  the  different  denominations  of 
Protestant  Psedobaptists,  whether  bearing  the  name  of  EpiscopaUans, 
Presbyterians,  Independents,  CongregationaUsts,  or  Wesleyans,  while 
they  generally  disavow  that  doctrine,  yet  they  hold  opinions,  which, 
when  fairly  carried  out  to  their  consequences,  come  little  short  of  the 
same  amount.  They  have  seen  in  the  doctrine  of  the  ancients,  and  of 
Rome,  '  that  no  one  can  be  saved  without  their  baptism,'  too  plain  a 
demonstration  of  the  '  little  horn'  of  antichrist,* — the  mystery  of  ini- 
quity which  began  to  work  in  the  apostles'  days.j- — to  avow  that  doc- 
trine in  the  same  terms.  But  let  me  ask.  my  respected  brethren  in  these 
communities.  If  baptism  makes  its  subjects,  as  some  of  them  say ,4: 
"  children  of  God  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;"  or,  as  all 
of  them,  by  their  leading  writers,  have  said,  that  it  brings  its  subjects 
"  into  the  church  of  Christ"  or  "  into  the  covenant  of  grace,"  or  "  seals 
to  them  the  benefits  of  that  covenant,"  and  which  is  "  the  covenant  of 
redemption,  embracing  all  that  Jehovah  can  impart ;"  whether  this  is 
not  tantamount  to  the  doctrine  guarded  by  Rome's  anathema  1  If  bap- 
tism brings  into,  or  seals  the  benefits  of,  the  covenant  of  grace,  it  will 
bring  to  heaven  ;  for  God  hath  joined  these  two  together.  And  if  there 
be  not  another  way  of  bringing  into  this  '  covenant  of  grace  and 
redemption'  what  must  become  of  those  who  are  not  brought  in,  and 
•who  die  in  that  situation  1  Thus  pressed  to  consequences,  I  see  no 
other  conclusion  to  be  come  at  from  these  premises,  but  that  of  Chry- 
sostom,  just  cited,  horrible  as  it  sounds  !  Let  my  brethren  who  would 
recoil  at  the  thought  of  that  conclusion,  examine  rigidly  and  honestly 
whether  the  virtues  they  join  to  the  rite  of  baptism  afford  not  the  just 
and  fair  ground  of  it.  And  if  the  conclusion  be  denied,  let  them  deny 
the  premises  from  which  it  is  drawn ;  but  while  they  avow  the  pre- 
mises, I  must  be  allowed  to  insist  upon  the  conclusion. 

23..  If  no  spiritual  or  saving  benefit  necessarily  attend? 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  (which  evidently  is,  and  ever  has 
been,  conceived  as  the  basis  and  reason  of  infant  baptism, 
by  the  majority  of  those  that  have  practised  it,)  why  is  the 
ordinance  administered  at  all  ?  and  of  what  use  is  it  in  the 
church  of  Christ? 

Answer-,  "  God  is  his  own  interpreter."  The  ritual  ordinances 
appointed  of  God  in  his  church  were  never,  under  any  dispensation, 
intended  by  him  to  carry  salvation  with  them.  For  that  purpose 
"  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  uncircumcision,"  as  the 
apostle  affirms  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
supper.  Salvation  proceeds  from  a  source  entirely  distinct  and  separate 
from  these  ordinances.  It  may  be  fully  enjoyed  without  them ;  and 
they  may  be  administered,  and  repeated  a  thousand  times  over,  without 
it.  The  penitent  malefactor  was  saved  without  baptism  :  Simon  Magus 
was  baptized  without  part  or  lot  in  salvation* 


♦  Daniel  vii.  &-21.       t  2  Tlies.  ii,  3-10.      $  S«e  AuthoriUeu  at  pp.  54,  55. 


70  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [118 

What,  then,  you  inquire,  is  the  use  of  baptism  ]  I  reply,  It  is  a 
solemn,  sacred  institution  of  Jesus,  intended  by  him,  as  I  have  before 
observed,  to  exhibit  and  to  teach  the  way  of  salvation.  It  saves 
in  no  way  of  itself;  but  it  presents  a  figurative  and  an  impressive 
representation  of  saving, — of  that  real  saving,  which  is  through  the 
purifying  merits  of  a  crucified  and  risen  Saviour.  As  such  Christ 
instituted  it ;  and  as  such  it  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  his  followers 
to  observe  it,  till  he  come.  Thus  the  apostle  Peter,  cited  p.  49,  when 
he  says,  Baptism  saves  ;  he  immediately  guards  against  error  upon  this 
subject, — it  is  not  the  putting  away  the  filth  ofthejlesh,  or  impurity, 
or  sin  of  any  kind,  which  can  only  be  cleansed  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 
But  it  saves  as  a  "  figure  ;"  it  symbolically  presents  "  the  fountain 
opened  for  sin  and  uncleanness,"  and  to  that  fountain  it  directs  the 
penitent  to  flee,  and  therein  by  faith  "  to  wash  away  sin,  calling  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  Acts  xxii.  16.  When  this  is  realized,  then  baptism 
aftbrds  the  answer  of  a  good  conscie/ice,  satisfied  that  Christ  is  obeyed, 
guilt  purged  away,  and  the  soul  saved  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 
Pjedobaptist  divines  affirm  the  same.     Thus, 

Mr.  David  Davidson,  on  1  Peter  iii.  21.  "  Lest  any  should  imagine 
spiritual  deliverance  secure  by  the  external  rite,  in  any  other  sense 
than  figuratively,  the  apostle  adds,  that  the  baptism  he  chiefly  meant 
was  the  cleansing  of  the  conscience,  which  is  by  faith  in  Christ.  The 
same  figure  and  reality  are  repeatedly  thus  stated.  See  Eph.  v.  26  ; 
Tit.  iii.  5  ;  Heb.  ix.  14,"     Comme}itart/  on  the  New  Test.  p.  459. 

24.  Who  is  the  first  Christian  writer  that  defended  the 
baptism  of  infants  ? 

Answer.  The  first  that  mentioned  the  practice  at  all  was  Tertullian, 
A.  D.  204.  li,  was  named  next  by  Origen,  A.  D.  230.  But  the  first 
■writer  that  defended  the  practice  was  Ctpbiax,  A.  D.  253,  At  this 
period  the  plan  of  e.dir.itting  a  prox'ession  oy  sponsors  became  so  general- 
at  least  in  Africa  where  it  commenced,  and  the  security  the  rite  afibrded 
of  eternal  life  was  deemed  so  important,  that  the  practice  of  it  became 
general.  Hence  Synods  and  Councils  were  held  to  sanction  the  prac- 
tice, and  to  consider  the  time  after  birth  when  the  ordinance  may  be 
properly  administered.     Thus,  the  very  learned  writer  cited  before — 

Regal Tius.  "  Most  men  thinking  this  opinion  of  Tertullian  unsafe, 
were  of  Cyprian's  mind,  that  even  new-born  children  ought  to  be  made 
partakers  of  the  laver  of  salvation  ;  which  was  pitched  upon  in  the 
decree  of  this  Synod,  and  so  the  doubt  was  taken  awat."*  Jn 
SiennetVs  Answer  to  Russen,  pp.  69 — 73,  and  in  Mr.  WalPs  Hist. 
Vol.  IL  ch.  2. 


•  Rcffaltins  here  refers  to  a  Synod,  the  decision  of  which  took  awau  anv farther 
doubt  as  to  the  propriety  or  necpssify  of  infant  baptism.  The  reaitpr  snould  be 
informed  that  during  the  lives  of  the  A'frican  Fathers,  Cyprian  and  Augustine,  seve- 
ral eeneral  meetinps  of  the  ministers  of  that  district,  which  were  called  Councils 
or  Synods,  were  held  at  Carthage,  and  Mile  vis,  to  consult  and  decide  on  certain 
subjects.  At  the  first  of  these,  held  at  Carthage,  A.  D.  2:)3,  si.xty-six  of  those  mi- 
nisters, or  bishops  AS  they  are  called,  being  present,  with  Cyprian  for  their  president, 
one  Fidus,  a  country  bishop,  submitted  two  questions  f  ir  decision,  the  latter  of 
which  was  "  Whether  an  infant,  before  it  was  eijjhl  days  old,  n)ight  be  baptized,  if 


119]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO   BAPTISM.  71 

APPENDIX,  PART  IL 
On  the  Scriptural  Mode  of  Baptism. 

Ix  my  first  section,  I  promised  my  reader  to  refer  again  to  the  Modk 
of  Baptism,  and  expressed  my  hope  to  satisfy  any  candid  inquirer  on 
the  subject ;  and  this  I  conceive  I  shall  do,  not  by  the  quantity  of 
what  I  shall  write  on  the  subject,  for  I  shall  be  very  brief,  but  by  stating 
arguments,  which  I  consider  irresistibly  convincing  and  decisive.  In 
this  part,  as  in  the  former,  I  shall  suppose  my  reader  disposed  to  put 
inquiries  involving  all  the  leading  points  of  the  controversy. 

1.  Question.  Are  the  most  learned  and  competent 
writers  agreed,  that  the  sense  you  have  given,  at  p.  13,  of 
the  words  chosen  of  God  to  express  this  ordinance, 
{baptize  and  baptism,)  is  theif  ordinary  and  most  proper 
sense  ? 

Answer.  More  competent  authority  the  learned  world  does  not 
aftbrd  than  the  following  : — 

WiTsius.  "  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  native  signification  of  the 
words  ^u.Trh.y  and  ^u.7rli^uv,  is  to  plunge,  to  dip."  Econ.  oftlte  Gov. 
L.  IV.  c.  xvi.  §  13. 

Calvtx.  "The  word  baptize,  signifies  to  immerse,  and  the  rite  of 
immersion  was  observed  by  the  ancient  church."* 

Zanchius.  "  The  proper  signification  of  baptize  is  to  immerse, 
plunge  under,  to  overwhelm  in  water." 

Alstedius.  "  To  baptize,  signifies  only  to  immerse  ;  not  to  wash, 
except  by  consequence." 

rieetl  required  7"  Heur?ed  his  objections,  from  which  the  reader  may  form  some 
idea  of  these  African  bishops,  1.  "That  an  infant  in  the  first  days  after  its  l)irih  is 
unclean,  so  that  any  of  us  al)hors  to  kiss  it !"  This  kiss  of  pea'  e  was  an  African 
accompaniment  of  baptism.  2.  He  questioned  "  Whfjlher  so  young  an  infant  be  a 
PERFECT  HUMAN  CREATURE!"  The  CouncIl  decided  against  him,  as  seen  in  Cy- 
prian's Letter  to  Fidus,  of  which,  at  p.  67,  is  an  extract." 

In  the  councils  over  which  Augustine  presided,  from  A.  D.  416  to  A.  D.  420,  the 
bishops  were  disposed  to  go  much  farther  than  at  any  former  period.  Tliey  en- 
acted their  canons,  and  pronounced  their  anathemas,  in  the  pure  spirit  of  antichrist. 
Thus  in  the  IMilevitan  council,  fourteen  or  fifteen  being  present,  as  depulifs  from 
the  whole,  they  decreed  "Placuit  ergo  omnibus  episcopis,"  &;c.  ''It  is  therefore 
the  pleasure  of  all  the  bishops,  that  whosoever  denielh  that  infants  newly  torn  of 
their  mothers  are  to  be  tiaptized  ...  let  him  be  accursed."  And  in  the  "  Synodial 
Kpi.stle  of  the  Council  of  Carthage  to  Innocent"  of  Rome,  the  same  imprecation 
occurs.  "Quicunque  negat  parvolos  per  haiaismum  Christi  a  perditione  lili<rari," 
&c.  '•  Whoever  denies  that  infants  are  by  Christian  baptism  delivered  from  per- 
dition, and  brought  to  eternal  salvation,  let  him  be  anathema."  In  Mr.  Wall's 
Hist,  of  Inf.  Bapt  Vol.  I.  chap.  xix.  §  28.  Robinson's  Hist,  of  Bapt.  chap.  xxii. 
Mr.  Gill's  Argument  from  Apost.  Trad,  rotisidered,  p.  22.  The  authority  of  these 
canons  bein^  admitted  at  Rome,  "the  doubt  of  infant  baptism"  yielded  co-exlen- 
slvely  with  that  authority. 

•  See  this  author  and  those  that  follow  cited  at  srealer  lentrih  and  their  works 
referred  to,  in  Booth's  Padob.  Exam.  Vol.  I.  pp.  44  lo  65.  Eighty-two  such  autho- 
rities are  there  adduced. 


72  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTlSiM.  [120 

BszA.  "  Christ  commanded  us  to  be  baptized ;  by  which  word  it 
is  certain  immersion  is  signified." 

ViTRiwoA.  "  The  act  of  baptizing  is  the  immersion  of  believers  in 
water.     This  expresses  the  force  of  the  word." 

H.  Altingius.  "  The  word  baptism, — properly  signifies  immer- 
sion ;  improperly,  by  a  metonomy  of  the  end,  washing.^^ 

ScAPXTLA.  "  To  baptize, — to  dip  or  immerse,  as  we  immerse  any 
thing  for  the  purpose  of  dying  or  cleansing  in  water." 

Mr.  Lkigh.  "The  native  and  proper  signification  of  it  {baptizel 
is,  to  dip  into  water,  or  to  plunge  under  water." 

BossuF.T,  bishop  of  Meaux.  "  To  baptize  signifies  to  plunge,  as  is 
granted  by  all  the  world." 

To  the  above  I  might  add  many  living  authors  : — 

Mr.  EwiJfG,  of  Glasgow.  "  Bx^7.'^a),  in  its  primary  and  radical  sense, 
I  cover  with  water.  It  is  used  to  denote,  1st.  I  plunge,  or  sink  com- 
pletely under  water'''     Gr.  Lexicon,  sub  voce.* 

Edinburgh  Reviewers.  "They  tell  me,  (says  Mr.  Carson,)  that 
it  was  unnecessary  to  bring  forward  ^ny  of  the  examples  to  prove  that 
the  word  signifies  to  dip, — that  I  might  have  commenced  with  this  as 

a  FIXT     POINT     UNIVERSALLY     ADMITTED."       In    CaiSOn's     AhSWCT    to 

Edin.  Prcsbyt.  Review,  p.  9.  A.  D.  1832. 

2.  As  in  one  branch  of  the  Christian  church,  the  Greek 
language  has  been  continued  from  the  age  of  the  apostles, 
and  with  them  the  words  I^x7rli^a>  and  (izTrlta-fx*.  (baptize  and 
baptism),  remain  unaltered,  and  in  common  use  to  this  day, 
— let  me  ask,  How  do  ?/ie^  understand  the  words?  and 
how  administer  the  ordinance  ? 

Mr.  R.  Robinson.  "The  native  Greeks  must  understand  theii 
own  language  better  than  foreigners,  and  they  have  always  understoo(i 
the  word  baptism  to  signify  dipping ,-  and,  therefore,  from  their  first 
embracing  of  Christianity  to  this  day,  they  have  always  baptized,  and 
do  yet  baptize,  by  Tinmersion.  This  is  an  authority  for  the  meaning 
of  the  word  infinitely  preferable  to  that  of  European  lexicographer*. 
In  this  case  the  Greeks  are  unexceptionable  guides."-f-  Hist,  of  Bapt. 
pp.  5,  6. 


*  Mr.  Ewing,  the  author  of  a  very  useful  Greek  lexicon,  gives  several  other 
sense?  to  the  word,  and  at  leninh  conlemls  that  it  will  admit  oi  sprinkling .  If  this 
were  inie,  it  would  not  niaipriHlly  airccl  our  present  inquiry  ;  because  we  cannoi 
admit  I  hat  our  Lord  would  employ  a  word  to  express  this  ordinance,  which,  in  ihtj 
first,  plain,  and  most  ctmimon  use  of  it,  sisnifies  immersion,  if  he  intended  sprink- 
ling, supiiosiui  the  word  would  bear  that  sense  in  a  distant  and  unusual  interpre- 
tation of  it.  But  it  is  demonstrated  by  Mr.  Carson,  in  his  recent  elaborate  work 
on  bapvisni,  that  the  word  has  but  one  proper  sense,  namely,  that  which  Mr.  Ewino 
admits  above  as  its  first  sense. — Mr.  Cox  makns  the  following  appeal  to  Mr.  E. : — 
"  I  now  once  azain  demand  of  Mr.  Ewing  to  point  me  out  the  lexicon,  which  does 
NOT  eivR  dipping, plunging  or  immersing  as  the  unquestionable,  seuled,  and  uni- 
versally admitted  primitive  signification  of  the  contested  terms."  On  Baptism, 
V.83. 

t  Mr.  Robiason  was  an  Anii-paedobaptisl. 


121]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  73 

3.  But  what  is  denominated  the  "  Greek  Church'*  is 
now  extended  over  an  immense  portion  of  the  globe  ;  is 
the  same  mode  of  baptism  observed  in  all  the  nations 
included  in  it  ? 

The  Pantalooia,  under  the  article  *  Greek  Church,'  thus  explains — 
"  That  part  of  the  Christian  church  which  was  first  established  in 
Greece,  and  is  now  spread  over  a  larger  extent  of  country  than  any 
other  estabUshed  church.  It  comprehends  in  its  bosom  a  considerable 
part  of  Greece,  the  Grecian  isles,  Wallachia,  Moldavia,  Egypt,  Abys- 
sinia, Nubia,  Lybia,  Arabia,  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Cilicia,  Palestine. . . . 
It  may  be  observed,  that  amid  all  their  trifling  rites,  they  practise  trine- 
immersion,  which  is  unquestionably  the  primitive  manner."* 

Mr.  Wall.  "The  Greek  church,  in  all  the  branches  of  it,  does 
still  use  immersion."     Hist,  of  Inf.  Bapt.  Vol.  II.  p.  376,  Ed.  3. 

Sir  p.  Ricaut.  "  Thrice  dipping  or  plunging,  this  church  holds 
to  be  as  necessary  to  the  form  of  baptism,  as  water  to  the  matter."  In 
Paed.  Exam.  Vol.  I.  p.  26S. 

4.  Is  there  any  evidence  in  the  writings  of  the  first 
Christian  fathers  after  the  apostles,  respecting  the  mode 
of  baptism  as  administered  by  them,  and  in  their  times? 
for  it  is  not  likely  that  the  mode  observed  by  Christ  and 
the  apostles  would  be  immediately  changed. 

Answer.  The  first  Christians  after  the  days  of  the  apostles  could 
never  bring  themselves  to  make  so  great  a  change  in  an  institution  of 
Christ,  as  to  substitute  sprinkling  for  immersion.  Such  a  change 
would  require  several  ages  to  bring  the  public  mind  to  receive  it ;  as 
every  one,  acquainted  with  church  history,  knows  was  the  case.  There 
was  a  disposition  early  manifested  to  make  cerenionlul  additions  to 
Christ's  appointments,  such  as  consecrating  the  water,  &c.,  but  there  is 
no  evidence  whatever  of  altering  the  mode  of  this  ordinance,  except  as 
a  recourse  or  expedient  for  dying  persons,  «fec.,  for  above  1000  years,  as 
I  shall  attest  presently. 

If  then  we  can  ascertain  the  mode  of  baptism  in  the  first  centuries 
following  the  apostles,  without  doubt  it  will  be  what  the  liord  ordained. 
And  happily  there  is  abundance  of  evidence  upon  this  subject.  I  shall 
cite  a  few  short  passages,  and  the  references  may  lead  the  reader,  if 
disposed,  to  a  deeper  investigation : — 

Barnabas,  Paul's  companion.  An  epistle  ascribed  to  him  has 
escaped  the  ravages  of  time.  Two  passages  refer  to  baptism ;  in  one 
he  says,  "  Blessed  are  they,  who,  fixing  their  hope  on  the  cross,  have  gone 
"  down  into  the  water."  The  other,  "  We  descend  into  the  water, . . . 
"and  come  up  out  of  it,  bring  forth  fiuit,  having  in  our  hearts  reve- 
rential fear,  and  hope  through  Jesus."     Epist.  cap.  xi. 

*  *  Trine-immersion,'  or  immersing  the  person  three  times,  once  in  the  name  of 
each  of  the  Divine  Persons,  was  in  use  in  the  beginnini  of  the  third  century.  It 
was  practised  in  Enijland  till  the  sixteenth  century  ;  and  is  still  rigidly  observed 
in  the  eastern  churches. 

VOL.  IX. — II  G 


74  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [122 

Herhas,  honored  by  Paul's  salutation,  Rom.  xvi.  14.  A  Latin 
version  of  his  work,  entitled,  *  the  Pastor,'  or  Shepherd,  is  extant.  In 
it  he  speaks  of  the  apostles  accompanying  the  persons  to  be  baptized 
into  the  water.  "  The  apostles  and  teachers — preached  to  them  that 
*'  before  were  dead,  and  gave  them  this  seal ;  for  they,  (apostili,  &c. 
"  dcsccnderunt  in  aquam  cum  illis,)  went  down  with  them  into  the 
water,  and  came  up  again."  See  this  and  other  allusions  ih  Lib.  1.  vis. 
8,  sect.  7 ;  and  Lib.  III.  similit.  9; 

Justin  Mauttr.  About  A.  D.  140,  Justin  Martyr  wrote  '  An  Apo- 
logy for  Christians,  addressed  to  the  Emperor,  the  Senate,  and  people  of 
Rome.'  In  this  work  he  describes  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the 
Church  of  Christ ;  and  on  baptism  has  the  following  passage  : — "  I  will 
"  now  declare  to  you  also  after  what  manner  we  being  made  new  by 
"  Christ  have  dedicated  ourselves  to  God,  lest,  if  I  should  leave  that 
"out,  I  might  seem  to  deal  unfairly  in  some  part  of  my  apology.  They 
"who  are perstiaded  and  do  believe  that  those  things  which  are  taught 
"  by  us  are  true,  aud  do  promise  to  live  according  to  them,  are  directed 
"  first  to  pray  and  ask  of  God  with  fasting,  the  forgiveness  of  their  former 
"  sins ;  and  we  also  pray  and  fast  with  them.  Then  we  bring  them  to  some 
"  place  where  there  is  water,  and  they  are  baptized  by  the  same  way  of 
"  baptism  by  which  we  were  Iiaptized  :  for  they  are  washed  (fv  ra  CJuri) 
"ill  ike  water  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  Lord  of  all  things ;  and 
"  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Justin  Mart. 
Apolog.  11.  sect.  79.* 

Teutuli  lAX,  A.  D.  204.  "  Because  the  person  [to  be  baptized,]  in 
"  great  simplicity ...  is  let  down  in  the  water,  and  with  a  few  words 
"  said,  is  dipped."  Homo  in  aqua  demissus.  et  inter  pauca  verba  tinctus. 
Again,  when  speaking  of  the  vain  anxiety  to  be  baptized  in  the  Jor- 
dan,— "  There  is  no  difl'erencc  whether  one  is  washed  in  a  sea  or  in  a 
"pool,  in  a  river  or  in  a  fountain,  in  a  lake  or  in  a  channel ;  nor  is 
"  there  any  difl'erence  between  them  whom  John  dipped  in  Jordan,  and 
"  those  whom  Peter  dipped  in  the  Tiber  :"  quos  Joannes  in  Jordane,  et 
quos  Petrus  in  Tiberi  tinxit.  He  also  uses  the  words,  "  In  aqua  nier- 
gimur,"  i.  e.  "  we  are  immersed  in  the  water."  De  Baptismo,  cap. 
2,  4,  7. 

Gregoiit  Naziaxzen,  a.  D.  3G0.  "  We  are  buried  with  Christ 
•'  by  baptism  that  we  may  also  rise  again  with  him ;  we  descend  with 
"  him  that  we  may  also  be  lifted  up  with  him ;  we  ascend  with  him 

*  Upon  this  passairn  of  Justin  Mn.  Wall  remarks,  "Tliis  is  the  most  ancient 
nccixinl  of  the  way  of  bapiizin;.',  next  to  the  Scripture;  and  shows  the  plain  ami 
Biinple  manner  of  aihninisiprinq  it."  Anil  Mr.  Reeve.?,  the  learned  translator 
i.f  Justin,  adds,  in  a  note.  "  'Tis  evident  from  this  place  of  Justin  and  that  of  Ter- 
liillian,(de  Cor.  Mil.  c.  3.)  thai  Pond.s  and  Kivers  were  the  only  Baptisteries  or 
Fonts  the  church  had  for  the  first  two  hvmdred  yrars.  The  Catechumen  being 
brouohl  to  the  baptistery,  was  thus  interroiiaied,  Doal  thou  reiwumc  the  devil  ?— 
Dosllhou  renounce  the  tcorl'i  ?  &c.  &c.  Ans.  Tdo  renounce  them.—^f^xi  he  made 
an  open  contession  of  the  faith,  the  bishop  asking  him,  Dost  thou  believe  <«  God? 
&c.,  U)  which  the  person  answered,  I  do  believe.  And  this  form  of  interrogation 
the  apostle  is  ihoushl  to  refer  to  when  he  sivUs  baptism  the  ansirer  of  a  good  cori.- 
gcieme  towards  God."'—M\.OT  this  confrssion  is  made,  the  candidate  (Mr.  Reeves 
adds)  was  "thrice  plunged  under  water  at  the  naming  of  the  Three  Persons  m 
the  blessed  Trinity."    Apologies,  Vol.  I.  p.  97.  Nolo. 


123]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO    BAPTISM.  75 

"  that  we  may  also  be  glorified  with  him."  Orat.  40.  In  Sfenndfs 
Answer  to  liussen,  p.  144. 

Basil,  A.  D.  360.  "  ¥.v  t^io-i  t^li;  HurAfuTuri,"  &c.  <*  By  three  im- 
"  raersions  the  great  mystery  of  baptism  is  accomplished."  In  Slen- 
nett,  as  above. 

Ambrose,  A.  D.  374.  "Thou  wast  asked.  Dost  thou  believe  in 
"God  the  Father  Almighty'?  Thou  saidst,  I  do  believe,  and  wast  im- 
"  mersed,  that  is,  thou  wast  buried,  (mersisti,  hoc  est,  sepultus  es.)  Thou 
"  wast  asked  again.  Dost  thou  believe  on  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
"  crucifixion  1  Thou  saidst,  I  believe,  and  wast  immersed  again,  and 
so  wast  buried  with  Christ."* 

Ctril,  of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  374.  "  As  he,  l  e^Jwuv  a-  rote  CJxiriy^who 
"  is  plu7iged  in  the  water,  and  baptized,  is  encompassed  by  the  water 
"  on  every  side  ;  so  they,  that  are  baptized  by  the  Spirit,  are  also  wholly 
covered  all  over  :"  &c.* 

Chrtsostom,  a.  D.  398.  "To  be  baptized  (x-^u  KctruSuiT^dn)  and 
plunged,  and  then  to  emerge  or  rise  again,  is  a  symbol  of  our  descent 
into  the  grave,  and  our  ascent  out  of  it ;  and  therefore,  Paul  calls  bap- 
tism a  burial."     Homil.  XL.  in  1  Corin. 

5.  Do  learned  Paedobaptists  grant  that  this  practice  of 
immersion  was  the  general,  and  esteemed  the  only  legiti- 
mate, mode  of  baptism,  among  the  early  Christians  ;  and 
that  in  this  they  were  obediently  following  the  instruction 
of  Christ  and  the  apostles  ? 

WiTSius  affirms, — "  It  is  certain  that  both  John  the  Baptist,  and 
the  disciples  of  Christ,  ordinarily  practised  immersion  ;  whose  example 
was  followed  by  the  ancient  church,  as  Vossius  has  shown,  by  produc- 
ing many  testimonies  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers."  Eco7i.  of  the 
Cov.  Lib.  IV.  cap.  xvi.  §  13. 

Mb-  Bower.  "  Baptism  by  immersion  was  undoubtedly  the  aposr 
tolical  practice,  and  was  never  dispensed  with  by  the  church,  except  in 
case  of  sickness,''  &c.     Hist,  of  the  Popes,  Vol,  II.  p.  110. 

G.  J.  Vossius.  "  That  the  apostles  immersed  whom  they  baptized 
there  is  no  doubt. . . .  And  that  the  ancient  church  followed  their  exam- 
ple is  very  clearly  evinced  by  innumerable  testimonies  of  the  fathers." 
Disputat.  de  Bap.  Disp.  I.  §  6. 

Mn.  Reeves.  "  The  ancients  carefully  observed  trine-immersion, 
insomuch  that  by  the  '  Canons  Apostolical,'  either  bishop  or  presbyter 

♦  The  sense  oT immersion  is  so  clearly  conveyed  in  these  passages,  and  repeated 
over  in  so  many  forms  of  exjyression,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  Co  misunderstand 
the  ancients  U()on  llie  subject.  I  will  transcribe  the  Latin  of  Ambrose,  and  the 
Latin  version  that  accompanies  the  Greek  of  Cyril. 

Ambrose.  "  inlerrogatus  es,  Credis  in  l>eum  Patrpm  Omnir<otentem  I  Dixisti, 
Credo:  ei  mersisti,  hoc  est,  sep»iUu8  es.  Iterum  intprrogalus  p.s,  Credis  in  Domi- 
num  nosinnn  Jesum  Chri.slum,  et  crycem  ejus?  Dixisti,  Cjedo,  et  meraisli :  ideo 
et  Christo  es  sepultus."    De  swram.  Lib.  II.  cap.  vii.  Paris,  163-2 


Cyril.  "  Sicut  en 


im  IS  qui 
cineitur;  sic  et  illi  a  Spiiiiu 
S  XJv.  Paris,  17-20. 


in  af^uis  immereitur  et  baptizatur  undlmiaque  abaquia 
baplizali  et  obvoluii  perfecte  suot."    Catechis,  XV/I. 


76  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE   TO  BAPTISM.  [124 

who  baptized  without  it  was  deposed  from  the  miwistrt."     See  the 
Canons,  42  to  50,     Reeves'  Apologies  of  Justin,  &c.  Vol.  I.  p.  97. 

Enctclop.kdia  Ecclesiastica.  (This  splendid  work,  now  publish- 
ing, A.  D.  1835,  under  the  patronage  of  the  highest  authorities  in  the 
British  nation,  both  in  church  and  state,  after  stating  the  reasons  urged 
in  defence  of  sprinkling,  proceeds,)  "  Whatever  weight,  however,  may 
be  in  these  reasons  as  a  defence  for  the  present  practice  of  sprinkling, 
IT  IS  evident  that  during  the  first  ages  of  the  church,  and  for  mant 
centuries  afterwards,  the  practice  of  immersion  prevailed;  and  which 
seems  indeed  never  to  be  departed  from,  except  where  it  was  adminis- 
tered to  a  person  at  the  point  of  death,  or  upon  the  bed  of  sickness, — 
which  was  considered  indeed  as  not  giving  the  party  the  full  privileges 
of  baptism, — or  when  there  was  not  a  sufficient  supply  of  water.  Ex- 
cept in  the  above  cases,  the  custom  was  to  dip  or  immerse  the  whole 
body.  Hence  St.  Barnabas  says,  We  go  down  into  the  water,"  &c. 
&c.     Article,  Baptism. 

6.  Admitting  this  evidence  as  demonstrative  of  the  ori- 
ginal practice,  must  it  not  be  a  display  of  ignorance  and 
tveakness  to  oppose  or  contradict  it ;  and,  indeed,  to  ridicule 
that  mode,  as  some  do,  a  profane  contempt  of  the  wisdom 
and  authority  of  Christ? 

Mr.  Wall,  (who  explored  all  the  voluminous  writers  of  antiquity  in 
search  of  evidence  of  infant  baptism,)  says,  "  This  [immersion]  is  so 
plain  and  clear  by  an  infinite  number  of  passages,  that  as  one 
cannot  but  PITY  the  weak  endeavors  of  such  Psedobaptists  as  would 
maintain  the  negative  of  it,  so  we  ought  to  disown  and  show  a  dislike 
of  the  PROFANE  SCOFFS  which  some  people  give  to  the  English  Anti» 
pjedobaptists  merely  for  the  use  of  dipping ;  when  it  was,  in  all  proba- 
bility, the  way  by  which  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  for  certain,  was 
the  most  usual  and  ordinary  way  by  which  the  ancient  Christians  did 
receive  their  baptism.  'Tis  a  great  want  of  prudence  as  well  as 
of  HONESTY  to  Tcfusc  to  grant  to  an  adversary  what  is  certainly 
TRUE,  and  may  be  proved  so.  It  creates  a  jealousy  of  all  the  rest  that 
one  says." — "  The  custom  of  the  Christians  in  the  near  succeeding 
times  [to  the  apostles]  being  more  largely  and  particularly  delivered  in 
books,  is  KNOWN  to  have  been  generally  or  ordinarily  a  total  immer- 
sion."   Hist,  of  Inf.  Bapt.,  Pt.  II.  ch.  ix.  §2.  And  its  Defence,  p.  131. 

Professor  Campbell.  "  I  have  heard  a  disputant,  in  defiance  of 
etymology  and  use,  maintain  that  the  word  rendered  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment baptize,  means  more  properly  to  sprinkle  than  to  plunge  ;  and  in 
DEFIANCE  OF  ALL  ANTiauiTT,  that  the  formcr  was  the  earliest,  and — 
the  most  general  practice  in  baptizing.  One  who  argues  in  this  manner 
never  fails  with  persons  of  knowledge  to  betray  the  cause  he  would 
defend ,-  and  though  with  respect  to  the  vulgar,  bold  assertions  gene- 
rally succeed  as  well  as  argument,  and  sometimes  better ;  yet  a  candid 
MIND  will  always  disdain  to  take  the  help  w/falsjehood,  even  in  the 
support  of  truth."     Lectures  on  Pulpit  Eloquence,  Led.  x.  p.  304. 

Edinburgh  I^eviewers,     "  We  have  rarely  met,  for  example,  with 


125]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO   BAPTISM.  77 

a  moie  weak  and  fanciful  piece  of  reasoning,  than  that  by  which 
Mr.  Ewing  would  persuade  us  that  there  is  no  allusion  to  the  mode  by 
immersion,  in  the  expression  '  buried  with  him  in  baptism.'  Thia 
point  ought  to  be  franklt  admitted,  and  indeed  cannot  be  denied 
with  any  show  of  reason."     In  Mr.  Carson's  Answer,  as  before,  p.  40. 

7.  How  long  was  immersion  continued  as  the  general 
practice  among  all  Christians  ? 

Bishop  BossuET.  "  We  are  able  to  make  it  appear,  by  the  acts  of 
Councils,  and  by  the  ancient  Rituals,  that  for  THIRTEEN  HUN- 
DRED YEARS,  baptism  was  thus  [by  immersion]  administered  through- 
out the  whole  church,  as  far  as  possible."  In  StenneWs  Answer  to 
Uussen,  p.  176. 

Stackhouse.  "Several  authors  have  shown,  and  proved,  that  this 
immersion  continued,  as  much  as  possible,  to  be  used  for  thjrteex 
HUNDRED  TEARS  after  Christ."  Hist,  of  the  Bible,  P.  8,  p.  J234.  See 
also  Mr.  Whitby,  cited  at  p.  47. 

8.  At  what  period,  and  on  what  accounts,  was  the  cus- 
tom of  pouring,  or  sprinkling,  first  introduced  ? 

Ansiver.  There  is  no  earlier  record,  that  Mr.  Wall  could  discover, 
than  in  the  case  of  Novatian,  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century. 
This  man  while  unbaptized,  as  Euscbius  records,  (Eccles.  Hist.  L,  VI. 
c.  43,)  "  fell  into  a  dangerous  disease,  and  because  he  was  very  likfi  to 
die,  was  baptized  in  the  bed  where  he  lay,"  {iv  KXivri  Tnoi  ;;(iid-ivr:t,  j.  e. 
sprinkled  over  in  bed;  or  water  poured  all  over  him,  the  word  signi- 
ties,)  "  if  that  might  be  termed  baptism,"  Novatian  recovered  ;  and  by 
the  following  circumstance  we  have  remarkably  preserved  the  view 
which  the  Christian  church  generally  took  of  bis  baptism,  7'he  See 
of  Rome  became  vacant,  A.  D.  251.  Two  per,sons  were  ch.osen  to 
succeed,  namely  Cornelius,  '  chosen  by  the  major  part,'  and  this  Nova- 
tian, in  a  '  schismatical  way.'  Cornelius  writes  a  long  letter  to  Fabius, 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  in  which  he  describes  the  case  of  Novatian,  and 
says,  (as  Mr.  Wall  translates  it,)  "  that  Novatian  came  not  canonically 
to  his  order  of  priesthood,  much  less  was  he  capable  of  being  chosen 
bisliop:"  Let  the  reader  mark  the  reason  assigned,  "  For  that  all  thf. 
"  CLERGT,  and  a  great  ?rANT  of  the  Laity,  were  against  his  being 
"chosen  Presbyter;  because  it  was  not  lawful,  (tbey  said)  for  any  one 
"that  had  been  baptized  in  his  bed,  [Greek,  as  aho\e,  poured  aver,]  as 
"he  had  been,  to  be  admitted  to  any  office  of  the  clergy."  WaWs 
Hist.  Pait  II.  ch.  ix.  §  2. 

Here  is  the  first  recorded  case  of  affusion,  either  pouring  or  sprink- 
ling, for  baptism  ;  and  here  we  have  a  serious  objection  taken  against 
the  person  so  baptized  on  account  of  it;  an  objection  in  which  "all  the 
clergy"  were  united.  What  was  the  objection  1  Was  it  against  his 
situation,  as  being  sick  in  bed  T  or  against  the  mode  of  the  ordinance  ? 
This  is  important  to  be  ascertained.  I  answer,  It  was  against  both  ; 
for  soon  after  this  time  these  two  olijoctions  against  such  a  baptism 
were  exhibited.  1.  There  was  an  objection  against  a  person  sick, 
because,  as  the  Council  of  Neoca^sarea  allirmed  by  the  12th  canon, 
11*  o2 


78  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO  BAPTISM.  []12G 

"  He  that  is  baptized,  when  he  is  sick,  ought  not  to  be  made  a  priest, 
for  his  conjing  to  the  faith  is  not  voluntaut,  but  from  necessity." 
And,  2.  As  to  the  mode,  while  Novatian  was  Uving,  one  Magnus  sub- 
mits this  question  to  Cyprian — "  An  habendi  sint  Christiani  legitimi, 
eo  quod  aqua  sulutari  non  loti  sunt,  sed  perfusi  ?"  i.  e.  "  Whether  they 
are  to  be  ksteemed  iurht  Chkistians,  who  are  not  washed  in  the 
water,  but  only  sprinkled  .'"  Cyprian  answers,  that  the  baptism  was  to 
be  esteemed  good,  "  necessitate  cogente,"  "  necessity  compelling  to  it, 
and  God  granting  his  indulgence."  I  leave  the  reader  to  reflect  on  the 
force  of  this  evidence. 

From  this  period,  A.  D.  250,  onward,  sprinkling  was  permitted,  but 
only  in  a  case  of  necessity,  and  in  prospect  of  death ;  originating  in  a 
false  view  of  the  necessity  of  the  ordinance  to  salvation.  "  France 
(says  Mr.  Wall)  seems  to  have  been  the  first  country  in  the  world  where 
baptism  by  affusion  was  used  ordinarily  to  persons  in  health."  This 
affusion,  or  pouring,  in  the  church  of  Rome,  was  first  tolerated  in  the 
eighth  century,  while  immersion  was  still  the  established  law  of  the 
church ;  and  so  things  stood  for  several  hundred  years.  In  the  six- 
teenth century,  pouring  was  generally  adopted.  The  Rituals  of  that 
church  prove  this  to  a  demonstration.  See  Robinson's  History  of  Bap- 
tism, p.  525  ;  and  Bishop  Bossuet,  just  cited. 

The  Church  of  England  held  the  original  practice  of  dipping  longer 
than  those  of  the  continent.  "  Perfunduntur  (says  Erasmus,  A.  D. 
1530,)  apud  nos,  merguntur  apud  Anglos."  i.  e.  "  With  us  (the  Dutch) 
they  have  the  water  poured  on  them  ;  in  England  they  are  dipped." 
The  Rubric  to  this  day  instructs  the  clergyman,  "  he  shall  dip  in  the 
water  discreetly  and  warily  ;"  but  it  allows  an  exception,  "but  if  they 
shall  certify  that  the  child  is  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water  upon 
it."  The  Catechism  requires  the  youth  to  express  the  form  of  baptism 
only  as  by  immersion,  "  Water  wherein  the  person  is  baptized."  In 
the  early  history  of  this  church  "  the  offices  or  liturgies  (says  Mr. 
Wall)  did  ALL  ALONG  ...  enjoin  dipping,  without  any  mention  of  pour- 
ing or  sprinkling."  In  A.  D.  1549,  first  appeared  the  exception  for 
'  weak'  children  :  four  years  afterward  the  word  thrice,  after  the  order  to 
dip,  was  omitted.  Sprinkling  began  to  prevail  about  A.  D.  1550,  and 
"within  the  time  of  half  a  century,  from  A.  D.  1550  to  1600,  pre- 
VAiLK!)  TO  BE  THE  MORE  GENEUAL  ;  as  it  is  uow  almost  the  only  way 
of  baptizing."     Mr.  Waifs  Hist,  of  Inf.  Bap.  Pt.  II.  ch.  ix.  §  2. 

9.  In  what  proportion  of  the  Christion  world  has  im- 
mersion been  continued  down  to  the  present  lime  ? 

Ansiver.  Mn.  Wall.  "  What  has  been  said  of  this  custom  of 
pouring  or  sprinkling  water  in  the  ordinary  use  of  baptism,  is  to  be 
understood  only  in  reference  to  these  western  parts  of  Europe: 
for  it  is  used  ordinarily  nowhere  else.  The  Greek  church  does  still 
use  immersion ;  and  so  do  all  other  Christians  in  the  world  except  the 
Latins.  All  those  nations  of  Christians  that  do  now,  or  formerly  did 
submit  to  the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  do  ordinarily  baptize 
their  infants  by  pouring  or  sprinkling ;  hut  ail  other  Christians  in  the 
world  who  never  owned  the  Pope's  usurped  power,  bo  and  kver  did 


127]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  79 

DTP  their  infants  in  the  ordinary  use. ...  Ail  the  Christians  in  Aaia,  ail 
in  Africa,  and  about  one-third  part  of  Europe,  are  of  the  last  sort." 
Hist,  of  Inf.  Bap.  Part  11.  eh.  ix.  p.  37G.  Ed.  3. 

Does  my  reader  wish  me  to  proceed  any  further  1  To  my  mind  the 
subject  is  perfectly  settled ;  because  the  evidence  adduced  before  us  has 
been,  not  in  criticisms  upon  words,  but  in  plain  historical  facts  ;  facts 
admitted  by  every  Christian  writer  that  has  examined  the  subject ;  and, 
as  they  include  the  practice  of  the  apostoUc  age,  they  are  decisive  upon 
the  subject. 

The  contention,  therefore,  that  the  word  Baptize  has  other  senses 
beside  to  immerse,  and  that  the  prepositions  rendered  into  and  out  of 
in  the  baptism  of  the  eunuch,  may  be  rendered  to  and  from  the  water; 
all  this  is  perfect  quibbling  and  trifling  when  the  fact  is  conceded,  that 
Jesus,  and  his  apostles,  and  the  primitive  Christians,  observed  and 
authorized  the  ordinance  in  this  form.  Thus  the  late  editor  of  Calmet, 
after  warmly  contending  against  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  adds,  "  Here 
again,  I  say,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood  ;  I  believe  that  immersion  was 
practised  by  John."  Why,  granting  this,  he  grants  me  oil:  for  if  this 
was  the  form  in  which  '  the  Lord  of  glory'  was  baptized,  and  what  he 
authorized,  I  want  no  more. 

To  a  person  disposed  to  question  the  evidence  for  immersion,  I  would 
beg  to  propose  the  following  inquiries,  founded  upon  those  historical 
facts  briefly  given  in  the  foregoing  pages,  and  which  he  may  more  fully 
examine  in  the  works  I  have  referred  to : — 

1.  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  the  early  Christian  writers  expressed 
the  rite  of  baptism  by  such  Greek  and  Latin  words  and  phrases  (ex- 
clusive of  baptizo)  as  signify,  to  be  plunged;  to  be  buried .•  to  be 
dipped;  to  be  immersed;  to  be  let  down  in  the  ivater,  and  to  be 
encompassed  by  the  water  on  every  side  ? 

2.  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  when  affusion  or  sprinkling  was  had 
recourse  to,  as  an  expedient  in  prospect  of  death,  and  the  person  re- 
covered, he  was  not  deemed  so  properly  baptized  as  to  be  admissible  to 
any  sacred  office  ? 

3.  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  the  fathers  should  name,  as  suitable 
places  for  baptizing,  "  the  sea,  a  pool,  a  river,  a  fountain,  a  lake,  a  chan- 
nel, the  Jordan,  the  Tiber ;"  and  that  the  baptism  may  be  alike  "  in" 
any  one  of  them  7 

4.  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  by  the  authority  of  the  *  Canons  Aposto- 
lical,' if  a  Bishop  or  Presbyter  baptized  by  any  other  way  than  immer- 
sion, yea,  trine-immersion,  he  should  be  deposed! 

5.  How  comes  it  to  pass,  that  those  Christians  with  whom  the  com- 
mand of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  baptize  is  in  their  native  tongue,  have, 
in  all  ages  of  their  history,  observed  this  mode  1 

6.  How  comes  it  to  pass,  that  the  ancient  rituals  of  those 
churches  in  which  pouring  and  sprinkling  now  prevail,  solemnly 
enjoined,  or  do  still  enjoin,  the  mode  of  immersion  ? 

7.  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  the  whole  Christian  world,  however 
afterward  divided,  uniformly  observed  immersion,  except  in  sickness, 
for  TiiiUTEKN  hundred  ycars  1 


80  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [128 

Now,  though  the  evidence  I  have  produced  upon  these  points  from 
ancient  and  modern  writers  be  brief,  which  it  would  have  been  much 
easier  to  have  extended  than  to  have  thus  compressed,  it  is  beyond 
doubt,  that  ivhat  the  above  inquiries  state,  are 

INCONTROVERTIBLE  HISTORICAL  FACTS. 

And  if  the  New  Testament  contained  no  decisive  evidence  on  the 
subject,  the  above  facts  afford  a  most  indisputable  proof  that  immer- 
sion was  the  original,  and  if  so  the  divinely  authorizkb  mode; 
and  consequently  that  which  should  be  invariably  and  unaltera- 
bly observed  to  the  end  of  time ;  for  who  can  alter  what  Christ 
ordains  1 


APPENDIX,  PART  III. 

On  the  Spiritual  Design  of  Baptism. 

That  this  sacred  ordinance  was  intended  by  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  be  symbolical,  and  to  teach  by  an  expressive  and  visible 
sign  what  the  gospel  taught  by  the  word  preached,  is  a  truth  too  evi- 
dent in  the  New  Testament  to  be  doubted  ;  and  that  the  particular  form 
or  mode  of  it  was  to  be  indicative  of  some  important  truths,  and  that 
its  observance  was  to  have  a  beneficial  influence  on  the  Christian 
church,  are  equally  clear.  We  liave  now  in  few  words  to  state,  what 
the  ordinance  was  intended  to  teach,  what  to  exhibit,  and  what  practi- 
cal influence  it  shouid  have  on  the  church  of  Christ. 

1.  It  was  to  teach  the  S!nfulnesf<  of  man,  and  the  necessity  oi  puri- 
fication from  sin,  in  order  to  eternal  life.  These  tr\i«hs  are  implied  in 
Peter's  words,  when  exhorting  to  the  ordinance,  "Repent  and  he  bap- 
tized for  the  remission  of  sins  ;"  and  in  Ananias',  "  Arise,  and  be  bap- 
tized, and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
Act*  ii.  S'S.  xxii.  16. 

2.  Baptism  was  intended  to  teach  and  to  signify  the  Christian's 
entire  abandonment  of  a  Ife  (f  impiety,  and  his  entrance  upon  a  new 
life  of  devotion  and  dedication  to  God.  The  metaphors  of  a  diath  and 
burial  express  the  former,  and  a  resurrection  the  latter.  Hence  the 
apostle,  RoMu  vi.  8,  declares  the  Christian  "dead  with  Christ;"  and 
not  only  dead,  but  "  buried  with  him  -^  and  here  Christ's  own  institu- 
tion is  introduced  to  confirm  the  apostle's  doctrine;  "  therefore  we  aro 
buried  with  him  by  baptism  into  death,"  &c.  See  the  Scripturen 
at  p.  45. 

3.  Baptism  was  intended  to  exhibit  our  Lord's  overiohelming 
sufferings — 'J^o  this  most  interesting  circumstance  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer does  himself  allude  in  affecting  terms.     See  pp.  22,  23. 

4.  No  less  does  baptism  pre-represent  what  the  (i^hristian  anticipates 
as  the  destiny  of  his  own  human  nature,  when  he  shall  descend  hke 


129]  SCRIPTURE  GUIDE  TO    BAPTISM.  81 

his  Redeemer  into  the  grave,  and  at  his  Saviour's  second  coming  be 
raised  to  glory.  So  the  apo-stle,  "  Else  what  shall  they  do  who  are 
baptized  for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all."  In  no  way  but 
immersion  does  the  ordinance  answer  this  and  the  foregoing  designs. 

5.  And,  finally,  this  sacred  rite,  in  reference  to  its  subjects,  appears 
evidently  designed  to  form  a  Ihie  of  separation  between  the  world  and 
the  church.  A  baptized  person,  in  the  primitive  age,  was  considered  as 
having  come  out  from  the  ungodly,  and  assumed  the  character  and 
profession  of  a  follower  of  Christ.  "  As  many  of  you  as  have  been 
baptized  into  Christ,  have  put  on  Christ."  Gal.  iii.  27.  Just  as  when 
a  person,  entering  the  service  of  an  earthly  prince,  puts  on  the  attire 
by  which  the  servants  of  that  prince  are  distinguished,  so  the  Christian, 
by  baptism,  puts  on,  as  a  garment,  an  open  profession  of  his  Lord  and 
Master ;  declaring  that  he  is  no  longer  his  own,  or  the  servant  of  sin 
and  Satan,  but  bought  with  a  price,  and  now  surrenders  himself  to  him 
that  loved  him  and  died  for  him.  This  entire  separation  of  the  church 
from  the  world  our  Saviour  most  plainly  taught  in  John  xv.  19.  xvii.  6, 
9,  20,  21,  and  xviii.  36.  As  did  also  the  apostles;  see,  as  an  example, 
2  Cor.  vi.  14  to  18.  In  none  but  believers  can  this  practical  use  of 
baptism  be  realized. 


CONCLUDING  OBSERVATIONS. 

In  closing  my  little  work  I  must  Request  my  reader*s 
attention  to  a  few  thoughts,  suggested  by  the  general 
objections  of  opponents  to  the  practice  for  which  I  have 
contended ;  and  add  my  reasons,  in  a  summary  form,  for 
abiding  strictly  by  that  practice. 

I.  Objections  to  exclusive  Believers'  Baptism. 
1.  In  the  form  of  objection  to  the  principles  of  the  Bap- 
tists, relative  to  this  ordinance,  it  has  been  remarked  that 

*  The  MAJORITY  of  Christians,  with  whom  are  associated  an 
immense  number  of  great,  good,  and  learned  men,  have 
held,  and  do  hold,  the  opposite  views  ;*  and  (it  is  asked) 

*  Can  they  all  be  wrong  V 

Answer.  I  admit  that  a  large  majority  of  the  professed  Christian 
inhabitants  of  the  world,  with  whom  are  joined  many  most  eminent 
writers,  are  against  us.  But  is  a  majority  never  wrong, — never  found 
on  the  side  of  error  1  Let  my  reader,  whoever  he  may  be,  ask  *  Whe- 
ther the  majority  of  professed  Christians  do  not  think  differently  from 
him  upon  some  equally  important  points  1  and  how  little  does  he  think 
of  the  consequence  of  numbers  upon  those  points  !'  The  Chinese 
plead  their  majority  against  Christians ;  the  Catholics  against  Pro- 
testants ;  «fec,  <Scc.,  but  who  feels  the  force  of  an  argument  in  the  plea  1 
— And  "  as  to  great  men  and  great  names  (says  Mr.  A.  Clarke)  we 


82  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [130 

find  them  enrolled  and  arranged  on  the  side  of  all  controversies;" 
and  I  will  allow  my  opponent  to  reckon  them  up  by  hundreds,  or  thou- 
sands, and  place  them  all  on  tlie  side  of  infant  baptism  ,- — I  will  take 
and  place  on  the  other  side,  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  then  I  appeal 
to  my  reader,  'Who  has  the  bkst  suppokt,  though  my  number  be  but 
'  a  little  Hock'  in  the  comparison  1 

Now  I  must  be  allowed  to  ixsisx  vvos  it  that  I  have  Christ  and 
the  apostles  with  me,  giving  their  sanction  to  believers'  baptism ;  and 
all  will  admit,  that  their  sanction  is  not  to  bk  fouxu  on  the  opposite 
side.  Much  then  as  I  venerate  the  great,  good,  and  learned  men 
referred  to,  as  not  they,  but  Christ  is  my  Lord  and  Master,  and  is  to  be 
my  sole  Judge  at  the  last  day,  I  hesitate  not  to  quit  my  connexion  v^'ith 
any  majority,  or  with  any  particular  eminent  men,  supposing  I  am 
found  in  a  minority,  if  Chkist  is  with  me  thkhk, 

2.  It  has  also  been  objected  '  That  our  principles  are  of 
recent  origin  ;  and  were  unknown  previous  to  the  appear- 
ance of  certain  enthusiasts  in  Qerrnany,  at  the  time  of  the 
reformation,' 

Answtr,  Our  principles  arc  as  old  as  Christianity.  We  acknow- 
ledge no  founder  but  Christ.  With  enthusiasts  in  Germany,  or  in  any 
age  or  country,  we  have  no  connexion,  and  our  forefathers  never  had. 
Enthusiasts  may  be  designated  by  the  same  name,  but  that  proves 
Nothing. — Persons  holding  our  distinctive  principle,  i.  e.  '  the  baptism 
of  believers  only'  have  appeared  in  all  ages  of  the  Christian  era.  From 
Christ  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  second  century  there  were  "so  others  ; 
at  least,  if  there  were  any,  their  history  is  a  blank.*  After  infant  bap- 
tism was  introduced,  many  did  not  receive  it,  and  many  opposed  it. 

How  else  can  we  account  for  the  case  of  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augus- 
tine, and  others,  who,  says  Bishop  Taylor,  "  were  born  of  Christian 
parents,  and  yet  not  baptized  until  the  full  age  of  man,  and  more  ]"■(• 
How  else  can  we  account  for  the  pressing  exhortations  found  in  early 
writings,  addressed  to  professed  Christians,  to  come  to  baptism  ?4: 
How,  especially,  can  we  otherwise  account  for  the  awful  anathemas 
pronounced  at  different  times  by  the  dominant  party,  upon  those  that 
denied  infant  baptism  ? 

If  ray  reader  has  opportunity  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the 
history  oi  the  numerous  bodies  of  Christians  which  appeared  at  differ- 
ent periods,  while  popery  was  dominant  in  Europe,  he  will  find  that 
there  w^re  many  mtriads  of  persoxs,  who,  for  several  centuries 
before  the  Reformation,  lifted  up  their  voice  against  that  spiritual  domi- 

*  It  may  be  proper  to  slate,  that  Mr.  Wall  thought  that  there  was  a  passage  in 
Irenaens,  in  the  second  century,  favorable  to  infant  baptism.  "  Christ,"  says  Ire- 
naeus,  "  came  to«aye  all  persons  by  himself;  all,  I  mean,  who  by  him  (renascuu- 
tur  in  Deunj)  ar«  regenerated  to  God;  infants,  and  little  onrs,  and  youths,  and 
elder  persons."  Now,  if  the  word  regenerated  had  no  other  sense  than  baptized, 
and  Cnrist  came  to  save  only  thope  who  received  that  ordinance,  and  by  it,  then 
this  passage  would  l)e,  what  Mr.  Wall  calls  it,  "  the  first  express  mention  of  infant 
baptism."     But  as  it  is,  it  is  beg^iug  the  question  to  cite  it  at  all  on  the  subject. 

t  Dissuasive  from  Popery,  Pt.  II.  p.  117. 

X  See  Basil's" Ora/to  Extiovt.  ad  litipt.  ia  Mr.  Wall's  Hist.  Pi.  I.  ch.  xii.  §  3. 


131]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  83 

nation ;  and  that  those  several  sects  held  the  distinctive  principle  of  the 
Baptists,  given  above;  or  in  their  own  words,  as  recorded  by  Mr. 
MosHEiM,  "  That  no  persons  whatever  were  to  be  baptized  before  they 
came  to  the  full  use  of  their  reason :"  "  Because  to  all  infants,  that 
know  nothing  of  faith,  in  whom  there  can  be  no  desire  of  regeneration, 
or  confession  of  faith,  &c.,  the  will,  faith,  and  confession  of  another, 
seem  not  in  the  least  to  appertain."  Eccles.  Hist.  Cent.  XII.  ch.  v. 
§  7.  and  m  Stennett's  Answer  to  Russen,  p.  84. 

Such  was  the  avowed  sentiment  of  the  followers  of  GtrxnuLPHCS 
in  Italy  ;  of  the  Bkrengarians  in  France  ;  of  the  Paterikes  in  the 
Dutchy  of  Milan  ;  of  the  Petrobrusians  and  Henricians  in  Lan- 
guedoc  and  Provence;  and  of  the  followers  of  Arnold,  of  Brescia, 
who  suflered  at  Rome,  A.  D.  1155. — All  these  are  sometimes  included 
in  the  general  name  of  Waldenses,  and  their  history  may  be  traced 
backward  from  the  time  of  the  reformation  through  several  centuries. 
"Some  of  the  popish  writers  own  (says  President  Edwards)  that  tbat 
people  never  submitted  to  the  church  of  Rome.  One  says  '  The  heresy 
of  the  Waldenses  is  the  oldest  heresy  in  the  world.'  It  is  supposed 
that  this  people  betook  themselves  to  this  secret  place  among  the  moun- 
tains, to  hide  themselves  from  the  severity  of  the  heathen  persecutions 
which  were  before  Constantine  the  Great.  And  thus  the  woman  fled 
into  the  wilderness  from  the  face  of  the  serpent.  Rev.  xii.  6  and  14." 
{History  of  Redemption,  Period  III.  Ft.  ii.  1.)  To  this  agrees  Beza, 
who  says,  "As  for  the  Waldenses,  I  may  be  permitted  to  call  them  the 
seed  of  the  primitive  and  purer  church."  On  baptism  their  confession 
is  given  in  these  words — "  We  believe  that  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
the  water  is  the  visible  and  external  sign,  which  repiesents  to  us — the 
renovation  of  our  minds  through  Christ  Jesus,  and  by  this  ordinance 
we  are  received  into  the  holy  congregation  of  God's  people,  niKviousLy 
PROFEssixR  A>'D  DECLARixo  ouu  FAITH,  and  chaugc  of  life."  See 
Jones'  Hist,  of  this  people.  Vol.  II.  pp.  49,  50,  70.  2d  Ed. 

To  the  Waldenses  succeeded  the  Mensonites  ;  i.  e.  the  Baptists, 
or  Anabaptists,  as  they  are  sometimes  contemptuously  called,  at  this 
time  an  extensive  body  in  various  nations  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
Thus,  the  learned  Mr.  Mosueim  says,  "  The  true  origin  of  that  sect 
which  acquired  the  denomination  of  Anabaptists. ..  and  derived  that 
of  Mennonitcs  from  the  famous  man  to  whom  they  owe  the  greatest 
part  of  their  present  felicity,  is  hidden  in  the  depths  of  AXTiauixr  .. . 
The  Mennonites  are  not  entirely  in  error  when  they  boast  of  their 
descent  from  the  Waldenses,  Petrobrusians,  and  other  ancient  sects, 
who  are  usually  considered  as  witnesses  of  the  truth  in  the  times  of 
general  darkness  and  superstition."  Eccles.  Hist.  Cent.  XVI.  Sect.  III. 
pt.  ii.  ch.  iii.  My  reader  may  judge  from  this  of  the  nature  of  tlic 
objection  as  to  the  recent  origin  of  Baptist  principles.* 

*  In  reference  to  Great  Britain,  in  particular,  during  the  first  cenuirir?,  it  ma^ 
be  affirmed,  that  from  the  first  introduction  of  Clirisiianity  into  it,  until  Popn  Gre- 
gory (A.  D.  596,)  sent  over  Austin  to  this  country  wiih  a  nun. I.e.-  of  monlfs  to  con- 
vert the  people  to  the  Catholic  faith,  wo  have  good  reason  for  Ijolieviiig  that 
believers'  baptism  alone  prevailed  in  this  country  ;  fir  Austin,  finding  diffi  rencfs 
to  exist  between  his  viows  and  ihe  Briiisii  ('hrisiians,  called  their  niinistfrs  {.•>- 
gether,  and  proposed  "Three  things,"  in  order  to  their  having  his  favor  and  pro- 


84  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [^132 

3.  On  the  mode,  it  is  objected  '  That  it  is  more  trouble- 
some, and  inconvenient  than  the  usual  mode  of  sprinkling; 
and  quite  a  cross  to  submit  to  it.' 

Answer.  I  admit  this,  as  certainly  the  feeling  of  human  nature  : 
but,  I  beg  to  inquire,  Is  the  trouble  and  inconvenience  too  great,  and 
the  crose  loo  heavy  to  be  borne,  if  I  have  proved  that  Christ  sanctioned 
that  mode  by  his  command  and  his  example?  Who,  as  a  Christian, 
if  present  on  the  banks  of  Jordan  when  Christ  was  baptized,  would 
refuse  or  object  to  be  the  next  person  to  be  baptized  after  Clirist,  and 
in  the  same  way  ?  And  if  then,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  was  visibly 
descending,  and  the  Father's  voice  was  heard,  you  would  cheerfully 
have  entered  the  streams  of  Jordan,  is  not  the  ordinance  the  same  now, 
equally  binding,  endearing,  and  as  much  under  the  eye  and  the  bless- 
ing of  heaven  \  Without  doubt :  and  surely  your  Redeemer  has  done 
enough,  and  suffered  enough  for  sinners,  to  entitle  him  to  this  act  of 
obedience  from  them,  supposing  it  does  give  them  a  measure  of  trouble, 
and  inconvenience,  and  a  cross  to  bear  after  him.  Hear  his  own  words, 
— "  He  that  taketh  not  his  cross,  and  followeth  after  me,  is  not  worthy 
of  me."     Matt.  x.  38. 

4.  But,  it  is  added,  '  The  quantify  of  water  can  matter 
nothing  ;  any  more  than  the  quantity  of  wine  or  bread  in 
the  Lord's  supper.' 

Answer.  This  is  granted,  providing  only  there  be  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  fulfil  Christ's  command.  It  is  not  the  quantity  that  is  con- 
tended for,  but  a  conformity  to  the  pattern  of  Christ ;  and  any  dejjarture 
from  that  pattern  renders  the  act  no  longer  an  act  of  obedience  to  him. 

5.  But,  objects  another,  '  I  have,  I  hope,  received  t!ie 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  the  thing  signified  ; 
and  I  do  not  see  the  necessity  of  submitting  to  this  rite,  as 
it  cannot  take  away  sin,  or  do  me  any  good.' 

Answer.  The  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  made,  by  the  apostle 
Peter,  the  very  reason  why  those  that  received  it  should  receive  this 
ordinance — "  Can  any  man  forbid  water  that  these  should  not  be 
baptized  which  havk  RECKivEn  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we  ]"  (See 
p.  35.)  And  as  to  the  good  the  ordinance  can  do,  and  its  inability  to 
take  away  sin,  I  again  refer  to  him  who  had  no  sin  to  take  away,  and 
needed  no  good  from  religious  services,  yet  travelled  a  long  journey  '  to 
be  baptized,'  and  silenced  every  objection  against  it  by  affirming, 
"  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness." 

lection.  The  second  of  these  things  was,  "  That  yb  givb  Christbndome  to 
CHILDREN,"  i.  e.  that  ihey  should  baptize  them:  good  proof  that  they  did  not  do  s  t 
before.  And  it  is  known  that  Pope  Gregory,  above  referred  to,  decreed  as  follows : 
— "  Let  all  young  children  be  baptized, lis  they  ought  to  be,  according  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Fathers."  What  an  evidence  is  this  of  the  omission  of  infant  ba(>- 
tism,  and  the  kind  of  authority  by  which  it  was  authorized  and  urged!  Seo 
Ivimey's  Hist,  of  the  English  Baptists,  Vol.  1.  r'P-  42—45. 

The  reader  should  also  be  informed,  that  infant  connnunion  began  about  the 
same  time  as  infant  baptism,  and  attended  it  lill  alwut  A.  D.  1000.  It  was  admi- 
nistered for  the  same  reason,  i.  e.  on  account  of  its  saving  efficacy.  In  the  East  it 
iff  still  continued. 


133]  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  8& 

II.  Reasons  for  the  Baptism  of  Believers  only. 

1.  Because  I  am  quite  suke  that  I  have  plain  Scripture  autho- 
rity for  believers'  baptism ;  but  to  authorize  the  baptism  of  infants 
not  a  word,  in  inspiration,  is  to  be  found. 

2.  Because  the  baptism  of  believers  is  in  harmony  with  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  and  the  nature  of  Christ's  kingdom,  which  'is  not  of 
this  world,'  but  spiritual,  and  extends  no  further  amongst  men  than 
FAITH  and  Christian  experience  extend.     John  i.  11 — 13. 

3.  Because  baptism,  being  an  act  of  obedience  to  Christ,  must  have 
Christ's  command,  or  authority ;  the  baptism  of  believers  only  has 
this ;  (see  p.  26.)  "  Can  that  be  obedience,"  inquires  Mr.  Baxter, 
"which  hath  no  command?  Who  knows  what  will  please  God  but 
himself:  and  has  he  not  told  us  what  he  expects  from  us  ?" 

4.  Because  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism,  namely,  '  that  children  by 
it  are  brought  into  the  covenant  of  grace,  which  is  the  covenant  of  re- 
demption, or  '  the  benefits  of  that  covenant  sealed  to  them,'  is  opposed 
to  all  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  whether  according  to  the  views 
of  Arminians  or  Calvinists.  What,  in  this  case,  becomes  of  the  doc- 
trine of  God's  Election  ?  of  the  necessity  of  Repentance  ?  of  the  New 
Birth  ?  of  Conversion  ?  of  Faith  in  Christ  1  and  of  Justification 
through  Faith  ?  &c.  «fec.  All  these  are  superseded  by  baptism,  if  the 
above  doctrine  be  true. 

5.  Because  of  the  dangerous  practical  tendency  of  infant  baptism. 
If  children,  advancing  into  life,  believe  the  above  doctrine,  they  are 
likely  to  ref^t  satisfied  in  the  *  benefits  sealed,'  and  without  any  further 
concern,  without  faith  or  piety,  live  in  the  hypocrite's  hope,  and  perish 
with  '  a  lie  in  their  right  hand  !' 

6.  Because  infant  baptism  goes  to  unite  the  world  with  the  church  of 
Christ.  Have  not  the  vilest  infidels  in  Christendom  received  '  the  seal 
of  the  covenant,  and  been  grafted  into  the  church,  the  body  of  Christ  V 
How  grossly  absurd  !  How  lamentable,  that  they  should  have  cause 
to  pour  contempt  upon  Christianity  by  the  errors  and  follies  of  its 
professors ! 

7.  Because  I  would  not  have  the  impression  on  my  mind  while  in 
this  life,  or  the  remembrance  at  the  Bar  of  future  Judgment,  that  I  had 
♦  reversed'  Christ's  order,  which  is  the  case  in  inf mt  baptism,  (see  Si- 
meon, p.  25,)  or  altered  the  mode  which  his  wisdom  ordained  ;  pre- 
ferring to  follow  my  Saviour's  plain  and  endeared  example,  and  to  abide 
by  his  sacred  and  authoritative  instructions. 


FINAL  ADDRESS  TO  THE  READER. 

I  WILL  now  imagine  that  you,  my  reader,  are  convinced  that  I  have 
the  truth  with  me  on  this  subject :  allow  me,  then,  in  behalf  of  Christ, 
to  exhort  you  practically  to  attend  to  this  sacred  institution.     Do  you 

VOL.  II.— 12  H 


86  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [134 

ask,  Wliat  is  prerequisite  to  baptism  ?  I  answer,  these  three  things  .- 
(I.)  To  see  and  feel  that  you  are  a  sinner,  and  need  the  remission 
of  sins,  Acts  ii.  38.  (2.)  That  you  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 
God,  and  rely  on  him  as  your  only  Saviour,  Acts  viii.  37.  (3.)  That 
you  feel  willing  to  forsake  all  ungodliness,  and  to  devote  your  future 
life  to  the  service  and  glory  of  your  Redeemer  ;  willing,  and  not 
ashamed,  to  put  on  Christ,  and  follow  him  to  the  skies.  Rom.  vi.  4  ; 
Gal.  iii.  27. 

If  these  things  are  found  in  you,  and  you  are  convinced  of  the  will 
of  Christ,  delay  not  doing  his  will.  "  If  ye  love  me,  (said  he,)  keep 
nty  commandments."     Do  not  entertain  frivolous  excuses. 

1.  Do  not  say  '  you  are  too  young.'  At  twelve  years  of  age  your 
Lord  appeared  in  public,  doing  the  will  of  his  Father ;  if  you  have 
reached  that  age,  it  is  high  time  to  commence  a  life  of  dedication  to 
Christ.  Go,  youthful  reader,  and  follow  the  Lamb  in  the  morning  of 
life.  Who  knows  but  your  sun  may  go  down  at  noon  !  His  promise 
is,  "  They  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me." 

2.  Do  not  say  '  you  are  too  old.'  If  you  have  far  exceeded  the  age 
above  mentioned,  and  yet  hear  the  Saviour's  voice,  ^follow  me,^  you  are 
not  too  old  to  obey  his  endeared  and  binding  commands. 

3.  Do  not  say  '  what  good  can  it  do  you  V  Behold  your  Lord  enter- 
ing the  waters  of  Jordan  !  Are  you  wiser  or  better  than  he  1  Beware 
that  you  reflect  not  on  his  wisdom. 

4.  Does  the  ordinance  appear  a  cross  to  you  ]  and  especially  so,  as 
it  is  something  that  does  not  fall  in  with  the  taste  Sind  fancy  of  the 
world  ?  Thank  God  for  that.  Christ  never  intended  his  religion,  or 
his  ordinances,  to  suit  the  fancies  of  unregenerate  men  ;  and  the  more 
objectionable  this  ordinance  is  to  such  persons,  so  much  more  effectual 
is  it  as  a  line  of  demarcation  between  the  world  and  his  church,  as  the 
Lord  Jesus  intended.  And  as  to  the  cross, — do  you  think  it  is  too 
heavy  1  Behold  him  passing  through  the  baptism  of  his  inconceivable 
sufferings ^or  you  /  Behold  him  carrying  the  cross  upon  which  he 
was  suspended  for  many  hours ;  and  thereon,  by  his  dying  pains,  work- 
ing out  eternal  redemption  for  you  !  And  will  you,  turning  from 
these  unparalleled  scenes,  say  '  the  cross  of  baptism  is  too  heavy  for 


To  bear  his  name — His  cross  to  bear, 

Our  highest  honor  this  ! 
Who  nobly  suffers  now  for  him. 

Shall  reign  with  him  in  bliss. 


1353  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  87 

APPENDIX,  PART  IV. 

Note  on  1  Cor.  vii.  14,  prepared  by  John  L.  Dagg,  late  Pas- 
tor OF  the  Fifth  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia,  approved 

AND    published    BY    THE    DIRECTORS    OF    THE   BaPTIST    GeNERAL 

Tract  Society. 

In  the  controversy  about  infant  baptism  it  is  agreed  on 
both  sides,  that  none  should  be  baptized  but  those  w^ho  have 
a  scriptural  right  to  the  ordinance.  It  is  moreover  agreed, 
that  all  believers  have  a  scriptural  right.  The  issue  of  the 
controversy  depends  therefore  upon  the  decision  of  this 
point.  Do  the  holy  Scriptures  any  where  allow  the  right 
of  being  baptized  to  some  who  cannot  claim  it  as  believers, 
namely,  the  unbelieving  infant  children  of  a  believer?  In 
conducting  the  controversy  to  its  issue,  the  Paedobaptists, 
who  affirm  that  such  infants  have  this  right  from  Scripture, 
are  bound  to  prove  their  affirmation.  By  no  rule  of  fair 
reasoning  are  the  Baptists  bound  to  prove  the  negative. 
Nevertheless  the  negative  can  be  proved  ;  and,  strange  as 
it  may  seem,  it  can  be  proved  by  this  very  text,  which  has 
been  so  frequently  and  so  confidently  urged  in  support  of 
the  Paedobaptist  cause,  and  has  been  relied  on  by  many  as 
the  chief  pillar  of  that  cause.  The  word  of  God  is  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  with  which  truth  may  at  all  times 
successfully  defend  herself;  but  error,  awkward  and  imbe- 
cile, is  in  danger  of  committing  suicide,  when  essaying  to 
use  this  effective  weapon. 

Before  we  proceed  to  prove  what  has  just  been  proposed, 
it  may  be  necessary  to  admonish  the  reader  that  if,  in  his 
judgment,  we  should  fail  in  our  attempt,  still  our  cause 
will  have  lost  nothing.  The  laws  of  controversy  do  not 
require  us  to  explain  this  text.  We  can  readily  prove 
that  the  doctrine  of  infant  baptism  is  not  in  it  ;  and  when 
we  have  done  this,  nothing  more  can  be  demanded  of  us. 
A  Paedobaptist  might  adduce  Rev.  xiii.  18,  to  prove  his 
doctrine,  and  then  call  upon  us  to  explain  the  mystery  of 
this  text,  laugh  at  our  attempts,  and  triumph  at  our 
failures,  as  if  liis  cause  were  thereby  established  :  yet 
every  one  would  perceive  his  triumph  to  be  vain,  and  that 
a  text  does  not  prove  infant  baptism  merely  because  we 
<*annot  explain  it. 

Although  Paedobaptists  have  generally  agreed  in  suppos- 


88  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [136 

ing,  that  the  holiness  of  the  children  mentioned  in  this 
text  (1  Cor.  vii.  14)  refers  to  church  membership,  and  ex- 
presses either  the  fact  of  their  having  been  baptized  or  their 
right  to  that  ordinance ;  yet  they  have  differed  consider- 
ably in  their  attempts  to  adjust  the  other  parts  of  the  verse 
to  this  sense.  The  truth  is,  that  no  such  adjustment  is 
possible.  If  holiness  means  a  right  to  baptism,  then  the 
unbelieving  parent,  who  is  expressly  said  to  be  sanctified 
or  holy,  ought  to  be  baptized  as  well  as  his  children.  It 
is  therefore  doing  violence  to  the  passage  to  press  it  into 
the  cause  of  infant  baptism.  According  to  the  plan  of  our 
author,  the  testimony  of  a  paidobaptist  writer  shall  be  given 
on  this  point. 

Macknight.  "  Our  translators  seem  here  to  have  un- 
derstood the  terms  sanctified,  unclean^  and  holy,  in  a  fede- 
ral sense,  which,  indeed,  is  the  common  opinion.  But,  first, 
it  is  not  true  in  a  federal  sense,  that  the  unbelieving  party  in 
a  marriage  is  sanctified  by  the  believing  party  ;  for,  evidently, 
no  one  hath  a  right  to  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  covenant 
by  the  faith  of  those  to  whom  they  are  married.  In  the 
second  place,  it  is  as  little  true,  that  the  children,  procreated 
between  believing  and  unbelieving  parents,  become  unclean 
by  the  separation  of  the  parents,  and  clean  by  their  continuing 
together,  as  the  apostle  asserts,  if  by  unclean  we  under- 
stand exclusion  from  the  covenant,  and  hy  clean,  admission 
into  it.  For  the  title  which  children  have  to  be  members 
of  the  covenant,  depends  not  on  their  parents  living  to- 
gether, but  on  the  faith  of  the  believing  parent." 

Note,  in  loc. 
Baptists  have  generally  coincided  with  Mr.  Pengilly,  in  the 
interpretation  which  he  has  given  of  this  text.    Much  respect 
is  due  to  it,  because  it  has  obtained  the  general  suffrage  of 
our  learned  men,  and  also   of  learned  Paedobaptists,  as  he 
has  shown  by  quotations  from  their  writings.     Yet  against 
this  interpretation  the  following  objections  may  be  urged. 
— 1.  Lawfully  begotten  is,  to  say  the  least,  an  unusual 
sense  of  the  term  holy.     2.  The  unlawfulness  of  matri- 
monial converse,  after  the  conversion  of  one  parent,  would 
not  prove  that  the   children,  before  that  event,  had  been 
unlawfully  begotten.     3.  Nor  is  it  clear  that  it  would  prove 
this  with  respect  even  to  the  younger  children,  since  such 
converse  might  be  unlav/ful  as  against  ceremonial  purity. 


1373  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  89 

and  yet  not  unlawful  as  against  the  seventh  commandment. 
4.  To  prove  that  the  parents  are  lawfully  married,  because 
their  children  are  lawfully  begotten,  is  to  prove  a  thing  by 
itself.  There  is  another  view  of  this  Scripture,  which  we 
consider  more  satisfactory  than  any  of  the  preceding.  We 
shall  attempt  to  lay  it  before  our  readers. 

The  Jews  considered  all  Gentiles  to  be  unclean,  and 
thought  it  unlawful  for  a  Jew  to  be  in  the  house,  keep 
company,  or  eat  with,  or  touch  a  Gentile.  By  some 
means,  possibly  from  the  influence  of  Judaizing  teachers, 
the  church  at  Corinth  seems  to  have  been  agitated  with  the 
question  whether  the  same  rule  ought  not  to  be  established 
to  regulate  the  intercourse  of  the  members  of  the  church 
with  other  persons  ;  that  is,  whether  the  church  ought  not 
to  decide,  that  all  who  were  without  were  unclean  to  them 
who  were  within  ;  just  as  Gentiles  were  unclean  to  Jews  ; 
and  that  therefore  it  was  inconsistent  with  Christian  purity 
to  dwell,  keep  company,  or  eat  with,  or  to  touch  them. 
While  this  question  was  undergoing  discussion  in  the 
church,  it  was  perceived  that  it  involved  a  very  important 
case.  Some  of  their  members  were  married  to  unbelievers, 
and  if  such  a  rule  should  be  established,  these  members 
would  be  compelled  to  separate  from  their  unbelieving 
husbands  or  wives.  Although  the  lawfulness  of  the  mar- 
riage was  not  questioned,  yet  it  would  be  unlawful  for  a 
believing  husband  to  dwell  with  his  wife,  until  God  had 
converted  her.  The  church  resolved,  probably  after  much 
discussion  of  the  question,  to  write  to  the  apostle  respect- 
ing it.  This  letter  he  had  received,  as  appears  from  the 
first  verse  of  this  chapter.  On  the  general  question  of 
intercourse  with  unbelievers  he  treats  in  the  fifth  chapter, 
and  decides  that,  to  keep  company  or  eat  with  persons  who 
make  no  pretension  to  religion  is  not  unlawful,  and  that, 
were  all  such  persons  to  be  esteemed  unclean,  and  their 
touch  polluting.  Christians  must  needs  go  out  of  the 
world.  On  the  particular  case  of  those  members  of  the 
church  who  were  married  to  unbelievers  the  apostle  treats 
in  the  chapter  before  us.  He  decides  in  ver.  12  and  13 
that  they  may  lawfully  dwell  together,  and  in  ver.  14,  for  the 
conviction  and  silencing  of  any  members  of  the  church, 
who  might  object  to  his  decision,  he  in  substance  says,  the 
unbelieving  husband  is  not  unclean,  so  that  his  ivife  may 


^f>QA€? 


90  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  [^138 

not  lawfully  dwell  with  him :  the  unbelieving  loife  is  not 
unclean,  so  that  her  husband  may  not  lawfully  dwell  with 
her.  If  they  are  unclean,  then  your  children  are  uncleany 
and  not  one  parent  in  the  ivhole  church  must  dwell  with 
or  touch  his  children,  until  God  shall  convert  them  ;  and 
thus  Christians  will  be  made  to  sever  the  ties  that  bind 
parents  to  their  children,  and  to  throw  out  the  offspring 
of  Christian  parents  into  the  ungodly  world  from  their 
very  birth,  without  any  provision  for  their  protection^ 
support,  or  religious  education. 

It  will  be  perceived  in  the  preceding  interpretation  that 
the  phrase  your  children  is  talven  in  a  different  sense  from 
tliat  which  it  obtains  in  any  of  the  interpretations  usually 
offered.  It  is  here  supposed  to  refer  to  the  whole  church. 
Had  the  apostle  designed  to  speak  of  those  children  only, 
who  have  one  parent  a  believer  and  the  other  an  unbeliever, 
he  would  have  said  (Tatv:t  mtZv)  their  children,  instead  of 
(tbiv*  y^uwy,)  your  children.  In  addressing  the  church,  and 
in  giving  general  precepts,  he  uses  the  pronouns  ye  and 
you.  See  preceding  chapter  throughout,  and  verses  I  and 
5  of  this  chapter.  But  in  ver.  8.  where  he  gives  directions 
applicable  to  particular  cases,  although  he  introduces  the 
phrase,  "I  say  to  the  unmarried  and  widows,"  he  makes 
reference  to  these  persons,  not  by  the  pronoun  you,  but 
them:  "It  is  good  (or  them  to  abide  even  as  1."  The 
same  mode  of  speaking  he  continues  to  use  as  far  down  as 
to  the  verse  in  question:  "let  them  marry, — let /lim  not 
put  her  away, — ^let  her  not  leave  him."  After  the  same 
manner  he  would  have  said,  "  else  were  their  children  un- 
clean," had  he  intended  only  the  children  of  such  mixed 
cases  of  marriage  as  are  referred  to  in  the  preceding  part 
of  the  verse.  What  further  confirms  this  opinion,  is,  that 
in  the  original  text  the  substantive  verb  is  in  the  present 
tense  ;  *'  your  children  are  unclean," — a  mode  of  speaking 
more  suited  for  the  stating  of  a  parallel  than  a  dependant 
case. 

The  general  principles  of  the  preceding  interpretation 
fall  in  precisely  with  the  course  of  the  apostle's  argument 
commenced  in  the  5th  chapter.  When  these  principles 
have  been  established,  it  is  not  of  vital  importance  to  the 
sense  of  the  passage  to  determine  the  translation  of  the 
preposition  «.     Many  have   translated  it  to  as  it  is  in  ^9 


139 J  SCRIPTURE    GUIDE    TO    BAPTISM.  91 

very  next  verse.  This  sense  accords  well  with  our  inter- 
pretation. The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  to  the 
w^ife,just  as  it  is  said  in  Titus  i.  15,  *■'•  unto  the  pure  all 
things  are  pure."  But  perhaps  the  more  literal  rendering, 
m,  will  give  the  apostle's  sense  more  accurately.  While 
both  parents  lived  in  unbelief  they  were  unclean  to  them- 
selves, and  to  each  other  :  "unto  them  that  are  defiled  and 
unbelieving  is  nothing  pure,  but  even  their  mind  and  con- 
science are  defiled."  Titus  i.  15.  According  to  the  Jewish 
rules  respecting  ceremonial  cleanness,  the  conversion  of 
one  party  would  not  render  the  other  party  holy.  But  in 
gospel  ceremonies  it  is  different.  By  the  abrogation  of 
the  Jewish  ceremonial  law,  and  by  the  conversion  of  the 
wife,  the  unbelieving  husband  (hyisLo-Tsu)  has  become  holy^ 
not  in  himself,  but  (svtm  ywcuKi)  in  the  wife.  That  the  Jews 
considered  Gentiles  unclean  as  stated  above,  may  be 
proved  from  various  passages  of  Scripture.  See  Acts  x. 
28,  xi.  3.  John  xviii.  28.  Gal.  ii.  12.  Mr.  Adam  Clarke 
states  in  his  note  on  John  xviii.  28,  "  The  Jews  considered 
even  the  touch  of  a  Gentile  as  a  legal  defilement." 

It  may  now  be  asked,  where  is  the  proof  which  we  pro- 
pose to  draw  from  this  text  against  infant  baptism  ?  We 
have  already  proved  that  it  makes  nothing  for  it.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  clearly  implied,  in  the  apostle's  argument, 
that  all  the  children  of  the  Corinthian  Christians  had  no 
nearer  relation  to  the  church  than  the  unbelieving  husband 
of  a  believing  wife.  He  declares  that  their  cases  are  pa- 
rallel; and  that  rules  of  intercourse,  whicli  would  require 
the  believing  husband  to  separate  from  his  unbelieving 
wife,  would  require  believing  parents  to  separate  from  their 
children.  But  there  is  no  conclusiveness  in  this  argument, 
if  the  children  had  been  consecrated  to  God  in  baptism, 
and  brought  within  the  pale  of  the  church  :  for  then  the 
children  would  stand  in  a  very  different  relation  to  the  church 
and  to  their  parents  from  that  of  the  unbelieving  husband 
or  wife.  Therefore,  unless  we  charge  the  apostle  with 
arguing  most  inconclusively,  infant  baptism  and  infant 
church  membership  were  wholly  unknown  to  the  Corinthian 
church,  and  if  to  the  Corinthian  church,  unquestionably  to 
all  the  churches  of  those  times. 

Sec  also  Tract  No.  44,  page  24. 
THE    END. 


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